Analysis and technical review by Army Recognition editorial team about new combat vehicles and military equipment presented by Belarus armed forces during the Victory Day military parade, that was held in Minsk, on May 9, 2020. According to the Military Balance 2020, personnel in the Belarus army numbered 48,000 people including 10,700 professional soldiers and conscripts. ( Army Recognition Group SPRL. All rights reserved. This article may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed) Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link T-72B3 Main Battle Tank (Picture source Belarus MoD) The military forces of Belarus are almost exclusively armed with Soviet-era equipment inherited from the Soviet Union. Belarus has planned to modernize its armed forces with the purchases of communication, navigation, and surveillance means, armoured vehicles, small firearms and body armour. The local defense industry manufactures vehicles, guided weapons and electronic-warfare systems, among other equipment. However, there is no capacity to design or manufacture modern combat aircraft. The sector also undertakes to upgrade work for foreign customers. T-72B3 - Main Battle Tank The T-72B3 contract was implemented by the Russian Defense Company "Uralvagonzavod". A contract was signed in 2012 to launch the modernization program for a total amount of six billion rubles ($150 million). Currently, the Russian army has some 8.000 T-72s on various variants in its arsenal (most of them in reserve). Russian Ministry of Defense decided that all of them would be converted to a T-72B3 standard. By the end of 2013, some 270 units were delivered to the Western Military District. The T-72B3 is a development of the standard Russian-made T-72B series currently in service in the Russian army. The T-72B3 version was introduced in 2010 and considered as a third-generation of Russian main battle tank. The main armament of the T-72B3 is a 125mm 2A46M-5 smoothbore gun fitted with a light-alloy thermal sleeve and a bore evacuator. The tank is fitted with a carousel automatic loader mounted on the turret floor and also on the rear wall of the turret. A 7.62 mm PKTM machine gun is mounted coaxially to the right of the main armament and one 12.7 mm NSV machine gun is mounted on the commander's cupola. The conventional armour of the turret is upgraded with Kontakt-5 explosive reactive armor. Kontakt-5 is a type of third-generation explosive reactive armour (ERA) able to defeat modern armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) rounds. BTR-70MB1 8x8 armored vehicle personnel carrier (Picture source Belarus TV footage) BTR-70MB1 - 8x8 wheeled armored personnel carrier The BTR-70MB1 is an upgraded version of the Soviet-made BTR-70 that was shown in public for the first time during the November 1980 parade in Moscow. The new vehicle looks very similar to the previous version but motorized with a more powerful engine V-8 KamAZ-7403 V-8 turbocharged diesel developing 260 hp The vehicle will also be fitted with a new transmission and transfer case. Despite an additional weight of 1,500 kg compared to the original BTR-70, the BTR-70MB1 has the capacity to run at a maximum road speed of 92 km/h. The BTR-70MB1 is fitted with a one-man turret armed with 14.5 KPVT and a 7.62 mm PKVT machine gun. It has a crew of three and can accommodate 9 infantrymen. A main feature of the BTR-70MB1, it has one door on each side of the vehicle between the second and third axles, the upper part of which opens to the front while the lower part folds down to form a step as the Russian-made BTR-80. At the Belarus military Parade of May 9, 2020, the BTR-70MB1 was fitted with a slat armour mounted around the hull and the turret. BTR-80 upgrade 8x8 armored vehicle personnel carrier (Belarus MoD) BTR-80 Upgrade - 8x8 wheeled armored personnel carrier The Belarus version of the BTR-80 shown at a military parade was also fitted with a slat armor around the hull and the turret. The BTR-80 is an 8x8 Soviet-made wheeled armored personnel carrier that entered into service with the Russian army in the late 1980s. Like the BTR-70 and BTR-60, the BTR-80 has a hull of all-welded steel armour construction. Its layout is similar to the earlier vehicles except that the two petrol engines have been replaced by a single V-8 diesel developing 260 hp, which gives a significant increase in the power-to-weight ratio. The BTR-80 is also fitted with a one-man turret as the BTR-70, armed with one 14.5 mm KPV heavy machine gun and one 7.62 mm PKVT coaxial machine gun. The BTR-80 is fully amphibious and is able to carry ten personnel including commander, driver, gunner and seven troops. Bogatyr 4x4 light tactical vehicle Bogatyr - 4 light tactical vehicle The Bogatyr is a light 4x4 tactical vehicle produced jointly by China and Belarus. The design of the vehicle looks very similar to the American Humvee but its a variant of the Chinese-made DongFeng Mengshi EQ2050F vehicle. The Bogatyr has an overall weight of up to 5 t and a passenger capacity of four servicemen. The vehicle is powered by a 152-hp EQ D150-20 water-cooled diesel engine, which produces a speed of up to 105 km/h. The Bogatyr variant shown at military parade 2020 was armed with a Kalashnikov PKM 7.62 mm medium machinegun mounted on a one-man open-top turret. Drakon 4x4 light armored vehicle Drakon - 4x4 armored vehicle The military also paraded the Dajiang CS/VN3 Drakon (Dragon) armored vehicles, which had been supplied by China. The platform has an overall weight of 8.7 t and a passenger capacity of eight soldiers. The CS/VN3 features a welded monocoque hull, which provides protection against 7.62 mm bullets and small fragments. The Drakon is powered by a 245-hp turbocharged engine, which enables a speed of up to 100 km/h. The Belarusian CS/VN3 vehicle is armed with an NSVT in an open-top manned turret. Caiman light 4x4 armored vehicle Caiman - 4x4 armored vehicle The Caiman is a vehicle fully designed and manufactured in Belarus and according to the manufacturer, the Caiman is not based on the Soviet-made BRDM-2, but was completely developed by the engineers of Belarus offering a new generation of 4x4 armored vehicle. The design of the Caiman seems very similar to the German Fennek, 4x4 reconnaissance vehicle. The driver is seated at the front of the vehicle with excellent vision to his front via three large bulletproof windows. The roof of the vehicle can be fitted with a ring mount weapon station that can be armed with PKS 7.62mm machine gun, NSV 12.7mmm heavy machine gun, or an AGS 30mm automatic grenade launcher. There is also three smoke grenade launchers and storage basket mounted on each side of the hull. Lis-PM 4x4 armored vehicle (Picture source Belarus MoD) Lis-PM - 4x4 armored vehicle The Lis-PM (Fox-PM) 4x4 armored vehicle is produced locally by the Minsk Wheel Tractors Plant (MZKT Volat) in close cooperation with the Russian industry: in particular, Russia supplies stripped-down VPK-233136 Tigr kits, which are assembled and refitted by MZKT. The Lis-PM has a weight of up to 7.5 t and transports eight soldiers. The vehicle is armed with an NSVT Utyos 12.7 mm heavy machinegun (HMG). lat Volat MZKT-500200 4x4 light truck Volat MZKT-500200 - 4x4 light truck The MZKT-500200 is a light tactical truck based on a 44 all-wheel drive chassis manufactured by the local company Volat. It features a longitudinal frame attached with two towing forks and one rear towing hook. It is air-transportable by military cargo aircraft such as the C-130, C-160, A-400M, An-22, An-124, and IL-76. The MZKT-500200s modular cab structure, made from steel, accommodates one driver and one passenger and can be accessed through two side-doors. Covered with canvas cover and bows, the cargo compartment at the rear section can carry approximately 21 personnel and military equipment. It is equipped with drop sides and a drop tailgate for optimum accessibility. Nona-M1 2B23 120 mm mortar towed by a Volat truck (Picture source Belarus TV) Nona-M1 2B23 - 120mm mortar The Nona-M1 120mm mortar was towed by the MZKT-500200 light truck. The 2B23 NONA-M1 120 mm mortar can fire the mortar ammunition 3OF74 high explosive projectile, used with the 3VOF119 propelling charge. This mortar ammunition claimed to be twice as effective as current 120 mm mortar bombs and is capable of producing a crater 4.1 m to 4.5 m in diameter to a depth of 1.1 m to 1.6 m depending on soil conditions. It is possible to use the whole range of 120 mm mortar bombs and projectiles. The 2B23 NONA-M1 120mm mortar has a maximum range of 8.8 km and a minimum range of 900 m with a high explosive projectile MSTA-B 2A65 152mm towed howitzer (Picture source Belarus TV) MSTA-B 2A65 - 152mm towed howitzer The 152-mm Msta-B is the latest addition to the long list of Soviet- and Russian-made towed howitzers. Compared to its predecessors, the 2A65 features several radical novelties, of which the most visible one is its thin tube about 40 calibers long and equipped with a double-slot muzzle brake. The Msta-B howitzer fires most of the in-service 152-mm projectiles, but a new family of projectiles has been developed for it and other similar guns. When the advanced rounds of ammunition are used, a prepacked powder bag is selected from the three types available depending on the mission at hand. The weapons range is 24,000 m when firing the latest-generation blast-fragmentation projectile, increasing to 29,000 m when the rocket-assisted blast-fragmentation projectile is used. Other sophisticated 152-mm rounds recently developed for the 2A65 include cassettes filled with 42 antipersonnel/armor-piercing shrapnel bomblets, each containing 45 g of a high explosive. Another novel round of ammunition is the container dispensing tiny radio transmitters designed to disrupt enemy communications. Belgrad BM-21A 122mm MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System (Picture source Belarus MoD) Belgrad BM-21A - 122mm MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System The BelGrad also called BM-21A is 122mm multiple launch rocket system MLRS developed in Belarus to replace the Soviet BM-21 Grad. It successfully passed trials in 1997 and entered service with the Belarusian Army in 2001. The 122 mm rocket launcher unit is mounted on the MAZ-6317 6x6 heavy utility truck chassis. The rocket tube arrangement is a single rectangular bank of four layers each with 10 tubes. The BelGrad has a reloading system located at the rear of the crew cab with 40 rockets ready to be loaded. This multiple launch rocket system is automatically reloaded in less than 2 minutes. It can be reloaded manually within 7 minutes Polonez 300mm MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System (Picture source Belarus MoD) Polonez - 300mm MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System The Polonez is a 300mm Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) developed in Belarus by the Company BelSpetsVneshTechnika (BSVT). The rocket launcher unit is mounted at the on the Volat MZKT-7930-300 8x8 military truck chassis. It is operated by a crew of three including a commander, driver and operator. The rockets can be fired either from the drivers cab or from a remotely located vehicle with the help of a remote control unit. The Volat truck carries two blocks of rocket launcher containers divided into two rows. It can fire unguided and guided rockets with a range from 50 km to 200 km with GPS guided rocket. Tor-M2K short-range air defense missile system (Picture source Belarus MoD) TOR-M2K - short-range surface-to-air defense missile system The TOR-M2K is wheeled version of the Russian-made TOR-M2 mounted on a 9331 chassis developed by the Belarusian Company MZKT mounting two 9M 334 missile modules, each with four 99331 missiles. The Tor-M2 can simultaneously engage up to 48 processed targets and ten tracked targets. The TOR-M2 can engage a target at the range from 1,000 to 12,000 m and to an altitude from 10 to 10,000 m. S-300PS long-range air defense missile system (Picture source Belarus MoD) S-300PS - Long-Range Surface-to-Air missile The S-300 PS (first generation) with NATO denomination SA-10B (Grumble B), is a more mobile alternative of the basic version of surface-to-air missile system S-300 PT, the principal difference resides, in the use of the chassis of a truck 8x8 MAZ-7910, on which the four launcher missile containers are mounted, contrary to S-300 PT which uses a tractor drawn trailer. The S-300 PS is also capable of destroying ballistic missile targets, and is regarded as one of the most potent anti-aircraft missile systems currently fielded Its radars have the ability to simultaneously track up to 100 targets while engaging up to 12. S-300 PS deployment time is five minutes. A typical battery S-300 PS group would include one 5P85S TEL, two 5P85D TEL/Transloaders, and one mobile 5N63S Flap Lid B radar. Uragan-M 220mm MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System (Picture source Belarus TV footage) Uragan-M - 220mm Multiple Rocket Launcher System The Uragan-M is a Belarus upgrade version of the Soviet-made Uragan BM-27 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS). The rocket launcher unit is mounted at the rear of a MAZ-631705 6x6 military truck chassis. Launcher unit is similar to the BM-27 with 16 launch tubes for 220 mm rockets. The Uragan-M is equipped with a computerized fire control system and modern communications suite. It has a maximum firing range of 36 km. Flute 80mm MLRS Multiple Launch Rocket System (Picture source Belarus TV footage) Flute - 80mm Multiple Launch Rocket System The Flute is a new generation of MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) developed in Belarus by the company BSVT-New Technologies LLC based in Minsk. The Flute MLRS combat vehicle uses widely spread Soviet 80 mm C-8 series non-guided aircraft missiles launched from an 80 charge launcher made on the basis of the SHTS ("Asilak") 4x4 armored vehicle. The Asilak is a Belarusian-licensed version of the Russian Buran family of armoured vehicles made on the chassis of a GAZ-3308 Sadko truck. The Flute fires the S-8 family of 80 mm unguided rockets with a firing range from 1 to 3 km with a flight speed of up to 750 m/s. Rubon MZKT-490100 4x4 armored vehicle (Source picture Volat) Rubon MZKT-490100-018 - 4x4 armored vehicle The MZKT-490100-018 is a 4x4 light armored vehicle designed and manufactured by the Belarus Company Volat based on the MZKT-490100 chassis. The vehicle is fitted with a remote weapon station DBM-T12.7 armed with a 12.7mm heavy machine gun and the multifunctional reconnaissance system BRDM-4B. Defender 6x6 armored vehicle personnel carrier APC (Picture source Belarus MoD) Defender - 6x6 armored vehicle personnel carrier The Defender is a new 6x6 wheeled APC (Armored Personnel Carrier designed by the company 140th Repair Plant. It was unveiled during MILEX defense exhibition in 2019. The vehicle is based on a MAZ-631708 6x6 truck chassis. it can accommodate up to 14 military personnel and has a weight of 19,800 kg. The Defender is motorized with a yaMZ-7511 developing 400 hp coupled to a YaMZ-239 gearbox. UBP MRAP Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (Picture source Belarus MoD) UBP - MRAP universal combat platform The UBP is a 4x4 military vehicle in the MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) category designed and manufactured by the Belarus Company OKB TSP. The UBP is a two-axle four-wheel drive vehicle, structurally similar to some trucks. The vehicle uses a cabover layout, with the engine located under the crew cab. The hull of the vehicle is made to reflect the improved resistance to fire and explosion. Quadro-1400 armed drone (Picture source Belarus Mod) Quadro-1400 - UAV armed drone The Quadro-1400 is made by the Display Design Bureau, a Belarusian leader in small drones for the military. It mounts a pair of rocket-launching tubes RPG-26 on a massive quadcopter to be used as a tank-hunting robot. UBAK-25 drone for reconnaissance (Picture source Belarus MoD) UBAK-25 - Drone for reconnaisance JSC 558th Aviation Repair Plant developed prototype strike UHF (UBAK) with a combat range of up to 25 km and modernized the multipurpose UHF Grif-100 for the use of small-sized small-caliber aviation bombs and missiles. UBAK-25 is a tactical reconnaissance and strike LHC, with a single-use UAV designed to conduct aerial reconnaissance and engage fixed and inactive targets - openly located manpower and easily vulnerable equipment. The complex includes two UAVs built on the basis of the previously created reconnaissance UAV 1LA-10K "Bekard-2". The mass of the UAV is 12 kg. A high-explosive fragmentation warhead weighing 2.3 kg is located inside the UAV fuselage. Guidance and capture is carried out on a television image transmitted to the UAV operator. The tactical radius of action for reconnaissance is 25 km, and for hitting targets - 10 km. Whistle robot fitted with 57mm rocket launcher system (Picture source Belarus MoD) Whistle Robot - UGV with 57mm MLRS Belarus Company BSVT - New Technologies LLC has developed the Whistle robotic system. This is a ground-based unmanned stealth combat vehicle equipped with a turntable with a package of 18 guides for various modifications of the S-5 rocket 57-mm shells. Due to the presence of an optical-electronic station and a data processing system using artificial intelligence, the robotic complex is capable of detecting targets at distances up to 3500 meters. The combat robot is controlled remotely via a secure radio channel with patented technology for countering electronic warfare. The battery life of the robotic complex is 24 hours. MZKT-741501 truck tractor and MZKT-720100 semi-trailer (Picture source Volat) MZKT-741501 truck tractor and MZKT-720100 semi-trailer The Goskomvoenprom presented a new development of the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant OJSC - a heavy-duty road train as part of the MZKT-741501 truck tractor and the MZKT-720100 semi-trailer with a carrying capacity of 52 tons. The road train is designed to transport heavy tracked vehicles and bulky goods on roads of all categories. The truck tractor with a payload of 23 tons on the fifth wheel coupling is based on the mass-produced MZKT-793000-313 chassis, used as the transport base of the upgraded Polonaise-M MLRS. As a result of modernization, the wheelbase and overall length of the product were reduced, and the maximum speed was reduced from 70 to 65 km / h. An engine with increased power of 525 hp was installed (modification TMZ-84632). The use of a hydromechanical transmission in the design of the tractor allows us to provide advantages in the operation of the road train in difficult road conditions, including when driving over rough terrain and in a convoy, as well as during the training of novice mechanic drivers. The MZKT-720100 is a heavy-duty semi-trailer with a carrying capacity of 52 tons. It is intended for transportation of heavy tracked vehicles (for example, T-72 tanks), as well as bulky goods as part of a road train. The total length of the MZKT-720100 semi-trailer is 14.35 m, width - 3.2 m, height in transport position with raised ladders - 3.8 m, gross weight - 68 t (16 t - own weight of the product, plus 52 t of carrying capacity). Rosa solid-state radar (Picture source Belarus MoD) Rosa solid-state radar They were developed by the flagship of the Belarusian military-industrial complex in the field of development of radar systems - OJSC KB Radar, the managing company of the holding Radar Systems. These are the Rosa-M mobile solid-state radar for detecting low-altitude targets with a ring phased antenna array (RRL) and Vostok-3D three-coordinate radar. Rosa-M radar navigation system solves the problems of automatic detection, measurement of primary coordinates (azimuth, range), speed of an air object (AT), as well as automatic detection and tracking of HE tracks at low and very low altitudes when exposed to active and passive interference, recognition of HE classes (aircraft, helicopter, cruise missile, balloon, unrecognized target) and the issuance of radar information to external consumers, as well as determining the azimuth of the director of active noise interference. It consists of two cars - a hardware cabin and an antenna platform. When creating the mobile version of the station, a number of complex technical problems were solved for raising hydromechanical devices and placing the main element of the station (ring AFAAR) at an altitude of up to 35 m on the chassis of one transport unit, which allows radar reconnaissance in any terrain. The detection range of HE with an effective reflecting surface (EOP) of 1 square meter at an altitude of 25 m is 30 km. The deployment (folding) time does not exceed half an hour. Due to the high mobility of the station, the radio engineering units of the air defense forces have the opportunity to create an unpredictable for a potential intruder of the radar field. Vostok radar (Picture source OJSC) Vostok-3D coordinate radar Another development of KB Radar OJSC is the Vostok-3D three-coordinate radar, which embodies the original technical solution for using the meter wavelength range in the rangefinder channel and the decimeter wavelength in the altimeter channel. The system is a complex of two radars. The station surpasses similar complexes in terms of performance characteristics thanks to the use of modern achievements of radar, the latest digital technologies, advanced design and technological solutions. "Vostok-3D" is a new, completely Belarusian development, capable of replacing all known three-coordinate radars and radars as part of a rangefinder and altimeter. This complex is able to efficiently detect and accurately determine the coordinates of air targets at a maximum range of up to 360 km, HE made using the stealth technology, as well as small targets with a small effective reflective surface. Moreover, all tasks are performed in automatic mode, including the detection and tracking of air objects. The radar provides a high degree of protection against high-precision weapons through the use of 2 frequency ranges, as well as high radar stealth due to the use of a noise-like sounding signal with low peak power. The MZKT chassis provides high mobility of the station, and it takes only eight minutes to roll out a three-person crew S-150 S-band solid-state radar (Picture source Belarus MoD) S-150 - S-band solid-state radar For the first time at the parade, a new S-band solid-state radar S-150 with a phased array will be presented, created at NP OKB TSP LLC. The use of special methods and algorithms for signal processing allowed 1.5-2 times to improve the accuracy of determining the coordinates of targets and recognition of their class by acoustic portrait. In addition, the radar-150 allows for reliable tracking of targets in conditions of intense electronic countermeasures. The detection range of HE with an image intensifier of 1 square meter at an altitude of 25 m is 150 km. An air target with a 3-5-square-meter image intensifier flying at an altitude of 100 m, the radar-150 is capable of detecting at a distance of up to 45 km. The MZKT-65272-010 chassis provides high station mobility. The deployment time (coagulation) prepared by the calculation of three people is not more than 5 minutes. At the end of February 2020, the radar-150 was also involved in the first phase of flight tests of prototypes of 9M318 anti-aircraft guided missiles for the Buk-MB2 air defense system, where it confirmed its tactical and technical characteristics. Satellite communication system on Trakon 4x4 armored (Picture source Belarus MoD) Satellite communication systems A number of samples of mobile satellite communication stations will take part in the parade on May 9. A whole line of the latest tools developed at AGAT Management Systems OJSC, the management company of the Geoinformation Management Systems holding, was adopted by the Belarusian army in March 2020 and transferred to the troops. This is the nodal and terminal satellite communication stations in the stationary and mobile version, as well as mobile means for installation on an armored base or automobiles. All satellite stations provide the opportunity to work not only with the Belintersat-1 domestic satellite but also with the satellites of countries with which coordination agreements have been signed. At the same time, it became possible to use the constellation of spacecraft, the ground-based control complex of the national satellite communication and broadcasting system as a single integrated system. New communication systems allow the transfer of large flows of information over a considerable distance in real-time without using the global Internet. The technical characteristics and combat capabilities of satellite communication stations provide work in new, previously unused modes of operation, in a complex configuration and architecture of construction, in various applications, frequency ranges and with high noise immunity. Satellite communication system on 6x6 truck (Picture source Belarus MoD) Authorities identified a 56-year-old Dorchester man as the victim of a fatal shooting in Boston over the weekend. Officers responded around 7:54 p.m. on Saturday to a report of a person shot near 45 Bellevue St. in Dorchester, the Boston Police Department said in a statement Tuesday. Paul Richards, who had been shot multiple times, was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died, according to the statement. The Boston Police Department is actively reviewing the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident and is asking anyone with information relative to this investigation to contact Boston Police Homicide Detectives at 617-343-4470, the statement said. Related Content: Boston police investigating fatal shooting of man in Dorchester Mount Hotham ski resort in the Victorian Alps offers 245 hectares of skiing terrain. (Stuart Hannagan/Getty Images) We Need People Moving Across This Country Again: Australias Trade Minister Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has urged states and territories to reopen borders for domestic travel in an effort to get the economy moving again. He told Nines Today program on May 19 that while public health is crucial Australia needed people moving across this country again when its safe to do so. Western Australia, South Australia, and Queensland have all indicated that they wont reopen before the end of winter, effectively wiping out the lucrative winter holiday season for tourism groups. Queensland wont reopen until at least September, to the further dismay of the tourism industry. Opening the States borders would be crucial for the tourism industrys recovery, Tourism Tropical North Queensland Chief Executive Officer Mark Olsen told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. However, he was aware of the risks of rushing this decision. Opening the borders prematurely would only harm the industry further if it caused COVID-19 to spread, Olsen said. Tasmanian border controls remain but returning locals can quarantine at home. Those states whove got border controls in place, assuming weve continued to see very low rates of transmission of COVID-19, ought to be looking at opening up their borders, Birmingham said. This follows Prime Minister Scott Morrisons expectation to resume domestic travel from July when the country is expected to reach the final stage of its three-step plan to reopen the economy. Meanwhile, Qantas and Jetstar, have said that they plan to ease restrictions. Qantas announced a series of measures this morning, as it prepares for a return to domestic flights from June 12, including masks for all passengers. But with borders closed, tourism operators have no way forward. It comes amid warnings Australias $80 billion ($US52 billion) domestic tourism industry faces collapse if state borders remain closed, crippling the market for years to come, and costing tens of thousands of jobs. The tourism industry has borne the brunt of the blow as governments acted to control the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. The reason for the sharp increase in demand according to Madam Fati Zackaria, a lemon seller in the Wa market is due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has to do with the immune system. Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa, Madam Zackaria explained that her attribution of the increase in demand was due to the fact that in the past a lot of people did not patronize the fruit until recently when the virus hit Ghana. Lemon is not produced here, it's produced down south. We go there to buy and transport it to Wa to sell, but at the end of the day, the thing will stay there and dry up due to little or no patronage and we run at a loss, she said. According to Madam Zackaria, it came to a point they stopped buying it due to the lack of market for the fruit, noting however, that since the news broke about the presence of COVID-19 in the country, people started asking for it, thereby compelling the sellers to start buying it again from source. On the price increase, the lemon seller said they used to buy the lemons at GHC35.00 per bucket, but since the demand had increased, the producers also increased the price to GHC70.00 per bucket. Because of this, we also sell two big sizes for GHC2.00 and three for GHC2.00 for the smaller ones, whilst five big ones and six smaller ones go for GHC5.00, she said and stressed that, despite the price increase, the demand was still higher than the supply. Meanwhile, some women have also taken advantage to begin hawking the fruit from house-to-house and from office-to-office due to the high demand. Ms. Jane Banamwini, one of the buyers, told the GNA that she saw on social media that lemon was good for boosting the immune system against the virus, if put in warm water, adding that since then she had been taking it religiously. When I watch television and see the havoc the disease is causing especially in the western world, it's scary; so we are taking precautionary measures in trying to keep a strong immune system even as we observe the recommended protocols, she said. Mr Moses Dramani Luri, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Social Initiative for Literacy and Development Program (SILDEP), a usual lemon user, told the GNA that he first read about lemon and its nutritional properties on the internet and discovered it could also help in weight loss. He said since he committed himself to taking lemon daily, he had lost significant weight making him a more active person than before. Mr Luri who used to buy his lemon from Tumu market in the Sissala East Municipality at GHC5.00 per bowl, said he could not get it again at Tumu due to the general increase in demand. They used to bring it from Wa to Tumu to sell, but because of the increase in demand, now we don't get it in Tumu anymore. So I always send messages to people to buy it and give it to the public transport drivers to send to me at an extra cost, he said. ---GNA Highlights Ola and Uber are all set to resume services in important cities including Delhi and Bengaluru. While Uber will be available in a total of 35 cities, Ola is eyeing to resume operations in over 160 cities. Uber and Ola had announced that its riders and driver-partners are required to wear masks during a ride. After almost 50 days of suspension, ride-hailing apps Ola and Uber are all set to resume services in important cities including Delhi and Bengaluru. The lockdown 4.0 brought along some respite for the people living in red zones as the government allowed many businesses to resume services albeit with necessary precautions. Ola and Uber were amongst the services that were defunct because of the lockdown imposed due to coronavirus. While Uber will be available in a total of 35 cities, Ola is eyeing to resume operations in over 160 cities. The ride-hailing apps had earlier sought permission to operate in green and red zones. However, none of the services will resume in containment zones. "In compliance with Lockdown 4.0 guidelines by the Government, Uber is resuming services across more cities in India. Riders will constantly be notified with further information and the status of specific cities through our app," Uber said in a blog post. However, in order to use the Uber, Ola services, the riders, and the drivers will have to follow certain instructions. The companies have outlined measures to ensure the safety of its riders and driver-partners. Here's what they said:- Uber and Ola had announced that its riders and driver-partners are required to wear masks during a ride. Uber has developed a special technology called the Go Online Checklist, which will be used to confirm whether a driver has taken necessary safety measures or not and whether he is wearing a mask or not. Only when the details are confirmed, the driver can start his services. Ola too has a similar setup which would require its drivers to authenticate whether they are wearing masks or not before the start of every ride by sharing a selfie through their partner app. Both Ola and Uber have given the leverage to its rider and driver-partners to cancel the trip anytime they feel the other person has not taken adequate safety measures or is not wearing a mask. He or she will not be charged a cancellation fee if the issue is reported via the app. Uber and Ola's riders are not allowed to switch on the AC. They are advised by the companies to sit at the rear seat and open windows for ventilation. Ola and Uber will provide necessary safety kits like masks, sanitisers, disinfectants, etc to its driver-partners. They are required to sanitize their cars after every trip using the supplies. Ola will allow only two passengers to board the cab excluding the driver. They are required to sit by the windows on the rear of the car and not next to the driver. The companies have urged the riders to make payment through wallets or any digital platform to avoid unnecessary contact. Trump can afford to say that COVID-19 is a 'China virus', but we can't expect Modi to say that aloud while his actions may speak louder, says Rup Narayan Das. IMAGE: School students create a formation of Chinese President Xi Jinping's name in Mandarin, ahead of his visit, in Chennai, October 10, 2019. Photograph: PTI Photo It is unfortunate that immediately after the second informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi and the Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mamallapuram in October last year, when the two countries were preparing for a slew of events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, COVID-19 came like an interrupter to the time line of calendar of events. The relationship between any two countries cannot and should not be attributed to events rather than the dynamics of the determinants. There are many fundamentals in the dynamics of complex India-China relations; taken together they determine the relationship between the two countries. If they can be put in order of their relative significance these are -- first, the two are neighbours and you can choose your friend, but you cannot chose your neighbour; second economic synergy or complementarities. Inversely, its antinomy is the trade deficit or the trade imbalance. Third, there is the strategic partnership as contrasted with strategic rivalry. The fourth determinant is strategic trust versus strategic distrust and security dilemma. The fifth element is the cultural connect, the civilisational linkage and the the Asian identity. The fifth factor is the chemistry between the two top leaders, Prime Minister Modi and President Xi. Finally, there is external geo-politics. The inter play of these dynamics shapes the narrative of India-China relations. The point is that incidents and episode may occur from time to time, but they cannot alter the fundamental dynamics. Dealing with China requires deep knowledge and understanding of their political system, intricate relationship between the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army, factionalism in the party, domestic political dynamics, the structure of the economy, intelligence input. Indian diplomats starting from Sardar Panikkar, K P S Menon, Shivshanker Menon, Ashok Kantha, Gautam Bambawale to Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the ace diplomat and India's current external affairs minister, possess them in great abundance. India has certainly produced some of the world's best diplomats and China hands to understand and deal with China. IMAGE: School students wear Xi Jinping masks ahead of the Chinese leader's visit to Chennai, October 10, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo Dealing with China is not like writing an op-ed in the media or debating on television or a Webinar which has gained currency in the times of lockdown. They are necessary to educate people and create some awareness provided they are informed, and objective. Otherwise they have a tendency to harden people's attitudes which is detrimental for the country. Writing an article as a journalist or as a scholar is one thing and dealing with China as a diplomat is altogether a different ball game. What is required is knowledge, understanding, dexterity of diplomacy, firmness and yet flexibility and a high degree of IQ and EQ. While there has always been some degree of public resentment against China, the same has been accentuated in recent times due to the outbreak and spread of COVID-19, which originated in Wuhan in China. The international backlash against China has further exacerbated the public discourse in India. There is pressure from other countries like the USA, Australia and Japan etc to hedge China. India is caught in a bind in the sense to what extent it should align with the US in its hedging strategy. India has been striking a fine balance while dealing with both the USA and China and will continue to do so. No matter how India strikes a fine balance, the fact is that the relationship between India and China is a 'contrived one' amidst the strategic rivalry and security dilemma; and the complementarity of the economies is the adhesive glue. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photograph: Reuters While dealing with China, India has to content with that China is India's neighbour. Secondly, the asymmetry of the economy and the military should also be kept in mind. President Trump can afford to say that COVID-19 is a 'China virus', but perhaps we cannot expect Prime Minister Modi to say that aloud while his actions may be more louder. He can be credited to have dealt with China more deftly than any other prime minister of the country at a critical juncture of geo-politics. True, all prime ministers in their inimitable way have contributed in engaging China, be it Jawaharlal Nehru's idealism or naivete, Rajiv Gandhi's pathbreaking visit to China in 1988, P V Narasimha Rao's signing of the confidence building measures with China in 1993 or Atal Bihari Vajpayee's diplomatic victory in securing China's tacit recognition of India's sovereignty over Sikkim. It is Modi who refused to accede to China's Belt and Road Initiative, spurning repeated pestering and nudging. It is he who did not agree to the China driven RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) and also the Chinese bullet train even though China offered a very competitive price. It is his government that tweaked FDI norms to debar neighbouring countries including China to invest in India. When the Doklam crisis was at its peak, Prime Minister Modi staged a pull aside meeting with Xi at the G-20 summit in Hamburg in 2017. It was only after this meeting that in a top down approach instructions trickled down and the Doklam impasse was defused. If the two leaders could defuse the Doklam crisis, they can reset the present stalemate in what is called the Astana spirit which emphasised that 'differences between India and China should be addressed in a manner that they should not become disputes'. Rup Narayan Das, a Delhi-based China scholar, is currently a senior fellow of the Indian Council of Social Science Research at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. The views are personal. Production: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com Sorry! This content is not available in your region Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Choi Ji-won (The Korea Herald/Asia News Network) Tue, May 19, 2020 09:03 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8ea6dc 2 Entertainment Extracurricular,Netflix,South-Korea,series,television,Jin-Han-sae Free Prostitution is not a common subject in South Korean television dramas, let alone dramas in which the main characters are teenagers. Jin Han-sae, creator of the sensational Netflix original series Extracurricular, says he felt a huge burden when writing the story, in which he says the protagonists are pushed into situations that are extreme beyond imagination. I felt like I was setting a time bomb, as it might end up looking like glorifying wrong behaviors. I almost compulsively collected feedback from as many people as I could to prevent myself from missing out on any ethical judgments, Jin, a rookie writer debuting with the Netflix series, told The Korea Herald in an e-mail interview. 'Extracurricular' screenwriter Jin Han-sae. (Netflix/The Korea Herald/File) Despite his concerns, the 10-episode series has topped the charts on Netflix in Korea and has received critical acclaim from overseas viewers since it was released to global audiences April 29. According to Jin, the story is rooted in his personal experiences as a high school student in New Zealand. I saw a kid selling cigarettes to his friends and, I thought then that, although we were students in the same high school, we were living in two very disparate universes. I didnt realize the gravity of the crime he was committing just for the intention of making money, Jin said, adding that questions about passing moral judgment on juvenile crimes had lingered in his mind since then. He began writing the script for Extracurricular around the fall of 2018, after reading a news article about some teenagers who were caught up in organized crime. Read also: 'Extracurricular' raises questions about teenage crimes I wanted to seriously think about the answer to the possibly childish question of why is crime bad', Jin said. I came to employ the theme of teenagers and prostitution because I believed that, in order to find a serious answer to that fundamental question, we needed to touch upon part of our society that we find too uncomfortable and painful to face. Extracurricular may be a story digging into that wound. With tight sequences that pull viewers in, the story follows Ji-soo, 17, who is almost invisible at school but who anonymously operates a sex trafficking ring after hours. His plans to attend university with the profits meet an unexpected twist when Min-hee, his classmate and one of his workers, comes to the attention of the police. Another one of his peers, Kyu-ri, finds out about the business and tries to meddle in it. The timing of the release coincided with the so-called Nth Room case, in which young people were involved in a massive cybersex trafficking ring both as suspects and victims. Dozens of victims, including 16 minors, were forced to create sexually explicit images and videos, which were distributed on anonymous online chat rooms to be viewed by tens of thousands of paying members. Because of the real-life case, the drama gained great attention from the very start. I was also shocked by the news of the Nth Room case. Although Extracurricular is a fictional story, I hope that it can contribute to providing a chance for us to ruminate on such horrific reality. Jin says his creation also reflects another cold reality of our society -- the way adults turn a blind eye to the struggles that teenagers face. Everyone turns into an adult with time. Naturally, people become indifferent to past events and the voices of teenagers are too easily muted. Many grown-ups say that issues of adolescents have been experienced by everyone and simply assume that the problems can be overcome if they patiently wait the passage of time. However, to the kids, its their undeniable reality that could feel like an endless cold winter. I believed such perspective also deserved a say. Jin is the son of television screenwriter Song Ji-na, who created some of Koreas best-known smash-hit series, including Eyes of Dawn (1991-1992), Sandglass (1995) and The Legend (2007). Topics : This article appeared on The Korea Herald newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post Nearly 13 per cent of the museums around the world may never reopen, the UN's cultural agency has warned, as about 90 per cent of them globally have had to close their doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the occasion of International Museum Day Monday, two studies by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) said that museums have been especially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 90 per cent of them, or more than 85,000 institutions, having closed their doors for varying lengths of time during the crisis. Furthermore, in Africa and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), only 5 per cent of museums were able to offer online content to their audiences. "Nearly 13 per cent of museums around the world may never reopen," the agencies said in a statement. The two studies, involving member states and museum professionals, were aimed at assessing the impact of COVID-19 on museums and museum institutions. They also aimed to find out how the sector had adapted to the pandemic and explore ways to support institutions in its aftermath. "Museums play a fundamental role in the resilience of societies", UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said. "We must help them cope with this crisis and keep them in touch with their audiences". The study conducted by ICOM highlights the fact that museums that have been deprived of their visitors will face a decrease in their income. Professions related to museums, their operations and their outreach could also be seriously affected. "We are fully aware of and confident in the tenacity of museum professionals to meet the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic," said ICOM President Suay Aksoy. "However, the museum field cannot survive on its own without the support of the public and private sectors. It is imperative to raise emergency relief funds and to put in place policies to protect professionals and self-employed workers on precarious contracts." In a tweet, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that museums may be temporarily closed, but they remain a source of knowledge and discovery for many - now through virtual tours in particular. The analyses also explored how the sector was adapting to the pandemic and ways in which it could offer support once the pandemic ends. With a view to affirm the resilience of art, UNESCO launched the ResiliArt movement last month, which, among other things, conducts virtual high-level exchanges between international professionals and draws support for the cultural world during the crisis. According to UNESCO, social protection of museum staff, digitisation and inventorying of collections and online content development, are among the top priorities that need to be addressed all of which require financial resources. UNESCO also pointed out that since 2012, the number of museums globally has increased by almost 60 per cent to about 95,000 institutions, demonstrating how important they have become in national cultural policies over the past decade. The study also revealed wide regional disparities, with Africa and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), accounting for only 1.5 per cent of the total number of museums worldwide. Furthermore, only five per cent of museums in Africa and SIDS were able to offer online content to their audiences. "This pandemic also reminds us that half of humanity does not have access to digital technologies," the UNESCO chief said. "We must work to promote access to culture for everyone, especially the most vulnerable and isolated." These findings echoed a previous report on the implementation of the 2015 UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Protection and Promotion of Museums and Collections, their Diversity and their Role in Society. In it, the agency underlined the fundamental role that museums play in education, culture and in supporting the local and regional creative economy. New York City is the center of the Wuhan epidemic in the United States, and in response to the virus, governors across the country have imposed shutdowns that might possibly be appropriate in New York, but are bonkers as applied to local conditions. Initially, most of us tried to be good sports. But as shutdowns lingered from weeks into months, and small businesses were destroyed by the hundreds of thousands for no apparent reason, the spirit of rebellion began to grow. No doubt there were a number of places where rebellion flared today, but the one I know about is Albany, Minnesota, population 2,734, where a bar and restaurant owner stood up for his constitutional rights against the arbitrary power of the states government. Kris Schiffler owns six Shadys restaurants across central Minnesota. Last week, he announced his intention to open his Albany Shadys in defiance of mad governor Tim Walzs harsh shutdown order. Schifflers public statement was met with threats by Minnesotas state governmentto prosecute him, to fine him $25,000 (for which there is no apparent legal basis), and, most devastating of all, to yank the liquor licenses from all six Shadys bars. Governor Walzs point man in executing these threats is Attorney General Keith Ellison, who has cheered on left-wing violence in the streets, but whose law and order instincts evidently are aroused by a bar/restaurant owner undertaking to serve his patrons. Normal Minnesotans have had enough of their governors high-handed and ignorant devastation of their lives. Under threat by the state, Schiffler set up a GoFundMe page to defray the costs of standing up to illegitimate authority. He set a goal of $100,000, and within 48 hours had raised $211,000. The conflict came to a head today at high noon in Albany. A crowd of hundreds of normal Minnesotans assembled outside Shadys, showing their support for Schiffler and their desire to end the states irrational and destructive shutdown. The mood was festive. But then, at exactly 12:00, as the crowd was beginning to move into Shadys, law enforcement appeared and served a court order on Schiffler barring him from opening. Just a few minutes later, he gave this impassioned speech. It has never been about money, its about our freedom!: Attorney General Keith Ellison apparently obtained the order against Shadys ex parte, on a motion for a temporary restraining order. That is, without giving Schiffler an opportunity to appear before the court and be heard in his own defense. In my opinion, this was improper and illegal. Under the Rules of Civil Procedure, a TRO is appropriate under emergency circumstances where it is not possible to give the opposing party timely notice. That obviously was not the case here. News stories about Schifflers plans and the states jackbooted response go back to last week. Keith Ellison obviously could have given Schiffler and his lawyer notice of their TRO hearing, which would have converted the process into a motion for a preliminary injunction, but they chose not to do so. They didnt want any opposition and didnt want to have to justify their absurd position before the court. But that isnt the standard under the Rules, and I think the order served on Schiffler today was invalid because of Ellisons overreaching. I dont want to give away any secrets, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Kris Schiffler will soon obtain capable legal counsel, and will be heard from in a legal forum before long. The real news here is that normal Americans are beginning to rebel against the pointless, destructive and probably unconstitutional dictates of their liberal masters. Not surprisingly, that revolt is occurring mostly in the countrys more rural precincts. Lets hope the rebellion succeeds! Figures from five key business sectors in Northern Ireland react to the latest Covid-19 support measures announced by Finance Minister Conor Murphy. The Northern Ireland Retail Consortium said the announcement that most retailers will be exempt from paying rates this year could be a "saving grace". "After staff costs, business rates are our industry's biggest expense," director Aodhan Connolly said. "The additional month break for all rates payers will be some small consolation to the larger grocery retailers who face higher costs and lower demand as a result of social-distancing measures which have cost over 5m. "It is disappointing they did not garner a similar rates break to Great Britain, though we do appreciate the minister paying tribute to the retailers who have kept Northern Ireland fed throughout this crisis." Big boost in times of unprecedented travel challenges Brian Ambrose, chief executive at Belfast City Airport, said the inclusion of funding to support Northern Ireland's airports was a much needed boost towards economic recovery. The airport will benefit from rates relief until March 31 next year. Expand Close Chief: Brian Ambrose of Belfast City Airport / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chief: Brian Ambrose of Belfast City Airport While it has remained open, it has been operating with a significantly reduced flight schedule to facilitate essential travel only, and the industry has come under severe economic pressures. "The Finance Minister's welcome announcement comes at a time when Northern Ireland's airports are facing unprecedented challenges," he said. "The Executive recognise the importance of air access in the recovery of our economy as today's statement testifies." Many charities still unsure what help they will get, if any Nora Smith, chief executive of charities umbrella group CO3, said many charities remain in desperate need of assistance. Any commitment to funding for the charitable sector is, of course, welcome, she said. Expand Close Questions: Nora Smith of CO3 / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Questions: Nora Smith of CO3 In recent weeks, we have heard that 15.5m is set aside for a Covid Charity Fund. However, we have had no detail on eligibility criteria or when it will open. Charities in Northern Ireland are losing millions of pounds. For the vast majority of them who are not in receipt of any public funding, nor eligible for any grants mentioned to date, the situation remains the same, with most unsure of what support they will get, if any. Income scheme is welcome news for substitute teachers Teachers union NASUWT said the income support scheme for substitute teachers provides much-needed relief. The unions national official in Northern Ireland, Justin McCamphill, said: Thousands of substitute teachers have lost out on the opportunity to work through the school closures. The hard reality is that schools simply could not function without these teachers. Expand Close Relief: Justin McCamphill / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Relief: Justin McCamphill Substitute teachers and their families are in crisis and many cannot pay their bills, heat their homes or feed their families. They have watched as other workers in the private sector, the self-employed and local government workers have been granted furlough payments while they had to wait desperately for this news. Support 'met with genuine relief' by NI's hotel industry The NI Hotels Federation said the rates relief until March 21 next year was a welcome step forward for the industry hardest hit by the Covid-19 crisis. This support recognises the catastrophic effect on the hotel sector and wider tourism industry and greatly appreciates the response from the department of targeted sectoral support, said CEO Janice Gault. Expand Close Welcome: Janice Gault / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Welcome: Janice Gault There was anxiety of an impending rates bill against a background of no trade income and fast-reducing cash reserves. Todays news has been met with genuine relief by local hoteliers. The department used an innovative approach in reaching this decision to identify those most affected by the pandemic. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 21:45:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BISHKEK, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyzstan's health authorities announced on Tuesday that COVID-19 infections in the country now stand at 1,243, with 27 new cases. Among the newly infected, two are medical workers, raising the total number of medical workers diagnosed with COVID-19 to 257, the country's deputy health minister Nurbolot Usenbaev told a regular news briefing. He said that the number of recovered cases increased to 898 with 71 new recoveries in the last 24 hours. "All their repeated tests showed negative results," Usenbaev added. To date, 331 patients have been treated in hospitals throughout the country, with six in intensive care. In total, 2,153 people who have had contact with infected patients are under medical observation. In addition, the first vice-mayor of the city of Naryn, David Kurmanov, tested positive for coronavirus and has been hospitalized, the city's mayor's office reported. Kurmanov's office has been placed under quarantine, after an inspection revealed that he contracted COVID-19 while performing work duties. Enditem Dallas, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Armor, a leading global cybersecurity software company that protects workloads in public, hybrid and private cloud environments, announced today that it is enhancing its Global Partner Program with several new initiatives. These include launching a new Managed Service Provider (MSP) program for partners, adding more ways for Armors partners: MSPs, VARS, Master Agents and Resellers to expand their global footprint and quickly bring cloud security solutions to market, and providing a more flexible business model for partners. According to Market Research Future, the global cloud security market is expected to grow to USD ~ 13 billion by 2022. As such, Armor has launched these new initiatives so that it can deliver to its partners the cybersecurity protections and supporting business resources they need to ensure that their customers critical data and applications are protected. Armor MSP Program -- Incentives and Capabilities The new MSP program is a major initiative of Armors Global Partner Program, and the company is making additional support and service offerings available to MSP partners. Armor wants to ensure that the MSPs have all the tools and resources needed to guide their customers step by step through their security journey. The new incentives and capabilities for MSPs include: Multi-Tenant Management Capabilities One of the most exciting new elements of functionality built into the Armor Anywhere platform includes its multi-tenant management capabilities and all from one portal. These management capabilities include: Enable MSPs to onboard and manage new customers. Enable MSPs to manage customer licenses, consolidate customer billing, and be alerted to customer security incidents. Receive timely customer threat reports. 2. Training around Troubleshooting and Triaging Technical Issues Armor also provides training for its MSPs on how to troubleshoot and triage technical issues, thus enabling the MSPs to become true strategic security consultants to their clients. Advantages for Armor MSP Partners Armors MSP partners are able to take total ownership of their customers, while Armor helps the MSPs evolve their business so they can add more cloud security solutions and services to their portfolio. They are able to capture recurring revenue by white labeling Armors security software or they can co-brand with Armor and also increase their cloud security sales. Armor uses a business consultative and comprehensive approach with its MSPs, working closely together to ensure success. The Armor Anywhere cloud security platform has been an excellent addition to our portfolio of AWS managed security services, said Simon Walker, AWS Services Director at Bytes AWS. Over the years, Armor has continued to enhance and expand the functionality of its Armor Anywhere solution. The company has created a robust, cutting-edge security platform, which is easy to use and which meets many of the key compliance requirements of our customers. Most importantly, Armor Anywhere provides the cyber protections our customers need to defend its data and applications from threats, in their AWS cloud environments. We are pleased to be a part of Armors partner program and to be able to have the Armor Anywhere solution as a part of our managed security-as-a-service offering, stated Simon Walker. Armor is excited about the launch of its new MSP program and the flexible partner business model we have created which gives our partners the opportunity to achieve more rewards, as they achieve more milestones within Armors Global Partner Program, said Matt Cook, Chief Revenue Officer for Armor. We have worked hard to build a program which makes it easy for all of our partners to launch a comprehensive cloud security solution. The partners are already looked to by their customers as their trusted IT advisors. By partnering with Armor, they can increase their revenues and strengthen their customer relationships by delivering proven, robust security solutions. This gives organizations peace of mind that their data and applications are secure, allowing them to focus on their core business. In addition to being Chief Revenue Officer for Armor, Cook oversees all of Armors Channel programs and was recently included in CRNs 2020 Channel Chief listing. New Program Enhancements for All Armor Partners The second major initiative of Armors Global Partner Program consists of adding more economic incentives for partners, e.g. providing more rewards and programs to bring in new customers. They include: New incentives and rewards . Armor is providing new incentives to its partners, including rewarding them with money, gift cards and other fun prizes. . Armor is providing new incentives to its partners, including rewarding them with money, gift cards and other fun prizes. Additional Routes to Market. Our partners have the opportunity to accelerate their go-to-market strategies benefiting from additional routes to market via Armor and our mutual partner ecosystem across MSPs, VARs, CSPs, ISVs and Agents. Our partners have the opportunity to accelerate their go-to-market strategies benefiting from additional routes to market via Armor and our mutual partner ecosystem across MSPs, VARs, CSPs, ISVs and Agents. Tailored Training. Armor is providing additional training designed to address partners evolving business models, needs and requirements to be successful in delivering customers cybersecurity solutions and services. This will allow partners to specialize in emerging areas through tailored training and certifications such as ransomware, compliance, the cloud shared responsibility mode, etc. Armor is providing additional training designed to address partners evolving business models, needs and requirements to be successful in delivering customers cybersecurity solutions and services. This will allow partners to specialize in emerging areas through tailored training and certifications such as ransomware, compliance, the cloud shared responsibility mode, etc. New marketing services and programs to drive increased pipeline and revenue, including lead sharing. Armor will provide customized marketing plans for partners. New Flexible Business Model for Partners Armor recognizes that each partners business is unique. Thus, it has created a more flexible business model to accommodate the partners business goals and requirements. The partner model consists of up to three levels, which are based on achieving specific milestones, such as revenue goals, training and skillsets. Partners can decide their commitment level and progress through milestones at their own pace. As a partners efforts and investment in the program increases, so do a partners rewards, discounts and access to resources. Partner Levels Include: Authorized Authorized partners receive training and sales support and are eligible for deal by deal assistance. They benefit from named Armor staff, ongoing portal access, and promotion on Armor's website. Expert Expert partners receive substantial benefits based on their investment in training and their increased commitment to selling Armor's solutions. Enhanced benefits include customized marketing plans, co-marketing funds and lead sharing Master Master partners demonstrate the highest level of commitment and are rewarded with the highest level of rewards. Acting as true advisors these partners enjoy enhanced benefits including joint events and invitation to Armor's partner advisory board About Armor Armor is a global cybersecurity software company that simplifies protecting data and applications in private, public or hybrid cloud environments. Armor Anywhere provides technology to detect and respond to threats and can be activated in minutes. Armor also helps organizations comply to major regulatory frameworks and controls. Armor combines workload protection, analytics from cloud-native sources, and other security data to provide unparalleled insight into threats facing organizations. Armors cybersecurity experts monitor customer environments 24/7/365 and if an attack takes place, helps customers respond quickly and effectively. Armor protects over 1000 customers in over 40 countries. To learn more, visit www.armor.com or follow @armor on Twitter. Mykhailo Tsymbaliuk, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Batkivshchyna, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Social Policy and Protection of Veterans Rights Today in Ukraine more than 30% of heads of district state administrations (DSA) remain unassigned. During the period of quarantine measures and the fight against coronavirus infection, the red tape with the appointment of DSA leaders not only increases the great risks and threats to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians on the ground (among the general public), but also threatens the functioning of the whole country. Thus, as of the beginning of May, only 314 DSA heads were appointed out of the 490 required. And those districts that do not yet have new leaders are headed mainly by deputies appointed during the previous president. Ternopil and Kyiv oblasts are indicative of the collapse of the administrative vertical. In particular, in Ternopil region, which was one of the first in the epicenter of the mass spread of coronavirus from 17 districts, only 5 heads of DSA were appointed, and in Kyiv region from 25 districts, only 10 heads... It is difficult to even imagine the principle of communication and delivery of the necessary information on the chain Office of the President-RSA-DSA, so it is not surprising that in the beginning many regions submitted real numbers of diseases on COVID-19 too late. According to the legislation, heads of district state administrations are appointed and dismissed by the President of Ukraine on the proposal of the heads of regional state administrations and with the relevant consent of the Government. That is, the head of the district administration is in fact a representative of the president and head of the region in his district. This is very important in the system of interaction, as this status includes, in particular, the possibility of coordinating the work of law enforcement officers at all levels. The staff shortage in our country was not even planned a year ago, but in fact we see a shortage of staff both on the ground and even in the Government, especially since three more ministers have not been appointed. And a year ago, the team of the new Guarantor of the Constitution launched the LIFT project. Its main purpose was to make an honest and transparent selection of specialists, during which abuse will be prevented. In the end, as experience shows, positions in district state administrations are not awarded to LIFT winners, but to their people who have previously agreed on the positions. And such cases when the so-called independent social platform is ignored are observed in almost every region. Ukrainians were given hope that almost everyone could get their dream job only by filling out an application on the LIFT platform, but over time it became clear that this initiative turned out to be a banal huge scam and manipulation, a kind of cover, when some go through 10 hellish rounds of selection, and others without any competition have already been appointed. All the candidates for public office did go through 10 stages of selection - filling out questionnaires, taking the first interview by phone, carefully checking their data for correctness, studying the candidates psychology, testing their knowledge of the law and finally inviting them for a personal interview, and after that they simply refused, saying that they had found another candidate or did not explain anything at all. So a logical question arises what was the purpose of this platform? To give hope, and then to cut everything off and let a person into obscurity, knowing that all this is a formality and for the society to believe in a good picture of change in our country And how many cases are known when candidates for certain positions passed all the stages, interviews, in the end read on the websites of the structures that the competition did not take place. An illustrative example is again Ternopil region. This area was without a leader for 5 months last year, and only in October was an entrepreneur appointed there who did not hide his friendly ties with the 95th quarter. Journalists have not been able to find out whether the official passed the LIFT interviews. In the end, the man did not sit long in his chair - in four months he wrote a letter of resignation, failing to cope with the tasks of the President of Ukraine to organize a reception of Ukrainians from China for the period of self-isolation. In this context, one more logical question arises whether the President is confident in his subordinates and in what direction they will make decisions in a critical situation. It seems that the inexpediency of the social platform was recognized by both the Office of the President and the presidential parliamentary monomajority. Earlier, the head of the Office on Bankova in Kyiv Andrii Yermak noted, that finding a professional person with high moral values who is ready to dedicate himself to work for the state is not so easy. Therefore, Andrii Yermak proposes to the heads of regional state administrations to introduce positions of deputies for work with talented youth, who would be engaged in forming a list of ambitious young and talented people from the regions to work for the state and on the ground to create a personnel reserve. The LIFT was ignored here They will not use the social platform in the Presidents team on the eve of local elections this year, but will resort to a system which is similar to the American primaries a type of voting in which they will choose a single candidate from a political party, but will also take into account recommendations. The main speakers from the pro-government party are already talking about this. Here, as never before, the words of Hryhorii Skovoroda are relevant: What ignites quickly, suddenly goes out. And the same is with the LIFT system, which was so pompously presented last year with promises that everyone can easily try themselves in the competition for high positions, and in the end, we see now on this platform hang job invitations for secretaries or accountants. [May 19, 2020] VIVEX Biologics Announces Presentation of Clinical Results of VIA Disc During Webinar Series Hosted by The American Society of Pain & Neuroscience (ASPN) First large randomized controlled trial to demonstrate clinically significant and objective benefit from treating the disc, the most common source of back pain Presentation to be part of continuing medical education (CME) event ATLANTA and MIAMI, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VIVEX Biologics, Inc., a leading regenerative medicine company specializing in the development of naturally sourced treatment options, today announced that results from the companys VAST study, a 12-month trial evaluating VIA Disc, will be presented as part of a continuing medical education (CME) webinar series hosted by The American Society of Pain & Neuroscience. Details regarding the webinar can be found below: Event: ASPN CME Webinar Series: Intradiscal Biologics Date: Thursday, May 21, 2020 Registration Link: Intradiscal Biologics Time: 9:00 p.m. EDT Douglas Beall, M.D., chief of radiology services at Clinical Radiology of Oklahoma and principal investigator of the VAST study, will be presenting data from VIVEXs 12-month stdy of VIA Disc for treatment of patients with one- or two-level symptomatic degenerative disc disease (DDD). Initial results were recently published in the peer-reviewed journal The International Journal of Spine Surgery . We are delighted to have additional details about the therapeutic potential of VIA Disc presented as part of this webinar series, said Peter Wehrly, chief executive officer of VIVEX. To date, VIA Disc is the only non-surgical allogeneic disc tissue supplement to demonstrate clinically meaningful results in one- and two-level treated patients, ultimately reducing patients pain and improving quality of life. We look forward to sharing our findings among webinar participants. VIA Disc is a non-surgical, injectable intradiscal treatment option for patients suffering from chronic discogenic lower back pain resulting from degenerative disc disease (DDD). The VAST trial is the largest randomized controlled trial on multi-level disc disease to demonstrate clinically significant and important benefit from treating the disc, the anatomic site considered to be the most common source of back pain. The VAST trial is a prospective, randomized, parallel-arm, multicenter study approved to enroll up to 220 subjects at up to 15 clinical sites. About VIVEX Biologics, Inc. VIVEX Biologics is a pioneer in regenerative medicine, specializing in the development of naturally sourced treatment options and solutions that improve clinical, surgical and therapeutic patient care through innovation. With tissue damage resulting from a variety of diseases, direct injury or trauma, there is a significant need for advanced solutions. By leveraging the resources of the nations oldest civilian tissue bank, VIVEX is channeling the bodys inherent healing qualities to bring patients optimal care and to provide medical professionals and patients with innovative treatment options for a broad range of indications. Media Contact: Andrew Mielach Associate Director LifeSci Communications (646) 876-5868 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Actress & TV personality Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku was the proud host of Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) COVID-19 Heroes Concert, which was held on Sunday night. Broadcast live on TV3, the virtual concert was in honour of the frontline workers of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was organised by the Ghana Music Awards Foundation to rally a national applause for professionals helping to treat and/or limit the spread of the coronavirus The concert had celebrated acts like Efya, Wiyaala, Akwaboah, Amandzeba Nat Brew, Kofi Kinaata, Medikal, Kwesi Arthur, Diana Hamilton, Celestine Donkor, Adina, Joe Mettle, among others, put up amazing performances. It was Naa Ashorkors first-ever major hosting event since her exit from the Multimedia Group two weeks ago. She dominated the headlines when she announced on May 6 that she has lost her job at the Multimedia Group after working with them for three years. The COVID-19 pandemic constraint on companies was one of the reasons she cited for her job loss. I have got good news and bad news everyone! With immediate effect as of yesterday, my now former employers, Multimedia Group, terminated my appointment. Thats the bad news. Now for the good news, such situations only give my God the opportunity to show up. Its not an easy time to be out of a regular and steady income. We are not in normal times, but hey, I would like to use this opportunity to encourage everyone who has lost their job or income during these difficult times to not lose hope. Hope is an amazing thing that gives us the ability to stand and trust God in such difficult circumstances. Dont lose hope, she wrote. ---Daily Guide Researchers at Peking University claim they have developed a drug that can bring COVID-19 to a halt. The coronavirus drug, for which clinical trial is underway, could shorten recovery time in patients and offer short immunity, claim the university scientists. The drug has passed the animal testing stage with flying colours, Sunney Xie, Director of the university's Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Genomics, told AFP. "When we injected neutralising antibodies into infected mice, after five days the viral load was reduced by a factor of 2,500," he added. Claiming the drug could have a therapeutic effect on coronavirus patients, Xie said the drug used antibodies that were produced by recovered patients, which not only cured the patients but also provided immunity from the virus. "Our expertise is single-cell genomics rather than immunology or virology. When we realised that the single-cell genomic approach can effectively find the neutralising antibody we were thrilled," said Xie, reported the agency. Also read: Ashwagandha crucial for coronavirus vaccine? IIT Delhi, Japan's AIST make fascinating discovery So, when will the potential drug be ready for widespread usage? Xie believes it could take about six months before the drug is ready for use. After the animal stage, planning for a clinical trial is going on in full swing, Xie said, adding the first clinical trial would be conducted in Australia due to no new infections in China. Besides, around five potential coronavirus vaccines are at the human trial stage in China. Also read: Coronavirus vaccine update: PM-CARES funds India's efforts; Oxford sees some positive results The plasma therapy has shown potential benefits in many countries, including India and China. While around 700 patients have reportedly recovered via the plasma therapy in China, Indian states including Delhi and Maharashtra also conducted similar trials on patients. They also showed promising results. Researchers, however, believe plasma therapy results are only early findings and shouldn't be mistaken with a permanent cure for coronavirus. Plasma treatment uses blood plasma of patients who have completely recovered from the virus. The patients build antibodies that help them recover. Blood and the plasma are taken out from the recovered patients and injected into an infected person. The infused antibodies aid the affected patients to recover as well. In all, over 100 COVID vaccines are being developed by various companies and research organisations across the world. They are at different stages of development. On Monday, the Cambridge-headquartered firm Moderna said it had completed the Phase I of its trials and that results were very encouraging. It also said the FDA has given its nod to Phase II of the trials. The second stage would involve 600 volunteers to find whether the proposed vaccine candidate is effective. Also read: Coronavirus vaccine: Multiple trials show positive results but concerns about timeframe remain Former VP viewed with scepticism by some Latinos for his ties to deportation policies during the Obama administration. Joe Bidens campaign for president of the United States is bringing on the granddaughter of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez as a senior adviser to help with Latino outreach, the campaign announced on Tuesday a move that follows criticism from Latino leaders who say the Democrat is not doing enough to embrace a key demographic group. The new adviser, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, previously worked as national political codirector on California Senator Kamala Harriss presidential campaign and was her California state director before that. She still works as a consultant to Harris. She joins Cristobal Alex, a former president of the Latino Victory Fund, who serves as Bidens senior adviser for issues involving Hispanic voters. Biden is viewed with scepticism by some Latinos for his ties to deportation policies during the Obama administration. He struggled with Latino outreach throughout the Democratic presidential primary, facing pro-immigration protesters, and last November his most senior Latina aide quit the campaign after reportedly raising concerns that the campaign hadnt focused enough on Latino voters. Indeed, Latino voters strongly sided with former candidate Senator Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary. A Biden supporter with a sign from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers at Bidens celebration in Columbia, South Carolina in February [Jeremy Young/Al Jazeera] Small and scrappy National polls by Reuters/Ipsos suggest that only about a quarter of Hispanics would choose current US President Donald Trump in a matchup with Biden. But the number supporting Biden dipped to 46 percent from 51 percent from February to April while Trumps numbers held steady. Former President Barack Obama won 71 percent of Hispanic support in 2012 with Biden as his running mate, according to the Pew Research Center. Democrat Hillary Clinton won 66 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2016. Democrats and Latino strategists say the Biden campaign needs to show more urgency both in its messaging and ground game to win over what is expected to be the largest non-white voting bloc in the 2020 presidential election. Just saying negative things about President Trump is not going to be enough to get people excited to vote for anybody, said Javier Cuebas, a political consultant who worked on Democratic presidential campaigns for Al Gore and John Kerry. Biden campaign officials say they are expanding outreach to Hispanic voters after a small and scrappy operation during the Democratic presidential contest that effectively ended last month. They are targeting major Hispanic populations in states like Florida and Arizona, as well as smaller but potentially decisive communities in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which have larger Latino populations than Trumps 2016 margin of victory in those crucial states. We havent turned on the ignition yet, said senior Biden adviser Cristobal Alex. What youre going to see once we do is a very substantial increase in support for Vice President Biden. Volunteer Bea Nevarez talks with a potential voter during door-to-door canvassing in Tucson, Arizona [File: Caitlin OHara/Reuters] Coronavirus complications Turning on the ignition has been complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has limited Biden to holding virtual events from his home. The campaign must quickly find new ways to make the person-to-person contacts needed to turn out Latino voters, campaign officials admit, a task made more difficult by the voting blocs diverse interests. In Florida, for example, the states 1.1 million Puerto Ricans many of them displaced by Hurricane Maria mostly vote for Democrats, while the 1.5 million Cuban Americans are traditionally Republican thanks to the partys hardline policies towards the Communist-run Cuban government. Many Latinos also are part of evangelical congregations drawn to the Republican Partys opposition to abortion and gay rights. Many Hispanic voters oppose Trumps drive to build a wall on the US-Mexico border and his aggressive deportation practices. But the Obama administrations record of deporting large numbers of people has also left some Latinos wary of Biden. Biden has said he would put a moratorium on deportations, except for violent offenders, reverse Trumps executive orders on immigration, and introduce an immigration reform bill on his first day in the White House. The Biden campaign has hosted virtual events this month under the Todos con Biden (All with Biden) banner, and the candidates wife, Jill Biden, held a video call with Latino leaders in Arizona last week and continues to hold weekly calls with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who are lobbying her husband to appoint a Latina as his vice presidential candidate in a show of commitment to Hispanic voters. Among the Latina candidates being considered are New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, who told allies in recent days that Bidens campaign has begun vetting her for vice president, and Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, who is being championed by former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of that state. The central government on Monday notified the appointment of judicial officer P Krishna Bhat as a judge of the Karnataka high court judge, almost four years after his name was recommended by the Supreme Court collegium. During the period since Bhats name was first recommended on August 23, 2016, the Supreme Court collegium passed resolutions three times recommending his elevation, the latest on October 15, 2019. In exercise of the power conferred by clause (1) of Article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Sri Panjigadde Krishna Bhat, to be an additional judge of the Karnataka High Court, for a period of two years with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office, the notification appointing Bhat said, ending the deadlock between the Central government and the collegium. Bhats name was recommended by the Karnataka high courts collegium in February 2016. It was cleared by the Supreme Court collegium in August 2016, but was returned by the Central government, which cited a complaint filed against him by another judge in Karnataka. The Supreme Court collegium stood by its recommendation and reiterated it through a resolution dated April 6, 2017. It was again reiterated on October 15, 2019, when the collegium went to the extent of directing the Central government to process the file on Bhats appointment most expeditiously. While other Supreme Court collegium recommendations made in October 2019 to the Karnataka high court were processed by the Central government, Bhats appointment took another seven months. The episode regarding Bhats appointment to the Karnataka high court generated a lot of attention, particularly after Justice Jasti Chelameswar, now retired, wrote a strongly worded letter in March 2018 to then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, objecting to what he considered as interference by the government with the elevation of Bhat. The letter said the executive was trying to impede Bhats appointment. Bhat was embroiled in controversy in 2016 when a complaint was filed against him by another judge, MS Shashikala, when Bhats elevation was around the corner. The complaint was investigated by the then Karnataka high court chief justice SK Mukherjee, who cleared Bhat and noted that while he was serving as district and sessions judge in 2014, he had sent a report to the high court about the alleged misconduct of Shashikala, who was then a first class judicial magistrate. Mukherjee stated in his report that Shashikala had made allegations against Bhat to malign him. When the collegium recommended Bhats elevation to the Karnataka high court, the Central government sought a report from the high court chief justice on Bhat. Justice Chelameswar, in his letter to Chief Justice Dipak Misra, objected to the same, stating there was no such instance in the past he could recollect when the executive bypassed the Supreme Court collegium regarding a recommendation made by the collegium and sought a report from the high court chief justice about the concerned judge, despite the fact that allegations against the judge had already been held to be false. In 2018, the elevation of Justice KM Joseph to the Supreme Court had been delayed for nearly eight months before it was eventually notified in August 2018. Former Chief Justice TS Thakur had broken down during a conference of chief ministers and chief justices in April 2016, citing the delay by the Central government in clearing names recommended by the collegium for appointment as judges. High courts are functioning with only 64% of their sanctioned strength according to the latest figures released by the law ministry. As of May 1, there are only 694 judges in the 25 high courts, as against a sanctioned strength of 1,079, with 385 posts vacant. Health official: Omicron cases 'just skyrocketing here in the community' As of Jan. 18, McLaren Northern Michigan had 23 COVID-19 inpatients at the Petoskey-based hospital, which included 10 in critical care units and 13 in non-critical care units. Fears for Camilla, after Prince Charles has tested positive for the dreaded coronavirus and recovered from it, prompted a massive ban on a special event. Concerns regarding not just the royals' health but also their fans necessitated a press blackout last week. Royal advisers felt extremely anxious last week when Prince Charles and his wife Camilla led Britain in a two-minute silence to commemorate VE Day. Before the event, a media blackout had to be ordered for safety reasons; otherwise, experts believed that it would have been catastrophic, health-wise. Leading up to the event, the media were compelled to stay mum about who, where, and how the two-minute silence would take place. Royal ladies believed that if any of the information leaked, royal fans uncaring of the pandemic would troop to the location, given that it is public land. If they did, it would have triggered a spike in infection rates, at the very least. While prince Charles was already tested positive for the virus and recovered, his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall was not. Camila would have been at great risk if the event was not contained, as would the people who would gather for the event. Speaking to ITV's Royal Rota, Lizzie Robinson, a palace expert, explained in detail why. According to her, the Balmoral war memorial was held just outside the estate, public land that can be accessed by the public. Worries of possible crowding and contagion taking place promoted the royal team to be very careful not to disclose their location where Charles and Camilla would be leading the event from. According to ITV's Royal Editor, Chris Ship, all week long before the event, all they knew was that a senior royal member of the family would do the leading, but they did not who. "They wouldn't say who, or where, or how. And all of that was because they didn't want people to gather to come and look at them," Ship surmised. Robinson then added that even when they uncovered that it would be Charles and Camilla from Scotland who would lead the ceremony, they could not get information about the location. To risk a public gathering is simply a no-go and very unwise at this moment of crisis. There are social distancing and quarantine policies in place for a reason, after all. It was a preemptive measure that the palace should certainly be applauded on. It is no joke to be inflicted with the disease. Prince Charles is merely lucky to have recovered, especially at his age, which is said to be among those at risk of suffering fatally. According to a recent report, though, apart from luck, Prince Charles also recovered because his immune system is strong. His immune system has been strengthened by exercise. As studies have shown, moderate exercise can have a positive impact on a person's immune system, making it able to withstand the wrath of coronavirus, compared to those who do not exercise. All senior royal members of the palace are presently practicing quarantine and social distancing measures, to make sure they could stay safe in the middle of it all. That said, everyone is also active in uplifting the spirits of the British and continuing to help in any way they could. Queen Elizabeth, Prince William, and Kate Middleton are the prime examples. GSEB HSC Results 2020 | The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Education Board has said that GSEB HSC Results for Arts and Commerce streams would not be announced today. The results will be out in June. GSEB HSC Results 2020 | The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Education Board has said that GSEB HSC Results for Arts and Commerce streams would not be announced on Tuesday, according to media reports. The board has cautioned students not to pay attention to fake notifications doing rounds on social media. The results will be declared in June. GSEB had recently announced the HSC results for the science stream. A fake circular has been made using the official notification released for Science Stream and this fake circular said that result for Arts and Commerce streams would be declared on 19 May. The doctored notice contains the signature of Science stream exam Regulator JG Pandya, whereas the exam controller for Arts and Commerce stream is Avni Mori. GSEB chairman A J Shah has said that the fake notice has been put out by some people to confuse students who are worried about the declaration of Gujarat Board Class 12 results. Students are advised to keep visiting the official website of the board at regular intervals for any update. Around 16 lakh students appeared for the Gujarat Board exam this year, out of which around six lakh appeared for the Class 12 exam. The GSEB Class 12 Science result shows that the pass percentage of girls dropped from 72.01 percent last year to 70.85 percent this year, while that of boys dipped marginally from 71.83 percent to 71.69 percent. Rajkot emerged as the top-performing district with a pass percentage of 91.42. Gujarat Board is the second education board to declare results amid coronavirus lockdown. Before it, Bihar Board has declared Class 12 results. CEO, Basani Maluleke's long-stated goal of transforming African Bank into a fully transnational South African bank: offering near free banking coupled with digital convenience has been fast forwarded by the Covid-19 pandemic. Here's what she's got to say. Basani Maluleke, CEO, African Bank What is a typical workday in lockdown life? Managing staff health and moral: daily communication to all employees on keeping themselves and their loved ones safe, healthy and motivated. Additional communication to employees on the importance of continuing to perform their duties to sustain the organisation. Managing the business: creating agility to enable the organization to react quickly as regulations change, as people become infected and as the world around us changes. Monitoring changes in economic and social indicators to assess potential impact on the business. Finding new ways to maintain productivity while working remotely. What was your initial response to the lockdown and has your experience of it been different to what you expected? What impact has Covid-19 had on your company, the industry or economy as a whole? Comment on the challenges and opportunities The world has really turned to innovation during this time. Why do you think this is the case and what does this mean? My day is divided into three parts.Firstly, dealing with Covid-19 health matters such as checking in with team members to make sure that everyone continues to be healthy, both physically and emotionally. Perusing daily internal reports on new infections, people of interest, compliance with new regulations and submission of reports to different regulators and stakeholders. Reviewing reports about the potential trajectory and economic impact of the virus.Secondly, there are the strategic matters of planning and revising scenarios as new information becomes available. This is to develop an appropriate response to the outbreak to sustain the business and identify new opportunities that may arise as the economy and consumer needs adapt to a world reshaped by the outbreak.Thirdly, its the business unusual matters such as:My initial response was to create an action plan and enable as many people as possible to work from home. This was complimented by multiple conversations about the potential impact on the business and how to prepare for our future. Seven weeks later, the urgency to act has been overtaken by a need to deeply reflect on the future, to gather relevant information and to build capacity for the business to respond quickly to changes in the external environment. It has become clear that we will be in some form of lockdown, complimented with social distancing, masks and hand hygiene when we are out in public, for a long time. This requires careful planning around keeping employees and customers safe, while pivoting the business to respond to new threats and opportunities.The full impact is still unknown as the story of Covid-19 is still evolving. However, we have been pleasantly surprised by how quickly our people have adjusted to working from home. We have also acknowledged the importance of accelerating our plans to bring more of our customers on line and to automate more of our processes. The estimates of anticipated infection rates, job losses and economic contraction are deeply concerning and have necessitated a thorough review of our business model. We expect that customer preferences will be forever changed and that we need to evolve to remain relevant to our customers.The main challenge for African Bank is accelerating the development of a digital bank while continuing to serve a customer base that has a strong preference for our branch network. While this preference will change, there will be a delicate process of migrating customers to digital channels. Fortunately, this is a challenge faced by many sectors of the economy, not just banks. Accordingly, we anticipate that the migration will be expedited. The opportunities include creating efficiencies in our operations as employees adopt new ways of working and increasing automation is effected. From a customer perspective, the opportunity lies in developing digital channels that are intuitive and become indispensable to customers. This can be achieved through partnerships so as to create an ecosystem to serve customers evolving needs.The Covid-19 outbreak will change the way that we live and work for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, innovation is required to enable businesses to remain relevant to customers as their needs change. For the banking sector, at a minimum, this means continuing to invest in digital channels to create superior customer experiences and value propositions. It also means investing in our people to upskill them on the new ways of work and the skills required to support a more digital business. It is trite that banks will become software businesses that sell banking. This requires new skills and vision. Covid-19 seems to have strengthened Indias cooperative and competitive federalism the two concepts Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been stressing on since 2014. The pandemic has created an extraordinary situation which seeks extraordinary efforts between the Centre and states to work in coordination. The Modi government invoked the 1897 Epidemic Diseases Act and the post-2004 tsunami Disaster Management Act (DMA) of 2005 to assume extraordinary powers to impose four lockdowns. Interestingly, it was Modis calibrated strategy to field the chief ministers of the 30 states at the forefront while playing the role of captain of the ship. For the first time, the PM conducted his cooperative federalism in the five virtual meetings with the chief ministers in full public glare. The whole country watched their interaction on TV. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about quite a transformation with the Centre and states on the same page, bringing the strength of federalism to the fore. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has lauded the strength of federalism displayed by the cooperation among different states. In this time of crisis, the strength of the federal structure has come to the fore. I spoke personally with various CMs Kerala (Pinarayi Vijayan), Maharashtra (Uddhav Thackeray) and Delhi (Arvind Kejriwal) where our people are stuck, Soren said, adding that there was complete understanding among them. There is also a competitive spirit among the chief ministers as they try to out-do each other in their performance against the coronavirus. All states cannot perform at the same level because of their size, finances, development and other reasons. It is clear that states like Odisha, Kerala and Rajasthan have done better than other states and the northeast has also fared well. In a rare gesture the Prime Minister has lavished praise on the performing chief ministers; Ashok Gehlot, Mamata Banerjee and Pinarayi Vijayan in particular in his virtual meetings. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Modi has been increasingly relying on building consensus among the state chieftains. Contrary to his image of an authoritarian leader, he has become a consensus-seeker. For example, the PM told a meeting of chief ministers on April 11: Any chief minister can speak to me anytime. We should stand together shoulder-to-shoulder. The latter, too, have accepted the Team India spirit. This cooperation from the state chieftains is also due to the fact that they sense tremendous political good if they rise to the occasion. Though the pandemic has enabled provincial chieftains to function in a spirit of cooperation and competition, the chief ministers had their share of grievances with Modi on issues like lack of resources, testing kits, migrant displacement and delay in getting their share of the GST compensation. But both set aside their differences and put up a united fight against the pandemic, importantly since health is a state subject. The states depend on the Centre for funds and early disbursal of funds from the Centre is critical. They face twin challenges to contain the spread of the pandemic and to increase public activity gradually while adhering to government guidelines like social distancing. While states like Punjab and Assam had sought further extension of the lockdown, others like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Telangana wanted to put off resuming rail and air traffic. Modi is an experienced politician and knows that he needs the support of every section to succeed in his Covid-19 strategy, more so from the chief ministers as it is the states which are bearing the brunt of the pandemic. He referred to how he had to deal with the 2002 earthquake as Gujarat chief minister. Therefore, he took them into confidence right from day one of the first lockdown and held five virtual meetings with them. He has now left the post-lockdown strategy to the states. The PM as well as the CMs are riding a tiger, and as long as there is lockdown, they are in control. But the post-lockdown period is tricky because no one knows whether the coronavirus will spread further or whether people will follow guidelines like social distancing, wearing masks etc. He has now asked chief ministers to make a blueprint for the post-lockdown strategy. Modi is cleverly using the chief ministers for his success as if the coronavirus is contained he will take the credit, and if it does not, he can always put the onus on chief ministers for not performing well. Clever chief ministers, too, will take the credit if things work out, and if they fail, blame it on the Centre. Indeed for both, it is a test and opportunity to perform. With cyclone 'Amphan' set to lash coastal areas of Bengal on May 20, the forest department on Tuesday formed rapid response teams to ensure that tigers from Sundarbans in South 24 Parganas district do not stray into nearby human settlements after the landfall. Chief Wildlife Warden Ravi Kant Sinha said a control room has been set up at Gosaba area in the district by the forest department to monitor the situation in the mangrove jungles 24x7. The department's central control room in Salt Lake area will be in constant touch with the Gosaba unit and keep a close watch on wildlife movement in the forest. If there are attempts by tigers to stray from the core reserve area into the contiguous villages, we will be able to notice that from the two control rooms and our rapid response teams will take steps to send back the animal to its habitat," he explained. The response teams have been deployed in Sajnekhali and Jharkhali areas of South 24 Parganas with tranquiliser guns, net and speed boats to negotiate the creeks crisscrossing the forest. Asked if there were chances of depletion in tiger prey base such as the deer population if the cyclone ravages the coastal areas of the state, Sinha said, "Measures will be taken depending on the situation." The number of tigers in Sunderbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, stands at 96 -- with 73 being in the core reserve area and 23 in the adjacent parts. A forest department official said residents, especially the fishermen community, in Gosaba, Dayapur, Balidwip, Sajnekhali, Pakhirala, among other nearby areas have been asked to exercise caution while venturing out. "We are using microphones to warn people against venturing out into the tiger reserve to catch crabs, shrimps or collect honey," Sinha added. Amphan is expected to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon between Digha in West Bengal and Hatia island in Bangladesh as an extremely severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds ranging up to 195 kmph. Squid and deep-sea fish dazzle potential predators with a bioluminescent flash of light that allows them to escape, researchers have found. Biologists investigated the feeding habits of elephant seals which traditionally feast on lantern fish and squid that live at great depths in the murky ocean. To find out how the seals find their prey in the dark, the team attaches GPS trackers and light-detecting sensors to five seals from the Kerguelen Islands in the Antarctic. They found that the bioluminescent glow of their prey allows the seals to hunt but that the glowing animals can also use light to their advantage, too. Squid and deep-sea fish dazzle potential predators with a bioluminescent flash of light pictured in blue that allows them to escape, researchers have found We know how far [seals] go, for how long, how deep they dive and that they target currents and boundaries between oceans where they find prey in large numbers,' said paper author and biologist Pauline Goulet, of the University of St Andrews. 'Bioluminescent organisms are the main source of light 80 per cent in waters deeper than 500 metres.' These animals produce two forms of light a continual dim glow for camouflage from beneath and dazzling flashes, which experts had thought might used to distract predators. Ms Goulet and colleagues wondered whether the light would attract the seals to the glowing animals, or instead scare them off. 'Because the bioluminescent flashes are so short, typically less than a second, the tags required a very fast light sensor,' Ms Goulet said. The scientists travelled to the Kerguelen Islands in the Antarctic which are also known as the Desolation Islands to attach sensors and GPS trackers to five elephant seal mothers. When the seals returned two months later, the team retrieved four of the tags and found that most of the animals had embarked on a 1,864-mile (3,000-kilometre) odyssey deep into fish-packed regions of the ocean. However, one intrepid Argentinian seal circumnavigated Cape Horn travelling 1,429 miles (2,300 kilometres) before it located fish off the coast of Chile. Analysing the seals' movements and scrutinising over 2,000 bioluminescent flashes captured at depths ranging from 2592.359 feet (79719 m), the scientists confirmed that the flashing animals were indeed using light to scare off their attackers. The scientists travelled to the Kerguelen Islands in the Antarctic which are also known as the Desolation Islands to attach sensors and GPS trackers to five elephant seal mothers 'The prey always emits a flash the second the seal launches an attack, which suggests that the flash is a defensive reaction when the prey realises it is being attacked,' said Ms Goulet. The seals quickly snapped up any fish that failed to light up but found it harder to capture prey that lit up unexpectedly. One crafty seal, however, was seen to turn the tables tricking the prey into giving themselves away with a subtle twitch of its head that triggered an exposing flash. 'It seems that bioluminescent fish fight back by attempting to startle their elephant seal pursuers, but their attackers can also learn to exploit their preys bioluminescent betrayal,' Ms Goulet concluded. The full findings of the study were published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Chicago radio host's attorney moves to dismiss James MacDonald's defamation lawsuit Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The lawyer for a Chicago-area radio host, whose airing of former Harvest Bible Chapel pastor James MacDonald's words on a hot mic led to Macdonald's firing, has filed a motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit. The attorney for WLS/AM 890 radio host Matthew Erich "Mancow" Muller who was once a parishioner at HBC and former friend of MacDonald's has characterized a suit brought by MacDonald against his client as a "vindictive fishing expedition" and has moved for its dismissal. Muller's attorney, Michael J. Young, also alleged that the lawsuit was filed so that the former pastor, who led the multi-site megachurch for over 30 years before being ousted in February of last year, could continue living an opulent lifestyle. MacDonald's lawsuit claims that the radio host violated state laws pertaining to eavesdropping when Muller aired audio footage of comments MacDonald made while on a hot mic in which he was heard talking about planting child pornography on Christianity Today CEO's Harold Smith's computer, uttering crude remarks about independent investigative journalist Julie Roys including joking that she had an affair with then CT Editor-in-Chief Mark Galli and making a vulgar reference to Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. Young maintained that the law is on Muller's side in light of the circumstances. Muller, a media member, was within his rights and obligations to hold Plaintiff up to public scrutiny, to share disturbing information about Plaintiff as he saw fit, and air the tape of Plaintiffs own derogatory comments, he wrote in a memorandum that was filed Friday. Mullers opinions and statements may have been upsetting but were protected speech, privileged, or substantially true. He continued, (I)mmediately after Muller made the complained of comments, (Muller) shared audiotape of Plaintiff making statement to others about putting child pornography on the computer of one of (MacDonalds) critics." The attorney further argued that MacDonalds expectation of privacy was unreasonable, because the footage was recorded "in a public building, in a room designed for recordings, in the presence of several people, and while on a speakerphone. Young cited as supporting evidence the 2001 ruling in Bartnicki v. Vopper, a Supreme Court precedent which held that First Amendment free speech protections extend to the broadcasting of secretly-taped recordings if the recording concerns a matter of public importance. Thus, MacDonald "cannot now allege that Mullers commentary regarding MacDonalds criminal intentions to destroy someones reputation and credibility by planting child porn on a computer is a false fact. Muller has said that in January 2019, after he read several accounts of MacDonalds behavior and actions, including bullying and abusive speech, he started reconsidering a number of exchanges he had with him as recently as December 2018. Some of these private conversations allegedly were about child pornography. [On] at least three occasions, Muller said, MacDonald suggested to me that he wanted to plant child porn on the computer of his critics. He even asked me if I could find someone to do it. Muller also said that he had other conversations about hiring a hitman that haunted him even more. MacDonalds amended complaint states that footage Muller played on his radio show had been recorded while MacDonald was with several parties in a recording booth at the church. This recording was subsequently delivered anonymously to Muller at his home in mid-February 2019. Both parties are slated to appear in court on June 12 and Young has filed a demand for a jury trial. In December 2018, Roys published an expose in WORLD magazine called "Hard Times at Harvest," which documented extensive financial malfeasance and a culture of intimidation at the church, including abusive behavior from MacDonald. Prior to publication, she was preemptively sued along with two other former bloggers who had been posting criticisms of MacDonald and the church on a site called The Elephant's Debt for several years and their wives. The church discontinued pursuing the lawsuit after a county judge denied them two key motions. Following the detection of its first omicron case Saturday in Haidian district of Beijing, the Chinese capital locked down certain communities and office buildings just weeks before the Winter Olympics and the Lunar New Year holiday. The city opened 30 emergency testing points in Haidian on Monday as it rushes to contain the spread Jan 19, 2022 05:37 PM While this weeks weather is not expected to be as extreme as the storm that cut power to millions and led to hundreds of deaths, experts still have their eyes on the weak link of the states energy system. YEREVAN. At Tuesdays special sitting, the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia approvedin the first readingthe bill on making amendments and additions to the Code on Administrative Offenses. A total of 92 MPs voted in favor of this legislative initiative, whereas 1 lawmaker abstained. The MPs of the opposition Bright Armenia Party, however, have again boycotted the NA session. As reported earlier, the aforementioned bill proposes that violating the conditions and requirements for free movement during a state of emergency that is declared on the basis of a state of emergency is punishable by a fine of ten times the minimum monthly wage in Armenia. Ministers should stop claiming they are 'following the science' and stop passing the buck in the battle against coronavirus, a leading scientist has demanded. Sir Adrian Smith, 73, a statistician and the the incoming president of the Royal Society, said politicians are justifying their measures by saying they are following expert advice to appear decisive. He warned that blame should not be passed to scientists as the government are the ones implementing and making decisions in the battle against coronavirus. Sir Adrian also blasted the government's decision to make decisions behind closed doors, adding 'openness and transparency would have been a better option'. A full list of members of the government's secretive SAGE committee, which has advised on tackling the virus, was only published two weeks ago and minutes from its meetings have still to be released. Furious MPs have previously demanded research papers underpinning the government's coronavirus strategy are immediately released. Sir Adrian Smith, 73, a statistician and the the incoming president of the Royal Society, said politicians should be more transparent on their coronavirus strategy He criticised ministers for saying they are just 'following the science' and said Boris Johnson's government should have been more open about the advice they've followed on coronavirus Sir Adrian also believes his impending leadership of Britain's most distinguished scientific society, which begins in November, is likely to be marked with an in-depth look at Britain's response to the virus. He added that there is a risk that scientists may face anger for their role in the battle against the virus, but warned that, ultimately, it is politicians that make the decisions. He told the Times: 'The danger is if the politicians keep saying, ''We're simply doing what the scientists tell us''. That could be awkward. 'Politicians ultimately must make the decisions. 'There will be a post-mortem on this. But I think the use of science and the re-establishment of experts is something that won't go away.' Sir Adrian said the secrecy surrounded the SAGE body had also been counter-productive. He added: 'Even if nothing terribly secretive and terrible is going on, you feed suspicion if you're not transparent.' It comes as an influential group of MPs yesterday demanded Boris Johnson immediately publishes research papers underpinning crucial coronavirus decisions. The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee called for greater transparency on the material considered by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies. Chairman and Tory MP William Wragg also urged a change in the law to enforce mandatory recording of deaths within 24 hours, to improve tracking of the outbreak. Documents considered by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) are periodically made public, but there is a long delay. The scientific papers underlying the advice are also not routinely released, despite many of the experts suggesting they should. Some of the SAGE documents released earlier this month included heavily redacted pages, including one on how to relax lockdown measures According to a Government-supplied list more than 90 that remain secret after 16 were revealed today After his committee took evidence from national statistician Professor Sir Ian Diamond, Mr Wragg said Parliament needs to see the data so they can scrutinise Government decisions. 'The national statistician, who attends Sage, told us that he believes Government should publish the papers discussed by Sage,' Mr Wragg wrote to the PM. 'I am writing to ask you to start publishing those papers immediately. 'If for any reasons you are unable to publish a paper, I would like you to write outlining what the paper contains and why it cannot be published.' Earlier this month SAGE published another trance of papers along with the names of most of its members. But according to a Government-supplied list it left more than 90 that remain secret. They include advice for ministers on stopping flights from certain countries, on when to stop contact tracing, and another on the impact of school closures. The list also includes unpublished documents on the use of face masks, the risk of pets passing on the virus, and advice on restricting flights from specific countries. These are all highly contentious issues as the death toll mounts and the Government seeks a way out of the current lockdown. Additionally, some of the documents released previously included heavily redacted pages, including one on how to relax lockdown measures. Is Ronan Farrow too good to be true? With that questionwhich, lets be honest, weve all thought at one point or anotherBen Smith, the New York Times media columnist, made the case that the answer is yes, and launched a New York media spat for the ages. In an article that appeared late Sunday, Smith allowed that hed long marveled over Farrows ability to shine a light on some of the defining stories of our time, but that some aspects of his work made me wonder if Mr. Farrow didnt, at times, fly a little too close to the sun. He then proceeded to comb through Farrows back catalogue at the New Yorker, as well as his recent book, Catch and Kill, and subject various explosive claims thereinabout the jailed former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, the movie mogul and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, and NBC News, which Farrow says nixed his Weinstein reportingto vigorous vetting. Farrow, Smith concludes, is not a fabulist; rather, he delivers narratives that are irresistibly cinematic and often omits the complicating facts and inconvenient details that may make them less dramatic. At times, Smith argues, Farrow suggests conspiracies that are tantalizing but he cannot prove. Twitter exploded. (No, youve stayed indoors too long!) Some journalists lauded Smiths column. NBCs Dylan Byers called it may[be] the most important media column Ive ever read; Jonathan Martin, a reporter at the Times, urged every reporterand aspiring reporter to read it. Some were more qualified in their praise; Erik Wemple, a media writer at the Washington Post, praised Smiths muscular debunking work, but noted, too, that the column falls short of excusing NBC Newss fumbling of Farrows Weinstein reporting. Others defended Farrow and the New Yorker, and/or dinged Smith, charging, variously, that his column did the things it accused Farrow of doing, that the Times has done plenty of questionable journalism of its own, and that Smith himself is not one to talk, given his track record. Prior to joining the Times this year, Smith was editor in chief at BuzzFeed News, where he published the infamous, unverified Steele dossier (yes, the pee-tape one) and an explosiveyet highly contestedstory about Trump and Cohen. (John Carreyrou, scourge of Theranos, noted these controversies; Smith responded that BuzzFeed had been clear that it didnt know if the dossier was reliable.) Almost every opinion that one could tweet about the column was tweeted by someone. You can take a bro out of Buzzfeed, the investigative reporter Carole Cadwalladr asked, of Smith, but can you ever take Buzzfeed out of the bro? There were comparisons to Succession. Even Billy Eichner got involved. ICYMI: The many coronavirus conspiracy theories Some of the tweets were more consequential than others. In a 16-part thread, Michael Luo, a top editor at the New Yorker, said Smith had done the same thing he accuses Ronan ofsanding the inconvenient edges off of facts in order to suit the narrative he wants to deliver. Luo added that the New Yorker had provided Smith with detailed responses that Smith did not include. We take corrections seriously and would be happy to correct something if it were shown to be wrong, Luo tweeted. But Ben has not done that here. Later, Farrow himself weighed in; jumping off of Luos thread, he said Smith had misinterpreted the central thrust of Catch and Kill, and that he stood by his reporting. Rich McHugh, who worked with Farrow on his Weinstein story at NBC, confirmed that the network personally ordered him to stop reporting, and called Farrow a completely fair and meticulous reporter. McHugh said he, too, had offered a comment that Smith left out. I wont dwell further on the weeds herebecause Smiths claims, and the rebuttals to them, are so detailed that litigating them all would require its own Smith-length analysis, but also because the weeds dont reveal much about the central flaw in the column. To justify his nitpicking, Smith not only asserts that details matter, but that Farrows alleged carelessness is a pernicious example of a wider problem: resistance journalism, or the idea that too often, in the age of Trump, the old rules of fairness and open-mindedness have been jettisoned when theyve impeded damaging reporting about public figures most disliked by the loudest voices. Farrow, Smith continues, told us what we wanted to believe about the way power works. Details, of course, matter enormously. But resistance journalism, here, is an ill-defined cliche. As the journalist Emily Birnbaum noted on Twitter, many targets of Farrows workMatt Lauer, the Democratic attorney general of New York, the head of CBSare hardly the public figures most disliked by the loudest voices. (Before Farrowand Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, of the Timescame along, nor was Weinstein.) And one observers resistance journalism is anothers timely, aggressive probing of powerful interests that demand to be probed. (Ronan Farrow should dot his is and cross his tswell done, Ben, the media columnist Will Bunch wrote yesterday. But lets not allow a story like this distract us from the fearless, risk-taking take-no-prisoners journalism we need in 2020. If resistance journalism exists, then lets have more of it, not less.) Even if you accept Smiths nitpicking as fair, all he has proven is shoddy reportinga timeless problem that doesnt, in itself, support the broader, Trump-era charge. Sign up for CJR 's daily email The irony here is that Smith didnt need to frame his column around Trump to make it more than just a fact-checking dossier. The problem Smith identifies isnt resistance journalism, but rather superstar journalismthe notion that some reporters, Farrow definitely among them, enjoy such glowing reputations that their output cant possibly always match up. The superstar journalist may well be extremely talented, but that doesnt make them an infallible prodigyeveryone has biases, and everyone makes mistakes. The cult of journalistic celebrity tends to ignore contextin Farrows case, the editorial and social capital to which he has accessand the crucial fact that high-level journalism is a team sport. Thats not to say that journalists cant have personalities (Ive argued, in this newsletter, that they should be allowed to); its to remember that the quality and truthfulness of the work are always the most important thing, no matter who produced it. As Hamilton Nolan wrote for Splinter last year, Journalism is not an identity. Journalism is an action. It is something you do. (Nolan was writing in the context of right-wing operatives scouring reporters social-media accounts for dodgy old posts, but his analysis also applies well to this situation.) Farrows work has often been outstanding. To the extent that it isnt, it invites scrutiny. As readers, its on us to bring a skeptical eye, not a fawning one. In fairness to Smith, his column shines a light on this problem, even if he misdiagnoses it; in fairness to Farrow, his superstar status is not his fault (at least not entirely). The way the pairs beef was received on Twitterwhich is the fault of neither manmerely drove home our problems of perception. To answer Smiths question: Yes, Ronan Farrow, the superstar journalist, is too good to be true. How could he not be? That insight alone isnt enough to damn Farrow; you can read into the weeds yourself to decide if Smith prosecuted his case successfully. But it might be enough to damn us. Below, more on Smith and Farrow: Allies or antagonists?: For Vanity Fair, Joe Pompeo rounded up reactions to Smiths column, and assessed its institutional context. A relative Times outsider has targeted one of journalisms sacred cows, and, in so doing, created a sort of institutional face-off between two of the industrys most venerable news organizations, Pompeo writes. The Times and the New Yorker compete robustly with one anotheras they did on the Weinstein story, which the Times broke firstbut they would typically be seen more as allies than antagonists. (If you still need more good tweets on the episode, Delia Cais media newsletter, Deez Links, has you covered.) For Vanity Fair, Joe Pompeo rounded up reactions to Smiths column, and assessed its institutional context. A relative Times outsider has targeted one of journalisms sacred cows, and, in so doing, created a sort of institutional face-off between two of the industrys most venerable news organizations, Pompeo writes. The Times and the New Yorker compete robustly with one anotheras they did on the Weinstein story, which the Times broke firstbut they would typically be seen more as allies than antagonists. (If you still need more good tweets on the episode, Delia Cais media newsletter, Deez Links, has you covered.) Unwelcome to the resistance: The Intercepts Glenn Greenwald, a persistent critic of mainstream reporting on Trump and Russia, argues that Smith was right to criticize resistance journalism. Greenwald allows that the specifics of Smiths case are complicated, but hails its perfect description of a media sickness borne of the Trump era that is rapidly corroding journalistic integrity and justifiably destroying trust in news outlets. The Intercepts Glenn Greenwald, a persistent critic of mainstream reporting on Trump and Russia, argues that Smith was right to criticize resistance journalism. Greenwald allows that the specifics of Smiths case are complicated, but hails its perfect description of a media sickness borne of the Trump era that is rapidly corroding journalistic integrity and justifiably destroying trust in news outlets. A poor review: After Catch and Kill came out, it garnered much positive coverage, but not everyone was complimentary. In the New York Review of Books, Anne Diebel, a writer and private investigator, called the book a mythic narrative and moral allegory in the form of a thriller, and argued that Farrow, in part, relies on improbably detailed contemporaneous notes or engages in New Journalism on the sly. Other notable stories: ICYMI: What happened when Jerry Falwell Jr. took on journalism over COVID-19 Update: The bullet point on SmileDirectClubs lawsuit against NBC News has been updated to include a rebuttal from NBC News. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop. ALBANY Common Cause New York, a nonpartisan organization that lobbies for good government, is calling on New York legislators to give up half their salaries "for doing half their job" since they approved a budget in April amid the coronavirus pandemic and then largely shut down their session. "Why should New Yorkers pay lawmakers $110,000 in the middle of a budget deficit to do only half their jobs?" said Susan Lerner, executive director of New York's 68,000-member Common Cause. "Voters elect our representatives to legislate for six months out of the year and handle constituent services, not one or the other. If they are so intent on shirking their responsibilities and not resuming session remotely, then their paycheck should reflect that." The group noted that the New York City Council, operating in the nation's hardest-hit city from COVID-19 infections and deaths, have conducted 20 hearings and passed five bills using remote legislating. The state Legislature, despite have the ability to resume its legislative session using remote technology, has conducted two hearings in the past two months. For weeks, legislators declined to provide a firm timeline for resuming their session remotely, but a Senate source said Tuesday afternoon that the chamber will return to session on May 26 and 27 to take up coronavirus-related legislation, as first reported by Newsday. Spokespeople for Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie did not immediately respond to a request seeking the Assembly's plans. According to Common Cause, the Legislature is equipped to do its job remotely and that 10 years ago the Senate's technology systems were transformed to enable legislators to work remotely, including adding webmail systems and workflow management software applications. The call by Common Cause for lawmakers to resume their session was buttressed by numerous statements from members of the Senate and Assembly who agree it is time for their work to resume. But many of those lawmakers said their comments were added to the release by Common Cause without their knowledge, "to misrepresent our views without our permission or knowledge." "The truth is all our colleagues are working extremely hard to serve their constituents during this crisis and we have all been in constant contact with our Senate leadership and Senate President (Andrea) Stewart-Cousins has made it clear we will be coming back into session imminently," states a release issued by the Senate's Democratic Majority office on Tuesday afternoon. "We ask that Common Cause immediately remove our names from their misleading press release." Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. The comments added to the release by Common Cause included the following: "In the wake of a public health crisis, our frontline workers aren't protected by their employers - many times by choice, sometimes by chance - and it's time we get back to work and pass laws that could protect and save thousands of lives. Who will protect these workers if our government won't?" said State Sen. Jessica Ramos, D-Queens. "There are a number of urgent bills that can help our communities, including my Healthy Terminals Act to provide access to affordable healthcare for our essential airport workers, but we cannot get any of them done until the legislature goes back into session," State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi said. "It is our job as public servants to fight for the rights and safety of the people we represent we must let the legislators legislate." "I stand with my like-minded colleagues in the Legislature and Common Cause New York in calling for session to proceed," State Sen. James Skoufis, D-Newburgh said. "If necessary, we have the authority to vote remotely; regardless, we must meet the fundamental obligations and expectations that we are elected to fulfill." None of the legislators who assailed Common Cause use of their names in the press release weighed in on the suggestion to take a pay cut. Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, tweeted on Tuesday that the proposal was "cheap," saying, "I know for a fact that lawmakers are busy in their districts." Cayla Harris contributed reporting. For healthcare professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic, isolation gowns are among the most used and needed personal protective equipment (PPE). In response to this critical need, Dow collaborated with nine key partners across a myriad of industries to develop and donate 100,000 isolation gowns to help frontline workers in Texas, Louisiana and Mexico. The Dow team is proud to continue developing PPE to help our frontline workers, but this effort would not have been possible without our partner companies, each of whom readily stepped up to make this project a reality, said Michelle Boven, global marketing director for Health & Hygiene at Dow. Its also a testament to how quickly companies can innovate when a diverse team from different organizations across industries come together to achieve a common objective. The end-product, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) Level 2 gowns, required concepting, design, testing, package development and a supply chain. In this case, each collaborator brought their unique expertise to the table, all donating valuable time and resources to the project. The gown is made with polyethylene non-woven coated with a layer of polyethylene film made with resin donated by Dow. Fitesa manufactured the non-woven material that provides tear resistance and soft touch. Cadillac Products Packaging Company provided extrusion coating of the film making it durable enough for AAMI Level 2 performance. 3M and Shurtape donated the tape to provide barrier performance on the gown sewn seams. Mobility technology company, Magna International, Inc., identified through Dows relationship with Volkswagen provided resources to cut and sew the gowns. DuPont provided isolation gown design expertise. Landaal Packaging Systems has donated all the boxes to ship the gowns. Plastixx FFS Technologies donated the bags for each gown to be packaged in for distribution. The 100,000 AAMI Level 2 gowns will be distributed equally to government agencies in Mexico and in the states of Louisiana and Texas. Our teams are problem solvers by nature and their passion around helping during these unprecedented times has been nothing short of inspiring, said Frank Eupizi, director of engineering, Magna International. Its been an honor to witness the same passion at Dow and to collaborate with them to provide medical gowns for healthcare professionals using the skills and expertise normally applied to producing automotive seat covers. We are grateful for the opportunity to make a difference together. Many companies have shown tremendous ingenuity and speed in changing over production to meet the needs for respirators, masks, face shields, hand sanitizer and other products critical to fighting this pandemic, Boven said. With the accelerated product development, testing and certification of these medical gowns, Dow is proud to be among these innovators and we will continue to look for ways to use our vast material science expertise to address the needs of frontline workers around the world. The gowns conform with ASTM International and The American National Standards Institute standards and are labeled in compliance with FDA guidance on non-surgical apparel. These isolation gowns are the latest action Dow has undertaken to help address the COVID-19 global pandemic crisis: On May 14, Dow, Whirlpool Corporation and Reynolds Consumer Products announced the development of a powered, air-purifying respirator, or PAPR, which takes the place of a traditional medical face mask and faces shield. On April 17, Dow announced the open source design for a simplified face shield and the donation of 100,000 face shields to hospitals in Michigan. On April 9, Dow announced an additional $500,000 donation to the Great Lakes Bay Region in Michigan to aid COVID-19 relief efforts in Dows global headquarters community. On March 30, Dow announced that sites across North America, Europe and Latin America were set to produce more than 200 metric tons of hand sanitizer, equivalent to more than 880,000 eight-ounce bottles, to be donated to local health systems and government agencies. On March 23, Dow committed $3 million to aid COVID-19 relief efforts, with donations going towards global relief organizations, as well as non-profits in communities where Dow operates. According to the company, Dows material science expertise and production capabilities are used to develop some of the most vital hygiene medical products and technologies to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, such as disinfectants, sanitizers, cleansers, plastics used in the production of disposable PPE for medical professionals, and memory foams for hospital beds. Processed by Ashley Schafer, Ashley.Schafer@hearstnp.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Fiachra Gibbons (Agence France-Presse) Paris Tue, May 19, 2020 22:05 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd91c43f 2 Entertainment drive-in-cinema,film-festival,France,coronavirus,COVID-19,lockdown Free French cinema owners are up in arms because a drive-in film festival is beating the country's lockdown while they are forced to stay closed. They are angry at a travelling drive-in film festival which began in the southwestern city of Bordeaux this weekend, and which is set to cross the country showing a mixture of arthouse films and crowd-pleasing French hits. The federation of French cinema owners (FNCF) said that the festival and a plethora of other outdoor projections were leeching audiences away when "local and national authorities should be concentrating on battling to reopen cinemas". The drive-in festival gets around French coronavirus social distancing restrictions by having the audience stay in their cars to the watch the films. Although the lockdown in France was relaxed somewhat last week, restrictions remain tight in a large swathe of the country including the capital Paris. While most shops have reopened, there is little prospect of cinemas opening their doors till at least July. And even then it will be with social distancing measures that could mean that screenings may have to be up to three-quarters empty. Read also: Jakarta to have new drive-in cinema in June Cannes drive-in But the organizers of the Drive-in Festival told AFP that they were not trying to take the bread from cinema owners' mouths. Mathieu Robinet, a former head of BAC Films, one of Europe's leading independent film production companies, said that they "simply wanted to give people a chance to experience some culture during confinement" and that the festival was not a money-making venture. He said that the festival relied on 35 volunteers to help stage it and was always meant to be temporary. He said it would stop showing the Oscar-winning South Korean film, "Parasite" and French films "Sink or Swim" and "Invisibles" when cinemas were allowed to reopen. But the FNCF has demanded that the authorities enforce lockdown restrictions to the letter on the festival, which is due to travel to the southern city of Marseille later this month, before moving to northern France. "There is no reason why these initiatives should escape the rules and put spectators and staff in danger," it added. The federation also called for a ban on all outdoor film screenings until after the pandemic, saying it was "impossible to guarantee people would self-distance properly at these gatherings." Meanwhile, with the world's biggest film festival in Cannes cancelled because of the virus, the Riviera resort is trying to keep the festival spirit alive with drive-in screenings of its own in a car park looking out on the Mediterranean later this week. Two former Green Berets detained in Venezuela for their role in a failed coup were again paraded on Venezuelan state TV on Monday in edited clips of their interrogation. Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, are seen wearing orange prison uniforms as they explain that jackpot was the code word used for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the mission to capture him and fly him back to the United States. Venezuelan authorities say the videos were filmed during an interrogation on Sunday and Denman and Berry are shown separately. This is the first new video of the Americans to be released since their court appearance on May 8. They appear less disheveled than in earlier videos. We were, for all intents and purposes, invading a country, taking military and police targets and capturing the sitting president, Denman says after identifying the mission as high risk. Scroll down for video Luke Denman, 34, (pictured left) and Airan Berry, 41, (pictured right) were shown in edited clips broadcast on Venezuelan state TV on Monday while being interrogated . Venezuelan authorities claim the interviews were filmed on Sunday. The Americans wore prison unifor It was a word we used to talk about the person were after - the hostage or the military target, Denman answers to a question about the word jackpot in the mission notes. He previously identified President Maduro and the task of flying him to the U.S. as the main target of the mission. The U.S. recognizes Maduros opposition Juan Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela and in March, set out a $15million reward for information that let to Maduros arrest or conviction. Denman was again asked multiple questions about the botched raids ringleader, fellow former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, and whether he has signed a contract outlining the terms and responsibilities in the mission I didnt sign a contract, we had a casual conversation, Denman admits. Id guess youd call it a verbal contract, giving me some vague mission guidelines on training Venezuelans and coming here and putting Maduro on a plane. I didnt sign anything, he reiterates, when asked about a risk policy. In further questions he is pushed to outline the role he played in the coup and what was involved. To train the Venezuelans in Colombia, to come with them here and once they had secured air targets, it was our responsibility to secure an airfield and put Maduro on a plane and stay at said airfield to receive incoming humanitarian aid, he says. We didnt have a set time or set "ok, this is done, now your finished". Luke Denman (right) and Airan Berry (left), both former U.S. special forces soldiers, were arrested on May 4 for their part in an attempted coup of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro 'Jordan was going to meet us here and then give us more information after the tasks I mentioned previously were completed. Yes, we saw pictures, Denman adds when asked about the overall contract for the raid. The video released of Berry on Monday is only half as long and focuses on the alleged involvement of drug traffickers in the attempted coup. In his answers, Berry implicates Guaido despite the opposition leader denying any involvement. Berry was asked why they trained in an area predominantly operated by drug traffickers to which he answers: In our information, we didnt understand or know that we would be traveling through this narco area. Luke Denman (pictured left) reveals in the clip that 'jackpot' was the code name for President Nicolas Maduro. Airan Berry (pictured right) was questioned about the involvement of drug traffickers in the interviews broadcast on Venezuelan state TV on Monday That information when and where it was planned was known by Sequea and Pimienta and possibly by Guaido, I dont know, but thats the area that they came up with and we were there to aid and support them and not tell them everything to do. Venezuelan National Guardsman Captains Antonio Jose Sequea and Captain Victor Pimienta were among the Venezuelans arrested in the foiled raid. They had participated in a previous barracks raid against Maduro and are believed to have been among those leading the Venezuelans in the coup. Berry was also questioned about the alleged involvement of a drug trafficker known as Doble Ruedas. Maduro has claimed that the coup set off from Colombia from a farm owned by Doble Ruedas. Yeah, Doble was in multiple times with Sequea and Pimienta,' Berry answers. 'For what they met, I dont know exactly, but met multiple times from what I know in La Guajira. Luke Denman (left) and Airan Berry (right) are pictured here during their arrest on May 4. The videos broadcast on Monday were the first new clips of them since their court appearance on May 8. Both Americans are charged with conspiracy and terrorism and face 25-30 years in jail Denman and Berry were arrested on May 4 alongside dozens of Venezuelans after President Maduro cut off the plot. Authorities were said to be lying in wait for the mercenaries after showing ringleader Goudreaus face on state TV and naming the Americans a month before it even set off. Berry and Denman were sentenced with terrorism and conspiracy in their first court appearance on May 8 and face up to 25 to 30 years in prison. The former soldiers said they flew to Colombia on January 16 and after training, they accompanied the troops by boat to Venezuelan to oversee the plan and ensure that an airport was secured through which Maduro could be flown to the United States. Goudreau, Denman and Berry had served together in Iraq and Afghanistan and Goudreau offered them the job in Venezuela through his Florida-based company Silvercorp USA. In a previous video broadcast on Venezuelan state TV on May 7, Denman claimed he was first approached about the job by Goudreau in early December but was given limited details about what was involved. In the interrogation video, Denman also stated that he had taken the job offer from Goudreau because he believed it was working to free the Venezuelan people from Maduro. Former Green Beret Jordan Goudreau (pictured center) has claimed responsibility for a failed operation to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro in a plan named 'Operation Gedeon He was questioned about the leadership of the plot and when asked who commanded Goudreau, he claimed it was President Trump. President Trump and the U.S. government denied any 'direct' involvement in the botched raid and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that 'every tool' will be used to secure the release of the Americans involved. The U.S. broke diplomatic ties with President Maduro and closed its embassy in Caracas last year. Goudreau is currently under federal investigation in the U.S. for arms smuggling after identifying himself as the person behind the plot in a video posted to social media, claiming that he had provided the coup members with training and equipment. He claims to have signed a $212million contract with Guadio, which the opposition leader has denied. Maduro has presented an alleged signed contract during press conferences as proof that Guaido was involved in the plot to overthrow him. On May 8, Venezuela requested the extradition of Goudreau and two U.S.-based Venezuelans for their roles in the failed incursion. Three high school students from Fairfield and Westchester Counties will experience the joy of live theater in a whole new way as playwrights. Jeison Lenis Lopez of Stamford, Zaida Rio Polanco of White Plains, N.Y., and Naomi Young of Mamaroneck, N.Y., were named winners of Stamfords Palace Theatres 2020 Ernie DiMattia Emerging Young Artist Awards for their writing of an original one-act play. All three will see their visions come to life with a virtual reading by professional actors as part of the DiMattia Awards fundraiser on Sunday, May 24, at 4 p.m. on Zoom. Lopez, a junior at Stamford High School, won for his play Renaissance. Polanco, a sophomore at White Plains High School, won for Waves and Young, a junior at Rye Neck High School, for Twentyfour. Each student was awarded $300. The Palace also recognized three runners-up: Samantha Vertucci of Newtowns Sandy Hook section, Charlie Johnson of Greenwichs Riverside neighborhood and Serena Shifrin of Mount Kisco, N.Y. The fundraiser will feature Broadway veteran Luis Salgado, who will be joined by New York City actors for the virtual reading, which is free and open to the public. A performer, director, choreographer and producer, Salgados 20-year career spans stage, film and television. His Broadway credits include In The Heights, Rocky the Musical and On Your Feet. Congratulations to Jeison, Zaida and Naomi and all our runners-up for their excellent work, Palace president and CEO Michael Moran said in a news release. At a time when students have lost so many valuable experiences, were working hard to keep an opportunity they were waiting for. Join us in bringing the joy of arts education to these deserving high school students. While the event is free, donors who give $25 or more will receive a T-shirt that reads: Arts Education Takes Center Stage at The Palace. For more information on the fundraiser, including a Zoom link to the performance, visit https://bit.ly/3dU5gQ6. The Emerging Young Artist Award was established in 2010 and is open to all high school students from Fairfield and Westchester Counties. Winners have included instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, actors and playwrights. In 2015, the award was renamed for Ernie DiMattia, former president of The Ferguson Library in Stamford and a longtime Stamford Center for the Arts board member. Standardbred horseman Rick Marchese, 63, passed away on April 27, 2020, after a fight with brain cancer. Marchese was born on September 16, 1956, in Brooklyn, NY, the third of eight children to Michael and Garnetta Marchese, both deceased. Marchese was a lifelong horseman. His career started with his fathers stable in Georgetown and continued until 1979 when he suffered a broken back at Seminole Downs. In 1986, he returned to racing at Louisville Downs, where he had success with the trotter Rocket Messenger. His greatest achievement came after a win at the Red Mile with pacer Northern Star when he was issued his full 'A' license. After a move to Delaware, he would continue to win with horses Del T Thunder Bolt and Ice Cold. Due to financial reasons, Marchese was forced again to retire in 1989. In 2014, he attempted another comeback after catch-driving at Bluegrass Downs and then Colonial Downs. He would often brag that the story line of the proposed Emilio Estevez film 'Johnny Longshot' could have been his own story. He attempted to speak with Estevez, but the movie was never finished. Marchese is survived by his brother and stablemate, John; sons, Richard Jr. and Vincent; daughter, Theresa Andrade; three grandchildren; as well as many other family members who will miss him greatly. Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Rick Marchese. (USTA) Queenslanders are set to find out this week whether voluntary assisted dying laws will be introduced by the Palaszczuk government. In March, a parliamentary health committee recommended Queensland legalise voluntary assisted dying for adults with advanced terminal medical conditions. The Queensland government will reveal its position on voluntary assisted dying. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk had previously vowed to reveal her government's position on the issue before Parliament returned this week. When asked on Tuesday, Ms Palaszczuk said: "I'll be having more to say about that this week." Boko Haram insurgents are currently attacking residents of Dapchi, a town in Busari local government of Yobe state. The insurgents... Boko Haram insurgents are currently attacking residents of Dapchi, a town in Busari local government of Yobe state. The insurgents were said to have invaded the town in gun trucks around 7pm on Monday. Bala Bukar, a resident said that the attackers have torched many houses while many people have taken cover in a nearby bush. Bukar said an air force jets was deployed in the town and that the military is making efforts to repel the attack. The military and the insurgents are currently in a hot exchange of fire. Right now as I am talking to you, they are throwing bombs everywhere, he said. The insurgents are currently occupying the town. But most of the residents have fled. Another resident who fled to Baymari, a neighbouring community, said the house of the village head was also burnt in the attack. He said security operatives were withdrawn from the town five months ago. Dapchi first came into national limelight on February 19, 2018,when the insurgents abducted 117 female students in the town. While five of the students died in captivity, all others were released except Leah Sharibu, the only Christian among them. She was said to have been offered freedom in exchange of renouncing her faith but she refused. Sharibu is yet to be released till date. Its easy to joke about divine intervention: I wont pass this test without divine intervention. Nothing but divine intervention can stop me from binging all five seasons. Hey God! I could really use some divine intervention right about now. But what exactly is divine intervention? Lifelong Christians grow up hearing the phrase and knowing it has something to do with miracles and plagues and fire falling from the sky. However, few of them can actually define it; when asked, they usually list one or more of the examples I mentioned and leave it at that. Dictionary.com is equally unhelpful in this endeavor; it defines the phrase as the interference of a deity in human life, popularly extended to any miraculous-seeming turn of events. Since the Internet let me down, I asked my brother, Chandler a religion major with plans for seminary for a definition more specific to Christians. I dont like divine intervention at all, he said. The term comes with a self-focused bent where people see it as God going against His plan because we prayed hard enough. But thats not it at all. When I asked him what it actually is, he said divine intervention is God doing something He was going to do all along and calling us to participate in it. When we pray for a miracle, we pray because God guided our circumstances in a way that made us want to, he explained. But since God let us pray, we get to be part of the plan He laid out before the universe ever existed. With that approach to divine intervention in mind, what are we supposed to do when we see it in the Bible or in life? There are three types of divine intervention based on this view: Big showy miracles, ordinary displays of Gods mercy, and one act of love so powerful it gave us the reason for our faith. 1. Healing and Smiting This type of intervention, as I said, is big and showy. Some of the most well-known examples are the 10 plagues of Egypt (Exodus 7:14-12:36), God destroying Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-25), and Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44). These acts of God showcase this belief that human actions have no bearing on His decisions. For example, Moses begged God to send someone else to confront the Pharaoh (Exodus 4:1-14) and Lazaruss mourners didnt believe they would see Lazarus again in this life (John 11:17-37). That doesnt mean that God never listens to us, though; Abraham pleaded with Him to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if there were any righteous citizens (Genesis 18:16-33) and God said He would. But in the end, events played out as God said they would because, despite Abrahams pleas for mercy, there was no one in Sodom or Gomorrah who wanted it. 2. Everyday Grace Most Christians only think about divine intervention in terms of healing and smiting because thats when Gods power is the most visible. This perspective stems from the faulty assumption that God only intervenes in big ways and doesnt interact much with everyday life. My brother believes that God shows Himself every minute of every day. Im inclined to agree because the Psalms says the same thing. The Lord searches and knows every inch of us (Psalm 139:1-6). He is present in every corner of the world so, were always in His arms (Psalm 139:7-12). He put every piece of every person together with unconditional love (Psalm 139:13-16). If that isnt enough to convince you, the author of Lamentations tells us that Gods love never ends, and His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Oftentimes, we cant see them because were looking for healing and smiting, taking the sparrows and lilies (Matthew 6:26, 28-30) for granted. Sunrises, coffee, hugs, golden retrievers, and every other good thing comes from God, and He gave us our lives so we can experience these things with Him. The sooner we stop taking the little things for granted, the more well realize how involved God is in our lives. 3. The Cross Theres one act of divine intervention so powerful, so selfless, and so unconditionally loving that it deserves its own category: The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus let himself be spat on, flogged within an inch of his life, and hung to die on a cross because it was the only way to save us from eternal torment. Why would God do that? Why would He sacrifice His son to give liars, murderers, rapists, and thieves the chance to go to Heaven? As Chandler said, humans have done and never will do anything that could make the almighty God change His mind. So, why on earth did God intervene when He had every right to let us pay for our sins? God didnt save us because of anything we did (Ephesians 2:8-9), God saved us because His love is bigger than our hate. And despite everything, He knew what we would do after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit He wanted us to feel that love for all eternity. So, Now What? Today we explored the finer points of divine intervention. Thanks to the profound insights of my little brother, we learned how people perceive this concept versus what it actually is. Then we explored the implications of applying the right worldview to flashy miracles, ordinary mercies, and the grandest display of love in the universe. Now that you know what to look for, I challenge you to actually look. The more you look, the more youll see. And the more you see, the more youll know God loves you. iStock/Getty Images Plus/kevron2001 The finance ministry on Tuesday said that Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have sanctioned loans worth Rs 6.45 lakh crore to 5.5 million borrowers belonging to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), retail, agriculture and corporate sectors during March 1 to May 15. Out of that amount, Rs 50,000 crore was sanctioned in the week ending May 15, the ministry said. On Tuesday, the finance ministers office (FMO) tweeted, Loans worth over Rs 6.45 lakh crore were sanctioned by PSBs during March 1 May 15 for 54.96 lakh accounts from MSME, Retail, Agriculture & Corporate sectors; A notable increase compared to the Rs 5.95 lakh crore sanctioned as of May 8, tweeted the finance ministers office on Tuesday. Experts said real measurement of the revival of industrial activities is actual disbursal of loans. The finance ministry could not immediately disclose the disbursal data. A finance ministry spokesperson did not comment on this matter. Industrial activity is directly proportional to the credit off take. Companies will not draw money from the sanctioned limit unless they are confident about their returns on investment. When they dont draw from their sanctioned limits, it automatically indicates inadequate activity, a representative of small industries who did not wish to be named said. Easy credit and collateral-free loans to the farm sector and MSMEs are key to the Rs 20.97 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self-reliant India Initiative) to revive the coronavirus-hit economy. Public Sector Banks sanctioned over Rs 1.03 lakh crore as emergency credit lines & working capital enhancements in the period March 20 to May 15, which is a substantial increase over the Rs 65,879 crore that had been sanctioned up to May 8, the finance ministers office tweeted. While announcing the first tranche of the five-part package, FM Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a Rs 3 lakh crore emergency working capital facility for businesses, Rs 20,000 crore subordinate debt for stressed MSMEs and proposed to set up a fund of funds with a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore to provide equity funding support for MSMEs. Earlier on May 7, the ministry had said in a series of tweets that Indias economy was poised to recover as state-run banks had sanctioned loans worth Rs 5.66 lakh crore over the last two months to about 4.2 million account holders belonging to MSMEs, retail, agriculture and corporate sectors. Commenting on it then, Niranjan Hiranandani, president, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), had said, The industry does need money, particularly MSMEs. It is good that the money has been sanctioned, now disbursal should happen as soon as possible. Sanjay Aggarwal, senior vice president of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that it was of paramount importance that these sanctions get converted into disbursals as soon as possible. THE report from the Just Transition commissioner on the impact of the Bord na Mona and ESB wind-down is expected to be considered by the Government soon. Offaly County Council was told on Monday that Kieran Mulvey's report has been completed and was expected to go to the cabinet last Friday week. Anna Marie Delaney, chief executive with the council, said its consideration had been postponed, apparently because of the discussions on the Leaving Certificate. Ms Delaney assured councillors she would revert to them as soon as she has the report. Cllr Danny Owens called on Climate Action Minister Richard Bruton to publish the report and he said Bord na Mona also needed to publish their plan for bog rehabilitation. Cllr Owens said it was the communities affected by the wind-down of Bord na Mona and the ESB he was most concerned about and he paraphrased a line from the Just Transition mission statement, nobody will be left behind. The Fianna Fail councillor said he expected the big money to come from the European Union's Coal and Peat Transition Fund and stressed that there must be close cooperation between the communities and Bord na Mona on issues including bog rewetting, greenways and blueways. The people in Kilcormac, Lough Boora, Ferbane, Shannonbridge and Shannon Harbour will know best what is needed and he highlighted the upgrading of the roads as another big issue. Bord na Mona have used the roads and did their work and contributed over the years... will Bord na Mona be making a contribution to the County Council to do the work? he asked. Another issue facing the council in the future when the bogs are rehabilitated is fire risk because the council will have to put out bog fires, as had already happened. It's important that Bord na Mona not walk away from their responsibilities and ensure that the bogs are left in the best possible condition for future generations, said Cllr Owens. Cllr John Leahy said the council needed to see in black and white what the plans for Offaly are and how much compensation there would be. The Independent councillor mentioned the jobs promised from bog rewetting as one issue, asking would they be workers being redeployed or would the positions be advertised. He said Fine Gael had promised before the election that the public service obligation levy (which Bord na Mona say will fund rehabilitation) would be delivered on by Europe. Fine Gael have to come up to the mark, he stated. Cllr John Clendennen said there was a responsibility on Offaly County Council to examine what it can do to stimulate investment. He cited the example of South Dublin County Council which had agreed the sale of 48 acres of land for 26m to a company which plans a 125m investment and 1,000 jobs. The Fine Gael councillor reminded his colleagues that the Government's Midlands Regional Action Plan for Jobs highlighted film production as a potential area of opportunity in Offaly. He said the council should look at Offaly's infrastructure across roads, water, communications and skilled labour. Then we could be potentially looking at a film studio investment, he said. Cllr Clendennen previously proposed that Shannonbridge power station could be used as a film production centre when it is vacated by the ESB. The meeting was also told by Ms Delaney that the European Union will be hosting three webinars on the Coal Platform for Regions in Transition with the first scheduled for May 26. Fed up with coronavirus-related business restrictions, one Massachusetts gym owner opened his doors this week, defying the governors phased reopening plan in doing so. Prime Fitness & Nutrition in Oxford reopened Monday morning, the same day that Gov. Charlie Baker announced the details of his 17-member advisory boards four-phase plan to reopen the states economy. Health clubs and gyms are among the last businesses to be able to reopen in the third phase of the plan. In a video posted to Facebook on Sunday, David Blondin, owner of Prime Fitness, said that regardless of what Baker was going to announce, he was going to reopen his gym at 7 a.m. on Monday. Blondin called on other gyms in the state to follow his lead. Whether youre big, whether youre small, whether youre a studio, whatever you are, start opening your doors, he said. Were all in this together. If Walmart, which is right down the street, can sit there and have 356 cars in there, then we can work out. OK? Blondins gym will operate with reduced capacity. Up to 25 people will be allowed to work out upstairs, and no more than 25 people will be able to work out downstairs, he said. Prime Fitness will also only be allowing members and clients to come to the gym. No day passes or guests will be allowed. In an interview with MassLive, Blondin said he is offering extra cleaning supplies to his roughly 800 gym members as well. Members will be able to go to the gym in hour-long time slots, the gym owner said. Were going to do things in two simple phases, since Faker Baker doesnt want to announce any of his," Blondin said in his Facebook video. I hope to only have to do this for a short period of time, and things can just go back to normal, but we have to start somewhere. "And by all means, if you do not want to come to the gym, dont, but the majority of us need our sanity back. The gym owner urged members not to wear face masks at the facility, going against the governors executive order requiring people to wear face coverings in public places when social distancing is not possible. Please, for the love of God, do not wear a mask in here, Blondin said. "I do not need people passing out because they cant breathe. I know youre all dying for things to get back to normal, so lets try to cooperate as much as we can and show Massachusetts what Prime and the fitness industry is all about. Prime Fitness saw a steady stream of people use the gym Monday after its reopening, Blondin said. The gym owner estimated that roughly 100 people came in Monday and that around 150 may use the facility by the time they close for the day Tuesday night. Many of the individuals who went to Blondins gym Monday were die-hards and regulars who have gone to Prime Fitness since the beginning, he said. Ive never seen so many happy people in my entire life, Blondin said. Police and town health officials issued Blondin a verbal warning Monday afternoon, the gym owner said. He has yet to receive a fine, though. My members are willing to pay any fines that come in, and weve set up a GoFundMe to pay off any fines," Blondin said. Were going to take the remaining money and donate to a mental health charity. He added, "Im not stepping down. Im staying open as long as I have to. Related Content: The consensus seems to be that President Trump must carry Florida once again to retain the White House. If he does fingers crossed this will mark the fourth time in recent memory that Floridians have helped prevent a Democrat takeover of our country. But time is running short. Here in Pinellas County, where I live, Democrats run a slick operation, as evidenced by their snazzy website. On the other hand, Republicans meet I kid you not at a local country club. The third time Florida helped save America was in 2016 by electing Donald Trump and avoiding the unmitigated disaster known as Hillary "Benghazi" Clinton. She would have locked up the entire country to deal with the Wuhan virus, for God knows how long. What were the other two times when Floridians were instrumental? The first time was in 2000, "the year of the hanging chad," when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore after a protracted post-election vote-counting process that went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Bush. On January 6, 2001, Congress declared George W. Bush the 43rd president of the United States. What if Gore had been elected instead of Bush? The 9/11 Twin Towers attack would have taken place as scheduled, to which a President Gore would have reacted by: Embarking on a world apology tour, blaming the attack on U.S. policy "errors," "imperialism," "arrogance," and so on. Groveling before various and sundry Muslim tyrants, begging them to help prevent more attacks. Weakening our military so the U.S. would seem less of a "threat to world peace." The second time was in 2016, when Ron DeSantis was elected governor of Florida, defeating the Democrat candidate, former mayor of Tallahassee Andrew Gillum, whose political career is over, at least for now. In March 2020, Gillum was found vomiting and intoxicated in a Miami South Beach hotel. A gay male escort, also in the room, had to be taken to the hospital after an apparent drug overdose. Gillum was unable to communicate with police officers owing to his condition. He denied taking drugs. He was not arrested. What if Gillum had been elected instead of DeSantis? Gillum would eventually have announced his candidacy for the presidency, hopping aboard the clown car. Gillum would eventually have announced his candidacy for the presidency, hopping aboard the clown car. The Democrat press would have thrown its full support behind Gillum, portraying him as a sort of "second coming" of Obama. Cory "Spartacus" Booker never got that treatment even though he's also black. Gillum is as glib as they come and would most likely have emerged as the leading candidate after debates. Gillum is also a radical leftist. Biden, Sanders, and the rest of the clown car would eventually have dropped out to coalesce behind him. With Biden out of the picture, the Democrat Party would have been spared having to deal with Creepy Joe's corruption, sexual escapades, and senility. Gillum would have reacted to the Wuhan virus by following other autocratic Democrat governors, locking up Florida until a serum was developed. In the fall elections, Gillum and the Democrat machine would have conspired to make sure he carried Florida, possibly defeating President Trump. Let's hope Floridians keep Gore and Gillum in mind when they head for the polls this November. Drug maker Lupin on Tuesday said it has launched the generic version of Bausch Health's Apriso, used to treat ulcerative colitis, in the US market. Mesalamine extended-release capsule 0.375 g is indicated for the maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis in patients 18 years of age and older. The company has launched of authorised generic version of Bausch Health's Apriso (Mesalamine extended-release capsules 0.375 g) in the US, Lupin said in a statement. As per IQVIA moving annual total (MAT) March 2020 data, Mesalamine extended-release capsules recorded annual sales of around USD 290 million in the US. Federal Government of Somalia, AFRICOM target al-Shabaab In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab terrorists in vicinity of Qunyo Barrow, Somalia, May 17. By U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs, United States Africa CommandStuttgart, Germany May 18, 2020 In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab terrorists in vicinity of Qunyo Barrow, Somalia, May 17. "The U.S. support to our Somali partners is and will remain strong," said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Gayler, director of operations, U.S. Africa Command. The command's initial assessment concluded this airstrike killed two (2) terrorists. U.S. Africa Command currently assesses no civilians were injured or killed as a result of this airstrike. "U.S. Africa Command affords our partners over-watch and added precision capabilities," said Col. Christopher Karns, director of public affairs, U.S. Africa Command. "This enemy has no regard for the lives of innocent Somalis and the group presents a threat to the Somali people, the U.S., and interests abroad." U.S. Africa Command and our international partners recognize that stability in Somalia will not be achieved through purely military means. It requires providing programs and opportunity for the Somali people. In support of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. forces will use a range of effective and appropriate methods to assist in the protection of the Somali people, including partnered military counterterrorism operations with the Federal Government of Somalia and Somali National Army forces. Together with the partner and allied forces, U.S. Africa Command works on a daily basis to improve security conditions to enhance governance and economic development while preventing al-Shabaab's desire to expand their reach and further export violence. U.S. Africa Command continues to work with its Somali partners to transfer the responsibility for long-term security in Somalia to the Federal Government of Somalia and its Member States. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In Lake Bluff, District 65 and the local parent-teacher organization are planning a virtual graduation for May 28. On that day, the approximate 100 graduates from Lake Bluff Middle School have the option to receive a promotion certificate and yearbook and pose for a picture with the schools principal Nathan Blakmer in front of a graduation banner, according to an e-mail sent to parents. Uber has announced it is axing another 3,000 jobs taking the total it has cut during the virus crisis to 6,700. The firm has seen a 50 per cent increase in orders from its Uber Eats food delivery arm, but at the same time travel restrictions have hit its taxi business hard and hampered its plans to become profitable. Driven to distraction: Boss Dara Khosrowshahi said the firm had taken the 'incredibly difficult decision' to axe the jobs Yesterday boss Dara Khosrowshahi said the firm had taken the 'incredibly difficult decision' to axe the jobs, days after he previously said 3,700 roles would be cut. In an email to employees, he also revealed the US firm will shut up to 45 offices around the world and potentially scale back 'non-core' divisions such as freight. He told them 'we are making really, really hard choices now, so that we can say our goodbyes, have as much clarity as we can, move forward, and start to build again with confidence'. Uber had previously aimed to start turning a profit by the end of the year but recently admitted that is now unlikely. The police in Lagos have arrested a 29-year-old man, Temitayo Ogunbusola, for allegedly stabbing his ne.ighbour to death. Ogunbusola allegedly committed the offence around 7pm on May 17, at 4, Sebili Kazeem Street, Cele bus stop, Agodo Egbe, Ikotun. He was said to have stabbed one Oladotun Oso, 29, to death following a minor disagreement. Until his death, Oso was said to be an employee of Access Bank PLC and worked at the Lawanson Branch, Itire. Trouble was said to have started on Saturday when Ogunbusola was asked to pay his accumulated electricity bill by another tenant coordinating. Instead of paying, he threatened to break the head of the person who dared to ask him to pay his electricity bill. Being afraid of the threat, he was made to sign an undertaking on Sunday morning not to harm anybody. This was supervised by a military man who came at the instance of the threatened person to broker peace. Thereafter, the culprit went to report at Ikotun Police Station where he was a regular customer. The other tenants informed the landlord, Otunba Adedeji, about the issue and he promised to come in the evening to resolve it. However, the culprit went to the police station again in the evening after which he came back to the house with a knife and pursued the initially threatened co-tenant and before you know it, unsuspecting, Oso was stabbed in the chest, narrated a resident. It was gathered that Osos younger brother, Johnson reported at the Ikotun Police Station that Ogunbusola stabbed the deceased on the chest with a knife. Police spokesman Bala Elkana confirmed the incident, adding that the murder weapon was recovered by homicide detectives. He said the body was moved to the General Hospital, Isolo and casefile transferee to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) Yaba for furtehr action. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates MORRISVILLE, N.C., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers with a positive opinion of President Donald Trump have an overwhelming affinity for Country music. Fans of former Vice President Joe Biden favor Pop, followed closely by Hip Hop/R&B. These are among the previously unreleased findings of Coleman Insights' second annual Contemporary Music SuperStudy. Coleman Insights Contemporary Music SuperStudy 2 The study conducted by the media research firm examines the appetite for contemporary music among 12- to 54-year-olds across the United States and Canada. The firm's FACT360SM Strategic Music Test platform is utilized to measure the appeal of the most-consumed songs of 2019 based on radio airplay, streaming and sales data, as reported by MRC Data/BDSradio. Among consumers who have a positive opinion of President Trump, Country represents 50% of their Top 100 titles. The next-highest testing genre is Pop at 26%, the only other genre achieving a double-digit share of the Top 100 contemporary songs. This is followed by a tie between Alternative/Rock and Hip Hop/R&B (9%), Dance/Electronic (4%), Other (2%) and Latin (0%). Meanwhile, Pop titles perform best among consumers with a positive opinion of former Vice President Joe Biden. These titles comprise 38% of their Top 100, followed closely by Hip Hop/R&B at 33%. Performance of other genres includes a tie between Alternative/Rock and Country (10%), Dance/Electronic (6%), Latin (2%) and Other (1%). Notably, the 10% of Country titles in the Top 100 of Biden fans is similar to the 9% of R&B/Hip Hop in the Top 100 among those who view Trump positively. The best-testing song overall among supporters of President Trump is "Believer" by Imagine Dragons, while "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran is the top pick among Biden supporters. Those two songs and three others "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi, "The Middle" by Zedd & Maren Morris and "Can't Stop The Feeling" by Justin Timberlake are among the top 10 songs of both groups. In a rare moment of bipartisanship, Trump and Biden supporters agree on their least-favorite of 2019's most-consumed songs "Baby Shark" by Pinkfong. "While we are not in the business of giving political advice, there are clear takeaways for the Trump and Biden campaigns," said Coleman Insights president Warren Kurtzman. "When considering music to use in stage entrances at rallies (if and when they return) and advertising efforts, each group of supporters has distinct genre preferences. And it's probably best for both campaigns to pass on 'Baby Shark.'" About Coleman Insights Coleman Insights, headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina, with offices in Philadelphia and Hamburg, Germany, has helped media properties build strong brands and develop great content since 1978. Its clients include hundreds of media properties in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. For more about Coleman Insights, see ColemanInsights.com. Press Contact/Interview Requests: Jay Nachlis/Coleman Insights 919-226-0453 [email protected] Related Files Contemporary Music SuperStudy 2020 03 Graphs Trump Biden Final jn.jpg Contemporary Music SuperStudy 2020 03 Political Graphs Liberal vs Conservative Final 2 jn.jpg Related Images contemporary-music-superstudy-2.jpg Contemporary Music SuperStudy 2 Coleman Insights Contemporary Music SuperStudy 2 Related Links Contemporary Music SuperStudy 2 Webinar SOURCE Coleman Insights Related Links http://www.ColemanInsights.com Following a 17-year period of underground development, periodical cicadas are set to burst above ground in the coming days and weeks, with three states in particular expected to be hotspots for the bugs to emerge and sing their own song of summer. Periodical cicadas can appear in 17 or 13-year intervals and cicadas of the same life cycle are classified into different broods. This year's emergence is classified as Brood IX and the largest quantity of the insects is expected across parts of northwestern North Carolina, southwestern Virginia and southeastern West Virginia. One of the millions of periodical cicadas in the area clings to a leaf on Saturday, June 1, 2019 after it emerged from a 17-year hibernation in Zelienople, Pa. (AP Photo / Keith Srakocic) One of the biggest factors that helps the insects know when it's time to dart above ground is when soil temperature reaches a comfortable 64 degrees Fahrenheit. The bugs typically arrive in mid-May and can continue to come out through early July. And, while the mid-May cold snap felt across the Midwest, Northeast and mid-Atlantic could delay their full emergence, it likely won't have a substantial impact on the brood, several experts told AccuWeather. Michael Skvarla, the director of the insect identification lab at Pennsylvania State University, said in warmer springs, cicadas can accumulate more degree days, which could allow them to arrive on the scene sooner. Conversely, cooler springs allow them to make an appearance later in the year, he said. "The cold certainly won't kill the cicadas off," Skvarla said, adding it could delay their emergence by a couple weeks. However, Dr. Jim Fredericks, chief entomologist for the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), said the soil temperature about 8 inches deep where the insects are burrowed can act as an insulator from the temperature above ground, meaning a delay, if any, won't be noticeable on a wide scale, he told AccuWeather. Story continues When it comes to their unique life span, the 17-year life cycle of periodical cicadas is thought to have evolved as a strategy to avoid predation, which makes it difficult for other species that use cicadas as food to sync with their own life cycles, Fredericks explained. Different broods surface in different regions, though some members of a population may turn up early (or late) and some regions see overlap. "Over time, these breeding populations evolved into predictable emergences," he said. There are a dozen different broods of 17-year cicadas and three broods of the 13-year type. Over the years, several classifications of 17- and 13-year cicadas have gone extinct. John Cooley, a researcher with the University of Connecticut who maps the species' boundaries for the cicada-tracking website, Magicicada, says the broods are regional and fit together like puzzle pieces. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP "Presumably, the broods also reflect historical weather events or climate fluctuations that got some cicadas out of sync with their neighbors," Cooley told AccuWeather via email. Brood IX is said to be smaller than others but particularly diverse, he added. To date, Cooley and his research team have mapped over 10,000 localities where cicadas have been observed. While underground, cicadas aren't simply hibernating. They feast on tree roots to detect what's going on above, and spend time digging tunnels. Cooley said that the process for emergence actually begins in the fall and he suspects the recent cold weather "will slow things down" for their appearance in the coming weeks. Despite the cold weather, some residents in North Carolina commented on the website, CicadaMania, that they began to hear some cicadas during the week of May 11-17. A 17-year-old cicada bug sitting on a blade of grass in western North Carolina. (iStock / Getty Images Plus) Adult cicadas have a short lifespan-typically about a month-but females can leave behind hundreds of eggs, meaning their populations are enormous, the NPMA says. According to Magicicada, these cicadas are not known to be particularly harmful, but people who have fruit orchards or tree farms might find that they can become problematic if too many feed on a particular plant or lay eggs in twigs, which can cause damage to trees. A fully emerged brood will be quite noticeable, even if you can't spot them. That's because as they begin their next mating cycle, the male cicadas will "sing" to the females. This can often lead to a "deafening" sound, according to Skvarla, while other experts have described a full brood's mating chorus as "an insect-sized fleet of jets preparing for liftoff." On occasion, periodical cicadas can arrive way ahead of schedule. A recent report from KSDK in St. Louis said some 13-year cicadas that are a part of Brood XIX have arrived four years earlier than normal in the St. Louis area this spring. Periodical cicadas can be prone to getting "their timing mixed up and may emerge early or late," Dr. Gene Kritsky, dean of behavioral and natural studies at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, told the news station. "Early emergences of 17-year are well documented, but such accelerations of 13-year cicada have not been widely reported." Correction: A previous version of this story referred to the NPMA as the National Pest Management Agency. It is the National Pest Management Association. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. After receiving several queries from final year university students and parents about the exams scheduled in July 2020, the state minister for higher and technical education, Uday Samant on Tuesday announced that he has written to the University Grants Commission (UGC) to cancel the exams. In a letter addressed to the UGC, Samant has highlighted that due to the current situation of increasing Covid-19 cases, it will be impossible for the state government to conduct examinations for lakhs of students soon. This move comes less than ten days after Samant announced that all university students except final year students will be promoted to the next academic year, whereas final year students will have to appear for exams in July. The lockdown has been extended for the fourth time in Maharashtra and there is an increase in the daily count of Covid cases. In such a situation, we cannot put health and lives of eight-10 lakh young students at risk by conducting examinations, said Uday Samant in a Facebook live session on Tuesday evening. He added that the state government took this decision keeping in mind the safety of students. Cabinet minister Aditya Thackeray has also previously highlighted this issue and a member of Yuva Sena has already approached the UGC with similar concerns. We hope the UGC understands our predicament, said Samant. He added that the state government will wait for a couple of days to hear from the commission. Meanwhile, senior ministers and education officials along with heads of state universities will meet to discuss the plan of action. By promoting all students, we assure the UGC that promotion will be based on a viable gradation formula and by ensuring that no student is at a loss, said Samant. He further highlighted that while final year exams could be avoided, for the time being, it will be difficult to cancel entrance exams for professional courses. We plan to conduct the common entrance test (CET) over a period of days in July. All social distancing norms will be followed, ensuring the safety of all 5.24 lakh registered students. We will also give students the option of choosing an exam centre closer home to avoid travel, said Samant. He added that a call on this will be taken in the future in case the lockdown situation doesnt change. He further stated that a meeting of top education officials will take place over the next two days to decide on the future course of action for the state education department. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hamilton County on Monday reported eight more cases of coronavirus - bringing the total to 376. Deaths remain at 13. Hamilton County Health Department administrator Becky Barnes said, We are working seven days a week doing contact tracing, so even if its a weekend, we are contacting positive cases as soon as we get them. And please answer all of our questions so we can protect you, your family, friends, and the community at large. Ms. Barnes also focused on the rising number of cases in in the 37407 zip code. She said that COVID-19 can be anywhere, citing the fact that six different zip codes had positive cases since the last press conference. She said that anyone who wants a test can get one, with tests available seven days a week. As of May 17, we have reported 8899 tests performed. This equates one of every 42 people in Hamilton County, said Ms. Barnes. Ezekiel Garcia said the county is making efforts to reach Spanish-speaking residents. He said the county is using Facebook as a vehicle to reach these residents. Our Facebook videos cover topics such as contact tracing, COVID-19 symptoms, and preventative actions such as wearing a facemask, social distancing, community testing information, and we provide an interpretation of our press briefings in Spanish. Ms. Barnes said that the Bonnyshire site tests the maximum 125 people every single day. Ms. Barnes also said there is no connection between reopening and the rise in cases. I think that what we said is that the majority of cases are epi-linked to businesses that have been open and familiar spread, but that will change over time, said Ms. Barnes. Ms. Barnes also did not give a comment on parents organizing independent graduation ceremonies where social distancing is often not followed. However, she did advocate for social distancing. According to Hamilton County Health Department data as of Sunday, a total of 8,899 tests have been performed. This equates to 24.2 people out of every 1,000 residents have been tested, or 1 out of 42 (41.6) persons using population 369,758. The state of Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) data also dated May 17th shows a total of 5,645 tests for Hamilton County, a difference of 3,254. The discrepancy for this data lies with the Hamilton County Laboratory at Baylor School, officials said. This lab has not yet achieved full electronic integration with the TDH data reporting. The lag in reporting accounts for the discrepancy between the Health Departments local number and the TDH data. Officials said, "The Health Department considers it a top priority to make free testing available to the public. The Health Department has dropped any requirements for testing, such as the need for an appointment, a physicians referral, symptoms, or even an age requirement. Testing helps the Health Department identify cases early and allows for aggressive contact tracing to begin. Contact tracing seeks to identify any person with whom the infected person came into contact. These people are then asked to self-quarantine to prevent the spread of the disease, even if they do not have symptoms." For COVID-19 information, visit the Health Departments COVID-19 website or call the hotline at 209-8383. PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 22:40:45 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 1023 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 This News Release is Intended for Distribution in Canada Only and is not Intended for Distribution to United States Newswire Services or Dissemination in the United StatesTORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / Pelangio Exploration Inc. (TSXV:PX)(OTC PINK:PGXPF) ("Pelangio" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has closed the first tranche of the non-brokered private placement previously announced on May 7, 2020 and May 11, 2020 (the "Offering"). In this first tranche, the Company raised aggregate gross proceeds of $734,000 (the "First Tranche") by issuing 5,000,000 hard dollar units (the "HD Units") at a price of $0.12 per HD Unit and 957,142 common shares of the Company issued on a flow-through basis (the "FT Shares") at a price of $0.14 per FT Share.Each HD Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant ("Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.18 for a period of two years from May 19, 2020 (the "Initial Closing Date"). The FT Shares will qualify as "flow-through shares" (within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada)).The gross proceeds from the sale of the FT Shares will be used to incur qualifying Canadian Exploration Expenses. Qualifying expenses are to be incurred by no later than December 31, 2021 for renunciation to investors of FT Shares in the Offering effective December 31, 2020. The balance of the proceeds of the Offering will be used for general corporate and working capital purposes, and for the development of the Company's mining projects.In connection with the closing of the First Tranche, the Company paid finder's fees to Canaccord Genuity Corp., PI Financial Corp., Haywood Securities Inc., and Laurentian Bank Securities Inc., each arm's length finders, consisting of an aggregate of $28,560 in cash and an aggregate of 238,000 non-transferrable warrants ("Finder Warrants"). Each Finder Warrant entitles the holder to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.18 for a period of one year from the Initial Closing Date.All securities issued in the First Tranche of the Offering, including the Finder Warrants, are subject to a statutory hold period expiring on September 20, 2020.A second and final closing of the Offering is expected to take place on or around May 29, 2020. Pelangio is pleased to announce that due to additional demand, the Company has further increased the size of the Offering from aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1,350,000 to aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1,450,000. The Offering remains subject to final acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange.Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdictions in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Any offering made will be pursuant to available prospectus exemptions and restricted to persons to whom the securities may be sold in accordance with the laws of such jurisdictions, and by persons permitted to sell the securities in accordance with the laws of such jurisdictions.About PelangioPelangio acquires and explores land packages in world-class gold belts in Canada and Ghana, West Africa. In Canada, the company is focusing on the 6.7 km2Grenfell property located approximately 10 km from the Macassa Mine in Kirkland Lake, the Dome West property located 800 metres from the Dome Mine in Timmins, the 25 km2 Birch Lake Property located in the Red Lake Mining District and the Dalton Property located 1.5 km from the Hollinger Mine in Timmins. In Ghana, the Company is focusing on two 100% owned camp-sized properties: the 100 km2 Manfo Property, the site of seven recent near-surface gold discoveries, and the 284 km2 Obuasi Property, located 4 km on strike and adjacent to AngloGold Ashanti's prolific high-grade Obuasi Mine. Ghana is an English speaking, common law jurisdiction that is consistently ranked amongst the most favourable mining jurisdictions in Africa.For additional information, please visit our website at www.pelangio.com , or contact:Ingrid Hibbard, President and CEOTel: 905-336-3828 / Toll-free: 1-877-746-1632 / Email: info@ pelangio.com Forward Looking StatementsCertain statements herein may contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements or information appear in a number of places and can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements and information include statements regarding the Offering generally, the proposed use of proceeds and the Company's exploration plans. With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, we have made numerous assumptions, including assumptions about our ability to close additional tranches of the Offering in a timely manner, if at all, and the state of the equity markets. Such forward-looking statements and information are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statement or information. Such risks include the ability of the Company to meet the conditions of closing, our ability to conduct our exploration programs as planned, changes in equity markets, share price volatility, volatility of global and local economic climate, gold price volatility, political developments in Ghana, increases in costs, exchange rate fluctuations, speculative nature of gold exploration and other risks involved in the gold exploration industry. See the Company's annual and quarterly financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for additional infor Bahrain has completed 50% of the project to upgrade the Bapco Refinery, one of the largest projects in the country at an estimated cost of $6 billion. Minister of Oil Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa praised the good performance and efforts of the executive management of the Bapco Modernization Project (BMP) in striving for the project to proceed according to the schedule, despite the negative economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The project will have a significant positive impact on revenues and is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2022, he said. Shaikh Mohammed also announced the completion and launch of the first LNG jetty consisting of a floating storage unit, a port, a sea barrier, a nearby platform for fumigation of liquefied gas to return to its gas state, underwater pipes to transport gas from the platform to the shore, a land gas delivery facility, and a land-based nitrogen production facility. Saudi Arabia is establishing a network of gas pipelines to connect Bahrain with the rest of the GCC countries, which will have a positive repercussion on various levels, particularly the expansion of oil and industrial projects in the kingdom. The minister stressed the kingdom's keenness to strengthen cooperation in this field with various entities, organisations and specialised companies to exchange ideas and experiences and identify the latest technologies for the development of the oil, gas and energy sector in Bahrain. He noted the importance of encouraging international oil companies to invest in exploration and production in Bahrain. Shaikh Mohammed referred to investment opportunities in oil blocks (1, 2, 3 and 4) in Bahrain estimated to have an area of 9,000 square kilometres. He noted that he has recently signed with the Italian company Eni to drill several wells in block 1 with the start scheduled for April, but now postponed due to the Coronavirus. As for block 4, recently discovered, it is located in the Gulf of Bahrain where the drilling of the experimental well was completed. The well began to flow last year and it will be added to the production systems soon. The minister praised the cooperation with Halliburton company, which provided all its expertise, knowledge and techniques resulting in positive achievements in this field. Two deep gas wells have also been drilled and further achievements are expected in the future. He was highlighting the latest developments in the oil sector in the kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences in a YouTube interview hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce in Bahrain. Shaikh Mohammed said he highly appreciated the meeting organised by the Chamber in cooperation with the Oil and Gas Holding (nogaholding) last year with the major US companies in the field of oil and gas in Houston to discuss opportunities for investment in the Bahraini energy sector in light of the recent oil discovery, the largest in Bahrain's history. He said Bahrain is looking forward to strengthening cooperation and taking advantage of the technologies acquired by US oil companies in the field of exploration and supply of logistics and complementary industries. The minister said the world economy is facing a major problem in light of the Coronavirus pandemic, which stopped the global economic movement, affected all the activities of international companies and posed a threat to the continuity and survival of these companies in the world markets. Shaikh Mohammed stressed the commitment to flexibility, wisdom and good planning at this time that guarantees a better and promising future for the world oil markets. The minister pointed out the importance of strengthening the role of shared responsibility among all oil producers and mutual support to come up with decisions that help the vital industry to survive, continue and prosper. He added that the Coronavirus pandemic has led to an unprecedented decline in demand for oil, stressing that the indicators are worrying for the oil industry and for the prosperity and growth of oil development projects. On this basis, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) adopted decisions at its last meeting in March by reducing oil production by 10 million barrels per day from May 1, 2020 for an initial period of two months. The hope is that the global pandemic will soon recede and the economy will flourish again. -- Tradearabia News Service Once you have several cords coming from one source, you can wrap or coil them to prevent tangles. Carolyn Rogers, founder of Neat Nerd Solutions in Atlanta, likes bunching cords together with Velcro ties to create one manageable package. It doesnt look like a big jumbled mess of cords, but everything is getting where it needs to go, and it keeps them from tangling, she said. She suggests placing a strap every few inches or so and leaving slack so the cords remain straight but are bunched together. Castelli, Rogers, Paide and Copeland all recommend Velcro ties, because theyre reusable and adjustable. They dont pick up dust, they come in numerous colors and sizes, and theyre soft enough not to damage cords. Ribbons or twist-ties from the grocery store work, too. Britain's jobs miracle has been brought to a crushing halt by the pandemic. The number to watch now is the claims count, which tells how many people are seeking benefits. This rose by a hefty 856,000 to 2.1m in March before the crisis had barely begun. The furlough scheme is protecting the jobs of 8m workers. Fair pay: Rewards for neglected workers on the front line in social care and hospitals need to be made appealing enough to attract surplus labour It is hard not to think that some furloughed posts will be declared surplus to needs as the scheme is eased from August onwards. All of this gives a wholly different complexion to the Commons' debate on immigration. The UK has been a magnet for young overseas workers from Europe because of its ability to create jobs. The critical task of government going forward will be making sure that young adults coming into the workforce receive better training. Rewards for neglected workers on the front line in social care and hospitals need to be made appealing enough to attract surplus labour. The fight against coronavirus is being fought on many fronts. Chancellor Rishi Sunak and the Bank of England have proved super flexible in adapting an array of rescue schemes to meet the needs of commerce, ranging from the self-employed worker to large public-quoted corporations. Firms which take government cash need to demonstrate they are not taking the taxpayer for a ride. Both the Treasury and the Bank of England are right to make sure that those who feed at the Government's trough play fair with all stakeholders. Start-up companies may be required to cede equity to the taxpayer if they borrow from the 250million Future Fund. Bigger enterprises tapping into the commercial bank schemes, or the Bank of England's bolder corporate financing facility, are rightly being told the price of help will be limited dividend payout to investors and restraint on senior executive pay. Maybe, just maybe, Persimmon and recent Ocado pay gluttony will finally meet its match. Un-Easy vote Easyjet shareholders are running out of time if they want to block founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou seizing back the reins of the carrier. The no-frills airline's defence will not be rendered any simpler by disclosure of a cyber-breach affecting up to 9m passengers, including the credit card details of 20,000 customers. Ostensibly, the row between Stelios and the board, headed by chairman John Barton and chief executive Johan Lundgren, is about the relationship with Airbus. The current 'scoundrel' management wants to continue investing in new aircraft but has put on hold delivery of 24 planes this year and a further 24 in 2021. Stelios wants to abort the whole contract for 100 aircraft, which he claims could leave the carrier with a 4.5billion bill. The sum is disputed by Airbus, which has cut capital expenditure to 950million over the next 18 months. By seeking at Friday's meeting to sack four directors, including the top two, and promoting chief operating officer Peter Bellew a refugee from Ryanair to the top job, Stelios is in effect engaged in a reverse takeover. He is using his 34 per cent share stake to seize back the pilot's seat from an elected board. He claims there is too cosy a relationship between Easyjet and Airbus. But Easyjet has been prudently run and has put together enough resources to see out the Covid-19 crisis. In spite of the demeaning public spat and the support of advisory groups Glass Lewis, ISS and Pirc, there is a real chance that Easyjet's board and minority investors could lose, leaving Stelios as cock of the roost, winning back control without a premium. Easyjet is busy rounding up votes. But at present the board is short of the 80 per cent of the minority investors that is needed to show Stelios the red card. They should vote without delay. New bearings With 600,00 staff around the world, few UK companies have a better view of the pandemic than hospitality giant Compass. Half of its workforce (20,000 of whom are in the UK) are on furlough. And Compass has also snapped up a credit facility from the Bank of England. Chief executive Dominic Blakemore is properly opting for a 2billion placing with existing investors and creditably is giving private investors the chance to buy. To those expecting a speedy bounce back from Covid-19, Blakemore's message is bleak. He suspects it will take two and a half years for a full recovery. Tough. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 21:57:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close DAKAR, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Senegalese journalist Aly Diouf, an expert on China, hailed China's support to Senegal in the fight against COVID-19. In addition to the Chinese government which has contributed to Senegal's fight against COVID-19, Chinese companies and individuals have also made donations, he said during a recent interview with Xinhua. The cumulative contribution of Chinese companies and individuals based in Senegal is worth about 170 million CFA francs (about 280,000 U.S. dollars), which adds to the funds set up by Senegalese authorities to fight against the novel coronavirus, the Senegalese expert said. Diouf, head of the political and international service for the national daily newspaper Le Soleil, stressed that "China has done its best to support the efforts of African countries in this fight against the pandemic." On April 22, the Chinese government offered Senegal a donation, which included 4,750 protective suits, 4,750 protective glasses, 4,500 N95 masks, and 10,000 surgical masks. Diouf, who is also correspondent for Senegalese magazine Chine-Afrique (China-Africa), said that since the pandemic reached Africa, China has continued to support the efforts of African countries to contain the spread of the virus by donating materials and sending medical teams. Diouf's opinions are echoed by another journalist and expert, Mbagnick Diouf. For the vice-president of the African media network against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, China has just, through its support for Africa in the fight against COVID-19, reaffirmed the sincerity of the relations with the continent. "It is in difficulties that we recognize our true friends. China has just confirmed this by giving a good example of providing support to Africa at a time when many countries on the continent are facing the COVID-19 pandemic," he said in an interview with Xinhua. Enditem Tomato Jos, a Kaduna, Nigeria-based agro-processing company focused on the local production of high-quality tomato paste for the African market, raised 3.9m in Series A funding. The round was led by Goodwell Investments, via its West Africa partner Alitheia Capital, with participation from Acumen Capital Partners and VestedWorld. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach. Established in 2014 and led by Mira Mehta, CEO, Tomato Jos is an agricultural production company focused solely on primary production of tomatoes, soya, and maize to connecting local farmers to domestic consumers. The company currently directly supports over 70 smallholder farmers across three growing cycles. Growth plans include the installation of a drip irrigation system and a processing plant that can produce 24 tons of finished product per day. At scale, Tomato Jos will work with thousands of smallholder farmers on over 2,600 hectares of land, putting more than $1M of direct income into the local economy each year. FinSMEs 19/05/2020 The Palaszczuk Government has backed down from law changes to parole prisoners a few days early to help them find flights home during the coronavirus. Brisbane Times on Tuesday night revealed the government's plan to parole prisoners, no more than a week early as part of emergency COVID-19 legislation. The Palaszczuk Government backed out of law tweaks on Tuesday night. Credit:Greg Henderson Photography About an hour later, the decision was made to scrap amendments that had been championed by the Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Police Minister Mark Ryan. In a statement on Wednesday morning, Mr Ryan said changes were made following the Brisbane Times story, so the government wasn't distracted from "Queensland's recovery from COVID-19". A High Court in Accra has dismissed the suit of 92 head teachers of some basic schools in the Ga West and North Municipalities who were demoted and transferred by the Ghana Education Service (GES) for charging unapproved fees. Mrs. Justice Jennifer Abena Dadzie ruled that the Head teachers had not exhausted all their internal mechanism in addressing their issues. According to the court their salaries had not been reduced even though they were demoted. The court held that, the decision of the GES to advertise their positions and also to instruct the applicants not to reapply was well positioned within the mandate of the Service. The 92 Head teachers in the Greater Accra Region were contesting their demotion and transferred by the Ghana Education Service after they had charged unapproved examination fees. The Head teachers in their suit contended that their removal by the GES was wrong because they were not given a hearing, hence prayed the court to order their reinstatement. The Head teachers reportedly did not obey the GES directive not to take monies from pupils as printing fees for their third term examination. In defence of the action of the Head teachers, the Zonal Chairman of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) in Ga West, Richard Kwashie Kovey, said the Head teachers were forced to make the decision because funds for the examination delayed in arriving. According to the Head teachers in July 2019, they did follow the practice of charging their pupils some monies to procure printing examination papers and other examination materials. They held that it was during that period that their attention was drawn to the fact that the Director General of the Service had previously issued a notice warning the Head teachers of all public basic schools to desist from charging such sums. Not quite long, letters were written to them summarily demoting them from Head teachers position to regular classroom teaching positions and arbitrarily transferring them to different schools in different locations although they had refunded the monies collected. The Ghana Education Service in their affidavit in opposition stated that No formal disciplinary action has been taken against the offending head teachers. The GES held that the head teacher position was only a privilege and not a promotion, adding that the decision to repost them to the classroom was not a demotion, since their rank and salaries were not affected. Additionally, the GES held that the reposting of the head teachers was done in accordance with due process and the condition of service of the Service. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video T he family of a woman whose body parts were found in suitcases in the Forest of Dean have spoken of their devastation as her picture was revealed for the first time. Phoenix Netts's body was found in two suitcases in the Gloucestershire woodlands near Coleford last week. West Midlands Police, who are now leading an investigation launched by officers at Gloucestershire Constabulary, said exactly where the 28-year-old died was still not known. Two people charged in connection with her murder appeared at Gloucester Crown Court on Wednesday morning. A statement released by the force on behalf of relatives of the victim said: As a family we are devastated with what has happened to Phoenix. Phoenix Netts has been named after a woman's body was found in the Forest of Dean last week / West Midlands Police We ask most humbly that our familys privacy is respected whilst we grieve and come to terms with the loss of Phoenix in such tragic circumstances. We have family and good friends supporting us and our thanks go out to all of them. Gareeca Conita Gordon, 27, from Birmingham, was charged with the murder and Mahesh Sorathiya, 38, from Wolverhampton, has been charged with assisting an offender. Gordon was remanded into prison, while the court granted Sorathiya conditional bail Both are next due to appear at Bristol Crown Court on August 4. Detective Chief Inspector Scott Griffiths from our homicide team said: Firstly, Id like to offer my sincere condolences to Phoenixs family. Weve worked closely with colleagues at Gloucestershire over the past week and our investigation continues at pace. Wed urge anyone with any information about the tragic loss of Phoenixs life to get in touch with us." Anyone with any information can contact West Midlands Police via Live Chat at their website or call 101 anytime. CALGARY, AB and SAN ANTONIO, TX / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / Nexera Energy Inc. (TSXV:NGY)(OTC:EMBYF) (the "Company" or "Nexera") provided the following update on operations in South Texas. At LaVernia, the Company has completed negotiations to re-lease the Schertz and Schertz Sanchez leases at a new royalty structure which is significantly more attractive to the Company in the current pricing environment. The two leases comprise 26 wells on approximately 200 acres, and operations have begun to bring the wells online. Additionally, the Company has been informed by its oil gatherer that sales will be able to resume in the month of June at the Company's contracted premium rates of WTI plus $2.25 -$6.00 per barrel. Shelby Beattie, President and CEO of Nexera commented: "Although many things remain uncertain in the world these days, the recent surge in oil prices is indicative of the optimism we are starting to see return to the oil and gas business in South Texas. Additionally, these unprecedented times will bring new opportunities that we are just starting to see, which makes us very excited for the future of Nexera. Whether we sell oil in June, or continue to store oil as we are currently doing, we are prepared to do whatever we need to do to optimize our properties in the months ahead." About Nexera Energy Inc. Nexera Energy Inc. (TSX Venture: NGY) is an energy company with oil producing properties in Southwest Texas. Nexera is owner and operator of the Lavernia, Wooden Horse and Nash Creek Projects. Additionally, the Company owns and operates various working interests in the HugoCellR, Cotulla, and MarPat partnerships. The Company also owns 75% of Production Resources Inc., a South Texas oil company. For further information, please contact: Nexera Energy Inc. President, Shelby D. Beattie, by telephone at (403) 262-6000 Email: info@ebyinc.com www.nexeraenergy.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Nexera Energy Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/590476/Nexera-Negotiates-New-Leases-in-Lavernia Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed while a CRPF jawan and a Jammu and Kashmir policeman suffered injuries during an encounter in the city's Nawakadal area on Tuesday, police said. Srinagar: Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed while a CRPF jawan and a Jammu and Kashmir policeman suffered injuries during an encounter in the city's Nawakadal area on Tuesday, police said. While police officials did not identify the slain militants, sources said one of the ultras killed in the operation was a top commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen hailing from Srinagar. The other militant is believed to be a foreign national, they said. Two militants have been killed in the operation at Nawakadal in Srinagar, a police official said, adding that weapons and ammunition were seized from the spot. Two security personnel a CRPP jawan and a Jammu and Kashmir policeman were injured in the gunbattle with the militants, the officials said. The encounter began after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the night following information about the presence of militants there. The encounter began around 2 am. There was a lull in firing for about five hours after that. But fresh contact was established with the militants around 8 am, the official said. The official said mobile internet and mobile telephony services, except on BSNL postpaid, have been snapped in the city as a precautionary measure. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriza Pinandita (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 19:16 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd9158b9 1 National UK-ID,United-Kingdom,British-embassy,bilateral-cooperation,COVID-19,coronavirus,West-Java,Sundanese,Internet Free The government of the United Kingdom, in partnership with local NGO Common Room Network Foundation, has launched a project that aims to provide wider internet access to remote communities in West Java. The two-year project, worth 190,000 (US$232,865), will provide internet access to the people of Kasepuhan Ciptagelar an ethnic community group that lives in some of the most remote areas in West Java. This project is a part of the UKs Prosperity Fund Digital Access Programme in Indonesia, which has a budget of up to 16.5 million over four years. The British Embassy said in a statement on Monday that in the long term, the project would promote community-based internet access in Kasepuhan Ciptagelar areas, while also supporting digital literacy to strengthen the capacity building of the local community. Meanwhile, the Common Room aims to develop a viable model and scale up the effort to include other indigenous communities in Indonesia, which could be a major step on that road to ensure every Indonesian, no matter where they live, has access to the internet. However, in the short term the project has been rapidly tweaked to help fight COVID-19. It means we need to get important health information out to everyone, as quickly as possible, in their local language, the statement said. Programs agreed on by the British Embassy Jakarta and the Common Room include the production of conventional and digital media content as a vehicle for delivering credible COVID-19 information using approaches adapted to local languages and culture that can be easily understood by the local community. An e-book in Sundanese has already been produced and will be disseminated across West Java. British Ambassador to Indonesia Owen Jenkins said the UK was keen to find some way to help Indonesia face COVID-19. We had this project starting with Common Room Network Foundation, so we quickly worked with them to tweak it so we could make sure that vital health messages delivered through both traditional and digital media could reach everyone, he said. We hope that after this is achieved, the project can focus on making sure this community gets the full benefits of the internet. Common Room project lead Gustaff Iskandar thanked the British Embassy for its support for the project. We believe this will grow into a fruitful collaboration and will strengthen people-to-people connections between the UK and Indonesia, he said. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / GlobeX Data Ltd. (OTCQB:SWISF) (CSE:SWIS) ("GlobeX" or the "Company"), the leader in Swiss hosted cyber security and Internet privacy solutions for secure data management and secure communications, is pleased to announce that it has signed a distribution agreement with ValueData Technologies Pvt Ltd. based in Mumbai, India, for all its cybersecurity, data backup, secure communications and Internet privacy solutions. ValueData has already received several requests for GlobeX's suite of data protection and secure communications and is embarking on a national roll out of all GlobeX's solutions, DigitalSafe, PrivaTalk Messenger, PrivaTalk and Custodia. Alain Ghiai, CEO of GlobeX Data said: "We are very happy to penetrate the vast and fast-growing cybersecurity market of India. Internet privacy and data security in India has become a prime concern with government organizations, businesses, and wealthy individuals looking at protecting their privacy and their valuable financial information. Just recently, the website cisomag.com disclosed that 1 in 3 Indian companies suffered huge financial costs from hacking and that around 50,000 cyber-frauds were reported between 2018 and 2019 alone. GlobeX is just starting in this fast-growing giant market, and we are happy to hear that we are the only company in the country offering the range of products we offer with the level of security and privacy we bring to the table. The unprecedented situation COVID-19 has put global businesses under pressure to provide secure remote business management tools for their employees, and has created an increased awareness for secure cloud business services such as GlobeX's. We believe that this trend will only continue moving forward, and India is no exception, on the contrary it is the fastest growing market with some of the weakest security and vulnerability to cyber hacking. We look forward to offer best-in-class security and privacy to the people and businesses of this great nation." According to Statista.com website, with over 560 million internet users, India is the second largest online market in the world, ranked only behind China. It was estimated that by 2023, there would be over 650 million internet users the country. Despite the large base of internet users, the internet penetration rate in the country stood at around 50 percent in 2020. This meant that around half of the 1.37 billion Indians had access to internet that year. There has been a consistent increase in internet accessibility compared to just five years ago, when the internet penetration rate was around 27 percent. About GlobeX Data Ltd. GlobeX Data Ltd. is a Cybersecurity and Internet privacy provider of Swiss hosted solutions for secure data management and secure communications. The Company distributes a suite of secure cloud-based storage, disaster recovery, document management, encrypted e-mails, and secure communication tools. GlobeX Data Ltd. sells its products through its approved wholesalers and distributors, and telecommunications companies worldwide. GlobeX Data Ltd. serves consumers, businesses and governments worldwide. On behalf of Management GLOBEX DATA LTD. Alain Ghiai President and Chief Executive Officer +1.416.644.8690 corporate@globexdatagroup.com For more information please contact GlobeX Data at corporate@globexdatagroup.com or visit us at https://globexdatagroup.com. For more information on DigitalSafe visit us at: https://digitalsafe.com. For more information on PrivaTalk visit us at: https://privatalk.com. Forward Looking Information This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "project" and similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes or that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. GlobeX cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond GlobeX's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to the future of the Company's business; the success of marketing and sales efforts of the Company; the projections prepared in house and projections delivered by channel partners; the Company's ability to complete the necessary software updates; increases in sales as a result of investments software development technology; consumer interest in the Products; future sales plans and strategies; reliance on large channel partners and expectations of renewals to ongoing agreements with these partners; anticipated events and trends; the economy and other future conditions; and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in GlobeX's prospectus dated May 8, 2019 filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, GlobeX undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information. SOURCE: GlobeX Data Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/590486/GlobeX-Data-Launches-Cybersecurity-and-Internet-Privacy-Solutions-in-India This Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon! Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page? Keroche Breweries heiress Anerlisa Muigai on Monday continued to mourn her sister Tecra Wangari by sharing the last photo the deceased took of her. In a post that was later pulled down, Anerlisa revealed that after Tecra had taken the picture, she asked the NERO CEO to publish it on Instagram but she said it was not up to standard. Anerlisa noted that the picture is now more valuable than any she has ever posted on her Instagram page. She took this picture and told me to post it but I told her it wasnt Instagram standard, now its worth more than all posts I ever did, wrote an emotional Anerlisa. She added that if she knew that it would be the last picture Tecra took of her, she would have let her take a million more pictures. If I knew this was the last picture she would ever take of me, I would have let her take a million more ??. The entreprenuer had also cleared her Instagram, leaving only four posts about Tecra, but later restored all her posts. Tecra Muigai was laid to rest on Saturday in a private ceremony in Naivasha attended by close family members and friends. Some of the friends included dignitaries such as Raila Odinga, his wife Ida, Laikipia Governor Lee Kinyanjui, Moses Wetangula, Senator James Orengo, MPs Jane Kihara, Moses Kuria, Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris and NARC-K leader Martha Karua. Classic FMs Maina Kageni was the MC. Haryana's Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala on Tuesday said that the works under MGNREGA will be encouraged and the state has targeted to spend Rs 1,000 crore this year under the scheme, which is more than double over the previous year. Haryana gives Rs 309 per day as MGNREGA wages and during the present crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic emphasis will be given to provide work opportunities to more people by increasing the works under the MGNREGA in the coming days. Chautala also said that as the state has eased restrictions as per the Centre's guidelines, maximum activities in the industrial sector were being allowed in the current phase of the lockdown, barring the ones falling in containment zones. IT sector has also been permitted to open fully subject to the adherence of the guidelines, he said. Referring to MGNREGA, he told the media here that under this scheme, more than Rs 450 crore had been spent in the year 2019, but in the current financial year, a target to spend Rs 1,000 crore has been kept. "We have 6 lakh registered active MGNREGA job cardholders and we will involve them in forest department works, building cattle shed in poor households, constructing Public Works Department roads, irrigation canals," he said, adding with this unskilled labour will get employment which will also help boost the rural economy. He said the state government will soon be launching a job portal to facilitate employment opportunities for the youth. On the permission to the industry, Chautala, whose party JJP is a coalition partner of the BJP in the state, said the government will give permission on priority to any labour-intensive industry so that it generates employment and helps people during present difficult times. Any kind of industry will have to apply online, giving details of employees so that movement passes can be generated in view of the lockdown, he said. However, for in-situ labour residing within the factory or unit site, no passes shall be required. As economic activities re-start barring in the containment zones, Haryana will also look to boost its revenues which had dried up during the first two phases of the lockdown. While bringing day-to-day activities gradually back on track, the government will ensure that all guidelines are strictly enforced, he said. Chief Minister M L Khattar had on Monday said as the fourth phase of the nationwide COVID-19-triggered lockdown has been implemented, the scope of relaxations, allowed in the previous lockdown, have further been widened in accordance with the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines. Apart from this the areas other than the containment zone will be considered as orange zone and all non-restricted activities will resume in such areas, Khattar had said. While most shops had already opened in the third phase of lockdown, the Deputy Commissioners will decide on the timings of their openings in the districts, officials said. As per the guidelines, wearing of masks/face covers has been made compulsory in all public places and workplaces. Spitting in public and workplaces shall be a punishable offence with a fine. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The site of a Nazi mass execution known as death valley is to be excavated after researchers discovered bullet shells, clothing buttons and medal fragments. The find was made on the outskirts of Chojnice, a town in northern Poland, after researchers from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences carried out an exploratory investigation to locate the execution spot. Historians already knew mass killings took place in the area but had not previously been able to pinpoint the exact location of the graves. They will use a combination of eye-witness accounts and technology to find out where the ditches are and plan to start excavations in August. In the early stages of WWII, German SS shot dead more than 1,000 locals as part of their 'action against the intelligentsia' near Chojnice. In addition to 40 civilians and a priest, around 200 psychiatric patients were also murdered at the site. A picture taken by SS guard Waldemar Engler shows a firing squad about to shoot a group of Poles in the nearby town of Piajnica Pictured: Members of one of the Selbstschutz paramilitary groups in the Pomeranian region of north Poland The site of a Nazi mass execution site in northern Poland, known as Death Valley, is to be excavated after bullet shells, clothing buttons (pictured) and medal fragments were discovered Pictured: A medal fragment discovered by researchers at the execution site in northern Poland This was followed by a series of systematic killings against Poles and Jews in the town and surrounding villages. Mass shootings also took place at the location in January 1945 and scientists believe over 1,000 bodies could be buried there. Dr. Dawid Kobialka, from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences said: 'The bodies of the victims were thrown into shooting ditches and many were burnt to hide the evidence.' Despite attempts to keep the execution secret and to cover up traces of the crime by burning some of the bodies, local residents knew about the murders and dubbed the place Death Valley. After the war, exhumations took place but were done so half-heartedly. Dr. Kobialka said: 'They were held in a hurry, many smaller human bones were not picked up, no detailed photographic and drawing documentation was made. The new venture is to be more systematic with researchers using airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging), ethnographic methods, analysing historical aerial photographs, satellite imagery and field surveys. Pictured: Locations where researchers think some of the bodies and personal items may be at the mass execution site in northern Poland Pictured: A German five Deutschmark coin discovered by researchers at the site in northern Poland They are also talking to eye-witnesses from the massacre. Kobialka said: 'We hope this will help us in the precise location of the shooting ditches and the space in which, according to the testimony of witnesses, the bodies of the victims of German crimes were burned in January 1945.' The archaeologists plan to start limited excavations in August. Following the outbreak of WWII in September 1939, the SS formed paramilitary groups called the 'Selbstchutz', made up of German nationals living in Poland, to help them manage the local population. Under the command of the SS, the factions were of particular danger to Poles because of their knowledge of local relations and social conditions. The factions used the opportunity to settle old-time neighbourhood disputes and to loot the property of murdered Poles. The first executions were carried out on September 15, 1939, with three residents of Chojnice gunned down in a nearby forest upon the orders of SS-Standartenfuhrer Heinrich Mocek, who was head of the local paramilitary group. Pictured: A cufflink discovered by researchers at the execution site in northern Poland Pictured: An unnamed eyewitness helping with the initial investigation (left) points to the shooting ditches where SS guards murdered 1,000 locals near Chojnice in northern Poland. Researcher Dr. Dawid Kobialka, from the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, stands next to him (right) From October 1939 through to January 1940, they carried out extensive exterminations across the whole region as part of their Polish Intelligentsia Action, which saw around 30,000-40,000 Poles living in the Pomerania region murdered. In the last days of the occupation, the Chojnice Death Valley again became a place of mass executions. At the end of January 1945, the Germans murdered a column of between 800 and 1000 prisoners from the doomed Warsaw Uprising and those from the nearby city of Bydgoszcz being driven west. After being shot their bodies were burned. According to a town court survey conducted in 1945, 1,431 people were murdered in Death Valley. An exhumation carried out shortly after the liberation of the town uncovered 352 bodies. One of Howard Universitys latest Ph.D graduates is proving its never too late to achieve your dreams. Florence Nwando Onwusi Didigu, 73, defended her dissertation at the historically black university in Washington, D.C. on April 26, earning her doctorate in Communication, Culture and Media Studies, the school said in a news release. Didigus studies drew largely upon her own experiences as a survivor of the Nigerian Civil War, which took place between the countrys Igbo people and the government from 1967 to 1970. Though it was her fourth degree, Didigu said the accomplishment was bittersweet, as she lost both of her parents in recent years and it had always been her fathers dream to see his her as a doctor. RELATED VIDEO: Brad Pitt Surprises Missouri State University Grads in Video Shout-out: 'We're Rooting for You' Brad Pitt Surprises Missouri State University Grads in Video Shout-out: 'We're Rooting for You' "You did it, you made it!" Brad Pitt cheered. "Enjoy, congrats again, and think big!" In my second year at Howard, and very close to my screening test, I lost my mother and my father within months, she said in the release. I had to return to Nigeria each time to perform the demanding burial ceremonies for each. I was completely deflated, both physically and emotionally, but I persevered because my father always wanted me to be a Doctor. As she worked toward her studies, she faced other obstacles, too, like a bout with shingles that paralyzed the right side of her face and robbed her of her voice. RELATED: 8 Ways to Celebrate Your 2020 Graduate at Home from Virtual Gatherings to Town-Wide Tributes! I was unable to speak clearly; this was the greatest tragedy of all, since I was teaching a sophomore research course! she said in the release. The day I started speaking again and was discharged from the hospital was a special life moment. Losing her voice proved symbolic for Didigu, as she has dedicated her work to amplifying the voices of Igbo women who survived the war just as she did. Story continues Her dissertation, which she hopes to turn into a book, is titled, Igbo Collective Memory of the Nigeria-Biafra War (1967-1970): Reclaiming Forgotten Womens Voices and Building Peace through a Gendered Lens. Carolyn Byerly, Didigus advisor and chair of her doctorate program, said the recent graduate embodies endurance and intellectual determination, and praised the way she used feminist standpoint theory to interpret interviews she conducted with 10 female survivors. In reflecting on the end of the war, Didigu said that she was filled with anxiety and fear until a stranger approached and reminded her that she had plenty to be happy about. RELATED: Julianne Moore Says She's 'Heartbroken' She Can't Celebrate Son Cal's College Graduation I stood up, even though the Nigerian Airforce was on its last bombing raid, and leaped up in the air in mad glee, repeating to myself and others, Yes, I have survived, I am a survivor! she recalled. This powerful survival instinct in me, which I call daring, and Gods help, are what made me overcome all personal challenges during my doctoral program and get to where I am today. In the years since, shes worked as a writer and producer at the Nigerian Television Authority, and as a broadcast regulator at the National Broadcasting Commission in Nigeria. With her Ph.D under her belt, Didigu is showing no signs of slowing down, and has already taken courses at Howard in the Preparing Future Faculty program, as she hopes to become a professor and continue doing research and scholarly writings. From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle Report. In springtime, many Americans take on a major project: cleaning their homes from top to bottom. We often call this kind of work spring cleaning. Part of spring cleaning often involves clearing out clutter. We do away with things we no longer need like old magazines, toys from our childhood, collections of things we no longer collect ... If we are to believe the many stories on Marie Kondo, the Queen of Clean, clutter adds unnecessary stress to our lives. Clutter is holding us back from our dreams and goals. But is it? To answer this question, I spoke with an expert on the subject -- Sabine Kastner of Princeton University. She has been studying how the brain processes clutter for 20 years. From the start of our interview, Professor Kastner wants to make two things clear: Not all clutter is bad. And our brains can deal with it. The media, Kastner says, often writes about clutter in a very simple, black-and-white way: Clutter affects the mind and we need to clear it out. But Kastner says it is much more complex than that. For starters, she says, our brains are designed to deal with clutter. Clutter is all around us -- all the time -- as soon as we open our eyes. And the fact that we do not perceive it as that...just speaks to this enormous capability that we have to deal with it. Kastner uses a Christmas tree as an example. When we see a Christmas tree, we know what it is -- a sign of the winter holiday season. We do not need to see each separate item hanging on the tree to understand this. Kastner says very early in the development of our eyesight, we begin to group objects that we see. This helps us to structure our environment. She explains that it helps us sort out anything that is not necessary. The attention system in our brains actually likes clutter because that is what it is used to. And it is using this cluttered environment to make meaningful selections from it. Not one size fits all When we talk about clutter and how best our brains perform around it, Kastner says there is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The idea that an uncluttered workplace is better, she says, is not universally true. Kastner says some people need to see their work. If something is carefully put away, to them it does not exist anymore. Out of sight, out of mind. For other people, objects can stimulate their creativity and give them ideas. Then there are other people who actually like that clutter. And they, you know, clutter their environment because it actually helps them. It almost like stimulating their brain to do something. However, other people are unable to work in a cluttered environment. Kastner notes that some people may get distracted by having lots of things around them. These people may need more organization and less clutter to work well. Some people do not care either way. Whether the area is cluttered or clear -- they work the same. And for others it may depend on the project. For administrative work, they might need a clear workspace. But for more creative projects, they may need many things around them. Like Kastner said earlier, it is complex. However, on one thing, she is very clear: One way is not better than another. People need to be able to design their workspaces, she says, in a way that works best for them. But again I think its important to take this all into consideration when you create workspaces because you need to give people, I think, the individual choices -- whatever serves them best. To know how your brain reacts to clutter, Kastner says you need to take an honest look at your home and work environments. What is working and what is not? If your home or office is cluttered and you cannot find anything, you may need more organizing. However, if your house or office is cluttered but you can find everything you need then perhaps your brain works fine around clutter. Kastner gives this warning: Do not continue doing something that is not working for you. She has another warning: We should not blame clutter for all of our stress and lack of productivity. There could be many issues involved in both. Now, if you are wondering which way Kastner prefersshe likes clutter! Both at home and at work. In fact, she says she feels sad if her workspace is too clean. But I know a lot of people who really need clear workspaces. Those would be spaces that would depress me. I would never excel in spaces like that. But I know that there are people who really excel in these spaces. So, they are just different from me. I think thats great and that's wonderful. Kastner says our brains are all so different and that is what makes us who we are. And thats the Health & Lifestyle report. Im Anna Matteo. Do you like a cluttered or uncluttered workspace? Let us know in the Comments Section! Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Quiz - Understanding Your Brain and Clutter Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story clutter n. a crowded or confused mass or collection interview n. to question or talk with (someone) to get information perceive n. to attain awareness or understanding of capability n. the ability to do something selection n. the act of choosing something or someone from a group stimulate v. to excite to activity or growth or to greater activity distracted adj. having one's thoughts or attention drawn away : unable to concentrate or give attention to something prefer v. to like better or best depress adj. to be low in spirits Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's measures for the aviation sector, as part of the government's financial package to help the economy tide over the COVID-19 crisis, may have failed to cheer the industry. But it has managed to put the spotlight on the otherwise neglected segment - maintenance, repair and overhaul, or MRO. Talking about the steps taken by the government to boost the segment, Sitharaman said the tax regime for the MROs has been rationalised, which will help make India a hub for aircraft maintenance. While the government had already announced the measure in March - the GST Council had reduced the GST on aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) services from 18 percent to 5 percent - the FM's reiteration has brought some cheer to the players. "We are happy that the MRO segment is getting recognition," said Ravi Menon, Executive Director, Air Works India (Engineering) Private Limited. Air Works claims to be the largest 'independent' MRO provider in the country. "With the emphasis on self-sufficiency (Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the package 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'), it's a positive thing that the Finance Minister of the country sees and believes that MRO is an imperative, and not an option, for the aviation industry," Menon told Moneycontrol. It is a welcome statement because despite India's aviation sector being the fastest growing in the world and domestic airlines expanding fleet at a furious pace, the MRO segment struggled to grow. Also Read | Indian aviation missed a 1991 moment Just about 10 percent of the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aircraft are done in India. The rest is sent overseas. Little wonder that Air Works chose to expand overseas, before refocusing its resources on India, and the South Asian region. The main reason for business flying overseas, was a tax structure that made it cheaper for airlines to send their aircraft, or parts, overseas for maintenance or repair. MROs in the Middle-East, Europe, and even Sri Lanka, grew at the expense of the Indian industry. While the reduction in GST in MRO services will help, taxes remain high on import of parts or tools. This is aptly explained in a paper published in India Foundation Journal. Written by Group Captain Rajiv Kumar Narang, an officer with Indian Air Force, it says: "The GST on import of tools and test-benches is 18 per cent against a GST of 5 per cent on aircraft components, which further discourages setting up of testing and MRO facilities in India." Menon agrees. He points out that at present, MRO in India is mostly limited to airframes. But when it comes to bigger components, airlines prefer to send these overseas. "Right now, we are targeting only 26 percent of the market. And even if we don't consider engines, there are still many low-hanging fruits that can be taken," he said. Menon added that for every million dollar invested in MRO, 50 skilled workers are employed. And this doesn't include technicians and other personnel. "The dependence on overseas market is especially telling in a COVID-19 like situation. With no flights to take aircraft or component overseas, work has come to a standstill," said Menon. COVID-19 impact The disruption caused by COVID-19, and the national lockdown, has grounded the industry in the last couple of months. That also includes the MRO segment. The situation, points out Menon, has been grim since January. "There has been no business. And the dues to be paid by the airlines are rising," said Menon. Air Works, which recently appointed former Puducherry Governor Lt Gen AK Singh as an independent director, works across 27 locations in India. An industry official added that none of the airlines now clears dues in 30 days. "If your dues get cleared in 60 days, then you are very lucky. If it is 90 days, it means you have a good horoscope. And 120 days... fingers crossed!" the official said. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak At least 67 jawans of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), who had tested positive for COVID-19 in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district, recovered from the deadly infection on Tuesday, an official said. As many as 64 SRPF jawans, who were undergoing treatment at a temporary facility in Satara area, and three others, who were admitted at a private hospital, were discharged following recovery, the official said. The jawans, who had been deployed at Malegaon city in Nashik district, had tested positive upon their arrival in Aurangabad on May 7. "The jawans have recovered from the infection and will be quarantined for seven days. The condition of the remaining personnel, who are still under treatment, is stable and they will be discharged soon," the official said. With the detection of 53 new cases on Tuesday, the Aurangabad district's COVID-19 count has reached 1,075, a district official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) According to the MEDC, this plan is consistent with the MEDC Strategic Plan to develop attractive places and activate vacant property and aligns with the City of Lansing, East Lansing and Lansing Township's Corridor Improvement initiative to revitalize the opportunities and investment along the region's most high impact corridor. The MSF was the final approval needed for the state's portion of the Brownfield/TIF. The Lansing Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (LBRA) approved the local portion of the plan in 2019. "The Red Cedar development will activate a long-vacant property into a vibrant, attractive mixed-use development that will bring density and vibrancy to a high-impact commercial corridor in Lansing," said MEDC Sr. Vice President of Community Development Michele Wildman. "We're pleased to work with our partners to support this project and look forward to seeing the additional investment it will encourage in the area." The infrastructure will be completed first with construction for the market-rate apartments and senior living center beginning in late summer. Student housing will be ready for the fall of 2021. Construction for the two dual-brand hotels - Hyatt House and AC Hotel by Marriott is set to begin next year. "With today's approval from the Michigan Strategic Fund Board, I am thrilled that the Red Cedar Project has now attained all necessary state and local approvals to move forward," said Mayor Schor. "This is positive news, especially with the unforeseen economic hardship that we're experiencing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This continued investment will help drive Lansing forward and is a good sign to others looking to invest in the city." Frank Kass, Principal, Continental/Ferguson, noted a particular thanks to the City of Lansing, "From Mayor Schor to the City Council to the people of Lansing, they all stuck with us." Joel Ferguson, Principal, Continental/Ferguson, described the challenges of a project of this magnitude acknowledging: "The leadership and staff at MEDC helped us refine and enhance the Red Cedar project to be a powerful catalyst to a bright future for Lansing and the region." Christopher Stralkowski, Executive Project Manager for Continental/Ferguson, recognized the hard work of all who contributed to this undertaking, stating: "Instrumental to our success was the dedication and support of Mayor Schor and former Mayor Virg Bernero, along with LEAP, the LBRA, Williamstown Township, all of the citizens participating in numerous community meetings and working closely with City Council members over the past seven years. We especially want to acknowledge and thank the residents for voting for redevelopment along with all past and current administrators who have supported this project. I want to acknowledge our partner Frank Kass, who has been tenacious and deeply committed to this enormous investment towards Lansing's future." Based upon the 2020 Economic/Fiscal Regional Impact Study conducted by the Anderson Economic Group, they stated that the plan is "one of the most economically impactful mixed-use development projects we have studied." For more information and the latest updates go to: redcedarfacts.com Contact: Christopher Stralkowski o: 517-371-2515 c: 219-898-6667 [email protected] SOURCE Continental/Ferguson Lansing LLC Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal Twenty-nine New Mexico companies received state funding in March and May to train a total of 165 new employees through an incentive program run by the state Economic Development Department. The Job Training Incentive Program awarded $1.4 million to nine companies in March to pay for 61 trainees and one intern, the department announced in a release. Another $2.5 million has been awarded to 20 companies so far this month, which will pay for training for 104 new hires and 24 interns. JTIP reimburses recipients for 50-75% of employee wages for classroom and on-the-job training for up to six months. Recipients hiring in Albuquerque include: Actoprobe, LLC,; Advanced Network Management, Inc.; Affordable Solar Installation, Inc; The Boeing Company; Build With Robots, LLC; EAGL Technology, LLC; Indica Labs, Inc.; Kairos Power, LLC; KiloNewton, LLC; LoadPath, LLC; Next State Systems, LLC; The Verdes Foundation; Apple Canyon Gourmet, Inc.; Ryan, LLC; Systems Integration, Inc.; Twistle, Inc.; and ZebraWorks, Inc. Recipients hiring elsewhere in the state include: General Airframe Support, Inc., in Roswell; GoLightly Cashmere, LLC, in Santa Fe; New Mexico Hemp Services, LLC, in Santa Rosa; Parting Stone, LLC, in Santa Fe; Red Mountain Arsenal, LLC, in Roswell; SavantX in Santa Fe; Sceye, Inc., in Moriarty; X2nSAT, Inc, in Las Cruces; Family Hemp Brands, LLC, in Santa Fe; and National Water Services, Inc., in Santa Fe. Saudi Arabia records lowest temperature in 30 years Erdogan's visit to Ukraine scheduled for February 3 Russian peacekeeping contingent establishes order of passage through Lachin corridor French Senate votes to ban hijab at sporting events Armenian FM: All necessary conditions to be created for Demarcation Commission work Olaf Scholz: Borders in Europe cannot be changed by force Lavrov presents Armenian Ambassador to Russia, with the Order of Friendship Bill Gates warns of pandemics far more serious than COVID-19 Macron: EU countries must work together on agreement for stability and security Turkey Central banks and UAE sign agreement worth almost $5 billion Blinken: Western countries need unity to stop Russian aggression against Ukraine Iranian President performs evening namaz in Kremlin after talks with Putin Turkish police detain women protesting price hikes in hygiene products Delegation headed by Chief of the Cypriot National Guard General Staff has meetings in Armenia Merkel refuses job in UN structure Greece receives the first batch of French Rafale fighters NEWS.am daily digest: 19.01.22 Azerbaijan hopes Pope to mediate in relations with Armenia Talks between presidents of Russia and Iran start in Kremlin Armenian FM: This is not first time Baku makes nonconstructive statements Ombudsman: I urge not to give in to Azerbaijani manipulations, to visit Artsakh Armenian FM: Armenia passes a package of proposals to Azerbaijan France names the main favorite of presidential election Garo Paylan concludes address in Turkey parliament in Armenian Russian Foreign Ministry believes there is no risk of large-scale war in Europe Dollar goes up in Armenia Sharmazanov: Armenia ex-President Sargsyan did not decide to hold press conference, he did not change his mind Blinken: Russia has plans to increase force on Ukraine borders : Azerbaijani military participate in Turkish drills Taliban say all conditions for recognizing legitimacy of government are met Azerbaijan MFA statement distorts events of Armenian massacres in Baku 32 years ago Karabakh ombudsmans office: Azerbaijans anti-Armenian, genocidal policy has clear chronology US official, Barzani are photographed against backdrop of Greater Armenia and Kurdistan map Armenia ex-defense minister, army General Staff chief, some others criminal case court hearing kicks off FM: Most important direction continues to be international recognition of Artsakh Armenia revenue committee chief on opening of Turkey border: Shall we live with closed borders? In fear? US selects Los Angeles to host Summit of the Americas in summer 2022 Karabakh Foreign Minister: Return of refugees can only be like mirror Iranian president arrives on official visit to Moscow All CSTO peacekeepers leaves Kazakhstan Artsakh Foreign Minister: Unacceptable to bracket NKAO and NKR together Karabakh FM: Format of OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs' visits needs to be restored Media: Air communication between Turkey and Armenia will start on February 2 Artsakh FM: Azerbaijan attack on Karabakh will mean attack on Russia Gold prices hardly change American professor angers Erdogan's son-in-law Hovhannes Khachatryan is elected Armenia Central Bank Deputy Governor 15 years pass since Hrant Dink assassination 563 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Guterres offers Merkel job at UN Armenian church revamped in Iran World oil prices going up Newspaper: ECHR rulings increase after Armenia revolution in 2018 Newspaper: Armenia ex-President Sargsyan to give interview instead of press conference Azerbaijan MFA falls into hysterical rage by France FM statement 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 COHOES Word that up to a dozen tanker trucks carrying 58,000 gallons of firefighting foam containing toxic PFAS chemicals might be coming to the Norlite aggregate plant sparked a firestorm of worry and criticism on Monday against the federal Department of Defense, which has a contract to dispose of the substance there. The rapid pushback may have prompted the federal government to back off on the plans, at least for now. At issue is aqueous film-forming foam or AFFF which contains toxic PFAS chemicals. Norlite has a five-year contract with DOD to incinerate the foam and the firm had been doing so in 2018 and 2019. But amid worries about the health and environmental effects of the incineration, the city of Cohoes earlier this spring enacted a one-year moratorium on such burning. Around the same time, the state Department of Environmental Conservation also said Norlite should halt the burning until more is known about its impacts. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has also called for more study. Norlite hadnt objected to the moratorium. So it was a surprise when word emerged Monday morning about the potential shipments, based on recent emails between Norlite and the DOD obtained by the Times Union. They cannot incinerate it here, said Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler. The Department of Defense has to get that message. I do not think Norlite would break the law. Additionally, the state DEC said that we made it clear that incineration of these compounds will not occur at this facility without further scientific review and that position is not changing. Later in the day, Knight Prince, Norlites environmental and regulatory compliance director said that, given DECs request, We have asked DLA (DODs logistics arm) to also pause sending this material. There is nothing currently scheduled into Norlite. Cohoes Assemblyman John McDonald added that Sergio Nusimovich, the president of Norlites parent company, Tradebe Environmental Services, agreed that Norlite wasn't planning to pick up any AFFF. A Department of Defense spokesman said the agency couldnt comment on the matter since it is in litigation over its contracts to have the foam incinerated. In February, the EarthJustice environmental group sued the DOD in a federal case that is ongoing. DOD is the nations largest user of AFFF. A series of emails between Norlite and the DOD may explain why the shipments had been planned. DOD in an April email to Tradebe said there are seven sites that could be used to incinerate the AFFF. But in a May 15 response, Tradebe wrote back asking for an extension on picking up the AFFF. The company t0ld DOD it received rejection notices from the incinerators it had contacted due to uncertainties about burning PFAS chemicals. Please consider extending the standard removal time framesThis is not a rejection of services on the Contractors behalf, but a request for instructions as to how to proceed, reads the letter. Then, as late as last Friday, the DOD stated it wouldnt grant Norlite a request to hold off on picking up the AFFF. The agency sent Norlite an Incineration Order for the 58,000 gallons from a Naval facility in Virginia. The exchanges suggests that Norlite might be caught between the citys moratorium and its contract with DOD to incinerate the AFFF. Prior to the moratorium, the company said it wanted to run test burns at higher temperatures in its revamped kiln as early as May or June. Known as forever chemicals, PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, have raised concerns due to their strong chemical makeup which means they can persist in a persons bloodstream for years. They are associated with illnesses such as thyroid disorders, cancer and other ailments, mostly in people where the public water supplies have been contaminated. PFAS contamination burst into the news almost five years ago when the chemical was found in the municipal water supply of Hoosick Falls in eastern Rensselaer County. Amid health worries, and after some early delays, the state ultimately agreed to help the community install filters and seek a new or revamped water supply. In that case, the PFAS came from nearby plants that made ingredients used in non-stick surfaces like Teflon. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. But Teflon isnt the only concern. In communities across the state, including Newburgh and Cairo, PFAS has been detected in residues of firefighting foam where firefighters practiced fire suppression. Even as the DOD has an active $5 million, five-year contract with Tradebe for incineration, another federal agency, the EPA, has raised questions about incineration. In a 2019 technical paper, the EPA wrote that Incomplete destruction of PFAS compounds can result in the formation of smaller PFAS products, or products of incomplete combustion, which may not have been researched and thus could be a potential chemical of concern." The paper also noted that PFAS are not listed as hazardous wastes, meaning there is relatively poor data on how it moves through the environment. Until Norlite, most of the attention on PFAS has focused on groundwater pollution. But a group of researchers from Bennington College earlier in the spring found that PFAS from the Norlite smokestacks may be ending up in bodies of water downwind. These and other concerns should prompt the DEC to create a prohibition on the burning of AFFF, said Judith Enck, a former regional EPA Administrator. "It is not safe to burn toxic firefighting foam, she said. Much of the concern in Cohoes has focused on residents who live near the Norlite plant. It is next door to a 70-unit affordable housing complex. The Norlite facility produces aggregate mined from nearby rock deposits. Its used as raw material for road and building projects. But to create the aggregate, the firm relies on high temperature kilns, which burn waste products including the PFAS such as that in AFFF foam. There are just a handful of facilities nationwide that accept AFFF which many fire departments still have but are looking to get rid of due to worries about its toxicity. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer earlier in May wrote to both the EPA and Department of Housing and Urban Development expressing concerns about AFFF and saying more research is needed regarding its safety. There is serious concern that these dangerous compounds were not fully destroyed in the incineration process and have been absorbed by the local soil and water sources, Schumer wrote to Department Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. The effectiveness of incinerating PFAS is not well understood, but the health effects of PFAS are increasingly well documented, the New York Democrat said in a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU Panaji, May 19 : The Bombay High Court bench in Goa on Tuesday asked the Union Ministry of Home Affairs if the new Lockdown 4.0 guidelines bar states from conducting school examinations. The HC query followed a petition filed days after the court had disposed of another plea, clearing the way for SSC exams to be held in the state. "The MHA is directed to impart these instructions to the learned Assistant Solicitor General of India at the earliest, so that the same can be placed before this court tomorrow itself. The situation is of urgent nature and can obviously brook no delay. It is not in the interest of any one that any uncertainty lingers with the issue of holding of examination," the high court order said. "Firstly, the lockdown which was to conclude by May 18, 2020, has now been extended by the MHA order dated May 17, 2020, up to May 31, 2020. Secondly, when the decision was taken to hold the examination on or about May 6, 2020, Goa did not have a single Covid positive case," the order stated. "However, as of today, it is pointed out that there are at least about 31 positive cases which are being treated in the state of Goa," the high court noted. One of the petitioners, Frederick Vaz, had argued that holding SSC exams during the Covid-19 lockdown could imperil the lives of the students appearing for the tests. New Orleans sanitation workers continued to demand better pay during the coronavirus pandemic outside City Hall on Monday as police officers made their own case for receiving emergency pay. The twin labor demands came as some city businesses reopened. And while the city may be returning to some small degree of normalcy, the critical workers whove kept patrolling the streets and picking up garbage bins said they were still looking for recognition of their efforts during the worst of the outbreak. For the sanitation workers striking for the past three weeks, that would come in the form of $15 an hour plus $150 a week in hazard pay. The sanitation workers were employed by a Washington state-based temporary staffing company called PeopleReady. But they rode on the back of garbage trucks owned by Metro Service Group, a major city vendor with a $10.7 million annual city contract to pick up trash on much of the east bank. On Monday, they took their fight to the steps of City Hall flanked by dozens of supporters from the public and from labor unions. Some waved signs reading I AM A MAN, a nod to a famous Civil Rights Era slogan, while others carried placards that said black workers lives matter. Councilman Jason Williams seeks meeting between striking sanitation workers and waste company Following weeks of protests, Council President Jason Williams on Sunday said he has set up a meeting between striking sanitation workers and o Jerry Simon, one of the striking workers, said they hoped to meet directly with Metro co-founder Jimmie Woods. We want to sit down with Jimmie Woods. Thats all we ask. Lets get somewhere. Its going on three weeks, he said. The company is open to meeting with the workers, according to one of its attorneys, Daniel Davillier. However, he said there wasnt enough money in Metros contract with the city to offer a big pay bump to workers. Instead, Metro supports seeking hazard pay through federal legislation, he said. Metro would actually support hazard pay for these guys. Theyre picking up more waste than normal as a result of this shutdown. We think its a reasonable request. But who should bear the cost for that? Davillier said. If you want to put businesses out of business, tell them their costs are going up without an increase in revenues. +4 New Orleans sanitation worker protest enters second week; dispute centers on pay, conditions Striking sanitation workers on Monday renewed demands for hazard pay during the coronavirus pandemic as a major city vendor acknowledged that Meanwhile, sanitation workers continued to maintain that they were paid below the living wage for city contractors and subcontractors, which is mandated by city ordinance. The living wage currently stands at $11.19 an hour, but the sanitation workers who were employed by PeopleReady said they only made a starting rate of $10.25 an hour. Mayor LaToya Cantrells administration said it was investigating if the workers had been paid properly. 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 Our Sanitation department is working to resolve the situation, and to insist that the vendor verify their contracted workers are being paid appropriately, a city spokeswoman said in a prepared statement. PeopleReady didnt respond to requests for comment. Metro said it had informed the company of the required wage rate. "Until the issue came to Metros attention, we were unaware of it," Davillier said. "I just dont think thats the real issue. Thats what they want to talk about, but thats been remedied." The workers also said they wanted better protective gear during the pandemic. But Metro Service Group has pushed back on that point, saying that it bought thousands of masks and gloves and made them available. The city said it had been reassured that Metro has bought a large amount of gear. Separately, New Orleans Police Department officers are also seeking hazard pay through the New Orleans Civil Service Commission. They say that an emergency pay rate equivalent to overtime should have kicked in once Cantrell declared an emergency and sent many city workers home. Its not just officers exposing themselves to the virus, said Donovan Livacarri, a spokesman for the local lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police. You go to work and then you come home, and then youre risking exposing your whole family and your kids and your grandkids whoever else lives in the house with you. Those dangers come home with the officer. The Fraternal Order of Police was set to make its pitch to the Civil Service Commission on Monday, but the hearing was rescheduled. +16 Photos: New Orleans sanitation workers protest for gear to protect them from coronavirus Dozens of sanitation workers who ride on trucks traveling across the city picking up trash gathered on the steps in front of New Orleans City In a written response to the labor groups request, City Attorney Sunni LeBeouf said the administration was trying to secure additional funding for first responders through a federal stimulus act passed in March. However, LeBeouf said the city opposed granting emergency pay through the Civil Service Commission. She said many city employees had continued to work either from home or in offices closed to the public, so the special emergency pay rate shouldnt apply. "To apply the rule as (the Fraternal Order of Police) desires would require the city to pay every working city employee an extra 50 percent on top of their regular rate, from March 23, 2020 until the city ceases the current manner of operations as designed to limit the spread of COVID-19," she said. She said the commission should not go beyond the intent of its pay rules and "exacerbate the city's already strained financial situation." The Spanish Health Ministry announced on Monday evening that the use of face masks in Spain will be obligatory in closed spaces and on the street where two-meter safe distances cannot be respected. Health Minister Salvador Illa stated on Sunday that the government was considering extending the use of face masks, which have been compulsory on public transportation in Spain since May 4, when confinement measures were eased to allow residents to go outside for exercise and for walks. The health minister, however, provided no further details about the plan. The best mask is a two-meter distance Fernando Simon, director of the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts The central government and regional leaders met Monday afternoon during a session of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System (SNS) to discuss the proposal to extend the use of face masks. At that meeting, an agreement was struck to make the personal protective equipment obligatory in closed spaces and on the street if it is not possible to guarantee a safe minimum distance of two meters, according to a press release from the Health Ministry. The issue of face masks has been one of the measures that has been subject to the most variations since the health crisis began. At first, authorities did not recommend that they be worn by people with no symptoms, then they did a U-turn and recommended that they should be used, before finally deciding that face masks would be compulsory on public transportation. Until now, the use of face masks has been recommended in areas where two-meter safe distances cannot be respected. The ministerial order to extend their use will be published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) in the coming days. Once published, face masks will become obligatory in businesses and closed public spaces. The order will clarify under what conditions they must also be worn on the street. Women wearing masks wait in line to enter a store in Seville last week. Julio Munoz (EFE) The masks that are currently recommended for use by the public are the so-called hygienic masks or surgical ones. When used properly, they are more effective at preventing a person with the coronavirus infecting someone else, rather than avoiding being infected. At the start of the pandemic, it was thought that asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus had little chance of transmitting it, which is why the majority of international organizations, including the European Center for Disease Protection and Control, and the World Health Organization (WHO), recommended they be reserved for those with signs of Covid-19, as well as healthcare workers. But as time has passed, and more is known about the disease, it has become evident that people can pass on the coronavirus in the days prior to developing symptoms or even without having any symptoms at all. In response to a question about the use of face masks, Fernando Simon, the director of the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts, said last week: Im not going to give an opinion for or against them being obligatory. There is now a high recommendation for anyone who goes onto the street [to wear one]. Making them obligatory is to overact a bit, it might be okay, but perhaps we should act in other areas. The best mask is a two-meter distance. Simon, like other health experts, warned that wearing a face mask may be a problem for some people, such as those with anxiety, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease or other respiratory restriction issues. English version by Melissa Kitson. The count of COVID-19 cases in Chhattisgarh touched 100 on Tuesday, after five persons, including four migrant labourers, tested positive for the deadly infection, a health official said. At least four migrant labourers, who had returned from Mumbai, tested positive at Rajnandgaon district, while a student, who had travelled to Korba from Delhi, had also contracted the infection, the official said. Their swab samples were tested at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Raipur, he said, adding that the infected persons were being admitted to hospitals. The state's COVID-19 tally has now reached 100, of which 41 patients were undergoing treatment, while 59 have recovered from the infection, he said. The state has not recorded a single death due to coronavirus so far, he added. Chhattisgarh COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 100; New cases 5; Deaths 0; Discharged 59; Active cases 41; People tested so far 36,606. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States Steel Corporation X entered into a four-year agreement with Ontario, Canada-based Algoma Steel Inc., to sell considerable volumes of quality iron ore pellets. The purchase agreement will run from 2021 through 2024. The deal provides a new long-term iron ore customer to U.S. Steels Minnesota mines along with incremental volumes. Notably, this marks the second significant iron ore purchase agreement finalized by U.S. Steel in 2020. Per the company, these contracts indicate its commitment to extract incremental value from its iron ore assets as part of its best of both integrated and mini mill strategy. As U.S. Steel looks forward to complete its electric arc furnace in Alabama, continue investments in endless casting and rolling at Mon Valley Works as well as upgrades to the hot strip mill at Gary Works, the company will be able to fundamentally reposition its footprint to become the sole best of both steel producer for its stakeholders. Shares of U.S. Steel have plunged 46.6% in the past year compared with the industrys 38% decline. U.S. Steels adjusted loss per share of 73 cents in the first quarter was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 80 cents. During first-quarter 2020, the company adjusted its footprint, strengthened its balance sheet and aggressively cut costs amid the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic as well as volatility in the oil and gas markets. These actions helped the company surpass its first-quarter view. Zacks Rank & Key Picks U.S. Steel currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Agnico Eagle Mines Limited AEM, Newmont Corporation NEM and Barrick Gold Corporation GOLD, all carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here. Agnico Eagle has an expected earnings growth rate of 75.3% for 2020. The companys shares have surged 59.9% in the past year. Newmont has an expected earnings growth rate of 85.6% for 2020. Its shares have returned 112.8% in the past year. Barrick has an expected earnings growth rate of 64.7% for 2020. The companys shares have surged 122.9% in the past year. 5 Stocks Set to Double Each was hand-picked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2020. Each comes from a different sector and has unique qualities and catalysts that could fuel exceptional growth. Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report United States Steel Corporation (X) : Free Stock Analysis Report Newmont Corporation (NEM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Barrick Gold Corporation (GOLD) : Free Stock Analysis Report Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research The Congress on Tuesday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of doing cheap politics by stopping 1,000 buses arranged by the party to ferry migrant labourers from entering the state. At a digital press conference, Congress leaders Randeep Singh Surjewala and Rajiv Shukla claimed that the buses are standing at Rajasthan-UP border but are not being allowed to enter the state because the officials on the ground dont have orders. The Uttar Pradesh administration wrote a letter to us at 11 in the night (on Monday), asking us to send the buses to Lucknow complete with all the papers - like fitness certificate, PUC certificate, driving license etc - by 10 am on Tuesday. Look at their behaviour - they are asking for papers, and dont care about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the state (migrants walking towards their home). We replied within two hours, but got a response at 11.05 am the next day saying bring 500 buses to Ghaziabad and 500 to Noida, said Surjewala. We replied saying the buses are coming from far away states like Rajasthan and will reach by 5 pm today. And hundreds of buses are standing at the border, but officials are not allowing them to enter saying they dont have orders, Surjewala added. He then called UP government insensitive and condemned the state administrations behaviour. Mr Adityanath, you said that service to man is service to god. When there is Modijis rally, you make all the arrangements like food, transport etc. But today, these buses are not acceptable to you because they have been arranged by Congress? This is cheap politics, said Surjewala. Rajeev Shukla said around 700 buses are standing at UP border, waiting for order from the state government to enter. We humbly request you to stop this kind of politics. We want to cooperate, not do politics, said Surjewala. This is for a noble cause, our migrant workers need these buses. Dont take their curse, help us in this endeavour. The Uttar Pradesh Congress claimed to have submitted the list of 1,000 buses to the Yogi Adityanath government following which the state government sought details of the buses and drivers. On Monday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had slammed the Congress for not submitting the list of buses and playing petty politics on the migrant workers. The Uttar Pradesh government said that the list of buses offered by the Congress to ferry migrant workers contained registration numbers of two-wheelers and cars. Dozens of employees at Chicago-area Marianos stores who had taken the paid time off received letters recently from Kroger notifying them that they had been overpaid and would need to return the money, said Zach Koutsky, spokesman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 881. The employees should have received their hourly rate, but mistakenly received overtime pay, he said. Press release Stockholm, February 4, 2020 Through increased information sharing, SEB and the biggest banks in Sweden will intensify their cooperation with the Swedish Police Authority in the fight against money laundering, terrorism financing and organized crime. The SAMLIT project (Swedish Anti-Money Laundering Intelligence Initiative) was initiated by SEB's President and CEO Johan Torgeby last summer in his role as chairman of the Swedish Bankers' Association. "We now take the next step to make society better at fighting and preventing prevent organized crime", says Martin Johansson, who in his role as senior advisor at SEB leads the bank's work with SAMLIT. "For us, this means that we among other things get better insights into suspicious transaction patterns in our continued work against money laundering, terrorism financing and other types of economic crime." There is already information sharing between individual banks and the Swedish Police Authority, which through money-laundering legislation also has the right to request information. The participating banks - which apart from SEB include Danske Bank, Handelsbanken, Nordea and Swedbank - will now together regularly meet the police's intelligence unit at the National Operations Department (NOA) in order to strengthen the fight against money laundering. That will allow them to share information about new types of crime, patterns and new ways to conduct crime."The intelligence service of the police knows the picture of organized crime and of the people making money from criminal activity, while the banks see financial flows and patterns", says, the head of the intelligence unit at NOA. "By sharing more information with each other we believe that crimes will be detected at an earlier stage but also that we to a larger extent will be able to prevent them from ever being committed. That's how we want to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism and combat organized crime."The banks and the police will start a pilot project in June, in which new forms of information sharing will be tested within existing legislation. They will also assess what potential law changes may be needed to make the work even more efficient in the future. The pilot will be concluded in November, and then be evaluated before the cooperation officially commences during 2021. The project will, as it progresses, be open for more banks. For further information, please contact: Frank Hojem, Head of Corporate Communication, +46 70 763 99 47 Niklas Magnusson, Group Press Officer, +46 70 763 82 43 After years of lobbying and funding requests, members of The Woodlands Fire Department began to receive their new, second set of bunker gear on Friday, giving the more than 140 firefighters another set of critical personal protective equipment to change into when multiple incidents happen in one day. Fire Chief Palmer Buck, who began work last fall in the top role at The Woodlands Fire Department, confirmed that the project to obtain a second set of heavy-duty protective firefighting gear had started and distribution would continue on May 22 and May 29 as all 160 firefighters get the new pants, jackets and hoods. The drive to get more bunker gear was initiated by former fire chief Alan Benson, who retired in May 2019, and was widely supported by former and current members of the townships Board of Directors who carved out extra funding for the gear in the 2020 township budget. The bunker gear that firefighters wear to fires and other accidents can become coated in various cancer-causing substances such as soot from chemical fires, liquid carcinogens and other contaminants. When firefighters return from a scene, the sets of gear they wear are placed into super heavy duty washing machines that can only clean two sets at a time. The drying of the gear is also an issue. Due to the contaminants, the gear has to go through two stages of decontamination: a gross decon at the scene of an incident, which means the firefighter is sprayed with water and has contaminants brushed off while wearing the gear, and then at the fire station, where the uniforms are put into a specialty, heavy duty washer which holds only two suits before they must dry for hours. The issues related to cleaning and drying the gear led Lt. Chris Polnick to make his own, home-made dryer. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Woodlands firefighter invents unique uniform dryer As part of the 2020 budget, the board approved a second set of firefighting gear, or bunker gear. This is a huge win for the fire department, the gear we were able to purchase was the newest, top-of-the-line gear. It is specifically designed to keep our firefighters safe not only from the fighting fires, but also to reduce the incidences of cancer, Buck explained. Cancer has been very problematic in the fire service, with a higher rate of incidences than the normal population. Buck noted that smoke, chemicals and other elements from fires and motor vehicle accidents have an ability to seep through various tiny gaps in older sets of bunker gear and the new equipment is more sealed to keep those elements from reaching sensitive areas on the body. The new sets also prevent bringing contaminated gear into sleeping quarters. Second set sought after Former board members such as John McMullan and Carol Stromatt, as well as current board members Bruce Rieser, John Anthony Brown, Gordy Bunch and Ann Snyder were vocal in their support for the extra set of gear, something Erik Secrest, president of The Woodlands Professional Firefighters Association, said is very appreciated by members of the department. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Woodlands devotes funds to fire department equipment upgrades in 2020 budget The township approved significant funding in the proposed 2020 township budget initiatives in September 2019 that allowed fire department officials to purchase the extra sets of firefighting uniforms. The funding request also included new technology to control traffic signals and two additional high-water heavy duty trucks. In the special budget initiative, the fire department will buy 140 second sets of bunker gear for all department staff at a cost of $448,800, said Monique Sharp, the townships assistant general manager for Finance and Administration. The new equipment includes a set of pants, a coat and a firefightering hood. About one-third of the departments firefighters received the new uniforms on May 15, while the remaining two-thirds of the department will get the new sets of gear on May 22 and May 29. Firefighters faring well with COVID-19 Buck said two months into the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic, the departments staff is doing well and staying healthy. At one point in April, between 12 and 24 firefighters went into quarantine due to possible interactions at fires or accidents with COVID-19 symptomatic or positive patients, however as of May 15, there are no firefighters in quarantine and nobody ever tested positive for the virus. They are all back to work. Nobody ever tested positive. We would cycle people in and out (with quarantine). Were doing very well, Buck said of the possible exposures to COVID-19 novel coronavirus. The pandemic is also leading to new opportunities for the department to serve the public. Under orders from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, local firefighters are being enlisted to test residents of elder care and nursing homes for the virus. Buck said The Woodlands Fire Department is helping with that task as best possible. We are working on a taskforce with Montgomery County Hospital District, Montgomery County Public Health and and Montgomery County Fire Marshals office. The first wave is to test residents and staff in state-licensed nursing homes. There are 12 in Montgomery County, Buck noted. We have a mandate to get it done within two weeks. Were looking at bwteeen four and eight of our firefighters to be part of the (local) task force. We will augment (officials) and help them out with nursing homes in The Woodlands. jeff.forward@chron.com MIUI 12 is expected to bring a host of new features and is expected to be a massive upgrade over MIUI 11. Xiaomi will be announcing the global variant of MIUI 12 today via an online event. The successor to MIUI 11 is expected to bring a host of new features and is expected to be a massive upgrade over MIUI 11. The ROM was announced for Xiaomis home market China a few weeks back giving a glimpse of some of the new features that will be hitting Xiaomi phones later this year. How to watch MIUI 12 Global Launch online? MIUI 12 will be unveiled at an online event that will start from 5:30 PM in India. Xiaomi India VP Manu Kumar Jain shared a link to the live stream on his Twitter feed and initiating banter around the ROMs India availability. You can head to the live stream directly from the link embedded below At the event, Xiaomi is not only expected to outline the new features of the custom skin, but also the schedule for global availability of the same. Here are some of the big features that the Chinese version of MIUI 12 has received. It remains to be seen how many of these make it to the global variant. What to expect from MIUI 12? MIUI 12 is expected to bring a big change in the design aesthetics of the custom skin. Xiaomi will be focusing on a minimalist approach to design with MIUI 12 that will feature three individual rendering engines with multiple animations across the UI. The UI will be capable of inducing real-time colours, blur along with better integration with the hardware. MIUI 12 is also expected to bring new icons, fonts and an iOS-like control centre along with gesture navigation and live wallpapers. There are animated elements even in the Settings app while new features like floating windows will be introduced. Privacy-centric upgrades will include a new App behaviour records page where you can keep a track of the permissions granted to apps and when and how they use them. Southern Pines, NC (28387) Today Rain. High 51F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Rain mixing with and changing to snow showers late. Low 26F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precip 80%. Snow accumulations less than one inch. After a political slugfest between the centre and the states over the movement of migrant workers on the Shramik Special trains, the railways on Tuesday said the consent of the destination states is not required to operate such trains. Photograph: PTI Photo The statement from a spokesperson of the railways came hours after the central government issued a standard operating procedure which said that for running the Shramik Special trains, permission will be given by the ministry of Railways in consultation with the ministry of home affairs (MHA). States and union territories should designate nodal authorities and make necessary arrangements for receiving and sending such stranded people, said the SOP issued by the MHA. However, the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Railways on May 2 for the Shramik Special trains had said: 'The consent of receiving state shall be obtained by originating state, and a copy provided to Railways before departure of train'. Railway spokesperson Rajesh Dutt Bajpai on Tuesday said, "Consent of terminating state not necessary to run Shramik Special trains". He further said, "After the new SoP, the implication is that no consent of the receiving state is mandatory". Over the last few weeks, the centre has alleged that some states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan which have a significant migrant population in other states were not giving permission for the migrant trains resulting in lakhs of them walking towards their homes hundreds of kilometers away. While the states have denied the allegations, data has shown otherwise. In a step that will significantly ease the movement of migrants with railways needing approval only from the originating states, the national transporter hopes to run up to 300 such trains and carry the remaining migrants home over the next week, officials said. While Uttar Pradesh has allowed 837 trains into the state, Bihar has received 428 and Madhya Pradesh more than 100 trains, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet on Tuesday. However, till Monday evening, some other migrant heavy states had agreed to receive very few trains -- Chhattisgarh approved only 19 trains, Rajasthan only 33 trains and Jharkhand only 72 trains, according to official data. According to officials, while the railways has the capacity to run around 300 trains per day, it is operating half of that number because destination states are not sending an adequate number of approvals. Officials also said states like Gujarat , Maharashtra and Kerala are ready to send migrants home, but many of the receiving states have not given approval. However, it is to be seen how the payment for such trains come in. While railways in its guidelines has said that the onus of payment of train fares is with the state governments from where such trains are originating, many a times the money has been shared between the two concerned state governments. Railways is yet to come out with a revised guideline explaining the changes in protocol. Since May 1, the railways has run 1,565 migrant trains and ferried over 20 lakh stranded migrants to their native places during the countrywide lockdown. Slate is making its essential coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. After pausing American funding to the World Health Organization in April, President Donald Trump, on Monday, threatened to permanently draw down funding and even withdraw from the organization. The threat was issued in a letter tweeted out by the president late Monday night after Chinas President Xi Jinping addressed health leaders at WHOs (virtual) World Health Assembly on Monday. Trump refused an invitation to speak at the annual gathering. It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world, Trump wrote following several pages of grievances about WHO and the spread of the virus from Wuhan. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. Trump went on to demand reform of the organization in the next 30 days but stopped short of what that might look like. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What does Trump and his administration actually want from WHO? Exactly what its getting at the moment: a global skirmish, a geopolitical dust-up that the president can point to as a sign of strength but also hints at conspiracy, absolving Trump of accountability for his domestic handling of the pandemic. Its hard to find tangible policy solutions and hammer out compromise when one side is so heavily invested in the fight itself, rather than the outcome. Trump wants a boogeyman, not a policy paper. So dont expect much to change until November. The underlying premise of Trumps complaints about WHO doesnt leave much of a path forward for good-faith reform. Could WHO have done better? Certainly. Is there room for improvement in the agencys functioning? Absolutely. But the Trump administrations biggest complaint about WHO is fundamentally that the organization hasnt catered to American demands and American interests. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving Americas interests, Trump wrote in his letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The presumption of the Trump letter, and the presidents actions in almost all cases, is that if the U.S. is paying for something, its interests must be served directly, immediately, rather than obliquely or collectively. If the U.S. contributed $553 million of WHOs $6 billion budget last year and China chipped in $43 million, by Trumps math, then the country WHO should be catering to is the U.S. This application of this logic does not make WHO a better functioning organization or more equipped to deal with the current and future outbreaks; it makes it more malleable to American interests. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The logic emanating from the White House that China hasnt sufficiently paid for its interests to matter, and that U.S. funds demand the prioritization of U.S. interests, has left the administration wide open to what is now happening: The U.S. is withdrawing fundsor threatening toand China is increasing its funding. Now what? If China ultimately matches the U.S. contributionwhich totals roughly 15 percent of WHOs budgetthen is the country off the hook for its lack of transparency? During his address to the health assembly Monday, Xi committed $2 billion in aid and future Chinese-made vaccines to the pandemic effort. Are the two countries square now? Trump continues to suggest that WHO is beholden to China, but the question is why would the global organization hypothetically be in Beijings pocket? One important answer to Chinas influence in the operation of WHO is the outsize role China plays in pandemics, past and future. Before COVID-19, there was avian flu and SARS, among others. Thats what makes China a vital participant in the governance of global healthits a launching pad for diseases that can spill over its borders. In this respect, China is not operating from a position of power, but one of vulnerability (in this case, to disease). The rest of the worlds vulnerability to those same diseases makes access and information vital, and therefore Chinas participation and collaboration essential. WHOs willingness to play ball with China stems from its need to provide the global community with that very access and information essential to combatting disease. That process is a deeply political one. Its one that WHO handles sometimes awkwardly and at other times poorly, but its one that needs navigating in order to help prevent future outbreaks of the next novel pathogen. If not by WHO, then who? Trumps not that interested in that far more complicated question because hes not looking for answers, hes searching for scapegoats. Lee Roy was a Veteran of the Korean War and, despite a limited, elementary education, he excelled as a Superintendent of the United Prestress Inc. & Elk River Inc. concrete companies that built many of the largest and most elegant buildings, bridges and concrete structures in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho before retiring after 40-plus years. Lee Roy led a full life. He loved spending time outdoors camping, hiking, fishing and hunting with family, friends and his many dogs. Although known at work as a highly successful, no-nonsense and even gruff leader, he was a loving, open-handed and kind man who was always willing to step in when needed for family, friends, church members and even those in need whom he barely knew. He will be greatly missed by the many whose lives were affected by this gracious and giving man, but especially by his children and grandchildren, who have lost one of the central foundations in their lives. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday took to Twitter and shared the four-page long letter that he has written to World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In his tweet, Trump said that the letter is self-explanatory. Time and again, the US president has accused the global health body for supporting China during the coronavirus pandemic. The WHO failed to independently investigate credible reports that conflicted directly with the Chinese governments official accounts, even those that came from sources within Wuhan itself, Trumps letter read. Trump said that the WHO consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December and concluded his letter by saying that the only way forward for the WHO is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020 Heres the full transcript of the Trumps letter to the WHO chief: Dear Dr. Tedros: On April 14, 2020, I suspended United States contributions to the World Health Organization pending an investigation by my Administration of the organizations failed response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This review has confirmed many of the serious concerns I raised last month and identified others that the World Health Organization should have addressed, especially the World Health Organizations alarming lack of independence from the Peoples Republic of China. Based on this review, we now know the following: The World Health Organization consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from the Lancet medical journal. The World Health Organization failed to independently investigate credible reports that conflicted directly with the Chinese governments official accounts, even those that came from sources within Wuhan itself. By no later than December 30, 2019, the World Health Organization office in Beijing knew that there was a major public health concern in Wuhan. Between December 26 and December 30, Chinas media highlighted evidence of a new virus emerging from Wuhan, based on patient data sent to multiple Chinese genomics companies. Additionally, during this period, Dr. Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, told Chinas health authorities that a new coronavirus was causing a novel disease that was, at the time, afflicting approximately 180 patients. By the next day, Taiwanese authorities had communicated information to the World Health Organization indicating human-to-human transmission of a new virus. Yet the World Health Organization chose not to share any of this critical information with the rest of the world, probably for political reasons. The International Health Regulations require countries to report the risk of a health emergency within 24 hours. But China did not inform the World Health Organization of Wuhans several cases of pneumonia, of unknown origin, until December 31, 2019, even though it likely had knowledge of these cases days or weeks earlier. According to Dr. Zhang Yongzhen of the Shanghai Public Health Clinic Center, he told Chinese authorities on January 5, 2020, that he had sequenced the genome of the virus. There was no publication of this information until six days later, on January 11, 2020, when Dr. Zhang self-posted it online. The next day, Chinese authorities closed his lab for rectification. As even the World Health Organization acknowledged, Dr. Zhangs posting was a great act of transparency. But the World Health Organization has been conspicuously silent both with respect to the closure of Dr. Zhangs lab and his assertion that he had notified Chinese authorities of his breakthrough six days earlier. The World Health Organization has repeatedly made claims about the coronavirus that were either grossly inaccurate or misleading. - On January 14, 2020, the World Health Organization gratuitously reaffirmed Chinas now-debunked claim that the coronavirus could not be transmitted between humans, stating: 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. This assertion was in direct conflict with censored reports from Wuhan. - On January 21, 2020, President Xi Jinping of China reportedly pressured you not to declare the coronavirus outbreak an emergency. You gave in to this pressure the next day and told the world that the coronavirus did not pose a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Just over one week later, on January 30, 2020, overwhelming evidence to the contrary forced you to reverse course. - On January 28, 2020, after meeting with President Xi in Beijing, you praised the Chinese government for its transparency with respect to the coronavirus, announcing that China had set a new standard for outbreak control and bought the world time. You did not mention that China had, by then, silenced or punished several doctors for speaking out about the virus and restricted Chinese institutions from publishing information about it. Even after you belatedly declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020, you failed to press China for the timely admittance of a World Health Organization team of international medical experts. As a result, this critical team did not arrive in China until two weeks later, on February 16, 2020. And even then, the team was not allowed to visit Wuhan until the final days of their visit. Remarkably, the World Health Organization was silent when China denied the two American members of the team access to Wuhan entirely. You also strongly praised Chinas strict domestic travel restrictions, but were inexplicably against my closing of the United States border, or the ban, with respect to people coming from China. I put the ban in place regardless of your wishes. Your political gamesmanship on this issue was deadly, as other governments, relying on your comments, delayed imposing life-saving restrictions on travel to and from China. Incredibly, on February 3, 2020, you reinforced your position, opining that because China was doing such a great job protecting the world from the virus, travel restrictions were causing more harm than good. Yet by then the world knew that, before locking down Wuhan, Chinese authorities had allowed more than five million people to leave the city and that many of these people were bound for international destinations all over the world. As of February 3, 2020, China was strongly pressuring countries to lift or forestall travel restrictions. This pressure campaign was bolstered by your incorrect statements on that day telling the world that the spread of the virus outside of China was minimal and slow and that the chances of getting this going to anywhere outside China [were] very low. On March 3, 2020, the World Health Organization cited official Chinese data to downplay the very serious risk of asymptomatic spread, telling the world that COVID-19 does not transmit as efficiently as influenza and that unlike influenza this disease was not primarily driven by people who are infected but not yet sick. Chinas evidence, the World Health Organization told the world, showed that only one percent of reported cases do not have symptoms, and most of those cases develop symptoms within two days. Many experts, however, citing data from Japan, South Korea, and elsewhere, vigorously questioned these assertions. It is now clear that Chinas assertions, repeated to the world by the World Health Organization, were wildly inaccurate. By the time you finally declared the virus a pandemic on March 11, 2020, it had killed more than 4,000 people and infected more than 100,000 people in at least 114 countries around the world. On April 11, 2020, several African Ambassadors wrote to the Chinese Foreign Ministry about the discriminatory treatment of Africans related to the pandemic in Guangzhou and other cities in China. You were aware that Chinese authorities were carrying out a campaign of forced quarantines, evictions, and refusal of services against the nationals of these countries. You have not commented on Chinas racially discriminatory actions. You have, however, baselessly labeled as racist Taiwans well-founded complaints about your mishandling of this pandemic. Throughout this crisis, the World Health Organization has been curiously insistent on praising China for its alleged transparency. You have consistently joined in these tributes, notwithstanding that China has been anything but transparent. In early January, for example, China ordered samples of the virus to be destroyed, depriving the world of critical information. Even now, China continues to undermine the International Health Regulations by refusing to share accurate and timely data, viral samples and isolates, and by withholding vital information about the virus and its origins. And, to this day, China continues to deny international access to their scientists and relevant facilities, all while casting blame widely and recklessly and censoring its own experts. The World Health Organization has failed to publicly call on China to allow for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, despite the recent endorsement for doing so by its own Emergency Committee. The World Health Organizations failure to do so has prompted World Health Organization member states to adopt the COVID-19 Response Resolution at this years World Health Assembly, which echoes the call by the United States and so many others for an impartial, independent, and comprehensive review of how the World Health Organization handled the crisis. The resolution also calls for an investigation into the origins of the virus, which is necessary for the world to understand how best to counter the disease. Perhaps worse than all these failings is that we know that the World Health Organization could have done so much better. Just a few years ago, under the direction of a different Director-General, the World Health Organization showed the world how much it has to offer. In 2003, in response to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China, Director-General Harlem Brundtland boldly declared the World Health Organizations first emergency travel advisory in 55 years, recommending against travel to and from the disease epicenter in southern China. She also did not hesitate to criticize China for endangering global health by attempting to cover up the outbreak through its usual playbook of arresting whistleblowers and censoring media. Many lives could have been saved had you followed Dr. Brundtlands example. It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My Administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste. That is why it is my duty, as President of the United States, to inform you that, if the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving Americas interests. AKRON, Ohio A 60-year-old man had the money snatched from his hand by a person who gave him a ride so he could cash his stimulus check at a market, according to police. The victim tells police he was driven by a male and female to the Starz Market on the 300 block of East Exchange Street in downtown Akron on Friday night. The victim went inside and cashed his check. When he had the money in his hand, the male suspect grabbed the cash and ran out of the store, police say. The suspect, who is about 20 to 25 years old, 5-foot-10 and 150 pounds, left the area in a dark green Toyota Camry driven by an unknown female. A piece of plastic is covering the drivers side window. There were no reports of injuries. Akron police say the suspect left the scene in this Toyota Camry driven by an unknown female. (Akron Police Department) More crime-related content on cleveland.com: Man on stolen motorcycle dies after running stop sign, hitting SUV, Akron police say Letting people go is not easy for employers, but for employees, it may be comparable with the five stages of grief. (Getty) Millions of UK workers have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic and many more could face redundancy over the coming months. Last week claims for universal credit hit 2.5 million. Universal credit is now the main benefit for the newly unemployed, suggesting a steep rise in unemployment as firms have axed staff and many self-employed workers have seen their incomes evaporate. Letting people go is not easy for employers, but for employees, it may be comparable with the five stages of grief, according to a career expert who has been made redundant in the past. READ MORE: Coronavirus: What to do if you think you might be laid off Understanding the five stages of grief can help people through the redundancy process, says Ben Roberts, an employment expert at Renovo, the UKs leading provider of career transition support. For employers, awareness of these stages can also help to support people through the redundancy process. There is a change curve model for grief, called Kubler-Ross, which comprises denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. I believe that understanding a likely emotional pattern of losing a job can help people accept their situation and move ahead more quickly, says Roberts. So, what are the five stages of redundancy grief and how can employers offer support? Denial Disbelief and the feeling of this cant be happening to me is often the first stage of the grieving process. After the shock of the news, people often tend to bury their heads in the sand and hope they wont have to face the situation. READ MORE: Can you be forced to return to work? Your rights as a furloughed worker Lack of information, a fear of the unknown or a fear of looking like they have failed or let down colleagues or family members can contribute to this feeling of denial and people may continue with a business as usual attitude in the hope that things will just blow over. For employers, it is important to understand that people need time to accept that their role is ending before any new information can be processed productively. Story continues At this early stage, employers should ensure they are open to acknowledging the emotions that people are going through and remain approachable, keeping an open doorpolicy for questions. Anger As the reality of the situation sinks in, the impact can turn to anger or frustration. People can become angry at those around them at this time, whether towards a manager or colleagues that are not going through the redundancy process, or towards the business for what they may feel is a lack of care, poor planning or unfairness. READ MORE: Why meaningful work is going to become more important post-coronavirus Employers should be understanding and accept that workers will naturally be resistant to the news. While remaining open for communication, do not try to second-guess their emotions. Give them time and make sure that when you are able to talk with them that you listen empathetically and communicate openly about what's going to happen. Bargaining Bargaining is often used as a way of trying to reverse the decision or attempting to find a solution that is generally unrealistic. For example, people might promise unrealistic changes, compromises or output, or even make offers of extreme lifestyle change. This stage is often accompanied by feelings of guilt that come up as people start to question what they could have done differently. Employers can support people at this time by managing their expectations while reiterating that the redundancy is not personal it is their role being made redundant, not them. READ MORE: What to say and what not to say to someone who has lost their job Employers can advise employees on how they can best use their skills and experience once they have moved on. Offer support in helping them move effectively into a new role with training or specialist outplacement services. Depression When the reality of the situation settles in, people may feel despair, grief and intense sadness, perhaps appearing withdrawn with the sense of loss. Employers can help by remembering that grief is part of the process of healing from loss, so this doesnt necessarily need to be fixed as soon as possible it is a key step in the process. Everyone will have their own way of dealing with depression, so its important to be as open-minded and understanding as possible. READ MORE: Coronavirus: What to do if you think you might be laid off People will be unsure of what comes next, and so the more employers can support them practically as well as emotionally the better. The more you communicate how their unique knowledge and skills are an essential part of moving onto the next stage of their career, the likelier they are to take the next step. Acceptance The final stage is when the employee accepts the situation is real and that they will need to take action. However, this does not necessarily mean that are completely fine or happy with the situation they are in. An employers support doesnt end here continued emotional support may be required to help people come to terms with their redundancy. If there has been an open dialogue with an employee throughout the change process, employers will be in the best position to offer them the most effective support for their own particular situation. Libya: Borrell expresses concern to Sarraj for escalation Long-lasting ceasefire, resumption of talks necessary (ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, MAY 19 - EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has called Libyan Premier Fayez al-Sarraj to discuss the latest developments in the country, expressing concern for the escalation of fighting inside and around Tripoli and for the growing number of bombings targeting densely populated residential areas, which caused victims, according to a note released by the European external action service. Borrell praised Sarraj for his government's willingness to actively participate in the Berlin process and stressed the importance for all sides in the conflict to stop the fighting, agree on a long-lasting ceasefire and resume talks. The foreign policy chief stressed the EU's constant work to favor a political solution to the Libyan crisis through the implementation of the conclusions of the Berlin Conference and recalled to the Libyan premier the EU's active engagement in making progress towards that objective. The Irini operation was among the themes discussed.(ANSAmed). DECATUR City leaders are looking to collect more public feedback before voting on a registration program for vacant and foreclosed properties. The Decatur City Council voted unanimously to delay a scheduled vote on the program during its regular meeting Monday night. Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said council members had been inundated over the weekend and Monday with phone calls, emails and text messages from residents about the proposal. Most concerns came from landlords, two of whom addressed the council in person Monday and several more of whom submitted written comments. The council is abiding by Gov. J.B. Pritzker's order to limit gatherings to 10 people or fewer; most members and city staff participate in meetings through video conference. "We dont want to be punitive and punish the good landlords who could end up on a list if they ended up with somebody dumping, and they didnt realize it, on their property," said Moore Wolfe, the only council member physically present in the chambers. "We dont want to be punitive against the good landlords. We want to clean up the city. We want to move ahead with revitalization. "We may be moving even though weve been public about these efforts we might be moving a little too fast in a time when we dont have the opportunity to really hear from the people who are directly affected." As outlined in proposed city code changes, the new system would require banks to register properties placed into foreclosure and to pay a $500 registration fee. It would also require owners of vacant properties that have had at least one city code violation such as property maintenance issues, or allowing weeds to grow too high to register their properties for a $200 fee. In both cases, the city would also require "semi-annual renewal registrations" that come with a $350 fee. City Manager Scot Wrighton said similar programs exist in a number of other cities and noted that it had been discussed in previous council study sessions. "Council, I believe rightly, identified it as one of many strategies that will help us achieve some of our neighborhood revitalization objectives," he said, "by making sure that the owners of empty buildings are both known to us we dont even have a good database for them but also so there is a mechanism to try to stay on top of them." The proposed ordinance changes said money would be used to offset the costs of registration, code enforcement and mitigation, city neighborhood revitalization initiatives and "any related purposes as may be adopted in policy by the city council." Deputy City Manager Jon Kindseth noted that city staff members currently spend hours hunting for owners or managers of abandoned properties or those with serious code violations. The registration program is a proactive approach to that problem, he said. Kindseth said about 5,000 foreclosed, vacant and abandoned properties in Decatur are currently taking up 50% of the time of the neighborhood services department. He also noted that the program is not aimed at empty homes that are being well kept. "This is for a property that is both vacant and is not being maintained and has code violations," he said. The council also delayed voting on a contract with Property Registration Champions, LLC to oversee the property registration program. The city would not pay the Florida company outright for services, but the company would receive $100 for each fee imposed on foreclosed and vacant properties. Wrighton indicated he might bring the measures back before council next month, after the city collects more feedback and works to educate the public about the proposed change using its website and other means. In other business, the council voted 6-1 to approve the sale of the former Fire Station No. 5, 225 E. Christine Drive. The property will be transferred for $90,000 to an entity named in the city documents as Dawson Living Trust Dated August 11, 2003. Firefighters moved into a newly constructed station on Mound Road earlier this year. In a memo to council, city staff said the new owner planned to "house and maintain a portion of his antique automobile collection in the building." Officials said the city did not seek bids, but received two: the one that was accepted and another for $75,000. Kindseth told the Herald & Review that the property is zoned for residential uses, and changing the zoning to allow other uses would require a city council vote. Council member Pat McDaniel voted against the sale, saying the city should have sought bids for the property. How much do Macon County superintendents earn? Contact Allison Petty at (217) 421-6986. Follow her on Twitter: @AllisonAPetty Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 23:47:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MAPUTO, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Government of Mozambique announced Tuesday the conclusion of a project to bring digital satellite television signal to 1,000 villages in the country, which is supposed to benefit over 20,000 families. The Minister of Transport and Communication Janfar Abdulai made the announcement after reviewing the project in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. "This project is included in the 100 days of governance and now it is totally concluded, here today we are reviewing how the beneficiaries feel with the project and we are able to testify that they are happy, they have direct access to information and we share their satisfaction," said the minister. He said the project generated about 2,000 jobs in total and trained work force particularly young people to be in charge of the maintenance and provide assistance to the beneficiaries. The project, covering all the ten provinces and the capital city of Mozambique, was co-funded by China and implemented by the Chinese electronics and media company StarTimes. The project is part of the resolutions of the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2015, in which the Chinese government pledged to provide satellite television access for 10,000 villages in Africa. Enditem As secretary of state overseeing his own election, Mr. Kemp served as umpire, player and scorekeeper, purging 670,000 voters from the rolls in 2017 and, weeks before the 2018 election, withholding 53,000 more registrations under a spurious exact match law (70 percent of those registrations were from Black people). Mr. Kemp also oversaw the shutdown of 214 precincts. Georgia had the longest lines in the country that year and the highest rejection rates of absentee and provisional ballots. A consultant linked to Mr. Kemp recommended that the board of elections in majority-Black Randolph County close seven of its nine polling locations. Why? The bathrooms in the polling locations lacked handrails, which the board claimed violated federal disability law. But the county had earlier refused to apply for money for the handrails when given the chance. It dropped the consolidation plan only after enormous attention from the news media. Such hyperlocal voter suppression has become rampant since the Supreme Court freed elections officials in Georgia and other states from having to prove to the Justice Department in advance that their voting changes would not be discriminatory. Mr. Kemp won the race by just 54,700 votes. If Jim Crow laws suppressed votes by forcing Black voters to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar, Dr. James Crow, with a Ph.D. in data science, has erected a far more sophisticated suppression apparatus sophistication we have to match. But I have not seen any campaign, political party or elected official address voters pain at having their voices silenced. I know that pain has also spread to Alabama and Mississippi, where people were looking at Ms. Abramss candidacy as a glimpse into what was possible. They also saw the theft. And they saw the world move on as if a major crime against democracy had not been committed. Thats a problem. When we talk to college students now, the most common refrain we hear is, I know my vote wont count. My organization registered a staggering 18,000 17- and 18-year-olds in the months after the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in February 2018. They flooded our office with earnest messages, wanting to learn how they could set up registration drives in their schools. We told them voting was a way to make material improvements in their lives by electing candidates like Lucy McBath, a Georgia representative who cares about gun reform. Then they watched as they were robbed of their civic voice, without any consequences. We have to address that if we want to win in November. Pastor Chris Oyakhilomes LoveWorld Television Ministry has been sanctioned by UKs communications regulator, Ofcom for airing false and potentially harmful statements about the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the full Ofcom statement: Ofcom has today imposed a sanction on Loveworld Limited, which broadcasts the religious television channel Loveworld, after a news programme and a live sermon included potentially harmful claims about Covid-19. Our investigation found that a report on Loveworld News included unsubstantiated claims that 5G was the cause of the pandemic, and that this was the subject of a global cover-up. Another report during the programme suggested hydroxychloroquine as a cure for Covid-19, without acknowledging that its effectiveness and safety as a treatment was clinically unproven, or making clear that it has potentially serious side effects. A sermon broadcast on Your Loveworld also included unsubstantiated claims linking the pandemic to 5G technology, as well as claims which cast serious doubt on the necessity for lockdown measures and the motives behind official health advice on Covid-19, including in relation to vaccination. There is no ban on broadcasting controversial views which are different from, or which challenge, official authorities on public health information. However, given the unsubstantiated claims in both these programmes were not sufficiently put into context, they risked undermining viewers trust in official health advice, with potentially serious consequences for public health. Given these serious failings, we concluded that Loveworld Limited did not adequately protect viewers from the potentially harmful content in the news programme and the sermon, and the news reports were not duly accurate. Loveworld Limited must broadcast our findings and we are considering whether to impose any further sanction. from ofcom.org.uk The post Pastor Chris Oyakhilomes Loveworld TV Sanctioned In The UK For Airing That 5G Is Responsible For COVID 19 appeared first on . Share this post with your Friends on Fishing outrage: Dutch trawlers plunder British waters with UK boats unable to sail by CIARAN MCGRATH May 18,2020 | Source: Express Three Dutch supertrawlers have been ruthlessly plundering UK fish stocks with British boats unable to sail during the coronavirus lockdown, environmental campaigners Greenpeace have warned. Their activities are causing untold damage to the fragile ecosystem, with Jeremy Percy, director of the New Under Ten Fishermen's Association (NUFTA), which represents fishermen who use boats of less than ten metres in length, is concerned their activities endanger the lives of whales and dolphins as well. The movements of the vessels are recorded in a series of GPS maps released by the environmental campaigners, spending weeks fishing waters on the west coast of Scotland. Chris Thorne, Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace UK, told Express.co.uk: In the last month, while the entire world is in lockdown, weve seen the supertrawler fleet relentlessly fishing in and around UK waters, with some boats leaving port during the lockdown and heading straight to fishing grounds off the coast of Scotland. "Since arriving in early April the first supertrawlers to show up, the Willem van der Zwan, Afrika and Frank Bonefaas have been joined by yet more supertrawlers, exploiting UK waters while local fishers are largely stuck at home, unable to work. "We must address the unfair fishing system, which favours unsustainable, industrial fishing fleets over local, more sustainable fleets. The situation in the UK is far from unique. "Weve seen industrial fleets illegally fishing off the coast of Argentina, and a significant increase in fishing activity here according to Global Fishing Watch data. "While the world is at home, fishing continues. "Some people might think the lockdown is allowing nature to heal, but that certainly isnt true for our oceans. Mr Percy told Express.co.uk he was concerned not only of what he termed the "supertrawler pack" but also about the activities of Belgian beam trawlers and French trawlers which he said were also regular visitors. He added: "Our main concern is that the Marine Management Organisation are not authorising physical inspections of any of these vessels during the pandemic. "With the supertrawlers, a primary concern of ours is the massive impact they can have in a very short time if not adequately policed. "And we have been urging the UK authorities to insist on cameras on these boats, not only with regard to fisheries activities but also to record any impacts on cetaceans." Mr Percy added: "The owners of the Margiris insist that she has a zero bycatch in this and other regards but the evidence from industrial pelagic fishing generally strongly suggests otherwise. "Reports for the winter of 2019 in the Bay of Biscay suggest 11,000 dolphins were killed by industrial trawlers. "When these vessels were fishing the confined waters of the English Channel some months ago, the incidence of dead cetaceans washed up on beaches along their fishing track was notable. "In terms of Belgian and French effort, I counted over a dozen Belgian beamers in our waters together with a number of French and Dutch operators." Last year a similar Greenpeace analysis revealed another Dutch vessel, the Margiris, had been spotted in an area designated as a Marine Conservation Zone. Then-Brexit Party MP June Mummery described the 136-metre vessel as a "factory" ship capable of killing "hundreds of dolphins". A Defra spokeswoman said: We know this is a challenging time for fishermen and fish processors and we are working urgently with the industry. Furthermore the Marine Management Organisation continues to work hard to monitor and inspect trawlers in English waters. At the end of the Transition Period, we will have the right to decide who fishes in our waters and on what terms. Any decisions about giving access to fish for vessels from the EU, or any other coastal states will be a matter for the UK to decide. A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: While Marine Scotland officers are following guidelines on physical distancing, we are continuing to record and monitor activity in Scottish waters, and will take action as required on suspected illegal activity. There is currently no evidence of any illegal activity taking place by these vessels. 2020 Express Newspapers Theme(s): Post Harvest Technology and Trade. EDMONTON, Alberta, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Radient Technologies Inc. ("Radient" or the "Company") (TSX Venture: RTI; OTCQX: RDDTF), a commercial manufacturer of high quality cannabinoid-based ingredients, formulations and products, announces that it has filed a provisional patent application covering the use of a combination of cannabinoids, terpenes and zinc (the "Formulations") as a means of preventing infection of coronavirus, mitigating the symptoms of coronavirus, and lowering infectiousness of Covid-19 patients, with the goal of reducing hospitalizations and intensive care unit requirements. Additionally, the Company announces that it will lead a collaboration with two US based groups, IntuitiveX ("IntuitiveX") and ipCapital Group ("ipCapital"), to explore the development of new anti-viral products using the Formulations. The Company is not making any express or implied claims as to the effectiveness of the Formulations or its ability to mitigate the symptoms of, eliminate, cure or contain Covid-19 (or SARS-2 Coronavirus), and there can be no assurance that the Formulations will be effective or reach commercial production. The Company plans to collaborate with IntuitiveX and ipCapital to develop a process and timeline for the development of the Formulations. Patent Application The Company has filed a provisional patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") that covers the Formulations as a means of preventing infection of, mitigating the symptoms of, and lowering infectiousness of viral respiratory infections, including Covid-19, in patients. "Filing this patent application with the USPTO gives us an international priority date that will allow us to nationalize in other selected jurisdictions in the future, including, for example, Canada, Europe and Asia," said Dr. Steven Splinter, Chief Technology Officer of Radient. Collaboration The Company announced that it will be collaborating with ipCapital, IntuitiveX and a third party contract research organization to be determined with a goal of developing, clinically testing and marketing cannabinoid based products that are targeted at lessening and/or eliminating the effects of Covid-19 in patients. "We are excited to announce this important initiative, which brings together our team of experienced research scientists along with scientific, regulatory and technology expertise that each of these groups possess. We believe this collaboration will greatly assist with the development pathway for the Formulations," said Denis Taschuk, Chief Executive Officer of Radient. The Company, ipCapital and their advisors have done a review of existing scientific literature that has focused on the use of cannabinoids and/or zinc compounds for anti-inflammatory and anti-viral indications. The Company believes there is sufficient scientific evidence from its review to support exploring the efficacy of the Formulations. As previous research work has been done by other groups on the use of cannabinoids or zinc for anti-viral purposes, the Company will be looking to validate that work through its own efforts with the specific viral target for this project. It is expected that Radient's dedicated innovation laboratory will lead the product development and the Company's proprietary processing technology will be used to produce the high-purity cannabinoids required for this product. Dr. Anna Bakowska-Barczak, Director of Formulations and Product Development at Radient will oversee the formulation development for patient studies. She has over 15 years of process/product development, formulation, and regulatory experience. She currently leads Radient's formulation and product development team and has developed and continues to develop a broad range of proprietary cannabinoid-based product formulations for both medical and consumer markets. Dr. Bakowska-Barczak is a recognized expert in formulation and product development for food and nutraceutical markets, including cannabis. She holds Engineering and Master Degrees in Food Science and received her Ph.D. in Food Science in 2005. She has authored or co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is the inventor of 13 patent applications. The Company has developed significant cannabinoid expertise as a result of its research efforts of the last three years. During this time the Company built up its scientific team to include over 25 in house scientists and engineers and has invested over $5 million on its research, process development and intellectual property portfolio. The Company has developed, during this time, a number of proprietary formulations that it hopes will form the base of the development of a final formulation(s) for this Covid-19 program. As well, the Company believes that it has the necessary equipment to develop and manufacture the necessary product formulations for patient studies including analytical testing of the composition of the formulations. IntuitiveX, a Seattle, Washington based life sciences advisory firm that has a long work-ing history with ipCapital, and is closely associated with one of Seattle's leading hospitals, will act as a service provider. It will lead the efforts associated with testing, regulatory approvals and additionally, incorporate their advanced monitoring capabilities allowing for rapid collection and evaluation of data. ipCapital Group, a leading Intellectual Property("IP") consulting firm, based in Williston, Vermont, has been assisting the Company with its IP strategy for two years and will lead the IP and innovation strategy for the project. "We are happy to be part of this collaboration to advise on the IP strategy and the IP development," says John Cronin, Managing Director of ipCapital. Together, the three companies, and through their networks, have strong product development, clinical and regulatory expertise. Additionally, the Company expects to support its patient study activities by adding a third party contract research organization to assist in the design, execution and evaluation of results of patient studies required. The group will be working to develop new anti-viral products, initially targeted at Covid-19, that the group hopes will provide mitigation in the form of reduction of symptoms leading to fewer hospitalizations and reduced ICU requirements. "Our goal is to combine two over-the-counter anti-inflammatory/anti-viral mitigators that are already well appreciated in research: cannabinoids and zinc," said Dr. Splinter. "There is a body of evidence that cannabinoids and their receptors influence viral pathogenesis, viral replication and of course the immune system itself. Further, other research has shown the inhibitory effect of zinc on viruses that attack the respiratory tract, including for example rhinovirus. We believe that the combination could potentially be an effective anti-viral treatment." The Company envisions starting patient studies with residents of long term care facilities, currently expected to be in the Seattle, Washington area, in order to test the efficacy of the Formulations both on high risk staff as well as nursing home patients. Radient is also considering exploring the use of the Formulations to mitigate ongoing symptoms of certain post Covid-19 survivors, notably those with continued pulmonary fibrotic disease. No such patient studies have been scheduled as of yet, and there is no certainty that any such patient studies will be scheduled. Key milestones for the project would include 1) completion of final formulations including dosing determination, 2) patient study design including identification of test sites and study leaders, 3) regulatory approval of study and 4) execution of study with evaluation of results. About Radient Radient Technologies is a commercial manufacturer of high quality cannabinoid based formulations, ingredients and products. Utilizing a proprietary extraction and downstream processing platform that recovers up to 99% of cannabinoids from the cannabis plant, Radient develops specialty products and ingredients that contain a broad range of cannabinoid and terpene profiles while meeting the highest standards of quality and safety. Please visit www.radientinc.com for more information. About IntuitiveX IntuitiveX is a life science consultancy and incubator created to help entrepreneurs and startups transform their ideas from concept to commercialization. IntuitiveX has a team of business, legal, clinical, scientific and intellectual property domain experts with over 50+ years of combined experience who provide a full spectrum of services to entrepreneurs and startups. About ipCapital ipCapital, celebrating 22 years in business, with over 1000 clients, serving >15% of the F500 and hundreds of medium and small businesses using its interdisciplinary team of consultants and advisors and programmers who are all focused on maximizing clients' financial results. ipCapital combines its world-class human capital with its proprietary AI based tools and methodologies around innovation, invention, and Intellectual Property. SOURCE: Radient Technologies Inc. Contact for Radient: Investor Relations: ir@radientinc.com Contact for Intuitive-X: Simon Robinson: srobinson@intuitive-x.com Contact for ipCapital: Seth Cronin: scronin@ipcg.com Forward Looking Information: This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's ability to obtain approvals for its patents, the Company's expectations with respect to the efficacy of the Formulations, the Company's ability to develop and commercialize anti-viral products, the Company's ability to effectively study the use of the Formulations, including through patient studies, the Company's collaboration with ipCapital and IntuitiveX and the Company's future plans. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "goal", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Radient, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although Radient has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Radient does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. A key employer group has unveiled the changes it sees as most crucial for Australia's industrial relations system, which is among the government's priorities for post-pandemic reform as it tries to get Australians back to work. The Australian Industry Group, which represents about 60,000 businesses, urged the government to simplify the industry awards that set pay and conditions for millions of workers, make it easier for businesses to bargain with their staff and clarify which employees are casuals. Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox argues a simpler industrial system will help employers take on more workers. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer The group's chief executive, Innes Willox, said on Tuesday the changes could help Australia overcome the period of predicted high unemployment and low growth. "Now is not the time for tired old arguments about industrial reform," Mr Willox said. "Decisions made by federal and state governments over coming months about reform options will play a big role in determining how long the recovery period will be." Amaravati, May 19 : A 66-year-old woman in Andhra Pradesh was arrested by the police for her Facebook posting, questioning the state government over its handling of the recent gas leak from LG Polymers in Visakhapatnam and for making certain allegations. The Crime Investigation Department (CID) late Monday booked Poonthota Ranganayaki, a resident of Guntur town, after she posted on Facebook a list of 20 points criticising the government for allegedly trying to save the company management. Gas leak from LG Polymers plant on the outskirts of Visakhapatnam on May 7 had killed 12 people and affected over 400. The CID charged Ranganayaki with defaming the government and creating fear among the people through her post on a sensitive issue like gas leak The CID in a statement said Ranganayaki was booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 505 (2)(making statements conducing to public mischief), 153(A) (promoting enmity between two groups), 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by public servant), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 34 IPC and section 67 of IT Act, 2008. The CID named Ranganayaki as the accused number one and another person Malladi Raghunadh as the accused number two in the case. It said his role was under investigation. The woman was issued a notice under section 41-A of Criminal Procedure directing her to appear before the police officer concerned in connection with the case. "If this is the first time they are committing the offence, the court can award them up to three years' imprisonment and up to Rs 5 lakh cash fine. If they repeat the offence, they will be awarded five years' jail term and Rs 10 lakh fine," the CID said in a statement. Ranganayaki, in her Facebook posting, had raised 20 points while criticising Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government for its handling of the gas leak incident. She alleged that all the evidences in the case were destroyed, the company was not seized, its officials were not arrested and very cleverly styrene, the liquid assets of the company, was shifted and the attendance of the staff was manipulated. The CID cautioned people against any posting on the social media making offensive comments against the government or government officials, defaming them or making false allegations to mislead people, creating fear among people, causing law and order problems or provoking enmity between two groups of people. It said strong legal would be taken in all such cases. Peterborough has the most houses with solar panels on the roof of any city or town in the UK, a study has revealed. The Cambridgeshire city has more than 9,000 solar panel installations, enough to equip 11.1 per cent of the local authority's 82,000 households. Analysis of 371 local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales also saw that London has very few solar panels compared to the number of households. Nineteen of the 20 worst local authorities for solar panels per household are in London. Kensington and Chelsea has the lowest percentage of households with solar panels in the country, at a lowly 0.16 per cent. Of the purported 5,245 households in the City of London district, only 15 households are fitted with solar panels. Scroll down for video Analysis of 371 local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales also saw that London has very few solar panels compared to the amount of households. Behind Peterborough, the Scottish city of Stirling and the Welsh town of Wrexham make up the top three, with 10.1 and 7.3 per cent respectively Eco-developer Project Etopia collated and analysed the data on number of solar panels across the UK. It cross-referenced the number of solar panel installations with the reported number of households in each local authority across Britain. According to the research, just 2.96 per cent of households across the British nations have solar panels, on average. Lincoln, Canterbury and Dover all sit around the national average. Behind Peterborough, the Scottish city of Stirling and the Welsh town of Wrexham make up the top three, with 10.1 and 7.3 per cent respectively. The top ten is rounded out by Boston, Sunderland, Colchester, Taunton, Stroud, Doncaster and Plymouth. Eco-developer Project Etopia analysed the amount of solar panels across the UK and collated the data. The firm works on buildiong eco-friendly homes (pictured, a concept home built by the company) Pictured, the first completed eco-friendly home built by Project Etopia in Corby. Research from the Northamptonshire-based company shows the only local authority to breach the London monopoly on the entire bottom 20 is the highly isolated Shetland Islands, which comes in at 19th worst According to the research, just 2.96 per cent of households across the British nations have solar panels, on average. Lincoln, Canterbury and Dover all sit around the national average (stock photo) TOP 20 REGIONS FOR SOLAR PANEL INSTALLATIONS Town/City No. of Households Total Solar Installations % of Households with Solar Peterborough 81,901 9,088 11.10% Stirling 40,157 4,051 10.10% Wrexham 60,341 4,432 7.30% Boston 29,355 2,153 7.30% Sunderland 124,438 8,802 7.10% Colchester 79,540 5,548 7.00% Taunton 67,198 3,791 5.60% Stroud 51,756 2,858 5.50% Doncaster 131,355 7,049 5.40% Plymouth 115,264 6,172 5.40% Selby 37,379 1,965 5.30% Stoke-on-Trent 110,839 5,753 5.20% Lewes 46,060 2,321 5.00% Rotherham 112,641 5,326 4.70% Barnsley 108,604 5,081 4.70% Nottingham 134,723 6,194 4.60% Bolsover 34,647 1,563 4.50% Chesterfield 48,680 2,166 4.40% King's Lynn 66,396 2,948 4.40% Maldon 27,563 1,215 4.40% Britain goes more than 18 DAYS without using coal to generate electricity Britain's lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic saw the country use 20 per cent less energy. As a result, Great Britain set a new record for how long the country has gone without using a single watt of energy produced from coal. At 6:10am BST on April 28, the country surpassed its previous record of 18 days, 6 hours and 10 minutes. The drop in demand as millions of Britons stay indoors coincided with a fortnight of good weather, seeing energy consumption drop dramatically. When the country broke the record, it marked more than 438 hours and 10 minutes since the last coal generator came off the system at midnight on Thursday, April 9. Last month, the UK broke the record for how long the nation went without producing a single watt of energy from coal. Thirty-seven per cent of the UK's energy came from renewable sources (pictured) Advertisement At the other end of the spectrum, the bottom ten were all London boroughs. As well as Kensington and Chelsea, Tower Hamlets, Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster all record a lowly figure below 0.3 per cent. The only local authority to breach the London monopoly on the entire bottom 20 is the highly isolated Shetland Islands, which comes in at 19th worst. Joseph Daniels, CEO of Project Etopia, said: 'Britain has never been greener and these towns and cities are trailblazers who we should all look to for inspiration. 'However, in the best performing town, Peterborough, more than 88 per cent of households still lack solar, so there is plenty more to be done. 'Policymakers and suppliers need to examine why so many areas have particularly weak levels of solar installations while others sprint way ahead. 'The UK might not be the sunniest place on Earth, but the technology has improved enough over the past 20 years for it to be worthwhile anywhere in the country.' The UK is using more and more renewable sources of electricity and increasingly moving away from fossil fuels. Last month, the UK broke the record for how long the nation went without producing a single watt of energy from coal. At 6:10am BST on April 28, the country surpassed its previous record of 18 days, 6 hours and 10 minutes. Installing solar panels is better for the environment and also saves the consumer money. Mr Daniels told MailOnline: 'A typical 4killowatt peak system can help people save as much as 260 a year off their energy bill. 'This amount can vary around the country depending on the number of daylight hours, whether the roof is in shade for part of the day, and what way the roof faces. 'A south facing roof is ideal, but roofs facing south-west can still provide a benefit. 'Generating electricity with solar panels instead of fossil fuels reduces greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO2. 'A typical home solar photovoltaic system could save around 1.3 to 1.6 tonnes of carbon per year.' A spokesperson for Peterborough City Council told MailOnline: 'We are fully committed to promoting and developing renewable energy initiatives, so are proud to hear that Peterborough is topping the league for home solar panels. 'The council previously ran a solar panel installation scheme which provides energy for thousands of homes. 'Peterborough has been leading the way on environmental matters for some time - a recent report found that the city had a higher proportion of electric cars on its roads than any other city in the UK. 'To cater for increasing electric vehicles, we are working to install charging points across the city. 'Last year the council declared a climate emergency and agreed to make all our activities carbon neutral by 2030. The motion also commits the council to achieving 100 per cent clean energy across its buildings and services by 2030.' BOTTOM 20 REGIONS FOR SOLAR PANEL INSTALLATIONS Local Authority No. of Households Total Solar Installations % of Households with Solar Kensington and Chelsea 79,930 127 0.20% Tower Hamlets 136,292 219 0.20% Westminster 125,675 226 0.20% Hammersmith and Fulham 84,945 188 0.20% Camden 115,730 311 0.30% Southwark 140,742 397 0.30% City of London 5,245 15 0.30% Hackney 122,890 389 0.30% Islington 112,123 358 0.30% Newham 128,235 426 0.30% Lambeth 149,719 500 0.30% Wandsworth 141,725 512 0.40% Haringey 121,366 555 0.50% Brent 128,286 643 0.50% Lewisham 136,445 710 0.50% Greenwich 120,178 641 0.50% Enfield 138,141 750 0.50% Barnet 160,518 933 0.60% Shetland Islands 10,475 61 0.60% Hounslow 112,173 747 0.70% Nine Killed In Taliban Suicide Car Bombing In Eastern Afghanistan By RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan May 18, 2020 A Taliban car-bomb attack targeting an intelligence base in eastern Afghanistan with a stolen military Humvee killed at least nine people and wounded dozens on May 18. Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor in eastern Ghazni Province, said two suicide bombers detonated the stolen vehicle filled with explosives near the entrance to the base. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the incident killed or wounded "tens" of special forces. An official in the Ghazni Province administration, Wahidullah Jumazada, said the attack "targeted the National Directorate of Security unit in Ghazni city." Jumazada put the death total at nine, saying both of the attackers were among the dead. He and other officials put the number of injured at at least 40. "Most of the victims are intelligence personnel," Jumazada added. The attack comes a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, reached a power-sharing agreement ending a months-long political feud following disputed elections in September 2019. The political deal overcomes one hurdle preventing Kabul from launching direct talks with the Taliban as part of a fragile U.S.-brokered peace effort. The Taliban has ramped up attacks in recent weeks despite a pledge to reduce violence, while Islamic State militants also continue targeting Afghan security forces and civilians. On May 14, the Taliban detonated a truck close to a military building in Gardez city in southeastern Paktia Province, leaving five dead and 20 injured, including military personnel and civilians. Last week, the Taliban attacked a military checkpoint in the Alishang district of eastern Laghman Province that left dozens dead or wounded. The Taliban has said the attacks are a response to Ghani's ordering Afghan forces to go on the offensive against the militant group. With reporting by AFP and AP Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/suicide-car-bombing-in- eastern-afghanistan/30618057.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, May 14, 2020. EPA Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler was fined $500 for listing his largest contributors on his campaign mailer in font too small for the average reader, and two other candidates in city races were issued warnings for not properly disclosing their largest contributors on their websites and social media accounts. The city auditors office announced those findings Monday. Wheelers violation was his second in as many months. He was also admonished in April for failing to properly list on campaign communications the top five donors whod given his campaign more than $1,000. That city rule went into effect this election cycle. The city charter says the disclosures have to be legible to a person with average reading, vision and hearing faculties, and that the font has to be the same size or larger than most other words on the material. The required disclosure was in a font clearly smaller than all other font on the communication and difficult to read to a person with average reading abilities, City Elections Officer Deborah Scroggin wrote in a letter Monday to Wheelers campaign. As a result, the disclosure is not prominent and therefore constitutes a violation of city campaign regulations. Wheelers campaign disagreed with the ruling. In our design, we ensured that the disclaimer was clear and legible, and we believe it is sufficiently prominent, said Amy Rathfelder, Wheelers campaign manager. Wheeler has until June 1 to pay the fine. The primary election is Tuesday. Wheeler is seeking a second term as mayor. One of Wheelers opponents, Ozzie Gonzalez, could be fined up to $15,000 if the disclosures of his top donors arent made on his website, two social media accounts and two campaign videos by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Scroggin said. City council candidate Keith Wilson, who is one of the challengers seeking to unseat incumbent Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, could be fined up to $9,000 for not listing his top contributors on his website and two social media accounts by the same time Tuesday. The rulings came in response to complaints against all three candidates by Ron Buel, a member of political action committee Honest Elections Oregon, which pushed for increased campaign finance rules. He also submitted the complaints that resulted in the earlier warning against Wheelers campaign as well as prior complaints against Wheeler, Gonzalez and City Commissioner Position 2 candidate Jack Kerfoot, which the city dismissed. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter -- Everton Bailey Jr; ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 | @EvertonBailey Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Representative image Korean auto company Kia has had a fairly decent run in the Indian market and, within the first year of operations, managed to reach the top-selling car brands list with the Kia Seltos. With this kind of success, the company is definitely looking to scale up their portfolio. The new-gen Picanto hatchback just debuted in South Korea. The car is known as Morning in that market, but Kia had already showcased it at the time of launching the brand. The Picanto is based on the i10 that was sold in international markets and in India, it will be smaller than both the Grand i10 as well as the Grand i10 Nios. In terms of design, the new Picanto gets Kias traditional tiger-nose grille with chrome accents and flanked by LED projector headlamps and DRLs. The rear too gets LED elements with a new bumper that features a faux diffuser and, again, chrome accents. The Picanto is a small car and as such, is powered by a 1-litre petrol engine producing 76 PS of power. Transmission options include a 5-speed manual and a 4-speed automatic. Interiors feature a 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, Bluetooth connectivity for upto to phones at a time and various other features. Kia has not officially announced an India debut of the Kia Picanto, but considering the Korean car companys success in the Indian market, the car could definitely be on the cars. Kia had just launched the Carnival MPV in February, just a little over a month from when the lockdown came into place. With this company is already ready for the launch of their compact SUV, the Sonet, which is expected to be somewhere in August-September. The daily coronavirus death toll in Spain came in at 83 on Tuesday, up from 59 on Monday but under 100 for the third day in a row, according to figures released by the Spanish Health Ministry this afternoon. The official number of Covid-19-related fatalities in Spain since the beginning of the pandemic now stands at 27,778. The increase in deaths today was registered in almost its entirety in Catalonia and Madrid. But given the stability of other indicators, this can likely be attributed to the usual rise seen on Tuesdays since the crisis began, given underreporting at weekends due to lower staffing levels. According to the latest data, there were 295 new infections diagnosed via the more reliable PCR tests, 10 more than were seen yesterday but again this can be attributed to underreporting from the weekend. Today marks the third straight day that there were fewer than 300 new confirmed coronavirus cases, compared to an average of 465 new cases registered daily last week. The total number of official infections in Spain since the crisis began now stands at 232,037. Todays figures come eight days after half of Spain entered Phase 1 of the governments deescalation process, and today would be when a potential uptick in new cases due to the relaxation of confinement measures would be seen. But the data presented today does not suggest such a rise. Speaking at the governments daily coronavirus press conference, Fernando Simon, the director of the Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts, said that the progress of the epidemic could actually be even better than the data suggests, given that Spain has just moved to a new system of collecting the figures related to the pandemic, with the cutoff point at midnight rather than at 9pm, as previously used. One of the objectives of this phase, Simon continued, is to reduce the time between the start of a case, a medical consult and diagnosis to 24 to 48 hours. [...] In the case of new outbreaks we may have the capacity to detect them and isolate them. Simon warned, however, that we must continue to prudent. We are doing very well, but we must continue like this for some time in order to reduce the risk of a new outbreak. State of alarm The Spanish government has given up on its plan to request a one-month extension to the state of alarm, which is due to expire on May 24. After negotiating with the center-right Ciudadanos (Citizens), the executive will instead ask Congress to approve another two-week extension, as it has done four times already since mid-March. If successful, the governments emergency powers to deal with the coronavirus crisis will be extended to June 7. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been facing growing political opposition to his extension requests, which he says are necessary to implement the gradual deescalation program and prevent a new spike in virus transmission. Sources familiar with the situation said that the executive accepted Ciudadanos demand for a two-week, rather than four-week extension, in exchange for backing at the vote on Wednesday in Congress. Ciudadanos said in a release that this way, Sanchezs minority government will not be reliant on the support of the pro-independence Catalan Republican Left (ERC). CIS opinion poll A total of 74.9% of Spaniards believe that political parties should support the government during the coronavirus crisis and leave criticism for a later date, according to the latest survey released today by the CIS public research institute. This represents a fall of 13 percentage points since April, when 87.8% of respondents replied in favor of supporting the government. Of those surveyed, 19.7% said that the opposition should criticize the government, nearly double the 10% reported last month. Approval for the governments handling of the crisis also fell slightly, dropping half a percentage point to 46%. A total of 95.2% of respondents agreed that the measures taken to fight the pandemic were necessary, and 60.4% said they were in favor of maintaining the confinement measures for an indefinite period. In contrast, 28.8% supported relaxing restrictions on mobility. According to the results, 40% of those surveyed said they did not have a problem remaining in quarantine, a figure that rose to 48.8% if some restrictions were eased, for instance, to allow people outside for exercise or for walks. Regarding the state of alarm, 7.1% replied that they would be resigned to a new extension, while 3.7% were against the measure. The survey was carried out between May 4 and 13, prior to the approval of the fourth extension to the state of alarm. The results are based on 3,800 phone surveys. An overwhelming majority of respondents supported greater investment in public healthcare (86.7%), increasing the number of healthcare workers (84.4%) and spending more resources on preventing and addressing pandemics (82.5%). The survey also showed waning support for the far-right party Vox, with 11.5% of respondents backing the group, compared to 14.8% in March. The Socialist Party (PSOE) remains in first place with 31.1%, followed by the Popular Party (PP) with 20.3% and Unidas Podemos with 11.5%. Spain lifts ban on direct flights from Italy The Spanish Transportation Ministry on Tuesday lifted the ban on direct flights between Spain and Italy, and on ships coming from Italy to Spain. The restrictions were introduced two months ago in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak. The ministerial order, however, does not apply to cruise chips, which are still prohibited from docking in Spanish ports, regardless of their country of origin. With reporting by Jose Marcos and Oriol Guell. DUBLIN, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Male Toiletries Market (By Region - North America - The US & Canada; Europe - Germany, The UK & France & Asia Pacific - China, India & Japan) Outlook 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. According to this report, the global male toiletries market is estimated to be valued at US$ 23 billion in the year 2025, growing at a CAGR of 3.5% in the period 2019 to 2025. Growth of the market is driven by factors such as rise in heterosexual trend, increasing disposable income, high internet penetration, rise in a number of male salons and influence of social media platforms. Global male toiletries industry is increasingly witnessing high demand for the specialty toiletry products such as facial cleansers, exfoliators, anti-ageing creams and sunscreens. Growing beauty consciousness amongst men has drastically increased demand for anti-ageing creams and sun-care products specially designed for men. Report Scope This report provides a detailed analysis of the global male toiletries market from qualitative and quantitative outlooks during the forecast period across various market segments. It also provides coverage on market dynamics with potential impact on the market during the forecast period and an in-depth analysis of the leading companies operating in the market. Parameter Description Base year: 2014 Forecast period: 2019 - 2025 Market sizing Revenue in US$ Billions and volume in billion units & CAGR for the period 2019 to 2025 Geographical coverage North America (The US & Canada ), Asia Pacific ( Japan , China & India ) and Europe (The UK, France & Germany ) (The US & ), ( , & ) and (The UK, & ) Vendor scope Beiersdorf AG, Edgewell Personal Care Brands, LLC, The Procter & Gamble Co, Societe BIC Report coverage Revenue forecast, market share analysis, company analysis, competitive landscape, market growth drivers, market restraints, market trends and company profiles Segments Covered The report provides revenue forecasts for global, regional and country levels. It also provides comprehensive coverage on major industry drivers, restraints, and their impact on market growth during the forecast period. For the purpose of research, the publisher has segmented global male toiletries market on the basis of region: Regional Outlook, Revenue (2014 - 2025E, US$ Billions) North America Europe Asia Pacific Regional Outlook, Volume (2014 - 2025E, Billion units) North America Europe Asia Pacific Country Outlook, Revenue (2014 - 2025E, US$ Billions) The US Canada India Japan China The UK Germany France Country Outlook, Volume (2014 - 2025E, Billion units) The US Canada India Japan China The UK Germany France Vendors Outlook, Revenue (2013 - 2022E, US$ Billions) AkzoNobel N.V. Beiersdorf AG Edgewell Personal Care Brands, LLC Procter & Gamble Co, The Societe BIC Key Questions Answered in the Report Historical market size in terms of value of male grooming industry from 2014 to 2018 in US$ Billions. Historical market size in terms of volume of male grooming industry from 2014 to 2018 in Billion units. Projected market growth in the forecasted period 2019 to 2025 with estimated revenue for each year in US$ Billions. Regional and country analysis of male grooming products market in the period 2014 to 2025 in US$ Billions. Market drivers, restraints and industry trends that has impact on revenue. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/la2tjm Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ Last year, officials at the Montour school district in western Pennsylvania approached band director Cyndi Mancini with an idea: How about using artificial intelligence to teach music? Mancini was skeptical. As soon as I heard AI, I had this panic, she said. All I thought about were these crazy robots that can think for themselves. There were no robots. Just a web application that uses AI to build original instrumental tracks from a library of prerecorded samples after a user selects a few parameters. Equipped with Chromebooks, Mancinis students could program mood and genre, manipulate the tempo or key, mute sections, and switch instrument kits with a couple of clicks. And just like that, an original piece is produced instantly. The AI programdesigned for use by anyone who needs cheap background tunes for media contentenabled Mancini to teach in ways not possible before: Students in an elective course who do not play instruments or read sheet music were now creating their own compositions. For the musically inclined students, Mancini said the software allowed for an even deeper fusion of computer and humantheyd create a track and play over it, combining AI-generated rhythms with live instrumentation. For me, music is an emotional experience. I know what I put into my playing and teaching of music. For that emotion to come out of an algorithm, I couldnt wrap my head around it at first. How can a computer replicate that? she said. But it can. Im a convert. Not Your Traditional A, B, C Data While Montour is embracing AI technology with a full-blown bear hug, most school districts are notat least not yet. Some are dabbling with applications. Others arent using AI at all. And still other educators cant say if their districts are using AI, oftentimes because theyre not familiar enough with the technology to recognize it. Whether that changes with the nationwide distance learning experiment that happened this spring is still to be seen. This much, however, is clear: School budgets are going to be devastated from the economic onslaught wrought by the virus, and strapped-for-cash districts could delay tech acquisitions other than the devices and hotspots students need to go online as they prioritize necessities. Still lingering are serious questions about privacy, data bias, and just how effective AI solutions are for education. The 3,000-student Montour district, in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, is using AI inside and outside the classroom. The district teaches courses focused on artificial intelligence, ranging from ethics to robotics. It partners with universities and technology companies working on the cutting edge of AI. Theres even a 4-foot tall autonomous robot, a boxy machine that looks like a filing cabinet on wheels, zooming around the hallways of its elementary school delivering packages. And on the districts backend IT infrastructure, there are dashboards and programs powered by AI providing educators with real-time data about each student, producing metrics that monitor progress and even forecast future success. When we come back to school next year after the coronavirus, were going to have data on every single kid from their remote learning experience, said Justin Aglio, the director of academic achievement and district innovation at Montour. Not your traditional A,B,C data, either. Not Even on Our Radar Right Now Districts, already inundated with trying to keep up, might also shy away from AI tools in the immediate future while teachers and staff adjust to a new digital ecosystem already pushing the boundaries for many. Its not even on our radar right now, said Andrew McDaniel, the principal of Southwood High School in central Indiana, when asked if hes considering incorporating some of the most basic forms of AI, such as Alexa voice devices, into classrooms. A lot of teachers are looking at what they know works now and sticking to that. Theyre not going to mess around with much that goes beyond that. Increasingly, though, voice-activated devices such as Alexa, Siri, and Google Home are being used as teaching assistants in classes. Schools are turning to smart thermostats to save money on energy costs and using AI programs to monitor their computer networks. AI is helping districts identify students who are at risk of dropping out, and math tutors and automated essay-scoring systems that have been used for decades now feature more sophisticated AI software than they did in the past. Until recently, though, most of those tools have relied on simpler AI algorithms that work on a basis of preset rules and conditions. But a new age of AI-based ed-tech tools are emerging using machine-learning techniques to discover patterns and identify relationships that are not part of their original programming. These systems consistently learn from data collected every time theyre in use and more truly mirror human intelligence. Ed-tech vendors are pitching advanced statistical AI tools as a way to provide greater personalized learning, tailoring curriculum to a students strengths and weaknesses. Researchers say it is unlikely advanced AI will transform K-12 education, but it can have a positive impact in areas like adaptive instruction, automated essay scoring and feedback, language learning, and online curriculum-recommendation engines. Most of the startups pioneering education solutions with this type of AI arent yet in a position to offer their products on a mass scale in the United States. Thats because highly accurate advanced AI systems require access to massive data sets to populate and train the machine-learning algorithm to make reliable predictions. Those algorithms must also have access to high-quality data to avoid reinforcing racial, gender, and other biases. Cozmo the Robot: Tracking Emotions Bill Salak, the chief technology officer for Brainly, an AI-based content generator and homework assistant that uses machine learning, said his company has traditionally worked directly with students, not districts. Now, however, Brainly is diving into more advanced statistical models for its AI to allow for even deeper personalization, and it is planning to eventually start creating products that could go into the classroom. Salak said that all AI-based technology vendors face an uphill climb because school districts are consistently underfunded, and if theyre going to spend money on a tech tool, it has to be proven to be effective and contributing to academic goals. The education systems prioritize things that will help them meet their goals, and not many outcomes relate to teaching with new tech, he said. Even if the teacher may see a huge amount of value in something, at the end of the day, that teacher has to have a certain percentage of their kids meeting certain competency standards. April DeGennaro, a teacher in the gifted program at Peeples Elementary in Fayetteville, Ga., knows firsthand what its like for district administrators to buy into the idea of using AI-tech tools but not backing up that commitment with funding. DeGennaro runs a lab where students focus on robotics, and her 4th graders use an AI-based robot called Cozmo. Shaped like a mini bulldozer that can fit in your palm, Cozmo uses facial recognition and a so-called emotion engine, allowing it to react to different situations with a humanlike personality by showing a range of emotions, from happy or sad to bored and grumpy. Because of COVID-19-related school closures, the AI robots currently arent being used. But under normal circumstances, up to four students can use one of the robots at a time with an iPad, coding it to carry out different tasks. At $150 each, DeGennaro said the robots amount to a low-cost investment, but shes had to find her own funding for all seven Cozmo robots in her class. DeGennaro raised money online, where she got parents to chip in to buy robots. Shes also made it clear to those that know her: For Christmas, for an end-of-the-year gift, or whenever you want to buy Mrs. D a present, buy a robot. School districts may like things, DeGennaro said, but that doesnt mean theyre going to fund them. One Teachers Personal Assistant: Alexa At the Saddle Mountain Unified School District in Arizona, a new policy allowing high school teachers to use Alexa or Google Home went into effect this year after a group of district officials and teachers walked through several STEM schools in the Phoenix area and saw the devices being used in classrooms. Joel Wisser, the technology integration specialist for the 2,300-student district, said teachers walked away impressed, and several decided to incorporate the devices into their daily classroom activities. The district didnt pay for the devices, however. Instead, teachers had to bring their own, and Wisser said he doesnt expect that to change. One history teacher uses his Alexa as a mini-assistant: reminding him when to return papers to students, answering student and teacher inquiries, providing a Jeopardy-style quiz game, or even playing music set from a time period the class is studying to add ambience to a lesson. Its really just a personal assistant, a helper, for him. His eyesight is not great. He has a 46-inch computer monitor and hes not a fast typer, said Wisser. Being able to talk to a device is much more efficient for him, so hes not spending time at a keyboard typing in the words ancient Greek music. Everyone didnt welcome the devices at first. The districts technology director, for one, was hesitant because the Alexa was going to be tapped into the districts network, and he wasnt going to have complete control over it, Wisser said. The voice-activated speakers are also at the center of an ongoing privacy debate since they can record conversations. Wisser said there hadnt been any pushback from parents so far, and class conversations were not recorded. How Does It Affect Test Scores Christina Gardner-McCune, the director of the Engaging Learning Labs at the University of Florida, said parents, students, and teachers have concerns about what kind of data an Alexa device is collecting in the classroom and what is it doing on the districts network while there. Even though the recording function on an Alexa can be turned off, Gardner-McCune said some districts dont want anything to do with them. A lot of districts are not allowing those devices in the classroom even though they could have some educational purposes, said Gardner-McCune, who is also a steering committee co-chair of the AI for K-12 Initiative, a national working group of teachers and AI experts focused on jump-starting discussion on how to incorporate AI learning into school curricula. It will take more time and use of AI devices and tech tools in classrooms before districts become increasingly comfortable with them on a larger scale, she said. And more research is needed showing the benefits of advanced AI systems before districts are willing to pony up for them: For major school districts, said Gardner-McCune, its going to come down to how does it affect test scores. Back in the Montour district, band director and teacher Mancini said her apprehension about the AI music program vanished when she became familiar with the web application and realized there wasnt going to be a robot in the middle of my room. One of her favorite class exercises using the AI music program involved muting the background music on a movie cliplike the scene where the ship is sinking in Titanicand letting students rework the general vibe by adding their own music. Music education has been so traditionally taught one way. We play instruments or sing or learn music theory. This is so far from traditional, and Im glad I did it because it was so much fun when I got into it, she said. As teachers, we just need to not be afraid of technology. LONDON, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A big problem with consumer review sites is that it's hard to know for certain the authenticity of a review. A negative review could come from a competitor, somebody with an axe to grind or even a bot; a positive review may be posted by the proprietor itself, a friend or even paid shills. Honest consumers also have little incentive to post quality reviews, because it's only the review site provider who makes money from user content. True Reviews is an application built on the Bitcoin SV (BSV) blockchain that fixes problems with traditional consumer review sites, and encourages higher quality content. It uses BSV micropayments to allow users to profit from their review content, while also reducing trolling and preventing fake reviews from bots. Reviewers must actually pay a few cents (in BSV) to post reviews, but can earn BSV back because other users must pay a few cents to like, comment or interact with the user reviews. The platform also allows reviews to be tied to a tokenized proof of purchase (using tokens also built on BSV), allowing consumers and businesses to verify that reviews are coming from real paying customers. Why would I pay when I can post on normal review sites for free? i) True Reviews' "pay-to-post" model discourages online bots, trolls and fake reviews (unless they want to pay), and encourages more honest and higher quality reviews ii) The payments are tiny, a couple of cents each (in BSV) and 'what goes around comes round' - a review post will cost $0.02, but just one 'like' or comment from another user earns that back. After that, users are earning profit from their review content. iii) No advertising on the site; True Reviews takes a small cut of the user revenue. iv) True Reviews does not need to sell user data to advertisers or other third parties, and can monetize their feedback. The concept of using Bitcoin micro-payments to encourage higher quality social media is already a reality with Twetch (like Twitter), Streamanity (like YouTube) and Memento (like Instagram) - all of which also use the BSV blockchain because it can scale to handle thousands of transactions per second with very low fees. This enables a better Internet vision where tiny payments of mere cents or even fractions of a cent can be quickly exchanged for better user activity - a big improvement from today's Internet which delivers "free" services to users but at the cost of cluttered advertising and data-sharing. True Reviews CEO and Founder, Connor Murray, commented: "This product is another part of a new type of Internet where online advertisements, bots and fake content can be banished to the dustbin of history. Customers need to be able to trust the review they are reading and True Reviews will provide just that. This is only possible on the Bitcoin SV blockchain, which is finally realizing Bitcoin's ability to combine data and monetary value. To have Calvin Ayre's backing to get us up and running is, obviously, hugely exciting for this venture." Calvin himself added: "There are so many amazing things being built on the BSV chain, its mind-blowing and I'm constantly looking for investment opportunities in this space. True Reviews leapt off the page immediately as a terrific demonstration of BSV's superpowers of micropayments and data. I've also been impressed with Connor so this was an easy decision." The investment is a successful outcome from True Review's participation in one of the BSV Venture Pitch Days conducted by Bitcoin Association, the global industry organization that supports Bitcoin SV. Jimmy Nguyen, Founding President of Bitcoin Association, remarked: "Last October, we organized a first BSV Venture Pitch Day in conjunction with the CoinGeek conference in Seoul, South Korea providing BSV start-up ventures the opportunity to pitch to seasoned investors. True Reviews gave a strong pitch, and it is great to see the venture now receive funding. This result confirms the value of the Bitcoin Association's work to support the rapidly growing business ecosystem on Bitcoin SV." Learn about the future of blockchain on Bitcoin SV at the next CoinGeek conference anticipated to be in New York City in October 2020. SOURCE Bitcoin SV Vietnam is aiming to have 55 percent of its population shopping online by 2025, with average consumer spending rising to $600 per year, according to a master plan on e-commerce development for 2021-25 recently approved by Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung. Staff at Lazada e-commerce platform E-commerce is viewed among the pioneering sectors of the digital economy which contributes to modernising the distribution system, raising businesses competitiveness and fostering the domestic market and exports. Revenue in the business-to-consumer (B2C) sector is projected to surge 25 percent per year to hit 35 billion USD, accounting for 10 percent of the total retail sales and service revenues nationwide. Under the plan, cashless payments will reach 50 percent, of which those made via third-party payment service providers will make up 80 percent of the total. Economic zones and localities aside from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are forecast to account for 50 percent of the value of the total B2C transactions across the country. Businesses in 50 percent of the communes and equivalent administrative units nationwide will be encouraged to provide online shopping services. Meanwhile, Vietnam also wants 80 percent of the e-commerce websites to have online booking functions and 50 percent of the small- and medium-sized enterprises operating on e-commerce platforms, including those on social media sites./. VNA Online shopping: no boom in first quarter as expected Three out of four of the largest e-commerce sites saw the numbers of visits decreasing in Q1, a time when experts predicted would see a boom as the COVID-19 epidemic reached its peak. NSW Police are investigating the fight Cody Walker was involved in after footage of the shirtless Souths star emerged on Monday afternoon of him kicking a man in the chest. Detectives from Richmond Police District say the fight occurred on December 1 last year in Casino. Police are calling for anyone involved to call Crime Stoppers. "Police have been told a group of males were involved in a brawl on a street in Casino, which was diffused a short time later," a spokeswoman for NSW Police said. "The incident was not initially reported to NSW Police." Police say they are also investigating threatening phone calls received by the Souths star who was allegedly blackmailed over the footage. Interviewed over the rail of the schooner yacht shortly after midnight, von Luckner was eager to know Australia's feelings towards him. He would always be grateful to this country, he said. Count Felix von Luckner entered Sydney Heads about midnight in his auxiliary yacht Seeteufel . He anchored in Watson's Bay to await the doctor and Customs officers, who will board the Seeteufel this morning. "It taught me how to be a self-made man," he explained. "The last time I was here I was a dishwasher, a lighthouse keeper, and a member of the Salvation Army. Later I was one of the best boxers In Queensland. It Is a good country for a young man, yes!" Count von Luckner said that he was sorry some people in Australia did not want him to land. "I am a citizen of the sea. There are no politics at sea," he declared. "We are happy at sea, and I will tell you why. We have no diplomats - and no road signs! "We have the stars, and the sun, and the compass. And there is one thing that binds us all together. The S.O.S.! If we sailors are in distress, and we call for help, the sailors who hear our call do not first ask what country we are from. Every sailor will answer that call at once and do all in his power to help. Those people on shore could take that brother-hood of the sea as an example!" WAR EXPLOITS. Count von Luckner is proud of his war record, but more of the fact that in all his exploits in The Seeadler he did not take a life. "I have never deprived a sailor of his life," he said, "nor a mother of her son, or a wife of her husband. I had the courage to sink ships, but not the courage to lake a life!" SUNNYVALE, Calif. and NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Gorilla, a leader in clinical data APIs, announced that IntellaTriage, the leading provider of after-hours telephone nurse triage in the United States, has adopted its APIs to streamline clinical data access. Through this collaboration, IntellaTriage can now leverage Health Gorilla's Patient360 platform to access comprehensive clinical records from a vast clinical network of over 60,000 care sites, including connectivity to Carequality and CommonWell Health Alliance. IntellaTriage partners with health systems, hospices, home health agencies, health plans, and provider groups to triage care with its robust telehealth platform and network of remote, live registered nurses. When patients require care after hours, IntellaTriage collects relevant clinical data, provides protocol driven care, and triages cases to the appropriate level of care and coordination. With IntellaTriage's process, provider groups can eliminate the burden on their nursing staff while providing a better patient experience with shorter call wait times. In an effort to streamline the way IntellaTriage collects clinical data, they have adopted Health Gorilla's Patient360 API and web-based solution to instantly retrieve medical records from most major electronic health record systems in the US. To properly facilitate patient triage, IntellaTriage need access to clinical data like medications, allergies, procedures, and recent encounters in real-time. Getting this data is typically a highly manual and burdensome process and typically involves requesting EHR credentials from multiple providers or asking patients directly who may not recall their medical history. "It is absolutely critical that providers have seamless access to complete data on their patients without the administrative back-and-forth," said Steve Yaskin, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Health Gorilla. "We're excited about our partnership with IntellaTriage to bring comprehensive clinical data access to IntellaTriage's vast RN-based triage operation, allowing patients to get the best care remotely and in a timely manner." "Improving patient experience without sacrificing clinical efficacy is a top priority for our healthcare providers and they trust us to accomplish that goal," said Daniel Reese, Chief Executive Officer of IntellaTriage. "Our partnership with Health Gorilla allows us to greatly improve the speed and accuracy of our triage as we quickly access our patient's comprehensive medical history on the platform." IntellaTriage providers are actively retrieving data from Patient360 within Health Gorilla's stand-alone web application. Leveraging Health Gorilla's FHIR-based APIs, IntellaTriage plans to build clinical record retrieval functionality into its own telehealth platform, driving the user experience for its vast nurse network. IntellaTriage plans to expand this functionality across this network over the next 3 months to ensure efficient and data-driven triage operations. About Health Gorilla Founded in 2014, Health Gorilla is a secure interoperability solution that enables the entire health care ecosystem patients, payers, providers, digital health solutions, and labs to seamlessly share health data and aggregate each patient's entire clinical history in one place. With enterprise-grade clinical data APIs, HIPAA-compliant user authentication, and an unparalleled master patient index, the Health Gorilla network makes it easy for providers to pull their patient's information from any clinical records system. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Health Gorilla works with health care organizations around the world, helping them gather the clinical data they need to deliver the best and most appropriate care for their patients. For more information, visit healthgorilla.com or follow us on Twitter @HealthGorilla . About IntellaTriage Founded in 2008, IntellaTriage is the leading provider of nurse-based triage in the United States. Our nurse first model delivers around the clock care 365 days a year to providers and their patients across the nation. With the largest network of experienced registered nurses, IntellaTriage provides compassionate, protocol driven care when and where patients need it most. For more information, visit us at IntellaTriage.com. SOURCE Health Gorilla Related Links http://www.healthgorilla.com Law student Aya Hachem, 19, was an innocent victim of a shooting in Blackburn on Sunday. (PA) A law student who was shot dead near a supermarket was killed by mistake, police have said. Aya Hachem, 19, who was killed while out shopping for her family in Blackburn, Lancashire, on Sunday, was not the intended target of the daylight attack. Three men remain in custody after being arrested on suspicion of murdering the teenager. Lancashire Police said the arrests followed a public appeal for information and that the men, aged 39, 33 and 36, were from Blackburn. Forensic police officers at the scene of the fatal shooting of Aya Hachem, 19, in Blackburn (PA) The teenager was hit by one of several shots fired from a passing car as she walked to a Lidl supermarket to buy food for her family. There is no evidence to suggest Aya was the intended target of this attack and every indication is that she was an innocent passer-by, making this all the more tragic, said Detective Superintendent Andy Cribbin, of Lancashires force major investigation team (FMIT). Read more: A third of care homes report an outbreak of coronavirus We are determined to find who did this to Aya, particularly for her family, who are understandably devastated at their loss. Our thoughts remain with them. We are also continuing to stress that this incident is not being treated as terrorism-related or a racially-motivated attack. Hachem, a second year student at the University of Salford, was pronounced dead in hospital from a single gunshot wound a short time after emergency services were called to the scene in King Street at about 3pm. Police believe this Toyota Avensis was used in the shooting of 19-year-old Aya Hachem in Blackburn. (PA) Her distraught parents said she was the "most loyal devoted daughter" who enjoyed spending time with her family. They added she dreamt of becoming a solicitor and had been learning to drive. She was a young trustee for the Children's Society. Police said a number of people were travelling in the light green Toyota Avensis from which the shots were fired. The vehicle, with the registration number SV53 UBP, was abandoned a short time later in nearby Wellington Road and was seized for forensic examination. Police are appealing for anyone who saw the car or have mobile phone, CCTV or dashcam footage taken in the area between 10am and 4pm to come forward. Story continues An armed police officer at the scene on King Street, Blackburn, following the fatal shooting of Aya Hachem on Sunday. (PA) Detectives also want to hear from anyone with information about who had been using the car on the day or in the weeks before. Read more: Woman jailed for rape after luring victim to flat and attacking her Det Supt Cribbin said: "We are on with a number of lines of inquiry which includes looking at CCTV in the area and we have spoken to a number of key witnesses. "Despite that, and the arrests, this is a live investigation and I am asking anyone who might know anything about what happened, or the circumstances leading up to Aya being senselessly killed to speak to us. "Any piece of information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, could prove vital to our investigation. Anybody with information should contact 101, quoting log number 0412 of 18 May, or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Nick Cordero's wife Amanda Kloots has remained strong as he recovers from coronavirus-related complications. And her positive attitude appears to be paying off, as the Tony-nominated actor continues to get better. She posted a video Monday to her Instagram story with a positive update on his health, a week after he woke up from his month-long medically induced coma. Nick Cordero's wife posted a video Monday to her Instagram story with a positive update on his health, a week after he woke up from his month-long medically induced coma The 38-year-old was beaming as she said: 'So guys, I just got off the phone with the doctor, and there was a little bit of good news. 'They pulled out less secretions today from Nick's lungs than the last time they cleaned him out. So, that is great news, just because any time they go in there and there's less than before, it's good.' She continued: 'So, I'm gonna take that, and I'm gonna run with it tonight, and I'm gonna celebrate that small win.' Amanda previously took to her story with some words of encouragement she shares with Nick, 41, as he's 'regaining consciousness.' The 38-year-old was beaming as she said: 'They pulled out less secretions today from Nick's lungs than the last time they cleaned him out' She continued: 'So, I'm gonna take that, and I'm gonna run with it tonight, and I'm gonna celebrate that small win' She said: 'I'm just trying to let him know that I'm here, and that I'm behind him every step of the way, and that he's my husband, and that it's in sickness and in health, that I'm right by his side and that we're going to do this together. 'These are just you know words of encouragement that people have told me that will help.' The fitness trainer went on to quote the song Carry On by Fun, which she finds uplifting during these times. Amanda previously took to her story with some words of encouragement she shares with Nick, 41, as he's 'regaining consciousness' She said: 'I'm just trying to let him know that I'm here, and that I'm behind him every step of the way, and that he's my husband, and that it's in sickness and in health, that I'm right by his side and that we're going to do this together' Nick had to have his leg amputated last month due to complications with COVID-19, before receiving a temporary pacemaker and a tracheostomy tube She recited: 'Cause we are / We are shining stars / We are invincible / We are who we are / On our darkest day / When we're miles away / So we'll come, we will find our way home. 'If you're lost and alone / Or you're sinking like a stone / Carry on / May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground and / Carry on.' Nick had to have his leg amputated last month due to complications with COVID-19, before receiving a temporary pacemaker and a tracheostomy tube. The Waitress actor tied the knot with Amanda in 2017, and they welcomed their first child last year, a son named Elvis. TDT | Manama Finance and National Economy Minister Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa stressed Bahrains keenness to strengthen cooperation with the US in all business and investment sectors. The minister underlined current challenges resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) which, he said, requires concerted efforts to mitigate the pandemics impact on the global economy. He made the statement during a remote meeting with the American Chamber of Commerce and the US-Bahrain Business Council. Bahrain Ambassador to Washington Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashid Al Khalifa, US Ambassador to Bahrain Justin Siberell, WestPoint Home CEO Jonathan Witmer, Bahrain Businessmens Association chairman Khalid Alzayani and US-Bahrain Business Council executive director Jennifer Miel also took part in the remote meeting. The Finance Minister highlighted Bahrains string of precautionary and pre-emptive measures to confront the coronavirus, giving full priority to the health sector to protect public health. He underlined the BD4.3 billion stimulus package and the royal directives to unify and step up national efforts to mitigate the pandemics impact on the local level and to protect the health and safety of citizens and residents. The Finance Minister outlined the governments efforts to provide the necessary liquidity to support the private sector in order to withstand the current fallout and preserve sustainable development, in addition to other viable initiatives aimed to support the national economy. The remote meeting also discussed latest global economic developments and measures being undertaken to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Terrorists killed in encounters today were identified as Junaid Ashraf Khan from Srinagar and Tariq Ahmed Sheikh from Pulwama. Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Junaid Ashraf Khan, son of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Mohammed Ashraf Khan, was among two terrorists killed in an encounter with security forces at Nawakadal area of Srinagar on Tuesday. The other terrorist killed has been identified as Tariq Ahmed Sheikh from Pulwama. In last night operation two terrorists were killed. They have been identified as Junaid Ashraf Khan from Srinagar and Tariq Ahmed Sheikh from Pulwama. Junaid is the youngest son of Hurriyats chairman Mohammed Ashraf Khan, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh said at a press conference. The DGP said Khan was the divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and was looking after central Kashmir area also. He was wanted in multiple criminal cases. Sheikh had joined Hizbul Mujahideen in March this year. Two weapons and ammunition were recovered from their possession, the police said. Earlier in the day, a member of police special operation group was injured in the encounter. Jammu and Kashmir Police said the operation was launched on a credible police input last night. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App News Washington, DC - Today, Attorney General William P. Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray announced significant developments in the FBIs investigation of the December 6, 2019 shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola that killed three U.S. sailors and severely wounded eight other Americans. On January 13, 2020, Attorney General Barr announced that the shooting was an act of terrorism and publicly asked Apple to help the FBI access the locked contents of two iPhones belonging to the deceased terrorist Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. The company declined to do so. Attorney General Barr announced that the FBI recently succeeded in unlocking the phones of Alshamrani, who had attempted to destroy them while launching his attack. The phones contained important, previously-unknown information that definitively established Alshamranis significant ties to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), not only before the attack, but before he even arrived in the United States. The FBI now has a clearer understanding of Alshamranis associations and activities in the years, months, and days leading up to the attack. Thanks to the great work of the FBI and no thanks to Apple we were able to unlock Alshamranis phones, said Attorney General Barr. The trove of information found on these phones has proven to be invaluable to this ongoing investigation and critical to the security of the American people. However, if not for our FBIs ingenuity, some luck, and hours upon hours of time and resources, this information would have remained undiscovered. The bottom line: our national security cannot remain in the hands of big corporations who put dollars over lawful access and public safety. The time has come for a legislative solution. I could not be prouder of the relentless dedication of the men and women at the FBI who worked for months under difficult conditions to access these devices, said Director Wray. Their skill and persistence, and the sustained investigative efforts by FBI Jacksonville, the FBIs Counterterrorism Division, and our many other federal, state, and local partners, have been nothing short of extraordinary in this case. As we continue to seek answers around the December 6th terrorist attack that killed three American service members and wounded others, I want their families, and all Americans, to know that protecting the United States from those who seek to do us harm remains the FBIs foremost priority. Our work against the threat of terrorism never rests. Investigators sought and received court authorization to search the contents of Alshamranis iPhones within one day of the December 6, 2019 terrorist attack. Unable to unlock the phones because of their security features, and having exhausted all readily available options, the FBI approached Apple for its assistance in early January 2020. The company declined to assist. FBI technical experts succeeded in accessing the phones contents over four months after the attack, revealing highly-significant evidence, including: Alshamrani and his AQAP associates communicated using end-to-end encrypted apps, with warrant-proof encryption, deliberately in order to evade law enforcement. Alshamranis preparations for terror began years ago. He had been radicalized by 2015, and having connected and associated with AQAP operatives, joined the Royal Saudi Air Force in order to carry out a special operation. In the months before the December 6, 2019 attack, while in the United States, Alshamrani had specific conversations with overseas AQAP associates about plans and tactics. In fact, he was communicating with AQAP right up until the attack, and conferred with his associates until the night before he undertook the murders. The evidence derived from Alshamranis unlocked phones has already proven useful in protecting the American people. In particular, a counterterrorism operation targeting AQAP operative Abdullah al-Maliki, one of Alshamranis overseas associates, was recently conducted in Yemen. Editors note: Todays guest editorial comes from Tribune News Service. Editorial content from other publications and authors is provided to give readers a sampling of regional and national opinion and does not necessarily reflect positions endorsed by the Editorial Board of The Daily News. Recent news from researchers at Oxford University gives some hope that a vaccine for COVID-19 could be ready as early as this fall. But as with test kits, N95 masks and ventilators, the demand will far exceed the supply at least initially. So, who should be first in line for a vaccination once it is available? Health care workers, from doctors to hospital janitors, are on the front lines of fighting this pandemic, so protecting them should be our first concern. After that, deciding who should get vaccinated could get contentious, with states competing against one another for limited supplies, various industries claiming priority and those who can afford it arguing for a free market approach. Epidemiologists might recommend giving certain populations or regions priority based on mathematical models of disease spread. Others might advocate protecting those at greatest risk of severe illness or death, such as older people and those with underlying health conditions. Still others will want to prioritize those most at risk of infection, including people who work in essential industries or where alternative strategies such as wearing masks and social distancing are difficult. Asked during a congressional hearing on May 14 whether Americans will have trouble getting a vaccine once one is available, Dr. Rick Bright, the recently ousted director of a key federal agency overseeing vaccine production and purchasing, replied absolutely. We have seen the free-for-all, if not downright corrupt, nature of government support programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program, in which large institutions have gamed the system to soak up funds intended for, and desperately needed by, small businesses. So it is critical that we devise a transparent and bureaucratically simple system, one that caters to those in greatest need. To reach older people and those with serious underlying health conditions, Medicare-eligible people could get priority. To reach people living in poverty who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and who may work in service industries that are essential for opening up the economy, and that put them at high risk people on Medicaid can be fast-tracked. Reaching other vulnerable populations can be achieved through public health clinics, the Indian Health Service, and the Vaccines for Children Program. While children seem to have mostly mild or asymptomatic infections, vaccinating them will help get the economy back on track and provide an important check to broader transmission. This pandemic has made clear that, in our interconnected world, we need to act globally. The U.S. government recently declined to help fund a global effort to support vaccine development. Thats a huge mistake. We need to support global efforts not only for vaccine development but also to expand manufacturing capacity and the distribution of an eventual vaccine. Going further, we must support the development of a system to pool intellectual property rights for technologies used in preventing, detecting, controlling, and treating COVID-19, to ensure that any breakthroughs are available through licensing at reasonable and affordable terms. As we face an uncertain future of second, third and perhaps seasonal waves of COVID-19 cases, we need not only more investment, but national leadership and greater recognition of health as a human right, available to all. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Harbor Real estate, a leading company in the UAE offering holistic real estate services, said it has achieved the gold ranking for the third time in a row for its contribution to the '10 million meals campaign during the few days of the launch. The company had donated 6,250 meals worth Dh50,000 to support The 10 million meals campaign that was launched by HH Shaikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai and is led by his wife Shaikha Hind bint Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of UAE Food Bank. It is the nations biggest food distribution drive to support low-income families and individuals affected by the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak across the UAE. Harbor Real Estate is an ISO-certified customer service and an award-winning agency, which has received various prestigious awards and recognition from government entities across the UAE. CEO Mohanad Alwadiya said: Its an honour for every entity and company to support the '10 million meals' campaign and Yadul Khair Committee as we are part of the UAE society that seeks to preserve the dignity of every human person regardless of his race or belief, whose rules were laid down by our founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed, as the act of goodness has become the identity of the UAE. "During these challenging times, our role as individuals and institutions is to help and support others in these difficult times because feeding the hungry reflects the humanitarian values that the UAE has established in us," he added. Harbor Real Estate is a fully integrated real estate service provider based in Dubai and part of an established world class group of real estate companies in Australia. Over the last few decades, the company has evolved from traditional real estate brokerage of merely bringing buyers and sellers together to innovative world-class end-to-end real estate services.-TradeArabia News Service For the duration of the COVID-19 crisis, Please Explain is coming to you five days a week. More than 120 countries have supported Australia's motion for an independent inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In today's episode, The Herald's political and international editor Peter Hartcher joins national editor Tory Maguire to discuss how this international investigation will affect Australia's relationship with China. Our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Chennai, May 19 : MDMK General Secretary Vaiko on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide relief to newspaper industry by waiving customs duty on newsprint import, a two year tax holiday, and use of print media for making government announcements. In a letter to Modi, a copy of which was released to the media here, Vaiko said: "The disastrous effects of Covid-19 have brought down the advertising revenues (which is most essential for the running of the newspaper) to almost nil and this is expected to continue for a longer period of time until the new normal is established and set rolling." "Logistical issues have also reduced the circulation, medium or large," he added. Vaiko requested Modi to consider the industry's relief requests viz., waiver of customs duty on newsprint, complete tax holiday for next two fiscal periods; 100 per cent increase in government advertisement rates and settling of all outstanding dues. He said the industry gives more than 30 lakh people jobs and these people are the ones who enlighten the society at large. He said a delegation of newspaper industry leaders - N.Ram, The Hindu Group, Aathimoolam, Dinamalar, R.M.R.Ramesh, Dinakaran had met him and gave a letter detailing the problems faced by their industry. The industry leaders had also met Chief Minister K.Palaniswami and the Leader of the Opposition and DMK President M.K.Stalin. Every day, MySA.com compiles the latest headlines and helpful links on the COVID-19 pandemic in the San Antonio area. COVID-19 case updates: The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases continued to climb Tuesday but the rate of positive results is still dropping as Mayor Ron Nirenberg and County Judge Nelson Wolff extended their orders designed to prevent a resurgence of the disease until June 4. In February, 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was shot dead in the south Georgia neighborhood of Satilla Shores. In the two months that followed, no arrests were made. But local residents and lawmakers protested what they said was a deadly combination of racial profiling and flawed self-defense laws. When they stop you, make sure you got your cameras on. Make sure you got a video. Police did eventually arrest 2 suspects, but it was days after this video of the fatal shooting emerged. Gregory McMichael and his son Travis were charged with murder and aggravated assault. The case has reignited the national debate over racial violence. Im sure you saw the news about Ahmaud Arbery. It looks like murder. The American public saw the video. What exactly happened in the last moments of Mr. Arberys life? Using security camera footage, cellphone video, and 911 calls and logs, The Times has reconstructed the critical 12 minutes from when Mr. Arbery appeared on Satilla Drive to his death, less than 300 yards away. Its around 1 p.m. on Feb. 23 when Ahmaud Arbery is out, less than 2 miles from his home. A security camera at 219 Satilla Drive is recording when Mr. Arbery enters the frame at around 1:04 p.m. He may have been jogging in the area, but he stops on the front lawn of 220 Satilla, a house being built across the street. Arbery glances around and wanders into the open construction site. Inside, security footage briefly captures him looking around. Meanwhile outside, a neighbor walks from Jones Road towards Satilla Drive and calls 911. The neighbor waits by the street corner. He will later tell the dispatcher that Arbery resembles a recent trespasser in the area. On multiple occasions before Feb. 23, several trespassers were caught on camera at 220 Satilla. The owner routinely alerted the police. On four occasions, what appears to be the same man was filmed. Its unclear if this was Arbery, but even if it were, this does not justify his shooting by neighbors outside on the street. The sites owner says nothing was ever stolen from the house during these incidents or on Feb. 23, and no property was ever damaged. But neighbors were aware of the trespasses and the community was on alert. Now, back to the day in question. Its 1:08 p.m. and Arbery is walking around inside the house. Four minutes after he entered, he walks out and runs off. In the top corner of the security footage, we can see down the street to 230 Satilla, the home of Travis McMichael. At 1:10 p.m., Travis and his father, Gregory, grab their guns, jump in a white truck, and leave the house to pursue Mr. Arbery. We dont have footage showing the next 3 minutes, but testimony Gregory McMichael gave police at the scene, and interviews by another witness, Roddy Bryan, indicate what happened. Gregory and Travis McMichael follow Arbery onto Burford Road. Their neighbor Roddy Bryan sees the pursuit, gets in his car and follows. The McMichaels try to cut Arbery off. Arbery doubles back and passes them. Bryan tries to block Arbery, but Arbery runs past him and toward Holmes Road. Gregory McMichael climbs from the cab to the bed of the truck armed with a handgun. We dont know exactly what happens next. But Bryan and the McMichaels end up following Arbery on Holmes Road. And we next see Arbery at 1:14 p.m. running back down Holmes Road away from Roddy Bryan and toward the McMichaels. Roddy Bryan is filming and a warning these scenes are distressing. Gregory McMichael dials 911 at this time. Lets watch this back and break down what happens. This is Arbery. He has been running from the vehicles for almost 4 minutes. Travis is standing by the drivers side of the truck, armed with a shotgun. Gregory is in the bed of the truck on the 911 call. Arbery doesnt know where to run. He veers right, then left and then darts around the right side of the vehicle. Arbery comes around the front of the truck. We see his white T-shirt through the windshield and here is Travis now leaning toward him. This is the instant the first shot is fired. Arbery is hit in the chest, his right lung, ribs, and sternum are injured. The two men wrestle over the gun. Gregory shouts: Travis! Arbery punches Travis. In the back of the truck, Gregory drops the cellphone. A second blast goes off out of frame. But we see the shotgun smoke here. Arbery is heavily bleeding. He throws another punch. Travis fires a final shot, which hits Arbery in his left upper chest. Travis walks away holding his gun. Gregory gets off the truck clutching his .357 Magnum. According to the police report, Gregory rolled Arbery over to see if he had a weapon. He did not. Police officers arrive within seconds of the shooting, and a minute or so later at 1:16 p.m., Police Officer R. Minshew reports: Two subjects on Holmes Road. Shots fired. Male on ground bleeding out. The police took Gregory McMichaels testimony and let the two men go. But now the McMichaels both face serious charges. Hi, this is Malachy and I reported this story. For transparency, a note about the security footage used in this video, which was first published by The Atlanta Journal Constitution. The time code you see here is incorrect. We know this because we lined up what we see in this video with what we hear in two 911 calls and we confirmed the time of those calls. These details and police logs also allowed us to determine that Gregory McMichael called 911 from his sons phone just before the fatal shooting. So in this video, we used the real time that events happened. Thank you for watching. Singapore will lift the "circuit breaker" imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus from June 1 gradually in three phases as the risk of increase in infections through community transmission remains high in the country, the health ministry said on Tuesday. The "circuit breaker" measures were first announced on April 7 and were further tightened after three weeks, with more workplaces closed and social gatherings banned. While announcing the lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) said in a joint statement that the country is likely to see a rise in new community cases. As the risk of a resurgence in community transmission remains high, the government in the first phase will resume economic activities. Besides the essential businesses that are already operational, those that operate in settings with lower transmission risks will be allowed to open. These include manufacturing firms, subject to the issued guidelines set for the manufacturing sectors and most offices. The authorities, however, said that telecommuting must be used to the maximum extent. Those who have been working from home so far should continue to do so, and employees should go to the office only where demonstrably necessary, the Channel Asia quoted the ministries as saying. Such circumstances might include employees who need to return to the office to access specialised systems and equipment that cannot be accessed from home, or to fulfil legal requirements. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, speaking at a COVID-19 multi-ministry task force press conference, said that the decision to exit the circuit breaker is because of the low number of cases in the community, and the stabilised situation at the dormitories. As the nation resumes more activities, however, Singapore can expect to see a rise in daily new cases, he cautioned. The key is to detect these cases and contain them quickly, so as to prevent a sharp rise in the number of cases, or the emergence of a large cluster, he said. As of Tuesday, Singapore reported 451 new COVID-19 cases, taking the nationwide tally to 28,794 infections since the disease emerged here in January 2020. A vast majority of the infection is among the foreign workers. The deadly virus has so far claimed 22 lives the country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice-President of the Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashotyan posted the following on his Facebook page: Today the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament held its session, and the European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement was also attending the session. The Commissioner was invited to the Parliament ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit in June, and it was assumed that Armenia was also going to participate in the Summit. I have always been interested in foreign policy, particularly European policy, and I always follow such discussions. Of course, the first thing that will interest you is whether the European Commissioner and the European deputies talked about Armenia-European Union relations or not. I can say that there was no talk at all. During the meeting that lasted more than two hours, there was no talk about relations with Armenia at all. The Commissioner didnt touch upon those relations in his speech, and there were no questions from the deputies. There was nothing mentioned about the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, visa liberalization, the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or the fight against the coronavirus. I must say that the relations with other Eastern Partnership countries were discussed during the session. This was yet another omission of the deputies of the National Assembly and an indicator of the Armenia-EU relations. I have questions for the representatives of parliamentary diplomacy. Werent you interested in any issue? Isnt there an objective to present state interests in Brussels? Havent you gained partners who would be interested in Armenia after touring Europe at the expense of taxpayers money for the past year-and-a-half? All of you, starting from the Prime Minister, have gone from being legitimate authorities to legitimate parasites. P.S.: There is another issue related to this session, but I will touch upon it tomorrow. Barley harvest in Grenfell, New South Wales, Australia, on Nov 12, 2007. (Greg Wood/AFP via Getty Images) Aussie Farmers Say Chinas Tariffs Politically Motivated The National Farmers Federation is frustrated and deeply concerned after Chinas minister of commerce followed through on threats, and has slapped up to 80.5 percent tariffs on Australian barley imports on Monday. Chinas Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council imposed the tariff on barley on the disputed grounds that the Australian government was subsidising the industry and therefore damaging Chinas market. It is particularly devastating after the time that Australian farmers have had in the last number of years with droughts, floods and fires, National Farmers Federation CEO Tony Mahar told ABC News Breakfast. Mahar said that extensive and detailed information disputing the unsubstantiated claims were submitted to Chinas Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) by Australias grain industry. Organisations across the entire spectrum of Australias supply chain made submissions that included detailed data around export and domestic sales programs, company ownership, and operational structures, Mahar said in a media statement. Australian grain growers are amongst the least subsidised in the world. They operate in a free and competitive global market. The idea that Australian barley has been dumped in China doesnt match the realities of Australian grain production. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham is keeping the option of an appeal to the World Trade Organisation open. I am deeply, deeply disappointed, he told ABC Radio National. We reject the premise and the basis upon which these findings have been made. China didnt once visit Australian farmers throughout its inquiry. The decision came as Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping announced that he will back the World Health Organisation to undertake an investigation into the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, the novel coronavirus that emerged from China last year and causes the disease COVID-19. More than 110 nations including China backed the inquiry at the World Health Assembly on Monday night. Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said in a statement on April 27 that Australia had made a principled call for an independent review of the COVID-19 outbreak which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan. While Payne had previously said the WHO should not be in the entity to conduct the investigation for conflict of interest, the government seems to have backed down on this demand as the wording of the draft resolution (pdf) put forward on May 18 states that the WHO may set up an impartial committee within the WHO. Diplomatic Tensions Diplomatic tensions between Canberra and Beijing were escalating before the CCP virus outbreak. Grains Industry Market Access Forum (GIMAF) executive manager Tony Russell told The Australian Financial Review that he was convinced the recent trade disputes were politically motivated. Russell said it was apparent to grains industry insiders that Australias stance on issues like Chinas militarisation of the South China Sea, Huawei, human rights, and national security were factors in the trade disputes. Chinas Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye threatened economic retaliation when the Australian government first expressed a need to investigate the virus origins. A few weeks later the Chinese regime banned imports from four Australian abattoirs. For a week federal trade minister Simon Birmingham attempted open dialogue with his counterpart to no avail. On May 18, at a Beijing press conference, Chinas minister for commerce Zhong Shan was questioned by reports about the trade disputes with Australia. He ignored all questions on the topic for an hour, before leaving, claiming that the two nations are talking. There are three vessels* en route to China carrying 101,667mt of (West) Australian barley. These vessels are likely to have the 80.5% tariff applied. #oatt #agchatoz *Flows explorer pic.twitter.com/cXXfIeTBkP Andrew Whitelaw (@WheatWatcher) May 18, 2020 Australia is the biggest barley supplier to China, exporting more than half of its exports worth up to $2 billion (US$1.3 billion) a year. According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences research, China imported 2.5 million tonnes barley in 2019, compared to 2.1 million exported to the rest of the world. Producers will be on the hunt for new export markets in India and Indonesia, which has recently signed a trade deal with Australia. Well reserve our right and consider going to the WTO to get the umpire to make a decision, federal agriculture minister David Littleproud told Sky News. Joe Biden recently told a popular Spanish-language radio broadcaster that he would introduce a comprehensive immigration proposal on his first day as president. He spoke alongside Latino civil rights activists about the spread of the coronavirus in meatpacking plants staffed primarily by immigrants. His wife Jill, who is learning Spanish while stuck at home by the pandemic, has begun meeting weekly with small groups of Latino members of Congress, taking notes on a range of issues to share with her husband. In a private conversation months ago with some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee distanced himself from some of the Obama administrations most controversial immigration policies, including its high number of deportations. He basically, respectfully, said that was the Obama Administrations decision, as a whole. He didnt run point for that, said representative Tony Cardenas, D-Calif., who helped arrange the meeting last year and personally endorsed Mr Biden in December. And Joe Biden, on top of that, mentioned that under his presidency, we wouldnt see the need nor would we see those numbers of deportations. Thats just not what his path is going to be. In public and behind the scenes, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee has been taking steps to address the view among some immigration rights activists that he has been dismissive of their concerns. It is a critical weakness Mr Biden lost Latinos in several high-profile primaries to senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., well after he began to reposition himself and one that could be pivotal to his fate in several general election states like Florida and Arizona. These activists are desperate to see Donald Trump defeated, and they fear Mr Biden has yet to deliver a compelling and effective counter-argument on immigration or even talk about the issue as much as Mr Trump does. They worry that if the former vice president is too focused on winning the support of white voters in swing states who like some of Trumps hard-line immigration stances, Mr Biden could alienate some Latino voters, who are expected to become the countrys largest nonwhite voting bloc this fall. And there is lingering resentment for how the Obama administration promised to make immigration restructuring a top priority, then deported more than 3 million people. Mr Biden said in a tense Univision interview in February that those deportations were a big mistake that caused many families pain. While Mr Cardenas and many who have endorsed Mr Biden are confident he would govern differently, others are sceptical. Some were disappointed that Mr Biden didnt publicly condemn Mr Trumps decision last month to temporarily halt immigration because of the high unemployment rate, an action that a majority of Americans agree with. Others are waiting for him to weigh in on recent proposals to give stimulus checks to undocumented immigrants who often are essential workers. Some were alarmed when the Biden campaign began airing an ad in battleground states that accused Mr Trump of having rolled over for the Chinese amid the pandemic and let in 40,000 travelers from China. The ominous narration coupled with images of Chinese officials looked and sounded like something the Trump campaign would release, said Cristina Jimenez, the executive director and co-founder of United We Dream, which advocates for the undocumented. It leaves a lot of concern for us ... that Biden would use Trump messaging to talk about immigration when, quite frankly, some of his policies were getting on the right pathway, she said. Theres definitely been a missed opportunity to lift up how he would be different than Trump. The campaign declined to make Mr Biden available for an interview. While Mr Biden has broadly promised to undo Mr Trumps immigration actions, he has long been cautious in talking about his own proposals, a reflection of the complicated politics he faces as he looks to November. As Mr Biden prepared to run for president last year, he was briefed by senator Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa., who months earlier had defeated Republican Lou Barletta, a former congressman and Trump supporter who made fighting illegal immigration the focus of his campaign. Democratic studies of the 2016 election results have highlighted the success Mr Trump saw in promising to shut foreigners out of the country and put Americans first, particularly among white blue-collar voters. The Biden campaign points to the 2018 midterm elections as evidence that while Mr Trumps rhetoric on immigration might have won him votes in 2016, that power did not carry over in 2018. To win Pennsylvania in 2020, Mr Casey told Mr Biden in what he called a pretty blunt conversation, the next Democratic presidential nominee must attract the white working-class voters who liked Mr Trumps economic promises, including his immigration stances. He urged Mr Biden to emphasise the economic benefits of immigration while pledging to secure the southern border to keep drugs and criminals out. You have to make it very clear that you stand for border security and not just that you stand for it, but that you voted for it, Mr Casey said, citing past measures that have won Democratic backing. But, at the same time, he said most voters want an immigration system that is humane and fair. The separation of families at the border was a wake-up call for some voters, Mr Casey said. I think some voters were like: Whoa, wait a minute, thats not what I wanted. You mean to tell me thats what your policy is? No, we dont want that. We want to keep the drugs out, we want to keep the bad people out, we want to keep out the guys who are going to take away my job. I dont want to do this, Mr Casey said. People on their own were shaking their heads and saying: I didnt mean that when I voted for you. Several months after that conversation, Mr Biden met privately with Latino members of Congress, who urged him to acknowledge the mistakes of the Obama Administration and boldly differentiate himself from Mr Trump. During the primary, immigration rights activists would protest outside Mr Bidens campaign headquarters and confront him at public events, demanding apologies for and explanations of the Obama-era deportations. Some civil rights activists feel Bidens lack of voice in the immigration debate is a missed opportunity (Getty) You should vote for Trump, Mr Biden curtly told one protester last year. As with much of his campaign so far, the implicit message from Mr Biden is as simple as Mr Trumps promise to build a wall: hes not Trump. Mr Biden released a lengthy immigration plan late last year that calls for a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, something supported by most Americans, and a number of other policies that are broadly popular across the political spectrum. He has vowed to invest $4bn (3.26bn) in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador over four years to lessen violence and poverty so fewer migrants flee north a continuation of work he started as vice president. Mr Biden has called for an increase in the number of employment-based visas given to immigrants but has also promised to work with Congress to reduce that number during times of high unemployment. The campaign declined to give specific numbers. During the primary, Mr Biden agreed under pressure to suspend all deportations for 100 days and then only deport those who have committed felony crimes. He did not adopt other policies pushed by activists and backed by significant segments of his own party, like removing criminal penalties for those who cross the border illegally, removing barriers from the border or abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some activists worry Mr Biden will fall into the same trap that Mr Obama did: agreeing to greater immigration enforcement and border security to placate Republicans and not getting major changes in exchange. Over time weve created an overly punitive system of immigration that really treats and sees immigrants as the other, said Lorella Praeli, who led Hillary Clintons Latino outreach in 2016 and is now the president of Community Change Action, which advocates for those who are marginalised. The question for Biden in this moment is: what is his compelling vision? And can he reassure immigrant Latino voters ... that he can actually deliver a humane and fair system? Mr Bidens primary campaign lagged substantially behind Mr Sanders in organising Latino voters. Mr Sanders dominated in heavily Latino neighbourhoods during the Iowa and Nevada caucuses, and he won the most votes from Latinos during the California and Texas primaries. Politicians think if you go out and get a couple of endorsements or you do some webinars, youre like really working with our community, and were really going to show up, said Chuck Rocha, the strategist who built Sanderss Latino outreach program and has been lobbying the Biden campaign to hire him. Youve got to spend some money and go out and talk to Latinos. Biden campaign officials have promised to significantly increase outreach to Latinos and further diversify the staff now that they have raised more money, although they declined to provide target numbers. They note that Mr Biden won a plurality of Latino votes in the Florida primary, and exit polls show he also led in the Virginia and North Carolina primaries. Mr Bidens November strategy is squarely focused on winning three Rust Belt states that were key to Trumps 2016 victory Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin along with Florida and Arizona, which have large Latino populations. Although the Latino population in the Rust Belt states is small, Rocha said mobilising those voters could give Mr Biden the small margin he needs to beat Mr Trump. The presidents campaign has been targeting those same voters in recent months. In the Sanders campaign, Rocha said he started conversations with Latino voters by talking about immigration, even though polling showed health care was their No. 1 concern. I knew in my heart that to make a connection with them so that they would listen to us about health care, which we would get to I needed to lead with an emotional issue, he said. Emotion is key to how Mr Biden talks about the issue. Mr Bidens campaign says his positions reflect the middle ground and would bring a vastly different approach to immigration than Mr Trump has. The cornerstone of his approach to immigration comes back to family, said Cristobal Alex, a senior adviser to Mr Biden who works on immigration policy and Latino outreach. He understands what its like to lose family members and is able to make the connection to what its like for families torn apart by Mr Trumps horrible immigration policies. As Mr Biden spoke earlier this month on the virtual coronavirus panel organised by Latino civil rights activists, he called for greater protections for undocumented workers and acknowledged the terror many of them face simply going to work or seeking medical care. He spoke compassionately, but vaguely. In the online comments, one activist called on Mr Biden to show greater leadership, while another remarked that this is a prepared speech more for Americanos that arent in our community. Another asked for specific solutions. We dont need to hear statistics. We need change, one activist wrote. We need to know you care. The Washington Post New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Bar association released a circular saying that Lawyers' chambers in Delhi High Court shall open from May 21 in two shifts. The shifts will be from 10 am to 12 noon and 2 pm to 4 pm. Lawyers can come to their chambers between this period but they will have to follow certain guidelines. Earlier, the Delhi High Court Committee for graded action plan acceded the proposal for providing access to Lawyers to their chambers situated in Delhi High Court premises to primarily enable them to take away their files, books, belongings etc. The access is permitted with the following conditions and safeguards: Access shall be limited to one lawyer per chamber (or two per chamber where the chamber is on twin sharing basis) with one assistance or one junior. The timings for the access and use of the chamber shall be from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon (morning phase) and from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm (afternoon phase). Layover period be used by housekeeping agencies for sanitization and deep cleaning of the used portions of the building. No intern or client shall be permitted access in the chambers. The entry and exit of all users/visitors be properly documented, monitored and regulated by DHCBA. For the purpose of regulating entry and exit, as assured by Mohit Mathur, one of the office-bearers of Delhi High Court bar association shall remain present in every opened block to ensure compliance of the approved plan. A report be submitted after two weeks by DHCBA so that situation is accessed and reviewed in the next meeting. Entry of the vehicles shall be only from Gate No 7 till further orders. All vehicles shall be parked in the main surface parking. Drivers shall remain in the parking area only. Sanitizers and handheld body temperature scanners be put at the entrance of all such blocks. Proper face masks shall be mandatory for all such visiting advocates etc. No kiosk facility for tea, coffee, etc or ancillary services in any chamber block shall be opened till further orders. No common use of areas like Bar, Consultation Room, etc be opened for use. Only the toilets for the floor(s) shall be opened. Lift facility shall be provided only to the floor(s) in use and shall be used only by two persons at a time. It will be primarily used by those who are unable to climb stairs for any reason. Appropriate notice is passed by DHCBA outside lifts for due compliance. For proper garbage disposal, every chamber-user shall ensure that garbage is properly disposed of in a closed plastic bag in the dustbin provided on every floor. Where there are multiple staircases, the signages be put indicating one-way use to prevent persons coming face to face. Persons allowed access shall avoid visiting other chambers. Information of the above should be disseminated by a public notice on the website of this Court. The DHCBA shall issue a necessary advisory about the manner of use of chambers while also requesting elderly members of the Bar to avoid coming to Court till further orders. The Facebook CEO also praised EU's GDPR during the discussion. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has sounded alarms against Chinas influence on internet regulations. The Facebook executive in an hour-long conversation with the European Unions official Thierry Breton said that he was worried that countries across the world would replicate Chinese model for regulating internet services. What I worry about is, right now I think there are emerging two very different frameworks underpinned by very different sets of values, Zuckerberg said in a live streamed discussion with EU official, CNBC reported. Just to be blunt about it, I think there is a model coming out of countries like China that tend to have very different values than Western countries that are more democratic, he added. The Facebook founder in his discussion also emphasised on the fact that the best antidote to a regulations framework coming from China would be the one coming from western democratic countries. I worry about that kind of model spreading to other countries...And I think that the best antidote to that is having a clear framework that comes out of Western democratic countries and that can become a standard around the world, Zuckerberg said. It is worth noting that this is not the first time that the Facebook CEO has raised his concerns about Chinas censorship. Last year, while giving a speech at the Georgetown University Zuckerberg attacked Chinas app for their censorship. "Were increasingly seeing laws and regulations around the world that undermine free expression and peoples human rights. These local laws are each individually troubling, especially when they shut down speech in places where there isnt democracy or freedom of the press...While our services, like WhatsApp, are used by protesters and activists everywhere due to strong encryption and privacy protections, on TikTok, the Chinese app growing quickly around the world, mentions of these protests are censored, even in the US," he had said. Apart from talking about internet censorship, Zuckerberg also talked about the need for regulating the internet. He also praised the EU's GDPR that changes the way companies like Facebook and Google collect data. I dont think that theres a question that theres going to be regulation. I think the question is, whose framework is going to win around the world?, he added. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has sounded alarms against Chinas influence on internet regulations. The Facebook executive in an hour-long conversation with the European Unions official Thierry Breton said that he was worried that countries across the world would replicate Chinese model for regulating internet services. What I worry about is, right now I think there are emerging two very different frameworks underpinned by very different sets of values, Zuckerberg said in a live streamed discussion with EU official, CNBC reported. Just to be blunt about it, I think there is a model coming out of countries like China that tend to have very different values than Western countries that are more democratic, he added. The Facebook founder in his discussion also emphasised on the fact that the best antidote to a regulations framework coming from China would be the one coming from western democratic countries. I worry about that kind of model spreading to other countries...And I think that the best antidote to that is having a clear framework that comes out of Western democratic countries and that can become a standard around the world, Zuckerberg said. It is worth noting that this is not the first time that the Facebook CEO has raised his concerns about Chinas censorship. Last year, while giving a speech at the Georgetown University Zuckerberg attacked Chinas app for their censorship. "Were increasingly seeing laws and regulations around the world that undermine free expression and peoples human rights. These local laws are each individually troubling, especially when they shut down speech in places where there isnt democracy or freedom of the press...While our services, like WhatsApp, are used by protesters and activists everywhere due to strong encryption and privacy protections, on TikTok, the Chinese app growing quickly around the world, mentions of these protests are censored, even in the US," he had said. Apart from talking about internet censorship, Zuckerberg also talked about the need for regulating the internet. He also praised the EU's GDPR that changes the way companies like Facebook and Google collect data. I dont think that theres a question that theres going to be regulation. I think the question is, whose framework is going to win around the world?, he added. All EPFO account holders must add nominee as deadline ends on 31 Dec: Heres how to do it EPFO alert! Haven't filed e-nomination yet? Don't worry, you can now file it beyond Dec 31; know more Employees Provident Fund contribution cut: New rule implemented for May, June, July India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 19: The Ministry of Labour & Employment has implemented the decision to cut employees' provident fund (EPF) contributions to 10 per cent from the existing 12 per cent for three months till July. This would increase 4.3 crore organised sector employees' take home pay and reduce the liability of 6.5 lakh employees reeling under liquidity crunch under lockdown to contain COVID-19. The decision is estimated to infuse liquidity of Rs 6,750 crore in next three months. The labour ministry in a notification issued on Monday stated that the reduction in EPF contributions shall be applicable "in respect of wages payable by it for the months of May, June and July 2020". 12 lakh EPFO members withdraw Rs 3,360 cr retirement savings during lockdown: FM Therefore the take home pay due in June, July and August would increase, while the employers' contributions due in June, July and August would reduce. Giving reason for the move it stated, "whereas due to COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown is in force across the country and the Central Government after making necessary inquiry is satisfied that to provide liquidity in the hands of employers and employees, there arises a need to amend the notification of April 9, 1997." Last week, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced reduction of statutory provident fund contribution by both employers and employees for next three months. The Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and public sector undertakings (PSUs) will, however, continue to contribute 12 per cent as an employer contribution to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). This reduction of the EPF contributions will be applicable for workers who are not eligible for 24 per cent EPF support under PM Garib Kalyan Package and its extension. The government is contributing employers and employees contributions of 24 per cent of basic wages for those establishments that have up to 100 employee and 90 per cent of whom earn under Rs 15,000 monthly wage since March. Aadhaar will be accepted as birth proof from online subscribers: EPFO Last week, Sitharaman had also announced the extension of the benefit under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) for three months, where the government would contribute entire 24 per cent of EPF contributions till August, giving relief to 3.67 lakh employers and 72.22 lakh employees. Rio di Jaeiro: Three-year-old Sansa, a black dog with a white spot on her belly, spent nearly a year in a Rio de Janeiro animal shelter before the coronavirus pandemic restricted visitors, making her odds of being adopted even dimmer. But then she had a lucky break. The shelter's new 'pet delivery' service found Sansa a home, bringing company to Maria Fatima Cordeiro Marques, a 73-year-old retired nurse isolating in her house alone. "We're going through a very difficult moment... It's hard for everyone, right?" said Marques, embracing Sansa after she arrived in the shelter's white van. "I'm sure she'll give me a lot of love and so will I, because it's a sincere kind of love demanding nothing in return." For Rio residents seeking a furry friend to pass the long days in isolation, but unable to visit the shelter, the city will now provide a delivery service. It said it has delivered more than 50 pets since early April. Rio's undersecretary for animal welfare Roberto de Paula said demand had been strong, with more than 1,000 people expressing interest in adopting abandoned animals. "Given social isolation rules, we had to restrict people's access to the shelter to avoid contagion, so we came up with this idea of taking the animal to each person and conducting all interviews through social media," he said. After the online screening, workers identify and suggest the most suitable pets, before spaying, vaccinating and delivering them to the doorstep. That is how 28-year-old Luaira Paraizo Rodrigues Lourenco adopted her second cat, Joao, to help her deal with the growing distress of Brazil's accelerating coronavirus outbreak. "I work with healthcare recruitment and I see things that have left me emotionally shaken," Lourenco said. "When I'm sad, agitated or confused with something the cats come and bring me that love to restore myself. It's amazing." The Rio animal shelter currently has around 900 animals available for adoption. Much of New Mexico will be hot and windy this week, with little chance for rain, local meteorologists said Monday. Tuesday is expected to be warm and dry, with gusty winds, adding up to critical fire weather conditions for areas west of the central mountain chain, said Alyssa Clements with the National Weather Service Albuquerque office. We do have red flag warnings in effect for western New Mexico on Tuesday, so we encourage you to not burn anything outdoors, Clements said. Albuquerque is forecast to have a high of 90 degrees Tuesday. Santa Fe and Las Vegas could reach the high 80s. The NWS predicts Roswell will hit 100 degrees on Tuesday. Clements said there is the potential for strong storms in Union County as dry thunderstorms move across the northeastern plains. On Wednesday, the critical fire weather will shift to northeastern New Mexico. A cool front will give the western half of the state some relief from the heat. Temperatures in the west may drop as much as 15 degrees from the day before, but meteorologists dont predict any significant rain will accompany the front. A high of 81 degrees is predicted for Albuquerque on Wednesday and Thursday, with a forecast high of 77 for Santa Fe on both days. Roswell high temperatures will be in the mid-90s. Taos, Chama, Gallup and Grants could all have freezing temperatures Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Temperatures will rise again Friday and Saturday, with highs in the Albuquerque area climbing into the mid-80s. If there is any hope for precipitation, it may come in the weekend with another system, where precipitation chances look to favor north central and northeast New Mexico, Clements said. Were keeping an eye on Saturdays critical fire weather conditions, because were anticipating increased winds. Were seeing a tweet about a Snowbird plane crashing in Kamloops. Are you OK? It was Sunday, just before noon in Vancouver, when Global News producer Nick Logan tapped out the concerned message to his charismatic and fun-loving friend Capt. Jennifer Casey. A former journalist, Casey had found a new passion with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, as the teams public affairs officer. Logan knew she often joined the pilots in the sky. The minutes ticked by with no response. More details about the crash reached the newsroom. And Logan soon found himself in the surreal position of helping to broadcast a news story that he himself was struggling to accept. I was like, I dont want this to be true, Logan said. Oh my God. Dont let this be my friend. Casey was a passenger on Snowbird 11, which crashed into a nearby neighbourhood, shortly after leaving Kamloops Airport on Sunday, Snowbirds Commanding Officer Lt.-Col. Mike French said in a statement Monday. Casey and the pilot, Capt. Richard MacDougall, ejected before the crash. MacDougall survived with non-life-threatening injuries, but Casey died. She was 35. The team is devastated by the loss of Jenn, French said, describing her as tireless and energetic and the quintessential public affairs officer. She absolutely loved what she did, he said. News of Caseys death has sent shock waves across Canada, as friends, teachers, and former colleagues remember her as a constant source of positivity, who approached lifes challenges from breaking into the journalism industry to her second career in the military with determination, intelligence and grace. Her moods were infectious, said Richard Zurawski, a Halifax regional councillor who worked with Casey at News 95.7 in Halifax. She gave everybody happiness, Zurawski said. She was genuinely a pleasure to work with. What you saw was what you got with her no games. The world is just a lesser place today. Casey grew up in Halifax, where she attended Dalhousie University and journalism school at the University of Kings College. Logan, who met Casey at Kings, said they forged an instant connection. She was one of the most outgoing people. If you were at a party or you were in a group setting, you were going to meet Jenn Casey one way or another, he said. She had an infectious smile, infectious laughter. You just wanted to get to know her. Angele Cano was paired up with Casey for one of the first assignments at Kings, which involved interviewing each other about their lives. She really cared about what I had to say, Cano said. She was smart, into sports, hilarious, gorgeous, but never made you feel that you were not any of those things. Her talent and drive distinguished her at Kings, said her former professor, Stephen Kimber. She was somebody who seemed to know instinctively what was important in a journalistic sense what was a story, what you needed to make a story, Kimber said. She was very good at getting people at ease and getting them to talk. People opened up to her. It was no surprise, Kimber said, that Casey got a job offer at News 95.7 before finishing the program in early 2009. She put her studies on hold for a few years, but returned in 2011 to complete the remaining coursework while working full-time at the radio station. When she left, I really didnt expect her to come back, and I was quite delighted when she did, he said. Casey also worked in radio in Belleville, Ont., before joining the Canadian Armed Forces in 2014. Her first assignment as a public affairs officer was at 8 Wing Trenton, the Royal Canadian Air Forces home of air mobility, according to her biography on the Snowbirds website. She spent the 2018 season with the CF-18 Demo Team, travelling North America and the U.K. with the NORAD 60 jet, and joined the Snowbirds in November 2018. Logan said he was initially suprised by the move, and disappointed because Casey was such a good storyteller. But he soon realized that the high-energy, adventurous job was a perfect fit and that she was still telling stories, but in a different way. Caseys death brought a tragic end to the Snowbirds country-wide tour, dubbed Operation Inspiration, intended to lift spirits during COVID-19. In his remarks on Monday, French, the Snowbirds commanding officer, said Casey was one of the main reasons Operation Inspiration was so well received by the public. With files from Ben Spurr A MasterChef contestant who suddenly left the popular cooking show after he was charged with the alleged sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl has indicated he will defend himself against the charges. Ben Ungermann left the latest season of MasterChef with little explanation, leaving viewers puzzled about his sudden departure. Ben Ungermann left MasterChef mid-season. Credit:Scenic Rim Eat Local/Heather Wehl On Tuesday night, Mr Ungermann shared a screenshot on his Instagram page of a tweet from his lawyer Adam Houda. "I act for Ben Ungermann," Mr Houda wrote. "Allegations against my client are vehemently denied and will be defended." U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to permanently halt funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) if it did not commit to improvements within 30 days, and to reconsider his country's membership of the agency. Trump suspended U.S. contributions to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting Chinese "disinformation" about the novel coronavirus outbreak, although WHO officials denied the accusation and China said it was transparent and open. "If the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership," Trump told its chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a letter posted on Twitter. Earlier, Trump said the WHO had "done a very sad job" in its handling of the coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year, and he would make a decision on funding soon. Trump said in the letter the only way forward for the WHO was for it to demonstrate independence from China, adding that his administration had started discussing reform with Tedros. Trump also made various accusations against China in the letter including that it tried to block evidence the virus could be transmitted between people, pressed the WHO not to declare it an emergency, refused to share data and samples and denied access to its scientists and facilities. China hit back on Tuesday with its foreign ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, saying the letter was slanderous. "The U.S. leaderships open letter is filled with phrases of suggestions, maybes, and potentialities, and is trying to mislead the public through this specious method, to achieve the goal of smearing and slandering Chinas efforts in epidemic prevention and to shift responsibility in its own incompetence in handling the epidemic," Zhao told a regular briefing. Zhao said the U.S. decision to stop contributing to the WHO was a violation of its international obligations. On Monday, the WHO said an independent review of the global coronavirus response would begin as soon as possible and it had received backing and a hefty pledge of funds from China. The Geneva-based WHO, a U.N. specialized agency, is leading a global initiative to develop safe and effective vaccines, tests and drugs to prevent, diagnose and treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. More than 4.75 million people have been infected globally and 314,414 have died, according to a Reuters tally. The United States contributed more than $400 million to the WHO in 2019, or about 15% of its budget. This year, the United States has already paid the WHO about $58 million, senior Trump administration officials said last month, half of what it is required to pay for 2020 - known as an assessed contribution. The United States traditionally provides several hundred million dollars annually in voluntary funding tied to specific WHO programmes like polio eradication, vaccine-preventable disease, HIV and hepatitis, tuberculosis, and maternal and child and health. It was not clear how much voluntary funding the United States has provided for WHO programmes in 2020. Search Keywords: Short link: DIGITAL RESET Nothing could have prepared the world for the unprecedented chain of events over the past two years. We prefaced 2020 and 2021 saying anything is possible, but no one saw this level of hyper volatility completely disrupting business and life as we know it. While the world is now firmly planted in a digital-format, the economic and business outlook for 2022 will remain highly fluid owing to the pandemic. Moreover, it is indeed very likely that in 2022, the majority of Asia Pacifics GDP will be coming from digital products, services, and experiences across industries, with life sciences being one of them. 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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 Bangladeshs Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) reported yesterday that a total 23,870 people nationally had been infected with COVID-19 and that the death toll had reached 349 since the highly contagious infection hit the country. Little more than 185,000 people have been tested in Bangladesh, which has a population of 160 million. Somewhere between 6,000 and 9,000 people are being tested each day, less than the 10,000 minimum recommended by medical experts. The Bangladeshi media, citing a survey by the Bangladesh Center of Workers Solidarity, recently reported that 96 workers have been infected. This includes 26 workers from Narayanganj, 24 in Savar, 14 in Gazipur, 7 from Ashulia, 6 from Dhaka and the rest from other areas. Ten garment workers and one factory official are reported to have died from confirmed infections or after exhibiting coronavirus-like symptoms. While the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) rejected the survey figures, claiming that there were only 20 infections among factory employees, the New Age newspaper, citing Industrial Police of Bangladesh data, said 90 workers had tested positive81 from garment factories and the remaining nine from other plants. Many of these workers have been infected since the government allowed the reopening of garment facilities on April 26, even as the pandemic was escalating beyond the control of health authorities. While thousands of low-paid workers responded to company announcements that the plants were reopening, the national lockdown of public and private office workplaces remains in place until May 30. Shopping malls are only allowed to be open for a few hours each day. One employee, Mohammad Moshiur told Reuters that he had to keep working, adding: Do you think I would have gone to work today if I had money? Of course not. Factory owners claim that they have provided safe and improved working conditions but the media has cited comments from workers warning that they remain vulnerable to the virus. The Daily Observer reported workers complaining that most factory owners are not providing enough masks and sanitiser and that workers have to buy them at their own cost. Three anonymous government inspectors told Reuters that the machine layouts in many plants made it difficult to keep workers apart. One worker told the news agency that her factory was cleaner but was just as crowded as before the epidemic. She said: Im scared. But sitting at home wont feed my child or pay my rent. We are poor people. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has attempted to justify her governments dangerous reopening of plants by invoking the approaching end of the Ramadan religious festival. We cant keep everything shut, she declared. The Hasina governments decision to allow factories to reopen has nothing to do with Ramadan but is in response to the demands of Bangladesh garment bosses and other export industry chiefs. It corresponds with the brutal and medically unscientific herd immunity policies being imposed on workers by governments around the world (see: The murderous pseudoscience of herd immunity). In late March, Professor Dr Nasima Sultana, the Additional Director General of Health Services declared that the government agency wanted to build immunity to the virus, a policy that could result in tens of thousands of workers dying. Amid rising working-class anger and concern about the lack of proper COVID-19 safety measures, BGMEA director Faisal Samad said the peak big-business group had established a crisis management team with hotline phone numbers. Team members, he claimed, would immediately respond to workers calls for safe conditions. The Bangladeshi garment industry accounts for some 84 percent of the countrys $US40 billion annual export earnings. In order to maintain production and profits against global rivals, such as Vietnam, China and Cambodia, industry chiefs are prepared to sacrifice the jobs and lives of tens of thousands of workers. In an interview with the BBC, BGMEA president Rubana Huq warned that more than two million garment factory workers [out of four million] might lose their jobs. Faced with job and pay cuts, withheld wages and religious festival bonuses, and the danger of COVID-19, thousands of garment workers have taken to the streets in daily protests. On Saturday, around 1,500 workers from the Magpie Composite Textile and Magpie Sweater plants in Ashulia rallied and then blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway to demand last months salaries and leave allowances. Police attacked the demonstrators with batons and tear gas, injuring five workers. One worker told the Daily Star: We were staging a sit-in programme inside the factory as authorities have yet to pay our salary for April, and last years yearly earning allowance. Another worker said: We were prepared to accept 60 percent of our salary for April but the factory owner has not yet paid that. We will starve if we dont get paid. The average monthly wage of Bangladeshi garment workers is about 8,000 takas ($US95). On May 16, the government, company owners and union leaders met and agreed to the terms of a sell-out agreement. In violation of workers demands, the union bureaucrats backed a deal that would supposedly result in the payment of outstanding bonuses in two phases50 percent of the basic wage before the religious festival and another 50 percent after the festival. The unions involved in this betrayal were the IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) and the National Garment Workers Federation. Most of the garment workers strikes and protests have occurred in large non-union plants, including those of the Ha-Meem Group, Envoy Group and Islam Group, which is of concern to both the BGMEA and the corporatist trade unions. The Ha-Meem Group has about 50,000 workers, Envoy Group 21,000 and Islam Group 15,000. In a direct appeal to employers, IBC Secretary General Salauddin Shapon pointed out the unions usefulness in suppressing strikes. Most of the factories that are facing unrest do not have trade unions, he said. If those owners allowed trade unions, we would be able to communicate with them, he added, bewailing the fact that only 10 percent of Bangladeshi workers were affiliated with unions or labour federations. Last week, a member of the governments National Technical Advisory Committee on the coronavirus anonymously told the media: We are in the dark about the governments capability of providing medical treatment to COVID-19 patients. The comment came after health authorities revealed that three people had tested positive in Kutupalong, one of many camps in Coxs Bazar, where about a million Rohingya asylum-seekers livethe worlds largest refugee settlement. These camps are overcrowded and lack adequate sanitary facilities. Dr Shamim Jahan, health director of Save the Children in Bangladesh, warned: We are looking at the very real prospect that thousands of people could die from COVID-19. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Bam Bam Resources Corp. (CSE: BBR) (OTC: NPEZF) (FSE: 4NPA) ("Bam Bam" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has completed the first core hole for the 2020 Phase 1 drilling program at its flagship Majuba Hill Property (the "Property"), a copper, gold porphyry project located in Pershing County, Nevada. The hole was designed to expand the copper, gold, and silver mineralization identified in the historic drill data. The hole was halted after intersecting historic workings. Hole MHB-1 is a vertical core hole drilled to 311.5 feet (94.9 M). Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6332/56063_e0b127dac42d4afc_001full.jpg The core was logged on-site and will be sawn and sampled by Bam Bam contractors at the secured warehouse facility in Elko, Nevada. Samples will then be submitted to ALS Geochemistry for sample analysis. Mr. David Greenway, President & CEO, reports: "We are glad to have the Majuba Hill project drilling underway. Following an extensive period of compilation and planning, it is good to finally have core in the box. The alteration and rocks in the core are what our geologists expected and I am looking forward to getting the analytical results from ALS." Figure 2: MHB-1 Box 22 - 239.5 to 248.5 Feet To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6332/56063_bamfig2.jpg Figure 3: MHB-1 Box 24 - 257 to 266 Feet To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/6332/56063_e0b127dac42d4afc_007full.jpg Bam Bam field personnel and contractors are using operational health and safety protocols consistent with ensuring the health and safety of its people, the local community, and the State of Nevada. The drill program is being managed by Bam Bam's Exploration Geologist, E.L. "Buster" Hunsaker III, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. He is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG 8137) with the American Institute of Professional Geologist. The Majuba Hill Project encompasses 4,822 acres of surface and mineral rights that includes 3 patented lode mining claims and 632 acres of privately-owned surface and minerals. The Property is easily accessed via 23 miles of well-maintained dirt roads leading from U.S. Interstate 80. The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed by E.L. "Buster" Hunsaker III, CPG 8137, Chairman of the Company's Advisory Board, an independent consulting geologist who is a non-independent Qualified Person as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43- 101"). About Bam Bam Resources Corp. Bam Bam Resources Corp. (CSE: BBR) (OTC: NPEZF) (FSE: 4NPA) is engaged in the identification, review and acquisition of latter stage copper and copper/gold assets. With its flagship project being Majuba Hill copper gold project located 156 miles outside Reno, Nevada, USA. Management has been mandated to focus on safe, mining friendly jurisdictions and government regulations supportive of mining operations. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. On Behalf of the Board of Bam Bam Resources Corp. "David Greenway" David C. Greenway President & CEO For further information, please contact: E: dg@bambamresources.com P: (604) 318-0114 Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Bam Bam Resources Corp. believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Bam Bam Resources Corp. management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Bam Bam Resources Corp. undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. ### To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56063 LONDON and AUSTIN, Texas, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- With the NHS at the sharp end of COVID-19, Blue Prism Cloud's SaaS-based intelligent automation platform is enabling a fast-growing number of NHS Trusts to swiftly adapt to unprecedented operational demand. The injection of AI-powered Digital Workers into the NHS resource pool allows a wide range of activities to be automated across functions in order to release more time to care for frontline NHS staff. Over recent weeks, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay, North East London Commissioning Support Unit, Great Western Hospitals and Leeds Teaching Hospitals have adopted the Blue Prism Cloud platform. Not only will this assist in fighting the crisis but importantly provide the foundation for delivering sustainable long-term transformation that accelerates delivery of better patient outcomes. In 1948 Aneurin Bevan, Welsh MP and Health Minister, saw his pioneering vision for a National Health Service come into being. Now the healthcare board named in his honour is at the forefront of shaping the future of healthcare by embedding pioneering technology into its operations. "There are huge gains to be made in terms of incorporating intelligent automation into healthcare processes. For us the imperative is patient safety and experience," said Mike Ogonovsky, Assistant Director of Informatics at Aneurin Bevan Health Board. The manual transfer of data between the systems used to manage the patient journey through primary care, ambulance service, secondary care and back into community care brings with it the risk of error and delay. It also takes valuable time out of the day for highly trained staff who should be focused on caring for patients. We see an opportunity to overcome this challenge using Blue Prism Cloud's Digital Workforce and are taking the first steps to re-shape our processes so that we can continue to move the bar for quality of patient care ever higher." The positive impact automation can have on patient outcomes is also recognised by University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay. "We have run small, successful RPA projects over the past four years but now it's time for us to scale the benefits of this technology. The Blue Prism Cloud platform will help us accelerate our plans and make it easier for us to expand the range of functions we support rapidly," said Marc Hadwin, Head of Digital Services at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay. "The goal of improving patient experience sits at the forefront of our strategic initiative to apply intelligent automation into our overall operating model. For example, employing Digital Workers to help patients book, prepare for and follow up appointments can ensure everyone receives a wealth of tailored communications, confirming each step of their treatment. With 600,000 hospital appointments booked a year, there is no way our staff could proactively manage that level of personalised communication manually. For medical staff too, we see countless opportunities for removing the daily burden of updating patient record systems so that they can dedicate their time to providing frontline patient care." The Trusts join a community of healthcare organizations who are sharing their tried and tested automations using a dedicated Blue Prism Cloud NHS Digital Exchange that allows NHS teams to further accelerate the deployment of new automations. A library of pre-built automation assets that cover more than 40 processes tackling enhanced access to services, and patient communication from admissions through to outpatient support are being made available. Automations enabling key back office support for recruitment, HR onboarding, and finance processing are also on hand through the NHS DX. Without the need for each Trust to start designing and building automations from scratch, teams can expand the impact of their Digital Workforce faster than ever. As each Trust contributes new assets into the fast-growing library of automations, the benefit of this technology is multiplied across the country and delivering optimal results on public sector investment. Blue Prism Aiding in Fast Response to COVID-19 Across the UK More than 50 Trusts across the UK have recruited Blue Prism Digital Workers to help drive sustainable transformation over the past four years. Through Blue Prism's COVID-19 Response Program, the company has leveraged its wealth of knowledge in this sector together with the flexibility of the Blue Prism Cloud platform to put Digital Workers into production at speed in the fight against COVID-19. Here are some examples of work currently being performed by our Digital Workers as part of this effort. Respiratory data sharing that supports identifying cases and moving data across London . . Connecting patient administration systems across health systems to improve access to psychological therapies. Automating administrative tasks across the back office to ensure hospitals can offer the most efficient care possible. Adapting to an overwhelming rise in requests for eConsultations for a cross regional general practice partnership that services hundreds of thousands of citizens. By automating a new GP appointment booking process, the practice has reduced the risk of COVID-19 transmission and maintained a safe environment for all patients and staff associated with the practice. Collecting and uploading data to update a central COVID-tracking dashboard across UK prisons to help healthcare workers monitor and administer patients in the prison system. Providing a complex automation to give 800 care homes access to NHS Mail to accelerate patient referrals from care homes into hospitals. Accelerating the on-boarding of NHS staff through automating the complex process of creating new starter accounts and attributing staff to the relevant roles. Terry Walby, CEO and Founder of Blue Prism Cloud added, "this global crisis has pushed us all to re-evaluate what operational agility entails and how critical it is to be responsive to change on a scale we haven't seen before. The dynamic scaling capacity that cloud offers, coupled with the resource flexibility of a Digital Workforce, allows organizations to target sudden challenges faster than ever. We are immensely proud to be supporting the NHS and helping them in overcoming these significant challenges." About Blue Prism Blue Prism's vision is to provide a Digital Workforce for Every Enterprise. The company's purpose is to unleash the collaborative potential of humans, operating in harmony with a Digital Workforce, so every enterprise can exceed their business goals and drive meaningful growth, with unmatched speed and agility. Fortune 500 and public-sector organizations, among customers across 70 commercial sectors, trust Blue Prism's enterprise-grade connected-RPA platform, which has users in more than 170 countries. By strategically applying intelligent automation, these organizations are creating new opportunities and services, while unlocking massive efficiencies that return millions of hours of work back into their business. Available on-premises, in the cloud, hybrid, or as an integrated SaaS solution, Blue Prism's Digital Workforce automates ever more complex, end-to-end processes that drive a true digital transformation, collaboratively, at scale and across the entire enterprise. Visit www.blueprism.com to learn more or follow Blue Prism on Twitter @blue_prism and on LinkedIn . 2020 Blue Prism Limited. "Blue Prism", "Thoughtonomy", the "Blue Prism" logo and Prism device are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Blue Prism Limited and its affiliates. All Rights Reserved. SOURCE Blue Prism Related Links http://blueprism.com A Republican congressman from Kansas who is also an OB-GYN doctor says he has been taking a malaria drug being touted by President Donald Trump as a way to protect against the coronavirus, despite warnings that it could have potentially fatal side effects. U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall, who is running for the U.S. Senate, said he doesn't have COVID-19 but is taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventative drug. His parents, siblings and wife also are taking the drug, a spokesman for Marshall told The Kansas City Star on Tuesday. 'I would encourage any person over the age of 65 or with an underlying medical condition to talk to their own physician about taking hydroxychloroquine and I'm relieved President Trump is taking it,' Marshall told The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the congressman's use of the drug. Rep. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, who is also a doctor, says he is taking hydroxychloroquine that President Donald Trump has touted as a treatment for the coronavirus, adding he doesn't have COVID-19 but he's been taking the malaria drug to hold off the virus. He's pictured March 2017 Trump said Monday that he has been taking the drug and a zinc supplement for more than a week. Trump's revelation caught many in his administration by surprise and set off an urgent effort by officials to justify his action. But their attempt to address the concerns of health professionals was undercut by the president himself. He asserted without evidence that a study raising alarm about the drug was an 'enemy statement,' even as his own government warned that the drug should be administered for COVID-19 only in a hospital or research setting. Trump decided to take hydroxychloroquine after two White House staffers tested positive for the disease, but he already had spent months promoting the drug as a potential cure or preventive despite the cautionary advice of many of his administrations top medical professionals. 'This is an individual decision to make,' Trump told reporters during a visit to Capitol Hill Tuesday to huddle with Senate Republicans. 'But it's had a great reputation.' The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the virus. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month warned doctors not to prescribe hydroxychloroquine to treat the coronavirus outside of hospitals or research settings because of reports of serious side effects, including irregular heart rhythms and death among patients. Trump said Tuesday that taking the anti-malaria drug 'is an individual decision to make. But it's had a great reputation' Marshall previously said previously that 'in many cases, patients have a lot to gain and little to lose if they consider taking it' Preliminary results from a study done on coronavirus patients at U.S. veterans hospitals showed no benefit, casting more doubt on the drugs efficacy during the pandemic. Two large observational studies, each involving around 1,400 patients in New York, recently found no COVID benefit from hydroxychloroquine. Two new ones published Thursday in the medical journal BMJ reached the same conclusion. Marshall, though, has defended the use of the drug, saying previously that 'in many cases, patients have a lot to gain and little to lose if they consider taking it.' Regulators issued the alert, in part, based on increased reports of dangerous side effects called in to U.S. poison control centers. Calls to centers involving hydroxychloroquine increased last month to 96, compared with 49 in April 2019, according to data from the American Association of Poison Control Centers provided to the AP. It was the second month of elevated reports involving the drug, following 79 calls in March. The problems reported included abnormal heart rhythms, seizures, nausea and vomiting. Trump dismissed reports of side effects, saying, 'All I can tell you is, so far I seem to be OK.' Trump alleged without evidence Tuesday that one government study that showed negative effects from the drug was meant to embarrass him. 'If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey, they were giving it to people that were in very bad shape,' Trump said. That was an apparent reference to a study of hundreds of patients treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs in which more people in a group who were administered hydroxychloroquine died than among those who weren't. 'They were very old. Almost dead,' Trump said. 'It was a Trump enemy statement.' Many studies are testing hydroxychloroquine for preventing or limiting coronavirus illness but 'at this point in time theres absolutely no evidence that this strategy works,' said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease specialist at Emory University in Atlanta. 'My concern is, the president has a big bully pulpit ... maybe people will think theres some non-public evidence' that the drug works because Trump has chosen to use it, del Rio said. 'It creates this conspiracy theory that something works and theyre not telling me about it yet.' Marshall is just one of the GOP candidates who have been stressing their loyalty to Trump. In the U.S. Senate race, Marshall is still struggling to consolidate opponents of his main rival, immigration hardliner and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Kobach was the first prominent Kansas elected official to endorse Trump in 2016. In a crowded GOP field, Marshall faces attacks from the right, with a political action committee for the small-government, free-market group Club for Growth planning to spend $2.2 million on anti-Marshall ads starting in mid-June. Some Republicans also are watching the candidacy of Bob Hamilton, a former Kansas City-area plumbing business owner, who has been able to use personal funds to keep up with Marshalls fundraising. FDA HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE WARNINGS In some cases the side effects can be FATAL, the FDA has warned. Cardiac Effects: QT interval prolongation. Use with caution in patients with cardiac disease, QT prolongation, a history of ventricular arrhythmias, bradycardia, uncorrected potassium or magnesium imbalance, and during concomitant administration with QT interval prolonging drugs such as azithromycin and some other antibacterial drugs. Severe hypoglycemia: Hydroxychloroquine sulfate has been reported to decrease insulin clearance and resistance. Loss of consciousness in patients with or without the use of antidiabetic medications has been reported. Hematologic effects: Hemolysis in G6PD deficient patients, pancytopenia, aplastic anemia and neutropenia have been reported. Hepatic impairment: Since hydroxychloroquine sulfate is known to concentrate in the liver, it should be used with caution in patients with hepatitis, hepatic disease, alcoholism or in conjunction with known hepatotoxic drugs. Renal impairment: Hydroxychloroquine sulfate is known to be substantially excreted by the kidney, and the risk of toxic reactions to this drug may be greater in patients with impaired renal function. Central nervous system effects: Hydroxychloroquine sulfate may increase the risk of convulsions in patients with a history of seizures. Acute extrapyramidal disorders may occur with hydroxychloroquine sulfate. Psychosis, delirium, agitation, confusion, suicidal behavior, and hallucinations may occur with hydroxychloroquine sulfate. Worsening of Psoriasis and Porphyria: Use of hydroxychloroquine sulfate in patients with psoriasis may precipitate a severe attack of psoriasis. When used in patients with porphyria the condition may be exacerbated. Hydroxychloroquine sulfate should not be used in these conditions unless the benefit to the patient outweighs the potential risks. Retinopathy: Retinal damage has been observed in some patients receiving long-term treatment with hydroxychloroquine sulfate. Advertisement 19.05.2020 LISTEN Some Muslims have asked the police to prosecute Nigerian Humanist, Mubarak Bala for making some posts on Facebook. They claim that his posts insulted the prophet of Islam. And for that reason, they want Mr. Bala penalized. Others are threatening to execute him. The police have arrested Mr. Bala and may soon charge him. In this piece, I argue that the police should unconditionally release Mr. Bala because what they said he did was not an offense against the state. I am aware that some Muslims are unhappy with the posts, and would want Mr. Bala punished. But I do not think it is a sufficient reason to prosecute or threaten to kill him as some Muslims have proposed. Muslims make offensive, annoying, and provoking posts and comments both online and offline, dont they? I am of the view that the said posts of Mr. Bala were within his right to freedom of expression and belief. I submit that if the police, in an attempt to appease the petitioners, prosecute and convict Mr. Bala based on the said comments, they would be setting a legal precedent that would negatively reflect on the right to freedom of expression of all persons including Muslims. In fact, the legal precedent would later come to hunt, hurt, and hamper the rights of Muslims especially in parts of Nigeria where they are in the minority. Why do I say so? First, lets take a look at the said posts as contained in the petition and find out if something criminal exists therein. According to S S Umar who made the complaint, Mr. Bala has, on his Facebook page, called the prophet of Islam denigrating names pedophile, terrorist. Umar said that Bala made other statements that will incite Muslims and provoke them to take laws into their hands, which may result in public disturbance and breach of the peace. Umar later referred to a post where Mr. Bala compared Prophet T B Joshua and Prophet Muhammad of Saudi Arabia, and stated that the former was better because he was not a terrorist. In making their case for the arrest and prosecution of Mr. Bala, the petitioners noted that Balas posts crossed the line in terms of freedom of expression and should be seen as an offense against the state. Now I understand that Muslims hold prophet Muhammad in high esteem and would not be happy if the prophet of Islam is described in irreverent terms. But these are personal positions and dispositions. I am also aware that some Muslims may be offended by comments that designate the prophet of Islam as a criminal or a villain. That is a fact. But my question is: is that enough reason to ask the police to investigate and punish Mr. Bala? Is that a justification for the numerous death threats that some Muslims have issued against Mr. Bala? In a religiously pluralistic setting such as Nigeria, statements or posts such as the ones attributed to Mr. Bala abound. Muslims make them. Christians make them. Atheists make them. Similar statements are found in the religious texts, in the Bible and the Quran. Clerics use such statements in the preaching and sermons. Against this backdrop, who determines which posts are respectful or disrespectful? Who decides which comments are insulting and not insulting, and to whom? Even if by some means these distinctions could be made, does making disrespectful and insulting comments warrant police arrests and prosecutions? Does making insulting posts justify death threats? I do not think so. The police must try not to validate the sentiment of the petitioners that anybody who makes any adjudged insulting posts on Facebook is a criminal, and breaches public peace. Such a position has a wide range of implications for free expression of ideas and beliefs. In a culturally pluralistic society such as Nigeria, Muslims should not expect everyone to speak, write, and comment about the prophet of Islam in a reverential and respectful manner. Both Islam and the prophet are objects on the table on inquiry and analysis. So both muslims and non muslims write and speak about them from different perspectives. Everybody is not a Muslim and not everybody believes in Islam and Muhammad as a prophet. Millions of Nigerians profess other religions and beliefs, and do not recognize the prophet of Islam. There are Muslims who may agree with Mr. Bala's statements but who may not publicly say so. Muslims should not expect all persons to talk about the prophet of Islam as if they are believers. Mubarak Bala is not a Muslim could not have commented about Muhammad as Muslims would do. He could not have represented the prophet of Islam in ways that all Muslims would appreciate and find acceptable. He made posts that reflected his belief and unbelief, his thoughts and outlook. Even if Mr. Bala were to be a Muslim he has the right to hold own view and express his thoughts about the prophet of Islam, Muhammad. Muslims who think that he was mistaken should engage him. They should make Facebook posts and comments to correct and educate him. Muslims should not ask that Bala be jailed. They should not use violence or death threats to respond to any adjudged 'denigrating' posts. That is not a peaceful and non-compulsive way to respond to offensive remarks. Is it? The use of violence and threatening violence against those who make posts and comments which some Muslims find disagreeable reinforce the notion that Islam is a violent religion On their part, the police should not forget that if in their quest to appease the petitioners, they secure a judgment against Mubarak based on the said posts, they will set a legal precedent that could be used against Muslims particularly in parts of the country where Muslims are in the minority. Muslims also make posts to express their faith. They post comments about prophets of other religions on Facebook and social media. Muslims make statements that describe non-believers and infidels in very disparaging terms. Muslim clerics try to convert traditionalists, Christians, and atheists in other parts of the country. In the process, they declare the nonexistence of other gods but Allah. Muslims make it clear that other gods are fake, false, and fetish, and that Allah is the only true and existing god. They openly declare that the prophets of other religions are inferior to Muhammad. As in the case of Mubarak Bala, persons of other religions could also petition and ask that the police to arrest and prosecute Muslims for expressing ideas and beliefs that are annoying and provoking. If Muslims would not sanction the incarceration or execution of their clerics and scholars for 'insulting' the prophets of other religions, why do they sanction and endorse imprisonment and murder of those who make insulting posts on Facebook as in the case of Mr. Bala? Like Muslim clerics and scholars who hold and express different views about prophets and gods of other religions, what Mr. Bala is said to have posted on his Facebook page is an exercise in the free expression of ideas and beliefs. It is not a crime. I agree that some Muslims find the posts offensive and annoying. But that does not make the action an offense against the state. Prosecuting Mr. Bala for making the said post is a waste of judicial resources. That Muslims or persons of other religions are offended by posts made on Facebook does not entitle them to engage in public disturbance or in activities that will breach public peace. Muslims should learn the culture of nonviolent reactions to online and offline posts that insult the prophet of Islam. They should embrace the culture of free expression and civilized debate Free Mubarak Bala. (Boston)--The same genes that greatly increase the risk of breast cancer in U.S. white women, including women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, also greatly increase breast cancer risk among African American women. These genes include the BRCA1, BRCA2 and PALB2 genes, each of which was associated with a more than seven-fold risk of breast cancer, as well as four other genes associated with a more moderate increase in risk. Previous studies of women of African ancestry were too small to assess genes other than BRCA1 and BRCA2. "This means that the multi-gene panels that are currently available to test women diagnosed with breast cancer or women at high risk due to their family history will be useful for African American women," explained corresponding author Julie Palmer, ScD, director of BU's Slone Epidemiology Center and the Karin Grunebaum Professor in Cancer Research at Boston University School of Medicine. Researchers at Boston University and the Mayo Clinic collaborated with members of the CARRIERS consortium to conduct sequencing of germline DNA from 5,054 African American women with breast cancer and 4,993 age-matched African American women without cancer for mutations in 23 cancer predisposition genes. They then estimated the risks of developing breast cancer associated with having a mutation in any of the genes. More than seven percent of women with breast cancer had a mutation in one of the genes, as compared with two percent of the controls. Among women with breast cancers that lacked estrogen receptors, termed estrogen receptor negative breast cancer, more than 10 percent had a mutation, as compared with five percent in women with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. "We also found that mutations in PALB2, RAD51C and RAD51D confer increased risks of estrogen receptor negative breast cancer in the African American population," said Fergus Couch, PhD, co-author of the study and the Zbigniew and Anna M. Scheller Professor of Medical Research at Mayo Clinic. According to the researchers, testing for breast cancer predisposition genes can prevent breast cancer deaths, both in women who have never had breast cancer and in women with breast cancer. "Depending on results of the testing and an individual's own weighing of pros and cons, a woman with a mutation in any of these genes may choose more aggressive screening for cancer, and women with mutations in the high risk BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes may choose removal of her breasts and/or ovaries as a way to prevent initial breast cancer or recurrence," added Palmer who is also a professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health. Currently, rates of breast cancer genetic testing are substantially lower in African American women with breast cancer than in white patients of the same ages. Differences in recommendations given to African American women has been identified as one of the drivers of this disparity. "To the extent that the differences in recommendations are the result of misconceptions among clinicians about the prevalence of genetic mutations and associated risks in African American women, awareness of our findings may serve to increase the proportion of African American women who are offered testing," added Palmer. These findings appear online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. ### This research was supported in part by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants R01CA192393, R01CA225662, P50CA116201, U01CA164974, R01CA098663, R01CA100598, P01CA151135, P30CA16056, U01CA164973, U01CA164920, R01CA204819, R01CA77398, U01CA199277, P30CA014520, U01CA82004, R01CA047147, R01CA067264; by the American Cancer Society; and by the Susan G Komen Foundation (JRP, SMD), Breast Cancer Research Foundation (FJC, CBA, JMW, SMD, KLN), and Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Foundation (JRP). Note to Editor: The authors have no conflicts of interest. Drs. Couch and Domchek have the following disclosures: Fergus Couch - Honoraria/Speakers Bureau: Ambry Genetics, Qiagen, AstraZeneca; Corporate Sponsored Research: GRAIL. Susan Domchek - Honoraria: AstraZeneca, Clovis, BMS; Corporate-Sponsored Research: The University of Pennsylvania has received research funding for clinical trials from Clovis and AstraZeneca. Norwalks officials, like their counterparts across the states 169 towns and cities, are busy devising complex re-opening rules and regulations following complex guidelines issued from state officials. Even though after three months hindsight most of our COVID-19 fatalities have occurred at nursing homes where the disease presumably was brought in by staff/visitors, followed by seniors and those with serious health issues. And after three months weve seen no major reductions in either infections/fatalities from the recommended social distancing and shuttering down of our states economy. So why do we continue to severely restrict our economy? Seniors the most at-risk class can best protect themselves by staying home and avoiding the market place. Outgoing Iran Speaker Proposed As National Security Council Secretary, Agency Says Maryam Sinaiee May 18, 2020 An Iranian news agency on Monday reported that the outgoing Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani may be proposed for the position of secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. In its report Fars News Agency, which has close ties to the Revolutionary Guard, claimed that the "circles close to Larijani" have decided to propose him for the position, presumably to President Hassan Rouhani who as the Head of the council has the power to appoint or replace its secretary. Larijani did not run in the February parliamentary elections and holds no other significant position in the government to return to after the termination of his current tenure as Speaker. The current term of the Iranian Parliament and Ali Larijani's three-term tenure as speaker of the Majles will come to an end on May 27. Some have speculated that the sixty-three-year-old Larijani is preparing himself for the presidential race next year but he has denied having any plans for presidency. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei usually appoints two representatives to the SNSC and one of them becomes Secretary. Currently Ali Shamkhani holds the post so if Larijani is appointed, he should be step aside. Larijani who is a conservative politician replaced Hassan Rouhani as the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) in 2005 when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the presidential elections. Larijani was one of the candidates who lost the race against Ahmadinejad. He remained in the same position until October 2007 also functioning as Iran's top nuclear negotiator. Larijani resigned from his position allegedly under pressure from Ahmadinejad who appointed Saeed Jalili to the position. Larijani was subsequently elected as a representative from Qom in the parliamentary elections of 2008. The Secretary of the Council is responsible for supervising the implementation of the Council's decisions and is appointed by the President. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei usually endorses the president's choice by appointing the new secretary as one of his own two representatives in the council to make him a voting member of the council. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/larijani-proposed -as-iran-national-security-council- secretary-agency-says/30618571.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address SILICON VALLEY, Calif., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Women's Startup Lab (WSLab), a Silicon Valley-based accelerator for women-led startups, will host its second annual WiSE24, "Women's International Showcase of Entrepreneurs," on June 18, 2020. The event, which will take place over 24 hours, will livestream startup pitches from 50 early-stage, women-led ventures in 10 regions around the world, including San Francisco, New York, Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, Sao Paulo and Ukraine. The theme of the event -- "Rise Locally, Empower Globally" -- calls on technology and innovation leaders, both domestic and international, to look beyond their borders for new markets, talent and investment opportunities. WiSE24 will gather 1,000+ global investors, policymakers and business leaders to discuss opportunities to accelerate innovation and build economic growth worldwide. In addition to financial tech, biotech, consumer tech and social impact businesses, this year's event will feature startups working on innovative solutions to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. "Building on the success of last year's event, WiSE24 2020 provides an unprecedented opportunity for women entrepreneurs to rise and thrive in times of crisis," explains Women's Startup Lab Founder and CEO, Ari Horie. "Now, more than ever, we need to foster deep cross-cultural collaboration to advance innovation and solve the biggest problems facing our global population." Speakers include Pascal Finette, Singularity University's Chair for Entrepreneurship & Open Innovation and Venture Partner at BOLD Capital Partners, Audrey Tang, Digital Minister of Taiwan, and Victor Hwang, Founder and CEO of Right to Start and Former Vice President of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation. "The next wave of global innovation will come from entrepreneurs, including women and underrepresented entrepreneurs, who don't fit the traditional 'founder' stereotype," explains venture capitalist Bill Reichert. "By developing these diverse founders, Women's Startup Lab is accelerating the evolution of the startup ecosystem." "The technology industry cannot afford to ignore the potential of diverse founders and a global, collaborative startup community," says Audrey Tang, who is working on Taiwan's response to COVID-19. "We need to educate, support and invest in our cross-border partners if we want a world that supports innovation for all." WiSE24 will be available online all day Pacific Time (PT) on June 18, starting in Brazil and ending in Asia on June 19. To register for the event or to learn more, please visit www.womenstartuplab.com/wise24. If you're interested in showcasing your local startup or initiative through Women's Startup Lab's WiSE24 event, send an email to [email protected]. About Women's Startup Lab Women's Startup Lab is a leading tech startup accelerator for women entrepreneurs around the world. Its corporate innovation program serves Fortune 100 executives and their entrepreneurial leadership. See www.womenstartuplab.com. Contact Women's Startup Lab E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE Women's Startup Lab Related Links womenstartuplab.com The Energy Minister John Peter Amewu stated that at the end of 2019, all Government bills with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has been paid and Government had a credit of GH500,000 with ECG. He said under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Government was committed to addressing the financial challenges of the energy sector and that they were on course to fulfilling it. Mr Amewu said this on Tuesday in Accra, when he gave an update on efforts being made by the Government to clear some of its outstanding debts owed to ECG, during the meet the press series engagement organised by the Ministry of Information to give an update on the COVID-19 pandemic. He said on assumption of office (in 2017), the administration was confronted with a huge indebtedness to ECG; stating that For your information, as of December 2016, when the NDC (National Democratic Congress) left office, then under former President John Dramani Mahama, the entire bills owed ECG by Government at that time was GH2.63 billion. He said the NPP (New Patriotic Party) Government on assumption of office, ensured that it was current on bills incurred during its tenure from 2017 to date. He said the Government had paid two billion Ghana cedis annually to cover its bills with the ECG. Today, at the end of 2019, all government bills with ECG have been paid and Government had a credit of GH500,000.00 with ECG, Mr Amewu said. With an average bill payment of about GH100,000.00 per month, the credit balance of over GH500,000.00, is enough and more than enough to pay for government bills from January to April, 2020. He said it was also interesting to note that an unreconciled additional payments GH4.14 billion had also been made to various fuel suppliers of power producers, which was yet to be credit to Government in an ongoing reconciliation exercise. Mr Amewu said if this amount of GH4.14 billion, in addition to credit of GH500,000.00, which Government had given, if the reconciliation was done, it means Government was in a comfortable position to inform viable consumers of electricity that the sector was gradually getting out of the woods. He said the energy sector reform programme, which instituted had already been approved by Cabinet. I am happy to report that under the energy sector reform programme, government will continue to work towards a reliable and effective electricity company in this period, the Minister said. With regards to the Government's utility mitigation package for Ghanaians, Mr Amewu said, Government has already made some payments to ECG as a result of the COVID-19 (energy) subsidy that was introduced for a period of three months. You will recollect that President Akufo-Addo made a broadcast to the nation that as part of the alleviation strategy during the period of the COVID-19 Ghanaians are expected to enjoy some reliefs from utility companies, he said. And I am happy to announce that that process is currently ongoing. And customers throughout the country have demonstrated and testified that this relief from the Government is actually real, Mr Amewu added. ---GNA By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government has launched a massive evacuation drive for cyclone Amphan, which has intensified into a super cyclonic storm. Six districts in the State have been put on high alert. At 5.30 am on Tuesday, Amphan lay centered about 520 km south of Paradip. Senior IAS officer Madhu Sudan Padhi, who has been deputed to Balasore district to supervise the relief and rescue operations said focus was on to evacuate people from Bhograi, Baliapal, Remuna, Bahanga and Soro areas in the district. Chandbali and Basudevpur blocks have been put on high alert. Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to respond to any emergency, said Bhadrak Collector Gyana Das. The Odisha government has contingency plan ready to evacuate about 12 lakh people from the low lying and vulnerable areas of 12 coastal districts to safer places. India Meteorological Department (IMD) said damage is expected in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj districts under the influence of super cyclonic storm Amphan, which will likely weaken into extremely severe cyclone within six hours. The national forecaster has predicted total destruction of thatched houses, extensive damage to kutcha houses, bending or uprooting of power and communication poles and widespread damage to standing crops in these districts. Met office has issued orange warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall at few places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Mayurbhanj districts and isolated heavy rainfall in Cuttack, Khurda and Puri districts on Tuesday. Light to moderate rainfall or thundershower will likely occur at most places in coastal Odisha and at few places in the remaining districts of the State during the same period. "Rainfall activity and winds will increase in the State between 3 am and 10 am on Wednesday," said Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Scientist, Umasankar Das. Winds gusting up to 125 km/hr will likely prevail along and off north Odisha coast - Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts on Wednesday morning. While Puri, Khurda, Cuttack and Jajpur districts will experience winds gusting up to 75 km/hr during the period. In a special bulletin IMD, Odisha, said that Amphan will likely move north-northeastwards across north-west Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal - Bangladesh coasts between Digha and Hatiya Island (Bangladesh) close to Sundarban on Wednesday afternoon or evening as a very severe cyclonic storm with winds gusting up to 180 km/hr. IRVINE, Calif., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitvore was named a Gold Stevie Award winner for Best New Product/Service in the Financial Services category at The 18th annual American Business Awards. "We're honored to receive this recognition as a Gold Stevie Award winner," said Jeff Drake, CEO, Bitvore. "Bitvore Cellenus' unique, AI-based analytics solution helps financial services analysts, relationship managers, portfolio managers and data scientists by providing leading indicators of company growth, risk and sentiment, helping them to better manage portfolios and customer relationships." Bitvore wins Gold @ Stevie Awards More than 3,600 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories, including Startup of the Year, Executive of the Year, Best New Product or Service of the Year, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Live Event of the Year, and App of the Year, among others. Bitvore Cellenus is a groundbreaking AI-powered platform that delivers leading indicators of business performance for companies, industries and markets. Bitvore Cellenus ingests massive amounts of unstructured data (including news, press releases, SEC filings/proxy statements, earnings call transcripts and more) and uses advanced NLP and machine learning to provide data sets that include material business events, trended sentiment, growth and risk scoring, as well as comparative/ predictive analytics to drive better business outcomes. Consumable through file downloads, a comprehensive API and research user interfaces, Bitvore Cellenus provides customers with the "crystal ball" needed to identify emerging risk and opportunity. Judge's comments: "Bitvore Cellenus is a powerful tool that gives its users an exceptional advantage in predicting business performance. It will be difficult to compete with companies utilizing this tool." "Using the right AI, especially for unstructured big data and putting that to the best slices of usable data for predictive analysis is what more businesses are adopting. It's the right step forward. Bitvore is establishing itself as the central force, providing unprecedented business insights from such data. This Indicative AI will bring out the best opportunities and decision making will be made much easier." More than 230 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year's Stevie Award winners. For more information about Bitvore Cellenus, please visit https://bitvore.com/cellenus-intro/ Resources: About Bitvore Bitvore provides unprecedented business insights from unstructured data. Our products are deployed in over seventy of the world's largest financial institutions, allowing them to make faster and more effective decisions so they outperform the competition. Our flagship product, Bitvore Cellenus is a groundbreaking AI-powered platform that delivers leading indicators of business performance for companies, industries, markets and municipal obligors. Consumable through file downloads, a comprehensive API and research user interfaces, Bitvore Cellenus provides customers with the "crystal ball" needed to identify emerging risk and opportunity. To learn more, visit www.bitvore.com . Media Contact: Steve Henning Bitvore [email protected] (949) 616-0819 SOURCE Bitvore Related Links http://www.bitvore.com Incident of woman who refused to wear face mask at Shunfu Market. (SCREENSHOT: YouTube) SINGAPORE The woman who gained notoriety for refusing to wear a face mask in public during the circuit breaker while claiming that she is a sovereign above the law was handed two additional charges on Tuesday (19 May). Paramjeet Kaur, a 41-year-old Singaporean, allegedly did not wear a mask over her nose and mouth at a food stall at 236 Upper Thomson Road at about 7.45pm on 26 April. The physiotherapist is also alleged to have failed to report a change of her residence to authorities within 28 days of moving from a public housing flat in Whampoa to a landed property at Upper Thomson Road. Today reported that when asked if she understood the charges, Kaur replied, I am a living woman. I reserve all my rights, including my right to remain silent. The court also heard that Kaurs original lawyer, Satwant Singh, was discharged and replaced by Anil Sandhu. Earlier this month, Kaur was charged with one count each of eating outside her residence and being a public nuisance, as well as two counts of failing to wear a mask over her nose and mouth at all times while in public on separate occasions. In a viral video, Kaur who returned to Singapore last year after living in Australia for about 20 years, according to Lianhe Wanbao and a man can be seen holding onto a phone. She then argues with a person off-screen, claiming, I am a sovereign. This is something people are not going to know even what it isIt means I have nothing to do with the policeThey have no say. A voice can be heard saying, That does not even make any sense. If you are a person in Singapore, you have to follow the rules in Singapore. Paramjeet then replied, Im not a person. Following her initial charges, Kaur was remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric observation for two weeks. On Tuesday, she was granted bail of $10,000 on the condition that she surrender her travel documents. She will next appear in court on 2 June. Weighing in on Kaurs case in a Facebook post on 4 May, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said that if she claimed to be a sovereign, she should not live within a society rejected by her. As such, she should not expect security, medical care, and other benefits that come from the societys system of governance, he added. Story continues Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore More Singapore stories: Bangladeshi worker found dead at Kranji dormitory: report Singapore doctors on COVID-19 frontlines feel safe, confident: new study COVID-19: Singapore reports 305 more cases, 495 additional recoveries Redmi India has been teasing a wireless personal audio product that will soon be launching on the Indian market. Fans of the brand have been guessing what the device could be, with Redmi AirDots S TWS earbuds and the Redmi Soundbar 2.0 leading the charge as popular choices. Xiaomi recently released the Redmi AirDots S TWS in China for 99 yuan (US$14). 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 The official Twitter account for Redmi India has recently posted two tweets so far pertaining to an upcoming audio product for the Indian market. The first tweet features a short video clip accompanied by the hashtag clue #NoStringsAttached. A second tweet shows personal audio devices ranging from a gramophone to a smartphone. Followers of the account have been posting guesses at what is coming, with Redmi AirDots S TWS earbuds and the Redmi Soundbar 2.0 standing out as the main contenders. Ironically, the two video clips from each post seem to lean more toward either product. The first post shows the Redmi brand name flashing up in colored LEDs while accompanied by a dance track, and it certainly seems to point to an audio product such as a party speaker or a soundbar, which could mean an imminent release for the Bluetooth-capable Redmi Soundbar 2.0. The first Mi Soundbar cost 4,999 (US$66) upon its release in India, so a successor should be priced at a similar level. However, the second clip actually seems to tease the Redmi AirDots S TWS earbuds instead. The video shows the evolution of personal audio, progressing from the gramophone through the Walkman to phones with wired headphones. It seems logical that the next step would be phones with wireless headphones, especially as the mystery product is shaped like a phone. Xiaomi priced the Redmi AirDots S on the Chinese market at just 99 yuan (US$14) and some have guessed at a price tag of around 1,000 (US$13) for the Indian market. Of course, it might be a completely different audio product altogether that Redmi is teasing on its Twitter account or fans of the brand in India might be really lucky and actually witness both the Redmi AirDots S TWS earbuds and the Redmi Soundbar 2.0 being launched at the same time. Sale off - Buy Apple AirPods with Charging Case now on Amazon Approximately 300,000 people have signed an online petition urging the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) to demand hazard pay for all United Parcel Service (UPS) workers during the coronavirus pandemic. While the Teamsters union has enforced the exploitation of workers during the pandemic, the broad support for the petition indicates the growing opposition of UPS workers to the conditions imposed upon them since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States. All UPS employees are risking the chances of catching and spreading the COVID-19 virus, the author of the petition, John James, writes. UPS has not been supplying enough protection to their employees and have not taken further safety procedures to make sure their employees cut down the risk of catching or spreading COVID-19. The implementation of hazard pay would allow for a temporary increase to workers wages for the duration of the pandemic to compensate them for the increased risk of getting severely ill or dying from their job. Both UPS management and the union leaders are concealing the real number of confirmed cases and deaths, including from the immediate coworkers who may have come into contact with an infected individual. Dozens of drivers and warehouse workers from across the country have reported cases in their workplace which they only discovered through social media or speaking to coworkers. There are currently two reported deaths in the company, both employees at the massive UPS Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky. Workers reported on Facebook that at least two UPS workers have died in the Chicago area, although this has not been confirmed by the union or company. Parallel situations exist in workplaces across the US and internationally, including logistics companies like Amazon and the US Postal Service. Although the companies cite privacy concerns to justify withholding this information, their true motives are to keep workers ignorant, hide the extent of the crisis, and prevent protests and walkouts. The measures that UPS has taken to protect its workers have been belated and entirely inadequate. Although the first case of the novel coronavirus in the United States was detected in January, UPS did not provide masks or personal protective equipment to its workers until April. Once measures were put into place, management merely set up small cleaning stations, handed workers spray bottles filled with water and bleach, encouraged the use of hand sanitizers, and sometimes gave each worker an N95 mask that they were to reuse. The cosmetic half-measures taken by the company to protect workers in reality do very little to reduce the rate of viral transmission. Warehouse workers sort, load, and unload packages under the heavy pressure by the company to achieve the fastest rates possible. With the greater reliance of the population on delivery services under conditions of stay-at-home orders, the current package volume is close to the busiest months of the peak season between November and January. Those who work inside the warehouses will inevitably have to come into proximity of other workers with little time to disinfect their stations or change their protective equipment under the pressure from above. Workers report that in many warehouses, management has done little to enforce social distancing between employees of at least 6 feet apart. Furthermore, data suggests that the novel coronavirus remains infectious on metal surfaces for as many as five days. It may remain infectious for two to three days on plastics and for one day on cardboard. Without proper decontamination or protective equipment, UPS drivers and warehouse workers who come into contact with cardboard packages are thus at risk of exposure to the virus. Even if rigorous cleaning and social distancing protocols were enforced, the fact remains that the only way to combat COVID-19 is through the implementation of mass testing and contact tracing. Such a system would discover anyone who has the virus, whether they show symptoms or not, and allow for the isolation of infected individuals from the rest of the population. Rather than implement widespread testing, reduce productivity rates, and guarantee workers their basic workplace protections, UPS executives are driven by the need to generate more profits that inevitably come at the expense of the workers. The significant response to the petition demanding hazard pay reflects workers willingness to fight against the criminal endangerment of workers by UPS, and to demand safer conditions and adequate compensation. This fighting spirit is to be encouraged. However, the Teamsters union, to which the appeal is directed, does not fight for workers. Rather it has consistently sided with management against UPS workers. In the middle of the current unprecedented health and social crisis, the union has kept workers on the job and enforced the unsafe conditions in which workers are forced to operate. Dylan, a UPS worker in the California Bay Area, told the World Socialist Web Site, I havent even heard anything from the union. Ive left them two messages since this has all been going on, and I havent heard back yet. It seems like they should be doing something for us, but I just dont see anyone. James P. Hoffa, president of the Teamsters, is a member of a panel appointed by President Donald Trump to advise him on reopening the economy. Other members include billionaires Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook. These panelists concern is to send workers back to their jobs as quickly as possible, regardless of whether conditions are safe, so that they can resume the generation of profits. The unions treachery was on full display during the negotiations for the 2018 UPS contract, which maintained low wages for warehouse workers, agreed to the companys terms for health and safety, and created a hybrid driver position. The hybrid position represented a step toward the abolition of full-time drivers and toward the extension of part-time, low-wage work from the warehouse to the delivery fleet. When workers rejected this sellout contract by 54 percent, the Teamsters used an antidemocratic loophole in the union constitution to declare the contract ratified. During the same period, after UPS Freight workers rejected a separate concessionary contract, the Teamsters threatened workers with a lockout and the loss of medical benefits if they did not ratify the contract in a second vote. The union also threatened that if freight workers went on strike, it would isolate the strike by keeping UPS parcel workers on the job. For decades, the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU) faction has promoted the illusion that the Teamsters can be reformed. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the TDU has claimed that the way to fight for safer working conditions and adequate protections is to appeal to the Hoffa bureaucracy. If this tactic fails, which the TDU openly admits is likely, the faction proposes an appeal to UPS management or to a governmental agency such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA). As a loyal opposition faction of the Teamsters bureaucracy, the TDU aims to channel workers outrage back into the union and prevent an independent mobilization of the working class to assert their own interests. Rejecting the call for fruitless appeals to the union which has given the green light to UPS while workers risk their lives, UPS workers must form their own rank-and-file safety committees. Operated democratically by the workers themselves, these committees must fight for the urgent measures that must be implemented in every warehouse to protect workers and their loved ones. Workers safety committees will serve as the means for workers in consultation with trusted medical and scientific experts to oversee the expansion of testing, protective gear, and social distancing measures with the advice of medical professionals, along with control over pay increases and speeds on the line and delivery routes. These committees must function democratically and independently of the unions and the capitalist political parties. The Republican and Democratic parties, to whom the Teamsters union has donated tens of millions of dollars, have facilitated the recent multitrillion-dollar bailout of Wall Street and disastrous health response to the pandemic. Established at every hub, rank-and-file safety committees can facilitate communication among workers, monitor conditions in the workplace, formulate demands, and enforce them. They must also serve as the means to reach out and connect with other sections of the working class who face the same dangers, including workers at Amazon, USPS, FedEx, auto plants, food processing plants, grocery stores and hospitals. The Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Web Site will help workers in every way possible to form rank-and-file committees. Workers need new organs of struggle, and rank-and-file committees will be the means by which they fight for their interests during and beyond the pandemic. BY CHARLES LAITON THE late former President Robert Mugabe has been posthumously sucked into the Ndanga chieftainship wrangle after the ex-President in 2017 installed Wilson Makono as Zaka districts Chief Ndanga, defying advice from clan members. Mugabe was dethroned exactly eight months after confirming Makonos appointment as Chief Ndanga. Clan head, Abias Chigwagwa said before Makonos installation he petitioned Mugabe and then Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere after the local district administrator erroneously handpicked Makono for the chieftainship, but his pleas were ignored. Before and after his (Makono) appointment by the (then) President (Mugabe) himself as chief, based on the erroneous belief that due process of law had been followed; I tried to stop his installation and seek his removal from the position of chief by petitioning the President, writing to the (then) minister (Kasukuwere), as well as to the provincial assembly of chiefs to no avail, Chigwagwa said in his affidavit. - Advertisement - After his advice was ignored, Chigwagwa then referred the matter to the High Court which recently gave current Local Government minister July Moyo, the provincial assembly of chiefs and national chiefs council a 30-day ultimatum to resolve the Ndanga chieftainship wrangle. Justice Clement Phiris order came after Moyo, Masvingo provincial assembly of chiefs and the representatives of the national chiefs council failed to turn up in court despite being served with court papers. The respondents (Minister of Local Government Public Works and National Housing, provincial assembly of chiefs and the national council of chiefs) are hereby compelled to facilitate dispute resolution to the Ndanga chieftainship clan in terms of section 283 (a) (i) and (ii) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, 2013 within a month of service of this order upon them, Justice Phiri said. In his founding affidavit, Chigwagwa submitted that he was the clan leader and responsible for submitting details of the suitable candidate for the chieftainship. The district administrator, however, chose and forwarded Wilson Makonos name as the potential chief-to-be, acting on his own and not as submitted by myself, yet I am the head of the clan and family tree record keeper, Chigwagwa said. In addition, the process done by the DA in appointing Wilson Makono as chief was improper since my family, as the custodian of the Ndanga chieftainship process, was not consulted or given an opportunity to have a say at the meeting. Chigwagwa added that Makono was not a member of the Ndanga clan and had no right to assume the chieftainship. Like this: Like Loading... We've lost count of how many times insiders have accumulated shares in a company that goes on to improve markedly. On the other hand, we'd be remiss not to mention that insider sales have been known to precede tough periods for a business. So we'll take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in Novacyt S.A. (EPA:ALNOV). What Is Insider Buying? It's quite normal to see company insiders, such as board members, trading in company stock, from time to time. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market. We don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own companys stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'. View our latest analysis for Novacyt The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Novacyt In fact, the recent purchase by James Wakefield was the biggest purchase of Novacyt shares made by an insider individual in the last twelve months, according to our records. So it's clear an insider wanted to buy, at around the current price, which is 3.91. That means they have been optimistic about the company in the past, though they may have changed their mind. While we always like to see insider buying, it's less meaningful if the purchases were made at much lower prices, as the opportunity they saw may have passed. In this case we're pleased to report that the insider purchases were made at close to current prices. Novacyt insiders may have bought shares in the last year, but they didn't sell any. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date! Story continues ENXTPA:ALNOV Recent Insider Trading May 19th 2020 There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them). Novacyt Insiders Bought Stock Recently Over the last three months, we've seen significant insider buying at Novacyt. Overall, two insiders shelled out 101k for shares in the company -- and none sold. This is a positive in our book as it implies some confidence. Does Novacyt Boast High Insider Ownership? For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Our information indicates that Novacyt insiders own about 526k worth of shares. We might be missing something but that seems like very low insider ownership. What Might The Insider Transactions At Novacyt Tell Us? It is good to see recent purchasing. And an analysis of the transactions over the last year also gives us confidence. But on the other hand, the company made a loss during the last year, which makes us a little cautious. While the overall levels of insider ownership are below what we'd like to see, the history of transactions imply that Novacyt insiders are reasonably well aligned, and optimistic for the future. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Our analysis shows 3 warning signs for Novacyt (2 are a bit concerning!) and we strongly recommend you look at them before investing. If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt. For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Five wards--T ward (Mulund), RN ward (Dahisar), C Ward (Marine Lines), B Ward (Dongri) and RC ward (Borivli)--that had the lowest number of Covid-19 cases in the city are now inching towards the 500-mark. The growth has been fastest in T ward, with 216 cases last week but now they stand at 413. According to BMC officials, the doubling rate in Mulund is currently around seven days that has to be increased to 10 days on a priority. The rise in cases in the area has links to slums, majorly in Indira Nagar, followed by several cases having a connection to the APMC market and the clearing agents of Mumbai Port who have contributed to the spike. BMC said that many from the trading community, involved in essential services, spread the virus amongst their families which also contributed to the increase. Kishore Gandhi, assistant municipal commissioner, T Ward, said, The doubling rate is currently seven days and we have to increase it to break the chain. The outbreak that was earlier reported in slums is now much under control, however, the priority is to contain the virus in residential housing societies. Citizens have to cooperate and stay indoors to break the chain. In Mulund, out of the total 413 cases, 116 have been cured followed by 10 deaths. About 66 buildings were sealed and there were 15 containment zones in the area. The civic body is also setting up a quarantine facility of around 115 beds near Mulund check naka on the land that was being used for octroi naka. Mihir Kotecha, BJP MLA from Mulund said, The facility is being made ready. It will be up for use in the next 48 hours. According to BMCs data last week, T Ward and RN ward that includes Dahisar and parts of Borivli, have growth rates of 18% and 11% respectively. RN Ward that had the lowest number of cases, had 192 till Monday compared to 101 on May 12, followed by C Ward including Marine Lines and Kalbadevi, with 234 cases till Monday compared to 134 on May 12. Further, at R Central Ward (Borivli) there were 221 cases on May 12 followed by 347 on Tuesday. At B ward (Dongri), cases rose from 184 on May 12 to 221 on Monday. The federal government has accused some universities of sending the names of late lecturers for payment of salaries. In a statemen... The federal government has accused some universities of sending the names of late lecturers for payment of salaries. In a statement on Monday, Ahmed Idris, accountant-general of the federation, dismissed the criticism of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is fraught with irregularities. Henshaw Ogubike, director, information, press and public relations in the office of the AGF, issued the statement on behalf of Idris. He also gave explanation on why lecturers have been receiving lower salaries following the implementation of IPPIS. On the alleged payment to dead university staff, it means the Institutions deliberately forwarded to IPPIS the list containing dead ASUU members as being part of their personnel, to get more personnel fund, Idris said. When President directed that ASUU be paid, the OAGF sent a letter, through NUC Executive Secretary, requesting for the list of ASUU members through their VCs. We run BVN (biometric verification number) test on the list forwarded to us as we are aware that we cannot use the old nominal roll because of changes that might have likely taken place. It is the responsibility of the Institutions or Agencies to inform the IPPIS office about death, resignation or exit from service before due date. We sent payroll analysis to the tertiary institution Bursars for review of any omission or names to be excluded. This issue is a cheap propaganda by ASUU to denigrate IPPIS for obvious reasons. Idris said the federal government decided to set the records straight because of the extent which ASUU had gone to cast it in bad light. It is pertinent that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) puts the records straight for the interest of the general public and majority of staff of tertiary institutions that have displayed unparalleled understanding and cooperated with IPPIS till date. We hereby state as follows, he said. The Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Tax is a statutory tax deductions paid by all salary earners. IPPIS applied the correct rate in compliance with Section 34 of the 6th schedule on personal income tax (Amendment) Act of 2011. Prior to migration to IPPIS, the rate of tax being applied by tertiary institutions was not correct, leading to underpayment of PAYE Tax. It is important to note that all states governments of the federation made claims on the federal government to pay the differential arising from underpayment of tax by these institutions. The federal government has paid several billions on behalf of these institutions because of their underpayment of PAYE Tax. The request by the tertiary institution unions to formalize tax evasion through IPPIS is not only untenable, but unpatriotic request to violate extant laws on tax. Idris also explained that part of the deductions being made from the lecturers salaries would enable them access loans to own their personal houses after retirement. NHF Deductions: The National Housing Fund (NHF) is 2.5% of basic salary. This is another statutory contribution backed by the Act of National Assembly, the statement read. This is a savings contribution by all federal employees to enable them have access to short life loans to own their personal houses. These savings contribution are refundable with interest either at retirement or exit from being an employee of the federal government. The ASUU is bringing claims that those laws should not be applicable to them and thereby should be exempted or be made optional for them. The request for breach of Act of Parliament is not within the ambit of the IPPIS or the (OAGF). They have been advised to approach the National Assembly for amendment of the Act. Another issue raised by the unions is the Employees Pension Contribution deductions. Employees Pension Contribution 7.5%. The ASUU claim that the Employee Contributory Pension should be based on basic salary and not on consolidated salary and it has increased their employee deductions thereby reducing their take home. This is a penny wise argument not expected from Ivory Tower. The Consolidated salary is what is applicable to determine employees contribution of all Federal employees as Salaries Income and Wages Commission (SIWC) have consolidated salary without the composition. The actual amount contributed by the employee determines what the Government contributes as well. Deduction is in line with the Pension Contributory Act. Any other salaries and allowances approved by any other agency in Nigeria which are not formalized by these two agencies will amount to illegal payment. Therefore, ASUU and other unions are expected to understand this. The fact that they arm-twisted their institutions to pay them these allowances does not translate to legality. A 28-year-old man from Georgia was arrested for violating his probation and he is now facing numerous charges after a 6-year-old took hold of his gun and accidentally shot his 4-year-old sister in the face. Victim left in critical condition The little girl was said to have been left at a convenience store on Whitesville Street in LaGrange after the accidental shooting on May 18. The LaGrange police officers immediately responded to the convenience store in the afternoon, and that was where they found the little girl in critical condition. According to the police, the little girl was rushed to a nearby hospital and she was eventually transferred to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. The 4-year-old was stable but she is still in critical condition. The investigators later learned that the suspect, Leemarkese Deandelo Melson, left a loaded handgun around the children at a home on Kelly Street. The police stated that the 6-year-old picked up the loaded gun, played with it. He then accidentally shot the 4-year-old in the face. Also Read: Man Positive with COVID-19 Refused to Go to the Hospital, Hugs Neighbors Out of Spite After the accident, Melson fled the scene and took the weapon with him. Melson is a known felon in the area he is already wanted on failing to appear in his court hearing and violating his probation twice. He was also locked up for a year after he was arrested for assault and burglary. Melson has now additional warrants for tampering with evidence, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and second-degree child cruelty. Not the first gun-related accident Earlier in May, a 12-year-old in Georgia was shot and killed in the woods near their home after his 5-year-old brother found a loaded. According to AJC.com, the child accidentally fired the gun after the thought it was a toy. He and his 7-year-old sibling both told investigators during their forensic interview. The 12-year-old boy was shot in the chest and died immediately. The police believe that a group of suspects was running from authorities when they threw the loaded gun in the woods. Near the crime scene, there was a bag of MDMA. A man was eventually arrested for leaving a loaded gun and a bag of illegal drugs, but the police never revealed his name to the public. Also in Georgia, two parents were arrested on May 15 after their 3-year-old son accidentally shot their 5-year-old son in the stomach with a loaded rifle. The parents, Terry Kelly and Clarice Fife are both charged with reckless conduct and second-degree child cruelty. When the authorities arrived at the scene, they concluded that the 3-year-old had accidentally shot his brother with a loaded semi-automatic rifle. The 5-year-old boy was shot in the abdomen and right arm, he was immediately taken to Augusta University Medical Center. The child was immediately released two days later. Kelly and Fife were in police custody in McDuffie County Jail. They were both released on May 16 on a $5,000 bond. There are around 393 million guns across the United States. Statistically, for every 100 people, there are 120 guns sold. Around 1,7 million children live in homes that have loaded and unlocked guns, that is 1 out of 3 houses. In a report in 2015, 2,824 children died by gunshot, and 13.723 were injured. Related Article: Two Women in Pakistan Murdered in 'Honor-Killings' After Leaked Video Shows Them Kissing a Man @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 17:40:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MANILA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Fisheries production in the Philippines declined 3.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020, according to the data culled by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The PSA data showed that fisheries production in January to March 2020 reached 980.73 thousand metric tons, lower by 3.2 percent from its 2019 same quarter production of 1,013.04 thousand metric tons. "Volume of production declined in all the fisheries subsectors," the PSA said. The PSA said catch from commercial fisheries went down by 2.2 percent, decreasing from the 217.81 thousand metric tons production in the same period of 2019 to 213.11 thousand metric tons this quarter. Production from commercial fisheries comprised 21.7 percent of the total fisheries production. The PSA said municipal fisheries subsector reported a 3.4 percent decrease in production as catch from both marine and inland fishing dropped. Moreover, the PSA said aquaculture production posted a slowdown of 3.5 percent during the quarter, dropping to 507.56 thousand metric tons compared with its previous year's same quarter level of 526.05 thousand metric tons. Produce from aquaculture constituted 51.8 percent of the total fisheries production during the reference period. Enditem PLANTATION, Fla., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The prestigious American Heritage School, voted one of the Best Private Schools in America in 2020 by Niche, is unveiling its new, groundbreaking American Heritage School Online Summer Program in June. The online summer program is open to all students across the U.S. and abroad. The more than 100 live, interactive, online courses, taught by acclaimed American Heritage teachers are available to students in Pre-K3 through grade 12. One-on-one live online tutoring from AHS teachers is also available. American Heritage School's Online Summer Program American Heritage School Online Summer Program is a unique program offering over 100 live online classes all taught by the same teachers who also teach in the school's traditional classrooms. There is no other brick and mortar school offering the depth and breadth of classes being offered by American Heritage School Online Summer Program. American Heritage School is providing the unique opportunity for students to catch up on what they may have missed plus get an educational edge with its world-renowned private school curriculum. "In some areas of the U.S., children were left behind educationally due to COVID-19," said Dr. Doug Laurie, president of American Heritage School and American Learning Systems. "We at American Heritage School Online are happy to provide students in any location across the nation and abroad with a superior distance-learning education this summer from one of the highest-ranked private schools in the U.S." The selection of courses, intended for students of average to gifted intelligence, is viewable at American Heritage School Online Summer Program Course Catalog. Features include: More than 75 college prep courses taught live daily by some of the best college prep educators in the U.S. Pre-professional courses in American Heritage School's Pre-Medical and Pre-Business programs taught by medical doctors and former CEOs of Fortune 500 companies A selection of seminar classes Elementary live classes with both teachers and teacher assistants available to students Individualized, one-on-one live online tutoring with experienced American Heritage educators Class session dates and times vary. Please see the American Heritage School Online Summer Program Course Catalog for details. Session 1: June 119 Session 2: June 22July 10 Session 3: July 1331 Editor's note: a Dropbox link of images can be accessed here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/paw3se05x6dfvt3/AADmADs1CKcODVTscEHk3Isra?dl=0 About American Heritage School: American Heritage School, founded in 1965, is a nationally-ranked private, nonsectarian, and co-educational college preparatory day school with two 4O-acre campuses: one in Plantation, Florida, and one in Delray Beach, Florida. Its campuses serve approximately 4,200 students in Pre-K3 through 12th grades; the student body represents over 60 different countries throughout the world. About 70 percent of the faculty hold postgraduate degrees. American Heritage School is nationally and internationally accredited by the following associations: Association of Independent Schools of Florida (AISF), Middle States Association (MSA-CESS), National Council for Private Schools. The Lower School includes advanced classes and 15 electives, and the Upper School offers over 300 courses with 135 honors classes, 28 Advanced Placement classes, and 75 fine arts classes. Pre-professional programs are offered in pre-med, pre-law, pre-engineering, biomedical engineering, and computer science that are taught daily by doctors, surgeons, lawyers, judges, engineers, and computer scientists currently practicing in their fields. American Heritage School has, for 10 years, been ranked the # 1 high school in Florida for the highest number of National Merit Scholars, and the school is home to the # 1 math competition team out of all private schools in the U.S. The Model UN team is top 5 in the nation, and the Speech and Debate team is in the top 1% in the nation. It is ranked among the top private schools in Florida in STEM, according to Niche. Its Science Research Institute enables students to conduct research on real world problems, and its students have earned international recognition for their findings. We invite you to see more that American Heritage School Online Summer Program has to offer or visit our Frequently Asked Questions page. Contact Us: American Heritage School Online Summer Program Contact Us Form Phone: 1 (888) 490-7467 Email: [email protected] International parents should email: [email protected] For more information about American Heritage School, visit our website or email [email protected]. Plantation campus (954) 472-0022 Boca/Delray campus (561) 495-7272 Media Contact: Duree Ross, Duree & Company, Inc. 954.723.9350 / [email protected] SOURCE American Heritage School A 27-year-old man was critically injured in a shooting outside a New Brunswick apartment building Sunday night, authorities said. New Brunswick police found the wounded man outside the Tov Manor Apartments on Phelps Avenue at 8:59 p.m. and he was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office. No other details on the shooting were provided by authorities. The incident was one of more than a dozen shootings over the weekend in the state. It was a very violent weekend in the state of New Jersey, acting State Police Superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan said Monday during a briefing on police activity during the coronavirus outbreak. We had 15 victims of shootings in New Jersey in about a 48-hour span. Two of those tragically succumbed to their injuries. Trenton had two fatal shootings late Saturday and shortly after midnight Monday. A third Trenton man was killed Monday morning, prompting the city to announce a curfew implemented in April would remain in effect. Anyone with information in the New Brunswick shooting is asked to call Detective Victor Delgado of the New Brunswick Police Department at (732) 745-5200, or Detective Sean Sullivan of the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office at (732) 745-4060. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. This is the emotional moment a 60-year-old woman is reunited with her 34-year-old son who was abducted at the age of two after she searched for him tirelessly for over three decades. The parent, Li Jingzhi, had spent the last 32 years travelling across China on a quest to look for her child, nicknamed Jia Jia, after he was kidnapped on the street in 1988. The mother and son finally met yesterday after police tracked down a family who adopted Jia Jia years ago by paying a human trafficker 6,000 yuan (690), Chinese media report. This is the emotional moment a 60-year-old Chinese mother reuniting with her 34-year-old son who was abducted as a toddler after she spent over three decades searching for him The parent, Li Jingzhi (pictured), had spent the last 32 years travelling across China on a quest to look for her child, known as his nickname Jia Jia, who was kidnapped in 1988 A touching video captured Ms Li and her son breaking down in tears as they run to hug each other at the Xi'an police station in Shaanxi province of north-western China on Monday. 'I saw you on TV six years ago. I thought the picture [of the child] really looked like me,' the tearful son told his mother. 'But I didn't know [you were my mother].' The overjoyed mother can be heard replying: 'My Jia Jia is back!' On October 17, 1988, Jia Jia's father, known by his surname Mao, took the two-year-old boy out to play in their neighbourhood in the city of Xi'an. Mr Mao then walked into a hotel to ask for a cup of water for the thirsty toddler - and when he returned, he realised his son had gone missing. The terrified father immediately started looking around in nearby areas with the hotel staff - but Jia Jia was nowhere to be seen. Xi'an police also searched the local stations after the incident but failed to find any traces of the toddler. Ms Li, who was on a business trip when Jia Jia went missing, reportedly fainted when she received the news. A touching video captured Ms Li and her son breaking down in tears as they run to hug each other at the Xi'an police station in Shaanxi province of Central China Monday Police then set up a team to investigate the case. Officers travelled to neighbouring provinces to look for Jia Jia, but to no avail. Ms Li and her husband started spending the next few years looking for their young child, and they eventually divorced after drifting apart, according to Xi'an Evening News. As the Chinese mother continued her quest of searching for her son, Ms Li met a group of parents whose children had also been missing. Together, they set up a local organisation dedicated to helping families find their lost sons and daughters. For more than three decades, Ms Li visited over 20 provinces and hundreds of towns as she relentlessly searched for her beloved child. The Chinese mother had also been using the internet and the media in the hope of expanding her search. She even helped four families to reunite with their children while desperately trying to find her own, according to the local press. In 2009, Xi'an police designated a special team to help Ms Li look for Jia Jia after Chinese authorities pledged to crack down human-trafficking activities across the country. The officers vowed that the team would always remain in place until Ms Li is reunited with her child. The picture shows the family reuniting yesterday after separating for the past three decades After comparing DNA samples, officers eventually located Jia Jia, who is now a 34-year-old interior designer, known by his surname Gu. The picture shows Mr Gu posing for a photo with his birth family yesterday after reuniting with them Last month, the police finally received a tip about a family in Sichuan of south-western China adopted a boy from Xi'an years ago after paying a human trafficker 6,000 yuan (690). After comparing DNA samples, officers eventually located Jia Jia, who is now a 34-year-old interior designer, known by his surname Gu. On May 18, Ms Li finally met her long-lost son after missing him day and night for 32 years. 'I'm really happy and excited,' Mr Gu told Pear Video yesterday. 'I won't give up on [both families]. 'I have two mothers. One is my birth mother who looked for me for over 30 years. The other is my adoptive mother who raised me for over 30 years,' he added. The son said that he would spend some time in Xi'an with his birth family, but would eventually return to Sichuan, where his adoptive parents live. He added that he would consider moving to Xi'an the city where he was born - if opportunities arise. Human trafficking has been a serious issue in Chinese society. An estimated 70,000 youngsters from babies up to teenagers are snatched away from their families in the country every year. Some are bought, some are simply stolen. They end up as labourers, in forced marriages or as the adoptees of wealthy families, either in China itself or overseas. BELLMAWR, N.J. A gym opened here Monday in defiance of the state's COVID-19 emergency regulations, drawing patrons, protesters, police and "Fox and Friends" weekend co-host Pete Hegseth. The operators of The Atilis Gym got nationwide attention for their action, which was the focus of multiple reports during a Fox News morning show. But they also received a summons for a disorderly persons offense, said Bellmawr Police Department Chief William Walsh. He said the gym was operating in violation of an executive order that closed gyms and fitness centers as non-essential businesses. Customers at the Browning Road gym received warnings, according to Col. Pat Callahan, superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. Gov. Phil Murphy suggested penalties could increase for future violations of the order, which was imposed March 21 to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Businesses reopening: How your hair salon or barbershop could be different after coronavirus Walmart: Retailer sees online sales grow 74% during coronavirus pandemic with increased demand "If you show up at that gym tomorrow, there's going to be a different reality than there was today," Murphy said, without giving details. "But I also don't want to start World War III," he added at a Trenton news conference. On Monday afternoon, some patrons waited outside the 14,000-square-foot gym, where a sign said admission would be limited to 44 members at a time. Some signs advised patrons to wear masks and maintain social distancing. Others had instructions for protesters: "Respect law enforcement at all time," one said. "This is a peaceful gathering." Two placards outside the entrance had a message for Trenton. "All small business is essential,"one sign read. "Let's work together Mr. Murphy," read another. "Together we can do this." Atilis Gym in Bellmawr opened in defiance of the state's COVID-19 emergency regulations, drawing patrons, protesters and police on Monday, May 18, 2020. The gym's operators, Frank Trumbetti and Ian Smith, could not be reached for immediate comment on the governor's remarks. Story continues They had publicized the planned reopening on social media posts and in TV and radio interviews with conservative hosts. Smith described the executive order as "a gross violation of constitutional rights" in an interview last week with Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Hegseth broadcast from Monday's event, at one point standing before dozens of gym supporters carrying American flags and protest signs. Bellmawr police also were present "in order to protect the public's safety and welfare," Walsh said. Police just showed up to @TheAtilisGym. Entire exchange was respectful. The officer notified the gym they were violating the Governors order. Then said, have a nice day and walked away. The crowd roared.@GovMurphy blinked.#Freedom #ReOpenAmerica Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) May 18, 2020 Many onlookers shown in Hegseth's "Fox & Friends" segments did not wear masks and ignored social distancing guidelines. The gym, in contrast, emphasized multiple measures to promote hygiene. A post at the gym's Facebook page told members to wear masks "unless you are in the middle of your set," to wipe down equipment after use, and to bring their own water bottles, among other directions. "You will be given a medical questionnaire, as well as a waiver and a written copy of these rules," it noted. "You must sign off in order to enter the facilities." In a May 13 video, Trumbetti urged supporters to gather for the gym's reopening. "We'd love to fill the parking lot by 8 a.m.," he said. Trumbetti also noted that his mother was hospitalized with COVID-19 "so trust me when I say I probably take this more seriously than probably almost anybody you know." Atilis Gym in Bellmawr opened in defiance of the state's COVID-19 emergency regulations, drawing patrons, protesters and police on Monday, May 18, 2020. Follow Jim Walsh on Twitter @jimwalsh_cp. This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Coronavirus clash: N.J. gym reopens, citing constitutional rights IONIA COUNTY, MI A 30-year-old Grand Rapids man was killed Tuesday, May 19, when his car left the road and struck a tree, state police said. The mans name was not released pending notification of family. The crash was reported around 7:40 a.m. on M-66 near Long Lake Road in Ionia Countys Ronald Township. Preliminary investigation showed that the victim was driving a 2016 Honda Civic south on M-66 when his car crossed the center line, left the road and crashed into a tree. The man was not using a seat belt, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He was alone in his car when the crash happened. The crash remains under investigation. State police troopers were assisted by Ionia County sheriffs deputies and firefighters from Orleans Township and Belding. Read more: Big Ten video spoof turns Michigan woman into social media star Kalamazoo approves rules to allow recreational marijuana businesses Man, 22, killed in crash near Holland The Kurds and the Armenian, Assyrian Genocide An open and critical discussion of the genocide against the Armenians is no longer so rigorously prevented today as it was earlier in Turkey. In the past few years numerous articles and books on the subject have appeared, which do not reflect the official Turkish historiographical viewpoint. In April 2011, for example, Prof. Halil Berktay delivered a speech in Hamburg on the occasion of the anniversary of the genocide, in which he quite incidentally remarked that leading Turkish scientists considered the crime against the Armenians as genocide in accordance with the United Nations Convention. Many do not say as much openly because they fear the reactions of nationalist extremists or simply because they are afraid they might lose their jobs in a state educational establishment. Even if the view held by many scientists and intellectuals that the fact of the genocide can no longer be denied has been gaining credence, the situation in the Turkish population is quite another. The state policy of denial continues to hold sway and shapes public opinion. So one cannot yet speak of a really open, unrestricted discussion. In contrast to the Turkish population, the Kurds display a clear readiness to deal with the genocide issue. The rejection of the official historical theses is far more widespread among them. Since the founding of the republic, Kurds have been denied basic national and cultural rights, and in Dersim in 1937-38 they were victims of a genocide. In the past thirty years, thousands of Kurdish villages have been burned down, millions of Kurds have been driven out of their homes with violence. The number of Kurdish civilians who have been killed by Turkish military and state controlled paramilitary units will probably never be able to be established. A Kurd who lives in a poor district of a west Anatolian city, because his village was burned down, or who spent years in jail because he fought for the respect of the national and cultural rights of his people, is more readily able to comprehend what befell the Armenians in the years of the genocide because of his own bitter experience with the policy of Turkish nationalism. The Kurds and the Recognition of the Armenian Genocide If Turkey's denial policy and the wall of silence around the genocide are beginning to waver more and more, this is not only due to recognition on the international level or the campaigning of Diaspora Armenians. Nor is it thanks to Turkish civil society, which remains unfortunately very weak. That a debate has broken out in Turkey around the genocide issue has more to do with the strengthening of the Kurdish national movement. The need to face the genocide issue, the Kurdish question, and other taboo themes has become unavoidable. In April 1997, the Kurdish parliament in exile recognized the genocide against the Armenians and Syrians/Assyrians and declared at the same time that the ethnic Kurds recruited in the Hamidian regiments were collaborators of the Turkish government in that crime [1]. Abdullah Acalan, the jailed Chairman of the PKK (Workers' Party of Kurdistan) sent a congratulatory letter on April 10, 1998 to Robert Kocharian on his victory in the Armenian presidential election and went into the issue of the genocide. He welcomed the resolution of the Belgian Senate which called on the Turkish government to recognize the Armenian genocide. At the same time, Acalan stressed the need for a comprehensive debate and analysis of the background of the crime. As early as 1982 the Party Newspaper of the PKK called the annihilation of the Armenians genocide. And it held the Young Turk regime responsible: "In a period in which the peoples of the Ottoman Empire sought to free themselves, the bourgeois-nationalist movement of the Young Turks made the defense of 'Unity and Individibility' the basis of their program. Thereby they positioned themselves against the democratic right of the oppressed peoples to self-determination. (...) As soon as the Young Turks came to power, the oppression of subject peoples under their rule assumed far worse dimensions than had been the case earlier. They attempteds to suppress the right to self-determination with violence and did not even shrink from committing a barbaric genocide against the Armenians."[2] During the First World War, the Young Turk regime "annihilated over one million ", the party publication wrote[3]. Other Kurdish organizations have recognized the genocide as well. "Our party conference denounces the massive genocide against the Armenians in 1915 as a black stain on the history of mankind. Our conference acknowledges that this bloody course of action, in which Kurdish feudal lords participated as collaborateurs of the Ottoman-Turkish colonialists, constitutes a historical injustice,", said a resolution of the party conference of the PRK/Rizgari (Kurdistan Liberation Party). The descendants of the genocide survivors, they wrote, had the right to return to their former settlements. [4] Kurdish publications regularly cover the genocide on the anniversary. The Kurdish "Zel Publication" published the work of M. Kalman in 1994 in Istanbul, entitled, "West Armenia, Kurdish Relations, and Genocide." It is noteworthy that a Kurdish author speaks of Western Armenia and not, as usually is the case, or North Kurdistan. Another noteworthy more extensive work is the book written by Recep Marasli and published in Turkey in 2008, entitled, "The Armenian National-Democratic Movement and the Genocide of 1915." [5] Murder By Higher Orders? Kurds do display a readiness to work through the question of Kurd-Armenian relations and the Armenian genocide; however, above all when it comes to the issue of the position of the Kurds during the genocide, the differences of opinion among Kurdish intellectuals become evident. Orhan Miroglu, a journalist of the left-liberal newspaper "Taraf", who comes from Mardin, wrote an article entitled, "1915, Denial and the Kurds", on the anniversary of the genocide in 2011[6]. In it, he went into the reasons for the establishment of the Hamidian Regiments and mentioned their participation on the 1894-1896 massacres of the Armenians. Miroglu then comes to his actual subject, the genocide against the Armenians and Syrians/Assyrians as well as the role of the Kurds: "In 1915 Kurds played an important role in the massacres of Armenians and Assyrians. It is obvious that theirs was not a role of ordinary hired killers. Especially the extermination of Assyrians in Turabdin region was carried out by the joint efforts of local authorities, and Kurdish and Arab tribes. The Ittihadists hadn't even a deliberate plan for Assyrians." Miroglu critizes the position of Kurdish intellectuals because they deny the Kurds' complicity: "We cannot say that Kurdish intellectuals displayed a good performance as regards recognition of their complicity in the crime. Our intellectuals attributed the massacres by the [Kurdish] tribes to their being provoced by the Ittihadists. This, he writes, is however not correct: "The massacres directly committed by Kurds cannot be accounted for by simply saying that they were obeying orders. They really believed or they had a stake in believing in the Ittihadists' propaganda." Miroglu criticizes that the Kurds evaded the genocide issue for a long time: "Therefore Kurdish intellectuals and politicians, until very recently, instead of facing the truth about the mass extermination of Armenians and Assyrians living in Kurdistan, found it more convenient to stick to stories of Armenians and Assyrians 'saved' [by Kurds]." The Kurdish journalist and author Ahmet Kahraman, who lives in exile, went into Miroglus's criticism, in a newspaper published in Europe, "Yeni AzgAr Politika", without mentioning him by name. Kahraman wrote: "The Genocide, however, was a project of the Committee of Progress and Union, members of which were also the co-founders of the Turkish Republic. Within the context of this project the Armenian was someone whose murder was a 'religious duty' and whose property was [legimitimate] booty [for the Muslims]. Kurds didn't play a part in the decision making process [for the Genocide] but it is a fact that in practice the Hamidian Regiments[7] , an Ottoman version of today's 'village guards' [8], were used [in the accomplishment of the crime]." Although in his article, Miroglu does not claim that the Kurds or the Kurdish tribal leaders at the time were responsible for the genocide, Ahmet Kahraman accuses him precisely of this and blames him for slandering the Kurds. "To hold Kurds responsible just because Hamidian Regiments were used [in massacring Armenians] is an unfounded argument - a slander against Kurds and a product of conspiratorial minds. You cannot absolve the murderers by slandering [others]." [9] The Turkish penal code contains the infamous A 301: he who speaks of genocide against the Armenians risks being charged with "Insulting Turkishness." For this reason Turkish intellectuals like Orhan Pamuk or Elif Safak sat in the dock, and for the same reason Hrant Dink was murdered in January 2007. If Orhan Miroglu is accused of slandering the Kurds, then this reminds one of the procedure of the Turkish state against critics of the official Turkish version of history. The Armenian genocide has been the subject of extensive investigation by historians in the past years, and many documents from state archives have been published. Armenian scientists or intellectuals have never claimed that the Kurds were responsible for the 1894-94 massacres or for the 1915 genocide. Prof. Vahakn N. Dadrian is generally regarded as the best known Armenian historian. He has been researching the history of the genocide for the last 50 years. His work, "The History of the Armenian Genocide", published in 1995, is a standard work on the subject. Not one chapter or sub-chapter is dedicated to the role of the Kurds. They are mentioned in the entire book only 14 times. In the debate on the genocide, no one -- not even official Turkish historical research -- attributes responsibility for the crime against the Armenians and Syrians/Assyrians to the Kurds. The role of the Kurdish Hamidian Regiments in the 1894-96 massacres is generally known. That Kurds played a role in the implementation of the crime planned and carried out by the Ittahist regime is also known and is not refuted. The Intellectuals Intellectuals and scientists play an important role in the examination and evaluation of history. Criticism of the official version of history must be accompanied by an explanation of the true political, social, and economic conditions that led to the genocide. What Kurdish authors who are considered "trustworthy" write about the Armenians and the genocide issue, however, resembles partially the viewpoint of the state "Institute for Turkish History." With few exceptions, their writing often testifies to superficiality and lack of knowledge, especially regarding the history of the Armenians and the Syrians/Assyrians. Many authors appear not to know the extensive literature, especially important contemporary documents. It is also remarkable that those who stand up for a critical evaluation of the Kurdish role in the 1915-1916 genocide are reproached for insulting their own people. In this way, the attempt is made to set limits to a truly open, critical, and comprhensive discussion. Did Armenians Kill 5000 Kurds in Rawanduz? Particularly among the Alawites who live in eastern Turkey there is an increasing interest in the history of the genocide and the Armenians, with which they were historically and culturally connected. Articles on the Armenian genocide have already appeared in several issues of the magazine "Kizilbas". Among them is a text by Naci Kutlay which gives an impression of the status of the debate on the theme of genocide and Armenian-Kurdish relations. Kutlay writes: "At some places they released Kurds in prison to kill Armenians. However Armenian Fedayeen and organisations, during the Russian invasion of the Kurdistan, responded with the same massacres. According to some sources, 5000 Kurds were killed in May 1916 in the city of Rawanduz.[10] This was very clearly an act of revenge." He does not consider it necessary to cite a source for this very serious accusation. Although there is no reference to any scientific work, Kutley seems to have used an essay by the well-known historian Dr. Kemal Mazhar Ahmed published in 1975 by the Kurdish Academy in Baghdad.[11] "The city was taken on May 13. The Armenians fedayeens wanted to take vengeance and as a result they shed a lot of blood. According to some sources, at the end of the massacre 5000 Kurdish women, children, and men were killed. Many of them had not been shot but had been thrust into the Rawanduz gorge." Ahmed's work states. In a footnote, he refers to a book by K. Mason, an English officer at the time. It dealt with the question of the Turkish-Iraqi border and the role of the League of Nations. It is curious that in his footnote remarks K.M. Ahmad himself doubts that in Rawanduz 5000 Kurds had been killed: "This figure seems to be exaggerated. Neither M.H. Zeki, who reports on the destructions of the war, nor HAseyn H. Mukriyani, who lived in Rawanduz after World War I and wrote about it, cite such a figure. Among the people it was said that many Kurdish women had thrown themselves into the gorge to save their honor." Thus, not only is the number 5000 murdered Kurds questionable, but also whether or not such a mass murder took place at all in Rawanduz. Naci Kutlay seems either not to have read this important remark by K.M. Ahmed or to have deliberately concealed it. What remains fixed in the mind of the reader is that in Rawanduz 5000 Kurds fell victim to an act of revenge by Armenian Fedayeen. Clearly one dare not play down the gravity of crimes or remain silent about them. When, however, scientists or intellectuals make such serious allegations like the killing of 5000 Kurds, without a shred of concrete evidence, they are knowingly or unknowingly promoting animosity, hatred, and mistrust among peoples. That Armenians who were in the areas that were under Russian control from 1916 committed acts of revenge cannot be denied. Many Armenian Fedayeen came from Western Armenia. They had fought there against the government troops and Hamidian regiments before the "Young Turk Revolution of 1908". So the pro-government Kurdish tribal groups that had participated in the massacres were known to the Armenians. This is why they directed their vengeance mainly against these Kurds. In Rawanduz, which is in the south, outside the areas of Armenian settlements, there was no Armenian population worth mentioning. The Kurdish tribes in this region of Kurdistan had not taken part in Armenian massacres, under Abdul Hamid's rule or later. Thus it is unlikely that Armenian Fedayeen should have committed acts of revenge against the Kurds there of all people. Apology without Compensation? Naci Kutlay's article in "Kizilbas" Magazin is all the more noteworthy for Armenians because he goes into the question of how the genocide question can be solved: "We cannot bring back the dead. It's impossible to redress the material and immaterial damages and to heal the injuries, but it is possible to alleviate the injury. Willy Brand apologised for the Holocaust in Germany. Why should the German nation and Willy Brand carry the burden of what Hitler did?" [12] Thus Kutlay sees a solution to the genocide issue in an apology to the descendants of the survivors. That the murdered Armenians will not rise from the dead is clear. But why does Naci Kutlay believe that it is impossible to repair the material and moral damage? It is precisely the German example which shich shows that this is both necessary and possible: in 1951 the Christian-Democratic government of Konrad Adenauer acknowledged before the Bundestag the guilt and responsability of the German people for the Nazi crimes, as well as a principled duty to Israel and the Jewish people. The German federal government and representatives of Jewish organizations came to an agreement in 1952 for the payment of 3.45 billion DM as collective compensation. It was 30 years later that the Social Democrat Willy Brand fell to his knees before the Warsaw monument and that has to be seen in connection with German-Polish relations. His visit to Warsaw paved the way for German-Polish reconciliation and normalization of relations with Poland and the states of the Warsaw Pact. Kutlay not only remains silent on the fact that Germany lived up to its moral and material responsibilities, but also fails to justify why it should be "impossible" for Turkey to make compensation following the German precedent. Does the Turkish government, which has no qualms about making outlays for its military in the fight against the Kurdish people and spends further sums for tens of thousands of Kurdish "village guards" to terrorize their own people, have no money left? Kutlay either feels duty bound to show solidarity with the Turkish state against the allegedly "unjustified Armenian claims to compensation", or he is afraid that the Kurds might also be affected. 1 Asbarez Online 29.04.1997 2 Serxwebun Nr. 2, February 1982, Page 10 3 Serxwebun Nr. 4, April 1982, Page 12 4 Final Declaration of the First Party Congress of the PRK/Rizgari (Liberation Party of Kurdistan), 1999 5 Recep MaraAlA, Ermeni Ulusal Demokratik Hareketi ve 1915 Soykirimi, Istanbul 2008, Peri Yayinlari (The Armenian National Democratic Movement and the Genocide of 1915) 6 Taraf, 25.04.2011 7 Hamidian Regiments were military units set up predominantly from amongst the local kurds by Sultan Abdulhamid in 1890 in the eastern and southeastern Anatolila to suppress, harass and intimidate Armenian communities. During the Genocide they were one of the important tools in exterminating Armenians ans Assyrians. 8 Village guards are also made up of local Kurdish tribes collaborating with the government in the fight against PKK, in war with the Turkish army for the past 30 years 9 Yeni AzgAr Politika, 28.04.2011 10 The town Rawandiz is located in the sub-district of Soran, in the Erbil Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan 11 Dr. Kemal Mazhar Ahmed, Birinci DAnya Savasi Yillarinda KArdistan ve Ermeni Soykirimi (Kurdistan during the WW I and the Armenian Genocide), Stockholm 1986 (Turkish translation). K.M. Ahmed is a historian trained in the Soviet Union Kizilbas, Nr. 3, April 2011 By PTI KATHMANDU: Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Tuesday asserted that Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to Nepal and vowed to "reclaim" them from India through political and diplomatic efforts, as his Cabinet endorsed a new political map showing the three areas as Nepalese territory. Addressing Parliament, Oli said the territories belong to Nepal "but India has made it a disputed area by keeping its Army there". "Nepalis were blocked from going there after India stationed its Army," he said. "India has deployed its troops in Kalapani since 1962 and our rulers in the past hesitated to raise the issue," he said, asserting, "We will reclaim and get them back." The prime minister asserted that the Nepal government will make political and diplomatic efforts to reclaim the territory. ALSO READ | Chinese troops resort to aggressive posturing in Ladakh, North Sikkim: Sources Oli also expressed the hope that India will "follow the path of truth, shown by Satya Meva Jayate, which is mentioned in the Ashoka Chakra, the national symbol of India". The prime minister's remarks came a day after the Cabinet headed by him endorsed a new political map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura under Nepal's territory. Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said the official map of Nepal will soon be made public by the Ministry of Land Management. The move announced by Gyawali came weeks after he said that efforts were on to resolve the border issue with India through diplomatic initiatives. Nepal's ruling Nepal Communist Party lawmakers have also tabled a special resolution in Parliament demanding return of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh to Nepal. The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a disputed border area between Nepal and India. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory - India as part of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district. Gyawali last week summoned the Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra and handed over a diplomatic note to him to protest against the construction of a key road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand. India has said that the recently-inaugurated road section in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand lies completely within its territory. Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane last week said that there were reasons to believe that Nepal objected to India's newly-inaugurated road linking Lipulekh Pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand at the behest of "someone else", in an apparent reference to a possible role by China on the matter. He said there was no dispute whatsoever between India and Nepal in the area and road laid was very much within the Indian side. The 80-KM-long strategically crucial road at a height of 17,000 KM along the border with China in Uttarakhand was thrown open by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier this month. Nepal has raised objection to the inauguration of the road, saying the "unilateral act" was against the understanding reached between the two countries on resolving the border issues. China on Tuesday said the Kalapani border issue is between India and Nepal as it hoped that the two neighbours could refrain from "unilateral actions" and properly resolve their disputes through friendly consultations. After the endorsement of Nepal's new map senior ruling party leader and member of Nepal Communist Party Standing Committee Ganesh Shah said the new move may escalate unnecessary tension between Nepal and India at a time when the country is fighting the coronavirus. "The Nepal government should soon start a dialogue with India to resolve the matter through political and diplomatic moves," he said. The new map includes 335-km land area including Limpiyadhura in the Nepalese territory. The new map was drawn on the basis of the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 signed between Nepal and then the British India government and other relevant documents, which suggests Limpiyadhura, from where the Kali river originated, is Nepal's border with India, The Kathmandu Post quoted an official at the Ministry of Land Reform and Management as saying. India and Nepal are at a row after the Indian side issued a new political map incorporating Kalapani and Lipulekh on its side of the border in October last year. The tension further escalated after India inaugurated the road link connecting Kailash Mansarovar, a holy pilgrimage site situated at Tibet, China, that passes through the territory belonging to Nepal. SOLON, Ohio -- City Council approved reductions of $2.8 million to the citys general fund budget on Monday (May 18). Matt Rubino, the citys director of finance, said he proposed the amendment to the 2020 budget because of the severe economic disruption resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. He said the downturn will lead to a significant loss of the citys operating revenue this year. The amended budget reduces the citys general fund total for 2020 from about $45.8 million to about $43 million. In councils Finance Committee meeting that preceded the council meeting Monday, Rubino said he anticipates a revenue loss of about $7.1 million in operating expenses this year as a direct result of the economic downturn. The city will need to take proactive steps to preserve enough cash reserves to fund essential services without exhausting our general fund balance, he said. In order to slow the net flow of cash out the door, we will be required to rebalance the budget by reducing expenditures, delaying expenditures and even finding new resources. All city departments submitted a budget reduction plan to Mayor Ed Kraus the week of April 27. This phase of budget mitigation, Rubino said, includes $2.8 million of general fund budget reductions and cost avoidance for a potential 6.7 percent reduction in budgeted operating levels. These reduction plans have identified $1.57 million in personnel-related cuts and $1.25 million in other operating expenditures, he said. Savings include costs avoided by not filling 10 full-time vacant positions this year. That will result in about $550,000 in savings, Rubino said. A reduction of part-time staffing, and not hiring other part-time and seasonal staff, is expected to result in about $700,000 in reduced staffing costs. Most of these reductions will occur in the recreation area, Rubino said. A reduction in overtime could save an additional $250,000, he said. Reductions to operating costs of $1.25 million are expected to be realized by eliminating or reducing training, reducing materials and supply utilization, and cutting the use of various professional and contracted services for the rest of the year, Rubino said. The proposed reductions will offset about 40 percent of the citys projected revenue loss, he said. Income tax revenue down Rubino said income tax collections are forecast to be 12.6 percent lower than the citys original estimate. He said income tax represents nearly 80 percent of the operating resources needed to fund city programs and operations. Our exposure to economic decline is significant, as this source (of income) will be reduced by the magnitude and severity of the downturn, he said. Rubino said the citys latest monthly collection of income tax is down 20.3 percent compared to a year ago as a result of the delay of the filing date from April to July and reduced collections. The current projection assumes a 10.7 percent decrease in income tax collection this year, he said. The net draw on general fund reserves will be about $4.8 million, Rubino said. The ending balance in the budget stabilization fund is expected to drop to $2.7 million, he added. Infrastructure projects totaling almost $5.9 million are being deferred to future-year capital plans, he said. An aggregate revenue loss of $42.1 million by 2025 is projected, Rubino said. The forecast assumes revenue losses will finally abate after 2021 and a modest recovery will take root in 2022, he said. Council members defend Rubino During the Finance Committee meeting, Vice Mayor and Ward 5 Councilwoman Nancy Meany asked whether it was necessary for council to approve all of these reductions at this time. I would like to get a little more information, she said. These are big items were amending tonight. But Ward 3 Councilman Jeremy Zelwin, chairman of the committee, and Ward 7 Councilman Bill Russo defended Rubinos recommendations. My preference is to keep up with the way weve always done budget amendments since Ive been on this committee, said Zelwin, noting that the budget has been amended almost every month. Russo said, I think the budget cuts were making are right in line with what we should be doing. Matt, I absolutely support the information youve given us and the direction youre taking, Russo added. Theres no reason to question you. Meany said she has nothing but respect for Rubino. I just think were rushing, she said. I have questions about how our industry is doing and how our income tax will be doing in July. Ward 2 Councilman Robert Pelunis said he wasnt sure the cuts being approved by council would be enough. He noted that the city anticipates a revenue loss of $7.1 million this year, but is reducing its budget by only $2.8 million. Mr. Rubino, would you be interested in cutting more? Pelunis asked. I just dont know if were going far enough. Rubino said his recommendation to council was not going to change. In the end, the committee of Zelwin, Meany and Pelunis all voted in favor of referring Rubinos proposed amended budget to council for approval. Mayor proud of team effort Im very comfortable with the cuts, Kraus said. The directors did a great job of getting rid of what we need to get rid of now. I can tell you were about six weeks ahead of our peer communities. Most communities havent done anything close to the exercise that weve gone through (in terms of) hiring freezes and not bringing back people through attrition," he said. Kraus said the citys directors did an amazing job of making some very difficult cuts and not compromising the level of service that our residents have come to expect. We had a great team effort in being able to do this, he said. Im proud of what weve done. Kraus said the city understands that this is only the first phase of reductions due to the impact of the coronavirus crisis and that there may be some difficult cuts along the way. Were going to obviously combine the cuts with a draw-down on reserves to make sure we not only get through 2020, but its really a two-year process, because its going to bleed into 2021, he said. And we have to make sure that weve done the right things to get through it. Kraus said the citys department heads have been meeting regularly to try to determine when to reopen the citys buildings, which have been closed since mid- to late March due to the coronavirus outbreak. These buildings include City Hall, the Solon Community Center and the Solon Center for the Arts, as well as the Solon Senior Center, which is housed in the community center. We want to make sure that when we reopen, were doing it in a safe, responsible way, because I think we all determined you only want to do this once, he said. You dont want to reopen a second time. So even if it takes us a little longer, we need to make sure its clean, that were practicing all the (social) distancing necessary and that we do it right. Municipal pool to reopen Council voted to amend Rubinos proposed budget to restore $50,000 to allow for operation and maintenance of the Solon Municipal Pool this summer. The citys administration had made that request earlier in the day, Zelwin said. This only applies to the municipal pool at 33655 Arthur Road, Zelwin said, not the outdoor pool at the Solon Community Center, which will remain closed. On May 14, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced that public swimming pools can reopen in Ohio starting May 26. Gov. Mike DeWine had ordered public pools to close April 2 to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. The Solon Municipal Pool will be open weekdays from June 15 through Aug. 15. But there will be a different set of guidelines, along with limited hours, Zelwin said. Swimmers will be mandated to practice social distancing and gather in groups of less than 10 people and stay home if theyre sick, according to Husted. The state recommends guests wear face coverings as they enter and leave pool areas and aquatic centers, but not while theyre swimming. Facilities should also be cleaned and disinfected often. Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 00:30:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa addresses the Extraordinary Summit of the Southern African Development Community Organ Troika on Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation Plus Mozambique in Harare, Zimbabwe, May 19, 2020. Mnangagwa, who is also the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security, on Tuesday called for joint action among member states of the regional bloc to decisively deal with the growing threat of terrorism. He said this while opening a meeting of the SADC Organ Troika to discuss the deteriorating security situation in parts of Mozambique hit by an Islamic insurgency. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua) HARARE, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also the Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defense and Security, on Tuesday called for joint action among member states of the regional bloc to decisively deal with the growing threat of terrorism. He said this while opening a meeting of the SADC Organ Troika to discuss the deteriorating security situation in parts of Mozambique hit by an Islamic insurgency. Leaders of Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique attended the one-day summit in the capital Harare, to consider Mozambique's request for assistance against the insurgents. President Edgar Lungu is attending in his capacity as the immediate-past chair of the organ while Botswana's president Mokgweetsi Masisi is the incoming chairperson of the organ. Mnangagwa said SADC countries, as in the past, must stand together to deal with the growing problem which had the potential to not only disturb peace but stunt growth and development in the region. "It is imperative that we once more stand shoulder to shoulder and confront this and other challenges we may face working together in unity. We will yet again overcome," he said. He said successfully preventing and combating terrorism requires renewed and firm commitment from all SADC member states. "It also calls for enhanced joint action given the transnational nature of the terrorist groups," he added. Mnangagwa said the region strongly condemned all acts of terrorism that had seen the killing and kidnapping of civilians and destruction of infrastructure. "Regions that previously did not perceive the seriousness of the threat or seemed immune to terrorism are being targeted by terrorists. The threat is now becoming increasing complex, blaring boundaries between political, religious and ideological extremism and crime," he said. Enditem By Express News Service BHOPAL: Twenty-four more Indians who returned by two special flights from Kuwait to Indore on May 13, have tested positive for the COVID-19 in Bhopal. With this, so far 48 out of the 230-odd Indians who returned to the country on May 13, have been tested positive in Bhopal. According to official sources in Bhopal, the Kuwait returnees who were tested positive have been admitted at the private Chirayu Medical College Hospital and the hospitals associated with the state government-run Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal. The Kuwait returnees were part of the central governments Vande Bharat mission to bring back home all Indian nationals stranded abroad. From Indore, the Kuwait returnees were brought to Bhopal in buses and were quarantined at Armys 3EME centres quarantine facility in the Bairagarh. While 18 of them had tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, 30 others tested positive for the killer virus in the subsequent days. The Kuwait returnees hail from Kerala, Telangana, Goa, UP, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, Bhopals positive case total count touched 1,046 on Tuesday, with 16 new cases over the last 24 hours. With no fresh deaths being reported in the Madhya Pradesh capital over the last 24 hours, the toll count in the city remained at 39. 68 more patients were discharged from hospitals after turning negative for COVID-19. Till now 632 patients have been discharged from various hospitals in Bhopal, while 375 patients still remain active. MONTREAL - Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. has received an initial order Tuesday after seeking court protection from its creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act to allow a restructuring of the women's clothing retailer. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/5/2020 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Reitmans sign is seen on a store front in Montreal on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. says it is seeking court protection from its creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in order to allow a restructuring of the retailer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson MONTREAL - Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. has received an initial order Tuesday after seeking court protection from its creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act to allow a restructuring of the women's clothing retailer. The retailer's application was heard by the Quebec Superior Court earlier Tuesday. Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed as monitor for the CCAA process and will assist the retailer in creating a restructuring plan, the company said in a statement. The plan will have to deal with the business fallout from COVID-19, which prompted retail outlets across Canada to shut their doors temporarily in an effort to help contain the pandemic from spreading, the company said in an earlier statement before the court proceedings. Reitmans closed 587 stores on March 17, but its e-commerce websites have remained open. At the time, the company also announced it would temporarily lay off 90 per cent of its Canadian retail staff, starting March 29, across its five banners: Reitmans, Penningtons, Addition Elle, RW & Co. and Thyme Maternity. Thirty per cent of its Montreal head-office staff were also laid off starting March 30. Remaining employees, meanwhile, were asked to contribute to on-going cost-saving initiatives. "Filing for protection under the CCAA is truly the hardest decision we have had to make as an organization in our almost one hundred years of history, but this pandemic has left us no choice," chief executive Stephen Reitmans said. Reitman assumed the CEO role in early 2020 following the death of his brother Jeremy Reitman, who served as chief executive and chairman. "We believe that this is the only course of action to ensure we remain successful in the future." The board reached the unanimous decision to file for court protection after having considered other alternatives and a number of factors, the company said. In conjunction with its court filing, the company has undertaken a process to secure interim financing to allow its remaining 576 stores to continue normal operations once government regulations allow the reopening of retail locations. The company, which employs about 6,800 people and was founded in 1926, now operates 259 Reitmans, 106 Penningtons, 80 RW & Co., 77 Addition Elle and 54 Thyme Maternity outlets. "As the restructuring process gets underway, the company will look to optimize its retail footprint in Canada to emerge from this process in a stronger state," the company said. Reitmans is also in talks with lenders for permanent financing upon exit from the restructuring process, and is seeking an order from the Quebec Superior Court to postpone its annual general meeting of shareholders. "The retail landscape has been in constant flux over the past several years, resulting in the evolution of consumer behaviour and purchasing patterns," the company noted, adding it has implemented what it called "a successful digital-first strategy" and other initiatives to drive growth in the changing environment. Reitmans boasted in January 2011 that it had 968 locations across seven banners, including 158 Smart Set and 22 Cassis stores. In October 2011, the company announced it would close the Cassis stores and convert many to its other banners. The Cassis brand, which was aimed at women over 40 years old, accounted for less than two per cent of the company's total annual sales, Reitmans said in a statement announcing the closures. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. A little over three years later, in November 2014, Reitmans decided to close its Smart Set banner over the next 12 to 18 months. It planned to convert 76 locations to other banners and close 31 outlets. Smart Set sales accounted for about 10 per cent of the company's annual sales. Reitmans converted some of those Smart Set locations to a new brand, Hyba the company's activewear line. However, by March 2018, the company said it would close all 17 Hyba stores by Feb. 2, 2019. It planned to continue selling the line at Reitmans stores, as well as online. Hyba stores accounted for less than two per cent of the company's annual sales, it said. In announcing the CCAA filing, Reitmans noted the impact of the pandemic has changed the retail landscape even more. "However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of all retail stores, and pushed the retail industry into a new and unknown era." This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2020. Companies in this story: (TSX:RET) Socialist Party of Moldova has reached out to the country's constitutional court with a request to clarify whether snap parliamentary elections and a presidential vote can be held on the same day, Socialist parliament member Vasile Bolea said on Tuesday CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2020) Socialist Party of Moldova has reached out to the country's constitutional court with a request to clarify whether snap parliamentary elections and a presidential vote can be held on the same day, Socialist parliament member Vasile Bolea said on Tuesday. "I lodged a request with the Constitutional Court today to avoid an institutional blockade. We want to know whether it is possible to organize the presidential and early parliamentary elections in one day," Bolea said at a briefing. According to the lawmaker, Moldova has precedents when the general elections were held on the same day as an advisory referendum or mayoral election on the same day as parliamentary vote in single-mandate Constituencies. Earlier in May, the Pro Moldova opposition party called on lawmakers from other parties to create an anti-government bloc within the Moldovan parliament to oust the incumbent government of Prime Minister Ion Chicu. The motion was supported by the euroskeptic Sor party. Six lawmakers from the pro-EU Democratic Party, which together with the pro-Russian Socialists forms the ruling coalition, also joined in. In Moldova, if a government is dismissed, lawmakers are given three months to form a new government or else the parliament will Advertisement Ana de Armas has landed a modeling contract fresh off the heels of the success of her film Knives Out and romance with Hollywood A-lister Ben Affleck. The Cuban born actress looked like a natural beauty as she posed for the El Corte Ingles spring-summer 2020 campaign. The star - who can next be seen in the James Bond film No Time To Die - stood among wildflowers as she wore colorful outfits in the images released on Tuesday. Model time: Ana de Armas has landed a modeling contract fresh off the heels of the success of her film Knives Out and romance with Hollywood A-lister Ben Affleck Picture perfect: The Cuban born actress looked like a natural beauty as she posed for the El Corte Ingles spring-summer 2020 campaign El Corte Ingles S.A., headquartered in Madrid, is the biggest department store group in Europe and ranks third worldwide. El Corte Ingles is Spain's only remaining department store chain. The actress was photographed by Van Mossevelde in both close up portraits as well as full length snaps using natural sunlight. The brunette bombshell was seen in a V-neck maxi dress with tiers in a burnt orange color. The star of the popular teen drama El Internado - she was on for six seasons from 2007 to 2010 - stood in a field of wild grass with mountains behind her at sunset. Fun in the sun: The star - who can next be seen in the James Bond film No Time To Die - stood among wildflowers as she wore colorful outfits in the images released on Tuesday Then de Armas was seen in another maxi dress, this one with a halter top and no sleeves and a tier on the bottom. She stood in a field of yellow wild flowers and a grassy field behind her. The stunner had her hair blown in her face as she wore neutral toned makeup. A floral dress with a plunging neckline and ruffles on the chest was next. Flower girl: A floral dress with a plunging neckline and ruffles on the chest was next. This too was a sleeveless maxi dress with pleats along the skirt portion. She stood in a field of white flowers with a cherry blossom tree in full bloom behind her Angelic: The newcomer parted her lips as she wore a pale mauve lipstick Cover look: In the same area she also had on a pink and burnt red ruffled dress with sleeves that was short enough to show off lace up black heels Flowers for spring time: In this image the siren held onto a flower as she showed off earrings This too was a sleeveless maxi dress with pleats along the skirt portion. She stood in a field of white flowers with a cherry blossom tree in full bloom behind her. The Blonde actress looked content as she gazed into the camera with her hands at her side. In the same area she also had on a pink and burnt red ruffled dress with sleeves that was short enough to show off lace up black heels. Wild look: This safari ensemble would be perfect for the next Indiana Jones movie There was also a South African safari ensemble that would be perfect for the next Indiana Jones movie. It consisted of a beige jacket with four pockets and a belt and there were also cargo slacks that completed the style. For this set, the Blade Runner 2049 actress had on gold hoop earrings. The last look was more casual with a print blouse and dark slacks with several necklaces and a colorful belt. A lunch look: The last look was more casual with a print blouse and dark slacks with several necklaces and a colorful belt Also on Tuesday, there was a report that Ana is a fan of Ben and his ex-wife Jennifer Garner's co-parenting skills. The 32-year-old actress is dating the Oscar-winning star - who has Violet, 14, Seraphina, 11, and Samuel, eight, with his ex-wife - and she's been particularly impressed by Ben's parenting skills since their romance started. 'Ana thinks Ben is such a sweet and nice guy. [She] admires how he juggles so much between work, his kids and co-parenting with Jen,' a source told Us Weekly. Admiration: Ana de Armas has been wowed by Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's co-parenting skills; seen on her birthday Ben 'splits his time [between Ana and his family] and, as always, the kids are the most important thing in his life'. However, the insider added that the Hollywood star - who was married to Jennifer between 2005 and 2018 - 'always makes sure he has time for [Ana] and that she is number one'. Meanwhile, a source recently insisted Ana and Ben are very 'happy' being quarantined together amid the coronavirus pandemic. He loves his kids: Affleck with his daughters and son in April in LA The celebrity couple are isolating together in Los Angeles during the health crisis and they having been having a wonderful time getting to know one another better. The insider said: 'Ana and Ben are so in love and they are just enjoying the moment and are quarantined together and happy.' The loved-up duo went public with their romance in March, when they went on holiday to the actress' native Cuba and Costa Rica. And the Knives Out actress has been blown away by how 'supportive' Ben has been during their relationship so far. The source explained: 'Ben is very supportive of Ana and tells her how amazing she is. 'Ana's friends are constantly telling her how lucky she is to have Ben and think he is so charming, cool and fun. They're so happy for her.' As part of its commitment towards the development of the medical profession in Nigeria, the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund has donated various medical training equipment valued at N42 million to the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan for the training of medical students. The equipment donated include, a Lung Sound and Auscultation Trainer, a Blood Pressure Measurement Trainer, a Lumbar Puncture & Epidural Simulator, a Paediatric IV Hand Simulator, a Paediatric Lumbar Puncture Simulator II, a Rectal Examination Trainer MK, a Keele & Staff Episiotomy Repair Trainer, a Chest Drain & Needle Decompression Trainer, an Airway Suction Trainer, an Abdominal Ultrasound Examination Trainer, Ultrasound Vascular Access Trainer and a SimMom Birth Simulator. Speaking during the handover of the equipment at the College of Medicine, the Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrut Bel commended the College for the dedication of its team and the standard of training, which has encouraged the Trust Fund to commit over N90 million in various projects in support of the College since 2015. These include the furnishing and equipping the various departments, purchasing medical simulators and mannequins to deliver qualitative training to Medical Students. According to Bel, Since the birth of civilization, the medical profession has remained one of the most noble and respected professions in the world. Today, more than ever before, medical personnel are playing a central role in the battle to protect our world from some of the worst viruses we have ever seen. We therefore have a collective duty to prepare the next generation of doctors for the future in the best possible way. This is why we remain absolutely committed to supporting the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and other educational institutions in providing quality healthcare across Nigeria. In his own remarks, the Provost of the College, Professor Olapade Olaopa lauded Nigerian Breweries Plc and the Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund for the kind gesture noting that the equipment would help improve the quality of medical education in the institution with optimal impact on its medical students. We are extremely delighted with the donation of this equipment. This would go a long way at providing our students with the necessary training or capacity to perform optimally in the medical profession. No doubt, this donation will further push the dreams of making this College the best and the destination of choice for aspiring medical students as well as morale booster for many of our students desirous of competing with their counterparts in the profession globally, Olaopa said. Established in 1994 with a seed fund of N100m, the Nigerian Breweries-Felix Ohiwerei Education Trust Fund (named after a former Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries) has invested in the development of educational infrastructure across Nigeria with the goal of improving the learning environment for the benefit of both teachers and students. Managing Director CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrut Bel during the presentation Managing Director CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrut Bel during the presentation Managing Director CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrut Bel during the presentation Managing Director CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrut Bel during the presentation The fund has built over 400 classrooms in 77 communities across the nation, carried out career guidance counselling sessions for over 3,000 students and carried out educational improvement projects in over 10 tertiary Institutions. The Fund also sponsors the annual Maltina Teacher of the Year initiative, which commenced in 2015 to recognize and celebrate exceptional teachers in Nigerian Secondary Schools. Managing Director CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrut Bel during the presentation Managing Director CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrut Bel during the presentation Managing Director CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrut Bel during the presentation Managing Director CEO, Nigerian Breweries Plc, Jordi Borrut Bel during the presentation President Donald Trump has threatened to pull the US out of the World Health Organization, accusing it of botching the global coronavirus response and of being a "puppet of China" -- prompting rebuke from Beijing which said Tuesday Washington was "shirking responsibility". Trump has been locked in a bitter spat with Beijing, alleging it covered up the initial outbreak in central China late last year before the disease unleashed death and economic devastation across the planet. Some 317,000 people have died of COVID-19 out of nearly 4.8 million infections worldwide, and governments are scrambling to contain the virus while seeking ways to resuscitate their hammered economies. A passenger wears a protective suit against the spread of the COVID-19, queues at El Dorado international airport in Bogota, Colombia. By Juan BARRETO (AFP) With more fatalities and cases in the United States than any other country by far, the under-pressure US president has blamed the WHO for not doing enough to combat its initial spread. "They're a puppet of China, they're China-centric to put it nicer," he said on Monday at the White House. "They gave us a lot of bad advice." Trump had already suspended US funding to the UN body, and after his White House comments, he tweeted a letter he had sent to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus threatening to make that freeze permanent. "It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world," the letter said. Funds that the top 10 countries and organizations have fully distributed as specified voluntary contributions to the World Health Organization, for the 2018-2019 cycle.. By Gal ROMA (AFP) "The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China," it added, giving the body 30 days to show "substantive improvements". Beijing has furiously denied the US allegations that it played down the threat, and Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated at the World Health Assembly that his nation had been "transparent" throughout the crisis. 'Shirk responsibility' Beijing said Tuesday Trump was trying to "smear China" over its international obligations to the WHO. "The US tries to use China as an issue to shirk responsibility and bargain over its international obligations to the WHO. This is a miscalculation and the US has picked the wrong target," foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. A resident of Paraisopolis, one of Sao Paulo's largest slums, takes part in a protest to demand more aid from the Brazilian government during the COVID-19 pandemic. By Miguel SCHINCARIOL (AFP) The WHO's main annual assembly was due Tuesday to discuss a resolution tabled by the European Union calling for an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken by the UN agency. Countries reached an agreement in principle last week to accept the text unanimously, but amid rising political tensions some observers expressed fears that full consensus might not be obtained. As he launched his latest attack on China, Trump also dropped a bombshell saying he was taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that his own government's experts have said is not suitable for fighting the coronavirus. "I take a pill every day," said the president, adding that he is using it because he has "heard a lot of good stories". Vaccine hopes Experts have warned that the social distancing measures that have impacted more than half of humanity will remain necessary to stop the virus until a vaccine or viable medical treatment is available. Development work on a prophylactic is under way at breakneck speed around the world, and results from a trial in the United States sparked optimism on Monday. Scientists at Peking University have said they are developing a drug that can help stop the pandemic without a vaccine. By WANG ZHAO (AFP/File) Early -- and small -- clinical trials of a vaccine by US firm Moderna showed encouraging results, with recipients showing an immune response similar to people recovering from COVID-19. It will begin a larger second-phase trial soon. In China, meanwhile, scientists at Peking University have said they are developing a drug that can help stop the pandemic without a vaccine by using antibodies that can neutralise the virus. They are planning clinical trials for the treatment, and are hoping to have the drug available later this year and in time for any potential winter outbreak. In Russia, the number of coronavirus cases hit nearly 300,000 on Tuesday. By Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV (AFP/File) Authorities around the world are keeping an eye on such breakthroughs as the virus continues on its destructive path, with many poorer nations now seeing a dramatic rise in infections even as the caseload eases in more developed parts of the world like Europe. In Russia, the number of coronavirus cases hit nearly 300,000 on Tuesday after Moscow said the virus situation had stabilised. The Kremlin also said Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is returning to his duties after fighting off the coronavirus. Lawmakers in Britain -- which has the second-highest toll in the world behind the US -- heaped fresh pressure on the government for its handling of the outbreak, calling its testing regime "inadequate" in the early stages. Graphic on chloroquine and its variant, hydroxychloroquine, currently being tested alongside other medicines in several countries against COVID-19.. By (AFP) Meanwhile the economic impact of the virus was further entrenched with fresh data showing the number of unemployed in Britain jumping to 1.3 million in three months to March. The vast economic damage caused by the virus has led to unprecedented emergency stimulus measures by governments and central banks, and the latest came from Europe where France and Germany laid out a half-trillion-euro fund. The hard-hit continent has seen deaths and hospitalisations drop in recent days, sparking optimism about a post-pandemic recovery. The daily death count in the United States has also slowed in recent days, as all 50 states began easing lockdown measures to varying degrees. 'Test from God' But other parts of the world -- especially developing countries -- are only just starting to feel the full force of the virus. Gravediggers lower the coffin of a COVID-19 victim into a grave at Pondok Ranggon cemetery in Jakarta. By ADEK BERRY (AFP) Already, Brazil has overtaken Britain to have the third-highest number of infections in the world with around 255,000 confirmed cases, and the death toll in Latin America and the Caribbean has topped 30,000. Maria Nunes Sinimbu, a retired teacher from, Manaus, the biggest city in the Brazilian Amazon, said COVID-19 has killed five of her family members, including three of her 12 children. "People should be more careful with this disease. It's silent," said the 76-year-old. And in Indonesia, gravediggers at a cemetery earmarked for COVID-19 victims in the capital Jakarta are struggling to keep up with the number of corpses arriving every day, trying not to touch the bodies and lessen the chance of getting infected themselves. "I've been digging graves for 33 years now and I've never been this tired before," said gravedigger Minar. "This is probably a test from God." burs-wdb/jv The novel coronavirus is ideally suited to infecting human cells rather than animal ones, a new study by researchers in Australia claims, raising questions about the origin of the virus, which has, until Tuesday, killed over 318,000 people and sickened more than 4.8 million globally. Using an in silico or computer simulation method, the researchers found that the data generated indicated SARSCoV2 [the virus that causes Covid-19] is uniquely adapted to infect humans, raising questions as to whether it arose in nature by a rare chance event or whether its origins lie elsewhere. The four researchers, including two trained in India, tested the binding affinity of Covid-19 viruss spike protein to humans and several animals including pangolins. Notably, SARSCoV2 spike protein had the highest overall binding energy for human ACE2 (a receptor on cells), greater than all the other tested species including bat, the postulated source of the virus. This indicates that SARSCoV2 is a highly adapted human pathogen, the study found. The study is yet to be peer-reviewed and now available on the prestigious US-based Cornell Universitys pre-print server. The research is plausible but the evidence put out to support it was thin,Richard H Ebright, from the department of chemistry and chemical biology at the USs Rutgers University, told HT. China has consistently denied, and cited international research, to deny that he virus originated in a high-security biology lab in Wuhan Institute of Virology, located in the central Chinese city where the Covid-19 disease broke out late last year. The four researchers of the paper, however, were surprised at the rapid rate at which the virus adapted to humans. Normally a virus will bind tightly to the cells of its normal host species and less tightly to cells of species it has not infected before. The surprise with COVID is we found that it bound tightest to human cells than any other species we tested. This is either a massive coincidence or Covid-19 has somehow in the past been adapted for human cells. One way in which this can happen is via culture with human cells in a lab, lead researcher Nikolai Petrovsky a clinician and vaccinologist, told HT over email. The other researchers involved are Sakshi Piplani and Puneet Singh, who are both bioinformatics scientist originally trained in India, and David Winkler, a professor of biochemistry and genetics. Piplani and Petrovsky are affiliated to the Flinders University in Australia, Singh is with Vaxine Pty and Winkler is affiliated to the La Trobe University. Yes, this virus looks and behaves as if it is perfectly adapted to humans. That is a surprise for a virus that has apparently just entered humans for the first time, Petrovsky said. He added that zoonotic events, where pathogens jump from animal to human, are not rare and have been regularly witnessed with Ebola, bird flu, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) etc. What is rare is to not find any animal source of the virus. For example, for MERS it was rapidly identified to be coming from camels, SARS from bats via civet cats, Ebola from bats via monkeys. So far no animal source has been found for Covid-19 this may still be found, but its absence allows other possibilities to be considered. Not everyone, like Ebright,is fully convinced. The conclusion of the paper that the virus was pre-adapted for human transmission is consistent with the scenario of lab gain-of-function research followed by a lab accident, Ebright told HT over email. Gain-of-function is a scientific research term, which means accelerating research that improves the ability of a pathogen to cause disease.However, the evidence for the conclusion of the paper that the virus was pre-adapted for human transmission is thin, he said. Petrovsky said their study shows the need to carry out more research into the origins of the coronavirus. Of course, we know there were institutes in Wuhan that were doing research on bat and pangolin coronaviruses to which Covid-19 is most closely related, with genetic elements from both. It is certainly possible that if both viruses ended up in a cell culture together, which is not unheard of in a lab due to cross contamination, then a new variant virus could be created just as it does in an animal that is infected by two viruses at the same time, he said. Both scenarios are equally possible, hence the need to do further investigation to see if either of these is the most likely explanation. The need for further investigation is also emphasised in the research paper. Given the seriousness of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, it is imperative that all efforts be made to identify the original source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The researchers added: In particular, it will be important to establish whether Covid-19 is due to a completely natural chance occurrence where a presumed bat virus was transmitted to humans via an intermediate animal host or whether COVID-19 has alternative origins. This information will be of paramount importance to help prevent any similar human coronavirus outbreak in the future. The Maharashtra government on Tuesday issued revised guidelines for the fourth phase of the lockdown, partially easing curbs in areas outside of containment zones. The Maharashtra government on Tuesday issued revised guidelines for the fourth phase of the lockdown, partially easing curbs in areas outside of containment zones. These guidelines will come into effect from 22 May. The Centre on 17 May extended the nationwide lockdown till 31 May and gave states greater freedom to impose additional restrictions to contain the spread of the viral infection. Here is a zone-wise list of what is allowed and what is not allowed: According to the new guidelines issued by the state government, air travel, metro rail services, schools, colleges, colleges, cinema halls, shopping complexes, theatres, gyms,swimming pools, etc shall remain closed across the states, Restaurants can open only for home delivery. In the non-red zones, considerable relaxations have been given, including opening of stadiums without spectators. All shops can open between 9 am to 5 pm. Government offices can function in these zones with 100 percent strength and private offices can also open. Follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak here Significantly, e-commerce for delivery of non-essential goods has been allowed in all areas except containment zones. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Solapur, Aurangabad, Malegaon, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Akola and Amravati have been declared as red zones, with local authorities given the power to demarcate containment zones in red and orange zones. In red zones, essential shops shall continue to remain open while non-essential shops including liquor shops shall operate as per earlier guidelines. Commercial establishments, shops, industries which are not allowed to open can carry out maintenance and upkeep. No taxis ,cabs or rickshaws can operate in the red zone. In containment zones, only essential activities will be allowed. The state government has also directed authorities to issue orders to imposing night curfew from 7 pm to 7 am, except for essential services. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NuLegacy Gold Corporation (NuLegacy or the Company) (TSXV: NUG; OTCQB: NULG.F) announces that it has arranged a non-brokered private placement of up to 75,000,000 units (the Units) at a price of C$0.075 per Unit to raise gross proceeds to the Company of C$5.625 million (the Offering). Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company (a Common Share) and one-half of one transferable Common Share purchase warrant (each full warrant, a Warrant). Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one Common Share of the Company at an exercise price of C$0.125 for a period, subject to acceleration, of 24 months following closing of the Offering. NuLegacys CEO Albert Matter comments that Our recent winter 2019 drill program and subsequent analysis and geological remodeling strongly support our analysis that the Rift Anticline target bears significant structural and stratigraphic similarities and connectors to Barrick Golds Goldrush Carlin-style gold systems approximately 8 kilometers to the northwest.I We are utilizing the improved gold market conditions to strengthen our treasury. This will enable us to expand our CSAMT and additional gravity surveys over the Rift Anticline this summer to further advance our interpretation and site targeting for a larger and deeper drill program on the Rift this fall pending approval of our US$500,000 expanded plan of operations over the Red Hill property. The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to carry out an expanded exploration program on the Rift Anticline including 14-16 planned core holes, as well as for general corporate and working capital purposes. The Offering is subject to, among other things, acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV) with an initial closing scheduled for on or about May 29, 2020. All securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a four month hold period from the date of closing. The Company may pay a cash fee and/or compensation warrants to certain finders and/or advisors in connection with the sale of Units in accordance with the policies of the TSXV. About NuLegacy Gold Corporation: Focused on confirming high-grade Carlin-style gold deposits on its premier 108 sq. km (42 sq. mile) district scale Red Hill Property in the Cortez gold trend of Nevada. The Red Hill Property is located on trend and adjacentI to the three multi-million ounce Carlin-type gold deposits (the Pipeline, Cortez Hills and Goldrush deposits) that are amongst Barrick Golds largest, lowest cost and politically safest gold minesII. I The similarity and proximity of these deposits in the Cortez Trend including Goldrush is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization in NuLegacys Red Hill Property. II As extracted from Barricks Q4-2013 and Q1-2014 reports. As reported by Barrick, the Goldrush resource contains 8,557,000 indicated ounces of gold within 25.78 million tonnes grading ~10.57 g/t and 1,650,000 inferred ounces within 5.6 million tonnes grading ~9.0 g/t. Dr. Roger Steininger, a Director of NuLegacy, is a Certified Professional Geologist (CPG 7417) and the qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, responsible for approving the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF NULEGACY GOLD CORPORATION Albert Matter Chief Executive Officer & Director Tel: +1 (604) 639 - 3640 Email: albert@nuggold.com For more information about NuLegacy visit: www.nulegacygold.com or www.sedar.com. This new release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the account or benefit of a U.S. person (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains forward-looking information and statements under applicable securities laws, which information and/or statements relate to future events or future performance (including, but not limited to, the size of the Offering, the proposed use of proceeds and the anticipated closing date thereof; the prospective nature of the Rift Anticline target and proposed exploration and drilling programs thereon and the timing and costs thereof) and reflect managements current expectations and beliefs based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking information and statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected including, but not limited to, actual results of exploration activities, unanticipated geological, stratigraphic and structural formations, environmental risks, operating risks, accidents, labor issues, delays in obtaining governmental approvals and permits, the availability of financing, market conditions, future prices for gold, changes in personnel and other risks in the mining industry. There are no known resources or reserves in the Red Hill Property, any proposed exploration programs are exploratory searches for commercial bodies of ore and the presence of gold resources on properties adjacent or near the Red Hill Property including Goldrush is not necessarily indicative of the gold mineralization on the Red Hill Property. There is also uncertainty about the spread of COVID-19 and the impact it will have on the Companys operations, personnel, supply chains, ability to procure exploration equipment, contractors and other personnel on a timely basis or at all and economic activity in general. All the forward-looking information and statements made in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those in our continuous disclosure filings available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking information and statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances save as required by applicable law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Qantas Airways boss Alan Joyce says he could have up to half his domestic network back in the air by July if states ease travel restrictions, in a bullish forecast of how quickly aviation could recover from the coronavirus pandemic. "We dont think well go back to 100 per cent honestly in July but we have the capability to easily add 40 to 50 per cent of the capacity that we had before COVID-19 in that month and then a ramp up even further every other month," he said on Tuesday. CEO Alan Joyce says Qantas is ready for a rapid return to flying. Credit:Renee Nowytarger Mr Joyce added that COVID-19 was a far bigger concern for Qantas than whatever competitor emerges from the Virgin Australia administration process, as budget airline specialist Indigo Partners, private equity firms Bain and BGH Capital, and the Richard Branson-linked investor Cyrus Capital square off to buy the collapsed carrier. "You look at the bidders and a variety of scenarios could come out," he said. Mumbai Police never fails to churn out creative and witty tweets to put forth advisory messages for people. A few days ago, they used a Paatal Lok meme to take on fake news and now theyre at it again with a tweet inspired by the same noir-fiction drama. Mumbai Police took reference from a popular dialogue in the show, which explains that the whole world is divided into three Loks (regions) Swarg Lok, Dharti Lok, and Paatal Lok, and gave it a little twist. They added that theres also a fourth Lok and thats where people need to stay at the moment its Ghir-Lok (home). Grih-Lok is the safest! with this caption the department shared the tweet. They also used the hashtags #GrihLokIsTrending, #StayHome and #StaySafe. Several people appreciated the departments tweet and praised their creativity, as many do for most of their posts. Some also tried to give their own twist to the post by Mumbai Police. Kudos to the person who makes these meme messages, wrote a Twitter user. Ek hai Swarg Lok. Ek hai Darti Lok. Ek hai Patal Lok. Ghar mai raho aur bache raho Darti Lok main, expressed another. Your messages are so creative. It helps me stay calm at home during the lockdown. Thank you for keeping us entertained, tweeted a third. What do you think of this latest tweet by Mumbai Police? Also Read | Lockdown or : Mumbai Polices two option Insta post is peoples new favourite content NEW YORK - Filmmaker Sasha Joelle Achilli has made documentaries on the Ebola virus and now the coronavirus. Ask which virus scares her more, and the answer is easy. The frightening thing about COVID is its everywhere, and you just dont know, she said. It is airborne and it feels much more easy to contract. So it was more frightening, definitely. Achillis film, Inside Italys COVID War, is being shown on Frontline at 10 p.m. Tuesday on most PBS stations. While the documentary looks at the crisis through the eyes of an emergency room doctor at Cremona Hospital in northern Italy, the story is universal. The scene at Cremona, where Dr. Francesca Mangiatordi calls various care providers, pleading for empty beds to place the coronavirus patients crowding her emergency room, could have been at any hospital where the pandemic has hit hard. Achilli spent four months in Africa making the 2015 film Outbreak for PBS. Its not that Ebola wasnt scary youre more likely to die an ugly death if you get it but its easier to protect against than the coronavirus, she said. Since shes from Italy and her father still lives there, the coronavirus story was more personal. Finding Mangiatordi was a stroke of luck. A picture the doctor took of an exhausted colleague circulated widely online, and Achilli reached out before she even travelled to Italy. Mangiatordis co-operation, and that of her colleagues and family, enabled Frontline to tell the broader story through a personal lens. It has a special quality to it, the intimacy she was able to foster and the trust, said Raney Aronson-Rath, executive producer of Frontline. That kind of trust usually takes a lot of time, but Sasha was able to build that trust very quickly. Achillis camera catches a 30-year-old woman, sitting alone in a wheelchair and calling her husband to say her the X-ray of her lungs didnt look good. It feels like a nightmare, the woman said. Most affecting is the story of 18-year-old Mattia. Frightened that he was going to die, he was too overwhelmed to take a video call with his mother before being intubated. The nurses thought he wouldnt survive. Later, after his recovery, you see an emotional video reunion with his mom. At one point, Mangiatordi looks worriedly at a work chart, wondering if there will be enough doctors to fill all the shifts because many of them had gotten sick. One such doctor, Laura Bocchi, says Im a patient and I unfortunately possess medical knowledge, as she isolates from her family. Through it all, the medical staff rides a roller coaster, briefly euphoric when the number of cases go down only to see another rush. After grinding days of work, Mangiatordi came home to a family she literally couldnt touch a husband whos both proud and fearful, and an 11-year-old daughter who cries at the thought of life without mom. We wouldnt know how to do anything, she says. Some of the moments with her family are ones that Ill never forget, Aronson-Rath said. We didnt want to do a congratulatory film about doctors but what emerged was a heroic portrait of people trying to save other people. Frontline has other coronavirus projects in the works, including a June 16 documentary investigating what went wrong with the response and others about the financial fallout and conspiracy theories. Although Achillis father lived an hour away from where she was filming, she wasnt able to see him. In addition to making sure that she and a partner were fully protected while filming, there was the additional worry that they would unwittingly transmit the virus themselves. Watching the film comes with a deep sense of foreboding. Purely by chance, Achilli says, the characters that she focused upon all had good outcomes. I hope that it gives people strength, that if you are to contract the virus, there is a light, she said. I think we need strength right now. Were all living this quarantine. Were not seeing what is really happening. Achilli finished her film and lived through stay-at-home orders from London. She recognizes that people are becoming antsy, wanting to get out of the house into some measure of a normal life. Those people might want to watch her film. Having seen what happened to the health system, having seen what the doctors had to go through, I think that the lockdown and going through these draconian measures is the only way to get this under control, Achilli said. I understand that our freedoms have been taken away that were not used to living like this, and not used to having governments tell us what we can and cant do, she said. But when you see what theyre going through, for their sake, stay home. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page Apologist Ravi Zacharias died Tuesday, two months after he announced he had been diagnosed with cancer. He was 74. The popular author and Christian teacher was known for his work through Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM), which focused on apologetic arguments for the existence of God and the reasonableness of Christianity. He preached in more than 70 countries and authored more than 30 books in his 48-year career, teaching Christians to engage with skeptics and arguing that the Christian worldview has robust answers to humanitys existential questions. Zacharias was born in India and raised in an Anglican family. He recounted that his conversion to Christianity came while reading the Bible in the hospital after a failed suicide attempt as a teen. He immigrated to Canada at the age of 20. Zacharias started his ministry with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA). A graduate of Ontario Bible College (now Tyndale University) and Trinity International University, he was commissioned as a national evangelist for the United States in 1977 and ordained in the CMA in 1980. He founded RZIM in 1984, and the organization has grown to about 200 employees in 16 offices around the world, with more than 70 traveling speakers. His best-selling book, Can Man Live Without God?, sold about 500,000 copies in 1995. His most recent book, The Logic of God: 52 Christian Essentials for the Heart and Mind, won the Evangelical Christian Publishers Associations 2020 Christian book award in the Bible study category. Late in his ministry career, Zacharias faced claims that he overstated his academic background and implied he had earned a doctorate degree. Over the years, RZIM and Zachariass publishers revised his biographies to clarify that he has received honorary doctorates and removed references to Dr. Zacharias. Zacharias was also involved in a legal dispute over sexually explicit communication with a woman he met through his speaking ministry. Her lawyer said Zacharias had groomed and exploited her. Zacharias sued, and the lawsuit was settled out of court with a non-disclosure agreement. Earlier this year, doctors discovered a malignant tumor on Zachariass sacrum as he underwent back surgery. He began receiving treatment for sarcoma at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. The ministry posted an update on May 8 saying Zachariass cancer was deemed untreatable, and he was sent home to Atlanta to be with his family. On social media, a wide range of Christians including Lee Strobel, Tim Tebow, and Christine Caine posted tributes with the hashtag #ThankYouRavi. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, and their three children. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Defiance Silver Corp. ("Defiance" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has successfully renegotiated and significantly extended the terms of the option agreement on the Company's flagship San Acacio Silver project. The project vendor has agreed to extend the option agreement terms by three years from September 27, 2020 to September, 27, 2023. In addition, 80% of the option payments due before March 27 and June 27, 2020 have been deferred as a part of this extension. Defiance will now be making quarterly payments, over three years, to the property vendor totaling US$2,278,189, with the final option payment of US$2,407,461 due September 27, 2023. In accordance with the original agreement, the vendor retains a 2.5% NSR which may be purchased for US$2,500,000. Should the agreement be terminated prior to September 27, 2023 a break fee equal to 5% of the outstanding option balance shall be paid to the property vendor. "We are very pleased with the extension of the option agreement on the San Acacio project and want to thank our property vendor for their continued support of Defiance Silver. This additional financial flexibility will enable us to continue our ongoing exploration efforts, which are focused on the compilation and reinterpretation of all previous work done at San Acacio. This work will allow us to better understand the mineral system and create better structural controls for future drill target definition and delineation," stated Chris Wright, Executive Chairman & CEO. Defiance also announces that the Company's Annual General Meeting will be delayed. The Annual General Meeting will take place on or before December 31st, 2020 to protect the safety of our officers, employees, and investors due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. About Defiance Silver Corp. Defiance Silver Corp. (DEF | TSX Venture Exchange; DNCVF | OTC; D4E | Frankfurt) is an exploration company advancing the district-scale San Acacio Deposit, located in the historic Zacatecas Silver District and the 100% owned Tepal Gold/Copper Project in Michoacan state, Mexico. Defiance is managed by a team of proven mine developers with a track record of exploring, advancing and developing several operating mines and advanced resource projects. Defiance's corporate mandate is to expand the San Acacio and Tepal projects to become premier Mexican silver and gold deposits. On behalf of Defiance Silver Corp. "Chris Wright" Executive Chairman of the Board For more information, please contact: Investor Relations at +1 917-563-3821 or via email at info@defiancesilver.com. www.defiancesilver.com 704 - 595 Howe Street Vancouver, BC V6E 2K3 Tel: 604-669-7315 Email: info@defiancesilver.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Defiance Silver Corp. relies upon litigation protection for forward-looking statements. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56052 US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said he is taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug that he often touted as a potential treatment for coronavirus. The President, according to The Hill report, said he consulted with the White House doctor about taking the drug, but it was not explicitly recommended for him since he has not tested positive for the virus. "I asked him what do you think," Trump was quoted as saying. "He said, 'Well if you'd like it.' I said, 'Yeah, I'd like it. I'd like to take it.' " The US President ... Paleontologists from the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences said on Monday they found the 70-million-year-old remains of a megaraptor, making it one of the last carnivorous dinosaurs to inhabit the earth. The discovery was made in the southern province of Santa Cruz in the middle of March this year. After studying the fossils, measuring 10 meters (32 feet), experts realized they were looking at the remains of a predatory dinosaur from the end of the age of dinosaurs. This is the moment, 65 million years ago, when the extinction of the dinosaurs occurs, and this new megaraptor that we now have to study would be one of the last representatives of this group, Fernando Novas, the paleontologist in charge of the project, told Reuters. Unlike the Tyrannosaurus rex, the megaraptors were slimmer and built for speed, with long tails that allowed them to keep their balance. They had muscular but elongated legs to take long steps, according to the specialist. The defining characteristic of the megaraptors was that they had very long arms and that their thumb ended in a claw of approximately 40 centimeters (15 inches), allowing them to catch their prey, he said. FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The 7-year-old son of an Alaska state trooper who was killed in the line of duty became an honorary member of the force for a day, teaming up with a police dog who shares his name. Lenox Rich joined the Alaska State Trooper D Detachment in Fairbanks during a Police Memorial Day ceremony Friday, KTVF-TV reported. The boys father, Trooper Gabriel Rich, and his partner, Sgt. Scott Johnson, were fatally shot in 2014 as they investigated a weapons violation suspect in Tanana, about 130 miles (209 kilometres) west of Fairbanks. Detachment commander Capt. Ronald Wall said Lenoxs mother contacted them with the idea. It was just natural, everybody was on board and we thought it was a great idea, Wall said. Wall contacted the heads of the agency, Commissioner Amanda Price and Col. Bryan Barlow, who issued a signed certificate making Lenox an honorary member of the Alaska state troopers for a day. After the ceremony making him part of the force, the boy rode with the police dog that has special significance for him. The dog is named Lenox, which was also his fathers middle name. The dog is named after his father, so naturally when it came time to put him with a trooper it was kind of a no-brainer for me, Wall said. The detachment also gave Lenox his fathers radio call sign to use as he helped pick up sandwiches for police officers around Fairbanks. Lenox confirmed he has aspirations to join the state troopers when he is older. I like them because, like, you get a lot of action and all that, he said. Its really fun. Lenox also wants to work with dogs. Because then I got like a pet with me, kind of, Lenox said. In early January, the Tow Center for Digital Journalism published my report, Media Mecca or News Desert? Covering Local News in New York City, which examined how citywide and hyperlocal news organizations allocate diminishing editorial resources, and the challenges they face filling gaps in coverage. Less than two months later, Covid-19 hit. Since then, nearly every aspect of the newsroom dynamics I had described, like so much of our lives, has been transformed. In a new piece examining the pandemic-era changes to New York Citys local news media, The Virus, the news, and New York City, I reinterviewed workers from these newsrooms. And there is one takeaway from the original report that still feels distressingly relevant. Due to limited resources, health and healthcare issues have been undercovered for years in New York City. In the last two months, newsrooms have had to get up to speed quickly on a complicated system in order to report on one of the most significant stories of our lifetime. A consensus emerged from the interviews for my previous report that health and healthcare issues were going underreported. Particularly lacking, several newsroom leaders noted, was coverage of a seemingly niche topic: the municipal hospital system. If I had an extra reporter, I would have somebody covering health and the municipal hospital system, Joel Siegel, managing editor at TV network NY1 News, told me in 2019. It bothers me as a New Yorker, and as a journalist, that that system is not covered. Errol Louis, NY1 political journalist, agreed, telling me that the public hospital system, is basically not covered, even though it is essentially bankrupt. Several months after these interviews, the city announced that NYC Health + Hospitals, the agency that operates the hospitals, had managed to reverse course financially, closing the fiscal year with a budget surplus. Our limited research found no coverage of this development in any of the English-language news outlets we surveyed. Now, every reporter has become a health reporter. New York used to be a city filled with stories, began a recent New York Times Magazine piece about the citys municipal hospital system. Today it is a city with a single story: its hospitals. READ: Ronan Farrow, Ben Smith, and the problem of the superstar journalist Sign up for CJR 's daily email As part of my new follow-up report, I asked the same newsroomsand a few additional oneshow reporters are quickly readjusting to cover a beat that has been neglected for years. This lack of coverage has resulted, in many cases, they told me, in a significant dearth of institutional knowledge and sources. In addition to being at the center of the initial crisis phase of the epidemic, Health + Hospitals has been charged by Mayor de Blasio with leading the citys contact tracing programa duty traditionally performed by the citys health department. The agency will thus likely remain at the forefront of recovery efforts for some time. Jere Hester, editor-in-chief of The City, an online nonprofit news outlet that launched in the spring of 2019, identified the convergence of public health with other beats when we spoke for the previous report. We know from whats happened in public housing that public housing is not just a housing beat, he told me in 2019. Thanks to lead, mold, and other issues, he said, its a health beat. The major shift now, he said, in light of the Covid-19 crisis, is that every beat we have is essentially now a health beat. Ben Max, executive editor of the Gotham Gazette, a digital nonprofit news outlet, acknowledged that its definitely been a challenge to quickly develop sourcing and our institutional knowledge about what the system is, how it works, what it looks like. Public health in New York is a complicated constellation of public, private, and city-run healthcare facilities, according to Max. I think first and foremost some of what would be helpful to people, and that were working on, is to produce a good, solid explainer on what the citys hospital landscape even looks like, and what the citys public hospital system looks like within that, he said. Some outlets, like public radio station WNYC and its digital news outlet Gothamist, have reassigned reporters who formerly covered health issues, taking advantage of their expertise and contacts. The City, Hester said, has built on its previous coverage on issues related to the public health system, such as Medicaid, nursing homes, and the mental illness and homeless crises But, he said, I think, for our team and probably many reporters across the city, weve had to become very quick studies on some of the intricacies of the system. David Brand, Managing Editor of the Queens Daily Eagle, agreed, noting that hes spent a lot of time in recent weeks reaching out to friends and potential sources who might be able to help him get up to speed about just what these places look like. I think people are more familiar with the jails, he said. Were familiar with the courthouses. But I think there is a lack of institutional knowledge about the hospitals. Brand said hes had success reaching out to people on Facebook, acquaintances and strangers alike, who have taught him more about the hospital system. For many of the ethnic media outlets, those contacts and sources within the hospital system were already known to them in their communities. Its not via official channels, according to Rong Xiaoqing, a journalist in the New York bureau of the Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao Daily, who said ethnic media outlets often dont have their phone calls to high-ranking officials returned quickly. Rong said the paper has longstanding relationships with organizations and clubs devoted to Chinese medical personnel. Take the Chinese Cardiologists Club, or something like that, she said. Maybe we covered their anniversary celebration and took some photos and they were happy [with the coverage]. Now, when we want to locate some doctors in a particular hospital, we go to them and say, Can you help us find someone? and they help us. ICYMI: The media industrys preexisting conditions Garry Pierre-Pierre, editor-in-chief of Brooklyns Haitian Times, said that, thanks to the overrepresentation of Haitians in the healthcare system and his longstanding ties in the community, his paper hadnt struggled at all to find sources. Javier Castano, founder and editor of publication Queens Latino, and Roberto Lacayo, news director of the TV network NY1 Noticias, both said they had been able to find sources within Queens hospitals from among their Spanish-speaking communities relatively easily. As the initial phase of the crisis has passed, some news outlets are beginning to produce stories that look past current conditions to dive into the history of the citys public hospital system. Decades of Shrinking Hospital Capacity Spelled Disaster for New Yorks COVID Response, read an April 15 City Limits headline.The same day, the New York Times Magazine published a photo essay from inside the public hospitals by Philip Montgomery, with reporting by Jonathan Mahler on the origins of the citys public hospital system, the challenges it has faced in recent decades, and the current unprecedented crisis. I felt it was an important and powerful thing to remind people about that history, and the mission and role [the hospital system] has had, Mahler told me. They have been embattled, but have kept up the fight. Montgomery and Mahler received extensive access to the physical facilities and senior leadership at NYC Health + Hospitals for their article. But access to hospitals and healthcare workers across the private hospital system has been more limited. Politico NY reported that Mount Sinai Health System and NYU Langone Health are among the private hospitals that warned workers against voicing their concerns about the nightmarish scenes playing out in emergency rooms across the city. Other news outlets reported versions of the same, citing several hospital systems that had sent memos to staff ordering them not to speak to the media about conditions inside their hospitals. Some journalists wondered about the impact of the years the hospital system spent relatively free of sustained media scrutiny. Limitations on hospital coverage are often related to HIPAA privacy rules, Hester noted. They have a legal excuse, in a lot of cases, not to deal with the press, he said. But weve had a huge contraction of the press as well, and there hasnt been anywhere near the same day-in and day-out coverage of the system and other health issues. Last week, the Times published a behind-the-scenes account of the events leading up to de Blasios controversial decision to move the citys Covid-19 contact-tracing program to NYC Health + Hospitals. The article, which featured four bylines and quoted from damning, previously unpublished emails written by the agencys director, was the kind of deeply-reported expose rarely seen in recent years about the agency. While it may have preferred the more forgiving coverage of the Times Magazine photo-essay piece, the municipal hospital system should have one clear takeaway from the publication of both articles: the agency is now being treated as a significant beat, and has the full attention of the countrys leading newspaper, as well as the rest of the citys local news outlets. Read the full report here Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Sara Rafsky is a senior research fellow at Columbia Journalism Schools Tow Center for Digital Journalism. She is a writer and researcher who has worked at the intersection of journalism, press freedom, human rights, and documentary film in the US and Latin America. [May 19, 2020] Identity Fraud Losses Increase 15 Percent as Consumer Out-of-Pocket Costs More Than Double, According to 2020 Identity Fraud Report From Javelin Strategy & Research The 2020 Identity Fraud Report, released by Javelin Strategy & Research, reveals financial institutions' methods to identify and respond to fraud are no match for criminals' high-tech schemes to hijack consumer accounts. Fraud losses grew 15 percent in 2019 to $16.9 billion even as instances of fraud fell from 14.4 million in 2018 to 13 million in 2019, which resulted in consumers facing $3.5 million in out-of-pocket costs last year as criminals shifted their focus from card fraud to opening and taking over accounts. "These findings should be a wake-up call for financial institutions, the payments industry, businesses and consumers across America," said Krista Tedder, Head of Fraud with Javelin Strategy & Research. "The data is proof of what we've long known - the full weight of identity fraud lies not only in counterfeit credit cards and magnetic stripes but in full account takeover and new account fraud. Now it's time to elevate our understanding of what security, detection and resolution really mean." The study found account takeovers - identity theft where a criminal gains unauthorized access to an online account belonging to somebody else - are trending at the highest loss rate, up a staggering 72 percent over prior year. This is due in large part to technological advancements that have made it easier for criminals to manipulate and socially engineer information, while making it harder to detect account takeovers without additional security infrastructure. And criminals work quickly - 40 percent of all fraudulent activity associated with an account takeover occurs within a day. "We've learned that scammers are very shrewd and adept at capitalizing on current events and new platforms, including peer-to-peer payment apps," said Kathy Stokes, AARP Director of Fraud Prevention Programs. "Using these payment apps for anything other than sending money to someone you know presents significant fraud risk for both consumers and financial institutions." "Every day, millions of Americans exchange their personal information for convenience," said Jason Park, Chief Growth Officer, Allstate Identity Protection. "When you download an app, open an online account, or enter your email address, your digital footprint grows. The more data you share, the more likely it is that a criminal can access your personal information and use it for fraudulent purposes. That's why it's so important to know who has your data and whether it's been exposed." The study also found that peer-to-peer payments (P2P) fraud is skyrocketing. Financial institutions have found that P2P systems, which allow one person to send payments to another person, have seen a 733 percent increase in fraud between 2016 and 2019. "As fraudsters grow ever more sophisticated, it's critical that the tools used to detect and prevent fraudulent activities, such as account takeovers, become more sophisticated as well," said Jim Johnson, Head of Financial Institutions Payments at FIS. "At FIS, we continue to invest in mobile offerings, cyber intelligence solutions and other advanced technologies that give financial institutions and their consumers the real-time intelligence they need to stay a step ahead of the criminals and protect their personal information and account data." Pushing consumers from static passwords to safer authentication methods ranks among the study's expert recommendations for financial service providers, merchants and other technology companies. The data suggest that consumers are open to making this change but lack the motivation. The latest findings point to the need for a marked shift in how financial service providers, merchants and technology companies fight the ever-evolving battle against fraud. Because criminals are adapting to new technologies faster than consumers will adopt technology to reduce their risk, the financial services industry bears the burden of driving the changes, such as increasing usage of two-factor and biometric authentication and promoting tokenized digital wallets in order to reduce the crippling impact of fraud on the American public. The annual Identity Fraud Report is a comprehensive analysis of identity fraud trends, independently produced by Javelin Strategy & Research. The lead sponsors of this study are AARP, the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older; Allstate Identity Protection from Allstate, the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer; and FIS, a global financial services technology provider. The study is in its seventeenth consecutive year and is the nation's longest-running study of identity fraud, with 85,000 consumers surveyed since 2003. To learn more about the 2020 Identity Fraud Report, visit https://www.javelinstrategy.com/coverage-area/2020-identity-fraud-study-genesis-identity-fraud-crisis. About Javelin Javelin Strategy & Research, a business unit of Escalent, helps its clients make informed decisions in a digital financial world. It provides strategic insights for financial institutions, government, payments companies, merchants, fintechs and technology providers. Javelin's independent insights result from a rigorous research process that assesses consumers, businesses, providers, and the transactions ecosystem. It conducts in-depth primary research studies to pinpoint dynamic risks and opportunities in digital banking, payments, fraud & security, and lending. For more information, visit https://www.javelinstrategy.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. About Escalent Escalent is a top human behavior and analytics firm specializing in industries facing disruption and business transformation. Escalent acquired Javelin Strategy & Research in December 2019. As catalysts of progress for more than 40 years, Escalent tells stories that transform data and insight into a profound understanding of what drives human beings. And it helps businesses turn those drivers into actions that build brands, enhance customer experiences and inspire product innovation. Visit escalent.co to see how it is helping shape the brands that are reshaping the world. About AARP AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering Americans 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With nearly 38 million members and offices in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, AARP works to strengthen communities and advocate for what matters most to families with a focus on health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also works for individuals in the marketplace by sparking new solutions and allowing carefully chosen, high-quality products and services to carry the AARP name. As a trusted source for news and information, AARP produces the nation's largest circulation publications, AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org or follow @AARP and @AARPadvocates on social media. About Allstate Identity Protection Allstate Identity Protection, formerly InfoArmor, is the nation's leader in employee identity protection. We joined the Allstate Corporation family of companies in 2018, and together have 100 years of combined experience protecting what people care about most. In addition to servicing more than 3 million employees across 3,000+ clients, including around a third of the Fortune 500, we aim to bring peace of mind to all Americans via our direct-to-consumer product and channel partnership program. About FIS FIS is a leading provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally. Our over 55,000 people are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests by applying our scale, deep expertise and data-driven insights. We help our clients use technology in innovative ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences for their customers. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS is a Fortune 500 company and is a member of Standard & Poor's 500 Index. To learn more, visit www.fisglobal.com. Follow FIS on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (News - Alert) (@FISGlobal). View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005420/en/ [ Back to the Next Generation Communications Community's Homepage ] Travel demand, especially to leisure destinations, has decreased to almost zero with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Airlines are required to maintain service to every destination they did before the pandemic in order to take part in $50 billion in stimulus loans and grants as part of the coronavirus relief package. California governor Gavin Newsom is now warning of the potential for a third and fourth wave of the coronavirus, stating that we must remain humble by what we still don't know about it. While there may be a lot that we don't know about this sickening virus that was thrust upon the world by communist China, we do know that what is unfolding is unsustainable and unconstitutional. Our society is nearing a state of partial collapse due to protracted mitigation in blue states as the Constitution is trampled upon and set on fire. Newsom, like Dr. Fauci, appears to view our lives through the singular lens of this virus. But life is more complex than that (duh), and Newson is ignoring the larger reality (or at least pretending to) in order to hold onto power. Citing what we still don't know about the virus leaves the door wide open for him to continue to rule like an evil emperor. Hey, Gavin! When will enough be known about this virus for you to feel comfortable to open up your state? Yeah, I thought so. Newsom made a one-two punch by stoking fear with his third and fourth wave comments while establishing an ambiguous threshold for comfort regarding what is and isn't known about the virus. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Boston mayor Marty Walsh created his own new threshold for relinquishing power. His ruse is this: after doing an antibody study in the city, it was found that 90% of Bostonians had not yet been exposed to the virus. And because he feels that mitigation has helped and so few people have had exposure, his response is to keep things clamped down. Sure, Marty. That's genius. Thanks so much for your non-contribution to developing some herd immunity in this country. So this mayor of bluer-than-blue Boston is now using the study to create a new litmus test for opening a test that it seems Bostonians will never be able to meet. Our final exhibit in this display of tyrants is mayor of New York Bill de Blasio, who continues to join his comrades by piling on a threat on top of insanity on top of stupidity on top of cruelty on top of setting fire to the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Although beaches within his jurisdiction remain closed, Governor Cuomo is opening them outside the city, and New Jersey next door is opening its beaches, which caused de Blasio to kick into high gear. He plans to install fencing around the beaches to keep people out, and lifeguards are prohibited from working. And if any person dares sneak into the water, they will be physically removed by cops (wading into the surf in uniforms? or will they be dispatched in wetsuits?) because, according to this freak of a mayor, everyone knows it's very dangerous to swim in the water when no lifeguard is present. And the last thing the mayor wants is people out in the sunshine and fresh air, where virus transmission is difficult, instead of confined in apartments with family members in close quarters, where virus transmission flourishes. The nanny state knows best. Beware! Be careful! Watch out! Don't make a single move without state permission, or there will be consequences. You will be threatened, cited, fined, wrestled to the ground, handcuffed, arrested, physically hauled off, thrown in jail, have your business license revoked. You, and your family, will be investigated. Your children may witness traumatic events as law enforcement moves in. And now, among a growing list of scenes from a police state, you will be physically removed from the ocean if you dare to dip your toes into the water, play in the foam with your family, swim, surf, or simply enjoy a beautiful day outside on the beach. Photo illustration by Monica Showalter with use of KindPNG public domain image. London and other major English cities like Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol can safely ease their lockdown, while others need to take steps to tighten them, according to a new report today. The paper from the Tony Blair institute for Global Change suggests that the UK as a whole could return to around 51 per cent of normal 'mobility' from its current 40 per cent level without taking the dreaded R rate above 1. But the loosening of the shackles in some areas would have to be coupled with even tighter restrictions in areas continuing to struggle with getting the reproduction rate of coronavirus under this key figure. It cites York, Slough, Southend among 14 areas that have not managed to keep a lid on new infections. It also mentions the Isle of Wight, which is being used to trial the Government's new smartphone app. This could cause more pain in areas where the local economy is already facing its worst contraction in decades. Downing Street last week confirmed that the lockdown could be eased at different speeds in different parts of England, depending on the local situation. It came after data revealed just 24 new infections in London. But the loosening of the shackles in some areas would have to be coupled with even tighter restrictions in areas continuing to struggle The paper from the Tony Blair institute for Global Change suggests that the UK as a whole could return to around 51 per cent of normal 'mobility' from its current 40 per cent level without taking the dreaded R rate above 1 The report suggests politicians use an 'early-warning model' that would allow them to 'forecast and monitor the effect of easing measures on the spread of the virus in real time, such a tool could help us manage the virus and minimise the cost at a national and local level'. In today's report, Smart Exit: A Covid-19 Early-Warning Model, authors Ian Mulheirn and Christina Palmou, both economists, wrote: 'Our model suggests that a one percentage point increase in mobility leads to a 2.2 percentage point change in the acceleration of the virus. 'Applying this relationship to the recently observed numbers of new cases in England suggests that mobility could recover to around 51 per cent of its normal level without causing R to breach the threshold of 1. 'This would represent a significant increase in economic activity, potentially saving many businesses and jobs. 'At a local level, we find that some areas of the country have substantial headroom to increase mobility safely, while a minority need to restrict mobility further to slow the spread of the virus. 'London, Merseyside, the West Midlands and Bristol could all increase mobility by around ten percentage points, but in Slough and York it appears already to be too high to get R below 1 locally.' The report suggests politicians use an 'early-warning model' that would allow them to 'forecast and monitor the effect of easing measures on the spread of the virus in real time, such a tool could help us manage the virus and minimise the cost at a national and local level'. It balances increased mobility and the economic benefits against the reproduction rate of coronavirus. A furious blame game erupted today as a Cabinet minister claimed government coronavirus blunders were down to 'wrong' science advice. Therese Coffey insisted the government had just been following the guidance from experts as she fended off damning criticism from MPs over 'inadequate' testing. The Science and Technology Committee found hospital staff, care home workers and residents were put at risk because of a lack of capacity for screening 'when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant'. Routine testing for those with symptoms was abandoned on March 12, when the government shifted to its 'delay' phase, with checks reserved for hospital patients and health staff. Meanwhile, Mr Blair has backed Boris Johnson's administration, saying it is right to be opening schools again. The Prime Minister's plans to start sending children back to school next month has come under attack from teaching unions and some local authorities, with critics arguing it is too soon to lift the coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions. Mr Johnson, in his address to the nation on May 10, said Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils would be the first to go back, starting on June 1 'at the earliest'. His ambition, Mr Johnson said, was that secondary pupils scheduled to take exams next year would 'get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays'. Despite criticism of the proposals in some quarters, Mr Johnson has found an unlikely ally in three-time general election winner Mr Blair. In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday evening, Mr Blair said the Government was adhering to scientific advice by preparing schools to open their doors again. 'They're right, I think, to be reopening the schools,' said Mr Blair. Boris Johnson's plans to start sending children back to school next month has come under attack from teaching unions and some local authorities, with critics arguing it is too soon to lift the coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions 'I don't think they would say that they're putting school opening above health risks. What they're doing is basing it on the evidence, actually. 'There are countries that have reopened parts, at least, of their school system. 'If you look at all the best evidence and again, my institutes assembled a lot of the different data on this, it's, especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low.' Union chiefs have warned teachers it will 'not be safe' to mark pupils' books when schools reopen, while casting yet more doubt on the government's plans to bring children back to primary schools next month. Staff who are members of the UK biggest teaching union will be told to go through a 20-page checklist with their bosses before returning to work. They will only be deemed safe if there is a 'yes' answer to every question, say the National Education Union (NEU). It comes just days after five former education secretaries - Labour's Alan Johnson and Carles Clarke, plus Conservatives Nicky Morgan, Damian Hinds and Justine Greening - revealed they were all backing a phased reopening of schools. Staff who are members of the UK biggest teaching union will be told to go through a 20-page checklist with their bosses before returning to work (pictured: Social distancing measures as a child studies on a marked table at a primary school in Worcester, May 18) Union bosses have told members it is 'extremely unlikely' that primary schools will reopen on June 1 (pictured: Children of essential workers in a lesson in Worcester, May 18) But this week a third council in England was set to defy official advice to reopen schools in June. Pupils in Bury will not return 'while high levels of Covid-19 remain'. Following growing opposition to the plan to reopen primaries to certain year groups from June 1, Bury council says that while high levels of the infection remain in the north west, 'the borough will not be re-opening schools on June 1'. What safety measures are planned to reduce coronavirus in schools? Ministers have unveiled a raft of measures to keep pupils who do return to school safe from coronavirus. They include: Classes of no more than 15 pupils Socially distanced desks Children told to only mix in small groups, with those groups not mixing with others. Increased and regular cleaning of schools Staggered lunch and break times Staggered arrivals and departures Packed lunches No shared classroom equipment Advertisement Unclear guidance around practical arrangements for social distancing within schools, as well as concerns over testing and tracing, and supply of PPE, were listed as other reasons for refusing to open. Unions and the government are continuing to clash over plans to reopen primary schools by June 1. But the NEU, which has more than 450,000 members, has cast fresh doubt on the government's plans, which were confirmed by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson over the weekend. Union bosses have told members it is 'extremely unlikely' that primary schools will reopen on June 1. In a document, named the Planning Guide for Primary Schools, seen by MailOnline, the NEU has challenged the government's plan to use micro-groups - similar to the system used in Denmark - which will reduce the need to keep students and teachers more than two metres apart. The NEU instead is urging strict two metre social distancing measures remain in place - as is being done in other workplaces. The planning document also includes a 20-page safety checklist, written jointly with fellow unions, Unite, Unison and GMB, which it will urge its members to go through with bosses before they return to schools. Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the NEU, said: 'Our checklist incorporates and builds on the Government's own toolkit for primary school wider opening. That is what makes our checklist rigorous. 'It is designed for use when it is safe to open schools nationally. It sets out the standards which teachers, school staff and parents should expect to be met before the head teacher decides that the school is safe to open more widely.' In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday evening, Tony Blair said the Government was adhering to scientific advice by preparing schools to open their doors again He added: 'Teachers and support staff will be responsible for ensuring safe practices are implemented, as young children will not be able to do so themselves. Parents would expect nothing less.' Health Secretary Matt Hancock looked to reassure the House of Commons on Monday, telling MPs only a 'very small' number of children were 'badly affected' by Covid-19. Mr Blair backed up the comments, telling the BBC his own institute - the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change - had gathered data to show that 'especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low'. He argued that private schools had been continuing to educate their pupils, while youngsters in the state system had been given 'no education at all' since schools were told to shut their gates on March 20 as the coronavirus outbreak took hold. 'Let's be clear, the private schools will have been educating their children throughout this,' added Mr Blair, a father of four. 'Parts of the state system will have been. But then there are some children who will have been having no education at all. You've got to get the schools back.' Union leaders remain unconvinced with the argument put forward by ministers and Mr Blair, however. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that teachers 'haven't yet seen the scientific underpin' to back up the assertion that the transmission risk among pupils is low. He has called on ministers to write to unions explaining the Government's assessment. During the same interview, Mr Blair also gave his approval to the way Sir Keir Starmer has been leading Labour during the pandemic since his election as leader in April. 'It's changed for the better, for sure, in my view,' Mr Blair said of the current state of the party. 'Because it's got a serious leadership that's already making an impact because they're showing competence, forensic skill, in dissecting the Government. 'I think he's done a very good job so far and I wish him every success.' The province will give $14.2 million a month in extra funding to the operators of continuing-care centres, nursing homes and assisted-living facilities to pay for more staff and for extra cleaning during the COVID-19 pandemic, says Alberta's health minister. Tyler Shandro announced the new funding, which will be retroactive to March 15, at a news conference on Tuesday. The funding will cost the province about $170 million this year, Shandro said. Operators will be required to report how they spend the money, the province said in a news release, and facilities will need to return money not spent on COVID-related purposes. The extra funding will continue until the orders from Alberta's chief medical officer of health are lifted and will be distributed in co-ordination with Alberta Health Services and Alberta Seniors and Housing. 33 new cases Alberta reported 33 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the lowest daily number since April 9. A total of 201 new cases were identified over the past four days, fewer than the province reported on May 1 alone. No new deaths were reported. Though Stage 1 of Alberta's relaunch plan is well underway, the chief medical officer of health said it's too early to see the full impact of reopening much of the province. "So far the numbers are good, they're very stable, which is excellent, that's what I would want to see," said Dr. Deena Hinshaw. It's important to remember that while the incubation period is up to 14 days the average incubation period is five to eight days, she said. Since the reopening happened on Thursday, this week will be critical, with a more accurate understanding of the impact likely available by mid-week. "I expect over the next couple of days as we see the daily case counts, that's what we're going to be looking to very closely," Hinshaw said. "But certainly the numbers to date have been good, and I commend those in Calgary and Brooks who are taking the necessary measures even as retail businesses have opened, and some additional activities have opened, to continue to follow the public health measures to prevent transmission. Story continues "And also those who have come forward to offer to be tested though they have no symptoms. That also is going to help us get a better understanding of what kind of infection rate there is in the community." More asymptomatic test results Laboratories have received results from more than 3,400 tests done on asymptomatic people in Calgary, she said, with 430 of those tests done on close contacts of confirmed cases. In that group, there were 75 positive results. "There were only 48 positive results in the remaining 3,000 people tested, showing that the likelihood of infection is much greater when there is a known exposure," she said. Those who signed up for asymptomatic testing before Monday will be offered tests this week. "We need to remember that being safe, while relaunching the economy, can save lives," Hinshaw said. "The virus is still with us and we must do everything we can to prevent the spread at home, when we are out, and when we are at work. "I want to remind you that working remotely where possible is still recommended until Stage 2 of our relaunch." Sweden's approach Hinshaw said she is often asked about the pandemic response adopted by Sweden, where the government put minimum stay-at-home or physical-distancing orders in place and instead recommended that people take such steps wherever possible. That country has seen more than 30,000 cases of COVID-19 and reported more than 3,700 deaths. "I, too, have been following Sweden's experience," Hinshaw said. "There are a few things to note about the impacts they have felt, and the differences between Sweden and Alberta. More than half of all households in Sweden are single-person households, she said, which makes physical distancing much easier. In Alberta, less than one-quarter of all households have only one person. Sweden capped gatherings at 50 people, closed high schools and post-secondary institutions, she said, and enforced physical-distancing restrictions where they were needed. "Sweden's advice-based rather than regulatory approach came at some cost," Hinshaw said. "As of yesterday, their toll was 3,698 deaths. That is 36 deaths per 100,000 in their population, which is 12 times Alberta's rate of three per 100,000 population. "In addition, their ICU admission rate was 18 times Alberta's." 'Costs to every choice' Despite Sweden's less stringent approach to the pandemic, their economy has shrunk in a similar way to neighbouring countries that used much more aggressive containment measures, she said. "My point is not that there is one right or wrong way to deal with the pandemic, but rather that there are costs to every choice. In Sweden, there has been a cost of higher death rates. "In Alberta, as elsewhere around the world, there has been a cost of temporary restrictions on some freedoms. We have not seen a high attack rate or death toll here because Albertans have protected each other by our actions." As of Tuesday, 61 people were in Alberta hospitals with COVID-19, eight of them in intensive care beds. There were 1,004 active cases in the province on Tuesday, with 5,584 people listed as recovered. The total number of deaths remained at 128. With the daily number of COVID-19 cases down over the past few days, Hinshaw will no longer hold daily news conferences to update the numbers. She is scheduled to host two live updates this week, one Tuesday and another on Thursday, while next week she will speak on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. BEIJING, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- GSX Techedu Inc. (NYSE: GSX) ("GSX" or the "Company"), a leading online K-12 large-class after-school tutoring service provider in China, today refuted the false allegations in Muddy Waters Research's latest report, dated May 18, 2020. The Company respects Muddy Waters' efforts. However, after analyzing the report, the Company believes that Muddy Waters lacks a basic understanding of GSX's operations. The Company's management regrets to see confusion in the market and will continue to use its best efforts to ensure that investors fully understand all aspects of the business. The Company would like to respond to some of the specific allegations: 1. Precise Joiners, Burst Joiners and Early Joiners GSX's business, which focuses on online live large classes, splits a large class with one instructor into smaller groups with multiple tutors. Burst joiners are caused when classes transition from tutors to instructors, which is a typical course procedure. Typically, a tutor offers a prep session before a paid class to warm up students with games and quizzes. When the formal class starts, the tutor will transition all his or her students from the small groups to the instructor's large class, and the instructor takes over. If a tutor fails to do so in time, the system will automatically switch classes for students, usually around the class start times, thus causing large groups of users to join classes at the same time. Precise joiners exist for the same reason, especially with respect to K-12 classes, which are typically delivered periodically. Early joiners are students who sign in early to participate in the tutor's prep sessions. 2. GSX IP Joiners GSX reproduced the full dataset for all of the Company's paid classes between January and March 2020, and concluded that the IP overlap rate between students, instructors and tutors was only 0.78%, far less than the 28.2% claimed in the report. We believe that a 0.78% overlap is a reasonable level. 3. Chairman Larry Xiangdong Chen's Share Pledge On April 7, 2020, Larry received a margin loan of US$50 million by pledging an immaterial proportion of his GSX shares. The 9 million ADRs mentioned in Muddy Waters' report were not the actual pledged amount, but a total deposit amount by Larry through the pledging process, since he was not able to retrieve and split the physical stock certificate from the United States due to the COVID-19 outbreak. 4. Remarks in the Report The remarks in the report allege that Weishi and Beijing Youlian provided bot users to GSX. Firstly, Weishi is a GSX-owned and consolidated online live broadcasting vendor. All of its transactions are properly recorded. Transactions within GSX are eliminated during the preparation of GSX's consolidated financial statements. In short, GSX cannot inflate net revenues through internal transactions. The allegation is false. Secondly, transactions with Beijing Youlian have been fully disclosed in the Company's annual filings. The transactions were negligible and accounted for 0.025% of GSX's net revenues in the first quarter of 2020. Lastly, GSX's current business is completely different from online-to-offline model. The Company focuses entirely on online live large classes, and has been profitable with positive operating cash flow and increasing cash and cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments since IPO. The short report does not reflect the Company's current business situation. As always, GSX is committed to maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance, as well as transparent and timely disclosure in compliance with the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the NYSE. The Company remains focused on further developing its business, better serving its students, and creating value for shareholders over the long term. Safe Harbor Statement This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar statements. GSX may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual reports to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's reports filed with, or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and GSX undertakes no duty to update such information or any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. About GSX GSX is a technology-driven education company and leading online K-12 large-class after-school tutoring service provider in China. GSX offers K-12 courses covering all primary and secondary grades as well as foreign language, professional and interest courses. GSX adopts an online live large-class format to deliver its courses, which the Company believes is the most effective and scalable model to disseminate scarce high-quality teaching resources to aspiring students in China. Big data analytics permeates each aspect of the Company's business and facilitates the application of the latest technology to improve teaching delivery, student learning experience, and operational efficiency. For further information, please contact: GSX Techedu Inc. Ms. Sandy Qin, CFA E-mail: [email protected] Christensen In China Mr. Christian Arnell Phone: +86-10-5900-1548 E-mail: [email protected] In US Ms. Linda Bergkamp Phone: +1-480-614-3004 Email: [email protected] SOURCE GSX Techedu Inc. Related Links www.genshuixue.com 1. The countrys top economic policymakers warned of irreparable damage from the coronavirus pandemic. But in their virtual appearances before the Senate, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, above, and the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, took differing views on how to aid recovery. Mr. Mnuchin said a swift reopening of states was the key to preventing irreversible economic damage, while Mr. Powell took a more cautious tone, suggesting that Congress, the White House and the Fed might need to provide more help to carry the nation through the pandemic. [May 19, 2020] Baffle Launches Secure Data Sharing Platform to Power Privacy-Preserving Analytics and Business Intelligence Baffle, Inc., an advanced data protection company, today released Baffle (News - Alert) Secure Data Sharing, the first multiparty data sharing platform that allows companies to easily and securely share distributed data across multiple parties, without exposing the underlying data values. Baffle Secure Data Sharing allows for shared analytics and business intelligence without violating privacy or compliance mandates, unlocking the ability for organizations to responsibly share information with third parties. In today's society, information needs to be shared more than ever so that collective data sets can deliver on the promise of intelligence and advanced insights. Often, security and bureaucracy can impede the ability to collaborate across organizations in a variety of scenarios and industries. Baffle Secure Data Sharing addresses privacy and security concerns by anonymizing data and data owners while still allowing analytics and machine learning operations to process. Baffle Secure Data Sharing is available across all cloud platforms (Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google (News - Alert) Cloud Platform) and requires no application rewrites or code changes. Available today, the solution is sold as part of the Baffle Advanced Data Protection solution. Click to Tweet: [email protected] launches Secure Data Sharing platform to power privacy-preserving analytics and business intelligence baffle.io/press-releases/baffle-secure-data-sharing #cybersecurity #infosec #datasharing According to an Opus/Ponemon Institute (News - Alert) study, companies share confidential or sensitive information with, on average, 471 third parties, up 25 percent from the year before. The study also found that more than half of the data breaches were caused by those third parties who, in turn, pointed to a cyberattack against them as the main cause. Examples of secure data sharing in healthcare include genetic studies for disease outcome analysis, population health management, and the recent GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi collaboration on an adjuvanted vaccine to prevent the coronavirus. Financial institutions also use this capability to detect cyberattacks by sharing Indications of Compromise (IoCs) without sharing their identities. "The security and privacy defenses protecting today's modern information supply chain are woefully inadequate," said Ameesh Divatia, CEO and co-founder, Baffle. "Organizations are faced with a choice to either not share information or do so in an insecure manner. Baffle Secure Data Sharing solves that dilemma by enabling analytics of shared sensitive data without ever compromising security or privacy." A recent Gartner (News - Alert) report (1) states: "Secure Multiparty Compute (SMPC) is very popular for use cases where organizations need to share data with, and/or analyze data from, multiple parties without disclosing their respective information (the data or the analytics model) to each other. Examples include information sharing between unaffiliated financial services, where one organization owns the data and the other organization owns the analytical model. The organizations can create a win-win situation by bringing both the data and model together, but each institution considers the other institution as untrusted and does not want to share their key intellectual property." Baffle was named a 2019 Cool Vendor in Privacy Preservation in Analytics (2). Learn how Baffle simplifies encryption and data privacy. Request a demo: https://baffle.io/request-a-demo/ Gartner, Securing the Data and Advanced Analytics Pipeline, by Joerg Fritsch, 27 January 2020. Gartner, Cool Vendors in Privacy Preservation in Analytics, Bart Willemsen, et al, 4 September 2019. Disclaimer Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. About Baffle Baffle simplifies enterprise encryption. The company's modern, data-centric encryption and advanced data protection solution is designed for distributed and cloud-native environments, DevOps and microservices. Only Baffle protects data at rest, in memory, in the search index and while in use with AES encryption that requires no application rewrites, no key management changes and no business process breakage. Baffle's investors include True Ventures, Clearvision Ventures, ServiceNow (News - Alert) Ventures [NYSE: NOW], Greenspring Associates, Thomvest Ventures, Engineering Capital, Industry Ventures and Triphammer Ventures. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005226/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A Commission of Iranian Parliament on Monday tasked the government to create a 'virtual embassy' in Palestine within the next six months, as per China-based Xinhua news agency. READ: Iran's Supreme Leader Says Americans Will Be Expelled From Iraq And Syria 'Virtual embassy' The National Security and Foreign Policy Commission approved a motion bill, which obliges Iran's Foreign Ministry to lay the groundwork for "the Islamic Republic's Virtual Embassy in Palestine." Iran's lawmakers approved the double urgency motion which, if turned into the law, would oblige the Iranian government to take measures against hostile measures of Israel. One article also mentioned that "the historic land of Palestine belongs to the original Palestinian people". READ: Five Iran Tankers Sailing To Venezuela Amid US Pressure Tactics The approval of the Commission has to be turned into a law by the Parliament for it to be enforced. READ: Last Batch Of 310 Stranded Pilgrims Evacuated From Iran, Return To Ladakh READ: Jaishankar Discusses Coronavirus With Counterparts From Qatar, Niger, UAE, Palestine The London Market Group (LMG) and McKinsey launched the London Matters 2020 reporttoday, an update on the London (re)insurance market's position between 2010 and 2018. The data and analysis reflect this period, but the report does not include any impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key statistics include: The London Market remains the largest global (re)insurance hub, and the gap between London and the total gross written premium written in Bermuda, Switzerland and Singapore has widened from $16bn in 2015 to $23bn in 2018. London's share of the global commercial (re)insurance market has remained steady since 2010 at an average of 7.6%. Commercial insurance share has grown by 0.1 percentage point, while its share of global reinsurance has fallen by 1.7 percentage points. North America replaces the UK Ireland as the biggest source of income into the London Market. London continued to underperform in Asia and Africa. Matthew Moore, Chair of the LMG said; "This report finds the London Market in good shape. Aggregate market share held steady, maintaining London's global dominance and attracting more US business than ever before. Nevertheless, some of the underlying challenges remain. Our share of reinsurance business is shrinking and in emerging markets it remains small. "However, the effects on market structure, products, processes and working practices caused by the COVID-19 crisis are likely to be profound and long-lasting. The current crisis shows that the London Market can support its trading partners and clients through the toughest of challenges, and the fact it is doing so today is in part down to its adoption of previous LMG initiatives. For example, electronic placement has meant that remote working has been possible, and that contracts have been placed and renewed with legal certainty. The (re)insurance industry's support for the wider business community has never been more important, whatever the circumstances they face." The report tracks the key data on the London Market including overall size, breakdown by class of business, geographical sources of risks and its financial contribution. For the first time it looks specifically at investment in the London Market, the contribution its claims make to the wider global economy and changes to the make-up of its (re)insurers. ENDS Visit https://lmg.london/ to download the report. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005062/en/ Contacts: For more information please contact: Caroline Wagstaff Luther Pendragon tel: +44 (0)20-7618-9158 My wife and I are 80 years old and have five grandchildren, all in their 20s and unmarried. Since their births we have been saving regularly for all of them and now have a total of 150,000 to be divided equally between them. We have left this money in our wills, but think we should divide it out now to show our love for them rather than after our funerals. What advice would you give? J. and M. B., London. Inheritance issue: A reader is looking for advice on giving his five grandchildren a 150,000 gift What thoughtful grandparents you are. I am sure your grandchildren know how much you love them, even without the benefit of this gift. I won't go into whether you can afford to give this money to them because this is clearly a long-term plan. Tax-wise it won't make an iota of difference to them whether you make the gift now or later. It may affect inheritance tax on your estate because if you live for seven years after making the gift then it will drop out of your estate. If you both die sooner, then that 150,000 will be deducted from your inheritance tax nil-rate band, which is 325,000 each (a total of 650,000). If you are property owners and your home is left to direct descendants, then you have up to 175,000 of extra residence allowance each (depending on the property's value) raising the allowance to 1 million between you. One point to consider is whether your grandchildren would put this money to good use. You may, for example, wish to stipulate that it is put aside as a home deposit rather than being splurged on something frivolous. Explain to them how long you have been saving this money and how important it is to you that they use it wisely. Also, check whether they are receiving benefits because coming into a lump sum could have an effect on these. On a similar issue, I'm assuming the money is in your hands rather than held in trust for your grandchildren. So if you hold on to it and both need care later in life, it could disappear into local authority coffers. My feeling is, if you think they are ready, go ahead. You've saved this money and you should get to see them enjoy it. Don't forget to update your will or they could end up getting an extra gift. You have YOUR say Every week Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some on our investigation into how holidaymakers are being bullied into paying thousands of pounds for trips that are unlikely to go ahead. If travel operators keep hold of customers money, then they should be regulated by the financial watchdog. These firms seem to just do whatever they want. G. D., Howden, E. Yorks. I am obviously not going to fly out for a holiday if I have to self-isolate for 14 days when I arrive there. Fortunately, I paid for a flexible ticket, so I can just move the whole booking to next year. T. C., Solihull, Warks. I am sure this will change insurance policies in the future. Travel insurance and potentially even life insurance policyholders will be charged higher premiums and there will be exemptions for anything related to a virus. J. W., Plymouth, Devon. I feel very sorry for everybody who is waiting for a refund. Re-booking is not an option for many people, including those who may have lost their jobs. Lets hope people remember which holiday companies treated them well. A. L., Rogate, W. Sussex. I am trying to get refunds for eight flights, two hotel bookings and a cruise. I cant re-book next year as I already have other holidays in the diary. I know I will end up losing a lot of money. T. Y., Leicester. We were due to fly next month and I told my partner not to pay the full deposit when it was due. However he did, but the airline gave us a cash refund. It depends on the companys policy. T. F., by email. I had a trip booked for December and thought it was wise to cancel or delay, but I was told I would be charged a fee worth 60 per cent of total cost if I did. F. D., Nottingham. In January 2017 I was contacted by a phone broker who offered to move my contract from Vodafone. They promised to settle any fee with Vodafone. In February this year a debt collection firm working for Vodafone demanded a 743 outstanding cancellation fee. I tried to contact the phone broker but they had gone into voluntary liquidation. Another broker with a different name is operating from the same offices and has the same directors. I have written to Vodafone and informed the Ombudsman, but appear to owe the money. S. B., Worcestershire. Basically, you were conned by a fly-by-night operation. There are lessons here for others, the most important being: don't do business with unknown firms that phone you up. If you want to move a utility contract, do your own research and do it direct. Or use a legitimate household-name switching firm such as switch.which.co.uk, Uswitch or moneysupermarket. Cancel your existing contract personally. Some operators may offer to do this, but keep evidence and check bills and your bank statements. Don't cancel the direct debit until your old provider has had a chance to collect its final payment. Vodafone has offered a 20 per cent bill reduction, reducing your debt to around 600. That's the best I can do. I suggest you treat this as a hard lesson learnt. But do pass details of your experience to your local Trading Standards office. Straight to the point A few weeks after celebrating my 74th birthday at a hotel restaurant I was sent a 60 parking fine. My wife has a Blue Badge. The hotel says it requested for the fine to be cancelled, but now I cant get through to check. B. P., Birmingham. Good news the fine has been cancelled. The hotel recently changed its parking system which requires motorists with Blue Badges to register at reception. *** I saw a reader had struggled to get the expiry date on a M&S credit note extended despite not being able to use it due to the pandemic. Im having the same problem and cant get through on the phone. M. Warner., Horsmonden, Kent. You have several credit notes. M&S has exchanged one worth 24.91 that was due to expire very soon for a gift card. You can use this in store or online at any point over the next two years. The others, valued at 72, do not expire until later in the year. If you find you can still not get to a shop then, M&S will change these for gift cards, too. *** I ordered a dishwasher from Currys PC World for my new home in March 2018. But my house purchase fell through so I had to change the delivery details. Despite being assured this wouldnt be a problem, the dishwasher was sent to the old address; and when it arrived at the right one, it flooded the kitchen. The replacement was also faulty and I am still without a working dishwasher. L.J., Isle of Wight. Currys has apologised for the time it took to fix the issue and has provided a refund. *** After arranging to stay in a holiday apartment in Spain my booking was cancelled shortly before I was due to travel because there was no room. Booking.com offered alternative accommodation, but it cost 34.51 more. I paid, as there were no other options at such short notice, but now think I should be refunded the difference. M. F., by email. Booking.com had already offered you 25 (22) in compensation, but following my involvement it has now also agree to pay the 34.51 difference in cost. I have been trying to obtain a refund from Avanti West Coast for tickets to Penrith. I emailed and was told to obtain a refund from where I bought them, which was London Euston. The country is in lockdown and I am over 70, so cannot travel by train from St Albans to Euston. I have tried the online refund form, but the page just flickers so I cannot complete it. There were three of us meant to be travelling: myself, my disabled adult son and a carer. The total cost was 368.40. R. H., St Albans. How utterly absurd to suggest a person in the vulnerable category should board a train to return to Euston for a refund. I took a look at the refund section on Avanti's website. The problem seems to be that it is only offering refunds on stations where they sell tickets. Euston does not appear in the drop-down menu, hence the screen going crazy. You also tried to phone Euston to no avail. Avanti has sent you a cheque for the refund. Incidentally, you tell me that the reason for buying the tickets in person is that when you previously booked online, the complications with buying for you, a carer and your son with a variety of railcards meant you were allocated two seats in one carriage and one in another. This is something else train operators need to look at. At least seven homes were lost in a brush fire in southwest Florida, and many of the victims say they escaped with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. The 8,663-acre wildfire fire in Collier County continued to burn over the weekend and was around 40 percent contained as of Sunday. The Florida Forest Service said in a release Sunday morning that 146 firefighters were working to contain the fire. Greater Naples Fire Chief Kingman Schuldt confirmed earlier that seven residences were lost in the blaze. The Naples Daily News spoke with residents Saturday and found several displaced community members, suggesting the official number of homes lost will rise. One man thought hed lost his father to the blaze. Michael Christensen drove through the fire Wednesday only to find his dads trailer engulfed in flames. Neighbors told Christensen that his dad, also named Mike Christensen, was refusing to leave his home for more than 40 years. I couldnt see anything, he said. All I could see was flames. Like dad, dad, where are you dad? What Christensen didnt know at the time was that another neighbor had already grabbed his dad and hauled him to safety, kicking and screaming, Michael Christensens wife, Patty, said. Mike Christensen, a heart transplant recipient about 10 years back, recently suffered a stroke. He still struggles to speak, but remains committed to staying on the land. I lost everything, he said, but added, I aint leaving. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Florida Homeowners SHOP 100% local STAND with small business SUPPORT our neighborhood employers Together, we will recover Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Vice-Mayor Jeff Harris were named co-chairs of the initiative with Inside Sacramento Publisher Cecily Hastings, who launched the effort in March. SAFE Credit Union was announced as the first business partner supporting the campaign with funds and marketing assistance. "Our small businesses create the character of our communities and form a large part of our economic base," said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg. "Many of them are now struggling or are even faced with closure. We need to support them now to make sure they are still here when this is over." Vice-Mayor Jeff Harris, the first elected official to sign on to the campaign, said, "In these difficult times, it is imperative that we support our local small businesses in every way possible. Our small businesses are the major employers in our region, and we need to focus on employment during reopening to jump start our economy. Let's keep our dollars local!" Inside Sacramento Publisher Cecily Hastings launched the initiative after shelter-in-place orders led to the immediate closure of thousands of businesses in the Greater Sacramento region. It started as a grass-roots movement that invited businesses to post the signs, as well as pose with the pledge signs and post the images to social media. "As the publisher of Inside Sacramento, I know firsthand how important regional businesses are to the health and vitality of our community," Cecily Hastings says. "They are the engine that drives employment and growth. The pandemic has posed real existential challenges to our local businesses. I launched the Take 100% Local Pledge in mid-March when I saw the urgent need." The initiative encourages people to shop at all businesses located in the Sacramento region, not just those locally owned. As she sought to expand the program, she reached out to the Mayor's Office, Councilmember Harris, and SAFE Credit Union for additional support. "We see this as an important opportunity to help businesses in the community," said SAFE Credit Union President and CEO Dave Roughton. "SAFE joins others in our industry in showing strong leadership in helping our communities weather the impact of COVID-19," continued Roughton. "As one of the few credit unions in the Greater Sacramento region that also offers business banking services and commercial lending, we stand in support of our business members. SAFE Credit Union supports the Shop 100% Local Pledge and we encourage other businesses to join us. Right now, we can make a difference but we have to work together. Things may have felt a little out of control. But we together can take back the future of our region by taking the pledge," Roughton said. In a further show of support for those shopping local, during May and June, SAFE Credit Union announced it is providing 5% cash back to SAFE Cash Rewards Visa cardholders for all purchases made at grocery stores and restaurants as well as food delivery services such as Postmates, Uber Eats, Doordash, Instacart and GrubHub. Details are available at www.safecu.org/we-reward-you. The political acumen and connections of Sacramento elected officials Steinberg and Harris, combined with partnership from SAFE Credit Union, allow the "Take the 100% Local Pledge" to expand into a more robust program. Businesses and organizations such as chambers of commerce and business districts are invited to participate at one of various levels, from obtaining single signs to buying several hundred to distribute to businesses. To promote local businesses, individual signs will be available for pickup at certain area businesses, starting with Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op, 2820 R St. Businesses can also learn how to participate by visiting insidesacramento.com/100-local-pledge, emailing Cecily Hastings at [email protected] or by calling 916-203-8528. More information about the program is available at insidesacramento.com/100-local-pledge The levels (which only cover signage printing costs at a local printer) are: Partner: $3,000 200 two-sided color yard signs with corporate logo. Listing in Inside Sacramento print advertising, website, and e-newsletters. Corporate Supporter: $1,500 100 two-sided color yard signs with corporate logo. Listing in Inside Sacramento print advertising and website. Large District Supporter: $750 50 two-sided color yard signs. Listing in Inside Sacramento print advertising and website. Small District Supporter: $500 25 two-sided color yard signs. Listing in Inside Sacramento print advertising and website. Individual Supporter Purchase a sign for $20 cash/check of $25 credit/debit cards at select retail locations. Businesses can purchase as well as loyal customers who want to provide one to their favorite business About Inside Sacramento Inside Sacramento publishes more than 83,000 direct-mail newspapers each month delivering 100% local news the following neighborhoods: EAST SACRAMENTO, McKINLEY PARK, RIVER PARK, ELMHURST, TAHOE PARK, COMMONS, ARDEN, SIERRA OAKS, WILHAGGIN, DEL PASO MANOR, CARMICHAEL, LAND PARK, CURTIS PARK, HOLLYWOOD PARK, SOUTH LAND PARK, MIDTOWN AND DOWNTOWN GRID, OAK PARK, POCKET, GREENHAVEN, SOUTH POCKET, LITTLE POCKET, RIVERLAKE, DELTA SHORES. About SAFE SAFE Credit Union has made members an integral part of its vision since 1940. Over the years the credit union has kept the focus on what really matters, putting members first, a formula that has seen SAFE grow into a leading financial institution in Northern California with more than $3 billion in assets and about 236,000 members. SAFE crafts every cutting-edge product and sterling service with members' needs foremost in mind. In addition to banking services conveniently available through online, chat, mobile, or phone options, SAFE offers in-person care for members and small businesses at service centers across the Greater Sacramento region and a mortgage lending office serving Contra Costa and Alameda counties. SAFE is a not-for-profit, state-chartered credit union with membership open to businesses and individuals living or working in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, El Dorado, Sutter, Butte, Nevada, Solano, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Yuba, Amador, and Alameda counties. Insured by NCUA. www.safecu.org SOURCE SAFE Credit Union Related Links www.safecu.org Dubais Roads and Transport Authority, RTA, has signed an agreement granting Mashreq Bank the naming rights of the ex-Sharaf DG Metro Station. Thus, the new name of the station has become Mashreq Metro Station. The strategic location is near many of the banks customers and will enable Dubai Metros travelers to complete their transactions directly at the station, a WAM report said. Abdul Mohsen Ibrahim Younes, CEO of Rail Agency signed the agreement on behalf of RTA, and Subroto Som, Senior Executive Vice President & Head of Retail Banking Group signed on behalf Mashreq Bank. In a related development, Hassan Al-Mutawa, Director of Rail Operation, at RTAs Rail Agency revealed that RTA would rename two Dubai Metro stations namely Palm Deira and Nakheel Harbour and Tower to become: Gold Souq and Jabal Ali respectively. RTA has mapped out a plan for finalising the renaming of the said three metro stations between May 18 and June 2, noted Al-Mutawa. Mashreq Station is an elevated station with an air theme. It spans 6,638 square metres in area and extends 138.28 metres in length. It can accommodate 14,244 riders during peak hours, and a daily capacity to handle 256,392 riders. Jabal Ali Station, a transfer station between the Red Line and Route 2020 has a water-theme and covers an area of 8,800 square metres with 150 metres in length. It has a capacity of 16,964 riders during peak hours and a daily ridership of 320,000 riders. Gold Souq station is an underground station with a water-themed design over an area of 20,420 square metres and a length of 145.10 metres. It can handle 26,416 riders during peak hours and a daily capacity of 475,488 riders.-- Tradearabia News Service UPPSALA, Sweden, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today on 19 May 2020, Orexo AB (publ) held an extraordinary general meeting. The extraordinary general meeting passed the following resolutions. Long-term incentive program LTIP 2020 The extraordinary general meeting resolved, in accordance with the board's proposal, to adopt a long-term incentive program for senior executives and key employees within the Orexo group. Long-term incentive program LTIP Stay-on 2020 The extraordinary general meeting resolved, in accordance with the board's proposal, to adopt a long-term incentive program for certain Global Management Team employees and US Leadership Team employees within the Orexo group. Complete proposals regarding the resolutions by the extraordinary general meeting in accordance with the above are available at Orexo's website, www.orexo.com . For more information please contact: Orexo +46 (0)18-780-88-00 +46 (0)18-780-88-88 http://www.orexo.com [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/orexo/r/report-from-orexo-ab-s-extraordinary-general-meeting--19-may-2020,c3115909 The following files are available for download: SOURCE Orexo WASHINGTON - Social media was supposed to be the great equalizer, but a majority of elected officials in Canada, the United States and elsewhere are struggling to connect with people on Twitter, a new study suggests. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2020 (611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app icon on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. Social media was supposed to be the great equalizer, but a new study suggests that most elected officials in Canada, the United States and elsewhere are struggling to connect with people on Twitter. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Matt Rourke, File) WASHINGTON - Social media was supposed to be the great equalizer, but a majority of elected officials in Canada, the United States and elsewhere are struggling to connect with people on Twitter, a new study suggests. Among rank-and-file federal legislators in five countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, 25 per cent of active tweeters produced 65 per cent of the content, says the study, released Monday by the Washington-based Pew Research Center. "Some of these tweets produce tens of thousands of likes and retweets from the broader Twitter public," the centre said in a release. "But in the majority of cases, tweets from these legislators simply pass from view into the internet void." The Pew analysis more than 1.3 million tweets from 2,056 politicians was conducted during the first six months of 2019, when political discourse in Canada was dominated by talk of the SNC-Lavalin scandal and the tensions between the Prime Minister's Office and former justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould. In the U.S., it was President Donald Trump's state of the union speech, and Brexit in the U.K. In many ways, it reflects the findings of a broader 2018 study of adult Twitter users in the U.S., which found that 80 per cent of the content was produced by just 10 per cent of American users of the platform. U.S. Twitter users tend to be younger, wealthier and more educated than their non-tweeting counterparts, and are more likely to identify as Democrats, that study found. They also tend to be women and more politically active. In Canada, MPs on Twitter generated a median of 48 tweets per month over the course of the study, which was conducted during the first half of 2019, but attracted a median of just five "likes" and one retweet per month. Of those, the 25 per cent most active users of the platform received 80 per cent of likes and retweets. Lawmakers in the U.S., the most active group of the five countries studied, had monthly medians of 79 tweets, 18 likes and five retweets. Elected officials tended to be more prolific than their appointed counterparts. In Canada, only 67 per cent of senators were active on Twitter, compared with 94 per cent of federal MPs. Across the board, heads of state and party leaders whose own accounts were excluded from the study received the most mentions, with President Donald Trump leading in the U.S. at 80 per cent and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Canada with 73 per cent. 2019 was also an election year in Canada; Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer earned 58 per cent of Canadian mentions, followed by his party's account at 45 per cent and the Liberals at 42 per cent. Wilson-Raybould, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and Finance Minister Bill Morneau also landed in the top 10 of mentions. A tweet by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in response to the March 2019 shootings in Christchurch received the most retweets from legislators during the study period, including 38 in the U.K. Upstart New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, easily one of the most active Twitter users on Capitol Hill with some 6.8 million followers, won the most likes during the study for a video of herself dancing outside her office a response to a similar viral video that surfaced from her years at Boston University. The Pew study even delves into the most popular emojis used during the study window: the Canadian, U.S. and Australian flags dominated in their respective countries, while face emojis are more popular in New Zealand than anywhere else. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2020. Follow James McCarten on Twitter @CdnPressStyle Washington: President Donald Trump escalated his threats against the World Health Organisation over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying he would permanently cut US funding if it does not make sweeping reforms. He said that the international agency must demonstrate "independence from China", according to a letter, which the president posted on Twitter late Monday American Eastern Standard Time. "If the World Health Organisation does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organisation permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation," Trump wrote in the letter to Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In a tweet accompanying a copy of the letter, Trump called it "self-explanatory". He said the WHO had ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in December 2019, made misleading claims about human-to-human transmission and repeatedly praised China for its transparency. The head of the World Health Organisation said on Monday that an independent evaluation of the global coronavirus response would be launched as soon as possible, and China backed such a review. WHO pushed back against global travel restrictions and did not declare a pandemic until March 11, more than two weeks after Australia did so. Trump also took aim at Taiwan's exclusion from the UN health body. China claims sovereignty over its island neighbour, which has only recorded 440 cases of the virus to date. Two days ago, the President tweeted that he was actively considering restoring some but not all of US funding to the organisation after he announced a suspension on April 14. The shift comes as the World Health Assembly prepares to pass an Australian-EU led motion calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of coronavirus after gaining the support of the US and more than 120 other countries. China's President Xi Jinping said he backed WHO leading a "comprehensive review" of the international response to the virus on Monday, but stopped short of endorsing the Australian-EU led motion for an independent review. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the first meeting of the assembly on Monday that the organisation welcomed the proposed resolution because everyone had lessons to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic. Every country and every organisation must examine its response and learn from its experience, he said. Bloomberg In context: Sometimes, things just take a little bit longer than expected. At Microsofts Build conference five years ago, the company made a widely reported prediction that the Windows 10 ecosystem would expand out to one billion devices over the course of a 2-3 year time period. Unfortunately, they didnt make it by the original deadline, but just a few months ago they were finally able to announce that they had reached that ambitious milestone. Appropriately, at this years virtual Build developer conference, the company made what could prove to be an even more impactful announcement that will allow developers to take full advantage of that huge installed base. In short, the company unveiled something they call Project Reunion that will essentially make it easier for a variety of different types of Windows applicationsbuilt via different programming modelsto run more consistently and more effectively across more devices. Before getting into the details, a bit of context is in order. Back in 2015 when then Executive VP Terry Myerson made the one billion prediction, Microsofts OS efforts were more grandiose than simply for PCs. The company was still actively pursuing the smartphone market with Windows Phone, had just unveiled the first HoloLens concept devices and Surface Hub, talked about the role that Xbox One had in its OS plans, and generally was thinking more about a multi-device world for its then new OS. "Its clear that we indeed entered an era of multiple devices, but the only ones that ended up having a significant impact on the Windows 10 installed base number turned out to be PCs in all flavors and forms" Looking back now, its clear that we indeed entered an era of multiple devices, but the only ones that ended up having a significant impact on the Windows 10 installed base number turned out to be PCs in all flavors and forms, from desktops and laptops, to 2-in-1s and convertibles like the original Surface. In fact, the nearly complete reliance on PCs is undoubtedly why it took longer to reach the one billion goal. In retrospect, however, thats actually a good thing, because there are now approximately one billion relatively similar devices for which developers can create applications, instead of a mixed group of devices that were more related to Windows 10 in name than true capability. Even with this large similar grouping, however, not all applications for Windows 10 were created or function in the same way. Because of some of Microsofts early bets on device diversity under the Windows 10 umbrella, they made decisions about promoting a more basic (and legacy-free) application development architecture that they hoped would ensure that applications ran across this wide range of devices. Specifically, Microsoft promoted the concept of Universal Windows Platform (UWP) APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and a number of developers took them up on these initiatives. At this point, however, because of some of the limitations in UWP, there really isnt much need (or demand) for these efforts, hence Project Reunion. At a basic level, the goal with Project Reunion is to provide the complete set of Windows 10 capabilities (the Win32 or Windows APIs) to applications originally created around the UWP conceptin essence to reunite the two application development platforms and their respective APIs into a single, more modern Windows platform. This, in turn, allows programmers to have a more consistent means of interaction between their apps and the Windows 10 operating system, regardless of the approach they first took to create the application. In addition, thanks to a number of extensions that Microsoft is making to that model, it allows developers to create more modern, web and service-friendly applications. "Project Reunion is going to enable something the company is calling WinUI 3 Preview 1, which is a new framework for building modern, fast, flexible user interfaces that can easily scale across different devices." Specifically, for example, Project Reunion is going to enable something the company is calling WinUI 3 Preview 1, which is a new framework for building modern, fast, flexible user interfaces that can easily scale across different devices. By leveraging the open-source, multi-OS friendly Fluent Design-based tools, developers can actually achieve an even more widespread reach not only across different Windows 10-based devices, but those running other OSs as well. Plus, thanks to hooks into previous development platforms, developers can use these UI tools to modernize the look of existing apps as well as build new ones. Another specific element of Project Reunion is WebView 2, which is a set of tools that lets developers easily integrate native web content within an app and even integrate with browsers across different platforms. As with WinUI 3 and the new more modern Windows APIs, WebView 2 isnt locked to any version of Windows, giving developers more flexibility in leveraging their applications codebase across multiple platforms. Microsoft also announced new extensions that allow Windows developers to tap into services built into Microsoft 365 such as Microsoft Search and Microsoft Graph. This allows developers to create a modern web service-like application that can leverage the capabilities and data that Microsofts tools provide and offer extensions and connections to the companys widely used SaaS offerings. The Project Reunion capabilities look to finally complete the picture around the one billion device installed base that the company promised, but in a much different way than most people originally thought. Interestingly, thanks to the growing importance and influence of the PCa point thats really been brought home in our current environmenttheres arguably a less diverse set of Windows 10-based devices to specifically code for than most predicted. However, the new tools and capabilities promised for Project Reunion potentially allow developers to create applications for that entire base, instead of a smaller subset that realistically was all that was possible from the original UWP efforts. Its certainly interesting to see how Microsoft continues to keep the world of Windows fresh and relevant. Additionally, because of Microsofts significantly more open approach to application developments and open source in general since that 2015 announcement, the range of devices that Windows-based developers can target is now significantly broader than even that impressive one billion figure. Obviously delivering on that promise is a lot harder than simply defining the vision, but its certainly interesting to see how Microsoft continues to keep the world of Windows fresh and relevant. Throw in the fact that a new version of Windows10Xis on the horizon, and its clear that 2020, and beyond, is going to be an interesting time for a platform that many had written off, albeit incorrectly, as irrelevant. Bob ODonnell is the founder and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research, LLC a technology consulting and market research firm. You can follow him on Twitter @bobodtech. This article was originally published on Tech.pinions. Image credit: Johny vino Jill Szwed will soon be joining the WTEN morning team filling the role left vacant by Jess Briganti back in March. Szwed, a native of Pittsburgh, comes to Albany from Lexington, Ky., where she spent four years as a meteorologist at LEX 18, an NBC affiliate. Ive enjoyed the warmer climate over the past several years, but I also miss real winter weather, Szwed says. My passion for the weather was sparked by snow and winter weather. My parents have pictures of me out in the snow in the middle of the Blizzard of 93 Im excited to get back to my roots and forecast some real deal snow this winter. The St. Louis University grad will finish up in Kentucky on May 24 and appear on air in Albany next month, according to her Facebook post (below). Shell be on air each morning with anchors Christina Arangio, Ryan Peterson and Nicol Lally, as well as the WTEN reporters who are out in the field each day. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. I am so excited to call the Capital Region my new home and to wake up with you each morning on News 10 ABC. I know how important the weather is, especially as you and your family are starting the day, says the meteorologist. I cant wait to explore everything that the Northeast has to offer. Im looking forward to (eventually) taking in some horse racing at Saratoga, marveling at the beautiful fall foliage and experiencing winter for the first time in four years. She adds that shes a foodie, so send your restaurant recommendations her way. You can do that and follow Szwed on Twitter or Instagram. Greg and Katie Langton found the house they wanted in Wyndmoor, Montgomery County, in February and were allowed to close in early April. New transactions, however, were put on hold. Read more In-person home showings, appraisals, inspections, and other real estate activity can resume throughout Pennsylvania under certain COVID-19 safety guidelines, according to an executive order Gov. Tom Wolf issued Tuesday. Before the order reopened real estate, Pennsylvania was the only state that deemed real estate activity nonessential and barred in-person real estate transactions for a majority of its residents. The ban was part of the business shutdown meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The commonwealth permitted in-person real estate activity only in counties in the yellow phase of reopening. Philadelphia and its collar counties are still firmly in the red phase of closure. All real estate-related businesses, including title companies, notaries, and mortgage loan officers, must follow guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and conduct business remotely when possible, according to the executive order. In-person activities such as showings and final walk-throughs must be scheduled by appointment and be limited to one real estate professional and two others inside a property at one time. Real estate agents and clients must travel separately. For in-person showings, appointments should be 30 minutes apart or more, agents should minimize the time spent inside the property, and everyone should avoid touching common surfaces such as doorknobs and light switches. Group showings remain banned. READ MORE: Coronavirus leaves home buyers and sellers in limbo and at financial risk Since Wolf included real estate activity in his business closures roughly two months ago, real estate agents have been relying on virtual tours and open houses to sell properties. But the ban on in-person showings and other interactions has depressed home sales. Some potential sellers and buyers have been stuck in financially perilous situations in which they couldnt move forward with transactions. "Frankly, it means that people can move on with their lives, said Bill Festa, president of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors. "I doubt seriously itll be like flicking a light switch and everything will be back to normal, but at least we can start that process. Conducting real estate transactions online has been difficult, he said. Many people werent comfortable buying a home without being able to walk through it. People need to go in, he said. "They need to see; they need to smell the house. READ MORE: Coronavirus delays Philadelphias busy spring housing market Wolf issued the executive order the same day he vetoed a bill that also would have reopened real estate, saying it did not include enough safety protocols. State Rep. Todd Polinchock (R., Bucks), who introduced the bill, said Wolfs order includes the basic concepts of his legislation. Although I wish we could have done this as a team, I am grateful that Realtors throughout the commonwealth can finally help families find homes, Polinchock said in a statement. He said the real estate industry, as well as other businesses, have been crippled by this statewide shutdown. It is a great relief to know that we are giving back the citizens of our state one of the most important necessities they have, one that should never have been taken away in the first place, he said. The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors had been lobbying for the state to reopen real estate on behalf of its 35,000 members. The vehicle used to deliver ammunition to the terrorists. Ukrainian troops have destroyed an Ural military truck of Russian-led forces in Donbas. The relevant footage has been posted by the K-2 battle group of the 54th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on its YouTube channel. Read alsoUkrainian troops destroy enemy firing position in Donbas (Video) "Somewhere in the vastness of Donetsk region. 'Russian world' advocates once again began to very frequently shell both the front and rear positions of the Ukrainian military. It was clear they had got ammunition. But it was unclear who and how had delivered it. Intelligence officers took on the task," the group said in captions to the video. An enemy position and an Ural truck, which had delivered ammunition to the terrorists, were spotted with the help of UAVs and other reconnaissance assets. "And on one spring day when enemy troops began shelling our positions, they got return fire from weapons not prohibited by the Minsk agreements. The truck was destroyed as a result of the operation," it said. As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia's hybrid military forces on May 18 mounted 11 attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. A major Israel-American pharmaceutical company can now sell its medication for treating Huntingtons disease in China. Teva Pharmaceuticals received approval from Chinas National Medical Products Administration for its Austedo tablets that treat the deadly neurological disease, the company said in a press release today. China is only the second country to approve the use and sale of the Huntingtons medication, Teva Pharmaceuticals said. The other country is the United States. We look forward to bringing more of the essential medicines in our portfolio to patients in China, and to fuel organic growth and expand our presence in this important market, Gianfranco Nazzi, Tevas executive vice president for international markets, said in the release. Teva is listed on both the New York and Tel Aviv stock exchanges, and has offices in both Israel and the United States. Teva Pharmaceuticals praised Chinas approval of the medicine. Chinese authorities expedited the approval process of the drug, granting it priority review, the company said. The process was expedited because the medicine is a rare disease treatment, according to Reuters. Austedo is not yet approved by Chinas national insurance system, and will only be available to a limited amount of patients at first, the outlet reported. The approval comes after US criticism of its ally Israels relations with China. In Israel last week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said China was not being forthcoming about the coronavirus during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The United States is also concerned that a Chinese company put in a bid to build what will be the largest water desalination plant in the world off Israels southern coast. In a statement last week, the Chinese Embassy in Israel called Pompeos remarks absurd, downplayed its economic ties with Israel and criticized US handling of the virus. The United States is Israels main ally and has strong military ties with the Jewish state. US-Chinese relations have sunk to new lows due to trade and now coronavirus issues. Amid the controversy over China-Israel ties, Chinas ambassador to Israel, Du Wei, was found dead in his Tel Aviv home Sunday. Chinas Foreign Ministry cited health reasons as the preliminary cause of the 57-year-old envoy's death. COHOES The Department of Defense has, for now, held off on plans to send up to 12 truckloads of toxic firefighting foam to the Norlite aggregate plant for incineration. But U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer on Tuesday said he was pushing to make sure the DOD holds off for at least the next six-to-eight months, in light of a recently passed moratorium on burning the material in Cohoes and concerns about the safety of disposing such substances by incineration. Schumer wrote to top defense officials urging them to grant Norlite a postponement in their plans to accept and incinerate 58,000 gallons of the firefighting foam from a Virginia Naval station. Infographic: The lingering threat of PFAS The Defense Logistics Agency confirmed to Schumer's office Tuesday that no shipments are headed for Cohoes, according to Schumer's office. I urge the DLA to grant Tradebes request for a six to eight month suspension of the Norlite-Tradebe waste disposal contract and to not force almost 60,000 gallons of AFFF upon Norlite and New York, Schumer wrote in a letter to Acting Navy Secretary James McPherson and Darrell Williams, the Pentagons defense logistics director. Tradebe is the parent company of Norlite. It has a five-year contract to remove and incinerate the foam from military installations in a number of states. But the Cohoes City Council, worried about the health effects of incineration, earlier this spring passed a one-year moratorium on the practice. AFFF or aqueous film-forming foam, has been a widely used fire suppressant on military bases and airports. But worries have emerged recently over the PFAS , or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances , that are in AFFFs. PFAS are associated with a number of health problems. News that the Navy wanted to send the shipments to Cohoes was met with alarm by local and state officials who reminded the DOD that a moratorium was in place. Norlite, though, has said it has no current plans to accept new shipments of AFFF. Norlite has not received any AFFF material since December 2019, nor does Norlite have any AFFF material in storage and currently we do not have shipments of AFFF scheduled into Norlite, said Prince Knight, the companys Environmental & Regulatory Compliance Manager. He referred other queries to the DOD. An email to the DOD requesting comment on the matter was not returned on Tuesday. And the agency on Monday said it would not comment due to a federal lawsuit that EarthJustice, an environmental group, has filed against the incineration. Schumers office learned about an incineration order for the AFFF, which stated the DOD wanted to start shipping it to Norlite this week. That shipment has not happened. The local government has understandably placed a moratorium on PFAS burning, and it is unacceptable that the DOD continues to plan to ship truckloads of hazardous material to the Cohoes facility. The DOD must reverse course, Schumer said on Tuesday. In his letter, the New York Democrat added that according to recent reporting, the DLA was pushing an incineration order to Norlite for 58,000 gallons of AFFF waste materials which was set to be transported in 12 tanker trucks traveling from a Navy facility in Virginia. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. He added, (b)ased on our recent conversation, I am encouraged by your commitment to promptly investigate the situation. This is a time sensitive matter as, according to those same reports, the DLA had instructed Norlite to take possession of the shipment in seven business days as of May 11, which would be today, May 19. This shipment, and future shipments should not occur. The Cohoes City Council, after learning that Norlite had been burning AFFF in 2018 and 2019, passed a one-year moratorium on the practice. Around the same time, the state Department of Environmental Conservation urged Norlite to hold off incineration until more research was conducted. That, however, may present a conflict with the contract that Norlite has to incinerate the waste. Judith Enck, an environmental activist and former regional EPA administrator, said it was notable that Tradebe had earlier told the DOD that seven other similar facilities around the nation had said no to inquiries about incinerating the AFFF. The company had reached out to every approved incinerators on the DLA qualified facility list only to receive rejection notices from all of them, Tradebe said in a May 15 letter. More for you Feds backoff shipping PFAS to Norlite - for now The Tradebe letter added that (t)he Norlite facility is subject to a city council law banning incineration and, as you are aware, ceased incinerating this material at the request of New York DEC, while in discussions with your sister agency, EPA, on how to proceed with management of these materials. Enck said it was (a) very significant admission that other incinerators had turned down the incineration requests. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU The Higher Organizing Committee of the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX) has announced that the 18th edition of the exhibition, which was scheduled for 29th September - 3rd October 2020, will be rescheduled to September 2021, under the theme of Sustainability and Heritage A Reborn Aspiration. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005737/en/ Impressive turnout at Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX) 2019 (Photo: AETOSWire) The 18th edition of ADIHEX will be organised by the Emirates Falconers Club at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), under the patronage of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of Emirates Falconers Club. The decision to postpone the exhibition for a year was taken in consideration due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, to ensure the health and safety of all participants and visitors. H.E. Majid Ali Al Mansouri, Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee of the exhibition has revealed major changes for exhibitors and visitors including enhancing the quality of its exhibits, products, and unique innovations from the world of hunting and equestrian; maintaining ADIHEXs profile as the largest annual event of its kind in the Middle East and Africa. The comprehensive expansion plan also includes improving the content of the event by providing innovative services, technologies, activities, and events with a renewed vision, strengthening the exhibitions role in preserving the UAEs heritage and promoting sustainable hunting. This is in addition to organizing more environmental, heritage, art, educational and awareness-raising activities. ADIHEX continues in its effort to achieve its mission by developing long-term plans in line with the national strategy of celebrating UAEs five decades of achievements in 2021 and preparing for the coming 50 years with an ambitious vision which looks towards the future. This combined with a commitment to excellence and competitiveness will align the exhibition with the governments directives to enter the new phase with determination and persistence. As the number of exhibitors has multiplied more than 16 times over the past editions, ADIHEX 2019 hosted more than 650 companies and brands from 41 countries in an exhibition area of 45,000 square meters. ADIHEX also enjoys great popularity around the world and is awaited by many - individuals and families- year after year, as a record of more than 1,500,000 people visited the exhibition over the past 17 editions. ADIHEX is a non-profit event initiated in Abu Dhabi by the UAE's Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan who honoured the first edition in 2003 by visiting the event. Since its inauguration, ADIHEX has become a benchmark for B2B and B2C events and one of the key events organized within the UAE. ADIHEX provides its participants and visitors with a comprehensive offering within its 11 sectors which are: veterinary products and services, hunting guns, media, outdoor leisure vehicles and equipment, hunting tourism and safari, arts and crafts, equestrian, falconry, fishing and marine sports, hunting and camping equipment and finally cultural heritage. *Source: AETOSWire View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005737/en/ Israel's newly appointed Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi on Tuesday called External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in what is his first phone call abroad after taking charge, a day after the two leaders vowed to work together to strengthen and expand the multi-faceted bilateral relationship for a mutually beneficial partnership. It was a "general courtesy" call by the new Israeli foreign minister with emphasis on "resuming high-level visits and further strengthening of our bilateral strategic partnership. And taking forward our cooperation in the wake of this pandemic", sources here said. "Thank FM @Gabi_Ashkenazi of #Israel for the call. Discussed strengthening our special relationship. Good to hear your warm sentiments about India. Look forward to meeting you in person," Jaishankar tweeted minutes after the call. Israel's new government was sworn in on Sunday under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, bringing an end to the longest political deadlock in the country's history which saw a caretaker government in charge for over 500 days and three back-to-back general elections with no clear verdict. Ashkenazi formally took charge on Monday at a ceremony at the ministry. Jaishankar on Monday congratulated his newly-appointed Israeli counterpart Ashkenazi, a former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces. "Mazal Tov @Gabi_Ashkenazi on assuming the post of Israeli Foreign Minister. I look forward to working with you to strengthen our multi-faceted and mutually beneficial partnership", Jaishankar tweeted in Hebrew. Ashkenazi thanked Jaishanker and stressed on strengthening ties in diverse fields between the two countries. "Thank you @DrSJaishankar. I am also looking forward to working with you to strengthen and expand the strong relations between Israel and India in multiple fields", the Israeli foreign minister tweeted in Hindi and English on Monday. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first few world leaders to congratulate Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday on forming the government for a record fifth time, soon after the Knesset approved the new government. "Mazal Tov (congratulations) my friend @netanyahu for forming your fifth government in Israel," Modi wrote on Twitter in Hebrew and English. "Thank you my dear friend the Prime Minister of India! We will continue to strengthen the important relationship between us," Netanyahu responded in Hebrew on Sunday. Netanyahu, 70, and his rival-turned-partner Benny Gantz joined hands to form a coalition government under a power-sharing agreement that would see the latter taking over the premiership on November 17, 2021. The new government, which according to the coalition agreement, will see Gantz replace Netanyahu as the Prime Minister after 18 months. Gantz will serve as Defense Minister until he is scheduled to take over as the Prime Minister in November next year. He will till then have the title of ''Alternate Prime Minister'', something that Netanyahu will take over from him after exchanging the baton. The beleaguered Israeli prime minister, who surpassed Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's record of the longest-serving Premier in the country's history last year in July, managed to hold on to his right-wing bloc amid three inconclusive polls to force his main rival Gantz to finally succumb to the demand of a broad national unity government. Gantz campaigned on replacing Netanyahu due to the prime minister's indictment on graft charges, but dropped his opposition to sitting in a government with him after the latest elections again ended with no clear winner, citing the coronavirus pandemic and a desire to avoid a fourth round of voting. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Farmington Hills man accused of stabbing three people during a fight at Wayside Central is headed to trial. Octayvious Sanchez-Lewis, 19, was bound over Tuesday morning by 21st Circuit Court Judge Sara Spencer-Noggle on three counts of assault with intent to commit murder and two counts of carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent. If found guilty on the more serious charge, he faces a sentence of up to life in prison. Not in dispute was whether Sanchez-Lewis stabbed three people, one of them a friend of his. The issue was whether hed acted in self-defense. Tuesdays first witness, one of the men who Sanchez-Lewis is accused of stabbing, told the court that in fact hed punched Sanchez-Lewis in the side of the face after running across the bar after seeing his friend in trouble. One of Sanchez-Lewis attorney, present in the courtroom, asked if that constituted a sucker punch. The man, who was stabbed in the groin area and thighs, said he didnt think so. During his closing statement, the attorney said that Sanchez-Lewis was under attack from three or four different people and was trying to defend himself when he stabbed three people. One required emergency surgery for near-fatal abdominal wounds. The third, who was at the bar with Sanchez-Lewis, required surgery to repair tendon damage. Isabella County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Alan Reimers said that Sanchez-Lewis had taken two knives one a thin utility blade in his wallet to the bar looking for trouble and that hed clearly targeted the first two men. He described the third victim as in the wrong place, wrong time. Wayside stabbing suspect charged with attempted murder; said it was self-defense Spencer-Noggle bound the case over based on testimony given during the first day of the preliminary exam on March 12 that rather than trying to escape the situation that Sanchez-Lewis stood his ground. Binding the case over requires a much lower threshold than would securing a guilty verdict in trial. The prosecutor only needed to establish a probability that a crime was committed. At trial, the prosecution must establish guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. No date is currently set for the trial. The incident took place after midnight Feb. 23, and Central Michigan University alerted the campus community to an at-large assault suspect via text message. Originally, Sanchez-Lewis was described as a Native American. After Sanchez-Lewis identity was made public, that original description drew criticism as being based on prejudice. At the time, police officials said they went out an alert based on the information they had. READ MORE: Preliminary exam for Wayside stabbing suspect scheduled for Tuesday Wayside stabber suspect prelim delayed for a second time Accused Wayside stabber prelim delayed over witness availability New security at Wayside; stabbing victims condition improves Whitmer: Businesses in northern Michigan can reopen Friday FAA investigating Detroit drone flight that came dangerously close to Blue Angels Clare County not a part of northern Michigan reopening CMU Board of Trustees support the university efforts to reopen campus Evacuations urged in parts of mid-Michigan due to flooding An Orthodox school in Brooklyn was shut down by officers from the New York Police Department on Monday after concerned neighbors reported the school was hosting classes in violation of the citys coronavirus lockdown orders. Police said there were around 60 people inside Nitra Yeshiva when they arrived at the school at 841 Madison Avenue, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, at noon yesterday. Witnesses, meanwhile, said they saw 'more than 100 children' before officers arrived. The cops made no arrests and issued no summonses. However the school was ordered to shut down operations immediately and a cease-and-desist order issued by the citys Health Department was displayed on the front door of the school on Tuesday. Earlier today the NYPD shut down a Yeshiva conducting classes with as many as 70 children. I cant stress how dangerous this is for our young people. Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted Monday, acknowledging the incident. Were issuing a Cease and Desist Order and will make sure we keep our communities and our kids safe,' the mayor continued. The children arrived in unmarked buses on Monday morning. Residents say they watched on with alarm as large groups of students piled into the school, without masks on The cops made no arrests and issued no summonses. However the school was ordered to shut down operations immediately Police said there was around 60 people inside Nitra Yeshiva when they arrived at the school at 841 Madison Avenue, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, at around noon yesterday Residents in the neighborhood surrounding the school are said to have watched on with alarm as groups of children, many not wearing masks, piled off of buses and into the two-story building on Monday morning. At least two residents tipped off police, reporting that the building was occupied and that they could see large groups of children playing on the schools roof without protective equipment on. Witnesses have reported seeing far more children than the 60 students the police department alleged. Two police units showed. They evacuated the building and brought out about two busloads worth of kids maybe a hundred, Earl Covington, 71, told the Daily News. It wasnt the usual buses that dropped the kids off, but a different, private outfit to get them out of here. They should have been more considerate of the neighborhood. They should have observed the protocols of the times of COVID-19. NBC New York captured images of the moment large groups of students were forced to leave the school. The building has no exterior signs or visual indications of who runs the school. The Health Departments cease-and-desist order was addressed to David Moskowitz, DailyMail.com can reveal. The order reads that the school has violated the city and state executive order banning non-essential gatherings which has been in place since mid-March. Failure to comply will be a misdemeanor violation of the citys health code punishable by fines, forfeitures and imprisonment, the order says. Its unclear if Moskowitz was at the school when police arrived to shut it down. Officers remained outside of the premises on Tuesday morning. At least two residents tipped-off police, reporting that the building was occupied and that they could see large groups of children playing on the schools roof without masks on A cease and desist order issued by the citys Health Department was displayed on the front door of the school on Tuesday. The order reads that the school has violated the city and state executive order banning non-essential gatherings which has been in place since mid-March Police remained outside the Nitra Yeshiva on Tuesday morning, as the school is set to remain closed until New York begins easing lockdown orders The incident at Nitra Yeshiva comes as the latest of several that have ignited tensions between law enforcement and Hasidic Jews since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. COVID-19 has ravaged the Hasidic community at a higher rate than other ethnic or religious groups, public health data suggests - but despite this, violations of social distancing rules have been frequently occurring in Hasidim areas. Frictions reached fever pitch last month when 2,500 mourners gathered on the streets of Williamsburg to mourn the death of a prominent rabbi. Police issued 12 summonses to mourners for various offenses, including disorderly conduct. Mayor de Blasio, who went to Brooklyn to personally oversee the dispersal of the crowd, fiercely rebuked the gathering and later vowed to enforce social distancing more vigorously. Just two days later, police issued five fire code violations and six summonses after officers found large groups of worshipers hiding in two Hasidic synagogues, Congregation Yetev Lev DSatmar and Congregation Darkei Tshivo of Dinov, both located in Williamsburg. The doors at both of the houses of worship had been chained shut and black garbage bags had been stacked up to cover the windows. Inside, they found more than 100 children spread across two rooms. The incident at Nitra Yeshiva comes as the latest of several incidents that have ignited tensions between law enforcement and Hasidic Jews since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak De Blasio has drawn criticism from Orthodox Jewish leaders for the citys response to the funeral, who noted that other gatherings in city parks, including those who came out to watch a Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flyover earlier that day hadnt been broken up. He was later accused of singling out the Jewish community and encouraging anti-Semitism when he later tweeted: My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. However, most Orthodox leaders, however, have vowed to adhere to the restrictions during the lockdown. Talmud says, the law of the land is the law, Natfuli Moster, founder of the yeshiva reform group YAFFED, told The New York Post. Yeshiva leaders need to restore cultural compliance with state and local regulations. This applies to all guidelines pertaining to childrens schooling. FP Trending Global warming is one of the biggest threats being faced by our planet. Countries are grappling with this clear and present danger which has led to rising sea-levels. Plans have been discussed at various climate conferences to prevent the Earths temperature from rising. But, who should be blamed for global warming? According to research published in journal Science Advances, climate change, millions of years ago took place due to Earth's shifting orbit but in recent times it is linked to human activities. Scientists at Rutgers University have held human beings responsible for climate change. Although carbon dioxide levels had an important influence on ice-free periods, minor variations in the Earths orbit were the dominant factor in terms of ice volume and sea-level changes until modern times, said lead author of the research Kenneth G. Miller The study revealed that the Earth had glacial periods in times previously believed to be ice-free over the last 66 million years. A glacial period is an interval of time within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. The research said that periods of nearly ice-free conditions millions of years ago occurred when the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide was lower as compared to todays level. The rising sea-level poses threat to densely populated coastal cities and communities. Such low-lying lands could permanently be inundated by 2100. The largest sea-level decline was witnessed during the last glacial period some 20,000 years ago. The water level at that time had dipped to about 121 metres. This dip in sea-level was followed by an increase in the water level of about a foot per decade. Then it remained almost constant for many years before it again began to rise due to human activities. Gov. Wolf is not allowing companies that distribute U.S. flags to ship out orders to be placed at veterans graves for Memorial Day. Facebook post by Pa. House Rep. Brad Roae, May 11 Veterans groups in Pennsylvania typically prepare for Memorial Day by placing small American flags beside the headstones where fallen service members have been laid to rest. But when a state lawmaker from Erie County learned that the coronavirus pandemic might scuttle that sacred tradition, he posted about it on Facebook. Gov. Wolf is not allowing companies that distribute U.S. flags to ship out orders to be placed at veterans graves for Memorial Day, State Rep. Brad Roae posted on May 11. We wondered whether Gov. Tom Wolf had really blocked Pennsylvania-based American flag distributors from operating during the pandemic. Roae, a Republican, did not return a call seeking comment on his Facebook post, which has been shared more than 7,000 times. But it looks as if he was right. Not only did Wolf exclude FlagZone, a manufacturer in Gilbertsville, from his original list of life-sustaining businesses permitted to operate during the pandemic. His administration last week also rejected the companys application for a waiver. FlagZone is one of the only American flag manufacturers in Pennsylvania and one of only a half-dozen across the country. The company typically distributes more than six million small-stick flags annually. Casey Smith, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development, told the Reading Eagle that the Wolf administrations top priority is protecting the health and well-being of Pennsylvanians, and that flag-making, while patriotic, simply isnt life-sustaining. Memorial Day celebrations and ceremonies are a staple in our nation, and many Pennsylvanians will need to adjust their routine this year to accommodate our new normal, Smith said. We encourage all Pennsylvanians to honor our nations fallen in their own special way. It turns out the flags had already been manufactured and were sitting in a warehouse. READ MORE: Fact-checking Trumps claim that Gov. Tom Wolf is keeping parts of Pa. closed that are barely affected by coronavirus FlagZone president Daniel Ziegler said it would take only a few workers to ship 400,000 flags that had been ordered by 24 Pennsylvania counties in anticipation of Mondays federal holiday. Bucks, Chester, and Delaware Counties were among those waiting to receive their orders. When State Sen. Scott Hutchinson learned about FlagZones woes, he also called on Wolf to ease restrictions imposed on the company. I see no reason why the time-honored and solemn tradition of placing flags at veterans graves could not be continued this year, Hutchinson, a Republican who represents Butler and other Western Pennsylvania counties, said in a statement. Certainly placing the flags in cemeteries could be done while practicing the social distancing Gov. Wolf recommends. On Monday, FlagZone got some good news. The state cleared the way for the company to ship some flag orders, even as it held firm that flag manufacturing is not essential during the pandemic. READ MORE: A top Pennsylvania Republican said coronavirus only threatens children in poor health. Thats not true. Were just excited to get these flags out after months of being shut down, Ziegler told the Reading Eagle. Hopefully, when a family goes to the grave site of a loved one who was a veteran they will now see that they were not forgotten. Smith, of the Community & Economic Development Department, said in an interview that special approval from the state is not required for limited shipping activities and communicated that to FlagZone. Our ruling Roae posted on Facebook that Wolf had blocked companies that distribute American flags from shipping orders ahead of Memorial Day. Wolf initially blocked FlagZone from operating during the pandemic and then rejected the companys request for a waiver. A state official later said the company did not need special permission to ship limited numbers of flags. However, the company didnt understand this until the state said so, especially since the clarification came days after the Wolf administration rejected FlagZones application to resume operations. We rate Roaes statement Mostly True. Our sources State of Pennsylvania, All non-life-sustaining businesses in Pennsylvania to close physical locations as of 8 pm today to slow spread of COVID-19, March 19, 2020 The Reading Eagle, Gilbertsville flag maker gets turned down to sell product for Memorial Day, May 12, 2020 The Reading Eagle, In reversal, Gilbertsville company granted waiver from Pennsylvania to distribute flags for Memorial Day, May 18, 2020 Email interview with Casey Smith, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development, May 18, 2020 Phone interview with FlagZone president Daniel Ziegler, May 19, 2020 PolitiFact is a nonpartisan, fact-checking website operated by the nonprofit Poynter Institute for Media Studies. Flynns attorneys petitioned the appeals court for a writ of mandamus, used when no other relief is available, that requires a party to show clear and indisputable right to reverse error by a court. Meeting that high bar may be difficult because the judge has not made a decision yet on the Justice Departments request, but has appointed a retired judge to advise him now that the government has decided to drop the case. SPRINGFIELD Lawyers for suspended Springfield Police Officer Gregg Bigda are battling to keep testimony about a toxic workplace love triangle and alleged drinking on the job away from a jury during an upcoming police brutality trial. Meanwhile, government attorneys want to bar testimony about prior criminal records and alleged gang ties of three juvenile suspects prosecutors say were beaten or threatened during an interrogation by Bigda after a car chase in 2016. Bigda, a veteran narcotics officer, is charged in a five-count indictment in U.S. District Court and is set for trial on Sept. 21. He is accused of punching and kicking two boys who stole an undercover police vehicle after the youths were already handcuffed and on the ground. Bigda also is charged in connection with his interrogation of the boys, which was recorded on video in the Palmer Police Departments holding cells. The boys took an unmarked narcotics vehicle for a joyride after it was left idling outside a Springfield pizzeria on Feb. 26, 2016. The car was stopped after a high-speed chase that ended in Palmer in the early morning hours of Feb. 27. One of the witnesses against Bigda, a Latino boy, said the detective bellowed Welcome to white town before spitting on him and kicking him in the face. Bigda has denied the allegations; he faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the civil rights charges. The former detective also is accused of filing a false police report in connection with the arrests of the youths. Aside from the allegations contained in the indictment, defense attorneys are making routine bids to bar any other dirty laundry from the jury, according to court records. This includes an ugly dust up between Bigda and an ex-girlfriend also a fellow police officer who had begun dating yet another now-former police officer, Steven Vigneault. Bigda forced his way into the womans home in East Longmeadow, allegedly intoxicated and carrying a weapon, in March 2016. Vigneault was there and a scuffle broke out between the woman and Bigda. No one was injured but the woman sought a restraining order and Bigda was suspended for 10 days over the incident. Vigneault was transferred out of the narcotics unit and later resigned over the kicking allegation. He was charged along with Bigda in 2018, but the case against him was dismissed earlier this year when the boy said it was Bigda, not Vigneault, who launched a boot at his face. For his part, Vigneault had not gone quietly from the police force and sullied his former unit through interviews with the media and a civil lawsuit. He granted interviews with The Republican and painted some members of the narcotics unit as boozy renegades who kept Coors Light in a soda machine at the police station, ripped off money from drug suspects to buy beer and got creative with search warrant applications. Bigdas lawyers want none of that alleged baggage before a jury. Its admission at trial would portray Bigda as a dishonest, corrupt police officer with racist and violent tendencies, that struggles with alcohol abuse and is embroiled in a toxic love triangle with two then-fellow Springfield police officers, who, if he would commit these acts, would also kick a juvenile in the face while he was handcuffed and not resisting and then willfully abuse him and another juvenile during an interrogation, read a motion by defense lawyers Timothy Flaherty and Matthew Thompson. The law is fairly clear on whether introducing evidence of prior bad acts is typically admissible meaning that it is usually not. On the other side of the coin, federal prosecutors are fighting to exclude information about any commendations Bigda may have received throughout his career, and the penalties he faces if convicted. U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni took these motions and others under advisement during a hearing Tuesday. The House of Representatives has asked the Federal government to set up a delegation of academia to visit Madagascar and Senegal in a ... The House of Representatives has asked the Federal government to set up a delegation of academia to visit Madagascar and Senegal in a bid to study their alleged COVID19 breakthrough. The lower chamber has also asked for a N15bn Coronavirus Emergency Fund for Nigerian Universities and Tertiary Institutions. The green chamber also asked the federal government to set up an Infectious Diseases Research Institute in 6 selected Federal Government universities across the Six Geo-Political Zones of the country. These were part of the resolutions of a motion moved by Steve Azaiki and nine others on Tuesday during plenary. Moving the motion, Azaiki noted that Nigeria needs to invest in research to retain its status as the giant of Africa and the globe. He noted that COVID-19 has further exposed Nigerias vulnerability. Nigeria must be counted as one of the countries making contributions in science and research to find the cure and vaccine for COVID19 and to achieve this objective there is need to provide support and funding to universities and research institutions through special emergency funding to enable them carry out such responsibilities, he stated. He added that the COVID19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on Nigerias universities and tertiary education system and without major mitigation, like discovering an effective therapy or vaccine, mass testing and a new strategic infusion of federal funding, the landscape of Nigerias university and tertiary institutions may be forever changed. Meanwhile, the lawmaker commended some selected schools in Nigeria that have made efforts in the fight against the Virus. We must take cognizance of the efforts by some Nigerian institutions like University of Benin (UNIBEN) Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (ABU) and Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) in contributing to the ongoing fight against COVID19, where researchers have produced clinically tested low-cost and effective ventilators. Adding that, strategic additional funding could increase their capacity in this regard. The green chamber also resolved to urge the Federal Government to empower some special universities to build the capacity to do the required testing to meet up with the national demand on testing. The chamber also mandated the committees on Tertiary Education, Emergency and Disaster Preparedness and Science and Technology to ensure implementation, while also seeking the concurrence of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. India's third Covid wave likely to peak on Jan 23, daily cases to stay below 4 lakh: IIT Kanpur scientist India logs over 3.17 lakh new Covid cases in last 24 hours; daily positivity rate up at 16.41 per cent COVID-19 fatalities may be much more than what is being reported COVID-19 numbers explained: Did lockdown made an impact to slowdown the spread of coronavirus? India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, May 19: The total number of the deadly coronavirus cases in India has breached the 1,00,000-mark, with more than 4,500 new cases being discovered on Monday. It can be seen that there are only 10 countries now with more cases than India. However, it should be noted that the 1,00,000-mark was delayed by almost three weeks due to the lockdown, that was first imposed on March 24. How to run a work place amidst the coronavirus outbreak In April, the Computer modelling projections reportedly claimed that at the rate the disease was spreading in the country during then, with no lockdown put in place, the country would have reached the 1,00,000-mark by the end of April. On May 18, more than 4,600 new cases were reported in India, slightly less than a day earlier when more than 5,000 cases were discovered for the first time. Coronavirus outbreak: With 4,970 new COVID-19 cases, India crosses 1 lakh-mark Also, India took 14 days -from March 2 to March 15- to let the infections travel from zero to hundred cases if the first three cases discovered in Kerala on January 29 are not counted. On March 29, the number of cases had reached 1,000. From then to 10,000, it took another 15 days, and at that rate. However, it was during this time the lockdown began to show its impact, and the spread of COVID-19 slowed down. At the end of April, there were less than 35,000 cases in the country. COVID-19 lockdown 4.0: First KSRTC bus from Mangaluru to Bengaluru begins journey As lockdown restrictions began getting progressively eased, to varying degrees in different states, the number of COVID-19 cases being reported daily, are expected to shoot up. Between May 4 and now, where the lockdown rules were relaxed, more than 50,000 cases have been discovered. While this may look as a major surge, the growth rate had considerably been slowing down till a couple of days back. The numbers from the top five most-affected states such as Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi and Rajasthan, contributed to more than 75 per cent to the total addition on Monday. It took 64 days for COVID-19 cases in India to touch 1 lakh mark from100 Meanwhile, Bihar on Monday added 139 cases. In the last three days, Bihar has reported almost 300 cases, which, going by its earlier record, is a major surge. Now, the state has a doubling time of 7.5 days, which is way faster than the national doubling time of 13.68 days. Odisha is also witnessing a surge due to infections detected in a large number of migrant workers returning to their homes. Tamil Nadu has passed Gujarat to become the state with the second-highest caseload in the country. Ruling Confirms Award Creditors' Rights in Enforcing US$543 Million Award NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on May 18, handed down its order in Anatolie Stati et al v Republic of Kazakhstan denying Kazakhstan's appeal against the decision of a U.S. Magistrate Judge in August 2019, which had in turn denied Kazakhstan's motion for a protective order against post-judgment discovery of Kazakhstan's worldwide assets. This ruling is made in the wake of the Stati parties' long-running efforts to enforce a US$543 million Swedish arbitral award issued in December 2013. The award was since recognized and converted into a U.S. domestic court judgment by the same District Court in March 2018, a ruling subsequently upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. In its ruling, the District Court found that Kazakhstan had made "no meaningful effort" to respond to the Stati parties' demands for documents showing its assets and rejected Kazakhstan's arguments that no further discovery should be made because two Kazakh officials had previously stated under oath that the nation did not have any executable assets in the United States. The ruling further stated that U.S. law allows a judgment creditor to obtain discovery "beyond a judgment-debtor's self-serving statement that it has no assets." The court also allows the Statis to discover documents relating to Kazakhstan holdings outside the U.S. The District Court further ruled that Kazakhstan would not be excused from further discovery on the ground that the Stati parties have attached Kazakh state assets in Europe, noting Kazakhstan's ongoing efforts to challenge those attachments. Anatolie Stati, CEO and sole shareholder of Ascom, one of the award creditors, said: "We welcome this ruling from the U.S. Court, which corroborates judgments by international courts and tribunals in disallowing Kazakhstan's continued repudiation of its international treaty obligations. In the meantime, current and prospective foreign investors in Kazakhstan should take note of the country's repeated failure to honor the investment protections that it claims it provides to foreign investment." As part of separate ongoing attachment proceedings in Europe, the Stati parties have successfully secured and maintain the benefit of various attachments of Kazakh state property in Sweden, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, with the combined total value of all attachments worldwide exceeding US$6.25 billion. The U.S. court ruling is the latest development in the Stati parties' long-running battle to enforce the award for Kazakhstan's violations of the investor protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty. In December 2013, a Sweden based arbitration tribunal found that Kazakhstan had violated international law by failing to treat the Stati parties' investments in Kazakhstan fairly and equitably, and awarded the Stati parties more than US$500 million in damages, legal costs, and interest. The award has since been fully upheld by two tiers of the Swedish judiciary, including the Swedish Supreme Court. The claims originally arose out of Kazakhstan's seizure of the Stati parties' petroleum operations in 2010. The Stati parties acquired two companies in 1999 that held idle licenses in the Borankol and Tolkyn fields in Kazakhstan. They invested more than US$1 billion over the ensuing decade to turn the companies into successful exploration and production businesses. By late 2008, the businesses had become profitable and had yielded considerable revenues for the Kazakh state. Just as the Stati parties expected to start receiving dividends, more than half a dozen government agencies carried out multiple burdensome inspections and audits of the companies' businesses that resulted in false accusations of illegal conduct directed at the Stati parties and their Kazakh companies, including criminal prosecutions of their general managers on false pretenses. Kazakhstan's actions challenged the Stati parties' title to their investments, subjected them to hundreds of millions of dollars in unwarranted tax assessments and criminal penalties, and ultimately led to the seizure and nationalization of their investments by Kazakh authorities in July 2010. MEDIA CONTACTS Kimberly Macleod (917) 587-0069 kim@kmacconnect.com Chris Winans (908) 309-3959 chris@kmacconnect.com Fighters loyal to Libya's UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) are seen outside a hangar, after they seized control of Al-Watiya airbase also known as Okba Ibn Nafa airbase, southwest of the capital Tripoli, on May 18, 2020. (Mahmud Turkia/AFP via Getty Images) Libyan Forces Aligned With Tripoli Government Capture Key Air Base CAIROForces aligned with Libyas internationally recognized government took control of an airbase southwest of Tripoli on May 18 after a sustained assault, in what could be their most significant advance for nearly a year. Watiya airbase, 125 km (80 miles) from the capital, has been an important strategic foothold for forces loyal to eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar, who launched an offensive to capture Tripoli in April 2019. The campaign sharply escalated a long-running conflict between factions based in eastern and western Libya and caused a surge in military intervention by foreign powers. Forces aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA) had taken full control of Watiya, Osama Juweili, a top military commander, was quoted as saying by official media early on May 18. Footage posted by GNA forces on social media showed them driving down runways at the base unhindered. The forces also posted a picture of what they said was a captured Russian-made Pantsir air defense system mounted on a truck at the base, as well as an operating manual in Arabic. A separate video post showed the purported destruction from the air of another Pantsir held by Haftars Libyan National Army (LNA) as it was being transported by road in the early hours of May 18. GNA forces said it was the third they had hit in two days. The video couldnt be independently verified, and the LNA has in recent days denied at least one other GNA claim that it had destroyed a Pantsir. In a statement, the LNA said its forces had withdrawn from the base as a tactical maneuver, that Watiya currently held no military importance, and that any equipment recovered there was old and disused. LNA sources said earlier their forces had withdrawn after the base had come under intensive bombardment. Morale Boost GNA forces have pushed back against their rivals in recent weeks with increased support from Turkey, capturing towns on the coast west of Tripoli in April. Haftars LNA and its allies still control eastern and southern Libya, including most of the countrys oil facilities, which they have been blockading since January. They also hold Sirte, a city at the center point of Libyas Mediterranean coastline, which they took at the start of the year. The capture of Watiya will further boost morale among GNA forces that were on the back foot late 2019, and GNA Prime Minister Fayez Serraj signaled they would try to build on the advance. Todays victory does not constitute the end of the battle but brings us closer than any time before to the bigger victory, the liberation of all towns and regions and bases, he said in a statement. The LNA, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Russia, has been unable to make significant progress from the outskirts of Tripoli since early on in its campaign. It lost Gharyan, its main forward base south of Tripoli, in its biggest reversal to date in June 2019, but continues to control Tarhouna, southeast of the capital. International efforts led by the United Nations to broker a ceasefire and negotiate a political settlement in Libya have so far come to little, as foreign powers have flouted an arms embargo to send in more weapons and operate drones. The leaders of Turkey and Russia, countries that have both sought to protect strategic interests in Libya, spoke by phone on May 18 and noted the need for a ceasefire and the resumption of inter-Libyan dialogue, according to a Kremlin statement. About half of the 400,000 people who have fled their homes since Libyas uprising in 2011 were displaced since the start of Haftars offensive in 2019, according to U.N. estimates. By Hani Amara & Ayman al-Sahli T he owner of Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge has filed its intent to appoint administrators, putting 6,000 jobs at risk. Restaurant chains have been hammered by the coronavirus pandemic after the lockdown forced them to shut their doors in March. Leaders in the sector have warned that social distancing measures on reopening will also significantly hinder profitability in the industry. Casual Dining Group, which also operates the Las Iguanas chain, said the move will give the firm 10 days breathing space to consider all options for restructuring. 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 Earlier on Monday, the company confirmed that it is working with advisers from corporate finance firm AlixPartners over a potential restructuring programme aimed at putting the restaurant group on a sustainable footing. A spokeswoman for Casual Dining Group said: As is widely acknowledged, this is an unprecedented situation for our industry and, like many other companies across the UK, the directors of Casual Dining Group are working closely with our advisers as we consider our next steps. These notifications are a prudent measure in light of the companys position and the wider situation. These notifications will also protect the company from any threatened potential legal action from landlords while we review the detail of the Government advice, and formulate a plan for the company in these difficult times. It is understood that a variety of arrangements are still being looked at by the Casual Dining Group, including company voluntary arrangement (CVA) restructuring deals or the administration of specific brands. Europe takes it's first steps out of Coronavirus lockdown 1 /25 Europe takes it's first steps out of Coronavirus lockdown People queue at a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased lockdown restrictions Reuters A worker checks the temperature of a customer at the entrance of a supermarket in Itay Reuters Customers hold flowers in front of a DIY store in Graz, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a "shutdown" in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus APA/AFP via Getty Images People wearing protective face masks and gloves walk in the streets as the Italian government allows the reopening of some shops while a nationwide lockdown continues following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Venice, Italy, Reuters People queue to enter a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased restrictions following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Eisenstadt, Austria Reuters Camilla Cocchi wears a face mask and gloves as she sorts out clothing in her children's clothes shop after it was allowed to reopen following lockdown measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, in Rome AP A man wearing a face mask shops in a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased restrictions following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Eisenstadt, Austria Reuters "Respect the 2 meters distance" banner is seen at a fish stand as the Italian government allows the reopening of some shops while a nationwide lockdown continues following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Venice, Italy, Reuters Customers wearing face masks push shopping carts in front of a DIY store in Vienna, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a "shutdown" in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus APA/AFP via Getty Images A worker checks the temperature of a customer at the entrance of a supermarket, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in Turin, Italy Reuters Customers line up in front of a DIY store in Graz, Austria APA/AFP via Getty Images Gianfranco Mandas wears a face mask as he sorts out clothing in his children's clothes shop after it was allowed to opens following restriction measures to contain the spread of Covid-19, in Rome AP Customers wearing face masks push shopping carts in front of a DIY store in Vienna, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a "shutdown" in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus APA/AFP via Getty Images Customers queue at the Trastevere market, as new restrictions for open-air markets are implemented to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Rome, Italy, Reuters Customers wearing face masks push shopping carts in front of a DIY store in Vienna, Austria, after it re-opened on April 14, 2020, following a "shutdown" in a measure to limit the spread of the new coronavirus APA/AFP via Getty Images A man wears a protective face mask and gloves at the newsstand as the Italian government allows the reopening of some shops while a nationwide lockdown continues following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Venice, Italy Reuters People wearing face masks work in a hardware store during a partial reopening after the Austrian government eased restrictions following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Eisenstadt, Austria Reuters Customers queue at the Trastevere market, as new restrictions for open-air markets are implemented to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Rome, Italy Reuters A general view of the parking area of a hardware store during the partial reopening of shops after the Austrian government loosens its lockdown restrictions during the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Vienna Reuters The group, which has furloughed the majority of its staff, traded from around 250 sites across the UK before the lockdown. The announcement comes amid reports that owner of rival chain Giraffe, Boparan Restaurants, is reportedly closing on a deal to buy Carluccios in a move which would save around 900 jobs. Sky News said Boparan is looking to conclude a deal which would include taking over the Carluccios brand, head office and approximately 30 restaurants. Last month, insolvency experts from FRP Advisory were appointed as administrators to Carluccios, which had around 70 sites before the pandemic. Carluccios and administrators FRP declined to comment. Russias Ombudsman to apply to U.S. authorities for protection of Russian national rights RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 14:28 19/05/2020 MOSCOW, May 19 (RAPSI) Russias Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova is ready to turn to the U.S. government and international organizations seeking to ensure that the rights of Russian citizen Oleg Nikitin are to be respected. Moskalkova calls her colleagues to attract attention to an egregious case of cruel and inhuman treatment of a Russian citizen, violation of international law, as well as the principles of humanity and fairness. The Russian national, a successful businessman in the sphere of sugar production and a philanthropist over the course of 23 years, who is the sole support of his family, has been imprisoned in a U.S. jail for more than 8 months, the Rights Commissioner says, on absurd charges of espionage and attempted evasion of sanctions, mentioning that she has been shocked and outraged by the information on Nikitins prison conditions provided by his wife during their personal meeting. According to the Ombudsman, Nikitin suffers from several deceases and needs regular use of certain medicine, nevertheless, the temperature in his cell makes only 10 centigrade, and only because of the massive effort on the part of Russias Foreign Ministry he was transferred to a cell without rats. Moreover, representatives of the Russian consular office could meet Nikitin only 6 months after he was jailed because of the barriers created by the U.S. authorities, Moskalkova notes. Earlier, Moskalkova requested the U.S. prison official to provide required medical aid to the Russian citizen and to inform her about the measures taken. Nikitin and several other defendants could face up to 20 years in jail and a $1 million fine if convicted of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Enhancement Act and the Export Control Reform Act of 2018; and up to 5 years in jail and a $250,000 fine if found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States. It would allow the transfer of funds from richer countries to those more in need. And it would do so with money borrowed collectively by the European Union as a whole. It will not be popular in Germany, and it may help populist opponents on the political extremes. But Ms. Merkel, in the twilight of her long political career, has put the interests of the 27-nation union which embeds Germany into Europe as much as NATO does before her domestic concerns. Confronted with a pandemic that has cratered Europes economy, Ms. Merkel and Mr. Macron, who have often found themselves at odds over the years, dragged the rusty Franco-German motor out of the garage and got it running again. The proposal was a clear recognition of the threat presented by the pandemic, whose full economic carnage has yet to be felt. And it was an attempt to overcome the deepening divisions within the European Union between the frugal north and the devastated south, between Brussels and Central European authoritarian governments over how to respond. It also reflected the fact that, with Britain gone, Germany and France two very different countries that represent Europes largest and most powerful economies now have more room to assert themselves, if they can only find common ground. When they agree, they normally carry the rest of the member states along with them. Roche v-TAC is available in markets accepting the CE mark Swiss firm Roche has announced the CE mark availability of Roche v-TAC, a new digital diagnostic solution that allows clinicians to obtain results for arterial blood gas values from patients with respiratory or metabolic abnormalities via a simpler, less invasive venous puncture through the use of a digital algorithm. Blood gas analysis is typically used in hospital point of care (POC) settings, where quick and accurate results are needed. This includes emergency rooms, intensive care units and operating rooms. The analysis provides clinicians with information about a patients pulmonary function and acidbase status, both of which are essential to make a diagnosis, provide treatment and monitor progress. A traditional blood gas test requires the collection of an arterial blood sample, which can be a painful experience for the patient since most arteries lie deeper in the tissue than veins and have a thicker wall to be punctured. This procedure is usually carried out by medical doctors or specially-trained staff. Through the Roche v-TAC digital solution, staff without specific training to draw arterial blood samples are now able to withdraw a venous blood sample instead and digitally convert these values into arterial blood gas values, which can help free up specialist healthcare staff to other tasks. Roches v-TAC is fully integrated for use with Roches cobas b 123 POC and cobas b 221 systems using the Roche cobas infinity POC solution. In an emergency situation such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Roche v-TAC could also help healthcare professionals to assess disease severity faster in patients and closely monitor potential deterioration in patients with respiratory compromise, said Thomas Schinecker, CEO Roche Diagnostics. Digital tools based on clinical algorithms like Roche v-TAC can help improve and simplify delivery of care in emergency situations faster and where it is most needed. Roche acquired the v-TAC technology at the end of March with the acquisition of Obi Medical Aps, a privately-held company based in Hadsund, Denmark that focuses on developing disruptive blood gas testing technology. The Palestinians are not powerless. There is much they can do to stop Israeli expansionism. Since the catastrophic Arab failure in the 1948 and 1967 wars led to total Israeli control over historic Palestine, the Palestinians have been trying to recover their losses, but to no avail. Refugees and prisoners in their own homeland, they have tried armed struggle and peaceful negotiations with equal vigour, but have failed to get justice or attain peace. Both strategies entailed great sacrifice and major concessions, but ultimately neither led to the liberation of Palestine from Israeli domination. Worse, Israels appetite for expansion has grown with every Palestinian concession, and now its delusion of invincibility is driving it to illegally annex almost a third of what the Palestinians assumed would be their future state. Regardless of whether it actually formalises its de facto annexation or not, Israel is already radically and unilaterally changing the reality on the ground. So now what? What to do? What not to do? The right diagnosis is half the cure It is important to remember that contrary to newspeak there is no Palestine problem but rather an Israeli colonial problem the regions last colonial problem and the Palestinians may prove to be its only solution. Since its creation at the end of the 19th century, Zionism has mutated from arguably a legitimate Jewish national movement in Europe to a European colonial enterprise in the eastern Mediterranean. It led, among other things, to a century-long conflict, multiple wars and hatred, fuelled by ethnic cleansing, dispossession and the displacement of millions of people. Since then, increased Israeli colonisation, especially in the occupied West Bank, devolved into a reprehensible system of apartheid. Interestingly, apartheid was born in South Africa in 1948, the same year the Palestinian catastrophe began, and it ended in 1994, a year before apartheid basically started in Palestine with the Oslo-II agreement, which divided the occupied territories into bantustans. Like South Africa, Israel should be induced to produce its own FW de Klerk to end its apartheid. Such a leader would find the Palestinians ready to reconcile and together with Israel build a better future. And like South Africa, this does not mean ending Israel. It means liberating Israel from its paranoid garrison mindset that sees hegemony as the only way to survive. Considering we are all one human race, apartheid is ultimately about hegemony, despite its racial or other pretexts. It follows that the struggle against apartheid must be a universal, indivisible struggle for justice and freedom one that opposes anti-Semitism, as it does colonial Zionism. But what shape and path should it take? Palestinians have already begun to think about and debate new ideas to end apartheid, which deserve further study and development. But before we get into what the Palestinians need to do, let us look into what they should not do. What not to do Surrender is not an option. Do not even think about it. Accepting the so-called deal of the century put forward by US President Donald Trump and his ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to surrender to Israeli hegemony. It means living in captivity in perpetuity. Without surrender, there is no victory. As long as the Palestinians do not lose, Israel cannot win. Refusing to give up or give in may not be easy, but it has proven effective in frustrating Israels plans, and restraining certain Arab regimes predilection for mischief. Do not despair. Time and history are on your side. It may not seem that way judging from Israels visible confidence, (read arrogance), but even though it is a self-proclaimed country of immigrants, it has been bleeding hundreds of thousands of emigrants, mostly to the US. And a high 40 percent of Israelis are thinking of emigrating, as countless Palestinians risk their lives to reclaim their right of return. It is the same story repeated over and over again. Most if not all colonial powers lost to the weaker indigenous population over the past century. So will Israel. To that end, Palestinians have wisely framed their cause in legal terms and extracted many UN resolutions condemning Israels violations of international law. But international law does not deter the strong or save the weak, certainly not when the US flashes its veto at the mere mention of Israel. Just do not depend on it. Depend on yourselves. And forget about the UN convening an international peace conference without American blessing. Do not beat yourselves up too much. Be reasonable. Yes, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has made its share of mistakes, but the Palestinians are not responsible for the contempt and incompetence of certain Arab regimes, or the cynicism of Western powers, especially the US appeasement of Israel. And stop with the self-pity. You cannot motivate and energise depressed people. It will not kill you to smile. The best laughs are those mixed with tears. There is much to dread, but there is much more to dream about. Do not underestimate the moral weight of your cause in the Arab world and beyond, regardless of what the doubters say. No matter how many dictators recognise Israel, a belligerent apartheid state will never achieve true legitimacy or security regionally. Never. Arabs see the struggle for justice in Palestine as a symbol and extension of their own fight for justice. Syrians, Saudis, Yemenis, Egyptians and others may be engrossed in their own tragedies, as they must be, but polls consistently show that, collectively, Arabs see Palestine as their foremost cause in the struggle against colonialism. Do not forget that. Israel has always tried to separate Palestinians from Palestinians and the Palestinians from their Arab neighbourhood. Do not allow it and do not engage in secret negotiations. There are more than a few ways to connect and bridge the geographic divide. As war and diplomacy come to a dead end, and as Israel dashes forward arrogantly grabbing and annexing more Palestinian land, speak up and do not let Netanyahu and Trump get off easy. Try not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Try not to look back. Look ahead. Look for a third way forward. Reinventing Palestinian unity The lopsided peace process has been terribly divisive for the Palestinians. It is what asymmetrical peace processes do. Therefore, abandoning it must lead to some form of national unity. The dreadful competition between the main political factions has thus far proven detrimental to national unity and elections have been no less divisive. Instead of uniting against the occupation, the factions have been preoccupied with managing it. While Fatah and Hamas continue to insist on holding onto their strongholds, the separated bantustans in the West Bank and Gaza, some suggest the establishment of an overall political umbrella, perhaps a reformed and expanded PLO, to unite all the Palestinians around the undisputed cause of justice. But this will require a new generation of Palestinians to step up and take over from the predominantly septuagenarian and octogenarian leadership to chart a fresh, new way forward. All bureaucratic tasks and responsibilities, whether on the level of the National Authority or the municipalities should be left to technocrats, chosen on the basis of merit not partisanship. This requires a great deal of maturity, ingenuity and dynamism. Another interesting idea is for Palestinians to unite behind multiple strategies, instead of being divided behind one failed strategy of negotiations. This tactical decentralisation means popular mobilisation where each Palestinian community should be able to design and embrace strategies of struggle according to its abilities and circumstances. Palestinians in Gaza may want to retain their deterrence capabilities to defend against another Israeli assault, and Jerusalemites may want to strengthen their citys Palestinian presence and character. Likewise, Palestinians in Israel may want to transform Israels binationality from demographics to politics. The Palestinians in Jordan may want to work with Jordanians to block Israels attempt to make their country the alternative Palestinian state. And the Palestinians in exile may want to promote the cause in foreign capitals. And so on. These micro strategies should be continuously synchronised and synergised as integral parts of the national struggle for justice and liberation as a whole. Palestinians should no longer be satisfied with passive steadfastness. They need to reactivate and re-energise the popular base. Boosting Palestinian immunity Comprising almost half the population between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, the Palestinians need to immunise themselves against persistent Israeli repression and marginalisation. Palestinians need to offset Israels new attempts at dividing and ostracising them by improving business infrastructure and economic life to help people endure. They need to expand on one of their greatest recent achievements, namely institution building. This entails deflating an inflated bureaucracy by ending corruption and nepotism and creating partnerships between the public and private sector to improve economic planning and infrastructure development. Currently, one-third of the national budget goes to the security apparatus, more than both the health and education sectors receive. Given that it serves Israeli more than Palestinian security, there is no reason why it should continue to consume so much of the Palestinian budget. Boosting national immunity is also about boosting individual immunity in everyday life. And there is no immunity without national and personal dignity. A Palestinian may be able to block or defy the humiliation of an Israeli soldier, but may still find him/herself powerless when humiliated by a fellow (armed) Palestinian. Such humiliation is emotional and leads to indifference, even betrayal. This must stop. And there is no dignity without work. This means there needs to be job creation, the expansion of good productive employment, so that poor Palestinians are not forced to slave away at Israeli settlements. Palestinians are some of the most educated people in the region. Modest investment in human capital could yield great national advantage in the long run. Rebuilding alliances As the PLO hedged its bets exclusively on the US-led peace process, it abandoned much of the international solidarity movement. Today, Palestinians need to rebuild links to European, Latin American, African and other foreign solidarity movements. These would be essential for their struggle moving forward, just as they were in ending apartheid in South Africa. Moreover, and unlike many forgotten indigenous populations, Palestinians are not alone. They are part of a vast Arab region, and can draw strength and solace from your Arab hinterland. Palestinians also have a special connection to the Islamic world, much of which has suffered terribly from Western colonialism. It is paramount to confront Israels peddling of religious justification for its occupation with civic and universal, not religious, arguments. All colonial enterprises of the past several centuries have used varying degrees of religious justification, and Palestine has been the focal point of interest for all three Abrahamic religions. But treating Palestine as a promised land or a waqf turns the divine from a peacemaker to a real estate broker. Palestine belongs to all its inhabitants, especially its indigenous people. Cultivating Jewish partners Winning Jewish support for justice and freedom in Palestine is imperative to dispel Israeli propaganda, and indispensable to roll back Israeli hegemony Just as white people participated in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and in the civil rights movement in the US, Jews are indispensable in the struggle against apartheid in Palestine. Throughout their history, Jews have been the victims of racism, suffering greatly from European anti-Semitism. And for long, they have been at the forefront in the fight against racism. This week, for example, I read an obituary titled, Denis Goldberg Man of Integrity: South African Freedom Fighter, Anti-Zionist Jew, and True Mensch written by Ronnie Kasrils, a prominent Jewish South African anti-apartheid activist about a comrade who had passed away. Reflecting on Goldbergs lifelong anti-racism struggle, Karsils emphasised: As an anti-Zionist Jew he came to view Israels colonial-racism as akin to apartheid South Africa. I know many such people, having worked closely with Jewish academics, students, journalists, feminists, editors, publishers, lawyers, unionists, and activists on various progressive causes including that of free Palestine. Palestinians must take down anyone who peddles anti-Jewish slogans in their name and build on increasing Jewish resentment towards an Israeli leadership that does terrible things in their name. When former US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders accused Netanyahu of reactionary racism and grew even more popular in the process, it showed just how far the American Jewish community and the Democratic Party have gone, bearing in mind that most American Jews vote Democrat, not Republican. Palestinians need to nourish this new spirit and synergy to counter the Israeli-inspired campaign equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. Anti-Zionism has nothing to do with anti-Semitism. After all, Jews were the first to oppose Zionism. A new Palestinian-Jewish partnership must fight Israeli injustice tooth and nail, exposing the Israeli governments malign attempts to label movements like Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) as anti-Semitic. In short, and as I argued recently, it is high time for a Palestinian-Jewish spring. The endgame The evolution of this renewed struggle in its totality will determine the outcome two states or one binational state, not the opposite. The continuing debate about the singularity or duality of states is not only premature, it may prove divisive and debilitating. Israel will certainly oppose a one-state solution with the same if not stronger determination it opposes a sovereign Palestinian state with. The sooner the Palestinian leaders realise there are no short cuts or off-the-shelf solutions the better they will be prepared for the long haul. That is why the Palestinian endgame should be justice and freedom. They are not only an attainable goal that everyone will rally behind, but also a prerequisite for peace and security in the region. They require changing Israels calculus, not defeating it, or destroying it, as Israeli leaders whine and warn. This is how major powers gave up their colonialism and how South Africa ended its system of apartheid. They were forced to reconsider the calculus of gain and loss. In this way, Netanyahus Israel cannot have all the land and all the security. It cannot continue to live by the sword and preach Kumbaya to the Palestinians. In short, it cannot have its cake and eat it too. If history is any guide, Israel will end its occupation just as all colonial powers of the past century ended theirs. The sooner the better for both Palestinians and Israelis. The novel coronavirus toll in Uttar Pradesh rose to 123 on Tuesday with five more deaths, while the cases climbed to 4,926 after 321 people tested positive in the last 24 hours, the Health Department said. The number of active cases are 1,885, while 2,918 people have been discharged from hospitals after recovery. The total confirmed cases rose to 4,926, according to the bulletin. There have been a new fatality each in Meerut, Firozabad, Varanasi, Basti and Jalaun districts, taking the death toll to 123, the department said. A total of 6,870 COVID-19 tests were in the last 24 hours and the state is also ramping up its pool-testing facility, Health Department Principal Secretary Amit Mohan Prasad said. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered opening up of laboratories in all 75 districts of the state, Prasad said. "We are emphasising on surveillance and over 3.23 crore people have been surveyed by 81,695 teams in Uttar Pradesh," he said. Prasad added that the Aarogya Setu mobile application was being used and alerts sent to people. "We have made 20,768 calls on the basis of the alerts generated by the app and 181 people have been quarantined, while 50 have tested positive for coronavirus," he said. The official said the migrant workers coming from other states were being monitored by health workers. "Over 4.76 lakh people have been screened, 565 of them showed symptoms of coronavirus and their samples were sent for testing," he said. "Of those, the reports of 117 have come and 26 people have tested positive." "The positivity percentage in migrants is 22.2, while in the state, it is 2.6," Prasad said. Of the 123 deaths, 27 were in Agra, 20 in Meerut, 11 in Moradabad, eight each in Aligarh and Kanpur, five in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Firozabad, four each in Varanasi, Sant Kabir Nagar, Mathura and Jhansi, and two each in Basti, Jalaun, Mainpuri and Ghaziabad. A death each has been reported from Lucknow, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Bijnor, Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Amroha, Bareilly, Shravasti, Azamgarh, Etah, Kanpur Dehat, Mahoba, Kushi Nagar and Lalitpur districts. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) - Launch of US Vario 18 AC Production Line as Rapid Response to Local Surge of Infection Rates - Expands Access to Vario 18 as well as Dominant Flex and Basic Suction Pumps across the Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia and Saudi Arabia BAAR, Switzerland, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Medela AG, today announced the launch of a new US production line of its Vario 18 AC Portable Suction Pumps up to 10,000 units are to be produced and shipped to the local hospitals and healthcare facilities by August to meet the acute demand. Simultaneously, the company has more than tripled its Swiss production of surgical and airway suction pumps, including Vario 18, Dominant Flex and Basic, since mid-March to address urgent needs in this pandemic crisis. These devices provide crucial suction and fluid removal during respiratory treatment provided by ventilators and the rapid expansion of the production facilities is intended to help meet the growing and ongoing needs of hospitals and other healthcare facilities across five continents. Traditionally, hospitals ensure a patient's airway is clear by utilising suction that relies on central wall piped vacuum. According to information recently published by the National Health Service (NHS)1, hospitals should not use piped vacuum to support infectious disease units (IDU) to reduce the risk of virus spread and cross-contamination. With hospitals and other treatment facilities experiencing overcrowding, added beds, and new layout configurations, there is a need for light-weight, portable, and easy to manoeuvre suction equipment. Additionally, the Medela pumps are equipped with a disposable virus filter and fluid collection system and may reduce the risk of infection for caregivers and patients2. "Standard of care in the ICU requires each patient to be provided with a single suction device. It is critical not to share suction between patients to avoid cross-contamination and to refrain from wall suction wherever possible, due to concerns about virus transmission. Rather, it requires the provision of portable, reliable and quiet suction equipment to support each individual patient," says Dr. Stephan Cole, Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, Scotland, and President of the Scottish Intensive Care Society, adding: "With this new reality ahead of us until we have a vaccine, we need to be able to rapidly increase our ICU bed capacity within 2 or 3 weeks of notice. This means we must prepare, plan and stock hardware such as ventilators, suction pumps and monitors to manage for future surges." As COVID-19 continues to spread and healthcare systems are planning for potential future surges, ventilator and suction pump manufacturers scramble to produce more units. While mechanical ventilators are essential for patients in an intensive care unit, so is accompanying suction pump equipment for the removal of lung secretions generated from the inflammatory process of the coronavirus. Thanks to the mobility, independence from piped vacuum systems and reduced risk of infection for caregivers and patients, mobile surgical and airway suction systems is the path to be taken going forward to ensure optimal care for patients and meet future challenges of global health. "Pairing ventilators with portable suction technology like the Vario 18 or our Dominant Flex and Basic devices is crucial to ensuring pulmonary hygiene to support patient care and recovery. We saw the needs of hospitals across the globe and began efforts to ramp up production already in March," said Annette Bruls, chief executive officer of Medela worldwide. "However, the demand continues to outpace our capacity by far. This is why we decided to build this additional capacity in the United States so we can better support hospitals and clinicians to aid in recovery and preparedness for any potential resurgence in the future." Medela has been a pioneer in suction technology for nearly 60 years and manufactures a suite of professional medical vacuum solutions essential for the treatment of patients who require hospital or intensive medical care. Thanks to their mobility, the units comply with NHS recommendations for piped vacuum and are equipped with reusable or disposable collection systems and a virus filter to prevent cross-contamination in the hospital environment. The solutions are widely used in Europe, and Medela's dedicated COVID-19 team assessed the current need to ramp up production worldwide to help address the pandemic. To learn more about ways Medela is aiding COVID-19 efforts, visit the: COVID-19 information hub. For information about mobile medical vacuum solutions, please visit: COVID19.MedelaHealthCare.com/solutions. About Medela Medela, headquartered in Baar (Switzerland) was founded in 1961 and is one of the world's leading companies in the development and production of breast milk feeding products and medical vacuum technology solutions. In cooperation with renowned researchers, experts and universities, Medela conducts basic and exploratory research to enhance its product portfolio improve future patient care and the quality of life of our customers. Medela has 21 subsidiaries across Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia, and a sales network of independent partners in more than 100 countries. The company runs production and warehouse facilities in Switzerland, the US and China and employs over 1,800 people worldwide. www.medela.com - www.medelahealthcare.com 1 https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/03/C0131-Design-note_COVID-19-ward-for-intubated-patients_1-April-MR2.pdf 2 https://www.medelahealthcare.com/insights/knowledge-journal/how-to-avoid-virus-cross-contamination-of-medical-vacuum-suction-pumps-with-virus-and-bacteria-filters Media Contact: Angela Heer +41 41 562 15 08 [email protected] Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1167986/Medela_Infographic.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/282613/medela_logo.jpg Related Links http://www.medela.com SOURCE Medela LLC College students and environment activists in Assam have launched an online campaign against a new National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) recommendation allowing coal mining in the ecologically-fragile Dehing Patkai elephant reserve. The campaign has been launched after NBWL authorities in April recommended that a portion of 98.59 hectares of the reserve forest could be used for opencast coal mining. While the rest of the reserve forest could be used for underground coal mining, they suggested. The move is expected to have an adverse impact on the flora and fauna in Dehing Patkai elephant reserve, which is part of Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary spread across 111 square kilometres in Upper Assams Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts. The sanctuary is said to be the largest tropical lowland rainforest in the country. We launched the campaign last week through social media because it was not possible to bring out rallies or hold processions because of the ongoing lockdown restrictions that have been enforced by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), said Farny Ahmed, social service secretary of Gauhati University (GU) post-graduate students union. Ahmed and a few others, who are part of the universitys Eco Club, have flooded social media platforms with posters, videos, memes, and photographs to spread awareness about the campaign. In the past few days #SAVEDEHINGPATKAI and #IAMDEHINGPATKAI are trending on Facebook and Twitter and many students from other colleges in Assam are putting out graphics, videos, and photographs on social media to highlight the green cause. Illegal coal mining in Dehing Patkai has been going on for many years, but the NBWLs move to allow coal mining in the Saleki area will erase the reserve from the countrys map. We wont allow this to happen,warned Lakhyajit Das, vice-president of GU students union, in a social media post. According to a report submitted to NBWL authorities, Coal India Limited (CIL) has been carrying out mining in 57.02 hectares of the forest reserve for several years without obtaining any permission. An NBWLs standing committee meeting, which was presided over by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar, and conducted via video-conference on April 17 because of the lockdown, recommended new mining activities in the forest reserve. Environmental activities are concerned about the ministrys move. The clearance was given hurriedly via video conference without any proper discussion. The Assam government should have objected to the move, but it seems theyre adamant on destroying the states environment and forests, alleged Rohit Choudhury, a Right to Information (RTI) and environment activist. Were in such a helpless condition that it has been left to college students to start an online campaign to save Dehing Patkai. The state forest department has gone morally bankrupt and is shielding the coal mafia, Choudhury further alleged. Ahmed said that they would submit a memorandum to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal soon, urging him to ensure coal mining activities are stopped in all parts of Dehing Patkai. Besides wild elephants, leopards, hoolock gibbons, pangolins, and bears, Dehing Patkai is also home to over 200 species of birds, reptiles, and several species of butterflies and orchids. Coal mining is likely to disrupt the habitats of these species and foraging routes of wild elephants. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Water quality testing on coastal waters and lakes in England has been halted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Environment Agency said it could no longer carry out the checks due to social distancing measures, as thousands flock to beaches to bask in the warm weather. The change means waters near polluted areas at Clacton in Essex, Scarborough in North Yorkshire, and Tynemouth near Newcastle, among others, will no longer be checked. The Environment Agency announced the change as thousands begin to flock to UK beaches and rivers due to a relaxation of some coronavirus restrictions Women are pictured above bathing at Bournemouth beach today as they take advantage of the warm weather In an advisory notice released on May 15 the EA said it had 'temporarily paused non-essential work, including sampling... of bathing water'. '(This will) help to slow the spread of coronavirus and maintain the ability to provide essential services,' they added. The move comes as the covers remain pulled over indoor and outdoor swimming pools, forcing aquatically-minded Britons into the sea and lakes. Sampling is used to test for bacteria including E. coli, which can cause pneumonia, urinary tract infections and diarrhea. The EA is required to carry out the health and safety checks under EU law, and usually collects data from May to September. EA is required to carry out the tests under EU law. Pictured is the Fistral beach in Newquay, Cornwall, on May 13 Where can't I swim in England? The Environment Agency advises against bathing in: St Bees, near Whitehaven Haverigg, Cumbria Burnham Jetty North and Weston-super-Mare, Somerset Combe Martn, Ilfracombe Wildersmouth and Instow, near Exmoor National Park Clacton Groyne 41, Essex Scarborough South Bay, North Yorkshire Tynemouth Cullercoats, near Newcastle Advertisement Almost all, 98.3 per cent, of the UK's waters passed the minimum standard for bathing in England last year. Of these, 71 per cent were classified as 'excellent', and given the highest standard of water quality. The EA currently has warnings in place on 11 beaches which advise Britons against swimming due to pollution levels. Despite the measures, the organisation said it would still carry out tests in places where essential incidents have taken place. It told the New Scientist: 'All essential incident monitoring will continue without hesitation, but we rightly temporarily paused all non-essential monitoring.' Thousands headed to the UK's beaches over the weekend as lockdown restrictions were eased. Day-trippers took advantage of the soaring temperatures to enjoy the weekend at Durdle Door, Dorset, Ilkley Moor, near Bradford and the Lake District, among other areas. Updated government advice says people can drive to outdoor spaces 'irrespective of distance' and removed the limit on the amount of time Britons can spend outdoors. Five hundred and thirty more Zimbabweans wanting to return home from South Africa arrived at Beitbridge on Saturday afternoon including the first 204 having their transport costs covered by Government while the remainder paid their own fares to get home. The returnees were taken to quarantine centres across the country, including the NSSA Hotel in Beitbridge. The Zimbabwe Embassy has been arranging for bus companies to bring Zimbabweans home and helping get the required movement permits from the South African authorities. But besides those who can afford their own fares, and just needed help to get a company to lay on the service, about 400 citizens living in South Africa needed free transport to the border. Once in Zimbabwe all returnees are screened and then moved at Government expense to an appropriate quarantine centre near their homes. The first group 204 needing free transport across South Africa arrived in a convoy of five buses and were taken to quarantine centres in Bulawayo, Masvingo and Harare. Logistics are being worked out to bring the other 196 citizens on sponsored repatriation. The 326 returning citizens and legal residents who paid for their transport arrived on seven buses and were dropped off at the National Social Security Authority Hotel in Beitbridge, which is being used as quarantine centre for returnees. Under the self-repatriation model, Zimbabweans pay for their bus fares, with the embassy arranging transport and logistics, while on the assisted-repatriation model, the Government covers transportation costs. Zimbabwes Ambassador to South Africa, Mr David Hamadziripi, said on Wednesday last week that they had entered into a partnership with businessman, Mr Justice Maphosa, to transport the 400 citizens. Mr Maphosa is the CEO and founder of Bigtime Strategic Group. The package includes transportation of 400 Zimbabweans and the provision of food on the journey. The International Organisation for Migration provides technical support to the embassy and is working on another humanitarian support package. Upon arrival in Beitbridge, the returnees are screened at the NSSA Hotel and then taken to other provincial quarantine centres nearer to their homes, where they are monitored for 14 days pending further management. Director for Social Welfare in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Mr Totamirepi Tirivavi, on Saturday said they profile all the returnees and dispatch them to agreed provincial destinations. We received five buses with 204 on sponsored transport and 326 others on self-sponsored transport, said Mr Tirivavi. Government has mobilised enough resources to feed, accommodate and transport the returnees coming in through all ports of entry. Zimbabwe has over 18 ports of entry, with most of them closed to non-essential human traffic. Only commercial cargo is allowed passage through the borders, while those being repatriated need movement permits from neighbouring Governments under the ongoing lockdown protocols across the region, permits whycih the embassies negotiate. Nearly 2 000 Zimbabweans, among them 527 deportees, have been repatriated from South Africa by road in the last two weeks. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images On Tuesday morning, President Donald Trump "announced" on Twitter that three Bay Area agencies would receive over $700 million in federal funds. In an email sent to SFGATE, BART Chief Communications Officer Alicia Trost confirmed that the president was referring to funds already allocated weeks ago from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. "I am proud to announce the San Francisco Bay Area will receive over $700M in federal funds to support continued operations and support workers at @flySFO Intl Airport and for transit on @sfmta_muni & @SFBart," Trump tweeted. "This money will aid in economic recovery!" [May 19, 2020] Dell Technologies Helps Professionals Stay Productive Anywhere with World's Most Intelligent and Secure Business PCs ROUND ROCK, Texas, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- News Summary: Industry's most sustainable commercial PC portfolio with built-in AI capabilities help professionals work smarter Latitude 9000 series laptops boost productivity with intelligent features built into ultra-premium designs Precision 5000 series support demanding workloads, packing performance into the industry's smallest and thinnest mobile workstation designs Simple and flexible services make it easy to deploy, manage and purchase PCs around the globe, creating ready to work experiences for employees Full Story: Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) unveiled the world's most intelligent and secure business PCs1 across its award-winning Latitude, Precision and OptiPlex portfolios to make work more efficient and safe no matter the location. As the industry's most sustainable commercial PC portfolio2, the new devices further advance Dell's commitment to sustainability with recycled materials, sustainable packaging, energy efficient designs and EPEAT Gold registrations. Professionals can work smarter with Dell Optimizer3, the automated Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based optimization technology, now available across Latitude, Precision and OptiPlex devices. The built-in software learns how each person works and adapts to their behavior to help them focus on the tasks that matter most. It works behind the scenes to improve overall application performance4; enable faster log-in and secure lock outs5; eliminate echoes and reduce background noise on conference calls; and extend battery run time6. "The PC plays a central role in how we reimagine the way we work, even anticipating what we need to be more productive," said Darrel Ward, senior vice president, Client Product Group, Dell Technologies. "From the moment you log on to your last video conference of the day, you need a PC that adapts to the way you work. That's why we are driving innovations that offer more intelligence, longer battery life, powerful speakerphones, compact designs and 5G support all while moving our sustainability goals forward." "It's critical to offer the right balance of portability with the right set of productivity features. Professionals want to turn on their device and know they have everything they need to accomplish their work, in one device," said Maribel Lopez, founder and principal analyst, Lopez Research. "People want bigger screens in smaller footprints, solid speakers for excellent call quality, the ability to switch from Wi-Fi to 5G on the fly, and built-in AI capabilities that optimize performance and eliminate background noise ultimately helping them work smarter and faster from any location." Boost productivity with the world's most intelligent business PCs7 New intelligent Latitude PCs and 2-in-1s adapt to how people work. The new ultra-premium 9000 series and completely redesigned 7000 series feature machined and brushed aluminum designs; long battery life; an array of ports; and expansive, four-sided narrow border displays to see and do more. Available with 10th Gen Intel vPro processors and Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+)8 for nearly three times faster speeds, the Latitude devices offer businesses power, performance and global connectivity. For executives and on-the-go professionals who need the very best in design, power and connectivity , the Latitude 9510 is the smallest 9 , lightest and most intelligent 15-inch business PC. Starting at 3.1 pounds 10 , the PC offers built-in 5G-ready design 11 , up to 34 hours of battery life 12 , and an enhanced conferencing experience with powerful built-in speakerphones and microphones. It offers the power and performance teams need to be productive anywhere as the first Project Athena-verified commercial PC with 10th Gen Intel vPro processors 13 . , the Latitude 9510 is the smallest , lightest and most intelligent 15-inch business PC. Starting at 3.1 pounds , the PC offers built-in 5G-ready design , up to 34 hours of battery life , and an enhanced conferencing experience with powerful built-in speakerphones and microphones. It offers the power and performance teams need to be productive anywhere as the first Project Athena-verified commercial PC with 10th Gen Intel vPro processors . Designed for balancing performance and portability, the Latitude 7410 and 7310 are the smallest 14-inch and 13-inch premium business laptops14. Also configurable as a 2-in-1, the Latitude 7410 features the industry's first 4K low blue light screen on a premium business PC15 for better readability and to help enhance eye comfort. Mobile workstations offer mission-critical reliability and more power in smaller designs Dell has reengineered its industry-leading Precision workstation portfolio, designed to handle demanding workloads like intensive graphics processing, data analysis and CAD modeling. With smaller footprints, sleek designs, and thermal innovations, the new Precision mobile workstations deliver increased performance and ISV certifications with professional graphics from NVIDIA and the latest 10th Gen Intel Core vPro and Xeon processors. Designed for creators and professionals wanting high performance and stylish design without the size and weight of a traditional mobile workstation, the Dell Precision 5550 and 5750 are the world's smallest and thinnest 15-inch and 17-inch mobile workstations16. Creators and engineers can see and do more with the 16:10, 4-sided InfinityEdge (up to HDR 400) display. The all-new Precision 5750 is also VR/AR and AI-Ready to handle fast rendering, detailed visualizations and complex simulations. Compact desktops featuring smart designs For industries like healthcare and education that rely on the dependability of desktop devices, Dell launched redesigned OptiPlex towers and expanded all-in-ones with flexible configurations in space-saving designs. The most secure commercial PCs, easy to deploy and manage around the globe IT professionals have the freedom and flexibility to set up ready-to-work experiences from day one regardless of where employees are working with Unified Workspace. From remote workers to creatives and engineers, IT can easily determine what devices to deploy that will best support employee needs, workstyle and location with Dell's new Workforce Persona QuickStart. Large enterprises to small businesses can access Dell's PCs, support and software at an affordable, predictable cost to help manage working capital with Dell PCaaS17, part of the Dell Technologies on Demand portfolio. Businesses can refresh their fleet with the latest PCs every 36 months, and have peace of mind knowing they have deployed the industry's most secure commercial PCs18, even guarding against silent attacks at the BIOS level. Availability and pricing: The Latitude 9510 is available now starting at $1,899 . The Latitude 7410 and 7310 are available now, starting at $1,499 . . The Latitude 7410 and 7310 are available now, starting at . The Dell Precision 5550 is available now starting at $1,999 . The Dell Precision 5750 is available in early June starting at $2,399 . . The Dell Precision 5750 is available in early June starting at . Workforce Persona QuickStart service is available today. Additional Resources For the latest updates on business PCs and news from Dell Technologies, connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Learn how Dell is helping businesses implement remote workforce solutions. About Dell Technologies Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) helps organizations and individuals build their digital future and transform how they work, live and play. The company provides customers with the industry's broadest and most innovative technology and services portfolio for the data era. 1 Based on Dell analysis, Nov 2019. 2 Based on the design, manufacture, packaging, product lifecycle maintenance and number of ecolabel registrations, including EPEAT Gold registrations for the Dell Precision, Latitude and OptiPlex portfolio as of May 2020. 3 Dell Optimizer available in 2020 devices, not available in OptiPlex 3000 series. Latitude 3310 2-in-1 and Latitude Chromebook Enterprise. Feature availability and functionality varies by model. 4 Dell Optimizer ExpressResponse must be enabled in the Applications feature. DO learns how user uses the selected application(s) over several hours. Based on Dell testing using Sysmark 2018 benchmark on a Latitude system running productivity applications; and using performance evaluation benchmarks on Precision mobile workstations running ISV applications, March 2020. Improvement will vary based on product configuration, use, application and other factors. 5 ExpressSign-In is available on Latitude 9000 and select 7000 series; Precision mobile workstations 7000 and select 5000 series. See product details for availability. 6 ExpressCharge with Dell Optimizer (DO) requires 14 days to learn the user's behavior, then dynamically applies appropriate battery settings. DO Adaptive Battery setting must be enabled in the Power feature settings labeled "Adaptive Battery Performance". Improvement will vary based on product configuration, use, software, operating conditions, power management settings and other factors. Improvements may decrease over time. System performance may be impacted. 7 Based on Dell analysis, November 2019. Dell Optimizer is compatible with 2020 Latitude devices with Microsoft Windows OS, excluding Latitude 3310 2-in-1 and Chrome OS systems. 8 Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) delivers nearly 3x faster speeds and next-gen security to PCs and wireless networks. 9 Based on Dell analysis, November 2019. The smallest refers total surface area of the notebooks. 10 Weights vary depending on configuration and manufacturing variability. 11 5G LTE option on 2-in-1 coming in fall of 2020. Mobile Broadband/LTE: Subject to service provider's broadband subscription and coverage area; speeds may vary. Additional charges will apply. Contact your service provider for details. 12 Battery life is based on testing Latitude 9510 with Intel Core i5- 10210U, 8GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, 88Whr battery and FHD non-touch display, using the Mobile Mark 2014 benchmark test available at www.bapco.com. Test results are for comparative purposes only. Actual battery life may be significantly less than the test results and varies depending on product configuration and use, software, operating conditions, power management settings and other factors. Maximum battery life will decrease with time. 13 Based on Intel's design verification process, April 2020. 14 Based on Dell analysis, January 2020, using publicly available data. The smallest refers total surface area of the 2-in-1s. 15 Based on Dell analysis using publicly available data, April 2020. 16 Based on Dell analysis using publicly available data to compare 15" and 17" mobile workstations, January 2020. The smallest refers total surface area of the mobile workstations. 17 PCaaS: Terms provided by Dell Financial Services L.L.C. or its affiliate or designee for qualified business customers. Subject to availability, credit approval, applicable documentation and law. Applicable for 36-month term. For qualifying products only. Monthly payment amount does not include charges other than periodic rent payments (such as taxes, fees, shipping or other charges). 18 Based on Dell internal analysis, January 2020. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dell-technologies-helps-professionals-stay-productive-anywhere-with-worlds-most-intelligent-and-secure-business-pcs-301061743.html SOURCE Dell Technologies [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Generally sunny despite a few afternoon clouds. Much colder. High 23F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low near 10F. Winds light and variable. Regional travel within New South Wales will be allowed imminently, Gladys Berejiklian said today. The premier said the government is 'very close' to letting residents go on holiday, providing a major boost to regional businesses that have been starved of revenue due to the coronavirus lockdown. 'We're very close to finalising our plans. I can confirm that NSW residents won't have to wait too much longer before we can do that,' the Premier said. Regional travel within New South Wales will be allowed imminently, Gladys Berejiklian said today The ban on holidays within New South Wales will be lifted next. Pictured: Byron Bay Ms Berejiklian said some communities are 'anxious' about people bringing coronavirus from the cities but others are keen for tourism to restart to provide jobs and revenue. 'We've been discussing this with regional communities. Some are a bit more anxious than others about welcoming tourists into their towns. 'Some want it desperately because they appreciate the economic activity it will bring, others are a bit more anxious about what that means,' the premier said. New South Wales recorded only two new cases of the virus on Monday, both in hotel quarantine meaning they have not spread the virus to anyone else. The premier said the government is 'very close' to letting residents go on holiday, providing a major boost to regional businesses Australian residents returning from India are ushered towards waiting buses for the beginning of their 14-day mandatory quarantine 'Because we do have control of the spread at this time I think that's given communities a degree of confidence and I feel like it will be imminent,' Ms Berejiklian said. The premier said she did not want to officially announce anything today, but left the door open for a decision this week. Regional travel, except for bio-security zones, has been allowed in the Northern Territory since May 1. In Queensland, residents are allowed to make day trips 150km from their homes, or 500km from their homes within the Outback. Holidays are not allowed in Victoria. South Australia has encouraged regional travel since 11 May. WA is allowing some regional travel within designated zones. One of Netflixs newest binge-worthy shows is the true-crime thriller Waco. The show tells the dramatic story of the infamous 1993 standoff between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the members of the Branch Davidian religious organization in Waco, Texas. Waco stars Rory Culkin as Branch Davidian member David Thibodeau, who made a guest appearance in the shows finale. The real Thibodeau is one of only nine members of the Branch Davidians who survived the Waco fire. Thibodeau recently sat down for an interview with Brown Political Review to discuss his experience at the Branch Davidian unit known as Mount Carmel, the former leader of the group David Koresh, and the present-day leader Clive Doyle. Taylor Kitsch | Amanda Edwards/Getty Images What is Waco about? RELATED: Love True Crime? Stream These 5 Series That Fans Love Waco is based on the true events that occurred at Mount Carmel compound in Waco, Texas, involving members of the Branch Davidians and members of the FBI and ATF. The focus of the six-episode mini-series is the surveillance and siege of the Mount Carmel compound. Law enforcement agencies were tracking the Koresh and the Branch Davidians because of suspicions that they held illegal firearms. The FBI and ATF stormed the compound, resulting in deaths on both sides. Following the initial entry, weeks of communications between the two sides occurred and was heavily publicized in the media. The event is known as one of the most public discussions of gun rights in American history. The standoff between law enforcement and the Branch Davidians lasted 51 days. The event began when federal agents attempted to seize guns from the compound and ended with a massive fire that killed 76 members of the organization, including 25 children. Prior to the fire, 35 members were negotiated out of Mount Carmel. The mini-series originally premiered on the Paramount Network channel in 2018. In the show, Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch portrays the infamous Koresh. According to a 1993 New York Times piece, Koresh would physically, verbally, and sexually abuse the members of the Branch Davidians in Waco. He was polygamous and said to be seen wrongly overly sexually toward young Branch Davidians by his own followers. The Waco mini-series received some criticism for portraying Koresh in a more positive light than many believe he deserved. Who is Clive Doyle? Following the death of Koresh, Branch Davidian member Doyle has assumed control of what remains of the group. Doyle was born in Australia and joined the Branch Davidians in 1964. Two years later, he moved to the Mount Carmel compound that was under the control of Koresh. Followers of Koresh, like Doyle and Thibodeau, believed that their leader would bring them to the promised land. Doyle was a true believer of Koreshs message, and he allowed his own daughter Shari to marry Koresh at age 14. Shari was one of the children who perished in the fire. Doyle wrote the book A Journey to Waco: Autobiography of a Branch Davidian in 2012. The book gave an in-depth account of Doyles experiences during the Waco standoff. Doyle is not a featured character in the Waco mini-series. David Thibodeau and Doyles relationship Thibodeau and Doyle still reside in Waco with several other of the Branch Davidians who survived the siege and fire. According to Thibodeau, Doyle is nothing like his predecessor Koresh. In the Brown Political Review interview, Thibodeau says that Doyle is the nicest guy ever and has no desire to run anything or be in charge of anyone. He also mentions that Doyle visits the imprisoned members of the Branch Davidians, and his only goal is to help people. Like Doyle, Thibodeau has published the book A Place Called Waco: A Survivors Story about his experiences at Mount Carmel. He still defends Koresh and has said that the cult leader is not a con-man. His book, as well as FBI investigators Gary Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator were the inspiration for the series. Thibodeau and Doyle claim that the ATF, FBI, and the United States government deserves more blame for the Waco tragedy and that Koresh was forced to act after their unjust actions. GODFREY With the help of Urban GIS, Illinois American Waters Godfrey Wastewater operations is using GPS to collect wastewater system data and modernize the mapping system. To map the Godfrey wastewater infrastructure, Urban GIS employees will be traveling throughout the community to locate and record the location of wastewater mains, manholes, etc. Weather permitting, this work will be completed in June. Lawsuit seeks to delay enforcing Noem's new abortion pill ban Planned Parenthood and ACLU of South Dakota are suing Noem and the Department of Health in enforcing a new abortion pill ban. Ukraine's GTS operator suing regional gas companies to recover multimillion-dollar debts 11:55, 19.05.20 1068 Such a serious debt jeopardizes the launch of a new heating season in autumn. - Absa Bank's customer identified as Winnie claimed KSh 600,000 was siphoned from her account on Monday, May 11 - The lender, however, disputed the amount saying she exaggerated the amount and the lender would pay back KSh 80,000 that was withdrawn - In July 2019, Faith Wanjiku, a customer at Equity Bank, alleged KSh 970,216 was taken from her bank account through Eazzy App Absa Bank Kenya has said it will pay back KSh 80,000 to a customer whose money was stolen from her account after it was hacked by fraudsters. The customer identified as Winnie had complained to the lender that her account was illegally accessed on Monday, May 11, at night. READ ALSO: Coronavirus update: Kenya's COVID-19 tally rises to 963 as 51 test positive Absa Bank headquarters in Westlands, Nairobi. Photo: Absa Bank. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Irungu Kang'ata files notice of motion to remove Senate Deputy Speaker Kithure Kindiki On 11th I was working the night shift. I passed by a fuel station at Kasarani where I swiped my card for KSh 1,000, Winnie said. The woman said she then received a notification from the bank indicating nothing was debited in her account followed by another message showing KSh 109 was removed before it was credited. Winnie claimed KSh 600,000 was siphoned from her account but Absa Bank said she exaggerated the amount. Photo: Absa Bank. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Aliyekuwa mbunge wa Makueni Peter Kiilu ameaga dunia "We called the customer care (with a colleague) but at the same time, another debit of KSh 265,000 was made in my account, she claimed. Winnie said the bank referred her to the fraud section and did not block her card from being accessed. By the time the fraud team was getting back to me, a transaction of three phases had been made, totaling KSh 600,000," she said. The bank, however, said the client exaggerated the amount stating only KSh 80,000 was withdrawn as it promised to refund it. In July 2019, Equity Bank was thrust into the limelight over alleged loss of funds from a customer's bank account. The elderly lady, Faith Wanjiku, alleged KSh 970,216 was siphoned from her bank account through Eazzy App. The lender in its response shared on social media acknowledged receiving the customer's complaint and confirmed an internal investigation was conducted, after which the client was advised on the outcome. Do you have an inspirational story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My boss in Saudi Arabia had denied me food for more than 10 days- Miriam Wangari| Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke The commissioner for children and young people in Northern Ireland has backed comments made by the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland that going ahead with academic selection this year would be "cruel". Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh, has written to schools in his diocese urging them not to use selection to admit pupils in September 2021. He told the BBC that making pupils take the transfer test during the coronavirus pandemic was "cruel". Organisers of the assessments plan to hold them two weeks later than normal next autumn following severe disruption to the school calendar caused by the lockdown. "I have become aware of the anxiety that is already building over the prospect of primary seven transfer tests in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic." Archbishop Martin said. "In recent weeks parents and teachers have spoken to me of their disquiet and about the uncertainty that is already upsetting some children." Koulla Yiasouma, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, told the Belfast Telegraph that she agreed with Archbishop Martin's comments. Expand Close Catholic Primate of Ireland Eamon Martin / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Catholic Primate of Ireland Eamon Martin Following last weeks announcement that the transfer tests were going ahead this year, I went on record to express my disappointment on what I felt, and still strongly feel, is absolutely the wrong decision for our 10 and 11-year olds," she said. Over the past week others, including many worried and anxious parents, have added their opposition and voice to these concerns. Today the Archbishop has added further weight to this and has echoed many of the same issues and concerns, including what he also feels is a cruel decision for children and their families at this unprecedented time. I welcome the Archbishops support and once again call on all those involved to urgently revisit this decision, a decision which is very clearly not in the best interests of our children. Expand Close Education Minister Peter Weir / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Education Minister Peter Weir Education Minister Peter Weir, speaking to BBC Newsline, said: "I think 'cruel' is a pejorative word and I am disappointed with that language. "Divisions over academic selection and transfer tests have been there for many years. People will have very long standing positions. I want to try and make sure we have a transfer (test) that is fair as possible to everyone and takes account of the circumstances." Gerry Murphy, Northern Secretary of the Irish National Teacher's Organisation, welcomed the Archbishops comments and called for academic selection to be suspended. "A necessary suspension would allow school staff, parents and pupils time to prepare properly for the challenges of returning to school in September, and the putting in place the necessary, additional support for pupils that will be required after such a difficult break from 'normal' schooling," he said. Mr Murphy added it was time to "consign academic selection to the dustbin of history". Schools closed in March to all except the children of essential workers, and many parents have been home tutoring. A phased return of schools is extremely likely in September, Stormont education minister Peter Weir has said. One school principal said the archbishop's appeal was timely and necessary. "Throughout this extraordinary time we, as teachers, realise all that our children are missing out on, over and above learning and teaching," the principal said, PA reported. "We are conscious that all homes are different and that the availability of support, both personal and electronic, varies greatly. "We are also acutely aware that emotions and anxieties are running high and we have received reports from parents of the unhappiness and distress currently experienced by our children and especially those children in our year six class. "To this end, it is a blessing that you have shown great leadership and called for the suspension of academic selection. "We pray, in union with you, that the principals and governors of our Catholic schools make the right decisions for the good of our children." Veteran actor Rishi Kapoor passed away on April 30, 2020, after battling leukaemia for two years. His wife Neetu Kapoor and daughter Riddhima have been posting throwback pictures and memories they shared with the late actor on Instagram, to keep his memories alive. Rishi Kapoor Neetu Kapoor Family pic; Emotional | FilmiBeat In the recent post shared by Neetu Kapoor, the former actress hoped to stop time. She shared a family photo snapped by the paparazzi at an event. Along with Rishi Kapoor and Neetu, Ranbir, Riddhima and her daughter Samara can also be seen in the picture. Rishi, donning a blue t-shirt and track pants, can be seen smiling at the camera holding his granddaughter's hand. Neetu Kapoor captioned the post as, "How I wish this picture could remain complete as is." The post received a lot of love from fans and industry mates. Riddhima also left a comment with two heart emojis, while Shweta Bachchan wrote, "Sending you love " Earlier, Neetu Kapoor had shared Rishi Kapoor's old picture, which was taken post a year of treatment in New York and had written, "End of our story " In another post, she ha thanked fans and family friends, who stood with them during some difficult times. She wrote, " As a family we have a deep sense of loss..when we sit together and look back at the past few months what we also feel is immense gratitude." Rishi Kapoor was last seen in The Body, and was reportedly shooting for Sharmaji Namkeen, which also features Juhi Chawla. According to reports, the film will be completed using advanced VFX technology and will be released as a final tribute to the actor. When Rishi Kapoor Slammed Vyjayanthimala For Denying Her Affair With Raj Kapoor: I Was Livid Neil Nitin Mukesh On How His Father Is Coping With Rishi Kapoor's Death: He Has Been Extremely Upset First of all, this press is as a legal process but actually it comes to a conflict between husband and wife. Celebrity Spouses. Yes, one of the partners, someone for whom the word "world star" could have been invented. In the coming weeks, a London court decides whether the British tabloid "The Sun" slandered the actor Johnny Depp, 57,, as it referred to him in 2018 as a "wife beater": a man who beats his wife. The newspaper refers to allegations of Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard which, claimed also an actress, but not quite as prominent as the Exgatte since the separation, 2016, Depp have is during the 15 common Ehemonate repeatedly miss. He denies the. Both Depp as well as Heard appeared now in court and accused each other again a variety of Undinge. He says they have in their own filth in bed. She says he got her Yorkshire Terrier "Pistol" out of the window of a moving car dangle. He says you have him cut off the tip of your finger with a vodka bottle. She says he slapped her. none of the allegations is Proven. Who knows what was going on in Depp's really in front of you? And yet, the public mudslinging of a disappointment is accompanied: it lies in the realization that Johnny Depp supplied the gossip press, in the meantime, with the same profane Celebrity-circus, such as the 08/15-Stars, to which he will never belong. Hardly anyone will be disenchanted as effective as an Idol, in the Wake of his antics along with, say, the inventory of his hotel room any kind of projection for dreams smashes. The hotel rooms found at Depp not so bad, after all, he used to quite a charming way of his reputation as a gruff outsider, a kind of rock star among the actors, the magnet rebel under the Fund. The character "Johnny Depp" seems to have exhausted itself. Today, he acts as a disadvantageous aged, slightly sleazy scandal-Playboy. What Johnny's done? According to Hollywood, so Depp's got himself tells it, he came out of pragmatism. Actually, he had wanted to of course be a rock star, the conditions that he: with twelve the first E-guitar, by had, with four in ten of all drugs, with sixteen down of the school and into the music clubs of Florida, where Depp, still a minor, with his garage band. With nine out of ten, he moved with the Band to Los Angeles, it's supposed to be the big breakthrough. For myself, Depp goes to auditions, in 1987, he gets the main role in the high school series "21 Jump Street" and rises to an international teen Idol. Later, Depp called it the "stupidest Job I've ever done". From then on, contrary to the Hollywood Mainstream. Instead, he now chooses films that have poison the stuff to the cashier, but a reputation as a character actor with a penchant for quirky characters to bring in, for example, in "Edward Scissorhands". The role in "Interview with a vampire", of course, the Brad Pitt made final to the Star, from he suggests. is Pitt Depp a kind of counterpart to. Both the same age, both know (now) how the Status of Superstars to the touch. But Pitt all embodied but mostly the blond "American Boy" with the radiant Smile), and the healthy face color, Depp, however, the flamboyant pretty boy with the wonderful hollow cheeks, the erratic lifestyle and the beautiful women (Kate Moss. Fatal return to the Mainstream With the French singer Vanessa Paradis, then Depp is an exchange at the beginning of the 2000s, the wild life against two children, and a reclusive existence on a French estate. Has made the Jump in time, it was thought as yet, no scandals and more, a lot of savoir-vivre. Updated Date: 12 July 2020, 11:20 Dear Editor, A letter to the Freeman invoked some discredited historical myths and racist slurs to denigrate Palestinians on the anniversary of Israels founding. Perhaps some statistics (from BTselem) will provide a glimpse of what is actually happening there: * Number of illegal Israeli Jewish-only settlements on confiscated Palestinian land: 261. Palestinian settlements on Israeli land: none. * Number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces and civilians since 2008: 5,002. Number of Israelis killed by Palestinians in the same period: 202. * Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel: 6,279 (including at least 300 children, mostly without charge or trial). Israeli political prisoners held by Palestine: none. * Number of Palestinian homes demolished by Israel since 1967: at least 48,488. Number of Israeli homes demolished by Palestinians in the same period: none. These statistics dont address Israels routine denial to Palestinians of the basic rights to education, movement and healthcare, nor the illegality of Israels military occupation which flouts the Geneva Conventions and imposes conditions that Desmond Tutu called worse than apartheid. The photo the Freeman chose to accompany the letter shows the funeral of an Israeli soldier killed while enforcing the illegal occupation of the West Bank the first such Israeli military casualty for over a year. Perhaps the Freeman can redress the balance by picturing with this letter one of the many funerals of civilian Palestinian victims of Israeli violence in that period. Laurie Kirby Woodstock, N.Y. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Caledonia Police Chief Christopher Botsch posted the following on the departments Facebook page: Due to the sensitive nature of this incident, please remember to be civil towards each other when using social media and we again thank the community for their support. NEW HAVEN Connecticut State Police are investigating after a trooper was filmed berating a motorist during a profanity-laced traffic stop on the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, with the trooper barred from interacting with the public, according to the agency. In the video, posted on YouTube Monday, Trooper Matthew Spina is seen cursing at a man who allegedly was speeding on the span also known as the Q bridge in New Haven. The man allegedly showed unhappiness with Spinas driving before the stop, saying Spina was following another car too closely. Spina expressed displeasure at the motorists critique. You couldnt leave it alone, could you? You had to be an (epithet) American, said Spina. God help you if theres anything illegal in this car. Spina goes on to find marijuana in the car the motorist says he has a medical license and continues to speak heatedly to the motorist throughout the stop, justifying his driving as an attempt to catch another motorist. The stop lasts for roughly five minutes. Spina notes he was following a truck and looking for violations because the governors office has gotten multiple complaints on traffic stops. It just never (expletive) ends in this (expletive) job. Ive got 14 months I cant (expletive) wait to be done, Spina said. This ought to tell you why our department, instead of having 1,300 (troopers), has 850 right now. Theres an (expletive) clue to the (expletive) public, what a bunch of (expletives) you are. In the description of the video on YouTube, the man alleges that Spina threatened to throw him off the bridge if he were to come across him again. That phrase could not be confirmed by listening to the video. Spina tells the motorist that police officers are permitted by law to disregard traffic laws during the performance of their duties. How the (expletive) am I going to catch a speeder if Im not speeding, Spina says. Warning, the video on YouTube, as seen here, will be disturbing to some readers. In a release, Col. Stavros Mellekas described Spinas behavior as disturbing and not indicative of the great work of the women and men of the Connecticut State Police and their dedication to protecting and serving during this pandemic. We hold our Troopers to high standards and the behavior displayed in the video is not reflective of the values of Commissioner Rovella or my administration, Mellekas said in the release. Spina was placed on an administrative assignment which does not allow him to interact with the public, state police said. An internal affairs investigation is underway. The department did not identify Spina by name in an initial release, but confirmed his identity in a follow-up email. Mellekas said that the department does recognize that all of us everywhere are under extreme stress during this pandemic. For our troopers, they are dealing with the impact on their personal lives along with workplace stressors of being on the frontline. While not an excuse, we are sensitive to this and also referred the trooper to our employee assistance program. We have also recently launched a resiliency program to help all our employees dealing with this pandemic, Mellekas said. Spina let the motorist go without issuing a ticket. State police said they would release more information as it becomes available. The Connecticut State Police Union did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Spina declined to comment Wednesday. william.lambert@hearstmediact.com - Ghana has received Madagascars COVID-19 cure - The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, announced this - He said the tonic is being tested Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Install our latest app for Android and read the best news about Ghana The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has announced that Ghana has received Madagascars cure for COVID-19. He said the efficacy of the medicine is being tested for further deliberation. The minister made this revelation in a tweet sighted by YEN.com.gh. READ ALSO: Stonebwoy sadly calls for governments support; says musicians are hungry due to COVID-19 The minister explained that like all other medicines, the Madagascar 'cure' has been sent to the FDA and the Center for Plant Medicine for testing. He added that when these institutions approve of the cure, the government will recommend its use in curing the disease. READ ALSO: Nana Ama McBrown boldly exposes colleague who poisoned her on set Meanwhile, Ghana's confirmed COVID-19 cases stand at 5,918 with 1,754 recoveries and 31 deaths, the Disease Surveillance of the Ghana Health Service has announced. In a relative development, Ghanaian Dancehall musician Stonebwoy has called on the government to support musicians in these times. He said the COVID-19 pandemic has plunged musicians into poverty and most of them are hungry. READ ALSO: Okyenhene orders the removal of alien shrines from Akyem state Yenkasa: "We have families to feed, we can't stop the Okada business" - Riders lament | #Yencomgh Have national and human interest issues to discuss? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh The Points Guy UK has compiled a mammoth guide to the international travel status of countries around the world and reports that 'while very few countries are open to tourism right now, the good news is that some are providing timelines on when travel might again be possible'. Daily Mail in the article When WILL international tourism return? publishes short guide to the travel status of countries around the world - and their timelines out of coronavirus lockdown. USA 'Some states are slowly reopening,' says The Points Guy UK, 'but most are still not welcoming tourists. In fact, Maine and Hawaii both have strict 14-day quarantine requirements in place for all out-of-state visitors.' The site also points out that the CDC 'has a strong warning against any nonessential travel within the United States' and that 'the US State Department also advises against any international travel'. Bahamas The Bahamas are under emergency orders through May 30, the site says. No international visitors are allowed to enter or disembark on Bahamian soil for any reason, including transit. Jamaica All airports and seaports have been closed for inbound international passengers through May 31, the site reports. India 'India announced back in March that it was no longer allowing foreigners into the country,' says TPG. 'A suspension of international flights has been lifted, but only for humanitarian or essential travel.' China China, ground zero for the outbreak, is not welcoming tourists from outside the country and there is no timeline when that might change, writes TPG UK. It adds: 'China is allowing South Koreans to travel to some Chinese cities on business, but strict measures are in place to make sure outbreaks don't spread.' Japan Japan is under a state of emergency and is stepping up border controls and banning visitors from 70 nations or anyone who has visited those nations in the past 14 days, TPG UK says. South Korea 'Just seven weeks ago,' the Points Guy UK says, 'the United States and South Korea had the same number of cases, but as of early May, South Korea had fewer than 300 deaths compared to more than 70,000 in the US. 'South Korea remains closed to those travelling for "nonessential" reasons, and it doesn't look like Americans will be welcomed as tourists anytime soon.' Thailand Thailand shut down its borders in late March, the site says. It adds: 'A state of emergency is in effect at least through May and analysts don't expect a rebound in tourism to Thailand until 2021.' Vietnam Vietnam is in the process of slowly reopening, TPG UK says, but foreigners are not welcome and there is no timeline on when that could change. Indonesia For now, no foreigners are allowed into the country, including Bali, the site says. Malaysia Tourists are advised not to go and all international arrivals, including Malaysian citizens, are required to undergo 14-day quarantine. Taiwan Taiwan has banned international travellers as of March 19, says TPG UK, including all transit passengers passing through the nation en route to other destinations. The Philippines No foreigners are allowed into the country. Israel On March 18, the government announced that foreigners would not be allowed to enter Israel. There are no current plans to ease that restriction, the site says. UAE The Points Guy UK says: 'The United Arab Emirates is beginning to ease some strict lockdown measures, but is still not welcoming tourists and a curfew remains in effect. There are some flights between the UK and Abu Dhabi. And on Wednesday, May 13, Dubai-based Emirates said it was resuming service to nine international destinations including London, Chicago and Melbourne among other destinations.' Face masks on Emirates flights are now mandatory. Italy There is no timeline yet on the country opening to tourists. Greece It's hoped the country will be open to tourists by July 1, TPG UK reports. France The Points Guy UK writes: 'Passengers arriving in France from non-Schengen member states are not allowed to enter the country. It's unclear how long that ban will last. 'The European Union's ban on most foreigners expires May 15, but it's likely to be extended.' Spain TPG says: 'A national state of emergency is expected to be extended to May 23 and potentially longer. 'The country announced that it will require all visitors to self-quarantine for 14 days.' Portugal International visitors are not welcome. Germany Entry to Germany for tourism is strictly prohibited. Bulgaria Foreigners are banned and locals are allowed to return but must quarantine for 14 days. Hungary Hungary has banned foreigners, writes TPG UK, though Wizz Air is operating some flights between the UK and to other European destinations for essential workers and Hungarian citizens. Russia Russians need a permit to travel, and foreigners are not welcome, reports TPG UK. Czech Republic The Czech Republic is allowing visitors from nearby nations, says TPG UK, but they need to provide a negative Covid-19 test result at the border. Turkey Some tourist sites have reopened, but there is no timetable for allowing international visitors. Alas, the country will open doors to 31 countries for health tourism COLUMBUS, Ohio - Aishas Law -- sweeping domestic violence legislation named after a beloved Shaker Heights teacher who was killed by her ex-husband, a former judge and state lawmaker -- has been cleared by two legislative committees and will be on the Ohio House floor Wednesday. House Bill 3 has been nearly 18 months in the making, including several revisions and meetings with prosecutors, defense attorneys, domestic violence survivors, the Ohio Attorney Generals Office and Gov. Mike DeWines office, said its sponsor, Rep. Janine Boyd, a Cleveland Heights Democrat. I genuinely believe balanced policy thats informed should not be a drive-through, she said. It should be vetted. The bipartisan measure is named after Aisha Fraser, who was fatally stabbed outside of Lance Masons home in November 2018 before their children as she was dropping them off. Mason, a former Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge and state lawmaker, previously served nine months of a two-year prison sentence in 2014 for an attack that left Fraser with a broken orbital bone that required reconstructive surgery. In September, Mason was sentenced to life in prison for stabbing her 59 times. He will first be eligible for parole after 35 years. HB 3 aims to prevent the murder of intimate partners through police and social service interventions in domestic violence cases. Research has shown that domestic violence murders can often be predicted through screening of victims. Broadly, the bill has six provisions: Lethality screening: Police on the scene of domestic violence calls would present a victim a screening -- including questions such as, Have you experienced choking or strangulation, which has a high likelihood of imminent homicide. Depending on the responses, automatic referral by the police officer to a regions domestic violence survivors program. The programs can help survivors get safe housing, mental health or addiction treatment, job training and other resources. Allowing the results of the lethality screening to be submitted to a prosecutor, which can be used as evidence in the trial against the perpetrator. A bipartisan task force, which would include victim advocates, to study the effect of allowing violent charges to be dropped in plea deals with suspects. Boyd originally wanted to prohibit dropping violent charges, but after prosecutors objected, she agreed to a task force to study the issue. $150,000 to train police departments on lethality screening through the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy. After Boyd worked with DeWines and Attorney General Dave Yosts offices, HB3 creates a new crime -- domestic violence aggravated murder -- when abuse ends in homicide. It also increases penalties for reckless strangulation. About six months ago, Rep. Sara Carruthers, a Columbus-area Republican, joined as a sponsor on the bill and began to fight for it, Boyd said. That has helped gain support in the Republican-controlled House. Boyd agreed to drop another part of the bill, having to do with allowing hearsay evidence to be included in domestic violence trials. Oftentimes a victim is too scared to testify against the defendant, and Boyd wanted to allow records and testimony by family members to be used as evidence. However, there were questions about whether the legislature or the Ohio Supreme Court ultimately have the final word on expanding evidence. Boyd said shes working on a proposal before the Ohio Supreme Court. Euro Forecast Overview: The Euro continues to build on gains after news over the past 24-hours has recalibrated expectations around the long-term viability of the single currency project. Key technical hurdles continue to be overcome in both EUR/JPY and EUR/USD , suggesting that more gains may be ahead. Per the IG Client Sentiment Index , losses are no longer expected by the Euro in the near-term. Euro Reversal Catalyzed by Federalized Debt The Euro continues to build on gains after news over the past 24-hours has recalibrated expectations around the long-term viability of the single currency project. It seems a lesson may have been learned after failure to bring about a coordinated, federal-level response to the Eurozone debt crisis and The Great Recession: France and Germany have come forth with a 500 billion proposal for an emergency fund, fully backed by debt issued by the EU. While the recovery fund still needs to be ratified by each of the 27 member nations legislative bodies, we are now on the path to federalized debt in Europe. Unlike in 2010, when the Southern periphery countries went forward to the Northern core countries asking for jointly issued debt, the Northern core countries said no; but this time they might have said yes. And so Europe, at a time when theres a chance to work together, is finally action as a union. This is a materially positive development for the long-term viability of the Euro, a significant inflection point in the grand scheme of things. Present Day: Does the ECB Need to Save the Euro? One of the running themes since The Great Recession has been that G10 central banks have been the only game in town, in the words of Mohammed El-Erian. Because central banks have been so aggressive with their easing measures, the onus has been removed from fiscal policymakers to legislate long-term solutions to systemic economic woes. So while Draghis whatever it takes moment was good for the Euro in the short-term, staving off ruin, it ultimately removed pressure from politicians to reform their economies. As paradoxical as it may sound, ECB President Lagardes comment that were not here to narrow spreads a suggestion that it wasnt the ECBs job to reduce sovereign credit risk in the periphery relative to the core may have been one of the sparks that ignited Germany to embrace jointly-issued debt. It may be the case now that the Euro doesnt need a whatever it takes moment from Lagarde this time around, and even if the ECB were to come forward with a massive easing program, that might actually help the Euro, because it would further reduce the threat of this existential crisis. Flashback: ECB Cant Save the Euro Alone In our commentary on the Euro over the past weeks, weve maintained the following perspective: The coronavirus pandemic has exposed an old wound: the desire by the less fiscally stable member states to have a federalized European budget. Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands remain opposed to jointly-issued debt among member states, otherwise known as Eurobonds just as the bloc of northern member states did throughout the crisis of the past decade. And so, the European Union may be nearing a breaking point anew. A lack of a federalized response mechanism, blockaded by the more fiscally stable members of the EU, may be the spark that forces countries to turn inward even faster and tear the union apart. The stakes have been raised: the regions two largest economies are answering the call for federalized debt. But if the Northern core countries reject the proposal, all of the good will in the world may not be able to save the Euro neither will the ECB. EUR/USD RATE TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: DAILY CHART (May 2019 to May 2020) (CHART 1) In our last EUR/USD rate forecast update, it was noted that the uptrend from the March, April, and May swing lows has been maintained, and the bullish outside engulfing bar forming on the daily chart suggests that a return back towards triangle resistance is possible (which would come in the low 1.0900s over the remainder of the week). EUR/USD rates climbed through 1.0900 yesterday, but triangle resistance remains: a shooting star is forming on the daily candle, with price sitting at 1.0938 at the time of writing. Bullish momentum continues to build, as EUR/USD rates are still rising above their daily 5-, 8-, 13-, and 21-EMA envelope, which is not yet in full bullish sequential order. Both daily MACD and Slow Stochastics are advancing back towards their respective signal and median lines while in bearish territory. Gains through 1.0964 would not only constitute a bullish breakout from the triangle, but success in overtaking the 38.2% retracement of the 2020 high/low range as well. IG Client Sentiment Index: EUR/USD Rate Forecast (May 20, 2020) (Chart 2) EUR/USD: Retail trader data shows 41.67% of traders are net-long with the ratio of traders short to long at 1.40 to 1. The number of traders net-long is 31.96% lower than yesterday and 36.63% lower from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 42.43% higher than yesterday and 25.53% higher from last week. We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-short suggests EUR/USD prices may continue to rise. Traders are further net-short than yesterday and last week, and the combination of current sentiment and recent changes gives us a stronger EUR/USD-bullish contrarian trading bias. EUR/JPY RATE TECHNICAL ANALYSIS: DAILY CHART (May 2019 to May 2020) (CHART 3) In our last EUR/JPY rate forecast update, it was noted that the sharp rally over the past few days has EUR/JPY back at symmetrical triangle support (now resistance) near 116.60, while the descending channel in place since the start of April sees resistance emerging near 117.10 over the coming daysif 117.10 is achieved, a return back into the symmetrical triangle coupled with a break of the descending channel would buttress the argument for a more substantial EUR/JPY turn high. The foundation has been laid for a more substantial EUR/JPY turn higher, will prices clearing out 117.10 with ease. The descending channel in place over the past seven weeks has been busted, and EUR/JPY has returned back into the symmetrical triangle. As is often the case, returning to a consolidation typically means a reversal to the otherwise of the consolidation is possible. In terms of indicators, EUR/JPY rates are climbing above the daily 5-, 8-, 13-, and 21-EMA envelope, which is not yet in full bullish sequential order. Daily MACD is trending higher albeit in bearish territory, while Slow Stochastics is racing towards overbought condition. A move towards the April swing highs near 119.02 cant be dismissed. IG Client Sentiment Index: EUR/JPY Rate Forecast (May 20, 2020) (Chart 4) EUR/JPY: Retail trader data shows 48.97% of traders are net-long with the ratio of traders short to long at 1.04 to 1. The number of traders net-long is 8.51% lower than yesterday and 16.47% lower from last week, while the number of traders net-short is 14.75% lower than yesterday and 12.11% lower from last week. We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net-short suggests EUR/JPY prices may continue to rise. Positioning is less net-short than yesterday but more net-short from last week. The combination of current sentiment and recent changes gives us a further mixed EUR/JPY trading bias. --- Written by Christopher Vecchio, CFA, Senior Currency Strategist MARTHA HART SAYS DARK SIDE OF THE RING WILL FINALLY TELL THE TRUE TALE OF OWEN HART'S DEATH, WWE'S LEAD ATTORNEY RESPONDS Martha Hart was interviewed by CBS Sports' Brent Bookhouse in advance of tonight's season finale of Dark Side of the Ring on VICE TV, documenting the life and death of Owen Hart as well as the legal aftermath of Hart's passing in May 1999 after falling from the rafters of the Kemper Arena in Kansas City at the WWF Over the Edge PPV. The interview prompted a response from WWE's lead attorney Jerry McDevitt and can be read in complete form at this link. Hart on how Dark Side of the Ring finally gets the true story of Owen's passing out: "I'm just one individual and the WWE is a PR powerhouse. They've always had the upper hand with getting their message and their side of things out. This episode really provided the opportunity to tell the real story and tell how I had the biggest fight of my life. It was a real David and Goliath battle and how awful they were to me and how disrespectful they were to Owen." Hart on the Stunt that led to Owen's death: "First of all, the stunt itself was so negligent. They hired hackers they knew would do anything they wanted when they knew that proper riggers they had hired in the past had told them, 'We won't do this kind of stunt, it's not safe.' Everything about that stunt was done wrong. The entire set-up was wrong. The equipment was wrong -- the harness, for example, was meant for dragging people behind a car. It was a stunt harness, but it wasn't meant to suspend someone 80 feet above the ground. What was happening to Owen when he was sitting in that harness is, his circulation was getting cut off and he couldn't breathe. Then, the snap shackle that they used, that snap shackle is not meant for rigging humans. It's meant for the sole use of rigging sailboats. It's a sailboat clip that, by design, is meant to open on load. By the very design of the stunt, it was meant to fail, because the weight of Owen on that clip actually made it more likely it would open spontaneously. Proper riggers have a few things they would never do. First, they would never do a stunt without redundancy. That didn't happen; there was no redundancy. Second, they never, ever, let the talent have any control into the stunt. These guys were telling Owen, 'This cord taped here, don't pull it until you get to the ground.' That would never happen; proper riggers don't rig things this way. The other thing is, WWE is a billion-dollar company. Owen never questioned his safety. He thought for sure they were hiring people that knew what they were doing. He was putting his life in their hands, and they didn't care. They didn't have any regard for Owen's life whatsoever. They went outside of qualified riggers that had good experience." Hart on WWE's reaction to Hart falling: "When Owen died, they scooped him out like a piece of garbage and they paraded wrestlers out to wrestle in a ring that had Owen's blood, where the boards were broken from Owen's fall and where the guys could feel the dip in the ring from where he fell. Just that disrespect and lack of respect for a human life that had just been lost. The fact that they didn't stop the show is just appalling. Vince McMahon was a poor leader, and he failed because that talent was looking for leadership and he failed them." Jerry McDevitt's response to Martha's statement: "The reality is, we've never told our side of the story of what happened -- at least not outside of court. We told it in court, but when she talks about the way the lawsuit unfolded over the years, it really isn't accurate what she's saying. What she did whenever this happened is, she hired a lawyer in Kansas City who we caught essentially trying to fix the judicial selection process to get a judge that was more to their liking. We caught them and went all the way to the Missouri Supreme Court. The Missouri Supreme Court said, 'No, no, no. We're not going to let that happen.' They essentially appointed an independent judge to come in from outside of Kansas City to oversee the proceedings. We were basically trying to find out what happened that night. Martha was not even remotely interested in finding out what happened that night; she just wanted to used it as a vehicle to beat up a business that she didn't like that her husband was in, the wrestling business." Hart on Not Allowing Owen into the WWE Hall of Fame: "There's always been this talk that, 'Oh, we want to put Owen in the Hall of Fame,' Their Hall of Fame? They don't even have a Hallway of Fame. It doesn't exist. There's nothing. It's a fake entity. There's nothing real or tangible. It's just an event they have to make money. They put it on TV and have a celebration, and it's just so ridiculous. I would never even entertain it. It's garbage." You can read the complete interview, which goes into Hart's falling out with the Hart family, allegations of how they handled her lawsuit, McDevitt's response to that and more at this link. If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here! The World Health Organisation WHO, on Monday, cautioned that majority of the world population remains susceptible to contracting the coronavirus unless world leaders act fast in getting a vaccine. The WHO director general, Tedous Ghebreyesus, in a virtual briefing in Geneva, said early tests showed that less than 20 per cent, and in some cases less than 10 per cent, may have antibodies to fight the disease. Early serology studies are painting a consistent picture: even in the worst-affected regions, the proportion of the population with the tell-tale antibodies is no more than 20 percent, and in most places, less than 10 percent, he said. In other words: the majority of the worlds population remains susceptible to this virus. The risk remains high and we have a long road to travel. An antibody is a protective protein produced by the immune system in response to the presence of a foreign substance, called an antigen (such as coronaviruses). Antibodies recognise and latch onto antigens in order to remove them from the body. In the frantic search for a vaccine to tackle COVID-19, scientists across the world are latching unto the science of antibodies to curb the spread of the virus in humans. But Mr Ghebreyesus said countries that move too fast, without putting in place the public health architecture to detect and suppress transmission, run a real risk of handicapping their own recovery. Mr Ghebreyesus said even in the worst-affected regions, the proportion of the population with the tell-tale antibodies is no more than 20 per cent , and in most places, less than 10 per cent. In other words: the majority of the worlds population remains susceptible to this virus, he said. Many countries in Asia, Europe including Nigeria have continued to lift restrictions which were first introduced in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. READ ALSO: The 73rd session of the Assembly which is the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation (WHO) is being held virtually over two days instead of the usual two weeks, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the assemblys cut-down agenda, country delegations are expected to deliver statements focusing specifically on the COVID-19 pandemic, with other business pushed back to later in the year. 300,000 lives and counting To date, the WHO has reported more than 4.5 million cases of COVID-19 infections and more than 300,000 lives lost, Mr Ghebreyesus said. The infection has moved like a bushfire, he said. He added that no country has been spared. WHO fully understands and supports the desire of countries to get back on their feet and back to work, he said. Nonetheless, he urged caution. He said the caution is precisely because the agency wants the fastest possible global recovery. Countries that move too fast, without putting in place the public health architecture to detect and suppress transmission, run a real risk of handicapping their own recovery. Global health risks unwinding At the same time, the ongoing pandemic risks unwinding decades of progress against maternal and child mortality, HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, noncommunicable diseases, mental health, polio, among other urgent health threats, he added. He also asked that special attention be directed to vulnerable groups like people living in nursing homes, refugee camps, prisons and detention centres. While developed countries can do this by themselves, he advised that resources must massively be increased to the developing world. In March, he accused his ex-wife Sonni Pacheco of using their daughter's child support payments as a personal 'slush fund' for her high-end lifestyle. And on Monday, People reported another twist in the bitter legal fight between Jeremy Renner and the mother of his daughter Ava, seven. The Hollywood star, 49, alleged in court documents filed last Tuesday that Pacheco, 29 ,had transferred almost $50,000 in less than two years from Ava's trust fund account to her personal account, according to People. Bitter battle: Jeremy Renner is accusing ex-wife Sonni Pacheco of transferring $50,000 from their seven-year-old daughter Ava's trust fund to her personal account in new court filing The paperwork submitted by Renner included emails in which Pacheco admits to the actor's business manager that she had transferred money and had done so because she had run out of her own money as a result of legal fees. The court documents stated, per People: 'In an email to Mr. Renners business manager, Jeffrey Jacobs, dated April 23, 2019, [Pacheco] admitted transferring funds from the minors trust account to her personal account in violation of the Courts Order, stating: 'The money transfers to my bank were to keep my afloat/provide [the minor] Christmas presents/birthday gift bags and essentials for her bday party - after all my savings were spent on lawyers/child custody evaluator'.' It's also alleged Pacheco transferred more than $10,000 that same month from her daughter's trust fund to her personal checking account. She later claimed she had needed the money to pay her property taxes after once again spending all of her own income on attorney fees, the court documents said. A lawyer for Pacheco did not immediately respond to People's request for comment. Renner also alleged in the filing that Pacheco used $20,000 from the trust fund to pay her attorney's fees in August 2019 and did the same using another $12,000 transfer in September. Allegations: The paperwork submitted by Renner, 49, and seen by People, included emails in which Pacheco admits she did move the money and used it for legal fees and property taxes Fight: In late March, the actor asked a judge to reduce the amount of his monthly child support payments and accused Pacheco of using the money as a 'slush fund' for a high-end lifestyle Renner met Pacheco in Vancouver on the set of Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol. They welcomed their daughter in March 2013 and tied the knot 10 months later, in January 2014. Pacheco filed for divorce in December 2014. The exes are locked in a bitter custody fight over their child with Pacheco alleging she fear's for her daughter's safety when she's with her father. She's accused the actor of drug use, firing a gun in his house, partying with 'young women' and threatening to kill himself. Renner has denied all the allegations. In late March, Renner, who starred as Hawkeye in the Avengers movies, asked a judge to reduce his monthly child support payments from $30,000 to $11,000 since he expected to experience a big drop in income due to the coronavirus shutdown in Hollywood. In a subsequent interview with DailyMail.com, Pecheco said: 'It is very disheartening that in a time of global crisis there is yet another attempt to reduce funds I rely on to provide for our child. I think it's time after seven years of hell, I start addressing the lies myself.' She went on: 'First, I do not receive $30,000 in monthly child support. Second, all of my savings and Ava's savings have been drained due to lawyer fees, as my concerns for Ava's safety have been an ongoing battle for years now. I have, and will always choose to protect Ava when I find out about disturbing behavior exhibited by her father at his homes that put her in danger.' She concluded: 'I am choosing love and to continue to wish him the best and a healthy safe life.' Omar Spry of Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department pushes a cart of residents' bags into a West L.A. hotel that has been turned into housing for homeless people during the coronavirus outbreak. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Only about half of the 15,000 hotel and motel rooms that California has leased for mostly homeless people to slow the spread of the coronavirus are now occupied, a review of state records shows. More than a month into Gov. Gavin Newsom's program to get homeless people off the streets, the occupied rooms account for at most less than 5% of the 151,000 people who sleep on street corners, under bridges and in emergency shelters across California. As of Monday, 7,919 hotel rooms had guests and another 7,700 were vacant, according to figures released by Newsom's office. The actual number of leased rooms in the statewide program known as Project Roomkey could be even lower since Newsom's goal also included rooms reserved for people, homeless or not, who needed to quarantine or isolate themselves because of the coronavirus. What Newsom launched in early April as a coordinated effort to address homelessness during the pandemic has led to mixed results. But, in general, it has progressed so slowly that it has fallen short of many expectations and is unlikely to get most of those who need help indoors. In some counties, the largest impediments have been delays in preparing leased rooms for occupancy, not, as the governor has complained, NIMBY interests at the local level. In other counties, it has been a shortage of staff to care for homeless residents, providing services, such as food services, security, nursing and case management. "This has not been a challenge of leasing hotels," said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who is co-chair of the state's homelessness task force. "The challenge is much more in insufficient numbers of service providers to deal with a much larger capacity of people and a big question about rehousing." Under the program, county officials are responsible for determining how many rooms to set aside for homeless people. But the actual implementation of Project Roomkey is forcing officials from many counties to question how many homeless people the program can bring in, Steinberg said. Thats because there arent enough service providers to help run the hotels and eventually help transition the residents into permanent housing. Story continues Sacramento County is doing better than the state as a whole, with two-thirds of the 420 rooms it leased now filled. But because of the backlog of people waiting for a room, it has held off on signing leases for another 570 rooms, Steinberg said. Project Roomkey is largely funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has vowed to reimburse the state and individual counties for 75% of the cost of leasing hotel rooms and providing services. Only homeless people who meet certain criteria, including being older than 65 and having health conditions that make them susceptible for dying of COVID-19, qualify. However, only rooms that are occupied are covered by FEMA under the program. And while it's unclear whether some counties are paying hotel owners for rooms that they have leased but haven't filled, that is not happening in L.A. County. The program's goal of leasing 15,000 rooms would be enough to house about 10% of California's estimated homeless population a figure that falls far short of the total number of homeless people in the state who are 65 or older or have chronic medical conditions such as heart disease or diabetes. In Los Angeles County alone, officials have identified 15,000 people a quarter of the county's homeless population who meet the age or health criteria and set that as its goal. As of Monday, the county had secured 3,245 rooms and moved guests into 2,102. On Wednesday, the San Diego Convention Center opened its doors as the city's newest emergency homeless shelter. (City of San Diego) Statewide data provided by Newsom's office on Monday showed that two large Southern California counties have more trouble filling rooms. San Diego has filled only about 20% of the 2,029 rooms it has under lease, and Orange County just under 30% of its 666 rooms. A senior official with Newsom's administration said that the state was very proud of the pace and scale at which counties have gotten homeless people into hotels and motels. It's an effort that took weeks and otherwise would've taken months or years. The state data doesn't specify how many of the leased rooms are for those in need of quarantine or isolation for COVID-19, as opposed to those who are homeless. Craig Sturak, a spokesman for the San Diego County Health Department, gave slightly different numbers than the state, saying Friday that the county had about 1,700 rooms leased and 370 rooms occupied. Many of the beds were secured before Project Roomkey began, he said, "in anticipation of a large number of COVID-19 cases that would not require hospitalization but also would not be able to isolate at home." About 200 of the 370 rooms are for homeless people older than 65 with underlying health conditions, he said. Sturak didn't explain why so many beds that could be used to house homeless people are empty, even as thousands remain on the streets, but said "there are other resources and programs to serve homeless individuals who do not need the level of care provided at these rooms." The San Diego Convention Center is housing nearly 1,200 homeless people during the pandemic. Most were brought there from cramped shelters, where the virus is more likely to spread. Joel Jon Roberts, chief executive of the statewide homeless services and housing development agency PATH, said that San Diego's leaders are well aware of what might happen if there's a sudden jump in coronavirus cases among the local homeless population. According to the county's federally mandated point-in-time count, 7,619 homeless people were living outdoors or in shelters as of January, a 6% drop from the previous year. "My sense is that they are trying to keep rooms open in case of an outbreak," he said. "Nobody knows what the number could be. Look at New York City and how bad it's been there." In addition to running shelters in San Diego, PATH is providing services at four leased hotels in Los Angeles County as well. While it has been able to fill rooms quickly, in some cases, it has taken more than two weeks to get rooms ready after the leases are signed. More than 600 unoccupied rooms are in hotels that are not yet ready to open in some cases because former guests had yet to leave or in others because repairs were needed. Riverside, which rented individual rooms rather than whole hotels, has secured 266 rooms and has filled them all a number accounting for about 10% of its homeless population. Ventura County started working on rooms in mid-March and has among the state's highest success rates. Its 388 rooms are more than 80% occupied. Tara Carruth, manager of Ventura County's homeless oversight agency, said hotel owners were eager to lease rooms and the county provided staffing. In total, the county identified about 350 people who met the age or health criteria for Project Roomkey or about 27% of its homeless population and has leased enough rooms to accommodate that number and more. Even as rooms eventually fill up, the impact of the statewide program will be hard to gauge, partly because of the duplicate goal of both L.A. County and the state to get 15,000 homeless people off the streets, and a lack of accurate population data for comparison. Acknowledging that the pace of leasing rooms and the limits on staffing for services will probably put the county's goal out of reach, Marston said she's not backing down. There has been a lot of enthusiasm for Project Roomkey despite its shortcomings. I do think there are ways of serving 15,000 people, Marston said. We have built an amazing capacity. Lets keep building the capacity we have and turn the rooms over so we can serve more people. By Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. By Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a legal setback to Sudan on Monday, ruling that the African nation cannot avoid punitive damages in lawsuits accusing it of complicity in the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224 people. Siding with hundreds of people hurt and relatives of people killed in the bombings, the justices ruled 8-0 to throw out a lower court's 2017 decision that had freed Sudan from punitive damages awarded in the litigation in addition to about $6 billion in compensatory damages. Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate in the case. The ruling reinstates about $826 million out of a total $4.3 billion in punitive damages, said Christopher Curran, a lawyer representing Sudan. The case hinged on the Supreme Court's view of a 2008 amendment to a federal law known as the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act allowing for punitive damages. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2017 upheld Sudan's liability but ruled that the amendment was made after the bombings occurred and could not be applied retroactively. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in Monday's ruling that for claims made under federal law, "Congress was as clear as it could have been when it authorized plaintiffs to seek and win punitive damages for past conduct." The remainder of the punitive damages will be subject to further litigation as the ruling ordered the D.C. Circuit to reconsider its decision that the foreign plaintiffs who sued Sudan under state law in the United States also could not seek punitive damages. "As always, Sudan expresses sympathy for the victims of the acts of terrorism at issue, but reaffirms that it was not involved in any wrongdoing in connection with those acts," Curran said. Starting in 2001, groups of plaintiffs sued in federal court in Washington under the 1976 Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which generally bars claims against foreign countries except those designated by the United States as state sponsors of terrorism - as Sudan has been since 1993. "It's hard to imagine an act more deserving of punitive damages, and we are deeply gratified that the Supreme Court has validated our clients' right to receive this measure of compensation," said Matthew McGill, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. Twelve Americans were killed by the Aug. 7, 1998, truck bombs that detonated outside the embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The lawsuits involve 567 people, mostly non-U.S. citizens who were employees of the U.S. government and their relatives. (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Research Scientists from the Crop Research Institute (CRI) are conducting studies to determine if the high-yielded fig tree at Wiamoase, in the Sekyere South District, can be cultivated in commercial quantities to boost the national economy. This comes in the wake of the discovery of the fig species after residents perceived it to be an apple tree planted by 19-year-old Yaa Asantewaa, five years before she passed on. Her parents say they continued to nurture the tree, which began to bear fruits about six months ago. However, Dr. Beloved Mensah Dzomeku, Principal Plant Physiologist at CRI, at Fumesua, in the Ejisu Municipality, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that, the physiological features of the tree pointed to that of the fig family. He said researchers would now conduct extensive studies to see whether or not it was of economic value and could be planted on a larger scale across the country. The fruits of the tree, which suddenly became a tourist attraction over the weekend, following the mystery surrounding its planting, nurturing and growth in the Wiamoase community, has now become a subject of controversy. The Community members, including the father of Yaa Asantewaa, believe that the vast number and sizes of fruits could become a source of good income to them should it thrive on commercial farms. They, therefore, urged the Government and researchers to as a matter of urgency to conduct investigations on its viability. This prompted the intervention of officials of the CRI and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, who went there to take samples of the fruits and examine the physiological properties of the tree. Mr John Kwarteng, Sekyere-South District Director of Agriculture, told the GNA that, officials of MOFA and CRI had taken samples of the crop for further investigations. He said when some of the fruits were cut open, they found some sticky substance, which was not a characteristic of an apple. Mr Kwarteng said his outfit had, therefore, warned, the community members not to consume any part of the tree until the findings of their investigations were made public in the next two weeks. The residents were overjoyed that the fruits resembled an apple, which, they knew did not thrive in Ghanas tropical climate. Meanwhile, figs are said to be high in natural sugars, minerals and soluble fibres. The mineral content includes potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and copper. They are also a good source of antioxidants, Vitamins A and K. The fruits can exported both fresh and dried. They can also be processed into powder, jam, paste concentrates and nuggets, among others, and integrated into other foods. The dried seeds in figs contain oil, said to be 30 per cent fatty acids. The oil can be used as a lubricant. The natural humectants (retaining or preserving moisture) in figs make them a beneficial ingredient in health and beauty products, soaps, moisturisers, fragrances and candles. According to the United States Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, the United States in 2017/2018, exported more than $15.5 million of fig, while it imported both fresh and dried fig valued at nearly $52.1 during the period. Turkey is, however, the largest producer of fig, while India is the largest importer of the fruit. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Emergency Department (ED/A&E) nurses and doctors have warned the HSE and the Minister for Health that hospitals must not return to overcrowding as Covid-19 measures are eased. The warning is contained in an unprecedented joint statement issued by the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine (IAEM) and the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO). The organisations represent frontline nurses and doctors in emergency departments across the country. Their statement cautions that the problems of the past may emerge again as the health service gradually ramps up non-Covid-19 activities. They warn that overcrowding and understaffing may lead to increased infection risk, poor patient outcomes, and unsafe workplaces. The joint statement calls for measures to counteract this, including: - Retention of access to private hospitals until a vaccine is secured. - Immigration and travel priority for migrant health professionals. - A commitment that no recruitment embargoes will apply to doctors or nurses. - Extra priority and decision-making powers in the community to avoid unnecessary emergency department referrals. - A working group to urgently look at staffing issues in the health service. IAEM President, Dr Emily OConor, said: We need to reset care in Irelands Emergency Departments and allow care continue to care for those patients that need EM expertise in a way that is safe for patients and staff. INMO General Secretary, Phil Ni Sheaghdha, said: Overcrowding, understaffing and COVID-19 pose a triple threat to patients and staff alike. Emergency department and hospital overcrowding is always unacceptable, but it is exceptionally dangerous when added with the risk of COVID-19 infection. We have never seen trolley overcrowding figures as low as the past few weeks. We must build on that and resist any return to the problems of the past. In the short term, that means keeping the extra capacity of the private sector, prioritising immigration of migrant health professionals, and no more recruitment embargoes. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past, she said. The full statement, sent to the HSE and Minister for Health, below: Joint Statement from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine As healthcare professionals, we have been to the forefront of providing expert care at the frontline of the fight against the COVID-19 virus. The healthcare service will gradually return to providing more non-COVID-19 services. We are concerned that, without action, conditions may worsen, and the problems of the past may return. We share four essential aims: 1. Emergency Departments and hospital wards must not become reservoirs of healthcare-acquired infection for patients 2. Emergency Departments and hospitals must not become crowded again 3. Emergency care must be designed and resourced to look after vulnerable patients safely 4. Emergency Departments and hospitals must be safe workplaces for all staff To achieve to these four aims, the INMO and IAEM jointly call for the following: A. A permanent increase in bed capacity: in the short term this will involve retention of access to private acute hospitals and their services until (a) the majority of the population is immune to COVID-19 and (b) the health services have the capacity to deliver COVID and non-COVID care. A maximum occupancy rate of 85% across hospitals will be necessary for patient safety. B. Adequate staffing to ensure good patient care despite staff sickness and the reduced productivity related to use of PPE. This should include prioritised immigration and travel arrangements for nurses and doctors, a renewed recruitment campaign and terms and conditions that would make the HSE an employer of choice. No further recruitment embargoes should apply to nurses or doctors. C. A high-level working group, to report within one month of the formation of a new government, to examine and set the nursing, midwifery, and medical workforce priorities for the health service over the coming year. This would examine the staffing deficits experienced by these essential front-line workers, set out where additional staff are needed and prioritise services to fully return to work. D. That staff health and safety is not compromised, ensuring the ongoing provision of adequate PPE and intensive mental health supports. E. Universal provision of supports needed for decision-making by clinical teams in the community to ensure care is delivered as close to the patient as possible and that unnecessary referral to Emergency Departments are avoided. F. Investment in expanding Community Intervention Teams and maximising care in the community to ensure adequate capacity for step-down, recovery and rehabilitation allowing acute hospitals return to their core purpose. May 19 : With living gurus like Amitabh Bachchan in Bollywood, it is often a blessing to hear great living lessons from them from time to time. Today, the iconic Angry Young Man of Bollywood Amitabh Bachchan took to Instagram to share his latest dose of wisdom to his fans. In times like this, when we stay alone and, away from the physical presence of our loved ones such quotes could help us become a better person in life. His advice read like this, Be the light for all .. do for others what you would expect from others .. From this, this enlightened actor meant that we should all try to do only actions that we would like to receive from other people too. We need to be a light or a fine example of life or others. With the whole world suffering from the after-effects of COVID, Bollywood celebrities are constantly helping the poor with food, and other medical supplies to help all survive this ordeal. Most of the great stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and many others donated huge sums of money to help the government tackle hunger and poverty in India. TDT | Manama An 11-year-old school student is raising donations for the Feena Khair (There is Good in Us) national campaign, as the country continues to battle the coronavirus (COVID-19). Aditya Jithesh, a seventh-grader at St. Christophers School Bahrain who hails from India, walked a total of 140km over 20 days. From the northernmost point to the southernmost tip, Bahrain stretches over 48 kilometres; Aditya has walked enough to have covered the length of the country from one end to another at least thrice. He created a campaign called Adis Walk Fund to support the national efforts to combat COVID-19. Following the closure of schools, Aditya started walking as part of his daily fitness routine. Starting on April 24, he has walked an average of 7.2km per day and to date has covered 140.26km. For every kilometre he walks, he is raising a contribution of 50 fils from his supporters. So far, more than 25 people have promised to donate to Adityas effort. Aditya told TDT that the flood of donations was very exciting and encouraging. He is supported by his proud parents, his mother Dr Rajeshwari who is a specialist dentist and father Jithesh Gopi who is the SICO Bank investments head. I can keep walking because of the care and support from my family and parents friends, said Aditya. We were initially sceptical about Aditya being able to complete his undertaking, said his father Gopi. But now, a couple of his mothers friends are encouraging him to keep going. Not only has he kept his word, but he is also currently considering starting another round of Adis Walk Fund. Aditya and his brother Arjun Jithesh, seven, have decided to contribute BD20 each to the cause from their pocket money savings. Additionally, their parents want to pitch in too. So far, they have collected around BD150. From day one, Aditya has kept his supporters updated with his progress through a WhatsApp group. They, in turn, have kept him motivated with words of encouragement, asking him to keep on walking and shining. On the last day of his campaign, he has promised to send out his compiled final status to all his supporters, along with Quarantine officials disinfect the classroom of a high school in the southwestern city of Gwangju, Tuesday, a day before schools reopen for high school seniors after a spate of delays due to safety concerns over the spread of COVID-19. Yonhap By Bahk Eun-ji Many high school seniors are voicing opposition to physically attending schools starting Wednesday, due to lingering safety concerns over the possible spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in classrooms, according to the association of high school student presidents Tuesday. A network of high school councils in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province, conducted a survey on 30,585 high school students across the country for three days from Sunday, and 79.7 percent of respondents said they were opposed to the reopening of schools. Asked about the appropriate timing for the physical opening, 49.3 percent said it should be decided on after at least a month to check the status of the pandemic. More than 32 percent, or 7,823 respondents, said students should be allowed to physically attend their schools two weeks after the number of daily infection falls below 10. "We are raising our voices not because we don't want to go to school, but because we are afraid of mass infections in schools," the association said in a statement sent to the education ministry. Many students have also raised concerns over whether schools are ready to be opened and how effectively disease control measures will be carried out in classrooms. A petition has been filed on the Cheong Wa Dae website asking for the school reopenings to be put on hold, with more than 230,000 petitioners supporting it as of Tuesday. The writer of the petition, who identified himself as a senior high school student in Seoul, said "the most worrying part is the school lunch system in Korea where students and teachers normally all eat together at the same time in the same place. Under the circumstances, if one gets infected, they put many others at risk." Gong Ha-neul, a third-grade high school student in Mapo-gu, Seoul, said she knows several students who visited Itaewon recently. "I heard young people like me usually do not show symptoms even if they are infected due to our strong immune systems. It's so scary that they can unwittingly spread the virus to other students in classrooms while showing no symptoms," Gong said. The Ministry of Education planned to reopen high schools for senior students Wednesday, 79 days after they were closed. Under the plan, younger students would return in stages over the following weeks. The schedule has already been postponed five times, due to concerns of parents who question whether the ministry is sufficiently prepared for possible mass infections in classrooms. The recent surge in infections emerging in nightclubs in Itaewon pushed the ministry to postpone the school opening again, but it decided to press ahead with the plan as onsite classes are important for high school seniors who have to prepare for the national university entrance exam in the winter. High school seniors in the capital will physically attend school every day, while high school second graders are scheduled to attend from May 27. The phased reopening is set to be accomplished June 8. Local education offices advised schools to choose the most appropriate measure among various options, including letting students attend school once a week, depending on their quarantine conditions. Georgian producers seek support to stop cement dumping 19 May 2020 Georgian cement producers have called for government support regarding the influx of cement imports into the country. The countrys producers stated that Turkey is a significant contributor of imports, since it produces a large amount of building materials that are not domestically needed in such quantities. The state therefore gives its producers the opportunity to sell exports below market value, with Turkish cement in the Georgian market reportedly 30-40 per cent cheaper than market value, according to Prime News. Referencing the increased difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic, producers have asked for government support to stop the dumping of cement into the market and to level the playing field. Published under RSPCA Victoria has expressed support for the ground shooting of brumbies in the Australian high country, noting it was sometimes necessary to manage populations of wild animals, both introduced and native. The Victorian government has temporarily halted its plans to cull feral horses in the fire-ravaged high country after Omeo resident Phil Maguire signalled his intention to lodge a legal injunction, which will be heard in the Supreme Court next week. Based on the evidence of the impact feral horses are having in the Victorian Alps and the relative humaneness of ground shooting, RSPCA Victoria policy and advocacy manager Mhairi Roberts said the group supported lethal ground control and the use of professional shooters who had been independently audited. Ms Roberts said shooting should be used in conjunction with non-lethal control measures such as enclosure fencing. "Any management of introduced species should only be undertaken if it is likely that the aims of the program can be achieved. The methods used must be humane, target-specific and effective," Ms Roberts said. LONDON For Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, debating in Parliament used to be a raucous affair, as backbenchers from his Conservative Party hollered and whooped, booing his rivals and cheering him on like a classmate in a schoolyard brawl. These days, to his evident chagrin, it is more like a legal deposition. Facing off in an empty, quiet chamber against the lawyer-turned-opposition leader, Keir Starmer, Mr. Johnson has had to endure a forensic weekly grilling on his handling of the coronavirus. Mr. Starmer, 57, has deployed all his courtroom skills against his freewheeling adversary, starting with a prosecutors technique of trapping the witness with a question to which you already know the answer. Can the prime minister tell us: How on earth did it come to this? Mr. Starmer asked two weeks ago, after noting that Britains death toll was the highest in Europe and the second highest in the world, after the United States. Mr. Johnson replied that such direct country-to-country comparisons were not valid, and that the true human cost of the pandemic could only be judged after the fact, when one could comb through the statistics. Bengaluru, May 19 : An Air India repatriation flight from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia landed in Bengaluru airport with 142 Indian returnees, including 94 for Karnataka and 48 to Ahmedabad in Gujarat, an official said on Tuesday. "The Airbus A320-251N landed at the Kempegowda international airport at 6:44 p.m. from Kuala Lumpur with 142 passengers, 16 minutes ahead of its scheduled arrival," an airline official told IANS. Of the total returnees, 94, including 63 men, 30 women and an infant alighted at the airport, while the remaining 48, with 40 men and 8 women seated in the aircraft for their onward journey to Ahmedabad. "The airline staff and the state government officials received the returnees at the arrival terminal and gave them masks to and sanitizer to wash their hands. All the passengers were screened with a thermal device to read their body temperature though only asymptomatic have been flown. After completing formalities, including immigration check and filling the self-declaration form, the returnees were taken in state-run buses in batches for 14-day institutional quarantine in hotels and resorts across the city. Passengers were also told to download the mandatory quarantine app, the Aroygya Setu app and Apthamitra app on their mobile before leaving the airport for contact tracing later. The service was the second to the southern state in the second phase of Vande Bharat Mission, the national carrier and its Express arm are operating to repatriate thousands of Indians, including distressed workers, migrants, students, senior citizens and tourists, stranded overseas since the government suspended international flights on March 23 and enforced an extended lockdown on March 25 to combat Covid-19 spread. The first flight in the second phase landed on Monday night at Mangaluru airport on the state's west coast, with 177 returnees from Dubai in the UAE. The remaining 16 flights to Karnataka will land in Bengaluru over the next 15 days till June 3 from 13 more destinations the world over. In the first phase of the mission from May 7-17, the airline and its arm flew 6 flights to the state from May 11-15, bringing in 800 passengers, including 623 to Bengaluru and 177 to Mangaluru on the state's west coast from London, Singapore, San Francisco and Dubai. Sen. Menendez Asks DOJ to Investigate Former Rep. with Venezuelan Ties The ranking Democrat of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations asked the U. S. Department of Justice to investigate former Rep. David Riveras ties to the Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) Tuesday asked the assistant Attorney General, John C. Demers to ascertain if Rivera should have been required to have been registered as an agent of Nicolas Maduros regime. Rivera was sued last week by Venezuelan state-owned oil companys (PDVSA) U.S. subsidiary for over a $15 million payment made as part of a $50 million contract. The lawsuit alleges that Rivera failed to meet the provisions in the contract, where he is said to have promised that he would improve the reputation of PDVSAs in the United States. Mr. Rivera is alleged to have worked as a consultant on behalf of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), and the regime of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduroa repressive regime subject to comprehensive U.S. sanctions, wrote Menendez (pdf). In the Demers letter, Menendez said that without being registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the lawsuit and press reports showed Rivera was working on behalf of a foreign agent. I therefore request that the Department of Justice review whether Mr. Rivera was in compliance with FARA, including whether he has an obligation to retroactively register as a foreign agent acting on behalf of the Maduro regime, wrote Menendez. Rivera had a different story. He told The Miami Herald Thursday that the funds from the PDVSA contract were funneled to the Venezuelan opposition, and that officials in the Trump administration were aware of everything. A senior Trump administration official told the Miami Herald it was entirely false that either the NSC or the State Department were aware of Riveras activities. We are not aware of any of the former congressmans business dealings with the illegitimate and tyrannical regime of Nicolas Maduro or its associates, the official said. Menendez wrote that FARA registrations are essential to make judgments about the political activities of foreign governments and foreign agents operating in the United States. When foreign agents fail to register under FARA, their activities on behalf of foreign powers are hidden from public view, obscuring potential threats to U.S. national security, wrote Menendez. Its still unclear whether Rivera acted as a foreign agent, although he technically signed a contract with the U.S. subsidiary of PDVSA, PDV USA. The lawsuit was filed by PDV USA, alleging Rivera performed no meaningful services under the agreement, after receiving the initial $15 million, and that Rivera later tried to get the remaining $35 million from the original $50 million contract. PDV USA was still under the control of PDVSA, a corporation thats directly controlled by the Maduro regime in 2017 when the contract was signed in 2017. If the U.S. Government is to be taken seriously in our efforts to defend and protect the Venezuelan people from the tyranny of the Maduro regime, the last thing we should tolerate is a former member of Congress potentially violating U.S. laws as he does the regimes dirty work in the United States, wrote Menendez. (Natural News) Mexico has announced plans to reopen the economy by June 1, so that must mean the COVID-19 pandemic is largely under control there, right? That appears to be what leaders like President Andres Manual Lopez Obrador want people to believe. The economy there has taken a serious hit, like many places, and the reopening is said to be cautious and gradual. And on the surface, the death toll of 4,200 and 40,000 infections looks a lot better than the situation in the U.S. Unfortunately, those numbers may be little more than smoke and mirrors as inside sources and an investigative report by Sky News has found that the federal government there is significantly underreporting the countrys public health crisis. According to a Sky News investigation, the country is actually cremating bodies on an industrial scale. The news team gained access to crematoriums and morgues in Mexico City and learned theres a three-day backlog in cremation throughout the citys public crematoriums, with some workers saying more burials will be needed because their burning capacity is exhausted. They reported that the bodies dont stop coming and staff are working around the clock to try to keep up with the backlog. Calculations carried out by Sky News indicate that the total number of cremations each day in the urban area of Mexico City total 600; the average number of people dying in the two federal entities covered by the urban area is officially reported at just 374. This means there were 226 excess deaths, at a minimum, taking place each day in early May that werent being reported, and theres no question that most of them are related to the deadly virus; crematorium sources told Sky that 80 to 90 percent of the deaths they deal with daily are from COVID-19. Some have even implied that the coffins housing COVID-19 victims are being reused. Temporary morgues in hospitals there are not refrigerated, and families who dont trust the government are asking funeral home directors to open coffins and confirm that it is their relative who is being cremated. In fact, Sky witnessed one such interaction in which a funeral director ripped open plastic sheeting to expose a corpses face for a family member; no one involved wore a mask, gloves or goggles. Real numbers could be at least 5x the reported figures According to Skys analysis, the official figures being given by the government are just 19 percent of the actual number there. This might sound pretty familiar to anyone who has followed how figures were reported in Wuhan, China. Meanwhile, VOX has reported that Mexican doctors, mayors, former government officials, and funerals home directors have said the situation there is horrific, with some estimating that the actual death numbers could be as much as eight times greater than official figures suggest. National Autonomous University of Mexico molecular genetics lab chief Dr. Laurie Ann Ximenez-Fyvie said: If Mexico is good at anything, its hiding numbers. The extent of the outbreak there probably isnt helped by the fact that some businesses and open-air markets are operating normally there, and social distancing isnt really part of the vocabulary. Some people familiar with the situation have theorized that the government wants to just tough out the virus spread and then deal with all of the fallout later on. As for the inaccurate death rates, some feel it could be an attempt to keep people in poorer areas from panicking. Of course, the out-of-control coronavirus outbreak in Mexico could also have big ramifications on the U.S. as people continue to cross the border illegally and potentially bring new infections along with them. Americans should be paying very close attention to how the coronavirus crisis plays out in Mexico and take steps to ensure it isnt spread across the border. Sources for this article include: News.Sky.com ZeroHedge.com NaturalNews.com Book tours and author signings may have gotten canceled or postponed, but new titles are still being released. Several new architecture and design books are out, showing off the collected works of interior designers such as Kelly Wearstler, Anthony Baratta, Andre Fu and even the 2 Lovely Gays, Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead. There are also books that document historic homes and studios of well known American artists and the craftsmanship of British furniture-maker Luke Hughes. We cant get out and look much these days, but we can linger over pages and imagine a more beautiful world. Here are six new books worth a look. Making Living Lovely: Free Your Home with Creative Design, by Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead who charmingly refer to themselves as 2LG, 2 Lovely Gays are an interior design duo who live and work in South London with their mini dachshund, Buckley. The two have a background in theater and TV acting, but their book has much less drama than you might imagine. Making Living Lovely (Thames & Hudson; $34.95; 208 pp.) which goes on sale May 19 includes a little personal therapy, urging readers to relax and look inward as they create homes that are both livable and, of course, lovely. They urge you to abandon the pursuit of Instagram perfection and try to simply be you. Their how-to approach will teach you the value of a moodboard, how to get rid of visual clutter, and to reduce each project to their own Rule of Three: three colors, materials, functions and feelings. Think of this book as a roadmap for your own home design journey. Evocative Style, By Kelly Wearstler You wont see a single white sofa or room bathed in pale neutrals in Kelly Wearstler: Evocative Design (Rizzoli; $55; 256 pp.), the famed interior designers first book in a decade. This coffee table book looks at just a handful of recent projects, perhaps the most interesting being her own Beverly Hills home, which fills more than 70 pages. Youll see vintage furniture, an eclectic mix of art and plenty of color. Standouts include her kitchen, with stainless steel covered cabinets and solid brass trim and exquisite landscaping surrounding her poolhouse. (The home was once owned by the Broccoli family of James Bond fame and the poolhouse was a movie screening room.) Youll get a good dose of architectural history since her 1926 home began its life in Spanish Colonial Revival style, then was redone in classic Georgian style, only to later get a full gut job from Wearstler. Decorate Happy: Bold, Colorful Interiors by Anthony Baratta Touted as the king of East Coast chic, Anthony Baratta has published his first solo monograph to showcase his happy, colorful, all-American style. In Decorate Happy (Rizzoli; $45; 240 pp.) Baratta uses bold colors in big ways to show how color can add to your happiness at home. The author explains that he sees clients and their lives as quilts of crazy pieces that form a beautiful whole, and in a dozen recent projects he shows how that translates into joyous, livable spaces. A ski home in Utahs Deer Valley greets guests with a brilliant red door boasting a bronze deer head knocker and rustic Americana decorates everything beyond. A seaside home on Long Island Sound embraces New England design with its shipping history and early American antiques in a way that feels fresh and new. Barattas strength is striking a balance between bold and simple, old and new, all in his signature preppy-chic style. Guide to Historic Artists Homes and Studios, By Valerie A. Balint In celebration of the 20th anniversary of its program that documents a network of historic artist museums across the United States, the National Trust for Historic Preservations new book (Princeton Architectural Press; $29.95; 256 pp.) serves as a guide to the live-work spaces of notable American artists such as Georgia OKeeffe, Jackson Pollock, Andrew Wyeth and Donald Judd. Each site functions as a house museum, so theyre all open to the public, but if your travels cant take you to these home studios, this book will take you there visually which is the best youre likely going to get right now. In the book which goes on sale June 2 author and program manager Valerie A. Balint launches a conversation on each subject and its cultural significance. The Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin and La Mansana de Chinati/Judd Foundation in Marfa are both included, detailing the personal history of each artist with the inspiration of their locales. Andre Fu: Crossing Cultures with Design, by Catherine Shaw American consumers may not immediately recognize Andre Fus name, but hes one of the most sought-after interior architects in Asia. Trained in architecture and based in Hong Kong, Fu bridges East and West in the projects featured in this brand-new book (Thames & Hudson; $80; 272 pp.) Educated in England, Fu burst onto the scene in Hong Kong in 2009 with his groundbreaking Upper House hotel. It was full of simple, contemporary forms a design style that followed in numerous high-profile hotel projects. Authored by design writer Catherine Shaw, the book showcases Upper House as well as the St. Regis Hong Kong, Pavilion Suites, The Berkeley in London, Waldorf Astoria in Bangkok and the Akira Back Four Seasons in Seoul. On a smaller scale, Fu designed the installation for the experimental lighting and furniture pieces in Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades collection during its Hong Kong viewing, a moody setting for modern designs by some of the worlds most innovative designers of furniture, lighting and other products. Youll also get a look at his own Southside Hong Kong home, a study of neutrals and natural materials. "Furniture in Architecture: The Work of Luke Hughes," by Aidan Walker Aidan Walker celebrates the craft of furniture-making in Furniture in Architecture (Thames & Hudson; $75; 256 pp.). Focusing on the work of British furniture designer Luke Hughes, whose work can be found in Westminster Abbey, numerous British cathedrals, international hotels and corporate boardrooms, Walker shows how Hughes balances time-honored craftsmanship with modern technology. Individual pieces are made to fit specific functions and locales, but much of Hughess work is styled out of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Its hard to imagine someone looking through this book and not rushing out to buy a new desk or chair or wondering what a room might look like with a bit more paneling. diane.cowen@chron.com Sign up for Cowens Access Design newsletter, delivered to your inbox Tuesdays, at houstonchronicle.com/accessdesign The U.S. Navy issued a stark warning to Iranian vessels on Tuesday not to come within 100 meters of its warships or risk being fired upon. It announced that vessels in the Mideast that came closer than this to an American ship would be 'interpreted as a threat and subject to lawful defensive measures'. The Navy issued the notice for the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf. It comes just a month after President Donald Trump instructed the Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass American vessels following a close encounter in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy issued a warning Tuesday that ships where to come no closer than 100 meters to its vessels while in international waters. It comes a month after an encounter with Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf, pictured, which the U.S. described as 'dangerous and harrassing' The warning from the U.S. Navy comes after President Trump in April fired off a tweet aimed at Tehran telling them their boats would be 'shot down' if they harass U.S. Navy vessels Defensive measures have typically included turning a ship away from the approaching vessel, sounding its horn, shooting off flares and ultimately firing warning shots to force the vessel away. But offering a specific distance is new for the Navy. 'Our ships are conducting routine operations in international waters wherever international law allows and do not seek conflict,' said Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, a Bahrain-based 5th Fleet spokeswoman. 'However, our commanding officers retain the right to self-defense if deemed necessary.' While 100 meters may seem far, it's incredibly close for large warships that have difficulty in turning quickly, like aircraft carriers. The Navy issued a new notice on Tuesday that all vessels must remain 100 meters from any of its ships in international waters. If not, they risk being faced with defensive measures that include shooting off flares and ultimately firing warning shots to force the vessel away The notice targeted the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman and Persian Sea, which appeared a direct warning to Iranian vessels following a close encounter with American warships in April It comes after the U.S. accused Iran of conducting 'dangerous and harassing' maneuvers near American warships in the northern Persian Gulf in April. Iran also had been suspected of briefly seizing a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker just before that. In April, Trump warned on Twitter: 'I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.' Trump did not cite a specific event in his tweet or provide details but it is thought to have been linked to an incident involving the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet. A group of 11 ships with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of the fleet at close range and high speeds in April - with one passing within just 10 meters of a Coast Guard cutter. The 'dangerous and provocative actions increased the risk of miscalculation and collision,' a statement from U.S. Central Command said, adding that U.S commanders on the scene 'retain the inherent right to self-defense.' The American vessels included the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer; the USS Lewis B. Puller, a ship that serves as an afloat landing base; and the USCGC Maui. Coastguard vessels are part of U.S. forces in the Gulf. The ships were operating with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said. U.S. forces issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, fired five short blasts from the ships' horns and long-range acoustic noise maker devices, but received no immediate response from the Iranian vessels, officials said. Eventually, after around an hour, the Iranian ships acknowledged the warnings over the bride-to-bridge radio and then maneuvered away. Iranian officials did not immediately acknowledge the incident. A group of 11 ships with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps repeatedly crossed the bows and sterns of the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet at close range and high speeds in an incident in April - with one passing within just 10 meters of a Coast Guard cutter The American vessels included the USS Paul Hamilton, a Navy destroyer; the USS Lewis B. Puller (above), a ship that serves as an afloat landing base; and the USCGC Maui. The ships were operating with U.S. Army Apache attack helicopters in international waters, the statement said. Trump issued a threat for the Navy to shoot on Iranian ships shortly afterwards After Trump's tweet, however, General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for Iran's armed forces, accused Trump of 'bullying' and said the American president should focus on taking care of U.S service members infected with the coronavirus. His tweet came amid a re-escalation of tension, with Iran's Revolutionary Guards saying hours earlier that that they had launched the country's first military satellite, which the U.S. regards as a cover for missile development. The U.S. Navy has years of experience with Iranian forces getting that close, namely the hard-line, paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Their armed speedboats routinely cut across their paths when going through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 percent of all oil passes. Tensions have been high between Iran and the U.S. ever since President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Last summer saw a series of escalating attacks targeting oil tankers and other sites around the Persian Gulf. It reached a crescendo in January with the U.S. drone strike in Baghdad that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and an Iranian ballistic missile strike of American forces in Iraq in retaliation. Standoff: The tensions spiked when U.S. forces killed Iran's most powerful general, Qassem Soleimani, in January. His Revolutionary Guards launched the Nour satellite and also operate the patrol boats threatened by President Donald Trump in a tweet issued in April Those tensions had been expected to rise after Iran's government overcame the initial chaos that engulfed its response to the coronavirus pandemic. On Sunday, Iran complained to the United Nations and summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran, who represents U.S. interests in the Islamic Republic, over possible measures Washington could take against an Iranian fuel shipment to Venezuela. A senior official Trump's administration told Reuters on Thursday the United States was considering measures it could take in response to Iran's shipment of fuel to crisis-stricken Venezuela. The oil sectors of Iran and Venezuela, members of OPEC, are both under U.S. sanctions. The administration official declined to specify the measures being weighed but said options would be presented to Trump. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi passed on a message to the Swiss ambassador on Sunday warning against any U.S. threat against the Iranian tankers, according to a report on the foreign ministry website. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also wrote a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Iran 'reserves its right to take all appropriate and necessary measures and decisive action ... to secure its legitimate rights and interests against such bullying policies and unlawful practices,' Zarif wrote to Guterres. 'This hegemonic gunboat diplomacy seriously threatens freedom of international commerce and navigation and the free flow of energy,' Zarif wrote. 'These efforts by the U.S. to take coercive measures to disrupt Iran's oil sale is a dangerous escalation.' At least one tanker carrying fuel loaded at an Iranian port has set sail for Venezuela, according to vessel tracking data from Refinitiv Eikon on Wednesday, which could help ease an acute scarcity of gasoline in the South American country. Venezuela is in desperate need of gasoline and other refined fuel products to keep the country functioning amid an economic collapse under socialist President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela produces crude oil but its infrastructure has been crippled during the economic crisis. Dow Chemical Co. has been headquartered in Midland for more than 120 years, and its main plant sits on the citys riverbank. It is a quintessential company town with downtown parks located at the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Chippewa rivers and is known among architecture buffs for its midcentury modern structures first introduced by architect Alden B. Dow. One high school is named after the companys founder. The other high schools mascot is the Chemics. A Dow foundation has funded many community amenities such as a botanical garden. D owning Street has dismissed Donald Trumps use of an unproven coronavirus drug, saying: Its not something we recommend. President Trump revealed last night that he has been taking a malaria treatment, called hydroxychloroquine, every day for a week and a half to ward off coronavirus. He told reporters at the White House: "I started taking it, because I think it's good... I've heard a lot of good stories." However, public health officials have warned the drug may be unsafe and that there is no evidence it can fight coronavirus. During his daily briefing with journalists, the Prime Ministers official spokesman said: Its not something which our own medical experts are recommending. Its not something we recommend doing. Asked whether Mr Trump was setting a bad example, he added: "I can only set out what the UK's advice is. It's not something that we recommend doing." The spokesman was also quizzed on whether the drug was one of the offers Mr Trump made to Boris Johnson when he was in intensive care with coronavirus. Boris Johnson / via REUTERS The spokesman added: Its not something Ive ever inquired about. I think some public comments were made at the time and what I said in response was that the PMs care is a matter for his medical team. The 73-year-old President asked manufacturers the US government was working with to contact London immediately when Mr Johnson was seriously ill in April. However, Downing Street brushed off the offer at the time, saying the Prime Minister was receiving the best possible care from the NHS. The President has also threatened to permanently pull US funding for the World Health Organisation unless it commits to improvements within 30 days. Asked about this, Mr Johnsons spokesman reaffirmed Britains commitment to the WHO and said: Coronavirus is a global challenge and its essential that countries come together to tackle this shared threat. The WHO has an important role to play in leading the global health response. "The UK has long been an advocate of reform in the WHO to make sure its flexible and responsible and we will continue to do so. But we have no plans to stop funding the WHO. Last month the President suspended US contributions to the WHO, accusing the organisation of promoting Chinas disinformation over the virus. Asked if Britain would be concerned if the US pulled out of the WHO, No 10s spokesman added: That would be a matter for the US. "But we are clear about the important role that the WHO has in leading the international response. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (Image: AP) Amanda Taub The Interpreter Monday was a day of triumph for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Thanks to the efforts of the entire nation, she said, New Zealand had been largely successful in meeting its ambitious goal of eradicating, rather than just controlling, outbreaks of COVID-19. The lockdown she had put in place March 25 could now end. Arderns success is the latest data point in a widely noticed trend: Countries led by women seem to be particularly successful in fighting the coronavirus. Germany, led by Angela Merkel, has had a far lower death rate than Britain, France, Italy or Spain. Finland, where Prime minister Sanna Marin, 34, governs with a coalition of four female-led parties, has had fewer than 10% as many deaths as nearby Sweden. And Tsai Ing-wen, president of Taiwan, has presided over one of the most successful efforts in the world at containing the virus, using testing, contact tracing and isolation measures to control infections without a full national lockdown. COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show We should resist drawing conclusions about women leaders from a few exceptional individuals acting in exceptional circumstances. But experts say that the womens success may still offer valuable lessons about what can help countries weather not just this crisis, but others in the future. Brown M&Ms and Male Politicians Rock band Van Halen famously included a clause in its tour rider that required venue managers to place bowls of M&Ms in their dressing room. But WARNING it said in underlined capital letters, ABSOLUTELY NO BROWN ONES. The clauses true purpose had nothing to do with chocolate. Rather, it was an easy-to-spot signal of whether the venues managers had taken care to read and follow the entire set of instructions in the rider including the safety guidelines for the bands extremely complex sets and equipment. Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here Just as the absence of brown M&Ms signaled a careful, safe venue, the presence of a female leader may be a signal that a country has more inclusive political institutions and values. Varied information sources, and leaders with the humility to listen to outside voices, are crucial for a successful pandemic response, Devi Sridhar, chair of global health at the University of Edinburgh Medical School in Scotland, wrote in an op-ed in the British Medical Journal. The only way to avoid groupthink and blind spots is to ensure representatives with diverse backgrounds and expertise are at the table when major decisions are made, she wrote. Having a female leader is one signal that people of diverse backgrounds and thus, hopefully, diverse perspectives on how to combat crises are able to win seats at that table. In Germany, for instance, Merkels government considered a variety of different information sources in developing its coronavirus policy, including epidemiological models; data from medical providers; and evidence from South Koreas successful program of testing and isolation. As a result, the country has achieved a coronavirus death rate that is dramatically lower than those of other Western European countries. By contrast, the male-led governments of Sweden and Britain both of which have high coronavirus death tolls appear to have relied primarily on epidemiological modeling by their own advisers, with few channels for dissent from outside experts. However, a signal is not proof. And the surrounding political system can trump the different perspectives that a diverse group might bring to the issue. When Ruth Carlitz, a political scientist at Tulane University, analyzed governors track records in the United States, she found that women were not quicker to impose lockdowns to fight the coronavirus. (Her analysis is recent and has not been peer-reviewed.) That may be because any gender effect has been muffled by the all-consuming power of political partisanship. Carlitz found that Republican governors in the United States, male and female, took longer to impose stay-at-home orders than Democrats did. Escaping the Gender Double Bind After President Donald Trump was criticized for failing to wear a mask during public appearances, David Marcus, a conservative journalist, argued in an article for the website The Federalist that Trump was projecting American strength. If Trump were to wear a mask, he wrote, that would signal that the United States is so powerless against this invisible enemy sprung from China that even its president must cower behind a mask. Medical accessorizing is not usually seen as so crucial to great-power conflict. But Marcus analysis is actually quite consistent with the traditional idea of a strong American leader: one who projects power, acts aggressively and above all shows no fear, thereby cowing the nations enemies into submission. In other words, a strong leader is one who conforms to the swaggering ideals of masculinity. That has often created difficulties for women in politics. There is an expectation that leaders should be aggressive and forward and domineering. But if women demonstrate those traits, then theyre seen as unfeminine, said Alice Evans, a sociologist at King's College London who studies how women gain power in public life. That makes it very difficult for women to thrive as leaders. Arderns approach to fighting the pandemic could not be further from that traditional archetype. But on this new kind of crisis, her cautious leadership has proved successful. I would say that shutting down the economy early was a risk-averse strategy, Evans said. Because no one knew what was going to happen, so its the strategy to just protect life first. After New Zealand began its lockdown March 25, Ardern addressed the nation via a casual Facebook Live session she conducted on her phone after putting her toddler to bed. Dressed in a cozy-looking sweatshirt, she empathized with citizens anxieties and offered apologies to anyone who was startled or alarmed by the emergency alert that announced the lockdown order. Theres no way to send out those emergency civil alerts on your phones with anything other than the loud honk that you heard, she said ruefully. That was actually something we all discussed: Was there a way that we could send that message that wasnt so alarming? By contrast, Trump has tried to anthropomorphize the virus into a foe he can rail against, calling it a brilliant enemy. But while that may have encouraged his base, it has not aided U.S. efforts to contain the pandemic. The United States now has the highest coronavirus death toll in the world. In Britain, Boris Johnson rose to power as a prominent Brexit backer, promising to play hardball to win the best deal in the countrys exit from the European Union. But the skills he used to battle Brussels bureaucrats turned out not to be useful in the fight against the pandemic. His government delayed lockdowns and other crucial protective measures like increasing testing capacity and ordering safety equipment for hospitals. Britains death toll is now the second-highest globally. Male leaders can overcome gendered expectations, of course, and many have. But it may be less politically costly for women to do so because they do not have to violate perceived gender norms to adopt cautious, defensive policies. That style of leadership may become increasingly valuable. As the consequences of climate change escalate, there will likely be more crises arising out of extreme weather and other natural disasters. Hurricanes and forest fires cannot be intimidated into surrender any more than the virus can. And neither can climate change itself. Eventually that could change perceptions of what strong leadership looks like. What we learned with COVID is that, actually, a different kind of leader can be very beneficial, Evans said. Perhaps people will learn to recognize and value risk-averse, caring and thoughtful leaders. c.2020 The New York Times Company Norfolk company thanks key workers in lights Norfolk company thanks key workers in lights A Norfolk company used its projection equipment to light up a church in west Norfolk with messages of appreciation for key workers and the NHS. J R Light & Sound, which is based in Downham Market, used its experience to project the messages onto St Marys Church in Denver. The company chose Denver church because a local landmark, and the central point of the village. It turned on the lights on Thursday evening, May 14, to join in with the nationwide show of appreciation and the clap for carers event. Jamie Robinson, who owns the company, said: It allowed people to see it as they drove through the village, but also people who live around the church and further. The top of the church tower can be seen by many homes in the village. So I knew plenty of people would see the message all over Denver. You can find out more about JR Light and Sound on the companys website: www.jrlightandsound.co.uk Pictures by Jamie Robinson Eldred Willey, 19/05/2020 Russia has joined China in denouncing President Donald Trump's threat to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Trump on Monday called the WHO a 'puppet of China' before tweeting a letter he had sent to the organisation's chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus threatening to make permanent a temporary freeze on funding from the US. Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov today told reporters: 'Yes there are opportunities to improve it [WHO]... but we are against breaking everything that is there for the sake of one state's political or geopolitical preferences.' Russia's critique comes as Beijing today accused Trump of smearing China and shirking American responsibilities to WHO after the US president threatened to pull funding for the UN health body. Scroll down to read Trump's letter in full. Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov (right) denounced Trump's threats to pull the U.S. out of the WHO, saying Russia was against 'breaking' things for political preferences The American leader has been locked in a bitter war of words with Beijing, alleging it covered up the initial outbreak in central China late last year before the disease spread globally, causing economic devastation and claiming lives across the planet. China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused Trump of trying to 'smear China' Speaking at China's daily press briefing today the foreign ministry's spokesman Zhao Lijian accused Trump of trying to 'smear China' while 'shirking responsibility' by 'bargaining over its international obligations to the WHO'. Zhao said: 'The US leader's open letter you mentioned is full of hints, "perhaps", and "maybes", and tries to use specious methods to mislead the public, and achieve the goals of smearing China's anti-virus efforts, and shirk responsibility for the United States' own insufficient response. 'The US tries to use China as an issue to shirk responsibility and bargain over its international obligations to the WHO. This is a miscalculation and the US has picked the wrong target.' More than 317,000 people have died of COVID-19 out of nearly 4.8 million infections worldwide, and governments are scrambling to contain the virus while seeking ways to resuscitate their hammered economies. World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shake hands in Beijing on January 28, 2020 Donald Trump threatens to permanently pull WHO funding in this excoriating four page letter Zhao added the US was attempting to deflect from its own 'insufficient prevention and control' against the virus. With more fatalities and cases in the United States than any other country by far, under-pressure Trump has blamed the WHO for not doing enough to combat its initial spread. 'The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China,' Trump's letter read. The World Health Organization (WHO) World health assembly. China said it supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19 and that it should be 'based on science and professionalism led by WHO, and conducted in an objective and impartial manner' Trump suspended U.S. contributions to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting China's 'disinformation' about the coronavirus outbreak, although WHO officials denied the accusation and China said it was transparent and open. China has urged the US to 'stop shifting the blame' and instead focus on containing the virus, Zhao said at a regular press conference. Earlier Monday the WHO said it would launch an independent review of the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Beijing has furiously denied the US allegations that it played down the threat, and Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated at the World Health Assembly that his nation had been 'transparent' throughout the crisis. The UK government has said it has no intention of stopping funding the WHO, adding: 'We are clear about the important role the WHO has in leading the international response to coronavirus.' European foreign affairs spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson The European Union also backed the World Health Organisation and multilateral efforts to fight the coronavirus today following Trump's threats to quit the global agency. European foreign affairs spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson said: 'This is the time for solidarity, not the time for finger pointing or for undermining multilateral cooperation.' The EU sponsored a motion at today's session of the WHO's annual assembly to urge an 'impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation' of the international response to the pandemic. And the spokeswoman said: 'The European Union backs the WHO in its efforts to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak and has already provided additional funding to support these efforts.' Not for the first time, this puts Brussels in opposition to Washington, where Trump has accused the UN health agency of being too close to China and of being slow to react to the COVID-19 outbreak. Here are todays top news, analysis and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times. 2,000 migrant workers gather at Mumbais Bandra to catch train to Bihar In a repeat incident, a crowd of more than 2,000 migrant workers gathered near Mumbais Bandra Terminus on Tuesday morning. The workers were attempting to board a Shramik special train that was bound for Bihar. Read more In 4-page stinker to Tedros over China link, Trump opens door to walk out of WHO US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to walk out of the World Health Organisation, accusing the Tedros Adhanom-led global health body chief of acting at Chinas behest and mismanaging the Covid-19 pandemic in the early stages. Read more First tranche of 50 ventilators donated by US expected soon, say officials The first tranche of 50 ventilators out of 200 ventilators being donated by the US administration to India is expected to arrive soon to bolster the countrys response to the Covid-19 pandemic, American officials said on Tuesday. Read more FB, Google, Twitter get courts notice over removal of groups like Bois Locker room The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the Centre, Facebook, Google and Twitter over an application seeking removal of groups like Bois locker room to protect children, reported news agency ANI. Read more Evacuate people, stock essential items: Centre tells states as they brace for Cyclone Amphan The Centre on Tuesday asked state governments to ensure timely and complete evacuation of people from low lying areas in the path of Cyclone Amphan and maintain adequate quantities of essential supplies. Read more Vizag gas leak: 60-yr-old woman arrested for posting objectionable content against LG Polymers Andhra Pradesh Police on Monday arrested a woman (60) in Guntur on charges of creating a fear psychosis among people and inciting hatred against the state government by posting objectionable comments on her Facebook page regarding the toxic styrene gas leak from LG Polymers plant at Visakhapatnam on May 7. Read more UK unemployment claims surge 69% as pandemic takes hold Unemployment claims in Britain jumped 69 per cent in April, as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold and hit the labor market, UK authorities said Tuesday. Read more Ruskin Bond 86th Birthday: Of simplicity, life in the mountains and solitude Ruskin Bond, the storyteller whose words are as uplifting as they are a balm for fatigued souls, has turned 86 today and in a career spanning over six decades, most of his books have been instant bestsellers. Read more TMC MP counters low testing charge; accuses BJP of politicising Covid fight In an exclusive conversation with Hindustan Times senior editor Aditi Prasad, TMC Parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha, Derek OBrien answered a slew of questions on who is politicising the covid battle in the state. Read more Jacqueline Fernandez on shooting with Salman Khan at his farmhouse: Whole experience was fulfilling Shoots and film releases may be cancelled in Mumbai amid lockdown but Jacqueline Fernandezs calendar is full. The Kick actor has been stuck at Salman Khans farmhouse in Panvel and is waiting to meet her family. Read more This cats awesome goalkeeping skills could make it worlds next football superstar. Were not kidding Cats rule the Internet and a recent video on Twitter hints that they may soon rule football grounds too. Shared by YouTuber Chris Dixon, the video shows his cat and how it saves the balls from entering the goalpost. Read more With the conditional relaxations during the lockdown kicking in in non-containment zones of Gujarat on Tuesday, people came out to buy non- essentials, including items like paan masala, and to get their mobile phones and vehicles repaired in western Ahmedabad and other cities. In a major relief to people affected due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the state government had on Monday announced several relaxations, including opening of markets and shops only in non-containment zones, from Tuesday. The government has allowed shops and other commercial establishments in non-containment zones to remain open between 8 am and 4 pm. While no shops, except those selling essentials, are allowed to open in the 11 containment zones in Ahmedabad covering about 12.68 lakh people, several shops reopened in western part of the city. Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat account for the maximum coronavirus case load in Gujarat, which reported 11,746 cases and 694 deaths as on Monday. The overall case count in Ahmedabad district stands at 8,683 with 555 deaths, the total number of cases in Surat and Vadodara stands at 1,127 and 682, respectively, a government official had said on Monday. On Tuesday, citizens in Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot among other cities visited markets. While Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Monday said that business and commercial establishments need to follow "odd- even" formula, wherein only 50 per cent establishments will remain open on any given day, confusion prevailed on Tuesday. Many shops opened in western part of Ahmedabad, except those located in malls and shopping complexes. In Ahmedabad and Surat, people came out in their own vehicles leading to traffic jams in some areas. At many places, people seemed to have least bothered about maintaining social distancing norms regarding vehicles. Not much activity was seen in Ahmedabad' main shopping area of CG Road and those areas where most of the shops are located inside malls and shopping complexes. In Raopura area of Vadodara, not much crowd was seen even though many shops reopened. People queued up in large numbers outside paan-masala shops that were allowed to reopen in many parts of the state. People lined up outside mobile stores either to get their handsets repaired or to buy accessories in western Ahmedabad. A large crowd was also seen outside vehicle repairing shops. An owner of a paan masala shop in New CG Road in Ahmedabad said he made his customers follow social distancing norms. "We have made arrangement for customers to strictly maintain social distancing. We sanitised our shop after opening, and have kept a large bottle of sanitiser for our customers. We are only charging regular rates though we are short on stock," he said. A heavy rush was seen in paan-masala shops in Rajkot, prompting a shop owner to deploy bouncers to control the crowd. An owner of a mobile phone shop said he had expected a rush of customers. "We received several calls from people who wanted repair their mobile phones repaired. Since it was not possible during the lockdown, we expect a rush now since we have reopened our shop," he said. Ahmedabad Mayor Bijal Patel urged people to follow the guidelines issued by the Central and state governments, and to ensure that social distancing and sanitisation is properly maintained. "People supported us during three lockdowns. Now with the start of the fourth lockdown, we request them to follow all the guidelines. We hope people will support us in totality," Patel said. She said people should wear masks, sanitise their hands and body, if needed, and keep themselves healthy. "As we all know, considering the current situation, we will have to learn to live with the coronavirus. It will remain around. People should adopt to new lifestyle and check spread of the infection," she said. Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad civic body has announced a new list of containment zones where only essential items and services have been permitted. Khadia, Dariyapur, Shahpur, Jamalpur, Asarva, Danilimda, Behrampura, Meninagar, Saraspur, Gulbai Tekra and Gomtipur are classified as new containment zones. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India has been leading from the front in the battle against COVID-19. The country has been key to building global solidarity during the pandemic and showing the way to fight the virus. READ: India's Health Min Dr Harsh Vardhan Set To Be WHO Executive Board Chairman: Officials Heres how India has been helping other countries: SENT HCQ TO 55 COUNTRIES: India has sent hydroxychloroquine to over 55 coronavirus-hit countries including countries like United States, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Maldives, and Sri Lanka OVER 1 LAKH FOREIGNERS EVACUATED: In two months, India has cooperated with different countries and flown out over 1 lakh foreign nationals in 388 special flights from various cities in India. Indian airlines also operated charters to fly foreign citizens from one Indian city to another to catch their flights. READ: India Among 10 Nations Elected By World Health Assembly To WHO Executive Board; Watch MISSION SAGAR TO PROVIDE FOOD TO MALDIVES: On 12 May 2020, INS Kesari sent 580 tonnes of essential food items to the Maldives under Mission Sagar as part of its Neighbourhood First policy. The food material was handed over in the presence of the High Commissioner of India to Maldives Sunjay Sudhir, the Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and their Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi. PART OF SOLIDARITY TRIALS: ICMR on 13 May said that it would fast-track the roll-out of the World Health Organizations solidarity trial. ICMRs director-general Balram Bhargava said the organisation was working relentlessly to implement scientific interventions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. READ: Lockdown 4.0: Maharashtra Releases Fresh Guidelines; Major Relaxations In Non-Red Zones PLEDGED 10 MILLION TO SAARC: On 15 March, India pledged $10 million towards a SAARC Covid-19 Emergency Fund proposed by PM Modi in a video conference meeting with member countries Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. G-20 MEETING: On 14 May, Indias Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal during a virtual meeting with G20 nations called upon G-20 members for an agreement to enable the use of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights flexibilities to provide access essential medicines. READ: '200 New Non-AC Trains To Run Daily From June 1 To Ferry Migrant Workers': Piyush Goyal SEOUL (Reuters) - A fire broke out on Tuesday at a catalyst plant in LG Chem's petrochemical complex in the southwestern city of South Korea, leaving one worker dead and two injured, the company and a fire station official said. The fire, which occurred at LG Chem's catalyst plant in the southwestern city of Seosan at around 2:25 p.m. (0525 GMT), has been contained, a fire station official from the Seosan Fire Station told Reuters. LG Chem said the cause of the fire was likely to be spontaneous ignition of powder at the plant, but the company it is looking into the exact cause. In early May, a gas leaked from the South Korean petrochemical maker-owned factory in India, killing more than 10 people and making more than hundreds of people sick. Last week, LG Chem sent a delegation to India to investigate the cause of the incident. (Reporting by Jane Chung, editing by Louise Heavens) People wearing protective masks walk their bicycles past a social distancing sign reading "Keep This Far Apart" at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park in New York City on May 17, 2020. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images) Madness of Crowds Shakes American Freedoms Commentary Back in 1841, the Scottish author Charles Mackay published his seminal study of mass lunacy, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, which included chapters on economic bubbles like the Tulip mania of 1637, the Crusades, witch hunts, and alchemy. More recently, the British writer Douglas Murray treated the current Madness of Crowds concerning gender, race, and sexual identity that has driven society with constantly shifting definitions and demands. In the current climate of unreasonable fear over the CCP virus, the cognitive dissonance of this not-so-fine madness cant be overestimated. With blue-state governors such as Californias Gavin Newsom, Michigans Gretchen Whitmer, New Yorks Andrew Cuomo, Illinoiss J.B. Pritzker, and Oregons Kate Brown acting like petty tyrants as they unconstitutionally restrict personal freedom, religious observance, and the right to free associationover what is essentially a nursing-home disease that strikes the very elderlyAmericans are being driven mad by this sudden assault on our most basic freedoms, once thought unshakeable. And yet here we are, two months into what increasingly appears to be a manufactured crisis whose cure will end up being far worse than the diseaseone that will cost us a huge percentage of our formerly booming economy and the effective loss of our constitutional protections under the Bill of Rightsbovinely acquiescing in our own imprisonment and loss of livelihood. And being told its for our own good. Incipient Fascism Even as the death toll from a virus that has still killed fewer Americans than the 196869 Hong Kong flu (about which nobody caused a fuss) continues to drop, there are ominous signs that the incipient fascism that marks state control of our lives is about to get worse. Already, the goal posts have been moved, from flatten the curve (which only delayed the inevitable) to crush the curve (impossible), to we cannot return to normal without a vaccine (highly unlikely), to get used to the new normal of privation, random restrictions, and arbitrary lockdowns. Even worse is the threat of mandatory contact tracing, which is being sold as helping to curtail the spread of the disease, but which is ripe for abuse, including intimidation, invasion of privacy, and even restraint. For decades, abortion has been legal in this country because of a right to privacy unearthed in the Fourth Amendment by the Supreme Court justices who decided Roe v. Wade in 1973. Over-exuberant contact tracing, perhaps via mandatory cellphone apps, as in China, could easily result not only in the loss of privacy, but of freedom of movement and even personal liberty itself. Never mind that Congress hasnt amended the Constitution, nor that the states have no right to abrogate federal protections that are implicitly incorporated into their own constitutions. Never mind that 30 million have lost their jobs. Never mind that municipalities that have reopened havent seen any meaningful spike in infections, much less deaths. (The always helpful media has now effectively and dishonestly conflated infection with certain doom.) Never mind that not a single American has voted for any of thisnot gubernatorial tyranny under the guise of a (relatively minor) medical emergency, nor rule by unelected doctors. As Murray observes in his book, As anyone who has lived under totalitarianism can attest, there is something demeaning and eventually soul-destroying about being expected to go along with claims you do not believe to be true and cannot hold to be true. Rule of Law But who cares about the rule of law anymore? Truth used to be the first casualty of war, but in this battle against the Chinese Communist Party virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, its the law itself thats been gut shot. Some are fighting back. On May 18, a county judge in Oregon ruled that Browns social distancing restrictions were null and void because they hadnt been approved by the state legislature within the statutory 28 days; the suit had been brought by a coalition of churches arguing on behalf of the free exercise of religion and the right to peaceably assembly. Later that same day, the Oregon Supreme Court granted a temporary stay to the lower courts order. They might well have also argued that the two-meters metric of social distancing (more correctly, anti-social distancing) is unscientific and inhumane. The only time human beings need six feet of separation between them is when one of them is six feet under. Anything else destroys social trust, alienates people from one another, and creates a legion of busybody snitches. Anyone wondering how 1 in 3 East Germans could have spied on their fellow communist prisoners in the German Democratic Republic need look no further than Americas own burgeoning contingent of hectoring Karensthe handle given the buttinskies who want to mind everyone elses pandemic business. Its not enough, of course; indeed, where are the Republican lawyers? Where, in fact, is the supposedly nonpartisan American Civil Liberties Union, ready to sue at the drop of a subpoena over any of the woke social issues, but strangely silent over this blatant attack on the fundamentals of liberty. True, back in March, the ACLU noted: We should be skeptical about calls to embrace Chinese-style tracking as a helpful measure in the current emergency. And any uses need to incorporate privacy protections if they are not going to be counterproductive. If location data is to be used, there must be strict policies ensuring that, whenever possible, the patient has consented to such uses; minimizing any data sharing; requiring deletion of the data when there is no longer a need to hold it; and, where it is anonymized, ensuring that no effort be made to re-identify it. Good luck with that, especially when cops in California are rousting beachcombers, owners of beauty salons are being broken on the wheel of the state, and New Jersey gym owners are getting summonses from the police for defying Democratic Gov. Phil Murphys executive order to stay closed. We truly believe that if we dont do this, in the end, we will have zero rights and no say in what happens, said Frank Trumbetti, who was ticketed for disorderly conduct. But weve yet to see a full-throated frontal legal assault on the governors who have abused their authority. Then again, safety is always whats promised when slavery is actually whats on order. Get Over It The longer this unconstitutional state of affairs is allowed to persist, the less chance Americans have of restoring the rule of law. President Donald Trumps ill-advised daily press conferences with Drs. Fauci and Birx only serve to damage him by frightening the public and making him look subordinate; far better, in the early stages, would have been short briefings by Vice President Mike Pence with perhaps a couple of apolitical questions from the media, and then a resumption of business as usual. Nursing homes should have been put on lockdown, but civil society could have and should have continued as normal. Instead, the comorbid elderly have been frightened out of their wits, and some of themas in Cuomos New Yorkhave died needlessly. Meanwhile, working-age folks have been denied an opportunity to earn a living, as many people have been put on welfare via special (and entirely unfunded) government giveaway programs, while children, who dont suffer from the disease, have been characterized by a virulently anti-Trump media as potential superspreaders, as words like fears and worries are once again flung around with abandon. On the opportunistic left, the perfect must always be the enemy of the goodand if that benefits them politically, then so be it. Still, if it saves just one life, cant be national policy. America has endured and survived far worse than the CCP virus, including the Spanish flu at the end of World War I, the 400,000 deaths occasioned by World War II, and the 620,000 fatalities of the Civil War. No doubt, worse might be yet to come someday. But that day is not this day. Whats needed now is a multi-pronged attack on official lawlessness, a combination of legal action, judicious civil disobedience, and political activity. Just as face masks have now become a symbol of the left-right divide (with the ovine, conformist left now squarely on the side of brute authority), so will the coming presidential election be a referendum on the once-independent and ornery nature of the American citizen. Its been clear, nearly from the start of this panic over a pandemic, that the virus would have to run its course, it was unlikely to be curtailed by a vaccine, and herd immunity would have to be the major part of the solution, as it has been for all such diseases. In short: Get it, get over it, get on with it. Thats always been the American Way. Why should it be different now? Michael Walsh is the author of The Devils Pleasure Palace and The Fiery Angel, both published by Encounter Books. His latest book, Last Stands, a cultural study of military history, will be published in December by St. Martins Press. Follow him on Twitter @dkahanerules. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Wilton Resources Inc. (TSXV: WIL) (the "Corporation") announces that filing of the Corporation's interim financial statements for the three month period ended March 31, 2020 ("Q1 Financial Statements") and associated management's discussion and analysis ("Q1 MD&A", and collectively with the Q1 Financial Statements, the "Q1 Filings") will be postponed due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the Q1 Filings would ordinarily have been filed on or before May 30, 2020, pursuant to ASC Blanket Order 51-517 - Temporary Exemption from Certain Corporate Finance Requirements ("Blanket Order 51-517"), the Corporation has up to an additional 45 days from the deadline otherwise applicable under Alberta securities laws to file the Q1 Filings, provided that it complies with certain requirements set out in Blanket Order 51-517. Accordingly, The Corporation is relying on the relief contained in Blanket Order 51-517 for its Q1 Financial Statements required by section 4.4 of National Instrument 51-102 and its Q1 MD&A required by subsection 5.1(2) of National Instrument 51-102. The Corporation estimates that the Q1 Filings will be filed no later than June 12, 2020. During the extension period, until the Corporation has filed and announced the required Q1 Filings, management and other insiders of the Corporation will be subject to an insider trading black-out policy that reflects the principles in Section 9 of National Policy 11-207 - Failure-to-File Cease Trade Orders and Revocations in Multiple Jurisdictions. Except as set out below, there have been no material business developments since the date of the Corporation's annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019, which were filed on April 27, 2020. Since December 31, 2019, the outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, specifically identified as "COVID-19", has resulted in governments worldwide enacting emergency measures to combat the spread of the virus. These measures, which include the implementation of travel bans, self-imposed quarantine periods and social distancing, have caused material disruption to business globally resulting in an economic slowdown. Global equity markets have experienced significant volatility and weakness. Governments and central banks have reacted with significant monetary and fiscal interventions designed to stabilize economic conditions. The duration and impact of the COVID-19 outbreak is unknown at this time, as is the efficacy of the government and central bank interventions. It is not possible to reliably estimate the length and severity of these developments and the impact on the financial results and condition of the Corporation in future periods. The extent to which the coronavirus impacts the Company's results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the coronavirus and actions taken to contain the coronavirus or its impact, among others. Executive Compensation Disclosure The Corporation announces further that the Corporation's executive compensation disclosure requirement under National Instrument 51-102 will be postponed due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the Corporation would ordinarily have filed the executive compensation disclosure required under section 9.3.1(1) of National Instrument 51-102 (the "executive compensation disclosure") on or before May 19, 2020, pursuant to ASC Blanket Order 51-518 - Temporary Exemption from Certain Requirements to File and Send Securityholder Materials ("Blanket Order 51-518"), the Corporation has up to December 31, 2020 to (i) send to its securityholders, and file, its next AGM information circular containing the executive compensation disclosure, or (ii) file the executive compensation disclosure separately. Accordingly, The Corporation is relying on the relief contained in Blanket Order 51-518 for its executive compensation disclosure. For more information concerning the Corporation, please refer to the Corporation's profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. Forward-Looking Information Certain statements contained herein constitute "forward-looking statements" as such term is used in applicable Canadian securities laws. These statements relate to analysis and other information based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. In particular, statements regarding the proposed timing of the filing of the Q1 Filings, the executive compensation disclosure and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, public markets and the Corporation's business and other factors and events described in this document should be viewed as forward-looking statements to the extent that they involve estimates thereof. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions of future events or performance (often, but not always, using such words or phrases as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future events or performance and by their nature involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Corporation to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, the public markets and the Corporation's business and on the ability of the Corporation to prepare and approve the Q1 Filings and the executive compensation disclosure in a timely manner, and other such business risks as discussed herein. Material factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making an estimate set out in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the ability of the Corporation to prepare the Q1 Filings and the executive compensation disclosure and have them approved by the board in a timely manner. Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, other factors may cause actions, events or results to be different than anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could vary or differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained herein. The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the Corporation is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Due to the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward- looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. For more information, please contact: Wilton Resources Inc. Richard Anderson Chief Executive Officer and President (403) 619-6609 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this release. Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States. Any failure to comply with this restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. Securities Laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56126 Charles Chuck I. Thomas 85 of Liberty, passed away on Tuesday, May 12, 2020. He was born on May 6, 1935 in rural Pawnee County to Clarence and Gladys (Morton) Thomas. He was the oldest of 3 children. He graduated from Barneston High School in1952 and enlisted in the army in September 1953. He took his basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, MOi and afterwards was stationed at Beale Air Force Base in California. He was honorably discharged in September 1955. Chuck worked at Meyer Lumber Yard in Summerfield, KS, worked at Hopper Rock Quarry and at Steel Tanks and Dempster in Beatrice. On August 8, 1956, he married Betty Jean Tincher and they were later divorced. To this union was born 5 children. After being discharged from the army in 1955, he returned home to begin farming which he did the rest of his life. Over the years he won many milo production awards. He pursued his passion of flying and in 1969 he got his private pilots license. He then went on and got his commercial license and became a commercial spray applicator, he sprayed until he was 70 years old. He later got his helicopter pilots license. Over the years, he accumulated nearly 24,000 hours of flight time. On March 28, 1994, he married Karen Bonser. They enjoyed dancing, attending air shows, and traveling as long as he could be home in 4 days. In semi retirement and winters, he had a remarkable ability to design and build to scale several models of construction equipment. He spent 100's of hours enjoying doing this. He also enjoyed old cars and tractors. His models, cars and tractors were viewed by many. Chuck was a member of the Liberty Christian Church, Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite, York Rite, Shriners, Flying Conestogas, Colonel in the Confederate Air Force, and he was a 60 year member of the Liberty Legion. The U.K. announced its post-Brexit tariffs regime, cutting import duties on many products while protecting industries such as automotive and agriculture, as the country turns its focus toward global trade beyond Europe. Items like dishwashers, freezers and Christmas trees will be able to enter the U.K. tariff-free as of Jan. 1 2021, the Department for International Trade said in a statement Tuesday. Under the plan, 30 billion pounds ($36.6 billion U.S.) of tariffs will also be removed on supply chain imports, including copper alloy tubes, and screws and bolts, the department said. Britains so-called global tariff regime is a key part of its economic policy as it leaves the European Union and seeks to reposition its economy for commerce around the world. The new rules will replace the blocs common external tariff, which sets duties on non-EU trade thats not covered by separate deals with other countries. But the plan also highlights the scale of the risk to the U.K. if Boris Johnsons government does not finalize a trade agreement with the EU by the deadline of the end of the year. At that point, the U.K. will tumble out of Europes customs union and single market, and under the measures set out on Tuesday, new duties would be imposed on thousands of EU imports for the first time. For example, cars would face tariffs of 10 per cent. Publication of the tariff plan demonstrates the importance of reaching a U.K.-EU agreement to avoid substantial increases in costs for businesses on both sides of the Channel, said Adam Marshall, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce. Support will be required for the industries, places and people affected by tariff changes at what is already a difficult time. Under the new schedule, 60 per cent of British trade will come in tariff-free, compared to 47 per cent currently, the government said. The government said it will keep duties on agricultural products including beef, lamb and poultry, to protect those industries. Our new global tariff will benefit U.K. consumers and households by cutting red tape and reducing the cost of thousands of everyday products, International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said in the statement. We are backing U.K. industry and helping businesses overcome the unprecedented economic challenges posed by coronavirus. Separately, the U.K. is engaged in trade talks with the EU, aiming to sign a Canada-style accord that would eliminate most tariffs and quotas on goods but introduce new barriers such as customs paperwork. The latest round of talks ended with little progress last week. Without a deal, goods from Britains largest trading partner would become more expensive and value chains for manufactured products like cars, airplanes and electronics would be disrupted. There will be some diversion of trade to other markets, said David Henig, U.K. director at the European Centre for International Political Economy, referring to the scenario of no trade deal with the EU. There will be some price rises for goods in the shops, there will be some changes in the way we consume products. An advantage of the U.K.s announcement is that it helps its ongoing trade negotiations with the EU, the U.S. and Japan, because it makes clear what the default duties would be if no agreement is reached in these talks, according to Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform. Britains plan also marks a walk-back from the temporary tariff schedule it proposed in the event of a no-deal Brexit last year, which would have seen 87 per cent of U.K. imports made tariff-free. That proposal was criticized for giving away too much British leverage in future trade talks. It seems to me that those in government who wanted to retain tariffs for the purpose of future trade negotiations won the argument this time round, Lowe said. She and her sister Amelia both signed high-profile modeling contracts earlier this year. Delilah Hamlin showed off the results on her new deal in a stunning set of photos featuring Kim Kardashian's Skims brand on Monday. The 21-year-old model revealed her slender figure in a white set of the brand's new mesh underwear line on her Instagram account. Sultry display: Delilah Hamlin, 21, showcased her stunning figure in a steamy set of Instagram photos on Monday advertising Kim Kardashian's Skims brand Delilah's outfit included a white V-shaped bra that showcased her cleavage. She paired it with a set of high-cut set of Skims panties in the same shade and not much else, aside from a pearl necklace. The 5ft7in beauty posed for her photos in bed and wore her stylishly messy brunette locks in gentle waves. She gazed seductively into the camera in some of the shots, while arching her back delicately against the bed in another post. Stunner: Delilah gazed into the camera seductively while wearing a white V-shaped bra and high-cut white panties from the new Skims mesh line At home: The 5ft7in beauty posed for her photos in bed and wore her stylishly messy brunette locks in gentle waves Solo shoot: She didn't bother with a caption, but revealed that she had to snap the photos herself due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic Covered up: The daughter of Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin also posted of outtakes featuring a more modest mesh Skims shirt to her Instagram Stories The daughter of Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin also posted of outtakes featuring a more modest mesh Skims shirt to her Instagram Stories. She didn't bother with a caption and simply added the hashtag '#skimsshotbyme' to reveal that she'd taken all the photos by herself due to the coronavirus pandemic. Though the pandemic made it impossible for Delilah to work with a professional photographer, the illness nearly struck closer to home last month. Her mother Lisa revealed to the Los Angeles Times in mid-April that Delilah previously feared she was suffering from COVID-19. False alarm: Delilah's mother Lisa Rinna revealed to the LA Times last month that she feared her daughter had COVID-19 after exhibiting many of the symptoms; shown with (L-R) Amelia Hamlin and Lisa Rinna in February 'We thought that Delilah had it, and so we quarantined her in her bedroom for the last five days until her test came back,' Lisa said. 'Thankfully, she doesnt have it. It was negative. But listen, we got to keep Harry Hamlin healthy at all costs because he goes down, we all go down.' According to the Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star, Delilah had been showing 'all the symptoms,' and her pediatrician and ear, nose and throat doctor both recommended she get tested. Delilah was eventually able to get a test through her ENT, though she had to drive up to the building's back alley and the nurse who greeted her required her to stick the swab up her own nose. At the time, her father Harry also wanted to get a test to be safe since he's 68 and at greater risk of having serious complications, though he wasn't able to get a test at that time. Since then, testing has increased in LA County and anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, as well as asymptomatic individuals with risk factors and front-line workers, can receive a coronavirus test. The Warrior, Green Zone, The Void. So much to choose from on telly, so why not pick a movie from this list? Theres a Frank Sinatra thriller, a Lovecraftian horror, and a Korean classic to choose from as TopFilmTip brings you the best films on TV today: Monday, 18 May. Some films may require a Sky subscription. Outstanding odd-couple romantic adventure sees Hepburn Bogart steam up the Congo to battle Germans in charismatic classic The African Queen 5:05pm Sony Movies Action Psychopathic gangster Frank Sinatra holds household hostage in plot to assassinate the POTUS in electrifying thriller Suddenly 5:30pm Talking Pictures TV Amnesiac teens brave infanticidal cyborg-spider infested labyrinth in enigmatic, childhood-to-puberty allegory The Maze Runner 6:50pm Film4 Matt Damon draws fire from his own fractious forces while truth seeking in mid-war Iraq in top taut political thriller Green Zone 9:00pm Sky 1 Suave sentinels seek superiors' soul, prize-fighter's pride prevents profit and odd date accidentally ends in OD... Tarantino's flawless masterwork of script and style Pulp Fiction 9:00pm Sony Movies Inspirational OCD insomniac brutalises Russian mobsters in intelligently expositioned, character led B&Q badassary The Equalizer 9:00pm ITV4 Kidnapped girls must manipulate the multitude of personalities residing in their imprisoners body in Beast Mode thriller Split 9:00pm Film4 Read more: Film released early to streaming Amid an English heatwave, naive boy ferries illicit messages between upper-class debutant and farmer in period drama The Go-Between 10:00pm Talking Pictures TV The Go-between, poster, US poster art, Julie Christie, (center), Alan Bates, (bottom right), 1970. (Photo by LMPC via Getty Images) Hospital besieged patients and medics endure tentacled transcendental onslaught in visceral vicious love letter to Lovecraft The Void 10:50pm Horror Channel A Ronin brings on a violent reign of vengeance after escaping his bloodthirsty master in Himalayan onslaught The Warrior 11:15pm Film 4 Opportunistic apolitical cab owner and German journalist bond as they travel into heart of violent political protests witnessing ugly truth of soured power in Oscar-nominated drama A Taxi Driver 1:00am Film4 Story continues Playboy politician persuaders Afghan arming policy for exploding helicopters literally causes Soviet downfall Charlie Wilson's War 11:20pm Sky Atlantic Four friends repay mob debt with poorly planned kidnap in Dan Stevens twisted and banter fuelled thriller Criminal Activities 00:40am Sony Movies Action 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 Radio presenter Jackie 'O' Henderson called out a listener on Tuesday who she suspected was cheating during a phone-in competition. A man named Dean was taking part in a quiz called Tradie vs. Lady, which takes place before 7am every day on The Kyle and Jackie O Show. The segment involves a tradesman answering female-skewed questions about topics such as makeup and fashion. Busted! Radio presenter Jackie 'O' Henderson (pictured) called out a listener on Tuesday who she suspected was cheating during a phone-in competition A female listener must then answer male-skewed questions, and the winner is the one who answers the most correctly. Dean got off to a bad start by not knowing what kitten heels were, and it appeared as though he was willing to go the extra mile to answer question two. Jackie asked him: 'If I was using BB Cream, where would you be applying it?' BB Cream is a light foundation substitute, which also acts as a moisturiser and is applied to the face. 'Oh my god, I can hear you typing!' During the Tradie vs. Lady quiz segment, Jackie suspected the listener was Googling the answers after hearing the sound of typing in the background At that moment, Jackie heard the sound of typing in the background. 'Oh my god, I can hear you typing, Dean!' she said, but the listener insisted he was just 'hitting the pedal' on his vehicle. Jackie remained unconvinced, and asked Dean why he was hitting the pedal repeatedly like a keyboard. Are the boys in cahoots? The listener named Dean insisted he was just 'hitting the pedal' on his vehicle, and Kyle Sandilands (pictured) backed him up Kyle was firmly on Dean's side, perhaps because he was rooting for the tradie to win, saying: 'Yes, I can hear it's a pedal.' But despite Kyle's support, Dean was unable to answer the question for the second time in a row - perhaps because he wasn't able to Google fast enough. The Kyle and Jackie O Show airs weekdays from 6am on KIIS 106.5 The Australian share market finished session higher on Tuesday, 19 May 2020, following an enthusiastic night on Wall Street on optimism about a potential vaccine for the coronavirus. Meanwhile, gradual re-opening of some economies and hopes of a demand recovery for commodities also boosted sentiments. Most sectors of the ASX closed strongly higher, led by energy, materials and financials. At closing bell, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index surged 99.98 points, or 1.81%, to 5,59.52. The broader All Ordinaries advanced 101.30 points, or 1.82%, to 5,658.84. Investors risk sentiments underpinned by news on the first clinical tests of a coronavirus vaccine. Drug company Massachusetts-based Moderna announced encouraging results in very early testing of an experimental coronavirus vaccine. A Phase 3 trial, the largest and most important to validate the efficacy of a vaccine, should begin in July. Investors have kept a close eye on vaccine programs of several drugmakers, cheering any positive development amid fears of a second wave of infections as governments start easing restrictions. Investors are hoping that a working vaccine for COVID-19 can be developed and that it will help reassure people and businesses as the economy reopens. Investors shrugged off the latest escalation in Australia-China trade tensions. China announced tariffs totalling 80.5% on Australian barley imports from Tuesday. Beijing's Ministry of Commerce said it had confirmed dumping by Australia and significant damage on its domestic industry as a result, following an inquiry which began in 2018. The tariffs on barley, which will remain in place for five years, are the latest agricultural commodity to be affected by a deteriorating relationship between Canberra and Beijing. Travel stocks rallied, with Qantas advance 3.6%, Flight Centre up 2.8%, Helloworld up 4%, and Sydney Airport up 2%. Improving commodity prices except for gold helped the resources sector to strong gains for a second day as iron ore hit the $US96-a-tonne mark, up 3%. Shares of materials and resources gains, helped by a surge in iron ore futures as port inventory of the steelmaking raw material in China, the world's top steel producer, dropped to the lowest in more than three years. Fortescue Metals Group smashed Monday's record high, rising 4.4%. BHP Group stock increased 5.6% and Rio Tinto 4.7%. Energy stocks also gained, thanks to more than 9% jump in Brent crude to $US35.55 a barrel, and more than 11% rise in West Texas Intermediate to $US32.89 a barrel in the US session. Woodside Petroleum rose 4.2%, Santos gained 4.7%, and Oil Search climbed 7.3%. The big four banks benefited from payrolls data showing Australia's economy may already be past the worst of the unemployment blow. From April 18 to May 2, weekly payrolls rose 0.9%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said, although the total picture is still negative since the pandemic began. Since March 14, payrolls have fallen 7.3%. Westpac added 2.2%, National Australia Bank 2.1%, ANZ Banking Group 2%, and Commonwealth Bank 1.3%. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Natural News) Mandatory vaccines are medical rape in the sense that they violate your body against your consent, causing physical and psychological harm or even death. Those who advocate mandatory vaccines are medical rapists who are, in effect, committing acts of felony violence against an individual. (See full video, below.) Medical choice is a pillar of Western medical ethics, and any government that would attempt to violate a man or womans body with a cocktail of potentially dangerous, foreign substances including vaccine ingredients derived from aborted human fetal cells is engaged in the kind of genocidal evil that the world witnessed with the Third Reich and the Holocaust. There, the Nazi regime believed it owned the bodies of all citizens and could decide what to do with them. To save money for the Reich, countless numbers of individuals were euthanized against their will, including the physically handicapped, the cognitively impaired and those with chronic degenerative disease. (See the Nazi propaganda posters below.) (If the same rules applied today, practically the entire U.S. Congress would be exterminated, come to think of it) Once a government claims ownership over your body, there is no limit to the evils it can carry out in the name of serving the greater good. This is the argument of the vaccine industry and vaccine mandates in America today. It perfectly mirrors the scientific consensus of the Third Reich and its campaign of mass euthanasia and state-run murder. Here are some of the posters from the Nazi era that argued for mass killings of individuals whom the state no longer wanted to support: Translation: A congenitally diseased or handicapped person costs the government 5.5 Reichsmark daily. For 5.5 Reichsmark a healthy, sound family can live a full day of life. This congenitally handicapped person costs the nation, as a whole, 60,000 Reichsmark over a lifetime. People this is your money. Read Neuses Volk (New People) The monthly newsletter of the racially correct political bureau of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers Party) God cannot intend that the sick and infirmed propagate or reproduce sickness and infirmity (physical or mental weakness). Those worth less are multiplying faster than the healthy population! Number of pregnancies of mothers who had mentally ill children in school for the mentally disabled the average mother in the city [is] concerned You are sharing the load A person with a hereditary disease costs on average RM 50,000 by the time they reach their 60th birthday. Mentally ill negro (English citizen) 16 years in an institution RM 35,000 in costs And now, from the U.S. mainstream media: Heres an image of Germanys physically handicapped, scheduled for euthanasia: And here are some images of American children damaged by vaccines who are then entirely abandoned by doctors, the media and lawmakers: Neurologically damaged by the DPT vaccine: The HPV vaccine turned this normal, healthy girl into a brain-damaged victim of vaccines: Another severe skin reaction following vaccination: Letter from Adolf Hitler Berlin Sept. 1, 1939 To the Reichsleiter (leader) Bouhler and Dr. Brandt (a Medical Dr.): They have the responsibility to increase the authority of individuals who will be named to evaluate the terminally ill to determine whether euthanasia can be performed An explanation of the scientific consensus for why the German state had the right to mass murder people: We do not stand alone In these countries similar laws exist: USA Denmark Norway Sweden Finland The following countries are considering similar protection: Hungary England Switzerland [illegible] Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases from 7/14/33 Mandatory vaccination is a felony assault against your body, a form of medical rape In the same way that Nazi Germany pushed forced euthanasia and mass killings, the mandatory vaccine pushers believe they can medically rape you and inject your body with unsafe, largely untested substances that have been fast-tracked through the vaccine factories as part of President Trumps Operation Warp Speed which is a disaster in the making. Any attempt to force a vaccine injection upon you is attempted medical rape and a violent, felony assault against your person. In most jurisdictions, Americans have the right to defend themselves against violent assaults through the use of lethal force. This means that if any vaccine enforcers come to your home and attempt to assault you and forcibly inject you with a vaccine against your will, you probably have the right to shoot them in self-defense. (Check your local laws to be sure, and if you dont currently have such a right, move to a jurisdiction where you do.) The existence of a pandemic does not give the state the right to medically rape you with experimental vaccines containing risky ingredients that may cause injury or death something the U.S. government admits takes place every day in America. See VAERS.HHS.gov for government statistics on vaccine injuries and deaths. Anyone claiming vaccines are safe is either wildly ignorant or a malicious liar. The fact that the felony assault against your person is being carried out with a needle rather than a knife does not exempt the violent attackers from your right to self-defense. The fact that the attackers represent the government rather than a drug cartel does not grant them any special right to violate your body, either. No government has the right to medically rape you in the name of public health, for if that were true, then governments could force us to give blood without consent, abort our babies on demand, submit to government blood draws to be allowed to return to work or even agree to be made infertile based on personal IQ scores. Any agent of any government who attempts to commit imminent medical violence against your body through the forced injection of risky vaccines without your consent frankly deserves to be shot in self-defense. This is precisely why the left-wing lockdown regimes that are pushing mandatory vaccines (i.e. California) are simultaneously pushing aggressive gun control laws. They dont want citizens to be able to defend themselves against the government mandated euthanasia shots that will be falsely described as coronavirus vaccines. Remember: Its really about depopulation and mass infertility or euthanasia. To get you to go along with it, theyll tell you its a vaccine, even when the whole world knows that real vaccines couldnt possibly have been subjected to rigorous quality control testing and long-term clinical trials in the short time during which we are told they were developed. Try to avoid vaccine enforcer teams, but if they assault you in your own home, shoot them dead and call 911 While I dont condone initiating violence or hunting down vaccine zealots in any way, if they invade your home and attempt to medically kidnap you or force an injection into your body without your consent, your right to self-defense almost certainly allows you to halt violent attackers by any legal means necessary, including the use of lethal force in most jurisdictions. This does not mean you wont be subject to criminal arrest or civil lawsuits, however, and the state may decide that you are a criminal for merely defending yourself against state-sponsored medical rapists. So your best strategy is probably to avoid answering your door if a vaccine enforcer team comes to you. (A court might decide that the mere act of you answering your door is consent to be injected.) Make them kick in the door if they really want to assault you with a vaccine, for the fact that they burst into your home will likely work in your favor in the eyes of the jury after you are likely charged with murder for shooting the attackers dead. Even if found innocent, by the way, youll still spend a fortune for your own legal defense, and youll probably be sued in civil court by the families of the vaccine criminals you shot dead. Youd be wise to check your own local laws on firearms and self-defense before finalizing your strategy. My overall advice is to practice avoidance. Do not engage unless you have no other choice. But if they are determined aggressors and they kick in your door, wielding needles filled with dangerous chemicals that can cause you harm, make sure you are well prepared with a loaded self-defense weapon and dont limit yourself to just one magazine. This is why practicing concealed carry in your own home is actually a good idea. That way, youll be armed in self-defense even if the vaccine enforcer SWAT teams surprise you in your own home. Carry a spare mag on your person, and make sure you can get to a rifle within a few seconds. Your 9mm Glock isnt really enough to get the job done. It only allows you time to get to your rifle, which is the real self-defense tool of choice. Load your AR mags with only 28 rounds so that you dont get feed failures, and go take a self-defense course (or two) while you still can: TacticalResponse.com If we do not resist the violent vaccine mandates of this corrupt, pharma-controlled government, we will be destroyed by a Vaccine Holocaust Doctors who push for mandatory vaccines are not just medical rapists, by the way, they are mass murderers. And in a civil society where we respect human dignity and the freedom to choose what happens to our own bodies, free people cannot and will not tolerate a vaccine-controlled, corrupt legislature deciding that a class of dishonest, self-important lawmakers has the right to condemn an entire nation to serve as human guinea pigs for Big Pharmas twisted vaccine experiments that truly smack of Nazi Germany and the history of Bayer / IG Farben. If We the People do not rise up against this evil and defend ourselves against those who are carrying it out, there is no question we will see a Vaccine Holocaust killing millions of people in our own country, all in the name of appeasing the Big Pharma profiteers and the corrupt Senators and lawmakers who receive their kickbacks and stock options. Prepare to invoke your Second Amendment right to defend your liberty against vaccine tyranny. This is precisely the kind of scenario for which the Second Amendment was written in the first place. If we do not draw the line at the boundary of our own bodies, then we are nothing but biological slaves to a corrupt, anti-human system that values nothing other than its own power and greed. Watch my urgent video on health freedom to learn more: Stay informed. Read Pandemic.news for daily updates. A judge granted Jaime King's request for a restraining order against her husband of 12 years, Kyle Newsman, People reported on Monday. The order, to remain in place until a court hearing to be held on June 8, comes after the actress filed for divorce and for a domestic violence petition against the director. A source told the magazine that King, 41, is 'distraught' over the situation. Granted: A judge granted Jamie King's request for a restraining order on Monday after she simultaneously filed a domestic violence petition against her husband Kyle Newman while filing for divorce, earlier in the day News of King's filing came hours early on Monday, according to TMZ. King has been married to Newman, 44, since 2007 after meeting on his film Fanboys, and together they share sons James, six, and Leo, four. The couple's marriage had come under scrutiny lately after Jaime was seen out without her wedding band. The duo were reportedly quarantining apart in recent days, with Jaime in California and Kyle in Pennsylvania with their children, according to Life & Style. Split: The couple has been married for 12 years and neither King or Newman has commented on the situation Jaime and Kyle are 'taking some time apart to focus on themselves,' a source told the site. 'He's [Kyle] been staying with his family for months and is leaning on them for support,' the source added. The couple had an instant connection that blew Jaime away. 'I don't know why, but some part of me was instantly connected to him, and I loved him so much,' Jaime told InStyle Weddings. 'It was intense. I never thought that would happen to me.' As they were: Jaime has been married to Kyle since 2007 after meeting on his film Fanboys, and together they share sons James, six, and Leo, four (pictured 2019) Family life: The couple with their two sons at the farmers' market in West Hollywood in 2019 They moved in together three months after first meeting, and married in November 2007 at the place they had their first date, the Greystone Park and Manor in Los Angeles. The couple endured several trials over the course of their nearly 13 year long marriage. Jaime was in Beverly Hills in 2018 when a man jumped onto her car with her son James inside, wrecking the windshield and leaving the pair shaken. 'I've had five miscarriages': Jaime has also been open about her struggles to have a family (pictured 2018) 'Dad life': Newman has reportedly been quarantining in Pennsylvania with their sons, and has been documenting his time with them in self-isolation on Instagram The man, Paul Francis Floyd, was jailed for one year as a result of the attack, and was again sentenced to over four years in prison in 2019 after allegedly sending Jaime threats and explicit images following his initial release. Jaime has also been open about her own fertility struggles. The actress revealed she had suffered five miscarriages and was even diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis before finally having her first child. 'I've had five miscarriages, gone through five rounds of IVF and 26 rounds of IUD,' she told People in 2015. 'I was in severe pain all the time, emotionally and physically.' Going solo: The actress was photographed without her husband at the release of Abrachshoes in Los Angeles in January 2020 Jaime went through five years of fertility treatments but eventually wound up getting pregnant naturally. The couple welcomed their son Leo in 2015, but Jaime learned he had a heart defect when she was still pregnant. The child was diagnosed with Transposition of the Great Arteries when he was 20 weeks old, and subsequently underwent major heart surgery. No ring: King pictured without her wedding ring on in September 2019 Describing the ordeal, she told People, 'I was wheel-chaired to him every three hours, so I could breastfeed him and take care of him before he went into this huge surgery. It was a terrifying experience.' Adding: 'But thank God for the medicine that we have now ... I knew how traumatic the experience was, how much post-traumatic stress disorder I had afterwards, and the trauma that I was experiencing before it. It's because I didn't know anybody that had gone through it and I didn't have people to talk to. 'I have a voice and I want to use that voice on behalf of my son - and I know that my son would want that. I've gotten thousands of letters from people and now I have a real community of people to talk to.' Missing accessory: King wasn't wearing her ring in January 2020 A young girl and her mother reportedly died during a domestic violence incident that led to an hours-long police stand-off at their Dallas home early Monday morning. The 8-year-old was found dead around 9 a.m. alongside her 35-year-old mother, who barricaded the pair and her 12-year-old son in a room with a gun for hours. Dallas police were called to the 500 block of Highcrest Drive around 12:30 a.m. after the woman started shooting at her husband during an argument, The Dallas Morning News reported. The 12-year-old was able to escape after SWAT officers negotiated with the woman for several hours, according to Fox 4 News. The Morning News said police tried to go inside around 6:30 a.m., but had to retreat when the woman opened fire and grazed one of the officers. None of the involved individuals have been identified by authorities. There were no prior incidents of child abuse reported at the home, Child Protective Services told The Morning News. A neighbor told the news outlet the 12-year-old was always sweet, smiling and saying hello while riding his bicycle through the neighborhood. Others told Fox 4 they didnt notice anything out of the ordinary when they saw the family outside on Sunday. READ MORE: 3 cited in pit bull attack that led to Pomeranian being put to sleep: police Wild Pa. police chase of slippery serial burglary suspect caught on tape Pair of Sheetz bandits wear carved-out watermelons as face masks: cops Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Paulina Duran and Kirsty Needham (Reuters) Sydney, Australia Tue, May 19, 2020 16:00 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd90a6d1 2 World Australia,China,bilateral-spat,bilateral-relations,diplomatic-spat,diplomatic-tension,coronavirus,virus-corona,COVID-19,SARS-CoV-2,pandemic Free Australia and China traded barbs on Tuesday in an increasingly acrimonious diplomatic spat over Australia's support for a global inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, as Australia recorded its 100th COVID-19 fatality. Australia's relative success in constraining the spread of the virus has been overshadowed by the rift with its largest trading partner, which was exacerbated by a World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution in favor of the inquiry. In an unusually blunt statement on the same day that China imposed hefty tariffs on Australian barley exports, China's embassy in Canberra said it was "nothing but a joke" for Australia to claim the resolution was vindication of its push for a global review. "The draft resolution on COVID-19 to be adopted by the World Health Assembly is totally different from Australia's proposal of an independent international review," a Chinese embassy spokesman said in an emailed statement. Asked about the comments, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told Sky News that "Australia is not going to engage in cheap politicking over an issue as important as COVID-19". "I would have thought the appropriate response from China's ambassador in Australia would have been to welcome these outcomes and welcome the opportunity for all of us to work together on this important issue." Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday told the assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, that China would support a comprehensive review after the pandemic is brought under control. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's spearheading of the call for an inquiry, alongside the European Union, has been a lightning rod for a more assertive approach by Chinese embassies to criticism of its handling of the coronavirus outbreak. That policy has been dubbed "Wolf Warrior" diplomacy in both Western and Chinese media. The Chinese ambassador had earlier warned of a consumer boycott of Australian goods, which prompted Australian accusations of "economic coercion". The subsequent barley tariffs and the suspension of the export licenses of several of Australia's largest beef processors were viewed by many as retaliatory. The row potentially undermines Australia's shift to allow significantly more public activity this week under the first phase of a three-step federal government plan to reopen business, schools, restaurants, and other public life in a bid to give the economy a boost. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) warned on Tuesday that the country was facing an "unprecedented" economic contraction, though massive fiscal and monetary policy stimulus would help cushion the blow. Qantas Airways Ltd said it was ready to restart 40-50% of its domestic capacity in July if states relax border controls, and expects to offer low fares to stimulate travel demand. 100 deaths While a grim milestone, Australia's death toll of 100 from 7,060 confirmed cases remains well below the fatalities reported in China, North America, Europe and other parts of Asia despite Australia's earlier exposure to the pandemic. "The outcome in Australia is better because we were lucky in that we saw what was happening in China and so we were able to prepare and put the testing in place," Peter Collignon, an infectious diseases physician and microbiologist at Canberra Hospital, told Reuters. Australia's rate of new daily infections peaked on March 23 with 430 cases, according to a Reuters tally based on official data. New cases have averaged about 15 a day over the past week. The 100th fatality was a 93-year-old woman from a care home outside Sydney, a facility responsible for 19 deaths. Australia's first reported case on March 1 was a 78-year-old man who had been a passenger on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. The two cases illustrate Australia's biggest weaknesses in its fight against the disease, with the majority of the country's deaths people aged 70 or over and many linked to either cruise ships or aged care homes. [May 19, 2020] SEMrush Research Uncovers that Money Anchors Can Bleed a Site's Link Juice Dry BOSTON, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- SEMrush, the leading online visibility management and content marketing SaaS platform trusted by more than 25% of Fortune 500 companies, uncovers the key findings of its long-term research on toxic inbound links vis-a-vis the Google penalties. About the research: Over the course of 2 years, SEMrush has conducted meticulous research and analyzed 830+ websites' backlink profiles. The penalty database consisted of cases from SEMrush users and industry forums users, whose websites were hit with Google penalties. The goal of the study was to uncover the exact factors that trigger penalties and their frequency and to provide tips for marketers on how to avoid and get rid of the Google penalties. Key findings: Money anchors and sponsored and paid links in articles and blog posts account for causing over 50% of penalty cases. Words like "Sponsored by ", "Information was provided by", "Advertorial content", "Advertorial post on behalf" etc. can become a reason for a penalty. Guest posting and press releases come in as the second most frequent cause for a Google penalty - they account for 45% of the penalty cases. Google Unnatural Inbound penalties are real. Google is still actively monitoring compliance with its guidelines for webmasters, and is still actively attracting its web spam to manually cases check. Old manipulative link-building techniques (like PBNs and link networks, spam in forums and blogs, and links from web directories) also continue to be the causes of a manual ban Google does not distinguish between recent and old toxic links. Google treats all websites equally. It makes no difference to Google where the links to your site come from - be it spammy, dubious websites or trusted, reputed media. SEMrush Chief Strategy Officer Eugene Levin commented, "Being the leading online visibility and content marketng software, we can never overstress the importance of SEO. It's the very foundation of your online visibility. So, at the time when successful online presence is the sole surviving strategy for most businesses, it's great to revisit the founding principles of your online visibility. And, of course, a healthy backlink profile can be the make it or break it factor. Thus, I encourage everyone who's aiming at having a successful online presence to consider the findings from our research and use this WFH time to fix and improve some SEO issues they never had the time to work on before." To read the full research and uncover more details about the findings, visit [ https://www.semrush.com/blog/google-penalty-unnatural-inbound-links/ ] About SEMrush SEMrush is a leading SaaS company providing a platform of end-to-end digital marketing and SEM solutions in more than 150 countries. SEMrush's platform and innovative digital marketing tools are trusted by leading brands, including Vodafone, Booking.com, eBay, HP, and BNP Paribas, as well as 25% of Fortune 500 companies. The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Learn more about SEMrush by visiting: www.semrush.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/semrush Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SEMrush LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/semrush/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/semrush/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SEMrushHQ View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/semrush-research-uncovers-that-money-anchors-can-bleed-a-sites-link-juice-dry-301061017.html SOURCE SEMrush [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] During the COVID-19 crisis the federal government engaged in an unprecedented experiment to save childcare centres from closure by making childcare free for Australian families from April 6. Rather paradoxically, that experiment has been so successful that the government seems unlikely to extend it beyond the scheduled end date of June 28. Education Minister Dan Tehan said this weekend that the success of the rescue package and the success we have had in flattening the curve means we do have to look at how long we want this temporary measure in place and how quickly do we need to change to meet the growing demand. This threat to completely roll back free childcare makes absolutely no sense in the economic circumstances in which we find ourselves. Food Network Barefoot Contessa Self-branded the Barefoot Contessa, jovial chef Ina Garten call her today's Julia Child shows viewers how to whip up lemon ricotta pancakes, cauliflower toast, or red-wine-braised short ribs in ways that even fledgling cooks can follow. And that's just in the latest season of her Food Network hit, which premiered May 16 at 12:30 p.m. ET. The Brooklyn-born, Connecticut-raised Garten, 72 a Martha Stewart protegee has been clanging pots and pans on this show since 2002, making it FN's longest-running series. Catch the two most recent seasons on the channel's streaming platform for free, and various seasons and episodes for purchase widely. Watch it here: Food Network, Amazon, YouTube and more EAGLEVILLE Montgomery County commissioners clashed during a news briefing when the Republican board member accused the Democratic chairwoman of taking a cheap shot after she expressed concerns that he attended a flag placing ceremony at a veterans cemetery without wearing a face covering, even though he had contact with another board member who tested positive for COVID-19. During a Monday news briefing, Commissioner Joseph C. Gale, the lone Republican on the three-member commissioners board, announced that he joined members of a Conshohocken VFW post to place American flags on the graves of veterans at St. Matthews Cemetery in Conshohocken over the weekend. Gale claimed the event was organized as a response to a previous decision by Democratic commissioners Valerie Arkoosh and Kenneth Lawrence Jr. to postpone the distribution of more than 50,000 flags that organizations typically place on veterans graves countywide for Memorial Day. At the time, Arkoosh said due to the coronavirus outbreak and social distancing recommendations the county would postpone the distribution of the flags until the July 4 holiday. It was a very humbling experience to see neighbors come together to honor local heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, Gale said about the event, which he added was made possible by generous donations by members of the community so the local VFW could purchase the flags. Im humbled to help lead the effort to make sure that our fallen military men and women receive the proper recognition they deserve. Arkoosh, saying she was putting on my doctor hat, responded she was concerned that Gale attended the event even knowing that he had direct contact with Lawrence, who last week tested positive for COVID-19 and is now in self-isolation for 14 days. Commissioner Gale has publicly stated that he refuses to be tested and I have no evidence that he has been tested. And during the event that he just described, Commissioner Galedid not have a mask on. He was personally handing them flags with no gloves on and closer than six-feet to them in order to hand them those flags, Arkoosh responded during the virtual news briefing. This is not a comment about veterans. This is not a comment about lack of respect for veterans in any way shape or form. But Commissioner Gale should still be in quarantine. Having not been tested, he should be in quarantine for 14 days and I just want to urge others not to copy this type of behavior, added Arkoosh, who has been quarantining at home since Lawrence announced he tested positive. I would urge everyone to please be responsible, to please look out for all the people in our community. Any one of us could be positive, not have symptoms and be contagious. When you are out in public wear a mask and please follow all the social distancing guidance, Arkoosh continued. Gale shot back that he will not be bullied for honoring fallen veterans and he called Arkooshs statement ridiculous. You dont need a Hazmat suit, gloves and a mask to put American flags outdoors at a cemetery, Gale said. I was there to honor the dead and their families, not to stage a publicity stunt to show how politically correct I am. Ive been very clear that people should use their own judgment in wearing masks. Im not going to tell people when to do it or when not to do it. I was in the fresh open air and sun of a cemetery and a mask was not necessary in my opinion. Its completely different than being in a closed capacity such as a SEPTA bus or something similar to that. The people who really need personal protective equipment are the health care workers and the long-term care facility employees, Gale added. Gale said he was in contact with Lawrence two weeks ago and added hes not aware of anyone else testing positive as a result of having had contact with Lawrence. That was an uncalled for cheap shot and its an attempt to scare the residents of Montgomery County. That was uncalled for to lecture me and lecture the residents of Montgomery County and try to scare them. I know the residents of Montgomery County have had enough of all this nonsense, said Gale, ending the news briefing. Meanwhile, during the briefing, officials reported 55 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the countys death toll to 529 since March 7, when the first two cases of the virus were identified in the county. The latest reported deaths included 32 individuals who died in April and 23 who died in May. The individuals ranged in age from 48 to 96. These are now our most current confirmed positive numbers, Arkoosh said. To date, 285 females and 244 males have died from the virus in the county. Arkoosh added 461 of the total 529 deaths were individuals who resided in long-term care facilities, comprising about 87 percent of the total deaths. The 529 total deaths were confirmed positive COVID-19 cases through the use of lab tests. Arkoosh said 155 other deaths in the county have been listed as probable COVID-19 deaths. Those are deaths that list COVID-19 as a cause of death on a death certificate but in which there was no laboratory confirmation of the virus. Additionally, officials reported a total of 173 new positive cases of the virus 74 on Sunday and 99 on Monday bringing the countys total number of cases to 5,963 since March 7. Forty-six of the latest individuals to test positive resided in long-term care facilities in the county and 127 were other residents in the community, according to officials. The new positive cases included 82 males and 91 females who ranged in age from 5-months to 101 and the individuals were residents of 36 municipalities. At least three of the individuals are known to be hospitalized. To date, all 62 of the countys municipalities are home to individuals with COVID-19. A San Antonio teen arrested in the fatal stabbings of his mother and sister in March has been indicted on capital murder charges. The indictment of Jose Heriberto Hernandez Jr., 19, is one of more than 250 felony indictments handed down last week by Bexar County grand juries, according to a statement from the Bexar County District Attorneys Office. San Antonio police called to a home in the 400 block of Gillette Boulevard early on March 12 found the bodies of Hernandezs mother, Raquel Hernandez Mojica, 41, and his sister, Andrea Hernandez, 22. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio police identify teenager who they say stabbed mother, sister to death They arrested Jose Hernandez at the scene. Police Chief William McManus told reporters that Hernandez was talking, he was lucid, and declined to elaborate on Hernandezs reported mental health issues, which McManus tied to the incident. He also is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, related to the same incident, involving a woman named Alejandra Hernandez. Her relation to the accused or the other victims is unclear. The case is being prosecuted by the Family Violence Division of the DAs Office. If convicted, Jose Hernandez would face either the death penalty or life in prison without parole. In a separate case, Erick Eduardo Casas, 28, was indicted on a charge of intoxication manslaughter stemming from a crash that killed Jasmine Goudeau, 19. According to reports, Goudeau was driving a silver Subaru Forester through the intersection of Micron Drive and Culebra Road on the West Side just after midnight Feb. 17 when she was T-boned by a Ford F-150 pickup that had run a red light. She was less than a block from her home, her family told police. Police determined that Casas, the driver of the pickup, was intoxicated. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison. On ExpressNews.com: Surveillance video, cell phone helped police catch man accused of killing SAISD teacher The indictments also include a murder charge against David Gustavo Donjuan, 25, in the fatal shooting of Ambrett Seabron, 33, a Cameron Elementary School teacher who had worked for the San Antonio Independent School District for 12 years. Police said Donjuan shot a man, identified in the indictment as Michael Thomas, who was with Seabron that night. He was wounded just after midnight Feb. 1, as he left her North Side apartment in the 11700 block of Vance Jackson Road. After Thomas was shot, Donjuan entered the apartment and shot Seabron, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. The relationship between Donjuan and Seabron is unclear. According to reports, police arrested Donjuan after video surveillance cameras showed him enter the womans gated apartment complex by following another car inside the gate, and leave moments after the shooting. Authorities also obtained cellphone tower information which connected him to the area at the time. If convicted, Donjuan faces up to life in prison. He also was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting of Thomas. On ExpressNews.com: Man accused of shooting at police Also indicted was Greg Delgado, 34, charged with multiple offenses, some stemming from a shootout while officers were pursued him in connection with a body that had been found in a pickup in the 200 block of Darby, just southwest of downtown, on Feb. 21. He was indicted on charges of attempted capital murder of a police officer; aggravated assault of a public servant; possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver; and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Elizabeth Zavala covers county and state courts in San Antonio. To read more from Elizabeth, become a subscriber. ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 05:57:45|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ANKARA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is hoping to revive tourism in the coming weeks with a strict plan, but the number of visitor and revenues will drop in the new normal and have an impact on the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, professionals said. Turkey expects to restart domestic tourism in late May and international tourism after mid-June, culture and tourism minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy said last week. "I hope tourism will start with some tourism mobility domestically by May 28," he said, speaking to broadcaster NTV. "We also expect international tourism to start with some countries after mid-June," Ersoy added. The first destinations might be Asian countries, including China and South Korea, he noted. Ersoy stressed that Turkey started a detailed certification program for hotels over the novel coronavirus outbreak. "It (the certification program) was the first in the world, and the EU also decided to initiate a similar one," the minister stressed. In 2019, Turkey's annual tourism revenue rose to an all time high, hitting 34.5 billion U.S. dollars with a total of 45 million arrivals, according to official data. Tourism revenues account for around 10 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), thus extremely important for the already ailing economy, which has like all the virus-hit countries been impacted by the pandemic. Before the coronavirus outbreak, Ankara had targeted 58 million tourists and 41 billion dollars, but these targets are now unlikely to be met. "If we could meet over half of this target, I believe it would be a success. The year started horribly and as this virus is not ready to leave us alone," Serkan Yagci, a travel agency manager from Ankara, told Xinhua. "For us as travel agencies, it's possible the biggest crisis that we had to live through, and we don't know how domestic and foreign tourists are going to react to the new norms defined by the authorities," he said, stressing that losses in revenues would be considerable. Meanwhile, the Tourism Ministry reportedly will resume tourism under the guidance of 132 well-defined and comprehensive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic. Turkey has launched telephone diplomacy with 70 countries to inform them about the health infrastructure, ensuring them that Turkey is safe for tourism, Ersoy said. Protective suits and facial masks will be available at the entrance of every tourism facility, and body temperatures will be recorded with thermal sensors. Tourism representatives said standard open buffets, as seen in many all-inclusive hotels, will be suspended. Likewise, group tour will be required to cut the number of tourists to reduce the risks of spread of virus. Currently, 90 to 95 percent of tourism facilities across the country are closed as a precautionary measure to curb the outbreak of the coronavirus. Irfan Karsli, owner of the Istanbul-based Ligarba tourism agency, hailed the measures but said that the prospect is not optimistic this year. "We still don't know if the pandemic will allow us to have a tourism season. Even if we can control the health situation, we have to give assurances to our clients that everything will be ok once they are here and this is difficult," he told Xinhua. He argued that Asian tourists would be reluctant to travel to Turkey in the coming months, at least during the current stage of the pandemic. "Business people, academics and other related professionals from Asia will eventually return to Turkey, but I think that traditional tourists will skip Turkey or any other country for some time," he remarked. In order to make up for some of the losses, Turkey will start accepting foreign patients next week from 31 countries, such as Greece, Russia, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Pakistan, within the framework of health tourism. Only COVID-19 negative individuals will be accepted in the health facilities of Turkey. In recent years, Turkey has become a destination for health tourism, attracting over 1 million foreign patients in 2018, according to official data. Enditem NHS Charities Together say it's 'vitally important' to set up hospital wellness rooms in a bid to improve the mental health of 'hero' hospital staff. Six weeks ago, NHS Charities Together (NHSCT) the membership body for local health service fundraisers, launched a coronavirus appeal and has since raised an incredible 116m. Ellie Orton, the organisations chief executive, from Warwick, appeared on Good Morning Britain today where she told that NHSCT, the organisation Colonel Tom Moore fundraised over 30million for, has donated 20million to local trusts already. She explained that one in three of their local hospitals have already set up 'wellness rooms', so staff are able to relax in an area away from their unit, and socialise with staff members they may have been separated from during the coronavirus crisis. NHS Charities Together (NHSCT) chief executive Ellie Orton (pictured) told on GMB it's 'vitally important' to set up hospitals wellness rooms in bid to improve the mental health of 'hero' hospital staff She was joined by staff at St Thomas' hospital in London, Dr Liam Whittaker and Matron Tammy Stracey (pictured) who told the room would positively impact their mental health 'It's vital we take care of NHS staff who are looking after patients,' said Ellie. 'We need our NHS staff to be fit and well to care for our patients. 'We talk about NHS heroes and they're humans. Giving them a space that is about their wellbeing, giving them time to reflect and look after themselves, to talk to colleagues or just be quiet is vitally important, so they can continue giving the very best care possible to patients.' Ellie explained there are 240 NHS charities in the country, 234 of which are members of NHSCT and receive grants through the organisation, with several using whatever space they can to create a new space for staff. She told: 'We've already granted out 20 million and from the feedback we've been receiving, about one in three have been setting up these wellness rooms. Ellie explained to host Lorraine Kelly there are 240 NHS charities in the country, 234 of which are members of NHSCT and receive grants through the organisation Matron Tammy Stracey said: 'I think our staff will really appreciate somewhere to come that's off the unit and separate from the normal staff room' 'I think some are literally converting broom cupboard so staff can have some alone, time to some fantastic centres hospitals are setting up.' Ellie was joined by staff at St Thomas' hospital in London, who told that wellness rooms would massively improve the mental health of them and their colleagues. Matron Tammy Stracey said: 'I think our staff will really appreciate somewhere to come that's off the unit and separate from the normal staff room. 'It gives them a place to have some time out and maybe somewhere to meet with other colleges you've been separated with due to the coronavirus crisis. It's really important we focus our attention on them and make sure they're looked after.' Ellie explained that one in three of their local hospitals have already set up 'wellness rooms', so staff are able to relax in an area away from their unit Dr Liam Whittaker added: 'We talk in our team quite often and say it's important to have somewhere to come before and after the shift. It's important for our mental health and go home and carry on.' Speaking of life in the hospital now, Tammy went on: 'I think it definitely has calmed down a little, but were in a lull but nobody thinks this is the last well see of it. 'We are by no means standing down, our staff have really risen to the challenge, but this is a time we can regroup and focus on getting the next stage right.' A modern Mediterranean mansion located off of Avignon Court in the Royal Oaks Country Club just hit the market for nearly $6 million and has undergone a significant remodel transforming it into a lavish Gatsby-esque estate. Designed by Caroline Wheeler of Designer Dreams, the opulent smart home features materials imported from Italy, Holland and Brazil as well as interior accents inspired by sculptures and fine dining restaurants in the prominent Galleria area of Houston. Susan Collins and Harris Benson of Douglas Elliman Real Estate hold the listing. Keep scrolling for a look at before and after photos of the remodel, as well as a virtual tour inside the striking home... A ceremony to mark the 130th birthday of late President Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890 May 19, 2020) was held on Monday by the Hanoi Party Committee and Government. A ceremony was held at the National Conventional Centre in Hanoi on Monday on the occasion of the late President Ho Chi Minhs 130th birthday (May 19). Incumbant and former leaders of the Party, State, National Assembly, Government and the Fatherland Front attended the event. VNA/VNS Photo The ceremony aimed to highlight the remarkable contributions by the late President to the national revolutionary cause. In attendance were members of the Central Committee of the Party, State Presidency, Government, National Assembly and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee. Addressing the ceremony, Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong said the Vietnamese nation and people gave birth to President Ho Chi Minh, the great national hero, and it was President Ho Chi Minh who glorified the Vietnamese nation and people. "Every step forward, every achievement of the Vietnamese revolution has been attributable to the great contribution of President Ho Chi Minh, the illumination and stewardship of his thought," Trong said. "In the cause of innovation, in the face of complicated developments in the world and difficulties that the country has to embrace, our Party has stood firmly on the foundation of Marxism-Leninism, President Ho Chi Minh's thought, and applied them creatively in the countrys situation and have gained great achievements." Trong said that from a poor and backward country, Vietnam has risen to become a developing country with middle income. The achievements of 35 years of renewal have affirmed the Party's renovation policy based on Marxism-Leninism and President Ho Chi Minh's thought is the right path and consistent with the development of the times. He also pointed out that Vietnam is celebrating the birthday of the great President at a moment of transcendental importance, which presents both challenges and opportunities. "We are proud of what we have achieved but we cant be satisfied just yet. Our country is still facing many difficulties and challenges. In leadership, management, in the organisation of implementation, we still have many limitations and weaknesses; there are still issues that have not been thoroughly solved, many bottlenecks have not been removed; while new requirements, tasks, challenges and contradictions, large and complex issues continue to arise," Trong said. Such limitations and shortcomings require the whole Party, population and political system to seriously acknowledge and have higher determination to strive to overcome the difficulties, he said. Trong emphasised the need for strong unity and efforts, high determination and endeavours, dynamism and creativity from the Party and people and armed forces to overcome the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, ensure social security and welfare for the people and grasp opportunities to fulfill the socio-economic tasks set for 2020. Special memories Nguyen Van Doan, 73, a guard for President Ho Chi Minh from 1965 to 1969, recalled the special memories he had with the late leader. "Those were the best days and greatest honour of my life," Doan said. He talked about the days when President Ho Chi Minh became ill but still tried to work with the Government on urgent matters of the country like flooding and improving dykes. "On August 12, 1969, despite his illness, he still tried to come and hear the report by a group of the Government members who had just returned from a working trip." "Five days later, he became seriously ill." "I know that those were the days that his health was in critical condition, but still he tried to work along with the Government to take care of the country," Doan said. I always tell myself to learn and follow Uncle Ho's example, whose ultimate goal was the countrys independence," Doan said. Trong, meanwhile, pointed out the tasks ahead for every Party member to follow President Hos revolutionary morality: continuing to enhance the building and rectification of the Party and the entire political system, making them pure and strong in politics, ideology, organisation and morality; and improving the leadership, governance and combat capacity of the Party and building a socialist state ruled by law, of the people, by the people, and for the people". It is necessary to promote close-knit relations between the Party and the people, build the Party based on the people, promote the peoples democracy and right to ownership, and preserve solidarity and consensus with the Party, he said. In following President Hos instructions on enhancing revolutionary morality and sweeping away individualism, we need to resolutely, persistently and actively purify the Party, prevent and drive back corruption, degradation in political ideology, morality and lifestyle of officials and Party members, and phenomena such as self-evolution and self-transformation within the Party, he stressed. VNS Hanoi to mark President Ho Chi Minhs 130th birthday with diverse activities Hanoi will organise a range of activities to mark the 130th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19), according to a plan recently adopted by the municipal Party Committee. A new study shows that when specific human brain cells are transplanted into animal models of multiple sclerosis and other white matter diseases, the cells repair damage and restore function. The study provides one of the final pieces of scientific evidence necessary to advance this treatment strategy to clinical trials. "These findings demonstrate that through the transplantation of human glial cells, we can effectively achieve remyelination in the adult brain, " Steve Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine, and lead author of the study. "These findings have significant therapeutics implications and represent a proof-of-concept for future clinical trials for multiple sclerosis and potential other neurodegenerative diseases." The findings, which appear in the journal Cell Reports, are the culmination of more than 15 years of research at URMC understanding support cells found in the brain called glia, how the cells develop and function, and their role in neurological disorders. Goldman's lab has developed techniques to manipulate the chemical signaling of embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells to create glia. A subtype of these, called glial progenitor cells, gives rise to the brain's main support cells, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, which play important roles in the health and signaling function of nerve cells. In multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disorder, glial cells are lost during the course of the disease. Specifically, the immune system attacks oligodendrocytes. These cells make a substance called myelin, which, in turn, produce the "insulation" that allow neighboring nerve cells to communicate with one another. As myelin is lost during disease, signals between nerve cells becomes disrupted, which results in the loss of function reflected in the sensory, motor, and cognitive deficits. In the early stages of the disease, referred to as relapsing multiple sclerosis, the lost myelin is replenished by oligodendrocytes. However, over time these cells become exhausted, can no longer serve this function, and the disease becomes progressive and irreversible. In the new study, Goldman's lab showed that when human glia progenitor cells are transplanted into adult mouse models of progressive multiple sclerosis, the cells migrated to where needed in the brain, created new oligodendrocytes, and replaced the lost myelin. The study also showed that this process of remyelination restored motor function in the mice. The researchers believe this approach could also be applied to other neurological disorders, such as pediatric leukodystrophies - childhood hereditary diseases in which myelin fails to develop - and certain types of stroke affecting the white matter in adults. This research is in the process of being developed by a University of Rochester start-up company Oscine Therapeutics. The company's experimental transplant therapy for multiple sclerosis and other glial diseases, such as Huntington's disease, is currently under early FDA review for clinical trials. Goldman is the scientific founder, an officer, and holds equity in the company. ### Additional co-authors of the paper include its first author, Martha Windrem, as well as Steven Shanz, Lisa Zou, Devin Chandler-Militello, Nicholas Kuypers, Maiken Nedergaard, Yuan Lu, and John Mariani, all with URMC. The research was supported with funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation, the Mathers Charitable Foundation, the New York Stem Cell Research Program (NYSTEM), the Oscine Corporation, and Sana Biotechnology. Goldman also holds an appointment at the University of Copenhagen and his work there is supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation. Police identified the suspect as Tywan Cummings, 40, of Southeast. They said he was wounded in an exchange of gunfire with officers from several jurisdictions after the pursuit ended in a crash in the 3900 block of Pennsylvania Avenue SE. BGR Our Sun isnt quite as old as other stars out there. However, scientists are already trying to pinpoint exactly when the Sun will die. Of course, it isnt as simple as throwing out a date. After all, were working with a massive ball of energy that weve still barely managed to scratch the surface of The post Scientists think they figured out when the Sun will explode and kill us all appeared first on BGR. Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Submit Phillip Perry was a principal who lived and breathed his school. He attended every ballgame and pep rally at G.W. Carver Middle School. And when his colleague, Karen Hassell, would visit his building, she radioed for Perry because he was never in his officepreferring to be in the classrooms and hallways with students. Perry died March 31 of COVID-19 at age 49. His decline was swift, catching students and teachers at the Waco, Texas, school off guard. People were shocked and devastated, said Hassell, who works for Transformation Waco, a school improvement initiative at Carver. For students, for many of them, this was probably the first person they knew to pass away. While Perry was new to the job at Carver, having started at the beginning of the 2019-20 academic year, he had deep roots in the community. He grew up in Waco and worked previously as an assistant principal in the district. Now Carver, like dozens of other schools across the country , is grappling with how to help students not only say goodbye to beloved educators, but also conceptualize the loss. We are worried about how [students] will react when they return to a school building and they have a new principal, said Hassell. They left for spring break and they never got to see Mr. Perry again. As fatalities from the coronavirus pandemic rise, so, too, does the likelihood that schools will have to confront a death of a staff member, parent, or even a student from COVID-19. Principals, teachers, and school mental health support staff face unique challenges in helping students navigate their grief and fears in the era of stay-at-home orders and social distancing. Even for a veteran school psychologist like Benjamin Fernandez, who works for Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia, and helped his district respond to the September 11th terrorist attacks, the pandemic presents new stressors he is trying to figure out how to respond to. Among them: simply not having the answers. My daughter asked me, what did you do with your first pandemic? he recalled. And I was like, kiddo, this is my first pandemic. Novel Virus, Novel Challenges One of the biggest challenges for educators is how to memorialize someone who has died when social distancing rules prevent students from gathering. Funerals and other rituals that bring people together to remember someone are far more than a formality, theyre an important part of the grief process and fulfill a deeply human need. Now that the funerals are only for immediate family and they cant come together, it has made it incredibly difficult for people in terms of their grieving response, said Christina Connolly, the director of psychological services at Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland. Then you have the fear of someone [else] dying on top of it. Schools need to have a plan in place for honoring a staff member or student who dies, she said. Otherwise, students may take it upon themselves to organize their own gathering without taking proper precautions. Connollys district learned this first-hand. Shortly after the pandemic closed schools in Montgomery County, a student died from an unrelated incident, and dozens of grieving friends gathered in a park , flaunting social distancing guidelines and the governors orders banning large crowds. Police had to break up the gathering. Although not the same, virtual memorials can help fill that need to grieve communally, said Connolly. Students can make videos honoring a staff members life. This can be a stand-in until students and staff can gather again, said David Schonfeld, the director for the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement. Schonfeld, a leading national expert on school crisis management, said he is getting calls from school leaders across the country asking how they should plan to memorialize a deceased staff member. You dont have to get together and hold up candles, said Schonfeld. You have to just figure out how to create community. You can do that remotely. More formal commemoration can wait. Those [ceremonies] are to make sure you arent forgetting about the person who diesyou wont forget. So focus first on the acute grief. Educators also need to be prepared for the fact that school closures may delay students ability to fully process a death in their school community. Denial is a normal reaction to death, said Franci Crepeau-Hobson, a professor of school psychology at the University of Colorado Denver and a specialist on crisis response and intervention. Because students havent been in schoolor at least in their school buildingsthey may not fully comprehend the loss of a friend or teacher until theyre back in their physical classes and that person is not there. Educators also need to be on the lookout for when a healthy grief response veers into something unhealthy, said Crepeau-Hobson. But that is much more difficult for teachers and support staff who are only interacting with students through video conferencing, phone calls, or emails. Thats the crux of the issueits tricky enough when weve got them around us physically, Crepeau-Hobson said. The way we go about it in the school setting is close monitoring and checking in with the individual but also primary caregivers, teachers, and other people who know the kiddo. How do we do that virtually? Frequent contacts with the family, with the individual. And if youve got a whole classroom of kids who are impacted because they lost a teacher, it does mean regular check-ins with those kids and their families. During those check-ins, school personnel need to be on the lookout for students who seem kind of stuck and not starting to move forward and learning to live with the loss said Crepeau-Hobson. They should pay particular attention to students who already struggle with depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, or a previous loss. While keeping in mind that the vast majority of students are going to be fine in the long run, the point to be concerned, Crepeau-Hobson said, is when the grief is long, pervasive, and extreme to where its interfering with a students day-to-day functioning or meeting developmental milestones. Its not a clear black-and-white line in part because theres no set grieving period for people, she said. Its really kind of a judgment call. We do expect people to be sad and to have difficulty paying attention. We do expect to see academic performance drop off. But schools must brace for other suffering unique to a pandemic: that students, at least in some hard-hit areas, will be coping with several deaths within their families or school communities. Those [deaths] become more than additive, they almost multiply each other, said Schonfeld. In some communities, children are experiencing multiple losses related to the pandemic and that can be particularly challenging and overwhelm children because they havent processed or coped with one loss, and then there is another loss, he said. In addition: Children are not just grieving death, but the loss of stability, safety, and graduation children grieve those other losses as well. This can be very difficult for teachers, who often dont know what to say to grieving students because of a lack of training on the issue, said Schonfeld. A recent Education Week Research Center survey found that only 29 percent of educators said that teachers in their district have received training on how to talk to students about the death of a loved one. We Dont Need to Reinvent the Wheel While the coronavirus pandemic is a once-in-a-century crisis, school leaders are not in entirely uncharted waters, say experts. Schonfeld reminds principals and superintendents seeking his advice that many of them have had to deal with a student or staff death happening over the summer while students were out of school. And theres lessons they can draw from that. For example, its important to tell students what happened quickly before rumors and misinformation about the death spread, said Schonfeld. We dont need to recreate the wheel here, said Fernandez, the psychologist in Virginia. What can we do to our current processes so we can use them remotely? A reading specialist for his district, named Susan Rokus, died from COVID-19 in late March . She was 73 years old and the first coronavirus-related death in the area, according to local media. School and district-based mental health providers dont have the same access to students since school buildings closed in mid-March, so the district has taken the approach of empowering the caregivers, said Fernandez, by supplying them with informational documents on how children and adolescents grieve. The caregiver training was a very specific training that we had developed and sent out to families basically helping them understand the facts, he said. Helping them know what those common reactions are, across all ages, as well as how to respond. What kind of simple things that families can do to help their child through this challenging time and then when to get help. That approach is especially helpful as the academic year comes to a close, said Jill Cook, the assistant director of the American School Counselor Association. Schools should prepare parents with tools to help their children over the summer as they become even more disconnected from schools, which are a major source of mental health support for children in many communities. One of the things schools can do as they begin to wind down here is provide information and resources to families and students about coping strategies, about community resources, if something happens and they feel like they need more help, she said. Routine is an important source of comfort for children in riding out the emotional turmoil that comes with the death of a loved one, and the summer break threatens to upend routines even further, she said. In response to Principal Perrys death in Waco, the school offered grief counseling to students and teachers as it normally would, just online instead of in-person. School leadership is working with students to plan some kind of memorial for Perry. In the meantime, the school, whose mascot is a panther, has been using the tagline paws up for Perry as it tries to keep students motivated in their remote learning. Its giving students decals with the tagline printed across a heart with a pawprint. We have tried to keep his spirit alive, said Hassell. I think its important to acknowledge that he was a vibrant member of the school community and that he was taken from us too soon. We want to honor what could have beenI think he would have done great things at Carver. Curfew has been imposed in Kapilavastu district in view of the increasing number of Corona positive in neighboring Nepal of India. In Kapilvastu, 21 people have been infected. Nepal has now sealed the international border with India's growth till 31 May. So far, 357 Corona positives have been found in Nepal. In this, 36 have gone right to their homes. Two people, including a woman, have died. Home Minister Amit Shah discussed this issue with Mamta Banerjee According to Dr. Sameer Kumar Adhikari, co-spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal, a woman from Sindhupalchok district and a young man from Banke district have died. The Chief District Magistrate of Kapilvastu, Long Narayan Paudel said that the interim border of Dong, Puthan, Rupandehi in Kapilvastu district adjoining Siddharthnagar of India has also been sealed. Will CM Yogi be able to counter the sharp questions of the opposition? A total of 106 people from Nepal have been quarantined at various four places in Siddharthnagar district. 40 people have been kept in Aashram Padhati School. 25 people are in the other two schools. Nepali citizens will have to wait to return home as the border is sealed. CM Yogi's hard work succeeded, corona patient returning home healthy Regulatory News: The Board of Directors of bioMerieux (Paris:BIM) met today and decided to hold the annual General Shareholders' Meeting behind closed doors at the bioMerieux registered office on June 30, 2020. During this meeting, it will recommend reducing the 2019 dividend in order to support initiatives in the public interest. With the publication of the 2019 financial results, the Company had initially recommended a dividend of 0.38 per share for a total payout of around 45 million. To meet the unprecedented challenges of solidarity and responsibility imposed by the current situation, the Board of Directors exceptionally recommends reducing the dividend that will be paid on July 16, 2020 to 0.19 per share. The remainder of the originally planned total payout, representing around 22 million, will be used for philanthropy with the aim of supporting solidarity actions. In this case, the Merieux Foundation will receive a donation of 12 million. This independent family foundation, with public interest status, works on the ground to combat infectious diseases that affect developing countries. In 2020, the Foundation has redirected some of its programs to the fight against COVID-19 in these countries. At the same time, 10 million will be allocated to local actions in the countries where bioMerieux operates, and to initiatives to provide aid for the homeless and the most vulnerable, in particular mothers and children. In the context of the current pandemic and in the respect and application of the various regulations and laws in effect, the Board of Directors has decided, on an exceptional basis, that the annual General Shareholders' Meeting of bioMerieux will be held on June 30, 2020 at 2 p.m. (CET) behind closed doors (i.e., without the physical presence of shareholders and their proxies) at the bioMerieux headquarters. bioMerieux regrets not having the opportunity to meet its shareholders in person this year, but is applying measures designed to protect the health of everyone. The practical information about voting by mail will be outlined in the meeting notice that will be published by bioMerieux in the French Bulletin of Compulsory Legal Announcements (Bulletin des Annonces Legales Obligatoires) on May 22, 2020, and on the Investors page of the bioMerieux website, www.biomerieux.com, under General Shareholders' Meeting. ABOUT BIOMERIEUX Pioneering Diagnostics A world leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics for over 55 years, bioMerieux is present in 44 countries and serves more than 160 countries with the support of a large network of distributors. In 2019, revenues reached 2.7 billion, with over 90% of international sales. bioMerieux provides diagnostic solutions (systems, reagents, software and services) which determine the source of disease and contamination to improve patient health and ensure consumer safety. Its products are mainly used for diagnosing infectious diseases. They are also used for detecting microorganisms in agri-food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. bioMerieux is listed on the Euronext Paris stock market. Symbol: BIM ISIN Code: FR0013280286 Reuters: BIOX.PA/Bloomberg: BIM.FP Corporate website: www.biomerieux.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005859/en/ Contacts: Investor Relations bioMerieux Sylvain Morgeau Tel.: 33 4 78 87 51 36 investor.relations@biomerieux.com Media Relations bioMerieux Aurore Sergeant Tel.: 33 4 78 87 21 99 media@biomerieux.com Image Sept Laurence Heilbronn Tel.: 33 1 53 70 74 64 lheilbronn@image7.fr Claire Doligez Tel.: 33 1 53 70 74 48 cdoligez@image7.fr The emirate is taking advantage of lower borrowing costs to shore up its finances against oil price slump. Abu Dhabi is seeking to raise more money from international debt markets just weeks after a $7 billion bond sale as it takes advantage of a drop in borrowing costs to bolster its finances. The emirate is marketing a tap of its three-tranche deal priced in April, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The yields on those bonds, which garnered about $45 billion in orders last month, declined on Monday to all-time lows as optimism that the worst of the oil crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic is over offered relief for energy-related borrowers. For Abu Dhabi, pricing was never an issue, they are a solid credit with good sponsorship, said Angad Rajpal, the head of fixed income at Emirates NBD Asset Management in Dubai. It will receive good interest and it is a smart call to tap and further shore up their buffers than to draw down on the reserves. The yields that are initially on offer are about 30 basis points to 35 basis points higher than Abu Dhabis existing debt, Rajpal said. I would expect levels to tighten and price not too far from the original notes, he said. The initial price guidance: About 165 basis points over U.S. Treasuries of similar maturity for debt due April 2025 A spread of roughly 185 basis points for the bond due April 2030 For the 30-year bond tap at between 3.50% to 3.55%; the security traded at 3.26% Monday Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, is rated AA by S&P Global Ratings. The cost of insuring Abu Dhabis debt against default for five years has fallen to about 100 basis points, from a more than 10-year high of 162 basis points in March, when crude prices collapsed. The slump in oil has put a strain on the finances of Middle Eastern energy producers, prompting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, members of the UAE and Bahrain to sell about $31 billion of bonds this year. Abu Dhabis Mubadala Investment Co. raised $4 billion last week. Brent crude has lost almost half its value this year, even after recovering to around $35 a barrel from an 18-year low reached last month. The need for large stimulus around the world has prompted other countries to issue more debt as well. Indonesia, Spain and Italy are among nations that have recently offered notes, as massive central bank stimulus helps global credit markets rebound from a March rout. The gradual easing of lockdowns in some economies around the world, together with additional stimulus from governments and central banks, is also buoying investor sentiment, even as many uncertainties remain about the virus and global economy. BNP Paribas SA, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Standard Chartered Plc are the joint lead managers for the Abu Dhabi sale. (Updates to show final amount of April bids in 2nd, adds Abu Dhabis credit-default swaps in 5th paragraphs) PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 15:31:30 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 901 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 Bottled water processing market players are ramping up production through the pandemic, in response to rising demand from governments seeking to provide remote locations with essential goods during lockdowns.DUBAI, UAE / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / Extensive restrictive measures set up by governments around the world to combat the global coronavirus outbreak are creating logistical challenges for the bottled water processing sector. While this is creating new bottlenecks in the sector, consumers continue to prefer stockpiling of essential commodities. This remains the key factor sustaining demand for bottled water even during the global COVID-19 crisis. Global bottled water processing market has been projected to reach the valuation of over US$ 392 Bn between 2019 and 2029, as indicated by a new Future Market Insights (FMI) report. Bottled water processing activities will remain strong amid the pandemic, as a lack of adequate clean drinking water continues to be a critical problem across several economies."A key factor driving growth of the global bottled water processing market is the rising demand for high-quality water from consumers with health concerns during the pandemic. Further, attractive packaging and product launches offered by leading players are likely to aid growth in the market," says the FMI analyst.Request report sample with 200+ pages to gain in-depth insights https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-11433 Key Takeaways of Bottled Water Processing Market StudySales of still water will continue to hold the lead for drinking water applications, while demand for sparkling water is witnessing a higher growth rate.Demand for PET bottle packaging is set to remain significant owing to lower costs and durability.Reverse osmosis applications will hold pole position, while ultrafiltration will gain ground as a lucrative application area during the forecast period.Asia Pacific will hold a major share of the global bottled water processing market, driven by rapid population growth and extensive contamination of drinking water resources in the region.Bottled Water Processing Market - Key Growth FactorsHigh consumption of bottled water and tech advances in processing equipment are the primary factors sustaining growth through the forecast period.Changes in government policies towards water resources drive the market growth through the forecast period.Rising awareness among consumers on water and wastewater treatment procedures and importance of essential resources support demand.New flavored product launches for millennial consumer demographics will support the market growth through 2029.Bottled Water Processing Market - Key RestraintsHigh capital requirements for the development of new production facilities hinder market growth.Environmental concerns of associated with the production of bottled water, and pollution from plastic bottle waste is having a negative impact on the market.Impact of COVID-19 on Bottled Water Processing MarketWhile the COVID-19 virus continues to spread rapidly, the global demand for bottled water is anticipated to stay high. In addition, the growth in demand is also supported by government initiatives to provide populations in remote locations with essential commodities under the lockdown period. The outbreak is expected to generate bottlenecks owing to supply chain disruptions.The demand for bottled water is unlikely to go down during the pandemic, sustaining sales in the market. Stockpiling activities by consumers would create temporary shortages of bottled water but creating lucrative opportunities in the near future.Explore the full bottled water processing market report with 112 illustrative figures, 128 data tables and table of contents. Request ToC of the study at https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-11433 Competitive Landscape of Bottled Water Processing MarketSome of the major companies profiled in this FMI report include, but are not limited to, Axeon Water Technologies, Pall Corporation, NorlandInternational Inc., Dow Chemical Co., Seychelles Environmental Technologies Inc., Velocity Equipment Solutions Inc., General Electric, and Liquid Packaging Solutions Inc. Players in bottled water processing market are leveraging consumer concerns about chemical pollutants, and the lack of legislation for the protection of safe drinking water around the world.More about the ReportThis FMI study of 250 pages provides all-inclusive insights on the global bottled water processing market. The market analysis is based on equipment (filter, bottle washer, filler & capper, blow molder, and shrink wrapper), technology (RO, UF, MF, chlorination, washing, and filling), and application (flavored water, mineral water, still water, and spring water), across six regions (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Middle East & Africa).Explore Extensive Coverage of FMI's Food & Beverages LandscapeFloral Flavor Market- Get the latest insights on the global floral flavor market through FMI's study covering detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis for predefined projection period (2019-2027).Fortified Yeast Market- FMI's detailed study on the global fortified yeast market encompasses emerging trends, technological advancements, key players, and prominent strategies for the course of forecast period (2019-2029).Lactates Market- Obtain comprehensive analysis on the global lactates market through FMI's latest report covering key regions, competitive analysis along with segmental analysis for 2017-2027.About FMIExpert analysis, actionable insights, and strategic recommendations of the veteran research team at FMI helps clients from across the globe with their unique business intelligence requirements. With a repository of over thousand reports and 1 million+ data points, the team has scrutinized the food & beverages sector across 50+ countries for over a decade. The team provides unmatched end-to-end research and consulting services. Reach out to explore how we can help.Contact:Mr. Abhishek BudholiyaUnit No: AU-01-H Gold Tower (AU), Plot No: JLT-PH1-I3A,Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai,United Arab EmiratesMARKET ACCESS DMCC InitiativeFor Sales Enquiries: sales@ futuremarketinsights.com For Media Enquiries: Prince William has sent a message of support to NHS workers on the frontline, reminding them 'not to forget their own needs as they care for others'. Shared to Our Frontline UK charity's Twitter page, William, 37, is seen at his home office in Amner Hall, Norfolk, where he is isolating with Kate, 38, and their children Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince Louis, 1. Sharing his message of thanks from 'Catherine and I', William reminisced over his time working for the air ambulance service until 2017, and admitted that he 'knows all too well that frontline workers are keen to put on a brave face'. Our Frontline is a new charity intiative providing around-the-clock mental health, a partnership between Shout, Samaritans, Mind Hospice UK and The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Prince William has sent a message of support to NHS workers on the frontline, reminding them 'not to forget their own needs as they care for others' Wearing his favouried outfit of a bright blue jumper and pale blue shirt, William said: 'I wanted to say a huge thank you from myself and Catherine for all that you are doing to keep everyone safe. 'You and your families are making huge sacrifices, and we want you to know that the whole country is enormously proud of you. 'The challenges you are facing day in and day out are unprecedented. Even in normal circumstances, front line work can take its toll, not just on your physical health, but also on your mental wellbeing. 'From my time at the air ambulance, I know all to well how determined frontline workers to put a brave face on and keep going. Shared to Our Frontline UK charity's Twitter page, William, 37, is seen at his home office in Amner Hall, Norfolk, where he is isolating with Kate, 38, and their children Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince Louis, 1, seen 'When you spend all day taking care of others, it is easy to forget that you need to take care of yourself too, but it's okay to say when you're not feeling okay, and there is support available to you - if and when you need it. 'Our frontline is a new initiative, which provides around the clock mental health support to frontline staff and key workers, in these unprecedented times'. Prince William worked as a pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance for 18 months between 2015 and 2017, before stepping down to take on more Royal roles on behalf of the Queen. Last month, William became the patron of the London Air Ambulance Charity, which was established in 1989, and provides rapid emergency care in the capital. As patron, the Duke of Cambridge is set to champion the important work carried out by the group across the capital. Prince William worked as a pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance for 18 months between 2015 and 2017, before stepping down to take on more Royal roles on behalf of the Queen. Our Frontline is a new charity intiative providing around-the-clock mental health, a partnership between Shout, Samaritans, Mind Hospice UK and The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge The Cambridge family are self isolating at Anmer Hall on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, having left their Kensington Palace home amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Prince William, 37, Kate Middleton, 38, Prince George, 6, Princess Charlotte, 4, and Prince Louis, 1, are bunking down at the spacious royal residence, and the Cambridge children are said to be enjoying roaming the acres of land. William and Kate, whose main residence is Kensington Palace, have been sharing glimpses at their offices in their 10-bedroom country mansion, announcing in March that they were launching a 5million scheme to support the nation's mental health at a time of high anxiety during the lockdown. Dublin, May 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "The South African Private Equity Industry (including SME Funding) in South Africa 2020" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Southern African private equity funds under management grew at a compound annual rate of over 9% over the past two decades. Private equity investments generate financial returns for investors and play a role in stimulating the economy and job creation. Although private equity continues to attract investors seeking access and exposure to unlisted companies with high growth prospects, the asset class remains under-utilised. While investment opportunities are plentiful in South Africa, the fundraising environment remains extremely challenging, particularly for early stage funds. Role players say that in addition to the unfavourable economic environment, many prospective investors still have a relatively limited understanding of the value of private equity and venture capital. Local pension fund allocations to private equity funds are around 5%, well below the 10% threshold. Section 12J legislation aimed at stimulating private investment in startups and SMEs by providing tax relief has seen a marked increase in approved 12J venture capital investments. The legislation, which contains a sunset clause ending tax deductions in 2021, is under review. The industry is lobbying Treasury for an extension as these investments have incentivised investment into SME development, which stimulates the domestic economy and helps to create jobs. This report focuses on the South African Private Equity Industry and includes comprehensive information on the state and size of the industry, influencing factors, corporate actions and issues affecting SME funding. There are profiles of 45 companies including private equity players such as Ethos, Actis, African Rainbow Capital, Brait and Metier. Other profiles include government-owned Industrial Development Corporation and the National Empowerment Fund, industry participants in the SME space such as AngelHub Ventures and Newtown Partners, and Section 12J companies such as Westbrooke and Grovest. Key Topics Covered: 1. Introduction 2. Description of the Industry 2.1. Industry Value Chain 2.2. Geographic Position 3. Size of the Industry 4. State of the Industry 4.1. Local 4.1.1. Corporate Actions 4.1.2. Regulations 4.1.3. Enterprise Development and Social Economic Development 4.2. Continental 4.3. International 5. Influencing Factors 5.1. Economic Environment 5.2. Pension Fund Investment 5.3. Infrastructure Investment 5.4. Responsible Investing 5.5. Impact Investing 5.6. Labour 5.7. Technology, Research and Development (R&D) and Innovation 5.8. Cybersecurity 6. Competition 6.1. Barriers to Entry 7. Swot Analysis 8. Outlook 9. Industry Associations 10. References Appendix Story continues Private Equity Deals In 2019 Summary of Notable Players Company Profiles Acorn Private Equity (Pty) Ltd Actis Africa Ltd African Rainbow Capital Investments Ltd Agile Capital (Pty) Ltd Angelhub (Pty) Ltd Boxcars Dozen (Pty) Ltd Brait Se Business Partners Ltd Capitalworks Investment Partners (Pty) Ltd Development Bank of Southern Africa Development Partners International Llp Edge Growth Business Development (Pty) Ltd Epe Capital Partners Ltd Ethos Private Equity (Pty) Ltd Exeo Capital (Sa) (Pty) Ltd Grovest Venture Capital Company (Pty) Ltd Harith General Partners (Pty) Ltd Horizon Equity Partners (Pty) Ltd Hulisani Ltd Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd Intel South Africa Corporation International Finance Corporation Kalon Venture Partners Ltd Knife Capital (Pty) Ltd Kzn Growth Fund Trust Lebashe Investment Group (Pty) Ltd Lereko Investments (Pty) Ltd Lucid Ventures (Pty) Ltd Mineworkers Investment Company (Rf) (Pty) Ltd National Empowerment Fund Trust Nedbank Ltd Nesa Venture Capital Investments (Pty) Ltd Newtown Partners (Pty) Ltd Novare Equity Partners (Pty) Ltd Old Mutual Private Equity (Division of Old Mutual Investment Group (Pty) Ltd) Pallidus Holdings (Pty) Ltd Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Managers (Pty) Ltd Public Investment Corporation Soc Ltd Remgro Ltd Rh Bophelo Ltd Rmb Private Equity (Pty) Ltd Rockwood Private Equity (Pty) Ltd Sanlam Private Equity (Division of Sanlam Investment Management (Pty) Ltd) Sasfin Capital (Pty) Ltd Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management (Pty) Ltd For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/727bw8 About ResearchAndMarkets.com ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 DUBLIN, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "IoT Node and Gateway Market by Hardware (Processor, Connectivity IC, Sensor, Memory Device, Logic Device), End-use Application (Industrial, Consumer), and Geography (North America, Latin America, Europe, APAC, RoW) - Global Forecast to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This research report categorizes the global IoT node and gateway market based on hardware, end-use application, and region. The report describes the major drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities pertaining to the IoT node and gateway market, and forecasts the market till 2026. Global IoT Node and Gateway Market is Estimated to Grow from USD 387.1 Billion in 2020 to USD 563.7 Billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 6.5% The major factors driving the IoT node and gateway industry growth are the development of internet connectivity, the growing use of wireless sensors and its networks, increased IP address space and better security solutions made available through IPv6, growth of application-specific MCUs and flexible SoC-type designs, and growing market of connectivity devices. Concerns regarding the security and privacy of user data act as restraints for the IoT node and gateway market. Consumer electronics segment of consumer end-use application is expected to hold the largest market share during the forecast period The consumer electronics segment mainly comprises of smart consumer appliances. With the evolution of consumer appliances that can connect to the Internet and smartphones, the growth of IoT technology in the consumer electronics segment is expected to receive a boost. Smart appliances, also known as intelligent appliances, have the ability to measure and control their energy usage and communicate it to homeowners and utility departments. These appliances can be connected to smart energy meters or home energy management systems and can help reduce electricity usage during off-peak hours. The growth of this segment is attributed to the increase in the market of smart home appliances such as smart TVs, smart washing machines, smart refrigerators, and others. BFSI segment of industrial end-use application is projected to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period The growth of the BFSI segment in the IoT node and gateway market for industrial is driven by the increasing adoption of mPOS. Currently, customers use different devices for financial transactions, which allow banks to view their financial information and accordingly offer different services to them. Moreover, in case of car loans, IoT can also be used by insurers and financial institutes to collect the data related to vehicles through sensors and accordingly provide new loan schemes. Mass adoption of online banking, contactless payments, and mobile banking apps has increased significantly. Banks are trying to create intelligent and personalized customer cross-selling opportunities. Moreover, the demand for intelligent banking is also expected to create a demand for connectivity ICs, processors, and sensors, which are used in devices such as mPOS and smart kiosks. Building automation subsegment of industrial end-use application to hold the largest share of IoT node and gateway market in 2020 The demand for more energy-efficient solutions, enhanced security, increased venture capital funding, as well as constant efforts to improve lifestyle, have led to the development of the building automation market. Building automation, which started with wired technology, has now entered the era of wireless technologies such as ZigBee, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. The Internet of Things (IoT) emphasizes the development of an integrated building automation system. This would allow for optimal utilization of the data gathered by the components of a building automation system. Also, the increased awareness toward energy conservation, stringent legislations and building directives, promotion of numerous smart grid technologies, and the availability of a number of open protocols are driving the growth of the building automation market. Europe is expected to hold the second-largest share of IoT node and gateway market in 2020 Growing federal involvement to improve the IoT ecosystem was the prime factor behind the growth of the IoT node and gateway industry in Europe. For instance, in March 2015, the European Commission launched the Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation (AIoTI) to support the growth and development of an innovative and industry-driven IoT ecosystem in Europe. In May 2015, the European Commission adopted the Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy to further boost the growth of the IoT ecosystem in the region. The UK government has been aggressively supporting the development of IoT, aiming to put the country at the forefront of this industrial revolution. To this end, it announced funds worth USD 75 million for the development of IoT. The funds would encourage innovation in the IoT market space, especially in the energy and power sectors, for efficient power utilization and energy conservation. Such government initiatives are expected to drive the growth of the IoT node and gateway market in the region. Key Topics Covered 1 Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Premium Insights 4.1 IoT Node and Gateway Market, 2020-2026 (USD Billion) 4.2 IoT Node and Gateway Market, By End-Use Application 4.3 IoT Node and Gateway Market in North America, By End-Use Application and Country 4.4 IoT Node and Gateway Market, By Consumer Application 4.5 IoT Node and Gateway Market, By Region 5 Market Overview 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Market Dynamics 5.2.1 Drivers 5.2.1.1 Development of Internet Connectivity 5.2.1.2 Growing Use of Wireless Sensors and Networks 5.2.1.3 Increased IP Address Space and Better Security Solutions Made Available Through IPV6 5.2.1.4 Growth of Application-Specific MCUs and Flexible SoC-Type Designs 5.2.1.5 Growing Market of Connected Devices 5.2.2 Restraints 5.2.2.1 Concerns Regarding Security and Privacy of User Data 5.2.3 Opportunities 5.2.3.1 Cross-Domain Collaborations 5.2.3.2 Government Funding in Research, Innovation, and Development Related to IoT 5.2.3.3 Emerging Smart Cities 5.2.4 Challenges 5.2.4.1 Highly Fragmented Market Due to a Lack of Common Protocols and Communication Standards 5.2.4.2 Requirement of Wireless Spectrum and Licensed Spectrum for IoT 5.2.4.3 High Power Consumption by Wireless Sensor Terminals/ Connected Devices 5.3 Impact of COVID-19 on the IoT Node and Gateway Market 6 IoT Node and Gateway Market, By Hardware 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Processor 6.3 Sensor 6.4 Connectivity IC 6.5 Memory Device 6.6 Logic Device 7 IoT Node and Gateway Market, By End-use Application 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Industrial 7.3 Consumer 8 Geographic Analysis 8.1 Introduction 8.2 North America 8.3 Latin America 8.4 Europe 8.5 APAC 8.6 RoW 9 Competitive Landscape 9.1 Overview 9.2 Market Ranking Analysis 9.3 Competitive Leadership Mapping, 2019 9.3.1 Visionary Leaders 9.3.2 Dynamic Differentiators 9.3.3 Innovators 9.3.4 Emerging Companies 9.4 Competitive Scenario 9.4.1 Product Launches and Developments 9.4.2 Partnerships, Acquisitions, Collaborations, and Agreements 10 Company Profiles 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Key Players 10.2.1 Intel Corporation 10.2.2 Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. 10.2.3 NXP Semiconductors N.V. 10.2.4 Texas Instruments Incorporated 10.2.5 Cisco Systems Inc. 10.2.6 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. 10.2.7 TE Connectivity Ltd. 10.2.8 Advantech Co. Ltd. 10.2.9 Dell Technologies 10.2.10 Microchip Technology Inc. 10.2.11 Notion 10.2.12 Helium Systems Inc. 10.2.13 Samsara Networks Inc. 10.2.14 Beep Inc. 10.2.15 Estimote Inc. 10.3 Key Innovators 10.3.1 Aaeon Technology Inc. 10.3.2 Nexcom International Co. Ltd 10.3.3 STMicroelectronics N.V. 10.3.4 Eutotech S.p.A. 10.3.5 Adlink Technology Inc. For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/s4fwfn Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com CHICAGO, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Winsight and CSP are eager to announce a new online event, Outlook Leadership Online Community, that will occur in tandem with the live Outlook Leadership conference in August. The Outlook Leadership Online Community platform will provide retailers with a series of more than 30 educational webinars, interviews with key retailers in the industry, networking discussion boards and new product information. "Retailers are faced with a whole new level of challenges, and they are eager to discover how to lead in this changed environment," says Amanda Buehner, executive vice president of convenience media and events. "They have expressed the importance of Outlook Leadership and its ability to bring together the convenience-store industry. It is that need for community paired with the desire for new and inspired thinking that led Winsight and CSP to introduce Outlook Leadership Online Community." Outlook Leadership Online Community will address the constant changes to the industry and provide timely, relevant content to the convenience community: Three webinars will launch every other week and will feature executive interviews and panel discussions, as well as high-level keynote speakers addressing leadership and innovation. CSP content will be released in tandem with the webinars, allowing attendees to take a deep dive into topics. content will be released in tandem with the webinars, allowing attendees to take a deep dive into topics. Discussion boards, overseen by the CSP editorial team, will facilitate questions and allow viewers to take an active role in the presenters' information and data. editorial team, will facilitate questions and allow viewers to take an active role in the presenters' information and data. Retailer-supplier interactions will be held by a CSP host. host. The platform will also provide up-to-date information about new products and services with the ability to chat with sponsors, ask questions, take polls or receive samples. In an effort to increase funding for charities, this online community will work to raise money for them as well. Outlook Leadership conference is the host of more than 350 top executives from leading convenience-store companies. Winsight is closely monitoring the news and guidance around coronavirus precaution. Currently, the 2020 live event will continue as planned this August in Asheville, N.C. To learn more about Outlook Leadership: https://outlookleadership.com/ To read Outlook Leadership's COVID-19 statement: https://outlookleadership.com/official-winsight-covid-19-statement Contact: Amanda Buehner, [email protected] About Winsight, LLC Winsight, LLC is a business-to-business information company serving the restaurant and noncommercial foodservice, convenience and petroleum retailing and grocery industries. Winsight provides research and analytics, branding solutions, face-to-face opportunities, lead generation initiatives, and content marketing services through products including subscription data products, reports, research tools, research programs, fully custom studies, conferences, custom marketing services, meetings, print and digital trade media. To learn more, www.winsightmedia.com. SOURCE Winsight, LLC Related Links www.WinsightMedia.com HK residents should see opposition tricks amid legit election: LegCo Finance Committee Chairman Global Times By Fan Lingzhi Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2020/5/19 0:13:43 The election was completely legitimate, but the opposition remains infatuated with last year's results, Chan Kin-por, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) LegCo Finance Committee Chairman, told the Global Times on Monday after the LegCo House Committee chairwoman was elected. Chan urged HK residents to identify the opposition's tricks and not vote for them as they would create more turmoil. On Monday, Starry Lee Wai-king, chairperson of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress (DAB), was reelected chairwoman of the House Committee of the Legislative Council (LegCo), with Chan presiding over the election meeting. Lee gained 40 votes, thus ending prolonged filibusters from opposition lawmakers led by Dennis Kwok Wing-hang that have been aimed at obstructing the election since October 2019. As the election commenced, opposition lawmakers shouted slogans and charged the podium, forcing a suspension due to the disturbance. Chan ordered security to expel the unruly members after his warnings went unnoticed. According to the LegCo website, the House Committee makes preparations for Council meetings and considers all business matters. One function of the House Committee is to scrutinize bills introduced to the Council and subsidiary legislation tabled at Council meetings or presented to the Council for approval. Tang Fei, a member of the Council of Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said that except for the LegCo president, every member is part of the House Committee. "The only difference between the two is whether there is a president of LegCo. This is similar to the relationship between 99 and 100 percent," Tang said. According to Tang, LegCo has two functions - one is legislation and the other is to approve public expenditure funding applications. The House Committee helps prepare LegCo meetings and assist with legislative tasks. If the House Committee cannot function, the bills will not make it to LegCo for deliberation. LegCo is backlogged with 14 bills and over 20 subsidiary laws, including the national anthem law, and a bill to extend maternity leave. "If the House Committee cannot work, the LegCo cannot legislate. Then the bills will enter a black hole, which is ridiculous," Chan said. According to the LegCo system, between the second and third bill readings, the House Committee usually votes. During this session, members can discuss the amendments made during the second reading. "This is like a rehearsal of the third reading, which shows the importance of the House Committee. It even can be said that people who served as the chairperson of the House Committee is qualified to act as the president of LegCo," Tang said. Since last October, meetings have been held to vote for the chairman of the House Committee due to obstruction from opposition lawmakers. Spokesperson of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong previously criticized Dennis Kwok Wing-hang and other lawmakers for filibustering to obstruct the LegCo's House Committee chairman election, leaving multiple bills related to people's livelihood unaddressed, thus harming Hong Kong residents and violating HKSAR lawmaker responsibilities, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Chan was appointed by LegCo President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen to preside over the election meeting according to LegCo's Rules of Procedure. "Leung said he named me to preside over the election out of consideration that the members of the House Committee are the same as the Finance Committee. Besides, the two committees separately assist the legislature and finance affairs," Chan said. Another reason was Chan's experience in dealing with opposition lawmakers and handling conflicts incited by them. When asked why the opposition continues to obstruct the election, Chan said it was because of the national anthem law and about hindering governance abilities. The opposition was concerned that if the government introduced policies benefiting HK residents and helped them address problems, it would win their support. Therefore, they would do everything possible to impede local governance. Chan said Leung consulted heavyweights in British Constitution and concluded the situation had never happened in the history of LegCo. "In the past, it only took 15 minutes to elect a chairman. Now, no one had been elected after 17 meetings. This shows that the rules have loopholes which cannot address current issues. So, the president can use LegCo's 92 procedure rule, which stipulates that when something is missing in the procedure rules, the president can make the final decision. Therefore, the president decided to usher in a new procedure and assign a member to be responsible for the chairman election," he explained. Chan said the opposition's criticism is only "a thief shouting 'stop thief.'" "Kwok claimed to follow the rules of procedure, but in seven months, a chairman hasn't been elected, which paralyzed LegCo. He cheated," Chan said. Chan said the opposition lawmakers' next move is to prevent the passage of the national anthem law. He predicted that on that day there would be conflict which could increase social instability. "They [the opposition] have long ignored people's livelihood. I don't think they will succeed because most residents think the passage of the national anthem law is the responsibility and must for HKSAR. Only a small portion of people are against it," Chan explained. Chan said the opposition has lost their sense of reasoning, and could become more radical while smearing the government to mislead Hong Kong citizens just to win more LegCo seats. Chan urged local citizens to see their true colors. Tang said the opposition has been preparing for the LegCo election for a long time. During the second reading of the national anthem law, conflicts similar to what happened today could recur. Given the current situation in Hong Kong, no matter how hard they try to stir trouble, it won't have much of effect. "LegCo will adjourn in July. The time remaining for the opposition to do performance art is running out," Chan said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com. In battle against the COVID-19 crisis, employees of the country's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI) have decided to contribute an additional amount of Rs 7.95 crore to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund. Accordingly, the total donation made by SBI employees by letting go of one day's salaries and a day's leave encashment now amounts to Rs 107.95 crore. "In March 2020, around 2,56,000 employees of SBI had donated Rs100 crore to the PM-CARES Fund which is created to fight the coronavirus pandemic ," SBI said in a statement. "SBI has also committed 0.25 per cent of annual profit for FY 2019-2 0 as a part of its CSR activities to fight COVID-19." At present, SBI is India's largest commercial bank in terms of assets, deposits, branches, customers and employees. Since 2012 Israel has carried out at least 300 air raids on Iranian forces in Syria. This began when Iran decided to back the Assad government of Syria, an Iranian ally since the 1980s, with massive financial and military aid. The Assads were dealing with a massive uprising that began in 2011 and was in danger of losing. Iran was also interested in establishing a land route to move weapons and personnel from Iran, through Iraq to Syria and Lebanon. This was in preparation for major attacks on Israel. In response, Israel began the airstrikes on Iranian weapons storage sites, bases and now missile assembly operations. Since 2012 there have been about 38 airstrikes a year but there have already at least 24 airstrikes so far in 2020. At least five airstrikes took place in a two week period after April 20. These air attacks use various types of smart bombs and guided missiles and rarely miss or are aborted. The Syrians increasingly claim to have intercepted Israeli air-launched (often from inside Lebanon or Israel) missiles but the reality is that few of the Israeli missiles fail to hit their targets. Commercial satellite photos are available to determine damage and there is always a lot of destruction. Iran and Syria complain that the Russian air defense system in Syria is not used to stop the Israelis. The Russians dont want a fight with the Israelis, if only because the Israelis might publically demonstrate the ineffectiveness of Russian air defense systems. These systems are a major export item for Russia and the Israelis could reduce those export sales with demonstrations of how to get past the Russian air defenses. Russians would prefer the Iranians to get out of Syria. The financial crises back in Iran have made losses from Israeli airstrikes more difficult to deal with. Iran cannot afford to keep replacing missiles and structures lost to these attacks. There is one exception to the Iranian reductions and repositioning in Syria. The new bases on the Iraqi border are being expanded. In eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province), the Iranian weapons storage near the Al Bukamal crossing into Iraq continues to be reinforced and expanded. Storage areas are being built underground. This may not prove very effective because Israel has plenty of ground-penetrating bombs and even builds and exports these weapons. None of these bunker buster bombs have been used against Al Bukamal yet. The Israelis usually wait until such new facilities are completed and full of weapons before attacking them. This way the maximum, and most expensive, the damage is inflicted. The Al Bukamal border crossing is vital for the Iran-to-Mediterranean land route. This road is essential to supporting any Iranian military expansion in Syria and Lebanon. Israel has bombed it before and will apparently continue doing so. That is what will also happen to the new military base Iran is building here on the Syrian side of the border. The base is nearly complete despite several Israeli airstrikes. At that point, the Israeli airstrikes usually intensify in an effort to obliterate the completed base. The Syrian Swamp The unusual (in historical terms) alliance between traditional foes Russia, Turkey and Iran in Syria is becoming a losing situation for all concerned. The initial objective was to defeat the rebels, particularly the many Islamic terror groups that had come to dominate the rebels' cause. The rebels eventually lost and that was obvious by 2018. Now the fighting is about Iran seeking to militarize Syria for a war against Israel while the Turks are literally at war with Syria over the Assad government battles with the last concentration of rebels in Idlib province. This battle zone is on the Turkish border. The Assads dont care if most of the several million civilians in Idlib flee into Turkey. Most of those civilians are pro-rebel Sunnis and the Shia Assads prefer that they leave. The Turks prefer that they stay in Syria. When things calm down in Syria, Turkey hopes to persuade the three million Syrian refugees it already has to go home. With the Assads back in power, Syria is not a safe place for Sunni refugees. Iran supports the Assad approach. An Iran dominated Syria hostile to Turkey is not a good place for Russian to have troops and bases. Israel also wants the Iranians gone, as does Turkey. Earlier in the year, the Iranians began backing off because of economic problems back home and relentless air attacks by Israel. But the Iranians are not giving up. They have dominated Syria since the 1980s and finally have an opportunity to turn Syria into a base of operations against Israel. In reality, most Syrians dont want that. War with Israel never turns out well for Syria or most Syrians. Now most Iranians agree with this attitude as well. Iranian mercenaries and Iran-backed militias in Syria are responding to the continuing Israeli airstrikes by moving to better protected locations. The units involved are near the Iraqi and Israeli borders as well as Aleppo. Iran is undergoing a financial crises at home, caused by plunging oil prices and covid19 disruptions of the economy. Some of these units are being disbanded or losing their Iranian financial support. Spending on the war in Syria, Yemen, Gaza and Lebanon is very unpopular in Iran. For over a year there have been public protests against the Iranian government because of the many economic problems attributed to government corruption and mismanagement. Similar unrest has broken out in Lebanon where Iranbacked Hezbollah has been armed and paid by Iran to bully the Lebanese government into tolerating southern Lebanon being turned into a base for attacks on Israel. Russia is threatening to cut much, or all if its support for the Assad government if the Assads do not cooperate and back off on their attacks in Idlib province. Al Qaeda groups hold about half of Idlib province in the northwest and small portions of adjacent Aleppo and Hama provinces. ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) still has scattered, but active, factions in the east (Deir Ezzor province). Iran still backs the Assads but is not willing or able to force the Russians to remain in Syria. What also annoys the Russians is the extent of the corruption by the Assads, who have been stealing Russian and Iranian aid as well as portions of the government budget. The Assad clan seems more concerned about their own survival than they do of Syrias. Iran has been the powerful patron of the Assads since the 1980s and now have more influence over Syrian affairs than the Russians. The Iranians are not willing to do anything about the Assad clan's misconduct, at least not right now. Covid19 Fades So far Israel has suffered nearly 2,000 infected per million Israelis and 32 dead per million. The Israeli population travels to foreign destinations more (per million people) than any other nation in the region. That meant Israel was infected about the same time other industrialized nations were. The virus and quarantine response measures hurt the economy. The unemployment rate is up from 4 percent on March 1st to 25 percent, the highest ever for Israel. The GDP will contract 5.6 percent for 2020. The infections and deaths are declining and by 2021 the economy will be operating at full capacity and the usual economic growth will return. Egypt is detecting more people with covid19 but the pandemic has not done major damage. Currently, the virus has infected 125 per million Egyptians and killed six per million. The national health system in Egypt is largely non-existent and many cases of covid19 will go undetected as will deaths, which can be confused with any number of similar diseases. In contrast, Israel has the best health care system in the region and more of its population is regularly exposed to foreign travelers who unknowingly spread such diseases all over the world. Egyptian GDP growth is expected to be, at best, only half a percent for 2020, but rebound to over five percent in 2021. Hamas has been much less aggressive about attacking Israel lately. This is in part to concerns about covid19 becoming a major problem which it has not become in Gaza or the West Bank. Hamas is growing more concerned about the economic damage it has inflicted on Gaza with its constant attacks on Israel. Hamas is trying to negotiate some kind of ceasefire that would lift the embargo on Gaza. Years of these efforts have not succeeded and may never do so because there are too many Islamic terror factions in Gaza that want constant war with Israel and dont care about the Gaza economy. May 18, 2020: Israel finally has a new government, not much different from the previous one. This comes after 17 months of stalemates because of three national elections and multiple failures by parliamentary factions to form a new coalition government. May 17, 2020: In the north Israeli troops shot and wounded a man who had been caught crossing the border into Israel. Normally the Lebanese border guards prevent anyone from getting close to the border. In the last month, there have been several cases where people showed up on the Lebanese side of the border and crossed it. These illegal crossers are usually detected and arrested or shot before they can get too far into Israel. It is unclear what the Lebanese border guards or Hezbollah (which can intimidate the security forces to do whatever) are up to. May 16, 2020: In eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province) another Israeli airstrike hit the Iranian weapons storage near the Al Bukamal crossing into Iraq. There were several large explosions, not all of them missile warheads. At least seven Iranians (or Iranian mercenaries) were killed. May 15, 2020: In Egypt (Sinai) a raid on a suspected Islamic terrorist hideout left seven terrorism suspects dead. One of the terrorists died during the raid while the other six escaped. Police tracked them down (via security camera video) to another hideout where the six were killed. Found there were ten bombs, four explosive vests, some rifles and ammo along with vehicles, cell phones and walkie-talkies. May 14, 2020: In the West Bank a Palestinian deliberately drove his car at two soldiers, injuring one while the other shot dead the driver. May 13, 2020: In the West Bank a raid to arrest Islamic terror suspects led to a mob of local civilians threatening the troops. The mob refused to disperse and threw rocks and other objects at the troops, who opened fire to disperse the mob. That worked but only after five of the rioters were hit and one of them died. May 12, 2020: In the West Bank a night raid to arrest Islamic terror suspects led to the death of an Israeli soldier when Palestinians on the roof of a building dropped large rocks on the troops. That led to a search for the Palestinians responsible. May 10, 2020: Officials at the Iranian Shahid Rajaee container port near the Strait of Hormuz admitted that local government networks had been hit with an Internet-based attack. The official insisted the attack did no lasting damage to port operations. But commercial satellite photos later showed trucks (delivering or going to pick up containers) backed up on roads to the port. An unusually large number of container ships were stuck waiting to get a berth. In a rare move, Israel took credit for the hack, which was meant to port operations. Israel rarely takes credit for these attacks but did so, in this case, to warn Iran there would be a lot more of this if Iran did not halt its efforts to hack Israeli water supply systems. The latest of these was in late April. May 6, 2020: In eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province) Russian troops are replacing Iranian mercenaries in key areas. Iran appears to have withdrawn some forces from Deir Ezzor province, either to move them closer to the Israeli border or disband mercenary units it can no longer afford to pay and support. Many of these mercenaries are local civilians who go back to lower-paying jobs for local warlords. The Russian presence consists of a few checkpoints and some patrols backed by Russian airpower. The Syrian government is technically in control of Deir Ezzor province but the lack of security forces has enabled some of the ISIL groups hiding out there to assert themselves and terrorize civilians with kidnappings and murder. ISIL wants civilians to provide support and not cooperate with police or soldiers who come after the Islamic terrorists. In the last week at least nine civilians have been murdered and in over a dozen rural towns and villages, ISIL is a constant presence and menace. May 5, 2020: In eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province) Israeli airstrikes hit several Iranian targets causing about over 30 casualties and extensive property damage. The explosions were huge and sustained indicating the Israelis had blown up stores of Iranian rockets and ammo. May 4, 2020: In northern Syria (outside Aleppo) an Israeli airstrike hit a research center where Syrians and Iranians were working on chemical weapons. Satellite photos later showed the damage was extensive. Further east of Aleppo province, another Israeli airstrike hit an ammo storage site, causing a large explosion. In eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province), an Israeli airstrike hit the Mayadeen army base and the Iran-backed militia stationed there. Outside Mayadeen ISIL ambushed and killed two Iranian troops. May 3, 2020: The overall level of violence in Syria is way down from levels that had been the norm from 2013 to 2017. Instead of over a thousand civilians killed each month, in April the number was less than 80. Military losses are several times that and all the losses are primarily in the northwest (Idlib, Aleppo and Hama) or the southeast, mainly near the Iraqi and Israeli borders. May 2, 2020: In Egypt (Sinai) ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) beheaded three members of the Terabin tribe, leaving the heads on the side of a road. Three other Terabin men were kidnapped. This is apparently yet another ISIL effort to compel cooperation from the tribe. Such cooperation can range from simply not reporting ISIL movements to the security forces, up to actively supporting ISIL and allowing the Islamic terrorists to openly recruit from the tribe. ISIL rarely gets any degree of tribal cooperation. By 2018 Egypt had persuaded most of the Sinai tribes to work with the security forces to curb ISIL activity. As is usually the case ISIL arrogance and brutal tactics turned the Bedouin from neutrals (and s0metime allies) into implacable enemies. Over a hundred Bedouin were killed by ISIL between 2016 and 2018 and that has had an impact. This pro-government attitude has gone from Bedouin sharing information about ISIL activities to quietly accept weapons, vehicles and cash to assist in patrolling the Sinai. The Bedouin never pass up free weapons but working part-time for the security forces is OK as long as it increases security for their own tribe. For a long time the security forces were reluctant to supply the Bedouin with weapons, because of the risk they would eventually be turned against Egyptian forces. That is still a risk but right now ISIL is a much larger danger to everyone. ISIL persists in using violence against tribes it feels might succumb to such pressure. May 1, 2020: In Egypt (Sinai) a raid on a suspected Islamic terrorist hideout killed two armed men. In central Syria (Homs province) an Israeli airstrike triggered large explosions at a Hezbollah ammo storage site. April 30, 2020: In the north (Golan Heights) Israeli helicopters hit Iran-backed militia near the border. The next day more airstrikes hit Hezbollah positions in the Golan Heights. In Egypt (Sinai) a military convoy was hit by a roadside bomb, leaving ten soldiers dead and three wounded. Security forces went looking for those responsible and two days later raided a nearby town where a home was being used as an Islamic terrorist base. When the house was surrounded the 18 men inside said they would not surrender and all were killed during the subsequent gun battle. In the building, troops found 13 assault rifles, two explosive vests and three other bombs. April 27, 2020: In central Israel (Lod and its international airport) three fire kites (kites with incendiary devices attached) were released by local Arab-Israelis as part of Ramadan activities. Two kites came down in residential areas, one five kilometers from the airport. These tactics are normally only seen in the south, coming from Gaza. Police are seeking those responsible for the fire kites in Lod. April 24, 2020: Iran claims it succeeded, on its fourth attempt since 2010, to launch a satellite into a stable orbit. The Iranian confirmation comes two days after the satellite was launched. The Noor photo satellite is in a stable 450 kilometers high orbit but appears to be tumbling out of control. Unless Noor has thrusters that can be used to stabilize it the satellite is useless. Noor is actually quite small, weighing about 4 kg (9 pounds) and about half the size of a microwave oven. One success in all this was the use of the new Qased SLV (satellite launch vehicle) to get their satellite into orbit. Since 2010 there were three previous attempts, all failures and all using the Simorgh SLV. Both Qased and Simorgh are multi-stage rockets that can carry a satellite into orbit or a warhead to a distant target. The U.S. and Israel describe the Iranian SLV test as a cover for what is actually an effort to develop an ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). An 86-year-old man died in Monday morning crash after the car he was driving collided with a log truck in rural Lincoln County, authorities say. Max Metcalf, of Waldport, was driving east on U.S. 20 when he lost control of his Honda Accord and crossed into oncoming traffic, according to Oregon State Police. Troopers said Metcalf died at the scene of the crash, which happened around 10:50 a.m. east of Toledo. The driver of the truck was not hurt. This is the second fatal crash in five days on U.S. 20 in Lincoln County. A 23-year-old man died Wednesday after the utility truck he was driving crashed into a guardrail, then slid down an embankment, authorities said. -- The Oregonian/OregonLive Coronavirus testing of asymptomatic school students and teachers in Western Australia is yet to begin despite the state government initially planning to start in week two of the term. But as schools enter week four, Health Minister Roger Cook on Tuesday denied there had been a delay in testing staff and students at 80 public schools across the state on a voluntary basis. Testing of students in WA schools was scheduled to begin in the second week of term 2. Its not a hold up, its just a lot more bloody complex than we had expected, he said. The ethics approvals required in terms of any medical treatment of a child is obviously taken very seriously. So that process has taken a lot longer. New network to ease legacy traffic migration, reduce operational costs and improve reliability Ciena's (NYSE: CIEN) technology will be deployed by Telefonica UK to migrate legacy traffic onto a new packet network capable of supporting 5G, IoT and other next-generation applications. This upgrade will help Telefonica UK introduce innovative network automation capabilities and obtain greater control of its network, which provides more than 34.8 million connections. Key Facts: Ciena's technology will enable Telefonica UK to move its legacy Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) infrastructure to a next-generation Adaptive IP network, better positioning the service provider to address customer needs and support the growing digital economy. As part of the deployment Ciena Services and the 6500 Packet Transport System (PTS) will be leveraged to migrate Telefonica UK's legacy TDM traffic to a modern packet network. Ciena's 6500 PTS will allow Telefonica UK to continue supporting remaining TDM customers while also addressing new, high-growth applications across a single, converged packet-based transport network. In addition, Ciena's Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) domain controller will give Telefonica UK real-time visibility into its network to proactively identify and prevent potential issues. Executive Comments: "As a customer-led organization we remain committed to understanding and fulfilling our customers real-time needs. The upcoming integration of our legacy traffic into a new platform is a demonstration of how we work to continuously improve our customers' connectivity experience. Migrating to a modernized network capable of automated services is absolutely necessary as we continue to develop 5G and IoT applications." - Jorge Ribeiro, Head of Infrastructure, Telefonica UK "Providing reliable and seemingly endless bandwidth should not be hindered by the cost and complexity of managing legacy TDM networks. Our solution streamlines the migration process and also homogenizes Telefonica UK's legacy services and its network approach to deliver 5G and IoT services." - Rodolfo Vigliano, Senior Managing Director of Sales, Ciena About Telefonica UK O2 O2 is a mobile network operator and the principal commercial brand of Telefonica UK Limited, which is part of the global telecommunications group Telefonica S.A, headquartered in Spain and operating in Europe, and North, Central and South America. About Ciena Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is a networking systems, services and software company. We provide solutions that help our customers create the Adaptive Network in response to the constantly changing demands of their users. By delivering best-in-class networking technology through high-touch consultative relationships, we build the world's most agile networks with automation, openness and scale. For updates on Ciena, follow us on Twitter @Ciena, LinkedIn, the Ciena Insights blog, or visit www.ciena.com. Note to Ciena Investors You are encouraged to review the Investors section of our website, where we routinely post press releases, SEC filings, recent news, financial results, and other announcements. From time to time we exclusively post material information to this website along with other disclosure channels that we use. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that are based on our current expectations, forecasts, information and assumptions. These statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those stated or implied, because of risks and uncertainties, including those detailed in our most recent annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies and can be identified by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005132/en/ Contacts: Press Contact: Shannon N. Booker Ciena Corporation +1 (410) 694-5761 pr@ciena.com Investor Contact: Gregg Lampf Ciena Corporation +1 (410) 694-5700 ir@ciena.com Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal The Republican candidates for the 2nd Congressional District seat have viciously attacked each other over loyalty to President Donald Trump. Two of the three campaigns also have attacked the other candidates character. But Roswell oil and gas executive Claire Chase, former state Rep. Yvette Herrell and Las Cruces businessman Chris Mathys arent very far apart on many of the issues in their bid to unseat Democratic incumbent Xochitl Torres Small. So what does each candidate feel voters should weigh when choosing between the three? Chase, 37, believes her business experience in the oil and gas industry, as well as serving on the staff of former U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, gives her an edge over Herrell and Mathys. She has served as chairwoman of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico and director of community relations for Mack Energy. Another big difference is that I can actually win in November, she said, pointing to Herrells loss to Torres Small for a seat the Republican Pearce held 14 out of 16 years. Herrell, 56, insists she is the most electable. She lost to Torres by fewer than 3,000 votes. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, she said she made it a priority to attend more community events and committed to debates, which is something she didnt do in 2018. Im more about meeting people in the flesh and talking about my experience, she told the Journal. The Alamogordo resident believes her experience as a legislator would also serve her well in D.C. She served four terms as a state representative. People know me as a principled leader putting their values above politics, Herrell said. Mathys, 62, said he is the only one of the three who has defeated a progressive opponent. He served on the city council in Fresno, California, before moving to New Mexico seven years ago. He also narrowly lost in his bid for the partys nomination for a seat on the Public Regulation Commission in 2018. I am a businessman and have been responsible for a payroll for 30 years, he said. Mathys, a U.S. Army veteran, is the owner of two companies and a licensed real estate broker. Political pollster Brian Sanderoff describes the battle between Herrell and Chase as extremely negative and nasty, and said it seems they are trying to outdo the other in portraying their loyalty to President Donald Trump. Herrells campaign reminded voters of Chases anti-Trump comments she made leading up to the 2016 election, including calling the future president an a**hole unworthy of the office. Chases campaign has run ads claiming Herrell stood against the president, citing Herrells attendance at a legislative conference in 2015 in which attendees were asked about supporting Trump and no one indicated support. Herrell said she supported President Trump since the beginning; Chase threw her early support behind Sen. Marco Rubio from Florida. As for Mathys, he has harsher words for Herrell than for Chase. Yvette started the I am a bigger Trump supporter than my opponents instead of focusing on the issues, he said, but added that all three will support Trumps agenda. When it comes to the issues, the three candidates said they support the presidents efforts to build a wall on the border with Mexico and cited the need for other security measures. Each support a ban on late-term abortions and oppose federally funded abortions. Chase, Herrell and Mathys said they oppose a federal ban on the sale of military-style semi-automatic rifles, and said they are supporters of the Second Amendment right to bear arms. They also oppose a single-payer health care system. Single-payer health care medicine results in long waits for surgeries and allows the government to determine who gets the care they need, Mathys said. We need to make sure prescription drugs are priced the same regardless of where you buy them. Herrell said the nation needs a free market-driven health care system, which she said will reduce the cost, increase choices, and keep the quality of care high. Health care in America continues to be too expensive for our working families, she told the Journal. I will never support a single-payer health care system in our country: that will only lead to lower quality and less access to care, while massively growing the size of government. All three said a fracking ban as proposed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and endorsed by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden in a debate with Sanders, would be bad for New Mexico and the nation as a whole. Fracking is one of the most important processes that will make us energy independent, Mathys said. And he said a 10-mile buffer zone, such as one proposed by the current congressional delegation, around Chaco Culture National Historic Park is not practical. Our states cultural heritage is very important, but we need to protect farming, mining, and continue to benefit from the revenue generated from oil and gas, he said. Herrell said fracking is a proven and safe technology that has allowed New Mexico to become a global energy leader, while keeping energy costs low for our families. I believe we can strike a balance between responsible development of energy resources while still protecting our important cultural sites, she said. Chase said she strongly supports leasing of federal land for oil, gas, and mineral development. The revenues generated from these leases fund our local schools, roads and law enforcement. I have also seen firsthand the extraordinary measures our oil and gas operators take to ensure they protect our cultural treasures when developing on public lands. All three said the Green New Deal proposed in Congress would harm the New Mexico economy. Right now, New Mexico is facing a multi-billion-dollar revenue shortfall because of crashing oil prices, Chase said. Misguided policies like the Green New Deal would make that a permanent reality and bankrupt our state. Herrell said the Green New Deal and Energy Transmission Act were radical policies that would put thousands of New Mexicans out of work. We all have a responsibility to take care of the planet and protect the environment, but this is best done through conservation efforts and common sense rules, not excessively burdensome mandates, she said. Authorities in Delaware have arrested a 14-year-old boy accused of intentionally setting fire to a structure at an elementary school, causing damage estimated at $80,000, according to the State Fire Marshals Office. State Fire Marshal deputies charged the teenager with second-degree arson this week, the agency said in a statement obtained by news outlets. The underage suspect was not identified. Authorities were called to the Bridgeville elementary school on the evening of April 30 and found a maintenance storage building on fire at the property, according to the office. No injuries were reported. The boy was also charged with third-degree burglary, second-degree criminal trespassing and criminal mischief, officials said. He was released to a parent pending a bond hearing. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Abuse Molestation Education Arson The reflection of a worker is seen at the production line of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles (EV) at a factory in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, China Aug. 28, 2018. Reuters/Stringer/File Photo Foreign Investment Laws Gamed as Blocked Chinese Firm Buys Into Mining Business A Chinese lithium miner has completed its purchase of a stake in Perth-based rare earth miner AVZ Minerals, this is despite an earlier attempt by the federal government to block the sale. In an announcement on May 14, AVZ confirmed Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry Co finalised its $10.7 million (US$6.89 million) placement, after clearing the final hurdle, which was to receive approval from Chinese authorities. Yibin will acquire a 9 percent stake in the Australian rare earth mining firm and begin operations. Defence expert Michael Shoebridge said the deal highlighted a weakness in Australias foreign investment laws that risked being gamed. Chinese Firm Maneuvers and Succeeds on Second Tilt at Rare Earth AVZ has been courting Yibin since 2019 to assist with the development of the Manono Project, a project located in the Democratic Republic of Congoset to be a major producer of lithium. Yibins initial tilt at AVZ was withdrawn on April 24 when it was advised by the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) that it would be blocked on the grounds the investment was contrary to the national interest and contrary to the growth of Australias critical minerals sector. On May 4, AVZ Minerals revealed a revamped agreement where Yibin would buy 9 percent of the company and would have no seat on the board. This arrangement fell outside the ambit of the FIRB and would not need its approval. The FIRB is only notified when a foreign entity acquires a minimum of 10 percent interest of a mining company. Related Coverage Blocked Chinese Mining Firm Manoeuvres for Second Chance at Australian Rare Earth Managing Director of AVZ, Nigel Ferguson said on May 14, I am delighted to finally welcome Yibin Tianyi as a shareholder of AVZ. Yibin Tianyi has always wanted to work with AVZ to progress the development of our Manono Project and I now look forward to finalise a formal offtake agreement with them for our lithium products. Another shareholder in AVZ is the subsidiary of Chinese cobalt miner Huayou Cobalt Group, one of the worlds largest manufacturers of cobalt chemicals for use in batteries. Lack of Clarity a Weakness in Current Foreign Investment Laws Michael Shoebridge from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute told The Epoch Times on May 18 that the sealed purchase exposed a weakness in the federal governments policy around advancing the rare earth industry. He said the government needs to be more explicit and declare it does not want Chinese sourced investment in rare earth processing. A lack of clarity could see Australian businesses inadvertently work against government policy. The problem with the current policy is it not being declaratory, the government isnt giving clear guidance either to companies, or even the FIRB, he said. Theyre pretending everything is country agnostic when in fact, the sheer business risk to Australia from Chinese government coercion, is a factor we must consider explicitly, and in its own right. According to Shoebridge, having an explicit policy towards China would not only be more effective, but it could also influence global dialogue. You can see the power of that declaratory policy, both around 5G and the international inquiry into the pandemic, he said. In both cases the Australian government caused a shift in the international environment and in other governments policies and approaches. Thats what Beijing doesnt want to see more of, Shoebridge said. Global Economic Model Shifts From Cost to Trust The Australian government has an ongoing partnership with the United States to develop rare earth supply chains independent from Chinese control. Rare earth are minerals critical for the manufacture of sophisticated tech products including lithium batteries, smartphones, and fiber-optic cables. Fiber optic cables (arcoss/iStock) China has dominated the production and processing of rare earth mining for decades, motivating nations to develop their own supply chains. Especially as China has in recent times used rare earth supply chains as leverage in geopolitical disputes. Shoebridge said the move to diversify from China is part of a greater shift in global economic models. Previously, businesses and governments, driven primarily to lower costs, happily outsourced production to other countries. However, with the current global economic climate, suffering supply chains, and the Chinese regimes economic coercion, countries now place a priority on working with trusted partners. Trust is now a rising new valuable commodity in economic relationships and supply chains. So, trust is about whether your partner is reliable, and not just from a business partner sense, but also from the jurisdiction they are operating in, he said. So, for rare earths, the problem with not factoring in trust is people discount the Chinese [regime] will intervene and restrict and control supply of processed rare earth, he said. Yibin Tianyi is backed by Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), Chinas largest lithium-ion battery manufacturer. CATL is a major supplier of batteries for BMW and its electric vehicle division in China. This year CATL began supplying batteries to Tesla Motors. Tesla Model S being charged at a car dealership in Shanghai on March 17, 2015. (Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images) Federal prosecutors said a 45-year-old man from Deltona, Florida was sentenced Monday during a video-conferenced court appearance to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges that he trafficked cocaine and heroin in Connecticut. Mario Llanos-Ayala pleaded guilty last September to one count of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with the intent to distribute, 500 grams or more of cocaine and a quantity of heroin, according to a press release from John H. Durham, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut. Deoband directs Muslims to temper down Eid festivities India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 19: The Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa asking all Muslims to offer prayers and celebrate Eid at home this year. This fatwa was issued in keeping with the extended national wide lockdown. On social media groups there have been messages like no new clothes, just wear your best clothes. The messages are urging people to fill the festive void with the spirit of giving. There are suggestions to pay a needy child's school fee or help someone who is unable to pay their rent. Messages have also suggested helping tp revive one's business. Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid urges all Muslims to pray from home, beat coronavirus The Lucknow Trade Association says that the volume of Eid business lost n the city this time would be around Rs 500 crore. In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh combined, the loss is at around Rs 2,000 crore. Community leaders in Telangana have asked everyone to temper down the festive spirit, not only due to the lockdown but also to respect those whose livelihood and lives have been affected due to this pandemic. Obama and Biden appear together in Springfield, Ill., early in their 2008 campaign. (M. Spencer Green / Associated Press) When his second presidential campaign collapsed in 2008 after a dismal showing in the Iowa caucuses, Joe Biden told reporters he had no interest in becoming someone elses vice president. He'd have more influence as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he figured. Eight months later, he stood as running mate to the Democrat who beat him: Barack Obama, a man far below him in the Senate pecking order, much younger and less experienced in world affairs. As Biden describes the process leading to that moment, it sometimes sounds like a buddy movie. But the Obama-Biden relationship was more complicated. Their attitudes toward each other changed significantly from the end of Bidens 2008 presidential race to his selection as vice president. Now that experience is helping shape Bidens course as he seeks to find his own running mate, even as Obama has started taking a higher-profile role in this year's campaign. At a recent virtual fundraiser, Biden outlined what he was looking for in a running mate: someone who is simpatico and agrees strategically with him and is ready to be president on a moments notice. Biden has made clear that, like Obama, he's looking for someone who will be a governing partner, not just a political asset a criterion that, if he sticks with it, will be a strong determining factor in which person he picks. You've got to be able to turn and say to your vice president, This is your responsibility. he said during one primary campaign event. Because the job of president is too big anymore for any one man or woman. Biden now is considering an array of potential running mates with varying kinds and levels of governing experience from state legislator to senator to governor but none with a resume as long as Biden brought to Obamas ticket. But he's also looking for qualities he lacks that could help him get elected youth and energy that, in 2008, were well provided by the top of the ticket. Story continues Obamas choice altered the course of Bidens late career. At age 66, having seen two presidential campaigns end in spectacular failure, he was likely to end his career as a Senate lifer. Obama resurrected his national profile and gave him the platform from which to launch another presidential bid. In the months leading up to Obamas decision, the two men took each other's measure and got over their prickly first impressions. David Axelrod, a longtime top advisor to Obama, compared the evolution of their relationship to a shotgun wedding that turned into a love story, because initial wariness eventually gave way to deep trust and respect. There were good reasons for Obama to name Biden, but it wasnt based on closeness, Axelrod said in an interview. Most of these shotgun weddings go badly. Rarely do they leave the White House as good friends. This is a wonderful aberration. Bidens selection by Obama makes so much sense in retrospect, its easy to forget how little love was lost between them at first and what a big leap it was for Biden to agree to be somebodys wingman for the first time in his life. Biden had been climbing the seniority ladder of the Senate for a generation when Obama was elected to the Senate in 2004. Obama swept onto Capitol Hill already a celebrity from his well-received speech at the Democratic National Convention that year and from his bestselling memoir. In an early encounter with Obama mentioned in his own memoir, "Promise Me, Dad," Biden saw a touch of arrogance: When Biden proposed they meet for dinner at a modest restaurant, Obama mentioned his book royalties and said, Oh, we can go to a nice place. I can afford it. Obama became the most junior member of the Foreign Relations Committee, where Biden was top Democrat. That meant Obama was the last to question witnesses, which tested the patience of the ambitious young senator. At one of his first hearings, during a particularly long-winded speech by Biden, Obama passed a note to an aide: Kill. Me. Now. In the 2008 presidential campaign, they saw each other in a very different context: Obama quickly emerged as a political phenom with charisma and a killer organizing program. Biden was an old-school pol who stumbled on the first day of his candidacy by calling Obama the "first sort of mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean" to run for president. In a candidate debate in 2007, Biden said he did not think Obama was ready to be president. Iowa voters thought otherwise. Obama won the caucuses handily, and Biden earned fewer than 1% of the delegates. He dropped out of the race the next day. It was really clear. ... We all felt that was his last presidential race, said Ted Kaufman, a longtime Biden advisor who succeeded him in the Senate. He had his life planned out for himself: being chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and putting his heart and soul into doing that. But Obama had been impressed with Bidens debate performance. (One highlight: Speaking of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was running for president and touting his leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Biden quipped: "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, a verb and 9/11.) Axelrod said Biden's name was the first Obama mentioned when he started talking about a running mate, citing his experience in Washington and on the campaign trail. Biden's long Washington resume would provide Obama both political and governing advantages. He reassured voters nervous about electing a young black man with little governing experience. And Biden was well equipped to help manage relations with Congress and world leaders. But when Obama first called to say he wanted to consider him, Biden said he wasnt interested, he recounts in his memoir. Kaufman also was not keen on the idea. Look, youre really happy with what you are doing, he recalls telling Biden. Really, at this point in your career, do you want to become vice president and work for somebody else? But Biden's mother wanted him to go for it. So let me get this straight, honey. The first African American in history who has a chance to be president says he needs your help to win and you said 'no'? Biden recalls her saying. Biden struggled with the prospect of playing second fiddle and with the stereotype of vice presidents as powerless figureheads. I never had a boss, he told his wife. I dont know how Id handle it. "Cmon, Joe. Grow up," Jill Biden responded. He agreed to undergo the vetting process. But Biden kept airing reservations even when Axelrod and Obama campaign manager David Plouffe traveled to Delaware to do a final interview at the home of Biden's sister. The last thing I should do is VP after 36 years of being top dog, it will be hard to be No. 2, he said, according to Plouffes memoir, The Audacity to Win. Biden was picked over two other finalists Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Tim Kaine, who was then governor of Virginia. Obama advisors describe it as a choice of head over heart pragmatic calculation over personal preference. It ended up a very good marriage, but it was a very tough pick; it was not an obvious pick at the time, said former Obama advisor Jim Messina, who noted that, of the three finalists, Obama was closest to Kaine. They had more in common. It was not easy for Biden to make the transition from Senate committee baron to campaign understudy. He had to adapt to the role of defending someone elses positions and making him look good. He initially bridled at getting daily marching orders from Plouffe and Axelrod. "That was a tough road," Kaufman said, "but he did it." Bidens volubility and tendency to wander off script annoyed the famously disciplined Obama team and never more so than when, at a late October fundraiser, Biden told supporters to "gird their loins" for an international crisis that would "test the mettle of this guy." "Mark my words: It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy," Biden said. Although Biden went on to praise the nominee, Obama and his advisors were furious because they believed Bidens comment fueled the Republican argument that Obama was not experienced enough to be president, Axelrod said, adding that Biden sent a message, "Dont worry, Ive got this, Im there to help." In the end, aides to both men said, their relationship stabilized and grew close because Biden had asked for and Obama granted him an extraordinary level of involvement in policy making and decision making. That began soon after the inauguration, with Biden taking the lead on the administration's first legislative initiative, an economic stimulus plan. During his interview with Obama for the job, when asked what policy areas he would like to lead on, Biden said all of them. "I want to be the last guy in the room on every major decision," he said. Obama agreed, Biden said, and kept his word "all the way through to the end." Welcome to the latest issue of the Future of Security newsletter. Lets get started:Backers of House Bill 368, which now heads to the Senate, say the changes are needed because Ohio law right now only criminalizes successful computer hacks, not attempts.Current state law also bases the severity of the offense on the damages suffered by the victim, which bill proponents say is an outdated way to measure the harm done by a cyberattack or an attempted computer breach.because of restrictions on data collection built into smartphones by Apple Inc. and Google.Thats leaving public health officials with few options but to use a system designed by Apple and Google themselves. The tech companies say their tools preserve privacy and work seamlessly on devices used by some 3 billion people.But that approach has limitations for states and localities. Those same privacy features lock authorities out of collecting information they can use to track the broader spread of the virus, spot larger patterns and plan reopenings.The government's ambitious COVID-19 contact tracing app has raised concerns about privacy and civil liberty infringements, but Gov. Gina Raimondo says privacy is a key part of the project's design.Rhode Island recently contracted with Salesforce to develop an app that would help infected residents share important information, including daily location data, with the state's Department of Health (RIDH). The contract, which is for a six-month period, will allow Salesforce to set up and provide support to the application, which the company is doing for no charge "Privacy and data protection are paramount," Raimondo told the. "First of all, I believe in them as values and second of all everything is about giving people confidence...we want voluntary compliance. Nobody is going to be forced to do this... Which means I need to give you confidence that if you opt-in your data is safe."two weeks ago in response to a ransomware attack, according to the Office of Court Administration.System administrators discovered that hackers had taken over at least a portion of the statewide court network and demanded something in return for restoring control. The administration runs the information technology services for Texas appellate courts and state judicial agencies, including the Texas courts website. The court system is working with state law enforcement to investigate the breach and vowed not to pay any ransom.because of its potential to violate civil liberties and misidentify members of the public, especially people of color.City Councilors introduced an ordinance restricting the government from using the technology, according to a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. The ACLU claimed passing the ordinance is particularly time-sensitive . The organization, citing public records it obtained, said the city of Bostons surveillance camera network, run by BriefCam since at least 2017, may be in for a big update soon. A resolution asking for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus disease has been passed unanimously by the WHO today. As of today, 4.9 million people have been reported to be COVID-19 positive in the world. Out of these, over 1.9 million people have already recovered and over 320,000 have passed away. A resolution asking for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus disease has been passed unanimously by the World Health Organization today. China seals Shulan, Singapore apologises to citizens for false test results China has reportedly implemented a strict lockdown (similar to that of Wuhan) in Shulan, a city in the north Jilin province. Last week a cluster of cases emerged in the city that was linked to a woman who had no travel history. The area was reportedly put in the high-risk area category then. Under the lockdown, only one person from each house will be allowed to go out for groceries or shopping. Meanwhile, the Singapore government has reportedly apologised to about 357 COVID-19 patients who mistakenly had got a message telling them that have tested positive for the disease again after having recovered of it once. As per media reports, the health ministry announced on Monday that the message was sent due to a glitch in their IT system and that they were sorry for any anxiety that it may have caused. Spain allows flights from Italy, Japan to ease restrictions in more parts After a significant reduction in the per day death toll, Spain has reportedly opened flights between their country and Italy on Tuesday. However, any person coming into the country will still have to undergo a 14-day quarantine and tourism restrictions are still in place. The Spanish Parliament will discuss on Tuesday about a possible extension of the state of emergency till June 27. As per media reports, Japan may lift the state of emergency from Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto this week, bringing the total number of areas with restrictions down to five. The decision reportedly came out after the new cases dropped further. Last week, the country had lifted restrictions from 39 out of the 47 prefectures, leaving the remaining eight under strict curbs. Moderna vaccine shows promise in human trials The COVID-19 vaccine candidate being developed at the Moderna Inc, USA has reportedly shown positive preliminary results in the phase 1 safety trials. The study began in March and enrollment is still ongoing. Initial results from eight subjects have shown that the vaccine develops antibodies against the COVID-19 causing virus on being injected in healthy people. The Moderna vaccine mRNA-1273 is a novel lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-encapsulated mRNA-based vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. The vaccine contains mRNA stretch of SARS-CoV-2 that codes for the perfusion spike protein of the virus. As per the World Health Organisation draft landscape for COVID-19 vaccine candidates, it is one of the eight COVID-19 vaccine candidates currently under clinical evaluation. For more information, read our article on COVID-19 vaccines: Potential targets and types of vaccines. 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. 18, 2020 | 07:33 PM | PADUCAH The Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce has provided some guidelines for everyone to follow as businesses begin to reopen.Chamber officials say they are looking forward to the reopening of retail businesses on May 20, and are asking that everyone be patient as the reopening process begins. In their effort to help everyone prepare for the reopening, the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce provided the following guidelines:1) As businesses reopen, follow their rules for social distancing, sanitary procedures, and safety measures.2) Many businesses have been closed for an extended period of time. Give them time to rebuild their stock and supplies.3) Some businesses may feel uncomfortable with fully opening, and may remain closed for awhile, or continue with curbside service.4) Some businesses may not be able to operate at a full person capacity.5) Service may be a little slower starting out until a business is fully staffed.6) Be positive, let's work together and support local businesses.You can find additional information on the reopening of Kentucky's economy at the link below. On the Net: The faux pas of Odisha government in first declaring Covid-19 as the cause of death of a Surat-returned youth and then subsequent denial few hours later has led to social ostracism of the family of the deceased. Purna Chandra Gouda of Haripur village in Jagannathprasad block of Ganjam district had returned home from Surat on March 11 when his son was born. Though he had come from Surat much before the lockdown was announced, he had to spend 14 days in home quarantine and did not develop any symptoms of Covid-19. On May 11, Gouda suddenly developed breathing problems following which his family admitted him to Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati medical college and hospital in Berhampur town of Ganjam. On May 12, he was shifted to the Covid-19 hospital at Shitalapalli area of town following recommendation of the doctors. He died on May 16 at the Covid-19 hospital, the cause of death is not yet known. On May 17, the state government declared him to have died of Covid-19. However, a couple of hours after his death, the state government backtracked saying his test reports have come negative for the virus. The same day another youth in Ganjam district, who had returned from Surat, succumbed to the virus. The flip-flop over Goudas death, however, triggered a major crisis for his family after villagers refused to allow the body to enter the village for cremation over fears that he succumbed to the virus. With people of Haripur village not agreeing to allow Goudas body enter the village, his wife has been visiting the mortuary for last 2 days. The villagers think my husband died of coronavirus which is not true. Why should I suffer for mistakes of the government, asked Goudas wife Rosy. Ganjam district collector Vijay Amrita Kulange said the Surat returnee was shifted to Covid hospital as per the standard operating procedure for anyone having respiratory troubles. As he was Surat returnee, it was done. He was later tested negative for the virus, he said. So far 4 persons in Odisha have succumbed to Covid-19 while 896 have tested positive. The unidentified woman caller said her abusive partner lost his job so was home with her all the time, as were their kids, whose schools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cooped up, with no money, her abuser had recently grown violent. But the woman said she was on the fence about whether to leave. Listening on the other end of the call, Tina Johnson said, she felt very, very concerned. Johnson is the program director for SAFE House, which offers shelter and support to victims of domestic violence in the Tri-Cities area. The woman had called to talk with someone there as she debated what to do. To Johnsons dismay, the caller decided to stay home and continue walking on eggshells around her abuser until the pandemic eased up, Johnson said. At that point, we tell [our clients] that if they change their mind, they can call back to talk, she said. We make sure they know to call the police. Go in another room where he cant hear you; leave the line open if you cant talk. Those kinds of suggestions. The womans situation wasnt unique. Amid the layoffs, shutdowns and quarantines sparked by the coronavirus crisis, local organizations serving victims of domestic violence and sexual assault are reporting spikes in requests for help and more cases of physical violence than they usually see. Weve been really busy, said Debbie Richmond, the executive director of the Branch House Family Center, a Blountville-based organization that offers free assistance to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Domestic violence seems to be more severe [right now], Richmond said during a phone interview last week. And the victims that are calling us seem to be more panicked and more desperate. Some organizations offered hard numbers. Megan Parks is the program coordinator for YW CARES, a project run by the YWCA of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia that offers emergency support to young victims of crime in Sullivan County. Parks said that between March 1 and May 31 in 2019, YW CARES served 24 victims of domestic violence or dating violence. But just between March 1 and May 11 this year, theyve already provided support to 37 victims of those crimes. Weve seen an increase in orders of protection and people utilizing our 24-7 hotline, as well as [using us to connect with shelters] and other services that we offer, Parks said in a May 11 interview. Dreama Hawkins said that the 24-hour hotline at the Bristol Crisis Center, where she works, has also seen a spike in calls about domestic violence and sexual assault, as well as calls about potential suicides. Our calls [on those issues] have increased tremendously, Hawkins said by phone last week. I could [estimate] that our calls have increased by 35 to 40% for sexual assault, domestic violence and suicide. Hawkins, a community educator and advocate for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, said she thinks the Bristol Crisis Center isnt even getting as many calls as it should be. When a victim of domestic violence is locked inside their home with the perpetrator, they dont have access or the freedom to call, Hawkins said. Thats been a worry for advocates in our area. And whats happening is, victims of domestic violence and sexual assault are actually physically going to places to try to find help when they cant call. In her work at the Branch House Family Center, Richmond said she isnt just seeing more victims of sexual assault and domestic violence than usual: Shes seeing more victims who want to get to a safe place right away. People are wanting to come in immediately when they call us, Richmond said. Sometimes people call and say, Hey, can I come in next week? But it seems when people call now, they want to come in that very minute, that day. A lot of that can be due to people not getting respite from each other, Richmond added. Children are home from school, people are losing their jobs, so theyre not working; money is tight. Without a break from all that, it seems to be that [peoples] frustrations build. The Branch House Family Center, YW CARES and Bristol Crisis Center offer a wide range of services, from legal aid to meals to help with finding doctors and counselors, but they dont run shelters. When clients need a safe place to go, those organizations connect them with groups that do. SAFE House, for example, runs safe homes in Kingsport and Johnson City, and Abuse Alternatives, which has locations in Bristol and Abingdon. At SAFE House, Tina Johnson said, the demand for shelter has been a roller coaster rather than a steady spike since the pandemic began affecting the region. She did notice one potential correlation, though. It was very busy, lots of calls, and a lot of them were serious, Johnson said. And then, when people started receiving their stimulus money that seemed to be when a lull in the calls came again. When SAFE House runs out of space at one of its physical shelters, the group can book hotel rooms for clients. Johnson said theyve been booking far more than usual right now due to safety concerns amid the pandemic. Typically in an entire year, we probably have three or four hotel stays, Johnson said. Weve had 12 to 15 since January [this year]. Some SAFE HOUSE clients have gone to hotel rooms because theyve needed to self-isolate while being tested for the illness, Johnson said, adding that the clients who have been tested have gotten negative results. Others go because theyre in higher risk categories for the disease or they simply feel safe there, she said. Meanwhile, Johnson added, her staff are cleaning the actual safe houses more frequently, and theyve implemented social distancing practices such as staggered dinner times to try to create more distance between clients. We have masks available, Johnson added. But its hard because its their home, and you dont walk around your home with a mask on. Johnson said that shes stressing one message to anyone who calls: SAFE House will get them to a safe place that takes their health needs into account during the pandemic. I tell them, no matter what, we have a place for you, Johnson said. We would never turn anyone away. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The re-opening of on-site auctions has substantially improved the performance of auction markets could this indicate a recovery from the impacts of COVID-19 on the property market? Clearance rates have gone back to above 50% levels, according to CoreLogic. While auction activity remains low, successful sales continued to take the lions share of activity over the past two weeks. Over the weekend, 400 homes were scheduled for auction, returning a preliminary clearance rate of 64%. During the previous weekend, the final clearance rate hit 59.9%, the highest rate since the onset of COVID-19 restrictions. Sydney reported a clearance rate above 70% for 193 auctions. "The relaxation in social distancing policies specific to housing are having an immediate and positive impact on home auctions, although the number of auctions remains well down on last year," said Caitlin Fono, analyst at CoreLogic. Fono expects auction volume to continue to improve over the coming weeks as restrictions further ease across states and territories. Signs of housing recovery? Eliza Owen, head of residential research at CoreLogic Australia, said the improvement in the auction markets and the boost in consumer sentiment could be a positive sign for the property market. Still, there are concerns that could remain a drag on Australia's economy and housing demand. "There are some efficiencies to easing restrictions on property inspections, and holding on-site auctions, but it is not enough to make up for the 7.5% of employed positions that have been lost, or the 8.2% decline in wages paid," Owen said. Furthermore, the travel restrictions, which will significantly impact the flow of people to Australia, will substantially impact housing demand for the rest of the year. For the housing market to see a significant boost in demand, Owen said it is crucial for employment and incomes to also improve. "With slowed demand and a significant economic contraction playing out across Australia, we cannot confidently expect a turn-around in the housing market until certain economic indicators improve," Owen said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 23:37:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 30 human rights experts and officials from countries including China, Sweden, France and Australia exchanged ideas on how to build a community with a shared future for humanity and carry out international cooperation in pandemic prevention and control at a seminar held online Monday. The international seminar was hosted by the Institute for Human Rights of the China University of Political Science and Law under the guidance of the China Society for Human Rights Studies. Experts from home and abroad believe that the pandemic has highlighted many challenges to human rights protection and called on the international community to eliminate bias and discrimination to enhance cooperation. Florence Benoit-Rohmer, a professor at the University of Strasbourg, lauded the Chinese government's cooperation with the international community in combating the pandemic and shared the anti-pandemic measures adopted by the European Council. Human rights expert Brian Burdekin pointed out that international cooperation is in line with the values of international law and international organizations such as the World Health Organization should continue to play an important role. Zhang Wei, co-director of the Institute for Human Rights of the China University of Political Science and Law, said that all countries should uphold the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, strengthen international solidarity and cooperation and better realize and protect human rights while facing the pandemic together. The Monday seminar marks the second meeting of the conference series on pandemic prevention and control as well as human rights protection. Enditem Lack of work and dwindling finances coupled with "inadequate supply" of food made life so miserable for a group of around 100 migrant workers in Kerala that they took the extreme step of setting out on a long march on foot back home thousands of kilometers away. In a related development, another group of migrant workers from Bihar allegedly indulged in stone-pelting and tried to manhandle police in Kuttiyadi near Kozhikode demanding early return to their home state, police said. At Vallapatnam near here, home to many plywood industries, the migrant workers carrying water cans and some of their belongings, started walking along railway tracks on the ardous journey early on Tuesday. "We want to go back to our home states. Food was being served only once a day and we have no money. There is no work here," workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh rued in chorus after being spotted by Railway Police Force (RPF) personnel and taken to camps. However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan later said the workers were only heading to the Kannur railway station and not to their home states by walk. "The guest workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar reached Kannur railway station demanding a train to go to their natives. However, police and district administration pacified them and sent them back to their camps," he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram. He also said that a DySP-level officer would visit the camps and convey the initiatives taken by the government to send back the guest workers to their states. "The state police also stopped a group of 17 guest workers who attempted to cycle their way to Odisha. They were also sent back to their camps. We have informed all the guest workers that they can return once the train service is resumed or the special train is allotted," Vijayan added. The workers in Kannur complained that they were not getting adequate food at the camps and the government was not arranging any trains to help them return to their homes. Some labourers alleged they were getting only 2 kg wheat for a family of four for a week and sought to know how they would be able to manage. "We want to go home. We are even prepared to walk," Sushil Kumar said. The workers were stopped by the police, who pacified them and sent them back to their camps in three KSRTC buses. Meanwhile, the district officials said the complaints made by the workers would be looked into. A report from Kozhikode said around 100 migrant workers gathered at the bazar area in Kittiyadi in violation of lockdown norms and demanded special trains for ferrying them to Bihar. When police personnel rushed to the spot in an effort to pacify the workers and send them back to their camps, the latter pelted them with stones, police said. Besides attempting to manhandle the police personnel, they also tried to snatch the batons before the situation was brought under control. Three of the workers were arrested and later let out on bail, police said. Kozhikode Rural Superintendent of Police Dr A Srinivas said a case had been registered for lockdown violation. The workers were agitated over the delay in train services to Bihar while services were operated to Jharkand and Odisha a few days ago. Police officials had informed the workers that they would try to accommodate them in the next Shramik train to Bihar. Till May 15, a total of 33,000 guest workers have left Kerala by 29 trains to their home states. The Centre has last week asked the state governments to provide food and shelter to migrant workers if they are found walking on roads and railways tracks, and ensure they board special trains to reach their native places. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Victoria Hugueney in Brasilia and Felipe Irnaldo in Manaus, Brazil | 19 May 2020 | Espanol | Francais | Orlando Martinez had barely heard of COVID-19 when 26 members of his Warao ethnic group came down with tell-tale symptoms of the illness. At first they got a fever and couldnt eat. Then, they got headaches and chest pains. Then, they started coughing and couldnt walk, recalled Orlando, a 43-year-old Warao community leader who fled hunger, violence and insecurity in Venezuela in 2017, along with some 18 other families from the indigenous group. They were very, very sick, he said. Orlando looked to ancient tradition to try to heal them, praying for divine intervention to expel the illness. But one man was beyond help. When he died, the whole community cried, said Orlando, adding, We are very scared of the coronavirus. While the coronavirus pandemic has taken a devastating toll around the world killing more than 300,000 people globally and sending unemployment and poverty rates skyrocketing refugees and asylum-seekers are particularly vulnerable. While nearly half of Venezuelan indigenous refugees in Brazil have found safe spaces in shelters throughout the country, thousands of others are still in precarious situations. Relegated to sub-standard housing and relying largely on sales of their handicrafts, they are often both financially impacted by stay-at-home measures and ill-equipped to take steps to prevent contagion. They were very, very sick ... We are very scared of the coronavirus. Indigenous people also face their own particular vulnerabilities to COVID-19, as well as other illnesses. Historically, outbreaks of measles, smallpox, and influenza have decimated the indigenous populations of the Americas, which had no natural immunity to Old World infectious diseases. And while it is not yet clear whether indigenous people are particularly susceptible to COVID-19, some native groups have voiced fears that the coronavirus could prove calamitous to their already small populations. While the exact number of indigenous people who have contracted COVID-19 in Brazil is not clear, the northern Amazon region which is home to many native Brazilians, as well as many of the nearly 5,000 indigenous Venezuelans who have fled to Brazil is among the hardest-hit parts of the country. In early May, indigenous leaders in the South American nation appealed to the World Health Organization to establish an emergency fund to help protect their communities from the threat of the pandemic. Community leaders representing the countrys estimated 850,000 indigenous people have warned that they are "extremely vulnerable, and there is a real risk that the new virus will cause another genocide. An open letter signed by global celebrities including Brad Pitt, Madonna and Paul McCartney said that COVID-19 represented an extreme threat to the indigenous people of the Amazon. Five centuries ago, these ethnic groups were decimated by diseases brought by European colonisers, said the letter, which has been signed by more than 240,000 people. Now they may disappear completely since they have no means of combating COVID-19. Amid the pandemic, the situation of indigenous refugees like Orlando is doubly precarious, said Sebastian Roa, a senior field associate for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, in Brazil. The forced displacement of indigenous people often leaves them debilitated and malnourished, said Roa. That, combined with the lack of access to natural medicine, insalubrious lodging conditions and exposure to new diseases, can sometimes prove fatal. Venezuelan-born Orlando Martinez fled to Brazil with his family of indigenous Warao people. During the coronavirus pandemic, they have struggled to stay safe. UNHCR/Camila Franca Indigenous Warao refugees from Venezuela wash their hands, having been relocated to a safe shelter in Manaus, northern Brazil. UNHCR/Felipe Irnaldo Venezuelan indigenous Warao refugees and migrants are relocated to a safe space in Manaus, Brazil, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. UNHCR/Felipe Irnaldo Yesmari Zapata, a Warao woman from Venezuelas north-eastern Orinoco delta region who had been living with her family in a crowded shelter in the Amazonian city of Manaus, stressed just how hard it was to take the basic hygiene measures that physicians say are the best ways of preventing contagion. We were all sleeping in a small room, and there was not enough water to allow for frequent handwashing, she said. The family has since been moved to another shelter, supported by UNHCR and municipal authorities, where Yesmari says it is proving easier to maintain social distancing. I think that staying here in this shelter is the best thing we could do at the moment, she said. Here, we have a lot of space and its well ventilated and safe for the children. It also helps that here they provide lunch and dinner, because that way many of us dont have to go out to try to scrape together money to buy food, she said, alluding to the economic hardship that social distancing and stay-at-home orders have meant for many indigenous Venezuelans in Brazil. I think that staying here in this shelter is the best thing we could do at the moment. Orlando and his family make their living by selling handicrafts made from the fronds of buriti palm. But once they were no longer able to go outside to sell their handicrafts, the family was unable to afford the rental house in the Amazonian city of Belem where they had been holed up for several months. We werent able to pay rent and we got kicked out, he recalled. The whole group of more than 120 people were expelled, in the midst of a pandemic. Fortunately, they were swiftly relocated to a local shelter. See also: Indigenous people from Venezuela seek safety across the border in Brazil As the Coronavirus pandemic spreads through Latin America, UNHCR is warning that many displaced indigenous communities are now dangerously exposed and at risk. The UN Refugee Agency is working with municipal governments throughout the region to give indigenous refugees and asylum-seekers access to shelters with better basic sanitation infrastructure and has provided indigenous shelters with hundreds of hygiene kits. It has also become the main source of information about COVID-19 for some indigenous communities living in Brazils remote northern border region, thanks to the distribution of pamphlets on prevention in the indigenous Warao and Enepa languages, as well as other initiatives. Still, Brazils indigenous refugee community is gripped by fear over their future. We are scared, said Manuel Jose Borges Mata, a 29-year-old Warao man from Venezuelas northeastern Amacuro delta region who was living with his wife and three children in a shelter in Manaus. Were scared of dying and scared of losing loved ones. Queensland's struggling economy has been struck another blow with warnings the borders may remain closed beyond September amid fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections. NSW and Victoria recorded 11 new COVID-19 cases today, with most the result of community transmission. The Queensland border could be closed beyond September, the Chief Health Officer says. Credit:Dave Hunt/AAP It's prompted Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young to again back the government's decision not to allow outsiders in to the Sunshine State, where infections rose by one overnight. This is despite pressure for a relaxation of border rules from the tourism industry, which has been bleeding money during the lockdown period. "We need to hold firm and we need to manage our domestic borders very, very carefully," Dr Young told reporters today. Dr Young said there is a slight chance the borders may open within two months, but that was unlikely. "The very, very earliest, and only if everything went absolutely perfectly, we might be able to think about opening up our border in July," she said. "If the tourism industry wants a more realistic scenario they should be preparing for September." However, Dr Young was quick to qualify this was not set in stone. "I can't even commit that September will be possible," she said. "It depends what happens between now and then." Travel restrictions within Queensland are slowly being eased, with trips of up to 150 kilometres now allowed. Transport Minister Mark Bailey says there are no plans to limit capacity on buses, trains and ferries, with extra cleaning and cashless payment systems used to stop the spread of the virus. Health authorities are undertaking contact tracing after a woman in her 70s tested positive overnight. They believe she likely contracted the virus during a trip to India, but are investigating whether any community transmission had occurred since her return to Australia two months ago. It takes the total cases in the state to 1058, with 12 still active. The new case comes as the state spends billions of dollars to revive its ailing economy and get people back to work following the lockdown. The stimulus package - including $400 million for roads, bridges and footpaths and $50 million for tourism infrastructure - was announced in parliament on Tuesday. The cash splash comes after official figures revealed 129,000 Queenslanders lost their jobs last month as the pandemic choked the economy. Press Release 19 May 2020 As travellers are embracing the new normal of travel and hotels are preparing to welcome guests back, Avani Hotels & Resorts is rolling out new health and safety measures across its portfolio. Named AvaniSHIELD, the programme will see all 32 properties in 18 countries gradually adopt a range of heightened hygiene and sanitising standards to ensure the health and safety of guests and team members. Advertisements The primary initiatives will be driven by the adoption of new technology, such as digital check-in/check-out as well as concierge service, copper protection coating, UVC light and HEPA-grade air purifiers, all in compliance with the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). "Our life has been impacted, but our spirit to travel will never fade," said Javier Pardo, Vice President of Operations for Avani Hotels & Resorts. "The implementation of new health and safety standards adds an additional layer of protection by bringing peace of mind to Avani guests and team members, as well as emphasising our commitment to ensuring health and safety, without compromising on service quality." "Not stopping at these measures, we are currently reviewing additional initiatives focusing on rebuilding the environment and the health of the planet threatened by climate change, such as our zero-trash programme and carbon footprint reduction measures," he continued. Photo: Minor Touchless Service Contactless greetings - to practice physical distancing, Avani team members will be relying on country-specific hand gestures, such as the traditional Thai wai greeting; Korean jeol bowing; the hand-over-heart gesture, and even the Vulcan salute popularised by Star Trek. - to practice physical distancing, Avani team members will be relying on country-specific hand gestures, such as the traditional Thai wai greeting; Korean jeol bowing; the hand-over-heart gesture, and even the Vulcan salute popularised by Star Trek. Digital pre-arrival check-in & check-out - after filling out registration cards on their mobile devices on the way to the hotel, guests will find their room key waiting for them at reception. Prior to check-out, guests will be able to settle their bill via a secure online payment system and receive the receipt via email - a secure as well as environmentally-friendly solution. - after filling out registration cards on their mobile devices on the way to the hotel, guests will find their room key waiting for them at reception. Prior to check-out, guests will be able to settle their bill via a secure online payment system and receive the receipt via email - a secure as well as environmentally-friendly solution. Digital Concierge App - a live chat solution enabling direct contact with guest service will be launching soon, as well as allowing guests to browse menus, order in-room dining and book off-property experiences. Safety & Hygiene Technology Cu+ Copper Protection Materials - high touch surfaces such as door handles and elevator buttons will be covered with anti-microbial copper protection film (copper has been used as a disinfectant since the times of ancient Egypt). Research indicates that SARS-CoV2 virus survives the least amount of time on copper, in addition to a 'halo effect' extended to surrounding surfaces. - high touch surfaces such as door handles and elevator buttons will be covered with anti-microbial copper protection film (copper has been used as a disinfectant since the times of ancient Egypt). Research indicates that SARS-CoV2 virus survives the least amount of time on copper, in addition to a 'halo effect' extended to surrounding surfaces. Ultra Violet C Sterilisation - Front Office will be utilising UVC sterilisation boxes to disinfect key cards, stationery and other high touch objects. Guests can request a complimentary mobile device disinfecting service. In addition, the housekeeping team has begun testing a cleaning method with UVC light as an extra layer of protection after cleaning which is proven to kill germs and bacteria with 99.99% effectiveness. - Front Office will be utilising UVC sterilisation boxes to disinfect key cards, stationery and other high touch objects. Guests can request a complimentary mobile device disinfecting service. In addition, the housekeeping team has begun testing a cleaning method with UVC light as an extra layer of protection after cleaning which is proven to kill germs and bacteria with 99.99% effectiveness. HEPA-grade Bio Filter - select properties will be adding HEPA-grade Air Purifiers as an extra step in the standard guest room and gym cleaning process. These can remove airborne viruses, bacteria and allergens of 0.01 micron (10 nanometres) in size with 99.99% effectiveness. - select properties will be adding HEPA-grade Air Purifiers as an extra step in the standard guest room and gym cleaning process. These can remove airborne viruses, bacteria and allergens of 0.01 micron (10 nanometres) in size with 99.99% effectiveness. Disinfectant of Incoming Objects - all hotels will also be setting up disinfectant processes to sanitise incoming luggage, boxes and supplies. The Extra Mile for Guest & Team Members Safety Even before the outbreak of 2019-nCoV, Avani has been working closely with Ecolab and will continue doing so to ensure that all materials and measures adhere to Ecolab, WHO and, for chemical treatment, EPA standards. As an extra precaution in the post-Covid-19 world, each Avani hotel will employ the following efforts: A dedicated AvaniSHIELD Agent responsible for implementing new cleaning protocols, as well as ensuring the latest health and safety guidelines are communicated to the team in a timely manner. The role will also include monitoring the overall health of Avani team members and conducting training sessions on new health and safety regulations. responsible for implementing new cleaning protocols, as well as ensuring the latest health and safety guidelines are communicated to the team in a timely manner. The role will also include monitoring the overall health of Avani team members and conducting training sessions on new health and safety regulations. Breathing Room - After cleaning, each guest room will be sealed for 24 hours - a resting period during which time the housekeeping team cannot enter. This waiting period will become mandatory prior to allocating rooms to guests. - After cleaning, each guest room will be sealed for 24 hours - a resting period during which time the housekeeping team cannot enter. This waiting period will become mandatory prior to allocating rooms to guests. All new or existing partners, suppliers and third parties such as tour operators and transportation service providers will need to comply with the new safety measures, regular sanitising and ensuring guest protection in compliance with Avani's 'Trusted Partner Programme '. For Thailand hotels, these must be in line with the guidelines of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), an organisation working with multiple government bodies in setting up Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA). '. For Thailand hotels, these must be in line with the guidelines of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), an organisation working with multiple government bodies in setting up Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA). At the restaurants , buffets will be replaced with a la minute food preparation focusing on freshness, safe food handling and Avani's zero waste initiative. Culinary teams are being retrained in food preparation in the post-Covid-19 world. Additionally, restaurants will be spacing out tables to practice physical distancing, and walk-in guests will be asked for their contact details to facilitate contact tracing. Menus will be available digitally or via QR code on a smartphone. , buffets will be replaced with a la minute food preparation focusing on freshness, safe food handling and Avani's zero waste initiative. Culinary teams are being retrained in food preparation in the post-Covid-19 world. Additionally, restaurants will be spacing out tables to practice physical distancing, and walk-in guests will be asked for their contact details to facilitate contact tracing. Menus will be available digitally or via QR code on a smartphone. AvaniFit Gyms will be following the physical distancing rule, ensuring that only a small number of guests are exercising at a given time, providing a breathing period after each use, and implementing new sanitising measures such as anti-viral coating. Avani is also looking into in-room workout gear and training videos. will be following the physical distancing rule, ensuring that only a small number of guests are exercising at a given time, providing a breathing period after each use, and implementing new sanitising measures such as anti-viral coating. Avani is also looking into in-room workout gear and training videos. Avani has also released an internal protocol regulating the use of protective face masks, frequency of temperature checks and a disinfection process for team members entering work premises, with measures varying by country. While all team members will be required to wear certified protection masks, to lighten the mood Avani has launched a 'Smile through The Heart' initiative encouraging the team to let their personality shine through by decorating and personalising face masks. Photo: Minor Photo: Minor A man had to have 2.5 metres of his intestines removed after being turned away three times by a western NSW hospital as his bowel burst and poisoned his bloodstream. Another resident who nearly bled out in his home was rushed to the same facility only to be told he could not have a blood transfusion because the nearest stocks of blood were three hours away. A man's bowel ruptured after he was turned away three times from a western NSW hospital. Credit:Janie Barrett The NSW Opposition is now calling for an independent inquiry into rural and regional hospitals addressing staffing, funding and management culture. It comes after a Herald investigation exposed a death and a series of near misses in the last 12 months at Cobar and Dubbo Base hospitals, which both fall within the Western NSW Health District. Face masks have been tough to buy during the pandemic. Well, your troubles are over -- for now -- as Old Navy has a great deal on face coverings. The clothing retailer is offering a variety 5-pack for $12.50, exclusively online. Unlike some other face masks, Old Navy says the masks are designed per the CDC recommendations on non-medical grade masks. The CDC is recommending that everyone wear a face mask in public to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Made of 3-ply woven 100% cotton, the face masks are machine washable for continued use. Each face mask comes with over-the-ear elastic straps for good comfort and support. To show its support to the community, Old Navy is donating 50,000 face masks to Boys & Girls Clubs of America. To get your Old Navy 5-pack of face masks, click here. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images A top Florida Department of Health data manager alleges she was forced to resign from her job maintaining the states COVID-19 portal because she refused to change data that would drum up support for the plan to reopen amid the pandemic. Rebekah Jones, the architect behind the Sunshine States interactive COVID-19 dashboard once praised by the White House, told several news outlets on Tuesday she was removed from her position as Graphic Information Systems manager on May 5 due to reasons beyond my divisions control. On Monday, the states Department of Health offered her a settlement with the option to resign instead of being fired, which would go into effect on May 26, she said. Jones, 30, told CBS12 News that her involuntary removal came one day after she refused to manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen. The scientist, however, did not elaborate on which data in particular she refused to alter. States Are Starting to Reopen Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic. Here Are Their Plans. To date, nearly 2,000 Floridians have died and 46,442 have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Despite the ongoing public health issue, Gov. Ron Desantis announced last week his plan to open up Floridas virus-stricken economy. The news of Jones ouster was first revealed in a May 5 farewell email she sent to researchers and members of the public who signed up to receive updates on the data portal. In the email, Jones said her department was no longer responsible for updating information on the site in any shape or form. As a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months. After all, my commitment to both is largely (arguably entirely) the reason I am no longer managing it, Jones wrote. They are making a lot of changes. I would advise being diligent in your respective uses of this data. The COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard provides daily updates on the numbers of deaths, new cases, and tests for every county in the state. Seen as one of the leading trackers in the state, the portal is heavily relied upon by officials, academics, and residents as Florida moves toward restarting the economy three months after issuing a stay-at-home order. Story continues According to internal emails obtained by the Tampa Bay Times, reporters contacted the department on May 4 about a field of data that showed when residents first began to report their virus symptoms or testing positive. The data, according to the emails, showed that Floridians were experiencing symptoms as early as Jan. 1three months earlier than when the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the state. Hopefully, The Virus Is Dying in That Room: A New York Nurse Bids Farewell to a Coronavirus ICU That field of data vanished from the portal several hours later, the Times reported. Then, at around 5 p.m. on May 5, Department of Health I.T. Director Craig Curry messaged Jones asking her to disable the ability to export data from the interactive COVID-19 site. Per Dr. Blackmore, disable the ability to export the data to files from the dashboard immediately, Curry wrote, referring to Dr. Carina Blackmore, the director of the Division of Disease Control and Health Protection in Florida. We need to ensure that dates (date fields) in all objects match their counterpart on the PDF line list published. Minutes later, Jones responded saying this is the wrong call before complying with the request. About an hour later, at 6 p.m. on May 5, the I.T. director emailed both Jones and Blackmore asking them to re-enable the ability to export data for now. The Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to The Daily Beasts request for comment. Allegations that Floridas government may have tried to manipulate or alter data to make reopening appear safer is outrageous. These kinds of actions are dangerous and, frankly, should be criminal, Terrie Rizzo, chair of the Florida Democratic Party, said in a Tuesday statement to The Daily Beast. An independent investigation into these allegations is needed immediately. Meanwhile, city and state officials across Florida should closely monitor the situation to protect the publics health. Jones joined the Florida Department of Health in 2018 after obtaining her doctorate in geography from Florida State University in 2018. She told Florida Today she spent sixteen hours a day for two months creating the COVID-19 dashboard to ensure Floridians and researchers had a tool that would allow them to analyze the coronavirus situation in real time. FL Gov. Overrides County Officials to Allow Church During Coronavirus Lockdown Despite the hard work, several researchers have slammed the portal for consistently excluding the racial and ethnic data breakdowns of COVID-19 cases and deaths from the dashboarda seemingly growing nationwide problem throughout this pandemic. In April, Jones dashboard received national attention from Dr. Deborah Birx. In an interview with CBSs Face the Nation, the White House coronavirus response coordinator raved about its accessibility and the importance of transparent information during a global pandemic. If you go to the Florida Public Health website on COVID, theyve been able to show their communities cases and tests district by district, county by county, ZIP code by ZIP code, Birx said. Thats the kind of knowledge and power we need to put into the hands of American people so that they can see where the virus is, where the cases are, and make decisions. Read more at The Daily Beast. Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. About a month into the pandemic, a friend of mine made the perfect observation about human nature during this crisis: We wont all get infected by the coronavirus, but weve all been exposed. That, luckily, includes thousands of people who have been exposed as kind, generous and community minded. People like the newspaper deliveryman bringing people their groceries for free, or the pizzeria owner who took out a line of credit to keep paying his employees, or the teenager who is delivering hot meals to overworked funeral home directors. I hope well remember that, for the most part, humanity came together during this awful time in our history. People are taking care of each other. People are good. But there are some who have been exposed in a bad way. The guy in your town who refuses to wear a mask. The woman yelling at the poor restaurant employees in those viral videos. The patriots bringing their assault rifles into state capitol buildings. And now, the South Jersey gym owner trying to pass himself off as a champion for small businesses -- the one who declared yesterday that he has no doubt that were on the right side of this -- goes onto that list. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Ian Smith is no hero. Dont buy into that malarkey, and be thankful that the dozens of supporters gathered outside of his Bellmawr gym are in a minority that, frankly, is getting far too much attention. He isnt just putting his customers at risk by defying a state order to keep non-essential business closed. He is sending an awful message that personal needs -- his business, and therefore, your business -- are above the greater good. This is much bigger than opening a gym, Smith, the co-owner of Atilis Gym, said Sunday before the 8 a.m. re-opening the next day. Small businesses and individuals in this state are being absolutely strangled. The help is not there. We are absolutely decimating our economy doing this and we are destroying peoples lives. But heres the thing: What if every small business owner decided that he or she wanted to take the same stand as Smith? What if every gymnasium operator, and every restaurateur, and every movie theater manager suddenly announced that they were done with the lockdown and threw open the doors tomorrow? What if hundreds of people in every town came out of their homes to celebrate the defiance and eat free pizza in the parking lot? What would happen then? I know the answer: Thousands of more people would get infected, and therefore, the already horrifying death toll would grow even higher. This doesnt mean I dont feel sorry for Smith and people like him. Youd be a heartless jerk if you didnt -- and there are no shortage of places to direct your outrage. The fact that our states unemployment system is an unmitigated disaster is a failure that should bring shame upon everyone in Trenton who has had years to fix it. We are not doing enough to help small businesses -- and, yes, that includes Atilis Gym. We arent protecting people from bankruptcy and despair. We are failing in ways that other countries are not, and its frustrating as all hell. But the problem is not that we cant get a good workout in. All small businesses, despite what a sign outside Smiths gym declared, are not essential during a pandemic like this. Gov. Phil Murphy is listening to the experts, and the reasons for the lockdown are based in science. So is the plan to reopen the state. The way to protect ourselves -- the only way that we have -- is to stay away from each other. Smith tried to assure everyone that he was taking precautions, that he rearranged the gym equipment to provide more social distancing and that his staff was stepping up cleaning efforts. Thats all well and good, and maybe there will be a time when those measures will be good enough for all fitness centers to open. That isnt Smiths decision to make. We truly believe that if we dont do this, in the end, we will have zero rights and no say in what happens, Frank Trumbetti, other co-owner of Atillis Gym, said in a Facebook video. He might want to read up on how a democracy works next time hes on the treadmill. We are being asked to do something unprecedented in the face of this crisis, and most of us are doing it for the greater good of society -- and, the data show, its working. Many of us are going a step above, helping people around us get through this with kindness and generosity that should serve as an example for everyone else. The coronavirus is exposing us all. And for some, sadly, its not pretty. 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. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. An employee double checks the contents of a customer order before sealing the package for shipment at the Jet.com fulfillment center in Kansas City, Kansas. Four years ago, Walmart made a pricey bet on its e-commerce future. It paid $3.3 billion to buy Jet.com, an e-commerce startup that it hoped would attract younger, affluent and city-dwelling customers and help it fend off Amazon's rapid rise. On Tuesday, Walmart announced it will discontinue Jet.com and phase out the brand. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said the company gained more than a name. On a call with analysts, he credited the acquisition for "jump-starting the progress we have made the last few years." He pointed to Walmart's curbside pickup, delivery to the home and expansion of categories beyond groceries, such as apparel and home decor. "While the brand name may still be used in the future, our resources, people and financials have been dominated by the Walmart brand because it has so much traction," he said. "We're seeing the Walmart brand resonate regardless of income, geography or age. Jet.com's founder, Marc Lore, leads Walmart's e-commerce business in the U.S. McMillon said Walmart doesn't "anticipate a significant accounting charge due to this decision." He said most employees had been moved to roles tied to the Walmart brand. In the years since Walmart bought Jet.com, it's bought other digital natives, such as menswear company Bonobos, and birthed others like mattress brand, Allswell. It's grown its curbside pickup and home delivery business. And it's launched new online offerings, including Express Delivery, a new store-to-door service that delivers to customers' homes in less than two hours. Those investments have paid off as e-commerce growth. Last year, e-commerce sales grew by 37%. During the coronavirus pandemic, they shot up by 74% in the first quarter and attracted customers who tried its online services for the first time. Since 29 February and for the whole month of March until the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis, Greece, a strategically located country on the southern periphery of NATO and the European Union, faced the unprecedented state-sponsored mass movement of illegal migrants in organised violation of its national borders and state sovereignty. Tens of thousands of illegal migrants that had resided for years in Turkey gathered along the land border that distinguishes Greece from Turkey in Thrace. Numerous organised groups of illegal migrants attempted to enter Greek national territory in a violent way by attacking Greek policemen, border guards and military personnel. From 29 February, when the crisis first unfolded, until the end of March, there were over 52,000 attempts to enter Greek territory illegally. Some 410 illegal migrants who violated the border were arrested, and 50 of them have been sentenced to four years in prison and a 10,000 euro fine. Of those sentenced, none came from Syria, a telling fact for the character of the crisis. The vast majority of the migrants originated from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and the Sub-Saharan African countries. These migrants had lived in Turkey for years, as their knowledge of the Turkish language showed. The Turkish army, gendarmerie and police participated in this unlawful behaviour against the personnel of an EU country. The implication of the Turkish authorities has been verified by the findings of the German Federal Intelligence Service, indicating that the Turkish government purposely incited the riots against Greek personnel on the border region by planting members of its security services among crowds of migrants. Turkish policemen used tear gas against Greek security forces, the Turkish army attempted to bring down a part of the Greek border fence using a vehicle and electric saw, and Turkish soldiers were deployed on the border preventing migrants from returning to the interior of Turkish territory. Many of the illegal migrants were organised into groups by the Turkish police and military. In some cases, the illegal migrants had been transported to the borders by the Turkish authorities themselves in rented buses. The Turkish state media showed live broadcasts of the attempted influx in order to persuade more migrants to head for Greece, pinpointing the exact location of the land and sea routes towards EU territory and thus facilitating the outflow of illegal migrants towards the EU. Attempts to illegally enter Greek territory were postponed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis in late March, and most migrants left the border area. The Turkish authorities removed the remaining 5,800 migrants from the Greek-Turkish border due to pandemic concerns. But the Turkish authorities still insist on the renewal of their demographic engineering and strategic use of migration flows. Greece brought the issue to NATO, accusing Turkey of directing an orchestrated and unprecedented attack on its borders and of a disinformation campaign. It accused Turkey of resorting to methods that violate the inherent values of NATO and emphasised that all the members of the alliance have the right to call for NATOs solidarity. Greece suspended the right of third-country nationals to apply for asylum for a period of one month in order to deal with the crisis. It did not violate international law in suspending asylum because its decision was based on Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which clearly states that in time of war or other public emergency threatening the life of the nation any High Contracting Party may take measures derogating from its obligations under this convention to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of the situation, provided that such measures are not inconsistent with its other obligations under international law. Allowing the mass movement of illegal migrants through its territory towards the borders of Greece, Turkey de facto violates the EU-Turkey agreement concluded in March 2016 with the explicit goal of averting a massive influx of illegal migration to Europe. The EU-Turkey agreement was a direct result of the dramatic mass migration events of 2015. It allowed for unilateral actions in relation to the control of migration flows by the host state, in this case Turkey, which has managed to effectively instrumentalise migration flows. In 2020, this ambivalent stance transformed into outright violation and state aggression against Greece and the EU. Turkeys decision originates from various structural factors, including the difficult economic situation it has faced over recent years, in combination with setbacks in Syria and Libya. These factors have had a negative impact on the reputation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at home, causing increasing internal pressure. It is in this context that Erdogan has turned once again to the migration weapon in order to blackmail the Europeans. Despite the aggressive Turkish policy towards the EU, EU elites continue to be trapped in anachronistic perceptions of the EU-Turkey relationship and of Erdogans intentions. The recent statements of several European politicians about offering more money to Turkey and taking more migrants do not indicate that they have understood the scope of the problem and Erdogans blackmailing tactics. On a theoretical level, the recurring confusion between the notions of refugees and migrants on the Greek and EUs external borders should be avoided. Migrants residing for years in Turkey cannot be properly defined as refugees, since they are abandoning a safe country, namely Turkey, and attempting to enter EU territory not through official entry points but by violating Greek borders. A Coalition of the Willing to accept a certain number of refugees, including women and children or unaccompanied minors, has been discussed by Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and the German Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer. But it is not realistic to focus only on those groups. Once admitted by the EU, they have the right to family reunification. EU legislation allows the admission of parents or grandparents of unaccompanied minor refugees for the purposes of family reunification. Thereafter, other family members have a very good chance to follow. There is no doubt that the stability of Turkey is in the European interest and must be supported, but todays confrontational policy makes this difficult. It must be made clear that ignoring the rights of EU member states and attempting to blackmail the whole Union will lead nowhere. In order to achieve this, the EU should provide strong support for Greece, which protects EU borders with efficiency. This support should not be limited to the political and diplomatic level, but should also include financial aid for border and security structures and logistical support. The deployment of FRONTEX personnel on both the land and sea borders of the EU in Greek territory is of the utmost importance. The establishment of safe zones for refugees in countries adjacent to Syria is an important element to allow Syrians to stay in the region and to return home to rebuild their country as soon as possible. The EU should (co-)fund and organise such Refugee Safe Zones (RSZ) in countries like Lebanon or Jordan. These zones will not be just more refugee camps; they must be constructed and organised like new (temporary) cities, offering education and work opportunities. Furthermore, the RSZs should offer organised procedures for people seeking asylum in other countries. A stop-gap plan needs to ensure the transportation of migrants who have been picked up at Europes borders or rescued from the sea to a migrant centre on an uninhabited island or, as an interim solution, to ships. Once there, their countries of origin must be determined, and those who have no prospect for asylum must be immediately repatriated. The others should be subject to an orderly, but swift, asylum procedure. The political and legal framework to enable this is overdue. For a longer-term solution of the migration problem, a mid-term strategy with three layers is required. Layer 1 has the purpose to contain the multipliers for destabilisation, namely demographic development, environmental degradation and corruption. Consequently, it focuses on limiting population growth, environmental protection and minimising corruption as well as good governance. Layer 2 aims to achieve a broadly positive impact by implementing the most urgent measures for stabilisation and by dealing with the key problems in the social, economic, security and human rights sector. Layer 3 should narrow the gap to the developed world by achieving significant improvements in the sectors mentioned above. Erdogan interprets every European concession as weakness and will continue to act accordingly in the future. It is an illusion to think that the fundamental problem of migration from Turkey can be solved by accepting a couple of thousand more migrants in Europe and by paying another billion to Turkey. More migrants will come, and more concessions will be demanded in an ever-repeating pattern. Ioannis Kotoulas is a lecturer in geopolitics at the University of Athens. Wolfgang Pusztai is a security and policy analyst and director of the consultancy Perim Associates. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 May, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: All it took was a couple of tweets for Donald Trump and top Senate Republicans to get on the same page for the presidents chief messaging strategy ahead of the 2020 presidential election. When Mr Trump fired off a pair of messages over the weekend urging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham to shore up their resources to probe his Obamagate theory, it took less than 48 hours for the duo to answer the call. On Monday, Mr Graham announced that his committee would vote in early June to authorise subpoenas for a raft of Obama-era (and some Trump-era) intelligence and national security officials, including former FBI Director James Comey; his successor, Christopher Wray; former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates; former CIA Director John Brennan, and more than four dozen others. On Tuesday, Mr McConnell signalled his full-throated support of Mr Grahams plans for the serious slate of subpoenas so the Senate can hear directly from key players whom Republicans have alleged abused the intelligence system to unfairly target 2016 Trump campaign aides and incoming Trump administration officials in January 2017. No matter what some Washington Democrats may try to claim, you are not crazy or a conspiracy theorist if you see a pattern of institutional unfairness towards this president. You would have to be blind not to see one, Mr McConnell said. Chain of events Heres how we got to this point. Last Thursday, Mr McConnell gave an interview to Fox News Brett Baier in which the majority leader clearly either felt uncomfortable or ill-equipped to answer questions about Obamagate and the unmasking of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. When asked if he agreed with Mr Trump that Mr Obama should testify about the FBIs 2016 counterintelligence probe into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, Mr McConnell deferred such decisions to Mr Graham. I think he may have addressed that already. I'm not certain, Mr McConnell said. Mr Baier informed Mr McConnell that Mr Graham said he would be uncomfortable calling a former president to testify, arguing that it could plunge the Judiciary panels probe into a legal quagmire over questions of executive privilege. When asked how the committee should proceed with its investigation, Mr McConnell again deferred to Mr Graham. Thatll be up to Chairman Graham to determine how to handle this. I have a lot of confidence in him, and he knows what he's doing, and I'm going to follow his lead, Mr McConnell said. Mr McConnells interview with Mr Baier prompted an outcry of protest from conservative pundits that the Senate Republican brass was not pushing back hard enough on the FBIs and former Special Counsel Robert Muellers conduct during their respective Russia probes. The interview was a tremendous disappointment, conservative columnist Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist wrote on Friday in an article headlined, Memo To Mitch McConnell: You Wont Get Judges If You Dont Hold Resistance Accountable For Russia Hoax. Federalist co-founder Sean Davis tweeted out the link to Ms Hemingways column with an accompanying message accusing Mr McConnell of spending years pretending as though the Russian collusion hoax never happened and saying the majority leader has lost his mind if he thinks he can retain the GOP majority without pursuing the Obamagate theory with full force. On Saturday, the president retweeted Mr Davis with a message of his own. Mitch, I love you, but this is 100% true. Time is running out. Get tough and move quickly, or it will be too late. The Dems are vicious, but got caught. They MUST pay a big price for what they have done to our Country. Dont let them get away with this! Mr Trump wrote, tagging Mr Grahams Twitter account. Long time coming Make no mistake: Senate Republicans, including Mr Graham, had already been leaning hard into investigations into the presidents Obamagate theory, even before Mr Trump coined the term. Thats despite a report from Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz that found no evidence of political bias in the FBIs conduct of its 2016 counterintelligence operation but did highlight several flaws in some applications for surveillance warrants. Last week, Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson of Wisconsin who are investigating Hunter Biden's business ties in Ukraine released a National Security Agency (NSA) letter showing some Obama officials had sought unmasking documents that revealed Michael Flynn was on the other side of wiretapped communications. (He is the son of former Vice President Joe Biden.) On Wednesday, Mr Grassley and Mr Johnson released a declassified email from Mr Obama's last national security adviser, Susan Rice, on 20 January 2017 that provides a summary of a meeting between Mr Obama and top intelligence officials regarding Mr Flynns communications with then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. Last week, Mr Graham announced a three-phase investigation scheduled to play out in public hearings starting in early June regarding the FBIs 2016 counterintelligence operation and the subsequent special counsel probe. Those phases will address: The Obama administration's unmasking requests; Alleged abuse of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) by FBI agents over the course of their 2016 investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia; Whether Mr Mueller should have been appointed to continue the Russian election interference probe. Mr Graham has said he plans to release findings of his various probes in October, just in time for them to marinate during the final weeks leading up to the 3 November election. Democratic pushback Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York accused Mr McConnell on Tuesday of abetting a wild conspiracy theory to appease an out-of-control president as Republicans attempt to to re-write the history of Russian interference in the 2016 election to match the fantasy in President Trumps head. Mr Schumer urged Mr McConnell to halt the investigations and turn his committees attention towards legislation and oversight to aid the coronavirus response. Such demands, though, are likely to fall on deaf ears so long as Mr Trump keeps up the pressure. He shows no signs of letting up. >>> Egyptian newspaper praises President Ho Chi Minh - Vietnams great leader >>> President Ho Chi Minhs 130th birthday marked in France and Ukraine >>> Nghe An marks 130th birthday anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh >>> Symposium highlights essence of late Presidents thoughts, morality, style Ciudad Caracas Newspaper of Venezuela has published an article reviewing the great features of President Ho Chi Minhs life and career, highlighting Uncle Ho's great contributions to the cause of national liberation and revolution of Vietnam. The article also highlighted the exemplary model of President Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary morality, affirming that his thoughts have laid the ideological foundation for the Communist Party of Vietnam, thus paving the way for the nations revolution. The article concluded that President Ho Chi Minh always endeavoured to build solidarity for genuine proletarian internationalism, while seeking solutions to the struggle to liberate the humanity. President Ho Chi Minh's life acts as a noble symbol of the spirit for revolution, independence, patriotism and the love for patriots and justice. He has shared a great love, an intelligent mind and a deep and lasting vision, the article wrote. In the Republic of Korea (RoK), the AJU newspaper recently posted an article by Prof. Ahn Kyung-hwan from the Chosun University, who affirmed that late President Ho Chi Minh wrote a new chapter in the history of Vietnam and is respected by the Vietnamese people as the greatest hero in the countrys history. The Korean scholar described the late leader of Vietnam as an embodiment of patriotism who devoted his whole life to the struggle for national independence and freedom and the peoples happiness. The scholar also noted that the knowledge of the late President was critically important to the promotion of cooperation between the RoK and Vietnam. On May 17, the Vietnamese Embassy in Canada offered incense to the late President at its headquarters in Ottawa. Speaking at the event, Ambassador Pham Cao Phong called on embassy staff to uphold the power of patriotism and follow President Ho Chi Minhs thought, moral virtues and lifestyle, adding that patriotism must be motivated to unite all Vietnamese people in the national great unity bloc. The diplomate added that the embassy is making an effort to open a Ho Chi Minh display space at the Vietnam House at No. 85 Glebe Boulevard in Ottawa on the occasion of Vietnams National Day (September 2). On the same day, the Canada - Vietnam Friendship Society held an online seminar on President Ho Chi Minhs legacy and historic contributions to the people of Vietnam and the world. Watching documentaries and listening to songs about the late President, participants at the event also discussed Vietnams contributions to the national liberation movement worldwide, and expressed their interest in the e-book Ho Chi Minh Songs by Nguyen Dai Trang, containing 25 songs translated into English as well as images of monuments and memorial areas dedicated to him in more than 20 countries. The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday kicked off its first-ever virtual assembly, where the participant countries called for a joint response to the coronavirus pandemic and for any vaccine to be a global public good. Countries also called for a reform of the UN health body to ensure it is better prepared to address future pandemics. The session of the World Health Assembly (WHA), which was curtailed to just to days from the usual three weeks, almost entirely focused on reviewing the global response to the coronavirus pandemic. Here are the highlights of the first day of the WHA session: Sounded the alarm WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated to the assembly that his organisation had sounded the alarm early, and we sounded it often. Many countries have ignored the recommendations of the World Health Organization, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. The world was paying a heavy price for the sometimes contradictory strategies, he added. China offers help Chinese President Xi Jinping voiced support for a joint approach, vowing in his address to make any vaccine his country developed available for all. A WHA resolution tabled by the European Union calls for an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation of the international response to the coronavirus crisis. US health secretary Alex Azar called for an independent review of every aspect of the UN health agencys response to the pandemic. While Tedros welcomed that call, he stressed there was no need to dramatically overhaul the WHO. Tedros said that the immediate need was to strengthen, implement and finance the systems and organisations, including the WHO. Despite swelling tensions, countries hope to adopt a resolution by consensus. Taiwan decision delayed Member states steered clear of a controversial discussion on whether to grant Taiwan observer status, a move vehemently opposed by Beijing, which considers the island part of its territory. Nearly 15 states, including Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, wanted the question of Taiwans participation to be added to the WHA agenda. Washington has also been increasingly vocal, with demands that Taiwan be allowed in as an observer. But amid fears the row would overshadow the global health bodys work to address the Covid-19 crisis, members unanimously agreed Monday to postpone the discussion until later in the year. And theyre off to the races. All three of the major U.S. stock indexes popped on Monday after biotech company Moderna reported its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced encouraging results in its Phase 1 trial, with it appearing to be safe and able to generate an immune response against the virus. While the news has inspired optimism among market watchers, one investing guru is saying slow your roll. Billionaire Steve Cohen told the employees of his investment firm, Point72 Asset Management, to use caution amid the markets slight rebounds from low points. In a note to his staff, Cohen wrote, Markets dont come back in a straight line; after an earthquake there are tremors. We need to continue to be disciplined. We are seeing plenty of opportunities to generate returns, but I dont want us taking undue risks. Using whats known as a multi-strategy approach which involves stock market investments as well as global investments in several asset classes all at once based on macroeconomic trends, Cohen is considered one of the best in the business. The legendary stock picker has the track record to back up his reputation. Taking a page from Cohens playbook, we scanned a recent 13F filing disclosing Point72s recent buys and found three healthcare stocks that looked promising. After running each through TipRanks database, we learned that some Wall Street analysts are also avid fans of the Buy-rated tickers. Verastem (VSTM) Targeting the critical signaling pathways in cancer, Verastem is developing a diverse portfolio of small molecule drugs that could potentially stop the disease in its tracks. Based on this pipeline that includes phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitors, some see significant gains in VSTMs future. Cohen is among those that have high hopes for this healthcare name. Pulling the trigger on VSTM for the first time, Point72 purchased more than 6.1 million shares. The value of the firms new holding comes in at over $16 million. Story continues Meanwhile, five-star analyst Alethia Young, of Cantor Fitzgerald, cites recently released data on VS-6766 and Defactinib in ovarian and non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) as the major component of her bullish thesis. For ovarian cancer, a 67% response rate was seen in six patients in the KRAS subgroup. The candidate also demonstrated activity in a subgroup of NSCLC KRAS G12V patients, with it producing a 10% response rate in the overall KRAS group of ten patients treated in the combo study. This suggests that G12V was the main driver of the effect. Young added, In addition to the investigator run NSCLC cohort, VSTM studied G12V in another seven patients achieving a 57% ORR. Additionally, while toxicities related to MEK/RAF and FAK were expected, the go forward dose appeared to be tolerable. Expounding on the implications of the data, Young said, We find these data encouraging based on current market cap size since they have found likely two indications in subgroups where the monotherapy or combinations are active. We wonder if there will be questions around not seeing activity in the broader KRAS NSCLC subgroup, but overall we think this early signal in a hard to treat KRAS subgroup population is positive. It should also be noted that challenging experiences with PI3K delta have created some headwinds, but Young still thinks the commercial potential for these therapies is underappreciated by investors. Verastems Copiktra is approved for CLL and FL/SLL, which are two large markets. Our doctor checks suggest that PI3K is a viable class certainly in relapsed or refractory patients, she stated. Bearing this in mind, Young left an Overweight rating and $6 price target on the stock. Should this target be met, a twelve-month gain of 233% could be in store. (To watch Youngs track record, click here) Looking at the consensus breakdown, 2 Buys and 1 Hold add up to a Moderate Buy analyst consensus. At $4.50, the average price target implies nearly 149% upside potential. (See Verastem stock analysis on TipRanks) Amicus Therapeutics (FOLD) Focused on delivering high-quality therapies for people living with rare metabolic diseases, Amicus Therapeutics takes its place at the forefront of the space. With a jam-packed development pipeline, its no wonder FOLD has scored fans. Cohens firm just gave the healthcare stock a nod of approval. Acquiring a new FOLD holding, Point72 picked up 2,242,900 shares valued at $20,724,000. Turning now to the analyst community, FOLD has received significant support. One of the analysts in its corner is Leerink's Joseph Schwartz, who points out that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, FOLD exceeded expectations for Q1 2020 revenue thanks to high pt. demand. The five-star analyst also noted, Favorable reimbursement dynamics also continued to tailwinds for Galafold sales in Q1 2020. As strong adoption of Galafold continues, FOLD management reiterated that revenue continues to track towards full-year 2020 guidance of $250 to $260 million. Additionally, Schwartz argues that in the last year, FOLD has increased its focus on cost management while still remaining committed to developing its product candidates, helping the company turn a corner. As part of this strategy, more cost saving initiatives have been put in place to mitigate any impacts from COVID-19, allowing its cash runway to extend through the second half of 2022. Most exciting for Schwartz, though, is that Phase 3 PROPEL for AT-GAA, its crown jewel, remains on track and manufacturing and supply is intact globally. Adding to the good news, AT-GAA was granted a rolling BLA submission, which is set to start in the second half of this year. This means that top-line data could be released in the first half of 2021. As the development of FOLDs gene therapy portfolio is also progressing, with it planning to have clinical development, manufacturing and regulatory discussions for both the CLN6 and CLN3 Battens gene therapy programs, the deal is sealed for Schwartz. To this end, Schwartz maintained an Outperform call and $19 price target. This target conveys his confidence in FOLDs ability to climb 51% higher in the next year. (To watch Schwartzs track record, click here) What does the rest of the Street think about FOLD? It turns out that other analysts also have high hopes. With 5 Buys and a single Hold, the word on the Street is that this stock is a Strong Buy. In addition, the $20.58 average price target puts the upside potential at 65%. (See Amicus stock analysis on TipRanks) Insmed (INSM) Last but not least we have Insmed, which works on developing effective therapies for patients suffering from serious and rare diseases. While COVID-19 has weighed on the company, there are major catalysts on the horizon that could potentially fuel upside for shares. Point72 takes its place on the bulls side. Boosting its holding by a whopping 1,283%, the firm snapped up 3.3 million shares. As for the value of this new addition, it lands at $53.4 million. Like Cohen, H.C. Wainwright analyst Andrew Fein is optimistic. In spite of investor uncertainty associated the with COVID-19 pandemic, we view the apparent progression of all pipeline programs in lieu of such headwinds as positive for the stock, Fein commented. Looking specifically at ARIKAYCE, growth has slowed as a result of the public health crisis, but the five-star analyst argues that several factors suggest the momentum for sales growth will persist. These include the submission of an NDA in March in Japan, which boasts the largest diagnosed MAC lung disease population, and the pending EU marketing authorization. This would set INSM up for a Germany launch by year-end, followed up by a UK launch shortly after. The most noteworthy potential catalyst in terms of prescriptions and determining treatment duration, though, will be updated guidelines from both the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). It also doesnt hurt that theres a peer-reviewed paper offering solutions to address the adverse events that are sometimes witnessed with ARIKAYCE use and a patient reported outcome (PRO) tool for ARIKAYCE in non-tuberculosis (NTM) disease is being developed, with the trial kicking off in the beginning of the second half of 2020. Fein added, Insmed announced that it has not yet observed any disruptions in the supply chain for ARIKAYCE production and should be able to meet global demand through 2022...Insmed believes that the current climate is causing a bolus of patients, which could lead to a major upswing in patients being treated with ARIKAYCE in 2H20. If that wasnt enough, Brensocatib, formerly INS1007, is on a clear path to Phase 3 trial initiation in bronchiectasis and is being studied in severe COVID-19 patients. We feel the development of Brensocatib remains promising as we recall the announcement that AstraZeneca decided to exercise the first option to advance Brensocatib development in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or asthma patients, Fein noted. Treprostinil Palmitil, previously INS1009, could also see Phase 1 initiation in pulmonary arterial hypertension in the second half of 2020. Based on all of the above, Fein reiterated his Buy rating and $52 price target. Given this target, shares could skyrocket 103% in the next twelve months. (To watch Feins track record, click here) With only Buy ratings assigned in the last three months, 6 to be exact, the message is clear: INSM is a Strong Buy. The $47.83 average price target is less aggressive than Feins, but it still leaves room for 87% upside potential. (See Insmed stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for healthcare stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Taliban on Monday, in a tweet, clarified that it does not support Pakistans holy war against India and that Kashmir was Indias internal matter. The clarification came after some fake tweets claiming friendship between Islamic Emirate and India was not possible were attributed to Taliban spokespersons Suhail Shaheen and Zabiullah Mujahid. The statement that has been circulated in certain media regarding India does not belong to Islamic emirate. The policy of Islamic Emirate regarding neighbour states is very obvious that we dont interfere in the domestic issues of them, a tweet from Shaheen clarified. The Ministry of External Affairs was contacted on the issue but no response was received. Earlier, in an interview, Shaheen had said that the Taliban thinks India can play a crucial role for peace to prevail in Afghanistan. Last year in August, after Article 370 was revoked, the group had rejected any link between the Kashmir and the Afghan issue. The statement in August was seen by pundits as Talibans attempt to approach the Kashmir issue in a more balanced way thus deviating from its earlier stand. It was seen as a move which was made to change the image of the Taliban, which has been considered a pawn of Pakistan. New Delhi, May 19 : Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will formally launch the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana through video link on the death anniversary of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on May 21. Under the scheme, Rs 5,700 crore will be transferred directly to bank accounts of 19 lakh state farmers in four instalments. The scheme was conceived during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to guarantee minimum income to farmers. "The Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana is a big scheme of its kind, launched to encourage farmers," said the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister. To encourage farmers through this scheme, the state government would provide paddy and maize farmers an assistance at the rate of Rs 10,000 per acre in a proportionate manner from the Kharif 2019 season, depending on the quantity acquired through cooperative society, he said. Under the scheme, 18,34,834 farmers will be provided Rs 1,500 crore as the first instalment for paddy crop. Similarly, for sugarcane crop, a payment of FRP amount of Rs 261 per quintal and incentive and input support, amounting to Rs 93.75 per quintal i.e. maximum Rs 355 per quintal, will be made, depending on the quantity of sugarcane purchased by the cooperative mill in the crushing year 2019-20. The first instalment of Rs 18 crore 43 lakh will be transferred on May 21. The state government will also provide incentive money (outstanding bonus) at the rate of Rs 50 per quintal, based on the quantity of sugarcane purchased through cooperative sugar factories in 2018-19. Under this, Rs 10 crore 27 lakh will be given to 24,414 farmers. The state government has included paddy, maize, soyabean, groundnut, sesame, arhar , moong, urad, kulthi, ramatil, kodo, kotki from kharif 2020 and sugarcane in rabi under the scheme. Seven Pakistani soldiers and a civilian driver were killed in two separate terror attacks in the restive Balochistan province, an official statement said on Tuesday. Terrorists targeted a vehicle of the Frontier Corps using improvised explosive devices in the Pir Ghaib area on Monday night, killing six Pakistan Army soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani military. The soldiers were identified as Naib Subedar Ihsan, Ullah Khan, Naik Zubair Khan, Naik Ijaz Ahmed, Naik Maula Bux and Naik Noor Muhammad. A civilian driver Abdul Jabbar was also killed in the attack. In a separate incident in Balochistan's Kech, another soldier, identified as Sepoy Imdad Ali, was killed during an exchange of fire with the militants. The incident took place early in the morning when security personnel were clearing the area for fencing the border. This is the second terror attack on the Pakistani soldiers in 10 days in the restive province. On May 9, six soldiers, including a major, were killed in Buleda area when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. Resource-rich Balochistan in southwestern Pakistan borders Afghanistan and Iran, but it is also Pakistan's largest and poorest province, rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies. Baloch nationalists are active in the Balochistan province and often target the security forces and people from other provinces, especially Punjab. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hyderabad, May 19 : The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to review Covid-19 situation on June 3 and submit a report the next day. A final decision on holding the remaining Class X exams will be taken on the basis of the report. A division bench of Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice K Lakshman also suggested that the government take all precautions for the safety of the students and not to conduct the examinations if serious situation prevails at that time. The division bench also asked the government to ensure a gap of two days between the two papers and set up a helpline for the students appearing in the exams. The direction came on a petition filed by the state government, seeking review of the interim orders passed by the court in March and the permission to conduct the exams in May as per the revised schedule. On March 20, the High Court had directed the state to postpone the Class X exams, scheduled for March 23 to April 6, in view of the Covid-19 outbreak. The interim order was passed on a public interest litigation by M. Bala Krishna, faculty at a private school. The state had conducted the exams for three papers of the first and second languages before March 22 as per the original timetable. The state Cabinet earlier this month decided to conduct the exams for remaining papers during May. It moved the high court, seeking permission for the same keeping in view the academic calendar and the interests of 5.50 lakh students. State Advocate General B S Prasad briefed the court on the arrangements proposed to be made by the Education Department for the smooth conduct of the exams. The court was told that the number of exam centres will be increased from 2,530 to 4,535. This will help in accommodating 100-200 students in each exam centre against 200-240 earlier. The department, in its affidavit, assured that 5-6 feet distance will be maintained between two students and each exam centre will be sanitised every day. It also said that public transportation will be arranged with alternative seat occupancy in buses to enable the candidates to reach their respective exam centres. Hall ticket will be treated as travel pass to reach the centre. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Up to 1,000 jobs could be cut at Cork and Dublin Airports as DAA seeks to respond to the fallout from the Covid-19 crisis. Dalton Philips, DAA chief executive, told staff that the company, which runs both airports, needs to reduce staff numbers to handle a dramatic fall in air traffic. The two airports had expected to handle 35 million passengers this year, though this is now forecast to be as low as 21 million following the effective shutdown of air travel for three months due to the pandemic. Cork Airport is now expected to handle around 900,000 this year. While Mr Philips didn't identify specific cuts, he told staff the last time the DAA handled 21m passengers, they had 750 to 1,000 fewer staff. DAA employs in the region of 3,500 staff at present. The details of a voluntary redundancy scheme will be outlined to staff next week. As the woes of the airline sector continue, Ryanair chief executive Eddie Wilson has pleaded for patience on the refunds issue, claiming the airline has "30 million" requests to process and this is why it has offered vouchers in the short-term. He told RTE radio all refund requests will be processed, but said it would take time. Mr Wilson also said he anticipates significant price discounting on air fares in the coming months as airlines desperately try to attract flyers once again. Aer Lingus, meanwhile, said all passengers flying between May 21 and August 31 will have to wear face coverings from the time they board the aircraft until they are inside their destination airport. The airline also recommends "customers consider wearing a face covering from the time of entry into the departure airport". Airlines for Europe (A4E), the business group which counts both Aer Lingus and Ryanair among its members, has urged the EU to coordinate the opening of borders and reinstate freedom of movement for European travellers. Mutual recognition of health and safety measures is needed to avoid quarantines, the group said, while it also claimed the coordinated lifting of travel bans will facilitate the summer holiday season. Britain on Sunday reported 170 more coronavirus deaths -- its lowest number since late March, when lockdown restrictions were introduced, although the figures from Northern Ireland were not included. Prime Minister Boris Johnson meanwhile acknowledged public frustration with the restrictions imposed to fight the virus. The deaths take the government's official rolling tally of fatalities, which includes all positive cases after tests, to 34,636 -- the second-highest in the world. Broader official data, which includes suspected deaths, is more than 36,000, although ministers say the country has passed the peak and there is a downward trend in cases. Reporting is typically lower at weekends and business secretary Alok Sharma said technical problems meant Northern Ireland had not been included in the latest figures. Sharma meanwhile announced tens of millions of pounds in extra funding to develop a coronavirus vaccine, which could see 30 million doses available in Britain by September. An additional 84 million ($102 million, 94 million euros) would be made available to "accelerate" efforts to trial and mass-produce a COVID-19 vaccine, he said. Unveiling the new funding commitments at the daily Downing Street briefing, Sharma said Britain was home to two of the world's "frontrunners to develop a vaccine". The projects, at Oxford University and Imperial College London, have already received 47 million in state aid, said Sharma. Both were making "good progress" at "unprecedented speed", he added. Participants in the first clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine received their doses earlier this week. Imperial was set to start its tests in June and again in October. Oxford had finalised a global licensing agreement with global pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca for the commercial manufacturing of its vaccine, Sharma said. "This means that if the vaccine is successful, AstraZeneca will work to make 30 million doses available by September for the UK as part of the agreement to deliver 100 million doses in total," he added. "The UK will be first to get access," he added, noting it would also work to ensure the vaccine could be made available "to developing countries at the lowest possible cost". The business secretary also announced a 93 million funding boost to finish building a specialist "manufacturing and innovation" vaccine centre, a year ahead of schedule. Under construction in Oxfordshire, south central England, it is now set to open in mid-2021. It will have the capacity to produce enough vaccine doses to serve the British population within six months, the government said. The new funding took government funding of vaccine development to 250 million, said Sharma. But he warned "there are no certainties". "We may never find a successful coronavirus vaccine," he added. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, had a similar message in a Mail on Sunday article. "We have to acknowledge we may need to live with this virus for some time to come". He acknowledged public difficulties in adapting to the social distancing measures still in place, after the partial lifting of the lockdown in England. "I understand that people will feel frustrated with some of the new rules," he wrote. "I recognise what we are now asking is more complex than simply staying at home -- but this is a complex problem and we need to trust in the good sense of the British people." HK politicians to propose correcting anti-mainland education at national two sessions Global Times By Wang Wenwen Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/18 14:08:40 An inappropriate question in the Hong Kong special Special administrative Administrative region's Region's college entrance exam regarding China's modern history has been met with a backlash from both the authorities and society, calling into question the city's long-term flawed national education and inviting proposals from officials for change. Hong Kong's deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) , will raise the issue of Hong Kong's education when they attend the upcoming two sessions in Beijing. The question in the history exam for the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) on Thursday asked students if they agreed Japan did more good than harm to China between 1900 and 1945. The materials given to students for reference implied the question had a positive answer, without giving any mention to China's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1931-45). Basa Leung, a post-1990's Hongkonger and political commentator, told the Global Times that the question in the DSE history exam "made him tremble." "There shouldn't be such a question. As a Chinese, this kind of question is not worth answering or even debating," said Leung. Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said at a Friday press conference that the Education Bureau would ask the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) to invalidate the question, saying the attached reading materials were "biased" and the question "deviated from objective facts." The bureau is set to send staff to the HKEAA on Monday to look into how it selects exam questions. The HKEAA will also hold a special meeting on Monday, which is expected to invalidate the controversial question. But pan-democracy figures are reportedly mulling a plan to launch a judicial review should the HKEAA invalidate the question. This is just one of a number of cases that have involved Hong Kong's controversial education system in recent years. In late April, a teacher from Ho Lap Primary School told pupils that the first Opium War, which started in 1840 and resulted in China ceding Hong Kong Island to Britain, was the result of Britain's attempt to stop opium smoking in China, media reported. The school later apologized, and the Education Bureau said the teacher's words were "untrue and unacceptable." Distorted views Leung, who received his education in Hong Kong, said it is common for Hong Kong exam papers and mock exam papers to use negative news about the mainland or preconceived opinions to distort views of China's system. "It's said that Hong Kong's education teaches students to think critically and objectively. But with misleading materials, how can one be objective?" Leung asked. Leung pointed to questions in the 2017 history exam as an example. One material cited a newspaper run by the Communist Party of China published an article in 1943 said that "the US plays an exemplary role for China, whose democratic politics was relatively disadvantageous, and we the people endorse the West" and then asked examinees about the author's opinion of the US. "One can easily answer that US democracy was unconditionally endorsed," said Leung. The same year, another history question asked examinees about their concerns for Hong Kong's future, while the materials given for reference included a survey in 1982 which claimed that 70 percent of respondents hoped Hong Kong remained as a colony of the UK. And in a 2012 official mock exam paper for liberal studies, one question implied that the rice in the mainland was toxic, creating panic among Hong Kong people. The subject of liberal studies is considered to have played an influential role in prompting students to take to the streets during the anti-national education campaign in 2012, the illegal "Occupy Central" movement in 2014, and last year's social unrest triggered by the now-withdrawn extradition bill. In 2012, the Hong Kong government was forced to withdraw its plan to implement the national education curriculum, which was aimed at helping enhance Hong Kong people's national identity, after tens of thousands of protesters took to the street. Some online posts also revealed that teachers of liberal studies, a compulsory subject since 2009 aimed at fostering "critical" thinking skills among Hong Kong senior secondary school students, told students that the US invasion of Iraq was aimed at stabilizing its oil supply and that China's Belt and Road Initiative constituted economic aggression. Years of such distorted education is also believed to have incited anti-mainland sentiment among some Hongkonges. Unlike for other subjects, the Education Bureau does not scrutinize reference materials for liberal studies, and publishers print and sell reference materials as textbooks, leaving room for divergence between Hong Kong and the mainland. "Hong Kong education advocates the so-called concept of diverse values, but it leads to a pernicious area, which is nihilism of values," Tang Fei, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies and principal of Hong Kong's Heung To Secondary School (Tseung Kwan O), told the Global Times. Steps for change Calls for change have been growing, especially since the controversy over the question in the history exam paper. Earlier this month, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said her government would deal with the issue of liberal studies by the end of this year. Hong Kong's delegates to the upcoming two sessions, who serve as a bridge between Hong Kong and the mainland, also plan to raise suggestions of how to promote national identity in Hong Kong's education. The two sessions this year are considered important occasions for Hong Kong delegates to address the city's ongoing social issues, as it will be the first nationwide political gathering since the months-long protests in the special administrative region. The NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members from the pro-establishment Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) will suggest measures to improve Chinese history education. Chan Yung, vice chairman of the DAB and an NPC deputy, told the Global Times that Hong Kong must educate its young people to better understand Chinese history and national conditions. He added that they will suggest proposals such as establishing an institute that includes Hong Kong experts in charge of this type of education, bringing historical relics from the mainland to exhibit in Hong Kong, and offering opportunities to Hong Kong students to take part in exchanges related to China's national history and culture. Wong Kwan-yu, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers and a Hong Kong deputy to the NPC, told the Global Times that he will raise three suggestions related to education at the NPC. "I will suggest that the mainland and Hong Kong set up a joint university in Hong Kong, utilizing the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to tell true stories about China, and letting Hong Kong teachers have the same privileges as mainland teachers, such as entry for free or at half price when visiting tourist sites in the mainland. All these measures aim at boosting Hongkongers' understanding of and mutual affection with the mainland," said Wong. Wong also noted that there is one lever that has been ignored but can be utilized - the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. "The country is promoting the development of the Greater Bay Area. But to many young people in Hong Kong, it is only a geographical concept. I will suggest setting up an exhibition hall somewhere, say in Zhuhai, to tell the story of the bridge and the Greater Bay Area. From the bridge, we can see Chinese wisdom and many technological breakthroughs. We can organize for Hong Kong students to visit the exhibition hall to better understand the development prospects of the Greater Bay Area and the efforts the country is making in developing this area. This can also be seen as part of the long desired national education," Wong said. He told the Global Times that his third suggestion is to offer incentives for Hong Kong's teachers to visit the mainland. "One problem in Hong Kong's education is that many teachers, influenced by the social sentiment, hold negative views toward the mainland, and they will then influence their students. So I will suggest letting them have the same privileges as mainland teachers, such as entry for free or at half price when visiting tourist sites in the mainland," said Wong, adding that this will encourage Hong Kong's teachers to go to the mainland more and form a better understanding of it. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Second Fiscal Quarter of Fiscal Year 2020 results: Cash sales Increased by 20.5% Year-over-Year Net Revenues Decreased by 6.0% Year-over-Year Average Monthly Student Enrollments Increased by 8.3% Year-over-Year First Half of Fiscal Year 2020 results: Cash sales Increased by 30.7% Year-over-Year Net Revenues Increased by 5.9% Year-over-Year Average Monthly Student Enrollments Increased by 10.6% Year-over-Year SHANGHAI, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- OneSmart International Education Group Limited (NYSE: ONE) ("OneSmart" or the "Company"), the leading premium K-12 education company in China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second fiscal quarter ended February 29, 2020. Highlights for the Secord Fiscal Quarter Ended February 29, 2020 Cash sales increased by 20.5% year-over-year to RMB784.9 million ( USD112.3 million ) Cash sales from OneSmart VIP business increased by 19.3% year-over-year to RMB615.9 million (USD88.1 million) Cash sales from HappyMath business increased by 44.5% year-over-year to RMB75.6 million (USD10.8 million) Cash sales from FasTrack English business increased by 37.9% year-over-year to RMB56.0 million (USD8.0 million) Net revenues decreased by 6.0% year-over-year to RMB885.8 million ( USD126.7 million ) Net revenues from OneSmart VIP business decreased by 8.4% year-over-year to RMB684.6 million (USD97.9 million) Net revenues from HappyMath business decreased by 0.6% year-over-year to RMB116.7 million (USD16.7 million) Net revenues from FasTrack English business increased by 30.2% year-over-year to RMB51.3 million (USD7.3 million) Average monthly student enrollments increased by 8.3% Year-over-year: Average monthly student enrollments for OneSmart VIP business increased by 8.2% year-over-year Average monthly student enrollments for HappyMath business increased by 5.8% year-over-year Average monthly student enrollments for FasTrack English business increased by 34.8% year-over-year Mr. Steve Zhang, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of OneSmart, commented, "What we have achieved in the most challenging business environment in modern history demonstrates the adaptability and resilience of OneSmart's business model and employees. Our years' investments and technology development in the online space enables us to respond promptly to the unprecedented COVID-19 situation. Our online platform has been serving over 160,000 student enrollments as of February 2020, a massive increase from just a few thousands in late 2019. The speed and volume proves the Company's strong ability to strategically manage and operate a premium online business and demonstrates its determination to build OneSmart Online into the largest premium online education business in China. While we expect our financial performance to be temporarily impacted for a couple of quarters by the pandemic, we believe it will bounce back fairly quickly as the schools reopen and the demand for premium education services prevails. Going forward, we will benefit from OneSmart Online to penetrate the mid-high end K-12 education market in China, in both scalability and profitability, as it is helping us expand in a much larger addressable market. We see enormous growth potential ahead and will take advantage of opportunities that arise as the industry consolidates after the pandemic. " The following are key highlights of business development during the second fiscal quarter of 2020: OneSmart VIP Business (the leading premium K-12 1-on-1 education business in China) All of the offline learning centers were temporally closed since January 2020 following government's measures against COVID-19 following government's measures against COVID-19 Successfully migrated majority of our VIP students to the online platform during the first half of February 2020 . Revenues generated in the online platform during Q2 reached the level of the same period last year. The massive online classes were handled successfully while maintaining a high customer satisfaction rate of over 90% and historically low refund rate of 3% in February 2020 . Revenues generated in the online platform during Q2 reached the level of the same period last year. The massive online classes were handled successfully while maintaining a high customer satisfaction rate of over 90% and historically low refund rate of 3% in Upgraded our premium products including smart assessment and academic planning, smart homework system, live broadcasting classroom, etc. Net revenues of International Education program (premium 1-on-1 training services for students attending international schools) grew by 71% year-over-year OneSmart Young Children Education Business: HappyMath (the leading premium young children math education business in China) and FasTrack English (the 2nd largest premium young children English education business in East China) All of the offline learning centers were temporally closed since January 2020 following government's measures against COVID-19 following government's measures against COVID-19 Successfully migrated over 80% of offline students to the online platform. Our online services has been well received by customers with customer satisfaction rate of over 90% Rolled out interactive curriculum 2.0 adopting Harvard Case Method for better learning experience Launched interactive online small group classes for children aging from 3-6. Meanwhile we started to provide children aging from 6-12 with full spectrum of subjects to help them with a smooth transition from kindergarten to primary school Strategically penetrated our HappyMath business into cities outside Shanghai where we observed a robust revenue growth in cities such as Chengdu , Suzhou, Nanjing , etc. where we observed a robust revenue growth in cities such as , Suzhou, , etc. Average monthly student enrollments of FasTrack English increased by 34.8% as we continue to strengthen our position in Yangtze River Delta Region OneSmart Online (The leading premium online education business in China) Other than the 150,000+ student enrollments migrated to online platform as of February 2020 , OneSmart Online has successfully acquired over 13,000 pure online and regularly priced enrollments as of early May 2020 , OneSmart Online has successfully acquired over 13,000 pure online and regularly priced enrollments as of early OneSmart Online, an OMO (online merging offline) model, has launched AI centers, which effectively reduces customer acquisition cost. The classes will be delivered online supported by triple teachers (cloud teacher, cloud study keeper and academic advisor) and artificial intelligence while value added offline activities including seminars, lectures, etc. are provided in the AI centers Continued to enhance OneSmart Online products and technologies including our latest online teaching platform Cloud Teaching System 6.0 Successfully integrated the advanced technologies that we acquired from Yimi Online Tutoring. Yimi's technology and development on big data analytics and artificial intelligence helped create synergies with OneSmart Online to drive interactive smart learning and further improve learning experience Key Financial Results (In thousands/RMB) 2Q FY2020 2Q FY2019 % of change Net revenues 885,800 942,500 -6.0% Gross profit 356,428 466,538 -23.6% Operating income/(loss) (54,763) 90,216 NA Non-GAAP operating income/( loss) (18,054) 102,350 NA Net income/ (loss) attributable to OneSmart (16,367) 64,924 NA Non-GAAP net income attributable to OneSmart 20,342 77,058 -73.6% 1H FY2020 1H FY2019 % of change Net revenues 1,683,000 1,589,477 5.9% Gross profit 637,069 726,930 -12.4% Operating income/ (loss) (169,461) 29,147 NA Non-GAAP operating income/(loss) (104,830) 59,462 NA Net income/(loss) attributable to OneSmart (106,300) 48,617 NA Non-GAAP net income/ (loss) attributable to OneSmart (41,669) 78,932 NA Mr. Greg Zuo, OneSmart's Director, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategic Officer added, "Despite the impact by the outbreak of COVID-19, our strong execution enabled us to retain almost the same level of revenue compared with the same period last year. In addition, we booked RMB785 million cash sales in Q2, a 20.5% increase from the same period last year, a large portion of which was generated in our online platform. We also successfully reduced our cost structure and controlled expenses during the period through series of policy on labor cost, rent and operating expenses. We temporally put center expansion and upgrades on hold and will only resume the expansion after the crisis. The streamlined cost structure will benefit us in the longer term and we expect substantial margin expansion when topline growth return to normal level. We recognized that the pandemic impact to our business is temporary and the duration of impact may vary between core VIP business and young children education businesses. VIP business may seem a swift drop in an environment when the public schools are closed and there is massive supply of free or low priced online classes. It is therefore temporally challenging for us to deliver the distinguished value of our premium education services when the score improvement demand is not as urgent when all of the students stay at home. We believe the demand will return in a fast fashion as schools reopen and exam schedule is now fixed. In the meantime, our young children education businesses may have a slightly longer period of impact as kindergartens and some primary schools will reopen a few months after other public schools, according to government policy. The pandemic situation accelerates Company's online expansion, a key strategy launched in FY2018. We are focused on the personalized 1-on-1 and small group online education services. Unlike online big-class format, those are the best formats to deliver high quality education services online by leveraging customized approach based on student aptitude. This is a key differentiator from online big-class format. The online education industry is massive and is rapidly growing in popularity since the COVID-19 outbreak began. The pursuit of learning effectiveness required by students and parents is driving the continuous penetration of premium personalized online education. Financially, we are committed to a healthy growth path for OneSmart Online by sticking to positive cash flow and avoiding burning cash for scale. We have tested and confirmed the attractive unit economics of OneSmart Online. We are past the most difficult time as most of the provinces have announced back-to-school dates while our business operations are gradually getting back to normal. As of May 15, 2020, 54 of our VIP centers have reopened under government permission. We expect that number to increase over the next few months. We are confident that both of our online platform and offline operations will drive robust growth and profit going forward." Recent Development Unveiling of Strengthened Corporate Value New "OneSmart Way" to Align with Its Online Ambition The Company has unveiled its new "OneSmart New Way" which is the framework of its corporate mission, vision and value. The new "OneSmart Way" incorporates the Company's strengthened commitment to upgrade into a prominent online education services provider. New "OneSmart Way" highlights the corporate value such as innovation, technology and customer satisfaction, to reinforce its leading position in the education sector by enhancing its premium services and executing its online strategy through OneSmart Online. Completion of the Acquisition and Integration of Yimi's Online Technologies The Company has successfully completed the acquisition and integration of the online teaching technologies of Yimi Education Technology Inc. Yimi is a leading Chinese premium online 1-on-1 tutoring company. In its past five years of operation, Yimi's technology has centered on big data analytics and artificial intelligence with a goal to drive interactive smart learning. Yimi also co-worked with OneSmart in 2019 to test and confirm the viability and profitability of the OMO business model. The acquisition of Yimi's technologies added a key component to OneSmart's premium online services and will help further improve the customer experience. Going forward, we will continue to focus our highly selective acquisition strategy centered on improving our core businesses. Financial Results for the Second Fiscal Quarter Ended February 29, 2020 Net Revenues Net revenues were RMB885.8 million (USD126.7 million), a decrease of 6.0% from RMB942.5 million during the same period last year. The decrease was mainly attributable to the temporary shutdown of our offline learning centers for COVID-19 related government requirements, offset by the incremental volume from online platform. Operating Costs and Expenses Operating costs and expenses for the quarter were RMB 940.6 million (USD134.5 million), an increase of 10.4% from RMB852.3 million during the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating costs and expenses, which excludes share-based compensation expenses, were RMB903.9 million (USD129.3 million), an increase of 7.6% from RMB840.2 million during the same period last year. Cost of revenues increased by 11.2% year-over-year to RMB529.4 million ( USD75.7 million ). We increased teacher compensation to attract higher quality teachers to support the development of OneSmart Online, added rental costs to comply with regulatory requirements; increased by 11.2% year-over-year to ( ). We increased teacher compensation to attract higher quality teachers to support the development of OneSmart Online, added rental costs to comply with regulatory requirements; Selling and marketing expenses increased by 2.8% year-over-year to RMB196.7 million ( USD28.1 million ). Non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses, which excludes share-based compensation expenses, were RMB196.6 million ( USD28.1 million ), an increase of 2.7% from RMB191.4 million during the same period last year. The increase was a mixed result of increased spending in online channels and decreased expense ratio driven by disciplined marketing expense control during COVID-19 period and more effective sales and marketing activities to support the growth of OneSmart Online; increased by 2.8% year-over-year to ( ). Non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses, which excludes share-based compensation expenses, were ( ), an increase of 2.7% from during the same period last year. The increase was a mixed result of increased spending in online channels and decreased expense ratio driven by disciplined marketing expense control during COVID-19 period and more effective sales and marketing activities to support the growth of OneSmart Online; General and administrative expenses increased by 16.0% year-over-year to RMB214.5 million ( USD30.7 million ). Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses, which excludes share-based compensation, were RMB177.9 million ( USD25.4 million ), an increase of 2.9% from RMB172.8 million during the same period last year. The increase was primarily due to increased R&D expenses for OneSmart Online mixed with our expense control policy to keep a healthy financial condition during COVD-19. Total share-based compensation expenses, which were allocated to related operating expenses, were RMB36.7 million (USD5.3 million) in the second fiscal quarter of 2020, compared with RMB12.1 million in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Operating Income/Loss and Operating Margin Operating loss for the quarter was RMB54.8 million (USD7.8 million), compared with operating income of RMB90.2 million in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Non-GAAP operating loss, which excludes shared-based compensation, was RMB18.1 million (USD2.6 million), compared with Non-GAAP operating income of RMB102.4 million during the same period of the prior fiscal year. Operating margin for the quarter was -6.2%, compared with 9.6% in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Non-GAAP operating margin was -2.0%, compared with 10.9% during the same period last year. The decrease of margin was mainly due to one-off revenue drop due to the impact of COVID-19, coupled with cost increase on teacher and rent and increased R&D expenses to support the online development. We expect margin will return to normal level post the crisis and start to expand in FY21. Other income was RMB48.9 million (USD7.0 million), which mainly consists government subsidies and gains from investment revaluation, compared with RMB2.2 million during the same period last year. Income tax benefit was RMB21.2 million (USD3.0 million), compared with income tax expense of RMB27.8 million during the same period last year. Net Income/Loss Attributable to OneSmart Net loss attributable to OneSmart was RMB16.4 million (USD2.3 million), compared with net income of RMB64.9 million during the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income attributable to OneSmart was RMB20.3 million (USD2.9 million), compared with net income of RMB77.1 million during the same period last year. The change was mainly due to the rise of teacher compensation, rent, R&D expenses, and interest expenses. Capital Expenditures Capital expenditures for the second fiscal quarter of 2020 were RMB67.9 million (USD9.7 million), a decrease of RMB23.0 million from RMB90.9 million in the second fiscal quarter of 2019. The decrease was mainly because we prudently managed our cash flow and temporarily suspended leasehold improvements due to COVID-19. Financial Position As of February 29, 2020, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of RMB1,107.2 million (USD158.4 million) and short-term investments of RMB384.4 million (USD55.0 million). OneSmart's prepayments from customers balance, which represents cash collected from enrolled students for courses and recognized proportionately as the training sessions are delivered, was RMB2,385.6 million (USD341.3 million) at the end of the second fiscal quarter of 2020, an increase of 21.1% from RMB1,969.5 million at the end of the second fiscal quarter of 2019. Cash Flow Net cash used in operating activities in the second fiscal quarter of 2020 was RMB6.7 million (USD1.0 million). Net cash used in investing activities in the second quarter of 2020 was RMB222.0 million (USD31.8 million). Net cash provided by financing activities in the second quarter of 2020 was RMB146.8 million (USD21.0 million). Financial Results For the Six Months Ended February 28, 2019 For the first six months of fiscal year 2020, OneSmart reported net revenues of RMB1,683.0 million (USD240.8 million), representing a 5.9% increase year-over-year. Average student enrollments in the first six months of fiscal year 2020 increased by 10.6% to approximately 165,125. Operating costs and expenses for the first six months of fiscal year 2020 were RMB1,852.5 million (USD265.0 million), a 18.7% increase year-over-year. Non-GAAP operating costs and expenses for the first six months of fiscal year 2020, which excluded share-based compensation expenses, were RMB1,787.8 million (USD255.7 million), representing a 16.9% increase year-over-year. Cost of revenues increased by 21.3% year-over-year to RMB1,045.9 million (USD149.6 million). Selling and marketing expenses increased by 9.4% year-over-year to RMB391.6 million (USD56.0 million). Non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses, which excludes share-based compensation expenses, were RMB391.3 million (USD56.0 million), an increase of 9.5% from RMB357.4 million during the same period last year. General and administrative expenses increased by 22.1% year-over-year to RMB414.9 million (USD59.4 million). Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses, which excludes share-based compensation, were RMB350.6 million (USD50.1 million), an increase of 13.0% from RMB310.1 million during the same period last year. Operating loss for the first six months of fiscal year 2020 was RMB169.5 million (USD24.2 million). Non-GAAP operating loss for the first six months of fiscal year 2020 was RMB104.8 million (USD15.0 million). Operating margin for the first six months of fiscal year 2020 was -10.1%, compared to 1.8% for the same period of the prior fiscal year. Non-GAAP operating margin, which excludes share-based compensation expenses for the first six months of fiscal year 2019, was -6.2%, compared to 3.7% for the same period of the prior fiscal year. Net loss attributable to OneSmart for the first six months of fiscal year 2020 was RMB106.3 million (USD15.2 million). Non-GAAP net loss attributable to OneSmart for the first six months of fiscal year 2020 was RMB41.7 million (USD6.0 million). Outlook for Fiscal Year 2020 Based on the latest information, we expect to generate net revenues of RMB3,200.0 to RMB3,600.0 million (USD457.8 to USD515.0 million) for the full Fiscal Year 2020. However, this outlook represents OneSmart's current view, which is subject to change because the COVID-19 impact is still ongoing and the reopen schedule of majorities of our learnings centers is not yet fixed, and the degree of full year contribution by our rapidly growing online products requires more data to assess. Exchange Rate Information This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars at a specified rate solely for the convenience of the reader. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to U.S. dollars are made at the noon buying rate on February 29, 2020, as set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, which was RMB6.9906 to USD1.00. Conference Call Information OneSmart's management will hold an earnings conference call at 8:00 AM on May 19, 2020 U.S. Eastern Time (8:00 PM on the same day Beijing/Hong Kong Time). Dial-in numbers for the live conference call are as follows: International 1-412-902-4272 Mainland China 4001-201-203 US 1-888-346-8982 Hong Kong 800-905-945 Passcode OneSmart A telephone replay of the call will be available after the conclusion of the conference call through May 26, 2019. Dial-in numbers for the replay are as follows: International Dial-in 1-412-317-0088 U.S. Toll Free 1-877-344-7529 Passcode: 10143553 Additionally, a live and archived webcast of this conference call will be available at: http://www.onesmart.investorroom.com/. About OneSmart Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Shanghai, OneSmart International Education Group Limited is a leading premium K-12 education company in China. Our vision is to be the most trusted and heartful high-tech education company and our mission is POWER LEARNING changes the future with technology advancement. Our company culture is centered on the core values of customer focus, excellence, integrity, and technology and innovation. The Company has built a comprehensive premium K-12 education platform that encompasses OneSmart VIP business (the leading premium K-12 1-on-1 education business in China), HappyMath (the leading premium young children math education business in China), and FasTrack English (the second largest premium English education business in East China), and OneSmart Online (the leading premium online education platform in China). As of November 30, 2019, OneSmart operates a nationwide network of 430 learning centers across 35 cities in China. For more information on OneSmart, please visit http://www.onesmart.investorroom.com. Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements made under the "safe harbor" provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. OneSmart may also make written or oral forward-looking statements in its reports filed with or furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third parties. Any statements that are not historical facts, including statements about OneSmart's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements that involve factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, but not limited to the following: OneSmart's goals and strategies; its future business development, financial condition and results of operations; its ability to continue to penetrate premium K-12 after-school education services market; diversify and enrich our education offerings; enhance the development and management of our teacher team and teaching materials; competition in our industry in China; its ability to maintain and expand online education presence; relevant government policies and regulations relating to the corporate structure, business and industry; and its ability to protect our students' information and adequately address privacy concerns. Further information regarding these and other risks, uncertainties or factors is included in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is current as of the date of the press release, and OneSmart does not undertake any obligation to update such information, except as required under applicable law. Non-GAAP Financial Measures In evaluating its business, OneSmart considers and uses the following measures defined as non-GAAP financial measures by the SEC as supplemental metrics to review and assess its operating performance: non-GAAP operating costs and expenses, non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses, non-GAAP general and administrative expenses, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income attributable to OneSmart. To present each of these non-GAAP measures, the Company excludes share-based compensation expenses. The presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, please see the table captioned "Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures" set forth at the end of this release. OneSmart believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding its performance and liquidity by excluding share-based compensation expenses that may not be indicative of its operating performance from a cash perspective. OneSmart believes that both management and investors benefit from these non-GAAP financial measures in assessing its performance and when planning and forecasting future periods. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate management's internal comparisons to OneSmart's historical performance and liquidity. OneSmart computes its non-GAAP financial measures using the same consistent method from quarter to quarter and from period to period. OneSmart believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in allowing for greater transparency with respect to supplemental information used by management in its financial and operational decision making. A limitation of using non-GAAP measures is that these non-GAAP measures exclude share-based compensation charges that have been and will continue to be for the foreseeable future a significant recurring expense in the Company's business. Management compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from each non-GAAP measure. The accompanying tables have more details on the reconciliations between GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures. For more information, please contact: OneSmart Ms. Rebecca Shen +86-21-2250-5826 E-mail: [email protected] Christensen In China Mr. Christian Arnell Phone: +86-10-5900-1548 E-mail: [email protected] In the US Ms. Linda Bergkamp Phone: +1-480-614-3004 Email: [email protected] ONESMART INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Amounts in thousands) As of As of As of August 31, February 29, February 29, 2019 2020 2020 RMB RMB US$ (Audited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) ASSETS Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents 1,386,412 1,107,203 158,385 Short-term investments 454,426 384,392 54,987 Amounts due from a related party - 18,740 2,681 Prepayments and other current assets 578,787 775,738 110,968 Total current assets 2,419,625 2,286,073 327,021 Non-current assets: Property and equipment, net 567,987 621,090 88,846 Intangible assets, net 168,622 204,185 29,209 Long-term investments 1,487,638 1,349,193 193,001 Operating lease right-of-use assets - 1,715,568 245,411 Goodwill 815,052 1,120,104 160,230 Deferred tax assets 83,104 164,123 23,478 Amounts due from a related party 18,750 20,400 2,918 Other non-current assets 510,697 279,590 39,995 Total non-current assets 3,651,850 5,474,253 783,088 Total assets 6,071,475 7,760,326 1,110,109 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current liabilities: Short-term loans (including short-term loans of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB249,876 and RMB265,300 (US$37,951) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) 249,876 265,300 37,951 Amounts due to a related party (including due to a related party of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of nil and RMB15,000 (US$2,146) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) - 15,000 2,146 Long-term loans, current portion (including long-term loans, current portion of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB71,820 and RMB95,760 (US$13,698) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) 71,820 180,298 25,791 Accrued expenses and other current liabilities (including accrued expenses and other current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB750,164 and RMB563,589 (US$80,621) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) 816,392 701,113 100,294 Income taxes payable (including income taxes payable of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB66,300 and RMB74,139(US$10,606) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) 81,397 74,139 10,606 Prepayments from customers (including prepayments from customers of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB2,170,766 and RMB2,385,546 (US$341,251) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) 2,170,815 2,385,595 341,258 Operating lease liabilities, current portion (including operating lease liabilities, current portion of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of nil and RMB520,553 (US$74,465) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) - 520,553 74,465 Total current liabilities 3,390,300 4,141,998 592,511 Non-current liabilities: Deferred tax liabilities (including deferred tax liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB55,719 and RMB41,921(US$5,997) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) 57,066 51,605 7,382 Long-term loans (including long-term loan of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB376,380 and RMB299,340 (US$42,820) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) 1,345,754 1,162,511 166,296 Convertible senior notes (including convertible senior notes of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of nil as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) - 174,765 25,000 Unrecognized tax benefit (including liability for unrecognized tax benefit of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB25,640 and RMB30,564 (US$4,372) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) 29,442 31,138 4,454 Operating lease liabilities, non-current portion (including operating lease liabilities, non-current portion of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of nil and RMB1,127,686 (US$161,315) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) - 1,127,686 161,315 Other non-current liabilities (including other non-current liabilities of the consolidated VIEs without recourse to the Group of RMB43,440 and RMB21,677 (US$3,101) as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) 91,440 45,677 6,534 Total non-current liabilities 1,523,702 2,593,382 370,981 Total liabilities 4,914,002 6,735,380 963,492 Commitments and contingencies Shareholders' equity: Class A ordinary shares (US$0.000001 par value; 37,703,157,984 shares authorized; 4,130,261,827 issued and outstanding as of August 31, 2019 and 4,195,575,467 issued and outstanding as of February 29, 2020, respectively) 26 26 4 Class B ordinary shares (US$0.000001 par value; 2,296,842,016 issued and outstanding as of August 31, 2019 and February 29, 2020, respectively) 16 16 2 Treasury stock (203,759) (209,130) (29,916) Additional paid-in capital 5,501,992 5,558,095 795,081 Statutory reserves 7,080 12,270 1,755 Accumulated deficits (4,300,153) (4,411,643) (631,082) Accumulated other comprehensive income 87,148 40,576 5,804 Total OneSmart International Education Group Limited shareholders' equity 1,092,350 990,210 141,648 Non-controlling interests 65,123 34,736 4,969 Total shareholders' equity 1,157,473 1,024,946 146,617 Total liabilities, non-controlling interests and shareholders' equity 6,071,475 7,760,326 1,110,109 ONESMART INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS (Amounts in thousands) For the three months ended February 29, For the six months ended February 29, 2019 2020 2020 2019 2020 2020 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$ (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) Net revenues 942,500 885,800 126,713 1,589,477 1,683,000 240,752 Cost of revenues (475,962) (529,372) (75,726) (862,547) (1,045,931) (149,620) Gross profit 466,538 356,428 50,987 726,930 637,069 91,132 Operating expenses: Selling and marketing (Note 1) (191,450) (196,729) (28,142) (357,888) (391,623) (56,021) General and administrative (Note 1) (184,872) (214,462) (30,679) (339,895) (414,907) (59,352) Total operating expenses (376,322) (411,191) (58,821) (697,783) (806,530) (115,373) Operating income/(loss) 90,216 (54,763) (7,834) 29,147 (169,461) (24,241) Interest income 4,708 3,251 465 12,411 32,987 4,719 Interest expense (10,344) (19,123) (2,736) (17,868) (44,814) (6,411) Other income 2,150 48,861 6,990 19,202 58,987 8,438 Other expenses (442) (21,239) (3,038) (575) (29,936) (4,282) Foreign exchange gains 309 15 2 1,519 15 2 Income/(loss) before income tax and share of net loss from equity investees 86,597 (42,998) (6,151) 43,836 (152,222) (21,775) Income tax (expense)/benefit (27,819) 21,169 3,028 (30,303) 24,568 3,514 Income/(loss) before share of net loss from equity investees 58,778 (21,829) (3,123) 13,533 (127,654) (18,261) Share of net loss from equity investees (13,579) (3,881) (555) (7,313) (7,715) (1,104) Net income/(loss) 45,199 (25,710) (3,678) 6,220 (135,369) (19,365) Add: Net loss attributable to non-controlling interests 19,725 9,343 1,337 42,397 29,069 4,158 Net income/(loss) attributable to OneSmart's shareholders 64,924 (16,367) (2,341) 48,617 (106,300) (15,207) Note 1: Share-based compensation expenses are included in the operating costs and expenses as follows: For the three months ended February 29, For the six months ended February 29, 2019 2020 2020 2019 2020 2020 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$ (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) Selling and marketing 75 142 20 533 285 41 General and administrative 12,059 36,567 5,231 29,782 64,346 9,205 Total 12,134 36,709 5,251 30,315 64,631 9,246 ONESMART INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME/(LOSS) (Amounts in thousands) For the three months ended February 29, For the six months ended February 29, 2019 2020 2020 2019 2020 2019 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$ (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) Net income/(loss) 45,199 (25,710) (3,678) 6,220 (135,369) (19,365) Other comprehensive income/(loss) Unrealized gain/(loss) on available-for-sale investments, net of tax 19,492 (32,858) (4,700) 49,621 (51,117) (7,312) Foreign currency translation adjustment (3,796) 2,015 288 6,188 4,545 650 Comprehensive income/(loss) 60,895 (56,553) (8,090) 62,029 (181,941) (26,027) Add: Comprehensive loss attributable to non- controlling interests 19,725 9,343 1,337 42,397 29,069 4,158 Comprehensive income/(loss) attributable to OneSmart's shareholders 80,620 (47,210) (6,753) 104,426 (152,872) (21,869) ONESMART INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GROUP LIMITED Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Measures to the Most Comparable GAAP Measures (Amounts in thousands) For the three months ended February 29, For the six months ended February 29, 2019 2020 2020 2019 2020 2020 RMB RMB US$ RMB RMB US$ (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Unaudited) Selling and marketing expenses 191,450 196,729 28,142 357,888 391,623 56,021 Share-based compensation expense in selling and marketing expenses 75 142 20 533 285 41 Non-GAAP selling and marketing expenses 191,375 196,587 28,122 357,355 391,338 55,980 General and administrative expenses 184,872 214,462 30,679 339,895 414,907 59,352 Share-based compensation expense in general and administrative expenses 12,059 36,567 5,231 29,782 64,346 9,205 Non-GAAP general and administrative expenses 172,813 177,895 25,448 310,113 350,561 50,147 Operating costs and expenses 852,284 940,563 134,547 1,560,330 1,852,461 264,993 Share-based compensation expense in operating costs and expenses 12,134 36,709 5,251 30,315 64,631 9,246 Non-GAAP operating costs and expenses 840,150 903,854 129,296 1,530,015 1,787,830 255,747 Operating income/(loss) 90,216 (54,763) (7,834) 29,147 (169,461) (24,241) Share-based compensation expenses 12,134 36,709 5,251 30,315 64,631 9,246 Non-GAAP operating income/(loss) 102,350 (18,054) (2,583) 59,462 (104,830) (14,995) Net income/(loss) attributable to OneSmart's shareholders 64,924 (16,367) (2,341) 48,617 (106,300) (15,207) Share-based compensation expenses 12,134 36,709 5,251 30,315 64,631 9,246 Non-GAAP net income attributable to OneSmart 77,058 20,342 2,910 78,932 (41,669) (5,961) SOURCE OneSmart International Education Group Limited Related Links www.1smart.org Natalia Kholod, CEO of WARTO communications agency, told how to operate the business and what mistakes should be avoided What should be done with the strategy? Nowadays there is an opinion that you need to tear up and throw out your strategy developed before quarantine, start all over from scratch. I don't share this idea. I believe that it is necessary to revise the existing strategy and adapt it to new realities, but it is completely unreasonable to give it up. The right strategy has the values and foundations of the business, and these are the things that shouldn't be betrayed. You should analyze your product, determine the most relevant audience, and direct your efforts there. At the same time, it is important to preserve the values that the brand professes. At the same time, it is important to preserve the values that the brand professes. A good example is Nova Poshta, the company that reoriented from individuals to business clients without changing the essence of their business, approaches to quality, and basic technologies during the past crisis.This allowed company not only to strengthen her position and update services but also to preserve the business model and values that the company professed and communicated. Who is the customer nowadays? Quarantine has made changes in consumer buying behavior. And after its cancellation, it will take some time for people to return to offline because they will have to change their shopping habits again. What does a business need while the buyer is reorganizing? To study! It is important to constantly study your audience. And this is not about classic studies and polls, but about constantly monitoring and analyzing what is currently being sold, what is the main selection criterion, and what kind of request buyers still have. What is the best investment? While you are exploring the new habits of your consumer and analyzing the assortment, it is important not to lose touch with your customer. Continue communicating with him. It is worth experimenting, alternating different channels, and evaluating the results of each. This approach will make it possible to determine which communication channels are most effective for your business. The marketing budget should not be cut, but reoriented, taking into account new requests and consumer behavior. For example, Megogo switched in communications very quickly and gave interesting quarantine offers. As a result, the planned advertising campaign was rebuilt into a situational one. And the time before the films was provided under sponsorship. Trap for a business Naturally, every business is interested in attracting new customers. And now this need has increased at times. In pursuit of the customer, some companies started to provide their services for free. But instead of a surge of loyalty, it led to the depreciation of their product. Moreover, this approach offended those customers who had previously purchased this service for a fee. Another pitfall of such a strategy is the difficulty to transform a person who tried service or product for free into a buyer. This method can work for companies that have already created a big name. For a business that has not communicated with its consumer yet, providing its services for free under the quarantine is a headshot! For the 15 years of marketing activity, the WARTO agency has helped customers overcome all the economic and political crises that have affected Ukrainian business. We saw the impact of the crisis in different markets and observed how customers behave differently. We know for sure that persistence and the ability to find new opportunities is inscribed in the DNA of the national business. We are sure that Ukrainian businesses will accept a new reality and continue to produce high-qualified products. Observe, regularly communicate with your customer, especially now - in a state of a large flow of information. And don't betray your values! Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 07:36:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked him to fire the State Department's Inspector General (IG) Steve Linick, of whom the president said had never heard. Asked about his Friday's decision to oust Linick, Trump told reporters in the White House that "I don't know him at all, I never even heard of him, but I was asked to by the state department, by Mike." "He is an Obama employee ... they ask me to terminate him, I have the absolute right as president to terminate," Trump said, adding that the removal should have been done a long time ago. Trump also downplayed the reports about the state department watchdog was investigating if Pompeo had asked a staffer to run personal errands for him or his administration's decision to expedite arms sales to Saudi Arabia by declaring an emergency last year. In an interview with The Washington Post earlier in the day, Pompeo said that he asked Trump to fire Linick, but he noted that he was unaware of Linick's ongoing investigation on him. "It is not possible that this decision, or my recommendation rather, to the president rather, was based on any effort to retaliate for any investigation that was going on or is currently going on," Pompeo said. "Because I simply don't know. I'm not briefed on it. I usually see these investigations in final draft form 24 hours, 48 hours before the IG is prepared to release them." U.S. media reported Sunday that Linick was investigating whether Pompeo "made a staffer walk his dog, pick up his dry cleaning, and make dinner reservations" for him and his wife. Eliot Engel, chairman of House Foreign Affairs Committee, told U.S. media on Monday that Linick's office was also investigating Pompeo's decision to fast-track 8 billion U.S. dollars arms sale to Saudi Arabia last year. Trump's decision to fire Linick is coming under bipartisan scrutiny. "The firings of multiple Inspectors General is unprecedented," tweeted Senator Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, and 2012 Republican presidential nominee. "Doing so without good cause chills the independence essential to their purpose." Engel and Senator Bob Menendez, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said Saturday that they had launched an investigation into the move, which they said was "politically-motivated." Enditem Gordon Ramsay has taken out loans to shore up his restaurant empire which has been shuttered by the coronavirus lockdown, it was revealed last night. He has registered charges with Barclays against 16 companies, which includes those managing some of his Michelin star outlets, according to the Sun. The loans will provide a lifeline to companies which manage some of the TV chef's flagship eateries, such as London's Savoy Grill and Petrus. Gordon Ramsay has taken out loans to shore up his restaurant empire which has been shuttered by the coronavirus lockdown, it was revealed last night He has registered charges with Barclays against 16 companies, which includes those overseeing some of his Michelin star outlets (Gordon Ramsay restaurant in London) The beleaguered hospitality industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, with pubs and restaurant across the country - many with lofty overheads - forced to mothball. The lockdown led Ramsay, estimated to be worth almost 200million to lay off 500 employees in March, with no guarantee their jobs would be safe in the future. Chefs, waiters and other staff were called to a meeting and told their contracts were being terminated - rather than being furloughed on 80 per cent pay. It triggered a wave of anger, including from chef Anca Torpuc who at the time branded the celebrity chef a 'piece of 's***' for his decision. Ramsay, 53, has grabbed headlines throughout the lockdown after he had his wrist slapped for flouting lockdown rules. The coastguard reportedly issued the father-of-five with an official warning after he was seen in Rock, Fowey, Port Isaac and Newquay some distance from his 4million home in Trebetherick. SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- For the Juma Gallery, its been seven years in what is now the Van Aken District, a decade before that in Little Italy and now several months into a global pandemic. And it was with a heavy heart on Tuesday (May 19) that Shaker Heights Mayor David Weiss announced plans to permanently close the gallery and boutique that was the dream of his late wife, Erica. Erica was a visionary who brought a unique sense of style and beauty to her work, Weiss noted in a press release. Juma carried not only her artwork, but also served as a space to feature the creations of both budding and established Cleveland artists. When she passed away in 2016 after her third battle with breast cancer, "the team at Juma and our incredible children continued to honor her legacy," Weiss added. "Juma" was actually named using the first two letters in each of their children's names: Justin and Marguerite. Over the years, the remarkable staff and loyal customers of Juma became our extended family, added Weiss, an attorney who moved from City Council to the Planning Commission to the mayors office over a similar timeframe. He also moved from corporate law to small business ownership, providing some additional perspective, as well. "Today, so much in the retail world has changed," Weiss noted, citing dramatic shifts already prevalent in the industry. "The rise of online shopping and a reliance on social media have challenged the business model of some small retailers like Juma." And now, with the coronavirus still rampant, a new and unprecedented set of shifts will be required. So, for both personal and professional reasons, I have decided to close Juma and adjust my focus, Weiss said. In my role as mayor of Shaker Heights, I plan to redouble my efforts to help steer Shaker through this pandemic. Those efforts will include a continued and particular focus on the city's small business community, "as I know firsthand the headwinds they face." Weiss also looks forward to spending more time with his family and working on various civic causes about which he remains passionate. Our plan is to reopen (the gallery) by early June on a temporary basis, to wind down operations and honor outstanding gift cards, while adhering to appropriate coronavirus safety guidelines, Weiss said, noting that this will include social distancing. As further plans unfold, details will be posted on the Juma website at jumagallery.com and announced through email and social media channels. Finally, to our loyal customers and dedicated staff, I am eternally grateful, Weiss added. Thank you for being a part of Jumas journey. There are currently nine employees in the gallery and boutique, with six in the Juma coffee house, a number of those 15 total working part-time. Juma Gallery is located at 20100 Chagrin Blvd. in Shaker Heights. Read more from the Sun Press. A man has used his cheapest guitar to shred two would-be thieves who broke into his home in the middle of the night and held a knife to his partner's throat. Two men used mallets to smash down the door to the Truganina home in Melbourne's west about 2am on Tuesday while a 37-year-old Mike Conomy and his 28-year-old wife Anabelle Sutton were inside. The invaders demanded the pair hand over the keys to a Mercedes-Benz parked outside and walked towards Ms Sutton with a knife, which she said was "terrifying". Mr Conomy went to his office to retrieve the keys but couldn't find them, prompting him to hatch another plan. Ogun State Government in its bid to combat Coronavirus pandemic in the state has revealed that, henceforth, it will conduct tests on anyone who visits the COVID-19 test laboratory. The new measure was disclosed in a series of tweets on Monday evening by the state governor, Dapo Abiodun. According to him, the state will commence treatment on every person who could avail himself or herself for COVID-19 test in its laboratories, even while awaiting their test results. Gov Abiodun explained that the new measure was to ensure non-spread of the dreadful disease among residents in the state. He, however, did give clarification on if such individuals will be taken into an isolation centre or not but noted that the see and treat method means individuals who avail themselves for will be treated, irrespective of the status of their test result. Governor Dapo tweeted, As part of efforts towards curbing the community spread of the Coronavirus, we are introducing a see and treat method in our testing centres. With this step, we will immediately commence treatment for everyone that comes for testing even before the results are out. Meanwhile, Governor Ben Ayade of Cross Rivers State has been commended by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control for its coronavirus free state, Naija News reports. Share this post with your Friends on (Newser) Undocumented immigrants in California worried they can't pay their bills during the pandemic are starting to see some relief, thanks to a $75 million assistance program that launched Monday. Each adult applicant on the Social Services website can receive $500, with a cap of $1,000 per household. The money, available on a first-come, first-served basis, will be doled out until June 30, unless it runs out before that. KTLA notes this is the first state-funded initiative to help undocumented immigrants weather the pandemic. Some groups sued to keep the program at bay, saying using taxpayer dollars for it was illegal, but those suits were dismissed. story continues below Just an hour after the program's phones were opened Monday, the lines crashed from so many people calling in, notes the New York Times, which adds that undocumented immigrants "pay billions of dollars in taxes," yet have received little help from the states during the pandemic. California officials expect about 150,000 people to benefit from the program, though the LA Times notes that what the state is calling a "second but complementary effort" is also underway: The California Immigrant Resilience Fund, an initiative launched by nonprofits to raise $50 million for those undocumented immigrants who don't qualify for either federal or state assistance. Further info here. (Read more California stories.) Yves here. So now its clear: some companies and their law firm enablers see their right to profit, even in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, as more important than human lives. This has been an underlying theme of investor-state dispute settlement suits (which weve written about extensively), but its never been as crass as here. On top of everything else, these actions will deplete government coffers, adding to public distress. The only upside is this sort of thing should kill incorporating meaningful investor-state dispute settlement provisions into future trade deals. By Laura Basu, Laurie Macfarlane, and Aaron White. Originally published at openDemocracy Countries could soon face a wave of multi-million dollar lawsuits from multinational corporations claiming compensation for measures introduced to protect people from COVID-19 and its economic fallout, according to a new report. Researchers have identified more than twenty corporate law firms offering services to mount such cases, which would seek compensation from states for measures that have negatively impacted company profits including lost future profits. Measures that could face legal challenges include the state acquisition of private hospitals; steps introduced to ensure that drugs, tests and vaccines are affordable; and relief on rent, debt and utility payments. Lawmakers across Europe have condemned the activity described in the report, with one describing such activity as an attack on democracy. The research, co-published by the Transnational Institute (TNI) and Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), draws on statements from firms legal briefings, client alerts and webinars and outlines a list of what it calls ten particularly heinous litigation scenarios developed by some of the busiest law firms. A Parallel Justice System for the Rich Under controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, foreign investors, companies and shareholders are able to sue states directly at obscure international tribunals over a wide range of government actions. Over 1,000 known investor-state lawsuits have been filed over the past 25 years, in what the researchers describe as a parallel justice system for the rich. Many of these disputes followed actions taken by countries during times of crisis, such as the Argentine financial crisis in the early 2000s and the Arab Spring in the early 2010s. Commenting on the findings, Caroline Lucas MP said: Many of us have warned for years that investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms are extremely dangerous, and here is yet more damning evidence. Public money should go towards protecting public health and peoples livelihoods, not towards lining the pockets of greedy multinational corporations and their lawyers. Among the law firms named in the report is US-based Shearman & Sterling. In 2014, it secured the largest award in the history of investor-state arbitration after suing the Russian government for $50 billion on behalf of shareholders of the oil and gas firm Yukos. In a recent briefing on COVID-19, the firm says that it stands ready to advise states and investors alike in relation to the government measures that have been or will be adopted in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures highlighted include rent forgiveness and the suspension of energy bill payments. While helping debtors, these measures would evidently impact creditors by causing loss of income, Shearman & Sterling warns. It continues: measures ostensibly taken to deal with a serious problem but otherwise disproportionally affecting certain businesses may be inconsistent with international law. Emergency measures taken to protect public health could also be in the firing line. In Spain and Ireland, private hospitals have been taken over by public healthcare systems, while the US government has ordered companies to produce ventilators and other medical equipment. Lawyers from Quinn Emanuel, the worlds largest law firm devoted to business litigation and arbitration, whose clients include ExxonMobil and Koch Industries, state that investors in the healthcare industry could have indirect expropriation claims if turning over control was involuntary. They also say that companies that have been compelled to produce medical supplies could sue for unlawful indirect expropriation if they believe adequate compensation is not provided. Other potentially heinous scenarios cited in the report include cases brought against states for action taken to provide clean water for handwashing, and for failing to prevent social unrest. Sacrificing Citizens for Business Martin Schirdewan MEP, co-chair of the European United LeftNordic Green Left parliamentary grouping, told openDemocracy: Use of investor-state lawsuits is an attack on democracy in any circumstance. But the fact that corporations are considering suing governments over measures taken to protect human health, in the midst of a pandemic, is truly appalling. However they dress it up, such a mechanism still provides corporations with the power to sue governments that implement policies that may impact on their expected future profits, and be awarded damages. Manon Aubry, MEP for La France Insoumise, said: Investment protection treaties give multinational corporations the certainty that, whatever happens, states will guarantee their profits above all else, including the general interest. We urgently need to get out of these treaties that would have us sacrificing citizens to protect nefarious business models, from big pharma to fossil fuel industries, even in times of crisis. A spokesperson for Shearman & Sterling said that the briefing referred to in the research makes it clear that states have a duty (and a right) to protect public health and their economy as well as a broad latitude to deal with crises under international law. They also said that Shearman & Sterling acts on behalf of states as well as investors in investment treaty disputes, and has won a number of landmark victories on behalf of states. The firm is also engaged in extensive pro-bono work related to COVID-19 issues. Quinn Emanuel did not reply to our request for comment. The CollegeCentral.com/vaccjobs website makes it both FREE and easy for all employerslarge and small, public and privateto register just once and then post an unlimited number of jobs to Virginias's community college students and alumni! This is an extraordinarily useful resource for employers hiring in today's climate, even with temporarily closed or restricted campuses, and students having to return home. Employers posting jobs today can simultaneously reach tens of thousands of job seekers from 10 community colleges, including Central Virginia Community College, Germanna Community College, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, John Tyler Community College, Patrick Henry Community College, Piedmont Virginia Community College, Rappahannock Community College, Southwest Virginia Community College, Thomas Nelson Community College, and Virginia Western Community College. "After employers sign up, the power of the Virginia Community Colleges Jobs Consortium provides them with direct access to our state's job-ready talent. Signing up just once gives an employer unlimited posting opportunities statewide!" stated Sarah Jarrett, Career Services Coordinator at Central Virginia Community College. "The Consortium is straight-forward: Virginia's employers need more workers and the Consortium's member colleges' students are career-ready to meet the demand. The Consortium connects opportunities for skilled students with employers and simplifies the in-state hiring process," Jarrett continued. According to Andre Luck, Career Services Manager at Piedmont Virginia Community College, "We are extremely pleased that services are free to all employers. Many other college job boards charge or solicit employers for fees." Luck added, "Employers generally post jobs based upon their proximity to the nearest community colleges. With the Consortium, employers can easily extend their reach. Now, one posting can go statewide or to any combination of regional Virginia community colleges. It's versatile, streamlined, and expected to increase employment opportunities for all state community colleges." As Marie Hawley, Coordinator, Career & Transfer Services, Germanna Community College said, "Of the many job boards in America, the Virginia Community Colleges Jobs Consortium stands out. There is no dilution of our State's jobs, because our State jobs are separate from any national jobs database. Virginia opportunities remain front and center, focused on both the state's unique workforce needs and Virginia-educated students." "Employers who post to the Consortium are specifically looking to hire students and alumni who want to work in Virginia," said Robin Beale, Career Counselor at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College. "With the vast majority of our community college graduates accepting offers in the state, that makes this a workforce win-win." Shonny Cooke, Career Services Manager at Virginia Western Community College added, "We lose Virginia college graduates who are often hired by out-of- state employers and relocate out of state. By sharing a common goalthat is, match Virginia's employers with local Virginia college talentour combined 10 Consortium community colleges both retain and grow our state's workforce!" With 23 colleges on 40 campuses across the Commonwealth, Virginia's Community Colleges offer employers access to the state's emerging, job-ready talent and to many nearby campuses. 47% of Virginia's undergraduate college students are enrolled at a Virginia community colleges and 228,135 students earn community colleges credits each year.* According to Joy Miller, CCN's Career Services Central National Sales Manager, "The Consortium is launching, and at a time when employers need to target timely job postings in response to COVID-19; organizations are looking to hire college students and alumni willing and able to jump in to meet their state's, region's, or city's specific hiring conditions. Virginia's community colleges are well positioned to help their State's economy rebound fast and to quickly fill the State's hiring needs in an era of rapid economic and technological change." CCN's Career Services Central is the exclusive online career office management platform for career centers at all schools participating in the Consortium. Joy Miller sums it up: "Community colleges can have a greater impact on the state's economy by removing as many barriers as possible, simplifying the process and allowing employers to easily recruit the state's home-grown entry-level talent. The Virginia Community Colleges Jobs Consortium website does exactly that. "CCN makes job posting free for all employers. It centralizes the task, so recruiters post just once to reach all Virginia Consortium members' community college talent. These graduates have the skills. They are ready and eager to move directly into the local workforce. And they are who today's employers are looking for." * "Let's Get Down to the Numbers," accessed May 15, 2020, https://www.vccs.edu/about/#statistics. About College Central Network Founded in 1997, College Central Network (CCN) has over 22 years of experience connecting employers with qualified emerging talent candidates. More than one million employers have already registered to utilize the Network to post jobs and recruit students and alumni for entry-level jobs. CollegeCentral.com is absolutely free for any student enrolled at a U.S. college; alumnus/a of a U.S. college; community resident taking classes at a U.S. college; or student attending one of our partner high schools. To learn more, visit: CollegeCentral.com. About Career Services Central Career Services Central (CSC) is CCN's intuitive and affordable career office management platform that works on any device and is trusted by hundreds of institutions and organizations across the U.S. Thousands of career professionals use CSC daily to manage the entire career process for students, alumni, and community residents attending CSC-powered institutions, including appointments, career advice and job searching, resumes, career portfolios, experiential learning, on-campus recruiting, career events, and job fairs. To learn more, visit: CareerServicesCentral.com. CONTACT: Barbara Anderson 800-442-3614 [email protected] SOURCE College Central Network, Inc. Related Links http://www.collegecentral.com [May 19, 2020] Growatt reaffirms its commitment to boost the photovoltaic industry in Latin America by presenting a new range of residential, commercial and industrial solutions MEXICO CITY, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The photovoltaic industry market in Mexico and Latin America has seen a reduction in recent months due to the coronavirus pandemic; the distributed generation market has not stopped entirely despite showing a reduction and the number of installations is expected to grow in June. To seize the opportunity of installation rebound, Growatt looks to increase its presence in these markets by presenting a new range of residential, commercial and industrial solutions. New solutions for Latin America For residential inverters, Growatt presents 2 new lines, the MIC series that ranges from 750W to 3kW and the MIN series from 2.5kW to 6kW. Both focuses on having a great influence since the residential market is expected to be the first to recover. For commercial projects Growatt has designed the 15-36kW MAC XL series specifically for markets such as Mexico and Colombia, which use voltages of 220V and 208V in commercial instalations. For larger projects, the company has designed the MAC LV / MV series with a power between 50kW and 70kW for installations at three-phase 480V. For markets such as Brazil, Argentina and Chile they launch the MAX series with 60-80kW power for C&I projects. Furthermore, Growatt completes its range of solutions with off-grid and hybrid inverters; in such a way, it seeks to promote distributed generation with a wide range of solutions in which more users may be interested. Facing the challenges of social distancing Growatt also presents various monitoring solutions that allow flexibility for any project. Given the situation of social distancing required by governments, Growatt intends to promote the sales of its monitoring solutions, since, thanks to its advanced monitoring platform, it is possible to remotely have control of the parameters of the inverters and precise monitoring of the system. This will help maintain social distancing measures, since the need for site visits to solve possible problems is reduced by up to 60%. Confidence in the Latin American market Although the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the solar industry, Growatt maintains its confidence in the Latin American market and is determined to promote the development of solar energy and contribute to the transition to clean energy in this region. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/growatt-reaffirms-its-commitment-to-boost-the-photovoltaic-industry-in-latin-america-by-presenting-a-new-range-of-residential-commercial-and-industrial-solutions-301061547.html SOURCE Growatt [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Emerging viral diseases causing serious issues in west Africa In a new study, researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus call attention to the emergence of mosquito-borne viral outbreaks in West Africa, such as dengue (DENV), chikungunya (CHIKV) and Zika (ZIKV) viruses. The findings are published in the current issue of Acta Tropica. "Emerging viruses are at the forefront of everyone's attention due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has underscored the importance of preparing for and preventing large viral outbreaks that can have massive public health and economic consequences," said lead researcher Andrea Buchwald, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Colorado School of Public Health. Buchwald adds, "We hope our research will prompt the development of early warning systems and adoption of control measures to prevent infectious outbreaks in West Africa. This will greatly impact the spread and severity of future outbreaks." The researchers reviewed 50 years of literature on arboviruses in West Africa to evaluate evidence of DENV, ZIKV and CHIKV and the distribution of their Aedes mosquito vectors in the region. This research delivers updates to previous estimates made, providing a current, region-specific synthesis of this rapidly evolving public health challenge. "Large arboviral outbreaks will occur around the world. It is merely a question of where and when. Building awareness and surveillance capacity before the outbreaks occur can help detect outbreaks early and enable prompt and effective response to reduce health impacts," said Elizabeth Carlton, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at the Colorado School of Public Health and co-author of the study. The researchers found that there is strong evidence that transmission of arboviral diseases including CHIKV, ZIKV and DENV is occurring in urban areas of West Africa and that the nature of transmission is distinct from the rural transmission of yellow fever virus that has historically been present in the region. The findings also provide evidence that the epidemiology of arboviral disease in West Africa has shifted and rapid urbanization and climate change have the potential to increase the risk of outbreaks in the future. Carlton adds, "Our study shows how urbanization and climate change can impact mosquito-borne virus transmission in West Africa. However, it also highlights the need for steps to be taken in the region to fill critical information gaps so that we can better define the spatial and temporal patterns of arboviral disease risk." The researchers outline some steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of major outbreaks, such as building testing capacity, investing in surveillance and implementing mosquito control measures. ### Researchers at the University of Ghana contributed to this study. About the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative science, medicine, education, and patient care. The campus encompasses the University of Colorado health professional schools, more than 60 centers and institutes, and two nationally ranked independent hospitals that treat more than 2 million adult and pediatric patients each year. Innovative, interconnected and highly collaborative, together we deliver life-changing treatments, patient care, professional training, and conduct world-renowned research. For more information, visit http://www. cuanschutz. edu . This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. MONROE, La., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CenturyLink, a provider of high-speed internet service to communities across the country, has expanded its fiber network in many parts of the U.S., and plans to continue this growth by bringing faster internet speeds to additional homes and businesses in several cities. Residential and Small Business Connectivity Through various fiber builds, CenturyLink enabled an estimated 300,000 additional homes and small businesses with faster internet speeds in 2019, including the delivery of gigabit speeds in certain portions of Boulder, Colo., Spokane, Wash., and Tucson, Ariz. CenturyLink plans on continuing its fiber construction projects and expects to bring gigabit speeds to an estimated 400,000 additional homes and small businesses in certain areas of several cities, including: Denver, Colo. Idaho Falls, Idaho Omaha, Neb. Phoenix, Ariz. Pocatello, Idaho Portland, Ore. Salt Lake City Seattle, Wash. Spokane, Wash. Springfield, Mo. "As we change the way we learn and work right now in the U.S., CenturyLink sees, more than ever, the importance of reliable high-speed internet access," said Maxine Moreau, CenturyLink president of consumer markets. "We expect to continue building and expanding fiber to provide those essential connections to families and businesses. We strive to make our services more accessible, more affordable and less complicated, and we're committed to connecting customers to the things that matter most." Businesses use Increased Data and Network Capacity Enterprise businesses also benefit from the data capacity fiber provides. CenturyLink recently expanded its network infrastructure in eight cities across the U.S., connecting large technology corporations, start-ups and data centers to its robust fiber network. These expansions were completed in: Foster City, Calif. Hillsboro, Ore. Mesa, Ariz. Midland, Texas Milpitas, Calif. Palo Alto, Calif. Franklin, Tenn. Troy, Mich. In 2019 CenturyLink connected an estimated 18,000 additional buildings to its scalable global network. "We understand the importance of a secure and reliable network that delivers faster connections and the capacity enterprise companies need to keep up with increasing business demands," said Ed Morche, president, strategic enterprise and government markets, CenturyLink. "The network expansions and capital investments we've made reaffirm CenturyLink's commitment to be the trusted connection for businesses needing a robust, secure infrastructure to unlock new opportunities presented by transformative technologies". CenturyLink plans to expand its network infrastructure in 20 additional cities this year to help national and regional enterprise businesses meet the growing demand for high-speed connectivity. About CenturyLink CenturyLink, (NYSE: CTL) is a technology leader delivering hybrid networking, cloud connectivity, and security solutions to customers around the world. Through its extensive global fiber network, CenturyLink provides secure and reliable services to meet the growing digital demands of businesses and consumers. CenturyLink strives to be the trusted connection to the networked world and is focused on delivering technology that enhances the customer experience. Learn more at https://news.centurylink.com Forward Looking Statements Except for historical and factual information, the matters set forth in this release and other of our oral or written statements identified by words such as "estimates," "will," "should," "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "plans," "intends," and similar expressions are forward-looking statements as defined by the federal securities laws, and are subject to the "safe harbor" protections thereunder. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are based on current expectations only, and are subject to various uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those anticipated by us in those statements. We may change our intentions or plans discussed in our forward-looking statements without notice at any time and for any reason. SOURCE CenturyLink Inc. Related Links http://news.centurylink.com World Should Take 'Declining Power' Russia 'More Seriously,' Says Political Analyst Nye By Dragan Stavljanin May 18, 2020 One of the most vocal champions of global "interdependence" in international affairs, Joseph Nye, has warned that the United States and the world should take Russia "much more seriously." Nye, a political scientist whose influence helped shape Western thought in the latter stages of the Cold War, also downplayed the notion that Europe might be eager to significantly boost ties to Russia or China at the expense of transatlantic relations. "I think that basically, the Europeans are not that attracted to China, and I think the Europeans also still have a fear about Russia," Nye, former dean at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, told RFE/RL's Balkan Service in a wide-ranging interview on May 11. "Sure, Europe is in the center of a struggle between outside countries, but I don't see it as anything close to resembling the situation in the 1950s, for example." On international influence in light of the current global coronavirus pandemic and the current U.S. administration's "America first" agenda, Nye stressed obstacles to Russian leadership on the issue and said he saw no "relative change" in the U.S.-Chinese balance. One of the fathers of neoliberalism in foreign affairs in the 1970s, Nye is a longtime advocate of "interdependence" on the international stage. His ideas have been seen as something akin to organizing foreign-policy principles under several Democratic presidential administrations, and often run counter to neorealism, which emphasizes the role of a country's military power to accomplish goals abroad. Nye has been a harsh critic of U.S. President Donald Trump. He coined the term "smart power" a decade ago to argue for a greater reliance on accurate information and cultural and political arguments to complement military strength to achieve foreign policy goals. Nye told RFE/RL he believed "American soft power has declined" since 2015, when he famously asked in the title of a book, Is The American Century Over? Declining, Dangerous But he argued that people in Poland or other Central European countries will tell you they could not imagine being in an alliance with Russia. Nye cited continued European support for U.S. engagement and NATO presence, for instance. But added that Russia cannot be ignored. "I think Russia has to be taken very seriously," Nye said. He called Russia a "declining state" by virtue of its annual loss of around 750,000 people from its workforce in recent years and its failure "to adapt its economy to a modern-technology economy as opposed to an energy-based economy." But it is still a vast country with "talented people" and a nuclear arsenal, he added. "After all, sometimes it is declining countries which are the most dangerous, because they're the most willing to take risks," Nye said. "So Russia should not fall below the radar; it's something we should take much more seriously." The West's relations with Moscow have been tested by Russia's military ventures -- foremost among them its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine -- but also its ongoing suppression of peaceful dissenters and other perceived rights abuses, and suspected Russian assassinations and attempted killings in Europe, including fresh accusations that a Russian intelligence agent was recently dispatched to Prague with the poison ricin. EU's Issues Internal, Not External Meanwhile, China has funneled increased investment and lending to Europe, including particularly to aspiring European Union members in the Balkans, and has waged a publicity campaign alongside donations and sales of medical supplies as Europe battled the coronavirus that emerged from central China and has infected 4.8 million people worldwide and killed more than 315,000 as of May 17. Asked about recent Russian and Chinese efforts to increase their influence in Europe, Nye downplayed the idea that the EU was torn over its affinities. Energy pipeline politics and divisions over the use of Chinese technology like Huawei's 5G equipment "are not the kind of issues that will break Europe apart." "I worry more about Europe's own responses to the coronavirus," he said, citing differences over financing of COVID-19 recovery efforts. Nye suggested that perceived internal disparities pose a greater threat to the EU than any maneuvering by outside powers. "I hope that the Europeans will find ways to set up a COVID recovery fund and have economic assistance to the countries [in Europe] that are having more difficulties, and out of this you try to get a stronger Europe," he said. "That's the area that worries me more than the competition between the Russians, and the Chinese, and the Americans." Meanwhile, Nye said, "The Chinese have been trying to use economic advances to have more influence in Europe...look at the European responses to the Chinese soft-power initiative about the pandemic. They haven't bought very much of the Chinese propaganda line." 'Cooperative Rivalry' In the wake of an agreed trade deal to break out of a yearslong trade war with China, the Trump administration has accused Chinese officials of obfuscations and lies that have contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic -- if not flat-out caused it, since they have suggested the deadly new coronavirus was perhaps released from a lab in Wuhan. That has raised the specter of an impasse in bilateral relations that could block virtually all cooperation between the world's top economic powers. Nye accused both China and the United States of engaging in "denial" and "blame-shifting" since the coronavirus pandemic began, citing perceived blows to both countries' "soft power" as well as their economies. But he said he hadn't sensed any "relative change" in their global influence. Nye argued that Washington and Beijing "need to cooperate," for example, on issues like the pandemic and climate change. He described those as issues of "ecological globalization" that will continue despite reduced "economic globalization." "The U.S. and China can't cope with those issues alone," he said. "So I think we're going to see a mixed situation of, instead of a new Cold War I think you're going to see what I call a cooperative rivalry -- there'll be some areas where there will be rivalry and some areas where there will have to be cooperation." He cited "very deep differences" between those two countries including territorial issues like Taiwan and "ideological disagreements" like the punishment of dissidents and the forced internment of hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs, a Muslim minority, in western China. But he rejected talk of any 1950s-style, U.S.-Soviet Cold War, this time between Beijing and Washington. "I think what you're going to see in the U.S.-China relations is a selective decoupling but not a total decoupling," he said. Nye and fellow American academic Robert Keohane co-founded the neoliberalist theory of foreign affairs four decades ago, arguing that while military might and balance of power remained important, international relations were being increasingly transformed by a "complex interdependence" that made cooperation more likely. Nye has warned of an overreliance on military superiority and argued for a strategy of "smart power" that combined "co-optive" or "soft power" (a term that he coined in the late 1980s) and military strength as a path to international influence. Written by Andy Heil based on an interview by Dragan Stavljanin Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-plans -to-move-ahead-on-second-gas- pipeline-to-china/30619347.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address GALVESTON, Texas Two men were shot when a man fired into a group of people during a Texas event, a police official said. The shooting happened Saturday during Jeep Weekend on Crystal Beach in Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said. It is an annual event for Jeep enthusiasts. A group of men started fighting and it transferred over to females fighting, Trochesset said. When the women were fighting, a husky male discharged a firearm. Trochesset added that the injured men were airlifted to the University of Texas Medical Branch for surgery on Sunday. Their condition was not immediately known. No arrests were made following the shooting, but the investigation remains ongoing. Trochesset said more than a 100 people were jailed for unrelated crimes by Sunday morning. Most of the arrests were for misdemeanor crimes, including driving while intoxicated, according to police records. Crystal Beach residents started an online petition to end Jeep Weekend after 113 people were arrested last year. But the event was still promoted on some community event calendars. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas General Land Office reopened beaches on May 1 after they were closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. But many Democrats and public health experts warn that reopening the state too soon could cost lives. But Republicans support opening businesses and public areas. Joey Roy and his girlfriend Aloha Flake visited Crystal Beach this past weekend. We take precautions and of course, were safe but at the same time, we gotta live, 46-year-old Roy said. This is our right. This is why we live here. This is why America is great. INDIANAPOLIS Marilyn Wideman, dean of the School of Nursing for Purdue University Global, has announced her retirement, effective May 29. Melissa Burdi, associate dean of undergraduate programs, has been elevated to replace Wideman, effective June 1. When I first met Marilyn, I was immediately impressed by her personal warmth, combined with her professionalism and commitment to Purdue Global, Purdue Global Chancellor Frank Dooley said. We are grateful for Marilyns service to the School of Nursing and as a Purdue Global leader. The work she accomplished will continue to benefit our students, which is ever so important during these challenging times, especially for health care professionals. Marilyn has laid the important groundwork for us to forge ahead as educators. A nurse for 45 years, Wideman served Purdue Global for five years, initially as associate dean of online nursing programs before being promoted to dean. I have enjoyed my tenure at Purdue University Global and feel honored to have been part of such a dynamic nursing faculty and leadership team, Wideman said. The last few years have been full of change within our programs to move the School of Nursing forward. The work and support of the faculty were key to executing and realizing these changes. I thank everyone for that and for their dedication to our students. Realizing the importance of accreditation, Wideman rewrote the design of the masters nursing education program as her first major project. The result was a 10-year full accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education for the Master of Science in Nursing program. Additionally, Wideman moved all the pre-licensure programs under the School of Nursing, which resulted in a more integrated program flow and a stronger academic experience for students. It also optimized scheduling and faculty assignments against their experience and credentials. Wideman brought together various groups within the School of Nursing to execute a multifaceted plan to improve National Council Licensure Examination scores. NCLEX is the test that pre-licensure students take to become a licensed nurse. Purdue Global student scores are now consistently above the NCLEX national average. One of the goals for this work was that students take their exam within 10 weeks of graduation, and now nearly 100% are doing so. Furthermore, Wideman took an innovative approach to creating new programs, such as the two-step Bachelor of Science in Nursing, in which students take bachelor-level courses as part of the associate nursing degree program. This allows students to complete their BSN degree in less time. As one of the only universities to offer this program, Purdue Global has been able to save students money and get them to their degree and employment much faster. Additionally, Wideman worked with Jeffrey Buck, dean of the School of Business and IT, to offer a joint Master of Science in Nursing and Master of Business Administration. She also supervised the development and launch of a MSN nurse practitioner specialty in adult-gerontology acute care. Another new nurse practitioner specialty program for psychiatric-mental health nursing is awaiting final approvals. Burdi, who joined Purdue Global in October 2018, now will lead the strategic efforts of the School of Nursing with a strong commitment to innovation, growth and quality. She will further explore ways to differentiate and serve students, making Purdue Global an industry leader for nursing academia. It is an honor and a privilege to carry on the work that Marilyn has started, Burdi said. My partnership with her and the strategic initiatives she has outlined for the school will only further our success. Marilyn was a transformational leader who had a gift to be able to relate to both our team and students. She pushed us to be the best versions of ourselves. We have embraced the opportunity to address a significant amount of positive disruption as a result of recent pandemic events and will continue to respond to this evolving landscape with agility and speed. Creating an exceptional experience and positioning our students for success in meeting their goals remains our top priority. Before joining Purdue Global, Burdi was the national director of academic operations at Chamberlain University, where she provided leadership to university-wide operational and academic quality-related initiatives. Over the course of her career, Burdi has provided senior-level leadership in the academic arena, leading both DNP and RNBSN programs in the patient care setting across numerous health care systems. She has been a leader in quality, professional development and cardiac care, driving patient safety, high reliability and accreditation initiatives. Burdi is a member of the National League for Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Most recently she was appointed a Nursing Fellow with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. She serves as a peer reviewer for a professional nursing journal. Burdi earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Chamberlain University, a Master of Science degree in nursing administration and leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Rush University. Her areas of expertise are in leadership development, nursing mentorship and process improvement. She holds Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification, as well as certificates in nursing leadership and administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Leading Innovative Change from the University of California, Berkeley, Executive Education. About Purdue University Global Purdue University Global is the extreme personalization online university, providing students the competitive edge to advance in their chosen careers. It offers a hyper-tailored path for students to earn an associate, bachelors, masters or doctoral degree, based on their work experience, desired pace, military service, previous college credits and other considerations no matter where they are in their life journey. Purdue Global serves more than 31,000 students (as of March 2020), most of whom earn their degree online. It also operates several regional locations nationwide. Purdue Global is a nonprofit, public university accredited by The Higher Learning Commission. It is affiliated with Purdue Universitys flagship institution, a highly ranked public research university located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue University also operates two regional campuses in Fort Wayne and Northwest, Indiana, as well as serving close to 6,000 science, engineering and technology students at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus. For more information, please visit purdueglobal.edu. Media Contact: Tom Schott, 765-494-9318, tschott@purdue.edu Sources: Frank Dooley, frank.dooley@purdueglobal.edu Marilyn Wideman, marilyn.wideman@purdueglobal.edu Melissa Burdi, melissa.burdi@purdueglobal.edu Note to Journalists: Photos of Marilyn Wideman and Melissa Burdi are available on Google Drive. Doctors at St John's Medical College and Hospital is the lack of safety gear-- PPE kits, the fear of running out of N95 masks and gloves and the disproportionate distribution of the kits, masks and gloves by the government. Editor's note: This series will focus on the difficulties faced by the medical fraternity at COVID-19 hospitals, their duty hours, access to protective gear, facilities they get during quarantine, how are their families coping with this new reality across different states in the country. This is the tenth part of the series. *** The fervent hope of Dr Bhuvana Krishna, professor and head, Department of Critical Care at St John's Medical College Hospital, Bangalore is for normalcy. The normalcy of what she terms as the hustle-bustle of the ICU pecked now and then by emergencies. And in the midst of this hope is the day the doctors, nurses and the paramedical staff can walk in their normal clothes, donning just their overcoats and working unarmoured. There is poignancy in the way the doctor describes her life and of her team members at the hospital. Early February, the hospital had begun preparations to deal with the growing pandemic. She recalls how the world changed for them swiftly with the arrival of coronavirus suspect case into the COVID-ICU on 21 March. Now that date and month seem like an aeon as time since then has been rapidly folding in on itself with healthcare professionals continuously caring for COVID-19 cases, suspects, and nothing else. Krishna listed a slew of missed familiar routineno classes, no lunchtime gossip, coffee lounge moved into a small room where no more than four can sit and hungrily gobble the bun dipped in sugary warm water. Then there is the oft-said and borne pressures of wearing the Personal Protective (PPE) kit. Enduring physical discomfort from tight, well-fitting PPEs, to ignoring hunger, thirst and natures call, in an effort to save precious PPE. Long days with no weekend offs makes one struggle to maintain sanity within and outside, Krishna said. Assisting doctors in patient care are nurses who fear not being able to do enough for their patients. A full PPE which they have never used before, includes one or more gowns or coveralls, head coverings, masks, goggles, gloves, shoe covers, and face shields. Once anyone gets into a PPE, it's hard to hear, and unbearably hot, said Dr Manu Varma MK of the Department of Critical Care. He said the summer heat can make one feel the sweat pouring down the back. Looking after COVID-19 patients is physically demanding work and he related what nurses had told him of their experiences. The goggles fog with every breath, all sense organs are blurred. One finds it difficult to feel the cold peripheries of a patient, cannot see the numbers on infusion pumps and monitors easily; writing with a pen is no more fluent and distinguishing the look-alike drugs is difficult. Whats worse for the hard-working nurses is to hope they don't feel the urge to sip water or take a toilet break during the 7-hour shift. A lack of hygiene would transmit fomites from COVID-19 confirmed patient to a suspect, Manu Varma MK said. Doctors recalled how they were caught off-guard when the first COVID-19 suspect walked into the hospital. St Johns first COVID-19 suspect case was a Chinese national from Wuhan. I clumsily wore my PPE kit. I wasnt still adept at it as we had just started practicing how to don and doff it, said Dr Sanjiv Lewin, Chief of Medical Services, the first contact doctor. The Chinese national asked me for directions to the centre he had to go for tests and gave me his phone so I could pinpoint the place on Google Maps. I had taken off my gloves by then. I took the phone from the COVID-19 suspect and gave him directions on the map. After I returned the phone, I realised the seriousness of what I had done. I self-quarantined myself and prayed for my well-being as I was terrified of infecting my family and colleagues. I had a big smile the day the period ended without any complications, said Lewin. St Johns is proud of how the 1,350-bed hospital with over 800 doctors and 1,000 nurses prepped themselves to meet with the outbreak of coronavirus when patients--COVID-19 positive and the suspects--trooped in and more importantly segregated their care while continuing to provide treatment to non-COVID patients. A charitable tertiary care hospital attached to a private medical college since 1963, St John's hospital mainly caters to the middle class and poor, especially rural and the underserved population. The most crucial gear for healthcare professionals--the PPE kits are in a short supply at the hospital since the outbreak of coronavirus. This meant the hospital could not afford isolated individual rooms for COVID-19 patients. Lewin said, We have no isolation individual rooms but 90-beds are distributed as cohort isolation wards. We also have to segregate the Acute Respiratory Illness patients who are susceptible as they have lung issues, and have triages with segregated areas for care never mixing the two. What makes Levin furious is the lack of PPE kits, the fear of running out of quality masks, gloves, gowns and the challenges of disproportionate distribution of these important gear by distributors -- government and private. He said over 80 percent of healthcare in Bengaluru is taken care of by the private sector with many hospitals charging exorbitant fees for their services even during prevailing challenging circumstances. The poor and the middle class cannot go to these corporate style care hospitals, and the government hospitals are blocked for COVID-related patients, Lewin said. Access to government-private supplies of kits, etc., for COVID-19 appears to be disproportionately distributed to these hospitals who do not have full-blown COVID-19 cases. It is not uncommon for many of these to say they do not have space and thus turn away SARISevere Acute Respiratory Illness patients that end up in hospitals like ours with no warning or referrals, thus risking manpower further," he said. So far, St John's Hospital has screened over 831 patients as on 16 May, swabbed 351 and have had four COVID-19 positive patients so far. "I have hardly enough kits and masks to last me for the next three weeks and it is being monitored on a daily basis, Lewin said. The hospital has had one coronvirus-related death and that was due to other complications of an underlying heart infection and also because the patient was diabetic. A patient was on the ventilator for three weeks and the bill was Rs 6 lakh. But he refused to pay and just left. What do we do with them? How does one sustain operations in these circumstances? Lewin asked. The revenues of the hospital are linked to footfalls and occupancy which has gone down to 29 percent since the outbreak of COVID-19. Average outpatient footfalls pre-COVID-19 would be 2,400 patients per day and occupancy wast 80 percent. Since the hospital started treating COVID-19 cases and suspects, the number of patients have gone down. With 39 percent occupancy and massive drop in patients to less than 500-1,000 outpatients per day, 'naturally income and revenues just dont match', Levin said. We havent even hiked our charges, he added. Levin said the hospital has been actively participating in government efforts to contain the epidemic, but yet its pleas for access to quality, affordable, rate-controlled PPE-like kits have been unsuccessful so far in spite of inspections of its facilities. He said that he has attended every meeting and had written to authorities for supplies (PPE kits, masks, etc). We are admitting patients that other hospitals refuse. Since 10 February, we have not received a single surgical mask. We have a responsibility to serve, but our healthcare workers must be protected to enable the continuation of all services, he said. When sanitisers ran out at the hospital, its biochemists came up with one. The hospital has recently started a laundry and tailoring unit to make masks and PPE kits. Lewin said the hospital has no alternative than to make them as prices for these items have gone up. In normal times a three-ply mask would be a available for Rs 1.40, but now its price is Rs 12 to Rs 14. The pandemic is bound to change medical practice going forward, cautioned Lewin. The gross inadequacies of the health budget and the fear of endangering health workers will take its toll, he said. Illness versus public health There is another group of people who are angry at the way COVID-19 has been allowed to gather fear and lead to panic and in extreme cases, violence. Public health specialists are angry that the government hasnt done much to focus on the Panchayats or work itself from bottom-up to create awareness. Public health is about prevention of disease and hygiene, they said. What has COVID-19 got to do with medicine? There is no medicine as such for it now. COVID-19 is a public health concern, said Prasanna Saligram, a public health and community health researcher with Jana Swasthya Abhiyan Karnataka. The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) was formed in 2001, with the coming together of 18 national networks that had organised activities across the country in the lead up to the First Global Peoples Health Assembly, in Dhaka in December 2000. The JSA forms the Indian regional circle of the global Peoples Health Movement (PHM). At present, it is the major national platform that co-ordinates activities and actions on health and healthcare across the country. Saligram said, Public health is ignored. The medical fraternity can do little to treat COVID-19. So what should people do then? It is important to create awareness. Fear and stigma is triggering attacks on healthcare works, Saligram said. Talking to Firstpost, another public health specialist raised the issue of the recorded messages cautioning the caller when he/she makes a call. What does this constant messaging do to the listener besides increasing their angst? What about those who are not literate and struggling--without being able to work, and have to take care of their families? This constant messaging is going to create fear. The government has not factored in, feels Saligram the different strata of society in its one-message-fits-all communication regarding prevention of spread of COVID-19. "When you ask people to wash their hands to protect themselves, is that possible for a section of society for whom water is a scarce commodity," he asked. For the many others who have to depend on tankers or on public resourceswhat does this constant washing of hands mean to them? The other thing that is spoken of in the government's communication is social distancingisnt this akin to Brahmanisation where the dominant caste has been trampled upon and kept at a distance since ages in India? The word to use would be physical distancing instead, he said. But physical distancing is an impossible task for someone living in an 8x10 room with other family members. So what would Saligram suggest? He said that the state governments in India should follow the Kerala government model. Kerala activated its Panchayats. Decentralise power and give authority to those organisations that know the pulse of the people. Kerala is not looking at the Centre to take care of the health of its people, he said. Healthcare professionals suggest three fundamental things that should be followed: Testing, contact tracing and more tests. Test every citizen, they said. Those with other health complicationsheart, kidney, cardiovascular, among others are more susceptible to COVID-19. The virus does not kill directly but it can attack any part of the body which is susceptible and then the illness become COVID-19-related. Saligram said, hardly 2-5 percent of the population has had COVID-19 but the rest of the population has been shut indoors due to the government announced lockdown measures. He suggested the government identify hotspots and not allow people to enter these places. Let the rest of the population to move out, Saligram said. For the large majority that do not have access to water, soaps and sanitizers, soap bins for communities would work well. There should be an awareness created instead of fear as is being felt by most people now, said Saligram. Write messages with photographs/drawings on walls from the village-level so that people can understand the symptoms of the pandemic and be able to protect themselves. Stage street plays to create awareness about safety and prevention of the illness, he said. The government has perhaps not realised the mental havoc it has created with lockdowns and the COVID-19 se bach ke rehna messages, said Saligram. The government has not been able to provide adequate protective gear to healthcare professionals It has also not been able to transmit the message to the public in a manner that citizens are not alarmed. The lockdown has kept the public reined in and that has mental consequences, said mental health experts. Unlike Kerala which has become a model for critical care and prevention of COVID-19, the success of that state has not been replicated any where else in the country. The government has thus exposed the underbelly of the inadequate medical system that it runs. Bengaluru, May 19 : Three people succumbed to Covid-19 in Karnataka and 149 new positive cases, the highest single-day rise, have raised the state's tally to 1,395, according to an official, here on Tuesday. "Positive case 1,185, 61-year-old male patient, resident of Ballari, died on Tuesday at a designated hospital. Tested positive for Covid-19," the health official said. The deceased had a travel history to Bengaluru, suffered from Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) and was also a known case of IHD with a recent cardiac surgery. It was Karnataka's 38th Covid-19 death and Ballari's first. Ballari is 313 km north of Bengaluru. A 65-year-old man from Vijayapura died of Covid-19 on Monday. "Positive case 1,291, known case of HTN, DM and IHD was brought dead on Monday to a designated hospital in Vijayapura. Tested positive for Covid-19," said the official. It was Karnataka's 39th Covid death and Vijayapura's fourth. Vijayapura is 505 km north of Bengaluru. Similarly, a 54-year-old man from the city succumbed to the virus on Monday. "Positive case 1,364, known case of IHD was admitted in a private hospital, Bengaluru, and died on Monday. Tested positive for Covid-19," said the official. This was Karnataka's 40th Covid-19 death and Bengaluru Urban's eighth. Meanwhile, cases shot up by 149 in the state with spikes in Davangere, Kalaburagi, Mandya and Shivamogga among others. Nowadays, Karnataka is regularly posting the highest single-day rises, beating earlier maximums. Of the 1,395 new cases, 811 are active, 543 discharges and 40 deaths. Until Tuesday, 1.58 lakh samples were tested, of which 1.56 lakh tested negative. Of all the new cases on Tuesday, Mandya contributed 71, followed by Davangere (20), Shivamogga (12), Kalaburagi (13), Bengaluru Urban (6), Chikkamagaluru and Bagalkote (5 each), Udupi and Uttara Kannada (4 each), Hassan (3) and Yadagiri, Vijayapura, Gadag, Bidar, Raichur and Chitradurga (one each). Of this, 30 were contacts of earlier cases and 117 had inter-state travel history, majority to Mumbai, Maharashtra, India's Covid-19 epicentre. Incidentally, new infections in the state are emanating more from inter-state travel history than contact history since a few days. A 17-year-old girl from Chitradurga is suffering from SARI and a 32-year-old man from Bengaluru Urban is diagnosed with Influenza Like Illness. Among the new cases, 82 are men and 67 women of all age groups. Meanwhile, green zones in the state plummeted to three: Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara and Chamarajanagara. Five top cities in Karnataka with respect to active cases are Mandya (139), Bengaluru Urban (114), Davangere (106), Kalaburagi (65) and Belagavi (51). With 71 new cases, Mandya replaced Bengaluru Urban as the leading Covid-19 hotspot of Karnataka overnight. Of the 40 deaths, Bengaluru Urban accounted for eight, Kalaburagi (7), Dakshina Kannada (5) and Davangere and Vijayapura (4 each), while the remaining were reported from other districts. Among the 1,395 cases, 10 per cent patients were senior citizens, 64 per cent men and 36 per cent women with a discharge rate of 39 per cent. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Several confirmed tornadoes struck the rural Acadiana region of Louisiana on May 17, injuring a number of people and causing the death of one man. According to ABC 13, the man who died was in his mobile home as it was lifted onto a highway by the storm in Church Point, Louisiana. The town of Mamou, 30 miles away, was also hit by a suspected tornado, with footage of the weather event caught on camera by local woman Jessica Rodriguez Foret. Mamou Mayor Ricky Fontenot told local media that while there was some structural damage to the town, no injuries had been reported. Credit: Jessica Foret via Storyful Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, May 19, 2020 Iraq authorities should conduct a transparent and speedy investigation into the ransacking of the Baghdad office of the Saudi broadcaster MBC and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Yesterday, dozens of protesters stormed and the Baghdad office of the Middle East Broadcasting Center, a Saudi state-funded broadcaster, resulting in severe damage to the outlets studios and offices, but no injuries, according to a statement by MBC, news reports, and tweets from the office by MBC host Malek al-Rogui. According to those reports, the attackers stormed the office after MBC aired a program suggesting that Abu Mahdi al-Muhandes, an Iraqi militia leader who was killed in January, had been involved in a terrorist attack in Lebanon in 1981. Iraqi authorities are utterly failing to protect broadcasters and media outlets from attacks by protesters or armed assailants who are taking the law into their own hands, said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Representative Ignacio Miguel Delgado. Iraqi authorities must transparently investigate the storming of the Baghdad office of MBC and do their utmost to ensure journalists and media outlets can do their job safely, regardless of their affiliation or opinions. On May 15, MBC aired a program on Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani, which mentioned that his wife was killed in a 1981 terrorist attack in Beirut, and suggested that al-Muhandes was connected to the attack. Al-Muhandes, who was killed in the U.S. drone strike that also killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, was a leader of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iraqi state-sponsored umbrella group consisting of mainly Shia militias, according to The Associated Press. Following the airing of the show, political parties and organizations affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces including the Sanad Bloc, the Badr Organization, and the Martyrs Foundation issued statements condemning the broadcast and called on Iraqs media regulator, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission, to shut down MBC. The Interior Ministry released a statement yesterday condemning the attack and saying that security forces and the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission were investigating the matter. In October 2019, unidentified assailants raided four broadcasters in Baghdad, stole equipment, and assaulted their employees, CPJ documented at the time. Over 300 terrorists are present in launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok), waiting to infiltrate into the Indian side, Jammu and Kashmir's director general of police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said on Tuesday. He said that there was a high degree of vigilance by the security grid to foil Pakistan's design of pushing terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir. "We have a fairly big number of terrorists who are waiting across that side to be pushed into Jammu and Kashmir. There are already around four incidents of infiltration in Kashmir valley and two to three such attempts have been made in Rajouri-Poonch area," he told PTI in an interview at the police headquarters. Expressing concern over it, DGP said that Pakistan's ISI, Army and other agencies are very active and trained terrorists are ready in launch pads. "The approximate number (of terrorists in launching pads along LoC in PoK) on Kashmir side is 150 to to 200 and on this side (Jammu region), it is between 100 to 125 as per the latest assessment of our agencies", he said. The police chief said that four groups of terrorists have been able to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir "Regarding the International Border (IB), two to three terrorist groups have been able to infiltrate so far during the current year. That kind of notorious act by Pakistan continues," he said. The DGP said that there are reports of infiltration by 30 terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir this year. "On both sides (Jammu and Kashmir regions) put together, the number could be anywhere around 30 this year," Singh said, adding the number of infiltration attempts has gone up. "That is one serious cause of concern for us," he added. Singh said that over 240 terrorists are operating in the hinterland in Jammu and Kashmir. "The number is going down, consistently. We started with a figure of 270 at the beginning of this year. The number today is around 240, which is as per the list of latest figures," he added. He said that the security grid is also taking care of the situation in the hinterland and "we have had a large number of successful operations during the last four months". "We have been able to eliminate 70 plus terrorists so far which includes 21 terror commanders of various outfits. They were active in Kashmir and Jammu region", he added. On the infiltration attempts, he said, "The summer grid is working actively on both sides. I think we will be watching developments very closely." He said that the border grid is quite strong. "People deployed on the borders are able to take care of infiltration. But there are still chances that some of them are able to sneak in with a view to foment trouble here to promote and create terror activities in J & K,@ he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, May 20, 2020 08:56 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd903286 1 Business Indonesia,clean-energy,development,WEF,transition-ranking,fuel-subsidy,coal,oil-price Free Indonesias readiness to shift toward a clean energy economy took another step back last year because of fossil fuel subsidies and faces a monumental hurdle this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Indonesias ranking fell seven places to 70th out of 115 countries surveyed in this years Energy Transition Index (ETI), down from 63rd last year. The index is compiled annually by the World Economic Forum (WEF) think tank, which also described this year as a period of historically unmatched economic instability due to COVID-19. Going forward, the pandemic-led collapse of fuel prices and energy demand further risks Indonesias energy transition unless the government intervenes, WEF told The Jakarta Post. Vijay Singh, WEF project head for the future of energy and materials, said Indonesia's slip in the latest index was mainly driven by setbacks in economic development specifically due to the distortions created by the presence of energy subsidies. The effect of energy subsidies, such as reducing incentives for efficient consumption and being more beneficial for higher-income consumers, are well documented, he said via email. He also said Indonesia had progressed in terms of energy access and stagnated in terms of environmental impact. The latter may change over the years as coal plants continually dominate power production in the growing economy. WEFs index report acknowledges the necessity for governments to prioritize spending on health care, social welfare and business continuity amid the pandemic but also argues that the risks to the future of human civilization from climate change remain. Energy economist Alloysius Joko Purwanto separately said that coal and oil-related subsidies were likely the main contributors to Indonesias energy transition setback. Oil is mainly consumed by the transportation sector and coal by the power sector. Indonesia introduced in January last year a domestic coal price ceiling at US$70 per ton, well below the $90 market price that month. The price cap, which has been extended to this year, is expected to boost domestic coal consumption by 12 percent to 155 million tons in 2020. The government also set this years subsidized fuel quota at 26.87 million kiloliters (kL), up 3 percent from last year, after domestic consumption exceeded last years quota. However, the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) economist said that collapsed oil prices and reallocated spending also presented an opportunity to boost Indonesias energy transition. The WEF holds a similar stance. We can pull out energy subsidies and we can redirect economic stimuli to develop renewable energy, Joko said. Joko also concurred with WEF over Indonesias energy access progress, saying that the governments ongoing 35 gigawatt power plant development program helped bring electricity to many neighborhoods. Indonesias electrification ratio the portion of neighborhoods that can turn on a lightbulb reached a historical high of 98.89 percent last year, even though observers and politicians pointed out that multiple field problems remain. The governments position is to protect the peoples purchasing power and ensure business continuity, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministrys acting oil and gas director general, Ego Syahrial, previously told reporters. The ministrys director general for renewable energy, Sutijastoto, was not available for comment over the WEF report. Solar producer Nick Nurrachman, chairman of the Indonesian Solar Panel Producers Association (APAMSI), said coal-generated cheap electricity had always deterred investment in solar photovoltaics (PV) in Indonesia. The recent oil price crash has further deterred investment. People looked for renewables because oil prices were rising. With oil prices decreasing, demand for renewables, including solar panels, decreases, he said. Woman Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud Sacramento, California - Monica Nunes, 40, of formerly of Rancho Cordova, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, Nunes and her co-defendants, Johnathon Ward and Talalima Toilolo, conspired to defraud financial institutions using a scheme called refund fraud or force post refund fraud. This scheme exploited the merchant refund process used by businesses and retail establishments to pay back customers for returns, reimbursements, and erroneous charges. The defendants posed as merchants and executed fraudulent debit or credit card refunds, which caused the unauthorized transfer of money from a merchant bank account to an account under the defendants control. The defendants committed this scheme by stealing or purchasing point-of-sale (POS) terminals that were used by businesses to process bankcard transactions. The defendants programmed each terminal to make it appear as if it was authorized by a particular merchant, connected the terminals to payment processing intermediaries, and executed refund transactions even though no purchases had been made. The payment processors, falsely believing the terminals were authorized, approved the refunds and caused the merchants banks to transfer funds to the defendants accounts. The defendants then drained the stolen funds from the accounts. The indictment alleges that this scheme caused at least $3.5 million in intended losses. This case is the product of an investigation by the Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) Task Force, which includes investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert J. Artuz is prosecuting the case. Charges are pending against Ward and Toilolo. The charges are only allegations; they are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Nunes is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. on Aug. 6. Nunes faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. Bazaar Corporate Radar | Feb 22, 2021, 12:00 AM IST Bazaar Corporate Radar Bazaar Corporate Radar is your window into the minds of top CEOs, Boardrooms, global economists, fund managers and sector analysts. If it?s making news, you?ll find it on Bazaar Corporate Radar. Many Britons will choose - or be forced - not to holiday abroad this year due to the coronavirus pandemic (Getty Images) Yahoo Lifestyle is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. While Europe slowly eases its lockdowns and returns to a new normal, its clear that for most Britons travelling abroad for a holiday this year is simply unfeasible. In the short-term, this is due to travel restrictions at home and abroad, as well as the imminent commencement of 14-day quarantine period for all those returning to the UK. This means that - for the first time in decades - enjoying a summer staycation looks rather appealing for those desperate for a change of scenery. The Landmark Trust has already reported a surge in bookings - despite overnight stays not being permitted by the government until July 4th at the earliest. Read more: How to turn 24 days of annual leave into 53 in 2021 They note that people are particularly keen to enjoy getaways in July and August at they host of rural, quirky self-catering properties which are sprawled nationwide - with great interest in Scotland and Lundy Island on the Bristol Channel. Like many tourism businesses, they will be reopening following Visit Britains hygiene and cleaning protocols. With such reassurance, it is unsurprising were keen to make the most of the natural beauty on our doorstep - from the Cornish beaches to the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. Here the other best sites to help you book a getaway on British soil... National Trust | Book here Like the Landmark Trust, the charity usually welcome visitors to its hundreds of unique holiday cottages, campsites, bunkhouses and bothies across the UK. They are closed to bookings until June 30th, but hope to welcome guests again from July 1st. Airbnb | Book here The hugely popular home rental firm - which usually gives the option of more than 257,000 properties throughout the British Isles - has restricted UK bookings to essential stays for key workers for the foreseeable future. Story continues In response to the coronavirus they have also tweaked their cancellation policy for guests for bookings between March 14th and June 30th, and they are also introducing a new Enhanced Cleaning Initiative so hosts can keep their properties free of Covid-19. They have found that since the pandemic began, those looking to book a trip nearer home increased from 13% to 30% - so when the site reopens youd better be quick. English Heritage | Book here Another very British institution with a selection of stunning holiday cottages on its roster, located in some of the countrys most picturesque spots. Indeed, as well as all featuring slick, contemporary interiors and are just a stone's throw from an amazing historic castle, country house or abbey. The organisation hopes to resume their holiday operations from July 2nd. The site prides itself on offering quality and handpicked self-catering properties across England, Wales and Scotland. They will begin accepting bookings again from July 4th, and are already promoting getaways for summer 2020 and the October half-term break. Their famous last-minute philosophy might come in handy for UK trips this year - particularly if youre still holding out hope for a foreign jaunt. If you do opt for a staycation, they offer hotels to suit any taste and budget, including both the grand 5-star, stylish boutique and spa retreat varieties. Skyes Cottages | Book here Despite their name, the site connects customers with around 15,000 holiday cottages across the UK. They are accepting bookings that have a check-in date after July 3rd - with a 30% deposit required to secure your stay. Centre Parcs | Book here They have welcomed families on breaks to more than 400 acres of incredible forests for generations - and theyre likely to be more popular than ever with parents and their restless kids in the coming months. While they are taking bookings until December 2021, their holiday villages are currently closed throughout the UK until July 5th (with Longford Forest shut until July 19th) - after which point they hope to reopen as per government guidelines. Canopy & Stars | Book here If youre after a stay with a difference and love nature, this is the glamping and luxury camping site for you. Theyve got an incredible collection of treehouses, yurts, cabins, Gypsy caravans and other outdoor stays around the UK. In line with official guidelines, you wont be able to enjoy a stay before July 4th - however they are already reporting a surge in bookings for summer getaways. Unique Homestays | Book here They offer luxury holidays in stunning self-catered properties throughout the UK - including coastal retreats and country escapes. From May 11th they have been taking provisional bookings for between July 4th and July 16th, with confirmed bookings commencing on July 17th. India has extended the weeks-long lockdown, but relaxed rules in areas with a lower number of cases. Coronavirus cases in India reached 100,000 on Tuesday, a day after the government extended the lockdown even as the rate of increase of new infections showed little sign of slowing. Indias worst affected areas include the financial hub of Mumbai, capital New Delhi, southern state of Tamil Nadu and the western state of Gujarat. The nationwide lockdown, the worlds largest affecting 1.3 billion people, was on Monday extended until the end of May. The pandemic has killed nearly 319,000 people worldwide, with more than 4.8 million confirmed cases, while recoveries have surpassed 1.7 million, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Easing of lockdown On Sunday, the Indian government extended the lockdown yet again, but relaxed rules in areas with lower number of cases and allowed state governments to issue their own guidelines on some matters. Delhi and some state governments ordered the reopening of public transport on Monday in a further easing of a nearly two-month coronavirus shutdown. Under the new rules, buses, taxis and three-wheelers will return to the streets of New Delhi but with restrictions. Buses will not carry more than 20 passengers, each of whom will be screened before boarding, Chief Minister Kejriwal said. Corona[virus] will stay, and we will also survive, Kejriwal said, outlining the new guidelines for the city of 20 million people that has one of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases in the country. Local markets and small businesses reopened and industrial and construction activities resumed across many regions. The southern state of Karnataka, home to technology hub Bengaluru, also lifted some restrictions on the movement of trains, taxis and buses within the state. Transport from outside the state will remain suspended except for essential services. Schools, places of worship, shopping malls, cinemas and gyms must remain closed, and domestic and international air travel will remain suspended, the Ministry of Home Affairs said. But in a bid to ease the economic pain, restaurants will now be allowed to operate for takeaway services. Sport complexes and stadiums are permitted to host events but without spectators. Rising numbers Experts say that coronavirus cases will rise in coming weeks with 4,970 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. Indias number of cases has easily outstripped that of China, where the virus emerged late last year and which has been one of Asias infection hotspots. However, Indias death rate is less than that of some other big countries, at 3 percent, compared with about 6 percent in the United States, where more than 90,000 people have died, and 14 percent in the United Kingdom. China has reported nearly 84,000 cases but has kept its daily rise in new infections to single digits for the past week. In contrast, new cases in India have risen by an average of more than 4,000 a day over the past week, according to a Reuters tally based on official data, despite a severe weeks-long lockdown. Mumbai, the capital of the western state of Maharashtra and epicentre of coronavirus infections in the country, is facing an acute shortage of hospital beds for severely ill patients and is grappling to scale up capacity, officials said on Monday. Mumbai reported 1,185 new infections on Monday, of which nearly 40 were from the Dharavi slum area, taking the number of patients in the city to 21,152, with 757 fatalities. Maharashtra is home to one-third of the total coronavirus cases in the country. We are facing a shortage of hospital beds for critical patients who need oxygen support and intensive care, Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation health officer Mangala Gomare told the DPA news agency. A woman and her baby wait for a bus to take them to a railway station to board a train to their home state of Uttar Pradesh, after a limited reopening of Indias giant rail network [Adnan Abidi/Reuters] Humanitarian crisis Indias strict lockdown has sparked a humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of millions of migrant workers stranded in cities across the country battling hunger and government apathy. With no work and little public transport, many urban migrants attempting to return to their home villages have set out on gruelling journeys on foot or hitched rides in the back of trucks. At least 23 migrants were killed trying to reach their homes on Saturday when a truck carrying them crashed in northern India. Sixteen migrant workers died on May 8 after being struck by a train. They had fallen asleep on the tracks while walking back to their village after losing their jobs in the coronavirus lockdown, police said. We don't have money to eat... It has been over 50 days, we just want to go back now. MD Rustom, Migrant worker Mohammed Javed who worked in Bhiwandi city as an auto-driver was left with no work. On May 11, he set out for his hometown in Uttar Pradesh state a distance of 1,400km (870 miles) on his three-wheeler. Nearly 250km (155 miles) into the trip, his vehicle was hit by a car. The 35-year-old died on the spot, highlighting the humanitarian cost of the lockdown. His wife, Ambareen Javed and her two sons six and eight survived. Ambareens right hand was fractured in the accident. Ambareen said her husband was her only support. They could barely meet their ends with Mohammeds daily earnings of 300-400 Indian rupees ($4-5.3). With no saving and no one else to support her financially, Ambareen has been left to the mercy of benefactors. She told Al Jazeera over the phone that no government official reached out to her. The government should give some compensation so that I can raise my children. I do not know how will I feed my children, Ambareen told Al Jazeera from a Mumbai hospital where she was taken after the accident. In the southern city of Chennai, construction worker MD Rustom queued along with hundreds of others for a bus and train trip back to the eastern state of Bihar, some 2,000km (1,243 miles) away. We dont have money to eat, he said. It has been over 50 days, we just want to go back now. The government has also faced scrutiny for lack of transparency in making health data public. Criticism of govt handling The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticised for its handling of coronavirus crisis and moving slowly to help workers still stuck in cities more than 50 days after the lockdown was imposed. Authorities have now stepped up efforts to help migrants reach their hometowns, with the government relaxing conditions on railway services. The government says it has been overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the crisis and that it is doing whatever it takes to help people and revive the economy. On May 12, Prime Minister Modi announced 20 trillion rupees ($266bn) in fiscal and monetary measures to support the economy battered by weeks-long lockdown. The government also said it would provide free food grains to millions of migrant workers hit by the lockdown as well as offer employment under a rural jobs programme. The government will spend 35 billion rupees ($463m) on food for nearly 80 million migrant workers over the next two months, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told a news conference on Thursday. Geoffrey Onyeama Nigerias foreign affairs minister on Monday May 18, announced that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will take care of the hotel accommodation and feeding bills of Nigerians who were recently evacuated from countries they were stranded in. It was earlier reported that the evacuees were directed by the federal government to pay N297,000 for their 14-day mandatory isolation. After the directives was largely criticized, Onyeama said he approached the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Group Managing Director of NNPC who both agreed to pick the bill. He further revealed that the initial decision was taken due to paucity of funds even though they were not happy with it. Onyeama said; remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 21:43:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HELSINKI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The economy of Finland has hit bottom but a gradual upswing is already under way, the OP Financial Group said Tuesday. Economists at OP, one of the largest financial companies in Finland, projected in a press release that the country's economy will contract by six percent this year, and will rebound to 3.5 percent growth in 2021. The forecast is based on the premise that the restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic will be lifted gradually, but the virus and the threat of its further spread will impact on people's lives even next year. In 2020, the country's economy will be hit the hardest by the downward trend in private spending and exports, and the levels of investment and inventories are expected to drop considerably due to the pandemic. However, the decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) will be alleviated by reducing imports and growing demand in the public sector, the financial group said. "The Finnish economy is about to rebound again soon after a steep crash. The second quarter will hit bottom, and GDP would be higher in July-October. The rise will begin gradually," said Reijo Heiskanen, OP's chief economist, in the press release. Affected by the pandemic, private spending in Finland decreased by 20 percent at the end of March compared to the early part of this year. However, as a result of the "collapse" in spending, the household saving ratio has risen sharply. "Consumption may recover thanks to pent-up demand and increasing saving, even though purchasing power will be hit by declining employment," the OP said. Due to structural reasons, the decrease in the Finnish economy will not be steep, and the country will recover more slowly than the eurozone or the United States, noted Heiskanen. The OP's economists warned that there is still "unexceptionally great uncertainty," which relates to the scale of the collapse, the timing of recovery and the long-term growth prospects. "It is wise to play safe in economic policy but otherwise keep an open mind about what the outcome of this crisis will be," Heiskanen suggested. Enditem Victorian builders are pushing for councils to urgently extend hours on construction sites - including 6am starts on weekdays - to support the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Municipal Association of Victoria has warned construction noise can be disruptive to people working at home and any request to extend hours needs to be balanced against adverse impacts. Master Builders Victoria chief executive officer Rebecca Casson on a building site at Lovely Banks, on the outskirts of Geelong. Credit:Scott McNaughton Master Builders Victoria and the Victorian branch of the Urban Development Institute of Australia have written to eight councils with the highest level of building activity requesting a temporary extension of worksite hours. They said the lockdown was having a devastating impact on the construction industry and requested operating hours be extended to 6am to 8pm on weekdays, 7am to 5pm on Saturdays and 10am until 4pm on Sundays. Hormel Foods Corporation HRL is slated to release second-quarter fiscal 2020 results on May 21. This meat products company has a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 1.4%, on average. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter earnings has moved up by a couple of cents in the past seven days to 44 cents per share. However, this suggests a decline of 4.4% from the year-ago quarters reported figure. The consensus mark for revenues is $2.38 billion, which indicates an increase of 1.5% from the figure reported in the year-ago quarter. Hormel Foods Corporation Price and EPS Surprise Hormel Foods Corporation Price and EPS Surprise Hormel Foods Corporation price-eps-surprise | Hormel Foods Corporation Quote Key Factors to Note Hormel Foods has been benefiting from solid demand for brands like Applegate, Hormel BLACK LABEL, SPAM, Hormel BACON 1 and Wholly Guacamole dips among others. The company has been committed to making advertisement investments to support the growth of its brands. Additionally, ithas been focusing on launching products to meet consumers preferences. Moreover, the companys focus on strengthening business through acquisitions has been a key driver. Notably, Hormel Foods Refrigerated Foods category has been steadily growing on the back of strong brand portfolio and effective strategies. However, the company has been battling input cost inflation for a while now. Global trade volatility and the African swine fever have been leading to input cost inflation in China and Brazil. Also, weakness in the International unit is likely to get reflected in the upcoming quarterly results. In its last earnings call, management stated that it expects International segment to be adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic during the second quarter. What the Zacks Model Unveils Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for Hormel Foods this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before theyre reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Hormel Foods carries a Zacks Rank #3 and Earnings ESP of +1.15%. Other Stocks With Favorable Combination Here are some other companies that you may want to consider as our model shows that these also have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat. The J. M. Smucker Company SJM currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.92% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Campbell Soup Company CPB has an Earnings ESP of +11.70% and a Zacks Rank #2. Dollar General Corporation DG currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.25% and a Zacks Rank of 2. Today's Best Stocks from Zacks Would you like to see the updated picks from our best market-beating strategies? 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Zacks Investment Research : Karnataka Congress will hold a "symbolic protest" against the BJP government on Wednesday against amending of the APMC act, proposed nominations to gram panchayats by postponing elections and plans to amend labour laws, among other issues. The decision to hold the protest was arrived at the Congress Legislature Party meeting, chaired by CLP and opposition leader Siddaramaiah. The protest will be held at 11 am tomorrow in front of Gandhi statue at the premises of Vidhana Soudha, the seat of the state secretariat and legislature here, Siddaramaiah's office said in a statement. The meeting decided to petition the Governor and the State Election Commission in this regard in the days to come and fix appointments with them for the same. It was also decided to hold protests against the "wrong decisions" of the state and central government, with regard to handling of the COVID-19 crisis, at district and taluk level. Siddaramaiah, in his remarks at the CLP meeting, hit out at both the central and state governments over their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial packages announced. He asked party legislators to explain to the people, the "failures" of the government. Alleging that there was a conspiracy to nominate BJP workers as members to panchayats without holding elections because of COVID-19, the former Chief Minister said Congress should urge the government to continue with the current members and hold elections after six months. "There is "Tughlaq Darbar" in the state, there is corruption. Modi had criticised our government (Congress) as 10 per cent government. He should now say Yediyurappa government is what per cent," Siddaramaiah said. Congress will stage protests against amendments to the APMC act, labour laws and nominations to panchayats, he added. Despite objections from opposition parties, the government recently came out with an ordinance that amended the laws to curtail the powers of the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC). While the government said it was aimed at bringing in reforms to facilitate market access for farmers, opposition parties have vehemently opposed it, alleging that it would dilute the APMC laws and affect farmers' interests. Also, the government is reportedly mulling over an ordinance relaxing labour laws in line with other BJP ruled states, like extension in work hours, among other things. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought response of police on a bail plea by an accused, who brandished gun at a police head constable during the recent communal violence in the national capital's northeast area. Shahrukh Pathan, 23, was arrested on March 3 from Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district and is presently lodged in jail here. He has sought interim bail citing the ill health of his father. His picture showing him pointing a gun at unarmed Delhi Police head constable Deepak Dahia during the communal riots went viral on social media. Justice Prateek Jalan, who conducted the hearing through video conferencing, directed the investigating officer of the case to submit the status report within seven days and alsoverify the medical reports of the accused' father on which his advocate placed reliance while seeking bail. The court listed the matter for further hearing on June 4. Pathan, through advocates Asghar Khan and Abdul Tahir Khan, moved the high court after a trial court recently dismissed his bail plea. The trial court had said that the right to protest is a fundamental right in a democracy but this right of peaceful protest and open criticism of government policies does not extend to disturb the public order. Police have registered a case against him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act. The police had said it had recovered the pistol that Pathan had allegedly pointed at a police official during the communal violence, from his house. In the viral video, Pathan, a resident of northeast Delhi's Ghonda, could be seen pointing his pistol at the policeman on the Jaffrabad-Maujpur road on February 24. Police had said after seeing himself on channels following the incident, Pathan changed his clothes and fled to Punjab. He then moved to Bareilly in UP before hiding at a friend's house in Shamli in the state. In February, clashes broke out in North east Delhi between the groups supporting and opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Galih Gumelar and Marchio Irfan Giordano (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 17:39 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd911f9b 1 National JKN,#BPJSKesehatan,BPJS-Kesehatan,#health,#BPJS-premium-increase,JKN-premium-increase,health Free After being criticized for undermining the rule of law in a series of COVID-19 pandemic response policies, the government is under scrutiny once again for reviving a national health insurance (JKN) premium hike after it was annulled by the Supreme Court. In a presidential regulation that came into effect in January, the government increased premiums to protect the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan), whose JKN program covers about 223 million people, or 83 percent of the population, from experiencing a wider deficit. The agency recorded a Rp 13 trillion (US$877 million) deficit last year as premium collection fell short while claims soared. But the policy was revoked by the Supreme Court in late February on the grounds that it violated a number of laws. Roughly two months after the court ruling, President Joko Jokowi Widodo issued another, similar regulation to increase premiums. Law experts described the move as disgraceful and accused the government of setting a bad example for the general public trying to uphold the rule of law. The President should have been a role model for the public in abiding by rulings," said Feri Amsari, a constitutional law expert at Andalas University in West Sumatra. "The government should have respected the rule of law." The 2009 Supreme Court Law does not specify whether policymakers are allowed to reissue regulations similar to those that have been annulled by the court. But Feri said the law signaled that an annulled regulation could not be revived because a ruling against a regulation rendered it void. Citing one of the court's considerations, Arif Maulana from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) said that the public should not bear the brunt of the BPJS deficit, which stemmed from its failure to manage cash flow. Executive Office of the President undersecretary on human development Abetnego Tarigan maintained that the government, not the court, had the authority to adjust premiums. He said that the state budget could no longer cover the BPJS deficit. The government also welcomed the public to challenge the new policy at the Supreme Court, amid a plan by the Indonesian Hemodialysis Patient Community (KPCDI), which won the case against the earlier premium increase in late February, to once again request a judicial review of the latest premium hike. Everyone is allowed to exercise their rights to challenge any regulations issued by the government, Abetnego said. Supreme Court justice and spokesman Andi Samsan Nganro said the President had the prerogative to issue a regulation similar to one that had been annulled by the court. Public health advocacy groups have recently demanded that the government improve access to health services for all JKN policyholders paying higher premiums. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) found in a study in March that the BPJS could save as much Rp 12.2 trillion through stricter insurance claim management, including by limiting claims for noncommunicable diseases, which account for the largest burden on the JKN, rather than through premium hikes. The new premiums will come into effect in July. First-class service premiums will increase from Rp 80,000 to Rp 150,000 per person per month, and second-class service premiums will increase from Rp 51,000 to Rp 110,000. The premium for the third-class service will increase by a smaller amount, from Rp 25,500 to Rp 42,000, and the government will provide a subsidy for this service category, allowing participants to pay Rp 25,500 per month this year and Rp 35,000 next year. Expressing solidarity with the Sikh and Hindu communities facing persecution in Afghanistan, former US vice president Joe Biden has said that recent attacks, including the one on a gurdwara, demonstrates the dangerous conditions of religious minorities in the war-torn country and urged the Trump administration to consider the request for emergency refugee protection. Asserting that the Hindu and Sikh communities are Afghans and a vital part of the country's heritage, Biden, who is the Democratic Party's presumptive presidential nominee, said that the intense persecution they have faced in recent decades is an unspeakable tragedy. With the recent uptick in violence in Afghanistan, including a horrifying attack this week on a hospital maternity ward, I want to express my concern about the situation facing Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan, including the terrorist attack on Sikhs at the Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib in Kabul in March. Sikhs and Hindus are not outsiders living in Afghanistan, Biden said in a recent post on Medium, an online publishing platform. Militants attacked a maternity hospital in Kabul on Tuesday, killing 14 people, including two newborn babies, their mothers and an unspecified number of nurses. Over two dozen worshippers were killed and eight others injured when a heavily armed suicide bomber stormed a prominent gurdwara on March 25 in the heart of Afghanistan's capital of Kabul, in one of the deadliest attacks on the minority Sikh community in the strife-torn country. I vividly recall when, in the mid-1990s, the Taliban sought to make Sikhs and Hindus wear yellow to identify them as non-Muslims. The recent attack against Afghanistan's Sikh community demonstrates once again the dangerous conditions for religious minorities, he said. Alleging that the Trump administration has decimated America's refugee policy and ended its role as the world leader in welcoming people fleeing violence and persecution, Biden said that if elected president, his administration will renew the US' commitment to refugees. I stand with the Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan seeking safety for their families and the freedom to practice their faiths, and urge the Department of State to consider the request for emergency refugee protection, Biden said. In a statement, Sikh Coalition welcomed Biden's statement. The United States government can and must do more to protect all religious minorities in Afghanistan, said Satjeet Kaur, Sikh Coalition's Executive Director. Sikhs in Afghanistan are bearing the unimaginable pain of losing their families and being forced out of the only place they have known as home. The international community, including the United States, must join Canada's efforts to protect these families from extinction, she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After several days of intense deliberation and modifications of plans, the Iranian government ultimately swallowed the bitter pill and cancelled nationwide anti-Israeli rallies scheduled for May 22. The powerful Council for Coordination of Islamic Propagation cited worries about fresh spreading of the novel coronavirus that has gripped Iran for three months now. The decision was made after some Iranian provinces reported jumps in new infections following a fleeting period of respite. The event, known as International Quds Day, has been held in Iran and a few other Muslim nations since 1979 after the founder of the Islamic Republic, Rouhollah Khomeini declared the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as a day for all Muslims worldwide to express their rage at Israel and solidarity with Palestinians. The government-sponsored anti-Israel marches have traditionally received extensive state media coverage in Iran. Several alternate solutions were on the table for this years event, including motorcade parades instead of public rallies. However, the authorities are now simply promoting a televised speech by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian leader is known for issuing stern threats against the Jewish state while repeatedly asserting that the Islamic Republic is not pursuing an anti-Semite agenda. Khamenei predicted in 2015 that the Zionist regime will not survive beyond the next 25 years. The tough decision to abandon such politically significant rallies signaled the extent to which the coronavirus is impacting the Islamic Republic. Similarly, the government had to impose a more than two-month shutdown on mosques and holy shrines nationwide. Many of those religious centers have now reopened, albeit with strict precautionary measures. In its latest measure to mitigate the spread of the sickness in religious gatherings, the government has declared that Eid al-Fitr prayers marking the end of Ramadan this weekend will be held only in low-risk areas designated as white spots. Yet despite the serious alarms sounded by health experts, Iranian officials are poised to reopen some high-risk businesses including hotels and restaurants after the end of Ramadan. The virus has already infected some 125,000 Iranians, over 1,700 of them confirmed dead. While 10 out of 31 provinces reported zero fatalities May 19, the southwestern province of Khuzestan continued to witness a worrying upsurge. Nonetheless, Iranian authorities claim that they are on the right track battling the disease. Government spokesman Ali Rabiee told a press briefing Monday that next to China and Switzerland, Iran has recorded a top recovery rate and that it has already controlled and managed the outbreak. Elsewhere, addressing the 73rd World Health Assembly via teleconference, Health Minister Saeed Namaki promoted his countrys response as a successful example for the world. Namaki compared individual nations' battle against the coronavirus to a sports match in which Irans score is well above that of the United States. At the time of composing this commentary, it was clear that Boakye Gyan had not honoured the important invitation extended to him by the police over his loose yet treasonable threats. We are disappointed, even frustrated that this man is still holed up in his village in Bono and refusing to come down to the Police Headquarters. The excessive use of diplomacy by the police in matters bordering on politicians gives cause for national conversation. The precedence this anomaly has set is being followed by more defaulting politicians. We cannot continue having the law enforcement agency treat defaulting politicians with kid gloves, knowing well that no crop of citizens is above the law. Unless this attitude is reversed, we shall continue to witness impunity in this country, especially from bad politicians an anomaly which weakens the law enforcement agency and by extension the state powers. With the December polls fast approaching and the Electoral Commission (EC) getting ready to compile a necessary new voters' register, the police should let us know by action whether they are up to the task of enforcing the law. The case of Sam George's crude and criminal conduct when top officials of the EC were holding a crucial internal meeting readily comes to mind. The police, while making no arrests, appear to have pleaded with the perpetrators of the criminal conduct to leave. Was the action not politically underlined, some arrests would be made. It is our stance that the police should pick something from their rulebook that empowers them to smoke out Boakye Gyan and haul him to Accra. At such a respectable age, this man is still basking in the shadows of the court martial offences he committed, and which in the 80s compromised the age-old discipline in the Ghana Armed Forces. If he got away with the June 4 crap, not this time because he would be consumed by it. Having sneaked into the country when former President John Agyekum Kufuor took over political power in this country, the best Boakye Gyan should have done was to be on the path of civility completely under the radar of the public, radio silence if you like, because his name evokes terrible memories. He might have received a wink from his NDC leaders whose bidding the public opprobrium he has earned is deafening and regrettable. The best he can do for himself is to repent and apologize to his compatriots for the mess he and other adventurers had this country embroiled in. The fallouts of their coup have come in various forms, one of which is the foisting upon Ghana a covid-like political NDC, which is why he still can threaten the country with a civil war although that, of course, is a piece of joke. Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, has denied claims that he offered members of the Nigerian House of Representatives $10million bribe to pass the Infectious Diseases Bill. Naija News had reported that the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) had accused the leadership of the House of Reps of allegedly taking the bribe from Bill Gates to pass a compulsory vaccine bill. Barrister Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, the spokesperson of the opposition political parties, said the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila is the brain behind the plot. Ugochinyere, who stated that the bribe was to secure the speedy passage of the bill without recourse to legislative public hearing, urged lawmakers in the lower chamber to rise against impunity. The opposition political parties revealed that the controversial Control of Infectious Diseases Bill 2020 otherwise known as the Compulsory Vaccination Bill is proposing a compulsory vaccination of all Nigerians. Reacting on Monday, Bill Gates foundation, in a letter signed by its Nigeria Country Office Director, Paulin Basinga, described the allegations by CUPP as false. He stated that the Bill Gates foundation had not offered bribes to Nigerian lawmakers for the passage of the Bill. The letter reads: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has recently been made aware of an allegation circulating in certain elements of the Nigerian media that the foundation was involved in a payment purportedly made to the Nigeria House of Representatives. The Foundation adheres to strict ethical and legal guidelines across all areas of its operations. What drives the Foundations work is the simple and compelling belief that all lives have equal value, and that everyone deserves to lead a healthy productive life. The Foundation works in very diverse settings around the globe in a nonpartisan fashion, consistent with strict U.S. private foundation restrictions on political and legislative engagement. Globally, the Foundation is committed to helping strengthen diagnostic testing, protect at-risk populations; and develop vaccines, treatments and diagnostics in response to COVID-19. The Foundation is currently providing support to the Nigerian governments response to the COVID-19 pandemic and broader health issues, working in partnership with international health agencies, development organizations, and civil society. The Foundation invests in programs that address Nigerias health and development challenges which align with Nigerias development agenda and priorities. As the Nigerian government continues to make concerted efforts towards containing the impact of the pandemic and leveraging the National COVID-19 Multi-sectoral Pandemic Response Plan, the Foundation is pleased to continue its partnership with the several government agencies in aligning its support to what would be most beneficial to the Nigerian people in these unprecedented times. Share this post with your Friends on Patients lie motionless in a hospital ICU ward, as doctors hurry around their beds. The patients faces are concealed by ventilators; the doctors by masks. The death rate is rising so quickly that doctors can no longer keep count. The beds dont even have time to cool before they are taken up by other patients, says ICU nurse Cristina Pilati. Yet over the sound of stretchers rolling and monitors beeping, Pilati starts singing the lyrics of Angel as she cares for a teenage boy in the ICU. Spend all your time waiting, for that second chance, she sings. For a break that would make it okay. This scene is one of many intimate moments in Inside Italys COVID War, a PBS FRONTLINE documentary premiering Tuesday that takes us inside a hard-hit hospital in Cremona, a city in northern Italy. Directed by Emmy and BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Sasha Joelle Achilli, who was born and raised in Milan, the film offers one of the first in-depth looks at a hospital battling coronavirus when the crisis hit. Achilli spent several months in West Africa documenting the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak, but filming the coronavirus pandemic in her native country, where her family still lives, presented new difficulties. Emotionally, it was really challenging. It feels so much more personal, she says. But I feel really privileged that I was able to do that and get more of an understanding of this virus. When you understand something, you are less afraid of it. Achillis film follows emergency room doctor Francesca Mangiatordi as she navigates COVID-19, caring for her staff, her patients, and her family. Achilli, who now lives in London but traveled to Italy for filming, began shooting in Cremona on March 18, just one day before Italys death toll surpassed that of China, becoming the hardest hit country by COVID-19 at the time. More than 32,000 people have died from COVID-19 since the start of the countrys outbreak. Story continues Keep up to date with our daily coronavirus newsletter by clicking here. Italys health care system, the first to be hit hard in Europe, was quickly overwhelmed by the surge in cases. In the opening scenes of the documentary, doctors debate whether to give their remaining ventilator to a young or old person. Later in the film, doctors themselves fall ill, remaining quarantined in their homes as case numbers continue to rise throughout the country. The documentary also sheds light on the sacrifices frontline workers are making and the risks they are taking: Mangiatordis husband was at higher risk of catching the virus but she stayed working on the front line. Perhaps what is most powerful yet unsettling about the documentary is that it disrupts one of the prominent narratives surrounding COVID-19: that the young and healthy wont be severely affected. While young people are less likely to die of COVID-19, they are still susceptible to severe infection of the virus. The documentary follows an 18-year-old boy and a 30-year-old mother of three girls as they fight for their lives. The next one that tells me it only affects the elderly, Ill spit in their eye, Mangiatordi says after a 42 year-old man died of COVID-19. Achilli was inspired to make the documentary after coming across a photograph Mangiatordi took of an exhausted nurse, Elena Pagliarini, collapsed on her keyboard in early March. Within hours of seeing the photograph, the two women spoke on the phone. Days later, Achilli was filming at the hospital. An exhausted medical worker lays on keyboard. The photograph, taken by Francesca Mangiatordi, inspired Sasha Joelle Achilli to make the documentary Inside Italy's COVID War. | Francesca Mangiatordi Achilli spoke with TIME about the making of the film. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Your documentary is the most in-depth and intimate picture of a hospital battling COVID-19 we have so far. What do you hope people take away from it? My goal has changed from when I first went to Italy. When I first went out, the borders in Europe were closing but the crisis hadnt erupted yet. Back then, the message was Italy is 3 weeks ahead of you. But now were all in it. What I want people to get out of this documentary is an understanding of the virus. I want to squash all the conspiracy theories and for people to understand the emotional and psychological impact it has had on health care workers and those severely affected. I want people to realize that while there is no need to panic, there is a severity to this and we need to take the measures seriously. Italy is now coming out of it, hopefully. The cases have gone down massively. And its because of the lockdown and the measures that were taken that this is possible. Thats what I hope people get out of it. Especially American audiences, given the protests that are taking place. This is very real. Because Italy was the first Western country to face a COVID-19 outbreak, many other nations in the West have looked at Italy to predict what the futures of their countries might look like. As someone who watched the outbreak unfold, what do you think the world can learn from Italys experience? The world needed to look at Italy at the beginning. Now, the world is currently living it. Rather than critiquing the Italian draconian measures or the Italian culture of siesta, they should have taken them seriously and not thrown around the idea of herd immunity. If there is a country forcing people to stay home in this way, it means its serious. But until you see that every family has been affected by the virus or lost someone to it, until your morgues are completely full and coffins cannot be buried in timeuntil you see that, peoples behavior will not change. These kinds of outbreaks are going to keep happening. We need to stop thinking of places as being far away. We are all so connected and way more connected than we like to believe. So when this started to happen in Italy, Europe should have started locking down before it got out of control. The U.S. should have taken it seriously. No one is immune to it. What are the underreported stories of this crisis? There was a point where 13% of cases in March in Italy were healthcare workers. Of course healthcare workers did have more access to tests so more of them were getting tested. But the numbers were still high. I remember having this debate with Francesca and her husband: why did so many of the staff get sick? Part of it is a lack of disinfectant. The ER was never disinfected until three or four weeks into the outbreak. There was no methodology put in place. The hospital isnt a structure that facilitates infectious disease triage. Its hard to criticize an entity or a body or blame someone for all these cases in healthcare workers but we need to have structures that can handle highly infectious diseases. As an Italian journalist who has reported on crises in Africa and the Middle East, what was it like reporting on the front lines of your own country? Emotionally, it was really challenging. A lot of the stories Ive done are really, really sad situations that do affect me emotionally. But there is something different about it when youre covering it in your own country. It feels so much more personal. You know the culture, the language, the shared way of communicating without needing to speak. It just felt so much more personal and at the beginning, so emotionally exhausting in a way that I had not experienced in my career despite working on emotionally trying stories. I think for me, the worst part was when I landed in Rome and I hadnt been home since Christmas. I flew in and it was completely empty. It felt like something out of an apocalypse film, where cities are abandoned and people have left. I remember getting to the hotel. I called my boyfriend and just burst into tears because the lockdown hadnt happened in London yet. Even though I had heard the stories through my family, seeing it and seeing your countryespecially Italy which is so lively, where people hug and kiss all the timeto see it so completely empty and with the human interaction completely gone. It just wasnt Italy. It wasnt my country. It sounds absurd but that was a huge emotional trigger, almost more than going into a COVID hospital. Because there, I had prepared myself for what I would see. But I hadnt prepared myself for Rome. A patient lies in the intensive care unit at the Cremona Hospital in Northern Italy. | Arianna Pagani What was the highlight of the filming experience and what was the most challenging? The highlight was the life I had with Francesca [Mangiatordi, the ER doctor in the documentary]. She opened her doors to me, completely and entirely. I was living her work life and then going home with her family. It was meeting her and her family and building that relationship as well as with the other nurses. I spoke with Cristina [one of the ICU nurses] the other day and she said you were part of the family, you lived it with us. You are one of us. Another highlight was being able to be part of such a big and important story in Italy and having that unique experience of living it on the frontlines with the healthcare workers. I feel really privileged that I was able to do that and get more of an understanding of this virus. When you understand something, you are less afraid of it. The hardest thing as a journalist reporting on your country is that you become really protective of certain parts of the culture, of the way that people are and of the story you are trying to tell. You are an insider. Its hard to take a step back and look at it in the same way that you look at other places. Ive realized its a very different kind of storytelling when you know the language and you arent an outsider. It was really easy for me to get the level of intimacy that I got. I dont think that would have been possible in other parts of the world. Theres a beauty about just looking around you and trying to tell the stories that are equally as importantthe stories that are next door rather than elsewhere. It was really beautiful and it kind of brought me closer to Italy. Both you and Francesca Mangiatordi are women working on the frontlines of this pandemic in what can often be quite male-dominated environments. In your experience, how does gender shape what it means to be a frontline worker? Personally, Ive often benefited from being a woman. We often have an ability to build better access and relationships with people, especially when it comes to women and children. Women are more likely to open up to women. I didnt set out to find a female doctor. I found her through a photo she had taken. And then she sent me her video diaries and I realized that she was incredible. Going to Italy, which can be really misogynistic, I thought I would just find a bunch of old, grumpy Italian men. But instead, I found this hospital filled with feisty young womenand men as well. It was women doing the hard work. There were groups of women transferring bodies on the frontlines of this battle. I dont mean to sound cheesy but this group of women on the frontlinesthey are carers, they are multitaskers, they can deal with dramatic situations but also be very empathetic and present. Thats what made this group of women so incredible in fighting COVID. I remember one night at the end of my time there, it was about 3 a.m. and the doctors had pizzas delivered. These doctors and nurses all sat down and started recounting what had happened in the past two months. It was like group therapy. Thats the bond theyve been able to create with each other. Now, they are helping each other process by reflecting and analyzing it. They are this incredible unit. I think in a way, women often have that ability to talk to each other. We can talk about emotions. And thats what made these women so strong. You reported on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa back in 2015, producing the documentary Outbreak that explores the mismanagement of the crisis by both state and international authorities. Do you see similarities between the Ebola epidemic and the current COVID-19 pandemic? And what feels different about this outbreak? What feels similar is that when it started in China, people thought it was far away. They probably remembered SARS which never really went beyond Asia. Even in talking to doctors like Francesca, they say that when they heard about COVID-19 on the news, they never thought it was going to come to Italy. And thats exactly what happened in West Africa. There was an outbreak and when it was reported on, people said it was never going to get to the West. It was only when an American doctor got ill that people started paying attention. The differences are mostly related to how unpredictable this virus is compared to Ebola. Even though Ebola is scarier, I felt like I had more control over not getting it. But with coronavirus, you just dont know how its going to affect you. This is what makes COVID-19 more terrifying and uncontrollable. Its also not like Ebola where people were hemorrhaging from their eyes. Or in West Africa where you would see people dying out on the street. Thats visually not what we see from COVID-19. Thats made it easy for people to dismiss. At the beginning, it was the elderly that were highly affected by it. Its cynical to say but seeing an elderly person unwell is a more acceptable image to many people than a young person. All these factors didnt help us take the whole thing seriously. I remember a friend of mine in Milan sent me a message saying, Sasha, Im not seeing these really dramatic images coming out of hospitals. People in Italy were questioning the severity of it because they werent seeing the drama. Outbreak warns that the world is not safe from future epidemics. What did it feel like to watch an even bigger outbreak unfold five years after extensively reporting on Ebola? I think when it started out in China, I was like everyone else. I thought it wouldnt come here. I was supposed to go on a six months sabbatical traveling with my boyfriend in April. And when COVID-19 reached Italy, naivelyeven though I was emotionally really affected by what was going onthe borders of the world hadnt closed yet. Naively, we just thought, we wont go through Italy and Iran. If Im being brutally honest here, even having reported on an outbreak in West Africa, it didnt prepare me for this. Inside Italys COVID War premieres on FRONTLINE (PBS) & begins streaming on YouTube on Tuesday, May 19 at 10 p.m. EST and will be available on pbs.org/frontline and the PBS Video App at 7 p.m. EST. Please send any tips, leads, and stories to virus@time.com Conakry, Guinea (PANA) - The Guinean political opposition Tuesday rejected the recent nomination of lawyer Mamadi 3 Kaba as chairman of the national independent electoral commission (CENI), an official statement issued here said Skiers flocked to Slovenia's highest ski resort Kanin on Sunday (May 17) after it reopened recently following a coronavirus lockdown that lasted for almost two months. The country has so far reported 1,466 coronavirus cases and 104 deaths. People still have to respect social distancing and are obliged to wear face masks and disinfect their hands in indoor public spaces. There were about 200 skiers on Kanin on Sunday morning with up to 300 expected in the whole day. The resort lies in western Slovenia, close to the border with Italy and boasts a snow cover of at least 3.5 meters in depth at present. ORLANDO, Fla., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lundbeck, a global pharmaceutical company specializing in brain diseases, has named AllianceRx Walgreens Prime one of only two specialty pharmacies to distribute its newest medication for the preventive treatment of migraine in adults. The medication, Vyepti (eptinezumab-jjmr), is the first and only intravenous preventive treatment for migraine. Migraine is a complex and incapacitating neurological disease characterized by recurrent episodes of severe headaches. An array of symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light or sound typically accompany the headache. It is estimated to affect approximately 39 million people in the U.S. and more than 1.3 billion worldwide, impacting three times as many women than men. "We are pleased that Lundbeck chose AllianceRx Walgreens Prime as one of two partners to offer this new migraine medication," says Tracey James, senior vice president, pharmacy services, at AllianceRx Walgreens Prime. "Because we have a proven track record in supporting other limited distribution drugs with them, we are able to be a true partner that is always willing to collaborate to improve patient outcomes." In addition, the following limited distribution drugs are available through AllianceRx Walgreens Prime: Palforzia (Peanut ( Arachis hypogaea ) Allergen Powder-dnfp), manufactured by Aimmune Therapeutics, is the first approved treatment for patients with peanut allergy. manufactured by Aimmune Therapeutics, is the first approved treatment for patients with peanut allergy. Tymlos (abaloparatide) injection , manufactured by Radius Health, is approved for the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, and reduces the risk of fracture in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. , manufactured by Radius Health, is approved for the treatment of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture, and reduces the risk of fracture in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Vumerity (diroximel fumarate), manufactured by Biogen, treats relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), to include clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting disease, and active secondary progressive disease, in adults. For full prescribing information on the drugs listed above, including any black box warnings, visit dailymed.nlm.nih.gov. About AllianceRx Walgreens Prime AllianceRx Walgreens Prime (alliancerxwp.com) is a specialty and home delivery pharmacy that strives to provide exceptional care throughout a patient's treatment journey with the medications they need every day. Formed in 2017 through a collaboration between Walgreens, one of the nation's largest chain drug stores, and Prime Therapeutics, a leading pharmacy benefit manager, the company offers tools and resources for patients, providers and health plans to deliver the optimal health outcomes. The company is headquartered in Orlando, Fla. and its pharmacies are accredited by several national pharmacy accreditation services. Media Contact Adrienne Foley | [email protected] | 423.580.8821 SOURCE AllianceRx Walgreens Prime Related Links http://www.alliancerxwp.com - The Ghana Embassy in the United States has revealed that 20 Ghanaians have died from the coronavirus in New York and New Jersey - Mr. Kofi Tonto of the Ghana Embassy in the US says the number is not an official one - Total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 5,918 as of May 19, 2020 - Our Manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Twenty (20) Ghanaians have died from the coronavirus disease in the United States of America, according to the Ghana Embassy in the USA. An official at the public affairs department at the Ghana Embassy, US, Kofi Tonto revealed that the figure was from the members of the Ghanaian community especially in New York and New Jersey. He further noted that the New York and New Jersey are the hardest-hit cities in the US as far as COVID-19 is concerned. READ ALSO: 1D1F-Ashanti Region: New Kasapreko factory starts production Mr. Tonto also added that the embassy is yet to receive official data on the number of Ghanaians who have died in the US from the government, but the information from the Ghanaian community says 20 people have died so far. We do know of Ghanaians who have passed and we continue to gather data. Unfortunately, because of some health regulations, you dont get the data to know whether this is Ghanaian or otherwise. What we rely on is people within the Ghanaian community informing us of folks who have been affected either by contracting the disease or folks who have unfortunately passed away. At our last count, we were about 20 people. This isnt data from the hospital, this is data based on what we gather from the various communities, he told 3FM in an interview. READ ALSO: Bawumia buys new tractor for his 75-year-old primary school teacher The US has so far confirmed 1.55 million cases with 287,000 recoveries and over 90,263 deaths. Meanwhile, the Ghana Health Service has reported that the total confirmed COVID-19 cases now stand at 5,918 as of May 19, 2020. Per the new update, the death toll stands at 31 with 1,754 recoveries. The GHS said five patients are in a critical condition. About 180,567 tests have so far been administered. YEN.com.gh earlier reported that Director-General of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, has opined that by November, there would be no cure for COVID-19. According to him, getting a vaccine takes a long time so there is a need for life to go on. He also called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to go ahead and compile a new voters register but to be sure to observe COVID-19 control measures. Yenkasa: "We have families to feed, we can't stop the Okada business" - Riders lament | #Yencomgh Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh PHILADELPHIA, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is investigating potential breaches of fiduciary duty claims involving certain officers and/or directors of Tupperware Brands Corporation ("Tupperware" or the "Company") (NYSE: TUP). The investigation involves whether Tupperware's officers and/or directors breached fiduciary duties by failing, among other things, to disclose the true risk of further impairment of its Fuller Mexico business and whether Tupperware's financial guidance was overstated. Tupperware investors who have owned their stock shares continuously since January 2018 are encouraged to contact Michael Yarnoff, Esq., (215) 792-6676, Ext. 804, [email protected], [email protected], to discuss the Tupperware investigation or potential legal claims. Kehoe Law Firm, P.C., with offices in New York and Philadelphia, is a multidisciplinary, plaintiffside law firm dedicated to protecting investors from securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duties, and corporate misconduct. Combined, the partners at Kehoe Law Firm have served as Lead Counsel or Co-Lead Counsel in cases that have recovered more than $10 billion on behalf of institutional and individual investors. This press release may constitute attorney advertising. SOURCE Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. Related Links kehoelawfirm.com Monday, May 18, was the start of phase 2 of Texas Governor Greg Abbott's plan to reopen the state and restart the economy. Under Phase 2, all businesses must follow and implement updated standard health protocols that include enforcing social distancing, limiting human-to-human contact and increased sanitization procedures. Seniors and those with compromised immune systems are still advised to stay home if at all possible. COVID-19 updates: Kroger offering 1K free COVID-19 tests in Montgomery Co. [May 19, 2020] Elastic Launches New Purchase Options for Elasticsearch Service on the Google Cloud Marketplace Elastic N.V. (NYSE: ESTC) ("Elastic"), the company behind Elasticsearch and the Elastic Stack, today announced new ways to purchase Elasticsearch Service through the Google Cloud Marketplace. Discovering Elasticsearch Service is now easier through the Google (News - Alert) Cloud console, and customers can now access monthly Gold and Platinum premium subscriptions, as well as annual Elasticsearch Service subscriptions within the Google Cloud Marketplace. The Elasticsearch Service Gold and Platinum monthly and annual subscriptions include advanced features such as machine learning, alerting, and advanced customer support. With premium subscriptions, enterprises will receive access to higher levels of customer support, ensuring they can easily deploy and manage Elastic solutions with expert assistance and guidance. In addition, organizations can continue to leverage their Google Cloud committed spend, as well as consolidate their invoices with other Google Cloud services when purchasing Elasticsearch Service subscriptions. Google recently recognized Elastic as its 2019 Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year for Data Management. In addition, Elastic has further expnded its integrations with Google, adding support for three new Google Cloud regions in Finland, the Netherlands, and Taiwan, bringing the total number of supported regions to 16 globally. Supporting Quotes: "Google Cloud's commitment to open source solutions, like Elasticsearch, makes it easy for customers to quickly build and use applications, in an accessible, cloud-native experience," said Manvinder Singh, Director, Partnerships at Google Cloud. "We selected Elastic as our 2019 Technology Partner of the Year for Data Management because of Elastic's success in helping customers on GCP, the seamless product experience they provide and their deep commitment to helping customers use the power of search in a free and open environment." "We are forging a deep partnership with Google Cloud that transforms business problems into customized solutions adapted for Enterprise Search, Observability and Security," said Craig Griffin, VP, Business Development, Elastic. "The deep integration of Elasticsearch Service on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offers customers a native, more seamless user experience while making it easier for global enterprise customers to build upon our free and open technology." Read the blog to learn more about the Google Cloud Marketplace update. About Elastic: Elastic is a search company built on a free and open heritage. Everyone can get started with Elastic products and solutions quickly and frictionlessly. Elastic offers three solutions for enterprise search, observability, and security built on one technology stack that can be deployed anywhere. From finding documents to monitoring infrastructure to hunting for threats, Elastic makes data usable in real time and at scale. Thousands of organizations worldwide, including Cisco, eBay, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, The Mayo Clinic, NASA, The New York Times, Wikipedia, and Verizon (News - Alert), use Elastic to power mission-critical systems. Founded in 2012, Elastic is a distributed company with Elasticians around the globe. Learn more at elastic.co. Elastic and associated marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Elastic N.V. and its subsidiaries. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005751/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The huge financial aid package enacted by Congress this spring entailed a sprawling array of programs to direct funding, guarantee loans, relieve debt and more to support businesses laid low by a global pandemic. It also opened the door to a money grab. As a result, hundreds of millions of dollars are likely to end up in the pockets of oil and coal investors and executives in what may be the biggest campaign donor payoff in U.S. history. Failing oil and coal companies quickly moved to exploit the bailout as a financial lifeline. They had help. Seventeen Republican senators sent a letter in April to the Federal Reserve, effectively urging the use of coronavirus rescue funds to bail out bad coal and oil debt. In a separate letter to President Donald Trump, a group of three dozen senators and representatives argued that banks should be punished for discriminating against Americas energy sector by denying financing to sinking fossil fuel companies. Conservatives have long demanded that the market should decide such matters. But the oil patch plays by different political rules. ALIGNMENT: U.S. oil companies line up with Russia, Saudi Arabia [Opinion] Funneling taxpayer funds to failing companies in a declining industry that wreaks trillions of dollars in damage on the environment is not an easily justified investment. Yet the Federal Reserve, which sets loan guidelines for some of the rescue package, changed the rules of its Main Street lending program to allow companies to use taxpayer loans to pay off existing debt instead of retaining workers. Under pressure from Republicans, the Federal Reserve also increased the maximum loan amount in the Main Street program to $200 million. At the same time, the rules were tweaked so that credit ratings could be ignored. A separate bond buyback plan could end up bailing out 90 fossil fuel producers along with 150 electric utilities that have financial exposure to the sector, according to one analysis. In addition, a small business assistance program intended for mom and pop companies was raided early by coal and oil companies, which collected a combined $50 million. Three of the bailed-out companies have employed executives who have worked in the Trump administration, including the scandal-tarred former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt. When Democrats in Congress complained about public subsidy of environmental degradation and business failure, the Fed insisted that its program changes were not targeted to help coal, oil and gas companies. However, oil-state senators and Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette couldnt help bragging that the goal was exactly that. FUEL FIX: Now more than ever, you need our energy news in your inbox The largesse has little to do with preserving jobs. Coal and oil companies had already begun large-scale layoffs, and they wont bring those workers back no matter how much money the government showers on them. The reason is elementary: The market wants less of their product. Some shale-oil drillers are paying to have oil taken off their hands because they have no place to store it. The rig count in the Permian Basin, around West Texas, fell by 50 percent in the past five weeks. As new wells are completed, employment will fall further. The decline in fossil energy long preceded Covid-19. Most of the nations coal companies had been through at least one bankruptcy. Shale oil producers lost a collective $189 billion over the past decade. In 10 of the last 11 years the oil industry was the largest issuer of junk bonds. The rationale behind the giveaways to favored oil, coal and gas interests isnt economic, its simple smash-and-grab. According to Bloomberg News, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. obtained a $9.7 million tax refund through the rescue package. Then, it turned around and requested that a bankruptcy judge authorize that same amount in bonuses for nine executives. Republicans intend to redirect hundreds of millions from American workers into the pockets of investors who made bad bets on failing oil and coal companies. The source of the oil slick is in the swamp. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Carl Pope is a former chairman of the Sierra Club, an adviser to Michael R. Bloomberg and the author, with Bloomberg, of "Climate of Hope." 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Forces loyal to Libyas eastern military strongman Khalifa Hifter withdrew from parts of Tripoli after rival troops captured two towns near the Tunisian border and a key air base from the renegade general. A spokesperson for Hifters self-styled Libyan National Army said that was a "redistribution and repositioning in the battlefronts, disengaging from some crowded residential areas, according to Reuters. Libya has been embroiled in conflict since the ousting of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. For the past year, the Libyan National Army has been staging an offensive on the capital, Tripoli, where the internationally recognized Government of National Accord is based. During the past nine years, some 400,000 Libyans have been displaced about half of them this year amid the fighting in Tripoli. The fighting has escalated in the past month as Hifter, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, lost ground to Government of National Accord troops supported by Turkey. The United States, meanwhile, accuses Russia of further inflaming the conflict by sending mercenaries to fight on behalf of the eastern Libyan commander. Government of National Accord forces took the strategic al-Watiya air base Monday from forces loyal to Hifter, leaving the eastern general without an airfield near Tripoli and without two Russian-made Pantsir air defense systems. On Monday, Tripoli-based Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha tweeted that Hifters odds of winning in Libya were now effectively zero. His backers the UAE, Russia, Egypt, Jordan would be wise to reconsider trying to undermine Libya's democracy, Bashargha wrote. Last week, seven UN agencies called for the rival factions to agree to a lasting truce, warning the escalating violence could leave Libya highly vulnerable to a coronavirus outbreak. Libya has so far registered 68 cases of the virus and three deaths. The international community must not turn a blind eye to the conflict, the agencies wrote in a joint statement. Years of war and political instability have badly damaged Libyas health infrastructure. Just 6% of health care facilities in Libya are fully equipped, says the International Rescue Committee. The border between the United State and Canada will remain closed to non-essential travel until June 21, Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau said Tuesday. Officially, the agreement between the North American nations will be extended by another 30 days. The restrictions were announced on March 18 and were extended in April due to the continued outbreak of COVID-19. Watch live: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses Canadians on the #COVID19 situation from Rideau Cottage, in Ottawa. https://t.co/bfFXP7WG2Y CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) May 19, 2020 This is an important decision that will keep people in both of our countries safe, Trudeau said at news conference. Trudeau says Canadas provincial leaders clearly wanted to continue the measures and that many Canadians fear a reopening. The U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any country in the world, though its per-capita numbers are well below many other nations. Michigan has 51,915 cases of COVD-19 with 4,915 fatalities as of Monday, May 18. Michigan, of course, shares a border with Canada in the Upper Peninsula and in the southeastern part of the state, so the extended measures are especially relevant to state residents. The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel announced last week that it plans to increase overnight closures to expedite an ongoing $22 million renovation project. The coronavirus has massively disrupted the food supply chain. Before the crisis, over half of Americans' food dollars was spent outside the home, at restaurants and other food service locations. But with that industry largely shuttered, many farmers have found themselves without a market for their crops, even as demand at grocery stores and food banks rises. While farmers would like to sell their excess produce to grocery outlets or donate it to food banks, they're up against an inflexible supply chain that is specialized for the end customer. Longstanding contracts between farmers, restaurants, schools and grocery stores determine how the crops will be packaged and processed. So it's just not easy to find new markets and set up new distribution channels. All this means that mounds of fresh produce are being destroyed or left to rot in the fields. And while the White House announced a $19 billion farm relief package in April, many farmers worry that it won't be enough. France could make up for its financial losses amid the coronavirus pandemic by selling the Mona Lisa, a tech CEO has suggested. Stephane Distinguin, the founder of tech company Fabernovel, made the suggestion in a magazine interview, explaining that France should sell the family jewellery for at least 50 billion (44.7 billion). Day after day, we list the billions engulfed in this slump like children counting the fall of a stone into a well to measure its depth, Distinguin told Usbek & Rica Magazine. We are still counting, and this crisis seems unfathomable. As an entrepreneur and a taxpayer, I know that these billions are not invented and that they will necessarily cost us. An obvious reflex is to sell off a valuable asset at the highest price possible, but one that is the least critical as possible to our future. He continued: A painting is easy to move and therefore to hand over. And we have a lot of paintings In 2020, we have to get the money where it is. So sell family jewellery The price is the crux of the matter and the main subject of controversy. The price has to be insane for the operation to make sense. I estimate that it would take no less than 50billion (44.7 billion) to acquire the Mona Lisa. I was told that my estimate was very overvalued, even far-fetched, but each time without real arguments. Distinguin also suggested that the Mona Lisa could be tokenised, with a form of crypto-currency allowing the painting to be easily exchanged between nations. It would be like a big global subscription, he explained. Legally and technically, this solution would have many advantages: it would allow France and the Louvre to keep control of the painting. One can even imagine that this ploy would garner the assent of the great Leonardo da Vinci, he who painted but also mastered all the sciences and technologies of his time. In 2019, the Louvre commenced work on a virtual reality programme that would allow visitors to experience da Vincis Mona Lisa up close and away from the crowds of tourists at the world-famous gallery. The painting was also dubbed the worlds most disappointing tourist attraction in April 2019, according to a survey conducted by Easyjet customers. Evangelical leaders urge Congress to protect churches from coronavirus lawsuits Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Prominent evangelicals, including Franklin Graham and Kirk Cameron, have urged Congress to give churches immunity from lawsuits that could come in response to decisions to resume in-person services and activities during the coronavirus pandemic. Graham and Cameron joined nearly 300 interfaith leaders in signing a letter sent to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary this week voicing their concern that houses of worship and religious nonprofits could face a potential wave of lawsuits [that] would force many to cease their operations. The letter proposes that Congress include in its next COVID-19 economic relief package some type of immunity for religious organizations from negligence suits resulting from their serving the public or reopening in accordance with local orders. Such protection could be modeled generally after the COVID-19 laws and orders that limit liability for medical professionals and commercial entities that manufacture and sell protective equipment by establishing a gross negligence or willful misconduct standard, the letter explains. This simple, common sense solution will provide religious organizations desperately needed protection from simple negligence lawsuits. The letter was organized by the religious freedom law firm First Liberty Institute. The letter was signed by many notable Christian figures including Southern Baptist seminary President Al Mohler, evangelical leader James Dobson, Christian conservative activist Tony Perkins, televangelist John Hagee, radio host Eric Metaxas, Young Earth creationist Ken Ham and Hispanic Action Network President Marc Gonzales. While the letter was signed by mostly conservative Christian leaders, it was also signed by some Jewish leaders, including Rabbi Pesach Lerner, the president of the Coalition for Jewish Values. We are each concerned about a new threat to our nations faith communities, the letter reads, calling the threat a swarm of lawsuits blaming houses of worship and religious ministries for any person who attended a religious gathering or received food or shelter from a charity or ministry and subsequently contracted COVID-19. The leaders contend that even though the lawsuits should eventually prove meritless considering the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants freedom of religion and freedom of assembly, the cost of legal defense would have devastating consequences. Many of the same religious organizations who rushed to provide aid and comfort to those affected by COVID-19 now find themselves struggling financially, the letter states. And a wave of lawsuits would force many to cease their operations, whether due to the cost of litigation, or the mere specter of it. We have, and continue, to support prudent efforts to balance public health with the desire to reopen America, the leaders continues. But in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a proliferation of complex and often contradictory orders and guidelines at the state, county, and local levels, each purporting to govern when and how to reopen. The letter adds that no church or organization is capable of following every guideline or order that has been issued around the country. We are concerned that some people and their lawyers will cherry-pick certain guidelines from around the nation in order to assign liability to religious organizations, the leaders noted in the letter. They might claim that a religious organization or a house of worship was negligent because it did not follow a single recommendation buried deep within a set of guidelines. The leaders fear that some might claim in lawsuits that even if churches and places of worship follow all guidelines and orders, plaintiffs could claim that they are still negligent because they did not follow more stringent guidelines issued in other jurisdictions. This is a novel problem arising from the speed with which seemingly every state and local government in America developed their own, independent orders and guidelines, the letter explains. The problem will soon become even more acute as state and local governments across the nation transition to reopening, but each in a slightly different manner and at a different speed. We must not permit religious organizations to be blamed or held liable for negligence because a food pantry in Wyoming did not follow an artificial amalgamation of every guideline from Washington to Florida. The Christian Post reached out to offices of key members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for a response to the letter. Responses were not received by press time. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said this week that Senate Republicans are planning to introduce a bill that would expand liability protections for businesses, nonprofits, schools and government agencies from lawsuits related to the coronavirus. The business community is also pushing for expanded liability protections. McConnell had described the push to expanded liability protections for businesses and other institutions as the "red line" for Republicans when it comes to negotiating the next round of coronavirus relief legislation. Across the country, churches are weighing the decision over whether they should reopen their doors as some states and localities are starting to go into the early phases of their societal recovery programs. Russell Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Conventions Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, issued his thoughts on how churches should go about reopening in a blog post on Thursday. He cautioned that while everyone will want to rush back on the first weekend, churches should keep spacing congregants out in the sanctuaries until there is a vaccine for the virus. This will mean some churches that have only had one service may now opt to have multiple services, Moore wrote. Some churches will perhaps even need to have persons or families sign up for what service they will attend (the way some churches do now on especially on crowded days such as Easter). Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over the closing meeting of the 18th session of the 13th NPC Standing Committee in Beijing, capital of China, May 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, met on Monday in Beijing to prepare for the upcoming NPC annual session. Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over meetings of Monday's session. While addressing the closing meeting, Li said the third session of the 13th NPC is an important gathering to be held at a time when the overseas COVID-19 epidemic situations remain grim and complex, while major strategic achievements have been made by China in curbing the coronavirus. To convene the session successfully will be of great significance to overcoming the negative impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic, securing a decisive victory in the fight against poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Li said. Li called for all-out efforts to accomplish various tasks of the annual session, while adopting effective epidemic prevention and control measures. The NPC annual session, after being postponed for more than two months over COVID-19, will open on May 22. The 13th NPC now has 2,957 deputies. Lawmakers on Monday approved in principle a work report of the NPC Standing Committee, and entrusted Li to deliver the report to the NPC annual session on behalf of the committee. Lawmakers voted to approve a draft agenda of the NPC annual session and a draft name list of the session's presidium and secretary-general, and decided to submit the drafts to the preparatory meeting of the annual session for review. They also voted on deputy qualifications and personnel matters. On Monday, Li also chaired meetings of the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee and attended group deliberations. During group deliberations, lawmakers lauded the NPC Standing Committee's work over the course of more than a year, including its initiation of legislation to strengthen legal safeguards for public health after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic. Lawmakers vowed to focus on the targets of poverty eradication and achieving a moderately prosperous society in all respects to advance the work of the legislature. The Student Tenants' Union Delhi (STUD), a student-led group formed for and by students living in rented accommodations in Delhi, has called for an online protest on Twitter on May 19 with hashtags #NoRentFromStudents and #NoIncomeNoRent. Students have been complaining that they are being threatened to pay rent even during the lockdown when they are not staying there. Due to the limited availability of affordable hostels for students in colleges and universities, students are more often than not compelled to opt for rented accommodations, which also end up being the major chunk of their educational expenses. "Our aim is to provide a space for such students to voice their concerns regarding tenancy and rent. We seek to unionise and collectively fight for our rights and make each other aware of the existing tenancy laws pertaining to students," said Varkey Parakkal, one of the members of STUD. "In the face of rampant discrimination from landlords based on social location, religion, gender, caste, region, besides moral policing, unjust curfew timings, surveillance, threats of eviction and other related problems, which have been aggravated in the present situation of the coronavirus crisis and the resulting lock-down, we endeavour to come together in order to protect our rights and fight against any such injustice," said Varkey, who is also a member of Students' Federation of India's (SFI) Delhi State Committee. In a survey of 1,069 students in Delhi, conducted by STUD, 69.3 per cent students said that they are being forced to pay rent during the lockdown. "A total of 28.1 per cent said that they are being threatened with eviction for non-payment of rent 34.3 per cent of these students are being threatened with forfeiture of their security deposit for not being able to pay rent immediately. A vast majority of these students, 93.5 per cent precisely, depend on their family incomes to fund their educational expenses, including the expense on rent," said Kriti Roy, an active member of the union. "Another 8.8 per cent are having to work part-time in Delhi to fund their expenses on college and rent. A total of 56.7 per cent students responded saying that they cannot afford to pay rent during this time and 19.3 per cent students said that they are at the risk of dropping out from their colleges and universities if they are asked to pay the full rent for all the months within the period of lockdown after the lockdown is lifted. These numbers are disappointing and yet not surprising, given the number of distress calls we have been receiving from students on a daily basis," she added. The STUD has urged the student community time and again to raise their voices against the "harassment and ill-treatment meted out to them by their landlords" and to be "united in their struggle". Within a month of its formation, the Union claims to have handled more than 50 such cases and has directly affected more than 300 student tenants whose grievances have either been redressed or are in the process of redressal due to the union's intervention. "Most importantly, a police complaint was filed by us on behalf of the students of one PG in the North Campus of Delhi University who were facing serious eviction threats from their landlord. We have intervened and called many other landlords and have negotiated with them to uphold the interests of the student tenants in these trying times. We intend to carry this struggle forward in the future as well," said a statement from the union. The Union has written letters to the Chief Ministers and Executive Officers of all states/UTs of the country to financially help the students of their home-states who are currently being unable to pay rent and are at the verge of dropping out from their institutions due to the lack of money. "We have received positive responses from the Governments of Kerala, Sikkim, Karnataka, and Chandigarh, Manipur and a few others at the moment. Two letters with demands of rent waiver and compensation for the landlords by the government have also been sent to the Ministry of Human Resource Development and to the Ministry of Home Affairs, besides two letters to the Government of the NCT of Delhi," said Varkey. "We also plan to file a PIL in the Delhi High Court to push for a complete rent waiver for student tenants, as promised earlier by the Government of Delhi for the duration of the period of the nationwide lockdown. In case our demands are not met, we'd be left with no choice but to move for a state-wide rent strike and non-cooperation with the landlords and with the government," he added. Click here to read the full article. Already Brazils biggest film and TV hub indeed, after Mexico City, Latin Americas second-largest shoot locale Sao Paulo is now launching a production incentive revolution. The city of Sao Paulos film-TV agency SPCINE is readying Brazils first-ever cash rebates for international and national productions and international co-productions. These will be introduced as soon as the COVID-19 crisis subsides, most likely after July, when productions are projected to roll once more in Brazil, says SPCINE president Lais Bodanzky. Feature films, animation, series and global commercials, plus national productions with international market potential (think Netflix series) are all eligible for rebates. Tabbed at 20%-30% of local expenditure, with a minimum local spend of $500,000, the rebates cap will depend on the amount of money available and currency exchange rates at the time the final text of the law is released, Bodanzky adds. Sao Paulo has already become a production hub for international and Brazilian companies alike, hosting Keanu Reeves-produced Netflix series Conquest, Sense8 and episodes of Black Mirror. The streamer has shot 10 out of 15 Brazilian original productions totally or partially in the city. Locations such as Sao Paulos futuristic cityscape of gleaming white concrete high-rise towers is one draw, while the citys deep talent pool another. Sao Paulo is unquestionably one of the best locations to shoot in Brazil given the richness of its landscapes, concentration of talent and extraordinary production companies and crews for shows like Sintonia and Modo Aviao, says Francisco Ramos, VP of international originals, Netflix Latin America. We currently film in multiple cities across the country but since we started producing locally, this city has welcomed our productions with open arms. We are proud to show the world a glimpse of this magical city through Netflix, he adds. Story continues The incentives also represent a breath of oxygen in a near totally asphyxiated Brazilian film industry that has seen president Jair Bolsonaros government freezing almost all subsidy funds for almost the past 18 months. For national productions, the cash rebate incentive is especially important in a time of fewer resources and funds, says Bodanzky. Hosting either international or national productions in Sao Paulo is also an essential way of generating resources for the local economy and jobs. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A petition containing hundreds of signatures has been sent to the Municipal Board in an effort to dissolve the Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/5/2020 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us A petition containing hundreds of signatures has been sent to the Municipal Board in an effort to dissolve the Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa. Dennis Rome, a former councillor in the municipality, said 624 people signed the petition that was delivered to the board on Friday twice the number required by the Municipal Act, representing 60 per cent of the rural population. Dennis Rome holds a petition signed by 624 people calling for the dissolution of the Municipality of Oakland-Wawanesa. (Submitted) The numbers could have been much higher, but they had to stop when COVID-19 arrived on the scene in March, Rome said Saturday, adding petitions to the Municipal Board must be in paper form with original signatures and witnessed. Much of the petition centres around tax fairness in the municipality, formed six years ago with the amalgamation of the Rural Municipality of Oakland and the Village of Wawanesa. See Head Page A2 Rome said he and a group of others had many discussions with council regarding taxes and other issues with amalgamation. "We found that we werent really making any headway in those discussions, and had discussions then further into the community," he said. "It was determined the only way to press forward with this was to use the provision of the Municipal Act to petition for dissolution." Rather than a harmonized tax system, which Rome says is weighed heavily against the municipalitys rural residents, he wants to go back to the way it was before amalgamation, with each municipality taking care of its own taxes. Rome said just over 1,100 people live in the rural part of the municipality while only about 560 people live in the village. "Even though we have two-thirds of the population (in the) rural, we seem to be very controlled by one-third of the population coming out of Wawanesa," he said. "Rural has been saddled, through the taxation process ... with 86 per cent of the costs of running this municipality, and Wawanesa residents are down to paying 14 per cent of the costs of the municipality, which is not a fair position," he said. Rome said the group has been in contact with other amalgamated municipalities such as Boissevain-Morton that are in discussions with the provincial government on keeping differential taxation, "which allows for fairness of taxation." Oakland-Wawanesa Head of Council Dave Kreklewich said he has no problem with people distributing a petition, as long as its truthful. That, he said, is the problem with this petition. For one, he said, the petition quotes the village as paying $80,000 for garbage collection in 2014. "Well, in 2014 under the financial audit, it shows the net cost of garbage for Wawanesa was $45,000. So, theyre not being truthful with it as far as the numbers go." He added, "Its hard to say theyre completely wrong, but at the same time you have to know the whole story before you can really get into that discussion as to whether its fair or not." While its true 86 per cent of the assessed value of property is in the rural area and 14 per cent is in the village, "Its just the values that theyre talking about," Kreklewich said. "Distribution-wise, theyre basically paying the same basis as everybody else does, whether it be the village or the rural area." He noted that before amalgamation, the rural municipality didnt have a fire service while the village did. The same went for recreational facilities. Now, he said, "Theres some sharing, because of being used by people throughout the municipality." Kreklewich said he believes council is working as it should. "Were doing things the proper way, and theres going to be those issues. Theyre going to come up, and people can deal with them as they see fit." Decisions on council are made on a majority basis, he said, adding there are four councillors from the Oakland area, two from Wawanesa and himself as head of council. "Its being dealt with, you know, as council feels is fair and reasonable." Rome has had a fiery relationship with the amalgamated council. He and fellow councillor Barry Fowell resigned in March 2019 after only five months in office Rome for a second term and Fowell for a first. Both cited frustrations and animosity between council members as factors in their resignations. In 2015, two councillors put forward a motion to censure Rome, alleging his conduct had at times been "threatening and intimidating." The motion was defeated, but a second resolution that forbade Rome from contacting employees of the municipality and using social media to discuss "municipal-related topics" was passed. The resolution was spurred by Romes use of a local website to discuss municipal issues. "From my perspective, I admit to being very outspoken," Rome said. "Yes, I was outspoken on behalf of my rural constituents in that I felt that at every turn, our other folks on council especially from the village of Wawanesa were trying to silence me on important issues that represent taxation and so on out in the municipality." brobertson@brandonsun.com >>> Party, State leaders pay tribute to President Ho Chi Minh >>> President Ho Chi Minhs 130th birth anniversary commemorated nationwide >>> World media praises President Ho Chi Minh Featuring the presence of senior Party and State leaders, the event also saw the attendance of former leaders, local authorities, representatives of central government and mass organisations, as well as delegates from diplomatic missions and international organisations in Hanoi, former revolutionaries, representatives from the armed forces and people from all walks of life. Senior Party and State leaders join delegates and people from all walks of life at the celebration. (Photo: NDO/Duy Linh) In his speech delivered at the event, General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong reviewed President Ho Chi Minh's glorious revolutionary life and career, and their close association with the brilliant milestones of the Vietnamese revolution. The Party General Secretary and State President affirmed that President Ho Chi Minh's life is the most noble symbol of Vietnamese patriotism and revolutionary heroism. His name and career remain forever with our country, forever in the hearts of our people and those of mankind. He left for our Party, our people and both today and futures generations a precious heritage of thought, an example of morality and style and a very bright lifestyle, the top leader said. He affirmed that President Ho Chi Minh's thought is forever illuminating the way for the revolutionary careers of the Vietnamese Party and people, as well as contributing to the common struggle of peoples around the world in the fight for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress. Highlighting the great value from the lessons about Party building left by President Ho Chi Minh, the General Secretary and State President emphasised that being the founder and mentor of the Party, President Ho Chi Minh always devoted special attention to Party building, so that the Vietnamese Party is truly pure and strong and a revolutionary, ethical, and civilised party. Expressing his deep gratitude to President Ho Chi Minh, General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that every victory and progress of the Vietnamese revolution is associated with the great efforts of President Ho Chi Minh and the lead of Ho Chi Minh Thought. In the Doi Moi (renovation) process, in the face of complicated developments in the world as well as domestic difficulties, the Party has been steadfast in adhering to Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought, while adjusting them in a creative manner into the nations practices to achieve significant achievements. From a poor and backward country, Vietnam has risen to a middle-income developing country. Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong speaks at the grand ceremony. (Photo: NDO/Duy Linh) Our country has never had the potential, position and prestige in the international arena as today, which helps us with more favourable conditions to firmly stand on the path that our Party, our people and our beloved Uncle Ho have chosen, he affirmed, stressing that the achievements in the 35 years of Doi Moi have affirmed that the Party's renovations based on Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh Thought are a creative and correct policy, consistent with Vietnamese practices and the development trends of the era. The Party General Secretary and State President quoted President Ho Chi Minhs call for efforts to preserve and consolidate solidarity and consensus within the Party, saying that Party building and rectification must be in tandem with the building of the State of the people, by the people, and for the people, and the building of a socialist democracy. The senior leader also urged officials, Party members, and the people to follow Uncle Hos teachings and example to perfect themselves. He pointed out the tasks ahead: continuing to enhance the building and rectification of the Party and the entire political system, making them pure and strong in their politics, ideology, organisation and morality; and improving the leadership, governance and combat capacity of the Party as well as building a socialist State ruled by law, of the people, by the people, and for the people. It is necessary to promote the close-knit relations between the Party and the people, build the Party based on the people, promote the peoples democracy and right to ownership, and preserve solidarity and consensus with the Party, he said. The top leader called for greater efforts to complete all targets and tasks, first of all dealing with the adverse impacts of COVID-19, ensuring social welfare while optimising opportunities to fulfil socio-economic development tasks in 2020, thus successfully completing the tasks set for the Partys 12th tenure and the 2021-2020 period and preparing and organising all-level Party congresses towards the 13th National Party Congress. A performance praising President Ho Chi Minh at the ceremony. (Photo: NDO/Duy Linh) At the event, delegates enjoyed a special art programme praising Uncle Ho, as well as the sentiments of the Vietnamese people and the peace-lovers around the world toward him. Documentaries about the glorious revolutionary life and career of President Ho Chi Minh were also premiered. Earlier the same day, a delegation of the Party and State leaders paid tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanois Ba Dinh Square, as well as laying flowers at the monument dedicated to all heroes and fallen soldiers in Bac Son Street nearby. Qantas and Jetstar will give masks to all passengers, use staggered boarding and disembarkation to reduce crowding and ask travellers to limit movement around aircraft cabins in an effort to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission on flights. But the airlines will no longer leave an empty seat between passengers to provide a level of social distancing on board, saying it is impractical, unnecessary and would result in exorbitant airfares. Qantas and Jetstar planes grounded at Avalon Airport, with engine covers secured with yellow tape. Credit:Jason South Qantas Group medical director Ian Hosegood said the risk of catching coronavirus on a plane was extremely low due to the fact air in the cabin runs through hospital-grade HEPA filters every five minutes, removing 99.9 per cent of all particles including viruses while also injecting fresh air from outside. Passengers also do not sit face-to-face, while high backs of aircraft seats act as a physical barrier, he said. When pharmaceutical company Moderna issued a press release about the promising results of its Phase I clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine, the media and the markets went wild. The New York Times ran a story that went viral on Twitter, racking up millions of views as social media influencers and doctors alike shared it far and wide. Modernas stock price shot up 20 percent and several peer companies like Novavax rallied even higher at more than 30 percent. But was it justified? The news cycle in the era of the coronavirus pandemic feels like tidal waves of hope and fear on steroids. Perhaps thats because with more than 36 million Americans losing their jobs and more than 90,000 losing their lives, everyone is desperately looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. Covid-19 is taking an unprecedented physical and psychological toll on the American people and so small bits of potentially good news that should be taken with a grain of salt can end up dominating the headlines. People turn molehills into mountains because we really need and want a game-changer right now. But the truth is the truth regardless of what we want or feel, especially in science and medicine. Phase I clinical trials simply test the safety of a drug or vaccine in a small number of healthy volunteers usually brave and naive college students while Phase II trials are responsible for testing its effectiveness in a larger number of subjects. Such a hyped-up and exuberant response to a Phase I trial is rare and nearly unheard of, even in the extraordinary setting of Covid-19. This is especially the case since so little information is gleaned from an investigational drug in Phase I that has many more hurdles to overcome before it successfully gets to market. In fact, 77 percent of vaccines for infectious diseases make it through Phase I, but only 33 percent make it through the entire process overall. Moreover, upon examining Modernas non-peer reviewed press release, the actual data on the vaccines success is even more flimsy. According to the document, of the 45 patients who received the vaccine, the data on neutralising antibody data are available only for the first four participants in each of the 25-microgram and 100-microgram dose level cohorts. In other words, that means that when it comes to finding out whether the vaccine elicits an antibody response that could potentially fight the coronavirus, they only had data on eight patients. Thats not enough to do any type of statistical analysis and it also brings into question the status of the other 37 patients who also received the vaccine. Moreover, when it comes to determining whether the neutralising antibodies were clinically effective against the coronavirus, the only data Moderna alluded to were from mice. Not only are there huge differences between mice and men, but history also proves that success in animal models is often not replicated in human studies. This is especially the case for Modernas messenger RNA vaccine, which would be the worlds first to ever reach the market if it passes clinical trials. Many vaccines, like for influenza a.k.a flu, use an inactivated virus that is destroyed by heat or chemicals like formaldehyde so that it can elicit an immune response without infecting you. Others like for measles, mumps, and rubella use a live attenuated virus that is cultivated in such a way that it makes the virus weak and unable to hurt you but still able to train your immune system to fight it. Modernas messenger RNA vaccine, on the other hand, is completely new and revolutionary to say the least. It uses a sequence of genetic RNA material produced in a lab that, when injected into your body, must invade your cells and hijack your cells protein-making machinery called ribosomes to produce the viral components that subsequently train your immune system to fight the virus. In this case, Modernas mRNA-1273 is programmed to make your cells produce the coronavirus infamous spike protein that gives the virus its crown-like appearance (corona is crown in Latin) for which it is named. In many ways, the vaccine almost behaves like an RNA virus itself except that it hijacks your cells to produce the parts of the virus, like the spike protein, rather than the whole virus. Some messenger RNA vaccines are even self-amplifying. That means they encode not only the protein antigen of interest to elicit an immune response but also produce their own RNA dependent RNA polymerase, so that they can force the cell to replicate more copies of it. At that point, it will be hard to convince conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers that a self-amplifying messenger RNA vaccine is not an artificially created self-replicating virus. In fact, public acceptance of this new paradigm is not something to be easily dismissed nor taken for granted. There are unique and unknown risks to messenger RNA vaccines, including the possibility that they generate strong type I interferon responses that could lead to inflammation and autoimmune conditions. Trump 'looking at' making coronavirus vaccine free That is not to say there arent also great advantages to having messenger RNA vaccines too. For example, they can be mass-produced cost-effectively on a large scale necessary for the worldwide vaccination efforts that we desperately need for the coronavirus pandemic. They also do not require uninterrupted cold storage that makes vaccines challenging to distribute in poor countries and rural areas with unreliable refrigeration at the point of care. However, the fact remains that messenger RNA vaccines have never before been brought to market for human patients. So the hype surrounding Modernas vaccine requires us to take not one but two leaps of faith that it works for a never-before-seen virus and in a never-before-seen way. But perhaps the most important question to ask about Modernas new messenger RNA vaccine is not scientific nor technical but one of ethics and morality. When it comes to the United States and its private healthcare system, pharmaceutical companies have a long and sordid history of putting profits over people and human lives. Pricing and access to drugs like insulin, for example have been limited to those who can afford it at the deadly expense of those who cannot. When Dr Frederick Banting and Dr Charles Best discovered insulin in 1921, they sold their patent for $1 because they could not bear the idea of profiting from a drug that was meant to save human lives. Yet pharmaceutical companies like Eli Lilly have skyrocketed the price of insulin using a process called evergreening, where they make incremental changes to the drug in order to renew their patents in perpetuity. Could the same thing happen with Modernas new and revolutionary messenger RNA vaccine for the coronavirus? If American pharmaceutical companies become the worlds gatekeepers for the vaccine, will they allow everyone to have it at low cost or will they prioritise only the rich and powerful? Oxford Vaccine Group has a competing coronavirus vaccine called ChAdOx1 nCoV-19. It works by genetically re-programming the adenovirus a DNA virus that causes a mild cold in humans and elicits a strong immune response to express the coronaviruss spike protein on the surface of itself. Then the adenovirus, which can be modified not to replicate nor become infectious, is injected as a vaccine that allows our bodies to generate protective antibodies and immunological memory to fight the coronavirus. UK to spend 84m on Covid-19 vaccine studies, business secretary announces Unlike Modernas messenger RNA vaccine, the Oxford vaccine does not need to invade and hijack our cells own machinery to produce the coronaviruss spike protein and instead hijacks the adenoviruss machinery before it even comes into our body. From a medical and clinical perspective, there is less risk of generating a type I interferon response and autoimmunity because there is no messenger RNA floating around our blood, invading our cells. But most importantly, the Oxford Vaccine Group is part of a universal healthcare system called the NHS within the UK. As such, there is much less potential for price-gouging and barriers to access for the eventual coronavirus vaccine compared to Moderna. If the undeserved investor and media hype for Modernas messenger RNA coronavirus vaccine allows it to overtake all competitors around the world, then we may be left with a potentially more dangerous and unknown vaccine that many of us may not even be able to afford. So lets have an even playing field here. Lets base our excitement and exuberance on the actual facts and evidence and data rather than our labile emotions and feelings. We are all in this together, and that includes poor people in America and poor people in poor countries around the world who deserve an eventual coronavirus vaccine that is safe, effective, and last but not least affordable. The UK aims to have 30 million doses of the vaccine ready by September if the human trial phase at Oxford University is successful. AstraZeneca Plc said it was in talks with governments around the world to strike coronovirus vaccine production deals similar to one it agreed with Britain over the weekend. "AstraZeneca is engaged with international organisations ... as well as governments around the world with the aim of delivering a safe, effective and globally accessible vaccine as quickly as possible," a spokesman told Reuters. These organisations include the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi), he added. "We will make every effort we can deliver these doses at no profit while at the same time working on parallel supply chains to supply the world," the spokesman said. British business minister Alok Sharma on Sunday unveiled an agreement for the production of a vaccine against the virus that causes Covid-19 with Oxford University and AstraZeneca. The deal will see AstraZeneca manufacture up to 30 million doses by September as part of a commitment to deliver 100 million doses in total for people in Britain. Under the agreement, London pledged 65.5 million pounds in funding for the vaccine being developed at the University of Oxford and 18.5 million pounds for related work at Imperial College London. The University of Oxford, which contributed the initial work on the so-called ChAdOx vaccine, in April struck a deal with AstraZeneca for the drugmaker's help in further development, global production and distribution. Astra was now establishing regional supply chains for the Americas, Europe, India, China and the rest of the world, the spokesman said. One of the leading Oxford researchers behind the vaccine told Reuters last week the vaccine will be priced to allow as wide as possible access to it and will be made at huge scale. ChAdOx is already being tested on humans but trial readouts are yet outstanding. Other vaccines in clinical trials include those by Moderna Inc, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc , partners Pfizer Inc and BioNTech as well as China's CanSino Biologics Inc or Sinovac Biotech Ltd. Early data from Moderna's vaccine, the first to be tested in the United States, showed that it produced protective antibodies in a small group of healthy volunteers, the company said on Monday. After UP Delhi Congress urges to deploy buses for migrants India oi-Briti Roy Barman New Delhi, May 19: Anil Chaudhary, Delhi Congress chief on Tuesday writes to CM of the national capital Arvind Kejriwal stating that the party wants to deploy 300 buses at borders of capital to facilitate the movement of migrant workers to their home states. He also wrote that the expense of these buses will be fully borne by Delhi Congress. Chaudhary also expressed grieves about the ongoing woes of the migrant workers in the country. UP govt claims Congress sent autorickshaw, two-wheeler numbers in list of buses for migrant workers This comes after a letter war broke out between the UP government and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over buses to take migrant workers home. The Uttar Pradesh government has written a letter to the Congress leader, asking for 500 buses each to be sent to Noida and Ghaziabad that border Delhi. Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government agreed to Priyanka Gandhi's offer to provide 1,000 buses to take migrant workers home. Priyanka Gandhi appealed to the CM through Twitter after a string of accidents involving migrant workers in the state, including one on Saturday in Auraiya district, where 26 workers died in a truck accident while going to their home state. For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Tuesday, May 19, 2020, 16:19 [IST] Around 9.5 lakh students will take the Class 10 board exam in Tamil Nadu. The exams for Class 11 and Class 12 started in the beginning of March. The Tamil Nadu government has decided to reschedule the Class 10 board exam again. The Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) exams will now be conducted from 15 June to 25 June. Tamil Nadu school education minister KA Sengottaiyan, posted a message on Twitter to announce that the decision to further defer Class 10 exams has been taken after a meeting with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. The Class 10 board exams have been postponed for the third time. First, they were scheduled to be conducted from 27 March to 13 April, but got deferred due to coronavirus lockdown. Then, the exams were rescheduled to be held from 1 June to 12 June. The SSLC exam will be held at 12,690 selected centres. The number of centres has been increased from 3,800 to 12,690 to conduct exams safely, maintaining social distancing norms. Only 10 students will sit in one classroom during the exam. Around 9.5 lakh students will take the Class 10 board exam in the state. The exams for Class 11 and Class 12 started in the beginning of March. Class 12 students who could not appear for the board exam on 24 March owing to the restrictions in the state can take the exam on 4 June. Sengottaiyan earlier informed that evaluation of answer sheets for Class 12 will start from 27 May. According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, coronavirus has infected over 11,700 people in Tamil Nadu and killed more than 80 people. Around 4,400 people have recovered from the infection in the state. Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday said the measures announced by the government for financial institutions as part of Rs 20 lakh crore-economic package will help ease their asset risk, but will not fully offset the negative impact from the COVID-19 outbreak New Delhi: Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday said the measures announced by the government for financial institutions as part of Rs 20 lakh crore-economic package will help ease their asset risk, but will not fully offset the negative impact from the COVID-19 outbreak. The government last week announced a support package of Rs 3.70 lakh crore for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, Rs 75,000 crore for non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and Rs 90,000 crore for power distribution companies. Moody's says govts steps to provide some support to financial system, but won't fully offset COVID-19 hit pic.twitter.com/2HURVK66Wx CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) May 19, 2020 This is part of the overall economic package announced by the government over last week to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. While these measures will help ease asset risks for the financial sector, they will not fully offset the negative impact from the coronavirus outbreak, Moody's said in a commentary titled Financial Institutions - India: Support measures to provide relief to the financial system, but will not solve all issues. Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak On the MSME package, the rating agency said the sector was already under stress before the coronavirus outbreak and further slowdown in economic growth will lead to more liquidity woes. With regard to measures for NBFCs, it said the support is far lower than the immediate liquidity requirements of those companies and the sector will continue to pose risks to the banks. Amongst the measures, the most significant is the government guaranteed, automatic and uncollateralised loans to MSMEs. Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock markets Such loans will help improve MSMEs near-term liquidity and ease asset risks for the banks and NBFCs who are the key lenders to the sector, it said. However, the MSME sector was already under financial strain before the outbreak of the coronavirus because of the gradual slowdown in India''s economic growth over the past 18 months. As a consequence, it has limited capacity to weather another economic shock, Moodys said. The deeper and broader economic slowdown in India''s growth, the more the MSMEs will face liquidity stress, leading to asset-quality problems for the financial system, it added. Moody's said the relief measures for the NBFC sector will fall short of solving the liquidity needs of the sector. The government will set up a special purpose vehicle that will subscribe to new and existing bonds issued by NBFCs up to a maximum of Rs 30,000 crore. This is the first instance of direct support to the NBFC sector from the government, but the size of the support is far lower than the immediate liquidity requirements of those companies. The planned debt purchase represents about 2 percent of the total outstanding debt of the top 20 NBFCs that represent close to 75 percent of the assets of the NBFC sector, it added. Also, the Reserve Bank of India''s (RBI) liquidity measures have so far benefited the larger and better-rated NBFCs, while the credit flow to smaller NBFCs has been less effective. We do not expect these new measures to significantly help the smaller NBFCs and their funding conditions are likely to remain difficult. We expect that NBFCs will continue to pose risks to the banking sector as banks are a large lender to the sector, it added. Liquidity support to power distribution companies (discoms) will improve near-term cash flows of power generating companies. According to the agency, loans from the Power Finance Corporation Ltd and Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd to discoms will allow them to repay amounts owed to power generating companies and help their cash flow, easing asset risks for the lenders to the sector. Nevertheless, the sharp slowdown in India''s economic growth and the continued low capacity utilisation in the power sector will exacerbate the already stressed conditions of power generation companies. For PFC and REC, although the loans carry low risk because of state government guarantees, the new loans will increase leverage unless the two companies raise new equity capital. Leverage is measured as total assets/shareholders'' equity, Moody's added. Google Maps Two people were taken to a hospital after an oil storage tank exploded near the Texas A&M University Galveston campus, according to Galveston city spokeswoman Marissa Barnett. Their injuries are not life threatening, she said. They were working around the tank at the time of the explosion, she said. A shelter-in-place order was issued for the campus while firefighters tackled the blaze with foam. Denys Shmygal noted that it would be executed considering the examples of other countries Ukraine's Prime Minister Open source The recommencement of Ukraine's air connection is likely to take place in June. Prime Minister Denys Shmygal stated this on the air of the Ukrainian TV channel, UNN reported. "Air connection is likely to be restored in June," Shmygal said. The Prime Minister noted that it would be executed considering the examples of other countries that would also reinitiate their air connections. However, this will definitely not happen until June 15. As we reported earlier, according to Yevhen Yenin, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine, over 230,000 Ukrainian citizens have been evacuated to the motherland since the lockdown limitations began worldwide. Ukraine resumed the practice of evacuation of citizens from abroad with special flights in late April. On May 13, Boryspil airport hosted two flights from Amsterdam and Athens; the aircraft brought 287 Ukrainian citizens back home. Yenin added that the procedure carried on in spite of certain difficulties that were caused by peculiar circumstances in various countries. Kilkenny County Council is to write to the CEO of Bank of Ireland and the Minister for Finance calling on them to protect jobs at the local Banking 365 call centre. Seventy-eight jobs at the centre are to go over the next few months as contracts that come to an end will not be renewed. Bank of Ireland say this is a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have seen the impact of Covid-19 on our customers and on our business in a range of ways. One impact is on the roles we have available at our contact centres. Prior to the onset of the current pandemic, attrition levels in our contact centres were at a level where we would often be able to offer permanent positions with Bank of Ireland to contract staff at the end of their contract period. However, since Covid, the number of vacancies arising within the business has significantly decreased. This development, coupled with expected efficiencies in our processes, unfortunately means that a number of contract positions will come to an end from late June 2020 to January 2021. Local Councillor Denis Hynes is calling on the bank to reverse the decision. He said Kilkenny County Council will be writing to Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohue, and Bank of Ireland CEO, Francesca McDonagh, calling on them to save these jobs. The Labour Party councillor expressed his annoyance that some people learned the news from colleagues following the announcement in a Skype conference that, he said, not all employees could access. Cllr Hynes said a large number of employees contacted him with their concerns and worries because he not only is a councillor but also a full time trade unionist. Cllr Hynes went on to say only a couple of weeks ago the same employees were seen as essential services and turned up to work every day throughout the lock down, now their services are no further required. Attorney General William P. Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray Announce Significant Developments in the Investigation of the Naval Air Station Pensacola Shooting Today, Attorney General William P. Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray announced significant developments in the FBIs investigation of the December 6, 2019 shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola that killed three U.S. sailors and severely wounded eight other Americans. On January 13, 2020, Attorney General Barr announced that the shooting was an act of terrorism and publicly asked Apple to help the FBI access the locked contents of two iPhones belonging to the deceased terrorist Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani. The company declined to do so. Attorney General Barr announced that the FBI recently succeeded in unlocking the phones of Alshamrani, who had attempted to destroy them while launching his attack. The phones contained important, previously-unknown information that definitively established Alshamranis significant ties to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), not only before the attack, but before he even arrived in the United States. The FBI now has a clearer understanding of Alshamranis associations and activities in the years, months, and days leading up to the attack. Thanks to the great work of the FBI and no thanks to Apple we were able to unlock Alshamranis phones, said Attorney General Barr. The trove of information found on these phones has proven to be invaluable to this ongoing investigation and critical to the security of the American people. However, if not for our FBIs ingenuity, some luck, and hours upon hours of time and resources, this information would have remained undiscovered. The bottom line: our national security cannot remain in the hands of big corporations who put dollars over lawful access and public safety. The time has come for a legislative solution. I could not be prouder of the relentless dedication of the men and women at the FBI who worked for months under difficult conditions to access these devices, said Director Wray. Their skill and persistence, and the sustained investigative efforts by FBI Jacksonville, the FBIs Counterterrorism Division, and our many other federal, state, and local partners, have been nothing short of extraordinary in this case. As we continue to seek answers around the December 6th terrorist attack that killed three American service members and wounded others, I want their families, and all Americans, to know that protecting the United States from those who seek to do us harm remains the FBIs foremost priority. Our work against the threat of terrorism never rests. Investigators sought and received court authorization to search the contents of Alshamranis iPhones within one day of the December 6, 2019 terrorist attack. Unable to unlock the phones because of their security features, and having exhausted all readily available options, the FBI approached Apple for its assistance in early January 2020. The company declined to assist. FBI technical experts succeeded in accessing the phones contents over four months after the attack, revealing highly-significant evidence, including: Alshamrani and his AQAP associates communicated using end-to-end encrypted apps, with warrant-proof encryption, deliberately in order to evade law enforcement. Alshamranis preparations for terror began years ago. He had been radicalized by 2015, and having connected and associated with AQAP operatives, joined the Royal Saudi Air Force in order to carry out a special operation. In the months before the December 6, 2019 attack, while in the United States, Alshamrani had specific conversations with overseas AQAP associates about plans and tactics. In fact, he was communicating with AQAP right up until the attack, and conferred with his associates until the night before he undertook the murders. The evidence derived from Alshamranis unlocked phones has already proven useful in protecting the American people. In particular, a counterterrorism operation targeting AQAP operative Abdullah al-Maliki, one of Alshamranis overseas associates, was recently conducted in Yemen. This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. When your store is the only place in town to buy groceries, you do what you have to do in order to ensure the shelves are never empty. Toshua Parker and his wife, Cassia, own Icy Strait Wholesale in Gustavus, Alaska population 450. This tiny town is only accessible by boat or airplane, and Parker used to have his Costco orders delivered to the store on Alaska's ferry system. Because of the pandemic, the ferry is not stopping in Gustavus. His supplies began dwindling in March, so Parker decided he would have to start picking up his orders in person. Every week since, Parker and his employees have made the 14-hour round-trip to Juneau, 50 miles away, taking a converted military landing craft and loading it up with food and other essentials to stock the store. This long trek "doesn't seem like a big deal," Parker told CNN. "Alaskans are fiercely independent and resourceful; you really have to be to survive here. So when a problem arises, we don't typically look to someone else for help, we just find a way to do it." A lot of planning goes into the trips, with Parker having to take into consideration the tides and weather forecasts. He said he's grateful for his employees who are "going to work every day during this pandemic to make sure our town stays supplied," adding that having to go to such great lengths to keep the people of Gustavus fed is "just another day in our world." More stories from theweek.com 2 dams fail in Michigan, forcing 10,000 evacuations, emergency declaration Trump spent hours retweeting, slamming Fox News, including profane attacks on host Neil Cavuto Trump's press secretary says with any other president, 'the media would take him at his word' In a week, Maria Winslows son and his friends will be staying at a home in Belmar they rented for $30,000. When they signed the lease last year, Winslow said, the group expected sun-soaked days and nights at bustling Jersey Shore nightclubs. But their picture perfect vacation went out the window with the coronavirus. The Osprey, Manasquans legendary nightclub a short ride from Belmar, wont open this summer. Some towns, like Seaside Heights, arent allowing swimming on Memorial Day Weekend. Amusement piers, sit-down restaurants and arcades all boardwalk staples will be closed for the foreseeable future. Winslow said her son wanted a refund. But the realtor turned down the request, she said, so theyre moving forward with the trip. My son started banging the drum early on, and the realtors response was You rented a house, not the beach and bars. Thats the truth, but youre paying top dollar because you want to go in the summer and go to the attractions," said Winslow. Winslow and other family members also booked a stay in Wildwood Crest for a week in August, a trip she said she also tried to cancel without success. We and other renters have no option and risk a financial loss. As the start of the summer season fast approaches, some want out of their contracts, saying their annual Jersey Shore vacation wont be the same this year. Many beaches are open for active recreation, but the heart of the New Jerseys coastline, the Atlantic Ocean, remains closed off to swimmers in some towns. Favorite eateries and ice cream shops wont offer dine-in experiences. There may be lines to get onto beaches as towns comply with capacity limits mandated by the governor. And organized games, contact sports, concerts and events on the sand are not allowed. On top of that, theres a general fear small shore towns wont have the infrastructure to handle a possible rise in coronavirus cases as crowds flock there. A woman carries ice cream onto the beach at Pier Village in Long Branch, N.J. as many enjoy a beautiful spring afternoon at the Jersey Shore on Sunday, May 3, 2020. Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Renters and homeowners alike are in a pinch. Its ultimately up to the landlord to decide whether a refund will be granted if a tenant is unhappy about a lack of amenities this year, said Bob Rich, an Avalon and Stone Harbor-based realtor. He said there is no legal requirement, on that basis, that a refund be given. His office began writing coronavirus clauses into leases in earlier April, but those clauses only apply if occupancy is restricted by the state, county or municipalities. (As of Monday in Cape May County, rentals greater than 30 days are now permitted. By June 1, short-term rentals will also be allowed also). It usually goes one of two routes, Rich said: The landlord, also leery of inviting guests into their home amid a pandemic, could simply cancel the stay and refund the tenant. Or, the landlord might have a wait and see approach," not committing to returning payments until closer to the move-in date. Since April 1, his office has had eight cancellations. Some were due to local restrictions on renting last month, while others canceled for health reasons or because of reduced amenities in the town theyre staying at. Thats a decision the landlord and tenant have to agree on. If the tenant wants to change the lease that they have with the landlord, then that can be done, but its got to be agreed to by both parties, Rich said. Its no longer an occupancy issue, and it becomes much more ambiguous what is promised other than occupancy of the property. Rich compared the coronavirus impact on the summer rental market to an oil spill that occurred 50 miles off South Jerseys coastline two decades ago and prohibited the use of some beaches for two weeks. That was not anything that was done by the landlord. The landlord had their property ready. The landlord didnt know there was going to be an oil spill. Likewise, the landlord (this year) didnt see COVID-19 coming, Rich said. Now, he said, landlords are focusing on sanitizing properties thoroughly. People walk onto the beach in Ocean City, N.J., Saturday, May 16, 2020. Some people wore face masks to help protect themselves and others from COVID-19, but social distancing appeared to be difficult to maintain at times.Lori M. Nichols | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Some shore mayors are working with the governors office in hopes of re-opening more places that vacationers expect to be part of their stay, like bars and restaurants. Belmar Mayor Mark Walsifer said the town made a suggestion to the governors office to allow socially distant restaurant seating at outdoor, open-air bars with earlier closing times and no bar service. Were making suggestions, but its totally up to the governor, he said. For Memorial Day Weekend, he said beach badge checkers will be equipped with digital counters to keep track of the number of people entering the beach, which will be zoned into four sections. Big groups often rent houses together as a way to split the high cost of living near the beach, especially during Senior Week, the week after prom when many high school students head to Wildwood with a house rental or hotel stay. But that has also created confusion and led to some wanting refunds rather than risking breaking coronavirus rules. A group of 68 teenagers from Lacey Township and 98 from Toms River are trying to get their money back for a Senior Week booking at the Twilight Motel in Wildwood, to no avail. Gov. Phil Murphy said Senior Week festivities are permitted as long as there are fewer than 10 people in a rental and theres proper social distancing. This notion of the bubble going and breaking your bubble and going outside of it if theres more than 10, that gives me discomfort, Murphy said. Lavallette landlord Peter Nardella, who rents three units at one property for up to $2,500 a week, has been allowing contract changes and refunds due to the coronavirus. So far, Nardella has had three cancellations for Memorial Day Weekend and one for July 4th, but said his financial situation allows him to be lenient. And he understands why someone would want to stay away from the shore this year as people remain unsure what their vacation might look like. Even today, we dont know if Lavallette will allow people to swim (in the ocean), Nardella said. Other homeowners, though, arent in the same boat, he said. Some rely on the busy summer season to make enough money for year-round living expenses. He only urges renters to be as communicative as possible early on if theyre thinking of canceling. There are retirees that, this is what they use to offset their retirement money... (But) we are adopting a 100% refund, no questions asked policy if you have a concern. We have to be flexible as landlords, Nardella said. Ultimately, (renters) are our bread and butter and we have to make them comfortable. 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. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo. Police arrest stolen vehicle suspect who fled, entered occupied home The homeowner was able to get out of the home safely, but Aberdeen police are now negotiating the surrender of the suspect. T he British government has called for people who have lost work during the coronavirus crisis to "play their part" by helping pick fruit and vegetables this year. Environment secretary George Eustice said it was "clear" that more British people would need to help with the harvest, as most of the people from eastern Europe who usually travel to the UK in summer to pick crops are stuck in their own countries due to the coronavirus. Britain's farmers have warned that a lot of food could go to waste due to the labour shortage if more workers aren't found to fill the shortfall. The Government has launched a new service, Pick for Britain, to bring food producers and would-be workers together. It's Pick for Britain website had crashed after Mr Eustice made his comments. Farmers have warned that crops could go to waste / Danilo Cestonato / Unsplash Mr Eustice said: Every year large numbers of people come from countries such as Romania or Bulgaria to take part in the harvest, harvesting crops such as strawberries and salads and vegetable. We estimate that probably only about a third of the people that would normally come are already here, and small numbers may continue to travel. But one thing is clear and that is that this year we will need to rely on British workers to lend a hand to help bring that harvest home. Many people have lost work or been furloughed after many businesses were forced to close their doors temporarily in the coronavirus lockdown. And Mr Eustice added that furloughed workers may be getting to the point that they want to lend a hand and play their part, they may be wanting to get out and they may be wanting to supplement their income. The Environment Secretary's comments come after Prince Charles released a video message on Tuesday urging Brits to take part in the harvest, and compared new farm workers to the volunteers who helped pick crops in the Second World War. Prince Charles backs Pick For Britain campaign The Prince of Wales said: Food does not happen by magic, it all begins with our remarkable farmers and growers. If the last few weeks have proved anything, it is that food is precious and valued, and it cannot be taken for granted. This is why that great movement of the Second World War the Land Army is being rediscovered in the newly created Pick For Britain campaign. In the coming months, many thousands of people will be needed to bring in the crops. It will be hard graft but is hugely important if we are to avoid the growing crops going to waste." Company announcement no. 7 2020 Holmens Kanal 2 12 DK-1092 Kbenhavn K Tel. +45 45 14 14 00 18 May 2020 Changes in Executive Leadership Team Jacob Aarup-Andersen, Head of Banking DK and member of the Executive Leadership Team, is leaving Danske Bank to take up a new position outside of the bank. I want to thank Jacob for his great efforts in several positions at Danske Bank. He has played an important role, most recently as Head of Banking DK, where he has contributed to developing a strong and well-run organisation committed to the continued execution of our plan to become a better bank for all our stakeholders. I also want to congratulate Jacob on his new job and wish him every success in his new endeavour, says Chris Vogelzang, Chief Executive Officer. Jacob Aarup-Andersen has been employed with Danske Bank since 2012 and a member of the Executive Leadership Team since 2016. Danske Bank is a great organisation and I was looking forward to contributing to its continued success. But sometimes opportunities come along that are difficult to pass up. I want to thank all my talented and dedicated colleagues at Danske Bank. I am certain they will continue to develop the bank to the benefit of the customers, says Jacob Aarup-Andersen. Effective today, Glenn Soderholm, Head of Banking Nordic and Member of the Executive Leadership Team, will also take responsibility for the banking activities in Denmark on an interim basis. Danske Bank A/S Contact: Stefan Singh Kailay, Head of Group Press, tel. +45 45 14 14 00 Attachment The Canopy Senior Living, in conjunction with Jacksonville, Fl.-based real estate developer, Rimrock Companies, and SRI Management LLC, broke ground on a 64-unit assisted living and memory care community, The Canopy at Boynton Ridge, on nearly six acres of well-accessed land. "With anticipated grand opening in Spring 2021, The Canopy at Boynton Ridge is located in Catoosa County, within the growing, six-county Chattanooga metropolitan area," officials said. "The community will encompass both assisted living and memory care apartments in an amenity-rich, resort style environment. Meeting a measurable market demand for additional assisted living and memory care options, the project will be managed by SRI Management, a company noted in the industry for its level of dedicated service, value and resident care." The Canopy at Boynton Ridge is the fifth senior housing development and the third in Georgia for Canopy Senior Living, said Brad Womble, director of development, The Canopy Senior Living. Within close proximity to major retail, including the new Publix directly adjacent to the community, as well as medical providers and CHI Memorial Hospital Georgia, the accessibility of this site to the entire region, coupled with the offering of a substantially larger, more modern living option than competitive area communities provide, The Canopy at Boynton Ridge is ideal for families and residents in the region seeking the highest standards in amenities, activities and care. Summit Contracting Group is leading the construction team for the 47,000 square-foot community. Plans for the community include a healthy mix of units, designed to provide facilities to meet unmet demands in the local community. Amenity-rich offerings include kitchenettes in all assisted living units, a wellness center, bistro and pub, private dining room, outdoor dining and a spacious salon and spa. In addition to industry-leading food service and chef-driven meals developed in conjunction with the health and wellness teams, the community will include concierge services for residents. Once opened, The Canopy at Boynton Ridge will add approximately 60 jobs to the area, infusing more than $1.2 million in annual salary and wages into Fort Oglethorpe. Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark joins Princess Beatrice and countless other couples, royal or not, that have had to reschedule their weddings. Theodora planned on having her ceremony this month, but the event had to be postponed due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic. Her fiance is Los Angeles-based attorney Matthew Kumar, People notes. "Unfortunately, it has been canceled due to COVID-19 and we do not have a new date scheduled at this time," a palace communications officer told Her & Nu, Hola! reports. "However, we are analyzing the situation in detail to see when the wedding could take place." Milos Bicanski/Getty Images RELATED: Princess Beatrice Has Reportedly Canceled Her Wedding The Greek monarchy was "formally abolished in 1974," People adds, though Theodora maintains her title, Her Royal Highness Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark. Royal die-hard will note that she's also in line for the British throne, thanks to being the great-great-granddaughter of Prince Arthur, Queen Victoria's son. Theodora was raised in England, though she later moved to America to pursue a career in acting. Her most notable credit includes a role on The Bold and the Beautiful under her stage name, Theodora Greece. Though Theodora's royal office didn't release the exact date for her original ceremony, Beatrice did release information for her big day. She was set to marry her fiance, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, at St. Jamess Palace on May 29. Will China's 2020 defense budget increase or decline? Global Times By Hu Xijin Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/19 0:41:04 The defense budget, namely the military spending, will be a focus of public opinion at home and abroad as the two sessions begin this week. Will China's military spending this year increase on the basis of last year, or will it decline? This year's COVID-19 pandemic has hit China, causing economic growth to suffer. At the same time, the international situation is facing unprecedented turbulence since the end of the Cold War, and China's strategic risks are rising rapidly. It is fair to say that there are reasons for China to increase or cut its military spending. At this moment, the country in particular needs to make strategic planning and come up with the best plan that is most conducive to safeguarding the fundamental interests of all the Chinese people. In my opinion, China still needs to maintain a positive increase in military expenditure this year for three reasons. First, although China's economy experienced severe negative growth in the first quarter, positive growth in the second quarter is highly likely. Positive growth for the full year is also what most economists expect. In accordance with the general principle that the national defense budget should grow in a moderately coordinated manner with the state's economic and fiscal expenditures, the positive increase in China's military spending this year has an economic basis. Second, the military budget should take into account both the level of economic development and national defense needs. This year, however, the latter factor has become significantly more severe. As COVID-19 has shaken the globalization landscape and the world order, the US has become more frenzied than ever before, and the ruling elites there have become increasingly open about their hostility toward China, and they have the aggressive impulse to suppress China in extreme ways. China needs to have a stronger military as a deterrent, to ensure that the US does not dare to act on those impulses because it cannot afford the huge cost. This is the cornerstone of China's peaceful life in these turbulent times. It is the most external shield to protect the interests of us. Third, China's military spending remains at a low percent of GDP, 1.2 percent of GDP for 2019, far lower than 3.4 percent in the US, 2.5 percent in India, and 3.8 percent in Russia. It is also lower than the 2 percent of GDP that the US requires for NATO member states. I wanted to say that it would be difficult for China to maintain such a low level of military spending in the future due to the fundamental changes in the security situation caused by the US' designation of China as its top strategic competitor. China will have to adjust its military spending to no lower than 2 percent of its GDP. The Chinese society that loves peace and values people's livelihood must form this basic strategic rationality. I know how important peace is to the people. I also know how people value various aspects of the livelihood. Affairs of state often seem too far from our daily lives. But I firmly believe that: Only when China is strong enough that others dare not use military means to coerce us into making strategic concessions can peace truly belong to the people of our country. Let's see what kind of defense budget the country will propose for year 2020 at the two sessions. The author is editor-in-chief of the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pakistans education minister, Shafqat Mahmood, acknowledges problems with the content. We know its not perfect, he said, explaining that his ministry was left scrambling after the shutdown was announced. The country had never had an educational television channel before, and because of the low rates of Internet access in the country, setting up online lessons with videoconferencing and interactive lectures would have been impossible. About 36 percent of Pakistani households have broadband Internet access, according to government figures, but only 15.5 percent of the population used the Internet in 2017, according to the World Bank. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has given the Federal Government a 48-hour ultimatum to disclose the whereabouts of the Chinese medical team brought in purportedly to assist in the fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In a statement released by the partys spokesperson Kola Ologbondiyan, said its position is predicated on the alarming declaration by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, that he cannot account for the whereabouts of the Chinese doctors who were brought into the country from the epicenter of the pandemic, despite repeated warnings and dis approvals by medical experts and professional bodies. Read Part of the statement below; The party described as suspicious, creepy and weird that the minister of health, who had repeatedly assured that the Chinese were brought to render medical services and trainings; and even went personally to receive them at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja on April 8, 2020; in an elaborately publicized event, can no longer account for the team. The PDP recalls how officials of the APC-led administration had vehemently defended the invitation of the Chinese team and offered them full state protocol upon arrival, only to now turn around to disclaim the supposed experts, deny involvement with them and even forbid Nigerians from enquiring about their whereabouts. Our party is worried that the APC-led Federal Government is being economical with the truth, with its officials playing politics with the lives of our citizens and health safety of our nation. The PDP holds that governments inability to account for the Chinese team amounts to direct betrayal of public trust, which has heightened fears of conspiracies by certain unpatriotic interests in the APC and its administration to compromise the health architecture of our nation and expose our citizens to danger. Nigerians can recall how the Federal Government had failed to respond to demands by our party and other well-meaning Nigerians for the particulars of the members of the team, their medical status, scope of operation, detailed itinerary within our country as well as the safety of the equipment they brought into our nation. Our party had expressed worry over scary reports of escalation of the scourge in certain countries reportedly after the arrival of Chinese medical personnel in those countries and insisted that the APC administration should be held responsible should there be any sudden upsurge in COVID-19 infection and deaths in our country, with the arrival of the said Chinese medical team. We invite Nigerians to note that whereas our nations COVID-19 data, upon the arrival of the Chinese team in April, stood at 254 confirmed cases with 44 successfully treated by our doctors and 6 deaths, which reportedly had other underlining ailments. Today, the data stands at no less than 5,450 cases and 171 deaths. Our party therefore insists that the PTF on COVID-19 should immediately come out with the truth and provide explanations on the whereabouts of the team in the next 48 hours so as to douse the tension in the country. The PDP however urged Nigerians to remain vigilant while intensifying personal and public health safety strategies at this critical time. Committee members voted 8 to 7 in favor of Ratcliffe as the next director of national intelligence, following an extraordinary hearing earlier this month held under social distancing guidelines. Ratcliffe sat far back from masked senators who questioned him on his credentials and whether he was capable of acting independently of his political allegiance to the president. YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh has received the results of the 27 coronavirus tests sent to Armenia vor examination, according to which 26 are negative and 1 is positive, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Informational Center of Artsakh, quating the Healthcare Ministry. The new case is a family member of an earlier recorded case and had been isolated. By now 29 cases have been recorded in Artsakh, 8 of which have recovered. A total of 581 citizens have been tested and 69 have been isolated, while Armenia has recorded 5041 cases. 2164 have recovered, 2788 are active cases. Death toll is 64 in Armenia. Reporting by Anna Grigoryan, Editing and translating by Tigran Sirekanyan Western Australia's Asian Engagement Minister Peter Tinley has singled out Liberal MP Andrew Hastie in a dispute with China over Australia's call for an investigation into the origins of the global coronavirus pandemic. Overnight, Beijing slapped an 80 per cent tariff on imports of Australian barley, a decision that would cost WA farmers hundreds of millions of dollars. WA Asian Engagement Minister Peter Tinley says the Commonwealth needs to Commonwealth needs to "tread very carefully" in its trade dispute with China. Credit:File Although Mr Hastie has not commented on the trade dispute with China, he has been a notable critic of China's communist regime and has called for a "push back" against its activities in Australia as the coronavirus pandemic exposes the costs of "relying too heavily on an authoritarian regime" for our prosperity and economic security. Mr Tinley said Mr Hastie should know better and his commentary was not helpful. Contributed photo * The East Haven Rotary Club, a member of Rotary District #7980, recently made donation of nearly $1,100 worth of food to the East Haven Food Pantry. The club applied for and received approximately half of the funding from the districts Managed Grants Funding. Recently several Rotarians made the clubs first delivery of the needed items to the pantry, which operates out of the Christ & The Epiphany Church, next to the East Haven Town Green. In the photo, from left, are Rotary President Joan Adamczyk and Rotarians Paul Adamczyk, Erika Santino Santiago and Liz Esposito. * New Haven executives Doris Zelinsky and Linda Schultz have focused what they learned about leadership and collaboration in the business world to organize a mask-making effort for first responders, congregate homes, and others throughout greater New Haven. Their group, nicknamed the Masked Creator Volunteers, has so far distributed 250 masks to front line workers and those at unique risk from COVID-19with hundreds more masks in the pipeline. Forces allied with Libya's GNA take control of key base near Tripoli Iran Press TV Monday, 18 May 2020 2:54 PM Forces allied with Libya's internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) have wrested control of a key military base on the outskirts of the capital Tripoli from renegade General Khalifa Haftar. Pro- and anti-Haftar media, citing reliable military sources, reported on Monday that the forces with the GNA took the Watiya air base, about 125 kilometers southwest of Tripoli. Footage posted on social media appeared to show the GNA forces driving down runways at the base unhindered. The base has been an important strategic foothold for forces loyal to the eastern-based Haftar, who launched an offensive to capture Tripoli in April 2019. The GNA forces have already pushed back against their rivals in recent weeks. Last month, they captured towns on the west coast of Tripoli. Since 2014, two rival seats of power have emerged in Libya, namely the GNA of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, and another one based in the eastern city of Tobruk, supported militarily by rebel forces collectively known as the 'Libyan National Army' (LNA) under Haftar's command. The military commander, who lived in the United States for years, is supported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Jordan. Despite fierce fighting, Haftar has so far failed to achieve his objective of ousting the Tripoli government and the offensive has stalled outside the city. Reports say more than 1,000 people have to date been killed in the violence. Turkey also signed a treaty with the GNA in November last year, and, in return for Libyan permission to access Mediterranean gas fields, has been supplying military support to the GNA. Various international attempts to bring about peace between the two warring sides have also failed. Haftar can still use a second airbase, Mitiga, to mount deadly assaults on Tripoli. Strikes from there continued against the capital on Monday. Many of these assaults are killing civilians and destroying hospital facilities at a time when the country is trying to contain the new coronavirus outbreak. According to the United Nations, seven health centers in Libya have been struck a dozen times since the beginning of this year. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Amazon is gradually reopening its warehouses in France after consulting with unions on new virus safety measures, in an effort to end weeks of legal troubles that had sharply curtailed the company's business. In a victory for unions, French courts ruled last month that Amazon hadn't done enough to protect its workers from the coronavirus. The world's largest online retailer shut its French warehouses as a result just as demand soared because stores were shuttered by virus restrictions. After protracted negotiations, Amazon started a three-week reopening process Tuesday. It's now holding training sessions for staff, in one small group at a time, on the new virus protection measures it's putting in place, Amazon's France director Frederic Duval said on public broadcaster France-Info. Unions say the new measures include stricter social distancing, better enforcement, and changes to scheduling to reduce the number of people allowed to work in the same place at the same time. Duval called the reopening excellent for workers, customers and French companies that sell via the online giant. He said that Amazon is committed to the security of our workers and is adapting its practices based on guidance from government health authorities. Staffers were paid while the warehouses were closed. Unions had hailed the court rulings as a comeuppance for Amazon, arguing that the company placed profits above safety as the virus spread fast around France. Two courts found Amazon didn't do enough to enforce social distancing, to ensure that turnstiles and locker rooms were virus-free, or to increase cleaning of its warehouses. Amazon hasn't said how much money the company lost as a result of the closures. It dominates the online delivery market in France, with 431 million euros in sales in 2018 and more than 10,000 employees. Amazon became a lifeline to many shoppers as much of the globe went into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, but that has also led to delivery delays and mounting complaints from workers who worry about contagion while on the job. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) When Acting DNI Richard Grenell released the list of individuals who made unmasking requests relating to General Michael Flynn, one of the curious facts that stood out was the presence of a number of Obama Treasury Department officials on the list. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and no fewer than five of his subordinatesDeputy Secretary, Under Secretary, Acting Assistant Secretary, and so on, all political appointees in the Obama administrationall made unmasking requests with regard to conversations that turned out to involve General Flynn, on the same day: December 14, 2016. Lew made a second request on January 12, 2017. The mystery of why President Obamas Treasury Department was interested in electronic surveillance carried out for national security purposes may have been solved by this scoop in the Ohio Star: The Treasury Department Spied on Flynn, Manafort, and the Trump Family, Says Whistleblower. President Barack Obamas Treasury Department regularly surveilled retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynns financial records and transactions beginning in December 2015 and well into 2017, before, during and after when he served at the White House as President Donald Trumps National Security Director, a former senior Treasury Department official, and veteran of the intelligence community, told the Star Newspapers. I started seeing things that were not correct, so I did my own little investigation, because I wanted to make sure what I was seeing was correct she said. You never want to draw attention to something if there is not anything there. The whistleblower said she only saw metadata, that is names and dates when the generals financial records were accessed. I never saw what they saw. By March 2016, the whistleblower said she and a colleague, who was detailed to Treasury from the intelligence community, became convinced that the surveillance of Flynn was not tied to legitimate criminal or national security concerns, but was straight-up political surveillance among other illegal activity occurring at Treasury. When I showed it to her, what she said, Oh, sh%t! and I knew right then and there that I was right this was some shady stuff, the whistleblower said. It wasnt just him, the whistleblower said. They were targeting other U.S. citizens, as well. Only two names are listed in the whistleblowers official paperwork, so the others must remain sealed, she said. The second name is Paul J. Manafort Jr., the one-time chairman of Trumps 2016 presidential campaign. The other names include: Members of Congress, the most senior staffers on the 2016 Trump campaign and members of Trumps family, she said. The Stars source says that she filed a formal complaint with the Treasury Departments Inspector General in March 2017, but nothing was done. There is much more at the link. In general, I dont assume that purported whistleblowers have any special claim to credibility. Many are just disgruntled employees or dishonest political activists. But in this instance, the whistleblowers claims would seem to be borne out by the unmasking logs. Lets recall what unmasking is all about. The National Security Agency, and perhaps other federal spy agencies, gather up an enormous number of communications by surveilling foreign agents, suspected terrorists, diplomats from hostile countries, and so on. These communications include telephone conversations and, I believe, emails. The spy agencies report on intercepted conversations that are potentially significant to various executive bodies, like the White House. Because they are authorized to spy only on foreigners, not Americans, they conceal the names of Americans who participate in communications with foreigners who are being surveilled. If someone like the Secretary of State, the Vice President, the White House Chief of Staff, or whoever, thinks it would be useful to know the identity of the American who cropped up in a particular conversation, he or she can identify that conversation and request that the American be unmasked, i.e., identified. Given that background, one wonders: what does the Treasury Department have to do with any of this? Is the Treasury Department routinely copied on intercepts by the National Security Agency? I wouldnt think so. If not, how would Treasury know to request the unmasking of a particular American in a particular conversation with a foreigner? The most plausible answer, I think, is that someone else in the Obama administration had unmasked General Flynn (in this particular case) and believed that the conversation in question might provide grist for the Treasury Departments political mill. I believe it would be illegal for one Obama official to pass unmasked information along to another official in a different department. So I suspect that someone in the Obama national security apparatus saw something in an intercepted communication involving General Flynn that he or she believed Treasury could make use of in undermining the incoming Trump administration. That person couldnt pass on the information, so instead, he or she identified the communication in question so that Treasury could make its own unmasking request to the intelligence agencies. Maybe there is another explanation, but that is the only one I can come up with. The Treasury Department presumably was interested in financial records of Trump associates, as opposed to national security matters, and the whistleblower who talked to the Star explained: This surveillance program was run out of Treasurys Office of Intelligence Analysis, which was then under the leadership of S. Leslie Ireland. Ireland came to OIA in 2010 after a long tenure at the Central Intelligence Agency and a one-year stint as Obamas daily in-person intelligence briefer. The whistleblower said Treasury should never have been part of the unmasking of Flynn, because its surveillance operation was off-the-books. That is to say, the Justice Department never gave the required approval to the Treasury program, and so there were no guidelines, approvals nor reports that would be associated with a DOJ-sanctioned domestic surveillance operation. *** Patrick Conlon, the OIA director, who succeeded Ireland, was on the list of 37 Obama administration officials who either requested that Flynns name be unmasked or were shown the unmasked surveillance product. Conlon accessed the Flynn file Dec. 14, 2016. There must have been some kind of meeting that day. These are all of the other Treasury Department officials looking at Flynn that day: Secretary Jacob Lew, Acting Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis A. Daniel Danny McGlynn, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Michael Neufeld, Deputy Secretary Sarah Raskin, Under Secretary Nathan Sheets and Acting Under Secretary Adam Szubin. We dont know what Flynn communication these Obama officials were poring over, but we do know that the Treasury Department was never able to make any kind of a case against Flynn for financial misdeeds of any kind. It bears remembering that Jacob Lew was an unusually political Secretary of the Treasury. He was Obamas Chief of Staff before taking over the Treasury Department. We have written about him several times, e.g. here. Evidence continues to grow that the corruption of the executive branch of the U.S. government by Barack Obama was comprehensive and perhaps unprecedented. Mom of child recovering from COVID-related, multi-inflammatory disease speaks out: What parents should know The mom of a 7-year-old boy who was released this week from intensive care after spending seven days battling the COVID-related, multi-inflammatory disease affecting children across the U.S. has a message for other parents. "The big thing is if your kid is sick, get them in right away and get them checked out," Hannah Peck, of Shelby Township, Michigan, told "Good Morning America." "I feel like if I hadnt gotten him in or if the doctor had said it was just a stomach bug and to go home, we would be in a very different position right now." Peck's son, Levi, was healthy up until the morning of May 2, when he woke up vomiting and with a high fever, according to Peck. When Levi's symptoms continued, Peck took her son to the pediatrician, who told her to immediately take Levi to the hospital. "The doctor took a look and at that point Levi's eyes were turning red and his lips were getting red and chapped," she said. "The doctor said he was really dehydrated and he needed to get to the hospital right away because he could be having the Kawasaki-like syndrome that kids were getting." PHOTO: Levi Nobles, 7, was hospitalized for seven days with COVID-related, multi-inflammatory disease. (Courtesy Hannah Peck) Around the world, and more recently in the U.S., doctors are reporting a link between children who have or have had COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, and an inflammatory syndrome that has symptoms that overlap with toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease, a rare inflammatory syndrome typically affecting children under the age of 5. The symptoms may occur days or weeks after exposure to COVID-19, and may present in children who were asymptomatic to the illness, doctors say. In the U.S., ABC News has identified over 200 possible and confirmed cases of pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome across 19 states and Washington D.C. MORE: Teen girl recovering in ICU with new coronavirus-related illness similar to Kawasaki disease Levi tested negative three times for COVID-19 during his hospitalization, but he tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, meaning he was exposed to the illness, according to Peck. Story continues PHOTO: Levi Nobles, 7, was hospitalized for seven days with COVID-related, multi-inflammatory disease. (Courtesy Hannah Peck) Doctors quickly transferred the first grade student to another hospital, Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, where he was treated by infectious disease specialists. Levi, who also suffered from severe abdominal pain, was ultimately found to have pneumonia in both lungs and was placed on oxygen in the ICU. He was discharged from the hospital on May 12, one week after being admitted. Levi is expected to make a full recovery but Peck, a single mom, has no idea how her only child was exposed to COVID-19. Peck said neither she nor her mom, whom they live with, has had any symptoms of COVID-19 or any known exposure to the virus, though doctors have told her it is likely she and/or her mom had the virus and were asymptomatic. Peck stopped working and Levi stopped going to school in mid-March and the family has followed stay-at-home orders, leaving only to pick up groceries at a curbside location, according to Peck. PHOTO: Levi Nobles, 7, was hospitalized for seven days with COVID-related, multi-inflammatory disease. (Courtesy Hannah Peck) "I never would have guessed that he would have had it or that this would have been part of it," she said of her son. "It was really scary and Im very thankful that we got to walk out of [the hospital] and hes okay." What parents need to know The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health alert Thursday on the illness, which the CDC now calls "multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children," or MIS-C. In order to have a diagnosis of MIS-C, the CDC says a patient must be 21-years-old and younger; have a fever of at least 100.4 degrees for at least 24 hours; show evidence of a "clinically severe illness requiring hospitalization" with multiple organ systems involved; have been COVID-19 positive within the past four weeks and have "no alternative plausible diagnoses." PHOTO: COVID-19 Pediatric Inflammatory Syndrome (ABC News) The takeaway for parents is don't panic, but remain vigilant monitoring their child's health and call a pediatrician or other health care provider if symptoms like a high fever persist, according to Dr. Bishara Freij, chief of pediatric infectious disease at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, who was part of Levi's medical team at the hospital. "They dont need to panic but they need to get their child evaluated because the earlier a diagnosis is made, the earlier you intervene, the more easily you can reverse everything," Freij told "GMA." "Its a collaborative effort by everybody but of course the parent is the first line of defense for the child." Freij has so far treated four children with MIS-C at the hospital, including Levi, and said the most common symptoms among the patients have been a fever that has continued for three to four days and gastrointestinal problems, like vomiting and diarrhea. "The other interesting thing with them is that they all have one thing in common from a laboratory standpoint, when we measure inflammatory markers, they are markedly elevated in these children, all of them," he said. "And they tend to progress fairly rapidly." MORE: Some children with COVID-19 are experiencing symptoms similar to Kawasaki's disease Freij also emphasized that all patients with MIS-C he has treated tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, and all developed complications later on. "It takes minimum a week to start forming antibody and then usually in the second and third week you start having more measurable stuff," he said. "Even the patients who presented with shorter stories already had antibodies, so it looks like this is a post-infection problem where as your immune system evolves a response, thats when you get in trouble." The CDC in its latest health alert did not provide guidance on treatment for MIS-C. "Basically children will get one or a combination of things, depending on what organ is affected,' said Freij. "Some method of dampening your immune response is required, traditionally high-dose steroids, but not for a long time." Freij emphasized again that while cases of MIS-C are in the news, and will likely increase in the coming weeks, the condition is still uncommon and not something that should leave parents panicked. "There is an alarm but theres hope also," he said. "Just be vigilant and attentive." 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 Mom of child recovering from COVID-related, multi-inflammatory disease speaks out: What parents should know originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Myanmar & COVID-19 Myanmar Court Releases Muslim Boys With Orders Not to Break COVID-19 Restrictions Downtown Mandalay during COVID-19 restrictions in April. / Zaw Zaw / The Irrawaddy MANDALAYA juvenile court in Mandalay has released two Muslim boys who violated the ban on gatherings after they signed an agreement promising they will not break the law again for three months. The two boys, ages 12 and 13, were arrested together with 12 Muslim men who held a religious gathering at a house in the Aung Pin Lae area of Mandalays Chanmyathazi Township on April 10. The 12 adults were sentenced by the Chanmyathazi court on May 8 to three months in prison under Article 30 (a) of the Natural Disaster Management Law. Article 30 (a) states that a person who defies rules or regulations in an emergency or disaster situation shall be punished with a maximum of one year in prison and a fine. Since the two boys are under 18, their case was submitted to the juvenile court and they were held at a youth detention center in Mandalay. The court returned the boys to their parents with the promise that they will not participate in such a gathering that defies the law for three months. If they do so, they each will have to pay 500,000 kyats [US$360] as punishment, said U Myint San, the spokesperson of the juvenile court in Mandalay. They did nothing wrong but holding a small religious gathering. However, it was at the time of restrictions for COVID-19 and they were found guilty, said the father of the 13-year-old boy, who accompanied his grandfather to the gathering in April. The government banned mass gathering and gatherings of more than five people in March. The order was originally set to expire at the end of April but was then extended to May 15 and later extended again through the end of May. In early April, mosques, churches, Hindu temples and pagodas across Mandalay Region were closed following the governments announcement. With the restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, annual religious ceremonies such as Easter, Ramadan and the Buddhist New Year have not been celebrated at places of worship as usual. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Extends Ban on Gatherings, Intl Flights, Other COVID-19 Measures Myanmars Major Cities to Ease Some COVID-19 Business Restrictions Advertisement China has accused the US of inciting other countries to demand compensation over coronavirus as an economic blame-game over the pandemic escalated today. Beijing vehemently pushed back against suggestions that it should bear financial responsibility for unleashing a virus which has forced countries into lockdown and wiped trillions of dollars off the world economy. Instead, officials used state newspaper People's Daily to try to pin the blame for spreading the virus internationally on the US - having previously pedalled conspiracy theories that American troops could be the source. China has already slapped an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley exports after the country called for a probe into the virus's origin - widely believed to be a Wuhan market - as a war of words turned into a war of wallets. Officials in Canberra said today that they may appeal to the World Trade Organisation over the move, calling it 'disappointing'. Beijing denies the tariffs are being used as retaliation. China has accused the US of pressuring other nations into demanding compensation over coronavirus amid a mounting economic war over the pandemic (pictured, Chinese leader Xi Jinping) Australian barley growers say the Chinese tariff could cost them at least 500million Australian dollars (270million or $330million) per year (pictured, grain farmer Rhys Turton in Western Australia today) Britain and dozens of other countries have backed Australia's calls for an inquiry, sparking fears of a global trade war if China takes similar retaliatory measures. The World Health Organisation yesterday agreed to launch a probe but China says it is 'nothing but a joke' for Australia to take credit for it. To add to the tension, Donald Trump last night renewed his attack on the WHO - which he regards as biased towards China - by threatening to permanently pull US funding and quit the body altogether. In response, China has offered to contribute $2billion in additional funding to the organisation over two years to Beijing's stated reason for the tariff is an allegation that Australian barley subsidies and dumping tactics had 'substantially damaged domestic industry' in China. Australia's agriculture minister, David Littleproud, said today that the government will 'strongly reject' the Chinese claims. 'To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement,' the minister said. 'This is something that we will strongly reject, the premise that the Australian barley farmer is subsidised in any way, shape or form. 'We will now work through the determination by Chinese officials, calmly and methodically, and reserve our right to go to the World Trade Organisation to get the independent umpire to make that determination.' However, trade minister Simon Birmingham said Australia would not retaliate against China. 'We don't pursue our trade policies on a tit-for-tat basis. We will continue to operate as we always do,' he said. Australian barley growers say the Chinese tariff could cost them at least 500million Australian dollars (270million or $330million) per year. The government says that barley farmers will now seek to pursue other export markets, including in the Middle East, but filling the hole left by Beijing will not be easy. China imported 2.5million tonnes of Australian barley in the last financial year, more than 50 per cent of Australia's barley exports. The second-biggest importer was Japan with only 800,000 tonnes. Beijing has been investigating Australian barley exports since 2018 and claims that the new tariff is unrelated to the pandemic, but experts believe the timing is significant. 'The fact that it's come out now and the fact they have increased the dumping duty by about 20 per cent beyond what was initially requested by China's industry - this would be related to Australia's position,' said Weihuan Zhou, an international law expert at the University of New South Wales. Chinese health workers in protective suits surround the body of a man who died in Wuhan - the city where the outbreak began - in January this year. A full inquiry would heap scrutiny on Communist Party officials Donald Trump, pictured, last night threatened to permanently stop funding of the World Health Organization and reconsider US membership in the body China's ambassador in Canberra last month hinted at a boycott of Australian goods such as beef and wine over what Beijing regarded as unfriendly calls for an investigation. The comments from Cheng Jingye were published in the Australian Financial Review, which said the diplomat had described the Chinese public as 'frustrated, dismayed and disappointed with what Australia is doing'. 'I think in the long term... if the mood is going from bad to worse, people would think, why should we go to such a country that is not so friendly to China? The tourists may have second thoughts,' the ambassador said. 'It is up to the people to decide. Maybe the ordinary people will say, why should we drink Australian wine? Eat Australian beef?'. Tensions between the two have escalated several times in recent years, including over a ban on Huawei building Australia's 5G network and Australia closing its border to Chinese citizens earlier this year. A full investigation into the origins of the virus - backed by Donald Trump - would heap unwanted scrutiny on Communist Party officials in China, where the outbreak began late last year. The WHO yesterday backed a 'comprehensive evaluation' which was sought by a coalition of African, European and other countries. More than 100 nations on Sunday pledged their support to the inquiry, including the entire 27-member European Union along with New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, the UK, India, Canada, Russia, Mexico and Brazil. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Monday it was time to be frank about why COVID-19 has 'spun out of control.' 'There was a failure by this organization to obtain the information that the world needed and that failure cost many lives,' Azar said. Australian foreign minister Marise Payne said the resolution, which included a promise of 'an examination of the zoonotic origins of the coronavirus', had met Australia's requirements. However, China's embassy in Australia said it was 'nothing but a joke' to say the WHO's decision was a 'vindication of Australia's call', claiming the resolution adopted was 'totally different'. Chinese leader Xi Jinping told a virtual session of the World Health Assembly that his country would support an independent probe into the origins of the outbreak, but only when the pandemic is over. Xi defended his country's response to the crisis, saying China had acted 'with openness and transparency'. He also announced China would provide $2 billion to help respond to the outbreak and its economic fallout. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (pictured at WHO headquarters in Geneva yesterday), the head of the World Health Organisation, has come under growing pressure over the body's handling of the pandemic A coalition of more than 100 nations have supported Australia's call for an independent probe into the origins of coronavirus (pictured, Australian PM Scott Morrison) Donald Trump took the row with China further last night when he threatened to permanently cut off funding for the WHO, which he has accused of bias towards Beijing. The president has raged at the WHO's 'political correctness' and blames it for facilitating the spread of the virus with a 'disastrous decision to oppose travel restrictions from China' in the early weeks of the outbreak. Trump suspended US funds last month and has now threatened to quit the body altogether if it does not make 'major substantive improvements within the next 30 days'. 'The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China,' Trump said in a letter to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Trump also claimed that the WHO had 'ignored credible reports' about the virus in December 2019 or earlier, 'including reports from the Lancet medical journal'. The editor of the Lancet, Richard Horton, today rebuked Trump and said no such reports had existed. 'The Lancet did not publish any report in early December 2019, about a virus spreading in Wuhan. The first reports we published were from Chinese scientists on January 24, 2020,' he said. The UK has also supported the call for an inquiry, saying China faces 'hard questions' about the source of the coronavirus pandemic, adding there would have to be a 'deep dive' into the facts around the outbreak. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said last month that relations would not go back to 'business as usual' between the UK and China after the pandemic eases. A Foreign Office spokesman said yesterday: 'There will need to be a review into the pandemic, not least so that we can ensure we are better prepared for future global pandemics. The resolution at the World Health Assembly is an important step towards this.' An investigation into the handling of the virus was agreed at a virtual meeting of the World Health Assembly, in which leaders including Xi Jinping, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron took part In April, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said China faces 'hard questions' about the source of the coronavirus pandemic EU spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson said several key questions needed to be answered as part of a review: 'How did this pandemic spread? What is the epidemiology behind it? All this is absolutely crucial for us going forward to avoid another pandemic of this kind.' Many of the earliest known cases were linked to a live animal market in Wuhan, but scientists have yet to establish with certainty how the virus passed from animals to humans. Several Tory MPs have called on China to face questions over its handling of the crisis, while a poll revealed last month that an overwhelming majority of Britons believe Boris Johnson should demand an international investigation into China's actions in the early stages of the outbreak. Over 80 per cent of people in the UK want Beijing to face a global inquiry into what happened, according to a poll commissioned by the Henry Jackson Society think tank. Meanwhile, seven in ten people believe ministers should try to take legal action against the Chinese government if it is found to have broken international law in relation to its outbreak response. At the end of last month, the government stopped publishing China's coronavirus death figures alongside its own, in a nod to claims that Beijing was covering up the true extent of the outbreak in the country. However, China hit back at the UK last week, with Beijing's state-controlled Global Times claiming that Britain would need a 'miracle' to get out of the health crisis as it condemned London's response to COVID-19 as 'flippant' and 'ill-prepared'. The Communist newspaper slammed Boris Johnson for telling people to go back to work before setting up a track-and-tracing system. It accused the Prime Minister of prioritising the economy over virus control. DOYLESTOWN >> A man and woman will face decades in state prison for the repeated sexual assault of three children under the age of 13, abuse that they also filmed in more than 40 videos of child pornography. Leonard F. Hewitt Sr. 51, and Krystyn Anne Smock, 40, both of Bristol Township, committed the acts for more than four years... Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree restoring Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to his position after he recovered from a coronavirus diagnosis. Putin canceled a temporary transfer of Mishustin's authority to First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, who was named acting premier on April 30, according to the decree. Following his coronavirus diagnosis, Mishustin, 54, reappeared on state television on May 8 and has repeatedly participated in videoconferences with Putin and other ministers since then. Mishustin, three government ministers and at least five State Duma deputies have been diagnosed with the virus, as well as Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Russia has the second-most coronavirus cases in the world behind the U.S., and the number of new Covid-19 infections rose by 9,263 in the past day to 299,941. Register with JOC.com and receive 5 free pieces of content for the first thirty days. After thirty days, you will receive 3 pieces of content and after sixty days you will receive 1 piece of content. To receive full access, Subscribe Today . You can also subscribe to our daily newsletter. Register Area residents facing food uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic got some relief Monday thanks to the Joint Chinese College Alumni Association. In coordination with the Southwest Management District, the Alumni Association donated $40,000 to enable the YMCA, Houston Food Bank and Brighter Bites to distribute 120,000 meals to area needy families. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Texas reports massive jump in COVID-19 cases in single day The pandemic affects everyone, so we all have to work together to fight back, said Alumni Association president Judy Jeng in a news release. It doesnt matter about our religious beliefs, political affiliations or our races, we are all in this together. The announcement of the donation was made Monday at a YMCA food distribution site in southwest Houston. Hundreds of Houston-area residents were in a four-block line of vehicles to receive a food distribution. According to the news release, in the last nine weeks, the YMCA has distributed more than 5 million pounds of food to more than 260,000 people, officials said, as residents have lost jobs and income because of the pandemic. MORE FROM ROY KENT: YMCA of Greater Houston begins to move toward reopening Because of anti-Asian backlash associated with the pandemic, State Rep. Gene Wu called on residents to support one another during this time. We want to make sure everyone survives ... so join with me and push back against hate, push back against bigotry, push back against Asian-American sentiment, push back against anti-immigrant sentiment and say we are all a part of this community and we will get through this together, Wu said. Houston Food Bank President/CEO Brian Greene was thankful for the donation. This generous gift from the Joint Chinese College Alumni Association will help (us) by providing additional non-perishable items to produce-focused distributions in (Gulfton) and Alief, Greene said. We are grateful for organizations like the Joint Chinese College Alumni Association as their support will help us be able to continue to provide food for better lives throughout this difficult time. Also at the event, the Southwest Management District made its own donation in the hopes of making an even larger donation in the future. District Board Vice Chairman Fred Bhandara donated seed money that will lead to at least $50,000 more in funding for the Food Bank. Bhandaras and the management district are each donating $15,000, while the Zoroastrian Association of Houston, of which he is a member, is donating almost $10,000, to be matched by Sysco, the Houston-based food distributor. We are working hard to serve you, said Southwest Management District Board Chairman Kenneth Li. The management district is proud to be part of it. For more information or to make a donation to the Houston Food Bank go to www.houstonfoodbank.org. rkent@hcnonline.com Mumbai: Bollywood producer Boney Kapoor's domestic help, Charan Sahu, at his residence at Green Acres, Lokhandwala Complex, Mumbai years has tested Coronavirus positive. The 23-year-old house help was unwell on Saturday evening (May 16, 2020) and Boney Kapoor sent him for tests, keeping in isolation. After receiving the test report, the Society Authorities were informed, who in turn informed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The BMC and State Govt Authorities have begun the process of getting Charan Sahu into a quarantine centre. Boney Kapoor added: Myself, my children and the other staff at home are all fine and none of us is showing any symptoms. In fact, we havent left our home since the lockdown started. We are thankful to the Government of Maharashtra and BMC for their swift response. We shall be diligently following the instructions and advice given to us by BMC and their medical team. We are sure that Charan would soon recover and be back at home with us. 1. Yes. Too many kids are staying home. They need a virtual learning option to keep up. 2. Yes. Teachers are out sick and subs cant handle the load. Online learning is needed. 3. No. Its too late in the school year to make a wholesale switch in teaching platforms. 4.No. Many parents arent in a position to stay home while their kids learn virtually. 5. Unsure. It may seem like a good idea from a health standpoint, but it has shortcomings. Vote View Results A serious miscarriage of history has been undone after 70 years with the notification of the new domicile rules by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday. Terming the new rules as dawn of a new era for the Union Territory, he said history will vindicate us and prove that this course correction was in keeping with the principle of equality and the norms of a healthy democracy. "A serious miscarriage of history has been undone after 70 years by the Jammu & Kashmir domicile rules notification, said Singh, the Minister of State for the Personnel Ministry. People belonging to West Pakistan, Valmikis, women marrying outside communities, non-registered Kashmiri migrants, displaced people will soon get domicile under a new set of rules issued by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday. Singh noted that three generations of people of Jammu and Kashmir had been denied their right to live with justice and dignity, and it was heartening to see this redemption happening in this lifetime. This notification of new rules -- will prove to be a blessing for future generations, he said. The minister also expressed satisfaction that he and some of his contemporaries got an opportunity to be a part of this exercise, if not wholly, at least in a very small measure. While West Pakistan refugees and displaced persons from Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) have been restored their legitimate rights, Singh said discrimination of several decades has been undone and those who are opposing this move are only exposing themselves to the accusation that for the last 70 years they had been thriving on of discrimination. "It is an irony that all India service officers, including IAS and IPS, who devoted 30 to 35 years of their life to serve in Jammu & Kashmir were, at the end of the day, after superannuation, asked to pack up, leave and look for a place elsewhere to settle," he said. This was quite in contrast to the arrangement in several states and UTs where the all India service officers of state cadre are not only allowed to settle but are also provided plots of land for the same, said Singh, who represents Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur in Lok Sabha. Similarly, a gross injustice was being done to the children of these officials who did their entire schooling in Jammu and Kashmir but were debarred from applying for admission to higher education institutions there, the minister said. Singh said, this should be seen as an opportunity for wider exposure and capacity building for children, so that they can prepare themselves to flourish in global India. "It was an anomaly waiting to be corrected and perhaps it was god's will that it should get corrected only when Narendra Modi takes over as the prime minister of India," he said. Singh also complimented Home Minister Amit Shah for the clarity with which the entire exercise was carried out. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three people were charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery after a drug deal gone wrong ended in the shooting death of a teenager, according to an arrest affidavit. Chelsey Lucero, 18, Angel Koenigstein, 19, and Nathaniel Velasquez, 24, are accused of setting up a fake meeting in order to rob a group of teenagers. Bexar County Sheriff's deputies were called to the 11200 block of Dublin Woods on April 12 after a 911 caller said there were teenagers outside popping fireworks and running toward a vehicle, the affidavit said. But when deputies arrived at the scene, they found two people suffering from gunshot wounds. One victim died at the scene and the second was transported to the hospital with a gunshot wound in the buttocks. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox Just before 3 a.m. on April 12, the three suspects drove to the meeting spot to meet with three teenagers. Velasquez and Lucero remained in the car while Koenigstein met with the three teens. Surveillance video from a doorbell camera shows Koenigstein pulling out a handgun and yelling "give me all your (sic)," the affidavit said. As the victims attempted to run, he shot at them multiple times, hitting two of the three teenagers, the affidavit continued. One of the victims told police that they had known Koenigstein for several years, and at one point were as close as brothers. Koenigstein was arrested on April 16 and identified Velasquez and Lucero as the two with him at the time of the shooting, according to the affidavit. Velasquez was arrested on separate warrants on May 1. He told police that the three had been partying in a hotel when Koenigstein introduced the idea of robbing someone for drugs, the affidavit said. Lucero said she didn't remember much from the shooting because she was high on methamphetamine, according to the affidavit said. However, a witness showed police police text messages from Lucero that said Koenigstein was armed and that the three were committing robberies, the affidavit said. She was arrested May 17. Koenigstein's bail was set at $250,000, Velasquez's at $500,000 and Lucero's is $100,000. Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway Advertisement Boris Johnson's ambition to reopen primary schools on June 1 could be scrapped amid mass dissension from teachers, unions and growing numbers of Labour councils, it was revealed today. The Prime Minister's spokesman said the Government would 'listen to their concerns' about safety and insisted opening schools in 12 days was not a 'hard deadline' only part of a 'roadmap' out of lockdown. A poll from teachers' union NASUWT suggested that only 5% of teachers think it will be safe for more pupils to return to school next month. In a letter to the Education Secretary, Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said the union remains 'unconvinced' that wider reopening of schools from June 1 is 'appropriate or practicable'. The survey, of nearly 29,000 NASUWT members across England, found that around nine in 10 teachers believe that social distancing will be impossible, or will present major issues and a similar proportion are not confident that the proposed measures will protect their health or the health of pupils. It also found that 87% of teachers believe that PPE is essential to protect staff against the virus. A phalanx of Labour councils have pledged to 'resist' Mr Johnson's schools plan with former party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaking at a National Education Union (NEU) rally tomorrow to argue it is unsafe to return to schools early next month. But the party's new boss Sir Keir Starmer is yet to get off the fence on the issue. The Government wants a phased reopening from June 1, with Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils going back first as a row rumbles on about whether it is safe with Education Gavin Williamson insisting getting children back to school on that date is vital for their development and prospects so teachers should 'do their duty'. But Dr Roach said today: 'The results of our survey underscore the fact that the Government has thus far failed to win the trust and confidence of teachers about the safety of reopening schools. 'It is now imperative that the Government takes every available opportunity to provide the necessary assurances that teachers are seeking.' This morning John Edmunds, professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a member of the influential SAGE committee, told the House of Lords science and technology committee: 'It looks like the risk to children is low, and that the vast majority don't have significant symptoms'. And leading World Health Organisation medic Dr David Nabarro has backed the phased return of schoolchildren saying: 'There will be risks but it's a case of balancing up the risks. You don't want children staying at home and missing out on school for a long time.'. Millions of children across Europe, including France, have returned to school this month with no major spike in coronavirus cases yet. Children work in segregated positions at Kempsey Primary School in Worcester today, but many schools are expected not to open more fully on June 1 as councils, teachers and unions refused to support the plan Boris Johnson hoped the majority of primary schools would reopen on June 1 after being scuppered by unions, being supported by Labour MPs including Jeremy Corbyn. New party leader Sir Keir Starmer has kept quiet on the issue of schools Holywell Village First School in Northumberland has revealed its social distancing plans when schools reopen after lockdown 'Large numbers' of children as young as 11 could be grabbed by county lines drugs gangs if school is out until September Young teenagers could be recruited in 'large numbers' by county lines drugs gangs if secondary schools do not fully reopen until September, a police and crime commissioner has said. The West Midlands' Labour commissioner David Jamieson, who is also a former teacher, added youngsters aged 11-14 could be 'swept up' by criminals, because they are not in lessons. The Government has said it wants some primary school pupils to be back in lessons 'at the earliest' by June 1, and some 'face-to-face support' for secondary pupils in Years 10 and 12, who are facing exams. Mr Jamieson, speaking at the region's strategic policing and crime board on Tuesday, said he was also concerned about young men who may find themselves out of work after furlough ends, falling into crime. Turning to the reopening of some schools in England from June, he said: 'I very much welcome the reopening, as long as it's safe to do so. 'But I have a concern that one group of children was not mentioned and that's children in earlier secondary years, 11 to 14-years-of-age. 'Years seven, eight and nine, there was no intention of them going back to school before September. 'Now that is profoundly concerning to me - large numbers of younger children, those more likely to be swept up by the gangs and taken into County Lines getting into all sorts of other things, very undesirable things. 'Those children will be available for those criminals to take them on. 'I think the Government needs to urgently look at that. 'That if the schools are going to reopen there is going to have to be some ongoing education for those younger teenagers as well. 'It could be making provision for them to have good-quality distance learning or having some time in the school so they keep contact with their studies.' He added: 'Once those children have got out of the discipline of getting up in the morning, doing the work and the rhythm that there is of being in school. 'By September, or even beyond as we hear, that may be very difficult to re-start that, particularly I think for young boys.' Advertisement Union chiefs have told teachers to demand detailed answers to at least 169 questions from their bosses on issues such as bin lids, coronavirus counselling and employing extra staff to clean paint brushes, scissors and glue sticks before agreeing to return to school, it was revealed today. The National Education Union has also told its 450,000 members to stop marking work and keep online tuition 'to a minimum' for any children still at home and not to try remote teaching if 'they feel uncomfortable' after going back to the classroom from next month. The NEU's gigantic list of demands includes mapped locations of lidded bins in classrooms and around the school, full health and safety risk assessments for leaving doors and windows open while teaching and also asks: 'What arrangements are in place to keep every classroom supplied with tissues?'. Other queries from the NEU include: 'Have families been told to provide water bottles?' and suggests grilling bosses about bringing in more staff specifically for washing 'resources for painting, sticking and cutting before and after use' in classrooms and an official policy on how often pupils will be reminded to catch coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow. The NEU's safety checklist has been hailed by many teachers but critics have said the 22-page document is a 'barrier' to reopening primary schools in England from June 1 because it appears impossible to answer all the questions before then and may spook headteachers who fear their own staff could take them to court. Richard Marshall, the union's Learning and Development organiser, tweeted last night that the number of 'unanswered' questions from its 450,000 members was more like 1,000, to which one primary school teacher replied: 'I can answer most of them with one sentence - use your bl**dy common sense'. Today a growing list of councils told their headteachers not to reopen on June 1, with Brighton and Hove, Calderdale, Solihull, Slough and Teesside joining Stockport, Bury, Liverpool, Wirral and Hartlepool despite schools already reopening successfully in 22 states across Europe this month with no major coronavirus spikes. Former prime minister Tony Blair last night backed calls for pupils to go back to school, saying some children were receiving no education at all with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson insisting getting children back to school as soon as possible is vital for their development and prospects. MailOnline can reveal that some parents who want to send their children back to school so they can get back to work have been lambasted by teachers who claim they are being 'hung out to dry' by the Government. As millions wait to hear if their children will return to school on Monday, it has also emerged: British teachers are today being urged to follow the lead of their French counterparts by going back to work and more than 1.4million children returned to class after two months in lockdown; Former prime minister Tony Blair weighed in and backed Boris Johnson's calls for pupils to go back to school, saying some children were receiving no education at all; Some schools have already ruled out opening and those planning to will halve class sizes to 15, clean tables and toys and stagger lunch breaks; Seven councils, mostly Labour-run authorities such as Bury in the north-west, have already ruled out reopening schools on time while Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham warned last night: 'I worry it's too soon'; Scroll down to see the all the questions the unions want answered before June 1. Schoolchildren wearing protective mouth masks and face shields back in class at Claude Debussy college in Angers, France, where 1.4million youngsters are back in class Teaching Assistant Sarah Yates applies tape to the floor to define a 2m boundary around the teacher's workspace in Huddersfield as unions demand answers to hundreds of questions before teachers return Answers to questions about bin locations, staff to wash paint brushes and scissors and counsellors for staff and children as the lockdown eases have been demanded How mostly Labour-run councils have refused to obey the Government and open primary schools on June 1 Brighton and Hove (Labour) Slough (Labour) Teesside (Labour) Solihull (Conserrvative) Stockport (Labour) Bury (Labour) Liverpool (Labour) Hartlepool (Labour) Wirrall (Labour) Calderdale (Labour) Advertisement Teachers have been told by union chiefs that it will 'not be safe to mark children's books'. The National Education Union claims schools should make it clear that no marking should take place because of the risk of coronavirus. It also says that library books should be regularly sanitised as part of a 'workplace checklist' for primaries. Referring to its 22-page checklist, it says: 'The starting point for every component of the checklist is that it is checked NO until you and your colleagues determine it can be checked YES. 'School staff will not be protected by social distancing rules nor, in most cases, will they be offered any personal protective equipment. If satisfactory answers are not forthcoming in all areas, then it will not be feasible or safe to extend opening until concerns are met.' Among the questions the checklist poses are: 'It will not be safe to mark children's books during this period. Will clear instruction be given that no marking should take place and the books should not be taken to and from home/school?' Former Prime Minister Tony Blair says that schools should return as soon as possible. Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, the co-leaders of the NEU teachers union, have been spearheading the response to the Government's June 1 reopening plans Mr Blair told BBC Newsnight: 'If you look at all the best evidence, and my Institute has assembled a lot of the different data on this, especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low. 'Private schools will have been educating their children throughout this. 'Parts of the state system will have been. But then there are some children who will have been having no education at all.' Labour-run Bury council announced yesterday it would reject the Government's timetable for sending children back to class, claiming they had taken the decision after a public consultation. But it was later revealed the public consultation had more than 24 hours to run. Calderdale Council in West Yorkshire has become the latest local authority to advise its schools against reopening on June 1 amid safety concerns. Councillor Tim Swift, leader of the council, said: 'Education plays a crucial role in making sure children have a good start in life, laying the foundations so that they are able to enjoy a long, healthy and fulfilling future. 'However, the council has major concerns that the Government's tests are not currently being met within Calderdale, and for this reason we are advising our schools against opening more widely on June 1.' Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden refused to rule out penalties for town halls that refuse to reopen schools from June 1. The NEU instead is urging strict two metre social distancing measures remain in place - as is being done in other workplaces. The planning document also includes a 20-page safety checklist, written jointly with fellow unions, Unite, Unison and GMB, which it will urge its members to go through with bosses before they return to schools 'Health and safety reps have the legal right to be consulted on the risk assessment and future amendments,' the document states. Pictured right is a summary of checklist questions for representatives to answer, including: 'Are you satisfied with the cleaning and hygiene arrangements that will operate from when extended opening begins?' Pictured left are more steps from the summary of checklist questions for reps to answer. Right are questions for reps to ask about site preparation 'Reps need assurances about the systems that the head teacher will be able to implement. Without these assurances there can be no 'expectations' on either staff or parents,' the document states The DfE is asking head teachers to undertake an audit of how many staff are available, both teaching and support staff The document states: 'The Planning Guide is explicit that 'unlike older children and adults, early years and primary age children cannot be expected to remain 2 metres apart from each other and staff' The unions have asked more than 100 questions of a headteacher, which it describes as a safety checklist The unions have asked more than 100 questions of a headteacher, which it describes as a safety checklist Reps are given guidance to ask if individual pupil risk assessments will be in place for all pupils who 'exhibit anti-social behaviour, eg biting, before a decision is made' The workplace checklist tells reps to ask about what guidance will be given to staff on how to support children - and will visitors be provided PPE where necessary The 169-plus questions that the unions have demanded that schools answer if they are to reopen on June 1 Will soap and, preferably warm, water be available at all times, with systems in place to ensure continuity of supply of soap and sanitiser? How will the school ensure that children and staff arriving can safely queue up, at 2-metre distance from each other, to access the sanitiser on arrival? Will staffing levels (and PPE) allow for enough staff to support those pupils in special schools to do this who are unable to do it independently? Are lidded bins available in every classroom? Unless operated by pedal, the lids will need to be regularly sanitised throughout the day. How will this happen? Who will empty them during the day? What arrangements are in place to keep every classroom supplied with tissues? Will staff and children wash their hands for at least 20 seconds with water and soap on arrival, before departure and regularly throughout the day, including before and after every break and lunchtime, and how will this be supervised and monitored? Will pupils be regularly reminded to catch coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow? Will appropriate PPE be provided in schools where pupils are unable, or less able to catch their sneezes and coughs? Will hand dryers be disconnected and replaced with paper towels and bins? Will drinking fountains be taken out of use? Will only rooms with windows that can be kept open be used? Will doors be kept open where possible to aid ventilation? Will separate risk assessments take place in classes where leaving a door open will expose children to additional risks (eg runners)? Will air conditioning systems not be used unless it can be confirmed that there is no additional risk? Will all areas of the premises be thoroughly cleaned on a daily basis with particular focus on surfaces that are touched by multiple people such as photocopiers, door handles, table/counter tops, computers including mouse and keyboard, light switches telephones, chairs, bannisters, shared learning resources or toys, specialist equipment for SEND pupils, toilets and toilet handles, sinks, taps and other areas touched regularly, with additional cleaning during the day as necessary? Will each classroom be provided with gloves and disinfectant spray in case a pupil coughs or sneezes on a piece of equipment? Is there capacity amongst the cleaning staff to meet these requirements? Will a one-way system be introduced? If not, why is it not needed? What arrangements are proposed for safe movement on staircases? What arrangements are in place for use of lifts can social distancing be achieved if a staff member travels in the lift with a child? How will staff and children be made aware of the new arrangements, with particular reference to very young children and those with special needs? Who will monitor that the systems are being complied with? Will a member of staff be on duty at all times? Are other measures needed in corridors, for example floor markings or removal of furniture or students walking in single file without holding hands? Is there provision for the movement of pupils around the school who may need additional assistance from an adult? How will pupils and staff keep 2-metres apart, even with these arrangements? What arrangements are proposed around access to pupil toilets to ensure no overcrowding during lesson and break times? What signage will be displayed to support these new systems? Given that classes will be split, how in practical terms can resources be split between two classrooms? Will additional resources be needed to ensure that both classes have what they need? How will young children be taught (reception especially and nursery) without physical resources? Are you satisfied with the proposed rota arrangements? Have you been given an assurance that there will always be a head/deputy, first aider, Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), SENCO, caretaker and sufficient cleaning staff on duty at all times? Are you satisfied that consistency can be ensured to minimise staff movement between classes? Has it been confirmed that sufficient cleaning staff will be engaged to allow for the enhanced cleaning levels required? Have you been given an assurance that non cleaning staff will not be expected to undertake cleaning work? Has the site been measured to ascertain what the maximum capacity is and proportion of pupils that can be accommodated to allow safe distancing? (This needs to adopt a cautious approach in relation to staff availability, taking into account those who must work from home because they are vulnerable or may need to self-isolate and likely future levels of absence.) Is it clear to all staff and parents that only healthy staff and pupils who are not exhibiting symptoms, and who do not need to self-isolate, may attend school? Is it clear that pregnant staff and those with underlying health conditions that make them vulnerable, or who live with or care for vulnerable or shielding household members or those over age of 70 are permitted to continue to work from home? The DfE advises that if 'vulnerable' as opposed to 'extremely vulnerable' staff cannot work from home 'they should be offered the safest available on-site roles', also that a member of staff who lives with someone who is vulnerable can attend work. The joint unions disagree, both should be allowed to work from home. Have the risks to Black staff been assessed when planning rotas? Evidence from the Office for National Statistics shows a greater impact of Covid-19 on Black communities with a disproportionate number of deaths being recorded. The DfE Planning Guide does not address this issue. Will parents be advised that the school cannot guarantee to be able to keep their children socially distant, with support for parents to assess the risks to themselves and other family members of sending their child to school? What arrangements are in place for safe induction of new staff during this period? Have catering staff been involved in discussions about how meals will be served and are there sufficient catering and lunchtime supervision staff to ensure that children can safely eat their lunch? Is there a procedure to close the school or college at short notice if staffing levels fall to levels where safety cannot be assured? Will the school close if any of these key staff are unavailable? Given that social distancing is expected in all other areas of society, it is unacceptable that the Government expects schools to open without the protections that are recommended for other environments, eg shops and public transport. What is proposed to address this issue? Where there is a risk of airborne contamination, because social distancing cannot easily be adhered to, particularly where staff are at risk from spitting or biting and where pupils are unable to catch or control coughs and sneezes, the joint unions believe that PPE must be provided and training given on its use and disposal. Will this happen? Will PPE be available for emergency situations, for example when a pupil develops symptoms during the school day and is awaiting collection? What assurances can be given about secure arrangements for sourcing PPE? Can confirmation be given that, if any member of staff wishes to wear a face covering, they will not be prevented from doing so? How many pupils can each individual classroom safely accommodate to ensure that they and staff remain 2-metres apart on entry and departure and during the lesson? This needs to take account of the additional staff numbers in classes with SEND pupils who have individual adult support. How many people altogether will be in a classroom should be the measure. What areas are safe to use for different purposes than usual to aid social distancing? Is the school proposing to have 15 children per class? The joint unions position is that staff cannot be expected to safely supervise 15 children and ensure that they socially distance. Has account been taken of the fact that some staff, in particular support staff, normally work at close proximity to individual pupils and how this work can continue in a safe manner? Will enough staff be available at the beginning of the day (and able to socially distance) to assist children in coming into school where needed (younger children/ children with SEND/anxiety etc)? How will break times operate to ensure social distancing? What will happen in wet weather at break and lunchtimes? What arrangements are in place to ensure that meals can be safely prepared and served? How will other unauthorised visitors be kept away? Have families been told to provide water bottles? How will breaks for staff operate? Have assemblies and the coming together of other large groups, both staff and pupils, been suspended Is there a system in place for isolating children who develop symptoms during the day, while they wait to be picked up? Will all staff be sent home as soon as they report symptoms during the school day and will arrangements be in place to provide cover as necessary? Have off site visits been suspended? What are the plans for ensuring that staff can travel safely to and from school? For those who have no car and cannot walk or cycle, how can they safely travel to school, when use of public transport is discouraged? (note: car sharing other than between members of the same household should not happen). A safe travel plan for each individual member of staff need to be agreed. Where school transport operates under normal circumstances, how will this operate at this time, ensuring social distancing and hygiene arrangements? Will individual risk assessments and discussion with parents/carers have taken place and been agreed by the date when extended opening begins, to ensure that any provision required by a child in order to attend school is safely in place? Where LAs cannot, despite 'best endeavours' provide the support listed in an EHC plan can pupil safety in school be guaranteed? Eg behaviour support. Will there be clear guidelines on entry to school about the procedures in place for essential visitors from external agencies visiting pupils at the school (eg educational psychologists, child and adult mental health services (CAMHS), behavioural support, advisory teachers etc)? Will there be social distancing measures in place for visitors from external support agencies visiting pupils at school? Will visitors working closely with pupils be offered PPE where necessary? If LAs cannot provide additional trauma support for pupils can another provider be quality assured and risk assessed in time for when the school beings to open more widely? Will guidance and training be provided for staff to ensure they understand, and can enforce, the new routines and support pupils in understanding them and are familiar with revised physical arrangements, well in advance on when wider opening begins? Will individual pupil risk assessments be in place for all pupils who exhibit anti-social behaviour, eg biting, before a decision is made about admitting them under the new arrangements? Will compassionate and proportionate behaviour policies that protect health and safety, while also supporting pupils who may exhibit problematic behaviours as a response to trauma they may have experienced during lockdown, be in place by the time wider opening begins? It will not be safe to mark children's books during this period. Will clear instruction be given that no marking should take place and the books should not be taken to and from home/school? Will staff be told to wash their hands before and after handling pupils' books? Will library books be regularly sanitised? Some teaching assistants will be used to working in very close proximity to individual pupils, so how can this work continue in a safe manner? Have parents been informed about new arrangements for drop off and pick up routines? Have other regular visitors to the school, eg parent volunteers, been informed that they should not attend at this time? Do essential contractors, including those who deliver food, understand how they may access the premises and what precautions are expected of them while they are on site? Are catering staff aware of new safe working practices? Will senior staff be visibly present around school during the day? What arrangements will be put in place to ensure regular staff feedback on arrangements? What guidance will be given to staff on how to support children? What pastoral support services will be available? Does the school recognise its duties under health and safety law to protect the mental as well as physical health of staff? What plans are in place to ensure that this duty is applied? What counselling services are available for staff and pupils who may need support? How will the school monitor workload at this time to ensure a reasonable work/life balance for staff? The DfE toolkit recommends that children should be taught not to touch their faces how can this realistically be taught or monitored? It is also recommended that resources for painting, sticking and cutting be washed before and after use what additional staff resources will be allocated to these tasks, given that these materials are likely to be in constant use? How will staff ensure that children do not share these resources? How will staff be supported to teach outside their usual year group/key stage responsibility? Has time been given for staff to work together to agree shared priorities for children's learning? Has time been identified for staff to work together to prepare teaching, particularly to adjust their teaching of practical lessons and of play-based curriculum without shared physical resources? Has support been given to teaching assistants to prepare for supporting pupils? How will staff maintain continuity of learning and support as pupils begin to return, but have additional periods of time away? What arrangements will be in place for year groups not eligible to attend? What arrangements will be in place for pupils with underlying health conditions who cannot attend when the rest of their year group may be in school? How will the senior leadership team (SLT) ensure that any change in opening arrangements does not increase workload for staff whether working at home or at school? In special schools, given the level of adult support required for pupils, what is a safe number of people to have in a classroom and how is this determined? In special schools, where social distancing will be impossible, what measures are in place to protect staff and pupils? To what extent can parents of SEND children be reassured that their child will still be working with, or have access to, their key worker/learning support assistant? Is the school prepared to consider attendance on a rotational basis in order to reduce class sizes? Can an assurance be given that teaching assistants, unless it is part of their normal role such as for higher level teaching assistant, will not be expected to lead classes? Will supply teachers be brought in as necessary? Will senior leaders be available to cover classes if needed? Will parents be told not to bring their children to school if there is a shortage of staff for a particular class? How does the school propose to ensure social distancing at the start and end of each school day? If it is planned to undertake temperature checks, how will this be managed safely in terms of social distancing between the child and member of staff and to avoid queues building up? What measures are in place to protect staff and pupils who may at times need to use physical interventions (in alternative provision (AP) and mainstream) to protect pupils from harming themselves or others? (They will clearly not be able to socially distance when doing this) In AP what measures are in place to ensure that enough appropriately trained staff are on site to support pupils with behavioural issues to keep safe? How and what PPE will be used in this situation? Is it practical to stagger arrival times, if so how? How will parents be informed and the system monitored? Is there sufficient staffing to monitor the safe arrival and departure of children at varying times? How will overcrowding at the school gates or in the playground be prevented? What will be expected of parents/carers in terms of social distancing and how will they be informed of arrangements? Will parents/carers be instructed that they may not enter the premises other than in an emergency situation? Will there be clear guidelines on entry to school about the procedures in place for essential visitors to the school? Will there be social distancing measures in place for visitors to the school? Will visitors working closely with pupils be offered PPE where necessary? Advertisement Blazenka Divjak, education minister of Croatia, which holds the rotating EU presidency, told European colleagues yesterday: 'We haven't heard anything negative about the reopening of schools, but it is probably too early to have final conclusions.' She noted at the video meeting that schools had imposed 'very high security conditions' including smaller class sizes and very close cooperation with health ministries and epidemiological services. Tony Blair BACKS Boris Johnson's plans to reopen schools Many significant figures in Britain, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair (pictured) have asked for UK schools to reopen as some children are not receiving any education at all Tony Blair has said Boris Johnson's administration is right to be opening schools again. The Prime Minister's plans to start sending children back to school next month has come under attack from teaching unions and some local authorities, with critics arguing it is too soon to lift the coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions. Mr Johnson, in his address to the nation on May 10, said Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils would be the first to go back, starting on June 1 'at the earliest'. In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday evening, Mr Blair said the Government was adhering to scientific advice by preparing schools to open their doors again. 'They're right, I think, to be reopening the schools,' said Mr Blair. I don't think they would say that they're putting school opening above health risks. What they're doing is basing it on the evidence, actually. 'There are countries that have reopened parts, at least, of their school system. 'If you look at all the best evidence and again, my institutes assembled a lot of the different data on this, it's, especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low.' Advertisement She stressed the results needed 'to be treated with caution' as the return to normal life was in its very early stages. UK officials say they hoped the evidence from other countries would reassure teachers. A source at the Department for Education said: 'We looked closely at international examples when drawing up our plans for a phased return. 'These initial findings from European countries are encouraging and suggest that our similarly cautious approach will minimise the risk of transmission.' Professor Van-Tam said children were not 'high-output transmitters' of Covid-19. After querying the science behind the reopening decision, union bosses last week had a private audience with Chief Medical officer Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. The NEU came away from the meeting saying its views were unchanged. Eight of his predecessors have backed reopenings and the Church of England said further delays could 'affect the mental, spiritual, physical and social wellbeing of children'. The bosses of 22 academy trusts have also warned how delays to reopening could cause irreparable damage to vulnerable children. In a letter to The Times, the group said: 'Since the lockdown, schools have exercised outstanding civic leadership. 'We have remained open for key workers' children; kept vulnerable children safe; delivered food parcels; taught online lessons; and kept in contact with pupils. 'But for any child, prolonged absence from school is concerning. For disadvantaged pupils, it is calamitous. If we do not take action and reopen schools soon, the impact of lost learning could be irreparable.' Steve Chalke of the Oasis Trust, which has 35 primary schools and is planning to restart on schedule, said: 'The Government published its advice on reopening. The unions countered with their five tests, which they said were designed to create the necessary confidence for parents and staff. 'Now the NEU have set out questions for teachers to ask their bosses, adding that if satisfactory answers are not forthcoming in all areas, then it will not be feasible or safe to extend opening until concerns are met. 'The Children's Commission has told them to stop squabbling and agree a plan. I agree. As a school leader, at this moment of crisis I need as do all parents cooperation and conversation rather than endless confrontation and conflict.' Former education secretary Lord Baker said: 'Teachers should go back to working a full day on June 1. Home-learning is favouring the 'haves' and not the 'have-nots'. Already two months of education have been lost and disadvantaged children will find it very challenging to catch up in a year so, the sooner they return the better.' The June 1 date applies only to England; schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are expected to go back later in the year. Kevin Courtney, the NEU's joint general secretary, said: 'The checklist is detailed because there are so many considerations to take into account when dealing with a school situation, particularly as we are looking at our youngest children going back first. 'Teachers and support staff will be responsible for ensuring safe practices are implemented, as young children will not be able to do so themselves. Parents would expect nothing less.' A DfE spokesman said: 'We have engaged closely with the unions throughout the past eight weeks, including organising for them to hear directly from the scientific experts last week, and will continue to do so, including to develop further guidance if required.' The French Government feared that children and their futures would be damaged without school for two months Students wait outside Cassignol College before returning and resuming classes in Bordeaux, France - any child over the age of 11 must wear a mask British teachers are being urged to follow the lead of their French counterparts by going back to work and getting more than 1.4million children into class after two months in lockdown. Ministers across the Channel have revealed that they have had 70 cases of coronavirus in 40,000 schools and nurseries in the past 11 days and none of the children or staff are seriously ill. It came as parents have been told that when English schools reopen children still at home are unlikely to get any more online learning materials until September, when it is hoped all pupils will return. Emmanuel Macron's government agreed to open schools with their militant union chiefs having declared the country's children must not be 'the collateral victims' of the coronavirus crisis. The success of the back to school policy in France has been put down to a range of safeguards, including strict social distancing and use of masks, and will be examined closely in the UK where the Government is in an almighty battle with teaching unions over reopening schools in England on June 1. And across the 20-plus EU states where schools are open again there has been no spike in cases with experts saying there is only a small risk to teachers, children and their families. The chaos in the education system means that millions of parents remain in the dark over whether their children in reception, year 1 and year 6 will returning to school in just 13 days time. How has France got its children back into schools after lockdown? In France, the Government has decided: Masks are compulsory for all school children over the age of 11 - anyone below that doesn't have to wear one but will be provided with them if parents want them - or if they start showing any symptoms of illness; Classes are not allowed any more than 15 children and only one child per desk; Any school with a single case of coronavirus is closed immediately, the person is isolated and the areas cleaned before reopening; Advertisement In France around a quarter of the nation's school children have returned to class because they live in areas deemed less affected by the virus. It was a similar story in Belgium where primary and secondary schools have been told to restart smaller classes of final-year pupils under strict social distancing rules. Jean-Michel Blanquer, France's education minister, said there had been 70 cases of coronavirus in around 50 schools since reopening. A total of 70 schools were closed as a result, to stop further infection. 'This shows that our measures are as strict as we said they would be,' he said. Schools forced to shut included seven in the northern town of Roubaix, where just one boy was infected but was thought to have come into contact with pupils from other schools. He also insisted that children who had picked up Covid-19 had not caught it inside schools, where rigorous health measures are being enforced. Mr Blanquer added: 'It is absolutely essential that our children are not the collateral victims of health conditions.' A 57-page education ministry document has been handed to teachers explaining rules on social distancing. The 96 'departements', or regions, of the country were initially split into the green, yellow or red categories two weeks before lockdown was to be eased across France on May 11. By the time this date arrived, the yellow regions were allocated to either a green or red category. Green areas were allowed to reopen their primary schools on May 11, as well as ending some other lockdown restrictions, while red areas have had to keep schools closed. Around 185,000 middle school pupils in green zones also went back to class yesterday. Unlike in nursery and primary schools, all staff and pupils must wear masks. A girl wearing a face mask is pictured using hand gel from a dispenser as she arrives to school in Austria Schools in Denmark (pictured) have reopened primary schools and nurseries and the number of coronavirus cases are in fact decreasing Germany have opened schools for their older children, with some even taking examinations such as this biology class in Dortmund (above) Schools in Belgium (pictured) have been maintaining strict social distancing guidelines in their classrooms Reopening schools across Europe has not caused a spike in coronavirus cases. Evidence from 22 EU states that have restored classes suggests little or no risk to pupils, teachers or families. The revelation piles pressure on unions resisting plans to send younger children back from June 1. The National Education Union yesterday even claimed it was not safe for teachers to mark workbooks. But an EU meeting was told that the gradual return to school had not resulted in 'anything negative'. Denmark reopened primaries and nurseries a month ago and has seen infection rates continue to fall. Norway, which is outside the EU, has taken similar action without a rise. Around 1.4million French pupils went back to class last week and of around 40,000 schools and nurseries only 70 were closed again following virus cases. Germany has reopened schools for older children and plans to allow younger year groups back later in the summer term. Alan Smithers, a professor in education at the University of Buckingham, said: 'The unions have been asking for evidence, and this is it. 'So they should start cooperating fully with the Government so that our schools can open again as soon as possible.' In a landmark decision in the County Court yesterday, a patron at the club on the morning of the raid, Ms. Sally Gordon, 36, was awarded $10,000 by a judge who ruled that the execution of the raid by police on 7 August 1994 was unreasonable. Lawyers for hundreds of patrons and staff subjected to humiliating strip searches during a police raid on a gay and lesbian nightclub almost two years ago are likely to seek an out-of-court settlement with the Victoria Police, estimated to total more than $2.5 million. Police strip-searched each one of the 463 patrons and staff at the Commerce Club, also known as the Tasty nightclub, in an alley between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane. The club, predominantly for gays and lesbians, has since closed. Patrons have said they were terrified when police burst into the club and forced them to strip as part of a search for illicit drugs. After the raid, the homosexual community and civil liberty groups condemned it as homophobic and an abuse of human rights. Ms. Gordon, of Sydney, said yesterday she was delighted with the courts decision and hoped police would now review procedures for raids. Certainly it makes me feel better as an Australian that police are looked at when they go beyond the law, she said. Ms. Gordon, a marketing director of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, said she was petrified during the raid. Ms. Gordon, who alleged false imprisonment and assault, said she was ashamed of the behavior of the police. Whether it was a gay or straight nightclub, I would have taken the same action, she said. It was an abuse of civil rights. As questions have continued to mount over the shooting death of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, a newly-uncovered video showed police attempting to tase him during a separate incident in 2017 after confronting him in a park. The video, obtained by The Guardian and released on Monday, featured multiple officers in Glynn County, Georgia questioning Mr Arbery, who was unarmed and sitting inside of his car when the altercation began. Mr Arbery explained to the first officer who approached him that it was his one day off from work in the week, and he was rapping in his parked car. He provided identification to the officer, who then went back to his police vehicle. Several minutes went by before the confrontation became tense, with Mr Arbery demanding the officer explain why he was being questioned. The officer told him the park he was located in was known for drug activity, to which Mr Arbery responded that he had nothing on him and was only sitting in his car rapping. Despite the officer then checking Mr Arbery for weapons and discovering he was unarmed, a second officer arrived to the scene and almost immediately pulled out his taser while shouting. The taser appeared to fail as he shot it at Mr Arbery, with the first officer repeatedly stating: Ive already checked him for weapons. Attorneys for Mr Arberys family responded to the video, describing it as a situation where Ahmaud was harassed by Glynn county police officers and saying it was just a glimpse into the kind of scrutiny he faced in the community, before he was ultimately killed during a confrontation with two armed men in February. Mr Arbery, an African-American, was reportedly jogging on 23 February when Gregory and Travis McMichaels, a white father and son, chased him down in a pickup truck before Gregory shot him to death. The McMichaels have alleged they believed Mr Arbery was involved in an apparent robbery. There has been no public evidence to support such a claim. A video of the killing has drawn intense backlash and sparked protests over what demonstrators said was a clear act of a race-motivated murder. An attorney for the McMichaels defended their clients, saying in a statement: The truth will reveal that this is not just another act of violent racism. Greg McMichael did not commit murder. After the shooting video was released, another video appeared to show Mr Arbery walking through a construction site on a popular jogging path in the region on the day of his death. CNN later obtained surveillance videos showing 11 instances of people walking through the site as well, though Mr Arbery was the only person killed by neighbours. Neither of the McMichaels were arrested or charged in the killing until earlier this month, following intense criticism and nationwide news coverage. Multiple prosecutors have been forced to recuse themselves from the case, citing personal ties to Gregory McMichael, who previously served as an investigator for the local district attorneys office. Online Learning Rice D2K Lab Takes Student Project Showcase Virtual Rice University transitioned its annual Center for Transforming Data to Knowledge (the D2K Lab) showcase to a virtual showcase. More than 300 participants tuned in on April 22, 2020, to view student videos, interact with video teams in their individual Zoom Q&A rooms and join together for a live online awards ceremony. The lab is a capstone program that brings together interdisciplinary teams of students to work on semester-long projects and gain immersive, experiential learning opportunities in data science and machine learning. Each is sponsored by a corporate affiliate or community partner, including local agencies, oil and energy companies, healthcare organizations and others. This year's showcase drew 10 teams of five to six students. The winner was "Team Medical Informatics Corp.," which presented its project, "Beat-to-beat Classification of Unlabeled ECGs in Adult Populations." The goal was to take all the data that a cardiologist or heart doctor would be given from a patient's ECG and detect problems or areas of concern that need particular attention. According to team member Nicole Tan, a junior studying electrical engineering, the project drew on different skills, "such as data wrangling, signal processing and modeling." She noted in a video that the experience allowed her to learn "a lot about working in teams and how to build a robust data science pipeline that was reproducible, reusable and reliable." She was joined by students majoring in computer science and electrical and computer engineering. The audience choice winner, "Team Houston Fire Department," included students studying computer science, math and economics, electrical and computer engineering, statistics and subsurface geoscience. That team's project, "Emergency Response Demographic-Based Risk Assessment for Houston," was intended to help fire departments compare how well they provide services to the communities and explore ways to improve outcomes. This year's event also included presentations by student teams from the COVID-19 Houston Response Projects (CHRP) program. This data science challenge was launched to encourage Rice students to get involved in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The winner of that group was "Team Stay at Home," whose project focused on whether social distancing and stay-at-home orders work. Connor Rothschild, a senior studying social policy analysis, said the team he was on benefitted from the various skill sets that each team member brought to the table. "We're very grateful to have won first place; all of the CHRP projects were so unique and it was a pleasure to compete against and engage with their projects as well." The second-place CHRP team was "Team Care 4 Everyone," which tackled the problem of housing the entire homeless population during the pandemic. The audience choice prize went to "Team Lovett," for "Distributing Ventilators in Texas." Ukraine takes interest in learning experience of the United States in rendering mental health services to war veterans, the Ministry for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine has said. "The sides have agreed to continue the cooperation on rendering help to people who passed through a war and revive the healthcare program for seriously injured Ukrainian servicemen at the U.S. rehabilitation centers," the ministry's press service said following an online meeting between Veterans Affairs Minister Serhiy Bessarab and representatives of the Ukrainian American Veterans organization. The sides decided to build cooperation for Ukrainian mental health specialists to learn experience of their U.S. colleagues who provide veterans with assistance. In particular, a traumatic brain injuries expert, Darren Golovko, said that the organization is ready to organize and hold a training for Ukrainian specialists. Acclaim offers a sample of recent honors for Emory faculty and staff. Listings may include awards and prizes; election to boards and societies; and similarly notable accomplishments in the wider community. Acclaim is published in Emory Report on the second Tuesday of each month. To suggest items for the June 9 column, please email your submission by May 25. Emory faculty and staff are frequently recognized for their work locally, nationally and internationally. The following is a sampling of recent accolades, including multiple leadership awards and honors from professional societies. Honors highlighted in this column: Edwards and Dunn selected as American College of Nurse-MidwivesFellows The American College of Nurse-Midwives has selected Emorys Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing professionals Sara Edwards and Alexis Dunn as Fellows. This designation allows them to use the FACNM title and expand their research of nurse-midwifery with the resources and platforms available to Fellows. The ACNM is dedicated to honoring nurse-midwives and their efforts to improve the care of women, infants and families. To be accepted as a Fellow for the ACNM, nursing professionals have demonstrated consistent leadership and impactful contributions to the nurse-midwifery community and within an ACNM affiliate or related program. It is a Fellows responsibility to help further the ACNM mission by speaking, mentoring and advancing the midwifery profession. Kazzi named Joe Lex Educator of the Year Ziad N. Kazzi has been named the American Academy of Emergency Medicines 2020 Joe Lex Educator of the Year. Kassi is associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and director of the universitys International Toxicology Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. The Joe Lex Educator of the Year award recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to AAEM through work on educational programs. Klibanoff podcast garners Edward R. Murrow Award Buried Truths, a podcast by Hank Klibanoff for WABE Radio in Atlanta, won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award in the 2020 podcast category. Klibanoff is professor of practice in Emorys creative writing program. He is a veteran journalist, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and a Peabody Award-winning podcast host. Buried Truths investigates still-relevant stories of injustice, resilience and racism in the American South. The Edward R. Murrow Awards have honored outstanding achievements in broadcast and digital journalism since 1971 on both local and national levels. The annual awards are given by the Radio Television Digital News Association. LaVoy honored with multiple audiobook awards January LaVoy, assistant professor in the Department of Theater Studies, received multiple awards at the Audio Publishers Association Gala in New York City in March. She won the Audie for Best Fantasy for her solo narration of The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow. She helped narrate The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff, which received the evenings highest honor of Audiobook of the Year. LaVoy also voiced the title role in Charlottes Web by E. B. White, which was awarded Best Middle Grade program, and was co-narrated by Meryl Streep and a full cast. The Audies are the annual event honoring excellence across the audiobook publishing world. The March celebration was hosted by author and comedian Mo Rocca. India national STEM chair created in the name of Parimala Raman Parimala is one of 11 Indian women scientists in STEM who is being recognized with a chair created in their honor. Parimala is Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of Mathematics. She is well-known for her contributions to algebra, including her demonstration of the first example of a non trivial quadratic space over an affine plane and her solution to the second Serre conjecture. The Indian government is creating chairs in institutes across the country to inspire, encourage and empower women, and to give due recognition to young women researchers excelling in mathematics. Patel joins fellowship selection committee for DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Shivani Patel has been invited to join the DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Early Career Fellowship Selection Committee. Patel is assistant professor at the Rollins School of Public Health. "It is very exciting to be a part of a process that identifies and supports the most promising biomedical scientists at a critical point in their careers... when they are taking the first steps to develop an independent research portfolio," says Patel. "The quality of applicants and the breadth of their ambition is simply outstanding. It is humbling to play a small role in the scientific trajectory of these great minds." The DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance is an independent public charity that funds research in health and biomedical sciences in India. Tucker elected a Fellow in AANP Paula Tucker has been elected a Fellow in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Tucker is assistant clinical professor with the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. The 2020 Fellowship in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners is an honor bestowed upon a group of leaders whose scholarly contributions have led to significant improvements to health care and the nurse practitioner role. The Academy is composed of more than 2,000 of the nation's most accomplished nurse leaders in education, management, practice, policy and research, and selection for fellowship is one of the highest professional honors in the field of nursing. Doctoral student Vu receives P.E.O. Scholar Award Milkie Vu, a doctoral student in the Department of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences, was named one of this years P.E.O. Scholar Award recipients. Vu was nominated by the BQ Chapter of P.E.O. Sisterhood. This merit-based award is granted to women in doctoral programs in the United States and Canada who demonstrate scholarly excellence, academic achievement and worthwhile career goals. Vu was among 100 winners selected from a pool of 928 nominees. In addition to this recognition, Vu recently was selected as a 2019 winner of the American Psychological Foundations Visionary Grant for her project, An Examination of Multi-level Factors Influencing Vietnamese-American Parents HPV Vaccine Uptake for Their Adolescent Children. Watson receives Wesleyan Theological Society award Kevin M. Watsons latest book received the 2020 Smith/Wynkoop Book Award from the Wesleyan Theological Society. Watson is assistant professor of Wesleyan and Methodist studies at Emorys Candler School of Theology. His book, Old or New School Methodism? The Fragmentation of a Theological Tradition (Oxford University Press, 2019), contributes to the history of American Methodism and the study of religion in America by widening the lens from denominational history to a broader perspective that includes multiple denominations sharing a common heritage. Awarded annually, the Smith/Wynkoop Book Award recognizes a recent publication of distinction in a research area related to the Wesleyan/Holiness tradition that has helped the tradition to be better understood and/or promoted. Despite government assurances that United Airlines is in compliance with the CARES Act mandate to keep workers employed, the company is considering involuntary furloughs and laying off thousands of employees after the government money runs out at the end of September. New United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has been transparent about the challenges facing the airline as it attempts to recover from the crash in air passenger traffic. The airline, San Francisco airport's largest carrier, had 290 daily flights per day before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now around 50 flights leave SFO daily. Nationwide, the airline is flying 10 percent of its pre-pandemic routes. Reuters reported United would only need about 3,000 of the airline's 25,000 flight attendants to work in June. Books Scholars Account of Myanmars Intelligence Apparatus Lets Its Former Chief Off Lightly -- This article was first published by TeaCircleOxford.com In Yangons Drug Elimination Museum, a sprawling hall of half-truths and hilarious fantasy, there are subtle clues to past power plays within the Defense Services, or Tatmadaw. In a section of the museum extolling the questionable commitments to drug eradication of the previous military regimes, displays of drug burnings and press conferences take up full pages of the now-defunct Working Peoples Daily. But one key figure in this record has been airbrushed from history, almost Soviet style. Except in clumsier form. A thin sheet of brown paper and tape covers several entire photographs. But the revisionists failed to conceal the photo captions underneath, including the name of the senior official depicted: General Khin Nyunt, the Chief of Military Intelligence (MI) and principal protector of some of Myanmars biggest drug dealers. The scholar Andrew Selths latest book is an examination of one of Myanmars most powerful and feared figures of the past 40 years. Since his purge in late 2004, Gen. Khin Nyunt has been eclipsed by history, ostracized from the military, largely unknown to the outside world since the transition to democracy in 2011, and remembered only by his many victims. Selths study, Secrets and Power in Myanmar, is less a political biography of Gen. Khin Nyunt, and more a technical examination of the intelligence services, producing skillful navigation through the maze of the opaque world of intelligence gathering by one of the most esteemed chroniclers of modern Myanmar. The books introduction outlines the fearsome place MI and other intelligence agencies, notably the Special Branch (SB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, have played in generations of military rule starting from the Tatmadaws coup detat of March 1962, through nearly three decades of Socialist military rule, and the corresponding culture of a surveillance apparatus. Selth could have explored further the devastating impacts on the psyche of Myanmar society during this period, but he wisely draws from Christina Finks 2001 book Living Silence to support his claims. Chapter Two is an intricately drawn examination of the entire intelligence apparatus up until 2004, from MI and its blend of domestic political intelligence obsessions and its operational intelligence necessities as the Tatmadaw engaged with dozens of ethnic armed organizations and the formidable Communist Party of Burma (CPB) insurgency. But it appears as if political intelligence was a priority, coordinated through Gen. Khin Nyunt and the Directorate of Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI), in the period of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) between 1988-1997, and its successor the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). This also included the creation of a political front, the Office of Strategic Studies (OSS), in 1994 to handle political intelligence and a more palatable public relations front. This was a slight elevation from the hilariously clumsy, paranoid press conferences Gen. Khin Nyunt would officiate over in the few years following the 1988 Uprising which ended Socialist rule, itself a colossal failure of intelligence, as Selth makes clear. But Gen. Khin Nyunts version of the truth did generate a unique canon of caricatured studies, called a Skyful of Lies (regarding radio broadcasts from the BBC and VOA), and The Conspiracy of Treasonous Minions Within the Myanmar Naing-Ngan and Traitorous Cohorts Abroad, published periodically in both Burmese and English state media and as stand-alone reports. These were designed to discredit the National League for Democracy (NLD), the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), and insurgent groups such as the Karen National Union (KNU) in a dark web of comedic conspiracy. They were also indicative of a level of paranoia similar to that which gripped the Central Intelligence Agencys (CIA) James Jesus Angletons destructive search for a Russian mole within that agencys upper echelons. As an insight into the pathology of MI and its leadership, these SLORC-era publications should not be excised from any examination of their conduct, and Selth could have given a little more space to these performances of authoritarian control. It has never been clear if these performances and publications were an exercise in social intimidation, the simulacra of control, serious attempts at stitching together disparate threads of perceived security threats, inept and ill-informed intelligence strands, or a turgid mix of all of these with a tongue in cheek attempt at humor. MI may have gotten many things right, in terms of names of people and locations of meetings, but the presentation of their overarching analysis was often like a slapstick Burmese version of the classic TV spy show Get Smart. What Selth does gloss over is that during this period, MI was the lead agency responsible for the arrest, incarceration, and institutionalized torture of political activists, journalists and many other perceived critics of the SLORC, including many people currently serving as members of Parliament: by one estimate around 122 MPs spent time in prison for political offenses during the SLORC/SPDC era. The book also looks into the other intelligence agenciesespecially Special Branch (SB), which was always subordinate to the monopolistic menace of MIand other nominally civilian branches. The apparatus included the alleged creation of death squads called Dam Byan Byaut Kya (Guerilla Retaliation Unit)which allegedly engaged in targeted assassinations of KNU officials and their families between 1998 to 2004, first reported by the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) in 1999but apparently did not operate in other conflict zones. Myanmars is relatively unique among civil wars in that excesses by security and intelligence services have rarely been directly outsourced to shadowy paramilitaries, although the vast web of Pyithu Sit (Peoples Militia) and Border Guard Forces (BGFs) are in effect subcontractors of local control. Arguably Gen. Khin Nyunt and MIs greatest success was in reaching standfast agreements (only the Kachin Independence Organization had a fully written ceasefire) with 17 ethnic armed organizations, including the four factions of the CPB, the largest of which, the United Wa State Army (UWSA) remains Myanmars biggest non-state armed group. This was hardly entering the legal fold as DDSI/OSS routinely presented it, but more the cessation of fighting to pursue ceasefire capitalism, as Kevin Woods has aptly labeled it. For the Wa, Kokang and Mong La groups, that meant a degree of autonomy and increased investment in Myanmars narcotics trade. Unfortunately, Selth doesnt dive deeper into this aspect of MI and Gen. Khin Nyunts legacy, or how those past arrangements have impacted on current dynamics around peace or national reconciliation. The real strength of the book is Chapter Three and the fall of Gen. Khin Nyunt and MI (pp. 56-81). Selth outlines this bombshell in Myanmar history extremely well, with the forced resignation of Gen. Khin Nyunt for health reasons (in effect a dismissal by Senior General Than Shwe) and the arrest of hundreds of MI officers for corruption, culminating in a remarkable 18-page briefing by Generals Soe Win and Thura Shwe Mann of Gen. Khin Nyunts purported offenses: disobeying orders, MIs involvement in illegal economic activities, Gen. Khin Nyunt and his familys involvement in bribery, and MI exceeding its power and responsibilities. For an individual and a faction who effectively ran a state within a state, the speed and effectiveness of the purge was stunning, as was the almost unprecedented SPDC public justification for it. Selth offers up five theories for the purge: policy, power, personal, pillage, and preservation. Perceptions that Gen. Khin Nyunt was forging a different foreign policy than the military leadership, towards the West and China, Selth refutes by observing there was little serious disagreement on fundamental issues like the countrys direction (p. 62). The power theory holds more weight, in that the combat arm of the Tatmadaw was increasingly uncomfortable with the influence of the intelligence arm, and sought to restore this balance in favor of the war-fighting faction. The personal theory outlines the enmity towards Gen. Khin Nyunt by the SPDCs No. 2, General Maung Aye, based on public profile but also Gen. Maung Ayes standing within the Tatmadaw as a graduate of the more prestigious Defense Services Academy (DSA) rather than Gen. Khin Nyunts alma mater the Officer Training School (OTS), and Gen. Maung Ayes reputation as a battle-hardened leader. The pillage theory is based on MIs extensive engagement in the informal and black economies, and the enormous illicit rent-seeking MI pursued, that provoked a covetous competition within the military. The preservation theory rests on the contention that Gen. Khin Nyunts recent elevation to the role of Prime Minister (hitherto not included in the regime hierarchy) was a way for Snr-Gen Than Shwe to dilute his intelligence responsibilities, which Gen. Khin Nyunt resisted by compiling dossiers on senior leaders as insurance against any move on him. Selth offers up these theories as all containing elements of the truthbut to what extent, and what combination, remain difficult to tell (p. 65). At this point the book loses its main villain, and becomes a technical analysis of post-2004 intelligence machinations, with the post-purge creation of the more centralized Office of the Chief of Military Security Affairs (OCMSA). Gen. Khin Nyunt as an individual and his legacy are frustratingly unexamined. The spy-chief was almost a chameleon in the way he charmed, for most of a decade, a conga-line of cretinous foreigners who wanted to believe in his reformist rhetoric, from United Nations Special Envoys to diplomats and journalists. The absurd assertion that he was a softliner or a pragmatist, which Selth does a fine job of dissembling, was always a hiding to nothing. He was just less of a troglodyte than other senior officers of the Tatmadaw. I recall a prominent Western Burma Watcher at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok in 2004 around the time of the purge, drunkenly whining to me and a companion, Im angry at Khin Nyunt. He lied to me. He seemed genuinely shocked when I replied that thuggish spy chiefs lie for a living, and that umbrage should be directed at himself for being so gullible. One of the weakest chapters, in my view, is that of operational intelligence failings, of which the Myanmar military is institutionally prone. The Tatmadaw also apparently gave scant attention to the rise of the Arakan Army (AA), which has over the past two years become its latest arch enemy, in a long list of ethnic insurgent nemeses, and has inflicted grotesque losses on the Tatmadaw as a fighting force. One can only conclude from this litany of lost insight that the military is incapable of constructing a more effective blend of battlefield awareness and more strategic intelligence responses, quite likely due to a culture of obstinate ultra-nationalist elite corporate culture that considers ethnic nationalities inferior. Or the Tatmadaw is plain incompetent. But another possibility can be raised. Perhaps the Tatmadaw is just always spoiling for a fight? A more general conclusion is that the military has obstinately refused to adopt even the basic tenants of counterinsurgency, despite 70 years of grueling civil war. Its responses to the rise of the Northern Alliance and to the strikes against Laukkai in 2015 and 2017, Muse in late 2016, and most daringly, against Pyin Oo Lwin in August 2019, indicate a laissez-faire laxness to clear and present security threats. There are two elements to Secrets and Power in Myanmar that limit its impact; the overuse of sourcing, to a distracting degree, and its unsatisfying final chapter on accountability. Selth is the indisputable master of open-source intelligence and the doyen of deft political analysis that includes all possible permutations and possibilities. This approach should be studied and emulated, especially to leaven the questionable dependence on quantitative data and spurious system analysis that abounds in security studies on Myanmar. Selth has a more rigorous and readable style that is well suited to propounding the complexities of political machinations in Myanmar. However, just because something is an open source, doesnt make it a good source. There are numerous questionable references contained in the footnotesand these make up just under half the length of the book itself. Several times I thought Selth had made an interesting correlation or observation, only to flip to the citations and wonder how he reached that conclusion from such a poor source, which may not actually have had those exact details within. Some sources he includes are really just so wanting they shouldnt have been cited at all, especially from someone so slavish to accuracy. So in short, Selth overdoes it. A close reading of these copious references uncovers several mistakes, obviously made only in haste. For example (Chapter 3, Footnote 75), Peter Popham didnt author the dreadful Perfect Hostage: that would be Justin Wintle. Peter Popham wrote the dreadful The Lady and the Peacock. Also, Delphines Schranks The Rebel of Rangoon is not a work of popular Western fiction, as Selth footnotes it (Chapter 5, Footnote 114), but reportage, and a pretty fine one at that, with first-hand accounts of the cat and mouse games political activists and the intelligence services played in the late 2000s. One shouldnt quibble at minor mistakes, but they tend to mount up. The copious citations do not undermine Selths sound central arguments, theyre simply distracting. The book stumbles at the end when Selth turns to questions of accountability. You would think, given the gravity of crimes perpetrated by Gen. Khin Nyunt and MI, the author would advance some thoughts on holding them legally accountable. Instead in just five pages, it is questions of civilian oversight and what interference, or even interest, Daw Aung San Suu Kyis NLD administration would have over the intelligence services. Selths summation is perfunctory, even parsimonious. Apart from the repeal of a few colonial era and Socialist period laws, the NLD is clearly disinclined to dilute the dependence of OCMSA and SB on residual repressive laws, in effect preserving both their power and their impunity for past crimes. This widespread disregard for the past in Myanmar has served to tacitly exculpate the rank war criminal that Gen. Khin Nyunt really is. He has instead been elevated to almost kitsch retro-authoritarian oddity, an incongruous rehabilitation as art gallery owner, orchid grower and author. He has been the subject of a few fawning Western profiles, Hannah Beech in Time magazine setting the tone in 2013. Thomas Fuller in the New York Times in 2013 also treats Gen. Khin Nyunt with kid gloves, granting him the space to bleat these pathetic lines: to err is human(I was doing) what I was ordered to. I had no intention of doing harm to others. I believe that I did no violence, I did no injustice. Yet, Gen. Khin Nyunt also admitted to The Guardian journalist Nick Davies in 2016, I had a different opinion then of what was happening, and we ended up shooting people. But I see now that that was bad. It was a mistake to shoot people. Which makes him an unrepentant liar, coward, and criminal at large. Despite this, his consequence-free cachet inexplicitly persists. An American freelance filmmaker took a grinning selfie with Gen. Khin Nyunt and plastered it all over Twitter in 2017, which must have enraged many people in Myanmar who suffered at the hands of MI. Its no wonder accountability seems as far away in Myanmar as recent history does, when Western journalists, academics, and peace-industrial complex groupies are failing in their duty to report the facts in context. On the past as much as the present. Selth fails to include in his book an important DVB documentary from late 2018, Blood-stained days in Tharyawaddy Prison, an account of torture and ill-treatment of political prisoners in this notorious facility in Pegu Region. It includes interviews with former prison guards and prisoners, and details routine use of torture, admitted to by a number of the guards. Gen. Khin Nyunt makes a cameo appearance at the end, taking a break from watering the plants in his Nawaday art gallery to angrily deny any knowledge of these charges, quivering on camera as he claims, There was no specific instruction given to the prison staff to torture or abuse prisoners. I would never give them instructions to beat up and torture inmates. We, as leaders of the country, did not have that kind of conviction. No, we didnt. One of Myanmars most effective civil society organizations has been the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPPB), which recently marked 20 years of painstaking and principled endeavors to document the hell endured by dissidents, journalists and activists, and the institutionalized torture of detainees. And yet there are still official and private denials of past atrocities perpetrated by the security services, which resonate today in the backsliding of basic freedoms and growing numbers of political prisoners. Selth in no way exonerates Gen. Khin Nyunt. But he does let him off lightly. Secrets and Power in Myanmar is an important addition to reckoning with Myanmars dark past and modern understandings of the oppressive mechanics of military rule. But in its measured, almost bloodless erudition, it strips the victims of Gen. Khin Nyunts crimes of the very thing they have been patiently insisting on: acknowledgement. Until these admissions are forthcoming, any study of Gen. Khin Nyunts role in modern Myanmar historyand the Tatmadaw writ largeshould end with the words from one of that sordid system of repressions eminent resistors, Hanthawaddy U Win Tin: Ill tell you who he should apologize to. He should apologize to former political prisoners, their families and the whole country. The further study of Myanmar intelligence networks should make that statement a humanitarian, as much as an intellectual, imperative. David Scott Mathieson is an independent analyst working on conflict, peace and human rights issues. You may also like these stories: One Flew Over the Pigeons Nest Reading MyanmarMiss Burma and the Liberal Conscience Athens, GA (30605) Today A steady rain in the morning. Showers continuing in the afternoon. High 51F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Rain showers early with overcast skies late. Low 34F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. A ndrew Scott wants you to know that everything is going to be alright, as he reads a poem by Derek Mahon. Actress Emilia Clarke shared the poem on her Instagram as part of a series with The Poetry Pharmacy, an initiative and series of books that prescribe poems for the heart, mind and soul. Scott performed Mahons poem of reassurance Everything is Going to be All Right in aid of Men Against Cancer Ireland. He is the latest actor after Stephen Fry, Idris Elba, Helena Bonham Carter and Clarke herself to read from the Poetry Pharmacy anthology to raise money for charity and offer comfort in these hard times. The Poetry Pharmacy was a created by William Sieghart as a project to prescribe poems to individuals based on their own ailments, from loneliness and heartbreak to self-doubt and hopelessness. He then collected these poems into a number of anthologies. Writing about Mahon's poem in the book, which Clarke quotes in her post, he says: "One flash of sunlight can be all it takes to give us the sense of possibility that can change everything. As a great sufferer from depression myself, I find a small moment like this, a sudden splash of serenity and beauty, can provide the impetus needed to run my mood around. Not completely, perhaps, and not permanently- but sometimes a small push is all any of us is waiting for." Scott's performance in solo show Sea Wall by Simon Stephens is also available to watch until Monday. A sailor injured on board a Norwegian naval vessel has been airlifted to Cork following a long-range medevac involving two Coast Guard helicopters off the south west coast this afternoon. The casualty was airlifted on board the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 115 from the vessel, Thor Heyerdhal, from a position some 150 nautical miles south west of the Fastnet just before teatime. The casualty was flown to Cork Airport from where he was transported by HSE ambulance to Cork University Hospital for treatment. His condition is unknown. The sailor, it is understood, was injured as the vessel cruised in the open ocean earlier today. The alarm was raised and the ship, a Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate of the Royal Norwegian Navy, set a course closer to the Irish coastline to close the distance for the airlift. The Waterford-based Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117 and Rescue 115 were both tasked for the mission. Both left their bases and both refuelled in Castletownbere around 2pm before Rescue 115 set course for the naval vessel. The aircraft rendezvoused with the vessel and airlifted the casualty on board at around 5.15pm as Rescue 117 provided top cover for the mission, flying at high altitude and maintaining a communications link between Rescue 115 and Valentia Coastguard which coordinated the mission. Both aircraft are due to return to their bases soon. In the latest forfeiture complaint, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York allege that an unidentified auction houses antiquities director was told by a dealer that the provenance letter accompanying the tablet was false and should not be used in a public sale. Hobby Lobby bought the item in a private sale in 2014. Three years later, Hobby Lobby asked about the provenance but it says that the auction house did not disclose the letter or the dealers name, according to the complaint. The museum cooperated with the investigation. The former terror chief who ran the UDA in London has said he was "seriously glad" that he was busted with weapons and sent to jail. Ex-UDA 'commander' Frank Portinari claimed that at one stage when he was a loyalist paramilitary, he "wouldn't have thought twice" about throwing a hand grenade into Irish social clubs. Portinari (62) was a football hooligan and National Front member when he joined the UDA but said he was "thoroughly unimpressed" when he first met with the then London leader who he said "stunk of vodka". After taking over as the organisation's top man in the English capital, he became involved in gun-running operations but was sentenced to five years after being caught in 1994. Co-accused James McCrudden from Belfast, who would now be 59, was given 30 months after undercover cops moved in as Portinari handed seven guns, including revolvers and semi-automatic pistols and about 240 rounds of ammunition, to McCrudden in a pub car park. Portinari said: "It took a while to dawn on me what life was like, whichever side you was on. The pressure that people were under. I've got no doubt in my mind, if I'd have lived in Belfast I'd have ended up dead or doing life. "And I'm quite open about this, I'm glad I got caught. I'm seriously, seriously glad I got caught. Expand Close Frank Portinari / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Frank Portinari "Because when I first got arrested I was on Cat A in Winson Green (prison) in Birmingham, and my first visit with my wife was behind a screen. "So my daughters were sitting there. You can't hold their hand, you can't comfort them, they're crying their eyes out. You're like a raging lunatic." But Portinari also said that at the height of his leadership of London activity for the UDA, that he was ready for an armed assault on targets. He said: "I'd made a commitment, I took an oath. I took it quite serious. The trouble is, for want of a better way of putting it, your targets become wider. Because now it's like, well who's eligible for this? It might start off where you'd say, anyone that supplies weapons to them. Anyone that supplies information to them. Then it becomes anyone who sells their papers outside train stations. Anyone that goes on their parades. "You become less discerning about who you want to do harm to. "And there was a time that we met someone who we think was trying to sell us hand grenades and we actually had an army friend go along and verify that they were legitimate. "Let's say we got one box of these hand grenades. What the f*** would we have done with them? What havoc would we have caused? I make no bones about it, the Camden Irish Centre, Kilburn - these are Irish centres that had fundraisers - do you think at that time I'd have had any qualms about walking in there and throwing a grenade in it? I wouldn't have done. I wouldn't have thought twice. It's a horrible thing to say now, I wouldn't have thought twice about it." Portinari also revealed he was approached a number of times by Special Branch after his release from prison. He added: "They came round the house and offered me money to work for them and buy weapons as long as the weapons didn't get into the hands of people who might actually use them." BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 Trend: A video project entitled 'Legendary Hero' was prepared by Trend News Agency, which narrates the story of legendary Azerbaijani intelligence agent Mammadhuseyn Asadov, Trend reports. Some time ago, Azerbaijani intelligence officer and the Tehran-43 Conference book was published in the Azerbaijani and Russian languages, timed to the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The book features the life of legendary intelligence officer, his professionalism and heroism during the Great Patriotic War. The book authors are Deputy Chairman of Azerbaijans Alliance Public Union of Veterans of Security Bodies Azer Garayev, and Azerbaijani MP Arzu Naghiyev. The facts and testimonies published in the book also expose the intentions of the Armenians to falsify the events of the Great Patriotic War period. The video project is based on archival documents and historical facts reflected in the book. The project tells in details how Asadov obtained information about German intelligence' plan to assassinate the USSR, US and UK leaders Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt on the eve of the Tehran Conference, which was held on November 28, 1943, with their participation. For the exceptional role in the successful conducting this operation, Mammadhuseyn Asadov was awarded Lenin and Red Star orders. Almost 20 Victorians are on WorkCover for either contracting coronavirus or suffering mental illness in the pandemic with the number expected to rise due to the Cedar Meats outbreak. The WorkSafe Victoria figures emerged on Tuesday during the inquiry by State Parliament's public accounts and estimates committee into COVID-19. A drive-thru testing clinic at Bunnings' West Footscray store. Credit:Jason South WorkSafe chief executive Colin Radford said they have accepted 11 claims for workers who have contracted the disease and eight claims based on other impacts, such as mental injury. They could be receiving weekly payments to cover some of their lost income and reasonable medical expenses. A stark warning from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the countrys top infectious disease expert, came during a congressional health committee hearing, in response to a question from Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who called the possibility that children might be kept out of schools in the fall a huge mistake. Much is unknown about the novel coronavirus, Fauci retorted: I think we better be careful [that] we are not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune to the deleterious effects. As school and state officials plan for the next academic year, they should keep that warning at the forefront of all decisions. The desire to return to in-person classes should not outweigh the risks of exposing students and staff to a highly contagious virus. School reopening plans must be based on scientific data and public health guidelines not political pressure. Elected officials, school administrators and teachers must also learn from the mistakes and missteps of this year, when the emergence of COVID-19 threw planned curricula out the window and forced educators into a hodgepodge of distance learning. There is time now to prepare for next year. That means developing contingency plans that account for a range of scenarios everything from a return to normal if the virus is brought under control to fully online learning if we see an explosive outbreak in the fall. Safety is the primary concern, Dan Domenech, executive director of The School Superintendents Association, told the editorial board: We do not want to have schools pressured to reopen because of the economy, as much as we understand that the economy is important. While children in general seem to be at lower risk of dying or becoming seriously ill from COVID-19, they are not immune. In the U.S. young children and babies as young as four months old have died from the virus. Other children have gotten sick with a serious inflammatory condition linked to COVID-19; more than 100 cases and at least three deaths have been reported in New York and 16 other states. Children can also carry the virus without showing symptoms and infect adults, including at-risk family members, teachers and school staff. We are not dismissing concerns about children slipping behind academically, going hungry without school-provided meals, and silently suffering from abuse and neglect away from the eyes of watchful teachers. Those are serious considerations. But moving too quickly to send students back to school buildings as President Trump is pushing for could endanger their health and lead to a flood of new outbreaks, resulting in renewed shuttering of schools and more economic disruption. The well-being of kids and teachers comes first and foremost: If people are anxious and if they're stressed or if they're scared, then it's going to hurt teaching and learning, said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. AFT released a detailed blueprint for reopening schools and communities, laying out reasonable steps superintendents and education officials should follow, including robust screening and testing, contact tracing, quarantine measures, frequent hand-washing and some degree of physical distancing. School districts must be prepared to adjust for unknowns. How can distance be maintained on school buses? Accommodations for parents who are afraid to send kids to school or teachers in high-risk groups? How will buildings be cleaned and sanitized? What are the protocols for a school-based outbreak? And in that event, would options such as staggered schedules and reduced class sizes be possible? The Texas Education Agency is already talking to local districts about changes to next years academic calendar and short-term closures in the event of an outbreak. The first priority remains the health and safety of our students, teachers, staff, and their families. We have to do all we can to keep everyone safe, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath told the editorial board. The next key area of focus for us as an organization is: how can we provide support to schools to adapt to a variety of public health situations while they continue to drive academic outcomes upward for our students? Notably, Morath said that students would not be required to attend school in person if parents feel it is a health risk an accommodation that will continue for as long as it is needed. Thats encouraging. So is the fact that many local school districts including Houston, Aldine and Fort Bend ISDs are already creating plans for three possibilities: full-time in-person classes, a hybrid of remote and in-person learning, and 100 percent online learning. We encourage school leaders to also seriously assess accountability for both teachers and students in this brave new world of distance learning. The quality of online instruction varies widely now, as some teachers lack tools, training and tech savvy while others excel in this environment. While some students have remained diligent and have the resources and support to keep up with lessons, others are falling behind and some are just plain tuning out. We must find a way to measure quality and establish clear standards and benchmarks for learning. Until there is a vaccine or effective treatment of COVID-19, school leaders must do all they can to ease fears about returning to school and reduce the likelihood of transmission. Former Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri is suspected of diverting US$32 million of public funds into family companies and buying a large swathe of property, which the State now wants frozen pending the final outcome of possible criminal cases and civil suits. During his 25 years at the helm of the police, Chihuri and his family acquired a lot of property and other assets. So yesterday Prosecutor-General Mr Kumbirai Hodzi filed an application at the High Court seeking an order compelling Chihuri to explain how he acquired his properties and he wants all the assets still in Zimbabwe frozen until investigations and resulting court actions are complete. Chihuri, his wife Isobel Halima Khan Chihuri, daughter Samantha Hamadziripi Chihuri, and son Ethan Takudzwa Augustine Chihuri were listed as the respondents in the application along with relatives Aitken and Netsai Khan and six companies: Croxile Investments, Adamah Enterprises, Mastermedia (Pvt) Ltd, Mastaw Investments and Rash Marketing. In an affidavit deposed by Mr Hodzi, Chihuri is under investigation for criminal abuse of office, money laundering, theft and fraud. He accuses Chihuri of establishing a syndicated criminal mafia meant to siphon public funds for his personal benefit and that of his cronies. This would have entailed externalisation of money and money laundering abroad, he said. Mr Hodzi contends that Chihuri established the companies in connivance with his relatives for the alleged purposes of siphoning funds from the Zimbabwe Republic Polices revolving fund held under CBZ Account number 0212050619002. Isobel Chihuri, according to the State, is the managing director for Mastaw Investments, which received US$3 823 285 from ZRP General Headquarters after giving an allegedly fake business address. Rewstand Enterprises received US$10 401 500 from ZRP despite using an allegedly fake address. Investigations by the police found a different company operating from that address, said Mr Hodzi. Nodpack Investments (Pvt) Ltd of Bure Close in Strathaven, Harare, whose directorship includes Clever Nziramasanga and had Isobel Halim Chihuri as general manager, allegedly received US$5 766 252.31 from the police. But, said Mr Hodzi, this address was a residential property for a Mrs Marange who does not know Nodpack, raising strong suspicion that the address was fake. Croxile Investments (Pvt) Ltd of 8 St Aubins Walk in Chisipite received US$1 892 040 from the police, with Vanessa Madalisto Banda listed as director and Isobel Chihuri as general manager. But the property owner is a Mr Matongo who does not know about Croxile. ZRP also released US$10 575 732 to Adamah Enterprises Pvt Ltd of 29 Carsberg Avenue in Alexandra Park in Harare. Isobel Chihuri is also general manager of this company with Nelia Mafunga listed as director. But investigations found this address belonged to another company called Brightcoast Construction owned by Clever Nziramasanga. Mastermedia (Pvt) Ltd, according to the State, is owned by Isobel Khan Chihuri and it received US$1 073 038.08 from the ZRP Revolving Fund from January 5, 2016 to February 9, 2017. Rash Marketing, which is owned by a CBZ employee called Shingirai Maponga and his spouse Sharon Maponga nee Tiyani, received US$764 370 from November 14, 2016 to December 12, 2016. The companies won orders for the supply of goods and services without going to tender. Besides the company dealings, the State is keen for Chihuri to explain his property holdings. The State wants Chihuri to explain how he acquired 11 listed properties: Seven residential stands at Police Heights on Gletwin Farm in north-east Harare; 571 Zengeza Township; 9 hectares at Fishhponds in Lomagundi district (Deed of Transfer 3177/90); Stand 231 in Athlone in Greendale (Deed 1214/85) measuring 4 639 square metres; and 431 Quinnington in Borrowdale (5284/14) measuring 5 500 square metres. Four vehicles are also listed under assets that need explanation. Two combine harvesters, six tractors, two planters, three motorbikes and a boom spray were found at Chihuris farms at Shamva and Darwendale. In my 20 years in the industry, Siemplify's 20/20 Partner Program is the first channel program that actually takes the needs of the channel into consideration. Siemplify, the leading independent provider of security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR), today unveiled its new 20/20 Partner Program, equipping resellers and distributors with complete visibility and transparency, including a sell-with strategy and margin assurance. The revamped program is designed to enable partners to be part of the opportunity lifecycle from the very start, ensuring they are able to define and develop their brand and communicate their value to customers. The program also includes margin assurance, which promises attractive margins under any discounting scenario. We have heard our channel partners loud and clear: Collaboration and communication is something our customers have come to depend on from true solution providers, said Wayne Goeckeritz, vice president of global channels at Siemplify. Our partners are a vital part of our growth strategy, and the Siemplify 20/20 Partner Program is about one thing: a shared vision of selling. The most successful partnerships are built on mutual trust, and thats what our new program offers. The SOAR market is one of the fastest-growing cybersecurity categories, with market research firm MarketsandMarkets projecting the SOAR market will grow from $868 million in 2019 to $1.8 billion by 2024. The current economic downturn is set to provide an even further boost to SOAR as companies are under more pressure than ever to do more with less and are forced to relocate to remote settings, accentuating the need for collaborative security operations. Overall, partners can expect to see high margins for our SOAR platform, said Thomas Gillman, director of North American channels at Siemplify. In addition, SOAR offers our partners lucrative professional services around implementation and playbook building. Finally, our partners can create attractive joint value propositions with each of the more than 200 security vendors whose products we automate and orchestrate. The program drives increased partner profitability through a sell-with strategy that leverages Siemplify partners expertise and other resources to attain a shared goal. Specifically, it delivers predictable, strong profitability, even when non-standard pricing is required. In my 20 years in the industry, Siemplify's 20/20 Partner Program is the first channel program that actually takes the needs of the channel into consideration, said Patrick Dyer, CEO of Miami-based DigitalEra Group LLC, an IT security technology distributor and services provider. The Siemplify Security Operations Platform combines SOAR with end-to-end security operations management to make analysts more productive, security engineers more effective and managers more informed about the SOC. Trusted by many of the worlds leading enterprises and MSSPs, security teams leverage Siemplify to reduce alert overload, build automated processes that slash response times, and measure and improve SOC performance. More information on the Siemplify 20/20 Partner Program is available on the Siemplify website. About Siemplify Siemplify, the leading independent security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) provider, is redefining security operations for enterprises and MSSPs worldwide. The Siemplify platform is an intuitive workbench that enables security teams to manage their operations from end to end, respond to cyberthreats with speed and precision and get smarter with every analyst interaction. Founded in 2015 by Israeli Intelligence experts, with extensive experience running and training security operations centers worldwide, Siemplify has raised $58 million in funding to date and is headquartered in New York, with offices in Tel Aviv. Visit us at siemplify.co and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Products, service names and company logos mentioned herein may be registered trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Health authorities this week moved to state that there was no evidence that Covid-19 was spreading in Northern Ireland in the months before the first confirmed case. But that has done little to dissuade hundreds of people who are convinced that a bug that floored them as far back as December was in fact the virus that has wreaked havoc across the world in recent months, infecting almost five million people worldwide and killing over 300,000. Only this week Declan Boyle, who has recovered from the virus, said he believes members of his family may have had it at the end of last year. The former SDLP councillor tested positive and said the symptoms he displayed - exhaustion and loss of appetite - were identical to those experienced by his wife and one of his sons when they fell ill before Christmas. The first case of Covid-19 was not confirmed here until late February. Expand Close Declan Boyle / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Declan Boyle Since the Belfast man shared his story, others from across the province have come forward to tell why they too remain suspicious that they also fell victim to the virus. Read More Co Down woman Peggy Kelly says she fell ill after returning from holiday in December. The mother-of-three from Killyleagh describes how she was sick for a full month. "I definitely think I had coronavirus," says the 72-year-old. "We were in Benidorm in December and came back around the 17th. Right before Christmas I started to feel really sick. I was in bed for over three weeks. I had a bad cough, an awful fever, shivers and shakes, I couldn't eat anything. I was hallucinating, it really took it out of me. I went to the doctor and she told me to take paracetamol. "It completely took me off my feet. My family were so worried and upset; they said they had never seen me so sick. And I had never been as sick in my life. I think I had coronavirus because I was never as sick in my life, honestly. I've had the flu before and it wasn't an ordinary flu, it was something different. It was horrendous Peggy Kelly "It took me at least four weeks to get over it. I didn't know what it was and I suppose neither did the doctors so it was a case of just taking to my bed and waiting until it went away. "I think I had coronavirus because I was never as sick in my life, honestly. I've had the flu before and it wasn't an ordinary flu, it was something different. It was horrendous." East Belfast man Barrie Elkin (64) took ill at Christmas along with his wife Sharon and son Barrie (18). The family were struck down by a bug that rendered them unable to get out of bed and struggling to breathe. "My son Bruce fell ill near the end of December," he says. "He had been out partying before Christmas, as 18-year-olds do. He was so sick on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. He was sleeping all day and couldn't eat. Expand Close Barrie Elkin and his wife Sharon / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Barrie Elkin and his wife Sharon "Some of his friends had texted him to say that they were ill with a bug and couldn't stop coughing. He could barely get out of bed to eat his Christmas dinner. We think we might have caught something off him. "Five days later, the day after we had been at a wedding, myself and my wife Sharon fell ill together. We both had to stay in bed for around four days. We couldn't move. Every time we moved, our neck and backs were in agony. We couldn't eat, only drink water. I remember at the time thinking that it was an awful flu, the worst I've ever experienced, and that I never wanted to go through that again. But now I'm convinced, looking back, that it was the coronavirus Barrie Elkin "We were discussing who felt the worst. I have never felt as bad in my life, honestly. "We had high temperatures, we had cold sweats and shivers and were totally fatigued. We just wanted to sleep all the time. I had a cough, my wife didn't. She was absolutely floored with exhaustion and sickness. She just couldn't move. "To me, we had all the symptoms of coronavirus. I couldn't breathe at all. I was really forcing myself to get air into my lungs. At the start of January I went to the doctor and he gave me antibiotics. But they didn't help. Really, I didn't feel well for weeks and weeks afterwards. I also was totally exhausted. "I remember at the time thinking that it was an awful flu, the worst I've ever experienced, and that I never wanted to go through that again. But now I'm convinced, looking back, that it was the coronavirus. "We have sent off for the antibody test to see if we have had it or not. We want to know." Janet Hetherington (64), who lives in the Waterside area of Londonderry with her husband David and son Andrew, says she fell ill following the death of her friend from a mystery virus. "A friend of mine died of an unknown virus at the start of January," she says. "I started feeling very unwell at her funeral. I was coughing and coughing. A few days later I couldn't move. I was so exhausted, I was totally wiped out and had to sleep all the time. The fatigue was like nothing I've ever had before, it was unreal. I would go for a shower and have to lie down afterwards. It took so much out of me Janet Hetherington "I couldn't stop coughing. I tried every single cough medicine but nothing would help this hacking cough. I couldn't sleep for coughing and that just added to the exhaustion. I was ill for about six weeks, right until the end of February. Every time I thought I was coming around, it would hit me again. I couldn't taste anything and I wasn't interested in food at all. "The fatigue was like nothing I've ever had before, it was unreal. I would go for a shower and have to lie down afterwards. It took so much out of me. It was a horrendous experience. I went to the doctor and he said that there was something awful going around. "I'm in a choir and I had been talking to some of the other members who said that there were a lot of people complaining about the same symptoms. One of the ladies said that it took seven weeks for her to recover." North Belfast IT consultant Vivian Ferguson (32) is convinced he had the virus before Christmas. "I started a new job in the first week of December," he says. "In the second week of December I developed a headache and lost my sense of taste and smell. I went completely off food. The pain in my head got far worse over the next few days. It was a crazy pain that paracetamol wouldn't even budge. I also had a bad dry cough. "I remember getting a fever. I just had to stay in bed. Throughout it all the headache didn't go away at all. It stayed strong. I was in bed for around six days, completely floored. It was only after that time that my headache shifted. It took weeks for the cough to go away. Half of my office was also sick with the same symptoms. Expand Close Vivian Ferguson / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Vivian Ferguson "I have had nothing like that ever before. The headache was unreal. When it started coming on the news about the coronavirus and there was a list of the symptoms, it made me think. I'm convinced that it was coronavirus. I've never been as sick." Though many people are convinced they may have had coronavirus, medical experts disagree. Dr Tom Black, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) and a GP in Londonderry, says he is convinced that the bug making people sick before Christmas was a different virus. My view would be consistent with the prevalent view that we wouldn't have seen Covid in December and January, but we saw other viral illnesses that could have been mistaken for it Dr Tom Black, British Medical Association "There certainly was a viral illness in December and January," he says. "But it wouldn't have been consistent with what we then found with the Covid virus. From a patient's point of view you would have got a sore throat, a temperature, felt unwell, some vomiting and diarrhoea as well. So I suppose there are some similarities but that is because they are both viral illnesses. We certainly didn't see the level of very severe respiratory symptoms that we then saw with Covid. "My view would be consistent with the prevalent view that we wouldn't have seen Covid in December and January, but we saw other viral illnesses that could have been mistaken for it." Dr Black says that he disagrees with suggestions that December's widespread illness was in fact the first wave of coronavirus and that we have just left the deadly second wave. "Our microbiology colleagues are very clear about when the infection came and when they were able to pick it up on their very accurate tests," he says. "I think we are still in the first wave. The severity of Covid was markedly different from a standard flu. It is a much more severe illness in a minority and we didn't see those patients until we were in the pandemic." Expand Close Dr Tom Black, chair of the BMA in Northern Ireland / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Tom Black, chair of the BMA in Northern Ireland And Dr Black says, although there are less patients presenting to our hospitals, the virus is still out there. "We have fewer cases appearing into general practice. We have fewer cases coming into the Covid centres that the GPs man and we have fewer cases in hospital and in ICU. So in all four areas we have reduced numbers of cases," he says. "It's not gone yet, it's still endemic in the community. There seems to be a concentration in two places - in care homes and among health care workers. So we are going to have start increasing our testing of patients and staff in care homes, which has been announced by the minister. And we are going to have to increase our testing among health care workers." As for how many of us might have acquired herd immunity, Dr Black also estimates the numbers are still very low, saying that just 5% of the Northern Irish population might have had the virus already. JERSEY CITY, N.J., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ElectrifAi, a global leader in practical artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) products, today announced its partnership with CherryRoad Technologies Inc., a leading integrator of public sector software and digital technology solutions. Together, the two organizations will provide state procurement officers access to innovative AI technology solutions through the ProcurementAi suite under NASPO ValuePoint's Cloud Solutions Master Agreement, which CherryRoad was awarded in 2016. Under the agreement, CherryRoad may market cloud solutions and managed services to state and local governments through a nationally-led cooperative alliance. Through this strategic partnership, NASPO members may now enjoy the benefits that ProcurementAi provides including enabling procurement organizations to accurately classify all spending, regardless of the complexity of the underlying data, and then finding and acting on savings and reallocation opportunities all in a matter of weeks. The suite not only allows procurement professionals to easily obtain the information they require from spend data, but it connects spend to contract data to find more opportunities to decrease costs and risks and improve compliance more than ever before. ProcurementAi also supports organizational transformation by providing faster, more efficient insights into unnecessary spending at the end of the year and opportunities for leverage which contracting leaders can use when issuing and negotiating requests for proposals (RFPs). With access to ElectrifAi's leading solutions, government purchasing professionals will receive the actionable insights needed to become strategic leaders. Additionally, agency secretaries, universities and department commissioners can achieve their transparency and compliance objectives through deeper insights and enhanced reporting capabilities. With substantial impacts to state revenues in the coming quarters, the strategic importance of procurement organizations is now more critical than ever. "Our state governments have immense potential to reap the benefits that AI is currently providing to the private sector," explains ElectrifAi CEO, Edward Scott. "We're thrilled that through our partnership with CherryRoad, we will be able to help to level the playing field in the public sector and provide our ProcurementAi suite to NASPO members." "CherryRoad is proud to offer an innovative, secure, and dependable cloud procurement solution that meets the needs of state and local government," said Jeremy Gulban, CEO of CherryRoad. "With the current economic challenges impacting many public sector entities, it's critical our customers have data at their fingertips in one, centralized cloud solution in order to make timely decisions." About ElectrifAi ElectrifAi is a global leader in building innovative artificial intelligence-based products and is on a mission to help organizations change the way they work through machine learning: driving profit, performance improvement and risk reduction. Founded in 2004, the company draws on 16 years of industry leadership, a global team of domain experts, and a proven record of transforming structured and unstructured data at scale. The company's AI-based products reach across business functions, data systems, and teams to drive superior results in record time. ElectrifAi has over 100+ data scientists, 50+ software engineers and a proven record of dealing with over 2,000 customer implementations. At the heart of ElectrifAi's mission is a commitment to making Ai more understandable, practical and profitable for businesses and industries across globe. ElectrifAi is headquartered in Jersey City, with offices located in San Diego, Shanghai and New Delhi. To learn more about ElectrifAi, visit ElectrifAi.net. About CherryRoad Technologies At CherryRoad, our clients entrust us with the success of their IT solutions, whether we're delivering on-premise ERP, cloud-based application management, business intelligence, process optimization, strategic staffing, or change management consulting. Throughout our 30-year history we've successfully partnered with hundreds of public sector and commercial clients to modernize, optimize and manage their back-office functions. Headquartered in Morris Plains, N.J. with offices across the U.S., we've earned a solid reputation for combining technology, organizational, functional, and vertical market expertise into practical solutions that deliver results on-time and on-budget. For more information, visit www.cherryroad.com SOURCE ElectrifAi Seven paramilitary troops have been killed in separate attacks in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, the military said on May 18. An eighth soldier was killed in a roadside bombing in the country's northwest. Six military personnel died and at least four more were wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb while on patrol in an overnight attack in the Bolan area of Balochistan. "Six [paramilitary] Frontier Corps personnel were killed in a roadside bomb blast while four others were wounded and have been sent to hospital," Deputy Commissioner Bolan Murad Kasi told the media. The incident happened some 80 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital, Quetta, late on May 17. Mureed Baloch, a spokesman for the separatist United Baloch Army, claimed responsibility. In a statement, he said the group targeted Pakistani soldiers assigned to protect engineers of an oil and gas facility in the region. One soldier was killed later in an exchange of fire with militants in the Mand area of the Kech district of the same province, Pakistans Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the militarys media wing, said in a statement. Separately, police said that at least one soldier was killed and three were wounded in a roadside bombing in the country's northwestern North Waziristan tribal district on May 17. Attacks on Pakistani security forces in the restive Balochistan region bordering Afghanistan and Iran and the tribal districts bordering Afghanistan have increased over the past few months. Six Pakistani soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Balochistan near the border with Iran on May 8. On May 7, the military reported the death of two Pakistani soldiers in the town of Mir Ali in the country's North Waziristan tribal district. Pakistan conducted a massive military operation in North Waziristan in June 2014 and later the country's security forces declared that the area had been cleared of militants. In Balochistan, Pakistan is struggling with ethnic Baloch separatists while the Waziristan region has recorded a spike in incidents of violence involving Taliban remnants. The violence in Balochistan, Pakistans largest and most volatile province, is seen as a reaction by separatists to China's investment plans in the region linking its Xinjiang Province with the Arabian Sea through a network of roads and rail tracks. The proposed $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor plan is meant to give Beijing access to markets in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa through the shortest overland and sea route. With reporting by dpa, AP, and dawn.com A study conducted by researchers from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, have found that the amygdala in mice's brain can significantly control their sense of pain. According to Fan Wang, the lead author of the study and the Morris N. Broad Distinguished Professor of neurobiology in the School of Medicine, recent studies have determined parts of the brain that could 'turn on' pain signals, but this was the first time they were able to pinpoint where pain could be 'turned off.' The researchers also discovered that general anesthesia also stimulates a specific subgroup of inhibitory neurons in the central amygdala called the CeAga neurons. Although mice have a comparably bigger central amygdala than humans, Wang says she doesn't think there would be any difference in the two brain systems from controlling pain. The mice were initially given a pain stimulus, and the researchers mapped out the brain's pain-activated regions. They then uncovered that about 16 brain centers that could process the sensory or emotional aspects of pain were receiving inhibitory pain input from the CeAga. When the scientists diminished the activity of these CeAga neurons, the mice responded and displayed behavior indicating intense pain. They also determined that low-dose ketamine activated the CeAga center and wouldn't function without it. The team's next step is to search for drugs that can activate only these specific cells to suppress pain. According to Wang, they could potentially develop pain killers in the future using their discoveries from the study. The team's research was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the W.M. Keck Foundation, the Holland-Trice Scholar Award, and a predoctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation. The findings of their study were published in the journal Nature Neuroscience on May 18. Also Read: Filipino Professor Unlocks the Secret to a Pain-free Life Fight of Flight Center Now Also an Off Switch for Pain The amygdala is an almond-shaped collection of nuclei found deep in the temporal lobe of the brain. It is a part of the limbic system and is believed to be heavily involved with behavior and emotion. When we experience situations that can bring about fear, information about that stimulus is sent to the amygdala, which then sends signals to other parts of the brain like the hypothalamus to trigger a "fight-or-flight" response. The amygdala is also thought to be involved in the fortification of memories with strong emotional components. These memories are kept regardless of whether they are associated with positive or negative emotions. Experts believe that our knowledge of the function of the amygdala is still evolving and that future studies will uncover more things. A Painful Problem Wang says that pain is a complicated brain response that deals with emotion, sensory discrimination, and autonomic responses. The Center for Disease Prevention and Control estimated that one in five American adults had chronic pain in 2016. Furthermore, about eight percent of adults in the US had chronic pain that limited their life and work activities on most days or every day during the past six months. Additionally, the Institute of Medicine reports that chronic pain is a growing public health concern in the United States. Costs regarding pain were recorded at an estimated $560 billion each year for medical care, disability services, or lost productivity. Many researchers like Wang are working to find advancements to solve this rising universal problem affecting millions of people worldwide. Read Also: New Research Reveals Compound That Eliminates Chronic Pain in Mice; Promising Development for Medicine Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 18:53:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VIENNA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)'s daily basket price increased to 28.21 U.S. dollars a barrel on Monday, compared with 26.54 dollars on Friday, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations released on Tuesday. Also known as the OPEC reference basket of crude oil, the OPEC basket, a weighted average of oil prices from different OPEC members around the world, is used as an important benchmark for crude oil prices. Enditem Three people were killed and two others injured when the car in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary mini-truck in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh district on Tuesday, police said. Two students were among the deceased, they said. Around six students who studied in a madrasa in Lucknow were travelling in the car. They had left for their homes in Mau district on Monday night, the police said. Superintendent of Police Trivedi Singh told reporters, "The accident took place in Jameendashav village under Atraulia police station when the driver of the ill-fated car dozed off. As a result, he lost control over the car and rammed it into a stationary mini-truck." "The impact of the collision was so huge that Ali Mohammad (26) and Zameer Hasan (28) died on the spot, while Mohammad Zaid (18) succumbed to injuries at the district hospital," he said. Two injured persons are undergoing treatment at the district hospital here, the police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Australia threatened Tuesday to take China to the World Trade Organisation to counter a fresh round of punitive sanctions, as the two countries clashed over an investigation into the origins and spread of the coronavirus. Canberra said it may seek remedial action to overturn almost 81 percent in tariffs on barley exports -- the latest in a series of Chinese sanctions that many believe are politically motivated. Beijing on Monday announced the measures -- earmarked to last five years -- after finding Australian subsidies and dumping had "substantially damaged domestic industry". Both sides have insisted that barley is a technical trade issue, and Australian officials have played down fears of a trade war, saying there would be no "tit-for-tat" response. "To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement," agriculture minister David Littleproud said. "This is something that we will strongly reject, the premise that the Australian barley farmer is subsidised in any way, shape or form." "We will now work through the determination by Chinese officials, calmly and methodically, and reserve our right to go to the World Trade Organisation to get the independent umpire to make that determination." The move has worsened a relationship that has become increasingly troubled as Beijing has become more assertive in flexing its growing military, economic and diplomatic power in the Asia-Pacific region. Beijing reacted with fury to Australia's recent calls for an independent investigation into the origins and spread of the coronavirus from an initial outbreak in China's central Wuhan province. In response, the Chinese ambassador in Canberra threatened a widespread consumer boycott of Australian products -- a warning followed up by a bar on imports from four major Australian beef producers. A full independent COVID-19 investigation would heap scrutiny on China's handling of the crisis, something that unelected Communist Party leaders deem intolerable. Weihuan Zhou, an international economic law expert at the University of New South Wales, said China's decision to impose tariffs was a "natural consequence" of a Chinese anti-dumping investigation into Australian barley launched in November 2018. But, he told AFP, the timing was telling. "The fact that it's come out now and the fact they have increased the dumping duty by about 20 percent beyond what was initially requested by China's industry -- this would be related to Australia's position." - 'A new low ' - Tensions between Beijing and Canberra have escalated several times in recent years, including over a ban on Huawei building Australia's 5G network and Australia closing its border to Chinese citizens early in the coronavirus pandemic. Darren Lim, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at the Australian National University, said the trade dispute brought relations between the two countries to "a new low". "While these actions also hurt the Chinese economy, China's size and its political system make the Chinese government better able to deal with the fallout of these economic losses, at least in the short term," he told AFP. "Having made its initial point, I'll bet Canberra understands it's unwise to escalate a fight Australia ultimately does not have the firepower to win." Australia's trade and agriculture ministers admit they are now being frozen out by Chinese counterparts, who are refusing to take their calls. However, trade minister Simon Birmingham said Australia would not retaliate against China, the country's biggest trading partner. "We don't pursue our trade policies on a tit-for-tat basis. We will continue to operate as we always do," he said. A joint statement from five Australian grain growers' organisations said the dispute was likely to halt exports to China, costing the industry at least Aus$500 million (US$327 million) a year. Australia said its barley farmers will now seek to pursue other export markets, including in the Middle East, but filling the hole left by Beijing will not be easy. China imported 2.5 million tonnes of Australian barley last financial year, more than 50 percent of Australia's barley exports, with the next-biggest importer -- Japan -- buying less than 800,000 tonnes. SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A South Dakota city that was among the earliest to be hit by a major coronavirus outbreak in a meatpacking plant is planning a parade to thank workers, who organizers say have been unfairly stigmatized. Several friends who planned Wednesdays event said they hope hundreds of people will show up to hold signs of thanks outside a Smithfield Foods pork plant that closed after hundreds of employees were infected with COVID-19. Mayor Paul TenHaken is among those planning to attend. Smithfield employees have faced stigmatization and anxiety even after the plant temporarily shuttered. A sign on the door of a local bar asked the plants employees not to come inside, and one employee has had had panic attacks as she prepares to go back to work, said Nancy Reynoza, who runs a Latino advocacy organization called Que Pasa? Sioux Falls, Natalie Eisenberg, one of the organizers of the parade, said its an attempt to bring a positive message to the employees and reach out as neighbours. They will also be paying for a billboard to thank the employees. We wanted them to feel the warmth of the community around them and make them smile, she said. Some workers and advocates for immigrants were bothered when Gov. Kristi Noem appeared on Fox News on April 13 and seemed to place blame on the living situations of Smithfield employees, many of them immigrants. Other elected officials made similar remarks. Noem later said she meant only that the focus of health officials had shifted to stopping infections in the community after the Smithfield plant closed. We certainly thank them for their work and their dedication providing for our nations food supply, she said at a press briefing on Tuesday. Some community advocates said the thank-you parade, while appreciated, doesnt provide meaningful help for the immigrant communities that have been disproportionately impacted by the outbreak at Smithfield. Reynoza said she would have appreciated it if the mayor had shown up to protest the conditions at Smithfield while the plant was operating at the beginning of April. There could have been a lot more done when the outbreaks happened by all these people and nothing has been done until now, she said. TenHaken, the mayor, has struck a balance between Smithfield and its employees since the outbreak. Shortly after the plant announced it would close in April, he said, There is an underlying sense of almost treating Smithfield employees like lepers in our community right now, and thats not appropriate. But hes also consistently praised the companys efforts to protect employees and acknowledges its status as one of the largest employers in the city. Thats frustrated community organizations who have pressed for more action from officials. Coronavirus infections have disproportionately affected minorities in South Dakota. While almost 85% of the states population is white, minorities have accounted for greater than two-thirds of confirmed cases. Last month, the presidency announced that 250,000 social housing units were being constructed as part of the countrys social housing programme targeting limited-income groups and those deserving subsidies. Since the launch of the programme in 2015, 600,000 such units have been built. According to May Abdel-Hamid, CEO of the Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund, the initial plan of the fund was to construct 120,000 social housing units before presidential orders raised the figure to 250,000 units nationwide. The fund has asked governors to provide data on land suitable for the implementation of the project in each governorate, in addition to information on infrastructure. It stipulates that the land be state-owned, be located in urban areas, and be no less than 1,000 metres square in area. A meeting between the minister of housing and the New Urban Communities Authority has been held to discuss infrastructure and the extra land to be added to the projects based upon the presidential order. The groups targeted by the social housing programme are determined by annual cabinet decisions. The latest of these has decreed that units may be allocated to married couples whose joint income is LE5,700, with allocations also being made for single people on incomes of LE4,200 and those on the minimum wage of LE1,300. Five per cent of units are allocated to people with special needs, and priority is given to widows and divorced women. Building the units is regulated by the social housing law of 2014, explained Abdel-Hamid, who added that increasing the number of units would not change the procedures for applicants. Advertisements are published to receive applications for units in certain areas, and units are only built in areas where they are needed. The social housing programme was launched five years ago with the aim of providing the less-privileged with one million housing units. Ten advertisements were placed to help sell the units, including one that received 300,000 applications and another that received 230,000. 305,000 families have been housed in these 90 metre square apartments with the help of mortgages estimated at LE30.24 billion. Overall financial subsidies are worth LE4.9 billion. The Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund is now handling 665,000 residential units, including 427,000 finished units, 193,00 units being built, and 35,000 available to contractors. The last category cost LE270,000 per unit, each subsidised to the tune of LE100,000, Abdel-Hamid said. The fund will be publishing advertisements for still unsold units in previous social housing projects, to be followed by others for new units at prices increased by LE100,000. Abdel-Hamid expects the 250,000 new units will be offered through advertisements, with the units delivered within three years of publication. Prices may rise by 10 per cent if the cost of building materials increases. The social housing programme offers housing units at subsidised prices and does not include the value of the land in the cost of the unit, said Mohamed Abu Samra, a former expert with the United National Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). However, factoring out the value of the land is worrying because it drives officials to allocate land on the outskirts of cities, leaving high-value land for other more profitable projects, he said. Living on the outskirts of cities can be an added burden to peoples incomes, since extra money must be found for transportation and services concentrated in the centres of urban areas, he added. Islam Mahmoud, who has moved into a social housing unit in the Hadayek October district, said his house was 40km away from his work. I moved into the new house because the monthly instalments were far less than the house I was previously renting in Giza where more services were available, he said. Its a complicated question: either you can settle for a rented house in an area with a high level of services or you can buy your own apartment with moderate mortgage payments and accept that there will be fewer services, Mahmoud said. In March, the World Bank announced a financial package for Egypt worth $500 million to help people to buy subsidised housing units, enhance the work of the Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund, and help to support policies and programmes in the social housing sector. The Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund now has a total of $1.3 billion to support the housing needs of limited-income people. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 May, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Quetta, May 19 : Seven soldiers have been killed in two separate terror attacks in Pakistan's Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday. According to the ISPR statement, terrorists targeted a vehicle of the Frontier Corps (FC) in Mach using improvised explosive devices (IEDs), claiming the lives of six Pakistan Army soldiers, reports Dawn news. In the second attack at Kech, another soldier was killed in an exchange of fire with militants. Earlier this month, five Frontier Corps soldiers and one officer lost their lives after their vehicle was targeted with an IED near the Pakistan-Iran border. Shots rang into the night one year ago, claiming the life of an Auburn man and hero. William Buechner was a family man, with a wife and children, who gave his life in the line of duty to the city of Auburn. A year later Buechner is still remembered and honored on The Plains. Buechner was among other officers who arrived at Arrowhead I Mobile Home park in May of 2019 to answer a domestic disturbance call. Officers approached the trailer and were greeted with gunfire that struck three officers: Buechner and Officers Webb Sistrunk and Evan Elliott. Will Buechner was so brave, said Auburn Mayor Ron Anders. He went to the front door; he went to the door not knowing what he was facing. The suspect, Grady Wayne Wilkes, was taken into custody the next day following an intensive overnight manhunt, but the damage was already done. Although both Sistrunk and Elliott fully recovered, Buechner died from the gunshot wound he sustained. He walked to that door and that man inside the door starting shooting at him without Will having a chance to defend himself, Anders said. Vivid memory Anders said he remembers waking up in the middle of the night as former police chief and fellow council member Tommy Dawson tried to call him. Late at night when Tommy Dawsons trying to call me, a former police chief, thats not good, Anders said. Tommy told me that we had had three officers shot and one was in bad shape. The mayor threw on some clothes and jumped in the car to drive to East Alabama Medical Center. There, Buechner was surrounded by fellow officers and former Police Chief Paul Register, who also noticed the outpouring of support. Its not just about police, its about all the first responders who tried to do everything they could for the officers and Will that day, Register said. Youve got your paramedics and youve got your fire personnel, everybody that really worked together to really try and help Will. It was the one of the first of many displays of support that Buechners fellow officers would offer to him and his family. It was really remarkable to watch the camaraderie, the brotherhood, the love that those fellow officers have for one another, Anders said. Heartfelt, true, deep concern that they have for one another and each others families. "And there were so many of them out there that night, that were there as a show of support but certainly they were there to try to help the family, help our city, help Chief Register. Buechner passed away that night surrounded by his colleagues. As a young mom comes through the door and shes told that her husband is no longer here, it was really one of the saddest experiences of my life, Anders said. Heres a man who wore the badge to protect all of us, but at his core he was a husband and a dad and a son and a friend. A sea of blue Following Buechners death, he was honored with a funeral attended by thousands in Auburn Arena, and hundreds more lined the downtown procession route to Town Creek Cemetery. The Rev. George Mathison led the service for Buechner. Police and law enforcement officers from around the country attended and paid tribute. It was one of the most inspiring services. As a matter of fact, the arena was packed with police officers from all over the state of Alabama, as far away as Chicago and Philadelphia and New York, Mathison said. Mathison serves as the chaplain to the Auburn Police Department, so he knew Buechner personally. Additionally, Mathisons brother was the man who baptized Buechner. The (funeral) service started, the area was packed to capacity, and it began with a bagpiper coming in and playing Amazing Grace, and I dont think Ive ever had anything as emotional and as difficult in my life. Always remembered Officer Buechner had been serving the city of Auburn since 2006. Anders was moved by the crowds up and down the procession route. To lead Will Buechner to his final resting place, and all the families of our community... it didnt matter what age, stage, whether you were a college student or not a college student, it didnt matter what race you were, it didnt matter what you did for a living, we were all Auburn that day that lined those streets, Anders said. Anders said that many waved flags for Buechner, but that the crowds were also silent with respect. Wills courage will stand the test of time in the city of Auburn as a man who laid it all on the line for all of us, he said. Following the service and procession, Mathison said he was able to pray with Buechners family as well. I knew Will and learned and loved him and his wife Sara and the other members of his family and they all meant so much to me, he said. Buechners death and the service still stirs emotion in Mathison today. Not only did he lead the service, but he counseled officers in the police department following Buechners death. Mathison said he believes that God placed him in Auburn more than 20 years ago for that reason, to be able to minister in a situation such as Buechners death. What was so moving was right before the service, just that sea of blue police officers and spending time with them and praying with them, he said. Its not often you see police officers and firefighters weeping and hurting. Following Buechners death, Mathison said many asked him how God could let something like this happen. Mathison said he believes it became an opportunity for ministry in Gods name and a chance to help these men and women through this. [Paul Register] and I spent a lot of time talking and praying with the police officers, and that time spent with them was so moving and so touching and I felt like it was an opportunity for God to let me be a minister to a group of people who are so often forgotten, he said. The other wounded Two other officers had to recover without Buechner. Their lives could have been taken, Anders said. To those guys, I know them personally. They know how much I care for them. Im proud and happy to see them each and every time I get to be around them. "And Im thankful and so honored that after whats that happened to them, that just as soon as they could, they got right back in that uniform and started protecting our city again. The city of Auburn has not forgotten Buechner. The officers death was among several tragedies that the city of Auburn faced in 2019, including the Beauregard tornadoes and the deaths of Rod and Paula Bramblett, Rod known as the "Voice of the Auburn Tigers." But Buechner always will be remembered for his heroic service, Anders said. The love and respect that we have for Will Buechner is greater today than I believe it was the day that he passed away, as we reflect on what he did on behalf of this community, as we reflect on his bravery, Anders said. Theres not enough days left in our lifetimes to allow us to be able to say thanks. Courage noted Wills courage will stand the test of time in the city of Auburn as a man who laid it all on the line for all of us, Register said. The support was and remains appreciated, he said, remembering especially the procession through town. Ive never seen anything like that and it just really speaks volumes for not only this community but people that just love the Auburn community, he said. There were people here that are not residents of Auburn, that just care about this community. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove hit out at the EU over a lack of progress in post-Brexit trade deal negotiations. (PA) British consumers could face price hikes for European foods and cars next year, with post-Brexit trade talks at a stalemate despite a looming deadline for a UK-EU deal. Britain and the EU are likely to slap new tariffs on some of each others goods and services if no deal can be reached before the Brexit transition period ends in 2021. The UK government signalled on Tuesday EU cars and agricultural goods would be among those facing import taxes, in a move designed to protect UK manufacturers and farmers. Cabinet minister Michael Gove made no mention of any progress in a statement about negotiations with Brussels in the Commons on Tuesday, saying only that ongoing talks were constructive. Labour had demanded the update ahead of the governments own June deadline for securing the broad outline for a deal. Gove criticised the EU and accused it of an ideological approach to talks, admitting progress would be difficult unless the EU caved in on its demands. READ MORE: UK government threatens to walk away from EU trade talks if no deal reached by June He highlighted differences of principle, but told MPs there was still enough time to secure a deal. The government has previously said the broad outline of a deal needs to be agreed by June to be ready for 2021. Both sides say they want a comprehensive free trade deal, but the UK government is resisting EU pressure to pledge alignment with EU standards on workers rights, tax, the environment and state aid. EU negotiators fear the bloc will be undercut if Britain de-regulates in such areas. The EU essentially wants us to obey the rules of their club even though were no longer members, and they want the same access to our fishing grounds as they currently enjoy, while restricting our access to their markets, said Gove. International trade minister Liz Truss also published the governments post-Brexit tariff policy on Tuesday. Brexit allows the UK to set its trade policy independently of the EU for the first time in decades. Story continues READ MORE: UK unveils new post-Brexit tariff regime Business leaders said there would be winners and losers from the new policies, with higher tariffs typically protecting UK firms but lower tariffs bringing down prices for consumers. The government will retain the same worldwide tariffs on agriculture, cars and fish that Britain had as a member of the EU. The move is aimed at insulating UK businesses from competition, but global trade rules mean the tariffs must also be applied to the EU itself if no trade deal is reached. Such new tariffs on EU goods and services would mark a significant rupture to many UK firms supply chains across the bloc, reversing decades of increased ties. It would raise the cost of importing many common agricultural products and popular European cars, most likely pushing up prices for UK consumers. Carmakers may welcome reduced global competition, but also fear UK tariffs could push up the cost of imported parts from the EU. Meanwhile retaliatory EU tariffs could make their cars uncompetitive in Europe. The government said on Tuesday respondents to its consultation had warned tariffs would hugely impact UK competitiveness, and that the UK could not produce its own replacements for currently imported parts. Today we are announcing the new UK Global Tariff that will come into force on 1 January 2021. It will mean: Lower costs for consumers Cutting red tape and complexity for business Tariff regime suited to economyhttps://t.co/FBQ9LHdxUA Liz Truss (@trussliz) May 19, 2020 Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) also warned on Tuesday that families were likely to face higher food costs without an essential EU deal. UK consumers have become accustomed to a huge variety of affordable food thanks, in part, to tariff-free imports from the EU, she said. Dickinson added that trade talks needed to conclude soon to give retailers and border staff time to prepare, warning of disruption to food imports without sufficient preparation. READ MORE: Ex-minister warns swift immigration crackdown risks frontline worker shortages The potential tariff barriers come on top of so-called non-tariff barriers such as increased paperwork and goods checks, which are all but certain to come into force. Prime minister Boris Johnsons government has effectively accepted higher costs and bureaucracy for EU trade are the price to pay for more freedom striking global trade deals. But the government said on Tuesday the cost of many food imports from outside the EU would fall under its post-Brexit tariff plans. Duties will be slashed on around 62bn ($75bn) of imports, according to the department for international trade. Products likely to see tariffs slashed on non-EU products include biscuits, waffles, pizzas, confectionery, spreads, cocoa and baking powder. The department said 60% of imports would be tariff-free under the plans, though did not say what proportion is currently tariff-free. It added that an EU free trade deal could push this up to 87% of imports. The department of defence and national security studies, Panjab University, organised a webinar on the dynamics of Indo-Pak relations, on Tuesday. The online event, titled Indo-Pak relations The way ahead, was attended by faculty members, serving army forces officers pursuing courses in the department, research scholars and students. Shalini Chawla, distinguished fellow, Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) said India is now making efforts for diplomatic isolation of Pakistan, by highlighting its policy towards terrorism, at various international forums. She said these sustained efforts improved Indias position at the international level, which was highlighted when Indias air strikes at Balakot, after the Pulwama terrorist attack, was not condemned by any nation. She said Pakistan has recently created a new terrorist organisation for Kashmir, The Resistance Front (TRF), that has brought members of various terrorist organisations under its banner, since it has not been banned. Chawla added that Pakistan has been relying on local Kashmiri terrorists since infiltration of the Line of Control (LoC) has become difficult and the government is using its Indian Threat narrative to justify increase in military spending. The upcoming US withdrawal from Afghanistan is only going to strengthen Pakistans hold on that country through Taliban, which it will later be used against India, she said. Is Deutsche Grundstucksauktionen AG (ETR:DGR) a good dividend stock? How can we tell? Dividend paying companies with growing earnings can be highly rewarding in the long term. Yet sometimes, investors buy a popular dividend stock because of its yield, and then lose money if the company's dividend doesn't live up to expectations. In this case, Deutsche Grundstucksauktionen likely looks attractive to investors, given its 9.3% dividend yield and a payment history of over ten years. We'd guess that plenty of investors have purchased it for the income. Before you buy any stock for its dividend however, you should always remember Warren Buffett's two rules: 1) Don't lose money, and 2) Remember rule #1. We'll run through some checks below to help with this. Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis XTRA:DGR Historical Dividend Yield May 19th 2020 Payout ratios Companies (usually) pay dividends out of their earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, the dividend might have to be cut. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. Looking at the data, we can see that 105% of Deutsche Grundstucksauktionen's profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. A payout ratio above 100% is definitely an item of concern, unless there are some other circumstances that would justify it. While the above analysis focuses on dividends relative to a company's earnings, we do note Deutsche Grundstucksauktionen's strong net cash position, which will let it pay larger dividends for a time, should it choose. Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Deutsche Grundstucksauktionen's latest financial position, by checking our visualisation of its financial health. Dividend Volatility One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. For the purpose of this article, we only scrutinise the last decade of Deutsche Grundstucksauktionen's dividend payments. The dividend has been cut on at least one occasion historically. During the past ten-year period, the first annual payment was 0.10 in 2010, compared to 1.00 last year. This works out to be a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 26% a year over that time. Deutsche Grundstucksauktionen's dividend payments have fluctuated, so it hasn't grown 26% every year, but the CAGR is a useful rule of thumb for approximating the historical growth. Story continues So, its dividends have grown at a rapid rate over this time, but payments have been cut in the past. The stock may still be worth considering as part of a diversified dividend portfolio. Dividend Growth Potential With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to evaluate if earnings per share (EPS) are growing - it's not worth taking the risk on a dividend getting cut, unless you might be rewarded with larger dividends in future. Strong earnings per share (EPS) growth might encourage our interest in the company despite fluctuating dividends, which is why it's great to see Deutsche Grundstucksauktionen has grown its earnings per share at 21% per annum over the past five years. Earnings per share have been growing very rapidly, although the company is also paying out virtually all of its profit in dividends. While EPS could grow fast enough to make the dividend sustainable, in this type of situation, we'd want to pay extra attention to any fragilities in the company's balance sheet. Conclusion Dividend investors should always want to know if a) a company's dividends are affordable, b) if there is a track record of consistent payments, and c) if the dividend is capable of growing. We're a bit uncomfortable with its high payout ratio. Next, earnings growth has been good, but unfortunately the dividend has been cut at least once in the past. In summary, we're unenthused by Deutsche Grundstucksauktionen as a dividend stock. It's not that we think it is a bad company; it simply falls short of our criteria in some key areas. It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. Still, investors need to consider a host of other factors, apart from dividend payments, when analysing a company. As an example, we've identified 4 warning signs for Deutsche Grundstucksauktionen that you should be aware of before investing. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of dividend stocks yielding above 3%. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. A representative of the Council of Europes Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on Tuesday praised the Armenian government for asking legal experts from the Strasbourg-based organization to help end its standoff with Armenias Constitutional Court. Justice Minister Rustam Badasian appealed to the Venice Commission last Thursday as his government further delayed the conduct of a referendum on its controversial efforts to oust seven of the courts nine judges. Prime Nikol Pashinian indicated two days later that the referendum, originally scheduled for April 5, will not be held anytime soon due to the coronavirus pandemic. Pashinian said he hopes the Venice Commission will help Yerevan find alternatives ways of partly or fully resolving the Constitutional Court issue. The Armenian authorities have decided to request the opinion of the Venice Commission the Council of Europes body of legal experts on possible changes to the Constitution regarding the Constitutional Court and this is very good news, said Kimmo Kiljunen, a PACE co-rapporteur on Armenia. The suspension of the referendum due to the coronavirus, and the choice made by the government to request this opinion and return the issue to parliament are all the more relevant given that the Armenian authorities will now have time to reflect on the opinion of the Venice Commission before taking further action and informing the public, he added in a statement. Kiljunen and the other PACE co-rapporteur, Andrej Sircelj, expressed concern over mounting tensions between Armenias political leadership and highest court in a joint statement issued on February 6. They said political players in the South Caucasus state should refrain from actions and statements that could be perceived as exerting pressure on the judiciary. They also urged the authorities in Yerevan to send their draft constitutional amendments to the Venice Commission for examination as soon as possible. Representatives of the two opposition parties represented in the Armenian parliament similarly said that a Venice Commission opinion on the proposed changes is essential for the legitimacy of the process. Pashinians political allies countered, however, that the authorities are not obliged to consult with the Council of Europe body. The prime minister implicitly criticized the Venice Commission on February 20. He said the watchdog must answer some questions raised by the Armenian authorities before it can scrutinize the constitutional changes sought by them. Pashinian has repeatedly accused Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian and six other justices of maintaining ties to the countrys corrupt former regime and impeding judicial reforms. Tovmasian and opposition figures have dismissed these claims, saying that Pashinian is simply seeking to gain control over the court. Look, if you dont want the Vice-President or the TV networks or anybody else to come into the house, he told her, according to The Right Stuff, than thats it as far as Im concerned, they are not coming in and I will back you up all the way, one hundred percent, and you tell them that. MANNFORD Three people are dead after an apparent double murder and suicide Monday. A confrontation occurred among neighbors, and responding officers found two people dead from gunshot wounds outside a residence in the 1100 block of Osage Place, Mannford Police Chief Jerry Ridley said. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation identified the victims as Mary Milam, 57, and Donald Langdon, 59. When officers arrived, a man walked out of his mobile home in the nearby 700 block of Ponca Lane, sat down in a lawn chair and held a gun to his head, Ridley said. That man, 83-year-old James Hancock, told the officers he had shot Milam and Langdon, an OSBI news release states. Mannford police officers, along with two investigators from the district attorneys Drug Crime Task Force, attempted to persuade Hancock to lower his gun, Ridley said. At one point he did, but he eventually shot himself, Ridley said. Hancock was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police in Mannford, a community along the shores of Lake Keystone west of Sand Springs, asked the OSBI to assist in the investigation. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 16:26 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd90d177 1 World COVID-19,coronavirus,students,China,Netherlands,Taiwan,virus-corona,Indonesian-students-abroad Free Indonesians studying abroad, from China to the Netherlands, are sharing their accounts of how the governments of their respective countries have prioritized the health sector over other sectors to slow the rate of COVID-19 transmission. China, where the virus was first detected, managed to significantly bring the number of COVID-19 cases down within three months by imposing strict lockdowns in areas heavily affected by the coronavirus disease. A candidate for a masters of public diplomacy at Jilin University in China, Raihan Ronodipuro, said President Xi Jinping had conveyed in the early days of the outbreak that "maintaining public health is the government's top priority". Authorities there, he explained, had focused on developing dozens of new emergency hospitals with 18,000 beds in less than 10 days to accommodate coronavirus patients. They also supported the mass production of protective gear like face masks and hazmat suits and distributed them nationwide to those in need, particularly health professionals. Read also: Hong Kong shutdown is a lesson to the world in halting coronavirus Schools, businesses and transportation services were subsequently shut down in the locked down areas to force people to quarantine themselves from the virus. The government played its part in distributing staple food and daily needs to the affected regions. "Chinese citizens, on the other hand, obeyed the government's call to stay at home and sacrificed their social lives to control the virus' spread. As a result, the country managed to control the outbreak in three months," Raihan said. "Solidarity and discipline are the keys," he said during a virtual discussion organized by nonprofit research organization Legal Culture Institute on Monday. China has passed its coronavirus peak and now records less than 10 new cases per day. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the government has taken strict measures to limit crowds, having imposed large-scale social restrictions on March 16. "Individuals found to have a gathering of more than three people should pay a fine of 400 euro [$436.92] each, while shops that do not pay attention to the health protocol should pay up to 4,000 euro," Indonesian doctorate of law candidate at Leiden University, Yance Arizona, said. The Netherlands, which detected its first cases of COVID-19 in late February, had reported a declining infection curve in the past month. The daily infection number gradually went down to 148 on Monday from 1,066 on April 19. Indonesia's infection curve, however, has fluctuated over the past four weeks. It reported a spike of 689 new cases on May 13 from 233 new cases two days earlier. On Monday, the country saw 496 new confirmed cases. Read also: COVID-19: Nearly 90,000 Indonesians return home after more than 700 infected abroad The president of the Indonesian Students Association in Taiwan, Rizki Revianto Putra, said that Indonesia needed "decisive leadership" in this time of crisis to avoid blunders and overlapping policies. The Indonesian government's latest move to allow public transportation services to resume, even as the mudik (exodus) ban remains in force, has apparently added unnecessary complications to the country's physical distancing policy. Experts have slammed the move, saying that not only was it poorly calculated, but it also came at a time when the nation's fight against COVID-19 should be strengthened, not relaxed. The travel relaxation resulted in long lines at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten last week, where some passengers reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Kyodo News) Kobe, Japan Tue, May 19, 2020 21:01 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd91c077 2 News Hotel,travel,Accommodation,LGBT Free Two hotels in a western Japanese city have been reprimanded after refusing to rent a room to a gay couple despite a law that bans turning away guests because of sexual orientation or gender identity, a city official said Monday. The official said the couple was rejected by two so-called love hotels, accommodations for couples typically booked by the hour, in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, on May 5. Two days later, one of the rejected customers consulted the city. City officials visited the hotels and told the operators to ensure that a case like this never happens again. The operator of one of the hotels accepted the order. However, the other said the couple was turned down "not because they were of the same gender," but for a different reason that the city declined to reveal, according to the official. Read also: Tokyo hotel announces special accommodation package for LGBT travelers There are currently 51 municipalities across Japan, including Amagasaki, which issue certificates recognizing same-sex partnerships as being equivalent to marriage, according to Out Japan Co., which handles consulting and marketing related to sexual minorities. "We'll continue to enlighten the hotel business in the city not to make those of sexual minorities feel discomfort," the city official said. The health ministry banned hotels and inns from refusing any guests because of sexual orientation or gender identity in an amended guideline under the hotel business law in January 2018. Topics : Hotel travel Accommodation LGBT State and local law enforcement agencies say they wont share basic facts about a Rapid City traffic stop that ended with an officer killing a man who allegedly fired at police until the investigating agency releases its report in about 30 days. A Rapid City police officer shot Anthony Angel, 30, after Angel allegedly shot and tried to kill officers soon after they conducted a traffic stop on May 13, Police Chief Karl Jegeris said at a news conference at the scene near East Saint Patrick Street and East Highway 44. Angel, who was in a vehicle with two other people, hit a patrol vehicle but not any officers, Jegeris said. Angel died the next morning at the hospital, according to the Attorney Generals Office. The shooting is being investigated by the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) which falls under the Attorney Generals Office. Once DCI finishes its report, Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg will determine whether the shooting was justified or not. Angel tested positive for COVID-19 but none of the Rapid City officers and DCI agents who came into contact with him did, Tim Bormann, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said in a Monday news release. The officers and agents will follow agency and CDC guidelines regarding possible quarantines, monitoring and future testing since virus detection can occur at a late time, the news release says. The release does not mention if medical first responders and hospital staff were tested. Bormann told the Journal that he doesnt know how many officers and agents were tested and whether Angel tested positive before the incident or after he died. While Bormann voluntarily shared the COVID-19 information with the media, he said the office won't be answering any questions until the DCI report is released. The Journal asked where Angel was sitting in the vehicle and whether the vehicle was pulled over for an alleged traffic violation or because someone in the car was a suspect in a crime. It asked what kind of weapon Angel allegedly used and if it's one of the seven firearms missing after back-to-back pawn shop robberies last month. And the Journal asked the names of the officers who Angel allegedly shot at and which officer hit him. Bormann said he can't share if the two other people in the car were released or have been arrested. Mark Vargo, Pennington County States Attorney, said the people have not been charged in relation to the incident but that may change after he reviews the DCI report. Brendyn Medina, spokesman for the Rapid City Police Department, said he doesnt know the answers to the Journals questions and he cant look into them since DCI is doing the investigation. Info varies In some previous police shootings, law enforcement agencies have immediately and voluntarily shared some of the facts the Journal asked about the May 13 shooting. For example, the Rapid City Police Department shared a detailed news release the morning after an officer fatally shot a man who went on a fatal gun rampage at an apartment in December. That release shared why police arrived at the scene, the name of the officer who shot the gunman, the type of weapon the man used, and a basic narrative of the incident. And after a deputy with the Pennington County Sheriffs Office fatally shot a man who fired at officers during a pursuit in November 2018, the office shared on Facebook the type of weapon the man used and how the pursuit began. The Sheriffs Office did not share the deputys name after the deputy cited Marsys Law, a controversial victims rights amendment that voters added to the South Dakota constitution in 2016. The deputys name was eventually released by the DCI in its report. However a Highway Patrol troopers identity remained shielded in an October 2018 DCI report even though her identity was listed in public court records. The difference in if and when agencies release names appears to depend on if and for how long law enforcement officers invoke Marsys Law. The discrepancy in what other information is immediately shared appears to be based on the fact that South Dakota has no laws dictating how police shootings are investigated and what and when information must be shared. Therefore, as long as they follow the state's general public records laws, the DCI and local agencies can chose what information to release and when they do so. While there are no laws that say how these shootings must be investigated, the protocol since at least 1991 has been for the DCI to investigate and release a report within 30 days, experts told the Argus Leader in a June 2019 story. Contact Arielle Zionts at arielle.zionts@rapidcityjournal.com. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Manhasset, N.Y. New Yorks Capital Region will be ready to begin a phased reopening of its economy starting Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today. The region is currently training 430 people to trace the contacts of those infected with the new coronavirus and get them tested and isolated if necessary. The minimum number required was 383, Cuomo said during a press conference in Manhasset on Long Island. Getting enough contact tracers was the final requirement the region had to meet to begin reopening. Once the Capital Region begins its restart, only Long Island, the Mid-Hudson area and New York City will remain shut down. Nonessential businesses in the state first closed in March to help slow the spread of the virus. Central New York, the Mohawk Valley, Finger Lakes, North Country and Southern Tier met the states restart benchmarks last week and began reopening on Friday. Cuomo announced Monday that Western New York would begin reopening today. The first phase of the states restart plan includes companies in construction, manufacturing wholesale trade, agriculture, forestry and fishing and hunting. Additional retailers can also start in-store and curbside pickup. New York has released detailed guidelines and safety plan templates for phase one businesses. In Onondaga County, 278 businesses have told the state theyre open again so far. Cuomo also said today that Nassau County is eligible to restart elective surgeries and ambulatory care. Elective procedures were canceled statewide in March to free up hospital bed space, but they have now been allowed to resume in a total of 50 counties. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources NY didnt count nursing home coronavirus victims for weeks; then, a stumbling rush for a death toll Churches will be the last places to reopen in NY, alongside stadiums, concert halls Onondaga County coronavirus death toll over 100 after new data from NY state Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 Allentown, PA (18103) Today Cloudy with morning snow ending, then windy and turning colder with falling temps and some afternoon clearing. A coating to 1-2" of snow expected in the morning. . Tonight Partly cloudy, windy, and very cold. Wind chills near or below zero later at night. Bihar Board 10th Result 2020 declared: The Bihar Board released the Class 10 exam results today (Tuesday, 26 May). The results were likely to be released on Monday, but got delayed due to last-minute arrangements. Bihar Board 10th Result 2020 declared: The Bihar Board released the Class 10 exam results today (Tuesday, 26 May). The results were likely to be released on Monday, but got delayed due to last-minute arrangements. The BSEB announced the results of Class 10 students after scrutiny of the answer copies of students who scored the highest marks. The Bihar Board started verifying the answer scripts of top-scoring students after an incident in 2016, where toppers did not know answers to basic questions. The verification process of half of the toppers has been completed. As soon as the process for all the 38 districts is over, BSEB will declare the Class 10 results. Once declared, students can check their Class 10 Bihar board examination 2020 results on biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in as well as biharboard.online and via SMS. The board completed the compilation process of marks after the submission of evaluation results to it. The Bihar Board Class 10 examination 2020 was held from 17 to 24 February. The results were scheduled to be announced by March but the evaluation of more than 15.29 lakh answer scripts was postponed till 3 May due to the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. The evaluation process began on 6 May. Here's how to check your result: Step 1: Visit the website of Bihar Board - biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in Step 2: On the home page, click on the 'Results' Step 3: Tap on Class X Matriculation results Step 4: Select your stream and click on 'Result' Step 5: You will be directed to a new page where you will have to key-in your credentials Step 6: Enter the captcha text Step 7: You can now check and download your BSEB Class 10 Result 2020. Students can also check their BSEB Class 10 Results 2020 via SMS. For this, you will need to go to the message option of their phone and type - BSEB10 -space- ROLL NUMBER and send it to 56263. Last year, the Bihar Board Class 10 Result pass percentage was 80.73 percent. Bihar board Class 12 Result 2020 was released by BSEB on 24 March. LOBAMBA MPs have demanded that the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, reveal the names of the 15 facilities that are used as quarantine sites. Minister Nkosi, when making a ministerial statement yesterday, stated that the ministry had recognised the need for quarantine facilities as well as additional facilities to house the rapid response and contact-tracing teams. She said in this regard, the Ministry of Tourism had been tasked with finding facilities for these purposes and a ministerial statement was issued requesting those interested parties to submit quotations. Different facilities expressed interest and requested for confidentiality in order to protect future reputation and business, she said. Nkosi said to date, 15 facilities had been identified and more facilities were still submitting quotations while others had opted out. However, this did not go down well with several members of Parliament (MPs), who demanded that the minister reveal these facilities. Confidential One of these was Ndzingeni MP Lutfo Dlamini, who wondered why the hotels wanted to remain confidential when government funds were being used to pay for the accommodation. Why do they want to receive government funds if they want to be kept secret, I smell a rat here, he submitted Meanwhile, Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo also stated that it was not understandable why the quarantine centres were being protected. He said this would definitely punch holes on the level of transparency and accountability which government had in this regard and stated that all the COVID-19 allocations should be accounted for. He then asked that at what rates were these hotels paid. Is it per room, per person or is the entire establishment paid for because there cant really be other people accommodated if there were COVID-19 positive patients, he said. Khumalo also wondered why one of the facilities was in a densely populated area like Ezulwini instead of being away from people. Maphalalelni MP Mabulala Maseko also said government should operate in the open with regard to the hotels and facilities which had been awarded the tenders. Compromised Accountability will be compromised and we also want to know the rates, he said. He wondered why government could not use places like the old Bulembu Mine, which were on the outskirts and away from the highly populated areas. The MPs said places like Mavuso Trade Centre, which were approved as treatment facilities, were being revealed especially since the Head of State had granted permission yet some people wanted to remain unknown. On another note, the Ndzingeni MP asked if there was any information forthcoming from the World Health Organisation on the use of timbita or traditional concoctions. Meanwhile, the minister informed MPs that they had a shortage of transport, in particular ambulances. She said there were 11 ambulances currently at CTA and six of them would be released to the ministry soon. Motshane MP Robert Magongo stated that he had been reliably informed that two of the ambulances were at the principal secretary in the Ministry of Healths house and therefore government should fetch them. She also said they were still faced with a shortage of PPEs for health workers and that they were still looking at ways in which to motivate the staff. US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on Monday called on China to immediately make public the whereabouts of Panchen Lama and said that his country remains deeply concerned about China's ongoing campaign to eliminate the religious, linguistic and cultural identity of Tibetans Washington DC: US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo on Monday called on the Chinese government to immediately make public the whereabouts of Panchen Lama and said that his country remains deeply concerned about China's ongoing campaign to eliminate the religious, linguistic and cultural identity of Tibetans. "The Department of State has made the promotion and protection of religious freedom a priority, especially in China, where people of all faiths face severe repression and discrimination," Pompeo said. "As part of that mission, on 17 May, we marked the 25th anniversary of the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who has not appeared in public since the PRC government abducted him in 1995, at age six," he added. The US Secretary of State noted that Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism with spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. "But China's persecution of the Panchen Lama is not unusual. The United States remains deeply concerned about the PRC's ongoing campaign to eliminate the religious, linguistic, and cultural identity of Tibetans, including through the ongoing destruction of communities of worship and learning, such as the Larung Gar and Yachen Gar Buddhist Institutes," said Pompeo. "Tibetan Buddhists, like members of all faith communities, must be able to select, educate, and venerate their religious leaders according to their traditions and without government interference. We call on the PRC government to immediately make public the Panchen Lama's whereabouts and to uphold its own constitution and international commitments to promote religious freedom for all persons," the US Secretary of State added. Earlier this year, the US House of Representatives had unanimously passed the Tibetan Policy and Support Act (TPSA) to strengthen policy in support of Tibet, a move that was reciprocated as "encouraging and empowering" by the representatives of the Himalayan Buddhist region that has been under the control of China since several decades. Houston Police Department One person is dead and another injured after a shooting in north Houston, police said. The incident occurred in the 900 block of Moody Street. The injured victim was in surgery this afternoon, police said. Junai Sehrai, son of separatist conglomerate Tehreek-e-Hurriyat's chairman Ashraf Sehrai, was among the two terrorists killed in an encounter with security forces in downtown Srinagar, police said. Junai Sehrai went missing in March 2018 and later his picture, brandishing an AK-47, went viral on social media. The joining of Sehrai, who completed his MBA degree from the Kashmir University, was the first such case where a son of a separatist leader of Jammu and Kashmir had joined a terror group. "A rapid increase in online purchases due to the epidemic has been the downfall of many department stores, which are the most vulnerable offline retail channel," said Suh Yong-gu at Sookmyung Women's University. "If they fail to offer innovative and differentiated services, their decline will accelerate even further." Old-fashioned department stores are deserted due to the coronavirus epidemic, which has sent their revenues into freefall. Several global department stores have already bitten the dust. Low-end U.S. chain J.C. Penney, which dates back to 1902, filed for bankruptcy protection last week. Until the early 2000s, J.C. Penney, along with peers Macy's and Sears, symbolized the booming American consumer culture. But Sears, established in 1893, already went bust in October 2018, while Macy's, which opened in 1858, is reeling under massive debts. About a week before J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus also filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. state of Texas. Established in 1907 in the Austin area, Neiman Marcus grew by selling high-end products to customers flush with oil money. But it had been reeling under US$5.1 billion of debt when coronavirus forced it to shut down all 43 of its stores in the U.S. Germany's biggest department store operator Galeria Kaufhof also filed for bankruptcy on April 1, and the U.K.'s Debenhams followed suit on April 6. The downfall of traditional department stores was triggered by the radical shift in the retail industry's landscape and only accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic. Analysts project that more than 3,000 department stores worldwide will close down this year. Landry's CEO Tilman Fertitta said Tuesday it "makes no sense whatsoever" to require companies that receive government relief to hire back all of their workers. The casino and restaurant chain executive was asked on CNBC's "Power Lunch" about New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposal to require companies that receive government aid during the pandemic to rehire the same number of employees they had before the crisis. "First off, I'm a fan of Mr. Cuomo's, and I think he's done a great job, but now he's in an area that he doesn't belong in," Fertitta said. "He knows nothing about running businesses. You can't hire everybody back. Our business is not coming back for years." Cuomo said during his daily press briefing on Tuesday that, "it would be such a scandal, and a fraud if these corporations were allowed to receive government money, lay off workers, and then government taxpayers had to subsidize the workers who were laid off." Tweet There has been a heated debate about which restrictions should be placed on companies that participate in the various programs from the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department. The loans to airline companies from the CARES Act, for example, required those companies to avoid layoffs until Sept. 30, but some have since cut hours for their service employees and announced layoffs that will take place after the restrictions expire. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said during a Congressional hearing on Tuesday that he believed the airlines were in compliance with the rules of the program. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren grilled Mnuchin during the same hearing, asking if he would consider placing restrictions around layoffs in other parts of the $2.2 trillion relief package. Fertitta also continued his push to let larger companies accessing the remaining money in the Paycheck Protection Program, saying that his payroll expenses were $150 million a month in normal times. Several restaurant chains returned money from the program after the Treasury Department issued updated guidance that said large companies with access to other forms of credit should not access the program. Landry's said in April that it had decided to "deny assistance that would be made available to us" to free up money for smaller companies. Under Cuomo's plan, Landry's would be forced to hire back all of the employees it had laid off. The current law does not require that, but Fertitta, who also owns the NBA's Houston Rockets, said even the current restrictions on larger companies taking the money was punishing workers. "Because you work for Landry's and you work for Tilman Fertitta, you don't get to come back to work? That's really unfair," Fertitta said. "Because I'm not getting the money. The people at the corporate office aren't getting the money. It's strictly for Landry's employees of all of our different concepts, and my people deserved to be treated just as good as everybody else." Landry's has reopened more than 200 of its restaurants and brought back about 15,000 of the employees it laid off, but those restaurants are running a significant loss, Fertitta said. "It's great to be open, it's great to bring some employees back to work, but we're far from profitable. So right now we're just churning dollars and hoping it gets better," Fertitta said. In this March 9 photo, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, speaks during a news conference. Read more LONDON Health experts say U.S. President Donald Trumps increasing attacks on the World Health Organization for its handling of the coronavirus demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of the U.N. agencys role and could ultimately serve to weaken global health. In a letter to the WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump wrote that the WHO's repeated missteps in its response to the pandemic have proven very costly for the world. On Monday, Trump threatened to permanently cut U.S. funding to the WHO unless the agency commits to substantive improvements in the next 30 days. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving Americas interests, he wrote. The U.S. is the WHO's biggest donor, providing about $450 million a year. Devi Sridhar, a professor of global health at the University of Edinburgh, said the letter was likely written for Trump's political base and meant to deflect blame for the virus' devastating impact in the U.S., which has by far the most infections and virus deaths in the world. China and the U.S. are fighting it out like divorced parents while (the) WHO is the child caught in the middle, trying not to pick sides, she said. President Trump doesnt understand what the WHO can and cannot do," she said, explaining that it sets international standards and is driven by its member countries. If he thinks they need more power, then member states should agree and delegate it more. In Brussels, the European Union threw its weight behind the WHO, urging all countries to support it in the wake of Trump's continued attacks. This is the time for solidarity," said European Commission spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson. "It is not the time for finger pointing or undermining multilateral cooperation. Michael Head, a senior research fellow at the University of Southampton, said much of what Trump was demanding was beyond the WHO's intended scope. The WHO have limited powers, in terms of what they can demand of countries where outbreaks are taking place, Head said. They provide expert guidance and not enforcement by law. Head noted that there are clear gaps in governance elsewhere that have allowed COVID-19 to spread notably in the U.S., which has seen 1.5 million infections and over 90,000 deaths linked to COVID-19. Trump has repeatedly accused the WHO of being unduly influenced by China, and wrote that the agency has been curiously insistent on praising the country's alleged transparency. The WHO acknowledged receipt of Trump's missive and said it was considering the contents of the letter, according to a statement. The agency has previously noted that it declared a global health emergency on Jan. 30, when there were fewer than 100 cases of coronavirus outside of China. When that declaration was made, WHO chief Tedros said China was setting a new standard for outbreak response. He said the world owed China gratitude for the way it bought other nations time to plan, with the extraordinary measures it was taking to contain the virus. Trump's letter also cited credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from the Lancet medical journal." On Tuesday, Lancet editor Dr. Richard Horton tweeted that the reference was inaccurate, noting it published the first reports of the disease only in January. The allegations levelled against (the) WHO in President Trumps letter are serious and damaging to efforts to strengthen international cooperation to control this pandemic, the journal said. ___ Lorne Cook in Brussels and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report. A North Carolina officer was fired and is under criminal investigation after he allegedly gathered a group of people and tried to break into a teen's home while searching for a missing person, prosecutors said. New Hanover & Pender County District Attorney Ben David charged Jordan Kita, a former deputy with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office, with "forcible trespass, misdemeanor breaking and entering, and willful failure to discharge duties," for the incident that took place on May 3, David's office said. Monica Shepard told reporters that her son Dameon answered loud knocks to the door of their Pender County home and were allegedly confronted by Kita and other men, who were armed. Shepard and her son are both black; Kita and the group that confronted them are white. PHOTO: In this scene taken from video, police cars are shown outside the Shepard home on the night of the incident. (WWAY) Kita, who was off-duty but allegedly had his weapon and uniform, said they were looking for a missing girl and came to the address looking for a suspect with a different name, according to the mother and son. Dameon Shepard said he was confused since there was a sign on the lawn that announced his graduation from Laney High School with his name on it. MORE: Georgia attorney general calls for DOJ investigation into Ahmaud Arbery case "I'm just like, 'My name is Dameon. My name is Dameon. I go to Laney High School. I graduated. My sign's on the lawn," the teen told ABC affiliate WWAY. Monica Shepard said she tried to step in and told Kita he had to leave. The officer allegedly said, "Well, I'm just going to step inside and close the door and talk to you guys," and put his foot in the door, according to Shepard. PHOTO: In this screen grab taken from a video, Dameon Shepard and his mother, Monica Shephard are shown. (WWAY) The officer and the crowd eventually left after they realized they had the wrong address, and the unidentified girl was found safe, according to the DA's office. The New Hanover County Sheriff fired Kita on Friday while the investigation continues. Austin Wood, who was in the crowd, was charged with "going armed to the terror of the public," DA David said. Story continues "Please remain calm and know that committed professionals will see that justice is done in a courtroom," he said at a news conference. Attorney information for Kita and Wood weren't immediately available. MORE: Investigation of Ahmaud Arbery's death faces new scrutiny David said more arrests were pending and asked members of the public to provide more details about the incident. He could not give more information on the officer's motivation or actions but did say there appears to be a "familial relation" between Kita and the missing girl. "One thing we absolutely make certain of is that anyone who's violating the law is treated the same," David said. PHOTO: In this Thursday, May 7, 2020, photo, provided by the Port City Daily, high school senior Dameon Shepard, right, his mother, Monica Shepard, and their attorney Jim Lea, left, pose for a photo at the Shepard's home in the Rocky Point, N.C. (Mark Darrough/Port City Daily via AP) Monica Shepard told WWAY she's thankful that the incident didn't end violently. She is mulling civil action against the officer, according to her attorney, James W. Lea. Officer fired, under investigation after attempting to force way inside house while off duty: Cops originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Major US carrier Delta Air Lines will add flights to its service in a bid to keep planes no more than 60% full in July and maintain social distancing as demand for travel begins to climb. The move is part of a long-term bet from CEO Ed Bastian as the travel industry starts its recovery from a decimated demand for flying amid the coronavirus pandemic, sources said. Adding more flights that demand would usually justify means passengers will be spread more thinly throughout the planes, the sources said, allowing for social distancing measures to be implemented. Bastian highlighted to investors last month that passengers' perceptions of safety will be vital in igniting more routine travel. The airline announced earlier that it was resuming some flights next month - despite numerous ongoing requests to the US government to suspend flights at certain airports Delta has already publicly said that it will limit first class seating capacity at 50 per cent and main cabin at 60 per cent throughout June. The airline announced earlier that it was resuming some flights next month - despite numerous ongoing requests to the US government to suspend flights at certain airports. 'We announced a policy on seating capacity through June 30. Nothing has been decided beyond that but we are continuing to monitor the situation and make adjustments as necessary,' Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter said. Bastian last month highlighted to investors that passenger perceptions of safety will be instrumental in reviving more routine travel and that they will be willing to pay a premium for comfort. Social distancing on airplanes has become a topic of debate as airlines look to revive passenger numbers while ensuring safety for both travellers and workers. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian has previously said on an investor call that fewer airplanes in the skies could be an 'opportunity for us to focus more on a more premium experience.' The US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week urged airlines to maintain at least one seat between all passengers and cap seating at 67 per cent of capacity on narrow-body airplanes. But the global industry's main group the International Air Transport Association said airlines will not be able to make a profit if they limit airplanes to two-thirds of their normal capacity, unless they drastically increased airfares. The IATA has previously estimated that airlines globally will lose at least $314 billion because of the outbreak. US airlines have also intensified cabin cleaning protocols, in many cases using electrostatic cleaning and fogging procedures. They have also endorsed temperature screenings by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), though this has yet to be implemented. While major U.S. airlines' middle seat policies differ, all require passengers to wear facial coverings and all have slashed flying schedules by as much as 90 per cent in an effort to stem a cash bleed amid withering demand. Delta, which does not expect air travel to recover for two or three years, has said it aims to halve its daily cash burn to $50 million in June Still, Bastian said on an investor call that fewer airplanes in the skies could be an 'opportunity for us to focus more on a more premium experience.' Industrywide, US airline load factors - which are used to assess how travel providers fill seats - have recently been about a third. Some airlines have reported load factors in range of 40 per cent, as passenger traffic inches off historic lows, but is still down about 90 per cent from 2019 levels. Adding more flights could bring in more revenues but also costs. Delta, which does not expect air travel to recover for two or three years, has said it aims to halve its daily cash burn to $50 million in June. Specific details could still change, sources said, citing the uncertain timing of a recovery from the coronavirus crisis that has decimated air travel demand. The news comes following last month's request from major US airlines, including Delta, to the US Transportation Department, requesting permission to halt flights amid the pandemic. Delta, a legacy carrier in the US, asked to suspend flights to nine airports that would include Lansing, Flint and Grand Rapids in Michigan, Worcester in Massachusetts, Hilton Head in South Carolina, Pocatello in Idaho, Brunswick in Georgia, and Melbourne in Florida. In mid-April the Trump administration reached an agreement with major airlines - including Delta - over the terms of a $25 billion bailout Delta said that between April 1-April 22, between one and 14 passengers flew daily on the airline's planes each way from those eight airports. The airline argued passengers could use other nearby airports. In its request Delta said it wanted to minimize the number of employees who could be exposed to the virus through the suspensions, Bloomberg reported. Officials have not yet ruled on the request. The airline normally operates more than 5,400 flights daily to 325 destinations in 52 countries. In mid-April the Trump administration reached an agreement with major airlines - including Delta - over the terms of a $25 billion bailout to support the industry, the New York Times reported. Further details on the bailout have yet to be released. At the time Trump said: 'This agreement will fully support airline industry workers, preserve the vital role airlines play in our economy and protect taxpayers. 'Our airlines now are in good shape and they will get over a very tough period of time that was not caused by them.' Other airlines that had request a suspension in flights include JetBlue, which requested permission to halt flights to 16 US airports. Last month the regional Trans States Airlines ceased all operations on April 1, months earlier than its planned closure at the end of 2020. In a memo to staff the company CEO said the early closure was due to the 'unforeseen impact of the coronavirus'. Compass Airlines, another regional carrier, also collapsed earlier this month. Visa Inc. Chief Executive Officer Al Kelly said he expects a majority of the firms employees will continue working remotely through the end of the year. The San Francisco-based firm joined rival American Express Co. in making the prediction for its workforce of 20,000 people on Tuesday. Visa, the worlds largest payments network, owns or leases 131 offices in 76 countries, according to regulatory filings. It simply seems wrong for Visa employees to be crowding transit systems and roads when we have the flexibility to both continue full business continuity while working from home, Kelly said in a post on LinkedIn. Those who have to get to their place of work to receive a paycheck should have priority use of socially distanced transit. Companies have begun crafting plans for returning workers to offices, which include processes for additional cleaning and managing sites where employees might congregate, such as elevators or entrances. Kelly said on Tuesday Visa will bring employees back on a site-by-site basis in stages. The European Union (EU) foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has congratulated Israel on the formation of a new government, but warned that the EU would not support the annexation of any occupied Palestinian territory. Israels new government was sworn in on Sunday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing that the time had come to annex West Bank settlements pending U.S. approval. Mr Netanyahu will head the unity government with former rival Benny Gantz, to serve as alternate prime minister ending a nearly 18-month political crisis and stalemate. The Mideast plan presented by U.S. President Donald Trump in January calls for some 30 per cent of the occupied West Bank to become part of Israel under any future peace deal with the Palestinians. That plan has been rejected by Palestinians out of fear it will recognise Israeli claims to parts of the West Bank that they want for a future state. The time has come to extend the Israeli law over (Israels) settlements (in the occupied West Bank) and to start a new chapter in the history of Zionism, Mr Netanyahu said after the government was sworn in. Mr Borrell, in a statement released on Monday, said the EU strongly urges Israel to refrain from any unilateral decision that would lead to the annexation, which would be contrary to international law. Mr Borrell said the EU would not recognise any changes to the 1967 borders an armistice agreement that served as Israels de facto borders between 1949 and 1967 unless agreed by Israelis and Palestinians. The two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the future capital for both states, is the only way to ensure sustainable peace and stability in the region, Mr Borrell said. (dpa/NAN) Police werent about to be out-witted or out-run this time as a prolific burglary suspect struck again. And in the end, the hot-pursuing Philadelphia police got their man. Much of it unfolded on TV screens, as 6ABC in Philly scrambled its news chopper into the air as the police pursuit of the Honda-driving serial burglary suspect played out all over the City of Brotherly Love. #Breaking: Driver wanted in string of burglaries according to police @6abc https://t.co/UYCMSyd0md Sharrie Williams (@WilliamsSharrie) May 19, 2020 Here are the highlights from 6ABC and its reporters: For several weeks, Philly police have been searching for the 48-year-old man they brand as a "career criminal" wanted in numerous crimes, including a series of commercial burglaries around the Philadelphia region. This individual committed many, many commercial burglaries. He has a history of crashing into police vehicles in his attempt to get away," Chief Inspector Scott Small with the Philadelphia Police Department told 6ABC. The suspect was spotted in Philadelphia on Sunday, but was able to get away, police said. But police were ready when the same suspect, who wasnt publicly identified in initial media reports, struck again Monday night. From 6ABC: Police spotted the man again Monday night around 10 p.m. near Abington Township, Montgomery County, where he crashed into vehicles while trying to get away from police. Officers said they decided to follow him from above using their own helicopter. Investigators said the suspect has been using the same white Honda to commit crimes. TV viewers were soon seeing the Honda on their screens as 6ABCs Chopper 6 was also overhead as police made multiple attempts to bring the man into custody. More from 6ABC: The suspect led officers into Philadelphias West Oak Lane section through Fairmount Park and into Germantown. Chopper 6 captured the moment the suspect attempted to ram officers with his vehicle near Rising Sun Avenue in the city's Burholme section. The man was able to flee his car through the passenger side, but an officer was able to tackle him to the ground after a brief foot chase. SUSPECT ARRESTED: Watch the moment Philadelphia officers arrest suspect after high-speed chasehttps://t.co/sviA83QsyB pic.twitter.com/eutHgIj4gq Action News on 6abc (@6abc) May 19, 2020 Police got their man but initially they did not release his name to the public. The suspect was also wanted in Montgomery County. Philly officers told 6ABC the man will be held by Northeast detectives and then will likely be taken to Abington Township where there are warrants for his arrest. The other jurisdiction police departments had numerous arrest warrants for this individual as well a search warrant for the vehicle because he continually used the same vehicle in the commission of these burglaries, Chief Inspector Small told 6ABC. READ MORE: Suspect fleeing Pa. police goes missing after plunging into river Pair of Sheetz bandits wear carved-out watermelons as face masks: cops 10-year-old Pa. boy falls into river while playing with older children; search is fruitless so far Person of interest in Pa. womans Mothers Day shooting arrested in 2nd killing: reports Accused DUI driver faces homicide charges in unborn babys death in violent Pa. crash Injured Appalachian Trail hiker triggers hours-long rescue in PA Counterfeit and potentially harmful Seresto flea collars for pets seized in Pa. Armed suspect sought in shooting, killing of 16-year-old Pa. boy Burn the demon out of him: Pa. man accused of trying to light 4-year-old boy on fire 2 Pagans Motorcycle Club members guilty in rivals brutal beating slapped with whopping sentence Dead body found at Pa. country club Accused rapist released from prison due to COVID-19 meets fiery end after standoff with Pa. SWAT Over the past week, the US Supreme Court and the Texas Supreme Court have issued a series of antidemocratic decisions that place countless lives at risk and increase the hardships faced by workers in the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the US Supreme Court declined to reinstate an order requiring Texas prisons to provide proper safeguards against the coronavirus. Two prisoners, Laddy Valentine, 69, and Richard King, 73, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of inmates against a geriatric prison in Grimes County, Texas. Valentine and King argued that the prisons lack of safeguards violated the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment. The prison, Wallace Pack Unit, holds over 1,200 inmates, 827 of whom are over 65. Leonard Clerkly, an inmate at the prison, died last month of complications from COVID-19. Since then, other prisoners have tested positive for the virus. A district court had ruled in favor of the prisoners and ordered the prison to implement multiple safety measures, including access to hand soap and hand sanitizer in public areas. Additionally, the prison was required to provide a detailed plan to test all inmates. The court also mandated cleaning and disinfecting protocols and ordered the prison to educate inmates on the pandemic. In issuing the decision last month, District Judge Keith P. Ellison said, The government has a constitutional duty to protect those it detains from conditions of confinement that create a substantial risk of serious harm. A week later, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans, put Ellisons order on hold pending an appeal. A three-judge panel argued that the district courts requirements went further than the recommended guidelines issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While the panel admitted that COVID-19 poses a risk of serious or fatal harm, it asserted that many of the protective measures already taken by the prison already matched the district courts order. Valentine and King asked the US Supreme Court to reinstate the district court order, but the justices denied the request. In court briefs, Texas argued that its Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) had worked diligently to protect prisoners from the pandemic. Much of the relief plaintiffs sought involved safety measures already in place, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton told the Supreme Court. He added, Plaintiffs have not shown any irreparable harm because there is no evidence that TDCJs COVID-19 measures are inadequate, nor is there any evidence that the district courts laundry list of commands will protect them any better than what Defendants are already doing. None of the liberal justices on the Supreme Court dissented from the decision. Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that they supported the courts decision but held reservations on certain disturbing details of the case. In another attack on democratic rights, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday to place a hold on an expansion of voting by mail-in ballots during the pandemic. The court blocked a lower courts decision allowing voters without immunity to the coronavirus to qualify for absentee ballots by claiming a disability. Efforts to curb mail-in voting, spearheaded by the Trump administration and the Republican Party, are justified with false claims that mail ballot fraud is rampant. Attorney General Paxton asked the court to issue a hold after a state appeals court upheld a ruling from state District Judge Tim Sulak, who argued that susceptibility to COVID-19 qualified as a disability under Texass election code. Voters would therefore have a legally valid reason to request an absentee ballot. States across the US have tried to implement more mail-in voting in lieu of in-person voting over concerns of spreading the coronavirus during a major election year. In a statement after the Texas Supreme Courts ruling, Paxton said the state legislature set strict requirements on mail-in voting and officials had to follow current eligibility rules. Paxton stated that the potential to catch the virus while voting in person does not meet Texass definition of a disability, defined as a sickness or physical condition that prevents voting in person without the risk of injuring the voters health. The state Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the case but stayed the orders of the lower courts pending an appeal. It set oral arguments in the case for Wednesday. Its action follows the ruling last month by the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturning an order by the governor delaying a scheduled primary election. The court ordered the election to proceed as scheduled. Since the election, the rate of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Wisconsin has increased significantly. Last Friday, the state registered 502 new cases, the highest one-day total since the outbreak started. Also on Friday, the Texas Supreme Court removed emergency protections against evictions and debt collections. In March, the court issued a hold on evictions as millions of Texas workers lost their jobs. In a seven-week span covering March and April, 1,803,174 Texans applied for unemployment benefits, more than in all of 2019. However, the courts new order allows eviction proceedings to resume in courts starting Tuesday. Eviction warnings and notices will be allowed to be posted on May 26. Chief Justice Nathan Hecht said the changes were part of the effort to reopen the states economy. The pandemic hit like a tornado, and we thought a statewide standstill would allow landlords and tenants to stop and take a breath, and maybe it would tone down fear for a little while, Hecht said. But the states trying to reopen, and we are all going to have to deal fully with the hard issues that we face. These issues are hard on everyonetenants, landlords, society, everyone. Under the ruling, restrictions on evictions set in place by the CARES Act remain in place. The law blocked evictions for tenants who receive federal rent assistance. Only about one third of Texas tenants fall under this category, meaning countless families could be made homeless. His lawyer had announced in March 2019 that he was seeking more than 68 million euros in compensation and damages, arguing that Jean-Pierre Bembas p roperty, including seven planes and three villas in Portugal, had simply been left to rot while he was behind bars in The Hague, where the court is sitting. Jean-Pierre Bemba spent nearly a decade in prison before he was acquitted. The International Criminal Court (ICC) decided on May 18 to reject the application of the former Congolese vice-president, who was acquitted in 2018 of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The judges found that Jean-Pierre Bemba did not establish that he suffered a serious and manifest miscarriage of justice and therefore refused to award him compensation, the ICC said in a statement. The former warlord was acquitted by the court to everyones surprise in June 2018 of charges of murder, rape and looting committed in the Central African Republic by his militia between October 2002 and March 2003, for which he had been sentenced at first instance to 18 years in prison. As of 12 p.m. May 19, 2020, the Pa. Department of Health reports that there are 63,666 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. There are at least 4,624 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 194 positive cases and 2,256 negative results with 5 deaths. Allegheny County 1,658 positive cases and 23,485 negative results with 145 deaths. Armstrong County 58 positive cases and 997 negative results with 2 deaths. Beaver County 534 positive cases and 2,809 negative results with 70 deaths. Bedford County 32 positive cases and 502 negative results with 2 deaths. Berks County 3,735 positive cases and 9,058 negative results with 262 deaths. Blair County 38 positive cases and 1,969 negative results with 1 death. Bradford County 41 positive cases and 1,120 negative results with 3 deaths. Bucks County 4,573 positive cases and 14,730 negative results with 426 deaths. Butler County 206 positive cases and 3,117 negative results with 12 deaths. Cambria County 54 positive cases and 2,627 negative results with 2 deaths. Cameron County 2 positive cases and 90 negative results. Carbon County 214 positive cases and 1,759 negative results with 22 deaths. Centre County 132 positive cases and 1,529 negative results with 5 deaths. Chester County 2,199 positive cases and 8,964 negative results with 230 deaths. Clarion County 24 positive cases and 590 negative results with 2 deaths. Clearfield County 33 positive cases and 820 negative results. Clinton County 45 positive cases and 444 negative results. Columbia County 337 positive cases and 1,072 negative results with 29 deaths. Crawford County 21 positive cases and 877 negative results. Cumberland County 540 positive cases and 3,266 negative results with 42 deaths. Dauphin County 989 positive cases and 7,977 negative results with 50 deaths. Delaware County 5,754 positive cases and 15,445 negative results with 451 deaths. Elk County 6 positive cases and 242 negative results. Erie County 147 positive cases and 3,278 negative results with 4 deaths. Fayette County 92 positive cases and 2,619 negative results with 4 deaths. Forest County 7 positive cases and 58 negative results. Franklin County 644 positive cases and 4,184 negative results with 27 deaths. Fulton County 12 positive cases and 152 negative results with 1 death. Greene County 27 positive cases and 621 negative results. Huntingdon County 214 positive cases and 652 negative results. Indiana County 86 positive cases and 1,032 negative results with 4 deaths. Jefferson County 7 positive cases and 423 negative results. Juniata County 94 positive cases and 276 negative results with 2 deaths. Lackawanna County 1,374 positive cases and 4,497 negative results with 127 deaths. Lancaster County 2,593 positive cases and 12,256 negative results with 259 deaths. Lawrence County 73 positive cases and 1,025 negative results with 8 deaths. Lebanon County 880 positive cases and 3,746 negative results with 24 deaths. Lehigh County 3,513 positive cases and 11,215 negative results with 182 deaths. Luzerne County 2,554 positive cases and 8,400 negative results with 124 deaths. Lycoming County 149 positive cases and 1,745 negative results with 9 deaths. McKean County 11 positive cases and 389 negative results with 1 death. Mercer County 96 positive cases and 1,187 negative results with 4 deaths. Mifflin County 57 positive cases and 1,013 negative results with 1 death. Monroe County 1,267 positive cases and 4,363 negative results with 89 deaths. Montgomery County 6,063 positive cases and 26,151 negative results with 575 deaths. Montour County 50 positive cases and 3,076 negative results. Northampton County 2,758 positive cases and 10,286 negative results with 176 deaths. Northumberland County 145 positive cases and 1,093 negative results with 2 deaths. Perry County 41 positive cases and 521 negative results with 1 death. Philadelphia County 16,487 positive cases and 44,335 negative results with 1109 deaths. Pike County 469 positive cases and 1,718 negative results with 17 deaths. Potter County 4 positive cases and 119 negative results. Schuylkill County 534 positive cases and 3,347 negative results with 21 deaths. Snyder County 33 positive cases and 318 negative results with 1 death. Somerset County 36 positive cases and 1,287 negative results. Sullivan County 2 positive cases and 73 negative results. Susquehanna County 85 positive cases and 534 negative results with 15 deaths. Tioga County 16 positive cases and 431 negative results with 2 deaths. Union County 50 positive cases and 812 negative results with 1 death. Venango County 8 positive cases and 377 negative results. Warren County 2 positive cases and 269 negative results. Washington County 130 positive cases and 3,265 negative results with 5 deaths. Wayne County 110 positive cases and 777 negative results with 7 deaths. Westmoreland County 431 positive cases and 7,434 negative results with 38 deaths. Wyoming County 30 positive cases and 346 negative results with 5 deaths. York County 866 positive cases and 10,589 negative results with 18 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: Text PennLive to 717-745-7532 to sign up to have breaking news and essential updates about the coronavirus delivered right to your mobile device. Data and messaging rates may apply. -- Follow Ed Sutelan on Twitter, @EdwardSutelan Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. The Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to review Covid-19 situation on June 3 and submit a report the next day. A final decision on holding the remaining Class X exams will be taken on the basis of the report. A division bench of Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice K Lakshman also suggested that the government take all precautions for the safety of the students and not to conduct the examinations if serious situation prevails at that time. The division bench also asked the government to ensure a gap of two days between the two papers and set up a helpline for the students appearing in the exams. The direction came on a petition filed by the state government, seeking review of the interim orders passed by the court in March and the permission to conduct the exams in May as per the revised schedule. On March 20, the High Court had directed the state to postpone the Class X exams, scheduled for March 23 to April 6, in view of the Covid-19 outbreak. The interim order was passed on a public interest litigation by M. Bala Krishna, faculty at a private school. The state had conducted the exams for three papers of the first and second languages before March 22 as per the original timetable. The state Cabinet earlier this month decided to conduct the exams for remaining papers during May. It moved the high court, seeking permission for the same keeping in view the academic calendar and the interests of 5.50 lakh students. State Advocate General B S Prasad briefed the court on the arrangements proposed to be made by the Education Department for the smooth conduct of the exams. The court was told that the number of exam centres will be increased from 2,530 to 4,535. This will help in accommodating 100-200 students in each exam centre against 200-240 earlier. The department, in its affidavit, assured that 5-6 feet distance will be maintained between two students and each exam centre will be sanitised every day. It also said that public transportation will be arranged with alternative seat occupancy in buses to enable the candidates to reach their respective exam centres. Hall ticket will be treated as travel pass to reach the centre. ALBANY Common Cause New York, a nonpartisan organization that lobbies for good government, is calling on New York legislators to give up half their salaries "for doing half their job" since they approved a budget in April amid the coronavirus pandemic and then largely shut down their session. "Why should New Yorkers pay lawmakers $110,000 in the middle of a budget deficit to do only half their jobs?" said Susan Lerner, executive director of New York's 68,000-member Common Cause. "Voters elect our representatives to legislate for six months out of the year and handle constituent services, not one or the other. If they are so intent on shirking their responsibilities and not resuming session remotely, then their paycheck should reflect that." The group noted that the New York City Council, operating in the nation's hardest-hit city from COVID-19 infections and deaths, have conducted 20 hearings and passed five bills using remote legislating. The state Legislature, despite have the ability to resume its legislative session using remote technology, has conducted two hearings in the past two months. For weeks, legislators declined to provide a firm timeline for resuming their session remotely, but a Senate source said Tuesday afternoon that the chamber will return to session on May 26 and 27 to take up coronavirus-related legislation, as first reported by Newsday. Spokespeople for Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie did not immediately respond to a request seeking the Assembly's plans. According to Common Cause, the Legislature is equipped to do its job remotely and that 10 years ago the Senate's technology systems were transformed to enable legislators to work remotely, including adding webmail systems and workflow management software applications. The call by Common Cause for lawmakers to resume their session was buttressed by numerous statements from members of the Senate and Assembly who agree it is time for their work to resume. But many of those lawmakers said their comments were added to the release by Common Cause without their knowledge, "to misrepresent our views without our permission or knowledge." "The truth is all our colleagues are working extremely hard to serve their constituents during this crisis and we have all been in constant contact with our Senate leadership and Senate President (Andrea) Stewart-Cousins has made it clear we will be coming back into session imminently," states a release issued by the Senate's Democratic Majority office on Tuesday afternoon. "We ask that Common Cause immediately remove our names from their misleading press release." The comments added to the release by Common Cause included the following: "In the wake of a public health crisis, our frontline workers aren't protected by their employers - many times by choice, sometimes by chance - and it's time we get back to work and pass laws that could protect and save thousands of lives. Who will protect these workers if our government won't?" said State Sen. Jessica Ramos, D-Queens. "There are a number of urgent bills that can help our communities, including my Healthy Terminals Act to provide access to affordable healthcare for our essential airport workers, but we cannot get any of them done until the legislature goes back into session," State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi said. "It is our job as public servants to fight for the rights and safety of the people we represent we must let the legislators legislate." "I stand with my like-minded colleagues in the Legislature and Common Cause New York in calling for session to proceed," State Sen. James Skoufis, D-Newburgh said. "If necessary, we have the authority to vote remotely; regardless, we must meet the fundamental obligations and expectations that we are elected to fulfill." None of the legislators who assailed Common Cause use of their names in the press release weighed in on the suggestion to take a pay cut. Richard Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, tweeted on Tuesday that the proposal was "cheap," saying, "I know for a fact that lawmakers are busy in their districts." Cayla Harris contributed reporting. Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, who are the most admired people in America? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Yves here. Wellie, this Administration and Congress are nothing if not consistent. Its not hard to have made sure to include Medicaid-funded facilities in coronavirus-related rescue programs, particularly given that workplaces heavy with lower-income essential workers like meatpacking plants have become disease clusters, endangering their communities. But thanks to this negligence, it appears large swathes of health infrastructure serving the poor will collapse. By Julie Rovner, Chief Washington Correspondent for Kaiser Health News. Previously, she was the health policy correspondent for NPR and also reported on health policy for National Journals Congress Daily and Congressional Quarterly. She is also the author of the critically praised reference book Health Care Politics and Policy A-Z, now in its third edition. Originally published at Kaiser Health News Casa de Salud, a nonprofit clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, provides primary medical care, opioid addiction services and non-Western therapies, including acupuncture and reiki, to a largely low-income population. And, like so many other health care providers that serve as a safety net, its revenue and its future are threatened by the COVID-19 epidemic. Ive been working for the past six weeks to figure out how to keep the doors open, said the clinics executive director, Dr. Anjali Taneja. Weve seen probably an 80% drop in patient care, which has completely impacted our bottom line. In March, Congress authorized $100 billion for health care providers, both to compensate them for the extra costs associated with caring for patients with COVID-19 and for the revenue thats not coming in from regular care. They have been required to stop providing most nonemergency services, and many patients are afraid to visit health care facilities. But more than half that money has been allocated by the Department of Health and Human Services, and the majority of it so far has gone to hospitals, doctors and other facilities that serve Medicare patients. Officials said at the time that was an efficient way to get the money beginning to move to many providers. That, however, leaves out a large swath of the health system infrastructure that serves the low-income Medicaid population and children. Casa de Salud, for example, accepts Medicaid but not Medicare. State Medicaid directors say that without immediate funding, many of the health facilities that serve Medicaid patients could close permanently. More than a month ago, bipartisan Medicaid chiefs wrote the federal governmentasking for immediate authority to make retainer payments not related to specific care for patients to keep their health providers in business. If we wait, core components of the Medicaid delivery system could fail during, or soon after, this pandemic, wrote the National Association of Medicaid Directors. So far, the Trump administration has not responded, although in early April it said it was working rapidly on additional targeted distributions for other providers, including those who predominately serve Medicaid patients. In an email, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said officials there will continue to work with states as they seek to ensure continued access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries through and beyond the public health emergency. CMS noted that states have several ways of boosting payments for Medicaid providers, but did not directly answer the question about the retainer payments that states are seeking the authority to make. Nor did it say when the funds would start to flow to Medicaid providers who do not also get funding from Medicare. The delay is frustrating Medicaid advocates. This needs to be addressed urgently, said Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown Universitys Center for Children and Families in Washington, D.C. We are concerned about the infrastructure and how quickly it could evaporate. In the administrations explanation of how it is distributing the relief funds, Medicaid providers are included in a catchall category at the very bottom of the list, under the heading additional allocations. To not see anything substantive coming from the federal level just adds insult to injury, said Todd Goodwin. He runs the John F. Murphy Homes in Auburn, Maine, which provides residential and day services to hundreds of children and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities. He said his organization which has already furloughed almost 300 workers and spent more than $200,000 on COVID-related expenses including purchases of essential equipment such as masks and protective equipment that will not be reimbursable has not been eligible for any of the various aid programs passed by Congress. It gets most of its funding from Medicaid and public school systems. The organization has tapped a line of credit to stay afloat. But if were not here providing these services, theres no Plan B, he said. Even providers who largely serve privately insured patients are facing financial distress. Dr. Sandy Chung is CEO of Trusted Doctors, which has about 50 physicians in 13 offices in the Northern Virginia suburbs around Washington, D.C. She said about 15% of its funding comes from Medicaid, but the drop off in private and Medicaid patients has left the group really struggling. Weve had to furlough staff, had to curtail hours, and we may have to close some locations, she said. Of special concern are children because Medicaid covers nearly 40% of them across the county. Chung, who also heads the Virginia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said that vaccination rates are off 30% for infants and 75% for adolescents, putting them and others at risk for preventable illnesses. The biggest rub, she added, is that with the economy in free fall, more people will qualify for Medicaid coverage in the coming weeks and months. But if you dont have providers around anymore, then you will have a significant mismatch, she said. Back in Albuquerque, Taneja is working to find whatever sources of funding she can to keep the clinic open. She secured a federal loan to help cover her payroll for a couple of months, but worries what will happen after that. It would kill me if weve survived 15 years in this health care system, just to not make it through COVID, she said. KHN senior correspondent Phil Galewitz contributed to this story. Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec) is conditionally approved in Europe for the treatment of patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and a clinical diagnosis of SMA Type 1; or SMA patients with up to three copies of the SMN2 gene Zolgensma has demonstrated significant and clinically meaningful therapeutic benefit in pre-symptomatic and symptomatic SMA, including prolonged event-free survival and achievement of motor milestones unseen in natural history of the disease and to date, sustained for 5 years post-dosing Immediate access to Zolgensma, aligned to the label, is available in France through the ATU framework and expected shortly in Germany AveXis in discussions with EU governments and reimbursement agencies to agree on terms of innovative "Day One" access program to enable rapid access in all EU countries given urgent need to treat SMA Basel, May 19, 2020- AveXis, a Novartis company, today announced the European Commission (EC) granted conditional approval for Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec) for the treatment of patients with 5q spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with a bi-allelic mutation in the SMN1 gene and a clinical diagnosis of SMA Type 1; or for patients with 5q SMA with a bi-allelic mutation in the SMN1 gene and up to three copies of the SMN2 gene. The approval covers babies and young children with SMA up to 21 kg according to the approved dosing guidance. In Europe each year, approximately 550-600 infants are born with SMA, a rare, genetic neuromuscular disease caused by a lack of a functional SMN1 gene, resulting in the rapid and irreversible loss of motor neurons, affecting muscle functions, including breathing, swallowing and basic movement.1,2,3 Zolgensma is a one-time gene therapy designed to address the genetic root cause of the disease by replacing the function of the missing or nonworking SMN1 gene. Administered during a single, intravenous (IV) infusion, Zolgensma delivers a new working copy of the SMN1 gene into a patient's cells, halting disease progression. According to Pediatric Neuromuscular Clinical Research (PNCR) natural history study of SMA, almost all patients under the age of five years of age will be under 21kg with some patients at 6, 7 or 8 weighing below 21 kg.4 AveXis is planning a product presentation that allows for treatment of patients weighing up to 21 kg and is working with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to finalize supply timelines. "The EC approval of Zolgensma is a significant milestone for the SMA community, and further underscores the substantial clinical value of the only gene therapy for SMA, bringing new hope to those impacted by this rare, but devastating disease." said Dave Lennon, president of AveXis. "Even under the current pandemic conditions, the urgent need to treat SMA has resulted in access pathways in France and Germany for Zolgensma, a potentially life-saving medicine delivered in a single dose. Additionally, we have met with more than 100 stakeholder organizations across Europe to discuss our "Day One" access program to enable rapid access with customizable options designed to work within local pricing and reimbursement frameworks." SMA is a significant burden to the healthcare system in Europe with cumulative estimated healthcare costs per child ranging between 2.5 to 4 million within the first 10 years alone.5 Zolgensma is a transformative and highly innovative one-time gene therapy for a devastating and progressive genetic disease and is consistently priced worldwide under a value-based framework, however final pricing and reimbursement decisions are determined at the local level. Designed to work within existing, local pricing and reimbursement frameworks, the "Day One" access program offers ministries of health and reimbursement bodies a variety of flexible options that can be implemented immediately to support swift access and broad reimbursement. The "Day One" access program ensures the cost of patients treated before national pricing and reimbursement agreements are in place align with the value-based prices negotiated following clinical and economic assessments. The program maintains the integrity of the local pricing and reimbursement frameworks with a variety of customizable options including: Retroactive rebates ensuring early access costs are aligned with negotiated prices following local clinical and economic assessment processes Deferred payments and installment options allowing reimbursement bodies to manage budget impact during the early access phase Outcomes-based rebates negotiated following clinical and economic assessments can be applied to patients treated during the early access period Robust training for treating institutions on administration and follow-up care Access to RESTORE, a global registry of patients who have been diagnosed with SMA that draws upon existing country registries Immediate access to Zolgensma, aligned to the label, is available in France through the ATU framework and expected shortly in Germany. "Today's approval brings tangible progress in harnessing the transformational power of gene therapy," said Dr. Eugenio Mercuri, Professor, Pediatric Neurology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy. "The approval of Zolgensma represents an important new way for physicians to treat patients with SMA. The results we have seen for Zolgensma to date from the STR1VE clinical trial show an impressive survival rate at the conclusion of the study, with the majority of patients achieving functional milestones, like sitting without support, that wouldn't have been reached in untreated infants." "SMA Europe receives with deep excitement the news on the approval by the European Commission, of a gene therapy for treating a part of our community," said Mencia de Lemus, President of SMA Europe. "Many hopes have been put into this much awaited therapy. It will be now be up to all stakeholders involved to ensure that treating doctors, together with parents, can take the best therapeutic option based on the benefit that each of them can provide to each individual. Gathering more data on how Zolgensma impacts in the lives of patients will be extremely important to better understand the potential of this new therapy on improving lives of those living with SMA." The EC approval is based on the completed Phase 3 STR1VE-US and Phase 1 START trials that evaluated the efficacy and safety of a one-time IV infusion of Zolgensma in symptomatic SMA Type 1 patients <6 months of age at dosing, who had one or two copies of the SMN2 backup gene, or two copies of the SMN2 backup gene, respectively. STR1VE-EU, a comparable Phase 3 study is ongoing. Zolgensma demonstrated prolonged event-free survival; rapid motor function improvement, often within one month of dosing; and, sustained milestone achievement, including the ability to sit without support, crawl and walk independently - milestones never achieved in untreated Type 1 patients.6 Additional supportive data included interim results from the ongoing SPR1NT trial, a Phase 3, open-label, single-arm study of a single, one-time IV infusion of Zolgensma in pre-symptomatic patients (<6 weeks at age of dosing) genetically defined by bi-allelic deletion of SMN1 with 2 or 3 copies of SMN2. These data demonstrate rapid, age appropriate major milestone gain, reinforcing the critical importance of early intervention in SMA patients.5 The most commonly observed side effects after treatment were elevated liver enzymes and vomiting. Acute serious liver injury and elevated aminotransferases can occur. Patients with pre-existing liver impairment may be at higher risk. Prior to infusion, physicians should assess liver function of all patients by clinical examination and laboratory testing. And, they should administer systemic corticosteroid to all patients before and after treatment, and then continue to monitor liver function for at least 3 months after infusion.6 There is limited experience in patients 2 years of age and older or with body weight above 13.5 kg. The safety and efficacy of Zolgensma in these patients have not been established. AveXis has an exclusive, worldwide license with Nationwide Children's Hospital to both the intravenous and intrathecal delivery of AAV9 gene therapy for the treatment of all types of SMA; has an exclusive, worldwide license from REGENXBIO for any recombinant AAV vector in its intellectual property portfolio for the in vivo gene therapy treatment of SMA in humans; an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with Genethon for in vivo delivery of AAV9 vector into the central nervous system for the treatment of SMA; and a non-exclusive, worldwide license agreement with AskBio for the use of its self-complementary DNA technology for the treatment of SMA. About Spinal Muscular Atrophy SMA is the leading genetic cause of infant death.2,3 If left untreated, SMA Type 1 leads to death or the need for permanent ventilation by the age of two in more than 90% of cases.7,8 SMA is a rare, genetic neuromuscular disease caused by a lack of a functional SMN1 gene, resulting in the progressive and irreversible loss of motor neurons, affecting muscle functions, including breathing, swallowing and basic movement.2 It is imperative to diagnose SMA and begin treatment, including proactive supportive care, as early as possible to halt irreversible motor neuron loss and disease progression.9 This is especially critical in SMA Type 1, where motor neuron degeneration starts before birth and escalates quickly. Loss of motor neurons cannot be reversed, so SMA patients with symptoms at the time of treatment will likely require some supportive respiratory, nutritional and/or musculoskeletal care to maximize functional abilities.10 More than 30% of patients with SMA Type 2 will die by age 25.11 About Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec) Zolgensma is designed to address the genetic root cause of SMA by providing a functional copy of the human SMN gene to halt disease progression through sustained SMN protein expression with a single, one-time IV infusion. Zolgensma represents the first approved therapeutic in the company's proprietary platform to treat rare, monogenic diseases using gene therapy.1 More than 500 patients have been treated with Zolgensma, including clinical trials, commercially and through the managed access program. AveXis is pursuing registration in close to three dozen countries with regulatory decisions anticipated in Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Argentina, South Korea and Brazil in late 2020 or early 2021.1 In May 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Zolgensma for the treatment of pediatric patients less than two years of age with SMA with bi-allelic mutations in the SMN1 gene.12 In the U.S. nearly all on-label patients have been approved by their payer for access to Zolgensma. On March 19, 2020, Zolgensma was approved by Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) for the treatment of SMA in patients under the age of two, including those who are pre-symptomatic at diagnosis.13 Today's EC approval applies to all 27 European Union member states, as well as Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and the United Kingdom. Disclaimer This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by words such as "potential," "can," "will," "plan," "may," "could," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "seek," "look forward," "believe," "committed," "investigational," "pipeline," "launch," or similar terms, or by express or implied discussions regarding potential marketing approvals, new indications or labeling for the investigational or approved products described in this press release, or regarding potential future revenues from such products. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on our current beliefs and expectations regarding future events, and are subject to significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. There can be no guarantee that the investigational or approved products described in this press release will be submitted or approved for sale or for any additional indications or labeling in any market, or at any particular time. Nor can there be any guarantee that such products will be commercially successful in the future. In particular, our expectations regarding such products could be affected by, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, including clinical trial results and additional analysis of existing clinical data; regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally; global trends toward health care cost containment, including government, payor and general public pricing and reimbursement pressures and requirements for increased pricing transparency; our ability to obtain or maintain proprietary intellectual property protection; the particular prescribing preferences of physicians and patients; general political, economic and business conditions, including the effects of and efforts to mitigate pandemic diseases such as COVID-19; safety, quality, data integrity or manufacturing issues; potential or actual data security and data privacy breaches, or disruptions of our information technology systems, and other risks and factors referred to in Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. ? About AveXis AveXis, a Novartis company, is the world's leading gene therapy company, redefining the possibilities for patients and families affected by life-threatening genetic diseases through our innovative gene therapy platform. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Bannockburn, IL, the goal of AveXis' cutting-edge science is to address the underlying, genetic root cause of diseases. AveXis pioneered foundational research, establishing AAV9 as an ideal vector for gene transfer in diseases affecting the central nervous system, laying the groundwork to build a best-in-class, transformational gene therapy pipeline. AveXis received its first U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in May 2019 for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). AveXis is also developing therapies for other genetic diseases, including Rett syndrome, a genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) SOD1 and Friedreich's ataxia. For additional information, please visit www.avexis.com. About Novartis Novartis is reimagining medicine to improve and extend people's lives. As a leading global medicines company, we use innovative science and digital technologies to create transformative treatments in areas of great medical need. In our quest to find new medicines, we consistently rank among the world's top companies investing in research and development. Novartis products reach nearly 800 million people globally and we are finding innovative ways to expand access to our latest treatments. About 109,000 people of more than 145 nationalities work at Novartis around the world. Find out more at https://www.novartis.com. Novartis is on Twitter. Sign up to follow @Novartis at https://twitter.com/novartisnews For Novartis multimedia content, please visit https://www.novartis.com/news/media-library For questions about the site or required registration, please contact media.relations@novartis.com. References 1. Data on file. 2. Anderton RS and Mastaglia FL. Expert Rev Neurother. 2015;15(8):895-908. 3. National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). Spinal Muscular Atrophy. http://rarediseases.org/rarediseases/spinal-muscular-atrophy/. Accessed October 9, 2018 4. PNCR, Pediatric Neuromuscular Clinical Research. PNCR Database: Weights (kg) by Patient Ages (Months) for SMA Types I, II, and III All Visits. Accessed March 13, 2020. WHO, World Health Organization. Growth reference 5-19 years. Weight-for-age (5-10 years). Accessed March 29, 20. 5. Estim. 10-year cumulative SMA costs for major EU markets based on available data including local healthcare resource utilizations studies, local databases and public information from previous SMA therapy economic assessments, as of February 21, 2020. 6. STR1VE-US, START and SPR1NT clinical data on file. 7. Finkel RS, et al. Neurology. 2014;83(9):810-817. 8. Verhaart IEC, et al. J Neurol. 2017;264(7):1465-1473. 9. Soler-Botija C, et al. Brain. 2002;125(7):1624-1634. 10. Wang CH, et al. J Child Neurol. 2007;22(8):1027-1049. 11. Darras BT, Finkel RS Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Chapter 25 - Natural History of Spinal Muscular Atrophy. October 2017. 12. U.S. FDA approval of Zolgensma: https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/zolgensma. 13. Japanese MHLW approval of Zolgensma: https://www.novartis.com/news/media-releases/novartis-receives-approval-from-japanese-ministry-health-labour-and-welfare-zolgensma-only-gene-therapy-patients-spinal-muscular-atrophy-sma. # # # Novartis Media Relations Central media line: +41 61 324 2200 E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com Anja von Treskow Novartis Global External Communications +41 61 79 392 8697(mobile) Anja.von_treskow@novartis.com Eric Althoff Novartis External Communications +1 646 438 4335 (mobile) eric.althoff@novartis.com Farah Bulsara Speer SVP, Corporate Communications, AveXis +1 312 543 2881 (mobile) fSpeer259@avexis.net Novartis Investor Relations Central investor relations line: +41 61 324 7944 E-mail: investor.relations@novartis.com Lisa Kudrow has spoken about the difficulty of introducing social distancing rules at her mothers funeral. The Friends star, whose mother died in February, said she requested that there be no hugging at the ceremony. I was the one who asked the rabbi to please let everyone know there was to be no hugging because we were all in an emergency room with her, Kudrow told The Hollywood Reporter. That was the hardest decision because we weren't there yet and we had only just heard the words social distancing. I'm a freak and all I could think that whole day was there has to be coronavirus here. She continued: Some people [understood] and most people were just looking at me like I was a monster when I'd take two steps back, put up my hands and say, Hi, thanks for coming. That was hard. That's the stuff that breaks my heart, too, when I see parents, especially in the health care field, who come home from work and are like, Hi, remember, we have to stay away from mommy. How is a three-year-old supposed to understand that? Kudrow, who is starring in Netflixs new satirical series Space Force, recently defended Friends amid criticism that the show has aged badly. She told The Sunday Times: This show thought it was very progressive. There was a guy whose wife discovered she was gay and pregnant, and they raised the child together? We had surrogacy too. It was, at the time, progressive. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has drawn attention to China's way of regulating the internet. Zuckerberg said that he was worried about other countries replicating the Chinese model of internet regulation. He spoke about values in the west being different from Chinese values. "Just to be blunt about it, I think there is a model coming out of countries like China that tend to have very different values than Western countries that are more democratic," CNBC quoted Zuckerberg as saying in a live-streamed discussion with EU official Thierry Breton. Zuckerberg further said that all countries should try and counter China's way of regulating the internet and follow a more democratic approach. Zuckerberg said that the best antidote to China's approach is having a framework that comes out of Western democratic countries. "I worry about that kind of model spreading to other countries," Zuckerberg said Monday of China's stance. "And I think that the best antidote to that is having a clear framework that comes out of Western democratic countries and that can become a standard around the world." Zuckerberg has been critical of Chinese policies in the past as well. He has criticised TikTok for not showing enough content on the Hong Kong protests that took place in 2019. Zuckerberg also said that cooperation between companies and governments is inevitable. He praised Brussels' 2018 overhaul of privacy laws. He claimed that the reforms have prompted Facebook to change its approach to data privacy around the world. Breton, who is the former CEO of France Telecom, now Orange and the European commissioner for internal market told Zuckerberg that the EU could further pile regulation on the tech giant with respect to things like market power. In other news, Facebook is buying GIF-making company, Giphy, for a reported price of $ 400 million. According to Facebook, 50 percent of all of Giphy's traffic comes from its apps, with half of that coming from Instagram alone, The Verge reported. Giphy will then fall under the umbrella of Instagram but for now, people will be able to use it as they are. Vishal Shah, Instagram's VP of product, in a blog post said, "People will still be able to upload GIFs; developers and API partners will continue to have the same access to Giphy's APIs; and Giphy's creative community will still be able to create great content." Facebook's competitors, Apple Inc. 's iMessage, Twitter, Signal, TikTok rely on Giphy. After the deal is done, Facebook could get hold of its competitors' data by getting access through GIF searches, a report by Bloomberg noted. TOKYO (AP) Asian shares rose Tuesday on optimism about a potential vaccine for the coronavirus after hopes for a U.S. economic recovery in the second half of the year sent Wall Street into a rebound. Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.9% in morning trading to 20,517.42. Australias S&P/ASX 200 jumped 2.0% to 5,569.20. South Koreas Kospi was up 1.8% to 1,972.73. Hong Kongs Hang Seng gained 1.8% to 24,362.80, while the Shanghai Composite edged up 0.5% to 2,889.42. Meanwhile, new coronavirus cases have been spiking from India to South Africa to Mexico in a clear indication that the pandemic is far from over, while Russia and Brazil now sit behind only the United States in the number of reported infections. The surges come as much of Asia, Europe and scores of U.S. states have been easing lockdowns to restart their economies as new infections wane. U.S. autoworkers, French teachers and Thai mall workers are among hundreds of thousands of employees back at work with new safety precautions. Live coronavirus tracker Coronavirus news in the U.S. Pelosi slams Trump for taking hydroxychloroquine, calls him morbidly obese (NBC News) Major reallocation shock from coronavirus will see 42% of lost jobs evaporate: Study (Yahoo) Powell, Mnuchin to face Senate grilling on U.S. coronavirus response (Reuters) Uber laying off 3,000 more workers as rides plunge 80% (CBS News) California opens up coronavirus funding for immigrants in state illegally, faces backlash (Fox News) Coronavirus news around the globe Employees of the Federal State Center for Special Risk Rescue Operations of Russia Emergency Situations disinfect a platform of Leningradsky railway station in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Russia has continued to see a steady rise of new infections, and new hot spots have emerged across the vast country of 147-million people that ranks the second in the world behind the United States in the number of coronavirus cases. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)AP France and Germany propose 500bn recovery fund (BBC) Air pollution is already spiking in China with the virus lockdown lifted (ABC News) New car registrations in Europe fall 76% in April as coronavirus lockdowns hit sales (CNBC) Latest local coronavirus news Read complete prior coronavirus coverage. Andrew Karrs story starts with his discovery of a child-sized boogie board in the garage of his grandparents summer house in Ocean City, N.J. Slick Lizard was printed on that red piece of foam, which somehow launched one of the most remarkable careers in the wild world of big-wave bodyboarding. A sport thats supposed to be dominated by sun-soaked, beach-bred athletes from California or Hawaii has been turned upside down by Karr, a 22-year-old from Ambler who grew up 75 miles from the ocean in a landlocked state better known for woods than water. People are always saying to me, Wait, where are you from? Karr said. I say Pennsylvania and they go, No way. You cant be. A former competitive swimmer at Germantown Academy, Karr over the last eight months has gone higher, dropped faster, and tunneled deeper into the seemingly breathing heart of a big wave than most followers of his sport believed possible for a bodyboarder. Last October, Karr likely became the first bodyboarder to ride in the barrel of a big wave at the famous Jaws break in Maui, Hawaii, a feat caught on video by a stunned safety-patrol driver on a jet ski. The most exciting moment of my life, Karr said of when he paddled into and caught a 30-foot wave at one of the most iconic surfing sites in the world. He rode inside that wall of water for five unforgettable seconds. Im pretty sure hes the first bodyboarder to accomplish that at Jaws," gaining a lot of international respect, renowned big-wave surfer Kurt Rist said in an email. When I saw the video, I couldnt believe it. I was just like, OMG, the kid did it.' In February, Karr was towed via jet ski by international big-wave surfing star Kai Lenny into the famous break at Nazare, Portugal, and rode a 60-foot wave, setting what is believed in the bodyboarding community to be a world record. He has put the bodyboarding world on notice, Lenny said in an email. Unlike surfers, bodyboarders ride waves prone on the board. Surfers stand on longer boards, which often have fins. Body boarders lay on their boards, which are shorter and lighter than surfboards, which allows the riders to more easily maneuver in the water but discourages many in the sport from trying to conquer big waves. The sport sometimes is referred to as boogie boarding, after the brand name for the first bodyboards that hit the market in the early 1970s. Theres nothing like riding big waves, said Karr. I love the fact that every part of your body and every part of your brain has to be 100% committed to it, he said. You feel so alert, so alive, even after you get out of the water. Karr is a philosophy major at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He took off the current school year to span the globe in pursuit of big waves. Hes a Southeastern Pennsylvania guy who spent his summers in Ocean City. He binge-watched videos of big-wave surfers Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama and grew obsessed with waves through high school, when he used to ditch class when powerful Noreaster storms created sizable swells at the Jersey Shore. I used to make my mom drive me, Karr said. Then when I could drive, I would cut out of school at lunch just to get there. Its a narrative that seems like it should be set in Hawaii or California, in some surfing community where the kids ride skateboards to the beach with surfboards balanced on their heads. But this was a suburban Philadelphia kid who was determined to take the big-wave world by storm. Andrew is the perfect example of, If you put your mind to it, you can do it, Rist said. Honestly, he could be one of the most positive human beings I know. Karrs parents, Kirsten and David Karr, said they still wrestle with the push and pull of emotions: pride in his bravery and accomplishments, concern over his brazen willingness to take risks. Its been really difficult at times, Kirsten Karr said. Added her husband: There have been times when weve been like, Oh my gosh, what is he doing? Even Rist, known for his ability to ride massive waves in Ireland and elsewhere, tried to talk Karr out of his plan to bodyboard on some of the worlds biggest swells. He told me, Kurt, Im going to bodyboard Mavericks [a famous California break], Jaws, and Nazare, Rist said. I said, Bro, its literally not possible to bodyboard those waves. I traveled the world. Ive surfed most of these big-wave spots and I never saw a bodyboarder in the lineup. Lenny, who lives in Maui, said the bodyboarder from Southeastern Pennsylvania has been embraced by the big-wave community in Hawaii as much for his demeanor as his derring-do. For a guy who wants to push the sport into the most dangerous realm, he is a gentle soul, always funny and lighthearted, Lenny said. That goes a long way. Karr has been driven to excel at the sport since finding that board in his grandparents garage. He trained for years, developing the ability to hold his breath for nearly five minutes and riding breaks in Puerto Escondido in Mexico, Tres Palmas in Puerto Rico, and other world-famous spots for surfers. Another secret to his success: uncanny poise under pressure. In heavy situations, he always kept calm, which is everything in big-wave surfing, Rist said. Karrs feats in Hawaii and Portugal have changed his life, moving him closer to his dream of making a living as a big-wave bodyboarder. He has a few small sponsorships, and Red Bull energy drinks helped underwrite his trip to Nazare in February. Karr shies away from the Association of Professional Bodyboard (APB) tour. Those competitions feature athletes with technical skills to perform twists, turns, and other tricks in the course of riding the wave. Karr thinks of himself as a bodyboarding version of a free surfer, chasing big waves rather than specializing in acrobatics on smaller swells. He thinks there might be more broad-based interest in that aspect of the sport and more endorsement opportunities. Still, no self-respecting, sun- and surf-worshiper would ever claim to be in the water for the money. For as long as I can remember, Ive been drawn to the ocean, Karr said. It speaks to my soul. By Laman Ismayilova A documentary "100 Years of Honorable Life" will be screened at Heritales International Heritage Film Festival in September. The 36-minute documentary tells the story of Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev (1823-1924), an Azerbaijani millionaire and philanthropist recognized for his invaluable contribution to the country's development. The film reflects on his relations with the Nobel brothers, who had rich oil fields in Baku, and friendship with another philanthropist and oil industrialist Musa Naghiyev. Shot by Jalaladdin Gasimov, the documentary is based on historical materials, found in the German film archives. Over the past years, Jalaladdin Gasimov has successfully shot numerous feature films and documentaries, including "The First Success of the Nobel Brothers", "Schollers Archive", "Execution Day", "Stalin`s Dark Past" , which are multiple winners of international film festivals . Born to a poor family of a shoemaker in Icherisheher, the old part of Baku, Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev had to work hard since childhood. He began as an apprentice of one bricklayer in Baku to support his family. Taghiyevs dedication and hard work ensured quick professional advancement and at the age of 18 he became a contractor. In 1873, along with his partners, Taghiyev rent a plot of land near the oil-booming town of Bibi-Heybat, a few kilometers to the southeast of Baku. They hired workers and started drilling for oil, but with no success. The partners gave up hope and decided to sell their shares. Taghiyev purchased them and became the sole owner of the land. He continued drilling and paid workers despite all financial difficulties. Finally, fortune smiled on him in 1877, when oil gushed out of the well with a mighty force. Oil gush instantly made him an oil baron and millionaire. One of the first things Taghiyev did after becoming wealthy was to surface the road between the city and his oilfield in Bibi-Heybat. He then extended the road on to the Bibi-Heybat mosque. Taghiyev invested in many important projects such as the first textile factory and fisheries. He sponsored the first Azerbaijan National Theater (1883), the first Muslim School for Girls (1896), the first Technical School (1911) and covered all the expenses for the construction of what would later become the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. He also helped to solve the water crisis in the city by helping to finance the Shollar water pipeline (1916). Baku's best-known philanthropist allocated 11,000 old roubles for the construction of the head office for the Muslim Benevolent Society in Saint Petersburg, 3,000 roubles for the education of Armenian orphans, 5,000 for the St. Nina's School for Girls in Baku, 10,000 roubles for the construction of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Baku, tens of thousands of roubles for the construction and repair of mosques and madrasas throughout Russia and Persia. Taghiyev also provided scholarships for many talented young people who strove for higher education in prestigious Russian and European universities. He built a number of schools and gave a lot of attention to mosques, since he considered them to be centers for enlightenment, culture and science. After Azerbaijan's "Sovietization" in 1920, the country's wealthy people suffered severe repressions from the Bolshevik government resulting in the emigration of many of them. Therefore, Taghiyev's house and his other possessions were confiscated. He was exiled to his summer house in Mardakan. Taghiyev's heart stopped beating on September 1, 1924. People remember Taghiyev not only for his great wealth, but for how he spent it. For his outstanding contributions, Taghiyev was twice awarded with the Order of Saint Stanislaus, as well as with a number of other orders and medals from many countries. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz A retired Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) man who was absconding after allegedly killing his wife, son and uncle, succumbed to his injuries sustained during an exchange of fire with police on Tuesday morning, a senior police officer said. The man who had taken voluntary retirement from the SSB had on Monday shot dead his wife at his residence in Hukan Pukhuri and then shot at his 20-year old son severely injuring him on the head when he was sleeping, he said. He then went to his maternal uncle's house at nearby Kumaranisiga on NH-37 and shot at his uncle seriously injuring him before he fled away, police said. Both his son and uncle were rushed to the Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) where they succumbed to their wounds. On a tip off about the man hiding in an abandoned building of the Fisheries Department, police cordoned off the area and asked him to surrender, Dibrugarh Superintendent of Police Sreejith T told PTI. "We negotiated with him for three hours asking him to give up, but he refused. Instead he started firing at the police from his licenced pistol that he had used to allegedly kill his three family members," said the SP who led the search operation along with Additional SP Padmanabh Baruah. The police retaliated at around 3 am, injuring the man. The accused was taken to the AMCH where he succumbed to his injuries, the SP said. Police said, the man was reported to be an alcoholic and used to indulge in gambling. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two young patients with a rare inflammatory syndrome linked to COVID-19 illness in children are being treated in a Cedar Rapids hospital, The Gazette learned Monday. UnityPoint Health-Cedar Rapids confirmed its providers are caring for the states first reported cases of multisystem inflammatory disorder in children and adolescents, but declined to offer more details on these patients due to privacy concerns. Dr. Caitlin Pedati, state epidemiologist and medical director of the state health department, confirmed during the governors daily news briefing that the Iowa Department of Public Health had received reports of two cases in Eastern Iowa on Friday afternoon. Both patients currently are in stable condition, Pedati said during the briefing on Monday. Were working with medical and local public health providers to gather more information, she said. In addition to making up a smaller proportion of those infected by COVID-19, most diagnosed children have not developed serious respiratory failure symptoms as has been observed in adults since the pandemic began. However, late last week federal public health officials alerted states of a new illness associated with COVID-19 among children. Also known as Pediatric Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, or PMIS, it is a rare, potentially deadly syndrome that has appeared in recent weeks among hundreds of children across the country who have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. UnityPoint Health-Cedar Rapids officials said the illness appears to be a post-viral inflammation of the blood vessels including the vessels in the heart. The condition can appear anywhere between a few days to a few weeks after COVID-19 infection. Severe cases may require admission to a pediatric hospital or intensive care unit for management of low blood pressure and other complications, officials stated. The new information around this syndrome is evolving daily, and we continue to follow the latest (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and Iowa Department of Public Health guidance regarding COVID-19 care, UnityPoint Health officials said in an emailed statement. The syndrome has been compared to toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease, another rare childhood inflammatory condition that presents with similar symptoms. These two syndromes appear similar in that they both seem to cause what we call post-infectious inflammation, meaning that several weeks after a likely infection, people might develop signs of inflammation throughout the body, said Pedati over video during the governors briefing. We do think this is a new condition distinct from Kawasaki disease, she added. According to a survey conducted by ABC News, health officials in 20 states and Washington, D.C., are investigating at least 200 confirmed or suspected cases of the syndrome in children thought to have been affected by COVID-19. In New York, at least three children have died and more than 100 cases are being monitored, the state health department said. Both the CDC and the World Health Organization issued news briefs about the syndrome on Friday, calling on federal, state and local public health agencies to collect data on the condition to help officials better understand its affects. On Monday, Pedati announced it was now mandatory for medical providers and local public health departments to report cases of this new syndrome to the state public health department. Like so many things with this response, this is an example of a place where we need to learn more, Pedati said. In order to help do that, (Department of Public Health) Director (Gerd) Clabaugh and myself have made this disease a mandatory reportable condition here in the state of Iowa. This allows us to receive these reports from clinicians and public health professionals and allow them to gather more information and better understand this condition and how we can manage it. Under this mandate, hospitals must report any potential cases to the state. In turn, that information goes back to the local health departments through the Iowa Disease Surveillance System for further investigation, said Dave Koch, director of Johnson County Public Health. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics stated Monday officials have not seen any patients with pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome at the UI Stead Family Childrens Hospital. Mercy Iowa City, part of the MercyOne system, and Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids also informed The Gazette they have not seen any cases among their patients. Its unclear how this condition will affect the return to school, but Pedati said public health officials will continue to collaborate with other entities as they gather more information and learn more about this rare condition. In the meantime, officials ask families and their children to continue practicing social distancing, frequent hand-washing and taking other steps to prevent an infection of COVID-19. According to UnityPoint Health-Cedar Rapids officials and other public health experts, symptoms of multisystem inflammatory disorder in children and adolescents include: Persistent fever Conjunctivitis, or pink eye Rash Enlarged lymph nodes Swollen hands or feet Abdominal pain without explanation Vomiting and/or diarrhea. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 3 Angry 1 As part of the second phase of the Vande Bharat Mission, as many as 169 stranded nationals will be arriving in Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar on Tuesday afternoon in a special repatriation flight of Air India. According to the Indian Embassy in Bangladesh, 167 passengers are students, while the rest two passengers are senior citizens. The flight took off on Tuesday morning. One of the students travelling in the flight thanked their principal and the Indian High Commission in Bangladesh for taking their responsibility and helping them during this time of crisis. The student also stated that authorities made sure all the passengers were doing fine and provided them with food. Read: Mumbai COVID-19 cases up by 1,185 to 21,152; death toll 757 'Vande Bharat' Mission In a major relief for Indians stranded abroad, the Centre had announced that their travel will be arranged via aircraft and naval ships in a phased manner. The first phase of the mission was set for 7 days starting from May 7 to rescue stranded Indians from over 11 countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Maldives, Singapore and the US. Read: Vande Bharat Mission: 1st evacuation flight from Bahrain lands in Cochin with 177 people In the second phase of the mission, the Indian government is bringing back over 32,000 stranded Indians from 31 countries from May 16 to 22. More countries have been added in the second phase including Finland, South Korea, Belgium, New Zealand, Netherlands, Kenya, Mauritius, Spain, Myanmar, Maldives, Egypt, and Sri Lanka. Further, in order to facilitate the return of stranded Indian nationals in Oman, the Indian government has decided to operate more special flights to Bangalore, Calicut, Delhi, Kannur, Kochi, and Gaya on May 20, 21, 22 and 23. Under the second phase, a total of 149 flights, including feeder flights, are expected to be operated. Read: First flight to Kolkata lands with 169 Indians from Dhaka under Vande Bharat Mission Read: Vande Bharat Mission: Over 13,000 Indians evacuated so far, says Hardeep Singh Puri (With ANI Inputs) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indefinitely extended its public health order on Tuesday, empowering border agents to quickly expel migrants who cross the border illegally. Why it matters: The order will be reviewed every 30 days. Border agents have already used the authority to expel more than 20,000 migrants, including asylum seekers and children, in less than 2 months, according to DHS data. The Queensland government is standing firm on its border closures brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, despite increasing calls to risk reopening the state to benefit the economy. Queensland on Tuesday recorded no new cases of COVID-19, with just 12 cases now active, four of them in hospital. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says health advice, not lobbying, will decide when the state's borders reopen. Credit:AAP The vast majority of the states cases have come from outside Queensland, with just 42 of the 1057 in total having no clear source of infection, and therefore considered to be acquired through community transmission. Despite that clear vector, the states LNP Opposition attacked the governments messaging on the border closures as "confusing". The Natrona County Library plans to reopen next week with new safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. When the library opens Tuesday, there will be new social distancing requirements, mandatory hand sanitizing, regular cleanings and outside pickup of books reserved online, according to a library announcement. Masks wont be required for patrons but will be mandatory for library staff. To allow for safe social distancing, the library will limit the number of patrons in the building at any given time. That might result in waits, the library said. However, people who know what books they want can place an online hold on them ahead of time. Patrons will be notified when the books are ready and can pick them up at a designated point on the side of the building. Items can be returned at the outside book drop on the first floor of the building. Every item thats returned will be subject to a 72-hour quarantine before being recirculated, which follows guidelines laid out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Library Association. Computers, printers, copiers, fax machines and reference services will not be available. The library will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The first two hours of the day will be reserved for vulnerable populations: older adults, pregnant women and immunocompromised people. The library said it reserves the right to bar admittance to anyone with COVID-19 symptoms. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. Regular in-person programs and events remain canceled until its safe for them to resume. The library said it hopes to begin programs again in the fall. To learn more about the librarys measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, visit natronacountylibrary.org/covid-19-updates. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. By May. 18, 2020 Director of Corporate Communications, Joe Bell, said that the mall itself will resume its normal hours of operation, but they suggest that customers check with each individual store in the mall beforehand. Many of the mall stores will also offer curbside pickup at designated mall entrances. Bell said the mall will be cleaned more intensely, and that new signs and physical barriers will encourage everyone to practice safe distancing in accordance with Kentucky Healthy at Work guidelines. The mall is also developing plans for a rent-free PPE marketplace, where locally-owned manufacturers can get PPE products to those that need them most. Anyone interested in this should contact Chris Connors at 330-743-7690, or by email at cconnors@cafarocompany.com. PADUCAH - Kentucky Oaks Mall will reopen on Wednesday, May 20 with enhanced COVID-19 safety measures. In the fall of 1960, the prestigious womens college Radcliffe, the sister school of Harvard, had announced an unprecedented fellowship program, one that targeted a ubiquitous and yet marginalized class of Americans: mothers. In the words of its founder, the Radcliffe president and microbiologist Mary Ingraham Bunting, the Radcliffe Institute for Independent Study was designed to combat the climate of unexpectation facing women in mid-century America. As she saw it, too many accomplished female undergraduates were giving up their dreams of becoming scholars or artists because they couldnt see how they could do research or write a book while also managing a family and keeping house. The new program proposed to get these intellectually displaced women back on track. Each woman admitted to the Institute as an associate scholar received a stipend of up to $3,000 (nearly $25,000 today) to spend as she pleased. She also received access to Harvards library resources and a private officethe proverbial room of her own in a little yellow house at 78 Mount Auburn Street, just a few blocks from Harvard Yard. A mother of four children, Bunting believed that most women wanted to find a way to combine professional interests and family life: her own happiest years had been those she spent raising her children on a small farm in Connecticut while commuting twice a week to do research in a lab at Yale. As a university administrator and education reformer, Bunting recognized the role that institutions played in supporting womens professional ambitions. She realized that you couldnt simply tell women to work hard and keep studying if the world didnt give them the tools and resources to do so. The Institutes founding had been announced on November 19, 1960. A New York Times article broadcast the news to the nation: Radcliffe Pioneers in Plan for Gifted Womens Study. Almost immediately, the phone in Buntings office rang nonstop. Within ten days, Buntings secretary had been inundated with over 160 letters of congratulation and inquiry. Once the application process was formalized, the Institute received nearly two hundred applications from women all across the country; other women interested in applying had been turned away because they didnt have the requisite qualifications. And in September 1961, the Institute offered an inaugural group of twenty-four remarkable womenincluding Anne Sexton and Maxine Kuminthe resources they needed to succeed: fellowship money, office space, and, most important, membership in a professional and creative female community, the likes of which had never been seen before in the countrys history. [ Return to the review of The Equivalents. ] Imagine being a gifted woman, like the women accepted to the Institute, at the dawn of the 1960s. Perhaps you had graduated from one of the Seven Sisters colleges, maybe taken what people called a little job in New York after school. Maybe you even worked for the Allied war effort while your husband served overseas. Not long after the bombs fell on Japan, though, your job prospects dried up. The GIs returned Stateside, and they wanted their jobs back, or they wanted spots in graduate school so they could get even better jobs. As the Soviets built their missiles and nuclear destruction loomed, you were told that the best way you could serve your country was to build a happy home. One night in spring 1992, long after midnight, I quietly left Trinity College's Museum Building after some late-night cramming. As usual, the adorable Prof Perry, head of the civil engineering department, had done his rounds. Like other academics, he lived on campus and would pop his head in to make sure the night owls were OK. I walked across the empty Front Square heading for my rooms. The moon shone brightly on the Dining Hall and Exam Hall, gleaming on the cobbles. I slowed down to appreciate the beautiful scene and thought: "I'll never be this happy again." And I never was, really. I knew two things about Trinity: I was privileged beyond belief, and I would extract joy from each hour I was lucky enough to be there. As half the country is watching 'Normal People', I've been repeatedly asked: "What was Trinity really like?" I was never at a pool party, but I once slept in a four-poster bed in Castletown House because friends actually lived there, so I wouldn't say they've over-egged it. 'Twas far from it I was reared. I arrived in Trinity, a rural student, the only one from my school, just turned 17. Raised with only RTE and the feeble library of my small school, I was an avid reader but had poor access to books outside the curriculum. It was a long way from Marianne and Connell swapping notes about 'The Golden Notebook'. Compensating for my lack of education and the BBC, I was ravenously curious and determined to catch up with the arrogant Jesuit boys. The features of the Trinity of 'Normal People' are sex, drinking, academics and Gareth's debating society antics. On the academics, the big difference between 'Normal People' tutorials and mine is size. They're in a large room with at least 20 students. My tutorials were small - six or seven - and often held in the lecturer's office. I was a middling student, but loved the hours having my brain awakened by professors Helga Robinson-Hammerstein on Machiavelli and Aidan Clarke on Cromwell. The intensity of the teaching was a gift. In the '90s, Trinity had about 8,000 students. Now there are 18,000, so I imagine the office tutorial days are over. But it was the debating societies on which my life centred. Connell meets Gareth in the Conversation Room of the University Philosophical Society. It and the College Historical Society dominate the Graduate's Memorial Building. We had the run of the place, supervised only by George, the porter whose job it was to stop us burning the place down. It had beautiful wood-panelled rooms around a stately debating chamber, in which we hosted international guests and took part in competitions governed by old-fashioned parliamentary style rules. People outside the societies marked us down as pretentious, but I never cared. After spending time with everyone from Jack Lynch to JK Galbraith, I thought anyone who shunned these opportunities was wasting their time in college. Besides, I'd watched 'Brideshead Revisited' on telly, and was living the dream. We had communists, Protestants, Brits, poseurs, scholars and us culchies on the make. Connell and Gareth's argument about whether a right-wing guest should speak directly reflected the time when Holocaust-denier David Irving was banned from one of our debates. We were probably more damaged people than normal people, but prancing about in black-tie gear drinking at post-debate receptions was the best fun. Which brings me to the drinking. We drank a lot. Today's students work harder and drink far less than us, and academics actually worry they are too dull. The scene where a sober Connell judges Marianne for being drunk was not normal by our standards. My poor parents picked up their 'Irish Times' once to find a picture of me on the front page drinking a yard of ale on the Dining Hall steps. The horror. Pre-mobile phones, my mother would ring The Stag's Head looking for me, because it was our second home. But here's the other thing about those days. The pub was owned by Cavan men, and the manager was from the same parish as my mother. Like Prof Perry checking up on us, we were safe. Half the time, they didn't even charge us for dinner in the evenings. "Yes, yes, Sarah, but what about the sex?" There were famous college couples, who no doubt were bonking all day and night, but there were very divergent attitudes to sex, even within groups, and paradoxical experiences. Needless to say, there were a lot of drunken encounters. Some friends revelled in the sexual freedom while others held back. That was a time when sexual regret did not amount to sexual assault. It would be naive to believe there were no rapes but I genuinely never heard about any. Bad experiences were just put down to experience. I didn't have a grand college romance like our 'Normal People' heroes and was determined to avoid regret. So I was often obliged to turn amorous boys out of my bed frustrated. But there was never any hassle. I had clarity of thought on my side and it was still a time when 'no' was a perfectly acceptable response. Getting pregnant was a horror that provided ample justification for declining sex. In today's hypersexual world, the default answer has switched from no to yes, which must make it harder for today's late starters. Growing up in my country cul-de-sac, I always wanted more and knew exactly where to find it: Trinity. It was as transformative as I'd hoped. I wouldn't say I found normal people there, but I found my tribe and never looked back. Gandhinagar, May 19 : Gujarat's total corona tally crossed the 12,000 mark on Tuesday as 395 fresh cases took the number to 12,141, while 25 more deaths took the death toll to 719. As the nation enters the fourth phase of lockdown, where many relaxations have been given so as to restore economic activity, the newfound freedom resulted in a large number of people moving around in various parts of the state, becoming a reason of worry as the number of cases detected everyday refuses to come down. Although the percentage of Ahmedabad cases (which has comprised of over 70 per cent of total cases) came down to 66.32 per cent with 262 cases reported on Tuesday, a cause for concern was that 133 cases sprang up across many different parts of the state, outside the three major cities of Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. On Tuesday, 21 cases were found in Kutch district, where the disease was unseen until now. Ahmedabad was followed by Surat with 29, Kutch with 21, Vadodara 18, Gandhinagar 10, Jamnagar and Sabarkantha with 7 each, Mahesana and Surendranagar with 5 each, Kheda, Patan and Bharuch with 4 each, Banaskantha, Mahisagar, Gir-Somnath and Junagadh with 3 each, Bhavnagar and Rajkot with 2 each, Aravalli, Chotta Udepur and Tapi with one each. With the one of highest mortality rates of 5.9, Gujarat's death toll rose to 719. May has, so far, been very grim for Corona patients as the state is reporting over 20 deaths daily. A total of 505 people, out of the total 719, have succumbed to the virus during these 19 days. Out of the fatalities on Tuesday, Ahmedabad accounted for the bulk, at 21 (12 males, 9 females). Two males from Surat, one male from Aravalli and a female from Gandhinagar also succumbed to the virus. Out of the total 25 deceased, 9 patients did not have any comorbidity. Till date, 576 people have died in Ahmedabad alone (over 80 per cent), followed by 55 in Surat, 32 in Vadodara, 8 each in Bhavnagar and Anand, 7 in Gandhinagar and 6 in Panchmahals. On Tuesday, a total of 239 patients were discharged. Till now, total 5,043 patients have been discharged in the state. on the number of cases, Ahmedabad continues to lead the state with maximum positive cases at 8,945, followed by Surat with 1,156, Vadodara 700, Gandhinagar 190, Bhavnagar 114, Banaskantha 86, Anand 83, Aravalli and Rajkot with 82 each, Mahesana 80, Panchmahals 71, Botad 56, Mahisagar and Patan with 53 each, Kutch 52 and Kheda with 51 cases. Health authorities has so far carried out a total of 1,54,674 tests in the state, out of which 12,141 have been found positive and 1,42,533 negative. There are 6,379 active cases, out of which the condition of 6,330 is stable, whereas 49 critical patients are still on ventilator. Right now, there are4,58,872 people quarantined in the state with 4,47,476 home quarantined, 10,753 in government facilities and 643 in private facilities. Around 1,500 tests are expected to be carried out on a daily basis as the large-scale testing project is rolled out, with testing capacity to increase over the coming weeks. By next week, the number of tests is expected to climb to 65,000 tests per week, as more people receive the invitation to be tested. The full capacity of 20,000 tests per day is planned to be reached in June. Ulf Nehrbass, CEO of the Luxembourg Institute of Health, said the next phase of the project was designed to test the logistics and the IT systems involved to ensure all would run smoothly. 1,500 tests per day would allow researchers to ascertain whether the IT system could cope. The procedure for test results is also set to change, with laboratory capacities to be increased thanks to external services. Dr Nehrbass explained this could allow them to obtain results from 4 tests simultaneously through the "pooling" method. If a positive result comes back, the tests will be re-checked individually. The 17 testing stations are due to be complete by next week. The four advanced care centres set up in March will remain in order to treat patients displaying symptoms, provided they have a GP prescription. Testing will continue to take place at these centres as well. The large-scale testing project will seek to reduce the number of asymptomatic people who are not in isolation, to reduce the spread of the virus. Dr Nehrbass said they estimated around 1,500 people in the Grand Duchy are asymptomatic. They will also attempt to limit the spreading of the virus through contact tracing in positive cases. The Luxembourg Institute of Health said this would be a necessary measure to guarantee better conditions in the de-confinement process. Video in Luxembourgish Despite some coronavirus restricting lifting, the party hasnt quite re-started in Alabama. As Al.coms John Sharp reported, while bars and taverns have been allowed to reopen - as long as they maintain social distancing anything labeled a nightclub must remain closed. And bars that were hoping to go back to activities such as cornhole or pool will have wait on those things too. Two Alabama water parks have announced plans to reopen. Huntsville Hospital announced it would administer COVID-19 tests to people even if they are asymptomatic. The U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Alabamas top paid tourist attraction, announced Monday it has slashed one-third of its full-time employees. Listen to Down in Alabama with Leada Gore, substituting for Ike Morgan, above. Get this post and more in your weekday Down in Alabama newsletter by subscribing here. You can also hear Ike each weekday by looking for Down in Alabama on the device of your choosing. Click here for the Spotify podcast page Click here for the Alexa skill page on Amazon Click here for the iTunes podcast page Click here for the Stitcher podcast page Mongolia has exported a total of 5.2 million tons of coal so far this year, virtually all to China, according to data released by the Mongolian Customs General Administration on Tuesday ULAN BATOR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th May, 2020 ) :Mongolia has exported a total of 5.2 million tons of coal so far this year, virtually all to China, according to data released by the Mongolian Customs General Administration on Tuesday. The figure is a decrease of 2. 6 times compared to the same period last year, the MCGA said. The sharp decrease is directly related to the restrictive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, it added. Coal is the landlocked country's main export commodity. Mongolia exported a total of 36.4 million tons of coal in 2019. New Delhi : National carrier Air India on Monday launched its first Dreamliner service to the United States with flight service from here to Newark via London. As of now, Airline services all its European routes with the Boeing 787-800 Dreamliner plane. 'Air India is happy to start this new flight today. It is a dream fulfilled for the people of Ahmedabad on Indias 70th Independence day. This is the third international flight introduced by Air India and we shall be launching flights to more international destinations soon," Air India Chairman and Managing Director Ashnwani Lohani, said after launching the flight. Gujarat Minister for Revenue and Education, Bhupendrasinh Chudasama was the chief guest on this occasion. The maiden AI Dreamliner flight (AI-171) to Newark took off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 0500 hours, according to a release. The new flight is expected to meet a long standing demand of more than six lakh Indians in Ahmedabad and expatriates in Newark and neighboring cities. "This flight was eagerly awaited by the people of Gujarat and has evoked an enthusiastic response. Besides, this flight would also be instrumental in attracting people from all over the world to travel to Gujarat and vice-versa," Chudasama said. AI-171 will operate three days a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. It will take off from Ahmedabad at 05:00 hours and reach London at 10:15 hours, from where it will depart at 12:30 hours and arrive at Newark at 15:00 hours. The return flight AI172 will leave Newark at 22:30 hours and reach London at 10:15 hours next day. It will leave London at 12:30 hours and land at Ahmedabad at 02:00 hours, Air India said. WASHINGTON, D.C. - Closure of the U.S. Canadian border to non-essential travel, which is set to expire Thursday, will likely be renewed for another month to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus, media in Canada report. Non-critical travel between the neighboring countries was initially restricted for a 30-day period that started on March 21. It was renewed for another 30 days on April 20. The Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto reports that Canada wants another 30 day roll-over, which would close the border until June 21. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his paramount concern is protecting the health of Canadians, and he wants to ensure his country doesnt get new infections from foreign travelers. As of Monday, Canada had reported 5,805 coronavirus deaths compared with 89,407 in the United States. Right now were making decisions for right now, obviously, there are reflections on what next steps could be, the National Post reported that Trudeau said. Every step of the way, in this unprecedented situation were reacting to, and responding to the realities we see now and thats where we will stay focused. Were focused on keeping Canadians safe every step of the way. During a trip to San Diego last week, acting U.S. Department of Homeland Security secretary Chad Wolf told reporters that restrictions across the borders with Canada and Mexico would likely be extended. According to a report from Reuters, he said officials from Canada and Mexico were willing to continue the measures at least in the short term. Spokespeople for Trudeau and Wolf did not respond to requests for comment on the issue on Monday. According to statistics kept by the Canadian government, Canadian firms employ more than 24,000 workers in Ohio, Ohio sells more goods to Canada than to its next eight largest foreign markets combined, and 697,000 Canadian travelers spent $104 million in Ohio in 2017. More coverage: Mismarked COVID-19 testing swabs from Clevelands U.S. Cotton confused state officials House passes coronavirus package along party lines; Senate Republicans say they wont consider it House approves proxy voting during coronavirus over objections from Ohio Republicans including Rep. Jim Jordan Former Cleveland Clinic researcher charged with fraud for failing to disclose China ties See which Ohio members of Congress are most and least bipartisan U.S. senators grill White House coronavirus team on reopening plans Rep. Marcia Fudge proposes coronavirus-inspired voting change Ohio hospitals to get remdesivir to fight coronavirus, says Sen. Rob Portman What Obamacare cancellation would mean to Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan to serve on coronavirus oversight committee he argued against creating Gun sales soar in Ohio during coronavirus pandemic Is Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio the most conservative Congress member of all time? Ohio Congress members want people who lack internet access to be able to track their coronavirus stimulus checks Ohio hospitals want Medicare to forgive coronavirus loans Rep. Jim Jordan wants probe of FBIs Michael Flynn investigation Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 15:52:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani army said on Tuesday that seven security personnel were killed in a roadside bomb attack, and exchange of fire with terrorists in southwestern Balochistan province. An army statement said an improvised explosive device hit a vehicle of the paramilitary troops Frontier Corps, which was returning to a base camp after a routine patrolling duty in Mach area of Balochistan on Monday night. Six security personnel were killed in the blast, the statement from the army's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations said. In another incident, one security forces member was killed during an exchange of fire with terrorists near Kech area of Balochistan, according to the statement. No group has claimed responsibility for the two attacks yet. Earlier this month, the Pakistani security troops were also attacked by a roadside bomb which killed six security personnel in Balochistan which borders Iran. Pakistani army said last week that Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Qamar Javed Bajwa called on enhancement of bilateral cooperation with Iran to ensure border security in a telephonic conversation with Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri. Enditem Melbourne University and the state government have urged the Commonwealth to lift its cap on domestic student numbers amid fears that plummeting international enrolments will do major financial damage to Victorian universities. The call to increase domestic student numbers came as the state government announced Victorian universities would share a $350 million state rescue package to survive the coronavirus pandemic. The Andrews government will also defer $110 million in payroll taxes for universities. Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas. Credit:James Ross The $350 million higher education state investment fund will go towards capital works and research-related costs. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series is said to come with up to 16GB of RAM. The next flagship series may also feature improved cameras. Samsung is going to launch its Galaxy Note 20 series later this year. Months ahead of the official launch, leaks and rumours have continued to reveal key details about the new smartphone series. The latest is set of images (design preview) and a close-up render of the rear camera module on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 20. According to the images shared by leakster Ice Universe, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 will sport a punch-hole camera at the top center on the front. On the back, the phone is seen sporting a glass panel and a rectangular camera module featuring three big sensors and one small sensor. The leakster claims Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Plus model will feature a 108-megapixel HM1 sensor. An added sensor is said to help focus and completely solve the focusing problem faced by some Galaxy S20 users. On the newly launched Samsung ISOCELL GN1 50-megapixel sensor, Ice Universe said Vivo will be the first smartphone brand to use the camera. The latest leak comes shortly after a report by Sammobile said Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series could feature up to 16GB of RAM. So far, reports have said Samsung Galaxy Note 20 series will come with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor, 120Hz display, and battery size up to 4,500mAh. To make concrete actions with unity and concerted efforts remains an urgent task for the world when COVID-19 is spreading around the globe, as it concerns the safety and health of the people. The 73rd World Health Assembly held virtually on May 18 carried special missions at this special moment, as well as the expectations of people around the world. The mainstream voice made by the international society is to make joint efforts and conquer the current difficulties, just like what Chinese President Xi Jinping has put forward at the Extraordinary G20 Leaders Summit on COVID-19: At such a moment, it is imperative for the international community to strengthen confidence, act with unity and work together in a collective response. We must comprehensively step up international cooperation and foster greater synergy so that humanity as one could win the battle against such a major infectious disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) is a special body under the United Nations (UN), and also a core power to propel and coordinate international efforts fighting the pandemic. Under the leadership of WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the UN health body has actively promoted international anti-pandemic cooperation in an objective, just and science-based manner, winning broad recognition from the international society. The arduous efforts made by the WHO in the past months were obvious to all. It assisted countries to enhance capacity building and pandemic control, provided authoritative information with its partners and issued dozens of technical guidance to the public, medical staff and global countries, organized and optimized global scientific research power by coordinating top scientists on its global network, and it joined hands with the worlds major internet platforms to prevent infodemic that rose along with COVID-19. It offered necessary medical equipment to frontline medical workers, ordered 30 million sets of testing kits with its partners, and sent a large amount of masks and protective goggles to countries in dire need. It trained and mobilized medical workers, offering online training courses in over 40 languages, and initiated the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator program, pledging 7.4 billion euros ($8.07 billion) for enhancing the research and development for COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. Numerous data and facts prove that WHO has made undeniable contributions for releasing authoritative information, offering technical guidance, raising anti-pandemic materials and coordinating global efforts. Viruses respect no border, and the pandemic spreads in all ethnicities, countries and regions. The human beings live in a community with a shared future, and cooperation remains the only way out. To support the WHO in playing active roles is to safeguard the safety and health of the people. Group of 77 (G77) and China recently issued a statement, hailing the leadership and guidance offered by the WHO in the global war against the COVID-19 pandemic; Non-Aligned Movement held a video summit on COVID-19 and expressed its support for WHOs leading role through a political declaration. Each of the organization represents over 100 countries, and their support indicated the confidence of the international society in the WHO. Besides, regional organizations including the European Union and African Union also showed support for the WHO with concrete actions. Its a due responsibility for each party concerned to take actions to support the UN health body. I want to know what individuals, companies and organisations can do right now to help protect those who work for the WHO, who are doing such wonderful work and show, in my view, so much humanity," said a British journalist at a recent press conference of the WHO. Responding to the journalist, Executive Director of WHO Health Emergencies Programme Michael Ryan explained whats needed in WHO: the space, the support and the solidarity. There are thousands of brave front-line workers all over the world doing that today, he added. This revealed the common aspiration and general trend of the world, which presents a sharp contrast to the stigmatizing practices of some Western politicians. Any attempt taking the WHO as a tool for geopolitical game challenges peoples right to life and health. Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet Richard Horton believes the WHOs sole purpose is to protect the health and wellbeing of the worlds peoples, and the decision to weaken the organization during the pandemic is a crime against humanity, as well as a knowing and inhumane attack against the global civilian population. Solidarity and cooperation are not merely demanded, but the right choice that must be made. This virus can wreak havoc - more than any terrorist attack, stressed Tedros, saying viruses are the common enemy of humans. Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres also pointed out that COVID-19 respects no borders, and COVID-19 anywhere is a threat to people everywhere. In an interconnected world, none of us is safe until all of us are safe, he said. The incapability of global health governance discovered by the pandemic is a challenge that the world must face up to. The world is casting its eyes to the World Health Assembly for pandemic containment, the latest analysis of control development, experience sharing and responding plans. What the world expects is closer cooperation, the hope to defeat the virus, and a bright future to be created by a community of common health for mankind. NEW YORK CITY, New York and ROSH HAAYIN, Israel, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Source Defense, the market leader in Client-side Web Security today announced it has raised $10.5M in Series A+ funding, adding Capital One Ventures as an investor alongside existing investors - JVP, Allegis Cyber, Global Brain and NightDragon who also participated in the round. The funding emphasizes the growing importance of Source Defense's preventative cyber security technology, allowing for business continuity as online commerce captures center stage for enterprises and government organizations. Source Defense plans to use the current funding to accelerate growth and enhance its patented VICE Client-side Web Security Platform to align with the growing demand in the market. Source Defense provides a unique website security solution focused on preventing malicious activity originating in website supply chain vendors. Using its patented technology, based on machine learning and industry best practices, Source Defense provides customers with a fully automated and dynamic solution that controls access and permissions of various dynamic components operating on a website. "The demand for combining premium online shopping experience with the state-of-the-art security controls has proved an urgent need for our solution" said company CEO, Dan Dinnar. "Our success with several Fortune 500 companies, including a most recent deployment at a Fortune 50 company is proof of the value we can provide industry leaders, in view of rampant activity by attackers." Erel Margalit, JVP Founder and Chairman: "Source Defense's innovative solution is becoming much more significant with the surge in cyberattacks since the Corona eruption. We are happy to work again with Dan Dinnar, CEO, who has already demonstrated his excellent management capabilities in key positions at JVP's portfolio companies, CyberArk (CYBR) and HexaTier, the founders and the team. We believe in the high growth potential of Source Defense and its capabilities to create a new global standard to protect websites." Founded by Hadar Blutrich and Avital Grushcovski, Source Defense has more than tripled its sales in the last 12 months. The company also expanded the Research and Development teams, established strategic channel partnerships, and secured top talent to round out its executive team. "Over the past year, the rise in formjacking and specifically Magecart attacks have exploded, hurting enterprises globally. These client-side attacks happen undetected and outside the visibility of the typical enterprise web security suite. Attackers have used these techniques to steal massive amounts of customers and transactional data across industries, with particular damage to eCommerce, financial services, healthcare companies, and government agencies" said Dave DeWalt, Managing Director at NightDragon Security. "Magecart attacks were the most impactful and dominant threat vector of 2019. Source Defense is uniquely positioned as the most effective preventative solution, providing ubiquitous security, improved compliance (primarily related to GDPR, PCI, CCPA, HIPAA), and accelerated website performance," said Yoav Tzruya, General Partner at JVP. "Source Defense's advantage lies in its technology as it fuels rapid growth and wide applicability to various industries and all customer segments." "It's a vote of confidence in our technology and business plan despite what is going on in the world today," said Dinnar. "Our team is busier than ever and appreciate the continued trust and support of our investors." About Source Defense Source Defense is the market leader in client-side web security, providing real time threat protection against vulnerabilities originating in third-party scripts such as Magecart & Formjacking attacks. With its patented VICE platform, Source Defense protects web pages from vulnerabilities in third-party scripts. Source Defense's solution isolates those scripts from the web page and allows them to read and write according to a given permission either defined by Source Defense's recommended standards, or specific company policies. Source Defense extends the traditional security perimeter to protect your customers and fortify your security stack in real-time. To learn more about how Source Defense visit www.sourcedefense.com Contact Information Courtney Brady [email protected] SOURCE Source Defense Related Links http://www.sourcedefense.com/ Enquires to The Salvation Army in Tauranga have doubled compared to last year, with over 260 requests for help since the end of March, meeting the needs of over 600 people. Providing support in the form of social work, food, clothing, furniture and non-food essential items, The Salvation Army has also been helping families across the Western Bay experience some sense of normality in these strange times. Whether delivering Easter eggs and activity packs to whanau with young children, providing vital communication supplies such as phones and laptops to keep people connected, or helping families to celebrate birthdays with cake and party supplies, the charity has been a beacon of positivity. All staff have been working remotely during lockdown levels 4 and 3, and have been using masks, gloves and hand sanitiser as they continue to provide their vital welfare service. Their team have been responding to needs for support via phone, email, text and messenger, with demand expanding significantly since the lockdown, particularly via the many referrals they receive through partners Civil Defence and other welfare providers. The Salvation Army Community Ministries Manager Davina Plummer says they are supporting a wide range of people from all walks of life. "We are keeping in contact with the elderly, supporting international students and migrants with hardship, and doing grocery shopping on behalf of those who cannot leave their homes. "We have also increased our social work support for those currently in our transitional housing helping to alleviate anxiety, help establish or maintain routines, maintain health, and education, advocacy on employment matters and accessing wage subsidy. Davina says they are seeing many families struggling with increased power, communication and food costs, decreased income, stress, anxiety and not being able to access wider family or support networks. One client, who had never had to rely on help from the foodbank or other support systems before, was grateful for the support when they had no one else to turn to. "Due to the current COVID-19 situation, my partner and I are unable to work and have been struggling financially. Someone mentioned about the Salvation Army offering a food parcel for people in need. I text a number and someone rang me back the next day. Within 2 hours, I had a box of groceries at my door. I just couldn't believe the items that were given to us; it was everything we needed." For others, having access to a laptop provided by The Salvation Army will be the difference between their children struggling and succeeding in school. Another client's feedback reads: "I can't thank you enough for thinking of my family when you bought the laptop around today. It will be such a help for my children's schoolwork, and for me to update CVs for jobs and heaps more. I'm totally grateful for your help and the support of The Salvation Army." To support the increased costs The Salvation Army were facing supporting our community, they applied for funding through the Rapid Response Fund, established by local funders TECT, Acorn Foundation, BayTrust and Tauranga City Council. The $10,600 they received helped them purchase 40 phones for those with no means of communication, provide games and craft supplies for 60 families to help them engage together positively, and allowed them to upgrade to a commercial freezer to cope with the increased demand for food parcels. TECT Chairperson Bill Holland says TECT are proud to be working with other funders to assist with these costs; a small price to pay for the wellbeing of our communitys people. Our community has shown incredible resilience and support for one another during this challenging time, and we are pleased this funding can help The Salvation Army continue their work and play their part in that. Whether its food for a week, an activity pack for a day, or telephone support for an hour, one thing for sure is that The Salvation Armys support will be remembered for a lifetime by the many vulnerable people in our community they are helping. To learn more about The Salvation Army, visit https://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/ Industry body Assocham on Tuesday called for removal of restrictions on inter-state movement of people at state borders during lockdown 4.0. The chamber called for gradual and smooth easing of lockdown for trade and industry in all but containment zones. "Several states are not allowing private vehicles from other states. While the metro cities are in one state, the adjoining sub-urban centres which have come up as major centres for corporate offices, including the back-end units of global companies, are located in the adjoining states," Assocham Secretary General Deepak Sood said. While a large number of companies have made work-from-home a pre-dominant feature, they do need minimum staff for some critical jobs in offices and work places, he said. "But against the spirit of the lockdown 4.0 of more relaxations, some of the states are disallowing movement of people," Sood added. He said that during the last 56 days of the lockdown, enough data has been generated and hot spots and containment zones have been well identified. "Strict restrictions in containment zones are well understood and must be enforced. However, the movement for rest of the population should be eased and a better understanding reached amongst the bordering states. "Besides the white and blue collar work force for corporate India, a large segment of informal trade should be enabled to pick up thread again with social distancing norms," Sood said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Houston could experience record-high temperatures Tuesday as heat soars to the upper-90s by midday. The highest daily temperature was 95 degrees on May 19, 2000, a number thats threatened by todays heat. Average daily temperatures are typically between 86 and 87 degrees, although the National Weather Service predicts todays high could reach 95 in Houston. MORE FROM JAY R. JORDAN: Cameras capture gunman who shot man in the head, Houston police say While summertime is often plagued by triple-digit heat indices (or feels like temperatures), low humidity will keep those values close to the actual temperature, meteorologists say. Sensitive groups, such as people with asthma or who have trouble breathing, should stay indoors today. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which monitors pollution, says today poses a risk for producing more ozone than normal. The pattern of sunny skies and high temperatures continues Wednesday, but clouds return Thursday. Rain chances pick back up over the weekend. Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com Ruling Once Again Confirms US$543 Million Award as Final and Binding NEW YORK, May 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Swedish Supreme Court, on May 18, handed down its judgment in The Republic of Kazakhstan v Ascom Group S.A. et al dismissing with prejudice Kazakhstan's renewed challenge to a US$543 million Swedish arbitral award issued by a Stockholm seated arbitral tribunal in December 2013. Kazakhstan had brought an unprecedented third challenge to the award in April 2020, having lost the first two challenges in December 2016 and March 2020 respectively. On this occasion, Kazakhstan launched a collateral attack on the award by way of a challenge to the Svea Court of Appeal judgment of December 9, 2016, which originally confirmed the validity of the award in its capacity as the supervisory court at the seat of the arbitration. Kazakhstan's application to appeal the Svea Court ruling by way of extraordinary review application was rejected by the Swedish Supreme Court in October 2017. In its ruling, handed down on May 18, 2020, the Swedish highest court found that none of the alleged new circumstances invoked by Kazakhstan justified a reversal of the December 2016 Svea Court of Appeal judgment. This ruling comes shortly after the Svea Court of Appeal in March 2020 summarily dismissed with prejudice Kazakhstan's second direct challenge to the award on the grounds that the matter had already been adjudicated. Anatolie Stati, CEO and sole shareholder of Ascom Group S.A., one of the award creditors, said: "We welcome this ruling of the Swedish Supreme Court, which yet again confirms the futility of Kazakhstan's increasingly desperate attempts to escape compliance with its international treaty obligations. Through the repeated filing of frivolous appeals and challenges to the arbitration award around the world, Kazakhstan is proving itself to be nothing more than an international scofflaw that routinely flouts investment protections under the international treaties that it signs. The award creditors will continue unabatedly with their efforts to collect any and all amounts due under the award and related legal costs in all available jurisdictions." As part of separate ongoing attachment proceedings in Sweden, the Stati parties have successfully frozen funds of approximately US$85 million owned by the Republic of Kazakhstan and held by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken in its capacity as sub-custodian under a global custody agreement between the National Bank of Kazakhstan and BNY Mellon. In addition to the Swedish attachment, the Stati parties have successfully secured and maintain the benefit of various other attachments of Kazakh state property in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, with the combined total value of all attachments worldwide exceeding US$6.25 billion. The Swedish court ruling is the latest development in the Stati parties' long-running battle to enforce the award for Kazakhstan's violations of the investor protection provisions of the Energy Charter Treaty. In December 2013, a Sweden based arbitration tribunal found that Kazakhstan had violated international law by failing to treat the Stati parties' investments in Kazakhstan fairly and equitably, and awarded the Stati parties more than US$500 million in damages, legal costs, and interest. The award has since been fully upheld by two tiers of the Swedish judiciary, including the Swedish Supreme Court. The claims originally arose out of Kazakhstan's seizure of the Stati parties' petroleum operations in 2010. The Stati parties acquired two companies in 1999 that held idle licenses in the Borankol and Tolkyn fields in Kazakhstan. They invested more than US$1 billion over the ensuing decade to turn the companies into successful exploration and production businesses. By late 2008, the businesses had become profitable and had yielded considerable revenues for the Kazakh state. Just as the Stati parties expected to start receiving dividends, more than half a dozen government agencies carried out multiple burdensome inspections and audits of the companies' businesses that resulted in false accusations of illegal conduct directed at the Stati parties and their Kazakh companies, including criminal prosecutions of their general managers on false pretenses. Kazakhstan's actions challenged the Stati parties' title to their investments, subjected them to hundreds of millions of dollars in unwarranted tax assessments and criminal penalties, and ultimately led to the seizure and nationalization of their investments by Kazakh authorities in July 2010. MEDIA CONTACTS Kimberly Macleod (917) 587-0069 [email protected] Chris Winans (908) 309-3959 [email protected] SOURCE Ascom Group S.A. A shark net protects children as they plat on a beach in Manly Cove, Sydney - AFP/William West An Australian man who saved a trapped whale calf from a net could be fined nearly AUS$27,000 (14,500) for his troubles. The man took matters in to his own hands after authorities took over two hours to respond to calls about the animal's plight. The rescuer, who identified himself only as "Django", told local reporters: I saw the whale and I thought, That is pretty cool. Then I saw he was in the net and I thought, That is not cool. He proceeded to dive down and free the baby whales pectoral fin using his knife. The fin had become entangled in the shark net, which was cutting in to its flesh. It is unclear how long the whale, believed to be a humpback, had been trapped before the rescue. While returning to shore, the man was intercepted by the Department for Agriculture and Fisheries and told he faced a heavy fine, subject to an investigation. Yeah, Im in trouble. I wasnt going out there to see whales. It was an expensive day but whatever... you pay the price sometimes, he said. The state of Queensland has penalties for both tampering with council property and for moving too close to whales. Fisheries Minister Mark Furner said: It is dangerous equipment. We have unfortunately seen the loss of life when people have themselves become entangled in this equipment. It will be up to the department to consider whether this gentleman will be prosecuted. A humpback whale - Getty Images Contributor The shark net programme has caused controversy in Australias Gold Coast for interfering with marine wildlife. They were introduced after a drop in tourism numbers following a spate of shark attacks in Queensland. Most sharks are released but some are killed by state contractors if it is deemed necessary. Environmental groups have called for the nets to be temporarily removed as whales begin their annual migration north along the coast in search of warmer waters. Last year, at least five whales were found caught in the shark nets. Sea Shepherd campaigner Jonathan Clark said: Their removal during the whale migration season would be a good start and could be accompanied by the serious proving of other technologies such as drones. Selling Belgian Blue genes back to the breed's homeland was a landmark achievement in David Pearson's pedigree career. It is over a decade ago since the Fabroca AI station, one of the leading cattle breeding centres in Belgium, purchased the Laois-bred bull, Boherard Cantona, but the deal is as fresh in his breeder's mind as if had been last week. "The highlight over the years for me has definitely been selling Cantona to the Fabroca AI Station - that was a great achievement, one that I won't forget," says David. Cantona, bred in the herd at Corbally, Ballacolla, is believed to have been the first Irish-bred Belgian Blue bull purchased by the Fabroca AI Breeding Centre. The Belgians purchased his full brother, Boherard Guinness, and more recently it has become the joint owner, with Dovea Genetics, of Boherard Hurricane. With around 10 progeny per year being reared, Boherard is one of the smaller pedigree Belgian Blue herds in this country. Expand Close Boherard Cian IS the first Boherard sire to be listed on the ICBF Beef Sire List / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Boherard Cian IS the first Boherard sire to be listed on the ICBF Beef Sire List But it is certainly punching above its size on quality, and last month Boherard Cian became the first Boherard sire to be listed on the ICBF Beef Sire List. He is one of seven Belgian Blues in the top 11 - he is recommended for crossing on the dairy herd . Belgian Blue calf registrations from the dairy herd for 2020 are showing an increase of 19pc. But there is still some way to go in increasing the presence of the breed in the Irish dairy herd, says David. "The problem that we have with the Belgian bulls is that they don't have the figures in the Irish herds and don't get the rating that they deserve," he says. "I go to Belgium about twice a year and pick the bulls that I think are best suited to my cows for easy calving, but it usually takes years before there are enough progeny in this country to show that they are easy calving sires." He understands why farmers don't want to have difficult calvings, particularly with the increased herd sizes and the labour demands on dairy farms at calving time. "Farmers are slow to use them while the figures are high and by the time that they get to 10 years old and the figures have improved, many of them are gone. "They are afraid of them and feel that they won't be able to calve them. In the larger herds they haven't the time for the hassle, so the bred does not get the credit that it deserves in the dairy sector. "The stars and the figures are not reflecting how good the cattle are and it is a bit unfair to the pedigree breeders. "There would be 10,000 calves off a bull in Belgium and only a couple here. "It can take years before they get the calving difficulty figure down in this country compared to Belgium. "When I go to Belgium to pick bulls to use on the herd, I can see the bulls, and the figures that they have, and I also get to see some of their progeny. I know that they are easy calving, but they won't get the good figures in Ireland for a long time." Boherard Cian was born in 2008 and it is only recently that he has become a "hugely popular bull" for use on the Irish dairy herd. He is described as being in the top 1pc of the breed for calving ease and producing very good calves from both the dairy and suckler herds. He was bred by the popular Belgium-based sire, Tintin De My, who has been widely used by a number of the top Belgian Blue breeders in this country, and is out of the dam Ballyfin Tracey, bred by Richard Duff in Laois. Commercial herds "I have other good progeny off him. He (Tintin De My) has bred good cows over the years. He was a very good bull and left some very good cows in the country and some very good cows even in the commercial herds," says David. "A few straws (from him) would make a lot now. He left some very good cows there's great structure to them and they're good milkers. I knew he was an easy calver. "Boherard Hurricane is very easy calving, but it will take a few more years before the figures for him show up here. He'd be very easy calving too - he's as easy as Cian, but would not have been used as much on the dairy herd because he is a coloured bull and used more on the suckler herd." Lengthy winning streak includes four RDS Champion of Champion awards The Boherard herd was established in 1989 with the purchase of some Irish-bred Belgian Blues and has continued to develop over the last three decades with the use of mainly Belgian-bred sires on the herds cows. In turn, the herd has bred some top sires of its own. Boherard Cantona was sold to the Belgian AI Centre in the autumn of 2009. Boherard Cian was born in 2008 and purchased by Bova AI. Boherard Captain, born in 2008, was bought by Progressive Genetics. Born in 2013, Boherard Hurricane, a former All Ireland winner, was purchased by Dovea Genetics. The herd has accumulated numerous awards over the decades. The agricultural shows are a shop window for the herd, says David Pearson, but this year is going to be very different, with the shows cancelled. It would be very rare to breed excellent males without very good dams in the herd and the three Boherard dams have won RDS Champion of Champions awards: Boherard Elixis, Boherard Kit Kat and Boherard Jelly Kat. Boherard Ipad won the RDS Champions award for males. And the careful selection of genes augurs well for further success. I have a few good calves, really good calves, says David a hint that the best may be yet to come for the Boherard Belgian Blues. Tear gas is among the new flavours at a Hong Kong ice cream shop. The main ingredient is black peppercorns, a reminder of the pungent, peppery rounds fired by police on the streets of the semi-autonomous Chinese city during months of demonstrations last year. It tastes like tear gas. It feels difficult to breathe at first, and its really pungent and irritating. It makes me want to drink a lot of water immediately, customer Anita Wong, who experienced tear gas at a protest, said. I think its a flashback that reminds me of how painful I felt in the movement, and that I shouldnt forget. Tear gas is among the new flavours at a Hong Kong ice cream shop. Source: AP The flavour is a sign of support for the pro-democracy movement, which is seeking to regain its momentum during the coronavirus pandemic, the shops owner said. He spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid repercussions from the pro-Beijing government. We would like to make a flavour that reminds people that they still have to persist in the protest movement and dont lose their passion, he said. The owner of the shop hopes the flavour of tear gas ice cream will make sure people 'don't lose their passion' for the pro-democracy movement. Source: AP Feels like breathing in tear gas He tried different ingredients, including wasabi and mustard, in an effort to replicate the taste of tear gas. Black pepper, he said, came closest to tear gas with its throat-irritating effects. We roast and then grind whole black peppercorns and make them into gelato, the Italian style. Its a bit hot, but we emphasise its aftertaste, which is a sensation of irritation in the throat. It just feels like breathing in tear gas, the 31-year-old owner said. More than 16,000 rounds of tear gas were fired during the protests. Source: AP More than 16,000 rounds of tear gas were fired during the protests, according to Hong Kong authorities, many in densely populated districts where narrow streets are filled with small restaurants and apartment blocks. The protests began over proposed legislation that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China to face charges. While the bills were withdrawn, demonstrations continued over concerns Beijing is eroding the civil liberties granted to the former British colony when it was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Story continues The ice cream shop also provides a space for people to express their views about the movement, including the use of sticky notes that featured in the Lennon walls that appeared throughout the territory at the height of the demonstrations. Such expressions date back to the 2014 Occupy Central protests, when a major stairway leading to the Hong Kong government headquarters was plastered with thousands of notes carrying messages of support. The tear gas flavoured ice cream sells for around 5 HKD per scoop. Source: AP At about $5 HKD ($1 AUD) a serving, tear gas ice cream has been a hit. Prior to social distancing regulations over the coronavirus outbreak, the shops owner said he was selling 20-30 scoops per day. The demonstration have mostly died away as the city fights the coronavirus, but there are widespread expectations that larger actions may emerge during the summer. Already, police have been out in force to deter large gatherings and the government is pressing ahead with legislation that would make it a crime to mock the Chinese national anthem. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play. The Federal Reserve has renewed its criticism of Deutsche Bank's (NYSE:DB) internal controls related to money laundering. The news was reported by multiple outlets, which say the Fed delivered its displeasure at the bank's progress in a letter to Deutsche Bank. The rebuke continues long-standing issues that have been piling up at the German bank in recent years. Let's take a deeper look at why the Fed continues to reprimand Deutsche Bank and what it means for the bank moving forward. History of the issues Deutsche Bank's anti-money laundering (AML) issues date back to at least 2017. That January, the bank agreed to pay a $629 million fine to regulators in New York and the United Kingdom for actions that regulators called "highly suggestive of financial crime." The bank's Moscow office helped parties conduct what looked like a transfer of rubles into $10 billion, which then allowed customers to transfer the money out of Russia to banks in Cyprus, Estonia, and Latvia, according to U.K. authorities. Later in 2017, Deutsche Bank paid another $41 million to the Federal Reserve for "unsafe and unsound" anti-money laundering practices. Media outlets eventually revealed that the Federal Reserve had secretly designated Deutsche Bank's U.S. division as being in "troubled condition" as early as 2017. That designation, according to The Wall Street Journal, resulted in the bank pulling back on certain trading and lending activities. It also meant the bank had to clear decisions about hiring and firing senior management and reassigning job duties with the Fed. But Germany's largest bank struggled to stay out of the spotlight. The bank again found itself facing scrutiny in 2018 when an internal review found that it had handled about $150 billion of suspicious transactions carried out by the Danish lender Danske Bank. At the time, U.S. law enforcement agencies were investigating because $230 billion had allegedly flowed through one of its small branches in Estonia. Reuters reported last October that Deutsche Bank supposedly waited five years after a whistleblower sounded the alarm about suspicious activity at Danske to report the 1 million money transfers it believed were suspect. All of the issues at the bank spooked investors in 2018, with shares of Deutsche Bank dropping roughly 58% that year. The company's share price remained relatively flat in 2019, a poor performance during a year in which the banking sector performed well. The timing of the Fed's new warning The Fed's latest reprimand not only said the bank still needed to improve its AML controls, but also that it had not solved problems that initially led the Fed to categorize Deutsche Bank as a "troubled condition" bank in 2017. Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing recently posted a speech online that he plans to give at Deutsche Bank's upcoming annual meeting. Sewing said feedback on the bank's progress has been positive from clients, regulators, and shareholders. The bank's U.S. subsidiary passed both parts of the Federal Reserve's stress test for the first time in 2019. However, Sewing did not deny that the bank had more work to do. "We have also continued to improve our internal controls and processes," he wrote in the speech. "But are we there yet regarding our controls? The answer is no. We must continue to improve here and to invest in our processes -- in close contact with our regulators." It appeared that Deutsche Bank had actually started to make some progress this year. The bank reported a 67% drop in first-quarter profits year over year, but the company's investment bank division increased revenue 18%, claiming it handled roughly 40% of all European corporate issuances since mid-March when the coronavirus struck the economy. As of Monday's close, the bank's stock price had declined only about 8% from the beginning of the year, in line with the S&P 500. Deutsche Bank continues to not pay dividends, and is in the midst of a major restructuring plan that will ultimately see the bank cut 18,000 jobs by 2022. Going forward Shares of Deutsche Bank declined more than 6% in after-market trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange following news of the Fed's renewed reprimand, according to the Financial Times. With the bank's reputation now, any more news like this will continue to let doubt creep into the minds of investors. To see issues called out by regulators in 2017 still not resolved is concerning, and suggests that internal problems at the bank may run deep. The bank has also changed leadership of its U.S. operations twice since 2017. Deutsche Bank really needs to get a handle on these matters if its stock price is to truly rebound. It's official: the Space Coast's next launch will have astronauts on board. Due to the impacts of Tropical Storm Arthur, SpaceX confirmed Monday that its planned Tuesday flight of 60 Starlink satellites will have to wait until after astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley launch from Kennedy Space Center on May 27. Starlink had been scheduled to launch at 3:10 a.m. The tropical storm had already caused issues for SpaceX's recovery fleet, which had to shift around the Atlantic Ocean several times and seek shelter. The vessels, one of which includes the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, are responsible for hosting Falcon 9 booster landings and catching falling rocket nose cones. Apple is reopening some stores this week: Expect to wear a mask, have temperature checked Videoconferencing: Four tips for more professional looking and better sounding video calls With the Starlink mission delayed, SpaceX teams can now focus on Crew Dragon's next flight, known as Demo-2. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed last week that the capsule is still solidly on the schedule for liftoff from pad 39A at 4:33 p.m. May 27. Bridenstine told FLORIDA TODAY that Behnken and Hurley are slated to depart Houston and arrive at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, after which they will continue their coronavirus quarantine procedures which began last week ahead of liftoff. "It looks like they are in very good health and we don't anticipate that between now and the day of launch there's really going to be an opportunity for them to contract any virus or harmful bacteria," Bridenstine said. "I think we're in good shape and we're excited about launching them to the International Space Station." On launch day, the duo will ride out to the pad in a NASA-branded vehicle, as is tradition. But it won't be the famous Astrovan this time, a Tesla Model X all-electric SUV will transport both to pad 39A. Story continues If all goes according to plan, the former shuttle astronauts will spend about 24 hours in Crew Dragon before their arrival at the ISS. It will mark the first time in nearly a decade that American astronauts have launched from U.S. soil. In the event that SpaceX and NASA have to delay from the 27th, the next opportunity to launch Demo-2 would fall on May 30. Follow Emre Kelly on Twitter @EmreKelly. Who's flying in the SpaceX Crew Dragon?: Meet astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley. Amazon: Speedy delivery is picking back up again This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX's next launch will be its first with astronauts on board US President Donald Trump wrote a letter to World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, accusing the global health body of taking Chinas side during the coronavirus pandemic. The letter was tweeted by Trump on Tuesday morning. In the letter, Trump said that the WHO consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier. The WHO failed to independently investigate credible reports that conflicted directly with the Chinese governments official accounts, even those that came from sources within Wuhan itself, he said in the letter. He further said that the WHO knew about a major public health concern in Wuhan by December 30, 2019, which was also communicated by Taiwanese authorities. But the WHO chose not to share any of this critical information with the rest of the world, probably for political reasons. This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020 Trump also said that even after declaring Covid-19 outbreak, the WHO failed to press China for the timely admittance of a team of international medical experts. He then attacked the WHO chief in the letter. Just a few year ago, under the direction of a different Director-General, the WHO showed the world how much it has to offer. It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organisation in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world, Trump said in the concluding para of the letter. The only way forward for the WHO is if it can can actually demonstrate independence from China. Trump has also threatened to permanently stop funding of the WHO and reconsider membership of the United States in the body. If the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization, Trump told WHO chief Tedros in the letter. Speaking to the reporters at the White House earlier, Trump called the UN health body a puppet of China. They (WHO) are a puppet of China. Theyre China-centric, to put it nicer. But theyre a puppet of China, Trump said. I think they have done a very sad job. The United States pays them US $450 million a year. China pays them US $38 million a year, Trump said in response to a question. Trump claimed that more people would have died from coronavirus in the country had he not imposed a ban on travel from China, which was opposed by the health agency. Washington is locked in an increasingly bitter spat with Beijing over the new coronavirus pandemic and has also taken aim at the WHO, which on Monday kicked off its first ever virtual assembly. A resolution tabled by the European Union called for an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation of the international response to the pandemic, which has so far infected nearly 4.8 million people and killed more than 3,17,000. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus acknowledged there had been shortcomings and told the virtual assembly he welcomed calls for a review. Considering the daily rise in COVID-19 cases in Mumbai, the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has handed over 11 building to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for setting up quarantine centres, an official said on Tuesday. At least 11 SRA buildings, with 2080 rooms, will be used as quarantine facilities, the SRA official said. These building are located in both western and eastern wards of the BMC, he added. The SRA was working on a war-footing for the last 20 days in coordination with various developers to hand over these buildings to the civic body, chief executive officer of SRA Deepak Kapoor said. "The SRA has so far handed over 11 new buildings in various suburban areas to the BMC," the official said, adding that more such structures will also be made available as and when the need arises during the pandemic. Apart from this, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), on Monday handed over a 1,000- bed COVID-19 hospital to the civic body. The BMC is also in the process of setting up COVID-19 care facilities at NSCI in Worli, Goregaon-based NESCO exhibition centre, Mahalaxmi Race Course and some other locations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Why I Chose EMU Pallas Schuster: There are so many ways to grow as a person. As a double-major in Social Work and Psychology, Pallas Schuster was a very busy student. But she still made time to welcome prospective Eastern students as an Admissions tour guide. I wanted to share my story with students and help them through the process of selecting a college, says Schuster, who graduated in April, 2020 and plans on pursuing a masters degree in social work. When I visited Eastern as a prospective student, everyone I interacted with was very excited to meet me and get to know me. Easterns compact campus and smaller class sizes were also selling points for Schuster. Eastern is a medium-sized school that offers lots of resources, but it also has a small school feeling, she says. Our campus is also easily walkable. I would always see lots of friends while walking from class to class. Unforgettable experiences Schusters most engaging college experience was her Social Work study-abroad electivean International Service Learning class in Jamaica. We visited a rural part of Jamaica and immersed ourselves in their culture, she says. We also performed service work in the community by teaching some of their academy students to practice peer mediation. It was inspiring to see their bright minds implementing the class materials. This elective was so much better than just taking a vacation to some tourist destination in Jamaica. Personal growth opportunities also abound at Eastern, Schuster says. I held a position on the Social Welfare Action Alliance, she says. During an Alternative Spring Break in 2018, I worked with a domestic violence shelter in Chicago. Through these experiences, Ive learned a lot about myself. When you come to Eastern there are so many things to do, people to meet and ways to grow. [May 19, 2020] SD-WAN Market Growth Predicted at Over 60% Till 2026: Global Market Insights, Inc. SELBYVILLE, Del., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the latest report "SD-WAN Market by Component (Solution, Service), Deployment Model (On-premise, Cloud, Hybrid), Application (IT & Telecom, BFSI, Healthcare, Retail & Consumer Goods, Government, Manufacturing), Regional Outlook, Competitive Market Share & Forecast 2026", by Global Market Insights, Inc., the market valuation of software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) will cross $30 billion by 2026. The growing demand to enhance network management capabilities and simplify the wide-area network infrastructure across enterprises is anticipated to contribute significantly to the market growth. The growing demand to reduce capital & operating expenses related to the management of network infrastructure is supporting the SD-WAN market growth. Traditional WAN networks relied on expensive hardware appliances to provide connectivity to remote locations, which led to an increase in operational costs. Thus, the implementation of SD-WAN solutions enables organizations to simplify their network infrastructure and reduce costs. With cloud-enabled connectivity, SD-WAN technology is redefining traditional WAN models. Request for a sample of this research report at https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2214 The virtual appliance segment in the SD-WAN market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 73% from 2020 to 2026. As enterprises are focusing on the transformation of their network infrastructure, virtual appliances are helping these enterprises in faster deployment and easy implementation of advanced network infrastructure. Virtual appliances reduce the capital expenditure and operational expense of enterprises required for managing enterprise network infrastructure. The companies are deploying virtual appliances to meet the rising demand for business-critical applications and workforce mobility. The hybrid cloud deployment in the SD-WAN market is expected to grow rapidly over the coming years as it enables organizations to deploy on-premise cloud to host critical workloads. Hybrid cloud architecture combines the functionalities of both private & public cloud architecture, thus acting as a viable option for enterprises that want to leverage both. The hybrid architecture holds a great potential for organizations that are concerned about the security of their sensitive data. Organizations are deploying hybrid WAN to take advantage of its efficiencies in route selection and to improve business performance by allowing path selection for traffic movement. The manufacturing sector is anticipated to witness a growth rate of over 60% during the forecast timeline due to the growing adoption of IoT devices across production facilities. The SD-WAN solution helps manufacturing companies to remain competitive by improving connectivity across remote locations. Organizations are deploying SD-WAN solutions to provide optimized network connectivity to extensive machines and connected devices. Due to advancements across the manufacturing industry, manufacturing companies are deploying advanced nework solutions to conduct network traffic prioritization and simplify network management. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report at https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2214 The Europe SD-WAN market is predicted to observe over 60% gains through 2026. Huge private & government investments to foster IoT adoption will also accelerate market growth. For instance, in June 2018, the U.K. government planned to invest USD 75 million as an additional fund to boost the development of IoT technologies. Various ongoing public & private investments in future-ready 5G networks and broadband infrastructure across the region are expected to drive the market growth. Some major findings of the SD-WAN market report include: The growing need to improve application performance and reduce IT expenditure across enterprises is contributing to the development of SD-WAN technology. The rapid proliferation of IoT devices across enterprises due to growing Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) is driving the demand for SD-WAN solutions. Major players operating in the SD-WAN market are Cisco Systems, Citrix Systems, Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Nuage Networks, Inc., and Oracle Corporation. Companies operating in the market are focusing on strategic partnerships for the development of advanced SD-WAN solutions. Table of Contents (ToC) of the report: Chapter 3. Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) Market Insights 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Industry segmentation 3.3. Industry landscape, 2015 - 2026 3.4. Impact of COVID-19 outbreak 3.4.1. Impact by region 3.4.1.1. North America 3.4.1.2. Europe 3.4.1.3. Asia Pacific 3.4.1.4. Latin America 3.4.1.5. Middle East & Africa 3.4.2. Impact on industry value chain 3.4.3. Impact on competitive landscape 3.5. SD-WAN ecosystem analysis 3.5.1. Hardware component providers 3.5.2. Network service providers 3.5.3. Communication service providers 3.5.4. Managed service providers 3.5.5. System integrators 3.5.6. Distributors 3.5.7. End users 3.6. SD-WAN architecture 3.7. Architecture approaches for SD-WAN 3.8. SD-WAN technology evolution 3.9. SD-WAN VS Traditional WAN 3.10. Technology & innovation landscape 3.10.1. Network virtualization 3.10.2. AI and machine learning 3.10.3. 5G 3.11. Regulatory landscape 3.11.1. MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Service Attributes and Service Definition Standard 3.11.2. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. 3.11.3. European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) GS NFV -IFA 008 3.11.4. The Open Compute Project and OPNFV 3.11.5. ISO/IEC 270001 3.11.6. IEEE SDN/NFV Standardization 3.12. Industry impact forces 3.12.1. Growth drivers 3.12.2. Industry Pitfalls and Challenges 3.13. Porter's Analysis 3.13.1. Threat of new entrants 3.13.2. Threat of substitutes 3.13.3. Bargaining power of buyer 3.13.4. Bargaining power of supplier 3.13.5. Industry rivalry 3.14. PESTEL analysis 3.15. Growth potential analysis Browse Complete Table of Contents (ToC) at https://www.gminsights.com/toc/detail/software-defined-wide-area-network-sdwan-market About Global Market Insights, Inc. Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider, offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy, and biotechnology. Contact Us: Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights, Inc. Phone: 1-302-846-7766 Toll-Free: 1-888-689-0688 Email: [email protected] Related Images global-software-defined-wide-area.png Global Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) Market revenue $30bn by 2026: GMI The Europe SD-WAN market is predicted to observe over 60% gains through 2026. Huge private & government investments to foster IoT adoption will also accelerate market growth. Related Links Network Automation Market Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) Market View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sd-wan-market-growth-predicted-at-over-60-till-2026-global-market-insights-inc-301060851.html SOURCE Global Market Insights, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] 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... Colorado is opening up its free coronavirus testing to any residents with flu-like symptoms plus workers who have frequent contact with others in public settings but feel healthy, Gov. Jared Polis announced Monday. The change in testing policy is happening because the state can now process about 10,000 coronavirus tests daily but is not using its full capacity, Polis said. Previously, a lack of testing supplies and protective equipment limited testing mostly to people in hospitals and health care workers. People with less serious symptoms were told to isolate at home. Workers who can get the testing even though they feel healthy would include those with jobs such as health care workers and first responders and others deemed essential workers, Polis said. Polis made the testing change announcement from the parking lot of the STRIDE Community Health Center in the Denver suburb of Wheat Ridge as people drove up nearby to be tested and he took the test to show how journalists how easy it was. A worker wearing a face shield, n95 mask and protective gown put a swab up Polis nose, causing him to wince just a bit. The test was over in seconds. Getting tested is a real important part of our process of making progress against this virus, Polis said. People who want the free tests can contact their doctors or visit one of 30 community testing sites around the state, he said. National Guard members have been helping state officials perform repeated tests of people in nursing homes to identify infected people, including those who are not symptomatic, in an an attempt to prevent further outbreaks. STRIDE has performed about 10,000 swab tests since early March with about 21 percent of them coming back positive, said Dr. Savita Ginde, the companys chief healthcare officer, said. The company has conducted about 2,000 blood tests that detect antibodies that develop in people who currently or previously had COVID-19. About 9 percent of those tests have been positive, she said. Polis said the nasal swab test is more accurate than a rapid test he received while visiting the White House last week. Swab test results are usually known with a day or two, he said. Polis also said that he planned to release guidance on how restaurants would be allowed to reopen later Monday or on Tuesday so owners can prepare to resume operations. The restaurants must rely on outdoor seating on sidewalks and parking lots and, in some cases streets, in order to give customers enough space to comply with social distancing while doing enough business to be profitable, Polis said. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death. The vast majority of people recover. OTTAWAPlease. That was Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus message to businesses Tuesday. The federal government has doubled the length of time it is willing to subsidize up to 75 per cent of their wage costs. Now, Trudeau said, businesses should hire back workers for when COVID-19 health restrictions are lifted. To employers looking to start up again, please rehire your workers. Use the wage subsidy for their paycheque. Thats what its there for, Trudeau said. The prime ministers plea comes days after The Canadian Press revealed Air Canada plans to lay off at least half of its 38,000 employees on June 7. The company had previously announced it would hire back 16,500 workers laid off in March under the federal governments wage subsidy, and the union representing the airliners employees told the Star it wants the company to keep using the subsidy now available until Aug. 29 as negotiations continue about the layoff plan. In an emailed response to questions from the Star, Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said the company plans to keep using the subsidy for employees, but that unfortunately, the impact of COVID-19 on the airline industry globally is such that even when the economy does reopen, we do not anticipate our business will return to normal any time soon. The government has touted the wage subsidy as one of its marquee aid programs for the pandemic crisis, designed to keep workers on company payrolls. But data published by the Canada Revenue Agency suggests it has been used less than expected. Less than $3.4 billion of the programs original $73-billion budget meant to cover up to $847 per week, per employee for the first half of the programs lifespan, from March 15 to June 6 was paid out as of May 11, two weeks after applications for the program opened. That money is supporting wages for almost 1.7 million workers, according to the government data. By contrast, almost 8 million people applied for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, a $2,000 payout for people who lose work during the pandemic, costing the government more than $35 billion as of May 11. Dan Kelly, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said more companies would already be on board with the subsidy if the government didnt take so long to create it. The program was promised almost a month before applications opened online April 27. Almost 2 million Canadians lost their jobs in April after about 1 million jobs were lost in March, according to Statistics Canada. I firmly believe that had this been announced near the start of the crisis many employers would have delayed some of the rounds of layoffs that they were otherwise forced to do, and as a result kept more people on their payroll, Kelly said. Another factor in the slow uptake of the wage subsidy might be that companies hardest hit by the pandemic downturn dont plan to return with the same workforce when restrictions are lifted, said Perrin Beatty, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Some sectors, such as aviation and hospitality, might not see the return of pre-pandemic activity for a long time, as international travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines are likely to remain in force until effective treatments are found for COVID-19, Beatty said. Business will be slower and some companies simply wont need as many workers as before the pandemic, even if the government offers to pay most of their wages, he said. The economic damage has been sufficiently severe that the business is not going to look like it did back in February, Beatty said. Theyre not going to maintain people on the payroll that its unlikely theyll ever be able to put back to work in the foreseeable future. Maeva Proteau, press secretary to federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, said laid off workers can apply for emergency aid from Ottawa, while business can still use the wage subsidy and other programs like the new government loan program for large businesses to survive the pandemic downturn. We will continue to strongly encourage all businesses to keep employees on payroll with the help of existing emergency programs and will continue to support workers in the airline sector, she said by email Tuesday. All his life, Steve Sultanoff, 66, had high cholesterol, a problem that runs in his family. When he was younger and didn't have great health insurance, he decided to participate in clinical trials to get better health care and help discover new medicine that would benefit him. He was put on statins, but those gave him terrible muscle aches. It took 30 years of participating in some 10 to 15 clinical studies before Sultanoff hit pay dirt: an injectable medication that lowered his cholesterol with almost no side effects. "I couldn't be happier," says Sultanoff, who lives in Irvine, California. The health industry needs clinical trials to test new medications before they are brought to market, and clinical trials need participants: healthy people and those with chronic conditions. But Americans, especially those age 65 and older, often aren't part of the very studies for new medications that could treat an aging population. "Historically, aging adults are not in clinical trials, even when testing for diseases that disproportionately impact older adults," says Lindsay Clarke, vice president of Health Education and Advocacy at the Alliance for Aging Research in Washington, D.C. There are several reasons for this. Some studies impose arbitrary age limits for enrolled participants. Others may use criteria that disproportionately affect older people, such as excluding those with multiple health problems or physical or cognitive impairments, writes Barbara Radziszewska, health scientist administrator, Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology for the National Institute on Aging, on the institute's website. As a result, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration have created new policies and guidelines to ensure that more people, especially those age 65 and older, are included in clinical trials. Be proactive If you want to participate in a clinical trial, the first step is to ask your general doctor or specialist if he or she knows of any that you could participate in. If the answer is no, it is easy to search and apply for such trials. All clinical trials nationwide and there are typically thousands going on at one time across the country are listed on the National Institutes of Health's searchable database Clinicaltrials.gov. The nonprofit Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation uses information from Clinicaltrials.gov, but in easy-to-understand language. Submit a brief form on its website and the group's staff might be able to help you find a clinical trial. For trials that address a particular health condition, check out the website of a well-regarded organization for that condition. For example, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research provides information about clinical studies for Parkinson's, while the National Organization for Rare Disorders does the same for its constituency. Review the terms Before starting any trial, you will be screened and, if accepted, given information about the trial and asked to sign that you understand the terms for participating. You should not sign on the spot, but take the paperwork home, read all the information and talk it over with a family member or friend. Experts say, among other things, it should be clear: -- How long the trial will take (they can be as short as a day or last for years). -- How often you'll need to visit a doctor's office or hospital. -- What the potential side effects are. -- If you can continue taking your regular medication. -- If researchers will talk with your regular doctor. -- If you will be paid for travel and other expenses, or a stipend (sometimes you are, sometimes you're not). For Genma Holmes, 52, from Hermitage, Tennessee, taking part in clinical trials was a matter of health and principle. As an African American woman, she is well aware of the negative association clinical trials have for black people, who have been subjected in the past, without their consent or knowledge, to sterilization and syphilis studies with horrific results. She is in the maintenance phase of a three-year clinical study for a medical procedure to treat hypertension. Holmes said the ongoing monitoring during the trial helped her change her lifestyle and lose weight; that plus the procedure means she is now completely off blood pressure medication. She also recruited about 20 people to participate in hers and other clinical studies. Doing a clinical trial, she says, was about "self-preservation and how to move the conversation in this community not just for people of color, but for everyone." TAIPEI, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The health-tech company iWEECARE announced that its world's smallest wearable thermometer Temp Pal, had been adopted to combat COVID-19. The cloud-based continuous temperature monitoring system can lower the risk of infections by early warning a fever and prevents the overwhelming of health systems by reducing physical contact between caregivers and patients. Temp Pal is currently used in protecting healthcare workers at Ireland's Cork University Hospital and Taiwan's Cheng Hsin General Hospital. It is also used for self-quarantine management in Nanjing City of China to reduce workloads and close contacts with people at high risk. Getting a fever is a key symptom of COVID-19. Temp Pal offers a cloud-based continuous temperature monitoring system and alerts when a fever is detected. The coin-sized soft patch, weighing only 3 grams and lasting 36 hours per battery charge, can transmit temperature data via mobile app or gateway to the cloud, allowing one-to-many centralized tracking and timely treatment. Ireland's Cork University Hospital, together with software firm 8West and University College Cork, creates a COVID-19 Remote Early Warning System (CREW) for healthcare workers. The system integrates Temp Pal's wearable thermometer into Sony's mSafety smartwatch and transmits temperature data to the cloud, allowing for people to go into self-isolation early, and thereby protect other healthcare workers. Temp Pal is used in controlling coronavirus in two ways, In healthcare institutions, Temp Pal allows healthcare workers to reduce direct contact with patients and monitor real-time temperatures of thousands of patients in the cloud. In Taiwan , the 1000-bed Cheng Hsin General Hospital deployed it and resulted in saving staffs' time, reducing record errors, decreasing risk of infection. When a community implements a self-quarantine policy, Temp Pal can help public health authorities monitor the temperature of people under quarantine remotely. It is used in China's Nanjing City for quarantine management. "Temp Pal is the solution to control infections of COVID-19 for healthcare workers. We hope this medically certified thermometer can help combat the pandemic and save lives," said Glen Tseng, CEO of iWEECARE. About iWEECARE Founded in 2014, iWEECARE innovates healthcare with Taiwan's strength in technology. Its first product, Temp Pal, offers the world's smallest and continuous thermometer. The company is funded by capitals from Silicon Valley, Singapore and Taiwan. It has now expanded to Europe and the rest of Asia. More information: iweecare.com Contact: William Lin +886-917517625 william@ezwebin.com NSW RFS lawyers asked the court if the cash could be donated to other charities She nominated the NSW RFS as the beneficiary and set a target of $30,000 Barber in January prompted an outpouring of goodwill and donations globally More than $51million raised by comedian Celeste Barber for bushfire relief will only go towards the New South Wales Rurual Fire Service, a court has heard. Barber in January prompted an outpouring of goodwill and donations from across the world when she launched the 'Please help anyway you can. This is terrifying' appeal on Facebook. She nominated the NSW RFS as the beneficiary of the campaign and set a funding target of $30,000. Barber - who boasts 7.1 million followers on Instagram - raised $51.3 million, the largest charity drive in Facebook's history. Celeste Barber originally directed the money to the NSW RFS Brigades Donations Fund, but was unaware money sent to this fund is only used on training, resources and fire equipment - not for volunteers and their families or fire-affected communities Barber used her star power to create a Facebook fundraiser on January 3, and encouraged 1.3million people to donate $51.2 million to the NSW RFS during the 2019/20 bushfire crisis After far exceeding her fundraising goal, she subsequently stated on social media that the money would also be distributed to rural fire services from other states, including Victoria and South Australia, victims of the summer bushfire crisis as well as wildlife funds. But the terms of the RFS Fund trust deed limit the donations to being spent on purchasing and maintaining firefighting equipment and facilities, training and resources as well as administrative expenses. Supreme Court Justice Michael Slattery on Monday reserved his decision as the NSW Rural Fire Service and Brigades Donations Fund sought legal clarity on the use of the money. It asked the court to decide how it could use the donations and whether they could pass on the money to other charitable causes. Lawyers acting for Andrew MacDonald, the chairman of the NSW RFS and Brigades Donations Fund, asked the court whether the money could be donated to other charities, brigades in states other than NSW, firefighters injured in the line of duty or the families of firefighters who have been killed. Australian Comedian Celeste Barber is pictured at ANZ Stadium in Sydney for the Fire Fight Australia concert Jeremy Giles SC told the Supreme Court on Monday that the RFS would give 'anxious consideration' to a trust benefitting injured or fallen firefighters. 'This application is not about Ms Barber's appeal and what was said during that appeal to the public,' Mr Giles said. 'Ms Barber's appeal was a spectacular success and the citizens of this state, of Australia and more broadly throughout the world were extremely generous in a time of considerable need.' The court heard there was agreement among lawyers for the RFS and NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman that the money could not be contributed to other charities and interstate rural fire brigades. Court documents reveal a high level of confusion among people who donated. While many posted on Barbers' social media supporting her drive to raise funds for the NSW RFS, others expressed a desire for their donations to go elsewhere. 'Is all this money going to the fire services or is it actually going to the victims who need this money????' one person said. Another wrote: 'My family and I donated because we love animals'. Justice Slattery said he would deliver his decision either late this week or early next week. 'I know the funds are there and people want to use them,' the judge said on Monday. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Chakana Copper Corp. (TSXV: PERU) (OTCQB: CHKKF) (FSE: 1ZX) (the "Company" or "Chakana"), has advanced the mineral occurrence and geological model of Breccia Pipe 1 (Bx 1, Fig. 1) at its Soledad project in Ancash, Peru. Bx 1 is one of twenty-three outcropping breccia pipes at Soledad and part of a cluster of 92 targets awaiting drill testing. This in-house study was conducted to document the controls on mineralization, to detail the distribution of gold, silver and copper within the upper-most part of the breccia pipe, and to look at various metal-mineralogical domains that will factor into the eventual resource models. Drill assays, mineralogy, and detailed core logs from the top 215m of the breccia pipe between an elevation of 4,345m (surface) and 4,130m were included in the study. This interval was selected because of the density of drill information and corresponding control on the pipe geometry, contacts, metal distribution, and breccia characteristics. The study is based on 6,787 assay intervals from diamond drill core previously reported between October 25, 2017 and October 18, 2018 (see Chakana's website and associated disclosure documents filed on Sedar for details). Sample intervals are dominantly 1 metre in length; some shorter sample intervals down to 0.1m were also collected to honor geologic contacts. Advisory: This is not a resource estimate. It is based upon the entire suite of continuous core samples from Bx 1. Average values quoted refer exclusively to said core samples and not the volume of enclosing rock. No advanced geostatistical treatment of the data, similar to that undertaken during resource estimation, has been applied. The results of this study are viewed in the light of exploration guidelines, including potential metal and mineral zoning relationships and what is required to test similar targets elsewhere at Soledad. Summary of Findings Based on this study, several important controls are recognized: Gold is relatively enriched in the top 70 metres of the breccia pipe, with assay intervals averaging 4.76 g/t from surface to 4,275m elevation. Assays intervals located from the edge of the breccia pipe toward the interior of the pipe, show increasing gold to 7 metres, averaging 2.61 g/t. Samples located from 7 to 15 metres average 1.65g/t, and then drop below 0.5 g/t for samples located in the inner- most part of the pipe. Copper and Silver content are most elevated in assay intervals within the margin of the breccia pipe, averaging 1.11% copper and 76.6 g/t silver from the contact to 3 metres into the breccia. Assay intervals located from 3 to 15 metres from the margin of the breccia, have copper and silver averages of 0.95% and 51.5 g/t, respectively. Like gold, samples located in the inner most part of the pipe have lower copper and silver values, averaging 0.42% and 25.5 g/t, respectively. The two most common breccia types observed in drill core are shingle and mosaic. Samples of shingle breccia average 2.55 g/t gold, 71.3 g/t silver, and 1.25% copper; samples of mosaic breccia averages 1.81 g/t gold, 50.9 g/t silver, and 0.91 % copper. Distinct vertical zoning is observed with higher gold near the surface and increasing copper and silver at depth with local elevated gold. "These results improve our understanding of mineralization at Soledad, and in particular the geological controls on gold distribution and zones with very high metal concentrations," said President and CEO David Kelley. "The potential of this project is enormous when you consider the number of targets to be tested and the fact that we have never seen the bottom of a breccia pipe yet or the causative intrusion. We look forward to testing these targets with an improved understanding of how these mineral systems form," added Kelley. Tourmaline Breccia Pipes Chakana has now identified twenty-three tourmaline breccia pipes on the Soledad land package and drill tested seven pipes to date. A unique aspect of tourmaline breccia pipe formation is that they do not reach the paleosurface; they occur at different elevations and are exposed at surface by erosion of the overlying rock column. They originate from a fluid-saturated intrusion at depth due to the accumulation of over-pressured volatile gases leading to a violent eruption that breaks the overlying rock column above the intrusion. Subsequently hydrothermal fluids invade the brecciated rock column, precipitating sulfide mineral assemblages in the void spaces in the breccia (cement) and often replacing clasts and matrix. Typical characteristics of tourmaline breccia pipes include 1) they continuously span vertical heights of 500 metres and more, 2) shapes that increase in diameter at depth toward the causative intrusion, 3) angular to flat tabular breccia clasts demonstrating minimal transport, 4) high amount of open space between the breccia fragments due to limited development of fine rock debris ("rock flour"), 5) sub-horizontal shingle breccia textures from clasts collapsing downward in the breccia pipe, and 6) high porosity of the breccia, particularly at the margin where the breccia contacts the wall rock. Elsewhere in South America, alteration mineral assemblages transition from quartz-tourmaline-sericite in the upper portion of the breccia pipe, to quartz-tourmaline-magnetite-secondary biotite in the deeper portion of the breccia pipe closer to the intrusion. Secondary biotite has not been seen within the breccia at Soledad in drilling to date, suggesting that the lower portions of the breccia pipes and the causative intrusion are preserved at depth. Mineralogy Petrographic studies are ongoing and have been carried out on drill core from different breccia pipes to determine mineralogy and paragenesis. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are the most common sulfide minerals, followed by varying amounts of sphalerite, galena and tetrahedrite, plus trace bournonite, boulangerite, and cosalite. Gold occurs both as free grains and inclusions in early pyrite, and in Bx 5, as a late free gold event that cross cuts all previous sulfide phases. This late free gold event has not yet been observed in Bx 1 but is suspected to exist based on the high gold assays in portions of the pipe. Arsenopyrite is abundant in the upper parts of Bx 1, but only occurs in trace amounts in Bx 5 and Bx 6. Gold has not been observed in association with arsenopyrite to date. Silver occurs primarily in galena, tetrahedrite and perhaps other yet recognized phases. Breccia Pipe 1 (Main and North Zones) Previous drilling at Bx 1 outlined mineralization to a depth of approximately 490m. During drilling, the shape of the breccia pipe was modeled using observed contacts measured by geologists logging core. The breccia pipe and mineralization are open at depth. The pipe forms a prominent bulge in the hill side at surface where it has been exposed by erosion. A second, blind breccia pipe was discovered 40m north of the main pipe (North Zone, Fig. 1) while drilling Bx 1 (Main Zone). The top of the North Zone is approximately 125m below surface. Given the proximity of the Main and North zones, data from each pipe were evaluated together. Figure 1 - View looking west at Bx 1 Main and North Zones showing distribution of drill traces (gray lines) and sample interval points (black dots) investigated in this study. To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2172/56135_1096cd5b048cd881_002full.jpg Metal Distribution Versus Breccia Characteristics All clasts observed to date at Bx 1 are from the enclosing wall rock, consisting of andesitic lithic tuff, andesite, and pre-mineral monzodiorite. Two primary breccia textures are logged at Soledad: 1) shingle breccia, and 2) mosaic breccia (Fig. 2). Shingle breccia has flat tabular angular clasts in general alignment due to settling or downward transport within the breccia pipe. Mosaic breccia has more equant angular to sub-rounded clasts due to greater transport of the clasts during formation (fluidization). Basic statistics for gold, silver and copper assays for each breccia type are shown in the table below. The higher results from shingle breccia are interpreted to reflect greater open space between the breccia fragments (higher porosity) compared to the mosaic breccia that often has a higher amount of rock flour matrix. In addition to breccia texture, the type of cement and matrix of the breccia is also logged. The two most common types of cement are sulfide minerals and tourmaline. Except near surface the strongest mineralization is in shingle breccia with sulfide cement, followed by mosaic breccia with sulfide cement. Shingle Mosaic Shingle Sulfide Cement Shingle Tourmaline Cement Mosaic Sulfide Cement Mosaic Tourmaline Cement n 1,896 4,152 1,014 881 2,117 2,063 Au g/t min 0.018 0.003 0.21 0.18 0.003 0.003 Au g/t max 33.60 42.30 33.60 17.87 42.30 35.45 Au g/t mean 2.55 1.81 3.46 1.45 1.68 1.94 Au g/t median 0.74 0.45 1.27 0.51 0.54 0.34 Ag g/t min 0.09 0.05 0.22 0.09 0.05 0.07 Ag g/t max 2,590.0 1,780.0 2,590.0 649.0 1,345.0 1,780.0 Ag g/t mean 71.3 50.9 86.8 52.9 69.2 31.3 Ag g/t median 32.4 14.3 40.0 21.9 25.3 6.5 Cu % min 0.001 <0.001 0.001 0.001 <0.001 <0.001 Cu % max 10.50 15.70 10.50 6.79 15.70 13.05 Cu % mean 1.25 0.91 1.61 0.81 1.44 0.34 Cu % median 0.77 0.12 1.12 0.35 0.86 0.02 Figure 2 - Example of breccia texture and cement type: a) shingle breccia with sulfide cement, b) shingle breccia with tourmaline cement, c) mosaic breccia with sulfide cement, and d) mosaic breccia with tourmaline cement. To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2172/56135_1096cd5b048cd881_003full.jpg Metal Distribution Versus Pipe Geometry Individual core samples were assessed relative to their location within the breccia pipe based on measuring the horizontal distance from the edge of the breccia pipe to the center of the sample interval. In this way, samples can be compared at various distances from the margin of the breccia pipe. Assay results for samples grouped by one metre intervals were averaged to see if the breccia pipe geometry affects the metal concentration (Fig. 3). Gold shows two distinct patterns: 1) increasing concentrations from the margin to 7m, then 2) decreasing concentrations towards the interior of the pipe. Copper and silver are elevated in samples located withing three metres of the margin, then have relatively consistent concentrations to 15m. Samples from the inner-most part of the breccia pipe have the lowest values. Figure 3 - Average metal values in core samples located at various distances (m) from margin of breccia pipe (relative position of contact with wall rock shown as vertical dashed line) for gold, silver and copper. Number of samples included in each interval distance shown in legend. To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2172/56135_1096cd5b048cd881_004full.jpg Metal Distribution Versus Elevation While logging core from Bx 1 it was apparent that distinct mineral zones exist. Corresponding drill assays showed that some intervals are elevated in gold, while others are elevated in copper + silver, and still others are elevated in all three metals. To examine metal distribution versus elevation, ternary diagrams were constructed to show the relative contribution of gold, silver and copper within a given elevation range. These plots emphasize zoning of metals within a given elevation and between elevations. No allowance for mining and processing recoveries are made. Results are shown for 5 elevation zones (Fig. 4). The highest elevation interval, from surface (4,345m) to the base of partial oxidation (4,310m), shows that gold is enriched with relatively minor contributions from silver and copper. In this zone pyrite is present but chalcopyrite, the dominant copper mineral, is completely oxidized. The second interval, from 4,310m to 4,275m, shows gold is still dominant, with increasing contribution from copper and silver. This interval contains moderate supergene copper enrichment (chalcocite and covellite) and primary sulfide mineralization. The third interval, from 4,275m to 4,225m has moderate to high metal values, equally distributed between copper, gold, and silver. This and the two lower elevation zones consist of primary mineralization. The interval from 4,225m to 4,175m has moderate to high metal values dominated by copper and silver. The deepest interval evaluated, from 4,175m to 4,117m, shows moderate to high metal values distributed between copper, silver and Metal prices used are gold: USD$1,500/oz, silver: USD$18/oz, and copper: USD$2.50/lbMetal Value Calculation Formula: [Au (g-m)(31.1035x1500)]+[Ag (g-m)(31.1035x18)]+[Cu (%-m)(2204.62100x2.5)] = Sum Metal Value (SMV)Percent of Metal Values Formula:[Au (g-m)(31.1035x1500)]SMVx100=Au Value%[Ag (g-m)(31.1035x18)]SMVx100=Ag Value%[Cu (%-m)(2204.62100x2.5)]SMVx100=Cu Value% The percentage of the total value for gold, copper and silver were then plotted on the ternary diagrams. This approach emphasizes metal zoning patterns that are suitable for exploration modelling. It has no bearing on mineral resources and none are implied. gold. This distinct metal zoning is shown spatially in Figure 5. Figure 4 - Ternary plots showing relative metal value for gold, silver, and copper for the five elevation zones (above sea level). Colored dots represent total metal value for each sample interval using USD$1,500 oz gold, USD$18 oz silver, and USD$2.50 lb copper. To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2172/56135_1096cd5b048cd881_006full.jpg Figure 5 - View looking west showing distribution of: A) gold, B) silver, and C) copper in the top 215 metre extent of Bx 1. Values plotted are gram-metre for gold and silver, and pound-metre for copper. Elevation ranges shown in Figure 4 indicated by dashed white lines. To view an enhanced version of Figure 5, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/2172/56135_1096cd5b048cd881_007full.jpg Conclusions Mineralization at Bx 1 is polymetallic with attractive concentrations of gold, silver and copper. Higher concentration intervals tend to cluster, creating domains of rock that will become key features within a resource estimate. Higher concentrations of metals occur in breccia types with high primary porosity. These zones are often located around the margin or outer extent of the breccia pipe. Distinct metal-mineralogical zoning is observed and likely relates to temperature variation with distance from the underlying fluid source. The Bx 1 model helps to set baselines and certain thresholds for the on-going exploration at Soledad and will be key to moving the project forward. Sampling and Analytical Procedures Chakana follows rigorous sampling and analytical protocols that meet or exceed industry standards. Core samples are stored in a secured area until transport in batches to the ALS facility in Callao, Lima, Peru. Sample batches include certified reference materials, blank, and duplicate samples that are then processed under the control of ALS. All samples are analyzed using the ME-MS41 (ICP technique that provides a comprehensive multi-element overview of the rock geochemistry), while gold is analyzed by AA24 and GRA22 when values exceed 10 g/t. Over limit silver, copper, lead and zinc are analyzed using the OG-46 procedure. Results of previous drilling and additional information concerning the Project, including a technical report prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, are made available on Chakana's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Qualified Person David Kelley, an officer and a director of Chakana, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD (signed) "David Kelley" David Kelley President and CEO For further information contact: Michelle Borromeo, Manager - Corporate Communications Phone: 604-715-6845 Email: mborromeo@chakanacopper.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking Statement Advisory: This release may contain 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 Chakana to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements or information relates to, among other things, the interpretation of the nature of the mineralization at the Soledad copper-gold-silver project (the "Project"), the potential to expand the mineralization, and to develop and grow a resource within the Project, the planning for further exploration work, the ability to de-risk the potential exploration targets, and our belief in the potential for mineralization within unexplored parts of the Project. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs but given the uncertainties, assumptions and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward- looking statements or information. The Company disclaims any obligation to update, or to publicly announce, any such statements, events or developments except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56135 With fewer people on the streets, and more in their homes, some big U.S. cities saw significant decreases in crime during the pandemic, according to statistics from 30 large and midsize cities and counties gathered by the Police Executive Research Forum. Some saw spikes in violent crime and auto theft, however, and police said closed businesses were more frequently targeted for burglaries. The Washington-based think tank compared crime statistics from March 16 to April 12, the outset of the coronavirus shutdown, with the same period in 2019. Of the 30 jurisdictions, 18 saw decreases in violent crime murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault as the pandemic hit the United States, which included a 33% drop in San Francisco, a 25% drop in New York City and a nearly 25% decline in Los Angeles. Washington and Baltimore both saw an 8% decrease in violent crime. But 12 cities saw increases, which included a 21% jump in Denver and a nearly 12% increase in Houston. Austin and Nashville were among the cities that saw smaller rises in violent crime. Homicide numbers were mixed deaths increased in nine cities, decreased in nine cities, and 12 reported no change. Slayings in Los Angeles dropped from 31 during that period in 2019 to 16 in 2020, but homicides in Nashville during that period rose from four to 14. Homicides in Baltimore rose from 20 in those weeks last year to 23 this year. In Washington, they went down, from 11 to 10. Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the research forum, said he and a number of police chiefs he had spoken to think "the pandemic has not dramatically altered traditional patterns of gang warfare, drug-related violence, and individuals using guns to settle personal disputes. These serious, deeply entrenched problems continue to drive much of the violence in our communities." Aggravated assaults increased in 13 of the 30 jurisdictions, with increases of at least 25% in Washington, Denver, Houston and Volusia County, Florida. READ MORE: A Philly cop who had the coronavirus and was on a ventilator for 20 days shares his story of hope As always with crime statistics, it is worth noting that these are only one month's worth of numbers, and the number of crimes, particularly homicides, can randomly fluctuate and are best assessed over longer periods to detect true trends. But the first month of the pandemic created unprecedented changes in American society, and it will be interesting to see whether some of the dramatic crime shifts in that month continue during the stay-at-home period and beyond. Property crimes, for example burglary, larceny and auto theft declined dramatically, with 25 of the 30 jurisdictions reporting drops in the March-April period this year. Baltimore saw a 43% decrease, Washington a 36% decrease and San Francisco a 46% decrease. Larcenies dropped in 28 of the 30 jurisdictions, the forum's data show. It figured that residential burglaries would plummet, as more people were staying home during the day. But Wexler said police chiefs report that business burglaries are surging as thieves target shuttered establishments and fewer cleaning crews are working in office buildings at night. He said commercial burglaries drove the overall burglary rate up nearly 44% in Seattle, 41% in Denver and 17.5% in New York City. Total burglaries fell 23% in Washington and 36.5% in Baltimore. Another side effect of the pandemic people not driving their cars nearly as much may have contributed to some spikes in auto theft. Auto thefts increased in 16 of the 30 jurisdictions, including a 59% rise in Austin and a nearly 26% rise in Salt Lake City. Auto thefts in Baltimore dropped nearly 35%, and the District saw a 2.5% drop. Police have been less busy during the pandemic, the statistics show. Twenty-nine of the 30 jurisdictions reported declines in calls for service. Only Prince George's County, Maryland, with a 3.4% rise, showed an increase, and Chicago saw a 25% drop in calls. Washington and Baltimore saw approximately 20% fewer calls for service. Arrests plummeted, too, as police joined the effort to incarcerate fewer people during the outbreak. Only 22 jurisdictions provided arrest data for the month, but 18 were down for Part I crime; for lesser Part II crimes, arrests were down in all reporting jurisdictions. Boston police arrested 66% fewer people for serious crimes, while authorities in Miami and Chicago arrested 61% fewer people and 53% fewer people, respectively. Washington saw 44% fewer Part I arrests, and Baltimore had 36.5% fewer Part I arrests. READ MORE: New details emerge in shooting death of Delco musician whose body was found in Mount Moriah crypt Wexler said police officials wonder whether the drop in arrests, as well as a pullback on community policing because of social distancing, will eventually lead to more crime. Traffic enforcement has been scaled back dramatically, Wexler said. In New York City and the state of California, police have expressed frustration about repeat offenders being released back to their communities, where they could possibly swiftly reoffend. Police are also on alert for increases in crimes related to the pandemics effect on unemployment, family financial troubles and domestic violence. That doesnt mean that the factory workers or retail clerks who lose their jobs today will become the burglars or bank robbers of tomorrow, Wexler said. But the desperation that comes with this level of economic hardship could impact domestic violence, child abuse and other types of crime. SRINAGAR: The security forces on Tuesday killed two terrorists in an encounter in Nawakadal in downtown Srinagar which began last night. The two slain terrorists were found to be associated with the Pakistan-backed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. Two automatic weapons and ammunition were also recovered from them, the Jammu & Kashmir Police said. Two security forces personnel were earlier injured in the encounter with the terrorists in the Nawakadal area, the Jammu and Kashmir Police had confirmed on Tuesday. The encounter began after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the area following inputs about the presence of terrorists there. A CRPP jawan and a Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel were injured in the firing by the terrorists. The encounter began around 2 am and there was a lull in firing for about five hours after that. A fresh contact was established with the terrorists around 8 am, the police said. The official said mobile internet and mobile telephony services, except on BSNL postpaid, have been snapped in the city as a precautionary measure. Earlier, Kashmir Zone Police, on its official Twitter handle, said, "#Encounter has started at #Kanemazar #Nawakadal area of #Srinagar. JKP and CRPF are on the job. Further details shall follow." Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen has suffered most losses in this year's anti-terror operations, according to the official figures. Of the total 69 terrorists killed so far, 22 belonged to Hizbul, which included some of the top commanders of the terror outfit. As per the data available, in the rapid anti-terror operations launched by Jammu and Kashmir's security grid in Kashmir this year, the terror outfits suffered a major blow as it lost its 22 terrorists, with latest being Riyaz Naikoo. The month of April turned out to be extremely deadly for these terrorists. A data compiled by the Jammu and Kashmir Police stated that a total of 69 terrorists, associated with various outfits, have been killed in Kashmir since January 2020 in the anti-terror operations launched by security agencies. Of the 69 terrorists, identification of 20 could not be done. It is believed that at least 20 foreign terrorists, who managed to sneak into this side of the Line of Control early last year, were eliminated by security forces in various encounter operations. Out of the total 69 terrorists, 18 died in the Jammu region while 47 were killed in Kashmir. The official record states that all 20 local terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen, six of Lashkar-e-Toiba, 11 of Jaish-e-Mohammad, 3 of Ansar Gazwat and three of Islamic State were neutralised by security forces. Last week, Hizbul suffered a blow when its top commander Riyaz Naikoo was killed during an encounter by Indian forces in Handwara's Beighpora village. A grieving grandmother has posted a heartfelt tribute after three-year-old twin girls perished in a house fire in the NSW town of Batlow. In what police described as a particularly horrific incident, the girls were pulled from the blazing home by Fire and Rescue NSW officers on Monday morning as their mother, Tanyka Ford, and a five-year-old sister watched on helplessly. Both girls died at the scene. The tragedy has reportedly rocked the small rural town, which was devastated by bushfires earlier this year. Tributes have flooded in for the two little girls, Aisha and Lailani, as family and friends mourn their sudden loss. Mother Tanyka Ford and her twin girls in a photo posted to Facebook. Source: Facebook/Tanyka Fordy RIP Nannys little angels, the girls grandmother posted online. Miss you so much. On Facebook, amid a wave of condolences from friends, the grandmother changed her profile picture to a photo of the two little girls taken in the house fire. My heart is breaking for you all. Sending my love, one person wrote. Rest in peace little ones, another posted. Neighbour Carol Flannery, who lived next door when the girls were born, described them as gorgeous and said the girls were the centre of the family. I was just shocked, beautiful little girls my heart goes out to the parents and grandparents, she told the ABC. Police said on Monday afternoon investigations into the tragedy were ongoing. The close-knit community of Batlow are grieving the three-year-old girls' deaths. Source: Nine News It's a particularly horrific incident, they're two little girls, two little twin girls, can you imagine? It's just devastatingly sad, Superintendent Bob Noble told reporters. You can only... imagine what they're going through and their broader family as well, obviously, is struggling. The cause of the fire is still being investigated, but authorities reportedly believe a wood fireplace was burning inside the home at the time. If there are lessons to learn then we should ensure this doesn't happen again, Supt Noble said. It goes to show people need to be very, very vigilant around safety, particularly at this time of year when people put fires inside homes. Story continues A report will be prepared for the coroner. 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 By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijan regularly includes the state-of-the-art weapons and equipment into the arsenal of its army due to the reforms carried out by President Ilham Aliyev, the Ministry of Defense reported on its website on May 19. "Hundreds of armoured vehicles, many patrol boats, warships, air defense systems, state-of-the-art equipment, fighter jets, military and transport helicopters, reconnaissance and combat drones, artillery, long-range missiles, rocket launchers, operational-tactical missile systems are a sign of the development of the military strength", the ministry said. The ministry noted that some of these modern weapons and equipment were demonstrated at the parade dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan on June 26, 2018. Today the Azerbaijani Army is among the 50 strongest armies in the world, the ministry reminded. "A number of military products produced in the country are also among the factors that serve to strengthen the potential of the army. Work carried out in this direction serves to further strengthen the military potential". Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense noted that along with military equipment, the country is also purchasing spare parts of these equipment. "Spare parts for armoured vehicles are purchased on the basis of relevant contracts, inspected by an internal commission, acted and included in the balance of the base", the ministry added. Spare parts in the military warehouses belong to "KAMAZ and "MAZ", produced in Russia and Belarus respectively. The spare parts accepted in the warehouse belong to the advanced countries that produce the equipment in accordance with certain standards. "Demand orders of military units, as well as orders issued by the Department of Weapons and Equipment of the General Directorate of Logistics in accordance with the relevant standards are carried out to the armoured tank warehouses located in the logistics battalions of the units. Then it is distributed according to the needs of military units", the ministry said. In addition, the ministry highlighted the fact that there are also spare parts in the warehouses that were made in Azerbaijan. "All spare parts are stored in warehouses neatly and in accordance with the relevant rules", the ministry concluded. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Mark Afable has filed a petition and proposed court order that would allow the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) to place Time Insurance Co. in rehabilitation. Time Insurance has close 200,000 policyholders for long-term care insurance or other types insurance, the OCI said. If the OCIs petition is granted, a special deputy commissioner will be appointed to oversee the operations of the insurance company. Time Insurance will remain in rehabilitation while OCI further assesses operations and Times financial viability. During this period policyholder claims, creditors, and employees will continue to be paid. Time Insurance Co. is a Wisconsin-based Time Insurance at one time offered life, annuity, health, and long-term care insurance policies. In late 2014, Time made the decision to enter run-off a process that meant the company was no longer writing new policies and was preparing to discontinue operations. As of June 30, 2019, Time had 199,268 policyholders of which 176,552 were still paying premium to Time. All policyholders and creditors will be notified within 30 days. Within 60 days after the court enters the order, the commissioner will submit a plan for rehabilitating Time Insurance Co. to the Circuit Court of Dane County. OCI named former Wisconsin Insurance Security Fund Executive Director Mark Femal of the Wisconsin-based accounting firm Strohm Ballweg as the special deputy commissioner for the rehabilitation. Source: Wisconsin OCI Topics Wisconsin The US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to permanently stop funding of the World Health Organization (WHO) and reconsider membership of the United States in the body The US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to permanently stop funding of the World Health Organization (WHO) and reconsider membership of the United States in the body, reports Reuters. If the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization, Trump told WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a letter posted on Twitter. In his letter Trump said the only way forward for the body was if it could demonstrate independence from China, adding that his administration had already started reform discussions with Tedros. Here's the full text of the letter: The White House Washington May 18, 2020 His Excellency Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Director-General of the World Health Organization Geneva, Switzerland Dear Dr Tedros: On April 14, 2020, I suspended United States contributions to the World Health Organization pending an investigation by my Administration of the organization's failed response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This review has confirmed many of the serious concerns I raised last month and identified others that the World Health Organization should have addressed, especially the World Health Organization's alarming lack of independence from the People's Republic of China. Based on this review, we now know the following: The World Health Organization consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from the Lancet medical journal. The World Health Organization failed to independently investigate credible reports that conflicted directly with the Chinese government's official accounts, even those that came from sources within Wuhan itself. By no later than December 30, 2019, the World Health Organization office in Beijing knew that there was a "major public health" concern in Wuhan. Between December 26 and December 30, China's media highlighted evidence of a new virus emerging from Wuhan, based on patient data sent to multiple Chinese genomics companies. Additionally, during this period, Dr. Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, told China's health authorities that a new coronavirus was causing a novel disease that was, at the time, afflicting approximately 180 patients. By the next day, Taiwanese authorities had communicated information to the World Health Organization indicating human-to-human transmission of a new virus. Yet the World Health Organization chose not to share any of this critical information with the rest of the world, probably for political reasons. The International Health Regulations require countries to report the risk of a health emergency within 24 hours. But China did not inform the World Health Organization of Wuhan's several cases of pneumonia, of unknown origin, until December 31, 2019, even though it likely had knowledge of these cases days or weeks earlier. According to Dr. Zhang Yongzhen of the Shanghai Public Health Clinic Center, he told Chinese authorities on January 5, 2020, that he had sequenced the genome of the virus. There was no publication of this information until six days later, on January 11, 2020, when Dr. Zhang self-posted it online. The next day, Chinese authorities closed his lab for "rectification." As even the World Health Organization acknowledged, Dr. Zhang's posting was a great act of "transparency." But the World Health Organization has been conspicuously silent both with respect to the closure of Dr. Zhang's lab and his assertion that he had notified Chinese authorities of his breakthrough six days earlier. The World Health Organization has repeatedly made claims about the coronavirus that were either grossly inaccurate or misleading. On January 14, 2020, the World Health Organization gratuitously reaffirmed China's now-debunked claim that the coronavirus could not be transmitted between humans, stating: "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." This assertion was in direct conflict with censored reports from Wuhan. On January 21, 2020, President Xi Jinping of China reportedly pressured you not to declare the coronavirus outbreak an emergency. You gave in to this pressure the next day and told the world that the coronavirus did not pose a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Just over one week later, on January 30, 2020, overwhelming evidence to the contrary forced you to reverse course. On January 28, 2020, after meeting with President Xi in Beijing, you praised the Chinese government for its "transparency" with respect to the coronavirus, announcing that China had set a "new standard for outbreak control" and "bought the world time." You did not mention that China had, by then, silenced or punished several doctors for speaking out about the virus and restricted Chinese institutions from publishing information about it. Even after you belatedly declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020, you failed to press China for the timely admittance of a World Health Organization team of international medical experts. As a result, this critical team did not arrive in China until two weeks later, on February 16, 2020. And even then, the team was not allowed to visit Wuhan until the final days of their visit. Remarkably, the World Health Organization was silent when China denied the two American members of the team access to Wuhan entirely. You also strongly praised China's strict domestic travel restrictions, but were inexplicably against my closing of the United States border, or the ban, with respect to people coming from China. I put the ban in place regardless of your wishes. Your political gamesmanship on this issue was deadly, as other governments, relying on your comments, delayed imposing life-saving restrictions on travel to and from China. Incredibly, on February 3, 2020, you reinforced your position, opining that because China was doing such a great job protecting the world from the virus, travel restrictions were "causing more harm than good." Yet by then the world knew that, before locking down Wuhan, Chinese authorities had allowed more than five million people to leave the city and that many of these people were bound for international destinations all over the world. As of February 3, 2020, China was strongly pressuring countries to lift or forestall travel restrictions. This pressure campaign was bolstered by your incorrect statements on that day telling the world that the spread of the virus outside of China was "minimal and slow" and that "the chances of getting this going to anywhere outside China [were] very low." On March 3, 2020, the World Health Organization cited official Chinese data to downplay the very serious risk of asymptomatic spread, telling the world that "COVID-19 does not transmit as efficiently as influenza" and that unlike influenza this disease was not primarily driven by "people who are infected but not yet sick." China's evidence, the World Health Organization told the world, "showed that only one percent of reported cases do not have symptoms, and most of those cases develop symptoms within two days." Many experts, however, citing data from Japan, South Korea, and elsewhere, vigorously questioned these assertions. It is now clear that China's assertions, repeated to the world by the World Health Organization, were wildly inaccurate. By the time you finally declared the virus a pandemic on March 11, 2020, it had killed more than 4,000 people and infected more than 100,000 people in at least 114 countries around the world. On April 11, 2020, several African Ambassadors wrote to the Chinese Foreign Ministry about the discriminatory treatment of Africans related to the pandemic in Guangzhou and other cities in China. You were aware that Chinese authorities were carrying out a campaign of forced quarantines, evictions, and refusal of services against the nationals of these countries. You have not commented on China's racially discriminatory actions. You have, however, baselessly labeled as racist Taiwan's well-founded complaints about your mishandling of this pandemic. Throughout this crisis, the World Health Organization has been curiously insistent on praising China for its alleged "transparency." You have consistently joined in these tributes, notwithstanding that China has been anything but transparent. In early January, for example, China ordered samples of the virus to be destroyed, depriving the world of critical information. Even now, China continues to undermine the International Health Regulations by refusing to share accurate and timely data, viral samples and isolates, and by withholding vital information about the virus and its origins. And, to this day, China continues to deny international access to their scientists and relevant facilities, all while casting blame widely and recklessly and censoring its own experts. The World Health Organization has failed to publicly call on China to allow for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, despite the recent endorsement for doing so by its own Emergency Committee. The World Health Organization's failure to do so has prompted World Health Organization member states to adopt the "COVID-19 Response" Resolution at this year's World Health Assembly, which echoes the call by the United States and so many others for an impartial, independent, and comprehensive review of how the World Health Organization handled the crisis. The resolution also calls for an investigation into the origins of the virus, which is necessary for the world to understand how best to counter the disease. Perhaps worse than all these failings is that we know that the World Health Organization could have done so much better. Just a few years ago, under the direction of a different Director-General, the World Health Organization showed the world how much it has to offer. In 2003, in response to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China, Director-General Harlem Brundtland boldly declared the World Health Organization's first emergency travel advisory in 55 years, recommending against travel to and from the disease epicenter in southern China. She also did not hesitate to criticize China for endangering global health by attempting to cover up the outbreak through its usual playbook of arresting whistleblowers and censoring media. Many lives could have been saved had you followed Dr. Brundtland's example. It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My Administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste. That is why it is my duty, as President of the United States, to inform you that, if the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests. Sincerely, Donald Trump A builder in China has narrowly escaped death after being impaled by an eight-inch steel spike in the brain. The sharp metal rod pierced into the 52-year-old's skull after falling from heights, according to the hospital that treated the worker. Around six inches of the pole became firmly lodged in the man's brain. He survived the accident after surgeons gave him an emergency open-brain operation which lasted for three hours, the hospital said. A CT scan (left) shows the sharp rod spearing through the patient's brain after piercing into his skull. The spike (right) measures 1cm (0.4in) in width and was part of an electric breaker The rare medical case was reported by the People's Hospital of Jiangmen in Guangdong province via a social media article today. According to the post, the steel spike speared into the builder's head at around 5pm on March 11. He was renovating a villa in Jiangmen at the time. The pointy pole measures approximately 20cm (7.8in) in length and 1cm (0.4in) in width, and was part of an electric breaker. The tool had been dropped by accident before ramming into the worker's head. The victim, known by his surname Chen, was knocked out immediately and rushed to the ER of People's Hospital by his colleagues. Doctors put Mr Chen under various medical checks while arranging an ICU bed for him. Doctors said the patient, Mr Chen, was on the brink of death after being rushed to the ER by his colleagues. The spike had been dropped by accident before ramming into the worker's head The hospital said Mr Chen was on the brink of death when medics wheeled him into the intensive care units following CT scans. A team of specialists, led by the hospital's deputy director and neurologist Dr Zhao Pengzhou, convened to discuss a plan for emergency surgery. 'The spike hit the patient almost in the middle of the head. It then poked through to the other side of the brain. The main risk of the operation was uncontrollable mass bleeding,' Dr Zhao said. An open-brain operation began at around 8pm three hours after Mr Chen got hit. The patient was put under general anaesthesia. He survived the accident after surgeons gave him an emergency open-brain operation which lasted for three hours, the hospital said. He then remained in a coma for 42 days until mid-April A surgeon is pictured looking at Mr Chen's wound ahead of an emergency open-brain -operation which lasted for around three hours. The 52-year-old worker is now recovering Dr Luo Jiangbing, the deputy director of the hospital's Department of Neurology, led the surgery. Two specialist surgeons and two anaesthetists assisted Dr Luo. The spike and Mr Chen's skull had been interlocked, and the surgeons had to cut part of Mr Chen's head to extract the foreign object, the hospital said. Medics then treated Mr Chen's wounds, removed the damaged brain tissue and repaired his Dura mater, a thick membrane that surrounds one's brain. The operation finished at around 11:15pm. Mr Chen remained in a coma for 42 days following the surgery and fortunately regained his consciousness on April 21. He is currently recovering from the operation. He can recognise his wife and speak basic phrases, according to the hospital. A Lebanese man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Minnesota to conspiring to export drone parts and technology from the US to Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. US Attorney Erica H MacDonald said Monday that Usama Hamade, 55, pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally export goods and technology. His brother, Issam Hamade, pleaded guilty in March in federal court in Minnesota. Prosecutors said the brothers acquired sophisticated technology for drones from 2009 to 2013 and illegally exported them to Hezbollah, which the US considers a terrorist organisation. The Hamades were arrested in February 2018 in South Africa and were extradited to the US last fall. According to an indictment, the parts included inertial measurement units, which can be used to track an aircraft's position, and digital compasses, which can be paired with the inertial measurement units for drone guidance systems. The parts also included a jet engine and 20 piston engines. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi: The Indian Railways on Monday (May 18, 2020) became the sixth country in the world to join the elite club of producing high horsepower locomotive indigenously. It was the first time, a high horsepower locomotive was operationalised on a broad gauge track in the world. The locomotive has been produced under the Make in India programme. The project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 10, 2018. The first 12000 HP made in India Locomotive, manufactured by Madhepura Electric Loco Factory situated in Bihar, was put into operation by Indian Railways from Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn Station. The loco is named WAG12 with Number 60027. The train departed from Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Station at 14:08 hrs in long haul formation for Dhanbad Division of East Central Railway, consisting of 118 wagons which travelled from Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn to Barwadih via Dehri-on-Sone, Garhwa Road. These locomotives are state of art IGBT based, 3 phase drive, 9000 KW (12000 horsepower) electric locomotive. The locomotive is capable of maximum tractive effort of 706 kN, which is capable of starting and running a 6000 T train in the gradient of 1 in 150. The locomotive with twin Bo-Bo design having 22.5 T (Tonnes) axle load is upgradable to 25 Tonnes with design speed of 120 kmph. This locomotive will be a game-changer for further movement of coal trains for Dedicated Freight Corridor. The locomotives can be tracked through GPS for its strategic use through embedded software and Antennae being lifted through the servers on the ground through a microwave link. The locomotive is capable of working on railway tracks with conventional OHE lines as well as on Dedicated Freight corridors with high rise OHE lines. The locomotive has air-conditioned driver cabs on either side. The locomotive is equipped with regenerative braking system which provides substantial energy savings during operations. These high horsepower locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving the average speed of freight trains. The Madhepura factory is the largest integrated Green Field facility built to the highest standards of quality and safety with a production capacity of 120 locomotives and spread across a massive 250 acres. Madhepura Electric Locomotive Pvt. Ltd. (MELPL) will manufacture 800 State of the Art 12000 HP Electric Freight Locomotives in 11 years and being one of the most power full-electric locomotives in the world will increase the speed of freight trains and will allow faster, safer and heavier freight trains to move across the country, thus reducing congestion in traffic. It will also lead to considerable savings in energy consumption through regenerative braking. As part of the project, the factory along with township has been set up in Madhepura, Bihar with a capacity to manufacture 120 locomotives per year. The project will create more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs in the country. More than Rs 2,000 crores has already been invested in the project by the company. Along with the factory, socio-economic development in Madhepura is being driven by this project. As part of CSR initiative skill centres are being set up in Madhepura to impart training to local people. The prototype locomotive was delivered in March 2018. Based on the test results having design issues, the complete locomotive including bogies has been redesigned. The new design of locomotive has been inspected by RDSO at the Madhepura factory and cleared for dispatch from the factory on November 16, 2019. Further RDSO has conducted oscillation trials at various speeds up to 132 kmph and the locomotive has passed oscillation trials successfully. The design was completed for the whole locomotive in a record time of four to six months and despite the initial hiccups and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it could not dampen the spirit of August initiative of IR, surpassing all odds, it could secure the permission of the Bihar Govt to resume operations at the Madhepura Factory putting the project back on track. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham announced a broad subpoena to be voted on this summer of former Obama administration officials as part of his investigation into the origins of the Russia probe. The subpoena seeks documents and testimony as Graham, a South Carolina Republican, probes the 'Crossfire Hurricane' investigation that Trump calls a 'hoax' and the greatest crime in history. The Committee in a release lists fired FBI Director James Comey, who testified in both the House and Senate during the Russia probe. Also mentioned are former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, former National Security Agency head James Clapper, former CIA director John Brennan, and Justice Department official Sally Yates. Sen. Lindsey Graham's committee plans to vote on a subpoena for James Comey, Andrew McCabe, James Clapper, John Brennan, Sally Yates, and others in its investigation of the origins of the Russia probe The list for the election-year probe reads like an enemies list of those the president believes went after his administration improperly. It comes after Graham declined Trump's online invitation that he call Obama himself to testify. It also doesn't include former Vice President Joe Biden, who has been identified as participating in efforts to 'unmask' for former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn. FBI Director James Comey testifies before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform following his announcement on Tuesday that he would recommend not to prosecute former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for maintaining a private server on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, on Thursday, July 7, 2016 In this May 23, 2017, file photo, former CIA Director John Brennan testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the House Intelligence Committee Russia Investigation Task Force Graham said the idea wasn't practical due to 'executive privilege' matters after Trump fumed about a 'political crime' and called on the South Carolina Republican to use his office to go after Obama. 'I am greatly concerned about the precedent that would be set by calling a former president for oversight,' Graham said Thursday. 'No president is above the law. However, the presidency has executive privilege claims against other branches of government.' Trump's attacks on Obama have only continued. He has repeatedly tweeted about 'Obamagate,' and bashes Obama officials including former Vice President Joe Biden for seeking to 'unmask' fired National Security Advisor Mike Flynn after he was caught up in intelligence intercepts in early 2017. Graham rejected the president's call to have former President Barack Obama testify President Barack Obama made comments interpreted as swipes at Trump in virtual commencement ceremonies Saturday 'The Obama Administration is turning out to be one of the most corrupt and incompetent in U.S. history. Remember, he and Sleepy Joe are the reasons I am in the White House!!!' Trump fumed on Twitter Monday, using his usual insult for his likely 2020 rival. The subpoenas are for 'documents, communications and testimony from witnesses.' A vote is set for June. The subpoena requires either the consent of the top Democrat or a majority on the committee. In addition to probing the origins of the Russia probe, Graham said he will explore 'the receipt or analysis of reports prepared by Christopher Steele (commonly referred to as the Steele dossier)' a reference to the golden showers dossier of material on Trump compiled by the ex-British intelligence officer. Here are a few things to know about the days nonvirus news: - Teen killed in rollover crash in Sargent County A 16-year-old boy is dead after a rollover in the southern valley. Officials say he was driving on Sargent County Road 4 just north of Cogswell Monday night when his car hit a deer and rolled multiple times in a ditch. State troopers say the teen was ejected during the rollover. - Man airlifted to Fargo after motorcycle crash A 19-year-old suffered serious injuries after a crash north of Jamestown Monday night. Officials say he was travelling westbound on a gravel roadway when his motorcycle entered a ditch and struck an embankment causing the motorcycle and the man to go airborne. Officials say he was not wearing a helmet. --Fire damages Brainerd City Hall Firefighters in Brainerd, Minnesota, are blaming a fire at City Hall on something to do with a construction project there. About a dozen employees were evacuated around noon, Monday when sire started on the roof. There's no word yet on the extent of damages. National and Internation Stories - A video from 2017 shows police in Georgia attempting to search Ahmaud Arberys parked car and when he refuses to let them and begins to walk back to the vehicle an officer tries to tase him. - Joe Bidens presidential campaign is bringing on the granddaughter of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez as a senior adviser to help with Latino outreach. Technavio has been monitoring the smart lighting market and it is poised to grow by USD 11.29 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 16% 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/20200519005690/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Smart Lighting Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Acuity Brands Inc., Bridgelux Inc., Eaton Corp. Plc, Electricite de France SA, General Electric Co., IDEAL INDUSTRIES Inc., OSRAM Licht AG, Signify NV, TVILIGHT Projects BV, and Zumtobel Group AG are some of the major market participants. The development of smart cities will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. The development of smart cities has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Smart Lighting Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Smart Lighting Market is segmented as below: Application Commercial Public Infrastructure Residential Others Geographic Europe North America APAC South America MEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43717 Smart Lighting 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 smart lighting market report covers the following areas: Smart Lighting Market size Smart Lighting Market trends Smart Lighting Market industry analysis This study identifies increasing adoption of LEDs as one of the prime reasons driving the smart lighting market growth during the next few years. Smart Lighting Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the smart lighting market, including some of the vendors such as Acuity Brands Inc., Bridgelux Inc., Eaton Corp. Plc, Electricite de France SA, General Electric Co., IDEAL INDUSTRIES Inc., OSRAM Licht AG, Signify NV, TVILIGHT Projects BV, and Zumtobel Group AG. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the smart lighting market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Smart Lighting Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist smart lighting market growth during the next five years Estimation of the smart lighting market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the smart lighting market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of smart lighting market vendors Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Application Market segments Comparison by Application Commercial Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Public infrastructure Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Residential Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Application Customer landscape 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 by geography Market drivers Market challenges Market trends Vendor Landscape Overview Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors Acuity Brands Inc. Bridgelux Inc. Eaton Corp. Plc Electricite de France SA General Electric Co. IDEAL INDUSTRIES Inc. OSRAM Licht AG Signify NV TVILIGHT Projects BV Zumtobel Group AG Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005690/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ No new information is being released about a dead body found in the Susquehanna River over the weekend due to the ongoing investigation, police said. The body was found around 3 p.m. Saturday in Upper Paxton Township, but police did not release details on who found the body or the exact location. The body, a man, has not been identified. State Police Public Information Officer Trooper Megan Ammerman said Monday that the autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday. No more information will be released until that is done. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 717-362-8700. Read more on PennLive: If you are a cruise ship worker with information you want to share with the WSWS, please contact us. On Friday, May 15, crew members on board the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) Majesty of the Seas staged a protest on the upper deck of the ship, demanding answers from the captain as to when they would be sent home. The protest came amidst a crisis in the cruise industry, in which some 200,000 workers worldwide have been stranded at sea as a result of the response by their employers, as well as global governments, to the coronavirus pandemic. As the WSWS reported last week, a large percentage of these crew members have now surpassed their 70th day at sea, many without pay, and some quarantined in rooms with no sunlight or fresh air and with minimal contact with the outside world. Gan and his girlfriend, Erico The protest on the Majesty followed a hunger strike by crew members on board RCCLs Navigator of the Seas beginning on May 7, in which 15 workers from Romania refused to eat until the company guaranteed their transit home. One striking worker, speaking anonymously to the Miami Herald, noted, We started this hunger strike because someone needs to do something. [] The point is our mental health. The mental health is dropping down. The worker gave their statement in the context of an April 30 incident on RCCLs Jewel of the Seas in which a crew member jumped overboard after remaining stuck on the ship since the beginning of the pandemic. Since the initial Herald report, there has been an additional crew member death from jumping overboard on the Regal Princess, one confirmed suicide on the Carnival Breeze, as well as several non-COVID-19 related deaths on other ships, which are widely suspected to have also been suicides. Protesters on the Majesty displayed signs reading, How many more suicides you need? and Do you sleep well, M. Bayley? The latter sign refers to Michael Bayley, the CEO of RCCL, whose spokespersons in prior statements with the Miami Herald have complained of the costs of crew repatriation as being too expensive. The Majesty of the Seas ship management has already taken action against these protesters. A worker currently on board reported to crew-center.com that the Majestys security forces telephoned individual crew cabins listing the names of the protesters to all other crew as an intimidation tactic. It is [a] serious retaliation, and [it goes] against human rights, because all of us, like free people, have [the] right to say our opinion, the worker explained. We just want [the] world to hear us, because all of us want to be back home with our families. Another worker onboard the Majesty spoke to the WSWS anonymously, also for fear of retaliation from RCCL. This was a peaceful protest to express our discomfort and unhappiness with our company, the worker said. But here on board, courage is not a good thingpeople get labeled as trouble-makers for it. If you stand out from the crowd and you are not as obedient as expected, then youre a problem. Gan Sungaralingum, from Mauritius, a watch specialist for the onboard shops on the stranded Island Princess, spoke to the WSWS about the conditions faced by crew members worldwide. In this situation, everyone should be home. Most seafarers are providing for their families. At this time, they should be with their wives, and husbands, their sons, and their daughters. Sungaralingum continued, Both the governments and the cruise industry are responsible for this situation. Authorities, for example, like the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] are allowing ships to come into their waters for fuel and supplies, but few governmental agencies are coordinating a push to have their own nationals returned as soon as possible. Instead, they are only issuing guidelines to the cruise ship companies and therefore, further preventing their own citizens from going home. In response, the cruise companies find really roundabout solutions to repatriating their crew rather than complying with the guidelines and incurring expenses. One example of such guidelines were the ones issued by the US Coast Guard in early April, in conjunction with the CDC, forbidding travelers from cruise ships to board commercial flights. Instead, companies would be required to charter private transportation for their employees returning home, at the companys own expense. My girlfriend is a Japanese citizen. We were originally together on the Sky Princess, and then we were separatedthey put her on the Emerald Princess after I arrived here on the Island Princess, Sungaralingum explained. She is now in Barbados where the ship awaits other stranded crew members, and it is estimated that she will not get home until July. Instead of spending the money to get crew direct flights home, companies are threatening crew for speaking to the press. Meanwhile, were mentally and emotionally drained. Just send us home. When the pandemic first struck in early-March, all of the borders were open. There was a period in which everybody could have been sent home safely, and inexpensively. Instead, the companies only sent workers home whose contracts were ending soon, while keeping everyone else on board. Every cruise line then reassured everybody, okay, were working on getting you home shortly, until it was too late. The companies have tried to cover their tracks by giving stranded crew members good food, and putting them up in nice, passenger cabins. Theyre trying to blind everybody but they had already failed from the beginning. For nearly two months, crew members of all nationalities have experienced obstacle after obstacle to returning home. Between the companies blatantly irresponsible policies in regards to keeping ships staffed during the initial outbreak, the bargaining between corporations and port authorities in terms of repatriation expenses, and worldwide governments outright refusal to fight for the basic rights of their citizens, the situation facing ship workers is the result of the capitalist systems failure to provide for the basic needs of the worlds population. Speaking about the workers hunger strike on the Navigator of the Seas, Sungaralingum said, A lot of people tend to resist struggle for fear of their livelihoods. But we dont need to fear now because the world is changing. If we stay in these old ways, nothing is ever going to get better, so we need to hear everybodys voice. People who are afraid of retaliation and not getting to work need to know that if you stay silent, were still all going to suffer. Everybody needs to come out in front. If we could ask Martin Luther how to make sense of the current pandemic, he would likely encourage us to view it as the alien work of God. The phrase appears in his earliest lectures on the Psalms and again in his lectures on Romans and Hebrews, where he develops the defining contours of his evangelical theology. It directly informs the advice he gives in his much-quoted Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague and is central to the way he interprets suffering and misfortune. Luther believed that God is utterly sovereign over all things, including suffering of various kinds. God is even sovereign over the Devil, whose diabolical plots in the world the Wittenberg reformer took quite seriously. Luther was very honest about the reality of suffering in the world, along with the pain and despair that it causesthere is nothing Pollyannaish about his theology. But Luther firmly believed that God is good. Gods very nature is ardent, self-giving lovethis is foundational for Luther. Human beings, on the other hand, are deeply sinful and strongly prone to self-deification in all things. Even Christians have to engage in a daily, life-or-death battle with the old Adam (or old Eve), which they can only win by divine grace. Many are also proneas he himself was proneto see God as an angry judge who is easily provoked to wrath. Luther knew firsthand that when such souls experience suffering, they nearly always view it as divine punishment for sin. The phrase alien work of God was Luthers pastoral response, putting all of these beliefs and concerns together and offering some comfort in the midst of overwhelming suffering. The term expresses Luthers desire to assure Christians that God is for them, never against them, despite appearances to the contrary. According to Luther, suffering is Gods work. That is, God is its ultimate cause, although not necessarily its immediate causeGod can sovereignly use the Devil or other agents as tools to accomplish his larger redemptive purposes in the world. But suffering is not Gods proper work, which is always to love and save. Suffering is alien to God in the sense that it is foreign to his nature and intentions, even though he is still sovereign over it. This means that in the midst of suffering, faithful Christians shouldnt read their lives for signs of Gods attitude toward them. Rather, they should trust what Scripture says about Godthat he is goodnot what fallen reason concludesthat he is not. Luther thought that if people relied on their own unaided efforts to find and understand God in the midst of the reality of suffering, they would wind up concluding that God is absent or that God doesnt love humans. But by faith, Luther believed, we can see through suffering to the true nature of God. Luthers emphasis on suffering as the alien work of God was connected to his larger conviction that God is mostly hidden from our view in this life. God can be discovered, however, in the last place fallen human reason would expect to find himthe Cross. In fact, Luther once asserted, drawing directly on 1 Corinthians 1:182:5, that God can be found only in suffering and the cross. According to Luther, God hides from view to confront us with our sin, which necessitates this veil, and to drive us to know him by faith, which is itself a divine gift. Luther refers to such faith as kunstan art or craftstressing that while faith is essential to the Christian life, it is also difficult, requiring daily practice in surrender to God. Article continues below In his Treatise on Good Works, Luther explains how such faith rescues the Christian from despair during suffering: It is an art to have a sure confidence in God when, at least as far as we can see or understand, he shows himself in wrath, and to expect better from him than we now know. Here God is hidden, as the bride says in the Song of Songs [2:9], Behold there he stands behind our wall, gazing in through the windows. That means he stands hidden among the sufferings which would separate us from him like a wall, indeed, like a wall of a fortress. And yet he looks upon me and does not forsake me. He stands there and is ready to help in grace, and through the window of dim faith he permits Himself to be seen. And Jeremiah says in Lamentations 3 [vv. 3233], He casts men aside, but that is not the intention of his heart. Luther, the father of evangelical Protestantism, would want the faithful Christian to know that COVID-19 is not the proper work of God. Rather, it is the alien work of God that summons us to know the true intentions of his heart by the art of faith, even as it is working to conform us to the image of Christ and his self-sacrificial love. Luther would want to console us with these words, especially those of us who are inclined to doubt and despair. The current pandemic is dark and menacing for many of us, and it is easy to wonder whether there is a good and sovereign God in heaven or not. Luther would welcome and even encourage such honest questions. But he would finally want to teach us how to glimpse our loving yet hidden God as he beholds us in grace through the window he has placed in this wall of suffering. This window is faith, dim faith, which clings passionately yet always imperfectly to the Word and its promises that God loves us in all things, including suffering. Dim faith may be all we can muster in these difficult days. Its frequently all I can muster. But it can suffice to assure us of what we most need to know: Our God is with us and for us in this crisis; he does not forsake us but eagerly seeks to help us, for this is his true heart. All of this may seem strange to us, but such is the alien work of God. Ron Rittgers holds the Erich Markel Chair in German Reformation Studies at Valparaiso University. He is the author of The Reformation of Suffering: Pastoral Theology and Lay Piety in Late Medieval and Early Modern Germany, along with other book chapters and articles on Christian responses to suffering in the past. Credit unions across the three Prairie provinces have signed an eight-year multi-million contract with IBM Canada to digitally transform and modernize credit union payment services. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/5/2020 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Credit unions across the three Prairie provinces have signed an eight-year multi-million contract with IBM Canada to digitally transform and modernize credit union payment services. The arrangement will mean that individual credit unions will be able to add services confident that the protocols will be consistent across the banking world. The new joint venture is between the credit union trade associations in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba who collectively represent more than 75 credit unions. Wilson Griffiths the senior vice-president of member solutions for Credit Union Central of Manitoba, said it is an important development for the on-going and future competitiveness of credit unions in the province. "This is about the future and having a modern platform for payments that will have scale and volume way beyond just Manitoba credit unions," he said. Credit unions have been surprisingly adept at introducing digital technologies like ATMs and debit cards and while the new payment platform will not necessarily mean a number of new services will immediately be introduced, it will set the stage for the future. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. "It will make it much easier (to introduce new services)," Griffiths said. "This will be a standardized, modernized platform that credit unions can add functionality to, either individually or in groups or in partnership with fintechs, using standard protocols." He said the new platform is designed to make it much easier to deploy new services with much less risk. Canadians are increasingly using digital payments over cash and regulations are changing to keep pace with those demands. According to Payments Canadas annual Canadian Payment Methods and Trends report released in December, electronic payments account for 73 percent of all transaction volume versus cash at 21 percent. IBM, which is already partnered with Payments Canada which operates the payment clearing and settlement system in Canada, will manage the system in a private cloud that is hosted on IBMs public cloud. It will be designed to meet strict regulatory requirements for financial data transmission, security and privacy, including a real time fraud detection capability. Dave McCann, managing partner, global business services for IBM Canada, said, "By hosting its payments platform in the cloud, we will ultimately enable credit unions the flexibility to rapidly innovate new digital member experiences for businesses and members across all payment types in a more efficient, safe and resilient manner." martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Asip Hasani (The Jakarta Post) Surabaya Tue, May 19, 2020 12:50 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8fa6ae 1 National large-scale-social-restrictions,COVID-19,East-Java,surabaya,PSBB Free The East Java administration has revoked its permit that allowed Al Akbar Mosque in Surabaya to hold Idul Fitri mass prayers following criticism from experts who warned of the consequences of opening up mosques to large crowds during the COVID-19 pandemic. East Java provincial secretary Heru Tjahjono said the administration had sent a letter to Al Akbar Mosque, the largest mosque in the city, that annulled the permit that was signed by Heru on behalf of East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa on May 14. "Considering Surabaya COVID-19 cases have yet to decrease, with the new letter, we declare our previous letter to Al Akbar Mosque as no longer valid," he told reporters on Monday. Al Akbar secretary Helmy M. Noor said the mosque management understood and accepted the governor's decision. "To avoid any unintended consequences, Al Akbar Mosque will not perform Idul Fitri mass prayers," he said. Helmy said Al Akbar, also known as the Great Mosque of Surabaya, had actually planned to limit the number of followers who were allowed to join Idul Fitri prayers to only 4,000 people in order to comply with the physical distancing rules. The figure, he said, was 10 times lower than the mosques maximum capacity of 40,000 people. Read also: Greater Surabaya PSBB rendered useless as East Java allows mass prayers: Epidemiologists Surabaya city, the hardest hit region in the province, along with its satellite regencies of Sidoarjo and Gresik, previously extended large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) for another 14-day period up until May 25. The capital city of East Java has seen a continuous rise in COVID-19 cases despite the social restrictions. Of the 2,281 cases and 224 fatalities in East Java as of Monday, Surabaya recorded 1,109 cases and 132 fatalities, while Sidoarjo had 322 cases and 33 fatalities. Separately, epidemiologist Windu Purnomo, who leads a team of epidemiologists from Airlangga Universitys public health faculty, welcomed the decision to revoke the permit and uphold the restrictions. However, he said the PSBB would not have a significant impact in flattening the curve of infection if people continued to ignore the rules. "Ahead of Idul Fitri, we see people flooding malls and supermarkets ignoring physical distancing rules. The government should also pay attention to this," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. It was a question from a student that made principal Fiona McKenzie ponder if her small school was making the wrong call in heading back to full-time classes next week. "Why do we have to be in the classroom five days a week when our teachers dont?" the girl asked as students and staff at Village High School discussed the return. Ms McKenzie was stumped. Village High School principal Fiona McKenzie. Credit:Simon Schluter Village High School, a new independent school in South Gippsland, makes a point of doing things differently. Cookie Preferences Cookie List Cookie List A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website when visited by a user asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. 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You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated sale of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website. Japan braces for worst postwar slump as pandemic tips economy into recession FILE PHOTO: Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Tokyo By Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy slipped into recession for the first time in 4-1/2 years in the last quarter, putting the nation on course for its deepest postwar slump as the coronavirus crisis ravages businesses and consumers. Monday's first-quarter GDP data underlined the broadening impact of the outbreak, with exports plunging the most since the devastating March 2011 earthquake as global lockdowns and supply chain disruptions hit shipments of Japanese goods. Analysts warn of an even bleaker picture for the current quarter as consumption crumbled after the government in April requested citizens to stay home and businesses to close, intensifying the challenge for policymakers battling a once-in-a-century pandemic. "It's near certainty the economy suffered an even deeper decline in the current quarter," said Yuichi Kodama, chief economist at Meiji Yasuda Research Institute. "Japan has entered a full-blown recession." The world's third-largest economy contracted an annualised 3.4% in the first quarter, preliminary official gross domestic product (GDP) data showed, less than a median market forecast for a 4.6% drop. The slump came on top of an even steeper 7.3% fall in the October-December period, with the consecutive quarters of contraction meeting the technical definition of a recession. Japan last suffered recession in the second half of 2015. The coronavirus, which first emerged in China late last year, has ravaged the global economy as many nations went into strict lockdowns to curb the outbreak that has so far killed over 310,000 people worldwide. The pandemic has been massively disruptive on supply chains and businesses, particularly in trade-reliant nations such as Japan. Indeed, the fallout of the virus on corporate Japan was telling with exports diving 6.0% in the first quarter, the biggest decline since April-June 2011. "Exports to China began to fall in February, followed by a wave of slumping shipments to Europe and the United States," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute. Story continues "Exports were also hurt by slumping inbound tourism," which counts as a drop in non-residents' purchases of Japanese services, he said. DEEPER SLUMP, SLOWER RECOVERY The shakeout in global trade was underlined in recent March data, with exports shrinking the most in nearly four years due to plunging U.S.-bound shipments. Even the nation's major globe-trotting manufacturers weren't spared the pandemic's sweeping impact. Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> has said it will cut domestic vehicle production by 122,000 units in June and expects an 80% drop in full-year operating profit. The gloom in Japan is expected to deepen over coming months. Analysts polled by Reuters estimate Japan's economy will shrink an annualised 22.0% in the current quarter, which would be a record decline, with pressure on output intensifying after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in April declared a nationwide state of emergency amid the widening pandemic. The emergency was lifted for most regions on Thursday, but remained in effect for some big cities including Tokyo. Japan has so far reported 16,337 coronavirus cases and 756 deaths. Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of Japan's $5 trillion economy, slipped 0.7% in January-March, less than a market forecast for a 1.6% drop, as robust demand for daily necessities partially offset the impact on services spending. All the same, it marked the second straight quarter of decline, as households endured the double-whammy of the coronavirus and a sales tax hike to 10% from 8% in October last year. Capital expenditure fell 0.5% in the first quarter after plummeting 4.8% in October-December last year, the GDP data showed, suggesting that uncertainty over the outlook is discouraging companies from boosting spending. Taken together, domestic demand knocked 0.7 percentage point off GDP growth, while external demand shed 0.2 point. All of this has put a strain on the labour market. The jobless rate in March rose to its highest in a year, while job availability slipped to a more than three-year low. The government has already announced a record $1.1 trillion stimulus package, and the Bank of Japan expanded stimulus for the second straight month in April. Abe has pledged a second supplementary budget later this month to fund fresh spending measures to cushion the economic blow from the outbreak. Still, many analysts warn that government support will come too little, too late. "As always in Japan, the implementation is very slow. It will take the later half of the second quarter (and) the third quarter" for government stimulus to kick in, said Martin Schulz, chief economist at Fujitsu. "The recovery will be slower than many are hoping for ... To recover from this crisis, it will take about two years at least." (Reporting by Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto; additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko and Daniel Leussink; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) At least 5,000 Nigerians have moved to Niger Republic for safety, says Ibrahim Gobir, senator representing Sokoto east. The lawmaker made the disclosure while speaking during the plenary session on Tuesday. Following a motion raised by Sabi Abdullahi, the senator representing Niger north, on the need to enhance security operations in Niger state, Gobir described the situation in Sokoto state as pathetic. The senator said while the Nigerien army was protecting Nigerians and its citizens from banditry and other criminal activities, Nigerias military looks the other way round. Advertisement The situation in Sokoto east as far as armed banditry is concerned is pathetic and tragic because it is only the Nigerien army that has been coming to their rescue while the Nigerian Army looks the other way round, he said. Read Also: Former Sokoto State Governor Dies At 82 Based on very reliable and verifiable information from the area, many a time, the people of the affected areas called on Nigerian army for help and protection against the bandits but no response. The Nigerien army has been assisting in wading off the bandits, the very reason why not less than 5,000 people in the affected areas have migrated to Niger Republic for safety. The lawmaker noted that the affected people only get help from Niger Republic and not from Nigeria be it from the military or the police. A couple have lost their appeal over a finding Danske Bank was entitled to summary judgment for some 1.36m against them under a company loan guarantee. The three-judge Court of Appeal said the evidence advanced by Martin and Pauline Shortt was insufficient to support their claims they had an "arguable" defence entitling them to a full hearing. Giving the judgment today, Ms Justice Una Ni Raifeartaigh said Danske sought judgment under a July 2005 guarantee of the defendants to jointly and severally guarantee payment on demand of all sums due by Blackwood Taverns Ltd, of which both were directors. The total liability under the guarantee was not to exceed 1.5m. The bank issued a demand to the company on September 18, 2013, giving it 24 hours to make the payment. The judge said the bank, apparently before the 24 hours had expired, appointed a receiver the following day over the assets of the company, including the premises known as Dagwells Bar & Restaurant. In October 2013, the bank demanded payment by the defendants, under their guarantee, of the sums due by the company. In May 2014, the receiver sold the Dagwells premises and the net profits were credited to the company's account. In 2015, the bank issued proceedings for summary judgment against the couple under their guarantee. They opposed its application on grounds including claims bank officials had told Mr Shortt the guarantee would not be enforceable and he was a mentally vulnerable person at the time. They appealed after the High Court found they had made out no arguable defence. Dismissing their appeal, Ms Justice Ni Raifeartaigh said this case could be easily decided on the ground of 'sufficiency of evidence' without the need for the court to wade into "deeper waters" concerning issues regarding collateral contracts. This case fell into the category of cases where the evidence put forward by a defendant is so implausible, lacking credibility or otherwise thin that even the lesser standard of an arguable case has not been met, she said. Mr Shortt had claimed two bank officials told him in late 2005 the guarantee would not be enforced, she said. Mr Shortt's own sworn statement said that conversation took place six months "after" the guarantee was signed in July 2005, she said. While the couple's counsel had argued Mr Shortt had made a mistake in his sworn statement about the signing date, that mistake suggestion was not set out in sworn evidence. Even if one accepted a mistake was made, it made "no difference" to the outcome for reasons including there was no written note of the conversation with the bank officials and Mr Shortt first raised this issue in response to the bank's summary judgment application, having not raised it in the intervening years. The evidence was "so scant" in relation to this alleged collateral contact it failed to meet the low threshold for a plenary hearing, she said. The couple had also made out no defence on "extremely vague" grounds they had a counterclaim concerning the alleged sale of the pub premises by the receiver at a loss, she held. Nor was there a defence on the basis of Mr Shortt's "bare assertion", at the time the guarantee was signed, he was a mentally vulnerable person suffering from an unspecified illness, she held. Thermometers were already in high demand and the demand continues to increase as more states begin to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic. Demand is up 900% from American Diagnostic Corporation, one of the nations largest thermometer manufacturers, Marc Blustein CEO told WWLP. Over the past few months, the average consumer, plus health care providers were ordering thermometers more. Now states that are allowing businesses to reopen are often requiring temperature checks, which means companies are also buying the devices in mass bundles. You cannot make enough [thermometers] right now, Howard Karesh, vice president of corporate communications for Hillrom, a major medical supply company, told CNN Business. Ranging from GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler to Springfield city offices, businesses across Massachusetts are among those requiring temperature checks. But according to Morning Consult, this might not be making people feel any safer. According to a recent poll, only 31% of those asked said theyd feel safer with temperature checks of attendees and patrons, and 13% said it would make them feel less safe. Related Content: MA Rajeev Kumar By Express News Service KANNUR: Granddaughter Ifaya Jahanara was the happiest when her grandmother came back to the house after a long gap of around three months. Her grandmother, KK Shailaja, the health minister of the state, was a bit sad too when she had to go back to Thiruvananthapuram leaving the two-year-old daughter of her son Lasith behind on the very next day itself. Ippumol, as she is fondly called, cried loudly as her grandmother, left for Thiruvananthapuram to resume her fight against the pandemic, which she has been leading from the front ever since the beginning of the disease in the state. She came last here before this on February 18, said K Bhaskaran, husband of Shylaja. She never stayed away from home for such a long period, he said. Minister departed from Thiruvananthapuram by road on May 15th and reached her house Arathi at Pazhassi near Mattannur around 4.30 am on Saturday. Since she was having a tough three months with non-stop meetings and other engagements, nobody was informed about the visit. But, somehow, people from the media knocked at the door very early on Saturday, said Bhaskaran. ALSO READ: Health Minister KK Shailaja - The woman who helped Kerala combat coronavirus Luckily we could have breakfast together with our son Lasith, his wife Megha and Ippumol, said Bhaskaran, who was the former chairperson of Mattannur municipality. While speaking to the media persons, she cautioned that the next phase of the fight would be so crucial. She also had expressed confidence that the state would be able to sail through this phase too with the support of the committed service of the health department and others. Shailaja also didnt forget to send the message to the public through the media that, to continue with the upper hand the state has achieved so far, the people of the state should be extra careful to follow the lockdown restrictions strictly. When one group left, it was the turn of the next group to show up and asking questions, he said with a smile. "And there were countless phone calls from the public and officials in connection with the COVID situation in the state." All this time, the two-year-old was trying to attract the attention of the grandmother in her own style. "She was the happiest to see her grandmother back", said Bhaskaran. And we had a tough time pacifying the crying child when Shylaja had gone back to Thiruvananthapuram. Both Bhaskaran and their son Lasith, who is working as an assistant manager at Kannur International Airport, are very active in the COVID relief activities in the area. She came here expecting some rest from the hectic activities at the capital coordinating the COVID fight. But, unfortunately, life remains the same for her, whether it is in Thiruvananthapuram or at Mattannur, said Bhaskaran. The lady has gone back to Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday and duly immersed into her hectic schedules. The fight against the pandemic continues, and the strong woman goes ahead with the task at hand, unmindful of the family waiting for her next return home. Students at El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera take an AP U.S. government test. (Los Angeles Times) Alexa Macias studied for months for her Advanced Placement calculus exam and was devastated to see her hard work negated last week when she ran into a technological glitch that prevented her from uploading her answers and completing the test. "My stomach dropped," said Macias, a junior at Felicitas & Gonzalo Mendez High school in Boyle Heights. "I was in shock. I thought this was going to look so bad on my college applications." That shouldn't happen again or so says the College Board, which owns and administers the AP tests. As the second week of AP testing began Monday, the College Board rolled out a new safeguard allowing students to email their responses if they encounter problems submitting their test answers. Trevor Packer, a College Board senior vice president, announced on Twitter that students who fail to submit their exams through the standard process will immediately be notified that their response was not received and will be given an email address, unique to them, to use instead. However, the tens of thousands of students who could not submit their responses last week are not eligible to use the safeguard retroactively in order "to protect the security and validity of exams," Packer said. The College Board says those students made up less than 1% of the nearly 2.2 million who took the exams, which test mastery of college-level curricula and can, with a passing score, lead to college credit. Although officials initially considered canceling the tests after the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to shut down, they scrambled to set up the first-ever online AP tests after a survey of 18,000 students showed that 91% supported taking them. College Board officials say their systems never malfunctioned, and the problems appear to have been caused by technological problems on the students' end. They advised students to update their browsers, disable plug-ins and make sure their devices are set up to capture JPEG files for those who want to take photos of their work and attach them to the exam. Story continues "Though the vast majority of students were able to submit their responses successfully," Packer wrote, "we share the deep disappointment of those who weren't." AP students took nearly 2.2 million AP Exams last week, and were so proud of every student who tested. However, some students had tech challenges submitting their responses. So we're providing an extra safeguard for students moving forward. https://t.co/mZqxKiODsD pic.twitter.com/PL3keAZZDk Trevor Packer (@AP_Trevor) May 17, 2020 That response, however, is small comfort to Theo Detweiler, a senior at Malibu High School. Before the AP calculus test last Tuesday, he made sure his technology was updated, practiced the demo exam twice and successfully uploaded his practice work via his phone. But when he tried to do the same thing during the real test, he said, he kept getting an error message. "I felt sabotaged," he said. "I was upset because this was the most important test I'll be taking ... the one I knew for sure would place me at a higher level at college." On Monday, he took the AP environmental science exam with no problems but remained annoyed that the email fix came too late to help him with his calculus test, which he will have to retake next month. "I'm glad they're doing this, but it would have been more helpful last week," he said. Micah Gold, a sophomore at Harvard-Westlake School, echoed those sentiments. He was unable to submit his responses for his AP computer science exam last Friday even though his devices, including an iPhone XR and a new Lenovo computer, were all up to date. He said he is not nervous about taking a retest since computer science is one of his strengths, but added, "If you're going to give me a test, I want a test that works." His mother, Stephanie Gold, was upset that the College Board had allowed the tests to go forward last week despite the problems and then, in her view, blamed students for them. "The grown-ups leave it to the kids to take responsibility," she said. "It's really wrong." Some critics expressed skepticism about the College Board's report that less than 1% of students experienced problems submitting responses. Matthew Wong, a senior at Temple City High School, said his survey of 121 schoolmates who took the AP chemistry test found that 11 had technical difficulties, including him. "Though offering email submission as a fallback for the remaining exams is a step in the right direction, it is too little too late," Wong said in an email. "It offers no resolution for students who have taken tests in the past week, who are now forced to endure another three weeks of stress and studying until the makeup exams." At Mendez High School, calculus teacher Ali Bhai said 16% of his 36 students encountered problems. He said that despite the tears and trauma, exacerbated by pandemic-related worries about health and job losses, his students are resilient and already preparing for the retest. They include Macias, who said she has gotten over last week's mishap and is gearing up for her AP psychology test on Tuesday, relieved to know about the email safeguard if she should need it. "It would have been a lot better if this safety measure had been in place last week," she said, "but since I have another test, maybe it will help." Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) The leadership of the House of Representatives has decided to abandon the bill seeking to grant a provisional franchise to ABS-CBN and instead directed the House Legislative Franchises Committee to start hearings on the grant of a fresh 25-year franchise to the media giant. Kung hindi po natin kayang desisyunan na tayo lang, bakit hindi natin i-involve ang publiko? May social media naman, nandiyan naman ang media na nakabantay. Bakit hindi po tayo mag-hearing? Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said Tuesday, addressing the House. [Translation: If we cant decide on this on our own, why dont we involve the public? Social media is there, the media is there watching. Why dont we have a hearing?] Cayetano urged lawmakers to multi-task, citing the numerous bills that need to be tackled other than the ABS-CBN franchise, especially those dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. The hearings must be fair, impartial, comprehensive and thorough, Cayetano said, appealing to lawmakers to give the House Legislative Franchises Committee autonomy in its deliberation of the measure. House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said various lawmakers have crossed party lines supporting the move of the House leadership to shelve the provisional franchise bill and instead directly tackle the grant of a fresh 25-year franchise to ABS-CBN. The move to drop the bill granting a five-month provisional franchise to ABS-CBN came after the House recalled its passage on second reading, after some lawmakers raised that the process may be in violation of the Constitution. The House leadership had insisted that passing the bill on first and second reading on the same day did not violate the Constitution, but gave in to calls to recall the measure to allow for more debates on it. Cayetano said he hoped that dropping the provisional bill and deliberating instead on granting a new franchise for ABS-CBN would have been a good compromise. But he admitted opposing camps on the issue were still toxic. I still believe that we need to be united as one nation and set aside all non-urgent, highly contentious issues that will tear us apart, he said. Politics should not be our main concern right now. A diver who jumped off his tinny to rescue a whale calf trapped in shark nets off the Gold Coast has been fined for his act of mercy. Django, who only shared his first name and refused to say why he was fined, sped 500metres into the water at Burleigh Heads on Tuesday morning after spotting the whale. Drone footage showed him rip off his shirt and put on flippers before diving into the water to cut the stranded whale free. Furious social media users who labelled Django a hero demanded to know why he was fined for taking action as other authorities slowly planned their rescue missions. A mystery man in a tinny could be fined for bravely rescuing a whale calf trapped in shark nets off the Gold Coast The penalty for intentionally moving too close to a whale comes with an on-the-spot fine of $630.75, or a maximum fine of $20,814, 7News reported. It's unknown how long the calf - believed to be a humpback - had been trapped. The whale was first spotted in trouble about 7am Tuesday by a drone operator at Burleigh Hill where it was seen badly entangled in the nets. Drone operator James Kable said the whale looked 'very distressed'. Django had been on his boat off Burleigh Heads looking for a large manta ray when he came across the trapped whale. 'I saw a whale and thought, "that's pretty cool,' he told 7News.. 'I saw it was in the net and thought, "well, that's not that cool".' Django said the whale had been approximately eight to nine metres deep and said he wasn't worried about it because he was 'a decent free diver'. 'But because of the adrenaline, about 2m (down) my heart was just pumping ... so thats why I had to keep coming up and going down,' he said. While he knows he is in trouble, Django said he assumed anyone would have done the same. Django, who only shared his first name and refused to say why he was fined, sped 500metres into the water at Burleigh Heads on Tuesday morning after spotting the whale Drone operator James Kable said the whale looked 'very distressed' while being caught in the net (pictured) Seaworld rescue crews were waiting nearby in the water but remained on standby due to a suspected communication issue with the Department of Boating and Fisheries. During this time the mystery man took it upon himself to untangle the whale and was spoken to by a fisheries rescue team after cutting the whale free. Conservationists are calling on the government to remove shark nets as the whales head north for their annual migration to warmer waters. 'Their removal during the whale migration season would be a good start and could be accompanied by the serious proving of other technologies such as drones. This must happen now,' Sea Shepherd campaigner Jonathan Clark said. Social media was flooded with praise for the man, with dozens calling on the state government not to fine him for the act. He sped 500metres into the water at Burleigh Heads on Tuesday morning, taking off his shirt and donning fins before diving into the water to cut the baby whale free 'That's fantastic good on him and I hope he doesn't get one single fine either,' one user wrote. Another said: 'Good on you for saving the whale so pathetic to be fined'. Wildlife photographer Scott Wilson said he was also gearing up to free the whale but was strictly told by authorities not to. 'Obviously due to public liability, it's a risk they don't want to accept,' he told Sunrise. Griffith University marine biologist Dr Olaf Meynecke told ABC it was the first time a whale had been caught in nets during May. 'The condition are also extremely unusual for entanglement,' he said. 'It's quite windy, it's choppy usually the whale stays further away when these south-easterly conditions are prevailing.' UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet on Tuesday hailed the arrest in France of Felicien Kabuga, one of the last key fugitives wanted over the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The 84-year-old was arrested Saturday in the suburbs of Paris, where he had been living under a false identity. Once one of Rwandas richest men, Kabuga is accused of using his wealth and influence during the genocide to funnel money to militia groups. Around 800,000 people Tutsis but also moderate Hutus were slaughtered over 100 days by ethnic Hutu extremists during the 1994 genocide. Bachelet said victims of the genocide have long waited to see Kabuga, and the seven other people indicted on similar charges who are still at large, answer in court for the extremely grave charges against them. We hope this success redoubles the commitment of all states to take the steps necessary to track down the whereabouts of the last seven indictees, in order that they too may face justice, she said in a statement. Kabuga now faces likely trial at an international tribunal. Bachelet said his arrest, more than 25 years after the genocide, underscores the long reach of international criminal accountability. Kabuga is accused of creating the notorious Interahamwe militia that carried out massacres during the genocide. He is also alleged to have used Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines to stir up ethnic hatred. As we continue today to see dangerously false news, racial and ethnic hatred and incitement to violence being disseminated widely, the case of Kabuga and the effects of the propaganda broadcast by Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines are a stark reminder of where such language can lead, and why the fight against it is so important, said Bachelet. During his years on the run, Kabuga spent time in Germany, Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Switzerland. The latest Government aid scheme is launching today to help innovative and high-growth businesses survive the pandemic. The 500million Future Fund will open to applications, allowing companies to access loans of between 125,000 and 5million. If they cannot pay it back, to avoid pushing the firm to collapse, the Government will convert the debt into a stake in the company. The 500m Future Fund will open to applications, allowing companies to access loans of between 125,000 and 5m Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: 'Our start-ups and innovative firms are one of our great economic strengths, and they will help spur our recovery from the pandemic.' The Treasury revealed that loans issued under its various coronavirus schemes have surpassed 22billion. Banks have handed out 464,393 Bounce Back loans which are 100 per cent guaranteed by the Government worth 14.18billion to some of Britain's smallest businesses. The less-successful Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), which only carries an 80 per cent guarantee and is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, has lent 7.25billion to 40,564 firms. And the larger version of CBILS, or CLBILS, has approved 86 loans worth 593million to businesses throughout the country. Douglas Loverro, the head of human spaceflight for NASA, abruptly resigned on Monday, after only six months on the job and just days before the agency is scheduled to launch astronauts for the first time since the space shuttle retired in 2011. Loverro's resignation comes at a critical time - two days before he was to lead a critical "launch readiness review" meeting that would determine whether SpaceX should proceed to launch two NASA astronauts on a test mission to the International Space Station. A longtime Pentagon official, Loverro was seen as a calm and immensely capable executive that would not only help the agency restore human spaceflight from United States soil as part of NASA's Commercial Crew program, but also push NASA to meet a White House mandate to return astronauts to the moon by 2024. PHOTO CONTEST: Winning photos of Tournament Earth released by NASA Two people with knowledge of the situation said his resignation was spurred when Loverro broke a rule during NASA's recent procurement of a spacecraft capable of landing humans on the moon. In an email he wrote to top NASA officials that was obtained by The Post, Loverro wrote that NASA's mission "is certainly not easy, nor for the faint of heart, and risk-taking is part of the job description." He wrote that he took "a risk earlier in the year because I judged it necessary to fulfill our mission. Now, over the balance of time, it is clear that I made a mistake in that choice for which I alone must bear the consequences." In an interview, Loverro declined to discuss the exact details of why he resigned. "It had nothing to do with commercial crew," he said. "It had to do with moving fast on Artemis, and I don't want to characterize it in any more detail than that." Artemis is NASA's program to return people to the moon. Last month, NASA awarded three contracts, worth nearly $1 billion combined, to a team led by Blue Origin, a team led by Dynetics and to SpaceX. (Blue Origin is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post.) FROM HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: NASA astronauts prepare to fly in a capsule once again Loverro said there were "no sour grapes" and that he holds "NASA in great respect. I hope they can continue on everything they started and will follow through on their plans." On May 27, SpaceX is scheduled to launch two NASA astronauts on a test flight of the Dragon Spacecraft to the space station. In a statement Tuesday, NASA indicated the launch would proceed without delay. "Next week will mark the beginning of a new era in human spaceflight with the launch of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station," the agency said. "This test flight will be a historic and momentous occasion that will see the return of human spaceflight to our country, and the incredible dedication by the men and women of NASA is what has made this mission possible." The statement did not say what led to Loverro's resignation. Earlier in the day, Vice President Mike Pence praised NASA for "renewing American leadership in space" and said he was looking forward to the launch. He and NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine gave no indication of the shake-up. The news sent shock waves through the space community, and there were concerns over whether NASA should proceed with the launch in the wake of such a tumultuous development. Steve Jurczyk, NASA's associate administrator, will chair the readiness review meeting on Thursday. Loverro said he thought "it was absolutely safe to proceed." He added he had "100 percent faith" in Jurczyk. "I would trust him with every ounce of that mission's performance." NASA said that Ken Bowersox, currently the deputy associate administrator for the human exploration, would take over the job in an acting capacity. Bowersox previously held the position after Bridenstine demoted William Gerstenmaier, a NASA veteran who later resigned and now works for SpaceX. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected more than four million people across the world and killed over 320,000 individuals, has now affected indigenous tribe members living within the Amazon rainforest, according to latest reports. Experts fear the disease might lead to a devastating extinction of the world's isolated tribes. On Tuesday, Ecuadorian health officials recorded the first tribesperson in the country to be infected with the contagious respiratory illness. The 17-year-old woman belonged to the Waorani tribe living in the rainforest. She started showing symptoms on May 4 and was taken to a hospital in the country's capital. The patient was reportedly pregnant at the time she contracted the virus. The federal government collaborated with the indigenous leaders to check on more than 40 people who came into close contact with the unnamed woman. According to the health ministry, seventeen were found with a history of respiratory illnesses-six of which were still showing symptoms. Over 27 rapid tests and nose swabs were conducted. In the Brazilian Amazon, health officials reportedly evacuate COVID-19 patients by plane as the virus rapidly spreads among the indigenous people living in the most remote area of the country's rainforest. Government authorities more than 40 tribal groups were hit by the virus. As of Monday, 92 indigenous tribesmen and tribeswomen died due to the COVID-19 crisis. The victims all lived in isolated territories, with some located near the Amazon river bordering Colombia and Peru. APIB, Brazil's main tribal organization, said 103 indigenous people who migrated to urban areas have also died. APIB said they recorded 540 confirmed coronavirus cases within the 40 afflicted tribes. The virus is spreading so rapidly that Manaus, a city close to the rainforest, have run out of bed spaces in the ICU. The dead are also collectively buried in graves. Experts and advocates for isolated indigenous communities around the world say they fear that the remoteness of the villages as well as the members' inability to observe social distancing could make the COVID-19 worse. The villages lack proper sanitary conditions and are practising communal living arrangements. They also very limited access to health care services, including hospitals and medical resources. Leila Salazar-Lopez, the executive director of the Amazon Watch, said the virus poses a threat of possible ethnocide within the communities. The tribesmen previously began blockading the entrance to their villages in a bid to keep their members from contracting the deadly virus. However, many invaders have taken advantage of the coronavirus situation. In Brazil, the number of outsiders entering protected territories has escalated in the previous years. The trespassers have continued activist, including illegal logging and mining. Experts say the invaders may have introduced the virus to the indigenous communities. In previous years, Brazil has seen episodes of contagious and viral diseases. The outbreaks led to an extremely high mortality rate within the communities, with some going extinct due to the threat. Galina Angarova, the executive director of an advocacy group, said the virus would obliterate many of the communities. "They are our walking encyclopedias," she said. "If that's lost, we're losing part of our history." Want to read more? Check these out: Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the Majority Leader and parliamentary affairs minister, says the Auditor-General, Daniel Yaw Domelevo, should focus on principles in paying the GH29.7m salary arrears being demanded by former MPs rather than saying the request of the Forum for Former Members of Parliament (FFMP) is invalid and amounts to a conflict of interest. The Majority Leader who is also part of the FFMP explained that the Auditor-General should have confronted himself with whether or not the request to the Chief of Staff was legitimate. what should have confronted the Auditor-General with is whether or not, a committee was established, whether or not payments were made, whether or not the payments that were made were adequate or not adequate, those are the matters that should confront the Auditor-General, it is not about conflict of interest, Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu told Citi News on Monday, May 5. Frema Osei Opare, the Chief of Staff, had written to the Auditor General in a letter dated April 22, 2020, upon a request by the Forum for Former Members of Parliament (FFMP), led by David Apasera, a former Peoples National Convention (PNC) MP for Bolgatanga Central in relation to some salary arrears allegedly due them under the Fourth Parliament, and requested a verification audit. The forum sent their request to the Chief of Staff in a letter dated April 17, 2020. But in response to the Chief of Staffs request, Daniel Yaw Domelevo in a letter dated May 8, 2020, declined to carry out the audit verification request and said the FFMP was not entitled to the GH29.7m salary arrears, adding that, the request was invalid. The Auditor-General mentioned in his letter that the request also amounts to a conflict of interest because most of the beneficiaries would be members of the current government, including the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo himself and the Chief of Staff, Frema Osei Opare who was making the audit request. "...It amounts to a conflict of interest to make an additional payment of 20 per cent salary increase per annum for four years to former Members of Parliament covering a period of 10 to 14 years ago, especially when some of them are now in the Executive, i.e. the approving authority." In response, Osei-Kyei-Mensah Bonsu said, "It is really an unfortunate statement to have come from the Auditor-General, because, the issue is whether or not, a committee was established by the President." He noted that the arrears emanated from the era of President Atta-Mills and the Chinery Hesse Committee appointed by President Kufuor submitted recommendations of emoluments to the then Speaker of Parliament. He explained that on matters of such payments to Article 71 officeholders, the president is required to appoint a committee that will then submit recommendations to the President for approval. Further, regarding the president, ministers and deputy ministers, he said that the onus is on Parliament to approve on the basis of the recommendations submitted by the committee, whilst the president approves that of the Parliamentarians. He continued: When President Mills assumed office, there was no evidence that Parliament had approved the emoluments due President Kufuor, his ministers and deputy ministers of state, and accordingly he was not going to pay anything. He added that when it became evident that the committees report had not been approved by Parliament, President Atta-Mills then appointed a committee led by Ishmael Yamson to look into the issue. The issue, Osei-Kyei-Mensah Bonsu explained, became a subject of litigation when the Ishmael Yamson Committee determined that it could not find the document which had been approved by Parliament. Bonsu indicated that Alban Bagbin, the then-Majority Leader, stated emphatically before the Ishmael Yamson Committee that Parliament had approved the said recommendation, and that he Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu also appeared before the Ishmael Yamson Committee, and hence could testify to that. He observed that the committee arrived at a different conclusion when everybody else thought the matter had been settled. Kyei-Mensah Bonsu noted, "We [Parliamentarians] felt that the President at the time had no power to establish a committee to make a determination as to how much should be paid to the former Members of Parliament because, it is not his business or part of his remit to establish a committee to make a determination." "In any event, the Majority Leader [Alban Bagbin] and the Minority Leader [Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu] had jointly made a declaration before the Ishmael Yamson Committee that it had been approved, it was for the president at the time [Mills] to approve of the recommendationNow they came to tell us that, well, they couldn't find a copy of that report that had been approved by the presidency in respect of the Members of Parliament, plus the Speaker. Whose fault was it?" "So, as far as I'm concerned, for anybody to stand on that to say that the report wasn't approved, to me, it was unfortunate understanding of the establishment of the committee by the sitting president, and the approval process granted by parliament on one side and the presidency on the other side. The Majority Leader then stated that the Auditor General should have rather focused on "whether or not, the recommendations by that committee was properly established and was approved by Parliament. And those are the matters of consideration, its not about conflict of interest. "In any event, the president has not taken any matter to court, Chief of Staff has not taken any mater to court, I [Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu] have not taken any matter to court but there are many, many people who used to be part of Parliament, who are no longer in Parliament. "Indeed, with respect to our side [NPP] of Members of Parliament who will otherwise come for consideration if anything should be done, there are only about three or four of us, myself, the honourable(s) Ken Ohene Agyapong, KT Hammond and I think, Opare Ansah, there are only four of us. "On the other side [NDC], we have [Alban] Bagbin, we have Yieleh Chereh, we have Collins Dauda, we have Eric Opoku... in fact, on the other side they are even more, that is why I am saying that your personalization to me is unfortunate. Lets talk to the principle," the majority leader charged. "The principle is what I have raised. And as I'm saying, what should have confronted the Auditor-General is whether or not, a committee was established, whether or not payments were made, whether or not the payments that were made were adequate or not adequate, those are the matters that should confront the Auditor-General, it is not about conflict of interest." Find below the letter of Forum for Former Members of Parliament to Chief of Staff. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! US President Donald Trump has warned the World Health Organisation (WHO) he will permanently pull US funding over the Covid-19 crisis unless improvements are made. In a letter to director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump said the WHO had shown an alarming lack of independence from China, warning it had 30 days to make significant changes or lose millions of dollars and US membership altogether. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving Americas interests, said the letter which was posted in full to Trumps Twitter account. Chinese President Xi Jinping told the WHOs first ever virtual assembly that his country had released information about the virus in an open, transparent, responsible and timely manner. On Monday the WHO chief promised an independent review of its response to the pandemic at the earliest appropriate moment after countries, led by the EU, called for an inquiry. Trumps ultimatum comes amid an increasingly bitter row between Washington and Beijing over the virus and after Trump earlier branded the WHO a puppet of China". Trump faces re-election this year, and has himself been criticised for his handling of the outbreak in the US, which has more than 1.5 million of the world's 4.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases. St Stephens Church is seeking an Outreach Weekend Cafe Manager to become part of its successful and dynamic Cafe team, serving the community and city. St Stephens Church is seeking an Outreach Weekend Cafe Manager to become part of its successful and dynamic Cafe team, serving the community and city. Trustee treasurer role at King's Lynn foodbank Kings Lynn Foodbank are urgently seeking a new Trustee Treasurer to work with a fun, friendly, team who are all passionate about combating food poverty in Kings Lynn. Read more Christian pregnancy charity gets Yarmouth hub TimeNorfolk, the Christian pregnancy loss charity, has opened a space dedicated to counselling for bereaved parents in Great Yarmouth. Read more Family days at Norwich Cathedral The schools and families learning department at Norwich Cathedral are holding two sessions morning and afternoon for a Family Activity Day at the Cathedral on Wednesday February 16. Read more Churches prepare Queen's Platinum Jubilee plans Churches, Christian charities and youth organisations are working together to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee over the four-day Bank Holiday from June 2-5 and a new website has been created to celebrate the Queen's 70 years of faith and service. Read more Eckling Grange cares for the elderly Despite some bad press, there are some Care Homes where 'Care' really does mean 'what it says on the tin', and a star example of this is the Norfolk Christian residential care home, Eckling Grange, at Dereham. Read more New Commission to look at use of Norfolk churches A new Church Buildings Commission has been launched with the purpose of looking at the church buildings across Norfolk and Waveney in terms of their use and sustainability. Read more Norfolk link to teaching opportunity with TCKs A Norfolk couple working in Asia have been helped by teachers of Third Culture Kids, and a programme is now inviting more people to get involved with it. Read more Norfolk charity seeks mentors for prison leavers Community Chaplaincy Norfolk (CCN) continues to provide a Both Sides of the Gate Mentor support service to people leaving prison in Norfolk. Read more Prayer and Worship week for Sheringham church Lighthouse Community Church in Sheringham has launched a Prayer and Worship week as they seek Gods guidance for 2022 Read more South Norfolk church schools are set to merge The Diocese of Norwich St Benets Multi Academy Trust has been given the green light to amalgamate Harleston CE Primary Academy and Archbishop Sancroft High School into one All Through School. Read more Norwich conference looks at how to tackle spiritual abuse Following a series of revelations about high-profile Christian leaders, a group of Norfolk churches is organising a conference to look at spiritual abuse and godly leadership. Read more Revelation vacancy for Centre Manager The Revelation Christian Resource Centre and Cafe is seeking to appoint a Centre Manager. Read more Gardening morning at N Norfolk Christian centre The Pleasaunce Holiday Centre in Overstrand is holding a work-party morning on Saturday February 5 and would like as many people as possible to join in to help get the gardens ship-shape. Read more Poringland Bible teachers look at a building project The Way of the Spirit is starting the New Year with a meeting in Poringland to explore the Book of Nehemiah. Read more House of Genesis needs part-time support worker The House of Genesis is seeking a part-time (20 hours per week) Support Worker to contribute to the day-to-day running of the charity, which provides accommodation to homeless adult men in Norwich. Read more Church marriage open to all? Regular contributor Philip Young shares with us his personal view on whether churches should marry same-sex couples. Read more Christian retreat centre has new Chair of Trustees Paul Dunning has recently been appointed as Chair of Trustees of the Quiet Waters Christian Retreat Centre. He explains how he got involved and how others can do the same. Read more The last two of the 43 COVID-19 patients in the Union Territory of Ladakh recovered on Tuesday and were discharged from a hospital in Leh district after their samples tested negative of the infection for a second time, officials said. Meanwhile, 510 fresh samples -- 332 from Kargil district and 178 from Leh district -- were sent to the NCDC in New Delhi for testing on Tuesday, according to a health department official. Forty-three cases were reported in Ladakh and all have been discharged, the officials said, adding that the first COVID-19 case was reported on March 6 and the last on May 13in the Union Territory. The test report of the last two patients, who were undergoing treatment at a COVID hospital in Leh, came negative for the second time, they said. Both of them were subsequently discharged after recovery. There was no death due to COVID-19 in Ladakh and all the positive cases have returned to their homes after getting cured of the disease, the health department official said. The officials also said 647 stranded local residents reached Leh from different parts of the country in 32 buses and tempo travellers on Monday evening. The passengers were screened and the vehicles were sanitized, they said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two dogs returned to their owners stoned after they ate human faeces which contained high levels of cannabis. A red heeler pointer named Mack, and a kelpie bull Arab cross called Viola were exploring the GJ Hosken Reserve in Altona North, Melbourne on Sunday morning. They returned to their owners, Claire Sutherland and Gabriele D'Angelo, later that day and both animals became extremely ill and were rushed to a veterinary clinic as the owners believed they may have been poisoned. Mack and Viola had their stomachs pumped where it was found both dogs had eaten faeces from a person who had consumed edible marijuana. A red heeler pointer, named Mack, and kelpie bull Arab cross, named Viola, were exploring the GJ Hosken Reserve in Altona North, Melbourne (pictured) on Sunday morning Ms Sutherland said Mack was acting strange when he returned from the park. 'He lost control of his back legs, he was drooling, he was flinching when we put our hand near him, he was trembling,' Ms Sutherland told the Herald Sun. A vet initially diagnosed Mack with a slipped disc and gave him morphine, but when Mr D'Angelo called Ms Sutherland and said Viola was showing the same symptoms, they knew something was wrong. She contacted her veterinary friend, Ross Ansell, who said it was impossible for both dogs to have slipped discs. He urged the pair to take them to an emergency clinic who discovered the dogs had consumed high levels of marijuana. They returned to their owners, Claire Sutherland and Gabriele D'Angelo, later that day and both animals became extremely ill and were rushed to a veterinary clinic as the owners believed they may have been poisoned (stock image) After returning from the vet, Ms Sutherland said Mack had the munchies. 'He also seemed very anxious for the entire night but in hindsight it was probably paranoia kicking in. You worry about your kids getting mixed up in drugs, but you don't imagine your dogs will get stoned.' Mr Ansell said marijuana can cause serious harms to dogs if consumed. 'It can cause a coma, it can lead to death if they have enough, it really knocks them around. It's a neurological toxin, so it can have a spectacular medical effect on the nervous system,' he said. President Donald Trump gave a thumbs up to reporters and cameras as he headed to the Marine One helicopter to depart for a weekend at Camp David, May 1, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he's been taking hydroxychloroquine, a malaria prophylactic drug, "every day" for the past 10 days in the hopes that it will provide him protection against catching the novel coronavirus. The drug is also being used in clinical trials of healthcare workers to see if it might have a preventative effect. But doctors and vaccine experts don't recommend using hydroxychloroquine outside of hospitals and clinical trial settings because it can lead to heart problems and death. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. President Trump said Monday that he is taking the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine daily in the hopes that it might prevent him from catching the novel coronavirus. Trump said he's been taking the drug "every day" for a week and a half along with zinc (a common cold remedy). That timeline lines up, roughly, with when one of Vice President Pence's staffers and a presidential valet both contracted the virus while working at the White House. Clinicians don't know yet whether hydroxychloroquine might confer the same kinds of disease-preventing benefits for the novel coronavirus as the drug does for malaria. Hydroxychloroquine is currently being tried as a preventative measure for healthcare workers treating coronavirus patients in at least four different studies around the world. But it's too soon to tell if the drug, which has not shown much promise as a coronavirus treatment strategy, will fare better in a prophylactic capacity. "I take it," the president told reporters Monday afternoon at the White House."I would've told you that three, four days ago, but we never had a chance, because you never asked me the question." A strip of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), an anti-malarial drug. Samir Jana/Hindustan Times via Getty Images The US Food and Drug Administration recently warned against people taking hydroxychloroquine outside of hospital settings or clinical trials, as the drug can interact poorly with other medications, including the common antibiotic azithromycin. The drug can also be dangerous for people with psoriasis. Serious complications can include triggering of irregular heart rhythms, and, in some cases, death. Story continues (President Trump's doctors have said in the past that he takes the cholesterol drug Crestor, and he has been on antibiotics to treat rosacea, but azithromycin hasn't been mentioned as part of his care plan before.) Former US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Director Rick Bright, a leading US vaccine scientist who says he was recently ousted from his post because of "politics and cronyism" in the country's federal coronavirus response, testified before the House last week and voiced his concerns about the safety risks the drug might pose when used among the general public. Bright said with the "limited knowledge" we have about hydroxychloroquine and how it does (or doesn't) work against the coronavirus, any studies should be done "under close, watchful eye of a physician." Read the original article on Business Insider Virginia state Delegate Suhas Subramanyam has been named to the states Small Business Commission. The Indian American official said: As a small business owner myself, I know how much time, dedication, and resilience it takes to make a small business successful. (Twitter/SuhasforVA photo) Ghanas COVID-19 case count has risen to 5,918. This resulted from 183 new cases that were confirmed. The Ghana Health Services announced on Tuesday morning [May 19, 2020.] Two new deaths have also been confirmed, increasing the toll to 31. Recoveries remains at 1,754. The new cases were recorded in six regions, with the most being in the Greater Accra region. The Accra Metropolitan and the Korle Klottey areas in the Greater Accra regions are top contributors to the new cases in the region while in the Ashanti Region, Obuasi and Kumasi Metro are leaders contributing to the 63 new cases. According to the Ghana Health Services latest update, a total of 180,567 tests have so far been conducted. Affected regions Greater Accra Region 108 Ashanti Region 63 Volta Region 7 Central Region 2 Oti Region 2 Eastern Region 1 ---citinewsroom The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has urged Muslim faithful in the country to look out for the new Islamic moon of Shawwal from Friday, May 22. NSCIA said this in a statement by its Deputy Secretary-General, Salisu Shehu, on Monday in Abuja. Mr Shehu also felicitated with Nigerian Muslims for observing the Ramadan of 1441 AH and prayed to almighty Allah to avail all Muslims the opportunity to witness another Ramadan in good health. Following the advice by the National Moon Sighting Committee (NMSC) that Friday May 22, 2020 which is equivalent to 29th Ramadan, 1441 AH is the first day to look for the Crescent of Shawwal, 1441 AH. However, on that day, the moon will set few minutes before the sun, which makes the sighting of the crescent practically impossible. READ ALSO: Nonetheless, the president-general of NSCIA in compliance with the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW) enjoins the Nigerian Muslims to search for the crescent of Shawwal 1441 AH, immediately after sunset on Friday May 22, which is equivalent to 29th Ramadan, 1441 AH, he said. He enjoined Muslim faithful across the country to be on the lookout for the possible announcement by NSCIA President General on the termination of the 2020 Ramadan fast. (NAN) AMU/CHOM/ABI To help pass the time during the coronavirus pandemic, MLB.com has been engaging fans to debate the wait by ranking the top players at each position on each club. So far, weve gone through the Yankees catchers, first basemen, second basemen, third basemen, shortstops, left fielders, center fielders and right fielders. On Monday, MLB.com completed the lineup with the best designated hitters in team history. 1) Jason Giambi, (2002-08) Five-time All-Star, 2000 American League MVP Giambi cashed in on being named AL MVP with the Oakland As and joined the Yankees following the 2001 season, signing a seven-year, $120 million contract. He hit 41 home runs in each of his first two seasons, and had at least 32 home runs in five of his seven years in the Bronx. 2) Oscar Gamble, (1976, 79-84) Gamble missed the Yankees World Series titles in 1977 and 1978 after being traded to the Chicago White Sox in the deal which brought Bucky Dent to the Bronx. Gamble returned in 1979 in the deal which sent Mickey Rivers to the Texas Rangers. In seven seasons with New York, Gamble hit .259 with 87 home runs. 3) Ron Blomberg, (1969-76) Blomberg was a first-round pick of the Yankees in 1967. In seven seasons with the Yankees, Blomberg hit .302 with 47 home runs. 4) Darryl Strawberry, (1995-99) Eight-time All-Star, four-time World Series champion Strawberrys best days were with the New York Mets, but he picked up rings playing for the Yankees in 1996, 1998 and 1999. 5) Don Baylor, (1983-85) 1979 All-Star and AL MVP, 1987 World Series champion Baylors best days came with the California Angels, capped by his MVP season in 1979. The Yankees traded Baylor to the Boston Red Sox before the 1986 season, with owner George Steinbrenner declaring Baylors bat would dead by August. Baylor ended up hitting 31 home runs in 1986, helping the Red Sox reach the World Series. Baylor won his only ring in 1987 with the Minnesota Twins. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. New Delhi, May 19 : Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha member N.D. Gupta, here on Tuesday, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sought deployment of civil defence personnel to facilitate safe movement of migrants. He also termed the exodus of migrants as a 'man-made disaster'. Arguing for deployment of the paramilitary personnel, he said, "While compromises had to be made to avert the humanitarian crisis, we must refocus on containing the spread of coronavirus. "We are witnessing that the state authorities, stressed with various responsibilities, are unable to manage the crisis. The situation of crores of Indians on road without the required preventive measures must be treated as a man-made disaster," Gupta wrote. He said the Indian armed forces along with the paramilitary forces had always done a commendable job when called upon to aid civil authorities, especially, in the wake of natural calamities or man-made disasters. The discipline, training, resources and professional approach of paramilitary forces could be used to minimise the duration of exposure of migrants, he said. Seeking respite for business employers and employees, he said excess funds available with the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) be used to give unemployment allowance to migrant workers for the lockdown period. "The Employees' State Insurance Scheme is an integrated measure of social insurance embodied in the Employees' State Insurance Act. It's designed to accomplish the task of protecting employees against impact of incidences of sickness, maternity, disablement and death due to employment injury and to provide medical care to insured persons and their families," the AAP leader said. He said integrated schemes had also been introduced, such as the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana -- a welfare measure for employees covered under Section 2(9) of ESI Act, 1948 -- to provide cash compensation up to 90 days as part of unemployment benefits, and the Rajiv Gandhi Shramik Kalyan Yojana that provided unemployment allowance in the event of jobloss due to closure of factory/establishment, retrenchment or permanent invalidity. "The ESIC has over 3.19 crore subscribers and a corpus of Rs 91,444.07 crore. Of this, Rs 23,151.77 crore is earmarked as reserve fund," Gupta said and pleaded an ordinance should be passed in these extraordinary times to use such funds "to pass on benefits to persons not receiving salary by identifying them as unemployed and eligible for immediate benefits under the ESI." The GWI announced that they have been chosen by the Vatican to collaborate on a new initiative to create a better, healthier and less unjust world in the aftermath of the Coronavirus epidemic. We are deeply honored by the opportunity to collaborate on this important Vatican initiative. Wellness is a vital concept to reset the world after COVID-19. Not only does wellness link mind, body, and spirit, it connects our individual self with community and planetary wellbeing. The Global Wellness Institute (GWI), a nonprofit organization with a mission to empower wellness worldwide, today announced a collaboration with the Vatican on its ambitious new initiative to create a better, healthier and less unjust world in the aftermath of the Coronavirus epidemic. In early April, Pope Francis announced a new COVID-19 commission focused not only on confronting the current crisis but also to visualize the world we need to build post-virus. The future of health and wellness is a key pillar of the Vatican initiative (in addition to ecology, economics and public security), and the GWI is producing a series of eight white papers proposing how a holistic concept of wellness could transform human life, including our workplaces, our built environment and our mental wellbeing. The series is called Resetting the World with Wellness. We are deeply honored by the opportunity to collaborate on this important Vatican initiative. Wellness is a vital concept to reset the world after COVID-19. Not only does wellness link mind, body, and spirit, it connects our individual self with community and planetary wellbeing and to our personal search for meaning, purpose and transcendence, said Katherine Johnson and Ophelia Yeung, GWIs senior researchers and directors of the Vatican project. The Vaticans COVID-19 Commission: Pope Francis created the Vaticans COVID-19 commission to express the Churchs love for the entire human family during the pandemic and because hes convinced that were living through a time of epochal change and have an unprecedented opportunity to reflect on how to solve the socioeconomic, environmental and health challenges looming in our future. The commission is led by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD); coordinated by Cardinal Peter Turkson (DPIHD Prefect), Mons. Bruno-Marie Duffe (Secretary), and Fr. Augusto Zampini (Adjunct Secretary); and divided into five working groups, each addressing a different aspect of the pandemic. GWI is part of Working Group 2, which brings together public and private institutions, universities, the pontifical academies, social movements, and leading economists and entrepreneurs to create new research and thinking about a post-COVID future. As Cardinal Turkson put it: Group 2 has the task of night watch, like the sentry, to perceive the dawn. To do this, it is necessary to connect the best minds in the areas of ecology, the economy, health and public security. We need the concreteness of scienceand prophecy and creativity." On top of supporting medical providers, the health taskforce has a mission of addressing the flaws in modern healthcare systems and promoting integral health (or wellness) and all its components: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social and environmental wellbeing. The new resources will reach church leaders and the Vatican network, as well as global leaders and ordinary people, bringing GWIs research to a vast audience. GWIs Vatican papers: GWIs white papers for the Vatican integrate facts, data, and best practices; employ interdisciplinary thinking; and are a call to action, recommending strategies that could help reset the world post-pandemicwith a new focus on prevention and a proactive wellness-based mindset. Eight papers will be published; three are available now. 1) "A New Vision for a Post COVID-19 Future" summarizes the key concepts and practices of wellness and outlines how wellness can provide a roadmap for healing and growth as the world emerges from the pandemic. 2) "Healthy Built Environments for Healthy People" describes how our unhealthy built environment can cause both chronic and infectious diseases, as well as the roles that communities, businesses and governments can play in building healthier homes and communities for healthier people. 3) "Work, Health and Dignity" spotlights how the dangerous, unhealthy, inequitable and stressful work conditions that have been exposed by COVID-19 can spark a collective will for radical change that is necessary to bring health and dignity back to our working lives and workplaces. In the coming weeks (each Wednesday), papers on the following topics will be released: mental wellness (May 13), physical movement (May 20), social wellness and community (May 27), food and nourishment (June 3), and travel and wonder (June 10). About the Global Wellness Institute: The Global Wellness Institute (GWI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the leading research and educational resource for the global wellness economy. Through its five pillarsresearch, industry initiatives, roundtable discussions, Wellness Evidence and The Wellness Moonshot: A World Free of Preventable Diseasethe GWI informs and connects key global stakeholders who impact the health and wellness of our planet and its citizens. The GWIs mission is to empower wellness worldwide. An Australian bride-to-be has said she is still hopeful that her dream summer wedding to a Co Antrim man can go ahead in Northern Ireland if lockdown restrictions are eased as planned. While many brides and grooms have already postponed their big day until next year, some - like Ellen Fitzgerald and Sean Tohill - have not changed the date just yet. Ellen (28) moved here in January 2019, after meeting Moneyglass native Sean on a night out in her home city of Melbourne in Australia two years earlier. She explained: "After just a few months we moulded into each other's lives and then had to decide how we would continue our relationship as Sean's visa was going to end. "We had a few options but the one that made the most sense was me moving back to Northern Ireland with him for a few years and then applying for a visa to return to Australia. "Sean went home in August 2018 and because I am a primary school teacher, I finished out my school year in Australia and came over five months later. "Everyone told us that the five months would make us or break us and they were right - it did make us stronger," she added. Since then, Ellen and Sean have been living with Sean's parents, Eileen and Harry. Expand Close The couple on holiday / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The couple on holiday Ellen, who teaches at Riverside Special School in Antrim, said: "They have been amazing and it has been lovely to get an insight into Sean's life growing up. If we were living in Australia and just visiting when we could, I really can't see myself getting to know his family like I have. "I have also built a lovely friendship with his sister Niamh and got to know his brothers, Paul and Caolan, along the way." Last June, Sean, a quality controller with Creagh Concrete, popped the question during a day trip to the Antrim coast. Ellen recalled: "We went to the Dark Hedges, the Giant's Causeway and then Dunluce Castle where he proposed to me when we had a moment alone around all the tourists. Sean and I just really want to get married. Sure, the big party would have been amazing, but the outcome would have been the same Ellen Fitzgerald "My parents had been waiting up in Australia until 2am until I finally called with the news." Within weeks the couple were planning their big day and set their hearts on tying the knot in front of 150 family and friends at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Moneyglass on July 3, followed by a reception at the Wild Duck Inn in Portglenone. "After we got engaged my parents came to visit and we had the most amazing time," Ellen said. "I took them to see all the touristy things and eat at the places we loved. They were able to see the wedding dress I had chosen. "They even came to the meeting with the florist and a few other appointments and were able to see the chapel we were getting married in. Dad also practised the song that he was going to sing on the day to check the acoustics of the building. "We went to the Wild Duck Inn with Sean's parents for dinner to show them the reception venue. I now look back on this time and think that I'm so glad that we had it." The couple have already got their visas to return to Australia and intend to move back there in September. But in February, when Ellen began hearing so much about coronavirus, anxiety set in. "By then I had around 40 Australians already booked to come to our wedding and soon things were looking a bit more serious," she said. "I was on my way to work when I got the call that they were shutting Australia's borders and calling for citizens to come home, but I knew that Sean and I would be staying here. Expand Close Celebrating their engagement / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Celebrating their engagement "Then lockdown happened and weddings were banned but this was still the end of March, so it felt like this was only a temporary hurdle and things would blow over soon." Over the next few weeks, Ellen received many calls from her guests back at home to say that their flights had been cancelled. Allowing small weddings to take place is being considered by the Executive as part of easing the lockdown - and that is keeping the couple's hopes alive. "Sean and I just really want to get married. Sure, the big party would have been amazing, but the outcome would have been the same," Ellen said. "I would be married to my best friend. I wish my mum and dad could be here for my big day, but I am also glad that they are so safe in Australia at the moment. "All I'm hoping is that the lockdown eases a bit so that my seamstress can actually alter my wedding dress so that I can wear it on my big or small day!" One of the quality characteristics defined in the European and USA pharmacopeias for pharmaceutical waters is Total Organic Carbon (TOC)1. Contemporary water treatment systems are able to provide water with such high purity that TOC levels can be consistently near zero and very hard to measure with any accuracy. This article explains a few of the difficulties faced when using TOC analyzers to validate pharmacopoeial TOC level compliance for contemporary water systems with consideration of the ICH Q2 document2 from the International Conference on Harmonisation. ICH Q2 The International Conference on Harmonisation underlines features for consideration during the validation of the analytical procedures in their ICH Q2 guidance document, Validation of Analytical Procedures2. It consists of terms and definitions with the aim of bridging the differences that frequently occur between a variety of compendia and regulators of the EC, Japan and the USA. Individuals who use TOC analyzers to measure the impurities existing in pharmaceutical-grade waters might find the advice and guidance helpful. Image 1. The QbD1200 TOC Analyzer. Image Credit: Beckman Coulter TOC analysis TOC analysis in pharmaceutical-grade waters is a non-specific test in that it effectively measures the weight in parts per billion (ppb) of carbon that is a resultant from organic material in the water but is unable to differentiate from different types of organic material. Additionally, it is unable to report the definitive amount of organic material present because the quantity of carbon in an organic molecule differs between varying organic materials. For instance, a sucrose molecule consists of 12 carbon atoms, whereas a methanol molecule consists of only one carbon atom. If a TOC analyzer reports 100 ppb TOC, it could mean that the water consists of a large number of molecules of an organic material that has a very low number of carbon atoms present, or it is possible that there is a much smaller amount of molecules consisting of a larger amount of carbon atoms per molecule. Common terms describing carbon in water Total Organic Carbon TOC Total Carbon TC Total Inorganic Carbon TIC Figure 1. Common terms describing carbon in water. Source: Beckman Coulter Measurement accuracy All TOC analyzers in frequent use for pharmaceutical water systems have the same aim of oxidizing the organic material existing in the water3 and then determining the consequential carbon dioxide released from the oxidized organic molecule. This carbon dioxide is measured in gas phase by some analyzers, while others measure in dissolved phase. Numerous approaches are utilized to oxidize the organic, and the three most common types used in the pharmaceutical industry are ultra-violet (UV) light exposure, persulphate in the presence of UV light and high-temperature combustion. Measurement accuracy is discussed in ICH Q2 and it proposes that accuracy could be incidental after the establishment of precision, linearity and specificity. It is also suggested that linearity is determined using a minimum of 5 concentrations of the traceable standard. The Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology propose in their Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement4 that the more complex a measurement is, the higher the uncertainties of the measurement. This is due simply to the larger quantity of estimations and assumptions within the measurement technique, thus influencing the accuracy and the ability of the analyzer to measure very low levels of analyte. Figure 2. TOC technologies. From left: UV Persulphate combined with membrane conductometric, High Temperature Combustion and UV only. Image Credit: Beckman Coulter Specificity challenges In their ICH Q2 guidance document Validation of Analytical Procedures2, The International Conference on Harmonisation emphasizes the requirement for an analytical procedure to have specificity, for example, the ability to assess unequivocally the analyte in the presence of components which may be expected to be present3. One of the main specificity difficulties in measuring the carbon dioxide from organic material in water is that pharmaceutical waters also consist of moderately large quantities of total inorganic carbon (TIC) in the form of carbonates and dissolved carbon dioxide gas. This is mostly due to the higher concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide gas in the water as a result of the reverse-osmosis process (RO) used to manufacture pharmaceutical water. Therefore, it can be difficult when attempting to measure very low TOC water when there is a large quantity of TIC present, particularly in TOC analyzers which utilized numerous sensors to measure TC and TIC and then minus one from the other to work out the TOC content of the water. This is seen in Figure 3. TOC = TC - TIC Figure 3. Calculating TOC from Total Carbon (TC) and Total Inorganic Carbon (TIC). Analyzers that depend on working out the TOC from TC and TIC face a difficulty when wanting to measure very low quantities of TOC when fairly high quantities of TIC are present because moderately small inaccuracies between the TIC and TC sensors can result in either over- or under-reporting of TOC5 This can be seen Figure 4. . Total Organic Carbon (TC) 2,000 ppb Total Inorganic Carbon (TIC) present 1,900 ppb Actual TOC present 100 ppb Analyzer measurement accuracy 2% Analyzer measured TC Between 1,960 and 2,040 ppb Analyzer measured TC Between 1,862 and 1,938 ppb Analyzer calculated TOC Between 22 and 178 ppb Figure 4. Example showing that TOC analyzers that use multiple sensors to measure TC and TIC and then calculate TOC can suffer from measurement inaccuracies5. Source: Beckman Coulter It can be very hard to feel assured that the pharmaceutical water is of suitable quality for production when the characteristic measurement doubts in the TOC analyzer can result in a possible inaccuracy in reported TOC level of +/-78%. This is based on the example in Figure 4. The issue is compounded for quality control laboratories who want to determine TOC in their water supply that is incoming. Seasonal differences in TIC levels will result in the user having to invest in a kind of TIC elimination device and always checking on the levels of TIC in their incoming water to ensure that it does not surpass the maximum level suggested by their TOC analyzer manufacturer. Several analyzer manufacturers recommend a maximum ratio of TIC to TOC of 10:16. Therefore, in a water sample consisting of 10 ppb TOC, the TIC must not surpass 100 ppb for that analyzer to correctly work. Usually, high-temperature combustion analyzers attempt to solve the issue of TIC by implementing a TIC removal step. The water sample pH is moved by the action of adding an acid, forcing the TIC to be removed from the solution as a carbon dioxide gas. Then, the carbon dioxide from the TIC is sparged out of solution via bubbling of a CO 2 -free carrier gas through the sample. These sparging cycles are usually of a specific duration and there is a risk that all of the TIC may not be eliminated and some may stay and affect the TOC analysis. Therefore, users need to measure TIC levels in the water sample to make sure that they do not surpass the maximum levels detailed by their TOC analyzer manufacturer. Alternatively, monitoring the TIC removal could be an option to make sure that the TIC is totally eliminated prior to starting TOC analysis. This technique steers clear of the TIC specificity difficulties and TOC measurement accuracy is independent of the levels of TIC present. The process can be enhanced further by utilizing a single CO 2 sensor to determine both the TIC and the TOC. Rather than calculating TOC from TC and TIC, this approach directly measures the CO 2 from the TOC in an independent measurement after all of the TIC is totally eliminated. The measurement sensor accuracy of +/- 2% is now associated only with the measured TOC value rather than the measured TC and TIC values utilized by the alternative approaches. Therefore, using the example in Figure 4 where the actual TOC value is 100 ppb, this approach would give a report of between 98 ppb and 102 ppb. This provides far more confidence to the user that the stated TOC results accurately mirror the actual amount of TOC in the water from a direct measurement, instead of a calculation. This alternative approach, of course, depends on the ability of the analyzer to measure the total removal of the TIC. The sensor needs to have the ability to measure when the CO 2 from the TIC has been eradicated prior to the ultraviolet light being turned on and oxidation of the organics to CO 2 starts. The detection limit challenge The ICH Q2 guidance document distinguishes between three analytical methods: Identification, Testing for Impurities and Assay. While the document proposes that the quantitation limit of an analyzer may not be relevant in an impurity limit test, like the TOC test, it does say that the detection limit is an essential feature for such tests. As mentioned previously in this paper, TOC analyzers state the weight in parts per billion (ppb) of carbon derived from organic material in the water. This comes with its own challenge as contemporary pharmaceutical water systems may consist of more than 10 ppb TOC and several laboratory TOC analysis technologies will find it hard to report accurately at these low levels. Therefore, the analyzer is unable to report the level of TOC and the user is presented with error messages like TOC level is below the limit of detection. Needless to say, several users do not recognize this because the action of completing a grab sample from a water system will inevitably contaminate the sample resulting in TOC reports usually in excess of 100 ppb. Thus, those who own very low TOC water systems may actually be measuring and reporting the TOC contamination from the grab sampling process, not the TOC in their water system. Figure 5. Alternative UV/Persulphate design monitors TIC removal before starting TOC analysis. Image Credit: Beckman Coulter Very low TOC levels are even more challenging for analyzers that employ multiple sensors and estimate TOC by subtracting measured TIC from TC. The analyzer may actually report an estimated TOC value, even when the inherent accuracy errors in the multiple sensors used to measure the TC and TIC can have such a large impact on the accuracy of the reported TOC value5, as shown in Figure 4. Figure 6. CO 2 measured signal versus time. Image Credit: Beckman Coulter While there is understanding that many analyzers are unable to resolve down to these low levels of TOC accurately and will only report TOC level is below the limit of detection, it is not comfortable to offer a batch of product using an absence of data when there is potential that the analyzer actually failed to take an accurate measurement because there was a lack of carrier gas or oxidizing reagent. Users need to ensure the presence of the carrier gas and reagents prior to and post-analysis. This is usually completed by adding certified 500 ppb TOC standards into the batch of water samples to be analyzed at the beginning, middle and end of the analyzers autosampler tray. However, as laboratory TOC analyzers are often prepared and utilized overnight, a carrier gas, or reagent supply failure during the night can result in the user becoming aware that the results from the batch of water samples are incorrect when they examine the analyzer the next day. However, a re-test of the batch of water samples is not possible because the analyzer has used all the samples up when attempting to analyze them during the night. This can result in the user being left with no proof that the water system was complying during the batch of products manufactured the day prior. Conclusion Accurate total organic carbon analysis of low TOC contemporary pharmaceutical grade water faces several challenges. Instruments with numerous sensors that determine TC and TIC and then calculate the TOC can suffer from imprecise results because of TC and TIC measurement inaccuracies5. Analyzers with only one sensor to complete the measurements can provide an increasingly accurate result due to fewer estimations and assumptions in the measurement4. Specificity in the presence of inorganic carbon is a difficulty for numerous analyzers. A method with higher accuracy involves removing the TIC and monitoring to ensure it has been totally removed prior to measuring the TOC directly. Several analyzer designs are just unable to measure low ppb TOC levels because of the analyzers limit of detection due to the high number of estimations and assumptions in the measurement4. Though the pharmacopeias need the TOC analyzer to have a limit of detection of 50 ppb1, this is just insufficient when measuring water from a contemporary, low ppb TOC system. Users wanting to utilize a broader ranging TOC analyzer that uses a mixture of oxidizing reagents and/or carrier gases should implement procedures to make sure that the analyzer is unable to continue to complete analyses and destroy water samples if the reagent or the gas are depleted. This could be in the form of a manual check, or could be designed within the analyzer so that it constantly monitors all of the critical analysis parameters and ceases attempting to complete analyses should any issue arise. The guidance given in the ICH Q22 guidance document can be useful for users to establish the suitability of the design and performance of laboratory TOC analyzers in the light of the difficulties of measuring TOC in contemporary low-TOC water systems discussed in this paper. References US Pharmacopeia Convention, United States Pharmacopoeia, Rockville MD, USA and Council of Europe, European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & Healthcare, European Pharmacopoeia, Strasbourg, France International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use, Validation Of Analytical Procedures: Text And Methodology Q2(R1), November 2005 [8th August 2014], http://www.ich.org/fileadmin/Public_Web_Site/ICH_Products/Guidelines/Quality/Q2_R1/Step4/Q2_R1__Guideline.pdf [8th August 2014] Council of Europe, European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & Healthcare, European Pharmacopoeia 8.0, 01/2008:20244, Total Organic Carbon in Water for Pharmaceutical Use, Strasbourg, France Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology, Evaluation of measurement data Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement ref. JCGM 100:2008 First edition September 2008, http://www.iso.org/sites/JCGM/GUM-JCGM100.htm [8th august 2014] GE Analytical Instruments, Technical Bulletin The Sievers Inorganic Carbon Remover (ICR), Boulder, Colorado, USA www.geinstruments.com [8th August 2014] GE Analytical Instruments, Sievers 900 Series Total Organic Carbon Analyzers, Operation and Maintenance Manual, Ref. DLM 90688-03 Rev. A, 2011, Boulder, Colorado, USA www.geinstruments.com [8th August 2014] International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering, The ISPE Good Practice Guide: Ozone Sanitization of Pharmaceutical Water Systems, First edition July 2012 http://www.ispe.org/ispe-good-practice-guides/ozone-sanitization-pharmaceutical-water-systems [14th August 2014] Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Sciences Society, Best Practice for Particle Monitoring in Pharmaceutical Facilities, PHSS Technical Monograph No.16, First Edition 2008, ISBN 978-1-905271-15-3 About Beckman Coulter Life Sciences Beckman Coulter Life Sciences is dedicated to empowering discovery and scientific breakthroughs. The companys global leadership and world-class service and support delivers sophisticated instrument systems, reagents and services to life science researchers in academic and commercial laboratories, enabling new discoveries in biology-based research and development. A leader in centrifugation and flow cytometry, Beckman Coulter has long been an innovator in particle characterization and laboratory automation, and its products are used at the forefront of important areas of investigation, including genomics and proteomics. Primary activity / Product lines Flow Cytometry Centrifugation Particle Counting and Characterization Liquid Handling and Robotics Nucleic Acid Sample Preparation Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments. After an extended stay-at-home order in Southeastern Wisconsin, business owners like you are planning to open doors and welcome customers back. This is a critical moment for your advertising and marketing messages to get it right. New consumer habits are about to be set and a new normal established. There is pent up demand but competition will be sharp. Thats why it is so important to position your business as a smart, safe, enjoyable place to visit and shop for merchandise or services. As your partner in our local business community, Wisconn Valley Media (publishers of The Kenosha News, The Journal Times and Lake Geneva Regional News) and Amplified Digital has been in contact with local business owners to conduct research on just what this re-opening might entail, and how local businesses can position themselves for success. Opening your business during a pandemic can be delicate and tricky. We have been developing an easy to understand and implement hot sheet of ideas to consider. You can find it at kenoshanews.com/open. We have included ideas about what businesses are doing everything from floor markings and signs to encourage social distancing, encouraging employees and customers to wear face masks, installing plexi-glass sneeze guards, and more. There are ideas about what businesses are saying in their advertising and marketing, plus words they are using to promote empathy, communicate safety and present offers. One theme has become clear in this critical moment. Consumers first want advertisements to convey that you are Open for Business and what services are available, then the changes your business has made in response to the pandemic. Borrell Associates recently surveyed consumers and found that preferred advertising content included such things as service adjustments and updates, actions the business is taking to help, compliance (clean, social distancing, etc.), explaining actions to protect employees and also on that list deals. After all, deciding on one business or another may come down to safety and a deal that sparks interest. In addition to the recent launch of our local marketing grant program, which matches advertising dollars in the months of April, May and June, we have established multi-channel advertising and marketing packages specifically designed for re-opening businesses. Readership on our news sites is at record levels connecting you directly to up to 88% of all households. We also are offering free senior level advertising and marketing consultations to be sure that your plan is on point and up to the challenge. We hope you will check out the hot sheet and offers. The link is kenoshanews.com/open or call 262-631-1711 for more information. David Habrat is vice president of advertising and marketing for the Kenosha News. The contours of Indias latest efforts to boost indigenous defence production have Make in India written all over. Measures laid out by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last Saturday include banning the import of weapon systems that can be made in the country, corporatising the beleaguered Ordnance Factory Boards (OFBs) and raising Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in defence manufacturing to 74 percent from 49 percent. These weapons acquisition plans part of the Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package for re-starting an economy reeling under the COVID-19 strangleholdare in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modis idea of building an Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). By all accounts, the catalogue of prohibited arms imports is to get longer every year depending on fresh inputs from the armed forces. We will notify a list of weapons and platforms for ban on their imports and fix deadlines to do it, said Sitharaman. These platforms must be bought only from domestic companies and not from foreign firms and the spares for these weapons must also be manufactured indigenously. To facilitate this, the government intends to make a separate budget provisioning for domestic capital procurement. This will help reduce a huge defence import bill, Sitharaman noted. It is not clear, though, how the government will revamp the scores of OFBs which are under fire for producing inferior armaments including artillery shells. The minister, however, ruled out privatising them and indicated overhauling their management instead so that they could be listed on the stock market. And since the steep increase in the FDI cap in arms manufacturing falls under the automatic route, it does away with the need for government sanction. These reforms could not be happening sooner, considering Indias dubious tag of being one of the biggest arms importers in the world. In fact, the latest report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute lists the US, China and India in that order as the worlds three biggest military spenders in 2019. Russia and Saudi Arabia occupy the fourth and fifth spots, respectively. The irony is that, despite this, India continues to lag many other countries in its actual military spending. Set against its gross domestic product (GDP), Indias defence expenditure remains at the bottom of the list of big military spenders. The countrys latest defence budget, in fact, hovers below the 1.6 percent mark of GDP the lowest since the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962. It is hard to explain why a country, whose economy grew at around 7 per cent annually till recently, cannot afford to spend even 2 per cent of its GDP on national security. Tiny Singapore, with a population of about five million, has a defence budget that accounts for 5 percent of its GDP! The new measures announced by the government will go a long way in reducing Indias overdependence on imported military hardware: an Achilles heel of the Indian military. For the effort to succeed, however, it is important for all three services to change entrenched mindsets. For instance, the chief reason for the militarys preference for imports has to do with services qualitative requirements (SQRs): specific conditions that must be met before new weapon systems are accepted. Most of the time, unrealistic SQRs are quoted which cannot be met by state or local private companies and, as a result, the advantage passes to foreign vendors. It is high time the armed forces stopped flagging concerns about SQRs needlessly and approved equipment produced locally even if all the SQRs are not met, provided, of course, there is no compromise on military capability. Now that policymakers have redefined defence procurement with a focus on indigenisation, building a military-industrial complex in the country no longer seems like a pipedream. Along with a long-term integrated perspective plan -- to keep the industry informed in advance about the militarys requirements -- this will help unfold a new road map for modernising Indias armed forces. EUR/USD Current Price: 1.0905 US Federal Reserve Powell said the central bank has not run out of armament. Germans Merkel and Frances Macron proposed a rescue plan for the EU. EUR/USD turned short-term bullish may near the critical 1.1000 level. Rallying equities led the way higher for EUR/USD, throughout the first half of the day, later boosted by news indicating that Germany and France have proposed an EU recovery fund of E500 billion. According to the Germans Chancellor Merkel, the fund should give grants, no loans to member states, while Frances Macron said it would focus on help countries or regions that have been particularly affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The pair hit a daily high of 1.0919, ending it above the 1.0900 level. Earlier in the day, stocks advanced on a mixture of optimistic coronavirus-related news and US Federal Reserve chiefs Powell hinting more easing coming. Moderna, a biotech firm, has announced encouraging results on an early-stage coronavirus vaccine trial. The next and final stage of the test could be completed by July. Hopes on economic recoveries boosted appetite for riskier assets. This Tuesday, Germany will release the ZEW Survey on Economic Sentiment for May, seen improving in the country from 29.2 to 33.5. For the whole Union, the indicator is seen at -12.1 from 25.2 in April. EUR/USD Short-Term Technical Outlook The EUR/USD is trading at its highest in almost two weeks, holding on to its bullish potential in the short-term. The 4-hour chart shows that it has accelerated north through all of its moving averages, which remain directionless. Anyway, the sharp buying volume skews the risk to the upside. In the mentioned chart, technical indicators head firmly higher well into positive ground, nearing overbought levels. As long as buyers defend the downside around 1.0890, the pair has chances of nearing the 1.1000 critical threshold. Support levels: 1.0890 1.0860 1.0820 Story continues Resistance levels: 1.0920 1.0950 1.0985 Image sourced from Pixabay See more from Benzinga 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. "The National Solar Tour inspires people across the country to make sustainable energy choices," said Carly Rixham, ASES Executive Director. "Going solar allows people to reduce costs, support energy independence and reduce carbon emissions." This year's tour will have a goal of engaging over 50,000 people attending and hosting solar home tours. "Solar brings people together," said Anya Schoolman, Solar United Neighbors Executive Director. "We're excited to partner with ASES to expand the reach of this great opportunity for folks to learn about solar from their neighbors." ASES is the nation's leading association of renewable energy professionals and advocates. The organization has regional chapters in 41 states and the District of Columbia. It publishes the award-winning Solar Today magazine and the e-newsletter [email protected] for renewable energy professionals, and hosts monthly webinars for the ASES Webinar Series . ASES also hosts the ASES National Solar Conference , which will take place virtually June 24-25th, 2020. Solar United Neighbors helps people go solar, join together, and fight for their energy rights. The organization helps thousands of people go solar every year through bulk purchase groups known as "solar co-ops," as well as through paid membership programs. Members receive ongoing support in researching and purchasing solar, enjoy discounts and guidance on system maintenance and join a community of solar supporters fighting to ensure their investment in solar is protected. Solar advocates are encouraged to organize local solar tours in their neighborhoods. Open houses can feature solar, other renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Local organizers and solar homeowners interested in hosting a solar open house can sign up to participate by July 31st at www.nationalsolartour.org . Questions about Local Tours on the National Solar Tour? Contact [email protected] . Questions about the Open Houses on the National Solar Tour? Contact [email protected] . Interested in sponsoring the National Solar Tour? Contact [email protected]. SOURCE American Solar Energy Society Related Links http://www.ases.org PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne sent an email asking for officers to be "thinned out where possible" and for officers to be "sent home in rotation" during the coronavirus pandemic, it has been reported. An internal inquiry was launched last week after it emerged that dozens of officers did not report for duty in Londonderry and Strabane during a two-week period in April. It is understood that on one shift as many as 28 officers did not show up for work. The PSNI said that, once discovered, the practice was brought to "an immediate end" and an investigation was launched into the matter. The force acknowledged the situation would have reduced the enforcement of lockdown restrictions. Chief Superintendent Emma Bond last week said that the practice "is not one that had been endorsed by the senior management of police." However, an email sent from PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne's email address, seen by BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show, asks for "numbers to be thinned down where possible" and approved officers being sent home "in rotation". A PSNI spokesperson said it would be "inappropriate" to comment on the matter while an internal investigation is under way. Former PSNI assistant chief constable Alan McQuillan, speaking to the Nolan Show, said it was an "very odd sequence of events". "I think it just reflects the confusion there was at the start of the pandemic," he said. "I heard that message was sent out by the chief constable. There was also some public messaging going on from the government at that time about self-isolation." Mr McQuillan said there may have been some confusion within the force about sending home staff who had come in contact with people who had Covid-19 after the government issued advice that these people should self-isolated for 14 days. "That instruction went out and things were interpreted at local level," he said. "What I really don't understand is why suddenly at the Policing Board there is an announcement that there is an investigation, an inquiry into this. "Which almost makes it appear as though there has been some sort of malpractice. I just don't see that. There may have been a break down in communication, there may have been some misunderstandings but it seems to have gathered an entire life of its own for no reason." Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Reuters) Buenos Aires, Argentina Tue, May 19, 2020 18:08 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd914374 2 Science & Tech fossil,Argentina,paleontology,dinosaur,megaraptor Free Paleontologists from the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences said on Monday they found the 70-million-year-old remains of a megaraptor, making it one of the last carnivorous dinosaurs to inhabit the earth. The discovery was made in the southern province of Santa Cruz in the middle of March this year. After studying the fossils, measuring 10 meters, experts realized they were looking at the remains of a predatory dinosaur from the end of the "age of dinosaurs". Federico Brisson, member of the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences unearth fossils of a megaraptor, at El Calafate, Santa Cruz, Argentina, on March 15, 2020. (Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales/Handout via Reuters/File) "This is the moment, 65 million years ago, when the extinction of the dinosaurs occurs, and this new megaraptor that we now have to study would be one of the last representatives of this group," Fernando Novas, the paleontologist in charge of the project, told Reuters. Read also: Meet T-Rex's older cousin: The Reaper of Death Unlike the Tyrannosaurus rex, the megaraptors were slimmer and built for speed, with long tails that allowed them to keep their balance. They had muscular but elongated legs to take long steps, according to the specialist. "The defining characteristic of the megaraptors was that they had very long arms and that their thumb ended in a claw of approximately 40 centimeters," allowing them to catch their prey, he said. Topics : fossil Argentina paleontology dinosaur megaraptor LONGMONT, Colo., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospitals and health care workers are on the front lines in the battle against COVID-19. Paramount in that fight is the constant collection and dissemination of critical data being requested by key partners such as state health departments and the federal government. It is for these data collection and reporting tasks which CORVENA's Continuous Operational Readiness (COR) platform is specifically built and uniquely capable of performing. Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar II sent a formal request to all hospital administrators for daily reporting on "testing, capacity, supplies, utilization, and patient flows to facilitate the public health response to COVID-19," which CORVENA provides for state health departments, health care coalitions and major hospitals. "We have learned once again that our nation's health care system, along with other first responders, forms the core foundation of our nation's ability to respond to critical events," said CORVENA CEO Marcus J. Mollmann, who served in the White House during the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001, and helped coordinate the federal government's response in the subsequent days and months. Since the beginning of this crisis, CORVENA's (COR) platform has empowered health organizations to collect real-time information on the availability of beds, staff, supplies and other Essential Elements of Information (EEI). The data provided by the COR platform has quickly become essential for states to meet the federal reporting requirements and to request resources from the federal stockpile. "CORVENA's technology and support proved mission critical in our state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic," said Mark Ross, VP of Emergency Preparedness for the Hospital Association of Pennsylvania. The COR platform was so essential in Pennsylvania that the Secretary of Health has mandated the use of the COR platform by order of law. "The Department recognizes the tireless efforts made by health care professionals throughout this current emergency, and that they are the front line of the response to this health care crisis. In order to support those efforts, the Department must have the most timely and accurate information available," decreed Dr. Rachel Levine, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health, in the health order. "The information contained in the EEI survey is crucial for the Department's ongoing efforts to allocate resources and plan for mitigation efforts. The Department's Order today is designed to ensure that the Department has all the information necessary to effectively battle this pandemic." "We are proud to serve alongside health care and first responders to support their COVID-19 response efforts," added Dave Wojs, CORVENA's Director of Operations. COR is revolutionary because it automates the collection, reporting and visualization of EEIs in real-time, allowing health care workers to concentrate on health care, while COR takes care of the data. CORVENA is a veteran of the healthcare industry, utilized by over 19,000 active users in more than 26 U.S. states. The EEIs collected include, but are not limited to data collection and reporting on available beds, current emergency department capacity, number of COVID-19 patients and expected number of days remaining N95 respirators will last. COR solutions utilized during the pandemic include: COR, an enterprise-wide common operating picture CORbeds, which monitors real-time staffed and available beds by type across a network, an enterprise, or region, with -real-time automated updates directly from hospitals' EMR system. CORsurvey, which ascertains resource shortages and other essential elements of information. CORpatients, which tracks confirmed patients through the entire continuum of care. CORinsight, a data visualization dashboard with mapping capabilities and summary metrics. ABOUT CORVENA CORVENA mitigates threats to operational continuity and contains the costs of critical events by providing a common operating picture, improving coordination, streamlining workflows, and automating the generation of after-action reports and compliance documentation. Our incident management technology platform is the only mission-ready incident management product providing enterprise-wide visibility and interoperability from a comprehensive, integrated platform with a single sign-on. CORVENA is utilized by over 19,000 active users in more than 26 U.S. states. CORVENA has supported over 380,000 emergency response incidents and has supported the treatment or transfer of over 22,000 patients. Call CORVENA at 800-685-0354 or visit www.corvena.com. Business hours are 8:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m. MT Monday-Friday. SOURCE CORVENA Related Links http://www.corvena.com File Photo Mumbai: Commercial flights have been suspended until May 31 due to a nationwide lockdown. Meanwhile, some airlines have started booking flights for the month of June, sources said. Flight operationsImportantly, all domestic and international flights suspended from March 25 during the nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 are currently closed till at least May 31 and no guidelines have been issued by the government to resume their operations. Advertisement "Domestic airlines have started booking their flights from June," a source said. When contacted, a SpiceJet source said the company has started booking international flights from June 15. Sources at Indigo and Vistara said both the companies were booking domestic flights. However, no official statement has been made by SpiceJet, Indigo, Vistara and GoAir to start booking. AirlinesOn Monday, Sudhakar Reddy, national president of the Indian Air Passengers Association (APAI), criticized some airlines for starting bookings. Advertisement He claimed in a tweet, "We understand that 6E (Indigo), SpiceJet, GoAir has started booking international flights, assuming that it will be operational from June 1. Please don't fall for it. Your money will become a credit shell, instead keep it safe at home. ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Porte Brown LLC, www.PorteBrown.com, a Chicagoland accounting firm, is pleased to announce the firm has been named as one of the 2020 Best Places to Work in Illinois. The Best Places to Work competition is a combination survey, study and awards ceremony established to identify the top employers in the state of Illinois. This is the eighth consecutive time Porte Brown has made the list and the fifth time within the medium employer category. The awards program began in 2006 and is promoted by The Daily Herald Business Ledger in partnership with the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, MRA-The Management Association, the Small Business Advocacy Council and Best Companies Group. 2020 Best Places to Work in Illinois Porte Brown The ranking of the Best Places to Work in Illinois will be unveiled at an awards ceremony the evening of Thursday, August 20, 2020. Then the rankings will be published on the Business Ledger website (www.dhbusinessledger.com), and a special commemorative section profiling the companies selected as the Best Places to Work in Illinois will be published September 14. An unranked list of all honorees will be announced in the May 18 issue of the Business Ledger. Coverage will also be provided through the parent publication The Daily Herald. For more information on the Best Places to Work in Illinois program, visit www.BestPlacestoWorkinIL.com. About Porte Brown Porte Brown LLC is a full-service accounting and consulting firm headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Elk Grove Village, Illinois. For more than 70 years, Porte Brown has focused on providing the highest level of service to individuals, businesses and organizations throughout the region. In addition to the traditional accounting services such as tax planning and preparation, audit, business valuations, and retirement plan administration. Porte Brown also provides strategic consulting and leading-edge technology implementation for clients in cloud and non-cloud environments. Wealth management services provided by Porte Brown Wealth Management LLC.* Porte Brown serves accounting and consulting clients from offices in Illinois, Indiana, and Texas. For more information, visit www.portebrown.com or call 847-956-1040. *Wealth Management Services provided by Porte Brown Wealth Management LLC. Securities offered through Avantax Investment ServicesSM, Member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Avantax Advisory ServicesSM. Insurance services offered through an Avantax affiliated insurance agency. Contact: Pam Metzger, [email protected] 847-956-1040 SOURCE Porte Brown Related Links http://www.PorteBrown.com WATERLOO REGION More than $2 million in special funding will be available for local charities working with vulnerable populations during the pandemic. The Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation, the Cambridge and North Dumfries Community Foundation and United Way Waterloo Region will be handing out about $2.3 million from the federal Emergency Community Support Fund, announced by the federal government in April as part of a package of emergency response measures. Applications will be accepted starting May 19, for up to $75,000 for projects that serve those who are most vulnerable to the health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19. Vulnerable populations include children and youth, seniors or groups with special needs such as homeless people or people fleeing domestic violence. More information is available at kwcf.ca. By Mohammed Ghobari ADEN (Reuters) - Yemen's Saudi-backed government accused its Houthi foes of covering up a big outbreak of coronavirus in areas they hold and the United Nations warned that the country could suffer a 'catastrophic' food security situation due to the pandemic. The Aden-based government also called for urgent global assistance to help Yemen's war-ravaged health sector deal with the coronavirus By Mohammed Ghobari ADEN (Reuters) - Yemen's Saudi-backed government accused its Houthi foes of covering up a big outbreak of coronavirus in areas they hold and the United Nations warned that the country could suffer a "catastrophic" food security situation due to the pandemic. The Aden-based government also called for urgent global assistance to help Yemen's war-ravaged health sector deal with the coronavirus. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the virus is spreading undetected in the country, divided between the government in the south and the Iran-aligned Houthi group based in the north. The conflict between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis has already caused what the United Nations describes as the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with about 80% of Yemen's population reliant on aid and millions facing hunger. The government's coronavirus committee reported two more COVID-19 cases in Shabwa province on Monday, taking total confirmed infections since April 10 to 130 with 20 deaths in nine of Yemen's 21 provinces. The Houthis, who hold most large population centres, have only announced four cases with one death, all in the capital Sanaa. "Reports on the ground indicate a large number of coronavirus cases in areas under the Houthis' control and hiding this information is completely unacceptable," Minister of Local Administration Abdul Raqib Fath said on Sunday. He urged the WHO and the international community to pressure the Houthis about declaring cases. The Houthi movement, which ousted the internationally recognised government from Sanaa in late 2014, denies the charges. On Saturday, its health minister announced two more infections and said the ministry was following all suspected cases, without providing a number. The WHO says it has been advising local authorities throughout Yemen, where testing capacity is limited, to report cases in order to secure resources, but that the decision to do so rests with a country's leaders. Sources had told Reuters that both sides have not fully disclosed the extent of the pandemic in a country already plagued by other diseases. The Aden-based government's health minister said Yemen urgently needed financial assistance and protective gear for health workers in addition to ventilators and test equipment. Yemen has been mired in violence since the Western-backed coalition intervened in March 2015 against the Houthis, who say they are fighting a corrupt system. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said hunger could spread drastically due to the pandemic. "That situation could be really catastrophic if all the elements of worst case scenarios come to be but let's hope not and the U.N. are working on avoiding that," senior FAO regional official Abdessalam Ould Ahmed told Reuters. (Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari, Additional reporting by Maha El Dahan in Dubai; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Giles Elgood) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. A woman against a brick wall I used to live in Michigan for 13 years, where the cracked pavement and the thick air made my 4:30 a.m. walks to school brutal. I lived in a hunt house on Reed St. It was located in the ghetto/slum. On a good day walking into the house you could smell spic and span, the sun lit up the root beer walls of the living room and the two orange bedrooms werent so bold or suffocating, the color was light. My moms bedroom door was open and her bed would have been made. She would most likely be cooking her special mac n cheese, it was everyones favorite. On a bad day standing in the front door frame your eyes would go directly to the recliner chair that was upside down in the kitchen. Your eyes would then look up and see my mothers bedroom door shut, but it wouldnt block out the yelling and the sounds of things hitting the walls. The room would become quiet after hours of hiding on the basement stairs and pacing back and forth, walking into the first room and out by the washer and dryer and entering the second room with goosebumps of being alone and then repeating over and over again. Related: Download The Mighty app to connect in real time with people who can relate to what you're going through. While my sisters would yell at me to come into the room while my brothers and Papa would sit and play video games. I sat on one of the beds and looked through the small basement windows and made up stories in my head. A few hours later, some of my siblings and Papa would go back to my fathers house, and my mother and her husband would call CPS because they were done. CPS would come and write up a report. They always wanted to know why I didnt want to be with my birth father and I would always give the shortest response that was possible, Hes an alcoholic. The nights were long but quiet. It only felt like I fell asleep minutes ago but my alarm would be ringing in my ear, it was time to walk the cracked pavement and breath in the thick air that made the 4:30 a.m. walk to school numbing. Story continues Related: Senator Tells Students Not to Major in Psychology in Bizarre Graduation Speech School was painful for me physically and mentally. I was at a third grade academic level when I was in eighth grade. I woke up early to walk my siblings and myself to school. We went to school out of town. We had to take the long way because the short cuts through the back alleys got too dangerous. I was absent most days for multiple reasons. One being I was a mother figure to three kids before I was 8 years old. I was especially distracted by my mother. When she had money, I would leave school to walk with her to the grocery store. Once we made it home I would put the groceries away and let her rest before she had another seizure. When her seizures got bad she ended up in the hospital for days at a time. My mother was in a crucial car crash when she was younger. The accident reshaped her life forever. She was diagnosed with with bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression and a traumatic brain injury (TBI). She used this as an excuse to leave town for weeks at a time followed by physically abusing me and my eight siblings. It wasnt the only dangerous thing in our lives though, our ex-stepfather was extremely dangerous and he put us in harms way along with my birth father. The doctors said the seizures were caused by head/body trauma. Due to her ex-husband. I was always watching out for her and my younger siblings. Nothing mattered to me, I didnt have a choice nor a voice. My reality was being left without water and electricity for weeks at a time. Related: Bumble Dating Profile Called Out for Saying 'No Mental Illnesses' I remember my 12th birthday. My mother was leaving that night to go to Detroit for the weekend. We didnt have any water or electricity. Our very generous neighbors let us run an extension cord from their house to our house so that we could have lights. I hooked the oven up to the bright orange cord to make a birthday cake for Gracy and I. Even though Gracy was with my father I still wanted to show her I cared. After mixing the batter and putting the pink mix in the oven I waited and waited. Nothing ever happened to the cake. It didnt grow and it didnt expand. My mother walked through the kitchen to put her bags by the door. She looked in the oven and said, What are you doing? I replied, Making a cake, but its not working. She told me to unplug the oven because its not gonna bake because we have no gas. I ripped the cord out of the plug very slowly so that when I turned around she wouldnt see my tears. At this very moment I realized something; I would never grow if I stayed. I made a decision that would change my life forever. My sisters half sisters mom and grandma came to Sawginaw, Michigan to pick up my youngest siblings because after years things got too bad. The night before they left I was packing my things to live in my cousins unfit house. My mom called me into the living room, I walked in on them, staring at me with tension in their necks. I sat down and my grandma asked me a question, Do you want the extra spot in the car? I turned to look for reassurance from my mother, I replied yes. I packed what I had and got in the car, we left. I never looked back. Survivors guilt never made more sense. I told my twin sister and my other siblings that I left once I was out of state. That summer before eighth grade I decided to stay. We lived in Waterford, CT. I was at a third grade level for all of my academic classes, but my street smarts were strong and so were my survival skills. That year I worked my hardest. I knew that I had to work harder as it was with a hearing disorder and an eye deficiency. Throughout the school year I stayed after every day to catch up on years of missed work. I needed a better education and that was one of the main reasons why I stayed. I never wanted to lose track of my point of views on education or regret my decision because then it would be like I left my twin sister and siblings behind for no reason. I never knew what survivors guilt was until that summer. I also never realized that after being dehumanized for years, you could only make yourself love smarter. After dealing with the mental disturbance of my past. I am now a part of the Tutoring Knight Center in my school library. I also joined the Unified P.E gym class. I work with the mentally and physically disabled teens in my high school while changing the stigma behind physical/mental disabilities. I am also a teachers assistant in an contemporary literature class. Im glad I left so I can look forward to my future. Read more stories like this on The Mighty: Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps Gets Real About Mental Health Impact of COVID-19 On Mental Wellbeing and Gun Violence 3 Essential Truths About Making Lifes Big Choices My Mental Illness Is Not a Fashion Statement Prithviraj Sukumaran, director Blessy and the team recently the Jordan schedule of the highly anticipated project Aadujeevitham. Earlier, the 58-members crew was supposed to return back to Kerala immediately after completing the shoot. Recently, the sources close to Aadujeevitham revealed the actual reason behind the delay in the return of Prithviraj Sukumaran and his team. According to the sources, the 58-members crew will return to Kerala once they receive permission for civil aviation. The team is planning to take the flight immediately after they receive permission. Prithviraj Sukumaran and his team have reportedly shifted their stay from the location in Wadi Rum to a hotel which is located near the Jordan international airport. From the recently released location stills and videos, it is evident that Prithviraj Sukumaran, director Blessy, and the rest of the team members are perfectly alright. The families of the crew members and audiences were worried for the Aadujeevitham team, after Prithviraj and Blessy revealed that they are stuck in Wadi Rum, Jordan after the country announced lockdown to curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. The team had begun filming the dessert portions of the movie on March 16, 2020, in Wadi Rum. But they had to cancel the shoot in mid-way on April 1, 2020, after the permit was canceled by the Jordan government. Even though Prithviraj and Blessy contacted the Indian authorities for help, the crew couldn't travel back due to the cancellation of international flights. Later, they resumed the shoot after getting permission for Jordan government once again. Aadujeevitham, which is an ambitious project for Prithviraj and Blessy, is based on Benyamin's renowned novel of the same name. AR Rahman, the veteran musician will make a comeback to Malayalam cinema after a long gap of 28 years with the project. Aadujeevitham is bankrolled by KG Abraham, under the banner KGA Films. Also Read: Prithviraj Sukumaran & Blessy Wrap Up Aadujeevitham Jordan Schedule: To Return Soon! The US authorities yesterday accused Apple of refusing to unlock phones belonging to a Saudi air force student who shot three people dead last year at a Florida military base. The justice department and FBI launched the attack on the tech giant after revealing data from the gunman's iPhones led back to al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula. But Apple strongly denied the claims, saying they were an excuse to weaken encryption and safety measures. "Apple's decision has dangerous consequences for public safety and the national security," said attorney general William Barr, who said its refusal to change its encryption software meant FBI agents spent four months getting into the gunman's phones. "We received effectively no help from Apple," said FBI director Christopher Wray. Officials declined to say how the FBI was able to access the phones, but it is understood agents used a passcode-guessing machine - a process that took months. An on-and-off battle between the Justice Department and Silicon Valley over encrypted phones has been at something of a stalemate since 2016, when the Justice Department abandoned a court case that might have settled the issue. That case also involved a dead terrorist's phone which the FBI first said it could not access, then later did. In a statement, Apple said Justice Department and FBI leaders were not telling the truth about the company's role in the investigation. "We provided every piece of information available to us and we lent continuous and ongoing technical and investigative support," it said. "The false claims about our company are an excuse to weaken encryption and other security measures that protect millions of users and our national security." Officials said information gained from the phones led a counter-terrorism operation in Yemen against Abdullah al-Maliki, whom they had connected to the gunman through the phone data. "The al-Maliki group has been seriously degraded and I'm very pleased," Mr Barr said. Authorities previously said the gunman, Ahmed Mohammed al-Shamrani, was motivated by "jihadist ideology". New evidence taken from the suspect's phone indicates his path toward radicalisation began around 2015, predating his arrival in the United States for military training. The troubling coronavirus outbreak in the Navajo Nation and New Mexico has been traced to a detox center where nearly 100 people enjoying the last night of revelry before lockdowns were sent to sober up along with sheltering homeless people, as the virus unknowingly lurked among them. The night before New Mexico shut down bars and restaurants to curb the spread of coronavirus on March 24, locals gathered in the city of Gallup for a final hoorah. As revelers partied the night away in the desert oasis on the fringes of the Navajo Nation, 98 people were detained for public intoxication and were sent to the Na'Nizhoozhi Center to sober up. Several homeless people also sought refuge in the same cinder block building, which doubles as a shelter. In total 22 people infected with COVID-19 were transferred from the detox center to Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital, the only acute care medical center for the general public within 110 miles in Gallup. Officials suspect that the coronavirus whipped through the homeless population, and some passed through the Na'Nizhoozhi Center, putting the liquor-tax funded shelter and detox center at the heart of the city's outbreak. A night of revelry before bars and restaurants shut in New Mexico appears to have led to the state's coronavirus outbreak at the Na'Nizhoozhi Detox Center (pictured above on May 7) and homeless shelter on the fringes of the Navajo Nation An exterior view of the Na'Nizhoozhi Center detox facility in Gallup, New Mexico where the coronavirus outbreak is believed to have emerged. Now, the Na'Nizhoozhi Center is also part of the response as it steers destitute people infected by the coronavirus toward isolation in rooms at four otherwise unoccupied motel buildings Now the outbreak is overwhelming small local hospitals in the area that are shortstaffed, have only a few hospital beds, and lack the equipment to meet the pandemic. On May 8 medical staff at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital held a protest over working conditions and depleted staff Gallup Police Officer J. Soseeah, right, checks on the health of a homeless woman in Gallup, New Mexico on April 7 Gallup is a shopping hub for the nearby remote Navajo communities and a destination for Native Americans who have left home and ended up on the streets, some grappling with alcohol addiction. From the detox center the virus started to infect the population mounting to nearly 6,100 cases and over 270 deaths throughout the state. More than half of those cases are among Native Americans. Now the outbreak is overwhelming small local hospitals in the area that are shortstaffed, have only a few hospital beds, and lack the equipment to meet the pandemic. Protests took place on May 8 when medical staffers from Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital decried the working conditions and depleted staff in the state. 'They were putting multiple cots in one room to accommodate them,' pulmonologist Rajiv Patel, who helped lead the hospital's initial response, said. In order to attend to the influx of coronavirus patients any available doctor was called into action - even those who don't typically handle critically ill patients. 'That's right when we overloaded. Now we've got too many patients, and too few (staff) to help,' hospital CEO David Conejo said. In total 22 people infected with COVID-19 were transferred from the detox center to Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital, the only acute care medical center for the general public within 110 miles in Gallup Certified Medical Assistant Shaniya Wood displays a certification card that homeless residents can use to show they are free of the coronavirus to gain access to shelters and other services, Thursday May 7 Today Rehoboth's eight intensive care beds are full and it has to transfer all its coronavirus patients with severe breathing problems away from the facility to the adjacent Gallup Indian Medical Center, which exclusively attends to the Native American community. The virus has also infected frontline workers, including about 500 medical and support staff and at least 32 hospital workers. Doctors and nurses say that they all live with the fear of spreading the virus to their colleagues and relatives. Hospital CEO Conejo blamed Patel for taking on more COVID-19 patients than the staff could handle with good intentions that ended up overwhelming the hospital. Patel says that Rehoboth lacked staff with experience to provide appropriate care and he struggled to train them quickly. He said on two occasions alarms went off during the night on breathing machines and were misinterpreted by overnight staff. Within two days of those missteps, he and colleagues decided that severely ill coronavirus patients would have to go elsewhere - a heart-wrenching decision that meant sick people would be treated far from family and one that underscored the consequences of not having adequate care in the region. Today Rehoboth's eight intensive care beds are full and it has to transfer all its coronavirus patients with severe breathing problems away from the facility to the adjacent Gallup Indian Medical Center. A May 8 protest by medical staff at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital decrying working conditions and depleted staff above The virus has also infected frontline workers including about 500 medical and support staff and at least 32 hospital workers Many nurses and doctors say staffing at the hospital was inadequate because of hospital CEO David Conejo's move to cut back on nurses in the first week of March to offset declining hospital revenues after elective surgeries were suspended. They voiced their discontent at the May 8 protest calling for his resignation New Mexico state Sen. George Munoz joins medical staff from Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital in a protest over working conditions on May 8 in Gallup 'It was an easy decision because it was the right thing to do for patients,' Patel, whose wife is Navajo, said. 'It was very saddening for me personally because my heart and soul are completely invested in the health situation on the reservation.' Patel, who arrived to Rehoboth in March from an Army reserve stint in Kuwait, has since left to work at Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona. Nurses and doctors at the hospital also blame Conejo for the hospital's struggle to treat patients because the hospital cut back on nurses in the first week of March to offset declining revenues after elective surgeries were suspended. Some have called for Conejo's resignation at a recent protest. 'We knew it was coming to McKinley County, there wasn't any ifs, ands or buts. I was directed that I had to let go of 17 agency nurses,' said Felicia Adams, chief nursing officer who has recovered from COVID-19. 'We want to take care of our patients, we don't want to have to send them away.' Today there are nearly 6,100 cases of COVID-19 in the state and 270 deaths and over half of those cases are among the Navajo Nation . A medical staffer at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital pictured putting on protective equipment on May 7 Conejo defended his oversight, noting that he deferred to the hospital's board of trustees and a team of nurses and physicians on final decisions. He said the hospital couldn't afford not to cut staff in March and that the facility wanted to reduce overall employment to qualify for small-business assistance. But Adams and others believe Conejo put profits ahead of care. Physician Caleb Lauber said that, as experienced contract nurses were let go in March, unfamiliar responsibilities were thrust upon other nurses given only on-the-fly training. New Mexico's state auditor is seeking more information about the county-owned hospital's finances from its private operators. State health officials and philanthropists, meanwhile, are recruiting more than a dozen volunteer medical professionals and have hired a new critical care physician for the hospital. While much of New Mexico is showing signs of emerging from the initial wave of the pandemic, stubbornly high rates of infection and death persist in the states northwest corner - especially in the hard-hit Navajo Nation that extends into Arizona and Utah. Gallup, which has a population of 22,000, can quickly quadruple in size since it is a crucial source of supplies and water for faraway Navajo households, many of which lack full plumbing. Certified Medical Assistant Shaniya Wood, left, and physician Caleb Lauber, right, test one of over 100 homeless patients who were being isolated in motels for the coronavirus in Gallup, N.M. Some 140 people are participating in the impromptu system, and officials hope it will interrupt a treadmill of infections among Gallup's homeless population The city and its rural outskirts account for about 30 percent of COVID-19 infections statewide, with 78 related deaths as of Monday. To stem the spread, Gallup was subject to an extreme 10-day lockdown this month - cutting the city off from many of those who depend on it for supplies. Authorities have now set up free water stations and deliveries - to avoid the risk of transmission posed by coin-operated water stations, where hand after hand scooped out returned change. Now, the Na'Nizhoozhi Center is also part of the response as it steers destitute people infected by the coronavirus toward isolation in rooms at four otherwise unoccupied motel buildings. Some 140 people are currently participating in the impromptu system, and officials hope it will interrupt a treadmill of infections among Gallup's homeless population. But the virus has also taken its toll on the center. In addition to the 22 residents who became infected, several staff have been sickened by the virus and some simply stopped showing up, said Kevin Foley, executive director of the center. Six jobs now are open at a rate of $10 and hour, with just one application, he said. He yearns for a Hollywood ending. 'I wish that all those people would come over in those space suits and just clean the place for good,' he said, 'but its not like that.' The Agricultural Wages Board for Northern Ireland has announced increases to the wage rates for agricultural workers. The Board has increased the existing minimum rates for agricultural workers for Grades 3 to 6 by five percent. Grade 3 - Lead worker has risen to 8.82 per hour; Grade 4 - Craft Grade to 9.49 per hour; Grade 5 - Supervisory Grade to 9.99 per hour and Grade 6 - Farm Management Grade to 10.84 per hour. In addition, the accommodation offset has now risen to a maximum of 45.00 per week. The minimum rate (Grade 1), which is applicable for the first 40 weeks cumulative employment, will remain at 6.88 per hour. Grade 2 - Standard worker will remain at 7.42 per hour. The Agricultural Wages Board was established in 1977 and meets each year to consider changes to the rates of pay and related conditions for agricultural workers. It consists of 15 members: three members appointed by the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, one of whom is Chair of the Board. It also consists of six members nominated by the Ulster Farmers' Union as representatives of agricultural employers and six members nominated by Unite the union. By Trend As many as 50,000 medical eye-glasses and 1,000 non-contact infrared thermometers have been delivered to Baku for medical workers and patients within the cooperation between the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Medical Territorial Unit Management Unit (TABIB) via UNDP, Trend reports on May 19 referring to TABIB. Medical supplies have been purchased within the jointly implemented Project on Supporting the State Agency for Mandatory Health Insurance in Strengthening the Medical Supply System in Azerbaijan. During this week, the delivered supplies will be distributed to the local health facilities. UNDP Resident Representative for Azerbaijan Alessandro Fracassetti noted that in recent months, UNDP together with the UN has been working closely with the Azerbaijani government to quickly resolve the problems caused by the pandemic. The cooperation envelops such areas as information and technical support for digital medical services, the continuation of the online education systems activity and improvement of the most vulnerable population groups welfare. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz At the 600,000-square-foot warehouse where Kelly worked, in Hazle Township, products shipped from China and elsewhere are removed from trucks and broken down into smaller packages that are trucked to Amazons other facilities for shipment to shoppers. Safety measures began arriving at the warehouse in mid-March, but they were introduced without rigor. When a team that oversaw safety protocols posed for a photo March 17, wearing green for St. Patricks Day, its members stood right next to one another, without social distancing. Yellow tape marked off 6-foot increments on a main walkway, but many people worked much closer together, Kelly said, just like every other day. Matt Lauer on Tuesday slammed his rape accuser Brooke Nevils for 'false' claims while labeling Ronan Farrow, the journalist who covered her story, as 'manipulative'. In an op-ed for Mediaite the former Today host questioned Farrow's reporting abilities, calling his work 'shoddy journalism', after the Pulitzer Prize winner spoke with Nevils about her allegations. Lauer was abruptly fired by NBC News for sexual misconduct in 2017 after his former colleague Nevils accused him of rape in a Sochi hotel room during the Olympics in 2014. He said Tuesday: 'From start to finish Ronan is acting as Brookes advocate, not as a journalist investigating her claims.' Lauer says Farrow broke 'the cardinal rule of journalism' by 'coming to a self-serving conclusion first, and then he sees everything through the prism of that assumption'. The piece came following a New York Times article which asked: 'Is Ronan Farrow Too Good to Be True?' Reporter Ben Smith looked into Farrow's reporting techniques during his investigations into Harvey Weinstein. Fueled by that, Lauer wrote: 'I believe Ronan knew his work on Catch and Kill would receive little in the way of scrutiny, from the very beginning. 'Its the only way to explain why he was so willing to abandon common sense and true fact checking in favor of salacious, and deeply flawed, material. 'I also believe that some of Ronans sources felt they could make outrageous claims to him, knowing he (and thus their stories) would not be doubted.' Following the publication of the op-ed Farrow tweeted: 'All Ill say on this is that Matt Lauer is just wrong. Catch and Kill was thoroughly reported and fact-checked, including with Matt Lauer himself.' Nevils tweeted 'DARVO', an acronym used by academics to describe an abuser's behavior. 'The perpetrator or offender may Deny the behavior, Attack the individual doing the confronting, and Reverse the roles of Victim and Offender such that the perpetrator assumes the victim role and turns the true victim or the whistle-blower into an alleged offender', the University of Oregons Jennifer J. Freyd says. The former Today host, pictured on May 6, questioned Farrow's reporting in an op-ed for Mediaite He called the Pulitzer Prize winner's work 'shoddy journalism'. Farrow is pictured Farrow, a former NBC News employee who now works at The New Yorker, won a Pulitzer in 2018 for stories outlining sexual misconduct allegations against former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. In his book Catch and Kill Farrow makes the case that NBC may have shied away from the story because several of its executives and personalities, including 'Today' co-host Matt Lauer, also had sexual harassment allegations in their closets. But Lauer said Tuesday: 'At no time did Brooke Nevils ever use the words assault or rape in regards to any accusation against me while filing her complaint with NBC in November of 2017. That has been confirmed publicly.' He also hit out at Nevils, saying her allegation of rape against him was 'used to sell books'. He said Tuesday that Farrow had failed to speak with two of Nevils ex-boyfriends for the purposes of fact checking in his book claims she had made. 'I was also disappointed, but not surprised, that Ronan Farrows overall reporting faced so little scrutiny', Lauer added. 'Until this weeks critical reporting by The New York Times, many in the media perceived his work as inherently beyond basic questioning.' Lauer had already denied Nevils claims in an angry and defiant letter released by his lawyer last year and said that his public silence since his firing had been a mistake. Lauer wrote in Tuesday's op-ed: 'I was shaken, but not surprised, that few in the media were willing to thoroughly challenge the accusations against me, or the person making them. 'The rush to judgment was swift. In fact, on the morning I was falsely accused of rape, and before I could even issue a statement, some journalists were already calling my accuser brave and courageous. 'While the presumption of innocence is only guaranteed in a court of law, I felt journalists should have, at the very least, recognized and considered it.' Lauer was abruptly fired by NBC News for sexual misconduct in 2017 after Brooke Nevils, pictured, accused him of rape in a Sochi hotel room during the Olympics in 2014 Matt Lauer has been terminated from NBC News. On Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. As a result, weve decided to terminate his employment. pic.twitter.com/1A3UAZpvPb TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 29, 2017 On Tuesday he said Farrow 'consistently failed to confirm stories', 'failed to provide evidence of important communications he alleges took place between accusers and me' and 'used misleading language to manipulate readers'. Lauer says Farrow also 'routinely presented stories in a way that would suit his activist goals'. Answering claims he had a button under his desk to open and close his door, Lauer said Tuesday: 'Ronan writes that an unnamed female colleague had sex with me in my office after I pressed a button that remotely shut the door. (At least he stayed away from the myth that I had a button that could lock someone in my office a fact that NBC has publicly debunked.) 'He writes that during the sexual encounter, "She passed out. Lauers assistant took her to a nurse". 'Had he called my assistant, she would have told him that she never took anyone to the nurse, who had any kind of medical issue, while in my office. Ever. Following the publication of the op-ed Farrow tweeted: 'All Ill say on this is that Matt Lauer is just wrong. Catch and Kill was thoroughly reported and fact-checked, including with Matt Lauer himself' Nevils tweeted: 'DARVO: Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender' on Tuesday after the op-ed was published Farrow's book said Nevils met her boss for drinks one night and Lauer joined them. Nevils said she had six shots of vodka and wound up going to Lauer's room. She said that Lauer pushed her onto a bed and asked if she liked anal sex. Nevils said she declined several times, but then Lauer 'just did it.' She described the encounter as 'excruciatingly painful'. 'It was nonconsensual in the sense that I was too drunk to consent,' Nevils told Farrow. 'It was nonconsensual in that I said, multiple times, that I didn't want to have anal sex.' In his open letter last year, Lauer admitted to his extramarital affair with Nevils. He said on that night in Sochi that they performed a variety of sexual acts but it was consensual. 'She was a fully enthusiastic and willing partner,' he wrote. 'At no time did she behave in a way that made it appear she was incapable of consent. She seemed to know exactly what she wanted to do.' He claimed they had an affair that lasted after they returned to the United States. Nevils described the sex as 'transactional' and that she feared the effect Lauer could have on her career. In one case, she told Farrow that she had asked Lauer for help recording a goodbye video for a friend leaving NBC. He told her he'd do it in his office, and then demanded oral sex, Farrow wrote in the book, 'Catch and Kill.' Nevils said she felt she had to do something to protect other women at NBC News, leading to her filing the complaint against Lauer in November 2017. 'Matt Lauer's conduct was appalling, horrific and reprehensible, as we said at the time,' NBC News said in a statement. 'That's why he was fired within 24 hours of us first learning of the complaint. Our hearts break again for our colleague.' 'From start to finish Ronan is acting as Brookes advocate', Lauer , pictured, said of Farrow NBC said then that Lauer had been fired for 'inappropriate sexual conduct.' The specific rape allegation did not become public until Variety reported that Nevils spoke to Farrow. Farrow indicated that Lauer's behavior was an open secret at NBC. He quoted Lauer's former co-anchor Ann Curry who left 'Today' on bad terms with Lauer saying she had told NBC executives that Lauer 'had a problem with women' and they had to keep an eye on him. Farrow said he'd learned of seven claims of sexual misconduct raised by women who worked with Lauer. 'Several said they had told colleagues, and believed the network knew about the problem,' he wrote. Nevils, pictured, said she felt she had to do something to protect other women at NBC News, leading to her filing the complaint against Lauer in November 2017 He quoted a former production assistant, Addie Collins, who told him Lauer aggressively pursued her in 2000 and 'ordered' her to perform sexual favors. 'She'd consented, but it had made her feel sick, afraid for her job, afraid of retaliation,' Farrow wrote. Lauer said that he had never assaulted anyone or forced anyone to have sex. In his letter, he said he ended his relationship with Nevils 'poorly,' but that 'being upset or having second thoughts does not give anyone the right to make false accusations years later.' Lauer acknowledged other extramarital encounters, and criticized the women involved for having 'abandoned shared responsibility' for the affairs to shield themselves from blame behind false allegations. 'They have avoided having to look at a boyfriend, a husband or a child in the eye and say, 'I cheated,' Lauer said. 'And I will no longer provide them the shelter of my silence.' [May 19, 2020] Arcserve and Sophos Deepen Alliance to Unveil Fully Integrated Cyber and Data Protection for On-Premises, Cloud, and SaaS Workloads New integration eliminates the need for disparate solutions by tightly integrating AI-powered cybersecurity with award-winning backup and disaster recovery to protect backups from cyberattacks and data loss Alliance extends the protection of backups to cloud and SaaS data with Arcserve Cloud Backup for Office 365 and Arcserve UDP Cloud Hybrid Secured by Sophos MINNEAPOLIS, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arcserve, LLC , the worlds most experienced data and ransomware protection provider, today announced an expansion of its alliance with Sophos , a global leader in next-generation cybersecurity, to introduce industry-first cyber and data protection for infrastructures with on-premises, cloud, and SaaS-based workloads. This continued collaboration eliminates the complexity of discrete cybersecurity and data protection with the first solution suite to combine anti-ransomware and other threat prevention technologies with immutable backup and disaster recovery (DR) capabilities for protection from cyberattacks, major disasters, human error, or other unplanned outages. New cloud and SaaS solutions include Arcserve Cloud Backup for Office 365 and Arcserve Unified Data Protection (UDP) Cloud Hybrid Secured by Sophos. According to a recent survey of 2,000 consumers commissioned by Arcserve, nearly 60% would likely avoid doing business with an organization that experienced a cyberattack in the past year. That, coupled with the fact that Cybersecurity Ventures has predicted the global cost of ransomware to reach $20 billion by 2021 , means enterprises must be more vigilant in mitigating both the short and long-term financial consequences that follow a cyberattack. There is an incredible need to integrate security and data protection solutions, especially as we continue to see cybercriminals evolve their tactics and more aggressively target backup data, said Phil Goodwin, research director, IDC. The integration of these technologies by Arcserve is very timely in helping provide businesses with tools to close security gaps and prevent data loss. Arcserve Solutions Secured by Sophos Arcserve Solutions Secured by Sophos leverage AI-powered system protection with deep learning technology that detects both known and unknown malware without relying on signature, exploit prevention, and anti-ransomware capabilities. They also prevent data loss and downtime with agentless and agent-based backup, DR onsite or to public and private clouds, local and remote virtual standby, AES encryption, role-based access control, and SLA reporting. This industry-leading alliance was first launched with Arcserve Appliances Secured by Sophos , and will now also include: Arcserve Cloud Backup for Office 365 Secured by Sophos: Protects Microsoft Office 365 data from intentional or unintentional deletion, programmatic issues and external security threats with cloud-to-cloud backup for Exchange Online, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint Online. Powered by Arcserve UDP and Sophos Intercept X Advanced for Server, it provides cyber protection, policy-based management, quick restore to Office 365, and granular recovery with egress included. Protects Microsoft Office 365 data from intentional or unintentional deletion, programmatic issues and external security threats with cloud-to-cloud backup for Exchange Online, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint Online. Powered by Arcserve UDP and Sophos Intercept X Advanced for Server, it provides cyber protection, policy-based management, quick restore to Office 365, and granular recovery with egress included. Arcserve UDP Cloud Hybrid Secured by Sophos: Protects cloud-based workloads to enable cohesive cloud security, protection, and retention strategies. Offered as a fully managed service extension to Arcserve UDP software and appliances, it provides cyber protection, policy-based management, RPO and SLA validation, application-level recovery, and failover and failback to public and private clouds with egress included. Both solutions are available as an annual subscription. The future of protecting businesses is through the power of integration. Given the alarming escalation of ransomware attacks globally, its no longer realistic to silo cybersecurity and data protection strategies and prevent the negative consequences from cyberattacks, said Oussama El-Hilali, CTO at Arcserve. We continue to expand our alliance with Sophos to introduce solutions that will do more than backup and manage data; taking it a step further with capabilities necessary to withstand any threat. Ultimately, adopting a proactive and multi-tiered approach to ransomware will be what sets cyber ready businesses apart from those that, quite simply, are not. To learn more about Arcserve solutions secured by Sophos, visit: www.arcserve.com/arcserve-solutions-secured-by-sophos Follow Arcserve Blog Twitter LinkedIn About Arcserve Arcserve provides exceptional solutions to protect the priceless digital assets of organizations in need of full scale, comprehensive data protection. Established in 1983, Arcserve is the worlds most experienced provider of business continuity solutions that safeguard multi-generational IT infrastructures with applications and systems in any location, on premises and in the cloud. Organizations in over 150 countries around the world rely on Arcserves highly efficient, integrated technologies and expertise to eliminate the risk of data loss and extended downtime while reducing the cost and complexity of backing up and restoring data by up to 50 percent. Arcserve is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota with locations around the world. Explore more at www.arcserve.com and follow @Arcserve on Twitter. About Sophos As a worldwide leader in next-generation cybersecurity, Sophos protects more than 400,000 organizations of all sizes in more than 150 countries from todays most advanced cyber threats. Powered by SophosLabs a global threat intelligence and data science team Sophos cloud-native and AI-powered solutions secure endpoints (laptops, servers and mobile devices) and networks against evolving cyberattack techniques, including ransomware, malware, exploits, data exfiltration, active-adversary breaches, phishing, and more. Sophos Central, a cloud-native management platform, integrates Sophos entire portfolio of next-generation products, including the Intercept X endpoint solution and the XG next-generation firewall, into a single synchronized security system accessible through a set of APIs. Sophos has been driving a transition to next-generation cybersecurity, leveraging advanced capabilities in cloud, machine learning, APIs, automation, managed threat response, and more, to deliver enterprise-grade protection to any size organization. Sophos sells its products and services exclusively through a global channel of more than 53,000 partners and managed service providers (MSPs). Sophos also makes its innovative commercial technologies available to consumers via Sophos Home. The company is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com Media Contacts Leslie Keil Arcserve 952.903.5434 [email protected] Jackie Blundell Red Lorry Yellow Lorry 857.217.2886 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. (the " Company " or " AA2000 ") today announced the expiration and final results of its previously announced offer to exchange (the " Exchange Offer ") any and all of its outstanding 6.875% Senior Secured Notes due 2027 in the original aggregate principal amount of U.S.$400,000,000 (the " Existing Notes ") for newly issued 6.875% Cash/9.375% PIK Class I Series 2020 Additional Senior Secured Notes due 2027 (the " Series 2020 Additional Notes ") and solicitation (the " Consent Solicitation ") of consents (the " Consents ") to certain proposed amendments to the indenture governing the Existing Notes. As of 11:59 p.m. (New York City time) on May 18, 2020 (the " Expiration Deadline "), $346,934,000 aggregate original principal amount of Existing Notes, representing approximately 86.73% of the total original principal amount of the Existing Notes, had been validly tendered for exchange and not validly withdrawn, as confirmed by the information agent for the Exchange Offer. All Existing Notes tendered on or before the Expiration Deadline have been accepted by the Company and will receive the applicable consideration and accrued interest set forth in the Exchange Offer Memorandum, dated April 21, 2020 (as supplemented, the " Exchange Offer Memorandum "). Capitalized terms used but not defined in this press release have the respective meanings given to them in the Exchange Offer Memorandum. In addition, the Company has obtained the requisite Consents to effect certain proposed amendments to the indenture governing the Existing Notes to provide for the issuance of the Series 2020 Additional Notes as additional notes under such indenture and to eliminate substantially all of the restrictive covenants and events of default and related provisions with respect to the Existing Notes. Such amendments will become operative upon consummation of the Exchange Offer. The Company also announced today that all conditions required to consummate the Exchange Offer have been satisfied. Accordingly, the settlement date of the Exchange Offer will be tomorrow, May 20, 2020, on which date the Company will issue $306,000,066 aggregate principal amount of Series 2020 Additional Notes. The Exchange Offer was made, and the Series 2020 Additional Notes were offered, only (a) in the United States to holders of Existing Notes who are "qualified institutional buyers" (as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the " Securities Act ")) in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act, and (b) outside the United States to holders of Existing Notes who are persons other than "U.S. persons" (as defined in Rule 902 under the Securities Act) in reliance upon Regulation S under the Securities Act and who are non-U.S. qualified offerees. This press release does not constitute an offer to exchange the Existing Notes. There shall not be any offer to exchange Existing Notes, exchange of Existing Notes or issuance of Series 2020 Additional Notes in any jurisdiction in which such offer to exchange, exchange or issuance would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The Series 2020 Additional Notes will not be registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any state and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. This press release is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135e under the Securities Act. ABOUT AEROPUERTOS ARGENTINA 2000 S.A. Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 was founded in 1998 in order to develop and operate the airports throughout the Argentine territory, becoming one of the largest private sector airport operators in the world, with 35 airports under management. Today, more than 2,600 employees work in AA2000, working with the purpose of ensuring the best quality of service and complying with the highest international standards of quality, safety and comfort. In 2019, AA2000 served 41.8 million passengers. Over the last 20 years, AA2000 developed and modernized infrastructure in the main airports in the country, incorporating cutting-edge technology in relation with safety and services. It also contributes to the social, economic and cultural development of the country, thus becoming a regional and international example in the aviation industry. AA2000's mission is to enable the connection of people, goods and cultures, to contribute to a better world. For more information, visit www.aa2000.com.ar . SOURCE Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. Related Links http://www.aa2000.com.ar The Weinbach Group, with its healthcare marketing know-how, jumped in to help us revamp our website and convert most of our appointments to TeleVisits. The Weinbach Group, a healthcare marketing firm based in Miami, Florida, was named agency of record for MAXhealth, a provider of primary and specialty care with ten locations on the west coast of Florida. MAXhealth, which is headquartered in Sarasota, hired The Weinbach Group to help build patient volume as the company expands with new practice locations and a cohort of new physicians. However, shortly after onboarding, the Miami ad agency had to pivot its communications approach to address the changing healthcare upended by COVID-19. MAXhealth has grown dramatically since its inception in 2012 through the acquisition of existing physician practices and through de novo practice formation. In only seven years, the company had more than 40,000 primary care patients served by 40 physicians and physician extenders. It also successfully introduced a value-based care model that requires frequent health monitoring and preventive care. Under the value-based arrangement, much of its revenue is based on patients health outcomes rather than on systems that reward volume over quality. The Weinbach Group, which specializes in healthcare marketing and has far-reaching experience with value-based healthcare, understands MAXhealths business model and how to leverage the innovative care approach to attract patients. In addition, the agencys strong digital medical advertising team was able to quickly address urgent communication needs precipitated by the COVID-19 outbreak. We already had a telemedicine program in place, said Neil Bedi, MAXhealths founder and CEO. However, few patients were familiar with the platform, and when the pandemic hit, we were seeing hundreds of cancelations each week. The Weinbach Group, with its healthcare marketing know-how, jumped in to help us revamp our website and convert most of our appointments to TeleVisits. In addition to modifications to the companys website, The Weinbach Group also launched a digital marketing program focused on MAXhealths robust telemedicine program. During the month of April, the campaign generated thousands of web visits and traction toward attracting new patients. The agency also created messaging for current patients to migrate them to the digital platform. Our work with MAXhealth has been fast-paced and rewarding, said Daniel Weinbach, president and CEO of The Weinbach Group. We had already gone through a series of branding exercises and had a marketing plan in place, which meant that, in mid-March, we were ready to pivot to meet MAXhealths needs. Were delighted the collaboration has paid off and so many patients have seamlessly migrated to the companys telehealth program. For more information, please contact Meieli Sawyer at 305-668-0070 or msawyer@weinbachgroup.com. About The Weinbach Group The Weinbach Group, now in its fourth decade of business, consistently ranks among South Florida's top advertising, public relations, and marketing firms. The agency serves clients in a range of industries, and has a reputation as one of the nation's most experienced healthcare marketing firms. Notable clients have included The Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Jackson Health System. KABUL, Afghanistan In a day of intensifying violence across Afghanistan, the countrys security forces bombed a clinic in the northern province of Kunduz on Tuesday in their efforts to thwart another coordinated assault by the Taliban on the provincial capital that the militants have twice overrun and continue to besiege. The countrys conflict is back into full-fledged bloodletting after a brief period of hope that a deal between the United States and the Taliban in February would open the way for negotiations between the two Afghan sides. The Taliban have ignored what U.S. officials describe as an understanding that they would reduce violence by up to 80 percent in the prelude to negotiations over a power-sharing agreement. Fighting was reported in 20 of the countrys 34 provinces over the past 24 hours, a senior Afghan official said. After a series of bloody attacks by the Taliban in recent weeks, President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan last week ordered his forces, which had remained on active defense, to go back on offense. The worlds of entertainment and social media came together unexpectedly this week as Kevin Mayer, the head of Disney's streaming business, said he was leaving the company to take the chief executive role at Chinese-owned viral-video titan TikTok. The move gives a shiny Hollywood face to a company that has come under criticism from politicians over its Beijing influence. It also raises questions about succession at Disney Plus, a core part of Disney's strategy. TikTok parent ByteDance said Mayer will also become chief operating officer of that company, a growing juggernaut with about 60,000 employees around the world, in a newly created role. Disney Plus head Kevin Mayer is moving on to run teen video app TikTok. Credit:Disney Mayer's "wealth of experience building successful global businesses makes him an outstanding fit for our mission of inspiring creativity for users globally," ByteDance chief executive Yiming Zhang said in a statement. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the current trend in the number of patients with coronavirus and those who recovered from the disease inspires hope that Ukraine has passed the first challenges with dignity. He stated this on Tuesday, May 19, at a traditional meeting on preventing the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the presidential press service reported. "The coronavirus epidemic has made us all take new decisions and accept new living conditions. All countries in the world have revised their approaches. Today's trend in the number of those who fell ill and those who recovered inspires hope that we have passed the first challenges with dignity. However, this does not mean that we should be careless about the coronavirus infection. We will do everything to guarantee the safety of Ukrainians," Zelensky said. On March 12, the government introduced lockdown in Ukraine to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In particular, the work of subway systems in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro was halted, the movement of land transport in cities was stopped, intercity and interregional automobile, rail and air services were suspended. On April 24, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced a lockdown exit plan, which consists of five stages. The first easing of lockdown restrictions in Ukraine started on May 11. Currently, the lockdown has been extended until May 22. As of May 19, Ukraine reported 18,876 COVID-19 cases. Some 260 new cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours. Photo: President's Office These are challenging times for small businesses, which made the good news received by a local nut butter maker recently all the more valuable. Forty Thieves Nut Butters is a family business started by Shyr and Brent Godfrey almost four years ago. The couple began by producing everything themselves and selling at Farmers Markets. They now employ a team of 10 in their Stanmore Bay factory and sell their 12 products through over 250 stores nationwide. They export a small quantity to the US and recently sent their first shipment to China. Early this year they entered the Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards and, while in lockdown on April 21, received the news that they had won four medals a gold for Chai Spiced Almond with Fruit Pieces; two silvers for Peanut Butter Crunchy and Scorched Almond with Organic Cocoa; and a bronze for Almond Butter Crunchy. Each year the judges of these awards, which this year included food writer and cookbook editor Lauraine Jacobs and NZ cook Allyson Gofton, assess around 200 products. As well as quality, judging criteria include sustainability and originality. Forty Thieves has won a number of other awards already, including a gold medal at the 2018 Outstanding Food Producer Awards, and a bronze at the 2018 NZ Chocolate Awards. However, Shyr says this years win was particularly good news, given the lockdown. It shows that local businesses should not lose hope and are still seeing success despite the pandemic, she says. Hibiscus Matters and Forty Thieves have a pack of four pots of award-winning nut butter, valued at $42, to give away. To be in to win, like Hibiscus Matters Facebook page and message us with your name and contact phone number. Alternatively, write your name, address and daytime phone number on the back of an envelope and post to Forty Thieves Nut Butter Giveaway, Hibiscus Matters, 21 Florence Ave, Orewa. Entries close June 5. Over the weekend, former President Obama spoke at a virtual commencement graduation. Unfortunately, he used the opportunity to attack our "leadership on coronavirus response." It was totally inappropriate to bring your politics, perhaps bitterness, into a commencement speech. It reminded me of former president George W. Bush. He spoke at our #2 son's graduation ceremony from SMU Law School in 2015. It was a great morning for our family and an opportunity to hear from President Bush. It was his first commencement since leaving office and second at SMU. He spoke at SMU as governor in 1999. He got a tremendous reception from students and family. It had the feeling of a campaign rally as the crowd started applauding when he and Mrs. Bush walked up to the platform. The speech had a lot of the Bush that we've grown accustomed to. He joked about Laura, an SMU graduate, and assured the audience that he'd be brief. He spoke about faith plus love of country and family. My favorite part was when he spoke about P.M. Winston Churchill: Like Churchill, I now paint. (Laughter.) Unlike Churchill, the painting isn't worth much without the signature. (Laughter.) In 1941, he gave a speech to the students of his old school during Britain's most trying times in World War II. It wasn't too long, and it is well-remembered. Prime Minister Churchill urged, "Never give in in nothing, great or small, large or petty. Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." I hope you'll remember this advice. But there's a lesser-known passage from that speech that I also want to share with you: "These are not dark days. These are great days. The greatest our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race." When Churchill uttered these words, many had lost hope in Great Britain's chance for survival against the Nazis. Many doubted the future of freedom. Today, some doubt America's future, and they say our best days are behind us. I say, given our strengths one of which is a bright new generation like you these are not dark days. These are great days. He also reminded the students that they live in the U.S., the greatest country on earth. It was class act all the way, and the audience loved it. What a contrast with the bitter and self-absorbed man who succeeded him. PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii says he hopes that the parliament will pass a law on the provision of banking services to the national postal operator Ukrposhta. In terms of the level of accessibility of financial services for people, we are somewhere close to Uganda, Gabon and Ecuador. We expect MPs to support bill 2788-D On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Financial Services in the Field of Postal Services, Kryklii wrote on his Telegram channel. In 2017, Ukrposhta initiated a bill to expand financial services, but the document did not receive support. The National Bank stated against the relevant legislative changes, pointing to the existence of four large state-owned banks in Ukraine, the total share of which after the privatization of PrivatBank exceeded 50% of the market. In 2018, the national postal operator received a customs broker license. In the same year, the NBU granted Ukrposhta a license to transfer funds in the national currency without opening accounts. In January 2020, the Verkhovna Rada again registered a bill amending certain legislative acts on financial services in the field of postal services (No.2788). iy The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday said the list of 1,000 buses offered by the Congress to ferry migrant workers contained registration numbers of two-wheelers and cars, fuelling a war of words between the two sides. The Congress, however, rejected the claim, challenging Yogi Adityanath's government to conduct a physical verification of the buses. According to the Congress, the buses are massed at the Rajasthan-Uttar Pradesh border, awaiting permission to cross over into the state's Agra district. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya accused the party of coming up with another scam. "The Congress has got trapped in its own net of deceit, he tweeted in Hindi. The row erupted on May 16 when Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra offered to provide 1,000 buses for migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, stranded in other states because of the coronavirus lockdown. The Congress initially claimed that the state's BJP government was ignoring the offer with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath refusing even to give an appointment to a party delegation. Even while accusing the Congress of playing politics over the plight of migrant workers, the UP government on Monday formally accepted the offer. It asked the Congress to submit a list of the buses, and its drivers and conductors. In an email received by Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary at 11.40 pm Monday, the Uttar Pradesh government asked the opposition party to send the buses to Lucknow by 10 am on Tuesday. The aide wrote back to the UP government saying that sending empty buses to Lucknow was inhuman and the product of an anti-poor mindset when thousands of workers are gathered at UP's borders. "This demand of your government seems politically motivated. It does not appear that your government wants to help our labourer brothers and sisters who are facing a disaster," the letter in Hindi said. UP's Additional Chief Secretary (Home & Information) Awanish Awasthi then responded to the Congress letter, agreeing to take charge of the buses at the Delhi-UP border itself. He suggested that 500 buses should be stationed at the Kaushambi and Sahibabad bus stands in Ghaziabad, just across the border from Delhi. The remaining 500 should be sent to Noida. Awasthi said directions have been issued to the Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar district magistrates to make use of the buses immediately after checking the permits, fitness, insurance and driving licences of the crew. But the row reignited hours later when the UP government said the Congress list of 1,000 buses contained registration number of other vehicles. "In the list of buses provided by the Congress, there are motorcycles, three-wheelers, an ambulance and private cars, said Mrityunjay Kumar, media advisor to the chief minister. He listed out the registration numbers of an ambulance, a car and four three-wheelers. He said the details were retrieved through mParivahan, an app that allows instant access to such information. UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh challenged the claim. "There are 1,000 buses. If the UP Government has any doubts about them, they can conduct a physical verification of the vehicles at the state's border," he said. In another letter in the afternoon, Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary said the buses cannot be brought to Noida and Ghaziabad as the government has not given permission for them to enter Uttar Pradesh from Rajasthan. "We are stationed at the UP border near Uncha Nagla for the past three hours but Agra administration is not allowing us to enter, Vadra's aide Sandeep Singh wrote. We request you once again to display sensitivity. Please send the letter of permission for all our buses, so that we can move forward," he wrote at 3.45 pm. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya called the episode another Congress scam. "The bus ghotaala' (bus scam) now is the latest addition to the Bofors, 2G, Coalgate and Commonwealth Games,he tweeted in Hindi. The Congress is making fun of labourers by providing details of autorickshaws and motorcycles in the name of buses. Misleading people by telling lies is in the DNA of the Congress party," he said. Another deputy chief minister, Dinesh Sharma, accused the Congress of using migrant workers as pawns. He asked why the Congress couldn't send the buses through the government in Rajasthan, where it is in power. "The Congress is trying to malign the image of the UP government, and it must rectify its behavior, he said. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the people are wondering why the buses are not being used by the state government to send stranded workers homes. What type of stubbornness is this?" he tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Abuja, May 19, 2020 Nigerian authorities should cease their intimidation of journalist Saint Mienpamo Onitsha and ensure that security forces permit the press to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. At about 1 a.m. on May 9, four masked Department of State Services agents forced their way into the home of Onitsha, the founder of Naija Live TV, an independent news website, in Yenagoa, the capital of Nigerias southern Bayelsa state, blindfolded him, and drove him around for more than three hours before bringing him to the departments local headquarters, according to the journalist, who spoke with CPJ via phone and messaging app, and a report by the privately owned Sahara Reporters newspaper. At the headquarters, agents interrogated Onitsha about his sources for two reports he had published, and threatened him with criminal prosecution on false news charges, according to the journalist and a report by the privately owned Daily Independent newspaper. The agents held him until May 12, when Onitsha appeared at a press conference organized by the security agency, in which he apologized for his outlets reporting and denied allegations that agents had abducted him, and he was then released without charge, he told CPJ. Onitsha said he was coerced into making those statements in exchange for being released without charge. The Department of State Services operates under Nigerias coordinator of national security, which reports directly to President Muhammadu Buhari, according to the National Security Agencies Act. The officers also took five phones belonging to Onitsha and his wife when he was arrested and only returned the phones after he was released, he said, adding that he could not tell if anything was deleted from the phones or if they were tampered with. There is absolutely no justification for seizing journalist Saint Mienpamo Onitsha from his home in the dead of night and subjecting him to days of interrogation for his reporting, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator, in New York. The Department of State Services is far too often involved in the arbitrary detention and intimidation of journalists in Nigeria. Its a pattern that President Buhari should act swiftly to reverse. According to Nigerias constitution, any person detained by authorities must be arraigned in court within 24 hours if a court is within 40 kilometers of where they are detained. Onitsha told CPJ that the Department of State Services where he was detained was across the street from Bayelsas Federal High Court Complex. Onitsha said the officers who took him into custody questioned him on May 10 about his sourcing for a December 2019 report alleging that a court in Abuja, Nigerias capital, had ordered the arrest of Bayelsa Deputy Governor Lawrence Erwhudjakpo, and a May 2020 report on the alleged collapse of a COVID-19 isolation center in Nigerias Kogi State. He said he was afraid that the agents may torture him, but said they did not. Onitsha said he was questioned again on May 12 by a man he believed to be the Department of State Services Bayelsa state director. Before his release, Bello Bina, a former local politician for whom Onitsha had previously worked, signed a document vowing that Onitsha would appear at the Department of State Services office whenever summoned, the journalist said. Peter Afunaya, a spokesperson for the Department of State Services, did not respond to CPJs calls and text messages seeking comment. Contacted by CPJ over the phone, a spokesperson for the Kogi State governor, Mohammed Onogwu, declined to comment on Naija Live TVs article or on Onitshas detention, and told CPJ to contact the security forces. Doubra Atasi, a media aide to Erwhudjakpo, told CPJ that the Bayelsa deputy governor had not filed a complaint against Onitsha and that he could not comment on the matter. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization. Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via Associated Press President Donald Trump wrote a letter to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, that says unless the organization makes "major substantive improvements" in the next 30 days, the US will permanently cut off funding and reconsider membership. On April 14, Trump announced he was halting US funding to WHO while his administration performed a review of the organization over what he called its "failed response to the COVID-19 outbreak." "The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China," Trump wrote in the letter. "My Administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization." Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. President Donald Trump has written a letter to the World Health Organization's chief that says unless the agency makes "major substantive improvements" in the next month, the US will permanently cut off funding and reconsider membership. The lengthy letter was addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and Trump shared the letter in a tweet Monday. It leveled a series of accusations against the organization and compared Tedros' response with that of his predecessor Gro Harlem Brundtland during the SARS outbreak in the early 2000s. "In 2003, in response to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China, Director-General Harlem Brundtland boldly declared the World Health Organization's first emergency travel advisory in 55 years, recommending against travel to and from the disease epicenter in southern China," the letter said. "She also did not hesitate to criticize China for endangering global health by attempting to cover up the outbreak through its usual playbook of arresting whistleblowers and censoring media," the letter continued. "Many lives could have been saved had you followed Dr. Brundtland's example." Story continues In February, WHO praised China for its mass quarantines at the time and "transparency," saying its actions provided a "window of opportunity" to fight the disease. But questions later arose over how transparent China had been. On April 14, Trump announced he was halting roughly $400 million in US funding to WHO, while his administration performed a review over what he described as the agency's "failed response to the COVID-19 outbreak." Global health experts warned against such a move, as the agency helps developing countries with health crises and cutting funding could in turn exacerbate the global outbreak and make the situation more difficult for the US. On Monday, Trump rejected an invitation to a virtual gathering to address WHO, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar appeared in his stead. Azar slammed WHO in the meeting, echoing similar criticisms from Trump's letter. Chinese President Xi Jinping. Reuters/Pool Asked later Monday about why he wasn't present, Trump accused WHO of being a "puppet of China." "The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China," Trump wrote in the letter. "My Administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization." Trump gave WHO a 30-day deadline to "commit major substantive improvements," or he said he would make his "temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization." "I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests," the president concluded. WHO leadership has gotten 'intimate' with Beijing A WHO sign in Geneva. FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images Observers have criticized WHO's close relationship with China as the coronavirus has spread. John Lee, a senior fellow at both the United States Studies Center in Sydney and the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, told Insider that WHO's leadership had developed "an unacceptably intimate and cozy relationship with Beijing" in recent years. "I believe the letter is designed to serve as a warning that there will be consequences should the leadership of WHO fail to address issues of being too 'close to China,'" Lee said. He added that Trump's letter might also be an attempt to put public pressure on the organization's leadership by highlighting successes of the body's former chief. "Having lost confidence in the integrity and competence of Dr. Tedros, it may that the Trump administration is also seeking to put public pressure on Dr. Tedros to resign," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider The address by a Tanzanian regional commissioner as he announced the country's closure of its border with Kenya at Horohoro on Monday, May 18, exemplified all that is wrong with John Magufuli's response to the COVID-19 crisis. Without wearing a mask, and with total disregard for social distancing in a crowded public place, Martine Shigella arrogantly directed immigration officers and the police to lock out all Kenyans and no other nationalities - saying they could not continue allowing sick people from Kenya to bring us COVID-19. READ ALSO: Kilifi woman gifted new house by Governor Amason Kingi after she delivered quadruplets President John Magufuli has defiantly snubbed calls and virtual meetings involving fellow regional heads of states keen on charting a common path. Photo: Daily Nation. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: 29-year-old blind UoN student invents application helping visually challenged people count money While the order took effect immediately, anyone privy to how the two countries have been handling the coronavirus pandemic could easily tell that this was a baseless directive purely driven by vengeance. It came barely a day after Kenya closed its border with Tanzania, and moments after Kenya announced that it had denied 51 Tanzanian truck drivers entry after they tested positive for COVID-19 at several border crossing points. It was yet another tantrum from a country that has picked wars with Kenya at the slightest niggling. READ ALSO: God has done it: Miss Rwanda Plus-Size opens up on her coronavirus recovery The order from Tanzania came barely a day after Kenya closed its border with Tanzania, and moments after Kenya announced that it had denied 51 Tanzanian truck drivers entry. Photo: Citizen TV. Source: UGC But tantrum or no tantrum, Kenya's decision to close the border with Tanzania was long overdue and was the only workable option if we are to stop the spread of the coronavirus; for Tanzania's handling of the pandemic has been a joke. With COVID-19 having presented countries worldwide with the rare latitude of choosing how to best respond to a killer pandemic, the Kenyan Government embarked on an intensive mission to break the cycle of transmission of the disease. This has seen President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration go out of its way to put in place painful sacrificial measures that will, among others, help control importation of the novel coronavirus into the country. READ ALSO: Baringo man gifts in-laws with KSh 2M solar powered water project President Uhuru Kenyatta's administration has gone out of its way to put in place painful sacrificial measures that will, among others, help control importation of the virus. Photo: Daily Nation. Source: Facebook But the unreceptive Magufuli adopted a bafflingly reckless lone-ranger approach that has seen experts raise the red flag over Tanzania's situation and particularly warn of the major threat this posed to Kenya. He has firmly directed that life in Tanzania continues as usual and led from the front in attending public social gatherings without the least of protection. He has boldly told Tanzanians that herbs and prayers are enough to cure the disease and even announced he would soon reopen learning institutions and allow tourists into Tanzania. READ ALSO: TUKO.co.ke celebrates 9 Kenyan mums fighting COVID-19 pandemic from the frontline: "Happy Mothers Day" Tanzania failed to release any data on COVID-19 in the country since late April 2020 and left Kenya with no option but to close the border. Photo: Citizen TV Source: UGC Magufuli has even defiantly snubbed calls and virtual meetings involving fellow regional heads of states keen on charting a common path. Yet, there are genuine fears that the numbers there could have risen exponentially. Reports from the US Embassy in Dar es Salaam warning that Tanzania was in a crisis because of a large number of unreported cases, having failed to release any data on COVID-19 in the country since late April, left Kenya with no option but to close the border. The high number of positive cases recorded among truck drivers at the border had already put in black and white the grave danger Tanzania posed to Kenya. READ ALSO: My wife chose alcohol over our children - Nairobi man narrates With COVID-19 having presented countries worldwide with the rare latitude of choosing how to best respond to a killer pandemic. Photo: BBC Source: UGC Give it to Uhuru that he delayed closure of the border and instead first tried to reach out to Magufuli for a mutual agreement on the way forward. A country such as Zambia, which is also threatened, shut down its border with Tanzania much earlier. Kenya's closure of the border is also considerate as it exempts cargo trucks, provided the drivers to undergo compulsory tests and are declared negative before being allowed through the border posts. The writer is Sammy Kwinga, a regular commentator on social, economic and political affairs. The views expressed in this opinion piece are his and do not necessarily represent the position of TUKO Media Ltd in any way. We welcome writers, bloggers, photographers and all sorts of noise makers to become a part of our Blog network Send your opinion, story or both to news@tuko.co.ke. Do you have a hot story or scandal you would like us to publish, please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Telegram: Tuko news. My wife left me at my lowest, chose alcohol over our children - Kennedy Mwangi | My Story | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke A worker cleans the floor in a McDonald's restaurant in the Chicago Loop on March 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Five McDonald's workers in Chicago and four of their family members filed a lawsuit against the fast-food giant on Tuesday, alleging that it responded inadequately to the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit, which is seeking class-action status, comes as McDonald's prepares to reopen dining rooms across the country, sending U.S. franchisees a 59-page guide for changes to make at their restaurants. When asked to comment on the lawsuit, McDonald's USA issued a statement referring to a press release the Service Employees International Union sent out about it. The company said it disagreed with characterizations the labor group made. The SEIU supports the Fight of $15 and a Union, a fast-food workers' rights coalition. "Crew and managers are the heart and soul of the restaurants in which they work, and their safety and well-being is a top priority that guides our decision making," McDonald's USA said in a statement. The plaintiffs allege that McDonald's is not giving workers enough masks, gloves and hand sanitizer to protect themselves from the virus. Employees at one location received masks and gloves only after striking, but they were given just one mask, which has to be worn each shift, according to the lawsuit. The Chicago-based company requires face masks and gloves for employees and hand sanitizer at all locations, according to its playbook for franchisees. In mid-April, McDonald's said that it had secured more than 100 million nonmedical-grade masks for its employees. Its 14,000 U.S. locations go through about 900,000 masks a day. McDonald's USA said in a statement that personal protective equipment is in "ample supply" for all restaurants, and more than 130 million masks have been distributed to employees. The lawsuit, filed in Cook County, Illinois, also alleges that managers at one location did not inform one of the plaintiff's co-workers that she had contracted Covid-19. Workers at all four locations named in the lawsuit have not received training on how to protect themselves or customers, and crowded kitchens make it nearly impossible to practice social distancing, according to the lawsuit. "The damage done by McDonald's decisions is not confined to the walls of its restaurants, but instead has broader public health consequences for the Chicago community, the State of Illinois, and the entire country," the lawsuit said. In the U.S., the coronavirus pandemic has sickened more than 1.5 million people and killed at least 90,396, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The suit is seeking an injunction that would force the company to supply workers with adequate personal protective equipment, provide hand sanitizer to workers and customers, create policies that require employees and customers to wear facial coverings and inform fellow workers immediately of possible exposure. The complaint targets both franchisee-run locations and corporate-owned restaurants. In December, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that McDonald's could not be held responsible for the labor practices of its franchisees. The lawsuit filed Tuesday argues that the company is not leaving the pandemic response up to individual franchisees but instead is coordinating a centralized response. The company could face more lawsuits from its employees related to its handling of the pandemic. Also on Tuesday, McDonald's workers at three restaurants in Los Angeles and San Jose filed notices of intent to sue the company with the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The company has 33 days to address violations stemming from the pandemic, or the workers can take McDonald's to court. McDonald's isn't the only company that has been sued in connection with the pandemic. In early April, the family of a Walmart employee in Illinois who died from complications of Covid-19 filed a wrongful death lawsuit. At least two employees who worked at that location died as a result of the virus. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his Kumepreko compatriots exchange pleasantries to mark the 25th anniversary of the "Kumepreko" demonstration. Most youngsters were not born when lawyer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo together with some outspoken politicians and journalists led over 100,000 Ghanaians to the revolution of 1995 also known as KUME PREKO to wit, you may as well kill me That was a rare protest against the Jerry John Rawlings administration in the city of Accra on May 11, 1995, as hundreds of young and old people, responding to calls for demonstrations against government corruption and hardship, chanted war songs amid Kume Preko. The Masterminds Those at the forefront of this protest were Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (Now the President of Ghana), Dr. Charles Wreko Brobbey (Politician), Kwasi Pratt Jnr (Journalist), Dr. Nayarko Tamakloe (Politicians), Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako (Journalist), Akoto Ampaw (Politician), Victor Newman (Politician), Kwaku Opoku (Politician), Napoleon Abdulai (Politician) and Agyeri Blankson (Politician). What Led To The Uprising? Jerry John Rawlings who came to power in a 1992 military takeover, had cemented his hold through harsh repression that has silenced critics, curtailed free speech, and ended any semblance of democratic politics. Even the mildest dissent has been met with harsh punishments and long prison sentences. Also, the high cost of living and particularly, the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) on items by Mr. Rawlings fueled the demonstration against the administration. Major news outlets then reported that it was a period in which able-bodied and hardworking citizens could not afford one decent meal a day for a family. Also, the drop-out rate in educational institutions was said to be rising at a very alarming rate. The Bloody Kume Preko Day However, what started as a peaceful protest turned gory when some unidentified assailants opened fire on the demonstrators. Many sustained severe injuries and others died from the attacks but all leaders managed to escaped the horror scene. After Kume Proko In the aftermath of the demonstration, some of the leading protestors - Nana Akufo-Addo, Charles Wereko-Brobby, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, Akoto Ampaw, and Napoleon Abdulai wrote a book titled - "Ghana: The Kume Preko demonstrations: Poverty, Corruption and the Rawlings Dictatorship". The Re-Union Of The Masterminds Exactly 25 years ago, six (6) of the architects of the biggest demonstration to have occurred in Ghanas history have met at the private residence of Mr. Agyeri Blankson at 3rd Circular Road, Cantonments. The meeting was to commemorate their past achievement in ensuring fairness for the people under the military leadership of Mr. Jerry John Rawlings and also to remember lives that were lost during the demonstration. Amid the Coronavirus, the Kume Preko leaders were all in their facemasks during their private meeting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo fully relaxed among his old friends without any official bodyguard. 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 2 1 of 2 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks with President Donald Trump during a meeting about the coronavirus response in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, May 7, 2020, in Washington. Trump praised the governor Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks with President Donald Trump during a meeting about the coronavirus response in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, May 7, 2020, in Washington. Trump praised the governor as the state continued to loosen COVID-19 restrictions. Evan Vucci, Associated Press Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted this chart Sunday night ostensibly showing how much better Texas and Florida are performing compared to California and Texas. Twitter An amateurish infographic tweeted by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday night attempts to show Texas and Floridas superiority over California and New York in everything from their respective COVID-19 death rates to state income tax. According to the Four Most Populous States by the Numbers graphic, the two southern states have fewer coronavirus deaths and smaller budget deficits. It also notes that Florida and Texas have reopened dine-in restaurants, salons and barbershops, and churches, while California and New York have not. Abbott's only comment was a chin-stroking Hmmm Its not clear who created the chart; no credit is provided. But beyond the blurry photos, there are clues that the workmanship is less than professional. Some figures are not current and others are misleading. For example, the 13 percent California income tax only applies to those making over $1 million per year. An unfortunate typo has turned the word mortality into morality. According to the graphic, Texas has the lowest morality rate of the four states. The Houston Chronicle reported Texas had 1,801 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the largest single-day jump since the pandemic began. Replies to the governors Twitter post ran the gamut. There was much red state flag waving and needling of blue states: God bless Texas!, Great Job Governor Abbot [sic] and Governor DeSantis. Hey Gavin and Cuomo, you might want to learn something and To you California or New York nut jobs, if you move here, vote Republican, dont want TX to become CA or NY!!! But a number of people questioned the graphics figures, such as the mortality rate, which should be COVID-19 deaths as a percentage of cases not total population. Others pointed to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Texas, suggesting that the tweet "would not age well." A few noted that unlike California and New York, Texas and Florida get a disproportionate amount of federal aid that allows them to keep their own taxes artificially low or that the deficit figures did not account for Texas' $45 billion pension debt. MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here. Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate MONTREAL, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Dollarama Inc. (TSX: DOL) ("Dollarama" or the "Corporation") will hold its annual meeting of shareholders online only, via live audio webcast, on Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. (ET) (the "Meeting"). The Corporation elected to conduct the Meeting virtually this year due to the restrictions imposed in the context of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This measure is a proactive and prudent step to ensure the health and safety of shareholders, directors, employees and other stakeholders. All shareholders of record as of the close of business on April 16, 2020, regardless of geographic location, will be able to listen to the audio webcast, vote during the Meeting and submit questions. Shareholders are invited to consult the 2020 Management Proxy Circular and other proxy-related materials, available on SEDAR under the Corporation's profile at www.sedar.com and at www.envisionreports.com/Dollarama2020, for additional information on how to attend the Meeting online and on the procedure to cast votes and submit questions, either before or during the Meeting. Regardless of whether or not shareholders are able to attend the Meeting via the live audio webcast, they are strongly encouraged to vote by proxy in advance of the Meeting. Dollarama will also issue its financial results for the first quarter of Fiscal 2021, covering the period from February 3, 2020 to May 3, 2020, on the same day at 7:00 a.m. (ET). Management will hold a conference call after the Meeting to discuss the results. Investors and financial analysts are invited to ask questions by using the dial-in number provided below. Other interested parties may participate in the call on a listen-only basis via live audio webcast which will be available on Dollarama's website. Annual Meeting Details Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. (ET) Webcast link: www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/DOLR2020 First Quarter Call Details Wednesday, June 10, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. (ET) Webcast link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/tb2jmt37 Dial-in number: 514-392-1478 or 1-866-223-7781 Webcast replay available online until June 9, 2021 by clicking here About Dollarama Dollarama is a recognized Canadian value retailer offering a broad assortment of consumable products, general merchandise and seasonal items both in-store and online. Our 1,291 locations across Canada provide customers with compelling value in convenient locations, including metropolitan areas, mid-sized cities and small towns. Select products are also available, by the full case only, through our online store at www.dollarama.com. Our quality merchandise is sold at select, fixed price points up to $4.00. Dollarama also owns a 50.1% interest in Dollarcity, a growing Latin American value retailer. Dollarcity offers a broad assortment of consumable products, general merchandise and seasonal items at select, fixed price points up to US$3.00 (or the equivalent in local currency) through its 228 conveniently-located stores in Colombia, El Salvador and Guatemala. www.dollarama.com SOURCE Dollarama Inc. Related Links www.dollarama.com The Canadian company that runs the large bitcoin mining facility in Bonner has shut down completely and initiated bankruptcy proceedings. HyperBlock Inc., based in Toronto, said in a series of press releases late last week that its 20-megawatt datacenter just east of Missoula is now offline and all cryptocurrency mining operations have ceased. The publicly traded company (HYPR on the Canadian Stock Exchange) has been leasing a massive warehouse at the old Bonner mill site for the past few years. In a press release on May 13, HyperBlock announced to shareholders that the Bitcoin algorithm halved on May 11, which significantly reduced Bitcoin mining compensation rewards earned by the Company. The company said that algorithm halving occurs approximately every four years to create scarcity by limiting the number of bitcoin in circulation. The halving cut the companys rewards for mining each block by half, HyperBlock said. "The Company cautions that this has resulted in making its operations uneconomical, based on current Bitcoin pricing, overall network hashrate, and the Company's ability to continue to access reliable, affordable power, the press release stated. HyperBlock also announced that its electricity provider, Energy Keepers Inc., indicated that it would terminate a long-term contract with HyperBlock effective on May 14. In the May 13 press release, the company said it would explore power supply alternatives and said an inability to secure power would require it to pause or cease mining operations. A manager at the Bonner HyperBlock facility could not be reached for comment, nor could a company spokesperson at the headquarters in Canada. Steve Nelson, a co-owner of the Bonner mill site, declined to comment on the situation. Missoula County officials have confirmed that they're aware the company has ceased operations. Energy Keepers Inc. is owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and distributes hydroelectric power from the Seli's Ksanka Qlispe dam on Flathead Lake. A request for comment from the company was not returned on Monday. On May 14, HyperBlock confirmed it was shutting down. The Company's electricity provider terminated its long-term power contract with the Company effective May 14, 2020, another press release said. "This termination, combined with the impact of the recent Bitcoin algorithm halving, which cut the Company's mining rewards in half, and the Company's generally deteriorating working capital position, have made it unable and uneconomical to continue operations. The company said it had financial advisors exploring alternative power supplies, other alternatives, and strategic financing options to "ascertain whether it will be able to resume operations in the ordinary course. On Friday, May 15, the company announced that it was no longer able to meet its financial obligations and had appointed a Licensed Insolvency Trustee to seek settlement with its creditors under the Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Two independent directors, Ronald R. Spoehel and Bryan Reyhani, resigned immediately from the companys board that same day. The bitcoin facility in Bonner started out as a company called Project Spokane, LLC, Montanas first cryptocurrency mining operation, in April 2017. That company was then bought by HyperBlock in July 2018. In December 2018, the company had more than 13,000 servers whirring in the warehouse next to Highway 200 in Bonner. The company was mired in controversy during most of its run in Missoula County. First, residents of the area complained of the loud humming noise created by the cooling fans on the warehouse. The company applied for $135,000 in Tax Increment Financing from the Missoula Development Authority Board in 2018 to pay for new, quieter fans. During a contentious meeting with the board, company representatives argued that they should get the money because they were bringing in out-of-state revenue, creating jobs and paying taxes. However, the board denied them the funding on a 4-4 vote; tie votes fail. Eventually, the company and the mill site owners paid for new fans that reduced the noise. The company also applied for and was granted permission to seek compensation for creating 65 high-paying jobs through the Montana Department of Commerce's Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund, but later backed out of the contract and never got any taxpayer-funded assistance. In April 2019, the Missoula County Commissioners adopted emergency interim zoning regulations on cryptocurrency mining for one year. Essentially, the commissioners wanted any new or expanded crypto-miners to create new renewable energy sources rather than tapping into existing energy sources, to comply with climate change goals. HyperBlock was already using 20 megawatts a year, which is about a third of all electricity consumed in Missoula County in a year, and had announced that it could scale up to 60 megawatts. County energy analysts argued that although it sourced hydroelectric power, the company was still contributing to climate change because it wasnt paying for the creation of new renewable energy. County Commissioner Josh Slotnick said Monday that he heard the news from Dori Brownlow, the countys development district director. My first thought was sadness for Steve (Nelson) who runs the Bonner Mill development, Slotnick said. I know that he and his partners have done an incredible job turning a wasted former industrial site into a place that creates jobs and produces things people want. It's really sad to see this potential loss there for them. Slotnick said Brownlow informed him that HyperBlock hasnt vacated the building and has told county officials that it doesnt have plans to leave permanently yet. So it doesnt sound like they will leave a big hole in the development park, Slotnick said. Its a really unique building. Its so big and so open and uninsulated. Its designed for something where you dont need heat and you need a whole bunch of big, open space. It does have train tracks. Slotnick said the countys decision to impose interim zoning regulations was mischaracterized by some as a moratorium on crypto mining expansion. We were in no way attempting to damage the company, he said. You can mine all the Bitcoin you want, you just have to create your own renewable energy for that expansion. They were such a heavy energy user. At its peak they were using a third of the energy of the entire county. Hospitals use a big gob of energy, but they employ hundreds of people. Slotnick said that based on his understanding, the company made profit by using computers to solve complex algorithms. Once the algorithm is solved, the company was able to process a Bitcoin transaction and take a tiny slice of profit off each transaction. Now that the number of Bitcoins in circulation is 50% of what it was, the company would be making profits of half as many transactions. He said he had no idea why Energy Keepers terminated its contract with HyperBlock. Jim Valeo is a member of the Missoula Development Authority board and voted against using Tax Increment Financing for the fan blades back in 2018. He said he's not surprised the company shut down. "The fundamental question is, is it a really a business or just a game that rich people play?" he said. "I viewed it as a fad, and we don't finance fads with taxpayer money." He said at the time he voted against approving the use of the TIF money, he had absolute conviction that he was doing the right thing. "That's not what TIF is supposed to be used for," he said. "(HyperBlock) was not a particularly productive business, they don't employ many people and they are terrible consumers of energy." Valeo said he's a huge supporter of Steve Nelson and the revitalization of the mill site. "They've done a superb job out there," he said. "Nobody's been a stronger supporter of what they've done out there than I have." He's just glad that the vote for the TIF failed, even by the narrowest of margins. "It's easy to get sucked into something (Bitcoin) until you turn the cards over and see the other side," he said. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 3 Funny 2 Wow 4 Sad 0 Angry 1 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. - Seychelles has declared coronavirus-free, becoming the third to achieve the feat behind Mauritius and Eritrea - The country's confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 11, all of whom have been successfully treated and discharged - Mauritius was the first country to declare coronavirus-free followed by Eritrea PAY ATTENTION: Click See First under the Following tab to see Legit.ng News on your Facebook News Feed! Seychelles has attained coronavirus-free status after the Ministry of Health announced full recoveries as of Monday, May 18, becoming the third African country to achieve the feat behind Mauritius and Eritrea. According to African News, Seychelles' confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 11, all of whom have been successfully treated and discharged, 74 others remain in quarantine. President Danny Faure of Seychelles. Photo credit: African News Source: UGC The coronavirus cases have continued to increase in Africa as the continent now has 86,721 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organisation. In Africa, 2,721 patients succumbed to the deadly disease while more than 33,000 people recovered. South Africa is topping the list as the country with the highest cases of the deadly disease. Nigeria is number three on the list with 6,175 confirmed cases and 191 deaths. Ghana is trailing Nigeria with 5,735 confirmed cases and 29 deaths. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the government of the East African country of Eritrea declared the country as coronavirus-free. Eritrea made the official pronouncement after all the country's 39 confirmed cases successfully recovered from the disease. The country's health ministry said the last coronavirus patient was discharged from the hospital on Friday, May 15. In other news, a 22-year-old pregnant woman diagnosed with COVID-19 has been delivered of twins at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). The disclosure was made by Wasiu Adeyemo, the hospitals chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC), who said the babies were delivered on Tuesday, May 19. The twins, a boy and a girl, were delivered through cesarean section and they weigh 3.2kg and 3.25kg. The statement by the CMAC read: The mother and babies are doing well! Once again, celebrate our committed frontline staff for this achievement We also appreciate the support of the Federal government, Lagos State government and the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC." NAIJ.com (naija.ng) -> Legit.ng We have updated to serve you better COVID-19: We are forever cursed if we still go abroad for treatment after pandemic | Legit TV Source: Legit.ng South Korean nurses wearing protective gear arrive for their shift to care for patients infected with the CCP virus at Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital in Daegu on April 29, 2020. (Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images) COVID-19 Patients Who Tested Positive After Recovery Didnt Pass Virus to Others Patients who recovered from the Wuhan virus but later tested positive werent infectious, researchers in South Korea found. Some 450 patients have tested positive in South Korea for the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which originated in China last year, after recovering. The virus causes a disease known as COVID-19. Scientists from the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified 790 people, including 351 family members, who came into contact with 285 of the patients. As of now, no case has been found that was newly confirmed from exposure during re-positive period alone, researchers wrote in a May 19 report (pdf). Three cases were detected among the contacts but those people had a history of contact with a religious group that was the source of many infections in the country or had a different confirmed case in their family, making it impossible to determine the source of infection. The findings are preliminary and the investigation of the patients who tested positive after recovery and their contacts is ongoing. But based on the new findings, experts recommended changing the description of the cases from re-positive to PCR re-detected after discharge from isolation. PCR is the most common type of testing done to detect cases of the new illness. South Korean authorities also said schools and employers shouldnt require people to test negative for the CCP virus if they recovered from the illness. Medical staff move a patient with COVID-19 from an ambulance to a hospital in Seoul, South Korea on March 9, 2020. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) Under the new protocols, no additional tests are required for cases that have been discharged from isolation, researchers said. The CCP virus causes no symptoms in a significant portion of those infected. Symptoms for patients who are symptomatic include fever, dry cough, aches and pains, and chills, according to case studies. Time from infection to symptoms is one to 14 days. Scientists found that, on average, it took 44.9 days from the time the first symptoms appeared to test positive after discharge. It took 14.3 days from discharge to testing positive. Nearly half of the patients who re-tested positive had symptoms, including cough and sore throat. Researchers attempted to take virus samples from the patients who tested positive again and grow them in culture but were unsuccessful. One theory: fragments of the virus remained in the patients after recovery. Were putting more weight on the theory that dead virus fragments remain in a recovered patients body, since we havent seen evidence of infectivity, Ki Moran, a professor at the National Cancer Center whos advising the South Korean government, told the Wall Street Journal. Officials told reporters Monday that more data is needed to confirm why patients are re-testing positive. A historic motion led by the European Union and Australia to establish an independent review of the coronavirus has passed the World Health Assembly. The unanimous vote was carried without objection just before 10pm on Tuesday night. The decision will see an inquiry into the origins and international response to the coronavirus established at the earliest possible opportunity. Chinese President Xi Jinping. Credit:Xinhua The review will identify the source of the virus and the route of introduction from other animals to the human population, as well as consider lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the resolution and said he would enact the inquiry at the appropriate time. SAN FRANCISCO, May 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- R's KOSO, Inc. is excited to announce the launch of R's KOSO, a century-old traditional Japanese prebiotic drink. R's KOSO is a vegan-friendly superfood produced from a variety of 100+ vegetables, fruits, seaweeds, mushrooms, and plants that have undergone a 1-year fermentation process. This unique blend of ingredients provides balanced nutrition by combining probiotics and prebiotics, which have been shown to improve gut health while boosting immunity. The official launch date for R's KOSO will be on 2020.05.18. R's KOSO is a century-old traditional Japanese prebiotics superfood drink. Koso Cleanse is the leading way to improve your gut health. "Koso is defined as an enzyme or fermented in Japanese. Koso drink is a traditional enzyme drink created from vegetables, fruits, and plants. The main advantage of the Koso Cleanse is its richness in prebiotics and probiotics. This product can help you see results with your digestive health and microbiome health. It's better than Juice Cleanse," says Ryu Okada, founder of R's KOSO. "In 2018 I moved to NY and, I suffered from frequent diarrhea, sleep deficiency, and low energy, but the Japanese Koso Juice Cleanse helped me fully recover. It was a great way to reset my digestive system and restore microbiome health. I'm excited to introduce this time-honored Japanese secret to every person in America." R's KOSO, Inc. believes its unique formula will be the best health drink for the health cleanse community. They are confident you will notice results with your digestive health and gut health. The R's KOSO line is now available in their online store with an MSRP of $99 per 474 ml/16oz bottles. Each bottle is enough for a 3 Day Cleanse. They are also proud to announce a new trial pack is now available, which retails at $19 per 30ml/1oz three bottles. About R's KOSO, Inc. R's KOSO, Inc. was founded in 2019 by Ryu Okada. R's KOSO remains loyal to its Japanese fermentation roots and looks forward to providing exceptional products for their future generations. It is their purpose to help people to maintain a happy and healthy lifestyle. For more information, please visit rskoso.com Media Contact: Ryu Okada Phone: 415458718 Email: [email protected] Related Images japanese-prebiotic-drink-cleanse.jpg JAPANESE PREBIOTIC DRINK CLEANSE - R's KOSO - R's KOSO is a century-old traditional Japanese prebiotics superfood drink. Koso Cleanse is the leading way to improve your gut health. Related Links R's KOSO What is Koso? SOURCE R's KOSO Related Links https://rskoso.com The railways has cancelled a Shramik special train scheduled to run from Amb in Himachal Pradesh to Howrah in West Bengal as the east coast braces up for Cyclone Amphan. Una deputy commissioner Sandeep Kumar said the train was to depart from Amb railway station on Wednesday with stranded residents of West Bengal. More than 1,400 residents of West Bengal had registered themselves for the special train, he said. The new departure dates will be announced soon, he added. Cyclone Amphan is likely to make a landfall on the West Bengal coast on Wednesday. 617 HIMACHALIS RETURN HOME As many as 617 residents of Himachal, who were stranded in Maharashtra, returned home on Tuesday in a Shramik special that arrived at Una from Pune. The district administration had made arrangements for screening of the passengers and their further travel to home districts. The DC said among the returnees, 215 were from Kangra, 70 from Una; 68 from Hamirpur; 63 each from Mandi and Shimla; 41 from Solan; 37 from Kullu; 28 from Chamba; 16 from Bilaspur; Nine from Sirmaur and two from Kinnaur. He said two people, one from Uttarakhand and other from Garhshankar in Punjab also arrived onboard the same train. Kumar said the passengers were provided food and juice on their arrival by the Radha Soami Satsang Beass Bhadsaali branch. The returnees were sent home in Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses and will be institutionally quarantined in their respective districts. RETURNEES THANK HP GOVT Himachal residents, who arrived from Pune on Tuesday expressed gratitude to the state government for facilitating their return. Amit Kumar from Sunni of Shimla district, who works in a hotel at Pune, said he had no hope of returning home.I was not getting any support at the place I was stranded and my savings were also draining, he said, adding that he got curfew passes after chief minister Jai Ram Thakur intervened. Another returnee Jyoti, hailing from Jwali area of Kangra district, said the passengers were provided best facilities in the train.I am overwhelmed and feeling relaxed after reaching home. I want to thank the state government for making it happen, she said. [May 19, 2020] Tapcart Raises $10 Million in Series A Funding, Led by SignalFire SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tapcart, an established leader in the mobile commerce space, announced today that it has secured an additional $10M in funding. The funding will be used to accelerate the already rapid adoption of its existing platform, which has been used to create mobile apps for many of the world's top Shopify Plus brands including Fashion Nova, Chubbies, Urban Planet, and more. The Series A round was led by SignalFire with the participation of previous investors, Greycroft and Amplify. To date, Tapcart has raised $15.1M in total funding. Tapcart launched in 2017 with a simple premise, to make mobile shopping easy, fun, and attainable for every brand. Native mobile app development was historically something that could only be done by developers and was only available to Enterprise businesses with resources. Tapcart disrupted the mobile industry with its ground-breaking SaaS platform, which enables businesses of any size to design and launch a fully native app for a monthly fee using a simple drag-and-drop Editor. As a distinguished member of the new Shopify Plus Certified App Program, Tapcart has been recognized for the quality of its technology as well as the platform's ability to solve complex merchant needs. With this new round of investment, Tapcart will be looking to further expand operations, bring on several key hires, and continue to build the product roadmap with exciting new features. Chris Farmer, Managing Director & CEO of SignalFire is backing Tapcart after the massive Enterprise growth the company has experienced within a short period of time. "We're very excited to partner with the Tapcart team who are building the infrastructure at the forefront of mobile commerce. While their roots are in the Shopify ecosystem, there is a massive opportunity to aso help retailers to get back on their feet with mobile & offline commerce." Eric Netsch, co-founder and CEO of Tapcart said, "We have been very fortunate to create a product that can help small businesses and large businesses alike as their needs change in relation to what is going on in the world. The strength of our product is a testament to the amazing team that we have today and we're thrilled to continue building the future of mobile." About Tapcart Tapcart is a mobile commerce SaaS platform that integrates directly with Shopify, enabling brands to quickly and easily build native mobile apps for their eCommerce stores. The company is trusted by thousands of Shopify brands including Fashion Nova, Chubbies, Urban Planet, and more. Tapcart is a Shopify Plus Certified App Partner and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. To learn more about Tapcart, visit Tapcart.com . About SignalFire SignalFire is the first venture capital firm built from the ground up as a technology company, The company invests in leaders with an uncommon passion, offering unprecedented data, advice, and access from seed to scale. With a hybrid technology and people-powered approach, the team is uniquely qualified to help founders navigate the toughest parts of building a company at every stage, including recruiting, expert advice, and a corporate network. Launched in 2013, the firm has nearly $1B in assets under management and has made notable investments in top Silicon Valley startups including Zume , Lyric , Ro , Grammarly , Color Genomics , ClassDojo and Frame.io among others. For more information about SignalFire, please visit https://www.signalfire.com/ Media Contact: Alyssa Zarouk | [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tapcart-raises-10-million-in-series-a-funding-led-by-signalfire-301060441.html SOURCE Tapcart [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Adekvad Union informs that on May 20, head of the Union Artur Danielyan has been summoned to the Division for the Fight against Terrorism and Extremism of the General Department of Criminal Police of the Police of Armenia to give an explanation within the framework of an unknown case and is inviting mass media representatives to Artur Danielyans news conference to be held near the entrance to the building of the General Department of Criminal Police after the interview. The Union welcomes the efforts of the Criminal Police within the framework of the fight against terrorism and extremism and voices hope that the case under investigation wont become a part of the list of criminal cases instituted for the purpose of political persecutions, the Union states and reaffirms its willingness to support all interested circles in the fight against several extremist and terrorist crimes being committed in Armenia. New Delhi, May 19 : The COVID-19 battered airline industry has started accepting ticket bookings for the travel period starting June 1, sources said on Tuesday. According to industry insiders, many airlines barring Air India amongst others have loaded their ticket itineraries on online booking platforms. Besides immediate financial relief the move also allows the airlines to keep their staff and aircraft ready for the eventual re-start of domestic operations. However, there is no government backing to the move, since the current 4th phase of lockdown has no provisions to re-start air travel. While the current and more relaxed lockdown 4.0 has given relaxation to re-start businesses, markets and factories, it prohibits air travel which has been suspended since late March. No future advisories to this effect have been made by the government or the regulator. An executive with a leading low cost carrier told IANS: "This move is important since we can prepare a schedule, keep the air crew and aircraft ready. We are on the verge of collapse." Currently, some players have made cargo operations their main revenue stream. Still, fixed cost, especially the employee compensation component alone, has dented their financial positions and stock prices. However, not all sectors are being offered under the new bookings itinerary. "Some cash strapped airlines have begun their bookings for the month of June to gather some cash from the customers which shall help them to survive the recovery period," Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-Founder of EaseMyTrip.com told IANS. "Government and DGCA so far have not given any directives to the airlines to begin bookings." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Chattanooga School of Language is hosting a free 4-week online series of interactive classes for the community, making cultural and language learning more accessible to more people. Starting the week of May 25, the series includes: Yoga en espanol; Special Topics in Japanese Pop Culture and Language; and Poetry and Songwriting in German. Click here to view the schedule for each language class and more details. Sign up for the sessions here. There is no cost to participate in this series of classes, but participants need to sign up so they receive the Zoom links to access the classes. Participants don't have to attend every session. Donations are accepted and greatly appreciated. Israel has never had a defense minister whose expiry date, stamped on his forehead, was unrelated to the democratic process or elections. Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz took over as defense minister May 18. He will step down Nov. 17, 2021, to become prime minister under his rotation agreement with the incumbent, Benjamin Netanyahu. This abbreviated tenure will force Gantz to move quickly, adopt decisive measures and reshape events before his deadline expires. In other words, this challenging timetable will demand of him personality traits that he has yet to display. As the 20th chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Gantz was known for his rather easygoing and calm demeanor, for being a team player reluctant to engage in conflicts and unnecessary adventures and for trying to avoid involvement in major upheavals. However, in order to stabilize his position and build up his stature to assume the premiership 18 months from now, Gantz will have to change. Gantz will have to display leadership of the kind he appears to lack: Tough, confrontational, determined. Gantz must learn to be Netanyahu, minus the criminal charges and political views. He will not get a second chance to leave a first impression. At the May 18 ceremony at Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv marking his entry into office, Gantz met with the IDF chief, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, the General Staff of the IDF, senior Defense Ministry officials and many others. Gantz looked like a fish thrown back into the water, relieved of his suffering after desperately flopping about on land. The Defense Ministry compound in the heart of Tel Aviv is familiar ground where he spent 40 years of his life as a career soldier. His beaming smile was genuine, unlike those he displayed throughout much of his three election campaigns of the past 18 months, which fooled no one. Despite his formal title as defense minister, Gantz will try to distinguish himself from Netanyahu in the diplomatic arena. No one should be overly surprised to learn of a clandestine call on Jordans King Abdullah in Amman or even a hush-hush meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Sharm el-Sheikh. At Mondays handover ceremony, Gantz pledged implementation of President [Donald] Trumps plan with everything it includes. Each carefully chosen word in this phrasing signaled the direction he and his Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi plan to adopt in favor of the Trump plan and every one of its components. Ashkenazi even provided additional details. The [Trump] plan will be advanced responsibly, in full coordination with the United States and maintaining all of the State of Israels peace agreements and strategic interests," he said at the May 18 Foreign Ministry ceremony marking his own entry into office. Ashkenazi, also a former IDF chief of staff, added, I see great importance in strengthening our strategic ties with the countries with which we already have peace, Egypt and Jordan. Reading between the lines, what emerges is an almost unprecedented state of affairs: While Israels ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer, is engaged in feverish campaigning for Israels annexation plan (according to Channel 13 news), the Gantz-Ashkenazi axis will push in the opposite direction, albeit cautiously. They will embrace Trumps plan while making every effort to freeze, delay or minimize the scope of the annexation to any extent possible. Dermer is said to be lobbying senior administration officials, senators, members of the House and journalists to convince them that Israel must annex the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlements in the West Bank as soon as possible because this could be its last chance to do so. Democrat Joe Biden may win in November, the envoy warned. Gantz and Ashkenazi will try to place intelligent, calculated obstacles in the way of Israels rush toward annexation, insisting that any move requires coordination with the countries of peace (Abdullah has already threatened to abrogate Jordan's peace agreement with Israel if it annexes the Jordan Valley), while maintaining Israels interests. As noted in a previous article here, Washington will have to get used to this new constellation. From now on, it will have to deal with two Israels the Israel of Dermer and Netanyahu that is pushing with everything it has for annexation this year, and the Israel of Gantz and Ashkenazi cautiously blocking such a move and trying to buy time. Both Gantz and Ashkenazi are scheduled to visit Washington soon. Ashkenazi will meet his friend, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Gantz his Pentagon counterpart Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and other top administration officials. Will Gantz also be accorded some quality time at the White House? That would signal the administrations dilemma over Israels two clashing approaches to the matter. Not everyone in Washington is keen on Israels rush to impose sovereignty over disputed territory. Dire warnings by Abdullah and other Middle Eastern leaders of the repercussions, along with the skepticism of two decorated generals at the helm of Israels defense and foreign ministries, are moving the needle. All bets are off in this looming battle. Then there is the internal arena. One of the more interesting domestic fronts could pit Gantz against Kochavi. On the face of it, they are brothers in arms, graduates of the prestigious Paratroopers Division. Kochavi was a protege of Gantzs for years and the two speak the same language, share the same experiences and are true friends. Now, however, Gantz has different needs. In order to build himself up in the public eye and shake off his image as a hesitant weakling, he will have to engineer a few crises vis-a-vis Kochavi, crises from which he must emerge the victor after overturning decisions and dictating measures in defiance of the military chief. Kochavi is unlikely to enjoy such treatment, but the two might find a way to create for Gantz the required image of leadership with Kochavis tacit cooperation. The IDF leader is one of the wisest ever to serve in the job and he understands his bosss political needs. Gantz will now have to approve the multiyear IDF plan drawn up by Kochavi, and he may well introduce a change or two. If he ends up being Kochavis rubber stamp, his abridged term will not leave a mark. One of Gantzs first moves appears to signal the direction described here: He has decided to appoint a former air force commander, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Eshel, as director general of the Defense Ministry. Eshel enjoys broad consensus as one of the most talented, effective and impressive officers to come out of the IDF in recent decades. More recently he has served as Gantzs adviser on the Trump peace plan, taking part in his late January White House meeting with the president. Eshel, however, is also somewhat of a maverick vis-a-vis the military, in general, and the chief of staff and the General Staff, in particular. As leader of the air force perceived as an elitist outlier of the IDF Eshel was critical of the system. Eschel was brought in so that Gantz could draw a distinct line between himself and Kochavi, cast himself as an independent figure and create levers of leadership for himself. Kochavi knows this. This trio will set the tone in the coming 18 months. [May 19, 2020] Converge Technology Solutions Corp. Announces New TrustBuilder Platform Converge announces its intention to begin offering the Converge TrustBuilder Platform, a blockchain-based solution toolkit, to help customers create secure trust ecosystems. TORONTO and GATINEAU, QC, May 19, 2020 /CNW/ - Converge Technology Solutions Corp. ("Converge" or "the Company") (TSXV:CTS) (FSE:0ZB) (OTCQX:CTSDF) a national platform of regionally focused Hybrid IT solution providers ("ITSPs") in the U.S. and Canada has announced, in connection with PROMPT, the creation of a trust ecosystem builder toolkit to be marketed as the Converge TrustBuilder Platform. This was made possible by Becker-Carroll, a Converge Company's successful submission of its application for the platform to the Quebec Cybersecurity Innovation Program. The Converge TrustBuilder Platform utilizes the new W3C verifiable credential standard and allows customers to create, manage, and monetize trust ecosystems. The Company is working closely with In-Sec-M (a national cybersecurity cluster), the Digital Identity Laboratory of Canada, and the Digital Identity and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC) to ensure adherence to emerging industry standards and the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF). "With the discussion of a potential demand for digital passports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this technology is now a priority, and we are proud to be contributing to its development. The Converge national platform, along with its approximate 200 sales professionals remin a great channel for ourselves and our vendors to launch new products. It is my opinion that we are uniquely qualified to solve the biggest problem that all highly innovative solutions face, and that is getting early adopters on-board and proving the value of the technology by building successes for them," said Shaun Maine, Chief Executive Officer of Converge. "We would also like to thank the City of Gatineau, In-Sec-M, PROMPT, and the Quebec Government for creating this incredible innovation-fostering environment. We are thrilled to be a part of it, and we are dedicated to helping it succeed." "PROMPT is proud to support such a foundational project for Quebec in the strategic area of cybersecurity and digital identity. PROMPT's mission is to generate innovation through collaboration and research and, in doing so, propel the emergence of world-class economic and technological leaders. The project submitted by Becker-Carroll is among the most promising and visionary, and it will certainly contribute to reinforcing Quebec's position in the cybersecurity domain," commented Luc Sirois, General Manager of PROMPT. About PROMPT PROMPT is a leading organization whose primary objective is to increase Quebec's Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) industry's competitiveness by stimulating R&D partnerships. PROMPT is responsible for managing the Quebec Cybersecurity Innovation Program. For more information, visit promptinnov.com/en. About Converge Converge Technology Solutions Corp. is a North American IT Solution Provider focused on delivering industry leading solutions and services. Converge's regional sales and services organizations deliver advanced analytics, cloud, cybersecurity, and managed services offerings to clients across various industries. The Company supports these solutions with talent expertise and digital infrastructure offerings across all major IT vendors in the marketplace. This multi-faceted approach enables Converge to address the unique business and technology requirements for all clients in the public and private sectors. For more information, visit convergetp.com. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/converge-technology-solutions-corp-announces-new-trustbuilder-platform-301061240.html SOURCE Converge Technology Solutions Corp. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Sure, it might be warm Wednesday, but what about the rest of the week? "All I see is the bridge" Construction of a new bridge Location: Giza, Egypt in very close proximity to residential buildings has sparked outrage in the community (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT IN BUILDING NEXT TO BRIDGE, ACCOUNTANT, VIVIAN YOUSEF, SAYING: "I have an apartment here. My children go to school in Giza as well. I used to be able to watch my children get on the bus to school from my balcony. But now, I can't see the street at all. All I can see is the bridge. So the thing that originally made my apartment very valuable - its unique location - has now been thrown away. They are now also saying that prices (for the apartments) have gone down." For some, the bridge is close enough to touch The transport minister told local TV a committee of inspectors was examining the situation and that it might be possible to move some residents into less noisy areas Abu Dhabi, May 19 : Another United Arab Emirates (UAE)-Indian has joined a list of expats that have either been fired or suspended over their Islamophobic posts on social media, a media report said. Originally from Chapra, Bihar, Brajkishore Gupta was fired without notice for his post on Facebook by employer Stevin Rock, a mining company headquartered in Ras Al Khaimah, said the Gulf News report on Monday. "This isolated incident involving a junior employee was investigated and dealt with immediately resulting in the termination without notice of this person's employment with Stevin Rock," the company's business development and exploration manager Jean-Francois Milian told Gulf News on Sunday. "Our company policy supports the direction of the UAE Government in promoting tolerance and equality and strongly renouncing racism and discrimination and we have sent communications to all of our employees irrespective of their religious or ethnic background reminding them that any such behaviour is unacceptable and will lead to immediate dismissal," said Milian. Both the former and current Indian Ambassadors to the UAE have warned their countrymen about the consequences of violating the UAE's strict hate speech laws. In May, at least three Indian expats were fired or suspended in the UAE over such hate posts, said the Gulf News report. TDT | Manama His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa stressed yesterday the importance of strengthening solidarity for Bahrain to overcome this exceptional phase, praying to Allah the Almighty to lift the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic off the Kingdom and the world. HM the King was speaking as he received at Al Safriya Palace, in the presence of Royal Court Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa. The Interior Minister was accompanied by Southern Governor HH Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Muharraq Governor Salman bin Isa bin Hindi, Capital Governor Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, and Northern Governor Ali bin Abd Al Hussein Al Asfoor. HM the King thanked the Interior Minister and all affiliates, hailing the governorates contributions and initiatives to support national efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and coordinate with ministries and competent authorities to ensure compliance of precautionary measures. He commended the governorates for spearheading development projects and community-partnership initiatives to communicate with all social segments and strengthen the values of loyalty and citizenship. Meanwhile, His Majesty the King also received at Al Safriya Palace Constitutional Court president Shaikh Khalifa bin Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) deputy chairman and Court of Cassation president Chancellor Abdulla bin Hassan Al Bouainain and Public Prosecutor Dr Ali bin Fadhel Al Buainin. HM the King hailed the efforts of the judicial entities heads, as well as their dedicated work to serve the nation and people, assume their responsibility to achieve justice, ensure citizens and residents rights, defend their cases in compliance with the law, bolster the principles of justice and equality, and protect rights and liberties. HM the King reiterated Bahrains determination to continue assuming its noble mission and promote the values of tolerance, justice, equality, peace and co-existence, wishing all success. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-18 23:06:38|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Visitors experience 5G products at the booth of Huawei at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the United States, Jan. 7, 2020. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) SHENZHEN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Huawei on Monday voiced strong opposition to the United States' planned new export controls targetting the Chinese telecom giant. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Friday that it will impose new restrictions on Huawei's acquisition of semiconductors that are the direct product of certain U.S. software and technology. Huawei said in a statement that it "categorically opposes the amendments made by the U.S. Department of Commerce to its foreign direct product rule that target Huawei specifically". Huawei said it is undertaking a comprehensive examination of this new rule and expects its business to inevitably be affected. "We will try all we can to seek a solution. We hope that our customers and suppliers will continue to stand with us and minimize the impact of this discriminatory rule," it said. File photo taken on Jan. 28, 2020 shows a Huawei 5G mobile phone testing speed in Huawei 5G Innovation and Experience Center in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Han Yan) Huawei stated it has remained committed to complying with all U.S. government rules and regulations since May 16, 2019, when the U.S. government added it to the Entity List and despite the fact that a number of key industrial and technological elements were made unavailable to it. The latest U.S. decision, a move to tighten its stranglehold on Huawei, completely ignored the concerns of many companies and industry associations and posed a threat to the entire industry worldwide, the Shenzhen-based company said. "This new rule will impact the expansion, maintenance, and continuous operations of networks worth hundreds of billions of dollars that we have rolled out in more than 170 countries," Huawei said. The rule will also affect communications services for the more than 3 billion people who use Huawei products and services worldwide, according to Huawei. In the long run, this will damage the trust and collaboration within the global semiconductor industry which many industries depend on, increasing conflict and loss within these industries, Huawei said. "To attack a leading company from another country, the U.S. government has intentionally turned its back on the interests of Huawei's customers and consumers. This goes against the U.S. government's claim that it is motivated by network security," it noted. The U.S. is leveraging its own technological strengths to crush companies outside its own borders, which will undermine the trust international companies place in U.S. technology and supply chains and ultimately harm U.S. interests, Huawei added. Hyundai says a Culver City dealership co-owned by Hooman Nissani, above in 2017, used the pandemic as cover to tow away customers' cars. (ZUMA Press) We've all got weird experiences to share about the coronavirus. Olivia Vera may have one of the weirdest. She dropped off her car at a Culver City dealer in March because of engine trouble. The dealer subsequently had the car towed away as businesses throughout the region closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The towing company then slapped Vera with thousands of dollars in fees for taking in the abandoned vehicle. As if things couldn't get any worse, the 26-year-old Westwood resident faced the very real prospect of her car being sold off this week if she didn't show up at the storage yard with a bag of cash (and cash only, no checks or credit cards). "This is absolutely not what I thought would happen when I dropped off my car at the dealer," Vera told me. "Who would have expected something like this?" I've spoken with many people since the coronavirus ended consumer life as we know it, and I've heard all manner of grievance, from refunds unpaid to companies that couldn't be reached because they'd furloughed almost everyone. But what happened to Vera and about a dozen other people who brought their cars for repairs to Nissani Brothers Hyundai represents a new low in service (or lack thereof). "It's shocking," Vera said. "How could something like this happen?" In this case, all roads apparently lead to Hooman Nissani, co-owner of a string of Southern California car dealerships, including local showrooms for Nissan, Chrysler and Chevrolet. Nissani was ordered last year to pay $2.4 million in back pay and penalties to settle what state officials called California's largest wage-theft case. A carwash he owned allegedly cheated 64 workers out of minimum wages and overtime over three years. Neither Nissani nor any of his businesses could be reached for comment. But in trying phone numbers associated with Nissani, I reached a man who refused to give his name but identified himself as a manager of the Hyundai dealership. Story continues He was able to answer questions about Vera's 2019 Hyundai Kona, such as when she dropped it off and when it was towed away, so he clearly had access to the company's records. This person told me Nissani Brothers Hyundai closed in March because of the coronavirus but would reopen soon. He said a handful of cars "fewer than five" were towed from the lot after the dealership repeatedly tried to contact the owners about the impending coronavirus closure and the need for them to take possession of their vehicles. Vera and other customers who are complaining of mistreatment have it wrong, the man said. "There are two sides to every story," he insisted. True. But that doesn't make both sides correct. Jim Trainor, a Hyundai spokesman, told me the closure of the Nissani Brothers dealership had less to do with the coronavirus than it did a deteriorating business relationship. He said the shutdown followed weeks of bad blood between the dealer with Hooman Nissani running the business and the corporate headquarters. "This dealership voluntarily ended its relationship with Hyundai on April 6, no longer represents Hyundai as one of its dealers and is closed," Trainor said. "Prior to the closing of the dealership, this dealer moved vehicles that had been dropped off for service to an off-site facility in order to vacate the property, without informing Hyundai nor the customers who had vehicles at the dealership for service and repair," he said. Hyundai is aware of at least 11 cars being towed, Trainor said. "We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused to the impacted customers and we pledge to make this right," he said. The dealership is currently fenced off. Cranes and construction equipment are visible from the street. Jared Scott-Ransom, 26, is another Nissani Brothers Hyundai customer whose 2018 Elantra was towed from the lot after he dropped it off for transmission work. He told me no one notified him about the car being removed. In fact, Scott-Ransom said, he lives near the Culver City dealership and stopped by in mid-March to see how the work was coming. "They said they were still waiting for parts and didn't know when the work would be finished," he recalled. "They said they'd let me know." Now, Scott-Ransom said, he's reporting the matter to state and federal authorities, and is considering a lawsuit against Nissani Brothers. For her part, Vera conveyed a tangled tale of not being able to receive a straight answer from the dealer, the Hyundai head office or the Long Beach towing company, E3 Collision, which she said was billing her $150 a day in storage charges. Vera said E3 informed her last week that a lien had been placed on her vehicle and it would be sold off this week if she didn't pony up about $6,000 in cash. No one at the towing company returned my calls for comment. Hyundai stepped up its game after I started making inquiries last week. "As soon as Hyundai learned of this situation and of these storage fees being charged to our customers, we quickly took steps to get all Hyundai cars out of E3s facility and sent to a nearby Hyundai dealership where the service work would be made and our customers would be well taken care of," Trainor said. "All customers who made any form of payment to E3 during this situation have been, or will be, fully reimbursed." Vera's car is now at South Bay Hyundai in Torrance. Levit Perez, South Bay's service manager, told me Monday that records from Nissani Brothers indicate Vera's engine was replaced, "but I don't see any evidence of that." He also said the other Nissani cars that have arrived at his dealership from E3 "were torn apart by someone and never put back together." Like I said up top, weird and deeply disturbing. "We care about our customers," the man who said he was a manager of the Nissani Brothers dealership told me. "There's two sides to this story." Hyundai says the only story here is that of a franchisee who couldn't be trusted to treat customers respectfully and who used the pandemic as cover for shoddy practices. "It wasn't the coronavirus," Trainor said. "It was something else." I encourage any consumer caught up in this mess involving Nissani Brothers Hyundai to contact the state attorney general's office, which watches out for unfair business practices. And maybe think about installing a GPS tracker in your car before dropping it off for repairs at any Nissani Brothers dealership. This can be done for under $30. Because you never know. Popular Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi has appealed to the Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El Rufai not to consider allowing Eid congregation prayers to hold at the end of the Ramadan period because of the deadly coronavirus. The popular cleric made the appeal shortly after news broke out that the Kano state government has allowed for congregation prayers in the state amid rise in COVID-19 cases in the state. Once you allow people to come and pray, they are going to troop out in thousands you cannot control. And the point is that we have stayed for over two months under lockdown. We are afraid that one single day will come and spoil all the gains that we have had. Read Also: Lockdown: Nigerians Still Awaiting Your Broadcast PDP Tells Buhari Advertisement Kaduna is one of the states that has the least infection rates. We can see deaths in hundreds, in all the core-northern states like Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Yobe, Borno. But Alhamdulillah, because Kaduna had gone into lockdown earlier than all the states, we have less infection rates than the other states. Nobody can deny this fact, Gumi said. By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/19/2020 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. : Happily Ever After?'s fifth-season cast will include Tania Maduro and husband Syngin Colchester , TLC has announced.TLC announced Tania and Syngin have joined the cast of Season 5 of : Happily Ever After? in a promo that aired during Monday night's episode of : Self-Quarantined.The couple are the third former couple the network has announced for the fifth season of : Happily Ever After?, which will premiere Sunday, June 14 at 8PM ET/PT."From she shed to big digs, guess who's back!" TLC teased in the promo."I drink a lot, so for me to say that he drinks a lot, he drinks a lot," Tania told the cameras."I don't drink that much!" Syngin argued. "I will have a f-cking beer at 10AM if I feel like having a beer at 10AM.""Exactly," Tania said.Tania's mother also expressed concern that neither her daughter or Syngin were working."All of the responsibility right now falls on [Syngin]," Tania's mother said.Tania from Connecticut and Syngin from South Africa, starred on Season 7 of , which wrapped in February. Four other cast members had previously been revealed during the most recent Season 4 episode of : Before the 90 Days -- Kalani Faagata Colt Johnson , and Larissa Dos Santos Lima.Additional cast members will be announced in the coming days, with the full cast being unveiled by Friday, May 22."Our social channels are slowly releasing which couples are being included every day this week," TLC told Reality TV World in a statement on Monday.'s official Twitter account wrote on Tuesday, "The hints keep coming! We'll be revealing #90DayFiance: Happily Ever After couple #4 exclusively on social media tonight at 5pm EST, so get your guesses in now."The post teased three things about the next couple: "Mister vs sister," "No bicycle built for two," and "Take the heat."Tania and Syngin met in South Africa when Tania took a spontaneous trip there to meet another guy whom she had met on a dating app. After her date disappointed, Tania ditched him in the middle of the night and headed to a bar, where she met Syngin the bartender.Tania and Syngin spent the night together after first meeting, and then Tania's trip to South Africa extended into a two-month stay before she returned to the United States.Tania and Syngin continued their relationship long distance, and after Tania visited South Africa once more, she returned to America and applied for Syngin's K-1 visa.Once Tania and Syngin had a romantic reunion in a New York airport, they explored the city together and spent a couple of nights in a hotel. Tania and Syngin then moved into the "she shed" behind her mother's home in Connecticut.Tania and Syngin got off to a rough start, as they had a lot of work to do in order to fix up the shed, and the couple disagreed over a timeline for starting a family.Tania told Syngin that she'd be willing to wait three years to have their first child, but Syngin wanted to wait 7-10 more years. Tania also said she wanted to pump out one kid after the next, so Syngin had his fair share of doubts about getting married.Syngin wanted to travel and have fun before settling down, but Tania's friends believed he'd end up doing what Tania wanted to do since she allegedly wore the pants in their relationship."I couldn't be with someone who doesn't want to have kids. I live to have kids, but I also know that I get my way," Tania said in a confessional on 's seventh season.Tania said she'd love to do it all with Syngin but he needed to be "down with it" or else she'd have to move on."It's almost like you wrote the story and I'm just a character in it," Syngin complained, later pointing out Tania had a "controlling personality."Tania then traveled to Costa Rica for three weeks in order to learn herbalism. She took a month-long course about natural medicine and natural remedies so she could start her own business with Syngin.Syngin was left alone with Tania's mother and found himself incredibly bored while his fiancee was away, and Tania and Syngin often fought about Tania's lack of communication and refusal to call him after a night out of partying.Syngin said he felt "a little abandoned" and didn't think Tania's actions showed that she loved and cared for him, but Tania countered by saying she couldn't meet all of Syngin's demands and needed more breathing room."I came here. I have changed my whole life around. You have not changed much about your life at all," Syngin said over FaceTime. "Do you want a boyfriend who doesn't care?""You're not my father," Tania said. "I love that you care... but I can't give you everything that you need."Once Tania returned home, she and Syngin fought about how he wasn't actively working to pursue his many goals for a life in the United States.Syngin said he didn't have the money to take classes yet, but Tania wanted the self-proclaimed free spirit to be more focused considering he had dreamed of being a fireman, policeman or even a woodworker.Tania grew concerned Syngin acted like more of a kid than a responsible adult, but Syngin felt unnecessarily attacked.The pair also later fought when Tania confessed she didn't feel like Syngin was her soul mate. Tania believed her first love was actually her soul mate, unless a person can have more than one, and Syngin was left feeling sad, stressed out and depressed."I don't even really know what I'm doing here right now. I feel bad," Syngin told Tania of being in America, adding that he worried they weren't "compatible."But Tania apologized and understood her man needed some time to heal. She said she was sure about her love for him and didn't want to be with anyone else.Syngin and Tania therefore decided to go through with a wedding in Connecticut. They had rented an Air BnB with a beautiful backyard and set up chairs, candles and flowers.Since Tania loves "breaking boundaries," she decided to wear a black lace wedding dress over pink satin instead of a traditional white gown, and Syngin said his bride "looked absolutely stunning" and the emotional ceremony felt "surreal."In his handwritten vows, Syngin told Tania that he always knew she was going to be more than just a one-night stand to him when they met in South Africa. Syngin told Tania that he loved and respected her and she brought out the best in him.In reply, Tania promised to call Syngin as often as possible when drunk and tell him how much she loves him. Tania vowed to be patient, softer and more vulnerable, and she said she'd continue breaking down her walls for him.The pair symbolically connected their love through matching tattoos instead of rings. They both had the Sagittarius symbol tattooed on their left hand's ring finger to represent travel and the power of their relationship.Tania's mother said she couldn't have asked for a better man to marry her daughter.And Tania was so happy to start a life with Syngin, who said in a confessional, "It's completely insane to ever think meeting that girl and her sliding her number to me would lead to all of this. We did it! I love you... babe."Want more spoilers or couples updates? Click here to visit our homepage! GO Mortgage, a national full-service mortgage lender, is pleased to announce their Minnesota branch known as The Butcher Team will transition over to the GO Mortgage brand. The Butcher Team and GO Mortgage both share the affiliate and DBA, GSF Mortgage Corporation. The rebrand significantly enhances The Butcher Team's operations in Minnesota, where they have a robust community presence. The Butcher Team is now officially branded as 'GO Mortgage Minnesota' on its website and business communication. GO Mortgage boasts scalable technology, a broader product portfolio, and relationship know-how. The Butcher Team comes on board with specialized services and personalized customer service, market expertise, and extensive product knowledge. A combination of these strengths will deliver the most value to customers and stakeholders. David Butcher, Branch Manager of The Butcher Team, commented, "We are excited about the transition to GO Mortgage, which is still part of the GSF Mortgage Corporation family. We share the same vision, and this move is a chance for us to improve our services, rates, and products under an iconic brand." Chad Jampedro, President of GO Mortgage, commented, "The Butcher Team has demonstrated a strong dedication to quality service through the delivery of affordable mortgage products and information. That is the same commitment in our DNA, and we hope that this partnership will help us accomplish greater things for all our communities." The merger comes at a time when the Treasury yield is at a ten year low. For customers, that translates to low borrowing costs. It is gradually becoming a buyer's market, and GO Mortgage's full product line in home purchase, refinance, renovation, and construction helps buyers find the right loan. About GO Mortgage GO Mortgage is a Brookfield, Wisconsin-based mortgage lender that operates as a DBA of GSF Mortgage Corporation. GO Mortgage has access to a comprehensive portfolio of top-tier loan products and goes out of its way to educate its borrowers on the homeownership journey and assist them in finding the most affordable options for each unique home-buying scenario. GO Mortgage delivers a promise of excellence through its streamlined customer service, leveraging the latest technology in mortgage financing, and providing a complete set of home loan options including, purchase, refinance, renovation, and new construction financing. Visit GO Mortgage at https://www.gomortgage.com or GO Mortgage Minnesota at https://www.gomortgage.com/minnesota. The trailer of Zee5 original film Ghoomketu, featuring Nawauddin Siddiqui in the eponymous role, has just dropped online. Nawazuddin plays a writer, who is struggling to get a break in Bollywood and tries to pitch his scripts to various people. He is left with enough money to survive just another month in Mumbai and must make it big by then. Meanwhile, Anurag Kashyap plays a corrupt police officer who has only a month to nab Ghoomketu, or else he will be transferred. In a twist, he is revealed to be his next-door neighbour, without either of them realising it. Ghoomketu has special appearances by Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha, who give the iconic Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge scene a funny twist. Amitabh Bachchan, who also has a cameo, is seen in lawyers robes. Chitrangda Singh also features in the two-minute video. Directed by Pushpendra Nath Misra and produced by Phantom Films and Sony Pictures Networks, Ghoomketu will release on Zee5 on May 22. The film also stars Ila Arun, Raghubir Yadav, Swanand Kirkire and Ragini Khanna in pivotal roles. Also read | Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas argue about his show The Voice: She loves it so much, she gets mad if I say anything Earlier, in a statement, Nawazuddin had said, Ghoomketu is a quirky, never-seen-before character and I thoroughly enjoyed playing him. Anurag, who is generally behind the camera, will be seen sharing screen space with us and it was a great experience to work with him as an actor. Ghoomketu has a phenomenal storyline which will definitely entertain the audience. During this time of the lockdown, I am glad that a humorous film that the entire family can watch is being streamed on Zee5. Anurag added, Every film is a labour of love and I saw the conviction in the director of Ghoomketu and hence decided to do something which is my least favourite thing to do, which is act. The film is funny and heartwarming. Follow @htshowbiz for more ND Paper Donates Personal Protection Equipment to Health Care Providers Across the U.S. ND Paper donated 6,000 medical disposable protective gowns and 130,000 disposable medical masks to healthcare workers in Maine, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Illinois and Massachusetts (Boston). May 19, 2020 - ND Paper announced that it sourced and distributed critical personal protection equipment for its 1,400 employees and donation to frontline first responders. ND Paper earned thanks from both Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) and Gov. Tony Evers (D-Wisconsin) for donating thousands of medical grade protective clothing and more than 100,000 disposable medical masks for distribution to frontline healthcare workers in those two states alone. At the request of ND Paper's CEO, Ken Liu, employees secured medical-grade masks, gowns, facial shields and other personal protection equipment used to curb the spread of the virus. In total, ND Paper donated 6,000 medical disposable protective gowns and 130,000 disposable medical masks to healthcare workers in Maine, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Illinois and Massachusetts (Boston). In addition, ND Paper also successfully secured more than 20,000 disposable masks for use at its own mills and offices. "The health and safety of ND Paper employees is always our highest priority, but this virus has no boundaries and has impacted each of us, our families and our community in many ways," said Liu, noting the company has thus far been fortunate to not have a single mill employee become infected. "This is a critical time for us to step up and use our global network to bring this desperately needed equipment to the U.S. and into our local communities," Liu added. ND Paper's PPE donations across the U.S. in the last month included: Maine - 3,000 medical disposable protective clothing 3,000 and 40,000 disposable medical masks to Maine Emergency Management Agency. Massachusetts - 25,000 disposable medical masks to Boston Police Central Supply. Wisconsin - 1,500 medical disposable protective clothing and 20,000 disposable medical masks. West Virginia - 1,500 medical disposable protective clothing and 20,000 disposable medical masks. Illinois - 25,000 disposable medical masks to DuPage County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. About ND Paper ND Paper is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Limited. Headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, ND Paper manufactures various types of high-quality pulp, paper and paper-based packaging materials. The company's mills in Rumford, Maine and Biron, Wisconsin are integrated paper and pulp facilities, and its mill in Fairmont, West Virginia is one of only three in the world that produces air-dried, recycled pulp. ND Paper's fourth mill, in Old Town, Maine, produces unbleached softwood kraft pulp. For further information, visit us.ndpaper.com . SOURCE: ND Paper LLC "The most important thing rather than apportioning blame to one particular country or another country is that we get to the bottom of whats happened." When Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, offered this assessment of a proposed inquiry into the origins of and response to COVID-19 on Monday, he put his finger on the problems any such investigation poses and the clearest way to address them. As China watcher Clive Hamilton recently pointed out in The Age, for the People's Republic such questions have already become political, with its State Council vetting the release of all research papers on the virus as of last month. So when Chinese President Xi Jinping used his speech to the World Health Assembly on Monday evening to back a "comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19", it needed to be seen in terms of this political management. In this article UAL UNXP UNH United Airlines president Scott Kirby speaking in Chicago, Illinois, June 5, 2019. Kamil Krzaczynski | Reuters United Airlines' incoming CEO Scott Kirby doesn't mince words. "It's far better to be too aggressive than not aggressive enough," then-United's president told a J.P. Morgan industry conference in early March, laying out a bleak picture of potentially sharp revenue declines, as the coronavirus was starting to disrupt everyday life in the U.S. Weeks later, the pandemic dragged air travel demand down to the lowest levels since the 1950s and the country's airlines, including United, posted their first losses in years. In quick succession, United announced a series of capacity cuts and idled hundreds of planes as Kirby and CEO Oscar Munoz warned of job cuts this fall if demand doesn't return. The airline scrambled to raise and conserve cash, including debt and equity sales, and sale leasebacks of some planes. Kirby, 52, United's president since August 2016 and a more than two-decade airline executive, slides into the top job on Wednesday. He faces the greatest challenge of his career, during which he has navigated bankruptcies, mergers, the effects of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and the 2008 financial crisis. Known as an action-taker with a talent for growing airline networks to maximize revenue, Kirby is expected to focus on reducing cash burn and reducing costs. United went into the second quarter burning about $50 million a day and plans to reduce that to a daily average of $40 million to $45 million in the second quarter and possibly below $40 million in the third quarter, Kirby told investors on a May 1 earnings call. Kirby will not only have to guide the airline through the unprecedented drop in demand and likely a deep recession, but the tricky job of persuading travelers it's safe to fly again, as every flight has the potential to go viral on social media if passengers are uncomfortable. Kirby and Munoz have gone through public backlashes before, few more memorable than the dragging of passenger David Dao off of a United Express flight in April 2017. I think it's a plus that he is absolutely decisive and incredibly smart. I think he is very lucky that United is highly unionized because it's going to require him to think things through. We're going to provide a check and balance. Sara Nelson president, Association of Flight Attendants After a passenger's photo of a packed United flight earlier this month was retweeted thousands of times, the airline implemented a policy that notifies customers if their flights are booked close to capacity and allows them to switch to other flights or receive a travel credit. United said "because our schedule is so reduced, there are a small number of flights where our customers are finding planes fuller than they expect." The airline industry is one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, with travel demand plunging more than 90% and cancellations outpacing bookings. United's shares are down more than 72% this year, while American's have lost more than 65% and Delta's are down nearly 63%. The investor exodus has included Warren Buffett, who announced this month that Berkshire Hathaway has sold its stakes in American, Delta, Southwest and United because of the impact of the virus. No minced words People who have worked with Kirby describe him as a detail-oriented decision-maker with little tolerance for half measures. Some analysts say that's just what the carrier needs as it faces its biggest-ever crisis. "I think you need a strong decisive person who is going to call it like it is," said Savanthi Syth, an airline analyst at Raymond James. Kirby rose through the ranks at America West and after mergers, at US Airways and then American Airlines, where he was president before separating from the company in 2016. Shortly after leaving American, he was named United's president in August 2016. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards At United, he instituted a daily 7:30 a.m. call with several dozen staff members to go over the previous day's operation and discuss any issues in the day ahead. "He's very hands-on," said one executive. Kirby has continued those calls from his home in the Dallas area over the past few weeks, where he is working remotely. As CEO, he will continue to oversee operations, revenue and other areas of the business that have been under his watch as president. Kirby's vision for strong growth and cost-cutting hasn't always landed well. He pushed for United's aggressive plan to grow as much as 6% a year from 2018 through 2020, which was met with a stock rout as investors feared low fares would dent revenue when the airline unveiled the strategy in early 2018. But the plan had paid off thanks to strong demand. United shares reached an all-time high in November 2018 of $96.70. In January 2020, United touted that it reached its per-share earnings goal a year ahead of schedule. United forecast full-year earnings of $11 to $13 a share in 2020 but in February it became the first major U.S. airline to withdraw its full-year financial forecast because of the virus. United has backed off other plans implemented under Kirby after backlashes. For example, in 2018, United shelved a plan to make it harder for employees to get bonuses after staff complained. Kirby wrote to employees that the airline "misjudged how these changes would be received by many of you." When glimmers of an air-travel recovery appear, Kirby will have to weigh his penchant for growth with risks of expanding too much. Shrink and raise cash Job Title: Supply Chain Officer Organisation: Samasha Medical Foundation (Samasha) Duty Station: Uganda About US: Samasha Medical Foundation (Samasha) is a Global South Non-Governmental Organization with headquarters in Uganda that provides technical assistance to improve RMNCAH outcomes through Advocacy, Accountability and Transparency, Health systems strengthening, generating evidence and innovations. The organization was incorporated in Uganda in 2012 and has since grown to implement projects in Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia. Samasha is part of a consortium of partners implementing the five-year USAID/Family Planning Activity (FPA) from 2020-2025. The FPA will play a catalytic role in increasing access to modern contraception and reducing the unmet need for voluntary family planning services in Uganda. Job Summary: The Supply Chain Officer will support the District Health Management Team (DHMT) to strengthen Reproductive Health Commodity Security (RHCS) in supported districts of Kyankwanzi, Kyegegwa and Kyenjojo. He/She will coordinate with various implementing partners at district, facility and community levels, and monitor supplies available through public and social marketing systems. He/She will be based in the Cluster Office based in Fort Portal, Kabarole District under FPA Project. The Supply Chain Officer will perform his/her duties under mentorship and supervision from the Supply Chain Manager. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Leverage Supervision Performance Assessment and Recognition Strategy (SPARS) to strengthen inventory management, ordering and accountability for family planning commodities at district, health facility and community levels Monitor and compile stock status and performance reports for the FPA project districts to support strategic decision making by the DHMT and FPA project team to ensure availability of a full method mix of contraceptives in the districts Support the district and health facility personnel to implement improved processes for contraceptive logistics management, including the family planning component of the HMIS reporting in line with guidance from Ministry of Health Provide technical support supervision and capacity building to districts to ensure continuous improvement and strengthening of the contraceptive supply chain systems including delivery of relevant training Provide technical support to strengthen contraceptive commodity security coordination structures at the district health office, health sub district, health facility, private sector, USAID/CDC partners, social marketing organizations and any other IPs implementing FP activities in the district through actively participating in monthly district performance review meetings and effective linkages and coordination between supply chain and family planning stakeholders Contribute to timely and accurate reporting by the project through participating in the cluster work plan development process, implementation and monitoring of supply chain related activities and drafting the supply chain related cluster quarterly and annual performance report Document lessons learned and share best practices in logistics management across the cluster districts Enforce strict adherence of health facilities to national supply system reporting requirements Perform any other duties as assigned by your supervisor Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The ideal applicant must hold a Bachelors degree in Pharmacy, Public Health, or related field. A relevant masters degree is an added advantage At least three years experience in providing support in management of pharmaceutical supply chain management Working knowledge and comprehensive understanding of the Uganda public health system, particularly for family planning Knowledge of Ugandas health system, district local government systems and extensive knowledge of the supply chain Demonstrated strong organizational, administrative, communications and reporting skills Ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders to achieve common goals Strong teamwork and team-building skills Excellent analytical and presentation skills with Microsoft office packages desired How to apply: All suitably qualified and interested candidates Please send your CV and cover letter to: FPA Project Manager and send to info@samasha.org Subject of the Email: Supply Chain Officer Deadline: 24th May 2020 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Julio Lusson is a YouTuber from Cuba who already gave us several leaks of the Pixel 4a, including camera samples, battery and performance tests, and an in-depth hands-on video of the phone back in March. On Sunday, Lusson hosted a live video celebrating his 10k subscriber milestone, but in the second half of the livestream (around the 40:00 mark), he answers some questions about the Pixel 4a prototype unit in his possession. Starting off, Lusson confirms the phone is indeed a prototype unit, which makes sense considering how long hes had it for and this is especially apparent by the modified Google logo we see in the still capture below. Source: TechnoLike Plus (YouTube) He gave us the dimensions and weight of the Pixel 4a. The phone measures 144.2mm x 69.4mm x 8.4mm which is certainly more compact than the Pixel 3as 151.3 x 70.1 x 8.2 mm. He also confirms the phone is light, and weighs between 135 and 140 grams. He also adds that the light weight combined with the plastic build add up to a in-hand feel that he didnt love. He explained that he prefers the more premium feel of his Redmi Note 7. Within the hardware of the phone, a related report, that was corroborated by Lusson, confirms that the Pixel 4a will not have the Active Edge feature that weve seen on all Pixel phones since the Pixel 2 and 2 XL. Can confirm that Active Edge is not available on @julio_lusson's Pixel 4a. Not a huge loss especially since Google is adding a new double tap gesture that doesn't require special hardware: https://t.co/kFiL8qmzxA https://t.co/IA6qqLJnG9 Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) May 18, 2020 Lusson loves the haptic motor of the Pixel 4a he says its very strong so we have that to look forward to (the 3a had nice haptics as well). He also confirms that brightness is quite good, and goes as far as saying that sunlight legibility is not the best on the market, but is quite good and the display is 60Hz and OLED. We can expect a nanoSIM + eSIM, and the onboard storage is UFS 2.1. He is very happy with the 4as performance, which is no surprise as we were quite content with the smoothness and performance of the Pixel 3a XL last year. Metalic ring around the selfie camera Something interesting that he showed on camera is the presence of a metallic ring around the selfie camera module. He suggests it may be an aesthetic choice, but there's a chance that its a characteristic of the prototype hardware. We already know the 4a will have a headphone jack, but Lusson confirms that the stereo speakers are loud. The Pixel 4a will be powered by the Snapdragon 730 CPU and pack 6GB of RAM with either 64GB or 128GB of storage. Theres a 5.81-inch OLED screen with FHD+ resolution, a 12.2MP main camera and an 8MP punch hole selfie camera. Meanwhile, theres a 3,080 mAh battery and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The phone is expected to arrive sometime soon it might be on or around June 1, which is when Google will host a livestream for Android 11 Beta. Source 1 2 According to a former personal assistant, Amber Heard had been making belittling comments about her ex-husband, Johnny Depp. The "Aquaman" actress' former personal assistant, Kate James, made a statement to the Circuit Court of Fairfax County, Virginia, which concerns Heard's case against Depp. A copy of the full legal document has been uploaded on Twitter. James, who worked from March 2012 until February 2015, was surprised that the blonde bombshell hired her since she's 20 years older. But James didn't think much of it because, at that time, she needed the job to support her 4-year-old son. When she was hired, Heard and Depp were just dating. James revealed how Heard didn't disclose the identity of her boyfriend when going out, but only referred to him as "old man." In her statement, James said, "At first, Amber didn't tell me who Johnny was, and would speak in disparaging terms about him." She continued, "She would say that she was 'dating this old man,' and suchlike. She then disclosed it was Johnny Depp, and I met him shortly after that." James also recalled the first time she met the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor, saying, "My first impression of him was softly spoken and peaceful. He was almost a bit shy. He was very pleasant and courteous upon meeting me." Some of the statements the former personal assistant can also be used to support Johnny Depp's libel claim against British tabloid The Sun for their allegations that he was violent towards Amber Heard. The judge for the case declared that some of the testimony from James would be included in the trial because she saw the actress without any sign of physical violence. James also added that when she first met Amber Heard, her clothing style was preppy and girly. After dating Depp for a couple of months, Heard tried morphing into a bohemian style and mimicking Depp's fashion style. It's not just Kate James who spoke out in defense of Depp. One of Johnny Depp's employees also claimed that Amber Heard body-shamed him. The manager of the actor's Little Halls Pond Cay Island in the Bahamas said that she witnessed how hard Heard attacked Depp in December 2015. "While I could not hear what caused the fight, Amber repeatedly berated him with increasing ferocity," Roberts claimed as per a court document obtained by The Blast. "She was insulting him, calling him names, and in the middle of this onslaught, I heard her say specifically, 'Your career is over,' 'no one is going to hire you,' 'you're washed up,' 'fat,' 'you will die a lonely man,' and also screaming incomprehensible things." Though the things Amber Heard said to Johnny Depp were so hurtful, Roberts claimed that the "Edward Scissorhands" actor did not react to her verbal attacks, which eventually became physical. "Amber's screaming and berating rose to a fever pitch," said Roberts, and Depp was yelling at Heard to "go away" and "leave me alone." Most witnesses have also come to Depp's defense. His ex-girlfriends, Winona Ryder, Vanessa Paradis, and Lori Anne Alison, all described Depp as a sensitive and loving person. The three women claim that the actor has never been abusive to them. READ MORE: Megan Fox, Brian Austin Green Split: Machine Gun Kelly The Real Reason? Technavio has been monitoring the disposable gloves market in US and it is poised to grow by USD 1.01 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 7% 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/20200518005349/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Disposable Gloves Market in US 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. AMMEX Corp., Ansell Ltd., Cardinal Health Inc., Dynarex Corp., Medline Industries Inc., Semperit AG Holding, Smith Nephew Plc, Supermax Corp. Berhad, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., and Top Glove Corp. Bhd are some of the major market participants. The rapid spread of COVID-19 will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Rapid spread of COVID-19 has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Disposable Gloves Market in US 2020-2024: Segmentation Disposable Gloves Market in US is segmented as below: Distribution Channel Offline Online 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=IRTNTR43288 Disposable Gloves Market in US 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 disposable gloves market in US report covers the following areas: Disposable Gloves Market in US Size Disposable Gloves Market in US Trends Disposable Gloves Market in US Industry Analysis This study identifies rising number of surgical procedures as one of the prime reasons driving the disposable gloves market growth in US during the next few years. Disposable Gloves Market in US 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the disposable gloves market in US, including some of the vendors such as AMMEX Corp., Ansell Ltd., Cardinal Health Inc., Dynarex Corp., Medline Industries Inc., Semperit AG Holding, Smith Nephew Plc, Supermax Corp. Berhad, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., and Top Glove Corp. Bhd. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the disposable gloves market in US are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Disposable Gloves Market in US 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist disposable gloves market growth in US during the next five years Estimation of the disposable gloves market size in US and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the disposable gloves market in US Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of disposable gloves market vendors in US Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five Force Summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Application Market segments Comparison by Application Medical Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Non-medical Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Application Market Segmentation by Distribution channel Market segments Comparison by Distribution channel Offline Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Online Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Distribution channel Customer Landscape Market Drivers Market Challenges Market Trends Vendor Landscape Overview Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Vendor Analysis Vendors covered AMMEX Corp. Ansell Ltd. Cardinal Health Inc. Dynarex Corp. Medline Industries Inc. Semperit AG Holding Smith Nephew Plc Supermax Corp. Berhad Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Top Glove Corp. Bhd Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005349/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ Helsinki, May 19 : Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia on Tuesday announced it has achieved the world's fastest 5G speeds in its Over-the-Air (OTA) network in Dallas, Texas. Nokia said the 5G speeds in tests conducted with the use of the company's commercial 5G software and hardware reached 4.7 Gbps. The company utilised 800 MHz of commercial millimeter wave 5G spectrum and Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) functionality for the tests. EN-DC allows devices to connect simultaneously to 5G and LTE networks, transmitting and receiving data across both air-interface technologies. This means devices can achieve a higher throughput than when connecting to 5G or LTE alone. The speeds were achieved on both 5G cloud-based (vRAN) and classic baseband configurations. The tests were performed on base station equipment being deployed in major U.S. carriers' commercial networks. "This is an important and significant milestone in the development of 5G services in the US, particularly at a time when connectivity and capacity is so crucial," Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said in a statement. "It demonstrates the confidence operators have in our global end-to-end portfolio and the progress we have made to deliver the best possible 5G experiences to customers," Uitto said. This solution will not only provide subscribers with unrivalled mobile broadband speeds, but also enable carriers to sell various latency-sensitive enterprise services, such as network slicing for mission-critical applications, Nokia said. U.S. Tells Russia To Stop 'Inflicting Suffering On Crimean People' By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service May 18, 2020 KYIV -- The acting U.S. ambassador to Kyiv, Kristina Kvien, has called on Russia to "stop its legacy of inflicting suffering on the people of Crimea," as Ukraine commemorated the victims of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin's mass deportation of Crimean Tatars from their homeland in 1944. Kvien issued a video statement on Twitter on May 18, which since 2016 has been marked in Ukraine as the Day of Commemoration of Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatars. The Crimean Tatars were deported en masse from the Black Sea peninsula in May 1944, after Stalin accused them of collaborating with Nazi Germany. Seventy years later, in March 2014, Russia seized Crimea after sending in troops and staging a referendum boycotted by many Crimean Tatars. Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised the Crimean Tatars they would be treated well and guaranteed equal rights. But Crimean Tatars, rights activists, and Western governments say Russia has subjected Crimean Tatars and others who opposed annexation to abuse, discrimination, and politically motivated prosecution on false charges. In her statement, Kvien said that the deportation of the Crimean Tatars 76 years ago "caused unimaginable trauma, suffering, and the death of thousands." "That trauma and suffering is only deepened by Russia's modern-day occupation of Crimea," the U.S. diplomat added. The United States "does not and will not recognize Russia's purported annexation of Crimea," and will remain its Crimea-related sanctions in place until Russia returns control of the peninsula to Ukraine, she said. Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland issued a joint statement condemning Russia's "aggressive policy towards Ukraine and new repressions" against Crimean Tatars. In a statement posted on Facebook, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy commemorated the 76th anniversary of the mass deportation by saying Crimea will one day "return to Ukraine" and that "Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians [will] return to their homes." Starting on May 18, 1944, some 250,000 people were put on trains -- most of them in the space of two days -- and sent to Central Asia. Tens of thousands died during the journey or after they were left on the barren steppe with few resources. Crimean Tatars were not allowed to return to Crimea until the late 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev made reforms in the years before the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-tells-russia- to-stop-inflicting-suffering-on -crimea-people-/30619206.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In an ultimatum to the WHO, US President Donald Trump has said he would "reconsider" America's membership of the UN health body and threatened to "permanently freeze" the funding to it if it failed to demonstrate its "independence" from China in the next 30 days. Trump halted America's funding of up to USD 500 million annually to the World Health Organisation last month while a review was being done to assess its role in "severely mismanaging and covering up" the spread of the deadly coronavirus when it first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. In a four-page letter to WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom, Trump said, "It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organisation in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the WHO is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China." "My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organisation. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste," he wrote in his letter, which he tweeted on Monday night. "That is why it is my duty, as President of the United States, to inform you that, if the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation, the president said. Trump, who is seeking reelection in November, said he cannot allow the American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests. More than 300,000 people have died due to the coronavirus pandemic and over 4.8 million people infected around the world. The US is the worst-hit country with over 90,000 deaths and over 1.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. In his letter dated May 18, Trump alleged that the WHO has failed to publicly call on China to allow for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, despite the recent endorsement for doing so by its own Emergency Committee. On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping dispelled the criticism of secrecy and cover-up, saying "all along, we have acted with openness, transparency and responsibility. We have provided information to WHO and relevant countries in a most timely fashion. Trump has accused China of covering up, while Australia and the European Union have called for more transparency in China's COVID-19 control efforts including an independent inquiry into the origins of the virus. Last month, in response to Trump's criticism, Ghebreyesus gave a strident defence of his agency's handling of the pandemic and said that issue should not be "politicised" as unity is the only option to defeat the disease. The WHO's apparent failure to do so has prompted its member states to adopt the "COVID-19 Response" Resolution at the ongoing World Health Assembly, which echoes the call by the US and so many others for an impartial, independent, and comprehensive review of how the WHO handled the crisis. The resolution also calls for an investigation into the origins of the virus, which is necessary for the world to understand how best to counter the disease, Trump wrote in his letter. In 2003, in response to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China, Director General Harlem Brundtland boldly declared the WHO's first emergency travel advisory in 55 years, recommending against travel to and from the disease epicenter in southern China, he said. She also did not hesitate to criticise China for endangering global health by attempting to cover up the outbreak..., the president said. Trump alleged that the WHO has repeatedly made claims about the coronavirus that were either grossly inaccurate or misleading. On January 14, the WHO gratuitously reaffirmed China's now-debunked claim that the coronavirus could not be transmitted between humans, stating: "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." This assertion was in direct conflict with censored reports from Wuhan, he said. On January 28, after meeting with President Xi in Beijing, you praised the Chinese government for its "transparency" with respect to the coronavirus, announcing that China had set a "new standard for outbreak control" and "bought the world time." "Even after you belatedly declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, you failed to press China for the timely admittance of a WHO team of international medical experts, Trump charged. As a result, this critical team did not arrive in China until two weeks later, on February 16. And even then, the team was not allowed to visit Wuhan until the final days of their visit, he said. Trump alleged that as of February 3, China was strongly pressuring countries to lift or forestall travel restrictions. This pressure campaign was bolstered by your incorrect statements on that day telling the world that the spread of the virus outside of China was "minimal and slow" and that "the chances of getting this going to anywhere outside China (were) very low," he said. By the time you finally declared the virus a pandemic on March 11, it had killed more than 4,000 people and infected more than 100,000 people in at least 114 countries around the world, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lauren McCluskey gave the officer explicit photos of herself in the hope that campus police would help protect her from the man who was blackmailing her - the man who killed her a little more than a week later in a tragedy that rocked the University of Utah. In the days leading to the 21-year-old student-athlete's death in October 2018 - the end of a flawed response, according to a review - the officer she entrusted with her pictures allegedly showed them to his male colleague, The Salt Lake Tribune's Courtney Tanner reported Sunday. James McConkie, an attorney for McCluskey's parents, echoed the allegation in a statement Monday. The officer, Miguel Deras, bragged about being able to look at the photos he had downloaded to his personal cellphone, McConkie alleged. A top Utah public safety official told The Tribune that Deras' alleged handling of the images could be a policy violation and lead to actions against his certification or to criminal prosecution. "The person who was supposed to provide police services to Lauren instead exploited her," McCluskey's mother, Jill McCluskey, said in a statement. "I wish he had used his time to arrest Lauren's killer rather than ogling at her image." The killing led to an independent review of the university's response after McCluskey told campus police that she was scared of her ex-boyfriend, whom she had broken up with after she discovered that he was a registered sex offender who had lied to her about his name, age and criminal record. McCluskey's parents last year filed a $56 million lawsuit, which is set for mediation Tuesday and Wednesday. Deras, who resigned from the university's police force amid an uproar over the McCluskey case and moved to the Logan Police Department, could not be reached for comment about the allegations against him. University spokesperson Chris Nelson said in a statement that the school's police department completed an internal investigation into the allegations in February and "found no evidence that a former officer had 'bragged' or shared any image from the investigation that wasn't considered a legitimate law enforcement reason." No officers reported such behavior at the time it allegedly happened, Nelson said. He added that the police department had since revised its process for storing evidence. Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen said in a statement that he was unaware of the allegations against Deras until they appeared in The Tribune. Jensen wrote that the allegations are "difficult to read" and "very serious in nature," but he urged the public to remember that they are accusations. "Please be patient while we consult with the University of Utah Police Department, who has reportedly already done an in-depth internal investigation, on this very claim, including interviews of co-workers, employees and a forensic download of this officer's phone," he wrote. "Reportedly, throughout their investigation, there was no evidence to substantiate any part of the claim." Jensen said that if his department finds evidence substantiating the allegations against Deras, "we will take appropriate action." McConkie, the McCluskeys' attorney, said at a news conference Monday that Deras should not be a Utah police officer. "The officer could have committed a crime, showing without consent a private picture," McConkie said. That's a possibility, and it's a serious matter." State Rep. Andrew Stoddard, a Democrat, announced that in response to McCluskey's case, he has offered a bill that would bar police from loading private images onto their personal phones. The bill would also prohibit sharing the photos with anyone not involved in the investigation. At the time of her death, Lauren McCluskey was a communication major and a track-and-field athlete from Pullman, Washington. She was scheduled to graduate in spring 2019. McCluskey started dating Melvin Rowland in September 2018, according to the independent review of campus police actions that was commissioned by the university. After she broke up with Rowland the next month, his friend sent her text messages urging her to kill herself. Over the next few days, the review says, McCluskey received texts telling her that Rowland had been in an accident and was in the hospital. She then got a message that Rowland was dead, and she called campus police to report that her ex-boyfriend's friends were trying to lure her into a trap. Police told her to call them back if the messages became threatening. McCluskey reported the next day that Rowland was demanding $1,000 and threatening that personal photos of her would end up online if she did not comply. She paid the money, according to the review. The morning of Oct. 22, 2018, McCluskey got a text message purportedly from the deputy police chief asking her to come to the station. She reported it to police and did not answer the text. At about 8:20 p.m.,university police got a report of a possible abduction in a residence hall's parking lot. Students told police they heard an argument and then gunshots. Police found McCluskey's body about 1:30 a.m. in a parked car near a residential hall and put the campus on lockdown while they searched for Rowland, who was a suspect. Rowland, 37, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a Salt Lake City church. The review found that Rowland manipulated McCluskey to make money and that he created the impression that he and McCluskey were being extorted, though he was actually the culprit. "When Lauren refused to go along with his manipulation and reported his actions to the police, he stalked and killed her," according to the review. The review flagged several problems with the university's handling of McCluskey's case, including that no officers checked Rowland's offender status, their contact with McCluskey was not face-to-face and they were not sufficiently trained in responding to such violence. Georgia between effective or democratic government By Tedo Japaridze Sometimes political debate stands in the way of efficiency but, although tiring, democracy is better than the alternative. The resolve to use power efficiently works for Georgia, but democracy is not expendable. We need to be resolute and determined as tough times lie ahead; this is possible with relying on a more solid democratic foundation, and the rule of law.Its evident that there will be a global recession, which Georgia cannot avoid. But the country is also heading towards 2020 parliamentary elections in October. Right now, we cannot afford to divide the country amongst winners and losers, if we ever could afford it. We need a more diffused sense of power.International observers hailed our 2012 parliamentary elections as the first peaceful transfer of power, fully aware that these took place in a toxic environment in which the opposition prevailed despite the heavy-handed repression of the Saakashvilli regime. What made this electoral encounter different was the fact that the incumbent lost and, facing heavy international pressure, was forced to concede. That was a democratic triumph with a lasting legacy. We no longer fear to speak and express our critical opinion.Days before that transfer of power in 2012 (which was not that peaceful as some Western observers believe), I attended a meeting with the soon-to-be Prime Minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili, and U.S Senators James Risch and Jeanne Shaheen. On the eve of those elections our American and European colleagues were still too impressed by Georgias reformist zeal following the Rose Revolution to risk support for the opposition. The objective of that meeting was to convince our distinguished guests to make a leap of faith and accept that Georgia was ready to be more representative, even at the danger of being less efficient. "So, how are you going to rule Georgia, Mr. Ivanishvili? The question emerged, to which the answer was I am not going to rule Georgia - I am going to govern an institutionalised democracy with a full-scale engagement of the civil society.The Senators were taken aback. This response did not fit their pre-conceived notion of the man painted in the West as a Russian oligarch ready to use his money to buy political influence. Unexpectedly, the Senators found a person committed to make genuine change.The expectation of real change made me join the Georgian Dream in December 2011. Many were met, others less so. But I remember with a sense of pride how the awe-inspiring fear the Saakashvili regime stirred after years of unchecked power evaporated into nothingness within a day. We can still speak without fear and we must use this power of freedom.This year Georgia faces elections that many pollsters and pundits agree the Georgian Dream (GD) could lose. That is a kind of healthy insecurity for every democracy. But the omens are not good. The government and the opposition are going back and forth on their promise to reform the electoral code and each looks determined to win at all costs. We cannot fail to affirm confidence in our democracy nor should that depend on western intervention. Our Western friends and allies may help, assist, but this is our democracy, our own project that we must build with care and diligence, accepting mediation or arbitration, but not relying on it systemically.Democracy is a heavy burden, which our authorities and the opposition should take upon their shoulders and embark on that never-ending journey of perfection though excruciating and frequently disorderly processes. As Winston Churchill sarcastically admitted in 1947, democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.The citizens of Georgia must never again be forced to choose between effective and representative democracy. Mikheil Saakashvilis regime was effective in dealing with corruption, even as he crushed individual freedoms and maintained a heavy-handed grip over the media. The Georgian Dream was hailed for bolstering individual liberties, making torture and institutionalized blackmail unacceptable while, during Prime-Minister Giorgio Kvirikashvilis term, the country bolstered its effectiveness brand as well as its democratic aura, acknowledged by foreign counterparts and experts.We made progress and should not look back. However, right now, the Georgian electorate does not have attractive choices.Due to its semi-authoritarian roots, Saakashvilis UNM and its latest European Democrats reincarnation does not have the moral authority to call out the failures of the GD Government. Georgia is trapped in a Catch 22 situation: the government does not regard the opposition as the future government and the opposition is not acting as a future government. We must expect better and more of each other.Would kings still walk among us naked while we pretend they are dressed in their finest garments? It is my hope that the emerging Lelo movement led by Mamuka Khazaradze can be a third force that transcends the sterile polarization of our political system offering a substantial reformist choice in the forthcoming elections.As far as I am concerned, change always begins at home. We cant for yet another electoral cycle reuse and recycle old slogans. The dream is that Georgia, while retaining its long-term commitment to European and Euro-Atlantic integration, tries to learn from the Swiss experience. Like Switzerland, Georgia is a country with a strategic location but without lucrative resources oil, gas, gold, diamonds, and rare earths.Geopolitical giants surround us. But we are also a revolving door, a gateway between the Middle East, Central Europe, Central Asia, and the CIS. Like the Swiss, we need citizen-soldiers to defend our sovereignty, but we also need to create bonds of instrumental interdependence with our neighbors. To get there, we need to remain committed to our western trajectory and turn our fateful geography into an opportunity. We cannot achieve that without accommodation to a new reality.In the 1990s, it was about oil. US leadership sponsored Georgias engagement in the energy highway that placed Georgia on the map. In the 2000s the EU invested in Georgias infrastructure and we are now a regional renewable energy hub, not least due to Turkish foreign direct investment. We are beginning to build on this brand. Georgia and Switzerland are the only countries in the world boasting free trade agreements with China and the EU, whilst working on a similar deal with India.The Anaklia Deep-Sea project is one more example of how our location and good governance can turn our difficult neighborhood into opportunity, and especially for the post-Covid19 period, when the geopolitical and geo-economic game in our region will be reshuffled and Georgia will be once again seeking to imbue its location with meaning and play a role. The new corridors, hubs, entrees, and reliable seaports are projects that take years and to play role software will not suffice. We need hardware, be it pipelines, railways, or ports.For where we are and what we are, we must remain the good news in a region that could use good news. Covid-19 was no exception to this rule and we have much to be pleased about. But if we are to protect all that we have collectively achieved for over a generation, we must also learn to project an image of social cohesion and political resilience and trust democracy, like Switzerland. And that requires a democracy that does not choose between effectiveness and representation. We need both. Here is what we know about the drug: What is hydroxychloroquine? Hydroxychloroquine is a prescription medicine that was approved decades ago to treat malaria. It is also used to treat autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. It is sometimes referred to by its brand name, Plaquenil, and is closely related to chloroquine, which is also used to treat malaria. Why has hydroxychloroquine been considered as a possible treatment for the coronavirus? There are several reasons. A promising laboratory study, with cultured cells, found that chloroquine could block the coronavirus from invading cells, which it must do to replicate and cause illness. However, drugs that conquer viruses in test tubes or petri dishes do not always work in the human body, and studies of hydroxychloroquine have found that it failed to prevent or treat influenza and other viral illnesses. Reports from doctors in China and France have said that hydroxychloroquine, sometimes combined with the antibiotic azithromycin, seemed to help patients. But those studies were small and did not use proper control groups patients carefully selected to match those in the experimental group but who are not given the drug being tested. Research involving few patients and no controls cannot determine whether a drug works. And the French study has since been discredited: The scientific group that oversees the journal where it was published said the study did not meet its standards. A study from China did include a control group and suggested that hydroxychloroquine might help patients with mild cases of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. But that study had limitations: It was also small, with a total of 62 patients, and they were given various other drugs as well as hydroxychloroquine. The doctors evaluating the results knew which patients were being treated, and that information could have influenced their judgment. Even if the findings hold up, they will apply only to people who are mildly ill. And the researchers themselves said more studies were needed. Another reason the drug has been considered for coronavirus patients is that it can rein in an overactive immune system, which is why it is used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. In some severe cases of Covid-19, the immune system seems to go into overdrive and cause inflammation that can damage the lungs and other organs. Doctors hope hydroxychloroquine might calm the condition, sometimes called a cytokine storm, but so far there is no proof that it has that effect. As the world continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic, many countries in the African subcontinent are struggling to merely survive. Amidst poverty and hunger, notorious gangs in Manneberg, South Africa have now reportedly turned onto local Robinhoods, providing essentials like masks and food to those in need. This comes as the COVID-19 has infected 16,433 across South Africa. Speaking to international media reporters, Danny, a gang member, asserted that they had decided to work together to help amid Pandemic adding that they had got no problems with each other. According to reports, the project was initiated by an Australian know as "Gang Pastor". Meanwhile, the philanthropic deal has also affected criminal gangs like 'Americans' and 'Hard livings', who have benefitted by getting food for themselves as well as a chance to stay relevant. However, many of them have histories of murders and kidnapping and this does not change the past records. J P Smith who works at Mayor's office in Cape Town reportedly said that their real business was murder, extortion, trafficking in drugs and guns, protection rackets and corrupting police and judges. "None of that goes away because the gangsters suddenly pretend to do something nice. The trauma theyve inflicted on communities for decades wont be forgotten for a couple of loaves of bread," Smith said. '11th most dangerous' Despite its beauty, Cape Town was ranked last year as the 11th most dangerous city in the world. According to the Mexico City-based Citizen Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice, which compiled the list, Cape Town had 2,868 homicides in 2018, the second-most on the list behind Caracas, Venezuela. Read: S Africa To Repatriate Its Over 200 Citizens From India On May 22 Read: As Mosques Reopen In West Africa, COVID-19 Fears Grow Meanwhile, South African President Cyril Ramaphisa has reportedly warned people to be prepared to live with the deadly coronavirus pandemic for a year or more and also cautioned them to follow social distancing measures and wear face masks even after lockdown restrictions have been eased. He added that precautionary measures will help curb the spread of the virulent virus. The country has imposed nationwide lockdown since March 27. (With inputs from AP) Read: Ramachandra Guha Misfires; Slammed For "peddling South Africa As Example To Shame India" Read: South Africa Reports 1,160 New Coronavirus Cases, Highest Single-day Spike So Far Image credits: AP Sino-Israeli solidarity strengthened during epidemic By:Wu Qiong | From:english.eastday.com | 2020-05-18 16:25 The Consulate General of Israel in Shanghai held a special Thanksgiving Planting event on May 17 in front of the White Horse Cafe of the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum. The event aims to thank those who donated medical products to Israel during the coronavirus epidemic, according to Limor Gadi, consul of Israel in Shanghai. She also told the audience that during WWII, the locals in Hongkou districtwhere the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum is locatedhelped the Jews make a home and a life in Shanghai in extremely difficult circumstances. While commemorating the past, Ms. Gadi hopes the friendship between China and Israel can last forever. This March, when the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients in Israel has kept rising, Benjamin Peng, the founder of the Israel Plan Organization, was always thinking to himself, what can we do for Israel? With the support of the Consulate General of Israel in Shanghai, Peng initiated a donation drive to raise money and medical supplies. By the end of the next day, nearly one billion yuan (about 140,819 USD) had been raised and he got many anti-epidemic supplies from Chinese enterprises, organizations and folk groups, such as China Construction Harbour and Engineering Bureau Group, Hengyuanxiang Group, Shuntong Group, and the Tel Aviv University Chinese Alumni Association. I felt the friendship between our two countries and that helping each other is kind of a nature of Chinese and Israeli people, said Peng, who was deeply impressed by his Chinese fellows action of donation.That also inspires us young people to pass on this spirit of mutual help. He also expects that the mutual help between China and Israel can benefit mankind. The friendship between China and Israel dates back to a long time ago, and the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum is a witness, said Chen Jian, curator of the museum. He also mentioned thousands of Jews prayedat the Western Wall in Jerusalem, for the sake of China and in effort to stopthe epidemic, when the coronavirus situation was serious in China. He hopes the seeds people planted in front of the White Horse Cafeof the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum, as a symbol of hope and friendship, can grow strong in China. (A sculpture in front of the cafe shows the strong relationship between Shanghai people and Jews during WWII.) (Photos: Ding Wenqi) NORFOLK, Va. - A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that a salvage firm can retrieve the Marconi wireless telegraph machine that broadcast distress calls from the sinking Titanic ocean liner. In an order released Monday, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith agreed that the telegraph is historically and culturally important and could soon be lost within the rapidly decaying wreck site. Smith wrote that recovering the telegraph will contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic, those who survived, and those who gave their lives in the sinking. Smith is the maritime jurist who presides over Titanic salvage matters from a federal court in Norfolk. Her ruling modifies a previous judges order from the year 2000 that forbids cutting into the shipwreck or detaching any part of it. Smiths order is a big win for RMS Titanic Inc., the court-recognized salvor, or steward, of the Titanics artifacts. The firm recently emerged from bankruptcy and is under new ownership. The Titanic had been travelling from England to New York when it struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the 2,208 passengers and crew. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which represents the publics interest in the wreck site, fiercely opposes the mission. NOAA argued in court documents that the telegraph is likely surrounded by the mortal remains of more than 1,500 people, and should be left alone. The company said it plans to exhibit the ships telegraph with stories of the men who tapped out distress calls to nearby ships until seawater was literally lapping at their feet. The brief transmissions sent among those ships wireless operators, staccato bursts of information and emotion, tell the story of Titanics desperate fate that night: the confusion, chaos, panic, futility and fear, the company wrote in court filings. The proposed expedition also has been controversial among some archaeological and preservation experts, and the firm may face more legal battles before salvage vehicles can descend nearly 2.5 miles (4 kms) to the bottom of the North Atlantic. NOAA says the expedition is prohibited under federal law and an international agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom. Those restrictions emerged in the years after the courts 2000 order. In her ruling, Smith acknowledged NOAAs arguments. But she said the only matter before the court was the previous order made by the judge who preceded her. She wrote that NOAA is not a formal party in the case. And she said her ruling does not address the constitutionality of the agencys claimed authority to wield approval power and control over salvage operations. Smith also wrote that the firms plan for the expedition meets most requirements set forth in the international agreement and other restrictions. Those include justifying the expedition on scientific and cultural grounds and considering potential damage to the wreck site. The firm submitted a 60-page plan to retrieve the telegraph, which is believed to still sit in a deck house near the doomed ocean liners grand staircase. The company said an unmanned submersible would slip through a skylight or cut the heavily corroded roof to retrieve the radio. A suction dredge would remove loose silt, while manipulator arms could cut electrical cords. But Ole Varmer, a retired NOAA attorney and a senior fellow at The Ocean Foundation, said a salvage mission into the Titanics hull remains ripe with legal issues. Chief among them is a long-held belief that the two pieces of the ships hull on the ocean floor constitute a memorial site that should stay undisturbed, he said. Varmer said that belief guided the initial business plan of the salvage firms original owner, George Tulloch, and his interpretation of the 1986 Titanic Memorial Act. He said it then informed the courts order in 2000 and was incorporated into the international agreement and subsequent legislation. The public interest in not disturbing the hull portions as part of a memorial was established more than three decades ago, Varmer said. At this point the collaborators behind and in front of the camera (or beneath the drone cameras, as they are here, sometimes) could do a Trip to movie in their sleep. I like some more than others, but they remain remarkably hardy and fruitful comic getaways. The Trip to Greece strains a bit to accommodate its emphasis on Coogans dark night of the soul, having to do with his elderly, vulnerable father far away. But if we didnt feel the underlying affection Coogan and Brydon have for each other, even when theyre engaged in comedians unquenchable one-upsmanship, we wouldnt be four features into the rolling experiment by now. The SBA and USDA lending programs are intended to provide much-needed capital to small businesses who otherwise would not be eligible for commercial funding. Through the programs, FPCB can offer small business loans for business acquisitions, commercial real estate purchases, farming operations, start-up operations, franchise lending and a variety of other requests. Prior to FPCB, Steve has accumulated over 23 years of successfully underwriting over 150 million in SBA 7a and 504 loans. Steve earned his bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Management from Providence College. "We look forward to Steve's contributions in helping grow our government guaranteed lending group and expand our services in SBA/USDA lending in south Florida," said Durand Childers, president of First Port City Bank's Florida Banking Division. "Our ability to offer small business loans and our in-house expertise are great benefits to the communities we serve. Both start-up and existing businesses can benefit from government guaranteed loans through lower capital requirements and increased cash flows, otherwise not available on a conventional basis." First Port City Bank's Government Guaranteed Lending Team has been recognized in the past as one of the U.S. Small Business Administration's highest ranked community bank lenders, surpassing over $400 million in government guaranteed loans. "We continue to strengthen our SBA/USDA lending division in order to serve small businesses across the Southeast by providing them the capital they need to grow their business. Steve is the perfect combination of experience and community development to help customers succeed," said John McClure, senior vice president and managing director of First Port City Bank's government guaranteed lending division. Founded in 1974, First Port City Bank is approximately a $258 Million community bank offering a full line of financial services and solutions thru 5 full-service banking offices in Bainbridge and Donalsonville, Georgia, and Yulee and Fernandina Beach, Florida. First Port City Bank is consistently ranked as one of the top community banks in the nation and continues to receive a "5-Star, Superior" financial rating from Bauer Financial, Inc., of Coral Gables, FL. First Port City Bank has been voted "Best Bank" in Decatur County for 8 Years. For more information, visit www.firstportcity.com or www.yoursbasource.com.. Member FDIC and Equal Housing Lender. Follow FPCB on Twitter @portcity_bank, Instagram #firstportcitybank, Facebook @firstportcity, LinkedIn @First Port City Bank. SOURCE First Port City Bank Related Links firstportcity.com - Ugandan government is planning to resume public transport as from June 2020 - President Yoweri Museveni said all Ugandans must wear face masks before public transport resumes - He said the government will distribute the masks in the next two weeks President Yoweri Museveni has announced his government will provide free face masks to its citizens as from the age of six years and above. Addressing the nation on Monday, May 19, the 75-year-old head of state said all citizens will be required to wear the masks whenever in public as the country prepares to resume public transport as from June. READ ALSO: Jubilee Party plotting to eject Kithure Kindiki from Senate deputy speaker position President Yoweri Museveni when he was addressing the nation on Monday, May 19. Photo: Yoweri Museveni Source: UGC READ ALSO: Pastor says Uhuru risks curses, punishment for failing to stop Ruai evictions during pandemic Museveni said the masks will not be provided to children of less than six years for they do not know how to wear them. This mask must be worn all the time when you are in public, whether you are sneezing, talking or coughing. Since many people raised the issue that they cannot afford these masks, the govt has decided to provide these masks to all Ugandans 6 years and above, said Museveni. The head of state said once issues of the masks is addressed, shops selling general merchandise will be free to open but only if they are not in shopping arcades and food markets. READ ALSO: Pastor says Uhuru risks curses, punishment for failing to stop Ruai evictions during pandemic Museveni said the masks will be ready in two weeks time and only then can the public transport be allowed to resume as from June 2. However, boda boda and tuk tuks will not be allowed to carry passengers and public transport will not be allowed in border districts of Uganda for another 21 days. Bars, salons, gyms and swimming pools will remain closed for the next 21 days. "For the bars and salons, since they cannot observe the rules of social distancing, they will not be allowed to open for another 21 days, this includes, gyms and swimming pools," Museveni said. Private cars will not be allowed to carry more than three passengers including the driver. Uganda has 260 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 63 recoveries and no deaths have been reported so far. 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 Evidence from Chief Constables & Police Commissioners to be assessed as Welsh Government mull lockdown fine increases This article is old - Published: Tuesday, May 19th, 2020 The First Minister of Wales says coronavirus lockdown fines could be increased if there is evidence to support it. It comes as a poll conducted on Twitter by the North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner shows around 90 per cent of respondents supported upping the current level of 60 for a first breach of COVID-19 legislation (reduced to 30 if paid within a fortnight). The amount in England was previously raised to 100 and Arfon Jones has called for Wales to follow suit. There have been a total of just over 2,300 votes on the poll to date, with almost 11 per cent preferring to increase fines to 100, 14.6 per cent to 250 and 64.6 per cent to 500. In contrast, only around ten per cent said they did not back upping the fixed penalty notice rate. First Minister Mark Drakeford was questioned over whether the amount would be increased at yesterdays daily Welsh Government press conference. He said: Weve always been willing to consider that point, of course, which is why we had discussions with our chief constables and police and crime commissioners on Thursday and Friday of last week. As I said, Im very grateful to them for having acted rapidly to provide evidence to us which has arrived this morning, so we will need to consider that. The criminal justice system is a really important and serious system, and no government should take action to change penalties unless there is good evidence of the need to do so. And when you take action, you have to be sure that it is proportionate to the problem that you are facing. Thats what the evidence that we will have received this morning well be looking at. If the evidence demonstrates that there is a problem which can be solved and should be solved by raising the level of funds in Wales then of course, we are prepared to discuss that with our chief constables. There have been a number of reported breaches of coronavirus regulations in North Wales over the weekend. They included a family of 11 who travelled 120 miles from Manchester to visit an Anglesey beauty spot. The group drove in three different cars to spend the day at South Stack, which police described as unbelievable. Meanwhile, driver from as far afield as London, Norwich and even Scotland had to be turned away by officers in Llanrwst. Posting on Twitter (see below), Mr Jones appealed to Mr Drakeford to give police the tools to do their job, highlighting a case where one person had laughed at the fine they were given. Waterspout forms over Caribbean Sea as thunderstorms hit Cancun, Riviera Maya Cancun, Q.R. The heavy rainfall that took many by surprise in the Cancun and Riviera Maya region Monday evening also arrived with a waterspout. More than 100 city workers took to the streets of the municipality to meet the demands generated by the rainfall after several city arteries began to flood. Ricardo Montiel of the city of Cancun explained that 110 employees were activated to attend to the cleaning of grids in the urban center and the most remote regions of the city. He said the sudden arrival of the thunderstorm was due to the entry of Tropical Maritime Air with moisture content from the Caribbean Sea associated with a low-pressure channel. He also noted the calls received about the waterspout that was seen around Cancun and Playa del Carmen. We had the report of the formation of a waterspout which formed over the Caribbean Sea, he added. Numerous calls regarding the impressive waterspout were reported during the afternoon hours Monday as it made its way over the Caribbean Sea. Antonio Morales, head of the Department of Meteorology of Solidaridad said that it is a usual phenomenon, but always striking to witness. The waterspout was seen in Playa del Carmen at Punta Maroma and in several areas around Cancun including Punta Nizuc. Morales said that the formation is the result of high temperatures generating clouds of vertical formation. At the base of these clouds these eddies come off, which begin to rotate in strong winds, said the expert. They descend on the sea, scattering water. Yesterdays thunderstorm hit the region around 5:00 p.m. and lasted for several hours. Cancun and Riviera Maya have more forecast thunderstorms during the remainder of the week. Global securities research firm Sanford Bernstein termed the 20 lakh crore economic revival package announced by the Modi government to cope with the coronavirus disease and the impact of the lockdown imposed to slow its spread as a lost opportunity echoing growing concern about whether it would help revive the economy. While the package started on important aspects but the need to announce measures that add up to this top down number, made the entire package aimless, with several generic announcements which should ideally, have been a part of a normal economic agenda. Overall, we see it as a lost opportunity, the May 17 report on Asia-Pacific Equity Strategy said. Indias desire to announce a large economic package, something that shows the world that it cares about the economy and is willing to match global stimulus numbers, was perhaps the driver for the claim of a large package (USD 280bn, 10% of GDP), the firm said. The finance ministry did not respond to an email seeking comment on the report. Earlier, in an interview with Hindustan Times (published on Monday), finance minister said the government has taken an informed decision on the package . Every sector has been helped. I think this is a reasonably exhaustive package. And it approaches every section perhaps in our own way, not in a way people wanted us to. There is hope for everyone to be benefit from this. The report, however, said, Broader reforms lack the spark. Not much was discussed on land, labour reforms, tax rationalization or on any coherent plan to invite foreign manufacturing, it added. The governments defence indigenization plan is not new and has been poorly executed in the past and that is also the case with commercial mining for coal. APMC (amendment) plans are good but also need support from states. The discom plan is insufficient,the firm pointed out. Analysing the proportion of fiscal and monetary measures in the stimulus package, the report said of the overall $280 billion, credit guarantees were around $62billion and liquidity support from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) around $108 billion. Government programs of $173 billion includes $132 billion of loans, $24billion of fiscal support (0.9% of GDP) and rest largely for food grains etc, which is from Food Corporation of India (FCI) stock and other schemes. India does not have fiscal buffers hence a large fiscal stimulus would have been a bold bet as that could have impacted ratings and currency, if not executed properly.Government has hence taken an easier path, it said. Sitharaman addressed this question in Sundays interview with HT. Rating agencies rate you (badly) f you alone are not doing well in a world that is otherwise rosy. With a global pandemic, with every economy being affected.ratings cant be done in isolation. Ive thought about it, and it doesnt worry me. Look at the strengths of India: we are less affected; our foreign exchange reserves and macroeconomy are strong; we have had a six year tenure of PM Modi who has handled the economy responsibly; our debt to GDP ratio has come down. Why would the rating agencies treat us badly?, she added. The Bernstein report, however, appreciated measures taken for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) such as credit guarantees for fresh credit to support a sector that employs large workforce. It gave a thumbs up to package supporting the poor and migrants. The expansion of MGNREGA, has a negative aspect, as it could impact labour availability, as rural migrants may not rush back for jobs (construction, transport most impacted), the report said. The alumni of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have set up the KNUST Alumni COVID-19 Fund with a seed money of 50,000 to help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund will be managed by the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR) of the KNUST. Event The leadership of the alumni last Thursday met the authorities of the university and made their intentions known. Led by the Global President of the KNUST Alumni, Dr Kwaku Agbesi, the group expressed satisfaction about the work the KCCR was doing in the wake of the pandemic, and the need to support such a worthy cause. He assured the university that the alumni were now very vibrant and well-positioned to render the needed assistance towards the development of the university. He, therefore, called on all members of the alumni across the world to donate to the fund. Commendation The Council Chairman of the university, Nana Effah Apenteng, who received the cheque on behalf of the KCCR, commended the alumni for coming to the aid of the school in such a time. Present were the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kwasi Obiri-Danso, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mrs Rita Akosua Dickson and a former Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST, Prof. William Otoo Ellis. Nana Apenteng said the initiative was in the good interest of the university and had come at a time that government was battling with resources to help fight the deadly virus. That notwithstanding, the council chairman, called on the citizenry to adhere to the various COVID-19 protocols adding that together we can fight this social canker. 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 The millionaire tycoon behind the AMT coffee chain could face bankruptcy over a 1.5m debt to the sister-in-law he branded a 'gold digger'. Brothers Alistair, Angus and Allan McCallum-Toppin turned their coffee cart in a shopping centre in Oxford into thriving nationwide chain AMT turning over 20million a year. The brothers were equal partners in AMT - named after their shared initials - until Angus tragically died from cancer, aged just 45, in 2006. Following his death, the family collapsed into 'dysfunctional squabbling,' and Angus's widow Lucy was not paid her fair share. She took the case to the High Court where she presented a bankruptcy petition targeting the company's managing director Alistair, and the court found in her favour. The millionaire tycoon behind the AMT coffee chain Alistair McCallum-Toppin (right, outside London's High Court) could face bankruptcy over a 1.5m debt to his sister-in-law Lucy (left) who he branded a 'gold digger' The High Court found that after his death, Angus' tycoon brothers used the company as their personal 'piggy bank'. Pictured: Allan McCallum-Toppin and his mother Anna The High Court found that after his death, Angus' tycoon brothers used the company as their personal 'piggy bank,' while the financial rights of his widow Lucy and their two children were 'ignored'. Lucy, 44, was regarded as a 'gold digger' by Alistair, 52, said Judge Paul Matthews. After a High Court battle last year, the brothers were ordered to personally buy Lucy and the children out of the company, putting them in line for a payout that lawyers said could be worth 'up to 7million.' Alistair and Allan were ordered to make a 1.5million interim payment in March last year. In July, Lucy presented a bankruptcy petition targeting Alistair - who is managing director of the chain - as the money had not been handed over. In the High Court, Judge Daniel Schaffer dismissed Alistair's objections to the petition, leaving him facing a bankruptcy order if the debt to Lucy is not paid. Brothers Alistair, Angus and Allan McCallum-Toppin turned their coffee cart in a shopping centre in Oxford (the original coffee cart pictured) into thriving nationwide chain AMT turning over 20million a year In his judgement, Mr Schaffer said Alistair admitted making 'considerable efforts' to make the payment, but 'on the face of the evidence [...] appears to be unable to discharge the petition debt.' The court heard that the three brothers and their dad Alexander set up AMT Coffee in 1993, at a time when espresso-based coffee was not a part of everyday life on the go in the UK. From just one espresso machine on a street cart outside Oxford's Westgate shopping centre, the company grew and now has over 50 coffee bars across the UK and Ireland, mostly at railway stations. The three brothers and their dad Alexander initially each had a 25 per cent share in the company. After their father died in 2001, ownership was split into seven shares, with the brothers holding two each and their mother, Anna, being handed one. They signed an agreement in 2005, designed to ensure the three brothers shared the profits made by the company equally. And following Angus' death, his two-sevenths share in the company went into his estate, for the benefit of Lucy and their two children. From winning family business to 'bitter' court fight: The history of AMT coffee Alistair McCallum-Toppin arrived in Oxford from Seattle in 1993 and noticed a lack of espresso-based coffee in the UK. He - along with his brothers Angus and Allan - founded AMT coffee, named after the brothers' shared initials. They started off with one espresso machine on a street cart outside Oxford's Westgate shopping centre, which initially struggled to stay afloat. But their popularity quickly grew, and the brothers opened their first train station shop in 1994. Since then, the brothers' business flourished and they now have 450 shops nation-wide. The brothers were equal partners until Angus tragically died from cancer, aged just 45, in 2006. Following his death, the family collapsed into 'dysfunctional squabbling,' and Angus's widow Lucy was not paid her fair share. She took the case to the High Court where she presented a bankruptcy petition targeting the company's managing director Alistair, and the court found in her favour. Advertisement But while the three brothers had 'stuck together' despite frequent 'disagreements' while Angus was alive, after his death Alistair and Allan fell to 'constant feuding', Judge Paul Matthews found after last year's High Court trial. 'Internecine warfare' raged between the surviving brothers, who each began to raid the company for more and more money, while failing to pay any cash at all to Lucy and the children after 2008. At the same time, Lucy was 'excluded' from important company meetings, the judge added. In the years between Angus's death and 2015, the brothers took out over 1million between them in 'entirely informal' directors' loans, creating 'a significant credit risk for the company,' said the judge. Money from those loans was spent by the brothers on personal expenses, including home improvements and flights, the judge said. Over the same period, the judge said, on top of the loan account, Alistair had paid himself a salary and bonuses that were on occasion 'far too high' and were 'excessive in seven out of the ten years following his brother's death.' Allan, 56, also took 'excessive' pay from the company in six out of the ten years after Angus died. Meanwhile, no payments representing salary or other benefits which Angus would have earned were paid after July 2007 to Lucy and the kids, although a 121,000 pension pot was paid to them in 2008. In a damning judgment, Judge Matthews slammed the conduct of the surviving brothers and noted the 'dysfunctional relationship of this family'. He said: 'It is clear that, during the time they have controlled the company after the death of Angus, Allan and Alistair have used the company as a piggy bank to make personal expenditure at a high level on their behalf. 'Once Angus had died, his estate was largely ignored and his widow Lucy excluded. They ignored Lucy's existence as best they could and continued their own course.' He said Alistair had 'refused to treat the estate holding Angus' shares in the same way as he would have considered Angus himself.' He continued: 'Moreover, there is evidence that he saw Lucy as a gold digger...I accept that he did not want to declare dividends that would benefit her. 'The conduct [...] of the respondents has gone [...] to enrich themselves at the expense of the company. 'There were then incessant squabbles between Alistair and Allan umpired, if unwillingly, by their mother. The brothers' business flourished since it started in the 1990s and they now have 450 shops nation-wide 'No enterprise run on commercial principles would have organised the remuneration of directors on such chaotic lines,' he added. He found that the surviving brothers' behaviour had been 'unfairly prejudicial' to Lucy and Angus' estate as minority shareholders. The judge ordered Allan and Alistair to buy out the shares formerly owned by their late brother, which lawyers said last year could be worth 'up to 7million.' The order for the 1.5million interim payment was then made in March last year, and Lucy lodged the bankruptcy petition last July when the cash was not forthcoming. Last week, Judge Schaffer - after hearing grounds for Lucy's petition - dismissed Alistair's objections to it. Amongst other arguments, Alistair had protested that a statutory demand for the 1.5million had been made by Lucy in her role as one of the Trustees of the Angus McCallum-Toppin Will Trust. The bankruptcy petition was presented by her as one of the executors of Angus' estate. He claimed that, as no debt was owed to the Trustees, the statutory demand was flawed and a bankruptcy petition could not be presented by the executors, as no demand had been made by them. After a High Court (pictured) battle last year, the brothers were ordered to personally buy Lucy and the children out of the company, putting them in line for a payout that lawyers said could be worth 'up to 7million' Rejecting Alistair's arguments, Judge Schaffer said Lucy had been acting in a 'dual capacity' as both one of the executors and a trustee and that she won the case against her brothers-in-law 'in that dual capacity.' 'An interim payment ordered by the court is clearly a debt,' the judge went on. 'I am aware that there was a bitter family dispute. Following the death of Angus, any possible sale of the company was hampered by the "internecine war between the surviving brothers". 'That "war" has, in my judgment, transmuted to this dispute. That is regrettable.' The judge went on to dismiss Alistair's objections to the bankruptcy petition, but adjourned the making of an order declaring him bankrupt. 'In the light of the conclusions I have reached in dismissing all objections raised to the petition, normally a bankruptcy order would be made when judgment is handed down,' the judge said. 'I will give the debtor the opportunity to seek a deferral of that order on an application to adjourn the petition, to facilitate payment of the petition debt.' Two resolutions on the cancellation of voting results were submitted to Verkhovna Rada The Ukrainian parliament Open source Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has unblocked the signing of the law on banking activity. The online broadcast was provided by 112 Ukraine TV channel. Two resolutions on the cancellation of voting results were submitted to the parliament. Nevertheless, MPs have not supported any of them. These resolutions blocked the signing of the law for the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov and, accordingly, for the President Volodymyr Zelensky. As we reported earlier, on May 13, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the bill #2571-d that finally bans the return of nationalized banks to their previous owners. The law permanently prohibits the return of nationalized banks to the former owners, prohibits the return of bankrupt banks whose owners have succeeded in canceling the resolution of the National Bank on their insolvency through the courts, to the market. Ex-owners of the bank may receive compensation for losses in the number of the bank's shares on the day when the National Bank made a decision on bank insolvency/revocation of the bank license and liquidation of the bank. Brian Austin Green has confirmed he and wife Megan Fox have split-up after nearly a decade of marriage (Ian West/PA) Brian Austin Green has confirmed he and wife Megan Fox have separated after nearly a decade of marriage. Beverly Hills, 90210 star Green, 46, and Hollywood actress Fox, 34, tied the knot in 2010 and have three sons together. Green revealed their break-up in the latest episode of his podcast, saying they have been trying to sort of be apart since the end of last year. I will always love her, Green said. And I know she will always love me and I know as far as a family what we have built is really cool and really special. Green said the family would still go on holiday together, before becoming emotional and describing Fox as my best friend for 15 years. He said: It sucks when life changes and something that youre used to, that youve been doing for 15 years, you try and not get rid of but you change. Theres the unknown aspect, theres that pit in my stomach. I really dont want Megan and I to be at odds. Shes been my best friend for 15 years and I dont want to lose that. Expand Close Megan Foxs husband has confirmed they have separated after almost a decade of marriage (Ian West/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Megan Foxs husband has confirmed they have separated after almost a decade of marriage (Ian West/PA) Green also referenced pictures of Fox with the rapper Machine Gun Kelly, whose real name is Colson Baker. He said: She met this guy, Colson, on set. Ive never met him. Megan and I have talked about him. Theyre just friends at this point. Green added: I trust her judgement, shes always had really good judgement. I dont want people to think her or he are villains or that I was a victim in any way. Green and Fox, whose film roles include the Transformers franchise, Jennifers Body and Above The Shadows, started dating in 2004, when he was 30 and she was 18. They became engaged in 2006 and were married in Hawaii in June 2010. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 20) Department of Social and Welfare Development Secretary Rolando Bautista announced that police and military officers will lead the distribution of the second tranche of the COVID-19 cash aid, instead of the local government units. Bautista said President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the switch to further expedite the distribution of the second wave of the social amelioration program for 23 million families belonging to the informal sector. The first tranche of the COVID-19 emergency aid was intended for 18 million families, but Duterte approved the inclusion of five million more families in the beneficiaries list last May 2. Meron na kaming initial coordination sa liderato ng AFP at saka PNP para makatulong sila sa pagbibigay ng ayuda, lalong lalo na sa mga geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, Bautista reported during the taped meeting with the President on Tuesday night. [Translation: We already have initial coordination with the leadership of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police) to facilitate the distribution of cash aid, especially in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.] Also during the same meeting, Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano said the first wave of the distribution of COVID-19 emergency subsidy is 97 percent complete. The Social Welfare Secretary added the distribution of the second emergency aid will employ digital payment methods to lessen physical contact among beneficiaries and authorities. Ine-expect natin na since merong mga remittance centers, may mga bangko, sa mga highly urbanized cities ay mapadali nating maibibgay yung ayuda sa mga benepisyaryo, said Bautista. [Translation: We expect that since there are remittance centers and banks in highly urbanized cities, it will improve the process in giving the aid to the beneficiaries.] READ: COVID-19 cash aid goes digital to accelerate distribution Under the social amelioration program that was instituted by the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, low-income households will receive 5,000 to 8,000 worth of assistance from the national government to help them cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. The government started the distribution of the COVID-19 cash aid last March 28, which should have been completed by April 30. But the initial deadline was not met, forcing the DILG to give a one-week extension up to May 7 for the distribution of the first tranche of emergency subsidy. Many LGUs struggled to completely give the aid to their constituents, citing problems like incomplete or inaccurate list of target beneficiaries and late distribution of social amelioration forms. Then the DILG extended again the distribution deadline to May 10, and subsequently to May 13 as more LGUs asked for more time to finish the doleouts. The Interior and Local Government Department ordered all LGUs to submit the names of families who will receive the second tranche of cash aid from the social amelioration program until May 21. The DSWD guaranteed the funds for the second wave of COVID-19 cash subsidy are ready as the Department of Budget and Management transferred the 96 billion allocation to them last April 17. New York, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "North America Software as a Medical Device Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis By Device Type, Application, Deployment Type, and Country" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05894578/?utm_source=GNW On the other hand, the threat of data breach hinders the growth of market. The growth of the market is highly dependent on technological advancements.The North American technology players have been increasingly partnering with pharmaceuticals companies. For instance, BrightInsight entered into a Global Digital Health Partnership with AstraZeneca to build and manage its digital health solutions within a regulatory-compliant environment. Similarly, CompliancePath and Ideagen have entered into a Product Validation partnership to extend their ongoing validation accelerator program to include all life science-related software products. The North America Software as medical device market, based on the device type, is segmented into smartphones/tablets, wearable devices, and PC/laptops.In 2019, smartphones/tablets segment held the largest share of the market. However, wearable devices segment is expected register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.The North America Software as medical device market, based on application, is segmented into screening and diagnosis, monitoring and alerting, and disease management. In 2019, screening and diagnosis segment held the largest share of the market.However, the monitoring and alerting segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the forecast period. The North America Software as medical device market, based on the deployment type, is segmented into cloud and on-premises. In 2019, the cloud segment held the largest share of the market, and it is also expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. A few of the major primary and secondary sources referred to while preparing the report on the Software as Medical device include the World Health Organization, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Pan American Health Organization. Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05894578/?utm_source=GNW About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place. __________________________ A judge has denied a motion to dismiss a wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the parents of Cosmo DiNardo, who is serving four consecutive life sentences for the 2017 slayings of four men in Bucks County. Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Shelley Robins New ruled on Wednesday that a lawsuit filed by the family of 19-year-old Jimi T. Patrick, one of the four victims, can proceed against Antonio and Sandra DiNardo. Lawyers for Patricks family argued that DiNardos parents failed in their legal duty to protect others from their son, who had access to firearms and had a history of psychiatric problems and violent conduct. We are pleased that the court has sustained the parental-liability claim in our complaint, which also includes claims of wrongful death and negligence, and look forward to rightfully pursuing this case and the companion cases brought on behalf of the other three victims being tried before a jury, said attorney Carin A. ODonnell, who represents the Patrick family, in a statement on Monday. As argued in our pleadings, we assert that the DiNardo parents failed to keep guns, including the rifle used to murder Jimi Patrick, away from their son despite his extensive history of violent behavior, hospitalization for his mental illness, and his widely known affection for firearms, which meant he posed an undeniable danger to others, ODonnell said. Cosmo DiNardo pleaded guilty in 2018 to four counts of murder in the deaths of Patrick, Dean Finocchiaro, Thomas Meo, and Mark Sturgis. DiNardos cousin Sean Kratz was sentenced last year to life in prison after he was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Finocchiaro, 22, and voluntary manslaughter in deaths of Meo and Sturgis. Cosmo DiNardo, now 23, killed Meo, 21, and Sturgis, 19, on his familys Solebury Township farm while Kratz acted as a lookout. DiNardo had earlier killed Patrick and then lured Finocchiaro, Meo, and Sturgis, under the pretense of a drug deal. With Kratzs help, DiNardo killed them and buried them in a 12-foot hole after trying to burn their bodies in a pig roaster. The families of all four victims have filed lawsuits separately against DiNardos parents. An attorney representing the DiNardos could not immediately be reached for comment. (TNS) A glitch in a newly-launched state system for processing unemployment claims for gig workers publicly exposed personal information, a spokeswoman for Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Sunday.The Illinois Department of Employment Security is aware there was a glitch in a new system for processing unemployment claims for independent contractors and the self-employed that made some private information publicly available for a short time, and worked to immediately remedy the situation, Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in a statement. A full investigation is under way to assess exactly what happened and how many people were impacted. Those who were impacted will be notified.Its the latest in a series of issues for a beleaguered state agency that has struggled to handle a deluge of unemployment claims as the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged the states economy.For months, people have reported issues accessing the online filing system and getting through by phone, which Pritzker has blamed on inadequate technology and agency understaffing.The new online portal for gig workers to apply for federally-funded unemployment benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program went live on Monday. In his daily coronavirus briefing days earlier, Pritzker highlighted the new system and steps the state had taken to remove roadblocks many Illinois residents have experienced in filing for unemployment benefits.The state hired outside contractors to build the new system, which Pritzker indicated has a much higher capability than the existing systems the agency is using. "So I believe that it will be able to handle the unemployment claims that come in under the PUA system, he said.The data breach was first reported by WBEZ, Chicagos public radio station.Republican state Rep. Terri Bryant issued a news release Saturday night about a possible massive data breach involving the private information of thousands of Illinois unemployment applicants.A constituent contacted Bryant on Friday to say she stumbled upon personal information for thousands of unemployment applicants on the IDES website, including name, address, social security number and unemployment claimant identification information, the lawmaker said in a statement.Bryant, of Murphysboro in southern Illinois, said she immediately took the issue to Pritzkers office and the state employment agency. On Saturday, she sent Pritzker and the employment agency director a letter calling on the governor to immediately release any information about this potential data breach as soon as possible so those affected can protect themselves from identity theft and fraud.The department processed more than 1 million initial claims between March 1 and May 2, compared with 78,100 initial claims during the same period in 2019, state officials have said. Two Bangladeshis were arrested on charges of illegally staying in Sikkim for months, the Foreigners Registration office said on Tuesday. Suman Majumdar, 21, has been arrested from a locality in Pakyong police station area, while Md Matiur Rahman (23) was nabbed from Rangpo police station area, it said, adding that the arrests were made in the past two days. The two was staying in Sikkim without Inner Line Permit, a mandatory requirement for foreign nationals, the Foreigners Registration office said. The duo was produced in a court which remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days, it said. The process for the deportation of the two Bangladeshis was underway, they said. The Foreigners Registration Office works under the Tourism Department of the state government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) I can confirm that a woman who returned from South Africa and was staying at Mkoba Teachers College quarantine centre in Gweru died today (yesterday). The woman returned from South Africa together with her husband. Her medical history show that she had not been feeling well for some time. She is said to have been ill for a long time. However, we are investigating the case to see if it is related to Covid-19. Indications also show that she might have succumbed to other ailments. The estranged wife of Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has died in a "tragic accident", according to a family statement. Paddy Bowden, aged in her 50s, was found dead at the couple's marital home in Chiswick, west London, on Monday morning. In a statement reported by the Daily Mail, Dickinson said: "This is a terrible tragedy which appears to be a tragic accident. "Our children Austin, Griffin and Kia and I are devastated." Dickinson, 61, added: "Out of respect for Paddy, we won't be making any further comment at this hugely difficult and painful time for our family." Dickinson and Bowden married in 1990 after dating for two years but they parted in 2018, with a divorce reportedly worth 90m. This came four years after he survived stage three throat cancer, having found out he had two tumours on his tongue. In recent years, Dickinson has lived in France with his girlfriend, a fitness instructor. Heavy metal band Iron Maiden was formed in east London in 1975. The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Tuesday, 19th May, 2020, launched the GH1 billion Coronavirus Alleviation Programme Business Support Scheme, which is being provided by Government and selected participating banks to micro, small and medium-scale businesses around the country. Launching the Scheme at Jubilee House, the seat of the nations presidency, President Akufo-Addo explained that the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on all economies around the world, with reduced productivity, job losses, and steep decline in revenues for Government, businesses, households and individuals in Ghana. Amongst the hardest hit in Ghana, according to the President, are micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs), which account for 70% of the countrys gross domestic product, and represent some 92% of businesses. This amply highlights the important role MSMEs play in the growth and development of our economy, necessitating the special attention of Government, he said. This, President Akufo-Addo said, provides the basis for my direction to the Minister for Finance to send to Parliament the Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP), whose objective is to protect households and livelihoods, support micro, small, and medium-scale businesses, minimise job losses, and source additional funding for promotion of industries to shore up and expand industrial output for domestic consumption and exports. Out of the 1.2 billion cedis earmarked for this Programme, GH600 million will be disbursed as soft loans to MSMEs, with up to a one-year moratorium and a two-year repayment period. The rate of interest on governments six hundred million cedi (GH600 million) facility is three percent (3%). Additionally, selected participating banks will provide negotiated counterpart funding to the tune of GH400 million, making, in all, GH1 billion for disbursement under this Business Support Scheme, with the entire scheme set to attract some 180,000 beneficiaries across the country. With the funds under the Scheme to be managed by NBSSI, and to be supervised by a loans committee, composed of one representative each of the Ministries of Finance and Trade and Industry, a representative of the NBSSI, and a representative of the participating banks, the well-known audit firm, KPMG, will act as technical advisors to the Scheme. Disbursement of the funds will be effected through the participating banks. Transparency and accountability will be the hallmarks of the operation of the Scheme, he added. President Akufo-Addo indicated that the Scheme is targeted at MSMEs in the formal and informal sectors, which have been affected by the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, with MSMEs in growth sectors that require additional capital to expand their business to meet growing demand for COVID-19 related goods and services, also eligible to apply. The beneficiary sectors include agri and agro-businesses; manufacturing; water and sanitation; tourism and hospitality; education; food and beverages; technology; transportation; commerce and trade; healthcare and pharmaceuticals; and textiles and garments. In order to ensure a smooth application process for all eligible candidates, application forms have been made available online on the website of NBSSI, which is www.nbssi.gov.gh. It is also available via USSD code across all mobile networks, and applicants can also call the CAP Business Call Centre on 0302 477 777, or visit the nearest NBSSI Business Advisory Centre for assistance with their applications. The President added that beneficiaries must be either self-employed, sole proprietors, or engaged in a limited liability, partnership, or joint venture arrangement. A total of ninety-nine (99) employees is the limit of employment for any qualifying enterprise. The qualifying enterprise will be encouraged to belong to a trade association or group, and be registered with NBSSI. The application process starts tomorrow, 20th May, and ends on Saturday, 20th June, he said. The President urged beneficiaries to use the funds received for the intended purpose, so that, together, we can work to grow our economy once again. Smaller enterprises can access funds from the Adom Micro Loans, and larger ones from the Anidasuo Soft Loan. This whole Scheme is meant to engender compassion and hope, the pillars upon which we will build a new post-COVID Ghana. Reiterating his passion for the success of the Scheme, President Akufo-Addo reminded beneficiaries of the fact that Government is investing a lot in it, and I am confident that the proper application of these funds will help our nation bounce back stronger and better than before. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Italy promises transparency as part of a "safe and concrete tourism plan" says Di Maio. Italy is "ready and prepared" to welcome back European tourists from 3 June onwards, foreign minister Luigi Di Maio told counterparts from various EU countries during a summit on tourist flows on 18 May, reports Rai News. Di Maio said it was "unacceptable" that there should be blacklists among European countries, warning: "If we do not change direction, there will be serious economic repercussions on the tourism sectors of all European countries, not just Italy." The foreign ministers reached agreement that there should be no "bilateral agreements" or "tourism pacts" between EU nations, a proposal ruled out categorically by Italian premier Giuseppe Conte in recent days. Read also: "We are committed to providing a weekly report in several languages of the epidemiological trend" in Italy, "region by region", concluded Di Maio, addressing his counterparts from Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. The summit took place the same day that Italy reopened a large section of its economy, and came as the country's daily death rate from coronavirus dropped to 99, the lowest tally since before the nationwide lockdown began on 10 March. In a tweet yesterday evening, Di Maio stated (in Italian): "We must restart the country and guarantee safety to Italians. This is why it is essential that in the summer Italy has the possibility to welcome tourists from other EU countries as well. We are working on a safe and concrete tourism plan." Dobbiamo far ripartire il Paese e garantire sicurezza agli italiani. Per questo e fondamentale che in estate lItalia abbia la possibilita di accogliere turisti provenienti anche da altri Paesi Ue. Stiamo lavorando a un piano turistico sicuro e concreto.https://t.co/bSitRiGoeH Luigi Di Maio (@luigidimaio) May 18, 2020 Poll worker training starts Tuesday and continues until the day before the June 2 primary. With a lag time of at least 48 hours before test results come back and the amount of time between testing and the primary, election board members had more questions than they had answers. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited an exhibition entitled President Ho Chi Minh Great leader of Vietnamese Communist Party and people; Ambassador for peace and friendship of the world people at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi. The exhibition featured nearly 250 documentaries and photos, divided into five categories, recalling Uncle Hos journey to seek ways to save his country and establish the Communist Party as well as his leadership during the resistance wars against invaders and the construction of socialism. Speaking at the event, PM Phuc emphasised that the exhibition has successfully highlighted the great life and career of President Ho Chi Minh. His morality and lifestyle are an outstanding symbol of the nations determination for the peace, national liberation and social progress; as well as a flag to lead the whole Party, people and army to enhance solidarity towards building a more prosperous country, added the PM. * Over 200 documents, photos and artefacts are also being showcased at an exhibition entitled President Ho Chi Minh with working class and trade union of Vietnam, which officially opened at the National History Museum in Hanoi. The exhibits were divided into three sections: the formation and development of Vietnams working class and Trade Union; President Ho Chi Minh with working class and Trade Union, and Vietnamese working class and Trade Union follow Uncle Hos teachings. Several President Ho Chi Minhs books on the working class and trade union, including Ban an che do thuc dan Phap (French colonialism on trial) and Duong Kach menh (The Revolutionary Path), along with awards and merits of certification that were presented by the late President to outstanding individuals and organisations, are also on display for the occasion. Young people visiting the exhibition on the Ho Chi Minh City Book Street (Photo: qdnd.vn) * A book and documentary exhibition was also opened on Ho Chi Minh City Book Street on May 18, celebrating the 130th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minhs birthday. Visitors to the exhibition will have the chance to learn more about Uncle Hos life and revolutionary career through valuable documents, photos and books. On the occasion, a traditional oil painting exhibition opened at the City Fine Arts Museum. The event introduced around 48 oil paintings on various topics, which were created by 34 artists. * As many as 71 documents, photos and objectives featuring the attention given by President Ho Chi Minh to people of all ethnic groups in the northern province of Lang Son are being showcased at an exhibition at the provincial Museum. Meanwhile, Can Tho Municipal Party Committee held a ceremony on May 18 to mark the 45th anniversary of National Reunification (April 30), the International Labour Day (May 1) and the 130th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minhs birth (May 19). Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee also honoured the most outstanding individuals in the movement of studying and following Uncle Hos thoughts, morality and lifestyle. At the online seminar on President Ho Chi Minh in Egypt. (Photo: VNA) * An online seminar on President Ho Chi Minh, a hero of national liberation and a cultural celebrity, was held in Cairo by the Vietnamese Embassy in Egypt. The event featured the participation of many diplomats and friends of Vietnam from Egypt and other countries. The delegates recalled President Ho Chi Minhs life and career, his contributions to Vietnams struggle for national liberation, and his visits to Egypt in 1911 and 1946. Indias decision to join 62 countries to discuss the origin of the virus behind Covid-19 at the World Health Assembly is clearly aimed at China, although the draft resolution does not specifically name our northern neighbour. The assembly is expected to review the international response to the coronavirus pandemic, including that of the WHO, which is governed by the assembly. Although the US, which blames China for the pandemic, is not part of the exercise, many other nations such as Australia are using the opportunity for their own geopolitical ends. That India has joined hands with the other nations is significant as it comes in the backdrop of the latent tension with China. It is said many multinational companies could be looking to exit China in the wake of the pandemic. India is hoping to be a major beneficiary of this and it would not have gone down well with China, which has hit back at New Delhi in many ways. Among them are the Peoples Liberation Armys manoeuvres in Sikkim and Ladakh and the pinpricks in Lipulekh through Nepal. The current Nepal Prime Minister, K P Sharma Oli, is perceived to be close to Beijing and his cabinet has reportedly approved a new map of the country that depicts Lipulekh in Nepal. Given these circumstances, Indias decision to join what is called a review of the origin of the virus is clearly aimed at needling China. But whatever be the geopolitical compulsions of each nation, the exercise is much needed. If epidemics in the recent past, SARS, MERS and Zika, are anything to go by, they show that in a globalised world, no country can insulate itself from any disease. As renowned medical historian Frank Snowden said, an infected man can board a flight in Africa and eight hours later reach Singapore or any other destination in Southeast Asia and spread the virus. He has called the Covid-19 outbreak globalisations first pandemic. So whatever the WHOs drawbacks and its conduct during the current health crisis, epidemics will have to be fought jointly by all nations. The first step towards that is to get to the root of the ongoing pandemic. (Newser) A real-life version of Lord of the Flies in which the stranded boys happily cooperate with each other appears to be just the kind of story the world wants to hear right now. Author Rutger Bregman says he has been bombarded with emails from producers and directors seeking to make a movie based on an excerpt from his book Humankind, telling the story of six Tongan teenagers who survived for 15 months on a remote island in 1965 and 1966. "I'm so glad the 'boys' from The Real Lord of the Flies are finally, after 50 years, getting the attention they deserve," Bregman tweeted. story continues below Sources tell Deadline that there is "significant film and limited series interest from players in US, UK and beyond," with producers already looking into the life rights of the people involved. Bregman tells the Guardian that he is collaborating with the four surviving boys and the Australian captain who rescued them, and they will make a decision together. New Zealand filmmaker Taika Watiti tweeted that he loves the story and would like to see it made by Polynesian filmmakers to keep the tone authentic. "I'm probably not available lol," joked the Jojo Rabbit director. (Read more castaway stories.) Celebrities often get attacked by the troll brigade and it was Kubbra Sait who caught their attention this time. One of them tweeted to her, Why not leave India? The actor hit back with, No one can. Its a lockdown. Kuch bhi. Television actor Karan Kundrra praised Kubbras reply and wrote, Hahah savage. Another Twitter user came out in support of her and wrote, Even if you could, why should you? You are as much a citizen with equal fundamental rights as the person asking you. Another wrote, Thats such a logical slap, well done. No one can. Its a lockdown. Kuch Bhi. pic.twitter.com/SuyeDBiN06 Kubbra Sait (@KubbraSait) May 18, 2020 Kubbra has been critical of the nationwide lockdown, which is currently in its fourth phase. In a recent tweet, she wrote, The lockdown was to prepare for the healthcare system, so that it doesnt collapse under pressure. An endless non colourful lockdown till the time a vaccine is found, doesnt look like an answer. However, she gave a disclaimer and added, Im no expert... this is me thinking and typing aloud over a cup of chai. The lockdown was to prepare for the healthcare system, so that it doesnt collapse under pressure. An endless non colourful lockdown till the time a vaccine is found, doesnt look like an answer. Im no expert... this is me thinking and typing aloud over a cup of chai. Thank You. Kubbra Sait (@KubbraSait) May 17, 2020 Also read: Kubbra Sait spots Sacred Games reference in Paatal Lok, fans call it greatest crossover ever Currently, Kubbra is quarantining alone at her home in Mumbai, while her mother and brother Danish Sait are at their house in Bengaluru. In a recent interaction with Fever Network, she emphasised that the lockdown was not a productivity contest. The first thing that I learnt is that we have to stop putting pressure on ourselves. When the lockdown happened, everyone was like, Oh, are you not learning a new language? or Are you not learning a new skill? I slept. I was like, I cant deal with any of this chaos. I need to sleep, she said. Kubbra was last seen in the recently released web series Illegal, in which she played a woman convicted for multiple murders. The show is streaming on Voot. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR HT Entertainment Desk Dedicated professionals who write about cinema and television in all their vibrancy. Expect views, reviews and news. ...view detail LOS ANGELES, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- International Cannabrands Inc. dba Radiko Holdings (CSE: RDKO) (the "Company") wishes to announce its 51% subsidiary La Vida Verde, Inc. ("LVV") has entered into an agreement with the Company's wholly owned subsidiary DB3 Management, LLC relating to the operation of the Carson City, Nevada cultivation (the "Facility") effective immediately. Steve Gormley, CEO of the Company commented: "Engaging LVV as a partner in our latest acquisition allows us to utilize our expertise across our assets and create an alignment of interests within our organization. The LVV team brings extensive experience in cannabis cultivation, extraction, retail, and product development, as well as vast experience in manufacturing, logistics, and distribution. We expect this collaboration will ultimately lead to additional opportunities to operate as partners on future acquisitions." The agreement provides for a phased approach with LVV initially being responsible for sales of cultivated products beginning with the first harvest (currently underway). After the LVV team becomes more familiar with the operation, they will provide management consulting services in order to optimize production and operations, as well as oversight of genetic selection, marketing and branding of products, and go-to-market strategy. The final phase is expected to see LVV assume full responsibility for the Facility in all aspects. Julie Brooks, CEO of LVV, concluded: "We're thrilled to welcome BioNeva to the Radiko/LVV family. This is a fantastic opportunity for all of the partners involved, and we look forward to collaborating on safe, beneficial, and accessible products for all to enjoy." Additionally, further to the release dated May 11, 2020*, the Company completed the final piece of its acquisition of the Carson City cultivation, namely the land leased by the cultivation operations. The Company entered into an agreement to purchase approximately one acre of land on which the cultivation operations reside, as well as a right of first refusal on an adjoining one acre parcel in Carson City, NV, that will provide the opportunity for further expansion of the operation as growth demands. The Company issued 17,727,866 common shares and agreed to pay US$150,000 in cash over six months starting July 15, 2020. The common shares will remain in escrow until the final payment is received by the vendors. *See Radiko Holdings Announces Closing of Transaction with BioNeva in Nevada (Direct link: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/radiko-holdings-announces-closing-of-transaction-with-bioneva-in-nevada-301056640.html ) About Radiko Holdings International Cannabrands Inc. dba Radiko Holdings (RDKO) is a CBD and cannabis-focused brand portfolio, leveraging the potential of the plant by offering best of breed products that naturally complement today's consumer lifestyles. The Company's mission is to build and market a diversified portfolio of cannabis and CBD brands, with strategic manufacturing and distribution partnerships to support better EBITDA and margins. RDKO markets products with THC content where that practice has been legalized at the state level through either medicinal or recreational use. RDKO also markets products containing CBD in the US and internationally. The Company believes as the legal cannabis and CBD markets evolve, high-quality, unique products will increasingly capture market share and provide a valuable platform for growth. About La Vida Verde, Inc. La Vida Verde ("LVV") is a US-focused, consumer packaged goods (CPG) company operating in the California cannabis industry since 2015. LVV comprises three premium brand lines; La Vida Verde, Skunk Feather Cannabis, and Blank Brand. Each brand speaks to a unique audience and offers a curated product mix, all sharing the LVV heritage. La Vida Verde, LVV's flagship brand is built on the belief that "the best medicine starts with the food you eat," and offers a range of cannabis-infused edibles and tinctures geared towards a health and wellness conscious consumer. Skunk Feather is an industry leader well known for potent concentrates and aromatic flower, and was one of the first brands to incorporate full spectrum testing in every product. Blank Brand offers a range of cannabis-infused chocolates, gummies, and capsules in chef-created flavors. Each line sources cannabis from small family farms and uses ingredients from consciously operated companies. LVV holds a Type-N license for manufacturing from MCSB and a distribution license from the California Bureau of Cannabis Control. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Disclaimer concerning Forward-looking Statements Certain statements included herein constitute "forward-looking statements" relating to the services to be provided by LVV to the Company's cultivation operations in Nevada and the expected benefits therefrom, within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties regarding the Company are described in its publicly-available disclosure documents filed by the Company on SEDAR ( www.sedar.com ). The forward-looking statements contained in this news release represent the Company's expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Except as required by law, the Company does not intend, and undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events. International Cannabrands Contact: Steve Gormley Chief Executive Officer International Cannabrands, Ltd. 12655 W Jefferson Blvd Los Angeles, CA, 90066 Ph: +1-(323)-828-4321 or steve.gormley@intlcannabrands.com Investor Relations Contact: Dave Burwell Vice President The Howard Group #350, 318 - 11 Avenue SE Calgary, AB T2G 0Y2 Ph: +1-(403)-221-0915 or dave@howardgroupinc.com Media Inquiries: media@intlcannabrands.com With the near two-month lockdown taking a toll on their meagre revenue, many small temples in Tamil Nadu are seeking a waiver of power bills, as demands are also being made for enhanced compensation for village priests and workers allegedly not paid salaries during this period. Over 8,000 temples where the "oru kala puja" (single puja a day) is performed and also temples with low earnings across the state have sought the government to waive the power bills. Shrines are not mere places of worship but support many dependent on them for a livelihood, including flower sellers, according to the Tamil Nadu Village Temple Priests Association. "Though they may not hog the attention just as the industries and hospitality sectors which have reported losses, temples nevertheless not only keep up the faith of the devout but also promote sustainable income generation activities around them," said P Vasu, state president of Tamil Nadu Village Temple Priests Association. Temples play a major role in drawing the religious and heritage tourists to the state, he said. Not just the temple priests and staff but also flower vendors or archana plate sellers dependent on the shrines for their livelihood are experiencing the worst economic crisis as a fallout of the lockdown, enforced by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus, he said. Shrines across Tamil Nadu have been closed for darshan since March 24 after the government clamped the lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Only priests have been performing pujas and other related services during the lockdown. The said priests' body has petitioned the government to provide enhanced relief to them and temple staff, besides pressing it to waive the power bills of low income temples. Members of the Village Temple Priests Welfare Board alone account for over 65,000 and they all should be provided enhanced COVID-19 relief, the association has urged. While a government relief of Rs 1,000 has been provided to the village priests also, it has, however, not been uniformly distributed and therefore all should be covered, Vasu said. He also sought an enhanced relief on account of the extension of the lockdown till May 31 when temples will remain closed. When contacted, a senior official of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) department, which administers temples in the state, said orders were awaited from the government over providing relief. Already the department had provided Rs 1,000 as relief to temple priests, staff and a majority of beneficiaries from the funds of the high income generating temples in the state. "The village temple priests will also be covered soon," he added. Asked about the demand for waiver of power bills for small temples, he said the government had to take a call on the matter. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) California State Employees Brace for Cuts, But Union Remains Optimistic California state employees and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are bracing for pay cuts announced by Governor Gavin Newsom on May 14 as part of his revised budget. Newsom said hes looking to help cover a $54.3 billion budget shortfall by cutting state worker pay by about 10 percent. Brian Nash, SEIU communications director told The Epoch Times, Governor Newsom reached out to us and said we need a 10 percent budget reduction. But its not clear exactly which employees will be affected and to what extent, and it seems the union will have a lot of room to negotiate that. This is not an across-the-board directive, so its premature to speculate what, if any, cuts will occur, Nash said via email. Nash expects these cuts to hurt less than those during the Great Recession, and remains hopeful the union can work with the governor to mitigate impacts. Collaborative Approach The fact that he [Newsom] has taken this collaborative approach with us to come up with a solution is extremely encouraging, and we have already begun working with our bargaining team toward a solution, Nash said. To begin with, given the economic crisis that COVID-19 has created, it was not unexpected that Governor Newsom requested something from us, and we appreciate that he did so without making this an across the board directive. During the Great Recession a decade ago, when state employees were furloughed and lost 15 percent of their salaries, the wage cuts deeply impacted not only workers and their families but also local communities and economies, Nash said. The 15 percent pay cut, and the devastation it wrought, was unnecessary, he said. We could have gone through a process like were doing now. Instead, people lost their homes and their ability to provide for their families. This is never an ideal situation to endure, but there is a better way to help the state achieve savings while helping our fellow Californians also remain intact. We appreciate the opportunity we have to work out alternatives as opposed to a very deep, painful cut to the workers we represent. Elizabeth Hurley has stunned fans in by wearing a Versace gown she first wore 21 years ago, pictured here in New York November 2019. (Getty Images) Elizabeth Hurley has stunned fans by posing in a Versace dress she first wore 21 years ago. The 54-year-old model shared the image of her wearing the shiny, pink mini dress while lounging on her bed during the coronavirus lockdown. A quick scroll through the archives suggests Hurley previously wore the shimmering Versace dress in 1999 at the American Fashion Awards in New York, when she was dating actor Hugh Grant. Fast forward 21 years and the model looks equally as elegant in the body-skimming pink gown, as fans were keen to point out in the comments. Looking as good as u did 21 years ago as well, one user wrote. Do you ever age? another asked. Still looking great in that dress 21 years later, yet another fan commented. Read more: Elizabeth Hurley transforms into sexy 'ninja' for fancy dress party with friends Read more: Elizabeth Hurley, 54, shows off her figure in striped bikini While other users pointed out the star had most definitely upped the ante on quarantine dressing. If you have to hang at home it might as well be in Versace dress, one joked. Like many of us, Hurley seems to be yearning for life pre-lockdown. She has been isolating in the UK with her son Damian, but clearly longing for coronavirus-free times as earlier this week she posted a throwback snap of her posing in a teal coloured bikini in the Maldives. Sharing the picture for her 1.6million followers alongside the caption: No- Im not in the Maldives, Im weeding my rose beds in Blighty, but this was me in Feb (seems like a lifetime ago) Once again the image offered proof the 54-year-old never seems to age. How does this woman avoid the aging [sic] process? one fan asked in the comments section of her IG pic. Wed love to know too! Elizabeth Hurley previously wore the Versace gown at the 18th annual American Fashion Awards, in June 1999. (Getty Images) Read more: Elizabeth Hurley reveals 16.15 beauty secret Instead of the Maldives, Hurley is spending time at home with her son. Story continues The duo recently took their dogs for a walk in the countryside as they practiced social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic. Back in March, the model revealed she had been too busy caring for loved ones in coronavirus lockdown to spend time on herself. Hurley admitted to finally washed her hair and put on make-up after eleven days looking after seven family and friends at her home - some of whom are vulnerable. The self-care confession came as it was revealed Hurley has been instructing TV presenter Eamonn Holmes, 60, to ease his back pain by doing squats as he brushes his teeth. Northern Irelands health service must not return to the way it was before the pandemic, Health Minister Robin Swann has said. Addressing the NI Executives daily conference, he said Covid-19 presented an opportunity to improve the health system in the long term. But he warned that the ongoing presence of the coronavirus would mean there will be limits to what can be done in hospitals. Keeping people safe means separating Covid care and non-Covid care, that has been likened to running two health services in parallel with each other. This all amounts to a huge logistical challenge, it will require time, patience and ongoing funding, he said. He said health trusts have already been tasked with developing service rebuilding plans and that there can be no return to the way we were in December 2019". Why should we aspire to return to a structure that was widely accepted to be flawed? he said. Mr Swann said the R number, the reproductive rate of the virus, is currently 0.7-0.8 and he will be working to publish this figure weekly, but stressed that maintaining social distancing and following guidelines remains a life or death matter. People will be out and about a bit more including meeting family members and friends outdoors, he said. Please remember social distancing remains a matter of life and death. Wash your hands like your life depends on it because it just might. Referring to the Executives announcement yesterday of a gradual easing of lockdown measures, he said it was good news. We must not throw away that progress, he said. Flouting the public health advice will lead to the lockdown being tightened. The health minister also said that almost 5,000 tests had been carried out on care home residents, with almost 5,000 more care home workers also tested. He added that a total of 64,000 tests had been carried out in total in Northern Ireland and that contact tracing for all confirmed cases of Covid-19 began on Monday. We expect this service to be in place for the next year at a minimum, he said. But he stressed that there will not be a league table of care homes affected by Covid-19. It would not be fair to name each individual care home affected, partially due to data protection regulations and also because it will put pressure on staff and families, he said. The minister also addressed the issue of mental health, which he said remains a top priority for the department. Announcing the publication of a mental health action plan, he said mental health and well-being services have not stopped during the pandemic. Digital support is available and anyone who needed help should seek help through medical professionals, the Minister said. Mr Swann says the mental health action plan includes the introduction of a specialist a perinatal mental health services and child and adolescent mental health services. The importance of mental health services had been brought into focus during the devastating impact of Covid-19, he added. On cross-border co-operation during the crisis, Finance Minister Conor Murphy said that a meeting between ministers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will take place on Tuesday evening. It is important that this process is coordinated across the island, he said. The finance minister also outlined details of the financial package and rates relief available and crisis funding across the education, infrastructure, hospitality, leisure and tourism sectors announced earlier in the day. Over 125 Indian prisoners who were pardoned by the Bahrain government while being serving sentences in the Gulf nation were deported to India by a special flight and shifted to a naval quarantine facility here, official sources said on Monday. The Gulf Air flight carrying 127 deported Indian citizens landed at the Cochin International Airport at 6.45 pm on Sunday. The flight returned to Bahrain with its 60 citizens stranded in Kerala due to COVID-19 pandemic, Ernakulam District administration officials said. The deportees were shifted to the naval quarantine facility at School for Naval Airmen (SFNA) after completing all formalities based on the COVID-19 protocol, they said. The deportees were brought from CIAL by special KSRTC buses under the aegis of the district administration and handed over to naval authorities at the naval base here. A Defence spokesman said as per the directives of Government of India, the deportees were to be initially quarantined in a Military base - at Kochi Naval Base where they would be regularly monitored by trained naval health professionals. After the mandatory 14-day quarantine period, the deportees would be handed over to care of state agencies for their further transfer to their home stations. The Navy's quarantine facility at Kochi with a 200 bed capacity was set up in March 20 and has been serving as a transit quarantine camp for naval personnel returning to Kochi for duty after leave. The camp is being managed by trained naval doctors and personnel from the Southern Naval Command. Meanwhile, 347 Indians stranded in the UAE due to the COVID-19 pandemic arrived here on Sunday evening in two special Air India Express flights from Dubai and Abud Dhabi, Ernakulam district administration officials said. COLUMBUS, Ohio - Annie Glenn, the childhood sweetheart and widow of former astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn, died Tuesday at age 100 according to a statement from the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. A spokesman for the school said she died in Minnesota, where her daughter resides, from complications of the COVID-19 virus. Sen. Glenn died in 2016 at age of 95. John and Annie were a strong couple married 73 years but while John spent his life in the air and in public service, Annie spent hers here on Earth, focused on the people who often go unseen: the disabled, said a statement from the school Glenn founded. For more than five decades, Annie wrestled with the burden of a severe stutter, which pulled apart and severed her speech. After overcoming her speech impediment in the 1970s, she became a champion for people with communications disorders and served as an adjunct professor in the Speech Pathology Department at Ohio States Department of Speech and Hearing Science. My family and I join all Ohioans in mourning the death of Annie Glenn. Through 73 years of marriage, she was a woman of grace, warm humor & quiet courage who proved that she too had the Right Stuff to become a true American legend. Our deepest sympathies are w/ the Glenn Family John Kasich (@JohnKasich) May 19, 2020 Annie Glenn was a special kind of public hero," said a statement from Trevor Brown, the dean of the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. "She conquered her own personal challenge her speech impediment and appropriately used her position as the spouse of a prominent public person to help advocate for others who struggled as she did. She was also just a really warm and nice person. Well miss her as much as we do Senator Glenn. A statement from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine described Annie Glenn as our most beloved Ohioan who represented all that is good about our country. He said he has ordered that the U.S. and Ohio flags be flown at half-staff at all public buildings and grounds throughout Muskingum County and at the Ohio Statehouse, Vern Riffe Center, and Rhodes Tower until sunset on the day of her memorial service, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. June 6. The online service, with no parishioners or guests in attendance due to COVID-19 restrictions, will be officiated by the Rev. Amy Miracle, pastor for the Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus. It is impossible to imagine John Glenn without Annie, and Annie without John, said a statement from DeWine. They grew up together and their life-long love story was inspiring to us all. My heart is breaking. Annie Glenn was my mentor, and my beloved friend. She was also a hero in her own right. Struggling right now for the words, but I will find them. https://t.co/rjZG58UnSG Connie Schultz (@ConnieSchultz) May 19, 2020 Ohio lost a great treasure today in Annie Glenn," added Lt. Gov. Jon Husted. "Annie stood strong for what she believed in and was a tireless advocate for those who needed a voice. She and John are Ohio-born heroes who we will never forget. Tina and I will have the entire Glenn family in our prayers today. Vice President Mike Pence, who was addressing a NASA event on Tuesday, said: "As we think of the passing of Annie Glenn, another -- another incredible member of the NASA family -- we just say, God speed to both of you. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that described Annie Glenn as a leader of tremendous personal courage and extraordinary generosity of spirit," and said her strength in overcoming and speaking out about her struggle with communicative disorders empowered millions. Shortly before her husband Johns passing, I had the privilege of spending time with the Glenn family," Pelosi recalled. "The beautiful devotion between John and Annie was legendary. May it be a comfort to their children, David and Lyn, and their entire family to know that Annie and John are together once more. May it also be a comfort that so many mourn their loss and pray for them at this sad time. Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who occupies Glenns former office in the U.S. Capitol complex and named he main meeting space in his office the Annie Glenn Conference Room, issued a statement that said she made Ohio proud all her life - as an advocate, a philanthropist, a mother and partner and as a friend. Annie Glenn was a strong woman with a gracious nature, and a dear friend of Janes and mine. She touched countless individuals through her service to our state and advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities. We truly lost one of the great ones. pic.twitter.com/gBjIzoeoNw Rob Portman (@senrobportman) May 19, 2020 Annie will be remembered for her work to lift others up, including those who shared her struggles with communicative disorders, Brown said. "Her passion for helping others, along with a kind spirit and sharp wit, endeared Annie to anyone who met her. Connie and I are holding Lyn, David, Karen and the entire Glenn family close in our hearts. We are comforted that John and Annie, childhood sweethearts, are reunited once again. We lost one of the great ones, said U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican. It was an amazing life. A statement from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said Glenn provided an example for other women who followed on facing the challenges of being part of the nations space program, as well as the stress of having a spouse in combat. John Glenn was a fighter pilot in World War II and the Korean War. She stood steadfastly by her husband as he took to space once again as the oldest person to orbit Earth, even as she continued her own lifelong public service on behalf of children, the elderly, and the disabled," the NASA statement said. The Glenns dedication to each other is well known, and we looked to them as an unmatched example of the strength and compassion that a lifetime of devotion creates. She will be missed. A statement from Columbus Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty described Glenn as the drive behind her beloved John and a shero in her own right who gave us more than a legacy, but 100 years of 'live-acy. I am saddened by the passing of Annie Glenn, a longtime advocate for people with disabilities and widow of astronaut and Senator John Glenn. I join all Ohioans in extending my deepest sympathies to her family and loved ones during this difficult time. https://t.co/5uBPa0AX5f Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (@RepMarciaFudge) May 19, 2020 Annie and John Glenn were true partners and together for every step of their historic journey," said a statement from Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper. "Since the first day I met them, I never once saw them apart. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Glenn family. Niles-area Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan noted that Annie Glenn was accomplished in her own right. In addition to being the hero behind the hero," he described her as a tireless advocate for those with communications disorders, and an inspiration to her students at Ohio State. Facing the rising sun, I genuflect to her beautiful, self-giving life," said a statement from Toledo Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur. "Annie was spectacularly wise and compassionate, truly one of a kind. Saddened to learn of the death of Annie Glenn, an Ohio icon and powerful role model for people with speech disorders around the world. Annie - you were an inspiration to us all, and you will be missed. Thank you for all you gave to this world. https://t.co/HClZlsfSRE Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (@RepAGonzalez) May 19, 2020 Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Annie Glenn could light up a room. She was invigorating, proud, and loyal, LaRose said in a statement on Twitter. Its that spirit which defines what it really means to be an Ohioan. While she most certainly will be missed, she will never be forgotten. Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof, a Medina Republican, called her a role model and a quiet hero. Now, she and her husband of more than 70 years are together again, soaring among the stars and the angels, Obhofs statement said. We mourn the loss of Annie Glenn an inspirational voice to many of us over the years. She was a source of strength to her husband John during his time in the space program and US Senate, overcoming challenges and become an American hero in her own right. pic.twitter.com/FAV0WUF1IJ National Air and Space Museum (@airandspace) May 19, 2020 Ohio House Democratic Leader Emilia Strong Sykes of Akron extended her condolences to the Glenn family on behalf of the House Democratic Caucus. Mrs. Glenns legacy will live on through her dedicated service to uplifting the needs of disabled Americans, said Sykes. "I hope her friends and family find comfort in the 100 years of memories they have collected. Ohioans mourn alongside them today. Anna Margaret Castor was born on Feb. 17, 1920 in Columbus, Ohio. Her family settled in New Concord, Ohio a few years after she was born. She and Sen. Glenn were childhood playmates, and they married shortly after she graduated from nearby Muskingum College, which is now known as Muskingum University. She is survived by her children, David and Carolyn. Our @OhioState community joins the entire nation in mourning the loss of Annie Glenn, a wonderful person, courageous spirit and deeply devoted citizen, mother, grandmother and loving friend. Annie will be greatly missed, and we extend our deepest condolences to the Glenn family. Michael V. Drake (@OSUPrezDrake) May 19, 2020 More coverage: Canadian border with U.S. likely to remain closed until June 21 Mismarked COVID-19 testing swabs from Clevelands U.S. Cotton confused state officials House passes coronavirus package along party lines; Senate Republicans say they wont consider it House approves proxy voting during coronavirus over objections from Ohio Republicans including Rep. Jim Jordan Former Cleveland Clinic researcher charged with fraud for failing to disclose China ties See which Ohio members of Congress are most and least bipartisan U.S. senators grill White House coronavirus team on reopening plans Rep. Marcia Fudge proposes coronavirus-inspired voting change Ohio hospitals to get remdesivir to fight coronavirus, says Sen. Rob Portman What Obamacare cancellation would mean to Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan to serve on coronavirus oversight committee he argued against creating Gun sales soar in Ohio during coronavirus pandemic Is Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio the most conservative Congress member of all time? Ohio Congress members want people who lack internet access to be able to track their coronavirus stimulus checks The Trump administration has created a new and expansive national security watchlist that, for the first time since 9/11, includes Americans who have no connection to terrorism. The new watchlist, authorized through a classified Attorney General order and launched in 2017, is expected to grow to well over one million names. It also allows the government to track and monitor Americans without a warrant, even when there is no evidence they're breaking the law. And while two separate laws require the government to announce new systems of data collection of Americans, there has been no acknowledgement of the expanded watchlist. The criteria to be placed on the new watchlist demands that an individual be associated with "transnational" criminal organizations, including front organizations that are actually foreign government entities. Transnational criminal organizations include not just drug cartels, crime syndicates and gangs, but also political groups such as nationalist parties and information activists. Individuals can be watchlisted when they are suspected of corruption, money laundering, computer hacking, stock market manipulation, health care fraud, even wildlife trafficking. Government officials familiar with the new watchlist say that it will eventually include tens of thousands of Americans, reaching into more than a hundred cities across the United States. The new Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) watchlist is modeled after the Terrorist Screening Database, which was created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks as a single repository of terrorist suspects. Over the years, that watchlist has grown to include 1.2 million people, among whom are roughly 6,000 Americans that the FBI associates with domestic terrorism. Like the terrorist watchlist, the new TOC watchlist authorizes agencies to collect information even when there is no evidence of a crime or intent to commit a crime. This authority circumvents criminal justice requirements for due process, equal protection under the law, and freedom of association under the Constitution. Your browser does not support the audio element. Many residents in Ho Chi Minh City are rushing to purchase certificates of motor vehicle insurance as traffic police officers are waging an aggressive month-long campaign to inspect road users. Under the campaign, which lasts until June 14, road users in the southern metropolis can be pulled over by traffic police officers for an administrative inspection regardless of whether or not they have committed a traffic violation. Road users are required to show their driver's licenses, vehicle registration papers, and motor vehicle insurance certificates. Those who fail to bring their insurance certificates will be subject to fines ranging from VND100,000-200,000 (US$4.3-8.6) for scooters and motorbikes to VND400,000-600,000 ($17.2-25.8) for four-wheeled vehicles. The mandatory insurance covers civil liability in the event of traffic accidents, according to lawyer Le Trung Phat, who runs a private law firm. As observed by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, vehicle insurance sellers in Ho Chi Minh City have recently seen surges in their customers. Those stalls offering such certificates along major roads from or to the southern metropolis, including the Hanoi Highway, Pham Van Dong Boulevard, and National Highway 1, were crowded with customers last week. A two-wheeler insurance certificate is sold at VND65,000 ($2.7) and valid for one year, while two-year certificates are priced at VND85,000 ($3.6) apiece. Locals purchase certificates of motor vehicle insurance on the sidewalk of Pham Van Dong Boulevard in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Photo: Nhat Thinh / Tuoi Tre Nguyen Anh Bao told Tuoi Tre he has reluctantly bought the insurance, fearing to be fined. None of my parents, older sisters or brothers have bought insurance certificates for their vehicles, said the 20-year-old man. Le Thi Kim Dung, 27, who works as an agent for an insurance company based in Ho Chi Minh City, said she has been overwhelmed by scores of customers who ask for vehicle insurance certificates in the recent days. She said there were weeks in the past when she was unable to sell a single certificate of vehicle insurance, but things have drastically changed since the road inspection campaign was launched. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Watch: China agrees for probe on Covid origin, vows $2 billion for WHO China finally agreed to an international investigation on Covid-19. Over 100 countries, including India, had pushed for a probe into virus' origin. Addressing World Health Assembly, China President also backed review of WHO's response. US President Donald Trump has accused WHO of being 'China-centric'. Weeks after US 'halted' WHO funding, Jinping announced $2 billion aid for the agency. Watch the full video for more. ...read more Moda Midstream LLC The Port of Corpus Christi will have 17 million barrels of additional oil storage by August as record low commodity prices have producers desperate to find a place to store their crude until prices rise. In total, six companies are adding more than 20 million barrels of new oil storage over the next year, CEO Sean Strawbridge said. The port's existing 40 million barrels of crude storage is about 65 percent full. Quan Jamel Fort is a New York native who was raised in Binghamton, endured years of abuse at the hands of his mothers boyfriend, and studied politics and law at SUNY Broome Community College. He has published his new book America vs. America: A Manifesto for the American Woman: a thought-provoking commentary on the past, present, and future of the US political system. Politics is an extension of your personality. It all begins in childhood, particularly among individuals from large, traditional families. Each sibling in the birth order develops a unique personality, which then develops into extroversion or introversion. As each sibling matures and grows, their personality begins to have an impact on their politics, with the extroverted siblings becoming more liberal and the introverted siblings becoming more conservative. This not only results in a divided family, but as the siblings go out into American society, they bring their politics with them, resulting in a divided America. When they register to vote, the more conservative join the Republican party while the more liberal join the Democratic party. They vote for political candidates who they believe support their political views. This has resulted in an extremely divided Congress and a constant fight over the presidency and Supreme Court. Over the years, America has suffered from unregulated capitalism, endured two world wars, suffered through the Great Depression, suffered a military loss in Vietnam, a major terrorist attack on 9/11, suffered through the 2008 Great Recession, and may now be on the path to ether a dictatorship or a second civil war. Can we find some way out before its too late? Published by Page Publishing, Quan Jamel Forts engrossing book is an insightful work bringing a unique perspective to a wide range of contemporary issues. Readers who wish to experience this engaging work can purchase America vs. America: A Manifesto for the American Woman at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708. About Page Publishing: Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Pages accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues to focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com. Some doctors are failing to warn women about the risks of drinking alcohol during pregnancy despite national guidelines stating there is no safe level. A Senate inquiry into the effectiveness of approaches to prevent and diagnose fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and support those living with it on Tuesday heard many women were not advised against drinking by their GP, midwife or obstetrician. Some doctors are failing to warn against drinking while pregnant, an inquiry has heard. "Women overwhelmingly want their health professional to inform them about drinking during pregnancy [but] general practitioners in particular are hesitant to do so due to the perceived sensitivity of the issue," Curtin University associate professor Nyanda McBride told the inquiry. Associate Professor McBride, who co-wrote the National Drug Research Institute's submission to the inquiry, said more training was needed to ensure GPs, doctors and midwives provided "appropriate advice" about the risks of drinking while pregnant. In response to a rapidly changing retail environment, the brand has also announced a re-balancing of operating capital to support online growth. June 1, 2020 , Elsie Green 's flagship location in Concord, California will expand with 42% more square footage to support online operations , 's flagship location in will expand with 42% more square footage to support online operations June 15, 2020 , Elsie Green will introduce a new, innovative retail concept at their flagship location that will be available to shop by appointment or via video tour in compliance with the Bay Area's guidelines. , will introduce a new, innovative retail concept at their flagship location that will be available to shop by appointment or via video tour in compliance with the Bay Area's guidelines. June 30, 2020 , the brand's second retail location Elsie Green at the Barlow will close in order to re-deploy operating capital to support online initiatives. Founder Laurie Furber said Friday "We are lucky to be small and nimble enough that we can re-invent ourselves to thrive in the changing retail environment. We're ready and we're invigorated!" Elsie Green is a small sustainable, family run company based in northern California. The founders travel the world in search of beautiful, mostly vintage things and lot of inspiration for the American home. The founders, Laurie and JP Furber strive to create a small business with a human touch: each beautiful item selected by hand, each order carefully packed by someone who cares, each call and email personally answered by someone who can help, and most of all, each customer treated like a dear friend. And they are committed to giving a little back in the form of support to other small businesses like theirs, and donations to causes that tug at the heartstrings. SOURCE Elsie Green House & Home Related Links https://elsiegreen.com More snow on the way in Pennsylvania; here's how much to expect The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Tuesday that it could not provide temporary accommodation in Mumbai to frontline workers who commuted to the metropolis from neighbouring Palghar district each day for work during the coronavirus outbreak and resultant lockdown. In an affidavit filed on Tuesday through its Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation department, the state said, considering the large number of such workers who commuted to and from the city every day, providing accommodation in Mumbai would add to the burden of the state machinery that is already being stretched thin due to the COVID 19 pandemic. "Given the sheer number of employees working in emergency services such as medical care, fire department, police, disaster management etc, who live in the suburbs of Mumbai, including Virar, it is not practically possible for their accommodation in Mumbai, especially in the current COVID-19 scenario," the affidavit reads. "Making such an arrangement for these employees will add more stress to the already stressed machinery that is engaged in the fight against COVID-19," it added. On the previous hearing on May 15, state government pleader PP Kakade had told the court it was impractical to suggest such essential service providers be given places to stay within the city. He had made the submission before a bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta that was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a resident of Palghar district seeking temporary accommodation in Mumbai for such essential service providers who commute between Mumbai and Palghar district each day for their work. The plea filed by Charan Ravindra Bhatt claimed such commute to COVID-19 affected areas in Mumbai had resulted in several frontline workers testing positive for coronavirus. The plea, filed through lawyer Uday Warunjikar, claimed frontline workers catching the virus from Mumbai and travelling back to their homes in Vasai-Virar had become one of the primary causes for the spread of COVID-19 in Palghar district. The situation is similar in areas such as Thane, Kalyan Dombivali, and Navi Mumbai, the plea claimed. On the last hearing, however, the court had said merely making such an oral statement was not adequate and had directed the state to file an affidavit detailing reasons why it could not provide accommodation. In its affidavit, the state said these employees were anyway following the state's directions on hygiene, using masks, sanitizers and maintaining social distancing while communicating and while at work in the city. As per the petition, as on May 1 this year, Palghar district had 136 COVID positive cases, of which 10 persons died due to the infection. At the time of filing of the plea, there were 69 cases, of which 47 were health care workers, ward boys, nurses, paramedics and hotel staff and other frontline workers, who went to affected areas in Mumbai for their jobs, the plea claimed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Although the region is still under a state of emergency, there have been few coronavirus cases recorded in the city. One fifth-grader in the city expressed happiness about being back at school: Ive been bored over the long break. The Muslim festival marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. As Muslims around the world bid farewell to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, they also prepare for the festival of Eid al-Fitr. Depending on the sighting of the moon, Eid celebrations will begin either in the evening of Saturday, May 23, or Sunday, May 24. The occasion will be affected this year as nations around the world take measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic, including the suspension of Eid prayers, outdoor festivals, and other celebratory events. What is Eid al-Fitr? Eid al-Fitr means festival of breaking the fast and marks the end of Ramadan. Traditionally, Eid is celebrated for three days in all Muslim-majority countries. THREAD As the fasting month of #Ramadan comes to an end, Muslims are preparing for the festival of Eid al-Fitr. But with #coronavirus-related restrictions, celebrations will be very different this year. Here's all you need to know about Eid al-Fitr https://t.co/q41X6vh1qA pic.twitter.com/QUQjGAWPhQ Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 20, 2020 How is the start of Eid determined? Like Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr begins with the sighting of the crescent moon (a day after the new moon), so Muslims have to wait until the evening before Eid to verify its date. If the crescent moon is not visible, Ramadan continues for another day. Because it is a lunar event, the date of Eid changes annually on the Gregorian calendar and varies from country to country depending on geographical location. To declare the start of Eid, Muslim-majority countries depend on the testimonies of local moon sighters. The local religious authorities then announce when Eid will be taking place. How do Muslims celebrate Eid? Muslims across the world begin Eid celebrations by partaking in communal post-dawn prayers, followed by a short sermon. The prayers take place in mosques or large halls but in many countries, it is also held in the open to accomodate the large numbers. People congratulate one another after Eid prayers. They spend the day visiting relatives and neighbours and accepting sweets as they move around from house to house. Children, dressed in new clothes, are offered gifts and money to celebrate the joyous occasion. This is preceded by the giving of alms to the poor. It is common for Muslim-majority nations to decorate their streets with festive lights and hold carnivals to commemorate the end of the holy month. Each country has traditional desserts and sweets that are prepared before Eid or on the morning of the first day. These foods range from special biscuits and bread to cakes and puddings. This year, Eid prayers have been cancelled in several Muslim countries amid the coronavirus pandemic, including Oman and Egypt. Saudi Arabias Grand Mufti on Sunday urged Muslims to pray at home instead of going to the mosque. Festivals and public celebrations on Eid will also be banned in many parts of the Muslim world as nations struggle to contain the spread of COVID-19. Globally, there have been more than 4.8 million known cases of coronavirus, and more than 318,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. In some Muslim countries, Eid prayers take place outside while in others they are held in mosques or large halls [File: Emrah Gurel] What are common Eid greetings? The most popular greeting is Eid Mubarak (Blessed Eid) or Eid said (Happy Eid). Eid greetings also vary depending on the country and language. In Indonesia, Eid is called Lebaran, so Indonesians would say Selamat Lebaran, which means Happy Eid. Other variations are Mutlu Bayramlar in Turkish and Barka da Sallah in Hausa, a Nigerian language. What are other traditions associated with Eid? Generally, Muslims prepare for Eid prayer by bathing and putting on new clothes ranging from traditional, modern or Western clothes. Muslims are also encouraged to eat something sweet, usually dates, before heading to the prayer. On their way to the prayer, Muslims recite takbeerat, praising God. What do people eat for Eid? By Trend Over the past 24 hours, Armenian armed forces have violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops 24 times, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry. The Armenian armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns and sniper rifles. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Many of the same demonstrators wanting California to end all aspects of its COVID-19 lockdown immediately have also been front-line protesters against recent California laws making it slightly more difficult for parents to avoid getting their children vaccinated. And some of the new protests are at least partly organized by anti-vaxx groups like the Freedom Angels Foundation. This can seem surprising: after all, what could be more of an affirmation for vaccines than a disease rampaging precisely because there is no vaccine to stop it? We no longer see once-dreaded scourges like polio and smallpox today anywhere in the world only because scientists created vaccines to immunize almost every person against them. If anything should convince rational minds of the good vaccines do, it should be an out-of-control plague loosed upon the world chiefly because we lack either a preventive vaccine or an effective treatment for it, despite President Trumps many helpful suggestions about consuming unproven drugs and even bleach to kill it. Thomas D. Elias: Memo to split roll advocates: wait As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, California and the rest of America wallow ever deeper into the worst recession since the Great Depressio The very small but very loud anti-vaccination community has trouble following this logic. Some of its folks march on the state Capitol and other sites these days bearing signs proclaiming COVID-19 is a Lie, Social Distancing = Communism and the like. So far, the California protestors have not trumpeted some of the more outlandish claims made about the coronavirus in other parts of the world and nation. One widely-disseminated contention is that 5G cellphone towers caused the crisis. Its easier for such baseless junk theories to go viral and gain acceptance if they are furthered by celebrities. That happens when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. propounds unproven calumnies about vaccinations. And it happened with the 5G charge about the coronavirus when actor Woody Harrelson posted it on Instagram, even though he noted the idea wasnt fully vetted. But the basic idea behind both the anti-vaccination movement and demonstrations against the coronavirus-related lockdown is the same: In both cases, protesters insist their individual rights trump any societal needs for safety and survival. Thomas D. Elias: Census extension may help California California's extensive Census outreach efforts may pay bigger dividends than the state expected thanks to coronavirus, columnist Tom Elias says. Its part of the longtime American debate over whether there is such a thing as a social contract, an implicit agreement that government and society have some obligations to aid their people. For many years, this has been a major difference between Democrats and Republicans, the political pendulum swinging back and forth between them for generations. Democrats created Social Security over Republican opposition in the 1930s and Medicare in the 1960s, essentially saying society is entitled to take some income from younger people to help their elders survive. Decades later, Democrats created the Affordable Care Act, often known as Obamacare, in effect saying society is entitled to tax its members to provide health care for those who dont have it. Most Republican politicians opposed this from the start; they still do. When challenged, anti-vaxx activists often say or write things like Ill do what I want with my children and government should have nothing to say about it. Never mind the health and lives of millions of other kids their unvaccinated children could infect. Now the anti-lockdown protesters clamor for complete freedom of movement, association and assembly even while medical experts say this would lead to far more infections and deaths from the virus. Try to stop them and some label the virus a hoax. Or say its no worse than the common cold. Ask the 80,000-plus Americans whose lives it has already taken about that one. As in many earlier arguments over the social contract, Democratic officials take the lead in plumping for greater adherence to social distancing while many Republicans are reluctant. GOP governors were among the last to enforce the anti-virus tactics that now hold down Californias caseload, while Democrats like California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were among the first. Republican governors have been first to reopen their states, while Democrats are doing it much more slowly. The bottom line: Viewed as part of a very long argument over what government should or should not do for masses of Americans, todays demonstrations and the irrational claims they sometimes purvey should be no surprise. Logic has rarely been central to this very emotional debate. Thomas D. Elias writes the syndicated California Focus column. He is author of the book, The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It. China imposed anti-dumping duties on barley from Australia for five years as diplomatic tensions escalate between the two trading partners. The Asian country, which is the biggest buyer of Australias barley, will slap an anti-dumping duty of 73.6% and an anti-subsidy duty of 6.9% on the commodity, according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce. The measures will be effective from May 19. Australia has fueled tensions with China in recent weeks by calling for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, with a focus on wildlife wet markets. Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said on Sunday that the country would challenge any duties imposed by China in the World Trade Organization. Barley exports to China were worth A$1.4 billion ($898 million) in 2017. Chinas embassy in Canberra has warned its citizens might be offended by Australias behavior and choose to travel to alternative destinations and send their children to universities in other countries threatening Australias two key service exports. Meat imports from four Australian processing plants have also been suspended by China. However, the Chinese government has denied any link to the call for a probe into the virus, describing the ban as a health and safety issue. China never says its retaliation, but China does have a history of using agricultural trade as a political lever, going back at least 10 years, Tim Hunt, Rabobanks head of food and agribusiness research for Australia, said earlier this month. The Ministry of Labour & Employment has implemented the decision to cut employees' provident fund (EPF) contributions to 10 per cent from the existing 12 per cent for three months till July New Delhi: The Ministry of Labour & Employment has implemented the decision to cut employees' provident fund (EPF) contributions to 10 per cent from the existing 12 per cent for three months till July. This would increase 4.3 crore organised sector employees' take-home pay and reduce the liability of 6.5 lakh employees reeling under liquidity crunch under lockdown to contain COVID-19. The decision is estimated to infuse liquidity of Rs 6,750 crore in the next three months. The labour ministry in a notification issued on Monday stated that the reduction in EPF contributions shall be applicable "in respect of wages payable by it for the months of May, June and July, 2020". Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak Therefore the take home pay due in June, July and August would increase, while the employers' contributions due in June, July and August would reduce. Giving reason for the move it stated: "whereas due to COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown is in force across the country and the Central Government after making the necessary inquiry is satisfied that to provide liquidity in the hands of employers and employees, there arises a need to amend the notification of 9 April, 1997." Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock markets Last week, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a reduction of statutory provident fund contribution by both employers and employees for next three months. The Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and public sector undertakings (PSUs) will, however, continue to contribute 12 percent as an employer contribution to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). This reduction of the EPF contributions will be applicable for workers who are not eligible for 24 percent EPF support under PM Garib Kalyan Package and its extension. The government is contributing employers and employees contributions of 24 percent of basic wages for those establishments that have up to 100 employees and 90 percent of whom earn under Rs 15,000 monthly wage since March. Last week, Sitharaman had also announced the extension of the benefit under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) for three months, where the government would contribute entire 24 percent of EPF contributions till August, giving relief to 3.67 lakh employers and 72.22 lakh employees. It was conducted in 2014 but posted on YouTube six years later. Ukraine's SBU Security Service says that notorious interviews conducted by Ukrainian media figure and host Dmitriy Gordon with Igor Girkin (nom de guerre Strelkov), a Russian military veteran and an ex-member of the terrorist organization "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR"), and with former turncoat prosecutor from Crimea and incumbent member of Russia's Duma Natalia Poklonskaya were the interviewer's initiative. "Meanwhile, SBU employees have already been analyzing all the facts mentioned in these interviews for their use as additional evidence of the seizure of the territory of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the actual unleashing of war in the east of our country," the SBU said in a statement on May 19. Read alsoGordon: Interview with terrorist Girkin done under SBU supervision, evidence sent to intl court As was reported earlier, the interview with Girkin was prepared in 2014 but was posted on YouTube six years later, on May 18, 2020. Gordon said the interviews with Girkin and Poklonskaya had been conducted "in collaboration with the Ukrainian special services." A few hours prior to Gordon's official statement, the SBU said they would probe into the interview with Girkin. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. San Francisco, 18 May 2020: The Report Flavored Syrups Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type (Fruit, Chocolate, Vanilla), By Application (Bakery & Confectionery, Dairy & Frozen Desserts, Beverages) By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2019 - 2025 The global flavored syrups market size is expected to reach USD 65.6 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 5.1% over the forecast period. Application of flavored syrups as a taste enhancer and sweetener is gaining an increasing traction among the manufacturers across the food and beverage industry. The market growth is primarily attributed to increasing demand for customized flavors in the food and beverage industry. Moreover, consumers desire to try out different and unique fruit flavors are encouraging the manufacturers to develop duo-fruit syrups such as Lime-Ginger, Lime-Mint, and Raspberry-Mint, which offer a blend of sour, sweet, and bitter taste. Moreover, the companies are developing innovative flavors to cater to the frequently changing taste preferences of the consumers, thereby contributing to the global market growth. For instance, The Agi fruit syrups range introduced a new category of honey-containing products with unique flavors such as baked apples with honey, raspberry-lemon balm with honey, and elder-lime with honey. The fruit segment held the largest share of 35.3% in 2018. Consumers demand for fruit infused flavored syrups, coupled with high preferences for unique tastes, is a major factor driving the market. Based on the consumers inclination towards pure, natural, and organic products, companies are also introducing syrups infused with fruit content. For instance, 100% natural sour cherry, apple and common sea-buckthorn, and apple and beetroot juice are some of the unique flavors blended with high fruit ingredients. Similarly, Poloskei Drink Kft is a company that offers combined fruit flavored syrup. It blends basic flavors in its fruit syrups and also develops unique varieties such as acerola-raspberry and blueberry-raspberry. Caramel, hazelnut, and coffee flavors are also gaining significant traction in the beverage category. For instance, Starbucks uses a wide range of naturally flavored syrups such as caramel, hazelnut, and vanilla in their coffee. Bakery and confectionery products are expected to register the fastest CAGR of 5.6% over the forecast period. Increasing consumer preferences for products such as bread, rolls, pastries, cakes pies, cookies, crackers, and pretzels are expected to augment demand for the global market. Beverages accounted for a share of more than 35.0% in 2018. Beverages, particularly cocktails, hot and cold beverages, and soft drinks are some of the common products that contain flavored syrups as a taste and sweetness enhancer ingredient. Asia Pacific is expected to expand at the highest CAGR of 5.6% from 2019 to 2025. Bakery products are considered to be a product of mass consumption due to their low prices. Moreover, consumers willingness to consume sweet foods have led the manufacturers to introduce innovative products infused with flavored syrups. Access Research Report of Flavored Syrups Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/flavored-syrups-market Further key findings from the report suggest: The global flavored syrups market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.1% from 2019 to 2025 and reach a value of USD 65.6 billion by 2025 Asia Pacific is estimated to register the fastest CAGR of 5.6% over the forecast period owing to high demand and product launches in India and China By type, chocolate is expected to register the fastest CAGR of 5.7% over the forecast period By application, beverages accounted for the largest share of more than 35.0% in 2018. Browse more reports of this category by Grand View Research at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry/consumer-f-and-b Grand View Research has segmented the global flavored syrups market on the basis of type, application, and region: Flavored Syrups Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2025) Fruit Chocolate Vanilla Others Flavored Syrups Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2025) Bakery & Confectionery Beverages Dairy & Frozen Desserts Others Flavored Syrups Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2015 - 2025) North America Europe Asia Pacific Central & South America Middle East & Africa Access Press Release of Flavored Syrups Market @ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-flavored-syrups-market About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare. For More Information:www.grandviewresearch.com John Ratcliffe, a Republican from Texas, questions Robert Mueller, former special counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., July 24, 2019. WASHINGTON The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday endorsed the confirmation of U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, President Donald Trump's nominee to be the nation's top spy. Following Tuesday's party-line vote, Ratcliffe's nomination must still be confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate. A floor vote has not yet been scheduled. Tuesday's vote came a day after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will serve as the Intelligence committee's acting chairman while Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., steps aside amid an FBI investigation into his stock trades. If confirmed, Ratcliffe will lead the nation's 17 intelligence agencies as the director of national intelligence. He will be the first permanent spy chief since Dan Coats stepped down last August. Trump nominated Ratcliffe, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, on the heels of Coats' departure. The nomination was dropped amid concerns about his lack of experience and his overt partisan reputation. Ratcliffe was renominated this year. Ratcliffe was elected to Congress in 2015 and also sits on the House Judiciary committee. He was one of the congressional members of Trump's impeachment defense team. In July 2018, Ratcliffe drew attention when he tore into former special counsel Robert Mueller about his investigation of Russian election interference and its possible coordination between the Kremlin and Trump's campaign. "It was not the special counsel's job to conclusively determine Donald Trump's innocence or to exonerate him because the bedrock principle of our justice system is a presumption of innocence. It exists for everyone, everyone is entitled to it, including sitting presidents," Ratcliffe said during the House Judiciary hearing. "You managed to violate every principle and the most sacred of traditions about prosecutors not offering extra prosecutorial analysis." US Real Estate Showing Signs Of Covid19 Collateral Damage As we continue to digest economic and global data, our researchers have focused on Real Estate as we believe the contraction in the US economy, spanning corporate, main street, and millions of Americans, will quickly reflect in a slowing Real Estate market. Our researcher attempted to dive into the most recent data from Realtor.com (https://www.realtor.com/research/) to identify any trends or insights we could find to prepare for a broader contagion event. Current data suggests the US Real Estate market has begun a dramatic slowdown even though the listing and pricing data does not reflect this data yet. In short, more homes are being pulled from active listings and those that are still listed are sellers that can wait out their price or are under pressure to sell because of other factors. Historically, Summer months typically result in a moderate decrease in price levels as more homes get listed for sale and Days On Market (DOM) lengthens. Something big is starting to take place almost everywhere in the US as current data suggests inventory is shrinking, price levels are still moderately high and DOM level has increased dramatically. News of recent delinquencies in the mortgage market shows an incredible increase in the number of mortgages under pressure. We believe many borrowers will attempt to cash out of the market over the next 90+ days while price levels are high. Many of these borrowers will be rolling the dice while they hold onto their homes hoping the economy/jobs come back before the end of 2020 while they watch the value of their homes decline. California Days On Market YoY Chart Overall, across the entire US, median listing price levels have increased 1% YoY while Days on Market has increased 6% YoY and Active Listings have decreased 15% YoY. Reading between the lines, this suggests to our researchers that sellers are trying to capture peak price levels while sales activity continues to decrease. This also suggests that buyers are shifting into a more conservative buying mode waiting for the right deal, better prices, and more distressed sellers. Locally, most of the major markets have seen an incredible change in listing price, DOM, and active listing data over the past 30+ days. This data represents the YoY data change related to data from April 11, 2020, to May 9, 2020. This data reflects how trends are changing and how total counts are changing not total price level changes or total trend count changes on a YoY basis. Our research team believes this data suggests sellers are still entering the market trying to take advantage of high price levels, yet they are not entering the market as quickly as they were 30+ days ago (hence the drop in new listing data). Additionally, the DOM increases suggest buyers are slowing their activities as well. Simple Supply and Demand theory suggests when prices are high and buyers begin to lose faith in future price increases the cycle shifts from rising price levels to falling price levels as buyers begin to wait out the better deals and wait for the bottom in the markets to setup. I was on TraderTV a few weeks back with Mr. Wonderful (Kevin OLeary) and he talked about the issue with real estate and his way to deal with it in this video clip. In Part II of this article, well continue to explore more data that suggests the Real Estate sector may become a big part of the next phase of the global economic collapse. Early data suggests the market is shifting away from a sellers market into a buyers market fairly quickly. If our research is correct, all segments of Real Estate will become a bigger problem for banks and the economy as the shutdown continues. We suggest you read this article from March 2020, WE ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE REAL ESTATE MARKET: If our research is correct, this shift is taking place right now and will likely continue into Summer 2020 as Main Street and millions of businesses suffer from the COVID-19 virus shutdowns. Common sense would suggest an economic contraction reflecting millions in lost jobs, a major contraction in retail and other segments of the US economy and a severe issue with commercial real estate may lead to a broader contraction in residential real estate. Buyers slow their purchases as more homeowners come under increasing economic pressure, prices begin to decline, and the cycle shifts from a sellers market to a buyers market. Right now, we are advising our clients to wait for stronger confirmed trading setups as we believe the current US market is still in a no mans land related to price levels and future trends. There is still a moderate change the US Fed buying will prompt a bit more upside price trend, but our modeling systems and technical indicators are suggesting a double-dip low will form as the collateral damage continues to become known. This is the time for skilled technical traders to play very conservatively with their capital and to target bigger trends when the setup. The next 24+ months are certain to be full of incredible opportunities for skilled technical traders yet also full of risks. Weve already received emails from individuals who have been taking aggressive trades in certain sectors and gotten burned. Follow our research and please understand the markets will do what they are going to do. Our job is to find the right opportunities and to capitalize on them for profits. I have to toot my own horn here a little because subscribers and I had our trading accounts close at a new high watermark for our accounts. We not only exited the equities market as it started to roll over, but we profited from the sell-off in a very controlled way. Also, we locked in more with this bounce in the markets, along with a move in natural gas and we are sitting with some gains in our new position in the next hot sector. As a technical analyst and trader since 1997, I have been through a few bull/bear market cycles in stocks and commodities. I believe I have a good pulse on the market and timing key turning points for investing and short-term swing traders. 2020 is going to be an incredible year for skilled traders. Dont miss all the incredible moves and trade setups. I hope you found this informative, and if you would like to get a pre-market video every day before the opening bell, along with my trade alerts. These simple to follow ETF swing trades have our trading accounts sitting at new high water marks yet again this week, not many traders can say that this year. Visit my Active ETF Trading Newsletter. We all have trading accounts, and while our trading accounts are important, what is even more important are our long-term investment and retirement accounts. Why? Because they are, in most cases, our largest store of wealth other than our homes, and if they are not protected during a time like this, you could lose 25-50% or more of your entire net worth. The good news is we can preserve and even grow our long term capital when things get ugly like they are now and ill show you how and one of the best trades is one your financial advisor will never let you do because they do not make money from the trade/position. If you have any type of retirement account and are looking for signals when to own equities, bonds, or cash, be sure to become a member of my Long-Term Investing Signals which we issued a new signal for subscribers. Ride my coattails as I navigate these financial markets and build wealth while others lose nearly everything they own during the next financial crisis. Chris Vermeulen www.TheTechnicalTraders.com Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better. His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility. He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect. Chris Vermeulen Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Taiwan separatist lobby try hijacking US policy Global Times By Yang Sheng Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/18 19:39:39 Since the US identified China as its major strategic competitor, separatists of Taiwan island have been taking advantage of the widening rifts to influence US foreign policy. The Taiwan lobby aims to shake the foundation of the China-US relationship and has renewed sway among US politicians in the White House and Congress. The separatist Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of Taiwan has seemingly gained achievements in recent years. US Congress has passed legislation encouraging Taiwan separatism and provoking China's sovereignty. The Taiwan Travel Act, signed by the Trump administration in 2018, allows leaders of Taiwan to travel to the US as all but diplomatic representatives. Passed in March, The Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act calls on international organizations to increase the island's so-called diplomatic scope. Most recently, the White House has made efforts to politicize the World Health Assembly (WHA) by encouraging its allies to support Taiwan to join the assembly without respecting the one-China principle. The DPP and pro-Taiwan independence US politicians might believe they have created many troubles for the Chinese mainland with little cost, and they can even earn benefits from each other without significant punishment from China, but in fact, they are endangering the peace of the West Pacific region experts warned. When China realizes the US completely changed its promise to respect the one-China principle, as well as abandoned its official neutrality on Taiwan affairs, the mainland would probably decide peaceful reunification is unlikely to realize. The mainland will be forced to prepare non-peaceful measure, and at that time, Taiwan separatists and US warmongers will lose, said mainland analysts. Influencing US foreign policy Taiwan lobbying in the US can be traced back to the World War II. The Kuomintang regime at the time sent delegations to lobby the US asking for support in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and after 1949 when the KMT lost the civil war and retreated to Taiwan, the island's authority also lobbied the US to build a "joint defense alliance" against the mainland. When the US established formal diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China in 1979, Taiwan had used its lobby groups to ensure the US passed the Taiwan Relations Act to maintain some connections between the island and the US under table, including arm sales. The bipartisan Congressional Taiwan Caucus is the second largest Congressional Member Organization in the United States Congress with 139 members. The caucus focuses exclusively on improving US ties with the island. Chinese mainland analysts noted that apart from Israeli lobby groups, advocacy groups from Taiwan are likely the ones that spent the most money influencing US foreign policy. Yuan Zheng, a research fellow and expert on Taiwan lobbying activities in the US at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times "Taiwan has paid a lot of efforts to maintain its ties with US congressional members by inviting them to travel to the island and also building personal relations with their families." Especially with the conservative Republicans with anti-Communist mentality, the island has found common ideological ground with them. After the island kicked off Western neoliberal democratic reform in the 1980s, the Democrats also found they have political values in common, so even though Taiwan politicians provided material benefits to influence US foreign policy, they would not be criticized in US public opinion due to ideological reasons, Yuan said. In the US, the Chinese mainland doesn't have such capacity to influence Congress even though it has more money than Taiwan and is more powerful. Due to ideological difference, it would be a "political suicide" if any US politician dares to help the mainland, even if it could benefit both sides, Yuan added. The two major political parties of the island all have their own lobby groups in the US. The KMT has held a pro-reunification stance and had deeper connection with the US. The separatist DPP was not considered as trustworthy as the KMT in the 2000s, US worried the DPP's extreme separatism held by the island's then-leader Chen Shui-bian would send the US to unnecessary frictions with the Chinese mainland. "The time has changed. At that time, the Bush administration needed China's support to its Global War on Terror, as the biggest enemy to the US at that time was terrorists, so it will surely try its best to make sure China-US ties were stable and suppress separatists of the island," Yuan said. In 2016, according to CNN, the DPP officials hired US senator-turned-lobbyist Bob Dole to set up a controversial phone call between then president-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan regional leader Tsai Ing-wen, marking a shift in the US attitude toward cross-Straits relations. "I've never met a member of Congress who says 'I don't support Taiwan issues,'" said Coen Blaauw, executive director of the Washington-based Taiwan advocacy group Formosan Association for Public Relations, the VOA reported on March 27, 2019 in a report about the Taiwan advocacy groups influencing the quick rising ties between the US and the island. Yuan said although the DPP and the KMT have sponsored and run different lobby groups in the US, they now share common interests, and due to the fact that they have deep ties with local Chinese Americans, they can even help the local US politicians, including senators, run for election. "For instance, Global Taiwan Institute, a new lobby group backed by the DPP, was sponsored by local Chinese American businessmen," and they can make Chinese Americans vote, and provide political contribution to US politicians for local elections, so they share a lot of common interests, Yuan said. Money and politics The power comparison between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits has totally lost balance as the mainland has overwhelming advantage in economy, military, politics and technology, so the US believes that if it just maintains its previous policy, the mainland will soon reunify with Taiwan and Washington will lose its most important card that could effectively provoke and contain the Chinese mainland, said an anonymous Taiwan-based military observer. "So the politicians in both the US and the island will have more excuses and legitimacy to boost arms sales and they can earn more profits from the business," he noted. Li Xiaobing, a Taiwan studies expert at Nankai University in Tianjin, said that in fact, the most important reason for Taiwan to influence the US foreign policy is the island's status, which is a key matter the US can exploit to contain the Chinese mainland, and that Taiwan is a major client to US military industrial companies and is willing to spend high prices to buy outdated weapons. "So the interests are always entangled with corruption under the table." The US-based Project 2049 Institute is one of the organizations that frequently receive "donations" from Taiwan authorities, the Global Times found. Ian Easton, a research fellow from the institute, published an article in March advocating that "America should put military forces in Taiwan" in return for Taiwan island's long-term funding and to cater to the rise of US containment of the Chinese mainland. The Taiwan representative office in the US in 2016 gave the institute $150,000 in funding, while the Taiwan "defense department" also donated about $130,000. Additionally, the Prospect Foundation, a think tank in Taiwan focused on security, donated $60,000-70,000 to the Project 2049 Institute. Dangerous moves If Taiwan lobby groups and US politicians keep moving in this direction, the possibility of a peaceful reunification by the mainland will decline sharply, and this is truly dangerous for them, Li said. Lu Xiang, a research fellow on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, said that the US has no capability to protect Taiwan once the separatists cross the red line, since the mainland now has the overwhelming military advantage to solve this long-standing problem, therefore "the more tricks they play to challenge our principle, the nearer we get to reunification." However, the DPP and other separatists of the island don't really believe the mainland dares to solve the Taiwan question by force as they believe the mainland is preoccupied by other problems, Yuan said. "They might push something like an illegal 'independence referendum' to challenge the Chinese mainland's bottom line, and if the US made no effort to suppress these dangerous attempts, the mainland might have no choice but to respond with ultimate measures," said Jin Canrong, associate dean of Renmin University of China's School of International Studies in Beijing. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Georgian Chechen Tsezari Tokhosashvili fought for the Islamic State in Syria under the name of Al-Bara Al-Shishani State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) escorted and handed over one of the leaders of the Islamic State (ISIS) to Georgian law enforcement officers. This was reported by the SBUs press center. Georgian Chechen Tsezari Tokhosashvili fought for the Islamic State in Syria under the name of Al-Bara Al-Shishani and was a member of the organization's leadership. In the summer of 2018, Tokhosashvili arrived in Ukraine with a forged passport. On November 15, 2019, the SBU announced the apprehension of Shishani, it was executed with the assistance of Georgia's Interior Ministry and the US Central Intelligence Agency. As we reported earlier, Ukraine's State Security Service detained two members of the terrorist group under the leadership of Valeriy Bergman, nicknamed the German, that blew up six bridges in Donbas. "The secret service staff documented that Germans group seized 1.2 tons of ammonite explosive at the Melnikov mine in 2014. Terrorists used explosives to blow up four bridges in the settlements of Zakotne and Siversk of Donetsk region, two bridges in the towns of Rubizhne and Lysychansk of Luhansk region, two more bridges in Lysychansk were also mined," the statement said. The United Kingdom and the United States on Tuesday urged Russia to stop sending mercenaries to the conflict in Libya, after a recent United Nations report confirmed the presence of Russian and Syrian fighters in the country. Russia dismissed the demands at a Security Council videoconference, however, denying again that Moscow has any role in the presence of Russian fighters in Libya, and calling the UN report unreliable. We remain particularly concerned by further reports that external parties continue to provide material, equipment, [and] mercenaries, said Jonathan Allen, the UKs deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. He pointed in particular to a private Russian security group, the Wagner Group, which is seen as being close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Wagner Group activities continue to exacerbate the conflict and prolong the suffering of the Libyan people, Allen said. He also invoked the UN arms embargo on Libya that has been in place since 2011, adding: I want to urge all Security Council members to abide by the resolutions of this council, which they themselves have voted for. United States ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft said all actors involved in the conflict in Libya must immediately suspend military operations. They must halt the ongoing transfer of foreign military equipment and personnel to Libya, including as the United Kingdom mentioned, Wagner Group mercenaries, she continued. Simply unfounded Allen and Crafts Russian counterpart Vassily Nebenzia dismissed the claims as speculation. For the most part, the report is based on unverified or clearly fabricated data and is aimed at discrediting Russias policy in Libya, Nebenzia said. Many of the data especially regarding Russian citizens mentioned in the report is simply unfounded. There are no Russian servicemen in Libya. The confidential UN report comes from UN experts monitoring the arms embargo. It confirmed mercenaries from the Wagner Group are in Libya, and revealed the presence of Syrian fighters from Damascus supporting renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar. Haftar, who controls swaths of eastern Libya, launched an offensive in April last year against the capital Tripoli, seat of the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA). The document also confirms that Syrian rebels are fighting in Libya in support of the GNA, backed by Turkey since late 2019. The acting UN envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams told the Security Council via a video briefing on Tuesday that the UN continues to witness an alarming military build-up as a result of the uninterrupted dispatch by the foreign backers of increasingly sophisticated and lethal weapons, not to mention the recruitment of more mercenaries to both sides of the conflict. Firm and clear A main Haftar backer, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said on Tuesday that it believes the only acceptable path forward in the Libyan crisis involves an immediate, comprehensive ceasefire and a return to the political process, according to a statement from Anwar Gargash, the UAEs minister of state for foreign affairs. The UAEs position on the Libyan crisis has been firm and clear & shared by the majority of the international community, Gargash said on Twitter. The UAE, along with Egypt, has supported Haftar. Turkey has accused the UAE of bringing chaos to the region through its interventions in Libya and Yemen. Libya, a major oil-producing state, descended into chaos after the NATO-backed overthrow of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Since 2014, Libya has been split, with the internationally recognised government controlling the capital Tripoli and the northwest, while Haftar in Benghazi rules the east. Haftar launched an offensive a year ago to grab Tripoli. He is supported by the UAE, Egypt and Russia, while the government is backed by Turkey. Libya has been under a UN arms embargo since 2011. The only conclusion that we can draw is that this war will intensify, broaden and deepen, Williams said. The UN envoy said the escalation will have devastating consequences for the Libyan people who are getting lost in the mix, their voices crowded out. We must not let Libya slip away. This council can ensure the collective security it is mandated to maintain by applying consistent and credible pressure on those regional and international actors that are fuelling the conflict. Russian private military contractor Wagner Group has up to 1,200 people deployed in Libya to strengthen Haftars forces, according to a UN report. They have been known to keep a low profile when it comes to advertising their relationship on social media. But on Monday, model Elsa Hosk and longtime beau Tom Daly had no problem expressing their love for each other when they headed out for a stroll on the streets of Manhattan. The couple, who have been dating since 2015, packed on the PDA, all while adhering to a safety first mentality by wearing protective masks during their break from home quarantine. Affectionate: Model Elsa Hosk and longtime beau Tom Daly packed on the PDA when they headed out for a walk in New York City on Monday The Swedish model, 31, kept it casual but stylish in black leggings and a double-breasted leather jacket. She also donned white sneakers and pulled her long blonde tresses back into a loose bun. Along with her blue and red Sol Angeles mask, the Victoria's Secret star looked nearly unrecognizable when she added dark sunglasses to her ensemble for the walk. Sweet sentiments: The couple held hands for much of time during their break from home quarantine The Swedish model, 31, kept it casual but stylish in black leggings and a double-breasted leather jacket Daly looked casual-cool in an all-black ensemble that consisted of flared slacks, matching sweater and Vans sneakers. He styled his blonde locks long, straight and flowing well past his shoulders with a part on the slight left. Hosk and Daly, who's the co-founder and creative director of Running Vision, a company that sells sunglasses made for jogging and running, held hands for a good portion of their walk. The 5ft 9.5in beauty has been busy documenting her day-to-day life in lockdown for Vogue magazine. Bright: She showed off her colorful bottoms with a bold top Her sequestered life: The 5ft 9.5in beauty has been busy documenting her day-to-day life in lockdown for Vogue magazine; the couple are pictured on Christmas 2019 After their walk, Hosk shared a series of photos she dubbed 'fruits and flowers of the week' that included a snap of her derriere while dressed in green pants, as she leaned on a table filled with colorful flowers. Earlier in their home sequester, Hosk shared how she's been taking care of her mental health amid the COVID-19 crisis during a q-and-a session Instagram with her 6.1 million followers. She has taken a more broad approach that includes: 'meditation, cooking, not sleeping longer than usual, working out, staying creative, taking pictures, drawing, painting , playing games, and checking in on family and friends.' Hosk and Daley first got together in 2015, but they had already established a relationship as friends a number of years before they got intimate. If the Congress has buses, it should send them to Lucknow, where a large number of people are waiting to go home, BSP president Mayawati said on Tuesday, amid a war of words over Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's offer of 1,000 buses to ferry migrants. Earlier, hours after the Uttar Pradesh government asked the Congress to provide the buses to the district magistrates of Ghaziabad and Noida, a fresh argument broke out between them over claims that the list submitted by the party contained registration numbers of ambulances, three-wheelers and cars. In a series of tweets in Hindi, the Mayawati said, "The BSP wants to say that if the Congress party actually has 1,000 buses, there should be no delay in sending them to Lucknow because migrant labourers in large numbers are eagerly waiting here to go home." On Monday night, the UP government had asked the Congress to send the buses to Lucknow, drawing a sharp reaction from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's private secretary, who recalled that the party had sought permission to run 500 buses from the Ghazipur border in Ghaziabad and 500 from the Noida border, where a large number of migrants had gathered. He also questioned the relevance of bringing the empty buses to Lucknow. The BSP president, in another tweet on Tuesday, appealed to the central government to take positive steps to send migrant workers home safely by buses and trains at its expense, keeping in mind the economic condition of the states and for the sake of humanity. "It is also necessary to ask the state governments to make proper arrangements for food and lodging of migrants in their respective states and send them home in buses and trains," she said in another tweet. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Fresh from convincing the High Court to acquit Cardinal George Pell of child sex offences, Sydney barrister Bret Walker, SC, is turning his attention to the murder conviction of wealthy property developer Ron Medich. Medich is currently serving a minimum 29-year sentence after a 2018 jury found him guilty of the 2009 murder of a business rival Michael McGurk and the subsequent intimidation of McGurks widow Kimberley. Murderer Ron Medich is appealing his 2018 conviction. Credit:AAP Because of the number of errors and irregularities, which he claimed had occurred throughout the trial, Mr Walker told the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal there had been a substantial miscarriage of justice and he was seeking an acquittal rather than a retrial. NEW DELHI President Donald Trumps declaration that he was taking a malaria drug of dubious effectiveness to help fend off the coronavirus will likely be welcomed in India. Trumps previous endorsement of hydroxychloroquine catalyzed a tremendous shift in the South Asian country, spurring the worlds largest producer of the drug to make much more of it, prescribe it for front-line health workers treating the virus and deploy it as a diplomatic tool, despite mounting evidence against using the drug for COVID-19. Trump said Monday that he was taking hydroxychloroquine as a measure of protection against the virus. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, however, has cautioned against using it outside of hospitals because of the risk of serious heart problems. Suhhil Gupta, a pharmacist in New Delhi, said Tuesday that Trumps announcement shouldnt carry any weight in India. Hes not a pharmacist. His statements are not relevant to the field, Gupta said. Still, Indias policy on the decades-old drug, used to prevent malaria and treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, drastically changed after Trump tweeted in March that the drug, used together with an antibiotic, could be game changers in the fight against the pandemic. Indias health ministry quickly approved it as a prophylactic for health care workers and others at high risk of infection, and as a treatment for critically ill patients. Officials in Mumbai even drew up a plan to administer hydroxychloroquine to thousands of slum dwellers as a preventive measure against the virus. Indian health officials have declined repeated requests for comment, limiting communications to daily health briefings, the last of which occurred May 11. The rules say that drugs such as hydroxychloroquine be used only after a rigorous scientific and ethical review, continued oversight by an ethics committee and ensuring informed consent none of which happened with hydroxychloroquine, according to Dr. Amar Jesani, a medical ethics expert. The Mumbai proposal was ultimately shelved amid questions of the ethics of administering the malaria drug without first subjecting it to clinical trials. Still, the Indian government has recommended more and more people use it, contravening 2017 rules for emergency use of untested drugs, Jesani said. India initially banned hydroxychloroquine exports, but lifted the ban after Trump threatened retaliation. At the same time, Indias government ordered manufacturers to ramp up production from 1.2 million to 3 million pills a month causing company shares to skyrocket. From the U.S. to Australia, sales jumped. Officials have even said that Indian plantations could increase the growing capacity of cinchona trees, whose bark contains the compound quinine, which has been used to treat malaria since the 1860s. Quinine can also be made synthetically. The Indian government itself purchased 100 million hydroxychloroquine pills, according to government data, to distribute to states and donate to countries including Afghanistan, Myanmar and the Dominican Republic. India is the worlds largest producer of generic drugs, a fast-growing industry that has brought down pharmaceutical prices globally. During the HIV/AIDs crisis, India played a similar role as in the coronavirus pandemic, boosting global supplies of life-saving drugs. The problem this time, experts say, is that the hydroxychloroquine hype is based on a flimsy study, with little to no evidence that it prevents or treats COVID-19. Still, a sharp rise in demand has reduced supplies for patients with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Indias hurried guidance has also impeded scientific trials that could determine whether the benefits of taking hydroxychloroquine outweigh the risks. We should do a trial. I think that is the right way to come to answer on this question. But the (government) made our job harder, said Dr. Bharath Kumar, whose team has proposed a trial. Meanwhile, evidence against using hydroxychloroquine for the coronavirus is growing. A U.S. study of 368 patients in veterans hospitals, the largest study yet examining the malaria drugs value as a coronavirus antidote, found no benefits and even more deaths among those given the drug. The Indian governments own assessment of 19 drugs found that hydroxychloroquine wasnt the most promising. A task force noted that while hydroxychloroquine was readily available, the strength of scientific evidence for the mechanism of action was fairly low. With more than 101,000 cases and 3,163 deaths, the coronavirus hasnt yet overwhelmed Indias limited health care system. But thats starting to change in some hot spots as a stringent weeks-long nationwide lockdown begins to ease, allowing for greater mobility of the countrys 1.3 billion people. Nowhere is this clearer than in Maharashtra, the coastal state in central India bearing a third of Indias virus caseload. The states medical education and research agency has been administering hydroxychloroquine to patients in public hospitals and clinics, according to court records. Agency chief Dr. Tatyarao P. Lahane said protocols set by Indias government were being followed and declined to answer further questions. Dr. Shriprakash Kalantri of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Maharashtra said the government was recommending hydroxychloroquine for off label, or unapproved, use, meaning that patients must be told that there is a small but significant risk that it might harm you. If there is no evidence backed by solid clinical trials, then why are the scientific bodies pushing this drug and giving an impression to the public that this is a magic bullet and this is your last hope? Kalantri said. ___ Associated Press writer Biswajeet Banerjee in Lucknow, India, contributed to this report. Flash A Chinese envoy on Monday called on parties in Syria to engage constructively in dialogue to seek a political settlement of the crisis in the country. China attaches great importance to the appeals by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Special Envoy Geir Pedersen for a cease-fire in Syria, and calls on all parties to enhance mutual trust, de-escalate the situation and jointly combat the COVID-19 pandemic, said Yao Shaojun, China's acting deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. There is a window of opportunity to promote inclusive dialogue and create favorable conditions for a political solution, he told a virtual meeting of the Security Council. The Syrian parties should continue to engage constructively with each other and maintain dialogue within the framework of the Constitutional Committee, he said. The future of Syria must be decided by the Syrians on their own, without foreign interference. It is fundamental to respect and safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, he added. At the same time, the international community should keep vigilance at terrorists seeking to take advantage of the current situation in Syria, said Yao. Terrorist groups are still making assaults in Idlib in the northwest as well as other provinces, posing constant threats to the security and stability of Syria and the entire region. The Security Council should pay close attention and support Pedersen's call for effective, cooperative and targeted counter-terrorism efforts, he said. "We call on relevant parties to step up dialogue and negotiations to find a long-term solution in terms of counter-terrorism at an early date." Although the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is comparatively limited in Syria, containment and prevention measures are indispensable, given the quick transmission of the virus, he said. The Syrian government is taking effective measures in medical, transportation, education and many other sectors. China appreciates these efforts. China is ready to strengthen cooperation with the people and government of Syria in combating the virus, and offer assistance within its capacity, said Yao. The international community should provide more support for Syria in the fight against the virus as the Syrian government's efforts serve the interests of the Syrian people, he said. Unilateral sanctions should be lifted without delay as they undermine countries' capacity to mobilize resources and respond to the pandemic, he said. WASHINGTON Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told senators Tuesday that his department and the Fed are "fully prepared to take losses in certain scenarios" on the capital remaining to be distributed from the CARES Act. Mnuchin did not describe the "certain scenarios" in which he is prepared to take losses, but he emphasized that the Treasury is ready to distribute the entire $500 billion initially appropriated to help struggling businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. So far, Mnuchin said, the government has committed up to $195 billion in credit support, leaving $259 billion to create or expand programs as needed. That total of $454 billion is equal to the original appropriation, minus the $46 billion specifically earmarked for airlines. Mnuchin made the remarks in remote testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on the Trump administration's efforts to stanch the economic bleeding caused by the pandemic. The hearing marked the first time federal officials have answered questions from Congress about the massive stimulus program. Mnuchin testified alongside Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and both men stressed that economic data from states that are beginning to reopen will be key to determining the next steps in the federal response. "We're going to see here fairly quickly how the opening goes. It's very hard to know. We're going to be getting a lot of information fairly quickly in terms of what might be needed," Powell told senators. Mnuchin and Powell also assured lawmakers that the business lending program and the municipal loan program will both begin distributing capital by the end of the month. Financial markets were largely unaffected by the testimony, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down less than half of one percent at midday. Mnuchin acknowledged the "unprecedented challenges the American people are experiencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic," telling senators "the disease is impacting families and communities across the nation. Through no fault of their own, the American people are also enduring economic challenges." More than 36 million Americans have filed for unemployment during the pandemic. Mnuchin also stressed that while there are several different models of what could become of the $500 billion loan fund, it's possible that the government could ultimately lose all the money it plans to lend. "There are scenarios within [the business lending programs] where we could lose all of our capital, and we're prepared to do that. And there are scenarios where the world gets better, and we could actually make a small amount of money," Mnuchin said in an exchange with Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. "Our intention is that we expect to take some losses on these facilities. That's our base case scenario," said Mnuchin. Mnuchin defended the administration's track record on disbursement of money from the $2 trillion CARES Act passed by Congress to aid struggling businesses, industries and individuals. Lesotho's beleaguered prime minister Thomas Thabane resigned on Tuesday, ending a months-long crisis that engulfed the kingdom after he was accused of playing a role in the murder of his estranged wife. The June 2017 killing sent shockwaves through the tiny landlocked southern African nation, plunging the country into political turmoil and prompting calls for the 80-year-old leader to step down. Thabane and his then wife Lipolelo Thabane, 58, were in the midst of a bitter divorce when she was shot dead outside her home two days before her husband's inauguration. Police said they found Thabane's mobile number in communications records from the crime scene. The alleged evidence prompted rivals within and outside Thabane's party All Basotho Convention (ABC) party, to demand his immediate resignation. On Tuesday he confirmed he was stepping down. "I appear before you to announce that the work that you had assigned me may not be over but the time to retire from the great theatre of action, take leave from public life and office has finally arrived," he said in a national television address. 'Entrenching divisions' Thabane, whose elected term was due to end in 2022, earlier this year said he would leave office by July 31 because of his advanced age. "When I made a voluntary announcement in January this year to retire from office, on or before the 31st of July 2020, I did so with all sincerity because of my full conviction and belief that to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heaven -- a time to be born and time to die," Thabane said Tuesday. "But because of the deeply entrenched political polarisation in our society, some decided to use my announcement for political gain while others resigned themselves into further entrenching divisions among Basotho." His All Basotho Convention (ABC) party and the opposition nominated Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro to be his successor after Thabane's coalition government was disbanded last week. The country's supreme ruler King Letsie III, has also been advised to appoint Majoro at premier and he is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday. Thabane has vehemently denied any involvement his his ex-wife murder, and told AFP last he is not a killer. "I don't kill people and I wouldn't kill my wife. No, no!" he said. His current wife Maesaiah Thabane, 43, whom he married two months after Lipolelo's death, is considered a co-conspirator in the murder case. She has already been charged with murder and is out on bail. While no premier has served out a full five-year term in Lesotho over the past decade, Thabane boasted in the interview with AFP that he has set an example to fellow African leaders who have a propensity to cling to power. "I'm trying to set a precedent that leaders in Africa must volunteer to leave when they think it's time to leave or at the very worst they must leave when their term ends." Thabane will remain the leader of his ruling ABC for the time being. President Trump reignited the media firestorm over his endorsement of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a prophylactic against and treatment for coronavirus, revealing in response to question that he is currently taking the drug and has been doing so for about two weeks. To my eyes, he appeared to relish the bewilderment and outrage that immediately started brewing among the media facing him. Watch all four minutes for yourself: I happened to be watching Neil Cavuto's Fox News show when the program cut away to President Trump answering reporters' questions following his meeting with restaurant industry executives, and so I had the experience of watching a NeverTrump go low immediately after the questions ended. Via Breitbart: "A number of studies, those certainly vulnerable in the population have one thing to lose, their lives," Cavuto said on his program following President Trump's announcement. "A VA study showed that among a population of veterans in a hospital receiving this treatment, those with vulnerable conditions, respiratory conditions, heart elements, they died." "Those who took it, in a vulnerable population, including those with respiratory or other conditions, they died," the Fox Business Network host continued. "I want to stress again they died. If you are in a risky population here and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus or, in a worst-case scenario, you are dealing with the virus, and you are in this vulnerable population, it will kill you. I cannot stress that enough. This will kill you." "So again, whatever benefit the president says this has and certainly has had for those suffering from malaria, dealing with lupus this is a leap that should not be taken casually by those watching at home or assuming, 'well, the President of the United States says it's okay,'" he added. My friend Mike Nadler, who happened to watching, too, was so outraged that he fired off an email to Cavuto refuting him, which I share with permission: President Trump also took exception to Cavuto's treatment: .@FoxNews is no longer the same. We miss the great Roger Ailes. You have more anti-Trump people, by far, than ever before. Looking for a new outlet! https://t.co/jXxsF0flUM Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020 Of course, Fox News was the least of it when it came to outraged (and outrageous) reactions. Via NewsBusters: Even though the FDA says the use of Hydroxychloroquine was up to a patient and their doctor, Monday's evening newscasts saw ABC, CBS, and NBC clutch their pearls after President Trump admitted he's been taking the anti-Malaria drug for several days to prevent catching coronavirus. Acting as though he was self-medicating and not telling viewers that the drug needed a prescription to obtain it, which meant his doctor approved it, these liberal networks decried the medial precaution. ABC's World News Tonight and the CBS Evening News kicked off their newscasts with the headline stealing development. "But, of course, the headline that immediately took over all the others, when late today, the President said he's been taking hydroxychloroquine for more than a week," announced ABC anchor David Muir. He added: "But, of course, it led to immediate questions about why he's taking it, with the FDA warning that no one should be taking the drug for coronavirus outside a hospital or clinical trial." Reporting on how the President said he had spoken with the White House physician before he started taking the drug, ABC chief White House correspondent Jon Karl didn't mention that it needed a prescription (click "expand"): KARL: Did the White House doctor recommend that you that? Is that why you're taking it? TRUMP: Yeah, White House doctor. Didn't recommend. No, I asked him, "what do you think" and he said, "well, if you'd like it." I said, "yeah, I'd like it. I'd like to take it." A lot of people are taking it. KARL: The President, who regularly gets tested for coronavirus, said he is taking the drug as a preventive, not because he has tested positive or has any symptoms. Spanish-language network Telemundo went full fake news and declared via an on-screen headline that read "TRUMP SELF MEDICATES." The network apparently didn't understand what self mediation was. Anchor Jose Diaz-Balart looked to correspondent Javier Vega and asked: "Do we know why the president decided to self-medicate with this drug?" And Vega responded by admitting "because his doctor prescribed it." President Trump's physician released a statement on why the POTUS is taking HCQ: As has been previously reported, two weeks ago one of the President's support staff tested positive for COVID-19. The President is in very good health and has remained symptom-free. He receives regular COVID-19 testing, all negative to date. After numerous discussions he and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks. In consultation with our inter-agency partners and subject matter experts around the country, I continue to monitor the myriad studies investigating potential COVID-19 therapies, and I anticipate employing the same shared medical decision making based on the evidence at hand in the future. The most bizarre reaction came from Fredo Cuomo, suggesting a hoax: But there were plenty of physicians, who had not examined or treated Trump, who expressed outrage, including on Fox. President Trump obviously thinks that at least until something better comes along, many months in the future, HCQ is a valuable tool in fighting this plague. Like all medications, including aspirin, it has its risks. I can tell you this: if I were to contract the Wuhan Virus, my first step would be to consult my physician to get a prescription for HCQ, and I think I am in a large majority of Americans. Photo credit: YouTube screen grab. ATLANTAA South Georgia residents video of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery helped spark nationwide protests and revive law enforcement scrutiny of the case, resulting in murder charges against two men who chased and fatally shot Arbery. But unlike others who have been hailed as heroes for recording shootings, the man who filmed the fatal encounter is under investigation for his potential involvement in the pursuit of Arbery. In recent days, protesters have called for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to arrest the man, William Bryan, a resident of the Satilla Shores neighbourhood near Brunswick, Ga., where Arbery was killed on Feb. 23. Bryans half-minute video, which was released online this month, appears to have been recorded while Bryan was following Arbery in a vehicle. In the video, Arbery, 25, can be seen running down a tree-lined street as two of Bryans neighbours Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34 wait up ahead for him. Arbery and Travis McMichael are seen tussling over McMichaels shotgun as McMichael shoots three times. Arbery then spins around, tries to run and falls to the pavement. On Monday, S. Lee Merritt, a lawyer for Arberys family, reiterated his contention that because Bryan had participated in the chase and corralled Arbery, he should be arrested along with the McMichaels, who were charged May 7 with murder and aggravated assault. We know its not only the man who pulled the trigger, Merritt said. Bryans lawyer, Kevin Gough, declined to comment on Monday. But in an earlier statement, Gough said that Bryan was unarmed at the time of the shooting and should not be charged with a crime. The director of the GBI, Vic Reynolds, had said the agency was investigating Bryans involvement in the shooting, drawing criticism from Gough. Such comments, which are unsupported by the evidence already in the possession of the GBI, have needlessly placed the lives of Mr. Bryan, his family, friends and neighbours in jeopardy, and in a matter of moments effectively destroyed his life, Gough said. Mr. Bryan respectfully asks that the GBI promptly review the file again and clear his good name. Bryan was considered a participant in the pursuit long before the video emerged online. He is mentioned in the initial police report of the killing, which was based largely on a Glynn County police officers interview with Gregory McMichael. McMichael told the officer that he and his son grabbed their guns and began chasing Arbery after seeing him run through the neighbourhood. McMichael also said he thought Arbery was the suspect in a series of break-ins. The McMichaels tried to cut off Arbery during the chase, according to Gregory McMichaels account, and Arbery tried to avoid them by turning around and running in the other direction. At that point, Bryan attempted to block him, which was unsuccessful, according to the report. Arbery then turned onto another street, and the McMichaels got in front of him while Bryan pursued from behind and began filming. Bryans involvement is also mentioned in a letter that George E. Barnhill, the district attorney in Waycross, Georgia, wrote to the Glynn County police in April. Barnhill was the second of four prosecutors who have been in charge of the case. He recused himself, citing a conflict of interest, but not before advising the police that insufficient probable cause existed to arrest the McMichaels or Bryan. The three men, Barnhill said, appeared to be following, in hot pursuit, a burglary suspect, with solid firsthand probable cause, in their neighbourhood, and asking/telling him to stop. Barnhills analysis, which was first reported by The New York Times, likely contributed to the decision by the local police not to arrest the men. After the release of the video, an independent investigation was initiated by the GBI, which arrested the McMichaels within two days. Bryan remains free, and has gone on television in an effort to explain himself. Last week, he and Gough appeared on the CNN program Cuomo Prime Time. Bryan was largely quiet, but Gough interjected as the programs anchor, Chris Cuomo, asked Bryan about his actions on Feb. 23 and his motivation for recording the video. Gough assigned blame for the shooting to the McMichaels, asserting that Bryan lived nearby and was drawn by the commotion. This is a terrible matter and some people are going to have to answer for what they did, Gough said. But my client is not responsible for that. My client was unarmed. My client has not shot anybody. My client hasnt been in so much as a fist fight since he was in high school. Bryan offered his sympathy to Arberys family, and said he was praying for them, and noted the role the video played in bringing attention to the case. If there wasnt a tape, then we wouldnt know what happened, he said. I hope that it, in the end, brings justice to the family and peace to the family. Legal experts said the uncertainty that appeared to surround Bryans involvement may be making it more difficult for prosecutors to determine whether to criminally charge him, and for what. It all sort of turns on the facts, said Nirej Sekhon, a law professor at Georgia State University. Im not even sure what crime he would be charged with, and we need to know more about his mental state and how he helped, if at all. The manner in which Bryans video surfaced is its own unusual drama. A Brunswick lawyer, Alan Tucker, told a TV news station that Gregory McMichael brought him the video and asked him if he could help him deliver it to a local radio host. Tucker, who did not respond to messages seeking comment on Monday, said McMichael hoped the video would clear up rumours circulating about the shooting. According to WSB-TV, an ABC affiliate in Atlanta, Tucker said he hoped the release of Bryans video would help ease racial tensions. I didnt want the neighbourhood to become a Ferguson, Tucker said. Thailand-based hospitality group Minor International (MINT) said is planning to raise capital in the total amount of 25 billion baht ($782 million) through various instruments, including perpetual bonds, a rights offering and three-year warrants. The share capital increases are subject to shareholders approval at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders to be held on 19June 2020. The announced capital increase programme will be completed between 2020 and2023. The issuance of 10 billion baht equivalent in onshore/offshore equity-accounted perpetual bonds is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2020. The rights offering, which targets to raise approximately 10 billion baht of capital, is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2020, while warrants, aiming to raise additional equity in the total amount of approximately 5 billion baht, will be issued after the rights offering transaction is completed, with a tenure of three years from the issue date. TradeArabia News Service IBRI, Oman, May 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, the global leading inverter solution supplier for renewables, announced it will supply 1500V SG250HX inverter solutions to the 500 MWac IBRI II project in Oman, which is the largest utility-scale PV plant in the Sultanate to date, demonstrating the Company's robust efforts in supporting Oman's ambition of lifting the renewable energy mix by 10%. The delivery of inverter solutions will commence in Q2 this year. A Landmark Independent Power Plant The IBRI II PV project is an Independent Power Project (IPP) to be developed on a BOO (build, own, operate) basis. The $400 million project was funded on a debt to equity ratio of 70:30 and a consortium consisting of ACWA Power, Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) and the Alternative Energy Projects Company (AEPC) has achieved the financial closure of it recently. The project is expected to come online in the summer of 2021, barring aside any potential COVID-19 related considerations. It will supply clean power to state-owned utility Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) under a 15-year contract. The plant can generate roughly 1,300 GWh annually, which is enough to power an estimated 33,000 homes and offset 340,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. SG250HX Paves the Way to Lower LCOE The project is located in a desert around 300 km west of Muscat with ample sunshine and abundant flat land. The system poses strict requirements on a minimized LCOE with cutting-edge PV technologies and the resilience to harsh conditions like high temperature and sand corrosion. Sungrow's SG250HX, the world's most powerful 1500V string inverter, to be installed onsite is an ideal match to the project. The solution features 12 MPPTs with maximum efficiency of 99% and enables flexible block design allowing for up to 6.75 MW blocks. Compatible with bi-facial modules and tracking systems, the solution can significantly maximize ROI for a PV project. The improved Power Line Communication (PLC) will decrease installation cost without excessive communication wiring. Equipped with 24-hour Static Var Generator (SVG) function, the solution can provide an instantaneous and effective response to power quality problems, enabling improved power system stability, reduced energy losses and complying with most demanding local power quality standards and grid codes, saving approximately $1,143,000. Particularly with IP66 and C5 protection together with the smart forced air-cooling technology, the 250 kW inverter can operate without derating even the ambient temperature is up to 50 degree Celsius, strongly resilient to scorching deserts of Oman. Tap More Potential in MENA "As a leading developer, owner, and operator of power generation and water desalination plants, ACWA Power has considerable experience in deploying PV Independent Power Plants worldwide. The Oman IBRI II Solar PV is expected to play a strategic role in building Oman's renewable production capacity. We are delighted to partner with best-in-class entities such as Sungrow, that will support us in delivering long-term sustainable benefits for all our stakeholders through providing advanced, tailor-made solutions such as the SG250HX to our customers," commented Rajit Nanda, Chief Investment Officer from ACWA Power. "Sungrow and the SG250HX complement our ongoing mandate to provide low-cost power to communities through utilizing the latest, most cost-efficient technologies and we look forward to working on this venture with them," he added. "The 1500V 250 kW string inverter has been attracting around 3 GW orders since it was first rolled out in Intersolar Europe 2019. We're glad to decarbonize the local economy by bringing in more flagship products," said James Wu, Vice President of Sungrow. "It's another fabulous milestone we did in Oman, even in Gulf Cooperation Council. It once again demonstrates that growing number of customers are impressed by Sungrow competitive products and services," he added. Wu also mentioned, Sungrow supplied a 105 MW project in Oman which will be put into commercial operation soon. As one of the most energetic PV and BESS players in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Sungrow has the regional hub established in Dubai. In addition to remaining a remarkable market share in Omani PV market, Sungrow expands its footprints in other key markets in MENA as well. With the 500 MWac project added to its portfolio, the Company is expected to hit 1 GW in this region. About Sungrow Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd ("Sungrow") is the world's most bankable inverter brand with over 100 GW to be installed worldwide as of December 2019. Founded in 1997 by University Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters, with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial, and residential applications, as well as internationally recognized floating PV plant solutions. With a strong 23-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power installations in over 60 countries, maintaining a worldwide market share of over 15%. Learn more about Sungrow by visiting www.sungrowpower.com. Related Links www.sungrowpower.com SOURCE Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd About 36 bills are expected to be presented to Parliament when the House reconvenes on Tuesday [May 19, 2020]. These Bills include the Affirmative Action Bill, 2020, the Criminal Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the National Ambulance Service (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and the Value Added Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Eighteen Bills are currently at the Committee level and are expected to be worked on during this meeting. Bills at the committee level include the Public Universities Bill, 2020; Conduct of Public Officers Bills, 2018; Exemptions Bill, 2019; Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill, 2018; Intestate Succession Bill, 2018. A statement from Parliament said the Ghana Cocoa Board (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which is with the Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, will be read a second time. The Education Regulatory Bodies Bill, 2019, Pre-Tertiary Education Bill, 2019; the Land Bill, 2018 among others are at the consideration stage. The statement noted that sector ministers are expected to attend the meeting and answer questions pertinent to their Ministries. Parliament also gave the assurance that it will observe the social distancing protocol during the meeting. The leadership of Parliament has already indicated that it will allow some Members of Parliament (MPs) to occupy the public gallery in order to adequately observe t he social distancing protocol. ---citinewsroom More than five million people are eligible to cast ballots in race to succeed longtime President Pierre Nkurunziza. Voters in Burundi will head to the polls on Wednesday to pick a new president in a tense election held despite the threat of the coronavirus pandemic. Seven candidates are vying to succeed President Pierre Nkurunziza, who is stepping down after 15 years in power. Nkurunzizas decision to run for a third term in 2015 was condemned by the opposition as unconstitutional and sparked mass unrest. After a failed military coup and a crackdown by security forces, hundreds of thousands of people fled to neighbouring countries to escape the violence. Human rights groups have alleged widespread abuses by security forces since the last poll. 200427072137734 This time, Nkurunzizas governing CNDD-FDD party is fielding retired Army General Evariste Ndayishimiye, 52, as its candidate. A former rebel commander and security minister, Ndayishimiye heads the department of military affairs in the presidents office and is also the partys secretary-general. His main challenger is Agathon Rwasa, a former rebel leader and candidate with the National Congress for Liberty party. The 56-year-old, a longtime opponent of Nkurunziza, boycotted the elections in 2010 and 2015 claiming they were not free and fair. Such claims have resurfaced again in the lead-up to the poll, while campaigning has been marred by inflammatory rhetoric and sporadic violence with opposition party members and civil society groups alleging abuses by the governing partys youth league, the Imbonerakure. Violence and repression have been the hallmark of politics in Burundi since 2015, and as elections approach and the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, tensions are rising, Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said late last month. There is little doubt that these elections will be accompanied by more abuses, as Burundian officials and members of the Imbonerakure are using violence with near-total impunity to allow the ruling party to entrench its hold on power, he added. More than five million people are eligible to take part in the poll, which could mark Burundis first peaceful transfer of power since independence in 1962. Polling stations will open at 6am and close at 4pm local time. Provincial results are expected by May 26 and official results by June 4. Candidates have promised to fix the struggling economy and create jobs for the youth as well as increase investment in infrastructure and key sectors such as farming. Karuti Kanyinga, a professor of development studies at Nairobi University, said in Burundi, elections are held to maintain the status quo. The army and the ruling party will not let anyone else win, opposition candidates will dispute the results and we will see the situation of 2015, he told Al Jazeera. And with the rest of the world busy with COVID-19, the situation in Burundi might get worse. To date, the small country of 11 million people has recorded 42 confirmed coronavirus infections and one related death. Campaign rallies attracted thousands of people despite concerns that they could lead to an increase in infections. Last week, the government expelled the World Health Organizations (WHO) team in the country, accusing them of unacceptable interference in its management of the coronavirus. Burundi has also shut down the offices of independent media houses and is ranked 160 out of 180 countries for press freedom by Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog. Meanwhile, Wednesdays election will proceed without the presence of international observers. On May 8, 12 days to the polls and before the scheduled arrival of an East African Community mission to the country, the government said the regional blocs observers would have to be in quarantine for 14 days, effectively ruling them out of the election process. Abdullahi Halakhe Boru, a political analyst, said the governing party was the winner in all this. They have contained the opposition domestically, regional; countries are disinterested or dealing with their own domestic issues; the African Union is out of the picture; election observers are absent, he told Al Jazeera. They are the clear winner. Follow Hamza Mohamed on Twitter: @Hamza_Africa Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) The cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, and Cebu are eyeing to test 46,000 households or 10 percent of the cities' total households in a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in these areas, an official said Tuesday. "Yung [The] 46,000 households is equivalent to 10 percent of the entire households in the tricities," Assistant Secretary Jonji Gonzales of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas said Tuesday at the Laging Handa briefing. "One per household ang dapat itest [should be tested]. Sa ngayon [For now], Cebu City is at 50 percent of their test. Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu are almost hitting 100 percent." He added they are targeting a "sweeper test" in Cebu City. "Para lang yung mga konti yung mga test na ginawa sa Cebu City ay mabalikan yung mga barangay na 'yun at magkaroon ng test para we will get 100 percent," he explained but added the DOH has told them a 70 percent threshold would be enough. [Translation: So that those areas in Cebu City which only had a few tests done, we could go back to those barangays and conduct tests so we can reach the 100 percent.] Gonzales said they hope to hit their target in the next three days. At a press conference on Monday night, Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia said Cebu City recorded 33 new cases while Cebu Province has 10 new infections. Lapu-Lapu City, on the other hand, had five new cases while Mandaue City listed three new infections. With the new cases announced, Cebu now has a total of 2,049 COVID-19 infections. In April, the Philippines rolled out its first wave of the "progressive" expanded testing, where high-risk patients have been prioritized. These are people showing severe flu-like symptoms; the elderly, those with pre-existing health conditions, and pregnant women with mild symptoms; and healthcare workers with respiratory symptoms. To date, the country has recorded over 12,000 cases of the infectious disease. Stringer Dale Israel contributed to this report. Two women found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Sussex jumped together in a suicide pact, local reports suggest. Police investigating the incident have confirmed the two women were 'known to each other'. The bodies were recovered after lifeboats and the coastguard helicopter were scrambled to the cliffs near the popular seaside resort of Peacehaven yesterday. The two women - who are not believed to be from the local area - have not been formally identified. Residents say the women are thought to have leapt together as part of a pact. Two women found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Sussex jumped together in a suicide pact, local reports suggest. Pictured: Rescue crews on top of the cliff The two women - who are not believed to be from the local area - have not been formally identified. Pictured: Rescue crews at the scene One resident said: 'It's absolutely tragic. It is thought they jumped together and were found on the beach below.' Pictured: Emergency services at the scene Flowers were left at the scene today in tribute to the two women who died yesterday The area along the south coast is near Beachy Head. One resident said: 'It's absolutely tragic. It is thought they jumped together and were found on the beach below. 'My heart goes out to their families. I just hope it wasn't related to coronavirus, like they'd been bereaved or something.' The women were declared dead at the scene, Sussex Police said. A spokesman confirmed the bodies had been recovered from the cliffs yesterday. The bodies were recovered after lifeboats and the coastguard helicopter (pictured) were scrambled to the cliffs near the popular seaside resort of Peacehaven yesterday The women were declared dead at the scene, Sussex Police said. A spokesman confirmed the bodies had been recovered from the cliffs Lifeboats and the coastguard helicopter were scrambled to the cliffs near the popular seaside resort of Peacehaven yesterday Sussex Police said: 'We were alerted to an unattended bag at the cliff top and a search assisted by HM Coastguard and RNLI crews, was conducted. 'Sadly the bodies of two women, aged 39 and 49, were discovered in the vicinity of one another. 'The women were known to each other and their deaths are not being treated as suspicious. The matter has been passed to the Coroners Officer and next of kin have been informed.' For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a local branch or go to the website www.samaritans.org Seguin, TX (78155) Today Windy and becoming cloudy late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 33F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph.. Tonight Windy and becoming cloudy late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 33F. Winds N at 20 to 30 mph. BENGALURU, India and BLUE BELL, Pa., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Unisys Corporation today announced the winners of the 11th annual Unisys Cloud 20/20 contest, one of India's largest and most popular annual student innovation programs. The contest received more than 3,250 submissions from 130 colleges all over India. The project titled "Universal Interpreter" was picked as the winner. The project involved students from University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering who had submitted their solution to help differently-abled people navigate a world dominated by visual and audio peripherals using image recognition, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The team from MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology was awarded second place for their project titled "Action Bot," which was capable of addressing all general support requests from travelers at an airport using a contextual AI chatbot powered by ML. The team from Sri Manakula Vinayagar Engineering College was awarded third place. The team utilized real-time social media analytics to provide actionable insights that airports could use to improve their services. The participants went through three rounds of scrutiny by internal judges before they reached the last round, where they were further evaluated by an eminent jury comprised of Saloni Chirania Analytics Centre of Excellence Lead at Bangalore International Airport Ltd., Priya Madhavan Consultant at NASSCOM Future Skills, Debojyoti Das, Sachin Punyani and Ashish Subodh Mital Solution Architects at Amazon Internet Services Pvt. Ltd., Bharanidharan Ravishankar Senior Director Application Services, Unisys India, Ruma Mukherjee Lead Architect for Emerging Technologies, Unisys India, Debashish Mishra Principal Engineer Application Products Development, Unisys India and Dheeraj Sharma Principal Engineer ClearPath MCP, Unisys India Technology Center. Winning teams were awarded cash prizes up to INR 4.25 lakhs. Select winners also received internship offers and full-time employment opportunities with Unisys. Established in 2009 as a technical paper submission contest, the platform has now evolved into a business-facing contest, with an all new segment known as the Targeted Innovation Program (TIP), added this year. The TIP challenge required participants to find innovative solutions to real-life business problems posed by Unisys' clients, using emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), AI and ML. "From day one, the vision of Cloud 20/20 has been to foster innovative thinking among the youth of today and help familiarize them with emerging technologies. There is an abundance of talent throughout the country. Through this contest, Unisys aims to bring the best technical minds together, hone their skills and make them industry ready. It is exciting to see young creative minds at work and to witness their enthusiasm and fresh approaches towards solving real world problems," said Vishal Gupta, chief technology officer and senior vice president, Products and Platforms, Unisys. The TIP challenge has been able to provide contestants with hands-on experience on leading-edge technologies and their real-world applications. The new segment is in addition to the existing Student Innovation Program (SIP), where students use emerging technologies to come up with original and creative solutions to address business or societal problems, working closely with industry leaders, who provide them necessary guidance. Project teams from both SIP and TIP streams came together this year to compete for the top three prizes in the contest. Sumed Marwaha, managing director, Unisys India and regional vice president, Services, Unisys added, "Over the past decade, Cloud 20/20 has been a platform for thousands of students to bring their innovative ideas to life. This year, we sourced problem statements from our clients which made it more challenging, interesting, and most importantly, relevant for the participants and business alike. The involvement of our partners and industry bodies ensured that we provide the students a holistic perspective of the tech innovation space. It is practical experience like this that will best prepare them for future careers. India has always been known for having a wealth of IT talent and Cloud 20/20 ensures that we are encouraging young people to keep pace with new technologies and understand their applications, thus bridging the gap between demand and supply of quality talent." Launched in 2009, Cloud 20/20 is one of India's most popular technical contests for engineering students. Apart from giving students a platform to innovate and interact with industry experts, the forum is a continuous effort to bring together the tech innovation fraternity under one roof. Through the Cloud 20/20 contest, Unisys has identified the best of the best in emerging talent and made 21 offers for full time employment and 38 internship offers since 2016. Click here for further information on Cloud 20/20. About Unisys Unisys is a global information technology company that builds high-performance, security-centric solutions for the most demanding businesses and governments on Earth. Unisys offerings include security software and services; digital transformation and workplace services; industry applications and services; and innovative software operating environments for high-intensity enterprise computing. For more information on how Unisys builds better outcomes securely for its clients across the government, financial services and commercial markets, visit www.unisys.com. Follow Unisys on Twitter and LinkedIn. RELEASE NO.: 0519/9768 Unisys and other Unisys products and services mentioned herein, as well as their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Unisys Corporation. Any other brand or product referenced herein is acknowledged a trademark or registered trademark of its respective holder. UIS-C SOURCE Unisys Corporation Related Links http://www.unisys.com India has given USD 2 million in aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency working for the welfare of Palestinian refugees in support of its core programmes and services, including education and health, amidst the coronavirus crisis. India had increased its annual contribution to the UNRWA from USD 1.25 million in 2016 to USD 5 million in 2019. It pledged another USD 5 million for 2020 which opens its way to become a member of the agency's advisory commission, according to official sources. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) applauded India's financial support to keep its basic services operating, especially under the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The contribution was presented to the UN agency by the Representative of India (ROI) to the State of Palestine, Sunil Kumar. "On behalf of the agency, I would like to express my deep appreciation to the Government of India for advancing part of its contribution, which will help UNRWA address cash flow challenges," Marc Lassouaoui, chief of the Donor Relations at the agency said. "The continued determination and commitment of India in support of the Palestine refugees is commendable, in particular under the current circumstances brought on us by COVID-19," he said. "On behalf of the Government of India, I would like to express my appreciation for the commendable work and endeavours carried out by the UNRWA. We believe that our contribution will support the agency's activities in providing the needed assistance to Palestinian refugees, and assist in achieving their full human development potential," Kumar said. India's contribution will support the agency's "dire" financial situation due to the funding gaps that risk its core services to the Palestinian refugees in the fields of education and health. About 3.1 million Palestine refugees depend on health services provided by the UNRWA. At the same time, the agency's schools educate 526,000 students every year, of which half are female. The agency was created in December 1949 by the UN to support the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. The UNRWA definition of refugee covers Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 War. Meanwhile, India is preparing medical supplies for the Palestinians to help them in their fight against the coronavirus which is likely to reach the Palestine soon, the Indian mission in the West Bank said in a statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over phone and discussed the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He appreciated efforts being made by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to protect its population and assured all possible support from India. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar later talked to his Palestinian counterpart Riad Malki and reiterated India's commitment to support Palestine in its battle against the global pandemic. So far, 554 COVID-19 cases have been detected in the West Bank under PA and east Jerusalem, with two casualties. Twenty people were found infected with the virus in Gaza, of which 14 are said to have recovered. Separately, 17 agreements have been signed under an India-Palestine development partnership between the two sides in the fields of agriculture, health care, information technology, youth affairs, consular affairs, women empowerment and media in the past five years. New Delhi is to provide an assistance of around USD 72 million through these agreements in projects like the post-2014 war reconstruction efforts in Gaza, construction of five schools, setting up a centre of excellence for information and communication technologies at Al-Quds University and developing a satellite centre in Ramallah. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Elizabeth Pineau and Michel Rose PARIS (Reuters) - Defectors from Emmanuel Macron's ruling party announced the creation of a new group in France's lower house of parliament on Tuesday, depriving the president of an outright majority and raising pressure for more left-wing policies. Seven lawmakers are splintering from Macron's La Republique En March (LREM) to join the new "Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity" group, which will count 17 parliamentarians in its ranks. That means Macron's party now only has 288 MPs, one short of an absolute majority, and down from the 314 Macron had after he redrew the political landscape in 2017. However, 17 is less than the 58 MPs suggested by media reports earlier this month, indicating that party bigwigs had managed to stem the flow. "The pressure from the executive, the party and the group was such that we had to move the announcement forward," one defector told Reuters. "Many eventually decided not to take the plunge." Macron's party, formed by the former banker to propel him to the presidency in 2017, had already suffered a string of defections by lawmakers frustrated by his tight grip on decision-making and his pro-business policies. Macron can still count on the support of a smaller alliance partner, the centrist MoDem. However, the arithmetic may now give MoDem more leverage over policymaking in the final two years of Macron's mandate. His reform drive has been stalled by the coronavirus pandemic, just as he was seeking to regain momentum after weeks of pension reform and "yellow vest" protests. The defectors do not consider themselves as opposition, but will push the government to adopt more workers - and environment-friendly reforms to prevent voters from switching to the far-right, they said. "If we don't show results quickly, the risk is that the French choose the worst in 2022, that's what we want to avoid at all cost," Aurelien Tache, one defector, said. (Reporting by Michel Rose and Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Richard Lough and Nick Macfie) BRANFORD With long-awaited Inland Wetlands Commission approval behind it, a developer looking to build an Aldi grocery store at 1151 W. Main St. now will go before the Planning & Zoning Commission Thursday in hopes of gaining final approval. The IWC, in an online Zoom meeting, gave its approval to Sound Development Groups plan for a 19,210-square-foot Aldi store and a separate 3,470-square-foot Chase Bank building that would affect wetlands on the nearly 10-acre property, in a 3-1 vote last Thursday with one abstention. It came after several months of deliberations that began last December, which included concerns from neighbors on nearby Home Place, which backs up to the property and its wetlands, as well as members of the Branford Land Trust. Aldi is a German-owned cousin of Trader Joes known for its low prices, high-quality store brands, no-frills style and growing selection of natural and organic foods. Meanwhile, neighbors of another nearby property, the Rockledge Condominium Association, submitted a letter in support of the application. Many of the Home Place neighbors were at least partially satisfied as a result of a meeting in January with the developers lawyer, John Knuff of Hurwitz, Sagarin, Slossberg & Knuff. Several residents continued to raise questions in recent meetings about proposed filling of wetlands despite the developer having amended its application to reduce the amount of filling from the original 11,000 square feet to about 9,600 square feet. The application now also proposes a 2 to 1 wetland mitigation plan in which more than 20,000 square feet of new wetlands would be created, the developers consultants have said. The PZC application will be heard in a public hearing that will take place during a meeting that begins at 7 p.m. Thursday. That meeting also will be on Zoom. A web address for that meeting was not yet posted as part of the meetings agenda as of Tuesday afternoon. The parcel, owned by members of the Maturo family, once was home to a series of auto dealerships, most recently Branford Mitsubishi, but has long been vacant. mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com A Victorian driver has wept after pleading guilty over a crash that killed a firefighter during bushfires in January. Novak John Selby admitted to dangerous driving causing death over the crash on the Goulburn Valley Highway at Thornton on January 3. Forest Fire Management Victoria firefighter Mat Kavanagh died in the crash after the passenger side of the truck was hit. Novak John Selby pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of Mathew Kavanagh (pictured), whose truck was hit by a car near Lake Eildon on January 3 'Guilty, your honour,' 46-year-old Selby told Melbourne Magistrates Court before he wiped his eyes and put his head in his hands. The firefighter was on his way to a different zone after battling blazes in the Big River area when he was killed. Selby spent three days in hospital after the crash before he was discharged and interviewed over the allegations. A court was previously told he appeared 'genuinely upset' over the crash and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder because of the Black Saturday bushfires. Selby had been living at Narbethong, near Marysville, when the bushfires ripped through the area. A pre-sentence hearing will be held in August. The opposition BJP and the Congress in Telangana have slammed the TRS government for allegedly conducting less number of COVID-19 tests, a charge dismissed by the ruling party. BJP chief spokesperson in Telangana K Krishna Saagar Rao, in a statement on Tuesday evening, demanded resignation of Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajender for "endangering the entire population of Telangana by intentionally conducting the lowest number of tests than any other state in India, with proportionate population." The health minister has not only underperformed during the massive health crisis but also wilfully misled the people of the state, opposition and media by claiming the state was testing as per ICMR guidelines, he alleged. His department was also not reporting the test data regularly as mandated by ICMR in the daily bulletins since many weeks, he claimed. "BJP stands vindicated on the allegations it has been making with substantive data since weeks, that TRS government has been manipulating COVID19 infection rate in the state of Telangana since the beginning and more so after the second week of April," the BJP leader said. "One cannot understand the intention of the state government behind this brazen deviation in reference to public health standard protocols," he said. State Congress president and MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy hit out at the Telangana government for allegedly not testing enough. He claimed that the state was testing only 250 samples per day. "TS (Telangana state) is conducting 652 tests/M while natl. avg is 1600. Look at total tests done by TS & neighbouring states. TS - 22,842, AP - 2,29,118, Kar- 1,40, 024, MH -2,61,783, TN - 3,26,720. TS is testing only 250 samples per day! Is T Govt policy- less tests mean less COVID cases !!, Uttam Kumar Reddy tweeted. According to data released by the state government on May 17 as part of its daily bulletin, the cumulative number of samples tested as on May 16 was 23,388. Out of that, 947 men tested positive, while 566 women were found positive. It said 14,256 men tested negative, while 7,619 women tested negative. According to official data (also furnished on May 17), as on May 14, Telangana carried out 22,842 tests, while 1388 positive cases were found. Tests done to detect a positive case were 16 in Telangana. However, ruling TRS MLC Palla Rajeshwara Reddy dismissed the criticism, saying the state government is following the guidelines, issued from time to time, by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Centre. "The government of Telangana, the medical and health department, is following the ICMR guidelines and the Central Government guidelines. Whenever, they give guidelines, we are following," he told PTI on Tuesday, when asked about the Congress' criticism. The state government has been following the central guidelines vis-a-vis lockdown, testing and others, he said. The TRS leader said different wings of the Central Government have been visiting continuously and monitoring the situation and expressed full satisfaction with regard to Telangana government's steps to contain COVID-19 spread. Dismissing criticism that Telangana was not conducting enough tests compared to its neighbouring state (an apparent reference to Andhra Pradesh), Rajender said on April 28 that ICMR guidelines state that tests should be done on those who are symptomatic and not on those who do not show symptoms. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Donald Trump said he has been taking anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, despite it having no proven effects at tackling coronavirus. (AP) The former chief scientific adviser to the British government has accused Donald Trump of making it up as he goes along over the coronavirus crisis. Sir David King, who was chief scientific adviser to both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, said the US presidents admission that he is using an anti-malaria drug to protect himself against the virus should be ignored. Trump said on Monday he is taking hydroxychloroquine, despite several scientists claiming the drug has no effect on coronavirus. Several of the presidents own scientific advisers have also warned that the drug should only be administered for coronavirus in a hospital or research environment because it has potentially fatal side effects. Sir David King, left, said the president was not listening to medical advice. (PA) Sir David criticised Trump for not listening to the scientists with his apparent refusal to follow medical advice. I think he speaks from the top of his head and every word he says should be ignored in terms of advice, he told ITVs Good Morning Britain. Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice Im sorry but this is not the pronouncements of a person who is listening to the scientists. He is making it up as he goes along. Asked about the topic on Tuesday, Work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey said it is an issue she does not want to comment on. I think it surprised a lot of people last night when president Trump announced this, she told BBC Breakfast. However, that really is a matter between him and his clinician rather than the government of the UK. Despite saying he has had zero symptoms, he told reporters he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for about a week and a half now after requesting it from a White House doctor. I started taking it, because I think its good, the 73-year-old president said. Ive heard a lot of good stories. Story continues The US Food and Drug Administration last month warned health professionals that regulators had received reports of heart rhythm problems, including deaths. Trump has also threatened to permanently withhold funding from the World Health Organization as he continued his criticism of the body, with the US suffering the highest COVID-19 death toll. Coronavirus: what happened today? Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter Thomas Thabane, who resigned Tuesday as prime minister of Lesotho, is a career politician whose second spell as premier was sensationally cut short after he was accused of conspiring in the murder of his wife. Thabane stepped down just nine days before his 81st birthday. He had already promised to exit the stage in July, two years ahead of schedule, citing his advanced age. But in reality, he was forced out by dramatic allegations that he played a part in the death of his wife Lipolelo. The 58-year-old was brutally gunned down in 2017 as they were in the process of divorce. Two days after her death, Thabane was sworn in at a colourful ceremony at a stadium in Maseru, where in his inaugural speech he mourned the murder as a "senseless killing". He and Maesaiah -- who at the time had the status of a "customary wife" -- both attended Lipolelo's funeral. Two months later he married Maesaiah, 43. Maesaiah is considered a co-conspirator in the murder case and has already been charged with murder and is out on bail. Thabane repeatedly denied any role in the murder but his refusal to step down quickly angered his party, prompting rivals to seek to force him out before his self-declared deadline. In an apparent bid to frustrate his opponents, Thabane suspended parliament in March, deployed soldiers onto the streets to allegedly restore order, forcing neighbouring powerhouse South Africa into a rush of mediation shuttling. His coalition government was eventually dissolved in parliament last week and his announcement on Tuesday put the lid on months of political uncertainty. Turmoil Thabane himself is no stranger to political turbulence. He first came to power in 2012 as head of the country's first coalition government, formed after inconclusive polls. But the alliance was marred by political bickering, which culminated in a coup attempt in August 2014 when soldiers attacked police posts and surrounded his official residence. The failed putsch prompted him to flee to South Africa. He returned home in February 2017, saying he still feared for his life, although he went on to win snap elections just four months later. His victory stirred hopes of stability to the hilly country, which has a long history of political turmoil. An old hand in Lesotho politics, Thabane founded the All Basotho Convention in 2006 after years of manoeuvering between political parties. Before becoming prime minister, he served in various cabinet posts such as foreign affairs and home affairs. In an exclusive interview with AFP last week, Thabane said he was looking forward to retirement and all he wanted was to be "left alone". He has not yet been charged for the ex-wife's murder but when he briefly appeared in court in March, his lawyer sought to have him granted immunity. The case has not been heard yet. Thabane said he would retire to his personal house in his constituency on the outskirts of Maseru. He said he planned writing a book about his life, returning to the plays of Shakespeare, which he studied at university, and serving as a lay minister in his evangelical church. Hundreds of thousands of workers face redundancy because insurance giants are refusing to pay out in a 1 billion 'coronavirus cover con'. Tens of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses are at risk of bankruptcy because of the 'disgraceful' and 'immoral' attempt to wriggle out of releasing the vital funds. This is despite them having paid for business interruption insurance policies promising them financial protection against closure due to outbreaks of a contagious disease. Tens of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses are at risk of bankruptcy because of the 'disgraceful' and 'immoral' attempt to wriggle out of releasing the vital funds. (Stock image) Campaigners yesterday called for the Chancellor to intervene urgently, warning that firms face going bust every day because of the lack of cashflow to keep them afloat. Taxpayers are footing a huge part of the bill for the non-payments, which has forced companies to put more staff on furlough. And the cost to the public purse could skyrocket as more and more businesses face bankruptcy without the lifeline of the insurance payouts. Over the past decade some companies have paid more than 40,000 for the business interruption cover which they chose because it was promoted as being wide-ranging but are now not receiving a penny. Their premiums helped drive huge profits for the insurance firms and vast rewards for their bosses with the chief executive of Lloyd's of London underwriter Hiscox making more than 2.5 million in the past two years alone. Small-business owners say the refusal to pay their claims is an exceptionally 'bitter betrayal' because Hiscox boasts that it offers its clients 'peace of mind, by providing advice, expertise, a safety net or simply an arm around them when they need it most'. Its stated company values also include 'integrity' and 'doing the right thing, however hard' and, just six months ago, CEO Bronek Masojada insisted: 'Paying claims is what we are here for.' Theresa May's hairdressers facing disaster A family hairdressing business that has operated for more than 50 years faces bankruptcy if it does not receive its insurance payout. Three generations of the Giamattei clan run the Marc Antoni salon chain that now employs 60 staff and boasts former PM Theresa May as a customer. The company has been paying premiums to Hiscox via a broker for about a decade on each of their branches in Fleet, Henley on Thames, Woodley, Wokingham, Caversham and Bracknell. Three generations of the Giamattei clan run the Marc Antoni salon chain that now employs 60 staff and boasts former PM Theresa May as a customer Last year the total bill was 4,304, which included cover for closure caused by 'an occurrence of notifiable human disease'. But despite weeks of inquiries, they were told on April 17 that their claim had been rejected by the insurer, leaving them with a battle for survival. Director Julie Giamattei has had to take out a 300,000 loan to cover the rent costs of all of her salons, but with huge overheads it will still be a struggle to continue the business without the 500,000 payout they believe is due from the insurer. 'It's been awful, an absolute nightmare,' she says. 'We haven't stopped. There have been many sleepless nights for the whole family. 'The directors, all family, have put our houses up as personal guarantees on long leases and loans, and we could potentially lose our homes.' They were told by their broker that the claim had been rejected because they closed the salons on the Saturday, two days before Boris Johnson announced the lockdown. Julie says: 'We were trying to be responsible and stop the spread, like most other businesses were doing. 'You can't get any closer contact than being a hair stylist but this is how they punish us for doing the right thing.' The company was started by her father-in-law Bruno Giamattei in 1966. His four sons and their children also work in the salons. Julie adds: 'We will keep fighting this battle for our staff and for all our wonderful customers.' FTSE 100 giant RSA and Australia's QBE are among several other firms under fire. Most business interruption policies only cover common hazards that can put a firm out of action, such as fire and flooding. But some specifically promise to cover disruption caused by infectious diseases. Despite this, insurance companies are rejecting claims, in some cases arguing that Covid-19 is not covered because it is a new disease, or that the impact of the Government lockdown is not included in the policy. Simon Ager, whose Northampton-based Pinnacle Climbing and Caving Centre faces huge challenges without the expected 100,000 insurance payout, has organised Hiscox Action Group which now has 500 members, most of whom have unpaid cover worth the same amount. 'Our insurer's trying to wriggle out of paying' The boss of a family-run IT firm warned that taxpayers would end up footing the bill for his insurers refusal to pay out. James Gulliver, managing director of family-run Netmatters in Wymondham, Norfolk, has been forced to furlough more of the 70 staff because of Hiscox's 'immoral' decision to refuse to pay the 100,000 he says they are due. He started the company with his brother Chris 12 years ago and has been paying Hiscox for business interruption and building insurance cover. James Gulliver (right) started Netmatters with his brother Chris (left) 12 years ago and has been paying Hiscox for business interruption and building insurance cover He says: 'We built up the business gradually and have always been very risk-adverse, taking out insurance to cover us if the worst did happen. 'Now I just think, why did we bother?' He said coronavirus is without question the worst thing his business has had to deal with. He adds: 'It's terrifying what has happened. But everyone else customers, staff, suppliers and the Government has tried to do their best in these troubled times. 'Our insurer is the only bad guy, trying to wriggle out of any liability. 'It's really not what you expect from a supposedly reputable insurer. 'Our No 1 goal is to keep all our staff in jobs, and we have got a plan in place to do this, but this has meant we had to furlough more staff at more expense to the taxpayer. 'The whole country is paying for this failure by the insurance company to pay up, not just the businesses directly impacted.' The company's policy stated Hiscox would pay out if the company was unable to use its premises due to outbreak of 'any human infectious or human contagious disease' of which the local authority had been notified. But when they requested the payout they were told that this cover would only apply when there was an incident within a one-mile radius of the insured premises which led to official measures that prevented entry. The insurer said an example would be where the police cordon off the area surrounding a riot or a hotel is evacuated by the police following a nearby gas leak or fire. 'The multitude of wide-ranging measures the Government is taking to contain the coronavirus pandemic are very different in nature,' a spokesman explains. James says: 'This makes no sense. It's there in black and white that we would be covered, but they are trying to say 'we didn't really mean that'. 'It's morally wrong. A lot of firms will probably go out of business because this was their lifeline. 'Many smaller companies could not survive without the hundred grand.' The group is bringing a case against the insurer with law firm Mishcon de Reya. Mr Ager says tens of thousands of jobs are at risk among the companies in his group alone if the payouts do not start soon. He adds: 'It seems the only people Hiscox is interested in serving is their shareholders. Brokers promoted the Hiscox policy because it has a wide range of cover that's why we bought it. 'If insurers don't have to comply with basic contract law and can effectively change the policy when it suits, why should anyone ever buy insurance?' The Financial Conduct Authority says 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'. But Mr Ager says: 'Court action could drag on for months and by the time they get this resolved thousands of small business might have gone bust. It doesn't need a long court battle. Every lawyer we have shown this to has said we have a clear cut case.' Simon Sloane, a lawyer with Fieldfisher who is acting on behalf of clients in dispute with Hiscox, RSA and QBE, says: 'This insurance would have been in their premium. It was part of the deal, so the insurance companies should now pay up. Climbing centre facing cliff edge A climbing centre is facing a financial mountain to climb after being refused a 'vital' 100,000 insurance payment. Father-of-two Simon Ager says the Pinnacle Climbing Centre, which he runs with his wife Cee, currently has 'zero income but lots of costs' after being forced to shut during lockdown. Simon Ager says the Pinnacle Climbing Centre currently has 'zero income but lots of costs' after being forced to shut during lockdown He says: 'It's a small business but I've always tried to run it responsibly, which included buying good insurance to protect the company, our staff and the people we served.' He thought the Northampton-based company, which has ten full-time staff and 25 freelancers, would be covered because he had a policy including financial losses for businesses unable to trade following 'an occurrence of any human infectious or human contagious disease'. But despite Chancellor Rishi Sunak saying the Government's initial recommendation for people not to visit leisure businesses was enough to satisfy insurance claims, Hiscox rejected the claim. Simon says: 'The brokers promoted this policy because it has a wide range of cover.' 'But at the moment there is a blanket refusal by insurers because they always fight where they don't want to set a precedent. Even if they agree in the end, many businesses will have gone under by then.' Most companies with this form of business interruption insurance would be entitled to 100,000, meaning that for 10,000 businesses the total owed would be 1 billion. A Hiscox spokesman says: 'We understand these are incredibly difficult times for businesses and we are paying claims covered by the policies we issue fairly and quickly. 'We don't comment on individual claims but, as the Financial Conduct Authority has said, most UK small business policies across the industry do not cover pandemics. Along with the Association of British Insurers, we welcome the FCA's recent initiative to accelerate resolution of disputes.' The boss making a mint Just six months ago he insisted: 'Paying claims is what we are here for.' Today, the multi-millionaire chief executive of one of the UK's oldest and most respected insurance companies is accused of abandoning thousands of long-serving customers at the time they need him the most. In the past two years alone, Bronek Masojada has earned more than 2.5 million running the 119-year-old Lloyd's-listed Hiscox. Oxford-educated Mr Masojada became chief executive of the company in 2000 and has overseen a remarkable success story. Last year it had gross premiums worth 3.2 billion and enjoyed pre-tax profits of around 153 million over the past two years. It employs more than 3,300 people in 14 countries. The firm's London offices are festooned in fine art, including a Damien Hirst skull by the boardroom and a Polly Morgan piece depicting a stuffed squirrel squeezed into a champagne glass. The company is officially based in the corporate tax haven of Bermuda. In the UK, South African-born Mr Masojada and his wife Jane live in a 1.5 million house in Woldingham, Surrey. An FCA spokesman says: 'Our legal action . . . is the quickest route to clarity and by covering multiple policies and insurers, it will also be of most use across the market.' An Association of British Insurers spokesman says: 'Unfortunately, no country in the world has an insurance market that is able to offer widespread pandemic cover.' Policy wording versus reality: Hiscox Covers: 'Your inability to use the insured premises due to restrictions imposed by a public authority during the period of insurance following... an occurrence of any human infectious or human contagious disease, an outbreak of which must be notified to the local authority.' What it told claimants: 'The restrictions the Government has imposed are part of its national response to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic; they were not issued following or in response to 'an occurrence' at any specific location, placing them outside the scope of the policy.' QBE Covers: 'Any human infectious or human contagious disease . . . an outbreak of which the local authority has stipulated shall be notified to them . . . within a 25-mile radius' [of the premises.] What it told claimants: Cover only provided 'where loss is in consequence of the occurrence of Covid-19 at the relevant locations and not where losses are in consequence of . . . wide-scale government measures.' RSA Covers: Loss as a result of closure or restrictions placed on the premises as a result of a notifiable human disease manifesting itself at the premises or within a radius of 25 miles. What it told claimants: Requires evidence of losses due to a specific local outbreak that led directly to closure or restrictions. The policy does not cover losses arising from a general reduction in the number of bookings or increased cancellations as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. moneymail@dailymail.co.uk Seven paramilitary troops have been killed in separate attacks in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan, the military said on May 18. An eighth soldier was killed in a roadside bombing in the country's northwest. Six military personnel died and at least four more were wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb while on patrol in an overnight attack in the Bolan area of Balochistan. "Six [paramilitary] Frontier Corps personnel were killed in a roadside bomb blast while four others were wounded and have been sent to hospital," Deputy Commissioner Bolan Murad Kasi told the media. The incident happened some 80 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital, Quetta, late on May 17. Mureed Baloch, a spokesman for the separatist United Baloch Army, claimed responsibility. In a statement, he said the group targeted Pakistani soldiers assigned to protect engineers of an oil and gas facility in the region. One soldier was killed later in an exchange of fire with militants in the Mand area of the Kech district of the same province, Pakistans Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the militarys media wing, said in a statement. Separately, police said that at least one soldier was killed and three were wounded in a roadside bombing in the country's northwestern North Waziristan tribal district on May 17. Attacks on Pakistani security forces in the restive Balochistan region bordering Afghanistan and Iran and the tribal districts bordering Afghanistan have increased over the past few months. Six Pakistani soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Balochistan near the border with Iran on May 8. On May 7, the military reported the death of two Pakistani soldiers in the town of Mir Ali in the country's North Waziristan tribal district. Pakistan conducted a massive military operation in North Waziristan in June 2014 and later the country's security forces declared that the area had been cleared of militants. In Balochistan, Pakistan is struggling with ethnic Baloch separatists while the Waziristan region has recorded a spike in incidents of violence involving Taliban remnants. The violence in Balochistan, Pakistans largest and most volatile province, is seen as a reaction by separatists to China's investment plans in the region linking its Xinjiang Province with the Arabian Sea through a network of roads and rail tracks. The proposed $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor plan is meant to give Beijing access to markets in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa through the shortest overland and sea route. With reporting by dpa, AP, and dawn.com Donald Trump is set to break the presidential tradition of hosting his predecessor at the White House for an official portrait ceremony, according to a new report because it would require him inviting Barack Obama. Mr Trump will not host the former president for an unveiling of his and Michelle Obamas official White House portraits, despite the event being considered a tradition in modern American politics, NBC News reported on Tuesday. Mr Obama hosted his predecessor, George W Bush, during an unveiling ceremony in 2012, in which he said: We may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends those differences. However, mounting tensions between Mr Trump and Mr Obama have reportedly caused the event to be cancelled, with no plans to host the former president and first lady for the ceremony for as long as the president remains in office. The news comes after Mr Obama drew national headlines over his criticism of the Trump administration and its seemingly slow response to the coronavirus pandemic during a private phone call with his former aides that was later reported on by multiple news outlets. Mr Trump has also repeatedly attacked his predecessor with increasing frequency amid the pandemic, claiming he was attempting to somehow overthrow his presidency and dubbing the alleged scandal Obamagate, though there is no evidence to support such conspiracy theories. The claims revolve around Mr Trumps former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 and admit to having contacts with Russias ambassador to the United States. Under Mr Trump, the Department of Justice has dismissed all charges against Mr Flynn after a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information. The president attacked his predecessor after the DOJ dropped the case, calling Mr Flynn a great warrior and calling officials in the Obama administration human scum for their involvement in the charges. You've got a president who's talking about putting the previous one in legal jeopardy, to put it nicely. We have not seen a situation like that in history," Michel Beschloss, presidential historian, told NBC News. He added: It takes antipathy of a new president for a predecessor to a new level." While the Obamas will reportedly not receive an official White House portrait under the Trump administration, their presidential portraits a separate portrait tradition were unveiled in 2018 and currently hang in Washingtons National Portrait Gallery. WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that time had been wasted in the U.S. response against the coronavirus outbreak. Addressing a virtual event, Biden said the scale of the loss from the public health crisis, which has infected more than 1.5 million people and killed over 90,000 in the United States as of 4:03 p.m. (2003 GMT), is "staggering" and "infuriating." "But more than that, it's heartbreaking to think how much fear, how much loss, how much agony could have been avoided if the president hadn't wasted so much time and taken responsibility," he said. "We got denials, delays, distraction -- many of which were openly xenophobic," he added. Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, along with other Democrats, has ramped up criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump, whom the former vice president will challenge in this year's election, over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor, also took a shot. "More than anything, this pandemic has fully, finally torn back the curtain on the idea that so many of the folks in charge know what they're doing," Obama said during a virtual commencement speech on Saturday. "A lot of them aren't even pretending to be in charge." Trump fired back at Obama and Biden on Sunday, claiming that the Obama administration "is turning out to be one of the most corrupt and incompetent in U.S. history." USS Harry S. Truman Strike Group and 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Complete Week of Integrated Training Navy News Service Story Number: NNS200518-14 Release Date: 5/18/2020 3:07:00 PM From USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (CVN 75) Public Affairs ATLANTIC OCEAN (NNS) -- The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, underway in the Atlantic Ocean, conducted a week of naval air integration exercises with Marine Corps elements assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing May 12-18, 2020. The purpose of the high-end training was to improve Navy and Marine Corps integration, communication, power projection in the form of strikes, and enhance readiness of air defense assets. The HSTCSG is comprised of the flag ship Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) and the embarked squadrons of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 1, Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy (CG 60) and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Forrest Sherman (DDG 98). Marine Corps support included F/A-18C Hornets assigned to Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 31, based out of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, and AV-8B Harriers assigned to (MAG) 14, based out of MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. "This was a great opportunity to demonstrate how quickly our services can put together a complex large force exercise, even within the current constraints of COVID-19," said Maj. Sean Stephenson, current operations officer 2ND MAW. "The Commandant is very serious about reinvigorating the Marine Corps' Naval Integration capabilities and this joint exercise is one example of how effective we can be as a team." The week of day and night-time integration started with close air support exercises, in which Marine ground forces coordinated with Navy strike fighter aircraft to strike a precision target. During the close air support event, ground forces used combat communication with Navy aircraft to strike the targets, while sharpening tactics. The integration of Marine Corps shore-based elements with deployed naval assets showcased the ability of both teams to fight together as a united naval expeditionary force. "Integrating with Marine ground forces on close air support missions provided the air wing an opportunity to practice supporting our forward deployed forces, while also providing the Marines with opportunities to qualify new joint terminal air controllers," said Lt. Cmdr. Bryce Holden, the maintenance officer for Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136. "This bolstered our ability to seamlessly integrate with supported ground forces, which has proven to be indispensable over the past two decades during operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria." The coordination continued with high-end training during multiple air defense exercises and large force strikes over the course of the week. In one of the multiple events, over twenty CVW-1 aircraft including F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, E/A-18 Growlers, and E2D Hawkeyes faced off against a similar numbers of USMC F/A-18C Hornets and A/V-8B Harriers to conduct defensive and offensive counter-air and strike missions in support of the carrier strike group and National level tasking. The Navy and Marine Corps aircraft took turns simulating the enemy "red force" versus the U.S. "blue force" and executed advanced combat tactics. Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Aldrich, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 211, was the mission commander for one of the large force strike exercises. "It was a pleasure to work with the men and women of the USMC. The seamless integration of our sister force into the training that the carrier strike group accomplished this week was challenging, valuable, and appreciated," said Aldrich. Overall, the Navy and Marine Corps teams were able to increase proficiency and learn from the other service's perspective. Both teams were able to gain hands-on understanding of each other's tactics and capabilities. The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group (HSTCSG) remains at sea in the Atlantic as a certified carrier strike group force ready for tasking in order to protect the crew from the risks posed by COVID-19, following their successful deployment to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation. Keeping HSTCSG at sea in U.S. 2nd Fleet, in the sustainment phase of OFRP, allows the ship to maintain a high level of readiness during the global COVID-19 pandemic. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address You wont be able to book, cancel train tickets for 6 hour-duration for next 7 days: Details inside In pics: Indian Railways gets first pod hotel at Mumbai Central station; Details on Price, facilities here Indian railways revenue in 2019 to 2021: Here's how much it generated from sale of tickets, platform tickets Railways to run 200 Non-AC trains daily from June 1; Online booking to start soon India oi-Deepika S New Delhi, May 19: Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said the Indian Railways will run 200 non-AC trains on a daily basis as per the timetable from June 1, whose online booking will start soon. Goyal said that in relief for migrant workers stranded across the country, 200 special trains will be run and this number will later increase. In great relief for migrant workers, about 200 labourers special trains will be able to run today, and later these numbers will be increased on a large scale. The Railways said the move to start these 200 trains would be helpful for migrants who can avail these trains if they are unable to board the Shramik Special ones. "Efforts will be made such that they (migrants) will be able to board trains from the railway station head on mainline which is close to their existing location," the railways said. The national transporter, which on Tuesday said it will no longer need the consent of the destination states to run the Shramik Special trains, also appealed to migrant workers to not panic and assured them they will be sent home "at the earliest" by doubling the number of trains being run for them to 200. Consent of states for migrant trains not needed: Railways The railways also said it has asked state governments to locate and identify the migrants walking on roads to go to their home states and transport them to the nearest main line railway station after registering them at the nearest district headquarters. It has also asked the states to give a list of these travellers to railway authorities so arrangements can be made for their further travel through Shramik Specials. "Within the next two days, Indian Railways will double the number of Shramik Special Trains to 400 per day. All migrants are requested to stay where they are, Indian Railways will get them back home over the next few days," Goyal said in another tweet. The railways has operated 1,595 'Shramik Special' trains since May 1 and ferried over 21 lakh migrants back home, the national transporter said. While Uttar Pradesh has allowed 837 trains, Bihar has permitted 428 and Madhya Pradesh more than 100. Naomi Campbell has paid tribute to her beloved Auntie Gloria who has passed away. Taking to Instagram to post a photo of her and Gloria, she deemed her lost relative 'a true angel'. 'I met a true Angel in my lifetime - my Auntie Gloria,' the supermodel, 49, wrote. 'There will never be another like you, your strength and grace, knowledge and constant care for us all.' 'A true angel' Naomi Campbell has paid tribute to her beloved Auntie Gloria who has passed away She went on: 'Your moral standard of how a woman should conduct herself is just a few of the things that [I] attribute to you. 'Your protection and understanding, your non judgmental aura and practical ways. And then your love and humor and empathetic soul and eyes... I was blessed to walk the same ground as you, never less to be able to call you my Auntie Gloria!' She rounded off the tribute by penning: 'Know you are so loved and missed, I will always remember your soothing voice in my ear... 'I love you and may you be up with highest of spirits of the unseen universe. Rest In Peace always and forever in my heart ' Naomi, who turns 50 later this week, is of Chinese-Jamaican heritage and was raised by her grandmother and aunts in south London while her mother Valerie [pictured in November 2018], a dancer, toured Europe. Early beginnings: Naomi, who turns 50 later this week, is of Chinese-Jamaican and Afro-Jamaican heritage and was raised by her grandmother and aunts in south London while her mother Valerie, a dancer, toured Europe [pictured age 19] Naomi, who turns 50 later this week, is of Chinese-Jamaican and Afro-Jamaican heritage and was raised by her grandmother and aunts in south London while her mother Valerie, a dancer, toured Europe. She did live in Rome when her mother was sent there for work before going on tour. Naomi never knew her father, as per Valerie's wishes, after he walked out on her when was was four months pregnant with Naomi. She took the surname Campbell from her stepfather, and has a half-brother Pierre who was born in 1985. Family ties: Naomi is pictured at her former home In Streatham, London, with her mother in 1989 She wrote in The Guardian in 2016: 'Mum had such style and grace. When I was 12 or 13, she appeared in a fashion show, and I remember her showing me how to walk in the hallway at home' [pictured in 1999] Naomi first ventured into the spotlight at the tender age of three, when she went to the Barbara Speake Stage School, before being accepted into the Italia Conti Academy Of Theatre Arts, where she studied ballet, age 10. She wrote in The Guardian in 2016: 'Until I was about 12, home was my grandmothers house. My mum, Valerie, was a dancer and lived in Italy and later Switzerland. I was always excited when she came home to visit and sad when she had to leave. 'Mum had such style and grace. When I was 12 or 13, she appeared in a fashion show, and I remember her showing me how to walk in the hallway at home. 'Lionel Richie was playing in the background and I watched her walk up and down to the beat of the music.' Developments are accelerating as July approaches with the looming prospect of Ethiopia acting on its threat to start filling its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Last week Ethiopia replied in a manner consistent with the mode the Ethiopian government has followed for years to the memorandum that Egypt had submitted to the UN Security Council on 1 May. Addis Ababa continues to insist on its right to act unilaterally and remains indifferent to legitimate Egyptian and Sudanese concerns regarding the dams engineering specifications, environmental and economic impacts, and the safety precautions that need to be put into place to avert catastrophe for downstream nations at some point in the future. The Egyptian memorandum to the 15-member Security Council, elevating its cause to a higher international level, expresses Egypts frustration with Ethiopias persistent refusal to conclude an agreement with Egypt and Sudan after US-mediated negotiations in Washington broke down earlier this year. The UN must intervene constructively in this crisis that threatens the lives and wellbeing of the Sudanese and Egyptian people. Surely, the international organisation cannot sit on the sidelines and watch as Addis Ababa flouts international law and violates agreements that have been in operation for decades on the flimsy excuse that they were concluded in the colonial era. The Ethiopian strategy to counter Egyptian-Sudanese coordination over this existential question for Egypt is inspired by an urge to assert complete and sole control over the Blue Nile, the source of most of the water that reaches Egypt. The nature of this strategy is evidenced by Addis Ababas refusal to apply one of the most important principles of the Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses: the need for a country planning to utilise a transboundary watercourse to notify others sharing this watercourse of its plans in advance. In the event that the other countries believe the plan could cause them harm, the law requires the concerned parties to conclude a mutually acceptable agreement. In 2011 Ethiopia laid the cornerstone of its GERD project and then kept to itself all the details concerning the engineering specifications, reservoir capacity and safety standards. Once information on the envisaged dam began to leak, it emerged that the project would be much larger than Ethiopia had led others to believe. It turned out that GERD would be high enough to create a 74 billion m3 reservoir, or five times the 14 billion m3 capacity that had been approved in all previous European and US studies. Then, in the findings of the first international technical committee that was formed to study the specifications and potential impacts of the dam, it turned out that the electricity generating capacity factor of the planned hydropower plant was less than 30 per cent. Addis Ababa had billed GERD as the powerhouse of East Africa, capable of generating more than 6,000 megawatts. In fact, according to the scientists, production could not exceed 2,000 MW, which led many to ask what Addis Ababas real motives were for building a dam of such an oversized scale. The answer to this question is obvious. The dam is a means to control how much water flows to downstream countries under the pretext of the sovereign right to use domestic natural resources as Addis Ababa sees fit. It does not take international law experts to understand the antiquated and misleading nature of the Ethiopian argument. The Blue Nile is not a domestic resource but an international one shared by other countries along the same watercourse. These countries have rights upheld by international law, not least of which is the right to ensure that hydraulic projects planned by other countries will not cause them significant harm. This is why international law requires not just engineering studies at the envisioned construction site but also studies on the potential hydraulic, economic, social and environmental impacts on other countries in the same river basin. On the basis of such studies, appropriate measures can be taken in advance to safeguard the rights of all parties and mechanisms can be put in place to determine responsibility and exact compensation in the event harm of some sort does occur. This is why the UN Watercourses Convention underscores the principles of prior notification and mutual agreement that Ethiopia has been so stubbornly blind to as though determined to live by the law of the jungle, heedless of the needs of others. To round out its strategy, Ethiopia has persisted in its practices of deception and misinformation, and procrastination and evasiveness. For example, when faced with criticism of their unilateral actions, Ethiopian leaders protest, we wont reduce the amount of water to Egypt by a single drop! That is for public consumption. Behind the scenes, in the negotiating chambers and elsewhere, they adopt a different style altogether as they haggle over just how much water they can divert and in how short a time. Then they drag out negotiations across endless rounds and stretch out the intervals between one round and the next in order to buy time until they present Egypt and Sudan with the next provocation or fait accompli. It is because of such practices that the international community as embodied in the UN and the Security Council must step in quickly to resolve this crisis before it spirals out of control. Egypt will not gamble with the lives of the Egyptian people. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 May, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: 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. A motion calling for the finalisation of a review into income eligibility for social housing has received support at the May monthly meeting of Offaly County Council. Cllr Robert McDermott tabled a motion asking for the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government to finalise the review of income eligibility limits for social housing urgently. Cllr McDermott also asks that the findings are published immediately, as the current low thresholds are causing "terrible hardship for our constituents in Offaly." The current income level thresholds have not changed since 2011 while the minimum wage and the cost of living have both increased during this period. Young families are being caught in a property trap as their current income is too low for the big banks to consider them for a traditional mortgage and it is also too low for the Rebuilding Ireland loan, but their income is too high to apply for social housing, Cllr Mc Dermott explained. "This problem is quite common in North Offaly and these families, if they are fortunate enough to find a house to rent, are paying 1,000 and upwards per month. Rent of this amount could service a mortgage. These families are caught between all stools. I have the utmost sympathy for these families who are working hard and trying to better themselves and their families and appear to be penalised for doing so." Cllr Mc Dermott went further to say that Offaly is categorised as Band 3 under the Social Housing Assessment Regulations, meaning that the income level thresholds for Offaly start at 25,000 rising to a maximum of 28,750 per annum. Residents in County Kildare and Meath are allowed to earn up to 42,000 to qualify for social housing while their neighbours in Offaly and the Edenderry Municipal District Area, which is now recognised as a part of the commuter belt, do not qualify. "Shouldnt the same income thresholds apply?" Cllr McDermott asked. His motion before the meeting requested: "Offaly County Council call on the Minister for Housing Planning and Local Government to finalise the review of income eligibility limits for social housing and publish its findings as a matter urgency, as the current situation is causing terrible hardship for our constituents in Offaly. The motion was supported by his fellow councillors and contact will now be made with the minister. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Islands coronavirus (COVID-19) death count rose by five, according to city Health Department data published on Monday, as overall hospitalizations in the borough saw a downtick and the the total number of cases crept up slightly. The trends on the Island come as 15,893 New York City residents are confirmed to have died from the virus, and another 4,823 are considered probable deaths bringing the citys total to 20,806. A death is classified as probable if the person had no known positive laboratory test for the coronavirus, but had exhibited symptoms and has a death certificate listing COVID-19 or an equivalent as the cause. A Health Department source said the figures reflect totals as of when they are reported to the agency and not when the deaths occur. DEATHS ON STATEN ISLAND The number of confirmed deaths on Staten Island reached 767 based on Mondays city Health Department data, and the probable death count total hit 168 bringing the boroughs total to 935. The confirmed and probable totals rose by three and two, respectively, since yesterdays reported data. The city Health Department said all but 96 of the deaths investigated occurred in patients with underlying illnesses. Underlying conditions could include diabetes, lung disease, cancer, immunodeficiency, heart disease, hypertension, asthma, kidney disease and gastro-intestinal/liver disease, officials have said. The latest numbers come on the heels of the city Health Departments release of fatality data by zip code for the first time since the start of the outbreak. Analysis of the data showed the 10314 zip code which includes Bulls Head, Castleton Corners, Graniteville, Meiers Corners, New Springville, Travis, Westerleigh and Willowbrook has the highest number of confirmed deaths at 165. While having the second-highest confirmed death total, the 10304 zip code has the highest rate of fatalities at 353.37 residents per 100,000, underscoring city Health Department data that shows minority communities have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus. The 10304 zip code has the ninth-highest death rate in all of New York City. HOSPITALIZATIONS The number of borough residents hospitalized across Staten Islands three hospitals continued to fall on Monday, dropping by a total of four patients since Sunday. Across Staten Islands two medical systems, 156 residents were being treated for the coronavirus, according to hospital spokespersons. Staten Island University Hospitals (SIUH) Ocean Breeze campus was treating 107 patients as of Monday afternoon, according to Jillian OHara, a spokeswoman for the hospital. That represents a dip of four patients since a day ago. The Princes Bay campus was caring for five patients, which remained unchanged from yesterday, OHara said. Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC) was still treating the same amount of patients as in the previous 24-hour period 44 according to Alex Lutz, a spokesman for the hospital. Additionally, the number of coronavirus patients in the hospitals ICU remained steady at 25. SIUH said 1,819 patients have been treated and discharged from the hospital since the onset of the outbreak, which is an increase of seven patients since Sunday. RUMCs total patient discharges remains unmoved at 1,024 since Sunday. TOTAL CASES City Health Department data published on Monday showed the citys coronavirus case total reached 191,073. While the data was updated on Monday at 3 p.m., it was not immediately clear if the data represented totals as of the previous day at 6 p.m., as it has in previous weeks. The city Health Department did not immediately respond to an inquiry seeking further clarity. Data showed Staten Islands coronavirus case total reached 12,969, which is an increase of 32 cases since the Advance/SILive.com reported the city Health Department data from Sunday. With respect to testing, the data shows 2,724 of every 100,000 Staten Islanders have received positive results for the coronavirus, according to 2018 census data projections and the Health Departments latest data. Officials, however, stress the examinations do not necessarily reflect the full spread of the virus. Staten Island has the second-highest rate of infection in New York City. The Bronx, which has a total of 43,397 coronavirus cases, has the highest rate of infection in the city with 3,030 residents positive for the virus out of every 100,000. Queens has the third-highest rate of confirmed cases at 2,578 of every 100,000 residents testing positive. The borough has 58,756 total cases. Brooklyn, which has 52,145 total cases, has the fourth-highest rate of infection. According to the data, 2,019 of every 100,000 residents have tested positive for the virus. Manhattan has the lowest rate of infection at 1,456 residents for every 100,000 testing positive. The borough has 23,711 total cases. Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, are currently isolating at Windsor Castle because of the coronavirus pandemic. The head of the monarchy and the Duke of Edinburgh usually live apart and would only reunite at Windsor Castle for the holidays. But now, it has been more than a month that they have spent time with each other in one roof, which is not very common for the monarchs. If the coronavirus pandemic didn't hit the UK so bad, the Duke of Edinburgh may have been back at his favorite farm, while Queen Elizabeth II would have returned to Buckingham Palace. Once the lockdown is lifted the Duke will go back to Wood Farm, and the Queen will go back to the palace, despite reports saying that she will be abdicating soon because of the dangers of the coronavirus. Queen Elizabeth II Silver Lining Queen Elizabeth II is reportedly feeling grateful that she gets to spend extra time with her husband. A royal source told Vanity Fair, "One of the nicest things for the Queen is that she is getting to spend more time with her husband than she usually would." Now that they are spending time with one another in times that the Queen doesn't have to video call someone, they have dinner together in the evenings, according to an Express UK source. Prince Philip Feeling Stuck? The 98-year-old Prince usually prefers to spend most of his time in Wood Farm, at the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. He moved there since retiring in 2017. He chose to live there because he wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and of course, far from the prying eyes of the paparazzi. It was also reported that Prince Philip enjoys doing quiet pursuits at the farm, like reading and painting, and has said to have mastered his own time alone and living away from the cameras. Prince Philip was aware that Queen Elizabeth II needed to remain at Buckingham Palace since that is the official working residence of the monarch, but he prefers a quieter life so he can enjoy his retirement. How Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip Make it Work If it was in different circumstances, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip still continue to make their marriage work. Despite the long-distance relationship between the two of them, the royal couple has still managed to keep their marriage strong even though they can't be around each other every day. In another Express UK article, they said that the couple would "still see each other depending on Her Majesty's schedule, but she works around it to see him as much as possible." They also catch up with each other with regular phone calls. In 2017, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip marked their platinum wedding anniversary. They have four children, eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. Before marrying in 1947, there have been rumors that the couple is related to one another. Queen Elizabeth is related to Queen Victoria via paternal bloodlines, while Prince Philip is connected to Queen Victoria via maternal bloodlines. They are also connected to King Christian IX of Denmark. READ MORE: Royal Upset: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Will Marry Again in LA and Risk Royal Wrath? NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Haven Life , the customer-centric life insurance agency backed and wholly owned by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), is rolling out a new 100% no medical exam product that can be sold directly through partners. Banks, advisors, insurance brokers and more can now offer Haven Term Simplified to clients who prefer a no exam term life insurance buying experience. This simplified issue term product, issued by MassMutual subsidiary C.M. Life, is designed with an array of partner needs in mind notably featuring easy plug-and-play API capabilities, an advisor portal for tracking application (or applicant) status and commissions, and Haven Life's seamless digital buying experience. 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The portal includes conversational prompts, e-signatures and consents via text to streamline the process for both the partner and the client. Once an application is submitted, the policy is underwritten in real-time to provide an instant decision on coverage eligibility. If approved, the customer can login to their account and start coverage immediately. The applicant status and associated commission are both easily tracked through the portal. Haven Life's rapidly growing partnership roster includes companies like Covr Financial Technologies , Stride Health and EZ Assurance . Haven Life prides itself on providing best-in-class customer service to both customers and partners. For each of the above solutions and across product offerings, the Haven Life team will work directly with partners for onboarding and training and to understand each businesses' unique technology and reporting needs. "Covr is so pleased to be working with Haven Life. The team's rapid response to our changing environment has been a stand out among others in the insurance industry," said Mike Kalen, CEO of Covr Financial Technologies. "Haven Life's digital platform for term life insurance is a great fit with our growing customer base." To learn more about partnering, please email: [email protected] . About Haven Life Haven Life Insurance Agency, LLC (Haven Life) is re-thinking how people financially protect the ones they love. Haven Life is committed to delivering exceptional products, delightful purchasing experiences, and meaningful moments of service to the modern life insurance customer. Haven Term Simplified is a Simplified Issue Term Life Insurance Policy (ICC19PCM-SI 0819 in certain states, including NC) issued by the C.M. Life Insurance Company, Enfield, CT 06082. Policy and rider form numbers and features may vary by state and may not be available in all states. Our Agency license number in California is OK71922 and in Arkansas 100139527. SOURCE Haven Life Related Links https://havenlife.com By Trend Turkey has decided to impose a 4-day nationwide lockdown over the Eid al-Fitr holiday between May 23-26 as part of measures taken against the coronavirus pandemic, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an announced Monday following a weekly cabinet meeting, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah. Ankara has imposed lockdowns across major cities over the past five weekends, as well as on national holidays, in order to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. Turkey usually celebrates the holiday, marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, across a three-day period. This year's holiday period is scheduled to fall between May 24-26. Erdo?an also said that schools in Turkey would not re-open this term and the new school year will start in September. The president added that travel restrictions would be extended across 15 of Turkey's provinces for 15 days. In addition, the house arrest period for prisoners who were released as part of coronavirus measures had been extended for two months. "Turkey is successfully winning the battle against this outbreak," Erdo?an said, asking citizens to comply with social distancing rules, warning that stricter measures could be adopted if there was a surge in the spread of the virus. Erdo?an went on to say that the country was not facing any difficulty in meeting the demand for medical and hygiene equipment. He stressed the only way to end the pandemic was to eliminate the virus globally. 10,000 Vario 18 AC Portable Suction Pumps to be Manufactured in the U.S. beginning in June 2020 MCHENRY, Ill., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Medela LLC, today announced the opening of a new manufacturing line in the U.S. for its Vario 18 AC Portable Suction Pumps, that provide crucial suction and fluid removal during respiratory treatment provided by ventilators. Medela will produce 10,000 units beginning in June from its Americas headquarters in McHenry, Illinois to help meet the ongoing needs of hospitals and other healthcare facilities throughout North America. Traditionally, hospitals ensure a patient's airway is clear by utilizing suction that relies on central wall piped vacuum. According to information recently published by NHS1, hospitals should not use piped vacuum to support infectious disease units (IDU) to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. With hospitals and other treatment facilities experiencing overcrowding, added beds, and new layout configurations, there is a need for light-weight, portable, and easy to maneuver portable suction equipment. Additionally, the Vario 18 is equipped with a disposable virus filter and fluid collection system, which may reduce the risk of infection for caregivers and patients. As COVID-19 continues to spread, ventilator and non-ventilator manufacturers scramble to produce more units, with approximately 60,0002,3 COVID-19 sufferers having received ventilator support in the U.S. to date. While mechanical ventilators are essential for patients in an intensive care unit, so is accompanying suction pump equipment for the removal of lung secretions generated from the inflammatory process of the COVID-19 virus. "Now is the time to assess what we have learned from this healthcare crisis so far, so we can better support hospitals and clinicians by providing the right equipment to aid in recovery and preparedness for any potential resurgence in the fall," said Melissa Gonzales, RN, BSN, and executive vice president of Medela Americas. "The importance of portable suction not tied to central wall vacuum sources is critical. Coronavirus patients experience fluid pooling in the lungs and pairing ventilators with portable suction technology like the Vario 18 AC is crucial to ensuring pulmonary hygiene to support patient care and recovery." Medela has been a pioneer in suction technology for nearly 60 years and manufactures a suite of medical suction pumps that are essential for the treatment of COVID-19 patients who require hospital or intensive medical care. The Vario 18 AC is light weight and features reusable or disposable collection systems. It also offers a virus filter to prevent cross contamination in the hospital setting. The low noise level of the suction pump allows staff to stay focused wherever suctioning takes place, provides easy setup and handling with variable vacuum levels that are simple to adjust, and features a safety push-button to prevent accidental re-adjustment. The Vario 18 AC is widely used in Europe and manufactured only in Switzerland thus far. Medela is now building a new line in the U.S. and ramping up production to help address the coronavirus pandemic in North America. "We saw the needs of hospitals across the globe and began efforts to ramp up production already in March," said Annette Bruls, chief executive officer of Medela worldwide. "However, the demand continues to outpace our capacity by far. This is why we decided to build this additional production line in the United States to help address the coronavirus pandemic in North America." To learn more about ways Medela is aiding COVID-19 efforts visit the: COVID-19 information hub. For information about the Vario 18 AC access and availability visit: MedelaHealthCare.us. About Medela LLC Medela's U.S.-based manufacturing and development facility is headquartered in McHenry, Illinois, with an additional Canadian-based warehouse and service facility in Mississauga, Ontario. Medela Healthcare is a global manufacturer of medical vacuum solutions that are respected and trusted by doctors and healthcare professionals from around the world. Medela's Healthcare business seeks to improve the lives of patients, doctors and hospital staffs through constant innovation and our passion to understand the challenges that patients and clinicians face in their daily lives. Life is precious and needs passionate people like those at Medela to provide progressive care. For more information, visit www.medela.com. 1 https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2020/03/C0131-Design-note_COVID-19-ward-for-intubated-patients_1-April-MR2.pdf 2 https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html 3 https://www.who.int/publications-detail/clinical-management-of-severe-acute-respiratory-infection-when-novel-coronavirus-(ncov)-infection-is-suspected Media Contact: Kate Schraml 815-578-2343 [email protected] SOURCE Medela LLC Related Links http://www.medela.com [May 19, 2020] U.S. Navy Selects Data Link Solutions for MIDS On-Ship Modernization Cabinet Production The U.S. Navy has awarded a $3.2 million production contract to Data Link Solutions (DLS), a joint venture between BAE Systems (News - Alert) and Collins Aerospace, for new Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) cabinet terminals. The MIDS On-Ship Modernization System (MOS MOD) receives and transmits text and imagery to and from military air, ground, and maritime forces to generate mission scenarios in real-time. It is interoperable with all Link 16 systems, allowing secure data exchange between U.S. and NATO allied nations while enhancing capability with an interchangeable receiver and transmitter and high power amplifier transmission, dual-antenna reception and dual-channel 'J-voice.' This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005180/en/ The MIDS On-Ship Modernization System receives and transmits text and imagery to and from military air, ground, and maritime forces to generate mission scenarios in real-time. (Photo: BAE Systems) "This smaller, lighter system will give the U.S. Navy all the functionality of previous Link 16 radio models but with improved access to line replaceable units, which enhances maintenance operations," said Alan Dewar, director for Data Link Solutions. "The system is more than 60 percent lighter than the current configuration and has a reduced cabinet height of 48 inches." MOS MOD is field interchangeable between MIDS Low Volume Terminal 4 and MIDS Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS), and enables frequency remapping, crypto modernization, enhanced throughput, Concurrent Multi-Netting (CMN) or Concurrent Contention Receive (CCR), as well as three additional waveforms. It is the only shipboard system that provides 1,000-watt output power capability with the MIDS JTRS receiver and transmitter. These cabinets represent the first full-rate production award as the product migrates from qualification and low rate initial production into fleet fielding. Production will take place at BAE Systems in Wayne, New Jersey and Collins Aerospace in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Delivery is scheduled to begin in September 2020. About Data Link Solutions DLS was established in 1996 by two of the world leaders in military communications, Collins Aerospace and BAE Systems, to pursue next-generation Link 16 and advanced data link applications. DLS is a leading supplier of Link 16 terminals and software, as well as logistics and support services for air, land, and sea-based platforms. The company has a heritage of more than 30 years of Link 16 design and production experience, with more than 10,000 Link 16 systems delivered worldwide to more than 45 nations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005180/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] In many countries, the fight to control the coronavirus has turned to new contact-tracing phone apps. But some forms of the technology -- particularly in Russia, Iran, and China -- are raising concerns of an Orwellian world. Along with ramped-up coronavirus testing, contact tracing is crucial to help stamp out new outbreaks of COVID-19 as lockdown restrictions are eased around the world. Contact tracing has been at the heart of the battle against communicable diseases for decades -- including the fights against measles, HIV, and the Ebola virus. The eradication in the late 1970s of smallpox, once the worlds most terrifying disease, required exhaustive contact tracing to locate all infected individuals, isolate them, and immunize those in their communities at risk of catching the disease. But the speed of the coronavirus contagion has been overwhelming for traditional manual tracing methods like interviewing patients about who theyve seen and where theyve been. Tens of thousands of Americans are being hired in the coming weeks across 44 U.S. states to create a phone-bank army tasked with interviewing infected people and identifying others who may have been exposed. Still, health experts warn that even such an expanded staff is far from adequate. To supplement manual methods, many governments are looking to automated tracing -- particularly, through mobile-phone apps and location data -- to help identify and notify those who come in contact with an infected person. The result has been a flood of new, frequently untested tracing apps aimed at bolstering the detection of COVID-19 exposure. In many countries, participation is voluntary and individuals must download the software themselves to their phones. But the widespread acceptance necessary for those apps to be effective requires that app providers and government authorities be trusted not to misuse the mountains of personal information being collected about the day-to-day activities of individuals. Critics say many of the new automated tracing apps lack transparency and have no meaningful limitations on the collection, retention, or use of data. Some tracing apps also are pervasive and invasive -- raising concerns about privacy rights, government overreach, and personal security. Human Rights Watch (HRW) warns that in the hands of governments that already have intrusive surveillance practices, such as China and Russia, this can magnify discrimination and repression. On a global scale, the lack of uniformity among new automated tracing apps also creates problems for scientists trying to assemble disparate data scattered in different formats from country to country. The MIT Technology Review has launched a database to track these emerging apps. It includes details of 25 significant automated contact-tracing systems around the world. Location Data According to the MIT Technology Review, tracking programs that use location data from mobile phones are the most invasive. Rights advocates warn they give governments access to troves of personal information that could be misused for purposes other than fighting the pandemic. HRW digital rights researcher Deborah Brown says mobile location-tracking programs used by governments pose serious risks to human rights. People are being asked to sacrifice their privacy and turn over personal data for use by untested technologies, Brown says. Containing the pandemic and reopening society are essential goals, but we can do this without pervasive surveillance. China, Iran, and Russia are all cases in point. Chinas system has been used by local police to detect those breaking quarantine rules. It gathers a wide range of data that includes the identity of citizens, their locations, and even their online payment history. When Iran launched its official AC19 coronavirus detection app in early March, some users accused the Iranian government of using the software to spy on citizens -- collecting telephone numbers along with real-time geolocation data and other personal information. Iranian dissidents caution that the app could allow Iranian intelligence agencies to install malware on the phones of millions of citizens at a later date through an automatic update. Suspicions about the Iranian app have been bolstered by the fact that its developer, Smart Land Strategy, also created two Telegram clones accused of secretly collecting user data for Iranian intelligence agencies. Iran's Health Ministry sent a mass SMS message to all Iranians urging them to install the AC19 app by downloading it from a dedicated website, Googles official Play Store, and other third-party app stores. Millions of Iranians did so. Then, on March 9, Google removed the Iranian app from Play Store -- just as it had done for the other Iranian apps created by Smart Land Strategy. In Russia, a location-data-tracing system has been implemented at the federal level that works through mobile telephone network operators and their GPS systems, according to Olga Chislova, a researcher for the international law firm Freshfields-Bruckhaus-Deringer. In addition to notifying those whove been in contact with a person who tests positive for the coronavirus, Chislova says information also is sent to regional emergency response centers in Russia. Meanwhile, stay-at-home coronavirus patients in Moscow are required to install a social-monitoring app on their phone. Storing information in a central database, that app gives the Russian government access to all users calls, their location data, camera, storage, network information, and other data. Privacy International says location-data apps can easily be misused by governments as a tool for social control that track the movements of millions of people. It says subjecting people to such intrusive and unnecessary surveillance can cause people to lose trust in governments and health authorities. Balkan Location Trackers Bulgaria and North Macedonia are both using tracing apps that send location data to central databases at their health ministries. North Macedonias government insists the data it gathers from its StopKorona app will be protected. The app was developed and given to the government by the Skopje-based software company Nextsense. Nextsenses model includes Bluetooth technology for detecting close contact with potentially infected people. North Macedonia's Information Society Minister Damjan Manchevski says those who test positive for the coronavirus can voluntarily give their data to the Health Ministry so their contacts can be warned. Manchevski says all data is recorded on a secure server of the Health Ministry, and no other user has access to mobile numbers, nor is there any data stored about the owner of the number. WATCH: Big Brother Vs. The Coronavirus Bulgarias ViruSafe app was approved by that country's Health Ministry on April 4 and launched for mass use via Google Play and the Apple Store on April 7. It features a daily-symptoms and health-status tracker that sends data directly to the Health Ministry. ViruSafe says users also can voluntarily share their location data to create a heat map with potentially infected people and enable institutions to act accordingly, in case of an emergency. Location-data-tracing apps in other countries include Israels Hamagen, Indias Aarogya Setu, Cyprus CovTracer, Icelands Rakning C-19, and Ghanas GH COVID-19 Tracker. Proximity Tracking Data-protection campaigners say some proximity-tracking apps are less intrusive than the location-data apps used by Russia, Iran, and China. They argue the process can be decentralized, eliminating any central database that might be misused by intelligence agencies, law enforcement, or even for commercial marketing purposes. One possibility is through an emerging protocol for Bluetooth-proximity tracking known as DP-3T -- an abbreviation for decentralized privacy-preserving proximity tracing. Phones with proximity apps use short-range Bluetooth connections to carry out a kind of digital handshake that trades encrypted tokens with the phones of others nearby who also have the app. Under the DP-3T approach, Bluetooth logs are stored on individual smartphones rather than a central database. When a person tests positive for the coronavirus, automatic alerts are generated and sent out anonymously to those with the same encrypted token. Both Apple and Google have been working together to put proximity-tracking software in their iPhones and Android devices. Theyve jointly created an application programming interface (API) that allows their smartphones to swap data with each other. For now, users must voluntarily download the software along with apps created by health authorities in countries that use the API to exchange data. In the future, Apple and Google have said they plan to install the software automatically via their regular updates. In theory, that could put the software on 99 percent of the worlds smartphones. But not all countries have agreed to its use. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have all rejected the jointly created API, arguing that it doesnt load all of the data into a centralized database. That puts those governments at odds on the issue with EU officials in Brussels who have raised concerns about the threat posed to individual privacy by some emerging contact-tracing technology. The European Commission insists contact-tracing apps used by member states should be fully compliant with EU rules protecting individual privacy, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the ePrivacy Directive. Trust of Europeans will be key to the success of the tracing mobile apps, argues Vera Jourova, the commissions vice president for values and transparency. Respecting the EU data protection rules will help ensure that our privacy and fundamental rights will be upheld and that the European approach will be transparent and proportional, Jourova says. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rizki Fachriansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19 2020 Social media users are deploying the hashtag #IndonesiaTerserah (#WhateverIndonesia) to express their frustration over the publics apparent disregard for physical distancing measures and the governments inconsistent COVID-19 policies. The hashtag gained momentum as several photos and videos of health workers clad in protective gear holding signs containing the phrase went viral on Twitter and Instagram. Prominent social media influencer Tirta Mandira Hudhi, a frontline COVID-19 doctor, popularized the hashtag by posting one such photo on his Instagram account @dr.tirta. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Protesters filled the main streets of Sao Paulo on May 17 to protest the citys COVID-19 lockdown measures as the country overtook Italy and Spain in the number of confirmed cases. Vision posted to Twitter by Babi Ferrari with the hashtag PatriotasComBolsonaro shows a crowd of people waving Brazilian flags. Brazils President Jair Bolsonaro had recently attended an anti-lockdown protest. The government of Sao Paulo highlighted on Twitter that the city had experienced a five-fold increase in the number of COVID-19-related deaths in the space of one month. There were 233,142 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Brazil and 15,633 deaths linked to the virus as of May 18, according to the World Health Organization. Credit: Babi Ferrari via Storyful WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top aides criticized the State Department's ousted internal watchdog Monday, accusing him of mishandling leaks to the media and failing to promote Pompeo's mission statement to employees. The remarks were an attempt to fill in the gaps in the mysterious firing of Steve Linick by President Donald Trump late Friday night, but they also raised new questions about the dismissal and exposed a divide among State Department employees. Many career officials viewed Linick as a dogged investigator of malfeasance who cultivated a reputation for diligence and relentlessness. But for the secretary's handpicked advisers who found themselves on the wrong end of his investigations, the former prosecutor could be a source of frustration and embarrassment, said four U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Pompeo told The Washington Post that he advised Trump to fire Linick because he was not "performing a function" that was "additive for the State Department." One of Pompeo's top aides, Brian Bulatao, said concern over Linick had grown because of a "pattern of unauthorized disclosures, or leaks," to the news media about investigations that were in their early stages. Bulatao said officials had no evidence that Linick was personally responsible for the leaks but believed that they could taint the outcome of ongoing probes. Bulatao also said the secretary was frustrated with Linick's indifference to an "ethos statement" Pompeo formulated for employees last year that includes mottos such as "I am a champion of American diplomacy." The terms of Linick's exit remain contentious. In a letter sent to Congress on Friday, Trump said Linick's removal would be effective in "30 days," giving him time to wind down his investigations. But Linick has since been told that he is physically barred from returning to the State Department even to collect his belongings, complicating his ability to finish his work, said a U.S. official who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policies. Linick did not respond to requests for comment sent to his State Department email address. Pompeo's vague criticisms of Linick have left questions about whether one of the inspector's past or current investigations agitated Pompeo enough to prompt the decision to remove him. Pompeo denied that it was possible for him to retaliate for that reason, because, he said, he is not told about an investigation until just before it is released. "I simply don't know. I'm not briefed on it," he said. U.S. officials, including Republican members of Congress, are demanding answers for what they view as an extraordinary punitive measure. On Monday, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a letter to Trump that his explanation of the firing is "not sufficient" to fulfill the Inspector General Reform Act, a law that enshrines the rights of internal investigators. "Please provide a detailed reasoning for the removal of Inspector General Linick no later than June 1," he said. The nature of Linick's work, which involved interviewing officials and uncovering acts of wrongdoing, means that any investigation could be suspected of causing his downfall - and that his list of enemies is long. Before he was fired, Linick was investigating an emergency declaration Trump made last year to approve an arms sale to Saudi Arabia, a decision Pompeo approved, said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The arms transfer had been blocked by a bipartisan group of lawmakers who opposed the killing of Yemeni civilians at the hands of a Saudi-led coalition operating in that country. Engel, who had requested that Linick look into the order, said it was "another reason" Trump may have fired the inspector general. But there are other potential triggers. Linick, for instance, had also been investigating allegations that a staffer for Pompeo was performing domestic errands and chores for him, such as handling dry cleaning, walking the family dog and making restaurant reservations, said a congressional official familiar with the matter. Pompeo told The Washington Post that he was not aware that Linick had been investigating that issue. When asked whether the allegations were true, he declined to comment. "I'm not going to answer the host of unsubstantiated allegations about any of that," he said. Linick also took aim at powerful and connected individuals within the Trump administration, including Robert Pence, a Republican Party donor with close ties to Vice President Mike Pence whom Trump nominated for U.S. ambassador to Finland. Last year, Linick's office wrote that Robert Pence, who is not related to the vice president, had a conflict with his deputy that was not managed "in an appropriate manner, which resulted in a breakdown of trust and communication that complicated the chain of command and contributed to a stressful work environment for Embassy Helsinki staff," among other things. Another well-connected official Linick took aim at was Brian Hook, the special envoy for Iran, who maintains good relations with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and adviser. Linick's office found that an Iranian American career civil servant, Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, was retaliated against because of her ethnicity and a perceived political bias. Hook came under scrutiny in the probe because at the time she worked in his office. The probe's findings were released last fall, which is when Bulatao said the department became particularly frustrated with leaks about inspector general investigations, in particular a Daily Beast report in September focusing on Hook that cited "two government sources involved in carrying out the investigation." Bulatao said the report deepened the department's skepticism of Linick, though there was no evidence that he was involved in leaking to the website. "You know the IG is normally charged with carrying out the investigation," he said. "It certainly was a very strong finger-pointing at IG Linick's way." If Linick was targeted because of an investigation, nonpartisan analysts have said, his ouster would probably constitute a violation of laws protecting inspectors. "If the president has removed the inspector general because of any investigation he is carrying out, that would be contrary to the law," said Ron Neumann, the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy. Neumann's organization on Monday called for a "more detailed and more complete" explanation of Linick's firing "consistent with the law." At the State Department, where many diplomats are working from home while trying to juggle personal responsibilities, some diplomats said Linick's ouster further dampens morale. "It doesn't touch most people directly. But it undermines confidence the rules apply equally to everyone," one official said. Trump, who is the only official legally capable of firing the inspector general, has largely let Pompeo explain the decision. "I never heard of him. But I was asked to by the State Department, by Mike," Trump told reporters at the White House. He suggested that if Pompeo was using his staff to do house chores, it would not be a significant breach. "Do you mean that he is under investigation because he had someone walk his dog from the government? I don't know. I don't think it sounds like that important," Trump said. "Maybe he's negotiating with Kim Jong Un, OK, about nuclear weapons. They say: 'Please, can you walk my dog? You mind walking my dog? I'm talking to KJU or President Xi [Jinping of China]. Please walk my dog.' . . . The priorities are really screwed up when I read this." - - - The Washington Post's Paul Kane and Karen DeYoung contributed to this report. On Monday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal laid down the guidelines for lockdown 4.0 in the national capital while ensuring that the restrictions specified by the central government are maintained in Delhi as well with focus, however, being in gradually reopening the economy. Some of the measures include reopening of cabs and buses in Delhi, but only with two passengers apart from the driver and twenty passengers at a time respectively. Markets in Delhi will also reopen but on an odd-even basis. Private companies can also reopen with full strength, although they've been encouraged to work from home as far as possible. Another order issued by the Delhi government said that industrial firms could begin operations but through they will be allowed to function through staggered business timings. Industrial firms whose name starts with A to L may function from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, other firms M to Z from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm in Delhi. Industrial firms whose name starts with A to L may function from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, other firms M to Z from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm in Delhi Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 18, 2020 While odd-even basis is something most Delhiites have come to terms with now, thanks to the odd-even traffic system imposed by Kejriwal in the last couple of years, this new system of distinguishing between industrial firms on the basis of their names is something unheard of. And soon, social media was flooded with Twitterati asking for a logical explanation for the same. While companies with numerical names pic.twitter.com/29PRRZo28z Sarcasm (@SarcasticRofl) May 18, 2020 Not sure whether we are opening up economy or playing antakshari. Ayoosh Kathuria (@AyooshKathuria) May 19, 2020 Arvind kejriwal. A....................L Kamal (currently in isolation) (@Kamal36754111) May 18, 2020 Paul Biya s'adresse a la Jeunesse, Yaounde, 10 Fev. 2020 P.R.C. The President of the Republic, Paul Biya has taken to social media to announce that he will deliver a message to the nation at 8 p.m. this Tuesday, May 19, 2020 ahead of tomorrows National Day. Follow my Message to the Nation at 8 pm on radio, television and the social media, said Biya in a post on Facebook and Twitter. This will be the first time the President is addressing the nation on the eve of National Day. He is known to address the nation on February 10 and December 31 each year. The unexpected address follows a decision to cancel public celebrations to mark the International Labor Day on May 1 as well as the country's National Day on May 20. Paul Biya to address the nation May 19, 2020 (c) Screenshot from Facebook The Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh announced the presidential decision in a statement Wednesday, April 22, 2020. The Minister of State, Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, informs the public that due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the measures prescribed by the Government of the Republic, the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya, has decided to cancel the public celebrations of the 2020 editions of Labor Day and National Day, read the statement. On March 17, 2020 Cameroon's government took measures to curb the spread of the virus, including shutting schools, closing borders, banning mass gatherings, and encouraging people to strictly follow hygiene rules. The compulsory wearing of masks among other measures came to tighten anti-coronavirus restrictions. Cameroon-Info.Net recalls that Labor Day and National Celebrations in Cameroon are always marked by thickly attended match pasts at ceremonial grounds across the country, with the President of the Republic presiding over the May 20 National Day military and civilian parade at the Yaounde ceremonial ground. Cameroon's 48th National Day will however unfold under the theme: United against the COVID-19 Pandemic, to resolutely steer Cameroon on the path of resilience, peace, stability and Economic Development. The theme was made public April 20 by Joseph Beti Assomo, Minister Delegate at the Presidency of the Republic in charge of Defense. The solemn reflections on May 20 will focus not only on the COVID-19 pandemic, but on other biting national challenges including the on-going armed conflict in the North West and South West Regions as well as the fight against the jihadist fighters belonging to the Boko Haram group. NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Reader's Digest has launched "Nicest Places in America 2020: United In Kindness," its fourth annual national search for the places where people are kind and do inspiring things to make each other's lives better every day. As the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to impact communities nationwide, this year's search, in partnership with neighborhood platform Nextdoor, will honor the heroism of the everyday Americans who, despite divisions, have come together in kindness to overcome this crisis, ease suffering, save lives, and assist in ways large or small. Reader Digest is collecting reader-submitted stories of kindness at www.rd.com/nicest through May 31 and will honor the most inspiring stories online and in print. For the past three years, Reader's Digest has been celebrating the Nicest Places in America with the goal of sparking positive change in all communities. This year is different. Americans have come together like no other time since World War II. But we are not united to fight an enemy overseas, we are United in Kindness against the coronavirus pandemic. Nicest Places in America 2020: United in Kindness is a platform for readers to recognize the people in their livesin their towns, stores, hospitals, social feeds, food pantries, Zoom gatherings, anyplace that matters to themwho would not let the virus defeat them. Reader's Digest and Nextdoor pledge to help make sure America never forgets all their acts of kindness. "In a time where Americans are facing constant fear and uncertainty, we're seeing neighbors continually step up to serve one another and spread joy," said Reader's Digest Editor-in-Chief Bruce Kelley. "Nicest Places allow us to bring those everyday stories of kindness to a wider audience and add a breath of positivity to a dark situation." From the audience submissions, an advisory council, including Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar, Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot and Trusted Media Brands CEO Bonnie Kintzer, will select the 50 most extraordinary stories, one from every state, to be honored as the 50 Nicest Places in America. Reader's Digest will unveil these stories online at the end of June and give America a chance to help decide which honorees, including one grand honoree, will be highlighted in our November issue. Reader's Digest is partnering with local and national organizations, like Feeding America and the American Hospital Association, to make sure we hear each and every story of kindness across America. This includes an expanded partnership with Nextdoor, which has also supported previous searches. This year, Nextdoor will be calling on Americans across its hundreds of thousands of neighborhoods through its newsfeed, newsletters and on social media to share their stories of kindness in the time of COVID-19. "We're so excited to once again be partnering in the search for the Nicest Places in America," said Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar. "Now more than ever, communities have been flocking to Nextdoor to connect with their neighbors and share their experiences, and we have been touched to see firsthand the amazing kindness coming out of these communities." Launched in 2017, the search for Nicest Places has resulted in nearly two thousand nominations filled with stories of a kinder America. In 2019, Columbiana, Ohio was voted the Nicest Place in America, where residents described their community ethos as "giving back without wanting anything in return is a way of life." The search will run in three phases: collection of stories; announcement of nationwide honorees and public engagement; and unveiling of the grand honoree on the cover of the November issue of Reader's Digest. As America regains its health and old ways of division return, Reader's Digest will not forget what unites us and honor those stories and those people with award-winning coverage online and in-book. About Reader's Digest Reader's Digest, a Trusted Media Brands, Inc. brand, simplifies and enriches consumers' lives by discovering and expertly selecting the most interesting ideas, stories, experiences and products in health, home, family, food, finance and humor. Reader's Digest is available online at RD.com; in print; via digital download on iPad, mobile apps and tablets; and can be accessed via its social media channels: Facebook , Twitter , Instagram , and Pinterest . About Trusted Media Brands, Inc. Trusted Media Brands, Inc. comprises a network of engaged, active readers who genuinely connect with its blend of uplifting and enduring expertly-curated family, food, health, home improvement, finance and humor content digitally, via magazines and books, social media, and events and experiences. Founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace as Reader's Digest Association, one of the first user-generated content publishers, Trusted Media Brands, is headquartered in New York City. For more information, visit TMBI.com. About Nextdoor, Inc. Nextdoor is the neighborhood hub for trusted connections and the exchange of helpful information, goods, and services. We believe that by bringing neighbors together, we can cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can rely on. Building connections in the real world is a universal human need. That truth, and the reality that neighborhoods are one of the most important and useful communities in our lives, have been a guiding principle for Nextdoor since the beginning. Today, neighbors rely on Nextdoor in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, and Canada, with many more to come. Nextdoor is a privately-held company based in San Francisco with backing from prominent investors including Benchmark, Shasta Ventures, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Riverwood Capital, Bond, Axel Springer, Comcast Ventures, and others. For additional information and images: nextdoor.com/newsroom. Media Contact: Sarah Van Cleve | [email protected] | 414-469-8991 SOURCE Reader's Digest Related Links http://www.rd.com All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Sonia Gandhi is set to chair a meeting of all opposition parties on May 22 to discuss the plight of stranded migrants and temporary suspension of labour laws in several states. Fifteen opposition parties have agreed to participate in the video conference meeting so far, reported the Hindustan Times. There have been reports of migrant workers walking back to their natives or hitchhiking their way back home in the thousands. Though the Centre has arranged for Shramik Special trains to ferry stranded migrant labourers back home, the wait is long and several have preferred to set out on the long march home. For live updates on coronavirus, click here Many labourers have died in road mishaps since and the Congress party has been pushing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre to step up efforts to alleviate the stress of Indias poor. 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 After the coronavirus-induced lockdown being extended to May 31, the Government of India decided to start maintaining the National Migrant Information System (NMIS) an online list that would help track the movement of stranded labourers heading home. Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had taken to the streets to interact with home-bound migrant workers. The act met with rebuke as Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dubbed it as dramebaazi (theatrics) on national television. She had also highlighted that the Centre has in fact joined hands with the state governments to facilitate the return of stranded labourers by running special trains. The FM had further said: I am urging the opposition party very politely, folding my hands and requesting them here. We must all come together and help migrant labourers in this crisis. The frontline workers are the most affected by the Coronavirus pandemic right now as they are the ones risking their lives to keep our families safe. These people are undergoing tremendous mental stress and we are failing to understand their situation, however, there are some people who are stepping up and offering a helping hand. Reuters Recently, Sravya Annappareddy, a 10-year-old Indian American girl, was honoured by US President Donald Trump for donating cookies to nurses and firefighters and sending personalised cards to healthcare workers. Thank you Sravya Annappareddy for supporting nurses and firefighters by donating cookies. Sravya represents the enduring strength and big heart of our U.S.-India partnership. We're grateful every day for courageous frontline workers in the fight against #Covid19. #DostiUnitesUs pic.twitter.com/u4rGYMjp3W Joel Reifman (@USCGHyderabad) May 19, 2020 Sravya, who is a Girls Scouts Troop member and is just in the fourth grade, has been sending cards to the healthcare workers in the US, which is currently the worst-affected country in the world. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump recently paid tribute to various Americans who are helping the frontline workers in this time of crisis. The 10-year-old girl is one of them and she also donated cookies to several nurses and firefighters. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu reacted to the development and took to Twitter saying, My appreciation to Sravya Annapareddy, a 10-year-old Telugu girl in the US for being honoured by the US President, @realDonaldTrump for her social activities during COVID-19 pandemic. Sravya along with her two friends donated 100 boxes of Girls Scouts cookies to doctors, nurses & firefighters and also sent personalised cards to healthcare workers. Happy that her parents raised her with Indian values epitomising the age-old philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Vice President of India (@VPSecretariat) May 18, 2020 Sravya, along with other members of the troop, donated 100 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to local doctors, nurses and firefighters. They also wrote around 200 personalised cards for health care workers to boost their morale. Heres what people have to say about Sravyas efforts- Dr Nand Kishor Jaiswal (@DrNandKishorJa2) May 18, 2020 Please appreciate and encourage in India as well who is helping like that girl. We can see no hunger deaths in India @It's Me $anjiv (@10_sanjeev) May 18, 2020 Wow Great Akshay Bual (@AkshayBual) May 18, 2020 GREAT AND EXCELLENT NAGARAJU S S (@NAGARAJ06843749) May 18, 2020 Good! Between you could have said Indian girl instead of Telugu girl ! guhapriyan (@GuhapriyanVd) May 18, 2020 She is Indian Girl. rishi (@rishi164) May 18, 2020 Laila Khan, who represented the troop said, "While we are honoured that our troop was invited to be here today, we know that we are just part of the millions of other children out there that are doing amazing things to support their communities, their friends and their families. It is a privilege to be here representing all of them. Reuters We hope the Indian government also starts a program wherein all workers and staff across professions who are doing their bit in the nation's fight against COVID-19, are praised and honoured. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below. House impeachment managers Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Val Demmings (D-Fla.) look on as Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) speaks during a press conference after the Senate adjourned for the day during the Senate impeachment trial at the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 28, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Trump Impeachment Investigation Continues, House Democrats Tell Supreme Court Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have asked the Supreme Court to order the release of secret grand jury materials from former special counsel Robert Muellers office, in what the lawmakers said is their continuing impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump. The committees impeachment investigation related to obstruction of justice pertaining to the Russia investigation is ongoing, Douglas Letter, the House general counsel, said in a court filing (pdf). What is being sought is disclosure to the House Committee on the Judiciary of a limited set of grand jury materials for use in the committees ongoing presidential impeachment investigation, he notes in the document. The grand jury materials, essentially documents that prosecutors collected from witnesses about Trump, have been the subject of a legal fight between the Democrat-led committee and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The litigation saga began after the DOJ denied a congressional request for an unredacted version of the Mueller report, with the Supreme Court being the Trump administrations last recourse. In 2019, Mueller determined there was no criminal conspiracy, often referred to as collusion, between the Trump campaign and Russia to swing the 2016 election in Trumps favor. Mueller released two volumes of his reportone on collusion, the second on obstruction of justice. While he didnt recommend prosecution in the matter of obstruction, Democrats have focused on this issue as potentially worthy of pursuing for another impeachment against Trump, and for their investigation, theyve demanded Muellers grand jury materials. DOJ lawyers have sought to have the release of these materials put on hold until the case is finally resolved. A federal appeals court ruled in March that the DOJ must release the secret grand jury evidence to congressional Democrats, but the Justice Department appealed, asking the Supreme Court to review the lower courts decisionand then rule to reverse it. At the time, the DOJ urged the appeals court to stay out of what it characterized as a political dispute between Congress and the Trump administration, arguing that exemptions allowing a breach of grand jury secrecy in ordinary legal cases dont apply to impeachment proceedings. DOJ Solicitor General Noel Francisco argued in an application for a stay (pdf) that the federal appeals court wasnt only not justified in authorizing a breach of grand jury secrecy because the court of appeals interpretation defies the ordinary meaning of the term judicial proceeding,' it also unfairly weighed against the interests of the administration. Absent a stay, the government would suffer irreparable harmfor it would have to turn over the grand jury records, thereby frustrating further judicial review of the merits of this dispute, Francisco wrote. He added that the Democrat-led House committee has not identified any urgent requirement for the requested materials in connection with an imminent Senate impeachment trial, and so would suffer no prejudice from a stay, essentially arguing that the administration would be disadvantaged in the legal dispute by having to release the secret documents before the Supreme Court could review whether their disclosure is justified. In the May 18 court filing, lawyers for the Judiciary Committee asked for the Supreme Court to refuse to even hear the DOJ case, which would make the appellate courts decision to release the documents binding. The Department of Justice does not meet the standard for a stay of the mandate pending disposition of its petition for a writ of certiorari, and its application for a stay should therefore be denied, Letter wrote in the filing. At bottom, DOJ has failed to demonstrate that this courts review would be warranted here. Letter argued that if the Supreme Court agrees to the DOJs request for a stay, it would delay the ongoing House investigation beyond the current congressional term of office. This substantial delay will seriously endanger the committees ability to complete its impeachment investigation during the current Congresswhich ends not long thereafter on Jan. 3, 2021, Letter wrote. [The Judiciary] Committee and the public continue to suffer grave and irreparable injury each additional day the district courts order is prevented from going into effect: the committee is being deprived of the information it needs to exercise its weighty constitutional responsibility, Letter noted. In the brief, Letter also cited the committees earlier arguments that the Mueller Report grand jury material is important to see the light of day, noting that if this material reveals new evidence supporting the conclusion that President Trump committed impeachable offenses that are not covered by the Articles adopted by the House, the committee will proceed accordinglyincluding, if necessary, by considering whether to recommend new articles of impeachment. Earlier this month, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts approved a DOJ request for a brief stay on the release of Muellers grand jury materials. As I write this, the concept of contact tracing is being discussed, and you can well imagine that the presence of just one extra person visiting your household might potentially bring you into possible viral contact with dozens of other people. Obviously, if Wendy has close contact with her son, and also contact with you, you wearing a mask when around him might not protect you as much as you think (although you should continue to do so). Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 17:03 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd90f643 1 News borobudur,prambanan,ratu-boko,COVID-19,tourism,new-normal,Central-Java,travel,Borobudur-Temple,prambanan-temple,coronavirus Free Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko temples in Central Java will be reopened for tourists in June after the popular tourists destinations were closed for the past three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We plan to reopen the temples on June 8, said Edy Setijono, director of PT Taman Wisata Candi (TWC) Borobudur, Prambanan and Ratu Boko, as quoted by kompas.com. He said the reopening of the temples would comply with the COVID-19 protocols suggested by the government, in particular by the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry. When the temples are reopened, they will be run in accordance with the 'new normal' tourism, Edy said. He said that the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry had recommended tourist destinations implement a cleanliness, health and safety (CHS) program. Read also: Borobudur, Prambanan temples extend closure to April 11 This program is crucial as the pandemic has changed our habits. The public now cares more about cleanliness, health and safety, including in tourism, he said. In compliance with the protocols, the management of the temples will require visitors to wear face masks and go through temperature check posts. They will also be required to practice physical distancing. We will provide hand washing stations every 100 meters as well as signage and information boards explaining the COVID-19 protocols, Edy said. To reduce interactions between visitors and staff, the management will use cashless ticketing. (gis/wng) T he head of Britain's care home providers has hit out at the Government's handling of the coronavirus crisis, telling MPs that UK pandemic planning was inadequate. Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents the UK's largest care home networks, said that care homes had been exposed by the Government's handling of the crisis. He told members of the health and social care committee that testing was still not fast enough for many care workers, with people saying they had to wait up to ten days to get their results. Professor Green's comments came as the Office for National Statistics revealed that up to 15,000 people had died in care homes with coronavirus in the UK - about five times more than in Germany. Up to 15,000 may have died after contracting coronavirus in care homes / Reuters Hong Kong has not recorded any coronavirus-linked deaths, with people in care isolated for three months after leaving hospital. Professor Green said: "We should have been focusing on care homes from the start of this pandemic. What we saw at the start was a focus on the NHS which meant care homes often had their medical support from the NHS withdrawn. We also had the disruption of our supply chains for PPE [personal protective equipment]. We also saw people being discharged from hospital when we didnt have the testing regime up and running. Loading.... So despite whats been said, there were cases of people who either didnt have a Covid-19 status, or who were symptomatic, who were discharged into care homes. Now given that care homes are full of people with underlying health conditions, I think we shouldve looked at focusing on where the people at most risk were, rather than thinking about a particular organisation. Professor Green added that testing was still slow but that cases in care homes may be beginning to decline. Experts from Germany also told the committee that workers in German care homes had to wear full PPE suits from the end of March. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has defended the UK's response / PRU/AFP via Getty Images James Bullion, president of the Association of Directors of Social Services, noted how the UK did not consider quickly enough that patients and staff coming out of hospitals into care homes could pass on the disease. Mr Bullion added that testing levels were still "nowhere near" high enough and told MPs that agency staff sometimes moved between three or four different care homes. The Government told care homes that coronavirus infections were likely to be low, and only updated this advice on March 13. Health secretary Matt Hancock said that the guidance "was in place whilst community transmission was low and said it would be updated as soon as transmission went broader and that's exactly what we did". He has promised that all care home residents and staff will be tested by June 6. The Department of Heath and Social Care has been contacted for comment. Fast food restaurants do not pose a significant risk of coronavirus infection to customers or workers, experts say, after a fortnight in which the closure of 14 Victorian McDonalds outlets forced 1000 employees away from work. The fast food workers union, however, says the reality for employees is not as safe as restaurant chains claim. Campbellfield McDonald's was among 12 restaurants closed in Victoria on Sunday. Credit:Getty Images Despite fast food workers inevitably coming into contact with one another in the workplace, public health experts believe they benefit from rigid working processes and long-standing hygiene standards. La Trobe public health and food-borne disease expert Associate Professor Hassan Vally said for workers, fast food restaurants were no worse than other workplaces involving face-to-face contact. Morning Pointe Senior Living announces that Knoxville-Knox County Planning has approved the Chattanooga-based senior healthcare companys plans to build a new senior living and Alzheimers memory care community on Reagan Road, located off of Hardin Valley Road and Pellissippi Parkway. Construction is slated to begin in summer 2020 with a grand opening in late 2021. This combined campus marks Morning Pointes third community in the greater Knoxville areasupplementing the services offered at the Morning Pointe of Knoxville assisted living community and The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimers Center of Excellence, Knoxville memory care community, which is set to open later this year. Morning Pointe Senior Living has additional campuses in the Knoxville area communities of Clinton, Lenoir City, and Powell. The Hardin Valley location will be a state-of-the-art, single story community featuring 85 spacious apartments, including a secure wing specially designed for residents with Alzheimers disease and other memory care disorders. Programming will adhere to Morning Pointes signature strong focus on clinical care with physical and occupational therapies, life enrichment and wellness offerings, and intergenerational activities. The Lantern memory care wing will provide an array of Alzheimers memory care services, including innovative therapies such as Teepa Snows Positive Approach to Care and Meaningful Day purposeful programming to ensure the highest quality of care for residents. Residents will enjoy premier amenities and fine dining with local, farm-fresh ingredients. Since its founding nearly 25 years ago, Morning Pointe been an integral part of the East Tennessee healthcare delivery system, said Greg A. Vital, president and co-founder of Morning Pointe Senior Living. As West Knoxville and Oak Ridge continue to rapidly grow and expand, more and more Americans are relocating here not only to work and livebut also to retire. This new combined community will enable us to provide East Tennessee seniors and their families with even more options for quality senior care in Knox, Anderson, and Loudon Counties. In addition, we remain committed to contributing to job growth and workforce development in the Smoky Mountain region. According to 2016 U.S. Census Bureau population estimate reports, Knoxville is the second fastest growing city in the state behind Nashville. Following growth trends, Morning Pointe seeks to provide retirement living options to bring the over-65 population closer to medical services and adult children, who are relocating to urban areas. Over the weekend scores of autoworkers have been in contact with the World Socialist Web Site to express their concerns over the premature return to work being organized by the auto companies and auto parts suppliers with the support of state authorities and the corporate media. Workers began returning to auto factories today for the restart of production at assembly plants throughout North America. The return to work has been sanctioned by the United Auto Workers and the governors of Midwestern states including Democrat Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. This is despite the fact that lockdown orders are still in effect in Michigan and other areas, under conditions where COVID-19 is far from contained. Enormous pressure is being brought to bear on workers, including the threat of termination and loss of unemployment benefits to get workers back into the factories. Despite this, there is strong opposition by workers who are seeking a way to collectively resist the mad drive for production and profits by the corporations and their union front men. The following are some comments received by the WSWS Autoworker newsletter. GM Flint Assembly A GM Flint Assembly worker said she is scheduled to go back to work Monday. Im scared to death. Normally wed go in at 6:42 am, but we've been told to be in at 9:42 am due to a safety orientation. We received five flimsy paper masks in the mail. These are not N95 masks. They last two hours, and I dont think they do much of anything. Then we'll have alcohol wipes. I want to go back to work because we need the money, but I am very worried, I dont want to die for the company. I think GM will use tomorrow's opening to show off in front of the news crews. The company doesnt care about us. My daughter works at a parts distribution warehouse. Several weeks ago there were six COVID cases there. They never really shutdown; they asked for volunteers in March. My daughter did not volunteer, and during her second week of layoff she received a very nasty letter from the company that in order to keep her health insurance, she'd have to pay $1,905 to have coverage for the next six months or come back to work for one week in April. Now they're all back and very worried. I agree with you that the union is on the side of the company and they have not opposed the return to work. FCA Trenton Engine A and C crew are going in tomorrow, while B Crew is going Wednesday. Workers at Ford feel the same as we do; scared and angry about going back in so soon. The company thinks we lost billions so send them back to work. They dont care. Who will take care of my family if I get sick? They are packing people into buildings and they dont know who is sick or not. Those temperature tests are not reliable. Some people dont have symptoms. These big wigs sit at home safe and sound while we go in to risk our lives. Are we essential? Im worried about my family and putting them at risk. I would love to see management try to say something to us during this time. Itll be like a ticking time bomb with workers. No one will stand for this. For older workers they want them to die so they dont have to pay retirement or benefits. My relatives work at [FCA] Warren Truck. One has asthma and the other cancer. They are fearful. This is like making us walk the plank. Its like walking to our death. Faurecia A worker at the Faurecia parts plant in Saline, Michigan, said, This is ridiculous! They dont care about the safety of the workers. Its all about selling cars and money. They are bringing the low seniority workers back this week because they are afraid to try to do this to the high seniority people. Its not safe. Workers that have been in there this week have already posted on Facebook that the plant is not clean. This is not right! The place should have been spic and span before anybody went back. Another worker at Faurecia said, Our union rep said we have to wash our hands before we enter the building. Theyll give us two masks and two gloves. And right now theres no refrigerator, no microwave and no fan in there. They have also said they would take our temperature, but that doesnt tell you whether you have it or not. Theyre saying you might have it, but not know and you could spread it around. Im concerned because my understanding is that we are still standing close to each other at work. You got the mask on but really theyre just taking our temperature and not testing. And I dont know why they wont test us. How are they going to keep us alive if they dont do that? How much is a test, anyway? Not too long ago they had on the news that some people walked out of Amazon because someone had gotten sick. Were returning back to work and I dont feel safe because theyre not doing the testing. Its not safe to me. We had people in my family who passed away due to COVID-19. Theyre going by seniority to try to get at least a hundred people back to work. A lot of people said no. They did not want to go back because they did not feel safe, because they know someone from the Big Three who caught the virus already. Flex-N-Gate Feeling uncomfortable with an order to return to work beginning Monday, May 18, a number of workers from Flex-N-Gate, an auto supplier company with plants in the Detroit area, contacted the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter over the weekend. Flex-N-Gate, a manufacturer of bumpers and other parts for all the major automakers, is owned by Shahid Khan, currently worth over $20 billion, according to Forbes. The company has grown since 1980 to 64 facilities globally, with 24,000 employees. In 2012, the Urbana, Illinois plant sent 11 workers to the hospital suffering from the effects of sulfuric acid fumes. The Occupational, Safety and Health Administration fined the company a mere $57,000. In 2011, a facility owned by Khan in Highland Park, Michigan, adjacent to Detroit, was found to have leaked hexavalent chromium over years. The workers at Flex-N-Gate overwhelmingly feel it is too soon to go back to work, with COVID-19 continuing to ravage the Detroit area. They never even shut the plant down because of COVID, explained one worker from the Detroit facility, which employs about 300. There was a fire in the plant on March 18, and there was so much smoke we had to evacuate. Then they wanted us to go back in but we said there was too much smoke. Then we found out one of the workers had both tested positive for COVID-19 and also had pneumonia. It was only following the fire that the plant closed. Then Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer ordered all non-essential businesses closed on March 22. They say they are setting up a tent in the parking lot to take our temperature when we go in, and if we go out for any reason we have to do it again, but I just dont feel comfortable, the worker continued. The fact that someone can transmit COVID-19 without having a temperature or other symptoms is something most workers being called back in the premature rush to reopen America are acutely aware of. Another Flex-N-Gate worker told the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter she felt that the company was treating us like were lying if they answer yes to any of the five questions the company sent out in its return-to-work health questionnaire. She reported that after responding that she had contact with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 case, someone from the Human Resources department called to question who the person was, what their name was, and other personal details. I just told her I cant give you medical information about someone else. She was asking me to violate confidentiality and I cant do that. A third worker told the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter, I dont want to doubt the safety practices, but the place was never clean. There was never even any soap in the bathrooms, there were sewage problems for months, and there was hardly any hand sanitizer around. Before the governor closed businesses due to the pandemic, There were no cleaning solutions. We were told to request them, to clean our work areas. We can hardly leave the line, how would we ask for cleaning solutions? The same worker, expressing her distress at being forced back to work, said, They should allow those who arent comfortable going back to at least continue to collect unemployment benefits, but they wont. Even Amazon workers could get unemployment if they felt uncomfortable. I have had several deaths in my family from COVID. We just had a funeral today, and we dont even have time to grieve, and they just want us to go back to work. A worker at another Detroit area parts plant that is non-union spoke to the Autoworker Newsletter, Responding to Dr. Rick Bright's testimony, he paraphrased, Unless the country gets its act together, next fall could be the worst ever. And Trump attacked him. I wonder what in the world is going on. It blows my mind what is going on in the world. You've got these multi-millionaires running these companies, talking about going under and all the money they are losing. But they want to call me back to work and watch me get sick and possibly die? "The government passed the CARES Act with $3 trillion, but they don't want to talk about providing healthcare or a universal basic income. The whole world situation scares the crap out of me. On top of everything else, we have to worry about the virus. I used to pay $50 per month for health insurance. Now I have to pay COBRA which is $600 a month or I would lose it. The people who own these companies are millionaires and they really can't help their employees with their health care during a time of crisis? FCA Sterling Heights Assembly A former Fiat Chrysler Warren Truck Assembly worker who transferred to Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP said, I know a lot of people who have passed from COVID here and there are more than what theyre saying in the media. A lot of them were in the paint shop. A bunch of people from Warren Truck actually had it and the UAW didnt do anything. They kept us working. They said theyll take peoples temperatures but it doesnt prove anything. They gave out a health questionnaire but you have people who will be afraid to fill it out because theyre scared and have to go back to work. Theyre trusting people to fill out a questionnaire correctly and then they sent out some paper-type thermometers. The president sent an email out saying if people are here and start getting sick, theyll send medical help out. The plants, especially Sterling Heights Assembly, are so bigheres thousands of people. We got basically four different entrances: north body, north paint, south body, south paint, and then youve got the main building. A lot of them come from the city, (Detroit) and we know the outbreak was really bad there. Youre saying a hair or nail salon cant open, but youll let a place that holds thousands of people open back up? What is that going to do? Depending on the area youre insay, trim, or those types of jobsyou cant social distance in there! Theyre saying that stuff for the media, but its impossible. Its just impossible. The email the UAW sent out said you can take a leave of absence, but then you dont get paid. They dont care. And Im pissed that the people who are supposed to be protecting us are not. As we see with [UAW President] Gary Jones and all these other people, theyre all caught up in court right now. Thats because they have been undermining us for over a decade. The UAW is just not there for workers anymore, theyre there for the company. Whatever the company says, they do it. And I think the only reason they shut SHAP down when they did was because they had a skilled trades guy in there who died. That first week in March, after he died, then they shut it down. And even that guy had been all over the place working. There are people who take care of the elderly, there are people who no longer have childcare. I have a [friend] who works at JNAP [FCA Jefferson North Assembly Plant] and her daughter has asthma. She was debating whether to go back to work or not. Even if she does, now she has to find somebody to watch her daughter while shes at work. Someone said that the international [UAW], theyre going to have all those guys get a test. But they cant make sure every worker gets a test? How much did [Trump] just put into the stock market? Trillions. Thats all hes worried aboutlets keep the stock market looking good. I just heard that even Amazon and Krogertheyre taking away that extra $2 extra hazard pay, as if COVID is over. Its not going away anytime soon. Im trying to see whats the urgency to build all these vehicles again. Are people really going to be out here breaking their necks to buy these vehicles that theyre in such a hurry to build? Its not just a Michigan thing, this is a worldwide thing. We have Dodge Ram trucks sitting there for 50, 60, 70 thousand dollars, and there are people out here suffering badly who dont even have food to eat. Who are they even building these vehicles for? The UAW is not for us anymore. The tier one workers went over ten years with no raise, no bonus, no profit sharing, no nothing, the whole time theyre saying Were trying to help save the company, when all along the companies had been profitable and it was the union lying to us. Even that strike [GM strike in 2019]I think they called that strike because theyre trying to get some credibility back with the people. They did that to keep the heat off of them for a minute, but that didnt work. Then they say Buy American, but were not even owned by Americanswere owned by Italians, it doesnt even make any sense. Look at Amazon. This man [Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos] is about to be a trillionaire. The (Amazon) workers were just complaining about their safetytheyre in there packing masks but he wont even give them one wear. How crazy is that? New Delhi, May 19 : Hemant Soren was elected for a second time as Chief Minister of Jharkhand and took oath in December 2019. He is running a coalition government that includes the Congress and RJD. Son of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha founder Shibu Soren, Hemant was a member of Rajya Sabha and was elected to the Assembly in 2009. He was Deputy Chief Minister from 2010 to 2013. He is credited to be the most efficient Chief Minister in the times of coronavirus pandemic -- he was the first CM to have facilitated a train from Telangana to evacuate migrants stuck in other states. He personally supervised the whole operation and welcomed all those who had been away from home due to lockdown imposed. In an exclusive interview with IANS, the Chief Minister says he has been able to maintain good coordination with the central government and that migrants will be given work under MGNREGA. Excerpts from the interview: Q: How many corona positive cases does Jharkhand have and how are they being looked after? What's the state of testing in the state? A: We have been alert from the very beginning. Senior officers of the state government in coordination with the central government have been reviewing the new directives and implementing them. Thousands of tests for Covid-19 are being conducted daily in the state, especially in the containment zones, the suspect cases too are tested through contact-tracing. More than 200 people have been tested corona-positive in the state, and out of these 100 people have recovered and have been sent back home. Three persons have died, too. In comparison with other districts of the country, the recovery rate in Ranchi is the maximum. In Ranchi, 104 cases of infection were reported, out which 83 recovered and were discharged. The government is also working towards ways and means to boost immunity levels of those who have been quarantined. Their food includes vegetables and fruits which can help in increasing their immunity system. Q: Jharkhand has a very large number of migrant labourers. Many such people have returned, too. What quarantine measures have you taken for them? What steps have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus? A: The state government has made several meaningful efforts in that direction. First, all we are trying to ensure that the labourers returning by train should be put through the tests and the suspects among them are quarantined. Some of them are being sent to home-quarantine or government-controlled isolation centres after a due process that involves branding the suspects. This would ensure prevention of the spread. We have also organized social policing under which village heads, school teachers and committees, guards, Anganwadi workers are being involved to spread awareness. This will enable the people to understand the importance of social distancing. People will have to be more careful and responsible to protect themselves against the deadly infection. Q: What would you say about the coordination with the Centre; did the Centre consult the state on lockdown or was it a one-sided decision? A: With declaration of lockdown dates, our government has been able to maintain an excellent coordination with the Central government. We have been able to strongly put across issues involving the state interests before the Prime Minister. The migrants' return has been feasible at the initiative of the Jharkhand government. Secondly, the state's revenue depends, in many ways, on the Central government. Revenue in the form of GST and mines' royalty is received from the Centre. Besides, the state is also dependent on the Centre in giving shape to several centrally-sponsored schemes. We have been following Central guidelines on Covid-19. The Centre is being constantly informed about the ground situation in the state. Q: Yours was the first state that recalled the migrant workers, including engineering and medical students in Kota, Rajasthan. Resources-wise, is the state prepared to look after these workers and professionals? A: We have been working towards providing employment to the migrant workers. As many as 28 lakh workers were already enrolled under MGNREGA. We are trying to link the returnee migrants with the scheme. We are startegizing with the industry to make available the employment avenues so that livelihood to these people could be ensured. We are involving villagers in planning several schemes for rural development. The government is making efforts to ensure that skilled workers get jobs in accordance with their skills. Other welfare schemes are also in the works so that more and more people could be made self-reliant. Q: Other CMs before you too tried technology for better administration. How have you been able to solve people's problems through social media tools? Have these solutions worked on the ground? A: Social media is a platform through which information concerning people's welfare can be easly disseminated. This platform can be used in a transparent and unbiased manner. This is a big medium to reach out to people. You must have observed that through Facebook and Twitter several other ministers have been able to solve many propblems of the people. Q: Jharkahnd is a mineral-rich state, but it has serious problems of employment. How would you approach this problem and how would you ensure jobs for the migrants returning home? A: See, we made a rough estimate of earlier schemes immediately after our government was formed. The implementation of several schemes has been delayed due to the prevailing pandemic. As soon as government emerges out of this crisis, we will back with implementing those schemes without any delay. Q: It has been difficult to bring industry to the state on several counts such as land availability and the state's predominant tribal character. Previous governments did not try to resolve these issues, and even if they did, they could not give them a pratical shape. How would you resolve these issues? A: Right now we have the Covid-19 crisis before us. The government's focus is on people's healthcare and security, it is paying attention to providing employment and making the people self-reliant. Our government is committed to the welfare of tribals, Dalits, minorities and economically backward sections. Q: Where do you think bottlenecks or problems have existed in the fight against coronavirus because Ranchi and Hindpiri have reported several patients? A: We are making sincere and serious efforts -- people are getting ration at their doorstep. We have intensified awareness campaigns. But government alone can not do everything...people will have to be aware and responsible. On the positive side, half of the patients have recovered and have been discharged. Q: You have a coalition government in the state, which includes the Congress as well as RJD. Coordination seems lacking between you and the Congress. Do you think, things would improve between you and the ministers? Or do you think the BJP is trying to repeat what it did in Madhya Pradesh? A: I have full confidence in my council of ministers. We decide on issues with a serious thought. We don't face any problem on account coordination - coalition partners have coordinated well and will continue to do so. If there are any confusion, then would speak to the party concerned and work towards the welfare of the state. In this weeks Bacon Bits we will continue the conversation of producers and consumers. The Black community has a very unique opportunity to rebuild and change the trajectory of our success in America. Our future success requires a mindset shift that challenges what we believe is even possible. 2021 will mark 100 years since the massacre of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Black Wall Street, a Black habitat located in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, boasted a community filled with Black businesses and enterprises that included education, health agencies, social services, commercial goods and real estate. Black Wall Street was a visionary idea with a blueprint that was simple: acquire land, share resources and spread the word that Black businesses had a place to flourish. Kristi Williams, vice chair of the African American Affairs Commission in Tulsa, described Black Wall Street as a system of lending that enabled people to create and own businesses and enterprises. Black Wall Street is a perfect example of social capital where you see an asset-based approach that created a community grounded upon producing and not consuming. In 1921, angry white mobs and city officials orchestrated a plan to destroy Black Wall Street. The Tulsa race massacre is considered the single worst act of racial violence in modern American history. The Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, 35 square blocks of Black wealth, entrepreneurism and agency all destroyed. Many Black Americans were killed, homes and businesses demolished an entire civilization decimated by both ground and air attacks. A piece of American history that isnt taught in American classrooms. Can you envision Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921? What about Indianapolis in 2021? Lets fast forward. Today our village is still being ransacked and destroyed by hatred and bigotry. But we cant attribute racism as the outright owner of the disintegration and stagnation of our community thats the blame we must assume as well. Its understood that racism still exists consciously. However, is the existence of racism stronger than the energy of people? What would a 35 square block of Black wealth, entrepreneurism and agency resemble in Indianapolis today? One of the aspects that made Black Wall Street so successful was the communitys indivisibility. The community was not subjugated to only affluent Blacks but was comprised of both wealthy and blue-collar workers. The key to Black Indianapolis success is grounded in our ability to connect and defeat the internal classism that plagues our community. We continue to operate in silos versus sharing and collaborating. Black Wall Street didnt have an essential tag to any worker, it was understood that everyone was essential. Harriet Tubman once said, Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. With every day that passes, we become more placid and comfortable consuming. We have reached a catatonic state of affairs that needs to be addressed. Its been 100 years since the Tulsa race massacre. How close are we to self-sufficiency today? What have we learned in 100 years? We can continue to raise hands, point fingers and question everything, if we must, but let us not social distance ourselves from reality the reality that despite racial injustices, we can still flourish and grow. We can eradicate poverty, dismantle and rebuild our ghettos and help create the equity we need to prosper in America. This is our moment to change the world. Our moment to dream. Self-sufficiency needs to become our sovereignty. Producing needs to be our new protest. We must return to having a true village mentality that connects our entire community. Lets build the 2021 version of Black Wall Street, right here in Indianapolis. Lets dream. Alan Bacon is a humanity advocate, community leader, musician and innovator. Contact him at alankeithbacon@gmail.com. This program will not only equip students with the necessary skills to enter the finance industry, but also provide experience using new technological processes and programs," said by said Kenny Roberts, CSU Global Curriculum & Instruction Coordinator of Finance. Colorado State University Global (CSU Global) is proud to launch an online degree program in Finance to help prepare students for careers in the ever-growing financial industry. The Bachelor of Science in Finance is designed to provide students with a solid foundation in the principles of finance and the opportunity to specialize in one of two key areas. The first, focused on financial planning, will prepare students for the entrance exam for the CFP and for a successful transition into the career of a financial planner. The second, focused on corporate finance, will prepare students to serve as corporate financial analysts and careers in corporate finance. Each specialization enables the student to apply the latest technology and emerging business trends in financial strategies, risks, and investment. CSU Global is excited to launch this program that has a diverse course offering that will help to fulfill the need there is in the industry for these essential positions, said Kenny Roberts, CSU Global Curriculum & Instruction Coordinator of Finance. This program will not only equip students with the necessary skills to enter the finance industry, but also provide experience using new technological processes and programs. There is a growing need for professionals with finance degrees in the U.S. According to Burning Glass (2019), there have been more than 800,000 job postings in the field over the last 12 months. Of those, more than 80 percent require a bachelors degree. Top hiring industries include finance and insurance, professional and technical services, manufacturing, and health care; top positions include financial analysts, accounting managers, senior financial analysts, relationship bankers, and managers/directors of finance. The average salaries for these positions are well above the living wage, averaging between $62-101K per year. CSU Globals online B.S. in Finance degree program will provide students with the tools to apply financial knowledge -- including terminology, theories, concepts, and skills -- in practical settings. Students will be able to perform financial analysis, using quantitative concepts and techniques, as well as interpretation of financial statements and ratios. The program is designed to provide students with a strong understanding of the factors that influence financial decision-making, as well as vital critical-thinking skills needed to solve in-depth financial problems within either Corporate Finance or Financial Planning. Enrollment for this new program is open now, with finance classes starting every month. Interested students should contact Enrollment at 800-920-6723 or email enroll@csuglobal.edu to get started. Visit CSUGlobal.edu/BSFin to learn more. About Colorado State University Global Colorado State University Global (CSU Global) offers career-relevant bachelors and masters degree programs for working adults and nontraditional learners. As the first and only 100% online, fully accredited public university in the United States, CSU Global is focused on student success as its number one priority. Embracing the land grant heritage as part of the Colorado State University System, CSU Global sets the standard for quality and innovation in higher education through its expert faculty who are recognized as industry leaders and trained in working with adults in an online learning environment. CSU Global offers accelerated eight-week courses that start every four weeks. Visit CSUGlobal.edu to learn more. India has stepped up presence in the Galwan Valley region in the Aksai Chin area amid border tensions with China. China too has deployed additional troops after a violent clash took place between the troops of both the nations in the Pangong Tso sector on May 5-6. Many of the troops were injured during the violent clash involving around 250 soldiers from both sides. The situation in Eastern Ladakh remains tense as troops of both the nations are keeping a close watch on each other. Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane said that Indian troops were maintaining their "posture" along the border. He added that infrastructure development work in the area was on track. General Naravane added that the face-off involved aggressive behaviour by Chinese and Indian troops and resulted in minor injuries to personnel from both sides. He added that the troops disengaged, following a round of dialogue and interaction at local level. India brought in reinforcements as it expected matters to escalate following the clash. A couple of Chinese military helicopters were spotted flying close to the un-demarcated Sino-India border on May 6 after the clash. China accused India of "trespassing and illegally building defence facilities" in the Galwan Valley region. The Chinese government's mouthpiece Global Times said that China has "enhanced control measures" across the border in Ladakh. China has accused India of building defence fortifications to disrupt their border defence troops' patrol activities. On May 5, Indian and Chinese troops clashed in the region using iron rods and sticks. According to reports, some even engaged in stone-pelting. Also read: What's the coronavirus situation now in China? Not very good Also read: China expresses opposition to latest US rules against Huawei HALIFAX - The Snowbirds aerobatic team member who was killed in the crash of one of its Tutor jets is being remembered fondly as a proud native of her hometown of Halifax. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2020 (611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. HALIFAX - The Snowbirds aerobatic team member who was killed in the crash of one of its Tutor jets is being remembered fondly as a proud native of her hometown of Halifax. Capt. Jenn Casey, a public affairs officer, died Sunday when the plane crashed in a residential area of Kamloops, B.C., while on a cross-country tour meant to convey hope during the COVID-19 pandemic. Capt. Jenn Casey is seen in this undated handout photo from the Royal Canadian Air Force Twitter page. One member of the Canadian Armed Forces has died and another is injured after a Snowbird plane crashed in a residential area of Kamloops, B.C., on Sunday while on a cross-country tour meant to impart hope during the COVID-19 pandemic. Capt. Jenn Casey, a public affairs officer with the Canadian Forces, died in the incident, the Department of National Defence said Sunday night. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Twitter-@RCAF_ARC *MANDATORY CREDIT* Casey, who had been with the Snowbirds since November 2018, is a former journalist who worked as a reporter, anchor and producer at NEWS 95.7 in Halifax. Dan Ahlstrand said Casey was the first person who reached out to befriend him when he transferred to the East Coast's largest city from a sister radio station in Moncton, N.B., in 2012. Ahlstrand said Casey was "super proud" of her community. "She lived in the north end," he said. "So she gave me the insiders tour of the haunts to go and check out." Ahlstrand said she also offered advice on such things as where to find the best donair a Halifax fast food staple. He described her as an upbeat person who had an infectious smile a trait Ahlstrand said he'll remember the most. "She always brightened up the room and she was such a very positive person. Even when her beloved Montreal Canadiens were awful, she kept that smile on her face." Ahlstrand said Casey left the radio station in 2014 to join the military and recently returned as a guest on one of its talk shows just before the Snowbirds' current tour, dubbed Operation Inspiration, began in Halifax on May 3. Another former radio colleague, Scott Simpson, also paid tribute to Casey in a Facebook post from his current home in London, Ont. "Jenn was a delight to be around, solid in her work, and had such an infectiously upbeat and genuine way about her," said Simpson. "We could all see the pride she expressed in her work with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds as Captain Jenn Casey." The jet's pilot, Capt. Richard MacDougall of Moncton, N.B., survived the crash and is being treated for injuries the military has said are not life-threatening. Reached in Dieppe, N.B., MacDougall's mother, Paulette Richard, said she has talked to her son since the crash, adding that he is trying to process what happened. "We mostly shared a personal conversation about how you feel after having been through a trauma like that and losing a partner like that," Richard said. She said MacDougall's injuries included multiple fractures that occurred when he hit the roof of a home after ejecting from the aircraft. "None are life-threatening, and none are going to likely affect his mobility or quality of life when everything heals," she said. Richard described her son as a "positive, friendly and caring person." "He's a pretty good guy I think, and I think other people would feel the same way," she said. Richard said the family is from a military background and is familiar with the order in which her son flies with the Snowbirds. When they were alerted Sunday to a video of the crash that was on television, she said they had an idea of possible trouble. "We know that he flies in a two-ship (formation) right after the nine ship . . . and when we saw the two ship we knew it was 50-50 that it was Richard." After a few phone calls, Richard said officials confirmed that her son had been involved. "We reached out to find out the extent of his injuries and we were obviously relieved and very grateful that he was alive, but very saddened to hear that he had lost Jenn." Casey joined the Canadian Forces in 2014 and was based out of Trenton, Ont., according to her Royal Canadian Air Force bio. Before joining the Snowbirds, she spent most of 2018 with the CF-18 Demo Team, travelling around North America and the United Kingdom with the NORAD 60 jet. Casey's death was marked by Premier Stephen McNeil in a tweet sent early Monday. "On behalf of the entire province, I offer my deepest condolences to Capt. Jennifer Caseys family, friends, @CFSnowbirds team and fellow service members," said McNeil. "Nova Scotians stand with you and send our love, thoughts and prayers." The crash is the latest of a series of recent tragedies to profoundly touch Nova Scotia amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly one month ago a gunman killed 22 people during a rampage through rural parts of the province an event followed by the crash of a military helicopter from a Halifax-based frigate off Greece that killed six people, including three from the province. And just last week, police in Truro, N.S., called off a six-day search for three-year old Dylan Ehler, who went missing while playing outside his grandmother's house near a river that runs through the town. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2020. By Nam Hyun-woo KT&G office in Seoul / Courtesy of KT&G BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Amid further containment of COVID-19, China is powering ahead by returning to work and resuming business and production. The following are the latest facts and figures: -- China continued to see a generally stable housing market in April with house prices in 70 major cities showing milder month-on-month increases, official data showed on Monday. New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- showed month-on-month growth of 0.2 percent in April, unchanged from a month earlier, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The country's second-tier cities saw a month-on-month increase of 0.5 percent in new home prices, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, while third-tier cities witnessed a month-on-month rise of 0.6 percent in new home prices compared with a 0.2-percent increase reported in March. According to senior NBS statistician Kong Peng, the housing demand which had been curbed by the novel coronavirus epidemic increased further in April. -- Official data showed China's trade of goods with Belt and Road countries rose by 0.9 percent year on year in the first four months when total foreign trade contracted 4.9 percent. Non-financial outbound direct investment to these countries increased by 13.4 percent in U.S. dollar terms in the same period. The Ministry of Commerce said on Monday that measures to cushion trade firms from pandemic shocks are filtering through, as domestic sales volumes of export firms grew by 17 percent in April and 110,000 companies had received services from the China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation. -- China's mobile phone shipments increased by 14.2 percent year-on-year to 41.73 million units in April, reversing a 10-month decline, according to a report from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). Shipments of 5G phones reached 16.38 million units in the same period, accounting for 39.3 percent of the total, according to the CAICT, a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The CAICT added that 48 new models were introduced to the market last month, up by 14.3 percent from a year ago, 22 of which were 5G models. A day after the Uttar Pradesh government announced relaxations in the nationwide lockdown 4.0, Gautam Budh Nagar District Magistrate Suhas L.Y. on Tuesday said that the districts border with Delhi will remain sealed for now. Suhas L.Y. said that status quo shall be maintained between Delhi-Noida border for now. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage He said, we have sought instructions from state government as regards to implementation of Point 3(1) and 7(12) of GO of Home department. The district had sealed its border with Delhi in April after several novel coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in Gautam Budh Nagar were found to have links with Delhi. The district administration is only permitting the movement of those involved in essential services and those who had administration-issued passes. The lockdown 4.0, which kicked on May 18 will continue till May 31. On Monday, following the Union Ministry of Home Affairs permitting interstate travel from May 18, heavy vehicular traffic was witnessed at the Delhi-Noida borders at the Kalindi Kunj and Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway stretch. Five humanoid robots have been delivered to Rwanda where they will assist in coronavirus screening, deliver food and drugs to patients, as well as act as video-conferencing links between patients and doctors. Each robot has been given Rwandan name - Akazuba, Ikizere, Mwiza, Ngabo and Urumuri. Their main purpose is to reduce health workers' exposure to Covid-19 patients, Rwanda's Health Minister Daniel Ngamije told the BBC. "We need additional robots for other duties like disinfection in public space and we are working to get them," he added. The robots are manufactured by a Belgium-based company. Rwanda's health ministry says the units have a number of abilities, including: Screening 50 to 150 people per minute Recording and storing patient data Alerting health workers to abnormalities Warning people who aren't wearing marks, or are wearing them improperly Rwanda has two Covid-19 treatment facilities - one is on the outskirts of the capital, Kigali, and the other in the south-eastern town of Nyamata. The health ministry says there are 297 confirmed cases in the country, 203 recoveries and no deaths. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Monday sentenced two militants to death for their involvement in a suicide bombing at a shrine in Sindh province that claimed 82 lives. According to police, the accused -- Nadir Ali and Furqan -- were identified by the eyewitnesses and judicial magistrate Mushtaq Ali Jokhio through CCTV footage. They were found guilty in the 2017 bombing case in Sehwan Sharif area of Sindh province. The suicide bombing at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan Sharif on February 16, 2017 killed 82 people and left hundreds of others injured. The convicts had reportedly carried out recce of the shrine with the suicide bomber a day before the explosion. In his statement to the court, Jokhio had identified Ali and said that he had confessed to facilitating the terrorists, the Express Tribune reported. The convict had told the magistrate that he rented a room in Sehwan a day before the blast, while also inspecting the tomb of Lal Shahbaz Qalander from the inside to make the bombing successful, the report said. The shrine's caretakers had also identified the convicts, claiming that they had seen them congratulating each other in the parking lot. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Karnataka government has notified a raise in the stipend it pays to resident doctors in the state after a series of protests over the lack of revision for years. The stipend was revised last about five years ago and doctors associations had been agitating for an increase in the amount paid to them. The resident doctors have pointed out they were risking their lives in the anti-coronavirus fight and also that while tuition fees in Karnataka were the highest the stipend was the lowest. Dr K Sudhakar, the states medical education minister, said the stipend has been increased from Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 a month for resident doctors. For postgraduate medical students, the stipend has been raised to Rs 45,000, Rs 55,000 and Rs 65,000 a month and for super speciality resident doctors the stipend is Rs 10,000 more than what is paid to regular PG students. The Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors has welcomed the latest notification by the government. The United States sanctioned a China-based company today for providing general sales agent services for Irans Mahan Air. The Peoples Republic of China is one of the rapidly dwindling number of countries that welcomes Mahan Air, which ferries weapons and terrorists around the world for the Islamic Republic of Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement upon announcing the sanctions. Such cooperation has consequences. Why it matters: Relations between the Donald Trump administration and China have rapidly soured as the two sides continue taking shots at each other over the global coronavirus pandemic. Biting sanctions on Iran have formed the crux of Trumps "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran, but they also allow the United States to penalize other countries for economic relations with Iran that run afoul of unilateral American sanctions. For instance, Pompeo also noted that Mahan Air facilitates shipments to Venezuela to support the illegitimate former regime and its desperate attempts to boost energy production, which had fallen due to its own gross mismanagement. It is equally troubling that Mahan Air appears to be carrying gold from Venezuelas vaults back to Iran, depriving the Venezuelan people of resources needed to rebuild their economy, said Pompeo. Five Iranian tankers are carrying gas to Venezuela despite US sanctions. Whats next: China has threatened to veto a US resolution at the United Nations Security Council to extend an arms embargo on Iran that expires in October as the first sunset provision under the nuclear deal. Should China do so, the Trump administration has threatened to trigger a mechanism that would reinstate UN sanctions on Iran though its unclear whether the United States has the authority to do so, given its 2018 withdrawal from the nuclear accord. Know more: The United States is also encouraging close allies to reduce their ties to China. During a visit to Israel last week, Pompeo sought to dissuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from awarding China a contract to construct the largest water desalination plant in the world. Top US diplomats call comes 25 years after six-year-old monk was seized and has since never been seen in public. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday demanded that China reveal immediately the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama chosen by the Dalai Lama, 25 years after the six-year-old was seized. The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India and enjoys a wide global following, on May 14, 1995, identified Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second most senior figure in Tibetan Buddhisms largest school. The boy was taken into custody three days later and has not been seen since, with human rights groups calling him the worlds youngest political prisoner. China must provide verifiable information on the wellbeing and whereabouts of the 11th Panchen Lama. The Tibetan parliament-in-exile Tibetan Buddhists, like members of all faith communities, must be able to select, educate and venerate their religious leaders according to their traditions and without government interference, Pompeo said in a statement. We call on the PRC government to immediately make public the Panchen Lamas whereabouts and to uphold its own constitution and international commitments to promote religious freedom for all persons. China appointed its own Panchen Lama, who has made a number of tightly scripted public appearances, even though many Tibetans do not recognise him. Whereabouts of Panchen Lama On Sunday, Tibets parliament-in-exile called on Beijing to confirm the well-being and whereabouts of the Panchen Lama. China must provide verifiable information on the wellbeing and whereabouts of the 11th Panchen Lama, the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, which is based in Dharamsala in the foothills of the Indian Himalaya, said in a statement. The Dalai Lama has said China had been trying to interfere in his succession and split Tibetan Buddhism [Al Jazeera] The disappearance of the Panchen Lama is not only an injustice to one person, but it is an injustice to six million Tibetans and their right to religious freedom. The Dalai Lama has made India his home since fleeing Tibet in 1959 and resides in Dharamsala in the north of the country. The Tibetan spiritual leader has said China had been trying to interfere in his succession and split Tibetan Buddhism. In February, he marked the 80th anniversary of his enthronement as the spiritual leader of Tibet, a position held almost entirely in exile and as a target of constant vilification by the Chinese state. Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, last week warned that Beijing should not see the Panchen Lama episode as a model for the Dalai Lamas reincarnation. Chinas officially atheist government has made clear it could seek to name a successor to the 84-year-old Dalai Lama, whose charisma has brought global attention to Tibet for decades. In a rare statement on the Dalai Lama-appointed Panchen Lama, a pro-Beijing official in Tibet said in 2015 the young man was healthy, enjoying an education and does not want to be disturbed. Islamabad, Pakistan: Pakistans Supreme Court has declared that the coronavirus is not a pandemic in Pakistan, ordering the government to reopen businesses seven days a week and forcing a provincial government to reopen shopping malls. Pakistans federal government welcomed the courts orders, made during a hearing into the governments coronavirus response plan in the capital, Islamabad, on Monday. There are other serious ailments prevailing in the country, from which people are dying daily and those ailments are not being catered and the Coronavirus (COVID-19), which apparently is not a pandemic in Pakistan, is swallowing so huge money, read Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmeds order. On Monday, countrywide coronavirus cases rose by 1,841 to 43,966, with 35 deaths taking the death toll since the outbreak began to 939, government data showed. In recent days, Prime Minister Imran Khans government has loosened many lockdown restrictions, allowing smaller markets to reopen five days a week during daylight hours. This week, shopping malls in three of the countrys four provinces were due to reopen. At Mondays hearing, Ahmed ordered the government of Sindh province where Pakistans largest city of Karachi is located and which has seen almost 40 percent of all coronavirus cases in the country to reopen malls, following provinces controlled by Khans party. Mall management companies welcomed the announcement. Looking forward to welcoming Dolmen families starting tomorrow 19th May, from 9:00 AM! tweeted the Dolmen Malls management group, which operates one of Pakistans largest malls in Karachi. Hoping sanity prevails Provincial authorities, meanwhile, were more circumspect in their response to the orders. Hoping sanity prevails in the highest court of our land, said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the chief of the Pakistan Peoples Party, which controls Sindhs government. I dont want to believe that the superior judiciary would pass any judgment endangering the health and lives of the people of Pakistan. The federal government, however, welcomed the decision, with Information Minister Shibli Faraz saying it was a vindication of a continuing policy of easing the lockdown to address economic concerns. Prime Minister Imran Khan has from day one been saying, and all of the measures we have taken, they are a continuation and they show clarity and a practical approach, said Faraz at a news conference. You have to create a balance between lives and the economy. At a high-level meeting chaired by the prime minister on Monday, the federal government allowed the resumption of train services across the country, with directives in place to ensure social distancing. A meeting of the federal cabinet to discuss further responses to the coronavirus pandemic was due on Tuesday. The Supreme Courts orders contradicted the governments earlier decision to limit the opening of shops and other businesses to five days a week, saying they must be allowed to operate on Saturday and Sunday as well. We do not find any justifiable rational or reasonable classification on the basis of which these two days are excluded from doing business, for that, all days of the week are the same, read the order. There were signs of normalcy in markets and on roads here after nearly two months of coronavirus shutdown with shops opening and more vehicles coming out on Tuesday, as the state government announced relaxations in curbs during the lockdown 4.0. However, the shops in containments zones, curfew areas and malls are still closed, and those that opened outside them have to follow strict social-distancing norms. The lockdown was imposed here on March 21 and the shops were closed since. The Jaipur city falls under the high-risk red zone' categorisation for coronavirus, but the government Monday night allowed reopening of shops in all areas except in containment zones and curfew areas. Jaipur's all 15 Panchayat Samitis are under orange zone'. There are 13 containment zones in Ramganj area, which is inside the walled city of Jaipur. Ramganj is the most-affected place in the city. In the rest of the walled city, markets are closed, but grocery shops and those selling essentials were already functioning. Out of the walled city, markets in other areas came alive. This relaxation was much needed at this time. I suffered losses in two months and now I will try to make up, Prakash Verma, a shopkeeper in Arjun Nagar, said. He said that social-distancing norms will be followed as has been directed by the government. Everybody now knows about coronavirus and its impact. People need to act in a disciplined manner and maintain social-distancing. I am, therefore, putting a board in front of my shop saying that only five people are allowed inside the shop at one time as per the government rule, he said. Traffic volume on roads, too, increased and it looked almost like a normal pre-coronavirus day. The government had already given certain relaxations during lockdown 3.0 and people had started their movement in private vehicles. It increased as the much-relaxed lockdown 4.0 kicked in from Monday. Apart from shops selling essentials, the state government had on May 13 relaxed norms and allowed six other categories of shops to reopen: sweets shops (for take away/home delivery only); hardware shops; building material shops; AC, cooler, TV, electronic, electric material shops; electronic repairing shops and automobile sale outlets. Now, remaining shops, except paan shops, are open. The sale of paan, gutkha and tobacco products are still banned. As per state government guidelines issued late Monday, shops and offices have to ensure compliance to social-distancing (six feet distance) norms and sanitization protocols. In barber shops, saloons and parlous, disinfection and sanitisation after each service will have to be done. Violation of social-distancing norms will result in fine, closing of shops or legal action, says the guideline. Only two customers are allowed in small shops and five in large ones at one point of time and the rest of the customers are to wait in queue outside the shops with social distancing ensured, the guideline says. Since Jaipur is in the red zone', no commercial passenger transport is allowed unless specifically permitted. In orange zones', taxis and cab aggregators (driver plus maximum two passengers), auto-rickshaw and cycle-rickshaw (driver plus one passenger), intercity bus services are allowed. However, city buses are not permitted, according to the guidelines. The movement of individuals for all non-essential activities shall remain strictly prohibited from 7 pm to 7 am and all work places shall close latest by 6 pm, unless special permission is obtained from the district administration, in the entire state, the guidelines say. In green zone', all activities, except those which are restricted, are allowed. In this lockdown, the state government has further classified the red, orange and green zones under Urban and Panchayat Samiti categories. Earlier, the classification of the zones was district wise. Urban areas of Ajmer, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Dungarpur, Jaipur, Jalore, Jodhpur, Kota, Nagaur, Pali, Rajsamand, Sikar, Sirohi, Udaipur are under the high-risk red zone'. The urban areas of Alwar, Banswara, Baran, Bharatpur, Chittorgarh, Churu, Dausa, Dholpur, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Sawaimadhopur and Tonk are in orange zone'. The urban areas of Bundi, Ganganagar, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunu, Karauli and Pratapgarh are under green zone'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It is 2020; now more than ever, businesses understand the value of digital marketing. While traditional media is still a good medium to build a brand and attract business, digital marketing channels like search engines can convert, in most cases, multiple times better than traditional media. This means the ROI from search engine marketing far exceeds the ROI from traditional media (considering the lower entry point and cost of search engine marketing). Businesses also now realize the effectiveness of search engine marketing. They do not need to reach millions of people using traditional media; it is enough to be in front of people that search exactly for their products on search engines like Google, allowing them to generate the same amount of business with less cost. The quickest and easiest way to do search engine marketing is Google Ads (bid on a keyword and pay for every click), but with more businesses realizing its value, the cost per click has become far more expensive throughout the years. For some highly coveted keywords, businesses need to pay hundreds of dollars to receive one click, so it doesn't take long before they start asking themselves this simple question: How can we climb to the top of Google organic results so that we can save some of the money that we are paying for those expensive clicks? Answering this question is becoming more complex as the Google algorithm is becoming increasingly sophisticated day-by-day, using hundreds of ranking factors. Google tried to answer this question here (an updated version of how their algorithm works). They divided their answer into five segments, two of them are very popular (but may be 20 years old) that we find many clients are aware of and understand, and the other three segments are relatively new and are more challenging concepts for our clients to grasp. Old popular ranking factors (heavy weight in the algorithm): Relevance on web page (on-page SEO): "The most basic signal that information is relevant is when a webpage contains the same keywords as your search query. If those keywords appear on the page, or if they appear in the headings or body of the text, the information is more likely to be relevant. Beyond simple keyword matching, we use aggregated and anonymized interaction data to assess whether search results are relevant to queries." This is what SEOs call on-page SEO, it is a simple process that makes sure your content covers a certain question (keyword) well, and that this keyword is included in the tags of the page (title tag, description tag and headers) and mentioned few times in the body of the page. Quality of content (authority or inbound links): "We look for sites that many users seem to value for similar queries. For example, if other prominent websites link to the page (what is known as PageRank), that has proven to be a good sign that the information is well trusted. Aggregated feedback from our Search quality evaluation process is used to further refine how our systems discern the quality of information." This is what SEOs call off-page factor. Clearly it is not enough for Google to look at the relevance of a web page to decide where to rank it, as there could be thousands of pages that are relevant to a single query. They need another layer to apply at the top of relevancy, and that layer is authority or trust, which is driven mainly by the number of quality links pointing back to a website. A bundle of on-page SEO and link building is how most SEO companies have been selling SEO services since 2000. There is a lot of awareness and content covering those old ranking factors. Most SEO leads that come to us at Search Engine People have heard about those two factors and they believe that they need them to rank well in Google. New, less popular ranking factors (lighter weight in the algorithm, but growing and can impede good ranking): Meaning of the query: "To return relevant results for your query, we first need to establish what information youre looking forthe intent behind your query. Understanding intent is fundamentally about understanding language, and is a critical aspect of Search. We build language models to try to decipher what strings of words we should look up in the index." Google is becoming smarter everyday, understanding the intent behind a query, and also understanding which queries a web page can answer. Sometimes the answer is an image, a map or a video, which is taking even more traffic away from text content. With this smarter query understanding, a web page can aim to rank for fewer queries and instead focus more on providing clear and quick answers (what we call laser-focussed content) for fewer queries. Back in the day we used to see one page able to rank for a lot more keywords/queries than what we see now. Normally, the answer of the user query was somewhere in that page, but users needed to mine for the answer. But spending more time to find an answer is not a good user experience. Google wants to provide users with quick answers to their questions, and that is where laser focused content shines. In some cases, Google is even extracting the answer from the page, removing the need for a user to even visit that page (featured snippet): The meaning of the query can also impact the type of content that can rank for it. Text content is not as dominant as it used to be, and there are a lot of other types of content that are showing more and more in the SERP, and taking traffic away from web pages: Videos Images Products News Maps Instant answer boxes (a type of featured snippet) It is very important to analyze the search engine result page (SERP) for each targeted keyword, and provide the right type of content that has the best chance to rank at the top of Google's results. Usability of web pages: "When ranking results, Google Search also evaluates whether webpages are easy to use. When we identify persistent user pain points, we develop algorithms to promote more usable pages over less usable ones, all other things being equal. These algorithms analyze signals that indicate whether all our users are able to view the result, like whether the site appears correctly in different browsers; whether it is designed for all device types and sizes, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones; and whether the page loading times work well for users with slow Internet connections." This is what SEOs refer to as conversion rate optimization (CRO) or user experience (UX) optimization, and this where we have a lot of resistance from clients when bringing up UX as an issue that hurts ranking. They frequently point out examples of websites that are not as good as theirs, but are still outranking them. Since user experience is not the heaviest ranking factor, a higher authority website can still beat a website with better UX. However, it is cheaper to score ranking points by improving UX than improving authority, not to mention that UX improvement is part of CRO, which can lead to more conversions using the same traffic. I was so happy recently to see John Mueller (from Google) Tweeting about this, and underling how design and functionality can be clearly ranking impediments if not done well. Context and settings: "Information such as your location, past Search history and Search settings all help us to tailor your results to what is most useful and relevant for you in that moment." The key point to focus on here is location: it is more difficult to rank on national or international levels than before. Even at Search Engine People, we used to rank very well for SEO across Canada, but now we rank well only in our main area of operations (Greater Toronto Area and perhaps Ontario). It is recommended for most businesses to target keywords with the formula: what do you do + where do you do it, then leave it to Google to rank generic keywords in your area of operations. Now, understanding all about new and old ranking factors, the right process any website needs to follow to rank well in Google is: Keyword research that identifies relevant keywords that a website can rank for with it is current level of authority and the business area of operations (geolocation). SERP analysis to understand what type of content can rank for each query and find out which quires trigger featured snippets. Building laser focused pages to target those keywords and conduct a good user friendly on-page SEO optimization. Ensure the website has a professional design and is optimized for a good user experience. This includes usability, functionality and a quick load time. Start a link building campaign to improve the website authority. It has to be followed with the same order above if there is a budget limitation. If your budget is not an issue, link building and UX can start from the get-go. At Search Engine People we have structured our SEO department to cover all of Google's main ranking factors. Our versatile team now consists of: A keyword research, intent and SERP analysis specialist (a shoutout to Martha) SERP optimization, Google News optimization and featured snippet optimization (a shoutout to Josh) Content writers that understand how to provide user friendly quality content that is optimized well for search engines (shout outs to Ruhi, Vanessa and Amanda) Web developers with a lot of experience around popular CMS like WordPress and Drupal, website performance, and hosting (a shoutout to John) A tracking expert (GA, GTM and call tracking) (a shoutout to Victor) Technical SEO specialist that can assess if a website is crawl-able, indexable, loads fast and is error-free (a shoutout to Ruud) A graphic designer (a shoutout to Nigel) A CRO specialist (a shoutout to Mike) Our team can take your SEO to the next level. It is undoubtedly a more challenging level to reach compared to how SEO was done few years ago, but at SEP we embrace new challenges head-on. It is always rewarding for our team to see their work resulting in top Google rankings for their clients; it is our joy to help you! Multicenter, International ALPS Registry Outcomes Just Published in Journal of Endovascular Therapy LimFlow SA, a pioneer in the development of minimally-invasive technology for the treatment of chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), the most severe form of peripheral artery disease (PAD), today announced publication of positive two-year data from the ALPS Registry of the LimFlow Percutaneous Deep Vein Arterialization (pDVA) System. Results were published online yesterday in the Journal of Endovascular Therapy and will also appear in the August print issue of the journal. The ALPS Registry is the largest study to date of No-Option CLTI patients treated with the LimFlow System reporting mid- and long-term results. "In this complex group of patients, pDVA using the LimFlow device has shown to be feasible and safe with high technical success and good amputation-free survival at six months up to 24 months coupled with good wound healing," said the paper's lead author, Andrej Schmidt, MD, Head of the Angiology CathLab at Leipzig University Hospital, Germany. "In selected patients with No-Option CLTI, pDVA is a safe and effective treatment to prevent amputation and heal wounds." "Patients with this disease suffer with chronic ulcers, often including gangrene, recurrent pain, and a very poor quality of life. CLTI is associated with poor mid- and long-term survival, and no-option patients often face the worst outcomes," said Roberto Ferraresi, MD, Chief of the Peripheral Interventional Unit at the San Carlo Clinic, Milan, Italy, co-author of the paper, and a pioneer in the interventional treatment of CLTI. "These patients desperately need an option to avoid amputation and improve their life, and LimFlow offers a very promising alternative for them." The ALPS Registry is a multi-center, retrospective study conducted at centers in Alkmaar, Netherlands; Leipzig, Germany; Paris; and Singapore encompassing 32 end-stage or "no-option" CLTI patients. All patients had non-healing wounds on the target foot and no arterial target for surgical or endovascular revascularization. Among them, 66 percent had diabetes, 53 percent had renal insufficiency, and 16 percent were dialysis dependent. The majority of patients had experienced failed prior attempts at revascularization. The registry reported major amputation-free survival of 84 percent, 71 percent, and 67 percent, respectively, at six months, one year and two years. Additionally, a positive trend of successful wound healing was demonstrated, with 73 percent of wounds completely healed at two years. Technical success was 97 percent. When all other therapeutic options have been exhausted and a CLTI patient is facing major amputation, the minimally-invasive LimFlow system is designed to bypass blocked arteries in the leg and deliver oxygenated blood back into the foot via the veins. For many patients, restoring perfusion in the lower limbs resolves chronic pain, improves quality of life, enables wound healing and prevents major amputation. "It is very gratifying to see these durable results being demonstrated by the LimFlow System in a real-world setting with consecutive patients," said LimFlow CEO Dan Rose. "For these no-option patients, the next intervention for their leg was going to be major amputation, with the associated morbidity and high mortality risk that comes with amputation. Instead, two years later, the vast majority of patients are alive, with almost three-quarters of them experiencing completely healed wounds. This registry adds to the building clinical evidence that LimFlow therapy is an effective solution for no-option patients." CLTI is the most severe form of PAD and often occurs in patients suffering from coronary artery disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. Patients with CLTI often experience profound, chronic pain and develop festering wounds or infections that lead to major limb amputation, an event closely associated with increased mortality and reduced quality of life. To relieve the symptoms of CLTI, patients today are treated primarily with angioplasty or open bypass surgery. In many late-stage patients, however, neither option is feasible due to extensive disease in the target arteries or other anatomical constraints. Click here to view a video of how the LimFlow System works. About LimFlow SA LimFlow is a private, venture-backed medical device company transforming the treatment of chronic limb-threatening ischemia, a growing clinical need in the face of the prevalence of diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and an aging population. For more information, visit www.limflow.com. CAUTION: The LimFlow technology is approved for investigational use only in the United States. The LimFlow System received the CE Mark in October 2016. The LimFlow System has not been approved for sale in the USA, Canada, or Japan. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005353/en/ Contacts: Michelle McAdam, Chronic Communications, Inc. michelle@chronic-comm.com, +1 310-902-1274 Rebecca Judd has revealed the mortifying moment she farted in front of the nanny - and then blamed it on one of her children. The embarrassing moment happened when she was interviewing the woman, the 37-year-old footy WAG confessed on Monday. 'We were interviewing a new nanny once and I may have let one rip,' she told listeners of KIIS FM's 3pm Pick-Up. We've all been there! Rebecca Judd has revealed the mortifying moment she farted in front of the nanny - only to blame it on her three-year-old son Tom Luckily, Rebecca's three-year-old son Tom was running past when she farted, which allowed her to use him as a scapegoat. 'I was like, "Tom! Tom! Say excuse me,"' she said, making her co-host Katie 'Monty' Dimond burst into fits of laughter. Monty then asked if she had known 'it was coming out,' to which Rebecca shrugged: 'No, babe. I've had four children.' 'I may have let one rip': The embarrassing moment happened when she was interviewing the woman, the 37-year-old footy WAG confessed on Monday She added that it's useful having young kids around the house because you can always blame inopportune farts on them. Rebecca and her husband, retired AFL star Chris Judd, share four children, son Oscar, eight, daughter Billie, five, and three-year-old twins boys Tom and Darcy. She also said on Monday that she was pleased lockdown restrictions had lifted in response to the declining number of COVID-19 cases. Copping the blame! Luckily, Rebecca's three-year-old son Tom (pictured) was running past when she farted, which allowed her to use him as a scapegoat It comes after Rebecca revealed she had been forced to reschedule her annual trip to Broome to see her mother, Kerry Brown. In an Instagram comment last week, she said she would be stuck in Melbourne all winter due to Western Australia's borders being closed. The Postcards host is also relieved schools are re-opening, after spending the past few weeks home-schooling her four youngsters. Cancelled! It comes after Rebecca revealed she had been forced to reschedule her annual trip to Broome to see her mother, Kerry Brown, due to state border closures Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 01:19:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SKOPJE, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The government of North Macedonia will make a big investment in the health sector to strengthen the intensive care departments in order to better cope with a possible second wave of COVID-19, Health Minister Venko Filipce told a press conference on Tuesday. "Coronavirus will most probably have a second wave as most studies and experiences from other outbreaks show," Filipce said. The minister announced that the government is preparing for a second wave in autumn in consultation with the World Health Organization and other countries. According to Filipce, all intensive care departments will have modern medical equipment, ventilators, digital X-ray devices, beds and other equipment needed for health protection. "Preparations for a second wave are ongoing and North Macedonia will be ready to protect the health of the citizens," he added. Twenty-two new coronavirus cases were registered over the last 24 hours in North Macedonia, the health authorities reported. As of Tuesday, the total number of confirmed cases in North Macedonia reached 1,839, with 1,351 recoveries and 106 fatalities. Enditem The head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction David Arakhamia has said it's impossible to postpone local elections in Ukraine. "To be honest, I don't understand, even if there will be a new wave of a pandemic, how this (would reschedule local elections - IF) or if it could be done, because it a constitutional amendment would be needed. And changes to the Constitution are two sessions, that is physically, it's impossible to stop the elections," Arakhamia said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. According to him, it's still too early to talk about holding elections online, because for this it is necessary to resolve a number of issues on a state scale, which the Ministry of Digital Transformation is working on. "Once we get the same unified demographic register and we will understand how many people are in the country, where these people are, where they live and where they vote, then we can really enter this digital ID and give the person the opportunity to vote," said head of the faction. Arakhamia recalled that the chances of holding local elections throughout Ukraine, including in the occupied Donbas, still remain, although they are unlikely. "With the expansion of the format (the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group at the Minsk negotiations), everything started moving much faster. Indeed, when we connected the heads of the committees, this process came to life, and there are positive dynamics. But so far, this (holding elections throughout Ukraine, including in Russia-occupied Donbas) looks unrealistic. Although there are still chances," he said. Arakhamia emphasized that Ukraine's position has not changed first comes the security component, the establishment of border control and only then the political component. As reported, elections to local governments throughout Ukraine are scheduled for October 25 this year. New York City, hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, is still weeks away from a phased reopening by the first half of June, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said, as authorities are trying to meet all the seven health-related measures necessary for such a step. New York City, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, has 191,073 coronavirus cases and 15,983 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, which are deaths following positive COVID-19 laboratory tests. There's no way we're getting to the City and State indicators before June at this rate. So, June is the first opportunity the first half of June is the first opportunity to relax anything, de Blasio said Monday at a press briefing. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has said that regions across the state will have to meet seven criteria before they will be allowed to gradually re-open businesses and institutions. The seven metrics that will define whether a region can re-open businesses are decline in total hospitalisations, decline in deaths measured by the three-day rolling average of daily new hospital deaths not exceeding 5, fewer than two new hospitalisations per 100,000 residents, hospital bed capacity regions must have at least 30 per cent of their total hospital beds available before a phased re-opening, availability of 30 percent of ICU beds in a region, diagnostic testing capacity and contact tracing capacity. Another 4,823 are probable deaths, where the cause is reported as "COVID-19" or equivalent, but no positive laboratory test. Blasio said the city has made progress in some criteria but in the requirements for number of available hospital beds and number of ICU beds we need to go farther, but we're getting close to those goals. And I think there's a point in the first half of June when we'll meet those. He emphasised that the city will evaluate very carefully regarding if and when it is ready to open up. We've got to then make decisions on exactly which restrictions to loosen up, exactly how, and we have to be confident that when we're doing it, we can hold the line. We do not want to reduce restrictions and suddenly see an upsurge that puts us right back in a situation where we have to close down. So there's a real subtle balance that needs to be struck. But if the question is do we believe we'll meet all seven state indicators? Yes. When? First half of June, he said. New York state's six regions - Central New York, the North Country, Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, Western New York and Mohawk Valley Regions - have met all seven metrics required to begin phase one of the state's regional phased reopening plan. These regions have begun opening businesses over the weekend for phase one, which includes construction; manufacturing and wholesale supply chain; retail for curbside pickup and drop-off or in-store pickup; and agriculture, forestry and fishing. The total number of coronavirus cases in New York State stands at 351,371 with over 28,000 deaths. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) East-Timor's Prime Minister has asked the Timorese people to "maintain calm" and allow the country's leaders to restore order, after Parliament devolved into pushing and shoving for a second consecutive day. Jose Maria Vasconcellos, also known as Taur Matan Ruak, issued a statement saying people should go about their normal lives and let the leaders solve their problems. In raucous scenes on Tuesday, the house's presiding table was literally overturned and MPs began banging on furniture to stop the day's session from going ahead. The presiding table is used by the National Parliament's president - equivalent to Australia's speaker of the house - and two vice-presidents, and represents the highest echelons of the government apart from the President and Prime Minister. It is not the first time the poltical class in Dili has resorted to scuffles, but "this one is different in a sense that it's become so disruptive and so rowdy. We have not seen scenes like this in the Timorese Parliament since the restoration of independence in 2002," says Michael Leach, professor of Politics and International Relations at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. WILLIAMSPORT A Lancaster man has been accused of stabbing a Williamsport area convenience store clerk because she asked him to leave. Tajhea Nyree Shuler, 19, of the 500 block of Poplar Street, was taken into custody by state police shortly after the 7 p.m. Sunday incident at the Quick Mart just east of Williamsport in Loyalsock Twp. The female clerk, 59, told investigators she asked the man to leave because he was walking around the store and not buying anything, the arrest affidavit states. The stores surveillance video shows her being stabbed in the neck-chest area with a kitchen-style knife while she was standing near the checkout counter, the charges state. The clerk was taken to UPMC Susquehanna. That hospital does not release any information about patients. Another person in the store provided a description of the assailant who ran north, police said. A knife containing blood was found a short distance from the store, they said. A man later identified as Shuler spoke with a trooper while standing in front of a nearby apartment building in the 1700 block of Four Mile Drive but according to the affidavit but was allowed to go inside. About 7:20 p.m., Shakeema Shuler contacted state police and told them her nephew had walked into her apartment and confessed what he had done. Shuler was arrested on charges of aggravated and simple assault and recklessly endangering another person and committed to the Lycoming County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail. According to court records, Shuler on Feb. 10 in Lancaster County was placed in accelerated rehabilitative disposition program for one year on a theft charge. 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. Rwanda's president has pardoned and ordered the release of 50 young women who were jailed for having or assisting with abortions. Justice Minister Johnston Busingye said the women released Tuesday were the last to be freed. Last year, President Paul Kagame ordered the release of 52 women. Kagame also informed the cabinet Monday that a total of 3,596 inmates had been granted ``conditional release'' from prison. The government is trying to reduce the number of inmates to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Last month, 1,182 people were freed. Previously, abortion was illegal in Rwanda with a prison sentence for anyone who had an abortion or helped in terminating a pregnancy. The new law says abortion is allowed in cases such as rape, forced marriage, incest or instances where the pregnancy poses a health risk. The law requires that abortions be carried out only after consultation with a doctor. But Sylvie Nsanga, a prominent women's rights advocate, said the requirement to consult a doctor and seek a parent's consent remains a challenge because it's not easy to get support for an abortion in Rwandan culture. There are no doctors in rural areas and travelling far from a village to look for one can carry a stigma, she added. ``It means girls will continue to get pregnant, abort, be imprisoned and then get pardoned by the president,'' Nsanga told The Associated Press. ``There should be move conversation about the penal code that prohibits health professionals such as midwives from providing abortions.'' Search Keywords: Short link: There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat, which caught a crooked mouse, And they all lived together in a little crooked house. Remember this nursery rhyme? Some believe the poem, first published in the 1840s, was inspired by the once prosperous wool trading village of Lavenham, in Suffolk, England. To understand why, you just have to wander around the streets of this delightful little town, located about 70 miles northeast of London. Just about every other half-timbered, brightly painted houses here are noticeably crooked, leaning on to each other as if for support. Lavenham is a medieval town with a rich history and founded on the wool trade. During the 15th and the 16th centuries, Lavenham was famous for the blue broadcloth made from its abundance of high quality wool. By the late 15th century, the town was among the richest in the British Isles, paying more in taxation than considerably larger towns such as York and Lincoln. The towns prosperity and wealth of the era is clearly visible in the lavishly constructed wool church of St. Peter and St. Paul which stands proudly on a hill top at the end of the main high street. The church is excessively large for the size of the village and its tower standing 141 feet, is said to be the highest village church tower in Britain. Other buildings also demonstrate the town's ostentatious wealth - the Lavenham Wool Hall and the Guildhall of the wool guild of Corpus Christi in the centre of the village overlooking the market square. It is said that when Henry VII visited the town in 1487, he fined several Lavenham families for displaying too much wealth. The town grew so fast that many of the houses were built in haste with green timber. As the wood dried, the timbers warped causing the houses to bend at unexpected angles. Unfortunately, Lavenhams good times didnt last long. When Dutch refugees settled in Colchester began producing cloth that was cheaper, lighter and more fashionable than Lavenham's, the towns cloth industry went bust. By the time the dried timber started twisting, Lavenhams families had lost its wealth and with no money to rebuild their homes, Lavenhams crooked houses were left as they were. Lavenham has another association with nursery rhymes. In the late eighteenth century, the village was home to poet Jane Taylor, and it was while living in Shilling Street that she wrote the poem The Star, from which the lyrics for the nursery rhyme Twinkle Twinkle Little Star are taken. Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Photo credit Sources: Wikipedia / RAF Mildenhall / CDN via Unusual Places WASHINGTON - Ruth Hunter never missed a Sunday service at Augustana Lutheran Church - but she occasionally slipped out early when her beloved Washington Redskins took the field. "She was ushering when I showed up, and I was on my way to RFK" Stadium, her friend and fellow congregant Sid Stolz said. "I was in Redskins gear and so was she, and we were fast friends from Day One. She'd leave early for the kickoff at RFK. She didn't like to miss the kickoff." Hunter, whose apartment was adorned with Redskins and Nationals memorabilia, died April 17 of covid-19 at 94. She came to the District in 1944 as a government girl - the young women who arrived to work for federal agencies during World War II, many of them from small towns like her birthplace, Apollo, Pennsylvania. She arrived in the District while escorting another Apollo girl whose parents did not want her to live alone in the big city. Both women took the civil service exam. However, after two years, the friend who had begged Ruth to leave Apollo returned to Pennsylvania. Hunter continued at the Pentagon and lived the next eight decades in Washington. She worked as a secretary for Gen. Omar Bradley while he chaired the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Truman and Eisenhower administrations. Perhaps because of her security clearance or maybe just her small-town humility, she rarely spoke about her work. However, she did keep pictures from her time as a batter on a Pentagon women's softball team. Hunter never married, and she outlived all four of her siblings. In many ways, the church was her extended family. "She was a strong, wonderful, feisty woman who was like a grandmother or aunt to many people there," said Wilbert Miller, a former pastor at Augustana from 1982 to 1995. Hunter organized the scripture readings, compiled a lengthy prayer list and also was quick to tell the organist if she thought the music was too loud. But she was best known for an altruism that showed in ways both large and small. When one woman went through a difficult pregnancy, Hunter presented her with a piggy bank for her baby. Miller recalled that she once took a homeless woman under her wing and helped her find work and housing. She was also active in the Lydians, a group of professional women within the church who contributed their earnings to pressing community needs. In later years, Hunter, who did not drive and prided herself on thrift, rode with other congregants to church. The money she saved on bus fare went directly to the church. She began attending Augustana in 1948 and joined the church membership in the late 1950s. It was a period when members proselytized door to door, inviting all without a church of their own to come worship. At the time, the congregants were primarily white while the surrounding neighborhood was predominantly African American. "The church made the decision to integrate," Miller said. "That was an amazing thing at the time. It was famously known [within the church] as 'Operation One Mile' - to do a circle of people within one mile. Here is this young woman from Apollo and she jumps in with both feet to that congregation and its ministry." In 1964, Hunter became active in the Girl Scouts, serving as troop leader to an all-black Brownie troop. As the girls grew into women, she stayed in touch, sharing in their experiences of family and work. One of them later became her eye doctor. "When I was there, she was always open to others," Miller recalled. "When AIDS raised its ugly head, the church became very open to the LGBT community, then we had a ministry for the Salvadoran community. She was very open to all of those ministries." In recent years, Hunter lived at the Residences at Thomas Circle - initially in independent living, then, as her Alzheimer's disease progressed, in the facility's memory-care unit. On the evening of April 24, several congregants got together on Zoom to eulogize and reminisce about their longtime friend. "When we are able to come together again as a church," congregant Barbara Capps said, "there will be a real memorial service for Ruth." YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK For Matt Gibbens, visiting Yellowstone National Park via the East Entrance when it opened on Monday was a "no brainer." "I just knew that I would see something I'd never seen before: Yellowstone at its purest," he said. He wasn't disappointed. Gibbens was standing at the Lower Falls overlook at Artist's Point, and the usually crowded viewpoint was nearly empty. He told his girlfriend he normally has to circle the large parking lot a few times just to find a place to park. The oldest national park in the United States closed to tourists seven weeks ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The East Entrance, near Cody, Wyoming, was one of two access points to the park that opened Monday. The other, the South Entrance, is located just outside Jackson, Wyoming. The three other entrances to the park, all located in Montana, remain closed. Last week Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said the earliest he would allow the entrances in his state to open would be June 1, much to the disappointment of some business people in those three gateway communities. Some tourists, like Gibbens, were willing to make the drive to see the park during these unusual times. Others, like John Mills, just happened to be in the area and took advantage of the opportunity. Mills left Ann Arbor, Michigan, a week ago in his Tesla electric car to go on a cross-country birding trip while his software company is closed due to the new coronavirus. "I wouldn't mind seeing bears and wolves," he said. Five buddies who left Chicago four days earlier also just happened to luck into Yellowstone's opening day. John Reilly, Winston Jones, Alek Rasutis, Brian Davis and Tyler Morales were crammed into one vehicle on their journey to the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Despite their close contact with each other, they were taking "extreme precautions" to avoid getting or spreading COVID-19, Reilly said, including wearing masks and using hand sanitizer. Last week Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly said the park's two Wyoming entrances would open at noon on Monday. But as a line of cars, trucks and campers backed up at the East Entrance some camping at the entrance to be the first through the gate Sholly allowed the park staff to open the gate two hours early. "Hi, welcome to Yellowstone," said Janice Berriochoa, a park ranger, through her face mask as tourists pulled up to the kiosk and offered cash, credit cards or a pass to enter. "Today is free, just for you." In the first two hours about 200 visitors had rolled through, excited to see the park's wildlife, waterfalls and thermal features that in the past have drawn around 4 million tourists a year. Sholly sees the reduced visitation as a good way to get the park's staff and tourists used to new protocols instituted to lessen the chances of the park becoming a vector for the new coronavirus. For veteran park worker Richard Ranc, that meant fewer toilets for him to clean in the Lake District. Whereas it used to be five to 10 custodial workers roaming the region to clean the vault toilets, it's now 30. At age 80, Ranc has been working in his current job 32 years. As Ranc sprayed disinfectant in an outhouse near LeHardy Rapids, known as a place to see harlequin ducks, vehicles rolled past with license plates from Virginia, Colorado, California and Utah, to name a few. Asked if he was surprised by how far it appeared people had traveled to visit Yellowstone, Sholly shook his head. "I don't think anything about this park surprises me anymore," he said. Sholly and his staff have devised a reopening plan that in this first phase includes day-use only, no overnight camping or lodging, no tour buses, and no food service. The idea is to go slow in hopes that an outbreak of coronavirus can be avoided for the park's staff and, if lucky, in the surrounding communities because the last thing Sholly and his crew want to do is close the park again. "We're trying to get used to the new system," he said. "There's always going to be a learning curve." For 15 years Gibbens has been visiting the park from his California home since his father bought a home in nearby Wapiti, Wyoming. A couple of months ago he took the plunge and moved to the area to help his aging father. Access to Yellowstone and the region's fishing were two big attractions. "It just never gets old," he said. "It's one of my favorite spots." Photos: Yellowstone reopens after weekslong closure The conflict in south Yemen escalated abruptly over the last few days, undoing progress in the peace effort and risking a rise in armed confrontations in southern provinces. On May 11, ferocious armed clashes between Yemeni government forces and southern separatists broke out in Abyan province in southern Yemen. Government forces led an offensive on the outskirts of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC)-controlled Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan, in a bid to recapture it. The government forces were driven out of the city in August when STC forces managed to take over Zinjibar, overpowering opposing military units. So far, the city is under the hold of the separatists who fight for seceding from Yemens north and restoring the former independent state that unified with the north in 1990. The fighting continued through the weekend in Abyan province. At least 14 fighters were killed on Saturday when pro-government troops attacked the STC forces near Zinjibar, roughly 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Aden in the countrys south, AFP reported. This recent escalation comes about two weeks after the STC declared self-rule of the southern provinces, a move that aroused the anger of the government and was met by rejection from many countries, including the United States and Saudi Arabia. The self-rule declaration sparked the latest strife in Abyan and tensions across south Yemen. Though the two sides signed a power-sharing agreement in Riyadh in November 2019, the conflict remains intense and flames are threatening to ignite the south. The STC has had the upper hand in Aden, Abyan, Dhale and Lahj province since August 2019, when the government lost the battle thanks to the Emirati airstrikes, which killed and wounded about 300 government soldiers in Aden and Abyan. Now a new battle has kicked off in Abyan and the government forces eyes are set on Aden, the interim capital, amid fierce resistance by the STC fighters. The government is inclined to use force and regain what it lost to the STC since last year. On May 14, Yemens Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik said the key to restoring peace in Yemen is to restore the country and its institutions and end the armed militia rebellion. Meeting with the UN Security Councils five permanent member states, Abdulmalik said, Rejecting the calls to withdraw the so-called self-rule and the continued escalation will oblige the state to take deterrent measures. He also stated, When the government acts wisely and rationally, that does not mean it is weak. STC head Aidrous al-Zubaidi delivered a televised speech from Abu Dhabi, saying that the Yemeni government intentionally sparked a conflict by attacking the southern forces in Abyan. He said, We have been patient throughout the previous period and avoided responding to all violations committed by the government out of respect for the agreement sponsored by Saudi Arabia. The Yemeni government has disrespected the agreement, according to Zubaidi, accusing it of adopting chaos and terrorism. Up to May 13, the government forces held a strong position on the battleground and have made some gains. But the course of the battle could suddenly shift. The governments Abyan-Ataq military axis released a statement on May 13, saying that the separatists endured heavy losses. The statement went on, The army managed to take over 12 armored vehicles and four tanks, one of which is affiliated with the Emirati army. In addition, the army seized eight pickups and took 13 of the militia elements as captives. Political observers have said the government push would not have happened without Saudi approval. Aden-based political analyst Abdulraqeeb al-Hidiani told Al-Monitor, Saudi Arabia has granted the government forces a green light and tremendous support to end the rebellion of the STC. Hidiani added, The battle that is taking place in Abyan would be incomplete without taking over and restoring Aden. Saudi Arabia clearly stands by the Yemeni government because it has used all means to persuade the STC to implement the Riyadh agreement, but to no avail. Khalil Muthna al-Omary, the editor-in-chief of Rai Alyemen news site, sees the current fighting as a reflection of rivalry between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia. He told Al-Monitor, Riyadh backs [President Abed Rabbo Mansour] Hadis forces while the Emirates supports the STC with weapons and advanced military equipment. The STC leadership releases its statement from Abu Dhabi and the Yemeni government declares its statements from Riyadh. Omary expects Riyadh and the international community will not allow the battle to reach Aden for the time being, given the calamitous situation in the city. Yemeni authorities declared Aden a "disaster city" on May 11 with dozens of deaths reported every day. Diseases have increased with the rainy season, which struck the city last month. Sanad Gameel, the head of the civil affairs authority in Aden, said that 70 deaths were reported May 13 and 600 people have died since May 1. Aden, which is only 35 miles from the ongoing battle in Abyan, has been plagued by a devastating health crisis. Up to May 14, Yemens Supreme National Emergency Committee for Combating COVID-19 said that 48 coronavirus cases have been reported in the city since April 30. The number of positive cases in Yemen could be higher if tracking and testing capabilities were better. As the war continues to undermine health authorities and hinder health services, the World Health Organization has said the spread of COVID-19 will be a catastrophic disaster in Yemen. Altaf Musani, WHO representative and mission chief in Yemen, said in a May 13 interview with Anadolu Agency, This health system will never be fully prepared because we've had five years of war and that conflict, that vulnerability and that fragility have really weakened the health system to deal with routine health matters such as cholera, dengue and malaria." Now Yemen faces twin life-threatening crises: escalating war and widespread sickness. Anyway, this proxy war has ruined the security and stability in the country. The new threat is the coronavirus pandemic, which will make the situation in Yemen more complicated, said Omary. Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - MedXtractor Corp. (CSE: MXT) ("MXT" or the "Corporation") announces its financial results for the year ended February 29, 2020. MXT had positive cash flows from operations of $92,117 and incurred a net loss of $36,598 for the year ended February 29, 2020. On February 29, 2020, MXT had working capital of $629,909 including cash of $594,492 as compared to working capital of $235,377 including cash of $143,489 as at February 28, 2019. The Corporation has no debt and no material liabilities. Mr. Jim Durward, CEO, states "Despite a challenging operating environment and significant one-time costs associated with the going-public process, we managed to remain cash-flow positive for the period. This result was due to strict adherence to our low-fixed-cost operating model, a targeted marketing effort, and the continuing trend toward worldwide cannabis legalization. Despite the positive nature of our operations, our share price has not escaped the overall depressed state of the entire cannabis complex and at our current market capitalization of less than $2,000,000, I believe that MXT is significantly undervalued; a situation we intend to address by increasing our visibility to cannabis investors. Going forward we will seek to increase shareholder value from a stronger marketing presence, internal product development and posibly mergers and acquisitions. I also thank our shareholders for their patience and continuing support as we work through this extraordinary environment." ABOUT MEDXTRACTOR CORP: The Corporation is a Calgary-based company that manufactures patented, proprietary craft-scale carbon dioxide-based extractors that are used to extract essential oils and compounds from a variety of botanical materials. Growing demand is from the premium craft medical cannabis market as these growers respond to the shift toward high-purity oils and concentrates as the base for a multitude of products such as vapes, dabs, edibles, tinctures, sprays, and suppositories. The ongoing worldwide cannabis legalization movement is expected to further increase demand for extracts and the Corporation has installations in multiple countries worldwide. The Corporation owns the US patent, and the Canadian Patent application, on its CO2-based extraction process. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: MEDXTRACTOR CORP. James M. Durward, President and CEO Telephone: (403) 689-3901 Email: jimd@medxtractor.com Website: www.medxtractor.com This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. The information in this news release includes certain information and statements about management's view of future events, expectations, plans and prospects that constitute forward looking statements. These statements are based upon assumptions that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Because of these risks and uncertainties and as a result of a variety of factors, the actual results, expectations, achievements or performance may differ materially from those anticipated and indicated by these forward looking statements. Any number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements as well as future results. Although the Corporation believes that the expectations reflected in forward looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that the expectations of any forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Except as required by law, the Corporation disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward looking statements or otherwise. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56098 Remember what feels like 43 years ago (but was actually less than two months ago) when two pandas had sex at a zoo in Hong Kong and it was the best news anyone had heard in weeks? Well, unfortunately it turns out life in the zoo during a pandemic isnt all fun and fornication. In fact, things are starting to get pretty dark. Like most businesses, zoos have been hit hard by the pandemic, and owners are struggling to keep their zoos and the animals they house alive as lockdowns bring visitors and revenue to a halt. The amount of losses through the whole zoological community is staggering, Steven Monfort, the director of the Smithsonians National Zoo, told the New Yorker. Most of us are trying to figure out how to get to the spring of 2021 and hope that theres a vaccine or something so that visitation by then will be more normal. While many businesses are being forced to make difficult decisions amid the widespread financial strife, zookeepers have an additional concern at hand: their living, breathing products. As lockdowns continue, many zookeepers are starting to prepare for the worst, and some worst-case scenarios are looking grim. If and this is really the worst, worst case of all if I no longer have any money to buy feed, or if it should happen that my feed supplier is no longer able to supply due to new restrictions, then I would slaughter animals to feed other animals, a zoo owner in northern Germany told the German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur last month, according to CNN. The zoo has reportedly drafted a list of which animals would be the first to go. According to the New Yorker report, other zoos have already begun pursuing less drastic measures, including a Canadian zoo that sent its pandas back to China after being unable to procure enough bamboo to feed them. To summarize, coronavirus has transformed the zoo, once a kid-friendly destination for family day trips and school field trips, into a bleak hellscape. But hey, at least those pandas got to have sex one last time before the end. Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter. The post Zoos May Have to Start Euthanizing Animals If Coronavirus Lockdowns Continue appeared first on InsideHook. How Different Translations Help Us Understand Better Looking at different translations of a verse is often enlightening. Many versions of 4:6 echo and confirm each other, but a few stand out in wording or phrasing. "Dont worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done" (New Living Translation). The wording of the last phrase is a reminder to keep God's past answers to prayer in mind as we lift up new requests. That will build our confidence in His faithfulness, and strengthen the habit of running to Him. "Be anxious in nothing, but in everything by tefillah and by techinnah with hodayah, let your requests be made known before Hashem" (Orthodox Jewish Bible). The definitions of Hebrew terms used here add depth to the overall message. "Tefillah" (to think, entreat and intercede) implies that we can pray for others as well as ourselves, spreading the blessing. "Techinnah" (supplication for favor) stresses the humble posture we are to have as we approach God, while "hodayah" means a large expression of thanksgiving. Brought together, these describe a generous, passionate, and potentially joyful time of prayer. "Be ye nothing busy, but in all prayer and beseeching, with doing of thankings, be your askings known at God" (Wycliff Bible). To busy ourselves is to stay occupied and engaged with something. That could be a good thing, but in this case it suggests how we often become focused on taking care of our issues and needs ourselves. But again, Paul suggests that lifting prayers upward can be the antidote to a self-centered mindset. "Dont fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of Gods wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. Its wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life" (The Message, v.6-7). The Message expands the original text by explaining some practical steps to employ Paul's practice of prayer. Just reading the description of how our thoughts and attitudes will be changed can generate a sense of peace. "Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God" (Amplified Bible). This translation clarifies some of Paul's words without taking anything away from his message. We are called to pray every time we feel a burden, and it's important to be specific in those prayers. It builds our trust in God, and will show us later how He has provided. The Matthew Henry Concordance likens the first phrase to Jesus' words in Matthew 6:25, where he tells his disciples, "...do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear." Henry comments, "Be careful for nothing, so as by your care to distrust God, and unfit yourselves from his service." Photo credit: Unsplash/Sincerely Media A day after two more of its employees tested positive of coronavirus disease Covid-19, the doctors and the paramedical staff at the civil hospital in Ludhiana staged protest on Tuesday against the poor quality of face masks being provided to them. The protest, however, was called off after assurance from civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga that the masks and the other protective equipments will be replaced and the new material will reach by evening. Dr Bagga summoned the factory owner who had manufactured the masks seeking an explanation. Earlier, the doctors had raised the issue of poor quality of PPE kits. The protesting staff alleged that the N-95 mask was of substandard quality which provides no protection. Dr Milan Verma, who had raised the issue, said that the masks cannot be stitched or stapled especially if it is to be used in Covid-19 facility. He also claimed that the filter of the masks kept falling off. The employees staged protests holding masks in their hands. They refused to join duty till the time they are provided good quality masks and PPE kits. So far, one former doctor and four ward attendants have tested positive for Covid-19. Meanwhile, 22 positive cases of Covid-19 were reported in Ludhiana on Monday. They include two rape accused, six undertrial prisoners lodged in Borstal jail, two railway protection force (RPF) personnel - one a contact of a Covid-19 positive patient - and five other cases from different parts of the district. Meanwhile, 15 nurses working on contract and deployed at isolation centre of the civil hospital, also staged protest and demanded hike in salary. They also accused the authorities of the hospital for not conducting their Covid-19 tests. The protesting nurses said that they have come in contact with infected ward attendants and patients, who could be asymptomatic Covid-19 carriers. Amritsar continued to lead the Covid-19 tally in Punjab with 305 positive cases recorded on Monday, followed by 209 in Jalandhar and 155 in Tarn Taran. A total of 52,955 samples have been taken so far in the state and 48,813 of them have tested negative while reports of 2,162 are still awaited. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Throughout the pandemic, euro zone governments have lagged behind the European Central Bank in charting a path out of the economic crisis. Germany and France have suddenly decided they want to lead the way. Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron have tabled a joint plan that includes, among other items, a shared 500 billion-euro ($543 billion) recovery fund for the EU. Berlin and Paris are front-running the European Commission, which is meant to present its own proposal for the fund next week. The two leaders are sending a clear signal to the more hawkish euro area members such as the Netherlands and Austria that the worst-affected nations need more than financial wizardry to get through this emergency. The Franco-German proposal would see the Commission raising the money on the financial markets and then distributing it in the form of grants. This would be a remarkable change for the EU, whose response so far has been that each country should take on more debt individually. In Merkels and Macrons plan, each member of the bloc will contribute depending on its share of the EU budget, which in turn hinges on the relative size of national incomes. But the Commission would disburse the money as it saw fit. Essentially, this clears the way for fiscal transfers from financially secure countries to those less fortunate and is a tacit admission that Europe needs to make a statement about all being in it together on Covid-19. The difference with the continents other emergency instruments is striking. The European Stability Mechanism, the euro zones rescue fund, has offered loans in the past to countries in crisis in exchange for a package of austerity and structural reforms. The pandemic has pushed Europes leaders to vastly improve the ESMs lending terms and to let it offer money for the strengthening of national health systems without the usual conditions. However, these are still loans, meaning theyll have to be paid back eventually. Story continues With their new proposal, Germany and France appear to have crossed the Rubicon on sharing the financial pain from the pandemic. The shift by the Germans from their usually conservative position is all the more noteworthy, and the financial markets certainly see it that way. Italy would be a clear beneficiary of the fund. Its 10-year bond yields dropped by nearly 20 basis points on the news, to 1.67%. There are many details that still need to be ironed out. For a start, while Germany and France are the EUs dominant members, they still need to bring everyone else on board. The Dutch and the Austrians are traditionally opposed to the idea of grants, since they fear the money would be misspent. The inevitable negotiations may reduce the size and scope of these transfers, or demand stricter conditions from recipients. However, if the EU does accept this plan without watering it down too much, the proposal would have significant long-term implications. The recovery fund is being presented as an extraordinary, one-off facility. However, it could be the seed for a larger EU budget, based not just on individual contributions from member states but also on new EU-wide taxes. If that happened, the euro zone would move somewhat closer to a fiscal union, which is needed to put it on a more solid footing. The onus will ultimately be on the weaker member states such as Italy and Spain, and on how they use any money. Throughout the pandemic, they have made the case for more European help, arguing that the virus was no ones fault. As France and Germany promote the cause of more grants, individual governments must show they can allocate their funds intelligently, helping those most in need while boosting the growth potential of their economies. Solidarity wont last long without responsibility. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Ferdinando Giugliano writes columns on European economics for Bloomberg Opinion. He is also an economics columnist for La Repubblica and was a member of the editorial board of the Financial Times. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 17:13:02 19 May 2020 Notice of Q1 2020 IFRS Results Acron (LSE: AKRN) will release its IFRS financial results for Q1 2020 on Thursday, 21 May 2020 at 11.00 am (Moscow time). Media contacts: Sergey Dorofeev Anastasiya Gromova Tatiana Smirnova Public Relations Phone: +7 (495) 777-08-65 (ext. 5196) Investor contacts: Ilya Popov Investor Relations Phone: +7 (495) 745-77-45 (ext. 5252) Background Information Acron Group is a leading vertically integrated mineral fertiliser producer in Russia and globally, with chemical production facilities in Veliky Novgorod (Acron) and the Smolensk region (Dorogobuzh). The Group owns and operates a phosphate mine in Murmansk region (North-Western Phosphorous Company, NWPC) and is implementing a potash development project in Perm Krai (Verkhnekamsk Potash Company, VPC). It owns transportation and logistics infrastructure, including three Baltic port terminals and distribution networks in Russia and China. Acrons subsidiary, North Atlantic Potash Inc. (NAP), holds mining licences for 11 parcels of the potassium salt deposit at Prairie Evaporite, Saskatchewan, Canada. Acron also holds a minority stake (19.8%) in Polish Grupa Azoty, one of the largest chemical producers in Europe. In 2019, the Group sold 7.6 million tonnes of various products to 78 countries, with Russia, Brazil, Europe and the United States as key markets. In 2019, the Group posted consolidated IFRS revenue of RUB 114,835 million (USD 1,774 million) and net profit of RUB 24,786 million (USD 383 million). Acrons shares are on the Level 1 quotation list of the Moscow Exchange and its global depositary receipts are traded at the London Stock Exchange (ticker AKRN). Acron employs over 11,000 people. For more information about Acron Group, please visit www.acron.ru/en. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. School officials, along with some parents and teachers, counter that the system is doing its best amid an unprecedented health crisis, while trying to help families who lack access to technology or who are facing health or economic difficulties. Schools handed out more than 65,000 loaner laptops and 5,100 WiFi hotspots. Yet equity issues remain. Some students still dont have access to devices or reliable Internet connections. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 05:43:33|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, May 19 (Xinhua) -- UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock on Tuesday voiced concern over increasing food insecurity in Syria as COVID-19 is making an impact on the economy of the war-torn country. The added impact of the pandemic is now driving food insecurity to record levels: the World Food Programme announced last week that an estimated 9.3 million people in Syria are now food insecure, up from an estimated 7.9 million people six months ago, said Lowcock. "As in many other countries, we are seeing the economic impact of the pandemic before we see infections peak: after an initial jump at the end of March, the average price of the national reference food basket for April is 15 percent higher than the March average, and more than double the average recorded in April 2019. It is now higher than at any time since the crisis began," he told the Security Council. In the northwest, a region that relies heavily on imported goods, the Syrian pound continues to lose value against the U.S. dollar. The exchange rate in some parts of Idlib has fallen as low as 1,950 to the U.S. dollar, he said. That is a depreciation of 54 percent since the end of April. The cost of a dollar has more than trebled in the last 12 months. The consequences of this for local communities' purchasing power are severe, he warned. In early 2020, before the economic impacts of COVID-19 were felt in Syria, an estimated 80 percent of people already lived below the poverty line, he noted. Lowcock asked for the waiver of sanctions that can undermine the capacity of countries to ensure access to food, essential health supplies and medical support to respond to COVID-19. "I note the public assurances by relevant states that their sanctions programs relating to Syria neither ban the flow of humanitarian supplies nor target medicine and medical devices. I welcome their commitments to fully and expeditiously apply humanitarian exemptions. I continue to follow this issue closely," said Lowcock. Enditem By PTI NEW DELHI: The government's Rs 20.97 lakh crore COVID-19 package lacks in addressing immediate concerns of the economy as the actual fiscal impact of the additional stimulus is only about 1 per cent of GDP as opposed to the claim of 10 per cent, Fitch Solutions said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12 announced a stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore, or nearly 10 per cent of GDP, to deal with the economic fallout of COVID-19. The contents of the package were broad-based and announced in five tranches. "About half of the package amount covers fiscal measures that had previously been announced and also include the estimated economic impact of monetary stimulus from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)," Fitch Solutions said in a note. The rating agency said a seeming reluctance for fiscal expansion by the central government amid the COVID-19 crisis in India also poses a significant downside risk to its 1.8 per cent growth forecast for 2020-21 fiscal. "India's economic crisis is growing increasingly dire due to surging COVID-19 infections and weak demand both domestically and externally. We believe that every delay to effective government stimulus will only deepen the downturn, which will eventually require even more spending to lift the economy out of the doldrums, which could see the deficit come in wider," it said. The new fiscal stimulus announced between May 13 and May 17 is "made up of the government loan guarantees, credit extensions to be led by banks, and regulatory amendments," it said. The new spending will only amount to about 1 per cent of GDP, which would take India's total central government COVID-19 fiscal response to-date to only 1.8 per cent of GDP, it said. "We see the package as being lacking in addressing the immediate concerns of the economy and have revised our central and combined deficit forecasts for FY2020/21 (AprilMarch) to 7 per cent and 11 per cent of GDP respectively, from 6.2 per cent and 9 per cent previously," the rating agency said. The package, it said, will not have a major fiscal and economic impact, despite the government's claim of its '10 per cent of GDP' size. Of the host of new stimulus measures, only about six -- pension fund support, temporary tax cuts, farm infrastructure upgrades (if funds are quickly disbursed and projects rapidly executed), free food provision for migrant workers, funds to safeguard rural employment and an emergency fund for post-harvest activities -- can be quantified as a fiscal stimulus with a near-term impact. "Loan guarantees have been excluded as they will not have an immediate fiscal impact and will depend on other factors such as loan demand and bank propensity to lend," it said. Stating that it is skeptical of the efficacy of the announced measures despite the broad-based package, Fitch Solutions said the Government loan guarantees should technically aid credit flow to MSMEs through non-bank lenders. However, this will only aid to stem business closures in the economy rather than support an expansion at this point. Moreover, confounding new rules on MSME definition which have both an investment and a newly introduced turnover limit will also hamper credit flow as businesses may fail to meet one or the other, rendering them ineligible for the MSME stimulus credit. "Many of the announced schemes such as regulatory changes and vague reform plans also only target medium-term supply-side issues but fail to address immediate demand-side issues. As such, we expect further fiscal spending to be announced over the coming months, especially after India extended its nationwide lockdown by another two weeks to May 31, which would further impact economic activity," it said. The rating agency said central government revenues are likely to contract by 18.1 per cent in FY2020/21 due to repeated extensions to nationwide lockdowns amid a worsening COVID-19 outbreak domestically, and weak appetite for fiscal stimulus by the central government to lift the economic activity. With the unemployment rate at over 20 per cent and a weak economic outlook both domestically and externally, both personal income and corporate income tax revenues will remain under severe stress over the coming quarters, it said. While India is pushing to reopen its economy, Fitch said this is motivated by an urgent need to limit further economic hardship rather than an easing outbreak situation and infections could well accelerate after lockdowns are lifted, which would hamper the pace of economic recovery going forward. Also, India's debt-to-GDP will almost certainly surge as a result of this crisis as the government will have to fund its expenditures with increased domestic borrowing amid a revenue shortfall. India's combined government debt stands at about 70 per cent of GDP as of December 2019, of which central government debt is at 47 per cent of GDP. An increased debt load will entail higher interest payments and this would divert even more resources away from more productive economic spending, and thus constrain India's long-term growth potential, Fitch said. "As opposed to other fiscal stimulus packages in the region, India's package includes previously announced measures and also monetary stimulus, making the actual fiscal impact of the additional stimulus only about 1 per cent of GDP," according to Fitch estimates. The stimulus includes positive reform efforts, loan guarantees, and other measures that will be somewhat supportive of the Indian economy during the crisis and over the medium term. "The frugal fiscal crisis intervention will likely impede a rapid economic recovery and accordingly, tax revenues, and we are revising our FY2020/21 (April-March) central fiscal deficit forecast to 7.0 per cent of GDP and overall fiscal deficit forecast to 11.0 per cent of GDP," it added. This study [4] was supported by the Huami Corporation, a prediction model was established by using big data and artificial intelligence algorithms, which provides a new method for predicting epidemic trends for COVID-19. Under the Huami Privacy Policy and data protections, researchers collected heart rate, physical activity, sleep, and other physiological data related to the above symptoms based on smart wearable devices. De-identified sensor data of about 1.3 million users who wore Huami devices from July 1, 2017, to April 8, 2020 were obtained according to appropriate security control. All the users were notified that their de-identified data could potentially be used for academic research[5]. Research found that, for every 1C increase in human body temperature, heart rate increases by about 8.5 bpm[6]. Based on this, the increase in heart rate caused by fevers related to COVID-19 or influenza-like diseases can be used as a starting point for a method to detect physiological abnormalities. Huami researchers considered an individual's resting heart rate at 1.5 standard deviations higher than the personal average for 5 consecutive days, and sleep duration not less than 0.5 standard deviations from the personal average as the criterion to determine an abnormality. The prediction model's analysis results show that in the listed cities of Wuhan, Beijing, Shenzhen, Hefei, and Nanjing, there was a clear outbreak period in the infection rate prediction curve for each city which corresponded to the epidemic's outbreak in each city. Taking Wuhan as an example, the infection rate predicted by the model peaked on January 28th, while the newly confirmed cases in Wuhan peaked at nearly 2,000 people on February 7. The predicted infection rate peak was 10 days earlier than the officially reported peak time. Given the lag between COVID-19 infection and the emergence of symptoms and diagnosis, the model-derived results are also consistent with the results of a retrospective study on COVID-19 conducted by the Chinese Center for Disease Control[7]. More Efforts Towards COVID-19 and Health Management Besides the academic research from Huami, Huami continued the efforts of Connect Health with Technology. The company has donated medical supplies and devices worth 11.5 million RMB during the coronavirus outbreak. Amazfit, a self-brand of Huami, started to working on a transparent N95 face mask called Amazfit AERI to contribute more to the global health management and epidemic prevention. The product in concept features a transparent anti-fog cover and a translucent frame. Wearers' facial expressions can be seen even if they wear masks, easing the social distancing and allowing wearers to unlock their phones with Face ID. The Innovative Amazfit AERI can clean itself and last for several weeks. In April, the avant-garde Amazfit X Smartwatch with curved AMOLED screen and button free design went on sale by crowdfunding, which brings the upgraded experience for the users as well. For combating COVID-19, Huami also partnered with China National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Disease (NCRCRD) and Guangdong Nanshan Medical Innovation Institute which led by Dr. Nanshan Zhong to build up a smart wearable joint laboratory. Based on Huami smart wearable technology and powerful computing algorithms, the lab aims to help COVID-19 recovered patients follow-up care and management through the NCRCRD big data platform. [1] Cognitive Modeling of Multimodal Data Intensive Systems for Applications in Nature and Society (COMDICS) [2] Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ddns/2020/6152041 [3] Huami wearable devices are not a medical device and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or monitoring of any medical condition. [4] Data Availability: The concerned sensor data cannot be shared due to user privacy. For academic purposes, de-identified region-level statistics can be shared under agreement. Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper. [5] Quoted from https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ddns/2020/6152041 [6] According to the study on fever and cardiac rhythm, L. Faust, K. Feldman, S. M. Mattingly et al., "Deviations from normal bedtimes are associated with short-term increases in resting heart rate," Npj Digital Medicine, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 19, 2020. [7] The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM): https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001316 SOURCE Huami Related Links www.huami.com Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Jeong Eun-kyeong. / Korea Times file By Jung Min-ho The Bucheon city government is stepping up efforts to trace more than 250 people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 after finding out that a patient was with them at a nightclub earlier this month. According to the city government and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Monday, the man, an undocumented Vietnamese immigrant, 32, went to the "Merit Night Club" with friends on the night of May 9. After spending about an hour there, they visited a pub and a noraebang (karaoke club) nearby. Before testing positive for COVID-19 on May 16, the man, who works in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, also visited "Queen" club in Seoul's Itaewon on May 1. Infectious disease experts warn that clubs and noraebang facilities are highly risky because they are usually crowded and people do not wear masks there. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday warned that Sri Lanka will not hesitate to withdraw from any international forum if the country's "war heroes" were targeted or harassed as he addressed the 11th anniversary of the end of the over three-decade long civil war against the LTTE. Tamil separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which led an armed rebellion for over three decades against the Sri Lankan government to set up a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern province of the island nation was defeated by the Sri Lankan Army on May 19, 2009. "Our troops were up against the world's most feared terrorist group who paid no respect to the law. Even the world's most powerful countries have told that they would not subject their troops to be harassed by anyone," said Rajapaksa, who spearheaded the military campaign then as the top defence ministry bureaucrat. "As such, in a small country like ours where our war heroes have sacrificed so much, I will not allow anyone or organisation to put pressure on them and harass them. We will not hesitate to withdraw from any organisation or agency if our war heroes are targeted," Rajapaksa said at the War Heroe's Day, marking the 11th anniversary of the military victory over the LTTE. Sri Lankan troops under the president's brother Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency faced war crimes allegations for their conduct in the final phase of the bloody armed campaign which ended on May 19, 2009. The UN rights body has passed three successive resolutions since 2013 calling for war crimes investigations on both government troops and the LTTE. The previous Mahinda Rajapaksa government refused to cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) mechanism to probe the war crimes allegations against the troops. With his defeat in the 2015 election, his successor Maithripala Sirisena's government agreed to cooperate with the UNHRC and even co-sponsored the last resolution in September 2015. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was highly critical of the Sirisena government's co-sponsoring of the resolution, and had vowed to withdraw from the UNHRC resolutions in the run up to the presidential election held in November, which culminated in his landslide victory. The formal end to the bloody separatist war was signalled on May 19, 2009 with the discovery of the body of the feared LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabakaran. Sri Lanka's human rights record, particularly over the impunity enjoyed by law enforcement officers, has been the subject of international condemnation. The UN Human Rights Council has called for an international probe into the alleged war crimes during the military conflict with the LTTE. According to the government figures, around 20,000 people are missing due to various conflicts, including the war with Lankan Tamils which claimed at least 100,000 lives.Lanka's human rights record, particularly over the impunity enjoyed by law enforcement officers, has been the subject of international condemnation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, in conjunction with Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, is hosting a blood drive May 1820 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Berry Center. The Blood Center partners with organizations across the area to host blood drives, a vital lifeline for Houstons health care industry. Please consider donating, said Julie Silva, communications coordinator for the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. Blood donations are an essential service and are needed now. NATIONAL STUDY: HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball takes part in convalescent plasma study for COVID-19 patients The current landscape amid the COVID-19 pandemic has made finding locations to host blood drives more challenging, according to Kevin Shipley, director of donor recruitment for the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. Shipley said that every day, 1,000 blood donations are needed to save and sustain the lives of patients being treated across the 26-county Gulf Coast region. That is 1,000 family members, friends and neighbors in need of someone making the selfless decisions to roll up their sleeve to donate blood, Shipley said. These donations are essential in ensuring patients have the best possible outcomes in what is often the most difficult of situations. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Rising cases, inadequate tracing put Texas at risk during reopening Donor appointments for the Berry Center drive are available in 15-minute increments. Silva said appointments are recommended but are not required. To make an appointment, visit giveblood.org/the-berry-center/. All blood donors and staff at the collection site must wear a mask. Shipley said the Blood Center is grateful to be able to partner with the top churches, businesses and schools who have made hosting blood drives their cause of choice. With our world and lives busier than ever, its essential to have blood drive locations in every community across the 26-county Gulf Coast region that we serve to ensure the opportunity to donate blood is convenient and accessible, Shipley said. MORE FROM ALVARO MONTANO: CrossFit Redefined Fitness owners prepare gym in Spring for May 18 reopening Groups interested in setting up a blood drive, can visit www.giveblood.org/commit-for-life/as-a-group/. The Berry Center blood drive will be held in the Cypress Room Entrance 2. The Berry Center is located at 8877 Barker Cypress Road in Cypress. alvaro.montano@chron.com - Former Machachari star Almasi is living his life out loud and creating memories while at it - The actor who resides in the UK decided to get two tattoos on his feet to pay homage to his new faith - The blissful character showed off the work of art drawn on his skin and even referred his fans to the people behind his masterpieces - Since leaving the now defunct show and moving overseas, Almasi has remained a divisive figure on social media particularly on his sexuality Loyal Machachari fans from Kenya have been left worried after spotting actor Ian Nene aka Almasi with two lotus flower tattoos on his feet. The thespian who resides in the UK showed off the new ink on his Instagram page and while some people fell in love with them, others could not help but get apprehensive. READ ALSO: Heartwarming moment as 10-year-old girl makes hug curtain for her grandparents READ ALSO: Serikali ya Uganda kutoa barakoa za bure kwa wananchi Almasi converted to Hinduism back in 2018 and has been vocal ever since about his dedication to his faith. The former child star took a video of himself seated after the inking process as he admired the masterpiece delivered by two professional artists. READ ALSO: Mike Sonko celebrates adopted son Gift Osinya's 19th birthday in heartwarming video: "I love you" READ ALSO: Watu 4 wanusurika ajali baada ya lori kugonga nyumba yao The tattoos were conspicuous and looked like they were new as they appeared to still be in the process of healing. Two circles were drawn on each foot and they both surrounded lotus flowers and a few plus signs which were evidently symbolic to the actor. READ ALSO: Mike Sonko's daughter Saumu claims police shot her father-in-law before curfew The Machachari one hit wonder was more than pleased by the art on his skin and gave his fans a view of it from every angle. According to him, the tatts were drawn in London. May God have mercy on you, one of his fans responded to the video. Ever since his departure to the UK, Almasi has graced headlines over his love for liberal fashion. A lot of Kenyans questioned his sexuality when he started stepping out in dresses and skirts and even went ahead to be part of feminine photoshoots. But he has always held his head high and given a deaf ear to all of his critics. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My wife pushed me to marry another woman - Pastor Habil Were | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke Just because a business does not make any money, does not mean that the stock will go down. For example, biotech and mining exploration companies often lose money for years before finding success with a new treatment or mineral discovery. But the harsh reality is that very many loss making companies burn through all their cash and go bankrupt. So should Novoheart Holdings (CVE:NVH) shareholders be worried about its cash burn? For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. First, we'll determine its cash runway by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves. View our latest analysis for Novoheart Holdings When Might Novoheart Holdings Run Out Of Money? A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When Novoheart Holdings last reported its balance sheet in December 2019, it had zero debt and cash worth CA$12m. In the last year, its cash burn was CA$8.2m. So it had a cash runway of approximately 18 months from December 2019. That's not too bad, but it's fair to say the end of the cash runway is in sight, unless cash burn reduces drastically. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time. TSXV:NVH Historical Debt May 19th 2020 How Is Novoheart Holdings's Cash Burn Changing Over Time? In our view, Novoheart Holdings doesn't yet produce significant amounts of operating revenue, since it reported just CA$533k in the last twelve months. Therefore, for the purposes of this analysis we'll focus on how the cash burn is tracking. In fact, it ramped its spending strongly over the last year, increasing cash burn by 101%. It's fair to say that sort of rate of increase cannot be maintained for very long, without putting pressure on the balance sheet. Novoheart Holdings makes us a little nervous due to its lack of substantial operating revenue. So we'd generally prefer stocks from this list of stocks that have analysts forecasting growth. Story continues Can Novoheart Holdings Raise More Cash Easily? While Novoheart Holdings does have a solid cash runway, its cash burn trajectory may have some shareholders thinking ahead to when the company may need to raise more cash. Generally speaking, a listed business can raise new cash through issuing shares or taking on debt. One of the main advantages held by publicly listed companies is that they can sell shares to investors to raise cash to fund growth. We can compare a company's cash burn to its market capitalisation to get a sense for how many new shares a company would have to issue to fund one year's operations. Novoheart Holdings's cash burn of CA$8.2m is about 9.4% of its CA$87m market capitalisation. That's a low proportion, so we figure the company would be able to raise more cash to fund growth, with a little dilution, or even to simply borrow some money. Is Novoheart Holdings's Cash Burn A Worry? On this analysis of Novoheart Holdings's cash burn, we think its cash burn relative to its market cap was reassuring, while its increasing cash burn has us a bit worried. While we're the kind of investors who are always a bit concerned about the risks involved with cash burning companies, the metrics we have discussed in this article leave us relatively comfortable about Novoheart Holdings's situation. On another note, we conducted an in-depth investigation of the company, and identified 5 warning signs for Novoheart Holdings (3 can't be ignored!) that you should be aware of before investing here. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts) Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Hospital asset tracking and inventory management system helps hospital in the management of its assets and inventory by providing a real time based solution. This inventory tracking solution works by placing RFID labels on equipments such as stretchers, wheel chairs, ECG machine etc that can be traced through RFID readers. Mobile based software available on employees devices enables them to monitor all the equipments. Technological advancements and R & D investments to innovate advanced solutions are the key drivers for increasing the demand for Hospital Asset Tracking and Inventory Management over the forecast period 2018-2026 .Increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), integration with Internet of Things (IoT), and supply chain and workflows are the major factors affecting in the hospital asset tracking and inventory management systems market. Get Access to sample pages @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/9933 The hospital asset tracking and inventory management systems market is categorized on the basis of component, application and industry. On the basis of component the hospital asset tracking and inventory management systems market is dived into software, hardware and services. Hardware segment of the global market has the highest market share as there is increasing of significant deployment of inventory management and asset tracking solutions by businesses due to increasing demand for proper inventory management needs. The software segment is anticipated to be the major segment over the forecast period. On the basis of application the market is divide into IT asset tracking, equipment tracking, facility management, tool tracking, funding management, mandate compliance, warehouse management and others. On the basis of industry the hospital asset tracking and inventory management systems market is fragmented in groups such as retail, BFSI, IT & telecom, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and logistics, chemical, energy & utilities, oil & gas, manufacturing, education, government and others that includes automotive, mining, and textile. In the basis of industry, retail segment is projected to have the largest market share and is expected to remain as so during the forecast period also. The key driver of growing this sector is growing retail sector globally. Asia Pacific anticipated as the largest market with highest market revenue share in the global asset tracking and inventory management solutions market. As this region has large number of manufacturers of consumer goods which create demand for the asset tracking and inventory management solutions improve production efficiency and optimize product quality. It is also estimated that countries like China & India have high population has high demand for the consumer goods which subsequently also leads to growing demand for asset tracking and inventory management solutions. The major contributors of the global asset tracking and inventory management system market are ASAP Systems, Datalogic S.P.A., EMS Barcode Solutions, Chekhra Business Solutions,LLC, Epicor Software Corporation, GigaTrak, Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, RedBeam, Inc., Honeywell International Inc., JDA Software, Lowry solutions Inc., SAP SE, Ubisense Group PLC , Wasp Barcode Technologies, Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., Tenna, LLC, Trimble Inc., TVL, Inc. (WiseTrack), Inc., Zebra Technologies Corporation etc. Request for Report Discount @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/9933 The global energy-efficient Lighting technology market has been segmented as follows: Global Asset Tracking and Inventory Management System Market, by Component Hardware Software Services Global Asset Tracking and Inventory Management System Market, by Application IT Asset Tracking Equipment Tracking Facility Management Tool Tracking Funding Management Mandate Compliance Warehouse Management Others Global Asset Tracking and Inventory Management System Market, by Industry Retail BFSI IT & Telecom Healthcare Hospitality Transportation and Logistics Chemical Energy & Utilities Oil & Gas Manufacturing Education Government Others (Automotive, Mining, and Textile) Global Asset Tracking and Inventory Management System Market, by Geography North America S. Canada Rest of North America S. Canada Rest of North America Europe K. Germany France Rest of Europe K. Germany France Rest of Europe Asia Pacific India China Japan Rest of Asia Pacific India China Japan Rest of Asia Pacific ROW Make an Enquiry Before Buying @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/9933/Single SINGAPORE Primary school, secondary school and pre-university students will return to school in two phases from 2 June, with priority given to students from graduating cohorts and students who need additional support, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Tuesday (19 May). The phase of safe re-opening comes as the circuit breaker period which started on 8 April for schools is slated to end on 1 June. In Phase 1, for the first few weeks of Term 3 starting on 2 June, primary and secondary students from graduating cohorts Primary 6, Secondary 4 and 5 will attend school from Mondays to Fridays. I know we've been trying to dial down the over-emphasis on examinations, and I know these students and their parents are getting a lot more anxious, who want these students to come back on a daily basis to support them, because national examinations are coming, said Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung during a virtual press-conference helmed by the COVID-19 multi-ministry taskforce on Tuesday. Students from other cohorts Primary 1 to 5 and Secondary 1 to 3 will rotate weekly between home-based learning and returning to school for lessons. For junior colleges and Millennia Institute, arrangements will be made for half of their students to be back in school at any one time. There will be a system of rotation to allow students to have sufficient face-to-face time with their teachers, particularly the graduating cohorts. We will not have the weekly rotation method (like for primary and secondary schools) instead, they will have more flexibility, said Ong. Each school will have their own flexibility and they will communicate it to their students and their parents. We will do this (and rotations) for two cycles, so four weeks. By then, I hope we will be able to move on to a new phase of opening. And then after that, have all students back in school. In Phase 2, in tandem with the broader easing at the national level, possibly in a few weeks time, all students will return to school from Mondays to Fridays. Story continues For students from Assumption Pathway School (APS), NorthLight School, and special education (SPED) schools, their return will be staggered from 2 June and they will be back in school by 8 June. The institutes of higher learning (IHLs) will take the following approach from 2 June: Polytechnics: Lectures and tutorials will remain online. Students will return mainly for practical and lab sessions about a quarter of the student population at any given day. Institute of Technical Education: Students will rotate weekly between online and on-campus lessons. They will return mainly for practical and lab sessions. At any one time, 40 per cent of students are expected to be back on campus. Autonomous universities: Students from the Singapore Institute of Technology and Singapore University of Technology and Design will continue having lectures and tutorials online. They will return mainly for practical and lab sessions, including capstone and final-year projects. The other AUs will be having their vacation. The IHLs will progressively increase the number of students back on campus at any one time for face-to-face lessons. All schools are required to carry out safe management measures such as daily temperature-taking, wearing of face masks or face shields for students and staff, frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces, staggering of arrival, dismissal, and recess timings, and minimising inter-mingling among classes. Ong noted that there have been 29 student infections so far since the beginning of the epidemic here. Of these cases, two caught the virus overseas and another two have no established links, while the rest were infected by adult members from their households. The schools will therefore go a step further beyond screening the health of students at entry points by asking them whether any adult members in their family show symptoms of fever or cough. If there is, we'll isolate the child and get the child to go home. When the family member recovers, the child can come back, Ong explained. Co-curricular activities (CCAs), as well as all centre-based tuition and enrichment classes, will continue to be suspended, as these bring together students from different class and different schools together to mingle, he added. But students from graduating cohorts who attend centre-based learning to prepare for their examinations in subjects such as music, art and mother tongue languages, will be allowed to attend their classes but with safe distancing measures in place, Ong said. So after angsting about it, we decided for this group of graduating cohort, we will allow their centre-based teaching to continue, but it will be done in small classes 20 maximum, short periods one and a half hours and staggered times. Preschool returning in cohorts from 2 June Preschool children will return in cohorts: K1 and K2 children will return on 2 June, while Nursery 1 and Nursery 2 children can return on 8 June and infant-care and playgroup children can return from 10 June. To support parents who would like care arrangements for their children, preschools, as well as early intervention centres, will start to resume general services from 2 June, said Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee at the same press conference. Similarly, early intervention centres will also reopen in phases starting with in-person intervention for children with higher needs, and children who only attend early intervention centres. To reduce the risk of transmission between centres, children who attend preschool will continue to receive their early intervention services remotely, Lee added. Supplementary programmes such as enrichment and early intervention services where providers may move across different centres will remain suspended for now, because if you have providers go to one centre and another and another, there is always a risk of transmission across multiple settings, he said. Student care centres for older children will fully reopen on 2 June, with necessary precautions in place within the centre. In response to a media query, Lee said that as of Sunday, some 8,500 preschool and early intervention staff have been swabbed and will be tested. As of now, we have no confirmed positive cases. But given that we are going to test some 30,000 staff, we do expect that there might be some cases, he added. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore Related stories: COVID-19: One-third of Singapore workers can resume work on-site from 2 June COVID-19: Singapore to exit circuit breaker period, resume activities over 3 phases COVID-19: Up to 2 children, grandchildren can visit seniors per day from 2 June COVID-19: Places of worship to reopen for small group prayers, in-person marriage solemnisations to resume Nearly all the countries of the world ratified the Paris Agreement in 2016. The accord aims to limit the increase of the world's temperature to less than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures. To do this, global greenhouse gas emissions would have to decrease roughly 25% below 2010 levels by 2030 and reach almost zero by 2070. As one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, the United States--which intends to withdraw from the Paris Agreement--will play a central role in whether these targets are met. In this context, a new study looked at U.S. tax policy as it relates to carbon dioxide (CO2), from 2015 through 2030. The study found only limited short-term opportunities for decarbonization (reducing greenhouse gas emissions) outside the electricity sector. The result is substantial CO2 tax revenue. The findings shed light on future tax policy decisions. The study, conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), appears in Environmental Research Communications. "Our findings point to clear opportunities to replace revenue from distortionary taxes (like the income tax) with revenue from carbon taxes, which enhance the efficiency of the U.S. economy." says Nicholas Muller, Associate Professor of Economics, Engineering, and Public Policy at CMU's Tepper School of Business, who coauthored the study. The researchers used an energy-optimization model to simulate energy use by sector, fuel type and technology, system costs, and pollution emissions under two carbon tax policies. Their analysis included CO2 emissions as well as emissions of local air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter. The study found that opportunities for significant reductions of CO2 in the short-term were limited to the electric-generation sector. As such, the other sectors subject to carbon taxation continued emitting. This will produce substantial carbon tax revenue. In total, revenues amounted to between 8% and 34% of all federal income tax revenue. Because carbon taxes provide strong incentives for innovation in low-carbon technologies, the authors project that enduring carbon taxes will enhance abatement in other sectors which will reduce future revenue. Deep uncertainties in the climate system and the future effects of climate change on human civilization mean that the correct carbon tax rate is not known. Acknowledging this uncertainty, the authors explored the consequences of erroneous CO2 taxes. They found that it would be four times more costly to the economy to under tax CO2 than to over tax it, which they argue makes the case for invoking the precautionary principle (erring on the side of more aggressive CO2 policy rather than lax policy) on the grounds of efficiency. "The reductions in CO2 emissions that we project would put the United States on track to meet the nationally determined contributions established under the Paris Agreement," says Michael Buchdahl Roth, doctoral student in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at CMU. "But our results also suggest a need for cost-effective low carbon technology innovation that would allow decarbonization beyond the electricity generation sector. It's possible that the dynamic incentives that result from imposing environmental taxation could spur such technological developments." ### The research was supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The views expressed in the article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the EPA. IIT Kanpurs Technopark and Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) have collectively developed a techno advanced disinfectant tunnel. COVID-19 began to spread late last year and the pandemic has been ongoing for several months now. We've all heard of the phrase necessity is the mother of inventions - and one of the biggest necessities right now is to be able to maintain effective sanitisation. For this purpose, IIT Kanpurs Technopark and Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) have collectively developed a techno advanced disinfectant tunnel. Dr Sonia Bhatt of myUpchar spoke to Dr Avinash Kumar Agarwal, who led the project, about the specifics of this development. How does the disinfectant tunnel work? Dr Avinash Kumar Agarwal: The tunnel has been designed by my team of IIT Kanpur students under the technopark initiative. The tunnel does not have human control and is being operated with the help of ultrasonic sensors and microcontrollers. It has two chambers with three different levels of disinfection. When a person enters the first chamber of the tunnel, a spray of ionized liquid disinfectant is sprayed over the person. This ionized liquid spray is more effective than the regular ones as the liquid will have a charge and will firmly distribute on the skin of the person. Moreover, it has the ability to neutralize the virus from the surface more effectively as compared to the normal sprays. In the second chamber, the person firstly experiences a hot air blast of 70-degree centigrade. This is to make sure that any bacteria that survived the disinfectant would be killed through the heat. Then the second process in the second chamber is the exposure of far UVC light with a wavelength ranging from 207 to 222 nm. This light has the capability to kill the virus and is safe for human eyes and skin. How is this tunnel different from the disinfecting chambers created in the past? Dr Agarwal: So far, the disinfectant tunnels that have been designed in the past only have a single disinfection chamber, where they spray a disinfectant which covers the person in a thin layer of disinfectant mist. In this tunnel, the person goes through three levels of disinfection which makes it more efficient at killing viruses and bacteria. Which disinfectant is being used in the tunnel? Dr Agarwal: Any disinfectant that has been approved by ICMR can be used in this tunnel. We started with sodium hypochlorite in a diluted form. However, some people may have some skin issues like burning or allergies from being exposed to it, so ALIMCO has come up with a herbal disinfectant. They have made this herbal disinfectant with neem leaves extract, camphor and alum. There have been known side effects of UV rays on the skin and eyes. Can the UV radiation present in the tunnel harm people? Dr Agarwal: UV rays can be harmful to human skin and eyes if the wavelength of the rays is at or above 255nm. We are using a far UVC light in this tunnel which has been researched in various labs and is known to be harmless to human skin and eyes. Moreover, we can also switch the UV lights off while the other two processes, disinfectant and heat, would keep on doing their work. How much time would the machine take to disinfect a person? Dr Agarwal: A person spends less than a minute in the tunnel as the chambers take 20 to 25 seconds each. By this calculation, we assume that 2 people would be able to get disinfected within a minute which comes up to 120 people per hour. How long have you been working on this project and how difficult was it to complete this project during the national lockdown? Dr Agarwal: The team started working on this project as soon as the lockdown started. Since the lockdown, no student has been working in the IIT Kanpur lab, so the entire work has been done remotely. The teams were divided, different aspects were discussed over virtual meetings. Though the procurement of sensors and all the other instruments has been a challenge during the lockdown, ALIMCO worked efficiently and prepared the skeleton of the tunnel in their factory. Then the instrumentation and structure were put together in IIT Kanpur. In the period of 40 days, around 30 to 40 people have worked together to form this tunnel. Where will the tunnel be used? Dr Agarwal: This tunnel had been designed to be used in areas where there is a high flow of people like the airports, bus stations and even schools. What would be the expected cost for the installation and maintenance of the tunnel? Dr Agarwal: We have not decided the final cost yet but I assume that it would be under 2 lakhs. How far is the tunnel from being available in the market? Dr Agarwal: We have prepared the alpha-model and are testing it for its virus killing efficiency. Once we are done with the testing, we will release its design to ALIMCO for mass production and distribution across the country. We are also planning on adding a thermal imaging camera to this tunnel in the coming week. This camera would report the temperature of the person even before they enter the tunnel. ALIMCO needs to get the tunnel approved by ICMR and other authorities. Once the design is approved, the tunnel would be in the market within three weeks. For more information, read our article on Best disinfectants and cleaners to kill coronaviruses. 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. US officials concede that current restrictions at both Mexican and Canadian borders are likely to be extended. Canada and the United States have agreed to extend a ban on non-essential travel between the two nations by another 30 days as part of the fight against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday. Trudeau said the border is a source of vulnerability, so the agreement will be extended by another 30 days. The restrictions were announced on March 18 and were extended in April. Trudeau said Canadas provincial leaders clearly wanted to continue the measures. This will keep people in both of our countries safe, he said. US officials have not officially confirmed Trudeaus announcement, but acting US Department of Homeland Security chief Chad Wolf said on Tuesday the administration of President Donald Trump is likely to extend non-essential travel restrictions at both the Canadian and Mexican borders. We really have to see what is the health care situation like in Mexico and Canada, how are their cases, have they hit their curve? Wolf said at a US Chamber of Commerce event. What we dont want to do is try to open up parts of our economy and have a lot of folks coming across the border that we havent seen in the past 50 or 60 days. Trump has said that the US and Canada are doing well in handling the pandemic, but many Canadians fear a reopening. The US has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any country in the world, though its per capita numbers are well below many other nations. Essential cross-border workers like healthcare professionals, airline crews and truck drivers are still permitted to cross. Truck drivers are critical as they move food and medical goods in both directions. Much of Canadas food supply comes from or via the US. Americans who are returning to the US and Canadians who are returning to Canada are also exempted from the border closure. Canada sends 75 percent of its exports to the US and about 18 percent of American exports go to Canada. The US-Canada border is the worlds longest between two nations. On Tuesday, Canadas Public Health Agency reported that the country had seen a total of 78,499 confirmed coronavirus cases, up more than 1,000 from the previous day. More than 5,800 people have died from COVID-19 in the country since the start of the pandemic. By Azernews By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation around COVID-19 via a telephone conversation held on May 19, MFA's press service reported. Namely, the sides discussed the assemblage of the Azerbaijani citizens on the Azerbaijani-Russian border due to lockdown amidst pandemic and the steps to be taken in coordination by both countries to settle this issue. On May 16, Russias Dagestan set up 23 tents in Magaramkent region bordering Azerbaijan to give temporary accommodation for 210 Azerbaijani citizens who cannot return to their country due to the closure of Russian-Azerbaijani border. The Ministers also discussed developing bilateral strategic relations, including the broadening of economic-trade relations, as well as the transportation of goods. Furthermore, the sides exchanged views over the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijani Minister Elmar Mammadyarov informed his counterpart on the latest video-conference with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, which was held on May 18. The meeting has been held in accordance with the instructions received after the telephone conversation between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin held on May 18. During the meeting, the presidents highlighted the work done in combating the coronavirus pandemic and exchanged views on measures taken in this regard at the border checkpoints between the two countries on the conditions of mutual coordination. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. SAN FRANCISCO, May 19, 2020, a global leader in media intelligence, today announces its AuroraProduct Release , detailing a range of solutions, workflows and new functionality in its flagship product. The release follows the success of the Fjord Product Release last October, and the release name is another nod to Meltwater's Norwegian heritage. Meltwater has also launched a brand new website, which articulates everything that the company now offers, and how they help to bring Marketing, PR and Communications teams closer together, with an intuitive, all-in-one solution. The Aurora release focuses on three main themes: capturing more content and conversations than anyone else, advancing analytics into insights, and prioritizing simplicity for users. Meltwater believes that content is king, and prides itself on capturing more content and conversations than anyone else, across the most media types. Recent updates include: The addition of podcast monitoring, giving customers the ability to monitor more than 25,000 podcasts globally in real-time Double the amount of content from Reddit, one of the world's fastest-growing social networks An improved network of print and broadcast monitoring partners around the world The second theme is around advancing analytics to insights, to help our customers stay on top of market-moving announcements in real-time, and with workflows that support ad-hoc searching, automated reporting, and comprehensive event analysis. In this release, this is highlighted by: The launch of Signals, which provides real-time notifications on significant news items on the companies you care about, powered by Artificial Intelligence Recent advancements in Explore, such as the ability to filter by author lists, compare searches to one another, and an integration into our Audience Insights module for in-depth audience segmentation and analysis New workflows around dashboard curation and interactive event analysis, to help customers go from information to insights as quickly as possible By prioritizing simplicity and efficiency, Meltwater continues to focus on user experience for all customers. A new design and navigation were announced in the Fjord release, and we are now bringing to market: 'Quick find' capability, so that customers can go immediately to any other asset from any page they are on throughout the application. 'Labels,' allowing users to more effectively categorize their saved searches to help them stay organized and collaborate across teams. 'Combined searches,' which allow for aggregate analysis across searches and filter sets, to ensure consistency of reporting across business units and global teams. "As we strive to help bridge the gap between Marketing, PR and Communications teams on a global scale, we are excited to deliver on the types of solutions that can help these teams work more collaboratively together. Through investments in new content types, better insights, and a more elegant user experience, we are excited to deliver more value to our customers and to package that up in our Aurora release," said Tim Santos, VP of Product Management at Meltwater. Coinciding with the Aurora release, Meltwater is also launching a new corporate website. "Our new website reflects the products and solutions that we make available to modern marketing and PR professionals today. We have developed solutions at an impressive rate over the past few years, and the new website showcases a lot of those updates, while also providing a wealth of resources to help our customers and visitors better plan and execute on their strategy in an ever-changing landscape", said Angela Wiesenmueller, Director of Marketing, EMEA. Meltwater's new website can be found at http://www.meltwater.com , and more information around the Aurora release can be found here . About Meltwater Meltwater was founded in 2001 as the world's first online media monitoring company. Today, we are a global leader in media intelligence and social analytics, helping to bridge the gap between Public Relations, Communications and Marketing departments with an intuitive, all-in-one solution powered by AI-driven insights. Over 30,000 of the world's most respected brands rely on Meltwater to help inform their strategic decision-making, and with over 55 offices across six continents, Meltwater is a truly global partner. We are also proud to own and operate the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology. Contact: Johnny Vance Global Head of Product Marketing and Partnerships johnny.vance@meltwater.com The Accra Regional Police Command has shot and killed two suspected car snatchers believed to be part of a notorious gang operating within Accra. One member of the gang, identified as Kwame Yeboah, was arrested after sustaining gunshot wounds on the right leg during the shoot out with the police. He is currently receiving treatment at the Police Hospital. Hint Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Frederick Adu Anim, said at about 2 a.m. on May 8, 2020, the command received information that a white Kia Morning, with registration number GE-2269-20, had been snatched from its owner at gunpoint at Ablekuma Bokorbokor, near Awoshie. The suspects had apparently hired the services of the driver of the vehicle from Baah Yard to Ablekuma CP, but attacked and snatched the vehicle from him before he could reach the destination. A team of police personnel that was dispatched after receiving the information intercepted the suspects in the stolen vehicle at Busia Junction, Odorkor. However, a hot chase ensued when the suspects sped off upon seeing the police. In the course of the drama, the suspects started shooting at the police who also returned fire. In the process, Yeboah was injured in the right leg, while his two accomplices escaped. Swoop Later, Mr Adu Anim said, police intelligence revealed that the two who escaped were hiding at Dansoman Exhibition. The suspects again engaged the police in a shoot out at their hideout but came out worse with injuries. The police team took the suspects to the Police Hospital for treatment but they were pronounced dead shortly on arrival at the hospital. Their bodies have since been deposited at the Police Hospital morgue pending autopsy. Vehicle retrieved Mr Adu Anim said the police retrieved a locally manufactured pistol with two BB live cartridges and the Kia Morning from the suspects. He said so far, the police had retrieved eight vehicles during an operation being embarked upon by the command. The vehicles retrieved included two Toyota Corolla, two Toyota Yaris, a Daewoo Matrix, two Kia Morning and a Kia Picanto. Mr Adu Anim appealed to victims of car snatching crimes to contact the Accra Regional Police Command to identify and collect their vehicles. 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 Watertown, NY (13601) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. Much colder. High 8F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Bitterly cold. Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low around -15F. Winds light and variable. ST. PAUL, Minn., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Citizens' Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) formed a nationwide coalition in support of Senator Lamar Alexander, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), and his decision to protect the genetic privacy rights of newborns. CCHF and 33 other organizations penned a May 14, 2020 letter to Chairman Alexander thanking him for adding parental consent requirements to the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Reauthorization Act of 2019. "We greatly appreciate that you have added language that will require parent consent for the use of DBSnewborn DNAin federally funded research," states the coalition letter. Newborn genetic screening is conducted on almost every newborn within 48 hours of birth. After delivery, the baby's heel is pricked and drops of blood are collected. These dried blood spots are then sent to the state's public health laboratory and tested for the 35 genetic conditions recommended by a national panel. "Many parents have no idea that newborn screening happened. Even for those who do know, most don't realize that it's a government genetic testing program," said Twila Brase, president and co-founder of CCHF. "They don't know that the government keeps the test results and can store, use, and secretly share the newborn's DNA for purposes unrelated to the screening program. All without consent from the child's parents." In some states, the DNA-rich blood spots are sold. As CBS San Francisco reported in 2018, California sells newborn DNA to researchers for $20-$40 per blood spot, without parent knowledge or consent. "What is being done to newborn citizens without their or their parents' consent could not be done to adult citizens," Brase said. "Newborns deserve the same protections adults have against the government taking and exploiting their DNA." CCHF has worked for more than 20 years to protect health care choices, individualized patient care, and medical and genetic privacy rights. Twila Brase, RN, PHN hosts the daily Health Freedom Minute radio program heard by over 5 million weekly listeners on more than 800 radio stations nationwide, and is the author of the seven-time award-winning book, "Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth About Electronic Health Records. SOURCE Citizens' Council for Health Freedom Related Links http://www.CCHFreedom.org JERUSALEM - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas declared Tuesday he was pulling out of long-standing peace agreements and security arrangements with Israel because of Israeli moves toward annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, cited a provision of Israel's new unity government, which was sworn in Sunday, allowing it to consider unilaterally annexing up to 30 percent of the West Bank as early as July, a proposal that was endorsed by the Trump peace plan released earlier this year. Abbas, speaking after an emergency meeting of his cabinet in Ramallah, said his government would no longer abide by the multiple accords between the Palestinians, Israel and the United States, including the landmark 1993 Oslo agreement. The move toward annexation has roiled the region, with European and Arab diplomats largely condemning the possibility. Abbas noted the initiative was only the latest in what he characterized as a string of snubs from the Trump administration, including the 2018 move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city of Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority declined to participate in the administration's preparation for its peace proposal, which also allows for a limited Palestinian state on the remainder of the territories. "We hold the American administration fully responsible for the oppression befalling the Palestinian people," Abbas said in televised address, according to the official Palestinian News and Information Agency. "We consider it a primary partner with the Israeli occupation government." The ruling Palestine Liberation Organization now considers itself absolved from all obligations because of the moves, Abbas said, leaving Israel alone responsible and bound by international law "as an occupying power over the territory." Abbas has threatened before to abandon the complex web of agreements that has for decades divided control over the disputed territories between Israel and the elected Palestinian Authority, most recently after the debut of the Trump peace plan in January. It was unclear Tuesday whether on-ground coordination between Israeli and Palestinian security units would be interrupted. "The innumerable broken-record announcements by the Palestinian Authority claiming they are not bound by agreements with Israel are much less significant than the fact that they have never acted as if they were bound," said Eugene Kontorovich, director of international law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum and leading advocate of annexation. While his declaration Tuesday was in unusually stark terms, Abbas also committed to participating in an internationally negotiated resolution to the conflict. "We reaffirm our commitment to a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the two-state solution," he said in the address. Israel's new coalition agreement stipulates that annexation can be enacted by a vote of either the cabinet or parliament any time after July 1, as long as it has the approval of the U.S. administration. Observers say the window to enact the measure would probably close if Trump fails to win reelection. Joe Biden, Trump's likely Democratic opponent, repeated his opposition to annexation Tuesday during an online meeting with Jewish donors. KYIV. May 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) Assisted reproductive medicine in Ukraine, in particular surrogacy, need legislative regulation, lawyer, specialist in the field of reproductive law Olena Babych has said. She said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine that the by-laws regulating this sphere are no longer sufficient and there is a need for a separate law. "We cannot say that surrogacy is not regulated in Ukraine. The Family Code has an article that allows and regulates the possibility of using surrogate motherhood in Ukraine. There is Health Ministry order No. 787 that regulates the use of assisted reproductive technologies and surrogacy. The problem is that most of the issues need to be regulated at the level of the law, and not in a by-law. It is necessary to regulate and implement administrative and criminal liability for violations in this sphere," she said. The lawyer said that from the point of view of Ukrainian legislation, surrogate motherhood is a method of treating infertility, which is possible if there are a number of conditions: a married couple who have indications for this method in a registered marriage; direct medical indications for women; a genetic relationship between a born child and both parents, or one of them. "Based on this, surrogacy cannot be called human trafficking," Babych said. According to her, the issue of licensing intermediaries in surrogate motherhood has become long overdue. "It is necessary to establish requirements that these are registered legal entities, that they adhere to the requirements and current legislation, which will make it impossible for all unscrupulous intermediaries," the lawyer said. Vice-President of the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine Valeriy Zukin, in turn, said that the corresponding bill has already been developed and submitted to the profile committee of the Verkhovna Rada. "Our association, together with lawyers, drafted a bill in accordance with the best international standards, which passed the expert commission of the parliament," he said. President of the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine, Professor Oleksandr Yuzko, added that this is not the first attempt by the association to pass such a legislative initiative. "It should be legislation not only on surrogacy, this law concerns assisted reproductive technologies and starts its history in 2012, when, thanks to our efforts, the Verkhovna Rada adopted bill No. 8282. But it was vetoed by Yanukovych," he said. Yuzko said that the bill developed by the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine proposes, in particular, to establish that the period of stay of genetic parents in marriage should be at least one year, which will allow us to filter out fictitious marriages. In addition, all the terms of the surrogacy program should be outlined in the contract. Commenting on the situation with children born under the surrogacy program, whom genetic parents cannot take from Ukraine due to the pandemic, Babych noted the state's inactivity in this matter. "There were no decisions for this force majeure. The legal status of these children, their stay in Ukraine is not resolved by the state, as the term of stay in the hospital is no more than 28 days, and then the fate of these children is forgotten. None of the public agencies settled this issue," the lawyer said. For her part, Chief Physician of the Rodynne Dzherelo IVMed medical center (Kyiv) Halyna Strelko added that reproductive medicine clinics, together with the Ukrainian Association of Reproductive Medicine, appealed to a number of public authorities with a request to provide parents of such children with the opportunity to cross the border. "When the country imposed lockdown in March, the association made recommendations to the clinics. Then we turned to a number of public institutions, but only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to the requests and prescribed algorithms how to do this through embassies and consulates. Some countries took advantage of the procedure and were able to take the children," she said. Maharashtra government has told the Bombay high court (HC) that if a person, who died of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), is buried, SARS-COV-2, which causes the viral ailment, is unlikely to spread in the vicinity of the burial ground. It is well established and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) that Covid-19 virus is not air bound and hence transmission of the virus to other people staying in the vicinity of the burial ground is highly impossible, the government told the court. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage The government issued a statement in response to a petition filed by four Bandra residents, challenging the April 9 order of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which identified three interconnected Muslim burial grounds at Bandra West as a site for burial of Covid-19 victims, irrespective of their religious faiths. The transmission cannot happen unless people in the locality come in direct contact with the body brought for burial or cremation, said the statement. Direct contact of people staying in the locality with a body is impossible, as it is wrapped in plastic by hospital staff before handing it over to relatives for the last rites, it added. The statement pointed out that the burial is done in strict compliance with the directives issued by the state government and the BMCs health department. The civic body has also filed an affidavit supporting the state governments stand. The affidavit stated that the WHO guidelines on bodies of Covid-#9 patients clearly stipulate that except in cases of haemorrhagic fevers (such as Ebola) and cholera, theyre generally not infectious. Only the lungs of patients with pandemic influenza, if handled improperly during an autopsy, can be infectious. Other than that, cadavers dont transmit the disease, it said. The four petitioners have complained said that the three interconnected Muslim cemeteries are at the heart of Bandra West and are surrounded by densely-populated residential areas. The petitioners cited that on March 30, the BMC authorities had decided to bury bodies of all Covid-19 patients at the nearest burial ground in Bandra West, irrespective of their religious faiths. The decision was taken as the burial grounds in Mumbai are located in highly densely-populated neighbourhoods and could lead to high chances of contamination, said the petition. The petition said that the order dated April 9 was contrary to the March 30 decision and prayed for restraining the civic body from burying any patient, who died of Covid-19, at the three burial grounds in Bandra West. However, the court has refused to interfere with the April 9 civic order. It has also ordered the BMC to reopen the three burial grounds in Bandra West. Earlier, Pratap Nimbalkar, who represented the Navpada Masjid, Bandra and Santacruz Golibar Dargah Trust, which manages the private Muslim burial grounds, had pointed out that some local residents had put locks on the graveyards gates. The Supreme Court has refused to stay the burial, but has directed the HC to decide the petition expeditiously. New Delhi : Google has launched a new video chat app called Duo. With this, Google is ready to take on Apples Face Time, Microsofts Skype and Facebooks Messenger app. Duo isnt much different from the other video chatting services, except that it gives a glimpse at who is making the call, helping the recipient decide whether to answer. Google calls this feature, "Knock, knock". The new app, announced in May, is being released on Tuesday as a free service for phones running on Googles Android operating system as well as Apples iPhones. Today, we're releasing Google Duo - a simple 1-to-1 video calling app available for Android and iOS. Duo takes the complexity out of video calling, so that you can be together in the moment wherever you are, the company posted on its official blog. Like FaceTime for iPhones, Duo only requires a persons phone number to connect. Many other services require both participants to have account logins to use their video calling options. Google has been offering video calling through its Hangout feature for several years, but the internet company is now tailoring that service for business meetings. Duo is being billed as a simpler, more reliable way to see friends and family as you talk to them. It is the first of two new mobile apps that Google, owned by Alphabet Inc., has planned for this summer. The Mountain View, California, company also is preparing to unveil a new messaging app called Allo featuring a robotic assistant that will suggest automated responses to texts. Google claims that all Duo calls are end-to-end encrypted. Furthermore, it says the video chat app will switch between Wi-Fi and cellular data automatically without dropping your call. Ethiopia founded its policy to illegally build its dam on the Blue Nile on a strategy of driving a wedge between the two downstream states, Sudan and Egypt. Although the strategy worked while the ousted Omar Al-Bashir was in power in Khartoum, the situation has changed since the revolution. Now the people in Khartoum realise that Cairo has been acting in the interests of both countries and that it is Ethiopia that is posing a grave threat to Sudanese national security with a dam that could crack or give way under the pressure of the first heavy flooding season. The danger to Egypt lies in the reduction of the water reaching it through the Blue Nile, which accounts for 64 per cent of the water that flows through the Nile Basin. When Egypt succeeded in internationalising this cause by bringing the US and World Bank in as mediators and then by lodging a complaint with the UN Security Council, Ethiopia took its divide-and-conquer strategy to the next level: driving a wedge between Egypt and other African countries. Ethiopia now claims that the controversy surrounding the dam is an African problem that should be solved at the African level. So suddenly Ethiopia is casting itself as a champion of African cooperation and solidarity. This is the same Ethiopia that rushed into a bearhug with an Asian superpower that now effectively controls all Ethiopias economic activities. It is the same that leapt at the offer from 25 European countries to pour billions of dollars into turning over 10-million acres of Ethiopian land to the cultivation of biofuel crops. If the powers that be in Ethiopia were really as pro-African as they pretend, those 10 million acres would be put to use cultivating much needed food for the people of Africa and it would not be handing control over its economy and agriculture to foreigners. Of course, other African countries see through all this. They know that Ethiopia turned to non-African countries to build its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the other 12 Ethiopian dams before it. Had Addis Ababa truly been as keen to promote African interests as it says it is, it might have at least once taken Tanzanias lead and engaged an African firm. In 2011, Ethiopia agreed to let an international panel of experts study the economic, environmental and other potential impacts of the GERD project on downstream countries. After negotiating an obstacle course of Ethiopian impediments, these experts submitted their findings in May 2013. The experts came from the UK, Germany, France and South Africa. Apparently, Ethiopia had no problem with including non-Africans in this question at that time. But when the report by this international committee raised grave concerns over the dams technical specs and environmental impacts, as would any committee regardless of the national affiliations of its members, Ethiopia decided that, henceforth, it would only accept experts from the three countries concerned. It did not want outsiders witnessing its breaches. An exception to this exclusion occurred four years ago when it agreed to let a French consultancy firm do a study. But that firms report also criticised the Ethiopian project. So, Addis Ababa reverted to its insistence on excluding outsiders from this question. At the same time, it ratcheted up an anti-Egyptian mudslinging campaign though, again, few African countries fell for the line that Egypt snubbed its African affiliation. African leaders and peoples remember very clearly the moral and material backing that Egypt gave to their liberation movements and they see, today, Egyptian development experts on the ground in all quarters of the continent. Where was Ethiopia during all this time? Aiding and abetting foreign powers with their bids to invade Somalia and Eritrea and to control Djibouti. The awareness of Egypts African commitment was reflected in statements of support for Egypt by key officials in the White Nile Basin during the Egyptian foreign ministers tour to explain Egypts position on the dam. In November last year, Ethiopia must have felt that it had no choice but to agree to negotiations sponsored by other non-Africa parties the US and the World Bank. Then it regreted that moment of weakness when those outsiders censured Ethiopia for its intransigence, reviving echoes of the first international panel of experts and the French consultancy firms objections to the mammoth dams structural shortcomings and potential detrimental economic and environmental impacts on downstream nations. So, it took to strumming the pan-African refrains again and said that the UN and the Security Council have no business meddling in this matter, as though these bodies had not been created precisely in order to resolve disputes of this nature. Could Ethiopia at least try to be consistent with its pro-African pose? It could, for example, turn away the World Food Programme, which spends billions in Ethiopia, and replace it with African committees. It could turn to the African Development Bank instead of non-African banks for aid, grants and loans. Or it could do its military hardware shopping in exclusively African markets. After a decade of haggling, manoeuvring, and time wasting, Ethiopia still thinks it can dupe the African and international communities into its falling for its narrative that the question of the dam is about national sovereignty and African identity rather than about international law, common rights to a shared watercourse and substantial threats to downstream nations. But it has fooled no one. All are aware that a country that cannot bring itself to respect international law and honour its commitments under international treaties and conventions will naturally try to exclude impartial third parties. *The writer is professor of agriculture and water resources, Cairo University. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 May, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: PHILADELPHIA, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The supply chain is broken. Distribution is disrupted. Commercial buyers and sellers are suddenly left with too much product on hand or no idea where to turn for the products or services they count on. Yet from big problems come great solutions. And Supplyshark's new online marketplace is an idea whose time has come. Supplyshark is a go-to place for connecting supply to demand and demand to supply in a world changed by COVID-19. Buyers will be able to browse thousands of product and service listings and contact suppliers directly for free. A project clipboard lets users set up projects, find needed products or services, determine quantities, keep supplier information, and manage the associated budget. The Supplyshark Opportunity Board is available where buyers can post what they are in search of and suppliers can respond. The site even has a community forum where site users can offer advice and support to those in their industries. Purchases are not made through Supplyshark and users are free to negotiate their own price points together. Supplyshark instead offers subscription options to sellers with varying features that range in price from $99 to $299 a month (a basic company listing and support is free). Currently, however, the company is offering free 90-day subscriptions to suppliers as a show of support during the pandemic. "My partners and I have worked on the supply side for decades and know it's challenging when the right buyers and sellers can't find each other. So, when the pandemic hit, and the entire supply chain was thrown into disarray, we decided to create a resource where new relationships could be formed quickly, easily and affordably," said Megan Johnston, co-founder. "We saw other sites that offered a similar service yet with steep listing fees that businesses operating in this crisis can't afford. Those sites also lack the collaborative focus that is built into our site through our Opportunity Board, Project Clipboard and Forum," said Johnston. And while the site is a relevant tool for any industry, Supplyshark has seen particular interest from organizations in the agriculture, farm, health care, manufacturing, distribution, wholesale, machinery, transport and materials industries. "Life has changed and we do not know for how long. Those who don't adapt, will get left behind. We want to make it easier for them to succeed and when this health crisis has passed, have a whole new network of buyers or suppliers who they can count on for the long-term," added Johnston. For more information contact Supplyshark.com. For media inquiries contact: Megan Johnston at [email protected] or 866-70SHARK (866-707-4275) Related Images image1.jpg image2.png Related Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9AStKuSMkU SOURCE Supplyshark Federal prosecutors moved on Monday to formally confiscate a rare cuneiform tablet that bears part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the worlds oldest works of literature, from a Bible-themed museum founded in part by the president of the crafts retailer Hobby Lobby. The 3,600-year-old clay artifact, known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, originated in the area that is today Iraq, and was imported illegally to the United States in the 2000s, the office of the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement. An international auction house sold the tablet in 2014 to Hobby Lobby for display at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, according to a civil complaint filed by prosecutors seeking the artifacts forfeit. Despite inquiries from the retailer and the museum, the auction house withheld information about the tablets provenance, the authorities said. The museum has cooperated with the investigation, prosecutors said. Charlotte Clay, a spokeswoman for the museum, said on Tuesday that it supported efforts to return this Gilgamesh fragment to Iraq. Not for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / Grid Metals Corp. (the "Company") (TSXV:GRDM) is pleased to announce that it has signed a contract for a new diamond drilling program at its East Bull Lake Palladium property 80 km west of Sudbury ON. The Company also announces a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of flow through units (the "FT Units" ) of the Company for gross proceeds of up to C$550,000 primarily in order to fund the drilling program. ( see Financing Announcement below ) Drilling Set to Commence Grid recently completed a geophysical program the East Bull Lake Palladium property that has outlined several priority drill targets (see news releases of April 28, 2020 and May 6, 2020). The Company has entered into a diamond drilling contract and expects to commence drilling on the property in early June 2020, subject to Ontario health and safety guidelines relating to Covid-19. Financing Announcement The Company is conducting a non-brokered private placement of FT Units of up to $550,000. Each FT Unit is being offered at a price of C$0.16 (the "Offering Price") and will be comprised of one flow through share of the Company and one half of one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"), each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to acquire one common share of the Company at a price of C$0.26 for a period of 24 months from the date of closing of the Offering. The proceeds raised by the Company from the sale of the FT Units will be used to incur eligible "Canadian exploration expenses" that are "flow-through mining expenditures" (as such terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada)), related to exploration of the Company's mineral properties. The Company may increase the Offering to up to C$800,000 in the event that the private placement is oversubscribed. Red Cloud Securities is acting as a finder and will receive a finder's fee equal to 8% of the gross proceeds of the Offering and finder warrants ("Finder Warrants") entitling the holder to purchase that number of Units of the Company equal to 8% of the aggregate number of Flow-Through Units sold under the Offering at the Offering Price for a period of twentyfour (24) months from the date of closing of the Offering. The closing of the Offering is expected to occur on or about June 3, 2020 and is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. The FT Units, including all underlying securities thereof, and any finder's warrants issued with respect to the Offering, will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day in accordance with applicable securities laws. This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements. About Grid Metals Corp. Grid Metals Corp. is an exploration and development Company that has a diversified portfolio of projects in the nickel-copper-platinum group metal sectors. These commodities are vital to the emerging battery metals, energy storage and automotive sectors. All of Grid's projects are located in secure North American mining jurisdictions. The current focus of the Company is the East Bull Lake Palladium Property located 80 km west of Sudbury Ontario. Dave Peck P. Geo is the Qualified Person for purpose of technical disclosure of National Instrument 43-101 To find out more about Grid Metals Corp., please visit www.gridmetalscorp.com. On Behalf of the Board of Grid Metals Corp. Robin Dunbar - President, CEO & Director Telephone: 416-955-4773 David Black - Investor Relations Email: rd@gridmetalscorp.com Email: info@gridmetalscorp.com SOURCE: Grid Metals Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/590503/Grid-Metals-to-Commence-Drilling-at-East-Bull-Palladium-Property-Announces-Financing Some of Ireland's building sites returned to life yesterday after large swathes of the industry shut down during the harsh lockdown period, although a survey by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that businesses across the country were hurting badly. Listed housebuilder Glenveagh was one of those that reopened some of its sites yesterday. At Barnhall Meadows in Leixlip, 30 workers returned to the site while at Ballymore's Dublin Landings site, isolated workers in hard hats, masks and hi-viz vests resumed work. Other smaller sites also got back to work, although numbers are still limited thanks to social distancing rules that make work on offices and apartments more difficult for an industry which was one of the hardest hit by the lockdowns. "Two of every three responding enterprises in the construction sector had ceased trading either temporarily or permanently as of 3 May 2020," the CSO said in a survey published yesterday. More than 700 firms responded to the research in the week starting May 4. According to the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), 75,000 workers already have done an online test to confirm their awareness of on-site virus protocols, a figure that is around half of those employed in the industry. "We're used to managing risk. We're used to wearing PPE. And we're used to assessing the risk in front of us at any given time and working accordingly," said Conor O'Connell, director of the southern region for CIF. The CSO said that overall a quarter of Irish businesses had stopped trading, at least on a temporary basis, as a result of the pandemic lockdowns. A third had laid off staff and a slightly larger percentage had cut working hours. While there was some cheer for builders with the partial reopening, other sectors of the economy will remain closed for many months to come under the phased opening being planned by the Government. The food and accommodation industry has been especially badly hit, with one in seven firms ceasing to trade either on a temporary or permanent basis, the CSO said. However, some firms that had shuttered in the first round of the survey had restarted their businesses. "Amongst enterprises who responded to both waves of the survey, one in six of those who had ceased trading temporarily by 19 April indicated that they had recommenced trading by 3 May," it noted. Almost half of the responding companies said they were confident of having the financial resources to continue operating for longer than six months. This response was seen for 65.1pc of large enterprises and in 45.6pc of small and medium companies. About 80pc were confident that they have the financial resources to continue operating for at least another month, the CSO said. Even though the economy has started to reopen, it is set to experience its biggest ever contraction in a single year of more than 10pc, according to Government estimates. It fears there will be long-term scarring with around one in ten workers expected to be unemployed next year. Evidence from other European countries that started to ease their lockdowns earlier than Ireland has shown that people are wary of travelling on public transport and of going to shopping outlets. Apple has released two AirPod models until now, AirPods and AirPods Pro, and both of them are truly wireless earbuds. However, Apple is also working on wireless over-the-ear headphones with an even higher price and some unique features. It is now being reported that they will go into mass production later this year. Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported last month that the companys upcoming over-the-ear headphones would go into mass production sometime in mid-2020. Now, another report from The Information corroborates the same piece of information from a different source. It also states that the Cupertino-based tech giant will start assembling the headphones in June or July 2020. The publication also claims that Apple will assemble at least a portion of those headphones in Vietnam instead of assembling all the units in China. There has been heightened tension between China and the US after the latter extended sanctions against Chinese smartphone firm Huawei and its subsidiaries. China is also preparing to retaliate against American companies like Apple, Cisco, and Qualcomm as a response. Apples upcoming high-end headphones are rumored to feature ear and neck detection. They will reportedly be called AirPods Studio, which sounds sensible, and they could be targeted towards professionals. They could feature swappable, magnetic earcups. The headphones could also switch between left and right audio channels, depending on how a user wears them. They will also be able to auto-pause and auto-play music when they are removed and worn again. It is being rumored that the AirPods Studio could be priced at $349, making them the highest-priced headphones from Apple. They could also feature active noise cancellation, similar to AirPods Pro, but with even higher quality. The upcoming headphones from Apple are also said to feature studio-grade audio quality, hence the name. There are reportedly two versions of the AirPods Studio, a premium model with leather-like fabrics and a fitness-focused model with lighter, breathable materials. They could be unveiled during WWDC 2020 during the companys first all-digital event. [Source: The Information Australia-Championed CCP Virus Inquiry Resolution Passed by World Health Assembly Australias push for an independent inquiry into the origins of the CCP virus has been met with overwhelming support from the international community. Presented jointly by Australia and over 100 other nations, the COVID-19 Draft Response Resolution (pdf) was put before the World Health Organisations (WHO) decision-making body, the World Health Assembly (WHA) on May 18. The majority of the WHA member countries reached consensus and the draft was formally adopted on May 19, including by China. Health minister Greg Hunt wrote on Twitter late on Tuesday night: Delighted that the WHA Assembly has passed by consensus the Motion calling for an impartial, independent & comprehensive examination of the global response to COVID-19. Delighted that the WHA Assembly has passed by consensus the Motion calling for an impartial, independent & comprehensive examination of the global response to COVID-19. The support of 137 co sponsors further strengthens this as a key step to protect against future pandemics. Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) May 19, 2020 The resolution calls on the WHOs Director-General to instigate as soon as practical an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation of the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, on July 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool) Making a note to look into the actions of the WHO and their timelines on the outbreak of the virus, the resolution also asks that the inquiry make recommendations to improve global pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacity. While not mentioning Wuhan or China in the proposal, the resolution does ask that the inquiry and the WHO works closely with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and countries to identify the zoonotic source of the virus and its introduction into the human population. The resolution also noted that the WHO should also look into the possible role of intermediate hosts, through efforts such as scientific and collaborative field missions so that the countries could prevent the establishment of new reservoirs of the disease. Residents wait in line to provide swab samples to be tested for the COVID-19 coronavirus, in a street in Wuhan in Chinas central Hubei province on May 15, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Speaking at the WHA on May 18, health minister Greg Hunt said that the inquiry needed to guard against the risks of wildlife wet markets to global health. We need to learn the lessons from this pandemic and ensure we have the strongest possible global health architecture, with an enhanced ability to prevent and respond to future outbreaks, Hunt said. Speaking on Sevens Sunrise program on May 19, federal trade minister Simon Birmingham said that the Australian government welcomed the decision. Birmingham said that the government believed that the decision would give the world greater confidence that there will be a proper investigation into the origins and handling of COVID-19. It does not matter which country you are talking about, they have faced a loss of life, economic damage and we have to make sure that we do learn all those lessons and be better prepared, said Birmingham. Chinas ambassador to Australia said it was nothing but a joke for Australia call the support of 110 nations for the inquiry a vindication, the ABC reported. This is because Australia has backed down on what it originally called forwhich was an independent inquiry outside of the WHO. The new draft has instead called for an impartial committee within the WHO to carry out the investigation. United States President Donald Trump responded to the decision by the WHA by releasing a copy of his letter to the WHO Director-General on Twitter. In the letter, President Trump outlined his reasons for withdrawing the WHO funding, including in it the details of the draft COVID-19 resolution. This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020 This article has been updated to reflect the correct date that the resolution was passed. The Epoch Times regrets the error. With colleges and universities unlikely to be back to normal this fall, more than 2 million U.S. 2020 high school graduates who planned to go directly to college now face an uncertain future. In recent weeks, interest in gap years has surged. But until now, there have been fewif anyconcrete and accessible solutions for young people to make the most of this year in the context of COVID-19. Anchored in Global Citizen Year's decade of experience wrapping education and instruction around real-world experience, Global Citizen Academy adapts their transformative learning model to address the demands of our shared global crisis. Designed in partnership with Minerva Project , the program offers courses that are accredited through Minerva Schools at KGI. The innovative teaching methods and curriculum are responsive and relevant to this historic moment, and taught via ForumTM, Minerva's premier immersive virtual-learning environment. Through an engaging blend of academic and experiential learning, workshops with leading innovators, and collaboration with peers from around the world, students will develop the insights and interdisciplinary skills that are the foundation for success in college and beyond. With Global Citizen Academy, the combined expertise of both organizations brings leadership training to a new level. "The power skills of the futureagency, adaptability, empathy and couragecannot be taught in a classroom alone," says Global Citizen Year Founder and CEO, Abby Falik. "We have pioneered a model that addresses the gaps in our old educational paradigm. Today, we're honored to partner with Minerva Project in an ambitious undertaking to ensure that this year isn't a 'gap', but a year on purpose for a critical mass of emerging leaders from around the world." The Academy will feature: Diverse international cohort: A selective admissions process will identify determined and hopeful young people who represent society's diversity. Selection criteria screen for a commitment to self-reflection, learning, and collaboration, not test scores or grades. A selective admissions process will identify determined and hopeful young people who represent society's diversity. Selection criteria screen for a commitment to self-reflection, learning, and collaboration, not test scores or grades. Sliding scale tuition: A unique, sliding scale fee structure invites families to pay what they can, ensuring that the experience is accessible to exceptional young people from all socio-economic backgrounds. A unique, sliding scale fee structure invites families to pay what they can, ensuring that the experience is accessible to exceptional young people from all socio-economic backgrounds. Courses in the skills that matter most: Faculty-led sessions addressing topics from effective communication and systems thinking, to mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and ethical decision-making, are designed to help students learn about themselves, the world around them, and how to have a meaningful impact. Faculty-led sessions addressing topics from effective communication and systems thinking, to mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and ethical decision-making, are designed to help students learn about themselves, the world around them, and how to have a meaningful impact. Inspiration from today's most impactful leaders and innovators: Weekly sessions taught by today's most innovative leaders across business, philanthropy, government, and social change will provide insight and perspective on the challenges and opportunities of our global crisis. Weekly sessions taught by today's most innovative leaders across business, philanthropy, government, and social change will provide insight and perspective on the challenges and opportunities of our global crisis. Personalized mentorship: Individualized coaching will complement the core coursework, unlocking students' potential as purposeful leaders. "Global Citizen Year has been nurturing young leaders through a transformative global experience for over a decade," said Minerva Project Founder and CEO, Ben Nelson. "Through this partnership, Minerva is excited about reaching new students with an innovative approach to learning that we have been developing for the past eight years. Global Citizen Academy promises to help a select group of passionate learners make purposeful strides during this very difficult time." By design, Global Citizen Academy will require a 10-15 hours per week commitment, leaving space for students to simultaneously engage in the issues and projects they're passionate about, or earn income. Whether students choose to dedicate time to working on voter registration, the climate crisis, or COVID-19 response, Global Citizen Academy will provide an empowering layer of structure and supporthelping students connect with their people, their purpose, and their power to shape the future. Rather than lament the forced "gap year" many are facing, Global Citizen Academy embraces this historic moment for what it can be: a once-in-a-generation opportunity to launch a new force of leaders who represent our society's diversity, are equipped to work across lines of difference, and are committed to advancing the greater good. The inaugural semester of Global Citizen Academy will run from August 31 - December 18, 2020. Find out more at www.globalcitizenyear.org/academy/ Press contact: Molly Weissman, [email protected], 917-439-1442 SOURCE Global Citizen Year Related Links globalcitizenyear.org The head of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions says that she is not comforted by the number of health and safety inspectors available to ensure adherence to Covid-19 guidelines. Speaking to the Special Committee on Covid-19 in the Dail today, Patricia King said that she did not believe that the 67 field investigators currently on staff at the Health and Safety Authority was enough. Ms King said that a lack of investigators would endanger workers. "It is essential that the HSA have all the necessary resources available to them to execute a full-scale intensive workplace inspection campaign immediately. Not to do so would undoubtedly risk lives and would be inexcusable. "67 inspectors is not going to do the job." Dr Sharon McGuinness, head of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), who was also giving evidence to the committee, said that surprise inspections would no longer be possible in some cases, but she was confident that the authority would be fully resourced. Dr McGuinness said that all site inspections related to the back-to-work protocols would check for compliance on a statutory basis. "As a general rule, Authority inspections are unannounced. However, due to the fact that workplaces may have different working arrangements in place to protect against Covid-19, the Authority may need in a number of cases to arrange a suitable time to visit. "Once on site, the inspector will check for compliance against the Protocol and where there is a breach of a statutory obligation, the inspector based on the evidence and their expert opinion will determine what enforcement action may be needed." Dr McGuinness said that the HSA has 67 active field inspectors out of 109 overall, in keeping with the need for the authority to be reactive and fulfill its statutory obligations. She added that there was "a recognition" that site inspections would be more difficult throughout the pandemic. Dr McGuinness said that she was not yet in a position to say just how many extra inspectors the HSA would gain through secondments from other government agencies. The Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation earlier confirmed to The Irish Examiner that environmental health officers and inspectors from the Department of Agriculture and the Workplace Relations Commission will be drafted in to ensure workplace compliance with new guidelines. However, the Department also failed to clarify the size of the investment either in monetary or personnel figures. Nine people have sustained injuries in an accident that occurred at Aboso on the Tarkwa-Damang road in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality. The victims; Godfred Ayivi, Martin K Mawuli, David Mensah, Abubakar Mohammed ,Wisdom Ogbeide, Emmanuel Amoah, Isaac Gyemah, Christopher Yeboah and Emmanuel Appiah, between the ages of 20-25 have been admitted at the Apinto Government Hospital. Chief Inspector George Kwabena Osei, an investigator at the Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD), Tarkwa, told the Ghana News Agency that on 15 May 2020, at about 1530 hours, Kwame Addo, a 30 year-old driver with a Fiat Bucato with registration number GW 9000-15 had nine passengers on board. The victims, all sales representatives of Modern Marketing Ventures in Takoradi were allegedly heading towards Aboso from Tarkwa, he indicated. According to Inspector Osei, when the driver arrived in a community popularly known as Housing, he attempted to negotiate a sharp curve and in the process somersaulted. The occupants were quickly rushed to the Apinto Government Hospital for treatment. Three mobile phones and twenty-two sacks containing assaulted cosmetics were retrieved from the accident scene and have been conveyed to the Unit office, he added. He said the MTTD have commenced investigations to ascertain the cause of the accident. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A Chinese police wearing protective masks march in front of the portrait of Nationalist founder Sun Yat-sen at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on April 28, 2020. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) Global Demand For Justice, Answers From Beijing Over Pandemic Grows Losing her father and aunt to the pandemic was surreal for Lorraine Caggiano. It all occurred within two weeks of returning to New York from a wedding in Connecticut, before the lockdown restrictions. Her mother was the first to exhibit symptoms, coming down with a fever on March 12. After receiving emergency care where she tested negative for strep throat and the common flu, she was tested for COVID-19 and told to self-isolate for a week. During the isolation period, Caggiano brought her 83-year-old father to live with her family out of precaution. But it was already too late. Four days later her father woke up feeling confused and unwell. At some point, he couldnt even put one foot in front of the other to walk into the shower, and he was breathing heavily, so we said, Okay something is wrong here, Caggiano told The Epoch Times. Caggianos father was taken to the hospital where he passed away on March 28 from COVID-19-related complications. That was just days after she lost her aunt to the same disease. I never saw my father in the hospital because we werent allowed to go, obviously. I didnt see him in a casket because we couldnt have a wake. We couldnt have anything, she said. Caggiano, who was sick with a fever for 12 days herself, is now demanding answers on how the virus that emerged in Wuhan, China, quickly ballooned into a global pandemic. She is one of the many plaintiffs who joined Florida-based Berman Law Groups class-action lawsuit seeking damages from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over its handling of the outbreak of the CCP virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. What Im hoping to come out of it is some accountability and some clarity and some truth to see what really, really happened, Caggiano said. And to see how moving forward we can prevent such a thing. I mean, the world has been turned on its earits insane. Like Caggiano, many Americans have joined similar class-action lawsuits around the country to demand answers and reparations over the Chinese regimes role in the spread of the virus. Meanwhile, around the world, calls for accountability and answers from the regime are also mounting. At least six class-action lawsuits have been filed by individuals or businesses in U.S. federal courts against the regime, including ones in Florida, Texas, Nevada, and California. Attorneys general of Missouri and Mississippi have filed separate lawsuits against the Chinese regime on behalf of their states, with other states expressing interest in following suit. Globally, similar lawsuits have also been filed in Italy, Nigeria, Egypt, and Argentina. Many of those lawsuits allege that the communist regimes pattern of suppressing information, threatening whistleblowers, and misrepresenting the severity of the disease between mid-December and mid-January had caused or contributed to the spread of the virus, resulting in sweeping human and economic devastation. Previous reporting by The Epoch Times citing research, interviews with Wuhan locals, and internal government reports have revealed that Chinese authorities have been significantly downplaying the severity of the outbreak. Meanwhile, some legal experts have said that Beijing could potentially be held legally responsible under international law for the alleged coverup and mishandling of the virus. One study, in pre-print and not yet peer-reviewed, from researchers at the University of Southhampton in the United Kingdom found that if Chinese authorities had acted three weeks earlier, the number of cases could have been reduced by 95 percent. A report (pdf) from UK-based think tank Henry Jackson Society published in April found that the Chinese regime could potentially be sued for more than $4 trillion in damages for its negligence and contributory role in the pandemic. This represents the estimated cost to G-7 countriesthe worlds top seven economiesafter addressing the economic fallout from drastic measures taken to protect the health and security of their societies in response to the pandemic. Sam Armstrong, a co-author of the report, said that the many lawsuits and calls for investigations into the Chinese regimes handling of the virus are a manifestation of the global demand for justice. He said that because there is currently no agreed forum for people to seek this accountability, individuals are finding their own ways to do so. That resentment, that bubbling feeling that China has gotten away with wreaking havoc, will not go away until it finds an outlet around which everyone can gather, Armstrong told The Epoch Times. Armstrong said he believes there is a building movement calling for an inquiry into the origins of the pandemic, which he predicts would reach its peak when the international community can longer ignore it. Multiple countries have already expressed an appetite for launching such an inquiry. Australia, despite receiving blowback from China, is firm in its call for an independent international inquiry into the pandemic. These calls have been echoed by the European Commission, Sweden, and Germany. In the United States, Trump and other administration officials have also been highly critical of the CCPs lack of transparency in the early stages of the outbreak. President Donald Trump previously said that the United States is doing serious investigations into CCPs handling of the virus. He also hinted that the administration may be looking into ways for the United States to be compensated for the damage suffered. Meanwhile, lawmakers have proposed bills to penalize China should it fail to cooperate with investigations. Last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced a billThe COVID-19 Accountability Actwhich allows the president to impose sanctions on China if the regime fails to provide a full account of the events leading up to the outbreak of COVID-19. Im convinced that without Chinese Communist Party deception the virus would not be here in the United States, Graham said in a statement. We must determine how the virus came about and take steps, like closing the wet markets, to ensure it never happens again. Its time we push back against China and hold them accountable. Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) introduced a companion bill to Grahams in the House of Representatives. Another bill proposes to amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to create a narrow exception that allows Americans to sue China for damages over the pandemic. The Chinese regime has repeatedly rejected the calls for probes into the origin of the virus, saying that they would not agree to any investigation while claiming that the calls for an investigation are politically motivated. The regime has also dismissed some of the lawsuits. On May 18 before the World Health Organization, Chinese leader Xi Jinping signaled that Beijing would be open to a review of the global response to the pandemic. Finding the Right Forum The Henry Jackson Society report has identified a number of potential legal avenues that are open to states and individuals who seek compensation for the devastation caused by the pandemic. Some of these avenues identified include bringing claims for breaches of state responsibility and violations of treaties under international tribunals, arbitration, and courts, filing lawsuits in Hong Kong courts, filing suits in foreign courts like in the United States or the UK, and taking the dispute directly to the World Health Organization for alleged violations under the International Health Regulations. As many legal experts noted, Beijing cannot be compelled to submit to international justice or participate in these forums. The think tank suggested that what the international community could do instead is seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Advisory opinions can be requested by the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. General Assembly, or other U.N. bodies. Beijing may have veto powers at the Security Council, but it does not have the power to block General Assembly resolutions, the authors said. An ICJ legal opinion may not necessarily provide a resolution to a dispute between other countries against Beijing over its pandemic response but it could clarify the law. Armstrong noted that an ICJ advisory opinion has its weaknesses because Beijing could dispute any facts presented by other countriesa dispute which may not have any resolution. The difficulty is an advisory opinion can only adjudicate matters of law but it cant adjudicate matters of fact, Armstrong said. He suggested that the international community could instead set up its own forum according to rules that it decides, such as using an independent peoples tribunal or a forum similar to the Dutch inquiry into the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17. Its going to have to come up with a structure that is capable of handling questions of fact, as well as questions of law, he said. Meanwhile, Dr. Robert Sanders, an associate professor of national security at the University of New Haven, has suggested alternatives to an inquiry. He told The Epoch Times that he thinks the international community could set up an international fund, where Beijing would be the main contributor, that would allow virus victims to petition for compensation for COVID-19-related harm. In the meantime, individuals are still finding their own outlet to seek justice from the regime over the pandemic. The Berman Law Group said it had received an overwhelming number of offers from over 40 countries to join its lawsuit. The law firm has since set up a global coalition of international citizens and law firms to help foreign nationals who may have viable claims against the Chinese regime in their own courts. The group will also help potential plaintiffs file claims in the United States or in an international court and help foreign nationals advocate for amendments in their countries laws to allow for class action. The Chinese Communist Party has used Chinas status as a world superpower to make others bend to its whims. Now it is time for everyone to ensure that if China wants to participate in the world economy, it must answer for its continuing concealment of the origins of the virus and its inhumane facilitation of its dangerous spread into a pandemic, the law firm said in a statement. Hurdles Some legal experts are not optimistic about whether any of the domestic lawsuits would prevail, saying that the plaintiffs would find themselves facing significant difficulties in defeating the hurdle of foreign sovereign immunity. Sovereign immunity is the legal doctrine that insulates countries from being sued in other countries courts. In the United States, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act limits lawsuits against foreign nations for civil liability unless a case comes under the laws limited list of exceptions. Some of the lawsuits are attempting to overcome jurisdictional issues by arguing that their cases would likely meet the laws commercial activity exception threshold. The lawyers say the commercial activity in Chinas wet markets trade, which China initially blamed for the outbreak, has had a direct effect in the United States. But some legal experts are skeptical that it would bear fruit. That [exception] does require commercial activity, either here or abroad, if its abroad, [it needs] a direct effect in the United States or a commercial act in connection with a commercial activity that occurs in the United States, said Jose Alvarez, an international law professor at New York University. I dont see what commercial activity they are alleging here. The law, Alvarez said, also requires the plaintiffs to show what assets from that commercial activity they might win in a damage suit. The assets have to be commercial activity assets, you cant go around attaching Chinese Embassy bank accounts, for instance, he said. So theres really several hurdles and the major one is, of course, pointing to an exception, but even if youve got that exception, its not uncommon to not be able to actually find commercial assets that you can attach. He also noted that these lawsuits also require plaintiffs to establish causation between the Chinese regimes actions and the harm suffered in the United States, which may not be a simple task given that there could be intervening factors caused by the United States that could break or weaken that link. Meanwhile, Sanders cautioned against limiting the protection of sovereign immunity for other countries in U.S. courts because it could result in blowback from China. Its a double-edged sword because if you, as a sovereign, allow your state entities arms to reduce sovereign immunity for one country, why shouldnt they reciprocate and reduce their protection for sovereign immunity in their own country, Sanders said. He added the risks attached to taking legal action against the regime include the potential for retaliation from Beijing. China [could] decide that you are uncooperative with me, you are an adversary to me in this area, and Im going to affect you economically trade-wise or otherwise, he said. These aggressive tactics, which have been dubbed wolf warrior diplomacy in China, are already being observed in several places around the world as countries double down on their calls for investigations over the regimes handling of the virus. Many of these countries are pushing back by hardening their stance and by reconsidering their manufacturing and technology dependence on China, such as Australia. In response to calls for an independent probe, Beijing had made multiple inflammatory statements against Australia, threatening that China could boycott Australian goods. Australias foreign minister, Marise Payne, responded by cautioning Beijing against engaging in economic coercion. Yet Beijing appeared to pay no heed. Beijing subsequently hit Australias key agriculture exports with suspensions and tariff threats. Australia has responded by requesting urgent trade talks but has not backed down on its call for a CCP virus pandemic inquiry. The Chinese regime has so far denied Australias request. Armstrong said even though there are significant barriers to these lawsuits, he believes they ought to be brought in order to send a message that breaking the law will not be tolerated. Its right to make a claim when someone has broken the law, in order to make the point that people who break the law wont be ignored, Armstrong said. And in this case, China has broken the law. Catherine Yang, Cathy He, and NTD reporter Kevin Hogan contributed to this report. Youre not going to hear anything about Cortana this week at Microsofts Build conference. Confused? Youre not alone. Microsoft Cortana has moved from becoming the flagship feature at the Windows 10 launch to something of a has-been. And yet the intelligence that powers her is something thats become a priority for Microsoft, creating the impression that theres Cortana, and then theres AI, and the two are separate and distinct. Theres a similar gap between the reason that Cortana is absent from Build, and separate underlying issues with Cortana itself. Put simply, its a bit of a mess. Mark Hachman / IDG The Cortana app on Windows 10 lacks some functionality from the older, integrated version. Why Cortana isnt at Build During the development of the Windows 10 May 2020 Update, Microsoft made the tricky decision to separate Cortana from the Windows shell and turn the assistant into an app. In our review, we noted how that essentially forced Cortana backwards, eliminating some of her ability to do math (which has returned) and robbing her of the conversational aspects, such as the Hey Cortana wake word. And then the pandemic hit. Andrew Shuman, Microsofts corporate vice president in charge of Cortana, told PCWorld that Cortana is absent from Build primarily because the Windows 10 May 2020 release itself was in flux until recently. But the forced shutdown also cut off access to hardware testing facilities like Building 88, where Microsoft spent a reported $1.5 million to build the anechoic chamber known as the quietest room in the world. China, too, shut down, cutting off Microsofts manufacturing supply lines. Its been a huge drain on our testing resources and our ability to test hardware with the new versions of Windows, Shuman explained over a Teams call. That means that Microsoft is focusing its efforts where it can: on developers, more than ever before, Shuman said. The end user stories where Cortana can show off future skills will come later, he said. Cortanas problems and solutions Okay, so that explains Cortanas absence from Build. But Microsoft still has some explaining to do regarding the future of Cortana, and thats far more murky. Science fiction tells us that humans want to interact with artificial intelligence through some sort of personality, even one thats as generic as the Computer in Star Trek. Early on, a real team of writers hand-crafted responses for Cortana. Yet right now the Hey Cortana wake word that summons Cortana has been disabled, and Microsofts digital assistant can only be invoked by a key press. Shuman admits thats not ideal. Microsoft In days gone by, Cortana was the foundation of Windows Mobile. The voice stuff is not at the level it needs to be, Shuman said. And it is off by default in the first releases. We know that the rollout of Windows takes a while, so we didnt want to hold that up. But we do need to do a fast follow with the wake word detection. But when offered the chance to wow us with what Cortana could be, Shuman doesnt bite. From Azure to Office through to Windows and down to Cortana, Microsofts corporate priorities lie with business intelligence, not as a conversational assistant that can tell you a joke or sing you a song. Shuman turns instead to features like Outlooks Play My Email feature, which uses AI to read your email and prioritize which are more important. I think that the real usage and engagement of fans has to come down to a promise you can really deliver on, Shuman said. I mean, its why Alexa is great for setting a timer. And its great for playing music by genre, right? And its great for turning off all my lights. We need the moral equivalent of that in the office productivity space It [Cortana] will be great at launching apps. Itll be great at simple calculations. It will soon be great at launching web siteswe dont have that in there yet. Thats what people do on Windows all day. So we need to meet them there. And kind of earn the right to go farther. Intelligence everywhere Shumans aspirations for Cortana dont seem especially ambitious. On the other hand, Microsoft has been quite good about diving deep into niche applications and filling them. This is the other side of Cortana: the Microsoft intelligence that its working to embed in our daily work lives. Again, go back to 2016, where just a few months after we learned about Cortanas personalization efforts, former AI chief Harry Shum told PCWorld that Microsoft was going big on artificial intelligence across all areas of Microsoft. Javier Soltero, Cortanas former boss, had the same goal. Its this belief in pervasive AI thats led to Play My Emails for Android and iOS, which uses AI to provide you a way to get caught up on your email, interacting with individual messages, all via voice. Microsoft used to offer a voice-only interface, via the Harman/Kardon Invoke, which quietly tailed off, presumably from poor sales. With the Invoke, all we saw with any reliability was playing music, Shuman said. And honestly, it was play artist or play genre because people cant remember the right way to say a song title or an album name or any of these things. Play My Emails already has a bunch of feature requests that Shuman says he never anticipated, such as read all emails from John, or another user. Importance is another area Microsoft is considering. If you receive five emails from your boss, at least one of them is probably significant. Likewise, Shuman considers Meeting Insights a success, another Outlook feature that provides what Microsofts AI thinks are relevant emails and documents to help inform your meeting. Eventually, though, Shuman returns to the notion of a true business assistant. Taking advantage of initiatives like Project Cortex, say, Cortana should be able to dig out the resume of a job applicant from your email, but also understand it well enough to be able to tell you where she went to school. Microsoft is focused on supplementing its hub apps: 1 billion Windows 10 users, more than 100 million Outlook app users, the 75 million active daily users on Teams. Eventually, it sounds like Cortana could once again provide a daily briefing as it once did. Microsoft In addition to reading emails out load, Cortana can explain how long theyve been in a users inbox and provide additional information about each message. Its not a digital assistant asking anything you want, Shuman said of Cortana. No, its got your back. Its gonna tell you whats next. Its going to help you find the things that you have trouble finding, or its going to deep link you into the experiences of Windows we love and use every day. Thats the kind of feature that I think Cortana will stand for: press the button and see whats next, press the button and know what you have to do. Correction: Teams now has more than 75 million daily active users and there are more than 100 million users of the Outlook app, according to a Microsoft representative. The story now also clarifies a Shuman quote. A booming trade for marginal land has seen large tracts of ground in the west being purchased by commercial farmers from the midlands, south and east. The trade is being driven by the potential for substantial returns from programmes such as the Young Framers' Scheme and ANC, as well as the possibility of insulating farmers' Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) entitlements from convergence. Buoyant demand for marginal land, which is generally not suitable for planting, has resulted in a steady increase in sale prices, with the bulk of the ground currently moving for 700-800/ac. Much of this land is being bought by local farmers. However, sizeable blocks have also been purchased by commercial farmers and farm companies from as far afield as Cork, Tipperary and Wexford. The buyers have never seen or "laid a leg on the land" in some instances. Westport auctioneer Olivia Needham describes these customers as looking for big farms of lesser-quality ground. "Big marginal farms are flying out the door," Ms Needham said. "I have no problem selling them, while good grazing land in smaller parcels near towns and valued at 8,000-10,000/ac is far slower to shift." Sharp rise Ballina-based auctioneer Billy Heffron has also seen a sharp rise in interest in marginal land, with buyers coming from the strong farming areas in the south and east. He recently sold a 440ac mountain holding at Belderrig, Co Mayo for 330,000 or 750/ac to a buyer from Cork. He also sold a 132ac parcel of cutaway bog at Glenamoy, near Belmullet for 95,000 to a southern buyer who had never laid eyes on the property before he bought it. Meanwhile, a 200ac farm at Geesala, Belmullet guided at 270,000 or 1,350/ac is attracting widespread interest. Mr Heffron is experiencing similar interest in 100ac of Coillte land at Glenamoy with a guide of between 85,000 and 90,000, along with a 225ac holding at Crossmolina guided at 170,000. While it is unclear exactly why commercial farming interests in the south and east are buying land in north and west Mayo, Ms Needham maintained that such purchases made good economic sense for someone with a herd number and ready cash. "Once you stock it at a ewe per hectare and appoint a local 'keeper', then perhaps a younger member of the family can apply for entitlements from the national reserve as an entrant farmer." Farm sector sources explained that entitlements that deliver close to 25,000 per year can be drawn down from the national reserve under the Young Farmers' Scheme for up to 90ha. With a further 4,500 available under ANC, overall direct payments to a young trained farmer who purchases or takes over the running of 90ha block of such marginal land could potentially top 30,000 per annum. It is also possible that the purchase of land in the west is being used to insulate farmers with high entitlements on their home farms from the impact of convergence of BPS payments, or that the lands are being used for future carbon credit requirements, or maybe to comply with nitrates requirements. More than 5,000 farmers currently have BPS and Greening payments in excess of 400/ha, with some entitlements worth up to 700/ha. With the EU parliament calling for a full flattening of payments in the next CAP, and the Commission accepting that 75pc convergence is required, some farmers stand to lose substantial direct payments. A recent examination by the Farming Independent estimated that full convergence would result in payments moving to an average of around 265/ha. This will result in direct payments moving from farmers in the south and east to their counterparts in the west. It would see farmers in Cork, Tipperary and Wexford lose 13.8m, 9.4m and 7.7m respectively. Industry sources conceded that a farmer buying marginal land in order to spread his/her entitlements over a larger area and thereby reducing the payments per hectare, could possibly protect payments from being clawed back and redistributed under convergence. While the window for the registration of entitlement closed on Friday last, Olivia Needham said the purchase of cheap land as an anchor for entitlements represented good value when compared to the option of renting expensive land. "It's a maths game," she said. "Why should a farmer down south or in the east pay 200 to 300/ac to rent naked land (without entitlements) when they can come over here and buy it outright for an extra few hundred euros per acre and stock it minimally. "At the end of the day they get the entitlements and they own the land." We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The CFi Development Medias agency Tuesday condemned the continued imprisonment of Beninese journalist Ignace Sossou whose 18-month term was commuted Tuesday to 12 months, including six months in jail following an appeal A German prince has died in a Ducati motorbike accident after smashing into a barrier on a Bavarian autobahn. Prince Otto of Hesse died in the early hours of Sunday after swerving on his 20,000 motorbike and crashing into the guard rail near Lake Constance. The 55-year-old - a businessman who owned several McDonald's franchises in southern Germany - died at the scene, according to Bild, Otto was descended from a German royal dynasty with connections to the rulers of Prussia and was thought to be distantly linked to the British royal family. Prince Otto of Hesse, a member of a German royal dynasty which dates back to the 17th century, died in an accident on his Ducati motorbike at the weekend. He posted this picture of himself on his motorcycle on April 12 The scene of the accident in southern Germany in which Prince Otto of Hesse died on Sunday after swerving and crashing into a barrier The cause of the accident is not yet clear, but the motorbike is thought to have started swerving after overtaking another vehicle at high speed. 'For reasons not yet known, the rider lost control of his vehicle, started to swerve and crashed into the guard rail,' a police report says. There is no indication that the prince was blinded by the sun or affected by the weather on what was a dry Sunday morning. A police spokesman told regional publication TZ that the accident could have been caused by excessive speed. In 2010, the prince was given seven points on his licence and handed a nine-month driving ban after speeding in a car in Munich. However, he escaped criminal charges after paying a 3,600 fine, according to reports at the time. Otto was descended from a German royal dynasty with connections to the rulers of Prussia and was thought to be distantly linked to the British royal family Otto was a member of the house of Hesse-Philippsthal, a dynasty which dates back to the 17th century. The family is connected to Frederick William III of Prussia, a significant German ruler during the Napoleonic Wars and subsequent Congress of Vienna. Germany was once home to a bewildering landscape of small states and ruling families, meaning there are many royal titles still in existence today. Geneaologists believe Otto was a distant member of Britain's royal line of succession because of the centuries-long connections between Europe's historic royal families. Otto married Carla Blickhauser in Las Vegas in 1998, leading to a 19-year marriage before the couple divorced in 2017, according to German media. They had four children: Max, Leopold, Moritz and Elena, all born in the late 1990s and 2000s. The cause of the accident is not yet clear, but the motorbike is thought to have started swerving after overtaking another vehicle at high speed Otto was known as a car and motorcycle enthusiast who would arrange regular gatherings of scientists and others, for example at a hotel in Munich. 'Otto of Hesse was a kind, very hard-working person. He was the matey type - not aloof at all,' one friend told Bild. The 55-year-old had posted a smiling picture of himself on his Ducati as recently as April 12, just weeks before his death. According to German media, Otto was also the franchise owner of four McDonald's restaurants in Ingolstadt. One associate said the prince had worked 'outrageously hard' at his restaurants and had even 'fried the burgers himself' on occasions. Writing on Facebook, his employees described him as 'the best boss in the world' and a 'terrific person' who 'always had a sympathetic ear for everyone'. 'The hole he leaves behind is enormous, but we will do everything in our power to keep the restaurants running in his name,' they said. U.S. Navy sailors man M2A1 .50-caliber machine guns aboard a Mark VI patrol boat attached to Commander, Task Force 56, during an interoperability exercise in the Arabian Gulf. WASHINGTON The U.S. Navy warned on Tuesday that vessels in the Persian Gulf should stay at least 100 meters away from U.S. warships or will be "interpreted as a threat and subject to lawful defensive measures." The notice to mariners was issued to "enhance safety, minimize ambiguity and reduce opportunities for miscalculation," according to a statement by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. "Our ships are conducting routine operations in international waters wherever international law allows, and do not seek conflict, however, our commanding officers retain the right to self-defense if deemed necessary," the statement added. Tuesday's warning comes a little over a month after the Pentagon claimed Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy took "dangerous and provocative" actions near U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Persian Gulf. Six U.S. military vessels were conducting training operations in international waters when 11 Iranian ships "crossed the bows and sterns of the U.S. vessels at extremely close range and high speeds," according to a U.S. Navy statement. The U.S. crews issued multiple warnings via bridge-to-bridge radio, five short blasts from the ships' horns and long-range acoustic noise maker devices to the Iranian ships. President Donald Trump took to Twitter after the incident and warned that the United States would destroy Iranian gunboats that harass American ships at sea. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," the president wrote in a post on Twitter. South Africa: Schools to reopen on 1 June 2020 Schools will reopen on 1 June 2020 with Grade7 and Grade 12 learners returning to the classroom, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Tuesday. Independent and public ordinary schools will open even in the metropolitan areas. Every school must adhere and observe the health and safety protocols that will be put in place. We will start with grades 7 and 12 and small schools. The other grades will follow in due course, said the Minister. The reopening of schools follows the National Coronavirus Command Council and Cabinets approval of the Basic Education Departments (DBE) plan to return to the classroom in a staggered approach. The return of other grades is yet to be announced. The Minister unveiled the staggered return of pupils as government continues to ease the lockdown imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19. Following the backing of Cabinet, the Minister announced that a revised school calendar will be gazetted soon. The pending calendar will indicate the opening and closing dates of schools and the breaks in between. In preparation for the reopening of schools, delivery of COVID-19 essentials such as sanitisers, masks, water and sanitation is currently underway in schools across the country. The reports we got are showing that preparations have been taking place and good progress has been made. All indications are that the preconditions for the reopening of schools will be met obviously with the premium being on saving lives, said the Minister in the virtual briefing. Meanwhile, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has entered into an Implementation Protocol agreement with the Department of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation and Rand Water to ensure the delivery of water to schools. Addressing comorbidities Working with health professionals and the Department of Public Service and Administration, Motshekga said teachers and staff who have comorbidities and are vulnerable to COVID-19, are being profiled. This is so as to determine a guide on how to manage them. Motshekga called on parents to work closely with schools to ensure that learners with pre-existing illnesses are also assisted. Schools will work with parents to obtain the information which once again needs to be treated with the utmost care. This matter is of paramount importance and we appeal for cooperation in this regard, she said. Special schools Mindful of the needs of learners with disabilities, the DBE is working with provinces to ensure that special schools are adequately provided for in all the plans put together. During consultation with social partners, Motshekga said it became clear that a different approach was needed when it comes to special schools. We are working with organisations who are advising us on the best way forward regarding the phased-approach of the special schools. Our planning and procurement has considered the needs of learners with disabilities and those in special schools. Provinces have put in place plans that will ensure that no child is compromised, said the Minister. Early Childhood Development Centres With the further easing of lockdown restrictions, several people in addition to those providing essential services returned to work opening a gap for the childcare of these workers. Bearing this in mind, Motshekga said the department will maintain a delicate balance between allowing Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDCs) to operate, alongside the safety and health of the children and their caregivers. The regulations for Level 3 are being finalised and we believe there will be a solution to this matter very soon. We are working together with the Department of Social Development on this matter as it straddles both departments at the moment, she said. To monitor implementation on the delivery of essentials and adherence to guidelines, the department has appointed a consortium of independent monitors. - SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Andhra Pradesh Police on Monday arrested a woman (60) in Guntur on charges of creating a fear psychosis among people and inciting hatred against the state government by posting objectionable comments on her Facebook page regarding the toxic styrene gas leak from LG Polymers plant at Visakhapatnam on May 7. The Crime Investigation Department (CID) unit of Guntur Police served a notice on Poonthota Ranganayaki under Section 41-A of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). They are also on the lookout for another person, Malladi Raghunath, who had allegedly supported her views. A criminal case was registered against Ranganayaki under Sections 505 (2) (making statements leading to public mischief), 153(A) (promoting enmity between two groups), 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by a public servant), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and also Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Later, she was later released on bail. The CID had prima facie established that Ranganayaki had indulged in propaganda against the state government regarding the gas leak from LG Polymers, and also created panic among people and provoked mistrust against the state authorities. If this is her first offence, she is liable for imprisonment up to three years and a fine of 5 lakh. If she repeats the offence, she would be sentenced to five years imprisonment, besides a fine of 10 lakh, the CID said in the statement. While Ranganayaki could not be reached for her comment, her Facebook page revealed that she had raised around 20 issues regarding the Visakhapatnam gas leak tragedy. She suspected that the South Korean company might have destroyed all the evidence, as they were not seized by the police, and had cleverly shifted styrene, the plants liquid asset, outside the country. She also raised several questions such as the polices inability to collect fingerprints and whether the attendance of the plant staff was authenticated. She blamed the police for allowing errant plant officials to go scot-free. She also wondered about the delay behind handing over the probe into the industrial disaster to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) criticised the police for arresting an old woman, who raised doubts about the gas leak tragedy, while no action was taken against the accused. If posting a comment against the government is a crime, one wonders how many cases should have been filed against YSR Congress leaders for posting objectionable comments against the previous TDP government, said former minister and TDP leader Devineni Umamaheshwara Rao. He also demanded that the cases against Ranganayaki be withdrawn with immediate effect. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON ABOUT THE AUTHOR Srinivasa Rao Apparasu Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience. ...view detail Shelley Davies waits for her delivery at Plants and Friends./Douglas Zimmerman/SFGate LATEST, May 19, 6:39 p.m. Napa County can begin offering dine-in restaurant service immediately after the state of California approved the county's expanded Stage 2 plan on Tuesday. Retail stores, shopping malls and swap meets are included in the approved plan, which also allows schools to reopen on June 1. Any business or school that reopens will have to adhere to the state's modification guidelines outlined here. Wineries and tasting rooms, both of which are included in Stage 3 of Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to reopen California, will remain closed. May 19, 4:35 p.m. San Francisco Mayor London Breed tweeted Tuesday that the city last week opened a 130-room hotel up for homeless residents. The first 20 have already moved in and the remainder of the rooms will be filled this week, she wrote. Another 120-room hotel will also be opened this week. The announcement follows reporting that city officials spent tens of thousands of dollars a day for unused hotel rooms initially intended for both homeless residents and first responders who might need them. However, due to the city's success in flattening the curve, the expected hospitalization surge has not yet occurred, and so San Francisco has not needed to bring in and house doctors and nurses who either live out of the area or do not want to put their families at risk of contracting the virus. Those rooms will now be repurposed for homeless residents in the city. May 19, 4:20 p.m. A new study out of Stanford University released Tuesday found that a test of 1,700 throat swabs from sick patients in November and December 2019 found no cases of the coronavirus. The study tested swabs taken from Stanford Health Care clinics, which are all over the Bay Area. The finding, however, does not definitely prove that the coronavirus was not present in the Bay Area at that time. Asymptomatic individuals a majority of cases may not have sought care. But the study does suggest researchers haven't yet found the virus' "patient zero." Currently, the first coronavirus-related death in the area (and the nation) is believed to have been a San Jose woman on Feb. 6, meaning the virus and COVID-19 disease reached the Bay Area before then. May 19, 3:25 p.m. San Francisco International Airport will resume select flight routes to Europe and Japan in June, a press release from the airport states. Specifically, Nippon Airways will begin flying three times a week to Tokyo Narita beginning June 1. The same day, Swiss International Air Lines will begin offering one weekly flight to Zurich, Switzerland. Two weeks later, on June 16, Lufthansa will launch three weekly flights to Munich. "Although these airlines are resuming limited service, all travel advisories, restrictions on entry, and arrival screening procedures remain in effect," the release notes. American passengers returning from some European countries must return through one of 13 designated U.S. airports and submit to an "enhanced entry screening and self-quarantine for 14 days once they reach their final destination." May 19, 3 p.m. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf addressed concerns about crowding at Lake Merritt, a popular recreation area of the city, telling KGO Tuesday that efforts to mitigate gatherings have been successful thus far. The city has prohibited lakeside parking as well as food sales, and as a result, neighbors have reported a 50% thinning of visitors. Schaaf also spoke to the East Bay city's testing efforts, encouraging residents experiencing symptoms to get tested. African American and Latino residents have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19's death rate, she said. "That is not totally surprising, because health disparities in the risk factors for COVID-19 have been persistent with those groups," Schaaf added. "This is our opportunity to address it rapidly, with intention, and also to look at some long-term changes so that we don't have these disparities in the future." May 19, 2:30 p.m. Here's a look at new cases and deaths reported in Bay Area counties Tuesday. As more counties release numbers, this list will be updated. Contra Costa County reported 37 new cases for a total of 1,192 cases. The death toll remains 33. Santa Clara County announced 13 new cases for a total of 2,483. The county also reported two additional deaths, for a death toll of 137. Sonoma County reported four new cases for a total of 391. The death toll remains four. Alameda County announced three new deaths and 65 new cases Tuesday to increase its death toll to 86 and its case total to 2,522. San Mateo County reported nine deaths and 16 new cases Tuesday to increase its death toll to 75 and its case total to 1,687. May 19, 2 p.m. San Francisco Director of Public Health Dr. Grant Colfax addressed testing efforts at Laguna Honda Hospital, home to a large population of seniors and a point of concern around COVID-19, saying that universal testing has been accomplished "on a routine basis" for those who live or work there. Since March, health officials have tested 718 residents and 1,369 staff members; at the time of the most recent test, only four "less than 1%" tested positive for COVID-19, Colfax said. Several of those cases have fully recovered and no deaths have been recorded. May 19, 1:45 p.m. Dr. Grant Colfax said Tuesday that health remains a top priority as the city begins the process of reopening businesses with curbside pickup options in the city. We are in the second inning of a long game, he said. Most scientists expect this long game is going to be with us for 18-24 months. The new updated health order allows for future expansion and allows us to flatten and decrease that curve. This new order doesnt have an expiration date so we can act with maximum flexibility and not be penned in, literally, by artificial deadlines. We have hope that if people take precautions we will continue to make progress. Colfax added that health officials will watch the hospitalization rate and other key indicators over the next 2-4 weeks before moving from Phase 2A to Phase 2B, wherein schools and low-risk offices would reopen. If things go well over time we will move into [Stage] 3 and eventually Stage 4, he continued. Its an iterative process, its going to to take ... vigilance on all our parts. May 19, 11:30 a.m. Here's a look at new cases and deaths reported in Bay Area counties Tuesday. As more counties release numbers, this list will be updated. Alameda County announced three new deaths and 65 new cases Tuesday to increase its death toll to 86 and its case total to 2,522. San Mateo County reported nine deaths and 16 new cases Tuesday to increase its death toll to 75 and its case total to 1,687. May 19, 11:15 a.m. To address mounting concern over tents popping up on sidewalks amid the pandemic, San Francisco opened its first city-sanctioned tent encampment for people without housing on May 13. Read more here about the temporary "Safe Sleeping Village" at Fulton Street between the Asian Art Museum and the Main Library. May 19, 10 a.m. The federal government is sending $700 million in funds to several transportation organizations in the Bay Area, helping to keep vital transit options open and running. In a tweet Tuesday, President Donald Trump said the money would be given to San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco Muni and BART "to aid in economic recovery. May 19, 8 a.m. California is slowing reopening as counties across the state make modifications to their stay-at-home orders. The Bay Area has moved more slowly than more rural, remote counties, but in recent weeks counties have made the leap from Stage 1 into Stage 2 of Gov. Gavin Newsom's four-phase reopening plan. Here's a look at what has recently opened in the the nine Bay Area counties. We've also included links to each county's website, when available, with more details on their orders as the information is changing quickly. Alameda What's open: Retail with curbside pickup and associated manufacturing and warehousing opened Monday. See Alameda County's new order and guidelines here. Contra Costa What's open: Retail with curbside pickup and associated manufacturing and warehousing opening Tuesday Read more about Contra Costa County's new order and guidelines here. Marin What's open: Retail with curbside pickup and associated manufacturing and warehousing opened Monday. Find out more about Marin County's new order and guidelines here. Napa What's open: Retail with curbside pickup and associated manufacturing and warehousing opened Monday San Francisco What's open: Retail with curbside pickup and associated manufacturing and warehousing opened Monday Read more about San Francisco's updated order here. San Mateo What's open: Retail with curbside pickup and associated manufacturing and warehousing opened Monday; services such as pet grooming, residential cleaning, appliance repair and car washes; outdoor museums. Find more details on San Mateo's health order here. Santa Clara What's open: Retail with curbside pickup and associated manufacturing and warehousing will open Friday. Solano What's open: Retail with curbside pickup and associated manufacturing and warehousing; select services such as pet grooming, car washes and landscaping; outdoor museums; offices where teleworking isn't possible Read more about Solano County's updated order here. Sonoma What's open: Retail with curbside pickup and associated manufacturing and warehousing; select services such as car washes, pet grooming, residential cleaning; outdoor museums; open-air galleries. Find more information on Sonoma's updated order here. Coronavirus in the greater Bay Area: A county-by-county snapshot ALAMEDA COUNTY: 2,522 confirmed cases, 86 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities, retail and manufacturing For more information on Alameda County, visit the public health department website. CONTRA COSTA COUNTY: 1,192 confirmed cases, 33 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities, retail and manufacturing For more information on Contra Costa County, visit the public health department website. LAKE COUNTY: 11 confirmed cases What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities For information on Lake County, visit the public health department website. MARIN COUNTY: 329 confirmed cases, 14 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities, retail and manufacturing Fore more information on Marin County, visit the public health department website. MONTEREY COUNTY: 344 confirmed cases, 8 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities For more information on Monterey County, visit the public health department website. NAPA COUNTY: 92 cases, 3 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities, retail and manufacturing For more information on Napa County, visit the public health department website. SAN BENITO COUNTY: 61 confirmed cases, 2 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities, retail, manufacturing, restaurants, shopping malls For more information on San Benito County, visit the public health department website. SAN FRANCISCO COUNTY: 2,131 confirmed cases, 36 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities, retail and manufacturing For more information on San Francisco County, visit the public health department website. SAN MATEO COUNTY: 1,687 confirmed cases, 75 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities, retail and manufacturing For more information on San Mateo County, visit the public health department website. SANTA CLARA COUNTY: 2,483 confirmed cases, 137 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities; retail and manufacturing opening on Friday Fore more information on Santa Clara County, visit the public health department website. SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: 165 confirmed cases, 2 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities, retail, manufacturing For more information on Santa Cruz County, visit the public health department website. SOLANO COUNTY: 424 confirmed cases, 16 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: All "low-risk" businesses that can comply with physical distancing guidelines For more information on Solano County, visit the public health department website. SONOMA COUNTY: 391 confirmed cases, 4 deaths What's open beyond essential businesses: Outdoor businesses and activities, retail, manufacturing, car washes, pet groomers, outdoor museums, offices where telework is not possible For more information on Sonoma County, visit the public health department website. CORONAVIRUS: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Here are answers to your most frequently asked questions about coronavirus The 2 big reasons why California struggles to control coronavirus Two SF restaurateurs have more questions than answers over new state guidelines San Francisco officials outline 5 goals before reopening businesses WHEN WILL THE BAY AREA REOPEN? With changes made to state order, here's what you need to know: What's open and closed in California? California could move into Stage 3 in June: Here's what that means Newsom details 4 stages to reopen California businesses American drug maker Moderna said Monday that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced antibodies in a small group of healthy people in an early trial. The company said eight people who received two small amounts of its vaccine developed antibodies similar to those developed by people who have recovered from the disease. The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases led the experiment, also called a trial. It involved 45 volunteers who received one or two shots of differing amounts of the vaccine. Tal Zaks is the chief medical officer at Moderna. Based on early results of the trial, he said the vaccine has the potential to prevent COVID-19 disease. He also said the company now can better choose the vaccine amount needed for further experiments. The testing involved three different amounts. Zaks said the two smaller amounts of vaccine seem safe and the larger amount caused some short-term side effects. Three study subjects developed flu-like conditions following a second shot of the large dose. Moderna said it plans to drop that amount for the next part of the trial. Amesh Adalja is an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security who was not involved in the study. He told Reuters that the findings are meaningful, but noted that they come from only eight people. It was designed for safety. Not for efficacy, he said. Moderna has been permitted to start a second part of human testing that will involve several hundreds of people. In April, the U.S. government gave the company $483 million for vaccine development. Last week, U.S. officials gave the vaccine special recognition to help speed the process for approval. Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, said the company is hoping to start part three of the study in July. The company will try to find the lowest amount of vaccine necessary to protect people. In May, Moderna and the biotechnology company Lonza agreed to work together over the next ten years to make a vaccine. The partnership could lead to the manufacture of 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine treatments a year. There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for COVID-19. Almost 4.8 million people are confirmed to have had the virus. It is known to have killed about 320,000. However, experts think the numbers may be underreported. The World Health Organization has listed more than 100 efforts to develop effective treatments and vaccines for the coronavirus. The list includes clinical trials in China, at the University of Oxford, and with American drug makers Pfizer, Inovio and Moderna. Experts predict a safe and effective vaccine could take 12 to 18 months to develop. The results of Modernas early trial have not been published. But the news lifted the companys stock prices and spread hope that a solution against the infectious disease might be close. I'm Jonathan Evans. Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on Associated Press and Reuters news reports. Caty Weaver was the editor. _________________________________________________________ Words in This Story potential - n. a chance or possibility that something will happen in the future efficacy - n. the power to produce a desired result or effect clinical - adj. relating or based on work done with real patients The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Kaduna State Chapter, has appealed to Gov. Nasir El-Rufai to review the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus. The appeal by CAN comes after an earlier call by the Council of Imams and Ulamas on the state government for a review of the lockdown. The CAN Chairman, John Hayab, a reverend, in a statement issued on Tuesday in Kaduna, appealed to Mr El-Rufai to consider relaxing the lockdown on Fridays and Sundays to allow both Muslims and Christians to worship in Mosques and Churches. He expressed CANs belief that the relaxation of the lockdown on those days would be used by adherents of both religions to achieve positive results. Places of worship can organise one or two worship sessions with few worshippers while observing physical distancing. Places of worship can provide soap, water, and hand sanitiser for worshippers to use before and after worship, he said. The cleric said the leaderships of the worship centres are prepared to ensure that worshippers comply with the safety protocol recommended for the containment of the virus. Mr Hayab said allowing worship places to reopen would provide the opportunity for the people to be further sensitised to the need to adhere to the protocol put in place to stop the spread of the virus. The coming together of worshippers could enhance the provision of food items and other necessities of life to the needy in both Churches and Mosques. This will unite members and enable them to share ideas on the way forward for the state and the country as a whole. The most important thing that we will do both as Christians and Muslims would be to offer fervent prayers in our congregations for God to intervene and deliver humankind from the COVID-19 calamity. The CAN, Kaduna State Chapter appreciates the tireless efforts of the state government through the State Standing Committee on COVID-19 headed by the states Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, for all that has been done to ensure that the spread of the deadly disease is curtailed, the CAN chairman added. He noted that since the COVID-19 lockdown, the state government through the State Standing Committee had initiated steps to find a lasting solution to the spread of the pandemic. Mr Hayab added that the state government on its part had performed credibly through the combined efforts of health experts, security agencies, religious leaders, NGOs, and other stakeholders to cushion the effect of the pandemic. He said the state chapter of CAN had solidly stood behind the state government in its policies since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country, and in Kaduna state in particular. (NAN) LaGrange, GA, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ARCS Foundation is pleased to announce the addition of University of Oregons Department of Human Physiology to its approved departments for funding. During ARCS January 2020 National Board Meeting in Tempe, Arizona, the National University Relations Committee approved adding this cutting-edge graduate program to the departments already approved by ARCS. This department marks the 614th program of study endorsed for ARCS Scholar Award funding across 49 top-ranking US universities for science, technology, engineering, and medical research. The Department of Human Physiology provides graduate students with training in human physiology and anatomy that will prepare them for careers in medicine, allied health professions, and biomedical research. According to Hal Sadofsky, Divisional Dean of Natural Sciences at University of Oregon, the departments graduate students are on the frontlines of important microbiological and physiological breakthroughs. The work these students are doing ranges from research that will help understand how cardiovascular systems change when people age, to the neuroscience of breath control, Parkinsons and other movement disorders, to heart function and the role of exercise in human health and musculoskeletal function. In the lab, students use both physiological and engineering methods to evaluate human subjects, as well as animal models related to human physiology. Some of the programs current research focuses on human adaptations to environmental extremes such as high altitude and hot or cold temperatures; effect of age-associated changes in blood vessels on the risk of atherosclerosis; and use of environmental stressors such as heat to induce therapeutic benefits in patients. The departments endorsement by ARCS Foundation is both a boost to the individual students who will receive ARCS Scholar Awards and a vote of confidence in a department were committed to advancing, Sadofsky says. University of Oregon is honored by the attention of ARCS Foundation. To read the full list of ARCS university partners, follow this link. # About ARCS Foundation: ARCS Foundation is a national nonprofit volunteer womens organization that promotes US competitiveness by providing financial awards to academically outstanding US citizens studying to complete degrees in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), and health disciplines at 49 of the nations leading research universities. The organization has awarded more than $115 million to more than 10,500 scholars since 1958. ARCS Foundation Scholars have produced thousands of research publications and patents, secured billions in grant funding, started science-related companies, and played a significant role in teaching and mentoring young people in the STEM pipeline. More information is available at arcsfoundation.org. Kabul/IBNS: Suspected Taliban terrorists set bodies of five people on fire after shooting them in Afghanistan's South-eastern Ghazni province, media reports said. According to a statement released by MoI, the Taliban militants killed the five people including three civilians and two policemen in Qayaq Valley of Jaghatoo district, reports Khaama Press. The militants targeted the victims who were traveling in a vehicle. The Taliban did not comment on the matter so far. The RSS-affiliated Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh will on Wednesday hold a nationwide protest against dilution of labour laws in various states, including BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) in a statement on Tuesday said it will hold the protest for safeguarding the rights of the labourers. Last week, the trade union condemned the total withdrawal of labour laws in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. The BMS also said migrant workers' problems have aggravated during the coronavirus-triggered lockdown mainly because there is "gross violation" of laws by most of the states. Criticising the freezing of labour laws as well as increase in the working hours from eight to 12 hours in some other states, BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay had recently said "this is unheard in history and is rare even in most undemocratic countries". The BMS is also opposing the increase in working hours in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Goa and Odisha. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The education landscape has changed, just as society has changed in the past three months. Whether school returns or not as anticipated, education will continue. There are 147 Districts in this state, and we expect 147 different directions. However, we can find some shared aims and objectives. Education officials nationally have been asking for a more detailed response from the federal government on how and when they could safely reopen schools. Guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was rejected, but has valuable information. Many districts will have plans A, B, C, and D, and be ready to pivot to meet the health needs of our students and staff. It is obvious that public education is not going to look the same in the future. Schooling will not go totally online, but components of it possibly will remain online. What schools will look like will vary district to district across the state. Educators will desperately need advocates and new services. We are working to navigate new requirements with them. We are currently working to be able to facilitate the questions that will arise from leaders and members. This new frontier has brought on a lot of challenges, innovations, and the way we will conduct our respective businesses in our schools and in our association. Our educators have been doing everything possible to meet student needs. Even with issues of student poverty, limited technology resources, and no prior emphasis on preparation for distance learning, our educators are rising to the challenge of educating children while reinventing public education. What do we know statewide? Not much. The National Institute for Excellence in Teaching created a four-part plan that addresses key subjects like Operations; Academics; Student, family, and staff support, and; Professional development and training. There is not much solid information about what things will look like in the fall in Tennessee if traditional learning cannot happen. Our preference will always be to have our children in schools. However, without an end to the pandemic, we may not be looking at just months but possibly years. NIET outlines four different scenarios we could see in the fall: All students are attending school in-person. This might include splitting or rotating school schedules so that way there is reduced person-to-person contact. Categories like age, grade, and student needs could be used as possible ways to rotate schedules. Some students attend in-person while some are virtual. We would add, rotating schedules combined with distance learning. All students are virtual. Students are intermittently virtual. This might include the concept of the phased-in model meaning some groups of students could start learning in the classrooms while other students wait their turn. The phased-in model could come with or without distance learning. Other steps that our schools will face include the possibility of taking temperatures of kids before they enter the classroom. That is time consuming and possibly puts school staff at risk. The expectation that students will have to wear masks, is probably also unrealistic, especially for younger students. School transportation will be challenging, with modified schedules and social distancing guidelines. Will districts suspend attendance policies, modify sick days for students and staff? Will we need longer breaks to deal with COVID-19 during the year? All things are things to consider. We have painted a grim and challenging picture for the state. No one person, no state committee, no single organization can account for every issue that may arise. It will take all of us working together to get back to some semblance of normal or a routine we can adjust to that will work for students, parents, educators, and the community. For the most part, Tennesseans prefer less restrictive national guidance leaving discretion up to state and local leaders. We go back to where we started by allowing locally elected boards of education to make the final decisions. This makes the most sense as local school boards are elected by the people and directly accountable to the community which they serve. More than likely, most communities will seek brick and mortar solutions. JC Bowman Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee [May 19, 2020] Common Networks Brings Discounted Internet to Largest Low-Income Housing Community in Alameda County SAN FRANCISCO, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Common Networks , a Bay Area-based wireless internet service provider (ISP), is now bringing discounted connectivity to the Alameda Point Collaborative ( APC ), the largest housing community for formerly homeless families in Alameda County. As COVID-19 increases stay-at-home orders, the need for high-speed home internet becomes increasingly critical for at-home learning, health guidelines and more. However, until partnering with Common, many APC residents were completely unable to access a broadband connection. By building these connections from scratch and providing ultra high-speed internet at a reduced cost, Common is expanding internet access for at-risk communities that are only made more vulnerable by this pandemic. "COVID-19 has truly exposed the divide in access to basic necessities, including high-speed internet access, across our country," said Common Networks CEO and Co-Founder Grace Chen. "We founded Common on the belief that everyone should have a fast, accessible internet connection, and now we're proud to partner with APC to provide families with resources they need most." In addition to a general information gap due to lack of internet access, families living at APC have been faced with the "homework gap" the difference in academic performance between students who have access to high-speed internet at home and those who don't. While some local students have been provided with Chromebooks and mobile hotspots for e-learning, unreliable long-term connectivity may still prevent them from completing their schoolwork. "Like many in low-income communities during these times, some members of the APC comunity lack access to broadband and the necessary tools to participate in online courses," said APC Executive Director Doug Biggs. "We're really excited for Common's services, and our residents feel the same way." Resident Debra Young was among the first to receive the new service. "What they're doing for the kids is really great," shared Debra, "My granddaughter can communicate with her teachers now, and she'll be able to get through school to make it into the next grade." Fellow resident Lisa Alderson said "I'm very thankful. It's a lot better than trying to use the hotspots that were first provided by APC. With those, Zoom wouldn't work, but now with Common it does." Following Common's installations, APC youth will be able to access online instructions and not fall behind in their schooling. Teaching staff can connect with youth students remotely to track and assure school attendance, assist with assignments, and provide after school programming with regular services like therapy and life skill development activities. With consistent internet availability, residents can also more easily follow CDC guidelines to limit the potential spread of COVID-19. This increased connectivity will ensure APC families have access to basic resources that were once out of reach. Through this partnership, APC will pay Common a reduced rate for its services. Common is currently in the process of completing the installation of rooftop hardware in the 118 units in 50 buildings on the APC base to connect them to the internet wirelessly. All residents will have a connection by mid-May. To learn more about Common Networks, visit: https://www.common.net/ . To learn more about Alameda Point Collaborative, visit: https://apcollaborative.org/ . About Common Networks, Inc. Common Networks is a technology company providing first-of-its-kind wireless internet powered by local connections. Using groundbreaking proprietary innovations, Common delivers unparalleled speed at a reduced cost. Common is disrupting industry standards with complete transparency in pricing and customer service. In less than three years, Common's network has provided coverage to over 100,000 people in a fraction of the timeand at less than 1/50th of the price it would take to lay fiber optic internet for these communities. The company has raised more than $34 million in funding to date from notable partners, including General Catalyst, Eclipse Ventures, and Lux Capital. Based in San Francisco, Common was founded in 2016 by Grace Chen, Jessica Shalek, Zach Brock and Mark Jen to provide accessible, high-speed internet services for all. About Alameda Point Collaborative Alameda Point Collaborative (APC) is the largest supportive housing community in Alameda County. In 1999, APC transformed vacant military housing on the former Alameda Naval Air Station into a supportive housing community. APC now provides over 500 formerly homeless residents with the safety and stability of a place to call home. Coexisting with two partner non-profit agencies, over 500 residents have easy access to life and job skills training, substance abuse and mental health counseling provided by a team of highly skilled professionals. APC's mission is to break the vicious cycle of poverty and homelessness by providing unwavering support and resources to Alameda residents. Press Contact: Carly Sylvester for Common [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/common-networks-brings-discounted-internet-to-largest-low-income-housing-community-in-alameda-county-301061867.html SOURCE Common Networks [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Twenty people tested positive for COVID-19 in Assam, taking the total number of cases in the state to 135, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday. All the new patients were in different quarantine centres across districts, an official said. "Alert ~ Six new #COVID19 + cases confirmed - 2 each from Jorhat and Golaghat and 1 each from Kokrajhar and Nagaon. One Jorhat patient had returned from Chennai, while other came from Darjeeling. All are in quarantine," Sarma said in a tweet. Later in another tweet, he said, "Alert- 14 new #COVID + cases confirmed. 7 are from Kamrup , 2 from Hojai, 2 from Biswanath, 1 from Nagaon, 2 from Nalbari. Total cases now touch 135." The minister urged people to stay at home and follow the instructions to contain the coronavirus outbreak. The total number of active cases now stands at 88, while 41 people have recovered from the disease, he said, adding that four persons have died of COVID-19. Besides, two more have migrated to other states, the minister said. A total of 37,898 samples have been tested in seven laboratories in Assam and NIV in Pune, the Health and Family Welfare Department said in its daily bulletin on Monday night. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 61-year old man tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, taking the number of infections in Puducherry to nine, a senior official said. The resident of Mahe region (an enclave of Puducherry in Kerala) was admitted to the Government General hospital in Mahe for treatment of COVID-19, Director of Health and Family Welfare Services S Mohan Kumar told P T I. He said the man had returned from Dubai on May 17 and was admitted to a hospital in Kannur in neighbouring Kerala before being shifted to the government general hospital in Mahe today. With this the number of active COVID-19 cases in the Union Territory has risen to nine. Also, five people including a woman from neighbouring Tamil Nadu districts of Villupuram and Cuddalore are under treatment in the centrally administered JIPMER, Mohan Kumar said. Meanwhile, the opposition AIADMK accused the ruling Congress and its ally DMK, of hoodwinking people by adopting double standards on the issue of opening liquor shops in the union territory. AIADMK leader A Anbalagan said while the Congress and DMK were opposing resumption of liquor sales in neighbouring Tamil Nadu by organising demonstrations, the parties and their leaders were however, keeping mum on the Puducherry government's decision to reopen the outlets here. The territorial government had on Monday initially announced that liquor outlets would open today before postponing it to Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi government Tuesday allowed the opening of all liquor shops, except for those that are located in shopping malls and the airport. This came a day after the Delhi government scaled down restrictions in the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown that kicked in on May 18 and will continue till May 31. The shops shall remain open from 9.30am to 6.30pm, read the order. There are 864 liquor shops in Delhi, of which around 600 will reopen now. This is apart from the 100 that had opened for business on May 4. The rest are located in containment zones, which include the airport and shopping malls, and cannot reopen under the guidelines issued by the Union home ministry, a senior official in the excise department said. The 850-odd restaurants in the city, which have a bar, have also not been allowed to sell liquor yet, though, under the new guidelines, their kitchen is now open for takeaway and the home delivery of food, the official said. Of the 700 liquor shops that can reopen, around 400 are under government departments, such as tourism and industrial and infrastructure development while the remaining 300 are private enterprises. With the reopening of private vends, people will once again be able to avail of a much wider variety of Indian-manufactured foreign liquor, beer, wine, as well as imported liquor, after around two months of dry days, a government official said. While the government-run shops can start functioning from Wednesday after thorough sanitisation, the private ones have been given time till Friday to complete stock management formalities, sanitisation, arranging staff and social distancing measures, excise officials said. The private enterprises that can operate now also include general stores and department stores that have alcohol counters. But they will have to adhere to the timings and the odd-even rule for shops in case they are located in markets or commercial spaces, the senior excise official said. Of the 700 liquor shops that can reopen, around 200 are stand-alone shops (those not located in market clusters), which can open all days of the week. The remaining 500 are located in markets and, hence, they will have to follow the odd-even rule, which allows shops allocated odd and even numbers to open on alternate dates. In the last two weeks, there have been massive crowds and rampant violation of social distancing norms around the 100 or so liquor shops in Delhi that were open for business, often leading the police and district administration to crack down. Vinod Giri, director-general of the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies, welcomed the move calling it a win-win situation for stakeholders. He said, It will help stabilise the industry. It will help the government earn revenue. It will help customers buy liquor of their choice, which several of them have not been able to do in the past several days either due to the massive rush or inadequate stocks. Having more shops open would also help ensure better social distancing. The e-coupon system that was introduced by the Delhi government last week would continue. Under this system, individuals can apply online and avail of time slots to visit a designated liquor shop and purchase liquor without having to join a queue. The government, however, has done away with the proposal of the home delivery of liquor, for now, a senior government official said. Also, the special corona fee of 70% on the MRP of liquor would continue to apply. For an exciting new adventure in outdoor cooking, bring the region's vibrant grilling traditions to your own backyard Leela Punyaratabandhus memories of home are perfumed with smoke. The award-winning cookbook author grew up in Bangkok, Thailand, where she was surrounded daily by the aromas of food cooking over a live fireof charring meat and sizzling fat, tinged with fish sauce and lemongrass and the fragrant smoke of the smoldering coals below. One of her earliest memories is of her great-grandmothers smoked coconut cake, made in a traditional clay charcoal stove, the size of a 30-gallon steel drum, built in the late 1800s. Infused with jasmine and baked over a combination of local wood, coconut husks, dried corn husks, and sugar cane pulp, the cake had the most amazing fragrance my little nose had ever encountered, Punyaratabandhu writes in her third and latest cookbook, Flavors of the Southeast Asian Grill. She cites the cake as the genesis of the book, and of her career in food as a whole: Id like to think that maybe my curiosity about food began that day. In Southeast Asia, grilling and smoking over charcoal are simply part of everyday cooking, Punyaratabandhu said. If [you] cook, [you] grill. Traditional kitchens are typically outdoors, she explained, in large part due to the regions tropical, hot-year-round climate, and a charcoal stove is as essential in the kitchen as a gas stove or refrigerator. Her childhood home was equipped with multiple, she recalled: a bigger one for bigger cooking tasks, and smaller ones for smaller tasks, as simple as grilling a skewer of garlic cloves or shallots to mix into a sauce. So while here in the United States, grilling is largely a seasonal and celebratory affair, there is no such thing as grilling season in Southeast Asia, she said. Every day is grilling season. Its no surprise, then, that the regions grilling traditions are richly vibrant and varied, and have given rise to some of the most glorious creations of Southeast Asian cuisinesfrom peanut sauce-slathered satays to crackly-skinned roast suckling pigs. In her new book, Punyaratabandhu compiles a cast of her favorites. Flavors of the Southeast Asian Grill: Classic Recipes for Seafood and Meats Cooked Over Charcoal by Leela Punyaratabandhu (Ten Speed Press, $30). (Photo by David Loftus) Colorful Regional Traditions Inspired by her childhood memories and later extensive travels, the dishes come from the street carts and home kitchens across Southeast Asia, each tied to unique regional traditions. Theres a simple recipe for whole grilled fish from Myanmar, for instance, stuffed with fresh herbs like Thai basil and Vietnamese coriander, charred until crisp-skinned and smoky, and served with a spicy tamarind sauce for dipping. In Laos, meanwhile, a classic fish dish tucks delicate filets with slivered lemongrass, chiles, and herbs in banana leaves, before they meet the hot coals. Punyaratabandhus favorite charcoal-cooked dish is the iconic grilled chicken of Isan, the northeastern region of Thailand, marinated with lemongrass, fish sauce, and oyster sauce (I wouldnt mind having that as my last meal on earth, to be honest, she said). But just as exciting is the famous grilled chicken of Bacolod, on Negros Island in the Philippines, marinated in coconut vinegar and calamansi juice and basted with annatto-infused oil as it cooks. Or, the curry sauce-drizzled skewers of Thailands deep south, where influences of Muslim cooking are strong, fragrant with turmeric, coconut milk, and tamarind. Theres plenty of cross-cultural overlap, as theres a lot of shared heritage within Southeast Asia, Punyaratabandhu said. Before these borders were put into place, there were migrations, there were exchanges of cultures and ideas and languages and cuisines that happened. But in the sameness of it all, she added, there are distinct features that separate [the different cuisines], too. I find it very fascinating that in the midst of the sameness, we have differences that create a uniqueness between cultures. Take satay, a dish of seasoned, skewered, and grilled meat served with a sauce, ubiquitous from Bangkok to Bali. Its such a Southeast Asian thing, Punyaratabandhu said, but satay in Indonesia does not look anything like satay in Thailand, from the initial marinade down to the final presentation. In Indonesia, for instance, youd be likely to find chicken satayamong a huge array of other meats and offalserved with either a standard peanut sauce or one made with kecap manis, Indonesias sweet dark soy sauce, and cylindrical rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves. In Thailand, meanwhile, satay made with pork is by far the most popular choice, and is always served with a mild coconut-based peanut sauce and bites of thick-cut toastgo figure! People find that surprising: You people eat bread? Yeah! Punyaratabandhu said, laughing. The Best Barbecue Is From Your Own Backyard Unfortunately, these glorious grilling traditions are often overlooked in the West. There are relatively few Southeast Asian restaurants in America to begin with, and strict safety regulations make it very difficult to accommodate traditional live-fire cooking in a restaurant, Punyaratabandhu explained. When grilled dishes, like chicken satay, are translated to a griddle (and worseoften cooked hours in advance and reheated in a microwave), the results leave something to be desired. And so, Punyaratabandhu concludes, the best place to experience the grilled and smoked dishes of Southeast Asia stateside is not actually an Asian restaurantbut your own backyard. Luckily, in the U.S., there is a huge barbecue and grilling culture that is vibrant and very well established that supports this type of cooking already, she pointed out. After all, despite differences in typical equipment and fuels across cultures, the science of creating and controlling fire is universal. First of all, you dont need a traditional clay charcoal stove: If you have just a pellet grill or a kettle grill, all your grilling needs are pretty much met. And if youre a beginneras Punyaratabandhu initially found herself, learning to transition from traditional Thai clay grills to Western-style models when she moved to Chicagotheres a passionate community with a wealth of knowledge, ready to help. Im very grateful about being in the U.S. and grilling in the U.S., because of the barbecue culture that is so good at educating people about the technology and the science of grilling, she said. You can go on any message board or website that teaches you how to grill, how to control the heat, how to use this equipment. In choosing recipes for the book, Punyaratabandhu was careful to stick to dishes that could be practically replicated in a typical Western home, using easily accessible ingredients, gear, and fuel, while remaining faithful to tradition. The 60-something that made it in, ranging from grilled meats and seafood to salads, snacks, and even sweets, are all dishes she routinely prepares in her Chicago backyard. All thats to say: with a little courage and curiosity, youre fully capable of grilling up authentic, flavorful Southeast Asian dishes in your own backyard, too. Think of it as building on what you already knowwhich is a lotand turn it into an adventure, Punyaratabandhu encouraged. You already have your barbecue gear, you already know how to grill things, you know how to control the fire. Now, explore other flavors, outside of your smoked brisket or Texas barbecue ribs. Its an exploration of new flavors. RECIPE: Grilled Chicken and Spicy Carrot Salad With Sticky Rice and Sweet Chile Sauce RECIPE: Satay of Baby Back Ribs With Peanut Sauce RECIPE: Grilled Corn With Coconut Sauce An eight-year-old girl and her 35-year-old mother were killed in an apparent murder-suicide in Texas on Monday, officials said, but a 12-year-old boy managed to escape. Officers from the Dallas Police Department responded to a domestic violence call in the 500 block of Highcrest Drive in the early hours of Monday morning after a man dialed 911 to report hed just been involved in an argument with his wife. The man, who has not yet been named, told police that during the altercation his wife grabbed a gun and fired several shots at him before he managed to escape their home near Camp Wisdom Road. The cause of the argument wasn't specified. By the time police arrived at 12:30am, the woman had barricaded herself inside with her 8-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son. A SWAT team was eventually called at 1:54am, which tried to negotiate with the woman to release her children and surrender. Officers from the Dallas Police Department responded to a domestic violence call in the 500 block of Highcrest Drive in the early hours of Monday morning after a man dialed 911 to report hed just been involved in an argument with his wife By the time police arrived at 12:30am, the woman had barricaded herself inside with her 8-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son. A SWAT team was eventually called at 1:54am, which tried to negotiate with the woman to release her children and surrender The 12-year-old boy was eventually able to get away unharmed just before 3am, officials said, failing to specify whether the boy was released by his mother or escaped on his own. Sources told WFAA that the boy had tried to get his younger sibling to come with him but she didn't want to leave her mother and so she stayed behind. After several failed attempts to persuade the woman to surrender in an hours-long standoff, SWAT officers eventually entered the home at 6:30am and were fired upon by the suspect. Police said the woman fired several shots, one of which grazed an officer on the arm. SWAT officers did not return fire and retreated out of the residence, police said. Officers made another attempt to speak with the woman and heard two more rounds fired. Authorities entered the home again at around 9am to find the woman and the young girl dead in an apparent murder-suicide. The woman's name has not been released, though Sources told WFAA that she has a history of domestic violence and has been arrested a number of times. The 35-year-old reportedly never spoke directly to the SWAT team but told her husband, You know how this ends. Authorities entered the home again at around 9am to find the woman and the young girl dead in an apparent murder-suicide. Throughout my almost 23 years in law enforcement, these kinds of scenarios are the absolute worst, Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall told reporters at the scene Child Protective Services said there had been no history of child abuse allegations involving the two children. Throughout my almost 23 years in law enforcement, these kinds of scenarios are the absolute worst, Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall told reporters at the scene. Child Protective Investigations is working with police to review the girls death and determine placement for the boy, officials said. During her news conference, Chief Hall said her department has seen a sharp surge in domestic violence cases since the coronavirus pandemic began, adding that the city needs to do a better job of preventing these crimes. We are fighting a pandemic, she said. We are trying to stay alive, but then we kill each other. Its absurd And I want the community to be more outraged about that. We are going to work extremely hard to keep you safe, but you gotta help us, Hall continued. There is no community policing without the community. We need you. For an hour daily, two Delhi police constables have taken on the role of teachers, helping five children in a south Delhi pocket learn alphabets, rhymes and ways to protect themselves from the deadly COVID-19 in efforts to ensure their studies are not affected during the coronavirus-triggered lockdown. With schools closed during lockdown, head constable Tara Chand and constable Neelam have been taking classes for these children for an hour daily since April 10, the police said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Atul Kumar Thakur said from teaching them rhymes, alphabets, counting, colouring to identification of different parts of a human body, both the constables are teaching the children out of their own interest to ensure their studies are not affected. "It all began when officials of Greater Kailash police station got information that some distressed people were not getting food in the area. Immediately, food was provided to them and during monitoring, the staff then began 'Police ki Pathshala', for children residing in the area to engage them in studies during lockdown," he said. Constable Neelam said she along with her colleague head constable Tara Chand had gone to distribute food when they noticed these children and enquired about their studies from their parents. "We conveyed the matter to our senior officers who then guided and motivated us to teach these children during lockdown to ensure they stay engaged and do not miss out on their studies. The senior officers also provided boards, colouring books and other stationary materials for the children," she said. Two school going girls and three other boys are among the five children who are now students of "Police Ki Pathshala". While one of the girl is a student of class 1, another is a student of class 4 in a government school in Kailash Colony. The three other children in the age group of three to six years have never been to any school and it was their first learning experience, officials said. Constable Neelam said the students are not only taught subjects and basics but they are also being made aware about the coronavirus and how to protect themselves from the deadly virus. "After teaching them, we have developed a special bonding with these children. They are very enthusiastic and eagerly wait to attend classes. We also conduct tests for them. Recently, we gave them papers and told them to colour them to check if they were able to identify the colours," she said. They now know that coronavirus came from China and that red is a colour used to denote danger. They also know how they should sanitise themselves before rushing to their parents when they return from outside, she added. The children who reside near a construction plot in Block N of Greater Kailash are being taught at a vacant plot near their residence. Earlier, when they started the classes, there was no fixed time but now since it's summer, the classes are being conducted from 5 pm to 6 pm and the children attend classes wearing masks given to them while also adhering to social distancing, a senior police officer said. Besides, the parents and labourers living in nearby areas are also been sensitised about the necessary precautions to be taken in the wake of the pandemic. Initially, parents were not willing to allow police to teach their children but later, even they were taught numericals, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sharad Pawar, Hemant Soren, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Sitaram Yechury, Tejashwi Yadav are likely to attend the meeting. Sonia Gandhi calls meeting of opposition parties on May 22 to discuss coronavirus crisis, difficulties of migrant workers Congress President Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of opposition parties on May 22 on the coronavirus crisis and the large movement of migrant labourers to their native states, sources said. They said Gandhi will chair the meeting on May 22 via video conferencing which is expected to be held at 3 pm. The sources said that Congress has invited opposition parties and the focus of the meeting will be on coronavirus crisis with an emphasis on the tremendous difficulties faced by migrant labourers returning to their homes in different states. Sources said NCP chief Sharad Pawar, JMM leader Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, DMK leader MK Stalin, CPI-Ms Sitaram Yechury, RJDs Tejashwi Yadav are among leaders from 20 parties likely to take part in the meeting. Banerjee on Monday confirmed that she will participate in the meeting. For all the latest National News, download NewsX App Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 08:22:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland reported three new imported COVID-19 cases Monday, bringing the total number of imported cases to 1,707, the National Health Commission said Tuesday. The three cases were reported in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the commission said, adding that one new suspected case imported from abroad was reported in Shanghai. Of the total imported cases, 1,661 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 46 remained hospitalized with three in severe conditions, the commission said. No deaths had been reported from the imported cases. Enditem (Photo : REUTERS/Bruno Kelly) A view of the Parque Taruma cemetery during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Manaus, Brazil May 13, 2020. A member of one of the indigenous Amazon tribes in Ecuador was the first tribesperson in the world to be diagnosed with COVID-19, health officials announced. The infected person has been identified as a Waorani tribe's 17-year-old pregnant woman who started showing symptoms on May 4. She was taken to a hospital in Quito, Ecuador's capital, and placed in solitary confinement, a statement from the health ministry said. ALSO READ: Coronavirus Brazil Update: After Confirmed COVID-19 Case in Amazon Tribe, Rio's Christ the Redeemer Statue Lit Up Federal gov't working closely with IPs According to the Agence France-Presse, Ecuador's federal government worked with indigenous leaders to check 40 individuals the woman contacted in the Miwaguno community. "Seventeen citizens with a history of respiratory systems were found. To date, six of them have symptoms, so 20 rapid tests and seven nasopharyngeal swabs were performed," the health ministry said. The results of the tests and details regarding the girl's health have yet to be made public. According to the news agency, Waorani organizations had cautioned that COVID-19's effects on their populations could become "catastrophic and highly lethal" because of their susceptibility to disease. The city of Miwaguno has a population of approximately 140. The Waorani nation has around 2,000 members live within the modern Ecuadorian provinces of Orellana, Napo, and Pastaza - located in the far west Amazon region. Amazon Frontlines, a non-profit that works with indigenous peoples in Amazon, said the tribes historically lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers in small clan villages. COVID-19 hits more than 30 tribal communities in Brazil Meanwhile, in Brazil, the coronavirus pandemic has hit 38 indigenous communities, affecting a fearful population with a history of being affected by different diseases. A survey conducted by the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples' Association (APIB) recorded 446 coronavirus cases and 92 deaths among the communities - most of them located in the Brazilian Amazon. "The virus is reaching indigenous territories across Brazil with frightening speed," APIB said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera. As of Monday morning, May 18, data from Johns Hopkins Universit showed that Ecuador had more than 33,182 confirmed cases of coronavirus and at least 2,736 deaths from the virus. The port city of Guayaquil in Ecuador has been described as the center of one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Latin America between March and April. Cemeteries were running out of spaces. Reuters said that families were forced to store dead bodies of their relatives in their homes or on the streets. Attention is now directed at Quito in the region, which has 2.8 million residents under strict lockdown. "Quito's health system is reaching its limit," the city's mayor, Jorge Yunda, said on Friday, May 15, according to the news organization. The outbreak has increased in Brazil in recent weeks. More than 241,080 cases of coronavirus and at least 16,100 deaths from the virus have occurred in the country. In terms of the overall number of events, it's behind just the USA, Russia, and the United Kingdom. ALSO READ: NEW VIRUS! Scientists Find Virus in Brazil: Is This Worse Than Coronavirus? 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Two college students in Dalian, northeast Chinas Liaoning province, created a portrait of Zhong Nanshan, a respected respiratory expert in China, with petals of cherry blossom on May 17, WeChat account of China Youth Daily reported Monday. There was also a supportive message written in the portrait using cherry blossoms, reading, Go China! The caption has been frequently mentioned during Chinas fight against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and was used this time to express best wishes to the country, according to Chen Guanyu, one of the creators. The two students used the cherry blossom petals that were blown off the night before, encouraging many passersby to help pick up the petals after learning of their intentions. Zhong is an idol and role model for them, said the students, adding that medical workers are the most courageous soldiers in the countrys battle against the COVID-19. The two students created the special portrait inspired from a photograph of Zhong. They chose this specific photo because they see unswerving determination in his eyes, said Xie Jichao, the other creator. If they were to give a title to the artwork, it would be We are fine because you are here, said the students. Scientists are the real role models for young people, commented many Internet users after seeing a video of the cherry blossom portrait. [May 19, 2020] Kofax Customer Rabobank Innovates RPA Robot to Automate Government Relief on COVID-19 Related Loan Repayments Kofax, a leading supplier of Intelligent Automation software to digitally transform end-to-end business processes, today announces Netherlands-based Intelligent Automation customer, Rabobank, has just developed a number of innovative Robotic Processing Automation (RPA) robots to streamline COVID-19 related loan modifications. These robots have not only provided much needed financing to Rabobank customers in need, but just one of these has already saved the bank 50,000 hours, and Rabobank expects the total hours saved will be well over 100,000. "As the Dutch government provides much-needed loan relief to support struggling businesses dealing with significant turnover losses, the job falls on lending institutions like Rabobank to institutionalize the program and modify loan documents accordingly," says Eugenie Wouterse, Product Owner Robotics at Rabobank Lending. "This presented a massive challenge as ordinarily we would have had to do this manually. But in only five days we were able to build a Kofax RPA robot to automate the process and in only 10 days the robot processed the first activity. We believe this will help our customers by accelerating relief to struggling businesses - while at the same time saving us approximately 50,000 hours of manual work." COVID-19 and measures taken to restrict its spread in the Netherlands are significantly impacting businesses and resulting in financial loss. To help address this, the Dutch government has installed measures to help small businesses. Specifically, those who have loans with microcredit providers don't have to repay their loan for a period of six months. Additionally, during this period, the interest on those loans will be reduced to 2 percent. Rabobank Lending has hundreds of thousands of these loans; compliance with the new government measures would equire modifications to all of those outstanding loan documents - a massive project under any circumstances - and updates had to be completed as quickly as possible to deliver urgently needed loan relief. Immediately after the announcement from the Dutch government, Rabobank's Center of Excellence (CoE) for RPA started building a Kofax robot that would automatically update these many thousands of loan documents to reflect the modified payment terms. The CoE completed the build in five business days, and was able to finish processing all loans in a little over two weeks, enabling them to quickly comply with the new government measures and get relief out quickly to customers. The bank estimates it would have taken approximately 50,000 full time employee (FTE) hours of work to make these loan modifications without the Kofax robot. "This is one of many robots we've created since COVID-19. After three years of continuous optimization, refining our approach and working with our partner, Kofax, to expand the features of the tool, the Robotics Centre of Excellence is now able to deliver a steady stream of value in short timescales, and therefore play a crucial role in delivering important services to our clients, even in times of rapid change," says Steven van Uffelen, Head of the Robotics CoE of Rabobank. "We're now able to leverage our team of citizen developers and an extensive library of building blocks to deploy optimized and robust robots in one-two weeks in almost any part of the business." "We're all operating in uncharted territory during this pandemic. Kofax isn't unique in our desire to help our customers as they struggle to maintain operations during the crisis," says Dave Powell, Senior Vice President of EMEA at Kofax. "But we're unique in that our Intelligent Automation solutions, like Kofax RPA, have particular value and urgency today. Organizations like Rabobank must act quickly and with agility to face these new challenges, and we're thrilled our technology is empowering them to do so." About Rabobank Headquartered in The Netherlands, and operating across 39 countries, Rabobank is one of the 30 largest financial institutions in the world, and is a global leader in agribusiness financing and sustainability-oriented banking. A cooperative bank, it maintains a strong focus on customer connections and providing socially responsible financial services. Using the latest digital technologies is a crucial part to realise these goals. About Kofax Kofax software enables organizations to Work Like Tomorrow - today. Kofax's Intelligent Automation software platform helps organizations transform information-intensive business processes, reduce manual work and errors, minimize costs, and improve customer engagement. We combine RPA, cognitive capture, process orchestration, mobility and engagement, and analytics to ease implementations and deliver dramatic results that mitigate compliance risk and increase competitiveness, growth and profitability. Kofax provides a rapid return on investment for over 25,000 customers in financial services, insurance, government, healthcare, supply chain, business process outsourcing and other markets. Kofax delivers its award-winning software and solutions through its direct sales and services organization and more than 850 indirect channel partners and integrators in more than 75 countries throughout the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit kofax.com. 2020 Kofax, Inc. Kofax is a registered trademark of Kofax Limited. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005218/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] WALLINGFORD Zandris Stillwood Inn has ended a nearly 41-year run as a catering hall. Owner Jim Zandri still will operate an off-site catering business from the rear of his South Colony Road building, but hes in the process of converting the 6,500 square feet at the front of the building into a climate-controlled storage facility. Weve had some storage sheds out back for a while, Zandri said. Stillwood Inn held its first banquet in November 1979, he said, though Zandris Catering predates the opening of the facility by several decades. The family got its start in catering as a spinoff of a grocery store they operated that closed in the mid-1960s after about 25 years in business, Zandri said. For years, Stillwood Inn played host to a variety of events, but it perhaps was best known as the home of one of Connecticuts two venues to hold fundraisers for the Muscular Dystrophy Association Labor Day telethon, a tradition Zandri started in 1996. Zandri decided at the end of last year that he would hold one final season of catering before closing down the banquet hall at the end of June this year. But the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in Connecticut brought an early end, with the last event held March 15. I had a lot of bookings that were lost, Zandri said. His latest plans call for the new storage facility to open sometime within the next two months. luther.turmelle@hearstmediact.com SHANGHAI and WORCESTER, Mass., May 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WuXi Biologics ("WuXi Bio") (2269.HK), a global company with leading open-access biologics technology platforms, and the Worcester Business Development Corporation (WBDC) announced today the successful signing of a land deal for WuXi Biologics' clinical and commercial manufacturing facility (MFG11) in Worcester at The Reactory, a 46-acre master-planned biomanufacturing campus. The approximately 107,000-square-foot, two-story facility will be operational in 2022 and create 150 new jobs. "As the central Massachusetts biotech community continues its growth, WuXi Biologics' arrival in Worcester will strengthen the sector and lead to ongoing economic development," said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. "Years of planning and collaboration to transform an unused property into a biomanufacturing hub has led to this exciting announcement today and I appreciate the commitment of so many to making this a reality." "This signing solidifies our city's proud role as an anchor in the state's biotech corridor," said Worcester City Manager Edward M. Augustus, Jr. "It signals not only what we currently have to offer in the life sciences sector, but also how much potential we have for the future." Craig Blais, the president and CEO of the WBDC, stated, "WuXi Biologics' decision to locate its first US biomanufacturing facility in Worcester at The Reactory confirms the value of Worcester's strong life sciences ecosystem. We expect other biotech manufacturers will soon follow their lead." "We are proud to join the Worcester community and greater region as a tenant of The Reactory, and I thank the city of Worcester for its collaboration," said Dr. Chris Chen, CEO of WuXi Biologics. "Drawing from the talented workforce and impressive biotech network in Massachusetts, we stand ready and able to help our global partners advance their innovative and life-saving ideas. Together, I am confident that we have much to contribute to the biologics industry and patients worldwide." In March, recognizing the urgent need for personal protective equipment (PPE), WuXi Biologics sourced and donated masks to local healthcare providers to support frontline medical personnel fighting the coronavirus. About WuXi Biologics WuXi Biologics (stock code: 2269.HK), a Hong Kong-listed company, is a leading global open-access biologics technology platform offering end-to-end solutions to empower organizations to discover, develop and manufacture biologics from concept to commercial manufacturing. Our company history and achievements demonstrate our commitment to providing a truly ONE-stop service offering and strong value proposition to our global clients. As of December 31, 2019, there were a total of 250 integrated projects, including 121 projects in pre-clinical development stage, 112 projects in early-phase (phase I and II) clinical development, 16 projects in late-phase (phase III) development and one project in commercial manufacturing. With total estimated capacity for biopharmaceutical production planned in China, Ireland, the U.S., Germany and Singapore exceeding 280,000 liters by 2022, we will provide our biomanufacturing partners with a robust and premier-quality global supply chain network. For more information on WuXi Biologics, please visit www.wuxibiologics.com SOURCE WuXi Biologics Related Links http://www.wuxibiologics.com Cyclone Amphan is expected to strike Bengal on 20th May as an extremely severe cyclonic storm at the time when fourth phase of lockdown is in placed because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has augmented challenges for the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The state governments in Odisha and Bengal have been asked to cease all road and rail traffic and fishermen have been urged to stay away from coasts. Here are few facts about cyclone Amphan: * Cyclone Amphan is the equivalent to Category-5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, as per NASA. The NASAs Aqua satellite passed over the Indian Ocean on Monday and cumulated water vapor data that displayed the intensity of the cyclone. * NASA utilized the images to gather data about the temperature of the cloud top, which is the highest altitude of the visible portion of the cloud. "Coldest cloud top temperatures were as cold as or colder than minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 56.6 degrees Celsius) in those storms. Storms with cloud top temperatures that cold have the ability to produce heavy rainfall," NASA said in a blog. * The storm was formed over south-east Bay of Bengal on 16th May. "It was designated Tropical Cyclone 01B. Overnight, it quickly strengthened to hurricane force," NASA said. * This is the second pre-monsoon cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal in the last two years. Odisha, which was praised for its handling of pre-monsoon storm - Cyclone Fani - last year. * Cyclone Amphan is expected to hit Bengal tomorrow (20th May) with maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 km per hour, gusting to 185 km per hour. It is likely to make a landfall as a strong storm equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane. * The storm is expected to bring strong winds, storm surge and flooding to coastal areas of West Bengal in India and Bangladesh. The Indian space agency has warned of a storm surge of about 4-5 meters above astronomical tide that is likely to flood low-lying areas of West Bengal during landfall. * Massive destruction is expected since the coastal areas that will be struck are densely populated. The IMD anticipates extensive damage to houses and potential threat from flying objects. Rail and road traffic will also be disrupted. * "Amphan", rightly pronounced as "Um-pun", means sky. The name was given by Thailand in 2004. According to the Press Information Bureau, the next few cyclones will be named Nisarga (suggested by Bangladesh), Gati (India), Nivar (Iran), Burevi (Maldives), Tauktae (Myanmar) and Yaas (Oman). * Doppler Weather Radar at Vishakhapatnam has been constantly tracking the storm. * Light to moderate rainfall has been predicted in Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya, which may also be impacted by the storm. -Also Read: Cyclone Amphan: 37 teams deployed in Odisha, West Bengal, says NDRF DG Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 07:33:42|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close People dine at a restaurant in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, May 18, 2020. Given the growing number of recoveries, Azerbaijani government has eased the lockdown earlier this month, allowing the reopening of some businesses and lifting some restrictions, meanwhile putting in place warnings and measures for people to observe social distancing. (Photo by Tofik Babayev/Xinhua) (Newser) The Illinois Supreme Court officially disbarred former Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Monday, two months after a state panel recommended that the disgraced politician lose his law license. The court's decision was hardly a surprise, and Blagojevich, whose license was suspended indefinitely after his 2008 arrest, did not fight to regain it. He didn't attend a March hearing about the matter before the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, the AP reports, and he suggested afterward that he had no intention of practicing law again. "Imagine yourself sitting on a plane and then the pilot announces before takeoff that he hasnt flown in 25 years," Blagojevich said. "Wouldn't you want to get off that plane? I dont want to hurt anybody." story continues below During that hearing, which came days after President Trump commuted his 14-year sentence, the commission panel heard evidence that led to Blagojevich's convictions for a host of felony charges, including that he tried to sell an appointment to the US Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama and that he tried to shake down a children's hospital CEO and racetrack owner. Since his release from prison, the 63-year-old Blagojevich has earned money from a website where customers pay for personalized video tributes from celebrities. And earlier this month, he signed on to host a podcast put out by WLS-AM radio in Chicago called "The Lightning Rod." Blagojevich said in announcing the show that he was "fired up" to speak his mind and share what he's "learned from the school of hard knocks." (Read more Rod Blagojevich stories.) Russian President Vladimir Putin made a phone call to President Ilham Aliyev on May 18, Azerbaijani presidential press-service reported. During the conversation, the presidents highlighted the work done in combating the coronavirus pandemic and exchanged views on measures taken in this regard at the border checkpoints between the two countries on the conditions of mutual coordination. Emphasizing the successful development of strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Russia in all areas, the presidents also discussed prospects for developing bilateral cooperation in the post-pandemic period. Three weeks after it resumed limited Masses, a Catholic church in Houston has again shuttered its doors after five leaders tested positive for COVID-19. The closure of Holy Ghost Catholic Church on Chetwood Drive comes five days after the death of one of its leaders, Rev. Donnell Kirchner, who church leaders said last week may have contracted the virus and exposed others to it before his death on May 13. On Monday, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said that over the weekend five people tested positive. All were members of a religious community connected to the church,and are asymptomatic, the archdiocese said. The archdiocese also provided more details on Kirchners death, the cause of which is still unknown. According to the archdiocese, Kirchner, 79, was recently diagnosed with pneumonia while at an urgent care clinic. Kirchner was not hospitalized and later returned to the home he shared with seven other members of the Redemptorists religious order. The archdiocese said its unclear if prior to returning home he was tested for coronavirus. In a separate statement, Holy Ghost officials said that two of the people who tested positive are priests who have been active in Masses since they resumed on a limited basis as part of Gov. Greg Abbotts plan to gradually reopen sectors of the Texas economy. The plan allowed houses of worship to hold services at 25-percent capacity and with social distancing, though most opted to keep their doors closed despite Abbotts order. The archdiocese meanwhile allowed parishes to resume limited Masses and for priests to deliver communion by hand, and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo also asked that areas for private prayer be reopened for a few hours each weekday. DiNardos decision marked a divergence from what other Texas dioceses had said theyd do to combat the virus spread. It also drew the ire of public health experts, some of whom said there were still substantial risks to congregating even if people practiced social distancing and wore marks. Health experts have also said that rushing to reopen certain businesses and services could cause an uptick in COVID-19 cases that would not be evident until a few weeks later. robert.downen@chron.com Residents of Bengaluru who recently returned to the state and have been compulsorily quarantined at one of the city hotels have raised allegations of being approached by individuals to make payments to evade the 14-day quarantine. Many of those staying at Diva Residency Hotel in central Bengaluru said they are unsure if this has been done in connivance with officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) or hotel staff. The hotel management, however, would have to report a missing quarantined person if such an incident happens. The quarantined inmates said after spending three nights at the hotel, many began to get restless as no BBMP official or medical staff came to conduct any test or provide further guidelines. When an official was asked for a timeline, he simply told them he could get them out of the hotels for a price. An audio recording of the conversation was accessed by News18 in which a person is heard asking a passenger to pay Rs 27,000 that would make up for the room charges i.e. Rs 18,200 for 14 days plus an additional Rs 4,200 x 2 (for a couple) as doctors fees. The official (who according to the inmates goes by the name of D Krishna Gowda) assured them of helping them leave the place without any hassle. He said they would have to come back on the 12th day to get tested. The doctor further said if they had high temperature when tested, they would be quarantined at the hotel for another 14 days. Reacting to allegations of bribes being sought for getting people out of quarantine, BBMP Special Commissioner (Projects and Health) Ravikumar Surpur said if the complaints were verified, strict action would be taken against those found guilty. "This is a very serious complaint. If that person can be named, I'll make sure he is suspended from his service. It is government policy -- nobody has the liberty to take a decision to send people back home. All these people who are quarantined get documented. Without a valid approval, nobody can send these people back home," said Surpur. The inmates had other complaints as well. Many of them had opted for a low-cost accommodation at Rs 750 per night as they have to pay for it. However, while being taken to their destination in a bus, they were informed there were no low-cost rooms and were being brought to this hotel. An inmate, who identified himself as Ashish, said, "On reaching the hotel, people were asked to pay different amounts. Some of us paid Rs 1,200, others Rs 1,500, while couples were asked to pay over Rs 2,000." We were told we would be tested, but no medical official came to visit us in the first three days. Today, a few medical staff came and only screened us. They even said that they would not be testing asymptomatic persons. Then what are we doing here? he asked. Anand and his wife, who reached Bengaluru from Nagpur in Maharashtra in a Rajdhani Express on May 16, were told they would not have to stay in the hotel for all the 14 days and would be allowed to leave if their samples test negative. "This is a money-making racket. For everything we ask, right from water, tea or detergent, we have to pay double the amount -- Rs 30 for a bottle of water, Rs 20 for a cup of tea. First they said there was no AC in the rooms. Later, they said we would have to pay an extra Rs 400 if we want ACs, said Anand who works as a digital marketing analyst in Bengaluru. Inadequate Facilities Those staying in quarantine at Manpho Bell Hotel near Majestic are faced with a worse situation. Despite paying for the compulsory quarantine, many of them complained about sub-standard quality if food, no change of linen in over five days and bad wifi connections. Siva Reddy, a 27-year-old techie, came from Secunderabad on May 14. He was only informed about the mandatory institutional quarantine at the railway station. Following some arguments over the matter, Reddy had agreed to stay in the hotel after being convinced by Railway Inspector General of Police D Roopa. Reddy was told a test would be done within two to three days. However, even after six days, no official has visited the hotel. The hotels have also accommodated senior citizens, pregnant women and children below the age of 10. All these individuals have been officially exempted from undergoing institutional quarantine. "Three days ago, they took swab tests of a few people belonging to the exempted category. Since then, they have not got back to us. We have no idea if anyone from there has tested positive or not. One of the inmates at the hotel had fever. The hotel manager gave him a paracetemol. We are now scared here," Reddy told News18. According to BBMP officials, there is no fixed rule of when the test must be conducted. Surpur said conducting a test too early could prove to be a false negative. "For inter-state travellers, coronavirus can be detected ideally if tested between the seventh and tenth day after their arrival in order to avoid a false negative. However, they (inmates) are under the misconception that they will be tested immediately and if found negative they can leave. That is the case only if they fall under the exempted category," he said. With several complaints coming in, the civic body has set up an inspection squad to make the rounds of quarantine centres and hear out the inmates grievances. "Hotels can charge only what the BBMP has prescribed -- in terms of taxation, food arrangements and so on. If anyone is charging beyond, action will be taken," said Surpur. Amid spike in ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the Line of Control and anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir, Western Army Commander Lieutanant General RP Singh, along with GOC, Rising Star Corps Lieteanant General Upendra Dwivedi, on Tuesday visited the Tiger Division and forward areas along the Indo-Pak international border to review the current security situation and operational readiness of the troops. He was briefed by Major General VB Nair, GOC, Tiger Division on the operational preparedness, upgradation of security infrastructure and measures to combat situation arising from coronavirus pandemic. He also visited the Isolation Facility at Army Public School Damana created for the Covid-19 patients and appreciated the efforts of Covid warriors. He interacted with troops and commended their efforts for taking adequate safety measures against the Covid-19 pandemic and also maintaining high level of operational preparedness. Army Commander was also briefed by Brig YK Ahuja, CE (P) Sampark, on progress of roads and bridges being constructed and maintained by Project Sampark in area of responsibility of Western Command. He appreciated the progress and quality of works executed by Project Sampark and also awarded GOC-in-Cs commendation to OEM Arjun Singh of Project Sampark for his devotion in construction of roads and bridges in the border areas. Farmers on the Chongsan-ri cooperative farm start planting rice for this year on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, in Nampho, North Korea. AP Around 183 million people in 47 countries, including North Korea, are facing the possibility of severe food insecurity as border closures and disruptions in global supply chains have restricted their access to farming products, a U.N. food agency said. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also estimated in the report that around US$350 million will be needed this year to provide necessary assistance to those countries facing a looming crisis. "While the COVID-19 pandemic is devastating lives, public health systems, livelihoods and economies across the world, populations living in food crisis contexts and those whose resilience has been eroded by previous crises are particularly exposed to its effects," the report said. "Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic is already directly affecting food systems through impacts on food supply and demand, and indirectly through decreases in purchasing power, the capacity to produce and distribute food, and the intensification of care tasks, all of which will have differentiated impacts and will more strongly affect the poor and vulnerable," it added. The report noted, "There is a serious risk that people will experience famine conditions if needs are not met," saying that around $350 million will be needed "to ensure the provision of critical assistance where there are already high levels of need." It, however, did not provide details on situations in North Korea, such as how many people are facing food shortage problems. In March, the FAO designated North Korea as a country facing a food shortage, while the World Meteorological Organization, another U.N. agency, also projected that around 10 million people in the country with a population of 25 million will require urgent food assistance. North Korea is believed to be suffering from chronic food shortage problems caused by unfavorable weather and global sanctions, restricting its access to fertilizer and other key farming materials. It has recently ramped up calls for "food self-reliance" as the rice transplanting season has started in full swing. (Yonhap) ABC NewsBy JACK DATE and JORDYN PHELPS, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- Attorney General William Barr said Monday he does not expect that the review of the origins of the Russia probe, being conducted by U.S. Attorney John Durham, will lead to a criminal investigation of either former President Barack Obama or former Vice President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump told reporters later Monday he was "surprised." I think Obama and Biden knew about it. They were participants, but, so I'm a little surprised by that statement, Trump told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, saying he would need to take a closer look at Barrs remarks, which he said he just recently learned about. Asked if he will be disappointed if there is no criminal investigation into his political rivals, the president wouldnt say, but said he has no doubt of their involvement in the origins of the Russia probe. I dont know about being disappointed or not, Trump said. But I have no doubt that they were involved in this hoax. One of the worst things ever to befall this country, in terms of political scandal. I have absolutely no doubt that Obama and Biden were involved and, as to whether or not it was criminal, I would think it would be very serious. Very, very serious. It was a takedown of a president, regardless of me -- It happened to be me. And in my opinion, it was an illegal takedown. Trump called the move a "double standard." If it was me, I guarantee that theyd be going after me. In his case, theyre not so -- I think it's just a continuation of a double standard. I'm surprised by it, Trump said. Even as the president leveled serious accusations without evidence that his predecessor was involved in illegal activity to take down his presidency, he said he will stay out of the matter and leave it to his honorable attorney general." I've decided to stay out of it, Trump said. I will say this: we have an honorable attorney general. He's going to do an honorable job. He's a very honorable man and he's going to do a very honorable job. Barr's comment came at an earlier "virtual news conference" from the Justice Department. As to President Obama and Vice President Biden, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don't expect Mister Durham's work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man, Barr said. Barr said there have been increasing attempts to use the criminal justice system as a political weapon, and that what happened to Trump was abhorrent and grave injustice as law enforcement was used to advance what he called a false and utterly baseless Russia collusion narrative. The proper investigative and prosecutorial standards of the Department of Justice were abused, in my view, in order to reach a particular result, Barr said. But Barr emphasized that abuses of power were not necessarily a criminal offense. He pledged that the criminal justice system will not be used for partisan political ends. Trump has been promoting the idea that Obama and Biden committed crimes. Without presenting any evidence, Trump claimed in a Fox Business News interview, this was all Obama, this was all Biden. These people were corrupt, the whole thing was corrupt, and we caught them. At a May 11 press conference, Trump was asked about tweets that appeared to accuse Obama of the greatest political crime in history. Trump responded by using the term Obamagate, saying that it had been going on for a long time, but was unable to explain what crime he was alleging had been committed. Last weeks declassification of the list of Obama administration and career government officials that requested the unmasking of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn stoked Republican claims that Biden was involved in an abuse of power. Bidens name appeared on the list as the last of 48 requests by 16 people for the unmasking that would have revealed Flynns name to those officials. According to a National Security Agency memo accompanying the declassified list, the unmasking was authorized and occurred through the NSAs standard process, which includes a review of the justification for the request. A leak of Flynns unmasked name would potentially be illegal and it's unclear whether the Justice Department has identified or will charge anyone for such a disclosure. As Durham continues his review, Barr said that some aspects of the matter are being investigated as potential crimes. He was not more specific, but suggested the focus has been on the actions of current and former FBI officials and Barr has been reviewing the involvement of U.S. intelligence agencies in the origins of the Russia probe. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News N Augusta Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - Covestro AG (CVVTF.PK, COVTY.PK) said its Board of Management has decided to propose a dividend of 1.20 euros per share for 2019. The Board had previously proposed a dividend of 2.40 euros per share to the Annual General Meeting. The company said its Board of Management currently focuses on securing the liquidity and credit rating. The company previously announced that, as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, the Board of Management expects significantly lower earnings in fiscal 2020. The company's Annual General Meeting is scheduled to take place as a virtual event on July 30, 2020. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Senior actor, Ashiesh Roy, who was seen in popular shows, Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi, Sasural Simar Ka, Mere Angne Mein and others, is in a serious condition. Apparently, the 55-year-old actor was rushed to the hospital after suffering a paralysis attack. Later, the actor took to Facebook to share the news of his hospitalisation with his fans and even asked for financial assistance from his well-wishers. Ashiesh Roy ICU , | FilmiBeat The actor wrote on his Facebook page that he is very ill and is admitted to the ICU. In the next post, he asked for financial aid from his friends. Ashiesh wrote, "Am in the icu...very ill.dialysis," and "Need urr diagent moneyfor dialysis." (sic). As soon as he shared the news, his fans and friends from the industry flooded the comments section with messages and wishes. Many of them even wished him a speedy recovery. Ashiesh's Sasural Simar Ka co-actress, Jyotsna Chandola, and writer-producer Vinta Nanda showed their concern and expressed their desire to help him. It has to be recalled that Ashiesh suffered a blood clot in his brain and had undergone an operation for the same in 2018. In January 2019, the actor was hospitalised as he suffered from a paralysis attack. During that time as well, his friends and colleagues from the TV industry had helped him. Also Read: Hamari Bahu Silk Payment Row: Kriti Sanon Supports The Cast & Crew; Asks CINTAA To Help [May 19, 2020] FDA Approves Two Emergency INDs to Administer Organicell Flow for COVID-19 MIAMI, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Organicell Regenerative Medicine, Inc. (OTCBB:BPSR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of regenerative therapies, announced today that on May 11, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized two Emergency Compassionate Use Investigational New Drug applications (eINDs), each for a single patient severely ill from COVID-19. These critical patients have received immediate administration of Organicell Flow. Organicell is collaborating with physicians at Landmark Hospital, a network of six hospitals located throughout the Southeast United States, to treat these patients for advanced complications associated with COVID-19. These patients were first treated with Organicell Flow on May 14, 2020 at Landmark Hospital in Athens, GA. These two patients who did not meet our Phase I/II inclusion criteria from our previously approved IND will now have the opportunity to get immediate treatment with Organicell Flow under the FDAs approved eIND, said Dr. Mari Mitrani, Chief Science Officer at Organicell. We look forward to working with our partners at Landmark Hospital to try to help these critically ill patients. On May 5, 2020, Organicell previously announced plans to begin the first randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase I/II multi-center clinical trial of Organicell Flow, investigating the safety and potential efficacy of amniotic fluid sourced components for COVID-19. It is expected that this trial will begin enrollment later in the month. Find the listing of the Organicell Flow clinical trial here: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04384445?term=Organicell&draw=2&rank=1 Im extremely proud of what the Organicell team has accomplished since we first started working on this virus in January. We are excited to now be in a position to help patients that are suffering from this horrible disease, said Albert Mitrani, Chief Executive Officer at Organicell. About Organicell Regenerative Medicine, Inc.: Organicell Regenerative Medicine, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that harnesses the power of exosomes to develop innovative biological therapeutics for the treatment of degenerative diseases. The companys proprietary products are derived from perinatal sources and manufactured to retain the naturally occurring exosomes, hyaluronic acid, and proteins without the addition or combination of any other substance or diluent. Based in South Florida, the company was founded in 2008 by Albert Mitrani, Chief Executive Officer and Dr. Mari Mitrani, Chief Scientific Officer. To learn more, please visit https://organicell.com/. Forward-Looking Statements Certain of the statements contained in this press release should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as will, believes, expects, potential or similar expressions, involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. We remind you that actual results could vary dramatically as a result of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: potential issues related to our financial condition, competition, the ability to retain key personnel, product safety, efficacy and acceptance, the commercial success of any new products or technologies, success of clinical programs, ability to retain key customers, our inability to expand sales and distribution channels, legislation or regulations affecting our operations including product pricing, reimbursement or access, the ability to protect our patents and other intellectual property both domestically and internationally and other known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including the risk factors discussed in the Company's periodic reports that are filed with the SEC and available on the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov). You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these risk factors. Specific information included in this press release may change over time and may or may not be accurate after the date of the release. Organicell has no intention and specifically disclaims any duty to update the information in this press release. Media Contact: RooneyPartners Marion Janic 646-537-5649 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] External Article 19 May 2020 The US state of Georgia allowed restaurants to reopen on April 27. The three owned by Ryan Pernice are still shuttered. The entrepreneur hasn't opened his restaurants, Table & Main, Osteria Mattone and Coalition Food & Beverage, since March 16. Pernice is worried about the health of his employees and customers, but there's another reason the restaurants are still shut down: They can't make a profit with social distancing rules in place."If you talk to restaurants across the globe, the language might change, but the math is the same," Pernice told CNN Business. "Restaurants and bars need volume and traffic to make them work."Pernice has been forced to lay off or furlough 80 of his 120 staff. Around the world, millions more restaurant and bar workers have lost their jobs as countries impose strict lockdowns designed to contain the pandemic. Some of those restrictions are now being eased, but restaurants and bars are not being prioritized for reopening because they are viewed as venues where the virus might spread. After an overseas trip, several tests and two weeks of installation, Production Press soon will have a fully digital production house. Production Press is about a week into the process of installing a Heidelberg five-color printer that will advance the companys technology and allow for a more seamless production process. Joe Racey said the new press will replace two previous presses, one of which already has been removed. This printing press will be almost double the efficiency of both of the presses, Racey said. This is the Cadillac of printing presses. The new printer will allow designers to send their products directly to the printer and have the product completed on one line, instead of multiple pieces needing to be used to provide printing and coating. Itll improve quality, Racey said. Its all about efficiency and quality and making sure we meet our customers needs. While the previous press could print roughly 7,000 sheets an hour, the new press more than doubles that and should be able to produce about 15,000. The two previous printers were not fully digitized. Racey, who bought the company 31 years ago, knew it was time to fully transition to digital to remain competitive in the region, he said. Shipped from Germany, the 60-ton printer was assembled in South Carolina for testing, then disassembled again to be moved to Jacksonville; the press is expected to be operational by the second week of June. Prior to its installation, the company had to perform several electrical and structural upgrades to its warehouse to support the weight and length of the press. We had to make a 40-foot-long, 11-feet-wide, 18-inch re-enforced concrete platform, Racey said. It has to be very precise and that is why it takes so long to install. Once the press is fully operational and has been tested, the company will remove the former press and reorganize its building for more efficiency, Racey said. The Heidelberg press isnt the only new equipment the company has purchased recently. Production Press has been updating all of its equipment and recently purchased a brand new folder, Racey said. Theyre also giving the company a facelift. Workers have been busy throughout the building, reorganizing, painting and landscaping to keep them at work during the pandemic, Racey said. We just want to make sure we are repositioning for the future, Racey said. In order to ensure that the people are strictly abiding by the lockdown rules in the state, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Monday revealed that 10 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) companies have been deployed in various cities of Maharashtra to help maintain law and order during the lockdown. These CAPF teams sent by the central government have been deployed in Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Malegaon and Amravati. Last week, the Maharashtra government had requested 20 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) from the Centre to help maintain law and order in the state. Read: Maharashtra: 3 COVID-19 Cases Detected In Green Zone District Of Gadchiroli "We had demanded the central government for deployment of 20 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) companies in the state. Till now 10 companies have been deployed which include - 5 Rapid Action Force (RAF) companies, 3 Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) companies, and 2 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) companies," Deshmukh told reporters. "They have been sent to Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Malegaon and Amravati," he added. "The corona pandemic and resultant lockdown have seen the police force stretched as they work in extremely challenging conditions for long hours both day and night. Eid is also around the corner. We do not want the police to be any more overburdened than they are," Home Minister Deshmukh added. Read: 2,033 New COVID-19 Cases & 51 Deaths Reported In Maharashtra; Total Tally At 35,058 Coronavirus in Maharashtra With 2,033 new coronavirus cases reported in Maharashtra on Monday, May 18, the States COVID-19 tally surged to 35,058. There are 25,392 active cases in the state. After 749 patients were discharged in the day, the number of recovered soared to 8,437.A total of 2,82,194 laboratory samples have been tested in the state so far. The Public Health Department of the Maharashtra government mentioned that Ahmednagar, Beed, Jalgaon, Parbhani, Nanded, and Sangli had been included among the districts where the ICMR shall conduct a community-based serosurvey. There are 1,681 active containment zones in Maharashtra currently. Read: Maharashtra: Forest Dept Officials Rescue 5 Nilgais Out Of Ditch, Earn Respect On Internet Read: Maharashtra Opposes Plea For Adopting Kerala Model To Fight COVID-19 (With Agency Inputs) Airbus has announced the inauguration of its new Final Assembly Line hangar in Mobile and provided an early look at the first A220 jetliner to be built within it. Airbus said Tuesday morning that the 270,000-square-foot hangar is officially open for business after an 18-month construction project. The FAL is where Airbus will assemble A220s, a new model that is smaller than the A320 jets it has assembled in Mobile for several years. With the completion of the new hangar, the Airbus production site in Alabama has now officially doubled in size, the company said. Airbus actually began work in its first Alabama-built A220 last summer, using a mix of existing and new facilities. That jet is due to be delivered to Delta late this year. The fuselage and wings moving through the five primary assembly stations in the new building will go to the facilitys second customer, JetBlue. Airbus has announced that as of May 19, 2020, its Final Assembly Line hangar for A220 jetliners in Mobile is "open for business." The FAL is the long building in the foreground, with the older FAL for A320 jetliners behind it. The team is excited to start working in their new facility and to welcome a new customer. Its a strong endorsement from JetBlue in this challenging time, Paul Gaskell, president of A220 USA and Head of A220 Program in Mobile, said in a statement released by Airbus. The expansion of our commercial aircraft production in Mobile to a second product line further solidifies Airbus standing as a truly global aircraft manufacturer, and confirms that Airbus is an important part of the American manufacturing landscape. This A220 assembly line will help satisfy the U.S. demand for the A220 aircraft. Tuesdays upbeat announcement did not address the turmoil that the global COVID-19 epidemic has created for the aerospace industry, and a spokeswoman said the company was evaluating the overall impact of the current situation on production plans in Mobile. In the short term, the process of delivering new planes to commercial airlines has slowed as those airlines have faced a massive drop in traffic. One very visible sign of this industry-wide slowdown is a row of 25 American Airlines Boeing 777s parked along a runway at Mobiles Brookley aerospace complex, across the road from the Airbus site. Many industry observers expect it will take two or three years for air traffic, and the industries that support it, to return to pre-pandemic levels. In early May, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said the virus had driven the aerospace industry into gravest crisis. However, Airbus entered the pandemic with a backlog of more than 6,000 orders for A320 aircraft. Even if a substantial portion of those were to be canceled, years of work would remain. And Airbus has said the Mobile site remains a strategic part of Airbus global production network. By comparison with the established A320, the A220 is a new model with far fewer orders on the books. As of April 30, 113 of the jets, all built in Canada, were in service, and a backlog of 529 orders was on the books. Some recent developments may have helped its fortunes, however, such as the collapse of a planned partnership between Boeing and Brazil-based Embraer, which could mean the A220 will face less competition in its market segment. However, it remains to be seen whether the drop in air traffic will make the smaller, more efficient A220s more attractive to airlines, or whether the shortage of cash will make them leery of adding a new jet to their fleets. Prior to the pandemic, the Mobile facility was producing A320 jets at a rate of six per month. Projections call for the new A220 Final Assembly Line to be producing four jets per month by the middle of the decade. According to Airbus, Delta has ordered 45 A220-100s and 50 of the larger A220-300s. JetBlue has ordered 70 A220-300s. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Vienna Tue, May 19, 2020 16:07 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd90be40 2 Art & Culture Vienna,Philharmonic-Orchestra,orchestra,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free Vienna's prestigious Philharmonic Orchestra said Monday that a study into how far musicians' breath travels when playing instruments showed they faced no added risk of transmitting the novel coronavirus when performing. The orchestra's musicians took part in an experiment involving devices being inserted into their noses which made a fine mist visible when they breathed. The experiment established that "we should not expect air exhaled by an artist to reach more than 80 centimetres' distance," according to a statement from the orchestra sent to AFP on Monday. This maximum distance of breath droplets was emitted by flute players while for the string section there was no observable change in how far the breath traveled between playing or being at rest. The study concluded that there was no increased risk for musicians playing together in an orchestra as long as they observed at least a metre's distance from each other. Read also: Japan telework orchestra strikes a chord in coronavirus gloom Since mid-April Austria has been loosening its coronavirus lockdown in stages and from the end of May, theater and music performances will be permitted for audiences of up to 100 people. From July 1 the limit will go up to 250, with cinemas also set to re-open. From Aug. 1, events for up to 500 people will be allowed, with the possibility of larger scale events of up to 1,000 people provided organizers devise safety measures that meet the government's approval. The government has also promised to put forward a framework for restarting rehearsals and film productions. The Vienna Philharmonic hopes the results of its study will convince the government not to introduce rules for orchestras which may hinder communication between the artists. The Vienna Philharmonic's chairman Daniel Froschauer told Austrian media that the orchestra "is defined by extraordinary achievements" but added: "These will be difficult for us if everyone is sitting in a plastic cabin." The orchestra is world-renowned, particularly for its famous New Year's Day concert. Austria has so far been spared the worst of the coronavirus crisis, having registered 16,220 cases and 629 deaths. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Last Friday, an operation by the Civil Police and Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) left 13 dead and a trail of destruction in the Alemao Complex, one of the largest groups of favelas in Rio de Janeiro. Some of the dead were abandoned by the police in the streets and houses where they were killed, and their families and neighbors were forced to carry the bodies out of the community. One of the videos shared by residents shows a young man stabbed and left in agony, indicating a summary execution by the state agents. Resident of the Alemao Complex looks at dead body at her door. The violence and barbarity spread throughout the neighborhood, which is home to tens of thousands of impoverished workers. Conditions of poverty and oppression are even more critical situation in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Residents denounced police looting of small businesses, houses destroyed by gunfire and grenades and bullets penetrating rooms where families were sheltering in terror. Videos recorded by residents show their cars destroyed after being dragged by the caveirao, the armored vehicle of the military police, which crossed the narrow streets of the favela. Instead of sending doctors and nurses to protect the residents from COVID-19, the government sends police, armored vehicles and helicopters to kill us, Bruno Itan, a photographer and resident of the Alemao Complex, told the Guardian. In a Twitter post, with thousands of shares, another resident said: You know those scenes of blunt violence that we see in countries of the African continent in civil war or under authoritarian and bloody government? But this one is from democratic Brazil, where citizens carry five bodies of people killed by state agents in the light of day! The BOPE unit that invaded the Alemao Complex poses with guns they seized. According to the police, the operation was aimed at finding a place where drug traffickers stored weapons, ammunition and drugs. The seizures they disclosed were no more than eight rifles, some ammunition and a small quantity of drugs. The police also stated that five of the dead were suspected of involvement with trafficking. They provided no explanation for the other eight they slaughtered. This massacre is another episode of the astonishing growth of murders committed by Rio de Janeiros police since last year. In 2019, the year Wilson Witzel, an extreme-right politician from the Christian Social Party (PSC), assumed control of the government of the state of Rio de Janeiro, deaths in police operations grew by 92 percent. There were 387 deaths in 1,296 police operations in 2019, compared to 201 deaths in 711 operations in 2018. Witzel ran for the governorship posing as a local representative of the fascistic Jair Bolsonaro, in a campaign fundamentally based on defending unleashing the police to kill bandits. Witzel became infamous for a phrase he used in one of his first interviews as governor-elect: The police will do the right thing: they will aim right at the head and... fire! So there will be no mistake. Among the victims of the criminal executions encouraged by Witzel is Agatha Felix, an eight-year-old girl brutally murdered by the police last September in the same Alemao Complex. Her assassination generated unrest and revolt among the population of the favela, who took to the streets in protest against police violence, demanding: Stop killing us! The increase in police lethality in Rio de Janeiro in 2019 occurred in the context of a strong federal government campaign, headed by former minister Sergio Moro, for the so-called anti-crime bill, which involved granting police officers immunity in the murderous violence they commit on duty. Bolsonaro remains obsessed with the approval of this measure, which ended up not being passed last year The escalation of state violence by Bolsonaro and Witzel is not a new phenomenon, but the continuity of a process that has advanced over the past decade. A milestone in this development was the military occupation of the Alemao Complex in 2010, under the presidency of Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, of the Workers Party (PT). Under the pretext of pacification of the favelas, in November 2010, the Complex was invaded by a total of 2,600 police officers and men from the Army, Navy and Air Force. The operation, strongly driven by the media and serving the interests of capitalist enterprises in Rio de Janeiro, left dozens dead and terrorized the population. There were reports of torture, constant abuses of workers and executions of innocent people. At the time, Lula celebrated the action alongside the then governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), now imprisoned for corruption. I, who watched the occupation of the Alemao on television, was touched. I imagine you [governor Sergio Cabral] how you felt when you saw, for the first time, the people watching the police entering as friends. The people saw the Armed Forces serving the Brazilian. Not to attack or beat the people, but to defend them from the real bandits of the country. One concrete fact is this: the Alemao Complex is no longer a bogeyman, Lula said. The following years witnessed a spiraling growth of violent occupation of the favelas by the Brazilian armed forces. In 2014, Dilma Rousseffs administration, also from the Workers Party, approved a military intervention in Rio de Janeiro, with the occupation of the Mare Complex, another large group of favelas, by 2,500 military personnel from the Army and Navy. In 2018, the administration of Michel Temer, who took power after the impeachment of Rousseff, carried out a new military intervention in Rio de Janeiro. In command of this last operation was General Braga Netto, who today holds the highest position in the Bolsonaro government, as chief minister of the civil house. Commenting on the murderous operation he was leading, Braga Netto declared: Rio de Janeiro is a laboratory for Brazil. This phrase takes on an especially alarming meaning today. As a spokesman for the Bolsonaro government, Braga Netto is committed to guaranteeing the conditions for a return to work, demanded by the bourgeoisie as a whole throughout the national territory. In the midst of the explosion of COVID-19 in Brazil, this will mean the deaths of thousands and thousands of people and will require a deepening of police-state control over the working class. Once again, Rio de Janeiro serves as an important laboratory for the crimes of capitalism. The state has one of the most calamitous conditions, with 22,238 confirmed coronavirus cases and 2,715 confirmed deaths, 101 of them last Sunday alone. But figures showing an explosion of deaths linked to respiratory diseases indicate that there are almost twice as many COVID-19 deaths as those reported by the government. The situation in the favelas is especially grave. The website Voz das Comunidades reported about a month ago that a survey made by local health professionals registered more than 1,000 suspected cases of COVID-19 in the Alemao Complex, while the government reported only four. The disease comes on top of persistent water shortages and growing hunger and misery among the residents. The Brazilian bourgeois state is imposing a normalization of death for the entire working classwhether through hunger, infection by the new deadly coronavirus, or the brutal murder by its military agents. However, the working class is not a passive agent in this process. The growing mobilization of Brazilian workers in wildcat strikes against unsafe conditions in the workplaces and the revolt of residents of the poor neighborhoods against state violence are merging with a global movement of the working class that faces the same attacks by the ruling classes of all countries. These are highly revolutionary conditions that favor the development of an independent political movement of the global working class, which will increasingly assume a socialist and internationalist direction. Azerbaijan is conducting an inquest into the press release regarding the sale of Armenian cigarettes in the Azerbaijani market and posted on social networks. According to Azerbaijani mass media outlets, yesterday several mass media outlets presented a video showing how Armenian cigarettes are sold in the country. In the video, an anonymous man claims that he purchased a pack of Armenian cigarettes at a store in Sabirabad and blames the customs bodies for permitting the import of Armenian cigarettes into the country. An inquest has been opened. The State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan has refuted the news about trade relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. President Lieberman with students We were among the first industries to respond to the pandemic, and we will continue to lead the way in finding creative solutions as the state looks to safely reopen. University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman is among 15 higher education leaders who are serving on a task force that is providing guidance to colleges and universities for safely returning to on-campus operations as restrictions ease around the COVID-19 pandemic. The Restart Higher Education Planning Task Force is assembled by the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities (AICCU) and includes representatives from Californias private, independent, not-for-profit higher education sector. The University of La Verne and Californias other private, independent universities moved quickly at the outset of the pandemic to transition to remote and online operations to provide safe and robust educations to our students, Lieberman said. We were among the first industries to respond to the pandemic, and we will continue to lead the way in finding creative solutions as the state looks to safely reopen. The Restart Higher Education Planning Task Force is looking at six key areas for higher education institutions to resume operations for the fall: health and safety, learning and academics, infrastructure, personnel, finance and legal, as well as communications and external relations. The University of La Verne is planning to bring back on-campus instruction in the fall while making contingency plans for full online teaching or a combination of both. The university is also planning to reopen residence halls with enhanced health and safety precautions. For more information, please visit laverne.edu/news/2020/05/18/higher-education-planning-task-force ### About the University of La Verne Founded in 1891 and located 35 miles east of Los Angeles, the University of La Verne is a private, nonprofit, comprehensive institution founded on four core values: lifelong learning, ethical reasoning, civic and community engagement, and diversity and inclusivity. The university serves more than 8,100 students on the historic La Verne location as well as across nine regional campuses and online. WATERLOO The Cedar Valley may be seeing its numbers of new coronavirus cases and deaths flatten, but absent a vaccine local officials warned against letting up on hygiene and social distancing measures. Black Hawk County had 12 new coronavirus cases Monday for a total of 1,843 cases, and one new death for a total of 32 deaths, said Dr. Nafissa Cisse Egbuonye, director of the Black Hawk County Health Department. The county has an infection rate of 1.4%, the sixth-highest rate in the state, but just a 1.7% fatality rate, lower than Iowas fatality rate of 2.4%. I know that people are ready to get back to their normal routines, and with some businesses reopening its very exciting, Egbuonye said. But its very important that we do not forget our preventative practices. The Black Hawk County chapter of the NAACP called the decision by Gov. Kim Reynolds to reopen businesses in the county irresponsible. We are disturbed that this decision was made in light of surging cases, the executive committee said in a statement Saturday. To reopen the State of Iowa poses a greater threat to the overburdening of our health care systems and increases the potential for widespread infection and loss of life. Some business owners agreed, including Akisha Hill, whose Boujee Berries shop in downtown Waterloo would remain open only for preorders and delivery. She cited her small storefront as one reason. Its really important that everyone stay safe, she said Monday. We want to do everything we can to assist with that. Angie Fuller said her Farrells Extreme Bodyshaping was limiting exercise classes to 10 participants per the states guidelines, and members uncomfortable with that could watch classes live online. We know the current restrictions may be changed in a few weeks, or they could last for months, Fuller said, noting her team had plans ready to go for those scenarios. Katie Bjerke, who owns Hatchlings and Hens Gift Shop in downtown Cedar Falls, said shes learned how to pivot to an online-only shop, and has reopened her retail storefront with limited hours. She said shes spoken with other small business owners exhausted by the upheavals. It will take time for us to regain our stamina, she said. Some of us may never be able to return to what we were before all of this. A total of 130 people have been hospitalized in the county so far with COVID-19, for a hospitalization rate of 7%. Another 1,072 have recovered, said Egbuonye. She added the county has tested 7,074 residents so far, for a positive test rate of 26% much higher than the states positive test rate of 14.5%, as well as the World Health Organizations recommended 10% or lower positive test rate for getting a handle on the virus. Egbuonye said shed like to see that number lowered, but to do that, the state would need to open up testing criteria to test many more people in the county right now, only certain categories of individuals qualified for testing. We do know that there are people that carry the virus, but are asymptomatic, she said. Unless we have mass testing, its really hard to define the impact of COVID-19 on the overall county. Officials have tested all staff and residents of the countys four long-term care facility outbreaks, finding 85 cases at Harmony House, 40 cases at Friendship Village, 13 cases at NewAldaya Lifescapes and five cases at Pillar of Cedar Valley. The health department was monitoring an additional two long-term care facilities for outbreak potential, though it wouldnt name them. There were 12 such facilities in the county, and officials said they were offering tests to any staff or residents of those facilities. Western Home Communities, Ravenwood Specialty Care and Pinnacle Specialty Care have all announced either employees or residents testing positive in recent weeks, but none of those facilities had yet been classified as having an outbreak. An additional 21 Black Hawk County residents who were tested had inconclusive results, Egbuonye said. Per the Iowa Department of Public Health, testing was being opened up to children in day care centers, including home-based day care, as well as staff of those centers, Egbuonye said. They had to have fever or respiratory symptoms and no other diagnosis, she added. The recommendation for travelers to self-isolate for 14 days was being dropped because the virus was already widely circulating in this area, Egbuonye added. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Twelve out of a total of 451 migrants returning from Ahmedabad were referred to AIIMS, Rishikesh for testing on Tuesday after they developed a high fever on their arrival here. The migrants, who first came to Haldwani in a 'Shramik Special' train from Ahmedabad, reached Rishikesh by bus and they were to be despatched to their respective destinations in Garhwal region, Tehsildar Magistrate Rekha Arya said. During their thermal screening, 12 out of 451 returnees were found suffering from high fever, she said. Since they have come from a highly-infected place, they were sent for further tests to AIIMS, Rishikesh, she said. They will be isolated if they test positive, otherwise will be kept under home quarantine, the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the solidarity trial for a drug to treat COVID-19 has commenced in Nigeria. Speaking on F... The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the solidarity trial for a drug to treat COVID-19 has commenced in Nigeria. Speaking on Friday at the joint national briefing of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19, Fiona Braka, officer in charge of WHO in Nigeria, however, said the trials are still at an early stage. In April, Nigeria had expressed interest to be part of the global solidarity drug trial to combat the disease which has infected close to 6,000 people in the country and 4.8 million globally. Braka said while the process has commenced in some states in the country, it is yet to start in other states. This is a large multi-country effort that is going on globally. And we are picking up that trial in Nigeria; some states have started, some are yet to start, she said. The whole idea is that the large pool of information across the countries will be systematically analysed at global level in addition to what is coming from other countries; carefully analysed and guidance provide to countries on which formulation is more effective. The WHO official said the drugs being tested are not new, but the ones already manufactured. They are simply being repurposed for the intention of determining their effects on the COVID virus, she said. We will continue to keep you updated on what the timeline will look like but we are still quite early in the process in the collection of data. Germany's DIHK chambers of industry and commerce expect Europe's largest economy to shrink at least 10 percent this year due to the coronavirus crisis, its president said on Tuesday, a much more pessimistic view than the government's forecast. "This year, and there is no way around it, we will witness a historic economic downturn," DIHK President Eric Schweitzer said when presenting the association's latest survey of industrial companies. The DIHK's expectation for an economic plunge in the double-digit percentage range compares with the government's forecast for a record contraction of 6.3 percent in 2020. "German businesses are facing their biggest challenge since the end of World War Two," Schweitzer said, adding that many industrial companies were facing massive liquidity problems. The DIHK survey, conducted among some 10,000 industrial companies between May 4-6, showed three-quarters reported declining demand and 80 percent expected a substantial drop in sales. 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 Nearly 50 percent of German industrial companies are putting investments on hold and are planning to cut their budgets because of the coronavirus pandemic, it said. Due to the disruptions caused by the outbreak in many countries across the globe, almost a fifth of German industrial companies are currently reorganising their supply chains, the survey showed. "World market shares are currently being redistributed," Schweitzer said. DIHK trade expert Volker Treier said he expected German exports to decline by 15 percent this year, due to weaker demand from major export markets such as the United States. For 2021, DIHK is expecting the economy to grow by roughly 5 percent, Schweitzer said. Paramilitary police officers guard near the Great Hall of the People (back) in Beijing on May 18, 2020. (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images) Beijing Enters Wartime Preparations to Prevent Virus Spread Ahead of Key Political Meeting As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) prepares for a key political meeting that will commence on May 21, authorities have enacted strict measures in Beijing to prevent an outbreak of the CCP virus among top officials. The Partys rubber-stamp legislature and advisory body convenes annually for the Lianghui, or Two Sessions, to enact policies and agendas. More than 5,000 delegates from around the country typically participate. The Chinese regime announced on May 15 that the conferences wouldnt be two weeks long as usual. Media reported on May 18 that the conferences will only last one week. On May 17, Lu Yan, the deputy mayor of Beijing, said the city had entered wartime preparations to prevent the virus from spreading. Meanwhile, a cluster of fever cases recently occurred in Xicheng district of Beijing, close to the Great Hall of the People, the building where the Lianghui is held. Chen Xin, director of the Xicheng district health commission, announced at a May 18 press conference that several employees at the state-run Industrial and Commercial Bank of China headquarters, located at 55 Fuxingmen Inner Street, developed a fevera common symptom of COVID-19, the disease caused by the viruson the afternoon of May 17. By the morning of May 18, 33 of them were treated at hospitals, Chen said. He claimed that all employees were CCP virus free. They were diagnosed with infection of the group A streptococcus bacteria. Strict Control The Lianghui is normally held in March, but it was postponed due to the virus outbreak, which erupted in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and quickly spread across the country in January. On April 29, the regime announced the new dates for the Lianghui. The advisory body, the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, would start meeting on May 21, and the rubber-stamp legislature, the National Peoples Congress, would start on May 22. However, since the announcement, more outbreaks have been reported in northeastern ChinaWuhan in Hubei Province and Guangzhou in southern Guangdong Province. Shanghai also announced a new infection on May 18. Hong Kong-based newspaper HKET quoted several insiders in a May 11 report, including a delegate who will participate in the Lianghui, who said all attendees must arrive at Beijing on May 20. Before May 20, all delegates must self-quarantine at home for 14 days; screen and report their body temperatures twice every day; and take a nucleic acid test before their departure for Beijing. During the Lianghui, its possible that all delegates will receive a nucleic acid test again, the sources told HKET. Meanwhile, the pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper Takungpao quoted Ma Fung-kwok, head of the Hong Kong delegation, on May 6 that all Hong Kong delegates would go to Shenzhen, the mainland Chinese city that borders the territory, together on May 19 and take a nucleic acid test there. Then the Hong Kong delegation will board a flight to Beijing on May 20. In Beijing, theyre only allowed to stay in a hotel designated by authorities, and can only travel to the conference venue. They arent allowed to travel elsewhere and arent allowed to accept media interviews, according to Ma. On May 28, the delegation will fly back to Hong Kong directly from Beijing after the conference. Zhang Yesui, director of the public relations commission of the rubber-stamp legislature, told state-run media on May 15 that reporters from other cities will not be allowed to enter the venue to cover the Lianghui. Only a select number of journalists who live in Beijing and applied for access will be allowed to enter the Great Hall of the People, according to Zhang. Other reporters can interview delegates via video conferencing. Zhang also said that the Lianghui wouldnt organize a time when journalists can meet delegations from different provinces and ask questions, as is custom in past years. Instead, each delegation will name a spokesperson who will talk to journalists by video conferencing. On May 17, Zhang Ge, deputy director of the Beijing municipal organization department, a government organ that decides officials positions, said at a press conference that the city government has arranged 1.6 million people to help contain the virus, such as screen peoples temperatures and patrol the streets for anyone who violates quarantine rules. Meeting Focus State-run media Xinhua reported on May 17 that there are seven topics that would be discussed during the Lianghui, chief among them how to prevent the virus from spreading. Other items on the agenda include how to develop Chinas economy, how to alleviate poverty, and how to deal with international challenges. Chinas economic downturn has been exacerbated by the pandemic. The Chinese regime officially reported that the national gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2020 shrank by 6.8 percent year-on-year. Experts believe the true number could be greater. Leaked confidential government documents obtained by The Epoch Times show that in Shaanxi Province alone, authorities reported that the GDP growth rate in each city for the first quarter 2020, which ranged from minus 3 percent to minus 20.8 percentmore than double the officially reported rate for Shaanxi. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is returning to his duties after fighting off the coronavirus, the Kremlin said Tuesday. President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree ordering Mishustin to assume his regular duties, which were carried out by a deputy since April 30, while the prime minister was receiving medical treatment. Search Keywords: Short link: Over the weekend, a number of businesses welcomed customers back for the very first time in weeks, including those in Westport."I think it went really well," said Erin McZee, general manager of Char Bar and Mickey's Hideaway.McZee said both restaurants saw about 25% to 30% capacity for dining in over the weekend."If this were to stay what we're at and how many people are coming in, it wouldn't be sustainable for very long," McZee said.She said 75% capacity is where she is confident that both restaurants are drawing a profit. Germanys Constitutional Court has ruled that the surveillance of telephones and internet traffic of foreign nationals abroad by the BND intelligence agency violates parts of the constitution, a victory for overseas journalists who brought the case. It is the first time the court, acting on complaints from foreign journalists and press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), ruled that the BND is subject to Germanys constitution for its activities abroad. Tuesdays ruling said telephone and internet surveillance of foreigners abroad by the BND violated the freedom of the press and right to privacy in telecommunications enshrined in the countrys constitution, or Basic Law. The German state authority is bound by the fundamental rights of the Basic Law, not only within the German territory, said the court, adding that further safeguards and oversight are required. The complainants were mostly journalists reporting on human rights violations in conflict zones and in authoritarian states who were concerned about legal provisions allowing the BND to collect, store and analyse data via telecoms monitoring abroad. RSF, which argued that existing rules put informants in danger, welcomed the ruling. Were very pleased that Karlsruhe has clamped down on the escalating surveillance practices of the federal intelligence service abroad, said Christian Mihr, RSFs Germany director. The ruling requires the government to change an amendment to the law on the BNDs powers introduced in 2017 after it was discovered that US intelligence had bugged Germans internet traffic and that the BND had acted similarly abroad. Although the BNDs powers in their current form violate the Basic Law, the court said in principle, the strategic surveillance of foreigners in other countries is compatible with it so existing rules can remain until the end of 2021. New rules imply thousands of front-line key workers are unwelcome in our country, says Labour figure. British cabinet ministers who join the weekly applause for key workers are only too happy to back immigration reforms which suggest thousands of front-line health service staff are unwelcome in our country, according to the opposition Labour party. The UK governments new immigration system, proposed in the middle of a global pandemic, sends a signal that anyone earning less than 25,600 pounds ($31,200) is unskilled, said shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds. Nurses, doctors, shop workers, refuse collectors and local government staff who came to the United Kingdom from overseas have been central to the coronavirus response, he said. But many would be ineligible under the new scheme. His criticism came as MPs backed measures to repeal European Union freedom of movement rules in the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill, which cleared its first hurdle after receiving a second reading by 351 votes to 252 majority 99. Were ending free movement to open Britain up to the world. It will ensure people can come to our country based on what they have to offer, not where they come from. pic.twitter.com/cQbXvdIsYU Priti Patel (@pritipatel) May 18, 2020 The legislation is part of the move towards the governments new points-based immigration system, to be introduced from 2021, although it does not set out the details on the new scheme. These will be fleshed out in the immigration rules, which will explain the future system for EU and non-EU nationals who move to the UK after the Brexit transition period ends on December 2020. While pulling out of the EUs freedom of movement rules means European citizens will not have an automatic right to come to the UK to live or work, it also stops British citizens from having the automatic right to live and work in the 27 member nations of the EU. 200219085224829 Opening the second reading debate, Home Secretary Priti Patel said the legislation would create a firmer, fairer and simpler system that will play a vital role in the countrys recovery from coronavirus. NHS staff, she said, were the very best of Britain, adding: That is why we are introducing a new fast-track NHS visa to prioritise the qualified staff needed to provide high quality and compassionate professional care. During these exceptional times, it is right that policies which affect our NHS workers are kept under review including the immigration health surcharge, and thats why I recently announced a free automatic one-year visa extension for those with six months or (less) left to stay on their visas. That announcement had been criticised as inferring that those who had risked their lives to save those of British citizens would be given only a temporary reprieve from being asked to leave the country. On Monday, she also said of the proposed law: It delivers on the promise we made to the British people. It ends free movement. It takes back control of our borders. It gives the government the powers needed to deliver an immigration system that is firm, fair and fit for the future, the points-based system the public voted for, a system that will support our economic recovery by prioritising jobs for people here in the UK while continuing to attract the brightest and the best in terms of global talent. But Thomas-Symonds replied: In the midst of this crisis the government is putting forward an immigration system containing a salary threshold of 25,600 pounds it sends a signal and tells people that anyone earning less than that is unskilled and unwelcome in our country. Thomas-Symonds said the earnings of front-line workers did not reflect their contribution to society, adding: Those who clapped [for carers] on Thursday are only too happy to vote through a Bill today that will send a powerful message to those same people that they are not considered by this government to be skilled workers. Are shop workers unskilled? Are refuse collectors? Are local government workers? Are NHS staff? Are care workers? Of course, they are not. SNP immigration spokesman Stuart McDonald criticised the dreadful legislation, saying: Its a Bill that will result in many thousands of EU nationals losing their rights in this country overnight and which will extend the reach of the hostile environment still further. 200518112745062 Yvette Cooper, Labour chairwoman of the Home Affairs Committee, said she believes the legislation was flawed, but that she would not oppose it, as immigration legislation was needed. She will put forward amendments which she hopes will receive cross-party support, she said. In that cross-party spirit, I will not vote against the Bill tonight, although if the governments approach does not change, I would expect to oppose it when it returns to the House. Labours Diane Abbott, a former shadow home secretary, said the legislation was bad in principle, bad in practice and described it as a slap in the face for the thousands of migrants, including EU migrants, working so hard for the NHS and care sector in this time of COVID crisis. In February, the government announced proposals for the new system, with points awarded for specific requirements such as being able to speak English to a certain level, having a job offer from an approved employer and meeting a salary threshold. Other points could be awarded for certain qualifications, and if there is a shortage in a particular occupation. A visa allowing doctors, nurses and health professionals from overseas to work in the NHS was introduced in March. Three-man crew was fighting in tank battalion at Battle of Arras in May 1940 The story of how a three-man tank crew escaped from behind enemy lines can be told after the radioactive compass that saved them came to light 80 years later. Brigadier Peter Vaux, Major Stewart Fernie and Lance Corporal Robert Burroughs were in a Light Mark VIB tank at the Battle of Arras in May 1940 when they became separated from the rest of their battalion. They found themselves isolated and surrounded, with capture seemingly inevitable as German Blitzkrieg forces advanced towards them. For the next 11 days they dodged German patrols, hid in farms and woodland in northern France and scavenged for food. At one point they were caught by a German officer who Brigadier Vaux shot dead at close range. The story of how Brigadier Peter Vaux (pictured), Major Stewart Fernie and Lance Corporal Robert Burroughs escaped from behind enemy lines can be told after the radioactive compass that saved them came to light 80 years on Fearing capture by the oncoming German forces, the men ditched their tank and were guided by the trusty compass which had radium paint so the markings would show up in the dark The men were guided by the trusty compass which had radium paint so the markings would show up in the dark. They made it to the River Somme, although they still had to cross it to reach French lines. Crossing the River Somme to safety, the trio became separated. Sadly, Lance Corporal Robert Burroughs (pictured) had been swept downstream and drowned They met a courageous Belgian interpreter who dressed Brigadier Vaux in civilian clothes, claimed he was a Flemish refugee and said they had been ordered to repair fences. The ruse worked and the pair were able to cut a path to the river while taking notes on the whereabouts of the German patrols. The trio became separated as they crossed the river at night. On the other side Brigadier Vaux walked up the river bank clad in just underpants and a beret. Exhausted, he was picked up by French troops who reunited him with Major Fernie and the compass. Tragically, Lance Corporal Burroughs was not there as he had been swept downstream and drowned. Brigadier Vaux was leader of the reconnaissance troop of 4th Battalion, The Royal Tank Regiment, and took part in the first major British armoured action of the Second World War - the counter-attack at Arras in May 1940. Arras formed part of the Battle of France, when the British and French offensive moving up towards Belgium met with German forces attempting push the Allied forces out through the Somme Valley. Nazi General Gerd Von Rundstedt's Panzer tanks were sweeping west to the sea whilst the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was struggling to return from their positions in Belgium - the place where the attack had been expected. Organised in a great hurry, the British attack aimed to cut through the advancing German armoured column south of Arras. The attack was executed by just two tank battalions supported by infantry and although it failed to make much headway it caused panic in some of the German units. As the advance of 4th Royal Tank Regiment slowed, Brigadier Vaux and his crew were isolated and surrounded - prompting their extraordinary escape. Brigadier Vaux later recalled the moment he realised they were in trouble. He wrote: 'I was completely paralysed with fear. Our petrol was almost finished so we made for a wood and deep in the undergrowth hid the tank. Brigadier Vaux (pictured) and Major Fernie were sent home. Brig Vaux later wrote: 'On 5th June we left France and at 6am on 6th June caught our first glimpse of Weymouth Bay. Never, I think have I ever seen anything so beautiful' 'We destroyed the wireless set, smashed the guns and generally put the tank out of action. 'We then removed the P8 compass, the emergency rations and our greatcoats.' Later, describing the final obstacle they faced at the River Somme, he added: 'At 1.30 am on 1st June we plunged into the river. It was deep, fast running and we had a bad crossing. Corporal Burroughs was drowned. 'The Major got across but collapsed on the far bank. I was swept some 150 yards downstream in a half dazed condition. 'I have a clear recollection of Corporal Burroughs drowning, but by this time was too far gone myself to be of any value to him.' After reaching safety Brig Vaux and Maj Fernie were sent home. Brig Vaux wrote: 'On 5th June we left France and at 6am on 6th June caught our first glimpse of Weymouth Bay. Never, I think have I ever seen anything so beautiful.' Eight decades later, the compass will go on show at the Tank Museum in Bovington, Dorset, when it reopens later this year following the current Covid-19 lockdown. Since its radium paint is radioactive and has degraded over time, they have consulted with the Defence Scientific and Technology Laboratory on how to display it safely. David Willey, curator of the Tank Museum said: 'Compasses made for these tanks used radium paint so the markings would show up in the dark. The group were in a Light Mark VIB tank (example pictured) at the Battle of Arras in May 1940 when they became separated from the rest of their battalion 'The radium paint was radioactive and it degrades over time, flaking off the dial into the surrounding fluid. Radium is now of course recognised as a major health hazard. 'As such an important object we really wanted to see this item on display so we obtained advice from the Defence Scientific and Technology Laboratory on how this might be achieved safely. 'Like so many objects in the museum - on its own as a Second World War era compass it is of little significance but add the story of its use in the escape it becomes a remarkable object. 'This battle and Peter Vaux's account of the escape highlights the courage, resourcefulness and sheer determination of our tank crews in the Second World War. 'Our new exhibition will include this and other fascinating objects and stories to tell the British tank soldiers story.' Brig Vaux, OBE, was born on October 23, 1916. After his escape he fought in the Western Desert, and was then promoted to GSO 2 (intelligence) at General Horrocks' 13th Corps for the Battle of El Alamein. He went on to fight in Italy where he was seriously wounded and after the war continued his military career. In 1957 was appointed OBE. He served in Malaysia and in Northern Ireland and retired with the rank of brigadier. He died aged 96 in 2013. The compass will go on display as part of the new World War II: War Stories exhibition later this year. Hirohisa Soma, a senior official from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, arrives at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tuesday, upon being summoned by the Korean government over Japan's claim in its latest annual diplomatic book that Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo are Japanese territory. The government expressed its regret over Tokyo's repeated territorial claims over Dokdo, also known as Takeshima and Liancourt Rocks. Yonhap Bay Area transportation officials were temporarily bewildered Tuesday by President Trumps announcement in a tweet that the Bay Area will receive more than $700 million in federal funds to support San Francisco International Airport, Muni and BART during the coronavirus pandemic. This money will aid in economic recovery! Trump said in the tweet. The confusion stemmed from the fact that the president was referencing the first distribution of transportation money included in the $2 trillion Cares Act package passed by Congress in March, according to a spokeswoman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco. Of that amount, $1.3 billion was allotted for Bay Area transit agencies. The presidents announcement, however, seemed to catch many local officials off guard, as they were uncertain why Trump said the specific number of $700 million or why he mentioned it more than a month after the news went public. Trumps tweet was in reference to $251 million going to BART, $197 million for Muni and $255 million for SFO, according to Pelosis spokeswoman and the Federal Aviation Administration. BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said on Tuesday that agency officials suspected the money noted in Trumps tweet was part of the Cares Act. The agency has seen ridership all but evaporate during the outbreak. We havent been told by our lobbyists that theres anything new, Trost said. At SFO, which has lost domestic and international flights during the pandemic, spokesman Doug Yakel said the presidents tweet came as a surprise. We saw the tweet as well, he said, but we dont yet have any further details on the breakdown or timing as it pertains to SFO. Well be monitoring this closely. 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. Jeffrey Tumlin, the Municipal Transportation Agencys transportation director, praised Bay Area congressional leaders for making sure the regions transit agencies were included in the Cares Act. The $197 million allotted for Muni will allow the agency to complete the fiscal year without layoffs. We are deeply, deeply indebted to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for making that happen, Tumlin said Trumps tweet about the Bay Area came amid a brief flurry of tweets about money steered to transit agencies. He also tweeted about aid to Washington, D.C., Portland and Seattle transit agencies. Leaders from the nations largest transit agencies, including BART, said last week that they need more federal aid $33 billion to keep their trains and buses running to take people to work as the economy struggles to recover. The Cares Act included $25 billion for transit nationwide. In other Bay Area transit news Tuesday, BART and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority announced that the long-delayed extension into Santa Clara County would open June 13. The extension will include stations in Milpitas near the Great Mall and in the Berryessa neighborhood of San Jose. Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan Tobacco firm Imperial Brands, which makes Embassy and Gauloises cigarettes, has announced it is slashing its dividend payments by a third following a major fall in vapour sales and the impact of lockdown measures on its travel retail business. Revenues from its NGP division, which includes its flagship vapour brand Blu, plummeted on a like-for-like basis by more than half in the six months to March 31 to 30million compared to 73million the year previously. The Bristol-based company said the increasing restrictions on cross-border travel caused considerable harm to its global duty-free business and is expecting the financial impact of this to worsen in the latter half of the year. Embassy is one of the most famous cigarette labels owned by Imperial Brands Total half-year operating profits meanwhile fell by almost 20 per cent to 925million from 1.15billion the year before. Yields fell in all regions, with the European market registering the largest absolute drop in profits of 65million. Imperial, said it was 'disappointed' by the results, though it insisted that Covid-19 has had 'only a small impact on trading.' Overall year-on-year revenues did also grow by 2 per cent to 14.67billion. It is now seeking to reduce its 14.14billion debt pile in order to 'strengthen the balance sheet and support a more flexible approach to capital allocation in the future.' As part of that process, the John Player and Rizla brands owner recently agreed to the sale of its premium cigars business for 1.07billion to two different firms, the Allied Cigar Corporation and Gemstone Investment. A large chunk of the sale involved its Cuban cigar interests, such as its 50 per cent stake in Habanos, which is also co-owned by the Cuban state tobacco company Cubatabaco. Investors will also receive a lower payout of 41.7p per share against 62.6 per share in 2019. It is the first time the company has not increased its dividend since it separated from the Hanson conglomerate in the mid-1990s. Imperial Brands recently sold its 50 per cent stake in Habanos, which is also co-owned by the Cuban state tobacco company Cubatabaco Imperial joins Royal Dutch Shell and 44 other FTSE 100 firms that now have either deferred, reduced or scrapped their dividend since the Covid-19 outbreak started. Adam Vettese, an analyst at investment platform eToro, wrote that the dividend cut 'is a bitter blow to investors, as it was assumed the business was more Covid-19-proof than most. He believes though that the coronavirus is not Imperial's most serious long-term problem, but instead the decline of smoking and the growing problems affecting the vaping industry. 'Vaping, as a market, looks as though it has gone up in smoke before it had a chance to really take off while oral tobacco is popular only in certain markets. Imperial needs to solve this, or it faces real problems,' he said. Adam Vetesse, eToro: 'Vaping, as a market, looks as though it has gone up in smoke before it had a chance to really take off while oral tobacco is popular only in certain markets. Imperial needs to solve this, or it faces real problems' Imperial now expects coronavirus-related factors to reduce earnings per share by 1-3 per cent for the financial year ending in Sept. 2020, also taking into account a rise in demand for cheaper cigarettes as economies go into recession. But it argued that it was better placed than rivals in a downtrading scenario as it sells more discount and deep discount brands than premium products. This helped it gain market share in seven out of its ten core markets, including in markets where it has not grown for many years such as Spain and the United States in the first half of the year, joint CEO Dominic Brisby said on a call with journalists. 'Imperial as a company has been particularly good at managing down trading and ...discount and low-priced brands in the tobacco category,' Brisby commented. Imperial also said that it would be reducing marketing spending on its next-generation products - e-cigarettes and heat not burn products - that were once considered the next frontier for the tobacco industry. It said it would now reduce spending on out-of-home media and radio and TV, after making significant investments in these areas in several markets last year. 'While these can be very effective in building brands, they haven't generally returned the rapid return on investment we required this year,' Brisby remarked. Shares in Imperial Brands were down 8.5 per cent to 1,512p at midday. On the Facebook page, Condoluci talks about his outreach and asks for donations. One post on the page from 2013 reads, "This page was founded to help out a great man Reverend Matthew Condoluci who tirelessly works to help all of those in need. I have created it with his permission because I believe he is doing some of the best of God's work." Smith said it was that publicity that helped her find Condoluci, and about four years ago she started a Facebook page about him and titled it: Matt Condoluci (preditor) (sic) Smith's Facebook page apparently caught the eye of the individual who claims to have killed Condoluci. The email received by The World-Herald includes this passage: "One kids mother had created a predator facebook page about him trying to warn people about him. Her son had been assaulted by him when he was 5 and the damage he did led the poor guy to die of a drug overdose years later and his mom directly blamed that incident on him." After learning of Fairbanks' arrest, Smith wrote on her Facebook page, "Free James!! Put (money) on his commissary." New Delhi: Talented Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui's wife Aaliya has sent him a legal notice seeking divorce and maintenance. The couple has been married for 10 long years and has two kids. When Zee News contacted Nawazuddin's brother Shamas Siddiqui and asked about the development, the latter said he knew nothing of it. Shamas, in fact, revealed that he got to know about the legal notice through news only. And because it is a legal matter now, he can't comment on it. Aaliya had earlier confirmed to Zee News in an exclusive conversation that there were problems in their marriage and she alleged those are serious ones and she could not take it up further. She, however, did not reveal what exactly were the issues between both of them. Her lawyer sent Nawazuddin a legal notice via email and WhatsApp on May 7, but his response is awaited. Yes, it is to confirm that we have sent a legal notice to Mr Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The notice was sent on behalf of Mrs Aaliya Siddiqui on May 7, 2020. Due to unprecedented COVID-19 times, the notice could not be sent through speed post. It has been sent through email as well as WhatsApp. Mrs Siddiqui, our client, has also sent the notice through WhatsApp. However, Mr Siddiqui has not responded till date. I think he is just keeping quiet regarding the notice and ignoring it. The notice has been sent claiming maintenance and divorce. I would not like to get into the details of the notice regarding what are the contents and what are the allegations, but let me tell you that the allegations are quite serious and those are very sensitive to Mr Siddiqui as well as his family members, Aaliyas lawyer said in a video message shared with Zee News. The actor, meanwhile rushed to his hometown in Budhana, Uttar Pradesh. He along with other family members are currently in quarantine for 14 days. He tweeted about it: Due to the recent loss of my younger sister, my mother who is 71yrs old got an anxiety attack twice. We have followed all the guidelines given by the State Government. We are #HomeQuarantined at our hometown Budhana. Please #StaySafe #StayHome Nawazuddin is yet to respond to the legal notice sent by his wife a day before. Coast to Coast Motors is offering a special to First Responders to say thank you. While many workplaces were able to adjust to allow employees to work safely, there were some workers who still had to go into work every day despite it being dangerous. As the coronavirus has swept across the country, businesses have been forced to adjust. Many have been able to allow employees to work from home while some had to shut down altogether. While many workplaces were able to adjust to allow employees to work safely, there were some workers who still had to go into work every day despite it being dangerous. These people are First Responders. The individuals who go towards various situations that many people run from are brave and deserve to be recognized. As a result, Coast to Coast Motors wanted to say thank you to these individuals for all the work they have done, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. The dealership decided to offer these individuals $500 towards their next vehicle. Coast to Coast Motors has a variety of vehicles available in its showroom. With vehicles that range from SUVs to sedans to minivans, there is certainly a used vehicle that will fit the needs of the customer. The vehicles that are in the dealerships showroom have been through a rigorous multi-point inspection before going into the showroom. This way, customers can know and trust that the vehicle they are driving off in will not break down the moment it is driven off of the dealerships lot. First Responders who would like to learn more about the special offer happening now at Coast to Coast Motors can visit the dealerships website https://ctcautogroup.com/ to view its current inventory. The dealership can be reached by phone at 888-818-3886 for further inquiries about a vehicle. Finally, Coast to Coast Motors has three Oklahoma locations, Enid, Oklahoma City and Tulsa in addition to its facility in Houston. Popular San Antonio pizza joint Big Lou's is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week, offering its customers an affordable special and free delivery options. Husband and wife Brian and Luz Lujan, the owners of Big Lou's, opened the East Side location on May 19, 2000, impressing the community with its enormous 42-inch pizzas. Big Lou's announced in a news release that it will celebrate its success by selling 20-inch, 1-topping pizzas for $10 on Tuesday and Wednesday. Free delivery is available for customers within a 15-mile radius. toondelamour Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards "Everyone I've spoken with is simply waiting until this period abates," said Richardo Kilpatrick, managing partner at Kilpatrick & Associates in Auburn Hills, Michigan. "The pipeline is full." While bankruptcy is not the only option for a struggling business a firm could just dissolve due to little or no debt and few assets, for instance those with obligations that become unmanageable may discover bankruptcy is the best way to move forward. Chapter 11 vs. Chapter 7 First, if you expect your business to remain viable in the long-term but need relief from creditors now, a new option under Chapter 11 may be appropriate. This route allows a firm to remain operational and, generally speaking, renegotiate its debt and repay over a set amount of time, as well as take other steps to return to profitability. Called Subchapter 5, this new route it took effect in February is for businesses with debt below a certain threshold (with some limitations). From now through next March, that cap is about $7.5 million. (Recently passed legislation raised it from $2.7 million for one year.) This option is intended to make the bankruptcy process faster and less expensive for small businesses. It eliminates some costs and paperwork requirements, as well as allowing owners to retain their interest in the business, among other differences from typical Chapter 11 cases. Nevertheless, a Subchapter 5 filing still comes with a hefty price tag: about $10,000 to $50,000, depending on the complexity of the case, said Stuart Gold, managing partner at Gold, Lange & Majoros in Southfield, Michigan. The filing fee itself is $1,717. Before you get to the point of filing, however, you should consult with a bankruptcy professional to make sure it makes sense. "You want to make sure you have a viable business that can survive and is in need of relief to warrant the fees," Gold said. Meanwhile, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy involves a trustee liquidating the filer's assets and paying off creditors to the extent possible. While this is a common route for individuals, it may not be suitable for a business entity because it won't erase the firm's debt, said Cara O'Neill, a legal editor for Nolo.com and bankruptcy and litigation attorney in Roseville, California. "Most business owners are concerned primarily with getting out from under their liability for business debt, and that's better done using a personal Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 filing," O'Neill said. Personal guarantees Even if your business is its own legal entity and kept separate from your personal finances, owners who provided a personal guarantee on their business debt are still on the hook even if the company goes into bankruptcy. In that case, the way to potentially avoid your personal assets being seized i.e., your house, car, savings, etc. is to also file for personal bankruptcy. "We'll see both the individual and the corporation file bankruptcy to get a fresh start or [stop] collection of any debt." Charles Bullock Bankruptcy attorney and a founder of Stevenson & Bullock "That happens all the time," said Bullock, of Stevenson & Bullock. "It could be a medium-sized business where the ownership group has been forced to guarantee debt, or an individual owner where the debt is overwhelming," Bullock said. "We'll see both the individual and the corporation file bankruptcy to get a fresh start or [stop] collection of any debt." Filing as an individual Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited (KBRA) comments on Irish banks' 1Q 2020 earnings results and discusses the economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the industry, although the long-term impact is uncertain and will depend on the depth and longevity of the crisis. In KBRA's view, the economic effects of COVID-19 will have a material impact on the sector's financial performance, with lower level of lending and business activity as well as higher level of impairments. KBRA expects asset quality to weaken and profitability to decline relative to our previous assessment. That said, the Irish banking sector has seen material improvements over recent years and is now more resilient, with sound capitalisation, stable funding profiles, and strong liquidity providing solid loss absorption capacity. The banks have also substantially reduced their stock of nonperforming loans. While asset quality continues to be weaker than most European peers, the banks' track record of successful loan restructuring places them in a comfortable position to deal with pandemic-related stress. This time around, KBRA believes that Irish banks will be part of the systemic solution and are better prepared to support their customers and the economy through this crisis. Click here to view the report. Related Publications Irish Banks' 2019 Results: Asset Quality Improvements and Profitability Headwinds Republic of Ireland Surveillance Report Irish Banks: Continued Recovery Despite Headwinds About KBRA and KBRA Europe KBRA is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider and is a certified Credit Rating Agency (CRA) with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered with ESMA as a CRA. Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is located at 6-8 College Green, Dublin 2, Ireland. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005623/en/ Contacts: Analytical Contacts Joanna Drobnik, CFA, Director +353 1 588 1250 jdrobnik@kbra.com Joe Scott, Managing Director +1 (646) 731-2438 jscott@kbra.com Business Development Contact Mauricio Noe, Senior Managing Director +44 777 193 6570 mnoe@kbra.com Hong Kong: Gov't not rushing anthem bill The Government is not planning to urgently pass the National Anthem Bill, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said today. Speaking to reporters ahead of the Executive Council meeting this morning, Mrs Lam said the bill went through the proper process in the Legislative Council. She said: It is entirely incorrect to say that we are planning to urgently pass the National Anthem Bill. It has completed the scrutiny by the bills committee chaired by Martin Liao with a lot of meetings, public hearings and so on. It has completed the process of presenting the report of the bills committee, compiled by the secretariat - not by us - by the LegCo Secretariat, back to the then House Committee. Mrs Lam pointed out that the Government then had to carry out a final step under the Rules of Procedure, which is to consult the House Committee Chairman on the date to go back to LegCo for a resumption of second reading. But unfortunately, since October last year, we have wasted a full seven months without a House Committee Chairman for us to consult with. After yesterdays election, we have a House Committee Chairwoman installed. So the timetable for presenting the bills committees report and also for the resumption of the second reading of the National Anthem Bill will go forward next Wednesday. This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Press Release May 19, 2020 Revilla eyes imposing, collecting taxes from digital economy to boost revenues in light of national health crisis Since the Philippines's shift towards digitalization continues to accelerate due to the imposition of community quarantine measures brought about by COVID-19, Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla eyes the rapid growth of the digital economy as an opportunity for the government to increase its income to be used for providing services for all Filipinos affected by the pandemic. The veteran legislator filed PS Res. No. 410 urging the Senate Committee on Ways and Means and the appropriate Senate Committees to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the possibility of collecting taxes from multinational online streaming services and the digital economy in general. He stated that some of the most technologically-advanced countries such as Norway, Australia, Japan, France, South Korea, United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia have already adopted and passed their respective versions of digital service tax laws which enable them to collect taxes from local consumption and use of digital content and services from foreign providers. The lawmaker also pointed out that the establishment of a digital taxation framework is among the strategies recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force Technical Working Group (IATF TWG) for Anticipatory and Forward Planning. "We need to embrace the digital revolution of our time, and to comprehensively review and update our existing tax laws regarding digital economy," Revilla said. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Philippine digital economy was expected to grow by more than 250% from $7 billion to $25 billion by 2025, equivalent to 5.3 percent of country's gross domestic product (GDP). Also, Filipinos were recognized as voracious online users, typically spending around 10 hours and two minutes of their time in the internet, exceeding the global average online time of six hours and 42 minutes daily. Filipinos spend around four hours and 12 minutes on various social media platforms every day, nearly double the global daily average of two hours and 16 minutes. Filipinos spend at least 3.3 hours daily watching online content on mobile devices. The veteran lawmaker suggested that revenues raised from such taxes could be used to finance the national economic recovery plan, especially the rehabilitation of severely affected industries, and the construction of "Schools for the Future" which are equipped with digital technologies and laboratories. "Habang patuloy po ang pagpapatupad natin ng quarantine measures tulad ng social distancing at pagbabawal sa mass gathering, at sa pagpasok nga po natin doon sa tinatawag na 'New Normal,' tiyak pong mas marami tayong kababayan na gagamit ng technology-based services tulad ng mga online streaming at online market," Bong Revilla said. Revilla raised that while local online businesses have already been covered by our taxation laws, multinational corporations with more sophisticated technological capabilities, less physical presence yet wider reach may have to be properly taxed given the outdated provisions and leakages in our tax measures. The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) issued Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 55-2013 reminding the taxpayers' obligations in relation to online business transactions including online shopping or online retailing, online intermediary service, online advertisement/classified ads, and online auction. He further cited multilateral efforts at unifying tax rules regarding digital economy, such as the one led by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), to address overlaps with individual state measures and avoid double taxation, considering the borderless nature of such transactions. Recently, we have been spending a lot of time looking back at the devastating decisions the School District of Philadelphia had to make seven years ago when the state drastically cut funding for education. We are looking back because the economic collapse we are all witnessing due to the COVID-19 pandemic has created a budget shortfall that could be equally as devastating for our School District one that threatens to eradicate the fiscal and academic progress weve made together over the last seven years. Since 2017, weve regained local control of our School District and our bond rating has been upgraded to investment grade for the first time since 1977. With new investments from the city and the state, we invested in our students and schools by refilling over 2,500 teaching and support staff positions, adding academic programs, strengthening behavioral supports for our most at-risk students, and reestablishing extracurricular activities. We also invested in our buildings by modernizing classrooms, upgrading technology for students and staff, making much-needed repairs, and remediating environmental hazards. There is still much work to do. And, we desperately do not want to have to scale back. We want to continue to provide the supports and services our students need and deserve as they prepare for college and career success. Unfortunately, the looming economic shortfall will make that very difficult. READ MORE: Almost half of Philly students didnt participate in online classes last week Since closing in mid-March, we have seen local revenue drop by $60 million while costs for staff, supplies, and remote learning increase. The district is currently projecting a $38 million shortfall for the next school year, which will grow to $1 billion in just five years. Were not alone among school districts in the financial challenges were facing. The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) is projecting local revenue for school districts statewide to drop by $850 million to $1 billion for the 2020-21 school year. At the same time, PASBO anticipates mandated costs to increase by more than $500 million. And while education is not the only sector dealing with the economic consequences of this pandemic, we are all too familiar with the impact of budget cuts and the devastating effect they have on our childrens future. In 2011, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania cut education funding by almost 10%. This $1 billion state cut to education funding translated to 20,000 fewer teachers in classrooms statewide, increased class sizes in 70% of school districts, the elimination or reduction of academic programs in 74% of school districts, and property-tax increases across the state. All of this had a profound impact on the educational experience of a generation of students. READ MORE: Its a really daunting task: Phillys star educators talk about teaching through a computer The School District of Philadelphia shouldered more than a quarter of the total state cut. Closing the $300 million deficit forced us to eliminate thousands of positions, close schools, and abandon building maintenance projects. But we recovered and are now making steady progress. Instead of cutting funding for K-12 public education, we are calling on Gov. Wolf and members of the General Assembly to maintain education funding at the current-year level. We cannot solve another state budget crisis at the expense of our childrens future, which is the very future of our commonwealth. We have one opportunity to educate our students, and we will all suffer the consequences if we turn our backs on their education. We can get through this budget crisis, but we need your help to protect education funding. We need you and the Philadelphia community to make your voices heard. We need you to reach out to Governor Wolf and your state senator and state representative and tell them not to cut education funding. Join us this Thursday and every Thursday afterward as we call on Harrisburg to #fundourschools. For more information about Advocacy Thursdays and how you can get involved, please visit www.philasd.org/fundourschools. William R. Hite, Jr. is superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia. Joyce Wilkerson is president of the School District of Philadelphia Board of Education READ MORE: I saw your burnout: Teachers inspiring message to students | Perspective It is a rare day in Trenton when a bill comes along that has energetic support from Democrats and Republicans, from labor and management, from mayors and business owners. But thats what happened last week. The bill would set up a system to furlough public workers for three days a week, while helping them capture unemployment benefits to cover the missing days, along with the extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits Washington enacted as part of its response to the crisis. They would end up making more money, not less, which would help us all. The bill would help employers, too, by letting them claim new federal subsidies designed to encourage job sharing. Sponsors say that could bring New Jersey $750 million more over the next three months, if the state and local governments furlough 100,000 public workers, about one-fifth the total. If this works half as well as intended, its still a win-win that is rare in public policy. But heres the amazing twist in the story: Gov. Phil Murphy is refusing to sign the bill, and his office says hell likely to veto it. His chief concerns are that the bill could unintentionally shift costs from the federal government to the state government, and that it could break technical rules and prompt sanctions from the federal Department of Labor. Hes never expressed any of that to the Legislature. Theyre seeing it here for the first time. This is political malpractice by the governor, folks, even if his policy concerns turn out to be valid. Because hes been in his cone of silence for more than a month, each day leaving federal dollars on the table. Hes kept the Legislature in the dark, even his fellow Democrats. And time is running out because the program depends on the $600 bump in weekly unemployment benefits contained in the stimulus bill, which expires on July 31. We sent the bill to them on April 7, and I met with the governor face to face, says Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester. They said theyre open to it and would get back. And they never got back. The bill passed by a combined vote of 136-1, so a veto override is easily within reach if the governor fails to deliver on his intention to build his own program with executive powers. His people said it will be at least two more weeks before they have worked the details. The exact savings are impossible to predict, no matter which path is eventually taken. Because no one knows how many public workers would be placed on furlough. That decision would be made by local governments and school districts, as well as the state. Many public workers are needed during this crisis, full-time. But clearly there is room for significant furloughs. Some public employees are not needed during the shutdown, like school cafeteria workers, office workers at local town halls. And the grim reality is that the fiscal crisis caused by this virus will force layoffs, even where the public jobs are needed. They could soften the blow by taking advantage of this program, and legislators are already getting calls from mayors and superintendents saying they are eager to take advantage. Sweeney says it is possible that the governor can build a program of his own. Thats fine with him, he says, as long as Murphy moves fast. I really dont care who gets credit, he says. We gave them this bill before we even introduced it. Just get the program up and running. I got mayors calling me. Sen. Steve Oroho, a Republican co-sponsor, agreed. Why didnt they do this two months ago? he asks. Murphys been busy, granted. But this high-handed treatment of the legislature has been a hallmark of his from the start. He comes from the private sector, and he still seems to think he can treat legislators as if they were his employees. Its a costly misconception. More: Tom Moran columns Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: Turkey exported 18,901 tons of tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, iron or steel totaling $12.3 million to Georgia from January through April 2020, Trend reports referring to Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat). On an annualized basis, Georgia increased the import of tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, iron or steel from Turkey by 5,582 tons. Over the same period last year, 13,319 tons of tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, iron or steel were exported by Turkey to Georgia for a total amount of $10 million. During the reporting period, Turkey exported 6,658 tons of iron or steel structures and parts of structures totaling $10.2 million to Georgia, a decrease of 1,080 tons compared to the same period in 2019. Over the same period last year, 7,738 tons of structures and parts of structures of iron or steel were exported by Turkey to Georgia for a total amount of $12.9 million. Turkey ranks first in Georgias commodity circulation in the reporting period. From January through April 2020, total imports by Georgia from Turkey amounted to $406.02 million. In turn, Georgia exported goods worth $63.27 million to Turkey. The foreign trade turnover of Georgia with Turkey in the reporting period exceeded $469.3 million, which is 13.5 percent of Georgia's total trade turnover. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 The May 15 opinion piece by The Washington Posts Greg Sargent on Joe Bidens plan to combat the coronavirus (A monumental challenge for Biden) is laughable. Mr. Biden lacks the mental capacity and is not qualified for the job of president. Sargent even says, It will be on Biden, of course, to prove that he is up to this historic moment. Also in the May 15 Plain Dealer was an Associated Press article, Trump censures Russia inquiry and Democrats, that was nothing but a highly biased opinion piece and did not belong in the Nation & World section. Richard Eberhardt, Middleburg Heights Gardai caught the man with a key to the car containing guns. (stock photo) A father-of-one who was holding two machine guns, three revolvers, two silencers and 107 rounds of various ammunition in the boot of a car has been jailed for nine years. Detective Garda Ronan Doolan said Graham Gardner (35) was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying the mass card of an individual previously shot dead when gardai approached him in November 2016. Gardner was speaking to the occupants of a Ford Focus van that had been under surveillance. Nothing was found in this vehicle, although a hidden compartment was found. Det Gda Doolan said Gardner had a car key on him that he said was a friend's spare key. He was taken to a garda station for questioning during which he claimed that he found the car key while out walking. The vehicle was later discovered in an underground car park, about a two-minute drive away from where gardai had approached Gardner at the Ford Focus. The weapons were in a holdall in the boot. A third revolver was in the glove box. Gardner, of Carnlough Road, Cabra, Dublin, pleaded guilty at the city's Circuit Criminal Court to possessing the firearms and ammunition at Quarry Road, Cabra, on November 5, 2016. Gda Doolan said each revolver was loaded and, although the machine guns had no ammunition in them, they were accompanied by fully loaded magazines. Gda Doolan told Diarmuid Collins BL, prosecuting, that Gardner's DNA was found on the revolvers and one of the machines guns. Both this vehicle and the Ford Focus had previously been bought on the DoneDeal website and subsequently registered under false names. Protection Gardner was arrested the following December. He still maintained that he found the key while out walking. He claimed that he had met the other people in the Ford Focus by chance that day and said he was wearing the bulletproof vest for his protection. He said he did not know how his DNA got on the firearms. Judge Martin Nolan said it was a very serious case as he was holding guns for third parties: "He must have known the purpose of these guns were to cause serious harm or death." Federal authorities are demanding that an ancient artifact known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet, which was confiscated from the Museum of the Bible last year, be returned to Iraq after it was 'looted' from the country several years ago and sold to Hobby Lobby. According to a complaint filed on Monday, the tablet bears a Sumerian epic poem that is considered one of the world's oldest works of literature and dates back to 1800 BC . Officials said the artifact, which was featured at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, after Hobby Lobby purchased it for $1.6million in 2014 from an auction house. According to federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York, the rare tablet was 'pillaged' from Iraq 'and years later sold at a major auction house, with a questionable and unsupported provenance'. Federal authorities are demanding that an ancient artifact known as the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet (pictured) be returned to Iraq after it was 'looted' from the country several years ago and sold to Hobby Lobby Officials said the artifact, which was featured at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC, after Hobby Lobby (file image) purchased it for $1.6million in 2014 from an auction house. According to federal prosecutors, the rare tablet was 'pillaged' from Iraq An investigation found that the auction house lied about the artifact's origins when it was sold to the Oklahoma-based arts and crafts retailer. 'Despite inquiries from the Museum and Hobby Lobby, the Auction House withheld information about the tablet's provenance,' the complaint reads, adding that the tablet was seized from the museum by law enforcement agents in September 2019. 'Whenever looted cultural property is found in this country, the United States government will do all it can to preserve heritage by returning such artifacts where they belong,' stated United States Attorney Richard Donoghue. 'In this case, a major auction house failed to meet its obligations by minimizing its concerns that the provenance of an important Iraqi artifact was fabricated, and withheld from the buyer information that undermined the provenance's reliability.' The government's investigation revealed that in 2003, a US antiquities dealer purchased an encrusted cuneiform tablet from a Middle Eastern antiquities dealer in London. According to a lawsuit cited by The New York Times, the tablet was purchased by an unidentified antiquities dealer in 2003 from the family of the former head of the Jordanian Antiquities Association. The lawsuit alleged that the official, Ghassan Rihani, sold items looted by Iraqi soldiers during their occupation of Kuwait in 1991. After the tablet was imported and cleaned, experts in cuneiform recognized it as a portion of the Gilgamesh epic in which the protagonist describes his dreams to his mother. The protagonist's mother interprets the dreams as foretelling the arrival of a new friend. She tells her son: 'You will see him and your heart will laugh.' In 2007, antiquities dealer allegedly sold the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet with a false provenance letter that stated the tablet had been inside a box of miscellaneous bronze fragments purchased in a 1981 auction. The Museum of the Bible (file image) has been cooperating with the government's investigation and said it fully supports the effort to return the tablet to Iraq The Epic of Gilgamesh: One of the first great works of literature The Epic of Gilgamesh is a poem from ancient Mesopotamia that dates from the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2100 BC The Epic of Gilgamesh is a poem from ancient Mesopotamia that dates back to 18th century BC. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five poems about Bilgamesh (Sumerian for 'Gilgamesh'), king of Uruk, from the Third Dynasty of Ur. The first half of the story discusses Gilgamesh and Enkidu, a man created by the gods to stop him from oppressing the people of Uruk. After an initial fight, Gilgamesh and Enkidu become close friends. Together, they journey to the Cedar Mountain and defeat Humbaba, its guardian. Later they kill the Bull of Heaven, which the goddess Ishtar sends to punish Gilgamesh for spurning her advances. As a punishment for these actions, the gods sentence Enkidu to death. In the second half of the epic, distress about Enkidu's death causes Gilgamesh to undertake a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life. He eventually learns that 'life, which you look for, you will never find. For when the gods created man, they let death be his share, and life withheld in their own hands'. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the 'Old Babylonian' version, dates to 18th century BC. It is titled after its incipit, Shutur eli sharri ('Surpassing All Other Kings') and only a few tablets of it have survived. The later 'Standard' version dates from the 13th to the 10th centuries BC and bears the incipit Sha naqba imuru ('He who Sees the Unknown'). Advertisement This false provenance letter traveled with the tablet and was provided to the auction house by a later owner. 'As part of its due diligence, the auction house's antiquities director spoke with the Antiquities Dealer. The antiquities dealer advised the auction house that the provenance would not withstand scrutiny and should not be used in connection with a public sale,' authorities said in the complaint. Despite the advisory, the auction house 'represented to Hobby Lobby that the tablet was purchased in the 1981 auction'. Hobby Lobby purchased the tablet in a private sale in 2014. According to the complaint, in response to Hobby Lobby's request for more details in connection with the purchase and the museum's expression of discomfort with the provenance in 2017, the auction house 'advised both that the antiquities dealer had confirmed the details of the provenance'. 'However, the auction house withheld the false provenance letter and the antiquities dealer's name from Hobby Lobby and the museum,' the filing reads. The museum has been cooperating with the government's investigation and said it fully supports the effort to return the tablet to Iraq. Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has offered President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (ACC) Andy Hunder and Executive Director of the European Business Association (EBA) Anna Derevyanko cooperation to develop trade and attract investment, the press service of the ministry said. "In the United States, Asian countries, and EU countries, the protection of internal business abroad, the development of trade, and the attraction of investments are some of the key functions of the foreign ministries. Now we are creating such an effective system of economic diplomacy in Ukraine. I would like to invite the leading Ukrainian business to unite forces," Kuleba said during a video conference on Tuesday. Kuleba also told about the relaunch of the Council of Exporters and Investors under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A meeting of the members, 80% of whom were reelected, is scheduled for May 21. Participants will be organized according to industry principles and will develop a joint work plan for the year. The minister also shared with Hunder and Derevyanko his vision of cooperation between the diplomatic system and business, which will fill the agenda of relations with other countries with real cooperation projects, liberalize trade, expand the geography of exports, and attract investment in Ukraine. Kuleba believes that successful Ukrainian business is also able to play a key role in establishing an effective system of economic diplomacy. It is, in particular, about professional expert assessment, attracting business to diplomatic education, and conducting special trainings and courses. Derevyanko and Hunder, in turn, expressed gratitude for the initiative, which, in their opinion, is able to bring cooperation between business and diplomacy to a new level and contribute to the protection of Ukrainian economic interests. For their part, they confirmed their readiness to cooperate under the Council of Exporters and Investors, as well as in the development of an assessment system and diplomatic education. The parties paid special attention to the subject of encouraging foreign companies that transfer production from other regions of the world closer to sales markets, to locating production in Ukraine. President Donald Trump admits that he has been taking the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, according to a recently published article. What is Hydroxychloroquine? Hydroxychloroquine is a medicine popularly known to treat people with malaria, a disease that enters the body through mosquito bites. This is a disease is commonly found in people living in Africa, South America, and Southern Asia. The drug has been in the different news outlets since March this year because many claims that it has the potential to cure COVID-19, while others also insisted that the claim is not yet scientifically proven could pose risk and danger to a person's health. Additionally, the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration has authorized the use of hydroxychloroquine for adults and adolescents weighing at least 110 pounds and are hospitalized due to COVID-19 only for emergency purposes but does not approve to use this to treat the virus. Using this without the prescription or advice from physicians or doctors is extremely dangerous. It could damage the retina, cause low blood cell counts, low blood sugar, unusual mood changes, yellowing of eyes, seizure, and more. Pres. Trump Admits That He Has Been Taking Hydroxychloroquine Pres. Trump announced on Monday that he has been taking the pills every day for almost a week and a half to prevent getting the infectious and deadly COVID-19. It can be recounted that the President touted the medicine as a cure for the virus last month. During a roundtable with the restaurant, leaders in the White House, he said: "I'm taking it - hydroxychloroquine. I think it's good. I've heard a lot of good stories. And, if it's not good, I'll tell you right, I'm not going to get hurt by it" acocording to a report. Pres. Trump also said that he consulted Dr. Sean Conley, the White House Physician, before taking the drug. In a separate interview with Dr. Conley, he said: "After numerous discussions he and I had about regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks." Meanwhile, the use of this drug to treat COVID-19 is still subject for debate and recent analysis shows that the use of the drug for COVID-19 patients in U.S. veterans' hospitals has found no evidence of treating the patients, instead there was high mortality rate for those who were given with the drug compared to standard care. Pres. Trump was influenced to use the publicly endorsed to the drug because of the study in France where 40 COVID-19 patients were treated using the hydroxychloroquine and more than half of the patients have experienced improvements in their airways within three to six days. However, experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci have warned that that the study is relatively too small to come up with a major generalization that the virus is indeed helpful in treating the virus. Olivier Veran, France's Health Minister, that it should not be used by anyone except only of "serious forms of hospitalization and on the collegial decision of doctors and under strict medical supervision." Read related articles: JERSEYVILLE Felony charges recently filed by the Jersey County States Attorneys Office include: Danielle M. Diaz, of Roxana, was charged April 27 with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony. According to court documents, on April 26 Diaz allegedly was found in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine. No bail amount was set, and the warrant was served at the Greene County Jail. Zachery C. Zepeda, of Chester, was charged May 8 with unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a Class 3 felony; and resisting a peace officer, a Class A misdemeanor. According to court documents, on May 8 Zepeda allegedly was found in possession of less than five grams of methamphetamine, and refused to obey a police officer attempting to place him into custody. No bail was set. Brendan D. Hartley, of Jerseyville, was charged May 8 with unlawful possession of controlled substance, a Class 4 felony. Court documents stated that on April 28 Hartley allegedly was found to be in possession of less than 15 grams of testosterone. No bail was set. The Andhra Pradesh CID police have registered a case against a 60-year-old woman for allegedly posting in social media questions pertaining to the recent Styrene gas leak incident in Visakhapatnam in which 12 people lost their lives and hundreds fell ill. The CID is also investigating the role of a man, Malladi Raghunath in the matter. A case has been booked against the woman, P Ranganayaki, under IPC sections 505 (2) (making statements that create or promote enmity),153 (A) (indulging in wanton vilification), 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 120-B r/w 34 (criminal conspiracy), a press release from the CID said on Tuesday. When contacted P V Sunil Kumar, additional DGP (CID) told PTI that a notice under section 41 (A) of the CrPC (notice of appearance before police officer) was also served on her. The woman in her social media account raised 20 questions such as why there were no arrests in the Vizag gas leak case and why the government allowed the leftover Styrene to be sent back to South Korea. A senior police official claimed the woman was a TDP sympathiser. Talking to reporters at her residence, Ranganayaki said she did not have any bad intentions and merely shared a post put by her friend. "I took permission from my friend and copy pasted it.I dont have any bad intentions. I do not know if my post is so offensive," she said. TDP chief and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu condemned the case against the elderly woman and said she has been served notice by the CID for speaking out against the government. Meanwhile, police warned people not to indulge in false propaganda against the government or its machinery leading to law and order problems. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By PTI COLOMBO: President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday warned that Sri Lanka will not hesitate to withdraw from any international forum if the country's "war heroes" were targeted or harassed as he addressed the 11th anniversary of the end of the over three-decade long civil war against the LTTE. Tamil separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which led an armed rebellion for over three decades against the Sri Lankan government to set up a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern province of the island nation was defeated by the Sri Lankan Army on May 19, 2009. "Our troops were up against the world's most feared terrorist group who paid no respect to the law. "Even the world's most powerful countries have told that they would not subject their troops to be harassed by anyone," said Rajapaksa, who spearheaded the military campaign then as the top defence ministry bureaucrat. "As such, in a small country like ours where our war heroes have sacrificed so much, I will not allow anyone or organisation to put pressure on them and harass them. "We will not hesitate to withdraw from any organisation or agency if our war heroes are targeted," Rajapaksa said at the War Heroe's Day, marking the 11th anniversary of the military victory over the LTTE. Sri Lankan troops under the president's brother Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency faced war crimes allegations for their conduct in the final phase of the bloody armed campaign which ended on May 19, 2009. The UN rights body has passed three successive resolutions since 2013 calling for war crimes investigations on both government troops and the LTTE. The previous Mahinda Rajapaksa government refused to cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) mechanism to probe the war crimes allegations against the troops. With his defeat in the 2015 election, his successor Maithripala Sirisena's government agreed to cooperate with the UNHRC and even co-sponsored the last resolution in September 2015. Gotabaya Rajapaksa was highly critical of the Sirisena government's co-sponsoring of the resolution, and had vowed to withdraw from the UNHRC resolutions in the run up to the presidential election held in November, which culminated in his landslide victory. The formal end to the bloody separatist war was signalled on May 19, 2009 with the discovery of the body of the feared LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabakaran. Sri Lanka's human rights record, particularly over the impunity enjoyed by law enforcement officers, has been the subject of international condemnation. The UN Human Rights Council has called for an international probe into the alleged war crimes during the military conflict with the LTTE. According to the government figures, around 20,000 people are missing due to various conflicts, including the war with Lankan Tamils which claimed at least 100,000 lives. Renowned for its iconic design and craftsmanship, the Florentine luxury watchmaker Panerai announces the favourable court decision against a third party which was manufacturing and distributing counterfeit Panerai watches. The courts decision in favour of Panerai, is illustrative of the Maisons consistent drive to protect the intellectual property of its watches as well as to support the brand equity. The courts decision sets precedent for protecting Panerais iconic watch collections in the future, allowing the Maison to further its commitment to act against infringers globally. Panerai sued Awsky, the Company and its owner on the ground that they were manufacturing and distributing unauthorised copies of the brands iconic watches. The decision rendered by Guangdong Shenzhen Luohu District Peoples Court last October 12th 2019 and confirmed as final on April 13th 2020, was the last step in a process that started in 2016, when Panerai first took legal action against Awsky. As Awsky initially agreed to stop the infringement, the matter was settled, however, later Awsky reneged on the agreement which forced Panerai to act again. The court has ordered the defendants in the case to cease the sales of the infringing watches immediately. The defendants are also required to compensate Panerai for the trademark infringement. Panerai authentic watch Radiomir PAM00532 & Awsky's counterfeit watch *PE011SS Panerai (* Unauthorised copy of the authentic Panerai watch) Like many successful brands, Panerai is sometimes faced with unscrupulous companies and individuals who illegally and unfairly exploit our strong reputation by copying our watches, as stated by Panerai CEO, Jean-Marc Pontroue. At Panerai, our products are our heroes and the defence of our loyal customers, brand equity and designs assets are of paramount importance. Panerai has a long lasting and active strategy for our IP assets worldwide and has the resources and experience to enforce our rights against infringers. We do so frequently and consistently by monitoring infringers online and offline, tracking them down and taking decisive action against them, worldwide. Our approach pays off, as illustrated by our recent case against infringer Awsky. Awsky was a significant target: they sold 48 different Panerai lookalike models in at least 16 online stores and had significant investments to promote its products. In this case, we were able to use registered 3D trademarks protecting the design of our products to obtain a favourable court decision against Awsky, added Mr. Pontroue. We are very happy with the outcome and we will use this precedent to further intensify our efforts against infringers who will not be tolerated. As part of Richemont, Panerai is well renowned for its iconic design and distinctive details of its watches a large cushion-shaped case, luminescent numerals and indices, the use of overlapping plates for the dial for a stunning underwater visibility, the patent for the crown-protecting bridge that was originally born to meet the needs of the Italian Navy. At the annual assembly, Nizar Yazigi attacks the "inhuman blockade" imposed by the West on the Arab country. In addition to paralyzing economic and social life, sanctions have affected health care and he calls for removal. But Washington is ready to pass a law with even harsher targeted sanctions Assad and the government even harder. Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The "coercive and unjust" western sanctions are hitting the country's health and territorial medicine, engaged in the hard fight to contain the new coronavirus pandemic and for this reason they must be removed. During the videoconference meeting of the member states of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Syrian health minister said yesterday that the nation has already been battered by nine years of conflict and could risk collapse. The economic sanctions which are coercive and unfair have been impeding the capacities of many essential services, in particular healthcare services, Health Minister Nizar Yazigi told a virtual WHO annual assembly, referring to European Union and U.S. sanctions. We call once more on the removal of these measures so we can ensure the health and safety of our citizens, he added, calling the sanctions an inhumane blockade. Christian personalities have appealed that the sanctions be lifted, to alleviate the suffering of the population. From the Maronite archbishop of Damascus who speaks of the country in an "abyss", to the apostolic vicar of Aleppo according to whom they are a "crime" that "suffocates the population", passing through a Christian doctor who considers them an "obstacle "in the fight against Covid -19 criticism multiplies. These voices also include Pope Francis himself, who in the Easter message asked that "international sanctions be loosened [...]", while not explicitly mentioning Syria and Iran. Unlike many other Middle Eastern nations, including Iran and Turkey, Syria has so far not experienced a spike in new coronavirus infections. However, according to experts, the data is seriously underestimated. Official estimates speak of 58 infections and three official victims. The appeal launched yesterday by the Syrian health minister to WHO seems destined to fall on deaf ears, especially overseas. In fact, in the next few weeks Washington is preparing to implement the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, an even more punitive law that sanctions the Syrian government and President Bashar al-Assad himself for the (alleged) crimes against the Syrian people. The new norm is expected to come into effect in June and will affect anyone who will helps or collaborates with the leadership of the Arab country. Mayoral candidates do not need support from any political parties, Head of the Servant of the People faction David Arakhamia has said. "We stick to the following combined method: people run for elections to local councils from parties, while mayoral candidates should run for elections as unaffiliated candidates," he said in an exclusive interview to Interfax-Ukraine. The MP emphasized that each Ukrainian citizens should have the right to run for elections. "The party is named the Servant of the People and we should not create any barriers. We want any person to have an absolutely unhindered opportunity to run for local elections As to mayors, we have the same situation here," Arakhamia said. The political system needs a reboot and the local elections should play an important part in this process, he said. "We want to continue our political tsunami at the local elections We have to reboot the political system. Should we expect any side effects? Of course we should. But we have to do this," Arakhamia said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: The trade turnover between Turkey and Israel decreased by slightly over $97.1 million in March 2020 compared to the same month of 2019, making up $520.3 million, Trend reports with reference to the Turkish Trade Ministry. "In March 2020, Turkeys export to Israel amounted to $389.4 million, while import from Israel made up $130.8 million," the ministry said. From January through March 2020, trade turnover between Turkey and Israel declined by $99.2 million compared to the same period of last year, making up $1.49 billion. In particular, export from Turkey to Israel amounted to slightly over $1.1 billion, while import from Israel - $364.7 million. Turkeys foreign trade turnover exceeded $32.2 billion in March 2020. Meanwhile, Turkeys export decreased by 17.8 percent compared to the same month of 2019, amounting to $13.4 billion, and import increased by 3.1 percent compared to the same month of 2019 and amounted to $18.8 billion. From January through March 2020, Turkeys trade turnover exceeded $98.4 billion. During 1Q2020, export of Turkey dropped by 4 percent compared to the same period of 2019, amounting to $42.7 billion. In the reporting period, Turkeys import exceeded $55.6 billion, showing an increase of 10.3 percent over the year. The foreign trade turnover of Turkey amounted to $374.2 billion in 2019. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu [May 19, 2020] Cygilant Expands Globally with New Belfast Office Cygilant, provider of Cybersecurity-as-a-Service to mid-sized organizations, today announced its first expansion into the European market with a new office and security operations center (SOC) in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The new office opening is part of the company's recent strategic global growth and expansion. Cygilant is the city's first Cybersecurity-as-a-Service provider and joins a growing innovation hub of technology and cybersecurity companies that have chosen Belfast as their home. Cygilant provides Cybersecurity-as-a-Service to mid-sized organizations through a combination of automated tools and personalized advice. The Belfast office will service the company's 200 plus customers, with a specific focus on helping those in the finance, education, healthcare, and retail industries ensuring they are protected from the latest cybersecurity threats. The Belfast team monitors customer networks for potential breaches and threats, and then works with each internal IT team to repair any issues before they become problems. "When we decided to expand into the European market, we quickly realized there was no better place than Belfast. The city is full of great people who have an unbelievable work ethic - truly matching and embodying the customer service first culture we have here at Cygilant. Belfast is also the sister city to Boston and is easily accessible within EMEA and from our home in Boston, so all the pieces just fit nicely together," said Rob Scott, president and chief executive officer at Cygilant. "We look forward to becoming a critical component of Belfast's burgeoning innovation economy for years to come." Cygilant chose to expand into Belfast because of the area's incredibly skilled talent pool - one that is consistently replenished with graduates from the city's top universities. With a physical presence in EMEA, Cygilant can continue to build and foster best of breed partnerships in Europe, while complying with GDPR regulations. Cygilant recently announced a partnership with London's Barac, which provides the leading platform for protecting organizations against malware hidden in encrypted traffic through AI metadata analysis. "We built the Belfast SOC from the ground up to establish a new world-class hub of cybersecurity expertise. Our team is already hard at work helping customers identify and solve cybersecurity threats faster than ever before," said Ben Harrison, Director of Global Security Operations and Belfast Site lead at Cyglant. "Medium-sized businesses have limited resources - but experience the same or worse cybersecurity issues as larger organizations. With the addition of the new Belfast office, Cygilant is a solution for those businesses that need affordable, yet reliable cybersecurity around the world." To assist with the expansion locally, Cygilant has been supported by Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI), the regional business development agency that helps grow the local Northern Ireland economy. The agency has helped us secure office space, foster local partnerships, and increase local hiring efforts. "We are delighted to welcome Cygilant into Belfast's thriving cybersecurity community. Northern Ireland is the number one international investment location for U.S. cybersecurity firms because we understand the unique, rapidly evolving skillsets required by American companies in this critical sector. We actively partner with investors and universities to ensure our talent pool is prepared to hit the ground running. We look forward to helping Cygilant thrive and grow in Northern Ireland," said Peta Conn, Executive Vice President of the Americas at Invest Northern Ireland (News - Alert). Located in the city center of Belfast (Centrepoint, 24 Ormeau Avenue, Belfast), the office currently employs 25 people in roles ranging from Cybersecurity Advisor (CSA) to SOC engineer. The opening of the Belfast office is just the beginning for Cygilant in Northern Ireland, as the company plans to announce local partnerships, expand the team with skilled talent, and help current talent grow within the company. Cygilant is currently hiring multiple roles in the Belfast office. For those interested in applying, please visit cygilant.com/careers. Supporting Resources Read about today's announcement on the Cygilant Blog. Register for our webinar on Thursday, May 28, 2020 at 12 p.m. ET, about what vendors won't tell you about selecting your SOC-as-a-Service provider. Visit our Website and connect with Cygilant via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. About Cygilant Cygilant protects mid-sized organizations from the latest cybersecurity threats through a combination of automated tools and personalized advice. The company provides dedicated Cybersecurity Advisors (CSAs), who work directly with customers as an extension of their team; global 247 Security Operation Centers (SOCs), which constantly monitor customers' networks using the latest threat hunting, detection, patch management and incident response technologies; and its SOCVue Platform, which consolidates multiple streams of security data to help detect and respond to threats faster. For more information about how Cybersecurity-as-a-Service can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your security team, please visit www.cygilant.com, read the company blog, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005268/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:951 /var/cache/mason/obj/1784076917/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. 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Mother-of-two Denica Caneva was stunned when daughter Gabriela was born on 30th April last year with a full head of thick, black hair which stood on end. The 34-year-old said the tots unusually bouffant hairdo continued to grow as she did and Gabi, one, is now blessed with a glossy shoulder length mane. Denica and husband Zvezdelin Zaharinov, 43, who run a commerce business together, were amazed when they realised older daughter Ivonas wish to play with a sisters hair had come true in such an incredible way. Gabi is now a local celebrity in her home city of Sofia, Bulgaria, and has thousands of fans from all over the world on her Instagram page @gabi_zaharinova who point out her resemblance to princess Rapunzel. Denica Cavena, from Sofia, Bulgaria, revealed how her second daughter, Gabriela, now one but pictured as a young baby, has gone viral thanks to her impressive mane Mother-of-two Denica was stunned when daughter Gabriela was born on April 30 last year with a full head of thick, black hair which stood on end Denica said: 'When Gabi was born and I saw her for the first time, along with the long, thick hair she had been blessed with, I was impressed. 'Ivona had been dreaming of her for a long time. 'Every day she used to ask me "Mummy, when will I have a sister so I can play with her hair?". 'Her dream turned into a beautiful reality because Gabi looked like she had just come out of a fairytale. Gabriela, pictures now with Denica, was born with longer hair than other babies and now has luscious shoulder-length black hair A beach day to remember! Gabriela, between sister Ivona, six and Denica, ofter captures the attention of passers-by It's hard being this fabulous. Denica said nurses in the maternity unit has never seen a baby with such hair 'Nurses said they had never seen a newborn baby with such long hair she obviously looked very different to the other babies.' Gabi became famous for her incredible locks after six-year-old Ivonas godmother gifted the family a photoshoot as a present for the newborn. When the pictures were shared on Facebook they went viral flooding the page with positive comments and comparisons with various fairytale characters. Ivona, who wanted a younger sister so she could play with her hair, was delighted with Gabriela's mane Denica, holding Gabriela after giving birth, was shocked to see how much hair her baby girl had Now crawling and standing, Gabriela still attracts looks wirth her thick hair, which is so long she has to tie it on the top of her hair so she can see Ivona wanted a sister with 'Rapunzel' hair, so naturally, Gabriela's birthday was themed after the Disney animated movie m with a giant cake of the princess Gabriela on the day of her baptism, sitting in the arms of Ivona. She said Gabu loved to be the centre of attention Denica said: 'The comparison which suits Gabi most is Rapunzel. 'Before the public began to react, I was not aware she was that different. 'When we go outside for walks, people turn their heads to look at her and smile. 'Gabi loves being the centre of attention apart from her long hair, she fascinates people with her big, warm smile.' Denica said during her pregnancy she craved spicy foods, but she doesnt think this is what caused Gabis long hair. Denica said during her pregnancy she craved spicy foods, but she doesnt think this is what caused Gabis long hair A scan of Gabi from when Denica was pregnant with her. Her generous hair took Denica completely by surprise Gabriela's hair and cheeky smile make her the star of the playground whenever she gets on the net Gabriela rolling on the sofa at nine months. Denica pays religious attention to her daughter's hair She has no idea where her mop came from because when Ivona was born, she only had fluffy baby hair as most newborns do. Denica only styles the tots locks using the highest quality hair products, and said her daughter loves to have her hair washed, combed and dried. She said: 'When it comes to hair products, we are very picky. Ivona, pictured with Gabi on a snowy day. said her favourite activity is to comb and style her little sister's hair Ivona wanted a sister so she could play with her hair, and definitely got what she wanted when Gabriela was born At seven months, Gabriela's thick and glossy hair was already reaching neck length and still growing Gaby as a newborn. The little girl has always had a copious amount of hair from her birth, which only grew stronger over time Edward Scissor hands? Denica said she only used the best styling products to look after that mane Grandma Gayla taking Gabriela on a stroll during a family holiday last summer. She was only a few months old, but her hair was already long and stood on her hand 'We use only high-quality cosmetics that have been proven safe, and I go to the pharmacy to buy shampoo much more often than most mothers of young babies. 'Our little Rapunzel really enjoys it when her hair is being washed we create foam bubbles and put them all over her hair. 'Hair-drying is a lot of fun as well. When I dry Gabis hair, it tickles her face, and she laughs with enjoyment. 'Her sister, Ivona, combs her hair afterwards.' Denica said washing and drying Gabriela's thick hair was a lot of fun,a s the blow-dryer always tickled the baby's face Ivona with Gabriela and their parents Denica and dad Zvezdelin Zaharinov in a family portrait last weekend A three months, Gabi's short hair was so thick, it stood on her head. Pictured marking the day with Ivona and Gayla Some 36 persons, mostly foreigners, have been arrested by the Western Regional Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) for allegedly using unapproved routes to either enter or exit the country. While some of the suspects had been quarantined, others were escorted back to their countries. According to the Regional Public Affairs Officer of the GIS, Assistant Inspector Moses Manford Akakpo, on Tuesday, May 12 at about 6:45 pm, a team of immigration officers on their usual surveillance prevented 12 Burkinabe and a Ghanaian from using unapproved route at Nzentenu in Half Assini in the Jomoro District. He said but for the swiftness of the patrol officers and the cooperation of some community members, the stubborn travellers could not have been intercepted. Investigations revealed that the suspects were unrelated but arrived at Nzentenu community almost at the same time. He said their samples had since been taken and the suspects put under quarantine, awaiting results. He indicated that the results would eventually inform the next line of action by the Jomoro Municipal Security Council. The following day, at about 10:30 pm, 11 Ivorian nationals were also intercepted at Berlin, an unapproved entry point near Newtown Border Post in the Jomoro Municipality. He said they had since been escorted back to the Ivorian security. He said 12 other ECOWAS nationals were also refused entry at Appolenu unapproved entry point in the municipality on the same day. ---Daily Guide Technavio has been monitoring the IT spending market by audit firms market and it is poised to grow by USD 2.84 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 8% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, the 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/20200519005072/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global IT Spending Market by Audit Firms Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is concentrated, and the degree of concentration will accelerate during the forecast period. Accenture Plc, Apple Inc., Capgemini Services SAS, Cisco Systems Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., Fujitsu Ltd., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., and SAP SE are some of the major market participants. The increasing adoption of audit management services will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Increasing adoption of audit management services has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. IT Spending Market by Audit Firms Market 2020-2024: Segmentation IT Spending Market by Audit Firms Market is segmented as below: Type IT Services IT Software IT Hardware Geography North America Europe APAC South America MEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43662 IT Spending Market by Audit Firms 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 IT spending market by audit firms market report covers the following areas: IT Spending Market by Audit Firms Market size IT Spending Market by Audit Firms Market trends IT Spending Market by Audit Firms Market industry analysis This study identifies increased demand for cloud-based audit management software as one of the prime reasons driving the IT spending market by audit firms market growth during the next few years. IT Spending Market by Audit Firms Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the IT spending market by audit firms market, including some of the vendors such as Accenture Plc, Apple Inc., Capgemini Services SAS, Cisco Systems Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., Fujitsu Ltd., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co., International Business Machines Corp., Microsoft Corp., and SAP SE. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the IT spending market by audit firms market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform IT Spending Market by Audit Firms Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist it spending market by audit firms market growth during the next five years Estimation of the IT spending market by audit firms market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the IT spending market by audit firms market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of it spending market by audit firms market vendors Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Type Market segments Comparison by Type IT services Market size and forecast 2019-2024 IT software Market size and forecast 2019-2024 IT hardware Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Type Customer Landscape 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 by geography Market drivers Market challenges Market trends Vendor Landscape Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Competitive scenario Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors Accenture Plc Apple Inc. Capgemini Services SAS Cisco Systems Inc. Dell Technologies Inc. Fujitsu Ltd. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. International Business Machines Corp. Microsoft Corp. SAP SE Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005072/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ In early 2020 Libyan GNA (Government of National Accord) forces captured a base belonging to a Berber militia allied with the LNA (Libyan National Army) and found several Chinese GP6 155mm laser-guided artillery shells. These were apparently obtained from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) which has supported the LNA since 2013, via air transport or by road from Egypt. The GNA has received support from Qatar and Sudan. Sudan has withdrawn its support and Qatari support was limited to weapons and ammo flown in. The Libyan civil war began in 2012 when Islamic terror groups and dozens of major militias throughout the country fought for control after the overthrow of the Kaddafi dictatorship in 2011. Islamic militias controlled the eastern cities of Tripoli and Misrata. A previous elected H0R (House of Representatives) government is based in the eastern cities of Tobruk and Benghazi and its LNA controls over eighty percent of the country. The rival, UN-backed GNA government called in the Turks in late 2019. This Turkish intervention has been condemned by most Arab nations. Russia sent in spare parts and technicians to refurbish a lot of the Russian made, Cold War era, combat vehicles and artillery the LNA was using. Initially, the UAE supplied light aircraft and Chinese made armed UAVs (similar to the American Predator). Turkey brought in their own UAVs, which were also similar to the Predator. The UAE has supplied many other types of military equipment to the LNA but has never provided details because technically Libya is under a UN arms embargo which was violated from the start by smugglers and later nations. But how did the Chinese laser-guided shells get to Libya? The UAE is known to have bought the GP6 from China but where did China get the idea from? The design of the GP6 is based on the Russian 1990s 152mm Krasnopol shell which in turn was based on the 1970s American 155mm Copperhead laser-guided shell. China bought a manufacturing license for Krasnopol in 1997 and, dissatisfied with its performance, developed their own version, the GP1, which were effective 20 kilometers from the gun. This led to an improved (more capable and resistant to jamming) GP6 shell that is good up to 25 kilometers. By the 1990s Russia had developed a 155mm version of Krasnopol and by early 1999 sold a hundred of these to India. These guided shells were used in the late-1999 war between India and Pakistan near Kargil, high in the Himalayan Mountains along their border. India bought that initial lot of Krasnopol 155mm shells and laser designators for evaluation. When the fighting broke out in Kargil, the army used Krasnopol and found that these shells were only worked about 25 percent of the time when used against targets high in the frigid mountains. The shells were also incompatible with some of the 155mm howitzers the Indian Army used. Russian and Indian artillery officers agreed that Krasnopol was not effective in high mountains. Russia had tested Krasnopol at sea-level and the 2,500 meter high mountains of the Northern Caucasus. The Kargil fighting was in mountains three to four times higher and much colder. Russia fixed these problems and sold thousands of additional Krasnopol shells to India. France evaluated these improved Krasnopol shells in 2001 and found they did work with Western 155mm howitzers and laser designators. China noted the Kargil problems and avoided those early problems and are now exporting more laser-guided shells than Russia. The U.S. found the Copperhead too expensive and not worth the effort in actual combat. Troops were still eager to have a workable guided shell and in 2007 the U.S. put a 155mm GPS guided shell into service. A decade later there were two types of GPS guided shells in service and both proved very effective in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. As with other GPS and laser-guided weapons the laser-guided shells are more accurate. This did not bother the Americans who had plenty of laser-guided weapons and have steadily improved the accuracy of their GPS guided shells. One disadvantage of laser-guided shells is that to work they require someone near the target (on the ground or in the air) to aim a laser at the target so the shell can home in on the reflected laser light. That has not proved to be a major problem but the GPS guided shells have become the favorite for the artillery crews that use them and the ground troops who call in artillery fire. The GPS shell means far fewer shells have to be fired to hit a target and that a target can be hit with the first shell. This is a major advantage because after the first shell lands the enemy takes cover and subsequent shells are much less effective. The GPS guided shells is also a lot safer for friendly troops who can be closer to the target without danger of being hit. In Libya the GP6 shell made the LNA forces a lot more effective when fighting in urban areas. PUNE, India, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global linerless labels market is set to gain momentum from their rising demand from the packaging & labeling industry. It is mainly occurring as the concerns regarding liner waste are upsurging. This information is published by Fortune Business Insights in a recent report, titled, "Linerless Labels Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Adhesion Type (Permanent, Removable, Repositionable, and Others), By Printing Technology (Direct Thermal, Thermal Transfer, Laser, Inkjet, and Others), By Application (Food & Beverage, Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care, Retail, Logistics and Others), By Component (Facestock, Adhesive, and Release Coating) and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027" The report further mentions that the linerless labels market size was USD 2.33 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 3.41 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.0% during the forecast period. Linerless Labels Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2027 COVID-19 Impact Analysis: The emergence of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill. We understand that this health crisis has brought an unprecedented impact on businesses across industries. However, this too shall pass. Rising support from governments and several companies can help in the fight against this highly contagious disease. There are some industries that are struggling and some are thriving. Overall, almost every sector is anticipated to be impacted by the pandemic. We are taking continuous efforts to help your business sustain and grow during COVID-19 pandemics. Based on our experience and expertise, we will offer you an impact analysis of coronavirus outbreak across industries to help you prepare for the future. To Get the Short-Term and Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 on this market, Please Visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/covid19-impact/linerless-labels-market-102778 This Report Answers the Following Questions: What are the strategies adopted by key companies to increase sales? Which region is expected to lead the market by generating the largest revenue? Which segment would dominate the market by gaining the maximum share? What are the growth drivers and obstacles that the market may come across in the coming years? What are the challenges and opportunities in the market? Drivers & Restraints: Rising Usage of Attractive & Food-safe Labels to Spur Growth Brand recognition plays a vital role when it comes to the sales of food products worldwide. Labeling is a significant part of branding. The utilization of food-safe and attractive labels helps the food and beverage industry to grow. In the Latin American and Asian countries, namely, Brazil, Japan, and Southeast Asia, food products, such as fruits, bacon, and ham are packed with linerfree labels. Also, several ruling bodies have put forward strict norms and regulations regarding the information that is to be printed on the labels of food products. Unlike conventional labels, linerless labels are capable of including 30% more print. In addition to this, manufacturers won't have to change the dimensions of linerless labels and thus, they can be easily used instead of the traditional ones. They are also cost-effective and hence, are very popular in the food and beverage sector. The expansion of food and beverage industry across the globe is likely to contribute to the growth of the backingless labels market growth in the coming years. However, the regular shapes of linerless labels may not fulfil the requirements for a novel trademark. It may hamper growth. Segmentation: Food & Beverage Segment to Hold Largest Share Backed by the High Demand for Linerless Labels Based on application, the market is segregated into logistics, retail, pharmaceutical & personal care, food & beverage, and others. Amongst these, the retail segment held 16.9% linerfree labels market share in 2019. The food & beverage segment is expected to procure the largest share throughout the forthcoming period as it is necessary for the prominent companies to differentiate their products from the competitors. Therefore, they need a wide variety of labels to showcase authentic information regarding the contents of the product. Browse Detailed Research Insights with TOC: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/linerless-labels-market-102778 Regional Analysis: Growth of E-commerce to Drive Market in Asia Pacific Geographically, the market is categorized into the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. Out of these, Asia Pacific generated USD 892.5 million revenue in 2019. This growth is attributable to the expansion of e-commerce in this region. North America is anticipated to grow considerably backed by the presence of a well-established retail sector in the U.S. Also, the demand for retail and personal care goods would upsurge because of the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. For gaining the confidence of customers, companies are demanding for eye-catching labels for their products. In Europe, the market is set to grow steadily owing to the high demand from the pharmaceutical industry. Competitive Landscape: Key Players Focus on R&D Activities to Develop New Products The market is semi-consolidated. Most of the top players are investing hefty amount of money in research and development activities to introduce innovative linerless labels and their components. Fortune Business Insights lists out the names of all the companies present in the global Linerless Labels Market. They are as follows: Coveris Avery Dennison Corporation Ravenwood Packaging Innovia Films Constantania Flexibles Lexit Group AS RR Donnelley & Sons Company Gipako UAB Hub Labels Cenveo Corporation Reflex Labels Ltd. Skanem AS NAStar Inc. 3M Optimum Group SATO Europe GmbH Tereoka Seiko Co., Ltd. L&N Label Company Proprint Group DuraFast Label Company Bizerba Australia Bostik Dykam A.C.A. Ltd. Weber Packaging Solutions Other key players Quick Buy - Linerless Labels Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/102778 Detailed Table of Content: Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Key Emerging Trends For Major Countries Key Developments: Mergers, Acquisition, Partnership, etc. Latest Technological Advancement Insights on Regulatory Scenario Porters Five Forces Analysis Global Linerless Labels Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2027 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Adhesion Type Permanent Removable Repositionable Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Printing Technology Direct Thermal Thermal Transfer Laser Inkjet Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Application Food & Beverage Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care Retail Logistics Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Component Facestock Adhesive Release Coating Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Region North America Europe Asia pacific pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa TOC Continued! Get your Customized Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/linerless-labels-market-102778 Below are two of the latest key industry developments: Have a Look at Related Research Insights: January 2020 : Bostik unveiled its new linerless label adhesive. It is mainly designed to improve efficiencies of production line and deliver sustainable packaging, especially for quick service restaurant applications. : Bostik unveiled its new linerless label adhesive. It is mainly designed to improve efficiencies of production line and deliver sustainable packaging, especially for quick service restaurant applications. May 2019 : R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (RRD) announced the broadening of its label manufacturing platform. It added a 26" linerless press for this expansion. The press was developed by ETI Converting Equipment. Adhesive Tape Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Pressure-Sensitive, Water-Activated, Heat-Sensitive, Others), By Adhesion Technology (Solvent-Based, Water-Based, Hot-Melt Based, Others), By Resin (Acrylic, Rubber, Silicone), By Base Material (Paper, Polypropylene (PP), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Others), By End-Use Industry (Automotive & Transportation, Electrical & Electronics, Paper & Packaging) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Specialty Tapes Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Film Type (Acrylic, Rubber, Silicone, Others [Polyurethane (PU), Phenolic, EVA, and Butyl]), By Backing Material (PVC, Paper, Polyester, PET, Foam, PP, Others), By End-Use Application (Automotive, Paper & Printing, Healthcare, White Goods, Electrical & Electronics) Others and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Smart Label Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Technology (Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) Security, RFID, Sensing Labels, Near Field Communication Tag, and QR Code/2D Barcode), By End-User (Retail, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Food & Beverages, Consumer Electronics, Supply Chain and Logistics, Transportation, and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Automotive Tapes Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Specialty, Double-sided, Masking, Others), By Function (Bonding, Masking, Noise, vibration, and harshness {NVH}, Others), By Application (Interior, Exterior, Wire Harnessing, Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Building & Construction Tapes Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Double Sided Tapes, Masking Tapes, Duct Tapes, Other Tapes), By Application (Flooring, Walls & Ceiling, Windows, Doors, Roofing, others), By Function (Bonding, Protection, Insulation, Glazing, Sound & Water Proofing, others), By End Use Industries (Residential, Commercial, Industrial) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Electronic Shelf Labels Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, By Type (LCD Based, E-Paper Based), By Communication Technology (Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Near Field Communication (NFC), Others), By End-Use (Hypermarket/ Supermarket, Non-Food Retail Stores, Specialty Stores, Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. We tailor innovative solutions for our clients, assisting them to address challenges distinct to their businesses. Our goal is to empower our clients with holistic market intelligence, giving a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Our reports contain a unique mix of tangible insights and qualitative analysis to help companies achieve sustainable growth. Our team of experienced analysts and consultants use industry-leading research tools and techniques to compile comprehensive market studies, interspersed with relevant data. At Fortune Business Insights, we aim at highlighting the most lucrative growth opportunities for our clients. We, therefore, offer recommendations, making it easier for them to navigate through technological and market-related changes. Our consulting services are designed to help organizations identify hidden opportunities and understand prevailing competitive challenges. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US: +1-424-253-0390 UK: +44-2071-939123 APAC: +91-744-740-1245 Email: [email protected] Fortune Business Insights LinkedIn | Twitter | Blogs Read Press Release: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/press-release/linerless-labels-market-9914 SOURCE Fortune Business Insights West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that containment zones in the state would shrink in size to offer relaxation to more people as the government would divide the containment zones into three categories. Banerjee also allowed a slew of new relaxations, paving the path towards restoring normalcy. The containment zones would be split into A, B, and C referring to the affected area, buffer zone and clean areas, respectively. Lockdown will remain in force in containment zone A, while in B there would be certain restrictions. Normal activities will be allowed in zone C. The chief minister said all shops, except for those in areas classified as Containment Zone A, will open from May 21. These include salons and beauty parlours. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage As of May 18, the state had 612 containment zones, 339 of which were in Kolkata alone, with another 114 in North 24-Parganas and 76 in Howrah district. Masks and gloves are mandatory for every shopkeeper or employee. Specific guidelines will be issued for salons and beauty parlours, where the sitting arrangements and equipment would have to be sanitized after use by every customer, Mamata Banerjee said at the state secretariat on Monday. She also said that the government was not announcing a curfew from 7pm to 7 am, as has been declared by the Union government, but urged people not to gather after 7 pm. We are not announcing a curfew because it sounds bad but we urge you to avoid gathering and ensure that the police do not need to slap cases on you. The police will act if gatherings take place, she said. From May 27, Banerjee plans to allow hawker-run markets to open with 50% shops opening on alternate days. The police and the municipal authorities have been asked to formulate the mechanism for opening hawker-run markets that usually operate on pavements. The state will also allow auto-rickshaws to ply with two passengers. Usually, in Kolkata, auto-rickshaws ply with four passengers and in the district with five passengers. To bring back migrant workers, the state will requisition the railways for 120 more trains, adding the total trains requisitioned to 225, Banerjee announced. The chief minister also described the economic reforms and new economic policies announced by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the last four days as a big zero. The whole thing is a lie. We neither got rosogolla nor rajbhog, said the chief minister, referring to two popular Bengali sweets that are both spherical in shape. The FRBM relaxation to 5% actually works out to 0.5%. If we want to avail the whole of it then the state will have to give up its autonomy. There are conditions that say we have to increase the price of goods in municipal areas and give up our control of the public distribution system. We cannot do either. It is better to walk the path alone, said Banerjee. We got nothing (from Centre) to fight the Covid pandemic. There are states that imposed additional cess on petrol. We did not do such a thing, said Banerjee. Banerjee also reacted to the case of more than 350 nurses from private Covid-19 hospitals returning to their home states and said the government would be working with the hospitals to find a solution and see if unskilled people can be taken and trained to do basic jobs. On a day when we all remember Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond, RIP), out comes Nancy Pelosi with her sudden and newfound "concerns" for President Trump's health: I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group, and in his, shall we say, weight group: Morbidly obese, they say, says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Pres. Trumps revelation he is taking hydroxychloroquine. pic.twitter.com/0ImjpEjg9q Anderson Cooper 360 (@AC360) May 19, 2020 This has about as much authencity as a botox-frozen forehead or a three-trillion-dollar bill. After all, haven't Democrats been fantasizing about killing him? And what's with the fat-shaming? Here's a bit of the flavor: You know, I gotta say. If Trump wants to inject himself with disinfectant to kill the coronavirus, I'm not going to rush to dissuade him. George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) April 24, 2020 A full celebrity cavalcade of death threats against Trump can be read here. And don't forget this one, from one Candi CdeBaca, who wanted to spread coronavirus at Trump rallies. Heck, don't forget Pelosi's own daughter, Christine, who openly cheered for Sen. Rand Paul's violent convicted assailant. Now Pelosi is...concerned for Trump's health. She's got her head tilt on. This is rather disgusting. Pelosi's jabbing at President Trump over a statement he made, revealing that he is taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure to stave off the coronavirus. It was an idea, he said, that he picked up from first responders, who also used the drug this way and who probably told him about it. It's something he probably ought to be doing, given the number of people he meets and the fact that several people in the White House vicinity have already come down with COVID-19. And yes, he was doing it the right way, under medical supervision. That didn't stop Pelosi from wanting to play doctor and misdiagnosing him right off the bat in her characterization of him as "morbidly obese." Trump, in fact, stands at about 6'3" and has a body mass index of around 30, and his last known weight was about 240 pounds, so to call him "morbidly obese" is a bid to fat-shame him by flinging other people's illnesses at him. "Morbidly obese" is a clinical term for people with the condition of having a body mass index above 40 and trouble in daily functions such as walking and breathing. We usually feel compassion for these people, but Pelosi prefers to use it as an insult. It's doubtful they'd appreciate their difficult condition being hurled around as an insult. Pelosi knows that, but she couldn't stop herself. All the political correctness in the world couldn't stop her from her irresistible urge to fat-shame Trump. So much for hate not being a word used in her household remember this? "I was raised in a way that is a heart full of love, and always pray for the president," she continued. "And I still pray for the president. I pray for the president all the time. So don't mess with me when it comes to words like that." Had enough? All that left-wing preening about not fat-shaming others, and out the window it goes when the thought pops into her head about insulting Trump. Seems Pelosi's run out of arguments, and now she's resorting to concern trolling and fat shaming, squirming like a bag of snakes under that uncomfortable veneer of virtue. Image credit: Twitter screen shot. Zaruhi Postanjyan, lawyer of Hayeli Press Club and Angela Tovmasyan, has filed a complaint with Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan. Postanjyan wrote the following: On October 5, 2019, an attack was made on the office of Hayeli Press Club in Yerevan, and those who made the attack have close ties with the top lawmakers and government officials of Armenia. In their public statements and in their actions, the attackers emphasized that their mission is to silence those who criticize the incumbent authorities and act as a group that is ready to silence those criticizing Nikol Pashinyan and his opponents by using force and committing other criminally prosecutable acts. After Nikol Pashinyan became Prime Minister, the members of this group have made several attacks and were engaged as accused-on-trial in the criminal case instituted in relation to the attack on the office of Hayeli Press Club. According to official data, the people who attacked the office of the press club are unemployed and their formal task is under the name of the Guardians of the Revolution group. Moreover, their relationship with Nikol Pashinyan and the fact that they are sponsored by law-enforcement authorities, sparks substantiated doubt that these people are recruited by people who pay them to make encroachments against dissident people or organizations. This means there is a terrorist group in Armenia, but law-enforcement authorities arent the least concerned about this. In 2020, we are compelled to file complaints against Nikol Pashinyan and his Guardians of the Revolution. On May 6, 2020, the body implementing proceedings (investigator) decided to dismiss the proceedings of the criminal case instituted in relation to the attack on the office of Hayeli Press Club due to lack of corpus delicti. On May 18, 2020, I filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General of Armenia against the decision on dismissing the proceedings, discontinuing criminal prosecution against the attackers and not carrying out criminal prosecution against them. The government's Rs 20.97 lakh crore COVID-19 package lacks in addressing the immediate concerns of the economy as the actual fiscal impact of the additional stimulus is only about 1 per cent of the GDP as opposed to the claim of 10 per cent, Fitch Solutions said on Tuesday. IMAGE: Migrants collect food items, distributed by volunteers while sitting on a truck to reach their native villages in Uttar Pradesh, in Jabalpur, on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12 announced a stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore, or nearly 10 per cent of GDP, to deal with the economic fallout of COVID-19. The contents of the package were broad-based and announced in five tranches. "About half of the package amount covers fiscal measures that had previously been announced and also include the estimated economic impact of monetary stimulus from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)," Fitch Solutions said in a note. The rating agency said a seeming reluctance for fiscal expansion by the central government amid the COVID-19 crisis in India also poses a significant downside risk to its 1.8 per cent growth forecast for 2020-21 fiscal. "India's economic crisis is growing increasingly dire due to surging COVID-19 infections and weak demand both domestically and externally. We believe that every delay to effective government stimulus will only deepen the downturn, which will eventually require even more spending to lift the economy out of the doldrums, which could see the deficit becoming wider," it said. The new fiscal stimulus announced between May 13 and May 17 is "made up of the government loan guarantees, credit extensions to be led by banks, and regulatory amendments," it said. The new spending will only amount to about 1 per cent of GDP, which would take India's total central government COVID-19 fiscal response to-date to only 1.8 per cent of GDP, it said. "We see the package as being lacking in addressing the immediate concerns of the economy and have revised our central and combined deficit forecasts for FY2020/21 (April-March) to 7 per cent and 11 per cent of GDP respectively, from 6.2 per cent and 9 per cent previously," the rating agency said. The package, it said, will not have a major fiscal and economic impact, despite the government's claim of its '10 per cent of GDP' size. Of the host of new stimulus measures, only about six -- pension fund support, temporary tax cuts, farm infrastructure upgrades (if funds are quickly disbursed and projects rapidly executed), free food provision for migrant workers, funds to safeguard rural employment and an emergency fund for post-harvest activities -- can be quantified as a fiscal stimulus with a near-term impact. "Loan guarantees have been excluded as they will not have an immediate fiscal impact and will depend on other factors such as loan demand and bank propensity to lend," it said. Stating that it is sceptical of the efficacy of the announced measures despite the broad-based package, Fitch Solutions said the government loan guarantees should technically aid credit flow to MSMEs through non-bank lenders. However, this will only aid to stem business closures in the economy rather than support an expansion at this point. Moreover, confounding new rules on MSME definition which have both an investment and a newly introduced turnover limit will also hamper credit flow as businesses may fail to meet one or the other, rendering them ineligible for the MSME stimulus credit. "Many of the announced schemes such as regulatory changes and vague reform plans also only target medium-term supply-side issues but fail to address immediate demand-side issues. As such, we expect further fiscal spending to be announced over the coming months, especially after India extended its nationwide lockdown by another two weeks to May 31, which would further impact economic activity," it said. The rating agency said central government revenues are likely to contract by 18.1 per cent in FY2020/21 due to repeated extensions to nationwide lockdowns amid a worsening COVID-19 outbreak domestically, and weak appetite for fiscal stimulus by the central government to lift the economic activity. With the unemployment rate at over 20 per cent and a weak economic outlook both domestically and externally, both personal income and corporate income tax revenues will remain under severe stress over the coming quarters, it said. While India is pushing to reopen its economy, Fitch said this is motivated by an urgent need to limit further economic hardship rather than an easing the outbreak situation and infections could well accelerate after lockdowns are lifted, which would hamper the pace of economic recovery going forward. Also, India's debt-to-GDP will almost certainly surge as a result of this crisis as the government will have to fund its expenditures with increased domestic borrowing amid a revenue shortfall. India's combined government debt stands at about 70 per cent of GDP as of December 2019, of which central government debt is at 47 per cent of GDP. An increased debt load will entail higher interest payments and this would divert even more resources away from more productive economic spending, and thus constrain India's long-term growth potential, Fitch said. "As opposed to other fiscal stimulus packages in the region, India's package includes previously announced measures and also monetary stimulus, making the actual fiscal impact of the additional stimulus only about 1 per cent of GDP," according to Fitchs estimates. The stimulus includes positive reform efforts, loan guarantees, and other measures that will be somewhat supportive of the Indian economy during the crisis and over the medium term. "The frugal fiscal crisis intervention will likely impede a rapid economic recovery and accordingly, tax revenues, and we are revising our FY2020/21 (April-March) central fiscal deficit forecast to 7.0 per cent of GDP and overall fiscal deficit forecast to 11.0 per cent of GDP," it added. [May 19, 2020] Industry Veteran Paul Beatty Joins FlexTrade Systems as Director of FX Business Development FlexTrade Systems (@FlexTrade), a global leader in multi-asset execution and order management systems announces that former Bloomberg (News - Alert) Tradebook vet and industry veteran with over 25 years' experience in FX, joins as Director of Business Development. Based in FlexTrade's New York office, Paul arrives at FlexTrade bringing extensive market knowledge, analytics, and technical abilities to his new role as Director of FX Business Development. Most recently, Paul was a Managing Director at technology provider Spotex, and a Director at TP ICAP. Prior to this, Paul has spent 17 years as a Global Managing Director Tradebook FX at Bloomberg. Whilst managing the global sales force, he launched the first electronic anonymous FX trading platform inside the Bloomberg ecosystem. Paul Beatty, Director of FX Business Development at FlexTrade, noted: "I am truly excited to join a global leader within the trading technology space," said Beatty. Beatty added, "I am proud to be part of a successful global company and I am looking forward to work with the global FX team and contribute to FlexTrade's continued developments, whilst delivering the outstanding service and innovative solutions that clients need in order to support their strategic goals." Manish Kedia, Managing Director at FlexTrade Singapore stated: "We are very pleased to welcome Paul Beatty as FlexTrade's Director of FX Business Development in New York. With his solid background from the financial technology industry and 20 years of experience in the FX market, Paul will be a great added value to the global team. This demonstrates our strong commitment to invest in our team and trading solutions, and constantly expand and have local presence in different parts of the world." MaxxTrader is a FlexTrade FX trading solution offering a fully modular end-to-end white label trading system meeting the high demands of today's market. Its full suite solution creates a complete bespoke system to meet you and your customer's needs. For more information, visit www.flextrade.com About FlexTrade: Founded in 1996, FlexTrade Systems is the global leader in high performance execution management and order management systems for equities, foreign exchange, options, futures and fixed income. A pioneer in the field, FlexTrade is internationally recognized for introducing FlexTRADER, the world's first broker-neutral, and execution management trading system, which allows clients to completely control and customize their proprietary algorithms while maintaining the confidentiality of their trading strategies. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005457/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Occupational safety laws came into effect after the Spanish Flu pandemic of the early 20th century, and there is little case law about what is permissible in the current scenario. Some Colorado lawmakers acknowledge the need for further legislation on the issue, as well as the bind that workers may find themselves in. A BBC Radio 6 DJ has spoken of his terror after being allegedly stalked by a woman who said he would 'die' and shouted racist slurs at his wife, a court heard today. Gilles Peterson, real name Gilles Moerhle, said he was 'frightened' by the woman who allegedly stalked him from January to March this year. He said she had ripped up an image of him and put it behind his windscreen wipers. Mr Peterson also said a Twitter account appearing to be that of 43-year-old Sarah Jayne Rook tweeted him during the recording of his Saturday afternoon show calling him a 'fraud' and that someone should 'f***ing kill him'. Prosecutors allege that Rook screamed 'you will die' at Mr Peterson as he left BBC Broadcasting House in Portland Place, central London, on March 21. On another occasion, he said she went to his house posing as a charity worker before yelling abuse at his Japanese wife Atsuko by calling her 'a Hiroshima b****'. When police arrested Rook, she denied allegations but said she was a 'freelance journalist conducting an investigation'. She was charged with stalking on March 25. Rook is accused of harassment, an alternative count of stalking, and two racially aggravated public order offences. Gilles Peterson has spoken of his terror after being allegedly stalked by a woman who said he would 'die' and shouted racist slurs at his wife, Stratford Magistrates Court heard today Appearing via Skype link, 55-year-old Mr Peterson told Stratford Magistrates Court: 'I was in bed about 10 o'clock at night. I had just come back from Australia so I was a little jetlagged, hence why I was in bed early. 'I heard a noise and I assumed it would be one of my son's friends ringing on the bell. It wasn't and that was really the first time I heard the person shouting abuse. 'My wife answered the door she didn't open the door and when the person asked to see me my wife said I was asleep. 'She then started shouting abuse at the house constantly for about half an hour until the police arrived. Several houses had called the police I believe, on our street and of course we called the police as well. 'I went downstairs hearing the commotion and could see her from my window, I was watching from my blinds.' Referring to the ripped-up photograph of himself left on his windscreen, Mr Peterson said it was 'frightening' to see Rook outside again. Mr Peterson said: 'It was a commercial photograph they give at the BBC as a DJ and it was torn into several pieces. 'I was having a shower shortly afterwards and when I came downstairs my wife had been outside. I saw her walking around shouting abuse and frantically going up and down the house. 'She was just walking around but it was frightening to see her in the area again.' He said he was in the middle of a live set at the Radio 6 studio when he spotted a tweet branding him a 'fraud' and a 'contrived c***'. Another tweet allegedly threatened to 'f***ing kill him'. Sarah Jayne Rook is accused of harassment, an alternative count of stalking, and two racially aggravated public order offences Mr Peterson said Rook allegedly began knocking on the window of his home on March 16 before alighting the house by jumping onto building work outside. He told the court: 'She was banging on my window trying to get my attention and then we were having building work done on the house and she climbed the scaffolding and sat at the top until police arrived. 'I knew it as a very traumatic experience for all of us. I was worried about the situation itself because it was escalating. 'It was so frantic and extreme. I believe she had been to court and had been given an order that she couldn't be seen near me.' Prosecuting, Matthew Grove said that Mr Peterson found the torn up photograph behind the windscreen wipers on March 8, and on two separate other occasions found a Joker and a Queen of Clubs playing card. Mr Groves added: 'On 16 March Mr Moerhle saw her outside his studio building shouting obscenities and called the police. 'Ms Rook had climbed on the scaffolding on the building containing the studio. 'Police attended that call at 1.37pm and PC Richards arrested her on suspicion of harassment. As PC Richards took her to a waiting arrest van, Ms Rook said that she was not a proper police officer and called her a "Winnie Mandela". 'This caused PC Richards to arrest her for a racially aggravated public order offence. She was taken to Bethnal Green police station and interviewed the following day. 'Ms Rook denied all allegations and denied she even knew the Moerhles.' Rook, who had appeared in person after being remanded into custody, stormed out of court prior to trial after making multiple interruptions. District Judge Louisa Cieciora said: 'I do intend to proceed in absence. Ms Rook has been disorderly from the outset, I've given her a number of warnings to not interrupt. In the circumstances and in the interests of justice, the trial will go ahead.' The trial continues. [May 19, 2020] Advanced IT Concepts (AITC) Appoints New CEO to Strengthen Operations and Continue Global Expansion AITC has announced the appointment of David E. Gardner to the position of CEO effective March 2, 2020, succeeding Gabriel Ruiz, who will serve as President. Gardner is the first CEO to join the team, bringing more than three decades of leadership experience and success transforming several businesses from small, mid-tier and large companies. Through his management expertise and organizational development skills, Gardner has enacted executive management whose accomplishments resulted in >$25B in total contract growth for Inc. 5000, Fed 100, and Fortune 100 Information Technology (IT) and Engineering firms in the Department of Defense, federal and health sectors as well as international markets. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005153/en/ David E. Gardner, CEO of Advanced IT Concepts (AITC) (Photo: Business Wire) "We're moving from a position of strength to high growth for the future. David is the right CEO to lead AITC to continue our global transformation. I am confident he will move the company forward with the agility required to capitalize on the opportunities that lie ahead by utilizing industry best practices," says Gabriel Ruiz, AITC Owner & President. Gardner's sucess is driven by his diverse experience in building strong executive management teams and developing mutually beneficial relationships and partnerships. His exceptional ability to manage resources ensures each project operates at peak performance yielding optimal results in an efficient and effective manner. "I am thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to lead AITC at such an important time in its development. AITC has an incredible brand and market strength that has generated solid growth in recent years. I am looking forward to building a performance-based business yielding optimal results, while simultaneously ensuring we remain focused on delivering the very best quality service to our customers," says David E. Gardner, AITC CEO. Headquartered in Winter Springs, Florida, AITC is a leading SDVOSB and SBA 8(a) certified Systems Integration firm providing IT and Professional Services and Solutions to the Department of Defense, Federal Government and Public Sector agencies. Prior to joining AITC, Gardner was CEO/president of his own executive consulting business. He has also held management positions for private companies including Northrop Grumman (News - Alert)/PRC, CACI, General Electric Company, RS Information Systems, Inc., STG Inc. and NCI Information Systems, Inc., among others. Gardner has an MBA in Finance/MIS from The College of William and Mary in Virginia and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering/Computer Technology from the University of Rhode Island. When not working, Gardner is an avid boater - but most importantly, loving husband to his wife Susan and dad to their 20-year old son and University of Virginia student Devin. The Gardners live in Oak Hill, Virginia and Orlando, FL. About Advanced IT Concepts (AITC): AITC is an 8a minority and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business founded by former military information technology (IT) professionals. AITC assists government and private sector customers through design and implementation of innovative IT solutions drawing upon significant information technology systems, network, security and infrastructure experience to provide advisory services, program and project management, strategic planning, system deployment and technology implementation, as well as engineering, logistics and training support. AITC is a well renowned supplier and partner of the U.S. defense sector and has won several multi-million-dollar contract awards. AITC ensures customers' goals are met by delivering quality technical solutions and superior client services. Visit www.aitcinc.com or contact Christa Santos at [email protected] for additional information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005153/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Mutiu Rafiu, a ritualist, who is resident in Ibadan has recounted how he deceived his wife, Medinat, into keeping the twins of an Islamic cleric in Ibadan, Alhaji Taofeek Azeez, popularly called Akeugbagold, whom he and six other suspects had kidnapped. In his confession to the Oyo State police command on Monday, the suspect told his wife that the twins are children of his friend who recently separated from his wife, and the estranged couple were yet to decide on whom among them should take custody of the children. The suspect, who confessed during a press conference in Ibadan, on Monday to conspiring with some other persons to kidnap the twins, pleaded that his wife be exonerated from the crime, saying she was innocent. Advertisement Taking to Facebook, Akeugbagold, who is the immediate past Chairman of the Oyo State Pilgrims Welfare Board (Muslim Wing), had announced the abduction of his twins, a boy and a girl aged 28 months, on Sunday April 26, 2020. The mother of the twins, had in a viral video said she suffered delayed childbirth for 12 years before she got pregnant with the twins and begged the kidnappers to release them. One Opeyemi Oyeleye, who had been a personal aide to the father of the kidnapped twins was also among the suspects paraded by the police The Commissioner of Police in the state, Shina Olukolu, who paraded the suspects at the Commands headquarters in Ibadan, said the police arrested the suspects with substantial parts of the ransom collected from the twins parents, and recovered the gun allegedly used for the operation, two operational vehicles and one motorcycle from them. The criminal assailants demanded for a ransom of N50 million before the two abducted babies would be released. As soon as the incident was reported at the Ojoo police station and was later transferred to the AKS Eleyele/SARS office Dugbe, Ibadan, a team of AKS/SARS operatives swung into action and concerted efforts were intensified to rescue the abducted babies and arrest the perpetrators of the heinous crime. Read Also: Police Arrest Man Who Started Raping Daughter At Age 11 The twins were released unhurt eight days later after their father had parted with an alleged sum of N4m as ransom to the hoodlums. Consequent upon this, the investigating team embarked on painstaking investigation and traversed several states, including Adamawa and Sokoto, and in the process arrested Rilwan Taiwo, Rafiu Mutiu, Olumide Ajala, Fatai Akanji, Bashiru Mohammed, Opeyemi Oyeleye and Rafiu Modinat, the only female member of the gang detailed to take care of the babies in captivity, in connection with the crime. Exhibits found on them are one locally made single barrel gun, eight cartridges, two Micra cars, an unregistered TVS motorcycle and a cash sum of N2,863,000, the police Commissioner said. Little is known about Ramdev International. The registered address is in Sector 17, Rohini in New Delhi. Despite the flashy label, the company has no website. Ramdev makes used to rather grain mill products, starches and starch products. Details are hard to come by, but one can gather from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) website that the company was incorporated on April 5, 2004 with an authorised share capital of Rs 5 crore and paid-up capital of Rs 4.3 crore. The Balance Sheet was last filed on March 31, 2014 and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) last held on September 29, 2014. To use an analogy drawn from its business, it is a needle in a haystack kind of company. But all of a sudden, Ramdev International has been thrust into the limelight because for some mysterious reason, despite its obscurity, the companys credentials were good enough for six banks, including State Bank of India (SBI) Indias largest to lend to the promoters generously six years ago. The Rs 414-crore loan SBI and five other banks offered to Ramdev International for business expansion turned an NPA (non-performing assets) on January 27, 2016. Not a measly amount, by any stretch of imagination. Yet, SBI and other banks moved the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with a complaint only early this year--on February 25. Thats four years after the lenders discovered foul play in the account and the conduct of its promoters. While the story of Ramdev International is emblematic of the ugly banking sector mess, there are eerie parallels with the shenanigans of liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya. Not only did SBI and the other lenders wait four years to classify the account as fraud, they also moved painfully slow to seek legal action against its promoters Naresh Kumar, Suresh Kumar and Sangita. When a complaint was finally filed with the CBI against the three, the bankers found they had fled the country around a year ago. To give the bankers the benefit of doubt, banks discovered about their escape a little late. But why did they wait until February to file a complaint? SBI is yet to respond to a detailed email questionnaire sent by Moneycontrol on May 14 enquiring about the banks delay in moving the CBI to report the fraud. The CBI is investigating the Kumars and Sangita for allegedly defrauding the six banks and fudging accounts. Of the Rs 414 crore, SBI lent Rs173 crore to Ramdev International, Canara Bank disbursed Rs 76.09 crore, Union Bank of India Rs 64.31 crore, Central Bank of India Rs 51.31 crore, Corporation Bank Rs 36.91 crore and IDBI Bank Rs 12.27 crore. The CBI noted that all three promoters escaped to safer pastures long before SBI moved the CBI with the complaint of fraud and default. Bankers that Moneycontrol spoke to said besides rice milling plants, Ramdev also has offices in Saudi Arabia and Dubai for trading business. They did not want to be named. The Ramdev International account was a typical corporate borrower default case for SBI and other banks until August 2016. Most companies involved in the business of paddy procurement and processing were reporting losses on account of the high procurement cost and low receivables. A team of lenders decided to swing into action that month, seven months after the account turned NPA. They inspected the company premises. According to SBIs complaint to CBI, when the inspection team landed at the factory premises, all that they found was Haryana Police Security Guards roaming the premises. On enquiry, (we came to know) that the borrowers are absconding and have left the country," says the SBI complaint. The borrowers had removed the entire machinery from the old plant and fudged the Balance Sheet in order to unlawfully gain at the cost of banks' funds. It didnt take much time for the bankers to realise they were duped. Remember, this incident happened in 2016. The visit to the premises should have given enough warning bells that something was seriously amiss. But it took another three years, according to the banks complaint to CBI, for the lenders to confirm the missing status of the Kumars. What explains the inordinate delay by SBI and other lenders to report the fraud? Did the delay on the part of banks help the promoters leave the country before investigators could arrest them? According to a senior bank executive, banks typically delay reporting fraud even after sufficient evidence to avoid sudden one-time provisions. If an account becomes NPA, you need to make partial provisions depending up on the class of the asset. In most cases, this could start from 15 percent. But if the account is reported as fraud, this will be a 100 percent upfront provision. If you report fraud after a few years, the provisioning can be spread across a period; hence less impact on books, said the banker who requested anonymity. Did SBI delay reporting the fraud and filing the complaint with CBI for this reason? The article will be updated when SBI responds. In many ways, the similarities between the Ramdev International case and the infamous Vijay Mallya case are stark. By the time SBI and other banks moved Supreme Court in 2016, Mallya had left the country (on March 2) to the UK after defaulting Rs 9,000 crore disbursed by 17 banks, including SBI, to his defunct Kingfisher Airline. Banks had clearly acted late in the case. The Kingfisher Airlines account had tuned NPA in 2012. Even after four years, banks are still struggling to get Mallya back though he has offered to pay. The NPA mess has broken the back of Indias banking system. Yet, the episodes of Ramdev International and Kingfisher show unscrupulous promoters still have hope of receiving a free rein from negligent bankers. MANZINI - Nurses are unhappy following the recalling of 15 healthcare workers who were in self-isolation to work while they were awaiting their COVID-19 test results. According to an impeccable source, the healthcare workers in question are based at Mbabane Government Hospital. While at work, their results came back on Saturday and at least three of them were told that they had tested positive for COVID-19. By then, they had already worked for three days. The insider said a patient, who was suspected to have contracted COVID-19, was attended to at the hospital and later on the test results reflected that he had been infected with the virus. Thereafter, the source said the about 15 healthcare workers, who were exposed to the patient, were sent to self-isolate for 14 days. He said the workers included doctors, nurses, orderlies and cleaners, among others. He said they were all tested soon after they were sent to self-isolation and their results came back negative. Self-isolation He said the workers remained in self-isolation and between the 10th and 12th day, second tests were conducted, but when the 14 days of self-isolation elapsed last Wednesday, the test results had not been released. The insider alleged that due to shortage of staff at the health facility, the workers in question were allegedly recalled to work last Thursday and this was despite that they were still awaiting their second test results. He said on Saturday afternoon, results of three of the healthcare workers were issued and they showed that they had been infected with the virus. Thereafter, the source said the other workers, who were still awaiting their results, were told not to report for work until they had received their results. The Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU) President, Bheki Mamba, said the union was aware of the matter. He said according to their analysis, there was negligence on the part of the Ministry of Health, which handled issues of COVID-19. He said the hospital should not have recalled the workers without getting an approval from the ministry. The president further said they wondered why the ministry did not indicate that the three patients were healthcare workers because it used to announce such. We wonder if the ministry was somehow trying to conceal evidence, Mamba said. He said the major concern was that when these workers returned to work, they were in contact with their colleagues, patients and members of the public. Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Senator Lizzie Nkosi, said she was not aware of the issue. She added that healthcare workers would know that if one was in self-isolation for 14 days and had not developed symptoms, then that individual was unlikely to have COVID-19. ABUJA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Eighteen crew members aboard a Chinese vessel, MV HAILUFANG II, were rescued unhurt by the Nigerian military following a recent attack by pirates within the Gulf of Guinea. The ship's crew including Chinese, Ghanaians, and Ivorians, was attacked by pirates off the coast of Cote d'Ivoire on May 15, the Nigerian navy said in a statement made available to Xinhua on Tuesday. The pirates then took control of the vessel and directed it toward Nigerian waters, the statement said. The navy confirmed ten pirates were arrested on the interception of the vessel at about 140 nautical miles south of Lagos Fairway Buoy. An official from the Chinese Consulate-General in Lagos on Tuesday also confirmed the rescue of a Chinese fishing vessel, adding the vessel was escorted by the Nigeria Navy to Lagos on Monday. "All crew members are safe and sound," said the official. A number of ships have been attacked by pirates within the Gulf of Guinea in recent years. The criminal groups have shifted from stealing cargo to holding crew members for ransom. What if we all stay working from home forever? Some might welcome a new dawn of workplace flexibility where employees, at least those in knowledge economy jobs, can work from any place, any time. Yet it doesnt necessarily play out the way people think it will. If working from home accelerates as a trend long term and there are signs it will it will not only mean the decline of the central business district, but it could also lead to more job insecurity. Working from home might provide more time with family but also allow for greater off-shoring of work. Credit:Getty Images If your job can be done from anywhere, that doesnt necessarily mean you get to keep your job with the city salary and have a sea change. It also means you are competing for that job in an international labour market. Even as employers are plotting a path back to normality, its clear the new normal wont be the same as the old normal and working from home will be common for some time to come. Billionaire Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta Resources Ltd's proposal to take its India-listed subsidiary Vedanta Ltd private will give it access to cash surpluses in the oil and gas business unit, Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday. Vedanta Resources Ltd (VRL), which owns 50.1 per cent of Vedanta Ltd, has offered to acquire all of the balance 49.9 per cent shareholding held by the public and delist the company from the BSE. On May 18, Agarwal-chaired board of directors of Vedanta Ltd approved its parent, VRL's open offer. Moody's in an issuer comment said the move will simplify group structure and is credit positive. "The proposal will now be put to a shareholder vote and needs to be approved by at least 66.7 per cent of minority shareholders," it said. "The acquisition of the minority stake will be at a price that is the higher of either the floor price, Rs 87.5 per share a 10 per cent premium over the closing market price of Rs 79.6 on May 11 or the price discovered through the reverse book building process." The transaction, it said, is credit positive and is a major step in the simplification of Vedanta's complex group structure of less than 100 per cent ownership in operating subsidiaries, which has historically been a drag on its credit profile. "If successful, the transaction will provide VRL better access to future cash surpluses and cash of around USD 1.4 billion held at Vedanta Ltd and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cairn India Holdings Ltd, at December 2019. "Additionally, VRL's higher shareholding in Vedanta Ltd will substantially reduce cash leakage, while extracting dividends from step-down subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Ltd, which held cash of USD 3 billion at December 2019," it said. The transaction will also enable VRL the flexibility to allocate its assets and liabilities across the group, including moving debt closer to operating assets, the rating agency said. Notwithstanding these long-term positives, the debt-financed transaction will further weaken VRL's consolidated credit metrics, which are already stretched, and comes at a time of heightened macroeconomic uncertainty with disruptions caused by coronavirus pandemic and resource price declines dampening the company's earnings and cash flow generation. "At the initial offer price of Rs 87.5 per share, VRL's cash outflow for the 49.9 per cent shareholding in Vedanta Ltd will add USD 2.2 billion in additional borrowing. "Moreover, the significant discount of the initial offer price to the company's historical share price (52-week high of Rs 180 per share) and the increase to the last five-day high of Rs 97.95 since the announcement of the open offer, raises the potential for a higher cash outflow for a successful transaction, indicating a further increase in debt/EBITDA leverage," it said. Pro forma, the transaction at an acquisition price of USD 2.2 billion for the 49.9 per cent shareholding, VRL's consolidated leverage will be 6.0x at March 2020, up from 5.3x before the transaction. "Over a longer-term, the simplification of the group structure and the reduction in cash leakage while extracting dividends could lead to a faster pace of deleveraging," it said. VRL's liquidity, Moody's said, is weak, especially at the holding company (Holdco) with USD 1.8 billion debt maturing until September 2021, including a USD 670 million US dollar bond due in June 2021. Widening yields, falling bond prices, and tight capital market liquidity have heightened refinancing risk. And, the proposed privatisation debt, in short-term, will further weaken the holding company's liquidity. As of September 2019, almost 46 per cent of the consolidated reported debt was held at the holding company, with the balance at Vedanta Ltd and other operating subsidiaries. "While the proposed privatization will improve the holding company's access to cash flows at Vedanta Ltd, it does not completely alleviate the risk for Holdco creditors that remain legally and structurally subordinated to claims at the operating companies. Moreover, more than half of the group's EBITDA is generated at Vedanta Ltd's 65 per cent owned subsidiary, Hindustan Zinc Ltd," it said. Moody's expected the company to maintain good disclosures even after Vedanta Ltd becomes a private entity. "However, the concentrated ownership with Volcan Investments, the sole shareholder of Vedanta Resources and absence of minority shareholders at Vedanta Ltd could raise the potential for related party transactions that are not aligned with creditors," it said. "Reduced levels of disclosure or transparency for bondholders or increased incidence of related party transactions, or both, could put pressure on the company's ratings. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Capitol Hill signs ask for more PPE masks for healthcare workers in Washington, D. C. on April 17, 2020. The forecasts are roughly in line with Wall Street economists and slightly less dour than the most recent tracking number from the Atlanta Federal Reserve, which sees GDP falling about 42% in the April-to-June period. In its latest projections, the CBO sees GDP capsizing 38% on an annualized basis in the second quarter with the 26 million more unemployed Americans than there were at the end of 2019. The Congressional Budget Office released its own bleak outlook Tuesday for economic growth, unemployment and the federal budget, predicting job gains later this year but an overall climate that will remain subdued through 2021. If the collective outlook is anything close to accurate, it will represent the worst drop for a U.S. economy that was brought to a halt due to efforts to stem the coronavirus pandemic. "The economy is expected to begin recovering during the second half of 2020 as concerns about the pandemic diminish and as state and local governments ease restrictions," the CBO said in a narrative that accompanied its projections. Job growth will improve "materially" in the third quarter as social distancing policies associated with the virus diminish somewhat. However, the CBO said, "persistence of social distancing will keep economic activity and labor market conditions suppressed for some time." The office also cautioned that, "The decline in economic activity has been so rapid and so recent that the depth of the downturn is still uncertain, and the data on spending are preliminary and incomplete." Congress has reacted to the pandemic with one rescue bill that totaled close to $3 trillion and another that could be as much or more. Looking at just the money approved so far, the CBO said it would increase the federal deficit by $2.1 trillion in fiscal 2020 and $600 billion in 2021. The levels equate to about 11% of nominal GDP in fiscal 2020 and 3% in 2021. The founder of Mon Hue, Huy Nhat, has been sued by four overseas investors In 2018, Huy Nhat contacted four foreign investors, including MF Holding Inc. (MF), Gifted Wisdom Ltd. (Gifted), Harvest Investment Advisory Co., Ltd. (Harvest), and Fenghe Harvest Ltd. (Fenghe), to mobilise investment for a resort project named Horizon Langco in Lang Co town, Thua Thien-Hue province. According to Huy Nhat, this 162-hectare project was owned by Horizon Property Group Single Member Co., Ltd. (Horizon Vietnam), a firm owned by Huy Nhat with a head office in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City. To convince the investors, Huy Nhat assigned Nguyen Luong Hoang, general manager of Horizon Vietnam to organise many project introduction events abroad, explain the related profitability indicators, and provide detailed reports about the project, products, and sales, among others. Via verification, it is known that these reports were fake and that there was no project at all. The four investors were invited to join with Huy Fong Capital Ltd. (Huy Fong) to invest in Horizon Vietnam Property Pte. (Horizon Singapore), becoming shareholders in the firm. Both the Hong Kong-based Huy Fong and Singapore-based Horizon Singapore are actually owned by Huy Nhat. Afterwards, Horizon Singapore signed an agreement to lend Horizon Vietnam $25 million to implement the resort project in Lang Co. To keep investors' trust and hide the fact that both Horizon companies were of Huy Nhat, he committed that the purpose of this loan was only to invest in the resort project. Huy Nhat also promised that the loan would be turned into Horizon Singapores capital share in Horizon Vietnam and that by transferring the charter capital to Horizon Singapore, the investors would gain profit and become the legal owners of the resort. The sides have signed a loan agreement (for the $25 million loan to Horizon Vietnam) and a Shareholder Agreement, internally signed between the investors and Huy Fong. The latter agreement detailed each person's capital percentage contributed to Horizon Singapore to invest in land/assets at Lang Co, Hue. According to the loan agreement, MF lent Horizon Vietnam $10 million, Gifted $10 million, Harvest $2 million, Fenghe $3 million, and Huy Fong $17 million. The four investors transferred $25 million to Horizon Singapore, which then transferred the money to an account of Horizon Vietnam opened in Vietnam. In the middle of October 2019, Vietnamese media reported that Huy Nhat's Mon Hue restaurant system was insolvent. The four foreign investors tried to contact Huy Nhat but failed. After checking the balance of the bank account of Horizon Vietnam opened at Vietcombank, they found that less than VND300 million ($13,043) remained. Looking deeper into Horizon Singapore's business, they found that its business registration license was not updated to include the four investors names as committed by Huy Nhat. They also learned that there is no project in Hue as no land belongs to Huy Nhat that matches the description in the project introduction file. The investors have denounced Huy Nhat to the Ministry of Public Security for fraud and appropriation of property. After verification, the Ministry of Public Security has decided to prosecute Huy Nhat on April 17, 2020 and keep the investors notified. The government and law enforcement agencies of Vietnam, Singapore, and China have also taken action to assist the investors in tracking down Huy Nhat and his assets. A diver who freed a baby humpback whale from a Gold Coast shark net, while authorities were making their way to the scene, was expecting a fine, despite his good deed. The man, named only as "Django", rejected the "hero" status bestowed on him on social media and said he could afford any fine coming his way, despite internet strangers offering to raise funds to cover the cost. Django took to the water off Burleigh Heads about 7am on Tuesday after a drone operator reportedly spotted the whale entangled in the shark net. However, he told reporters on Tuesday afternoon he was not in the water for the whale; he was actually hoping for a glimpse of a "massive manta ray" that was hanging around off Palm Beach. A post-mortem examination into the death of a 19-year-old law student killed in a drive-by shooting has revealed she died from a single wound to the chest. Innocent university student Aya Hachem was hit by one of several shots fired from a vehicle as she walked to a supermarket near her home in Blackburn, Lancashire, on Sunday. Police on Monday arrested three men aged 39, 33 and 36, all from Blackburn, in connection with the incident. The three are now being held in police custody and continue to be questioned on suspicion of the teen's murder. Officers have revealed they do not believe Ms Hachem was the intended target of the broad daylight attack, which took place on a busy main road in Blackburn's town centre. The Lebanese-born teenager, a second year student at the University of Salford, died in hospital a short time after emergency services were called to the scene in King Street at around 3pm. On Tuesday, Lancashire Police said in a statement that a post-mortem showed she died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. The force also said they were aware of several videos of Sundays incident circulating on social media, and urged people to formally report them to police. It asked people to refrain from speculating online about the cause of the incident, which has shocked Britain's Muslim community during the holy month of Ramadan and prompted discussion on social media over whether it was racially-motivated. Officers are aware that before Ms Hachem was fatally shot, a light silvery green Toyota Avensis, pictured above, drove past her / PA Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Andy Cribben said: We know that a lot of people have expressed their support for the police investigation and I would like to thank them for that. However, we know of a number of videos of the incident are on social media and it is important that people formally report these to us as they are potential evidence. We would also ask people, even if they are well intentioned, not to share these videos out of respect for Aya and her family. Similarly, I would urge people not to speculate online about the cause of the incident and to instead share what they know with us as their information could prove vital. Officers are aware that before Ms Hachem was fatally shot, a light silvery green Toyota Avensis drove past her. Shots were fired from the vehicle. The vehicle, with the registration number SV53 UBP, was abandoned a short time later before being seized for forensic examination by the police. Meanwhile, a large team of detectives continue to work on the inquiry with additional police patrols in the local area. Detective Superintendent Cribben said: We appreciate that there will still be a lot of concern in the local community and so I would like to reassure people that there will still be additional patrols out and about. If you have any concerns or information about the incident, feel free to approach those officers. I would also like to stress again that we are not treating the shooting as terrorism-related or a racially-motivated. Anyone with information is asked to call 101, quoting log number 0412 of May 18th. Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111. Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Ellie Silverman covers the coronavirus in March before wearing face masks was standard with a posterboard asking passing motorists to call or text her if they wanted to talk for a story. Read more To Inquirer readers: As we pass the 10-week mark of this unprecedented health emergency, The Inquirer continues to pull out all the stops to provide you with comprehensive, up-to-date coverage. Weve placed a high priority on fact-based explanatory stories on the devastating health and economic impacts of the pandemic, as well as on service journalism that helps you understand the full scope of the crisis and how best to navigate through it. While working 100% remotely, often in dangerous conditions, our journalists are producing hundreds of daily stories, photographs, videos, and graphics on Inquirer.com and in expanded sections of the daily and Sunday newspapers. Additionally, our Harrisburg-based Spotlight PA team has been a leading force for Statehouse breaking news and investigations throughout the crisis. We continue to provide our coronavirus live blog and evening coronavirus newsletter at no charge to provide essential 24/7 coverage. Our reporters have answered more than 100 reader questions through our Curious Philly channel, and weve highlighted the unsung heroes on the front lines of the pandemic as well as honored The People Weve Lost. Beyond the urgent pandemic news, weve rolled out new content to help readers cope during these uncertain times. We not only added an extra weekly installment of our popular UpSide stories but also added a puzzle book to the Sunday Inquirer and created an Inquirer Live at Lunch Instagram series featuring our journalists and some of the regions top newsmakers. Next week, we will publish a special Summer Cookbook as an additional reader benefit. Were extremely grateful for those who make this journalism possible. Your support has never been more appreciated or needed as it is at this moment of extreme disruption to the news industry and the world at large. To help us sustain this depth of local coverage, please consider subscribing at Inquirer.com/subscribe, or making a tax-deductible donation to The Inquirers High-Impact Journalism Fund at Inquirer.com/donate or mailed to the Lenfest Institute (note The Inquirer on your correspondence), 801 Market St., Suite 300, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107. Thank you, and we hope you and your loved ones remain healthy and safe. Stan Wischnowski, executive editor and senior vice president Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have been widely used as substitutes for ozone-depleting substances--for example, hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Though HFCs have no impact on the ozone layer, they are also long-lived potent greenhouse gases with global warming potentials as high as CFCs, meaning HFCs are regulated by both the Montreal Protocol as well as the Kyoto Protocol. China is a major consumer of HFCs around the world. How to estimate HFC emissions as accurately as possible is therefore a key issue to understand regional contributions, especially for potential emission source areas. In a recently published study in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, Dr. Bo Yao from the China Meteorological Administration worked with local scientists in Zhejiang Province, and together they estimated the emissions of HFCs in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region by a tracer ratio method for the period 2012-2016. "The YRD region is a fast-growing region in China with rapid urbanization and industrialization," explains Dr Yao, who is the Chief Scientist of greenhouse gases at the Meteorological Observation Center of the China Meteorological Administration. Dr Yao further explains why the YRD was selected as the target of their study: "Rapid economic growth has been partly driven by the expanding manufacturing sector, including the fluorine chemical industry, production of electronics, air conditioners, refrigerators and automobiles, which would result in a large amount of HFC emissions." Yao's team chose CO as a tracer to estimate the HFC emissions. "We employed the tracer ratio method, for it is more objective than the bottom-up inventory approach and easier than the top-down method by inverse modeling," he adds. the team found that the YRD contributes around one third of the national total HFC CO2-equivalent emissions. The emissions intensity of HFCs in this area is also higher than both national and global levels, in terms of per capita, per unit area, or per unit GDP. Ten HFC species were studied, among which HFC-23 was found to contribute approximately two thirds of all HFC emissions in terms of CO2-equivalent emissions in the YRD. "HFC-23 is a byproduct from the fluorine industry, or very limited fluorine chemistry plants, in the YRD. If HFC-23 emissions were totally eliminated, the HFC CO2-equivalent emission in the YRD would drop down obviously, and the emissions intensity of the YRD would be lower than national and global levels. So, HFC-23 is the key chemical when considering the mitigation potential of HFCs in the YRD, or even in China as a whole," suggests Yao. ### [Follow our Live Cyclone Amphan Map Storm Tracker.] Lectures will continue to be made available online and it may be possible to host smaller teaching groups in person, as long as this conforms to social distancing requirements, the university said. That suggested that other important aspects of teaching, such as tutorials and smaller group classes, might be permitted to take place face-to-face. The authorities believe that these sessions could be possible with participants sitting at a safe distance from each other. Colleges and universities around the world, largely forced to end in-person instruction in the most recent term, are studying whether and how to move forward with classes next year. In the United States, for example, some schools are bringing students back with pledges to test them and track infections. Others are not holding in-person classes at all: California State University, the largest U.S. four-year public university system, said classes would take place almost exclusively online this fall, with some possible exceptions for clinical classes in the nursing program or certain science labs. In Canada, McGill University in Montreal and several other schools have said they will offer most of its courses online in the fall. BIRMINGHAM, England, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As businesses across the world are dealing with the outbreak of the pandemic and its impact on the day-to-day transactions. Many businesses have been temporarily closing down, others furloughing workers and some even going under as a result. However, this has not been the case for all businesses, most notably those businesses who have embraced new technologies and adapted to modern ways of working The entire world is facing the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. In such an event as a worldwide pandemic or crisis, it becomes a difficult affair to operate businesses seamlessly. While a majority of the world's cities and regions are experiencing lockdown situations to combat the pandemic, it is high time that businesses across the world adapt accordingly to stay operational, not only during the pandemic, but in preparation for when everything settles down. David Bryan - the Founder and CEO at Opace - an open source technology specialist in the UK recently explained how businesses can survive the pandemic and its aftermath. As the economy of the world shuts down, it is "business as usual" for Opace and many of their customers who have continued to see growth due to their unique style of working - and it can be for other businesses too. Bryan explains how remote working, the cloud and SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms, online collaboration tools, virtual teams and even virtual reality technologies are available to help businesses to adapt in the event of a pandemic like COVID-19. "It's possible for many businesses out there to seamlessly adopt the remote working culture and combat the effects of a pandemic on their business growth. It serves to be a modern approach to doing businesses as enterprises equip themselves with state-of-the-art modern technology and advanced strategies which allow employees to continue working and engaging with customers even during a lockdown. As such, business enterprises can look forward to preparing themselves for future uncertainties and events such as the current pandemic is posing," says Bryan. The current COVID-19 pandemic is forcing a wide number of employees across the world to work from home. Many larger companies are mandating or encouraging the workforce to adopt the lucrative work-from-home policy. "For most modern businesses, the policy, as well as infrastructure needed for remote working, is already in place as a majority of staff will have the basic computer equipment and internet access needed to make this happen. However, not all are embracing technology platforms to continue working with their customers and improve productivity in the long run. "With online comms tools like Google Hangouts, Slack and Skype, cloud storage such as Dropbox, Google Cloud and Microsoft's OneDrive, modern business apps using the Software as a Service model, GSuite for example and cost effective VR technology solutions, we have everything we need to work from home in 2020 and beyond. There is also the vast array of free and open source business applications that can be adopted/ The long-term benefits of this style of working far outweigh the negatives. "For the other small organizations and businesses, the situation might be slightly different. Remote working tends to be limited to a few businesses - especially those concerned with the exchange of emails and other types of non-operational systems. As such, breaking the enterprise into several sub-groups with limited requirements and an increased modern approach could turn out to be a simplistic mechanism in the direction." Bryan explains as he summarises the methodology utilised by Opace to stay productive and operational at the same time. When it comes to remote working, all companies out there will need to prepare themselves as well as the respective employees for the increasing cybersecurity risks that might be associated with remote working. There are also the cultural elements that need to be considered, such as the self-discipline required of workers and trust required of employers to make this happen. Amidst such difficult times for businesses across the world, it is possible to continue and even grow business operations as Opace have done by following the modern way of working. For more information on technology approaches to surviving a business crisis like that of COVID-19, please contact David Bryan by email info@opace.co.uk or visit their website at www.opace.co.uk. A UN agency working for the welfare of Palestine refugees has applauded India's financial support to keep its basic services operating, especially under the circumstances posed by the COVID-19 crisis. The Government of India on Monday provided USD 2 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in support of its core programmes and services, including education and health. The contribution was presented to the UN agency by the Representative of India (ROI) to the State of Palestine, Sunil Kumar. "On behalf of the agency, I would like to express my deep appreciation to the Government of India for advancing part of its contribution, which will help UNRWA address cash flow challenges," Marc Lassouaoui, chief of the Donor Relations at the UNRWA said. "The continued determination and commitment of India in support of the Palestine refugees is commendable, in particular under the current circumstances brought on us by COVID-19," he added. India had increased its annual contribution to the UNRWA from USD 1.25 million in 2016 to USD 5 million in 2019. New Delhi pledged another USD 5 million for 2020 which opens its way to become a member of the agency's advisory commission, official sources said. "On behalf of the Government of India, I would like to express my appreciation for the commendable work and endeavours carried out by the UNRWA. We believe that our contribution will support the agency's activities in providing the needed assistance to Palestinian refugees, and assist in achieving their full human development potential," Kumar said. India's contribution will support the agency's "dire" financial situation due to the funding gaps that risk its core services to the Palestinian refugees in the fields of education and health. About 3.1 million Palestine refugees depend on health services provided by the UNRWA. At the same time, the agency's schools educate 526,000 students every year, of which half are female. The agency was created in December 1949 by the UN to support the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. The UNRWA definition of refugee covers Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 War. Meanwhile, India is preparing medical supplies for the Palestinians to help them in their fight against coronavirus which is likely to arrive in Palestine soon, an official release by the Indian mission in the West Bank said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month had spoken to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the phone and discussed the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Modi had appreciated efforts being made by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to protect its population and assured all possible support from India. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had later talked to his Palestinian counterpart, Riad Malki, and reiterated India's commitment to support Palestine in its battle against the global pandemic. So far, 554 COVID-19 positive cases have been detected in the West Bank under PA and east Jerusalem, with two casualties. Twenty people were found infected with the virus in Gaza, of which 14 are said to have recovered. Separately, 17 agreements have been signed under an India-Palestine development partnership between the two sides in the fields of agriculture, health care, information technology, youth affairs, consular affairs, women empowerment and media in the past five years. New Delhi is to provide an assistance of around USD 72 million through these agreements in projects like the post-2014 war reconstruction efforts in Gaza, construction of five schools, setting up a centre of excellence for information and communication technologies at Al-Quds University and developing a satellite centre in Ramallah. Lucknow, May 19 : The administration of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) here has ordered a probe into the cardiac procedure conducted on a corona positive patient in the hospital. The patient underwent a cardiac procedure without being tested for corona before the surgery. He later tested positive for COVID-19, leading to panic among the staff and other patients. The medical staff that came in contact with the patient were quarantined on Monday while the area was sanitized. As per orders from the State Medical Education Department, even in emergency cases, patients are to be screened for Covid-19 before procedures are done. According to the SGPGI administration, the incident took place late on Sunday night. In an official statement, director, Prof R.K. Dhiman said, "The 63-year-old patient was a case of complete cardiac blockage and needed an urgent temporary pacemaker. The patient was admitted to the holding area of the institute and later shifted to the MICU for permanent pace making." He said that when the patient's corona status was found to be positive on the Hospital Information System, she was shifted to the Rajdhani Covid Hospital. The Director said, "Though the involved areas have been sanitized and healthcare workers were quarantined as per protocol, a probe has been ordered to investigate the lapses." THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) The Dutch government reported its own taxation office to public prosecutors on Tuesday, seeking an investigation into possible discrimination in a long-running scandal centered on civil servants trying to track down parents fraudulently claiming child care benefits. The case involves thousands of parents who had their child care benefit payments stopped or were ordered to repay money amid fraud investigations. In some cases, parents were plunged into financial problems after being wrongly accused of falsely claiming benefits. The investigation into possible discrimination between 2013 and 2017 comes amid reports of possible profiling by tax authorities as they sought to identify fraudsters. Dutch media have reported that one of the criterion used to select parents for investigation was having dual nationality. The finance ministry said in a statement that an independent expert who looked into the case based his suspicion of discrimination on questions in Tax Service systems based on origin. Government officials have apologized for the scandal and in March earmarked 500 million euros ($550 million) to compensate more than 20,000 parents. Prosecutors also have been asked to look into whether civil servants deliberately demanded wrongful payments. The Dutch minister that oversees the tax office, Alexandra van Huffelen, said it's important for prosecutors to investigate. It will be up to prosecutors to decide whether to press charges. Hopefully, this far-reaching step will contribute to closing in a just manner this painful chapter for so many people, Van Huffelen said. Saudi Arabia yesterday reported 2,593 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections in the kingdom to 57,345. Assistant Minister of Health and Official Spokesman of the Ministry of Health Dr Mohammed Al-Abdulaali was quoted by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) saying that of the total 28,277 cases are active cases receiving medical care, with the exception of 237 cases receiving intensive care. The number of the new recoveries is 3,026, bringing the total number of recoverees to 28,748, Dr. Al-Abdulaali said, adding that the number of the new deaths is 8, bringing the total death toll to 320. Meanwhile, Kuwait reported 841 new coronavirus infections on Monday, bringing the total of infections to 15,691, while 6 deaths were reported, bringing the total toll to 118. The Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) quoted the Health Ministry spokesperson Dr Abdullah Al-Sanad as saying that 161 patients were in intensive care. The UAE Government announced on Monday that 1,065 patients have fully recovered from Covid-19 after receiving the necessary medical care, raising the total number of recoveries in the country to 9,577. Over 37,844 additional Covid-19 tests were conducted among UAE citizens and residents which resulted in the detection of 832 new cases, taking to 24,190 the total numbers of infections in the country. This includes those receiving treatment, recovered cases, and deaths, said an official. Dr Amna Al Dahak Al Shamsi, the official spokesperson for the UAE Government, also announced the death of four patients from Covid-19, taking the total number of deaths to 224. The number of Covid-19 cases still receiving treatment now stands at 14,389 from different nationalities. Watch: Donald Trump threatens to permanently halt funding to WHO US President threatened to permanently halt funding to the WHO. Donald Trump escalated his threats over WHO's handling of covid-19. He said he would cut funding if it didn't commit to improvements within 30 days. Trump wrote a letter to WHO chief which he posted on Twitter. Earlier, responding to media queries Trump hit out at WHO for siding with China. Watch the full video for more. ...read more Shares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. It is packed with investment ideas, news and educational material to help build and run portfolios and get more from your money. Shares puts on free Investor Events throughout the year across the country. They provide an opportunity for investors to learn more about companies on the stock market and hear from a range of investment experts including fund managers and Shares journalists. VARIOUS EU aid packages worth a total of 2trn can play a vital role in helping Ireland rebuild the economy after coronavirus and get people back to work, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said. Speaking after a video conference of EU finance ministers, Mr Donohoe welcomed the latest joint proposal by France and Germany for a total 500bn coronavirus rescue fund giving to grants member states. The money would be raised by breaking a long-standing taboo about the EU borrowing heavily on international money markets and repaying it out of Brussels coffers. The Finance Minister said discussions were continuing on how this initiative - proposed by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and French President, Emmanuel Macron - would work in practice. Brussels diplomats said the frugal four Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Denmark remained opposed to the EU shouldering member states debts and also against expanding the overall scale of the EU budget. Ireland has thrown in its lot with nine member states, led by France, and including the worst-hit states, Spain and Italy, seeking massive non-repayable grants to help tackle the coronavirus economic fallout. Mr Donohoe said it would be wrong to assume anything about the frugal four and he noted they were continuing to engage in dialogue. The Finance Minister insisted Ireland can turn things around economically. But while much depended on international trends the EU signals were positive. We have the ability to recreate the economy and get ourselves to a better place, Mr Donohoe said, arguing Ireland can revive and get people back to work. Mr Donohoe said the European Central Bank had already been heavily involved in supporting national borrowing on international money markets. Other initiatives included low-interest loans which can support business and once the latest Franco-German proposal was factored in the level of EU initiatives would total 2trn. Brussels officials said the Franco-German move broke new ground but they pointed out that such proposals required unanimous approval by all the 27 EU member states. The JNA Awards, which has been organised by Informa Markets since 2012, is one of the most renowned awards programmes in the international jewellery and gemstone trade. It is dedicated to promoting and encouraging best practices, innovation and excellence; and aims to bring sustainable advancement to the industry on a global scale. "It is often said that 'out of adversity comes opportunity.' The same rings true for our industry today, wherein a pandemic has highlighted the need to be resilient, adaptable and flexible. Now more than ever, it is important that we celebrate the achievements we have made as an industry in the past year, as well as show our commitment and dedication to moving the trade forward in this unprecedented and most challenging time," says Letitia Chow, Chairperson of the JNA Awards and Director of Business Development Jewellery Group at Informa Markets. Chow continues that she and the rest of the JNA Awards team look forward to once again welcoming and meeting industry peers from around the world to this annual affair. As in the past eight editions, the 2020 JNA Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner will be held during Jewellery and Gem WORLD Hong Kong. The JNA Awards 2020 is supported by Headline Partners Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, Shanghai Diamond Exchange, and DANAT, together with Honoured Partners KGK Group, China Gems and Jade Exchange and Guangdong Land Holdings Limited. For more information, visit www.JNAawards.com or contact: JNA Awards Marketing Informa Markets (Hong Kong) +852 2516-2184 marketing@jnaawards.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1161572/JNA_Awards_2020.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1169870/IM_Jewellery_GMV_Lock_ups_RGB_Indigo_Green_Grad.jpg Related Links http://www.JNAawards.com SOURCE JNA Awards Nearly 4,000 litre extra-neutral alcohol (ENA), a raw material used for making liquor, was seized from a storehouse at the tubewell of a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader at Pabri village in Patiala district on Monday night. Darshan Singh, who remained SADs block samiti member from 2013 to 2018, was arrested after the recovery, police officials said. Patiala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mandeep Singh Sidhu said, Acting on a tip off, a police team raided the tubewell storehouse and found neutral ethanol that was kept in 20 drums. An excise department official was also called to the spot, the SSP said, adding that a case was registered in this regard and an investigation was on. Of the seized ENA, nearly 7,000 litre liquor can be made. The accused has been in illicit liquor business for the last five years, an official said. The excise and taxation department has started investigation into pilferage of ENA, which is used by the mafia to make illicit liquor. We have taken the accused on remand and will probe from where he procured ENA. Directions have been issued to all DSPs and station house officers (SHOs) that they will be held personally liable if anyone was found selling illicit liquor in their area, said the SSP. Congress MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur said that recovery of raw liquor material shows that SAD leaders are involved in liquor trade in the area. A bottling plant found by police was also being run by some BJP leaders whom I will expose in the coming days. The role of excise officials should also be probed as liquor is being smuggled on a large scale through the Punjab-Haryana border, he said. Admitting that sarpanch Amrik Singh, who was booked in the bottling plant case, was close to him, Jalalpur claimed to have no knowledge of his illegal activities. Earlier, the SAD had demanded a probe against local Congress leaders in the bottling plant case. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child (GNCRC) has raised concern over the increasing number of children infected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country out of which five have already died. This, according to GNCRC, suggests that parents are neglecting their primary responsibility of taking very good care of their children and protecting them from getting infected. The concern was raised in a press release issued and signed by Mr Barima Akwasi Amankwaah, National Coordinator of the GNCRC. The release, however, congratulated government for the successful initiatives geared towards the spread and containment of COVID-19 in the country. It said, beyond the rise of infections among children by the pandemic, there are other concerns that needed the immediate attention of government, specifically the rise of abusive and violent behaviour against children as reported in the media. Chronicling a number of the abusive and violent behaviors highlighted in the media and for which the perpetrators have either been jailed or are standing trial, the statement called for stiffer punishment to perpetrators of such inhumane acts. It urged the Ministry of Interior through the Ghana Police Service to bring to book those officers that permitted or took videos of some four girls who were alleged to have broken into someones house and made away with some items for circulation, thereby exposing the children to danger and harm. It also raised alarm on the issue of children selling of nose masks on the streets, describing the practice as a worse form of child labour as it violated the rights and welfare of the children involved. The statement called on the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection through the Domestic Violence Secretariat to conduct regional, district and community education on domestic violence including child rights, abuse and exploitation of children while improving avenue for reporting of child protection issues. It also impressed upon the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly Security Councils to include child protection issues in their respective briefing and urgently address emerging issues as a matter of urgency. The statement urged the Department of Community Development to intensify its community education using the Child Protection Community Facilitation Toolkits and the Communication for Development Toolkits. It also admonished the Ministry of Interior through the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) to collaborate with community members and opinion leaders to quicken the process of prosecution of offenders to serve as deterrent to others. Again, the statement wants the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and its partners to engage with the media to intensify education on child labour to ensure that no child is found on the street even after the total lifting of all restrictions. It requested the Ministry of Information to include child protection issues in its deliberations and educate the masses on child abuse prevention and the situation in the communities, noting that the psychological cost of damages to a child could not be quantified nor compared to any other economic benefit. It is anticipated that if we do all that and many others, we shall be able to prevent child rights abuses, violation and exploitation within our communities and give our children a better future, the statement added. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Serving as president of the National Education Association, a labor union with over 3.2 million members, was never the goal for Lily Eskelsen Garcia. She isnt interested in climbing the ranks to only serve as a face of a movement. Shed rather use the title as a tool to help get things done for the children she and other teachers around the country care for. Its not the biggest thing in my life, she emphasized to InStyle during a recent video call. It is what I use to do what I think is important. Garcia began her career by a series of fortuitous events, and with the help of a few people who believed in her. A former lunch lady, she moved to the classroom when a schools director thought she might make a good kindergarten teachers aide. That teacher suggested she pursue a teaching degree of her own. No one had ever, ever talked to me about going to college, she said. It just wasnt done. Garcia excelled, and was dubbed Utahs Teacher of the Year after nine years of leading and fostering her students curiosity and creativity. Courtesy That isnt to say teaching has been an easy path for her. She said those years were a tumultuous time; the same year she earned the Teacher of the Year nod, over 20,000 teachers in Los Angeles went on strike for nine days. (Garcia sees parallels in the #RedForEd movement that NEA is championing today.) It was a protest march nearly 30 years ago that fired up her fighting spirit: They gave me a microphone, and I gave a speech about how much we love our kids and we werent gonna let em down, she said. And people said, you should run for something in the union. So I did. Even before the coronavirus pandemic closed schools across the country and forced teachers and students alike to navigate remote learning with next-to-no notice and frustratingly few resources, the NEA was already fighting for better conditions for teachers and students alike. In the past few years, teachers across the country have lobbied for fewer kids in their classrooms at a time, reasonable budgets for supplies, and pay and benefits that better reflect the work they put in. On the federal level, the NEA helped push for the 2015 revision of No Child Left Behind, the George W. Bush-era act that penalized states and local districts if students performed poorly on standardized tests, which often dont account for the different ways individual students learn and process information. Story continues Courtesy I got to sit in the Oval Office with Barack Obama and argue with him about tests, Garcia said, calling that exchange probably the funnest thing I ever got to do, because in the end he started asking me questions Well now, what would it look like and I started listening to him and he started listening to me. Revisions to the bills ultimately passed with bipartisan support, which Garcia does not take for granted. I know its because we were able to have people who love kids look them in the eye and say, What would you want for your own children? Thats what we want for the kids that were teaching, she said. RELATED: Michelle Obama Hosts a Virtual Graduation for the Class of 2020 She also knows that her work must extend beyond the individual, and that its crucial she advocates for everyone. Kids with disabilities, kids who dont speak English, kids who have every advantage in the world and kids who have no advantage, she said, underlining that her work is to ensure that all kids have access and opportunity to succeed, to make their dreams come true. Courtesy If anything has thrown into relief just how many obstacles exist for a vast number of children, its the current pandemic. Families experiencing food insecurity are at risk for going hungry, given many children often rely on the meals they receive at school. Many kids have to share computers with siblings who are also sheltering in place, or might not have access to a computer or WiFi at all. Teachers are also worried that they might not be able to advocate for kids in unsafe living conditions. And then theres the matter of remote learning: For many districts, it wasnt even a possibility until it became the only way students could learn at all. RELATED: Lauren Singer on Embracing the Awkward Aspects of a Zero-Waste Lifestyle If someone had asked me a couple of months ago what would it take for every teacher in America to have to teach digitally, to have to teach online, Id say, oh, about a thousand years, Garcia said. But the NEA and other organizations got to work; school bus drivers across the country are dropping off students food and homework packets at their stops, and districts are equipping those same vehicles with WiFi. None of those fixes solve for the individualized care a teacher can provide their students in the classroom, and advocates are worried that the learning gaps between students will only grow wider as shelter-in-place orders go on. But even in the face of daunting challenges, Garcia stresses a need to be fearless while advocating for what she knows to be right. What are we afraid of? she asked. Why wouldnt you do this? Why wouldnt you say what you need to say to people who need to hear it? Be fearless. Just do it. Gov. Greg Abbott justified his expanded re-opening of the Texas economy during a national television interview on Monday by pointing to COVID-19 data heading in the right direction and saying its time to end government forced poverty. Texas reported 11 coronavirus deaths on Monday, its lowest daily death total in more than a month. During an interview on Fox News, Abbott told host Sean Hannity about that statistic, and how a day earlier the state had reported its lowest hospitalizations since the middle of April. Texas reported 1,512 hospitalizations of coronavirus patients on Sunday. All the trends are going good in Texas and Texas is opening up businesses, Abbott said. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox While he focused on the 11 deaths reported on Monday, Abbott did not address the previous four days when 178 deaths were reported the worst four-day stretch in the state since the pandemic hit. After Abbott was on Fox News on Monday, state health officials released new hospitalization figures that showed that number has increased back up to 1,732 people. A Hearst Newspapers analysis published Monday found that Texas still has not met key criteria for reopening suggested by Abbotts public health advisers, including a 14-day decline in total coronavirus cases, ability to administer 30,000 tests for the disease per day, and a force of 4,000 workers available to identify and trace those who have contact with COVID-19 patients. Abbott told Hannity that businesses can open up in ways that are safe while the nation waits for medical treatments to fight the virus. Get people back to work, Abbott said. Let them earn the money to pay their rent and put food on the table and sustain their lives as opposed to being locked down into government forced poverty. Watch the latest video at foxnews.com Abbott has been one of the most aggressive governors in the nation in re-opening the state. On May 1, his statewide stay-at-home orders expired and he allowed restaurants, retail stores, malls and movie theaters to reopen at 25 percent capacity. Then a week later he allowed barbershops and hair salons to re-open. On Monday, Abbott announced restaurants can now go to 50 percent capacity starting Friday in much of the state. Abbott also announced bars can reopen at 25 percent capacity beginning Friday, along with a host of other re-openings. TDT | Manama AlMabarrah AlKhalifia Foundation announced yesterday that a freezer van was donated to Bahrain Food Bank through the fund of Her Highness Shaikha Moza bint Hamad Al Khalifa (may Allah bestow peace upon her soul). This comes in line with endeavours to strengthen the social partnership and continually work to embrace positive values and support members of the community through humanitarian and charitable initiatives during Ramadan and throughout the year. This initiative also comes to highlight the significance of implementing effective steps to achieve environmental sustainability as per Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and contribute to limiting food waste by partnering with Bahrain Food Bank to deliver food surplus to families in need and workers affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. We would like to thank Bahrain Food Bank for its ongoing efforts towards fostering a culture that encourages food preservation, which ultimately contributes to achieving SDGs locally and internationally and establish food security, said AlMabarrah AlKhalifia Board of Trustees chairperson Her Highness Shaikha Zain bint Khalid Al Khalifa. We are grateful for the foundations contribution under the HH Shaikha Moza bint Hamad Al Khalifa fund, as this will majorly contribute towards enhancing our capabilities and capacity to preserve more food and deliver it to a wider segment of needy individuals in Bahrain, said Bahrain Food Bank CEO Ahmed Al Kuwaiti. The fund of HH Shaikha Moza was launched in 2011 upon the request of her daughters and is managed by AlMabarrah AlKhalifia Foundation. The fund aims to carry out charitable and humanitarian work based on the needs and requirements of the local community in order to uplift the living conditions of the society as a whole. Hong Kong may extend its social distancing measure for two more weeks, government sources were quoted as saying in media reports. As per reports, Hong Kong will allow gatherings at places of worships for some services to take place with 50 percent capacity. The semi-autonomous region has recorded no new coronavirus cases in the last two days leaving its total tally at 1,056, which is significantly lower than some of the other regions in mainland China. Read: Hong Kong Leader On COVID Tests And Social Distancing Hong Kong eased some of its coronavirus restrictions from May 4, allowing civil servants to return to work. Hong Kong reopened some of its schools, cinemas, bars, beauty parlors starting from May 8 in a bid to give some relaxation to residents. According to reports, older students who were not given relief in the earlier plan will be allowed to return to their classrooms from May 27, while younger children will resume school in the first half of June. Read: Hong Kong Lawmakers Clash As Pro-Beijing Camp Elects Chair Hong Kong was one of the first territories outside mainland China to record a COVID-19 case but despite that the city has managed to flatten the curve without even imposing a complete lockdown. According to figures by worldometer website, Hong Kong has recorded just 4 deaths since the first case was reported in mid-February. The city at its peak registered just 82 new infections, which is its biggest single-day rise to date. The last person to die of coronavirus in Hong Kong was on March 13. Read: Hong Kong Police Watchdog Upholds Actions Against Protesters COVID-19 outbreak Meanwhile, the global tally from the pandemic has touched the 4.9 million mark and has killed over 3,20,000 people. The United States remains the worst affected country in the world with over 1.5 million confirmed infections and more than 91,000 deaths. The race to develop a potential vaccine has started with eight countries already into the human-trial phase that includes, China, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Read: Hong Kong To Prioritize Passing Of Contentious Anthem Bill (Image Credit: AP) The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Union government to respond to a Public Interest Litigation seeking a cap on the price of N95 masks. The plea, filed by Sucheta Dalal and Anjali Damania, claimed such a cap on pricing was required to curb black marketing of the masks during the lockdown imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The petitioners' counsel, senior advocate Mihir Desai, told the court there already existed a shortage of N95 masks for frontline healthcare workers and, therefore, it was imperative their hoarding or black marketing be prevented. Coronavirus India LIVE News Updates The Maharashtra government, however, told HC on Tuesday it had already written to the Centre seeking a maximum ceiling on the sale price of N95 masks. 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 A bench of Chief justice Dipankar Datta and Justice SS Shinde, therefore, directed Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh to take instructions from the Union government on the same and inform the court on Friday. As per the plea, though N95 masks have been declared an essential commodity under the Essential Commodities Act, hoarding and profiteering continues in the state, and it was imperative government authorities ensured fair pricing. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Thabane announced on Monday his resignation, the long-awaited epilogue of several months of a political crisis caused by his implication in the assassination of his former wife in 2017. I have decided to announce to you personally that I am leaving my office as Prime Minister of Lesotho. I wanted you to hear it from the horses mouth, Thabane told reporters from his residence. However, the head of the government did not specify whether his withdrawal was immediate. In power for almost three years, Thomas Thabane, 80, has been challenged since justice suspected him of being linked to the assassination of his ex-wife in 2017, a few days before taking office. Pressured by his own party, the All Basotho Convention ( ABC ) and his government coalition, the Prime Minister resisted for a long time and had so far pledged to leave office only by the end of July. But his supporters officially removed his confidence from him last week in the National Assembly and proposed the appointment of a new head of government, the current finance minister Moeketsi Majoro. The appointment of Mr. Masoetsa was officially approved on Monday by the Council of State and should be validated by the Parliament when it resumes its work on May 22. Landlocked in the middle of South Africa, Lesotho has known since its independence in 1966 an unstable political history, punctuated by military coups. Share this post with your Friends on Basti, May 19 : More than 50 labourers who had arrived in Uttar Pradesh's Basti district last week from Maharashtra, have now tested positive for coronavirus. Basti District Magistrate Ashutosh Niranjan told IANS on Tuesday that the report of the workers was received in the afternoon. He said that the tally of corona cases in the district has gone up to 104, of which 74 are active cases. He said that while some of the workers who have tested positive are in institutional quarantine, some have been in home quarantine. "We will now shift them to the level-1 Covid hospital in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya and will then trace their contacts. We will also find out the places in Maharashtra from where they have come," the DM said. With 50 migrants testing positive for the Corona virus in one district, the situation is a cause for concern. A senior health official said: "Our fears seem to be coming true. If migrants are bringing the infection in such large numbers, the Covid tally is bound to spurt in the coming days." Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Revelo Resources Corp. (TSXV: RVL) ("Revelo" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a Binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") with West Pacific Ventures Corp. ("WPV"), a private Canadian company, that will allow WPV to acquire a 100% interest in eight of Revelo's copper-focused projects in northern Chile. Under the terms of the LOI, Revelo will receive new shares of WPV that in turn will be exchanged for shares of a public company shell ("PubCo"). The transaction will result in a Reverse Take-Over ("RTO") of Pubco, with the resulting company seeking to concurrently list on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") after having raised a minimum of $4 million. Revelo will on closing of the RTO hold 19.9% of the issued and outstanding shares of PubCo. Revelo's President and CEO, Tim Beale, commented: "This transaction represents an excellent opportunity for Revelo to participate in a new company that will be well financed and positioned to advance eight of our projects in Chile. Revelo will retain a significant say in the technical direction and evolution of the exploration programs. This meets Revelo's key criteria for striking deals on its projects, with the Company and its shareholders well positioned to participate in success and discovery." Conditions precedent and other details of the transaction include: The 8 properties (the "Property" or "Properties") to be sold are: Arrieros, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4, Redondo-Veronica, Cerro Blanco, Cerro Buenos Aires and Morros Blancos - totaling around 58,000 hectares. Revelo has received US$ 125,000 in cash on signing of the LOI and will receive a further cash payment of US$ 175,000 on signing of definitive documentation. Closing is subject to PubCo having raised a minimum of CAD$ 4 million. These funds will be allocated principally to exploration programs on the Properties. Revelo will have an anti-dilution clause such that its 19.9% interest in PubCo is protected up to a total of CAD$ 6 million having been raised inclusive of the initial CAD$ 4 million. Subsequent to the Pubco raising an aggregate of CAD$ 6 million, Revelo will have an additional right for two years thereafter to participate in further financings up to its equity level of interest in PubCo. Revelo will have a seat on the board of directors of PubCo and will also have a role in the technical operatorship of the exploration programs. Revelo will benefit from a contingent payment of US$ 2 million, as a one-time payment on a project by project basis (up to a total of US$ 16 million) on the completion of the first bankable feasibility study on each project; and also benefit from a contingent payment of US$ 3 million, as a one-time payment on a project by project basis (up to a total of US$ 24 million) within 90 days of the initiation of commercial production on each project. The intent of the parties is to sign definitive documentation by the end of June 2020, with closing and listing of PubCo on the CSE including funds raised, by the end of August 2020. ABOUT THE PROJECTS Post-Mineral Covered "Pampa" Projects The Arrieros, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4 and Redondo-Veronica projects all lie along the Mid-Tertiary aged magmatic belt of northern Chile often referred to as the Domeyko Cordillera or the West Fissure Belt. This mineral belt, stretching over some 600 kilometers north-south, is host to some of the most important porphyry copper mines and districts in the world, such as Collahuasi (Anglo American, Glencore and partners), Chuquicamata (Codelco), Centinela (Antofagasta Minerals, Marubeni and partners), La Escondida (BHP, Rio Tinto and partners) and El Salvador (Codelco), amongst others. The Domeyko Cordillera copper mines are responsible for producing around 15% of world copper production, and around 56% of Chilean copper production, and include the world's largest single copper mine at La Escondida. All five of the Revelo projects to be sold are characterised by extensive post-mineral gravel and caliche covered basins, typically called "pampas", which obscure the underlying geology. Geophysics followed by drill testing are the main tools available for exploration. The projects all lie directly along trend from major producing copper mines and have potential for concealing buried porphyry copper systems, as evidenced by peripheral hydrothermal alteration zones at each project exhibiting characteristics related to porphyry copper deposits. Two projects, Arrieros and Block 3, already have exploration magnetics data coverage that reveals a series of geophysical anomalies that could possibly be related to buried porphyry copper systems. Although limited historic drilling has been carried out on some of the projects, the drilling is generally wide-spaced or off-target based on existing data, and large areas with potential to conceal large porphyry systems remain untested. None of the projects currently has Induced Polarisation ("IP") coverage. It will be the intent of PubCo to fully explore the pampa basins with high resolution geophysical surveys, both magnetics and IP, in order to delineate potential drill targets for follow-up. High-Level "Lithocap" Projects The Cerro Blanco, Cerro Buenos Aires and Morros Blancos projects all lie along the Early-Tertiary aged magmatic belt of northern Chile often referred to as the Central Belt or the Paleocene Belt. This mineral belt extends from at least southern Peru to central Chile - more than 1,500 kilometers - and is host to important porphyry copper deposits and mines such as Cerro Verde (Freeport and partners), Cuajone and Toquepala (Southern Copper), and Quellaveco (Anglo American and partners) in southern Peru, and Cerro Colorado and Spence (BHP and partners), Sierra Gorda (KGHM and partners), and further south Relincho (Teck and partners), in northern Chile. The segment of the belt between the latitudes of approximately Antofagasta and Copiapo in northern Chile, a distance of around 400 kilometers, is also characterised by historically important and currently producing gold and silver mines of both high-sulphidation and low-sulphidation type, such as the El Penon-Fortuna district (Yamana Gold), Amancaya and Guanaco (Austral Gold), and the Inca de Oro district. The three Revelo projects to be sold all occur within the central segment dominated by gold and silver deposits and mines and are located between El Penon and Amancaya. The three projects are characterised by high-level, advanced argillic hydrothermal alteration zones commonly called "lithocaps", which typically occur above potential high-sulphidation and/or porphyry copper or copper-gold systems. Cerro Buenos Aires and Morros Blancos have extensive, zoned alteration zones with zoned geochemical patterns at surface, while Cerro Blanco is a relatively small outcrop (about 1 Km across) surrounded by extensive post-mineral gravel "pampas". Magnetic geophysical coverage at both Cerro Buenos Aires and Cerro Blanco reveals several magnetic highs that might be related to porphyry copper centres. Minor drilling at all three projects, peripheral to the main targets as currently understood, supports the proposed porphyry copper model. It will be the intent of PubCo to add detail to the alteration and geochemical zonation patterns which, in conjunction with further geophysical surveys, should result in the delineation of drill targets for follow-up. The Cerro Blanco area requires IP coverage in order to understand better the magnetic features apparent through the extensive cover, with a view to delineating drill targets. The reader is cautioned that the mention of existing deposits and mines is to give context to the various projects, but there is no evidence to date that a comparable mineral resource could be found on the Properties. For further details of the projects please refer to the relevant project pages on Revelo's website (www.reveloresources.com). Qualified Person Demetrius Pohl, PhD., Certified Professional Geoscientist (CPG), an independent geological consultant to Revelo, is the Company's Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosures for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators and has verified the data disclosed and approved the written disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release. ABOUT REVELO Revelo is a Canadian company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV: RVL). Revelo has interests in an outstanding portfolio of projects prospective for gold and copper located along proven mineral belts in one of the world's top mining jurisdictions - Chile. The Company has a vision to reward shareholders with wealth-generating mineral discoveries along Chile's prime mineral belts, through leveraged and more efficient capital deployment, exploration, discovery and monetization. For more information, please visit Revelo's website here www.reveloresources.com. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD Michael Winn, Chairman INVESTOR CONTACT Timothy J Beale | President & CEO T: +1 604 687-5544 | info@reveloresources.com | www.reveloresources.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that Revelo expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential", "indicate" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Revelo believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Map Showing Locations of Revelo's Exploration Projects in Northern Chile Including the 8 Projects for Sale to WPV To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3761/56131_img.enh.jpg To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56131 WASHINGTON - Attorney General William Barr just ratcheted up the government's fight against encryption. Barr slammed Apple for its apparent refusal to help unlock unlock the devices of a Saudi air force student who opened fire last year at a U.S. military base in Pensacola, Fla. He said the strong encryption meant it took law enforcement five months to access evidence tying the shooter, Ahmed Mohammed al-Shamrani, to the terrorist group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Barr presented the case as proof positive that the longstanding refusal by Apple and other tech firms to build in law enforcement access to encrypted communications is endangering Americans' safety by allowing terrorists to recruit and plan operations in digital secrecy. Information on the devices helped launch a counterterrorism operation against an associate of Alshamrani in Yemen, Abdullah al-Maliki, Devlin Barrett reports. "The bottom line: Our national security cannot remain in the hands of big corporations who put dollars over lawful access and public safety," he said in a statement. "The time has come for a legislative solution." They focused on the fact that the FBI was able to ultimately get the information it needed without Apple's help. This, they say, proves there's no need for Apple or other companies to give law enforcement a backdoor into its encryption - which, they say, would make everyone using these devices vulnerable to criminal hackers or U.S. adversaries, and make American products less competitive on the world stage. "It is because we take our responsibility to national security so seriously that we do not believe in the creation of a backdoor - one which will make every device vulnerable to bad actors who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers," the company said. "There is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys, and the American people do not have to choose between weakening encryption and effective investigations." Barr didn't say how the FBI got into the Pensacola shooter's phone, but it was likely with the help of a company that offers hacking tools that exploit bugs that Apple doesn't know about. In many cases those tools can break through powerful encryption that shields people's digital communications even from the company that runs the communications platform. "This is just confirmation that the FBI and the Justice Department have long had the ability to get into these phones. It just takes time and resources," Hannah Quay-de la Vallee, senior technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology think tank, told me. Many encryption advocates say the FBI should focus on beefing up its resources to do this faster, versus forcing the companies to undermine their own security. The FBI went to court in 2015 to try to force Apple to help it access the contents of an encrypted iPhone used by San Bernardino, California, shooter Syed Farook. But the bureau dropped its efforts when an unnamed company offered a hacking tool that could break in without Apple's assistance. Nevertheless, Barr and other law enforcement officials repeatedly called on Apple to help break through its encryption in the Pensacola case. At the same time, they acknowledged they'd largely given up on tech companies helping them voluntarily with encryption and were focusing on seeking legislation that forces companies to cooperate instead. Encryption defenders accused DOJ of using the Pensacola case to undermine confidence in the security protection. "Every time there's a traumatic event requiring investigation into digital devices, the Justice Department loudly claims that it needs backdoors to encryption, and then quietly announces it actually found a way to access information without threatening the security and privacy of the entire world," American Civil Liberties Union Senior Staff Attorney Brett Max Kaufman said in a statement. "The boy who cried wolf has nothing on the agency that cried encryption." "How would you have felt if it took us five months to figure out who flew into the World Trade Center?" former National Security Agency general counsel Stewart Baker told me. "That's an unacceptable price to pay in a terrorism investigation and in many law enforcement investigations where capturing a kidnapper or murderer is going to be almost impossible after five months." Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., thrashed Apple on Twitter, accusing the company of "siding with terrorists over law enforcement." They point to a slew of scandals at major tech companies since 2016 that has stoked public distrust. Barr and other top Justice Department officials have also refocused many of their public arguments on how encrypted systems allow extensive sharing of child pornography and other material that exploits children, which has helped rally support in Congress. A bill with bipartisan support would remove tech companies' liability shield for what their users share and post if they don't follow a new set of rules that could include weakening encryption. "There is a growing lack of patience among people who are not already ideologically committed to Silicon Valley on this issue," Baker told me. "I'm of the opinion that Apple's position doesn't get stronger over time because the number of people whose lives have been touched in a way their encryption policies makes worse continues to grow." Public support for strong encryption might be strengthened as Americans are even more reliant on the Internet and their personal devices during the coronavirus pandemic. "The value of encryption grows as more of our lives move online and you just can't not be online now," Quay-de la Vallee told me. "So, the question of what's the value of encryption just becomes clearer every day." A coroner who investigated the murders of a mother and daughter by a puppy farmer has demanded mandatory gun training for police officers and warned that lives are still being put at risk. Christine Lee, 66, and Lucy Lee, 40, were shot dead at their cottage in Farnham, Surrey by John Lowe, then 82, in February 2014, just seven months after he had been handed back his shotgun by police. Lowe, later convicted of double murder and jailed for life, had been stripped of his firearm when accused in March 2013 of threatening to kill Lucy Lees sister with a gun, and concerns were raised about his health including suspected Alzheimers disease. But when the threat to kill case collapsed against Lowe, and despite police knowing about previous allegations of domestic violence, an ongoing fraud investigation, and his criminal associations, he was handed back his shotgun and licence in July 2013. Killer: John Lowe, 83 An inquest jury concluded that five failings by Surrey Police had more than minimally contributed to the deaths of Mrs Lee and her daughter, and they heavily criticised the actions of the forces Firearms Licensing Department. In a report by Senior Coroner for Surrey Richard Travers, he has raised concerns that lives at being put at risk by a lack of firearms control training at forces around the UK. It was apparent from the evidence that, at the time of the deaths, there was no national training course for staff working in police firearms licensing departments as Firearms Enquiry Officers (FEOs), he said. The coroner acknowledged that the College of Policing is developing an accreditation scheme for gun control officers but it is not yet complete, and a course on the topic run by South Yorkshire Police is widely used but not mandatory. Christine Lee I am concerned that, pending the introduction of a full accreditation scheme, the absence of a mandatory requirement for all new FEOs (whether in Surrey or elsewhere) to undertake comprehensive training for the rolewill result in the risk of insufficient training, incorrect decision making concerning certification and, consequently, future deaths. Lowe, who died in prison aged 86, had failed to declare medical conditions when he successfully applied to renew his shotgun certificate in 2010, and when Surrey Police became aware of the Alzheimers disease concern they were not skilled enough to properly assess him. Mr Travers said at present there is a lack of clarity as to what medical conditions may be relevant and must be disclosed, and officers lacking in medical training are left to assess a wide range of conditions when deciding on gun licences. I am concerned that in Surrey, and elsewhere, a fundamentally unreliable system for assessing medical fitness to hold a shotgun certificate is in operation, he said. In my view there is currently a risk of future deaths in Surrey and elsewhere resulting from the absence of a system to ensure that, before a decision is made on the application, the Firearms Licensing Department is fully aware of (i) all medical conditions from which an applicant is suffering and (ii) the relevance of each medical condition to the application. Mr Travers added that problems were flagged by Her Majestys Inspectorate of Constabulary in September 2015, but the recommendations of the report have not yet been implemented. Following the inquest ruling last year, Assistant Chief Constable Jon Savell apologised for the failings and said reforms of its firearms licensing processes had been undertaken to "ensure public safety is maximised". For the first time in more than two months, the pews at San Juan de los Lagos Parish and Shrine were occupied by something that had been conspicuously absent: worshippers. More than a dozen parishioners filed in Tuesday morning ready to celebrate Mass at the 58-year-old church nestled in a West Side neighborhood. To receive communion is to be fed by the Lord, said Mary Ann Esquivel, wearing a face mask made of fabric depicting the Virgen de Guadalupe. My soul asks for it. Being able to do this in the church today means so much spiritually. On March 13, the Archdiocese of San Antonio announced it had to suspend public Masses at all its churches to help contain the spread of the novel coronavirus and keep the faithful safe. Since then, many churches have been livestreaming Mass on their Facebook and YouTube pages. In that format, viewers receive communion wine and bread that worshippers believe transform into the blood and body of Jesus by way of an ancient spiritual prayer. But its not quite the same experience. We need this weekly healing, so this (reopening) has been long-awaited, parishioner Marcelino Villanueva said while entering the sanctuary with his wife, Lydia. Theres just something about being with other worshippers, with humanity, that makes communion special. Its just been heartbreaking not to be able to attend, Lydia said. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer On ExpressNews.com: Remembering San Antonio-area residents who have died from the virus In keeping with the rules established by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, a sign in the churchs narthex set forth in English and Spanish the new safety protocols that all worshippers were expected to follow. Only four people per pew, and they must sit 6 feet apart. Every other pew roped off with plastic twine must stay empty. Families can sit together, but face masks are required. During Holy Communion, only the priest drinks the wine, not the congregants. Exit the church immediately after the service, so it can be disinfected. Worshippers are urged to be patient and cooperate. The pews have been stripped of hymn books and missals, and Holy Water basins are dry. There was no passing of the collection plate. When it was time to pass the peace, congregants waved at each other from their pews. For communion, Associate Pastor Father Ricardo Guerra donned a blue face mask and handed out the wafers at the foot of the altar, never directly touching the worshippers. On ExpressNews.com: Local ZIP codes with the highest rates of the virus After the service, Father Guerra said his sermons message that Jesus had to leave us in order to be with us in a different way strikes a chord with Catholics during the pandemic. Were missing him, so this homecoming is like greeting an old friend, he said. Its a sacred moment. At St. Matthew Catholic Church on the Northwest Side, about 100 worshippers sat in pews that had been demarcated with blue tape to indicate proper social distancing as the noon Mass began. There was only one permitted entry into the 250-seat sanctuary, although parishioners could use multiple exits. As at San Juan de los Lagos, communion wafers were placed by the celebrant on the palm, instead of on the tongue. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer But there were a few signs of blessed normalcy amid the changes the church bells ringing, a baby crying during the church announcements. For longtime member Bitsie Scholwinski, being able to receive communion in person was something to cherish. The Eucharist is the gift of all gifts that we have as Catholics, she said. Weve been deprived of it for just reasons, and now we have these attempts to bring things back to normal. Cathy Elizondo, a black lace mantilla on her head, agreed. Our Lord is present here, in a way hes not present otherwise, she whispered, right before entering the church for the Mass. Catholics can resume celebrating Sunday Mass in person this coming weekend. The leader of the flock in San Antonio said he is amazed how Catholics have continued to observe their faith, even with all the stresses and strains of the coronavirus. I want to express my gratitude to our priests for ministering to Gods people in these challenging weeks, Garcia-Siller said. We all need to be renewed in the Spirit. Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje is a general assignment reporter covering breaking news, cultural trends and interesting people and goings-on around San Antonio and Bexar County, as well as all across South Texas. To read more from Melissa , become a subscriber. mstoeltje@express-news.net | Twitter: @mstoeltje The latest: Quebec has 43,627 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 3,596 people ha ve died. That is an increase of 707 cases and 34 deaths from a day earlier. Retail stores in the Montreal area will be allowed to reopen on May 25. Daycares in the greater Montreal area will reopen on June 1, though spaces will be limited. Montreal had a beautiful long weekend and despite pleas from officials not to flood parks, many without elsewhere to go did just that, soaking up the sun in the city's green spaces. The province's guidelines have been a source of some confusion, though. They state people can gather outside as long as they stay two metres apart. But public health officials, like Montreal Public Health Director Dr. Mylene Drouin, are urging people to avoid holding large outdoor gatherings. On Monday, Drouin called on the Quebec government to clarify what's allowed. "It would be desirable to specify a maximum number of people who can gather outside while respecting the two-metre distance," she said in a statement to CBC News. Child protection waiting lists going down The wait for youth protection services in Quebec is at a historic low, and junior health minister Lionel Carmant says credit should go to the government's recent $65 million investment into the system. But experts and union officials believe the decrease is more likely due to the pandemic, which has closed many of the usual facilities where children in need of help are identified. Other info you should know Wearing gloves can give you a false sense of security, say public health officials, who recommend hand-washing as a safer way for everyday people to protect themselves against the novel coronavirus. The push for a greener economy on the other side of COVID-19 restrictions is growing. A group of environmental, financial and political figures want Canada to come up with a recovery plan focused on emissions-reducing and sustainable projects. COVID-19 Shows that Research Institutions Need Stronger Scientific Integrity Policies Posted on 19 May 2020 by Guest Author This is a repost from the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund blog, by CSLDF Executive Director Lauren Kurtz The COVID-19 pandemic illuminates the crucial role scientists at university, state, and local laboratories in the United States and abroad play in protecting public health and safetyand shows that global research must be done without undue interference. With this in mind, today we published a free resource for scientists: A Quick Guide to the Scientific Integrity Policies of Universities, State Agencies, and International Institutions. The guide describes how these institutions generally structure their scientific integrity policies, what the policies cover, and the processes for enforcing them. COVID-19 demonstrates that research facilities must foster sound research practices and a strong culture of scientific integrityespecially with university researchers playing critical roles in this crisis. These scientists are developing potential drug treatments for COVID-19, addressing the pressing need for more equipment to treat those affected, and modeling scenarios for reopening the economy, among other notable contributions. Proposals to ease shelter-in-place orders rely heavily on university researchers doing even more to help increase the nations testing capacity. But university labs feel the impact of politics carrying more weight than science and public well-being, and federal pressures appear to hinder the labs efforts. For example, in January, the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention Control (CDC) declined to adopt the test for COVID-19 developed by the World Health Organization. Instead, the CDC created its own, more complicated test, which turned out to be faulty, leading to a catastrophic testing delay. As this unfolded, labs at universities around the country worked swiftly to develop tests. The process of obtaining an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that labs needed to start conducting their tests was also inexplicably slow. The EUA process is meant to be flexible and allow the FDA to move quickly in emergenciessomething it did relatively well during the 2009 H1N1 epidemic. Yet flexibility and speed are the opposite of what university labs encountered when they tried to fill the gap left by the faulty CDC tests. The labs were left hamstrung, and the U.S. ended up weeks behind on testing. In another upsetting example, South Dakotas public health laboratory had tremendous trouble securing the reagents it needed to run tests from the CDC and had to stop testing all together. These sobering events demonstrate the devastating consequences of politics interfering with science. President Trump and others in his administration were reluctant to acknowledge the severity of the rapidly growing public health crisis and risk economic disruption in an election year. The administrations efforts to downplay inconvenient scientific findings mirror its approach to longer-term crises like climate change. Avoiding political pressure in research is a core tenet of most scientific integrity policies adopted by federal scientific agencies in the U.S. However, some of these policiesincluding the CDCsare missing key provisions and dont adequately protect research from scientific integrity abuses. While the lack of protections for researchers is well-established, particularly climate scientists, the COVID-19 catastrophe also demonstrates that the scientific integrity policies of all federal agencies and academic and state research institutions must prohibit political interference in research. Attacks on science and scientists at the federal level since Trump took office are well-documented by the media; we also record them in our Silencing Science Tracker. Fewer stories focus on the impacts of this anti-science culture on state and academic research institutions. But there are consequences. In 2017, anecdotal reports said university scientists were avoiding using the term climate change in grant proposals to steer clear of negative attention from the administration. Most research universities and a few state agencies have policies that govern the conduct of their research. Unfortunately, many of these policies do not include key topics such as prohibiting retaliation against anyone who reports misconduct or coercive manipulation of scientists. Instead, the policies primarily focus on narrow concepts such as plagiarism and data fraud. These topics are important, but limiting policies to specific issues does not reflect the range of threats that scientists face in trying to conduct their research. University and state policies should include broader concepts of scientific integrity. Protecting against political interference in science is a critical first step in ensuring that the research conducted by state and academic institutions is credible and reliable. Researchers facing scientific integrity issues should contact us for advice about their situation. Write to lawyer@csldf.org to request a free, confidential consultation with one of our attorneys Renewed trust and cooperation could finally 'unlock progress' toward peace in Syria UN envoy 18 May 2020 - Renewed trust, confidence, and cooperation between international players and Syrians could finally "unlock progress", putting the country on a political path towards lasting peace, the UN Special Envoy for Syria told the Security Council on Monday. Noting that over the past decade, too many "fleeting opportunities" to reverse course had been lost, Geir O. Pedersen recalled during an open videoconference meeting that those missed chances had been followed by "renewed violence and a hardening of positions among regional and international actors". "We must not repeat this pattern", he underscored. The UN envoy shared a widespread belief within Syria itself, that "international competition is more prominent than cooperation" and emphasized that "constructive diplomacy" must be built to support a political solution. "It is hard, but it is not impossible, and we must try", he asserted. Pervasive violence While acknowledging growing progress in Russian-Turkish cooperation in the country's northwest, the Special Envoy reported that "this calm has been punctuated by violent incidents and mutual cross-line offensives", including attacks and counter-attacks involving the little-known extremist group, the "wa-Harid al-Mu'minin operations room", and Government forces. Moreover, there have been incidents of mutual shelling and bomb attacks around Afrin and the northeast; targeted killings and clashes in the southwest; reports of Israeli airstrikes in Deir-ez-Zor and Aleppo; as well as incidents that point to a resurgence of ISIL terrorist fighters in the eastern desert. "Violence continues and there is a constant risk of escalation which could unravel [the] existing arrangement", said the Special Envoy. "We must at all costs avoid reversion to the all-out fighting and abuses and violations we have seen before". Sanctions Turning to the Secretary-General's global call to waive sanctions that are restricting the ability of countries to prepare for, and fight the coronavirus pandemic, the UN Envoy acknowledged that "relevant States" had given assurances that their sanctions were neither interrupting humanitarian supplies, or targeting medicine and medical devices. "I welcome their commitments to fully and expeditiously apply humanitarian exemptions. I continue to closely follow this issue", he said. Anxiety on the ground Mr. Pedersen relayed Syrian's concerns over escalating violence; the wellbeing of detainees, abductees and missing persons; and disappointment in the political process. "Let us also remember that Syria's instability reverberates elsewhere too including as far as Libya, given reports of fighters being recruited in Syria in large numbers and sent to fight on both sides of that conflict", he said. The UN envoy also informed the Council that while the COVID-19 pandemic has yet to envelop the country, fear abounds that "it still could do so". In the meantime, the coronavirus has added a new layer to the grave economic predicament that has resulted from a decade of conflict and left significant price increases and shortages in basic commodities. Council road map Back in 2015, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2254, which endorsed a road map for a peace process in Syria that includes a timetable for UN-facilitated talks between the Government and opposition members. In his update, Mr. Pedersen reiterated the need for a cooperative approach "that ensures stability, protects civilians and fully respects international humanitarian law", to counter terrorist groups. He reminded the UN body of its call to all parties to safeguard a sustained period of calm throughout the country. "Key players should be working together and I stand ready to assist in that so that significant calm in many areas is sustained, enhanced and expanded into a nationwide ceasefire, as called for in resolution 2254", concluded the Special Envoy. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Nova Poshta Global (NPG), a member of Nova Poshta group of companies, launches scheduled flights from/to the United States and China. The company's press service said on Tuesday that flights by the order of Nova Poshta Global will be operated several times a week and deliver both parcels from Ukraine and purchases made by Ukrainians in online stores of these countries. Together with partners, the company has already launched six scheduled flights, namely, five flights to/from the United States and one to/from China. Four flights in the direction of Warsaw-New York-Warsaw are operated by European airlines Lufthansa and LOT, and one weekly direct flight Kyiv-New York-Kyiv of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA). Nova Poshta Global launched another weekly flight to/from China in cooperation with the Ukrainian company SkyUp. "We launched scheduled flights with our regular partners Lufthansa, LOT and UIA, and last week we began cooperation with Ukrainian airline SkyUp. The first flight of this airline has already delivered 1,801 parcels for our customers with a total weight of 17 tonnes, including both individual orders and commercial goods. This is only part of the parcels that Nova Poshta Global delivers to Ukraine from China weekly. We deliver on average about 25,000 parcels weighing more than 38 tonnes per week from the United States," the press service said, citing Nova Poshta Global CEO Yuriy Benevytsky. According to Nova Poshta Global, orders from the United States increased by 4.7 times in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period in 2019, which was due to cooperation with the American online store iHerb, namely, some 230,000 parcels with a total weight of 360 tonnes were delivered from that store for the first quarter of 2020. According to the data provided, the number of deliveries of NP Shopping service has also increased in particular some 81,000 parcels were delivered in the first quarter, which is 32% more than in the same period in 2019. However, the company's customers began not only to order more from abroad, but also to send abroad. Thus, for the first quarter of 2020, the volume of export shipments of individuals increased by 12%, and business customer shipments doubled compared to the same period in 2019. Almost 78% are parcels and goods, some 12% are documents. Nova Poshta Global (formerly Nova Poshta International) has been providing international express delivery services since 2015, and is part of the Nova Poshta group of companies. Nova Poshta Global is developing the NP Shopping service the delivery from online stores in the United States, China, Britain and Poland, provides import and export services for businesses and the ability to ship from any Nova Poshta branch to most countries of the world. CLEVELAND, Ohio A judge said Tuesday that officials have not complied with his directive from last month to clear out the sole federal prison in Ohio to address the spread of coronavirus, which has left nine inmates dead and more than 100 others infected. U.S. District Judge James Gwin of Cleveland wrote in a new order that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has made limited efforts to protect vulnerable inmates at Federal Correctional Center Elkton. He wrote that the bureau must do more to identify, release and transfer the vulnerable inmates. Concerningly, Respondents have made poor progress in transferring subclass members out of Elkton through the various means referenced in the Courts preliminary injunction Order, Gwin wrote in the 11-page order. (You can read the order here.) His new order tells the bureau to take more drastic steps, including loosening requirements on who qualifies for placement on home confinement. If an inmate isnt eligible for release, officials must explain why in detail, he wrote. Gwin told officials to provide such explanations for at least one-third of the inmates identified at risk every two days until they have accounted for everybody, with the first explanations due to him by the end of business Thursday. David Carey, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, said that this order represents recognition by the court that the BOP has failed to meet its obligations. We are certainly hopeful they will do so this time around, he said. The prisons bureau declined comment. Elkton, located about 100 miles south of Cleveland in Columbiana County, experienced an outbreak of the virus in recent months. The low-security complex is currently home to more than 2,300 male inmates and includes a central institution and a satellite facility. As of Tuesday, 137 inmates and eight staff members tested positive for the virus. Nine inmates have died. Gwin, whose courtroom is in Cleveland, ordered the prisons bureau on April 22 to identify and either release or transfer inmates especially susceptible to the virus. That includes inmates 65 years old and older and those with certain preexisting medical conditions. However, the ACLU said the bureau had slow-walked its response. It said the bureau has not, to date, identified any inmates who released on furlough or home confinement. It also said the bureau, which identified 837 inmates as susceptible, left some inmates off its list by not including certain medical conditions and those who are age 65. The judge agreed. By thumbing their nose at their authority to authorize home confinement, Respondents threaten staff and they threaten low security inmates, Gwin wrote. He directed the prisons bureau to eliminate certain criteria that inmates must meet to qualify confinement. Those include eliminating requirements about length of time an inmate has served and disregarding whether they committed certain low or moderate offenses while in prison. Per his order, an inmate is serving time for a violent crime might may also be eligible for home confinement if it happened more than five years ago. If an inmate cannot be given compassionate release, furloughed or moved to another facility, the prisons bureau must also explain why. Carey noted that Gwins order is not a suggestion. The inaction of the BOP suggests that they may be considering (Gwins order) a nudge to continue their own internal practices, he said. Harry Fash Jr. prepares a casket for delivery to a funeral home at Eastern Casket. His father started the business in 1972. Read more Ed Hartman Jr. did not want to be buried. The owner of the Hartman Family Chiropractic Center in Levittown died May 3 at the age of 66 after battling a heart problem for nine months. He didnt have a lot of money, said his son, Edward Hartman III. "And, given the pandemic, we couldnt even have a viewing or a memorial service. So cremation made sense, he said. On the Tuesday following his fathers death, Edward Hartman III collected his fathers ashes from the Delaware Valley Cremation Center. More Americans have opted for cremation over burial since 2015, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, with that proportion becoming a majority in 2016. And as more families choose cremation, the countrys death care industry, reliant on more expensive caskets and burials, is seeing revenues shrink at a dramatic pace with the coronavirus pandemic accelerating the trend. Typical cremations cost significantly less than a funeral with a burial. Cremation accounts for only a tenth of the industrys revenue, and any shift away from expensive burial rituals is bound to put a significant financial squeeze on the traditional death-care businesses. A no-frills simple cremation without a service costs $800 to $2,000. A traditional funeral with a memorial service, casket, and burial can cost $10,000 to $12,000. Pennsylvania is the nations birthplace of cremation. The LeMoyne Crematory, the first in the United States, was established in 1876 near Pittsburgh in Washington, Pa. The countrys second crematory opened in Lancaster, at the Greenwood Cemetery in 1884. Even now, Pennsylvania is second only to California in the number of crematories, with 220. A little more than half the people who died in Pennsylvania in 2019 were cremated. Thats up from about one in five in 2000, according to the Cremation Association of North America. In New Jersey, the rate of cremations doubled from 24% to 49% over the same period. The numbers are high in states where the population is more transient. In Nevada, for example, the rate last year topped 80%, according to the industry association. And, in Seattle, more than 90% of the dead last year were cremated, said Tanya Marsh, a professor of law at Wake Forest University who specializes in funeral and cemetery law. Its weird to be buried if you die in Seattle, said Marsh, who also hosts the often grim but always entertaining podcast Death et Seq., which focuses on trends in the death-care industry. The funeral homes and cemeteries are rightly concerned because its a game changer for the economics of the industry. Many traditional funeral providers were hesitant to embrace the change, Marsh said, because people who opt for cremation dont always do the whole nine yards with embalming, visitation, a service, and burial. Thats changing. If its economically harmful to you, youre unlikely to adopt it, she said. They didnt facilitate the middle ground. Now theyre trying to make up for that oversight. Adapting may be inevitable. Cremations have risen steadily since the early 1960s, when the Roman Catholic church began to allow it as a standard funeral practice. In the early 1970s, just about 5% of those who died were cremated, but that has grown at 1% to 2% a year since. Because of social-distancing guidelines, gatherings of more than 10 people are forbidden at cemeteries. Families, including the Hartmans, are choosing cremation so they can hold memorial services and the closure that they provide with the remains present after the pandemic has passed. More people are choosing cremation now because they cant have a funeral, said Barbara Kemmis, executive director of the Cremation Association of North America. Kemmis said its too early to tell how the pandemic has changed the rate of cremation in the long term. "In the age of COVID-19, all bets are off, she said. Not enough time has passed to have real data. We dont know quite what to expect. Crematoriums in the Philadelphia region have seen an upsurge. Several have accepted COVID-19 victims from overburdened funeral homes in northern New Jersey. Weve nearly doubled our normal numbers, said Bill Sucharski, who provides cremation services for funeral homes at Philadelphia Crematories. He also provides services through the Delaware Valley Cremation Center in Northeast Philadelphia. READ MORE: 175 bodies in 2 days: Deluged with victims, a cemetery aims to preserve the dignity of the dead We usually do between 190 and 200 cremations a month, Sucharski said. In April we did 315. So thats not double, but its a significant rise. About a third of the total were COVID-19 victims, mostly from nursing homes. Sucharski isnt the largest provider of cremation services in the city. Ivy Hill Cemetery, in Northwest Philadelphia, usually performs 600 cremations a month. In April it surpassed 1,000. A smaller operator is Harry Fash Jr., president of Eastern Casket and Crematory in the Nicetown section of North Philadelphia. The Fash family has sold caskets to funeral homes since 1972. When it looked as if cremations would soon overtake burials in 2016, Fash installed a single crematorium chamber. It was the way the death-care industry was trending at the time and seems to be the wave now, Fash said. Cremation is increasing at an astronomical rate. He plans to add another chamber. READ MORE: Military funeral honors suspended in wake of coronavirus but not the respect Before the pandemic, Fash performed one cremation per business day, about 260 last year. Hes on track to triple the number. He extended his hours and now handles three or four a day. We have a reservation list; weve never had that before, he said. We have a six-body cooler, and we cant take any more. Were pushing reservations into the fourth week of June. The squeeze is acutely felt at cemeteries, said Harry Neel, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association. Neel said that, in his conservative western corner of the state, only 30% opt for cremation. Even at that low rate, its tough enough for funeral homes. Theres much less money spent. When the cash dries up they cant stay in business, they call it quits, close up and go home, said Neel, who operates the 380-acre Jefferson Memorial Cemetery and Funeral Home south of Pittsburgh. But at the cemeteries, when suddenly the revenue is cut by half, they still have to keep the grounds landscaped and keep up the roads, Neel said. "Those are fixed expenses and cannot be cut to meet the fallen revenues. Its difficult. You dont have to bury cremains, he continued. Its a shame. They often end up on garage shelves. Still, cremation remains a relatively new phenomenon for many in the U.S. Marsh, the law professor, said that although death is permanent, family funeral traditions are constantly changing. I think it is too soon to tell how the pandemic will change attitudes towards cremation. If [cremation] gets associated with trauma, and not being able to say goodbye, Marsh said, I can see a family who has experienced that pain not wanting to do it the next time around. Andhra Pradeshs director general of police (DGP), Gautam Sawang, ordered an inquiry on Monday after a six-year-old girl was made to mop the floor of a classroom in a government college in Nellore district. A short video and photographs of the girl, the daughter of the watchman of the government junior college at Atmakur, mopping the floor went viral on social media in the state. The girl is seen struggling to clean the floor in the video clip as two policemen on duty are heard directing her to do the job. Her father, who was engaged in some other work, is understood to have entrusted her with the mopping duty. Sawang, who watched the visuals on local television channels, called up Nellores district superintendent of police, Bhaskar Bhushan, and asked him to inquire into the matter and take action against the head constable. I was shocked looking at the visuals. It is an offence on part of the girls father to make her do his job. Even though he is the father of the girl, he is liable for punishment under section 14 of the Child Labour Prohibition Act, a statement from his office said. It said the father of the girl would get a minimum of three months and a maximum of one-year imprisonment and between 10,000 and 20,000 cash fine under the act. Departmental action will be taken on the head constable for playing a spectator and not preventing the girl from working, the official release from the DGPs office said, adding that action would also be taken against college management after the inquiry. The constables behaviour drew criticism from child rights activists and citizens. Andhra Pradesh Balala Hakkula Sangham president P Achyuta Rao demanded criminal proceedings against the constable. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON California Building Contractor And Former Building Commission Member Charged With Bank Fraud San Francisco, California - Rodrigo Santos was charged in a criminal complaint with bank fraud in connection with a scheme to divert into his personal bank account funds that his clients intended to be paid to the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI) and other city departments, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett. According to the complaint filed May 11, 2020, Santos, 61, of San Francisco, is the principal and co-founder of Santos and Urrutia Structural Engineers, Inc., a structural engineering company based in San Francisco. Santos has been involved with inspection work in the city both through his firm and through political appointments. For example, Santos was appointed to the San Francisco Building Inspection Commission in 2000 and as the Commissions President in 2004 by then-Mayors Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom, respectively. As evidence of bank fraud, the complaint alleges that between January 13, 2016, and March 18, 2019, Santos deposited a number of checks into his personal bank account that had been written to third-party departments, companies, and an individual. The complaint alleges that Santos fraudulently deposited into his personal account 261 checks totaling $478,377.83. Specifically, the complaint describes several examples of Santos alleged diversion of the funds of individual clients. In one example, Santos instructed joint owners of a residential project to write a blank check to DBI for the uncertain cost of obtaining a purported permit from the agency. After the owners wrote a check to DBI for an amount not to exceed $3,000, the check ultimately was deposited into Santoss personal account with the hand-written endorsement DBI on the reverse of the check. In another example, the owners of a different residential project wrote several checks they believed would be submitted to DBI or San Franciscos Department of Public Works for various permits. Santos caused four of the checks to be deposited into his personal bank account with DPW or DBI hand-written in the endorsement field on the reverse of the check. In yet another example, the homeowners wrote a check in the amount of $1,314.50 as pay to the order DBI, and Santos added letters changing DBI to RoDBIgo SANTOS. The check was deposited into Santoss personal bank account. Finally, the complaint alleges that, when confronted with this evidence, Santos submitted forged invoices to the FBI. Santos is charged with bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1344. If convicted, Santos faces a statutory maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. 3553. The charges contained in the criminal complaint are mere allegations. As in any criminal case, the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. Santos was arrested this morning and appeared before U.S Magistrate Judge Alex Tse. Magistrate Judge Tse ordered Santos released on a $100,000 bond. Santoss next court appearance is scheduled for Friday, May 15, 2020, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu for identification of counsel. The case is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Section of the U.S. Attorneys Office. The case is being investigated by the FBI. San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera also alleged in a lawsuit unsealed in March 2020 that Santos engaged in check fraud. Bahrain's Minister of Housing Engineer Bassim bin Yaqoob Al Hamar has started to distribute 5,000 homes under the Al Ramli Suburb Housing Project in implementation of the order of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, reported BNA. Al Ramli Suburb Housing is one of the main projects included in the ministrys programme to implement the order of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to build 40,000 housing units, in addition to the housing commitment included in the current governments programme, it stated. The minister emphasised that the distribution of Al Ramli suburb contracts represents a new housing asset added to the achievements of the housing march in the kingdom. This step marks the start of operating one of the new cities in Bahrain following the first housing phases in Salman City, Khalifa City, and East Hidd, he added. The ministry had taken into account all precautionary measures such as social distancing and use of face masks to combat coronavirus (Covid-19) during the handover of these units. To maintain social distancing, the ministry had allocated a number of locations to hand over the residential contracts to the needy citizens, said the BNA report. Also they had to comply with the appointments given to them to ensure only five persons turn up at the same time at every distribution point, it added. An Incident Which Changed Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Life "I remember one occasion when there was nothing in the house, not even tea. My father just had a 10-rupee note which he gave me to buy sugar. It was evening and the streets were dark. When I got to the shop, I realized that I had lost the note. I went home terrified - we hadn't had so much as a cup of tea for the last few days. My father came back with me, retracing my steps to search for the note and fortunately we spotted it under a cart. The moment I saw the note, it was like I got my world back. I just couldn't believe my father had no money. I actually checked his kurta pocket that night when he was asleep, and was horrified to find it absolutely empty. It shook me. For the first time, I began thinking seriously about the future," he recalled in a HT Brunch interview. His Love For Films The actor revealed in an interview that there was a makeshift theatre in his village, and it had only a single projector and a white sheet as a screen. "Behind the screen, you could see silhouettes of buffaloes being taken to the water, which became the backdrop to Mithun's and Jeetendra's dance sequences. Our seats were bricks - we sat on our haunches with our knees bent to watch the movies, sometimes for as long as five hours. No city person can sit like that for even five minutes," he was quoted as saying. Nawazuddin's First Step Towards His Dream In a Humans Of Bombay post, Nawazuddin revealed, "Our family would watch Ram Leela plays together. That was my first encounter with acting. One of my friends played Ram and seeing him on stage left me starstruck! I'd imagine playing the role of Ram myself! After college, I worked as a chemist in Vadodara. There, I watched a play for the first time. That night, the thought of being an actor became a dream. So I studied at the National School of Drama and then went where everybody with a dream of acting goes - Bombay. My parents, who weren't educated themselves, supported me. They said I could do anything as long as I was honest and worked hard." How Nawazuddin's Mother Motivated Him To Give His Best Shot "She motivated me to have patience and faith in God's will. She told me: Even a pile of garbage has a change of fortune every 12 years. You have only been struggling for six years.' She also used to recite a couplet to me: Mita de apni hasti ko, gar kuch martaba chahe, ke daana khaak mei milkar gul-e-gulzaar hota hai.' This was all very inspiring," Nawazuddin said in an HT Brunch interview. Dreams Do Come True! Nawazuddin Siddiqui made his film debut with a small role in Aamir Khan's 1999 film Sarfarosh. After a string of insignificant roles in films, the actor landed his first big break with Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday. The year 2012 was the turning point for him, when he finally grabbed everyone's attention with films like Kahaani and Gangs of Wasseypur. Since then, the actor has been unstoppable when it comes to delivering top-notch performances. With films like Talaash, Badlapur, Lunchbox, Kick, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Raees and the highly-popular web-series Sacred Games in his acting repertoire, in Nawazuddin's words, the award-winning actor has become the watch me' man! Tourism Minister Khaled El-Anani held a video conference meeting on Monday with representatives from TUI - one of the largest world tour agencies. During the meeting, Anani reviewed the efforts being exerted by the state to support the tourism sector and its workers to alleviate the negative economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic. The talks tackled the precautionary measures adopted to sanitize tourist facilities, hotels and archaeological sites. TUI officials discussed with the Egyptian side the procedures that need to be taken ahead of the resumption of flights to Egyptian tourist destinations. Search Keywords: Short link: Brisbane City Council spent nearly $80,000 on 30 new computers for councillors to livestream council meetings during the coronavirus pandemic, and a further $2700 weekly for associated IT costs. The amounts were revealed in a question on notice to Tuesday's council meeting, asked by independent councillor Nicole Johnston. Brisbane City Council chairman Andrew Wines chairs a livestreamed council meeting with councillors logging in from home and offices. Council's response to the question said the devices would be "withdrawn and re-used within council as part of a scheduled desktop replacement program" once livestreaming had ended. Each computer cost $2,657.50, totalling $79,710. The laptops were preloaded with Zoom streaming software before being collected by councillors, who were given an instruction manual and training. Demonstrators, some wearing protective face masks amid the new coronavirus pandemic, clash with the police - AP Photo/Esteban Felix Police and protesters clashed in Santiago on Monday amid a city-wide lockdown as local officials warned that food shortages had hit one of the Chilean capital's poorest neighborhoods. A group of protesters threw rocks, shouted and burned piles of wood along a street in the area on Santiago's southern fringe. Images on social media and local television showed police spraying tear gas and water cannons to disperse the growing crowd. The municipality said in a statement that families were going hungry in the poorest sectors of El Bosque, a neighborhood where many work informally, or not at all. The city district has been under quarantine since mid-April. "The last weeks we have had a great demand from neighbors for food," El Bosque Mayor Sadi Melo, of Chile's opposition Socialist party, told Radio BioBio. "We are in a very complex situation of hunger and lack of work." Locals from El Bosque clash with police - Pablo Rojas / AFP Santiago is one of Latin America's most prosperous cities. But a stark rich-poor divide and a growing sense of inequality prompted mass protests in late 2019. Many of the demands lodged by protesters last year, from increased pensions to higher pay, remain unresolved. In a statement, Melo's office said El Bosque had distributed more than 2,000 aid packages to the neediest families. But it warned the central government "not to continue to burden municipalities with an economic responsibility we cannot cover." Chile's center-right president, Sebastian Pinera, said in a televised address later on Monday that his government would deliver 2.5 million baskets of food and cleaning supplies directly to homes by late this week or early next. People clash with police during a protest for lack of food - SEBASTIAN SILVA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock "We will prioritize the most vulnerable families," Pinera said, calling the planned delivery of food "historic." The South American nation has already announced a massive stimulus package worth nearly 7 per cent of gross domestic product to ease the economic impact of the pandemic, although opposition leaders and social groups have criticised the package as inadequate. The government's proposed measures include beefed-up unemployment checks, deferred tax payments and government-backed credit lines for small business. Chile surpassed 40,000 cases of the new coronavirus last week amid a sharp spike in infections that has seen hospitals approach collapse in the weeks ahead of the Southern Hemisphere winter. The country now has 46,059 total cases and 478 deaths. New sanctions on Huawei revive trade war The United States is starting a new round of its trade war with China amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. move comes after President Donald Trump threatened to cut off ties with the Asian giant last Thursday. It is feared to pour cold water over global efforts to weather the unprecedented public health crisis and minimize its impact on the economy. On Friday, the U.S. Commerce Department announced a plan to require global semiconductor makers that use U.S. technology and software in their chip designs to seek U.S. government approval to sell their products to Huawei. The plan is aimed at denying the Chinese firm access to key semiconductor technology. The new restrictions follow last year's U.S. decision to put Huawei on a black list with the Trump administration describing the Chinese maker of network equipment and smartphones as a "national security threat." The blacklisting was apparently designed to prevent U.S. firms from using Huawei's 5G wireless network equipment and tighten the noose around the neck of the Chinese IT giant. It has ignited a technology war between the G2 economies, deepening their trade feud. Despite the decision, Washington seems to believe that Huawei has been taking advantage of a loophole to use U.S. technology. On the other hand, the Chinese government has denounced Washington for strangling Huawei under the name of a national security threat in a bid to protect U.S. tech firms from their rising Chinese competitor. Now the question is why the Trump administration is trying to launch a new trade and technology war with Beijing and the Chinese firm. The U.S. move defies the common understanding of the international community that the world's two largest economies should cooperate, not fight, to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus and avoid a looming worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. That's why we have to express worries about the raging U.S. protectionism and unilateralism based on "America first" agenda pushed by President Trump. The threat to server ties with China may be part of his efforts to boost his re-election bid and cover his failure to respond to COVID-19 properly among other blunders. Washington needs to refrain from initiating a new Cold War. The U.S. had better reach a compromise and a new agreement with China to address their growing trade imbalance and technology issues. No one can emerge as a winner in this new superpower rivalry in both diplomacy and trade. This is not the time for ratcheting up tensions. Instead, it is a time for compromise and collaboration to defeat the coronavirus and save the world from an economic catastrophe. It is somewhat fortunate that South Korean chip-makers such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are not likely to bear the brunt of the deepening U.S.-China feud. Yet no one can categorically rule out the possibility of those companies being caught in the crossfire of the G2 conflict. So Korea and its businesses should work out new strategies to meet the mounting challenges arising from the superpower rivalry. Education experts believe intensive tuition and additional teaching resources will be required to ensure students do not fall behind in their studies following the disruption to classrooms caused by COVID-19. As the NSW government rushed guidelines to teachers ahead of the full-time return to school next week, experts called on the state's education department to fund the increased resources, which may include redeploying teachers from bureaucracy or even retirement. NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell with Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Credit:AAP Their call comes as the NSW Department of Education said midyear reports will be delayed until late August, and schools would be given in-class assessments allowing teachers short, sharp insights into how students are faring. After Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced the return of students to school full-time from Monday, a new set of social distancing guidelines were rushed to principals, which included a ban on volunteers - including scripture teachers - on school grounds, and the suspension of off-campus activities such as work experience. The Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday asked Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to provide buses for carrying migrants to the district magistrates of Ghaziabad and Noida, as the war of words over the issue seemed to be subsiding. In a letter written to Vadra's private secretary, UP's Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said, "As per your letter dated May 19, you have expressed your inability to provide buses in Lucknow, and want to provide them in Ghaziabad and Noida." "Please provide 500 buses to the District Magistrate, Ghaziabad, by 12.00 noon. The DM Ghaziabad has been informed about this. The district administration will receive all the buses and utilise them, he said. The buses should be provided at Kaushambi and Sahibabad bus stands, he said in the letter. He also said, "500 buses should be provided to the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar at the ground near the Expo Mart." Directions have been issued to the district magistrates to utilise the buses immediately after checking the permit, fitness, insurance, driving licences of the drivers and details of the conductors, Awasthi said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Man Shares Haunting Conversation With Boy, 6, Tied Up and Locked in a Shed, Calls CPS The content is not available due to expiration. State-owned banks have sanctioned about Rs 6.45 lakh crore worth loans to various sectors including MSME, agriculture and retail between 1 March and 15 May when businesses were reeling under the impact of COVID-19 crisis New Delhi: State-owned banks have sanctioned about Rs 6.45 lakh crore worth loans to various sectors including MSME, agriculture and retail between 1 March and 15 May when businesses were reeling under the impact of COVID-19 crisis. Loans sanctioned at the end of May 8 stood at Rs 5.95 lakh crore. Loans worth over Rs 6.45 lakh crore were sanctioned by PSBs during March 1 May 15 for 54.96 lakh accounts from MSME, Retail, Agriculture & Corporate sectors; A notable increase compared to the Rs 5.95 lakh crore sanctioned as of May 8. @FinMinIndia @RBI @DFS_India @PIB_India NSitharamanOffice (@nsitharamanoffc) May 19, 2020 "Public Sector Banks sanctioned over Rs 1.03 lakh crore as emergency credit lines & working capital enhancements in the period 20 March to 15 May, which is a substantial increase over the Rs 65,879 crore that had been sanctioned up to 8 May," she said. Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak State-owned banks launched an emergency credit line to provide funds to its existing MSME and corporate borrowers in the last week of March, soon after the lockdown was announced. Under the scheme, the banks provide an additional line of credit of 10 percent of the existing fund based on working capital limits, subject to a maximum of Rs 200 crore. Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock markets Besides, banks have offered a 3-month moratorium on loan repayment till 31 May as per the RBI guidelines. With the government extending the nationwide lockdown up to May 31, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to extend the moratorium on repayment of loans for three more months, according to experts. It is high time that businesses are given at least one-quarter of business operations before asking them to start addressing the loan obligations, said Indiforward''s Executive Director Abhishek Chauhan. An additional three-month moratorium by RBI is absolutely necessary both in the interest of businesses and the financial sector, he added. In March, RBI had allowed a three-month moratorium on repayment of all term loans due between 1 March, 2020 and 31 May, 2020. "With the lockdown now extended up to 31 May, we expect RBI to extend the moratorium by three months more," SBI's research report Ecowrap said. Managing Director of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Nigeria Ltd, Mr Michael Yigao, has revealed that the 15 Chinese medical experts who arrived the country on April 8, are in their care. The CCECC MD made this known on Monday May 18, in reaction to questions by the media and opposition parties on May 14. on the whereabouts of Chinese medical expert Mr. Yiago said the doctors came specially to help CCECC fight the Coronavirus and protect its employees. He added that they will return to China when flights are open. He said; Despite of the impacts of the novel coronavirus epidemic, we still managed to achieve this years goal of planting high-quality rice on 1,533 hectares of farmland, said Yin Hongdao excitedly. A farmer transplants early rice with a rice transplanter in Renhe village, Xiaodukou town, Lixian county, Hunan province on April 22. Photo by Bai Yipu/ Peoples Daily Online The 29-year-old grain farmer, who is from Yangban village, Xiumei town, Linli county in central Chinas Hunan province, was once a deputy general manager in charge of human resources of an electronics company in Dongguan, south Chinas Guangdong province. Although Yin led a free life when working in Dongguan, he was far away from his family. When he came back home for the Spring Festival in 2016, he found his father had aged a lot, with all his hair going white. His father Yin Fuyuan has engaged in grain processing for over three decades. Yin Hongdao, who decided to work in the village after the Spring Festival, found the equipment too old and the barns too small. For this reason, many farmers had to travel over 10 kilometers to sell their grain. Besides, large grain enterprises prefer working with companies with standard barns. Then he came up with the idea of setting up a standard barn, which would cost 4.5 million yuan ($0.63 million). Although opposed by many, including his father, he built the barn with his own savings. The new barn could store 17,000 tons of grains, more than twice the capacity of the old one. A rotary cultivator plows the farmland in Mayan village, Lixian county, Hunan province on April 6. Photo by Bai Yipu/Peoples Daily Online This allowed his company to cooperate with China Grain Reserves Group Ltd. Company in the same year, and his business to cover grain farmers in four towns nearby. But here came another problem the grains varieties and quality varied greatly, so the products could not be sold at a good price. He decided to promote high-quality rice, through contract farming. Thanks to the efforts of his company, high-quality rice was planted on 1,000 hectares of farmland in 2017, increasing the net income of each household by 150 yuan ($21) per mu (0.07 hectare), up by over 20 percent. Highly motivated by such good news, quite a few farmers planted rice again on their abandoned farmland. In 2019, the high-quality rice of his company reached 1,200 hectares. Yins company has signed long-term contracts with more than 10 farmers, and three of them have been lifted out of poverty. Yin is one of the many young people who chose to go back to their hometown to start a career in recent years. The past three years have seen over 1,700 young talents going back to Linli county, which succeeded in lifting 4,200 local people out of poverty. Farmers are busy working in the fields in Mayan village, Lixian county, Hunan province on April 6. Photo by Bai Yipu/Peoples Daily Online The ways the young people make contributions to Linli county are diverse. Some started their own business right after graduation; some started a career after accumulating wealth in their previous jobs. Some entered the field of e-commerce, opening up a vast market for local agricultural products; some brought new technologies and equipment to the farms, making agricultural activities more efficient; and some built barns to facilitate contract farming. The key of rural vitalization lies in the vitalization on all fronts including rural industry and training of professionals. Thanks to a series of favorable policies of local governments, including building relevant platforms and providing care and support, a growing number of young people are returning to the villages. While realizing their own dreams, they also inject fresh vitality to the villages. By West Kentucky Star May. 19, 2020 | 11:40 AM | PADUCAH On May 12, Paducah Police said Richardson was caught just a few blocks from the Fountain Avenue home of Carrie D. McCord, where he allegedly shot and killed her in the back yard. They found her about 1:30 pm after responding to a report of shots fired, and say Richardson was fleeing the area on a bicycle. Police say Richardson had a .357 handgun, which he reportedly told detectives he acquired so he could kill McCord and her neighbors, who intervened in an earlier incident between the two. Detectives said Richardson told them McCord had tried to help him adjust to life outside of prison, but he began causing problems for her in March and she got a protective order against him. Richardson faces charges of murder, fleeing or evading police, violation of an interpersonal protective order, and possession of a gun by a convicted felon. The man accused of murdering a McCracken County special education teacher last week will appear in court on Friday.The McCracken County Circuit Court Clerk says 56-year-old Kelvin Richardson's preliminary hearing was originally set for Monday, but his defense attorney, who was not appointed until Friday, asked for more time to prepare.Richardson's hearing was continued until this Friday, and will be held over a video conference at 9 am before District Judge Todd Jones. Learning material teaching high school students about different gender identities has been pulled from one school. An unnamed mother in regional NSW complained about the use of the 'Genderbread person' in her 15-year-old son's classroom. The education tool is used to teach students that anatomy doesn't always determine gender. The mother advocated against this after her son came home 'angry' over the material being taught in class. She said she has written to state and federal health ministers but her school's principal. who called on Monday to apologise and reveal it had been removed from the school, was 'the first person in authority' to understand her. The education tool is used to teach students that anatomy doesn't always determine gender 'In over a year of feeling like I have been beating my head into a brick wall, at last a sensible response,' the mother told The Australian. She said before this members of parliament had 'bounced her around like a hot potato'. The woman believes the education material targets 'vulnerable children' like her eldest child. Her child revealed he identified as a transgender boy rather than a girl. The child's mother attributes the 19-year-old's gender identity to underlying depression. She is furious the hospital gave her child the testosterone needed to transition. 'Gender and sex are being confused [in school] - it starts to introduce this confusion, especially with vulnerable young people like our daughter,' the mother told The Australian. 'Some parents I've spoken to have said their children who are on the autism spectrum have been sucked into this [trans identity] - these are kids who are looking for somewhere to fit in. Other parents, their kids have had sexual abuse.' She said children like hers need support and therapy but not drugs. Jack Whitney, Co-Convenor of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby, argues it is important to have a 'supportive learning environment that values diversity of all students'. 'We understand that education advocates and experts have long called for the inclusion of transgender and gender-diverse educational resources. As such the Lobby encourages the ongoing inclusion of these programs to ensure that the education children receive works towards a future where they are all able to thrive,' Mr Whitney told Daily Mail Australia. An unnamed mother in regional NSW complained about the use of the 'Genderbread person' in her 15-year-old son's classroom (stock) 'From our experience, the case reported in The Australian is often because a parent is apprehensive of what they don't know or understand, and their immediate response is to remove their children. 'However, we argue children have the right to an education that informs them of a world that is diverse and best prepares them to navigate the future.' He said there is going to be unique needs for every child and it is important staff consult with students, their carers and family on these matters. A spokeswoman from the NSW Department of education said their personal development syllabus covers a range of topics such as human anatomy, personal identity, gender roles and expectations and sex-based harrasment and diversity. 'Gender fluidity is not part of the NSW Curriculum. The department does not endorse the use of associated materials and schools have been made aware of this,' the spokeswoman said. 'The Genderbread resource was not developed by the NSW Department of Education. The school immediately withdrew this resource from future teaching and learning programs, following a request by the department to review its use. 'The Safe Schools program is not and never has been, part of the NSW curriculum. The NSW Department of Education does not promote this program or its resources.' NEW DELHI - India and Bangladesh are preparing to evacuate up to 3 million people in the path of a potentially devastating cyclone, a challenge made even more daunting by the rising number of coronavirus infections in both countries. Cyclone Amphan is expected to slam into the river delta at the top of the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday local time, bringing dangerous winds, heavy rain, surging tides and flooding. It is currently considered a "super cyclone," only the second such storm in the area since 1999, although forecasters believe it will weaken slightly before making landfall. The pandemic is intensifying the difficulty of preparing for the storm. India has more than 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases while Bangladesh has 25,000. Both countries have imposed crippling lockdowns that have left tens of millions of people with no income. Now those vulnerable to the storm are facing the unprecedented combination of a natural disaster together with a pandemic. Some evacuees say they're frightened of catching the virus in emergency shelters, where they may face hours in enclosed spaces with little ability to maintain distance from other people. Authorities are attempting to reduce crowding. In coastal areas, Bangladesh has turned schools and colleges into makeshift shelters, increasing the total available capacity from 4,000 to more than 12,000, said Mohammad Mohsin, director general of country's disaster management department. "We did this to maintain social distancing," he said. In India, two states will bear the brunt of the cyclone's impact: West Bengal and Odisha. In some shelters in Odisha, people are being required to use hand sanitizers before entering and to wear masks for the duration of their stay. Pradeep Jena, a senior government official overseeing the disaster relief effort in Odisha, described the current evacuation as a "great challenge" since people are already under "psychological stress" from the spread of covid-19. He urged authorities to explain to people that the immediate danger from the storm is greater than the threat of infection. But some people living in the state's coastal areas are not persuaded, particularly in places where cyclone shelters were previously being used as quarantine centers. Bholanath Behera, 41, who lives in an area expected to be hit hard by the storm, said that his village's regular shelter was used to quarantine 38 workers who had returned to the area from a state on the other side of the country. The workers were shifted elsewhere, but villagers still refused to use the shelter despite promises that it would be sanitized. "People are still scared," he said. "In fact, no one goes close to the cyclone shelter anymore." The village got permission from the authorities to use a school as a shelter during the cyclone instead. In the neighboring state of West Bengal, there is also some resistance to using shelters out of fear of the virus. "We are ready to die at home," said Dilu Seikh, who lives with seven members of his family on an island in the district of South 24 Parganas. "We're not going to a cyclone shelter at any cost, no matter what the government says." The chief minister of West Bengal said that nearly 300,000 people have been evacuated. In Odisha, more than 60,000 have already been evacuated but as many as 1.1 million may be shifted to shelters. In Bangladesh, the figure could reach 2 million, said Mohsin, the disaster management official. Among those at risk is one of the world's most vulnerable refugee populations. About 1 million Rohingya refugees live in crowded camps in Bangladesh in Cox's Bazar. The first two coronavirus cases were reported in the camps last week. The latest forecast shows that the camps are not in the direct path of the cyclone, said Francesca Fontanini, a spokeswoman for international aid groups. But they are preparing emergency supplies of food, tarpaulins and water purification tablets. In the Satkhira district of Bangladesh, which is expected to bear the brunt of the cyclone, officials started using loudspeakers to tell people to evacuate on Monday. On Tuesday, they began going door-to-door to urge them to shift to shelters. Unlike in prior cyclones, authorities are also using schools and mosques with more than one floor as shelters, said Bhabtosh Kumar Mandal, a local official in the village of Burigoalini. The goal is to avoid crowds, he said. People have been asked to arrive at shelter with masks, Mandal added. He was racing to collect even more masks to distribute before the cyclone hit. - - - The Washington Post's Niha Masih in New Delhi, Tazeen Qureshy in Bhubaneswar, Azad Majumder in Dhaka, and Kalpana Prodhan in Kolkata contributed reporting. The Crown's chief executive Andy Harries has raised questions over the future of the show as he admitted he doesn't know when filming will resume. The film boss revealed that they are looking at all of their options 'closely' but confessed his fears over whether they would be able to film using social distancing. The fourth series of the hit Netflix series wrapped before the coronavirus outbreak gripped the globe, however series five of the show is currently in limbo. Uncertain times: The Crown's chief executive Andy Harries has raised questions over the future of the show as he admitted he doesn't know when filming will resume (pictured Olivia Coleman who stars as Queen Elizabeth II) Andy, who is chief executive and co-founder of Left Bank Pictures, told a BAFTA masterclass that they are trying to find an answer during 'challenging times'. He said: 'I hate to be doomy and gloomy because I am an optimistic guy. Every day is a new challenge and every day you've got to be up for that challenge and you have got to plow on. 'Obviously we are facing challenging times and I don't know when we will return to filming normally.' Weighing it up: The film boss revealed that they are looking at all of their options 'closely' but confessed his fears over whether they would be able to film using social distancing (pictured Erin Doherty who plays Princess Anne) Opinion: Andy (pictured), who is chief executive and co-founder of Left Bank Pictures, told a BAFTA masterclass that they are trying to find an answer during 'challenging times' He continued: 'I am not sure if we can film socially distanced. I am sure some productions could do it but I am not sure that the shows we are doing would work, but we are looking at it very closely. 'Obviously we don't know how long this will go on. It's going to be hard to because I suspect that, because all the big broadcasters will be losing a lot of money, a lot of productions will be trimmed back a lot of budgets will be trimmed.' He added: 'It will be tough for producers and it's hard to pretend otherwise, I am sorry to say.' The Netflix hit had been shooting its fourth season across the UK and Europe since autumn 2019, but confirmed in March that it has wrapped filming early as the TV industry all but shuts down amid the crisis. The production team gave some reassurance to fans though as they confirmed all the principal photography has been completed, after cast and crew worked hard to get the series in the can a few days ahead of schedule. Fans are hoping the new series will follow the autumn release date of previous seasons. Up in the air: The fourth series of the hit Netflix series wrapped before the coronavirus outbreak gripped the globe, however series five of the show is currently in limbo And while a number of major Netflix shows such as The Witcher and Stranger Things had to halt production in the middle of shooting, The Crown was able to complete principal photography just in time A spokesperson confirmed to Metro.co.uk: 'The Crown has now completed principal photography on season 4 having pulled the final shoot date forward by a few days.' Deadline had previously claimed the production company behind the show, Left Bank Pictures, only needed to 'tie up loose ends' with the filming. He said: 'I hate to be doomy and gloomy because I am an optimistic guy. Every day is a new challenge and every day you've got to be up for that challenge and you have got to plow on (pictured Tobias Menzies who plays Prince Philip) As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the local and national economy, the services of the Montgomery County Food Bank are desperately needed. To help the food bank continue its mission, the Greater Houston COVID-19 Recovery Fund awarded the nonprofit early $80,000 to purchase necessary supplies earlier this month. The recovery fund was created and is maintained by the United Way of Greater Houston and Greater Houston Community Foundation. The Montgomery County Food Bank, as a well-known and trusted community resource, was invited to apply for funding and was awarded $79,600 to purchase food staples like rice and beans. COVID-19 AFTERMATH: Montgomery County officials say legislative change needed for tax relief As we are really focusing on food, weve learned that the Montgomery County Food Bank needed more essential food staples, even though theyre working in partnership with the Houston Food Bank, theyre finding it difficult to get some of the necessary staples they needed, which was resulting in a critical shortage, said Renee Wizig-Barrios, senior vice president and chief philanthropy officer with Greater Houston Community Foundation. They had really identified beans and rice as critical to provide over 100,000 meals for families through their 70 food panties and mobile distribution sites. All of the grants that are given through the recovery fund come with reporting requirements to make sure the money is going to those most in need. The Montgomery County Food Bank is striving to respond to the tens of thousands of people who rely on us for food each month, and now, in addition, those affected by the current economic challenges faced by our community, said Allison Hulett, Executive Director of the Montgomery County Food Bank. United Way Greater Houston and the Greater Houston Community Foundation are supporting our efforts with exactly 100,000 meals as they support three truckloads of rice and beans to put on the tables of our families in need. We are truly in this together and feel so blessed to have such wonderful partnerships. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Just because you can, doesnt mean you should: Local leaders urge caution as Texas reopens The strategy of the recovery fund has been to focus on families and individuals where the need is most critical in places where other resources may not be available. The reason these two organizations came together to create the fund was to address the unprecedented economic crisis that the most vulnerable in our community were experiencing, but who had been experiencing struggles even before the pandemic, said Anna Babin, senior advisor with United Way of Greater Houston. One of the reasons the food bank was chosen as a winner, said Babin, was that its services help a wide variety of county residents. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox From March 1, early 3,000 calls came to the 211 United Way helpline specifically from the Montgomery County region, and the top need included rental payment assistance, food pantries, electric service payment assistance, community clinics, and financial assistance, Babin said. So, we focused overall on that food assistance and that temporary financial assistance. Three other organizations were also granted funds through this round of applications. Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council was granted $500,000, Get Shift Done for Houston was granted $150,000, and Healthcare for the Homeless was granted $35,000. The food bank will be eligible to apply for more grants in the future but will have to wait until after the next cycle which is expected to announce the next grant winners by the end of May. jamie.swinnerton@chron.com BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 Trend: The Armenian government plans to hold an inauguration of the head of the occupant regime in Azerbaijan's Nagorno Karabakh region, in the region's Shusha city on May 21, Azerbaijans MP Azay Guliyev said at a meeting of the Parliament on May 19, Trend reports. The question is, why is this clown show organized in Shusha? Because the show related to the so-called elections, which the Armenians organized there on March 31, was an epic fail. However, by holding the so-called inauguration ceremony, which the Armenians themselves do not recognize, the organizers show how two-faced they are, noted Guliyev. Unlike in previous years, this time the Armenian leadership completely exposed itself, putting itself in a miserable position. All international organizations such as the UN, the EU, European Parliament (EP), OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs countries, OSCE PA, PACE, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), GUAM and almost all other international organizations, all leading countries of the world, without exception and unequivocally condemned this illegal action of Armenia, rightly called these "elections" illegitimate, said the MP. All the mentioned organizations openly stated that in no case they recognize the result of the occupation, Guliyev stressed. "However, the tough response of the world community to the so-called "elections" held this time in Nagorno-Karabakh was different, stronger and more organized than the protests at the "elections" show of illegal regimes in other countries. This was a severe blow to the aggressive and ethnic cleansing policies of Armenia for the past 30 years, to all the efforts of the world Armenians to recognize the fictional "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic." Even the country calling Armenia its outpost, without openly recognizing the "election" show, noted the importance of liberating the occupied regions of Azerbaijan," the MP added. Unlike puppet and illegal regimes in other countries, no one recognizes the puppet regime created on Azerbaijani territory. This is the real result achieved by the Azerbaijani state and the president, diplomatic and political success. Therefore, Pashinyan, in such a shameful position, wants to organize such a show in Shusha in order to console himself, to forget the shame and political fiasco that he experienced in Munich, to revive the rating in society, the MP added. The Armenians, holding the "inauguration" ceremony of the head of a structure not recognized by them, put themselves not only in a ridiculous position, but also once again demonstrate to the world their two-facedness. Therefore, I believe that without attaching particular importance to this provocation of the enemy, we must continue our journey, be stronger and more organized to liberate the occupied lands, the MP emphasized. We must strengthen the army, unite more closely around the Supreme Commander. Since May 18, the Azerbaijani army has launched large-scale military exercises. I believe that the beginning of military exercises at this moment is an eloquent message for the enemy. I am sure that our army will again give the best answer to all the provocations of the enemy, as in April 2016, and the Azerbaijani soldier will put the last point in the conflict. Let no one doubt it, Guliyev added. Logo and mascot 'Ali cattle' at the headquarters of Alibaba Group in Hangzhou. Major changes on Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index could pave the way for China's tech giants to expand their trading presence in Asia, while giving more investors access to their stocks. In a major revamp announced on Monday, the Hang Seng index will for the first time allow companies with primary listings elsewhere, as well as those with dual-class shares, to be included in the 50-year-old benchmark. Companies listed in the U.S. can have a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange currently. But, before the latest rule change, they could not be included in the benchmark Hang Seng index (HSI), and by default, in the index funds that track the HSI. In particular, three Chinese tech stocks e-commerce giant Alibaba, phone maker Xiaomi and food delivery giant Meituan are set to reap the benefits of being included. Shares of Hong-Kong listed Alibaba and Xiaomi were up more than 2% by Tuesday afternoon, while Meituan rose 1.65%. All three companies are among the top five stocks traded in Hong Kong by value every month, according to Reuters. Collectively, they represent 15% of the total market capitalization of Hong Kong-listed companies, investment bank Morgan Stanley said. Alibaba, Xiaomi and Meituan are companies with dual-class shares or those with two classes of shares that have different voting rights, according to Reuters. One class allows founders and executives of the company to have more voting power, while the other class is issued to the general public, with limited or no voting rights. Additionally, Alibaba has a secondary listing in Hong Kong. It first listed in New York in 2014. Move comes after reports of ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products to North Korea using vessels based in Taiwan. Taiwan is complying with international sanctions against North Korea, a senior Taiwanese security official told the United States deputy representative for North Korea on Tuesday, having previously been accused of breaking the regulations. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own, is not a member of the United Nations but says that as a responsible global player it is committed to ensuring sanctions are enforced to rein in North Koreas nuclear and missile programmes. In 2018, independent UN monitors told a UN Security Council sanctions committee in a confidential report that they had investigated cases of ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum products in violation of sanctions and that the network behind the vessels was primarily based in Taiwan. Tsai Ming-yen, deputy secretary-general of Taiwans National Security Council, told Alex Wong, the US State Departments deputy assistant secretary for North Korea, that Taiwan was a responsible member of the international community. Taiwan will continue to closely cooperate with the United States, and carry out and implement actions to comply with international sanctions against North Korea, Tsai said, according to the foreign ministry. The teleconference where Tsai spoke was also attended by representatives of Taiwans anti-money laundering office, its justice ministry, ports authority and coastguard, the ministry added. Taiwan has called on its companies to comply with UN sanctions, and in 2017 suspended refined oil and LNG exports to North Korea, as well as clothing and textile imports, to comply with UN resolutions. The call between Tsai and Wong is another sign of the stepped-up relationship between Taipei and Washington, who do not have formal diplomatic relations. The Trump administration has made bolstering ties with democratic Taiwan a priority. This has angered China and become another source of tension in its relations with the US. Fox News host Neil Cavuto has renewed his attack on Donald Trump for recommending taking hydroxychloroquine by citing multiple studies that have shown the drug is potentially dangerous. Cavuto hit back at the president Tuesday afternoon on Fox News saying there are several studies where the drug 'did no good and in some extreme cases killed people taking it. The war of words continued to ramp up Tuesday between the two over their opposing views on the drug that is typically used to treat malaria and lupus. Tensions escalated after Trump blasted that Fox News 'is no longer the same' after the anchor issued a stark warning that hydroxychloroquine 'will kill you' in the wake of the president's revelation Monday that he has been taking the drug to prevent contracting coronavirus. Fox news host Neil Cavuto has renewed his attack on Donald Trump for recommending taking hydroxychloroquine by citing multiple studies that have shown it is potentially dangerous Cavuto, 61, who is immunocompromised himself and suffers from MS, backed up his warning Tuesday afternoon by reeling off a number of studies where the treatment had been found to be ineffective and even deadly in preventing or treating COVID-19. The Fox anchor addressed claims from Trump 'that I was not fairly characterising' his use of the drug and that 'a lot of his medical supporters said it was misinterpreted'. 'What is not misinterpreted is that there have been at least four prominent studies on the issue of hydroxychloroquine for other issues beyond lupus and malaria for which it's more popularly used and for which there has not been any real noteworthy problems. The issue here is whether it is advisable to take to ward off COVID-19,' Cavuto argued. The anchor issued a grave warning that the drug could kill users, referencing a concerning study from Veterans Affairs (VA) where the drug was actually linked to an uptick in deaths among 'vulnerable' people with pre-existing health conditions. 'Those with a vulnerable condition such as respiratory or cardiac issues ultimately died,' he said. 'Statistically it was significant enough to show in that population of those taking it [that] it did no good and in some extreme cases killed them.' The anchor also pointed to a study of 1,300 people where no benefit was found in taking it in relation to the virus. 'Another study by the New England Journal of Medicine and this one a Columbia University University task force that looked with the Early Medicine Center at some 1,300 patients taking hydroxychloroquine as a way to ward off COVID-19 60 percent of patients who received hydroxychloroquine for about five days did not show any lower rate or risk,' he said. Cavuto hit back at the president Tuesday afternoon on Fox News saying there are several studies where the drug 'did no good and in some extreme cases killed people 'So the bottom line is if there is supposed to be a remedy there is no evidence of that.' Cavuto also gave the example of advice issued only a month ago by the FDA. 'No less than the US Food and Drug Administration warned back on April 24 that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective in treating or preventing COVID-19,' he said. 'The FDA itself is saying it's not available and out of a clinical trial basis it's risky to do that.' Cavuto added that there are at least five other studies out there showing similar concerns. He compiled the list of evidence showing the potential dangers of the drug following Trump's Twitter outburst Monday night. Tensions mounted between the host and the president after Trump blasted that Fox News 'is no longer the same' after Cavuto warned hydroxychloroquine 'will kill you' in the wake of the president's revelation he has been taking the drug to prevent contracting coronavirus Trump tweeted: '@foxnews is no longer the same. We miss the great Roger Ailes. You have more anti-Trump people, by far, than ever before. Looking for a new outlet!' Ailes, former CEO Fox News, resigned in July 2016 amid charges of sexual harassment from dozens of women and died in May 2017. Trump followed up the Tweet with a barrage of retweets which took aim at Cavuto. Cavuto has earlier urged people to be extremely careful taking the drug adding that it could kill those who have certain underlying health conditions and announced it was 'stunning' to hear Trump announce earlier on Monday he had been taking it for over a week. 'That was stunning,' Cavuto said Monday. 'The fact of the matter is though, when the president said 'what have you got to lose?', in a number of studies, those certain vulnerable population has one thing to lose: their lives. 'If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus, or in a worse-case scenario you are dealing with the virus and you are in this vulnerable population, it will kill you.' Trump, earlier on Monday, revealed that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for over a week and then took to Twitter Monday night 'I cannot stress enough. This will kill you. So, again, whatever benefits the president says this has, and certainly it has had for those suffering from malaria, dealing with lupus, this is a leap that should not be taken casually by those watching from home or assuming, well the president of the United States says it's OK,' he said. 'Even the FDA was very cautious about this unless in a clinical trial safely and deliberately watched. I only make this not to make a political point here, but a life-and-death point. Be very, very careful,' Cavuto urged. 'A VA study showed that among a population in a hospital receiving this treatment, those with vulnerable conditions respiratory conditions, heart ailments they died,' Cavuto noted. Cavuto's remarks drew surprise given the Fox News network's long-running history of supporting the president and his administration. Cavuto, a husband and father-of-three has multiple sclerosis and was diagnosed twenty-three years ago, at the age of 38. Months after being diagnosed he underwent treatment for stage 4 cancer in the form of Hodgkin's Lymphoma which he managed to beat. Cavuto called Trump's revelation 'stunning' on Monday and urged people not to take the drug as a preventive treatment for coronavirus Hydroxychloroquine has potentially serious side effects, including to the heart In 2016 he underwent a triple heart bypass operation, but the Fox anchor appears to be doing well. The president made his announcement that he was taking hydroxychloroquine at the White House during an event with restaurant workers on Monday. 'I'm taking it - hydroxychloroquine. Right now yeah. A couple of weeks ago, started taking it,' he said. 'I would've told you that three to four days ago, but we never had a chance because you never asked me the question,' Trump continued. Trump, 73, said he took one dose of the z-pack antibiotic and is now taking a zinc supplement along with a daily hydroxychloroquine pill. He noted he's had no side effects. 'I'm taking the two - the zinc and the hydroxy,' he said. 'So far I seem to be okay.' 'I have been taking it for about a weekend for about a week and a half,' he noted. 'Every day. I take a pill every day.' 'At some point I'll stop,' he added. The president shrugged off warnings about the side effects of hydroxy issued by the FDA and the National Institutes of Health. Both medical organizations note the drug is only approved for the use of patients in hospitals who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. 'You're not going to get sick or die,' he said about taking the medication. 'I've taken it about for a week and a half now. And I'm still here.' 'I've heard a lot of good stories. And if it is not good, I will tell you right. I'm not going to get hurt by it. It has been around for 40 years for malaria, for lupus, for other things. I take it,' Trump said. Side effects of hydroxychloroquine Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, dizziness, or headache slow heartbeat, symptoms of heart failure (such as shortness of breath, swelling ankles/feet, unusual tiredness, unusual/sudden weight gain) mental/mood changes (such as anxiety, depression, rare thoughts of suicide, hallucinations) hearing changes (such as ringing in the ears, hearing loss), easy bruising/bleeding signs of infection or liver disease muscle weakness, unwanted/uncontrolled movements (including tongue/face twitching), hair loss, hair/skin color changes low blood sugar, severe dizziness, fainting, fast/irregular heartbeat, seizures - from WebMD Advertisement The president repeatedly has touted hydroxychloroquine - used to treat malaria, lupus and other diseases - and the antibiotic azithromycin, often referred to as 'Z-pack,' to be used to treat the coronavirus. Many medical officials - including Dr. Tony Fauci, who sits on the White House Coronavirus Task Force - have urged a more cautious approach, noting the lack of reputable scientific studies on hydroxychloroquine. Hydroxychloroquine has potentially serious side effects, including altering the heartbeat in a way that could lead to sudden death, and the FDA has warned against its use for coronavirus infections except in formal studies. A study released last Monday showed hydroxychloroquine does not work against the coronavirus and could cause heart problems. It was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and follows an earlier study in the New England Journal of Medicine that also showed the drug doesn't fight the virus. Additionally, the FDA and the National Institutes of Health issued warnings about using the drugs for coronavirus patients. 'Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19. They are being studied in clinical trials for COVID-19, and we authorized their temporary use during the COVID-19 pandemic for treatment of the virus in hospitalized patients,' the FDA warning said. 'Although there is anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin may benefit people with COVID-19, we need solid data from a large randomized, controlled clinical trial to determine whether this experimental treatment is safe and can improve clinical outcomes,' Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and head of the NIH, said last week. The analysts might have been a bit too bullish on EDP - Energias de Portugal, S.A. (ELI:EDP), given that the company fell short of expectations when it released its quarterly results last week. Earnings missed the mark, with revenues of 3.5b coming up 25% short, and statutory earnings per share of 0.14 missing estimates by 20%. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. Readers will be glad to know we've aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on EDP - Energias de Portugal after the latest results. View our latest analysis for EDP - Energias de Portugal ENXTLS:EDP Past and Future Earnings May 19th 2020 Taking into account the latest results, the current consensus from EDP - Energias de Portugal's 13 analysts is for revenues of 15.1b in 2020, which would reflect a satisfactory 7.1% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to leap 51% to 0.23. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of 16.5b and earnings per share (EPS) of 0.23 in 2020. So it looks like the analysts have become a bit less optimistic after the latest results announcement, with revenues expected to fall even as the company is supposed to maintain EPS. The average price target was steady at 4.32 even though revenue estimates declined; likely suggesting the analysts place a higher value on earnings. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. There are some variant perceptions on EDP - Energias de Portugal, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at 5.30 and the most bearish at 3.30 per share. Analysts definitely have varying views on the business, but the spread of estimates is not wide enough in our view to suggest that extreme outcomes could await EDP - Energias de Portugal shareholders. 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 EDP - Energias de Portugal's past performance and to peers in the same industry. For example, we noticed that EDP - Energias de Portugal's rate of growth is expected to accelerate meaningfully, with revenues forecast to grow 7.1%, well above its historical decline of 1.6% a year over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 3.2% per year. So it looks like EDP - Energias de Portugal is expected to grow faster than its competitors, at least for a while. The Bottom Line The most important thing to take away is that there's been no major change in sentiment, with the analysts reconfirming that the business is performing in line with their previous earnings per share estimates. They also downgraded their revenue estimates, although industry data suggests that EDP - Energias de Portugal's revenues are expected to grow faster than the wider industry. Still, earnings per share are more important to value creation for shareholders. 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 EDP - Energias de Portugal. Long-term earnings power is much more important than next year's profits. We have estimates - from multiple EDP - Energias de Portugal analysts - going out to 2022, and you can see them free on our platform here. Before you take the next step you should know about the 3 warning signs for EDP - Energias de Portugal (1 is significant!) that we have uncovered. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: The value of trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan amounted to $180.9 million in 1Q2020 compared to $183.8 million during the same period of 2019, Trend reports with reference to Kazakhstans Statistics Committee. The share of Kyrgyzstan in total value of Kazakhstans trade turnover was 0.9 percent during the reporting period of 2020 which is flat compared to 0.9 percent during the same period of 2019. Kazakhstans export to Kyrgyzstan amounted to $128.9 million over the period from January through March 2020 compared to $124.4 million during the same period of 2019. Kyrgyzstans share in total volume of Kazakhstans export amounted to 0.9 percent during the reporting period of 2020, compared to 0.9 percent during the same period of 2019. In turn, Kazakhstans import from Kyrgyzstan amounted to $51.9 million over 1Q2020 compared to $59.4 million during the same period of 2019. Kyrgyzstans total share in Kazakhstans import was 0.7 percent during the reporting period of 2020 compared to 0.8 percent during the same period of 2019. Total volume of Kazakhstans trade turnover amounted to $21 billion in 1Q2020 which indicates an increase from $20.4 billion during the same period of 2019. Kazakhstans export amounted to $13.9 billion during the reporting period of 2020 ($13.3 billion in the same period of 2019), whereas import amounted to $7.09 billion ($7.1 billion). --- Follow the author on Twitter: @nargiz_sadikh The government of Vietnam is moving ahead with a plan to put mobile money into use to reduce social contact and cash circulation. Soon after Covid-19 broke out in Vietnam, the government urged appropriate agencies to work on a project on popularizing mobile money, a method of using telecommunication accounts to make payment for transactions with small value. In early March, the Prime Minister requested the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to submit a pilot plan on using mobile money. At the regular government meeting on April 13, he assigned the Ministry of Information and Communication to join forces with SBV to put mobile money into use to reduce social contacts. According to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSMA), mobile money was present in 90 countries by 2018 and 95 countries by the end of 2019 with 1.04 billion registered accounts, an increase of 10 percent over the year before. In Vietnam, as reported by Can Van Luc and his co-workers from BIDV, mobile money has great potential to develop in the future. As of the end of 2019, Vietnam had 129.5 million mobile subscribers, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO), including 61.3 million 3G and 4G subscribers. With 43.7 million smartphone users, accounting for 45 percent of population, Vietnam is at the regions average level, higher than India, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand. Soon after Covid-19 broke out in Vietnam, the government urged appropriate agencies to work on a project on popularizing mobile money, a method of using telecommunication accounts to make payment for transactions with small value. With 68.5 million users, or 70.3 percent, Vietnam is among the countries with a high percentage of internet users. There is still a lot of room to develop non-cash payment modes in Vietnam. Only 63 percent of Vietnamese adults (over 15 years old) have bank accounts, lower than the 80 percent in China and 70 percent in Asia Pacific. The government wants to cut cash payment proportions to 10 percent by the end of 2020 from 11.3 percent last year. In the context of the high ratio of cash in circulation to GDP, at 20 percent, much higher than other regional countries, mobile money is believed to be one of the most popular solutions to non-cash payment. People are getting used to online transactions which have outstanding advantages, including convenience, transparency and low risks. However, BIDV researchers warned that there are risks when putting mobile money into use. Mobile money accounts can be identified with mobile phone subscription numbers at telcos. Meanwhile, the existence of rubbish simcard may turn this into a money washing channel if it cannot be controlled strictly. Rubbish simcard is a slang word used about simcards which are thrown away after one-time use, because the users do not intend to keep the subscriber numbers. Kim Chi Mobile money pilot project submitted to PM for approval A mobile money pilot project has been submitted to the Prime Minister for approval, marking a bold step for the development of payments using telecommunication accounts in Vietnam, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Le Minh Hung said. NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday thanked Railway Minister Piyush Goyal for acceding to the request for providing trains to transport stranded migrant workers to their native states from Maharashtra. Pawar had on May 9 raised the issue of migrant workers with Goyal, who the NCP chief had then said, assured of arranging trains for labourers to return to their respective home states amid the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. "Thank you Union Railway Minister Shri @PiyushGoyal ji and @RailMinIndia for acceding to our requests for providing trains to transport the migrants from different parts of Maharashtra to their home states safely, Pawar tweeted on Tuesday. Lakhs of migrant workers have returned to their home states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, among others, from Maharashtra till now. Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had last Sunday said that West Bengal and Bihar governments are not issuing required clearances to run trains at a number desired by the state government, saying they are "very slow" in responding. He had also said a total of 20 lakh migrants, most of them from Bihar and West Bengal, have registered themselves with the Maharashtra government so far for travelling back to their native states in special trains. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 17:53:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SUVA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Fiji launched on Tuesday a week-long program to celebrate this year's International Biodiversity Day, which will be marked on Friday. While launching the program, Fiji's Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment Mahendra Reddy said that the program aimed to create more awareness in communities on the importance of protecting the natural environment through nature-based solutions. This year's theme is "Our Solutions are in Nature," which meant biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges that we all face. From nature-based solutions to climate, to food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity remains the basis for a sustainable future. "Biodiversity loss is also closely impacted by activities undertaken by humans which also affects our growth and economic development. The exploitation of renewable and non-renewable resources, energy and industrial activity, and the expansion of urbanization and agriculture are all sectors of the economy that have a mutual impact on biodiversity," he said. The week-long program included activities and a symposium for non-government organizations and other stakeholders which recognize their contribution and support in implementing Fiji's biodiversity and wildlife policies. The International Biodiversity Day is a United Nations-sanctioned international day for the promotion of biodiversity issues. Enditem The price of crossing the Mexico-Texas border over the last two months has proven to be costly for more than 492 undocumented migrants since restrictive COVID-19 travel policies were put in place. Since March 21, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has intercepted 28 tractor-trailers ferrying undocumented immigrants along the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo sectors in Texas as smugglers pay thousands of dollars to reach the United States. 'The risk posed by these tractor-trailer loads increases dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic,' said Rodney Scott, Chief of the United States Border Patrol. 'In recent weeks, our agents have discovered more than 492 people concealed in these dangerous and life-threatening conditions.' The United States and Mexico have limited land border travel, temporarily restricting all non-essential travel across its borders to ensure that 'food, fuel, healthcare and life-saving medicines' are delivered to people on each side of the border on a daily basis. Both countries categorize non-essential travel as 'tourism or recreational in nature.' Each of the migrants that Border Patrol agents found hiding inside a truck in Laredo, Texas, on April 5 wore t-shirts that were marked with a digit or a letter so that they could be identified by their smugglers CBP said that is has intercepted 28 trucks smuggling undocumented migrants since March 21. The federal immigration agency said individuals are paying human traffickers $6,000 to $12,000 to be smuggled over the Mexico-Texas border CBP estimates that human traffickers are now charging anywhere from $6,000 to $12,000 for each individual that seeks to unlawfully enter the United States at a time in which the Trump administration continuously stymies migrants seeking asylum to legally enter via the southern border. Last Thursday, Border Patrol agents stopped two tractor-trailers during a period of two hours in Laredo, Texas. Officers detained 48 Mexican migrants, including two minors, who were hidden inside a truck driven by a U.S. citizen during a checkpoint on Interstate Highway 35. A hour later, CBP agents manning U.S. Highway 83 stopped the second trailer, operated by an American individual, that was transporting 10 migrants from Mexico and Ecuador. Migrants are lined up outside of a tractor-trailer that was being used to ferry them across the U.S.-Mexico border Laredo sector Border Patrol agents discovered 25 undocumented immigrants inside a tractor-trailer during a checkpoint on Interstate 35 on May 9 A group of migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and El Salvador unlawfully entered the United States via the Mexico-Texas border on April 5 Border Patrol agents broke into a locked, stolen trailer last Monday during a checkpoint on Interstate 35 north of Laredo, rescuing 49 migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras who were concealed and had 'no means of escape.' CBP has constantly warned undocumented migrants of the dangers that come along with being locked inside trailers despite the large sum of money they continue to pay human traffickers. Authorities in July 2017 discovered more than 100 migrants stuck inside a trailer at a Walmart parking lot in San Antonio. At least 10 died and another 39 were rushed to the hospital for dehydration. The truck driver received a life sentence. 'This smuggling tactic is putting lives at risk - the lives of the migrants, our agents, and the American public - all for the sake of profit,' Scott said. CBP found 32 migrants, including a child, from Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and El Salvador who unlawfully entered the United States via the Texas-Mexico border April 4 By Express News Service KARNATAKA: Karnataka has banned entry of people from three states - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu- till May 31, a day after the centre said that movement of passengers would be allowed only with mutual consent between the states. These states have reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in India. And also , in the last one week 50 percent of cases in Karnataka have been from people returning from these states. However, this move has not gone well with several Kannadigas who are stuck in these states and were waiting to return home and also those whose offices have started to function and are expecting employees to be back home. Karnataka decided to lift several lockdown restrictions even as it saw the biggest-single jump in the cases with 99 new patients in a day but has said it wont allow people to come from these states. How does it solve the problem?, asked a Twitterati. Many natives of Karnataka who are stuck in these states and were waiting to return home also took to twitter and expressed concern over this move. Have been away from my family since lockdown began. I have been waiting to come back from Kerala. Now, have to wait more. Atleast after May 31st , this Quarantine and interstate issue doesn't come into picture, said another Ashwin D. Many of them had already got e pass approved for Tuesdays journey from Mumbai to Karnataka and other cities too. They were confused whether they could travel or not. However, Chief Minister Yediyurappa has clarified that this restriction wont apply to people who have already registered under the Seva Sindhu app. Meanwhile with relaxations the offices are also now open and are calling their employees to join work. Expressing concern Sidesh R said, This can affect our jobs. We were planning to return this week from Tamilnadu and now we are again in trouble. Please give some relaxations, However, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa earlier while announcing theeasing of lockdown restrictions said that "Permission will be given to people coming from these states only in case of emergencies. Interestingly, earlier during the press conference Chief Minister had announced that even travel from Kerala will be banned but later Kerala was removed from the list and Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar told TNIE that Kerala was not included in the list. However, the situation will be reviewed periodically and later people will be allowed to travel. The ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) at the Deputy Foreign Ministerial level was held on Monday online with Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of Vietnam ASEAN SOM, in attendance. Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of Vietnam ASEAN SOM at the Monday teleconference. The Vietnamese diplomat briefed the meeting on the implementation results from the Special ASEAN Summit and Special ASEAN+3 Summit on COVID-19 (with China, Japan and the Republic of Korea) on April 14. He proposed focusing on the implementation of four major points agreed at these gatherings: establishing a COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund and regional reserve warehouses of medical supplies, developing standard procedures in response to emergency public medical conditions, and setting post-COVID-19 recovery plans. Regarding the 36th ASEAN Summit and related meetings slated for June, Dung said Vietnam was stepping up preparations with attention being paid to ensure the highest security and safety for delegates. He called for close coordination from other ASEAN members in the preparation work to ensure success. Other ASEAN member countries lauded Vietnam's ASEAN Chairmanship for its efforts and achievements so far this year, especially the countrys response to the pandemic. They affirmed their support for the enhancement of the realisation of the major results of the Special ASEAN Summit and Special ASEAN+3 Summit on COVID-19 proposed by Vietnam, and committed to continued coordination with Vietnam to complete ASEAN priorities under the set roadmap. The countries said they believed that the 36th ASEAN Summit would be a success and pledged to join hands with Vietnam to make preparations. Following the ASEAN senior officials meeting will be the 32nd ASEAN-Australia Forum co-chaired by Malaysia and Australia. VNS A man was shot and killed Monday afternoon in Boston, authorities said. Officers responded around 12:04 p.m. to a radio call of a person shot outdoors in the area of 45 Bernard St. in the Dorchester neighborhood of the city, according to a statement from the Boston Police Department. On arrival, officers observed an adult male victim suffering from apparent gunshot wounds, the statement said. The victim was declared deceased on scene. Authorities did not disclose the age nor the identity of the man who was killed. The department did not say Tuesday morning whether anyone had been arrested in connection to the shooting. Anyone with information related to the killing has been urged to call homicide detectives at the Boston Police Department at (617) 343-4470. 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. A dedicated BrandBucket agent will manage your domain transfer from beginning to end, ensuring a secure and easy transaction. They will manage the receipt of the domain into one of BrandBuckets secure registrar accounts and then complete the transfer to you. 1. Verification and registrar choice After we receive the payment and verify it, we will reach out via email to confirm which registrar you want the domain transferred to. We also provide a link to our tracking system, where you can communicate with us, check on the status of your transfer, view your invoice, and download your logo files. 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. BrandBucket has vetted and supports the following registrars: GoDaddy Namesilo Uniregistry NameCheap Google Domains Network Solutions Name.com Dynadot Amazon Route 53 123 Reg Gandi 2. We request the name from the seller. Once we know where you would like the domain transferred, BrandBucket will request the domain from the seller. All of our sellers are very responsive, making for a quick process. 3. Transfer the name into your account As soon as we receive the name from the seller, we start the transfer into your account and guide you through the whole process. 4. Verify with the buyer that the transfer is complete Once we confirm that you have received the name, we consider the escrow process to be complete. Only then do we release payment to the domain seller. Contributed /West Haven Police Department West Haven police said they are trying to locate a 50-year-old man missing since May 7. Gil Cunha was last seen around Overlook Avenue in West Haven, according to Sgt. Charles Young. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (right) listens during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, who attends via video link, at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on the effects of COVID-19. (Kay NIETFELD/POOL/AFP) Putting aside past differences and seeking to prove that the Franco-German core of Europe remains intact, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the unprecedented package after talks by video conference. European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde told major European newspapers that "the Franco-German proposals are ambitious, targeted and welcome." With the European economy facing its biggest challenge since World War II, Macron also acknowledged that the EU had fallen short in its initial response to the virus and needed to coordinate more closely on health. Financed by "borrowing from the market in the name of the EU," the 500 billion euros will flow to the "worst-hit sectors and regions" in the 27-member bloc, the two countries said in a joint statement. "We are convinced that it is not only fair but also necessary to now make available the funds ... that we will then gradually repay through several future European budgets," Merkel said. Countries benefitting from the financing would not have to repay the money, Macron added, emphasising that the funds "were not loans." The eurozone economy overall is forecast to contract by a whopping 7.7 per cent this year, with the damage set to be most severe in southern members like Italy and Greece. St Peter's Basilica and the Acropolis in Athens opened their doors to visitors alongside many European shops, restaurants and churches, as Italy reported that its daily death toll from the virus had fallen below 100 for the first time since early March. More than 4.7 million people have tested positive and 315,270 have been killed by the disease since it emerged in Wuhan late last year, according to an AFP tally. Recent days have seen soaring infections in Brazil, India and South Africa. Battling against allegations from the United States and elsewhere that it concealed the scale of the problem, China vowed to back an independent inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus after it is "brought under control". Chinese President Xi Jinping insisted during an address to the World Health Assembly - the WHO's decision-making body - that Beijing had been "transparent" throughout the crisis. Beijing also offered to share a vaccine once one became available. But China's main critic US sharpened the tone at the same talks, accusing the WHO of being too close to Beijing. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited the move to include Taiwan in the UN health agency as a sop to Beijing, as he charged that China "continues to withhold vital information about the virus and its origins". Amid the blame game, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned the virus' impact on the southern hemisphere could be "even more devastating" than in the global north. SOUTH AMERICA, AFRICA HIT HARD In Asia, India extended its lockdown covering 1.3 billion people to the end of May as it reported its biggest single-day jump in infections on Sunday. But natural catastrophe threatened to derail the plans to keep transmission at bay - with Cyclone Amphan barrelling towards India and Bangladesh at speeds of 240km per hour, two million people face evacuation. In Latin America, Brazil now has the fourth-highest caseload in the world at 241,000 confirmed infections, and deaths have risen sharply in recent days. Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has blamed lockdowns for unnecessarily hurting the Brazilian economy. He has defied social distancing measures, even as experts and regional leaders have warned that the country's healthcare infrastructure could collapse. Ecuador reported the first COVID-19 case in one of its indigenous Amazon tribes, deepening the crisis in one of South America's hardest-hit countries. Nicaraguan hospital staff have said the country's health system is overwhelmed with patients suffering from respiratory illnesses. Relatives have reported that the bodies of loved ones were being carted off in pick-up trucks for "express burials" without their consent. "Mourners are forced to chase trucks with the coffin to find out where their loved ones are being buried," the opposition National Coalition said in a statement denouncing government secrecy. There was also grim data in Africa, where the number of infections rose rapidly. South Africa on Sunday reported 1,160 new coronavirus infections, the highest daily number since the first case was recorded in March, taking the total to 15,515 - the highest on the continent. DEEP ECONOMIC PAIN The coronavirus has also left the world economy facing its worst downturn since the Great Depression. Fresh evidence of the deep economic damage came when Japan announced its first recession since 2015. The world's biggest economy is also going to suffer a massive downturn, US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell warned. "The data we'll see for this quarter, which ends in June, will be very, very bad. There'll be a big decline in economic activity, big increase in unemployment," Powell said. Global markets were nevertheless buoyed by the Franco-German economic relaunch plan, lower death rates in some countries - and encouraging results from clinical trials of a potential vaccine by Moderna. The first stage trial provoked an immune response similar to people convalescing from the COVID-19 disease in eight recipients, according to the company. It has a larger phase 2 trial involving more patients due to begin soon. 'COURAGEOUS' In a sign of solidarity, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed "borrowing from the market in the name of the EU" to fund 500 billion euros of spending on the 27-strong bloc's "worst-hit sectors and regions". Countries benefiting from the financing would not have to repay the sum, said Macron. "The aim is to ensure that Europe comes out of the crisis more cohesive and with more solidarity," said Merkel, calling the proposal "courageous". If agreed with other EU members, the fund would break through the bloc's fiscal deadlock. Northern countries such as Germany have until now firmly rejected joint debt in the name of budget discipline. But it immediately ran into resistance, with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz insisting that any help "has to be in the form of loans, not grants". With infection numbers falling, Europe sought to pick up the pace on its exit from the lockdown. In Venice, the gondolas returned to the waters again, even if the gondoliers wore gloves and masks. Locals welcomed the sight. "It's good news, a sign of everyone's desire to get back to normal as soon as possible, but without ever lowering our guard in order to defeat the virus once and for all," said Giovanni Giusto, city councillor for the Protection of Traditions. Meghan King Edmonds is moving on, seven months after her split from husband Jim Edmonds. The 35-year-old former Real Housewives of Orange County star has reportedly been dating handsome Utah-based entrepreneur Christian Schauf 'for a few months'. The couple are spending time together in Utah after Meghan flew from Los Angeles to Missouri to drop the kids off with her estranged husband over the weekend, InTouch reports. New man! Meghan King Edmonds is dating entrepreneur Christian Schauf seven months after her split from Jim Edmonds Christian hosts the Life Uncharted podcast and is also the founder of Uncharted Supply Company, which sells emergency preparedness kits. Judging by his Instagram, Christian is an animal-loving adventurer who loves the outdoors and activities such as fishing and hiking. A source told InTouch: 'They have a lot in common, and they're both really into each other. Meghan and Christian are now in Utah, where hes from. She left the kids with Jim in St. Louis.' Handsome: Christian (pictured) hosts the Life Uncharted podcast and is also the founder of Uncharted Supply Company, which sells emergency preparedness kits 'Hes a nice guy and the perfect catch': Judging by his Instagram Christian is an animal-loving adventurer who loves the outdoors and activities such as fishing and hiking The insider revealed the couple have been seeing each other 'for a few months now and she's head over heels in love... He's very down to earth. Hes a nice guy and the perfect catch. Yes, this is still pretty new, but Meghan is very happy.' On his website, Christian describes himself as 'a serial adventurer, athlete, entrepreneur and philanthropist... In his downtime he lends aid to those in need, performs charity work in the world's most dangerous cities, and chases adventure in every sense of the word.' Meghan's exciting new romance comes after she blogged about her struggles as a single mom cooped up in her LA rental with her three children; daughter Aspen, three and sons Hayes and Hart, 23 months. Just days later after Meghan dropped the kids with Jim, the Fox broadcaster appeared to taunt his estranged wife as he bragged about how 'easy' their kids are to handle and shared videos of the tots playing in his sprawling St. Louis mansion. 'They have a lot in common, and they're both really into each other. Meghan and Christian are now in Utah, where hes from. She left the kids with Jim in St. Louis.' a source told InTouch Busy mom: Meghan lives in Los Angeles and has been taking care of her three young children that she shares with Jim; daughter Aspen, three and sons Hayes and Hart, 23 months New girl: The 49-year-old former MLB star has moved on with Kortnie O'Connor, the woman Jim and Meghan once had a threesome with when they were still together Fun at dad's house: Jim, 49, showed off photos of his son Hayes playing in the bowling alley while son Hart was cared for by his new girlfriend Kortnie over the weekend Jim has already introduced his kids to his new girlfriend Kortnie O'Connor and showed snaps of the brunette cradling his son Hart in the basement bowling alley of his home. Meghan and Jim called it quits in October 2019 when Jim filed for divorce just after their five-year wedding anniversary. They had tried to make their marriage work following the sexting scandal that rock their relationship in June, when Meghan discovered Jim has shared inappropriate messages with another woman. The 49-year-old former MLB star is now dating Playboy model Kortnie, the woman Jim and Meghan once had a threesome with when they were still together. A week ago Friday, 10 Delta Airlines jetliners flew into a remote desert airstrip between Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. Not one flew out. So far this past week, planes owned by Avianca Ecuador, Air Canada and its regional carrier Jazz Aviation, and a contract carrier from Bangor, Maine, have arrived at Pinal Air Park near Marana. They carried no passengers and only a skeleton crew, usually just a pilot and a first officer, and those planes, too, never left, reports The Arizona Republic, which is part of the USA TODAY Network. In the last 10 days more than 50 jetliners have filed final flight plans to the converted World War II training base. They are part of a wave of ghost flights landing at an unprecedented rate at desert airstrips all over the Southwest near places like Marana and Kingman in Arizona, Mojave and Victorville in California, Roswell, New Mexico, and Abilene, Texas. The planes will sit in storage at the airstrips as airlines deal with the economic shocks of the COVID-19 crisis. Since Feb. 20, airline passenger traffic is down an estimated 95%, and industry stocks have lost two-thirds of their value. Rather than flying empty planes, most airlines are parking significant portions of their fleets, which even for a short term involves an intricate maintenance schedule to make sure the planes are airworthy if and when they are needed again. 'A sense of sadness' One pilot, a seasoned veteran with a major airline, flew into Pinal Air Park in a jet with just one other person on board, a first officer. "It's a little eerie," he said. Taking off was a different experience as well because the plane was extremely light with no passengers or baggage Workers begin the process of preparing a jet aircraft for storage at the Pinal Air Park near Marana, where airlines are sending planes idled by the drop in traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pilot spoke on the condition of anonymity because his company had not authorized him to talk with the media. The scene at the air park was surreal, he said. The facility has no air traffic control tower, a fairly short runway and no landing lights or visual approach indicators. But what really stood out is the massive number of aircraft parked there. Story continues "You get this sense of impressiveness because you see so many planes from all over the world way out where nobody would ever think of going," he said. "At the same time there's a profound sense of sadness that goes along with it because you know why they're there, and it sort of hits you that this plane you're flying is not going to be flying again, maybe forever, but certainly not for a long time," the pilot said. "You know this is affecting people's lives, and that definitely hits you a bit. " Airlines mothball more planes Most airlines routinely retire aircraft and place them in storage, but the pace has been dramatically accelerated because of the pandemic. According to Airlines for America, an industry lobbying organization, U.S. air carriers have idled nearly 3,200 planes in recent months, about 52% of the nation's active fleet. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport public information officer Greg Roybal said that as of Wednesday, five airlines had parked a total of 39 planes indefinitely at the airport, but said the situation remains fluid. Elsewhere, American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier in terms of fleet size, has parked 54 planes on an unused runway at Tulsa International Airport and has also idled planes at airports in Pittsburgh and Mobile, Alabama, according to published reports. It is also storing aircraft at Roswell Air Center, in New Mexico, which, like Marana Air Park, is a converted World War II military facility. Delta, the largest American airline in terms of revenue and the third-largest in terms of fleet size, is mothballing 600 planes, about half its fleet, during the crisis, said corporate spokeswoman Maria Moraitakis. The airline had already planned to retire 76 older MD-88 and MD-90 aircraft at the end of the year, but moved up plans and will phase out all of them by June, Moraitakis said. At least 50 Delta planes have been parked at Marana, which, like other desert operations, provides an ideal climate for storing planes because the low humidity helps prevent corrosion. Storage areas are filling up Scott Butler, chief commercial officer of Ascent Aviation Services, which operates the Pinal Air Park runway and storage operations, said in an e-mail interview that companies have placed about 250 planes in storage there since March, bringing the Marana operation to about 85% of its capacity. He said the facility has received planes from 15 countries and five continents in the last several months. The Marana facility primarily handles larger planes and wide-body jets. A smaller facility in Tucson handles smaller and intermediate jets typically used by regional carriers. That facility is at roughly 60% of capacity, Butler said. Before the COVID-19 crisis, the company was operating at about 30% of capacity, and the increased activity has led the company to increase its workforce by about 125 full-time equivalents. Butler said most airlines are placing aircraft in what he called short-term storage, which, depending on specifications by different aircraft manufacturers, typically means from 30 to 90 days, though some are retiring aircraft for good, which involves an extensive decommissioning process. Ascent Aviation spokeswoman Annette Feasel said the process of storing an aircraft is complex. "Each aircraft manufacturer has different guidelines," she said, depending on whether it's an "active parking situation or short or long-term storage." Airlines have been parking an increasing number of aircraft at the Pinal Air Park near Marana as air traffic falls amid the COVID-19 pandemic. More complex than parking a car Active parking may mean the company has to start the engines every seven to 10 days and fire up other systems to ensure they are working so the plane remains airworthy. Short- or long-term storage entails more extensive operations, possibly including the removal of engines. Typically, the longer planes have been in storage, the longer it takes to reactivate them. She added that airplanes are "built to be in the air and they don't like to be on the ground. The longer they're on the ground and they're in various weather and different types of conditions, it's detrimental to the aircraft." "When you think about your automobile, you do have to change the oil and do a few things, but if your car sits for a week or two, and nothing happens, you're still going to be in fairly good shape," Feasel said. "An airplane needs a lot more than that." She said with nearly 400 planes on the property, operations are going on constantly. The people who maintain the planes are just as important as the people who fly them, but get little recognition. "In order to maintain airworthiness there's a lot of tasks that have to happen every day, and the people who are doing that, they deserve to be acknowledged," she said. John D'Anna is a reporter on the Arizona Republic/azcentral.com storytelling team. Reach him at john.danna@arizonarepublic.com and follow him on Twitter @azgreenday. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Coronavirus-stricken airlines park aircraft in Arizona, Southwest President Ho Chi Minh, the founder of Vietnams modern diplomacy, left the diplomatic sector a valuable heritage, namely unique thoughts on diplomacy, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh wrote in an article published by the Vietnam News Agency on Monday marking the 130th birthday of the late leader. President Ho Chi Minh (first left) visited Uralmash factory in Sverdlovsk City (now Yekaterinburg) in Russia in 1955. VNA/VNS File Photo According to the Deputy PM, President Ho Chi Minh gave prominence to basic national rights, stressing independence and self-reliance must be closely associated with international solidarity and co-operation. The President attached great importance to friendship and co-operation with neighbouring countries, along with expanding relations with countries in the region and the world, as well as handling relations with powerful countries for the sake of the revolutions interests. In the Presidents view, diplomacy is a front, and national strength should be combined with the strengths of the era to create overall strength. He always put Vietnam in the development flow of the world and paid great attention to the worlds centres of power and major trends. Deputy PM Minh underlined that President Ho Chi Minh's diplomatic thought also reflects the peace-loving tradition of the Vietnamese nation, and harmoniously combines national and international values. He wrote that the Presidents diplomatic thought is an invaluable heritage, the foundation of strength and the key for Vietnam to implement the Partys policy on external relations. According to Deputy PM Minh, it is thanks to the creative application of President Ho Chi Minhs diplomatic thought that Vietnams diplomatic sector has made important achievements, contributing to maintaining a peaceful environment and attracting resources for national development, defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and enhancing the countrys position in the international arena. The Deputy PM and FM said Vietnam attaches great importance to relations with bordering countries and with strategic and comprehensive partners. At the same time, Vietnam has strived to develop relations with neighbouring countries in the region and traditional allies. He highlighted that with its new position and power, Vietnam has participated in and contributed to important international organisations and forums, performed many important missions and contributed to the settlement of many important international issues. In an increasingly complex international situation, the external affairs sector has contributed to firmly defending national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The sector has made great efforts in building borders of peace, friendship and development with Laos, Cambodia and China. Amid the complex situation in the East Sea, the sector has judiciously handled arising issues, resolutely and consistently defending the sovereignty, territorial integrity and rights and interests of Vietnam at sea, the Deputy PM said. He went on to say that as the world is witnessing great, profound and unpredictable changes, Vietnam should continue to apply Ho Chi Minh President's thought on diplomacy in a creative manner to stay inside the eras flow, creating great power to take the countrys revolution to new successes. The top diplomat stressed Vietnams diplomacy must uphold its role as a pioneering front to maintain a favourable international environment and attract all resources to serve national development, elevate the countrys position and defend the country. We must persist with the constant goal which is the supreme interest of the country and nation while building tactics and acting in a smart and flexible manner to respond to changes in the situation, Minh wrote. Regarding complex developments in the East Sea, the Deputy PM and FM said Vietnam will persevere with peaceful measures to settle disputes and at the same time is resolute to protect its most noble rights, territorial integrity and independence of the country. Deputy PM Minh also made clear that Vietnam will continue to enhance the efficiency of international integration, treasure relations with countries sharing a border, deepen ties with countries in the region and the world, and elevate multilateral diplomacy. VNS Foreign articles spotlight late Presidents life, dedication Artistic Director and founder of Bangladeshs Turongomi Repertory Dance Theatre Pooja Sengupta shared the Bangladeshi peoples sentiment for President Ho Chi Minh David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the permanent loss of capital. It's only natural to consider a company's balance sheet when you examine how risky it is, since debt is often involved when a business collapses. We note that Tianli Education International Holdings Limited (HKG:1773) does have debt on its balance sheet. But the real question is whether this debt is making the company risky. When Is Debt A Problem? Debt and other liabilities become risky for a business when it cannot easily fulfill those obligations, either with free cash flow or by raising capital at an attractive price. Part and parcel of capitalism is the process of 'creative destruction' where failed businesses are mercilessly liquidated by their bankers. While that is not too common, we often do see indebted companies permanently diluting shareholders because lenders force them to raise capital at a distressed price. Of course, the upside of debt is that it often represents cheap capital, especially when it replaces dilution in a company with the ability to reinvest at high rates of return. The first step when considering a company's debt levels is to consider its cash and debt together. See our latest analysis for Tianli Education International Holdings How Much Debt Does Tianli Education International Holdings Carry? As you can see below, Tianli Education International Holdings had CN459.0m of debt, at December 2019, which is about the same as the year before. You can click the chart for greater detail. However, it does have CN635.6m in cash offsetting this, leading to net cash of CN176.6m. SEHK:1773 Historical Debt May 19th 2020 How Healthy Is Tianli Education International Holdings's Balance Sheet? The latest balance sheet data shows that Tianli Education International Holdings had liabilities of CN1.38b due within a year, and liabilities of CN864.4m falling due after that. On the other hand, it had cash of CN635.6m and CN4.00m worth of receivables due within a year. So its liabilities outweigh the sum of its cash and (near-term) receivables by CN1.60b. Story continues Since publicly traded Tianli Education International Holdings shares are worth a total of CN8.69b, it seems unlikely that this level of liabilities would be a major threat. Having said that, it's clear that we should continue to monitor its balance sheet, lest it change for the worse. Despite its noteworthy liabilities, Tianli Education International Holdings boasts net cash, so it's fair to say it does not have a heavy debt load! In addition to that, we're happy to report that Tianli Education International Holdings has boosted its EBIT by 54%, thus reducing the spectre of future debt repayments. There's no doubt that we learn most about debt from the balance sheet. But it is future earnings, more than anything, that will determine Tianli Education International Holdings's ability to maintain a healthy balance sheet going forward. So if you want to see what the professionals think, you might find this free report on analyst profit forecasts to be interesting. Finally, while the tax-man may adore accounting profits, lenders only accept cold hard cash. Tianli Education International Holdings may have net cash on the balance sheet, but it is still interesting to look at how well the business converts its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to free cash flow, because that will influence both its need for, and its capacity to manage debt. Over the last three years, Tianli Education International Holdings saw substantial negative free cash flow, in total. While that may be a result of expenditure for growth, it does make the debt far more risky. Summing up Although Tianli Education International Holdings's balance sheet isn't particularly strong, due to the total liabilities, it is clearly positive to see that it has net cash of CN176.6m. And we liked the look of last year's 54% year-on-year EBIT growth. So we are not troubled with Tianli Education International Holdings's debt use. When analysing debt levels, the balance sheet is the obvious place to start. However, not all investment risk resides within the balance sheet - far from it. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Tianli Education International Holdings (at least 1 which is significant) , and understanding them should be part of your investment process. When all is said and done, sometimes its easier to focus on companies that don't even need debt. Readers can access a list of growth stocks with zero net debt 100% free, right now. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Photo: O Palsson/Flickr Missed the most recent top news in New York City? Read on for everything you need to know. NYC physician who worked on front lines dies of COVID-19 A New York City physician known for his dedication to patient care continued working on the front lines of the pandemic in an intensive care unit and died from COVID-19. Read the full story on SFGATE. New York City sees at least 76 homeless people die of coronavirus New York City has seen 76 homeless people die of coronavirus and 961 confirmed cases in shelters. Read the full story on New York Daily News. September is 'natural point' for NYC to start full reopen That's a real natural point to start reopening," said Mayor Bill de Blasio. "Because that's when everyone would normally come back from the summer." Read the full story on Patch.com. New York man accused of 2017 Fayetteville murder arrested in Raleigh In 2018, Fayetteville officers issued warrants for his arrest in New York City. Read the full story on ABC11 WTVD. NY widens testing eligibility as social distancing hits snag All New Yorkers experiencing flu-like symptoms or other coronavirus signs, such as dry cough or chest pains, are now eligible to be tested, along with people who are returning to work as part of phased reopenings, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday. Read the full story on ABC World News Tonight with David Muir. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. Citi has appointed Jawad Haider as North America head of insurance in its Financial Institutions Group, based in New York. He is starting at Citi effective immediately. Haider has more than 20 years of experience in providing strategic coverage and mergers and acquisitions advice for insurance clients globally with firms such as Barclays and Lehman Brothers. Most recently, he was the co-head of insurance for Americas at Credit Suisse. Source: Citi Topics New York Nene Leakes from The Real Housewives of Atlanta shared concerns she has for her children after Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed while going for a jog in February. Son Brentt Leakes, Nene Leakes, son Bryson Bryant | Wilford Harewood/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Leakes has two sons, one in his early twenties and one who turned 30. As a mother of two black boys that could have been one of my boys, and I feel really horrible for her (Ahmaud Arberys mother)it hurt me to look at it (the video), she said on Channel Qs The Morning Beat. She regrets ever watching the video, Why did I do it, she wondered. I couldnt sleep for the rest of the night. I thought it was awful. Leakes says she was undone by the video Leakes added, It hurt me to look at it and hes not even my child. I was just undone by it. It is awful. Now, this is not happening in Atlanta, Georgia, this is on the outside. The shooting took place in Brunswick, Georgia. She added that these senseless shootings are simply unreal. I dont understand how one wouldnt get it, she exclaimed. It doesnt have anything to do with race to me. All you need to do is be a human with a heart. And just know that doing something such as that, is unreal. Its not right. It doesnt matter about the color [and] it could have happened to anybody. It just is not right. She adds, It could have been a black guy shooting a white boy. Thats just wrong. And if you have any kind of heart, this is what I would say. If you know whats right, and you want to live right. I just want to live right, I dont care what color you are. If I like you I like you. And I dont have that kind of hate in my heart. You have to have a lot of hate in your heart to look at that and be OK with it. Leakes also addressed her relationship with Cynthia Bailey Leakes also discussed the reunion and her relationship with Cynthia Bailey. She thinks Baileys personality came out more this season because in the past she as portrayed as being more demure. But, Cynthia is a tough girl. I feel like she does a lot of things sneaky and underhanded. Even at the reunion, there were a lot of things that Kenya was saying to me (that)I knew came from Cynthias mouth. RELATED: RHOA: Nene Leakes Walks off Season 12 Reunion, Source Claims Cynthia is not an angel, she insisted. Shes been in a fight with Porsha before, shes just not an angel. Also, I think our friendship started to go downhill, honestly, and Im not lying, this is the God honest truth, Ive said it a million times, I dont know why. She added, I have been a great friend to Cynthia, shes been a great friend to me. I was truly hurt by the dissolve of our relationship and that was realI really thought of her as my sister. Tony Blair has said Boris Johnson's administration is right to be opening schools again. The Prime Minister's plans to start sending children back to school next month has come under attack from teaching unions and some local authorities, with critics arguing it is too soon to lift the coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions. Mr Johnson, in his address to the nation on May 10, said Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils would be the first to go back, starting on June 1 'at the earliest'. His ambition, Mr Johnson said, was that secondary pupils scheduled to take exams next year would 'get at least some time with their teachers before the holidays'. Despite criticism of the proposals in some quarters, Mr Johnson has found an unlikely ally in three-time general election winner Mr Blair. In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday evening, Mr Blair said the Government was adhering to scientific advice by preparing schools to open their doors again. 'They're right, I think, to be reopening the schools,' said Mr Blair. Boris Johnson's plans to start sending children back to school next month has come under attack from teaching unions and some local authorities, with critics arguing it is too soon to lift the coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions 'I don't think they would say that they're putting school opening above health risks. What they're doing is basing it on the evidence, actually. 'There are countries that have reopened parts, at least, of their school system. 'If you look at all the best evidence and again, my institutes assembled a lot of the different data on this, it's, especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low.' Union chiefs have warned teachers it will 'not be safe' to mark pupils' books when schools reopen, while casting yet more doubt on the government's plans to bring children back to primary schools next month. Staff who are members of the UK biggest teaching union will be told to go through a 20-page checklist with their bosses before returning to work. They will only be deemed safe if there is a 'yes' answer to every question, say the National Education Union (NEU). It comes just days after five former education secretaries - Labour's Alan Johnson and Carles Clarke, plus Conservatives Nicky Morgan, Damian Hinds and Justine Greening - revealed they were all backing a phased reopening of schools. Staff who are members of the UK biggest teaching union will be told to go through a 20-page checklist with their bosses before returning to work (pictured: Social distancing measures as a child studies on a marked table at a primary school in Worcester, May 18) Union bosses have told members it is 'extremely unlikely' that primary schools will reopen on June 1 (pictured: Children of essential workers in a lesson in Worcester, May 18) But this week a third council in England was set to defy official advice to reopen schools in June. Pupils in Bury will not return 'while high levels of Covid-19 remain'. Following growing opposition to the plan to reopen primaries to certain year groups from June 1, Bury council says that while high levels of the infection remain in the north west, 'the borough will not be re-opening schools on June 1'. What safety measures are planned to reduce coronavirus in schools? Ministers have unveiled a raft of measures to keep pupils who do return to school safe from coronavirus. They include: Classes of no more than 15 pupils Socially distanced desks Children told to only mix in small groups, with those groups not mixing with others. Increased and regular cleaning of schools Staggered lunch and break times Staggered arrivals and departures Packed lunches No shared classroom equipment Advertisement Unclear guidance around practical arrangements for social distancing within schools, as well as concerns over testing and tracing, and supply of PPE, were listed as other reasons for refusing to open. Unions and the government are continuing to clash over plans to reopen primary schools by June 1. But the NEU, which has more than 450,000 members, has cast fresh doubt on the government's plans, which were confirmed by Education Secretary Gavin Williamson over the weekend. Union bosses have told members it is 'extremely unlikely' that primary schools will reopen on June 1. In a document, named the Planning Guide for Primary Schools, seen by MailOnline, the NEU has challenged the government's plan to use micro-groups - similar to the system used in Denmark - which will reduce the need to keep students and teachers more than two metres apart. The NEU instead is urging strict two metre social distancing measures remain in place - as is being done in other workplaces. The planning document also includes a 20-page safety checklist, written jointly with fellow unions, Unite, Unison and GMB, which it will urge its members to go through with bosses before they return to schools. Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the NEU, said: 'Our checklist incorporates and builds on the Government's own toolkit for primary school wider opening. That is what makes our checklist rigorous. 'It is designed for use when it is safe to open schools nationally. It sets out the standards which teachers, school staff and parents should expect to be met before the head teacher decides that the school is safe to open more widely.' In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday evening, Tony Blair said the Government was adhering to scientific advice by preparing schools to open their doors again He added: 'Teachers and support staff will be responsible for ensuring safe practices are implemented, as young children will not be able to do so themselves. Parents would expect nothing less.' Health Secretary Matt Hancock looked to reassure the House of Commons on Monday, telling MPs only a 'very small' number of children were 'badly affected' by Covid-19. Mr Blair backed up the comments, telling the BBC his own institute - the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change - had gathered data to show that 'especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low'. He argued that private schools had been continuing to educate their pupils, while youngsters in the state system had been given 'no education at all' since schools were told to shut their gates on March 20 as the coronavirus outbreak took hold. 'Let's be clear, the private schools will have been educating their children throughout this,' added Mr Blair, a father of four. 'Parts of the state system will have been. But then there are some children who will have been having no education at all. You've got to get the schools back.' Union leaders remain unconvinced with the argument put forward by ministers and Mr Blair, however. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that teachers 'haven't yet seen the scientific underpin' to back up the assertion that the transmission risk among pupils is low. He has called on ministers to write to unions explaining the Government's assessment. During the same interview, Mr Blair also gave his approval to the way Sir Keir Starmer has been leading Labour during the pandemic since his election as leader in April. 'It's changed for the better, for sure, in my view,' Mr Blair said of the current state of the party. 'Because it's got a serious leadership that's already making an impact because they're showing competence, forensic skill, in dissecting the Government. 'I think he's done a very good job so far and I wish him every success.' Green light to open schools? Evidence from 22 countries on the continent suggests allowing pupils back to class again has NOT been harmful to children and teachers by JOSH WHITE, education correspondent, for the Daily Mail Reopening schools across Europe has not caused a spike in coronavirus cases. Evidence from 22 EU states that have restored classes suggests little or no risk to pupils, teachers or families. The revelation piles pressure on unions resisting plans to send younger children back from June 1. The National Education Union yesterday even claimed it was not safe for teachers to mark workbooks. The decision to reopen schools in 22 EU states, including France (pictured) where 1.4million pupils went back to their classrooms, has not caused an increase in coronavirus cases across Europe The 22 countries, which also include Belgium (pictured) and Germany, say that there is little or no risk to pupils, families or teachers in returning students to classrooms But an EU meeting was told that the gradual return to school had not resulted in anything negative. Denmark reopened primaries and nurseries a month ago and has seen infection rates continue to fall. Norway, which is outside the EU, has taken similar action without a rise. Around 1.4million French pupils went back to class last week and of around 40,000 schools and nurseries only 70 were closed again following virus cases. A girl wearing a face mask is pictured using hand gel from a dispenser as she arrives to school in Austria Schools in Denmark (pictured) have reopened primary schools and nurseries and the number of coronavirus cases are in fact decreasing Germany have opened schools for their older children, with some even taking examinations such as this biology class in Dortmund (above) Germany has reopened schools for older children and plans to allow younger year groups back later in the summer term. Former prime minister Tony Blair last night backed calls for pupils to go back to school, saying some children were receiving no education at all. Alan Smithers, a professor in education at the University of Buckingham, said: The unions have been asking for evidence, and this is it. So they should start cooperating fully with the Government so that our schools can open again as soon as possible. Schools in Belgium (pictured) have been maintaining strict social distancing guidelines in their classrooms Labour-run Bury council yesterday became the latest local authority to reject the Governments timetable for sending children back to class. It joins Hartlepool, Liverpool and Stockport. Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden refused to rule out penalties for town halls that refuse to reopen schools from June 1. In other developments: The UK death toll rose by 160, the lowest daily increase since the lockdown began, taking the total to 34,796; In a blow to millions hoping to go abroad this summer, officials revealed quarantine for travellers arriving in Britain could be introduced by June; Health Secretary Matt Hancock expanded eligibility for tests they are now available to all over-fives with symptoms; Losing your sense of taste or smell was added to the official list of symptoms amid fears cases have been missed; Deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said we may have to learn to live with the virus for several years; There was new hope of a vaccine after early data from a jab developed by US firm Moderna showed it produced protective antibodies; Coronavirus outbreaks have now been reported in almost four in ten care homes in England 5,889 in total; And two million self-employed workers have applied for grants worth 6billion. Jonathan Van-Tam (pictured), the UK's deputy chief medical officer, says we may have to live with the virus for several years Blazenka Divjak, education minister of Croatia, which holds the rotating EU presidency, told European colleagues yesterday: We havent heard anything negative about the reopening of schools, but it is probably too early to have final conclusions. She noted at the video meeting that schools had imposed very high security conditions including smaller class sizes and very close cooperation with health ministries and epidemiological services. She stressed the results needed to be treated with caution as the return to normal life was in its very early stages. UK officials say they hoped the evidence from other countries would reassure teachers. A source at the Department for Education said: We looked closely at international examples when drawing up our plans for a phased return. These initial findings from European countries are encouraging and suggest that our similarly cautious approach will minimise the risk of transmission. The Government wants a phased reopening from June 1, with Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils going back first. Professor Van-Tam said children were not high-output transmitters of Covid-19. Mr Blair told BBC Newsnight: If you look at all the best evidence, and my Institute has assembled a lot of the different data on this, especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low. Many significant figures in Britain, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair (pictured) have asked for UK schools to reopen as some children are not receiving any education at all Private schools will have been educating their children throughout this. Parts of the state system will have been. But then there are some children who will have been having no education at all. The National Education Union yesterday urged its members to bombard head teachers with health and safety queries. The union said schools should make it clear that no marking should take place for health and safety reasons, while library books should be regularly sanitised. The June 1 reopening date applies only to English schools. Namibians have been better-behaved thanks to a ban on the sale of alcohol during the state of emergency, the police chief is quoted by the Namibian Sun newspaper as saying. Sebastian Ndeitunga said people had sobered up, crime was down and hospitals were no longer full every weekend as a result of fights. He urged MPs to consider increasing the price of alcohol after coronavirus restrictions ended so as to reduce consumption. "This society is becoming a very healthy society without alcohol. I wish it would continue like this," he reportedly said. Namibia is currently easing lockdown restrictions but bars, nightclubs and alcohol stores remain closed. Restaurants have reopened but customers are required to wear masks and sit some distance away from each other. The country has recorded 16 confirmed cases of coronavirus, 13 of whom have recovered and there have been no deaths. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video in Vorarlberg (Hohenems) - born Adi Hutter may well imagine, to be the coach of the Austrian national team. But this is not an issue for the 50-year-old Eintracht-Trainer currently, it is a future vision. The German coach Franco Foda has extended his contract in Austria, most recently until the end of the world Cup qualifiers in the year 2022. And the career prospects of the mothers will be in the future outside of his home: in the heart of Europe, in Frankfurt. access to all the exclusive F+articles. You will remain fully informed, for only 2.95 per week. Now 30 days free of charge Because at the moment everything points to the fact that the football coach will soon be bind to the end of the Bundesliga season in the year 2023 on the harmony test. It is the great desire of sports Board Fredi Bobic, the cooperation with Hutter is the contract still to 1. July 2021 dated to extend in advance, preferably with an additional Option to the season 2023/2024. The essential elements of the Contract established between the parties already, now it needs only the signature. In times of great uncertainty due to the Corona pandemic, the new Agreement planning provides security to the Central Position. In addition, the person responsible for the Belief, with the Bernese master trainer of 2018 under the dash-a guarantor for success and stability in their ranks. Despite temporary setbacks, Hutter was able to meet the final targets. In the past two Bundesliga seasons with the places of nine and seven of the coaches won a total of 99 points with his team. This yield gives him a Top place in the Ranking of the most successful in Frankfurt the first League Trainer. Out of a total of 104 games, the the mammoth program of Concord impressively document, has Hutter 50 and his Team won, 35 lost. This is in overall a presentable balance sheet. Free of friction, the cooperation between mothers and Bobic is not. Both of them are not always of the same opinion. But you know, even in problematic times, good to deal with, because the coach and the sports Board will always meet with mutual respect. It is worked in a solution oriented way. Hutter is not escaped in the difficult season phases of the season, never doubt his work became, according to. He felt, instead, always have the full backing of his superiors who supported him even after the defeat of the series, according to the forces. Updated Date: 12 July 2020, 13:20 The presidency has defended their plan to take more loans to finance some projects that are still ongoing in the country. Femi Adesina presidential spokesman who featured in Southwest Political Circuit, a popular political interview programme on Ibadan-based radio station Fresh F.M, insisted that there is nothing wrong in taking loans as the country still has more capacity to accommodate such. Adesina said that the loans are being chanelled into projects they are meant for, while also pointing out that the huge debt the country is owing was largely borrowed by previous administrations. Adesina further stated that the current figures were within the capacity of the countrys Gross Domestic Products (GDP) to service and repay. The Presidential spokesperson said; Dont forget that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came out to say that Nigerias economy has the capacity to absorb more loans and that Nigeria is taking below what its GDP can afford. IMF said it and it is on record. Nigerias GDP can service more loans than it is taking. That is a vote of confidence in Nigerias ability to repay the loans it is taking. Taking loans to use for development is not a crime. But taking loans to steal and pocket as we used to have it in this country is what is criminal. You will find out that even the profile of the loans, Nigerians dont know it. Even former president Olusegun Obasanjo gave a lecture where he quoted a figure about what Nigeria owes. The Debt Management Office (DMO) had to come out to correct him. I think he quoted something in the region of $90b or $100b debt. The DMO office came to say all that this administration has taken is a little over $20b. The DMO also told us what the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government left as loans and debt. So, a lot of commentators dont know the correct profile. The loans will be used for development, for provision of infrastructure, open up and stimulate the economy. These loans are good because they are used for development and that is what this administration is doing. The loans are within tolerable limit. So, those who are making noise about loans, particularly the outgone government, are only shedding crocodiles tears because under them, they took loans and pocketed the money and we didnt see what they did with the loans. But Nigeria is now taking loans and Nigerians can see what the government is doing with the loans. On the effect of Coronavirus on the economy, Adesina said the Buhari-led administration was already considering all possibilities in its efforts to cushion the effect of the pandemic. He also insisted that claims of the Federal Government supporting farmers in the North to the detriment of their southern counterparts, is coming from a mindset that is one of the banes of Nigeria. Adesina said; Unable to take part in actual races, physiotherapist and endurance athlete Stephanie Roberecki has turned to Zwift, an online training tool, and the Ironman Virtual Club, a free, web-based platform to help athletes train. Photograph: Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images For nearly five full years, Virginia Pena Zamudio has been searching: trawling prisons, markets and forensic records for the slightest trace of her missing son. Rosendo Vazquez Pena was kidnapped from a car repair shop in Mexicos Veracruz state in September 2015 and has not been seen here since. Since then Pena Zamudio has, like thousands of Mexican parents and spouses, thrown herself into a life of hunting, joining a search brigade of grieving relatives determined to find their loved ones, dead or alive. But the coronavirus, which has killed at least 5,000 people in Mexico, has brought the hunt for its desaparecidos to a sudden and traumatic halt. Were shut inside, we cant even move, said Pena Zamudio. As a mother, I want to be able to break all of these barriers, but I cant. Up and down Mexico where nearly 62,000 people have vanished since its war on drugs began in 2006 families have found themselves in a similar position, seeing their quests to locate loved-ones frustrated by the pandemic. Calderon sends in the army Mexicos war on drugs began in late 2006 when the president at the time, Felipe Calderon, ordered thousands of troops onto the streets in response to an explosion of horrific violence in his native state of Michoacan. Calderon hoped to smash the drug cartels with his heavily militarized onslaught but the approach was counter-productive and exacted a catastrophic human toll. As Mexicos military went on the offensive, the body count sky-rocketed to new heights and tens of thousands were forced from their homes, disappeared or killed. Kingpin strategy Simultaneously Calderon also began pursuing the so-called kingpin strategy by which authorities sought to decapitate the cartels by targeting their leaders. That policy resulted in some high-profile scalps notably Arturo Beltran Leyva who was gunned down by Mexican marines in 2009 but also did little to bring peace. In fact, many believe such tactics served only to pulverize the world of organized crime, creating even more violence as new, less predictable factions squabbled for their piece of the pie. Story continues Under Calderons successor, Enrique Pena Nieto, the governments rhetoric on crime softened as Mexico sought to shed its reputation as the headquarters of some the worlds most murderous mafia groups. But Calderons policies largely survived, with authorities targeting prominent cartel leaders such as Sinaloas Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. When El Chapo was arrested in early 2016, Mexicos president bragged: Mission accomplished. But the violence went on. By the time Pena Nieto left office in 2018, Mexico had suffered another record year of murders, with nearly 36,000 people slain. "Hugs not bullets" The leftwing populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador took power in December, promising a dramatic change in tactics. Lopez Obrador, or Amlo as most call him, vowed to attack the social roots of crime, offering vocational training to more than 2.3 million disadvantaged young people at risk of being ensnared by the cartels. It will be virtually impossible to achieve peace without justice and [social] welfare, Amlo said, promising to slash the murder rate from an average of 89 killings per day with his hugs not bullets doctrine. Amlo also pledged to chair daily 6am security meetings and create a 60,000 strong "National Guard". But those measures have yet to pay off, with the new security force used mostly to hunt Central American migrants. Mexico now suffers an average of about 96 murders per day, with nearly 29,000 people killed since Amlo took office. The searches are stopped right now. Im not sure when theyre going to start again because of the virus, said Jose Barajas, a US citizen who has been looking for his father since he was seized from his ranch in the northern state of Baja California by gunmen in April 2019. Last year a series of edgy and gruesome desert hunts one witnessed by the Guardian failed to find any sign of Barajas father, who is also called Jose. Relatives suspect he was snatched by cartel members operating near the US border and is likely to have been murdered. This year, Barajas said he felt the searchers were making progress: during one recent mission activists found eight or nine bodies buried in shallow graves and a bag full of human bones. And then, right after that, everything stopped, added Barajas, who said he was anxious to resume his hunt. A makeshift memorial outside the investigative police headquarters during a protest, in Tijuana in February. Photograph: Emilio Espejel/AP Pena Zamudios plans have also been derailed by the shutdown, which has seen the government institutions tasked with offering logistical support or protection to the search teams suspend or reduce their activities. In February, she spent two weeks with a 200-strong search brigade in the city of Poza Rica. While some members searched for human remains on riverbanks and abandoned oilfields, Pena Zamudio visited penitentiaries, rehab centers and local medical forensic departments in search of her son, who would now be 27. Related: The disappeared: searching for 40,000 missing victims of Mexicos drug wars Wherever she went she carried his laminated photo and asked strangers if theyd seen someone with Rosendos characteristics, including a tattoo on his chest reading: La vida no es facil (Life isnt easy). The Poza Rica searches would be Pena Zamudios last for a while. Her collective had been planning to visit Tijuana and Oaxaca to search for their loved-ones, many of whom disappeared during the same several-day period in 2015. The last time she travelled to Oaxaca, last September, 18 people in the citys central market told her theyd seen her son, who she suspects was abducted by police and may still be alive. Pena Zamudio had hoped the latest trip would shed further light on his whereabouts but then came the coronavirus. As long as we cant go out and search, the authorities should still be doing it, Pena Zamudio said. In an open letter the Movimiento por Nuestros Desaparecidos en Mexico, a nationwide coalition of the families of disappearance victims, announced its members were temporarily suspending their expeditions. Just as we dont want any more people to disappear, we also value everyones wellbeing, they wrote. For the families of the disappeared, compulsory social isolation means lost days in trying to ensure our loved ones can come home, the group admitted. But its clear to us that now is the time to put lives first. If we arent healthy, we wont be of any use searching for the more than 61,000 people we have lost. Sadly the disappearances have not stopped [because of the pandemic], the group added, urging Mexicos government to develop a plan to continue conducting some searches despite the health emergency. Related: Mexico begins lifting Covid-19 lockdown despite fears worst is still to come As Pena Zamudio waits out the crisis at home, she said she had been dreaming about her son and worrying about his safety during the pandemic. I think about whether hes living in the street, if hes in a really crowded place, what will happen to him, she said. Whatever the future held, the hunt would have to go on. However long this will last a year, two years, three, I dont know we need to search, Pena Zamudio said. For us, this is our life, searching for our children. The requested page is currently unavailable on this server. Back to [RTHK News Homepage] Photo: (Photo : from GoFundMe Page) Eight years ago, a couple from Iraq decided to try their luck in the United States. They settled in Michigan with their three children. However, during the recent pandemic, the couple was killed by the virus. The death of the couple left their eldest son to look after his two teenage siblings. On April 21, Nada Ayram, the mother of the family, succumb to the virus. Three weeks after, Nameer Ayram also died due to complications from COVID-19. When parents were battling the virus It was the husband Nameer who first fell ill. On March 22, he was immediately put on a ventilator and received dialysis because of kidney failure. According to a report from the Detroit Free Press, he was hospitalized at the University of Michigan Hospital. On the other hand, Nada, the wife, was admitted to Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital. Because of the protocols implemented in the hospital, the children were not allowed to visit their parents. Also, two of the three children tested positive for the coronavirus but recovered at home. Before the pandemic, Nameer was a worker in an auto supply company. Nada was a homemaker. Eldest son is left with his two siblings. The father of the family was the main provider. He worked hard to sustain the needs of his children. Due to his death, bills are piling up, and the children cannot even grieve properly. Nashwan, the eldest son, is devastated by what happened to his parents. His two siblings, who are eighteen and thirteen years old, are also not taking the news well. An organization is helping the siblings. Since everything is still uncertain because of the pandemic, the three Ayram children are still finding the courage to get back on their feet. The local organization, Chaldean Amerian Ladies of Charity, is helping the family. Their chairwoman, Renee Yaldo, said that they are providing basic needs to the family, and is also helping them by bringing groceries to keep them stable for now. GoFundMe page for the siblings When the family migrated to the United States from Iraq, they brought with them the dream of having a better life. They did not expect that something like this would happen, especially to the kids, who are not left on their own. Until today, they are not only grieving but are also clueless as to how they can pay the bills without any income. The family has no immediate relatives in the United States. That is why Zeana Attisha, a family friend, thought of helping the family by putting up a GoFundMe page. The goal is to raise $250,000. As of writing, more $200,000 has already been raised. The Chaldean American Ladies of Charity is continuously supporting the siblings for all matters, including social services and legal matters. The support for the siblings has been outpouring. Organizers are sincerely thankful for all the donors who supported the three. According to the GoFundMe page organized for the siblings, family members of the Ayrams overseas were already contacted. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 Trend: The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have concluded a swap agreement totaling $200 million in order to increase access to financial resources of the real sector during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), Trend reports with reference to the CBA. Thus, the EBRD will gain new opportunities to provide credit support to local companies in national currency, gaining reliable access to local currency. It is estimated that $50 million (85 million manat) out of 200 million will be channeled to local firms, including smaller viable enterprises, faced with temporary difficulties this year. According to the EBRD's report, Azerbaijani companies can now benefit from loans denominated in the local currency manat (AZN) provided by the EBRD thanks to an agreement with the CBA. The EBRD has secured reliable access to AZN liquidity, in the form of swap transactions worth a total of $200 million, and will continue local currency lending to companies, said the EBRD's report. The agreement is part of the EBRDs stepping up support for Azerbaijani companies as the country's economy faces the double challenge of the coronavirus outbreak and the global oil market shock, noted the report. The EBRD's report also said that the EBRD has made available a Solidarity Package to help companies in its regions, with 38 emerging markets, deal with the economic impact of the pandemic. The EBRD stands ready to provide support worth 21 billion euro over the 2020-2021 period. The package includes short-term liquidity, working capital and restructuring of exposure for existing clients, as well as trade finance and an emergency support program for key infrastructure providers. The Bank will also ramp up its local currency, capital markets and equity offers, the report added. The EBRD is an important institutional investor in Azerbaijan. To date, the bank has invested 3.3 billion euro through over 170 projects in the country. It also provides business advice to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and has helped more than 1,000 firms to improve their performance and growth. The EBRD is a multilateral bank that promotes the development of the private sector and entrepreneurial initiative in 38 economies across three continents. The man accused of decapitating his 17-year-old ex-girlfriend in Sweden regarded her as 'Satan' and an enemy of his idol Donald Trump, it is claimed. Tishko Ahmed Shabaz began acting strangely and controlling his girlfriend Wilma Andersson before she disappeared last November, witnesses have told police. Investigators were told how he 'thought she was Satan and worked with the Democrats against Trump', according to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. Wilma's severed head was found two weeks after she vanished and 23-year-old Shabaz has now been charged with her murder, which he denies. Tishko Ahmed Shabaz (pictured left) regarded his ex-girlfriend Wilma Andersson (right) as 'Satan' and an enemy of his idol Donald Trump, it is claimed Witnesses alleged to investigators that Shabaz took control of Wilma's life by checking her phone and deciding what clothes she would wear. It is claimed that he had a GPS tracking app installed in her phone so that he could track her every movement. Shabaz is said to have venerated Trump and even tried to travel to the US to help his re-election campaign. However, he was stopped at Stockholm's main airport because he did not have the required entry documents, according to Swedish media. Shabaz was charged with the murder last week, and Swedish media says he was subsequently found unconscious in his cell and taken to hospital. He has since been moved to another facility where he is kept under supervision, it is reported. Wilma vanished on November 14 last year and police found a 'body part' two weeks later - which was later revealed to be her head. Hundreds of volunteers had joined the search for Wilma after she was reported missing in Uddevalla on November 17, three days after she was last seen. The 'body part' was found on November 28 in a grim discovery which was announced the following day, bringing the search to an end. Wilma Andersson, pictured, disappeared in November last year. Police found her severed head two weeks later and her ex-boyfriend has now been charged with her murder Hundreds of volunteers had joined the search for Wilma after she was reported missing in Uddevalla on November 17, three days after she was last seen Shabaz is accused of decapitating Wilma when she went to collect her belongings before wrapping her head in foil and hiding it at his home. Police found the severed head wrapped in aluminium foil inside a bag in his apartment, prosecutors claim. They also found blood on the floor of his apartment and 'traces of Wilma' on a large kitchen knife, it is alleged. The indictment claims that Wilma was killed on November 14, the day she went missing. 'The suspect has retained a body part for an unknown reason and got rid of the rest of the body,' the police chief said. It is also claimed that neighbours heard screaming from the apartment and that Shabaz lied to Wilma's parents by claiming she had left the flat alive. The rest of Wilma's body has never been found, and relatives have urged people not to abandon their search. According to human rights monitor HRS, the suspect was born in Iraq and took up Swedish citizenship in 2014. Shabaz denies the allegations. His trial is due to start on May 26. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 05:25:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A worker disinfects a vehicle to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Sanaa, Yemen, on May 19, 2020. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua) ADEN, Yemen, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases in Yemen increased to 167, after 37 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday. The Yemeni health ministry said in a statement that during the past 24 hours, "37 new cases were officially recorded in six provinces controlled by the government." It said that the number of recoveries increased to five since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the war-torn country on April 10. Also, Yemen recorded three more deaths from the deadly respiratory virus, bringing the death toll to 28. Elsewhere in Yemen, health authorities in the Houthi rebel-held capital Sanaa on Saturday declared two new COVID-19 cases in the areas under their control, taking the total number of infections in northern Yemen to four, including one death. The Yemeni government has taken several measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19, including imposing a partial overnight curfew in Aden and other major cities. It has also called on donors and relevant international humanitarian organizations to provide support to help contain the pandemic in Yemen. Enditem Doctors found prescribing swab tests to detect Covid-19 without examining patients could not only lose their licences to practice, but will also face a criminal case under section 188 (disobedience of an order promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Epidemic Act of 1897, the civic bodys notice, issued on Sunday, stated. On May 7, HT was the first to report that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was planning to file a first information report (FIR) against doctors prescribing tests without physical examination. A sample of the police form was also forwarded to ward officers but the proposal was called off. However, new BMC commissioner Iqbal Chahal has reinforced the rule to stop unethical practices. The BMC notice stated that all medical officers of health (MOH) of the 24 wards should follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) for swab testing. The ward officers will have to inform police to file FIR against the doctors if they are found violating the rules. If an MOH finds that local private medical practice is giving recommendation letters for swab testing to outside area persons without physical examination, then strict action may be taken against such doctors as show cause notice for cancellation for registration and to lodge an FIR in local police station, reads the notice. However, it has garnered much criticism from the medical fraternity, with the doctors terming the rule as tyrannical and draconian. This is unacceptable...we are putting our lives at risk to save people. A corporation cant just decide to file an FIR against us. Also, cancellation of a licence is up to the medical council. BMC has no role or authority in it, said Dr Avinash Bhondwe, president of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Maharashtra. The Association of Medical Consultants, Mumbai, has written to the BMC commissioner seeking an exemption against the rule and said it contradicts the telemedicine policy of the central health department. On March 21, when the Union health ministry issued the guidelines for Covid-19 testing in private laboratories, it had stated, Laboratory test should only be offered when prescribed by a qualified physician as per the ICMR [Indian Council of Medical Research] guidelines. Dr Deepak Baid, president of the association, said, Under telemedicine, a registered medical practitioner can evaluate and prescribe laboratory or radiology tests to suspected callers. In such a case, the doctors send the prescription through WhatsApp and emails. This is more effective and safer, said Dr Baid. Earlier this month, BMC was planning to bring such a rule when a doctor from Delhi prescribed Covid test to a Mumbai resident without a physician examination. The incident came to light after the private laboratory where the resident went for the test informed BMC officials. Doctors found prescribing swab tests without examining patients could not only lose their licences, but will also face a criminal case under section 188 (disobedience of an order promulgated by a public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Epidemic Act of 1897, the civic bodys notice, issued on Sunday, stated. On May 7, HT was the first to report that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was planning to file a first information report (FIR) against doctors prescribing tests without physical examination. A sample of the police form was also forwarded to ward officers but the proposal was called off. However, new BMC commissioner Iqbal Chahal has reinforced the rule to stop unethical practices. Despite repeated attempts, Chahal did not respond to calls. The BMC notice stated that all medical officers of health (MOH) of the 24 wards should follow the standard operating procedure (SOP) for swab testing. The ward officers will have to inform police to file FIR against doctors if they are found violating the rules. If an MOH finds that private medical practice is giving recommendation letters for swab testing to outside area persons without physical examination, then strict action may be taken against such doctors as show cause notice for cancellation for registration and to lodge an FIR in local police station, reads the notice. However, it has garnered much criticism from the medical fraternity, with the doctors terming the rule as tyrannical and draconian. This is unacceptable...we are putting our lives at risk to save people. A corporation cant just decide to file an FIR against us. Also, cancellation of a licence is up to the medical council. BMC has no role or authority in it, said Dr Avinash Bhondwe, president of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Maharashtra. The Association of Medical Consultants, Mumbai, has written to the BMC commissioner seeking an exemption against the rule and said it contradicts the telemedicine policy of the central health department. On March 21, when the Union health ministry issued the guidelines for Covid-19 testing in private laboratories, it had stated, Laboratory test should only be offered when prescribed by a qualified physician as per the ICMR [Indian Council of Medical Research] guidelines. Dr Deepak Baid, president of the association, said, Under telemedicine, a registered medical practitioner can evaluate and prescribe laboratory or radiology tests to suspected callers. In such a case, the doctors send the prescription through WhatsApp and emails. This is more effective and safer, said Dr Baid. Earlier this month, BMC was planning to bring such a rule when a doctor from Delhi prescribed Covid test to a Mumbai resident without a physician examination. The incident came to light after the private laboratory where the resident went for the test informed BMC officials. Conor Boyle from Lidl and Mark McCaffrey of Crust & Crumb Bakery Ltd A bakery in Co Fermanagh has won a contract worth 24m a year to supply pizzas to discount grocer Lidl. Crust & Crumb in Derrylin will supply products across around 1,000 Lidl stores in Ireland and Britain. The company employs around 300 staff and has supplied Lidl since 2013. Its Irelands biggest supplier of dough-based products. The deal will involve supplying 20 varieties of Lidls Deluxe range sourdough pizza, six Chef Select pizza lines and two flavours of its Simply pizza value range. Conor Boyle, regional director of Lidl Northern Ireland, which has around 39 stores, said: From small beginnings in 2013 weve built an outstanding relationship with Crust & Crumb and we are thrilled that this new contractual arrangement will bring its great-tasting, quality, locally-made products to thousands of new consumers in stores across the UK and Ireland. An innovative company with renewed capacity for growth, Lidl Northern Ireland acknowledges this companys hard work and commitment afforded by its team of staff and were proud to support its expansion. Crust & Crumb has two production facilities in Derrylin, one of which is for gluten-free products. It also operates a second site in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, which opened last year. Over the year to the end of June 2019 it reported turnover of 27.4m, up from 17.1m a year earlier, while pre-tax profits were steady at 1.9m. Mark McCaffrey, director of Crust & Crumb Bakery, said: Supported by a dedicated team of craft bakers, we take great pride in producing a range of world-class products which pack real punch in quality, taste and value. Were delighted to expand our partnership with Lidl Northern Ireland as part of a significant investment which supports our plans for continued growth. This partnership has enabled us to access new markets and expand our customer base across the UK and Ireland and it supports our ambitions for export sales to additional EU markets later this year. Its work with Lidl has enabled the company to create 160 full-time jobs. Last year Lidl commissioned a report on its local economic contribution since it was set up 20 years earlier. The report said the retailer spends at least 290m a year on suppliers, while supporting 3,500 jobs. John Hood, director of Invest NI, said the economic development agency had supported Crust & Crumb since it was set up around a decade ago. He added: In what is an immensely challenging time for companies across Northern Ireland, we welcome Crust & Crumbs longstanding partnership with Lidl Northern Ireland. This announcement is testament to the companys sharp focus on innovation, which has been the driver in helping it to increase its product range and further its relationship with Lidl. Two years ago Lidl announced a deal with dairy co-op Dale Farm involving the supply of cheddar cheese to 8,000 Lidl stores in 22 countries. The new Crust & Crumb fresh pizza product range is priced from 0.49 for the Simple range, up to 3.29 for its premium Deluxe sourdough range. According to the latest industry data from information company Kantar, Lidl is Northern Irelands fastest-growing grocer. The company experienced 8.3% sales growth in the year to April 19, giving it a market share of 6.2%. Dave Berry, managing director at Kantar Ireland, added: Shoppers at the discounter spent 4.9% more each trip than they did the year before and visited its stores 1.8% more this period. Across all grocery stores, take-home sales were up 3% over the year as people spent more on food during lockdown. A woman (24), who was quarantined at her rented accommodation on her return from Lucknow on May 10, allegedly committed suicide at Tanakpur in Uttarakhands Champawat district, police said. She was admitted to a hospital in Tanakpur on Sunday after she made a suicide attempt. Later, she was shifted to another hospital in Khatima, where she died on early Tuesday morning. The post-mortem examination report will reveal the exact cause of her death, said Dhirendra Kumar, in-charge, Tanakpur police station. Police said that the deceased got married in April 2019 in Udham Singh Nagar district but the marriage broke within 15 days and she went to Lucknow to look for a job. On May 10, she returned from Lucknow and was put under home quarantine, as a precaution because of the raging coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. However, she was denied home quarantine at her native place by her parents. Later, she took up a rental accommodation, where she made the suicide bid on Sunday. It appears to be a case of a family dispute, which led to mental stress and ultimately she took the drastic step of taking her own life, the police said. Mumbai, May 19 : Maharashtra's Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday targeted the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for its "ineffective handling" of the Covid-19 crisis in the state. Fadnavis led a delegation of BJP leaders to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and submitted a memorandum listing various demands. The party has also warned of a statewide agitation against the MVA government. The delegation - which included legislators Ashish Shelar, and Atul Bhatkhalkar, parliamentarians Gopal Shetty and Manoj Kotak, and ex-legislator Vinod Tawde - met the Governor at Raj Bhavan. "The state government has proved itself completely wanting at handling the Coronavirus crisis which has led to a total complete collapse of the health system," Fadnavis alleged. Claiming that there is a serious question mark whether the administration even exists in the state, he said that the effective steps that were required to be taken to deal with the crisis do not appear to have been taken on time. "This is the reason Maharashtra today has the highest number of Corona patients and deaths in the country. And this number is increasing everyday, especially in places like Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Malegaon," said Fadnavis. Besides, he said many people do not get treatment on time and there is no information available on which hospital has how many beds left, creating a huge crisis. On the farmers issue, he said that their condition is worsening day by day, and there is no mechanism set up for procurement of agricultural commodities which are lying at their homes. "The Central government has announced an aid package. Other states have followed suit. But why has an advanced state like Maharashtra not yet announced its own package? No matter how big a package is given by the Centre, the state government continues pointing a finger at it," Fadnavis said. Taking a swipe at Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar, the BJP leader said that he writes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi many times, so occasionally he should also write to Maharashtra Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray). Fadnavis said migrants have suffered a lot, the common man does not get rations, alleged at "scams" since even those who have ration cards are not getting foodgrains, patients do not get ambulances on time, etc. He also said though the opposition is willing to help the government, the government is not responding. "When others make any suggestions, it is accepted, but when we suggest anything we are blamed for playing politics," Fadnavis rued. From the people brought you The Office comes: Space Force. Steve Carell suits up for service as Mark R. Naird in the new comedy he co-created with Greg Daniels. You got to know him as Michael Scott, but when you see him in Space Force you'll see a whole new side of Carell. "Space is hard," Mark Naird says to a congressional committee in the trailer below. The show follows Mark Naird, a four-star general with dreams of running the Air Force, only to have his dreams dashed when he's put in charge of the newest branch of the military: Space Force. A dedicated serviceman, Mark uproots his family, Lisa Kudrow plays his wife and Diana Silvers plays his daughter, and heads to a remote base in Colorado where he tries to complete his task from the White House and get men back on the moon and in orbit again. Space Force First Look: Steve Carell Returns to Workplace Comedy Space Force also stars John Malkovich, Tawny Newsome, Ben Schwartz, Jimmy O. Yang, Noah Emmerich, Alex Sparrow and Don Lake. Carell and Daniels serve as executive producers with Howard Klein. Get a taste of the show in the new trailer above. In addition to the show, Netflix is launching Inside Joke: Space Force, a new podcast with Yang hosting. He'll welcome the cast and crew from the show to share behind-the-scenes stories in a 10-part podcast. New episodes dropping Mondays and Thursdays each week. According to Carell, Netflix came to him with the idea about creating a show around the Space Force concept. "Space Force came around in a rather atypical way. Netflix had this premise that they thought might make a funny show the idea made everybody laugh in a meeting, an idea of a show about the origins of a fictitious Space Force. I heard about the idea through my agent, and Netflix pitched the show to me, and then I pitched the show to Greg, and we all had the same reaction to it," Carell explained in statements released by Netflix. "There was no show, there was no idea aside from the title. Netflix asked, Do you want to do a show called Space Force?' And I pretty much immediately said, Well yeah, sure. That sounds great.' And then I called Greg, and I said, Hey, you want to do a show called Space Force?' And he said, Yeah, that sounds good. Let's do it.' And it was really based on nothing, except this name that made everybody laugh. So we were off and running." Space Force premieres Friday, May 29 on Netflix. The podcast premieres the same day. DUBLIN (dpa-AFX) - Accenture (ACN) has agreed to acquire PLM Systems, a Turin-based boutique systems integrator which specializes in designing and building information systems for product lifecycle management. Its clients are Italian and international automotive, industrial equipment, fashion and aerospace and defense companies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Accenture said the acquisition will expand the company's capabilities to help clients improve how they generate, manage and benefit from product data in design, engineering and manufacturing. The acquisition will boost Accenture's capabilities and presence in the market for digital engineering services. 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. Three years after fleeing persecution in Burundi for refuge in Tanzania, Jean Magorwa returned home, lured by assurances of peace and reconciliation. His family have not heard from him since, and are convinced he is dead. Rights groups say Magorwa is a victim of the political violence that erupted in 2015 and persists today, covered up by a ruling party determined to retain power after Wednesdays presidential and general elections. Many of those targeted in the brutal crackdown after Burundis last election were opposition supporters like Magorwa. He backed Agathon Rwasa at the time, who is running for president in this election against a general chosen by Burundis ruling class. Fleeing over the border, Magorwa lived in a refugee camp until coaxed back to Burundi by assurances from the governing CNDD-FDD party that it was safe to do so. In September 2018 he arrived with a friend in Rugusu, in Burundis east. He left his wife and two children behind, with plans to bring them over later, said Pacifique Nininahazwe, who heads Ndondeza, an organization that investigates enforced disappearances. But the pair were almost immediately detained by the Imbonerakure, the ruling partys youth league, and handed over to the National Intelligence Service (SNR). Nininahazwe said Magorwa was tortured, and vanished. His family lost track of him from then on today they have lost all hope of finding him alive, he said. Concealed violations President Pierre Nkurunzizas decision to run for a third term in 2015 plunged Burundi into a violent political crisis, with street protests, a failed coup and a bloody retaliatory purge. At least 1,200 people died and 400,0000 fled Burundi between April 2015 and May 2017, estimates the International Criminal Court (ICC), which opened an inquiry into the post-election chaos. But the bloodshed did not stop there, despite promises to the contrary by the government. Instead of playing out on the streets, the crackdown simply retreated to the shadows, says the Burundi Human Rights Initiative, a watchdog group. Serious human rights violations continued in 2019, but were often hidden and quickly covered up, making it difficult to establish the circumstances in which they took place, it said in January in a report entitled A Facade of Peace in a Land of Fear. Summary executions, disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence against suspected opponents continued unabated, fostering a climate of fear even in Burundis remote countryside, the watchdog said. Iteka, Burundis oldest rights organization, says a far greater number died in the repression that followed the 2015 election than the ICC established. It has documented 2,245 people killed and 555 missing since 2015, according to the president of the banned group, Anschaire Nikoyagize. In 2019 alone, Iteka recorded 371 deaths, 45 disappeared, 62 victims of sexual violence, 257 people tortured and 1,046 arbitrarily arrested. Change of strategy The state violence has continued in a systematic way, even if we see that from 2018 they have begun a change in their criminal strategy and methodology to protect the perpetrators of these crimes, Nikoyagize told AFP. The Imbonerakure, which the United Nations has described as a militia, and the feared SNR, were the main instigators of the post 2015 clampdown, with the police and the army playing smaller roles, observers say. The Imbonerakure, working closely with the SNR, has only expanded its campaign of terror in the years since, said Nikoyagize. They mainly resort to enforced disappearances to hide their crimes, he said. Carina Tertsakian, a researcher for the Burundian Human Rights Initiative, told AFP it had become more difficult and riskier to record abuses in Burundi. There is no one left in terms of international observers since the closure of the UNs human rights office in Burundi in 2019, she said. The office was shut at the insistence of the government. The UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi, established in 2016 by the Human Rights Council, said some of these abuses could constitute crimes against humanity. President Nkurunziza, who is not standing for re-election this time, had contributed to this by his recurrent calls for hatred, the commission said. The ruling party has named Evariste Ndayishimiye as its candidate for the 2020 election. The party secretary general since 2016, he is reputed to be more open than Nkurunziza, but has been criticised for failing to prevent the rising abuses of the Imbonerakure. Harvey Weinstein arrives using a walker at the Manhattan Criminal Court, on January 6, 2020 in New York City. The coronavirus outbreak has indefinitely delayed the planned extradition of fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein from a New York state prison to face rape and other sex crime charges in Los Angeles, prosecutors said Tuesday. Weinstein, who was convicted at trial in New York earlier this year of rape and sex assault in attacks involving two women, is charged in Los Angeles with raping one woman and sexually assaulting a second one there over a two-day period in 2013. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison during a Manhattan court hearing on March 11, which occurred shortly before New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo implemented an effective statewide lockdown of many nonessential services due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Just hours after his sentencing, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office said it had began the process of having Weinstein, 68, extradited to California so that he can face the charges there. But the DA's office, in a statement Tuesday to NBC News, said, "The virus has delayed the processing of the extradition paperwork." "There is no time estimate on when he will appear in a Los Angeles courtroom," the prosecutors' office said. Weinstein's spokesman declined to comment. Weinstein, who is locked up in the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York, has said he is innocent of the criminal accusations against him. When he was convicted by a jury in February, Weinstein said to his lawyer, Arthur Aidala, 'I'm innocent, I'm innocent, I'm innocent. How could this happen in America?," Aidala has told reporters. Uttarakhand has suffered a revenue loss of about Rs 7,000-8,000 crore due to the lockdown imposed to battle Covid-19 pandemic, with tourism, transport and industries among the worst-affected sectors, said state officials. Due to a near-complete lockdown in the first two phases, the economic activities in the state had largely come to a halt, a situation which improved in the third-phase with the resumption of some industrial activities and the opening of liquor shops. However, the state officials estimate that the revenue loss in the first two phases has been substantial. Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said on Monday that it will take about a year for the state to recover. The states economy has definitely suffered due to the lockdown. As per our primary assessment, there has been an estimated revenue loss of about Rs 7,000-8,000 crore during the lockdown period, said Amit Negi, secretary finance department. For Coronavirus Live Updates Negi said, The major sectors which have been affected hard due to the pandemic are tourism, transport, industry and mining. Except for agriculture, all the major revenue-generating sectors have been largely affected. The senior bureaucrat, however, said that with certain measures the government can borrow some additional revenue as declared in the economic relief package announced by the centre. Recently the Centre has increased the Gross State Domestic Product borrowing capacity by 2% taking the total to 5%. Though, only about 0.50% of it is unconditional, it would still mean that the government will be able to borrow an additional Rs 1,200 crore to its existing limit of about Rs 8,000 crore. The remaining percentage of additional borrowing require some conditional reforms, if we manage to do at least two or three of those reforms then our additional borrowing can go up to Rs 2,200 crore, which will help cut down this revenue shortfall, he said. The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19 Negi also said that the GST compensation would further reduce the revenue gap helping the state economy gradually recover in the coming months. Economic experts, however, believe that the state government needs a three-tier plan and focus on the micro economy for revival. Indu Kumar Pandey, a retired IAS who is chairing a high-level committee constituted by the state government to suggest measures for economic revival said, A three-tier strategy including a short-term, middle-term and long-term one should be framed. The short-term strategy will comprise plans for a period of six months, followed by plans for six months to two years in middle-term strategy and plans for a period of up to two years and more under the long-term strategy. Pandey said, It is also important to focus on the micro-economy till the last level, including that of villages and blocks. Also, a thorough sector-wise analysis of the present situation is needed to frame a comprehensive strategy for economic revival. The chairman of the committee said, It is equally vital to analyse the major sectors of the state-- tourism, service and agriculture which are the most affected by this pandemic. While doing so, it is also important to shed light on sub-sectors such as ecotourism, leisure tourism and religious tourism under the tourism sector. We have to touch every aspect of the village and the block level for which the district administrations have to be made responsible. An appeal for information's been launched after the death of a man in Dublin. The results of the post mortem are not being released for operational reasons. The man in his 40s, named locally as Alan Hall, was found dead in "unexplained and suspicious" circumstances at a house on Bluebell Avenue, Dublin 12, yesterday morning by fire brigade personnel attending a blaze at the property. The scene remains sealed off for a technical examination, and Gardai are appealing to anyone who was near the house on either Sunday night, or yesterday morning, to contact them. Superintendent Seamus Dalton of Clondalkin Garda Station says officers are keeping an open mind in their investigation. He said: "Gardai at Clondalkin Garda Station are conducting a criminal investigation into all the circumstances surrounding the unexplained death of this male." Gardai are appealing to anybody who was near Bluebell Avenue Dublin 12 on either the evening of Sunday, May 17 into the morning of Monday, May 18, to contact Gardai at Clondalkin Garda Station. Gardai are also appealing to any road users who may have driven in the same area who may have dashcam or video footage to also contact them. Clondalkin Garda Station can be contacted at 01-6667600 and the Garda Confidential Number is 1800 666 111. Any other Garda station can also be contacted. An Australian-led resolution for an independent review of the global coronavirus response has passed the World Health Assembly. The historic motion won endorsement at the World Health Organisation's annual ministerial meeting at 10pm on Tuesday night. None of the WHO's 194 member states raised objections to the resolution brought by the European Union on behalf of more than 100 countries including Australia, China and Japan. 'Is the [World] Health Assembly prepared to adopt the draft resolution as proposed?' asked Keva Bain, the Bahamas ambassador who serves as the assembly's president. 'As I see no requests for the floor, I take it that there is no objection and the resolution is therefore adopted.' Applause erupted from officials hosting the annual gathering. China signed on as a co-sponsor at the last minute, allowing the motion to pass unanimously, but has denied the motion means Australia has been vindicated in its efforts to force a global inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. The World Health Assembly (pictured: 2019) meets once a year where health ministers from 194 member states set WHO policy. An Australian-led resolution for an independent review of the global coronavirus response passed the World Health Assembly on Tuesday Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi jinping in January The passing of the resolution comes a day after the World Health Organization bowed to calls from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to coronavirus. The 'comprehensive evaluation' over coronavirus, sought by Australia and a coalition of African, European and other countries, is intended to review 'lessons learned' from WHO's coordination of the global response to the virus outbreak. Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a statement that the adoption of the resolution was welcomed by Australia. 'There is also a clear mandate to identify the source of the COVID-19 virus and how it was transmitted to humans, which will be necessary to prevent and reduce the risks of the emergence of new diseases that pass from animals to humans,' they said. 'Australia has been clear and transparent in calling for an independent review into COVID-19, which is an unprecedented global health and economic crisis.' In April Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison demanded an independent probe into the deadly virus and the World Health Organisation's handling of the crisis. Chinese state media and leaders responded by threatening to punish Australia with boycotts and tariffs that could wipe $135billion from the Australian economy. Then on Monday, just hours after President Xi Jinping told the World Health Assembly China would support a WHO-led probe, China imposed an 80.5 per cent levy on barley exports. Beijing claims Australia subsidised its farmers and dumped barley in China. The tax will remain in place for five years from Tuesday, China's Ministry of Commerce said. The Chinese Embassy in Canberra has dismissed claims that Australia is responsible for getting China to agree to a coronavirus inquiry A coalition of more than 100 nations have supported Australia's call for an independent probe into the origins of coronavirus AUSTRALIA FARMERS GUTTED BY CHINA'S MASSIVE BARLEY TARIFF Gutted Australian barley growers have warned of a bitter blow to the nation's economy after China slapped a whopping 80 per cent tariff on imports. China has imposed harsh taxes on Australian barley with separate tariffs of 73.6 per cent for dumping allegations and 6.9 per cent over supposed government subsidies. Both claims have been emphatically denied by the government and farmers. Grain Producers Australia chairman Andrew Weidemann said the tariffs would have a huge impact on the industry. 'Most growers are completely gutted with the news,' he told Sky News on Tuesday. 'It's really a bitter blow to the Australian economy as well.' He said farmers would lose $500 million in value out of the current crop, which most growers have just finished planting. National Farmers' Federation chief executive Tony Mahar said China's claims were completely false. 'It is particularly devastating after the time that Australian farmers have had in the last number of years with droughts, floods and fires,' he told ABC News Breakfast. Australia is the biggest barley supplier to China, contributing more than half of its exports worth up to $2 billion a year. Producers will be on the hunt for new export markets with India and Indonesia - which has recently signed a trade deal with Australia - considered prime options. China claims the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and drought assistance amount to government subsidies. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham is keeping the option of an appeal to the World Trade Organisation open. 'It's completely ridiculous to be listing things like the Murray-Darling Basin infrastructure upgrades as some sort of subsidy to barley exporters,' he told reporters in Adelaide. 'The bulk of that barley comes out of Western Australia and South Australia and is firmly dry land for farming.' He said Australia had no interest in a trade war. 'We don't conduct our trade policy on a tit-for-tat basis,' Senator Birmingham said. 'China we think, in this case, has made errors of both fact and rule in the application of those rules.' The global trade umpire could take up to three years to deliver a decision if Australia decides to pursue an appeal. The tariffs come a week after China banned meat imports from four Australian abattoirs. - Australian Associated Press Advertisement China had earlier lashed out at claims Australia's push for an international probe into the coronavirus had been vindicated, labelling it a 'joke'. China agreed to support an investigation after more than 110 countries co-sponsored the motion at the WHA on Monday night. Australia's push for the inquiry into the origin of the virus sparked fury from Beijing, with diplomatic ties between the two nations under intense pressure. Senior government figures claim the inquiry vindicates the government's stance, prompting a scathing response from China's embassy in Australia. 'The draft resolution on COVID-19 to be adopted by the World Health Assembly is totally different from Australia's proposal of an independent international review,' a spokesman told AAP on Tuesday. 'To claim the WHA's resolution a vindication of Australia's call is nothing but a joke.' China announced a 80.5% levy on barley exports starting May 19. Pictured is a barley farmer in central west NSW Nationals senator Matt Canavan, a former resources minister, said those comments were clearly provocative but hardly surprising. AMBASSADOR'S ECONOMIC THREAT TO AUSTRALIA In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Ambassador Cheng slammed Australia's push for a global inquiry as 'political' and warned Chinese consumers could boycott the country. Answering a question about whether China could boycott Australian iron ore or gas, Mr Cheng instead focused on China's contribution to Australia's agriculture, tourism and education sectors. Mr Cheng said: 'I think if the mood is going from bad to worse, people would think why we should go to such a country while it's not so friendly to China. 'The tourists may have second thoughts. Maybe the parents of the students would also think whether this place, which they find is not so friendly, even hostile, is the best place to send their kids to. 'So it's up to the public, the people to decide. And also, maybe the ordinary people will think why they should drink Australian wine or eat Australian beef.' Advertisement 'The conduct of the Chinese government over this period, but also the last few years, has been hard to predict and increased risk for Australian business,' he told ABC television. Senior cabinet minister David Littleproud denied the investigation was about confronting China. 'This wasn't about persecution, this was about understanding a pandemic that 300,000 souls lost their lives to,' he said in Toowoomba. 'We should be damn proud Australia is now leading the world.' Mr Hunt argued Australia's case for the inquiry at the assembly. He said the probe should look at health risks from wildlife wet markets, where the virus is likely to have originated in China. 'We need to learn the lessons from this pandemic and ensure we have the strongest possible global health architecture, with an enhanced ability to prevent and respond to future outbreaks,' he said. The WHO promised the review would happen at the earliest appropriate time. US President Donald Trump supported the probe by tweeting a link to an AAP/SBS story on the motion. Chinese President Xi Jinping also backed the WHO-led review, saying his country had acted with openness, transparency and responsibility all along. Pictured: WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He has faced pressure to reign over the WHO's handing of the pandemic He promised China would stump up $3.1 billion over the next two years to help deal with the disease. Australia's relations with China have come under further strain after Beijing slapped an 80 per cent tariff on barley imports and banned beef imports from four abattoirs. COVID-19 has killed 100 people across Australia, with fewer than 600 cases still active out of more than 7000 total. Four nursing homes in Melbourne have gone into lockdown after a resident from each were tested for the virus. Three have returned positive results while results for a fourth are pending. Tasmania expects to set a date for reopening its border in July once the third step of easing restrictions is taken. People protest Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home or-der Saturday at the Thompson Center in Chicago.People protest the governor's stay-at-home order at a rally outside Chicago's Thompson Center, May 16, 2020. Rajouri: Pakistan on Tuesday broke a ceasefire near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Sundarbani sector of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir. At around 7:30 in the morning, Pakistan began violating the ceasefire by shelling it with small arms and mortar. The Indian Army also retaliated. For the past few days Pakistan has been repeatedly violating ceasefire in this area. Labors on road with family, every effort of government fails Pakistan on Monday fired at small arms with mortar and violated the ceasefire in Gulpur sector of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir. On Sunday, Pakistan broke the ceasefire in Deogwar sector of Poonch district. Earlier, on 7 May, Pakistani troops opened fire on posts and villages near the Line of Control (LoC) in three sectors of Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. Congress sends 500 buses filled with labours, Yogi government did not let them enter the state On giving information, a defense spokesman said that after the incident, retaliation was also done by the Indian Army. No casualties have been reported during the Pakistani shelling. Ceasefire violations by Pakistan on LOC have increased. Pakistan has been targeting defense posts and civilian areas in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region on the LoC. 500 workers trapped in UP border, no entry in their own state As large parts of the U.S. ease their lockdowns against the coronavirus, public health officials in some states are being accused of bungling infection statistics or even deliberately using a little sleight of hand to make things look better than they are. The result is that politicians, business owners and ordinary Americans who are making decisions about reopenings and other day-to-day matters risk being left with the impression that the virus is under more control than it actually is. In Virginia, Texas and Vermont, for example, officials said they have been combining the results of viral tests, which show an active infection, with antibody tests, which show a past infection. Public health experts say that can make for impressive-looking testing totals but does not give a true picture of how the virus is spreading. In Florida, the data scientist who developed the states coronavirus dashboard, Rebekah Jones, said this week that she was fired for refusing to manipulate data to drum up support for the plan to reopen. Calls to health officials for comment were not immediately returned Tuesday. In other developments: Canada and the U.S. have agreed to keep their border closed for another 30 days, until June 21, as Canadian leaders sought to reassure residents who fear a reopening. The U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any country in the world, though its per capita numbers are well below many other nations. More than 11 million people have been tested in the U.S. for COVID-19, all with the assurance that their private medical information would remain protected and undisclosed. Yet public officials in at least two-thirds of states are sharing the addresses of people who tested positive with first responders from police officers to firefighters to EMTs. Facing the gravest U.S. economic crisis in decades, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offered Congress contrasting views Tuesday of what the government's most urgent priority should be. Mnuchin warned that prolonged business shutdowns would pose long-term threats to the economy. Powell, by contrast, stressed that the nation is gripped by an economic shock without modern precedent and that Congress must consider providing further financial aid soon. Coronavirus cases have been spiking in several populous nations, a clear indication that the pandemic is far from over. New cases are sprouting up from India to South Africa to Mexico, while Russia and Brazil now sit behind only the United States in the number of reported infections. Russia saw a steady rise of new infections Tuesday and new hot spots have emerged. Health experts say the increasing attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump on the World Health Organization for its handling of the coronavirus could weaken global health. In a letter to the WHO on Monday, Trump threatened to permanently cut U.S. funding to the agency unless it commits to substantive improvements in the next 30 days. Critics say it shows a profound misunderstanding of the agency's role. U.S. officials say the USS Theodore Roosevelt will make a shorthanded return to sea later this week, nearly two months after the ship was sidelined in Guam with a rapidly growing COVID-19 outbreak. Navy Capt. Carlos Sardiello tells The Associated Press the mission will include a scaled-back crew of about 3,000, leaving about 1,800 sailors on shore who are still in quarantine. There is no universal playbook for coronavirus testing in professional sports. Protocols and procedures, guidelines and handbooks they could be as different as rulebooks. Theres plenty of common ground, though, which explains why executives and doctors from various leagues have consulted with each other while moving closer to at least a partial return to competition amid a pandemic. For more summaries and full reports, please select from the articles below. Scroll further for helpful tips, charts tracking testing and more. This coverage is being provided free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus pandemic. Please support local journalism by subscribing. Most school districts in Central New York and across the state are ending school a week or more early this year. Instead of ending the school year on about June 25 or 26, most districts are announcing they will end the year the week before, according to school superintendents. For example, Liverpool, West Genesee and Jordan-Elbridge schools will end the school year June 16 . Marcellus will end June 15. Jamesville-DeWitt will end June 18. Others like the Syracuse city district and Fayetteville-Manlius are still deciding what to do. Why end early? Its about money. Teachers were required to teach through spring break this year which meant they worked five days more than most of their contracts called for, said Robert Lowry, New York Council of School Superintendents deputy director for advocacy and communications. "To work beyond the agreed upon number of teaching days would incur additional costs for districts, and those costs would likely be significant,'' Lowry said. The expectation is that teachers would be paid if they worked more than 180 days of instruction typically required in union contracts, Lowry said. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered schools to continue online learning through the spring break for continuity of education and to make sure schools provided meals for students from low-income families. Officials also worried students and families on break might tend to not follow social distancing practices. The governors office didnt address how to handle the extra instructional days, but Lowry said theres nothing that prevents districts from ending the school year early. The state has already waived a requirement that districts have 180 school days. Marcellus Superintendent Michelle Brantner said the teachers contract in her district calls for 185 days of work. Teachers will have fulfilled that by June 18. Teachers have stepped up to the challenge of online learning, and no one has broached being paid extra for working longer, Brantner said. But legally, they are entitled and it would be expensive, she said. Jordan-Elbridge Superintendent James Froio said his teachers contract calls for 184 days of work. Anything over that would require the district to pay each teacher 1/200th of his or her salary for each day worked. (For example, if a district pays a teacher $75,000 a year, 1/200th would mean paying that person $375 a day for each extra day.) "Theres no way we could ever do that,'' he said. We havent budgeted for that money. At the same time, Froio said the teachers union in his district has indicated teachers wouldnt ask for the extra pay. "There is just no reason to go any longer,' he said. Everybody is ready for the school year to end. Mike Henesey, a spokesman for the Syracuse city school district, the largest in Central New York, said the district has not finalized when to end the school year. Central Square Schools Superintendent Thomas Colabufo said hes awaiting word from the state before making any announcement on ending early. New York State United Teachers, a federation of more than 1,200 local unions, did not respond to questions from syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources New York to allow small ceremonies, vehicle parades for Memorial Day, Cuomo says Syracuse gym owner desperate to reopen: I dont know how to make myself heard NY didnt count nursing home coronavirus victims for weeks; then, a stumbling rush for a death toll 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 Visitors look at a stand selling used books during a four-day book fair at a public park in downtown Hanoi, Sept. 11, 2015. A Vietnamese man arrested and beaten by police for delivering books from a publishing house targeted by authorities for putting out proscribed political books is recovering and his daughter has been released, a writer from the group told RFA on Monday. Phung Thuy, also known as Thuy Tuat, was arrested in Ho Chi Minh City on May 8 while he was delivering books for Liberal Publishing House. His case was the focus of an appeal by Amnesty International May 14 to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. While in custody, Thuy Tuat was interrogated and brutally tortured, including punching in the face, chest, ribs and stomach by police from 9am to 3am the following day. Upon release, despite having serious injuries, Thuy Tuat went directly into hiding fearing that police might re-arrest him, Amnesty said in a letter to the prime minster. Journalist Pham Doan Trang, author of many books published by the Liberal Publishing House, told RFA that Thuy Tuat was beaten on May 11, and three days later, his heath became worse -- and then got better and better. Today, he stopped vomiting blood, added Pham. Police have also released his daughter but they have still kept her motorbike, cellphone and stuff and surely, his daughter will be watched closely, she said. Amnesty said Thuy Tuat's was not an isolated case. Since early October 2019, police have harassed, and intimidated dozens of people connected to the Liberal Publishing House-in what appears to be a targeted campaign, the watchdog group said. The campaign has caught people in the major cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Hue, and the provinces of Binh Duong, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Phu Yen, it said. People believed to have either bought or read books printed by the publisher, or to have worked for the publishing house have been summoned to local police stations and interrogated about books they bought from the publishing house, Amnesty said. After questioning, most were pressured to sign statements promising that they would not buy books from the Liberal Publishing House again, the appeal said. Amnesty cited cases in Ho Chi Minh City in October and Phu Yen province in November in which men had to go into hiding after police questioned them over their ties to the publishing house. In the Ho Chi Minh City case, police detained him for more than 12 hours, during which time he was repeatedly beaten until his nose bled. Fearful of re-arrest, the man went into hiding as soon as he was released. The Liberal Publishing House books will have to find new ways to get books to readers, said Pham. They cant give up because readers demand is still increasing, she told RFA. Pham was one of three female journalists awarded the 2019 Press Freedom Prize by Paris-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF). She was given RSFs Prize for Impact in absentia for her work which has led to concrete improvements in journalistic freedom, independence and pluralism, or to an increase in awareness of these matters. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Paul Eckert. Under the slogan Together and in solidarity through this time, the Goethe Institute has launched the Kulturama digital platform through which you can attend events, find dates and support artists. Although the cultural sector is among the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, this crisis has unquestionably proven the importance of cultural activities in our lives. In order to reach members of the public interested in cultural events, and to provide support to artists around the world, the Goethe Institute has launched the Kulturama digital platform to provide live or recorded performances and upload them to the site for free, thus opening a door for artists to be known internationally. In a safe and interactive manner, the platform also allows the public to make a financial contribution to the artists should they wish to do so. On the occasion of the opening of the platform, secretary-general of the Goethe Institute Johannes Ebert said, The cultural sector around the world faces existential challenges after the complete cessation of all cultural activities which has affected artists income. In a time of social separation, digitisation is the only way to reach the public, and we would like to present on the platform our solidarity with workers in cultural activities across borders, and we welcome all kinds of experimental and classical shows. You can reach the site through the following link: https://kulturama.goethe.de/ The Goethe Institute is the cultural centre of Germany with branches around the world. The institute supports the learning of the German language outside Germany, fostering international cultural cooperation, and presenting a comprehensive picture of Germany by providing information on the countrys cultural, social and political life. Search Keywords: Short link: Congratulations, designeurlife.com got a very good Social Media Impact Score! Show it by adding this HTML code on your site: Designeurlife.com scored 70 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 3.5/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 27 Sep 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. designeurlife.com is very popular in Facebook. Furthermore its facebook page has 1037 likes. Add a widget like this on your site: click here The total number of people who shared the designeurlife homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the designeurlife homepage on StumbleUpon. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the designeurlife homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if designeurlife has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the designeurlife homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the designeurlife homepage on Twitter + the total number of designeurlife followers (if designeurlife has a Twitter account). Basic Information PAGE TITLE Home | Design Eur Life | it' s eur Life... design it well DESCRIPTION Welcome to Design Eur Life, a unique site blending design, travel, and everyday living into the ultimate European experience. Check out our online boutique. KEYWORDS OTHER KEYWORDS design, eur life, design eur life, design eur, flea market, market, shopping The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. Domain and Server DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Strict CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English (United States) UTF-8English (United States) DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux Type of server and offered services. Character set and language of the site. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) The language of designeurlife.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Operative System running on the server. Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for designeurlife.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK FOUND FACEBOOK PAGE www.facebook.com/DesignEurLife DESCRIPTION Welcome to Design Eur Life LIKES 1037 PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT 70 PAGE TYPE Home/garden website TIMELINE PAGE TIMELINE The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The URL of the found Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The type of Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- After lengthy debate, City Council scrapped plans for any additional background checks on applicants seeking the at-large seat vacated by Melissa Yasinow in March. The reversal came prior to council convening Monday (May 18) into an online executive session to review the 20 applications and come up with a short list of finalists, who will be checked to verify that they are registered voters in Cleveland Heights who are current on their taxes -- property and income. There has been some fluctuation on whether local income tax payments have been checked in the past on potential appointees. But in this instance, they will. What wont be checked are criminal and civil court records, bankruptcy or foreclosure proceedings, sex offender registries and social media postings. Several members of council initially expressed concern about potential embarrassment if one of their appointees wound up running for the seat and some "skeletons in the closet" were discovered at that point, as Councilwoman Melody Joy Hart put it. But Hart withdrew her request after Councilwoman Davida Russell voiced concerns about "systemic racism" entering the process and "cutting out a segment of the community with rules laws and regulations that may hinder a person's ability to be appointed to office." Saying that council was "taking it a little too far," Russell pointed out that the seat pays about $9,000 a year, likening the position to serving as "volunteers with a stipend." She argued that no surrounding communities have additional requirements for council vacancies. When Hart asked if there was anything that could be done to take racism out of the process, Vice Mayor Kahlil Seren -- who along with Hart, Mary Dunbar and Mike Ungar favored some form of additional background checks -- decided that would be very difficult, if not impossible. As an example, Russell pointed to people convicted of felonies at age 18 who have gone on to lead productive lives in their communities. Seren mentioned the possibility of marijuana-related convictions, as well as "people who had had financial troubles who could bring something meaningful to council." While he noted that he could do most of the public records checks himself, Seren added that "I don't need city staff to sift through somebody's Twitter feed." Ungar had brought up the possibility of hiring the company that his law firm uses to conduct background checks, including education verification on resumes, at a cost of around $75 per person, which Dunbar thought was reasonable for the amount of work. City Law Director Bill Hanna noted that using an outside agency would require written authorization from the council applicant, as well as the opportunity to respond. When she brought up the possibility of further background checks at the May 4 council meeting, Hart mentioned the unspecified concerns of at least one resident. Ungar said Monday that he had also heard concerns from the public, although he was still not sure what they were. "I truly believe our community is so active that, if there is something out there about a candidate, then somebody's going to know about it," Russell said. "And if there's something to it, then don't vote for them." Seeing that the consensus of council to add to the background requirements had disappeared -- other than also contacting the Regional Income Tax Agency -- Mayor Jason Stein ended the public discussion prior to the executive session to review the individual applicants. The list of finalists was expected to be released later in the week, followed by interviews and further discussion at a future meeting. And theres nothing in the City Charter that says a choice has to be made, Stein added. Coronavirus update City Manager Tanisha Briley said it appears that the number of coronavirus-related calls to the Cleveland Heights Fire Department for EMTs and paramedics appears to be increasing, as cases mount and Cuyahoga County remains a hot spot. She added that state and county health officials are also keeping a close eye on the Forest Hills Nursing Home in Cleveland Heights, where 10 patients and nine staff members had tested positive for the novel virus as of May 14. We are taking all precautions at this facility, and the County Board of Health is working with them as well, Briley noted in the council packet. Read more from the Sun Press. Subscriber content preview Photo provided by UDR [enlarge] The Borgata apartments last traded in 2007 for $31 million. The building includes 5,400 square feet of retail and commercial space. The Borgata apartments, at 37 103rd Ave. N.E. in Old Bellevue, have sold for almost $49.6 million, according to King County records. The seller was DCO Borgata LLC, an entity of UDR of Denver (formerly United Dominion Realty Trust), which acquired the property in 2007 for almost $31 million. . . . MIAMISBURG, Ohio, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Verso Corporation (NYSE: VRS), a leading producer of label face stock and release liner papers, today announced that its Quinnesec, Michigan, paper mill has broadened its manufacturing expertise to produce OptiLabel face stock papers. "Verso remains committed to product innovation and development for unique specialty label applications, which creates value for our customers," said Verso Vice President of Product Innovation Mike Farrington. "Our OptiLabel face stock is an established brand in the pressure-sensitive label market, and now that it is made on world-class assets at two of our integrated pulp and paper mills in Escanaba and Quinnesec, Michigan, we are even better positioned to service our customers." Verso's specialty product line includes highly engineered release liner base paper and strong, smooth label face stock for pressure-sensitive, glue-applied and litho-lamination applications. The OptiLabel family includes products from 48 lb. to 58 lb. (3300ft2) basis weights, which are all optimized for laminating, label printing, die cutting, and high-speed label applications. The premium brightness, blue-white shade, semi-gloss finish and high opacity make this family of products ideal for high-end pressure-sensitive label applications. Farrington added, "Verso and high-performance papers go hand-in-hand. Year after year, our pressure-sensitive face stock, C1S glue-applied face stock and release liner base sheets are used and trusted by organizations, large and small, to make their most recognized and respected brands stand out on retail shelves." For more information on OptiLabel or other products in Verso's broad specialty papers offering, email [email protected] or visit versoco.com/specialtypapers. About Verso Corporation Verso Corporation is the turn-to company for those looking to successfully navigate the complexities of paper sourcing and performance. A leading North American producer of graphic and specialty papers, packaging and pulp, Verso provides insightful solutions that help drive improved customer efficiency, productivity, brand awareness and business results. Verso's long-standing reputation for quality and reliability is directly tied to our vision to be a company with passion that is respected and trusted by all. Verso's passion is rooted in ethical business practices that demand safe workplaces for our employees and sustainable wood sourcing for our products. This passion, combined with our flexible manufacturing capabilities and an unmatched commitment to product performance, delivery and service, make Verso a preferred choice among commercial printers, paper merchants and brokers, converters, publishers and other end users. For more information, visit us online at versoco.com. SOURCE Verso Corporation Related Links http://versoco.com Silver Price Begins To Accelerate Higher Faster Than Gold Precious metals have been on our radar for many months and, if youve been paying attention, you probably already know our research suggests Gold and Silver are one of the best investments you can make right now. Recently, we shared this article suggesting Gold would need to rally above our proprietary Fibonacci Price Amplitude Arc (GREEN Arc) level near $1745 before it would attempt a bigger upside price move. Additionally, just a few days ago we published this article suggesting Silver would begin to rally even faster than gold. Today, both Gold and Silver are making bigger upside price moves with Silver up over 3% while Gold is up 1.3%. We believe this nearly 250% faster Silver advance may be the start of what we have been predicting for many months an incredible parabolic upside price advance in BOTH Gold and Silver. Earlier research by our team suggested that a set up would happen in Precious Metals where Silver began advancing much faster than Gold and that this move would likely prompt a downside move in the Gold to Silver Ratio targeting the 50 to 65 level. Our earlier research suggests when this move/setup begins, we could begin to experience a nearly 250% to 350% rally in gold, targeting $3750 or higher, and a 550% to 650% rally in Silver, targeting over $70, over a 12+ month span of time. This article, today, is alerting our readers that we believe this SETUP is happening right now and the upside rally in precious metals should begin to really accelerate over the next 5+ months. Before you continue, be sure to opt-in to our free-market trend signals before leaving this page, so you dont miss our next special report & signal! Weekly Gold to Silver Ratio Chart This Gold to Silver ratio chart (including GOLD and SILVER price levels) clearly illustrates what happens when the Gold to Silver ratio starts to collapse. In 2009, the BLUE Gold to Silver ratio level began to collapse from 85 to 32 well over 50 points (58%). The current Gold to Silver ratio high is nearly 120. Another 58% collapse from that level would suggest the Gold to Silver ratio could fall to 50 (or further) which would indicate that both Gold and Silver could rally extensively throughout the next 12+ months. Daily Gold Futures Chart This Daily Gold chart highlights our proprietary Fibonacci Price Amplitude Arc system as well as our Fibonacci price modeling system. Our researchers believe once Gold rallies above the GREEN Arc, it should begin to skyrocket higher in a series of upside price advances over the next few months or longer. This 1.618 Fibonacci Price Amplitude Arc is acting as a strong resistance level currently. Once Gold breaks above this level, a big rally may take place in Gold which will drive further a bigger rally in Silver. Weekly Gold Futures Chart This Weekly Gold chart shows you what we expect to see happen over the next 30 to 60 days. First, once Gold breaks the GREEN Arc level, a rally will take place driving Gold up to near $1999. Then, Gold prices should stall and rotated downward a bit targeting the $1900 to $1920 level. After that, Gold will begin another upside price rally targeting $2100 or higher. Ultimately, our upside price target for Gold is $3750 (many months into the future). Yet we continue to believe this move in precious metals could be one of the biggest and fastest upside price moves in over 100 years. We believe once this move really gets started, it will be almost impossible to accurately predict where the top will setup in Gold and Silver. Weekly Silver Futures Chart This Weekly Silver chart highlights the Pennant/FLAG formation that recently APEXed. We suggested this setup would prompt a fairly strong upside price move in Silver targeting the $21 to $22 establishing a new price high. Just after the Apex completed, Silver stalled a bit before beginning a bigger upside move. We believe this is the start of a Parabolic upside price move in metals that should not be overlooked by skilled technical traders. Concluding Thoughts: If there is one thing you should understand about this setup and the potential for the future is that between 2008 and 2011, Gold rallied over 300% while Silver rallied over 600% just after the Credit Crisis event. The current COVID-19 global economic crisis is likely much bigger than the 2008-09 Credit Crisis event and that is why we believe this is an incredible opportunity for skilled technical investors. Weve been writing research articles about this setup for over 2 years now. We began calling this move back in 2017 and 2018. It may seem like we keep writing about metals because we have nothing else to write about but thats not the case. We keep pushing this research out to you because this is very likely the biggest opportunity of your lifetime. The entire recovery process, starting now and going forward for as long as it takes, will present numerous incredible opportunities for skilled technical traders. Precious metals are only one segment of this move. What happens later this year, next year and the years following are when we will really see huge opportunities for skilled technical traders to generate profits. Please, take a moment and do some research. We dont know where you are going to find many opportunities that beat this setup in Precious Metals right now. This is the trade/setup of your lifetime. If you want to improve your accuracy and opportunities for success, then we urge you to visit www.TheTechnicalTraders.com to learn how you can enjoy our research and our members-only trading triggers (see the first chart in this article). If you are managing your retirement account or 401k, then we urge you to visit www.TheTechnicalInvestor.com to learn how to protect your assets and grow your wealth using our proprietary longer-term modeling systems. Our goal is to help you find and create success not to confuse you. Our researchers will generate free research on just about any topic that interests them. As technical traders, we follow price, predict future price moves, tops, bottoms, and trends, and attempt to highlight incredible setups that exist on the charts. What you do with it is up to you. Visit www.TheTechnicalTraders.com/FreeResearch/ to review all of our detailed free research posts. In closing, we would like to suggest that the next 5+ years are going to be incredible opportunities for skilled traders. Remember, weve already mapped out price trends 10+ years into the future that we expect based on our advanced predictive modeling tools. If our analysis is correct, skilled traders will be able to make a small fortune trading these trends and Metals will skyrocket. The only way youll know which trades to take or not is to become a member. Chris Vermeulen www.TheTechnicalTraders.com Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better. His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility. He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect. Chris Vermeulen Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. A Kiwi was murdered at a house party in New Zealand after his life spiralled out-of-control when he was deported from Australia. Faletoi Matue, 41, died after he was stabbed by Christopher Kane Te Kawa Simeon at a Torbay property, in Auckland, on May 3, 2019. Simeon pleaded guilty to murder in the High Court on Tuesday and will be sentenced next month. Matue's family previously spoke to The New Zealand Herald about the 41-year-old's shock passing. Faletoi Matue (pictured), 41, died after he was stabbed by Christopher Kane Te Kawa Simeon at a Torbay property, in Auckland, on May 3, 2019 Two of his sisters, Sila and Peati Matue, said Matue was admitted to a mental health centre before being jailed in Australia for wilful damage. He had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and paranoia. After serving time in jail, Matue was taken to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, Sydney, before he was transferred to Christmas Island. He spent about eight months at the off-shore detention centre before he was deported to New Zealand in 2016. 'He said it was like doing time again and then he got deported,' Sila told the publication from Australia. Sila said her brother had been in Australia since he was ten years old and he lacked a support system in New Zealand. Pictured: The crime scene. Simeon pleaded guilty to murder in the High Court on Tuesday and will be sentenced next month 'He was the first one to be deported and he was basically alone over there [in New Zealand]. 'When he went to New Zealand he tried his best to start a new life again, but it was hard for him because he had no support ... It's just hard because none of us were there.' Matue's younger brother was also deported to New Zealand about one-year later. Sila, who lives in Brisbane, understands the two men only had each other and hung around other deportees. She said Matue had a big heart and showed love, despite his struggles with mental illness. Peati said Australia was Matue's home and when her first arrived in New Zealand it was a 'strange land'. She described her brother as one in a million. A day after two more civil hospital employees tested positive for Covid-19, doctors and paramedical staff staged a protest against the substandard face masks being provided to them. The doctors had earlier raised the issue of poor quality PPE (personal protective equipment) kits. The health staff alleged that the N95 mask was of substandard quality, which provided them with no protection. The protesting employees refused to join duty until they were provided good quality masks and PPE kits. So far, one former doctor and four ward attendants have contracted Covid-19. As many as 22 people tested positive for the disease on Monday. They include two accused of sodomy and rape, respectively; six under trials lodged in Borstal jail; two civil hospital employees; two Railway Protection Force (RPF) employees; one contact of a patient found positive at a flu corner and five other cases from different parts of the district. A health personnel holds up the masks being provided to frontline workers. (HT PHOTO ) NURSES DEMAND PAY RAISE Meanwhile, 15 contractual nurses working at the isolation centre and flu corner of the civil hospital staged a protest and demanded a salary hike. They accused the authorities of not testing them for Covid-19. The protesting nurses said that they had come in contact with infected ward attendants and patients who could be asymptomatic Covid-19 carriers. CIVIL SURGEON HOLDS MEET TO DISCUSS ISSUE, FORMS PANEL Civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Kumar Bagga said after the doctors and para-medical staff of the civil hospital held a protest over the quality of masks, a meeting was held to discuss the issue. Dr Bagga said the protective gear was being supplied at the state-level and the PPE kits were approved by South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) and N95 masks by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He said the doctors and paramedical staff the masks should not have side respirator valves and strings of the N95 masks should be adjustable. He added that a panel will check the quality of such products thoroughly in future. YAD DEMANDS PROBE Backing the protesting doctors, the Youth Akali Dal (YAD) district president Gurdeep Singh Gosha, demanded a probe in the matter. He said the government should take action against the supplier of PPE kits and masks and initiate high-level probe to find out the role of companies and officials. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he is worried about the influence China is having in terms of regulating the internet and fears other countries might follow a similar example. In fact, he has urged western countries to counter Chinas model with a democratic approach. He says the Chinese approach is really dangerous. China's censorship of content on the internet and the fact that many global tech platforms are banned in the country, including Facebook, is often referred to as 'The Great Firewall'. What I worry about is, right now I think there are emerging two very different frameworks underpinned by very different sets of values, Zuckerberg said in a livestreamed discussion with EU official Thierry Breton. This is not the first time Zuckerberg has warned about the Chinese influence and the Chinese way of regulating the internet. He said it is the responsibility of the western countries to have a clear data privacy framework in place. Zuckerberg in fact praised the European Unions General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which implemented changes for how tech companies and social media platforms including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter collect and handle user data in the EU region. He also said that the 2018 overhaul of the privacy policy in the EU also meant Facebook had to reform its approach to data privacy around the world. In October last year, Zuckerberg had not held back in criticizing TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance. While speaking at the Georgetown University on free speech, he had criticized TikTok for what he called mentions of these protests are censored, even in the U.S. referring to the censorship around the anti-China or pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Just to be blunt about it, I think there is a model coming out of countries like China that tend to have very different values than Western countries that are more democratic, Zuckerberg said. Facebook only recently got a 20-member oversight board which has the power to correct or overrule the social media platforms content moderation policies, including instances of hate speech and misinformation, if it feels the need to do so. The board will start hearing cases later this summer. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appeared remotely before the Senate Banking Committee Tuesday to defend the nation's economic response to the coronavirus crisis. While Mnuchin generally struck a positive tone, predicting an economic upturn in the second half of 2020 and praising the Trump administration for the response so far, Powell suggested Congress might need to pass even more than the trillions in relief aid it has already. "This is the biggest response by Congress ever, and the fastest, and the biggest from us, and still this is the biggest shock we have ever seen in living memory. The question looms in the air of, is it enough?" Powell said. Mnuchin did warn of the possibility of severe and extended economic downturn, saying "there is the risk of permanent damage. But he also reiterated "We expect economic conditions to improve in the third and fourth quarter and into next year." Powell disagreed with that prediction in an interview with CBS News program "60 Minutes" on Sunday, saying "it may take a period of time, it could stretch through the end of next year, we really don't know. MORE: Treasury has disbursed only a fraction of $500 billion coronavirus relief fund, commission reports Powell noted that the economic recovery is inherently dependent on controlling the virus so that Americans feel safe returning to work and to normal economic activity. It will be a combination of getting the virus under control, development of therapeutics, development of a vaccine," he said. PHOTO: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pauses during a news conference to discuss an announcement from the Federal Open Market Committee, in Washington, March 3, 2020. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP, FILE) Many senators emphasized reopening the country, with Ranking Member Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, implying that Mnuchin and Trump administration officials are pushing economic well-being at the expense of workers' lives. Brown, like the rest of the senators, participated remotely. "How many workers should give their lives to increase the GDP or the Dow by 1,000 points?" Brown asked. Story continues "No workers should give their lives to do that, senator, and I think your characterization is unfair," Mnuchin said. MORE: As businesses look to reopen, Democrats and advocates want more rules to protect workers "We don't intend to send anybody back to work without the protections, and I would say I was prepared to come there today. I thought it was safe to testify. Matter of fact, I already was at the Senate this morning wearing a mask, and I assure you, both myself and everybody on the Task Force, the vice president and others, are following the best medical advice, and I couldn't be more proud of the medical advice that we're getting and the way the economy is opening up in a safe way," Mnuchin continued. PHOTO: Ranking Member, Senator Sherrod Brown speaks through a telecom during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee nominations hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 5, 2020. (Salwan Georges/AFP via Getty Images, FILE) Under the CARES Act, Mnuchin maintains control of a $500 billion fund meant for larger businesses, airlines and state and local government. A report by the Congressional Oversight Commission tasked with overseeing the funds this week revealed that only $37.5 billion has been disbursed so far. Mnuchin did not specify when the rest of the funding would be allocated. "Let me be clear, I am prepared to allocate the rest of that. The only reason I have not allocated it fully is we are just starting to get these facilities up and running. We want to have a better idea as to which one of the facilities needs more capital as well as the potential for adding additional facilities. So, I expect to allocate all of the capital, as needed, as was given to us," Mnuchin said. Powell said that one of the most anticipated programs that will come from the $500 billion, the Main Street Lending Program, which is meant to help medium-sized businesses too large to qualify for PPP, should be ready by the end of May. Powell noted the terms for qualification have been revised multiple times in order to include more businesses. After questions on whether the Department of the Treasury was willing to assume risk in the effort to prop up hard-hit businesses, Mnuchin said he was "fully prepared" to take losses "in certain scenarios." There are scenarios within the business lending programs where we could lose all of our capital, and were prepared to do that. And there are scenarios where the world gets better, and we could actually make a small amount of money, Mnuchin said. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., delivered one of her signature fiery performances, pressing Mnuchin to require any companies that receive bailout money through the CARES Act provisions keep workers on payroll. "We negotiated very significant restrictions on employee compensation, on dividends, on buybacks. And in the main street facility we have put in a provision that we expect people to use their best efforts to support jobs," Mnuchin said. "In all of the facilities that are not the Main Street facility, you're not putting in any requirement for payroll, and the Main Street facility is something about commercial reasonable effort to be able to maintain jobs in other words, if a corporation fires a bunch of people then gets federal taxpayers money, you're fine with that?" Warren responded. Mnuchin called Warren's characterization "unfair" and said those issues with discussed with both parties in Congress. MORE: Democrats push to strengthen stimulus oversight in next round of coronavirus legislation Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., urged Mnuchin for more transparency surrounding the CARES Act. While Mnuchin argued that every dollar spent of the $500 billion under his purview is listed on the Treasury Department's website, only a small fraction of that money has been disbursed, and there has been little transparency around Paycheck Protection Program recipients. Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., pressed Mnuchin to ensure businesses wouldn't "fall through the cracks" between PPP and the Main Street Program because of their size. But in response to questions about unequal access to PPP loans for minority-owned businesses, which were largely shut out of the first round of funding due to competition with larger, more resource-rich businesses, Mnuchin implied that the issue has been resolved. "One of the things we are very pleased about the additional money is that the average loan size has come down considerably. I think we all had certain concerns about in the first tranche how larger companies were prioritized. I believe that's now been corrected. I also couldn't be more pleased how we've been able to get sole proprietors and others into the program. We still have a significant amount of money left, but we are very much willing to consider the bipartisan request of reserving money for CDFIs at the end and making sure the underserved communities are properly served in this program," Mnuchin said. 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. Mnuchin said there is a desire for a "technical fix" to a time limitation issue with PPP loans. Yesterday, Trump heard from members of the National Restaurant Association, who told him they would prefer to have 24 weeks, rather than the eight weeks allowed under law, to spend their PPP loans on payroll, in the face of lengthy mandated shutdowns. "Companies are really having issues to not necessarily being able to use it during those eight weeks. They don't want more money, but want flexibility that they can use it in longer than an eight-week period," Mnuchin said. Aid to state and local governments was also raised at the hearing, with many senators pressing Mnuchin on the importance of preventing layoffs among teachers, firefighters and police officers. Powell would not weigh in on policy proposals to help state and local governments but did provide a reminder that the stakes are high. "Something like 13% of the work force is in state and local government. A lot of the critical services that people rely on day to day are you know, provided at the state and local level. With ... balanced budget provisions in state constitutions means that when revenue goes down sharply, it can mean job cuts or service cuts. So, those are all important things to consider in going forward," Powell said. 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 Mnuchin, Powell differ on outlook as they defend US economic response to coronavirus originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Nigerian government has said the 15 member team of Chinese medical personnel came into the country to assist in building and equipping isolation centres. The minister of interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said this while responding to questions at the daily Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday. The Chinese team arrived in Nigeria on April 8 to share their experiences in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister of health, Osagie Ehanire, had earlier said. Although some Nigerians and medical associations kicked against the decision to invite the medical experts, the government went ahead as planned. However, the whereabouts of these experts recently sparked controversy when Mr Ehanire requested reporters not to bother his ministry about them. An exasperated Mr Ehanire said the medical personnel are not guests of the Federal Government but CCECC, a construction company. Target Mr Aregbesola said the doctors are in Nigeria on the bill of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), a Chinese company working in Nigeria. Indeed 15 Chinese nationals came into Nigeria on April 8, he said. From everything we have heard and said, they were here on the bill of CCECC, a Chinese company working in Nigeria, doing some work for us in several places. And in conjunction with some Nigerian companies, they agreed to support us with efforts to respond to the pandemic. At Idu, they participated in retrofitting and equipping the isolation centre there. They equally worked on the dome project that was handled by the NNPC consortium in conjunction with THISDAY. Those are the location in which they came to work, he explained. Visa expiration Meanwhile, Mr Aregbesola explained that the Chinese have been unable to return their country due to the restriction placed on air travels globally. He said the team members were issued a 30-day visa in Beijing, China. Fifteen of them came in on April 8. They came on a 30-day visa issued in Beijing but they are still here, he added. They are still here not because they have not completed their job but because there is a restriction on travels in Nigeria occasioned by the COVID-19 protocols. Click here to read the full article. The Joe Rogan Experience, one of podcastings longest-running and most popular shows, will be launching on Spotify exclusively this year. The Rogan-hosted comedy talk-show series will debut on Spotify on Sept. 1, 2020, on a nonexclusive basis with all episodes dating back to 2009 before becoming exclusive to the platform later in 2020 under the multiyear licensing deal. More from Variety With Rogan, Spotify has landed one of the podcasting bizs whales. It currently ranks as the No. 2 most popular show on Apple Podcasts (after Barstool Sports Call Her Daddy, whose hosts have been the focus of an ongoing controversy), according to Apple. A source familiar with the deal said Rogan became sold on Spotifys ability to build his audience worldwide, after initially resisting distributing the podcast on the platform because he saw it as primarily a music service and because Spotify wasnt offering to pay enough in licensing fees. In addition to the podcast, JRE also produces corresponding video episodes, which will also be available on Spotify as in-app vodcasts. Rogan announced the deal on social media Tuesday, touting Spotify as the largest audio platform in the world. Shares of Spotify shot up more than 5% after the news broke, closing up 8.4% for the day to $175.03 per share, its highest closing price since October 2018. The podcast is moving to @spotify! he wrote on Instagram. It will remain FREE, and it will be the exact same show. Its just a licensing deal, so Spotify wont have any creative control over the show. They want me to just continue doing it the way Im doing it right now. Story continues Rogan said there will still be clips from the show shared on YouTube but full versions of the show will only be on Spotify after the end of the year. Im excited to have the support of the largest audio platform in the world and I hope you folks are there when we make the switch! Rogans deal with Spotify is worth more than $100 million, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing one anonymous source. Since its launch in 2009, The Joe Rogan Experience has built a large, loyal and engaged fanbase tuning in to hear his discussions with a range of guests, including comedians, actors, musicians, MMA fighters, authors, artists and more. Hes also courted controversy, hosting fringe far-right guests like Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes and conspiracy-monger Alex Jones. Under the distribution deal with Spotify, The Joe Rogan Experience will be available to Spotifys 286 million active monthly users free with ads (and without ads for premium subscribers). According to Spotify, The Joe Rogan Experience has long been the most-searched-for podcast on its service. The addition of JRE stands to accelerate Spotifys long-range podcast ambitions, which has included acquisitions of Gimlet Media, Bill Simmons The Ringer, Parcast and Anchor. Rogan, a stand-up comedian and actor, was previously best known for hosting NBC reality competition show Fear Factor in the early 2000s (which he reprised in 2011-12). The Boston native also appeared in NBC sitcom NewsRadio. Currently, he has two stand-up specials on Netflix: 2018s Strange Times and 2016s Triggered. Rogan is repped by Chandra Keyes and Jeff Sussman at Jeff Sussman Management, Matt Lichtenberg at Level Four Business Management, and attorney Seth Horwitz at Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham. Best of Variety Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The Pakistan Army on Tuesday shelled forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, drawing retaliation from the Indian Army, a defence spokesperson said. This is second ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army in the last 12 hours along the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts. "At about 0730 hours today, Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by small arm firing and mortar shelling along LoC in Sunderbani sector", the spokesperson said, adding the Indian Army retaliated befittingly. The cross-border shelling between the two sides was going on when last reports were received, the spokesperson said. There was no immediate report of any casualty during the Pakistani shelling. Pakistan had on Monday night opened fire and shelled mortars along the LoC in Gulpur sector of Poonch. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) " " (Hippomane mancinella), or death apple tree ("The Manzana de Muerte"), is a very poisonous species found around the Caribbean and northern tropics. This one stands on Bastimentos Island in northwestern Panama. Dick Culbert /Flickr ( CC By 2.0 The manchineel, or death apple tree ("The Manzana de Muerte"), is a very poisonous species found around the Caribbean and northern tropics. This one stands on Bastimentos Island in northwestern Panama. Whether you climb them, hug them or admire them, trees are one part of nature that are so easy to love, cleansing the air we breathe, offering shade from the sun and providing sweet, nutritious fruit. But love isn't exactly what you'll feel if you get too close to the manchineel tree. Known as the most dangerous tree in the world, it's found along the sandy beaches and mangroves in tropical climates stretching from Florida to the Caribbean, and down into parts of Central and South America. And this tree can cause a world of hurt. Advertisement The Dangers of the Manchineel The manchineel's small apple-like fruit definitely won't keep the doctor away it packs such a poisonous punch that the Spanish conquistadors called it the 'la manzanilla de la muerte' or 'little apple of death.' The ominous name may sound extreme, but history shows that indigenous peoples used the sap to poison their arrows and contaminate the water supply of the invading Spaniards. While there are no reported instances in modern botanical literature of anyone dying from ingesting the innocent looking fruit, if you were to bite into it, the sweet taste would quickly turn quite painful. And we're not talking about the uncomfortable burn of eating a super-hot pepper; the manchineel fruit will cause intense burning and severe swelling of your throat. The area around your mouth may get inflamed and blister, and potentially severe digestive problems can ensue. Unfortunately, the danger doesn't stop there. Just touching the leaves, even briefly, or using the tree as nature's umbrella during a rainstorm will cause blistering lesions on your skin. And if you get any of the sap or smoke from burning the wood in your eyes, you will most likely experience temporary blindness. Here's radiologist Nicola Strickland describing in the journal BMJ her experience ingesting the fruit of the manchineel tree on a visit to the Caribbean island of Tobago: I rashly took a bite from this fruit and found it pleasantly sweet. My friend also partook (at my suggestion). Moments later we noticed a strange peppery feeling in our mouths, which gradually progressed to a burning, tearing sensation and tightness of the throat. The symptoms worsened over a couple of hours until we could barely swallow solid food because of the excruciating pain and the feeling of a huge obstructing pharyngeal lump. Sadly, the pain was exacerbated by most alcoholic beverages, although mildly appeased by pina coladas, but more so by milk alone. Over the next eight hours our oral symptoms slowly began to subside, but our cervical lymph nodes became very tender and easily palpable. Recounting our experience to the locals elicited frank horror and incredulity, such was the fruits poisonous reputation. But the tree isn't entirely evil. Their deep-growing roots help prevent soil erosion, and it provides a safe home and fully belly for one lucky reptile the garrobo,or striped iguana of Central and South America. The only animal immune to its poison, the garrabo has the tree all to itself. " " A manchineel tree on the beach at Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica. Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 3.0 Advertisement How to Identify a Manchineel Tree While most manchineel trees are marked with a large red X or a sign explaining the danger, you'll want to know what to look out for if you're travelling in a tropical area. The bark is a reddish-gray, and the shiny leaves can be 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) long and 1 to 3 inches (2 to 8 centimeters) wide, laid out in an alternating pattern on the stem along with spikes of small yellowish-green flowers. So, before you pick up what looks like a free afternoon snack or lean against a tree while exploring a tropical destination, stop and make sure it's not the manchineel. Sure, it helps clean the air, offers shade and produces fruit but this tree is one you'll definitely want to love from afar. Now That's Interesting Despite the risk, removing the manchineel and even using the harvested wood is possible. After burning it at the base (and standing far, far away), the fallen tree is dried in the sun until it's safe to cut. The wood is then used to make beautifully unique and safe furniture. Transit container traffic of ADY Container LLC through Central Asia to Azerbaijan and in the opposite direction increased by 10 percent from February through April 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, ADY Container LLC told local media. Thus, if in February through April 2020, 3,987 containers were transported, for the corresponding period of 2020 this figure amounted to 4,393 units. In spite of the pandemic, ADY Container LLC continues to carry out international cargo transportation including transit, import and export operations, the company added. In the first quarter of 2020, 11,321 containers were transported by Azerbaijani railways, which is almost by 10 percent more compared to the first quarter of 2019 (10,250 containers). ADY Container LLC has begun expanding cooperation, mainly with countries in the Far East region - China, Japan, South Korea, as well as with Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Iran and India, in order to increase the volume of cargo transportation along the international East West Transport Corridor, North-South Transport Corridor and Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. ADY Container LLC is engaged in the storage, maintenance and transportation of containers in accordance with international standards. France should sell the Mona Lisa for 50billion (44.7billion) to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis, a leading French businessmen has suggested. Stephane Distinguin, 46, founder and CEO of the international tech company, Fabernovel, proposed the French 'sell the family jewellery' to combat the economic strain caused by the pandemic. He told French magazine Usbek & Rica: 'Day after day, we list the billions engulfed in this slump like children counting the fall of a stone into a well to measure its depth. We are still counting, and this crisis seems unfathomable. 'As an entrepreneur and a taxpayer, I know that these billions are not invented and that they will necessarily cost us. An obvious reflex is to sell off a valuable asset at the highest price possible, but one that is the least critical as possible to our future. Leonardo da Vinci's painting La Gioconda (Mona Lisa) is displayed at the new renovated room of the Louvre Museum in Paris, France in October last year. Businessman Stephan Distinguin has suggested selling the Mona Lisa to raise funds to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis Stephan Distinguin, 46, (pictured) founder and CEO of international tech company Fabernovel, said that France should sell the Mona Lisa for 44.7billion in order to combat the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis 'A painting is easy to move and therefore to hand over. And we have a lot of paintings. Besides, how many visitors to the Louvre and admirers of its Mona Lisa take the time to contemplate in the same room The Wedding at Cana, by Veronese, with its 67 square metres (721sq ft) and 130 characters? 'In 2020, we have to get the money where it is. So sell family jewellery. Otherwise, only the Googles, Apples, Facebooks, Amazons, Microsofts, Disneys, Netflixs, Alibabas and Tencents of this world will be able to contribute to the funding of culture.' Discussing how much he thinks the painting would fetch, he said: 'The price is the crux of the matter and the main subject of controversy. 'The price has to be insane for the operation to make sense. In this file photo Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announces Blue Moon, a lunar landing vehicle for the Moon, during a Blue Origin event in Washington in May last year. Distinguin said that the painting would only cost the Amazon CEO a third of his fortune 'I estimate that it would take no less than 50billion (44.7 billion) to acquire the Mona Lisa. 'I was told that my estimate was very overvalued, even far-fetched, but each time without real arguments.' He also suggested 'tokenising' the Mona Lisa by creating a blockchain like Bitcoin so that parties can easily exchange the painting. He said: 'Since 2014, technology has advanced and it opens up new paths. The blockchain and cryptocurrency community quickly came to my rescue. We could consider 'tokenising' the Mona Lisa, it would be a question of creating a digital representation of an asset on a blockchain. 'Even more schematically, it would be a bit like creating a currency whose underlying asset would be our painting in order to allow management and peer-to-peer exchange, instantly and securely. Contemporary artists - street artists in particular, for whom the sale of a work of art comes with many obstacles - have already taken advantage of this device to monetise their work. 'It would be like a big global subscription. Legally and technically, this solution would have many advantages: it would allow France and the Louvre to keep control of the painting. One can even imagine that this ploy would garner the assent of the great Leonardo da Vinci, he who painted but also mastered all the sciences and technologies of his time.' He added: 'For the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, 50 billion, is only a third of his fortune, barely more than the amount paid to his wife in connection with his recent divorce. Why not rename our work Mona Lisa del Giocondo-Bezos?' Stephane Distinguin is a French businessman and tech entrepreneur who founded Fabernovel in France in 2003. Distinguin was awarded the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest order of merit, in 2019. The Mona Lisa is a portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is widely considered to be the archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance. This story was first published on Executive Style. Adversity is something Australian farmers are familiar with on extreme levels. But it's their unending resilience in the face of such tests that was celebrated at the 56th edition of Ermenegildo Zegna's Wool Awards, held at Luminare in Melbourne and presented by Paolo Zegna, president of the Zegna Group. NSW-based farmers David and Angie Waters took out top spot for the Superfine Wool Trophy for the third year running, and Victoria's David and Susan Rowbottom who hold the world record for the finest merino wool at 9.9 microns were named winners of the Vellus Aureum Trophy with a 10.2 micron fleece to give them their fifth win in six years. But these achievements weren't without their struggles, with prolonged dry weather conditions seeing an overall reduction in the quantity of wool produced in 2018. "The reduction was more than 12 per cent, almost 13 per cent in other areas," explains Mr Zegna, "and due to heavy drought some areas hit almost 20 per cent." SPRINGFIELD The city and local hospitals, while expanding the testing of residents for the coronavirus, including the homeless, said there continues to be good news to report. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Helen R. Caulton-Harris, the citys commissioner of health and human services, presented the statistics on Monday during the weekly coronavirus update at City Hall. The updates are conducted by city officials and representatives of Baystate Health and Mercy Medical Center. The city as of Monday reached 1,991 confirmed cases of coronavirus, but the number of new cases has been in the 30s the past three days, which is below past numbers during the pandemic, Caulton-Harris said. The city update occurred as Gov. Charlie Baker was announcing the specifics of a four-phase reopening plan for the state. The city will announce its own guidelines, possibly Wednesday morning, to include reopening of City Hall and other municipal buildings in phases, and with protections in place. Sarno thanked city residents and businesses for their continued patience and understanding. There is light at the end of the tunnel, Sarno said. "We are moving forward. We just want to be sure, cautiously optimistic, that we want to take that one step forward, but we dont want to take two steps back, so we are balancing opening up our economy and jobs with the importance of medical, health and science guidelines." On Friday, there were 30 COVID-19-positive test results in Springfield, and on Saturday, there were 39 positives, Caulton-Harris said. On Sunday, there were 32 positives. While we would like to see that number go down, were grateful to the fact that it is in the 30s, Caulton-Harris said. If you recall, I stood here and told you about a day where we had 104 positives. There have been 75 COVID-19 deaths in Springfield, which increased recently as a result of changes in state classification, Sarno said. Of the 75 deaths, 44 are from long-term care facilities, Sarno said, citing information from Caulton-Harris. In addition, 98.5% of those who died had underlying health conditions, Sarno said. Caulton-Harris said the reduction in daily cases is a tribute to residents in Springfield and the region who are doing what needs to be done, and youre listening to the scientists and to the experts who are doing the nonpharmaceutical interventions that have been mentioned so often the masks, the social distancing, the hand hygiene, staying home if youre sick and just really doing the things that will keep all of us healthy. Testing is done at various sites including programs provided by Baystate Health and Mercy Medical Center. The city, aided by Mercy Medical Center clinical workers, expanded testing of the homeless last week at the Springfield Rescue Mission on Mill Street. Of 32 homeless people tested, none was found to be infected with the virus, Sarno said. Previously, all 131 residents from the Friends of the Homeless shelter on Worthigton Street were found to be COVID-19-negative, with testing conducted by Baystate Health medical workers. One person was found to have COVID-19 at the Springfield Rescue Missions Taylor Street shelter, out of 38 tested, officials said. The testing was done by Mercy workers. The citys tent triage area on Worthington Street, which was established for testing of the homeless, as well as isolation and lodging, had nine people staying there as of Monday morning, Sarno said. Some people who have stayed at the tents in the past were awaiting test results or had been in close contact to the person with the virus, officials said. The homeless cannot be forced to stay at the tents, officials said. Beyond those staying at the tents, three others refused to stay and five others left, Sarno said. Caulton-Harris said her department continues to conduct inspections of businesses for compliance with coronavirus regulations, including responding to public complaints about businesses that may not be complying. As we begin to open the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the city of Springfield, this new normal will persist, Caulton-Harris said. We know that things will not be normal. We know that we are going to continue to have to guide ourselves through the nonpharmaceutical interventions. Beijing: China is unlikely to give up on the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor being built through PoK despite Indias protests but it may not be interested in taking sides in the Kashmir dispute due to close economic ties with both nations, state-run media said today. "It is regrettable to see CPEC become another unharmonious factor in Sino-India ties, but China is unlikely to give up on the idea of CPEC because of Indias protest," an article in Global Times said. In fact, the economic corridor, linking northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to Gwadar Port in southwestern Pakistan, does not target any third party, India included. Given that China has developed close economic ties with both India and Pakistan in recent years, Beijing is unlikely to be interested in taking a side between the two countries, it said. Significantly, the article uses the term Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) twice even though at one place it makes the mention attributing it to Indian media reports. Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj voiced Indias concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), during Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yis India trip, Indian media reported, the article said. It is precisely because of the regions worsening investment environment that PoKs economy is still heavily reliant on agriculture. Also, the northern part of India bordering Pakistan and Kashmir both lack basic infrastructure, the article said. Chinese media usually refers to PoK as Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Another state-run news outlet, the Peoples Daily which which published photos of Chinese and Pakistani troops patrolling for the first time Xinjiang and PoK border last month referred to the area as China-Pakistan border. Global Times is part of Peoples Daily publishing group controlled by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC). In its article, the Global Times said, the dispute over Kashmir between India and Pakistan makes the two countries habitually vigilant against any possibility of large-scale foreign investment flowing into the region, but it is the Kashmir conflict itself, rather than any alleged political intent behind the foreign investment, that creates tension in the region. Rather than prevent foreign investors from entering the region as a solution to concerns over CPEC, India should focus on its negations with Pakistan to settle the Kashmir dispute, it said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Also, as many as 106 new positive cases surfaced across the Union Territory (UT) including 49 policemen and five doctors Jammu and Kashmir on Monday reported three more deaths due to Novel Coronovirus . (PTI Photo) SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir on Monday reported three more deaths due to Novel Coronovirus or Covid-19, taking the toll to sixteen. Also, as many as 106 new positive cases surfaced across the Union Territory (UT) including 49 policemen and five doctors during the day. It is for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic that three patients died in a single day in the UT. The victims include two elderly women from southern Kulgam and Anantnag districts who died in a Srinagar hospital hours after testing positive. While one of them was suffering from prostate cancer, the other was a case of subdural haemorrhage (SDH) but both had also tested positive for Covid-19, the hospital sources said. Earlier in the day, a 75-year-old man from Hillar Kokernag area of Anantnag district died at Srinagars government-run Chest Disease Hospital, days after testing positive for the deadly virus. On Sunday, a 29-year-old woman from Srinagars Habba Kadal had died at the same hospital to become the youngest victim of the dreaded disease in J&K, so far. A government spokesman said that J&K recorded 106 new positive cases of Covid-19 including 122 from Jammu division and 94 from the Kashmir Valley on Monday, thus taking the total number of the patients in the UT to 1,289. He said that of these cases, 665 are active positive, 609 have recovered and 16 have died. Ladakh has separately reported more than forty Covid-19 cases, so far. However, the doctors in Leh said that most of them have recovered. The hospital sources said that among those who tested positive in J&K on Monday are five doctors and 49 policemen of the J&K polices armed wing including an SP ranked officer. Half a dozen police personnel had been admitted to the hospital after contracting the virus earlier. The police personnel who tested positive were stationed at the District Police Lines in Anantnag and other places and are aged between 25 and 56 years, the sources said. Three of the five doctors who tested positive had treated the Srinagar woman who died of Covid-19 on Sunday, the hospital sources said. A 48-year-old State Reserve Police Force head constable died of the coronavirus infection on Tuesday in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district, taking the number of COVID-19 deaths in the force to two, officials said. The head constable, who tested positive for the virus on Monday, died at Himmatnagar civil hospital in Sabarkantha district on Tuesday, said Gujarat DGP Shivanand Jha. Jha said the entire police force observed one minute silence to honour the sacrifices of Prajapati and other corona warriors. In the early hours of Monday, a 40-year-old head constable serving at a police station here succumbed to the infection. Over 300 police personnel, including an inspector and a woman assistant commissioner, have tested positive for coronavirus across the state so far. Among these, 109 are still under treatment, while 225 have been discharged after recovery, said a statement from Gujarat police. Meanwhile, a head nurse of Ahmedabad civil hospital died on Tuesday while being treated for COVID-19. She contracted the virus a few days back while on duty in the COVID-19 ward of the civil hospital, said a statement from Gujarat Health Department. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Community groups have urged Prime Minister Scott Morrison to extend fee-free childcare for hundreds of thousands of Australian families, which is costing the government about $131 million a week. The spending in line with the projected $1.6 billion cost of the relief package over three months was revealed on Tuesday as childcare advocates and the sector's union warned a return to the old funding system during the COVID-19 economic downturn would be "disastrous". Education Department officials told a Senate inquiry into the government's COVID-19 response that $917 million of the relief package had been spent so far. It was estimated the scheme would end up costing about $300 million more than would have been spent under the old funding model. Under that system, which provides a mix of demand-driven government subsidies and fees from parents, thousands of centres were on the brink of collapse in March as families kept their children at home. The rescue package aimed to stabilise revenue by providing operators with half their ordinary government funding on top of $1 billion of JobKeeper wage subsidy payments. They are not allowed to charge fees under the system. When Jessica Jaramillo calls someone to talk about the coronavirus, she usually starts with something like this: Hi, my name is Jessica. Im calling on behalf of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Im part of a contact-tracing team, and our job is to reach people who have come into close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Jaramillo, 41, a San Francisco Public Library district manager in ordinary times, has made dozens of such calls so far, all in Spanish. She began contact tracing, or seguimiento de contactos, this month. She is one of more than 11,000 people across the United States who are calling people with advice about containing the spread of COVID-19, according to a survey conducted by NPR. (That number has most likely grown since the survey was first conducted in April.) Estimates for the number of people needed nationwide for contact tracing range from 100,000 to as high as 300,000. 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 work is mostly phone-based and can be done from home. The jobs can be full- or part-time, often with an hourly wage of $17 to $25; some include benefits. They differ from one place to the next in part because training and recruiting efforts have largely fallen to state and local governments (and some of the programs have already run into problems, both practical and political). As communities begin to open up and more people venture outside their homes, the job is expected to become more crucial and more difficult. If you can do contact tracing, you can get ahold of this before it runs through a community like wildfire, Jaramillo said. Then youre saving someones grandmother, or their uncle. Taking an Old School Approach As a public employee who had signed up to be a disaster service worker, Jaramillo was ready to serve her community in the event of, say, an earthquake. She did not expect a pandemic. Jaramillos phone conversations unfold according to the needs of the people on the other end of the line. If they need testing for COVID-19, she can refer them for an appointment. If they have symptoms, she might recommend isolation. If they worry about survival in quarantine, she can connect them with food-delivery services. And if they worry about privacy, Jaramillo assures them that their information is secure. Her training involved a primer on the federal regulations protecting confidential health information, and she works with encrypted software. Jaramillo and other San Francisco contact tracers do not share the names of people who have a COVID-19 diagnosis with the people they call. The University of California, San Francisco has been working with both the city and the state to train hundreds of workers like Jaramillo. Contact tracing is not a silver bullet, said Dr. Mike Reid, an assistant professor at the UCSF School of Medicine. But he said the old school approach of San Francisco and other health departments which is based on education and empowerment, not tracking apps like the ones Google and Apple are working on can bring communities together and build capacity to handle future crises. Its a Competitive Job Market In a time of isolation, theres something appealing about a job that calls for human connection. And for some, the work is a way to punch back at a pandemic that has pummeled the national economy. But even if hundreds of thousands of people are hired as contact tracers, it would put barely a dent in unemployment; more than 36 million jobless claims were filed in the United States over the past two months. And the opportunities vary from state to state; Massachusetts and California were among the earliest to adopt widespread COVID-19 tracing programs. Kevin Williams, 27, a writer and driver in Columbus, Ohio, thought he would give contact tracing a shot after the states Department of Health announced last week that it was hiring at $18.59 per hour. If they call me back and I get an interview, then great, he said. I really dont have a hell of a lot of options right now. But also, I just dont feel like these jobs are real. Are they actually contact tracing, or do they just want to look like theyre doing the right thing? He did not hear back, and by Tuesday, the job posting on the Health Departments website had been removed. More than 9,000 people applied to do contact-tracing work with the state, according to the department. Although Ohio officials have called for 1,700 contact tracers, those were to be deployed largely by local health departments. The state job Williams applied for had been seeking only 100 people. Oscar Baez, 33, a Foreign Service officer, had better luck. He was evacuated from his post in Jerusalem in March and returned to Boston, where he grew up. Baez, who is from the Dominican Republic, has used Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic to communicate with the people he calls in the Boston area. This is an opportunity to go on offense, track down exposures to this virus and limit the spread, he said. It requires heart. Contact tracers dont work alone. The process starts with investigators who reach out to people with COVID-19, and those conversations yield contacts for tracers. After those calls are made, there is follow-up work to be done to help people find resources like food pantries and financial assistance. Were asking people to quarantine when they may not have baby formula for the next day, or they might not have food to feed a family of eight, Baez said. So how can we ask them to stay home if they dont have financial assistance and social support? What Makes a Good Candidate? Baez found this job through Partners in Health, which has helped Massachusetts officials recruit and train more than 1,700 people. Thats only a fraction of the more than 41,000 who have applied through the organization. John Welch, a director of operations with Partners in Health, said he was impressed with the range of people who wanted to help. They included retired health care workers, furloughed public employees and former hospitality workers. If their computer skills are lacking a little bit, we can help boost that, he said. But whats really important in the middle of an epidemic is empathy. CONTRACE Public Health Corps, an organization helping health departments across the United States recruit tracers, received more than 50,000 applications in recent weeks, mostly from women, said Steve Waters, the chief executive. While a college diploma is not always required, Waters said the best candidates have a bachelors degree and some background in health care services. Diversity is important, too. Cultural literacy is key to developing trust with someone you are cold-calling, particularly in minority or distressed communities, which are some of the worst hit, Waters said. Nationally, the coronavirus is infecting and killing black people at disproportionately high rates, reflecting long-standing inequalities in resources and access to care. The virus has also brought deadly disease clusters and economic crises to Native American reservations across the United States. Jaramillos Spanish fluency has been particularly helpful in California, where over 50% of the people known to have been infected are Latino. And Baez, whose diplomatic career has taken him to countries including Haiti, China and Brazil, is now putting his skills to use in the neighborhood where he grew up, speaking to immigrant families much like his own. I see the date they tested positive, and its at the same community health center that I went to for physicals as a kid, he said. Every single day is different. Im hearing many, many individual stories that are depressing, inspiring and uplifting all at the same time. c.2020 The New York Times Company US President Donald Trump, in a surprise announcement, said on Monday he is taking hydroxychloroquine as preventive medicine against the coronavirus despite medical warnings about the use of the malaria drug. Washington: US President Donald Trump, in a surprise announcement, said on Monday he is taking hydroxychloroquine as preventive medicine against the coronavirus despite medical warnings about the use of the malaria drug. Trump volunteered the disclosure during a question-and-answer session with reporters at the White House as he met restaurant executives whose businesses are reeling from the impact of the virus. Im taking hydroxychloroquine, Trump said. Ive been taking it for the last week and a half. A pill every day. Weeks ago, Trump had promoted the drug as a potential treatment based on a positive report about its use against the virus, but subsequent studies found that it was not helpful. The Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about its use. In an April 24 statement, the FDA said it was aware of reports of serious heart rhythm problems in patients with COVID-19 treated with hydroxychloroquine or an older drug, chloroquine. Trump, 73, who is tested daily for the virus, said he had asked the White House physician if it was OK to take the drug, and the doctor told him: Well, if youd like it. The president, a well-known germaphobe, has nonetheless refused to wear a protective mask in the West Wing. White House physician Sean Conley said in a memo that Trump was in very good health and had been receiving regular COVID-19 testing, which has all been negative since one of his support staff tested positive for the disease two weeks ago. After numerous discussions he and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks, Conley said in the memo released by the White House. In an interview with MSNBC, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said: What the president did with hydroxychloroquine was reckless, simply reckless. Hes giving people false hope, Schumer added. Trumps disclosure came as Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) reported progress in a potential vaccine for the virus. The only drug that has emerged so far as a potential treatment is Gilead Sciences Incs (GILD.O) remdesivir. Fox News Channel, immediately after Trumps remarks, interviewed Dr. Bob Lahita, chairman of medicine at St. Joseph University Hospital in New Jersey, who cautioned people not to take hydroxychloroquine. Theres no effect that we have seen and we have treated multiple patients with it, he said. Trump said he also took a single dose of azithromycin, an antibiotic meant to prevent infection. In conjunction with hydroxychloroquine, Trump said he was taking zinc. All I can tell you is so far I seem to be OK, he said. Dividend paying stocks like Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group Co., Ltd. (HKG:2606) tend to be popular with investors, and for good reason - some research suggests a significant amount of all stock market returns come from reinvested dividends. If you are hoping to live on the income from dividends, it's important to be a lot more stringent with your investments than the average punter. Some simple research can reduce the risk of buying Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group for its dividend - read on to learn more. Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group! SEHK:2606 Historical Dividend Yield May 18th 2020 Payout ratios Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. Looking at the data, we can see that 31% of Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group's profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. This is a middling range that strikes a nice balance between paying dividends to shareholders, and retaining enough earnings to invest in future growth. Plus, there is room to increase the payout ratio over time. We also measure dividends paid against a company's levered free cash flow, to see if enough cash was generated to cover the dividend. The company paid out 54% of its free cash flow, which is not bad per se, but does start to limit the amount of cash Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group has available to meet other needs. 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. While the above analysis focuses on dividends relative to a company's earnings, we do note Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group's strong net cash position, which will let it pay larger dividends for a time, should it choose. Story continues Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group's latest financial position, by checking our visualisation of its financial health. Dividend Volatility From the perspective of an income investor who wants to earn dividends for many years, there is not much point buying a stock if its dividend is regularly cut or is not reliable. This company has been paying a dividend for less than 2 years, which we think is too soon to consider it a reliable dividend stock. Its most recent annual dividend was CN0.97 per share. It's good to see at least some dividend growth. Yet with a relatively short dividend paying history, we wouldn't want to depend on this dividend too heavily. Dividend Growth Potential Examining whether the dividend is affordable and stable is important. However, it's also important to assess if earnings per share (EPS) are growing. Growing EPS can help maintain or increase the purchasing power of the dividend over the long run. Strong earnings per share (EPS) growth might encourage our interest in the company despite fluctuating dividends, which is why it's great to see Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group has grown its earnings per share at 30% per annum over the past five years. Earnings per share have rocketed in recent times, and we like that the company is retaining more than half of its earnings to reinvest. However, always remember that very few companies can grow at double digit rates forever. We'd also point out that Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group issued a meaningful number of new shares in the past year. Regularly issuing new shares can be detrimental - it's hard to grow dividends per share when new shares are regularly being created. Conclusion To summarise, shareholders should always check that Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group's dividends are affordable, that its dividend payments are relatively stable, and that it has decent prospects for growing its earnings and dividend. Firstly, we like that Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group pays out a low fraction of earnings. It pays out a higher percentage of its cashflow, although this is within acceptable bounds. Next, earnings growth has been good, but unfortunately the company has not been paying dividends as long as we'd like. Overall we think Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group is an interesting dividend stock, although it could be better. Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. Meanwhile, despite the importance of dividend payments, they are not the only factors our readers should know when assessing a company. As an example, we've identified 1 warning sign for Sichuan Languang Justbon Services Group that you should be aware of before investing. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of dividend stocks yielding above 3%. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Australia Council funding will see Patricia Piccinini's Skywhale hot-air balloon take flight in the skies above regional NSW once COVID-19 shutdowns are eased. The National Gallery of Australia has been allocated $55,000 to bring the outdoor floating show Skywhales: Every Heart Sings to nine Australian venues, out of almost $3 million set aside to support cultural exhibitions when travel restrictions lift. Skywhale over Lake Burley Griffin. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Piccinini's 34-metre hot-air balloon, in the shape of a fleshy animal, was first launched in 2013. It will be accompanied by Skywhalepapa on its journey to far-flung parts of Australia, as part of the NGA's Know My Name campaign to give wider public recognition for female artists. Also funded is Botanical Artists' Society of Queensland's exhibition exploring the artistic, scientific and cultural significance of Australia's natural environment to mark 250 years since Captain Cook's first voyage to Australia. Jessica Ramos family had a decision to make after her father lost much of his work when the coronavirus pandemic struck: pay the mortgage on their East Oakland home or pay their internet bill. It wasnt really a choice. But losing online access at home meant that Jessica, a junior at Skyline High School, had to sit for hours outside the closed Dimond branch of the Oakland Public Library so she could tap into the internet connection there to finish her homework. It was distracting, Jessica said. There were people walking past talking on their phones and buses and people playing music loud in their cars. Jessicas plight isnt unusual, even though she lives a short drive from the heart of Silicon Valley. One in 5 Bay Area residents lacks an internet connection at home, according to Tech Exchange, a nonprofit that supplies computers to underserved communities. While wealthy parents worry about curbing their kids screen time during the pandemic, 40% of the kids in many poor neighborhoods dont have screens. The coronavirus relief package that the House passed Friday tries to address that disparity. It contains $4 billion in broadband support for low-income Americans and those who recently lost their jobs, and another $1.5 billion for schools and libraries to upgrade their connectivity and purchase more equipment. President Trump and other Republicans have derided the $3 trillion bill, co-authored by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, as a lengthy liberal wish list that has no chance of passing in its current form. But there is bipartisan support for more broadband funding. Many rural districts represented by Republicans lack adequate internet access, just as some poorer urban districts represented by Democrats do. Thats a whisper of hope for advocates that after years of effort, they may be able to persuade government to help close a digital gap that otherwise threatens to grow and exacerbate the nations education inequalities. Twenty years after the term digital divide was coined, the gap remains so broad that it will take a sustained effort to bridge it. This divide has always existed, said Federal Communications Commission member Jessica Rosenworcel, a longtime advocate for closing the information gap. But the pandemic has exposed the hard truth that the digital divide in this country is really, really big. The information divide between rich and poor families that was implicit before the pandemic, said David Silver, director of education for the city of Oakland, is now explicit. Philanthropists are pitching in to bridge the gap, too. On Friday, billionaire Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey gave $10 million to the Oakland Unified School District to help supply every one of its students with a laptop and internet access. Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that several companies had answered his call for help and provided 70,000 laptops and tablets for students. Other companies provided money to improve internet connectivity. But some of the largesse might not last beyond the pandemic. Take Dorseys gift. It was given a day after Oakland announced a drive to raise $12 million to address the immediate digital needs that the pandemic exacerbated. But Dorseys grant will cover the cost of internet access to poor families for only a year, Silver said. The ongoing cost is $4 million annually. Jacks gift was generous and amazing, Silver said. But weve got to make sure that the gap is covered in the years going forward. Jessica Christian / The Chronicle There needs to be a solution that helps people like Jacqueline Perez-Rosales. The Oakland resident has five children, three of whom are in school now. Her family didnt own a computer until three weeks ago, when they were given one by Tech Exchange. I didnt know how important it was to have a computer at home, Perez-Rosales said. Until the coronavirus. Her children worked on paper packets of assignments that their teachers sent home with them after schools were closed. But after a couple of weeks, her sixth-grader and fourth-grader realized that they would need something more. A teacher at their school helped Perez-Rosales to obtain a computer from Tech Exchange. That solved one problem, but then Perez-Rosales discovered others. Her new home internet connection wasnt very strong. So now, instead of paying $10 a month, the family is paying $75. They cant afford much more. She is a house cleaner who has been out of work since the pandemic started. Her husband is a technician for a garage door company. Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Now that the family has a computer, Perez-Rosales is finding it hard to manage which children get time online and when. When one is on the computer, I say to the other one, You can use my phone. But they say, Its better with a laptop. I cant see anything on your phone, Perez-Rosales said. She sees the value in having a second computer. She also understands that her family must eventually obtain devices for her kindergartner and her twin 2-year-olds. Making more computers available for children is the goal of Oakland Unified Superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell, whose district has distributed for home use the 18,000 Chromebooks that students were using in classrooms before campuses closed. But those devices will have to be returned to schools when in-person education eventually resumes. The superintendent is thinking beyond that time. Our initial goal is trying to ensure that there is one device per household, Johnson-Trammell said. But our ultimate goal is becoming one to one, a computer for every student. Jessica Christian / The Chronicle Jessica, the Skyline High junior, sees the value in that. She realizes that her family needs more than one device, too. Her father is an Uber driver who hasnt had much work since Bay Area residents began sheltering in place. He needs a way to search online for jobs. So does her mother, who now works a shift starting at 3 a.m. at a Walgreens before showing up for her second job at a preschool. Soon, Jessica will start applying for college and scholarships and will need more time online. The last few weeks have magnified the disparities and challenges that she will face in competing for a place at top colleges like her dream school, Stanford. I realize that there is no equity, Jessica said. But, she added, navigating those inequities over the past few weeks has made me stronger as a student. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli This might be either the best time imaginable to launch a show in which live music is a major supporting character, or the worst. "Its reminded me how great it is to go out and see live music, how important it is for us to engage culturally," says Gareth Calverley, creator, co-producer and one of the writers of Mint Condition, a comedy-drama series of five 11-minute episodes starring Sibylla Budd, Bernard Curry, Gary Sweet and newcomer Grace Champion. Sibylla Budd plays Audrey, a corporate lawyer turned record store owner, in Mint Condition. Credit:Boilermaker None of that has been possible since Australia went into shutdown in mid-March, and among the hardest hit have been the performers who ply their trade in Melbournes vibrant live music scene people such as Mick Thomas, Kylie Auldist and Charles Jenkins, all of whom feature in the show, both on screen and on the soundtrack. Filmed last August, Mint Condition has taken on a strange new resonance. shady and father beninni Shady Elzarka and his father Mohamed. The Elzarka family has owned Beninni, a men's formalwear store in Hayward, California, for three decades. Provided Last month, Business Insider's reporting helped a small Bay Area family business get approved for a federal loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). But nearly two months after the program was launched to help struggling small businesses during the coronavirus outbreak, tens of thousands are still waiting to get funds. Those who received PPP funding also say there are too many rules on how to spend the money. Shady Elzarka, whose family secured a PPP loan after our reporting, says he worries the money they received through the PPP won't keep the business afloat in the long term. "I'm appreciative of the loan itself, but I just don't know if it's enough for the situation we're in," he said. The Small Business Administration, which oversees the relief, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Related Video: What COVID-19 Recovery Looks Like, Day by Day Last month, Business Insider dug into the case of a Bay Area family business' struggle to get coronavirus relief funding. Shady Elzarka helped his father apply for coronavirus relief through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Emergency Advance (EIDL), but struggled for weeks to get any update on his application. Elzarka's father has owned men's formalwear store Beninni in Hayward, California, for the past 30 years. When the region went into lockdown in mid-March, the family had to close the store and lay off employees. Within days of Business Insider reaching out to Bank of America for answers regarding Elzarka's PPP application, the bank approved the business for a loan, telling Elzarka in an email that it was because of a "media escalation." The Elzarkas still haven't received EIDL funding. While the Elzarkas managed to get some federal assistance after Business Insider intervened, several thousand businesses are still waiting in limbo. Story continues beninni 1.JPG Last month, Business Insider reported on the Elzarkas' struggle to get coronavirus relief for their store, pictured above. Provided 'It sucks that it took a media escalation for me to get a loan' A recent US Census Bureau survey of 90,000 small businesses found that 38.1% had not received PPP assistance, suggesting that the number of businesses still waiting for a PPP loan is at least in the tens of thousands if not much, much more. So far, the Small Business Administration, which oversees the relief packages, has administered 4.3 million loans totaling $540 billion since mid-April. One of the biggest criticisms of the program is how seemingly big businesses like Shake Shack and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse have qualified and been approved for PPP loans, which are meant for small businesses. Both have since retuned their loans. "I definitely don't think it's fair that there's probably still mom-and-pop shops in need of PPP loans and they're not receiving it," Elzarka told Business Insider on Monday. "It sucks that it took a media escalation for me to get a loan," he added. The SBA ran out of money after two weeks, due to the number of applications, and Congress has since injected another $310 billion into the program. It appears that more small businesses are now getting approved for PPP loans. Nancy Pelosi House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in December 2019. Congress has increased funding for the Payment Protection Program. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images But the program has run into a new problem lately. Many small business owners who have received PPP funding are publicly saying that the rules attached to the loan make it difficult to put to use keeping their businesses afloat. Too many rules One of the big issues is that 75% of the loan must go towards payroll, but paying employees is just one factor that businesses are struggling with right now. For the Elzarka family, the looming problem is rent. But the 25% of the loan that they can use for this purpose won't even cover one lease payment. For this reason, Elzarka isn't sure how much PPP will help keep Beninni running in the long term. "It's all dependent on how much longer lockdown lasts," he said. "If this lockdown lasts many more months, then this loan will not suffice to pay payroll or any other expenses that the business continues to stack up." Elzarka says he's grateful to have received the PPP loan, but is disappointed it's not been more of a help. "I'm appreciative of the loan itself, but I just don't know if it's enough for the situation we're in," he said. "It gives us some relief to know that we have this money now that we can use ... but there's still the longterm horizon that once this is all over, we don't know how deep of a hole we'll be in." The SBA did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the PPP's rules and remaining applicants. Read the original article on Business Insider Isaac Batowiise Bening writes: COVID-19 has exposed us. For me, Covid-19 has shown us that health infrastructure is and ought to be paramount. It has to be assigned the highest priority among other priorities. It is now public knowledge about the request from the Ministry of Local Government And Rural Development with regards to the release of land towards the fulfillment of H.E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo promised 88 district hospitals. My quick observations, questions, concerns, and suggestion are as follow; First of all, a brief glance at the list of districts without hospitals by regions shows that the Savannah Region got omitted. This I believe was by mistake which shouldn't have been. Secondly, how would districts with polyclinics be handled? Would they still get a new hospital under the Covid-19 linked programme or the polyclinic would be upgraded to a hospital status? An example is my district (Lambussie District) where the polyclinic is in the process of been upgraded to hospital status. Lastly, can the May 31, 2020 deadline be met considering the fact about how long it takes for the acquisition of family land in Ghana? Investing in health infrastructure at the local level should be non-negotiable. We do not need another pandemic to be seen investing in health infrastructure. I shall return. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 610 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, raising the statewide total to 63,666. Across Pennsylvania, 4,624 have died due to the coronavirus, including 119 new fatalities reported Tuesday, the health department said. More than two-thirds of the states COVID-19 deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, the health department said. More than 13,000 residents in those facilities have contracted the virus, along with more than 2,000 employees. The department reported new data Tuesday. The statistics reflect cases and deaths reported by midnight. There are 286,034 patients who have tested negative, according to the health department. Reopening Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has said the curve has flattened in Pennsylvania. The governor has been gradually lifting the stay-at-home order across Pennsylvania. Currently, Wolf has moved 37 counties into the yellow phase of his color-coded plan to reopen the state. The counties cover western Pennsylvania, including the Pittsburgh area, and the states northern tier. On Friday, Wolf will move 12 more counties into the yellow zone, including some in central Pennsylvania. These are the counties: Adams, Beaver, Carbon, Columbia, Cumberland, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, Susquehanna, Wyoming, Wayne and York. In the yellow phase, more businesses can operate with fewer restrictions. Companies can reopen but are still encouraged to allow employees to work remotely. Retailers can reopen but are urged to offer curbside pickup or delivery service. And child care centers can reopen. Even in the yellow phase, restaurants and bars are limited to delivery and takeout services. Movie theaters, gyms, casinos, barber shops and nail salons remain closed in the yellow counties. Gatherings of more than 25 people are prohibited. Unless Wolf makes a new announcement to relax restrictions, there will be 19 counties in the red zone after Friday, including Dauphin and Lancaster counties, along with virtually all of eastern Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia area. The stay-at-home order in those counties will be in effect until June 4, unless Wolf decides otherwise. State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said the Wolf administration will soon explain what counties must do to move from the yellow phase into the green phase, which lifts restrictions on businesses and is supposed to represent some return to normalcy. Nursing homes Across Pennsylvania, 3,145 coronavirus deaths involve residents of long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes. Statewide, 13,813 residents of long-term care facilities have contracted COVID-19, along with 2,191 employees. Cases have been found in 557 facilities in 44 counties. About 4,600 health care workers across the state have contracted the virus, the health department said. More from PennLive A woman holds a ballot at a polling place at Cromie Elementary School in Warren, Mich. on March 10, 2020. (Elaine Cromie/Getty Images) All Michigan Voters to Receive Absentee Ballot Applications Millions of Michigan residents will receive applications in their mailboxes for absentee voting, state officials announced Tuesday. Michigan, a crucial swing state, has 7.7 million registered voters, 1.3 million of whom are on the permanent absentee ballot list. The applications will allow residents to take part in elections later this year without voting in person, state Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, said in a statement. No Michigander has to choose between their health and their right to vote, said Benson. Voting by mail is easy, convenient, safe, and secure, and every voter in Michigan has the right to do it. The application asks people if theyre a U.S. citizen and a qualified voter. Applicants can choose whether to receive an absentee ballot for the August 4 state election, the November 3 national election, or both. The three-page document (pdf) includes a warning telling people who are not citizens that they cannot vote. One page is a cover letter from Benson telling residents that they have the right to vote by mail in every election. Applicants were told to sign the form before taking a photograph that clearly shows the signature and submit it via email. The other method is mailing or dropping the signed form off to their local clerk. Some jurisdictions began mailing the applications previously, Benson said, before the choice was made to send them to all registered voters. Voters cast their ballots at the Ferndale Public Library in Ferndale, Mich., on March 10, 2020. (Elaine Cromie/Getty Images) The new plan will cost $4.5 million, which will come from money the state is getting from the federal government through a virus relief package passed in March, Michigan Department of State spokesperson Jake Rollow told Bridge. Voters Not Politicians, a group working to get more people to vote, applauded the move and called for the state legislature to authorize sending absentee ballots, not applications, to voters. Automatically sending ballots with pre-paid return postage will cut the red tape, save money, and empower all Michiganders to vote safely in this years elections, Nancy Wang, the executive director, said in a statement. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) also applauded Bensons decision. President Donald Trump, a Republican who narrowly won Michigan in 2016, has voiced objections to widespread voting by mail. Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to state wide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesnt work out well for Republicans, he said in a statement last month. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Monday that the issue is with absentee ballots, not applications. The Michigan GOP, reached Tuesday, said a spokesperson would return the call later. Michigan altered voting rules in 2018 to let anyone vote by absentee ballot without providing a reason. Absentee voting in the March primary increased from 18 percent in 2016 to 38 percent this year. Turnout in the 50 elections held across 33 counties in May included 99 percent of people participating voting by mail or in a drop box, Benson said. The percent of eligible voters who participated was 25 percent, a jump from the average turnout in the past decade of 12 percent. We cannot hold that employees of the Huddle House located at 1538 NC Highway 67, Jonesville, North Carolina... was sufficient; specifically naming a victim of the attempted armed robbery was required, the court said. By failing to do so, the indictment for attempted armed robbery was fatally defective and the trial court had no jurisdiction to enter judgement. The court said that attempted armed robbery is a crime against a person and thats why indictments must name a specific victim. Judge Wanda Bryant dissented, arguing that the language in the indictment was sufficient enough and that the convictions should stand. The ruling on Tuesday means that the case will go back to Yadkin Superior Court. Yadkin County prosecutors would have to seek a new indictment against Oldroyd from a grand jury and then either offer a new plea deal or go to trial. Tom Horner, the district attorney for Yadkin County, said because there was a dissenting opinion from the N.C. Court of Appeals decision, prosecutors have the right to seek an appeal with the N.C. Supreme Court. He said his office plans to ask the N.C. Attorney Generals Office to file an appeal. Emily Holmes Davis, an appellate attorney for Oldroyd, declined to comment on Tuesday. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MONACO, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Silversea Cruises prepares to take delivery of new ship Silver Origin, following a great display of resilience, determination and fine European craftsmanship from Dutch shipyard De Hoop. Despite of the global lockdown, De Hoop implemented rigid safety procedures, reduced its workforce, and devised ingenious ways to overcome posed challenges, including a world-first during the ship's sea trial. 200 SKILLED PROFESSIONALS GIVING 100% EFFORT Silver Origin during her sea trial Silver Origin during her sea trial On March 15, 2020four days after coronavirus was declared as a global pandemicthe Netherlands implemented a national lockdown, and the country ground to a halt to safeguard the health of its people. Relatively isolated in Lobith, a remote corner of the Netherlands, De Hoop shipyard offered its approximately 250 employees the option to cease working. While many were forced to return to their families or to their country of origin before borders closed, approximately 200 employeesmainly skilled carpentersopted to continue, working tirelessly to apply their craftsmanship to the ship's guest suites. Many employees were accommodated in an on-site residential facility, known as Barge Rossini, which had a reduced capacity from 200 to 100 for safety purposes. In addition to the rigorous protocol imposed by the Dutch health authority, RIVM, De Hoop's professionals were protected by sanitary procedures developed by the shipyard itself: they underwent daily temperature checks; enhanced cleaning procedures were established in the living quarters, the crew mess, and throughout Silver Origin; and strict social distancing measures were implemented, including a 1.5m separation rule and a one-way system throughout the ship. As a result, contact circles were reduced, meetings were cancelled, and fewer people were allowed in each area of the ship. Video calls replaced face-to-face conversations, as flights were cancelled and contractors could no longer reach the yard. Necessary supplies were cut off: Carpeting, loose furniture and the onboard art collection were delayed in arriving, while the closure of Italy disrupted the installation of the ship's windows and galley. The stringent lockdown threatened the project's progress. Small hurdles became giant obstacles, but still the team persevered and as the world around it came to a stop, De Hoop shipyard pushed on. The shipyard fundamentally changed the way it operated to continue the project. None of the employees caught the virus and the team maintained an unwaveringly strong spirit as Silver Origin took its magnificent shape, symbolising the commitment and resilience of the global cruise industry. REMOTELY OPERATED SEA TRIALS While shallow waters on the Waal River delayed Silver Origin's float out from November to December 30, 2019, the months of January and February brought heavy rain to Western Europe in 2020, leading to unusually high water levels. This prevented Silver Origin and Barge Rossini from passing beneath the 12 bridges that separate De Hoop shipyard from the sea. Only on March 26 was a safe passage to Rotterdam accessiblemore than a month later than originally planned. This left just four weeks between arrival in Rotterdam and the sea trial. Held from April 27th29th off the coast of Goeree-Overflakkee, Silver Origin's sea trials were a great success, offering the Captain the chance to put the ship through its paces and enabling the shipyard to demonstrate proper operation of the machinery systems. Necessitated by the travel ban, which prevented sub-contractors from reaching the ship, Silver Origin's sea trials included a historic world-first: during the dynamic positioning acceptance testwhich tests the ship's ability to remain within 10cm of a fixed point without dropping anchorthe ship's dynamic positioning system was remotely tuned and calibrated by a third party in St. Petersburg, Russiaover 1,800km away. A fast internet connection was set up on board to enable near-instant communication between both parties and, using a headset and a camera, an operative from St. Petersburg completed manoeuvring tests. The ship's Captain, meanwhile, acted as his lookout from on board. "This was the first time such an operation has been completed remotely during a sea trial," says Fre Drenth, the Director of De Hoop Shipyard. "The tuning was successful and took no longer than usual. It demonstrates that it is possible to tune dynamic positioning systems remotely. It could potentially save a lot of travelling time for engineers in the future. I am enormously proud of my team for their work." "We usually have a large team that participates in the sea trials, but this year was different because of the extraordinary situation," says Vesa Uuttu, Director of Newbuilds & Site Office NL, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. "Hence, a limited team participatedenough to comply with regulations. It was a proud moment to see the ship perform as it didfor all involved, especially the team at De Hoop who have worked tirelessly to complete the project in these tough circumstances." THE FINISHING TOUCHES "We are so grateful to the professionals at the De Hoop shipyard," says Roberto Martinoli, Silversea's President and CEO. "In the face of such adversity, their efforts were extraordinary and represent the resilience of European industry. Silver Origin looks magnificent. Our pioneering new ship represents the dawning of a new age of travel in the Galapagos Islands and we look forward to welcoming guests aboard when the time is right." The finishing touches are now being applied to Silver Origin, ahead of the ship's delivery in the coming weeks. And the De Hoop team is still finding innovative ways to progress, in spite of the challenging circumstances. Currently docked in Pernis in the Netherlands, Silver Origin will set sail for the Galapagos Islands after being delivered to Silversea Cruises. 45 members of De Hoop's workforce remain on Barge Rossini, and the shipyard intends on maintaining their strict new sanitary protocols for the long-term. Silversea Cruises is using this time of pause, as well as the information that has become available, to improve its already exceptional sanitary standards further still, with the health and safety of guests and crew as the top priority. The cruise line is currently working on enhanced sanitary protocols across its fleet to ensure that all necessary precautions are in place to resume safe and healthy cruising when the time is right. Read a first-person account from the Director of De Hoop Shipyard, Fre Drenth, and watch a video of Silver Origin underway: https://discover.silversea.com/on-board/building-silver-origin Find out more information on Silver Origin and view the ship's scheduled voyages: https://www.silversea.com/ships/silver-origin.html View Silver Origin's media kit, including key information, quirky facts, images, and videos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1c5nkcwudk27ofh/AAAc8oI08RXOFvnJxddK4Duya?dl=0 About Silversea Silversea Cruises, in which Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio serves as Executive Chairman, is recognised as an innovator in the ultra-luxury cruise line industry, offering guests large-ship amenities aboard its intimate, all-suite vessels: Silver Wind, Silver Shadow, Silver Whisper, Silver Spirit and Silver Muse all designed to offer an atmosphere of conviviality and casual elegance. With the inclusion of the expedition ships Silver Explorer, Silver Galapagos, and Silver Cloud, Silversea's itineraries encompass all seven continents and feature worldwide luxury cruises to the Mediterranean, Caribbean, both Polar Regions and hundreds of fascinating destinations in between. Silversea is also looking forward to the launch of five new ultra-luxury ships: Silver Moon, Silver Dawn, Silver Origin, and two Evolution-class ships. Browse Silversea's blog Discover and subscribe to receive the latest content directly into your inbox. SOURCE Silversea Cruises Related Links https://www.silversea.com SEOUL (Reuters) - The manager of South Korea's popular boyband BTS has apologised on behalf of one of its members who went to a bar in April, contrary to government advice, just as the country is trying to contain a recent coronavirus outbreak around Seoul's club scene. Jungkook, the BTS' main vocalist, visited a restaurant and a bar in the Itaewon neighbourhood with friends on April 25, the boyband's management Big Hit Entertainment said on Monday. A new cluster of virus cases emerged in that neighbourhood this month as social distancing measures eased on May 6, prompting authorities to delay school reopening and close bars and clubs again. "We have no excuse that we placed the artist's personal life before we were able to emphasise the importance of social distancing. We bow our head in apology," the company said. The 22-year old, who was there before the first case among Itaewon clubgoers was confirmed, is not showing any symptoms and has tested negative for the coronavirus, Big Hit said. "He is also deeply regretting on how he did not follow social distancing measures seriously." South Korea has been lauded for its quick and effective response to the pandemic but the resurgence of cases has raised concerns about a second wave of infections https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-southkorea/south-korea-scrambles-to-contain-seoul-nightclub-coronavirus-outbreak-idUSKBN22N0DA. Before the rules were eased on May 6, authorities had allowed clubs and bars to stay open as long as they complied with strict social distancing measures, while advising people not to visit them. Local media reported three other boy band members were with Jungkook during that outing, including Cha Eun-woo of Astro, Mingyu of Seventeen and Jaehyun of NCT. The managers of all three issued statements confirming they were in Itaewon on the same day as Jungkook, apologising for their failure to follow social distancing measures. Jaehyun posted a handwritten apology on social media. Story continues As of Monday, 170 cases have been traced to the Itaewon outbreak, with several hundreds in self isolation, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The seven-member BTS suspended their world tour over coronavirus concerns last month. (Reporting by Sangmi Cha; Additional reporting and writing by Hyonhee Shin; Editing by Ana Nicolaci) Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, removes his protective face mask during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Thursday, May 14, 2020. Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "looks like a lame duck" as public criticism of his administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak mounts, according to Tobias Harris, Japan analyst at Teneo Intelligence. "Despite an effective response compared with many other countries Abe hasn't been rewarded with higher approval ratings, and has in fact been falling," Harris told CNBC in an email. Those comments came on the back of a recent Nikkei/TV Tokyo poll where 55% of respondents said they do not have a favorable view of the Japanese government's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. As of 12:00 local time on May 18, Japan had confirmed 16,305 cases and seen 749 deaths, according to the country's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Harris said part of the reason for the decline in Abe's approval ratings has been due to the perception that he reacted "too slowly to the pandemic." Unlike its peers in the region, Japan initially resisted declaring a nationwide state of emergency until the middle of April, when it reportedly had more than 9,000 infections and nearly 200 deaths in the country. To exacerbate matters, Harris said public discontent has also increasingly been fueled by the Japanese government's push to extend the retirement age for prosecutors from 63 to 65. Critics of the proposed change have raised concerns over its potential damage to the fairness of the country's judicial system as it allows the administration to decide which prosecutors can prolong their stay in office, according to local news agency Kyodo News. For his part, Harris said the move by the Japanese government has been perceived as "a naked power grab and is widely unpopular." Plans for a multibillion-pound refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster could be axed due to the economic slump triggered by the coronavirus crisis, according to reports. A review of the 4billion scheme is set to take place, with Downing Street chiefs said to be concerned about carrying out a 'vanity project' with the country's economy in deep decline due to Covid-19, report The Times. The work, set to begin in 2025, was approved two years ago by MPs who agreed to invest the cash, with one eye on the spiralling maintenance costs of the 19th centenary building. According to the National Audit Office, almost 400million has been spent since 2016 on maintaining the palace, which is said to have sewage leaks, asbestos dust and a lack of disabled access. Plans for a multibillion-pound refurbishment of Parliament could be axed due to the economic slump triggered by the coronavirus crisis, according to reports And according to a report, by those helping to oversee the work, the building is thought to be a fire risk. Plans had been put forward in 2017 to move MPs into purpose-built 'pop-up Parliament', designed by Norman Foster and built on historic Horse Guards Parade, while ambitious six year maintenance plans were carried out. However, Sponsor Body, the group meant to oversee the plans, will now carry out a review of the proposals. Plans had been put forward in 2017 to move MPs into purpose-built 'pop-up Parliament', designed by Norman Foster and built on historic Horse Guards Parade, while ambitious six year maintenance plans were carried out It is reported that the review will centre around whether or not the scheme should still take place 'given the completely altered political and economic landscape'. The outcome of the review is expected to be ready by the autumn. It would be voted on by MPs at the end of 2021, the Times reports. Sarah Johnson, chief executive of Sponsor Body, which was also responsible for delivering the London Olympics, told The Times: 'The impact of the health crisis on public finances and parliament's ways of working has made it even more essential that we review both the strategy for relocating the two houses and the scope of the restoration of the palace.' PIGGS PEAK A statement by South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa recommending no kissing seems to have inspired local lutsango. Grace Malaza, who is the Indvuna for the Hhohho Lutsango, believes kissing, even for married couples, should be stopped as a way of enforcing social distancing. Malaza said kissing normally initiated romance behind closed doors for married couples or lovers, but that was dangerous due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This will kill us, she said, much to the applause of the other women. Sensitisation She was speaking at Gobolondlo Hall where representatives of the Piggs Peak Constituency had gathered for a sensitisation talk hosted by the COVID-19 Task Force. A similar meeting was also earlier held at Ndzingeni Nazarene Hall. Malaza said the challenge between many couples was that men were still report for work during the national emergency. They still use public transport, meet with friends and some even have girlfriends, said Malaza. She said this was an indication that many of them would be exposed or were already infected with the virus. Malaza said some men went straight to their wives after work and one thing leads to another. She highlighted that sometimes, the man would want a passionate evening, forgetting that he could be carrying the virus. Malaza said it was not possible for the women to say no. She said the only way this could be stopped was if the regulations also included a ban on kissing until a cure was found for the virus. It is usually hard for the wife to deny her husband a romantic evening, she said. Malaza also noted that it was not only the men who could potentially infect their spouses, but the wives could also do the same. I could also be with someone and return home and act holy, said Malaza adding that through this, she could transmit the virus to her husband. Tactics Malaza said Eswatini should use the same tactics to fight COVID-19 as it did with HIV/AIDS. She said the HIV/AIDS pandemic, couples were advised to change the ways they acted behind closed doors and this eventually worked. A health expert, Boyboy Ndzinisa, said this would be one effective way of enforcing social distancing. Ndzinisa said kissing was a very easy way of transmitting the virus because it involved contact. Superintendent Khulani Mamba, who is the Chairperson of the Compliance and Security team under the COVID-19 Task Force, also agreed with Malazas suggestion. He said, for now, it would be right to avoid kissing as a way of controlling the spread of the virus. WARSAW, May 19 (Reuters) - Poland's dominant gas company PGNiG anticipates a rise in gas use that will be met by imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), the chief executive said, as the country shifts from coal and curbs its reliance on Russian pipeline supplies. Poland is reducing its dependence on coal as its own supplies are increasingly uneconomic. It is also cutting its decades-old reliance on Russian pipeline gas in favour of imported LNG, including from the United States and Qatar. The state-run PGNiG is a shareholder in PGG, Poland's biggest coal producer, which is struggling to survive the impact of low coal prices, falling demand, rising stockpiles and a high rate of coronavirus infections among miners. Even though the impact of the novel coronavirus has cut energy consumption, demand for gas should be robust as the difficulties of the coal industry accelerate a shift to lower carbon gas, PGNiG Chief Executive Jerzy Kwiecinski told Reuters in an interview. "The epidemic may accelerate (energy) transformation, as the companies that will undergo this process have found themselves in an even more difficult situation and actions in these companies will have to be faster than we had initially planned," he said. "I think that the LNG market will not decrease this year despite the pandemic. The impact of pandemic will be rather short-lived - mostly in the second and third quarter," the CEO said. Figures from Poland's power grid operator show power production from gas-fuelled power stations rose by almost 27% year on year in the first quarter and fell by 23% from coal-burning stations. PGNiG has received LNG supplies under contracts with Qatar and the United States as planned, regardless of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Kwiecinski said, however, the company was in touch with its U.S. partners over the timetable of the construction of LNG terminals. He did not give details. Cheniere Energy Inc, the largest U.S. LNG company, and a PGNiG supplier, has predicted investment in new projects worldwide will slump this year and next as the pandemic limits demand. (Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; editing by Barbara Lewis) Almost 97 per cent of the first set of COVID-19 patients in Lagos State were treated with lopinavir-ritonavir with no recorded death, a new report has shown. Lopinavir-ritonavir is an anti-retrovial drug used in the treatment of HIV and some forms of cancer. The review was done by experts at Mainland Hospital, Yaba, the first hospital designated for the management of COVID-19 cases in Lagos. The retrospective study, since published in the Pan African Medical Journal, examined the treatment of the first 32 patients who tested positive for COVID-19 in the state. The report relied on medical records of the 32 patients admitted and discharged from the hospital between February 27 and April 6. The outcomes of interest were death, promptness of admission process, and duration of hospitalisation. According to the findings, many of the patients were admitted promptly to the health facilities within 48 hours after testing positive. The report suggested the early presentation of cases to the facility influenced the outcome of treatment and also reduced the stay in hospital and mortality rate. It said the preliminary analyses of the first COVID-19 cases in Nigeria, showed clinical presentation was mild to moderate with no mortality. The experts said processes to improve promptness of admission and reduce hospital stay are required to enhance the response to COVID-19 in Nigeria. Global scourge The novel coronavirus that emerged in December 2019 in China has infected over 4.9 million people with over 323,000 deaths as of Tuesday. Nigeria recorded its first case on February 27 in an Italian businessman who had flown into the country. Within some weeks, cases increased sporadically in the state and country with Lagos currently the epicentre of the pandemic in the country with over 2,000 cases. The report showed that the median duration of hospital stay was 12 days. Three-quarters, 75 per cent, of the patients presented in moderately severe condition while 16 per cent, were asymptomatic, it said. According to the report, the most common symptoms among the patients were fever (59 per cent) and dry cough (44 per cent). Loss of smell and loss of taste were also reported by about 19 per cent of the patients. Treatment According to the report, almost all (97 per cent) of the patients were treated with lopinavir-ritonavir. Only one patient (3 per cent) was treated with chloroquine phosphate. Also, no death was reported among the cases. Although fever was the commonest symptom in our study, it did not occur in over a third of cases, it stated. With this finding, the researchers suggested that undue emphasis should not be placed on temperature checks as a form of screening for COVID-19. It also suggested that loss of taste and smell be added as symptoms to look out for. While other researches are being conducted worldwide to understand the behaviour of the new virus and its treatment, the report established that lopinavir-ritonavir could have some prospects in the treatment of Covid-19. However, the report established that the current evidence of the benefit of using antiretrovirals to treat COVID-19 is of low certainty because of important limitations in previous studies. Advertisements Specifically, lopinavir-ritonavir, which was the treatment majorly used in our study, has shown to have no benefit over standard care in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 in one randomized clinical trial, it said. As such, the researchers recommended that the effectiveness of the use of the antiretroviral medication in the Nigerian environment should be subjected to further robust and well-conducted research with a larger sample. Tipped by a Somali friend, I wrote about Ilhan Omars most recent scam in the post Omars latest ilhusion. Using a local food bank program that she had literally nothing to do with, Omar was fraudulently raising funds for her own political purposes. Unfortunately much of the evidence was written with the usual disappearing ink. David Steinberg now retraces Omars steps in the meticulously reported column Minnesota imam confirms Rep. Ilhan Omar improperly raised cash from his charity meals program. David previews his column in the tweets below and saves me the trouble of banging on the Star Tribune for todays puff piece on Omar. What a pathetic excuse for a newspaper. Star Tribune reporter Patrick Condon doesnt even credit the Star Tribunes reporting on Omars marriage fraud in the papers most-read story last year. Jacqueline Susann to the contrary notwithstanding, once was enough. BIG @IlhanMN update: This AM, (on @GlennBeck) I reported @IlhanMN solicited donations to her based on a false claim that she was working w/ a charity to feed seniors during lockdown. Charity leader, *on record*: She knew it was false and did it anyway. Article soon. (1/x) David Steinberg (@realDSteinberg) May 19, 2020 Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariel Dean noted that one person who identified Scott as the man on the videos knows him well. She argued Scott methodically carried out what she described a heinous act, saying he made some deliberate choices, bringing a gas can with him to commit these offenses at a time when people are sleeping. Although leftists famously populate late-night "comedy," the reality is that their jokes lack any fundamental humor. Usually, they confuse insults for humor. Moreover, they're fatally unable to see when the joke's on them. We got to see both problems on Monday. If you watch leftist political "humorists" (e.g., Jon Stewart, Jon Oliver, Samantha Bee), you'll see that the laughs they get are cheaply earned. They identify a conservative target and make a cheap analogy that's neither witty nor intelligent. (E.g., "Calling Donald Trump smart is like calling a wombat with his head caught in a tire a genius.") The comic then smirks knowingly at the audience. The audience, primed to accept that an insult aimed at a despised conservative is by definition "humor," roars with laughter. The audience has gotten its red meat. Leftism is inherently humorless, something summed up in the common expression that "Democrats (or progressives or leftists) can't meme." The best take on leftist humorlessness is the 1939 movie Ninotchka. Greta Garbo plays a Soviet commissar sent to Paris on official business who ends up dealing with Leon, a fun-loving capitalist playboy. One of the movie's running jokes is how utterly humorless communists are: Buljanoff: How are things in Moscow? Ninotchka: Very good. The last mass trials were a great success. There are going to be fewer but better Russians. * * * Ninotchka: I have heard of the arrogant male in capitalistic society. It is having a superior earning power that makes you that way. Leon: A Russian! I love Russians! Comrade, I've been fascinated by your five-year plan for the last fifteen years. Ninotchka: Your type will soon be extinct. On Monday, there were two things that highlighted leftist humorlessness. The first was a Washington Post opinion piece meant to ridicule the conservative belief that Obamagate is based on real wrongdoings aimed at subverting the election and then destroying the Trump presidency. Entitled "Obamagate was the worst crime ever committed and here is what it was," it eschews wit and cleverness in favor of ponderous pedantry: Obamagate began long ago, long before Trump even got elected, before he even knew he was running. It began before America, before time, in those early days when President Barack Obama lit the furnace of the sun, just before he fixed the paths of the planets in such a way that millennia in the future, Donald Trump would stare directly into a solar eclipse. And, of course, everyone knew about it. Obamagate was the biggest political crime in American history by far, a fact that Barack Obama did not hesitate to tell Richard M. Nixon, causing him to shed bitter tears in an as-yet-unreleased tape. It was bigger than Teapot Dome. It was bigger than anything anyone blamed Ulysses Grant for allowing the people who surrounded him to do. Nothing could be worse than Obamagate. It went all the way to the top, where Obama floated inside a sinister Masonic eye at the apex of a pyramid on the back of a dollar bill, holding all the strings. Copying from a history book and a conspiracy website is not humor. The second thing was a Trump campaign approach that revealed that leftists are unable even to recognize a joke. Riffing off Biden's gaffe that "We [the Democrats] choose truth over facts," the Trump campaign created a campaign website and video: Team Trump is launching 'Truth Over Facts,' an investigative website aimed at uncovering the truth behind Joe Bidens never-ending, seemingly incomprehensible statements during his third, plodding campaign for president. VISIT US: https://t.co/nrKKJV9Y4M WATCH Part 1 below! pic.twitter.com/3qoRBuMV4K Team Trump (Text TRUMP to 88022) (@TeamTrump) May 18, 2020 The Democrat response was even funnier than the campaign effort because leftists (just like Ninotchka) didn't get the joke: Joe Biden said "truth over facts" in an Iowa State Fair speech stumble. This became a meme on the right. But when the Trump campaign spun this into an obvious parody "investigative website" that referenced the gaffe, I don't think a lot of people got it... pic.twitter.com/G5nZ1vOeRh Emily Larsen (@emilyelarsen) May 18, 2020 Inbox: Trump Campaign Announces Launch of 'Truth Over Facts' Investigative Website So I guess the war on facts has a name now. pic.twitter.com/GQBMx7Q1O5 Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) May 18, 2020 If you'd written a satire of the Trump administration where they launched a campaign called "Truth Over Facts" it would've been dismissed as heavyhanded and unfair. Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) May 18, 2020 Not only can't leftists meme, they can't even recognize a meme when they see one. Being a leftist is a deadly serious business. It was Saul Alinsky who said, "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon." Trump's team gets it, while Biden's team doesn't even get the joke. US President Donald Trump has warned the WHO that he would reconsider America's membership in the UN health body and "permanently freeze" the funding to it if it does not demonstrate its "independence" from China in the next 30 days. On April 14, President Trump halted America's funding of up to USD 500 million annually to the World Health Organisation while a review is being done to assess its role in "severely mismanaging and covering up" the spread of the deadly coronavirus when it first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. In a four-page letter to WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom, Trump said,"It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organisation in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the WHO is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China." My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organisation. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste, he wrote in his three-page letter. President Trump tweeted the letter late on Monday night. That is why it is my duty, as President of the United States, to inform you that, if the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation, Trump said. "I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests, he added. In his letter dated May 18, Trump alleged that the WHO has failed to publicly call on China to allow for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, despite the recent endorsement for doing so by its own Emergency Committee. On Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping dispelled the criticism of secrecy and cover-up, saying "all along, we have acted with openness, transparency and responsibility. We have provided information to WHO and relevant countries in a most timely fashion. Trump has accused China of covering up, while Australia and the European Union have called for more transparency in China's COVID-19 control efforts including an independent inquiry into the origins of the virus. More than 300,000 people have died due to the coronavirus pandemic and over 4.8 million people infected around the world. The US is the worst-hit country with over 90,000 deaths and over 1.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD; MSE:ERDN) ("Erdene" or the "Company") announces operating and financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2020, and provides an update on the Companys Bayan Khundii Gold Project, including impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). This release should be read in conjunction with the Companys Q1-2020 Financial Statements, MD&A and Annual Information Form, available on the Companys website or SEDAR. Quotes from the Company: We continue to make significant progress on our Bayan Khundii Gold Project Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), with delivery expected in mid-2020," said Peter Akerley, Erdenes President and CEO. These studies build upon the recent Pre-Feasibility Study, based on a reserve of over 400,000 ounces at an average head grade of 3.7 g/t gold, which outlined a high-return, low-capital cost, open-pit development. Our goal is to define a relatively simple, low-capital cost operation producing on average 60,000 ounces per year and be shovel ready by the end of 2020, continued Mr. Akerley. Permitting and development readiness activities are ongoing in advance of financing and construction decisions, targeting first gold production as early as 2021. The Bayan Khundii development is the platform for growth from which we will seek to continue our exploration success and gold resource growth in the very prospective Khundii Gold district, concluded Mr. Akerley. To that end, we recently completed modelling and interpretation work for our newly discovered Dark Horse gold prospect and our Altan Nar project, identifying multiple high priority drill targets that have the potential to add significant resources. Q1-2020 Highlights and Subsequent Events: Khundii Gold Project 100% Erdene Progressed Bayan Khundii BFS and Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) studies towards completion in mid-2020: A 3D fly-through video of the site design is available at the following link . Geotechnical & Pit Hydrology: Roma Group completed pit geotechnical and hydrology modelling that has been incorporated into the mine design. Mineral Reserves, Mine Planning and Production Schedule: O2 Mining and Auralia Mining Consultants determined minable reserves and optimized the mine plan. The mine plan has been incorporated into the request for proposal packages sent to potential contract miners for BFS costing. Hydrogeology: Roma Group completed a review of the hydrogeological data for the permitted bore-field proposed for the process plant water supply and confirmed its suitability at the BFS stage. Metallurgy & Process Design: Blue Coast Research performed further test work to optimize cyanidation parameters and comminution circuit inputs, and carried out carbon adsorption, detoxification and dewatering tests to provide data to optimize the processing plant design. Process Design: 360 Global is advancing the Process Plant design to maximize gold recovery, enhance operability, and increase water re-use. Non-process infrastructure: O2 Mining and Mongolian consultants have substantially completed design of mine support buildings including mine-dry, office, maintenance facilities and worker accommodations to a level suitable for the BFS and Mongolian permitting. Waste Management: ATC Williams completed the BFS-level design of the mineral waste facility, using an industry-leading approach to the co-disposal of waste rock and filtered tailings that seeks to minimize any potential impacts of mine waste and tailings on the environment and society. Procurement: Mongolian and international suppliers and service providers have received requests for proposals and the process of evaluating their submissions has been initiated for detailed costing and economic modeling. Received the Altan Nar Mining License on March 5, 2020: Mining licenses are valid for an initial term of 30 years and can be extended to 70 years, providing long-term tenure over the land package underpinning the Khundii Gold District. Substantially completed the ESIA led by Sustainability East Asia, and the Mongolian statutory Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA), built upon the ESIA, is largely complete in advance of public consultation: The studies assessed potential impacts on the local eco-system, air quality, water resources, traffic, and the economy in the context of nearby communities and on-site personnel. English and Mongolian language ESIA reports will be disclosed in the first half of 2020, following Board and lender reviews. Obtained several key permits and regulatory approvals required for construction: Mineral Resource and Petroleum Authority approved the BK Statutory Technical and Economic Assessment (Mongolian Feasibility Study). Land Arrangement Plan approved by the local government granting access to the 100-hectare area required to construct the BK open-pit and associated surface infrastructure. The Company received land use certificates for all surface infrastructure. Story continues Exploration Announced results of the Q4 2019 Altan Nar exploration campaign in January 2020, which returned some of the strongest results to date: Altan Nar Discovery Zone: Expanded the high-grade portion of the Central Gap Zone with 45.7 g/t gold, 93.4 g/t silver, 1.54% lead and 3.40% zinc over 7 metres 1 beginning at approximately 70 metres vertical depth, within 23 metres 1 grading 17 g/t gold at TND-135. Altan Nar Discovery Zone: Confirmed high-grade mineralization north of the Gap Zone with 12.2 g/t gold over 10 metres 1 , including 2 metres 1 of 52.9 g/t gold at TND-134 and 10 metres 1 of 4.68 g/t gold at TND-138. Incorporated results from Q4 2019 surface exploration work and drilling, and independent geophysical analysis into 3D modelling. Formulated exploration plans for the newly discovered Khar Mori (Dark Horse) prospect in advance of the 2020 field season. _____________________________ 1 Result intervals (metres) represent measured widths please refer to individual news releases for projected true widths. Corporate Recorded a net loss of $1,041,990 for the three months ended March 31, 2020, compared to a net loss of $516,687 for the three months ended March 31, 2019: Exploration and Evaluation expenditures, including capitalized costs, of $1,511,929 in Q1 2020 exceeded costs of $941,083 for Q1 2019 as increased technical consultant costs associated with the Bayan Khundii Feasibility Study more than offset lower exploration activity. Corporate and administrative expenses, excluding non-cash, share-based compensation and depreciation were $304,746 for the three months ended March 31, 2020 versus $296,330 in the prior year quarter as higher marketing expenditures and additional director expenses associated with the Bankable Feasibility Study offset savings in regulatory and administrative expenditures. Potential Impacts of COVID-19 on the Khundii Gold Project In late January 2020, Erdene initiated measures, including travel restrictions, remote work and supplemental health care for its Ulaanbaatar based and international staff in response to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Since mid-January, the Mongolian government has restricted the movement of people and goods within the country, as well as internationally to protect its residents from the virus. Although the full impact of the COVID-19 virus will not be known for some time, the Company remains largely on track for the delivery of the Bayan Khundii BFS by mid-2020. Permitting and exploration also continues, though travel and public gathering restrictions have led to modest delays. Further details on potential impacts the Company is monitoring are as follows: Bankable Feasibility Study: The BFS is well progressed with the remaining work-streams largely desktop focused, following the completion of field based and laboratory studies in late 2019 and early 2020. Costing work is being carried out remotely, and procurement is focused on Chinese and Mongolian vendors, where restrictions related to COVID-19 have been recently relaxed. Although minor delays are anticipated in finalizing the BFS, Erdene is on track to announce results of the BFS in mid-2020, and delivery of the full report within 45 days of the announcement. Permitting: The Ulaanbaatar based team continues to make significant progress on permitting, as evidenced by the recent receipt of the Altan Nar mining license. Restrictions around public gatherings are delaying a public consultation required for the approval of the DEIA. Other permitting activities are not materially impacted by the restrictions associated with the prevention of the spread of COVID-19. Exploration and Field Activities: Following the successful exploration results announced in January 2020, Q1-2020 exploration activities has been desktop-focused. Mapping, geochemical and geophysical work has been completed at the recently discovered Khar Mori (Dark Horse) prospect in advance of the 2020 exploration season. Liquidity and Financing: With the receipt of the US$5 million EBRD convertible loan financing in November 2019, Erdene is fully funded through the delivery of the BFS. The Company intends to secure project finance in 2020 but recognizes the implications of the current volatile market condition. Erdene is implementing costs saving measures and building contingencies to maintain momentum and protect its key assets. Background on the Khundii Gold Project Development Erdenes deposits are located in the Edren Terrane, within the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, host to some of the worlds largest gold and copper-gold deposits. The Company has been the leader in exploration in southwest Mongolia over the past decade and is responsible for the discovery of the Khundii Gold District comprised of multiple high-grade gold and gold/base metal prospects, two of which are being considered for development: the 100%-owned Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar projects. Together, these deposits comprise the Khundii Gold Project. In October of 2019, Erdene announced the results of an independent Technical Report for the Khundii Gold Project (press release here ), which included a Pre-feasibility Study (PFS) for the Bayan Khundii deposit and an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the Altan Nar deposit. The PFS and the updated PEA results include an after-tax Net Present Value at a 5% discount rate and a US$1,300/oz gold price of US$97 million and US$24 million, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 42% and 90% for Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar deposits, respectively. The PFS envisions an open-pit mine at Bayan Khundii from Years 0-7, producing an average of 61,000 oz gold per year at a head grade of 3.73 g/t gold, and an open-pit operation at Altan Nar during Years 7-10, for an average annual production of 48,000 oz gold at an average head grade of 3.46 g/t gold, utilizing a conventional Carbon In Pulp processing plant at the Bayan Khundii mine. Erdene has secured a mining license for the Bayan Khundii deposit in August of 2019 and is rapidly advancing to production. The Altan Nar PEA is by nature, a preliminary economic study, based in part on Inferred Resources. Inferred Resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, which is required for a pre-feasibility or feasibility study. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Qualified Person and Sample Protocol Peter Dalton, P.Geo. (Nova Scotia), Senior Geologist for Erdene, is the Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. All samples have been assayed at SGS Laboratory in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In addition to internal checks by SGS Laboratory, the Company incorporates a QA/QC sample protocol utilizing prepared standards and blanks. All samples undergo standard fire assay analysis for gold and ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy) analysis for 33 additional elements. For samples that initially return a grade greater than 5 g/t gold, additional screen-metallic gold analysis is carried out which provides a weighted average gold grade from fire assay analysis of the entire +75 micron fraction and three 30-gram samples of the -75 micron fraction from a 500 gram sample. Erdenes drill core sampling protocol consisted of collection of samples over 1 or 2 m intervals (depending on the lithology and style of mineralization) over the entire length of the drill hole, excluding minor post-mineral lithologies and un-mineralized granitoids. Sample intervals were based on meterage, not geological controls or mineralization. All drill core was cut in half with a diamond saw, with half of the core placed in sample bags and the remaining half securely retained in core boxes at Erdenes Bayan Khundii exploration camp. All samples were organized into batches of 30 including a commercially prepared standard, blank and either a field duplicate, consisting of two quarter-core intervals, or a laboratory duplicate. Sample batches were periodically shipped directly to SGS in Ulaanbaatar via Erdenes logistical contractor, Monrud Co. Ltd. About Erdene Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious and base metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The Company has interests in three mining licenses and three exploration licenses in Southwest Mongolia, where exploration success has led to the discovery and definition of the Khundii Gold District. Erdene Resource Development Corp. is listed on the Toronto and Mongolia stock exchanges. Further information is available at www.erdene.com. Important information may be disseminated exclusively via the website; investors should consult the site to access this information. Forward-Looking Statements Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions, forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual performance will be affected by several factors, most of which are beyond its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include potential impacts of COVID-19 on the Companys operations, ability to obtain required third party approvals, market prices, exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the current date and is subject to change after that date. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENTS OF THIS RELEASE Erdene Contact Information Peter C. Akerley, President and CEO, or Robert Jenkins, CFO Phone: (902) 423-6419 Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErdeneRes Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ErdeneResource LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/erdene-resource-development-corp-/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCILs5s9j3SLmya9vo2-KXoA Kevin Perry Jr., the former Worcester restaurateur and convicted drug dealer serving a lengthy federal prison sentence is asking a federal judge for a second time to be released early. Earlier this month, a federal judge had denied Perrys motion to be released early due to the coronavirus pandemic citing that Perry had only served 25% of his 14-year sentence. Perry claimed a medical condition puts him at serious risk to be infected with COVID-19. In a new motion filed Monday, Perry says his cellmate contracted COVID-19. He also notes that the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts, where Perry is being held, now has 10 inmates and two staff members with coronavirus. Federal prison records confirmed those statistics Tuesday. At the time of his previous motion, no staff or inmates at the federal prison had coronavirus, something federal Judge Timothy Hillman noted at the time he denied Perrys motion for a compassionate release. Perry is arguing that he now should be released and serve the remainder of his sentence under home detention. Perry, 49, was sentenced to serve 14 years in federal prison in 2018 after he admitted to using drug money to buy two Worcester restaurants and other properties in Central Massachusetts. He pleaded guilty to money laundering and fentanyl distribution charges. Records show Perry asked the warden on March 26 for a compassionate release due to the pandemic. He was denied. Perry then petitioned the courts but was denied on May 8. In the most recent motion, Perry, through his lawyer, argues he should be released, and his case handled on an expedited basis, so as to preserve his life and health. Perry contends the facility cannot properly protect staff and inmates from COVID-19. He also claimed his cellmate has the virus. The latest motion said Perry told his lawyer, via mail, that his cellmate has coronavirus. The cellmate, according to Perry, had been a suicide watch worker in the federal prison and even with a shelter in place at the prison, the cellmate would work in a different unit then come back to the shared cell with Perry. This failure to actually have inmates shelter in place in their own units has resulted in having Mr. Perry exposed to an individual infected with COVID-19, the motion reads. Perry and his lawyer argue that it has been impossible for inmates to social distance in the facility, citing another ongoing federal case involving FMC Devens. The motion cites a statement from a doctor who specializes in correctional health care. The doctor calls FMC Devens a tinder-box that is waiting to explode with a surge of COVID-19 infections. In his previous motion and again in the current motion, Perry cites his leukopenia, a shortage of white blood cells in his body, as a reason for him being at an increased risk for serious illness or death if he contracts coronavirus in federal prison. Perry also cites a history of hepatitis C and had a past positive test for tuberculosis. His health is now in great peril, with his direct exposure to a known infected individual, and that individuals exposing himself to others in Mr. Perrys housing unit, the recent motion states. In his decision denying Perrys first motion to be released, Hillman wrote: The court also finds it significant that Mr. Perry has only served approximately 25% of his 168-month sentence and that the defendant committed the acts that resulted in the present incarceration while he was on supervised release for similar drug-related conduct. Federal records show Perry is expected to be released in February 2029. Perry contends the 25% figure does not include First Step Act good time credits which reduce his sentence. Perry is also fighting for a reduced sentence in a separate court filing. In the motion, Perry and his lawyer argue he is not a risk of re-offending. Perry used drug money he hid from the government after he was convicted in 2005 of selling and manufacturing ecstasy to help buy the Worcester restaurants and properties in Central Massachusetts. He also began dealing drugs again when he was released. Federal records show Perry spent more than $2 million to buy the properties which included The Usual and The Blackstone Tap. Those restaurants now have new owners. His estranged wife, Stacey Gala, has also pleaded guilty to a money laundering charge in the case although her sentencing has been delayed due to the pandemic. A federal prosecutor wants a judge to send Gala to prison for 32 months. While authorities said Gala was never involved in Perrys drug dealing, she did use some of that money to renovate one of Worcester restaurants, authorities said. Galas former business partner, Joseph Herman, has already pleaded guilty in the case. He is also awaiting sentencing on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, false statements and attempted tampering with a witness. Herman, who was Galas former manager at The Usual, and Gala used some of Perrys hidden drug money to rebrand the restaurant under the name, The Chameleon, after Perrys arrest in 2017. Herman lied to Worcester city regulators about where he got the money for the rebranding, authorities said. Another man, Christopher Slavinskas, and Herman retrieved the money from a storage locker where Perry hid money. Slavinskas hid some of the money in a Worcester church. Slavinskas was sentenced to two years of probation in the case for lying to investigators. Related Content: "After the motion passes, any member in violation of the rule change will face discipline, including potentially being removed from the chamber by a vote of the House. This is not an action I take lightly, but when it comes to the health and safety of members, their families, staff and the communities they represent, it is the right and prudent thing to do," Madigan said in the statement. Staff and members of the public not observing the rules will be asked to leave the premises immediately." Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 18:06:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause havoc around the world, some people in Zambia still do not have enough information on the disease. From the time Zambia announced its first case on March 18, information on radio, television and newspapers have been flowing from both the government and its partners. However, it is shocking that some citizens have literally no knowledge of the pandemic. The lack of adequate knowledge could be one of the reasons for lack of adherence to health guidelines such as wearing of face masks and social distancing, among others. A talk with some residents of Ngombe compound, a sprawling shanty compound of Lusaka, the country's capital, reveals that if the battle against the pandemic is to be won, increased knowledge is vital. The government and its partners need to step up efforts in providing information so that people can be aware of the disease. Mwansa Chansa is a 30-year-old resident, who deals in second-hand clothing and is among residents of the city still ignorant about the disease. "Is corona still around? Me I thought it finished a long time ago," she said when asked to comment about what she knows about the disease. She said she has little time to listen to radio or watch television because by the time she goes home she was tired of her daily chores. Her colleague, Monica, although expressing that she knows that there is coronavirus in the world, has very little understanding of what it is and how it is transmitted. "To be honest, we don't have enough information about this disease. We don't know how it is transmitted but we have heard that it is killing a lot of people," she said. Meanwhile, people are also providing conflicting views as well as myths. Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya said recently that there is need to increase awareness on the pandemic and called on all stakeholders, including the media to come up with various programs aimed at sensitizing the citizens. It is for this reason that the government, working with the United Nations (UN) has established a COVID-19 Call Center. UN Resident Coordinator Coumba Mar Gardio said when she visited the center recently that the fight against coronavirus is not only a fight against a virus but also a fight against misinformation. She noted that the Center will go a long way in helping provide information to the public on the pandemic as well as help in correcting myths and misconceptions that people receive every day through myriad ways, she added. According to her, it was vital for stakeholders to understand the importance of communication if the battle against the pandemic is to be won. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 19:01:22|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Aerial photo taken on May 18, 2020 shows the Baitashan Park and its surroundings in Chengguan District of Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province. The Lanzhou municipal government's afforestation and forest conservation efforts since 2013 have achieved good environmental benefits -- the city's water resources improved, the urban climate was fine-tuned, and the amount of sand and dirt in the Yellow River also decreased. (Xinhua/Fan Peishen) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 08:04 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8e8d96 1 Business Chandra-Asri,Bank-Permata,loan,loan-facility Free Petrochemical producer PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical has sealed a US$70 million term loan facility agreement with privately owned Bank Permata to strengthen the formers financial resilience amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The publicly listed petrochemical company will use the loan facility for general corporate purposes, annual or regular capital expenditure (capex), operating expenses and/or refinancing requirements. The agreement was signed by Bank Permata corporate banking division head Lamas Marasi Tua and Chandra Asri financial director Andre Khor alongside corporate affairs director Suryandi on Monday. During this challenging period due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Chandra Asri, as one of the key industry players in Indonesia, is fully committed to continuing to be the main pillar of growth for the downstream petrochemical industry, Andre said as quoted in a statement. As we know, reactivation of industrial growth is very important at this time. Manufacturing industry growth has been on the decline since last years third quarter and its contribution to Indonesias gross domestic product (GDP) has also tumbled. The sector grew at a sluggish 2.06 percent year-on-year (yoy) in the first quarter, down from 3.85 percent in the same period last year, with its contribution to GDP dropping to 19.98 percent from 20.06 percent in the first three months of 2019, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data showed. This signing ceremony is our form of support for Chandra Asri and domestic industries amid the uncertainties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, Bank Permatas wholesale banking director Darwin Wibowo said in the same statement. Our trust in their business as the market leader and the most integrated petrochemical producer in Indonesia solidified the decision to provide a $70 million term loan facility, he added. Shares of Chandra Asri, traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) under the code TPIA, were down 3.05 percent at 2:13 p.m. Jakarta time on Monday versus a 0.13 percent gain recorded by the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI). Meanwhile, Bank Permata stocks (BNLI) soared 3.23 percent. Chandra Asri Petrochemical was established in 2011 following a merger between PT Chandra Asri and PT Tri Polyta Indonesia. The company produces olefins and polyolefins-based products including polyethylene, propylene and butadiene, according to its official website. [May 19, 2020] Dr. Richard Popiel Joins CareCentrix Strategic Advisory Board HARTFORD, Conn., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CareCentrix, the leader in home-based and post-acute care services, announced today the addition of healthcare industry veteran Richard Popiel, MD, MBA to its Strategic Advisory Board. Dr. Popiel brings deep industry insights and years expertise leading healthcare transformation, most recently serving as the Executive Vice President and Corporate Chief Medical Officer of Cambia Health Solutions, following senior leadership roles in Regence Health Plans, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, and Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Popiel will advise on strategies related to CareCentrix's mission to make the home the center of care. "COVID-19 exposed the fragility and fragmentation of our health care system and demonstrated once again the value of providing more care to the home. As the pandemic unfolded, we showed in hot-spots ranging from New York and Connecticut to Florida and Louisiana that the home can be a superior destination for care and healing," said CareCentrix CEO John Driscoll. "Dr. Popiel's experience delivering innovation and change at scale within large health plans and provider organizations will help us acclerate opportunities to bring care home." CareCentrix is leading this transformation in real-time as the pandemic develops, integrating technology into the home care setting, making telehealth and remote patient monitoring services available to their network to maintain care continuity while minimizing risk of infection. CareCentrix also recently acquired the community-based palliative care leader, Turn-Key Health, expanding its continuum of care in the home. "The expansion of person-centered home care is one of the most effective ways to improve outcomes and reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions," said Dr. Richard Popiel. "CareCentrix has demonstrated leadership in leading care home, long before COVID-19 struck the pandemic exacerbated already well-established challenges of a fragmented continuum of care once patients leave the hospital. I look forward to collaborating with the experts on the Strategic Advisory Board and exploring ways to continue to innovate and bring healthcare into people's homes." Dr. Popiel joins an impressive eight-member CareCentrix Strategic Advisory Board that welcomed former Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove, MD earlier in 2020. Dr. Popiel is board-certified in internal medicine and completed his medical degree and a bachelor's degree in biology from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He also earned a master's degree in business administration from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. About CareCentrix CareCentrix is committed to making the home the center of patient care. With more than 20 years of experience working with payors and providers to create programs that improve quality and lower costs, CareCentrix allows patients to heal or age where they want to be: at home. CareCentrix manages care for 26 million members through over 8,000 provider locations. Through advanced analytics, CareCentrix helps determine the appropriate site for post-acute care, and provides support and coordination for patients and their families throughout care transitions, including to and from Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) and through Home Health, Home DME, Home Infusion, and Home Sleep services. For more information, please visit www.carecentrix.com. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dr-richard-popiel-joins-carecentrix-strategic-advisory-board-301061596.html SOURCE CareCentrix, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] TDT | Manama His Royal Highness the Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa praised yesterday the productive and constructive cooperation between Bahrains parliament and government. HRH the Premier was speaking as he chaired the weekly Cabinet session, which was held virtually. HRH Prince Khalifas commendation came before the royal call for the summer recess of the second session of the Fifth Legislative Term. HRH the Prime Minister expressed thanks and appreciation to the heads and members of the Shura Council and the Council of Representatives for their fruitful cooperation for national achievements, and for preserving the positive image of Bahrains democratic practices. HRH the Premier added that the government, with all its ministries and agencies, is committed to devoting its efforts to preserving the health and safety of citizens and residents, and to achieve His Majesty the Kings aspirations for normalcy in peoples lives. During the session, HRH the Prime Minister was informed about the procedures taken by the Ministry of Housing to implement his directives on meeting old applications of Aali citizens through the allocation of the greater share of the Al Ramli Housing Project to them and to neighbouring villages. HRH the Premier requested the same ministry to find out the best solutions to absorb the housing needs of Aali and its neighbouring villages within the on-going housing projects, including the Al Ramli venture. HRH the Prime Minister also requested the Ministry of Finance and National Economy to pay the salaries of public sector employees and retirees on Thursday, to enable them to meet the needs and requirements of Eid Al Fitr. Meanwhile, the session endorsed a draft-law on determining the regulations and procedures of reconciliation in crimes, related to the violations of the Commercial Register Law. The bill allows violators to request a settlement before their referral to courts. Settlements shall be made by paying BD1,000 for each violation, according to the regulations and conditions set in the bill, as recommended by the Ministerial Committee for Legal and Legislative Affairs and outlined in the memorandum presented by the Deputy Premier and committee chairman, along with the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. The session also agreed to allow TTSJV company, with 68 per cent foreign-owned capital, to engage in service activities related to water transport management and operation of public and private ports to serve the Bapco Modernisation Programme. TTSJV shall be exempted from the condition of the need to have a Bahraini partner, according to the provisions of Article (345) of the Commercial Companies Law, in light of the memorandum submitted for this purpose by the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. The Cabinet was informed about the progress of the Ministry of Healths shift to e-systems in its transactions and services, in coordination with the Supreme Council of Health. This is through implementing the National Health Information System (I-Seha), which was modified to link all sites related to confronting and combatting the spread of the COVID-19 to allow timely follow-up on infected patients and others. The Health Ministry is implementing the National Health Insurance Scheme (Sehati) and the projects emanating from it, including the National Electronic Medical Record, which places all information about everyone in Bahrain from various health sources in one medical electronic portfolio for each individual. The health information can be accessed by any authorised treating physician in Bahrain from their work sites at the approval of the patient. Under the Sehati scheme, a system to track and trace medicines dispensed in Bahrain is also implemented. The Cabinet extended wishes of a blessed Eid Al Fitr to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, HRH the Premier and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister. The Cabinet also extended its wishes to Bahraini citizens, as well as the Arab and Islamic nations, on the auspicious occasion. Jaipur, May 19 : A total of 250 Covid-19 cases were recorded in Rajasthan in last 18 hours, taking the total tally to 5,757, while there was one more fatality, Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said on Tuesday. The maximum cases - 40 - were registered in Pali, followed by Dungarpur with 22, while Barmer ranked third with 17 cases, Jaipur had 15, Jodhpur and Sirohi both have 11 cases each, Tonk had four, Udaipur and Bikaner had three each and Sikar had two. One death was reported on Tuesday taking the total death toll in state to 139. Overall, 31 out of the state's 33 districts have been affected by Covid-19, with Jaipur on top with 1,640 cases while Jodhpur has 1,082 cases. Jhunjhunu, which had become corona free a few days back, has 60 cases while Bhilwara, whose containment model was praised all across the world, has 80 cases. Many other districts in the state including Sirohi, Pali, Rajsamand etc have witnessed cases going higher with the influx of migrants. Officials said that over 5.64 lakh migrants have arrived in Rajasthan till date, out of whom, 818 have tested positive. In Dungarpur, over one lakh migrants arrived from Maharashtra out of which 122 have tested Covid-19 positive, Rajsamand had 80,000 migrants out of which 32 from Maharashtra and seven from Gujarat tested positive, while over 1.5 lakh migrants came to Jalore from Maharashtra and out of which 32 are positive. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Carluccio's will be rescued from administration by the owner of the Giraffe restaurant chain. Boparan Restaurants will snap up the troubled Italian-style brand from administrators FRP Advisory, in a deal which will save around 900 jobs. But Boparan will only buy around 30 of the 71 Carluccio's restaurants. The remaining locations are likely to close, the Mail understands, meaning around 1,000 jobs will be axed. Saved: The ailing restaurant chain was founded by late chef Antonio Carluccio The deal will ensure, at least over the short term, the survival of the 21- year-old Carluccio's brand, which was founded by late chef Antonio Carluccio. Before it slipped into administration at the end of March, Carluccio's had been owned by Dubai-based retail firm Landmark Group. Boparan is owned by tycoon Ranjit Boparan, who earned the nickname 'chicken king' after founding poultry supplier 2 Sisters Food Group in 1993. He bought Giraffe from Tesco in 2016, and months later grabbed Ed's Diner out of administration. But he was forced to close a third of the locations last year amid a crisis in the casual dining sector. Lowery-Biggers has more than 30 years of global financial and insurance experience, most recently as group chief marketing officer for The Navigators Group. She joined The Navigators Group in 2009 as president of field operations. She has also served as president of Lloyds of London, North America, and held various positions at Wells Fargo Insurance Services and Marsh and McLennan Companies. She is currently CEO of BellaVaughan and serves as a non-executive director at Protective Insurance, CopperPoint Mutual Insurance Holding Company and Brown and Riding. The appointments of Dom and LoriAnn are testament to our determination in attracting industry-leading talent and to the scale of our ambition in North America, said Nick Cook, CEO of BMS Group. Doms distinguished career in the reinsurance market will contribute greatly to our business as we continue to invest and grow in this sector. LoriAnn is a highly respected leader with a global reputation and extensive market relationships. The opportunities created by these hires are evident to us, and I look forward to working with them and Peter Chandler, our US CEO, in growing our business. BMSs driven and ambitious team is focused on developing innovative and individualized solutions for clients, Addesso said. The executive leadership has a clear reinsurance strategy and invests time and resources in supporting all employees in developing their value to clients. Im excited to join such a talented and close-knit team, and Im particularly looking forward to working with them to further accelerate the development of the US reinsurance platform. BMSs clear vision and dynamic culture has made it one of the fastest-growing companies in the market and a genuine global choice for clients whose options are becoming increasingly limited, Lowery-Biggers said. Its an exciting time to join, and I look forward to working with the executive team in the US and the wider group on executing a strategy that serves the best interests of its global clients. Tragedy once again struck migrant labourers as seven labourers were killed in two separate accidents across the country on Tuesday. A truck carrying migrant labourers overturned on the Jhansi-Mirzapur highway, leaving three women dead and 17 others injured, police said on Tuesday. The accident took place late on Monday night at Mahuva crossing in Uttar Pradesh's Mahoba district, SP, Mahoba, Mani Lal Patidar, said on Tuesday. The labourers had come on foot from Delhi and had boarded the truck near Harpalpur along the UP-MP border, the SP said. The truck overturned into a roadside ditch after a tyre burst, killing three women on the spot, the SP said. The deceased were aged between 30 and 38 years. The injured have been admitted to a government hospital. Meanwhile, three migrant labourers and a busdriver were killed and 22 others injured after their vehicle hit a stationary truck in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district in the early hours of Tuesday, a police official said. The accident took place at Kolwan village around 3.30 am when the bus was on way from Solapur to Nagpur railway station where the labourers were supposed to board a Shramik Special train to reach their native places in Jharkhand, Additional Superintendent of Police Noorul Hasan said. The bus driver lost control over the wheels following which the vehicle hit a stationary truck which was carrying road construction material, he said. Test and trace. Test and trace. As provinces start cautiously to restart public life after weeks of lockdown, thats the mantra from politicians and public health officials alike. We need testing for the COVID-19 virus on a massive scale, they say. And we need an equally ambitious program of contact tracing so we can quickly figure out whos been exposed to the virus and alert them before it starts to spread out of control. Canadas top public health official, Dr. Theresa Tam, says contact tracing is absolutely critical to a successful reopening that doesnt lead to new outbreaks of the disease. Ontario Premier Doug Ford uses the same words. And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he and the premiers are discussing how to do it on a national scale once inter-provincial travel starts back up. Yet the truth is that while contact tracing may be vital, its fraught with problems technical, social and political. And in Canada, at least, theres little sign that were on the way to the kind of broad, effective effort that all agree is necessary. Certainly, theres lots of talk and a flurry of high-profile announcements. In South Korea and Hong Kong, contact tracing apps are credited with helping to break the chain of infection and bringing the pandemic to a halt. Google and Apple, meanwhile, are collaborating on technology that would notify people if theyve been in contact with someone infected with COVID-19. Alberta has launched its own app, while other provinces are busy at work on their own. Everyone, it seems, sees apps as a way of putting contact tracing on steroids. Instead of doing it the old-fashioned way with armies of public health workers tracking people by phone and email, digital systems offer the promise of quick results and almost-instant response. Not to mention low cost. But theres a hitch. Simply put, to be effective, such apps must be intrusive perhaps too intrusive for those who value their privacy and civil liberties. They may be accepted in some societies, such as China where the government could even make their use mandatory. But Canadians will not and indeed should not give up their rights so easily. Civil libertarians and privacy advocates, as a result, have been sounding the alarm about potential abuses. Mandatory systems, they rightly say, should be used only as a last resort. Any measures should be voluntary, time-limited, safeguard the custody of personal data, and be overseen by a privacy commissioner or surveillance ombudsman. That makes sense, but its a trade-off: such guarantees would inevitably make any system less effective, or at least less efficient. If the goal is an immediate response to stop the disease in its tracks, then allowing people to opt in or out and encumbering it with protections doesnt help. At the same time, the effectiveness of such systems is still very much in question. Depending on the technology thats used, contact tracing apps may work only if users leave their phones unlocked and have the app running all the time which are likely to discourage uptake. Since such systems arent effective unless most people are using them, thats a big problem. At the same time, existing apps cant distinguish between family members sharing a dwelling and strangers passing by. Or between open and closed spaces. Human contact tracers can figure out those differences by questioning infected people, and so dont waste time by alerting people who arent at risk. In Canada, typically, were cobbling together a patchwork system since both testing and contact tracing are the responsibility of provincial public health officials. We risk ending up with a mix of technologies, data collection methods, and regulations, leading once again to an unclear national picture as the pandemic unfolds. And some systems may simply not be up to the job. Quebec, as we know, has been hardest hit by COVID-19, yet the new contact tracing system it is bringing is built around old technology and seems ill-suited to the task its designed to do. Unlike app-based tools, Quebecs system, built in a matter of weeks by the Quebec company Akinox, uses email. A patient who tests positive for COVID-19 will get an email and be asked to fill out a form identifying those theyve been in contact with, along with their email addresses. Then the chain continues. Jorg Fritz, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at McGill University, tells CBC News the system appears to be very outdated and old-fashioned compared to apps being designed for the same purpose around the world. With all these problems, the best solution in the short run may well be boosting the ranks of human contact-tracers, who have done that work for years with diseases like HIV. California, for one, plans to invest $44 million to train a small army of 10,000 tracers. Sometimes, the traditional ways may be the best. Canada cant afford to boot this one. And if there is no easy technological fix, there may be no other way than spending the money needed to strengthen the human-based system here. Compared to the cost of failing, it would be cheap. Correction - May 22, 2020: This article was edited from a previous version that mistakenly said Google is collaborating with Facebook on contact tracing technology. In fact, the collaboration is between Google and Apple. Disclosure statements filed last summer with the Illinois Gaming Board identified Gordon Sondland as holding an interest of five percent or more in Illinois Cafe and Service Company, LLC (ICSC), Fischer's company that owns the Dotty's chain in Illinois. Sondland, an Oregon hotel developer who recently served as President Trump's Ambassador to the European Union, was a key witness who changed his testimony in the President's impeachment proceedings. The newly disclosed court documents resulted from a Cook County judge's order lifting confidentiality designations that had previously hamstrung Gold Rush Amusements, Inc., and its executive Rick Heidner from knowing and revealing the details of the alleged sham transaction involving ICSC, Midwest SRO, and Laredo Hospitality Ventures, LLC, the parent company of Stella's and Shelby's. The ruling allows Gold Rush and Heidner, for the first time, to fully learn and publicly disclose the details of the transaction, including the allegedly improper inducement paid by Midwest SRO, a Gold Rush competitor. "Gold Rush has compelling evidence that the Transaction was the culmination of a multi-year, concerted effort between and among Midwest SRO, ICSC, and Laredo (and their principals) to replace the Gold Rush Contracts with contracts benefitting Midwest SRO," Gold Rush alleges in the newly unmasked court document. Under state law, establishments and terminal operators must equally split 67 percent of a machine's profits, while the remaining one-third goes to state and local taxes. In fiscal year 2019, Illinois' 32,000 video gaming terminals yielded nearly $1.6 billion in net revenue. A nine-page ruling lifting the document's confidentiality on March 13 by Cook County Circuit Associate Judge Sanjay T. Tailor also favors the public's right of access to court documents. "Equity demands that Gold Rush be permitted to publicly make its claims of wrongdoing against the Establishments and Midwest, and their respective principals, just as the Establishments and Midwest have publicly made their claims of wrongdoing against Gold Rush," Judge Tailor wrote. The ruling involves Gold Rush's counterclaims against 44 Stella's and Shelby's gaming cafes in which Gold Rush began accumulating agreements to place its video gaming terminals in 2013. Those 44 establishments sued Gold Rush in early 2019 to terminate the contracts. A year later, Gold Rush filed its counterclaims and additional claims against Fischer, the other principals, and the companies that were involved in the November 2018 transaction, which purported to change ownership of all 63 Stella's and Shelby's establishments in suburbs surrounding Chicago. Until now, the details of Gold Rush's allegation that the parties engaged in an improper sham transaction were shielded by a court protective order that allowed the opposing parties to designate key documents relating to the transaction as "attorneys eyes only," meaning that Gold Rush's counsel could not even share the documents with their client. Now fully public, Gold Rush's counterclaim alleges that Midwest SRO, and its principal, Allyson Estey, paid more than $44.5 million or 95.7% of the value of the deal to Laredo, the parent company of Stella's and Shelby's, and one of its owners, Gary Leff. The filing alleges that Midwest SRO's payment was part of a conspiracy to oust Gold Rush as the terminal operator and place Midwest SRO's video gaming terminals in 44 of the establishments. At the same time, Fischer's ICSC, which operates Dotty's in Illinois, paid just $2,000,001 or 4.3% of the deal's overall value to purchase Laredo's actual assets and cafes, which generate substantial revenue from video gaming. Fischer became involved in Dotty's when he and his former business partner, Marwin Hofer, purchased Dotty's Oregon establishments from the chain's founder, Craig Estey, who is Allyson Estey's father. Hofer, a South Dakota businessman, was the initial managing member of a South Dakota limited liability company that continues to hold an interest of five percent or more in Fischer's ICSC, as does a living trust in the name of Hofer's wife. Hofer was convicted of federal wire fraud in 2017. The offices of Fischer's ICSC and Allyson Estey's Midwest SRO are housed in adjacent business suites in suburban Bensenville. When the designated confidential documents were produced in the litigation last summer, Gold Rush's attorneys began to unravel the complex sham transaction. The documents revealed that Leff had agreed to be bound by restrictive covenants that did not exist until the day of the transaction, and Midwest SRO purchased those covenants from Laredo for more than $34.6 million. Leff was also allowed to retain unspecified intellectual property valued at $9.85 million. There was no indication of how the restrictive covenants or intellectual property values were calculated. Leff further received a 10 percent interest in Midwest SRO and the right to have his interest redeemed for $9.85 million approximately a year after the transaction. At the same time, Fischer's ICSC purportedly purchased the Laredo establishments for $1, and paid just $2 million to acquire the outstanding interests in Laredo. Gold Rush's complaint names Fischer, Leff, Allyson Estey, and Charity Johns, who was Laredo's CEO and became CEO of Fischer's ICSC, as defendants. The counterclaims and complaint allege that those individuals and their companies ICSC, Midwest SRO, and Laredo conspired for years to evade the legal restrictions separating establishments, on one hand, and terminal operators, on the other hand. After previously failing to accomplish so-called vertical integration, first through legislation and then litigation, Gold Rush's adversaries allegedly tried a third route conspiring in an improper deal in which Midwest SRO paid an improper inducement to be installed as the terminal operator for all of the Laredo establishments, supplanting Gold Rush in the process. Judge Tailor's ruling observed that the opposing parties had repeatedly emphasized their disclosure of the transaction details to the Illinois Gaming Board, "as if to suggest they had obtained its blessing." However, the IGB did not bless or approve the transaction, the judge noted, but rather said only, in an October 2018 letter, that the state's video gaming act and rules did not allow the IGB to prohibit the transaction. Gold Rush also claims that its adversaries provided select or mischaracterized information to the IGB to portray Gold Rush as attempting to disrupt the transaction after it was completed, which became the basis of a disciplinary complaint against Gold Rush. At the time, however, Gold Rush's Heidner did not know the details of the transaction or that Fischer's ICSC had paid only $2 million for Laredo's assets and cafes. Gold Rush's counterclaims allege breach of contract, tortious interference with contracts and prospective business advantage, and civil conspiracy. Gold Rush seeks unspecified damages for harm to its business and reputation, as well as attorneys' fees and costs. SOURCE Gold Rush Amusements, Inc. Maharashtra has recorded 19,561 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases in the last 13 days and an average of around 1,500 new cases daily. The state government has decided to continue with a majority of the restrictions in red zones in lockdown 4.0, which came into effect from Monday and will be in place till May 31, as chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced that relaxations at this stage would not be allowed in view of the daily spike in Covid-19 positive cases. Click here for full coronavirus coverage Monday was the second consecutive day, when over 2,000 fresh cases registered in the state at 2,033. On Sunday, the state reported the highest single-day spike at 2,347 new Covid-19 positive cases. Maharashtra has recorded 35,000 Covid-19 positive cases within 18 days after it breached the 10,000 mark on April 30. The state took 53 days to record its first 10,000 cases. Maharashtra has recorded 35,058 Covid-19 positive cases to date, of which 25,392 are still active, said the state health officials. State health minister Rajesh Tope predicted that Maharashtra might experience a peak in Covid-19 positive cases in end-June. Also read: Burial of Covid-19 victims not likely to spread virus near cemetery, says Maharashtra government All the predictions about the rise in cases in Mumbai and Maharashtra havent come true, but the numbers are rising and the peak is yet to come. Going by the mathematical predictions, the actual peak is likely to come by end-June. The number of cases in Mumbai is likely to increase four times. Weve to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best, Tope said. However, state health officials said that the peak could occur after 14 days when the fifth incubation period would be completed. Dr Tatyarao Lahane, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), said, Well have to wait for another 14-day incubation cycle to complete (by May 31). The spike is likely to come under control and gradually decline. But, if it doesnt reduce by then, it may lead to a community transmission stage. The state has not reached the community transmission stage yet, as theres no exponential growth in Covid-19 positive cases, he added. Maharashtra is experiencing a significant rise in Covid-19 positive cases since May 6, as it has been reporting over 1,000 cases on a daily basis. In the first 18 days of May, the state has reported 24,588 cases, while in April its tally stood at 10,201. Maharashtra was reporting around 500 Covid-19 positive cases daily between April 19 and 30. On March 9, the state reported the first Covid-19 positive case and it took 30 days to cross the 1,000 mark. The death toll also breached 1,200, as 51 Covid-19 related fatalities were reported on Monday. Of them, 23 were in Mumbai, eight each in Navi Mumbai and Pune, Jalgaon (3), two each in Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Nagpur, and one each in Palghar and Bhiwandi. A Covid-19 patient from Bihar also died in Mumbai on Monday. So far, the state has reported 1,249 Covid-19 related deaths. Mumbai, the worst-hit city in the country, also recorded the second-highest single-day spike with 1,185 cases on Monday. The countrys financial hub has reported 21,335 cases so far. On Sunday, the city had recorded 1,595 cases, the single-day highest spike so far. Mumbai has reported 757 Covid-19 related deaths, including 23 on Monday. The mortality rate of the state, however, has come down to 3.62% (1,198 deaths) on Sunday from 7.41% (148 cases) on April 13. However, it is still higher than the national mortality rate of 3.15% (3,029 deaths) till Sunday, according to the state medical education department. On Monday, 749 patients recovered, as the overall count rose to 8,437. The doubling rate in the state has improved 11.1 days from 10 days said Dr. Pradeep Vyas, principal secretary, state health department. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Posted on: May 19, 2020 6:41 PM Churches prepare to mark Anglican Communion Sunday on 24 May Churches around the world are preparing to mark Anglican Communion Sunday this weekend. While some provinces set aside a different day for Anglican Communion Sunday, many hold it on the Sunday closest to the feast of Saint Augustine of Canterbury, who was sent by Pope Gregory to evangelise Britain in AD 595 and who is recognised as the very first Archbishop of Canterbury. An international service had been planned to take place in Londons Westminster Abbey, but this has been cancelled because of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions in England. The Primate of Hong Kong, Archbishop Paul Kwong, is Chair of the Anglican Consultative Council. He had been expected to preach at that service but will instead give the sermon in Sundays video-based worship service produced by the Anglican Communion Office. That service, which will feature voices and languages from across the Communion, will be available online at anglicancommunion.org/worship from 7pm GMT on Saturday 23 May. It will be introduced and closed by the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon. In addition, Dr Idowu-Fearon will be reading the New Testament lesson in an audio-based service produced by Westminster Abbey. That service will be available online at westminster-abbey.org/podcast at 8am GMT on Sunday 24 May. Anglican Communion Sunday is a day to pray and give thanks for the Anglican Communion and the bonds of affection that bind its member churches. Mothers Union move Thy Kingdom Come global prayer movement service online An international service organised by the Mothers Union will take place online rather than in-person. Plans had been made for the special service to take place at Coventry Cathedral in England, but cant take place because of the Covid-19 lockdown. The Mothers Union is inviting supporters to join them on its Facebook page for what it describes as an annual service of fellowship which is part of a global moment of prayer, worship and thanks. Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer moment which principally invites Christians around the world to pray between Ascension (21 May) and Pentecost (31 May) and has grown from an invitation to clergy of the Church of England to a global ecumenical movement. The sermon will be given by the Mothers Union Central Chaplain, the Bishop of Penrith, Dr Emma Ineson. It will also feature Bob Key, Thy Kingdom Comes lead for the Anglican Communion. The service will also include Mothers Union member Thembsie Mchunu, Mothers Union Worldwide Trustee for Central Africa, Nigeria, South Sudan and Southern Africa, and the Mothers Union Worldwide President, Sheran Harper. Thy Kingdom Come has become a wonderful moment in the year where we can join together to rejoice in Gods love and pray that God will bring transformation and change lives of those within our communities, Sheran Harper said. This year is no different and perhaps it is a moment we need more than ever because at this time it feels especially right that we join together to pray and to give thanks in our prayers to our frontline workers, but also to our friends and family as we trust in hope to bring us together once more, not only in our places of worship but together in our homes, on our streets and the places that we meet. You can join the service at the Mothers Union Facebook page at 1pm GMT on Friday 22 May. Bishop joins other Christian and religious leaders to explain suspension of public worship The Bishop of West Tennessee, Phoebe Roaf, has joined other Christian and religious leaders in Memphis to explain the necessity of suspending public worship. In the US, lockdown restrictions are a matter for State and local governments; and there is some public pushback from so-called freedom advocates. In a joint video message, the religious leaders say: we love the vulnerable and the lonely, those on the front line of healing and supply chains, so until its safer, many of us are delaying face-to-face gatherings. Their message to the community is stay vigilant, Memphis. Citing the moral demands of their faiths to value the health and safety of others. They say: we will wait a little bit longer to gather in face-to-face worship, because my choice and my freedom cannot come at the expense of your safety and health. West Virginia churchs mobile health unit deployed for Covid-19 testing [Episcopal News Service, by David Paulsen] In 2017, St James Episcopal Church in Lewisburg, West Virginia, led a coalition of community partners in forming a plan to create a mobile health unit a 16-foot box trailer outfitted with a small exam room that health agencies could take around the county, especially to support their work with people suffering from opioid addiction. With $10,000 [USD, approximately 8,150 GBP) in state grants and another $10,000 from the Diocese of West Virginia, the unit was finished in 2019 and dedicated in a ceremony held last November. It was first deployed, as a pop-up substance abuse clinic on 2 March this year. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit. Now the mobile health unit is being used by a local medical clinic to offer free Covid-19 tests. The partnership highlights the range of ways Episcopal churches in West Virginia are supporting their communities as they respond to the ongoing public health crisis. That work fits naturally with the churchs call to serve, said St James Rector, Joshua Saxe. Click here to read the full story Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal Raytheon Technologies Corp. is shutting down operations at the Sandia Science and Technologies Park in southeast Albuquerque, where the company employs about 200 people. Raytheons Albuquerque operations will be transferred to other company facilities outside of New Mexico, company spokesperson Heather Uberuaga told the Journal Tuesday. After careful and deliberate consideration, Raytheon Technologies has chosen to close the companys Albuquerque facility and relocate support for key capabilities and customer programs to our other facilities around the country, Uberuaga wrote in an email. We think this move is in the best interest of our customers as we look to further integrate and streamline our capabilities with pursuits and programs located at other sites while working with employees on a case-by-case basis to explore their individual employment options going forward. Raytheons Albuquerque division has specialized in designing and building directed energy systems, including laser-based technology and high-powered electromagnetic, or microwave, systems. Its worked closely in recent years with the Air Force Research Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base on those technologies to develop modern laser and microwave weapons. That work will now be transferred to Raytheon Missiles and Defense headquarters in Tucson, Arizona, Uberuaga said. Raytheon expanded its operations at the Sandia Science and Technology Park in 2017, adding a second building there that broadened its total space from 102,000 square feet before to 175,000 now. The company received $850,000 in Local Economic Development Act funding from the state to offset the expansion costs. Raytheon has already returned that money to the state, Uberuaga said. The company announced the shutdown to local employees Tuesday morning in a conference call with the workforce, taking many by surprise, according to one employee. Theyre telling us were losing our jobs, the employee said while listening to the conference call and speaking on a separate line with the Journal. They decided their operations in Albuquerque dont align with their business plan and model and that theyre moving some programs to Massachusetts, some to Arizona, and that some programs will just sunset. The company told workers layoffs will begin in 60 days and conclude by the end of the year, the employee said. We had heard rumors, but there was nothing official until today, he said. Uberuaga said all laid off workers will receive severance packages that include one week per year of service, with a minimum of two weeks and a maximum of 26 weeks for regular employees working 20 hours or more per week. Health care will continue during the severance, and COBRA insurance will be available afterward. Raytheon Technologies also offers an educational benefit to employees who are laid off, Uberuaga added. While we are not using a third-party outplacement provider, we are collaborating with New Mexicos dislocated worker unit to help employees find other employment if they wish to stay in Albuquerque. Other options for the employees may include relocating to a new site or applying for different positions on other programs across the country. The Albuquerque shutdown will not affect Raytheon operations on the Navajo Nation, where the company employs about 350 people, Uberuaga said. Workers there make electromechanical assemblies and other products for missiles. Raytheon is a global aerospace defense contractor headquartered in Massachusetts. It reported $74 billion in net sales in 2019 with 195,000 employees across the globe. The company announced a merger in April with United Technologies Corp. through an all-stock transaction between the two firms. New Delhi, May 19 : After giving list of buses to be plied for the migrants labourers Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi shot a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary Avneesh Kumar Awasthi and had alleged that the whole episode emanating from the Chief Minister's office is nothing but politics and lacks intention of helping the poor migrants who are stranded at UP border. The letter written early Tuesday at 2.10 a.m. alleged that a letter was received from the Additional Chief Secretary Avneesh Awasthi's office at 11.40 p.m. on late Monday night said that all the buses should report in Lucknow by 10 a.m. on Tuesday is nothing but politics. The letter written by Sandeep Singh personal aide of Priyanka Gandhi said that "when people are stranded at UP border in Ghaziabad and Noida or various state entry points to register themselves it is waste of resources to ask the buses to be sent to Lucknow. Sorry to say there is no intention to help the brothers and sisters who are walking on foot. The government is indulging in pure politics. As the Chief Minister is saying in TV program that we are asking list from three days while your communication was received on Monday at 4.01 p.m." Earlier on Monday after a political row ensued over Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi extending an offer to run 1,000 buses for migrants to Uttar Pradesh, her personal secretary has given details of the buses and its drivers to the UP government. UP government has asked the list of buses from the Congress. In a letter, Gandhi's personal secretary Sandeep Singh said, "All details of the 1,000 buses are attached with this e-mail. Out of them, few drivers will be reverified and those details will also be mailed to you in a few hours. I hope you will give permission for those buses to ply as soon as possible." Making a political point, Singh added that many laborers who are "the backbone of the country" are forced to walk hungry in the summer heat. Singh, however, asserted that the move by the Congress is an effort to play a "positive role". Earlier, the UP Congress claimed to have submitted the list of 1,000 buses to the Yogi Adityanath government following which the state government sought details of the buses and drivers. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had slammed the Congress for not submitting the list of buses and playing 'petty politics' on the migrant workers' issue After Nkurunziza extended his mandate and ran again for president in 2015, the military and Imbonerakure quashed street protests. Over the next two years, at least 1,200 were killed in violence, which the United Nations says was mostly carried out by the states various security forces. Almost all of the 400,000 who were displaced by the violence remain in camps, mostly in Tanzania, where they are unable to vote. (Editor's Note: To maintain its subjects' privacy, this article is using pseudonyms.) ALMATY -- Danagul grew up feeling she was born in the wrong body. After spending her childhood and adolescence in confusion and fruitless attempts to explain her feelings to her parents, Danagul moved out of her native south Kazakhstan once she finished school. In public, Danagul is a 23-year-old man named Daniyar, as stated in her passport. In private, however, she identifies herself as a pansexual, transgender woman. Danaguls secret is shared only within her closest circle, including her wife, Saniya, her mother, and a small group of friends in Almaty, where she now lives. Even in her country of around 18 million people's biggest city, Danagul feels that most Kazakhs aren't ready to accept sexual minorities. The fear of insult and isolation forces her to continue living a double life. 'Normal' Couple Despite the burden of her secret, Danagul considers herself lucky in her new life in Almaty, where she met her soulmate Saniya in 2017. Both self-employed and financially independent, Danagul recalls first meeting Saniya, 26, at a gathering of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities. Danagul introduced herself as a man. Saniya, who identifies as a pansexual woman, is very well-read on transgender issues," Danagul says. I told Saniya my passport name, Daniyar, but she asked me what my real name was, she says. The two immediately clicked and soon their close friendship grew into a romance. We moved in together and in a less than a year, Saniya made a marriage proposal and I said yes. We got officially married, Danagul says. On their wedding day in 2018, Danagul donned a grooms suit and Saniya wore a white bridal dress. Their union was registered as a marriage between a man and a woman. Under Kazakh law, marriage must be between a man and a woman. So in front of relatives and friends, they are simply Daniyar and Saniya, an outwardly heterosexual couple living and behaving like so many others. We cant tell our friends and relatives who we are or how we feel in private about our gender and sexual identities," Danagul says. "We're afraid they would cut ties with us because of this." She recalls painful memories from her childhood of her Christian family taking her to a priest to exorcize the demons inside my head. Changing Attitudes Kazakhstan, a predominantly Muslim Central Asian republic rich with ethnic minorities, decriminalized homosexuality in 1998 by abolishing a Soviet-era law. And societys attitude toward LGBT communities appears to be gradually relaxing, especially in the cities. But homophobia is still prevalent, says Daniyar Sabitov, editor of a website called Kok.team that focuses on LGBT issues. There are two types of homophobia in Kazakhstan: at the state level and in society, Sabitov says. At the state level, it includes judges and lawmakers who publicly berate LGBT people, or police officers who illegally raid gay clubs, Sabitov says. Homophobia in society ranges from verbal insults to violence and murder. Its emboldened by the homophobia that exists at the state level, Sabitov adds. Sabitov is hopeful that the Kazakh societys attitude will inevitably become more tolerant toward sexual minorities as part of a global trend. But Danagul and Saniya live among todays realities. They aren't planning to come out anytime soon. Danagul isn't considering gender reassignment surgery, which is legally allowed in Kazakhstan since 2009. Instead, the couple say they just want to protect their ties with friends and family, keeping their own lives on hold. Written by Farangis Najibullah with reporting by RFE/RLs Kazakh Service correspondent Zhanara Kantarbai [May 19, 2020] LTI FY20 Constant Currency Revenues Grow 14.2%; Q4 FY20 Revenues Up 4.7% QoQ, 17.4% YoY Larsen & Toubro Infotech (News - Alert) (BSE code: 540005, NSE: LTI), a global technology consulting and digital solutions company, announced its Q4 FY20 and full year FY20 results today. Q4 FY20 In US Dollars: Revenue at USD 409.9 million ; growth of 3.9% QoQ and 15.9% YoY ; growth of Constant Currency Revenue growth of 4.7% QoQ and 17.4% YoY In Indian Rupees: Revenue at Rs 30,119 million ; growth at 7.1% QoQ and 21.2% YoY ; growth at Net Income at Rs 4,275 million; Net Income growth at 13.5% QoQ and 12.9% YoY Full year FY20 In US Dollars: Revenue at USD 1,524.7 million ; growth of 13.0% YoY ; growth of Constant Currency Revenue growth of 14.2% YoY In Indian Rupees: Revenue at Rs 108,786 million ; growth at 15.2% YoY ; growth at Net Income at Rs 15,205 million; Net Income growth at 0.3% YoY Capital Return Final Dividend of Rs 15.5 per share ; Dividend pay-out ratio of 35.0% for the year ; Dividend pay-out ratio of for the year ROE of 29.5% for the year "We are extremely proud of the strong work ethic of LTItes who rose to the challenge of an unparalleled global pandemic, exceeding client expectations and earning their trust. Our resilient business model, comprehensive digital transformation capabilities and flawless execution helped us to deliver fourth consecutive year of industry leading double-digit revenue growth in FY20. We are also pleased to announce two large deals in Q4 with net-new TCV in excess of US$100 million, culminating in a record 8 large deal wins for us in FY20. With strong order wins, healthy revenue momentum and client centric growth strategy, we shall confront near term demand challenges and emerge stronger." - Sanjay Jalona, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director Recent Deal Wins - Multi-year multi-million large deal for complete digital transformation, enhancing productivity and quality of service of a key government ministry by implementing new microservices based applications and building a data and analytics platform - A large energy retail company selected LTI for an end to end managed services deal for its IT applications and infrastructure operations - Standard Chartered Bank chose LTI as its partner for a strategic Temenos T24 Transact engagement - Leading North American bank selected LTI to transition its applications to cloud - Global semiconductor major partnered with LTI to digitize its core by re-designing and implementing its critical processes on SAP (News - Alert) S/4 HANA - A leading property and casualty insurance company chose LTI as its business transformation prtner to implement Duck Creek OnDemand Cloud Platform - Global media broadcasting giant selected LTI to redesign and modernize its programming and scheduling applications to meet evolving business requirements - A leading financial services group chose LTI for AMS (News - Alert) engagement Awards and Recognitions - Recognized by the 1Q20 Global ISG Index as one of The Breakthrough 15 in Global, Americas, EMEA Sourcing Standouts - LTI recognized as a Leader in ISG Provider Lens: SIAM/ITSM 2020 Study for US Market - LTI featured in Constellation ShortList: Innovation Services and Engineering for Q1 2020 - LTI recognized in Forrester's Now Tech: IoT Consultancies In Asia Pacific, Q1 2020 - LTI named in Honorable Mentions in the 2020 Gartner (News - Alert) Magic Quadrant for Data and Analytics Service Providers * Magic Quadrant for Data and Analytics Service, Worldwide, Jorgen Heizenberg et al., 10 February 2020. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose Other Business Highlights - The Board of Directors at its meeting held on May 19th, 2020 have declared a final dividend of Rs. 15.5 per equity share (Face value of Re. 1) for the financial year 2019-20. Total dividend for FY20 is Rs. 28 per equity share, including the interim dividend of Rs. 12.5 per equity share declared in October 2019. - Won the SAP Pinnacle Award for Industry Innovation Partner of the Year 2020 - LTI has been elevated to a 'GOLD' partner status with Pega - LTI is now a 'Premier' System Integration Partner with MuleSoft - LTI has been featured among top 10 companies investing in EdTech CSR (News - Alert) projects by CSRBOX - The company's long-term rating has been upgraded by CRISIL to AAA/Stable from AA+/Positive during the year - National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) has included LTI in its Nifty Next 50 Index About LTI LTI (NSE: LTI) is a global technology consulting and digital solutions Company helping more than 420 clients succeed in a converging world. With operations in 32 countries, we go the extra mile for our clients and accelerate their digital transformation with LTI's Mosaic platform enabling their mobile, social, analytics, IoT and cloud journeys. Founded in 1997 as a subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Limited, our unique heritage gives us unrivaled real-world expertise to solve the most complex challenges of enterprises across all industries. Each day, our team of more than 30,000 LTItes enable our clients to improve the effectiveness of their business and technology operations and deliver value to their customers, employees and shareholders. Find more at http://www.Lntinfotech.com or follow us at @LTI_Global Connect with LTI: Read our News and Blogs Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn Like us on Facebook Watch our videos on YouTube View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005841/en/ [ Back to the Next Generation Communications Community's Homepage ] U.S. Border Patrol agents guard illegal immigrants after taking them into custody on July 22, 2014 near Falfurrias, Texas. ( John Moore/Getty Images) Illegal Aliens Can Begin Applying For Cash Assistance In California Illegal aliens can apply for direct cash assistance from the California state government as of Monday, marking the implementation of the first relief program of its kind. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, announced in April the launch of The Disaster Relief Fund, a $125 million coronavirus relief program for illegal aliens living in the state who dont otherwise qualify for assistance from the federal government. The program, which is being funded in large part by private donations, will also require millions more from the state. Every Californian, including our undocumented neighbors and friends, should know that California is here to support them during this crisis, the governor said during the announcement. We are all in this together. The Disaster Relief Fund will proceed despite pushback from California GOP lawmakers, a minority in the state legislature, and a lawsuit challenging the legality of the program. Judicial Watch, a conservative legal firm, filed a temporary restraining order against Newsom May 5 to keep him from spending state taxpayer funds on the program. The group argues that the relief fund violates federal law because Newsom did not receive explicit authority from the state government to distribute money to illegal aliens. Federal immigration law typically bars undocumented aliens from being eligible for state or local public benefits. Only through laws enacted by a state legislature can a state government distribute financial assistance to undocumented aliens. The relief fund, nevertheless, enjoys strong support from the states Democratic Party. California is showing the rest of the nation what true leadership looks like, Rep. Tony Cardenas, a Democrat who represents the states 29th District, tweeted on Monday. The California program is being implemented after Democrats in Washington, D.C., passed another relief bill, the HEROES Act, that would make illegal aliens eligible for billions in federal relief. California expects to distribute cash to about 150,000 illegal aliens in the state. The governor added at the time of the announcement that as much of 10% of Californias workforce is undocumented and deserving of financial assistance during the coronavirus pandemic. The relief program is a public-private partnership, with $75 million in funds being covered by California taxpayers and another $50 million by philanthropic organizations. The fund will dole out one-time cash payments of $500 to each eligible adult, and a cap of $1,000 per family household. Private donors to the relief program include the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the James Irvine Foundation, Emerson Collective, California Endowment and Blue Shield Foundation. Newsoms administration is distributing the funds to a dozen nonprofit groups that have served immigrant communities in the past, according to CNN, and applicants can reach out to these organizations directly. Illegal aliens interested in the program can apply until June 30 or until money runs out. By Jason Hopkins Follow Jason on Twitter From The Daily Caller News Foundation Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. Dr. Michael Noffze, Oral Surgeon in Fargo, ND, Offers Lecture with Straumann We can do single teeth, multiple teeth, and an entire arch of teeth all in one visit and in one office. Respected oral surgeon, Dr. Michael Noffze, spoke at an event for Straumann, a leading dental implant manufacturer, in Rapid City, SD. His lecture was on immediate load implants with provisionalization, including individual teeth to full mouth dental implants. Dr. Noffze offers modern tooth replacement solutions with dental implants in Fargo, ND where his state-of-the-art practice, The Facial and Oral Surgery Center, is located. One of the greatest things we are able to do is provide your implant, as well as a temporary tooth on that implant in one visit. We can do single teeth, multiple teeth, and an entire arch of teeth all in one visit and in one office, says Dr. Noffze. We do this routinely for anywhere from one to all the teeth in your mouth and use leading technology to make sure it all goes smoothly. Straumann provides some of the worlds top-quality dental implant pieces. The company works closely with Dr. Noffze to educate both the public and other dental professionals on the benefits of implants and how it is possible to replace missing or failing teeth completely in just one appointment. A dental implant mimics the function of natural teeth, including the root and crown. This allows patients to experience the closest thing to a real smile again, and allows them to eat, chew, speak, and smile with confidence. Additional benefits of dental implants, including immediate load implants, include: Natural look, feel, and function Enhanced self-confidence Permanent with proper care Virtually indistinguishable from natural teeth Can be completed in just one appointment With Dr. Noffzes skill and experience as an oral surgeon, he is able to offer patients an advanced approach to replacing their failing or missing teeth. By offering same-day immediate load dental implants, patients can go in for surgery and leave having had a failing tooth extracted, bone grafting completed, an implant placed, and a temporary tooth placed all in one day. This approach means that patients never have to go another day with a missing tooth. Dr. Noffze is able to offer this modern solution due to his commitment to advanced technology. By taking 3D scans of the mouth and jaw before surgery, Dr. Noffze can create digital and physical dental implant guides that make the surgery process quicker, safer, and more predictable. Patients can get same-day immediate load dental implants from Dr. Noffze for any number of teeth. Individual missing teeth can be replaced on a one for one basis, or multiple teeth can be replaced using an implant supported bridge. For those patients missing all their teeth, Dr. Noffze can even provide entire arches of new teeth that only require four to six implants. All of these options can be performed in just one appointment and in-house at Dr. Noffzes Fargo, ND practice. Those interested in learning more about dental implants in Fargo, ND or who want to schedule a consultation to begin the process are invited to reach out to this skilled Fargo, ND oral surgeon. The practice can be reached by calling 701-232-9565 or visiting the website at http://www.tfaosc.com. About the Oral Surgeon The Facial and Oral Surgery Center is a leading oral and maxillofacial surgery practice in Fargo, ND. Dr. Michael Noffze is a board-certified oral and maxillofacial surgeon who received his medical degree and certificate in preliminary general surgery from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Dr. Noffze is the director of one of the largest dental study clubs in the United States, was recognized by Cambridge Whos Who as the 2010 Professional of the Year for Dental Surgery, and continually speaks internationally on the topic of dental implants. Dr. Noffze is specially trained to treat medically compromised patients and his advanced and unique digital workflow streamlines complex dental implant cases. To learn more about The Facial and Oral Surgery Center and the advanced services that Dr. Noffze provides, call 701-232-9565 or visit the website at http://www.tfaosc.com. A 50-year-old man, identified as Chukwudi Maduka has allegedly committed suicide at Umuezu-Ore Umuana village in the Uhuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State. The Public Relations Officer of the Abia State Police Command, Geoffrey Ogbonna, a superintendent of police, confirmed the development in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Tuesday. Mr Ogbonna said Mr Maduka was found dead early on Monday in his one-room apartment. The spokesman said the man did not leave suicide note, adding that the command had commenced investigation into the incident to possibly unravel the reason for the suicide. Narrating the development, a resident of the area, Dave Maduakor, said Mr Maduka set his apartment on fire before hanging himself, using the ceiling fan in the room. Mr Maduakor said neighbours sensed danger when they noticed smoke coming out from the room of the deceased. When they tried to open the door, they noticed that it was locked from inside so they forced it open and found Mr Madukas body hanging on the fan, Mr Maduakor said, quoting the deceaseds landlord, John Chikezie. He said the deceased was reported to have travelled to his village in Lokpanta in the Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia and returned to Umuana community on Friday. The landlord said when he wanted to speak with the man, who locked himself up in his room on Saturday, he told him that he was praying. Mr Maduakor said the incident was later reported to the Ehimiri Police Station, where some operatives were detailed to the scene. He said the Chairman of the community, Ngozi Onwumere, together with the landlord, consulted a group, known as kamanu that specialised in handling suicide cases. The group brought down the body of the man, which was later deposited in a mortuary, Mr Maduakor said. NAN learnt that the deceased worked as a security man at the National Root Crops Research Institute in Umudike, Umuahia. He was also said to be married to a teacher in a charity home at Ahieke community in Umuahia but later separated with the woman after their childless marriage. (NAN) Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 05:35:16|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BUCHAREST, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Romania has not reached an agreement with Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia to ease travel restrictions among them following a quadrilateral video conference, as the country has a specific epidemic situation and will focus on domestic tourism this year, Romanian Economy Minister Virgil Popescu said on Tuesday. Romanian Prime Minister Ludovic Orban attended an informal meeting earlier in the day, with his Bulgarian and Greek counterparts and Serbian president, respectively, as the four leaders discussed possible future measures to ease travel restrictions among the four states. Popescu told local media after the meeting that his country would focus on domestic tourism this year, mentioning as well the current epidemic situation, which must be assessed at the weekend, one week after the end of the state of emergency. According to him, Romania would talk about tourism in June, only if it would have a positive evaluation for this week and next week, in the sense that the number of infections would remain within normal limits. The official specified that the position of the government is a prudent one and Romania must wait for more relaxation. Regarding the concerns of officials from the other three neighboring countries for fluid traffic, he said the safety of Romanian citizens is more important than launching a traffic situation that is not well assessed. At the video conference, which was also attended by the ministers of interior, foreign affairs, tourism, health and transport of the four countries, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia reached an agreement to allow tourists from the three countries to travel without a quarantine period of 14 days, from June 1. Enditem CARsgen Therapeutics Receives IND Clearance from the US FDA for CT041 CLDN18.2-CAR-T Cells Details Category: DNA RNA and Cells Published on Monday, 18 May 2020 18:22 Hits: 1369 SHANGHAI, China I May 18, 2020 I CARsgen Therapeutics Co., Ltd., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that one of its first-in-class drug candidates, CT041 humanized anti-claudin18.2 autologous Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T Cells (CT041) for the treatment of patients with claudin18.2-positive adenocarcinoma of the stomach, gastroesophageal junction, or pancreas, has received Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). CT041 is the first claudin18.2-targeted CAR-T cell therapy IND cleared for clinical trials in the world. The proof-of-concept preclinical data was published in 2019 [1]. The IND clearance was supported by an ongoing investigator-initiated Phase I trial conducted by Professor Lin Shen at Beijing Cancer Hospital, Peking University in China (NCT03874897). An open label, multicenter, Phase 1b clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of autologous CT041 cell therapy in patients with advanced gastric or pancreatic adenocarcinoma will be initiated by CARsgen in Q3 2020 in the United States. "The IND clearance of CT041 by the FDA is of great significance to patients with advanced gastric and pancreatic cancer," said Dr. Zonghai Li, founder, CEO and CSO of CARsgen. "According to the World Health Organization, about 1,030,000 new cases of gastric adenocarcinoma and over 450,000 new cases of pancreatic adenocarcinoma are expected each year[2]. Despite the development of novel therapies, gastric and pancreatic adenocarcinomas remain incurable and new treatment options are needed. Our goal is to continue the development of novel, safe and effective immunotherapies. This is our long-standing commitment to cancer patients worldwide." References: [1] Jiang H, Shi Z, Wang P, et al. Claudin18.2 - specific chimeric antigen receptor engineered T cells for the treatment of gastric cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2019;111(4):409-18. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djy134. [2] Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Siegel RL, Torre LA, Jemal A. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2018;68(6):394-424. About CARsgen Therapeutics CARsgen Therapeutics is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company committed to the development and commercialization of CAR T-cell therapeutics for unmet medical needs. The company has collaborated with top hospitals in China to launch several first-in-human studies such as anti-GPC3 CAR T cells for hepatocellular carcinoma and squamous lung cancer, anti-EGFR/EGFRvIII CAR T cells for glioblastoma multiforme and anti-claudin18.2 CAR T cells for gastric and pancreatic cancer. For more information, please visit: www.carsgen.com SOURCE: CARsgen Therapeutics By Express News Service SANGAREDDY: Finance Minister T Harish Rao said on Monday that the State government was committed to the development of industrial sector. In the meantime, we are also giving top priority to the welfare of workers, he added. The minister made these statements while holding a meeting with the industrialists to school them about various precautionary measures to be taken before reopening the units. He urged the industrialists to strictly follow the government guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID and also to avoid other unfortunate incidents like the Vishakapatnam gas leak accident. While addressing the gathering, the minister mentioned about the explosion that happened in a biodiesel factory at Zaheerabad which resulted in the death of two workers and urged the industrialists to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of their workers. While stating that the alarming rise in industrial accidents was worrying, Harish directed the officials to work hand in hand so that such unfortunate incidents can be avoided. Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has urged the Electoral Commission to put aside its decision to compile a new voters' register and rather concentrate on conducting the limited registration exercise. According to him, the number of people who will take part in the limited registration exercise is smaller and can be managed than the numbers for a new voters' register. Election 2020 Martin Kpebu who was contributing to a panel discussion on UTV's "Critical Issues", said even though there is the need for the country to vote in December 7, 'we are not prepared for a new register'. "As for the election; we need to votebut I am not in support of a new voters register but I'm all for a limited voters registration. We are not prepared for a new register; at this moment we need money and so they should manage the old registerwe used the old register for the last election. Weve spent a lot of money in this corona period..." Some political pundits including the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have been raising issues over the EC's insistence on compiling a new voters' register despite the increasing number of infections. While some question how the EC intends conducting the exercise without flouting the COVID-19 measures, others wonder how the social distancing rule can be observed. Martin Kpebu insists there is no need to risk anyone's life for 'political gain'. "We dont have to risk our lives for political power" he added. EC Unrelenting The EC since last year has justified why it needs to compile a new voters' register for the 2020 general elections. The electoral body claim it will ensure a more credible and efficient election than the existing one. Madam Sylvia Annor, Head of Public Affairs at the EC in an interview on the same platform allayed the fears of Ghanaians insisting that the Commission is putting measures in place to ensure the safety of Ghanaians. According to her, since Ghanaians are still going to the bank and visiting market places, a new voters register can equally be compiled. Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Seven in 10 teachers assign homework that requires access to broadband, but one in three households do not subscribe to broadband service. Where those numbers overlap is a new digital divide call it the homework gap. That quote is from Jessica Rosenworcel of the Federal Communications Commission in 2016, and thats where the phrase homework gap comes from. If you hadnt heard the phrase before this spring, its likely youve heard it now. The closing of school buildings has dramatically highlighted the difficulty students experience completing homework remotely. Maybe its lack of access or the cost of high-speed internet, lack of a device, or simply a learner that doesnt engage as easily while remote. Through the generosity of an anonymous donor and the Alice DeVoe Donor-Advised Fund, an affiliated fund of Nebraska Community Foundation, NCF has awarded grants to be matched with local philanthropic dollars to narrow the homework gap in Nebraska hometowns. A statewide committee of educators selected these Bridging the Homework Gap grants to local NCF affiliated funds who will, in turn, support 31 school districts. Among those, Im pleased to share that local school districts being supported include Columbus Public Schools, Lakeview, David City Public, Boone Central, Riverside, St. Michaels, St. Edward, and Newman Grove! You should be proud of how innovative and committed these local school districts have been through this crisis, as was indicated by the projects they are going to use these funds to accomplish. While there are still many unknowns, I wanted to share a couple examples of how local schools are using this opportunity to do something really positive for students. Columbus Public Schools will use a portion of their grant funds to provide training to CPS teachers to address the emotional health of students as they return to school in the fall. The selection committee appreciated CPS recognizing the emotional needs of students, as this will be a real factor in students being able to learn. Whether the fall semester starts in-person, remote, or a combination of both, there are going to be social and emotional health issues that teachers will have to address with their students. Lakeview is using some of this funding to help them be adaptable to improve outcomes for summer school students. As their staff prepares multiple scenarios, this commitment allows them to think about investments to engage more students in-person in ways they couldnt otherwise. Now thats a great example of innovative thinking, a few dollars, and commitment from the school leading to better potential educational outcomes! Newman Grove is using the funds to provide personal support for students and families who have had tech challenges. As more and more schoolwork, especially homework, has moved online in the past five years, the educational discrepancy between students with technology at their fingertips at home and those who lack access has grown dramatically. Importantly, this problem existed long before we found ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic. Since mid-March, every public-school student in Nebraska moved to remote learning. Students learned via platforms like Zoom and YouTube. Communication with teachers went virtual. COVID-19 has widened the homework gap into a whole new realm of complexity and challenge. For each of these issues, there are a variety of solutions and those are reflected in these Bridging the Homework Gap grants. Based on the experiences of Nebraska Community Foundation over the past 25 years, we believe this community-centric philanthropic approach could lead to numerous innovative local solutions which help not only in a crisis but, in fact, improve learning for the long-term. And we are optimistic this approach will help to mobilize local leadership to take on and solve this issue with more information, confidence and courage. Congrats to the local schools who are putting these dollars to work! Its another great example of the power of the network of NCF, local affiliated funds, and other local assets coming together to improve things in greater Nebraska. K.C. Belitz is the chief operating officer of the Nebraska Community Foundation. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CAIRO (Reuters) - Forces aligned with Libya's internationally recognised government took control of an air base south-west of Tripoli on Monday after a sustained assault, in what could be their most significant advance for nearly a year. Watiya air base, 125 km (80 miles) from the capital, has been an important strategic foothold for forces loyal to eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar, who launched an offensive to capture Tripoli in April 2019. The campaign sharply escalated a long-running conflict between factions based in eastern and western Libya and caused a surge in military intervention by foreign powers. Forces aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA) had taken full control of Watiya, Osama Juweili, a top military commander, was quoted as saying by official media early on Monday. Footage posted by GNA forces on social media showed them driving down runways at the base unhindered. The forces also posted a picture of what they said was a captured Russian-made Pantsir air defence system mounted on a truck at the base, as well as an operating manual in Arabic. A separate video post showed the purported destruction from the air of another Pantsir held by Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) as it was being transported by road in the early hours of Monday. GNA forces said it was the third they had hit in two days. The video could not be independently verified and the LNA has in recent days denied at least one other GNA claim it had destroyed a Pantsir. In a statement, the LNA said its forces had withdrawn from the base as a tactical manoeuvre, that Watiya currently held no military importance, and that any equipment recovered there was old and disused. LNA sources said earlier their forces had withdrawn after the base had come under intensive bombardment. MORALE BOOST GNA forces have pushed back against their rivals in recent weeks with increased support from Turkey, capturing towns on the coast west of Tripoli last month. Story continues Haftar's LNA and its allies still control eastern and southern Libya, including most of the country's oil facilities, which they have been blockading since January. They also hold Sirte, a city at the centrepoint of Libya's Mediterranean coastline, which they took at the start of the year. The capture of Watiya will further boost morale among GNA forces that were on the back foot late last year, and GNA Prime Minister Fayez Serraj signalled they would try to build on the advance. "Today's victory does not constitute the end of the battle but brings us closer than any time before to the bigger victory, the liberation of all towns and regions and bases," he said in a statement. The LNA, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Russia, has been unable to make significant progress from the outskirts of Tripoli since early on in its campaign. It lost Gharyan, its main forward base south of Tripoli, in its biggest reversal to date in June 2019, but continues to control Tarhouna, southeast of the capital. International efforts led by the United Nations to broker a ceasefire and negotiate a political settlement in Libya have so far come to little, as foreign powers have flouted an arms embargo to send in more weapons and operate drones. The leaders of Turkey and Russia, countries that have both sought to protect strategic interests in Libya, spoke by phone on Monday and noted the need for a ceasefire and the resumption of inter-Libyan dialogue, according to a Kremlin statement. About half of the 400,000 people who have fled their homes since Libya's uprising in 2011 were displaced since the start of Haftar's offensive last year, according to U.N. estimates. (Reporting by Hani Amara and Ayman al-Sahli, additional reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Writing by Aidan Lewis, Editing by William Maclean, Raissa Kasolowsky and Mark Potter) Prithviraj Sukumaran, the multi-faceted talent and Mammootty, the megastar of Malayalam cinema, are all set to join hands once again. As per the latest reports, Prithviraj and Mammootty are coming together for the upcoming Kunchan Nambiar biopic, directed by the senior filmmaker Hariharan. The project was officially announced by Hariharan himself, in a recent interview. Interestingly, Prithviraj Sukumaran is playing the central character Kunchan Nambiar, the legendary poet and the inventor of the popular art form 'Ottamthullal' in the project, which is reportedly titled as Kalakkathu Kunchan Nambiar. Mammootty, on the other hand, will make a cameo appearance as Marthanda Varma, who was the rule of Travancore aka Venadu during the mid-1970s. According to director Hariharan, the team has been busy with the preparations for the project from the past year. They were planning to officially announce the project in a grand pooja ceremony which was supposed to be held in Chennai on April 14, 2020, on the auspicious occasion of Vishu. However, the plans were canceled at the last minute due to the coronavirus threat and lockdown. Kalakkathu Kunchan Nambiar is scripted by K Jayakumar. Reportedly, it was the veteran writer MT Vasudevan Nair who recommended Jayakumar to pen the script for the project. Along with Prithviraj Sukumaran and Mammootty, the two senior actors of the South Indian film industry have been roped in to play the roles of Mathoor Panicker and Dronambilli Naykkar. The project will feature three female leads and some top actresses have been considered for the characters. Director Hariharan was planning to helm a project on the Kunchan Nambiar, ever since he read the legendary poet's literary works. The senior filmmaker feels that Nambiar's life deserves a biopic, as he is the writer who single-handedly revolutionized the Malayalam literature. Ilaiyaraaja will compose the music for the project. Resul Pookutty handles the sound design. Kalakkathu Kunchan Nambiar is produced by Gokulam Gopalan under the banner Sree Gokulam Movies. Also Read: Mohanlal's 60th Birthday: The Celebrations Begin! The Queen has a special relationship with Canada. (Getty Images) A rare phone call between the Queen and the Canadian prime minister has revealed the monarchs little-known third birthday. The Queen spoke to Justin Trudeau on Monday, as she makes her way through a list of countries where she is Queen to catch up with leaders. She called him on Victoria Day, the day her birthday is celebrated in Canada. Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her birthday twice in the UK, with both an official birthday and her real birthday. The monarch, who has a special relationship with Canada as her most visited Commonwealth nation, has a third birthday marked each year on 18 May. Called Victoria Day, it was first established to honour Queen Victoria. It has been observed in Canada since 1845, though it was originally celebrated on 24 May, which was her actual birthday. I spoke on the phone with Queen Elizabeth II today. We talked about the state of the world, COVID-19, and more. I also thanked her for the hopeful messages she has sent during these difficult times, and I wished her the very best this Victoria Day. https://t.co/lLM86KhhkM pic.twitter.com/ZeC7yZFCuH Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) May 18, 2020 When she died in 1901, it was decided to keep the day as an official holiday, but it was moved to the Monday preceding 25 May. Queen Elizabeth II, Victorias great-great-granddaughter, acceded to the throne in 1952, but Canada did not change its public holiday to match the new monarchs birthday. On Victoria Day, many Canadians get the day off and the Royal Union flag is flown along with the National Flag at federal buildings, airports, military bases from sunrise to sunset. Read more: Queen celebrates first 'virtual' Chelsea Flower Show with throwback family photos In regular year there would also be parades or firework displays in some Canadian cities. Story continues But for the Queen, who only has two days off a year, there was no time for rest, as she called Trudeau to talk about the state of the world. Tweeting after the call, the prime minister said: I spoke on the phone with Queen Elizabeth II today. We talked about the state of the world, COVID-19, and more. I also thanked her for the hopeful messages she has sent during these difficult times, and I wished her the very best this Victoria Day. The Queen on a lab tour in Canada in 2010. (Getty Images) As a young child in the 1970s, Mr Trudeau met the Queen several times through his father, Pierre Trudeau, who was one of Canadas longest-serving prime ministers. She has visited the country more than 20 times, but hasnt made any visits abroad in several years. The Queens real birthday is on 21 April, and is usually marked quietly at home. One of her former chefs revealed her favourite chocolate cake recipe, and said she often shares it with a lady in waiting. Read more: Why does the Queen have two birthdays? In 2020, she spent her birthday in lockdown in Windsor, with her husband Prince Philip. She asked the traditional gun salutes which are held across Windsor Great Park, Hyde Park and the Tower of London not go ahead, for the first time in her 68-year reign. The Queen and Philip marking Canada Day in Ottawa in 2010. (Getty Images) Her official birthday is marked on the second Saturday in June, and its when the Trooping the Colour takes places in London. Australia and New Zealand also have different days for her official birthday. In most of Australia, its marked on the second Monday in June, but some mark it on the first. In New Zealand, its the first Monday in June. In Saint Kitts and Nevis, they move the date each year, while on the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, they have also chosen the second Monday in June. The tradition of the official birthday started more than 260 years ago with George II. His real birthday was in November, and fed up with bad weather, he decided to combine his birthday with the Trooping the Colour, a military procession which was held every year and already a fixture of the British calendar. The Queen welcomes Justin Trudeau at Buckingham Palace during the NATO summit. (Getty Images) Read more: Chocolate cake and gun salutes: How the Royal Family celebrates birthdays The Queens father, King George VI, had his official birthday on the second Thursday in June, and the Queen adopted this for a few years after she acceded. She continued this for a few years before moving it to the second Saturday in June in 1959. Buckingham Palace confirmed the Trooping the Colour parade will not go ahead in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. At the end of March, the Palace said: In line with Government advice, it has been agreed that The Queens Birthday Parade, also known as Trooping the Colour, will not go ahead in its traditional form. The replacement plans are not yet known. By Trend A video project entitled 'Legendary Hero' was prepared by Trend News Agency, which narrates the story of legendary Azerbaijani intelligence agent Mammadhuseyn Asadov, Trend reports. Some time ago, Azerbaijani intelligence officer and the Tehran-43 Conference book was published in the Azerbaijani and Russian languages, timed to the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The book features the life of legendary intelligence officer, his professionalism and heroism during the Great Patriotic War. The book authors are Deputy Chairman of Azerbaijans Alliance Public Union of Veterans of Security Bodies Azer Garayev, and Azerbaijani MP Arzu Naghiyev. The facts and testimonies published in the book also expose the intentions of the Armenians to falsify the events of the Great Patriotic War period. The video project is based on archival documents and historical facts reflected in the book. The project tells in details how Asadov obtained information about German intelligence' plan to assassinate the USSR, US and UK leaders Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt on the eve of the Tehran Conference, which was held on November 28, 1943, with their participation. For the exceptional role in the successful conducting this operation, Mammadhuseyn Asadov was awarded Lenin and Red Star orders. After $14 billion was set aside for higher education in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, Houston Community College and the Paul Mitchell Schools both got financial relief. The Houston college, a public institution with nearly 60,000 students, received $28.3 million. The for-profit hair and cosmetology schools received $30.5 million, despite serving only 20,000 students. The CARES Act money was meant to help low-income students and the schools that serve them. An NBC News analysis found, however, that for-profit schools got proportionally more money from the aid package than the nations community colleges, which serve the majority of the countrys low-income students, often at a much lower cost. Almost 9 percent of the coronavirus relief package money for higher education went to for-profit schools, NBC News found, despite the fact that they serve 5.4 percent of students. Community colleges, by contrast, got 22 percent though they serve 32 percent of students. The reason for the disparity is the formula Congress came up with to spend the money. In an effort to funnel aid to students most in need, it put great weight on counting full-time students with Pell grants, the federal grants aimed at low-income students. This meant for-profits did well. Those career-oriented programs tend to be time-intensive and costly, leading more students to attend full-time and to take out federal loans. The students in our schools should be just as deserving as those in community colleges, said Ryan Claybaugh, a vice president at Paul Mitchell Advanced Education, the franchise company for the schools. He said half the money would go directly to students, as required by the CARES Act, and the rest would be spent transitioning the cosmetology schools to online learning. The fact that half the money going to for-profits can be used for institutional costs concerns critics like Ben Miller, vice president for postsecondary education at the left-leaning Center for American Progress think tank. Story continues A dollar that goes to the operating expenses of a for-profit college is a dollar that doesnt go to helping a community college student pay rent, Miller said. I don't think that makes sense. The Students Most In Need Theres no doubt that students at for-profits are in need. They are disproportionately low income, often supporting families while training for jobs such as licensed practical nurse, car mechanic or long-haul truck driver. They aspire to the kinds of occupations deemed essential during the coronavirus lockdown. In 2016, 73 percent of those who attended for-profits lived at or near the poverty line, according to a recent congressional report. At some for-profits, more than 80 percent of students are full-time Pell grant recipients, according to data and education experts. That favored them in the CARES Act formula. We win because we serve lower income people, said Steve Gunderson, president and CEO of Career Education Colleges and Universities, or CECU, a trade group that represents for-profit and career colleges. Community colleges serve a similar population. Nearly 60 percent of their students are low income. Due to the size of the system, community colleges serve more low-income students than any other type of higher educational institution in the country. Community colleges offer many of the same programs as for profits more cheaply and would have done better had the CARES Act formula relied on counting every student. But they came up short in the formula, because about 64 percent of community college students attend part time. Moreover, because fees are lower, many dont take out federal loans. Their focus on short term and workforce programs hindered them, too. They dont have graduate students, which the formula counts, but they do have large numbers of students in certificate programs. While these noncredit students use the same counseling and career services at the school as full and part-time students, many are uncounted in the formula. The formula does not really capture our true student universe, said J. Noah Brown, president of the Association of Community College Trustees, one of two main associations for community colleges. Community colleges may also have come up short because all the public and nonprofit colleges, both two-year and four-year, are essentially lobbying as a block. The fiscal crisis means theres a rush on federal funds states, hospitals, K-12 schools all need them so nonprofit and public higher education presented a united front to Congress. Community colleges spoke up in the negotiations, Brown said. We certainly made our opinions known, he said, but ultimately the whole sector came to an agreement because speed was paramount. That public colleges didnt push for the money flow to them through states, which many argue serves them better, is very telling about their shared nervousness about the moment, said Clare McCann, deputy director for federal higher education policy with New America, a left-leaning think tank. McCann said that fear may play into why for-profits were able to get funding. In their desperation, other sectors were not willing to fight back, she said. One concession was that online-only schools, many of which are for-profit, wouldnt get funds. But some tiny schools that dont need help might. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos recently came under fire when her department released guidelines that allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars from a CARES Act fund for schools with the greatest unmet need to small colleges with few students without first figuring out if they really need it. The allotment was done according to the law, department press secretary Angela Morabito said in an email. Any school that is eligible for funding under the CARES Act, but does not need it, shouldnt apply for it, she said. The Education Department also barred any student who is ineligible for federal loans from getting the CARES Act relief money, cutting out undocumented and foreign students, as well as those in noncredit programs and without high school diplomas. California community colleges are suing over that restriction, which the Education Department has defended. U.S. taxpayer dollars should go to U.S. citizens, Morabito said. Its hypocritical for some liberals in Congress to claim foreign students were meant to get this aid, considering they didnt write such a requirement into the law. The drive to move quickly led to controversy across coronavirus relief programs. Flawed formulas led little-used rural airports to do better than the nations leading hubs. Well-capitalized corporations with access to Wall Street have got money designed to help small businesses, despite concerns raised by Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin. The intent of this money was not for big public companies that have access to capital, Mnuchin said of the business bailout program. Publicly Traded Schools Get Millions Universal Technical Institute, Inc., which is traded on Wall Street, runs what it describes the leading technical schools for those looking to become mechanics. Thanks to a large number of Pell grant recipients among its approximately 11,000 students, three of its schools were together the top for-profit recipients of CARES Act aid. The Universal Technical Institute schools received more than $33 million in aid. The University of Florida, a public university with about 35,000 undergrads, got $2 million less. Jody Kent, Universal Technical Institute's vice president for communications, said that the school has begun distributing the first half of its money to students. Its waiting to receive guidance on how the second half can be spent when it arrives, Kent said, but has committed that this money will go directly to meeting the needs of our students, so they continue to have resources in place to receive a quality education that puts them on the path to career success. Image: A Universal Technical Institute campus in Houston. The for-profit technical school, which is owned by a company traded on Wall Street, received more than $33 million in CARES Act aid. (Google Maps) Asked to clarify whether the second half of the funds would also go to student grants, Kent said the school is waiting on guidance from the Education Department. NBC News reached out to six schools operated by companies traded on Wall Street to ask how they planned to use the funds. The director of public relations for Adtalem Global Education, which operates Chamberlain University, said 100 percent of the funds it received would go directly to students. A spokesperson for Strategic Education, Inc., the parent company of Strayer University, said it declined its $5.8 million because its school is largely online. Some privately held for-profits are drawing scrutiny as well, with critics arguing that many of the needy students that help them qualify for aid were reeled in by coercive practices. Florida Career College, a for-profit vocational and trade school, is slated to receive more than $17.3 million in CARES Act funds. But a lawsuit filed in April accuses the school of targeting black students with high-pressure tactics that left them deeply in debt. Only one of the schools 17 programs passes the federal measure of whether what graduates earn can cover their loans and basic needs, according to a class-action suit filed by Harvard Law Schools Project on Predatory Student Lending. After graduating, students able to find jobs in the area they studied earn between $9,000 and $33,000, the lawsuit claims. I dont think the government should be giving taxpayer dollars to companies whose business model is cheating students, Toby Merrill, director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending, said. Florida Career College said it could not comment on specifics of the lawsuit due to pending litigation, but called it baseless legally and factually. We will aggressively fight these false allegations, Aaron Mortensen, the college's general counsel, said in an email. FCC said it has pledged to pass along 100 percent of the funds it receives to its students. Research shows for-profits have been a key driver of the crippling student debt crisis, with higher costs and worse outcomes. Some Democratic legislators have called for barring them from receiving the same federal loans that allowed about 1,600 for-profits to collectively receive more than $1 billion in coronavirus bailout funds. Image: A commencement ceremony for Strayer University, a for-profit educational institution, in 2011. (Brooks Kraft / Corbis via Getty Images file) But the Trump administrations Education Department has been supportive of them, including rolling back Obama-era rules meant to crack down on the worst-performing schools, instead encouraging greater transparency. Robert Kelchen, an associate professor of higher education at Seton Hall University, said hes not surprised for-profits are being careful. The for-profits know that how they use the money is going to be scrutinized, he said. I think theyre using the money they have discretion over in a reasonable way because they dont want an investigation before Congress. A fourth round of bailout funds in a bill passed last week in the House of Representatives would include another $37 million for higher education. It would earmark $27 billion in state funds for public colleges, which those on the left have called for, and come closer, though would not meet, the level of funding higher education experts say is crucial to keeping institutions afloat. The bill is unlikely to make it through the Senate. Many conservatives dont believe more bailouts are the right answer. We should be a lot more skeptical of those, said Preston Cooper, visiting fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, a right-leaning think tank. I think colleges should have to demonstrate pressing need before we spend more money. The House bill largely cuts out for-profit institutions from the funding. Gunderson of CECU said he believes if more money does come through for higher education, for-profit career schools will get a slice. If there is more student aid, Gunderson said, Im certain we will be included. GENEVA (Reuters) - The Chinese envoy to the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday denounced the support shown by the United States and others to Taiwan during its annual ministerial assembly and said that was undermining the global response to the pandemic. Taiwan lobbied hard to be included as an observer at the two-day virtual meeting and received strong support from the United States, Japan and others, but says it was not invited due to opposition from China. "There are still a few countries determined to plead for Taiwan authorities, seriously violating relevant U.N. and WHO resolutions and undermining global anti-epidemic efforts," Chen Xu, the Chinese ambassador, told the virtual assembly. "China solemnly protests and firmly opposes this behaviour." Taiwan is locked out of U.N. organisations such as the WHO due to the objections of China, which considers it a breakaway province with no right to the trappings of a sovereign state. The WHO says it is bound by U.N. protocol, and that Taiwan can only be included in WHO meetings if the members make a decision to do so. Several delegates protested at Taiwan's exclusion in their speeches, including senior U.S. diplomat Howard Solomon in closing remarks as well as Haiti and Paraguay. Shortly after the U.S. speech, Chen dismissed the remarks as "political hype", saying: "This conduct is not acceptable." Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen, is due to say on Wednesday that the island will continue to strive to participate actively in global bodies despite the setback at the WHO. (Reporting by Emma Farge and Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Kevin Liffey) The Fairport Harbor School Board is slated to vote May 26 on a reduction in force plan that would cut 32 positions, held by employees ranging from teachers to classroom aides to custodians. Specifics of the reduction in force, also referred to as a RIF, were outlined in a May 14 letter from Superintendent Domenic Paolo to Fairport Harbor Education Association President Jennifer McCauley. The letter was to comply with contractual obligations between the district and its employees union. In this instance, our negotiated agreement requires at least 60 days prior to implementation (of a RIF), Paolo stated in an email on May 18. When broken down into categories, the proposed RIF would eliminate 12 full-time teaching positions, two half-time teaching positions, two certified nonteaching positions, one full-time school support staff position and 15 part-time school support staff positions. If the board approves the RIF on May 26, the jobs would be eliminated July 31, according to Paolos letter. This reduction is significant but necessary due to financial reasons and/or decreased enrollment, he wrote. The looming deficit reflected in the boards financial forecast and additional cuts in state funding shows that the board is facing a budgetary shortfall of approximately $1.1 million. He said the School Board will be making cuts elsewhere, but noted that personnel costs account for 80 percent of the districts budget. Earlier this year, Paolo and other leaders of Fairport Harbor Schools highlighted some of reasons behind the districts financial struggles, as they campaigned for passage of a 4.47-mill additional operating levy that would have generated $250,000 annual for five years. As it turned out, district voters rejected the levy in the March 17 primary. Leading up to the primary, Paolo said the levy was needed to keep up with rising operating expenses, chiefly in the form of escalating health care costs. Meanwhile, district Treasurer Lew Galante pointed out that the district was spending more on growing needs in special education. Paolo also noted in February that the district needed to bolster its funding because of a relatively flat state budget. Since that time, though, the states financial picture has darkened considerably, as tax revenues have plummeted because of the sharp economic downturn caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic. On May 5, Gov. Mike DeWine announced spending cuts totaling $755 million for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends June 30. Those budget reductions included $355 million for Ohio schools. Looking beyond June 30, its uncertain how much Ohio tax revenues overall will decrease during the 2020-21 fiscal year, and what impact that reduction would have on state education funding and Fairport Harbor Schools in particular, Galante said. In addition, Fairport Harbor Schools and other local government entities might see a decrease in property tax revenue for the rest of 2020 because of homeowners losing jobs and having other financial problems during the COVID-19 crisis, Galante said. We have no clarity on our revenue stream for next year, Galante said, regarding the districts economic outlook. With so many uncertainties regarding the districts finances going into the upcoming academic year, Paolo said the RIF proposal was developed as a worst-case scenario based on the maximum possible revenue loss. He also said the district still is unsure at this point if schools will reopen for 2020-21 with an online, traditional or hybrid format. My hope is that recalls (of employees impacted by the RIF) can be made strategically as more information becomes available, he said. Paolo explained that formulating plans to recall employees would require more clarity about what is going to happen to our state revenue and the conditions under which we can restart (classes in 2020-21). The Fairport Harbor Education Associations four-member executive board is scheduled to meet May 20 with Paolo and Galante to further discuss the RIF and district finances, McCauley said. In addition to serving president of the 66-member union, McCauley is a middle-school science teacher. Shes also one of the teachers who would lose a job if the RIF in its current form is approved on May 26. McCauley said it was around May 11 when rumors of a possible RIF began circulating among union members. She said Fairport Schools staff was first told about the proposal by principals in online meetings on the morning of May 14. At noon on May 14, she received a letter from Paolo indicating the districts intent for a reduction in force, along with a list of affected employees names. McCauley said Paolo met with the unions executive board later in the afternoon of May 14, and then held a video conference meeting with entire staff on May 18. In both meetings, Paolo said that since it was uncertain if school would open with an in-person, online or hybrid format, he was not immediately sure of which positions could be recalled or when that action could be taken, McCauley said. He didnt answer other specific questions about staffing or finances, she added. The School Boards May 26 meeting will be held remotely through video and audio conference. Members of the public can join the meeting through a link on the school districts website, fhevs.org. McCauley said if the board were to reject the current RIF proposal, a revised personnel-reduction plan could be introduced. But the board also has the ability to tell (Paolo) that no RIFs are wanted, she said. Volatile trade continued to dog world stock markets on Friday, with panic-selling seen early in Asia before investors recovered their nerve on hopes a fiscal stimulus package would help the US economy avoid recession. President George W. Bush was Friday to announce "short-term, temporary measures" to stimulate the economy, said White House spokesman Tony Fratto, amid fears that the world's biggest economy is heading for a sharp downturn. In Asia on Friday, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 index ended up 0.56 percent in anticipation of the measures by Bush, staging a dramatic late turnaround after tumbling 2.81 percent in the morning. European stocks were slightly lower at the open after falling for the third day in a row on Thursday. Hong Kong dropped 1.22 percent but off its lows while losses in mainland China were limited with the Shanghai Composite index down 0.31 percent. The European commission will launch a sweeping effort to tackle the global biodiversity crisis on Wednesday, including a call for 3bn trees to be planted in the EU by 2030 and a plan to better protect the continents last primeval forests. The draft policy document, published online by an environmental NGO, admits that to date in the EU, protection has been incomplete, restoration has been small-scale, and the implementation and enforcement of legislation has been insufficient. Scientists and environmental groups, commenting on the leaked draft of the strategy, say that while the new goals are welcome and impressive, there is a still distinct lack of tools with which to implement them. Its a good and ambitious document, but what is also obvious is the lack of strategy of how to implement it, and a lack of discussion of why previous documents of this type failed, said Przemysaw Chylarecki of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The new strategy calls for nearly one-third of EU land and sea to become protected zones. Currently, 26% of land and 11% of seas are classed as protected areas, but the European commission acknowledges this has not been enough to tackle the degradation of the natural world and threat of extinction to some birds and animals. Environmentalists say even these previous targets for protection have not been met in practice. The proposed strategy lacks game-changing ideas and instruments for reaching the targets. We already know today that existing frameworks are not delivering, so why should we wait, said Robert Cyglicki, programme director of Greenpeace in central and eastern Europe. He welcomed the new strategy but said it would be 2024 before it became clear if new binding measures would be adopted, and called for immediate discussions over funding and enforcement mechanisms. Some elements of the programme, such as protecting migratory bird populations, are hard to implement without a global approach, and the paper calls on the EU to intensify efforts to make biodiversity a central part of its diplomacy. Story continues It concludes that global efforts to tackle the biodiversity crisis under the auspices of the UN have been insufficient to halt the loss of the worlds biodiversity. It will also turn the spotlight on the EUs 60bn-a-year common agricultural policy, which has been criticised for fuelling a steep decline in nature, with a call for a quarter of the EUs agricultural land to be organically farmed by 2030. Environmentalists warned the plans headline target to plant at least 3bn trees by 2030, in full respect of ecological principles, should only be a small part of the solution. Planting 3bn trees is a really spectacular and visual goal, but it has been shown that planting new trees is not a panacea and doesnt always help, said Chylarecki. More important will be the goal to map, monitor and strictly protect the EUs last remaining primeval forests, which have survived in almost every member state, but remain threatened by human activity, such as illegal logging. These older forests provide a natural shield against climate change, but in many countries have been preyed on by logging companies, with national governments either ignoring the situation or lacking the resources to properly police logging. There are about three trillion trees on the planet and they play a major role in producing the oxygen we all breathe. But twice as many existed before the start of human civilisation. Today, 10 billion more trees are cut down than are planted every year. This destruction is a significant contributor to the carbon emissions that are driving the climate crisis. However, trees draw carbon dioxide back out of the atmosphere as they grow, and planting trees will need to play an important part in ending the climate emergency. Forests are also a vital and rich habitat for wildlife. Earth is at the start of a sixth mass extinction of species and the razing of forests and other ecosystems is the biggest contributor to the losses. Tropical rainforests are especially important, hosting 50% of known terrestrial species on only 6% of the worlds land. Trees are also important in controlling regional rainfall, as they evaporate water from their leaves. In urban areas, the shade from trees has been shown to both cool city streets and reduce levels of air pollution. They can also boost peoples wellbeing as part of green spaces, with research showing two-hour dose of nature a week significantly improving health. We believe an integrated approach that also includes smart financial mechanisms and social aspects is the key aspect of a future European biodiversity governance framework, said Romanias environment minister, Costel Alexe, who has said he wants to better protect the large area of old-growth forests in the country. Cesar Luena, a Spanish socialist MEP and vice-chair of the European parliaments environment committee, agreed that the 2030 targets will need to be covered by legislation to make them binding on member states. If the new strategy remains just a collection of ideas, nothing will ever happen, he said in emailed comments. He said the strategy seems more ambitious than the previous one but there are still areas for improvement. Luena said EU member states needed to comply with existing laws, noting that in the last week alone, the European commission launched legal action against 19 governments over failures on EU environmental law a tally of charges far from unusual in the commissions monthly round up of infringement proceedings. Sweden and Latvia have been accused of not implementing parts of the EUs birds and habitats directives, Malta is faulted for not conserving endangered bluefin tuna, while France, Cyprus and Lithuania are said to have neglected to write EU air pollution standards into national law. The EU should also offer funding benefits for those governments serious about hitting targets, said campaigners. At the EU level we need some sort of financial stimulus that would make it attractive for countries to focus on biodiversity, said Marta Grundland, a campaigner with Greenpeace Poland. Right now, I dont feel its a EU priority or a national priority. After climate this is the second biggest threat we are facing, and its all connected. If we want to help with the climate crisis we should also tackle the biodiversity crisis. Learning Tools Free Top Hat Basic Allows for Live Streaming and Recording of Class Top Hat is launching a version of its program that will assist faculty in embedding active learning into their remote classes. The recently announced Top Hat Basic will be available free to students and professors in time for the fall 2020 semester, the company said. According to Top Hat, the software enables instructors to: Take attendance, do live chatting, host discussions and add polling and quizzing with interactive questions; Do live streaming of lectures and class meetings, including the use of slides, but without the need to use an external videoconferencing program; Record presentations that allow for interactive viewing afterwards; students can watch the class on-demand while still participating in discussions, answering quiz questions and reviewing live chats; and Monitor a weekly course report that recaps students' performance and identifies those who need intervention. The functionality provided by the free version is a subset of a "pro" version, which includes: Live assessments, remote proctoring and the ability to provide in-line instructor feedback; A gradebook and auto-grading; LMS data export; and The ability to embed videos and simulations. The pro version is $30 per student per four-month term ($48 for the school year), which is charged to the student. Additional add-ons include the use of interactive textbooks and remote proctored exams. "Making students feel connected to their learning processes, to their instructors and to teach other is always challenging. Doing so in this online environment is even more so," said Top Hat CEO Mike Silagadze, in a video about the launch. "We're truly excited to help educators realize just how much better online and blended courses can be, and that's all about empowering you, the educators, with the tools that you need to engage students and help them unleash their potential, whatever the situation requires." Learn more on the company's website. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) Instead of deliberating on a provisional permit for ABS-CBN, Congress should work on giving the embattled media giant a fresh 25-year franchise, former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said. Enrile was among the resource persons at the Senate Committee on Public Services hearing on the pending bills granting a provisional franchise to the media giant, which has been off the air since May 5. There has to be a certain degree of permanence of any legislative actions. If Congress can grant a temporary franchise, what is the compelling reason for Congress not to grant a permanent franchise with a reasonable period for 25 years? he said in the hearing. The House of Representatives is now pushing for the passage of ABS-CBNs provisional franchise valid until October 31, after receiving flak for sitting on bills giving the media company a new franchise to continue its broadcast operations. House leaders have said they needed more time to deliberate on the granting of another 25-year franchise. Once the measure is passed on second and third readings, the House-approved bill would be sent to the Senate for its consideration. But Enrile said lawmakers should focus their energy on passing a legislative franchise, instead of a provisional one. He questioned the constitutionality of giving a temporary authority for ABS-CBN to continue its radio and television operations despite the expiration of its franchise on May 4. Lawmakers have repeatedly said they are working to fasttrack the approval of the bill granting a temporary franchise to ABS-CBN as one of the Philippines biggest broadcast networks is crucial in news reporting, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. But Enrile said there is no need to rush as there are radio stations that can deliver the news to far-flung areas. My god, the nooks and corners of this republic is reached, not by television, but by radio The question of communication and information is not the issue. The issue here is we must comply with the Constitution, we must comply with the laws. Huwag naman parang linalaro ang Saligang Batas natin, he added. Despite Enriles doubts on the constitutionality of granting a provisional franchise, both former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno and San Beda University Graduate School of Law Dean Father Ranhilio Aquino agree that it is within the jurisdiction of Congress. The length of the provisional franchise is left to the discretion of the Congress. That is perfectly allowed by the Constitution. The exercise of that power is on the wisdom of the Congress, Puno said. Aquino added Congress may grant a provisional franchise that can last for days or weeks, as long as it does not exceed the constitutional limit of 50 years. The House of Representatives on Monday recalled the approval on second reading of a bill granting ABS-CBN a provisional franchise until October this year as some members said it was unconstitutional. The lower house convened as a Committee of the Whole and the plenary passed the measure on second reading on May 13. Some lawmakers, however, noted that this could be unconstitutional as the charter requires that bills be passed after three readings on separate days. Senators said it will wait for House to transmit the final approved bill from the lower House before they formally deliberate on the issue. ABS-CBN is banking on the grant of a provisional franchise to resume airing on free TV and radio stations. It was forced to shut down on May 5 to comply with a cease and desist order from the NTC as its franchise expired. The media giant has since appealed to the Supreme Court to temporarily stop the implementation of the NTC order, citing income losses ranging from 30 million to 35 million every day that it is off the air, as well as possible job losses for its 11,000 workers. ABS-CBN Corporations shares slid 7.2 percent after it resumed trading almost two weeks after the shutdown. WESTMINSTER, Colo., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cerapedics, a private ortho-biologics company, today announced that results from a clinical trial evaluating i-FACTOR Peptide Enhanced Bone Graft in non-instrumented lumbar fusion surgery has been published in the May 2020, Volume 20, Issue 5 print of The Spine Journal as the lead article. The data demonstrate that elderly patients in Denmark treated with i-FACTOR bone graft plus local bone had a statistically significantly higher fusion rate compared to allograft plus local bone. "In Scandinavia, surgeons often consider performing non-instrumented fusion when there is instability in elderly patients, but allograft bone has notoriously low fusion rates in this population," said Dr. Michael Kjr Jacobsen, principal investigator. "i-FACTOR shows an increased fusion rate versus allograft." Dr. Michael Kjr Jacobsen, at the Center for Spine Surgery and Research in Southern Denmark, led the double-blind, prospective, randomized study in more than 100 patients (60 years or older). Participants suffered from degenerative spondylolisthesis and underwent decompression and non-instrumented posterolateral fusion surgery, randomized to either i-FACTOR bone graft or fresh frozen allograft bone, both mixed with local bone graft. Results showed the fusion rate was significantly higher in the i-FACTOR bone graft group (50 percent) compared to the allograft group (20 percent) at one year (p <0.001). Patient reported outcomes at baseline and follow-up were similar between the two groups. Longer term follow-up to evaluate the maintenance of clinical outcomes is in process. "This study is a valuable addition to our clinical evidence base," said Glen Kashuba, chief executive officer of Cerapedics. "This is now our fourth prospective clinical study in which i-FACTOR Bone Graft has demonstrated a clear clinical benefit and builds upon our previously reported fusion in various spine applications." "We are very encouraged by the results of this level-1 human clinical study in an extremely challenging environment," said Jeffrey G. Marx, Ph.D., president, and chief operating officer. "These results are especially encouraging as we continue to advance an investigational device exemption (IDE) clinical trial in the U.S. evaluating the safety and efficacy of our next-generation bone graft in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgery." iFACTOR bone graft has over 10 years of clinical success in Europe and was approved in the U.S. for use in anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) procedures in 2015. The drug-device combination product is based on small peptide (P-15) technology that accelerates new bone formation in patients with degenerative disc disease. It is in a new category of bone graft technology and is one of only two drug-device combination products approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). In 2018, the company enrolled the first patients in an IDE clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of its next-generation product, P-15L Peptide Enhanced Bone Graft, for use in patients undergoing TLIF fusion surgery. CAUTION: In the United States, i-FACTOR Peptide Enhanced Bone Graft is indicated for use in skeletally mature patients for reconstruction of a degenerated cervical disc at one level from C3-C4 to C6-C7 following single-level discectomy for intractable radiculopathy (arm pain and/or a neurological deficit), with or without neck pain, or myelopathy due to a single-level abnormality localized to the disc space, and corresponding to at least one of the following conditions confirmed by radiographic imaging (CT, MRI, X-rays): herniated nucleus pulposus, spondylosis (defined by the presence of osteophytes), and/or visible loss of disc height as compared to adjacent levels, after failure of at least 6 weeks of conservative treatment. i-FACTOR Peptide Enhanced Bone Graft must be used inside an allograft bone ring and with supplemental anterior plate fixation. About Cerapedics Cerapedics is an ortho-biologics company focused on developing and commercializing its proprietary small peptide (P-15) technology platform. i-FACTOR Peptide Enhanced Bone Graft is the only biologic bone graft in orthopedics that incorporates a small peptide as an attachment factor to stimulate the natural bone healing process. This novel mechanism of action is designed to support safer and more predictable bone formation compared to commercially available bone growth factors. More information can be found here. Media contact: Drew Trivisonno CFO, Cerapedics Inc. 720-712-1730 [email protected] SOURCE Cerapedics Inc. Related Links http://www.cerapedics.com Beyond the hotspots of Brazil and Mexico, the coronavirus is threatening to overwhelm Latin American cities stretching from Chile to the Colombian Amazon in an alarming sign that the pandemic may be only at the start of its destructive march through the region. More than 90% of intensive care beds were full last week in Chile's capital, Santiago, whose main cemetery dug 1,000 emergency graves to prepare for a wave of deaths. In Lima, Peru, patients took up 80% of intensive care beds as of Friday. Peru has the world's 12th-highest number of confirmed cases, with more than 90,000. We're in bad shape," said Pilar Mazzetti, head of the Peruvian government's COVID-19 task force. This is war. In some cities, doctors say patients are dying because of a lack of ventilators or because they couldn't get to a hospital fast enough. With intensive care units swamped, officials plan to move patients from capitals like Lima and Santiago to hospitals in smaller cities that aren't as busy running the risk of spreading the disease further. Latin American countries halted international flights and rolled out social distancing guidelines around the same time as the US and Europe, delaying the arrival of large-scale infection, said Dr Marcos Espinal, director of communicable diseases at the Pan American Health Organization. Latin America was the last wave, said Espinal, who previously worked at the World Health Organization. He warned that authorities need to maintain anti-virus restrictions even as the US and Europe reopen. Some of the hardest-hit cities, like Lima and Santiago, imposed strict, early lockdowns. But officials have struggled to enforce them, whether among the wealthy who are used to flouting regulations or lower-income people who depend on day labor or selling things on the street to feed their families. Latin America is the world's most unequal region, a reality that Espinal said made it difficult to balance health and economic growth, with millions facing increased poverty during quarantines, curfews and shutdowns. A month after swamping the Ecuadorian coastal city of Guayaquil in one of the first serious blows to Latin America, COVID-19 is sickening thousands in the capital of Quito, where 80% of intensive care beds were occupied as of Friday. In terms of intensive care, we're stripped bare," city health secretary Lenn Mantilla said. Quito has more than 2,400 confirmed infections, and Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos said he expected the peak to come toward the end of June. He assured citizens that the city was prepared and would avoid the fate of Guayaquil, where hundreds died at home, left in living rooms for days before overworked coroners could retrieve the bodies. Those who perished in hospitals in coastal cities were put in chilled shipping containers that served as makeshift morgues. The number of deaths in Quito jumped alarmingly over the weekend, from 114 to 209, and doctors said they dreaded the coming days. I have a 26-year-old woman next to me who walked in. Three hours later, she's suffocating because we don't have a respirator available,'' said an intensive care doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media. I think we're getting to the point that you saw in Europe, where people died for lack of respirators." Ecuador has banned most private car trips and imposed a 2 pm to 5 am daily quarantine, but thousands of people can be seen buying from street vendors across the capital. The worst-hit country in Latin America remains Brazil, which is third in the world for reported infections at more than 250,000 even with limited testing. More than 85 percent of intensive care beds are full in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Now, other countries are surging. Chile has imposed new restrictions in Santiago after cases doubled over the past week, to more than 34,000 in the country of 18 million people. Under the new restrictions, people will have to receive a police permit to leave home, with violators fined the equivalent of thousands of dollars. Essential workers are exempted. We're on very, very thin ice," said Claudio Castillo, a professor of public policy and health at the University of Santiago. In Colombia's Amazon region, cases have shot up in recent weeks, from 105 at the start of the month to 1,006 on Monday. The infections are concentrated in Leticia, a city on the Amazon river that borders both Brazil and Peru. Locals believe it's related to the increase in cases in Brazil's Amazon. Even though Colombia's president has militarised the border, many still cross. Residents often work in one country and live in the other. Leticia relies on two poorly equipped hospitals, which have about a half-dozen respirators between them. Authorities recently began transporting seriously ill patients to Bogota after a failure at a hospital oxygen plant. Officials said Monday that they will open hotels in Leticia to take in people with less severe coronavirus cases. Health workers also complain of limited access to testing and say they are overworked to the point of collapse. In Mexico, intensive care occupancy is below 50 per cent in most cities, although deaths have begun to overwhelm funeral homes and crematoriums in the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Does anyone really need to point out the irony (to put it kindly) of the Wisconsin Supreme Court electronically hearing arguments and issuing a ruling to kill Wisconsins stay-at-home order? The justices who voted to overturn the order Roggensack, Rebecca Bradley, Kelly and Ziegler stayed at home," or at least someplace safe, to do their work. In essence they said, Were going to be careful about this pandemic, but we dont care if you guys are at risk. Its tyranny Justice Rebecca Bradleys word if the state tries to keep you safe. Twisted right-wing thinking. The Republican Legislature in April sued the Wisconsins Department of Health Services and its head, Andrea Palm, claiming that Palm and the DHS overreached by issuing the order. However, the law that empowers DHS says it may close schools and forbid public gatherings in schools, churches, and other places to control outbreaks and epidemics." Overreach? Justices Anne Walsh Bradley and Dallet were joined by conservative Justice Brian Hagedorn in dissent. Justice Hagedorn, though conservative, admirably hewed not to party line, but to what he saw as the logic of the matter. He said The Legislature may have buyers remorse for the breadth of discretion it gave to, but those are the laws it drafted We are allowing the Legislature to argue its own laws are unconstitutional." Sure, people are suffering by being out of work, but we cant fix that by sending them into the jaws of a pandemic. Don Foy, LaFarge Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sug-soo, fifth from left, Minister of the Interior and Safety Chin Young, fourth from left, and the CEOs of credit card firms hold copies of an agreement regarding government-provided emergency relief money at the Government Complex Seoul, May 8. / Courtesy of Ministry of the Interior and Safety By Park Jae-hyuk The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has caused controversy by allowing fintech firms to use marketing support campaigns regarding the government's emergency relief funding, while barring credit card issuers from providing benefits to their customers who can spend the funds via their cards, industry officials said Tuesday. The double standard has especially benefited Viva Republica operating the Toss money transfer app and the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute (KFTC) running the Seoul's city government mobile payment app, Zero Pay. Viva Republica will offer up to 100,000 won ($82) "cashback" at the end of this month to its customers who spend a certain amount of money using newly issued Toss-affiliated cards or those that have not been used for more than a year. If the customers use the cards to spend the relief money received from the government, they will be able to get a certain amount of cash back, depending on the amount they spent. The KFTC will give 10,000 won to 2,000 Seoul citizens a day until Friday, if they receive the government's relief fund using Zero Pay. The financial authority said it cannot ban the fintech firms from offering such benefits as they are not subject to the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act that regulates credit card firms. Card firms have complained that this is a double standard. "Since the application for the relief money began, the financial authorities have restrained card firms from carrying out marketing campaigns, while allowing financial platform providers to offer cash back," a card firm official said on condition of anonymity. "This seems inconsistent." Card issuers initially expected to take advantage of the emergency relief money that is being given to all households nationwide starting this month. However, FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo urged card firms to refrain from carrying out marketing campaigns to get more customers to use their cards to spend the relief money, when he met with the CEOs of eight credit card firms May 8. In response, BC Card canceled the issuance of a press release on a marketing campaign offering up to 1 million won cash back to 100 customers who received the relief funds through its cards. NH NongHyup Card withdrew an announcement that it would give mobile vouchers worth 10,000 won to 10,000 customers who used its cards for the funds. Samsung Card has also stopped giving Starbucks and convenience store vouchers to its card users who apply for the relief money through the firm. Large-scale text seems to pop and peel right off the walls in a series of fun outdoor optical illusion murals by creative director and muralist Ben Johnston. Phrases like protect what you love, hold fast, good vibes, and Upper West Side look like theyre rippling, leaning, or falling from the surfaces on which theyre painted, like brick walls and blank facades. Sometimes, the forced perspective makes you stop and wonder whether those surfaces are really flat after all. Artist Ben Johnston's large typographic murals seem to peel off the surfaces they're painted on. Do you ever wonder how illusions like this work? Our brains perceive elements of what we view as either figures (the objects of focus) or ground (the rest of the space). Think of the classic example of the image that can either be two faces looking at each other or a vase (the negative space in between them). Visual cues like perspective, highlights, and shadows help our brains decide which is which, but sometimes we get it wrong like in the case of the infamous blue and black dress (or was it white and gold?). In this Ben Johnston mural, the large white text seems to curve midway down the wall on which it's been painted. Designers and artists like Johnston can use those cues to make it look like flat, two-dimensional surfaces have 3D objects popping out of them. Sure, our rational brains know that these typographic murals arent really tumbling down the wall, but Bens mastery of the form results in near-perfect illusions that never fail to intrigue. The Heart of Gold mural, for instance, has a delightful springiness to it that conveys excitement and enthusiasm. Johnston says it was created for a non-profit organization in Ontario around the idea that art can inspire, transform, and help build a better community. The town where the mural is located was once known for its nickel mining, so in homage, he came up with the slogan City of Nickel, Heart of Gold. In this Ben Johnston mural, the large white text slants and pops off the short wall on which it's been painted. In this Ben Johnston mural, the large white word Ive always done art and painting throughout my school career when I was younger, Johnston tells Typeroom. After school I went traveling for a few years before deciding to study Product Design in Cape Town, South Africa. All the while studying I started playing around with graphic design and illustration. I dropped out of my course after a year and a half and decided to pursue graphic design. From there I got a job in a small agency and taught myself what I needed to know. After a few years of freelancing and working in ad agencies, I started working with lettering and type. Story continues The artist got his start with large-scale murals when a friend asked him to accent the entranceway of a new building. That was all it took for him to fall in love with the medium, and hes been painting urban surfaces ever since, dividing his time between outdoor work and studio work for clients. On top of that, he also creates custom works for advertising, installations, and events, as well as his own fine art pieces shared in exhibitions. In this Ben Johnston mural, the large white text seems to ripple up and down across the wall it's been painted on. Raised in South Africa and currently splitting his time between Canada and the US, Ben has also been involved in various conferences and mural festivals around the world. As a multi-disciplinary artist and designer winning numerous awards for projects with Fortune 500 companies to working with a variety of NGOs, his main focus is on finding unique approaches to each opportunity, drawing on inspirations from his encounters throughout his travels. Richwood, TX (77531) Today Cloudy with showers. Thunder is possible early. Low 44F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy with showers. Thunder is possible early. Low 44F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%. In this commentary, I will examine Public Joint-Stock Company Moscow United Electric Grid Company's (MISX:MSRS) latest earnings update (31 December 2019) and compare these figures against its performance over the past couple of years, as well as how the rest of the electric utilities industry performed. As an investor, I find it beneficial to assess MSRSs trend over the short-to-medium term in order to gauge whether or not the company is able to meet its goals, and ultimately sustainably grow over time. See our latest analysis for Moscow United Electric Grid Could MSRS beat the long-term trend and outperform its industry? MSRS's trailing twelve-month earnings (from 31 December 2019) of 8.1b has jumped 23% compared to the previous year. Furthermore, this one-year growth rate has exceeded its 5-year annual growth average of -11%, indicating the rate at which MSRS is growing has accelerated. What's enabled this growth? Well, lets take a look at if it is solely attributable to an industry uplift, or if Moscow United Electric Grid has experienced some company-specific growth. MISX:MSRS Income Statement May 19th 2020 In terms of returns from investment, Moscow United Electric Grid has fallen short of achieving a 20% return on equity (ROE), recording 4.7% instead. Furthermore, its return on assets (ROA) of 3.8% is below the RU Electric Utilities industry of 4.7%, indicating Moscow United Electric Grid's are utilized less efficiently. And finally, its return on capital (ROC), which also accounts for Moscow United Electric Grids debt level, has declined over the past 3 years from 6.5% to 6.4%. This correlates with an increase in debt holding, with debt-to-equity ratio rising from 47% to 51% over the past 5 years. What does this mean? While past data is useful, it doesnt tell the whole story. Recent positive growth isn't always indicative of a continued optimistic outlook. There may be variables that are influencing the industry as a whole, hence the high industry growth rate over the same period of time. I suggest you continue to research Moscow United Electric Grid to get a more holistic view of the stock by looking at: Story continues Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for MSRSs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for MSRSs outlook. Financial Health: Are MSRSs operations financially sustainable? Balance sheets can be hard to analyze, which is why weve done it for you. Check out our financial health checks here. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here. NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the trailing twelve months from 31 December 2019. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Regulatory News: 2CRSi (Paris:2CRSI) today announces it has invested 400k in the capital increase launched by Gamestream, world leader in B2B video game streaming services. This is the most recent show of support in the course of 2CRSi's partnership with Gamestream, including its initial investment of 1m in late December 2018 and Gamestream's use of 2CRSi servers since 2018. This subscription will raise 2CRSi's stake in Gamestream to 14.4%. Founded in 2015 with a commercial launch in 2019, Gamestream became, in less than two years, the world leader in cloud gaming solutions for the B2B market. The start-up provides telecom and hospitality professionals (hotels, hospitals, etc.) with turnkey multi-device solutions (TVs, smartphones, PCs and tablets) in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Gamestream thus offers its services to giants such as Etisalat (1st telecom operator in the UAE), Telkom Indonesia (1st operator in Indonesia), Sunrise (1st 5G telecom operator in Europe) or Medion (1st PC brand in Germany). In the interest of offering the best high-resolution gaming experience (up to 4K), Gamestream exclusively uses 2CRSi servers. As a result, users enjoy very high-speed access to a catalogue of video games released by the top publishers on the market. The 3.5m capital increase just completed marks a decisive step forward in the development of Gamestream, which has set the ambitious goal of doubling its size in just two years. The company aims to pursue an aggressive strategy in order to extend its lead, with plans to expand its development teams, broaden its content catalogue and shortly open up a branch in Asia. Ivan Lebeau, Gamestream co-founder and CEO, commented: "The success of our capital increase is a very clear signal from investors across the board. We are proud to have the support of our longstanding partner 2CRSi, which provides us with the best servers on the market. We will be using these funds to consolidate our position as the world leader in the B2B cloud gaming industry. Marie de Lauzon, COO of 2CRSI, added: "This investment comes at a pivotal point in the acceleration of Gamestream's development. With the launch of 5G and the take-off of cloud gaming, we firmly believe that Gamestream has everything it takes to achieve its growth targets. We are very proud to stand by this rising French star in the gaming industry. Next event: publication of the 2019/2020 results on July 8, 2020 post trading. About 2CRSi Founded in Strasbourg (France), 2CRSi group develops, produces and sells high-performance customised and environmentally-friendly servers. In the financial year 2019/2020, the Group achieved pro forma turnover of 144.6m. The Group today has 352 employees and markets its offer of innovative solutions (processing, storage and network) in more than 45 countries. 2CRSi has been listed since June 2018 on the regulated market of Euronext in Paris (ISIN Code: FR0013341781) and is included in the European Rising Tech label. For further information please visit: www.2crsi.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005761/en/ Contacts: 2CRSi Marie de Lauzon Chief Operating Officer investors@2crsi.com +33 (0)3 68 41 10 70 Actifin Victoire Demeestere Financial Communication vdemeestere@actifin.fr + 33 (0)1 56 88 11 24 Actifin Jennifer Jullia Financial Press Relations jjullia@actifin.fr + 33 (0)1 56 88 11 19 Canada and the US have agreed to extend their agreement to keep border closed to non-essential travel to June 21 during the coronavirus pandemic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the border is a source of vulnerability, so the agreement will be extended by another 30 days. The restrictions were announced on March 18 and were extended in April. Trudeau said Canadas provincial leaders clearly wanted to continue the measures. This will keep people in both of our countries safe. Trudeau said. U.S. President Donald Trump also confirmed the extension, but looked forward to its eventual end, saying, everything we want to get back to normal. But many Canadians fear a reopening. The U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any country in the world, though its per capita numbers are well below many other nations. Essential cross-border workers like healthcare professionals, airline crews and truck drivers are still permitted to cross. Truck drivers are critical as they move food and medical goods in both directions. Much of Canadas food supply comes from or via the U.S. Americans who are returning to America and Canadians who are returning to Canada are also exempted from the border closure. Canada sends 75% of its exports to the U.S. and about 18% of American exports go to Canada. The U.S. Canada border is worlds longest between two nations. ___ AP writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report. Doty said he is proud of the departments growth over the years. There have been continuous changes to police technology that have improved their response to incidents, including computers and cameras in squad cars, he said. A fresh mortgage arrears crisis is inevitable due to the pandemic, a report from a leading academic has warned. The new research suggests a largely State-owned lender has been driving repossession cases and calls into question the level of supervision being provided by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). Read More Dr Padraic Kenna, director of the Centre for Housing Law, Rights and Policy at NUI Galway, said given the economic impact of the coronavirus, it was important that mistakes of the past were not repeated. Covid-19 will inevitably result in a new round of mortgage arrears, and many of the challenges of the last decade will re-emerge, he warned. His report comes as the first tentative steps to reawaken the economy took place yesterday with the resumption of outdoor work and the reopening of some retail outlets. Four more deaths were reported, bringing the overall death toll to 1,547, while a further 88 infections were diagnosed, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 24,200. Dr Kennas report found almost a fifth of all possession cases listed between April and December last year involved Permanent TSB, a bank which is 75pc owned by the State. The figures were gathered as part of an unprecedented research project on Circuit Court possession cases. According to the research, the bank was involved in 2,366 of the 12,650 case listings in that period. Permanent TSB is disputing the figures. But Dr Kenna said important questions arose about the high level of possession proceedings involving a relatively small financial entity. Dr Kenna also said there were questions as to the effectiveness of the supervision of Permanent TSB, given the social and economic costs of home loan possession cases, as well as the costs to the State in addressing the consequences of evictions. However, Permanent TSB has queried the figures, saying the number of "substantive court hearings" it participated in was much lower than what was set out in the report. A spokesperson also insisted legal proceedings were "always a last resort" for the bank. The report, 'A Lost Decade - Study on Mortgage Possession Court Lists in Ireland', recommends that those facing mortgage payment problems post Covid-19 should be able to avail of the State mediation, personal insolvency and new legislation which obliges courts to carry out proportionality assessments. According to the data compiled in the report, for every two possession orders granted, three are refused by the courts for a variety of reasons. Banks were responsible for two-thirds of the possession case listings, with the remaining third involving so-called vulture funds, or non-bank mortgage entities and retail credit firms. Almost half of the cases listed involved "household name" banks directly supervised by the European Central Bank, such as AIB and its subsidiaries, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and KBC. "Some 71pc of shares in AIB are owned by the Finance Minister, as well as 14pc of shares in Bank of Ireland," the report said. "This raises questions about the use of resources to pursue possession proceedings when there are many other solutions now in place to deal with distressed mortgages." The data also highlights problems debtors have in getting legal representation. Ten firms specialising in possession matters handled 70pc of the cases examined on behalf of lenders. But the data shows only a quarter of borrowers had any listed legal representation. "Legal aid is provided only to a tiny number of people, and the result is that many are left to represent themselves," the report said. "The Legal Aid Board provides negligible levels of legal representation in these cases. "Civil legal aid is not normally available for property related disputes." According to the report, of 24 applications in cases where the applicant was in potential danger of losing their family home between January and October last year, legal aid was granted in just eight cases. It also said while some court lists indicate debtors have legal representation, this may not occur on the day due to the cost involved or other reasons. Equally, MABS/Abhaile or some other agency may offer assistance, but not legal representation, on the court day. "The outcome of all this involves many distressed home loan borrowers being forced to represent themselves and a great many of these are women," the report said. Dr Kenna said the research confirmed females have been particularly vulnerable. "Women, as the majority of single parents, with responsibility for children and often most relying on State supports, are more heavily impacted by these actions of financial entities," he said. "Yet, despite legal obligations on equality, no State agency, including the Central Bank of Ireland, addresses gender in its reports." Contacted by the Irish Independent, the CBI did not respond to the criticism in the report. In a statement, it said: "A central element of the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears is that arrangements to solve mortgage arrears must be sustainable and based on a full assessment of the individual circumstances of the borrower, and that repossession should be used only as a last resort." Permanent TSB said that based on its own records, the number of "substantive court hearings" it participated in during the April to December 2019 period was much lower than that set out in the report. It said during this period there had been a significant number of once-off administrative hearings, arising from non-performing loans being sold to another institution. "In such cases, the new owner of the loan was required for procedural reasons to make applications in the name of Permanent TSB, as the original plaintiff, in order for the new owner of the loan to be substituted as plaintiff in the related possession proceedings," a spokesperson said. The bank said it had been involved in 200 sets of possession proceedings before the court in the first three months of the year, but had deferred all legal proceedings for three months, given the impact of Covid-19. Read More Do you know a doctor, nurse, caring neighbour, shop worker or someone else excelling on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19? Nominate them for our Frontline Star of the Week award HERE Barbara and Ray Dalio are exiting the Partnership for Connecticut, ending the arrangement that was touted in 2019 as a unique way to reach troubled youths, although they will maintain their commitment to the cause with at least $100 million. Today we are announcing our intent to withdraw from The Partnership, Barbara Dalio said in a written statement released Tuesday. Weve tried hard over the past 15 months to make this unique model work, but it has become clear that its not working because of political fighting. I am not a politician and I never signed up to become one. I only want to help people. Through this experience Ive learned about our broken political system and I dont see a path through it to help people. The partnership, announced in April 2019, was plagued by problems almost from the start including criticism that Gov. Ned Lamont and the General Assembly made it exempt from Freedom of Information and state ethics laws. In the same release Tuesday, issued jointly, Lamont expressed disappointment and said the partnership would dissolve. Boards that are designed to accomplish significant goals must have a foundation of trust. It has been made clear since the inception of this Partnership that breaches of trust were part of the norm. The Dalios have lost confidence in this board structure, and I totally understand why, and together we have decided to dissolve the Partnership, Lamont said. At a live news conference at the state Capitol, Lamont said the states contributions would end and that he would work with the General Assembly to dissolve the partnership. The plan called for the state and the Dalios to each contribute $20 million a year for five years and each has already put in $20 million. Dalio aimed barbs at two Republicans. Our dream of working together in a bipartisan way to help the disengaged and disconnected youth of Connecticut came to an end because politicians like the two leading Republicans of the House, Rep. [Themis] Klarides and Rep. [Vin] Candelora, want to fight in the media rather than debate issues and resolve them with other board members, she wrote. They sought to sabotage The Partnership. It cant go on like this, so I suppose they won. Candelora, R-North Branford, said, Overall, I think this was well intentioned but it came into existence under a cloud. The way it was crafted, I wouldnt make it a partisan issue. Democrats had some of the same concerns that we did. ... Its frustrating for me to hear. This was never about politics but about policy and being an open and transparent process. Klarides, R-Derby, the House minority leader, said she too does not believe the issue is political, but blamed a lack of trust in the partnership due to the structure and effort to limit public information. Klarides said she has always supported the mission of the partnership and the private philanthropy work of the Dalios. This began and ended with public trust and unfortunately that was never something we had, Klarides said. That was our issue all along and this was never about politics ... Lack of clarity, lack of information, leads to a lack of trust and thats all it was. Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, said he thinks it is smart of the governor and the Dalios to end the partnership due to the concerns over the entitys structure and transparency. Looney thanked the Dalios for their generosity and encouraged them to stay involved in the state, particularly in the education sector. It was wise of the governor to not let this linger and fester in a somewhat wounded condition, Looney said. Still, he praised the governor for his attempt to make a public-private partnership work. From the beginning, there were obviously questions about this public-private mix and all of that so I think the governor is to be lauded for trying to find a way for government and private entities to work together in close partnerships but when you do have a mix of people who are subject to greater transparency rules, it does create a difficulty, Looney said. Perhaps we need to do a study of some kind to make sure that these types of issues dont occur with these relationships in the future ... In practice, I think there was quite a bit of transparency, but I know there was concern if this hybrid entity is going to be regarded as public because of the public money involved and I dont think that issue was ever satisfactorily resolved. The Dalios said they will put the money back into the same efforts through Dalio Philanthropies. That organization, based in Westport along with the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates that Ray Dalio founded, has been supporting Connecticut public schools for more than a decade under Barbara Dalios direction. That means the Dalios commitment of $100 million over five years will continue. They just wont be doing it in partnership with the state. The breakup comes exactly as the partnership celebrates its first success, the distribution of 60,000 laptop computers, loaded with software, to students in underperforming districts at a cost of $24 million for at-home schooling in the coronavirus shutdown. The first 2,000 of those went to New Britain students starting Monday and more are being handed out this week in other Connecticut cities. The Dalios will pay $20 million of that $24 million cost. When the partnership dissolves, Lamont spokesman Max Reiss said, the state will receive $14 million to $15 million in return, which will be applied to the state budget deficit. The news comes a week after conflict between the governing board and the partnerships newly hired chief executive officer became public. Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey, who was hired in March and began work April 1, was placed on administrative leave by board chairman Erik Clemons earlier this month for undisclosed reasons. It was unclear Monday whether the board would move to fire Schmitt-Carey. In an interview in April with Hearst Connecticut Media columnist Dan Haar, the Dalios said their commitment to Connecticut remains strong. They said they have donated $166 million to state causes since 2004, and are giving about $45 million a year, mostly for education. The joint venture was announced in a crowded high school gym in East Hartford. The Dalios, in a rare public appearance, sat on stage alongside Lamont and his wife, Annie. Students spoke about the difference the commitment would make and teachers and principals cheered. It still is the largest known philanthropic donation to benefit the state in Connecticuts history, and was a culmination of 12 years of work by Barbara Dalio to support struggling youths in the state and their teachers. The partnership envisioned raising an additional $100 million from other private sources, but criticism on several fronts apparently hindered that effort. It came from people who recalled the a similar philanthropic effort in New Jersey in 2010 $100 million from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and $100 million in other philanthropy to improve public schools in the city of Newark. The plan failed. While legislators were always clear they were grateful to the donation from the Dalios, they were hesitant about using state money to match it. Klarides, who would later be appointed to the board of directors as a legislative leader, openly criticized the use of state dollars since the inception of the Partnership for Connecticut although she always supported the mission of targeting those most at-risk students. The exemption from state ethics and disclosure laws apparently came at the request of the Dalios. In an interview in March, Barbara Dalio explained in an interview with Hearst Connecticut Media that the laws would prevent the partnership from raising outside money, discussing sensitive family issues and searching for new and different ways of helping teachers and students. Legislative leaders who sit on the partnership board have frequently been at odds with the private citizens who sit on the governing board. Members of the board who are public officials are still subject to the Freedom of Information Act in their roles with the partnership, however, and board meetings have been generally public. As a result, legislators have frequently been left out of some of the operating discussions behind the scenes, theyve said. Politicians are putting their political objectives above the children and the state, Barbara Dalio said in her statement. But she ended on a hopeful note. Through this journey, I have been inspired by the people Ive met and the stories Ive heard. There are heroes in every Connecticut community who work hard every day to help young people succeed. They deserve our support. Honestly, Ray and I consider it a blessing that we have the resources to help and we are committed to seeing it through. Staff writer Ken Dixon contributed to this story. kkrasselt@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2563; @kaitlynkrasselt Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 08:02:33|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close Workers drive bulldozers at the construction site of a highway in Taklimakan Desert, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 16, 2020. The construction of Yuli-Qiemo highway, the third north-south route running through Taklimakan Desert, has entered the final rush. Workers of China Communications Construction Company Ltd. are working on the largest dune in this project, with an estimated volume of 1.2 million cubic meters of sand to deal with. They established camps next to the dune for the convenience of work, and receive daily necessities on a regular basis. The completion of the highway is expected to improve the transport conditions in southern Xinjiang and promote local development. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu) Birthday wishes Call 281-422-8302 or email david.bloom@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun. Happy Birthday Wishes Sambhal: Samajwadi leader Chhotelal Diwakar and his son Sunil Diwakar were shot dead in broad daylight in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday (May 19). The killing took place in Sambhal district, a little over 200 km from the national capital. According to the police, the murder is apparently a fallout of a dispute overlaying of a road under MGNREGA. Following a complaint by the victim's second son Sachin Kumar, an FIR was lodged against eight people, including two unidentified persons, under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including 302 (murder). Two of those named in the FIR, a father-son duo - Jitendra Sharma and Sharmendra Sharma, have been arrested. The police had set up three different teams to nab the assailants. The others named in the FIR are Ramendra, Upendra, Gyandendra and Gajendra Singh. The incident took place under the Bahjoi police station area. The bodies have been sent for autopsy. The police said that the SP leader and his son Sunil Kumar (28), who had gone to a field for a walk, were gunned down over a dispute with a group of villagers over the construction of a road under the MGNREGA scheme of the central government in the area. According to information, Diwakar's wife is the head Pradhan of the village. In such a situation, most of her work was monitored by Diwakar. He had also contested the 2017 assembly elections on a Samajwadi Party ticket; however, the seat had later went to the SP's alliance partner. Family members of the Samajwadi Party leader told police that the armed assailants, who had come on a motorbike, shot the SP leader and his son after a brief altercation. "They fled on foot, leaving their motorbike behind," one of the members said. A large number of Samajwadi Party workers reached the village soon after the news of the double murder spread. Former Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav condemned the incident and said Diwakar was a dedicated party worker. He accused the BJP government in the state and the police of sheltering criminals. "After the murder of our dedicated worker today, it has been proved that police are sheltering the criminals, and members of the opposition party, especially the Samajwadi Party, are being targeted," he claimed. Small and medium-sized enterprises should be given the same opportunities to enter the international market as a large business has. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky made a corresponding statement at a meeting on accelerating export growth and attracting investment to Ukraine as a guarantee of economic stability, the press service of the Head of State reports. The meeting was attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, Deputy Heads of the President's Office Ihor Zhovkva and Yulia Kovaliv, Adviser to the President on the Economy Oleh Ustenko and Secretary of the National Investment Council Levan Varshalomidze. "I want Ukrainian business to have export opportunities. I want not only big entrepreneurs to enter the international market, but also medium and small businesses, such as a farmer with high-quality products or an entrepreneur with unique production, to get such an opportunity. For them to start exporting and grow into big businesses, to have such motivation," Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized. As noted, the President supported the reboot of the economic vector of Ukraine's foreign policy initiated by Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will begin this process by restarting the renewed Council of Exporters and Investors (CEI). According to Minister Kuleba, close cooperation with Ukrainian exporters and foreign investors will help Ukrainian diplomats focus their efforts abroad on expanding the necessary opportunities and overcoming existing obstacles. "Today is the best time to implement Ukraine's economic ambitions. To this end, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is launching a qualitatively updated block of trade and investment diplomacy. We will focus on two priorities: supporting Ukrainian exports worldwide and attracting investment to Ukraine. The efforts of Ukrainian diplomats to overcome the economic consequences of the pandemic should become a success story of Ukraine and all Ukrainians. The contribution to strengthening Ukraine's economic security will be one of the indicators of the effectiveness of diplomats' work," Dmytro Kuleba noted. Zelensky stressed that promoting Ukraine's economic interests in the world, along with guaranteeing national security, should become a key priority of Ukraines foreign policy. Strengthening the role of Ukraine in the new system of international relations after the coronavirus pandemic should take place through increasing the welfare of Ukrainian citizens, the success of Ukrainian exporters in the world market and attracting foreign direct investment to Ukraine. A strong economy is Ukraine's most reliable defense not only in the context of a hybrid war, but also during the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," the President added. Yulia Kovaliv and Levan Varshalomidze presented ready-made foreign investment projects, which are in the final stage of approval. "National security, financial independence, new jobs and innovation are the main areas where we need to attract investment," the Secretary of the National Investment Council said. Yulia Kovaliv also presented a draft law on so-called investment nannies, which needed revision in view of the situation with the coronavirus pandemic in the world. ol The USS Theodore Roosevelt will return to sea later this week after nearly two months sidelined in Guam following a massive coronavirus outbreak aboard the ship that infected more than 1,100 and killed one. Navy Captain Carlos Sardiello said Monday the ship will sail with a scaled-back crew of about 3,000, leaving some 1,800 sailors on shore who are still in quarantine. The number of sailors who will stay on Guam include up to 14 sailors who recently tested positive for the virus again, days after being cleared to return to the carrier. Those infected sailors had completed a 14-day quarantine and tested negative for the virus at least twice before getting on board the ship and contracting the virus again, the Navy announced over the weekend. Defense officials dont know whether some of the tests produced false negative readings when those infected sailors were initially cleared or whether the sailors contracted the virus after spending two weeks in quarantine in Guam. In March the carrier saw a massive outbreak that saw 1,102 of the nearly 4,900 crew members on board contract the respiratory virus and led to the death of a chief petty officer. The USS Theodore Roosevelt will return to sea later this week after nearly two months sidelined in Guam following a massive coronavirus outbreak aboard the ship that infected over 1,100 and killed one. The Navy shared this photo from May 15 showing the USS Roosevelt moored at Naval Base Guam making preparations to return to sea Navy Captain Carlos Sardiello said Monday the ship will sail with a scaled-back crew of about 3,000, leaving some 1,800 sailors on shore who are still in quarantine The ship has been at the center of major controversy after its previous captain Brett Crozier was fired on April 2 for allegedly creating panic by sending a memo to multiple officials pleading for help and led to the resignation of Navy Secretary Thomas Modly on April 7 for his handling of the virus outbreak and for removing Crozier from his post. Timeline of USS Theodore Roosevelt COVID-19 outbreak Three sailors aboard the USS Theodore tested positive for COVID-19 on March 24, 2020. Days later the number of cases climbed to dozens, marking the first US Navy ship to have a coronavirus outbreak while out at sea. The carrier docked at the Naval base in Guam on March 27. Captain Brett Crozier pleaded for help from the Navy, sending an e-mail to 10 Pacific Fleet admirals and captains, requesting the ship be evacuated. The Navy ordered the ship be evacuated with a skeleton crew of 400 to stay behind to maintain the ships sensitive equipment such as the nuclear reactor. On April 2, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly relieved Crozier of his command for sending that email to a 'broad array of people'. Captain Carlos A. Sardiello replaced him. Modly traveled to Guam and shared a ship-wide speech where he bashed Crozier and was heckled by sailors. Modly resigned on April 7. On April 13, the first sailor, a chief petty officer, on died from the virus. On May 15, five sailors test positive for the virus a second time. That number rose to 14 by Monday May 18 Advertisement Sardiello, a former Roosevelt captain, took over the ship in April following Crozier's departure. After a preliminary review last month, Admiral Mike Gilday, the Navys top officer, recommended that Crozier be reinstated as ship captain but the Navy is instead conducting a broader investigation, which is supposed to finish by the end of the month. The exact departure date has not been released. Other US officials say the ship is expected to leave in the next few days and if all goes well it will conduct naval operations in the Pacific region for some period of time before heading home to San Diego. When asked if the ship will be able to conduct its missions following its two-month halt in Guam, Sardiello said he was confident it would be able to. Do I have a crystal ball? I do not. But I think we have set the conditions for a high probability of success, and were going to go to sea and do our mission, he said. On Sunday, the USS Roosevelt simulated being at sea while still moored at Naval Base Guam to prepare to return to active operations. 'Our Sailors have tested all of the ship's systems individually, but this is our opportunity to integrate all of that together and show that Theodore Roosevelt is ready and able to go back to sea,' Captain Sardiello said at the time. Preparing to go back to sea has been an intense process. Sailors must go through mandated preparations and training to ensure all the systems are working and that troops are ready with the added requirements of masks, constant cleaning, social distancing and other virus-related restrictions. Sardiello said they were able to get special black neck gaitors for the flight deck crew, because wearing regular masks wouldnt be safe. The ship has also set up one-way corridors, spaced out berthing for the crew members, and are keeping mess halls open longer so fewer sailors are there at any one time. Once at sea, the crew will conduct carrier qualifications for the flight-deck crew, including fighter jet take-offs and landings. After about two weeks, the carrier plans to return to Guam to pick up healthy sailors who have finished quarantine and then return to sea. The virus resurgence has led to questions over just how COVID-19 landed on the ship for a second time and concern over testing accuracy. 'Were at the time where expect the unexpected and deal with it. Theres no good news. Theres no bad news. Its COVID and we dont understand it completely,' Sardiello said. The ship pictured April 3 docked along Kilo Wharf of Naval Base Guam The ship has been at the center of major controversy after its previous captain Brett Crozier (left) was fired on April 2 for allegedly creating panic by sending a memo pleading for help to too many officials. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly (right) resigned on April 7 for his handling of the virus outbreak and for removing Crozier from his post 'Were executing according to plan to return to sea, and fighting through the virus is a part of that.' As of Monday, 14 sailors had tested positive for a second time, and 30 others who came in contact with them were sent ashore for quarantine. All 14 had previously tested positive for the virus and had gone through at least two weeks of isolation. Before they were allowed to go back to the ship, all had to test negative twice in a row, with the tests separated by at least a day or two. The negative results may suggest that the test wasnt given properly or that the virus wasnt in the nasal passages but was still elsewhere. There also are questions about whether the virus level can sometimes be too low for detection. Air Traffic Controller 1st Class Daniel Wright said a few sailors who work for him were among those who tested positive again. 'They were obviously discouraged at first,' Wright said in an interview from the Roosevelt, adding that one sailor had just returned to the ship, had unpacked and was eager to get back to work. 'The nice thing is that the majority of them have little to no symptoms at all and are just waiting for that final check in the box with a clean bill of health so they could join the rest of the crew.' The USS Theodore Roosevelt shared this photo on May 14 showing sailors preparing to return to sea Getting ready: Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier pictured organizing the ship in preparation to finish its mission Sailors pictured moving goods onto the ship in preparation to set sail this week Rear Adm. Stu Baker, commander of Carrier Strike Group 9, pictured giving blood for a serology study aimed to identify antibodies for COVID-19 on the USS Theodore Roosevelt docked at Guam on April 22 Wright said that while things were difficult in the early days of the outbreak, morale is better now as sailors look forward to getting back to sea, wrapping up their deployment and heading home. 'Half the crew would, Im sure, be happy to just sail straight home to San Diego once were ready,' he said. But he added that this is some sailors first deployment and some sailors last, so 'to be able to finish something that they started back in January its a good milestone for all of us to shoot for.' After the outbreak was discovered and the ship docked in Guam, more than 4,000 crew members went ashore for testing and quarantine, while about 800 remained on the ship to protect and run the high-tech systems, including the nuclear reactors that run the vessel. In recent weeks, sailors were methodically brought back on board, while the others who had remained went ashore for quarantine. Joining FL&H allows me to do what I lovesupporting this community by bringing in new businesses and other commercial and private ventures." - Jay Mason, Frederick Land and Home Jay Mason has joined Frederick Land and Home (FL&H) as an associate broker of commercial real estate sales and leasing. Mason was a former sales and leasing associate with Verita Commercial Real Estate. Were delighted to welcome Jay to Frederick Land and Home, says Thomas R. Rozynek, associate broker, lead consultant and founding member of FL&H. He has the depth and breadth of experience to make a difference for our company, and for the businesses and people of the county. A licensed realtor for over sixteen years, Mason is also an active member of the Frederick community. He serves on the Frederick County Board of Education as vice president and sits on the boards of Habitat for Humanity of Frederick County, the Rotary Club of Frederick and Eliminating Achievement Gaps (EAG). He has also been involved with the Boys and Girls Club of Frederick County Board, the Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership (SHIP) Board, the Frederick County Affordable Housing Council (AHC) and the United Way of Frederick County. Masons extensive service experience leaves him uniquely qualified to speak to the business opportunities and quality of life in Frederick County. Joining FL&H allows me to do what I lovesupporting this community by bringing in new businesses and other commercial and private ventures, says Mason. I am confident Frederick will return to its $11 billion economy and the vibrant community we all love to work, play and raise a family in. FL&H provides residential, commercial and land real estate services. To learn more, visit http://www.frederickland.com. About Frederick Land and Home (FLH) Frederick Land & Home (FL&H), formerly Frederick Land Company, is a full-service brokerage and consulting firm in Frederick County. Established in 1992, Frederick Land & Home associates have more than 50 years of experience in real estate transactions in the local Maryland area. Whether you intend to buy, sell, or lease residential or commercial property, allow us the privilege of assisting you in a successful transaction. Our wide range of services makes us one of the few firms in Frederick County that can fully assist you with every aspect of your real estate needs. On May 12, a man and a woman have been arrested by authorities after a police officer in Gloucestershire caught them carrying a suitcase along a road, the officer reported that there were human remains inside the suitcase. The two were immediately arrested and are the main suspects for murder. Human remains in a suitcase According to the police, the woman is in her 20s and is from Birmingham, and the man is in his 30s and from Wolverhampton. Both are now in custody after police officers found human remains in the Forest of Dean area. Because of the discovery, the A4136 has been closed to the public, the area between Coleford and Monmouth. Police officers are now guarding the area while forensic tests the remains found. There are claims that a human torso was discovered inside the suitcase, and other human body parts were discovered in the area, but the authorities have yet to confirm it the claims are true. On a statement on May 13, Gloucestershire Constabulary said that because of an ongoing police investigation, the roads around the area are closed temporarily and guards are placed on the A4136 between Coleford and Monmouth. Also Read: Most Wanted Man in Rwanda Who is Responsible for 1994 Genocide, Finally Arrested Similar incidents In April, human remains were discovered at the home of a military historian. He was jailed for possessing illegal weapons and for stalking.The man in question, Kenneth Ward, was jailed in December 2011 for weapons offenses and indecent exposure. The 72-year-old man had loaded Luger pistol and he is also in possession of the cockpit of a fighter plane used during World War II, the machine guns on the cockpit were still working. The police were called after the new owner of the cottage discovered human remains. Ward's family owned the property for more than 300 years. A forensic archaeologist was also called to the scene to know more about the remains. The police said that the bones may not have been recent, and there is a possibility that it was years old. In May 2019, two people in Indiana discovered human remains inside a suitcase while they were walking. One of them found the corpse when the opened the suitcase that was left in Bean Creek. According to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, they were called to respond to a 911 call. They said that the remains do not belong to an infant and they were also not certain if the body belonged to an adult. The Marion County coroner's office worked to identify the body and notify any family member before they make the name of the victim public. No race, age, or gender were released, and the case of death is still unclear. Meanwhile, the Bean Creek Neighborhood Association released a statement to assure the locals that they are safe and that the police are working on the case. They also called for the people to let the IMPD do the investigation in the area. The association expressed their grief over the gruesome discovery in their neighborhood. The police are still working on the case and are looking for witnesses to this day. Related Article: Man Positive with COVID-19 Refused to Go to the Hospital, Hugs Neighbors Out of Spite @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Operation Exit: Up to 30 players could leave Real Madrid and Barcelona in the next window Transfer Market Including current players and returning loanees It looks like there will be more farewells than welcomes at Real Madrid and Barcelona in the upcoming transfer window. Between the current players, the returning loanees and the players that new signings will replace, up to 30 player exits could happen between Spain's top two clubs. We've taken a look at who those outgoing names might be and why. Zinedine Zidane already has plenty of players in his first team squad - 26 if you count Reinier Jesus - and that number will only grow at the end of this season. Nine first team players are set to return to the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu from their loans elsewhere, plus youngsters Javi Sanchez, Alberto Soro and Jorge de Frutos. Achraf Hakimi is one of those due back in Madrid at some point this summer, and while no one has doubts over his potential, there are questions over whether he'll play enough at the club. Dani Carvajal is an immovable object at right-back, while Ferland Mendy and Marcelo are already competing for the left-back spot, meaning Achraf might have to look elsewhere. Of the other loanees who could leave Real Madrid next season, Dani Ceballos hasn't convinced Zidane and has interest from elsewhere, Sergio Reguilon would like to stay at Sevilla for another season, and there is no place in the first team squad for Jesus Vallejo, Takefusa Kubo or Borja Mayoral. Alvaro Odriozola's future is up in the air but, having seen him leave on loan in January, a summer exit make sense. Oscar Rodriguez has impressed during his loan at Leganes and is ready to make the step up, but there's no room for him to do it at Real Madrid. Reinier will also have to leave on loan to get game time because of the midfield competition in Zidane's ranks. As for those already in the first team, James Rodriguez looks the easiest to shift given he's going into the last year of his contract. Gareth Bale is another of those whose performances this campaign have been disappointing, but his big wages could see him be the most difficult player to get rid of for Real Madrid this summer. Neither Brahim Diaz nor Mariano Diaz have played much this season under Zidane and, while they might not want to leave, they'll both be available to other clubs. Then there is a group of players whose futures are uncertain. Marcelo has significant interest from Juventus, Lucas Vazquez is going into the final year of his deal and Luka Jovic's first season in Spain hasn't lived up to the hype. All in all, around 10 exits are expected at Real Madrid this summer, with the possibility of more on top of that. Barcelona only have 19 players in their first team squad, plus youngsters like Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig, Inaki Pena and Ronald Araujo. Despite having a smaller first team squad than Real Madrid, the Catalan club could be set to offload more players in the upcoming window. Some members of Quique Setien's squad are untouchable - Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann - but the rest are pretty much on the transfer list. That includes the likes of Neto and Sergi Roberto, as well as the players who have been regularly linked with moves away, such as Samuel Umtiti, Junior Firpo, Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal and even recent arrival Martin Braithwaite. Swap deals could be the order of the summer as far as new signings are concerned. Barcelona's interest in Lautaro Martinez, Miralem Pjanic and Mattia de Sciglio has seen Nelson Semedo's name emerge as a possible makeweight. The Portuguese right-back has seen his contract talks break down with Barcelona and, with two years left on his current deal, he's up for sale this summer. Juventus want Arthur Melo as part of any deal that sees Pjanic move to the Camp Nou but the Brazilian would rather stay at Barcelona. Ousmane Dembele is a different case altogether. Barcelona would almost certainly like to sell him, but his injuries and off-the-pitch problems in the last three years mean that clubs won't be willing to meet the Blaugrana's asking price for him at the moment. As for the loanees due to return, Philippe Coutinho will find it difficult to restore his reputation with the club, even if Quique Setien has plans for him next season. However, if Coutinho was to stay at Barcelona next season, he could cost the club around 50 million euros, so finding a buyer at the right price would be a wise move. Other loanees who would be allowed to leave this summer would be Moussa Wague, Jean-Clair Todibo, Oriol Busquets, Carles Alena and Rafinha - there could be a chance for one of the last two to feature for Setien next season, however. Barcelona also have Pedri, Francisco Trincao and Matheus Fernandes to arrive at the club this summer and, given they are future prospects, the Blaugrana will look to loan them out. The Catalan club are able to buy Emerson's full rights from Real Betis this summer too and could sell him on for a bigger fee. Britain on Tuesday accused the European Union of making a sub-standard offer in post-Brexit trade talks, as it urged Brussels to give ground on its proposals to strike a quick deal. UK chief negotiator David Frost told his opposite number, Michel Barnier, that the EU was not offering a "fair free trade relationship between close economic partners". Instead, the deal on the table was "a relatively low-quality trade agreement coming with unprecedented EU oversight of our laws and institutions", he wrote in a four-page letter. "It does not have to be like this," he added. A third round of talks broke up last week, with both sides complaining of deadlock in key areas such as EU access to UK fishing grounds, governance, and the so-called level playing on common standards and competition. "The EU essentially wants us to obey the rules of their club even though we're no longer members," Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said in parliament earlier on Tuesday. But he told MPs a free trade agreement was still possible -- as long as the EU moved away from its "ideological fastness" and recognised Britain "as a sovereign equal". - Deadline looms - Britain left the EU in January, nearly four years after a landmark referendum in June 2016 that saw voters choose to end nearly 50 years of integration with Europe. It remains bound by EU rules until December 31 as it tries to secure terms for a new relationship with its biggest trading partner. A fourth round of negotiations is pencilled in for early June, just weeks ahead of a deadline for an extension to the talks that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has emphatically ruled out. Johnson's office released Frost's letter to Barnier after finally publishing a raft of its draft legal texts used in the talks, and a new global tariff regime for January 2020. "Transparency is very important in negotiations," Barnier responded, pointing out that the EU Commission published its documents more than two months ago. Frost again outlined Britain's position -- that it wants to leave the EU single market and customs union, and is eyeing a free trade agreement (FTA) based on those that Brussels has already struck with countries such as Canada. He questioned EU demands for "additional, unbalanced and unprecedented provisions... as a precondition for agreement between us". "We find it hard to see what makes the UK, uniquely among your trading partners, so unworthy of being offered the kind of well-precedented arrangements commonplace in modern FTAs," he added. Level-playing field proposals, particularly European Court of Justice oversight on state aid rules, would be unacceptable to any democratic country, he said. "It would mean that the British people could not decide our own rules to support our own industries in our own parliament," he added. "Similar issues manifest themselves across labour, environment, climate change and taxation," he added, ruling out "any alignment" with EU rules and law. - 'Think again' - Securing agreement was always going to be tight, even before the coronavirus outbreak, which struck Johnson, Frost and Barnier themselves and forced the talks online. But Frost said he was still confident of quickly signing a "modern and straightforward FTA". "I do hope that in the weeks to come the EU will think again about its proposals in a way that will enable us to then find a rapid and constructive alternative way forward," he added. Barnier indicated the EU had no plans to back down. "In the next round (of talks), we must make tangible progress across all areas, including level-playing field and governance," he wrote on Twitter. Britain's new global tariff schedule, to replace the EU's external tariff on goods from January 2021, would axe duties on some 62 billion ($76 billion, 69 billion euros) of imports, according to ministers. It will apply to countries with whom the UK does not have a trade agreement. Search Keywords: Short link: by Mathias Hariyadi The presence of thousands of passengers at an airport sparked a protest. Social distancing is being disregarded. The lack of discipline among Indonesians is causing more infections. Fears surround Eid al-Fitr. There are doubts about the actual numbers of cases. Jakarta (AsiaNews) Doctors and nurses have protested against the failure by ordinary Indonesians to respect social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, finding a wide echo on the Internet. The issue became front-page news last week when thousands of passengers could be seen crowding the SoekarnoHatta International Airport in Cengkareng (West Jakarta). Similarly, in many places people began crowding streets, stores and markets. For over two months, medical personnel have been on the front lines against COVID-19, risking and often sacrificing their family life. Recently, some doctors and nurses have appeared in videos posted on social media explaining that most of the infections are due to non-compliance with anti-virus protocols, in particular keeping a safe distance. This view is shared by those Indonesians, mostly middle class, who are conscious of the gravity of the situation, such as academics and business people. For many the rallying cry is Indonesia: Its up to you. The aim is to get Indonesians to respect large-scale social restrictions (Pembatasan Sosial Skala Besar) imposed to counter the spread of the pandemic. The authorities fear that the relatively low infection rate will encourage Indonesians to disregard the lockdown, thus risking a new wave of infections. The peak of the current wave could come as soon as this week-end (23-23 May), when Muslims celebrate the Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of Ramadan, Islams sacred month of fasting and prayer. So far, more than 18,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country, with about 4,500 hospitalisations and 1,221 deaths. However, for several observers, the number of cases is much higher since some of the provinces most affected by the disease West Java, Bali and South Sumatra have not provided complete figures. Kathmandu: At least 37 people were killed and 43 others injured in two separate bus accidents in Nepal today. The first incident took place when a bus with 85 passengers, heading for Kattike Deurali from Kathmandu, skidded off the road and plunged 500 metres down the road at Birta Deurali-7 in Kavre after the driver lost control of it. According to the District Police Office Kavre, 33 people were killed in the accident. As many as 43 others have been injured in the incident, police said. A Nepal Army helicopter airlifted 15 injured passengers to Kathmandu for treatment, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. An eyewitness said that many passengers have been squeezed by the bus wreckage. Prime Minister Prachanda directed concerned stakeholders including the government bodies to intensify rescue mission. In the second accident, a passenger bus met with an accident at Siddheshwor, killing four people on the spot. The bus was heading for Bajhang district from Dhangadi. Nepal has many mountainous areas and most roads are narrow. Most accidents in Nepal are blamed on poorly maintained vehicles and road conditions. Buses are crowded and people also travel on the roofs of buses. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday revised its earlier schedule for Class X board exams, deferring it to June 15 after drawing flak from educationists and parents over its decision to hold it from the first week of next month. Parents and activists had questioned the government move citing the steady spike in COVID-19 cases in the state. The tenth standard board exams will be held from June 15 to 25 for over 9.5 lakh candidates, as per the revised schedule announced by School Minister K A Sengottaiyan. He said the exams have been postponed due to increase in COVID-19 cases in the state. Earlier, the exams were scheduled from June 1-12. The postponed Class XI exam would be held on June 16 while the re-exam for absentees of Class XII final exam will be conducted on June 18. The exams would be conducted in over 12,000 higher secondary and secondary schools. However, educationists seem to be unconvinced. Questioning the necessity to hold the board exam for the young minds, especially when the coronavirus cases have been increasing rapidly, especially in Chennai, educationist Prince Gajendra Babu said the announcement will make about ten lakh students come out of their homes after two months of lockdown. "Who will take the responsibility for the students' health? Did the health department or medical experts advise (the government) that the students will not contract the virus," he asked. Also, the fate of the students in the containment zones is also uncertain. Another educationist wondering if it was necessary to hold board exams at all, suggested that the school authorities could consider declaring the students as pass based on their performance in the quarterly and half-yearly exams. Re-exams could be conducted later in the academic year, he said. Earlier, state higher minister K P Anbalagan had said colleges would be reopened only after the state becomes free from all active COVID-19 cases. Tamil Nadu had as many as 12,448 cases of coronavirus as on Tuesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Queen Maxima of the Netherlands was seen lending her support to local charity efforts as she visited a food bank in Delft, a province in South Holland, today. The Dutch royal, 49, headed to the Delft Book Bank Foundation's headquarters to witness their efforts in bringing food packages to the homeless during the coronavirus pandemic. Wearing an elegant floral print dress for the occasion, she beamed as she met staff, while keeping a safe distance. The foundation wants to contribute to the fight against poverty by distributing weekly food packages to people who are in need amid the pandemic. The Netherlands have counted 44,141 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far, registering 146 new cases yesterday and 5,694 in total. Queen Maxima of the Nerherlands, 49, headed to the Delft Book Bank Foundation's headquarters to witness their efforts in bringing food packages to the homeless during the coronavirus pandemic And Maxima did not let the grave circumstances around her visit keep her from exuding her usual charm and warmth. She looked animated as she met with the staff of the Foundation, who welcomed her with open arms - at a distance. Mazima put on an elegant display in a floral black maxi dress, cinched in at the waist and complete with puff sleeves. The royal teamed her outfit with a pair of black mules with a practical heel, and a leather clutch bag as she proceeded with the visit. The social distancing guidelines did not deter the royal from having a good time and she beamed as she greeted the Foundation's workers from a safe distance In a meeting room where everyone sat two metres apart, the Queen discussed the Foundations's effort to distribute weekly food packages to the homeless during the crisis She added an extra note of colour with a pair of red earrings that stood out amid her blond locks. Her hair was styled in simple yet effective blow-dry and rested on her shoulder as she spoke. She headed to the Foundation's distribution centre to meet with some of the staff before meeting members of the foundation in a meeting room, where everyone was sat at a safe distance. The royal celebrated her 49th birthday on Sunday, and shared her mother's recipe for her 'favourite cookies' Argentine alfajores. Maxima picked a colourful and floral dress for the occasion, which she accessories with a pair of heeled mules, a leather clutch bag and a pair of red earrings The Dutch Queen listened intently as workers of the distribution centre talked her through their food delivery mission The Dutch queen, who was born in Argentina, posted the instructions to Instagram yesterday to mark her 49th birthday, which she spent at her home Huis ten Bosch, in The Hague. Glamming up for her birthday, King Willem-Alexander's wife sported a stunning golden one-shouldered blouse, with an eye-catching cut-out feature, while holding a tray of the baked goods. She finished off the look with attention-stealing drop earrings, embellished with several tiny gems, and a smattering of glamorous makeup. Maxima got a chance to inspect the foundation's food stock of eggs and vegetables during her visit Workers seemed delighted by the visit, and kept a respectful distance while chatting with their queen Revealing the recipe, Maxima said: 'During this time I celebrate my birthday at home with a typical Argentine delicacy: alfajores with dulce de leche. 'I grew up with alfajores, they are my favourite cookies! I bake them according to my mother's recipe, which I am pleased to share with you. So you can bake them yourself at home.' The royal spent her birthday at home at the Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, along with her husband King Willem-Alexander, 53, and their three daughters: Catharina-Amalia, 16, Alexia, 14, and Ariane, 13. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands (pictured with her baked treats) has delighted royal fans by sharing her mother's recipe for her 'favourite cookies' Argentine alfajores Matthew Henderson couldnt be entering the job market at a worse time. As a senior at Loyola University, he spent the spring semester interning as a trade policy analyst at the British Consulate in Chicago. But his chances of turning that opportunity into a permanent job after graduation ran headlong into the coronavirus pandemic. Now Henderson is at home with his family in South Bend, Indiana, unemployed and considering jobs at Costco and Target to help pay off $24,000 in student loans. Im in this bubble of anxiety, said Henderson, who just turned 21. I have to pay these, but I have no money to pay them. Saddled with debt, and entering a job market devastated by the pandemic, he and millions of his contemporaries face an exceptionally dicey future. Young adults, especially those without a college degree, are particularly vulnerable in recessions. They are new to the job market with scant on-the-job experience and little or no seniority to protect them from layoffs. A large body of research along with the experience of those who came of age in the last recession shows that young people trying to start their careers during an economic crisis are at a lasting disadvantage. Their wages, opportunities and confidence in the workplace may never fully recover. And in the worst downturn in generations one with no bottom in sight the pattern is beginning to play out with a vengeance. From March to April, employment dropped by a quarter for workers 20-24 years old, and 16% for those 20-29. That compares with about 12% of workers in their 50s. In an article for Lawfare, a blog about law and national security, historian David Kennedy and retired general Karl Eikenberry likened the current crisis to wartime, when elders send the young to fight and die. It is the young indebted students and struggling mortgagors, parents supporting families paycheck to paycheck, precarious recent graduates and anxious first-time job-seekers whose lives will be most deeply scarred, they wrote. For some younger workers, this is the second blow in barely a decade. An analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute noted that the generation that first entered the job market in the aftermath of the Great Recession is now going through its second once-in-a-lifetime downturn. Molly Zerjal, a 32-year-old in St. Louis, lost a communications job at Wells Fargo during the last downturn. Now, Zerjal works in marketing at a different financial firm, and shes afraid it could happen again. Im not an essential worker: marketing and communications is a nice to have, she said. Every day, Im like, Oh, God, what could happen today? Its like PTSD. The question is what kind of scars this will leave in the hearts, minds and pockets of younger people. Jordan Haggard, 33, graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2009 in the depths of the recession. The job market was dire: When she applied for a job at McDonalds, she never heard back. Ten years later, Haggard works as an office manager for a small publishing company in Seattle. She has kept her job during the pandemic, even as some colleagues have been furloughed. But she still feels the effects of 2009. I know I will never be able to afford a home in Seattle or even live by myself without a roommate or two, Haggard said. Life is different from the one I was told about or imagined. Indeed, Jesse Rothstein of the University of California, Berkeley, followed college graduates who entered the labor market after the 2008 financial crisis. By 2018, those who had landed jobs in 2010 and 2011 had a lower employment rate than people at the same age who graduated before the recession hit, and those working earned less. The effects are likely to persist. Lisa B. Kahn, an economics professor at the University of Rochester, tracked young white men who graduated from college in 1979 and 1980, into the jaws of an earlier recession. Over the next two decades, she found, they got stuck in low-quality, low-pay jobs. Even after the economy recovered, they had a hard time moving into better jobs. The causes seem varied. Recession graduates, with limited opportunities, will start in jobs that are a worse fit. Once the economy recovers, they will compete for jobs with people who have more experience. In addition, Kahn noted, recession graduates seem more risk averse. People that graduate into a recession dont change jobs as often as people that graduate into booms, she noted. And these job changes are one of the best ways to get a raise. The difficult start shadowed many through their careers. Till von Wachter of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Hannes Schwandt of Northwestern University followed Americans who entered the labor market in 1981 and 1982, during the largest postwar recession up to that time. They not only earned less in midlife. They were also less likely to be married or to have children, and more likely to die young, recording higher mortality rates starting in their 30s driven by heart disease, lung cancer, liver failure and drug overdoses what two Princeton scholars, Anne Case and Angus Deaton, have called deaths of despair. And, of course, young workers without a college degree are likely to fare even worse. Recessions, in general, widen inequality, Kahn said. The more disadvantaged groups minorities, the young, those with less education are the hardest hit. In the coronavirus pandemic, the lopsided impact of business shutdowns on the young risks opening a generation gap with their elders who are more likely to die of the disease. The diverging interests could affect policy as soon as this summer. In a research paper published last month, Dirk Krueger of the University of Pennsylvania and three colleagues estimated that people past retirement age would choose to close a much larger share of nonessential businesses and keep them closed, while younger workers in those shuttered businesses have the most to lose. The conflict between the old and the young is severe, Krueger noted. The asymmetric aftershocks of this pandemic are likely to ripple across society far into the future. Jordan Meier, who just graduated from the University of Missouri, has been hunting for a job as a reporter since February. Despite a strong resume, shes been able to find only a summer internship offering $250 a month, barely enough for her car payments, and no full-time prospects after that. You work for years, you go through school, and you get to this point where youre preparing to get a job, she said. And now I cant do that. Its very frustrating. Its not something I feel like any of my professors, my parents or really anybody has any knowledge about, she added. They never had to deal with it. Meiers parents finished college in 1988, married and settled into fairly stable careers and a comfortable middle-class life. Her father attended graduate school and then got a job as a software analyst for Overland Park, Kansas. Her mother got a series of accounting jobs. She was laid off in the last recession, but found another position soon after. Theres a big difference between finding a third or fourth full-time job and finding your first job, Meier said. It would be unsurprising if this economic upheaval changed the youngs perception of the world, justice and the role of government. Haggard, the office manager who graduated in 2009, was a Republican in college. She voted for John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. But the recession changed her worldview. Now, shes far more liberal, and she voted for Bernie Sanders in this years Democratic primary in Washington. A big Republican thing is, Pick yourself up by the bootstraps, she said. Well, we dont live in a world where thats possible, at least in America. Paola Giuliano, a UCLA economist, and Antonio Spilimbergo of the International Monetary Fund studied how economic setbacks affect personal ideology. Looking at data from the General Social Survey from 1972 through 2010, they concluded that people who experience a recession in what social psychologists call the impressionable years, roughly 18 to 25, were more likely to believe that success in life depends less on effort than on luck, support redistributive politics to help the less fortunate and mitigate inequality, and vote more often for left-wing parties. Among those directly hit young workers who have lost their jobs the ideological shift could be even stronger. This, in principle, should create a divide between generations, Giuliano said. Alicia Munnell and Wenliang Hou of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College have documented how millennials, born from 1981 to 1999, hit particularly hard by the recession of 2009, are less financially secure than young adults from preceding generations. They have more student debt and less money in their retirement plans. Their net worth is lower than that of boomers or Gen Xers. Fewer own homes. Fewer are married. This is the generation that gave rise to Occupy Wall Street and propelled two presidential campaigns by Sanders. It is the generation voting for candidates like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, pushing the Democratic Party to the left. And as it moves to the left, elders are moving in the opposite direction. In one recent study, Vivekinan Ashok and Ebonya Washington of Yale, with Ilyana Kuziemko of Princeton, found that even as income inequality has intensified, Americans 65 and older have become more resistant to redistribution. The old, they suggest, worry that new programs to help the poor will come at the expense of cuts to Medicare. The disproportionate gains to the American elderly in terms of social spending over the past several decades may make them wary of further extending redistributive programs, they wrote. There remains a crucial bond between generations: family. The young care for their parents, and dont want them to die of COVID-19. The old care about the financial well-being of their children and grandchildren, as well as about the balance in their 401(k). They dont want the economy to go into free fall. For much of her adult life, Brenda Michael-Haggard, the 59-year-old mother of Jordan Haggard, has felt that people who lose jobs or face other forms of adversity should persevere and simply find another way to make stuff happen. Now she has seen her daughters generation experience two economic crises in a little more than a decade and tens of millions of people lose their jobs practically overnight. It has changed how she looks at the world. As the mom, golly, its too bad, she said. Its something that I wish any one of us could prevent. With all of the COVID, you cant just pick yourself up and find something different. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. A car slammed into a convenience store in western Pennsylvania, killing one woman and injuring two others, authorities said. The car was traveling down Dwellington Drive in Middlesex Township when it crashed into a closed store at the CoGos at about 12:10 a.m. Sunday, police in Butler County said. One 39-year-old passenger died in the crash while another 36-year-old passenger was critically injured. The 37-year-old driver was taken to UPMC Mercy in Pittsburgh with injuries described as moderate, police said. Patrolman Bryan Costanzo told the Butler Eagle that the car went into the building, left of the door, through the bricks and front glass, destroying the front aisles of the store. The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Auto Personal Auto Pennsylvania China is offering to cash to farmers to wean them off breeding exotic and wild animals as global pressure grows on the country to stop illegal trade in wildlife blamed for the ongoing pandemic. Trade in wildlife is a multi-billion dollar industry in China but authorities have cracked down on it after the outbreak was connected to seafood and meat market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, which also allowed trade in wildlife. According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, the central Chinese province of Hunan said last week the local government would compensate those who quit breeding wildlife for trade and food. They would be encouraged to raise other animals, the government said. It was the first province to introduce such a policy, and under the scheme farmers will be paid 120 yuan (US$17) for each kilogram of snakes or 75 yuan for bamboo rats they handed over, the newspaper reported. Each porcupine or civet, a catlike species previously linked to the sever acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic in the early 2000s, will bring a payout of about 600 yuan (US$84), it added. Neighbouring Jiangxi province has also released documents on plans to help farmers dispose of animals and financial aid. The state-run Jiangxi Daily newspaper reported last week that the province has more than 2300 licensed breeders, mostly rearing wild animals for food. Their animals are worth about 1.6 billion yuan ($225 million), the report, quoted by AFP, said. On February 24, the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, or Chinas top legislature, adopted a decision on thoroughly banning the illegal trading of wildlife and eliminating the consumption of wild animals to safeguard peoples lives and health. The same week it was announced that the government had stepped up oversight of illegal wildlife trade via e-commerce platforms. More than 750,000 pieces of information about wildlife trade were removed or blocked from major e-commerce platforms while 17,000 online stores or accounts were closed, Liang Aifu, an official with the State Administration for Market Regulation, was quoted as saying by the state media. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Jammu: Two terrorists of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen were killed on Tuesday (May 18) after a 15-hour-long gunbattle with security forces in a densely populated area in downtown Srinagar. The slain terrorists were identified as Junaid Ashraf Khan 'Sehrai', whose father is chairman of the separatist conglomerate Tehrek-e-Hurriyat; and Tariq Ahmed Sheikh. Sehrai was the Divisional Commander of terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. According to the police records, the killed terrorists were wanted by law for their complicity in terror crimes and civilian atrocities. The encounter, which began just after midnight and continued well past Tuesday afternoon, saw damage to around 12 houses in the vicinity of Nawakadal downtown city, leaving many people homeless. Private mobile phones, as well as pre-paid BSNL connections, were snapped and mobile internet was also stopped as a precautionary measure. Before joining terrorist ranks, Junaid aka Sehrai was the mastermind behind the stone-pelting incidents in Srinagar. According to the police, he lead unruly mobs and created law and order disturbance during anti-terrorist operations. He was also involved in instigating youth to march towards encounter sites and make safe passage to holed up terrorists. In March 2019, joined proscribed terrorist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, and indulged in the distribution of drugs and narcotics among youth, in order to use them as his overground workers. The police suspect him to carry out multiple attacks on its teams and security forces in the Vallery in order to snatch their weapons. He, along with his associates, were involved in activities like weapon snatching, bank robberies, attacks on security forces, grenade attacks in the south and Central Kashmir areas besides, motivating local youth to join terrorist ranks, especially Hizbul. Junaid was also involved in collecting funds for Hizbul and was instrumental in strengthening the terror outfit. He was charged with the task of motivating OGWs and local youth for hurling grenades on security forces in the Valley. On May 18, a joint team of police and CRPF, after receiving a tip-off on the presence of a few terrorists at Kanemazar Nawakadal area of Srinagar, launched a cordon and search operation. During the search operation, the hiding terrorists open fire on the joint search party. In the encounter two terrorists killed and both bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. The police also recovered incriminating material including arms and ammunition from the site of encounter. Three weeks after it resumed limited Masses, a Catholic church in Houston has again shuttered its doors after five leaders tested positive for COVID-19. The closure of Holy Ghost Catholic Church on Chetwood Drive comes five days after the death of one of its leaders, Rev. Donnell Kirchner, who church leaders said last week may have contracted the virus and exposed others to it before his death on May 13. On Monday, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said that over the weekend five people tested positive. All were members of a religious community connected to the church, and are asymptomatic, the archdiocese said. The archdiocese also provided more details on Kirchners death, the cause of which is still unknown. According to the archdiocese, Kirchner, 79, was recently diagnosed with pneumonia while at an urgent care clinic. Kirchner was not hospitalized and later returned to the home he shared with seven other members of the Redemptionists religious order. The archdiocese said its unclear if prior to returning home he was tested for coronavirus . In a separate statement, Holy Ghost officials said that two of the people who tested positive are priests who have been active in Masses since they resumed on a limited basis as part of Gov. Greg Abbotts plan to gradually reopen sectors of the Texas economy. The plan allowed houses of worship to hold services at 25-percent capacity and with social distancing, though most opted to keep their doors closed despite Abbotts order. The archdiocese meanwhile allowed parishes to resume limited Masses and for priests to deliver confession by-hand, and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo also asked that areas for private prayer be reopened for a few hours each weekday. DiNardos decision marked a divergent from what other Texas dioceses had said theyd do to combat the virus spread. It also drew the ire of public health experts, some of whom said there were still substantial risks to congregating even if people practiced social distancing and wore marks. Health experts have also said that rushing to reopen certain businesses and services could cause an uptick in COVID-19 cases that would not be evident until a few weeks later. robert.downen@chron.com Hundreds of Thousands Evacuated in India, Bangladesh Ahead of Super Cyclone Amphan India and Bangladesh have evacuated hundreds of thousands of people as super cyclone Amphan, currently located in the Bay of Bengal, bears down on the two countries. The cyclone has winds gusting up to 115 mph. The agency said it is located less than 300 miles south of Odisha, India, as of Tuesday and is advancing to the coast at around 9 miles per hour, according to Indias weather agency. Its very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha in India and Hatiya Islands in Bangladesh, close to Sunderbans, the weather agency said. Amphan is forecast to make landfall in West Bengal, India, located south of Kolkata, on Wednesday, forecasters said. The storm has prompted local officials to attempt to evacuate about 3 million people in all, reported the Washington Post. About 300,000 people had been moved to storm shelters, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee told Reuters. Officials in nearby Bangladesh also have moved to evacuate people in the path of the storm. We are facing a dual challenge of cyclone in the time of COVID-19,' Satya Narayan Pradhan, chief of Indias National Disaster Response Force, told reporters on Tuesday. We are taking action according to the enormity of this challenge. Indian teams are already working to evacuate people living in low-lying areas in Odisha, according to the Indian Express. Super Cyclonic Storm AMPHAN over Northwest and adjoining Westcentral BoB: Cyclone Warning for W Bengal & north Odisha coasts: Red Message. to cross W Bengal Bangladesh coasts between Digha (WB) & Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans during afternooN/eve of 20th. pic.twitter.com/zRp8ki6kDD India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) May 19, 2020 In Bangladesh, about 2 million people are going to be evacuated, the countrys disaster management minister told the BBC. As with all cyclonic storms, wind isnt the only threat. Heavy rains and storm surges are also expected. This is about as strong as cyclones get, said CBS News meteorologist Jeff Berardelli. Even though the storm is forecast to weaken before landfall, the force of winds and pressure piling up ocean water underneath the storms core will create enough momentum to make this a potentially catastrophic storm surge event for both eastern India and Bangladesh. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote that he is reviewing Indias disaster response plans with other top officials. I pray for everyones safety, he wrote on Twitter on Monday, and assure all possible support from the Central Government. UPDATE: Getzs Service Station apologizes for racially insensitive incident A Bethlehem business owner wants an Upper Macungie service station to remove a prop depicting a doll hanging from a noose at a work station, calling it disgusting, disturbing and ignorant. Joey Davis, owner of Tactical Towing in Bethlehem, said he couldnt believe his eyes Monday when he passed by an employee-only garage with a door open at Getz Service Station, 10635 Hamilton Blvd. From the outside, Davis spotted a prop resembling a black baby doll hanging from a noose. Davis was dropping off a car that had been totaled in a partnership his business has with Copart Auto Auctions. "When I first saw the doll, I thought, Nah, thats not what I think it is, right?, " Davis, a Paterson, N.J. native, told lehighvalleylive.com. But then I looked again and sure enough, there was a black baby hanging from a noose. Davis then grabbed a service manager and asked him to walk over to the garage with him. Davis pointed out the prop, asking, What is that about? He claims the manager allegedly replied with a giggle followed by, I dont know how it got there. A woman who answered the phone Tuesday at Getz Service Station declined comment with the exception of saying the company is not racist. Davis, who took photos of the prop, said he immediately called Copart and asked not to return to Getz Service Station in the future. "I told them, I dont see myself coming back here, " Davis said. They were mind blown. Davis later took to Facebook, posting photos of the prop and his account of what happened. The posting garnered nearly 2,000 reactions, 156 comments and about 3,400 shares by Tuesday morning. Davis said it took him about 30 minutes to load his truck and when he turned around, the prop remained. I was hoping he (manager) was going to take it down as soon as he saw this -- not wait for whoever employee it is (who put it there) and discuss it with the employee when he saw them, Davis said. Weve seen this before. This isnt new. Its either youre trying to make a statement or you think its funny. Either way, youre dead wrong. Davis then shared a Facebook direct message conversation between himself and the service shop owners daughter-in-law, in which she reached out to Davis and requested removal of his posting. She then adds: While I understand your (sic) upset and there was no reason for whoever you spoke to, to handle the situation that way. Im so sorry that happened. That business is my father in laws life work, and to see people talking about him like that without knowing him because of a few bad workers is very upsetting. I know it had to be upsetting for you to see that. And I apologize as it shouldnt have even been there to begin with. A statement posted on the companys website followed Tuesday morning: It has come to our attention that someone has posted a defamatory picture and description on social media about Getz Service Station. The picture posted is not what it is described to be. Being in business for over 40 years serving the local community, our company does not condone racism of any kind. Davis said its folks who do such actions that show racism still exists in the country. I havent seen something this disgusting, disturbing and ignorant, in person in a very long time, he said. Especially in a professional work environment. Since the posting spread across social media platforms, Davis said total strangers have reached out to him of all races, cultures and demographics in support. I was really surprised by all the diversity angered by this, he said. It was anybody reaching out. It gives you hope for America. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Former education department bigwig Nino Napoli is pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud the state government and perverting the course of justice for misappropriating school funds in the "banker school" rort uncovered by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission. But the plea deal comes after prosecutors failed to substantiate many of the central findings of the IBAC investigation, which claimed Mr Napoli had misappropriated millions of dollars to spend on personal expenses, meals, travel, alcohol and his signature toupee. Nino Napoli outside the Melbourne Magistrates Court in 2017. Credit:Darrian Traynor IBACs Operation Ord alleged Mr Napoli used his high-ranking position in the education department to orchestrate the payment of falsified or inflated invoices to companies linked to him from 2007 to 2014. The scheme allegedly saw money secretly siphoned from the department's $5.5 billion budget by misusing the "banker school" system, which saw one school in a region act as repository and distribution point for the network's operational funds, often with little oversight or accountability. I was disappointed to read a recent letter to the editor in the Democrat-Herald by Garrett Fleetwood (Mailbag, May 14). The author is severely misinformed and as we head into the final day of the 2020 primary, I would expect the DH as a news publication to refrain from publishing blatantly inaccurate information. Each statement in Garrett Fleetwood's letter is factually inaccurate. First, he claims that Rep. DeFazio is "opposed to plans to rebuild our infrastructure." In reality, Rep. Peter DeFazio is literally leading the way as the chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee! Peter DeFazio has the legislative record and the progressive plan to rebuild our economy, our infrastructure, and help our country recover from the pandemic. In his workers-first provisions in the recent CARES Act, he saved the jobs of 2.1 million people and guaranteed that their health care, benefits and retirement remained untouched. Bernie Sanders even lauded his provisions as "the model for every worker in America." DeFazio's infrastructure plan is years ahead of its time and is the only current plan to implement the Green New Deal into law. It would create millions of well-paying, sustainable jobs that would boost our economy all while fighting climate change. He is the only person I trust to take on the Trump administration and set us on a path to a brighter future. Stephanie Newton Vice Chair Linn County Democratic Party Love 2 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 ST. LOUIS, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameren Corporation's ability to fulfill its mission, To Power the Quality of Life, requires an innovative and inclusive workforce one that is as diverse as the Missouri and Illinois communities the company serves. In recognition of its commitment to ensuring a workforce and culture that values everyone's uniqueness and differences, Ameren has been ranked by DiversityInc as one of the nation's most outstanding companies for diversity and inclusion (D&I). Overall, Ameren received honors in three of the best D&I listings: For the 12th consecutive year, Ameren was ranked as one of the nation's top utilities for Diversity and Inclusion. For the third year in a row, Ameren was ranked among the Top 10 regional companies and was the only utility to appear on the regional list. For the first time, Ameren made the Top 10 Board of Directors, representing companies in all industries. "For 12 years, we have been recognized as a leader in the utility space for our commitment to diversity and inclusion," said Sharon Harvey Davis, vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at Ameren and the company's chief diversity officer. "Our recognition as a regional leader demonstrates that what we do is not just industry-specific. We know that bringing diverse co-workers to Ameren, including their different perspectives and viewpoints in how we do business, will provide more creative and innovative solutions to the complex problems and issues we face each day allowing us to achieve our mission to Power The Quality of Life for our customers." Since 2008, Ameren has been consistently recognized by DiversityInc for creating an inclusive workplace, supporting the diverse communities it serves and developing strong partnerships with diverse suppliers. "We are honored to be recognized again for our diversity and inclusion program at Ameren," said Warner Baxter, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Ameren. "Our diversity and inclusion efforts enable us to attract, retain and support a diverse and inclusive workforce, while enlisting the services of strong, diverse suppliers. These factors, coupled with the insight provided by our talented and diverse board of directors, enable us to deliver significant value to our customers and the communities we serve." In addition to being a key component of its corporate culture, diversity and inclusion are foundational to Ameren's co-worker employee resource groups that reflect the population the company serves and employs. Ameren's employee resource groups include Ameren Military-Veteran Employees; Ameren Network of Multi-Cultural Employees; Powering Connections for All Abilities; Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Employees and Allies Network; Multi-Generational Resource Group; and Women Influencing Success in Energy. Each group commits to a mission and annual strategic business plan that identifies how it will support Ameren's business goals and objectives, participate in community outreach and educate and engage employees. About DiversityInc The mission of DiversityInc is to bring education and clarity to the business benefits of diversity. The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list began in 2001, when many corporations were beginning to understand the business value of diversity-management initiatives. The 2018 Top 50 Companies for Diversity results will be featured on DiversityInc.com. DiversityInc is a VA certified veteran-owned business and a USBLN certified business owned by a person with a disability. For more information, visit www.diversityinc.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn @DiversityInc. About Ameren Corporation St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation powers the quality of life for 2.4 million electric customers and more than 900,000 natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area through its Ameren Missouri and Ameren Illinois rate-regulated utility subsidiaries. Ameren Illinois provides electric transmission and distribution service and natural gas distribution service. Ameren Missouri provides electric generation, transmission and distribution service, as well as natural gas distribution service. Ameren Transmission Company of Illinois develops, owns and operates rate-regulated regional electric transmission projects. For more information, visit Ameren.com, or follow us at @AmerenCorp, Facebook.com/AmerenCorp, or LinkedIn.com/company/Ameren. SOURCE Ameren Corporation Related Links http://www.ameren.com The UK High Commission to Ghana has disclosed plans to transport some of its nationals to their home country. In a tweet cited by GhanaWeb, the outfit noted that beneficiaries of the chartered flight consist of vulnerable British nationals visiting Ghana, and eligible people who registered for standby for their previous flight. The Commission, however, added that not all persons are eligible for the trip as it is not taking new registrations. It is unclear whether the reason for the charter has to do with the Coronavirus pandemic. During the advent of the Coronavirus in the country, the UK evacuated over 600 nationals to their home country as a safety precaution. Despite recording higher numbers in comparison to Ghanas confirmed cases, many of the British citizens who spoke to the media, reported that they believed they would have better healthcare once they went back home. The Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, (GCAA) following the Presidents address to the nation to announce the closure of the borders, followed-up with an official notice to all the airlines that no flights will be permitted, except in emergency situations which will have to be pre-authorised. The countrys borders remain closed until further notice. Ghana currently has a case count of 5735 confirmed coronavirus cases with 1754 recoveries and a death toll of 29. Below is the tweet from the UK High Commission to Ghana; 1/2 We are arranging a further charter flight to the UK from Ghana. This flight is for vulnerable British nationals visiting Ghana, and eligible people who registered for standby for our previous flight. UK in Ghana (@UKinGhana) May 18, 2020 1/2 We are arranging a further charter flight to the UK from Ghana. This flight is for vulnerable British nationals visiting Ghana, and eligible people who registered for standby for our previous flight. UK in Ghana (@UKinGhana) May 18, 2020 Source: Ghanaweb 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 Click here to See Video >> For most people the current quarantine has been rather frustrating in some ways, nice in others. For me, Ive had a lot of time to sit down and plan future trips that I can take once everything opens back up, and for this Colorado-based writer, that means visiting quite a few National Parks. I figured I wasnt the only one on staff who felt this way, so I wasnt surprised when a few of my coworkers agreed to sit down on camera and discuss their post-quarantine car plans. Some include road trips in and out of state, some even include a trip north of the border. Watch the video above to see what our plans are for the rest of the year, and let us know what you have planned in the comments below. Transcript: - All right, guys. How's it going? This is the first time I've like been in a meeting with the three of you by ourselves since coronavirus started. How have you guys been? - Hanging in there, man. Just, you know, day at a time. Got my collection of toilet paper, and just trying trying to keep my head down, you know. [LAUGHS] - Yeah, I was never super worried about the toilet paper. And there's so much here that I'd-- yeah. It would take a disaster for me to run through all my toilet paper. - Yeah, I've been pretty good. Just keep myself busy working on the house, right now. So we just got our house, you know, last fall, so during this quarantine time, this is the perfect time to fix it up and paint everything. - Yeah, I think all my trips outside of the house have been to Home Depot to just pick up stuff. - Yeah, I've been looking for excuses to go drive the car someplace. It's, oh, I want to go take a walk in the park over here. Yeah, I guess it's-- it's time to break out the Porsche that I have in my driveway right now. So, yeah, we're we're going to go do that. Other than that, just kind of like working on my car too. I have a few cosmetic things, a few mechanical things here and there that I've been thinking with. So, yeah. Trying to keep busy. Story continues - I am jealous of both, you Zac and Byron. Though Zac lately more than Byron because you've had a 911 and then two different Supras, I think, in the last, like, two weeks, which for-- I haven't-- I haven't gotten any cars since the since this whole thing started. Hopefully, knock on wood, we'll get some here in June, and then I can start shooting. But yeah, I'm super jealous of what you've had in your driveway. But I have taken this time to kind of plan out what I want to do once we can go places. I don't know. You guys probably, the reason you're here is because you've done the same. And I just want to hear what you guys have planned for after this whole COVID-19 kind of calms down? What are you going to do with your cars, and where you're going to go with them? And Bryon, we'll start with you. - Well, I mean, I'm in a weird spot, because I moved to the Detroit area like six weeks before all this really started. So I was in the office with a couple of you for, you know, barely a month before they sent us all home. And I would just like to get out and kind of explore the area. You know, go up north, go to the UP. I want to take a day trip to Canada just because I can, you know. Like, all these things are just completely locked out. And it and it really drives home how weird it feels to be in a new place and not know anything about it, because I, like, I'm really limited in my ability to explore right now. So like, that's priority number one. And I had all these plans for road trips for the summer that I don't know. I just kind of see them sort of like fading away. I was really hoping this was going to be the year I was going to get out to the Pacific Northwest and make a trip up to Canada from there. Go to Banff, which has been on my bucket list forever. Just, you know, get out, see some big mountains, see some volcanoes, do all that kind of stuff. And I'm hoping, fingers crossed, that maybe by the end of summer, things will loosen up enough maybe I can actually get some of that done. - Yeah, Alex and I went to Banff in 2017 from Seattle in a Tacoma TRD Pro and a '98 Tacoma, and took mostly forestry roads there. Got lost a lot, but it was still that was like it's definitely one of the more memorable trips for me. We only spent like two days in Banff, which I really I mean, if you're going to go to Banff, you get to spend more than two days there. That was like such a tease, especially since the second day was just us packing up and leaving. But yeah, that sounds incredible. Highly, highly recommend going to the Pacific Northwest and then driving up to Banff if you can. - Fingers crossed. - Yeah, you'll love that up there. It is easily one of my favorite places I've ever been. - I-- I kind of feel the same way. Like, I had all these plans for the summer. You know, I moved to Colorado two years ago now, and we did some exploring last year. Went to Telluride, and we did we drove all the way to the Grand Canyon. Just kind of my wife and I living out of our car for a bit. But this year, one of the last trips I took was to the Chicago Auto Show before all this went down. And the Weekender was unveiled there, the Mercedes Benz camper van, and I was super stoked to-- to check that out, and hopefully, drive one around. And I got in my mind this big idea that my wife and I, if we could get it for like a month, do like a long term-- like month long Mercedes Benz Weekender review. And I even put together a-- I basically just went on Google Maps, and set a radius of like 500 miles, and selected every national park within that radius for us to go to. So like, I'll just rattle them off here. It'll be ridiculous. It's like a 4-- roughly a 4,000 mile road trip. First, to Great Sand Dunes National Park, then to Black Canyon of the Gunnison, then Mesa Verde, and that's all still in Colorado. Then we go to Moab, of course, not really going to do any off roading in a Mercedes Weekender van, I don't think. You got Arches in Zion, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and then Great Basin, and then from there, I had to do two Google Maps links because they won't let you do 10 places at once. [LAUGHTER] From up there, drive up to Grand Teton in Yellowstone, then up to Glacier where I've been before and was phenomenal. And then over to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. Figured, might as well check that. I've been there before, my wife has never been to North Dakota. Pretty unremarkable, but there is a national park there. So check that one off our list. Then Devils Tower. Oh gosh. No, now we're-- oh, Badlands. What's this one? I'm getting so granular now. I don't even remember where they were. Oh, Mt. Rushmore, Wind Cave National Park, and then back home to Rocky Mountain National Park. So that was like, I don't even know. 18 places. And it's this giant circle around basically Colorado. It is Colorado and Utah are the southern parts, and it goes all the way up to northern Montana, almost to Canada, basically. - How many miles is this again? - I think it's 3,700. - Wow. - Yeah, so the first part through Colorado and Utah is 1,300, and this isn't counting driving around in the parks, which would be adding a lot more. And then the rest is 2,400, which when I first started here, I think in the fall of 2013, I drove our long term Nissan Pathfinder from Detroit to Glacier National Park and back in a week, and that was 4,000 miles. So I know I could do it. I would just want-- I'd basically just live out of the van for like a month, And just find Wi-Fi, and try to actually like-- like work normal hours too, mostly normal hours, so that way it's not just like a crazy vacation, but-- - The way you have that organized is a lot actually how I did a full cross-country road trip right after I graduated college, like 2 and 1/2 years ago now. Basically just hit every single national park from Michigan, to Seattle, to down to-- to LA, and then back across the country, you know within a reason. You know, if it was like a one or two-hour drive out of the way, we would go to it. And now it is like one of the best ways, I think, you can traverse around this country. To just hit all the beautiful places that you can. - I need to hear more about this trip. How long did this take you? - It was just about a month. - OK. What did you drive? - I drove my 2001 Acura Integra GSR, which-- - Wow. - Yeah, pretty weird road trip car, for sure. It's certainly no Mercedes Weekender as far as [INAUDIBLE] to live out of, but no. My girlfriend and I camped out of it, like, in every single national park that we stopped in. We camped. We didn't do Airbnbs, or hotels, or anything - No way. - Yeah, we had the thing just loaded to the gills. It's a hatchback. So there's-- there's a lot of room back there. And yeah. No, it was-- it was like, all right, we graduated. We're going to go see everything that we want, you know, on a reasonable budget. But we didn't want to fly anywhere. Just wanted to drive the whole way. It was always a dream of mine to drive from Michigan all the way-- all the way to the Pacific and then back. So-- - Man, that is-- - I'm extremely jealous of this trip. That's something I wanted to do for a long time. - Yeah, it's-- it's really tough to find the time, and that's why we did it right after graduation where neither of us have any responsibilities. We just got out there. We didn't accept a job right after graduation that we'd have to go to, and we just-- we just did it. So-- - Cool. - That's awesome. Man, that makes my life week in the UP camping after graduation seem so pathetic. [LAUGHTER] That is incredible. - The UP is fun. That's actually where we started. We went straight north up to the UP with Pictured Rock and across the Marquette. Yeah. - Nice. I think that-- that segues nicely into [? Mahlberg's ?] plans. - Yeah, so speaking of the UP, that is actually the place where I want to go for my road trip, is up to Pictured Rocks. Not a 13,000 mile trip, it's only 412. So a little less than [INAUDIBLE]. Round circle around Colorado, Wyoming area. But I've actually never been up to Pictured Rocks and neither has my wife. She's only been to the UP one time. Actually, I think about two years ago, we had a road trip going up to Mackinac Island, and so we went up there, and when we were leaving Mackinac Island, we made a point just across the Mackinac Bridge just to say that she's finally, you know, been in the UP. And we drove up the-- I think it's the sunset highway, or something like that. I can't remember the actual name of that, but it was red at golden hour. We found this beach, and just kind of sat there with lawn chairs and watched the sunset, and then drove back across the Mackinac Bridge. But Pictured Rocks, the plan is, I would like to go-- that's the final destination, but I want to go to Drummond Island first. And actually, that is only accessible through a ferry. So you drive up on the ferry, and then they ferry you over to Drummond Island. And I want to get a cabin up there and just stay there for a couple days. And then make our way up to Pictured Rocks. - Is that the place where all the wolves get stuck because they crossover in the winter when there's ice, and then the ice melts, and then there's just like a bunch of wolves there? - Yeah. Yeah, same with a bunch of "mooses." The plural of that. [LAUGHTER] - Moose. Yeah. - Yeah, moose. - "Meese," right? Like, goose, geese, moose, "meese." Yeah. - Yeah, it's beautiful up there. And it's really tiny. I mean, I went up there when I was younger, and I had my motorcycle up there. You can go and back and forth from the island within, I don't know, maybe 30 minutes, if that. - Wow. - Yeah, it's-- there's really not much to travel around in that, but it's secluded too. I want to do that in my Focus ST. I actually want to get-- I was hoping to have my new exhaust put on. I want to get the poor performance cap black exhaust on that. So it'll sound good while we're driving up there, but it won't be extremely loud. - Forward performances is good for that, I think. You'll get a nice tone on it really on it, but hopefully, it's-- it's still tuned to be nice on the highway. I think that's probably a good way to go. - Yeah, I think so too. It says it only gets real loud when you hit about five grand on European, but highway speeds, you're not going to-- you know, it's not going to be drony and be annoying. - And you're not going to scare any moose when you're driving slowly around Drummond Island. - No. Yeah, exactly. That way you can creep up and see them in their natural habitat. - Nice. Zac, what do you got planned? - So I actually did a pretty huge road trip right before this whole stay at home quarantine thing ended. I drove down to New Orleans in February. So I got a bit on my road trip bug out of me then, but I'm already itching for another one, and it's probably going to be a camping one. The destination for right now will be the Adirondacks in like, central, north central New York. So I'm thinking, go over there with my girlfriend. We also have a few friends that actually live in that area that we could visit. I actually went to Syracuse University. So I have-- I know lots of people in that central New York area, but yeah. No, most likely, I mean, I think the best choice for that right now would be our long-term Subaru Forester, actually, but I-- there's some really great roads up there that also are tempting me to want to take our long-term Volvo S60. That would be fun. There's definitely not as much room for the camping gear, but I've already proved that you don't necessarily need a huge car to go camping for long distances in my Integra. - Yeah, no kidding. Yeah, do it in the Integra, you'd be fine in anything. Plus those seats in the Volvo do lean back quite a bit. So you could possibly still sleep in those, depending on how easy you sleep. - We would probably do tents. That [INAUDIBLE]. Yeah, we do that. And I mean, so I drove up there once before and there's a ton of hiking trails, a ton of places to pull off and just hang out. It's really beautiful scenery, and I think that we would probably to spend a lot of time exploring nature. You know, it's-- the whole social distancing thing, you know, we would probably sort of continue that, you know, whenever we're able to go vacationing again. So it seems like the right kind of vacation and road trip for the times that we're in. - Yeah, absolutely. - Yeah, I don't think anything's going to get-- like, things will definitely normalize, but it's not going to be normal anytime soon. So anywhere that you can kind of get out and away from people, though I like getting out and away from people in general. - Yeah. [LAUGHTER] Yeah. - So any time that could happen, definitely a bonus. - That's good. Yeah, speaking of small cars. When we did our road trip to Mackinac Island, I was in my old Fiesta. 2014 Fiesta, it was a manual too, so that made it-- it did make it fun. But it was loaded, and actually, I think I had your bike rack on the back of that. - That's right. - --let me borrow that. On the highway, just to keep up with speeds, I had to leave it in like, fourth gear. - Oh gosh. Oh gosh. [LAUGHTER] [INTERPOSING VOICES] - Yeah, my entire gas mileage gone gone. - With the Integra like going up the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and-- oh my god. No torque. - Yeah, I-- - --third and fourth gear. - I have a Crosstrek out here, and it's-- it's like-- the other day, I drove into the mountains to pick up a Subaru Outback that my buddy is borrowing from a friend. And it was like, I don't know, like an hour and a 1/2 drive. And he has to go through the Eisenhower Tunnel, which is around 11 or 12,000 feet, and man, that Crosstrek is just-- I'm in the right lane at 50 miles an hour, just like chugging along, because there was one time I tried to keep it at like 75, and by the time I got to the tunnel, it was just like, nope. That's not-- that's not happening. I had to pull over and wait for it to cool down. [LAUGHTER] So, yeah. I could-- I feel the pain there. All right, well, if you're watching this video on YouTube, make sure you hit subscribe, hit like. That will help us make more videos just like this. Hopefully, we can get out into some cars here soon, and make some videos, and some cars, fingers crossed there. Also yeah, hit subscribe, hit, ring that bell, and thanks for watching. Tell us in the comments where you're planning on going on your road trip once everything is all back to normal. Thanks for watching. You Might Also Like After the Maharashtra government allowed home delivery of liquor last week, some of the customers here have complained of fraudsters duping them through fake social media accounts for placing orders. They claimed fraudsters have created fake Facebook accounts in the name of some known liquor shops and are duping customers by asking them to place orders and make payments through credit/debit cards on the mobile numbers provided by them. Talking to PTI, a film producer said he recently ordered liquor worth Rs 40,000 on a mobile number of a Juhu- based shop mentioned on a Facebook account. The person who took the order asked him for a token amount of Rs 5,000 which he paid. He said later, upon enquiry, he came to know that these people were fraud and operating from Asansol in West Bengal and some place in Bihar. A former Navy official also said when he dialled the contact number mentioned on Facebook of a well-known liquor shop providing home delivery, the person on the other side asked for payment only through debit/credit card. "I got suspicious when the person said I have to share the OTP number. I had placed an order for liquor worth Rs 1,400, but later realised it was a fraud." A former MLA here said some his friends approached him with such complaints. "This is a scam operating through social media platforms. The scamsters take the credit/debit card numbers and CVV details and cheat the unsuspecting customers. I have tweeted to the police about this and asked senior officials to investigate the matter, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 19:10:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BANGKOK, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) said in a press briefing on Tuesday that it is currently stockpiling about 400,000 doses of anti-viral drug Favipiravir, in case a second wave of COVID-19 outbreak erupts. The GPO had previously imported 187,000 tablets of Favipiravir from foreign countries, and 100,000 have been delivered to hospitals nationwide, and the GPO will keep 87,000 as a reserve, said Nuntakan Suwanpidokkul, director of the GPO's Research and Development Institute. Nuntakan said that another batch of 303,860 Favipiravir tablets will arrive in Thailand, enough to treat new patients in case a second wave of outbreak occurs. "Each COVID-19 patient requires up to 70 tablets of Favipiravir," said Nuntakan, adding that "we are also looking into producing local anti-viral tablets to reduce reliance on imports. Since Favipiravir tablets are used worldwide during the pandemic, it is not easy to get access to them." She said there are several Thai pharmaceutical companies doing research on anti-viral tablets. "However, it will take another year or so to perform clinical tests and register the drug. So, the domestic version of Favipiravir should be ready for public use by 2022, at the earliest," Nuntakan said. Currently, the GPO is working in collaboration with Thailand's National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) on research into ways to synthesize raw materials to manufacture Favipiravir. "The research is showing promising results and should be completed within three to six months. We are also looking into using local raw materials to reduce the cost of producing the anti viral drugs," said Nuntakan. Enditem Over 3,600 labourers have been discharged from quarantine facilities in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda till Tuesday and many of them have pledged to create awareness about coronavirus on reaching their villages in remote belts, officials said here. Nearly 2,500 people who had travelled outside the Union territory are still under administrative quarantine in the district, they said. After testing negative, 145 workers were discharged on Tuesday morning from the Bhaderwah University Campus, the largest COVID care wellness facility in the district, taking the number of those released after undergoing quarantine to 3,625. Expressing their gratitude to the administration, especially the staff posted at the centre, the labourers said they were earlier afraid of being quarantined and thus, behaved "indifferently and aggressively". "We are sorry for our earlier behaviour as remaining stranded for 40 days in Uttarakhand unnerved us and after reaching our native district, we thought quarantine is unnecessary and we became impatient," Munnawar Din (60), a worker from far-flung Kahie-Kahara village, told PTI. He said the nearly two-week-long quarantine period turned out to be a learning experience. "We learned a lot about the disease and the measures needed to be safe. We will share our experience with our fellow villagers on reaching home," Din added. Mehboob Ahmad Khan (52) of Bhalessa said they were made aware about the importance of social distancing, wearing masks and frequent hand washing by the staff. The officials posted at the COVID care wellness centre said they have also developed a special bond with the inmates. They showered rose petals on the discharged labourers as they were boarding buses on their way home. "This is altogether a new experience for us. I do remember an incident which still sends a chill down my spine when an inmate sneaked to the roof of the building and threatened to commit suicide. "Today the same person was crying profusely and pledged to become a corona warrior until we defeat it. I think this is an achievement of sorts for the staff," said Aarif Haleem Khateeb, nodal officer, COVID care wellness centre, Bhaderwah campus. He said after getting a nod from District Development Commissioner, Doda, Sagar Dattatray Doifode, the staff went the extra mile to deal with the elderly persons lodged at the centre. "We organised special sessions on coronavirus and took due care of their typical food habits, besides teaching them the importance of social distancing and maintaining cleanliness," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Provisions around tackling cyberbullying should form part of the next Programme for Government. Cyber Safe Ireland is urging Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party to take the issue seriously after an international study found Irish teens witness high amounts online. The World Health Organisation report listed Irish 13 and 15-year-olds in the top 10 for both problematic social media use and cyberbullying experiences. Sociology Lecturer and Waterford IT Jill O'Mahony outlined why cyberbullying could be so prevalent. She said: "Out in the real world if you're talking to a group of friends and you start saying nasty things about one of them, "You know you are going to get negative feedback. Online they have a platform whereby they can say negative things and not get the repercussions." The WHO report, Spotlight on adolescent health and well-being, outlines a decline in mental health and well-being as adolescents grow older, with girls particularly at risk of having poor mental well-being outcomes, compared to boys. One in four adolescents in the study have reported feeling nervous, irritable or having difficulties getting to sleep at least once a week, with a substantial variation across countries indicating that cultural, policy and economic factors may play their parts in fostering positive mental health. The study also examines the growing use of digital technology in these changes, being seen as amplifying existing problems and introducing new one, such as cyberbullying, which disproportionately affects girls. Over 1 in 10 adolescents in the study reported having been cyberbullied at least once in the past two months. "Online they have a Justin M. Rogers was arrested on theft charges Louisa Police Department handout Police in Louisa, VA, arrested a man they say stole liquor from a convenience store wearing a watermelon with eye holes over his head. The man, Justin M. Rogers, was 20 at the time of the alleged theft. Louisa Police removed a post about the incident from their Facebook page because of all the attention it was garnering. They are investigating the second person seen with a melon-head, but believe they know who the person is. You'd think that a 20-year-old stealing liquor from a convenience store might want to try and be discreet about it, but police in Louisa, VA, say that Justin M. Rodgers went the opposite route. The man, who was arrested earlier this week, donned a watermelon with eye holes when entering a Sheetz store on May 6, police said. The police department initially released an image from a surveillance video showing two people wearing the giant fruits on their head on Facebook, but removed the post after Rogers' arrest, Chief Tom Leary told Insider. Thousands of people were commenting and sharing the post after the case had been mostly resolved, he said. "We arrested one individual and the second individual, we pretty much know who they are," Leary told Insider. "In the eight months I've been here, it's been the matter that has attracted the greatest amount of attention." Leary said that Rogers stole alcohol from the store. He's been charged with wearing a mask in public while committing larceny, underage possession of alcohol, and petit larceny of alcohol. The second person seen wearing a melon mask is still under investigation, he said. Read the original article on Insider In HDFC Life, the company has to pare 1.43 per cent, and in HDFC Ergo, it has to pare only 0.58 per cent. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) to pare stake in its insurance subsidiaries to 50 per cent or below. HDFC owns majority stake (more than 50 per cent) in both HDFC Life Insurance and HDFC Ergo General Insurance. In a statement to the exchanges, HDFC said the RBI had directed that, after the merger of HDFC Ergo Health Insurance with HDFC Ergo General Insurance, it had to bring down its stake in the merged entity to 50 per cent or below within a period of six months from the date of the merger. It has to pare its stake in its life insurance subsidiary, HDFC Life, to 50 per cent or below on or before December 16. We presume the communication is in line with the RBI not wanting NBFCs to hold more than 50 per cent in insurance companies. "Therefore, in HDFC Life, we have to pare 1.43 per cent, and in HDFC Ergo, we have to pare only 0.58 per cent, said Keki Mistry, vice chairman and chief executive of HDFC. For HDFC life, we have six months to sell. For HDFC Ergo, we have time till six months after the approval of the merger between HDFC Ergo Health and HDFC Ergo, for which clearance is awaited from the National Company Law Tribunal. Hence we have sufficient time to sell, he said. According to RBI norms, the maximum equity contribution an NBFC can hold in the joint venture insurance company shall normally be 50 per cent of the paid-up capital of the insurance company. On a selective basis, the RBI may permit a higher equity contribution by a promoter NBFC initially, pending divestment of equity within the prescribed period. While HDFC holds 51.43 per cent stake in HDFC Life, its joint venture partner in the company, Standard Life, holds 12.25 per cent. Foreign Institutional Investors hold 21.07 per cent, non-institutional investors have 9.15 per cent, and the mutual funds hold 4.45 per cent stake in the life insurance company. In the case of HDFC Ergo, the mortgage lender holds 50.48 per cent and the rest by foreign entities. But after the merger with HDFC Ergo Health Insurance, HDFC will hold 50.58 per cent in the merged entity. HDFCs share price tumbled almost 8 per cent to Rs 1,512 and HDFC Life was down 4 per cent to close at Rs 468 on the BSE. There have been reports that the RBI is in favour of putting a cap on how much equity stake banks can own in insurance joint ventures at 30 per cent. Some banks have more than 50 per cent in their insurance joint ventures. State Bank of India holds 57.60 per cent in SBI Life and 70 per cent in SBI General. ICICI Bank has 52.87 per cent in ICICI Prudential Life Insurance and 55.86 per cent in ICICI Lombard General Insurance. Recently, Axis Bank decided to increase its stake in Max Life Insurance by 29 per cent so that it can hold 30 per cent in the life insurance company, in line with the RBIs suggestion for banks owing stake in insurance companies. Earlier, it held close to 2 per cent in the insurer. The bank will dilute 1 per cent stake in the insurer this year and then buy 29 per cent stake so that it doesnt breach the 30 per cent threshold. According to insurance experts, this shows the RBI is looking to limit banks and non-banks ownership in insurance companies. According to a report by CLSA, the impact is modest for HDFC Life, given HDFC Ltds stake is already at 51 per cent. However, this could translate to $7.5 billion of life insurance and $2.5 billion of general insurance paper coming to the market, if the banks are required to reduce their stakes to 30 per cent given their current 55-100 per cent holding. The holding companies/banks could benefit from increasing capital buffers by 120-330 bp for SBI and ICICI at a time when these banks may need to raise capital buffers. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: Georgia exported 8,186 motor cars to Azerbaijan of a total amount of $85 million from January through April 2020, Trend reports referring to National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat). In the reporting period, Georgia exported 201.2 tons cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes worth $5.1 million to Azerbaijan. Over the same period of 2019, 735.6 tons of cigars, cheroots, cigarillos and cigarettes totaling $15 million were exported from Georgia to Azerbaijan. From January through April 2020, 1,080 tons frozen meat of bovine animals worth $4.4 million were exported from Georgia to Azerbaijan, which is 1,076 tons more compared to January-April 2019. During the reporting period, Georgia exported 146.9 tons of medicines in measured doses worth $4.5 million to Azerbaijan. During January-April 2019, the export of medicines in measured doses amounted to 290.7 tons totaling $10.7 million. Meanwhile, Georgia exported 23,968 tons of nitrogenous fertilizers worth $3.9 million to Azerbaijan; this is 10,515 tons more compared to the same period last year. Azerbaijan ranked third in Georgias commodity circulation in the reporting period. From January through April 2020, the foreign trade turnover between Georgia and Azerbaijan amounted to more than $367 million, which makes up 10.6 percent of the total trade turnover of Georgia. During the reporting period, Georgia exported products worth $221.8 million to Azerbaijan, which comprises 9 percent of total exports from Georgia. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan exported products worth $145.1 million to the Georgian market, which is 14.5 percent of total imports to Georgia. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 About 50 migrants who returned to Basti district from Pune last week tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday. The migrant workers had been quarantined at the district medical college and Saral College after they reached Basti on May 16. District Magistrate Ashutosh Niranjan has confirmed the figures. This took the tally of returning migrants testing positive in the state to reached 109. Earlier, 12 migrants were found infected with COVID-19 each in Lucknow and Basti district. Health Department officials are said to be worried about an imminent spike in cases with the inflow of lakhs of migrants from other states. Chief Medical Officer (Lucknow), Dr Narendra Agarwal, said the cases may rise soon as it is very difficult to find out the contact history of all the migrant workers who are returning home, mostly villages, following the months-long nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus. So far, the maximum number of migrants testing positive for COVID19 are from Basti region. Besides, Pratapgarh has seen 15 such cases, Banda 10; Sitapur -- five; Amethi, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Dehat, and Unnao four; Prayagraj, Ballia, Gonda, and Kushinagar -- three, Chitrakoot, and Raebareli -- two. Earlier speaking on the issue of returning migrants becoming new super spreaders, Principal Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad had said surveillance committees in rural and urban areas were working round-the-clock to keep a strict vigil on people coming from outside the state. He, however, had said it would be too early to say anything on the figures of the migrants testing positive. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 06:53:56|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Navy on Tuesday issued a warning to mariners in the Mideast to stay 100 meters away from U.S. warships or risk being "subject to lawful defensive measures," according to media reports. The warning notice said that armed vessels approaching within 100 meters of a U.S. naval vessel might be interpreted as a threat and subject to lawful defensive measures. Reuters first reported the notice. The warning, which appeared to be aiming at Iran, followed U.S. President Donald Trump's threat last month to destroy any Iranian gunboats if they harass U.S. ships at sea. "I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea," Trump sent his warning in a tweet. Abolfazl Shekarchi, a spokesman for the Iranian Armed Forces, dismissed Trump's threat as "psychological warfare" and criticized the United States for "causing disturbance" in the Gulf. The United States and Iran have been trading blame over unprofessional maneuvers in the Gulf waters. The U.S. Navy reported in mid-April that 11 Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy vessels "repeatedly conducted dangerous & harassing approaches against U.S. naval ships operating in international waters of the North Arabian Gulf." The IRGC Navy also accused the U.S. naval forces of repeatedly "unprofessional" manner in the Gulf, threatening regional peace, and giving rise to new risks. Enditem A doctor in protective suit at the area where Covid-19 patients are treated inside the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City, March 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa. Vietnam discharged another relapsed Covid-19 patient Tuesday and the lung function of its most critical patient showed some improvement. A 21-year-old Vietnamese student who'd returned from France was announced Covid-19 free Tuesday evening. "Patient 92" was confirmed positive on March 21 after returning from Paris and discharged from the Cu Chi Field Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on April 14. However, he tested positive again on April 30 and was admitted to the city's Hospital for Tropical Diseases for further treatment. Since early May, he had repeatedly tested negative. The hospital announced that he is free from Covid-19, but will be kept under medical monitoring for another 14 days. So far, Vietnam has recorded 12 Covid-19 relapses of whom six have recovered. Health experts have said the virus samples taken from relapsed patients are "inactive" and the virus cannot be transmitted to others. They have also said relapsed patients are not given the same dosage of medicines as new fresh Covid-19 patients. Instead, the focus is on monitoring symptoms of the relapse and repeat testing of samples. Meanwhile, "Patient 91," a British man who has been Vietnams most critical Covid-19 case to date, has shown some progress, Nguyen Vinh Chau, director of the HCMC Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said Tuesday. The most recent computed tomography scan results showed that 20-30 percent of his lungs could now function, compared to just 10 percent a week ago. However, he is still completely reliant on a life support machine called extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and a lung transplant is still on the agenda, Chau said. The Health Ministry has announced last week a decision to provide a lung transplant for the 43-year-old patient, who works as a pilot for national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines. The nation has spent about VND5 billion ($215,000) over the past two months on him, and the estimated cost of a lung transplant is about VND1.5-2 billion ($65,000 to 86,000). Another obstacle in the case is that the pilot had said he has no relatives when he was still conscious. Under current regulations in Vietnam, all surgical interventions must be agreed to by the patient or the patient's authorised representative. Vietnam did not record a new Covid-19 patient Tuesday, marking the 33rd day in a row that it has gone without a community infection. The nations Covid-19 tally is 324, including 61 active patients. The rest have recovered. Rating: Paatal Lok (Amazon Prime) Cast: Jaideep Ahlawat, Neeraj Kabi, Gul Panag, Abhishek Banerjee,Swastika Mukherjee,Ishwak Singh,Jagjeet Singh,Asif Khan,Mairembam Ronaldo,Niharika Lyra Dutt, Bodhisattva Sharma, Manish Chaudhary, Rajesh Sharma, Anup Jalota, Loveleen Mishra Director: Avinash Arun & Prosit Roy Rating: **** Paatal Lok, a riveting crime-drama about cops, criminals, police investigation, politics and power games, arrived this Friday and is already a huge hit, with a fan following that is growing by the minute. It deserves every bit of the fawning, and more. Especially its excellent, accomplished ensemble of actors, led by Jaideep Ahlawat, an actor who made an impression in the opening sequence of Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), and has finally got a role that he could sink his teeth into. Paatal Lok, produced by Anushka Sharma, is written by Sudip Sharma (who also wrote Udta Punjab, NH10) and directed by Prosit Roy and Avinash Arun (who directed the beautiful 2014 Marathi film, Killa). The plot and characters are quite obviously based on Tarun Tejpals book, The Story of My Assassins, though the credits dont mention it. Paatal Lok opens when an anonymous tip is received by the CBI and a crime that was about to take place is averted. Four men are arrested Hathoda Tyagi (Abhishek Banerjee), Tope Singh (Jagjeet Sandhu), Cheeni (Mairembam Ronaldo Singh) and Kabir M (Aasif Khan) and there are no clues except the target. That is Sanjeev Mehra (Neeraj Kabi), a star-journalist and TV anchor. The case is assigned to Hathiram Chaudhary (Jaideep Ahlawat), a beat cop, and his junior officer at the thana, Imran Ansari (Ishwak Singh), who is preparing for his civil services exam. The case is very important to Hathiram, not just to finally get a long-overdue promotion, but to also prove his worth to himself. As he begins the investigation, different worlds and their characters come into play. Theres the CBI and its officers who walk with an officious, haughty air thats heavy with their own compromises and rot within. Theres the media and its divas. But everyone seems to be a pawn and its not really clear who is moving them. Only two people seem to be who they are the lowly cop and the lowly criminal. As Hathiram and Imran follow leads, trace the lives, misdemeanours and motives of each accused, the trail leads them away from the city, into a labyrinth of back stories in villages where caste hierarchy and land disputes are settled by rapes, and a dalit uprising can be nipped with a beheading. The village here is not a place of idyllic charm. It is often more violent and lawless than the cities and pivots on the terms and whims of upper caste men for whom women and their bodies are like games of knots-and-crosses drawn in the mud. As Hathiram progresses, the shows focus narrows to three men and their lives the cop, the criminal and the journalist. We see them in their personal spaces something that has now become standard for all crime stories and police procedurals, from Trapped to Mindhunter. There is Hathiram's dimpled wife Renu (Gul Panag) and their son Siddharth (Bodhisattva Sharma) struggling to survive. In a lovely bungalow is Sanjeev's dog-loving wife Dolly Mehra (Swastika Mukherjee) and at office theres a reporter, Sara Matthews (Niharika Lyra Dutt). Hathoda Tyagis only link with the world seems to be one Masterji. While it is all still unraveling the politics of the investigation, the corruption and compromise of media, leads suddenly going dry, people turning up dead, screw ups all answers, it is announced, have been found. All roads lead to men with ISI links, Pakistani passports, maps, weapons, ammunition, jehadi literature, assassination plots. And for it all to make sense, Batla House is thrown into the mix. Paatal Lok's screenplay is sharp, political and it's hell bent on showing us the horror of our reality, how an ugly India is getting uglier. So it draws generously from our world, from stuff happening around us. While there are some direct references to certain horrific incidents the assassination of Gauri Lankesh, a lynching on a train, etc Paatal Loks main characters are amalgamations of many. Instead of pointing at just one, they point at the crumbling pillars of democracy. At one level the show treats us to a vivisection of Delhi where relationships are forged not between people but between the power they wield, the favours they can pull, the deals they can strike, and it also shows how, when left deliberately unattended, a nations taste for violence grows more murderous. We see how fast it is moving from the dusty villages to cities. Paatal Lok is quite relentless in showing the rising bigotry that now runs through the veins of our sarkari institutions, and how words like inki community said in a meeting, over a cup of tea are no different or less objectionable than the loud chants of mandir yahin banayenge. Paatal Lok, however, is not for the tender-hearted. It is abusive, relishes gory violence and is often crass. But, as the suspense and tension build up to unbearable levels, you cant help but binge watch it. Paatal Lok has a huge cast and everyone is quite good, especially Abhishek Banerjee, Ishwak Singh andNeeraj Kabi. They inhabit their characters and spaces with an ease I havent seen in our serials for a while. But Jaideep Ahlawat, who leads the charge without missing a beat as Hathiram Chaudhary, is the moral compass with whom we negotiate this paatal lok. I have a feeling we will be on another outing with him very soon. Confident of their ability to defeat Trump with their radical, proillegal alien, pro-criminal, pro-socialist agenda, the left is badly overreaching. House speaker Nancy Pelosi's proposed $3-trillion monstrosity stimulus is a joke. The trillions they pledged under the rubric of the COVID-19 disaster is trillions more added to our national debt. The stimulus will be money printed, distributed, and spent as if it were grown on trees. Irresponsible states such as California, New York, New Jersey, and Illinois hope to use the virus to cheat the American taxpayers into rescuing them from their own profligacy. The more they can successfully blame the virus for their own gross mishandling of their states' funds, the more they think they can cash in on their own catastrophic governmental errors in judgment. For governors such as Gavin Newsom, Andrew Cuomo, Gretchen Whitmer, Tom Wolf, et al., the COVID-19 pandemic is a godsend, an opportunity, as so many Democrats have observed, to push for their radical socialist agenda. The longer their blue states can keep up the lockdown that is impoverishing their citizens, the more they think those same citizens will blame President Trump and vote for a Joe Biden ticket in November. Common sense is not one of the left's intellectual strengths. Sure, there is an army of virtue-signaling bullies who scornfully chastise anyone not sufficiently social-distancing or going outside maskless, but it is precisely those "Karens," the people who think it is the government's job to take care of them, who are appropriately the subjects of mockery by citizens sick to death of this outrageous lockdown and the blue states' ridiculous edicts meant to control our behavior. California's governor, Gavin Newsom, hit a new low on Monday by threatening to lay off first responders if the federal government does not bless him with the billions of dollars he needs to cover his profligate spending while he is handing out millions of California taxpayer dollars to illegal aliens. He won't stop that money flow, but he will lay off paramedics and firemen if he doesn't get the billions he's demanding. What a guy. It is California's shame that its people elected this thug. If California's Democrats have any sense at all, they will recall Newsom; he is a reprobate. But then they have repeatedly re-elected Pelosi, as well as Dianne Feinstein and Adam Schiff, three of the worst human beings on the planet. No wonder Californians are fleeing the state. California may just be done and over. Perhaps it should become the sole province of the idiocracy. Then there are those other blue-state governors who have become tyrants Cuomo, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Kate Brown of Oregon, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, et al. Do they actually think they will be re-elected by sentient persons in their states? They rail against those who protest the wholly unconstitutional orders that prevent them from making a living. Hillary called them terrorists. She refused to call those who breached the CIA compound in Benghazi terrorists; they were religious dissidents! Whitmer calls them racists, of course; that is the all-purpose go-to epithet of the left. Anyone with whom leftists disagree is a racist. These willing authoritarians apparently believe that this lurch toward totalitarianism is going to win them friends and voters. It will not. Americans, even Democrat-Americans, have long taken their freedom for granted and are not going to give it up without a fight. The left's globalist tendencies, their plan for a "New World Order," are about to fall on deaf ears. Trump's commitment to America first, especially with regard to China's push for global dominance, is beginning to resonate with more and more Americans. Not the media, of course they are and will remain anti-American to their own bitter end along with institutional Democrats like Schumer and Pelosi and others of their ilk. Texas's Republican governor, Greg Abbott, a bright light in contrast to these denizens of the dank blue states, managed to trigger the left when he tweeted this chart of the data from four of the most populous states: If Illinois, Michigan, Oregon, New Jersey, and Washington were added, the story would be even clearer: Texas and Florida are well run states; California and New York are very poorly run states, and the virus has exposed the vast differences between them. The citizens of these states are well aware of their own governors' failures and successes. Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis's remarkable success at saving the lives of nursing home residents unmasks Cuomo's cold, heartless treatment of the vulnerable elderly people in his state exposed to the virus through state mandate. If there is a silver lining to this pandemic, it is the revelation that all things deemed "progressive" are dangerous to our health. Mass transit, urban density, small-space confined living, the banning of plastic bags, etc. all these leftist dreams contribute to mass disease. As Adam Guilette observed: "The notion that central planning experts know how to run cities is a symptom of the most dangerous disease spread by urban liberals narcissism. Their so-called 'progressive' proposals actually embrace century-old technology densely-packed cities, trains, burlap sacks, and trolleys. This is a large part of what got New York City into this mess." The wisdom of this statement has to be dawning on the millions of Millennials who have, until now, been indoctrinated with the anti-American, pro-socialist dreams of the left. How will our ivy league institutions of higher learning defend their decades of ahistorical miseducation? They will find a way, but perhaps more and more of their captive student body will take a more skeptical view of their proselytization. America is, first and foremost about freedom. Freedom is what we rightfully take for granted. There are too many on the left who want to see the Bill of Rights abrogated in the name of social justice or identity politics or whatever. They eschew the freedom to which we are all entitled and they cannot prevail. They've made inroads, but now is the time to fight back against the revealed despots who have attained high offices. The oft-quoted sentence of Ben Franklin is vital to remember at this moment in time: "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Humankind will never be free of viruses; they are a natural part of all life. The left cannot be allowed to oppress us, to restrict our freedoms, because of COVID-19. Vote them all out, every last one of them. They do not mean well. Image credit: Twitter screen shot. Rev. Chuck Currie Currie, who holds a doctor of ministry in public theology, is a United Church of Christ minister and lives in Northeast Portland. He is on medical leave from Pacific University, where he serves as university chaplain, director of the Center for Peace and Spirituality and assistant professor of religious studies. The start of the new week in Oregon brought unexpected and worrisome developments in the fight against COVID-19. A Baker County judge ruled in favor of 10 conservative evangelical churches that argued the governors orders restricting gatherings, such as church services, had expired, and therefore churches should be allowed to open. Then the judge went further and ruled that all of Gov. Kate Browns stay-at-home orders were null and void. The decisions create not just a new public health crisis, but also a spiritual crisis over what it means to be a person of faith in a time of pandemic. Gov. Brown has appealed to the state Supreme Court which issued a temporary stay on the lower courts decision. The legal issues will be decided there. The spiritual issues are more complicated. Oregon is home to thousands of churches and other houses of worship. Only 10 churches joined by three leading GOP legislators sued the state. The vast majority of Christians Roman Catholic, mainline Christians, evangelical Christians, orthodox churches along with the majority of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and other faith groups have worked to faithfully protect the health of the public by moving services online. We recognize that when one of us is sick, we are all at risk. The plaintiff churches and the politicians who joined the lawsuit Sen. Dennis Linthicum (R-Klamath Falls), Rep. Bill Post (R-Keizer) and Rep. Mike Nearman (R-Independence) have articulated a different view. Ray D. Hacke, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the far-right Pacific Justice Institute, told The Oregonian/OregonLive recently, "If we're risking our lives to go to church, if we survive great. If we die, then we're going to heaven. If we want to take that risk, then it's on us." Hacke's remarks are far from Christian. In the Christian faith, we are concerned with both the individual and the needs of the larger society. You cannot be concerned with one and not the other. The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, the former general secretary of the National Council of Churches in Christ USA, is fond of saying: "Christian individual is an oxymoron. It's like saying, Quaker hitman." The churches and politicians involved with this lawsuit might consider rereading Paul's teachings in 1 Corinthians, chapter 12: "The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. COVID-19 impacts us all. The entire globe is confronting a virus. An estimated 100,000 Americans will soon be dead. Ending all appropriate social distancing orders, according to public health officials at every level, will cause the illness to grow. Already, clergy have too many dead to bury. People of faith want to worship. We want to gather. But houses of worship across the world have ended up as hotspots for COVID-19. This decision by Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff to open churches and end all the governors executive orders to fight the coronavirus was reckless. Worse yet, however, are those who believe their right" to worship in person supersedes the right of family, friends and neighbors to live free from COVID-19. Such thinking is not representative of Christianity or any other faith. All Oregonians deserve to live and thrive, regardless of what the far right argues. For now, we can gather on Zoom. Stay home. Stay holy. Trump threatened to permanently freeze US funding to the WHO unless "substantive improvements" were made within the next 30 days WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump attacked the United Nations health body as a Chinese "puppet" on Monday and confirmed he is considering slashing or canceling US support. "They're a puppet of China, they're China-centric to put it nicer," he said at the White House. Trump said the United States pays around $450 million annually to the World Health Organization, the largest contribution of any country. Plans are being crafted to slash this because "we're not treated right." "They gave us a lot of bad advice," he said of the WHO. Trump spoke as the WHO held its first annual assembly since the pandemic swept the world after originating in China, causing massive economic disruption and killing 316,000 people -- close to a third of them in the United States. Trump said China only pays about $40 million a year and one idea was for Washington to bring "our 450 down to 40," but "some people thought that was too much." President Donald Trump threatened Monday to permanently freeze US funding to the World Health Organization unless "substantive improvements" were made within the next 30 days. Washington suspended funding to the WHO in mid-April, accusing it of being too close to Beijing and covering up and mismanaging the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, Trump tweeted images of a letter he sent to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, informing the director-general that "if the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization." The Irish economy is set to receive a large share of a Covid-19 recovery fund for EU-member countries, worth 500bn, according to Fine Gael MEP for Ireland South, Sean Kelly. The French and German governments have proposed the fund as a measure against further economic and infrastructural damage in EU countries that have been worst hit by the pandemic. An agreement on the matter was reached between French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday. Speaking on Newstalk radio this morning, Mr Kelly was effusive about the news, outlining its potential to assist Ireland with its post-crisis recovery. "I think we have a very strong case to get a good share of it, because we have a lot of very important industries that are in trouble, and that need to be kickstarted. "I think in terms of the Single Market, that's crucial for Ireland, it's crucial for the European Union. It's a recognition that we have fallen behind the likes of China and other countries in the way we do business." Independent MEP for Midlands-Northwest, Luke 'Ming' Flanagan, insists that the recovery fund would be of little benefit to Ireland, raising questions of conditions tied to the fund. "There's a lot of questions coming out of this proposal. A question that has to be asked, is 'who will pay this back?', 'how will we pay it back?', and is it a case that we will be forced to have a minimum corporation tax as part of this deal? At the moment, what I would be saying is, I can't see what Ireland would be gaining out of this." Following a video call yesterday, Ms Merkel and Mr Macron said the plan would involve the EU borrowing money in financial markets to help sectors and regions that are particularly affected by the pandemic. The money would be disbursed in the form of grants, rather than loans, with repayments made from the EU budget, an unprecedented proposal that overcomes longstanding objections from German government to the notion of collective borrowing. Because of the unusual nature of the crisis we are choosing an unusual path, Ms Merkel told reporters following the joint announcement. Mr Macron said the proposal was a way to make Europe move forward. We must draw all lessons from this pandemic, he said, insisting on the need for solidarity between the 27 EU member states. Ahmedabad: Around eight Dalits were severely injured when a mob allegedly attacked them and 12 of their community members at Samter village near Una, while they were returning home after attending a protest rally in Una town of Gir Somnath district this evening. The incident took place around 5 PM. Police lobbed teargas shells to disperse the crowd and resorted to mild lathi-charge, even as the victims alleged that the force did nothing to help them. The victims also claimed that the attackers were residents of Samter village, who wanted to avenge the arrest of 12 persons in connection with last months Una Dalit flogging case. The 20 victims, who are from Bhavnagar district, had gone to Una on their motorcycles along with others. They were returning home after hoisting of a tricolour by Radhika Vemula, mother of Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula who had committed suicide in Hyderabad, and Balu Sarvaiya, father of one of the victims of Una Dalit flogging incident, in the presence of JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. The mob stopped and attacked them at Samter, which falls on Una-Bhavnagar road and not far from Mota Samadhiyala village, where seven Dalits had been brutally beaten up by cow vigilantes last month. Police fired tear gas shells to quell a violent mob at Samter this evening. When they refused to disperse, police also resorted to mild lathi-charge, an official of Gir-Somnath police control room said. Mavjibhai Sarvaiya, who survived the attack, alleged they were attacked by residents of Samter village. Out of the 30-odd persons arrested till date in the Una Dalit thrashing case, 12 persons belong to Samter, which is 11 km from Una. Around 200 Dalits, including me, had come to Una on our bikes to attend the rally. When we were returning, Samter residents blocked the road and thrashed us mercilessly, he said. Though the police force was there, they were outnumbered by attackers, who are holding us responsible for the arrests of 12 of their men. At least 20 persons were injured and eight of them received grievous injuries. The injured have been admitted to hospitals in Bhavnagar and Rajula. One of our bikes was also set ablaze, Sarvaiya said. He alleged that police did not help them during the time of the attack. It was a pre-planned attack, as all the alternate roads were also blocked by them. We were attacked in the presence of police. When the situation went out of control, the police fired some tear gas shells on the mob, alleged Sarvaiya. Despite repeated attempts, no senior police officials were available for comment. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump isn't just overweight or obese he's morbidly obese. Here she is with Anderson Cooper yesterday expressing "concern" for our dear president. "I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group, and in his, shall we say, weight group: 'Morbidly obese,' they say," says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Pres. Trump's revelation he is taking hydroxychloroquine. pic.twitter.com/0ImjpEjg9q From HuffPost: Pelosi's concern is grounded in the president's medical records. During his checkup last year, Trump measured 6 feet, 3 inches and weighed 243 pounds, which would qualify him as obese, according to the National Institutes of Health. The NIH's body mass index measures above-normal weight in the overweight and obese categories. Trump's reported measurements would give him a BMI of 30.4, and the NIH considers anything above 30 as obese, but its index does not list a separate range for morbid obesity. The president is also 73 and in an age bracket that puts him at greater risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have warned older adults to take increased precautions as cases of the coronavirus spread around the nation, and preliminary studies released last month found obesity may be a predictor of severe coronavirus illnesses. Trump continued to claim on Monday that hydroxychloroquine would be a boon for Americans, telling reporters they would be "surprised at how many people are taking it." He has reportedly pushed health officials to direct federal funding to hydroxychloroquine studies. 'Summer is cancelled', health secretary Matt Hancock suggested last week, and it is likely most will be looking to recoup their money from cancelled flights rather than spend it on new ones. But those with thousands of air miles might be considering alternate uses for them rather than wait for life to return to normality. This might be especially the case for holders of substantial sums of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles. Grounded: Virgin Atlantic is cutting more than 3,000 staff and will no longer operate from London Gatwick Although the airline looks a little more secure after Virgin founder Richard Branson sold 400million in Virgin Galactic stock to help shore up its balance sheet, and is taking bookings to 24 destinations for next summer, it has still quit Gatwick airport and announced it will make a third of its staff redundant. It might be no surprise that some holders of Virgin miles might be looking for an alternative. Much like with British Airways Avios points, although the primary goal is to turn what you've accrued into reward flights, you can turn them into wine, or other beers and spirits. The system works differently to BA, however. While that lets you buy wine directly using Avios, with Virgin Wines you must ring up and redeem your Flying Club miles for a gift voucher. Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson launching Virgin Wines in 2000 You can swap 12,500 miles for a 50 voucher, although delivery costs another 7.99, or 25,000 for a 100 voucher. You can also earn more miles on top the points you get from Virgin Atlantic credit card spending if you buy wine from Virgin using cash. You receive 3,000 miles on your first order, plus a 50 discount on the price of a case of wine which is 12 bottles or more. Following that, you get 750 miles for any order you place or 350 miles for a gift order. Is that good value? But while you can literally liquidate your air miles this way, it is not necessarily particularly good value. 25,000 miles for a 100 voucher gets you 0.4p per mile, when the golden rule of converting air miles is to try and get as close to 1p per mile as you can. On top of that, 25,000 miles is the same number as it takes to book an economy class flight off-peak, i.e. outside of the Easter, summer or Christmas holidays, to Hong Kong, Johannesburg or Miami, not including charges or taxes. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles can be swapped for 50 or 100 gift vouchers which can be spent on bottles or cases of wine, beer or spirits, like the above While it might be a while before a plane to one of those destinations actually takes off, it's hard to argue that represents worse value than cashing it in for a crate of Chianti. But as long as you're aware it isn't the best value, there might still be a reason to do it, as Rob Burgess editor of go-to frequent flier website Head for Points. The 25,000 points required for a 100 gift voucher with Virgin Wines would be enough points for an off-peak economy class round trip to Hong Kong, Johannesburg or Miami He said: 'With Avios, it is easy to get good value if you only have a small balance by using them for European flights. Virgin relaunches air mile credit cards Virgin Money has reopened its Atlantic Reward and Reward+ credit cards to new applicants. The air mile earning cards, one free and one with a 160 annual fee, had previously been closed to new applicants due to the widespread grounding of flights. 'Because Virgin Atlantic doesn't do any short-haul flights, your miles don't really have any value at all until you've got enough for a long-haul flight, and the real value only comes when you have enough for a long-haul business class flight.' An upper class flight to Miami during off-peak times would cost around 95,000 points, while Hong Kong and Johannesburg would cost 115,000. Bailing out, he said, is a slightly easier decision compared to bailing out of Avios points, 'because people with smaller Virgin balances are a long way away from a good value flight redemption anyway. 'Cashing out has less downside. 'Whilst I tend to value Virgin Flying Club miles at 1p, this only kicks in if you have around 100,000 miles and can book an upper (business) class flight. 'Until you hit that level it is difficult to justify them being worth anything like that.' Can you use them for anything else? There are one or two other non-Virgin uses for Flying Club miles, but they are also not brilliant value. They can also be converted at a 1:1 ratio into International Hotels Group or Hilton points, which both deliver around 0.4p per point according to Burgess, but anyone not planning a trip away probably wouldn't want to turn their airline points into hotel points. Virgin at the moment is also allowing holders of substantial amounts of miles to donate them to a good cause, partnering with the charity WE, which is focusing on raising money to help children out of school and help provide medical supplies to vulnerable people in developing countries. Holders of miles can donate them to the charity 2,000 miles or more at a time. Are my points safe? Flying Club miles, like Avios, expire if they are inactive for 36 months or more. However, keeping them active can be done simply by earning or spending them, so if you book a flight, buy wine or even use a Virgin Atlantic credit card to purchase anything that all keeps your points alive. One of the reasons why people may be looking to liquidate their points or transfer them into something tangible is a concern over the future of the airline industry. If Virgin Atlantic went bust, it is likely your points would disappear, although they aren't owned by the airline but by Virgin Group Loyalty Company, a business jointly owned by Virgin Group and Delta Airlines, its minority shareholder. And unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be possible to turn those miles into a flight in a bid to 'save' them, by getting your money back if the airline goes bust and the flight is cancelled as a result. Burgess said: 'If you book a flight using miles, whether on Virgin Atlantic or on a partner like Delta or KLM, it is highly likely the flight will be cancelled if Virgin Atlantic fails. 'The airline isn't paid until after the flight so, if Delta or KLM hasn't seen any money, they are free to cancel. 'There is some debate about whether, if you pay the taxes on a credit card, the card company must "make you whole" under Section 75. 'It is possible to read the legislation that way, but realistically you would probably have to take your card issuer to court before they agreed to refund your business class flights to make up for your lost air miles ticket, even if you had paid the taxes on a credit card.' President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian continues to hold remote talks and discussions with well-known figures and businessmen and specialists of various sectors who are involved in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in different countries and with different companies, including for the development of a vaccine. Within the scope of these talks and discussions, President Sarkissian held a remote talk with Armenian American businessman and benefactor Noubar Afeyan, who is the co-founder and chairman of Moderna. Moderna Is actively working on developing a vaccine against the coronavirus, and the preliminary data have already been received after the first stage of clinical trials of the vaccine. Afeyan told President Sarkissian about this and stated that the first stage of trials of the vaccine was a success, and President Sarkissian wished Afeyan success and hoped the knowledge and experience would lead to positive outcomes. Sarkissian and Afeyan also exchanged views on the coronavirus situation in Armenia and the opportunities and paths for overcoming the consequences of the situation. Seattle, WA -- Microsoft Build, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gremlin, the company on a mission to help build a more reliable internet, today announced it will become the first hosted solution for running Chaos Engineering experiments on Microsoft Windows. Customers have already widely utilized Gremlin to inject failures across various architectures including Linux, Docker, Kubernetes and serverless functions, both on bare metal and on all major cloud platforms. With 30% of the worlds online systems running on Windows, however, this additional support will continue the companys mission to democratize the practice of Chaos Engineering. We at Gremlin firmly believe that Chaos Engineering is an integral part of any engineering practice, no matter how or where you run your workloads, said Matthew Fornaciari, CTO and Co-Founder of Gremlin. While we originally crafted our product for Linux-based distributions, weve always had our eye on extending our offering to Windows. Were thrilled to announce Windows engineers can finally unleash a little controlled chaos on their systems. According to Gartners report titled Predicts 2020: Agile and DevOps Are Key to Digital Transformation published in December 2019, Chaos Engineering to improve resilience has grown from being an experimental practice among digital natives to gaining traction among large enterprises. By 2023, 40% of organizations will implement chaos engineering practices as part of DevOps initiatives, reducing unplanned downtime by 20%. Todays reality is that even small interruptions in digital services can have large effects on overall business performance. DevOps teams are becoming more involved with key business metrics, as organizations strive to ensure the resilience and recoverability of their production systems. Highlights Gremlins Windows Agent currently offers Shutdown, CPU, Disk, I/O, Memory, and Latency attacks Run a shutdown attack to test Windows Server Failover clustering and build a robust Active Directory service Attack the network to ensure SQL Server replication doesnt lose data Guarantee reliable communications by attacking your Microsoft Exchange Server The top priorities for our SRE team this year are improving SLOs and maturing our Chaos Engineering program, said Bryce Lindsey, Senior Site Reliability Engineer at Alaska Airlines. Weve been looking forward to leveraging Gremlins library of experiments to improve our reliability and performance -- their newly announced support for Windows means we can finally get started. Besides enabling users to run individual Chaos Engineering experiments -- such as Chaos-Monkey type attacks that shutdown servers or CPU spikes that simulate traffic bursts -- Gremlins Scenarios product will also be available for Windows. Scenarios allow DevOps teams to logically chain attacks together, that better simulate real-world outages which often involve multiple things going wrong simultaneously. Using Gremlin is a great way to build up the resiliency of your applications, said Jay Gordon, Cloud Advocate at Microsoft. By shifting more of the operations burden upfront, you proactively identify weaknesses instead of reactively solving problems that have already impacted customers. About Gremlin Gremlin is the worlds first hosted chaos engineering service with a mission to help build a more reliable internet. It turns failure into resilience by offering engineers a fully hosted solution to safely experiment on complex systems, in order to identify weaknesses before they impact customers and cause revenue loss. Founded by CEO Kolton Andrus and CTO Matthew Fornaciari in 2016, the company has since raised funding from Redpoint Ventures, Index Ventures, and Amplify Partners. Existing customers include Expedia, Mailchimp, Qualtrics, Twilio, Under Armour, and Walmart. Attachment 3 1 of 3 Courtesy photo / Santa Cruz Co. Sheriff Show More Show Less 2 of 3 KSBW Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Several arrests were made Tuesday in the killing of Santa Cruz County tech executive Tushar Atre in October, county sheriff's officials said. The sheriff's office did not release any other details about the arrests and is planning a news conference for Thursday to provide more information about the case. Slate is making its essential coronavirus coverage free for all readers. Subscribe to support our journalism. If youve read any recent dispatches from states that have begun to reopen their economies, you might be under the impression that restaurants are quickly filling back up as diners cast away concerns about the coronavirus for the sake of a meal out. Heres how the Washington Post, for instance, recently described the packed scene at a luxury development in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Along Avalon Boulevard, people were clustering at restaurants for their first dinners out, and at one of them, every table inside and outside was full, and people with done hair and done nails gathered hip to hip at the entrance to put in their names. Advertisement These sorts of vignettes make it seem like the reopening process is turning into a mad rush. If youre worried about public health, they give you something to tear your hair out over. If youre rooting for a quick business recovery, they give you reason for hope. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But these stories are also misleading, at least if you believe the real-time industry data that are available right now, which suggest that customers are only gradually returning to dining rooms. They also point to a long, gloomy slog ahead for restaurants, one that many probably wont survive. How full are restaurants in states that have allowed them to reopen? Overall, not very, at least according to OpenTable, which tracks how many people eat in every day at a sample of 20,000 establishments that use the booking platform. In the dozen states1 where foot traffic has recovered most, the number of diners on Saturday was still down by between 84 percent (in Georgia) and 65 percent (in Oklahoma), compared with the same day a year ago. That includes people who reserved online, by phone, or just walked in for dinner.2 Advertisement Advertisement Part of the reason restaurants are still relatively empty is that state and local governments are capping the number of customers they can serve at a time for the sake of social distancing. In turn, many restaurants have decided it still isnt worthwhile to reopen because theyre unsure it will be profitable. In most of the 12 early-bird states, between 18 percent to 25 percent of restaurants remain shuttered, according to the marketing software firm Womply. The notable exception is Tennessee, where only 11 percent are totally closed. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Womplys figures come from a database of credit and debit card transactions at millions of small businesses, including 48,000 restaurants. It considers an establishment closed if it hasnt processed any payments in at least three days. In other words, these restaurants are entirely shut down. They arent welcoming diners. They arent selling takeout. At about a quarter of restaurants in places like Georgia, the lights are just off, even if the rent is still due. Advertisement Advertisement And what about restaurants that are open in these states? They do seem to be serving more people with each passing dayat least if you judge by the number of credit card transactions theyre processing. But there are big gaps between states. In Nebraska, the restaurants are charging 15 percent fewer customers than on March 1, according to Womply. But in Georgia, theyre charging 32 percent fewer, and in Florida theyre charging 39 percent fewer. And keep in mind, those numbers include all the takeout orders restaurants are filling, as well as customers who dine in.4 Advertisement Advertisement That brings us back to the question of how many people are actually dining in at restaurants that have opened their doors. To answer it, we can use numbers from Toast, a point-of-sale software vendor that has been publishing data from about 13,000 of its customers, including both full-service and fast food establishments. First, overall sales within its network are still down by 44.2 percent, year over yearand that only includes restaurants that are actually recording sales. Advertisement Second, on-premises orders currently make up about 57 percent of sales, when normally its closer to 85 percent. If you do a little bit of arithmetic, you can work out that restaurants in these states are doing just over one-third of the dine-in business they were before. Even that number is probably high, since Toasts on-premises figures include orders for pickup, just not delivery (hence why they never dropped below 30 percent during the lockdowns). But it at least gives you a sense of the low ceiling were talking about.5 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This is all actually good news, if youre primarily worried that people are going to behave irresponsibly in states that have already reopened. The numbers paint a picture of restaurants gradually welcoming diners back, rather than one of packed tables full of people swapping from Bloody Marys and virus-infected respiratory droplets over brunch. While its fair to say that states like Texas probably reopened too early given the ongoing public health risks, at least the wild crowds of those newspaper anecdotes dont seem to be the norm. Advertisement But the data also suggest that restaurants are facing a pretty rotten future. Theres a widespread fear in the industry that, even if dining spots manage to reopen, many simply wont make it through the period of strict social distancing rules and empty tables ahead. A few days back, the CEO of OpenTable predicted that around a quarter of the industry would eventually go out of businessa mass extinction event that will reshape neighborhoods and weigh on the overall economy. The numbers were seeing now from places like Georgia, Texas, and Nebraska suggest those fears may not be so over-the-top. Even in Utah and South Carolina, the states where restaurant revenues have recovered the most, according to Toast, theyre still down 27 percent and 29 percent, respectively, which will be unsustainable.6 Unless the federal government takes more steps to support small businesses over the coming months, a lot of them are not going to survive the grand reopening. Advertisement Ghanaian rapper, Strongman has debunked rumors circulating that he joined forces with Eno Barony and Sister derby to diss medikal in the force them to play nonsense song. In an Instagram live interview with Ye play Africa Strongman said, one we didnt record a diss song, left to me alone I can handle Medikal, I wont join forces with ladies to diss Medikal. Secondly, we wont use afrobeat song to do a sing-song. If it was a diss song like by now Medikal is preparing to drop his. This year Medikal has not dissed me, so I would throw a jab at him. When asked how he feels when people say his production doesnt meet international standards. Strongman said, To me, I think that is not how it is. Someone may have listened to MOG beats a lot so may choose MOG over Tubhani musik. My type of sounds Tubhanimuzik is the best person for me. Also, Tubhani does my mixes for me mostly. I have worked with Mixmaster garzy, Kacee beats, etc. Im currently working MOG beatz. Watch the Interview below The annual meeting of country members of the World Health Organization is being held this week in Geneva but this year, the organization is facing unusual scrutiny. The U.S. has voiced harsh criticism and temporarily suspended funding to the organization pending a review, and the World Health Assembly has endorsed an investigation into how the WHO's leadership managed the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter posted overnight on Twitter by President Trump, he threatened to permanently cut funding to the organization. The WHO Director-General agreed to undertake an independent review. And adding to the level of U.S.- China tension, China's President Xi Jinping announced on Monday that China would donate $2 billion toward the organization's coronavirus response effort. Dr. David Nabarro, a special envoy of the WHO Director General on COVID-19 and a medical doctor with a long history of battling global viruses, cautioned against conducting a "forensic examination" of the organization amid the pandemic in an interview with CBS News' Pamela Falk. "I'm pleading with people not to try to do a forensic examination right in the middle of a response," he said, "because it's like basically taking the fire engines away from the fire and asking it to go for routine maintenance when desperately needed to put out a flame." Top UN bird flu official, David Nabarro Dr. David Nabarro has been involved in WHO efforts against deadly outbreaks including bird flu, Ebola, and now the coronavirus. Getty Read excerpts of Falk's interview with Dr. Nabarro below. Pamela Falk: How worried are you about a second wave of coronavirus, with countries opening up? Dr. David Nabarro: I think more than a second wave, I'm worried about repeated new outbreaks. I want to differentiate this from a flu pandemic, which tends to come in waves. This is a completely new thing. It's a coronavirus, a set of current virus outbreaks, and they come in little spikes that build up really fast, and I'm extremely worried that in the current lockdown situation, the viruses, all over the world, are in lots of different places. Story continues [...] My worry is that there will be more outbreaks, and that we will find that for various reasons we don't have the capacity everywhere to close outbreaks down, and it's particularly difficult in overcrowded cities, it's particularly difficult in very poor settings, it's particularly difficult when a lot of refugees and others are gathered together in very difficult circumstances. Goodness me, there are reasons to be worried. The accusation by many countries, including President Trump in the United States, is that some of the decisions made were political specifically, the issue with the [Chinese] Communist Party leadership failing to share research about human-to-human transmission, that it should have been sooner, and that they haven't shared virus samples. To what extent is that legitimate? Countries provide information to the WHO Secretariat. The WHO Secretariat is allowed to ask them for additional details, or to ask them to explain things, but there's no compulsory powers, with the World Health Organization. It has to work with what it gets from countries. So, if a country decides for some reason that they're going to be slower than perhaps they might be to inform the World Health Organization that they've got a problem, due to a disease, the World Health Organization hasn't gotten the power to go flying into that country and trying to find out more detail about what's going on. China still hasn't shared the live virus samples, correct? Well, actually I thought that but as far as I'm concerned, every piece of material that was being required has been obtained, including the virus sequence which is the key thing, and samples have been shared. I have not heard of any failure to share, because this has been really important, and as far as I know, everything that's been requested by the WHO has been made available by the Chinese authorities. The issue that you're referring to, which is in the resolution that's being discussed right now, is 'where did the virus come from?' And there's a request from governments who are meeting in this World Health Assembly, for a formal investigation to be done. Now we'd expect that. That's normal. It's part of learning the lessons, and there is a mechanism available. The WHO is underfunded, you say? Oh, terribly. And I think these questions that you're asking, utterly legitimate questions that we really posed in this, as a result of this resolution. But please, can we just not further burden the staff running the place with further having to do an inquiry now? Let's do it when the things have come down, say next year, but absolutely ask the question. ... I'm pleading with people not to try to do a forensic examination right in the middle of a response because it's like basically taking the fire engines away from the fire and asking it to go for routine maintenance when desperately needed to put out a flame. President Trump suspended payments, was considering reinstatement, we're back to he hasn't made a decision yet. Do you have a message? This organization is extraordinary. It focuses on the inequities, the inequalities in health between poor and rich like no one, no other body in the world. It is the meeting place of all the people who are working on health, all over the world. It sets the standards on nutrition, on non-communicable diseases, on everything to do with environmental health, every area of health, the WHO sets the standards. It maintains the numbers, it tells us who's dying of what, it sets up programs to improve malaria, children's health, women's health, road accidents, patient safety. You name it, they do it, because each year the bosses, the World Health Assembly gives them more work to do. [...] Suddenly in the middle of this massive crisis, they get told that the major stakeholder thinks they've messed up and so he's going to take the money away. [...] So it's kind of bizarre that suddenly this country that's been really big in the WHO, has decided that it's going to cut the budget, I don't understand it. It just doesn't make sense, doesn't add up, right in the middle of something that's affecting 7.8 billion people. You know, it's kind of, if you explained it to anybody else, especially given the support that's always been there from the people, the people of the United States to WHO, they just couldn't understand it. And sometimes it feels like a bad dream for staff inside the organization. They feel dumbfounded. They're doing the best. They're working with their Americans in there, many, many, many, and they're doing such good work. They can't understand it. Teacher infected with coronavirus continues her remote class Michael Phelps opens up about the toll COVID-19 has taken on his mental health Lawyer for Ahmaud Arbery's family speaks out against leaked bodycam footage Tanzania's civil aviation authority has lifted all restrictions to passenger flights operating in the country. The body said in a tweet that the development follows a "decrease of Covid-19 cases". The Ministry of Health on Monday said arriving international travellers will be screened for Covid-19 symptoms at entry points before being granted entry. President John Magufulis recent remarks that the country is coping well with the pandemic are thought to have prompted ministers into ensuring a resumption of normalcy. The tourism sector is the countrys second biggest employer after agriculture and was hard hit by the pandemic. The tourism minister has said the country is reopening after learning that some countries have scheduled flights to Tanzania. The government has been criticised for not revealing the daily statistics of of confirmed coronavirus cases. There have been soe restrictions on large gatherings, but President Magafuli has insisted that there is no need to impose a strict lockdown in the wake of the outbreak. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The mounting civilian toll belies U.S. expectations that the peace deal would lead to reduced violence in the war-ravaged country. Civilian casualties caused by Afghan government and Taliban attacks in April increased by more than a quarter when compared with the same month last year, according to the report by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). PUTNAM COUNTY, NY To help small businesses reopen and recover from the economic crisis caused by the new coronavirus shutdown, the Putnam County Economic Development Corporation has formed an advisory committee to help provide, share and disseminate information. In addition, the PCEDC reminds residents to shop local. "We implore county residents to stay loyal to Putnams businesses by continuing to Shop Putnam now and to hold on just a little longer until more area businesses are allowed to reopen," said Kathleen Abels, President, PCEDC. "Since the pandemic shut down life as we once knew it, we have seen many small businesses suffer and worry about their ability to carry on." The new coronavirus outbreak has largely subsided in Putnam. As of Monday, there had been no change since last week in the number of active cases: 33; in the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 at Putnam Hospital: 10; or in the death toll: 56. However, new cases continue to appear the county added eight cases Monday. Putnam County Health Department The PCEDCs Small Business Advisory Committee represents a broad cross section of industries and business leaders from every corner of the county. Members include Tom Feighery, Fiddlers Green Pub and Putnam County Project Manager; Bryan Kelly, AON Physical Therapy; Ed Galligan, Carmel Flower Shop; Chris DeBellis, Contractor & Assistant Town Code Enforcement Officer; Maria Quezada, Six Diamonds Tree Service and Landscaping; Brian Ledley, Ledley Food Service; Stephanie Tomlinson, Salon Uccelli; Kimball Gell, Dolly's Restaurant at Garrison's Landing; Nisim Sachakov, Limni & Mezzaluna Restaurants; Angela Briante, Briante Realty Group; and Emily Simoness, SPACE on Ryder Farm. PCEDC Board members on the committee include Richard Weiss, CPA, Founder and Consultant Weiss Advisory Group; Margie Keith, retired Cornell Cooperative Extension Executive Director; Bob Zubrycki, Concertmaster for the American Symphony Orchestra; and Walter Recher, SmallBall Marketing. Story continues The PCEDC has posted ongoing COVID-19 Related Business Resources to assist businesses to stay abreast of opportunities and orders from the state and federal government. NYS Industry Re-Opening Guidelines, including mandatory practices, recommended best practices and templates for business safety plans, can be found on Forward New York. The PCEDC Small Business Advisory Committee will continue to meet during the coming months to promote Shop Putnam and to develop strategies to adjust to new trends in the way residents think, live, work, learn, shop, travel and entertain. "This is a forum for small businesses to voice their concerns and share ideas that will help them to survive and prepare for a new economic reality," Abels said. For more information, contact her at 845-242-2212. This article originally appeared on the Southeast-Brewster Patch Pennsylvania restaurants and bars just might be able to serve up take-out margaritas, pina coladas or any other mixed drink concoction before the Memorial Day holiday weekend arrives. Gov. Tom Wolf announced on Tuesday during a televised news conference he intends to sign into law a measure that would allow the sale of up to a half gallon of mixed drinks in sealed containers for off-premise consumption by restaurant or hotel liquor licensed establishments that lost more than a quarter of their average monthly sales as a result of his COVID-19 business closure order. The law will take effect immediately upon enactment. It will remain in effect throughout the duration of the pandemic disaster and until the restaurant or hotels operation exceeds 60% of its capacity. The legislation, which passed both chambers overwhelmingly, was described by one of its key supporters in the House as extending a lifeline to hard-hit restaurants and bars. Hundreds of the states bars and eateries have announced they will not be able to weather the financial storm they face as a result of the state-ordered closure of their businesses in mid-March. The Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Associations executive director Chuck Moran said this will provide a small revenue stream that could help taverns survive. With every day that passes, Pennsylvanias small business taverns and licensed restaurants move closer to financial ruin, Moran has said. Business owners have been deprived of their operations and income, and are facing permanent closure, while many employees have lost their jobs. The containers of mixed drinks can be sold until 11 p.m. Within 60 days, the restaurant and bar will be required to use a transaction scan device to verify the age of individuals if they appear to be under 35 years of age. The establishments also are mandated to post a warning sign indicating that a take-out container of mixed drinks is considered an open container and may only be transported by the driver in the vehicles trunk or in some other area that is not occupied by the driver or passengers. The Distilled Spirits Council also was pleased by the governors decision to sign this bill to assist the hospitality industry. Its vice president of state government relations David Wojnar said, "This measure will be a valuable economic lifeline that will help Pennsylvania businesses struggling with financial hardships during this pandemic. Unfortunately, the path to recovery will last well beyond the end of this crisis. We continue to work with the legislature to find additional, consumer-friendly solutions to expand access to distilled spirits and help alleviate some of the negative impacts caused by the statewide closures of all spirits stores during COVID-19. Another provision included in the bill that passed the House 193-9 and the Senate 48-0, clarifies that a local referenda to allow the sale of liquor in a municipality must appear on a primary or general election ballot and not on a special election ballot. *This story was updated to include the statement from the Distilled Spirits Council and correct that the bill would allow the sale of up to 64 ounces or a half gallon of mixed beverages. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, on Tuesday said that its employees has decided to contribute an additional amount of Rs 7.95 crore to the PM CARES Fund, set up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tackle distress situations such as that posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The total donation made by SBI employees by letting go of one day's salary and a day's leave encashment now amounts to Rs 107.95 crore, the public sector lender said in a press release. Earlier in March, around 2.56 lakh employees of SBI had donated Rs100 crore to the PM CARES Fund which is created to fight the coronavirus pandemic. SBI has also committed 0.25 per cent of annual profit for FY 2019-20 as a part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to fight COVID-19. "At this time of crisis, SBI is taking all efforts to provide best possible banking services to its customers," the lender said in a press release. Also Read: Economic stimulus to partially offset negative impact of coronavirus: Moody's The bank is also constantly urging citizens to avail digital banking services and avoid moving out of the house so that much needed social distancing is maintained, it added. As the country grapples with the rising number of coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a fund, PM-CARES Fund (Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund) on March 28. The PM said the fund was launched as people from all walks of life expressed desire to donate to India's war against COVID-19. Also Read: Coronavirus impact: Foreign investors look to exit India, withdraw $6.4 billion in March quarter Last week, PM CARES Fund Trust had allocated Rs 3,100 crore to support fight against coronavirus. Out of Rs 3,100 crore, a sum of approximately Rs 2,000 crore will be earmarked for the purchase of ventilators, Rs 1,000 crore will be used for care of migrant labourers and Rs 100 crore will be given to support vaccine development. Joe Biden has been left red-faced after a virtual presidential campaign speech was littered with bloopers - including squawking geese, an interrupting iPhone, and a mystery man strolling around in the background. The 77-year old former Vice President and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was drowned out by the repeated squawks of honking Canadian geese at his Delaware residence during the livestreamed video. Biden was addressing the Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Victory Fund and used the speech to criticize President Donald Trump. Video footage has emerged showing Biden forced to interrupt his own speech as he says: 'You're going to hear, there's a pond on the other side of my property here. 'A lot of Canadian geese. If you hear them honking away, they're cheering, that's what they're about.' 'A lot of Canadian geese. If you hear them honking away, they're cheering, that's what they're about,' he claims He accused the President of aggravating 'hate, fear and xenophobia' towards Asian Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic. But the fiery remarks were no match for the geese outside his property who continued to relentlessly squawk over him. At around 2 minutes into the video Biden says: 'More than 90,000 Americans have now lost their lives in this pandemic' before his voice is drowned out by the blaring phone Biden says: 'The pandemic has unleashed familiar forces of hate, fear and xenophobia that he [President Trump] always flames that have always existed in this society.' 'But this president brought it with him, has brought with it a new rash of racial messages, verbal and physical attacks and other acts of hate, some subtle, some overt, against the Asian American and Pacific Islanders,' he continued. He claims that Trump 'had months and months to take action', but his words are often drowned out entirely by the honking geese. As well as the squawking birds, Biden's speech was interrupted with further bloopers. An unidentified mystery man can be seen strolling around in the background of the video A mystery man walked around in the background of his shot for the duration of the interview, and a ringing iPhone interrupted the heartfelt moment as Biden addressed the country's coronavirus death toll. At around two minutes into the video Biden says: 'More than 90,000 Americans have now lost their lives in this pandemic' before his voice is drowned out by the blaring phone. Biden's voice trails off and he abandons his point as he glances down and says: 'I don't know whose phone that is'. It is not the first time geese have plagued Biden's speeches. Earlier this month they interrupted a live roundtable debate discussing the effect of the pandemic, with Biden joking they they were 'trying to get away from the virus'. Biden's campaign has also been marred by other - more personal - interruptions. In March 2020 former staff member Tara Reader alleged that Biden sexually assaulted her in spring 1993. Video footage shows Biden forced to interrupt his own speech as he says: 'You're going to hear, there's a pond on the other side of my property here' She told reporters he touched her neck and shoulders in ways that made her uncomfortable - claims that Biden has strenuously denied. In April this year Reader claims she told Biden's Senate staff in 1993 about the incident, though staff members claim they never received a complaint. Biden publicly denied her claims earlier month and said 'They aren't true'. Biden became the Democratic presumptive nominee in April after Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign. The general election will be held on November 3. Chadwick Boseman plays a Vietnam war solider burying treasure in the first trailer for Spike Lees new film Da 5 Bloods. The movie, which is the directors follow-up to his Oscar-winning film BlacKkKlansman, jumps back and forth in time as it follows four present day African-American veterans who head back to Vietnam in search of the remains of their dead squad leader and the buried treasure, as well as Bosemans exploits during the conflict. The trailer shows Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock, Jr) as they arrive back in Ho Chi Minh City and reminisce about their fallen comrade. DA 5 BLOODS (L to R) JONATHAN MAJORS as DAVID , ISIAH WHITLOCK JR. as MELVIN , NORM LEWIS as EDDIE , CLARKE PETERS as OTIS , DELROY LINDO as PAUL of DA 5 BLOODS (DAVID LEE /NETFLIX 2020) The trailer shows the present day footage in widescreen, while Black Panther star Bosemans scenes during the war are presented in 4:3 aspect ratio, in accordance with real footage from the time. Da 5 Bloods also stars Jonathan Majors and Jean Reno. Read more: Spike Lee responds to Donald Trump In 2019 French actor Reno revealed that it had been a gruelling shoot. We have been shooting in Thailand, Reno told PA. [Spike Lee] was very unique. But very difficult the most difficult thing is the heat inside the jungle. It is very difficult. Key art for Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods. (Netflix) You have to preserve yourself and be careful because some people, they fainted because of the heat and humidity. Heres the synopsis: From Academy Award Winner Spike Lee comes a New Joint: the story of four African-American Vets Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) who return to Vietnam. Searching for the remains of their fallen Squad Leader (Chadwick Boseman) and the promise of buried treasure, our heroes, joined by Paul's concerned son (Jonathan Majors), battle forces of Man and Nature while confronted by the lasting ravages of The Immorality of The Vietnam War. Spike Lee won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award in 2019 for BlacKkKlansman and was due to head up the 2020 Cannes Film Festival jury before it was cancelled due to coronavirus. The film will be released on Netflix on 12 June. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 23:54:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, May 18, 2020. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly, scheduled from May 18 to 19, was held virtually. (WHO/Handout via Xinhua) -The draft resolution, which is under discussion at the WHA, is consistent with China's position and reflects widespread consensus of other countries. China, along with other parties, has actively participated in the consultations and co-sponsorship of it, said the spokesperson. -The content of the draft resolution is totally different from the "independent review" alleged by the Australian side, Zhao Lijian stressed. BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- China would welcome it if Australia gives up its political manipulation on COVID-19 and returns to the broad consensus of the international community, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Tuesday. A draft resolution on COVID-19, drafted by the European Union (EU) and co-sponsored by dozens of countries, has been submitted to the World Health Assembly (WHA). Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne Monday reportedly described this as international support for an "independent review" of the pandemic and "a win for the international community." Zhao told a press briefing that China supports a comprehensive review of the global battle against the pandemic after situations worldwide have been controlled. It should be led by the WHO and conducted in a science-based, professional, objective and impartial manner, he said. "China has been consistent and clear about this all along," he added. The draft resolution, which is under discussion at the WHA, is consistent with China's position and reflects widespread consensus of other countries. China, along with other parties, has actively participated in the consultations and co-sponsorship of it, said the spokesperson. Residents are seen nearby Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, on May 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei) The content of the draft resolution is totally different from the "independent review" alleged by the Australian side, Zhao stressed. "For example, the draft resolution proposes to start assessment in due time instead of an immediate so-called review, reaffirms the key leading role of the WHO instead of switching to other leaderships and calls for summarizing experiences and lessons gathered in international health responses coordinated by the WHO instead of a 'presumed guilty' investigation targeting a specific country," Zhao said. It is suggested that the Australian side read the original text carefully instead of making conclusions based on assumptions, said the spokesperson. The section of border where Fisher will build is between Nogales, Ariz., and the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, an area that has long been an active smuggling corridor. The contract also includes a portion east of Nogales where the Santa Cruz River traverses the border. Such water crossings have required the installation of specialized storm gates that can be left open during summer months to prevent the structure from being torn down by flash floods. Bay League boys and girls basketball teams will play five league games and then there will be a tournament to determine seeding for CIF-Southern Section playoffs. www.4medica.com HIEs working at their fullest potential are powerful forces enhancing state efforts to improve care, especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, said Gregg Church, President of 4medica. Idaho Health Data Exchange (IHDE) is on the fast track to improve its ability to match patients records that come from different healthcare delivery settings. Identity management is at the heart of sharing health information and is essential to building the most comprehensive and accurate health record. Today, the IHDE announced its partnership with 4medica to implement and operate a powerful end-to-end cloud-based enterprise master patient index (eMPI) solution and sophisticated master data clean-up service to improve the health and lives of its patients statewide. IHDE is augmenting its current eMPI software to increase the accuracy of patient matches with the proven combination of 4medica Big Data MPI and 4medica 1% as-a-Service, a real-time, transactional cloud-based service that leverages innovative technologies, people and proven processes. The hybrid approach affordably, precisely and quickly assesses, normalizes and cleanses patient identity data to guarantee a 99 percent clean database, which is considered foundational for patient safety, data integrity and interoperability. As we onboard new technologies and processes to support new growth strategies, we're bringing 4medica aboard to provide the most accurate patient matching and identity information in the fastest and easiest way possible to our participants, said Hans Kastensmith, Executive Director of IHDE. We want our data quality to be transparent, sustainable, reliable and solid to help our provider community deliver the best quality care coordination and population health management in real time. HIEs working at their fullest potential are powerful forces enhancing state efforts to improve care, especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, said Gregg Church, President of 4medica. No single MP technology or referential matching service can solve every patient matching problem. With 4medica, medical professionals in Idaho can be confident of having the most up-to-date exact records at the right time to treat the right patients. Kastensmith noted that IHDE is contributing to holistic care by establishing new health data sources, such as those from various state departments, as well as incorporating behavioral health data. The ultimate goal is to give Idaho providers a well-rounded longitudinal medical record. Idaho is considered a rural state and hence we provide data exchange services to many critical access hospitals and rural community clinics, Kastensmith said. We are excited to partner with 4medica to lower our duplication issues immediately and deliver a complete picture of a patients medical history for better care and pandemic response purposes regardless of the providers location. Whether the patient has a ski accident and is taken to a hospital ER or is diagnosed with the coronavirus, we want every clinician who treats that individual to have the most relevant encounter data to make the most informed treatment decision, he added. About Idaho Health Data Exchange The Idaho Health Data Exchange (IHDE) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) company. IHDE was created in 2008 as a result of the efforts of the Health Quality Planning Commission. The Commission was charged with promoting improved quality of care and health outcomes through investment in health information technology. IHDE is a Health Information Exchange (HIE) that enables doctors, nurses, labs, and other medical providers to securely access their patients electronic health information quickly, 24/7/365, to improve the speed, quality, safety, and cost of patient care. For more information, visit: https://www.idahohde.org/ About 4medica Guaranteeing an unprecedented 1% patient record duplication rate, 4medica solves data integrity and financial challenges to minimize patient safety and other clinical risks and achieve true clinical interoperability and transparency for patients. Our Big Data Management and Clinical Data Exchange cloud solutions help healthcare organizations facilitate patient identity management and data exchange to ensure the right data is captured at the right time, the first time. 4medica's Perfect Order for Perfect Payment ensures labs and imaging centers get paid by integrating high-volume revenue cycle management services throughout the entire order management process. 4medica has processed up to 6 billion clinical results representing more than 70 million patient identities. The company connects 40,000-plus physicians to hundreds of ACOs, HIEs, HINs, hospitals, health systems, laboratories, radiology imaging centers and payers nationwide. Learn more at http://www.4medica.com. Falsehoods and myths attacking my friend, Jeff Sessions, need to be dispelled. I have known and worked with Jeff for 27 years. Loyal Trump supporters in Alabama have been torn for 3 years over his verbal assaults over the Jeff Sessions recusal from the Russian investigation into the 2016 election. Recently, Senator Sessions set the record straight and wrote an open letter to the people of Alabama, making a compelling heart-felt argument, detailing why he recused himself. I encourage all GOP voters to take 5 minutes and read this letter. He has served Alabama and the United States with honor, dignity, and courage. When he returns to the Senate, he will again I have no doubt. Lets set the record straight. Myth #1: Sessions should not have not accepted the appointment to Attorney General if he knew he would recuse himself. FACT: Jeff had no knowledge of Comeys secret investigation into the Trump Campaign until after he was sworn in as Attorney General. Then he discovered he was, as a critical member of the campaign, both subject of and witness to the investigation. He could not morally or legally oversee such an investigation and recused himself. The law is clear the Attorney General cannot direct or shape any investigation of a campaign in which he was a central figure. Jeff refused to break the law he cannot and will not break the law because his principles are built on bedrock. Simply put, Sessions recused to avoid violating his conscience and breaking the law. Myth #2: Sessions allowed Comey to serve as Director of FBI. FACT: Sessions advised President Trump from the beginning to fire Comey and repeatedly thereafter. Only the president can hire or fire the FBI director under law. The President did not immediately take Sessions advice, and terminated Comey months later on May 9, 2017, after Sessions had already turned over the investigation to the Deputy Attorney General appointed by President Trump. Myth #3: Sessions should have resigned after recusal. FACT: The morning after the Mueller appointment as Special Counsel, Sessions personally handed a letter of resignation to the President. Trump refused to accept the resignation, writing on the letter itself, Not Accepted and Make American Great Again. Myth #4: Sessions was a weak Attorney General and should not have recused. FACT: When Sessions left office in November 2018, former Attorney General for Ronald Reagan Ed Meese, Attorney General to George W. Bush, and now-Attorney General Bill Barr wrote: Jeff Sessionshas been an outstanding attorney general [and] set an example of personal grace and dignity under enormous pressurefocused on fulfilling the mandate of the administration in which he has served. He has acted always out of concern not for his personal legacy but rather for the legacy of the Justice Department and the rule of law. Jeff is the epitome of strength under pressure serving President Trump dutifully and honorably at every step. As Attorney General, he tackled rising crime, taking on violent illegal alien gangs like MS-13, cracking down on so-called sanctuary cities, and launching the most aggressive project to uncover and prosecute Chinese spies in the US. He fought on all counts and won. Jeffs decision to follow the law was evidence of the courage of his convictions and his commitment to do what is right, no matter what. If he had not followed the law, it would have enabled the Presidents enemies to say that the investigation was corrupt and prevented both President Trumps and Sessions full exoneration. Myth #5: Trump will not be able to work with Sessions as U.S. Senator. FACT: Jeff was the first Senator to endorse Trump for President even when everyone thought he was nuts. Jeff was simply doing what was right for Alabama and for America. He campaigned tirelessly for President Trump; he served as the chairman of Trumps National Security committee on the campaign, and served him and his America First agenda dutifully as Attorney General. They share the same priorities ensuring a strong military, protecting the unborn and our Second Amendment, confronting Chinas lies and theft, bringing back Made in America, and securing our borders. There will be no better America First ally for President Trump in the Senate than Jeff Sessions. Jeff has never said a negative word about the President or written a tell-all book. Thats not the Jeff I know he doesnt hold grudges; he holds fiercely to his principles. Myth #6: Sessions begged to become AG. FACT: As his first major supporter and central architect of the America First agenda, Sessions helped Trump become president. At President Trumps request, Jeff was the one to formally nominate President Trump at the 2016 Republican Convention. They worked side by side for months, and Jeff was honored to be asked to become Attorney General and serve the President and the American people. When called, Sessions answers but Jeff never begs never once. John W. Giles is the past President of the Christian Coalition of Alabama and has publicly endorsed Sessions. Giles spent nearly 15 years as Executive Vice President in the family business Giles Enterprises located in Montgomery. Google Maps A man suspected in a Pizza Hut robbery on Tuesday shot and killed himself as authorities tried to arrest him at a home in The Woodlands, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. The 19-year-old suspect, who deputies declined to identify, was one of two men facing charges in a robbery Sunday at the pizza shop in the 18500 block of Kuykendahl. The other suspect, a 21-year-old man, was arrested Monday on the aggravated robbery charge. The Harris County Sheriffs Office has finalized a deal to expand testing of inmates for COVID-19, officials said Tuesday. The deal with The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston will bring a team of 20 UTMB staffers into the downtown Houston jail complex to begin testing every current inmate as well as new arrestees. This agreement is a game changer for our corrections and medical teams that have been fighting valiantly for months to hold the line against this virus, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. Without the ability to practice social distancing, our best tactic is to test aggressively so we can isolate those who are contagious. Judge Lina Hidalgo said the testing would help the sheriffs office better fight the diseases spread and would help slow its strain on the countys healthcare system. Without adequate testing, weve been flying blind, she said. This exponential increase in testing puts us on firmer footing in our work to contain this virus in our jail With the current large jail population, real challenges remain in our ability to create sufficient space for adequate quarantining of those identified as positive and social distancing, but the addition of this weapon to our arsenal will slow the spread of this virus at a critical time. In the months since the coronavirus arrived in the Houston area in late February, it has sickened more than 1,000 inmates and detention staff. In recent weeks, three inmates who contracted the illness have died. As the disease spread through the county and into the jail, the sheriffs office medical staff began large-scale quarantines. Each time an inmate fell ill, the entire pod was put on quarantine. As many as 3,000 inmates were at one point under observational quarantine. PAST COVERAGE: After widespread testing, Harris County sheriff reports COVID-19 spike at jail The goal is to ultimately test every inmate so that we can isolate those who are positive and stop the virus' spread, said Jason Spencer, a department spokesman. Spencer said that with the new contract, staffers should be able test at least 350 inmates per day as long as supplies last, Spencer said. The contract has a $1.5 million cap, with each test costing $150. The county hopes to recoup the cost of testing from the federal government, he said. Advocates for the incarcerated cheered the news, but said more would need to be done to meaningfully reduce the spread of infections in the jail. "If the goal is to slow the spread then this is great news, said Krish Gundu, with the Texas Jail Project. But the population today is the highest it has been since March 26th. Even if 50 percent of the 7,912 people are found to be positive, how are they going to isolate nearly 4,000 individuals? There isn't enough space to physically distance all of them as per CDC guidelines. The quickest and cheapest way to stop the spread would be to release the 5,000 plus individuals who are being held pretrial, she said. st.john.smith@chron.com Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ibrahim Kholilul Rohman, Hasib Ahsan and Moinul Zaber (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Stockholm/Copenhagen Tue, May 19, 2020 13:30 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8fbe44 3 Opinion Sweden,denmark,reopening,COVID-19,pandemic,lockdown,social-distancing Free Countries across the globe are still trying to cope with the spread of COVID-19. As of last week, the disease has spread to 212 countries, infecting about 4.3 million and causing the deaths of about 290,000 people. To curb the further spread of the disease, countries have generally opted for social distancing or a lockdown or both. Social distancing aims to break the transmission of the pandemic by restricting or closing all public places like cafes and malls. Lockdowns are a more stringent strategy entailing the complete stoppage of any sort of public movement except essential services. Some countries combine self-quarantine, isolation or curfews, among other measures. Some of the experiences may be valuable to learn from. Denmark and Sweden might be a good example as both countries have some commonalities but approached the spread of the pandemic in different ways. The capital cities share several similarities. About 27 percent of Stockholmers are immigrants of non-Swedish background. The largest foreign-born groups are Finns, Iraqis and Iranians. Likewise, just over 73 percent of the people of Copenhagen are of Danish origin. The immigrants mostly came from Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq and Poland. Other variables such as gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, share of services sector to GDP, the ratio of debt per capita and human capital ranking are relatively comparable. The proportion of the elderly population at 20 percent is also identical. Moreover, both countries are well represented on the Forbes Global 2000. While three of the largest Swedish companies might be well-known in Indonesia, namely Volvo (trucks), Ericsson and H&M, Denmark has Maersk, known as among the worlds largest shipping headquartered in Copenhagen, with subsidiaries and offices across 130 countries. In terms of openness, both the Copenhagen Kastrup airport and the three Stockholm airports catered to the same number of passengers or about 30 million in 2019. Nonetheless, the reaction to the pandemic has been very different in both countries. Denmark was one of the first countries in Europe to close its borders. From as early as March 13, authorities closed all schools, kindergartens and cafes and banned all gatherings of more than 10 people. However, Denmark was also among the first European countries to gradually ease their lockdown. Shortly, Denmark will allow restaurants with terraces to reopen up to 30 percent of their capacity and hotels to accept bookings as long as they can maintain social distancing. Sweden adopted more flexible ways of social distancing and herd immunity, which seeks to allow the spread of the virus to develop self-immunity among the population. Rules include no gatherings of more than 50 people and limited movement, especially for the elderly. There has been a stark contrast in the health outcomes. By Monday, the number of recovered patients in Denmark was almost twice of those in Sweden. Moreover, the death rate in Denmark is as low as 92 per 1 million people compared to 318 in Sweden. The economic outcomes also slightly favor Denmark more than Sweden. The Purchasing Managers' Index showing the direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors has been slightly greater in Denmark during and after the relaxation of the lockdown. The financial sector is no different. Bloomberg reported that the fluctuation the OMX Copenhagen 20 Index was only 4.5 percent in the March-April period compared to 4.8 percent in Stockholm. The lesson learned might not be straightforward for the developing world. Regardless of the policy measures being taken, they might impose an existential crisis on their livelihood. The urban spaces are crowded and a significant number of urban dwellers work in the informal sector. Among the developing countries in Asia, Vietnam is currently on the plateauing stage, followed by Thailand. These countries successfully maintained social distancing while keeping the economic wheel running at a slow pace. Whereas, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are still in the climbing stage with virtually no effective lockdown measures and now feeling the additional pressure to fully open up soon. How did the more successful countries such as Vietnam and Thailand move toward the plateau first? The governments ensured effective and consistent communication that made it clear to residents that a hardship of a few days may help them win the fight and made them ready in case a newer and stronger strain of the virus hits them again. These measures match with the 2009 arguments of Elaine Vaughan and Timothy Tinker, who said that life circumstances, cultural norms and perspectives of risk influence behaviors during a pandemic. Hence, the extent of a pandemic partly depends on the effective communication of health risks. Indonesia needs to learn the importance of bold and consistent regulations to give clear guidance to the public at large. Lifting the restrictions before the country reaches measured targets might just delay the publics health as well as economic recoveries. Consistent regulatory measures are mandatory as the current spread of the disease has reached smaller cities without prior exposure to the global pandemic. *** Ibrahim K. Rohman earned his PhD from the Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden; Hasib Ahsan is taking a PhD program at the University of Copenhagen; and Moinul Zaber is a former post-doctoral researcher at the Chalmers University of Technology. The Indonesian version of the article appeared in Kontan daily. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Read more: National Flood Services simplifies flood insurance for agents and insureds Simple and fast access to flood insurance is critical to ensure people have the support they need to rebuild their lives after a flood, said Danny Rosenthal, chief operating officer at NFS and senior partner at PEAK6 Investments, which acquired NFS from Aon in 2018. NFS has since reimagined how flood insurance can be quoted, sold and managed for the benefit of policyholders as well as retail agents. On the policy side of the flood insurance equation, applications have historically required property owners to answer many specific questions, which often is a new experience for clients and their agents, particularly if theyre not writing flood frequently. Tridents aim is to simplify the process of policy issuance. We have simplified something that was complex, said Rosenthal, with 85% of property owners in the US those that are eligible for the lower-risk PRP policy now being guided through seven questions and receiving an instant quote through Trident. Weve also made the form adaptive so that in order to get to a quote, we only ask the number of questions you need to receive a quote. This streamlines the experience for the insurance agents and the end consumer. Whereas it previously took over five minutes to complete an application, Trident makes it possible in just 40 seconds. Read more: Challenges in flood insurance remain after the first event of 2020 Another benefit of Trident is that users receive a full array of pricing and coverage options, allowing the end customer to purchase the policy thats right for them. The platform also provides a flood risk score and average claim size based on the propertys location to help them make a decision, and make sure the coverage is tailored for the individual customers needs. On the claims settlement side, Trident is also focused on efficiency. In fact, the platform aims to cut the average claim processing time approximately in half from 29 to 15 days by providing instant, reliable access to claims workflows and streamlining communications between agent, customer and staff. As a result of its modernization of flood insurance, Trident intends to address the coverage gap which leaves millions of Americans exposed to the risk flooding. This can be delivered with the new simplicity that Trident brings, increasing quoting, conversion and renewal rates for agents writing this product. Agents can also benefit from the educational resources provided through the platform that demystify the flood insurance space and thus reduce barriers to entry. As Rosenthal and the NFS team map out the future of flood insurance, they already have plans on how to expand Tridents capabilities, with the goal of making the NFIP product even more accessible. The team has already implemented virtual adjusting since FEMA made it acceptable as part of their response to COVID-19, and started making its first virtual adjusting claims checks within five days of announcement. Digitizing elevation certificates and identifying other sources of data that can help fill out flood insurance applications are just a few of the functions that are top of mind looking ahead. Currently, 1,500 agents are using Trident as part of the platforms beta testing and NFS plans to roll it out to an additional 4,000 agents in the next month. As we roll more companies on to Trident and [expand its functionalities], the impact [on the flood insurance market] will compound and Im sure well be able to change the face of this industry, said Rosenthal. Men are disgusting, hairy, smelly, slimy, like sewer rats gnawing on my body. A young womans seething victim impact statement was read Tuesday during a sentencing hearing of a violent, drug-dealing Brampton pimp, who the court heard lured her and another small-town Ontario teenager to work as escorts in the GTA by using intimidation and violence to control them. Deion Cuvilie, 23, pleaded guilty in March to eight charges, including two counts of human trafficking, possession of a rifle, trafficking crack cocaine and two breaches of a firearm ban. The offences happened in the fall of 2017, just weeks after he was released from custody after being convicted of offences related to what the prosecution called a similar fact pattern in London, Ont. Also at that March hearing, the Crown withdrew sexual assault, assault and forcible confinement charges against a co-accused, well-known Toronto rapper K Money, resolving the matter by peace bond. K Money, whose real name is Kareemallah Muhammad, is currently serving a prison sentence for firearms offences after firing a shot on Parliament St. two years ago. K Money always maintained his innocence and was finally vindicated, defence lawyer Jag Virk wrote in email. I believe he was a police target only because he was a successful rapper. On Tuesday, prosecutors and defence suggested Superior Court Justice John McMahon sentence Cuvilie, 23, to between eight and nine years in a federal penitentiary. But the two sides differed on how much time Cuvilie should have left to serve, with the defence alleging misconduct by police during his arrest and jailhouse medical negligence, both claims denied by the prosecution. A further hearing will be held next month. A strong message must be sent to potentially like-minded offenders that they will face significant prison time if they venture into small-town Ontario and prey on local teenagers, and lure them with empty promises into the world of escorting, where they are then exploited, objectified, threatened with firearms and subjected to both physical and sexual violence, Crown attorney Emily Marrocco said during the audioconference. These kind of offences ... are truly devastating to the victims. Their identities and any information that could identify them are covered by a publication ban. The teens met Cuvilie while he was visiting their hometown north of Toronto. One of them went to stay in his Mississauga condo after she was kicked out of her fathers home. Cuvilies girlfriend, who was working in the sex trade, took her shopping for lingerie, and took photos that they posted on an escort website. Cuvilie carried a handgun on his waist, and while he never threatened her with it, he assaulted her twice by putting his hands around her neck when she did not follow his directions, according to the agreed statement of facts The teen worked in hotels in Brampton, Hamilton and Toronto, charging $120 for half an hour and $220 for an hour. Over a six-week period, she made an estimated $20,000, of which Cuvilie pocketed $16,000. Cuvilie did not object when the teen returned home, and replaced her with another teenager from the same town. He was abusive and controlling for a week, and she participated in sex acts with him because she was terrified. She did not, however, end up working as an escort. She declined to submit a victim impact statement to the court, because she feels that going through the process will only return her mentally and emotionally to a place that is unproductive, Marrocco explained. Venezuelan indigenous Warao refugees and migrants are relocated to a safe space in Manaus, Brazil, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. UNHCR/Felipe Irnaldo As the Coronavirus pandemic spreads through Latin America, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is warning that many displaced indigenous communities are now dangerously exposed and at risk. There are almost 5,000 indigenous Venezuelans displaced in Brazil, mainly from the Warao ethnic group, but also from the Enapa, Karina, Pemon and Ye'kwana communities. With COVID-19 hitting this Amazon region hard and Brazil emerging as an epicenter of the pandemic, UNHCR is worried that many may struggle without adequate health and sanitation conditions. In Colombia, a number of bi-national indigenous groups, including the Wayuu, Bari, Yukpa, Inga, Sikwani, Amorua, live near the border with Venezuela. While their ancestral homes straddle both countries, many have not been able to regularize their stay in Colombia and are undocumented. Some now also face threats from irregular armed groups who control the areas where they live. UNHCR is concerned that for some indigenous Venezuelans, documentation issues, most notably their irregular status, and living conditions are placing them at heightened risk. Many live in isolated or remote areas, where they lack access to health services, clean water and soap. Others live in cramped dwellings or in informal urban settlements without access to protective equipment. Most of the border indigenous groups are threatened by physical and cultural extinction because of insufficient food and severe malnutrition that can increase the risk of contagion. These areas have lacked adequate health services which can now exacerbate the current situation. National lockdowns have also ground to a halt many of their livelihood activities, such as farming, the selling of produce and handicraft production. Faced with increasing poverty and destitution, some have no option but to peddle goods on the streets to try and support their families. Not only does that expose them to the risk of infection but also stigmatization and discrimination for perceived inability to comply with lockdown and physical distancing measures. Other protection concerns include an increased risk of recruitment of children in certain areas in Colombia, where armed conflict has not ceased. Education is also a challenge as isolated and impoverished indigenous students and teachers have no means of learning remotely and pursuing virtual education during the lockdown. Since March, UNHCR has been working with national governments to ensure COVID-19 prevention measures and assistance reaches remote areas where these groups have found safety. This is in addition to the work with displaced indigenous communities in both Brazil and Colombia on prevention and awareness. As the number of suspected and confirmed cases increases and the first deaths are reported among indigenous communities, UNHCR has scaled-up its support despite a serious lack of funds. To try to limit the spread and impact of the virus, UNHCR is working with national authorities to increase capacities of national health systems. New structures including improved shelters, care and isolation facilities as well as early warning systems have also been put in place to respond to COVID-19 among indigenous, displaced Venezuelans and their hosts. In Brazil, UNHCR is supporting national efforts to ensure adequate shelter for indigenous Warao refugees from Venezuela. Currently, some 1,000 indigenous people benefit from shelter, food, medical and educational services provided by Operacao Acolhida, the national government led emergency response to the Venezuelan influx in Brazil. Additionally, some 770 Warao have been relocated to municipal shelters with better hygiene conditions in the cities of Manaus and Belem in response to the coronavirus outbreak. UNHCR is facilitating the relocation providing technical support and material assistance, including mosquito nets, hygiene kits, solar lamps as well as transportation. UNHCR is also continuing hygiene promotion sessions, delivered in Warao and Enepa languages, to indigenous refugees in those cities. In Colombia, complementing national efforts, UNHCR and partners are supporting the State in food distributions and providing hygiene kits for those most vulnerable among the Yukpa and Wayuu populations, especially those living in informal settlements. Health brigades have been organized and remote protection lines have also been activated by UNHCR and partners. Information and hygiene promotion campaigns tailored for indigenous communities, also continue. Despite strong efforts made by host countries and humanitarian organizations, increased support is urgently needed to continue life-saving interventions for indigenous communities, other refugees and local host communities. Ahead of an international donor conference for Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Latin America, hosted by the EU and Spain, next Tuesday, UNHCR is calling on countries to pledge support. Alarmingly, the Regional Response Plan for refugees and migrants from Venezuela (RMRP) is currently just four per cent funded. B-roll available: https://media.unhcr.org/Share/31y17mqq7bof58dkgs5i71fvoh1k8y45 For more information on this topic, please contact: PetroChinas biggest refinery, a 410,000-bpd facility in Dalian, will resume operations in late June after a two-month overhaul, Reuters reports, citing a statement by the oil company. This could mean an increase in Chinese oil imports from Russia because the Dalian facility is connected to the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline, and is the biggest processor of the ESPO blend, Reuters notes. The restart of the Dalian refinery will add to rising run rates in the worlds top oil importer, which would likely be taken as good news for demand, no matter where the supply comes from. There are already reports that Chinese refiners are ramping up their processing rates. In April, these rose by 11 percent from March as the country began to emerge from the months-long lockdown, reaching 13.1 million bpd. Also, the four-month average run rates for January to April were only moderately down on the year, suggesting that the industry did not suffer too severe a blow from the lockdown. Now, refinery runs are expected to continue to rise as industrial activity in China recovers to normal levels. Capacity utilization rates at independent refiners rose to 73 percent last month, which was a record high. Meanwhile, at state refiners, utilization rates have increased to an average of 79 percent this month. This means that fuel output will increase as well, in a market already quite well supplied with fuels, Reuters Clyde Russell wrote in a recent column. In April, Russell noted, Chinese fuel exports hit a record of 8 million tons, up 10.2 percent on the month and almost 30 percent on the year. This would mean lower profit margins for an industry already struggling with these because the increase in fuel exports has been consistent for over a year. At the same time, processing capacity has been increasing, too. Last year alone, independent refiners in China added 900,000 bpd in new refinery capacity, and more is on the way over the next couple of years. Unless demand across Asia and beyond improves markedly, the refining industry in China may find itself in more trouble in tune with the ramp-up in fuel production and exports. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: INDIANAPOLIS, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bell Techlogix, an Indianapolis based managed services provider, is proud to partner with Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) in its ongoing efforts to provide consistent online education for more than 27,600 students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Bell Techlogix, a long-standing partner of IPS, expanded its current IPS service desk capabilities by adding a customer service support team to keep up with a significant increase in call volumes driven by the IPS requirement to provide remote classroom learning. Bell Techlogix hired additional local staff, several of whom are multilingual, to manage these additional calls from IPS students, parents, teachers, and staff. Like most schools across the country, after "shelter in place" orders were announced, IPS acted quickly to redesign instruction from the classroom to online. Technology infrastructure and operations were critical to this process as remote learning would introduce new support needs and higher volumes. In less than a week, Bell Techlogix hired and trained additional staff, created knowledge and process documentation, and reconfigured the IPS ServiceNow ITSM platform and IVR to provide this additional customer service and technical support to the IPS community. The duration of this expanded support was initially scheduled for three weeks; however, due to its success and the continued higher call volumes, Bell Techlogix has been contracted to continue this expanded support through the end of the school year, June 4th, 2020. Additionally, IPS recently extended its current Bell Techlogix managed services contract, which includes IT Service Desk, Knowledge Management, IT Asset Management, and a Bell Techlogix managed ServiceNow instance through June of 2021. "Bell Techlogix is committed to providing exceptional service to our clients and adapting to meet rapidly changing client requirements, especially during this unprecedented time. We are pleased to have been able to help IPS navigate the challenges and impacts of this pandemic, most importantly, the transition to 100% remote online learning. We will continue to do all that we can to provide support for IPS students, parents, and employees to help enable successful online learning during this time of change," said Ron Frankenfield, CEO, Bell Techlogix. "Bell Techlogix has become more than a technology partner for our district. We rely on their expertise, counsel, and ability to move quickly, as we continue to strengthen our IT support for teachers, staff, students, and parents as we embrace an online learning environment during this time," said Laura Larimer, IT Officer, Indianapolis Public Schools. About IPS: The largest public-school district in Indiana, diverse in both population and choice, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) is an agile, innovative educational organization committed to academic excellence built through individualized, relationship-based learning. Though we cover 80 square miles, employ over 4,500 people, and serve over 27,600 students, we are committed to serving individual students with what they need. IPS does this through innovationfrom digital learning initiatives to individual schools fashioning their own rigorous curricula. We do it through exceptional choiceproviding excellent educational opportunities focusing on math, science, performing arts, Montessori, International Baccalaureate, and specific career paths, among others. We do it through community involvementworking with the local library on summer reading programs, securing funding from corporate foundations, and engaging in health and wellness initiatives and parent advocacy efforts, among other meaningful activities. We have the variety, flexibility and expertise to meet all students where they are and guide them where they need and want to be. For more information on IPS, please visit www.myips.org. About Bell Techlogix: Bell Techlogix, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, provides transformational Next Generation Digital Workplace and Infrastructure Management solutions to large and mid-market enterprises, as well as the public sector. With services that build, integrate and support the next wave of operational transformation Bell Techlogix provides a true client partnership and an enhanced digital experience. Bell Techlogix provides a flexible approach that is globally capable but locally oriented that will systematically allow you to achieve growth, cost-savings and acceleration of your business. For more information on Bell Techlogix, please visit us on the web at www.belltechlogix.com, follow us on Twitter, like us on LinkedIn or Facebook. SOURCE Bell Techlogix Related Links www.belltechlogix.com Supporting the airline industry Regulatory News: AKKA Technologies (Paris:AKA) (BSE:AKA) (ISIN:FR0004180537) and Avianor, the majority-owned affiliates of DRAKKAR's Aerospace Ground Transportation Division, announced today that they have signed a collaboration agreement for Avianor's Passenger-to-Freighter conversion solution, certified by the Canadian civil aviation authority (TCCA), and already embodied on several wide body aircraft. In order to promote this solution to international markets, AKKA Technologies and Avianor have signed a framework agreement to certify the solution with the widely adopted European Union Aviation Safety standards. As a leading global aerospace MRO Cabin Modification player, AKKA Technologies is among the few companies able to provide comprehensive EASA certification services by delegation to the aerospace industry and its operators. Avianor, an aircraft maintenance and cabin integration specialist, developed an engineering solution and associated kits to remove passenger seats from an airline's aircraft and designate cargo loading zones for light weight boxes restrained with cargo nets. For a Boeing 777 or Airbus A330 type aircraft, such modifications can be embodied within four days, providing the aircraft with additional cargo capacity of up to 19 tons. This modification can be easily extended to other aircraft types providing most airlines and operators with an easy and comprehensive solution. The agreement between AKKA Avianor will also give AKKA the 'rights to use' this engineering solution, in order to respond to the urgent cargo conversion demand worldwide. While AKKA will support airlines requiring EASA certification, Avianor will continue to support airlines requiring TCCA certification and supply conversion kits for both EASA and TCCA customers. "The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply hurt airlines and forced them to reinvent themselves. As a leader in the aviation industry, Avianor reacted quickly to the needs of its customers in this time of crisis. In just shy of a week's time, our specialists reconfigured a first Boeing's 777-300ER followed quickly by six other 777 and A330. We are currently at work converting A340 aircraft cabins, soon adding another certified wide-body solution. We pride ourselves on our innovative actions and responsiveness to contribute to the urgent need for increased cargo capacity for medical and essential goods. We are pleased to establish this collaboration with the AKKA Group and enable a broader access to our solution for airlines", said Matthieu Duhaime, President COO, Avianor "About half of the world's air freight is carried in the cargo holds of passenger aircraft. And since COVID-19 has grounded most of the passenger fleets around the globe, cargo capacity worldwide has dropped and the price per kilo skyrocketed. In order to compensate for reduced passenger traffic and keep their fleets operational, airlines are reconfiguring their passenger aircraft to so called 'preighters' (passenger-to-freighter) to generate revenue", said Charles Champion, member of AKKA's board of directors About Avianor Avianor, a privately-owned company from which the Aerospace Ground Transportation Division of DRAKKAR has a majority participation, specializes in maintenance, modifications and aircraft completion, including a highly skilled internal engineering support team. Avianor has positioned itself as a vertical integrator in the marketplace. The company occupies over 200,000 square feet of hangars, repair shops, fabrication facilities and warehouse space at Mirabel Airport (YMX) and employs more than 350 people. About AKKA AKKA is the European leader in digital solutions, engineering consulting and R&D services in the mobility segment. As an innovation accelerator for its clients, AKKA supports leading industry players throughout the life cycle of their products with cutting edge digital technologies (AI, ADAS, IoT/IIOT, Big Data, robotics, embedded computing, machine learning, etc.). With approximately 21,000 technology-passionate employees and half a billion Euros digital platform, AKKA is dedicated to advancing the future of industry and supporting the digital transition of its clients. The Group recorded revenues of 1.8 billion in 2019. AKKA Technologies is listed on Euronext Paris and Brussels Segment A ISIN code: FR0004180537. For more information, please visit www.akka-technologies.com Follow us on: twitter.com/AKKA_Tech View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005472/en/ Contacts: AKKA Contacts Media Relations Markus Leutert Group Head of Communications Tel.: +32(0) 4 96 26 27 55 markus.leutert@akka.eu FTI Consulting akka@fticonsulting.com Media Relations Lea Truchetto Tel.: +33(0) 1 47 03 68 15 Avianor Contacts Media Relations Rosalie Cote Director, Communications Tel.: +1 514-806-0798 rosalie.cote@drakkar.com Hunters are often great storytellers, recounting to anyone who will listen tales of the big one that got away and that once in a lifetime shot they made. Sometimes the stories get a little crazy and maybe a tad unbelievable. This is especially true with those of us that pursue Nebraska bucks. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on supporting farmers, ranchers, and the food supply chain, at the White House, in Washington, on May 19, 2020. (Screengrab via The White House/YouTube) Trump Announces Rules for $19 Billion In Pandemic Relief to Farmers President Donald Trump announced rules on Tuesday for a $19 billion pandemic relief package to farmers, who can start signing up next week for direct federal aid. Speaking at a podium flanked by tables stacked with fruits and vegetables in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Trump shared details of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP), which includes $16 billion in aid directly to farmers and ranchers, and another $3 billion to buy food and distribute it to needy families under the Farmers to Families Food Box program. Were here this morning to announce dramatic action to support our nations farmers, ranchers, and growers, as we work to safely reopen America, Trump said. Farmers who suffered a 5 percent or greater price loss can apply for direct payments of as much as $250,000 per person, the USDA said in a statement, adding that it would begin taking applications for the program on May 26. I tell you, you can go back to Abraham Lincoln, theres no president who has treated the farmers as well as Trump, the president said. The funds for the program come from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act that Congress passed and Trump signed into law on March 27. Americas farming community is facing an unprecedented situation as our nation tackles the coronavirus, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue said in a statement. President Trump has authorized USDA to ensure our patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers are supported and we are moving quickly to open applications to get payments out the door and into the pockets of farmers. The president thanked American farmers and producers who have kept our nation fed and nourished as we have battled the invisible enemy. Trump called the outbreak of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus, the novel coronavirus that emerged from China and causes COVID-19, something that should have never happened, adding, you know that, I know that, and the people that caused the problemthey know that, too. Trump said the United States should consider curbing beef imports unless they come from a closely-allied country that has really been with us. Why are we bringing in cattle from other countries when we have so much ourselves?, Trump asked, also mentioning losses suffered by farmers targeted by retaliatory tariffs in the U.S.-China trade war. The farmers were targeted by China when we started negotiating tough with China, Trump said. They just want a level playing field. We took care of our farmers, and our ranchers. Farmers joined Trump at the White House. They expressed their appreciation for the aid but said they prefer to rely on markets, not handouts. You stood behind us during the trade war, then stood behind us during all the difficulties we went through, and now with the pandemic, you stood behind us again, said Zippy Duvall, President and CEO of the American Farm Bureau Federation. The $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers will include $9.6 billion for the livestock industrywith $5.1 billion for cattle, $2.9 billion for dairy, and $1.6 billion for hogs, according to a statement released May 8 by U.S. Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Committee. In addition, $3.9 billion will be paid to row crop producers, $2.1 billion for specialty crop farmers, and $500 million for other crops, according to the statement. The payments are capped at $250,000 per individual farmer or entity. These payments will help keep farmers afloat while market demand returns as our nation reopens and recovers. Americas farmers are resilient and will get through this challenge just like they always do with faith, hard work, and determination, Perdue said. Rep. Mike Garcia was joined by his wife Rebecca and son Preston for his swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press) Former Navy pilot and defense executive Mike Garcia was sworn into Congress on Tuesday, a week after beating Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith in the special election for a seat in the Los Angeles suburbs. Though final results of the race are still weeks away, Garcia jumped to an early and decisive lead in the May 12 runoff to fill the remainder of Democratic former Rep. Katie Hill's term. As of Monday, he was about 10 percentage points ahead of Smith, who conceded May 13. The 25th Congressional District had been without representation since October 2019, when Hill resigned after her nude photos were leaked and she was accused of having an affair with a congressional aide, a violation of House ethics rules. She denied the allegation. Garcia's victory marks the first time a Republican has won a seat held by a Democrat in California since 1998, and serves as a morale boost for beleaguered California Republicans, who lost seven House seats during the 2018 midterm elections. Until Hill turned the district blue with her 2018 victory over Rep. Steve Knight, the 25th which includes Palmdale, Porter Ranch, Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and part of Lancaster had been a Republican stronghold since being redrawn after the 1990 census. While Hill was helping Democrats win back control of the House, Garcia was a vice president in charge of developing new business at Raytheon, where he'd worked since leaving the Navy in 2009. He launched his bid against Hill in April 2019, arguing that she ran as a moderate but voted with more liberal members of the House Democratic caucus. The Garcia campaign did not respond to multiple interview requests. Garcia has been critical of the state's tax rates, homelessness and expensive housing market. He called the state "a victim of poor policy and poor execution, during an April 24 virtual debate with Smith. He has also criticized AB5, the California law that stops businesses from classifying employees as independent contractors. Smith voted for the bill in the state legislature. Story continues Garcia has said he is "not a big fan" of Medicaid and has spoken of keeping food stamps "at lower levels." He said he wanted to filter out people "that just don't want to work." "There should be safety nets, but I don't want the federal government to be the safety net," he said in August 2019 on the Talk of Santa Clarita podcast. "I want the churches, I want the local community nonprofits, I want our neighbors to be the safety net." Former Rep. Elton Gallegly, a Republican who represented parts of Ventura County from 1987 to 2013, said he decided to support Garcia about "15 seconds" after meeting him. "I've never seen [a candidate] that worked harder, was more focused and organized," he said. Garcia grew up in Santa Clarita and graduated from Saugus High School, according to his campaign website. His father was an accountant and his mother was a bookkeeper. After his parents divorced, his mother remarried a police officer whod served in the Vietnam War. Garcia has pointed to his father and grandfather's legal immigration to the U.S. from Mexico in his arguments against illegal entry. He has said he opposes "sanctuary cities," supports building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and backed the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy of criminally prosecuting immigrants who cross the border illegally. Garcia attended the U.S. Naval Academy, nominated by former Rep. Buck McKeon, who represented the 25th Congressional District for more than 20 years. (McKeon endorsed his campaign and attended his swearing-in, as did Garcia's wife and two sons.) After earning a masters in National Security Studies from Georgetown University, Garcia began a decadelong career that involved flying combat missions during the Iraq War. Garcia's Democratic rival came under fire from Republicans, including President Trump, over seeming to make light of Garcias military service during a video chat with supporters after a virtual debate. OK, hes got pictures of planes behind him, she said of their Zoom backdrops. Ive got constitutional law books. Smith apologized soon after. Smith and Garcia will face off again in the November general election for a new term that will start January 2021. The assemblywoman is a former U.S. Department of Education analyst and veteran of the Newhall school board. Her Assembly district overlaps about 60% of the congressional one. Democrats have expressed confidence that Smith will prevail in the fall election, when the presidential race may help boost turnout among less reliable voters. "This is only one step in this process, and I look forward to having a vigorous debate about the issues in the upcoming November 2020 election," Smith said in her statement announcing her concession. Many cultural institutions prepared for the grand celebrations of Ludwig van Beethovens 250th birth anniversary throughout the year 2020. The plans however have been changed... With Ludwig van Beethovens 250th birth anniversary falling in 2020, music venues around the world prepared to celebrate the birthday of the decade, showing their appreciation for one of the greatest composers of all time. But with the current pandemic, those plans have been largely modified or simply shattered. While putting Beethoven events on hold might be understandable, the same cannot be said of the decision not to pursue his birthday celebrations within the coronavirus restrictions. But let us start from the beginning. The marketing campaign of Beethovens anniversary started as early as early 2019, when many cultural institutions began preparing the audience for the grand celebrations, announcing programmes filled with world-class orchestras and soloists performing Beethoven, releasing teasers of what 2020 would bring to their stages. New Yorks Carnegie Hall fused its Beethoven plans with its 2019/2020 season and as such beginning the celebrations early. Bonn (Beethovens birthplace) and Vienna (where he spent most of his life) understandably took the lead, competing over the largest and most impressive programme of concerts, exhibitions, lectures, symposia, tours, even mobile apps. According to one press release, in a unique cooperative venture, the Federal Republic of Germany, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Rhine-Sieg District and the City of Bonn have joined forces to set up the Beethoven Jubilaums GmbH (Beethoven Anniversary Society) in order to coordinate this important jubilee and to publicize it beneath the umbrella brand BTHVN2020. With the slogan Rediscover Beethoven BTHVN2020 gave its first press conference on birthday plans as early as in 2016 four years prior! The programmed included over 300 projects at dozens of venues: concerts, dance events, operas, lectures, theme weeks and festivals. Vienna did not fall behind. The Wiener Symphoniker brought 36 concerts with music by Beethoven to its season at the Wiener Konzerthaus, the State Opera was preparing for a new staging of Leonore (1805), the composers only opera, while the Theater an der Wien planned on launching its own Beethoven Festival 2020 (February-May), which among many gems would include Fidelio (1806), a more successful revision of Leonore, directed by the Oscar-winning Christoph Waltz. I will not go into further details. Suffice to say that, elsewhere in Europe, America and the world at large, the celebrations were taken just as seriously. I can just picture chocolates with the composers pensive face engraved on them, souvenirs and paraphernalia, pocket-size recordings of Fur Elise or the Moonlight Sonata. Not only is Beethoven a composer whose musical gems carry enormous value and timeless delights, he is also a figure capable of generating high profits internationally. Mozarts 250th anniversary in 2006, Chopins 200th in 2009 and, a little less bombastic but bombastic enough, Liszts 200th in 2011: all were huge, lucrative occasions. All over the world, Beethovens weight is arguably even greater. In Egypt, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra celebrations started in January with the object of going on uninterrupted till December. According to Ahmed El Saedi, the music director and principal conductor of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Our Beethoven celebratory repertoire includes many interesting works: five piano concerti, nine symphonies, the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives, Fidelio, among others. The celebrations will end with Missa solemnis in D major (a solemn mass), planned for 16 December, the day Beethoven was born. Fidelio, for which El Saedi was bringing over an international cast including expatriate Egyptians, wouldve been the Egypt premiere. But none of it was to happen. Together with the entire music industry, Beethoven fell prey to Covid-19, and the famed four notes opening Symphony no 5, a fate motif (a term based on a bogus story that has nonetheless persisted) began to ring in my ears. El Saedi is but one among thousands bemoaning the way Covid-19 cut the birthday season short: During the first weeks of the year, we managed to perform all five piano concerti, fused with non-Beethoven programming elements. We also performed Symphonies number 1 and 2. In March we had only one rehearsal for the Eroica, when we heard about the general shutdown of all cultural activities. He hopes to make up for lost time once musical activities reopen. And shockwaves notwithstanding, only days into the closure, musicians from all over the world resurfaced online. Individual musicians played for their followers on social media. Ensembles used technology to play together, adding a new perspective to creative possibilities. Cultural institutions began to share their archives, others offered some of their work for a limited time. Valiantly, as it seems, the Theater an der Wien where Christoph Waltzs Fidelio was ready made it available on medici.tv and ARTE Concert (both of which require a subscription) for the first 10 days of April. In short, musicians and music programmers found ways past the shutdown. How come Beethoven was left out? That is certainly the case judging by any web search with a number of interesting exceptions. The Liszt Academy in Budapest celebrated with two concerts on their YouTube channel: Symphony no. 6 Pastorale (recorded in December 2018) and Symphony no. 9 (recorded this February). Deutsche Welle Radio has used its YouTube channel DW Classical Music to release Best of Beethoven, a series on the composer, together with concerts. The initiative began months before the pandemic, but it came in handy when live concerts were cancelled all over the world. Closer to home Emirati musicians performed Ode to Joy from Symphony no. 9, in a YouTube video. It may not have been the best performance of the famous piece, but they deserve credit for the thought. Egypts Ministry of Culture launched the Stay at Home: Culture in Your Hands initiative on YouTube, bringing theatre performances, concerts and other cultural events to the audience. In March, the ministry posted a concert by the Paris-based, internationally renowned Egyptian pianist Ramzi Yassa playing Beethovens piano concerto no. 5 in E-flat major, Emperor, with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. However, no mention was made of the works name or the anniversary celebrations inside the video or in its description and the front cover poster reveals some details which are almost illegible. The need for Beethoven concerts is a function not only of expectations but of money. Artists will not be compensated, and organisers will not profit if the enormous financial investments that have been made do not pay off. The BTHVN2020 found its own solution to the situation announcing that celebrations in honour of Ludwig van Beethovens 250th birthday will continue until September 2021. This will allow the creative potential of BTHVN2020 to continue to unfold, despite the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The BTHVN2020s strategy is to postpone events. Meanwhile, however, I was hoping to see some online and yes, free of charge. It would have said something, demonstrated something. There is little holding me back from ending my own life. It is only art that keeps me going, Beethoven is known to have said while spending time in a health resort in Heiligenstadt in 1802, trying to deal with his progressing deafness. I am not sure how the Beethoven birthday situation can fit into this claim. Beethoven as art did not keep the pandemic from ending cultural life, but is archival, even fragmentary participation too much to ask? Then again, Beethoven himself would probably not have cared for our materialistic world. It is doubtful whether, in response to Covid-19 and its aftermath, he would even have given us his trademark look of scorn. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 May, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Accordingly, the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) granted the certificates to VRG companies, including the Binh Long, Phu Rieng and Dau Tieng Rubber Companies, at a ceremony held in Ho Chi Minh City on May 17. The event also aimed to evaluate coordination results between VNFOREST and VRG in implementing a project on sustainable forest management and forest certification under the Prime Minister's Decision No. 1228 /Q-TTg, dated October 1, 2018, to promoting the certification of sustainable forest management in Vietnam. Under the scheme, the total area of rubber set to be planted under the sustainable forest management plan is nearly 60,000 hectares, targeting to offer the Vietnam Forest Certification Scheme (VFCS) certification for six rubber processing factories. Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan said that Vietnam has nearly 1 million ha of rubber forests, generating between 3-3.5 million m3 of raw materials from rubber wood every year, while the export value of processing products from rubber wood also reached US$2.5 billion. Therefore, rubber wood is also an important and sustainable source of raw materials for the wood processing industry and exports of forest products. Vietnam's Sustainable Forest Management Certificate is important in promoting the certification of sustainable forest management and developing the market for legal timber and "clean" raw materials for Vietnams wood and forest product processing industries and exports, Tuan said. It is also an affirmation of the countrys activeness in implementing sustainable forest management and forest certification, especially as Vietnam's forest certification system has been recognised worldwide. Besides, Vietnam's sustainable forest management certificate also helps to provide more options for forest owners and businesses in implementing sustainable forest certificates, the deputy minister stated. In 2020, VNFOREST and VRG will coordinate to register for sustainable forest management certification for at least 50,000 ha of rubber. In addition, at least 15 training courses will be organised on sustainable forest management and product chain management to enhance the capacity and awareness of VRG companies. A sustainable forest management plan is set to be deployed by 10 rubber companies under VRG. The group also targets to register the VFCS certification for 15 wood processing enterprises under its management. A knife-wielding man shot and killed Saturday by a Houston police officer moments after witnesses said he fatally stabbed a woman was released from a psychiatric hospital nearly two weeks earlier, records show. A judge ordered Randy Lewis, 38, to be committed last October until he was competent to stand trial on 2018 charges of theft and assault of a public servant. The initial commitment was to last up to four months but was extended in March when he showed no improvement. Documents show Lewis had a mental illness and required treatment for his own welfare and protection or for the protection of others. The felony charges that led to his 2018 arrest stemmed from the alleged theft of a bag of chips, cookies, crackers and candy, court records show. He then hit the arresting police officer while being taken to the Harris County Jail, according to court records. His criminal history in Harris County includes about 60 arrests on mostly misdemeanor charges, as well as nine felony charges not including the latest two. Court records show Lewis to have been housed in at least two different facilities in the past month. On May 1, Lewis was released from the Harris County Psychiatric Center and into the care of the Royal Personal Care Home in the 12000 block of Becklin Lane in the Alief area. The facility is not listed in city permitting records. Four days later, Lewis posted a personal recognizance bond. Royal Personal Care Home is about 5 miles from where police said he stabbed 80-year-old Rosie Cook to death outside a Walgreens over the weekend. An employee who answered the phone at Royal Personal Care Home referred questions to a manager. Harris County District Attorneys Office spokesman Dane Schiller said Lewis recently absconded from the care home, where he was ordered to live instead of being held in jail during the novel coronavirus pandemic. The judge in the case had not yet issued a warrant for his arrest. Police did not even know to look for him, Schiller said in a statement. Unfortunately this tragedy occurred before he could be returned to court. Lewis had a history of mental illness and should have been kept off the streets, he also said. Several court filings listed Lewis home address as the Open Door Mission, a rehabilitation facility for the homeless in the East End Police said they believe he was at the Fiesta Mart on South Braeswood asking for money and scaring customers with a knife. He later confronted Cook as she left the nearby Walgreens and stabbed her. A police officer who stopped at the pharmacy to use the bathroom confronted him and opened fire when he allegedly stepped toward the officer with the blade. The fatal shooting was the fifth since April 21 involving a Houston police officer. Julian Gill contributed to this report. nicole.hensley@chron.com Anunt de selectare a participantilor si participantelor la cel de-al doilea curs de instruire din cadrul Programului educational pentru dezvoltarea competentelor lucratorilor de tineret Variety is reporting that the producers of the popular podcast series S-Town have settled a lawsuit with the estate of its subject, John B. McLemore. The settlement was finalized on Friday, the paper reported. I am pleased that the parties were able to resolve the S-Town lawsuit by mutual agreement, Craig Cargile, the estate administrator, was quoted as saying. Back in January, lawyers for the estate and attorneys for the series producer selected Tom Woodall, a former justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, to mediate the case. S-Town was released in 2017 and has been downloaded more than 92 million times. The multi-part audio series recounts how McLemore, an eccentric antique clock restorer, contacted Reed, a producer for This American Life, about a suspected murder. Reed traveled to Alabama, investigated the case, and carried on a correspondence with McLemore until his death. Reed then assembled the S-Town podcast, telling the story of McLemores life and death and the reactions of his friends, relatives and associates. Who is John B. McLemore, figure in new S-Town podcast? The series takes its title from McLemores less-than-charitable name for the community. Plans for a film based on the podcast were announced in 2018. Shortly after, the estate filed a lawsuit in Bibb County, claiming the makers exploited McLemores life and death for financial gain. The lawsuit was later moved to federal court in Birmingham. In March, a federal judge dismissed the case after being notified a settlement had been reached. Variety quoted Julie Snyder, CEO of Serial Productions, as saying she was relieved the suit was over. There was no announcement of any financial settlement. Cooper Shattuck, one of the plaintiffs attorneys, said that the estate has no objection or claim to the podcast, nor does the estate have any objection or claim to any future uses of the podcast or the journalistic and creative work relating to John B. McLemore by the defendants or their designees. Passengers at an unusually quiet Terminal 2 at London Heathrow airport. (PA) The government says it is considering a plan to save Britons summer holidays during the coronavirus pandemic. It is looking at the possibility of opening up so-called air bridges with other nations so people can travel abroad. On Monday, transport secretary Grant Shapps told the House of Commons the government is considering the proposal, which could mean travellers dont have to quarantine. It could mean good news for UK travellers, who were told last week by health secretary Matt Hancock that summer was cancelled. But what are air bridges, how would they work and could they rescue the summer holiday plans of millions of Britons? What are air bridges? The proposal was raised in the House of Commons on Monday by senior Tory MP and chairman of the transport committee, Huw Merriman. He asked transport secretary Grant Shapps "if he will consider air bridges so that those entering the UK from countries where the infection rate is below the rate of one would not be subject to quarantine? Merriman added: "This will boost confidence in aviation travel and target safety where it's most needed." In theory, the UK could do deals with countries such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain to relax plans to quarantine arriving travellers. It would mean Britons who travelled abroad could return to the UK without entering quarantine. What did the government say? Shapps said the idea of air bridges was one that will be considered by the government. However, he insisted that planned quarantine measures on travellers to the UK, which will be introduced in June, will initially have a blanket situation for other countries. Transport secretary Grant Shapps says 'air bridges' will be considered by the government. (AFP via Getty Images) He said restrictions could later be eased for those nations with low COVID-19 infection rates. Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area 6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading Replying to Merrimans question, Shapps said: "Final details of the quarantine scheme will be released soon, come in early next month. Story continues "It is the case we should consider further improvements for example, things like air bridges enabling people from other countries who have themselves achieved lower levels of coronavirus infection to come to the country. "So, those are active discussions but will go beyond what will initially be a blanket situation." Air bridges are being considered but are not agreed policy, Downing Street said. The prime minister's official spokesman said: "It's an option under consideration but not agreed government policy." What are the incoming quarantine measures? Earlier this month, Boris Johnson announced an easing of the UKs coronavirus lockdown, which would include quarantining arrivals into the country. Ministers want those arriving from overseas to quarantine for 14 days after they enter the UK, either in accommodation of their choice or provided by the government if there are no other options. The government has yet to announce an implementation date for the measures, but Shapps said they will apply from early June. The government has been criticised for not applying them sooner. The quarantine measures will be reviewed every three weeks, the government said. Travellers from Ireland are exempt from the quarantine restrictions. Where might problems lie with air bridges? Opposition politicians have been quick to criticise the plan, pointing out that other countries in Europe may not want to open up an air bridge with the UK, given its high COVID-19 death toll and infection rate. Shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said: Today's announcement that 'air bridges' could link the UK to countries with low infection rates risks opening travel to areas with little/no testing capacity. Travel bubbles can only work where countries work collaboratively on checks and controls. Watch the video below Scottish National Party MP Dr Philippa Whitford pointed to Britains infection rate and asked: Who will want an air bridge with UK? But Patricia Yates, acting chief executive at Visit Britain, said it was an interesting idea and suggested an air bridge with the US could work. "It would be good to choose the countries that were valuable to us for inbound markets, she said. EasyJet planes parked at Gatwick Airport in south London (PA) We have an international network, our American regional director is telling us sort of America is ready to go, American business is ready to go. So, possibly, you know, an air bridge between the UK and America might be one that would be valuable to us." What is the reaction to the quarantine plans? London mayor Sadiq Khan questioned why the 14-day quarantine on international travellers wasnt being imposed as soon as possible. "We have got a number of airports that serve us - Heathrow, Gatwick, City, Stansted and a number of other peripheral ones - but also the Eurostar as well, he said. "I think it's really important that anybody coming to our country isolates for at least 14 days. I want them tested as well as soon as they possibly can." The plans for quarantine restrictions were condemned as "idiotic" and "unimplementable" by Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary. "You don't have enough police in the UK to implement a two-week lockdown, he said. "And what's really worrying is that a two-week lockdown has no medical or scientific basis to it in any event. "If you really want to do something that's effective - wear masks." Coronavirus: what happened today Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks during a press conference in front of his home in Chicago, Ill., on Feb. 19, 2020. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) Former Illinois Gov. Blagojevich Is Disbarred After Trump Commutation Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was disbarred on May 18, more than two months after his prison sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump. The Illinois Supreme Court said in a brief ruling that it was upholding a decision by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Respondent Rod R. Blagojevich is disbarred, the order stated. The Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission recommended in March that Blagojevich be disbarred, noting he was convicted of committing a number of crimes while governor. As a former Assistant States Attorney and elected official, Respondent was well aware of his obligation to uphold the law, and, as governor, he took an oath to faithfully discharge the duties of the office of governor to the best of his ability. Instead of doing so, he sought to further his own interests by engaging in a pattern of dishonest and deceptive conduct, the group wrote in the recommendation. Convicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich walks through a horde of media toward his house before giving a news conference outside his home in Chicago, on March 14, 2012. (Frank Polich/Getty Images) Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 in Chicago on 17 counts, including an attempt to sell former President Barack Obamas U.S. Senate seat that was vacated when he was elected in 2008. The remainder of the 14-year sentence was dissolved with Trumps commutation. The White House said that the move came after people from across the political spectrum and from varied backgrounds expressed support for shortening the sentence, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Eric Holder, the attorney general under Obama. Blagojevich demonstrated exemplary character while in jail, tutoring and teaching GED classes and speaking to prisoners about their civic duties, the statement said. Blagojevich, whose law license was suspended in 2011, previously told CBS 2 that he wasnt interested in the pending decision, comparing himself to a pilot who hadnt flown for a long time. How would you like to get onto a plane with a pilot who hasnt flown a plane for 25 years? I dont want to hurt anybody. Its been a long, long time. So, whatever happens, will happen. Im certain that whatever they end up doing will not put me in a position to ever again handle a legal case in the nearby courthouse, he said. Russian Plans To Move Ahead On Second Gas Pipeline To China May 18, 2020 Russian state-run energy giant Gazprom says it has launched feasibility studies for the construction of a second gas pipeline to China that would more than double the volumes it could deliver there. Gazprom CEO Aleksei Miller said on May 18 that a Power of Siberia 2 pipeline might carry up to 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year to energy-hungry China. The pipeline might pass through Mongolia, Miller said, without mentioning a potential date for construction. Russia has been looking for years to diversify its export markets away from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region, particularly China. A number of European states have meanwhile taken a hard look at their own energy dependence on Russia, particularly with political fallout from Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 complicating the West's relations with Moscow. In December 2019, Gazprom started pumping gas to northeastern China via its 2,000-kilometer-plus Power of Siberia pipeline in eastern Siberia. Gazprom in 2014 signed a $400 billion contract with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to supply 38 billion cubic meters per year through the Power of Siberia over 30 years. But while the first pipeline taps gas fields in eastern Russia, a second project would link up to fields in western Russia such as the ones on the Yamal Peninsula. The Yamal Peninsula, which holds Russia's largest gas reserves, already feeds Gazprom's EU customers. Power of Siberia 2 would also connect Russia's key production centers in western and eastern Siberia. Based on reporting by AFP and TASS Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-plans -to-move-ahead-on-second-gas- pipeline-to-china/30619347.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Many Germans are with view on the own retirement pessimistic or even fatalistic: "I get no pension", was, according to Alf Neumann, the Board of Directors of the life insurance division of Allianz, not a rare answer in the surveys by the insurer in the course of so-called "test-eat" by led. This is not supposed to be. The question "how much money I actually have in old age?", you should employ Neumann, according to every German. At the same time, he admits, given the diversity of forms of Provision: "It is not so clear what the Individual has carefully." Niklas Zimmermann volunteer. F. A. Z. Twitter the New orientation of the German pension thicket to offer the so-called "pension compass", the Alliance is offering after completion of the test phase, is now on a dedicated Website. There is a Video, where the insurer promises to appear, "With our digital pension compass, you bring in in just a few steps to clarity in your future." As Neumann said during the presentation on Thursday, were simplicity and clarity, the Central criteria of the product. "The customer had a lot of easier questions than we have expected," says Neumann of the experiences of the "eating Test". state with its own platform but It is not only the good will of insurers, the new applications for a simple representation of the total future pension drives. "We will introduce a cross-pillar pension information, with the citizens of their individual protection in the age of information from all three pillars will receive and the possible need for action can see." This sentence is in any company communication, but in the coalition agreement of the Federal government. In the third quarter of the current year a corresponding law is expected to design, with the tax identification number as a unique identifier for future pension claims. The Alliance expects that in the next two years, the relevant state Portal to be launched. "We go more into the advice clean," says Neumann, and believes that the "annuity compass" of the Alliance will be following the launch of the public offer demand. the keyword for the advice, however, is also an important indication that the new product is anything other than neutral. "We have to show our products," says Neumann no secret of the fact. The adviser, there is a need also for the customer to get a Overview of the opportunities there are for retirement. Updated Date: 11 July 2020, 23:19 LONDON, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from Medscape finds that 64% of UK doctors responding to a recent survey have been involved in the frontline care of patients with COVID-19, and that 44% had experienced ethical and moral dilemmas, including how to care for COVID patients while protecting themselves and their families, and contending with what they perceive as Government mismanagement and bullying from managers. The Medscape UK Ethics Report 2020: COVID-19, Life, Death and Pain, features responses from 1,355 UK-based doctors on ethical issues faced in daily medical practice, conducted between 3 December and 23 February; 340 doctors responded to additional questions posed in mid-April when the pandemic was at its peak. Doctors on the front lines reported being faced with ethical and moral issues including when and whether to intubate patients, the inability to properly examine patients, decisions on how to best care for patients with non-COVID but serious conditions, and how to deflect "government mismanagement" and "bullying" in the NHS. Almost one in three (31%) said they had been in contact with COVID-19 positive patients without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE). These factors may be among the reasons why there was a doubling in the number of doctors reporting high levels of burnout during the pandemic as compared to before the pandemic (8% v 16%) in a separate Medscape/WebMD online reader poll involving 110 UK doctors in April. In addition, the report also found that: More than half (54%) of doctors believe vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 should be fast-tracked; 28% were unsure. 50% said doctors should not be subjected to random drug and alcohol tests One in 5 doctors would bend the rules to enable a patient to receive NHS funding for a treatment that wouldn't otherwise be funded, with an additional 32% saying that they might, depending on the situation Almost one in 5 doctors (18%) would turn away patients that are difficult to treat. Click here to view report: https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/uk-ethics-report-2020-part-1-6012896?faf=1 About Medscape Medscape is the leading source of clinical news, health information, and point-of-care tools for health care professionals. Medscape offers specialists, primary care physicians, and other health professionals the most robust and integrated medical information and educational tools. Medscape Education (medscape.org) is the leading destination for continuous professional development, consisting of more than 30 specialty-focused destinations offering thousands of free CME and CE courses and other educational programs for physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals. Both Medscape and Medscape Education are part of WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands company. SOURCE Medscape The Motorola Edge+ made its debut in India today. It's priced at INR74,999 ($990/905) and will go on sale from May 26 through Flipkart with a single Thunder Grey color option. The Motorola Edge+ is a 5G smartphone having the Snapdragon 865 SoC at the helm. It runs Android 10 out of the box and has 12GB RAM and 256GB storage onboard. The Edge+ packs a 6.7" 90Hz Endless Edge display of 2340x1080 pixel resolution, that has a punch hole in the upper-left corner for the selfie camera and a fingerprint scanner underneath for biometric authentication. For photography, the Motorola Edge+ comes with a total of five cameras - a 25MP selfie shooter on the front and a quad camera setup at the back, comprising a 108MP main, 16MP ultrawide, 8MP telephoto and 3D ToF units. Powering the entire package is a 5,000mAh battery, which supports 18W wired and 15W wireless charging. It also supports 5W reverse wireless charging, allowing you to charge other devices wirelessly. Source Unconfirmed number of Boko Haram fighters have been killed in an airstrike by the Air Task Force of the Operation Lafiya Dole on the outskirts of Dapchi town in Yobe State. Two of the gun trucks used by the terrorists were also destroyed. The Operation according to a statement by the Coordinator Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, followed credible intelligence that the terrorists riding in five vehicles, had launched attack on the town. The statement read, the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation LAFIYA DOLE, on 18 May 2020, neutralized uncomfirmed number of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) and destroyed 2 of their gun trucks on the outskirts of Dapchi Town in Yobe State. The air operation was conducted following reports that BHT/ISWAP terrorists, in about five vehicles, had launched an attack on the Town. A Helicopter Gunship was scrambled to engage the terrorists and scored direct hits on their vehicles, destroying 2 of them and killing the occupants. The Chief of the Air Staff commends the Air Task Force for their professionalism and directs them to remain resolute towards eradicating the the terrorists from the North East. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates A cabinet committee tasked with legalising the status of unlicensed Christian places of worship has licensed 70 churches and service buildings that had been operating without a permit, the cabinet said in a statement. This brings the total number of unlicensed Christian places of worship and service buildings that have been granted legal status to 1,638 so far, the cabinet said in a statement following a committee meeting on Tuesday. Christians make up around 10 percent of the 100 million population of Egypt, a predominantly Muslim country. In 2016, Egypts parliament approved a long-awaited law regulating the building and renovation of churches. The committee to legalise the status of unlicensed churches was established in 2017 by the prime minister. The 10-member committee comprises one Christian representative, six government officials from several ministries, representatives from the national security apparatus, the intelligence apparatus, and the administrative control body. During its meeting on Tuesday, the cabinet also reviewed the situation of safety requirements for legalised churches. Search Keywords: Short link: Examining dead bodies and probing for a cause of death is rarely seen as a heroic or glamorous job. Rather, as the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, all eyes have been on the medical workers and public health disease detectives fighting on the front lines - and sometimes giving their lives to bring the novel coronavirus under control. But as the crusade to test for the coronavirus and trace cases continues, medical examiners and coroners play a vital if often unsung - role. These "last responders" are typically called on to investigate and determine the cause of deaths that are unexpected or unnatural, including deaths that occur at home. In the early days of the outbreak, a scarcity of tests often hampered their efforts. Now, as that equipment gradually becomes more widely available, these professionals may be able to fill in answers about how people died and if those deaths were related to the coronavirus. Those changes won't happen at once or uniformly across the country, experts predict. In addition, an increase in postmortem testing is likely to put coroners and medical examiners in the middle of a debate heating up about the true number of COVID-19 casualties. Determining how many people the virus has killed is an ongoing bone of contention. Some defenders of the Trump administration's response charge that death estimates are inflated, often because they include people who were presumed to have died of the disease but not tested for it. Administration critics counter that the chaotic rollout of testing and treatment led to thousands of needless deaths that aren't represented in the official death toll. Even now, months after the emergence of COVID-19 in the United States, the availability of test kits and testing materials, such as nasal swabs, remains inadequate in many places. Public health experts agree that broad-based testing is critical for people to safely emerge from lockdown and for businesses and other institutions to safely reopen. "Some localities are prioritizing testing sick people over dead people, and that's probably a good decision if they have limited testing available," said Dr. Sally Aiken, the medical examiner for Spokane County, Washington, who is also president of the National Association of Medical Examiners. As availability increases, however, stepping up postmortem COVID-19 testing could uncover important clues about the spread of the virus, experts say. During the pandemic, many sick people have stayed at home and died there rather than seeking help at hospitals overwhelmed with coronavirus patients. In April in New York City, for example, a reported 200 residents died at home each day, compared with 20 such deaths before the pandemic, a spokesperson for the city's medical examiner told WNYC, the local public radio station. Tests were not possible in many of those instances. But with more tests, such cases are now getting attention. "Most of the ones we test are the individuals who die at home," said Gary Watts, the coroner in Richland County, South Carolina, who is president of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners. If family or friends say the person had symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the coroner's office will typically do a nasal swab to test for the virus, he said. If the test is positive and the office can determine the cause of death without an autopsy, one will generally not be performed. Coroners and medical examiners have similar responsibilities but their backgrounds are often different. Coroners are typically elected officials who may or may not have a medical degree. Medical examiners are typically medical doctors and may have a specialty in forensic pathology. Like Watts, Dr. Kent Harshbarger, the coroner for Montgomery County, Ohio, which includes the city of Dayton, said his office now has enough tests to determine if COVID-19 was involved in suspect deaths, unlike during the pandemic's early days. With more postmortem testing, "you can do better contact tracing," he said. A few medical examiners and coroners are now stepping up testing significantly, performing tests on all the bodies that are brought in, said Aiken. "They're surprised at some of the people who are positive," including suicides and car accidents, she said. One reason for increasing testing is to protect the staff who are handling the bodies, said Dr. Judy Melinek, a forensic pathologist in the San Francisco area and CEO of PathologyExpert. If a body at the morgue is positive for COVID-19, "you want to avoid doing an autopsy unless it's absolutely necessary," Melinek said, because of the risk of becoming exposed to the virus through aerosolized particles or blood. Plus, she noted, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends against performing autopsies in COVID-19 deaths. Even if coroners and medical examiners aren't doing extensive nasal-swab testing on the recently deceased, they can provide vital information later on, some note. It's standard practice to take blood samples from patients who are sent to the morgue, and coroners and medical examiners typically keep blood samples on hand for up to a year. Testing those blood samples for antibodies to the coronavirus, which would indicate a prior infection, could give public health experts a clearer sense of when the virus arrived in the United States and the extent of its spread. It won't identify every undiagnosed infection, since antibodies don't show up until one to three weeks after infection occurs, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People may die before then. Still, postmortem antibody testing could provide useful information, experts say. "If we can figure out when [the virus] arrived in the U.S., we can figure out a lot more about how this virus came through and was undetected," Melinek said. Going forward, as public health experts and politicians contemplate decisions about reopening the country for business and the possibility of a resurgence of the virus, the more concrete information available the better, experts say. "Postmortem testing is helpful and important when it is balanced by the logistical feasibility of doing it," said Lorna Thorpe, a professor of epidemiology at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine. "When politics enters this space, it's nice to have confirmed cases so that it can't be critiqued." NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana Mississippi is one of three Gulf Coast states getting more than $88 million in fisheries disaster funds for damage from last years flooding, which included an unprecedented two openings of a spillway west of New Orleans. The total includes $58.3 million for Louisiana, $21.3 million for Mississippi and $8.6 million for Alabama, Republican U.S. Rep. Garrett Graves of Louisiana said in a statement. After waiting an entire year, we finally have a chance to right some of the wrongs caused by last years high river event, Graves said. South Louisianans know the disaster process all too well and for years they have been victimized by cumbersome bureaucracy. "These funds are welcome news for the many fishermen who suffered through last year's unprecedented opening of the Bonnet Carre Spillway, but our state deserves a long-term solution to disasters like these," U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, said in a news release. He and U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, also a Republican, said they are working to change the way federal fisheries disasters are evaluated and approved. "I am also pushing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consider alternatives to opening the Bonnet Carre Spillway so that we can minimize the risk of these disasters in the future," Wicker said. Mississippi has been pushing to have the Morganza Floodway used as an alternative to the Bonnet Carre, which was created to protect New Orleans levees from damage caused by rushing water. The floodway, which starts west of Baton Rouge in Pointe Coupee Parish, sends water into farmland and campsites in the Atchafalaya Basin if floods threaten Baton Rouge and New Orleans. "These funds will help industries and individuals recover from this disaster, and build resilience for the future," U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who declared a fisheries disaster in September, said in a news release Monday. A state report in November said Louisiana alone lost $256 million because heavy rains in the Midwest kept the Mississippi River at flood stage for extended periods and forced two openings of the Bonnet Carre spillway. The spillway diverts polluted river water into brackish Lake Pontchartrain, which drains into the Mississippi Sound. The fresh water dramatically reduced the sounds salinity last year, affecting Alabama and Mississippi fisheries and causing toxic algae blooms that closed all of Mississippis beaches. Tata Motors has introduced a new financing scheme 'Keys for Safety' that aims to provide easy and affordable vehicle loans, particularly for the Tata Tiago, and special offers for frontline COVID-19 warriors. With the new EMI plan, customers can purchase the Tata Tiago hatchback at monthly installments starting Rs 5,000. A maximum Rs 5 lakh loan can be availed with a tenure of five years. The instalments increase over the course of the tenure, but customers have an option to pay the final Rs 90,000 EMI as a lump sum payment or refinance it. Additionally one can even return the car to the financing partner, Tata Motors Finance in case of any difficulty. The company is also offering 100 percent funding on all of its cars with finance schemes available with tenures as long as eight years. For frontline COVID-19 workers like health professionals and police officials, Tata Motors is also offering benefits worth Rs 45,000 on the Tiago, Tigor, Harrier and XUV range of cars. Tata Motors has started operations in various parts of the country. Over 270 showrooms and 318 workshops have begun operations with a new set of standard operating procedures. All discussions can be done virtually with most of the procedures being done online using Tatas Click to Drive platform. The current pandemic has led to a growing appreciation of the essential workers who provide the basic services that allow the rest of us to go on with our lives. Many of us now recognize how much more difficult our lives would be if the grocery store workers, delivery people, truck drivers and healthcare employees were not willing to risk their health by showing up for work each day. Ironically, the COVID-19 crisis also has drawn attention to the fact that many of these workers do not receive the basic workplace benefits and protections that workers in almost every other developed country in the world receive as a matter of law. With the recognition of the critical role that essential workers play comes a responsibility on our part to make sure they have the basic necessities they deserve, like adequate pay, safe workplaces, paid maternity leave, and other benefits and legal protections. While some employers provide these things, either by choice or as a result of a union contract, workers who are not this fortunate can only look to one source for such benefits and protections the law. Unfortunately for them, the employment laws that govern American workplaces offer fewer protections and benefits than almost any developed country in the world. One particularly critical area in which the U.S. lags behind the rest of the world is the absence of paid medical leave. Until Congress granted some essential workers emergency paid sick leave in March as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. was one of only a few nations in the world that did not have a national mandate that granted paid sick days to workers. A May 2020 study found that of 191 nations examined the U.S. was part of a group of only 11 countries that did not provide all workers with some kind of paid sick leave. Every other nation on that list is among the poorest countries in the world, including Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tonga, and the Marshall Islands. And even though the recently enacted Families First Coronavirus Response Act does provide sick days for some American workers, it exempts millions of employees who work for employers with less than 50 and more than 500 employees, a large part of the workforce. The lack of paid sick days is not just a problem for the roughly 33 million American workers who do not have this benefit, it is a significant problem for our society as a whole. Employees without sick leave are more inclined to go to work when they are ill to prevent losing a days pay or being disciplined or fired. When employees suffering from colds, flu or other viral illnesses spread easily by person-to-person contact go to work, they pass on their illnesses to other workers. Inevitably, this has huge human and economic cost as it leads to absenteeism among workers who are unable to work and lost productivity among those who work while sick. This is one of the ways in which the U.S. has found itself among the nations with the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the world. Despite not making paid sick leave available to millions of essential workers in its earlier actions, Congress has another chance to right this wrong in the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation. Not only do essential employees deserve this benefit, such a provision is in the best interests of the public. Eventually, we should join all of the other developed nations in the world and make paid sick leave available by law to all workers. Paul F. Clark is a professor and director, School of Labor and Employment Relations, Penn State University. Voters in Marion County are encouraged to vote by mail for the primary election June 2 because of the COVID-19 health crisis. State officials delayed the primary which was supposed to happen May 5 and county officials used the extra time to implement a wide-ranging vote-by-mail system, which has traditionally been reserved for voters who couldnt make it to a polling place. Those restrictions have been relaxed so that voters dont need a reason to vote absentee. The Marion County Election Board has mailed absentee applications to registered voters. Voting by mail Health officials have warned that large gatherings on Election Day could further the spread of COVID-19, so voting by mail is preferred. Registered voters should have already received an application to request a ballot. If you havent received an application, you can find it online, or you can contact the county election board at 317-327-5100 or elections@indy.gov. The election board must receive the application in the mail by 11:59 p.m. May 21. You can also hand deliver the application to the Election Service Center, 3737 E. Washington St., or scan and email it to elections@indy.gov. Voters with internet access can also apply for an absentee ballot online through the states website. Click Apply Online/Get Forms, Visit My Voter Portal and then fill in your information. From there, click Absentee Voting on the left and then Vote By Mail to complete the application. You can also check your voting status at the same website. This is just the application to get an absentee ballot. The ballot will still be sent through the mail. Once you get your ballot, complete it, put it in the return envelope provided, and mail it back. Ballots can also be hand delivered to the Election Service Center. Ballots must be returned by noon June 2 to be counted. Is voting by mail safe? The fraud rate when voting by mail is essentially zero. Just as officials cant guarantee beyond a shadow of a doubt that in-person voting is safe from tampering, no one can truly say voting by mail is 100% fraud-proof. But the fact remains voting by mail is safe and secure. Mail-in voting is already the primary method of voting in five states, and 28 other states give voters the right to vote by mail without needing a reason. In 2018, according to the Election Administration and Voting Survey, more than a quarter of voters across the country cast their ballots by mail, totaling more than 31 million people. In Marion County, ballots are stored in a vault at the Election Service Center and then opened on Election Day and fed through a voting machine to count the votes. This is a bipartisan process, according to Marion County Clerk Myla Eldridge, with a Democrat and Republican opening the sealed envelopes. Only certain people are allowed access to the vault. Theres also very little room for tampering or other fraud. This is like the brain center of the election, Eldridge said. This is where everybody reports on Election Day. Theres so many people inside this building, it would be so difficult. And, Eldridge said, if you have doubts, call the election board and set up a time to go to the center. Its still open to the public, though some restrictions are in place to maintain social distancing. You can still vote in person Though its not recommended, you can still vote in person. Marion County will have three early voting sites: Beech Grove High School, 5330 Hornet Ave. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 26-29 and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. May 30-31 Broad Ripple High School, 1115 Broad Ripple Ave. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 26-29 and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. May 30-31 Indianapolis City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. May 26-29, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. May 30-31 and 8 a.m.-noon June 1 There will be 22 locations for in-person voting on Election Day. Voting lasts from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visit here for a list and map of voting locations. Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick. Application to vote by mail. Amid the government mandated lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic that has taken over the world, people who are cooped up indoors are making the most of social media, from posting their cooking skills, their dance moves, jokes, flaunting their workouts or simply sharing their thought. Social media usage and consumption seems to be at an all time high. And out Bollywood celebrities seem to have taken quite an affinity to constantly posting on their Instagram, providin us bored souls with some interesting posts and anecdotes. Most recently, Padmaavat actor Ranveer Singh on Tuesday transformed his own photo into one of the most well-known works by world-renowned Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. The 34-year-old star put out a picture on Instagram where he is seen in the widely-acclaimed blue and brown work by the painter. The Gully Boy star seems to have taken some inspiration from the self-portrait of the renowned painter and shared a similar picture reminding of what Ranveer would look like if he was from the 1800s. Along with the picture, the Padmaavat star quoted Van Gogh and wrote, As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed - Vincent Van Gogh. The post on the photo-sharing platform garnered appreciation far and wide and received more than 1,221,000 likes from fans and celebrity followers including Zoya Akhtar. Others including Huma Qureshi, Manish Malhotra and Nimrat Kaur also appreciated the post by leaving their comments. Lately, the Simmba star has been updating his fans on his lockdown activities by sharing pictures and videos on social media. On Monday, Ranveer showcased his childhood fascination with American professional wrestler Hulk Hogan in a throwback photo. Along with the picture he wrote, Whatcha gonna do, when Hulkamania runs wild on you! #mondayfeeling throw it way back to when #WWF was life. had a poster on my wall of The Immortal @hulkhogan. Truly relatable, most of our childhoods were spent re-enacting choke slams and creating winning belts out of aluminium foil. Ranveer and wife Deepika Padukone have been spending their lockdown together in their Mumbai home, and often take to the gram to share their workouts and food escapades with their fans (With agency inputs) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter There is no doubt that many tough decisions lie ahead in the pandemics aftermath, including inevitable deep budget cuts across all layers of government. But, one cut Staten Island and our businesses cannot afford is the very lifeline that keeps our borough afloat -- our ferry service. Providing adequately socially distant transportation to get our borough and city moving again will be absolutely critical to Staten Islands recovery. Weve long relied on the Staten Island Ferry to sustain our economy. But, it was clear for some time that we also needed additional fast ferry service to transport not only commuters heading to jobs in Manhattan and the other boroughs, but also workers and students heading into Staten Island to our businesses and schools. I remember seeing the champagne and fanfare as the city christened the first NYC Ferry vessels over three years ago. Despite no connection to Staten Island, I was optimistic that our day would come, and last year it did, with the announcement of a new NYC Ferry, fast ferry service from Staten Islands North Shore. Prior to the pandemic, our borough businesses were booming. Between 2012 and 2017, the number of businesses on Staten Island grew by about 10 percent and added over 10,000 jobs. The construction sector on Staten Island grew by over 65 percent during that same period. Ferries are powerful economic drivers that have helped our boroughs growth. The Staten Island Ferry, year after year, brings record numbers of New Yorkers and visitors to our shores, breaking 23 million annual riders in 2019. More people are hopping on our ferries and opting to explore Staten Island. We saw that in the last year with international visitor spending up nearly 50 percent. And the development of downtown Staten Island, near the ferry terminal, has opened the floodgate to our boroughs businesses, restaurants and cultural institutions from shopping at Empire Outlets, to a day trip to Snug Harbor Cultural Center, to enjoying a bite at one of our culturally diverse restaurants. After learning of the citys plans to cut overnight Staten Island Ferry service, my worries about additional ferry reductions grew more profound. We need Staten Island Ferry, NYC Ferry and other options. For years, our borough presidents, council members, community stakeholders and business groups have been unanimously advocating for more service. Now, we should protect the planned NYC Ferry Staten Island connection and consider other ways to expand ferry access. Weve seen how ferries have transformed our neighbors in the Rockaways, Soundview and other communities, surpassing more than six million annual riders in 2019 -- about 1.5 million more than original projections. The Staten Island route will provide our first ferry connection to midtown Manhattan and is an example of the many connections well need in this new social distancing economy. Over two thirds of our residents endure long commutes and rely on the frequency of ferry service to head to the hospital, the firehouse, the police precinct or the business where they work. When we return to a sense of normalcy, well need more options, not fewer. If we cut ferry service, Staten Islanders will increase their reliance on personal vehicles to commute to work, further clogging our already choked highways. The fresh air and open decks, the space on board, the cleanliness of the vessels, and the ability to restructure capacity and add more room for bikes, are all reasons people ride the ferry and just a few of the reasons why well need ferries in the days ahead to conduct business as close to usual as possible while adapting to new social distancing needs. Pre-pandemic, Staten Island was on the upswing. Post-pandemic, it may be ferries that will help us have smoother sailing to recovery. (Linda Baran is president and CEO of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce.) Jaipur, May 19 : A Brahmin organisation here has decided to call off the ancient practice of hosting "Mrityu Bhoj" (hosting a lunch after death) and instead use the money for renovating temples and dharamshalas which are of public use. Shankarlal Sharma, Rajasthan-in-charge of the Vipra Foundation, said, "Since years, there were discussions taking place to put a ban on this practice. However, the challenge was who should bell the cat? As Vipra Foundation enjoys a global presence with members all across, we decided on this Sunday to abolish this practice." A total of 217 members from different parts of the country were present in the meeting held here, which also included Rajasthan MPs, namely, Ramcharan Bohra and C.P. Joshi. "In this meeting, we all accepted that the money being spent on mrityu bhoj should be spent on constructing dharamshalas so that people can benefit out of it." The proposal was accepted by one and all, he said further. When asked, how will you implement the decision, he said, "All members of the foundation shall follow it. Also, we will keep an eye in and around. If anyone is hosting the mrityu bhoj in our neighbourhood, we shall counsel them and make them aware that dead person never asks us to waste a huge amount of fund on hosting food for so many people. It's just a show off and waste of funds," he said further. The Ministry of Foreign Relations handed over Rs. 27.7 million to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday (May 14th), raised through the network of Sri Lanka Missions overseas, to support COVID-19 Health Care and Social Security Fund. Foreign Secretary Ravinatha Aryasinha handed over the cheque to the President, in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Relations Dinesh Gunawardena at the Presidential Secretariat. The unprecedented response by the Sri Lankan community members, associations and well-wishers overseas despite varied hardships in their countries of residence, was a reflection of their keen endorsement towards the efforts made by the Government in minimizing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka. In addition to raising funds, the Missions abroad have also been sourcing large consignments of much-needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from around the world, ranging from large quantities of thermometers, test kits, nebulizers, humidifiers, ventilators, and other types of protective gears. The Sri Lanka Foreign Service Association (SLFSA) having raised Rs. 2.8 million by way of contributions of its members, also handed over the donation to President Rajapaksa on 6 May 2020, to further support the Fund. Presidents Media Division 16.05.2020 Media Release in Sinhala Media Release in Tamil Media Release in English VIENNA, Va., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cordia Resources expanded its human resources recruiting & executive search services hiring Ivan Perry as Managing Director. The move recognizes the critical need for human resource functions to prioritize business continuity and attract top talent, particularly in the current economic limit. Ivan Perry joins Sam McCarthy, HR Practice Manager, to lead the expansion of the firm's human resources recruiting services to mid and large-size companies. He brings over 15 years of talent acquisition, executive recruiting, and leadership management experience in both corporate environments and executive search firms. Ivan served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force, training in both intelligence and acquisition program management. Joseph Greeves, Managing Partner commented: "HR executives' priorities have changed amid COVID-19 to address building remote work strategies and hiring a temporary workforce. Continuing to expand our human resource services enables us to help clients recruit the most qualified professionals, as they focus on employee wellbeing and business continuity. We are thrilled to have Ivan join the HR team to help expand our firm's presence within the HR community." "I'm excited to join Cordia Resources' values-driven culture. It's a place where innovation, entrepreneurship, grit, and client-focus aren't just preached, they're practiced at all levels of the firm. I look forward to building upon our HR practice and executive search offering in the years to come," stated Ivan Perry. "Today's announcement builds upon our goal of expanding the depth of our services. As a leading Washington, DC area recruitment firm, we are well positioned to grow our executive search practice and support HR functions. Ivan's capability across a broad range of core competencies, including executive recruiting and organizational development, will allow us to provide tremendous value to our clients," shared Don Olinger, Co-Managing Partner. About Cordia Resources Cordia Resources is a leading Washington, DC Metro area firm offering recruiting and staffing, and executive search services in accounting, finance and human resources. Our expert recruiting and staffing solutions support business growth in not-for-profit, commercial markets, including government contracting, technology, hospitality, real estate, and more. Visit www.cordiaresources.com. Cordia Resources is a member of Cordia's family of companies designed to support organizations through every stage of business growth. Explore the Cordia platform of services at www.cordia-us.com. Media contact: Veronica Vannoy Principal, Cordia 8330 Boone Boulevard, Suite 350 Vienna, VA 22182 703-962-9575 SOURCE Cordia Related Links http://www.cordiaresources.com The Nile has been synonymous with Egypt and its survival for millennia. Today, Ethiopia wants to rewrite this history 1899 Having occupied Egypt in 1882, Britain puts Sudan conquered by Mohamed Ali in 1820 under its imperial rule. A governor-general, appointed by Egypt with British consent, administers it. The British begin construction of the Aswan Low Dam. Designed to store annual floodwater and augment dry season flows, it will bolster irrigation and help support Egypts growing population. 1902 The Aswan Low Dam is completed, and opens on 10 December. The dam, though its scale is unprecedented at the time, operates as designed but later provesto have an inadequate reservoir capacity.Its height is raised twicebut it still fails to keep up with growing irrigation demands, eventually leading to the floating of the idea of an Aswan high dam in the 1950s. 15 May 1902: the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty Ethiopias Emperor Menelik and British envoy Lt. Col. John Lane Harrington sign an agreement to secure the flow of the Nile downstream in Addis Ababa. Article three of the treaty stipulates: His Majesty the Emperor Menelik II, King of Kings of Ethiopia, engages himself towards the Government of His Britannic Majesty not to construct, or allow to be constructed, any work across the Blue Nile, Lake Tsana, or the Sobat which would arrest the flow of their waters into the Nile except in agreement with His Britannic Majestys Government and the Government of the Soudan. At the time Ethiopia has no irrigation schemes to speak of. Unlike future Nile water agreements signed by colonial powers which excluded Addis Ababa, this is the only agreement signed by Ethiopia guaranteeing the unhindered flow of the Nile. The treaty remains the most authoritative instrument defining the water rights of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia until the second half of the 20th century. 1929: Nile Waters Agreement Egypt and Great Britain, representing Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and Sudan, sign an agreement giving Cairo the right to veto projects higher up the Nile that affect its water share. The agreement allocates 55.5bcm of water to Egypt and 18.5bcm to Sudan. 1935 Italy invades Ethiopia, and Britain recognizes the de jure status in1936. 1954 Soon after the 1952 July Revolution brings the Free Officers to power Egypts new leadership takes up the reins of the ambitious Aswan High Dam project, conceived in the last years of the monarchy. Cold War political maneuvering leads to the withdrawal of funding pledged by world powers and construction is delayed for years. Work on the project eventually resumes in 1958 with USSR support. 1956 Ethiopia contests to little effect the validity of the Anglo-Ethiopian treaty, on the grounds that Britain recognized Italys de jure occupation of Ethiopia. 8 November 1959: Egypt-Sudan Nile waters agreement Egypt and Sudan sign the agreement, which supplements the 1929 treaty, in Cairo. It allows both countries full, rather than partial use, of Nile waters, and confirms Egypts right to 55.5 bcm annually, and Sudans to 18.5 bcm. The agreement is designed to allow Egypt to build the Aswan High Dam that affects Sudan, which is why Khartoum is a party, but does not affect Ethiopia, which is therefore not included as a party to the treaty. 9 January 1960 Having secured Egypts share of Nile water, construction of the Aswan High Dam begins. It is Egypts biggest national project since the Suez Canal and its grand modernization project. The dam is a symbol of nationalism and independence that will put the Nile River under the control of man for the first time in history. Addis Ababa becomes a reliable partner of the West in its struggle against the communist East during the Cold War, and Haile Selassie wins American support for plans to develop his country through large-scale water infrastructures. Between 1956 and 1964 the United States Bureau of Reclamation conducts a survey of the Blue Nile, which is eventually used to identify the site for the Ethiopian dam project. 1970 Construction of the Aswan High Dam (AHD) is completed. It is fully operational two years later. The dam is 111 meters high, with a crest length of 3,830 metres, and a volume of 44.3 million cubic meters. The $1 billion project captures the Nile river in its reservoir, Lake Nasser, which is the third largest in the world with a capacity of 169 bcm. It is constructed to control two annual floods so that, in the event of drought, Egypt can still have sufficient water. AHD releases approximately 55.5bcm annually and provides Egypt with half of its power. 1974 Emperor Haile Selassie is overthrown by the Derg, a Marxist-Leninist military junta. Ethiopia descends into civil war accompanied by economic decline and periodic famines for the next three decades. 1991 Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRD) deposes autocrat President Mengistu Haile Mariam. He is succeeded by Meles Zenawi who rules for the next two decades. 1993: the Cairo Cooperation Framework Egypt and Ethiopia pledge not to implement water projects harmful to the interests of the other, and to consult over projects to reduce waste and increase the flow of Nile water. 1995 A new constitution is promulgated, creating the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with Meles Zenawi as prime minister. February 1999: The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) The initiative, supported by the World Bank, brings together Nile Basin countries. They agree to develop the river in a cooperative manner and share the socioeconomic benefits. It NBI is hailed as a milestone for regulating the way the Nile is used within an institutional framework for the first time in almost a century. October 2009 The Ethiopian Government surveys the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 15 km east of the border with Sudan. June 2010 Egypt and Sudan freeze their membership of the NBI after six member states sign the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), also known as the Entebbe Agreement, which seeks to redraw Egypt and Sudans Nile water share. Egypt, a water impoverished nation with a population of 83 million, is completely dependent on the Nile (and the Aswan High Dams reservoir Lake Nasser) forfresh water, 85 per cent of which originates in Ethiopia. November 2010 A design for an Ethiopian dam to be built in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, dubbed Project X at the time, is accepted. December 2010 Project X, now known as the Millennium Dam project, is launched. 2011 February: Hosni Mubarak steps down in February in the face of a mass uprising. The constitution is suspended, parliament is dissolved and a transitional period, which will continue until 2012, begins. Later Cairo will view this period, when Egypt is consumed by internal instability, as an opportunity which Addis Ababa grabbed to impose a new reality on the ground vis-a-vis the dam. 31 March: A day after the Millennium Dam project is made public a US$4.8 billion contract is awarded to the Italian company Salini Costruttori. The dam's foundation stone is laid on 2 Aprilby Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Thedesign phase of the project was kept secret by the Ethiopian government until a month ago. The planned hydropower plant has a 6,500 MW generating capacity and a 74 bcm reservoir. It is projected to increase electricity access in Ethiopia to 50 per cent, a make Ethiopia Africas largest power exporter. The GERD is a source of national pride and a symbol of Ethiopias renaissance and, like the Aswan High Dam, its modernization. 15 April: Ethiopias Council of Ministers renames the Millennium Dam (originally Project X) the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). 2011-2013 A trilateral technical joint committee is formed to discuss all issues pertaining to the dam. An international panel of experts (IPoE) from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, supplemented by four international experts, is established. The IPoE produces a report, based on agreed Terms of Reference, covering, among other things, the safety and stability of the dam, hydrological studies, and its environmental and social impacts. On 8 March, 2012 Sudans president Omar El-Bashir tells the newly appointed Ethiopian ambassador to Khartoum that his country supports GERD. Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood is elected president of Egypt in May 2012. Meles Zenawi, Ethiopias prime minister who ruled the country for two decades, dies in August 2012. He is succeeded by Foreign Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in September. 2013-2014 The Tripartite National Committee holds technical talks on how to move forward and address the IPoEs 2011 recommendations, which include the conduct of additional studies to assess the dams impact. Ethiopia shares design and technical information but fails to produce documents on the socio-economic, hydrologic and environmental impacts of GERD during and after the filling period. Ethiopias parliament ratifies a controversial treaty to replace the 1959 Nile water agreement. May: Egypts state statistics agency (CAPMAS) releases a report documenting the decline in water resources per capita. In 2013 it stood at 663m3 per capita, having declined from 1,672 m3 in 1970, and 2,526 m3 in 1947. The agency predicts that by 2025 the annual figure will dwindle to 582 m3 per person. IPoE issues a report that concludes the documents submitted by Ethiopia assessing GERDs impact on downstream riparian states contain insufficient detail on the planned operation of the dam. The report also points to flaws in GERDs design specifications, casting doubt over the dams structural safety and stability. 28 May2013: Ethiopia starts diverting the Blue Nile to make way for GERD. 3 July 2013: President Mohamed Morsi is deposed by the military following popular protests. GERD negotiations are put on hold. 2014-2015 GERD talks resume after Egypts defence minister Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi is elected president in June 2014. The tripartite committee selects a French and a Dutch consultancy firm to conduct the GERD impact studies recommended in 2013. Legal and political negotiations lead to the trilateral agreement, the Declaration of Principles (DoP), signed by the three heads of state in March 2015 in Khartoum. The three countries commit to take all necessary measures to avoid causing significant harm to one another. They agree to ask for mediation should they fail to solve outstanding disputes over the dam through negotiations. In fifth principle enshrined in the DoP states that the studies recommended by the IPoE will be used as the basis for the rules governing the filling and operation of GERD, and that the entire negotiating process should be completed within 15 months. For the next five years Ethiopia fails to deliver on a single DoP commitment. 2016-2017 The French engineering consultancies Artelia and BRLi Group are hired early in 2016. Regular meetings between technical and political parties are held to define the scope of the studies and put a team of consultants together. Disagreements over the baseline to be used to assess GERD impacts lead to delays in starting the studies. May 2017: The French consultancy firms issue their preliminary reports. Egypt accepts them in October. Sudan and Ethiopia express reservations. Egypt fears that, depending on the timetable for filling the reservoir, its supply of Nile water could be seriously compromised. A reduction of 1bcm availability at at the Aswan Dam will result in 294,000 feddan of agricultural land being taken out of production, a 2,2 per cent increase in agricultural imports and the loss of 290,000 seasonal jobs. 2018 Ethiopia rejects an Egyptian suggestion that the World Bank be invited to observe, and when necessary mediate, the work of the Tripartite National Committee. Tripartite meetings resume. February: Ethiopian Prime Minister Desalegn resigns amid anti-government protests. He is succeeded in April by Abiy Ahmed Ali, leading to a temporary reduction in tensions with Egypt. Tripartite meetings on technical studies of continue though there is little, if any, sign of progress. Cairo blames the lack of any advance on deliberate obfuscation and prevarication by Ethiopia to buy time. May: Following a nine party ministerial meeting Ethiopia is delegated to communicate feedback from the three countries on technical issues to the French consultancy BRLi Group. The email is never sent. In the summer a National Independent Scientific Research Group (NISRG) is formed comprising 15 experts from the three countries. It is mandated to formulate technical modalities for the filling and operation of GERD. The research group establishes four principles as basic parameters for an agreement on the dam. They include: adopting an adaptive and cooperative approach to the filling and operation of GERD; close coordination between the operation of GERD and the Aswan High Dam; agreed mechanisms for both dams to adapt to changes in the hydrological conditions of the Blue Nile and to share the burden of future droughts, and an agreed minimum level of water to be released from GERD to ensure the Aswan High Dam remains at sustainable levels- - once the water level at the GERD reaches a level that enables it to generate hydropower. 2019 Egypt makes a proposal on the operation of GERD, based on NISRG principles. It is rejected in August by Ethiopia. Al-Sisi calls for international intervention in the negotiations during the UN General Assemblys 74th session. In the same session Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde reiterates her countrys commitment to reaching a deal. Following meetings of the irrigation and water resources ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, the spokesperson of the Egyptian Ministry of Water Recourses and Irrigation states that negotiations have reached a dead-end due to Ethiopias intransigency. Ethiopia presents a proposal that Egypt rejects because its does not include operational rules for the GERD, and offers to negotiation them annually. In response to Egypts request for a mediator the United States becomes involved in the dispute in November. The US calls on the three sides to put forth good faith efforts to reach an agreement that preserves those rights, while simultaneously respecting each others Nile water equities. 2020 January: delegations from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan meet three times in Washington. Ethiopia pulls out of the final meeting ,where a deal was to be signed, in late February, calling for more time for internal consultations. After holding bilateral talks with Egypt and Sudan, the US releases a statement saying it believed an agreement had been reached. Sudan declines to formally consent to the text, leaving Egypt as the only country to initial the deal. March: Sudan registers an official objection to a resolution proposed by Egypt to the Arab League supporting both Egypt and Sudan in the dispute on the grounds it was issued without consultation with Khartoum. The resolution passes without Sudans signature. 1 April: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announces that his country will start filling the GERD reservoir during the coming rainy season. He puts huge emphasis on the dam as a symbol of our sovereignty and unity". Ethiopian officials say construction of the dam is 72.4 per cent complete. 3 April: The electricity grids of Egypt and Sudan are officially connected, with an initial capacity of 60 megawatts. The extension of the grid to Sudans northern regions is completed as part of efforts to expand the power supply to Khartoum. 10 April: Ethiopia offers a partial agreement to both Egypt and Sudan that would only cover the first stage of the GERD filling which both countries reject. 12 April: Ethiopia announces it will start filling the reservoir in the wet season at end of June-July or September, in the absence of any agreement. President Al-Sisi and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok send letters to Ethiopias premier Abiy Ahmed rejecting his proposal for a transitional agreement on the initial filling of GERD in mid-July. 11 May: Egypt submits a 17-page letter to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) protesting Ethiopias actions and demanding that it halt construction until an agreement is reached. 18 May: Addis Ababa sends a letter to the UNSC saying Ethiopia has no legal obligation to seek Egypts approval to fill GERD and blames Cairo for the deadlock in talks. 19 June: Abiy Ahmed announces the dam will commence filling unilaterally in July with or without an agreement. Hours later, Egypt seeks UN Security Council intervention, describing the situation as an imminent threat to international peace and security. The move comes under Article 35 of the UN Charter which entitles member states to alert the Security Council of any situation that might lead to international friction, or that is likely to endanger international peace and security. 22 June: Ethiopia responds in a letter to the UNSC, which avoids mentioning the earlier announcement of filling the dam without an agreement, and criticises Egypt for building the Aswan High Dam 50 years ago. 27 June: After mediation from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, chair of the African Union (AU), the leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan speak by phone and agree to resume talks. Sudan and Egypt say Ethiopia agreed to holding off on filling the reservoir as negotiations continued, while Ethiopia makes no mention of a delay. Ethiopia is scheduled to begin filling the GERD within the next two weeks, during which the remaining construction work will continue, Addis Ababa says in a statement. 3 July: Trilateral talks resume via videoconference under the AUs auspices. Egypts Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Atti says talks will continue in the attendance of 11 observers from the EU, the US, the AU Commission, and legal and technical experts. No consensus has been reached "at the technical and legal levels, he says. The main point of contention is filling the reservoir during drought and prolonged drought. In a statement, Sudans irrigation ministry says any agreement should have a binding nature and should include a comprehensive mechanism for resolving future disputes. Search Keywords: Short link: President Recep Tayyip Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) government dismissed five more mayors from the Kurdish-nationalist People's Democratic Party (HDP) on Friday, arresting them and appointing trustees to replace them. This is a blatant attack on democratic rights. In the 2019 local elections, the HDP won 65 municipalities. On Friday, the total number of municipalities where the election results have been annulled reached 45. Moreover, six elected mayors did not receive election certificates after the elections, and 21 mayors were also detained. As a result, the HDP governs only 14 of the 65 municipalities it won. HDP Co-Chair Mithat Sancar condemned the governments action, which it based on charges that the HDP and other opposition parties are complicit in preparations for a coup. Sancar said: The government, trying to portray itself as a victim by spreading the rumours of a coup, appointed five more trustees to our municipalities and in fact staged a coup. The appointment of trustees is the hardest, clearest example of the hostility towards Kurds. The HDP has long been a target of police repression by the AKP government and state authorities. Many of its mayors, legislators and leaders have been jailed on terrorism charges. These attacks have escalated ever since Turkeys peace process with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ended in 2015. As the WSWS explained, After Washington made the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG)an offshoot of the PKKits main proxy army in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP) government ended the process, fearing to lose its Kurdish region. It launched a bloody military assault in Kurdish towns. Since then, thousands have been killed and more than 200,000 forced to flee their homes. In 201617, during the state of emergency imposed after the failed 2016 NATO-backed coup against Erdogan, the government removed more than 90 HDP-backed mayors elected in 2014 and launched attacks into Syria against US-backed Kurdish militias. Even today, former HDP leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag and several HDP legislators are still political prisoners. The government's latest attack on the HDP comes amid growing anger inside Turkey over the AKPs handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as escalating conflict between Turkish forces and US-backed Kurdish nationalist groups. On May 14, there was an armed attack, allegedly by the PKK, on a vehicle carrying Social Support Group officials in the city of Van, in eastern Turkey. Two officials were killed. After the ceasefire in Syrias Idlib province brokered by Turkey and Russia in early March, the Turkish army has escalated operations against Kurdish nationalist groups in Turkey and Iraq, and against the YPG in Syria. The conflict with the Kurdish nationalists is bound up with broader conflicts between Turkey and its NATO imperialist allies in the region. After France, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Cyprus jointly condemned Turkish gas-drilling in the eastern Mediterranean, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Paris of wanting to help YPG elements carve out a terror state in northern Syria. At the same time, the AKPs attack on the HDP is the product of explosive political tensions inside Turkey itself. According to recent polls, an alliance between the opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP), the far-right Good Party, and the HDP would defeat the AKP and its ally, the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) if elections were held today. In its statements on the pandemic, the Erdogan government has increasingly attacked the CHP and its allies, referring to the failed 2016 coup and making unsubstantiated accusations that the bourgeois opposition parties are preparing a coup. These attacks aim to divert growing social anger among workers against the AKP government over the pandemic. CHP leader Kemal Klcdaroglu is working to create a broad bourgeois opposition front against the AKPs Public Alliance with the MHP. The CHP and other capitalist opposition parties are not, however, less bankrupt and reactionary than the AKP, nor do they have any serious objection to the pandemic response of the government, which imposed the diktat of the ruling class. Rather, the CHP aims to exploit rising social anger to install a new government more openly aligned with the NATO imperialist powers. Klcdaroglu said that if there were a snap election the CHP would help two AKP split-offs, the Future Party of former AKP Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and the Democracy and Progress Party of former AKP Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, form a group in parliament. This would help these parties participate and receive state aid in elections. This disparate coalition cobbled together by Klcdaroglu is reactionary and shot through with contradictions. Davutoglu and Babacan both implemented the AKPs anti-democratic and anti-worker policies while in office, but left the AKP amid growing conflicts between the Erdogan government and the imperialist powers. Klcdaroglu's attempts to introduce these former AKP politicians into the CHP-led Nation Alliance once again demonstrate the CHP's pro-imperialist orientation. They also expose the HDP, who speaks for sections of the Kurdish bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie and worked closely with the CHP as it founded the Nation Alliance in 2018. Both the CHP and the HDP are, if anything, even more openly oriented to imperialism than the Erdogan government. The CHP is forming this alliance against the AKP, but it has always supported the Turkish army's operations in Syria and in Turkey, and it also voted for the AKPs constitutional amendment removing the parliamentary immunity of HDP deputies. Nonetheless, the HDP unhesitatingly backed CHP candidates in last years local elections. Moreover, the HDP clearly states that it is open again to an alliance not only with the CHP, but also its fascistic partner, the Good Party. Ahmet Turk, a senior HDP leader elected as mayor of Mardin last year but then dismissed, glorified the CHP-led alliance, declaring: Turkey's democratization is important. Today, the main opposition party CHP is a party that should lead this. Therefore, even if we criticize CHP from time to time, it is because it did not fulfil this task. He added, Despite all injustice, if I see any hope I will shake the hand of [Good Party leader] Meral Aksener or an MHP leader. Turks statement comes after Aksener appealed to the AKP and MHP, to seek solutions to economic problems and called for national unity. After weakly criticizing Aksener for not inviting the HDP to these talks, HDP Co-Chairman Mithat Sancar signalled that the HDP would join Akseners call for national unity if it were invited, stating: Without the party which took at least 6 million votes, without the third largest party in the parliament in Turkey, how would you provide unity and solidarity? The attempts to form an alliance between the CHP, Good Party and the HDP, and split-offs from the AKP reflect their shared hostility to the working class. This is also an irrefutable indictment of the pseudo-left groups that have enthusiastically rallied behind the CHP and HDP, presenting them as an alternative to Erdogan. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 09:36:02|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HOHHOT, May 19 (Xinhua) -- North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region reported three new imported confirmed COVID-19 cases from 7 a.m. Monday to 7 a.m. Tuesday, local health authorities said Tuesday. The patients are receiving medical treatment in designated hospitals and all the close contacts have been put under medical observation. As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, Inner Mongolia reported two locally transmitted confirmed cases of COVID-19, with one cured and discharged from hospital. A total of 139 imported confirmed cases were reported, with 18 still being treated. No asymptomatic cases have been reported in the region by Monday. Enditem Posters proclaiming senior Congress leader Kamal Nath and his Lok Sabha MP son Nakul Nath missing and offering a Rs 21,000 reward appeared in their stronghold Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh amid the nationwide lockdown for the novel coronavirus. While the former MP CM is MLA from Chhindwara, his son won the Lok Sabha polls from here in 2019. "Chhindwara's public is looking for their missing MP and MLA during this crisis. A reward of Rs 21,000 will be given to the person who bring them here," the posters, put up in several places here with the images of the two, read. A line from a Hindi film song that goes 'Chitthi na koi Sandesh' was also written on the posters to drive home the point of the Nath duo being "incommunicado". Local Congress leaders submitted a memorandum to the police about the posters, with Chhindwara Kotwali police station in charge Vinod Kushwaha stating that action will be taken after a probe. Meanwhile, BJP leader Pankaj Chaturvedi, a close aide of former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, told PTI Kamal Nath and Nakul Nath were offering a lot of knowledge about coronavirus threat to the people these days. "But how much work are they doing at the ground level? The problem is that Kamal Nath is busy fighting an internal battle in the Congress. So he has no time for Chhindwara. They will reach their constituencies only when polls are around," he said. Hitting back, MP Congress media coordinator Narendra Saluja told PTI the BJP should state how many times Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited his Assembly seat Budhni during the outbreak, adding that the latter had not stepped out of capital Bhopal even once. "Both Kamal Nath and Nakul Nath are in touch with the people in Chhindwara. Both are in a red zone at present and can't move out from there. This is BJP's misinformation campaign," he said. Last week, similar 'missing in action' posters had come up in Bhopal targeting its BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Now as they try to pivot to offense, House Republicans are taking a cue from the Democratic recruiting playbook, eschewing the kind of candidates they turned to in decades past white, male, often veterans of local or state politics in favor of novices with diverse backgrounds in competitive races across the country. It is a tacit acknowledgment that the political coalition of voters that President Trump has relied on overwhelmingly white, male and less educated is not enough to carry his Republican allies in Congress to electoral victories, and that they must expand beyond that base to reclaim a majority. We as a party learned the hard way that in todays world we need candidates other than boring old white people, said Corry Bliss, a top Republican strategist who helped lead the partys failed 2018 effort to protect the House. We need candidates with compelling biographies, compelling messaging, and candidates that reflect the voters who offer a better perspective of the issues of the day. For House Republicans, who face steep odds of taking control of the chamber, the effort is urgent. Their partys popularity has sagged with suburbanites, especially women, and they are suffering from a glaring diversity problem. Two of the 13 House Republican women are retiring this year, along with Representative Will Hurd of Texas, the partys sole black House member. In 2018, just one new Republican woman was elected to the House. Mr. Garcias swearing in brought the number of House Republicans of color to 11, nudging it to 6 percent of their conference. (Forty-five percent of House Democrats are racial minorities, according to data compiled by the chamber.) Despite a series of recruitment failures, Republicans hope that their more diverse slate of recruits can give Democrats a tougher time than the entrenched incumbents they beat out in 2018 in many cases narrowly riding a wave of liberal enthusiasm. In 421 districts across the nation, nearly 250 veterans and over 180 minorities have filed to run as Republicans, according to the House Republican campaign arms internal tracking, as well as a record number of women. West Bengals average daily increase in the number of Covid-19 patients has remained almost the same over the past fortnight even though the testing rate has increased by over three folds, according to an analysis of available data. This has resulted in a sharp decline in the percentage of Covid-19 positive people among those tested for the disease. Between May 5 and 7, the state tested 7,637 samples, averaging 2,545 daily. In those three days, 289 more people tested positive, with an average of 96.3 people daily. But between May 17 and 19, the state tested 24,994 samples, with 8,331 tests daily on an average. During these days, 385 people tested positive, with an average of 128 persons daily. With this, the state has recorded a significant improvement in the percentage of people tested positive for the disease among those tested for it. The percentage stood at 4.87% on May 5. It has since come down to 3.11% on May 17. The states ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) claimed that this was because of the states success in containing the spread of the disease even as the figures have intrigued a section of doctors. The data reflects the states success in containing the diseases by enforcing a successful lockdown. The people are also to be thanked for maintaining the lockdown, said Santanu Sen, TMC Rajya Sabha lawmaker. Sen, a doctor, has been one of the important persons in chief minister Mamata Banerjees Covid-19 management team. West Bengal Doctors Forum secretary Koushik Chaki said the data could be misleading. This mismatch in the rate of testing and the percentage of people testing positive could have happened due to more testing in the areas lesser affected by the disease. One example is that whereas a good number of tests have been conducted in north Bengal, too few persons tested positive there, said Chaki. Whether the infection rate in the state is indeed low can be said only after knowing how much tests have been conducted in the highly-affected districts of Kolkata, Howrah and North 24-Parganas and how many in the containment zones. Punyabrata Goon, another doctor, said the figures indicate more testing in relatively unaffected areas. There are hints that the state may have been able to contain the spread but more test reports are needed to say so convincingly. A health department official, who did not want to be identified, said that the high rate of negative results is also because of pool testing in some pockets of the state, especially north Bengal. Nearly 11,000 tests were conducted in the districts of Malda and Murshidabad but only 43 cases were reported from these districts. An Inter-Ministerial Central Team, which visited West Bengal to assess the Covid-19 situation, earlier this month alleged discrepancies in reporting of cases in the state. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Hoboken Becomes First Municipality to Formally Oppose NJ Transit Fracked Gas Power Plant Citing PFAS, Key Senators Oppose Trumps Consumer Safety Nominee Senate Funds Lands, Waters with Bipartisan Support Trumps Energy Regulators Are Undercutting Growth of Renewables NRDC and Partners Sue Trump Administration Over Marine Monument Rollback Farm Bailout Payments Could Ignite New Front in Trade War Helping Cities Cut Food Waste: NRDC Tools Accelerate Municipal Efforts Renewed Call for Governor Brown to Enact an Immediate Mega-Dairy Moratorium Comes as State Attempts to Curb Greenhouse Gas Emissions How Trumps Consumer Safety Nominee Weakened Regulation of Forever Chemicals in Consumer Products While giant new solar farms located in rural areas and deserts have been grabbing the headlines lately, Americas cities have been embracing solar power as well. A new report from Environment America Research & Policy Center, Shining Cities: Harnessing the Benefits of Solar Energy in America, shows how wide that embrace is. Kansas City may not be in the sun belt, but its embracing solar power. Photo credit: City of Kansas City The report found that 65 American cities account for 7 percent of U.S.s 20,500 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity, more than all the solar installed in the country in 2009. And the top 20 cities were the leaders, accounting for 6.5 percent of the countrys solar capacity but using just .1 percent of its land. Cities across the U.S. are recognizing and harnessing the transformative power of solar energy, says the report. Many local governments have recognized the benefits of solar energy and are using it to make their electric grids more efficient, create local jobs, protect residents from the dangers of extreme weather events, and mitigate pollution that is fueling global warming and endangering public health. These cities are shining examples of solar powers promise, said report co-author Rob Sargent, energy program director at Environment America. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) Kenyas High Commissioner to Tanzania, Dan Kazungu, has called on citizens of the two neighbouring countries to remain calm as leaders continue to address a row that has arisen over border restrictions Published on: 18 May 2020 Mental health matters protest sign Mental health matters protest sign The effects of loss, isolation, economic uncertainty, financial vulnerability and existing mental health conditions have been intensified as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Through vital research and charitable initiatives, heres how were helping to address these issues on local, national and global levels. Remote therapy for children The coronavirus crisis has seen a huge shift in how organisations provide certain services especially those typically carried out in person. To guarantee children can still access the mental health services they need, psychologists from Queen Mary have developed a free online resource that enables the delivery of psychological therapy to children remotely. Created as part of a collaboration with the American University of Beirut, Medecins du Monde and Johns Hopkins University, the resource draws on researchers experience adapting an existing psychological treatment for Syrian refugee children living in Lebanon. Professor Michael Pluess, Professor of Psychology at Queen Mary, said: "Initially we had some reservations around how successful remote delivery of an existing treatment would be, however weve been pleasantly surprised by how well the remote treatment programme has worked so far with Syrian refugee children. Whilst were still waiting for the complete results of our study, weve developed this guidance to support the many practitioners that now need to deliver psychological treatment via phone or other remote technologies. Chronic health problems and mental illness A link between long-term health conditions in children and an increased likelihood of developing mental health conditions later in life has been discovered by researchers from the Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine. Children with chronic health conditions were approximately twice as likely at 10 and at 13 to present with a mental health disorder than the control group (children reported by their mothers to be healthy, no problems) the study found. At age 15, children with chronic health problems were 60 per cent more likely to present with such disorders. Study author, Dr Ann Marie Brady, said: Although the link between chronic health conditions and mental health problems in childhood has been made before, this study provides the strongest evidence of it to date in the years of late childhood and early adolescence. The difference chronic conditions make to mental health are concerning, and the first impact can be seen even before adolescence, in late childhood. Moral injury Better psychological support for our frontline health workers is needed urgently, according to a review co-authored by Queen Mary academics. The paper reveals how the mental wellbeing of NHS staff will have been impacted by witnessing unacceptable situations, huge amounts of pressure, fear of transmitting and passing on the virus, working with frequently changing protocols and caring for dying patients. All of which can result in moral injury a concept emerging from work with military veterans. In response, the paper is structured as an easy-to-read guide and includes recommendations for individuals, teams and leaders in the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Esther Murray, Senior Lecturer in Health Psychology at Queen Mary said: Moral injury can also result from bearing witness to the devastating effects of failures in leadership in high-stakes situations. NHS staff feel that the government have let them down and then lied about it so this is another form of moral injury which NHS workers are having to deal with. Investing in youth resilience A new initiative, led by Queen Marys United for Social and Community Psychiatry in partnership with Peoples Palace Projects, will be an important tool in helping young people age between 15 and 24 overcome anxiety and depression. Following 2.7 million in funding from Barts Charity, the Youth Resilience Unit will be fully operational by March 2021. Its research will be instrumental in improving the mental health of young people by influencing public health policies, clinical practice and the arts sector, both within the UK and globally. It will also provide opportunities for colleagues and students across the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Queen Mary. Paul Heritage, Professor of Drama and Performance and Director of Peoples Palace Projects said: Mental Health is major global challenge which demands innovative and multi-disciplinary research. The bold decision by the Barts Charity to fund the creation of a Youth Resilience Research Unit at Queen Mary ensures that over the next five years we can now undertake this research closer to home in the East End of London. Mad Hearts - Solitude and the Encounter The relationship between mental health and the arts will be explored over the course of a webinar run by the MSc Creative Arts and Mental Health (a programme run jointly by the Centre for Psychiatry, Wolfson Institute, and the Department of Drama, School of English and Drama). Mad Hearts is an annual event organised by Dr Maria Grazia Turri and Professor Bridget Escolme, joint directors of the MSc, and Dr Louise Younie from Barts and The London. It acts as a vital platform bringing together clinical, artistic and research perspectives to offer a re-interpretation of contemporary mental health science and practice. This years event be a webinar on 19 June and will focus on the theme of Solitude and the Encounter. A more detailed programme will be available soon. [May 19, 2020] Chantal Hebert next special guest on J-Talks Live TORONTO, May 19, 2020 /CNW/ - Chantal Hebert, the award-winning political contributor to the Toronto Star, L'actualite and the At Issue panel on CBC News's The National, will speak about Canadian leadership and the COVID-19 pandemic on the next J-Talks Live webcast. It takes place on Thursday, May 21 at 1 p.m. EDT. In managing the biggest health and economic crisis of our time, Canadian politicians and public officials are deploying varying strategies and levels of transparency. What does the handling of COVID-19 reveal about those at the helm of our country and our provinces and what might this mean for Canada post-pandemic? To participate in this free J-Talk, register at our event page. "For the most part, it appears our leaders have been able to cast partisanship and politics aside in order to confront the pandemic," says Anna Maria Tremonti, who hosts the J-Talks Live series and is also the host of More, the CBC podcast. "But how long can this alignment last, and what does the political picture look like further down the road?" This event is part of the Canadian Journalism Foundation's J-Talks program, which explores pressing journalistic issues. This special series of free 40-minute webcasts focuses on journalism's critical role in the COVID-19 crisis and the challenges reporters cover to bring trustworthy news and information to Canadians. Recent special J-Talks webcasts included discussions with Ian Hanomansing, Vancouver-based host of CBC News's The National, The Globe and Mail's award-winning health reporter Andre Picard, Jane Lytvynenko, senior reporter with BuzzFeed News and Nathan VanderKlippe, Asia correspondent for The Globe and Mail. Past event videos and podcasts from our popular J-Talks series are also available. The CJF thanks the generosity of J-Talks series sponsor BMO Financial Group and in-kind supporter CISION. DATE: Thursday, May 21, 2020, 1 p.m. EDT Register now #JTalksLive About The Canadian Journalism Foundation Founded in 1990, The Canadian Journalism Foundation promotes, celebrates and facilitates excellence in journalism. The foundation runs a prestigious awards and fellowships program featuring an industry gala where news leaders, journalists and corporate Canada gather to celebrate outstanding journalistic achievement and the value of professional journalism. Through monthly J-Talks, a public speakers' series, the CJF facilitates dialogue among journalists, business people, academics and students about the role of the media in Canadian society and the ongoing challenges for media in the digital era. The foundation also fosters opportunities for journalism education, training and research. SOURCE Canadian Journalism Foundation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The codeshare will be rolled out in phases over the next few weeks and once completed, will see Qatar Airways code placed on over 1000 of American Airlines domestic flights connecting with Qatar Airways 10 U.S. gateways. Flights are already available for sale, with the first codeshare flights having started recently on 17 May 2020. The first phases of the codeshare will see Qatar Airways passengers able to book travel on American Airlines extensive domestic connections via Chicago (ORD) and Dallas (DFW) to 200 cities including Miami (MIA), Houston (IAH), Atlanta (ATL), Detroit (DTW), Minneapolis/St.Paul (MSP), Seattle (SEA), and San Francisco (SFO). Additional cities, including destinations in Central America, and the Caribbean will be added, subject to government approvals. Qatar Airways chief commercial officer, Simon Talling-Smith said: This codeshare is just the first step in renewing our long-term strategic partnership with American Airlines. The rollout of this domestic codeshare demonstrates our airlines are confident about the future and during this difficult time we continue to focus on how we can enhance the customer experience for our millions of passengers. As two of the strongest airlines in the world, I have no doubt that we will overcome the current challenge and be well positioned to continue providing our passengers the reliable, safe and award-winning service that they have come to trust from us. American Airlines senior vice president of Network Strategy, Vasu Raja said: We are pleased that weve reached this important milestone with Qatar Airways. We look forward to welcoming Qatar Airways passengers throughout our domestic network as we continue to focus on the wellbeing of our customers, team members and the communities we serve during this uncertain time. This is just the beginning of a strong partnership and we have a very bright future ahead of us. Further expansion of the strategic partnership will include Qatar Airways placing its code on Americans international flights to North, Central and South America and Europe, and American Airlines placing its code on Qatar Airways flights between the U.S. and Qatar and beyond to a range of destinations in the Middle-East, Africa and Asia. Both airlines will also continue exploring the opportunity for American Airlines to operate flights between the U.S. and Qatar, along with a number of joint commercial and operational initiatives to further strengthen this renewed partnership. (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. have partnered to embed artificial intelligence capabilities into the Japanese companys latest imaging chip, a big boost for a camera product the electronics giant describes as a world-first for commercial customers. The new modules big advantage is that it has its own processor and memory built in, which allows it to analyze video using AI tech like Microsofts Azure, but in a self-contained system thats faster, simpler and more secure to operate than existing methods. The two companies are appealing to retail and logistics businesses with potential uses like optimizing warehouse and factory automation, quantifying the flow of customers through stores and making cars smarter about their drivers and environment. At a time of increasing public surveillance to help rein in the spread of the novel coronavirus, this new smart camera also has the potential to offer more privacy-conscious monitoring. And should its technology be adapted for personal devices, it even holds promise for advancing mobile photography. Read more: Sony Releases Faster Camera Sensors With Integrated AI Instead of generating actual images, Sonys AI chip can analyze the video it sees and provide just metadata about whats in front of it -- saying instead of showing whats in its frame of vision. Because no data is sent to remote servers, opportunities for hackers to intercept sensitive images or video are dramatically reduced, which should help allay privacy fears. Apple Inc. has already proven the efficacy of combining AI and imaging to create more secure systems with its Face ID biometric authentication, powered by the iPhones custom-designed Neural Engine processor. Huawei Technologies Co. and Alphabet Inc.s Google also have dedicated AI silicon in their smartphones to assist with image processing. These on-device chips represent whats known as edge computing: handling complex AI and machine-learning tasks at the so-called edge of the network instead of sending data back and forth to servers. Story continues We are aware many companies are developing AI chips and its not like we try to make our AI chip better than others, said Hideki Somemiya, senior general manager of Sonys System Solutions group. Our focus is on how we can distribute AI computing across the system, taking cost and efficiency into consideration. Edge computing is a trend, and in that respect, ours is the edge of the edge. Sonys advance is to eliminate the need for transfers within the device itself. Whereas Apple and Google still use conventional image sensors that convert light particles into computer-readable image formats for their chips to read, Sonys new part is capable of doing the analytical work without any data leaving its physical boundaries. The AI-capable sensor may also help advance augmented reality applications. The two U.S. giants, whose iOS and Android operating systems control practically the entire smartphone market, are heavily invested in AR development. Google Maps now offers the option to show 3-D directions atop a video feed of a users surroundings while Apple is planning new 3-D cameras on its next set of iPhones in the fall. The agenda-setters of the mobile industry are looking for ever smarter mobile cameras, spurring the demand for more sophisticated imaging gear. Read more: Google Delivers an Answer to Apple on Augmented Reality Sony already enjoys a substantial lead as the worlds foremost provider of image sensors, counting Apple, Samsung Electronics Co. and every major Chinese smartphone maker among its customers along with pro camera stalwarts like Hasselblad V, Fujifilm Holdings Corp. and Nikon Corp. Its next set of customers may be automakers. The AI-powered Sony sensor is capable of recording high-resolution video and simultaneously conducting its AI analysis at up to 30 frames each second. That rapid, up-to-the-microsecond responsiveness makes it potentially suitable for in-car use such as detecting when a driver is falling asleep, Sonys Somemiya said. Without the need for a cloud brain as some existing systems have, Sonys AI sensor could hasten the adoption of smart-car technology. This on-chip approach enables a system design to be more flexible and even optimized, given that the cost of image processing, which is one of the most compute-intensive tasks for autonomous driving, can be offloaded from an electronic control unit, said Shinpei Kato, founder and chief technology officer of Tokyo-based Tier IV Inc., which develops self-driving software. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. New Delhi: Employees working in private sector will get more take home salary for three months May, June and July as the government has notified reduction in EPF contribution for the month of May, June and July. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had last week (May 13) announced that for the next three months employee provident fund (EPF) contribution will be 10 per cent each for employees and employers as compared to the statutory obligation of 12 per cent. The move is to increase take-home salary for employees and to give relief to employers in payment of provident fund. The government has decided to continue EPF support for business and workers for 3 more months providing a liquidity relief of Rs 2,500 crores, the FM said. Under this new provision, the employers will continue to pay 12 per cent, while employees will have the option to pay 10 per cent for the next three months. This will benefit nearly 4.3 crore provident fund subscribers and and as many as 6.5 lakh establishments will also avail this benefit from this. However, this does not apply to those companies where government is giving the entire 24 percent contribution towards EPF. Furthermore, in the case of the central public sector enterprises and state public sector, this exempt will not be applicable. They will continue to pay 12% as EPF contribution. It may be noted that last week, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Friday announced major relief to the companies stating that no penalty will be levied upon them for penalty for delayed deposit of dues during lockdown. The move is aimed to ease the compliance norms for 6.5 lakhs EPF covered establishments and save them from liability on account of penal damages. Due to prolonged lockdown announced by the Govt. to control the spread of COVID-19 and other disruptions due to pandemic, establishments covered under EPF & MP Act, 1952 are distressed and unable to function normally and pay the statutory contributions in time, an official release said. By May. 18, 2020 After communicating with the various artists and musicians that participate in the festival, and with guidance from the City of Paducah, the festival will now take place October 2-3. The following musicians will be attending, with more to be announced soon: Scythian, Cicada Rhythm, S.G. Goodman, Joslyn & the Sweet Compression, GRLwood, The Wheelers, Melanie A. Davis, and Luke Taylor. West Kentucky Star spoke with Yeiser Art Center Executive Director, Lexie Millikan, about the festival. Millikan says that although the dates for the festival have been announced, it could still change. "We're going to follow whatever guidelines we have to from the city and state." Millikan continued, "If we are able to have a festival later this year, that is when we will have it, but also because it's so far out, there are a lot of unknowns and it could change." She is optimistic however, and is glad the City has been supportive of the move. According to Millikan, if the festival does happen in October, attendees should expect a smaller event. "No matter what, even if we didn't have any guidelines to follow, we would still be planning a scaled back festival, because it's not as if every single one of our participating artists, musicians, and vendors are able to agree to the new date," She said, "So as far as the size of the festival, it's going to have to be smaller no matter what." Millikan is encouraging everyone to support arts organizations, artists, and musicians during this time of uncertainty. "There are a lot of people that are going through a lot of difficult things right now. We just hope that the people that are still able to support the arts are doing that, because that's the biggest thing right now for us," she said. Additional information can be found on the festival's Facebook page and website at the link below. PADUCAH - Lower Town Arts and Music Festival organizers are planning postponed spring festivities for the first weekend of October. On the Net: OR-Bot? Surgery Visualization Suite Premieres at ASCRS Virtual Meeting KENSINGTON, London, May 19, 2020 announced today. The Ocutrx OR-Bot? Surgery Visualization Theatre was unveiled at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery . "It's an exciting day for our company as we move into the full surgery visualization theatre," said Dr. Thomas A. Finley, M.D., head of the Ocutrx Medial Advisory Board, "Surgeons have been hindered by equipment that is not ergonomically sound. The resulting discomfort is not only bad during the surgery, but potentially the next day, and can result in an unexpected early retirement. With our new OR-Bots, we will be able to offer surgeons a comfortable, lightweight and ergonomically sound solution to better perform some of the most exacting procedures in modern medicine." The OR-Bot's all-digital system offers three unique visualization options depending on the surgeon's preference: the first is the all-new ORLenz augmented reality surgery headset featuring: (1) a surgery view with augmented virtual patient and operating tool information; (2) the choice of using an autostereoscopic "3D glasses-free" 3D 8K display monitor positioned directly in front of the surgeon; or (3) viewing the surgery through a microscope-like VR viewing station positioned on one of the OR-Bot's robotic arms. Each of these surgery visualization choices provide a full 4K resolution to the surgeon's eyes. Additionally, called "cobotic" by Ocutrx, the OR-Bot's arms are both human and robotic controlled so doctors will be able to move the device's gravity compensated 6-axis arms with only a slight touch while using voice commands or foot pedal to engage and position the VR microscope or cameras on the arms. "With our new cobotic OR-Bot," said Michael H. Freeman, CEO/CTO of Ocutrx, "we'll be able to offer surgeons several comfortable, lightweight and ergonomically sound solutions to better perform these delicate ophthalmic procedures with faster-surgery set-up and turn around." Many current ophthalmic surgery systems provide poor ergonomics - which has been found in a recent American Academy of Ophthalmology survey to cause pain in nearly half the surgeons surveyed, including 15 percent who have to have surgery themselves, and 7 percent who were forced to cut their careers short due to ergonomic-related pains in their back, neck and/or shoulders. "The OR-Bot solves a number of space constraints facing surgeons currently by separating the camera from the standard optical microscope (SOM) and reducing the size of equipment in the operative field," said Dr. Linda Lam, M.D., M.B.A. Ocutrx CMO. The OR-Bot's Lenticular Autostereoscopic 8K 3D "glasses-free" monitor allows surgeons, nurses, techs, and students to view surgery in the operating room along with the surgeon. Current systems require surgeons to turn their heads or crane-around equipment to view a TV screen while operating, which creates ergonomic challenges and surgeon discomfort. Also, the 3D glasses used with current systems block either 50% or 100% of the visual light as they alternate, meaning that the view to the surgeon is dramatically dimmed. For the first time, with the OR-Bot's 8K monitor surgeons will get a full, true 4K 3D resolution per-eye without the use of 3D glasses. This unique technology works by unique lenses which display two sets of the same image - one to the left eye and one to the right eye - which the brain puts together and interprets as one 3D image. "The ORLenz Surgery AR headset has the highest resolution the eye can see, being 60 pixels per degree at 20/20," said Mitchael C. Freeman, COO of Ocutrx, "The headset receives 4K feed from surgery cameras with less than 10-millisecond delay, which is as fast as an HDMI cable, to ensure the surgeon doesn't lose any critical visual information. The ORLenz also touts the widest field of view (120 degrees), is the lightest weight on the market (250 grams), and is wireless, which will aid in creating more comfortable surgeries and allow the surgeon to change positions while the 3D hologram surgery image stays always directly in front of the surgeon's eyes." The ASCRS meeting was held virtually this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Ocutrx representatives were continually active and accessible through their digital "booth." ASCRS empowers anterior segment surgeons to improve the vision, outcomes and quality of life for their patients through innovative approaches to education, advocacy and philanthropy, and its annual meeting is always a favorite for Ocutrx executives. To learn more about Ocutrx and its revolutionary products, visit the company's online magazine . Surgeons are invited to take a brief survey to help Ocutrx further improve the OR-Bot. Please email Victoria McArtor, CCO, at victoria.mcartor@ocutrxvisiontech.com . About Ocutrx Vision Technologies: With corporate headquarters in Kensington, LDN, and a research and development labs in the U.S. Midwest, Ocutrx is a new breed of Augmented Reality headsets for improved patient outcomes and Surgery Visualization technology for improving surgery outcomes and minimizing surgeon's strain while operating. Ocutrx is focused on AR as a medical device for both surgeons and patients alike to deliver an extended reality experience. The OR-Bot Surgery Visualization Theatre will give surgeon's multiple viewing options, improve surgeon's ergonomics, reduce surgery time, and improve patient outcomes. At a time when worldwide applications for easy-to-wear and easy-to-use AR solutions are being touted as the "next big thing after smartphones," Ocutrx is creating impactful, revolutionary AR wear and surgery visualization for the medical sector. About ASCRS: ASCRS empowers Anterior Segment Surgeons to improve the vision, outcomes and quality of life for their patients through innovative approaches to education, advocacy and philanthropy. The newly designed ASCRS' 2020 Annual Meeting was held virtually on May 16-17. Media Contact: Brenlyn D'Amore Bastion Elevate (for Ocutrx Vision Technologies) 949-899-3135 brenlyn@bastionelevate.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/acc57343-16a8-448b-bbdb-1b278063736a Southern Europe is trying to figure out how to entice tourists to come back even while coroanvirus remains a threat. In places where tourism accounts for much of the economy, officials are considering changes over how hotels, resorts and nightclubs could operate. The reforms are designed to curb the spread of the disease and give travellers the confidence to go on holiday again. On the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, one idea being considered is asking tourists to take a Covid-19 test prior to their arrival. Other proposals include disinfecting luggage, putting reception desks behind screens and dressing cleaning staff in full protective gear. Expand Close A swimming pool lies empty at a closed hotel in Cyprus (Petros Karadjias/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A swimming pool lies empty at a closed hotel in Cyprus (Petros Karadjias/AP) The Mediterranean resort town of Ayia Napa is known for its boisterous parties. Each summer, thousands of young foreign tourists pack the dance floors of its nightlife district after a day at the beach. But the pandemic silenced the exuberant Napa Strip district as the island nation of Cyprus went into a lockdown to halt the spread of coronavirus. Now nightclub owners wonder when social distancing rules will be eased enough for the party to resume and what those new parties will look like. We know at nightclubs, young people will go to dance and have a good time. But then you have to tell them that they have to keep two metres apart from each other? asked Charalambos Alexandrou, the spokesman for a group representing local clubs, bars and restaurants. Mr Alexandrou said this will be a season of trying to survive, not seeking a profit. The countrys deputy minister for tourism, Savvas Perdios, said Cyprus will initially look to bring tourists from nearby countries that have managed to contain the virus Greece, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and some central European and Nordic nations. Its a question of making people feel safe to travel and having confidence in the place where theyre going Luis Araujo, president of Turismo de Portugal Authorities will take more time to assess the course of the pandemic in the UK and Russia, the islands primary tourism markets, before rolling out the red carpet for those countries. Tourists in the near future will have to navigate a different set of expectations, routines and rules to counter the virus. Christos Angelides, president of the Cyprus Hotel Managers Association, said new rules being announced soon will mean that from the moment tourists step out of their bus or taxi from the airport, their luggage will be disinfected and taken straight to their rooms. Reception procedures will be done electronically, with employees behind a plexiglass screen and cleaning staff in full protective gear. Guests eyeing a vacation in Portugal, another major southern European holiday destination, will probably look beyond a hotels online reviews to see if it has the Clean&Safe seal now being awarded by local tourism officials. The seal indicates that the establishment, be it a hotel, restaurant or other venue, has enacted recommended hygiene and safety procedures to protect against the virus. The idea has been a big success in a desperate sector that accounts for 15% of Portugals gross domestic product and 9% of the countrys jobs. The online classes needed to obtain the seal are being attended by around 4,000 people a week. Expand Close Folded umbrellas on an empty beach in Ayia Napa (Petros Karadjias/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Folded umbrellas on an empty beach in Ayia Napa (Petros Karadjias/AP) Its a question of making people feel safe to travel and having confidence in the place where theyre going, said Luis Araujo, president of the government agency Turismo de Portugal. Portugal lies at the opposite end of the Mediterranean Sea from Cyprus, but its challenge is the same: how to reconcile social distancing and hygiene rules with fun and relaxation. Restrictions scare away any tourist, Mr Araujo acknowledged. The Portuguese government says discos will be the last places to open, but many hotels intend to start reopening from June 1. Among the changes being adopted: Guests will not check into their rooms until 24 hours after the last occupant has checked out, to allow time for thorough cleaning and airing of the space. Waiting for sunbeds may come to an end as some hotel guests will get one for their own exclusive use. Buffets are unlikely to be offered, but room service is expected to thrive. Another challenge is how to reopen southern Europes famous beaches. Portugal has come up with a plan to get people back on the sand starting on June 6. Sunbathers must stay 1.5 metres apart, with umbrellas at least three metres apart. New signs and an app will use a traffic-light system of red, yellow and green indicating which beaches are full, partly full or have few people. Paddle boats and water slides will be prohibited. In an attempt to shore up public confidence, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa went to his local cafe for morning coffee and had lunch at a Lisbon restaurant with the speaker of parliament on Monday, the first day those businesses reopened after a lockdown. Even with all the efforts to make tourists feel safe, worries about coronavirus are not going away. UK personal trainer Kenny Dyer cancelled an Easter holiday in Cyprus and is hopeful of venturing back in October. But Mr Dyer attached a condition that governments may find hard to guarantee. I wouldnt want to fly somewhere where theres a sudden spike in coronavirus cases, and I would have to be quarantined abroad, he said. France 24 As talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal proceed in fits and starts, China is trying to position itself as a key player in the region, and for good cause: It is in Beijing's interest to push for the lifting of US sanctions on Iran, with which it has signed a historic bilateral partnership. Talks to revive the 2005 Iranian nuclear deal are entering the tough stage of discussing substance. The Iranians set the scene before a weekend of consultations in Vienna, when Irna, the offi Lebanon cautiously began to reopen today following a partial lockdown that had been brought on by an uptick in reported coronavirus cases. On television Sunday, Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced the country would proceed with a five-part plan to completely reopen the country by June, while at the same time quarantining neighborhoods and regions with high infection rates as necessary. Compared with the rest of the region, Lebanon has a relatively low number of coronavirus cases. As of today, health officials had registered 931 infections and 26 deaths. But following a surge in infections, Lebanon announced a four-day lockdown last week, reversing earlier moves to reopen cafes and restaurants at 30% capacity and allow public prayer at mosques. Diab said residents flouting containment measures had led to a fivefold spike in cases in the 10 days before the latest lockdown. The sweeping restrictions have compounded Lebanon's financial crisis and prompted anti-government protesters to return to the streets over the local currencys plunge in value and high unemployment. "We realize that continuing the lockdown has serious economic and social repercussions," Diab said Sunday. "We are trying, as much as we can, to minimize these repercussions." For now, the curfew will remain in place between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., Lebanons Daily Star reports. Restaurants and coffee shops can open at 50% capacity. This story contains reporting from Agence France-Presse. 19.05.2020 LISTEN The High Commission of Ghana in South Africa has warned Ghanaian nationals in South Africa to ignore some supposed reports that there is a repatriation flight to transport Ghanaian citizens from South Africa to Ghana amidst coronavirus pandemic. According to the mission, there are audio messages circulating on WhatsApp and other social media that the government of Ghana has served noticed to repatriate Ghanaian citizens from South Africa to Ghana. In an exclusive interview with thepressradio.com the Ghana High Commissioner to South Africa, Mr. George Ayisi-Boateng stated that the said reports are a hoax and should not be tolerated. It has come to the attention of the mission that there is a fake audio message going around on WhatsApp that the Government of Ghana has arranged a flight to repatriate Ghanaians citizens from South Africa to Ghana due to coronavirus pandemic but I want to state in categorically that there is no any repatriation arrangement for Ghanaian nationals in South Africa. He said. The Mission wishes to reiterate that the said information is palpably false and without merit Ayisi Boateng added. He indicated that South Africa and Ghana borders still remain closed. (Bloomberg) -- Pier 1 Imports Inc. said it would seek bankruptcy court approval to wind down its brick-and-mortar operations after the coronavirus pandemic made it difficult for the U.S. retailer to find a buyer. The company said in a statement Tuesday it intends to sell its inventory and remaining assets, including its intellectual property and e-commerce business, through the court-supervised process. Pier 1 filed to begin an orderly wind-down as soon as reasonably possible after stores are able to reopen following government-mandated closures because of the pandemic. This decision follows months of working to identify a buyer who would continue to operate our business going forward, Robert Riesbeck, chief executive officer, said in the statement. Unfortunately, the challenging retail environment has been significantly compounded by the profound impact of Covid-19, hindering our ability to secure such a buyer. Pier 1 sought court protection in February with plans to shut about half of its stores and said it was in talks with multiple potential buyers. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company had posted multiple quarters of declining sales and losses amid a raft of new competitors like Wayfair Inc. On March 30, it canceled a scheduled auction for its assets, saying lenders would take ownership of the company. However, the company said it was still in discussions with various parties about how to maximize the value of its assets. Pier 1 is left with no choice but to wind down retail operations and look to sell all its remaining assets, attorneys for the company write in court papers. It is now clear that Pier 1s future does not involve any brick-and-mortar retail locations, they said. Since store-closing sales cant be held until state-mandated lockdowns are lifted, the retailer is seeking court permission to pay current employees severance and bonuses to discourage them from leaving before the chain can wind down. Pier 1 is also asking its bankruptcy judge to set an auction on July 8 for its its intellectual property and e-commerce business, other court papers show. Bloomberg News reported last month that Pier 1 was expected to receive a revised purchase offer from a company called CSC Generation that would keep open fewer than 100 of the companys 900-plus locations. The bid was expected after the retailers bankruptcy court process was paused while stores are shuttered in accordance with coronavirus containment measures. The case is Pier 1 Imports Inc., 20-30805, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Virginia (Richmond) 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee nomination hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 5, 2020. (Andrew Harnik/Pool via Reuters) Trumps Pick for National Intelligence Director Approved by Senate Committee Senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee on May 19 advanced President Donald Trumps nominee for director of national intelligence (DNI). The full Senate will vote on Rep. John Ratcliffes (R-Texas) nomination as soon as possible, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the Senate floor in Washington. The president will have a Senate-confirmed DNI who can pursue the vital national security work of our tireless intelligence community while ensuring that the [intelligence community] stays out of politics and out of the papers, he told colleagues. Senators convened in the first committee hearing chaired by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who became acting chair after Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) stepped down amid questions of stock sales he made earlier this year. Ratcliffe received support from Burr in early May after being grilled by lawmakers over his ties to Trump. Ratcliffe pledged to work with Congress to ensure proper oversight, Burr said. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) speaks to members of the press as he arrives for a vote at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on May 14, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Ratcliffe was advanced on a party-line vote, according to multiple senators. Republicans control the Senate 5347, giving them control of each committee. Few Republicans have signaled opposition to Ratcliffe, making it likely he will be confirmed. Trump in February named Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany, as acting DNI, replacing Joseph Maguire. He said he was nominating Ratcliffe several weeks later. Grenells actions include declassifying the list of Obama administration officials who requested the unmasking of Trumps national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn. Grenell has said hes only serving in the role until his replacement is confirmed. An attorney for Barton argued in court filings that while Kuehlers blood was found on Bartons clothing which he attributed to slipping after her body was discovered an expert concluded the stains did not match the number and kinds of wounds inflicted. In response, the office of Eric Schmitt, Missouris attorney general, says it was Bartons attorney who decided against using that blood-spatter expert as part of his defense. At least based on the sales numbers, buyers registered no objections. They either embraced or accepted the RX for what it is, continuing to be drawn to its quiet ride, rich leather, and promise of headache-free reliability. But Lexus has steadily improved the vehicle since that 2016 debut. It added an extended-length three-row model for the 2018 model year, known as the RX L. Now, the 2020 RX features an upgraded infotainment system and tweaks to the styling and suspension. The Lexus RX invented the luxury crossover. It invented the luxury hybrid. And its consistently Americas best-selling luxury SUV. Thats why the current-generation RXs shortcomings have been so surprising. It debuted in 2016 with polarizing styling, limited cargo space, no available third-row seat, cumbersome controls, and missing infotainment features. Background The RX 450h is the gas-electric hybrid version of the RX, which adds power compared to the gas-only RX 350 while also dramatically improving low-speed fuel economy. And the RX 450hL is the three-row model that has more space and arguably more graceful styling. And, in our opinion, its the best RX yet. That doesnt mean its perfect, even after the upgrades. It still doesnt have as much passenger or cargo room as most midsize crossovers. Various downscale buttons, plastics, and other interior bits still mar its overall interior quality compared to the best luxury cars. Despite the improved controls, theyre still unnecessarily awkward. And the RX still doesnt have the supremely composed handling thats typical of luxury vehicles. Still, the 2020 Lexus RX 450hL is hard to beat for combining no-compromises fuel economy gains at least at lower speeds with a generally pleasant luxury experience and decent functionality. Prices for the 2020 RX start $44,150 for the two-row gas-only RX 350, $46,750 for the two-row RX 450h hybrid, $47,300 for the three-row gas-only RX 350L, and $50,460 for the three-row RX 450hL hybrid. 2020 LEXUS RX 450HL - DESIGN AND UTILITY The standard-length Lexus RX is shaped almost like a hatchback on stilts. Its hunched-forward shape belies its image as a pillow on wheels, as do its sharply creased bodywork, crisply menacing headlights, and wide-mouthed grille. Opinions tend to differ on whether the design is bold and refreshing or busy and overwrought. But either way, the effect on interior space is undeniable. The standard RX has just 18 cubic feet of cargo room behind its rear seat less than many subcompact crossovers and its maximum cargo capacity of 56 cubic feet is also disappointing. And, as we mentioned, it left the RX with no available third-row seating, a stark contrast to competitors like the Acura MDX, Infiniti QX60, and Volvo XC90. The extended-length RX L helped address those complaints when it appeared for 2018. Its 4.5 inches longer than the standard RX, and the rear end is more upright. Lexus disguises the added bulk cleverly by keeping the small side windows, and it makes the RX L look like an original part of the lineup not like the hasty retrofit that it is. Its statelier, more reserved, less aggressive, in keeping with the RXs driving manners. To be clear, the RX L isnt roomy, either. But it has more space than the standard RX, and the on-paper specifications dont reflect the important benefits to the boxier roofline. By the numbers, you go from 18 to 23 cubic feet behind the second-row seat still small, but a 25 percent improvement. But in the real world, youll see an even bigger advantage. Lexus has generally put forth two numbers for cargo space behind the RX Ls third row: 7 cubic feet and 16 cubic feet. The latter seems more directly comparable with the way competing crossovers are measured, and the figure is class-competitive. It reflects the useful amount of floor space behind the third row, though taller items will be pinched because of the way the seat angles closer and closer to the cargo door. Dont count on the RX L as a family hauler, though. Although its not the smallest midsize three-row crossover from the outside, most competitors provide more generous three-row accommodations. Thats not to say theyre generous, either tolerable for children is still the class norm. The RX L cant pull off even that, at least not unless you share the misery by redistributing each rows legroom throughout the cabin. The second-row seats adjust fore-aft, but even they feel pinched unless theyre slid all the way back. And when theyre slid all the way back, theyre pushed right up against the third row, leaving no legroom there. The RX 350L is available with a choice of seven-passenger seating with a second-row bench seat and two-seat third row, or six-passenger seating with middle-row captains chairs. The RX 450hL hybrid, however, offers only six-passenger seating (and only four seats that are sized for more than small children). The RX L is better for its extra cargo space than its extra passenger capacity, though its also true that a tiny third row is still more accommodating in an emergency than no tiny third row. We recommend keeping it folded nearly all the time. In a frustration when you use it, though, the seat is power-folding; this sounds like a handy high-end convenience, but you instead must hold down the power control through the entire painfully slow operation. Other SUVs have one-touch operation and faster-moving motors. How, in the classs best-seller, do details like this get overlooked? 2020 LEXUS RX 450HL - DASHBOARD The RXs cabin is upholstered in plush leather, a high point among many Lexus vehicles. Its supple and welcoming, while many luxury cars are either stiff and formal or, in some cases, feel more sturdy than opulent. And the dashboard is traditional without being stodgy the asymmetrical design wraps gracefully around the controls to flow into the center console, but the sea of buttons and knobs is an older-school approach than the minimalist norm among the European luxury brands. However, many of these buttons, along with some trim on the lower dashboard, are pieces of low-grade plastic. The RX 450hLs second-row captains chairs also have rickety cupholders that deploy between them, a big step down from the nifty adjustable-height cupholders in the front console. Repeat RX customers will likely have no objection to the interior quality, since the overall vibe is still posh and cushy. But its a step down if youre used to some luxury brands. We were in a Mazda3 compact hatchback during the week before our RX 450hL test, and it was the little Mazda whose cabin materials and switchgear felt more consistently upscale than the $65,000 Lexus. Another frequent complaint about recent Lexus models has been their infotainment systems. Rather than the more common touchscreen interface, theyve used a mouse-style controller located between the front seats, which you slide to navigate among various settings. Its a little cumbersome to play with when youre parked, and too distracting to recommend attempting while youre on the go. The 2020 RX now gives you a touchscreen as well, while replacing the mouse with a laptop-style touchpad like on some other Lexuses. Some settings are still buried too far into the systems menus, and because the screen wasnt originally designed to be touched, its awkwardly far to reach. And the touchpad isnt much better than the mouse. Still, any improvement is welcome, even if its not a complete 180. The 2020 RX also finally added Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration, joining the competition that lets you use certain mobile apps such as Google Maps through the cars screen. An 8-inch touchscreen is standard, but our test vehicle has the optional 12.3-inch screen thats big enough to offer a split-screen view, like fuel economy data alongside a generously sized map view. The base screen sits awkwardly in the middle of a space sized for the larger unit. 2020 LEXUS RX 450HL - HOW IT DRIVES The RX has always filled the niche of comfort and quietness over sporty performance, but the current generations aggressive styling isnt entirely out of place this is a sportier vehicle than before. You cant get the F Sport models stiffer suspension and other performance tweaks on either the gas or hybrid RX L, but a smoother ride is better suited to the RX anyway. And even the standard model avoids feeling completely disconnected like some past RX iterations, showing decent handling composure when you take it along a winding road. This isnt a sporty crossover, but its not a ponderous, soft-sprung barge either. Still, because the RX uses humble Toyota suspension architecture rather than purpose-built luxury underpinnings, any change has a compromise. And that means the current RX doesnt have a magically smooth ride, either, especially if you choose the big 20-inch wheels on our test vehicle. Its quick, though. Every 2020 RX has a powerful V6- engine, and the hybrid has the most power of all: 308 horsepower, up from 295 hp on the gas-only model, thanks to the combined output of its gasoline V-6 and its three electric motors. Lexus quotes 0-60 times of around 8 seconds for all versions, but independent testers typically manage a second faster. And it sounds better when pushed than most competing luxury SUVs with turbocharged four-cylinders. Youre not buying an RX for the drag strip, but for a vehicle widely considered a snoozer, its no embarrassment in a straight line. However, the hybrid is heavier than the gas-only RX 350 as well, which takes back the acceleration gains. All this horsepower means youre not going slower in the hybrid, but it doesnt mean youre going faster. You do save fuel, though, at least in the right conditions. Like most hybrids, the RX 450hL is more impressive in city conditions than on the highway. EPA ratings are 29 mpg in the city, 28 mpg on the highway, and 29 mpg overall with all-wheel-drive standard. That compares to 18 mpg city/25 mpg highway/22 mpg combined for the comparable all-wheel-drive RX 350L, which is already decent for a V6-powered three-row SUV. The hybrid does use premium fuel while the gas-only uses regular, though. In our hands, the RX 450hL beat its EPA ratings in lower-speed conditions and trailed them on the open highway. Thats because at low speeds, the electric motors can help out a lot as you coast or accelerate gently. Unlike Toyotas latest hybrids, you dont get that assistance at higher speeds. We occasionally saw the engine switch off above 40 mph, but mostly the RX 450hL burned gas on the highway like the heavier RX 350L that it is. That means the RX hybrid makes a great option for stop-and-go congestion or running around town, but if thats not your primary driving environment, you wont see much benefit. Our overall average during a weeklong test was 29 mpg, in line with the EPA estimate, though that average suffered from our long stretches of highway driving. And as with other hybrids, the RX 450hL benefits from an attentive use of the throttle; you can drive it just like any other car, but youll see fuel economy drop faster than it would with a typical gas engine. Lexus RX450hL specifications Type Series/parallel system with gas engine and electric motors Total System Power 308 hp ENGINE Type, Materials V6, aluminum block and heads Displacement 3.5 liter Bore x Stroke 3.70 in. x 3.27 in. Compression Ratio 13.0:1 Horsepower 259 hp @ 6,000 rpm Torque 247 lb.-ft. @ 4,600 rpm Motor Generator 2 (MG2) 165 hp Motor Generator Rear (MGR) 67 hp Battery Sealed Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) 2020 LEXUS RX 450HL - WHAT IT COSTS Its easy to get sticker shock with the 2020 Lexus RX 450hL. With options and the $1,025 destination charge, our test vehicle topped $65,000 well above its base price of $50,460. Still, you get a lot of standard features even at the starting price, including all-wheel-drive (which costs $1,400 extra on the gas-only RX). That means that compared to the all-wheel-drive RX 350, you pay only about an $1,800 premium for the hybrid powertrain a worthwhile jump unless you do minimal stop-and-go driving. The extended-length RX costs roughly $3,500 more than the five-passenger model; we also consider that expense worth it, but by a narrower margin. Standard features include a suite of advanced safety tech: adaptive cruise control, a forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, and a lane-departure warning with lane-keeping steering corrections. Other standard features include a hands-free power liftgate, leatherette upholstery that Lexus calls NuLuxe, a power-adjustable steering column, rain-sensing windshield wipers, and the frustratingly slow power-folding rear seats. Our test vehicles add-ons included heated and ventilated front seats, genuine leather upholstery, heated rear seats, blind-spot monitoring with a rear cross-traffic alert, a moonroof, a head-up display, LED headlights, a navigation system with a larger 12.3-inch infotainment screen, and a surround-view parking camera. Many of these are standalone options rather than large packages or trim levels, making it easier than on some vehicles to pick the features you want without paying for the ones you dont. 2020 LEXUS RX 450HL KEY COMPETITORS The closest competitor to the Lexus RX 450hL is the Acura MDX Sport Hybrid, another midsize luxury crossover thats not quite as fancy as an Audi or Mercedes. The MDX is both roomier and more fun to drive than the RX, but the Lexus has a lower base price ($50,460 vs. $53,000, though the Acura has some extra standard features) and better EPA ratings (29 mpg vs. 27 mpg). Plus, Lexus has nearly an extra decade of experience with hybrids compared to Acura, and its Toyota parent has even more. Read our full review on the 2020 Acura MDX Sport Hybrid Two other three-row luxury crossovers with great gas mileage in certain circumstances are the Volvo XC90 T8 and Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring. These are both plug-in hybrids, meaning you charge them up from the electric grid for a period of all-electric range before the gas engines are needed. This can result in nearly all-electric operation for buyers who rarely drive long distances at a time, since their EPA-estimated all-electric ranges are both under 20 miles. But once that range is gone, the RX 450hL gets better mileage than either of them. And theyre both more expensive, with base sticker prices near $70,000 before federal tax incentives. Read our full review on the 2020 Volvo XC90 T8 and Lincoln Aviator Grand Touring The RX has long been a luxury version of the Toyota Highlander, and both are sold as gas-electric hybrids. This year, theres a new difference the Highlander is freshly redesigned, and the hybrid model switches from a V6 engine to a four-cylinder. That trades some acceleration for much better fuel economy, an EPA-estimated 35 mpg in mixed driving. Its also roomier than the RX, though while you can get it with lots of high-end features, it doesnt feel as rich inside as the Lexus. Read our full review on the 2020 Toyota Highlander Hybrid The traditional reasons to get a midsize crossover over a compact model are the extra spaciousness and refinement associated with a larger vehicle. But given that the RX isnt especially roomy, especially if you dont need the tiny third-row seat in the RX 450hL, its worth considering a few compact models. After all, smaller models have a built-in advantage for their price and fuel economy. Of these three, the X3 and XC60 are offered as a hybrid (both the plug-in hybrid type), but even their gas engines match or exceed the RX 450hLs 28 mpg on the highway. Read our full review on the 2020 Acura RDX, BMW X3, and Volvo XC60 2020 LEXUS RX 450HL IN A NUTSHELL The Lexus RX is a widely beloved vehicle that has great room for improvement from the basics like poor interior space efficiency to nitpicks like the frustrating seat-folding system and some downscale pieces of plastic. If your budget permits, and you drive enough at low speeds to take advantage of the electric motors, the RX 450hL is our pick of the lineup for having the most room and the best mileage. And the 2020 updates do whittle away at objections, even if they dont eliminate them. As long as you dont need true three-row seating and dont demand sporty handling, the 2020 Lexus RX 450hL provides smooth, quiet, plush efficiency. Seventy-seven people tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar on Wednesday, taking the total number of infected to 1519, a top official said here. According to Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar, the central Bihar district of Jehanabad reported 30 fresh cases, including a boy and a girl aged three and five years respectively. The district now accounts for 58 of the total cases. Twelve people, including a two-year-old boy, tested positive in Begusarai district, which has till date reported 84 cases. Only Patna, Munger and Rohtas districts account for higher tallies. Thirteen people tested positive in Katihar, five each in Bhagalpur and Kaimur, four in Aurangabad and three in Arwal, the principal secretary said. Patna, Nawada, Buxar, Jamui and Supaul districts reported one case each. All 38 districts in the state are affected by the disease and the highest number of 167 patients are in Patna, followed by Munger (133) and Rohtas (91). Nine people, two each from Patna and Vaishali districts, and one each from Munger, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Rohtas and Khagaria have died. Most of the victims had pre-existing medical conditions like cancer, renal failure and tuberculosis. On the positive side, 534 patients have been discharged after full recovery. The state has seen a huge spike in the number of cases in the recent past, mainly on account of the heavy influx of migrants who have been travelling to their native places, many of them walking hundreds of kilometers on foot. According to the state health department, 754 migrants have tested positive in the state since May 3. A majority of the patients have recently returned from Delhi (247), Maharashtra (176) and Gujarat (155). Altogether, 50,563 samples have been tested in the state till date, a release issued by the state health department said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A woman looks at signs at a store closed due to COVID-19 in Niles, Illinois, US. (Nam Y Huh/AP) Global business leaders fear the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic will be a prolonged global recession and mass unemployment. The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Tuesday published a new report examining the medium and long-term risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report was based on a survey of 350 senior risk professionals spanning industries from banking to retail. It found businesses leaders across the world fear long-lasting dire economic consequences as a result of the pandemic. 68% said they expected a prolonged global recession. 56.8% said a wave of bankruptcies were likely and 49.3% expect to see high unemployment, particularly among young people. Read more: 'War-time level deficits' as UK faces 337bn COVID-19 bill Unemployment has already spiked globally, reaching over 36 million in the US, and economic growth has turned to contraction as lockdowns have brought societies to a halt. Many economists had hoped to see a V shaped recovery, with a quick bounce back in jobs and growth. However, optimism has faded as the crisis has continued, with data showing a worse-than-expected impact on most major economies. International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday it would take much longer for the global economy to recover than initially expected. Christian Nolting, global chief investment officer, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management, said last week the bank does not expect global output to return to pre-coronavirus levels until 2022 at the earliest. The slow recovery is likely to leave lasting economic scars on countries around the world, WEF warned. A build-up of debt is likely to burden government budgets and corporate balances for many years, global economic relations could be reshaped, emerging economies are at risk of submerging into a deeper crisis, while businesses could face increasingly adverse consumption, production and competition patterns, wrote the WEF report authors. Peter Giger, group chief risk officer at Zurich Insurance Group, which helped put the report together, said the world risked another lost generation. Story continues The pandemic will have long-lasting effects, as high unemployment affects consumer confidence, inequality and well-being, and challenges the efficacy of social protection systems, Giger said. Read more: UK economy saw worst slump since 2008 even before full lockdown blow Other risks identified in the report include more restrictions on the movement of goods and people between countries, which could make running businesses more costly. There are also concerns that a growing reliance on technology, accelerated by mass working from home, could leave businesses more vulnerable to cyber attacks. As countries seek to recover, some of the more lasting economic, environmental, societal and technological challenges and opportunities are only beginning to become visible, the report said. Read more: Crisis measures to cost UK government 123bn this year WEF warned that years of progress on the climate could be lost if countries lose sight of sustainability goals and cut investment. The report called for world leaders to adopt green stimulus programmes to fundamentally change the way economies and industries operate, especially as societal behaviour change may create more sustainable consumption and mobility habits. Despite the grim economic outlook, the solidarity created by the COVID-19 pandemic offers the possibility of investing in building more cohesive, inclusive and equal societies, the report said. When Americans head to the polls to vote in this November's general election, they won't actually be voting for the President of the United States directly, but rather they'll be telling their electors which candidate they want as president. The electors then have their own election in which they select the new president and vice president. If that sounds needlessly complicated and somewhat undemocratic, that's because it is. Electors - of which there are 538 - are supposed to be representatives of the electorate who meet on a state-by-state level and select which presidential and vice presidential candidates will earn that state's votes. This group of electors and their assemblage is what is known as the "electoral college." When a presidential candidate receives support from a majority of the the electors - 270 votes - they win the presidency. The number of electors is based on the number of members in the US Congress. A state is allocated one elector for every member of the House of Representatives (which has 435 seats in all) and every member of the Senate (which has 100) representing that state. That number can only change when a new legislator is added to the Congress, which means changes to the electoral college only happen once every 10 years, and even then only if the Census reports a significant state population shift. States with small populations - like Alaska, Delaware, Vermont, Wyoming, North Dakota and Montana - have fewer Congressional representatives and thus fewer electors. Each of those states have three electors, and thus three electoral votes. Likewise, the District of Columbia, which has no Congressional representation, also has three electors. On the flip side, states with huge populations - like California and Texas - have dozens of Congressional representatives and thus dozens of electoral votes. California has 55 electoral votes and Texas has 38. The electoral college was implemented by the Constitutional framers for a number of reasons, some good, some not-so-good. The Good The framers wanted to prevent elections from becoming provincial competitions, pitting states against each other to see which would rule the government. Instead, by divorcing the vote from simple one person, one vote rule, the framers hoped to avoid factional coalition building that could cause fractures in the country. They also wanted to ensure that the country wasn't simply going to be representative of the will of the most populous states. The Not-So-Good It was established as a compromise between framers who believed the people should choose the president, and those who worried that allowing for a direct one person, one vote rule would make the American South a permanent minority. To help ensure the South wasn't dominated by the more populous North, the 3/5s Compromise was enacted, in which every 3 slaves out of 5 would count as a "person" for legislative and taxation purposes. As a result, human beings who weren't even allowed to vote were used as a means of giving more political power to their captors. In trying to protect states with smaller populations from having their electoral desires crushed by states with larger populations, the electoral college has actually undermined the voting power of people who live in denser urban areas, resulting in five elections where the president of the United States actually lost the popular vote but still won the election. Both President George W Bush and President Donald Trump won the US presidential elections despite losing the popular vote. In the 2000 election, Mr Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore despite Mr Gore having more than 500,000 more votes. In 2016, the gulf between the electoral college and the popular vote was substantially wider; Mr Trump lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Prior to 2000, the last time a president lost the popular vote but won the election was when President Benjamin Harrison won against Grover Cleveland in 1888. Whether Mr Trump's and Mr Bush's victories are flukes or indicative of inherent flaws in the system hasn't changed its popularity among voters. According to Gallup, a majority of American poll respondents have favoured a Constitutional amendment to adopt a nationwide popular vote - thus eliminating the electoral college - since 1944. The only exception to that was a poll taken in late November 2016, just after Mr Trump's victory, during which Americans were evenly split on the topic. Since World War II, the electoral college has almost always been opposed by the majority of the American people. Why does the US keep the system? First and foremost, because smaller states that have inflated voting power granted by the system vote to ensure they don't lose that power. Even without smaller states working against the changes, abolishing the electoral college would still require an amendment to the US Constitution, which is an enormous obstacle in and of itself. While it would be difficult, it wouldn't be impossible - the electoral college has been changed three times in the past via Constitutional amendment - but it would require broad majorities in Congress. GLASGOW, Scotland, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MGB Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical company developing a novel class of anti-infectives, today announces that its Phase II clinical study has met its endpoints of safety, efficacy, and dose selection. The study confirms that MGB-BP-3, an antibacterial, has the potential to become the new gold standard, first-line treatment for CDI. The Phase II dose ranging study in patients with CDI showed that the 250mg of MGB-BP-3, given twice daily for 10 days, achieved an initial cure and sustained cure of 100%. This dosage regimen has now been confirmed for the next phase of clinical trials. Three dose levels were evaluated in the study, which was conducted at sites in the United States (US) and Canada. As reported previously, the drug showed better-than-expected efficacy at its lowest dose level (125mg given twice daily) and that trend was further improved, with maximum efficacy demonstrated at the second dose level (250mg given twice daily). The most important goal in developing a new medicine for the treatment of CDI is to prevent recurrent disease to provide a sustained cure. MGB-BP-3 achieves this goal by its unique rapid bactericidal activity, a feature shared by no other treatment available. At the 250mg dosed twice daily for 10 days, MGB-BP-3 recorded no disease recurrence measured at four weeks post-therapy. Recurrence is unacceptably high with current bacteriostatic treatments, occurring in up to one third of patients treated by current mainstay therapies. As in its Phase I study, MGB-BP-3 showed an excellent safety and tolerability profile with no serious adverse events (SAEs) reported in either study. Dr Thomas Louie, clinical professor at the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Alberta, Calgary (Canada) and Principal Investigator of the trial, said: "C. difficile infection represents a major burden to the Canadian and US healthcare systems. A novel antibiotic that is able to kill this deadly pathogen before it is able to sporulate offers hope to patients and their families who suffer the pain and misery caused by this disease." CDI is a serious and often life-threatening infection of the large intestine and is the most frequent cause of diarrhoea in hospitals and care homes. In the US alone, there are almost half a million cases every year associated with around 30,000 deaths; three people die of uncontrolled CDI each hour. CDI has been recognised as an urgent threat pathogen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US and is a common consequence of antibiotic treatment in hospitalised patients. MGB-BP-3 has received Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) status from the FDA, enabling Fast Track submission and 5 years of extended marketing exclusivity. MGB-BP-3 will also be eligible to participate in the DISARM programme of prescribing incentives being considered in the US which will increase patient access to new and innovative treatments. MGB-BP-3 has a very fast bactericidal effect which can kill C. difficile in its vegetative form before it forms spores, thus achieving initial cure and preventing the disease from recurring by reducing the total burden of C. difficile. Moreover, MGB-BP-3 has very strong bactericidal activity against the BI/NAP1/027 strain, the most virulent strain that is largely resistant to current therapy. Speed of action is a critical success factor for the treatment of CDI as C difficile bacteria can exist both in a vegetative form that causes disease, and as dormant spores. Fully developed spores, which are resistant to any antibacterial therapy, are formed in a hostile environment commonly caused by antibiotic therapy. Bacteria remain susceptible to antibiotic activity for at least 10 hours during the process of sporulation, providing a period for a fast-acting bactericidal antibiotic such as MGB-BP-3 to kill the bacteria. The current mainstay treatments of CDI, vancomycin and fidaxomicin, are bacteriostatic and require more than 24 hours to achieve their maximum effect. These characteristics mean that in many patients they trigger sporulation, leading to a high rate of recurrence when the spores germinate back into a vegetative form. Dr Miroslav Ravic, CEO of MGB Biopharma, said: "We are delighted to have succeeded in meeting our endpoints in this Phase II trial, which is a significant milestone for MGB Biopharma. This study managed to identify a dose that provides a fine balance between maximal killing effects against C. difficile whilst having a minimal effect on the remaining normal gut flora. This results in a very high initial cure rate and prevention of disease recurrence. As the recent COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, the world urgently needs new anti-infective treatments so we can be better prepared for new threats. MGB-BP-3 would bring a new, vastly improved paradigm to the treatment of CDI which would reduce the morbidity and mortality caused by this dreadful infection." About MGB Biopharma MGB Biopharma is a clinical stage company developing a novel class of anti-infectives. Its lead candidate, MGB-BP-3, is an antibacterial which is active against a broad range of important multi-resistant and susceptible Gram-positive pathogens. The Company is developing an oral formulation of MGB-BP-3 for the treatment of Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI). In addition to its C. difficile programme, MGB Biopharma has a pipeline of early preclinical compounds against Gram-positive, Gram-negative, anti-fungal, anti-viral and anti-parasitic pathogens. MGB Biopharma acquired rights to the proprietary minor groove binder (MGB) platform, developed at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, with exclusive worldwide licensing rights for all anti-infective fields. This platform provides an opportunity to develop various compounds with a completely new mode of action which are distinct from the antimicrobial drugs used in clinical practice today. As a result, many MGB-based drugs could have the potential to offer significant advantages over existing anti-infectives. The Company is currently looking for partners to fully capitalise on the multiple value creating opportunities offered by its broad and innovative anti-infectives platform. The Company, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, is backed by Scottish investors including Archangel Investors Limited, Barwell, TRICAPITAL, Syndicate Room and the Scottish Investment Bank, Scottish Enterprise. The company also received significant support for its clinical programme from Innovate UK. For more information please visit www.mgb-biopharma.com For further information, please contact: MGB Biopharma Chris Wardhaugh Chief Business Officer [email protected] +44(0)1698-464224 Citigate Dewe Rogerson David Dible [email protected] Sylvie Berrebi [email protected] +44(0)20-7638-9571 +44(0)7714-306525 SOURCE MGB Biopharma As part of U.S. Southern Command's counter-drug operations surge, the Coast Guard national security cutter James headed to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific in late March, carrying the usual complement of supplies for a 90-day deployment, plus a boatload of face masks, latex gloves, sanitizer, trash bags and other germ-fighting necessities. Crews that handle bales of cocaine and marijuana usually take precautions with contraband, wearing gloves and minimizing contact with suspect traffickers. But deployment during the COVID-19 pandemic requires protective measures and a decontamination process few could have imagined during the Charleston, South Carolina-based cutter's pre-deployment workups, said Capt. Jeffrey Randall, the James' commanding officer. Read Next: Hercules Crew Receives Air Force Combat Action Medal After RPG Attack No cutter wants to be the Coast Guard's version of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt or Diamond Princess cruise ship. "We've added an extra decontamination process to protect our people, protect our boats and our equipment -- things external to the ship. You set a seal around the ship," Randall told Military.com during an interview via satellite phone from the Pacific. Since COVID-19 started spreading across the U.S. earlier this year, the Coast Guard has deployed at least seven cutters to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, working with the Navy and Air Force, as well as personnel and assets from 22 allied nations, for counter-narcotics operations. Coast Guard vessels have logged 47 drug seizures, captured more than 85,000 pounds of cocaine and detained at least 100 suspected drug smugglers since the beginning of the year, according to Coast Guard spokesman Chief Warrant Officer 4 Barry Lane. Coast Guard crews also have intercepted 3,100 migrants attempting to reach the U.S., according to Lane. President Donald Trump announced the enhanced counterdrug operations during a White House briefing on the coronavirus response April 1, saying the effort was needed to ensure that drug cartels did not exploit the pandemic. But the mission also is intended to send a message to Venezuela that drug trafficking supported by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won't be tolerated. For the crew of the James, the deployment is business as usual, except for the extreme measures they are taking to keep the coronavirus off the cutter. According to Randall, the COVID-19 prevention measures include no recreational port calls and minimal contact with port workers during resupply. They maintain distance during boarding operations, requiring space between their boarding crews and smuggling suspects. They strip their protective equipment before returning to James, wrapping it all in trash bags and sanitizing the small boat used for boarding. They constantly wipe down the ship and have a plan for keeping detainees sequestered from the crew. "We would need to put them in a separate area away from the crew in case one of them was COVID positive. Then we're probably going to bring them back and work with the host nation to ensure that they face prosecution," Randall said. Still, with any encounter, there is risk, he added. "We minimize it, but we don't eliminate it," Randall said. "You can't let your guard down." As of May 14, 91 Coast Guard members had been diagnosed with COVID-19, including 19 active cases. No one unit has sustained a "large-scale or highly concentrated outbreak," Lane said. The Navy has not been as fortunate. It has been the service hardest hit by the pandemic, with 2,296 cases as of May 19, including at least 64 sailors on the guided missile destroyer Kidd and more than 1,100 on the Roosevelt. The Army has had 1,238 cases of COVID-19; the Air Force, 453 cases; the Marine Corps, 494; and the Army and Air National Guards, 1,162, as of May 14. U.S. Southern Command has not announced when the surge operations will end. And despite the operation's success, it has its share of critics, especially from drug policy reform advocates who believe the "war on drugs" is a waste of resources -- including, during the pandemic, personal protective gear that could have gone to health care workers. "Instead of doubling down on the war on drugs that has been a failure in every sense, we should be focused on rebuilding communities and fostering the health and safety of all people. This is true at all times, but especially during a global pandemic," said Kassandra Frederique, managing director of policy advocacy and campaigns for the Drug Policy Alliance, in a statement. Randall, whose crew had boarded three suspect vessels as of mid-May, said his ship carefully tracks the "burn rate" of its personal protective equipment and is not "taking it away from other priority needs." Plus, he added, the counterdrug, fisheries enforcement and migrant interdiction missions are all vital to national security. "Seventy thousand people a year, roughly, die from drug-related overdoses. So, any interdiction that we do out here helps reduce the number of overdose deaths in the U.S. and the violence that goes with it," Randall said. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: Coast Guard Cutter Diligence to Depart for New Homeport Ahead of Schedule Amman On normal days, the tiny, gas-rich nation of Qatar looks like a giant construction site. Dozens of hotels and sports stadiums are being constructed, along with a world-class transportation infrastructure that includes a 47-mile metro system and miles of brand new roads. Most of these massive projects were scheduled to be finished in time for the 2022 Football World Cup, which Qatar was controversially awarded to host. Qatar sits on one of the world's biggest natural gas reserves, so securing financing for the projects was never an issue. The biggest challenge was acquiring the manpower to build and oversee all the work. Like most of its neighbors, Qatar is heavily dependent on foreign labor, mainly workers from Asian and East African countries. Less than 10% of Qatar's nearly 2.5 million inhabitants are Qatari nationals. About 600,000 blue-collar workers, mostly young, single non-Qatari men, labor away to build Qatar's legacy. In color-coded uniforms, the workers are bussed onto the construction sites in the morning. In the afternoon the laborers are delivered back to huge camps, built specifically to house them, on the outskirts of the capital, Doha. The labor camps have long been criticized by human rights groups for overcrowding and poor living conditions. Now, according to a health expert with the World Bank, due to those conditions, "this is fertile ground for transmission of COVID-19." QATAR-LABOUR-FBL-WC2022-HOUSING Mubarak, a labourer from Bangladesh, rests in his bedroom at a private camp housing foreign workers in Doha, Qatar, in a May 3, 2015 file photo. MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP/Getty Dr. Sameh El-Saharty, Lead Health Specialist at The World Bank, said recently that migrant workers are a "major issue" in the transmission of COVID-19 for countries in the region that are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Qatar. "The increase [in transmissions] was relatively slow in the first few weeks. Then it started to rise almost exponentially from one week to another," El-Saharty said recently at the Brookings Doha Center. "These transmissions were mainly among migrant workers, and for obvious reasons." Story continues Since Qatar's first few cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in March, the numbers have mushroomed to almost 29,000 in less than two months. The cases have spread across all of Qatar's population, and while officials don't give precise breakdowns of where they are, it's clear many are inside the labor camps. Authorities moved fast to contain the spreading virus by locking down the country and isolating the entire industrial area where the laborers live. An official from the Qatari Government Communications Office told CBS News the country has, "implemented wide-ranging containment and prevention measures [and] curtailed all social activity, closed parks and recreation facilities, shuttered mosques and other religious places of worship, and closed shops and restaurants." Qatar Construction Laborers pour concrete on top of an under-constitution high-rise in Doha, Qatar, May 2, 2019. Kamran Jebreili/AP From Sunday, it will also be mandatory for everyone in Qatar to wear face coverings when out in public - enforced by a possible fine up to $53,000. More than 11,000 hospital beds were set aside for COVID-19 patients and over 30 hotels blocked off by the government to use as quarantine facilities. "Qatar's priority is the health, safety, and wellbeing of our population," the official told CBS News, adding that, "anyone who tests positive for coronavirus immediately receives high-quality medical treatment at no cost." The robust health care system, and the fact that such a high proportion of the people in Qatar are young, relatively healthy laborers to begin with, has likely helped keep the confirmed COVID-19 death toll down to only 14 - considerably lower than other countries with similar case numbers. The government is also trying to keep Qatar's economy healthy. It's providing "financial support to businesses through an $824 million fund, so that salaries continue to be paid on time." The International Monetary Fund has forecasted that Qatar will be one of the few countries in the world to escape a recession in 2020. Though the GCO official insisted that Qatar, "is well-equipped to weather the economic impact of COVID-19," some major sectors will inevitably take a hit. Qatar Airways announced this week that it will cut nearly 9,000 jobs as the coronavirus crisis keeps demand for air travel low. The airline's CEO told the BBC in an interview: "It's a very hard decision but we have no alternative." Work on Qatar's infrastructure projects, meanwhile, continues - but at a much slower pace with many projects frozen. That means many of the foreign laborers are left to bide their time - on the "fertile ground" of the camps. Airlines step up safety measures during coronavirus Body cam footage reveals officers asking to search Ahmaud Arbery's car in a Brunswick park State Department watchdog was investigating arms sales; Pompeo denies retaliation Britain's chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak. (Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images) Almost a third of the UKs working population is now receiving state-support to pay their wages through the COVID-19 pandemic, new figures show. Under the the governments job retention scheme 8 million people have been furloughed, the Treasury said on Tuesday, at a cost of 11.1bn ($13.4bn) to the state. A further 2 million self-employed people have claimed government grants worth 6.1bn. It means 10 million workers across the UK are depending on some form of government cash to pay their wages through the crisis. Figures from the Office for National Statistics, also released on Tuesday, show 33.1 million Brits are currently in work, highlighting the huge scale of the state intervention. The ONS said on Tuesday that employment in the UK stood at a joint record high of 76.6% going into the pandemic. However, unemployment claims grew by 850,000 to 2.1 million in April. The surge is likely to push the UKs unemployment rate up from a record low 3.9% to around 9%. While a huge leap, the figure compares favourably to the US where unemployment looks set to climb above 20% in May. The US has no form of wage support to try and keep employees in work. However, fears are growing that the UKs job retention scheme, which pays 80% of employee wages, will only delay a wave of redundancies rather than prevent them. READ MORE: UK jobless claims surged 69% as lockdown began Many firms will be unable to operate at full capacity for some time, and this means there's an increasing risk that businesses begin to make longer-lasting changes to their business models, James Smith, a developed markets economist at bank ING, said on Tuesday. That, in turn, raises the risk of a second wave of redundancies depending on how and when the Job Retention Scheme is eventually phased out. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said in a statement: Our plan to support businesses and individuals is one of the most comprehensive in the world. As these figures show, we are currently supporting millions of workers and businesses through these tough times so we can recover as quickly as possible. The Treasury figures show almost 22bn has now been lent to UK businesses under the governments three main coronavirus business support schemes. The Punjab excise and taxation department has missed its revenue targets for the past three years, Congress MP Partap Singh Bajwa alleged on Tuesday, as he sought to counter the party-led state government's claim that there was a marked increase in excise revenue. Blaming liquor smuggling and liquor mafia in the state for revenue loss, Rajya Sabha MP Bajwa sought a probe by a central agency or a sitting judge into the matter. On May 15, the state excise and taxation department, which is with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, had said the revenue receipts had shown marked increase since the Amarinder Singh government came to power in 2017. It had also stressed that it has not incurred any losses in the financial year 2019-20, except those resulting from the COVID-19-related lockdown. Bajwa, who is a former Punjab Congress chief, took to Twitter on Tuesday and attacked his party-led government in the state over the excise revenue issue. Bajwa asked the chief minister that when the government's own accounts showed missing of excise revenue targets, how is it that you have publicly declared that this is not true? In a series of tweets, Bajwa pointed out that the excise department missed the revenue target during the first year (2017-18) of the state government by Rs 286 crore and then by Rs 927 crore in the second year (2018-19). He further claimed that till February 2020, the excise department collected Rs 4,380 crore out of a target of Rs 6,201 crore. Bajwa said in his tweet that in the last three years, the Congress-led government in Punjab had not only missed its revenue targets, but it seems to be missing it by a larger amount each year. These losses must have arisen due to the illegal smuggling of liquor across state boundaries by distilleries, with the aim of evading excise taxes with the help of excise department officials, Bajwa claimed in his tweet. Citing reports that 900 cases were registered under the Excise Act from March 22 till April 29 in the state, Bajwa tweeted, These are just those that have been unearthed, which means that a larger network is functioning. The liquor mafia is growing in the state, and it is time that we allow a central agency or a sitting judge who is independent of the government of Punjab to investigate this issue immediately, Bajwa demanded. Earlier, 10 Congress legislators had demanded a probe against the CS Karan Avtar Singh, blaming him for alleged excise revenue losses. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, is due to meet representatives of the Taliban and Afghan government to discuss the start of peace talks under an agreement signed February 29 between the United States and the Taliban. The U.S. State Department said in a statement on May 18 that Khalilzad will meet in Doha with the Taliban representatives to discuss implementation of the agreement and press for steps necessary to commence intra-Afghan negotiations, including a significant reduction of violence. He will meet with senior government officials in Kabul to explore steps the Afghan government needs to take to make intra-Afghan negotiations begin as soon as possible, the statement said. Khalilzad left on May 17 for Doha and Kabul, the statement said, but it did not provide details about when the meetings would take place. During the meetings, Khalilzad will continue to reinforce the U.S. view that the best path to end the conflict is for all parties to sit together and negotiate an agreement on the political future of Afghanistan, the statement said. Khalilzads departure came after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, reached a power-sharing agreement under which Abdullah will lead the government's efforts to reach a peace deal with the Taliban. The power struggle had been one of the main impediments to the start of intra-Afghan negotiations to end more than 18 years of war. The talks were to begin on March 10 under the February agreement, which calls for U.S. and foreign troops to withdraw from Afghanistan following an intra-Afghan deal in exchange for guarantees from the Taliban not to allow the country to become a haven for transnational terrorist groups such as Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda. The Taliban has ramped up attacks in recent weeks despite a pledge to reduce violence, a tactic that it may have employed to strengthen its negotiating position. Meanwhile, IS militants also continue to conduct deadly attacks Afghan security forces and civilians. The Taliban claimed responsibility for a car-bomb attack on May 18 targeting an intelligence base in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least nine people and wounding dozens. Last week, the Taliban detonated a truck close to a military building in Gardez city in southeastern Paktia Province, leaving five dead and 20 injured, including military personnel and civilians. The militant group last week also attacked a military checkpoint in the Alishang district of eastern Laghman Province that left dozens dead or wounded. The Taliban has said the attacks are a response to Ghani ordering Afghan forces to go on the offensive against the militant group. Ghani gave the order on May 12 after a violent day in which gunmen stormed at a maternity hospital in Kabul and a suicide bomber targeted a funeral in the eastern province of Nangarhar. The Taliban denied involvement in the attacks, which killed more than 50 people. Ghani blamed the Taliban and the Islamic State (IS) group for the two attacks and ordered Afghan security forces to switch from an active defense mode to an offensive one and to start their operations against the enemies. With reporting by Reuters Does Canada deserve a UN Security Council seat? J. Berkshire Miller of the Macdonald Laurier Institute, says Yes, while author, activist and former co-executive director of The Leap Bianca Mugyenyi, says No. J. Berkshire Miller Macdonald Laurier Institute YES The Trudeau government is in the final stretch of campaigning hard for Canadas seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Canadas competition for this coveted role is tight, competing against strong bids from Norway and Ireland. On the question of whether Canada deserves this seat, the answer should be an unequivocal yes; Canada is precisely the sort of country that would improve global governance if it gained a UNSC seat and it actually has a much stronger case than Norway or Ireland. Canada is a founding member of the G7, G20, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation key international fora that influence the worlds most consequential economic, political, and security decisions. Neither Ireland nor Norway are members of these three clubs. While contributing much to global governance in their own ways, they are not as uniquely positioned as Canada to press forward key areas of interest in a range of crosscutting institutions. Norway and Ireland bring important contributions to regional security, with the latter fielding more than 600 peacekeepers to the United Nations. Yet neither has the potential, or inclination, to play as important a defence and security role as Canada. Unlike Canada, neither has demonstrated stakes in some of the globes most critical conflict zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan or, in the case of Norway, taken a lead role in the NATO-led mission in the Baltics (Ireland is not a NATO member). Canada can and should be realistic about the extent of its contributions from both a strategic and resource perspective. That said, robust Canadian engagement internationally cannot be seen as a choice or a luxury. Authoritarian governments, from China to Russia to Iran, are actively taking measures to alter and weaken the current rules-based order and the international legal foundation that underpins it. As a major middle power, an unapologetic and robust Canadian presence on the UNSC could promote and defend our interests in upholding the rules-based international order. Clearly, Canada deserves a seat on the UNSC. But the fact that Canada deserves the seat is precisely why we might be unlikely to actually get the seat; the reality is that all too many UN Member States (including UNSC permanent members like China and Russia) are not interested in having a country like Canada in a position of influence. Moreover, just because Canada would be a positive influence at the UNSC does not mean the Trudeau governments approach is correct or even worthwhile. For instance, cosying up to African states mere months before the vote reeks both of desperation and (in the case of countries like Senegal, Rwanda and others with significant human rights concerns) a moral compass adrift. While a principled engagement with states across the globe is of value, this must be done in line with Canadian interests and not just in pursuit of a coveted seat at the UNSC. Our approach to securing a seat also falls short of just how significant a role Canada could and should play in the worlds largest multilateral forum. Simply put, it has been guided by naked political interest. If Canada needs to play these sorts of games to get a UNSC seat, the question is not whether Canada deserves a seat, but rather does the UN actually deserve to have Canada as a member of its most important body? The Big Debate And just because we may deserve a seat doesnt mean we even need it. With or without a UNSC seat, Canada should use its position internationally to continue standing up against those who are undermining international law and infringing on human rights. This includes leading the pushback against China for violating international rules and norms in the South China Sea, undertaking a sustained campaign to detain and subjugate Uighurs, and many more serious offences. The same should be true with regard to other key threats to the rules-based order, including the growing authoritarian influences in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran to name a few. With the UN having said little to nothing meaningful to push back on such examples, one must question the value of expending such capital for a non-permanent UNSC seat. Canada should use its position in the international community to actively and repeatedly stand up for our values and interests. While we may deserve a UNSC seat, it is not worth sacrificing a strong and uncompromised Canadian voice on the world stage to get it. J. Berkshire Miller is deputy director and senior fellow at the Macdonald Laurier Institute and senior fellow with Japan Institute of International Affairs. Bianca Mugyenyi Author and activist NO Despite its peaceful reputation, Canada is not acting as a benevolent player on the international stage. Rather, Canada ranks among the 12 largest arms exporters and its weapons have fuelled conflicts across the globe, including the devastating war in Yemen. In a disappointing move, Canada refused to join 122 countries represented at the 2017 UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Towards their Total Elimination. Ottawa has also been an aggressive proponent of the nuclear-armed NATO alliance, and currently leads coalition missions in Latvia and Iraq. Echoing Trumps foreign policy, Canada has backed reactionary forces in the Americas. The Trudeau government has led efforts to unseat Venezuelas UN-recognized government, while propping up repressive, corrupt and illegitimate governments in Haiti and Honduras. Canada also lent its support to the economic elites and Christian extremists who recently overthrew the democratically elected Indigenous president of Bolivia. In the Middle East, Canada has sided with Israel on almost every issue of importance. Since coming to power the Trudeau government has voted against more than 50 UN resolutions upholding Palestinian rights backed by the overwhelming majority of member states. The Canadian government has refused to abide by 2016 UN Security Council Resolution 2334, calling on member states to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied in 1967. On the contrary, Ottawa extends economic and trade assistance to Israels illegal settlement enterprise. Should it win a seat on the UNSC, Ottawa has stated that it will act as an asset for Israel on the council. Canadian mining companies are responsible for countless ecological and human rights abuses around the globe. Still, Ottawa defends the most controversial mining firms and refuses to restrict public support for companies responsible for abuses. The chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights criticized the Trudeau government for refusing to rein in mining abuses while the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes has decried the double standard applied to Canadian mining practices domestically versus internationally. Falling short of its responsibilities as a global citizen, Canada continues to oppose the Basel Ban Amendment on the export of waste from rich to poor countries, which became binding in late 2019 after ratification by 97 countries. Ottawa also failed to ratify the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Ottawa has refused to ratify more than 50 International Labour Organization conventions. In November, Canada once again refused to back a widely supported UN resolution on Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Violating the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Trudeau government sent militarized police into unceded Wetsuweten Nation territory to push through a pipeline. The UN Human Rights Committee recently documented various ways Canada is failing to live up to its obligations towards Indigenous people under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Ignoring front-line victims, Ottawa refuses to keep Canadas dirty oil in the ground. Canada is on pace to emit significantly more greenhouse gases than it agreed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement and previous climate accords. Already among the worlds highest per capita emitters, the Canadian government is subsidizing further growth of heavy emitting tarsands, at the expense of impoverished nations whove contributed little to the climate crisis but bear the brunt of its impacts. The international community should not reward bad behaviour. Please vote against Canadas bid for a seat on the UN Security Council. This article is supported by more than a hundred artists, activists and academics including David Suzuki, Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), Ellen Gabriel and Romeo Saganash. To view the full list of signatories or to add your name, visit: foreignpolicy.ca Bianca Mugyenyi is an author, activist and former co-executive director of The Leap. Your definition and Fianna Fail TD Thomas Byrne's definition of what constitutes something being "utterly sick" may be slightly different. Actually most people's idea of what is or isn't "utterly sick" is probably different to the Meath East TD's definition. For instance, the abuse of children across two decades by senior figures in Scouting Ireland most would agree is "utterly sick". Politicians asking civil servants to prepare for how elections could be held during a global pandemic would not be in most people's definition of "utterly sick". But on Saturday morning, Byrne took to social media to condemn his future partners in government as "utterly sick" when the 'Irish Times' reported that Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy asked his officials to draft plans for how an election could be held should negotiations on forming a government fail. Among the issues being explored was whether polling could take place in nursing homes. "We are still getting to grips with, and seeking answers to, real tragedies in our nursing homes while this article reports that Eoghan Murphy is now planning for polling stations in nursing homes for a snap election," Byrne said on Twitter. "How utterly sick," he added. Byrne is a prolific tweeter and has some 21,000 posts on the social media forum. He is also a prominent frontbench TD who regularly represents the party in the broadcast media. He is not one to sway far from the party line and it is safe to say he would not have rashly described a Fine Gael minister as "utterly sick". Barry Cowen was similarly upset by the election planning which he described as "bad faith" and "selfishness". Who knew politicians would be so distressed by other politicians preparing for an election? Fine Gael decided it could not miss out on an opportunity to be sanctimonious and issued a statement condemning the "unwarranted" attack that had "damaged the talks process". "The leader of Fine Gael will be in contact with the leader of Fianna Fail to discuss the matter," it added - or as a five-year-old might say, "I'm telling my Da on you." It all seemed like an elaborate attempt to distract from the Green Party's internal turmoil over entering into talks with what we were led to believe are the country's two responsible political parties. Yesterday, the grown-ups from the three parties met for a meeting pre-arranged before the election talk bust-up. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar assured Micheal Martin and Eamon Ryan he was not planning to call a snap election if the talks collapsed. Varadkar said he was not even aware officials in the Custom House franchise section were working on how an election could be held and said his party was negotiating with Fianna Fail and the Greens in good faith. The tone of Byrne and Cowen's tweets were also raised at the meeting. The scheduled hour-long encounter went on for nearly two but by the end of it all was resolved - for the time being. Trust will be a big issue for the next government and the first test did not go so well. The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama, Abuja, has struck out charges of resistance to arrest instituted against former Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye. Recall that Melaye was on January 22, 2019, arraigned before the judge by the Inspector-General on Police, who later handed over the case to the AGF office. The former lawmaker was arraigned on charges bordering on alleged conspiracy, resistance to arrest, failure to honour police invitation and intentionally giving false information to the public. Also Read: Dino Melaye Speaks On Alleged Wedding Rumour; Set To Release Song For Bloggers Advertisement Ruling on the case on Tuesday, Justice Yusuf Halilu cited undiligent prosecution as he struck out eight counts charges. The judge made the order following the inability of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to produce its sole proposed witness to testify on Tuesday. It sounds like the premise of a reality TV dating show: meet someone you think is pretty neat and then, a decision. A) move in together immediately and isolate for an undetermined period of time, or B) risk not seeing each other for what could be many months. This was the decision that Taren McKenney, 25, and Ebony Papanastasiou, 24, faced when the pandemic hit (before it was announced visiting partners was permitted). For them, the answer was a no-brainer. So the day they officially became a couple is also the day they began living together. Ebony Papanastasiou (left) and Taren McKenney have been isolating together since March. Credit:Eddie Jim Theyve now been official for almost two months and while they joke that they're yet to go on their first date, they could not be happier. Its been a weirdly exciting time for us, getting to know each other in strange circumstances, McKenney says. We both feel pretty lucky. The Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority has been awarded a $21.4 million grant from the federal government to help the authority maintain service during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Monday. The DOTs Federal Transit Administration announced the grant, which comes from dollars allocated in the $2 trillion stimulus package known as the CARES Act. This historic $25 billion in grant funding will ensure our nations public transportation systems can continue to provide services to the millions of Americans who continue to depend on them, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao. The authority will use the funds on operating, preventative maintenance and administrative expenses, according to the FTA. We know many of our nations public transportation systems are facing extraordinary challenges and these funds will go a long way to assisting our transit industry partners in battling COVID-19, said FTA Acting Administrator K. Jane Williams. These federal funds will support operating assistance to transit agencies of all sizes providing essential travel and supporting transit workers across the country who are unable to work because of the public health emergency. The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, with the Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom, on Tuesday, launched the online platform for the acquisition of building permits to simplify and facilitate the processes for efficiency. The automated platform named, the "Permit Process System (PPS)" is operational in the Accra and Tema Metropolitan Assemblies, for now. Developers and contractors and the public can visit https://www.buildingpermitsgh.org/permits/cpp/home to begin the process. Hajia Alima Mahama, the Sector Minister, who launched the platform, via live streaming, with support from the Ministry of Information, said the system provided an electronic database of all building and construction permit records with an in-built document management system. The PPS is one of the outputs of the Business Enabling Environment Project, which began in 2015 with support from DFID. The project aims is to reduce the time and cost of doing business at the local level with focus on the issuance of a building permit. The PPS, the Minister said, would provide more transparency and visibility on all building permits since physical activities such as personal submission of forms, payments and inspections would be reduced. The System has been made user-friendly with the inclusion of a video tutorial with 'voice over' which directs applicants through the process. The System has a citizens portal through which external users such as building developers and contractors can log onto and apply for building permits online in the comfort of their offices and homes, track the status of their applications, receive responses to their inquiries, obtain appointments for building inspections and access the list of qualified building agents, such as Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors. This, Hajia Alima said, was necessary, especially during the period of Coronavirus pandemic where protocols, including social distancing, were being enforced. The Minister urged stakeholders to make good use of the platform, which helped in reducing the bureaucracy in the system. Ms Carine Escoffier-Roberts, the Deputy Country Director, DFID, commended Ghana for the bold steps in ensuring the realisation of the project. She said the platform would help address the unnecessary delays in the issuance of building permits, which slowed economic development. Ms Escoffier-Roberts expressed the UK's continuous commitment to support the Government's digital transformational agenda. Mr Patrick Ebo Bonful, the President, Ghana Real Estate Developers Association, commended stakeholders for developing the system, saying, 'It is a good step for the industry'. He said the manual permit processes were very tedious and challenging but the online alternative would address the gaps in the system. Mr Ben Hagan, a developer at the Tema Metro, who applied for a building permit for his uncle, testified that the system was convenient after scanning and uploading all the necessary documents onto the platform. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video President Donald Trump's administration has awarded a $354 million contract to US-based Phlow Corp to manufacture drugs being tested or used to fight the new coronavirus as well as some medicines that are in shortage. Virginia-based Phlow Corp said it had started making pharmaceutical ingredients and finished dosage forms for over a dozen essential medicines to treat hospitalised patients with COVID-19-related illnesses. Many of these medicines are in shortage and have previously been imported from other countries, the private company said in a statement. India and China account for a vast majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients used to make drugs in the US. The funding immediately enabled Phlow to deliver over 1.6 million doses of five essential generic medicines used to treat COVID-19 patients to the US Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), it said. The four-year contract will allow Phlow to lead a team of private sector entities that includes Civica Rx, Ampac Fine Chemicals and the Medicines for All Institute. All pharmaceutical products by Phlow will be made in the US, according to the company's website. Zibo Hou became the CEO of Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited (HKG:392) in 2017. This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other companies that have similar market capitalization. Then we'll look at a snap shot of the business growth. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels. Check out our latest analysis for Beijing Enterprises Holdings How Does Zibo Hou's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? Our data indicates that Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited is worth HK$33b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as HK$1.8m for the year to December 2019. That's less than last year. It is worth noting that the CEO compensation consists almost entirely of the salary, worth HK$1.8m. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of HK$16b to HK$50b. The median total CEO compensation was HK$4.3m. Next, let's break down remuneration compositions to understand how the industry and company compare with each other. Talking in terms of the sector, salary represented approximately 43% of total compensation out of all the companies we analysed, while other remuneration made up 57% of the pie. On a company level, Beijing Enterprises Holdings prefers to reward its CEO through a salary, opting not to pay Zibo Hou through non-salary benefits. At first glance this seems like a real positive for shareholders, since Zibo Hou 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. You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Beijing Enterprises Holdings, below. SEHK:392 CEO Compensation May 19th 2020 Is Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited Growing? Over the last three years Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited has seen earnings per share (EPS) move in a positive direction by an average of 9.1% per year (using a line of best fit). The trailing twelve months of revenue was pretty much the same as the prior period. Story continues I'd prefer higher revenue growth, but it is good to see modest EPS growth. So there are some positives here, but not enough to earn high praise. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings. Has Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited Been A Good Investment? Given the total loss of 23% over three years, many shareholders in Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. It therefore might be upsetting for shareholders if the CEO were paid generously. In Summary... It looks like Beijing Enterprises Holdings Limited pays its CEO less than similar sized companies. Zibo Hou is paid less than CEOs of similar size companies, but growth hasn't been particularly impressive and the total shareholder return over three years would leave many disappointed. So while shareholders shouldn't be overly concerned about CEO compensation, they would probably like to see improved shareholder returns before seeing a pay increase. Shifting gears from CEO pay for a second, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Beijing Enterprises Holdings you should be aware of, and 1 of them doesn't sit too well with us. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. London, May 19 : Prestigious British medical journal The Lancet on Tuesday refuted claims made by US President Donald Trump in his letter to the World Health Organisation (WHO), saying that the Lancet study cited in the letter about Wuhan outbreak in December 2019 does not exist. Trump, in his letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the organisation has "failed to independently investigate credible reports that conflicted directly with the Chinese government's official accounts". He cited a Lancet study in his letter, saying the WHO consistently ignored reports of the virus spreading in China in early December, including ones featured in The Lancet. "This statement is factually incorrect. The Lancet published no report in December, 2019, referring to a virus or outbreak in Wuhan or anywhere else in China," the British medical journal said in a statement. The journal said the first reports it published were on January 24, adding that the scientists and physicians who led one of the studies were all from Chinese institutions, reports NBCNews. "They worked with us to quickly make information about this new epidemic outbreak and the disease it caused fully and freely available to an international audience," the statement further read. A second Lancet paper, also published on January 24, described the first scientific evidence confirming person-to-person transmission of the new virus. Richard Horton, who is editor-in-chief of The Lancet, tweeted: "Dear President Trump - You cite The Lancet in your attack on WHO. Please let me correct the record. The Lancet did not publish any report in early December, 2019, about a virus spreading in Wuhan. The first reports we published were from Chinese scientists on Jan 24, 2020." The Lancet said allegations levelled against the WHO in Trump's letter were "serious and damaging". A lady (name withheld) is apologizing to her biological sister for having sexual intercourse with her husband on multiple occasions. The woman has been staying with her sister and the husband in their marital home. She recounted that her sister brought her from the village to live in the city with them. According to her, the sister, who is a trader, travels to China for sometimes a month to transact business. She narrated, in an interview with Odi Ahekan on Peace FM's drive time ''Ekwanso Brebre'', that whenever her sister is away from home, she would engage in sexual activity with her husband. According to her, her first sexual encounter with her blood sister's husband was not consensual as the man pounced on her, but subsequently he has been walking into her room to sleep with her. He added that the man threatened to ''kill'' her should she divulge the illicit affair to her sister or family. She revealed that she has had four abortions with the man and is asking for her sister's forgiveness. Video below: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Peace 104.3 FM (@peace104.3fm) on May 19, 2020 at 11:02am PDT 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 Connecticut retailers will be reopening as part of phase 1 on May 20, and that includes some of the state's major malls. In southern Connecticut, there are five opening up. RELATED: Illustrations show what CT businesses should look like in phase 1 Other large retailers like Christmas Tree Shops and Best Buy are also opening their doors, while some have not yet committed to an opening date. IKEA, for example, plans to continue with curbside pick-up only for the next couple weeks, a spokesperson said. Scroll to see which major retailers are opening the week of May 20. Note: Ad blocker may prevent you from scrolling all the way. In April, Gen. Ismail Qaani, who replaced General Suleimani as the Quds Force commander, came to Baghdad with a clear message. He told senior Iraqi political leaders that Tehran was troubled by Iraqs economic disarray: Things are not good in Iraq and they cant go on like this because Iraq will become a burden on Iran, he said, according to a senior Iraqi political leader who met with General Qaani. With Iraq on the verge of falling apart and the Americans threatening to end the sanctions waivers for Iraq and refusing to aid its struggling economy, Iran blinked. Iran overplayed its hand and they were overstretched in Lebanon, in Syria and then the protests in the fall and the fact that Shiites protested against Iran, that shook them, said a senior Iraqi politician who asked not to be identified in order to discuss delicate diplomatic issues. Iran not only accepted Mr. al-Kadhimi, the American choice, but also lobbied its allied parties in Iraq to support him. Western officials took that as a victory. The narrative since 2003 is that the West has allowed Iraqi politics to shift toward Iran, said a senior Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. But actually here, this time, the Americans and the British supported Kadhimi from the beginning and Iran did not, and it was Iran who moved a little. Alissa J. Rubin reported from Baghdad, and Farnaz Fassihi from New York. Falih Hassan contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Lara Jakes from Washington. Sunbathing on a packed beach is off the cards this summer, as the future of European travel is set to adapt to some changes. Countries across Europe are trying to figure out ways to entice tourists to come back despite coronavirus remaining a threat. Europe was at one point the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak, with more than 1.3 million cases and 156,000 recorded deaths across the continent. But in places where tourism accounts for much of the economy, officials are considering changes to how hotels, resorts and nightclubs can operate under the world's new way of life. Here are some of the countries making new tourism rules. Cyprus The Mediterranean island of Cyprus is considering asking tourists to take a COVID-19 test prior to their arrival. Travellers could also be asked to disinfect their luggage and reception desks may be put behind screens, while cleaning staff could be dressed in full protective gear. The island's deputy minister for tourism, Savvas Perdios, said the island would look to bring tourists from nearby countries that have controlled the virus well, including Greece, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Portugal Southern European tourist hotspot Portugal will likely award hotels a "Clean&Safe" seal to help tourists safely choose accommodation. The seal will indicate that the establishment, be it a hotel, restaurant or other venue, has enacted recommended hygiene and safety procedures to protect against the virus . Other changes being adopted include hotel guests not being able to check in to their rooms until 24 hours after the last occupant has checked out, allowing time for thorough cleaning and airing of the space. Some hotel guests may get exclusive use of their own sunbed and buffets are unlikely to be offered, though room service is expected to thrive. And on the beach, sunbathers will be told to stay 1.5 metres apart with umbrellas at least three metres apart. There will also be new signs and an app using a traffic light system of red, yellow and green indicating which beaches are full, partly full, or have few people. Paddle boats and water slides will be completely prohibited. Story continues The Portuguese government said hotels intend to start opening from 1 June, but discos will be the last places to open. Greece Direct flights to Greece from the UK are due to resume on 1 June, with some domestic flights and ferries operating. Travel to Evia and Crete from the mainland will be permitted, while all other islands are restricted, and all arrivals must self-isolate for 14 days. :: Listen to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Spreaker Tourists will be expected to wear masks in shops and on public transport and taxis will only take two people at a time. Large gatherings such as sporting events and festivals are unlikely to return this summer. Travel updates for other popular European tourist hotspots Spain Hard-hit Spain will likely have to wait until late June to welcome holidaymakers back , despite having a tourism-dependent economy. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is preparing to ask parliament to extend a state of emergency until 27 June, with the strict lockdown measures so far helping to limit infections and COVID-19 related deaths, which stand at 27,709. Spain has made some changes, lifting a ban on direct flights and ships from Italy which have been imposed since 11 March. However tourism restrictions and a 14-day quarantine for inbound travellers remain in place. Italy Once the active centre of the European coronavirus outbreak, Italians are slowly regaining their freedom and have enjoyed being able to sit down at a cafe or restaurant, shop in all retail stores, and attend church this week. However, travel restrictions remain firmly in place and they will not be able to travel outside their regions except for work or other strict necessities until next month as lockdown rules are slowly eased. International travel to Italy will be possible from 3 June, with EU visitors allowed in with no requirement to self-isolate . People can also start moving freely across the country's regions on the same day. France Emergency measures in France are currently set to be in place until at least 24 July, with the government banning non-essential trips and requiring overseas visitors to self-isolate. Talks are ongoing to negotiate how the border crossing between the UK and France would work to ensure the spread of COVID-19 is contained. Borders with Switzerland and Germany are due to reopen from 15 June, but no date has been announced for borders reopening to non-essential travel by UK nationals. The significant inflows arrived at into LME-approved sheds at Port Klang, Malaysia and Toledo in the United States, with 21,500 tonnes put into warehouses at Port Klang and 5,000 tonnes arriving in Toledo. In Malaysia, a 4,400-tonne outflow from Port Klang and Johor failed to temper the impact of the inflows on LME aluminium futures, which closed below $1,500 per tonne at around $1,492 per tonne this afternoon, the only LME base metal to close down on the day. Likewise, the fresh cancelation of 6,075 at Port Klang failed to buoy the three-month aluminium contract despite... Most Australian states and territories aren't yet ready to discuss when they will open their borders - even to domestic travellers. Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory all shut off their borders at the height of the coronavirus crisis. Western Australia and South Australia have indicated they hope to lift restrictions by the end of winter, but that hinges on the success of other states eliminating local transmission of the deadly respiratory virus. Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham urged governments to open borders to domestic holidaymakers as soon as it is safe to do so to offer the tourism sector a much-needed lifeline. Residents in New South Wales will have plenty of options for travel, including the scenic coasts or Byron Bay 'We need people moving across this country again when it's safe,' he told Nine on Tuesday. Tourism - which employs one in 13 Australians - has been one of the hardest-hit sectors as governments act to contain the spread of COVID-19. Most staff in the industry have been forced on to wage subsidies or temporarily-boosted welfare payments. Here, Daily Mail Australia takes a closer look at when each state will likely open their borders for holidaymakers again. WA closed off borders in early April in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus while the Northern Territory introduced mandatory hotel quarantines for returned travellers. Pictured: A family completing a roadtrip down the 90 Mile Straight in WA Queensland Queensland may start opening up borders from July - but not all Aussies will be welcomed with open arms. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said her state government hoped to ease some interstate travel as soon as possible, but people from New South Wales might not be allowed back in until September. She released a Roadmap to Easing Restrictions earlier this month which signalled opening the borders and allowing tourism as a priority. INTRASTATE TRAVEL Queenslanders will be able to travel up to 250km from their homes for intrastate holidays from June 12. From May 16, restrictions on visiting Fraser, Stradbroke and Moreton Islands for day trips were lifted. Advertisement But on Tuesday, Ms Palaszczuk said that would not necessarily translate to an open border policy. 'That could be for example South Australians coming to Queensland, because South Australia does not have community transmission,' the Premier said. 'I am not going to put at risk the lives of Queenslanders there is community transmission in NSW and Victoria. If other states want to look at working with Queensland, absolutely I am open to that. Ms Palaszczuk said she would continue to follow advice from the state's chief health officer. Australia's Health Minister Greg Hunt said he was shocked at the announcement, labelling it 'later than expected'. 'Certainly I would imagine a New Zealand bubble could be in place before the 1st of October if not earlier, but I'm just working back from Queensland's dates,' he said on Tuesday. The state government on Tuesday confirmed intrastate travel will be allowed from June 1 South Australia South Australia has indicated it will keep its borders shut until the end of winter. State authorities are working to avoid a second wave of cases after entirely eradicating the deadly respiratory infection. As a result, Premier Steven Marshall said borders will stay closed until other states and territories 'perform' and eradicate COVID-19 community transmission. He said while other jurisdictions continue to record new cases and community transmission, opening the borders would remain a threat to SA, which has no active cases. 'Opening up the borders would make us susceptible to that,' Mr Marshall said. A spokeswoman for the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney told Daily Mail Australia it was imperative that New South Wales allowed regional travel as soon as it was safe to do so 'We don't have a date on it and it really does depend on how the other states perform. 'There will come a time when the other states catch up to the position we're in SA and at that point, we do want to open our borders, but at this stage, we won't be opening them any time soon.' He said if other states continued to increase their testing and contact tracing capability, decrease their new cases and eliminate their community transmission, his government would be quick to act. Mr Marshall said South Australians wanted the borders to remain closed because they wanted to feel safe. Premier Steven Marshall said borders will stay closed until other states and territories 'perform' and eradicate COVID-19 community transmission. Pictured: Kangaroo Island in South Australia Western Australia Similarly, Western Australia has also indicated borders will remain closed until the end of winter. Premier Mark McGowan will not take any chances during the fight against COVID-19 and believes the health and safety of his people is more important than trying to boost the struggling economy. It might be an inconvenience... But frankly, I don't give a damn. WA Premier Mark McGowan 'I know the New South Wales Premier is unhappy, I know Mr Birmingham is unhappy. But frankly, bad luck,' he said on Tuesday. 'We're doing the right thing by the people of WA. 'It might inconvenience the New South Wales premier and some people from the eastern states, but frankly, I don't give a damn.' WA closed off borders in early April in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Exemptions were put in place for essential services, but the state even put an end to travel between regions to avoid community transmission. Mr McGowan said he would not consider opening the borders again 'as long as is necessary to protect the health of West Australians', which could potentially see them closed for months to come. Western Australia has also indicated borders will remain closed until the end of winter. Pictured: Esperance, WA Premier Mark McGowan will not take any chances during the fight against COVID-19 and believes the health and safety of his people is more important than trying to boost the struggling economy Tasmania Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein will not entertain the idea of setting a date to reopen borders. At present, any non-essential travellers arriving in Tasmania are required to isolate in a hotel specifically for quarantine for 14 days. Returning Tasmanians will now be able to isolate at home rather than inside the hotels. But there are no plans to relax those rules any further. 'If we can continue to follow those rules... I expect that in July we will be able to set a date for when our borders will come down,' Mr Gutwein said on Tuesday. Regional travel within New South Wales will ease in just two weeks following a relaxation of coronavirus lockdown restrictions 'To set a date now... would not be common sense. Mr Gutwein also said he would base his decision on the handling of the virus in other states. 'I would hope that sometime later this year based on public health advice that we would be able to relax our border controls,' he said. 'At the end of the day it will depend on what's happening in other states and we have no control over that.' Northern Territory Anybody arriving in the Northern Territory is required to complete 14 days of forced quarantine. Initially, this service was provided free of charge, but the state government introduced a fee from April 3. All arrivals, including Territorians returning home, are now required to pay $2,500 per person, of $5,000 per family, to stay in the designated hotels. Despite some calls for the NT to open borders for anybody travelling from a region that has been free of a COVID-19 case for more than 28 days, the state's Chief Minister, Michael Gunner, doesn't think its a viable option yet. 'If we can't say southerners are coming, that's going to be a blow to us because they spend money around town,' he said. '[But], I just can't let them in.' Anybody arriving in the Northern Territory is required to complete 14 days of forced quarantine New South Wales New South Wales never closed its borders, but all returning travellers were ordered to quarantine inside hotels for 14 days. The government also urged people to cancel non-essential travel. Up until this point, residents have been told they cannot travel regionally to holiday, but that rule is set to be reversed within just two weeks. The state government on Tuesday confirmed intrastate travel will be allowed from June 1. Premier Gladys Berejiklian will allow regional travel within New South Wales in two weeks Premier Gladys Berejiklian will confirm the new changes on Wednesday, 7News reported. The decision comes after almost two months of strict lockdown restrictions, which has seen people confined to their homes unless their travel is absolutely necessary. Earlier on Tuesday, the Premier said she worked closely with regional communities before making her decision. 'Some want it desperately because they appreciate the economic activity that will bring, and others are a bit more anxious about what that means,' she said. Where is the best place to visit in New South Wales? Restrictions will be lifted in New South Wales in just two weeks, giving residents the opportunity to flock to regional and coastal towns to holiday. The decision offers small towns a much-needed boost to the economy following devastating droughts, bushfires and the COVID-19 crisis. Some of New South Wales' most idyllic getaway destinations will be open for travellers from June 1. Potential holiday destinations include: Byron Bay - North Coast Nelson Bay - North Coast Lake Macquarie - Hunter Region Blue Mountains - West of Sydney Hunter Valley - Hunter Valley Wine Region Jervis Bay - South Coast Batemans Bay - South Coast Pokolbin - Hunter Valley Wine Region Broken Hill - Far West Region Snowy Mountains - South East Tablelands Advertisement Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory never closed its borders off to Australians from other states. But the state - along with the rest of Australia - imposed strict non-essential travel orders, which kept people at home. The federal government released a three-stage roadmap out of the tough lockdown, which encourages regional travel within a matter of weeks as long as people still practice safe social distancing. Travellers were urged to avoid visiting the ACT if possible, and were warned they could be subject to strict quarantine laws when returning to their home states. The Australian Capital Territory never closed their borders off to Australians from other states. But the state - along with the rest of Australia - imposed strict non-essential travel orders, which kept people at home. Pictured: Tuggeranong, Canberra Victoria Like New South Wales, Victoria never formally closed the borders. There is no requirement to quarantine when arriving from domestic flights into Victoria at the moment, but state authorities have urged people not to travel unless absolutely necessary. 'Victorians shouldn't be taking holidays currently, even within Victoria,' the official government website reads. 'You can go for a drive, but you are encouraged to stay local, and only go to places where you can drive there and back within one day.' In spite of the recommendations, people are still able to book accommodation if there is an essential need. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews never officially closed Victorian borders but urged people to avoid all non-essential travel Before Ben Schwartz and Thomas Middleditch stride onstage to do long-form improv, the comedy duo, at Schwartz's behest, always share a hug. "I love you," Schwartz utters every time. "OK," Middleditch often responds, not exactly saying "yes, and" to the gesture but sheepishly acknowledging his affection, nonetheless. "What's nice - though he had to drag me there, because I'm a man, you understand - is it just implies this sense of trust," Middleditch says of the ritual. "That's very Ben. He's a real sap, but he's a lovely sap." Middleditch isn't alone in highlighting Schwartz's sincerity. "You feel safe with him, and you like him," says Billy Crystal, who starred with Schwartz in the film "Standing Up, Falling Down." Greg Daniels, the co-creator of Schwartz's next project, Netflix's "Space Force," says the actor "just generates comedy at you like a hurricane - but he's also very vulnerable, and he just wears his heart on his sleeve." Raised in the Bronx by a music teacher mother and social worker father, Schwartz had the virtues of honest work ingrained in him early. Before he was booking roles, selling scripts and packing theaters, he interned for the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy troupe and worked as a page for the "Late Show With David Letterman," pitching jokes for the monologue on the side. Nearly two decades later, Schwartz, 38, is still hustling. "Standing Up, Falling Down" and "Sonic the Hedgehog," in which he voices the central speedster, hit theaters in February to favorable reviews. Last month, Netflix released a trio of acclaimed "Middleditch and Schwartz" improv specials. And the first season of "Space Force," which he appears in alongside Steve Carell and John Malkovich, launches May 29. "I've just worked my butt off," Schwartz says. "Being an actor or writer, as a kid, it was like me saying I wanted to be an astronaut. I knew nobody that did it, and it didn't feel like a real thing. So I feel really lucky that I've gotten this far." Many TV viewers still recognize Schwartz as the endearingly inept entrepreneur Jean-Ralphio Saperstein from NBC's "Parks and Recreation," which he recurred on from 2010 to 2015. He also was a series regular on the Don Cheadle comedy "House of Lies," which ran for five seasons on Showtime before concluding in 2016. "After that," Schwartz recalls, "I was like, 'You know what? I really want to try to be the lead of my own show.' " That aspiration steered Schwartz to the Showtime pilot "The Wrong Mans." A remake of the British action-comedy series, which starred James Corden and Mathew Baynton, the American version cast Schwartz and Jillian Bell as its leads, with J.J. Abrams attached as an executive producer. For Schwartz, the three-year process of developing the show, shooting the pilot and awaiting a series pickup came with a catch: It prevented him from pursuing work as a cast member elsewhere on television. "I took myself out of auditioning for television shows," Schwartz says, "because I couldn't be the lead of 'The Wrong Mans' and something else." Last summer, Showtime finally arrived at its decision - and passed on the series. "It was heartbreaking for me when it didn't go because I really believed in the project. I really believe that Jillian Bell is a genius, and I loved our team," says Schwartz, who also was a producer on the show. "Once it doesn't go, I look back at those three years and I'm like, 'Man, did I make a mistake by devoting so much of my time in television to this?' Because now that it's in the rearview, I have nothing to show for it." Within days, however, Schwartz pivoted. Daniels, best known as the mind behind "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation," learned that "The Wrong Mans" wasn't moving forward and promptly offered Schwartz an audition for "Space Force." A farcical imagining of the Trump administration's new military branch, the series orbits around stubborn but sympathetic Space Force chief Mark Naird (Carell). As the show cast the role of F. Tony Scarapiducci, the Machiavellian media consultant who needles Naird, Daniels knew Schwartz had the comic elasticity to pull off the part. "It's kind of like the relationship of this stoic oak tree and this little willow branch that blows in every direction," Daniels says. "Ben is perfect for that because it would be almost impossible to write the number of lines that you need for that kind of relationship, but Ben can just improvise endlessly." Following his "Wrong Mans" letdown, and the responsibility that came with producing the show as well as starring in it, Schwartz relished the comparative simplicity of his place in the "Space Force" hierarchy. "You show up as an actor, and you get to say Greg Daniels' words and you get to act with John Malkovich and Steve Carell," Schwartz says. "It was exactly what I wanted coming off of three years of developing and it not working out." If Schwartz felt handcuffed because of his commitment to "The Wrong Mans," one wouldn't know it from his prolific and eclectic run of recent projects. He says his title role in "Sonic the Hedgehog" involved 20-plus recording sessions and hundreds of ad-libbed quips, as he brought his comic sensibility to the lucrative tentpole. ("I've never been the name of a movie before," he says in lingering amazement. "It's never, like, 'Jean-Ralphio: The Movie.' ") December's "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" also featured jokes penned by Schwartz, after Abrams asked him to punch up the film's comic relief. The modest dramedy "Standing Up, Falling Down," on the other hand, opened in limited release a week after "Sonic." Starring Schwartz as a down-and-out comedian who bonds with Crystal's alcoholic, pot-smoking dermatologist, the film sparked an ongoing friendship between Schwartz and one of his acting idols. Last month, Schwartz even visited Crystal and shot hoops on his backyard court - as the comedy legend observed from 10-plus feet away, per coronavirus guidelines. All the while, the actors bantered about ESPN's Michael Jordan docuseries "The Last Dance." "It was heaven," Schwartz says. "I got to shoot around by myself while someone I've looked up to my whole life watches in the background, like a cool brother." Schwartz also spent the past few years honing his long-form improv shows with Middleditch, which they regularly perform on tour and at Los Angeles's Largo at the Coronet nightclub. Setting out to bring exposure to the form - in which the improvisers use a conversation with an audience member to create a spontaneous 50-minute sketch - they filmed four shows last year in New York. Netflix released three of those performances in April, showcasing the duo's knack for threading together freshly spun characters and narratives. "He always gives me credit for coming up with weird characters," Middleditch says. "But I would say that they don't mean anything if Ben's not there to give them purpose for the story that we're telling. A lot of improvisers and comedians have superpowers, and that's definitely one of his." "It's such terrific work," Crystal adds. "When it hits, it's great, and even when it misses, it's fun because it's dangerous. This is by the seat of their pants. This is taking control of the plane without taking it off autopilot." After "Space Force," Schwartz's next project is a role in the Disney Plus film "Flora & Ulysses," set for release later this year. Currently, he is using quarantine to write a Searchlight Pictures movie, which he will star in with Sam Rockwell. He was preparing to start production on his feature-length directorial debut in June before covid-19 concerns shut down Hollywood. Once the industry reboots, he hopes to continue his live shows with Middleditch and re-enlist for a second season of "Space Force." Reflecting on how the "Wrong Mans" detour rerouted his career, Schwartz shares no regrets. Even when he's not onstage, he remains an improviser at heart - and he knows better than most that improv is about taking chances. "A lot of this art form is living and breathing and making mistakes," Schwartz says. "The biggest thing I've learned for myself from all of this, starting with improv, is you get out there, you take a risk, you fail, you learn from your risk, and you repeat. "The more you do that, the more likely you are to find your voice." The US government is planning to "donate" 200 ventilators to India with the first tranche of 50 expected to arrive soon as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, an American official said on Tuesday. President Donald Trump had announced last week that the US will donate ventilators to India to treat the COVID-19 patients and help it fight the "invisible enemy". Asked about reports that the ventilators may come at a cost for India, USAID Acting Director Ramona El Hamzaoui, during a tele-briefing with the media, asserted that it was a "donation". "The US government is planning to donate 200 ventilators to India. We expect the first tranche of 50 to arrive soon," she said. The USAID on behalf of the US and through the generosity of the American people and the innovation of the American private industry is providing access to medical supplies and ventilators to India and other countries, Hamzaoui said. "We are working closely with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Indian Red Cross Society and other relevant stakeholders in India and the US to assist in the delivery, transportation and placement of these donated ventilators," she said. These ventilators will complement India's ongoing efforts to make the best of care immediately available to those most in need, she added. Asked if the ventilators were being provided as part of some sort of a deal after India supplied hydroxychloroquine to the US, Hamzaoui, "I do not think it is a quid pro quo. It is a partnership." The US is providing ventilators to countries based on what is available and supporting partner countries. Asked about American financial aid to countries in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamzaoui said the USAID and the US Department of State has made available USD 900 million to combat the deadly virus globally. With regard to India specifically, the USAID has announced USD 5.9 million in funding to combat COVID-19, including USD 2.9 million to help India provide care for the affected, disseminate essential public health messages to communities, strengthen case finding, contact tracing and surveillance, she said at the briefing organised by the US Embassy here. "We have also developed COVID-19 print and social media communication material and we are training community health officers working in over 30,000 health and wellness centres in 14 states on COVID-19 readiness and response," Hamzaoui said. "Today the USAID has been able to train in partnership with the government of India more than 20,000 healthcare workers who cover more than 100 million people," she said. The rest of the USD 3 million aid is to support the national health authority to establish a financing facility that can mobilise resources from the private sector, the USAID official said. To a question on President Donald Trump's letter to the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) threatening to pull US funding permanently over COVID-19, US' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Mission Director Meghna Desai said during the briefing that "we are working to ascertain the implications to ensure that we have limited impact to our activities particularly global emergency response activities". The pandemic has made it clear that the world has more in common and COVID-19 has to be fought unitedly, Desai said. On US' COVID-19 vaccine development efforts, US Health Attache Preetha Rajaraman the search for a vaccine remains one of US' highest priorities. The US National institutes of health has allocated USD 350 million towards this effort, while an additional allocation of USD 2.6 billion for the development and bringing to market has also been pledged, she said. She added that the issue if access was an important one and was being given consideration. Responding to a question about CDC aid to India, Desai said it has pledged USD 3.6 million to assist the government of India in response to COVID-19 and the selection of partners for the aid was based on the scope of work and in concurrence with the ministries of the Indian government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lori Baas Christopher House, a family of schools working to close opportunity gaps and lift low-income families out of poverty through a continuum of personalized education and immersive family supports, is proud to announce that Chief Executive Officer Lori Baas has been named a finalist for the 2020 Ed Tech Leadership Awards in the CEO/Founder Category. The nationally respected Ed Tech Awards are the largest and most competitive recognition program in the industry focused on identifying the most influential actors in edtech each year. Baas was recognized for her leadership in the creation of the Chicago Benchmarking Collaborative (CBC), an organization that brings together top nonprofits serving children and families in some of Chicagos most high-need neighborhoods. The CBC engages seven partner agencies, impacting more than 12,000 Chicago residents. Collaborating partners track a set of common outcomes in areas of early childhood, after school, youth and parent engagement to improve program effectiveness and create efficiencies for each organization. Among the partner organizations, 73% have seen an increase in results through the CBCs sharing of data and best practices. 77% of data-driven goals set by the agencies were met or exceeded. Christopher House serves as the project manager of the Collaborative. Every day over the last 18 years that I have served as CEO of Christopher House, I have proudly worked to develop leaders and high-impact staff who use data and technology to support classroom and home environments in which our scholars can thrive, said Lori Baas, CEO Christopher House. Im grateful to be recognized for our work and it is an honor to be in the company of so many incredible leaders in this space. Under Baas leadership, Christopher House has streamlined operations across the family of schools and led to successful impacts on scholars and their families. In the 2018-19 school year, 86% of pre-school scholars displayed the skills and knowledge that demonstrates readiness for kindergarten 4 times the rate for low-income children in Illinois. Christopher House Elementary School was also named #1 charter school by Chicago Magazine in 2018 and ranked in the top category in all areas of the University of Chicagos 5Essentials Survey. Baas is responsible for all of Christopher Houses programs and services, including overseeing all the agencys locations on Chicagos north and west sides. Since assuming the organizations top leadership position in 2002, she has guided Christopher House through an intensive strategic planning process. By implementing a new agency-wide program evaluation process and redefining the organizations vision and purpose, she has helped to raise the bar for how non-profit organizations serve low income families. Christopher House operates three schools - a flagship school in Belmont-Cragin, offering Christopher Houses full birth through eighth grade continuum along with parent education and support services. And they also operate schools in Uptown and Logan Square offering early childhood education, after school services, and full immersive family supports. Their most recent expansion is the JoAnne L. Cicchelli Middle School - to serve 6th - 8th graders at the Belmont-Cragin campus. About Christopher House Christopher House is a family of schools working to close the opportunity gap for low-income children and their families from birth through high school to pursue success in school, the workplace, and life. Christopher Houses renowned continuum of education engages the entire family and works to break the cycle of poverty. ### The way in which the system of appointments is currently functioning needs rethinking with a majority of the surveyed advocates demanding greater transparency in its operation In March 2020 Ranjan Gogoi, former Chief Justice of India took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha. This event received widespread condemnation from public officials; even Gogoi's former colleagues J Lokur and J Kurien Joseph publicly criticised his acceptance of the membership as an assault on the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary. Various public intellectuals acknowledged that this would further undermine the reputation of an institution which is undergoing a crisis of legitimacy. The judiciary has come to occupy a special place in the public life of Indian citizens. The behaviour, competence and diligence of judges are the crucial indicators which inform the legitimacy that the institution as a whole enjoys. Litigant surveys and public opinion polls have been undertaken in the past by civil society organisations to assess the level of trust that the judiciary as a public institution inspires. Practising advocates, however, are uniquely situated to assess the functioning of the judiciary. Surveys of advocates should be distinguished from public opinion polls as advocates interact with judges on a daily basis and this allows them to better observe the conduct of the judges. Other jurisdictions such as the USA have even institutionalised Bar polls as one of the methods to evaluate the performance of judges. In India, there has not been a single national level engagement with individual members of the Bar let alone institutionalisation of Bar polls as a routine activity. In this context, the Justice, Access and Lowering Delays in India (JALDI) initiative of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy commissioned A Survey of Advocates Practicing Before the High Courts. The survey was conducted across eight high courts at Allahabad, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, Madras and Patna, and covered at least 350 advocates per high court. Amongst other things, the survey includes questions to measure the perceptions of advocates on different aspects of judicial functioning including probity, competence, and their views on the collegium system of judicial appointments. Perception of corruption When asked to score the level of corruption in the judiciary on a scale of 1 to 10 where 10 indicated that corruption in the judiciary is well entrenched; 107 advocates from the Bombay High Court who chose to answer the question gave it a score of ten. What is even more telling is the fact that 266 of the surveyed advocates from the Calcutta High Court and 254 of the surveyed advocates from the Madras High Court refused to answer this question. It is important to mention here that the advocates who participated in the survey were assured anonymity through the letter of information before participating in the survey. It is indeed worrisome that despite this caveat, members of the Bar were reluctant to answer this question. These responses hint at a litigation culture where the Bar and the Bench are not equally situated especially if we look at the discretion that judges enjoy under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, and in the uninhibited manner that it has been exercised in the past. Views on the collegium system of judicial appointments Another important insight came from the advocates views on the functioning of the collegium system of judicial appointments wherein appointments to the higher judiciary are made on the basis of recommendation by sitting judges. The collegium system of appointments has come increasingly under public criticism for its opaque functioning. Given that practising advocates are required to appear before judges who are selected through this mechanism, it was thought useful to ask these advocates of their opinions on the continuance of the collegium system and whether they felt it required more transparency. - Of all the advocates surveyed, 90.4 percent, 80.34 percent, 62.82 percent at the high courts of Patna, Calcutta and Gujarat, respectively felt that the collegium should continue but with greater transparency in its functioning. - Sixty-four percent and 34.25 percent of the surveyed advocates at the high courts of Kerala and Madras, respectively, felt that the collegium system should be replaced by the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC); 60 percent of surveyed advocates at Delhi High Court too felt that the collegium system should be replaced with NJAC or another alternative system. Scholars more than ever are recognising that judicial accountability cannot be compromised in the name of independence and these changing views find resonance in the results of our survey. The Supreme Court has time and again defended the collegium system in the name of judicial independence. It is overwhelmingly clear from the responses to the survey across high courts that the way in which the system of appointments is currently functioning needs rethinking with a majority of the surveyed advocates demanding greater transparency in its operation. Lately, even the practice of making available reasoned resolutions has been dispensed with. Often Bar associations have resorted to organising protests against controversial decisions taken by the collegium. Despite increasing pressure to increase transparency, the judiciary seems to be taking steps backwards on this front. Pertinently, a significant proportion of advocates covered by the survey had between 5-10 years of experience. The views expressed in the survey also expose the fault lines between the younger members of the Bar and the old guard, and if the judiciary does not adapt to the changing times it risks deepening the crisis of legitimacy. In this context, the voice of the Bar with regards to the judiciarys functioning can give one useful indicators regarding the health of the institution. From the voices that one heard, it appears the institutions well-being is in need of some urgent attention. The writer is a research fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia on Tuesday accused the Congress of doing "shallow politics" by allegedly including ambulances and autorickshaws in a list of buses sent by the opposition party to the Uttar Pradesh government to ferry migrant workers. He said the Uttar Pradesh government is capable of dealing with issue of migrant workers and the Congress should worry about migrants in the states of Rajasthan and Punjab where it is in power. "It is a known fact that the Congress does politics. It is also known that it does shallow politics. But it was not known that it will do such shallow politics. The Congress party has also made a global pandemic like coronavirus a political weapon for cheap popularity," Poonia said. In Rajasthan, he alleged, thousands of migrant workers have been walking home on foot since the last 15 days, but the Congress is doing politics instead of directing the states it rules to help the workers. Earlier on Tuesday, the Uttar Pradesh government said the list of 1,000 buses offered by the Congress to ferry migrant workers contained registration numbers of autorickshaws and cars, fuelling a war of words between the two sides. The Congress rejected the UP government claim, challenging it to conduct a "physical verification" of the buses. On May 16, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra offered to provide 1,000 buses for migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh stranded in other states because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The Congress initially claimed that the state's BJP government was ignoring the offer with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath refusing even to give an appointment to a party delegation. Even while accusing the Congress of playing politics over the plight of migrant workers, the UP government on Monday formally accepted the offer. It asked the Congress to submit a list of the buses and their drivers and conductors. A resort on Phu Quoc island (Photo: Traveloka) Don Lam, its co-founder and CEO, said the tourism industry contributed 10-15 percent to the countrys economy and employed 1.3 million people, but had come to a standstill like elsewhere in the globe due to COVID-19. We estimate that tourist arrivals to Vietnam could fall by at least 60 percent in 2020 after falling nearly 40 percent in the first four months of this year. It would probably take two years for the global tourism industry to recover. One idea to reboot the industry was safe haven tourism by creating confidence in both visitors and destinations that health and safety issues were fully addressed. We encourage a low-risk/high-return strategy be applied where Vietnam specifically targets higher spending tourists from countries with low risk of COVID-19 complemented by controls that lower the risk of new cases occurring in the country. The Government could partner with resorts and airlines to enable visitors to once again enjoy travel while minimising the risks associated with the virus. They could avoid having to be quarantined and instead stay at designated resorts confident the property had been sealed from the virus. Resorts participating in this programme would need to be large, integrated properties with compelling attractions such as nice beaches and/or gaming facilities. This could even lead to the Government declaring entire islands (such as Phu Quoc or Con Dao) safe haven tourism zones. Critically, steps would need to be taken to ensure that visitors were not exposed to COVID-19 while traveling from their home country to the resort and at the resort. Visitors would need to be tested for the virus before boarding a flight to Vietnam. Daily temperature checks of all guests and employees would need to be done at the resort and all employees would need to live within a designated quarantine area. Contact tracing procedures would also need to be established, all guests and employees might be required to download a geo-tracking app on their mobile phones and carry it at all times and the standard social distancing measures would also have to be maintained. Even during the last economic recession, some consumers had the financial ability to take holidays. Recent surveys found that people were keen to travel once again when it was safe to do so. The key to encouraging people to travel again is to minimise the risk as best as possible. People will not travel if they fear they could become ill. This is one reason we believe Vietnam will benefit. Vietnams outstanding record in containing the COVID-19 pandemic could appeal to visitors. The obvious countries to target for a programme like this would be China and the Republic of Korea because of their geographic proximity and because they had already flattened the curve and had COVID-19 under control. Prior to the outbreak, tourists from these two countries made up almost half of all foreign tourist arrivals in Vietnam. Vietnam would need to enter into agreements with these countries to enable their citizens to travel to Vietnam as safe haven and avoid quarantine when returning home. Tourists from those countries could be attracted to Vietnam because it was the only country in the region with large areas filled with resorts that had little COVID-19 risk. There is probably pent-up demand from honeymooners in these countries who have not been able to travel, and Vietnam could even offer visitors the ability to hold destination weddings given that group gatherings of over 30 people are generally prohibited in most geographies in the world now. Vietnams beautiful destination will enable these couples and their families and friends to celebrate their wedding properly and safely. The country could attract new visitors who had not been interested in visiting it before. Domestic tourism spending was growing by nearly 7 percent annually, and contributed 40 percent of the countrys tourism revenues. Since it might be difficult for Vietnamese to travel abroad, persuading them to travel here would obviously be easy. But Vietnamese tourists tended to visit the same places such as Da Lat, Vung Tau and Da Nang year after year. Vietnam had so much to offer and the private sector and the Government needed to consider how they could do more to promote other destinations and locations. As the details of Ahmaud Arberys murder and the initial refusal of local authorities to prosecute his killers have come further to light this month, my thoughts have been turning more and more to my grandmother. As a child of the Great Depression and the granddaughter of enslaved people, Wanda Crow was born into a family that survived the worst of America. My grandmothers stories of my familys survival in the midst of tribulationincluding one dating back the late 1800s, describing how my grandfathers uncle was nearly lynched by the KKKresonate even more whenever another modern American horror story like that of Arberys death is made public. Advertisement And though my great-uncle narrowly escaped, my grandmother still holds a recollection of stories of how her mother witnessed those who didntthrongs of mangled black bodies, hung by the dozen from oak trees in Arkansas. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These public, celebratory mutilations, which often targeted farmers and landowners, werent simple executions. They were warningsthreats of violent torture for any black person who sought equality, or worse, political power. These crimes also revealed the perpetrators deep fear of their black neighborsa uniquely American fear that reduces innocent black people to criminals, so unworthy of life that their death is fit for a stage. With the emergence of video footage of Arberys killing this month, his murder has been correctly recast as a modern lynching. As with similar tragedies of the recent past, it should force Americans to reckon with their countrys dark past and the broken legal systems that allow such injustices to continue. In Arberys case, his killers claimed the protection of a citizens arrest statute that, if used as prosecutors originally envisioned, would be tantamount to allowing legalized lynching, and must be repealed. Advertisement Advertisement As a reminder, here are some of the key details of the 25-year-old Arberys death. On Feb. 23, Arbery made his way down an ashen stretch of the Satilla Shores neighborhooda quiet suburb near downtown Brunswick, Georgiaduring a routine afternoon run. On his route, he ran past a former Glynn County police officer and detective, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis, 34. The two men, who later claimed that they suspected that Arbery was involved in a recent string of break-ins in their neighborhood, proceeded to grab their guns, jump in their white pickup truck, and trail the former high school athlete for more than four minutes. Advertisement According to one officers interview with Gregory, which became the sole basis of the incidents initial police report, the McMichaels attempted a citizens arrest, which led to a vicious tussle as Arbery violently attacked the father-and-son pair and started fighting over the shotgun, at which point Travis fired a shot and then a second later there was a second shot. On this basis, prosecutors declined to try the case and the McMichaels appeared to go scot free. Then, earlier this month, video of Arberys death was made public. As in other recent similar incidents, such as the deaths of Eric Garner and Stephon Clark at the hands of police, the footage subverted the killers claims in graphic detail. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement That footage shows Arbery running around the perimeter of the McMichaels vehicle, then grappling with Travis as his father, Gregory, stands in the truck bed with a handgun. Then, Travis is seen firing off three shotgun shellstwo of which strike Arbery in the chest.* Just two days after the video emerged, and thousands flooded social media with demands for the McMichaels arrest, the two men were charged with murder and aggravated assault. It took nearly two full months, though, for Arberys killers to face arrest after they cited the citizens arrest statute. Advertisement Advertisement In addition to the initial resistance of the district attorney to hear the pleas of Arberys family, the case involved a revolving door of prosecutorstwo of whom had previous ties with the McMichaels that led to consecutive recusalsas well as conflicting accounts about the potential involvement in the McMichaels pursuit of the man who filmed the video. Advertisement Advertisement Such concerns have led activists across the state, like Georgia NAACP President James Woodall, to call for an investigation of the initial inquiry. Woodall told me that the local NAACP has also called for the immediate resignation of Brunswick district attorney Jackie Johnson for not issuing an arrest warrant following Arberys death, a revision to the states use of force statute (the training for which Gregory was penalized for skipping when he was previously on the job), and a complete repeal of the citizens arrest statute in Georgia. As the local NAACP has sought justice for Arbery, it has taken particular aim at fighting citizens arrest. As Woodall described it, the law has a deep history going back to the era of slavery and was originally used to help white slave owners to catch and return enslaved people attempting to escape North. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Its no accident that such a law was used to try to justify Arberys killing. We have two decades of research to show that state laws which protect individuals for aggressively protecting their property, like the citizens arrest laws, are often used as cover for an increase in racially-biased violence, New School professor Maya Wiley told me. Wiley, who served as the chair of the New York Civilian Complaint Review Board following Garners death, pointed out that white people are also less safe as a result of laws that encourage vigilantism, which have proved to increase homicide rates and emergency room visits across racial groups. The rendering of Arberys death as a lynchingas described by a range of local and national leaders from the mayor of Atlanta to Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Bidenmakes sense, Wiley notes, because the killing follows a familiar formula that includes the presumption of guilt placed on an innocent black victim by the killers. Advertisement That presumption of guilt, which was given official credence thanks to the citizens arrest statute, extended to the views of local authorities as well. In a letter to the police, George E. Barnhillthe second prosecutor on Arberys case who has since recused himself because his son had previously worked with Gregory McMichaelcited Arberys engagement with law enforcement as a teenager to help explain his apparent aggressive nature and his possible thought pattern to attack an armed man. Advertisement Advertisement The depiction of blameless black men like Arbery as aggressors and criminals isnt just reinforced in popular culture; its demonstrated in research, including a recent series of studies by the American Psychological Association, which showed that people have a tendency to perceive black men as larger and more threatening than similarly sized white men. And for black men and boys, such damning racial casting begins at a terrifyingly early age. (One need only look at the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice to see this fact.) A separate study from the APA found that black boys as young as 10 years old were more likely to be mistaken as older, be perceived as guilty and face police violence if accused of a crime. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This presumption of guiltwith its continued use to justify laws like Georgias citizens arrest statuteis the same that contributed to countless lynchings throughout American history. Today, that inescapable comparison is why Arberys death has left black people afraid to jog, or why Jordan Davis death has made us afraid to play music loudly, or why Stephon Clarks death has made us afraid to carry cellphones, and more recently, why the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot eight times in March as Louisville, Kentucky, police raided the wrong home in the middle of the night, has even made us afraid to go to bed at night. As long as black lives are threatened by such violence, there is no way for laws like Georgias citizens arrest statute to remain on the books without being used to justify that violence. If we learn anything from Arberys killing, its that repealing such laws is the best possible way to prevent deaths like his in the futureand better protect people from the dangers of living while black in America. Despite concerns that record-setting absentee voting in Wisconsins spring primary would overburden local clerks and leave some votes uncounted, the percentage of rejected or returned ballots in the April vote was consistent with previous elections, according to new data. A report provided Monday by the Wisconsin Elections Commission found that of the more than 1.3 million absentee ballots sent to voters ahead of the April 7 primary, nearly 89% were returned and counted. Whats more, a federal judges six-day extension of the deadline to file an absentee ballot issued in response to a lawsuit seeking to postpone the vote amid concerns that in-person voting during the COVID-19 pandemic could threaten voters safety resulted in an additional 79,000 ballots being counted. Most ballots were returned prior to Election Day, but nearly 7% arrived in the window between Election Day and the court-ordered deadline, according to the report. Absentee ballots and early voting accounted for more than 70% of all votes cast in the presidential primary and spring election. All told, more than 120,000 absentee ballots were requested but not returned and the remaining roughly 23,000, or about 1.8% of all absentee ballots, were returned and rejected. For comparison, about 1.5% of absentee ballots were rejected in the 2019 spring election, while spring votes in Wisconsin netted rejection rates between 2% and 2.5% from 2016 through 2018, according to WEC. While the percentage of rejected ballots was comparable to previous elections, the overall number was considerably higher in the April 7 vote. Just fewer than 2,500 ballots were returned and rejected in the 2019 spring election, compared with more than 20,000 in last months vote. Less than a week before the election, U.S. District Judge William Conley rejected calls to push back the election. Conley wrote that while holding the election as planned was ill-advised, he did not have the authority to postpone it. However, Conley did push back the deadline for filing absentee ballots to April 13, nearly a week after the election, and extended the deadline to request an absentee ballot by a day. A total of 2,659 ballots, or about 0.22%, were rejected for arriving after the April 13 deadline. Wisconsins election officials are preparing for an even larger demand for absentee ballots in the November presidential election. We are already working on improvements including the use of U.S. (Postal Service) intelligent barcodes to help voters and clerks track ballots, WEC administrator Meagan Wolfe said in a statement. We are also making it easier for clerks to process the higher volumes of absentee ballot requests we anticipate in future elections. Also on Monday, a federal lawsuit filed by advocates for individuals with disabilities and minority voters aims to force the hiring of additional poll workers ahead of the August primary and November presidential election. The lawsuit also seeks to have an absentee ballot mailed to every registered voter in the state. A total of 71 people got COVID-19 after voting in person or working at the polls during Wisconsins April 7 election, a state official said Friday. However, two new studies present a mixed picture on whether the election directly contributed to the spread of the coronavirus. The WEC on Wednesday will consider staff recommendations for spending $7.3 million in federal CARES Act grant funds to support voters and local election officials for remaining elections this year. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Bishop Rosazza has again displayed the compassionate spirit that he has blessed the Hartford Archdiocese with for over 40 years. In Faith Matters: Reading the sign of the times and nuclear disarmament, he says, The current pandemic should help us see the exorbitant level of spending on nuclear arms and other armaments is not in keeping with the times. It wasnt nuclear or conventional weapons or submarines or fighter jets that brought the world to a standstill. Sadly, in 1983 Bishop Rosazza was also a member of Archbishop John Whealons Justice and Peace Commission, with the task to debate about peace, war and nuclear weapons. The commission at that time failed in Hartford and debate on these issues stopped. Convenience food group Greencore saw its profit fall in the 26 weeks ending March 27, as the coronavirus began to impact trading. Operating profit declined by 14pc to 35.6m (40m) due to the affect of Covid-19 on food-to-go categories at the end of the period, as the UK and Ireland implemented lockdowns. The group experienced marginal pro forma revenue growth of 0.1pc to 712.7m (798m), according to its interim results. Patrick Coveney, CEO of Greencore, said: We have implemented a broad range of actions to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on our business and to position us for growth as the pandemic eases. Meanwhile, six weeks into the second half of its financial year revenue is now down around 40pc of prior year levels on a proforma basis. This is due to the coronavirus having had a dramatic and volatile impact on the shape of UK food consumption. Nonetheless, Greencore said there are signs that demand patterns have recently begun to stabilise. The company said weekly demand in the groups food-to-go categories in the six week period declined by up to 70pc and is currently less than 60pc below prior year levels. There has been sustained growth in the group's other convenience categories, in particular cooking sauces, with growth currently about 5pc above prior year levels. Elsewhere, the companys balance sheet is in good shape, according to analaysts, with 267.5m of available liquidity. Greencore's banking covenants are being waived for this Septembers and March 2021 test periods. Brad Newman, who has been operating his Cookies & Carnitas at Green City Market for 11 years, began construction of a brick-and-mortar space early this year. But with the opening months away (planned for August), hes launching a popup market Sunday in partnership with importer Regalis Chicago dubbed Socially Distant Shopping & Take Out Experience, featuring several local chefs and other producers. Brasserie by Cookies & Carnitas will offer pizza and cookies; other offerings include meat from Avrom Farms, produce from Nichols Farm, artisan cheese and other pantry goods from Regalis Chicago, fresh pasta and eggplant Parmesan by chef Ryan Poli (formerly of Tavernita), and microgreens and knife sharpening by American Farms. The popup will focus on a safe experience, with a limit of eight shoppers at a time, masks required, and payment by Venmo only. Shoppers must sign up in advance here. $5 to register (which goes to the restaurant partners employee relief fund). 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. 5940 N. Broadway. Any US threat against Iranian tankers to be met Iran's firm response: Mousavi ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Mon / 18 May 2020 / 15:17 Tehran (ISNA) Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Seyyed Abbas Mousavi stressed that any US' threat and irrational actions against Iranian tankers will be met with Iran's immediate and firm response and the US government will be responsible for its consequences. Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, Mousavi said, "These tankers are laden with fuel and destined for Venezuela. The activities of the tankers are officially and legally. The tankers are engaged in legal trade activities, as there is no legal obstacle to such a legitimate trade. We hope that America would not take any stupid act, otherwise, it will receive our strong response". "Free trade between independent countries is a legitimate affair, and what is illegitimate is the piracy and maritime banditry that is led by the US," he added. "Iran has issued the necessary warnings through the Swiss Ambassador in Tehran and Iran's Permanent Representations at the United Nations as well as Zarif's letter to the UN Secretary-General against any inadvertent actions by the US in the high Seas," Mousavi stressed. Elsewhere in his remarks, Mousavi noted, "Quds Day will reflect the crucial developments in the occupied territories of Palestine and that as long as there is occupation, aggression, cruelty and atrocity crimes, Iran will be flag-bearer of the international Quds Day". Reacting to a report about recent comments from Iraq's new Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, who has voiced readiness to mediate between Tehran and Riyadh, Mousavi said, "Iran has already announced that it looks for dialogue with Saudi Arabia, with or without a mediator. Our region needs to move toward peace and stability and we are prepared for dialogue to clear up misunderstandings". Warning regional countries that the US relations would not benefit them at all and is only aimed at the sale of American arms, the spokesman reiterated, "Our region needs peace and security which come true via dialogue and cooperation among regional countries". End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Despite being born in foreign countries and having never met Ho Chi Minh, overseas Vietnamese in Laos and Thailand always pay special respect to Uncle Ho. browser not support iframe. After his death many overseas Vietnamese families in Laos set up altars of Uncle Ho although this is not a Lao custom of making altars in home. This picture of President Ho Chi Minh has been kept carefully by Nguyen Thi Nuong since she was in France. After his death, the pictute was solemnly put on his altar which has been set up by Nuong after she returned to Laos in 1976. Born in 1958 in Thailand, from an early age, Nguyen Duc Sau saw his parents and neighbours set up altars to worship Uncle Ho. Love and respect to Uncle Ho have gradually permeated him ever since. He has set up an altar to worship him since 1990 and makes incense to the President every day. Each time Sau returns to Vietnam, he collects Uncle Hos mementos to bring home for display as his own way to pay respect to the Great Father of the nation./.VNA Hundreds of McDonalds workers in 20 cities plan to strike Wednesday on the day before the companys annual shareholders meeting part of an effort to pressure the fast-food chain into improving what they say are inadequate protections for employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Labor organizers say there have been scores of McDonald's workers with COVID-19 in at least 17 states. They also cite a survey of more than 800 McDonald's workers from March 31 to April 6 in which 42% reported being told not to wear masks and gloves by management. The survey also said 46% came to work feeling sick because they were afraid they would be disciplined or penalized. The strike is supported by the Service Employees International Union and is being organized by the "Fight for $15" minimum-wage labor campaign. "This is about choices," SEIU President Mary Kay Henry said. "McDonalds can do the right thing and protect its workers. It is choosing not to." The company disputes the allegations by these workers, saying they are not representative of the 850,000 McDonalds employees nationwide. McDonalds also called it a strategically timed publicity stunt by labor organizers. Each side planned to take out full-page advertisements in national newspapers this week on the subject of safety at McDonald's restaurants. One ad is scheduled to appear Wednesday in USA TODAY in the form of an open letter to McDonalds CEO Chris Kempczinski. It was submitted by several public health professionals, including David Michaels, former chief of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Reports by McDonalds crew members and media outlets reveal a pattern of severe shortcomings by McDonalds under your leadership to fully comply with the highest standards for safety and hygiene at a time when such failures can have deadly consequences for workers, their families, their communities, and your customers, the letter states. Story continues More: This is how dining in McDonald's restaurants will change due to coronavirus More: McDonald's to give free 'Thank You Meals' for first responders, health care workers starting Wednesday More: McDonalds workers injured in shooting after customer saw dining area was closed, police say We are aware of scores of cases of COVID-19 positive workers in at least 16 states across the country. Time and time again, McDonalds has failed to swiftly close and disinfect stores following confirmed reports of COVID-19 among employees. To make matters worse, your restaurants have also failed to promptly inform workers of exposure to the virus and to provide pay during quarantine, the letter continues. Protesting what they say is a lack of personal protective equipment, employees close down the drive-thru at a McDonald's restaurant in Oakland, Calif., on April 21. McDonalds sent its own message Tuesday with an ad in The New York Times. It is planning to open dining rooms at restaurants where permitted and says its 14,000 locally owned restaurants are putting safety first. The ad also says that it has more than 50 new procedures that go well beyond masks and gloves to keep everyone safe. McDonalds vice president for U.S. communications, David Tovar, said restaurants now have an ample amount of cleaning supplies, gloves and masks, and he suggested the employee survey from April was outdated at best. He also said labor actions at McDonalds so far only have involved a small fraction of the workforce. Henry of the SEIU said these are widespread issues. "I dont think there would be strikes happening on 20 cities all on the same day (Wednesday) if this was not a widely experienced condition of all workers in fast-food restaurants," she said. A group of strikers also plans to hold a Zoom meeting with Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday to discuss their ongoing efforts to hold McDonalds accountable during the pandemic. Since March, employees in some cities have conducted walkouts to protest McDonalds response to COVID-19. Wednesdays action is billed by organizers as the first coordinated nationwide strike. The way work is set up right now at McDonalds, the workers are at increased risk for transmission of COVID-19, and there are reported cases of COVID-19 among workers, which is not surprising considering the conditions that have been reported to me, said Michaels, an epidemiologist. Michaels said he was approached by some of the workers and has agreed to advise them as an unpaid expert. Are their demands reasonable? Michaels asked. I think they are. The strikers want McDonalds to halt dividends and instead use that money for increased safety and economic protections for workers, including pandemic pay of $15X2, plus paid sick leave and sufficient protective gear for workers. They also want immediate store closures when workers become infected to allow for a deep cleaning, contact tracing and self-quarantine for two weeks at full pay. The workers cite a number of examples in various cities about the lack of protective gear or inadequate response to sickness among workers. In San Francisco, workers filed a complaint alleging managers told them not to worry about a lack of masks in the store, suggesting they use coffee filters instead. Tovar of McDonald's said the company has strict social distancing guidelines and takes safety seriously for customers and employees. He said there have been less than 10 restaurants out of the 14,000 in the country "that have had any type of activity like this thats been orchestrated by the SEIU." "Thats not to say there arent real issues and concerns that are out there, as were all dealing with this terrible pandemic," he said. "But the feedback that we get from thousands of employees does not match (what the SEIU says)." The worker experience can vary by location. In Los Angeles, longtime McDonalds cook Bartolome Perez makes $14.25 an hour and says hes seen his hours reduced after speaking up previously about the working conditions. He plans to strike Wednesday. They only care for their profits, he said. They dont care for our lives. They show it to us again and again. Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: McDonald's cooks, cashiers plan national strike over COVID-19 safety Nine months after convicted sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein was found dead in his New York jail cell, a contentious behind-the-scenes debate between attorneys for some of his alleged victims and attorneys for his $634 million estate has spilled into public view for the first time. A lawyer for three women - each separately suing the estate - contends in court filings that the estates legal team has yet to produce a single document in response to voluminous pre-trial discovery requests and has engaged in obstructionist conduct that requires immediate attention from the court. Court intervention is required now so that [the estate] can begin reviewing and producing documents concerning the sex-trafficking conspiracy they are trying to keep secret, wrote Sigrid McCawley, attorney for accuser Juliette Bryant, in one of three letters filed with the court over the past 10 days. In another letter, McCawley accused the defense team of attempting to game the process to maximize delay. Bryant and other alleged victims are asking the estate to turn over a broad array of items they contend are relevant to their claims of Epsteins alleged sexual abuse - including photographs, video and audio recordings from his airplanes and homes, financial records and communications with his alleged co-conspirators, employees and government officials that span a period of nearly two decades. Epstein, who died in prison last August after being charged in a federal indictment with child sex trafficking, had forged relationships with many powerful people in politics, business and academia. In response, attorneys for the estates co-executors Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn have objected to the scope and time frame of the victims requests for documents in letters to the court written by lawyer Matthew Aaronson, calling them clearly overbroad and unduly burdensome and not proportional to the needs of the case. Indyke and Kahn, an attorney and an accountant, each worked with Epstein for many years. Epstein selected the pair as co-executors of his estate in a will he drafted in jail two days before his death. Story continues In a letter filed last week, Aaronson wrote that the co-executors have now compiled a database of more than 730,000 documents, but the task of obtaining documents and information from Epsteins large complicated estate had been hampered by delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, so they expect to begin producing documents this week. PHOTO: In this Sept. 8, 2004, file photo, Jeffrey Epstein is shown. (Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images) (MORE: 'Truth and Lies: Jeffrey Epstein' podcast, two-hour ABC News special on Epstein and women who survived his crimes) More than 30 victims of Epsteins alleged sexual abuse have filed suit against his estate since his arrest and subsequent death last summer. Some cases have been voluntarily put on hold by the plaintiffs as they await possible probate court approval of a victims restitution fund proposed by the estate that could resolve their claims outside of litigation. Dozens of alleged victims have expressed interest in joining the voluntary program, according to court filings in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Epstein filed his last will and testament. But the proposal has been in limbo for months after Denise George, the Attorney General for the U.S. Virgin Islands, filed criminal liens against the Epstein estate in January, effectively freezing all the assets worldwide. McCawley contends in court filings that the estate is dragging its feet on document production in Bryants case and others in hopes that the restitution fund would soon be approved. Defendants failure to produce a single document or meaningfully respond to discovery requests can only be viewed as an intentional effort to delay discovery, McCawley wrote. The federal magistrate judge overseeing pre-trial motions in most of the victims lawsuits in New York has set a hearing for Friday morning in response to the letters from the victims attorneys. They are asking the court for an order compelling the Epstein estate to begin producing documents. Under a previous court order, the deadline for completing the exchange of documents in several of the victims lawsuits was set for early July. Bryant, 37, filed her lawsuit against the estate in November claiming that Epstein repeatedly raped and sexually abused her over the course of several years at his homes in New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands, beginning when she was a 20-year-old aspiring model. She alleges that another young woman invited her to meet Epstein in South Africa, while he was on a trip through several African nations with a former high U.S. Government official, a famous actor, and a well-known comedian in 2002. She was invited to attend a speech the former high U.S. Government official was giving in Cape Town the next day, her complaint states, and was escorted to the speech by police cars with individuals associated with the former official. The lawsuit does not name those individuals, or the former government official, actor or comedian. But in a letter to the court, McCawley contended that documents related to Epstein's recruitment of Bryant during the trip, including travel plans and itineraries, would be highly relevant to the claims in Bryants lawsuit. That letter included an excerpt of a flight log showing former President Bill Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey and comedian Chris Tucker on board Epsteins Boeing 727. That now widely-reported 2002 trip to Africa in connection with the Clinton Foundation resulted in the publicity-shy Epstein getting significant scrutiny from the press for the first time. Following Epstein's arrest last July, a spokesman for Clinton said the former president "knows nothing" about Epstein's crimes. Clinton claims he cut ties with Epstein prior to reports of his alleged criminal behavior coming to light in 2006. PHOTO: Little St. James Island, one of the properties of financier Jeffrey Epstein, is seen near Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, July 21, 2019. (Marco Bello/Reuters, FILE) (MORE: 'Truth and Lies: Jeffrey Epstein' podcast, two-hour ABC News special on Epstein and women who survived his crimes) Bryant also alleges in her lawsuit that Epstein continued trying to contact her via email long after she detached herself from him. She claims that as recently as June 2019 - one month before his arrest - that Epstein emailed her asking her to send him nude photos. In another lawsuit against the estate - filed under the pseudonym Priscilla Doe - attorney Brad Edwards has sought the court's permission to gain entry to Epstein's homes in New York and the U.S. Virgin Islands to take measurements, video and photographs in order to "help confirm Does testimony about her abuse and to accurately convey to the jury the appearance of these properties," according to court filings. Lawyers for the estate have objected to the inspections as unnecessary and currently infeasible due to the pandemic. "Any relevance of the desired inspection to the substance and merits of the claims as stated in this case is marginal at best," wrote estate attorney Bennett Moskowitz in a response filed with the court. Document requests from Edwards in the case span seven pages and include 75 categories. Among the records he is seeking are all written and electronic correspondence between Epstein and Prince Andrew, who maintained a long relationship with Epstein and has acknowledged visiting his home in New York even after Epstein served jail time and registered as a sex offender. The Prince has denied allegations from one of Epsteins accusers, Virginia Giuffre, that he had sex with her on three occasions in 2001. Edwards is also seeking records of communications and payments relating to Ghislaine Maxwell, Epsteins former girlfriend and employee, who Priscilla Doe, Giuffre and others have accused in court filings of facilitating Epsteins abuse. Maxwell has denied wrongdoing. She also sued the estate earlier this year for her legal and security costs, contending that Epstein had promised to always support her financially. McCawley, meanwhile, is demanding a broad view of Epsteins personal and financial records on behalf of her clients, who she argues in a letter are "entitled to information concerning Epsteins sex-trafficking conspiracy as a whole, including his abuse of others, his communications with his co-conspirators, and the various ways in which he operated his scheme throughout the years." Epstein estate has failed to turn over any documents: Victims' attorneys originally appeared on abcnews.go.com The Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Coast has launched an emergency COVID-19 Fund to mobilise resources to cater for the poor and vulnerable in the Central Region. The proceeds from the fund, to be managed by Caritas, a charitable arm of the church would be used to seek the well-being of the vulnerable in the over 50 Parishes of the Archdiocese. The launch formed part of the yearlong activities to mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic Church in the Gold Coast. Reverend Father Stephen Amoah Gyasi, Director of Caritas Archdioceses of Cape Coast said the plight of the most vulnerable had been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, hence the establishment of the Fund. We have been working around the clock to provide support to those in difficulty during this time, but we want to do more to alleviate the plight of people who are suffering, he emphasized. Rev. Father Gyasi noted that with the Central Region being one of the poorest region in the country, the impact of the COVID-19 could be dire and stressed the need to put measures in place to mitigate it. The Archdiocese with financial support from the Rotary Club of Essex, Ontario, Canada and the Carita Ghana, has presented boxes of food items to some vulnerable in Elmina and its environs. The items include bags of rice, cartons of mackerel, gallons of oil, tin tomatoes among others. Rev. Father Gyasi expressed gratitude to those whose generosity enabled them to give to the vulnerable and urged all to willingly contribute to the fund for the Archdiocese to continue to serve the vulnerable in the society. Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast who launched the Fund called on individuals, cooperate institutions and agencies to generously donate towards the fund to serve a worthy purpose. Lets pull resources together to support the vulnerable to alleviate their sufferings during this extraordinary times of COVID-19, he appealed. The Archbishop announced a week long prayer crusade in support of the efforts by the Government and frontline workers to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. He said beginning, Friday, May 22 to Friday May 29, the priests and consecrated members of the Archdiocese would undertake at least one hour adoration of the Blessed Sacrament per day to ask the Lord to deliver the World from the coronavirus scourge. Archbishop Palmer-Buckle admonished members of the Church and the general public to religiously observe the health protocols adopted by the government to stop the spread of the virus. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A spirited treatise on the philosophy of economics, Philips text examines such interwoven issues of poverty, capitalism, fallibility, human knowledge, education, societal welfare, entrepreneurship, and more. The US Review of Books To accept the fallibility of human knowledge is to accept that there are no absolutes. As Karun Philip explains in his book, Zen and the Art of Funk Capitalism, it is crucial to acknowledge the inherent possibility of error or failure in any decision, as it encourages people to make choices based on empirical evidence rather than theoretical research. Applying the theory of fallibility to the economic philosophy of Friedrich Hayek, Philip coins the term Hayeks Axiom, which asserts that all economic theories are fallible, therefore the solution to current economic dilemmas must be rooted in real-world evidence. Through analyzing the strengths and shortcomings of global economies past and present, he determines that a libertarian free market approach offers the most beneficial pathway to eliminating poverty. In Zen and the Art of Funk Capitalism, Philip identifies coercion, including nondisclosure and fraud, as one of modern capitalisms most detrimental flaws. He argues that the protection of individual liberties should be the central role of law and government, with a focus on eliminating coercion in all its forms to eliminate predatory behaviors that take advantage of economically marginalized groups. He also advocates for a maternal libertarianism, which means the government would also provide vital resources like food, water and shelter for those in need. However, with decreased coercion and increased transparency, citizens would already have many of the tools and resources required to make beneficial economic decisions. Philip particularly focuses on education as the key to economic freedom, explaining that outlawing coercion would dissolve the barrier previously keeping marginalized groups from higher education. He proposes changes to the educational system that would allow students access to data that shows what skills are needed in the market and which institutions boast the most success. He also envisions a financial system with more comprehensive safety nets in place so that those at an economic disadvantage can reap the rewards of education and entrepreneurship without worrying about falling into a debt trap. Ultimately, this is a manual for restructuring education and banking in order to eliminate global poverty, said Philip. Unlike some traditional socialist philosophies, Zen and the Art of Funk Capitalism outlines a free market libertarian approach to achieve some of the goals of such philosophies without the need for government action or the changing of power structures. A spirited treatise on the philosophy of economics, Philips text examines such interwoven issues of poverty, capitalism, fallibility, human knowledge, education, societal welfare, entrepreneurship, and more, wrote The US Review of Books. Philips wide-ranging text represents an integrated philosophy, wrote Blue Ink Review. Avoiding extremes, with sober rationalism, he offers solutions without the baggage of standard political or ideological pigeon-holes. Zen and the Art of Funk Capitalism: A General Theory of Fallibility By Karun Philip ISBN: 9780595205141 (softcover); 9781469701738 (electronic) Available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iUniverse About the author Dr. Karun Philip is the Chairman and CEO and a co-founder of Tranquilmoney, Inc., a New York-based software company. Prior to this, Philip ran Imagine Technologies, Inc., a company focused on using proprietary imaging and workflow technologies to enable and outsource remote back office operations for the healthcare industries. He also works in the social private sector and is dedicated to developing project-funded solutions to economic problems in lieu of government grants or private donors. He is in the process of developing Kitcoin, knowledge investment tokens that are linked directly to the U.S. dollar and allow the financing of job skills training both to those interested in receiving training and those performing the training. To learn more, visit karunphilip.com. Review Copies & Interview Requests: LAVIDGE Phoenix Leslie Standridge 480-998-2600 x 586 lstandridge(at)lavidge(dot)com ### BRIDGEPORT A gunshot wound victim showed up at a city hospital Tuesday afternoon, according to police. The department said around 3:40 p.m. that a gunshot wound victim was reported to police by personnel at Bridgeport Hospital. There was no further information on where the shooting happened, police said. Police did not immediately provide information on the victims condition. Detectives are on scene investigating. Anyone with information can call Bridgeport police at 203-576-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous. This story will be updated. MIDDLETOWN Middletowns woman-owned, small business Cinder + Salt, at 520 Main St., has been giving back to the local community in response to food insecurities that have intensified due to COVID-19. The business will be donating 25 percent of all sales from its Farmers Market Collection to the Connecticut Food Banks Shop For Food Security fundraiser that ends May 31, according to a press release. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to reducing food insecurities for school children and families across the state. They are able to accomplish this through the supply of food resources, efforts to raise awareness about the hardships of hunger, and advocacy for essential necessities, the release added. The agency will need an additional $7.8 million over the next six months to provide food assistance to everyone facing hunger. This figure is based on projections that the pandemic could push as many as 187,000 additional Connecticut residents into food insecurity, according to the food bank. Food donations are drastically declining. Consumers are stocking up on food, which means shortages at retail stores. The result is a drastic decline in retail food donations to the Connecticut Food Bank. Retail and food industry donations accounted for approximately 60 percent of the food distributed through Connecticut Food Bank. The drop in donations is a major disruption to our supply chain, the news release said. When I think about how we can give back and really contribute to our community, I think about the most disenfranchised among us. I keep going back to school kids who are losing their lunches and parents who are out of work, Cinder + Salt founder Rachel DeCavage said in a prepared statement. Food insecurity and hunger is a very real, hyperlocal issue (in many communities) and it is something we can use our product line to bring awareness to, and raise funds to support. As Cinder + Salt continues to undergo challenges due to the pandemic such as temporarily closing their storefront and applying for loans to keep them afloat, they still aim to support the community they know and love, the founder said. In the past, the shop has given back in various ways to the Connecticut community by organizing beach cleanups, collecting garments for the homeless and more. The Farmers Market Collection is designed for the locavore who embraces farm-to-tabling, sustainable living and a connection to Earths nourishment, with prints that encourage local, healthy eating and a passion for food. For information, visit cinderandsalt.com. By PTI RAMALLAH: India has given USD 2 million in aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency working for the welfare of Palestinian refugees in support of its core programmes and services, including education and health, amidst the coronavirus crisis. India had increased its annual contribution to the UNRWA from USD 1.25 million in 2016 to USD 5 million in 2019. It pledged another USD 5 million for 2020 which opens its way to become a member of the agency's advisory commission, according to official sources. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) applauded India's financial support to keep its basic services operating, especially under the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The contribution was presented to the UN agency by the Representative of India (ROI) to the State of Palestine, Sunil Kumar. "On behalf of the agency, I would like to express my deep appreciation to the Government of India for advancing part of its contribution, which will help UNRWA address cash flow challenges," Marc Lassouaoui, chief of the Donor Relations at the agency said. "The continued determination and commitment of India in support of the Palestine refugees is commendable, in particular under the current circumstances brought on us by COVID-19," he said. "On behalf of the Government of India, I would like to express my appreciation for the commendable work and endeavours carried out by the UNRWA. We believe that our contribution will support the agency's activities in providing the needed assistance to Palestinian refugees, and assist in achieving their full human development potential," Kumar said. India's contribution will support the agency's "dire" financial situation due to the funding gaps that risk its core services to the Palestinian refugees in the fields of education and health. About 3.1 million Palestine refugees depend on health services provided by the UNRWA. At the same time, the agency's schools educate 526,000 students every year, of which half are female. The agency was created in December 1949 by the UN to support the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. The UNRWA definition of 'refugee' covers Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 War. Meanwhile, India is preparing medical supplies for the Palestinians to help them in their fight against the coronavirus which is likely to reach the Palestine soon, the Indian mission in the West Bank said in a statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over phone and discussed the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He appreciated efforts being made by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to protect its population and assured all possible support from India. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar later talked to his Palestinian counterpart Riad Malki and reiterated India's commitment to support Palestine in its battle against the global pandemic. So far, 554 COVID-19 cases have been detected in the West Bank under PA and east Jerusalem, with two casualties. Twenty people were found infected with the virus in Gaza, of which 14 are said to have recovered. Separately, 17 agreements have been signed under an India-Palestine development partnership between the two sides in the fields of agriculture, health care, information technology, youth affairs, consular affairs, women empowerment and media in the past five years. New Delhi is to provide an assistance of around USD 72 million through these agreements in projects like the post-2014 war reconstruction efforts in Gaza, construction of five schools, setting up a centre of excellence for information and communication technologies at Al-Quds University and developing a satellite centre in Ramallah. Three years in, President Trumps vow to drain the swamp stands as one of his more ludicrous campaign promises. That said, his spring cleaning of inspectors general has exposed a patch of grime that threatens to make life awkward for one of his staunchest allies, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Late on Friday, Mr. Trump informed Congress that he was ousting yet another internal watchdog the fourth in six weeks. His latest target: Steven Linick of the State Department. The president offered no explanation for the firing, saying only that he no longer had the fullest confidence in Mr. Linick. Pressed on his decision on Monday, the president insisted that he personally had no problem with Mr. Linick. I never even heard of him, he told reporters. But I was asked to by the State Department, by Mike. Stressing repeatedly that he has the right to terminate as many pesky I.G.s as he wants to especially those appointed by President Barack Obama Mr. Trump professed ignorance of the details: Youd have to ask Mike Pompeo. Democratic lawmakers, journalists and even some Republicans are now lining up to do just that. Because as it turns out, Mr. Pompeo asked the president to ax Mr. Linick while the inspector general was in the midst of investigating potential misconduct by Mr. Pompeo. Lendingkart Technologies on Tuesday said it has raised about Rs 320 crore in an equity funding round led by existing investors including Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd (FFH), Bertelsmann India Investments, Sistema Asia Fund and IndiaQuotient New Delhi: Lendingkart Technologies on Tuesday said it has raised about Rs 320 crore in an equity funding round led by existing investors including Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd (FFH), Bertelsmann India Investments, Sistema Asia Fund and IndiaQuotient. The series D round comprised two tranches - Rs 233 crore as part of D1, and Rs 86.24 crore in D2 fund-raise, according to a company statement. Lendingkart has raised over Rs 1,050 crore of equity capital from investors till date. This funding will be deployed to expand the company's lending base and further reach out to small and underserved micro and small enterprises, and to further strengthen the company's technological and analytics capabilities, the company said. Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock markets "The fresh round of equity funding reaffirms the support of our investors towards the company, as well as the vast potential of the digital lending industry," Lendingkart Technologies co-founder and Managing Director Harshvardhan Lunia said. He added that the outbreak of COVID-19 and the resultant slowdown has had a tremendous impact on the economy. During these unprecedented times, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have significantly suffered grappling with varied economic uncertainties, he said, adding that the fresh funding will play a pivotal role in aiding the firm to help these impacted MSMEs to ensure business continuity amidst the ongoing crisis. Through its non-bank financing unit, Lendingkart has so far evaluated nearly half a million applications and disbursed over one lakh loans to more than 89,000 MSMEs in over 1,300 cities. In a bid to prevent doctors and other medical staff from getting infected with coronavirus, a teacher of Tripura University has made a robot from scrap materials that can deliver food and medicines to COVID-19 patients, an official said on Tuesday. The 'COVID-19 Warbot', developed by Dr Harjit Nath, an assistant professor of the Chemical and Polymer Engineering department of the university, is regulated by a transmitter and a receiver taken out of a toy car and can work for 90 minutes on full charge. "It is a low-cost robot, which was made from waste materials in laboratory. I also took help from a worker of a local hardware factory, and it was built within a week. I spent only Rs 25,000 to manufacture it," Nath told reporters. The robot with three 0.5 HP motors and rechargeable batteries is capable of carrying up to 15 kg of food and medicines on a plastic tray mounted on top of it, he said. "There is a shortage of PPE kits. The frontline health workers such as doctors and nurses are at the risk of getting infected with coronavirus. The robot will help minimise the risk for them," the IIT-Guwahati pass-out said. A Kochi-based startup firm, Asimov Robotics, has also made a similar robot to serve patients and minimise risk for healthcare professionals. "Many more programmes can be added to the robot so that it can perform other jobs such as thermal screening of suspected patients. Many sophisticated gadgets are not available now due to the ongoing lockdown," he said. Medical Superintendent of Govind Ballabh Panth (GBP) Hospital, which is the only testing centre for coronavirus in the state, said that robots are being used in hospitals in many states and foreign countries. "This type of robot can be useful in our hospital. But it should be approved by a technical committee and can be deployed after repeated tests," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kwesi Pratt, Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper, has described as unfair verbal attacks and criticisms hurled at Joyce Bawa Mogtari, over the weekend. The Special Aide to former President John Mahama has been receiving flaks over her recent comment on COVID-19 recovery figures. Remarkable Recoveries During the weekend, the Ghana Health Services (GHS) released its latest figures on the disease and it showed a total of 1,754 COVID-19 patients recovering from the disease in Ghana. Although some have expressed relief over the development, others have expressed skepticism about it. This has generated debate, especially on social media. Strict Proof! Joyce Bawah Mogtari waded into the fray and wondered how 790 COVID-19 patients recovered overnight. How the hell did 790 more people recover overnight!!... We need to put these numbers to strict proof!! she tweeted. Ghana's case count then was 5,638. Currently, the country's Coronavirus case count has shot up to 5,918 from 5,735 on Tuesday morning. This means 183 additional cases have been recorded. Cooked Figures? Wish For Victims To Die? Madam Mogtari's comment has been described by some including members of the ruling government as unwholesome. Others have interpreted her comment to mean the politician is praying for patients to die instead of recuperate. But Kwesi Pratt says she has been misconstrued. According to him, Mogtari only sought to 'question' the figures and not wish for people to die. "We are being very unfair to the woman and it is deliberatethe fact that she does not believe in the figures; does it mean she is praying for people to die?" he queried while contributing to a panel discussion on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo'. Factual Or....? Kwesi Pratt, while backing the Special Aide to the former president, also claimed that some of patients who have not fully recovered are oftentimes discharged and asked to continue treatment at home. Asked of his source, he said he knows for a fact that "people are discharged who are not fully recoveredthey are asked to go home to continue with their treatment; they have been discharged. It is possible to disagree on numbers without wishing people do diepeople have a right to question figures; Ghana belongs to all of us and it is not the wish of anyone for the country to be destroyed." Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A driver has wept after pleading guilty over a crash that killed a firefighter during bushfires in January. Novak John Selby admitted to dangerous driving causing death over the crash on the Goulburn Valley Highway at Thornton on January 3. Before he died, Mat Kavanagh had put out seven out-of-control campfires. Forest Fire Management Victoria firefighter Mat Kavanagh died in the crash after the passenger side of the truck was hit. "Guilty, your honour," 46-year-old Selby told Melbourne Magistrates Court before he wiped his eyes and put his head in his hands. (Fixes punctuation in paragraph 2) By Peter Hobson LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - Platinum and palladium markets will be tight this year as the coronavirus pandemic hammers supply and demand, materials maker Johnson Matthey said on Monday, declining to give full-year forecasts and saying prices will be erratic. Production of the metals, used to reduce vehicle emissions, and their consumption by auto makers could fall by around one-fifth in 2020 but the course of the virus is too uncertain to give precise numbers, the company said in a report. Temporary dislocations as the new coronavirus impacts different places at different times could have the biggest influence on prices, Rupen Raithatha, Johnson Matthey's director of market research, said. "The cold market balance, whatever it may be in the end, may not be the biggest determinant of price direction and volatility when you have large parts of the market offline and the potential mismatch between supply and demand coming back," he said. Prices of platinum, palladium and sister metal rhodium have recovered some ground after falling by around half as the coronavirus swept the globe, closing industry and hurting auto sales. All three are mainly used in vehicle exhausts, though platinum is also used for jewellery. Low prices caused a surge in platinum-buying in China and Japan just as Europe, South Africa and North America reduced operations, causing the market to tighten sharply, Johnson Matthey said. Private investors in Japan bought around 200,000 ounces of platinum in March while Chinese jewellers and industry took 340,000 ounces of platinum from the Shanghai Gold Exchange, a monthly record, it said. The coronavirus will disrupt supply of platinum and rhodium more than palladium, Johnson Matthey said. South Africa where lockdowns and a processing plant failure have hit output - is the dominant producer of platinum and rhodium. The biggest palladium miner is Russia, where output has been less affected. Story continues Raithatha said auto makers in Europe were looking harder at cost cutting by potentially reducing use of precious metals or switching from expensive palladium to cheaper platinum, but that any changes would happen slowly. Johnson Matthey said platinum, palladium and rhodium were all undersupplied last year - the 8-million ounce a year platinum market by 265,000 ounces, the 10-million ounce palladium market by 950,000 ounces and the 1-million ounce a year rhodium market by 25,000 ounces. While Johnson Matthey shied away from forecasts, the World Platinum Investment Council said it expected a 247,000-ounce platinum oversupply in 2020 and Russian producer Norilsk Nickel said the palladium market would be balanced. (Reporting by Peter Hobson; editing by Barbara Lewis) Advertisement Greece has offered to waive its 14-day coronavirus quarantine for British tourists and holiday firms are planning to restart flights from mid June in what could be a welcome boost for beleaguered lockdown Britain. With the Mediterranean nation's under-pressure economy heavily dependent on holidaymakers it has been making plans to refill deserted beaches and hotels. The country's tourism minister, Harry Theoharis said that it would waive its requirement for visitors if the same was done for Greeks arriving in the UK, speaking to the BBC. It came as ministers mull coronavirus 'air bridges' to allow travellers to move between countries without the need for quarantine once the outbreak is under control. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said a 'blanket' 14-day quarantine rule for arrivals will be introduced from next month. But he disclosed that there are 'active discussions' going on over what countries could be exempted from the regime in future, referring to the idea of 'air bridges' - usually used to refer to military flights over enemy territory. Countries with lower infection levels, such as Australia, New Zealand and Greece, could potentially be excluded from the tough rules, which will be enforced by law. Tui, the largest travel firm in the UK has said it will restart holidays from June 14, with numbers ramped up from July - subject to travel restrictions being relaxed. In further good news for holidaymakers, a senior minister revealed UK campsites could be allowed to reopen from July. Asked about camping, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey told Sky: 'Having come from Suffolk down to London, I know there are a lot of campsites that are very keen for people to come. 'Some of this is being carefully considered, recognising that we have a reduced outdoor transmission risk, that things like camping may well become suitable. Greece's beaches, including this one at Epanomi , near Thessaloniki, on Saturday, are thriving thanks to a low number of coronavirus cases Beachgoers enjoy the sun at public beach in Piraeus near Athens, Greece, on May 18. With the Mediterranean nation's under-pressure economy heavily dependent on holidaymakers it has been making plans to refill deserted beaches and hotels Aerial view from a drone of people at the overcrowded beach of Potamos in Epanomi during a heatwave, a beach near Thessaloniki and Halkidiki. Beach bars and organized beaches opened on Saturday 16 May With the Mediterranean nation's under-pressure economy heavily dependent on holidaymakers it has been making plans to refill deserted beaches and hotels in popular tourist areas like Corfu (pictured) Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey told Sky: 'Recognising that we have a reduced outdoor transmission risk, that things like camping may well become suitable' Air bridge to where? There are how some of UK tourists' favourite holiday and travel destinations compare in terms of coronavirus cases UK tourism firms facing 37bn coronavirus hit UK tourism businesses could lose up to 15billion this year because of the coronavirus shutdown, an industry boss told MPs today. Patricia Yates, acting chief executive at Visit Britain, said huge sums were likely to be lost both from international and domestic holidaymakers. She told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee: 'Every time we do the modelling the figures get worse. So for inbound, I mean we were looking at the beginning of this year at about 26.6 billion coming from inbound tourism, we reckon a 15 billion drop on that. 'And for domestic, an industry that's normally worth about 80 billion, a 22 billion drop on that. 'And that's actually before we've factored in the quarantine because we don't clearly quite know what the measures are going to look like.' She said while it would be the hope that domestic tourism this summer could pick up the slack and help alleviate some of the losses from the international sector, a 'lack of confidence' among people around travelling is a concern. She said: 'You've got a collapse of the supply industry as well as collapse of demand and really to get British tourism up and running this summer, and the summer is hugely important, you're going to need that domestic audience. I think the worrying thing we see is the lack of confidence in the British public about travelling.' She added: 'So there's a real job to be done there, given that it has to be the year of domestic tourism, there's a real job to be done there in convincing people that it's socially responsible to travel and enjoy a holiday. And that it's safe to do so.' Advertisement 'But that is a decision that still needs to be taken for later this year, potentially in July or even later in the year, recognising that we need to do all we can to keep that R rate below one, the number of infections down, and we need to be careful when we take those steps.' It came as the director general of the British Holiday and Home Park Association said she had written to the Prime Minister asking why holiday parks would have to wait until July to reopen, possibly alongside pubs. Ros Pritchard told MPs today that social distancing for those with a holiday home 'will be identical to what they do at home'. She added that a staggered approach to reopening would help. She told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee: 'It would help with our local communities getting them used to holidaymakers coming back. 'It would help with us, with our training our staff and getting everything in place.' Measures to ensure safety include looking at asking customers to leave the windows of their accommodation open on checkout to ensure ventilation before cleaners come in, and mowing the grass in a certain way as to show the required two-metre distancing, she said. Pushed by presenter Kay Burley about holidaying in France, Ms Coffey dampened hopes, saying: 'I know you like your holidays Kay,and quite right too, but I wouldn't plan any time soon on booking a holiday in the Dordogne.' Patricia Yates, acting chief executive at Visit Britain, said that the UK tourism industry was facing a 37billion blackhole and said the public needed to be told that a domestic holiday this summer was safe. She told MPs: 'You've got a collapse of the supply industry as well as collapse of demand and really to get British tourism up and running this summer, and the summer is hugely important, you're going to need that domestic audience. I think the worrying thing we see is the lack of confidence in the British public about travelling.' She added: 'So there's a real job to be done there, given that it has to be the year of domestic tourism, there's a real job to be done there in convincing people that it's socially responsible to travel and enjoy a holiday. And that it's safe to do so.' She also told MPs air bridges were an 'interesting' idea to get people into the UK with money. She told the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee: 'It would be good to choose the countries that were valuable to us for inbound markets. 'We have an international network, our American regional director is telling us sort of America is ready to go, American business is ready to go. 'So, possibly, you know, an air bridge between the UK and America might be one that would be valuable to us.' She said Visit Britain was already looking at stepping up marketing in Ireland, which will be exempt from the quarantine measures regarding international travel. The most valuable markets are France, Germany, Italy, Spain and America when it comes to possible mutual arrangements such as air bridges with certain countries around quarantine, she said. But Downing Street poured some lukewarm water on the air bridge idea this morning. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'It's an option under consideration but not agreed Government policy.' He added that there had been no talks with the Greek Government on the subject. Earlier, Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary launched a savage attack on the government's plans for 14-day quarantine on arrivals to the UK. The new rules are set dash hopes of summer holidays for most of the summer, as exemptions are largely limited to lorry drivers. However, Mr O'Leary dismissed claims it will prevent his aim of resuming flights in July, saying he believes the policy is so 'defective' and impossible to enforce that the public will merely ignore it. He insisted the government is 'making stuff up as they go along' and face masks are the best way to protect the travelling public - despite many scientists saying they are of limited benefit. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs a 'blanket' 14-day quarantine rule for arrivales will be introduced from next month Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary (file picture) today launched a savage attack on the government's plans for 14-day quarantine on arrivals to the UK All arrivals at airports will face 14-day quarantine under the government's proposals The latest slides released by the government tonight showing the UK's coronavirus status Loss of smell and taste is FINALLY classed as coronavirus symptom People should self-isolate if they lose their sense of taste or smell because it is a definite symptom of coronavirus, the government has announced today. Anosmia, the clinical name for a change in smell or taste sense, has become the third symptom of the coronavirus that will be officially recognised by the NHS. Until now, people were only advised that they might have the virus if they had a fever or a new continuous cough. But scientists working for the government have now decided there is enough evidence to add anosmia to the list. Prof Tim Spector, head of the department of genetic epidemiology and leader of the Covid symptom study app at King's College London, said 50,000 to 70,000 people in the UK with Covid-19 were currently not being told to self-isolate even though they had the virus. He blamed Public Health England (PHE) and the wider strategy, saying an insistence that only fever and cough were the major symptoms was missing thousands of cases. Until now, the NHS 111 coronavirus symptom checker has listed high temperature and cough as the symptoms of Covid-19. Prof Van-Tam said on April 3 that the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) had looked at the issue and concluded loss of smell or taste should not be added to the symptom list. But in the same month, ENT UK, the professional membership body representing ear, nose and throat surgery in the UK, published guidance to patients saying it believed loss of smell and loss of taste were symptoms of coronavirus and that it had shared these details with PHE. The World Health Organisation (WHO) listed loss of smell and taste as 'less common symptoms' several weeks ago and other countries, including the US, added the symptom. Advertisement Mr Shapps has insisted quarantine measures from early June will be a 'blanket situation' for other countries initially but could be then eased for those with low Covid-19 infection rates. Huw Merriman, Conservative chairman of the Transport Committee, asked in the Commons: 'If he will consider air bridges so that those entering the UK from countries where the infection rate is below the rate of one would not be subject to quarantine? 'This will boost confidence in aviation travel and target safety where it's most needed.' Mr Shapps replied: 'Final details of the quarantine scheme will be released soon, come in early next month. 'It is the case we should consider further improvements - for example, things like air bridges enabling people from other countries who have themselves achieved lower levels of coronavirus infection to come to the country. 'So, those are active discussions but will go beyond what will initially be a blanket situation.' It is understood that hauliers will make up two thirds of those not required to self-isolate for two weeks. The rest are expected to include people who 'work supporting national security or critical infrastructure and to meet the UK's international obligations', officials said. Scientists researching coronavirus may also be exempt. Last week Downing Street denied that travellers from France would be excluded, despite previously suggesting that was an option. Ireland will not be covered by the rules due to the Common Travel Area's role in the Northern Ireland Peace Process. But Mr O'Leary told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the plans are 'unimplementable, unmanageable and unpoliceable'. 'People will simply ignore something that is so hopelessly defective... Let's have some effective measures like face masks,' he said. 'All you get back out of the UK government is ''we don't know''.' 'It's laughable that this government can come up with any plans for a quarantine that would be strict and fully enforced... 'It's idiotic and it's un-implementable. You don't have enough police in the UK.' He added: 'Two-week lockdown has no medical or scientific basis to it in any event. If you want to do something that's effective, wear masks.' Mr O'Leary said the policy had 'no credibility' and predicted that it would be axed by June. He insisted research had suggested face masks could reduce the risk of Covid-19 infection by 98.5 per cent. He told Sky News the government is 'making stuff up as they go along'. 'I think they are frankly just making stuff up as they go along,' he said. 'They are stumbling along grabbing whatever they think will make a headline. What is an air bridge? An 'air bridge' is typically used by the military to reach and supply territory across enemy lines. One of the largest in history was used for the Berlin airlift after the Second World War. That kept the Western-held area supplied between June 1948 and May 1949 when it was cut off by Soviet forces. Another famous air bridge was 'The Hump', which was the route over the Himalayas from India to resupply Chinese forces working with the Allies. Advertisement There is no scientific or medical basis for a 14-day isolation for air passengers when you are not applying that equally to London Underground or London commuter train passengers.' Virgin Atlantic appeared to back Mr O'Leary's comments and called for a 'multi-layered approach' of targeted measures to successfully restart flights. The statement released today said: 'The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a devasting loss of life and livelihood for so many around the world and the UK. 'The safety and security of our people and our customers is our always our top priority and public health must come first. However, by introducing a mandatory 14 day self-isolation for every single traveller entering the UK, the Government is taking an approach that will likely prevent flights from resuming. 'We are continually reviewing our flying programme, however with these restrictions, there simply won't be sufficient demand to warrant flying and we are unlikely to resume passenger services before August at the earliest. Oliver Dowden said quarantine rules for people travelling to the UK will be enforced by law Lorry drivers are expected to make up the bulk of people exempted from quarantine rules when travelling to other countries (stock photo) 'We know that as the Covid-19 crisis subsides, air travel will be a vital enabler of the UK's economic recovery. 'Therefore, we are calling for a multi-layered approach of carefully targeted measures, which will allow for a successful restart of international air travel for passengers and businesses, while mitigating health risks.' The Association of UK Airlines, the trade body for the industry added that if the government does push ahead with the 14-day quarantine plan then strict rolling reviews need to be in place. Tell councils to reopen car parks and public toilets, says government expert Ministers must order councils to reopen public toilets and car parks and stop 'terrorising' those who want to visit beauty spots, a government adviser said today. Professor Robert Dingwall, who sits on the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, said the risk outdoors was 'minimal' and people did not need to be so anxious. The government eased draconian limits on exercise last week, with Boris Johnson saying the public is free to drive distances and enjoy public spaces as many times a day as they want. However, tourist boards have joined local authorities in saying visitors should stay away from beauty spots and seaside resorts. Weston-super-Mare has changed its slogan from 'Visit Weston' to 'Don't Visit Weston' Advertisement A spokesman said: 'Airlines are not going to operate if people are effectively told not to travel and that is going to do a lot of damage both to our tourism industry and businesses who rely on aviation for their supply chains and exports. 'If the Government does insist on doing this, with minimal exemptions in place, we need strict rolling reviews to be enforced so that this policy is not in place a second longer than it needs to be.' Mr Dowden said quarantine rules for people travelling to the UK will be enforced by law. He told Today: 'We would look at the relevant enforcement mechanisms just as we have done with other measures. 'So for example, the measures that we took when we introduced the so-called lockdown - those were underpinned by regulations which had consequences in law, and I'm sure we'll do the same thing.' He said there would be 'very limited' exemptions to the rules. John Holland-Kaye, the boss of Heathrow, raised hopes of looser rules yesterday, telling Sky News: 'If two countries are at very low risk of having transmission within each country, there should be a free flow of passengers. 'But if a country has very high risk with rising infection rates and poor controls, then there would be very tight controls on anyone accessing the UK from those markets. Meanwhile, a government adviser has urged ministers to make councils reopen public toilets and car parks, and stop 'terrorising' those who want to visit beauty spots. Professor Robert Dingwall, who sits on the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, said the risk outdoors was 'minimal' and people did not need to be so anxious. The government eased draconian limits on exercise last week, with Boris Johnson saying the public is free to drive distances and enjoy public spaces as many times a day as they want. However, tourist boards have joined local authorities in saying visitors should stay away from beauty spots and seaside resorts. Weston-super-Mare has changed its slogan from 'Visit Weston' to 'Don't Visit Weston' China has agreed to a probe into the source of coronavirus infection but with certain conditions. On the first day of the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA), Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a video-conference from Beijing, said his country was ready for a "comprehensive review" of the origin of the virus but only after the pandemic was brought under control. "All along, we have worked with openness, transparency and responsibility. We have provided information to the WHO and relevant countries in the most timely fashion," Xi said. Also read: What's the coronavirus situation now in China? Not very good World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus bowed to calls by most member states that sought a probe into the virus source via an EU draft resolution. The resolution that seeks "impartial" probe has been backed by over 120 countries, including India. The probe will also find out the WHO's role in the international response to the coronavirus amid finger-pointing between the US and China. However, no timeline has been mentioned regarding the completion of the investigation. Also read: China expresses opposition to latest US rules against Huawei The resolution says: "OP9.10 Initiate, at the earliest appropriate moment, and in consultation with the Member States, a stepwise process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation, including using existing mechanisms, as appropriate, to review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to Covid-19, including (i) the effectiveness of the mechanisms at WHO's disposal; (ii) the functioning of the IHR and the status of implementation of the relevant recommendations of the previous IHR Review Committees; (iii) WHO's contribution to United Nations-wide efforts; and (iv) the actions of WHO and their timelines pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic, and make recommendations to improve global pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacity, including through strengthening, as appropriate, WHO's Health Emergencies Programme." Also read: Coronavirus Lockdown XV: Not just stimulus 2.0, getting fiscal mathematics right is critical too It also requests the WHO to continue to work to "identify the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population". WHA chief Keva Bain also announced the body would adopt the proposal seeking "inclusion of Taiwan to participate in the World Health Assembly as an observer". The proposal was adopted unanimously but China has maintained Taiwan will have to adhere to the 'One China policy' before it's considered 'observer" at the UN assembly. Coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 3,00,000 lives all over the world and has affected millions in around 213 countries, while destroying world economies. Coronavirus-induced lockdown for over 50 days has also crippled the Indian economy. The country is staring at a massive decline in its GDP due to no business activity for around two months. Global investment firm Goldman Sachs has projected that India could experience its worst-ever recession. It anticipates India's Gross Domestic Product to contract by 45 per cent in the June quarter. Also read: Coronavirus turns tables; shortage forces China to import Indian steel TROOP 6000 The Girl Scout Troop That Began in a Shelter and Inspired the World By Nikita Stewart On the morning after Easter Sunday in 2017, the front page of The New York Times featured a different sort of resurrection story. This one, written by the reporter Nikita Stewart, told of a Girl Scout troop that homeless families had formed in the threadbare hotel that functioned as a city shelter. As an uplifting testament, the article went viral (in the pre-Covid meaning of the term) and attracted an enormous amount of celebrity support for the dozen or so girls in Troop 6000. They were feted on the TV talk show The View, hosted by the New York Liberty of the W.N.B.A. and given a supply of Jessica Albas name-brand shampoo. The founding mother of the troop, Giselle Burgess, received a $6,000 check from Jimmy Fallon on his late-night show. That groundswell of response, with its complicated alloy of heartfelt generosity and overdog guilt, was surely the boon and the bane for Troop 6000, the book that Stewart has expanded from her initial article. I do not mean in any way to diminish Stewarts impressive journalistic skills when I wonder if this book would have existed without the boldface-name buzz that Troop 6000 received. Indeed, the publisher has packaged this book as a feel-good yarn, complete with a hyperbolic subtitle about how the homeless girls inspired the world. To her great credit, Stewart has too much integrity and clarity to go along with the fairy-tale version of Troop 6000s experience. She problematizes the myth, relentlessly returning to the debilitating chaos of homelessness itself. A man has been arrested and charged over a crash east of Perth which killed Maddie Morgan, 21, and her unborn child. The incident also left Ms Morgan's partner Jack Bryant, 23, critically injured. WA Police said a blue Ford Falcon sedan was travelling west on Great Eastern Highway when it collided with a blue Nissan Skyline heading east near Homestead Road in Mahogany Creek on Friday at about 7.45pm. A 23-year-old man from Swan View who was allegedly driving the Ford Falcon has been charged with two counts of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death, aggravated dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and aggravated dangerous driving causing bodily harm. [May 19, 2020] Next Pathway Adds Ground-Breaking Capability to Translate Informatica and DataStage ETL Pipelines to the Cloud in Latest Version of SHIFT SHIFT TRANSLATOR version 4.0 automatically translates Informatica and DataStage ETL pipelines to run in the cloud, solving a major migration blocker. TORONTO, May 19, 2020 /CNW/ - Next Pathway Inc. , the Automated Cloud Migration company, today announced the release of SHIFT TRANSLATOR version 4.0. This is a significant release as it provides the unique capability to automatically translate complex ETL (extract, transform and load) pipelines to run in the cloud. Previously, the only option available was to manually re-write the ETL pipelines, an expensive, lengthy and risky approach. SHIFT TRANSLATOR version 4.0 includes support for commercial ETL tools like Informatica and DataStage, providing companies with a solution that accelerates cloud migration projects where customers are reliant on third-party ETL tools for data transformation within the data warehouse environment. SHIFT TRANSLATOR automatically translates all aspects of legacy ETL pipelines, including embedded SQL, source/target connectors, orchestration logic, and other XML-based attributes, in minutes. Historically, the only option for companies has been to upgrade to the latest editions of the vendor's ETL software that can run in the cloud, or manually refactor the ETL code. Both options introduce major complexity to the data warehouse migration, including increased costs, timelines and operational isks. With SHIFT TRANSLATOR version 4.0, companies can take this part of the migration off the critical path by automating the translation and repointing of existing legacy ETL pipelines to the cloud, be it Snowflake, AWS, Google Cloud or other platforms. "We've seen companies who want to get to the cloud and decommission their legacy data warehouses stuck when their environments are heavily reliant on commercial ETL tools", said Chetan Mathur, Chief Executive Officer at Next Pathway. "With this latest release of SHIFT TRANSLATOR, we're solving another major bottleneck for our customers by automating the translation of legacy ETL pipelines and repointing them to the cloud, helping accelerate end-to-end migration timelines while keeping costs down." SHIFT TRANSLATOR version 4.0, is part of the SHIFT Migration Suite, which provides tools to automate and accelerate the end-to-end cloud migration lifecycle. Version 4.0 is available immediately. About Next Pathway Next Pathway is the Automated Cloud Migration company. Powered by the SHIFT Migration Suite , Next Pathway automates the end-to-end challenges companies experience when migrating applications to the cloud. SHIFT Migration Suite consists of five apps that automate key steps in a migration lifecycle: SHIFT CRAWLER automatically scans and catalogs legacy data sources, including ETL pipelines, scheduler jobs, and downstream consuming applications, to uncover actionable insights to plan your migration more effectively. automatically scans and catalogs legacy data sources, including ETL pipelines, scheduler jobs, and downstream consuming applications, to uncover actionable insights to plan your migration more effectively. SHIFT ANALYZER assesses various code types within legacy applications to create inventories of all objects, define complexity, and provide automation rates in order to size your migration. assesses various code types within legacy applications to create inventories of all objects, define complexity, and provide automation rates in order to size your migration. SHIFT TRANSLATOR automates the translation of complex workloads when executing your migration to the cloud including SQL, Stored Procedures, ETL, and various other code types for various source and target platforms. automates the translation of complex workloads when executing your migration to the cloud including SQL, Stored Procedures, ETL, and various other code types for various source and target platforms. SHIFT JET INTERPRETER is a plug-in replacement for Teradata utilities, such as BTEQ, FastLoad, MultiLoad, FastExport and TPT. It serves as a migration accelerator to get customers off of Teradata by eliminating the need to re-write code, and thus, move these utilities off of the migration critical path. is a plug-in replacement for Teradata utilities, such as BTEQ, FastLoad, MultiLoad, FastExport and TPT. It serves as a migration accelerator to get customers off of Teradata by eliminating the need to re-write code, and thus, move these utilities off of the migration critical path. SHIFT TESTER automates key tasks in the testing lifecycle when executing and optimizing workloads within the cloud. Next Pathway accelerates the time to market for cloud migration initiatives. For more information, please visit nextpathway.com . Connect with Next Pathway Blog | LinkedIn | Twitter View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/next-pathway-adds-ground-breaking-capability-to-translate-informatica-and-datastage-etl-pipelines-to-the-cloud-in-latest-version-of-shift-301061685.html SOURCE Next Pathway [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] An ancient human ancestor that lived two million years ago had hands that were able to perform some human-like movements as well as climb trees, a study has found. Australopithecus sediba is a distant relative of modern-day Homo sapiens that lived in what is now modern-day South Africa. Analysis of the hominin's well-preserved bones reveals the hand was a hybrid, still adapted to climbing trees like its predecessors and yet it was also able to perform human-like precise movements. It was suited to both activities, according to anthropologists from the University of Kent, which paints a complex picture of how human ancestors slowly ditched a life in the trees for a ground-based existence. Scroll down for video Pictured, the fossilised hand bones of A. sediba. Analysis of the hominin's hand bones reveals the hand was a hybrid, not fully adapted to climbing trees or yet adept at performing precise movements Pictured, the hand of the A. sebida species in situ at the South African cave. The knuckles of Australopithecus sediba's fingers show the fingers were well-adapted and often used for tree climbing and branch grasping The knuckles of Australopithecus sediba's fingers show the fingers were well-adapted and often used for tree climbing and branch grasping. However, the structure of the thumb knuckle is slightly different and is more consistent with human-like manipulation, the researchers say. This shows that A. sediba is different to other primitive hominins, including other Australopithecus species. Dr Christopher Dunmore, who led the research, said: 'Internal bone structures are shaped by frequent behaviours during life. 'Therefore, our findings can support further research into the internal structure of hands in relation to stone tool use and production. Pictured, the skull of the ancient human ancestor, which lived around two million years ago. The study shows the species slowly adapted to walking on two legs Australopithecus sediba gave birth 'relatively easily' Some ancient human relatives had far less difficulty giving birth than modern-day people, a study has found. Australopithecus sediba an ancient hominin who lived around 2 million years ago had wider birth canals than their modern equivalents. Modern human childbirth can be a difficult, painful and lengthy process. In contrast, some of our living distant relatives like chimpanzees have far easier labours, giving birth within a matter of hours with far less assistance. Experts believe that the difficult nature of modern births stems from both large infant heads and a pelvis which has become narrower as humans evolved to walk upright, in turn narrowing the birth canal. Researchers from the US created a digital model of an A. sediba pelvis, based on fossil specimens, to explore how labour would have been for our ancient relative. To find out what childbirth might have been like for our ancient relatives, anthropologist Natalie Laudicina of Boston University in Massachusetts and colleagues created a 3D model of a female Australopithecus sediba's pelvis. Advertisement 'This approach may also be used to investigate how other fossil hominin species moved around and to what degree climbing might have remained an important part of their lifestyle.' Scientists have long sought to understand how and when ancient human ancestors moved away from climbing trees. Professor Tracy Kivell said: 'The internal bone structure can reveal hidden evidence that gives us insight into how our fossil human relatives behaved. 'We were really excited to see this particular hand-use pattern in Australopithecus sediba as it was so different from other australopiths. 'The fossil record is revealing more and more diversity in the ways our ancestors moved around, and interacted with, their environments - the human evolutionary story is even more complex and interesting than we previously thought.' Previous research has found that some species spent more time on the ground and, as a result, slowly began walking on two legs. Bipedalism, walking on two legs as opposed to four, was key in allowing modern humans to evolve as it signalled a change in lifestyle and allowed the sharing of food. Bipedalism coincided with an expanding brain capacity but made it harder to give birth. Walking on two legs was already common among some early hominins, with estimates on the emergence of bipedalism dating back to up to six million years ago. However, the unique combination of functions seen in A. sediba reveals species adopted bipedalism at a different rate, and A. sediba gradually made the transition. SEATTLE, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sales Hacker , the top destination for sales education and career acceleration, today launched a new interactive community for sales professionals. The Sales Hacker community provides an educational and interactive hub to help sales professionals grow expertise, share knowledge, and develop professionally by learning from their peers and industry leaders. "I am thrilled to launch this community to sales professionals around the globe," said Max Altschuler, founder of Sales Hacker and vice president of marketing at Outreach. "In today's remote environment, resources that keep us connected, foster idea-sharing and open dialogue are increasingly important. This is exactly what Sales Hacker is designed to do. Sales professionals from all backgrounds and experience levels can come together and learn from each other to ultimately bring more success to their organizations and grow as leaders." Sales Hacker was acquired by the number one sales engagement platform, Outreach, in August 2018, and is the leading destination for sales professionals to stay up-to-date on the latest trends in the world of sales. "The sales industry is at a very important crossroads. Now more than ever, we need spaces where we share ideas, learn from each other, and grow in areas that will advance our businesses," said Manny Medina, CEO and co-founder of Outreach. "Sales Hacker has always been the place to learn about what's happening in the industry - now sales professionals can take that one step further by sparking conversations and inspiring each other with their unique approach to improving their sales skills. These are the conversations that are going to help shape the modern sales process." Sales Hacker touts more than 166,000 diverse sales professionals and members and has more than 500 contributing authors providing expertise. Now, in addition to the existing industry news and educational resources like webinars, blogs, and events that Sales Hacker provides, the new community features: Discussion Threads: Community members can launch discussion threads to get advice, feedback, and ideas from fellow community members and sales experts. These threads allow for a lively discussion between sales professionals of all backgrounds and levels of expertise, fostering engagement within the community. Community members can launch discussion threads to get advice, feedback, and ideas from fellow community members and sales experts. These threads allow for a lively discussion between sales professionals of all backgrounds and levels of expertise, fostering engagement within the community. Professional Profiles: Community members can create profiles to advance their professional development and develop connections. Profiles showcase interests, display engagement metrics, and aggregate industry news and information in an easy-to-read feed. Members can also follow authors and other members to build their professional community. Community members can create profiles to advance their professional development and develop connections. Profiles showcase interests, display engagement metrics, and aggregate industry news and information in an easy-to-read feed. Members can also follow authors and other members to build their professional community. Channels: Community members can view news, discussion threads, and information through channels tailored to selling focus areas including sales development, sales engagement, sales operations, and sales "closers" (aka executives charged with closing deals). Community members can view news, discussion threads, and information through channels tailored to selling focus areas including sales development, sales engagement, sales operations, and sales "closers" (aka executives charged with closing deals). Career Development Content & Trends: Community members have access to the latest news and industry trends, and can grow their skills through carefully curated webinars, sales training, sales templates, and blog posts. Community members have access to the latest news and industry trends, and can grow their skills through carefully curated webinars, sales training, sales templates, and blog posts. Direct Messaging: Community members will be able to directly connect with each other with private messaging. Sales Hacker has designed this community to provide a trusted space for sales professionals to get help, ask questions, and grow together. Read more in Sales Hacker's community guidelines . To learn more about Sales Hacker visit: https://www.saleshacker.com/ . About Sales Hacker Sales Hacker is the smartest community of sales professionals on the planet. The community allows members to ask for help, get immediate answers from other-forward thinking sales pros, and lend their expertise to peers. Sales Hacker also publishes educational sales content in the form of podcasts, webinars, articles, and virtual events. About Outreach Outreach is the number one sales engagement platform that helps companies dramatically increase productivity and drive smarter, more insightful engagement with their customers. Over 4,000 companies such as Adobe, Tableau, Okta, Splunk, DocuSign, and SAP depend on Outreach's enterprise-scale, unparalleled customer adoption, and robust AI-powered innovation. Outreach is a privately held company based in Seattle, Washington. To learn more, please visit www.outreach.io . PR Contact: Amanda Woolley [email protected] SOURCE Outreach Related Links https://www.outreach.io/ Sumeet Vyas has been riding high on the success of his various web-series. He has managed to carve a niche for himself. The man is undoubtedly the best guy weve got on the web from his expressive face to his emotive voice, he checks all the boxes of talent. No wonder then that he truly shines like a star in his latest outing as the suave and uber-smart CEO Dilawar Rana in this Arre Original and MX Exclusive series Official Bhootiyagiri. After taking the blame for his stepbrother Kash and landing in prison in Official CEOgiri, the new season kicks off with Dilawar Rana striking a deal with his mother run the family-owned hotel in exchange for your freedom. With little to no options elsewhere, Sumeets character accepts the deal. But soon he realizes the horrors he has unfolded in his life. Not only is the family-owned hotel haunted but so are the memories of his childhood home. Suffering from deep social anxiety, Sumeets character soon realizes that he is fighting two battles one with the ghosts in the haunted hotel and one with his metaphorical ghosts within. MX Player The 5-episodic series is crisp, emotional, and hilarious in parts. Delivering horror cliches one after another, the show pokes fun at every Bollywood horror movie ever. But the real hero is the witty writing. From the classic one-liners to the horror scenes, they dont disappoint. Besides Sumeet, the ensemble cast too left a mark Kash (played by Pranay Manchanda) had his goofy moments and Mallika (played by Eisha Chopra), Dilawars ex-wife, was the voice of reason in his head and his constant support. Director Vishwajoy Mukherjee did a great job of summing up the real and metaphorical demons in this bite-sized series. During these trying times, this dark comedy is a reminder to fight your battles with a big smile on your face. Official Bhootiyagiri makes it to our quick lockdown binge list. To jump on the Sumeet Vyas fan bandwagon, you can start streaming the show for FREE on MX Player. YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Parliament will convene an extraordinary session today at the initiative of the government, the Parliament told Armenpress. The session will start at 11:00. The agenda includes the bill on making an amendment and change to the Law on Administrative Offenses. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) A public school teacher who was arrested for his online post offering a 50 million reward to anyone who would kill President Rodrigo Duterte is now free on bail. Alliance of Concerned Teachers Secretary General Raymond Basilio confirmed Tuesday that Ronnel Mas was granted provisional liberty after his family posted bail, paying the amount of 72,000 for his release. Branch 72 of the Regional Trial Court issued a release order on Tuesday, and set the arraignment and pre-trial date on May 28. "Justice, however, is yet to be gained," Basilio said. "The Duterte government shall answer for their blatant disregard of teacher Ronnels rights and freedoms when the NBI coerced him into admission, presented to and humiliated him in front of the press, and illegally detained him for eight days." The Department of Justice ruled that the warrantless arrest of public high school teacher Ronnel Mas was invalid, but added that the "defect" was "untimely cured" by his own admission to the media that he posted a bounty for Duterte's slay. For a warrantless arrest to be valid, prosecutors said the Rules of Court requires that the offense "has just been committed." This was not the case with Mas, wherein he posted his tweet on May 5, and was tracked down and apprehended six days later in Sta. Cruz, Zambales. "Our fight continues, not only for teacher Ronnel, but also for teachers Juliet and Eli Espinosa who were jailed for their humanitarian regard for others," Basilio said. "Our fight continues as long as state-funded censorship and attacks on free speech run rampant." At least four people from all over the country have been accosted by police for online posts offering a bounty for anyone who can kill Duterte, as well as a post questioning the President's former aide now Senator Christopher "Bong" Go's pervasive presence in Malacanang. Xiaomi will create a new branch in the Redmi family tree, the X-series, and we get the feeling that these will sit just below the flagship K-series. What does X stand for? Well, a series of teaser images offers several possible answers. Redmi 10X teasers Long story short, the Redmi 10X and the phones that follow it will be aimed at a younger crowd. Their goal is to use the advanced technology to build an experience that surpasses its price class. An example of this will be the 5G connectivity. This will be the first 5G Redmi outside of the K-series. It will be able to connect two SIM cards to a 5G network and supports high speeds and goodies like VoNR. That is made possible by the MediaTek Dimensity 820 chipset. Besides the next-gen connectivity, this chip will deliver close to flagship performance, as Lu Weibing, the General Manager of the Redmi brand, is keen to point out. 400,000+ on AnTuTu The Redmi 10X is coming on May 26 Early benchmarks show that the flagships in question are the Snapdragon 845 and Exynos 9810, but thats still pretty good from a mid-range chip. The 400,000+ AnTuTu score shows that this is quite competitive with offerings in this segment from Qualcomm, Samsung and Huawei. New Redmi TVs incoming The Redmi 10X, the first of the new branch, will be unveiled on May 26 and will be joined by a trio of smart TVs. Heres a chart that shows where the Dimensity 820 chipset falls on the performance scale: Source (in Chinese) | Via EU countries are convinced that the Israeli authorities should abandon actions that could lead to the annexation of Palestinian territories, head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell said in a statement. The statement runs as follows: "The European Union congratulates the new government in Israel. Israel is a key partner for the European Union. We look forward to continuing working with the Israeli government in a constructive and comprehensive way, in the spirit of the longstanding friendship that binds us to Israel, in order to develop our relationship in all areas, in particular in matters such as COVID-19, education, research and development and any other area of mutual interest. With regard to the Middle East Peace Process, the EU is willing to support and facilitate resumed meaningful negotiations between the two parties, to resolve all final status issues and achieve a just and lasting peace. We stand ready to engage immediately with the new government and with all relevant stakeholders. International law is a fundamental pillar of the international rules-based order. In this respect, the EU and its Member States recall that they will not recognize any changes to the 1967 borders unless agreed by Israelis and Palestinians. The two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the future capital for both States, is the only way to ensure sustainable peace and stability in the region. In this vein, we note with grave concern the provision to be submitted for approval by the Israeli cabinet on the annexation of parts of occupied Palestinian territories, as stated by the Prime Minister when presenting his government to the Knesset on 17 May and as envisaged in the coalition agreement signed earlier. We strongly urge Israel to refrain from any unilateral decision that would lead to the annexation of any occupied Palestinian territory and would be, as such, contrary to International Law." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on May 17 that it was time to annex part of the Palestinian territories on the West Bank in favor of Jewish settlements. In December 2016, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 2334, demanding an end to Israeli settlement activities in the occupied territories. Israel then refused to comply with the provisions of this document. Key companies covered are 3M, Coveris, Avery Dennison Corporation, Ravenwood Packaging, Innovia Films, Constantania Flexibles, Lexit Group AS, RR Donnelley & Sons Company, Gipako UAB, Hub Labels, Cenveo Corporation, Reflex Labels Ltd., Skanem AS, NAStar Inc., & more PUNE, India, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The global linerless labels market is set to gain momentum from their rising demand from the packaging & labeling industry. It is mainly occurring as the concerns regarding liner waste are upsurging. This information is published by Fortune Business Insights in a recent report, titled, "Linerless Labels Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Adhesion Type (Permanent, Removable, Repositionable, and Others), By Printing Technology (Direct Thermal, Thermal Transfer, Laser, Inkjet, and Others), By Application (Food & Beverage, Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care, Retail, Logistics and Others), By Component (Facestock, Adhesive, and Release Coating) and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027" The report further mentions that the linerless labels market size was USD 2.33 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach USD 3.41 billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.0% during the forecast period. COVID-19 Impact Analysis: The emergence of COVID-19 has brought the world to a standstill. We understand that this health crisis has brought an unprecedented impact on businesses across industries. However, this too shall pass. Rising support from governments and several companies can help in the fight against this highly contagious disease. There are some industries that are struggling and some are thriving. Overall, almost every sector is anticipated to be impacted by the pandemic. We are taking continuous efforts to help your business sustain and grow during COVID-19 pandemics. Based on our experience and expertise, we will offer you an impact analysis of coronavirus outbreak across industries to help you prepare for the future. To Get the Short-Term and Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 on this market, Please Visit: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/covid19-impact/linerless-labels-market-102778 This Report Answers the Following Questions: What are the strategies adopted by key companies to increase sales? Which region is expected to lead the market by generating the largest revenue? Which segment would dominate the market by gaining the maximum share? What are the growth drivers and obstacles that the market may come across in the coming years? What are the challenges and opportunities in the market? Drivers & Restraints: Rising Usage of Attractive & Food-safe Labels to Spur Growth Brand recognition plays a vital role when it comes to the sales of food products worldwide. Labeling is a significant part of branding. The utilization of food-safe and attractive labels helps the food and beverage industry to grow. In the Latin American and Asian countries, namely, Brazil, Japan, and Southeast Asia, food products, such as fruits, bacon, and ham are packed with linerfree labels. Also, several ruling bodies have put forward strict norms and regulations regarding the information that is to be printed on the labels of food products. Unlike conventional labels, linerless labels are capable of including 30% more print. In addition to this, manufacturers won't have to change the dimensions of linerless labels and thus, they can be easily used instead of the traditional ones. They are also cost-effective and hence, are very popular in the food and beverage sector. The expansion of food and beverage industry across the globe is likely to contribute to the growth of the backingless labels market growth in the coming years. However, the regular shapes of linerless labels may not fulfil the requirements for a novel trademark. It may hamper growth. Segmentation: Food & Beverage Segment to Hold Largest Share Backed by the High Demand for Linerless Labels Based on application, the market is segregated into logistics, retail, pharmaceutical & personal care, food & beverage, and others. Amongst these, the retail segment held 16.9% linerfree labels market share in 2019. The food & beverage segment is expected to procure the largest share throughout the forthcoming period as it is necessary for the prominent companies to differentiate their products from the competitors. Therefore, they need a wide variety of labels to showcase authentic information regarding the contents of the product. Browse Detailed Research Insights with TOC:https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/linerless-labels-market-102778 Regional Analysis: Growth of E-commerce to Drive Market in Asia Pacific Geographically, the market is categorized into the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. Out of these, Asia Pacific generated USD 892.5 million revenue in 2019. This growth is attributable to the expansion of e-commerce in this region. North America is anticipated to grow considerably backed by the presence of a well-established retail sector in the U.S. Also, the demand for retail and personal care goods would upsurge because of the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. For gaining the confidence of customers, companies are demanding for eye-catching labels for their products. In Europe, the market is set to grow steadily owing to the high demand from the pharmaceutical industry. Competitive Landscape: Key Players Focus on R&D Activities to Develop New Products The market is semi-consolidated. Most of the top players are investing hefty amount of money in research and development activities to introduce innovative linerless labels and their components. Fortune Business Insights lists out the names of all the companies present in the global Linerless Labels Market. They are as follows: Coveris Avery Dennison Corporation Ravenwood Packaging Innovia Films Constantania Flexibles Lexit Group AS RR Donnelley & Sons Company Gipako UAB Hub Labels Cenveo Corporation Reflex Labels Ltd. Skanem AS NAStar Inc. 3M Optimum Group SATO Europe GmbH Tereoka Seiko Co., Ltd. L&N Label Company Proprint Group DuraFast Label Company Bizerba Australia Bostik Dykam A.C.A. Ltd. Weber Packaging Solutions Other key players Quick Buy - Linerless Labels Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/102778 Detailed Table of Content: Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions Executive Summary Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities Key Insights Key Emerging Trends - For Major Countries Key Developments: Mergers, Acquisition, Partnership, etc. Latest Technological Advancement Insights on Regulatory Scenario Porters Five Forces Analysis Global Linerless Labels Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2016-2027 Key Findings / Summary Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast - By Adhesion Type Permanent Removable Repositionable Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast - By Printing Technology Direct Thermal Thermal Transfer Laser Inkjet Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast - By Application Food & Beverage Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care Retail Logistics Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast - By Component Facestock Adhesive Release Coating Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast - By Region North America Europe Asia pacific pacific Latin America Middle East & Africa TOC Continued! Get your Customized Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/customization/linerless-labels-market-102778 Below are two of the latest key industry developments: January 2020 : Bostik unveiled its new linerless label adhesive. It is mainly designed to improve efficiencies of production line and deliver sustainable packaging, especially for quick service restaurant applications. : Bostik unveiled its new linerless label adhesive. It is mainly designed to improve efficiencies of production line and deliver sustainable packaging, especially for quick service restaurant applications. May 2019 : R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (RRD) announced the broadening of its label manufacturing platform. It added a 26" linerless press for this expansion. The press was developed by ETI Converting Equipment. Have a Look at Related Research Insights: Adhesive Tape Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Pressure-Sensitive, Water-Activated, Heat-Sensitive, Others), By Adhesion Technology (Solvent-Based, Water-Based, Hot-Melt Based, Others), By Resin (Acrylic, Rubber, Silicone), By Base Material (Paper, Polypropylene (PP), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Others), By End-Use Industry (Automotive & Transportation, Electrical & Electronics, Paper & Packaging) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Specialty Tapes Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Film Type (Acrylic, Rubber, Silicone, Others [Polyurethane (PU), Phenolic, EVA, and Butyl]), By Backing Material (PVC, Paper, Polyester, PET, Foam, PP, Others), By End-Use Application (Automotive, Paper & Printing, Healthcare, White Goods, Electrical & Electronics) Others and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Smart Label Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Technology (Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) Security, RFID, Sensing Labels, Near Field Communication Tag, and QR Code/2D Barcode), By End-User (Retail, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Food & Beverages, Consumer Electronics, Supply Chain and Logistics, Transportation, and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Automotive Tapes Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Specialty, Double-sided, Masking, Others), By Function (Bonding, Masking, Noise, vibration, and harshness {NVH}, Others), By Application (Interior, Exterior, Wire Harnessing, Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Building & Construction Tapes Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Double Sided Tapes, Masking Tapes, Duct Tapes, Other Tapes), By Application (Flooring, Walls & Ceiling, Windows, Doors, Roofing, others), By Function (Bonding, Protection, Insulation, Glazing, Sound & Water Proofing, others), By End Use Industries (Residential, Commercial, Industrial) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 Electronic Shelf Labels Market Size, Share and Industry Analysis, By Type (LCD Based, E-Paper Based), By Communication Technology (Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Near Field Communication (NFC), Others), By End-Use (Hypermarket/ Supermarket, Non-Food Retail Stores, Specialty Stores, Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019-2026 About Us: Fortune Business Insights offers expert corporate analysis and accurate data, helping organizations of all sizes make timely decisions. 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Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US: +1-424-253-0390 UK: +44-2071-939123 APAC: +91-744-740-1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com Fortune Business Insights LinkedIn | Twitter | Blogs Read Press Release:https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/press-release/linerless-labels-market-9914 Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1169989/Linerless_Labels_Market.jpg Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/902288/Fortune_Business_Insights_Logo.jpg Queensland will not risk the lives of residents by lifting border restrictions ahead of advice from the chief health officer, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says. The border closure, expected to remain beyond the July date flagged in the states timeline for winding back public health measures, has come under fire from New South Wales and the tourism industry after Ms Palaszczuk said this week it could be in place until September. But speaking to reporters after delivering an update on the states economic recovery, the Premier says she will not bend to demands against the advice of chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young. It is Dr Youngs clear medical advice that has got us to this stage, Ms Palaszczuk said. I am not going to put at risk the lives of Queenslanders. Ms Palaszczuk pointed to the health advice in NSW and the federal governments own roadmap which urged against non-essential domestic travel. She said the review element contained in her own states roadmap could allow visitors from states without community transmission, such as South Australia. Absolutely, Im open to that, but I will accept the advice of the chief health officer. Dr Young said on Monday that states would need to be free from new COVID-19 cases for two incubation periods up to 14 days before domestic travel could be allowed. It now looks pretty certain that there wont be a 5G spectrum auction in India this year. However, there may be an auction of some sort involving 4G. The Indian Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is likely to hold a spectrum auction before October but ignoring the 3,300-3,600 MHz band, intended for 5G. The auctioneer an agency that will develop and manage software for the auction will be chosen from a shortlist by 22 May. Four companies mjunction services Ltd, C1 India Pvt Ltd, MSTC Ltd and e-Procurement Technologies Ltd have qualified in the technical round. Indian media reports suggest that the planned auction will be of around 8000 MHz of spectrum. This would involve the 700MHz, 800MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands. Its unlikely to be cheap, but there will be a fairly lenient repayment process involving instalments spread over up to 16 years. And 5G? The base price of around $65 million per megahertz of 5G spectrum finalised by the Digital Communications Commission (DCC) is seen as too high not just by operators, like Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel, but by a task force constituted under the Indian finance ministry and by the ITU-APT Foundation of India. In fact the ITU-APT Foundation of India, an arm of the UN-led International Telecommunication Union (ITU), has suggested that the allocation of 5G spectrum should go ahead without the reserve price, citing the prime minister Narendra Modi's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) initiative. Defence ministry demands for some of the 5G spectrum have further complicated matters, as has the continuing political debate around the participation of Chinese companies in rollout. Nevertheless, even if these problems are resolved, the suggested spectrum prices are way above those of many other countries and getting all the operators on board, even with a prolonged delay, may be difficult. Please register or log in to keep reading. No credit card required! Stay logged in to skip the surveys. The investigation is underway. A suspected organizer of the murder of Chechen volunteer Amina Okueva, who in 2014 joined Ukraine's Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) against Russia-led forces in Donbas, has been served with charge papers. The Office of the Prosecutor General in Ukraine said the suspect is a native of Russia's Chechen Republic. In Ukraine, the man was involved in hiring assassins to kill Okueva and her husband. In January, he was detained. A pretrial investigation into the assassination is conducted by the National Police's Main Directorate in Kyiv region. Investigative actions are underway, measures are taken to detain all the individuals involved in the crime. Read alsoAlleged organizer of deadly attack on ATO volunteer Okueva involved in other murders police As UNIAN reported earlier, on October 30, 2017, ATO volunteer Amina Okueva was killed while her husband, Adam Osmayev, who was a former commander of the international peacekeeping battalion named after Dzhokhar Dudayev, was wounded as their vehicle came under fire at a railway crossing outside Kyiv. Earlier that year, on June 1, 2017, the couple survived an attack when an agent of Russia's special service badly wounded Osmayev in Kyiv. The attacker was detained. On January 12, 2020, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the National Police had detained a group of killers reasonably suspected of killing Okueva and seriously wounding her husband in October 2017. On April 14, 2020, Ukrainian Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko said that Major General of the SBU Security Service of Ukraine Valeriy Shaitanov, who had been detained on suspicion of high treason and terrorist attacks, was involved in preparations for assassination attempts to kill Ukrainian volunteers, including Osmayev. Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa asking Muslims to offer their Eid prayers this time at home, instead of congregating at mosques. The directive comes amid a nationwide lockdown to slow down the spread of coronavirus. Despite the relaxations announced in the lockdown, religious and other large gatherings are still banned. The fatwa was issued in response to a query put to the seminary, its spokesman Ashraf Usmani told PTI. The fatwa said the Eid namaz can be offered in the same manner that the Friday prayers are now being read at home. It said not holding the namaz in the usual manner is pardonable in circumstances such as these. Eid falls on May 24 or 25 this year. In Literature, we often find that most stories have taken inspiration from older stories. This trend translates to films as well. A lot of films end up taking inspiration from other films, this, however, is necessarily not a bad thing. And sometimes, the remake surpasses the original film in mastering brilliance. Here's a list of 7 remakes that were, in fact, better than the original movies 1. The Departed Infernal Affairs (2002) IMDB Infernal Affairs was a 1990 American crime thriller film set in Los Angeles about the police department's Internal Affairs Division. The Departed took it a notch higher with Martin Scorsese's direction who masters the gangster genre like no one else. Starring Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nickolson, and Alec Baldwin, the film comes in the list of one of the greatest action films ever made. 2. A Star Is Born A Star Is Born (1937) IMDB Starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in lead roles, this 2018 romantic musical, A Star Is Born made headlines back in the day for the electric chemistry the two stars had on screen. But, what you may not know is the fact that it is a remake of the 1937 film with the same name. Gagas song Shallow won the Best Original Song. 3. The Lion King The Lion King (1994) IMDB We've all grown up watching The Lion King. The 2019 remake of the film lived up to the expectations of the 1994 movie. With state of the art visuals, the film seemed more real than ever before. An original adaptation of Hamlet by Shakespeare mellowed down for kids, the film really worked its magic. The only complaint that most people had was the fact that making animals weren't emoting the emotions well that the film was trying to project. 4. Oceans Eleven Oceans 11 (1960) IMDB Ocean's 11 was a 1960's heist film with iconic actors like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Cesar Romero, Joey Bishop. Steven Soderbergh's adaptation had a lot of expectations to live up to. With a cast that included George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, and Andy Garcia, the remake went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of 2001. 5. Sholay The Magnificent Seven (1960) IMDB What has not become a cult classic in India, started out as a remake from The Magnificent Seven (1960). Ramesh Sippys Sholay is apparently heavily inspired by the 1960 Hollywood film. It has also taken inspiration from other films like Once Upon A Time In The West and Spaghetti Westerns. Now, here's the deal, even The Magnificent Seven was also a remake of Akira Kurosawas 1954 Japanese movie Seven Samurai. 6. Insomnia Insomnia (1997) IMDB Christopher Nolan's Insomnia starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams is one of the greatest films. Based on the Norwegian film with the same name, this 2002 psychological thriller narrates the story of two Los Angeles homicide detectives. Insomnia has always been lauded for its brilliant cinematography. 7. Black The Miracle Worker (1962) IMDB Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black is said to have taken major inspiration from The Miracle Worker (1962). Starring Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherji, the film revolves around a deaf and blind girl who bonds with her teacher who later develops Alzheimer's disease. Beijing has rejected Australia's key role in establishing the global coronavirus inquiry, as the Morrison government prepares to take China to the World Trade Organisation over an increasingly bitter trade dispute. China followed through with threats to hit Australian barley producers with tariffs of up to 80 per cent overnight on Tuesday. The move effectively wipes out up to $1 billion in barley trade between the two countries. China has played down Australia's role in the inquiry. Credit:Getty Images Victorian Labor Treasurer Tim Pallas said the tariffs were a consequence of the way the federal government had conducted itself and language "vilifying" China. NSW Liberal Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said China was the states number one trading partner. We value our relationship with them and while at times there are bumps in the road a healthy relationship between our two nations is beneficial for both countries, he said. Federal government sources with knowledge of the developments said Australia would prefer to avoid protracted negotiations at a WTO weakened by years of trade disputes, but would be left with little choice if China did not retract its decision. The move follows weeks of high profile lobbying for the coronavirus inquiry from the Morrison government, which has angered Beijing over claims it has not acted transparently. While Trump is pushing for an investigation of Chinas role in the global Covid-19 pandemic, Beijing appears to be using Iran to offset the pressure, writes Saeed Okasha Between December 2006 and June 2010, the UN Security Council issued four resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran for trying to manufacture nuclear weapons. After Iran signed a nuclear deal with the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany in 2015, curbing Irans nuclear activities in return for a gradual lifting of sanctions, the US decided in May 2018 to withdraw from the deal and slap stiff US sanctions on Iran. Recently, the US revisited the international sanctions issue, some of which are in place until 2022 while others will expire in October this year. The administration of US President Donald Trump wants to renew the October sanctions, but China has publicly objected to the move under the pretext that the USs withdrawal from the nuclear deal voids its right to request an extension of sanctions that are included in the deal that was unilaterally annulled. Washington is preparing for China (and perhaps Russia too) insisting on a position that supports Iran, or attempts to take advantage of this issue to barter for US concessions on other issues. The US threatened that if China or Russia obstructed the renewal of the sanctions, Washington will propose a new resolution in the Security Council for more, and perhaps even harsher, sanctions against Iran. US Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook said the US has drafted a Security Council resolution to extend the arms embargo on Iran. China chose to respond to Trumps attempt to hold Beijing responsible for the Covid-19 pandemic by publicly objecting to ways of handling Irans attempts to manufacture unconventional weapons, but this is unlikely to stop Washingtons accusations against China. First, it is not in Chinas interest to seem to support the testing of ballistic missiles in the Middle East since the sanctions that Washington wants to extend to pressure on Iran on this issue specifically. Second, Chinas attempts to save Iran from sanctions could impact its relations with many Middle East countries, such as Gulf states that are most threatened by Irans ambition of exporting its ideology and those aiding it. The same is true for Israel which has worked diligently to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons or carrying out ballistic missile tests. China has major economic and political interests with Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia and UAE) and Israel, so it will not be beneficial for Beijing to lose them for the sake of Iran. Third, the EU, and countries that influence its decisions such as Germany, France and Britain, will not support China if it decides to protect Iran from sanctions due to its ballistics programme, since they agree that Tehran should not be carrying out missile tests. Concerned European countries had formed a united front, along with Russia and China, to prevent the nuclear deal with Iran from collapsing after Washington withdrew. Therefore, any fractures in this front are highly possible right now. European countries will not support China in blocking an extension of sanctions on Iran, and could in fact support Trump if he decided to submit a draft resolution for new sanctions on Iran. Fourth, it would not benefit China, which is trying to promote itself as a leader of the new world order after the Covid-19 pandemic ends (as some believe and Beijing hopes) that is more interested in peace, to launch this role by standing by a country that is trying to destabilise the Middle East and whose policies are escalating the nuclear and ballistic arms race in the region. There is, however, a path that China can take to rein in Trump and block him from taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic against Beijing. It should focus on Trumps weakness with various players inside and outside the US, as follows: first, there is growing opposition to Trumps claim that China is responsible for the novel coronavirus outbreak; and his Democrat opponents point out that the disease spread due to the haphazard policies of Trumps administration, not because China hid information that could have helped prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Second, it is in Chinas interest to attract countries that are undecided in supporting Trump to launch an international investigation into Chinas role in spreading the pandemic. Chinas defence of Iran could result in more finger pointing against Beijing in the Covid-19 pandemic, especially since many European countries such as France and Italy already support such an investigation. If China does not mix issues in its dispute with the US, then European countries that support Trump in his campaign against China may back down. For example, the German magazine Der Spiegel said 8 May that a report by German intelligence shed doubt on US claims that the source of the virus is a Chinese lab, stating that the accusations are an attempt to distract from the USs failure to control the pandemic. China could use this information to embarrass Germany if it supports Trumps call to investigate the source of the virus. Third, the Trump administration is under great pressure on the legitimacy of sanctions against Iran since they do not impact the regimes policies, but instead cause more suffering for the people, because of the sanctions impact along with Covid-19 at the same time. China could participate in a humanitarian campaign, win favour with Iran, but without angering others that resent its attempts to allow Iran to continue nuclear and ballistic testing. For example, the European Commission called for lifting sanctions for humanitarian reasons; UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet urged the US to lift sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, stressing that the health situation called for such a move in order to save lives. These calls are usually popular around the globe, especially if they make a distinction between punishing Iran for its ambitious arm programmes and preventing sanctions from impacting the human rights of the Iranian people. China must pay close attention to this. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 May, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: General Motors chief Mary Barra on Friday labelled as "prudent" the automaker's plans to cut staff in its self-driving car unit. The company saw first-quarter earnings plunge and sales dry up amid COVID-19 lockdowns, and Barra confirmed reports that Cruise Automation was eliminating 160 jobs, eight per cent of the unit's staff. "It was a very prudent action," Barra said, noting that the layoffs will not involve any technical staff dedicated to the companys mission of developing self-driving vehicles. "They've grown very quickly," she said of Cruise, a wholly-owned subsidiary of GM, which employs 2,000 workers largely in the San Francisco Bay Area. Workers who lose their positions will receive transition assistance and health care benefits for the remainder of the year, according to an email memo from Cruise CEO Dan Ammann. Despite the cuts, Barra said the manufacturer remains committed to autonomous technology, which also can be used to deliver packages. "We are full speed ahead," she said. GM had stockpiled cash ahead of the pandemic and was the only one of the "Big Three" carmakers to turn a profit in the first three months of the year. US production is scheduled to resume Monday. Also Watch: Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Rome Tue, May 19, 2020 12:00 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8f907d 2 Art & Culture venice-biennale,Italy,architecture,exhibition Free Italy's La Biennale di Venezia said on Monday its 17th International Architecture Exhibition would be postponed until 2021, the latest high-profile cultural event to be disrupted by the coronavirus crisis. The show, entitled "How will we live together?" and curated by Hashim Sarkis, will now take place from May 22 through November 21 next year. It was originally scheduled to run August 29 until November 29. The cultural institution, which organizes internationally prestigious events in arts and architecture, as well as cinema, dance, music and theatre, said that it was "impossible to move forward" in organizing the exhibit before August due to the coronavirus emergency. "The current situation, up to now, has definitely prejudiced the realization of the exhibition in its entirety, jeopardizing the realization, transport and presence of the works and consequently the quality of the exhibition itself," the Biennale said in a statement. Read also: Italy to reopen borders for EU tourists in early June Venice hosts in alternate years a Biennale of contemporary art and one for architecture. The order will now be reversed with the contemporary art show to take place in 2022. Curator Sarkis, who is Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), said he hoped that participants would be able to complete their work "with the time and vigor it truly deserves." "We did not plan it this way. Neither the question I asked , "How will we live together?" nor the wealth of ways in response to it, were meant to address the crisis they are living, but here we are," Sarkis said, noting that the theme of the exhibit allows for "the possibility to respond to the pandemic in its immediacy." The Biennale has already announced that its most famous event, the Venice Film Festival, is scheduled to take place September 2-12 this year. 'Reports of hitherto 'atmanirbhar' breadwinners having to stand in line for a plastic bag of khichdi or, travelling thousands of kms with nothing but packets of biscuits, have not moved the prime minister,' observes Jyoti Punwani. IMAGE: A physically challenged migrant waits for transportation in Ahmedabad, May 15, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo Remember the picture of the old jawan weeping outside a bank during the demonetisation crisis? That became the face of the trauma that engulfed the majority of Indians in the last days of 2016 and early 2017, when 86% of our currency in the form of 500 and 1000 rupee notes was demonetised. Today's lockdown has many faces: A grown man weeping as he holds a phone; workers tumbling out of a cement mixer... all of men and women who build our cities. Narendra Damodardas Modi was voted in as PM with a sweeping majority on May 16, 2014. In the six years that he has ruled India, this is the second exodus of workers from cities, driven by hunger, joblessness and panic -- all because of one government decision. This is also the second time the poor are losing their lives as a direct result of this government's policies. IMAGE: An injured migrant worker is helped by others in Madhya Pradesh, May 16, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo Demonetisation killed 150 Indians. The coronavirus lockdown -- not the virus itself -- has so far killed 119 Indians. Demonetisation was accompanied by stringent restrictions and constantly changing directives on the exchange of invalid currency for new. Consequently, small businesses that depended on cash transactions were forced to wind up, and workers started leaving cities. Demonetisation also hit farmers hard. With all their dealings in cash, the absence of banks and ATMs in rural areas meant they were left scrambling to get rid of their old notes, with no means of getting new currency. The only sections to emerge unscathed from the move were those with more than one bank account and debit card, and those already used to cashless transactions, ie a small upper class minority. IMAGE: A migrant family walk to their village in Uttar Pradesh, May 17, 2020. Photograph: Arun Sharma/PTI Photo The distress caused by demonetisation was widespread, long-lasting and widely covered by the media. One would have thought this would have been a learning experience for the government on what to avoid next time an earth-shaking decision had to be taken. Yet, less than three-and-a-half years later, nothing's changed, be it the way the decision was announced, the manner of its implementation or the way the situation is being milked. And yet again, those suffering are the vast majority of the poor. IMAGE: A girl sleeps on a bag while waiting with her family before boarding a bus in Prayagraj, Sunday, May 17, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo Announcement The nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic was announced with the same suddenness as was demonetisation. That announcement was made at 8 pm on November 8, 2016, to come into effect at midnight, ie, a four-hour deadline for people to deal with the fact that their life's earnings had become worthless. The lockdown was announced at 8 pm on March 24, 2020, to become effective at midnight. Millions of working people had four hours to prepare for the stoppage of all economic activity. IMAGE: A family from Madhya Pradesh walks to their village in Navi Mumbai, late night, May 11, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo Preparedness The level of government preparedness was as non-existent now as it was then. At that time, not enough new currency had been printed; the new 2000 rupee note didn't fit into the ATM slot; banks, already on a VRS spree, were suddenly overwhelmed with desperate hordes trying to deposit their old notes; it was the eve of the rabi sowing season... This time too, the PM announced the nationwide lockdown without any assurances to daily wage earners who, everyone knew, would be the worst affected. No ordinance was passed banning rent recovery and evictions (New Zealand did this; the UK banned all attachment of property to recover loans). Nor was it made an offence to stop salaries and lay off workers. Even a simple welfare measure which required no legislation, such as providing free ration to all, was not implemented. IMAGE: A migrant family rides a motor cart in Karnal to reach Rajasthan, May 17, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo It has still not been implemented. Reports of hitherto 'atmanirbhar' breadwinners having to stand in line for a plastic bag of khichdi or, travelling thousands of kms with nothing but packets of biscuits, have moved neither the prime minister nor the food and public distribution minister. The lockdown was necessary to contain the pandemic. But even the basic measures necessary to equip health workers fighting the pandemic were not taken. Exports of masks and gloves continued right until March 19. The chairman of the Preventive Wear Manufacturers Association of India complained that despite their requests, right till the lockdown, the government gave no clear picture of the number of PPEs needed, nor their specifications. Most PPE manufacturers are small scale; the lockdown affected their capacity to produce enough to meet the demand. Why weren't they informed in advance? Implementation IMAGE: Migrants travel in a packed truck to reach their villages, Jabalpur, May 11, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo The way the lockdown was implemented was again reminiscent of demonetisation. Then, it was left to banks and the police. Neither showed much sensitivity in dealing with people desperate for their own money. In one case, a mother wanting cash for her son's cancer treatment was paid Rs 2,000 in one-rupee coins. Her pleas that the hospital wouldn't accept them elicited a 'take it or leave it' response. The bag of coins was so heavy that she had to call her cancer-afflicted son to help her carry it home. Now, implementation of the lockdown has, with the exception of a few states, been left to the police, who by and large have been going about it the only way they know: Through brute force,/strong>. Two persons have so far been killed by police lathis; two by the fear of their lathis. IMAGE: Migrants gather outside the Ramlila Maidan in Ghaziabad as they wait to board a special train, May 16, 2020. Photograph: Arun Sharma/PTI Photo The twist at the end There is a fourth parallel. Demonetisation was initially sold to us as an attempt to nab black money. Later, the PM started extolling its virtues as a means to achieve a cashless economy. The first goal was effectively used by Modi to convince the poor that all the difficulties they were facing were necessary to make the rich suffer. The second aim in fact targeted the informal economy and was meant to strengthen the formal sector; a calculated plan for ensuring the survival of the fittest. This was done with the full knowledge that the informal economy accounts for 83% of the workforce. This lockdown too, has seen a sudden twist in the last week. Since the lockdown began, workers, rendered jobless overnight, have been running away from cities, which are no longer seen by them as havens of opportunity. Some have said they won't return, they'll make do with whatever little they have in their villages. This natural reaction by the workers is now being taken advantage of. IMAGE: A migrant with his daughter walks towards his village, Patna, May 17, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo The first to welcome these workers back was UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Boasted one worker walking to UP: 'Why should we come back to Mumbai? Yogiji is going to give us jobs.' Little did he know what 'Yogiji' had in mind. Salivating at the prospect of replacing China and Vietnam as investment destinations by providing cheap labour, the Yogi government quickly changed labour laws to make sure workers remain cogs in manufacturing hubs, with no labour rights. He was promptly followed by seven other states. At the other end, was the unconcealed glee of a senior Sena minister in Maharashtra at the migrant exodus from his state. Here was an opportunity for 'sons of the soil' to replace them. Remember, this was the party's original mission. The Centre on its part, using the excuse of reviving the economy, has declared a sweeping privatisation of sensitive sectors such as defence and power. Amid all this, do the workers's own aspirations matter? Not to the states, and not to the prime minister for sure. Through the demonetisation crisis, the prime minister repeatedly acknowledged the difficulties faced by the poor, but persuaded them to put up with these so that the corrupt rich could finally be deprived of their ill-gotten wealth. IMAGE: A migrant carrying his child on a trolley walks along the Pune-Bangalore National Highway in Karad, May 16, 2020. Photograph: PTI Photo And they did just that. Despite their unprecedented suffering, despite knowing that no crorepati had queued up outside banks like they had, they voted overwhelmingly for Modi in the elections that followed, specially in the all-important UP assembly election. This time, the suffering is even more widespread. All workers are affected, not just those in the informal sector. Images of migrant workers headed home on foot or packed in container trucks; run over by goods trains and speeding trucks on highways or falling dead out of exhaustion, have been a motif of India's lockdown. None of this is out of choice. Yet, the PM chose to describe all this as the 'tyaag and tapasya' of the poor, which have helped India face the pandemic better than richer nations. Will these workers and their families also convince themselves that their needless suffering was their tyaag and tapasya for the nation? Production: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com Gone are the days when top brands were just seen, from a distance. Today the brands are heard more closely and the more interesting your brand story, the more successful your brand will be! And Abhay Kaushik, Editor-in-Chief & Director of The Brand Story (TBS Media), helps brands celebrate their stories in a unique & defining way. The Brand Story is a Noida-based media and event solutions company whose services include media buying & event solutions to bridge the gap between the brand and its customers. What Makes The Brand Story (TBS) Media Unique According to Abhay Kaushik, there are two things that make his company unique One, The TBS Team, and Two, the Services Offered which includes Story-centric multi-platform media solutions Certification and Award Series, Events and Conclaves, Story services, and Culture workshops to help you take your brand and its unique story to the right audience. The idea behind launching TBS Media was to fill the gap brands face in sharing their stories. Abhay says, We decided to lead the way to celebrate brand stories by providing companies with media and event solutions. Abhay carries with him 15 + years of experience in media, events and consulting industry and he is the driving force behind TBS Media. Abhay has made it a habit to clinch the best media spots and coverage for his clients. The TBS Team The uniqueness of the company also comes from the team behind it, which is carefully handpicked. The team comprises of seasoned Media Managers, Brand Strategists, and Event Specialists. They work tirelessly to get their clients maximum media exposure with the help of an impressive event portfolio of options. The ultimate goal at TBS is that the brands story should reach an audience on whom it will have the desired impact. Speaking in a nutshell, Abhay explains, The Brand Story offers Story-centric multi-platform media solutions including TV, print media and digital releases. Our Flagship project is Indias Most Admirable Brands with telecast partner as NDTV Profit This is an innovative media offering from TBS, under its flagship venture, The Brand Story Limelight. These awards see respective industry brands being selected on the basis of image, impact and innovation. More than anything, the purpose is to provide an ideal platform to the brands in the new-age corporate India armed with an exclusive storyboard to showcase their achievements and create a lasting impact. The selected brands under this initiative are watched by millions of Indians in a TV series. When asked about the benefit of such certifications and awards, Abhay was emphatic in saying, Receiving a certificate or an award can improve your brand image, raise the employee morale & help the company to better its processes. About what distinguishes these awards, Abhay says, One our certification process is conducted through a carefully curated audit and report & two the companies that receive these certificates and awards get their story featured in a special broadcast on national television. Currently, TBS is also hosting the following awards and certificates 1. Indias Most Admirable Workplace Instituted in collaboration with the Hindustantimes.com, Indias Most Admirable Workplace Certification and Award aims to felicitate the organizations and leaders for creating the cultures of trust, innovation and growth, and help share their story with the world. 2. Indian Brand & Leadership Conclave featuring Indias Top Minds & Leading brands of India to honor outstanding individuals who have set new benchmarks of sustained superior performance and transformational leadership backed by innate risk-taking ability, the discovery of new horizons of growth and the building of new organizational capabilities. and 3. Elite Brands a special feature for extensive and targeted brand story sharing on digital media news portal. 4. I.CAN: A Cancer awareness programme The underlying credo of this initiative is to provide an ideal platform for Medical Expert, Cancer Patients, Cancer Survivors & the care givers of a cancer patient to come together and discuss the challenges faced by them and creates awareness to ensure the initiative can make a difference in the lives of people affected by Cancer The TBS Media is working closely with more than 50 brands across the country. Some of its most prestigious clients are Tata Companies (Tata Green Batteries, Tata Astrum, Tata Pravesh) Apollo Hospitals Hindware IndiaFirst Life insurance Sustainable Agro-commercial Finance Ltd. (SAFL) Lotus Surgicals pvt limited SriCity : Smart Integrated Business City Denver Deo Lingel Windows Schindler India Private Limited Reva University IES Management College & Research Centre Lovely Professional University APIS India Madame Kodak TV View on COVID-19 Impact on Business and the Economy The road forward looks rough. While there are sectors and businesses that will benefit, the prognosis is rather grim. In my best guess, some of the sectors that will be adversely affected are Apparel & Textile, Auto, Aviation & Tourism, Building & Construction, Shipping and Non-Food Retail and others which will bounce back immediately are Education, Digital, FMCG & Retail, Specialty Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals. As for his advice to brand-builders or those seeking to build their brands, Abhay has a word or two or advice, The era of story-based marketing is here to stay. So, focus on your story. Dont be afraid to seek help, business is a team sport. You can check out their website for further details or email at a.kaushik@thebrandstory.co.in Disclaimer:This is a company press release. No HT journalist is involved in creation of this report. Mullin' It Over Column We are experiencing an epidemic of violence in our tribal communities: 80 percent of Native men and women experience violence, 34 percent of Native women experience sexual violence in their lifetimes, and murder is the third-leading cause of death for American Indian and Alaska Native women. Native women and girls are also disproportionately likely to become victims of sex trafficking. We dont even have a full picture of the number of women who go missing each year because the databases that hold the statistics of these cases are outdated, underreported and lack coordination between law enforcement agencies. The silent crisis of missing and murdered indigenous persons is wreaking havoc on our families and our communities. As a member of the Cherokee Nation, I am committed to doing all I can in Congress to fight back. Native women and girls are disproportionately likely to become victims of sex trafficking. That's why Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, introduced the Not Invisible Act. #NotInvisible #MMIW https://t.co/sq6uz1X7zI indianz.com (@indianz) January 28, 2020 Last year, I joined the other Native American Members of Congress, Reps. Deb Haaland (Pueblo of Laguna), Tom Cole (Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma) and Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin), to introduce H.R. 2438 , the Not Invisible Act. The bipartisan bill will establish an advisory committee on violent crime made up of law enforcement, tribal leaders, federal partners, service providers, and survivors to make recommendations to the Department of Interior and Department of Justice and establish best practices for law enforcement on combatting the epidemic of missing persons, murder, and trafficking of Native Americans and Alaska Natives. Additionally, this legislation will ensure the unique challenges faced by tribal communities are considered when combatting crime, violence, and human trafficking. I also introduced legislation to help law enforcement get the tools they need for cases of missing and murdered indigenous women. H.R. 4289 , the BADGES for Native Communities Act, will address barriers standing in the way of improving the efficiency of law enforcement agency data sharing and officer recruitment and retention, both of which are imperative to address this crisis. H.R. 2733 , Savannas Act, was named in honor of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a 22-year old pregnant member of the Spirit Lake Tribe who was tragically murdered in August 2017. This bill will create new guidelines for responding to cases regarding missing and murdered indigenous women, and incentivizes law enforcement to implement the guidelines. The Department of Justice also released a national strategy to fight against the epidemic, which will help law enforcement across the country respond to these cases. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Initiative will establish MMIP coordinators in 11 states including Oklahoma, provide Specialized FBI Rapid Deployment Teams, and perform comprehensive data analysis. These all are important steps in the right direction because we cannot stand by and let this crisis continue. Tuesday, May 5, was the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women, which aimed to shed light on the silent crisis. We all have to work together to protect someone we know and love from becoming one of these alarming statistics. Markwayne Mullin, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, was first elected to serve the people of Oklahomas Second Congressional District in November 2012. He is currently serving his fourth term in office. Mullin and his wife Christie have six children. The Mullin family currently resides in Westville, Oklahoma, on the same family farm where Markwayne was raised. Join the Conversation While some local businesses plan to reopen Wednesday, others are holding off as they try to meet the safety regulations required. Restaurants and businesses that welcome customers will mandate masks, offer hand sanitizer and follow various other guidelines from the state to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Others business owners said they need more time. About half of the businesses that can reopen Wednesday aim to do so in some way shape or form, said P.J. Prunty, president and CEO of the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce. The other half are either waiting two to three weeks to see how the consumers react to the first phase or need to take additional measure to make sure their employees and customers are safe, he said. They are very anxious to open, but at the same time, they want to do this in a strategic and healthy way to avoid any resurgence of COVID-19 cases, Prunty said. Moda Brazil by ElisAngela in Danbury aims to open either Wednesday or Thursday, said Craig Layok, whose wife owns the Brazilian clothing store. Layok said he is nervous it will take customers more time to feel comfortable shopping. After being open for two years, the store was starting to build a good customer base, but has taken a hit during the pandemic, he said. I really hope people come to a level of comfort and this thing subdues in the next couple months, Layok said. Unfortunately, this is a make-or-break situation for us. The store is working on getting a thermal-scan thermometer to screen people when they come in, and plans to put markings on the floor to encourage people to keep 6 feet apart. The small boutique generally has no more than five people inside, Layok said. Hand sanitizer will be available. Layok said hes not sure what the protocol will be for trying on clothes. The state has said clothes tried on by a customer must be quarantined or thoroughly steamed cleaned. Layok said the latter would not be feasible. Restaurants plans As of last week, about a dozen restaurants had contacted Danbury officials about outdoor dining permits, said Sharon Calitro, planning director. The city has sped up the normally monthslong process to approve these permits. Restaurants with outdoor seating need to be certified to ensure they meet the latest guidelines, while other establishments will apply for a 90-day permit, she said. Were trying to make it as simple as possible, Calitro said. Rosy Tomorrows, a restaurant in Danbury, will open Wednesday with its existing outdoor dining, as well as curbside pickup. Sean Deakin, vice president of operations at the nearly 40-year-old restaurant, said the historic menu will be replaced with a paper one. Hand sanitizing stations will be set up, as well. Were experts on food, he said in a video to customers. Were experts on health and sanitation. We want you to be safe. We also want our employees to be safe, so we need your help. Please come in with a mask. Please if you dont feel well, stay home. Well bring you curbside pickup. Texas Roadhouse in Danbury plans to eventually offer outdoor seating, but the chain restaurant is experimenting at other locations first, said Loren Daly, marketer for the company. Ibiza Tapas in Danbury will open a patio for its first outdoor seating at 4 p.m. Wednesday, general manager Laura Arias said. Through its expedited process, Bethel approved Taproot Restaurant to put about 25 seats on the sidewalk, under the awning of its building, owner Jeff Taibe said. But the tables will not be brought out until around next week, he said. Even then, staff will not take orders and serve food at the tables to minimize contact between people, Taibe said. Were going to still focus primarily on to-go orders, but when we do have that outdoor seating, it will be more of a luxury to grab the food and sit down for a bit, he said. We probably wont do a full service. Bethel is considering putting tables on town-owned property, such as P.T. Barnum Square and the municipal and library lawns, so people could order takeout and then sit outside, said Janice Chrzescijanek, director of economic development. . It provides restaurants that dont have outdoor dining an opportunity to service more customers, she said. The patio at Broken Symmetry Gastro Brewery in Bethel will be open on Wednesday, co-owner Lisa Tassone said. Five picnic tables and two lounge areas that can fit five people each will be available, she said. We kind of want to see how it goes first, see how the response is from people, if people are behaving themselves, she said. Tassone also owns La Zingara Ristorante and the upstairs Ecco Rooftop Eatery and Bar, where shes working on installing a tented area with about 10 seats for both restaurants. She is inquiring into whether the rooftop bar is allowed to open, even though customers would have to walk inside to get there. Neither will be ready by Wednesday because she needs more time to get approval. Calitro expected restaurants to ask to put tables on sidewalks and in parking lots, but officials will need to check that these plans meet health guidelines, building codes and other regulations, such as sidewalk accessibility. We want everyone to be open, but they have to do it safely and we do have regulations we have to comply with, she said. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton encouraged restaurants to present any ideas for review. Without that kind of creative thinking, you could lose as many as 40 to 50 percent of our family-owned restaurants, he said. Other businesses The Danbury Fair mall is set to open Wednesday with new hours and precautions. The mall will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays, Boughton said in a Facebook Live video. But some patrons favorite stores may be closed. That doesnt mean every store in the mall is going to be open, Boughton said. There are some stores that are ready to go, some stores that want to add certain equipment, sneeze guards and things like that. Its up to the individual store to decide whether theyre going to open on the (May) 20. He said the mall is working on the cooling system to increase air flow and will have hand sanitizer throughout the common areas. Patrons will be required to wear a mask and practice social distancing. As we anticipate welcoming shoppers back to our center per the government ordinance, there is no higher priority than the health and wellness of our guests, employees, retailers, and community members, Maura Ruby, senior property manager, said in a statement. Danbury adheres to high operating standards and now has new protocols in place to meet todays needs, including enhanced cleaning and sanitizing, social distance queuing, path of travel, security, deliveries, furniture placement and more, all developed per industry best practices and CDC recommendations. Meanwhile, Irene Rocha Bridal Tailoring and Alterations on Main Street in Danbury plans to open Wednesday. The shop will accept appointments online, and brides may only bring one person, owner Irene Rocha said. Patrons are required to wear masks. We are going to be very careful, Rocha said. A devastated elderly man is pleading for the return of his late wife's wedding ring after it was stolen in a heartless burglary. Police alleged the 95-year-old man found a woman searching through items in his bedroom in Lynwood in south-east Perth on May 1. The 34-year-old woman then allegedly pushed over the elderly man, stole his credit card, cash and engagement and wedding rings before fleeing the home. Police searched the home of the woman on Monday and allegedly found various items including the engagement ring but are yet to find the wedding band. A 95-year-old man is devastated after his dead wife's wedding ring was stolen when his home was robbed (file image) 'We would like nothing more than to be able to return his deceased wife's wedding ring to him,' acting detective sergeant Andrew Stilwell said. 'The ring is of significant sentimental value and while we have recovered the stolen engagement ring, it would mean the world to this man to have his wife's wedding ring returned to him too.' The 34-year-old was arrested and faces several charges including aggravated robbery and burglary. She was also charged with unrelated offences including stealing a car and breaching bail. She will face Fremantle Magistrates Court on Tuesday. By now, weve all read pieces about how COVID-19 is exposing cracks in our educational system, how schools are essentially assigning grades based on resources of family support and technology, and how socioeconomic differences are making a difference in ways they havent for a generation or more. While most educators can see these problems and agree that these stories are necessary, theres a component missing from the dialogue: What will we do about it once traditional classroom learning resumes? And, since that day appears to be receding for many American schoolchildren, what do we want to take from our initial pandemic experience into any learning situationremote, in-person, hybrid? While the urgent need for broadband access and at-home support are important topics to address, neither of those are things classroom teachers can directly control. Most teachers have realized during these closures that we need to be a little less standards-driven in our grading and overall approach, but we all know that the realities of state-mandated testing and other requirements are likely to come roaring back to life once were in the classroom again. Teachers may have time right now, with no commute or extracurricular activities, to tend a little more to each student, but I fear the day-to-day demands of classroom management will squash these new habits. Heres a list of six things some teachers, including myself, plan to change once there is a semblance of normal. Meanwhile, well keep the value of these practices front and center. 1. Use online technology routinely to deliver assignments, notes, or other resources. Millions of students logged into Google Classroom (or other classroom-management platforms such as Moodle) for the first time in mid-March and were expected to be experts within a few days. Teachers faced the same hurdle, though to a lesser degree, as some teachers have used digital learning systems for years (or even decades). Nikki Diehm, a 7th grade social studies teacher in Chardon, Ohio, thought integrating online resources would be simple, since her students have had Chromebooks for six years, but thats not been the case. Theyre struggling more than she would have expected. Students know their way around a smartphone and certain apps but arent as savvy when it comes to web-based technology." Should the need for at-home instruction arise again or if students start school with a hybrid of remote and in-person learning, they need to be better prepared to handle the transition. Greater familiarity with the technology also means students will be poised for success in college. Currently, about 1 in 6 students take college classes exclusively online, but around a third of college students take at least one class that way. Bonus: We could see improved makeup-work completion rates when students are out sick. 2. Stop grading individual assignments for the gradebook. Now that kids are learning from home, their support systemor lack thereofis more important than ever. With that in mind, a huge number of districts and schools have changed their grading policies, requesting teachers give feedback and opportunities to correct the work, rather than a score. Kathryn Young, a math teacher in Kihei, Hawaii, has found her students are more motivated to correct their work, try again, and resubmit if she withholds a grade and instead gives feedback. Does this mean there are no grades or every student gets an A for effort!? No, of course not. But teachers are proving that the quality of work matters, not the volume. Fewer assignments with more detailed feedback can help students stay motivated, understand the material more fully, and alleviate some of the pressure on teachers, even when giving individual feedback takes more time than right-wrong grading. 3. Assign home-based performance tests and projects. Without in-person classes, performing-arts teachers have been assigning video projects. Students choreograph dances, script scenes, or rehearse music pieces, then record and upload them for critique. Not only does this allow students to get personalized feedback without fear of ridicule from their peers, but it teaches them how to use a platform that they will need to be familiar with for college or professional auditions. Mackenzie Woods, a grade 7-12 dance teacher in Queen Creek, Ariz., says the video submissions shes received have demonstrated impressive creativity. That creativity might not have been possible within the confines of her schools dance studio. 4. Bring other professionals into the loop. Marcus Ellsworth, a high school drama teacher in Maricopa, Ariz., reached out to professional actors and directors during this pandemic. Theyve been more than happy to record videos for students. Authors make virtual school visits all the time. These professionals arent always available for free, but their insight is extraordinarily valuable to students. Creative professionals can teach students what its really like within their fields. 5. Create a more flexible schedule. Tabitha Martin, a middle school English/language arts teacher in Tampa, Fla., has noticed her predictions about which kids would succeed at home have been largely incorrect, and their actual performance comes down to their personal time-management skills. Kids who flourished in a strictly controlled classroom environment are floundering because they have never learned how to manage their own time. Students who felt stifled in a highly structured classroom are succeeding because they now get to take control of how and when they get their work done. Often, our method of teaching time management is a rigid timetable of deadlines and micro-assignments leading up to the real assignment. Instead, we can guide students to create their own timelines and manage their own workload. 6. Force students to use old people technology. A recurring theme in conversations right now is that students know their way around a smartphone and certain apps but arent as savvy when it comes to web-based technology. They can text but not email professionally. They create TikTok videos to blow your mind but cant figure out where their Word doc automatically saved. The workplace wont evolve as quickly as technology. Kids who plan to enter the workforce in the next decade need to know how to use Microsoft Office, properly thread emails, and use technology to manage their workflow. Whatever the classroom looks like when COVID-19 wanes, it needs to be different from what we had before school buildings closed in March. That experience has given us insights and tools to better serve our students. Lets be sure we take those with us into the future. We, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, the Republic of Bulgaria, Romania, the Republic of Slovenia and the Western Balkans partners, the Republic of North Macedonia, the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo*, in the presence of the Republic of Croatia, as current EU Presidency, the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement and representatives of the European External Action Service and the Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs met today, May 19th 2020, through Video teleconference, upon invitation of the Foreign Ministers Nikos Dendias and Nikola Dimitrov. Since our last meeting in Thessaloniki, on February 24th 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted, in the most essential terms, the importance of a coordinated approach, cooperation and solidarity to effectively address global challenges and threats. Regional cooperation and cooperation between EU and Western Balkans is a crucial element during these times in order to jointly handle the challenges posed by the current public health crisis. The sheer scale and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated difficult decisions and unprecedented measures, including confinement and border/boundary crossing restrictions. Such measures, which were necessary to save as many lives as possible, have a severe impact on the movement of people and goods, trade and economic activity, as well as the disruption of supply chains. In this framework, today we reaffirmed our resolve to continue and deepen our cooperation with a view to mitigate the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and lay the groundwork for the regions recovery. In this respect, we have concluded the following: 1. The existing strategic partnership between the EU and Western Balkans has proven its core value at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak, during which we worked closely together. We will continue to demonstrate unity and solidarity and will step up our coordination and collaboration, in order to deal effectively with the pandemic and diminish, to the greatest possible extent, its extensive social and economic impact on our region. 2. We strongly welcome the EU decision to mobilize a substantial economic package of over EUR 3,3 billion to the benefit of the Western Balkans, aiming at tackling the COVID-19 crisis and contributing significantly to the regions immediate comprehensive socio-economic recovery. As European economic assistance will boost the economies and much needed investments in the region, the Western Balkan partners will continue to promote and implement the necessary reforms to continue their European integration course. Particular attention will be given to key sectors of the regions social and economic life and activity, notably tourism, transport and health. 3. As we now move closer towards keeping the spread of the virus in check, replacing blanket restrictions, with more targeted measures, will allow us to revive the economy and deal with the economic downturn and its extremely negative social ramifications. In this regard, we welcome European Commissions readiness to associate the region closely with the implementation of its Joint European Roadmap towards lifting COVID-19 containment measures. Beyond the financing commitment taken by the EU to support Western Balkans post COVID-19 recovery, the reinforcement of the connectivity and a better access to the EU market should be among key deliverables that would pave the way to a stronger economic integration between the region and the EU. 4. On the vital health sector, the establishment of a regular and enhanced cooperation among epidemiologists and public health experts could have real added value for the overall containment of the pandemic and the prevention of its further spreading. This cooperation could foster the creation of a regional network of hospitals and health care units that should cooperate in order to treat COVID-19 patients. Experts and health professionals should exchange views with regard to the development of health protocols for hospitality establishments and deliberate on the criteria, as well as for the safe and gradual restoration of tourism activities. 5. Regarding transport, a coordinated framework to safely restore transport and connectivity at bilateral and regional levels should become a priority. In this context we welcome the European Commission's initiative to ensure fast flow of goods through Green Lanes linking the EU and the Western Balkans. The Green lanes linking the EU to the Western Balkans must remain green also in the post emergency period in order to improve significantly the intra WB and the EU-WBs accessibility. This will require progressive removal of all unnecessary obstacles of both administrative and infrastructure nature affecting the flow of goods and passengers between WB and EU. Restoring movement, reopening borders/boundaries and lifting imposed measures should be a gradual process, based on epidemiological assessment and implemented in a coordinated manner. The health of transport workers and passengers and the swift minimization of any risk regarding the resurgence of the pandemic will be top priority. The Transport Community will be instrumental in addressing these priorities. 6. Given that the tourism sector, which now faces an unprecedented challenge, constitutes a major component of our regions economies and societies, we remain fully committed to actively support all efforts and measures aiming at mitigating the pandemics negative impact. A coordination process amongst competent authorities, at regional level, and regular cross-border/boundary communication could be taken into consideration in order to facilitate restauration and resumption of tourism activities, including cross-border/boundary traffic. Taking full advantage of available national and EU funds, designing and implementing specialized and targeted regional and interregional strategiesto back up the tourist industry (businesses and people) and fully supporting unemployed people to regain access to the labour market, in particular the youth, could form a considerable part of policies and measures aiming at benefiting the tourism sector at national and regional level. 7. In this spirit, we are ready to discuss, at the level of the competent authorities, the best ways to gradually ease restrictions, depending on the situation at national and EU level, with regard to cross-border/boundary travel and in tourism, a sector which has been particularly hit by the crisis and constitutes an important driver of growth and job-creation for many countries in the region. The Tourism and Transport package presented by the European Commission on May 13th, 2020, that includes a set of guidelines and recommendations to help the European Union Member States to gradually lift travel restrictions and allow tourism businesses to reopen, while respecting necessary health precautions, could be a valuable asset in this respect, will also serve as guidelines for the Western Balkans. 8. Maintaining good neighbourly relations and inclusive regional cooperation, are essential elements of the EU Enlargement and Stabilization and Association Processes. They can and should facilitate a concerted and effective regional approach and response to the pandemic, reaffirming once more its usefulness and merit. The Western Balkans should also take full advantage of regional cooperation potential with a view to facilitating the economic recovery of the region, along with the strong support of the EU. Young people from the region need perspective in form of productive and meaningful opportunities back home. Ensuring positive perspective for the youth should remain a priority. 9. We underline the importance of the full respect for individual rights and freedoms, as well as independent media and the free exchange of accurate and reliable information. We stress out the challenges of false or manipulated information on the spread of COVID-19, which can put peoples lives and the resilience of the societies at risk. In this context, we are determined to combat the proliferation of disinformation, as well as hate speech. In this respect, European Union support and solidarity with the Western Balkans, in the context of the COVID crisis, deserve public acknowledgement and communication in the region, in order to combat disinformation attempts. 10. Finally, recalling our first meeting last February in Thessaloniki, the Sofia Summit in 2018, the historic decision of the EU Council in March 2020 to open accession negotiations with the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Albania and the Zagreb Summit in 2020, which once again reaffirmed the EU's unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans and underlined the unity and solidarity in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on societies and economies, we reiterate our firm support to the European Union membership perspective of the Western Balkans, in accordance with the principle of own merits, and we agree to meet again in order to reassert progress achieved and the way forward. * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence The Apple logo is seen hanging at the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, New York, on Oct. 16, 2019. (Mike Segar/Reuters) Barr Chides Apple for Allegedly Failing to Provide Help to Unlock Pensacola Shooters Phones Attorney General William Barr has expressed disappointment at Apple for allegedly failing to provide assistance to investigators who were attempting to gain access to two iPhones used by the Pensacola shooter while accusing the technology company of double-standards in how it handles its security requests. The criticism was made during a press conference on Monday when federal authorities announced that the FBI had successfully broken through the encryption of two iPhones used by Mohammed Alshamrani, who launched a terror attack at the Pensacola Naval Air Station in Florida in December last year, killing three U.S. sailors and wounding eight other Americans. Alshamrani was a flight student at Pensacola, where members of foreign militaries are routinely trained by the United States. Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray said the phones contained previously unknown information that definitively established Alshamranis significant ties to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Authorities said the information showed that Alshamrani was radicalized before arriving in the United States for training in 2015 and had prepared for terror activities years ago. The trove of information found on these phones has proven to be invaluable to this ongoing investigation and critical to the security of the American people, Barr said. However, if not for our FBIs ingenuity, some luck, and hours upon hours of time and resources, this information would have remained undiscovered. Authorities said a day after the shooting, investigated sought and received court orders to allow them to search the contents of Alshamranis iPhones. They approached Apple for assistance in early January when they were unable to break through the companys security features and had exhausted all readily available options. But Apple declined to cooperate, Barr said, despite calls from the Justice Department and President Donald Trump. Wray echoed Barrs remarks saying that the FBI had effectively no help from Apple. Images of two Apple iPhones that the Pensacola naval base shooter, Royal Saudi Air Force 2nd Lt. Mohammed Alshamrani, tried to destroy are on display at a press conference at the Justice Department in Washington on Jan, 13, 2020. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times) During the press conference, Barr said Apples decision to decline to assist carries dangerous consequences for public safety and national security, which the attorney general said was unacceptable. The FBI took four months and large sums of taxpayer dollars to break through Apples encryption in order to access the data on Alshamranis phones, Barr said. He said Apples desire to provide privacy for its customers is understandable but in cases where a court orders a search warrant for a criminal investigation, an individuals privacy interests must yield to the broader needs of public safety. There is no reason why companies like Apple cannot design their consumer products and apps to allow for court-authorized access by law enforcement while maintaining very high standards of data security, he said. He also accused Apple, while citing media reports, of applying a double standard by allegedly accommodating to authoritarian regimes such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Russian regime in order to further its business interests, such as relocating data centers to enable bulk surveillance by those governments. Apple announced in 2018 that it would hand over remote iCloud storage for Chinese users to Guizhou Cloud Big Data, a company with intimate links to the Peoples Liberation Army, to comply with the Chinese regimes cybersecurity law. He also alleged that Apple has reportedly disabled features and applications on iPhones used by pro-democracy advocates, thereby facilitating censorship and oppression. If technology companies like Apple are willing to oblige the demands of authoritarian regimes, they certainly have no excuse for failing to cooperate with rule-of-law nations that respect civil liberties and privacy rights, and have judicial safeguards, Barr said. He also said that the circumstances in Alshamranis case demonstrate the need for Congress to provide a legislative solution. The truth is that we needed luck, in addition to ingenuity, to get into the phones this time, he said. There is no guarantee that we will be successful again or that a delay of four months (or longer) will not have significant consequences for the safety of Americans. Apple did not respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. In a statement to media outlets, Apple pushed back on Barrs criticism, saying that they were false claims which were used as an excuse to weaken encryption and other security measures that protect millions of users and our national security. It is because we take our responsibility to national security so seriously that we do not believe in the creation of a backdoorone which will make every device vulnerable to bad actors who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers, the company said in the statement. This is not the first time the Justice Department has sparred with Apple regarding the extent companies have to comply with government requests to assist with unlocking phones involved in criminal investigations. In 2015, the Justice Department sued Apple after it resisted government efforts to gain access to an iPhone belonging to the shooter in San Bernardino, California, who killed 14 people in a terrorist attack. The FBI put a hold on the court order after it found another way to get into the phone. When Norma McCorvey, the anonymous plaintiff in the landmark Roe vs. Wade case, came out against abortion in 1995, it stunned the world and represented a huge symbolic victory for abortion opponents: Jane Roe had gone to the other side. For the remainder of her life, McCorvey worked to overturn the law that bore her name. But it was all a lie, McCorvey says in a documentary filmed in the months before her death in 2017, claiming she only did it because she was paid by antiabortion groups including Operation Rescue. I was the big fish. I think it was a mutual thing. I took their money and theyd put me out in front of the cameras and tell me what to say. Thats what Id say, she says in AKA Jane Roe, which premieres Friday on FX. It was all an act. I did it well too. I am a good actress. In what she describes as a deathbed confession, a visibly ailing McCorvey restates her support for reproductive rights in colorful terms: If a young woman wants to have an abortion, thats no skin off my ass. Thats why they call it choice. Norma McCorvey in a scene from the FX documentary "AKA Jane Roe." (FX) Arriving in an election year as the Supreme Court is considering a high-profile abortion case with the potential to undermine Roe vs. Wade and several states across the country have imposed so-called heartbeat laws effectively banning the procedure, AKA Jane Roe is likely to provoke strong emotions on both sides of this perennial front in the culture wars. Director Nick Sweeney says his goal was not necessarily to stir controversy, but to create a fully realized portrait of a flawed, fascinating woman who changed the course of American history but felt she was used as a pawn by both sides in the debate. The focus of the film is Norma. Thats what I really want people to take away from the film who is this enigmatic person at the center of this very divisive issue, he says. With an issue like this there can be a temptation for different players to reduce Jane Roe to en emblem or a trophy, and behind that is a real person with a real story. Norma was incredibly complex. Story continues Sweeney started making the film in April 2016, frequently visiting McCorvey in Katy, Texas. At first, he says, she was reticent, but when she realized I was not involved in the abortion debate she was very happy to open up. Over the course of the time they spent together, McCorvey recounted details of her difficult upbringing marked by abuse, neglect and a stint in reform school turbulent personal life, including a short-lived teenage marriage, and a decades-long relationship with girlfriend Connie Gonzalez. I thought she was extremely interesting and enigmatic. I liked that her life was full of these fascinating contradictions, says Sweeney, who also interviewed figures on either side of the abortion issue who were close to McCorvey, including attorney Gloria Allred and Rob Schenck, an evangelical minister and former leader of Operation Rescue. McCorvey comes across as funny, sharp and unfiltered, with a broad performative streak. She rattles off lines from "Macbeth" and jokes, Im a very glamorous person I cant help it, it's a gift. The documentary includes scenes of McCorvey on election night 2016 a few months before she died of heart failure at age 69 expressing her support for Hillary Clinton. "I wish I knew how many abortions Donald Trump was responsible for, McCorvey muses. "Im sure hes lost count, if he can count that high. She had a kind of sly wit, says Sweeney, recalling the many hours he spent with her in Katy, going on doughnut runs or sitting in a park, where shed make him pick magnolia flowers. But there is also great sadness, particularly surrounding her relationship with Gonzalez, which she renounced after her conversion in 1995. Norma McCorvey on a summer afternoon in Smithville, Texas. (Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc / Corbis) The film explores one of the great ironies of McCorveys life story: Although she helped make abortion legal, McCorvey herself never had an abortion. She was pregnant with her third child when, in 1970, she signed an affidavit challenging laws in Texas which prohibited abortions except to save a mothers life. As an impoverished, uneducated woman lacking the means to travel out of state or obtain an illegal procedure, she was an ideal plaintiff for the lawyers who tried the case, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee. "I know how I felt when I found out that I was pregnant and I wasnt going to let another woman feel that way cheap, dirty and no good," McCorvey says in the film. "Women make mistakes, and they make mistakes with men, and things happen. Its just Mother Nature at work. You cant stop it. You cant explain it. Its just something that happens." But it would take three years before the Supreme Court would render a verdict, by which time McCorvey had long since given birth to a girl who was placed for adoption. (Her second child had also been placed for adoption; her first child was raised by her mother.) McCorvey remembers learning of the decision in the newspaper and receiving a phone call from Weddington saying they'd won. "Why would I be excited? I had a baby, but I gave her away. It's for all the women who come after me." AKA Jane Roe also shows how McCorvey was held at arms length by abortion rights proponents. After a decade of anonymity, McCorvey went public in the 1980s and began granting interviews, and was depicted in the Emmy-winning TV movie, "Roe vs. Wade," starring Holly Hunter. But to the leaders of the abortion rights movement, the inconsistencies in her story for a time McCorvey claimed she had gotten pregnant as the result of a rape, then said she had been lying and lack of polish made her a less-than-ideal poster girl for the cause. In 1995, she was working at a Dallas abortion clinic that was targeted for demonstrations by Operation Rescue, a militant organization known for extreme tactics such as blockading clinics (the group is now known as Operation Save America). She struck up an unlikely friendship with Flip Benham, an evangelical minister, who baptized her in a backyard pool, and for the next two decades of her life was a fixture at antiabortion protests and in documentaries. In 1998, she published a second memoir, Won by Love, detailing her change of heart on abortion. As Benham recalls with evident pride in "AKA Jane Roe," McCorvey also took part in demonstrations where he burned the LGBT flag and the Quran. Despite her visible role in the fight against abortion, McCorvey says she was a mercenary, not a true believer. And Schenck, who has also distanced himself from the antiabortion movement, at least partially corroborates the allegations, saying that she was paid out of concern that she would go back to the other side, he says in the film. There were times I wondered: Is she playing us? And what I didnt have the guts to say was, because I know damn well we were playing her. Schenck expresses regret at targeting McCorvey, someone whose vulnerabilities could be easily exploited, he says. What we did with Norma was highly unethical. The jig is up. AKA Jane Roe Where: FX When: 9 p.m. Friday Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17) U.S. President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn upon return to the White House in Washington on May 17, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Potential Benefit of Trump Taking Hydroxychloroquine Outweighed Risks: White House Physician President Donald Trumps physician on May 18 confirmed that the president has been taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and zinc to lower his COVID-19 risk. The presidents physician, Sean Conley, said in a letter released by the White House on Monday that he and Trump decided that he should take the drug as the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks. Conley did not disclose in his letter how long the president had been taking the drug for, or what his current dosage is. Just hours earlier, Trump said during a roundtable event at the White House that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine daily as a preventative measure for about a week and half. The drug has been touted by Trump as a possible treatment in fighting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China, last year. Hydroxychloroquine is also used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, and has been on the market for decades. I happen to be taking it, Trump told reporters Monday. A lot of good things have come out. Youd be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the front-line workers. Conley noted that two weeks ago, White House staff had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus. On May 8, Vice Presidents Mike Pences press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the virus. Both Pence and Trump were subsequently tested for the virus, and both were cleared. The President is in very good health and has remained symptom-free, he wrote. He receives regular COVID-19 testing, all negative to date. Trump said he consulted Conley on taking the drug to the president, after which Conley did not object to prescribing it. In consultation with our inter-agency partners and subject matter experts around the country, I continue to monitor the myriad studies investigating potential COVID-19 therapies, and I anticipate employing the same shared medical decision making based on the evidence at hand in the future, the presidential physician added. There have been several clinical trials to see whether the drug is effective in fighting the virus. A recent study conducted by New York Universitys School of Medicine found that a combination of hydroxychloroquine and zinc has been effective in some virus patients. And a new trial evaluating the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin against the virus has started, Dr. Anthony Fauci, a member of the White House pandemic task force, announced last week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cautioned against taking hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat the virus outside of hospital settings or ongoing clinical trials. The agency said the drug can cause abnormal heart rhythms or create a rapid heart rate. The president said Monday that he has had no side-effects from the drug and zero symptoms of COVID-19. Im not [going to] get hurt by it. Its been around for 40 years, Trump said, adding that youd be surprised at how many people are taking the drug. For malaria, for lupus, for other things. I take it. Front-line workers take it. A lot of doctors take it. He doesnt own stock in the firm that produces the drug, Trump said, adding that he wants Americans to not get sick. I dont want them feeling sick. And theres a very good chance that this has an impact, especially early on, he said. I take a pill every day. At some point, Ill stop. What Id like to is Id like to have the cure and or the vaccine and thatll happen I think very soon. Jack Phillips contributed to this report. Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu was arrested on Tuesday evening by the Agra Police when he staged a dharna at the Uncha Nagla border in the Taj City to protest against the refusal of the police to allow buses commissioned by the Congress to move forward, according to Congress media coordinator Lalan Kumar. High drama was witnessed on the Agra border when Lallu insisted on taking the buses, but the police refused to allow them to move, saying they had no information about any permission. Lallu was physically removed by the cops from the spot, but he returned a short while later after which he was arrested and taken to the Civil Lines police station. Meanwhile, police also booked Lallu and Sandeep Singh, personal secretary to party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, over the list of buses to ferry stranded migrant workers back to the state. Lallu, Singh and others were charged with cheating and forgery in an FIR registered at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. The case was registered on a complaint by Road Transport Officer (RTO) R P Trivedi, a government spokesperson said. The Uttar Pradesh government claimed that the list of buses offered by the Congress to transport migrant workers contained registration numbers of two-wheelers, cars and three wheelers. Also, many buses in the list did not have a valid fitness certificate and insurance papers, the state government said amid a war of words with the Congress. The FIR was lodged under sections 420, 467 and 468 of the Indian Penal Code, relating to cheating and forgery of documents. "Of the list of 1,000 buses submitted by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, 79 would only have invited mishaps as they are totally unfit," a government spokesman said. There were 297 buses whose fitness and insurance certificates had expired, he said. He said there were about 100 registration numbers of vehicles other than buses. a search showed they were ambulances, three-wheelers, trucks and other vehicles, and could not be counted as buses, he added. There were no records of 70 buses in the list, he claimed. "It seems the Congress does not care for the lives of migrant labourers. Why did the Congress play such a dirty joke and what did it want to prove?" he said. It appeared that Priyanka Gandhi had a plan to play with the lives of the labourers but the Yogi Adityanth government exposed it, he claimed. In a statement issued here, Congress said it appeared that the BJP did not want to get the migrants back in UP. "We will once again try to ensure that these buses are allowed to run," it said. Gunmen fired into a crowd of hundreds at a memorial for a Louisiana homicide victim, injuring 12 men and a woman, and people who were there need to tell police who did it, officials said Monday. "Satan has taken over in Bogalusa, and it's time we take it back" by reporting who shot up the crowd, Washington Parish Sheriff Randy "Country" Seal said at a livestreamed news conference. +5 'It is very unusual': At least 13 hurt in Bogalusa shooting near memorial for murdered man At least 13 people were wounded, one critically, after a shooting in Bogalusa on Saturday just after 9 p.m., according to the Bogalusa Police Five of the city's 28 officers were on duty when the first calls about a crowd came in Saturday evening. With accidents and other disturbances to deal with at the same time, the crowd estimated then at 500 people was beyond their power to disperse, Bogalusa police Maj. Wendell O'Berry said. People were still shooting when police arrived several hours later in response to 911 calls about gunfire, he said. By then, he said, the crowd had swelled to as many as 800. O'Berry said one or two people were critically wounded but their lives did not appear in danger Monday. The victims were 22 to 45 years old, he said, but did not give any other details. The crowd had gathered in a vacant lot to remember Dominique James, Maj. Troy Tervalon said Sunday. He described James' death as a homicide but wouldn't give details. James was missing for several days before officers in a helicopter found his vehicle May 8. James' body was inside. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Federal, state and other local agencies are helping with the investigation in Bogalusa, a city of about 12,000 people 70 miles (110 kilometers) northeast of New Orleans, O'Berry said. He said investigators think there were multiple shooters because they found more than 50 shell casings of various calibers. With hundreds of people in the crowd, somebody knows who did the shooting, O'Berry said. He said he knows people are afraid and "loyalty may be an issue." "If you want your streets to be safe, you have to talk to us," he said. O'Berry said he has heard that some people claim on social media that the gathering had a permit. "If anybody tells you that a permit was issued, they lied to you," O'Berry said. "In no circumstances with COVID-19 going on would we have considered a permit." / -- Under a three-year agreement, Excelra a leading global data and analytics company will provide Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) with GOSTAR, a small molecule medical chemistry intelligence database to aid drug design projects. The platform will support the aims of the Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine (ATOM) consortium, which seeks to reduce the drug discovery process from six years down to one year. Excelra will give LLNL (a member of the ATOM consortium) full access to GOSTAR a vast repository of approximately 8 million small molecule discovery compounds and ~40,000 preclinical/clinical candidates and approved drugs. In addition to periodic data updates, Excelra will also provide custom curation support and data preparation for AI/ML modelling on a need basis. GOSTAR is the world's largest small molecule medicinal chemistry intelligence platform that provides a comprehensive overview of millions of compounds, linking chemical structure to biological, pharmacological and therapeutic activities. It aids in early and optimization stages of drug discovery. Jonathan Allen, LLNL Bioinformatics Scientist and ATOM R&D Team Lead said: "Experimental data curated to support computational modeling work is a critical element of ATOM's pre-clinical discovery pipeline. We look forward to working with GOSTAR and leveraging Excelra's expertise to improve data-driven, small molecule property prediction." Raveendra Dayam, Director Chemistry Services, Excelra said: "GOSTAR allows discovery researchers navigate through known and quantified interactions of small molecules with drug targets representing the vast biological space. We are glad to partner with LLNL to support their drug design platform aimed at shortening drug discovery timelines." About ATOM :The Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine (ATOM) consortium is a public-private partnership with the mission of transforming drug discovery by accelerating the development of more effective therapies for patients. ATOM's goal is to transform drug discovery from a slow, sequential, and high-failure process into a rapid, integrated, and patient-centric model. The consortium is integrating high performance computing, diverse biological data, and emerging biotechnologies to create a new pre-competitive platform for drug discovery. Visit www.atomscience.orgAbout Excelra:Excelra's data and analytics solutions empower innovation in life sciences. The Excelra Edge comes from a seamless amalgamation of proprietary data assets, domain expertise and data science to accelerate drug discovery and development. Visit www.excelra.comLogo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/692189/Excelra_Logo. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A COVID-19 swab test in Singapore. (PHOTO: Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images) SINGAPORE More than 350 patients received an erroneous SMS message informing them that they had tested positive for COVID-19, said the Ministry of Health (MOH). According to CNA, the incident occurred on Saturday (16 May) and was due to an IT system testing glitch. In a reply to media queries on Monday, MOH apologised for any inconvenience and anxiety caused to the 357 patients who had received the erroneous SMS message. They added that no confidential information was breached due to the glitch. "On 16 May at about 7pm, 357 patients who had previously tested positive for COVID-19 received an erroneous SMS message informing them that they had tested positive for COVID-19, although they had already been informed earlier, MOH said in its media reply to CNA. "The Ministry of Health has taken immediate steps to rectify the situation once the error had been detected. A follow-up message was sent to all affected individuals by 10pm to clarify that the earlier SMS message had been sent in error, and to apologise for any inconvenience and anxiety caused. "We have since reviewed our processes to ensure that a similar error will not recur. According to CNA, two former COVID-19 patients who received the SMS had previously been confirmed as negative and were already discharged. Another said he received the message while at the DResort community isolation facility, but was confirmed as negative the next day and discharged. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore More Singapore stories: COVID-19: Singapore reports 305 more cases, 495 additional recoveries No known cases of COVID-19 re-infection in Singapore: NCID official Police investigating non-Singaporeans over crowding at Robertson Quay: Masagos Three men who allegedly camped at Pulau Ubin during circuit breaker charged New Delhi: Actor Anil Kapoor and his wife Sunita Kapoor are celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary today. However, their love story began much earlier. It was in 1984 that Anil Kapoor proposed to Sunita for marriage after dating her for 11 years. The couple took to their respective Instagram accounts to wish each other on the special day and Anil also added another surprise by sharing their love story with fans. In a video message, the 63-year-old actor said, "This is the beginning of a long love story on the night of May 17. I signed a kind of important film, which was a big step in my career, and on May 18, I took an even bigger step. I proposed to my girlfriend Sunita and asked her to be my wife. Oh God, I was so stressed. I kept on postponing and postponing A time came when I had to choose career or love. I chose love and I proposed to her on May 18." Later, Anil Kapoor also shared their full love story and its magical. "I still remember when I entered her house on our wedding day and saw my bride, she was smiling and I had tears in my eyes... Tears of happiness, but also nervousness... I mean it was my wedding day," read an excerpt from his adorable post. Read on. Anil Kapoor and Sunita Kapoor redefine love. They are parents to Sonam Kapoor, Rhea Kapoor and Harshvardhan Kapoor. Sonam and Harshvardhan are actors while Rhea is a filmmaker. Sonam and Rhea also posted heartfelt notes to wish their parents on their 36th wedding anniversary. Take a look: Happy wedding anniversary, Anil and Sunita Kapoor. The chairman of Santander at the banks headquarters on May 11. Luis Sevillano Santander Chairman Ana Botin, 59, was first made aware of the coronavirus at a dinner in Davos in January. Shortly afterwards, the topic was addressed at a meeting of the Business Council, which brings together the heads of the worlds largest companies, mainly from the United States. She believes this was responsible for her rapid response and preparation weeks before lockdown was implemented, though she could not have imagined the impact Covid-19 would have on the world. After an Ask Ana session a chance for employees of the group to quiz her, an initiative that was introduced several weeks ago, and that is conducted from company headquarters in Boadilla del Monte, in the west of Madrid she turns her attention to EL PAIS. Question. Have you lost anyone close due to the coronavirus? Answer. As soon as the confinement began, I got a call from Portugal to tell me that Antonio Vieira Monteiro, our chairman there, had died. He is the only person in the group to have died of the coronavirus to date. It was a blow. We were very close and it affected me badly. We have all lost people, friends, family and acquaintances. Q. How have you found the confinement? A. Weve all been affected. No one expected it to be so long. Obviously, I and others like me are very lucky because we can work from home and our conditions are very different from those of other people. But it has helped us all to appreciate the things that really matter. I think its a lesson we shouldnt forget. We now know the value of physical safety and being reasonably sure that our lives are not in danger. Q. What are the things you appreciate more now? A. Primarily health knowing that you can go out and be with your family and friends. My generation has never experienced this lack of freedom to do the simplest things like going out to dinner, to a concert or to see your mother. It is something that has made us reflect. Q. Is this crisis different? A. I have the advantage of having lived through quite a few crises both in this country and in others. Each crisis has been more difficult and different than the one before it. This one is more serious because it is global and puts everyones health at risk. The most important aspect of other crises was job losses or the fear of them; but fear of the disease, or that something will happen to someone close to you, creates another level of anxiety. Q. How will it change society and capitalism? A. More than changing the world, the pandemic is likely to accelerate the trends that have already been around for some time. Which trends will it accelerate? The digital versus the physical, although I still think that the personal relationships will continue to carry a lot of weight because they generate more confidence. The crisis will also accentuate the gap between winners and losers, both between economic blocs China, the United States and Europe and between countries and types of employment. We have to make a new social contract, which involves everyone and which allows us to grow in an inclusive and sustainable way. The departure point is to support the entrepreneur and companies across the board, from large ones to the self-employed. Without companies that generate quality jobs, investment and profits, nothing else will work. Then there is a third trend that has become apparent now; the need in certain strategic areas and sectors, such as health, to be self-sufficient at a national and a European level. It is not a question of rejecting globalization, but of preserving and using the multilateral framework so we can guarantee the public that we will not be exposed to the risk of product shortages, or vulnerability to abuses from monopolies, as has been the case with medical supplies, threatening health and general well-being. Q. Has the way you see your work changed? A. When people talk about banks, I always say that we are people. Santander is 200,000 people, 38,000 of them and their families living in Spain, who are helping our clients and also addressing the needs of our communities. This is something we always do, but its been done in a particular way during this crisis. Our mission is to help people and companies to move forward. Apart from solidarity initiatives, the bank has been lending more than 1 billion a day to customers who need it during this crisis. We are processing moratoriums for six million of the groups customers. We have done a lot of things and I like to sum them up by saying that we are part of the solution. We have to be there for employees and customers alike and support society. When a problem arises we have to be there. And in this way, we will offer an attractive return to our shareholders. This is being a responsible bank or company. The crisis is going to accentuate the gap between winners and losers Q. What has your priority been at the bank? A. In these crises, you have to know the difference between what is urgent and what is important but can wait. For me, the first thing has been to protect all of our employees, with the view that banking is an essential service and that we need to make branches and services accessible. The second thing has been to ensure business continuity, which in our case is to ensure balance sheet solvency, liquidity and the best service to our customers. Liquidity, whether regarding individuals or companies, is essential to the economy in an acute crisis such as the one we are experiencing. It has been my focus and that of the whole team at Santander in Spain and around the world. Q. What is the current situation of Santander as it goes into this crisis? A. The bank is in a very strong position. Net profit excluding extraordinary items has doubled from 2014 to 2019; we have 50% more capital and the cash dividend paid to shareholders is more than double what it was five years ago. Q. What should be done with the economy? A. Just as we have a health crisis thats never been seen in our lifetime, as a consequence, we are also facing a very serious economic crisis. And we have to act, in the short term, with a vigorous plan to boost job-generating sectors, one that considers the capabilities of our current workforce. This should run alongside a more strategic plan for the medium term, focusing on investment in areas of growth, such as digital, health sciences, technology, the green economy... It is difficult to radically transform the economy in the midst of an economic and social emergency, but we must approach the recovery with the necessary changes well be facing next in mind. Whats more, I believe that we must strive to create decent employment and maintain adequate levels of social protection and prioritize public spending. Growth is only sustainable if it is inclusive. And only by supporting the entrepreneur and businesses is everything else possible. Without private initiative, there is no growth. We must create the conditions for investors, both within the country and outside, so they have confidence in our future and invest. #CORONAVIRUS | Entrevista a ANA BOTIN en EMPRESARIOS ANTE LA CRISIS Ana Botin on the balcony of her office at the Santander headquarters in Boadilla, Madrid. Video: Part of the interview with Ana Botin (Spanish audio). Video: LUIS SEVILLANO / ALVARO DE LA RUA Q. Can you give examples of the measures needed? A. One of the initiatives we are working on with experts and people in the real estate and construction sectors is a public-private partnership scheme, specifically with the ICO [Official Credit Institute], to help young people buy their first home. In this program, the buyer would pay only 5% of the value of the house and the bank would offer a mortgage for 95% of its value, with a 20% guarantee from the ICO. For the sake of giving an example, if, thanks to this public-private partnership scheme, we could build 150,000 houses, we would be creating some 500,000 jobs and helping thousands of young people to become independent. It would save many small- and medium-sized companies [SMEs] and self-employed, and cut down on the size of the unemployment bill. In the short term, we also have to think about tourism and the hospitality industry. We have to rescue the summer because, if we can, we will be helping many companies to survive and have a quicker way out of the crisis as a result. To achieve this, we need the pandemic to continue to ease off internally, and to achieve that we need to carry out more tests, make better use of data and monitor those who are sick as well as those they have been in contact with while reaching international agreements so that gradually, and with all guarantees, we can open up our borders. Q. Should the emphasis be on supporting businesses or workers? A. If you support companies, you support the workers. We are in an acute crisis. We have to support businesses as much as we can, because if they get enough liquidity, they are far less likely to close down and will create wealth and jobs when the health crisis is over. In Spain, there were 19 million people paying social security, and, according to the Stability Plan sent to Brussels today, there are six million people receiving financial support to cope with the situation. This is what has to be done. But we must all be aware that the welfare state cannot pay out indefinitely by borrowing. The money paid out must come from restoring the levels of employment that make it sustainable and fair, and this requires structural changes that must be carried out with broad consensus so that they are irreversible. Basically, what we must understand is that private employment is a priority because thats what makes public employment, health and education sustainable... We need a shared vision for the Spain of the future Q. Do you favor a minimum income? A. We get embroiled in discussions about the means to an end and what matters is that we agree on the principles. What we agree on is that we must support the people who need it. You have to be able to take some money home for as long as it takes to get through the crisis, that has to be done and that is the principle that we all have to agree on. The other principle is that the right thing to do is to promote lasting employability. We each have an individual responsibility as well as a collective one. How should this be done? This is something that we can debate. Q. Would you like to see an agreement between Spains political parties? A. We need a shared vision for the Spain of the future, based on very clear and transparent principles and with the support of a large majority of society. First, it must guarantee legal security and institutional stability. Secondly, it must be both compatible with and competitive within Europe. A tax scheme that does not allow Spain to keep or attract top entrepreneurs creating the companies of the future is of no use. In Spain, we need investment, and national investment is not enough. Without investment there is no job creation, nor can the public finances be sustained. The third thing we need is loyal cooperation with all the interest groups the public sector, the private sector, education and civil society because we each have something to contribute. The fundamental thing is to generate investment and employment. At the same time, I have no doubt that we are not going to have sustainable growth without inclusive growth. And to achieve that, we need jobs, jobs and jobs. Q. Is the easing of the lockdown being done well, in your opinion? A. The job of the governments is very complicated. It is easy to say it could have been done better when youre looking in from the outside, but you dont always have all the facts. Our responsibility is to offer support in any way we can. Global experience, backed by authoritative voices such as those of [US economist] Larry Summers or Bill Gates, shows us that, in order to return to work, it is important we have a good digital system in place, one that respects privacy one that is technologically viable with apps to collect and manage data. We have to monitor those who are infected and those they have been in contact with and test them all and, when necessary, quarantine those who test positive. We all have to wear masks whenever we are in public, respect the protocols and act responsibly, just so we can resume activity as soon as possible. Q. Is the ICOs line of guaranteed loans working? A. The public guarantee model is tried and tested and working well in general, but it also comes with some specific problems. Santander has a total credit quota of 18%, but in companies it is 27% and they have given us 18%. If you are an SME with three employees, you have a bank that knows you. You are not going to go to a new bank in the middle of the crisis. We have had huge demand and we have not yet been able to respond to all the requests. Thats why its so important that they make the 100 billion available as soon as possible. The banks and the government are working together in a very positive way, although perhaps it would have been more effective if the requests had been dealt with on a first-come, first-served basis, as has been done on other occasions with the ICO guarantee line and in countries such as Germany, rather than by a quota allocation system. Q. Are you relaxing the criteria for granting loans? A. We have a responsibility toward society and our shareholders that requires us to grant loans using rigorous and professional criteria; you only have to look at the last crisis to see the price of not being prudent. The ICO guarantee allows us to achieve the high volumes of financing we are providing. Q. Some bank practices regarding refinancing risk or requiring certain conditions for loans with ICO guarantees are being criticized. A. Our team has very clear instructions to do things responsibly and I am sure this is the case. I aspire to avoid one single mistake. The sector is processing more than 300,000 operations and there may be some exceptions, but, honestly, you cant take the exception and treat it as the rule. Q. Perhaps the criticism has something to do with banks reputation in recent years. A. We have to be responsible companies in order to gain the trust of customers. I have been insisting on this for five years. We have changed a lot in this time and, with this crisis, trust is going to be even more important. We have taken numerous measures to help both with the health crisis and with those customers affected by the economic crisis, which they recognize and appreciate. But we cannot be complacent. We always have to do better, even if we cannot achieve every goal. By doing things responsibly, we will also be rewarding our shareholders. I hope that in October the global health and economic situation will allow us to reassess the value of the dividend once more. Ana Botin during her interview with EL PAIS. Luis Sevillano Q. Could this crisis end up infecting the entire financial system and causing solvency problems? A. Governments and central banks have acted very swiftly and significantly and are supporting the economy as they should. We believe that it is very important that a common fiscal and regulatory recovery program is launched in Europe as soon as possible, not only to accelerate the recovery, but also to preserve the single market and competition because both can be affected by the very different fiscal situations of the member states. For example, while the ICO guarantee program is equivalent to 10% of GDP, it is the equivalent to 30% of GDP in Germany. If this uneven response is not offset by regulations regarding competition and a European fiscal program, Spanish companies risk being put at a disadvantage not only due to the volume of the program, but also because of the disparate guarantee percentages in the programs. In Spain, according to the ICO lines, the banks assume between 20% and 30% of the risk, as well as providing liquidity. The European Central Bank has acted decisively to defend the euro in general and Spain and Italy in particular Q. Is Europe responding as it should? A. The European Central Bank has acted decisively to defend the euro in general and Spain and Italy in particular. There is a lot of solidarity and both Christine Lagarde [president of the ECB] and Luis de Guindos [vice president of the ECB] have said that, within their mandate, they will do everything necessary. Beyond the ECB, Europe has to understand that solidarity is not charity; that it benefits us all, while we, the member states, have to understand that we have to be responsible and do everything needed to ensure that viable companies survive. For Europe to support us, the policies for exiting the crisis must encourage and attract investment, and the measures must be compatible with inclusive growth, competitiveness and future financial stability. Europes system is not perfect, but, make no mistake, it is the best that the continent has ever had and, although we need to improve it, it is far more supportive than the American one. We need to raise Europes digital economy to the level of that in the US and China. This is a key moment for Europe because our relevance in the world and our model of society are at stake. Q. How do you do that? A. We have to be aware that it is not going to be easy. But we all have to come to an agreement, whatever political party were from, and we have to rely on the private sector, universities and invest more in education. We also need responsible governments, in Europe as a whole and in each country, that understand that if companies are not supported, if profits are not generated, we cannot have a social economy. This is a turbulent time with big winners and big losers, and almost all the big winners are outside Europe, in the US and in China. There is a lot that needs to be done to ensure that large European companies are among them. But if we do it well, I am not giving up hope of seeing companies such as Santander and Telefonica among the winners. Q. Are new forms of communication with staff, such as Ask Ana, working? A. It is important to be very close to the employees right now. We started this shortly after the confinement began. All the topics discussed relate to the return to work, home working and peoples physical safety when they do return. There is a lot of anxiety and it is essential that we rebuild peoples confidence so that we can come back as soon as possible with masks and distance and responsibility, but getting out. Q. Is the home working trend here to stay? A. There is going to be a structural change in the way we organize ourselves, the way we market products and the way we work. And everything has a common denominator, which is an intensive use of digital capabilities. The crisis has accelerated the digital revolution. Without digitalization, the consequences would have been much worse, but we must ensure that it is within everyones reach. In surveys we have conducted, we have found there are people who find it more difficult to reconcile their personal and professional lives when they are at home. Teleworking is good up to a point. Most of the professionals at the bank are asking to be able to combine [working in the office with] two or three days of work from home. English version by Heather Galloway. Besides, eight Ukrainians died from Covid-19 abroad 62 Ukrainians recovered from Covid-19 abroad, as the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine reported. The Ukrainian citizens receive treatment in Italy (121 persons), Greece (22 people), Poland (four people), Austria (three people), Germany (four people), and other countries. Eight Ukrainians died from the coronavirus abroad. Another 260 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Ukraine over the past 24 hours: the overall number of cases has reached 18,876. As of now, 548 deaths have been officially observed, 5,632 patients have recovered. As we reported earlier, Deputy Health Minister Viktor Lyashko stated that sea salt, combined with ultraviolet radiation, destroyed the coronavirus infection agent. Later, it was stated that a person with a severe disease might be diagnosed with Covid-19 even with negative results of polymerase chain reaction test when it is an epidemiologically tied case. It was a campaign video that reached seemingly every Democratic corner of the internet: Barack Obamas 12-minute endorsement of his former vice president and indictment of the current president. On Mr Obamas Facebook page, one of the most popular destinations in politics with 55.3 million followers, his endorsement of Joe Biden was viewed more than 4 million times. But another Facebook page, run by twin brothers who immigrated from Mexico, reached substantially more eyes. Their reposting of Mr Obamas endorsement, with a simple BREAKING text over the video, clocked more than 23 million views. Meet Rafael and Omar Rivero, the co-founders of Occupy Democrats, the social media mavens of the left who are quickly emerging as a counterweight to the dominance of right-wing online sites. In a presidential race playing out on iPhones and screens more than any in history, in part because of the coronavirus pandemic, these digital entrepreneurs can drive the political conversation online and influence how candidates are seen as much as a campaigns well-funded digital advisers can. The twins started the Occupy Democrats Facebook page eight years ago and, combined with an accompanying website, they have reached a digital dominance rarely seen among liberals one that keeps pace with viral news sites and regularly outperforms Donald Trumps own page, as well as the Daily Caller, Fox News and other right-wing websites or personalities. What was once a hobby between gigs has grown into a full-fledged, full-time operation with five additional staffers. Over the past month, nearly half of the 40 top-performing videos on Facebook that mention Trump were from Occupy Democrats. They have had a top-10-performing post on Facebook regularly for months. A video they recently posted called The Liar Tweets Tonight, sung by a choir of individually recorded voters to the tune of The Lion Sleeps Tonight, was viewed 41 million times, among the most-watched videos on Facebook over the past month. Democratic voters are tired of the Democratic Party kind of taking barrages from Republicans on the right on social media and Trump himself, taking that lying down and not fighting back, Omar Rivero said. So we fight back with the truth. But we make sure that we punch them in the mouth with the truth. Though they claim not to have taken tactics from the right, there are some clear commonalities between the Occupy Democrats posts and some of the right-wing sites that have mastered the art of writing shareable copy that acts like gasoline on a social media outrage fire amplified by anger-inducing adjectives contextualising the news, or an all-caps BREAKING to introduce a post. They also are relentless in their posting on Facebook. On Sunday, a relatively slow news day by the Trump-era pandemic standards, the Facebook page published 80 items, a mix of original, text-heavy memes; cross-posts from Mr Bidens social media pages; commentary with links to mainstream news stories and videos; and links to original posts on the Occupy Democrats website. It has helped them earn 25 million more interactions than Mr Trumps page, and 63 million more interactions than Mr Bidens over the past 30 days on Facebook, according to CrowdTangle, a Facebook-owned data tool. Occupy Democrats is a rare bright spot for a party and political wing that once was proudly the party of tech but has since ceded nearly every digital stronghold to the right. As Mr Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is moving headlong into a general election with a digital operation that is dwarfed by the Trump campaign, the Occupy team has started to step in. I think one of the big mistakes of 2016 was not immediately embracing Hillary as a change agent and as someone to get excited about, Rafael Rivero said. Mr Rivero also wanted to prove that, yes, Mr Biden could indeed go viral. On the same day senator Bernie Sanders suspended his campaign, Mr Rivero started the Ridin with Biden 2020 page, employing meme tactics, social media copy and video promotion similar to those that power the central Occupy Democrats page. An Avengers-esque meme of Mr Biden, Jill Biden, Mr Obama and Michelle Obama striding across the White House lawn overlaid with the text When America Was Great reached 2.2 million viewers. Soon, the Ridin With Biden page was outperforming the campaigns own account, with their own content. A digital video ad released by the Biden campaign received more than 1 million views on Facebook, a successful showing for most campaigns. But on Ridin With Biden it got 8.6 million views, with little added window dressing than text on the video that read: Holy cow this Biden ad is GOOD. The 404 error page on the Biden Campaign website is in keeping with the tone being put out by the Occupy Democrats group (joebiden.com) When the Occupy page shared the live video of Hillary Clinton endorsing Mr Biden, the live viewership jumped from 15,000 to 25,000 in a matter of minutes. Democratic campaign operatives note that these types of booming online communities benefit from being a bit rougher around the edges. Theyre able to say things that are not quite as polished as what the parties are going to produce or what the Biden campaign is going to produce, or any campaign, said Kenneth Pennington, a Democratic digital strategist who was Mr Sanders digital director in 2016. But its kind of the unvarnished, unpolished stuff that actually does really well online because people are seeking that kind of authentic sass. Mr Pennington added that these types of pages can help boost a campaign as well, crediting a different Facebook page The People for Bernie Sanders as one of the reasons Sanders catapulted from a no-shot candidate into an online sensation that raised $230m (188.5m) in 2016. While the social media dominance of Occupy Democrats may surprise some, social media experts note that there has always been a liveliness among liberal groups online, but they just get less attention. Whitney Phillips, a media studies and communications professor at Syracuse University, said the reported distress on the left about losing the edge on social media wasnt the full picture. The framing is maybe not fully representing all of the activity and all the vibrancy thats happening on the left because all the stories get written about what Ben Shapiro is up to, she said, referring to the popular conservative writer. Occupy Democrats does try to give readers their vegetables, too. A post about senator Mitch McConnells comments on the newest Democratic proposal for a coronavirus relief package, for example, included highlights from the Democratic proposal. Recommended Joe Biden says anyone who believes Tara Reade should not vote for him People clicked to be mad about McConnell, but while they read about that, they learn about what the Democrats are doing, said Colin Taylor, the editor-in-chief of Occupy Democrats. In this kind of outrage-heavy online sphere, its kind of hard to get peoples attention with the more wonky stuff. The groups origins date to the movement that informs its name and a dissatisfaction with it. The Rivero twins found themselves in Zuccotti Park back in 2012, when the Occupy movement had camped out in lower Manhattan and quickly garnered a national news profile. Both brothers were drawn to the ideals of the movement economic equality, social justice and addressing climate change but they saw the Occupy movements leaderless ethos as a critical failure, and one that would never allow it to grow. I looked around and thought, wow, theres not a single Occupy congressman, Omar Rivero said. In the end, were not pulling the levers of power. So I thought, well, you know, maybe we should try to make Occupy a force that not only helps Democrats but also keeps them honest. Similar to what the Tea Party is doing to Republicans. The memes and videos are what generate the most engagement, and Occupy Democrats white-and-yellow text on a black background both grabs the eye with its harsh colour contrast and conveys a sense of urgency. Distilling the news into a single shareable photo that remains on Facebook has quickly caught on, particularly among older users. But with this newfound power, the Rivero brothers want to expand and build a broader network with other Democrats. Were not only the largest political network on Facebook, but were the largest partisan political network on Facebook, said Omar. And I think that the Democrats should take advantage of that. New York Times US President Donald Trump has disclosed that he is taking daily doses of antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to ward off the coronavirus, though health officials have warned it may be unsafe. Speaking at a meeting of restaurant executives on Monday, Trump said he began taking the drug after consulting the White House doctor, though stopped short of saying his physician had actually recommended it. "A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it," the president said. "I have been taking it (hydroxychloroquine) for about a week and a half, he told reporters, asserting that he has zero symptoms of the deadly COVID-19, which has killed over 90,000 Americans in the past three months. There is no evidence hydroxychloroquine can fight off coronavirus, though clinical trials are under way. Medical experts and the US Food and Drug Administration have questioned the efficacy of the antimalarial drug and warned of the potentially harmful side effects. Trump said he consulted his doctors but was not explicitly recommended by the White House physicians. White House doctor didn't recommend. I asked him, what do you think? He said well, if you'd like it. I said yeah, I'd like it. I'd like to take it, he said. Trump said he has been taking a pill of the antimalarial drug daily. I take a pill every day. At some point, I'll stop. What I'd like to do is I'd like to have the cure and/or the vaccine, and that will happen, I think, very soon, he asserted. Soon after Trump revealed to the world that he has been taking the medicine, the White House doctor said the president is in good health. The president is in very good health and remains symptom-free. He receives regular COVID-19 testing, all negative to date, Dr Sean P Conley, White House physician, said in a memorandum to Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Two weeks ago, one of the president's support staff had tested positive for coronavirus. After numerous discussions, he and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risk, Dr Conley said. Observing that a lot of people have been taking this malaria drug, Trump said lot of frontline workers are taking hydroxychloroquine. I don't take it because, hey, people said oh maybe he owns the company. No, I don't own the company. You know what, I want the people of this nation to feel good. I don't want them being sick. And there's a very good chance that this has an impact, especially early on, Trump said. I take it (hydroxychloroquine) because I think I hear very good things. Again, you have to go to frontline workers. Many frontline workers take it, and they seem to be doing very well, Trump added. The president said he has zero symptoms of coronavirus. No, I haven't had any symptoms. I test every couple of days they want to test me, you know, for obvious reasons. So every couple of days I get tested, and I've shown always negative, right, negative. . Totally negative, no symptoms, no nothing, he said. Hydroxychloroquine sulfate was first synthesised in 1946 and is in a class of medications historically used to treat and prevent malaria. It is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat malaria, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, childhood arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases. The drug is not FDA-approved for the treatment of COVID-19 but it has been identified as a possible treatment for the infection and the US government has requested its immediate availability. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 08:28 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8e932f 1 Editorial editorial,#Editorial,mudik,mudik-ban,Jakarta-administration,anies-baswedan,Idul-Fitri,idul-fitri-exodus Free The Idul Fitri celebrations are expected to fall on May 23-24, depending on the sighting of the moon to end Ramadan. As the Islamic holiday nears, families are still in confusion as to whether they can have traditional gatherings or not. For Jakartans, Governor Anies Baswedan made it clear on Monday that people could just have a virtual mudik (exodus), while authorities from the citys Public Order Agency and the National Police said the mudik was allowed within the sprawling area of Greater Jakarta, one reason given being that people commute anyway on a daily basis. The megalopolis is largely a red zone as the countrys epicenter of COVID-19; Anies has said cases are declining and would surely like to keep it that way. On Monday, official figures showed 6,059 cases in Jakarta from a national tally of 18,020, down from earlier days when the capital accounted for half the cases. The confusing statements on Idul Fitri will still need to be cleared up at least by COVID-19 taskforces of all levels, as many families may be preparing big meals for family members living in Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang, Depok and Bekasi, who hope to visit them, as if these are normal times. Just the family in Indonesia can mean dozens of people, including grandchildren, and distancing is out of the question in modest homes. Everyone needs to stay at home, Governor Anies stated Saturday. The virus [] doesnt care if its Lebaran or not. Lets not exacerbate the situation in Greater Jakarta [] and render our [mitigation] efforts over the past two months useless. Theres no such thing as a local mudik; only a virtual mudik is allowed, he said. Urbanites may largely have access to the internet and can manage mobile communication to replace family gatherings and the tradition to ask for forgiveness from parents and one another; but constant campaigning without confusing signals is needed to make the notion acceptable. As things stand we still see heavy traffic and lax enforcement of social distancing, such as at the markets, which face their busiest time of year ahead of Idul Fitri. Such scenes, which we fear will continue next week, means there will be too many clusters of potential infection with the coronavirus. Though the government has banned the exodus out of town to prevent the escalation of infection rates outside the capital, Greater Jakarta itself remains precarious. A few public centers, such as the Benhil Market in Central Jakarta, have seen much less busy days compared to the usual Ramadan bustle for fast-breaking food, but the biggest market in the citys downtown, Tanah Abang, still draws many customers with little supervision of physical distancing. To their credit, several neighborhoods that have come to realize they can only depend on themselves to enforce safety protocols, have arranged virtual meetings just to remain close to one another amid physical distancing. But close cooperation among authorities with heightened public awareness is vital to prevent even more infections and save lives among the dense population of some 13 million people in Greater Jakarta. The causes seem varied. Recession graduates, with limited opportunities, will start in jobs that are a worse fit. Once the economy recovers, they will compete for jobs with people who have more experience. In addition, Ms. Kahn noted, recession graduates seem more risk averse. People that graduate into a recession dont change jobs as often as people that graduate into booms, she noted. And these job changes are one of the best ways to get a raise. The difficult start shadowed many through their careers. Till von Wachter of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Hannes Schwandt of Northwestern University followed Americans who entered the labor market in 1981 and 1982, during the largest postwar recession up to that time. They not only earned less in midlife. They were also less likely to be married or to have children, and more likely to die young, recording higher mortality rates starting in their 30s driven by heart disease, lung cancer, liver failure and drug overdoses what two Princeton scholars, Anne Case and Angus Deaton, have called deaths of despair. And, of course, young workers without a college degree are likely to fare even worse. Recessions, in general, widen inequality, Ms. Kahn said. The more disadvantaged groups minorities, the young, those with less education are the hardest hit. In the coronavirus pandemic, the lopsided impact of business shutdowns on the young risks opening a generation gap with their elders who are more likely to die of the disease. The diverging interests could affect policy as soon as this summer. In a research paper published last month, Dirk Krueger of the University of Pennsylvania and three colleagues estimated that people past retirement age would choose to close a much larger share of nonessential businesses and keep them closed, while younger workers in those shuttered businesses have the most to lose. The conflict between the old and the young is severe, Mr. Krueger noted. The asymmetric aftershocks of this pandemic are likely to ripple across society far into the future. (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Its been an uncomfortably swift rise to the top of the coronavirus tables for President Vladimir Putin. From only a handful of Covid-19 cases in early March, Russia now has more than 290,000 of them and a rate of new infections that puts it second only to the U.S. a country with more than twice as many people. Few governments have made a success of managing the epidemic. Yet the rapid spread of the illness has exposed a Russian health system thats suffering from poor funding, incomplete reforms that neglected much of the country, and a misguided attempt to replace imports of drugs and medical equipment with local production at least until two ventilators caught fire and killed patients. An authoritarian regime that dislikes bad news and fuels disinformation hasnt helped. History matters here. During the Soviet period, health care was free for everyone, but it was never a priority. Quality was patchy; the service was inefficient and forever short of cash. Distorted incentives resulted in a proliferation of hospital beds and excessively long stays for patients. Doctors, most of them women, were severely underpaid and seen as low-status state employees. With oil money gushing in, Putin did set about reforming the system. A series of programs over the years set out to streamline provision, add primary-care doctors, and improve pay and training. With Russias shrinking population starting to worry the nationalist Putin, there was a focus on improving neonatal health and on reducing early deaths, largely by tackling cardiovascular disease, alcohol abuse and smoking. None of that was irrational, argues Judy Twigg, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies post-Soviet health reform. Mortality rates did improve. Unfortunately, as Twigg points out, many of the reforms werent executed as planned. While poor-quality clinics were removed and hospital numbers halved from 2000 to 2015, an alternative wasnt always provided, and primary care remained weak. Meanwhile, better pay starved other causes, and the purchase of new technology allowed for corruption. According to a 2018 Bloomberg analysis, Russia still has one of the worlds most inefficient health systems. Only the U.S., Azerbaijan and Bulgaria are worse. Story continues The coronavirus crisis is a reminder of the human cost of those past blunders. Most obviously, Russias first line of defense fell short. The government was quick to see the international threat and rushed to close its border with China in January, but it was far slower to appreciate the domestic infection risk. It denied an obvious problem of escalating cases for too long not least because doctors and local authorities were wary of passing on bad news. Moscow spread disinformation about other countries coronavirus efforts, but it paid too little concern to the home front. Being more attentive might have contained the problem, even taking into account the early Covid-19 tests that produced too many false negatives. Then the medical system also stumbled; too many patients went straight to the hospital. Anecdotal evidence suggests staff with little experience of infectious diseases, and chronically short of protective equipment, inadvertently made the problem worse by mixing patients and carrying on working even after falling ill. There are now 400 Covid-19 hot spots associated with hospitals, and thousands of medics have contracted the illness. An unofficial list shows more than 220 fatalities among medical staff, a far higher proportion of overall deaths than for most countries. Even the uninfected are buckling under the strain. Some nurses walked out. In recent weeks, three doctors have fallen from hospital windows in unclear circumstances, two after complaining about working conditions. The biggest failure of Putins reforms may be one we have only glimpsed so far: the neglect of Russias regions. While cosmopolitan Moscow has suffered the most cases, its also home to Kommunarka, a high-quality coronavirus hospital, and it has other top-notch facilities. Beyond the large urban centers and outposts linked to big natural-resources companies, much of the rest of the country is less well-equipped. The real pain of reform cuts was felt in these farthest reaches of Russia, where populations are falling fast. In 2016, parliamentary deputies were told that out of 130,000 rural settlements, less than half were within reach of medical assistance. Russia had 42,000 ventilators at the start of the outbreak, several times the size of Britains supply, but a quarter were in Moscow. Left by Putin to keep a lid on things locally, regional governors are struggling. A spike in cases in Komi, in the far north, showed how bad it could get. In early April, a single doctor caused an outbreak by continuing to work while ill, leaving dozens infected. This vast, sparsely populated province soon became one of the worst affected. In the large city of Yekaterinburg, another hospital medic caused 78 cases. Poor southern Dagestan, meanwhile, is emerging as a hot spot. Officials described the situation to Putin this week as very difficult, with deaths left unrecorded. There are signs of hope. Russias testing regime has improved dramatically. Its official fatality figures dont show the true picture, but Moscow suffered 18% more deaths than normal last month a measure thats deemed more accurate. During its outbreak, New York City had four times its number of usual deaths. With roughly half the Russian population suffering from underlying health problems, that isnt a bad comparison. Nonetheless, the future looks grim. Russias recession this year will be the worst since the end of the Soviet period, as lockdowns coincide with a languishing oil price. Investment in the health of ordinary Russians is unlikely to be the priority. (Corrects to fix transposed labels in the chart titled Surgical Cuts.) This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Clara Ferreira Marques is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering commodities and environmental, social and governance issues. Previously, she was an associate editor for Reuters Breakingviews, and editor and correspondent for Reuters in Singapore, India, the U.K., Italy and Russia. For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Kolkata, May 19 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday held a high-level administrative meeting to review the arrangements in various south Bengal districts in view of cyclone Amphan that is expected to make a landfall in the coastal districts of the state on Wednesday. To review all the arrangements, Banerjee has formed a task force, spearheaded by Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, which would review the situation and carry out rescue operations across the state. "This cyclonic storm is going to be more disastrous than cyclone Aila. I urge all the people, especially those living in the coastal areas, to stay safe. They should not venture out in the open tomorrow after 12 noon. We have opened an emergency helpline at the state secretariat Nabanna to keep a close watch on the situation," Banerjee told a press conference here. Cyclone Amphan is expected make a landfall somewhere between West Bengal's Digha and Hatya Island in Bangladesh. A part of it may also make a landfall somewhere between Kakdwip and Sagar Island in the state's South 24 Parganas district at a minimum speed of 155-165 km/hour (maximum 185 km/hour). "We have made necessary arrangements and started evacuating people in the coastal districts already. The state administration has so far evacuated over 3 lakh people from the coastal areas and shifted them to temporary cyclone centres," the Chief Minister said. As many as 2 lakh people have been evacuated in South 24 Parganas district, 50,000 in North 24 parganas district, 40,000 in East Midnapore and about 10,000 in West Midnapore district. The meeting was held with all the district magistrates and police superintendents of seven south Bengal districts which are expected to get affected by the cyclonic storm. Three coastal districts -- East Midnapore, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas -- are expected to be the worst affected in the cyclonic spell. Besides these three districts, cyclone Amphan is also likely to affect other south Bengal districts such as Howrah, Hooghly, West Midnapore and Kolkata. Meanwhile, at least 12 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been kept on stand-by as the cyclonic storm is likely to hit a large part of the coastal districts with "very heavy rainfall on Wednesday evening". Besides West Bengal, a warning has also been issued for Odisha, Sikkim and Meghalaya till Thursday. Sources said that at least seven NDRF teams have been deployed in six West Bengal districts including East Midnapore, West Midnapore, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Hooghly and Howrah. "We have sanitised all the cyclone centres. We will also provide sanitisers, baby food and masks at all the temporary relief shelters. I request everyone not to step out of their places after initial spell of the storm," she said. Admitting that maintaining social distancing protocol would be really difficult in the rescue camps, Banerjee said the authorities would try to look into the aspect as much as they can during the calamity. Several steps have also been taken by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), other urban local bodies in the districts and the Kolkata Police to monitor the situation on an hourly basis. A centralised control room has also been opened at the KMC and Arannya Bhavan to keep a close watch on the situation. "I have alerted all DMs and SPs in the districts. I will personally monitor the situation from Nabanna as the cyclone is expected to cause havoc in large parts of south Bengal," Banerjee said, adding that Union Home Minister Amit Shah had telephoned her on Tuesday morning to know the state's preparedness for cyclone Amphan. This article is reprinted with permission from Stratfor Worldview. Mexico is relying ever more on its military to manage the country's perennial security problems, as cartel activity continues to rise against the backdrop of COVID-19. On May 11, President Andres Manual Lopez Obradors government issued a decree ordering the army to formally support Mexicos National Guard in all public safety tasks nationwide for a term lasting no more than five years. While the militarys presence in Mexico's fight against organized crime is not new, Lopez Obradors orders to expand those duties risk overtaxing a force that is already spread thin, and exposing the country's army still highly regarded by society to the same reputational loss that has plagued its police forces. By contradicting his long-held stance against Mexicos "militarization," Lopez Obradors over-reliance on the army will also further undermine his credibility among voters and civil rights organizations alike. Rising homicide rates and falling approval rates seem to be forcing Lopez Obrador, who started his six-year term in December 2018, to take more drastic action to improve Mexicos security situation. While overall crime statistics have shown mixed trends during the first year of Lopez Obradors administration, homicide rates have climbed steadily, and have continued to increase even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Homicides registered in March and April 2020 had the highest and third-highest monthly count in history. In March alone, these crimes increased 9 percent compared with the previous month, and 70 percent compared with April 2019. The COVID-19 crisis is also affecting the readiness of many state and municipal police forces. The National Guard has been deployed to protect several public hospitals around the country after incidents where family members of hospitalized people and demonstrators attacked medical personnel. Drug cartels have been active in providing care packages in different communities and establishing and enforcing lockdown curfews in some small localities, forcing the government to send more members of the army and National Guard to those areas. Fears of spreading the virus have also effectively halted civilian recruitment and training for those already recruited in the National Guard. The domestic economic fallout from the pandemic could cause crime to spike even further as well, given that Mexico saw crime rates (excluding cartel-related homicides) rise sharply in the periods immediately after the 1995 and 2009 economic crises. Prior to the onset of COVID-19, Lopez Obradors popularity was already declining due to his administrations failure to reduce crime as promised. The creation of the National Guard, in particular which is one of the hallmarks of Lopez Obradors security policy has fallen far behind on its recruitment, training and deployment goals. At the end of 2019, the number of officers deployed to the new police force was only 75 percent of the goal and has not improved substantially in 2020. More than 75 percent of the roughly 80,000 deployed National Guard elements in March are military personnel that have been transferred (some temporarily and some permanently), with the rest coming from the countrys now-dissolved federal police force. Before taking office, Lopez Obrador was opposed to using the military for public safety, but has since had to fall back on the same strategy used by his predecessor. Recent constitutional and legal reforms (including the legislation that established the National Guard in 2019) provided the legal framework for the deployment of armed forces in public safety tasks, and has since fueled ample debate among legal scholars over their proper implementation. Lopez Obrador has been relying on the armed forces to take charge of duties completely unrelated to public and national security, including the construction of Mexico Citys new international airport and diverse infrastructure projects. In doing so, his administration has continued a decades-long trend of the Mexican government using the army to fight against cartels and organized crime in the country, which has significantly intensified since 2006. The Mexican governments new decree lacks specificity about the chain of command, coordination mechanisms and size of the force, which will create operational confusion and subordinate the National Guard to military command in practice. The decree reiterates the 2019 legal framework, which establishes that any military member performing public safety duties is subordinate to the command of the National Guard. But the order also vaguely instructs Mexicos public safety security to coordinate with his defense and naval counterparts to define their participation. The decree does not establish how many elements of Mexicos military will be tasked with public safety duties, or how they will interact with current National Guard elements. Civil society and human rights organizations have voiced concern over the lack of specifics and clarity about duties and chain of command. These groups have also argued the decree is a de facto "militarization" of public safety, given that the commander of the National Guard is a retired army general, and that almost two-thirds of the current National Guard force are actually military personnel. The lack of a clear roadmap for how to accelerate the implementation and consolidation of the National Guard in the next five years, or a plan to reform and strengthen Mexicos state and municipal police forces, will only perpetuate the countrys chronic security problems. WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday for perhaps one of the larger social gatherings still happening in Washington amid the coronavirus the weekly Senate Republican lunch. Behind closed doors, Trump was unscripted and freewheeling with the 53 GOP senators. He touted his poll numbers, dismissed rival Joe Biden and implored Republicans to be tough against Democrats this fall. Despite House passage of a $3 trillion pandemic aid package, Republicans insisted theyll wait until June to consider whether more help is necessary. We had a great meeting -- all of the Republican senators were there, Trump told reporters afterward. The private gathering stood in contrast to the scenes playing out in households across the U.S. With social distancing and a shuttered economy, many Americans remain hunkered down at home, juggling children and jobs even as some states begin to reopen. More than 30 million are unemployed. They had a giant pep rally and got all fired up to do nothing, said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. What a day. Washingtons power centres are at a political and economic crossroads as Congress and the White House consider next steps in the pandemic response. While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi led Democrats in approving an aid package last week, Senate Republicans say theyre not interested in providing more funds until they gauge how the $2 trillion in already-approved relief is being spent. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said theres no urgency to act. We need to assess what weve already done, take a look at what worked and what didnt, said McConnell, R-Ky. Well discuss the way forward in the next couple of weeks. As governors plead for funds, Pelosis package includes $900 billion to states and cities to shore up their budgets and prevent mass layoffs of state and local government workers. Regional tax revenues have plummeted during the virus outbreak and economic shutdown. The Democratic bill also provides money for more virus testing, a fresh round of $1,200 rebate checks for cash-strapped Americans and other aid. Republicans dismiss the House bill as a liberal wish list. They prefer to wait and see if efforts to open up the economy can provide a kick-start and lessen the need for more aid. Trumps visit to the weekly luncheon was billed by the White House as an opportunity for the president to thank senators for their work in fighting the virus outbreak and shoring up the economy, officials said. But as senators convened behind closed doors, the discussion swiftly turned to politics. Trumps enthusiasm for the campaign against Biden, the presumed Democratic nominee, was clear, senators said. The president warned them that Democrats are tougher than Republicans and wont hesitate to go on offence. He revisited well-worn topics including the investigations of Russian interference in the 2016 election and ousted former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to one Republican who was unauthorized to discuss the private session and spoke on condition of anonymity. He admonished all of us to be tough, fight back, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters afterward. Democrats are eager to flip control of the Senate as voters evaluate Trumps handling of the pandemic crisis. Cornyn said the president explained to the senators, Its going to be a pitched battle. Trump was joined by son-in-law Jared Kushner, a senior adviser, and new chief of staff Mark Meadows, a former congressman. The Capitol building remains largely closed with the House away because of health risks, but the Senate returned to session in early May. The GOP lunch is among the few known gatherings still happening in the nations capital, which remains under stay-home orders through June 8. Since March, one GOP senator, several House members and dozens of Capitol Hill workers and staff have tested positive for the virus. Gone is the buffet spread, with hot and cold offerings. Instead, its prewrapped sandwiches and salads, chips and water. The senators now gather in a bigger room across the street from the Capitol rather than the stately one steps from the Senate chamber. Seating is a socially distant three to a table. Many senators wear masks. Federal guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests cancelling large events of more than 250 people, and cancelling those larger than 10 for high-risk populations, including the elderly. Senate Democrats skip their weekly lunch and convene instead by conference call. Trump set off alarms when he disclosed this week that he is taking the drug hydroxychloroquine despite grave warnings from health officials and the U.S. government that the anti-malaria drug is unproven to help against against COVID-19 and carries severe health risks, including death. He did not discuss his decision to take the drug during the private lunch, senators said. Tuesday brought a full day of administration appearances on Capitol Hill. Earlier, Vice-President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin huddled with McConnell and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy for a previously scheduled meeting. They discussed the COVID-19 response and the economy, according to a person familiar with the meeting who was unauthorized to describe it and spoke on condition of anonymity. But it did not appear to change Republicans outlook that more funds are needed for the pandemic response. I dont see the need right now, McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol. ___ Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Alan Fram in Washington contributed to this report. Rakhine Squatters Ordered to Vacate Former Rohingya Quarter in Myanmar's Sittwe Township 2020-05-18 -- The government of western Myanmar's Rakhine state capital has issued an order requiring ethnic Rakhine Buddhist families to vacate more than 1,250 shelters erected on top of a former Rohingya Muslim area of the township that was razed eight years ago during a flare up of sectarian violence. Thein Hlaing, administrator of the Seyton Su Muslim quarter in Sittwe township, said the order, which went into effect late last week, requires the Rakhine squatters to leave the properties that belong to Rohingyas within three months or face eviction. "We were asked to post the announcement on the notice board, but you should ask the township administrators about the issue if you want to know more, as they are the ones who issued the order," he told RFA's Myanmar Service on Monday. "We posted it on the notice board on May 14," he added. A wave of brutal slayings and attacks across Rakhine state in June 2012 left more than 200 people dead and displaced about 120,000 Rohingya, who were later forced to live in squalid camps scattered around the region. Many of those in the camps recently told RFA that the prospects for improving their living standards are bleak and that they continue to live in near-apartheid conditions. Because racial tensions have not subsided, it is nearly impossible for any Rohingya who has permission to travel the 10-minute drive from the camps to Sittwe even with security guards, some say. Meanwhile, over the past eight years, Rakhine families from rural areas of the state have gradually moved to areas formerly occupied by Rohingyas in Sittwe to claim the jobs they used to do, including Seyton Su, where there are now some 4,000 Rakhine shelters that have been built in the quarter, according to residents. Kyaw Hla Aung, a Rohingya leader who has taken refuge in Thetkal Pyin village outside of the township since the 2012 riots, welcomed the plan to evict the Seyton Su squatters. "The government has received blame and accusation internationally because they haven't evicted these squatters," he said. "This action can provide the government with some reliefthat's why they should have done it even earlier and stopped the squatters once they started moving into the area." While applauding the order, Kyaw Hla Aung said it would only benefit the government if it can "continue these kinds of affirmative actions." A Rakhine squatter in Seyton Su who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity out of fear for his security said that he is willing to follow the order if the government allots new land to those who are to be evicted. "They have to give us new land as a replacementthis land belongs to the state and if there is no proper land for us to relocate to, we will remain here," he said. "State counselor Aung San Suu Kyi promised that citizens will enjoy the full rights of citizenship. We are entitled to the right to stay in the city. If we don't have land to live on, we won't be able to work and earn a living. Many other occupants of the area say they will not leave without replacement land." Sittwe township administrator Aung Zaw Oo was not immediately available for comment. Origin of orders unclear Win Myint, Rakhine state government spokesperson and municipal minister said he was unaware of the order to evict the Seyton Su squatters. "I haven't heard any talk about the issue in any meetings, so I can't tell you anything about it and I'm not clear where this order came from," he said. "This decision was not made during the state government meeting. You should ask the township administrator who gave the order." Attempts to reach a spokesperson with the central government in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw about the order went unanswered Monday. The order to evict the squatters comes days ahead of a deadline for Myanmar to submit its first compliance report to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The country faces a trial on genocide charges at the international tribunal for the alleged military-led expulsion of more than 740,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh amid a brutal crackdown on Muslim communities in northern Rakhine state beginning in August 2017. Myanmar has denied the genocide charges, largely without addressing the evidence or specific accusations. In January, the ICJ ordered Myanmar to implement provisional measures to protect the Rohingya from genocide, preserve evidence of alleged crimes that could be used in later hearings, and report on its compliance with the measures until the court issued a final decision on the case. The first report is due by May 23, with follow-up reports required every six months until the ICJ issues a final ruling. Village burned Meanwhile, residents of Rakhine state's Mrauk-U township accused the Myanmar military of burning down nearly 200 houses in Let Kar village over the weekend, which the military denied and blamed on the ethnic Rakhine rebel Arakan Army (AA). A villager who declined to be named, citing security concerns, told RFA that 194 of the village's 301 homes and a middle school were set alight but the military on Saturday. "The military burned all of the [equipment] which had been gathered to plow for the rainy season," the villager said. "You can see how they treat people unfairly and bully them." On Sunday, the office of the military chief issued a statement saying that as troops patrolled near Let Kar, the AA attacked, burned around 20 homes, and fled the area. Khine Thuka, AA spokesperson, told RFA that the military is "trying to cover up its war crimes" in Rakhine state and that if the government is unable to rein it in, his rebel army would enlist the help of international organizations to investigate the situation there. Last year, the military arrested 27 youths from nearby Let Kar village and forced them to admit connections with the AA while under duress, according to fellow residents. Three of the young men died during their interrogation. Last week, Myanmar's military said that some of its troops used unlawful and improper interrogation techniques while detaining five Rakhine men from Rakhine's Ponnagyun township suspected of having links to the AA, a rare admission offered a day after a video published by RFA showed soldiers beating the men on board a naval vessel. Reported by RFA's Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung and Maung Maung Nyo. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Copyright 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content 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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SGRE) has released details of a 14-megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbine, in the latest example of how technology in the sector is increasing in scale. With 108-meter-long blades and a rotor diameter of 222 meters, the dimensions of the SG 14-222 DD turbine are significant. In a statement Tuesday, SGRE said that one turbine would be able to power roughly 18,000 average European households annually, while its capacity can also be boosted to 15 MW if needed. A prototype of the turbine is set to be ready by 2021, and it's expected to be commercially available in 2024. As technology has developed over the last few years, the size of wind turbines has increased. Last December, for example, Dutch utility Eneco started to purchase power produced by the prototype of GE Renewable Energy's Haliade-X 12 MW wind turbine. That turbine has a capacity of 12 MW, a height of 260 meters and a blade length of 107 meters. The announcement of Siemens Gamesa's new turbine plans comes against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, which is impacting renewable energy companies around the world. Earlier this month, the European company said Covid-19 had a "direct negative impact" of 56 million euros ($61 million) on its profitability between January and March. This, it added, was equivalent to 2.5% of revenues during the quarter. The pandemic has, in some parts of the world, altered the sources used to power society. At the end of April, for instance, it was announced that a new record had been set for coal-free electricity generation in Great Britain, with a combination of factors including coronavirus-related lockdown measures playing a role. On Tuesday, the CEO of another major wind turbine manufacturer, Danish firm Vestas, sought to emphasize the importance of renewable energy in the years and months ahead. "I think we have actually, throughout this crisis, also shown to all society that renewables can be trusted," Henrik Andersen said during an interview on CNBC's Street Signs. "But we both know ... that that transformation of energy sources is not going to happen overnight, it's not going to happen from a quarter to a quarter, it's going to happen by consistently planning year in, year out." Kolkata: India has begun evacuating thousands of villagers and halted port operations ahead of a cyclone which is expected to hit the mouth of the Bay of Bengal, including parts of India, low-lying Bangladesh and Myanmar. Fishing boats bombard on a wall due to heavy winds and huge waves in the Arabian sea at Veraval, Gujarat, India in June of last year. Credit:AP The cyclone, expected to make landfall on Wednesday, comes as India eases the world's longest lockdown, imposed in April against the virus, which has infected more than 96,169 people and killed 3029. The states of Odisha and West Bengal sent disaster management teams on Monday to move families from mud and thatch homes to shelter from Tropical Cyclone Amphan, which is expected to gain strength in the next 12 hours. "We have to evacuate people from low-lying areas, and protect them from the coronavirus too," said a senior official of India's home ministry who sought anonymity. Interview with Jens Dahl Mllerhj BERT models in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian have been released by the Danish company BotXO. We spoke to Jens Dahl Mllerhj, Lead Data Scientist at BotXO, to find out more. See how these open source models differ from Googles multilanguage BERT model, what can make creating NLP models for Nordic languages difficult, and where these models can be used. JAXenter: Your company has released open source versions of Danish and Norwegian BERT models. What is the difference between your models and the multilanguage BERT version released by Google that includes Danish and Norwegian? Googles multilingual model performs poorly for languages such as Danish or Norwegian. Jens Dahl Mllerhj: The multilingual BERT model released by Google is trained on more than a hundred different languages. The multilingual model performs poorly for languages such as the Nordic languages like Danish or Norwegian because of underrepresentation in the training data. For example, only 1% of the total amount of data constitutes the Danish text. To illustrate, the BERT model has a vocabulary of 120,000 words *, which leaves room for about 1,200 Danish words. Here comes BotXOs model, which has a vocabulary of 32,000 Danish words. (* Actually, words is a bit imprecise. In practice, the model divides rare words, for example, the word inconsequential becomes in-, -con- and -sequential. As this kind of word divisions are present in different languages, there is room for more than 1,200 Danish words in Googles multilingual model.) JAXenter: What makes a language particularly well suited for NLP tasksand what makes the process especially complicated? Jens Dahl Mllerhj: The performance of general-purpose language models such as BERT is dependent on the amount and quality of training data available. Since languages with fewer speakers are underrepresented on the internet, it can be challenging to gather enough data to train big language models. JAXenter: What were the greatest challenges in creating the Danish and Norwegian BERT models? Jens Dahl Mllerhj: Getting the training process to run fast enough required running it on custom Google hardware called TPUs. As these chips are experimental, they are not particularly well documented. Getting the algorithm running on them required quite a bit of experimentation. Moreover, renting Googles TPUs costs a lot of money. Since TPUs are expensive to use, it is important to make the algorithms run as fast as possible to decrease the cost. JAXenter: Do you have plans to develop BERT models for other languages? We trained the Swedish BERT model on an astonishing 25 GB of raw text data. Jens Dahl Mllerhj: Yes! In fact, we have also released this Swedish BERT model. The release of the Danish and Norwegian models was a success, and we continued working on other Nordic languages. We trained the Swedish BERT model on an astonishing 25 GB of raw text data. It is ten times more data than the previously biggest Swedish BERT model. Working on the Swedish BERT model has been a bit different because the language has a different set of characters than Danish and Norwegian. It includes English characters as well as the vowels A, A, and O. Besides, the Swedish language is spoken by 10 million people, almost as many as the Danish and Norwegian population combined. Now, we are planning to work on a Finnish BERT model, and we want to run a more detailed analysis of the data for different languages. JAXenter: In what areas and by whom do you expect your open source models to be used? Jens Dahl Mllerhj: We expect that the Danish model can be useful for any Danish private company, educational institution, NGO or public organization in need of AI in Danish. We hope that others can further develop it and use it to improve their products and services as well as producing new solutions. Researchers are using the models for general text classification, sentiment analysis and entity extraction. We have already observed that other researchers are using the models for general text classification, sentiment analysis and entity extraction. At the same time, many of BotXOs customers are running experiments and are utilizing the model for different projects. We hope that Norwegian, as well as Swedish models, will help data scientists in Norway and Sweden to build state-of-the-art natural language processing solutions. SEE ALSO: How to track progress and collaborate in data science and machine learning projects Last but not least, the artificial intelligence field is developing very quickly, and an open-source dataset is very important. Sharing resources allows the exchange of ideas, and we can help each other out with our projects. The models and instructions for data scientists and engineers as well as discussions about the use cases can be found here: github.com/botxo. JAXenter: Thank you for the interview! Regarding Big cuts planned to close deficit (Page 1, May 15): I really believe that Gov. Gavin Newsom is making a mistake taking it from the people who most need our support. There should be taxes instead. There are wealthy corporations that could easily absorb these costs considering they got such a free-for-all during that obscene federal tax break. It is a very bad idea to cut money to schools, government workers and health care for the poor. All of a sudden, it becomes important to put a damper on the things that would be essential in normal times. Not having taxed the huge corporations enough now makes those teachers, disabled people and indispensable government workers into scapegoats? I voted for the governor. If he does what he is proposing, I am not going to vote for him again. Birgit Calhoun, Los Altos Graceland is back Regarding Elvis fans rejoice over reopening (May 18): Fans of the King of Rock and Roll might be excited about the reopening of Graceland, but Im All Shook Up. Those of us with Suspicious Minds about reopening the economy too soon hope that visitors to Presleys former home-turned-museum will continue to practice social distancing, wear face masks, have A Little Less Conversation, and repeatedly wash their hands. In the meantime, if Im snidely asked by Elvis fans Are You Lonesome Tonight? Ill just say, Of course not! Im at home watching Viva Las Vegas! Belinda Davis, San Francisco Protect privacy rights I understand the perspective of John Diaz opinion piece A privacy committee unworthy of its name (May 10), but I think it misunderstands my recent actions on AB2261. What his piece calls for is what have always been my priorities: protecting the privacy rights of all Californians, and guiding the passage of legislation that does just that. Californians currently enjoy the broadest privacy protections of any U.S. residents, thanks in large part to the California Consumer Privacy Act, which I joint-authored in 2018. This year, the Privacy Committee was forced to put a hold on some important bills, even though I share their goals, in order to focus on critical needs within the pandemic environment. AB2261 addresses those needs, because the incursion of facial recognition technology in our everyday lives is occurring already. Under current laws, however, we have few tools to discover or limit its use. There is also no adequate oversight covering both public and private entities. We cannot leave it to a handful of forward-thinking cities to regulate in this space. We have to protect everyone. We can always implement even stronger policies, but we cannot get there without taking the first step. Assemblymember Ed Chau, Sacramento Reason for restrictions Regarding Unrealistic approach (Letters, May 15): The author is dead wrong in arguing that the state should fully lift COVID-19 restrictions because maintaining them is like trying to use a parachute to hover one inch off the ground forever. Unfortunately, the accurate metaphor is that our parachute has stopped our free-fall, but we are still thousands of feet above the ground. Before restrictions, COVID-19 deaths in California were doubling every three days. If we went fully back to normal, then our deaths would start doubling again just as certainly as our free-fall would resume when we jettisoned our parachute. Californias current daily deaths, almost 75, would very quickly grow into the hundreds and then the thousands. It is true that our current restrictions represent an economic catastrophe, like a parachute whose straps cut off the circulation so badly that there is risk of losing an arm. Adjustment is warranted. But discarding the parachute altogether would be foolish until our feet are firmly on the ground which in this case, means having a cure or a vaccine. Neal Mielke, Los Altos Hills Issue with entrance tests Regarding UC looks for better way on tests (Editorial, May 17): I applaud the editorial and UC President Janet Napolitanos attempt to improve evaluation of UC applicants by eliminating application tests. Despite past improvements, the United States remains a deeply unequal, racially and economically divided society. Gross inequities in income, wealth, housing and education persist. College entrance tests are a pernicious way of discriminating against minority and low-income applicants who lack the educational preparation opportunities of more affluent majority applicants. Thus, inequalities perpetuate and extend throughout life. Peter Grenell, San Francisco Make offices safe again At some point, we are going to be reopening office buildings. Of course, we will probably need to wear masks and other precautions. Here are a couple of suggestions on how offices perhaps can be made safer during the COVID-19 outbreak: Office staff should be divided into two groups based on their tasks. One group can come in on Mondays and Wednesdays, the second group can come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays (with everyone working from home Fridays). That way, half the office will be empty at all times and everyone can leave a seat empty on either side of them. Second: the big problem is recirculated air. Can office buildings install heavy duty (a.k.a. N95 material) filters at all the air intakes or outtakes? Maybe with some sort of (safe to breathe) disinfectant? Can airplanes do the same? Lets catch and trap the virus before it is blown back into the room. Senior citizens and people with disabilities will receive early rebates through Pennsylvanias property tax and rent rebate program this year rather than having to wait until the usual distribution date on July 1 to help ease some of their financial burden related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Tom Wolf and state Treasurer Joe Torsella announced on Tuesday that the rebates will be processed and distributed to approved applicants on a first-in-first-out basis, starting immediately to 111,000 Pennsylvanians. This commonsense solution gives thousands of our older and vulnerable residents their rebates early when they need it, Wolf said in a news release. I thank members of the General Assembly and Treasurer Torsella for working quickly on this issue so that we can provide this needed financial support. We also want everyone who is eligible for the Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program to know that the application deadline for the program has been extended so that everyone has the time they need to take advantage of the program. The deadline to submit applications is now Dec. 31, 2020. The rebate program, funded from profits from the Pennsylvania Lottery and revenue from slots gaming, benefits eligible Pennsylvanians age 65 and older; widows and widowers age 50 and older; and people with disabilities age 18 and older. The income limit is $35,000 a year for homeowners and $15,000 annually for renters, and half of Social Security income is excluded. It is free to apply for a rebate. The maximum standard rebate is $650, but supplemental rebates for certain qualifying homeowners can boost rebates to $975. The Department of Revenue automatically calculates supplemental rebates for qualifying homeowners. More than $255 million in property tax and rent rebates were sent to almost 532,000 homeowners and renters across the state for property taxes and rent paid in 2017. This is the most recent data available for a full calendar year. As public officials, all of us in state government are working to find every way we can to help Pennsylvanians get through this health and financial crisis, Torsella said. Older folks and our less well-off neighbors rely on the Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program for help. Theyre also among those bearing the heaviest burden of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tips for Checking the Status of Your Rebate: The Department of Revenue asks claimants to keep in mind that its main call centers are operating in a limited capacity due to the efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. As a result, claimants are encouraged to use online tools and other automated resources to check the status of their rebates or ask a question. Applicants can obtain the Property Tax/Rent Rebate claim form (PA-1000) and related information on the Department of Revenues website. Claimants who already applied for rebates may use the Wheres My PA Property Tax/Rent Rebate? tool to check the status of their rebate. You will need your Social Security number, claim year and date of birth to use this tool. Call 1-888-PATAXES to check the status of your rebate. This automated toll-free service is available 24 hours a day. You will need your Social Security number, date of birth and the anticipated amount of your rebate to use this service. Claimants who included their phone number on their Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program application form (PA-1000) will receive automated calls from the Department of Revenue updating them on the status of their claim. Claimants should know that these automated phone calls require no further action. They will not be asked to key in any numbers or to provide any additional information. Claimants can visit the department's Online Customer Service Center to find helpful tips and answers to commonly asked questions about the Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program. The Online Customer Service Center also allows you to submit a question to a Department of Revenue representative through a secure process that is similar to sending an email. if You Havent Submitted Your Application: For eligible applicants who have yet to file their Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program application, the Department of Revenue is offering help for those who need it. Eligible claimants are encouraged to call 1-888-222-9190 for guidance. Since the Property Tax/Rent Rebate Programs 1971 inception, older and disabled adults have received more than $6.9 billion in property tax and rent relief. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Eight Afghan soldiers were killed on Tuesday while repelling a fierce Taliban attack on Kunduz, a strategic city in northern Afghanistan that had briefly fallen to the militants twice in the past, officials said. In a separate incident north of the capital Kabul, gunmen opened fire on worshippers offering evening prayers at a mosque, killing at least seven people and wounding 12, police said. Fighting erupted during the night in Kunduz as Taliban fighters attacked several government posts on the outskirts of the city at around 1:00 am Tuesday, a defence ministry statement said. "With the support of air force their attack was repelled," it said, adding the fighting lasted for several hours. Defence Minister Assadullah Khalid, who visited Kunduz later on Tuesday, said the Taliban had "suffered big losses". "Unfortunately, we have also lost eight brave soldiers," he told reporters. The insurgents managed to briefly capture an Afghan army post during Tuesday's fighting but it was quickly retaken by security forces, army spokesman Hadi Jamal told AFP. Three civilians were also killed and 55 others wounded in the overall violence that rocked the city, Kunduz provincial health director Ehsanullah Afzali said. An air strike also hit and partially damaged a clinic in the nearby district of Chardara but there were no reports of casualties, he added. Both the Taliban and Afghan forces have clashed repeatedly in rural areas in recent months, but an attempt to enter a city as large as Kunduz is seen as a serious escalation. - Attack on mosque - Meanwhile, gunmen stormed a mosque in Khelalzai village in the province of Parwan, north of Kabul, and opened fire on worshippers offering evening prayers. "Seven people have been killed and 12 wounded. The gunmen have fled the area," Parwan police chief Haroon Mubarez told AFP. The ministry of interior confirmed the incident but provided a slightly higher death toll, saying eight had been killed. The latest violence follows a declaration by President Ashraf Ghani last week to resume offensive strikes against the insurgents following a string of brutal attacks. The Taliban responded by vowing to increase assaults against Afghan security forces. The defence ministry said 40 Taliban fighters were killed and 50 others wounded in the Kunduz assault. Afghan officials and the Taliban frequently exaggerate claims of casualties. The Taliban briefly captured Kunduz, a strategic city not far from the Tajikistan border, twice before -- in September 2015 and again a year later. An attempt last year failed. During the fight for the city in 2015 US air strikes destroyed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, killing 42 people. The latest attack on the city came a day after the Taliban killed at least seven Afghan intelligence personnel with a car bomb in the eastern province of Ghazni. And last week, gunmen stormed a maternity hospital in Kabul killing 24, including mothers and infants. - UN sees rise in civilian deaths - That attack, which triggered international outrage, was followed by a suicide bombing at a funeral which killed at least 32 mourners. The Taliban denied involvement in those attacks, although Ghani blamed the militants and the Islamic State group for the bloodshed. Officials say the assaults are part of the Taliban's undeclared spring offensive. Violence has spiked since the Taliban signed a deal with Washington in February, under which Washington said it would pull its troops out of the country in return for security guarantees from the militants. Analysts say the Taliban have been emboldened by the accord and government officials have reported more than 3,800 attacks, which killed 420 civilians and wounded 906, since signing the deal. The Taliban were responsible for 208 civilian casualties last month -- 25 percent more than April 2019 -- the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement. It said civilian casualties attributed to Afghan security forces in April numbered 172, an increase of 38 percent. "Parties have committed to finding a peaceful solution and should protect the lives of all Afghans and not jeopardise people's hope for an end to the war," said Deborah Lyons, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan. Subscriber content preview A modern $32.4 million theater will be built in its place. By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press TIRANA, Albania Albanian artists and opposition party supporters gathered for a second day Monday to protest authorities' demolition of the crumbling National Theater building in the capital, which has triggered strong political tension amid a major heritage debate. Defying a lockdown ban on mass gatherings, a few thousand people gathered near the Interior Ministry, close to the site of the building, to support the artists in their protest against Prime Minister Edi Rama's center-left government. . . . Health Minister Simon Harris has said "very small" weddings with close family and friends might be able to take place in July. According to the Government road map out of lockdown, small weddings would be permitted in the Republic of Ireland by phase four, which is due to begin on July 20. Mr Harris told Newstalk FM the Government will be working on more detailed guidance about weddings over the next few weeks. "Over the next weeks what we have to do is provide more clarity in relation to this. At the moment, what we're saying is we could arrive at a point at stage four in July - and even that date can't be guaranteed - we will have to see how we get on in the next few weeks." "In stage four of our plan we are saying you could have small social gatherings ie a small wedding or baptism. Small is going to be small - 100 is mot small, 80 or 90 is not small. We are talking about a very small gathering with very close family and friends." "I have to be honest - nobody can guarantee where we will be with this virus in July or August." By Trend Turkey's Independent Industrialists and Businessmen's Association (MUSIAD) and Uzbekistan are planning to implement cooperation projects in all areas of the economy, Representative of MUSIAD in Uzbekistan Alpaslan Ucar told Trend in an interview. "MUSIAD began cooperation with Uzbekistan in May 2018. In the framework of cooperation, priority is given to the establishment of joint production, investment and exchange of information in various fields. Our partner organization is Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan, with which MUSIAD signed a Memorandum of Cooperation," Ucar said. The representative added that MUSIAD and its member-companies are actively working on projects that meet primarily the interests and needs of the economy of Uzbekistan. "In particular, attention is focused on projects such as the creation of medium-sized industrial zones, assisting the development of the jewelry industry, the exchange of information, experience in the field of tourism and the production of packaging materials for agricultural products," Alpaslan Ucar noted. In his words, MUSIAD exchanges innovations in the industrial sector of Turkey with partners and companies in Uzbekistan by organizing business forums and B2B meetings in Uzbekistan, networking sessions at the headquarters in Istanbul, as well as through events such as MUSIAD EXPO. "In the future, we plan to participate in the implementation of joint investment projects between Uzbek companies and the member-companies of MUSIAD in order to contribute to the industrial and production sectors of Uzbekistan. We also plan to help the activity of small and medium-sized enterprises by organizing business trips to Uzbekistan," said Ucar. According to him, MUSIAD and Uzbekistan are planning to implement cooperation projects in all areas of the national economy, primarily in agriculture, the chemical industry, healthcare, construction, tourism and defense industry. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz S ixty firefighters are tackling a blaze at a maisonette in central London. Eight crews were called to the building in Bath Street, Old Street, at 6.53pm on Monday evening. A maisonette on the seventh and eighth floor of the residential building is alight, a spokesman for the London Fire Brigade said. Video footage from the scene shows smoke billowing from the windows of the flat. At least 100 people have been evacuated from the building. There are no reports of any injuries. Station Commander Mark Jordan, who is at the scene, said: "The fire is in a split level maisonette and crews are making steady progress. "There are no reports of any injuries. Around 100 people evacuated the block before firefighters arrived." The cause of the fire is not known at this stage. This page is being updated. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 9 By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend: The governor of the Faryab province (Islamic Republic of Afghanistan), Naqibullah Faiq thanked President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov for humanitarian aid, Trend reports with reference to Turkmenistans State News Agency. On behalf of the people of Faryab province, I express my gratitude to Your Excellency for the humanitarian aid provided over the years to the people of Afghanistan, especially to our province, in various fields. We hope that this assistance will continue in the future," he said. "We also express our deep gratitude to you for your humanitarian assistance on the occasion of the Holy month of Eid. We are confident that your special friendly attitude towards the Afghan people will strengthen the friendly and fraternal ties between the two countries in the interests of both people, said the head of the Faryab province. According to the presidents decree, The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Protection of Turkmenistan and the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan donated food products to Afghanistan in the beginning of this month. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @JeilaAliyeva Social media companies might need to rethink their efforts to control the spread of disinformation. Take Plandemic, a 26-minute video that accuses Dr. Anthony Fauci, the governments top infectious disease expert, of being part of a conspiracy that would line his own pockets through the sale of vaccines. The video that began circulating this month also claims the Italian version of the flu vaccine contains the coronavirus and that wearing masks can make people sicker than not wearing them. The guy behind Plandemic is California filmmaker Mikki Willis, and its star is Judy Mikovits, a woman Willis describes as one of the most accomplished scientists of her generation. Thats probably not how most scientists would describe her. In 2009, Mikovits co-authored a paper published in the journal Science. She was among 13 researchers who claimed to have found that a mouse retrovirus might contribute to chronic fatigue syndrome. The film claims the paper sent shock waves through the scientific community, as it revealed the common use of animal and human fetal tissues were unleashing devastating plagues of chronic diseases. Actually, the paper was retracted two years after its publication. The journal explained that multiple laboratories had failed in efforts to confirm the reports findings, and it cited poor quality control in a number of experiments on which those findings were based. The second controversy came that same year when Mikovits was fired from the laboratory where she worked. The lab accused her of removing notebooks and other proprietary information. In the film, Mikovits claims she was held in jail without charges, but the truth is she was arrested on a warrant. Soon after the film surfaced on Facebook and YouTube, those companies began trying to remove it from their platforms, saying the disinformation it contained represented a health threat. They quickly found themselves in a game of whack-a-mole. Whack it over here, and the video pops up over there. Whack it over there, and it pops up somewhere else. And in the midst of it all, the film seemed to gain in popularity. Thats what often seems to happen. Folks like Willis and Mikovits become folk heroes, standing up against the liberal thought police at Big Tech. The people helping to spread their message remain loyal, maybe even more so now that the social media police seem to be trampling on their freedom of speech. The answer, of course, is for the social media giants to stop playing whack-a-mole. Let people share their conspiracy theories and respond with the truth. Truth and falsehood compete constantly in the free marketplace of ideas. Our hope, always, is that the truth will win. Herald Bulletin, Anderson, Indiana Expats in Vietnamese cities are relieved to finally be able to go out again Aaron Levey, a 32-year-old from the United Kingdom, had his 2020 plans torn to pieces once social distancing measures crept in earlier in the year. He and his partner had been planning a major move to South America this summer after enjoying Hanoi and saving money by working as English teachers. The flight out of Vietnam was previously booked, but with coronavirus crippling the globe, its not likely to happen as scheduled. I have been able to mostly work from home, but ultimately I did lose some teaching hours, Aaron said. Other people I know have been more badly affected, but right now the biggest issue for most seems to be the uncertainty and costs involved in obtaining visa extensions. Aaron added that although his position isnt one of too much strife, he knows of schools that are not putting on English classes for now while they get back up and running. Reopened schools are a positive for the country in general, but not all teaching expats can take advantage of it. As for the visa issue, Aaron and others are required to decipher the ever-changing policies of both Vietnam and other countries when it comes to extending or renewing. The Vietnamese government was already in the process of overhauling some visa regulations in July, confusing the situation further. I had to extend my visa for three months in April, with two flights suspended the previous month, said another British teacher, who has worked in Hanois Cau Giay district ever since she first visited the country. I had to pay $375 for the extension and also have not received a refund for either suspended flight as both airlines I was going to fly with are obviously overwhelmed with requests, and make you jump through ridiculous hoops to get your money back. While the ESL teacher is happy to have work again, uncertainties remain for her. Ive no idea when the school term is going to end for me, and work permit renewal is going to be a complex matter too. Im so lucky to be in a country dealing with the global situation so well, but things wont get back to normal overnight, she added. Towns and cities across the country have slowly opened back up in recent weeks, with previous daily activities that were perhaps taken for granted in the past being more appreciated today. I wasnt able to see my friends in person, or go out and exercise, which was difficult, said Aaron. I especially missed not being able to go out and have some pho whenever I wanted. However, I could keep in touch with people via video calls, which actually brought me closer to friends from back home. Elsewhere, university students have been back to school for some time. However, while Vietnamese students could finally return to their classes and enjoy the social life that comes with it, international students in some areas are still waiting for the situation to relax further. Samuel Kim, a South Korean student at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities Hanoi (USSH Hanoi), said he felt comfortable going out on the street again after being unable to do so during social isolation. When I did go out occasionally while we had the distancing measures in place, I didnt even see kids outside. It was so boring. Although Samuel enjoys the vibrance of Hanoi again, his study programme still takes place entirely online as some of his classmates are still in South Korea and China. With the situation abroad remaining unclear and complicated, Vietnam currently upholds the regulations for people entering the country, meaning that everyone who wishes to enter Vietnam may face 14 days of mandatory quarantine measures an understandably unpleasant barrier for foreign students to return back to Vietnam. Samuel told VIR that continuing to study online is quite okay and keeps everyone in my class safe plus, we got kind of used to it already. Im happy that at least most of the shops are open again and that I can travel around the city without worrying too much. For Samuel and his classmates, who all study at the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies, the prevailing security measures most likely means that they will not see each other in person this semester. The dangers linked to COVID-19 have not disappeared yet, despite the impression you could get here in Hanoi. I hope that Vietnam will continue with the decisive measures as they make me feel quite safe. Since studying online comes with overall shorter lessons, Samuel can spare his free time for some much-missed outdoor activities and to contemplate other important things in life. I wish that Vietnam and its economy can quickly recover from the lockdown measures that had to be carried out, and that the rest of the world can also fight the virus successfully. Aaron from the UK expressed similar hopes. I feel extremely lucky to be in Vietnam right now, as things are gradually returning to normal. Having said that, it is important to not get too complacent and assume the virus is never coming back, he warned. In the meantime, Ill spend my remaining time here eating the amazing food and making some short trips to the countryside with my friends before we leave in the summer. Hopefully. For many Iraqis, the anti-British revolt of 1920 was the greatest event in their modern history, an inspiring revolutionary movement which ushered in the birth of a new nation in ancient Mesopotamia. Even though the revolt was crushed by the British, it has been established since in Iraqi collective memory as a war of independence against colonialism and a milestone event that forged Iraqi nationalism. Yet a century later, Iraqis are still trying to come to terms with the difficult history and politics born out of their struggle to establish a new state and a new national identity following the Great Revolution. While the government is not planning to commemorate the event at a national level, Iraqis remain divided over the consequences of that fateful year, with different versions of the revolution being narrated, some contrasting markedly with the usual glowing tributes to national history. Britain seized Iraq from the Ottomans during World War I. British forces composed of largely Indian soldiers landed in the southern port city of Basra in November 1914, and after capturing most of southern Iraq they finally succeeded in taking Baghdad from the retreating Ottoman Turks in March 1917. Subsequent military operations in Iraq spawned an aggressive array of political measures that culminated in early 1920 with the placing of Iraq under a British mandate established by the League of Nations for the territories of powers defeated in the war. The move was widely resented, as were efforts by the British occupation to create a new administration composed of mainly British officials to govern the country. Peaceful protests and petitioning failed to convince the British authorities to abandon plans to make Iraq part of the British Empire. Widespread discontent with British rule grew in May 1920 with the outbreak of mass meetings and demonstrations in Baghdad and some other cities and a fatwa, or religious edict, from a leading Shia cleric declaring that service in the British administration was unlawful. An armed uprising broke out in late June 1920 following the British authorities rejection of the Iraqis demands and another fatwa from Ayatollah Mohamed Taqi Al-Shirazi that seemed to encourage jihad, or the fight against the enemies of Islam. For months, Iraqs Shia-dominated middle Euphrates River region was in rebellion against British rule, and the insurrection then moved north around the River Valley. The uprising sought to foster a greater sense of national unity against a common foreign enemy. Although the insurrection was finally and brutally suppressed, it forced the British government to abandon any idea of direct colonial control on the Indian model in Iraq. Instead, the British decided on a new policy to control Iraq through more indirect means, mainly by installing a friendly regime. They installed prince Faisal of the Hashemite family in Mecca as king of Iraq as a reward for his support in fighting the Ottoman Turks during World War I, though he had no family ties or historical roots in Iraq. Despite its failure, the uprising was established in Iraqi collective memory as a Great Revolution for independence and a formative event in Iraqi nationalism, symbolising the unity of the Iraqi people and their sense of patriotism. A century later, and with the US-led invasion in 2003 unleashing political turmoil, bloody insurgency, large-scale sectarian reprisals and unbridled foreign intervention, the country has been plagued by communal divisions and foreign hegemony that make the meaning of the 1920 Revolution highly contested. Since the fall of the Sunni-dominated regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein, each Iraqi community has reclaimed selected historical narratives to suit the politics of the moment, and it is unclear where the revolution fits into this repertoire. The story of the Great Revolution of 1920 is no longer the foundation story that legitimises the new Iraq, which has come full circle from the Sunni-dominated era to turn into a reinvented nation of ethnic and religious diversity. In this new Iraq and after decades of marginalisation, the leaders of the countrys Shia community have begun publicly and proudly recalibrating the narrative of the uprising and giving their tale more and more ground. What they had kept hidden for decades in their communal consciousness has suddenly become a new public discourse about the revolution, claiming that it was mostly and primarily a Shia uprising against the British colonialists led by Shia clerics and fought by Shia tribes. Meanwhile, Iraqs Sunni Arabs, who had always taken pride in their view that they were the founding fathers of the modern Iraqi state, have watched themselves helplessly losing the legitimacy they acquired as a result of this narrative and going overnight from being the rulers to the ruled. The Sunnis have been neither prepared nor willing to accept a minority role, and many of them have denied the new realities and rejected seeing their community losing power and privileges. Some Sunnis have even resisted the changeover by force of arms, trying to ward off what they perceive as a historic defeat, while others have resorted to political means to reduce their marginalisation and exclusion. But even with that dramatic shift and feelings of frustration, the Sunnis have not managed to recalibrate their narrative that it was their political elites who built Iraqs modern state. The dilemma has given their narrative more and more ground, while highlighting the dysfunction and abysmal failure of the countrys Shia leaders in rebuilding the post-Saddam state. The Iraqi Kurds, who live in a semi-autonomous federal enclave in the north of the country, are indifferent not only to the 1920 Revolution as a political event worthy of commemoration and also as a topic of national interest. The Kurds have their own version of the history of modern Iraq, with their perception that as a non-Arab ethnicity they were forced to be part of the Arab-dominated nation that emerged after a series of international treaties re-mapping the Middle East following World War I. Following the defeat of the Ottomans, the Kurds in the northern Mosul province exploited the chaos in the region and revolted against the League of Nations mandate and the British-backed establishment it created. That opened the first chapter of the Kurdish conflict in Iraq, as the Kurds continued to rebel against all the governments in Baghdad. But they ultimately failed to break away from the rest of Iraq, including in an attempt to hold an independence referendum in 2017. Yet, with a self-ruled region and a politics that has been promoting separation rather than integration, the Kurds connection to the rest of Iraq is being reshaped in a fluid national context that transcends Iraqi national identity. The US-led invasion changed Iraq as much as the British colonial project did, with the latter originally setting the foundations for the modern state and putting the minority Sunnis in the leadership seat. Not only did political power structures fundamentally shift on a radical scale following the Shias empowerment, but it also set the stage for a wholly different Iraq in which Kurds, Arabs, Sunnis, Shias and other minorities constantly confront each other. Not long after the Americans began their occupation of Iraq, one of the radical changes that swept Iraqi society was the increased identification of Iraqis with their own different sects. One of the main reasons behind the Iraqis withdrawal into smaller tribal, religious and sectarian identities was the dismantling of the state in Iraq and its key institutions by the US occupation authorities. Indeed, the changes that were wrought by the invasion were pushed on by Shia and Kurdish political groups that did not hide their resentment of the former state that they perceived as having been controlled by Sunni Arabs. Beyond colonial reasons and the incompetence of its ruling elites, the failure of the post-independence state in Iraq has been largely due to its failure to forge a collective identity or to promote national integration. Over the past 80 years, the modern nation-state has failed to resolve the tensions between sectarian identities and equal citizenship, while trying hard to synchronise competing communal identities with perceived nationalism and the political structures it created. The leaders of the countrys Sunni community who took prominent positions in the modern state were not alone responsible for forging the imagined national formation. Shia religious, tribal, political and community leaders also participated in moulding a national formation that diluted their own cultural identity. In many ways, and like in the story of The Emperors New Clothes, the US occupation of Iraq in 2003 lighted up the all-too-hidden reality of an Iraq that was far from being truly and solidly homogenised. What the US-led invasion and the collapse of the state in 2003 exposed was not only the myth of a shared collective identity imposed by the post-colonial political reality, but also the banality of the identity politics that the post-Saddam Shia elite and its US backers imposed in trying to make good of the Shia failure in 1920. This is why outside the confines of groups that may be trying to commemorate the 1920 Great Revolution for vested sectarian or political interests, there are few celebrations taking place to mark its centenary across Iraq. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 May, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Author Prior to starting NetSys, Nick worked as CIO for global luxury hotel brand Mandarin Oriental over twelve years, where he was fortunate enough to participate in a significant global expansion of the company from its base in Hong Kong. In addition to his CIO role at citizenM, Nick holds strategic IT and advisory board positions at several hotel and hospitality technology companies. He is an inductee in the HFTP (Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals) Hall of Fame, and a co-founder and past-president of HTNG (Hotel Technology Next Generation). In late 2016, Nick was elected to the Board of Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals (HFTP). More about Nick Price Spain has made it compulsory for all citizens, including children over six, to wear masks in public spaces as one of Europe's strictest lockdowns gradually unwinds. The Health Ministry order said the masks - whose efficiency in curbing the coronavirus is hotly debated globally - would be needed from Thursday for indoor public spaces and outdoors when impossible to keep a two-metre distance. Spain has suffered 27,778 deaths and had 232,037 cases of the COVID-19 disease, according to latest data, while the tourism-dependent economy is forecast to contract up to 12.4 per cent in 2020 due its virtual paralysis since mid-March. But the pace of new fatalities has slowed to under 100 a day, and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's left-wing coalition is aiming to lift most of the lockdown by the end of June unless there is a second wave. To keep control on the gradual phase-out of restrictions, which vary from region to region, the government is requesting a two-week extension of the state of emergency. The lower house of parliament, where Sanchez needs some opposition support for a majority, was due to vote on that on Wednesday. Some are getting weary of the restrictions: demonstrators of up to a few hundred have been gathering daily at 9 pm to bang pots and pans and call for the government's resignation. Mainly in wealthy, conservative neighbourhoods, the protesters have often ignored social-distancing rules. Madrid has eased restrictions to allow children outdoors, and shops and beaches to reopen. But it is keeping a quarantine for overseas travellers for another two weeks. Reuters [May 19, 2020] NetSfere Adds Medical Speech Recognition to the Industry-Leading Enterprise Secure Mobile Messaging Platform CHICAGO and MUNICH, Germany, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NetSfere , the leading secure enterprise messaging service, today announced the addition of medical speech recognition into the NetSfere enterprise mobile messaging platform to advance healthcare communication among medical professionals, using the Nuance Dragon Medical SpeechKit. The NetSfere solution creates a secure and encrypted messaging experience that accurately understands complex medical jargon shared through voice commands. NetSfere is designed to meet security and compliance requirements in regulated verticals including healthcare, says Harsh Mamgain, VP Product, Infinite Convergence. Medical professionals do high-pressure, life-changing work, which demands a communication platform that enables them to do so more effectively. This new capability allows them to do their jobs more efficiently while providing secure, compliant, and flexible messaging options. As speech technology using mobile messaging becomes more widely adopted in the healthcare sector, consumer-grade speech services are adequate for day-to-day communication but lack the ability to recognize industry-specific vocabulary routinely used in the medical field i.e. anatomical and surgical terms, procedures, diagnostic tests, ailments, and prescription drug names. Doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals can now communicate and consult with one another through the NetSfere application regarding patient iagnosis or test results, leveraging speech recognition with the immediacy of messaging in a secure and encrypted fashion. To be truly transformational, digital healthcare initiatives must encompass the collaboration and communication requirements of frontline workers, enabling them to provide contextually intelligent, personalized and predictive delivery of patient care, says Raul Castanon-Martinez, Senior Analyst for Workforce Collaboration at 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence division. Secure and compliant real-time communications can help healthcare organizations streamline their response to different events, leading to improvements in patient care; and the use of speech-enabled applications and devices can empower frontline workers with 'heads-up, hands-free' capabilities. These enhancements can be relevant for their day-to-day work and can significantly improve patient care and business efficiencies in healthcare organizations. Nuance solutions provide a consistent and personalized clinical documentation experience across solutions, platforms, and devices regardless of physical location, says Bjorn Aune, VP International Healthcare Sales at Nuance Communications Limited. Our technology reduces administrative workloads and frees clinicians to spend more time caring for patients. For more information about NetSfere solutions, please visit www.netsfere.com . About NetSfere NetSfere is a secure enterprise messaging service from Infinite Convergence Solutions, Inc . NetSfere provides industry-leading security and mobile messaging capabilities, including global cloud-based service availability, device-to-device encryption, administrative controls and regulatory compliance. The service leverages Infinite Convergence's experience in delivering mobility solutions to tier 1 mobile operators globally and technology that supports more than 400 million subscribers and over a trillion messages on an annual basis. NetSfere is also compliant with regulatory requirements, including GDPR, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Sarbanes-Oxley and others. For more information, visit www.netsfere.com . Media Contact Brittany Johnson Uproar PR for NetSfere [email protected] 312-878-4575 x246 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Alabama Food Bank Association is grateful to Wind Creek for their tremendous support of Alabama communities. "Because of the generous support from Wind Creek, our food banks are able to serve families experiencing economic crisis during this pandemic," said Laura Lester, executive director of the Alabama Food Bank Association. "Our network's hunger-relief programs help deliver millions of pounds of nutritious food to the communities we serve across Alabama." Wind Creek's Director of Public Relations, Magi Williams, explained the donation is all about being a good neighbor. "Wind Creek isn't on the front lines of the pandemic crisis, but we want to support those who are. We're proud to come alongside the Alabama Food Bank Association in providing food and hope to families and children who need it most." About Alabama Food Bank Association The Alabama Food Bank Association works to end hunger by assisting the food bank network in obtaining more food and funds, fostering public awareness of the food banks' mission, and creating partnerships to help alleviate hunger in Alabama. Every day, our eight members in Alabama (Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, Feeding the Gulf Coast, Food Bank of East Alabama, Food Bank of North Alabama, Montgomery Area Food Bank, Selma Food Bank, West Alabama Food Bank, Wiregrass Area Food Bank) partner with a statewide network of food donors, emergency food pantries, and soup kitchens to provide food to hungry people. Fighting hunger requires significant funding for every step of the processfrom acquiring food, to storing the food, to transporting the food to people in need. Learn more at alfba.org. About Wind Creek Wind Creek Hospitality is an authority of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Wind Creek Hospitality manages the Tribe's gaming facilities including: Wind Creek Atmore, Wind Creek Wetumpka, Wind Creek Montgomery, Wind Creek Bethlehem, Wa She Shu Casino in Nevada, Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino, Renaissance Curacao Resort & Casino, WindCreekCasino.com, as well as racetracks in Alabama and Florida. The Poarch Band of Creek Indians is the only federally recognized Indian Tribe in the state of Alabama, operating as a sovereign nation with its own system of government and bylaws. The Tribe operates a variety of economic enterprises, which employ thousands. SOURCE Wind Creek Hospitality Related Links http://www.windcreekhospitality.com Survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) who have been forced to leave their home countries are now facing greater risks due to the spread of coronavirus and the restrictions brought in to force to fight it, according to a new study. These survivors, mostly women, are having to deal with increased vulnerability to further abuse and exploitation, researchers reported on Tuesday. Many are trapped between remaining in abusive situations or becoming homeless, as they do not qualify for public housing. Isolation, limited social contact and no access to services also reminded some survivors of the restrictions they faced in conflict and under siege before they fled their homes, reported researchers in Forced migration, SGBV and COVID-19 (pdf), published by the University of Birmingham, working with Refugee Woman Connect. You know when you already have a problem and another comes on top, it makes the problem bigger like when its just one problem, but if you already have all those underlying things carrying this and that trauma, layers and layers of different things, a West African woman in her 40s, now living in the UK, told researchers. Survivors of SGBV often require continued treatment for injuries and conditions, but many of those who are undocumented also reported feeling anxious about seeking medical help, scared of being reported and deported. Others worried they would not be a priority for access to a ventilator if needed. As a charity, we are seeing a huge increase in hardship for SGBV survivors in the UK asylum system particularly, Pip McKnight, head of policy at Refugee Women Connect, told Al Jazeera. This is a population already suffering from the structural inequalities of the UK asylum system, which operates a hostile policy for those that are destitute and in need of asylum support. This support is set at 50 percent of mainstream benefits about five pounds ($6.10) per day which requires those in receipt of asylum support to rely on the charity sector With access to food banks limited, food prices rising and services closing, we are seeing our clients really struggle. The study looked at the experiences of survivors in the UK, Turkey, Tunisia, Sweden and Australia, and was based on interviews with 52 survivors and 45 service providers. Researchers estimate hundreds of thousands of people living in these five countries alone face increased risks. SGBV is perpetrated within conflict, flight, in camps and in countries of refuge - and perpetrators are combatants, governments, other refugees, traffickers, immigration officials, aid workers and kin Professor Jenny Phillimore Those risks are likely to be replicated far beyond the countries studied, said lead author Jenny Phillimore, professor of migration and super-diversity at the University of Birmingham. 200406065737864 Unfortunately, forced migration and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence are closely connected, and where you have refugees, you have reports of such violence see, for example, the Rohingya, Phillimore, a world expert in refugee integration, told Al Jazeera. SGBV is perpetrated within conflict, flight, in camps and in countries of refuge and perpetrators are combatants, governments, other refugees, traffickers, immigration officials, aid workers and kin. Few survivors of forced migration and SGBV are in an economic position to live off savings and what work was available in the informal economy has largely dried up in the age of lockdown. Falling outside social protection even as many charity groups have paused operations, increased economic hardship brings with it increased vulnerability to expoitation, while many living in overcrowded shared accommodation are simply unable to self-isolate or maintain social distancing. Governments have been oblivious, on the whole to the issue, said Phillimore. 200415092014621 There has been some attention paid to forced migrants, but nothing specific for SGBV survivors which is pretty similar to normal times, she told Al Jazeera. Some terrible things happen to these women even in countries of refuge in normal times. They are simply numbers. That said, the Tunisian government has been giving irregular migrants a three-month grant to remain, which has made all forced migrants situations less precarious. Governments do not have a unified approach to the coronavirus crisis itself, let alone to the emergency effect it is having on the most vulnerable. Unfortunately, the rights of forced migrants are often the last to be considered, and in the UK the response is as we would have expected and in keeping with hostile environment policies, said McKnight of Refugee Women Connect. 200331074110199 We have seen examples of good practice in other parts of Europe. Ireland created a temporary firewall between immigration control and health and policing services, so no one would avoid healthcare or reporting crimes to police for example, in cases of domestic abuse for fear of exposure to immigration services. [Also,] Spain released all those from immigration detention during the pandemic, recognising they are not criminals. Researchers are urging governments around the world to urgently ensure basic safety nets are put in place for all forced migrant populations regardless of legal status. They are also calling for access to universal healthcare and the revocation of all financial medical costs, as well as the availability of emergency housing for all survivors of violence. Providing cash to pay for food, the distribution of hygiene products and giving access to digital resources and psycho-social counselling would all help the situation, they add. Women need access to shelters regardless of their immigration status, said Phillimore. In an ideal world, they would be regularised or receive positive outcomes on their asylum cases, getting special consideration for the multiple traumas experienced that is really blue-sky thinking. But what can ordinary people do? These women are very isolated, but also they have been so abused that they trust no one, said Phillimore. Everyday acts of care by ordinary people sharing food, clothes and offers of assistance, by other women can not only help with material aspects but help rebuild their faith in humanity. And ordinary people are already helping. In fact, weve been overwhelmed by the generosity of our communities in helping to ensure survivors have food and cleaning products and volunteering to carry out wellbeing checks, said McKnight. But theres only so much they can do. Simple systemic changes will alleviate suffering and potentially save lives. NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has issued a circular directing the advocates, the court staff and others to restrain themselves from using saliva to paste or fix court fee stamps on the documents. Also not to use saliva while pagination of the documents of case files. This has been said in view of the coronavirus outbreak and amid chances of its further spreading this way. "Lawyers/Munshis/Litigants/Naib Courts/Police Officials may be asked through court staff not to use saliva while affixing court fee stamps on the application/petition and envelopes containing summons/notices etc," the circular said. It has been advised that plastic sponge damper pads may be used to inspect the judicial files. The court has issued the circular to check the spread of COVID 19 infection in the courts and has asked the concerned people to adhere to it seriously. New Delhi/Islamabad, May 19 : In an effort to explore the causes for the steep cost of electricity in Pakistan, the Imran Khan government has unearthed a scam of over $630 million involving power projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This has led to the bloating of Pakistan's debt to $11 billion. Pakistani media has reported that an inquiry committee constituted by Prime Minister Khan to examine the losses in the power sector has discovered corruption worth 100 billion Pakistani rupees by the Chinese private power producers. The committee has recommended the government to force the producers to pay the amount for alleged malpractices. Although the Profit Pakistan Today (PPT), which broke the news, did not mention the CPEC anywhere, Pakistan's former Ambassador Hussain Haqqani in an article in a US-based portal revealed that the scam was related to the Chinese businessmen contracted for the CPEC power projects. The nine-member committee, as per PPT, submitted a unanimous 278-page long report, 'Committee for Power Sector Audit, Circular Debt Reservation, and Future Roadmap', to Khan. The report has attributed the losses incurred by the government due to the "violation of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that include the cost of the installation of Independent Power Producers (IPPs), government agreements, alleged embezzlement in fuel consumption, power tariff, guaranteed profit in dollars, and certain conditions of power purchase". The committee had members from the offices of eight organisations,"which surprisingly included the premier spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as well". The documents related to more than 60 power plants were examined by the committee for over a period of eight months. According to the report, the IPPs have been earning 50 to 70 per cent annual profits, as against the 15 per cent limit set by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). The committee has claimed that the "IPPs owners showed the extra cost to get extra tariff at the time of the contract, with NEPRA failing to check the veracity of the cost. The cost of the power plant prepared by the companies was also accepted by the authorities". The IPPs have obtained 350 billion Pakistani rupees since 1994 by altering the actual cost by Rs 2 to Rs 15 billion. An "owner of a coal power plant offered a cost which was Rs 30 billion more than the actual cost in order to obtain higher power tariff". The IPPs owners, as per the committee, earned "unjust" profits in fuel consumption whereas NEPRA never gauged the efficiency of the consumption. The owners had also resisted signing an agreement for a regular audit, the report said. The government and power consumers are forced to pay billions of rupees annually even if the power plants are closed or produce low electricity due to cut in power demand, it added. The committee has said that the government is bound to pay 900 billion Pakistani rupees to power plants under the head capacity payments while it will have to pay a capacity payment of 1500 billion Pakistani rupees by 2025 according to the agreement. Though the guaranteed profit should not be for more than four to five years, the government and NEPRA has granted guaranteed profit for 25 years, the report claimed. "These lop-sided agreements caused unbearable loss to the exchequer. The prevalent practice also led to a hike in power tariffs," the report said. New Delhi: Chinese border defense troops have bolstered border control measures and made necessary moves after alleged illegal construction of defense facilities by India in Galwan Valley region of the disputed Aksai Chin area, Chinese state owned media said on Monday. Global Times accused India of crossing the boundary line in the Galwan Valley region. The Indian side built defense fortifications and obstacles to disrupt Chinese border defense troops' normal patrol activities, purposefully instigated conflicts and attempted to unilaterally change the current border control situation, it said. The news report said that China's border defense troops have taken measures to strengthen an on-the-spot response and control of border areas. However, Global Times said that this won't lead to another "Doklam like standoff". Earlier this month in two separate incidents, Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in fist fights and stone pelting in Sikkim and Ladakh resulting in injuries among soldiers on both sides. India had downplayed these two face-off saying that incidents of face off and aggressive behaviour occur on line of actual control (LAC) and patrols disengage after local level interaction and dialogue. Airports, office buildings, warehouses and restaurant chains are rushing to install new safety measures like fever-scanning cameras and infrared temperature-sensing guns. But the American Civil Liberties Union warned on Tuesday against using the tools to screen people for possible coronavirus symptoms, saying the devices were often inaccurate, ineffective and intrusive. In a new report, Temperature Screening and Civil Liberties During an Epidemic, the A.C.L.U. said that such technologies could give people a false sense of security, potentially leading them to be less vigilant about health measures like wearing masks or social distancing. The group also cautioned that the push for widespread temperature scans during the pandemic could usher in permanent new forms of surveillance and social control. The organizations advisory reflects a wider tension in the United States over concerns about reopening the economy at a time when the virus is still spreading undetected in various regions of country. In particular, the report said that infrared temperature-sensing guns can be unreliable partly because they gauge skin temperature, in contrast to oral thermometers, which calculate core body temperature. The guns provide a superficial measure, the report noted, that can vary if a person is sunburned, is sweating or has just come in from outside. by Nguyen Hung Despite the warnings, plans push ahead for new barriers, to the detriment of people living in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The worst off are the millions of Vietnamese who live in the Mekong delta, the lowest lying area on the majestic river. Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - Construction of dams on the Mekong continues. The river is 4,000 kilometers long, rising on the Tibetan plateau and flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The stretch of this river that flows through the Chinese territory is 2,130 km. It's called Lan-ts'ang River. Chinese authorities have built 20 huge hydroelectric dams on this river. According to the Mekong River Commission (MRC), on May 11, 2020, the Laotian government kicked off the consultation process of the Sanakham hydroelectric project. This is the sixth hydroelectric dam on Laos' Mekong River. It will be built by the end of 2020. It is expected to be operational by 2028 with a total cost of over $ 2 billion. Two years ago, in this area downstream of the Mekong River, the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy dam collapsed on July 23, 2018. The water bomb killed at least 29 people, hundreds of people were missing and numerous houses in the south of the Sanamxay district were swept away. After this disaster, the Mekong River Rescue Alliance (MRRA) called on the Laotian government to immediately cancel the Luang Prabang hydroelectric project, as this dam can cause serious damage to the Mekong River. The Mekong River Rescue Alliance also asked local authorities to seek alternative energy solutions and implement policies for sustainable development. However, the Laotian government is still determined to pursue the hydroelectric power project of Luang Prabang, one of the lower reaches of the Mekong River. The Laotian government plans to build the dam (the fifth) by the end of 2020. It will be the third and largest dam in Laos. The area downstream of the Mekong River is approximately 2,390 km long. In addition to the Sanakham hydroelectric project, just 15 km north of Vietnam, five other projects, including Xayaburi, Don Sahong, Pak Peng, Pak Lay and Luang Prabang, have been proposed for the consultation process. The Sanakham hydroelectric project is located between the province of Xayaburi and that of Vientiane. The project is located about 2 km away from the Thai border and towards the upper part of the Loei province. The limited liability company Datang Sanakham Energy is the contractor of this project with a total cost of approximately 2.073 million dollars. This project will have a capacity of 684 MW. The electricity will mainly be sold in Thailand. The Laotian government also provided a series of "technology and feasibility studies" to the Mekong River International Commission (MRC). The documents were also shared with other MRC members such as Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. According to the Vietnam River Network (VRN), the increased development of hydropower on the main stream of the Mekong River will seriously threaten the environment and people's lives in different countries. In particular, the Vietnamese and Cambodians who live downstream of the Mekong River. While the coronavirus pandemic has not yet stopped in these Indochina countries, some upstream states have continued to build dams on the Mekong. China has built 20 huge hydroelectric dams. Laos built 11 of them. All these 31 huge dams are affecting 70 million people living in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The most impacted are the millions of Vietnamese who live in the Mekong delta, the lowest lying area of the majestic river. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) continues to monitor cases of the neurotropic strain of EHV-1 present at Woodbine Racetrack. On May 17, the AGCO reported two thoroughbred horses that resided in Barn 12 at Woodbine had tested positive for the disease, and ordered a number of measures be put in place to address the situation. All 59 horses residing in Barn 12 have since been tested and, in total, 20 cases of EHV-1 have now been confirmed among those horses. The affected horses are in isolation or have been sent to the Ontario Veterinary College for treatment. Regrettably, one horse has had to be euthanized due to the neurological disease. The horses in Barn 12 that tested negative will be retested on May 19. All horses in neighboring Barn 11 are also being tested. To further trace possible contact with the infected animals, Woodbine is identifying all horses and people that may have come into contact with or been in proximity to horses in Barn 12. The AGCO has also ordered Barns 33 and 35 be locked down due to a horse showing signs of fever. The horse has been isolated and will also be tested on May 19. All infectious disease protocols ordered by the AGCO on May 17 remain in place. The AGCO shares the collective concern for the well-being of all equine athletes and would like to recognize the efforts of staff at Woodbine, the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario, the University of Guelph and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs for their collaboration and diligence in addressing this situation. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and further developments will be reported. EHV-1 cannot be spread to humans and is unrelated to the current COVID-19 pandemic. (AGCO) Two-thirds of workers who lost their jobs in the coronavirus pandemic are eligible for unemployment benefits that exceed their lost wages, according to a new study. The study published on Friday by three University of Chicago economists examines the impact of the $600-a-week federal unemployment supplement for those who lose jobs due to the pandemic. It finds that 68 percent of unemployed workers who can receive benefits are eligible for payments that are greater than their lost earnings. A shocking 20 percent of unemployed workers can get benefits that are more than double lost wages, the study finds. The chart above shows how unemployment benefits under the CARES Act tally up for workers in different industries. Two-thirds of workers can get benefits higher than lost wages The study shows in which states the supplemented benefits exceed wages the most Unemployment systems are administered by states, and each state aims to provide a certain percentage of lost earnings though unemployment benefits. The flat $600 weekly federal supplement, which was included in the CARES Act and is due to expire in July, is applied across the nation to those who lost their jobs due to pandemic shutdowns. Because average wages vary greatly from state to state, the flat federal supplement means that total unemployment benefits now exceed average wages in at least 35 states. The new study found that the estimated median replacement rate the share of a workers original weekly salary that is being replaced by unemployment benefits is 134 percent, or more than one-third above their original wage. The authors also created an unemployment calculator that shows what unemployment benefits a worker in every state would be eligible for both before and after the CARES Act. Since the pandemic began, more than 36 million people across the country have filed for unemployment benefits -- and as states reopen, many of them will face the prospect of giving up a government check that is bigger than their paycheck if they take their old jobs back. Iowa, Oklahoma and Tennessee and other states have warned that if people turn down job offers because their unemployment benefits are higher than potential wages, they will see those benefits cut off. While willingness to work has always been a requirement for receiving unemployment benefits, the current situation is unprecedented, with many workers fearing to return to the workplace in the pandemic. Iowans who qualify for the federal benefit receive, on average, more than 120 percent of their normal salaries while drawing unemployment. Earlier this month, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, a Republican, warned at a press conference that workers who are offered their job back after a layoff or furlough must return to work, or face their benefits being cut. 'To get the economy going, in order for us to have a good recovery, we need employees to return to work when there's an opportunity for them to do that,' Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend said in a Des Moines Register interview last week. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, a Republican, warned at a press conference that workers who are offered their job back after furlough must return to work, or face their benefits being cut Failing to return to work out of fear of catching the virus would be considered a voluntary resignation, which disqualifies workers from receiving unemployment benefits, officials said. The Alabama Department of Labor also preemptively warned unemployment claimants that if their employer calls them back, they must accept work. Supplemented unemployment benefits in Alabama are about 115 percent of average wages. 'It's important for workers to know that if their employer reopens or otherwise calls them back to work, they must do so, unless they have a good work-related cause,' said Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington in a statement. 'Attempts to collect unemployment benefits after quitting without a good work-related cause can be considered fraud,' he added. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Personnel of Odisha police and Good Samaritans have been helping migrant workers from Jharsuguda to reach the border check points closest to their home states. As hundreds of migrants workers have been transitioning through National Highways across the State, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had directed Odisha police to make necessary travel arrangements for them. Migrant workers from Jharkhand, Bihar and Chhattisgarh, working in various other states are returning to their villages via Jharsuguda. On an average, Jharsuguda police are arranging four to five trips every day to carry migrant workers till the State border. During this hour of crisis, two social organizations of Jharsugda - Gosala Sewa Samiti and Kerala Sewa Samajam Samiti have come forward to help the migrant labourers by providing two buses to the police for their travel to the borders. The two organizations are incurring the entire expenses incurred on the journeys including fuel and the payment of drivers for carrying migrant workers from Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda to Biramitrapur in Sundargarh district. "Kerala Samajan Samiti runs a school in Jharsuguda and its members have provided the two buses. The expenses of the trips are incurred by both the organisations," said president of Gosala Sewa Samiti, Sandeep Awasthy. Two buses have undertaken four trips to Biramitrapur in the last three days and another vehicles has been arranged in case the authorities need it, he said. Assistance for migrant workers is pouring in from all quarters in Jharsuguda. Kalu Patra, staying within BTM police outpost limits, who sells bakery products on a bicycle, gave three boxes of biscuits to the migrant workers despite his meagre means. Jharsuguda SP Rahul PR said Good Samaritans are providing food and drinking water to migrant workers. The polices priority is to ensure their safety while ensuring social distancing and preventing accidents on the highway. Police have opened a dedicated transition camp for migrant workers at Prasanna Panda Square near Biju Expressway in Jharsuguda. "Some buses were found to be overcrowded and some migrant workers were seen travelling dangerously on top of a goods truck. They were immediately shifted to the transit camp and provided biscuits and water bottles," said Rahul. The police have also facilitated the travel of 80 migrants till their homes in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. After Princess Beatrice was forced to cancel her highly-anticipated wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi due to the coronavirus pandemic, yet another royal has had to postpone their nuptials. Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark was set to marry American lawyer Matthew Kumar later this month on the Greek island of Spetses, however, the wedding has been put on hold as a result of the pandemic. Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark was set to marry American lawyer Matthew Kumar later this month, but the wedding has been postponed due to coronavirus. Photo: Instagram/Princess Theodora Theodora is the daughter of former King of Greece, Constantine II, and his wife, Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark. The Princess, who was born in London and now lives in Los Angeles and stars in The Bold and the Beautiful, met her future husband in America. Theodora and her family have a close connection with the British Royal family as Constantine is a second cousin to Prince Charles. The Queen is also Theodora's godmother, while King Constantine is Prince William's godfather. It was expected that Prince Charles and Prince William would attend the wedding. When Theodora first announced the engagement on Instagram she wrote, "Words cant express our happiness and excitement. I cant wait to marry this wonderful man. I love you Matt." There's no word yet on another date for the wedding. Princess Beatrices wedding plans on hold Originally, when Princess Beatrice's wedding was postponed, it was believed the couple would have an intimate wedding with just close family, however, it's since been revealed the entire wedding has been postponed indefinitely. There are no plans to switch venues or hold a bigger wedding, a spokesperson told People. They arent even thinking about their wedding at this time. Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi have been forced to postpone their nuptials until after the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Getty There will come a time to rearrange, but thats not yet. Initially the nuptials were somewhat overshadowed by her father Prince Andrews headline-grabbing friendship with the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew gave a disastrous interview with BBC Newsnight in which he said he did not regret being friends with Epstein - who killed himself in prison while awaiting trial for sexual offences. Story continues He stepped back from royal duties in November last year, and since then, Beatrice announced plans for a wedding on a much smaller scale than her sisters grand Windsor affair. Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com. In the first full year following the merger with Zodiac, Fluidra sees a 3.9% increase in turnover and a 10.3% rise in EBITDA. Shareholders at the AGM ratified the appointment of Esther Berrozpe and Brian McDonald as members of the Board of Directors. May 19, 2020 - Fluidra's 2019 annual accounts, which cover the first full year since the merger with Zodiac, were approved at the Annual General Meeting. The world leader in the pool and wellness equipment sector ended the 2019 fiscal year meeting all of the targets announced to the market in terms of growth, profit and debt. Fluidra reported a 3.9% increase in turnover to 1,368 million and a 10.3% increase in EBITDA to 244 million for the year. The company earned 62 million in proforma net profit and reduced net debt from 3.3x EBITDA to 2.6x, thanks to strong cash generation capacity. In 2019, the cost synergy targets associated with the merger were increased from 5 million to 40 million. During the year, the company also announced for the first time its sales synergy targets, which stand at 42 million for 2022. In his remarks at the General Meeting, the Executive President, Eloi Planes, thanked all of the company's employees for their dedication to the company and its customers throughout the challenging situation brought about by the pandemic. He also revealed that the 2020 season is looking positive despite the pandemic, based on the figures reported in the first quarter: "We are privileged to begin 2020 from a solid financial position in this recessionary environment. The strong demand we are seeing in areas where confinement is being eased leads us to believe it will be a good season. Our strategy and investment thesis remains unchanged and we will benefit from the 'cocooning' effect." The company's shareholders at the AGM ratified the appointment of Esther Berrozpe as a member of the Board of Directors. Berrozpe thus becomes Fluidra's first independent female director, replacing Juan Ignacio Acha-Orbea Echeverria, who held the post for 12 years. The shareholders also approved the appointment of Brian McDonald as an independent director to fill the vacancy left by Richard Cathcart. Other challenges Fluidra set for itself in 2019 include redesigning the ESG strategy with a new Master Plan, which is slated for completion in 2020. Once again last year, Fluidra finds itself in the Top 10 of the Integrated Report ranking (Reporta) surpassing 27 other IBEX-35 companies, a milestone that was previously achieved the year before. Attachment Indore, May 20 : Three-times winner of India's cleanest city award, Indore has again made it to the six urban bodies that have earned five star rating among garbage-free cities. This rating is one of the four important components of Swachh Survekshan-2020. Indore is the only city from Madhya Pradesh to make it to the top six. Navi Mumbai from Maharashtra, Ambikapur from Chhattisgarh, Rajkot and Surat from Gujarat and Mysore from Karnataka are the other five. The 65 cities that earned three star rating include Bhopal, Ujjain, Khargone, Katni, Bhurhanpur, Chhindwara, Singrauli from Madhya Pradesh, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Karnal, Thane, Shirdi and Jalgaon. Swachh Survekshan-2020 consists of 600 marks. The Ministry of Urban Affairs and Housing derived four parameters - Citizen Feedback, Direct Observation, Service Level Progress and Certification - for adjudging cleanliness and hygiene level of urban bodies. Each parameter carries 1,500 marks each. Certification parameters included a GFC certificate which carried 1,000 marks and ODF certificate which carried 500 marks. While Indore had already clinched 100 marks getting ODF++ certificate, it has made its position stronger in the race towards cleanest city tag for the fourth time by clinching five-star rating in GFC. Indore could not get Seven Star this year. Only three cities were able to get five stars this year. Expressing support for the Afghan peace process, special representatives from China, Iran, Pakistan and Russia welcomed the signing of the power-sharing deal between President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah and urged for a responsible withdrawal of foreign troops from the war-torn nation to ensure a smooth transition. The Special Representatives on Afghanistan Affairs of the four nations issued a statement after a virtual meeting during which they exchanged views on the current situation in Afghanistan and the reconciliation process, Pakistan's Foreign Office said. The special representatives reiterated respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and welcomed the agreement between the two main Afghan leaders, hoping that it would expedite the start of the intra-Afghan negotiations. Ghani and Abdullah on Sunday shared a power-sharing deal on Sunday after months of a bitter dispute over the results of last year's presidential election that pushed the country into a political crisis. As per the deal, Ghani will stay as the president, while Abdullah will helm the High Council of National Reconciliation (HCNR) with executive authority and his team will have a 50 per cent share in the cabinet. They also called on "foreign troops to withdraw in an orderly and responsible way" so that the situation in Afghanistan experience a steady transition. They said that the inclusive intra-Afghan negotiations are the only way to realise the Afghan national reconciliation, leading to prompt end of the prolonged conflict in the country. The representatives also called on all Afghan ethnic groups and parties, including Taliban, to act upon the opportunities preparing the situation to launch the intra-Afghan negotiations as soon as possible, the FO said. They also supported the release of prisoners and detainees held by all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan. The four nations also voiced support for the initiative of UN Secretary General Antnio Guterres for universal ceasefire and called for a simultaneous declaration of a comprehensive ceasefire throughout Afghanistan as agreed among parties to the conflict. They also expressed concern at the terrorism threat existing in Afghanistan and urged all the stakeholders in the country to take decisive action against Al-Qaeda, IS (Islamic State), ETIM (Turkistan Islamic Party), TTP (Tehrik-i-Taliban) and other international terrorist organisations operating against regional countries, and to completely eradicate the production and trafficking of narcotics in the country. They also reaffirmed support to Afghanistan to overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and welcome the international community to continue providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan. Underscoring that the repatriation and reintegration of Afghan refugees should be part of any peace and reconciliation process, they called upon the international community to support time-bound return of Afghan refugees with dignity and honour. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two sessions to tackle 'unprecedented' task Global Times By Wang Cong and Cao Siqi Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/18 23:23:40 China won't back down on long-term goals, despite deep economic woes As more than 5,000 Chinese lawmakers and political advisors from across the country start to arrive in Beijing for the annual legislative and political consultative meetings, or the two sessions as the events are generally termed, what awaits them is a seemingly impossible task: Prescribing the right cure for the Chinese economy that was hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic in order to not only ensure economic and social stability but also reach politically important development goals. Before their arrival in the capital, China's top leadership already set the tone for the biggest annual gathering of government officials at all levels, society leaders, business executives and others: The Chinese economy is facing "unprecedented" challenges, but the nation will not back down from the goals of the decade - eradicating absolute poverty this year and doubling income and GDP based on 2010 levels. How to overcome those profound challenges and reach such seemingly impossible goals under the current circumstances will be on the top of the agenda for the annual sessions of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, the top advisory body and the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, according to NPC deputies, CPPCC National Committee members and other economists. The CPPCC National Committee will kick off on Thursday, followed by the NPC session on Friday. For starters, there are two major decisions, which could result in trillions of yuan in extra economic stimulus, to be approved by the NPC: raising the deficit-to-GDP ratio and issuing special government bond. There are also many suggestions and proposals focusing on everything from lifting the virus-hit economy of Hubei Province to supporting small businesses to boosting consumption that would be discussed during the two sessions. Not backing down "The economy and people's livelihoods are often hot topics during the two sessions but this year we will also focus on discussions on completing goals of building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects and our targeted poverty alleviation efforts," Zhu Lieyu, an NPC deputy from South China's Guangdong Province, told the Global Times on Monday. Increasing signs from a slew of recent meetings suggest that China's top leaders remain focused on reaching goals in poverty alleviation, GDP and income growth, despite mounting complications caused by the COVID-19 epidemic, which continues to linger overseas, and suggestions that certain goals should be carried over to next year. On Friday, a meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping focusing on the annual government work report stressed expanding various policies to ensure the "full completion of poverty alleviation targets as well as building a moderately prosperous society in all aspects," the Xinhua News Agency reported. While the goal to eradicate absolute poverty should have no issues regarding being reached, the target; doubling the 2020 GDP based on 2010 levels is seemingly an "impossible" mission, according to Tian Yun, vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association. Specifically, meeting the goal would require a GDP growth of 5.6 percent this year - a very tough job to do given the current circumstances, Tian told the Global Times on Monday. But behind the bold decision is an unmistakable level of confidence among top officials, NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members regarding the Chinese economy and their ability to revive it in spite of the challenges at hand and ahead. "As long as we fully take advantage of the strengths of our system, turn it into effective development and keep our hands in the fight against the epidemic and against poverty, we can definitely reach [both goals] in time," Lian Yuming, a member of the CPPCC National Committee and head of the Global City Development Corporation Council in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday. That confidence also stems from China's success in beating back the coronavirus. "Our speed and efficiency in overcoming the epidemic is second to none in the world. That is the source of our confidence in the face of temporary difficulties," said Zhu, who is also a lawyer based in Guangzhou. Also underneath that confidence, there are encouraging signs emerging from an accelerated pace of economic recovery. In April, exports unexpectedly grew by 3.5 percent year-on-year, industrial profits also beat expectations to record a growth of 3.9 percent, a decline in consumer spending narrowed by 8.3 percentage points from March, latest data shows. Challenges & cure Still, many are quick to point out the profound challenges for the Chinese economy and, along with it, an almost impossible task: making up the hundreds of billions of dollars lost in the first quarter and lifting up regions and sectors that are still under serious pressure. Despite recent improvements, main growth drivers still continue to be constrained by a series of lingering challenges, including remaining restrictions in place to stem a possible resurgence of the virus, declining export orders due to the pandemic in overseas markets and rising burdens for businesses, particularly small businesses. Under the current climate, many analysts believe that growth in the Chinese economy would slow to 3 percent in 2020, though some say a 5 percent growth rate is still possible. Although Chinese officials have been shifting focus from pursuit of high-speed growth to quality growth and living standards, a slower GDP growth poses serious hurdles for reaching the goal of doubling GDP and, more importantly, unemployment, an issue related to social stability, experts said. "From the big picture, the most important thing is to stabilize the fundamentals of the Chinese economy and the most pressing task is to safeguard small businesses and protect jobs," Lian said. To that end, there are two major plans for this year's two sessions, according to NPC deputies, CPPCC National Committee members and economists. The first is discussing whether or not to raise the deficit to GDP ratio above the long-held 3 percent line that could unleash trillions of yuan in investment and other stimulus measures; the second is to discuss the issuance of a special government bond to fund more stimuli. Both of the plans would have to be approved by the NPC. Some analysts have estimated that the deficit to GDP ratio could rise to as high as 8 percent to cope with an economic downturn, while the special government bond could raise as much as 5 trillion yuan. Beyond these major moves, there have also been a slew of suggestions and proposals of more targeted measures for regions and businesses that have been hit hard by the COVID-19 epidemic. To help the economy in Hubei Province, which was hit hardest by the epidemic, Zhu, the NPC deputy, has suggested exempting the province from taxation for two years for the sacrifice it made in the fight against the COVID-19. But that goes beyond a show of appreciation; supporting Hubei's economy is also in line with China's targeted approach in reviving the economy, in stark contrast to the massive stimulus plan during the 2008-09 global financial crisis, analysts pointed out. Under that approach, there are also a slew of other suggestions and proposals expected to emerge from the two sessions targeting specific areas, including helping private enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized companies, boosting domestic consumption, embracing new growth areas such as livestreaming and new infrastructure investments, according to analysts. "The bottom line is that as long as we maintain a stable employment and make sure workers have a stable income, all the rest, including the two major goals, will work out eventually," Tian said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address To kick off ACNB Helping Hands, funds are initially being provided to nine ACNB Bank food service customers to assist these local businesses while supplying meals to preselected community organizations in every region of the Bank for meal distribution, said Mr. Helt. ACNB Bank has launched a special initiative---ACNB Helping Hands---to reinforce the Banks commitment to community during this challenging time when the COVID-19 pandemic is dramatically impacting local businesses and residents. This program, funded by both ACNB Bank and its affiliated employees, is designed to provide thousands of meals prepared by restaurants that are customers and then distributed through local community organizations across the Banks southcentral Pennsylvania and northern Maryland footprint. Staff members and board members affiliated with ACNB Bank have personally contributed more than $12,400 to this effort. Combined with ACNB Banks commitment of $40,000 in funding, along with the restaurant and catering partners preparing the meals, we are all coming together under difficult and demanding circumstances for each other and for the benefit of those in need within our local communities, said James P. Helt, ACNB Bank President & Chief Executive Officer. To kick off ACNB Helping Hands, funds are initially being provided to nine ACNB Bank food service customers to assist these local businesses while supplying meals to preselected community organizations in every region of the Bank for meal distribution, said Mr. Helt. The Altland House in Abbottstown, PA, Mammas Pizzeria and Ristorante in Biglerville, PA, CJs BBQ Smokehouse in Chambersburg, PA, and Maria & Sals Pizzeria in Fayetteville, PA, are providing meals this month to community organizations based in ACNB Banks southcentral Pennsylvania markets including the Gettysburg Community Soup Kitchen in Gettysburg, PA, Hanover Area Council of Churches in Hanover, PA, Our Daily Bread in York, PA, Franklin County Housing Authority in Chambersburg and Waynesboro, PA, and Salvation Army in Chambersburg, PA. Plans are also underway in Frederick County, Maryland, where FCB Bank, a division of ACNB Bank, is working with restaurant customers Dutchs Daughter and Ilforno Pizzeria, both based in Frederick, MD, to furnish meals during the month of May to Frederick Community Action Agency and Frederick Rescue Mission, respectively. In Carroll County, Maryland, NWSB Bank, a division of ACNB Bank, has partnered with restaurant and catering customers including Bess and Bens Country Kitchen Restaurant in Taneytown, MD, The Buttersburg Inn in Union Bridge, MD, and The Food Chick in Westminster, MD, to provide meals this month to Human Services Programs of Carroll County, Inc. and Together We Own It, both based in Westminster, MD, and serving residents throughout Carroll County. Staff members of Russell Insurance Group, Inc., a full-service insurance agency and affiliate of ACNB Bank headquartered in Westminster, MD, contributed to the outreach efforts in this region of the Banks footprint. Additionally, through ACNB Helping Hands, ACNB Bank staff members are reaching out to local nursing home residents by making more than 250 greeting cards and offering words of encouragement during this time of isolation when residents cannot have any visitors. A greeting card will also be enclosed in each of the meal packages distributed to homebound and elderly residents served through the Meals on Wheels program that is affiliated with the Hanover Area Council of Churches in Hanover, PA. I could not be more proud of my colleagues and these local restaurants and caterers for their commitment and passion for this effort. Working together, we are serving our neighbors and supporting our communities during this critical time, Mr. Helt added. ACNB Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ACNB Corporation, an independent financial holding company headquartered in Gettysburg, PA. Originally founded in 1857, ACNB Bank serves its marketplace with banking and wealth management services, including trust and retail brokerage, via a network of 21 community banking offices, located in the four southcentral Pennsylvania counties of Adams, Cumberland, Franklin and York, as well as loan offices in Lancaster and York, PA, and Hunt Valley, MD. As divisions of ACNB Bank operating in Maryland, FCB Bank and NWSB Bank serve the local marketplace with a network of five and seven community banking offices located in Frederick County and Carroll County, MD, respectively. Affiliated with ACNB Bank is Russell Insurance Group, Inc., a full-service insurance agency with licenses in 44 states and the other wholly-owned subsidiary of ACNB Corporation. For more information regarding ACNB Bank, please visit acnb.com. After being hailed as the Biggest Pop Star in the World, Bad Bunny made another history as the first-ever Latino to appear as a cover of the Rolling Stone, according to a recently published article. The Rise of Bad Buddy in the Industry Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio or popularly known as Bad Bunny has now become one of the most well-known artists in the world. Bad Bunny just emerged four years ago when he uploaded his genre of music that captured the attention of big producers and now he is already a music icon. It can be remembered in a previous report by Latin Post, just two years after he uploaded his song to SoundCloud in 2016, he appeared on the music video of Cardi B and it also helped him to have the opportunity to play on stage with the world's most outstanding performers Shakira and Jennifer Lopez during the Superbowl. Bad Bunny just proves that Latino music has now become one of the most favorite music genres in the world. It has even captured the hearts of American listeners. In fact, Latino songs dominated in all music platforms like Spotify, Appple music, YouTube and more. Bad Bunny is Making a History as the Cover of the Rolling Stone Rolling Stone magazine has featured renown and most respected artsts in the world since it was founded. If an artist is featured as a cover in the magazine, that would be a great achievement for the artist. There have been many Latinos featured in the Rolling Magazine, but Bad Bunny is the first-ever urban Latino Artist that will appear on the magazine. After being hailed as the Biggest Pop Star in the world, the Latino artist is making another history again. On the official Twitter page of the Rolling Stone Magazine, it wrote: "How does a Latin-pop superstar spend his lockdown? For our June cover story, Bad Bunny (@sanbenito) talks about dropping two new albums just months apart, making his drag debut, his fight for justice in Puerto Rico and more" After his two best-selling albums this year, he will be joining the ranks of music legends who was featured in the magazine like John Lenon, Tina Turner, The Beatles, Jim Morrison, Eric Clapton, and more. But he will be the first Latino urban star. Meanwhile, in an interview with the Latino star titled, "Bad Bunny in Captivity" he spent his quarantine days just like the rest of us. He enjoyed eating simple meals mostly chicken and potatoes, texting his friends, watching a lot of movies, and uploading tons of videos on his social media account. The only thing that makes him different from the rest of us is that millions of people are watching his videos on his social media account. Moreover, the magazine that features Bad Bunny as the cover will give a glimpse as how Bad Bunny spent his quarantine days in Puerto Rico. The writer of the magazine Suzy Exposito wrote on her Twitter account: "The process for this was WILD. I interviewed Tainy in Miami, then planned to meet Benito in San Juan - until the island got shut down. I stayed here with my abuela and spent the next two months writing from her balcony. Learn more in our editor's letter." Meanwhile, Bad Bunny's girlfriend Gabriela Berlingeri was the first Latina to shoot the cover image while Alex Douglas-Barrera transcribed the interview. Read a related article: Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 00:39:05|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HONG KONG, May 19 (Xinhua) -- A 30-year-old male accused of attacking Hong Kong lawmaker Junius Ho last November was additionally charged with wounding, a Hong Kong court heard Tuesday. Mentioned in Fanling Magistrates' Courts, the defendant will be remanded in custody until June 29, so the case could be referred to the High Court at a later date. The jobless suspect stabbed Ho, a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, in the left side of his chest with a 33-cm-long knife during an election campaign event in Tuen Mun in November last year. He held a bunch of flowers to disguise his real intent when approaching the victim. The suspect had been charged with attempted murder after the attack last year. Enditem For now at least, I plan to do the same with his baseless conspiracy theories and smears. This is not a policy that our news side can follow. Our fact-checkers who, by the way, have a new book out compiling Trumps lies will have their hands full, and I respect the challenge before them. But a columnist has liberties that other journalists do not, and this is one I plan to exercise. The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has urged grammar schools to suspend the use of academic selection this year. The 11-plus-style exams are due to ahead in November and December, two weeks later than planned. However, given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been calls for the organisations that run the tests to call them off. In his role as Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Dromore, Archbishop Eamon Martin has written a letter making the same appeal to Catholic schools in that diocesan area. The Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, has sent a similar letter to grammar schools in the city in his role as a trustee of Catholic schools in his diocese. In a letter to school principals and governors, Archbishop Martin, a former President of St Columb's College in Derry, said he was aware that anxiety was building. He said parents and teachers had shared their disquiet and uncertainty that was already upsetting some children. "I know that teachers have been providing helpful study packs and online resources to assist with home schooling. "Parents are doing their best to respond, while juggling work and home commitments, and in some cases overseeing learning for several children at once. "Some pupils are responding well; others are struggling, without ready access to technology or the one-to-one assistance of their teachers. "A school principal observed to me that he anticipates educational disadvantage will be exacerbated given this year's special circumstances." There was a likelihood of children returning to school in phases in September, he added, and pupils may require additional emotional support. "With this in mind, and in the best interests of our children and schools, I appeal to the whole educational community to support a suspension of the use of academic selection for entrance to post-primary schools in 2021," he added. "I urge the boards of governors to publish admissions criteria which do not rely on the use of transfer tests carried out under such uncertain and challenging circumstances." Archbishop Martin added: "In making this appeal for a suspension of the use of academic selection in the coming year, I have no desire to simply re-open the arguments for, and against, the transfer tests. "I make this call from my heart on behalf of the current Primary Six children, their families and all our school communities," he concluded." In his letter, Bishop Donal McKeown said that socially disadvantaged pupils would be 'seriously disadvantaged' in the transfer tests as they would have been out of school for almost six months. "Therefore, in the interest of fairness to pupils and in the interest of maintaining a mix of pupils in the school community, I would ask your board of governors to consider how you could respond to this," he wrote. "This may well be a situation where criteria other than transfer test grades should be included for at least a substantial proportion of the 2021 entry cohort." A Sydney payroll clerk is accused of defrauding her dying boss out of almost $800,000. Point Piper mother Neva Lozzi, 44, allegedly deceived prominent Sydney adult store owner Con Ange, 60, out of $787,000 from 2015 to 2020. The father-of-one has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease and has been frequently absent from his office while seeking treatment overseas. Doctors have told him he has only six months to live. Sydney adult shop worker Neva Lozzi, 44, (pictured) has been charged wit defrauding her dying boss out of $787,000 Police will allege Ms Lozzi took advangage of his absence by making 380 transactions from business bank accounts into other accounts, Nine News reported. When Mr Ange discovered irregularities he hired a forensic accountant to investigate. 'I've been doing this for a very long time running my businesses - and I had a fair idea how much money I should have in my accounts after 12 months at least,' he said. Ms Lozzi (pictured) is accused of defrauding the money from Con Ange while he was overseas seeking treatment for his terminal motor neurone disease Ms Lozzi is accused of using thousands of dollars to buy plane tickets and holidays, to pay rent on her top floor Point Place apartment and to cover wedding expenses. The mother has been charged with 16 fraud offences and is set to face a Manly court in July. Mr Ange fears he won't live long enough to see the court ruling and is worried about his wife and son after he is gone. 'I've only been given a few months to live, I don't think I'll see out the year, I'm struggling to breathe, I'm struggling to swallow food,' he said. 'They (family) are going to struggle because of this money that I don't have. I'm just after justice.' A protest is held in front of the former Japanese embassy site in Seoul, May 13, against Youn Mee-hyang, a lawmaker-elect of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea and former leader of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan, over her alleged misuse of the civic group's funds. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho By Jung Da-min The main opposition United Future Party (UFP) said it could seek a National Assembly inquiry into the mounting scandals surrounding the alleged misuse of funds by a civic group that was supposed to advocate for former sex slaves. UFP leaders said Tuesday, that they plan to talk with the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) when the 21st National Assembly is inaugurated May 30 regarding an investigation of Youn Mee-hyang, the former leader of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan and a DPK lawmaker-elect. Youn, who was thought to be actively working to support victims of the Japanese military's sexual slavery practices before and during World War II, has been recently accused of misusing public donations made for the elderly women. "We should conduct a National Assembly investigation into Youn as the public is calling for it," said UFP deputy floor leader Rep. Kim Sung-won. He said the party has been receiving many complaints from other civic groups about the council's alleged misappropriation of state subsidies and donations from citizens. "Such issues should be clearly investigated through cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties and if wrongdoings are found, those responsible should be held criminally liable," Kim said. The Future Korea Party, a UFP satellite, said it had formed a taskforce to look into the allegations surrounding Youn, calling for the ruling party to expel her in a statement. The DPK first defended its proportional representation lawmaker-elect, saying Youn and the council's support for the former sex slaves for nearly 30 years and the accounting transparency issue were two different things. However, some DPK members have changed their stance in recent days, as more and more allegations have surfaced. Lee Nak-yon, a DPK heavyweight, said Monday he was taking the issue "very seriously" and discussing it with other party members. His remark was different from the party's earlier stance that fact-finding should come first. The controversies surrounding the civic group started earlier this month, weeks after Youn won a proportional representation seat for the 21st Assembly in the April 15 general election. On May 7, Lee Yong-soo, 92, one of the surviving victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery who helped initiate a weekly Wednesday protest in front of the then Japanese Embassy in downtown Seoul, held a press conference in Daegu and said the council and its former leader Youn had misused public donations. Lee said she would no longer attend the weekly event, as she did not know how the group had used donations made by students who attend the rallies. She also said Youn should not be serving as a lawmaker but instead come back to the organization to settle the related issues. Youn and the civic group refuted Lee's claims, making public documents displaying the group's use of public funding. But further allegations have been raised against them, including suspicions that they mismanaged a vacation home it had purchased with donations, originally intended for the use of the surviving victims. The victims were allegedly not allowed to use the house, while Youn's father has been residing there as a "property manager," receiving a total of 75.8 million won from the civic group over the past six years for "managing" the building. The group bought the house at a much higher-than-market price, and recently sold it at a great loss after the suspicions of fund misuse began to emerge. One allegation said another DPK lawmaker-elect, Lee Kyu-min, directly put Youn into contact with the former owner of the house. The opposition parties claim the former owner should also be investigated over the suspicious deal. With so much going on with the coronavirus, its easy to lose track of whats happening in Washington and the latest thing that Democrats and Republicans might be arguing over. The dispute over the firings of inspectors general should not get lost in the clutter. Congressional oversight committees should make sure that it is not. In a span of just six weeks, President Trump has removed five of these officials who led their respective agencies inspector general offices. Three of them were working in an acting capacity. None appeared to be doing anything that would warrant dismissal. In fact, they appear to have been doing their jobs too well. They began investigations or said things that irritated Trump, such as discussing potential violations of U.S. law. For those offenses, Trump wanted them gone. The latest one to be axed was Steve Linick at the State Department. He was reportedly investigating whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had improperly used aides for personal duties such as walking his dog or picking up his dry cleaning. More ominous is another report that Linick may have been investigating an unwarranted declaration of an emergency by the president so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia. The other inspectors general who were removed were Mitch Behm with Transportation Department, Glenn Fine with the Defense Department and Christi Grimm with Health and Human Services, and Michael Atkinson, overseeing the Intelligence Community, Even Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said the president had to do a better job explaining his removal of Atkinson, saying, a general lack of confidence simply is not sufficient detail to satisfy Congress. Atkinson angered Trump by simply informing congressional leaders about the whistleblower complaint that led to Trumps impeachment, something he was obligated to do by law. This should concern all Americans regardless of their political beliefs. Inspectors general are the auditors and traffic cops of their agencies. They make sure that money is being spent as appropriated by Congress, not wasted or misdirected. They help ensure that other federal employees are obeying federal laws. All of the inspectors general purged recently by Trump had solid records and many years of ethical service. If this kind of thing keeps on going and Congress allows it to continue in this manner, said Walter Schaub, the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, there will be nobody that will be able to hold anybody accountable for wrongdoing in federal agencies. The IGs will have no leverage. Schaub is correct, and members of Congress should find out why these inspectors were fired. If Trump had valid reasons, he can provide them. If not, taxpayers deserve to know that, too. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 15:42 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd909127 4 City COVID-19,COVID-19-Jakarta,North-Jakarta,PSBB,social-restriction,coronavirus,virus-corona,virus-korona-indonesia,large-scale-social-restrictions,pembatasan-sosial-berskala-besar,kampung Free Pademangan district in North Jakarta has become the latest densely populated area in the capital to be declared a COVID-19 red zone after local authorities recorded a high number of confirmed cases. As of Tuesday, health authorities have reported 150 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the neighborhood, with 72 more people waiting for their swab test results. The Pademangan district administration responded to the situation by imposing stringent measures to flatten the infection curve. Pademangan district head Mumu Mujtahid said the COVID-19 transmission in the area started when a resident, a member of the worldwide Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat, returned from India after attending a tabligh (Islamic mass gathering) there. The person tested positive for COVID-19 days after ignoring health protocols and carrying out his usual activities in Pademangan. Read also: Residents of crowded Kebon Kacang in Central Jakarta test positive for COVID-19 Authorities started contact tracing the case to identify the people he had been in contact with and may have contracted the disease as a result. They also decided to hold mass rapid testing. However, the event was largely ignored by local residents, as only 14 showed up to be tested on the first day. They were afraid they would be alienated [if they tested positive for COVID-19]. I told them to write a statement agreeing that the government would not take care of them if they turn out to be sick and rejected to participate in rapid testing, Mumu said on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com. The residents, he added, were eventually willing to get tested and it was discovered that 593 out of 1,445 people were reactive to the novel coronavirus. Of the 593, 150 people tested for COVID-19. Most showed no symptoms, allowing them to self-quarantine in their own homes. They received a 14-day food supply from the city administration, which raised concerns that it may not be enough and the residents would leave self-isolation to purchase their daily needs in crowded areas, thereby increasing the risk of contagion. Responding to the situation, Mumu and civil servants across the district raised funds to help the quarantined residents by providing 100 staple food packages. Officials also established a public kitchen for those in quarantine with the help of other residents in the area. However, there were still residents who were against large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) and broke the policy, as they felt that their movements were being limited. Mumu attributed their attitude to the lack of clear information being distributed among neighborhoods, resulting in false perceptions of the outbreak. Read also: COVID-19 creeps into Jakarta's kampungs He said his administrations would continue to be strict in implementing PSBB measures. Pademangan will remain safe if [residents] obey the health protocols. Residents of kampungs across Jakarta face a higher risk of catching COVID-19 as they live in densely populated areas and rarely adhere to self-quarantining rules. To date, Jakarta remains the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Indonesia, with 6,059 confirmed cases and 463 deaths. Indonesia has so far recorded 18,010 cases with 1,191 deaths. (asp) A pedestrian walks past closed-down shops on an empty Regent Street in London on April 2, 2020, as life in Britain continues during the nationwide lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Tolga Akmen Fifty days of strict lockdowns followed by 30 days where measures are eased could be an effective strategy for reducing Covid-19 deaths while ensuring some level of economic protection, scientists claim. In an EU-backed study published on Wednesday, a cohort of researchers from nine countries simulated how various lockdown strategies would impact the spread of the coronavirus. There have been almost 5 million cases of Covid-19 confirmed globally, with over 300,000 deaths from the virus worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Many governments have imposed some form of lockdown to mitigate transmission of the virus. But policymakers around the world are now calculating ways to gradually lift those measures as the pandemic weighs heavily on economic activity. Scientists suggested in the new report that an alternative, more effective approach to indefinite or milder lockdowns could be alternating stricter measures with intervals of relaxed social distancing. Effective testing, contact tracing and isolation strategies, as well as efforts to shield society's most vulnerable, would be consistently kept in place. They modeled several different scenarios on 16 countries, including Australia, Mexico, Belgium, South Africa and Nigeria. In the first scenario, no mitigation or social-distancing measures were imposed. In every single country, this led to the number of patients requiring treatment in intensive care units (ICUs) quickly and significantly exceeding available capacity. Ultimately, this would result in 7.8 million deaths across the countries included in the analysis, researchers said, and the duration of the epidemic would be almost 200 days in the majority of those nations. The second scenario modeled a rolling cycle of 50-day "mitigation measures" followed by a 30-day period where those measures were relaxed. Analysts defined mitigation measures as strategies that gradually reduced the number of new infections, such as social distancing, hygiene rules, isolating individuals with the virus, school closures and restricting large public events. These measures did not include a total lockdown. This scenario was likely to reduce the R number the reproduction rate of the virus to 0.8 in all countries, the study showed. However, while it proved effective for the first three months, after the first relaxation period scientists found the number of patients requiring ICU care would exceed hospital capacities. This would lead to 3.5 million deaths across the 16 countries used in the simulation, with the pandemic lasting around 12 months in high income countries and at least 18 months in other nations. MT. WASHINGTON, Ky., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bluewater Diagnostic Laboratories (Bluewater), one of Kentucky's leading full-service diagnostic testing laboratories, has been recognized by the State of Kentucky as one of three major labs to expand its widespread COVID-19 testing capacity to local physician offices, nursing homes, area hospitals, municipalities and employers affected by the pandemic. Earlier this month, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear introduced the state's phased economic reopening strategy that first included businesses and employees in manufacturing, construction, vehicle and boat dealerships, office-based businesses, horse racetracks, pet care and photography businesses. This Wednesday, retail locations and houses of worship will also be included in the second phase of the state's reopening efforts. To meet increased public and employer demand for testing, Bluewater has expanded its capacity to more than 1,500 COVID-19 tests processed daily with patient results available within a 24 to 48-hour time period, much faster than others currently available. "As the country and our own community continues to deal with the grave impact of this public health crisis, Bluewater feels deeply fortunate to have the expertise and capacity to do our part in providing vital COVID-19 testing," said Jennifer Bolus, Managing Partner of Bluewater. "We know it's critical that individuals experiencing symptoms or those returning to work have immediate access to testing for peace of mind and to protect our communities. To help reduce the spread of this disease in our state, we all need to self isolate if we're feeling sick, get tested, wear face coverings in public, and continue practicing proper handwashing." Over the past several weeks, Bluewater has already been supporting testing efforts at area hospital systems for patients experiencing coronavirus symptoms. Testing is now available to anyone in need by calling 502-538-2980 or emailing [email protected] to arrange for a test. Bluewater offers Kentucky residents access to a variety of telehealth providers (if needed), scheduling of testing via its online scheduling app, providing physician offices, hospitals, employers, nursing homes or municipalities with testing collection kits, as well as offering custom-solutions to meet specific employer testing needs. With the growing demand for state-wide testing, Bluewater will be offering COVID-19 testing at the below drive-through collection facilities by the end of May 2020: Bullitt County Bluewater Diagnostics, 221 S. Bardstown Rd, Mt. Washington, KY Bluewater Diagnostics, 221 S. Bardstown Rd, Bullitt County Bullitt County Health Department, 181 Lees Valley Road in Shepherdsville, KY Bullitt County Health Department, 181 Lees Valley Road in Johnson County - Eastern Kentucky Family at 1018 Broadway, Paintsville, KY - Eastern Kentucky Family at 1018 Broadway, Seven Counties Bullitt - 130 Joe B Hall Ave, Shepherdsville, KY 40165 - 130 Joe B Hall Ave, 40165 Seven Counties East Office - 4710 Champions Trace, Louisville, KY 40218 40218 Seven Counties West Office - 2650 West Broadway, Louisville, KY 40211 40211 Seven Counties Downtown - 914 East Braodway, Louisville, KY 40204 40204 Seven Counties Henry , Oldham , Trimble - 2141 Spencer Court, La Grange, KY 40031 , , - 2141 Spencer Court, 40031 Fairview Community Health - 225 Natchez Trace Avenue, Bowling Green, KY 42103 42103 Southland Christian Church Lexington - 2349 Richmond Rd, Lexington, KY 40502 40502 Southland Christian Church Nicholasville - 5001 Harrodsburg Rd, Nicholasville, KY 40356 "We invest in the best, state-of-the-art equipment and the lab has 3 real-time PCR Thermo Fisher instruments that offer the ability to provide accurate, rapid results to test at least 1,500 patients every single day and we're continuing to expand our capacity," continued Bolus. "Our goal is to ensure every employer, every organization and every individual in Kentucky can have the peace of mind that testing is readily available to them. Bluewater and our entire team of chemists feel a deep sense of purpose in our work and remain committed to serving the needs of Kentucky as we begin to enter new phases of the state's reopening strategy." About Bluewater Diagnostic Laboratories Founded in 2013, Bluewater Diagnostic Laboratories is one of the leading full-service diagnostic laboratories based in the state of Kentucky offering comprehensive testing needs for many state providers. Bluewater's test menu includes chemistry, molecular and toxicology confirmations. Headquartered in Mount Washington, KY, Bluewater Dx has grown to employ nearly 100 team members throughout Kentucky, is certified by COLA and works with national and global partners such as Thermo Fisher Scientific, McKesson, CMS, Humana, WellCare, Passport, Aetna, etc. For more information, visit bluewaterdxlab.com. SOURCE Bluewater Diagnostic Laboratories Related Links https://bluewaterdxlab.com Articles Sorry, there are no recent results for popular articles. (Alliance News) - The British Airline Pilots Association on Tuesday said that Ryanair Holdings PLC has proposed cutting 336 pilot jobs in the UK in addition to slashing salaries by 20%. "Ryanair has also proposed 20% pay cuts and other reductions in terms and conditions saying it would dismiss and re-engage on the revised terms if agreement to the changes was not reached," the trade union said. BALPA General Secretary Brian Strutton said: "The hypocrisy of Ryanair taking GBP600 million in support from the British government which it previously said it did not want is hardly surprising and neither is their cavalier treatment of loyal staff. The company is sitting on EUR4.1 billion cash including this latest funding via the Bank of England, and its balance sheet is, in its own words, 'one of the strongest in the industry' yet it still wants to make redundancies and impose pay cuts." "Our question is what assurances did the UK government get from Ryanair about its workers before the Bank of England handed out the cash? Funding an airline whose own state isnat offering a penny, when that airline goes on to treat its own staff like this, beggars belief," Strutton added. Earlier in May, Ryanair said it could slash up to 3,000 jobs in response to destructive effects the Covid-19 pandemic has had on travel. Ryanair stock closed 1.7% higher at EUR9.95 pence each on Tuesday in London. By Ife Taiwo; ifetaiwo@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Internet giants such as Spotify, Netflix and Amazon could be subject to tax in Indonesia under a new levy proposed by the tax directorate. (AFP/Lionel BONAVENTURE, Chris Delmas, Emmanuel DUNAND) Products and services including video games, music and movie streaming could be subject to the levy, the government said. "The tax for foreign digital products is a part of the government's effort to create a level playing field for all businesses," the tax directorate said in a statement. The move was also aimed at boosting public revenue to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on Southeast Asia's biggest economy, it added. Indonesia's fast-growing Internet economy was valued at US$40 billion in 2019 - a figure estimated to more than triple by 2025 - according to a study by Google and Singapore sovereign investment fund Temasek. Tech companies often pay little tax in countries where they are not physically present International efforts have dragged on to find a new model for taxing revenues earned via online sales and advertising, but Washington said targeted taxes single out US companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Netflix. In response to a levy on revenues earned by tech companies in France, Washington threatened retaliatory duties of up to 100 per cent on French imports such as champagne and camembert cheese. The first thing to notice this week is that the factory price table below is more or less complete. After almost a month away Dawn Ballyhaunis are back with a full complement of quotes, while Kepak Athleague, who have also been on the missing list for some time, offer quotes for springs and culls. The ICM plants lift their quote for springs by 10c/kg to 6.00/kg plus 10c/kg QA, in line with Dawn. Kepak also resume on 6.00/kg, with a 15c/kg quality bonus. Kildare Chilling are unchanged at the head of the pack on 6.10 + 10c/kg QA. Kildare also remain the best payers for hogget, on 5.40+10c/kg, and for culls - still on 2.70/kg plus bonuses The ICM plants raised their offer for culls by 10c to 2.50/kg. Expand Close 7 Sheep weighing 46.7 KG, Sold for 129.00 at Loughrea mart sheep sale this week. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp 7 Sheep weighing 46.7 KG, Sold for 129.00 at Loughrea mart sheep sale this week. At the start of this month some on the factory side were predicting a difficult time in the run-up to the end of Ramadan on May 28. We were told one week that Covid restrictions could impact family reunions, while the following week the story being circulated was that "a flood" of British sheepmeat was endangering the whole French market. Whether true or not Irish sheep prices have held fairly steady. Indeed, mart prices have strengthened of late as factory buyers tussle to get adequate supplies. Expand Close Two 52.2kg lambs sold for 130.00 at Loughrea Mart / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Two 52.2kg lambs sold for 130.00 at Loughrea Mart Stephen Hannon of Mohill in Leitrim averaged springs at 2.90/kg last week but told me he expects that price to harden further this week. IFA sheep chairman Sean Dennehy concurred: "Factories are actively looking for lamb to fill retail orders and are paying from 6.20-6.30/kg," he said. Sean McNamara of ICSA was a bit more colourful, saying: "Factories have their tongues out for lamb." He's also a bit stronger on where he thinks the price will be at as we go forward: "I expect 6.40 to be paid with 6.50 possible," he said. Expand Close This pen of 13 lambs weighing 45.3kgs sold for 127.00/hd at Loughrea Mart sheep sale / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp This pen of 13 lambs weighing 45.3kgs sold for 127.00/hd at Loughrea Mart sheep sale With supplies of hoggets easing back, their on-the-ground price remains around the 5.60/kg mark, with some quality lots reported to be averaging 5.70/kg. While demand from the factories for cull ewes appears to a bit lethargic, the wholesale market continues to keep some sort of floor under the price at the marts. North of the border lamb prices continue to strengthen with this week's factory price expected to range from 5.61-5.73/kg - up from a base of 5.40/kg two weeks ago. Bord Bia's latest market report ending May 9 shows what many in the sheep sector accept: that Irish factory prices are performing well. Dead weight The dead-weight Irish factory price for lambs was ahead of anything on offer in the UK or Spain at 5.54/kg. Although the Covid crisis has affected the French market, lamb there continues to much sought-after: it continues to float around the 6.50/kg mark. The short-term outlook remains positive, although after May 28, I suspect we will have to once again wade through the fact and fiction section to get market returns from the factories. Marts Roscommon Last weeks assembly sale saw spring lambs peak at 133/hd for 50.7kgs with 61.7kg hoggets hitting 128/hd. Other prices of note among the lambs included 51.3kgs at 131/hd, 45kgs at 129/hd and 42.8kgs at 127/kg. Cast ewes sold from 82-130/hd, while ewes with singles at foot sold up to 135/hd and those with doubles saw a top call of 255/hd. Dingle I think the trade for store lambs will firm up come July. Especially as those who bought last year made a few pound, said Neilius McAuliffe. For the present Neilius is moving spring lambs at 2.70-2.80/kg, while heavy culls sold from 77-80/hd. New Ross Jim Bushe reported reasonable numbers with both factory and wholesale customers keen to fill orders. Sample prices among the spring lambs saw 44kgs setting a top of 133/hd, with 45kgs making 131/hd. Quality matters but so also do numbers with one batch of thirty 40kg lambs netting their owner 3,810 at 127/hd. Heavy cast ewes sold from 95-144/hd, but numbers of lighter culls were small. Dowra With factory prices for sheep effectively holding, Patsy Smith noted an edginess among buyers to close out deals. This helped those selling see the general run of spring lambs average from 125-142/hd, with one batch weighing 51.5/kg making 143/hd. On the hogget side among the top performers were a batch of thirty-six that averaged 135/hd, while the best of the breeding hoggets saw 145/hd. Cull ewes sold in general from 90-125/hd, with heavier types topping out at 138/hd. Mohill This live weigh-in saw Stephen Hannon moving spring lambs at an average of 2.90/kg. However, Stephen expects to see that price harden further this week as steady to improving factory prices feed back along the chain. Hoggets sold up to 2.45/kg, putting those at 53kg into 130/hd. On the cull ewe side prices are negotiated by hand and ranged from 70-120/hd. Mountbellew A good turnout of sheep saw spring lambs remain steady, while there was good demand for both ewe hoggets and heavy stags. Lighter ewes were easier, however. Sample prices among the lambs included twelve at 40kg making 115.50/hd, with three at 47kg averaging 136/hd, while ten 45.5kg lambs saw 131/hd. On the ewe hogget side five at 45kg sold for 130/hd, with ten at 54kg/hd making 154/hd. Stag ewes sold from 70-125/hd. Young ewes with singles at foot sold from 180-220/hd, while those with doubles made 222-258/hd. The Indian Railways has operated 1,565 'Shramik Special' trains since May 1 and ferried over 20 lakh migrants back home, the national transporter said on Tuesday. IMAGE: Migrants board Shramik Express to reach their native place in Himachal Pradesh during a nationwide lockdown, at Corlim Railway station, in Goa. Photograph: ANI Photo While Uttar Pradesh has allowed 837 trains, Bihar has permitted 428 and Madhya Pradesh more than 100, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet. As of Monday night, 162 trains were in transit and 1,252 had reached their destinations. Around 116 more are currently in the pipeline, it said. "Under the leadership of PM @NarendraModi, more than 20 lakh workers have been sent to their homes by the Railways on 1,565 Shramik Special trains," the minister said. According to data till Monday night, more than 496 trains have originated from Gujarat and 17 more are in the pipeline, while over 266 trains have already started from Maharashtra, with 37 more in the pipeline. Among other originating states, 188 trains have started from Punjab, 89 from Karnataka, 61 from Tamil Nadu, 58 from Telangana, 54 from Rajasthan, 41 from Haryana and 38 from Uttar Pradesh. Out of the trains that have terminated so far, the maximum has been in Uttar Pradesh at 641, while 73 more are in transit, followed by Bihar with 310 and 53 more on the way. The operation of these trains has, however, led to a political mud-slinging, with the opposition accusing the Centre of charging fares from migrants and then the Centre accusing some states having non-Bharatiya Janata Party governments of not providing permission for the migrant trains to run. Goyal, in a series of tweets on Monday, said he had spoken to the Odisha, Bihar and the Uttar Pradesh governments, and they assured him of permitting more trains. A 'Shramik Special' train carries around 1,700 passengers, instead of the earlier 1,200, to ferry as many workers home as possible. Initially, these trains had no scheduled stoppages during the journey, but the Railways now allows up to three stoppages in the destination states. While the transporter is yet to announce the cost incurred on these special services, officials indicated that the national transporter is spending around Rs 80 lakh per service. NAU professor Han-Sup Han, recently received a $260,000 award from the US Forest Service for a two-year project designed to reduce wildfire risk, develop the wood products market, invest in rural economies and increase forest restoration treatments As climate change and drought cause increasingly severe wildfires and degrade forest health throughout the Southwest, researchers at Northern Arizona University's Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) are working on sustainable solutions that support forest restoration as well as the long-term economic health of the region. NAU professor Han-Sup Han, ERI director of forest operations and biomass utilization, recently received a $260,000 award from the US Forest Service for a two-year project designed to reduce wildfire risk, develop the wood products market, invest in rural economies and increase forest restoration treatments across three states--Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. The Wood Innovations Grant is part of a $7.62 million Forest Service investment to advance innovations in wood products that create jobs, revitalize local economies and support sustainable forest land management. Han says the limited capacity of the forest products industry, supply interruptions and workforce shortages, along with scarce markets for small-diameter wood and biomass, are big barriers to implementing large-scale forest restoration projects. The Forest Service created the Wood Innovations Grant to support efforts to expand the utilization of wood and biomass through the development of "clusters" of forest products businesses. "Through the Wood Innovations Grant, we are bringing together professionals and experts in the forest products arena to create innovative approaches and strategies," Han said. "We are looking closely at developing forest products business clusters with multiple companies in one location that can use the many different components of each tree, including the limbs, needles and tops." With funding from the new grant, Han is leading the Southwest Ecological Restoration Institutes (SWERI) Wood Innovations and Utilization Team, which is made up of representatives from ERI, the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute at New Mexico Highlands University and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute at Colorado State University. "The project's goal is to create a center of expertise--based on the capabilities of SWERI members--that can support the development of clusters of forest-based enterprises. These clusters will operate synergistically and create markets that are the primary catalysts for restoring forests and grasslands in the Southwest," he said. One promising location for a wood business cluster is near Garland Prairie in Williams, Arizona. "Forest restoration has a lot of other benefits such as job creation, rural economic development, watershed protection and fire prevention," Han said. "We believe we can set a good example for the rest of the West to follow." A nationally recognized cluster of forest products businesses currently operates in the White Mountains in eastern Arizona. The cluster, which utilizes small-diameter ponderosa pine trees and all the components of the trees, supports 15,000 acres of annual forest restoration activity on the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest. To replicate the structure of the eastern Arizona industry cluster across the Southwest, Han says the Wood Innovations and Utilization Team plans to host education and workshop training events in collaboration with project partners and other industry experts. Conferences and field trips also will be part of the work plan to expand the wood industry, demonstrate advancements in small log processing technology, present information about the latest equipment, showcase emerging markets for forest products like biochar for soil amendment and cross-laminated timber for construction and feature business planning and networking. "Never has it been so critical to cut trees at a much-increased pace and scale to improve forest health," said Carmen Austin, climate change specialist with the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department Forestry Division. "We are faced with the effects of climate change and forests that are generally overstocked from a century of fire exclusion." In the past, an ongoing obstacle to removing the over-abundance of small-diameter ponderosa pine trees that contribute to massive forest fires has been a lack of uses for the wood and biomass. "The forest industry in the Southwest region has not been growing because of the challenging economics of processing small-diameter logs. Ponderosa pine is not necessarily an ideal species from a forest products point of view. It's not a high-value species and takes more effort to produce wood products," Han said. "But there are some different technologies now and different ideas about how to make good products out of it." "Led by the SWERI, we're correctly recognizing the need not only to restore resiliency to our forest landscapes but the resiliency of our biomass business community," said Tim Reader, wood products utilization and marketing program specialist at the Colorado State Forest Service. "Developing profitable market-based solutions with industry partners will help increase the capacity and decrease costs of forest restoration across the landscape." Han expects outcomes of the Wood Innovations Grant to bolster forest restoration projects in the Southwest, including the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI). The goal has been to treat (thin and burn) 2.4 million acres across the Mogollon Rim at a rate of 50,000 acres annually. 4FRI officials say they are averaging about a third of their goal each year, treating less than 15,000 acres. "We have completed more than 800,000 acres of treatments since we started, but the mechanical treatment goals have fallen well short of our goals," said Henry Provencio, Forest Service 4FRI innovations and efficiencies coordinator. "Funding from the Wood Innovations program and leadership from NAU complements and expands the capacity and delivery of wood and biomass utilization assistance and market development in southwestern Colorado," Reader said. "Several forest collaboratives, including our recent Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative, are in place, and this funding aligns with the group's consensus-based objectives on our public and private lands." "We are a small part of the big picture and we are going to keep trying to restore forests," Han said. "We have tried in the past, but now we have new strategies to make the restoration process more cost-effective and more knowledge from lessons learned, which we will be applying to the challenges we've been dealing with. Our goals are to restore the forests and create economic opportunities." ### This years Effective Practice Award recipients represent extraordinary examples of the innovation happening in digital teaching and learning today. The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) today announced the recipients of the 2020 OLC Effective Practice Awards. OLCs Effective Practice Awards recognize effective techniques, strategies and practices that are shared by members of the OLC community to advance quality and access to online learning programs. This years Effective Practice Award recipients represent extraordinary examples of the innovation happening in digital teaching and learning today, said Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of the Online Learning Consortium. We thank them for their dedication to quality and congratulate them on their success. Members of the OLC community continually strive to make quality online education accessible and affordable for the modern learner, said Lynette OKeefe, Ph.D., Director, OLC Research Center, Online Learning Consortium. The OLC Effective Practice Awards recognize this commitment and provide an opportunity for members to demonstrate whats working in online education and share best practices that their peers can apply in their own programs. The 2020 OLC Effective Practice Award recipients are: Enhancing Skills-Based Education Through Video Feedback Miles Mitchell, M.E., Anne Lanute, M.A., Jamie Holcomb, M.M., Janet Rorschach, Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts SNHU Arboretum Collaboration: Growing Experiential Learning Opportunities for Online Students Jill Nugent, M.S., Sue McKenzie, Ed.D., Kelly Thrippleton-Hunter, Ph.D., Mike Weinstein, M.S., Southern New Hampshire University HeaRT: A Model for Solving Workplace Problems with Effective Practice Stacey Rosenberg, D.N.P., Toni Clayton, Ph.D., Jan Wyatt, Ph.D., Denise Bisaillon, Ed.D., Beth VanOrsdale, D.N.P, and Laurie Lewis, Southern New Hampshire University Online Student Support Squad Bettyjo Bouchey, Ed.D., Courtney Bondi, M.A., Veronica Wilson, M.A., Gina DiMartino, M.A., National Louis University University of Hawaii Online 5-Week Professional Development Dorothy Hirata, Ph.D., Hui-Ya Chuang, Ph.D., Hong Ngo, Ph.D., Matt Parcon, M.Ed., Alice Swift, Ph.D., Marisa Yamada, Ph.D., University of Hawaii Honorees will be recognized during the OLC Innovate 2020 Virtual conference (#OLCInnovate), taking place online June 15-26. OLC and conference partner MERLOT recently announced the annual event is moving to an all-virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference program includes an exciting lineup of speakers, including keynotes by Martin Weller, e-learning pioneer and Director of The Open Education Research Hub and Director of the GO-GN Network, and Maha Bali, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Practice at the Center for Learning and Teaching for American University in Cairo. Martins talk will examine 25 Years of Ed Tech Or Why Understanding Some History Is Useful in the Pandemic. Bali will discuss Centering Critical Care During Crises. For more information about OLC Innovate 2020 Virtual, visit https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/attend-2020/innovate/. Effective Practices are recognized twice each year at OLCs Innovate and Accelerate conferences. More information about the OLC Effective Practice Awards can be found online at https://onlinelearningconsortium.org/about/olc-awards/effective-practices/. About Online Learning Consortium The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) is a collaborative community of higher education leaders and innovators, dedicated to advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences designed to reach and engage the modern learner anyone, anywhere, anytime. OLC inspires innovation and quality through an extensive set of resources, including best-practice publications, quality benchmarking, leading-edge instruction, community-driven conferences, practitioner-based and empirical research and expert guidance. The growing OLC community includes faculty members, administrators, trainers, instructional designers, and other learning professionals, as well as educational institutions, professional societies and corporate enterprises. Visit http://onlinelearningconsortium.org for more information. Mekedatu padayatra: After Karnataka HC chides Cong, Siddaramaiah says permission not taken for protest UP govt claims Congress sent autorickshaw, two-wheeler numbers in list of buses for migrant workers India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P Lucknow, May 19: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday accused the Congress and said the list of 1,000 buses offered by the party to ferry migrant workers contained registration numbers of two-wheelers and cars. However, the Congress, challenged the Uttar Pradesh government to conduct a "physical verification" of the buses it has brought to the state's border to take stranded workers home. Coronavirus crisis: Within a fortnight, Maharashtra records 19,561 COVID-19 cases State Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya accused the party of coming up with a scam. "The Congress has got trapped in its own net of deceit," he tweeted in Hindi. The state government's claim reignited the row over the offer made on May 16 by Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to provide 1,000 buses for migrant workers. South Sudan VP and Defence Minister tests positive of COVID-19 Initially, the Congress claimed that the state's BJP government was ignoring the offer with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath even refusing to give an appointment to a party delegation seeking a meeting. Even while accusing the Congress of playing politics over the plight of workers heading home after the coronavirus lockdown, the Uttar Pradesh government on Monday formally accepted the offer. It asked the Congress to submit a list of the buses, and its drivers and conductors. Coronavirus may have silently existed in China as early as last October But, that was not all. In an email received by Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary at 11.40 pm on Monday, the Uttar Pradesh government asked the Opposition party to send the buses to Lucknow by 10 am on Tuesday, according to the Congress. The aide wrote back to the state government saying that sending empty buses to Lucknow was "inhuman" and the "product of an anti-poor mindset" when thousands of workers are gathered at the state borders. In one of the stranger tales to emerge from the ongoing pandemic, Hollywood heartthrob Matt Damon is living out lockdown in Dalkey, a coastal suburb south of Dublin city. Apparently Damon was filming his latest film in Ireland when Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that the country was effectively shutting down. It might sound dreadful to be trapped so far away from home during such a terrifying time but hold your tears on Damons behalf: Dalkey is one of the swishest neighbourhoods in Dublin, reported to have one of the highest proportions of millionaires living in the area. Both U2 frontman Bono and trad-music superstar Enya are neighbours. Not only is he in a stunning home with his wife and children: they have teachers for the children with them. So basically the guy is in a beautiful multi-million-pound pad (with an outdoor swimming pool in Ireland?) in a gorgeous neighbourhood by the sea, with no work to do and he doesnt even have to bother with the home-schooling. That, my friends, is one man who is, to coin a phrase, winning at life. When I first heard that the star of Good Will Hunting, the Bourne trilogy and the Oceans 11 franchise was holed up in south county Dublin for the duration of the lockdown, I assumed it was one of those urban legends one hears every now and then: it could be true, but theres not much detail so it could just as easily not be. So I did what anyone would do and Googled it straight away, only to discover that it appeared to actually be true: there was a photograph of Matt Damon standing on steps of a local swimming spot, grinning into the camera while clutching a shopping bag from Irish grocery chain SuperValu. Expand Close Kim Kardashian and Kanye West at the cinema in Laois / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Kim Kardashian and Kanye West at the cinema in Laois Ireland has long hosted famous faces keen to get away from the paparazzi hordes that hound everyone of notoriety in the UK and the USA. And the Irish have long boasted how they couldnt care less if all the famous people in the world showed up. Sure, why wouldnt they? Isnt Ireland the best place in the world? But this laissez-faire attitude really masks the populations most ardent desire in this situation: not to give the celebrities the satisfaction of recognition. You wouldnt want to be giving people notions, the Irish would say. If someones done well for themselves: Fair play, but dont go getting a big head now, mind. Because the fact of the matter is, while we might not have hundreds of snappers with telephoto lenses riding pillion on mopeds to get images of all these famous faces, we definitely love to tell ourselves and the world how much the great and the good love the Emerald Isle because theyre left alone and no one pays them any mind. To a certain degree this is definitely true. The summer before last I spent a week with my family in West Cork, a popular part of the country for holidays. One evening as the six of us, plus toddler, squished ourselves into a table set for four in a small Italian restaurant, a tall, slightly shabby-looking man was shown to the table behind us accompanied by his Jack Russell who settled in quietly under the table. Video of the Day After placing his order, this chap promptly got up, left the restaurant and went into the pub across the street only to return a few minutes later with a perfectly poured pint of Guinness. As he walked past our table, I glanced up and realised its only Jeremy bloody Irons. Irons lives in the area in a 15th-century castle he lovingly restored with local craftsmen. When I told my mother (who is a fan), her eyes almost popped out of her head and she had a quick glance. Then, to be honest, we didnt give it another thought. No one approached Irons that night. The staff seemed to know him well there was a sense that this is a regular routine; a bowl of pasta and a pint from over the road. It highlighted another side to the Irish psyche in these situations. Weve now heard for so long about Ireland being somewhere people can escape to that national pride demands the Irish make sure that these poor famous people get the peace theyre craving. Taylor Swift spent Christmas 2018 in Limerick, where she drank in the local pub (the pub owner hadnt a clue who she was) and bought tickets for a raffle in the GAA club. Sarah Jessica Parker has a holiday home in Co Donegal, Angela Lansbury has one in Cork and Kim Kardashian and Kanye West spent their honeymoon touring parts of the country. Expand Close Hollywood couple Matthew Broderick & Sarah Jessica Parker spotted out amongst the Christmas shoppers in Dublin City Centre / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Hollywood couple Matthew Broderick & Sarah Jessica Parker spotted out amongst the Christmas shoppers in Dublin City Centre So when I heard that a Dublin radio station had launched a search for Matt Damon, I must admit, I cringed. This was a betrayal of the unspoken commitment of a nation to leave these stars alone. Was Matt Damon the one star who pushed us over the edge? Would our rep (somewhat self-determined though it is) for not caring a jot for superstars be left in tatters? In the end, the radio station pulled off a small coup when Damon himself called in. Apparently Bono told him he was being hunted. Upon listening to the interview, it becomes patently obvious that the actor is in his element and not bothered in the slightest by the attention he has thus far received. In fact, he describes Dalkey as the best place one could hope to lock down due to ones proximity to the ocean (we just call it the sea, Matt love) and the forests (I mean, Ive never personally seen a full-on forest that close to Dalkey, but well go with it). The two hosts of the radio show are clearly reeling from the fact they are literally on the phone to Jason Bourne. Its heartwarming for anyone to hear a stranger speak so glowingly of your hometown so their obvious glee is completely understandable. I felt proud to be a Dub when I heard this Hollywood star who has been all over the world several times over say such nice things about where Im from. I know I wish its where I got to lockdown too. This article first appeared in The Independent Former WWE star Shad Gaspard has gone missing after he and his son reportedly got pulled into strong riptide currents while swimming at a California beach this weekend. Authorities were called to Venice, California, on May seventeenth to search for two swimmers, a 10-year-old boy and a man reported to be his father, the former of whom was found, the Los Angeles Fire Department said in an online statement. TMZ first identified the missing father as the WWE alum, and an LAFD official told Us Weekly that Shad and his son were "caught up in a possible rip current and couldn't swim back." Shad's wife, Siliana Gaspard, confirmed her husband's disappearance in an Instagram Story post, in which she plead for help in locating him. One of our fave Netflix shows from 2019 is coming back with a brand new season! In February last year, Netflix released The Umbrella Academy which, within the first month, was viewed by more than 45 million households. Unsurprisingly, Netflix announced shortly after that a second 2 was on the way and now we know when we can expect to binge watch it. Netflix announced today, with a home video of the cast dancing, that the new season will drop on July 31st. The hit show, based on a graphic novel by former My Chemical Romance frontman, tells the tale of a group of superpowered kids Spaceboy, the Kraken, the Rumor, the Seance, Number Five, the Horror, and the White Violin born within 24 hours to women who werent even pregnant when they woke up. An advocacy group is preparing to go to court unless the Department of Veterans Affairs swiftly removes Nazi symbols and references to Adolf Hitler from the headstones of three German prisoners of war from World War II buried in national veterans cemeteries. The swastikas and inscriptions, which state in German, "He died far from his home for the Fuhrer, people and fatherland," should not be allowed in VA cemeteries where American veterans are interred, said Mikey Weinstein, chairman of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Read Next: Hercules Crew Receives Air Force Combat Action Medal After RPG Attack The symbols and the inscriptions "must be eradicated and eradicated now," he said Tuesday. "This is completely and totally wrong." Weinstein, a former Air Force captain and graduate of the Air Force Academy, said MRFF is prepared to go to federal court if the VA refuses to remove the headstones. He also called on Congress to take action. He said the VA should follow the example of Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger, who in April banned public displays of Confederate flags and paraphernalia at all Marine installations. In a letter to all Marines, Berger wrote, "I am focused solely on building a uniquely capable warfighting team whose members come from all walks of life and must learn to operate side-by-side." He said the Confederate flag "has shown it has the power to inflame feelings of division." The three German POWs, whose remains were unclaimed after the war, are buried at two VA national cemeteries -- two at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in Texas and one at Fort Douglas Post Cemetery in Utah. Weinstein said he was alerted to their presence by a retired colonel, whose name he withheld, who saw the headstones while visiting his Jewish grandfather's grave at the Texas cemetery and learned of the third headstone in Utah. Weinstein said he wrote to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie last Monday, demanding their removal. In a statement Wednesday, the VA's National Cemetery Administration said that the headstones could not be changed or removed under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The VA is required "to protect historic resources, including those that recognize divisive historical figures or events," according to the statement. Since MRFF raised the issue, other groups have called on the VA to remove the headstones or erase the symbols and inscriptions. In a statement last Thursday, the Southern Poverty Law Center said that the VA "isn't responsible for the mistakes of past cemetery managers. The graves are a relic of the prisoners of war transferred to the U.S. at the end of World War II who died here, the majority of whom were repatriated." However, "the VA's defense of the swastika -- the preeminent symbol of antisemitism -- only gives oxygen to the white nationalist movement," the law center said. In a letter to Wilkie last Friday backing MRFF, B'nai B'rith International, the Jewish service organization, expressed "outrage over the display of swastikas, iron crosses, and quotes honoring Adolf Hitler" on the three headstones. "These deeply offensive symbols and language appear alongside the tombstones of American soldiers, including some who fought Nazi oppression in World War II," and should be removed, B'nai B'rith said. In a statement Monday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida and chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, said, "The VA's decision to leave the swastikas in place, as well as the messages honoring Hitler, while ignoring calls to take the headstones down, is callous, irresponsible and unacceptable." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related: Top Marine Orders Confederate Paraphernalia to Be Removed from All Bases Members of Parliament (MPs) will resume their legislative functions today when the legislative body commences the second meeting of the fourth session of the seventh Parliament. Ahead of the resumption, the leadership of Parliament has hinted that some MPs may be allowed to occupy the public gallery in order to adequately observe the social distancing protocol when the House reconvenes after three weeks of recess. The public gallery is usually occupied by members of the public who want to witness parliamentary proceedings but following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Ghana, Parliament announced that no member of the public will be allowed in the public gallery as part of safety measures. Briefing the Daily Graphic on the agenda for the Legislature when it resumes, the Director of Public Affairs of Parliament, Ms Kate Addo, said that all available options were being considered, including the use of the public gallery by MPs to ensure social distancing. She said while the discussion on the use of the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) as temporary House for business had not been abandoned, the immediate plan was to consider the public gallery as the house reconvenes. All options to make it safe and to help members adhere to the safety protocols particularly, the social distancing. At the moment, Parliament has stopped the public from visiting to observe proceedings, so that space is free and as part of discussions, we are thinking that perhaps if members come in their numbers, we may ask some of them to relocate upstairs, until a solution is found or things return to normal, Ms Addo explained. Agenda Ms Addo said certain bills that were brought before the House but were referred to the various committees would be major items for the next meeting of the House. She said 36 bills including the Affirmative Action; Criminal Offences (Amendment Bill); National Ambulance Service (Amendment); Value Added Tax (Amendment) and Borrowers and Lenders Bill, would also be presented to the House. Vetting The House will also confirm or otherwise state the fate of President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addos nomination of four people to the position of Supreme Court judges. Prior to the reopening of the second meeting of Parliament, the Appointments Committee vetted the four persons nominated by the President as justices of the Supreme Court. They are Professor Henrietta J. A. N. Mensah-Bonsu, a Law lecturer of the University of Ghana, Legon; Mr Emmanuel Yonny Kulendi, a private legal practitioner; Mr Justice Clemence Honyenuga and Mr Justice Issifu Tanko Amadu, both Justices of the Court of Appeal. Three of the nominees, Prof. Mensah-Bonsu, Mr Kulendi and Mr Amadu were able to sail through the vetting process successfully after they were unanimously approved by the committee. Justice Honyenuga, however, failed to secure unanimous approval from the committee. The 10-7 majority decision will require the plenary of Parliament to undertake a full debate and for a vote to be taken. 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 Kriti Writes. "This is terrible!! This is just one incident that i know of because a friend of mine has worked in this daily soap: Humari Bahu Silk..But my heart breaks to see so many people suffering because they haven't received their payments! This is the time when the daily wage earners need their hard-earned money the most!!" Kriti Requests CINTAA To Help The Cast & Crew "I request the concerned producers to pls pay everyone their dues!! They have worked very hard for this, and its rightfully theirs! @cintaaofficial pls pls help them Its a tough time we all are going through.. and i urge all employers in every field to please clear the pending payments of their employees! ." IFTPC Chairman JD Majethia Urges Producers To Clear Dues JD Majethia, the Chairman of the TV wing of the Indian Film and TV Producers' Council (IFTPC), told Tellychakkar, "Usually, in case of a dispute a producer or CINTAA approaches us and then we call our producer member and go through a joint dispute committee meeting. In this case, I doubt if producers are even our members. However, I have received calls from Hamari Bahu Silk actors and being one of the senior members of the industry, I have addressed the issue to the right people. They are looking after the matter and we are being sensitive towards it. Let's hope for a collective solution as the need of the hour is being responsible and fair. I have requested all the other IFTPC producers to please clear the dues of their cast and crew members. I believe everyone deserves to get their hard-earned money. Also, in such testing times, I would request not to succumb through these challenges and let's stand strong and witness better tomorrow." CINTAAs Amit Behl Says As per the latest report, CINTAA and FWICE have come to HBS cast's rescue! The Senior Joint Secretary CINTAA, Amit Behl revealed to IWMBuzz that they are trying to reach out to the actors and requesting them to be a little more patient. He also added that not all actors have complained to CINTAA and owing to the lockdown, they are not able to understand the right scenario. He further said that they are not completely aware of the situation between Jyoti Gupta, Sudhanshu Tripathi, Devyani Rale, and the channel. For the uninitiated, HBS was initially produced by Devyani Rale and Sudhanshu Tripathi under their banner Klay Pictures, but later, Jyoti Gupta (Silver Ivory Production) took charge as the producer of the show. FWICE Has Taken Up The Issue! Amit was quoted by IWMBuzz as saying, "We have been told by FWICE, that they have taken up the issue with the actors, technicians and also the channel. The channel has eventually assured that they will clear the payments of technicians and actors directly, and will deal with the producers themselves." State figures released Monday detail the breadth of the coronavirus outbreak in Louisiana's nursing homes, with deaths in those facilities representing nearly half of the Baton Rouge region's fatal cases. Figures released by the Louisiana Department of Health lifted the curtain on the extent of outbreaks across the state's nursing and long-term care facilities, detailing the human toll COVID-19 has had on facilities housing the states most vulnerable residents. Despite only making up roughly 13% of recorded cases in Baton Rouge and the surrounding 12 parishes, nearly half of the regions deaths have come from nursing homes, according to an Advocate analysis of state Department of Health data. Gov. John Bel Edwards said the figures are alarming. COVID-19 concerns me, period, and it especially concerns me when it affects people who are more vulnerable in those congregate settings, he said. Nursing homes check all of those boxes. Nursing homes in Louisiana with coronavirus: Search by data by name, parish, more The Louisiana Dept. of Health has released the names of all adult nursing homes that have reported at least one case of the new coronavirus. Across Louisiana, 987 nursing home residents in Louisiana died after contracting the virus that causes COVID-19, with cases found in 40% of Louisiana's nursing homes. Only six out of 48 nursing homes in the Baton Rouge region reported having no cases in employees and residents. At least 212 people in East Baton Rouge Parish died after contracting the respiratory illness as of Monday, and 112 of them lived in nursing facilities. Old Jefferson Community Care Center saw the highest number of cases and deaths of any nursing home in the region, with state figures showing 82 residents tested positive for the virus and 21 died. Lisa Gardner, a spokeswoman for the care home, said some residents and staff members who were never developed symptoms but later tested positive. Of the 82 residents currently living at Old Jefferson, 31 are positive and 28 have recovered, she said. Before mask-wearing was recommended, federal health guidelines didnt account for the unknown number of asymptomatic carriers who could unknowingly spread the virus while either developing symptoms days later or none at all, Gardner said. In March, many nursing homes sealed their campuses to visitors and screened residents and staff for telltale signs of the virus, such as fever or a persistent dry cough, but still struggled to keep the virus out. At the beginning of the pandemic, the public health community instructed nursing homes to take staff and essential visitors' temperatures and require they fill out a questionnaire. We didnt realize people could be asymptomatic to spread the disease, Gardner said. Vaccine news in your inbox Once a week we'll update you on the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Tulane epidemiologist Susan Hassig said researchers are learning more about how asymptomatic carriers are a significant driver of community spread, especially in places like nursing homes and prisons where people live in close quarters. "The care interaction is very intimate in a nursing home. People sometimes need help getting dressed, bathed and fed, she said. "Its an ideal situation from a viral transmission perspective. Despite the early struggles to get testing, Hassig said, she expects more nursing homes will have a greater ability to test nursing home residents and workers because the virus spreads easily in those settings. Some of the most acute death rates have come from rural parishes. Pointe Coupee Parish, for example, logged 85% of its deaths from a pair of nursing homes. In Livingston Parish, roughly 60% of the parishs 25 deaths came from a pair of nursing homes. At Pointe Coupee Healthcare, a nursing home in New Roads thats the center of a state investigation into the care and services it provides, at least 16 residents died after being sickened by the coronavirus. The New Roads facility also had the second-highest number of infected workers with 29, behind Belle Maison Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Hammond which reported 36 workers tested positive for the virus. Port Allen nursing home employee on oxygen dies from coronavirus; she was 'backbone' of family Nurse Shenetta White-Ballard knew she was particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, but she went to work anyway portable oxygen device in tow. Though state officials havent released details on their investigation into Pointe Coupee Healthcare, family members and parish officials say they werent told about the outbreak for weeks. One family told The Advocate their loved one had been running a fever for a week before being moved to a hospital and later testing positive for the virus. The nursing homes management said they, like many other facilities in the state, were working to battle the viruss spread. Despite the grim figures, Edwards said, some nursing homes have been able to blunt further infection. Among them was St. James Place, an upscale retirement community in Baton Rouge which emerged as having one of the earliest clusters of cases in March. At the time, two residents and five employees had tested positive, but no new cases have been reported since then. The staff at St. James Place seems to have done a very good job with the limited resources available to keep this from turning into a terrible tragedy, said Karl Koch, whose father is a resident at the facility. Still, he sees more work should be done to safeguard the states most vulnerable residents. The governor of New York on Monday mandated all nursing homes test their residents and employees twice a week, a practice Koch said he hopes Louisiana nursing homes adopt. Were never going to end this problem in America until they get tests or a vaccine to keep them alive between now and then, Koch said. By Baek Byung-yeul Roh Tae-moon, CEO of Samsung Electronics' smartphone division Samsung Electronics' cost-cutting efforts in the smartphone business is driving a wedge between itself and its display-making affiliate Samsung Display as the parent company continuously diversifies its supply sources for smartphone display panels, according to industry officials and analysts Tuesday. The world's largest smartphone maker has said its goal is to maintain the top market share, but Samsung's leadership status has been threatened over the past years by fast-following Chinese makers such as Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo, which sell low price point mobile devices. In 2019, the company sold 296.2 million phones across the world to grab a 19.2 percent market share, according to data by market researcher Gartner. The figure has increased by only 0.2 of a percentage point year-on-year while No.2 Huawei could improve the share from 13 percent to 15.6 percent. In an effort to seek a breakthrough in the already saturated smartphone market, Samsung appointed Roh Tae-moon, who previously served as the head of research and development at Samsung's mobile business, as new CEO of its smartphone division in January at an annual C-suite reshuffle. Since Roh was named to lead the smartphone division, industry officials expect Samsung will further accelerate its cost-cutting efforts to be more competitive in the sector as he has led Samsung's shift to outsource more smartphone production to cut costs. Against its Chinese rivals, Samsung has been increasing smartphone production outsourcing over the past years. For instance, Wingtech, a Chinese original development manufacturing (ODM) company started making phones for Samsung in 2017 and the amount of outsourced production accounted for 3 percent of Samsung's total smartphone production that year, according to market tracker IHS Markit. The figure was expected to increase to 8 percent, or 24 million devices, in 2019. Lee Dong-hoon, CEO of Samsung Display The Gh207,000.00 worth compound, constructed by the Ark Development Organisation, a non-governmental organisation, has a maternity unit, cold chain room, consulting room, dispensary, Family Planning Unit and an accommodation facility for the head of the health personnel. In addition to basic healthcare, the facility would also serve as a COVID-19 Treatment and Isolation Centre for the Municipality. Mr Andrew Barnes, the Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, said the project funded under the Commission's 'Direct Aid Program' is aimed at helping to improve health services for people living in vulnerable situations, especially women and girls. He expressed the hope that the facility would go a long way to improve the quality of health services delivery not only in the Akramang community but also for people from neighbouring communities. He expressed optimism that the facility would give the High Commission value for its invested funds. Thank you the people of Akramang for your support of this project. This project wouldn't have come to fruition without your support. I urge you to take ownership of this facility, that way you help build a healthier and a safer community for all of us, he said. Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Member of Parliament for the Nsawam-Adoagyiri, entreated the High Commission to consider encouraging private power producers from Australia to invest in businesses in Ghana especially in the Municipality. He said Nsawam is an area for mass production of food products and a lot of waste are produced and sent to a landfill site. He said an investment in the waste produced could help to produce energy for commercial and domestic usage. Mr Isaac Kwadwo Buabeng, the Municipal Chief Executive of the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipality, appealed to the High Commission and other corporate entities to support neighbouring communities with similar projects. He thanked the High Commission, traditional leaders, health workers and members of the community for cooperating to ensure the successful competition of the project. Mr Emmanuel Kwafo Mintah, the Executive Director of the Ark Development Organisation, lauded the High Commission for bringing healthcare closer to women, children, persons with disability and migrant workers. As at 2018, he said, statistics shows that Ghana had 5,128 CHPS compounds functioning, even though 6,500 were needed under the Ghana Health Service delivery structure. He said the Akramang Electoral Area was using someone's house as a health facility and the owner has given them a notice to vacate the premises adding that this would leave the people with no choice than to travel long distance to access healthcare in Nsawam. Meanwhile the enormous quarries surrounding the communities made it prone to disasters, a situation which could make the more than 2,436 inhabitants of the area struggle to access basic healthcare. He said the facility would thus help to reduce the pressure on the existing health facilities in the municipality. Mrs Eunice Abuaku, speaking on behalf of the Municipal Health Directorate, said sexual and reproductive health, early infant diagnostic, expanded programme on immunization, growth monitoring programme, and disease surveillance and control as some of the services expected to be rendered by the CHPS compound. Others are treatment of minor ailments, health education and counseling for healthy lifestyles and good nutrition, home visits, community mental health, school health services and care for the aged. She, however, said these services could not be rendered without the support and cooperation of the community and urged them to join efforts with the health workers to enable them to attain their objectives. ---GNA Businesses are looking to open again after months of closure due to the pandemic and Massachusetts General Hospital is also shifting resources as cases decline. Massachusetts Senior Vice President Ann L. Prestipino spoke to NBC Boston about the 1,500 staff at the hospital who were working on the 10 dedicated COVID-19 units at the hospital. Dozens are [of staff are] back to their day jobs, said Prestipino. On Monday, when Gov. Charlie Baker released the states plan to reopen, Massachusetts health officials also announced there were 65 new coronavirus deaths that day. Officials also confirmed another 1,042 positive cases of the virus, for a total of 87,052 across the state. Thats based on 8,373 new tests reported on Monday. The statistics showed a downward trend in several key metrics reported by the state including COVID-19-related deaths, positive tests, the three-day average number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital and the number of hospitals using surge capacity. Of the 10 COVID-19 dedicated units at the hospital, one is now treating other cases like before the pandemic hit. Prestipino, who has been overseeing the hospitals coronavirus response, told the Boston Globe that the hospital is now caring for 200 patients compared to the more than 400 they were seeing before. This is not over yet, said Prestipino in an interview with the Globe Sunday. Were still seeing new COVID patients come in, although the rates have slowed. Hospitals across Massachusetts have started to look toward increasing the number of elective procedures happening in medical centers as the state sees decreased rates of hospitalization because of COVID-19. UMass Memorial Health Care is reporting financial losses in the tens of millions. For the first six months of the fiscal year, the UMass hospital system has seen a loss of $28 million, CEO Dr. Eric Dickson said on May 12. Given the lack of elective surgeries in April and May, the second half of the year will likely bring a larger loss. Related Content: Puducherry Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao on Tuesday sought more funds for the Health Department in the budget for the fiscal 2020-'21 to help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. He told reporters here the commitments for the health department had increased several fold in view of the measures needed to combat COVID-19 in the Union Territory. "We need to procure more equipment, medicines and increase infrastructure in the hospitals," he said and added that at least Rs1,030 crore was needed for the department. He said in the previous financial year Rs 774 crore was allocated for the health sector in the Territorial budget. "Now the requirements had increased to meet the challenge arising out of COVID-19," he added. A full fledged budget is expected to be presented for the fiscal 2020-2021 soon. The Assembly had passed only a Vote on Account (Appropriation) Bill at its brief session on March 30 earmarking funds to departments to meet their routine commitments such as salaries and payment of pension. The Health Minister said that the number of active cases in Union Territory has come down from nine to eight as a male patient was discharged in Karaikal after recovery. Presently, Puducherry has six active cases while Karaikal has one. An employee in airport in Kannur hailing from Puducherry is undergoing treatment in Kannur hospital for COVID 19 and consequently the total active cases in the Union Territory is eight. The five patients hailing from neighbouring Tamil Nadu districts of Villupuram and Cuddalore continued to be under treatment in JIPMER hospital, a health department official said. Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said nine people returned last night after staying in Delhi for some weeks after attending a religious congregation there. Two people belonging to Karaikal who had participated in the congregation in Delhi also returned to Puducherry. Mohan Kumar said seven students belonging to Puducherry and four tourists from here returned from Dubai today. All the 22 people were being kept in a quarantine as a precautionary measure, he said adding medical teams will keep track of their health status. Health Secretary Prashant Kumar Panda said people should also ensure that they adhered to social distancing and other norms to keep spread of the pandemic at bay in Puducherry. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Due to the high demand for streaming services across the globe in relation to the pandemic lockdown, Netflix, much like most services, had to limit its streaming quality in Europe. Things are returning to normal and Netflix announced that it's finally easing its bandwidth restrictions. For some time now, the load on the internet infrastructure is showing signs of improvements and in some regions, Netflix is restoring the original bitrate to 4K and other resolutions. So in some regions, users should start seeing the change in their accounts. It's gradual, so it may take some time for some regions. Source There is nothing that makes people happy like a love story, and it gets even better when it involves celebrity couples. In many instances, people are happy to know that their favourite celebrity is dating someone, but when two stars become a couple, it is usually a magical moment. For some reason, celebrities and other high profile individuals have tended to date within their circles, and this somehow raises the expectations when it comes to celebrity love life. When it comes to the cutest celebrity couples, the Philippines has many of them, but fans can't get enough of them. Image: canva.com (modified by author) Source: Original As if it was not enough pressure being a Filipino celeb, the bar raises even higher when it comes to matters of the heart. It is like once you become a celebrity, you give up rights even to choose a love partner. In most cases, fans have their own conceptions on who should date who without considering the feelings of those involved. Sometimes though, fans have been spot on in reading the atmosphere between celebrities and such celebrities end up being a couple as per the expectations of their fans. So, who are the five cutest celebrity couples in the Philippines? Who is the most popular loveteam in Philippines? Many of the Filipino celebrity married couples began as love teams in the Pinoy Big Brother before getting real about their feelings for one another. Indeed, some of the Pinoy Big Brother housemates have had flings, but those did not last beyond the house, but then some found their soul mates in the house and have stuck together since then. These Filipino love teams make it to the list of the cutest celebrity couples of all time. 1. Nico Bolzico and Solenn Heussaff Image: instagram.com @nicobolzico Source: UGC Businessman Nico Bolzico and actress Solenn Heussaff are one of the celeb couples who have attracted huge admiration from Filipinos. Solenn and Nico have been married for almost four years now but have been together for nine years, and their love is still going strong. The two have never been afraid to parade their love in public, and Filipinos have loved them back. They share their lives on Instagram, and people have become accustomed to their hilariously fun relationship. From pranks to gifts, they have done it all showing how down to earth they are. This is why they are regarded as one of the cutest celebrity couples in the Philippines. 2. Tom Rodriguez and Carla Abellano Image: instagram.com @akosimangtomas Source: UGC As far as Philippines celeb couples are concerned, Tom and Carla are the dream team. They have been together onset several times while they maintain their offset relationship. The two have not hidden their relationship, but Netizens have been waiting for far too long for them to get married. The two are supposedly focused on planning for their future before they can start thinking about marriage. As part of the preparations, Carla bought some land and Tom will be responsible for building their house. Things are looking good for the two, and they are not bothered by the fact that Carla is one year older than Tom. READ ALSO: 5 Pinoy celebrity couples that recently broke up after years of being together 3. Kylie Padilla and Aljur Abrenica Image: instagram.com @ajabrenica Source: UGC Kylie Padilla and Aljur Abrenica began their love life in 2011 and have now been together for almost a decade. A Filipino TV actor, Aljur was born on 24th March 1990 in Angeles City. Born in Calatagan, Philippines, Kylie Padilla is three years younger than her boyfriend of nine years. She is a TV actress, and so it is probable that their love story began onset. Currently, the two are expecting a child which is good news. Kylie and Aljur did break up in 2014 and found their way into each others arms in 2016. Their love has only grown stronger since then, and they did officially get married last December. 4. Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera Image: instagram.com @marianrivera Source: UGC The romance between Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera has always been an open secret. Believe it or not, the two first met on the set of 2007s Marimar. While many Netizens fell in love with that show, they had also started seeing signs of something brewing between Dingdong and Marian. They had perfect chemistry on the screen, and it was so intense it only had to be true. It was not a surprise when it was officially announced that the two celebrities were dating. Up to today, they have continued to grow together in love and fans keep wondering what the secret is that keeps them going for such a very long time. 5. Drew Arellano and Iya Villania Image: instagram.com @drewarellano Source: UGC Many of the couples met in their adult lives when they have already become famous, but this is not the case for Drew Arellano and Iya Villania. The two lovebirds have been together for like an eternity. To begin with, they are childhood sweethearts hence they have known each other for almost their entire lives. It is natural to see celebrities change their personalities and preferences when they become popular, and even when Drew and Iya have changed in some respects, they have remained true to their love for the longest time possible. It is a love story that goes way back for more than fourteen years. Their enduring relationship has had ups and downs, but the highlight of their love life is the two beautiful kids they have had together. These ones were made and meant for each other, and it is easy to tell that nothing will ever come between them. Getting the honour of being labelled as the cutest celebrity couples in the Philippines is something many people dream of, but few get to accomplish. It is not just about being together for the cameras but having the conviction to share lives together for eternity. Netizens have come to love Filipino love teams, but the hard part is always sustaining a relationship and meeting the expectations of their fans. Fortunately, some have been able to withstand the test of time and have been together for decades hence inspiring their fans to uphold the same ideals in their families. READ ALSO: 10 Inspiring Filipino celebrities who went from RAGS to RICHES Source: KAMI.com.gh STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- With the states coronavirus testing capacity now exceeding the number of people seeking tests, New York has made available an online service showing where to get tested. Staten Island Borough President James Oddo pointed to state data showing 571 tests had been conducted on the Island on Sunday. Thats down from a peak of over 1,000 tests per day. I guess thats a good thing in some ways -- that folks arent exhibiting symptoms and feeling the need to test, Oddo said, adding that more communication to the public about the states expanded testing criteria. I want all Staten Islanders, who fall into that criteria, to be tested, he said. I want them to operate with timely information and act accordingly. According to expanded criteria from the New York Department of Health, anyone experiencing a COVID-19 symptom, anyone in close contact with a confirmed case of the virus, those subject to precautionary or mandatory quarantine, individual cases that treating clinicians conclude warrant testing, those who meet additional criteria set by DOH, those set to return to work during phase one of reopening, health care workers, first responders, and other essential worker who directly interact with the public. Additional DOH-set criteria include geographic place of residence, and occupation. Current symptoms for the virus include loss of taste, loss of smell, and fever, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Testing has become a focal point of states reopening strategies, as they try to identify who has or has had the virus, and who those people have been in contact with. 30 Photos of the pandemic in NYC: The gradual return to normalcy *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** Of the seven metrics set by the state for regional reopening, one requires 30 tests per 1,000 residents each month, and another requires 30 contact tracers per 100,000 residents. As of Tuesday morning, the New York City region -- currently meeting three of the seven criteria -- is conducting enough tests, and expected to meet the number of contact tracers. Oddo said he has seen the city and state working together to identify possible contact tracers. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday that he expects the city to meet all of the metrics in the first half of June. The region needs to reduced its daily number of new hospitalizations while also increasing its available ICU and general hospital bed capacity to 30%. Since the metrics have been released, the city has been trending in the right direction, according to the states dashboard. "You cant guarantee anything in life, but if youre watching the trend lines both on our city indicators and the state indicators, both will align in the first half of June, he told reporters during a press conference Monday. 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. By Aneri Pattani of Spotlight PA HARRISBURG Last week, under growing pressure to address the mounting death toll of seniors in Pennsylvanias nursing homes, the Wolf administration announced a robust universal testing strategy. Gov. Tom Wolf called it a fairly radical plan with a goal to conduct testing once a week for everybody employees and patients and clients. Health Secretary Rachel Levine said the move, which marked a major reversal from the states previous approach, was necessary to protect a vulnerable population. By testing every resident and every staff member in every nursing home, we will be able to pinpoint exactly who has COVID-19, who has been exposed but [has] no symptoms, Levine said at a news conference last Tuesday. This effort will give us a clearer picture of the extent of outbreaks in nursing homes and a head start at stopping them. But a closer examination of the administrations plan along with interviews with senior-care advocates, lawmakers, and nursing home operators reveals it falls short of official claims, has fueled some confusion on the ground, and would allow any nursing home to opt out of the robust testing suggested by the state. Among the weaknesses: State officials decided against making widespread testing mandatory, instead choosing to rely on voluntary compliance, despite the fact that state oversight has been extremely curtailed and advocates, family members, and lawmakers say facilities often flout recommended protocols. The guidance recommends testing all residents and staff only at facilities that already have confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19. At other facilities, the recommendation is to consider testing just 20% of staff and residents weekly even though individuals could be carrying the virus without symptoms. The guidance applies only to nursing homes just one-third of the long-term-care facilities across the state and not to the approximately 1,200 personal care homes and assisted living facilities that house more than 40,000 Pennsylvanians. What we heard from the governor and from the secretary of health was that the plan would be much more radical and much more universal, said Karen Buck, executive director of SeniorLAW Center, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit that provides legal services and advocacy for older Pennsylvanians. And what were seeing now is not that. This is very far short of universal testing and very far short of what is needed now, she said. Since the arrival of the coronavirus, nursing homes in Pennsylvania have been left largely to fend for themselves. State officials suspended nearly all inspections, visitors were barred, and the Health Department has not yet released a list of cases and deaths by facility. In the absence of more information, family members are struggling to understand how or if their loved ones are protected. A Spotlight PA investigation published this month found the state had an early plan to protect nursing homes, using strike teams of medical professionals that could visit as soon as cases were detected and improve infection prevention, staffing plans, and more. But it was never fully implemented. Today, long-term-care facilities have become the epicenter of the states pandemic. As of Monday, more than 13,000 COVID-19 cases had been reported across 561 nursing homes and personal care homes. More than 3,000 residents have died, accounting for nearly 70% of the states coronavirus deaths. The issue came to a head two weeks ago, when senators held a hearing to press the Wolf administration on its lack of action, including the failure to implement widespread testing. At the time, Levine said testing all nursing home staff and residents was unrealistic due to a lack of supplies and the inaccuracy of tests, and that only people with symptoms needed to be tested. Five days later, the administration changed course and announced what it called a universal testing plan. The plan, however, does not cover all residents in all homes, and unlike those being implemented in neighboring states, it is not mandatory. Maryland was among the first states to mandate testing for nursing homes in late April, though logistical challenges have slowed the process. West Virginia completed testing all nursing homes in early May, using public health officials and the National Guard. New Jersey has set a deadline of next Tuesday for facilities to test all residents and staff, and in New York, nursing homes that dont comply with universal testing could face fines and loss of licensure. Pennsylvanias Department of Health is helping nursing homes acquire testing swabs and contract with labs independently, spokesperson Nate Wardle said. For those that are unable to do so, the state is distributing 20,000 test swabs from the federal government and processing tests for free at the state lab in Exton. That lab can complete 750 tests a day. Health officials are also working with the Department of Human Services, which licenses personal care homes and assisted living facilities, to develop testing guidance specific to those facilities, Wardle said. The department is committed to testing all residents and staff at long-term-care facilities, Wardle said. We are working to assist facilities in need, and we believe that facilities will do the right thing to protect the health and well-being of their residents. But advocates, family members, and lawmakers say theyve seen time and again that guidance without enforcement is not enough. Sen. Katie Muth (D., Montgomery) pointed to the Southeastern Veterans Center in Chester County, where officials concealed the extent of an outbreak even as the death toll nearly tripled over a five-day stretch in April. Shes asked the Attorney Generals Office to investigate the center after learning that protocols on infection prevention and the use of personal protective gear were ignored. The lack of enforcement really results in a loss of life and further spread of disease, Muth said, adding that testing guidelines are only useful if theyre enforced. Victoria Mckenzie started asking administrators at her fathers personal care home in Montgomery County about widespread testing and the staffs use of personal protective equipment in mid-March. Isolated in New York City after contracting COVID-19 herself, Mckenzie wanted to ensure her 84-year-old father with Alzheimers disease would be safe. Sen. Katie Muth said guidance without enforcement is useless, pointing to the Southeastern Veterans Center where officials concealed the extent of an outbreak even as the death toll nearly tripled over a five-day stretch in April. (PA Dept. of Military and Veterans Affairs) In repeated emails and phone calls, the facility, Wyncote Place, and its parent company, Enlivant, gave varying reasons for not testing staff or residents from the fact that testing required a physicians order, to the false idea that the Health Department controls all testing. The policy remained the same even after major outbreaks occurred at other Enlivant homes in Georgia and Nebraska. I dont feel that this corporation will do anything they dont have to do, Mckenzie said. On May 9, Mckenzie received a call that her father had a fever and cough, and several other residents had similar symptoms. Five days later he was rushed to the hospital. On Monday, he died. In a statement, Wyncote Place said it follows testing guidance from local health departments as well as each residents physician and is in compliance with all regulations. It also claimed assisted living facilities are distinct from long-term-care facilities, although that is not true in Pennsylvania. Diane Menio, executive director of the Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, said some facilities may not want to increase testing because theyre unprepared to handle the results. Facilities with fewer resources or space may struggle to separate residents who test positive from those without the virus, and a high number of staffers testing positive could exacerbate staffing shortages. Thats where state support and enforcement become crucial, Menio said. Universal testing for all staff and residents should be mandatory, she said. This current guidance gives facilities an out. Facility owners say its not a lack of will, but a lack of resources that makes widespread testing challenging. Homestead Village in Lancaster has about 100 residents across its nursing home and personal care units, and 100 staff who care for them, said facility president Douglas Motter. For the last eight weeks, the community has been testing any staff or residents with symptoms. About 60 individuals have tested positive so far, 14 residents have died, and 20 residents have recovered. Motter said he hopes to implement the new guidance on expanded testing this week, but that will require a surge in capacity. Well have to create our own testing site and use our nursing staff, who are balancing other duties, he said. Morningstar Living in the Lehigh Valley has preordered a machine that will allow it to run rapid tests on its own, said Alice Donlan, assistant nursing home administrator. But the machine wont arrive for six weeks. Until then, the facility will rely on a lab that processes results in one to three days. Several providers said they were unsure when they were supposed to implement the new guidance and if it required them to test personal-care home residents. Many said it makes little sense to expand testing in nursing homes alone when various levels of care typically coexist on the same campus, and the virus can spread quickly in any congregate setting. Theres a question of cost, too. Although Medicare and private insurance cover the cost of testing residents, many staffers are uninsured. The Pennsylvania Health Care Association, which represents more than 400 long-term-care facilities, estimates the bill for testing nursing home staff alone could run upward of $5 million. The association is calling for testing to be mandatory and for the state to help cover the cost. If it were mandated, I think wed have more details and thered be a stricter plan in place from the state, said Zach Shamberg, president and CEO of the association. LeadingAge PA, an association of more than 300 nonprofit facilities, said it would not support required testing in nursing homes until the state provides adequate testing supplies, staffing support, and funding. The Wolf administration on Monday said providers can seek reimbursement from the federal government for COVID-19 tests and care administered to people who are uninsured. The state Senate also recently passed a bill to allocate $507 million from federal coronavirus funding to support long-term-care facilities. If approved by the House and signed by Wolf, those funds could cover testing. Levine, the health secretary, said last week the state would help nursing homes with testing using mobile units run by the National Guard. A spokesperson, however, said the National Guard was made aware of the need for mobile units around the time of the announcement, and its unclear when they will be operational. Sen. Daniel Laughlin (R., Erie), who has been pushing for widespread testing since late April, said theres no more time to wait. The Department of Health needs to step in and say, Given the circumstances, this is what we need to do to keep residents safe, Laughlin said. If you dont mandate it, there wont be enough compliance to truly knock down this mortality rate. 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. San Antonio families struggling to pay rent amid the coronavirus pandemic will be protected from evictions at least through June 1, even though the Texas Supreme Court is allowing eviction court proceedings across the state to resume Tuesday. As the coronavirus began to spread across Texas, state and local leaders in March paused most eviction proceedings to prevent families from losing their homes during a time of soaring unemployment. The state Supreme Court ordered all Texas courts to temporarily halt evictions through May 18, and Bexar County imposed its own moratorium on evictions and property tax foreclosures during the same period. READ ALSO: How big is San Antonios eviction problem? The worst among large Texas cities, an Express-News investigation found. Although those protections have expired, local justice of the peace courts have decided to wait until after June 1 to hear eviction cases, unless a tenant poses a threat of criminal activity or danger of physical harm. In those instances, cases are being heard over video calls. I don't want my court to be the next nursing home hot spot because we brought in a bunch of people to one place, said Judge Rogelio Lopez Jr., who oversees Precinct 4s justice of the peace court. Now Playing: The eviction process begins when a landlord delivers a notice to vacate to the tenant. Video: Mike Fisher Even before the pandemic forced at least 100,000 Bexar County workers out of their jobs, a growing number of San Antonios families have struggled to make ends meet over the last decade. Since 2011, the number of eviction lawsuits filed each year in Bexar County has jumped by more than one-third, to about 21,000 cases in 2019. On a typical day in eviction court before the COVID-19 pandemic, judges would hear anywhere from 20 to 100 cases. Dozens of families and landlords packed into courtrooms, sometimes overflowing into the hallways. Landlords are still allowed to file eviction lawsuits, but those cases arent being heard unless theyre related to criminal activity or safety issues. With most cases paused for the last two months, county officials, renters and housing advocates have warned that courts could see a surge of evictions when hearings resume. RELATED: More than half of S.A. families could be protected from eviction through end of August The San Antonio Apartment Association estimates that roughly 9 percent of tenants didnt pay rent on time during the first two weeks of May, compared with 6 percent this time last year. Meanwhile, court data show that between March and April, more than 700 eviction cases were filed in local courts, down significantly from the average 1,750 filed each month in 2019. The (Texas) Supreme Court put in an order mandating that we protect the public, and if that creates a backlog, it creates a backlog, said Lopez. Were just going to have to work through it. When the high court ordered judges in lower courts to keep the public and court staff safe from the coronavirus, it gave courts discretion in how they do so, said Lopez. The Supreme Court, for example, allowed lower courts to extend pauses on most court proceedings for up to 30 days after the governors state of emergency is lifted. In Bexar County, justice of the peace courts are waiting until after June 1 to hear cases, although that order could be extended further. Lopez said the Texas Office of Court Administration, which oversees local courts, has also said that courts shouldnt have in-person hearings until June. Were in compliance with what the Supreme Court said because truly, we cannot have person-to-person hearings on a 100-case docket, Lopez said. Its just not realistic. READ ALSO: Its intimidation: S.A. landlord locks out tenants, despite pandemic and eviction moratoriums Lopez and other local judges must now figure out how to ensure courtrooms arent packed when cases do resume. Among things hes considering: requiring that everyone wear masks when coming to court; barring parents from bringing their children to hearings; and staggering people so they sit on every other row and at opposite ends of benches to ensure theyre 6 feet apart in the courtroom. Courts will have to schedule fewer cases per docket, which means it could take longer to move through the caseload, he said. Were going to do the best we can to get through this as quickly as possible while keeping everybody safe, said Lopez. Marina Starleaf Riker is an investigative reporter for the San Antonio Express-News with extensive experience covering affordable housing, inequality and disaster recovery. To read more from Marina, become a subscriber. marina.riker@express-news.net | Twitter: @MarinaStarleaf Mexico City, May 19 : The Mexican government began its "new normal" phase, an economic reactivation plan that includes a pilot program for more than 300 municipalities without any confirmed coronavirus cases. The launching of the strategy on Monday comes after four consecutive days with more than 2,000 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, taking the total to almost 50,000 confirmed cases and more than 5,000 deaths in the two-and-a-half months since the pandemic hit Mexico, reports Efe news. Although the four-phase program will start on June 1 with specifically authorized activities in each of Mexico's 32 states, the federal government for now will allow "municipalities of hope" to begin reopening, that designation being used for zones where no coronavirus cases have been detected and which do not border on other territories where cases have been identified. Of the 324 municipalities included in the original plan, 213 of them are in the southern state of Oaxaca. Among those towns is Ejutla de Crespo, 50 km from the capital of Oaxaca city, where municipal authorities allowed businesses to reopen on the city squares and at markets, these activities constituting the main economic pursuits of the town's more than 7,000 residents. Despite the fact that the state is one of those least-affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Governor Alejandro Murat said in a recent video that the region was now in the "yellow phase" and would go through it gradually until things are completely reactivated, although school classes have not actually resumed yet. When the plan was announced on May 13, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said that it would be "voluntary," and - if local authorities decided on a different course - there would be no reprisals by Mexico City. And so far that is the case, with several states taking different tacks on Monday. For instance, the western state of Jalisco, one of Mexico's economic engines, implemented its own "Phase Zero" plan, delaying any reactivation until June 1. In contrast, the neighboring state of Aguascalientes did fully reopen on Monday, except the schools are remaining closed for the time being. The partial launching of the "new normal" doesn't mean that the rest of Mexico's towns and cities can stop adhering to social distancing measures decreed in late March, which prohibit non-essential activities up until May 30, public health expert Samuel Gonzalez, with the Mexico Responde COVID-19 group, told Efe news Lopez Obrador announced at his Monday morning press conference that the government is beginning the procedures to authorize protocols whereby automakers, construction and mining companies can gradually reopen. Eighty-five years ago on May 19, 1935, Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence died as a result of a motorcycle accident in Dorset. So did Lawrence of Arabia, John Hume Ross, and T.E. Shaw, different names he adopted at various points in his short career. Born in North Wales, out of wedlock, of a landowner father, and a governess mother, Lawrence is an enigmatic figure. He is the author of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, published in 1926, a mainly autobiographical account of his experience during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1916-1918. He has been the subject of many books, articles, and plays, but an important part of his career, his concern for the aspirations of Zionism, is little known or remembered. Lawrence is best known as the featured adventurer in three films, of which the most popular is the four-hour spectacle, Lawrence of Arabia, directed in 1962 by David Lean and starring Peter OToole, a handsome blond actor, of Irish descent, taller at 63 than his character(5 5). Leans film, seen by millions throughout the world, won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Lawrence is portrayed in popular fashion for the younger generation as one of the images that appear on the cover of the album by the Beatles, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. The focus of the 1962 film is his activity with the Arab tribal leaders in the Hejaz and greater Syria. It also, though inference and subtlety, indicated his inner turmoil over his own identity, sexual and otherwise, and the tension between his loyalty to the British army and his friendship with Arab desert leaders. Much of the initial popularity of Lawrence stemmed from the presentation of his image by the self-promoting journalist, Lowell Thomas in his lectures in the U.S. and UK on Lawrences adventures during World War I in the Middle East areas ruled by the Ottoman Empire. Thomas made the unknown British colonel into Lawrence of Arabia. Lawrence claimed he had an aversion to celebrity, but Thomas remarked he had a facility for backing into the limelight. Certainly, Lawrence exaggerated his feats, such as the blowing up of 79 bridges along railroads on Ottoman territory. But unquestionably Lawrence was an important figure in helping Sharif Hussein of Mecca and his sons in 1916-17 to remove the Turks from the Arabian Peninsula. He helped Feisal seize the city of Akaba on July 6, 1917. He was with General Edmund Allenby when British Forces entered Damascus on October 1, 1918, though Lawrence entered the city in a Rolls Royce. Lawrence had studied at Oxford, got a first-class degree, mastered Arabic, and became interested in the history of the Hittites in the 11th century B.C. For a short time, he worked for the War Office as an archaeologist and photographer in the Middle East. He walked 1,100 miles in Syria and Palestine to inspect 67 castles. In 1914 he joined the army as a second lieutenant and was posted to Cairo between 1914 and 1916 as an intelligence officer. He became the liaison officer to Emir Feisal, one of the sons of Hussein, Grand Sharif of Mecca, leader of the Arab revolt against the Ottoman empire. Lawrence was a complex figure, ambivalent on some key issues on Middle East affairs, as well about his own life. What is less well known is his understanding of and sympathy for Zionist aspirations in the Middle East. He recognized in a visit to the Palestinian area in 1909 that the place, once a decent country, was a disaster. He wrote to his mother on August 2, 1909 that the sooner the Jews farm it all the better. Their colonies are bright spots in a desert. Though he was ambivalent about the Balfour Declaration which called for a Jewish Homeland in Palestine, he was not hostile to Jewish settlement. His view of Zionists is expressed most strikingly in an article, The Changing East, published in The Round Table magazine of September 1920. He viewed the earliest Zionists as a conscious effort on the part of the least European people in Europe to make head against the drift of ages and return once more to the Orient from which they came. The settlers would take back with them samples of all the knowledge and technique of Europe. Later, in November 1918 he said that speaking entirely as a non-Jew, I look on the Jews as the natural importers of western leaven so necessary for countries of the Near East. More important than Lawrences picture of the values that Jews would bring from Europe are views that are pertinent in the present-day Middle East. The success of the Zionists, Lawrence argued, would involve inevitably the raising of the present Arab population to their own material level, only a little after themselves in point of time, and the consequences might be of the highest importance for the future of the Arab world. it might well prove a source of technical supply rendering them independent of industrial Europe, and in that case the new confederation might became a formidable element of world power. Lawrence helped arrangements for important meetings, one between Feisal and Chaim Weizmann, president of the Zionist Organization in June 1918, on Arab-Jewish cooperation. At another on January 3, 1919 Feisal and Weizmann, with the help of Lawrence who translated documents, signed an agreement by which Arabs would recognize the Balfour Declaration and encourage Jewish in immigration and settlement in Palestine. Lawrence also arranged a meeting between Feisal and Felix Frankfurter at the Paris Peace conference in 1919. As a result, Feisal wrote a letter, probably written at least in part by Lawrence, to Frankfurter on March 3, 1919, published two days later in the New York Times, saying that Arabs and Jews were cousins in having experienced similar oppression, and that the two representatives were together taking the first steps towards the attainment of their national ideals. The letter says, we Arabs look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement, a movement that is national and not imperialist. Feisals advice is pertinent today, Others are trying to exploit local differences between Arabs and Zionists, and have misrepresented Zionist aims. These differences are not on questions of principle but on matters of detail such as must inevitably occur in every contact of neighboring peoples, and are easily adjusted by mutual goodwill. After the war, Lawrence was appointed by Churchill, acting as colonial secretary, as his advisor on Arab affairs. He reported to Churchill in a letter of January 17. 1921 that Feisal had agreed to abandon all claims of his father and other Arabs to Palestine, in return for Arab sovereignty in Bagdad, Amman, and Damascus. Lawrence took part in the complicated negotiations over the Middle East at the Cairo Peace conference. The British proposed, based on Lawrences advice, that Feisal would become King of Iraq, that Transjordan would be created, and that western Palestine would become the area of the Jewish National Home, promised in the Balfour Declaration, under British control. Therefore, there did not appear to be a conflict in promises made to Arabs in the Hussein-McMahon correspondence 1915-16 and to Jews with the Balfour Declaration, November 2, 1917. The restless Lawrence quickly resigned from the Colonial Office, receiving on July 8, 1922 a tribute from Churchill that, Your help in all matters and guidance in many has been invaluable to me and to your colleagues. Churchill later remarked that Lawrence had been the truest champion of Arab rights whom modern times have known. His last years were an enigma. He was appointed a Fellow of All Souls College at Oxford, resigned after a short time yet his headstone contains a simple statement, Fellow of All Souls. He joined the Royal Air Force, resigned and joined the Tank Corps of the army as a private, and then rejoined the RAF under the name T.E. Shaw, presumably a tribute to GBS who was a friend, and gave him a motorcycle. On May 19, the anniversary of his death at age 46, it is worth remembering, not the portrait of Lawrence in the epic film Lawrence of Arabia as exhibitionist and narcissistic, but his legacy of sympathy for Zionism and his genuine pleas for Arab-Jewish conciliation and cooperation, a lesson for contemporary leaders in the Middle East. CHINA stands completely isolated at the ongoing World Health Assembly (WHA) - the governing body of the World Health Organization (WHO) - with over 120 nations of the 194 member body seeking an 'independent, scientific, and impartial' investigation into the origins - both causative and geographical - of the COVID-19 virus that has claimed over 3,00,000 lives and left over 4 million infected worldwide. Having seen through China's obfuscation and possible collusion, the Assembly also wants to scrutinize the role of WHO itself under its now controversial chief Dr. Tedros. Having sensed its isolation, Chinese President Xi Jinping readily accepted the resolution seeking the two investigations, and sought to put a balm of billions of dollars by way of COVID aid to the world in a show of characteristic Chinese transactionalism. Off the world stage, China has been using every rule in the book to browbeat the world into not investigating the role of the Chinese in the COVID-19 contagion turning a global pandemic. READ | Post Covid, Time For India To Grab China's Chi Chinese diplomats have called Australia an American 'attack-dog' despite being its biggest trade partner, have succeeded in silencing small nation-states burdened by Chinese debt like Sri Lanka and Afghanistan to not support the WHA resolution, increased military adventurism in South China Seas, and closer home pushed a more aggressive patrolling policy along Sikkim and Ladakh boundaries with India. One would say that's typical of China's Middle Kingdom complex. But things might be turning hotter in Beijing than outside for Xi Jinping. On May 22, China's top legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC) would meet for its third annual session. A day before that the apex political advisory body of the Communist Party of China - the National Committee - would confabulate for the agenda of the NPC. Media reports suggest many members have some tough questions on the handling of the virus by the authorities in Wuhan, the capital of the central Chinese province of Hubei, where it all began. READ | In FDI Move On China, Modi Again Underscores Economic Nationalism Chinese daily Global Times - seen as the tabloidy voice of the Chinese government - reported discomfiture of many leaders at the manner in which the public health system responded in the initial days of the contagion. The newspaper quoted Zhang Boli, an NPC deputy, as claiming that the local doctor who had first reported influenza-like illness - later classified as COVID-19 - to the authorities on December 27 was not taken seriously by the Wuhan city government. According to Boli, the local level bureaucracy lost crucial time in reporting and investigating the new illness with the speed that it should have been. Another NPC deputy Huang Xihua was quoted as pointing out deficiencies in rapid emergency response in the initial days of the contagion, in the same report. READ | Corona And The End Of Globalism Trying to read the tea leaves on China a few days back, India's former Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, who also served as our Ambassador to Beijing, wrote of two 'extraordinary petitions' targeting Jinping in the context of the contagion that disappeared as mysteriously as they had appeared on the internet. Ren Zhiquiang and Xu Zhangrun, both members of the Establishment according to Gokhale, held Jinping personally responsible for the devastation caused in China and around the world as a result of the poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read Gokhale's piece here. This still does not mean that Jinping's project to be President for life is under any challenge. After opening last month, most trade and macroeconomic parameters have shown a smart recovery for China. As the COVID pandemic goes past the peak of the Bell curve globally, and the banality of life takes over, retribution might be forgotten, even if the spreader-in-chief is not forgiven. But between the WHA resolution and the NPC questions, a new understanding of China is emerging that would shape a new world order that might not keep the Kingdom in the Middle. READ | Trump Pulled Back As America Stood In Splendid Isolation On Iran A Seoul court held the first hearing Tuesday to decide whether to extradite a criminal who ran one of the world's biggest child porn sites. U.S. authorities have requested the extradition of Son Jong-woo, the operator of Welcome to Video, which ran on the darknet, inaccessible by regular web browsers. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia in the U.S. in August 2018 on nine counts for his operation of the massive child sexual exploitation site. During the Tuesday hearing, which Son did not attend but his father did, his lawyer argued South Korea should guarantee that he won't be punished in the U.S. for producing and distributing child pornography, citing Korea's extradition laws that rule against double punishment for the same criminal activity. Son was arrested in Korea in March 2018 and convicted of generating and distributing exploitative content for fees paid using the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. During the arrest process, authorities found approximately eight terabytes of child sexual assault videos. He finished serving an 18-month prison term last month, but was taken back into custody since an arrest warrant was issued for potential U.S. extradition. Son operated the site from June 2015 until March 2018 when it was taken down by law enforcement. Officials around the world worked together to chase down the site's users and arrested 337 people, including 223 Koreans. At least 23 underage victims abused by the site's users were rescued. A second and last hearing is scheduled for June 16 when a decision on extradition will be made. Meanwhile, Son's father filed a complaint against his son last week for what he argued was a violation of laws that prohibit proceeds from criminal activities from being concealed. The move was widely seen as a bid to stop the extradition by having him face a legal process in Korea. (Yonhap) The Sinner season three will be released on June 19, Netflix has confirmed. Fans of the crime drama were delighted as the streaming network revealed the third series will drop in full in just a few weeks' time. A tweet from Netflix UK & Ireland, posted on Monday, read: 'Another June update: The Sinner s3 comes to Netflix UK/IE on 19 June.' Exciting: The Sinner season three will be released on June 19, Netflix has confirmed (pictured Jessica Biel who starred in series one as Cora Tannetti Fans shared their excitement as they wrote in the comments: 'Good-good!', while another added: 'Well, that's exciting'. A third fan chimed: 'Brilliant series.... Can't wait'. 'Amazing thanks Netflix' a fourth added. The crime anthology series, starring Bill Pullman, follows a different crime each season. Crime drama: As the new trailer reveals, the new instalment features Matt Bomer as a mysterious man named Jamie Thrilling: The network took to Twitter on Tuesday to tells fans of the crime show that the next season of the crime drama will drop on June 19 The next chapter: Netflix said: 'Another June update: The Sinner s3 comes to Netflix UK/IE on 19 June' Fans shared their excitement as they wrote in the comments: 'Good-good!', while another added: 'Well, that's exciting' As the new trailer reveals, the new instalment features Matt Bomer as a mysterious man named Jamie. The trailer opens with a shot of a car seen crashed into a tree at night, with Ambrose saying in voice over, 'Car accident that proved fatal'. Jamie is expecting a child and when figures from the past reappear, the plot as to whether the car accident was in fact a crime, gets murkier. Mysterious: The crime anthology series, starring Bill Pullman, follows a different crime each season Interesting: The trailer opens with a shot of a car seen crashed into a tree at night, with Ambrose saying in voice over, 'Car accident that proved fatal' The official synopsis reads: 'The Sinner's third instalment follows Detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) as he begins a routine investigation of a tragic car accident on the outskirts of Dorchester, in upstate New York. 'Ambrose uncovers a hidden crime that pulls him into the most dangerous and disturbing case of his career.' The cast also includes Chris Messina, Jessica Hecht, Parisa Fitz-Henley and Eddie Martinez. The first series on The Sinner is based on the novel of the same name by German crime writer Petra Hammesfahr and originally conceived of as a 'close-ended series'. It received two nominations at the 75th Golden Globe Awards: Best Miniseries or Television Film and Best Actress Miniseries or Television Film for Jessica Biel. The actress, 38, was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. In the first season, Detective Harry Ambrose delved into the past of a troubled woman (Biel) to determine why she stabbed a man to death. In the second season, Ambrose returned to his hometown after a young boy (Elisha Henig) confessed to poisoning a couple and learned secrets that the inhabitants are determined to keep buried. "Our greatest role to play in difficult times like these is to support those most at risk in our communities, and Louisianans rose to the challenge by using their voices to spread hope and give back to thousands of families in need," said Michael Morse, CEO of Louisiana Fish Fry. "We are endlessly grateful to those who participated in this fun project, and to our local food bank partners who work tirelessly to combat food insecurity issues in our state every single day. They need our help now more than ever." The campaign was birthed in an effort to spread joy and help those in need during the coronavirus crisis. Louisianans rose to the challenge virtually to support the project and share their musical talents through song, dance and instrumentals. "We are truly grateful for the impact of this campaign to bring a little sunshine in the form of food for so many families in need right now," said Mike Manning, president and CEO of Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. "The outpouring of love and support is an inspiring testament to the spirit of Louisiana and its sense of community that withstands even the toughest times." Louisiana Fish Fry curated all of the submissions received into a collaborative video, showcasing Louisianans united in support of this cause. The video will be released on Louisiana Fish Fry social media channels and on the Louisiana Fish Fry website in the coming days. "This unique project gave Louisianans from all backgrounds an opportunity to join together in support of our mission and we are so appreciative of the generosity demonstrated," said Natalie Jayroe, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank. "We give our thanks to Louisiana Fish Fry for bringing this to life, and to every participant who did their part to help make it possible." For more information about the project, visit louisianafishfry.com . About Louisiana Fish Fry: Louisiana Fish Fry invites the rest of the world to experience the essence of the state of flavor: Louisiana. Founded in Baton Rouge in 1982, Louisiana Fish Fry manufactures and distributes a broad selection of Louisiana-inspired food products to a national customer base of leading grocery and mass market retailers, as well as foodservice distributors. Products include fry mixes, boil seasonings, sauces, entree mixes and more. Visit louisianafishfry.com for more information. About The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank is a nonprofit organization that addresses the issue of food insecurity and hunger. We solicit, inventory, and distribute donated products to over 100 member agencies that directly serve people facing hard times. Our mission is to feed the hungry in Baton Rouge and the surrounding parishes by providing food and educational outreach through faith-based and other community partners. With community support, we have served the food insecure in our 11-parish service area for more than 30 years. About Second Harvest Food Bank Second Harvest Food Bank is leading the fight against hunger in South Louisiana by providing food access, advocacy, education, and disaster response. Second Harvest provides food to more than 700 community partners across 23 parishes. Together, we make up the largest charitable anti-hunger network in the state. With help from our communities, we can make food security a reality for every household in South Louisiana. Second Harvest Food Bank is an affiliated ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, a member of Feeding America, and a United Way partner agency. To join us in the fight to end hunger, please visit no-hunger.org or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/2ndHarvestGNOA or on Twitter and Instagram @2ndHarvestGNOA. SOURCE Louisiana Fish Fry Products Related Links https://www.louisianafishfry.com Children may be less likely to catch and spread the coronavirus than adults, scientists say. Experts from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) today told members of the House of Lords that there was growing evidence that children are in general much less affected by the virus than adults. Data already shows that people under the age of 20 are considerably less likely to end up in hospital or die with COVID-19. But science is now beginning to suggest that they may not even get infectious at all in the same way that adults do. Infectious disease experts Dr Rosalind Eggo and Professor John Edmunds explained the findings in the Lords' Science and Technology Committee earlier today. It comes as teachers' unions and the government continue to clash over whether to send pupils back to class at the start of June. Unions say it is not safe and social distancing and proper protection of staff and pupils won't be possible, while the government is keen to get at least some year groups back to school so they can continue their education and parents can get back to work. Around a quarter of children in France have now gone back to school and have to abide by social distancing restrictions while on-site, and to wear personal protective equipment. The authorities claim only 40 cases of COVID-19 have been linked to schools there (Pictured: Pupils at a school in Nice today) Dr Eggo said: 'We think that children are less likely to get it so far but it is not certain. 'We are very certain that children are less likely to have severe outcomes and there are hints that children are less infectious but it is not certain.' Scientists cannot say why children seem to have some level of natural protection from COVID-19. There have been suggestions that it because they don't have as much age-related lung damage or ill health, or because they have considerably lower rates of illnesses which increase the risk of complications, such as diabetes and high blood pressure. In England's hospitals, 14 children and teenagers under the age of 20 have been killed by the virus - 0.05 per cent of the total 24,913. UNIONS WARN GOVERNMENT TEACHERS WILL NOT RETURN TO WORK WITHOUT PROTECTION Union chiefs have told teachers to demand detailed answers to at least 169 questions from their bosses on issues such as bin lids, coronavirus counselling and employing extra staff to clean paint brushes, scissors and glue sticks before agreeing to return to school, it was revealed today. The National Education Union has also told its 450,000 members to stop marking work and keep online tuition 'to a minimum' for any children still at home and not to try remote teaching if 'they feel uncomfortable' after going back to the classroom from next month. The NEU's list of demands includes mapped locations of lidded bins in classrooms and around the school, full health and safety risk assessments for leaving doors and windows open while teaching and also asks: 'What arrangements are in place to keep every classroom supplied with tissues?'. Other queries from the NEU include: 'Have families been told to provide water bottles?' and suggests grilling bosses about bringing in more staff specifically for washing 'resources for painting, sticking and cutting before and after use' in classrooms and an official policy on how often pupils will be reminded to catch coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow. The NEU's safety checklist has been hailed by many teachers but critics have said the 22-page document is a 'barrier' to reopening primary schools in England from June 1 because it appears impossible to answer all the questions before then and may spook headteachers who fear their own staff could take them to court. Richard Marshall, the union's Learning and Development organiser, tweeted last night that the number of 'unanswered' questions from its 450,000 members was more like 1,000, to which one primary school teacher replied: 'I can answer most of them with one sentence - use your bl**dy common sense'. Today a growing list of councils told their headteachers not to reopen on June 1, with Brighton and Hove, Calderdale, Solihull, Slough and Teesside joining Stockport, Bury, Liverpool, Wirral and Hartlepool. Former prime minister Tony Blair last night backed calls for pupils to go back to school, saying some children were receiving no education at all with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson insisting getting children back to school as soon as possible is vital for their development and prospects. Advertisement The most recent was a seven-year-old announced today, who died last Friday, May 15. Professor Edmunds, who is a member of SAGE, the group of scientists advising the government, today told members of the Lords: 'It is unusual that children don't seem to play much of a role in transmission because for most respiratory viruses and bacteria they play a central role, but in this they don't seem to. 'There is only one documented outbreak associated with a school - which is amazing.' Schools in France have reopened to some pupils now with protective equipment and social distancing rules in place, which has spurred on the British Government to follow suit. Despite protestations from unions across the channel, Emmanuel Macron's authorities have managed to reopen schools, claiming they have had only 70 cases of coronavirus in 40,000 schools. Around a quarter of the nation's school children have returned to class because they live in areas deemed less affected by the virus. It was a similar story in Belgium where primary and secondary schools have been told to restart smaller classes of final-year pupils under strict social distancing rules. Jean-Michel Blanquer, France's education minister, said there had been 70 cases of coronavirus in around 50 schools since reopening. A total of 70 schools were closed as a result, to stop further infection. 'This shows that our measures are as strict as we said they would be,' he said. Schools forced to shut included seven in the northern town of Roubaix, where just one boy was infected but was thought to have come into contact with pupils from other schools. Mr Blanquer also insisted that children who had picked up COVID-19 had not caught it inside schools, where rigorous health measures are being enforced. He added: 'It is absolutely essential that our children are not the collateral victims of health conditions.' Former prime minister in Britain, Tony Blair, last night backed calls for pupils to go back to school, saying some children were receiving no education at all. Mr Blair told BBC Newsnight: 'If you look at all the best evidence, and my Institute has assembled a lot of the different data on this, especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low. 'Private schools will have been educating their children throughout this. 'Parts of the state system will have been. But then there are some children who will have been having no education at all.' Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the UK recently reported that it has recorded the lowest number of coronavirus related deaths on May 18 since the lockdown commenced on March 24. According to reports, despite recording the lowest number of single-day deaths, the death toll still rose by 160 and now stands at 34,796. As per reports, the United Kingdom also reported 2,684 new coronavirus cases on May 18 taking the total number of cases in the country to 246,406. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also reported that two more deaths in Scotland, four deaths in Wales and six deaths in Northern Ireland. According to reports, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnsons spokesperson has confirmed that 5,889 care homes across England have reported a suspected coronavirus outbreak. New Symptoms UK government has reportedly expanded the list of symptoms related to the novel coronavirus as health officials added the loss of taste and smell to the already existing cough and fever guidelines as the criteria to test for the disease and isolate. At least 59 per cent of those who tested positive for COVID-19 experienced loss of smell and taste, based on the research samples. Read: Brazil Surpasses UK With 2,55,368 COVID-19 Cases, Death Toll Reaches 16,853 Read: COVID-19: UK To Spend Rs 4.5cr On Research To Test If Dogs Can Detect Virus By Sniffing UKs chief medical officers said at the press conference that anosmia, the condition of loss of smell, has been included as a symptom to the official government guidance of COVID-19 tests. This comes after the governments scientific advisory group, New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), analyzed data of those that tested positive. Englands deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, reportedly said the data, which was collected between March 24 and 29 have been under regular review but there were questions as to how significant the symptom was. Difficult "piece of science" Other symptoms that the Kings College London suggested must be included as symptoms to the official list are tiredness (fatigue) and stomach pain or diarrhoea, as per media reports. "There's no point telling people to be alert if they don't know the symptoms," said Professor Tim Spector, the lead researcher on the universitys symptoms app study. The study app used samples that contained the symptom information from over 1.5 million people in the UK, which included confirmed as well as the presumptive cases of the novel coronavirus. Read: UK Official: Transmission From Children To Adults Low Read: UK Adds Loss Of Taste And Smell To List Of Coronavirus Symptoms Defending the time it took to include the other symptoms, Prof Van-Tam said that while there had been a signal about the possible importance of the symptom for some time, establishing its use in detecting more cases had been quite a difficult piece of science. As many as half of the COVID-19 patients could suffer a loss of sense of smell or taste. (Image Credit AP) (Newser) Drug-maker Moderna reported good news Monday about a potential COVID-19 vaccine currently being tested. It was also good newsyou might even say great newsfor an MIT professor who owns a stake in the company. Bloomberg reports that Bob Langer's piece of the pie is now worth nearly $1 billion. Specifically, the 71-year-old's 3.2% holding was worth $934 million, including stock options, as of Monday. In a feature earlier this month, the Boston Globe reported that Langer is a co-founder of Moderna, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and regularly attends company videoconferences about the experimental vaccine. Langer, who has a doctorate in chemical engineering, holds roughly 1,400 patents, either issued or pending, per the Globe. story continues below Moderna's shares rose 20% on Monday to $80 and have more than quadrupled this year. Two others are actually doing better in terms of their financial holdings: Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel has a stake worth $2.45 billion; Harvard professor Timothy Springer, who made an early investment in the company, now has a stake worth $1.38 billion. Monday's surge came after the company reported that its vaccine produced antibodies in eight human volunteers, though much more testing is needed to determine whether the results hold up and whether the vaccine is safe, notes the AP. Meanwhile, the company hopes to raise $1.3 billion to fund the vaccine by selling stock, per CNBC. (Read more Moderna stories.) Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Lieutenant General Artak Davtyan today convened a consultation with the leaderships of the Armed Forces and the General Staff of the Armed Forces. As reported the Ministry of Defense, the activities completed in May were summed up, and the course of implementation of the main actions envisaged by the plan for 2020, the problems that have emerged during implementation and issues related to procurement were reported during the consultation. Lieutenant General Artak Davtyan assigned the heads of the relevant subdivisions to fix the recorded shortcomings, fully complete the planned activities and strictly adhere to the preventive measures targeted against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Families are being forced to pay thousands of pounds for student accommodation that is now sitting empty. Many young people fled to their family homes when universities closed due to the pandemic. Some accommodation companies and most universities are now offering refunds to students. However, other private firms are still billing tenants in full, even though the national lockdown means they are not living there. Some accommodation companies and most universities are now offering refunds to students One in three students has encountered issues with their housing during this pandemic, according to campaign group Save the Student. And when Money Mail contacted 34 companies which provide private student accommodation to ask if they would be offering tenants refunds, just five responded and only one confirmed it was waiving the full rent. Unlike some tenants renting from private landlords, those living in purpose-built student and university accommodation do not have 28-day notice periods to end their tenancies. It comes as the Scottish parliament is expected to approve a bill today that will allow students affected by lockdown to end their leases early. Zamzam Ibrahim, National Union of Students president, says: We need governments across the UK to follow suit and bring in a safety net for all student renters without delay. Student Bethany Wades parents had to draw from their savings to help her pay her 2,295 bill. One in three students has encountered issues with their housing during this pandemic The 22-year-old was living at a block run by Mansion Student while studying for her one-year English Literature Masters degree at Newcastle University. She had already paid two of her three 2,295 instalments for the year-long tenancy of her studio flat. Bethany had worked part-time job at a fish and chip shop to help pay the rent, but she was let go when customers began to dwindle in March. When her university announced her course would be taught online, she was already back with her family in Wolverhampton for the weekend. But even though she may not return to Newcastle, Mansion Student insisted she would have to pay her final instalment earlier this month. It meant her parents, Lynn and Pete Wade, both 57, had to dip into their savings to give her the 1,295 she needed. Lynn says: It seems unfair the firm is asking her to pay for accommodation she isnt living in. Mansion Student did not respond to requests for comment. A Department for Education spokesman says: We urge universities and private hall providers to put students first and be fair in their decisions about rent. f.parker@dailymail.co.uk [May 19, 2020] Wolters Kluwer Further Develops TSoftPlus for Loan Forgiveness Stage of Paycheck Protection Program for Local Lenders of All Sizes Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions is ready to help local lenders and their small business client recipients of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding facilitate online loan forgiveness applications through its TSoftPlus PPP Forgiveness Module. The comprehensive end-to-end solution will facilitate and automate the application process for the forgiveness of loans to small businesses that received PPP emergency funding under the U.S. CARES Act. The offering, providing seamless technology benefits, will be made available to local lenders and PPP borrowers following finalization of requirements from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and U.S. Treasury. The TSoftPlus PPP Forgiveness Module will allow lenders and borrowers to benefit from improved accuracy and document management. It combines the functionality of Wolters Kluwer's Online Loan Applications product, which enables compliant, convenient distance banking for borrowers, with its Paycheck Protection Program Supported by TSoftPlus solution. This widely used solution was launched in early April to assist lenders in their support of small businesses nationwide with payroll funding, providing relief from the onslaught of the COVID-19 crisis. "Wolters Kluwer continues to play a major and historic role in helping hundreds of local lenders and their Main Street business customers. In the process, our TSoftPlus automated solution has so far helped those businesses retain approximately one million jobs across all 50 states," said Steven Meirink, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions. "Now we are again focusing our capabilities to substantively assist PPP loan program borrowers and lenders in the loan forgiveness phase. The TSoftPlus PPP Forgiveness Module will help simplify and speed the complex process of applying for loan forgiveness under the CARES Act. It promises an intuitive borrower experience, processing gains for lenders that we expect to be up to 20 times faster than manual solutions." The product's online functionality will expedite the loan forgiveness application process for remote, electronic application transactions. Notably, the TSoftPlus PPP Forgiveness Module wll feature an online form pre-populated with required SBA documents and existing PPP borrower loan information. This approach speeds and automates loan documentation and uploads, thereby enhancing overall application accuracy while reducing the occurrence of incomplete applications. Both existing TSoftPlus customers, who will already have access to the system, and new customers will find the comprehensive solution straight-forward and user friendly. Customers will be immediately able to upload basic PPP data, thereby helping avoid the backlog issues that were widely reported by non-TSoftPlus users during the approval phase of the PPP program. The seamless user experience and workflow will enable lenders and small businesses to focus efforts on the challenge of determining how much of a PPP loan is eligible for forgiveness. "Initially businesses turned to their accountants for guidance around eligibility and application. With the most recent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) notice around deductibility of expenses funded by a PPP loan and the subsequent loan forgiveness, the questions have gotten more challenging. We continue to provide ongoing guidance, tax expertise, and briefings for accountants to help them navigate the complexities of the program," said Mark Luscombe, JD, LL.M, CPA, Principal Analyst, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting. Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions is a market leader and trusted provider of risk management and regulatory compliance solutions and services to U.S. banks and credit unions, insurers and securities firms. The business, which sits within Wolters Kluwer's Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) division, helps these financial institutions efficiently manage compliance obligations tied to loan and deposit origination transactions and workflows, manage risk and other regulatory compliance obligations, and gain the insights needed to focus on better serving their customers and growing their business. Paycheck Protection Program Supported by TSoftPlus is one of several solutions launched by Wolters Kluwer's GRC division in response to the COVID-19 crisis, including the Business Entity Search for CARES Act solution, offered by Wolters Kluwer's Lien Solutions business, which conducts bulk/batch corporate identity searches to verify the business status of potential borrowers. COVID-19 Noteworthy Developments Bulletins, meanwhile, aggregates COVID-19 related global regulatory changes, orders, notices and other informational updates for the financial services industry. The division has also launched a COVID-19 resource center to provide businesses and law firms with international, federal and state legislative updates. About Wolters Kluwer Governance, Risk & Compliance Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) is a division of Wolters Kluwer, which provides legal and banking professionals with solutions to ensure compliance with ever-changing regulatory and legal obligations, manage risk, increase efficiency, and produce better business outcomes. GRC offers a portfolio of technology-enabled expert services and solutions focused on legal entity compliance, legal operations management, banking product compliance, and banking regulatory compliance. Wolters Kluwer (AEX: WKL) is a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. Wolters Kluwer reported 2019 annual revenues of 4.6 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005232/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is administered at W&M through the Roy R. Charles Center for Academic Excellence. William & Mary's consistent production of Fulbright U.S. Students is a testament to its ongoing commitment to providing undergraduates with outstanding opportunities in international education and undergraduate research, Director of National Scholarship Lindsey Love said. Afsari, a Russian and Post-Soviet studies and Hispanic studies double major from McLean, Virginia, will serve as an English teaching assistant in Russia. She plans to apply for a Ph.D. program in Russian and Slavic studies when she returns to the U.S. Afsari, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, actively participated in study abroad programs in Seville, Spain (2016-17); St. Petersburg, Russia (2017); and Vladimir, Russia (2018), and was the head editor of W&Ms Russian language newspaper, Gazeta, in the fall of 2018. Jones, from Warrenton, Virginia, graduated in spring 2017 in a self-designed major of biocultural anthropology. She will conduct research on urban morphology in the context of disaster response and systemic resilience in Santiago, Chile, and plans to get her masters in urban/regional planning and design. While at W&M, Jones did research in Semarang, Indonesia, and studied abroad in Seville, Spain. Mayor, a 2018 graduate from Miami, majored in international relations and self-designed Latin American security. She will study at the National University of La Plata in Argentina while researching how disability policy implementation varies among Argentine cities and the role of disabled persons organizations in its enactment. After that, she plans to attend law school to study disability law. At W&M, Mayor served as program assistant with the Sharpe Community Scholars Program, was a senior research assistant for the Project on International Peace and Security (PIPS) and was a member of the Student Accessibility Services Student Advisory Committee. Shangraw, an international relations major from Sterling, Virginia, will research the relationship between local democracy and tourism in Nepal. During his time at W&M, Shangraw worked as a research intern for the AidData and PIPS projects under the Global Research Institute and was awarded a Freeman Fellowship to do a summer internship in Mongolia in 2018. Shangraw was also a member of SOMOS, a student research group and partnership with a community in the Dominican Republic focusing on public health and sustainable development. Tyson, a chemistry major and Russian languages and literature minor, will head to Russia to research how memories and family experiences shape its natives attitudes towards war. The Tazewell County, Virginia, native is undecided on her post-Fulbright plans, but she is planning to go to graduate school in either the United States or Russia. At W&M, Tyson was awarded the Modern Languages Excellence Award for a graduating senior, and she was inducted this spring as a member of Dobro Slovo, the National Slavic Honor Society. She was a member of several student organizations, including the William & Mary Rowing Club, the Passing Notes a cappella group and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Kier and Young said they were honored to receive Fulbright awards, but they plan to pursue other post-graduate opportunities. Prospective applicants at W&M can learn more by visiting the Scholarship Central webpage and by meeting with a Peer Scholarship Advisor in the fall. Students who will be freshmen, sophomores or juniors in the 2020-21 academic year should plan to attend a Fulbright Friday focus-on session in the spring of 2021 before applying the following fall. Rising seniors should contact Love this summer to plan to participate in the campus interview process early in the fall. Fulbright operates in more than 160 countries worldwide. More than 390,000 students have participated in the Fulbright Program since it was established in 1946. Sixty Fulbright alumni have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 88 have received Pulitzer Prizes and 37 have served as a head of state or government. More information about Fulbright is provided at the programs website. The global COVID-19 pandemic together with the national lockdown has caused many new challenges for South African businesses especially for those that are not used to having a remote workforce. One of these challenges is runaway business data and other telecoms expenses. Many companies have been forced to enable their employees to continue working from home by providing them with SIM cards and Wi-Fi dongles. As a result, many companies are left with high telecoms expenditure and little control over it. To help companies gain visibility over their telecom expenditure in these unprecedented times and to help them put their telecom expenses back in their own hands, software development firm Rysis Software offers the perfect solution Visibill. Visibill is a Telecom Expense Management System developed by Rysis Software in South Africa and as the name suggests gives visibility into your companys telecom expenses. It is designed as a cloud-based web application and enables businesses to control, manage, and understand their telecom expense situation from anywhere. According to Jonathan Bell, Managing Director at Rysis Software and creator of the Visibill product, Visibill makes it easy for companies to make sense of the large amounts of data they use. The reason for this is because it is presented in an easy-to-use system, which clearly shows where their spend is allocated, allowing them to take action on telecom expenses as needed. The system is setup to integrate directly with South African mobile operators, giving administrators full visibility into the expenditure of employees SIM cards with regards to their daily data, voice, and/or SMS usage. Visibill features Cloud-based web application: Because the system is a cloud-based web application, each client can access the system with their own URL. As the system is hosted off-site, there is no need for the company to install any software or IT infrastructure on personal computers to implement or use the system. Because the system is a cloud-based web application, each client can access the system with their own URL. As the system is hosted off-site, there is no need for the company to install any software or IT infrastructure on personal computers to implement or use the system. Create usage notifications: With Visibill you can set up usage notifications via SMS or email to notify you once usage has reached a preset threshold and prevent unwanted expenditure. Setting up usage notifications is useful, as users dont have to log in to keep updated of their usage. This way businesses wont get a bill shock at the end of the month; instead you can deal with it before it becomes a problem. With Visibill you can set up usage notifications via SMS or email to notify you once usage has reached a preset threshold and prevent unwanted expenditure. Setting up usage notifications is useful, as users dont have to log in to keep updated of their usage. This way businesses wont get a bill shock at the end of the month; instead you can deal with it before it becomes a problem. Integrates directly with your service providers: With Visibill your itemised billing is imported directly from your service provider and processed by Visibill so that your subscriber, package, and invoice information is available on the system. With Visibill your itemised billing is imported directly from your service provider and processed by Visibill so that your subscriber, package, and invoice information is available on the system. Easily manage your telecoms: You can also allocate and administer lines effortlessly and almost instantly. Visibill splits invoice amounts and usage charges depending on your requirements and can also break up data costs, determine how many lines are active vs inactive, charge bands to see where the majority of lines are, and give you a breakdown of how much data each subscriber uses all on one centralised dashboard. You can also allocate and administer lines effortlessly and almost instantly. Visibill splits invoice amounts and usage charges depending on your requirements and can also break up data costs, determine how many lines are active vs inactive, charge bands to see where the majority of lines are, and give you a breakdown of how much data each subscriber uses all on one centralised dashboard. Create insightful reports: The system also consists of several dashboards where you can view monthly spend and monthly data usage over any period. You can also easily export this data to Microsoft Excel and create summarised or detailed reports for voice, data, and SMS. This allows you to determine expenditure for your entire organisation by department allowing you to draw reports highlighting high usage or misuse and curb unnecessary overheads. It also allows you to see where you are as opposed to the previous month, and it will predict where it thinks you will go. The system also consists of several dashboards where you can view monthly spend and monthly data usage over any period. You can also easily export this data to Microsoft Excel and create summarised or detailed reports for voice, data, and SMS. This allows you to determine expenditure for your entire organisation by department allowing you to draw reports highlighting high usage or misuse and curb unnecessary overheads. It also allows you to see where you are as opposed to the previous month, and it will predict where it thinks you will go. Automatic daily updates: The system updates automatically every day. Additional functionality Line locking and data inhibition Additional functionality includes the option to soft lock lines, or even inhibit data for certain users. With soft locking Visibill can automatically soft-lock lines when they reach a threshold, or an authorised person can go through and soft lock the line manually. The data inhibitor feature, on the other hand, can be applied so that a person can still use the line for Voice and SMS but wont be using data. Analyse data usage by APN When using an APN, Visibill is also useful as it allows you to customise usage profiles to allow certain people to have a specific amount of data on that APN. Visibill also integrates with a RADIUS server, which means that when you use an APN, you can provision and de-provision SIMs off that server immediately, and control spend there. Budgeting It also has budgeting features so that you can look at spend per department and per cost centre. Whats more is that you have visibility into your top spenders, which is measured in Rand value, but you can also view usage in terms of data bands allowing you to see who uses between 1GB 2GB or who is using between 10GB 20GB. Custom profiles for specific user groups The system also provides the functionality to allocate a persons email address and name and the allocated cost centre to each line, so that when youre drawing reports by cost centre or department, you can do this based on the organisational structure. You can then see details regarding daily or even hourly usage, and if it is allocated, you can view whether the call, SMS or data usage was for business or a closed user group together with other details of a call. Empower employees to view their line usage and declare calls as private or business Each employee with a cellphone line can log onto the system and will be able to see their own line. Because of Visibills built-in organisational structure, each business unit or department will also be able to see what their department is spending and make adjustments based on this. Customised to your business requirements Whats more is that as a Software Development company, Rysis can adjust, customise, and integrate the Visibill product into existing systems based on your business requirements. Visibill is easy to use. We import your itemised billing information for your entire organisations telecoms expenditure into one central database daily, allowing you to view usage, monitor expenditure and therefore drive costs down, said Bell. 30-day termination notification and an obligation-free PoC Visibill offers a 30-day termination notification which means there are no long-term binding contracts. Interested parties can also test the system for a month through Visibills obligation-free proof of concept before making any commitment. For more information, visit the Visibill website. The Indian market ended in the green on May 19, enduring profit-booking towards the end of the session, amid positive global cues. The Sensex closed the day with a gain of 167 points, or 0.56 percent, at 30,196.17, and the Nifty settled 56 points, or 0.63 percent, higher at 8,879.10. Sectorally, the action was seen in telecom, power, utilities, auto, while profit-taking was seen in capital goods, energy, realty and banks. We have collated 15 data points to help you spot profitable trades: Note: The open interest (OI) and volume data of stocks given in this story are the aggregates of three- months data and not of the current month only. According to pivot charts, the key support level for Nifty is placed at 8,812.82, followed by 8,746.53. If the index moves up, key resistance levels to watch out for are 8,987.87 and 9,096.63. The Nifty Bank closed 0.49 percent lower at 17,486.25. The important pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 17,192.83, followed by 16,899.46. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 17,977.43 and 18,468.67. Maximum call OI of 14.95 lakh contracts was seen at 9,300 strike, which will act as crucial resistance in the May series. This is followed by 9,000, which holds 12.89 lakh contracts, and 9,400 strikes, which has accumulated 9.95 lakh contracts. Significant call writing was seen at the 9,300, which added 6.03 lakh contracts, followed by 9,400 strikes that added 3.07 lakh contracts. Call unwinding was witnessed at 8,500, which shed 1,425 contracts. Source: MyFNO Maximum put OI of 22.02 lakh contracts was seen at 9,000 strike, which will act as crucial support in the May series. This is followed by 8,500, which holds 21.17 lakh contracts, and 8,800 strikes, which has accumulated 11.05 lakh contracts. Significant put writing was seen at 8,700, which added 1.45 lakh contracts, followed by 8,800 strikes, which added 1.20 lakh contracts. Put unwinding was seen at 9,300, which shed 84,000 contracts, followed by 9,200 strikes that shed 80,250 contracts. Source: MyFNO A high delivery percentage suggests that investors are showing interest in these stocks. Based on the OI future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which long build-up was seen. 13 stocks saw long unwinding An increase in OI, along with a decrease in price, mostly indicates a build-up of short positions. Based on the OI future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which short build-up was seen. A decrease in OI, along with an increase in price, mostly indicates a short-covering. Based on the OI future percentage, here are the top 10 stocks in which short-covering was seen. Bulk deals (For more bulk deals, click here) Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, UltraTech Cement, Jubilant FoodWorks, Ajanta Pharma, JSW Energy, Kalpataru Power Transmission Bajaj Finance Q4: Profit at Rs 948 crore versus Rs 1,176 crore, net interest income at Rs 4,684 crore versus Rs 3,385 crore YoY. Tata Power Q4: Profit at Rs 403 crore versus Rs 122 crore, revenue at Rs 6,621 crore versus Rs 7,230 crore YoY. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Q4: Profit at Rs 73.15 crore versus Rs 63.78 crore, revenue at Rs 466.64 crore versus Rs 319.71 crore YoY. Equitas Holdings: Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) bought 19,67,904 shares in the company at Rs 44.39 per share. Healthcare Global Enterprises: Buena Vista Fund bought another 5,15,634 shares in the company at Rs 103.99 per share. JMC Projects Q4: Loss at Rs 54.76 crore versus profit at Rs 35.24 crore, revenue at Rs 976.3 crore versus Rs 980.5 crore YoY. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,328.31 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,659.74 crore in the Indian equity market on May 19, provisional data available on the NSE showed. Vodafone Idea is under the F&O ban for May 20. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 16:37:35|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SEOUL, May 19 (Xinhua) -- South Korea expressed strong protest Tuesday against Japan over its repeated territorial claims to Dokdo islets, called Takeshima in Japan, lying halfway between the two countries. Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement that South Korea strongly protests against the Japanese government claiming its illegitimate sovereignty over Dokdo islet through its annual diplomatic report called Diplomatic Blue Paper. The statement urged Japan to immediately drop its territorial claims to Dokdo islets that is an indigenous territory of South Korea historically, geographically and by international law. The ministry said South Korea makes it clear once again that the unjust claims by the Japanese government cannot affect South Korea's sovereignty over Dokdo in any way, noting that South Korea will sternly deal with any provocation against the islets. South Korea restored its sovereignty over the Dokdo islets after the Korean Peninsula's liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese colonization. Seoul has since maintained a small police detachment on the islets. South Koreans see Japan's territorial claim to Dokdo as its denial of the colonial history as the islets was the very first territory that was forcibly occupied by the Imperial Japan. The Chinese business world, which went through huge pressure and challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is now regaining energy and seeing a light of hope thanks to the online business courses launched by Chinese internet companies. Chang Yupeng, a deliveryman who got rid of poverty by working as a deliveryman for Meituan, shares his story on a livestreamed course. (Photo provided by Meituan) Meituan Dianping, an internet-based local services giant in China, has invited founders of multiple catering titans to its online university since late March to share how they embraced digitalization to cope with the major public health crisis. A man who established a dining brand that focused on dine-in services shared his story of transformation on Meituan Dianpings platform. I lost all my customers all of a sudden, he said on a livestreaming course, noting that his 600 franchises all suspended dine-in services at the end of January, which forced him to resort to online delivery as his salvation. Fortunately, things went well, according to him, and the efforts effectively drove the turnover of his franchises. A batch of online vocational training platforms were recently recommended by Chinas Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security to the Chinese society, including the universities established by renowned internet enterprises. The total time of online vocational courses launched on Tencent Class, a platform under Chinese tech giant Tencent, surged 3.5 times when people were quarantined at home, according to the data released by the platform in mid-March. Statistics from Meituan Dianping indicated that the company had offered over 3,000 courses in pictures, videos, and live broadcasts for more than 3 million merchants and couriers over the past three months. Online marketing is one of the hottest courses, as how to make breakthroughs in marketing by short videos and livestreaming remained a major focus of business owners and entrepreneurs. Resorting to online channels is inevitable for retailing enterprises, said Ye Ting, operations director at Taobao University, an e-business learning platform under Chinese e-commerce titan Taobao. Ye added that many companies have swiftly organized online learning for all their employees and required them to grasp operation capabilities in all fields. A deliveryman with Meituan communicates with a photographer before livestreaming a course. (Photo provided by Meituan) At present, apart from new retail enterprises, companies from traditional sectors such as automobile, electricity and telecommunication have also joined online courses, according to Ye. While facilitating the transformation of major enterprises, the online courses are also making micro and small businesses more flexible and adaptive. A man surnamed Su from Yueyang, central Chinas Hunan province runs an online store selling fishing floats, and his business was severely impacted by the epidemic due to the quarantine measures. It was the online courses he learnt from Taobao University that enabled him to made bold trials in marketing, and triple sales volume. As a matter of fact, Su is not the only one trying to seek new opportunities. According to data from Taobao University, about 30,000 new sellers on Taobao are learning on the platform each day, and nearly 150,000 people are consulting online instructors. The pandemic may further shape the online courses in the future and make online training more acceptable. A major feature of online courses is the price advantage, said Ye, which enables them to cover a wide range of employees. This made learning a regular activity for enterprises, Ye added. A deliveryman with Meituan illustrates how to perform well every day in his work. (Photo provided by Meituan) Online and offline channels will be integrated closer, and industries will also become smarter after the pandemic, said Chen Rongkai, executive president of the online university of Meituan Dianping, adding that online learning platforms will serve more businesses, which means a bigger market. There are bright prospects, Chen remarked, saying the digitalization of industries is indeed the digitalization of people. A deliveryman with Meituan illustrates how to perform well every day in his work. (Photo provided by Meituan) A screenshot of a livestreaming course on Taobao University, an e-business learning platform under Chinese e-commerce giant Taobao. (Photo provided by Taobao University) Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:01:13|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CHENGDU, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The University of Oxford and China's Sichuan University have jointly launched a center to bolster research cooperation on gastrointestinal cancer. Representatives from the two sides signed a contract for the Sichuan University-University of Oxford Huaxi Joint Centre for Gastrointestinal Cancer during a recent video conference, according to a statement by the Sichuan University. The international collaboration started in June 2019. It plans to set up a gastrointestinal cancer center in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, and research platforms at the two universities. These units will work together in studying the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal tumors, as well as developing management strategies for treating cancer patients. Li Yanrong, president of Sichuan University, said the joint center will be an open research platform where scholars from the two universities and their global counterparts can jointly carry out scientific research, launch talent-training programs, hold international academic conferences and publish papers. It will focus on cancer therapies and tumor marker development in order to provide better treatment options for patients, said Li, emphasizing the Sino-UK science collaboration as being in the global interest. How to better treat patients, prolong their survival time and improve their life quality are shared concerns of the researchers at the two universities, said Yang Li, director of the Gastroenterology Department at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University. West China Hospital, also known as Huaxi Hospital, is a prestigious medical center in Chengdu. Its Gastroenterology Department is a national key discipline and national key clinical specialty administered by China's health authorities. Enditem Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 20) President Rodrigo Duterte has warned of a possible return to enhanced community quarantine if the number of coronavirus infection spikes as more areas are slowly reopening. Kung babalik tayo sa dati (If we will go back to the situation before), if the contamination will be as fast as before and it will continue to infect yung nakalabas na (those who are already allowed to go outside), then we'll have to just go back to the original program, said Duterte in a late night address. Areas considered as high-risk, including Metro Manila and six other provinces, have been placed under a modified enhanced community quarantine since May 16. This means select industries were allowed to reopen. Duterte noted that these areas were placed under such restriction to contain the COVID-19 infections. Itong mga lugar na hindi pa binuksan, which are under the modified lockdown, ito yung nakita namin na talagang kailangan para hindi lalala ang sitwasyon, he said. [Translation: These areas which are not yet reopened, which are under the modified lockdown, these are the ones we think to place in such restriction to avoid making things worse.] Meanwhile, more than 50 provinces were allowed to go back to their normal day-to-day lives starting last weekend. The Department of Health already warned of another lockdown if cases surge again. So far, the country has more than 12,940 cases with around 2,800 recoveries and about 830 deaths. The President reiterated his reminder for the public to maintain social distancing, use alcohol, and wear face masks in public, especially until a vaccine is ready for mass production. He touted that the coronavirus vaccine trial of biotech company Moderna showed early positive results. The company said that if future studies go well, the vaccine could be available to the public as early as January. Duterte said the public should "stay alive" and fight off COVID-19 until then. "Kung ganoon huwag ka sanang mamatay hanggang January, hintayin mo yung vaccine. Kapag tinawag ka ng kamatayan sabihin mo, p***** i** ka umalis ka diyan kay may hinihintay ako na vaccine. Hindi ko pa panahon mamatay. Iyan ang good news talaga," he said. [Translation: I hope you don't die before January, wait for the vaccine. When death comes knocking, tell them you're waiting for the vaccine and you cannot die yet. The arrival of the vaccine is good news.] Moderna has vaccinated dozens of study participants and measured antibodies in eight of them. All eight developed neutralizing antibodies to the virus at levels reaching or exceeding the levels seen in people who've naturally recovered from COVID-19, according to the company. That suggests -- but yet to be proven -- that the vaccine triggers some level of immunity. The promising early data have not yet been published in a scientific journal. Moderna is one of eight potential vaccines for coronavirus worldwide that is undergoing human testing. SALEM Late Monday night, the Oregon Supreme Court hit the brakes on a Baker County judge's order that had invalidated Gov. Kate Brown's executive actions to slow the coronavirus pandemic. Baker County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Shirtcliff had ruled earlier Monday that Brown's executive orders, which restricted public activities to reduce transmission of the virus, were "null and void." But about eight hours later, the Supreme Court issued a stay, which means Shirtcliff's earlier order cannot go into effect until the higher court considers the issue. Opponents of the measures have decried the infringements on their personal and religious freedoms, as well as their ability to earn a living. As Oregon's highest court weighs the issue, measures across the country meant to enforce social distancing and slow the spread of the coronavirus which has killed more than 90,000 people in the U.S. are facing mounting legal challenges. Unrest over lockdowns: Ruling overturning Wisconsin stay-at-home order highlights widening US debate A national trend Last week, Wisconsin's Supreme Court struck down similar orders imposed by Gov. Tony Evers, the first time a statewide order of its kind has been knocked down by a court of last resort. That ruling forced the Democratic governor to work with the state legislature on future restrictions, but the Republicans who control the legislature have indicated they would rather leave the decisions to local officials. On Tuesday, a federal District Court judge ordered the New York State Board of Elections to hold its June 23 presidential primary election after the Democratic commissioners canceled it out of concerns about COVID-19, which has killed more than 22,000 people in the state. The commissioners argued the election was unnecessary because Biden was the sole remaining candidate, but Judge Analisa Torres ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Torres said canceling the election deprived voters of the right to select the Democratic delegates who would represent them at the Democratic National Convention. Story continues "Protecting the public from the spread of COVID-19 is an important state interest," Torres wrote. "But the Court is not convinced that canceling the presidential primary would meaningfully advance that interest at least not to the degree as would justify the burdensome impingement" of the plaintiff's voting rights. On March 25, A New Hampshire court denied an emergency motion to overturn a ban on gatherings of more than 50 people. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court refused April 13 to overturn restrictions from Gov. Tom Wolf in a case from four businesses and an individual who had argued he didnt have the authority to close the businesses. How the feds are responding Attorney General William Barr has expressed support for the position of those challenging stay-at-home orders and other restrictions, telling conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, "federal constitutional rights dont go away in an emergency." The Department of Justice has sided with Virginia church in a federal lawsuit against Gov. Ralph Northam's order barring gatherings of 10 or more people. A lawsuit was also brought against Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's stay-at-home order. Maryland. The state's lawyers argued the measure was "a rational and justified policy response to a public health threat." But Hogan lifted the measure on his own Friday, without any court ruling. The fight in Oregon Like Hogan, Oregon's Brown and other governors have defended their orders as necessary measures for the health and safety of their residents. "From the beginning of this crisis, I have worked within my authority, using science and data as my guide, heeding the advice of medical experts," Brown said in a statement. "This strategy has saved lives and protected Oregonians from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic." Through her orders, Brown had banned public gatherings of more than 10 people and taken other measures to prevent contact between Oregonians that could pose a risk of spreading the highly-contagious coronavirus. Several dozen plaintiffs opposed to Brown's orders, including state legislators and churches, filed a lawsuit against her on May 6 in Baker County Circuit Court. Brown rapidly filed an appeal following Shirtcliff's ruling against her, asking the court on Monday afternoon to issue a stay and to weigh in on the case. "The governors orders are not required for public safety when plaintiffs can continue to utilize social distancing and safety protocols at larger gatherings involving spiritual worship, just as grocery stores and businesses deemed essential by the governor have been authorized to do," Shirtcliff wrote in an opinion published Monday. Gov. Kate Brown speaks at a news conference to announce a four-week ban on eat-in dining at bars and restaurants throughout the state Monday, March 16, 2020, in Portland. The judge evaluated several legal factors. Among them, the plaintiffs showed that they would face "irreparable harm," because the restrictions on public gatherings would infringe upon their religious liberties, Shirtcliff wrote. While some states have started allowing a wider range of public activities, there is concern from public health experts that there is not enough testing and tracing for the virus to be able to safely resume public activities, particularly groups of people gathering indoors. There also have been several high-profile cases of outbreaks among religious congregations. Asymptomatic people can also spread the virus unknowingly to others. How Americans feel about stay-at-home orders Many Americans have started to experience "quarantine fatigue" after two months of social isolation and economic devastation due to government measures meant to slow the spread of the virus. But polls have shown that a majority still support social distancing restrictions and are wary of lifting them too quickly. When asked what they thought of the measures taken to slow the spread of the virus, 51% of registered voters said they were reasonable and another 31% said they were not strict enough, according to a survey by the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and The Harris Poll. Sixty-eight percent said they were more worried about the danger posed by reopening too soon than the economic consequences of staying locked down too long. The Harvard/Harris poll, which was conducted from May 13-14, found that 55% thought shelter-in-place orders were still necessary and 45% said we had already "flattened the curve" and such measures were no longer needed. And as of a month ago, the vast majority of Oregonians supported the stay at home order. In a statewide poll of 900 Oregonians conducted April 17-21, the public opinion firm DHM Research, partnering with the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center both nonpartisan found that 82% of Oregonians either strongly or somewhat supported the "stay-at-home" order. Contributing: Bart Jansen, USA TODAY; Molly Beck and Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; The Associated Press Claire Withycombe is a reporter at the Statesman Journal. Follow her on Twitter @kcwithycombe. Follow USA TODAY's William Cummings @wwcummings. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court halts ruling nullifying Gov. Brown's COVID-19 closures The Executive has agreed to establish a graduate medical school at Ulster University's Magee campus in Londonderry. The announcement brings to an end almost two decades of campaigning to develop the college in the north west and plans are already under way to allow the first student intake of 70 to begin in September 2021. "This is a hugely important investment for the north west," said Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill, making the announcement during yesterday's Executive Covid-19 conference. Mrs O'Neill said the move came after other executive funding commitments for the Derry and Strabane City Deal and the inclusive future fund targeting unemployment in the region. "It will greatly improve and prove to be instrumental in the regeneration of the region, and will help to support also our health service, who we much rely on at this point and also into the future," she added. The British Medical Association (BMA) said the announcement was "a very welcome piece of positive news". "Covid-19 brought the chronic medical staffing gaps in our health service into sharp focus, as the enlisting of retired doctors and early graduation of final year medical students showed," BMA NI chair Dr Tom Black said. "This new school will mean more medical students graduating annually in Northern Ireland and then staying on, not only to treat our growing and aging population but to support our health service should such a pandemic like this ever happen again." Plans for a medical school in Derry first surfaced in the mid-2000s, and were initially submitted to the General Medical Council in 2016. But the project has been beset by delays and funding problems and looked to be finally ended with the collapse of Stormont in 2017. However, the plan was included in the New Decade, New Approach deal that saw the restoration of the devolved government in January. In May 2019 the UK Government announced 100m for the Derry and Strabane City Deal. The bulk of that, and match funding from Stormont announced earlier this month, has been earmarked for Ulster University's expansion in the area. SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood welcomed the announcement but said further detail is needed. "We need a guarantee from the Executive and from Ulster University that the first students will enrol starting in September 2021 and we need to see a plan for university expansion beyond that. The medical school is the first step, not the end product," he said. Foyle Sinn Fein MLA Karen Mullan said the school's go-ahead is "a major boost for Ulster University and for Derry". Foyle DUP MLA Gary Middleton added: "We have been working with all parties in Londonderry to move this issue forward and make it a reality. "It is a symbol of what can be done when people work together. I hope in 2021 we will be able to see the first students enrolled. It will be good for the north west but also for the health service." Alliance Health spokesperson Paula Bradshaw MLA said the school would complement and enhance the existing provision at Queen's University. "This will provide a route for graduate-entry medical study and I hope it will encourage people into the medical profession right across Northern Ireland, in all places and all sectors. "There is a particular issue currently with general practice in more remote, rural areas and this is a firm step towards trying to address that particular problem, and ensuring there is balance in our provision of medical training," she added. The remains of a 2,800-year-old woman dripping with blue glass beads and wearing a copper belt buckle have been discovered by French archaeologists. The body of the woman, who is believed to have been a princess, was placed inside an oak coffin with her arms resting by her sides. She was buried in a rectangular pit measuring 9.4ft by 3.6ft, together with jewels on her body and pottery placed near her head. The team of archaeologists identified the imprint of the coffin in the ground along with the woman's bone fragments near Saint-Vulbas, about 20 miles from Lyon. She was one of three people buried on the site during the First Iron Age in the 8th century BC. Slide me The woman is thought to have been buried in a coffin made from oak The body was found with bracelets made of blue glass and copper beads on both wrists outside Lyon, southeastern France. One of the bracelets is shown above The belt buckle is shown above as it was found in the grave. It is surrounded by beads Bracelets adorned with blue glass and copper beads were placed on each of the woman's wrists, according to archaeologists from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap). A two-inch wide buckle with a clip made of copper alloy was also discovered, suggested she had been wearing a belt, probably made from leather. Fragments of the woman's pelvis, both femurs, parts of the skull, and the sacrum were among the bones found with the treasures. Her tomb is one of three burial mounds identified at the site that are thought to date back to the first half of the 8th century BC, which was the beginning of the Iron Age. Human remains in one of the other tombs showed signs of having being cremated. Another tomb appears to have been added in the 5th Century BC, together with a four-post funerary monument surrounded by a shallow moat. A copper belt buckle with a clip to keep it fastened was also found inside the grave Pictured are some of the glass beads that were buried with the woman 2,200 years ago A stack of small, pearl-like, discs from the grave are pictured above. The woman's grave was one of five found at the site The tomb is divided in two, with both halves containing cremated human remains. In one half, archaeologists found what appears to have been a wooden box lined with limestone, in which washed bone and bracelet fragments had been placed. What was life like in France during the 8th century BC? The Halstatt culture dominated France around the time the bodies were buried, which is known for its emphasis on agriculture and fine artifacts. Towards 800BC people had begun to live in forts, heavily defended by walls and moats, due to growing conflicts. Tribes had also begun to exchange copper and tin, for making bronze, and iron around this time with each other and the Mediterranean. Source: History Advertisement They suggest that an empty space next to this could have been used for offerings of perishables, such as food. In the other half, bones mixed with charcoal from the funeral pyre were buried inside a basket-type container. The state of the bones makes it impossible to determine the sex of the cremated person, but the adornments - an iron belt clip and copper alloy bracelet - suggest it was a woman. The ancient graveyard was discovered as workers began stripping away the soil to build Plaine de L'Ain Industrial Park. The grave's occupants lived while the Halstatt culture, known for its fine artifacts and emphasis on farming and metal working, was dominant in southeastern France and most of Europe. By 800 BC, long-range trade routes had been established for the exchange of copper, tin and iron, linking the region to the Mediterranean. This is also around the time when hill forts began to appear, defended with walls and ditches in order to ward off rival clans. Hundreds of bodies mummified in bogs have been uncovered from around this period, many having suffered brutal deaths. Pictured above is the outline of the four-post covering from the 5th century BC that was stood at the site A separate burial had a limestone coffin interred underneath a covering in one side An artist's impression of what the burial site in France would have looked like One such body - the Tollund man from the 4th century BC - was so well preserved when he was found in Denmark that he was assumed to be a recent murder victim. He was killed by hanging, the rope leaving deep marks in his neck, before being placed into the bog. Another - the Lindow man, found in Manchester, England - appeared to have had his throat slit and to have been whipped with rope made from animal parts before he was hurled into a bog. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought response of police on a bail plea by an accused, who brandished gun at a police head constable during the recent communal violence in the national capital's northeast area. Shahrukh Pathan, 23, was arrested on March 3 from Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district and is presently lodged in jail here. He has sought interim bail citing the ill health of his father. His picture showing him pointing a gun at unarmed Delhi Police head constable Deepak Dahia during the communal riots went viral on social media. Justice Prateek Jalan, who conducted the hearing through video conferencing, directed the investigating officer of the case to submit the status report within seven days and also verify the medical reports of the accused' father on which his advocate placed reliance while seeking bail. The court listed the matter for further hearing on June 4. Pathan, through advocates Asghar Khan and Abdul Tahir Khan, moved the high court after a trial court recently dismissed his bail plea. The trial court had said that the right to protest is a fundamental right in a democracy but this right of peaceful protest and open criticism of government policies does not extend to disturb the public order. Police have registered a case against him under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act. The police had said it had recovered the pistol that Pathan had allegedly pointed at a police official during the communal violence, from his house. In the viral video, Pathan, a resident of northeast Delhi's Ghonda, could be seen pointing his pistol at the policeman on the Jaffrabad-Maujpur road on February 24. Police had said after seeing himself on news channels following the incident, Pathan changed his clothes and fled to Punjab. He then moved to Bareilly in UP before hiding at a friend's house in Shamli in the state. In February, clashes broke out in North east Delhi between the groups supporting and opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. Separate Garda and Health and Safety Authority (HSA) investigations are continuing following the death of a man following a suspected workplace accident in Kildare town on Thursday morning last. Gardai were called to the scene at the Kildare Chilling Company plant at around 9.50am on May 14. The man has been named as Binak Cokaj who was aged 55. Mr Cokaj, who was a worker at the meat processing plant, was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later, a garda spokesperson confirmed. The body of the man was taken to Naas Hospital and the Kildare coroner was informed. The HSA has also launched an investigation into the incident. The deceased, an Albanian National, was living in Monasterevin. Senator Fiona OLoughlin said the death was a terrible tragedy for the company and the local community. She added: I would like to pass on my sincerest condolences to the mans family and friends as well as to his co-workers in Kildare Chilling. Kildare Chilling Co is a major supplier of beef and lamb products and its facilities on its site on the Dublin Road in Kildare include two abattoirs, boning halls, chills, blast freezing and cold storage. The Syrian government ordered the assets of President Bashar al-Assads cousin, Rami Makhlouf, to be frozen in the latest episode of the regimes attempt to isolate the business magnate. A Syrian Finance Ministry document posted online ordered a precautionary hold on Makhloufs assets, as well as those of his immediate family. The document justified the seizure as a guarantee of repayment of taxes allegedly owed by Syrias largest telecommunications company, Syriatel, which Makhlouf owns. Makhlouf went public with the dispute over the past few weeks in a series of videos posted online, refusing to step down as head of Syriatel and appealing to Assad directly. Makhlouf said in his latest video Sunday that some of Syriatels employees had been arrested and he was unable to contact them. The billionaire regime insider is estimated to control some 60% of Syrias economy. Syriatel is the countrys largest telecommunications company, but Makhlouf also has significant stakes in construction, real estate and Syrias oil trade. Makhloufs father, Mohammad, was also entrusted with regime assets by Assad's father, Hafez, when he was president. The current dispute began to heat up late last year, but went public recently as Makhlouf posted three videos to Facebook over the past two weeks in which he affirmed his allegiance to the regime and accused Syrias feared intelligence services of acting unjustly. Syrias telecommunications regulatory body on May 1 gave Syriatel four days notice to accept a repayment plan for some 230 billion Syrian pounds (about $450 million). Experts have offered a variety of possible reasons for the recent moves. US and international sanctions on Syria have plunged the country's currency to record lows at a time when the regime is seeking to normalize foreign relations and attract investment after the countrys devastating nine-year civil war. The move by the Finance Ministry raises questions about the dynamics within the tight inner family circle of the Assads. Makhloufs sons may have also posed an image problem for the regime, as they have flaunted their exorbitant wealth on social media at a time when many Syrians living under government control are struggling to afford daily necessities. Criticism has also surfaced from Russia, Assads main backer in the war, though the Kremlins influence in the dispute, if any, is not clear. Michelle Mone has revealed she would eat two McDonald's a day at the height of her battle with weight and her food addiction. The lingerie tycoon, 48, divulged further details of her weight battle - after shedding eight stone and slimming down to a size 10. She said: 'I would eat everything I could get my hands on. I would eat two McDonalds a day and still have my evening meal.' Shock comparison: Michelle Mone has revealed she would eat two McDonald's a day at the height of her battle with weight and food addiction Speaking to Daily Express, as well as revealing her fast food addiction she also discussed how she treats her body 'like a business', after shedding 11lbs in 11 months ahead of her wedding in the Maldives later this year. Michelle, who is engaged to businessman Doug Barrowman, 54, said: 'I know how to manage myself so I've been running my body like a business.' Earlier this month, Michelle likened being overweight to self-abuse as she discussed her previous weight battle. She told how she was 'abusing myself' when she was at her heaviest, adding that her issue with her size left her feeling depressed. In a candid interview, Michelle admitted that her weight left her feeling at an all-time low, but the it was the support of her parents that helped her on her weight-loss journey. Tough: Speaking to Daily Express , as well as revealing her fast food addiction she also discussed how she treats her body 'like a business', after shedding 11lbs in 11 months ahead of her wedding in the Maldives later this year (pictured in 2015) In recent years, the star has shed eight stone and now wears a size 10. However, it was a tough journey to get where she is now, with Michelle confessing that in 2012 following her divorce from her first husband Michael, the pounds continued to creep on and she developed depression. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, she said: 'I was at my heaviest and had three children running around me and [I was] launching Ultimo around the world. I was getting bigger and bigger. Shocking: In her darkest hour, it was her parents Duncan, 70, and Isabel, 71, that made her see the light and realise she had to lose the weight 'for yourself' (pictured in March) 'I was abusing myself. I was on antidepressants from the doctor. It was awful. In her darkest hour, it was her parents Duncan, 70, and Isabel, 71, that made her see the light and realise she had to lose the weight 'for yourself'. She explained: 'My mum and dad used to be in tears. My dad wrote me heartfelt letters writing, Please Michelle just do it for yourself Im begging". Pained: Meanwhile, Michelle recently revealed she used to plaster unflattering photos of herself around her kitchen to motivate her to lose weight (pictured in 2003) While she said her mother begged: 'Enough of this nonsense and feeling sorry for yourself, youll have more to feel sorry for if you cant put food on the table for your kids so ... make it work. The Scottish beauty went on to overhaul her lifestyle and dropped a whopping eight stone over the years. Meanwhile, Michelle recently revealed she used to plaster unflattering photos of herself around her kitchen to motivate her to lose weight. Security forces gunned two terrorists of the Hizbul Mujahideen, including the son of a Kashmiri separatist leader, after an hours-long gunbattle on Tuesday in Nawa Kadal locality of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, police said. Three security force personnel were also injured during the operation, which is still underway, an officer said. The terrorists have been identified as Junaid Ashraf Khan from Srinagar and Tariq Ahmed Sheikh from Pulwama. Watch | Srinagar: 2 terrorists killed in encounter with security forces in Nawa Kadal Khan, the Hizbuls divisional commander, is the younger son of Mohammad Ashraf Khan Sehrai, the chairperson of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat Kashmir. And, Sheikh had joined terrorists in March this year. A senior Kashmir police officer later said: Todays successful conduct of joint operation by police and CRPF in downtown Srinagar leading to elimination of two top terrorists should be a clear enough indication to our tongue leashing warriors how our police and security forces work in tandem and shoulder to shoulder here in Jammu & Kashmir even in most demanding and challenging circumstances. Two weapons and ammunition have been recovered from the encounter site, a police spokesperson said earlier. The operation began around midnight when personnel of the state police and Central Police Reserve Force (CRPF) encircled a cluster of houses in the dense neighbourhood of the city. Local residents said they heard an exchange of fire in the locality around midnight. Mobile internet service in the city has been suspended as a precautionary measure, officials said. #Encounter has started at #Kanemazar #Nawakadal area of #Srinagar. JKP and CRPF are on the job. Further details shall follow, Kashmir zone police had tweeted earlier. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The 16th crew at Concordia research Station in Antarctica to spend a full winter at the facility, wave goodbye to the Sun as it descends below the horizon, not to return for four months. Sunday 3 May marked the start of the crew's winter-over period. The 12-member group will spend the next few months in gradual and total darkness. This is in addition to their nine-month isolation in one of the most extreme environments on Earth. Concordia research station is one of three stations operating year round for science in the middle of the Antarctic ice sheet. Located at Dome C on the Antarctic peninsula, the station sits 3200 m above sea level. If the altitude does not steal your breath, the cold certainly will: temperatures can drop to -80C in the winter, with a yearly average temperature of -50C. Isolation in a cold, dark environment on Earth makes an ideal stand-in for space to better prepare us for exploration of our Solar System. Researchers come to Concordia to study not only astronomy, meteorology and glaciology but also human physiology and psychology. Researchers are interested in how this extreme environment can be a risk to the human body and mind. Data from these studies is preparing humans for life in outer space beyond low Earth orbit. ESA-sponsored medical doctor Stijn Thoolen coordinates this year's biomedical research experiments at Concordia to assess the prolonged effects of isolation on the human body and mind. He collects blood, stool and urine samples to track changes in blood volume, immune system and gut bacteria and how they impact our health. Stijn also facilitates stress and coordination tests and follows social dynamics to understand the roles stress plays in making or breaking a group in isolation. The coming months will prove the most challenging for the group but potentially also the most rewarding. Follow the adventures at Concordia on the blog. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Bengaluru, May 19 : Bollywood movies, north Indian cuisine and a promised train journey back home are engaging many a migrant labourers to kill time sanely in the city, an official said here on Tuesday. "Hindi cinema, chapatis (Indian flat bread) and a promise to help them to take a train to their native states," tweeted BBMP Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar on the steps the civic body has taken to keep the migrants sane. The civic body is housing more than a 1,000 migrants at Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC), a famous convention centre on the outskirts of Bengaluru by Tumkur Road. Kumar shared a video of the transit camp where the migrants in a relaxed mood were enjoying a Hindi cinema playing on a makeshift large screen. Amid police vigil, a few hundred labourers were lying on the floor, some wearing masks with their luggage by their side, were focusing on the screen beaming Ranveer Singh starrer Padmavaat movie. "That's BBMP looking after over a 1,000 migrants at BIEC transit camp tonight," he said. Meanwhile, the South Western Railway (SWR) zone which operates in Karnataka has already ferried more than 1 lakh migrant labourers back home to more than half a dozen north Indian and east Indian states. The railway zone is running around 10 Shramik special trains a day from Bengaluru and other places in Karnataka, carrying on an average 10,000 migrants back home. San Francisco, May 19 : Ride-hailing app Uber has announced to lay off nearly 3,000 more employees in the second round, along with closing or consolidating some 45 offices globally. Last week, Uber fired nearly 3,700 employees via multiple Zoom calls. With this, 25 per cent of its global workforce is now out of job. "We have made the incredibly difficult decision to reduce our workforce by around 3,000 people, and to reduce investments in several non-core projects," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a letter to employees on Monday. In a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Uber said due to lower trip volumes in its rides segment and the company's current hiring freeze, it is reducing its customer support and recruiting teams to cut down on heavy losses. Uber is also closing or consolidating some 45 offices globally, including its Pier 70 office in San Francisco, a branch responsible for its experimental projects like self-driving cars. Over the next 12 months, it will begin the process of moving its Asia-Pacific headquarters out of Singapore to a new location "in a market where we operate our services," according to the company. Uber will reduce its costs by over US $1 billion a year by these actions, the company said. "We began 2020 on an accelerated path to total company profitability. Then the coronavirus hit us with a once-in-a-generation public health and economic crisis," Khosrowshahi noted. "If there is one silver lining regarding this crisis, it is that Eats has become an even more important resource for people at home and for restaurants," he said. "We no longer need to look far for the next enormous growth opportunity, we are sitting right on top of one." Khosrowshahi also cautioned that the accelerating Eats business now still doesn't come close to covering the expenses. The profitability "is not going to happen overnight." The ride-hailing major Uber reported a net loss of $2.9 billion in the first quarter of this year, even as its revenue reached $3.54 billion in Q1 2020 from $3.1 billion a year ago, a growth of 14 per cent. In Q1 2019, Uber's net loss was $1 billion, which includes $11 million in stock-based compensation expense. Uber has also announced it is folding its JUMP e-bike and e-scooter business into Lime. This might seem like the worst time to be building an event software business, but it seems to be working for Bevy.com, which just announced that it has raised $15 million in Series B funding. Co-founder and CEO Derek Andersen explained that the company had already started moving into virtual events when the conference business ground to a halt thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. And it's seen demand explode in the last few months. For example, he pointed to how Duolingo has used the platform to host 1,000 events in the past six weeks, while Startup Grind went from a single virtual event in February (in Wuhan, China) to planning 600 for June. Salesforce is also using the platform, and community manager Sofia Rodriguez Mata said in a statement: We've been blown away and inspired by our community's resilience amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Our customers are finding new and creative ways to learn, connect, have fun, and give back together. Although we feel the physical distance between us, it's beautiful to witness how someone in Morocco can be in the same event as someone in Brazil or New Zealand. With Bevy's help our user groups have organized 650 events with 20,000 RSVPs in the past few months. Bevy actually emerged from Startup Grind which Andersen also founded to further develop and monetize the products that were initially built to help the entrepreneurial community organize hundreds of events around the world. They're separate companies, although Andersen still leads both of them. He described Bevy as providing a "fully end-to-end virtual experience" for event organizers, offering tools for event creation and user registration while also integrating to other platforms like Zoom, Salesforce, Marketo and Meetup. He also argued that these kinds of community events are key for companies pursuing a "customer-to-customer marketing model" instead of flying field marketing teams into new locations (which again, isn't exactly feasible right now), you "empower customers to do this for you," both at events and on a more ongoing basis. "Whether its virtual, or offline, in forums, chats, or events, C2C realizes the importance of taking the corporation out of the conversation and giving the torch to the customers at massive global scale," Andersen told me in a follow-up email. Story continues Bevy previously raised a $6.4 million Series A. The new funding was led by Accel, with participation from existing investors Ryan Smith (the Qualtrics CEO is also joining Bevy's board of directors) and Upfront Ventures. "No one understands how to build community and drive virtual marketing events at scale better than the team behind Bevy, said Accel General Partner Ryan Sweeney in a statement. Bevy has unmatched domain expertise and an award winning product that is already trending. Intu is pleading for relief from creditors after plunging rent payments have left it facing a cash crunch. The commercial landlord, which owns Manchester's Trafford Centre, says it will breach loan agreements next month unless its obligations are temporarily put on hold. It is begging creditors to let it delay repayments until December 2021 at the latest, allowing to ride out the coronavirus crisis. Hard times: Intu, which owns Manchester's Trafford Centre, says it will breach loan agreements next month unless its obligations are temporarily put on hold The plea for help comes after Intu received less than one third of the quarterly rent payments owed to it in March, with some retailers hit by the virus lockdown struggling to pay or temporarily withholding rent to bolster their own brittle finances. It was a serious blow to Intu, which was already on the brink before the pandemic struck. The company faces a deadline of June 26 to meet conditions on its loans after securing a short-term waiver from lenders but it says it does not expect to manage that either and needs more time. It is in talks with creditors about longer-term relief. Yesterday the company told investors there was still 'significant uncertainty' about how shops would be affected by the virus crisis even if they reopened from June 1, as the Government has suggested could happen. Intu said this could further hit rent collections next month and leave it in need of substantial cash injections, at a time when it is harder to sell properties. Intu's shares have lost more than 95 per cent of their value in the past year. Landlords including Intu, Hammerson and British Land have all been hammered by the virus crisis, which shut thousands of tenants' stores and forced some into administration. Analysts yesterday expressed doubts about Intu's future, saying it may need taxpayer-funded support. Donald Trump late Monday threatened to permanently stop funding of the World Health Organization and reconsider membership of the United States in the body. The president shared a four page letter written to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to Twitter, saying the organization needs to make 'major substantive improvements within the next 30 days' for US funding to continue. He wrote: 'If the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization.' The threat came on the same day the WHO bowed to calls from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the coronavirus. Chinese President Xi Jinping also announced China would provide $2 billion to help respond to the outbreak and its economic fallout. Xi said China supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19 and that it should be 'based on science and professionalism led by WHO, and conducted in an objective and impartial manner'. Despite Xi's words, China has slapped an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley in what is widely seen as retaliation for Australia's investigation demands. The move has sparked fears of a trade war that could embroil Britain, which has also backed calls for an inquiry. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot characterized China's newly announced contribution as 'a token to distract from calls from a growing number of nations demanding accountability for the Chinese government's failure to meet its obligations.' Scroll down to read the letter in full Donald Trump, pictured, late Monday threatened to permanently stop funding of the World Health Organization and reconsider membership of the United States in the body The president shared a four page letter written to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, pictured, to Twitter, saying the organization needs to make 'major substantive improvements within the next 30 days' for US funding to continue The president shared his four page latter on Twitter late on Monday evening Trump suspended U.S. contributions to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting China's 'disinformation' about the coronavirus outbreak, although WHO officials denied the accusation and China said it was transparent and open. The president has repeatedly attacked WHO, claiming that it helped China conceal the extent of the coronavirus pandemic in its early stages. The US death toll from COVID-19 topped 90,000 Monday with more than 1.5 million cases. Sharing the letter which raised more than a dozen grievances with the WHO, Trump tweeted: 'This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory!' Calling the WHO's 'political gamesmanship deadly', Trump added that their 'repeated missteps' have been 'extremely costly for the world'. 'The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China...I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving American's interests,' the letter said. He said a review 'confirmed many of the serious concerns I raised last month'. Trump also claimed that the WHO had 'ignored credible reports' about the virus in December 2019 or earlier, 'including reports from the Lancet medical journal'. The editor of the Lancet, Richard Horton, today rebuked Trump and said no such reports had existed. 'The Lancet did not publish any report in early December 2019, about a virus spreading in Wuhan. The first reports we published were from Chinese scientists on January 24, 2020,' he said. Earlier, Trump said the WHO had 'done a very sad job' in its handling of the virus and he would make a decision soon on U.S. funding. In his letter Trump said the only way forward for the body was if it could demonstrate independence from China, adding that his administration had already started reform discussions with Tedros. Donald Trump threatens to permanently pull WHO funding in this excoriating four page letter On Monday, the WHO said an independent review of the global virus response would begin as soon as possible and it received backing and a hefty pledge of funds from China, in the spotlight as the origin of the pandemic. Tedros said he would launch an independent evaluation of WHO's response 'at the earliest appropriate moment' alluding to findings published Monday in a first report by an oversight advisory body commissioned to look into WHO's response. The 11-page report raised questions such as whether WHO's warning system for alerting the world to outbreaks is adequate, and suggested member states might need to 'reassess' WHO's role in providing travel advice to countries. Trump said on Saturday his administration was considering numerous proposals about the World Health Organization, including one in which Washington would pay about 10 per cent of its former level. In a posting on Twitter, Trump underscored that no final decision had been made and that US funding for the global health agency remained frozen. World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shake hands in Beijing on January 28, 2020 The World Health Organization (WHO) World health assembly. China said it supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19 and that it should be 'based on science and professionalism led by WHO, and conducted in an objective and impartial manner' Previously, the U.S. sent about $400 million a year to the WHO, which is ten times the amount China contributes. The United States was the WHO's biggest donor. Questions remain about the relationship between China and the WHO. It was earlier reported that the CIA believes China bullied the WHO into delaying the declaration of a global health emergency in January, even as Beijing hoarded medical equipment. It is the second Western intelligence report to indicate that China strong-armed the WHO into downplaying the risks of the epidemic, after a German intelligence document reported by Der Spiegel suggested that Chinese leader Xi Jinping personally pressured WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In a statement to DailyMail.com, the WHO denied that it had bowed to any outside pressure in the early stages of the pandemic. Tedros emphasized that WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a global health emergency on January 30, its highest level of alert, at a time when there were fewer than 100 cases outside of China. Trump suspended U.S. contributions to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting China's 'disinformation' about the coronavirus outbreak, although WHO officials denied the accusation and China said it was transparent and open. Animal markets, which remain popular across much of Asia, have been in the spotlight since January when Chinese officials said COVID-19 most likely jumped from animals to humans at the Huanan market in Wuhan In the following weeks, WHO warned countries there was a narrowing 'window of opportunity' to prevent the virus from spreading globally. During the first few months of the outbreak, WHO officials repeatedly described the virus's spread as 'limited' and said it wasn't as transmissible as flu; experts have since said COVID-19 spreads even faster. It declared the outbreak to be a pandemic on March 11, after the virus had killed thousands globally and sparked large epidemics in South Korea, Italy, Iran and elsewhere. China says it is willing to back the WHO's investigation, but Beijing's move to slap tariffs on Australian exports are widely seen as retribution for Australia's efforts in rallying global support for an inquiry. The 80 per cent tariff has sparked fears of a global trade war - after China earlier threatened a boycott of Australian goods and services. Beijing claims the tariff is linked to a breach of WTO rules and not related to coronavirus, but Australia says there is no evidence of this. The 73.6 per cent anti-dumping tax and 6.9 per cent bonus tax are a far higher level than Chinese industry had requested, bolstering suspicions of a political motivation. China's ambassador in Canberra has previously hinted at a boycott of Australian products such as beef and wine. Australia's trade minister said today that his country does not want a trade war with China, but there are fears that Britain and others will be dragged into the row. 'Australia is not interested in a trade war. We don't pursue our trade policies on a tit-for-tat basis,' Simon Birmingham told reporters. Chinese President Xi Jinping defended his country's response to the crisis, saying China had acted 'with openness and transparency' Experts have warned that Britain is vulnerable to a trade war with China as a 'small open economy' which is 'more reliant on multilateralism and an open world economy' than the US. The UK has also supported the call for an inquiry and said that China faces 'hard questions' about the source of the coronavirus pandemic, adding there would have to be a 'deep dive' into the facts around the outbreak. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has said that things will not go back to 'business as usual' between the UK and China after the pandemic eases. A Foreign Office spokesman said yesterday: 'There will need to be a review into the pandemic, not least so that we can ensure we are better prepared for future global pandemics. 'The resolution at the World Health Assembly is an important step towards this.' Over 80 per cent of people in the UK want Beijing to face a global inquiry into what happened, according to a poll commissioned by the Henry Jackson Society think tank. Meanwhile, seven in ten people believe ministers should try to take legal action against the Chinese government if it is found to have broken international law in relation to its outbreak response. At the end of last month, the government stopped publishing China's coronavirus death figures alongside its own, in a nod to claims that Beijing was covering up the true extent of the outbreak in the country. However, China hit back at the UK last week, with Beijing's state-controlled Global Times claiming that Britain would need a 'miracle' to get out of the health crisis as it condemned London's response to COVID-19 as 'flippant' and 'ill-prepared'. Nancy Pelosi snipes 'morbidly obese' Trump shouldn't be taking hydroxychloroquine to PREVENT Covid-19 after president revealed he asked WH physician for it and doctors advise against treatment Nancy Pelosi on Monday said 'morbidly obese' Donald Trump should not take hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19. The president, 73, said he started taking the controversial medication 'a couple of weeks ago', despite warnings from his own administration about the side effects of the anti-malaria drug. Following the admission House Speaker Pelosi told CNN: 'He's our president and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists. 'Especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group, what is morbidly obese, they say. So, I think that it's not a good idea.' Her warning came after Trump's 2019 physical revealed he had a BMI of of 30.4. That's obese, according to the CDC, but not 'severely'. Pelosi pointed out Trump's weight and age - in what Twitter users saw as a dig at the president - as doctors around the nation expressed concern at the revelations. That's despite Dr. Sean Conley, the White House physician, saying in an official memo he and Trump discussed the matter and believed the gain from using hydroxychloroquine outweighed its risk factors. But the medic did not specifically say he had prescribed the drug to Trump in the note. Nancy Pelosi told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday that 'morbidly obese' Donald Trump should not take hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19 President Donald Trump said he's been taking hydroxychloroquine for around two weeks I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group, and in his, shall we say, weight group: Morbidly obese, they say, says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Pres. Trumps revelation he is taking hydroxychloroquine. pic.twitter.com/0ImjpEjg9q Anderson Cooper 360 (@AC360) May 19, 2020 The president said he does not have the virus, which has infected 1.53 million Americans and killed more than 90,000. But speaking at the White House during an event with restaurant workers he said: 'I'm taking it - hydroxychloroquine. Right now yeah. A couple of weeks ago, started taking it.' The Food and Drug Administration warned in April that hydroxychloroquine can significantly increase the risk of death in people, especially those with heart problems, and cautioned against its use. The president repeatedly has touted hydroxychloroquine - used to treat malaria, lupus and other diseases - and the antibiotic azithromycin, often referred to as 'Z-pack,' to be used to treat the coronavirus. Side effects of hydroxychloroquine Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, dizziness, or headache slow heartbeat, symptoms of heart failure (such as shortness of breath, swelling ankles/feet, unusual tiredness, unusual/sudden weight gain) mental/mood changes (such as anxiety, depression, rare thoughts of suicide, hallucinations) hearing changes (such as ringing in the ears, hearing loss), easy bruising/bleeding signs of infection or liver disease muscle weakness, unwanted/uncontrolled movements (including tongue/face twitching), hair loss, hair/skin color changes low blood sugar, severe dizziness, fainting, fast/irregular heartbeat, seizures - from WebMD Advertisement Trump said he took one dose of the z-pack antibiotic and is now taking a zinc supplement along with a daily hydroxychloroquine pill. He noted he's had no side effects. 'I'm taking the two - the zinc and the hydroxy,' he said. 'So far I seem to be okay.' 'I have been taking it for about a weekend for about a week and a half,' he noted. 'Every day. I take a pill every day.' 'At some point I'll stop,' he added. White House physician, Dr Conley noted: 'After numerous discussions, he and I regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from the treatment outweighed the relative risk.' 'In consultation with our inter-agency partners and subject matter experts around the country, I continue to monitor the myriad studies investigating COVID-19 therapies and I anticipate employing the same shared medical decision making based on the evidence at hand in the future,' he said. Conley, a commander in the U.S. Navy, noted President Trump is 'in very good health and has remained symptom-free. He receives regular COVID-19 testing, all negative to date.' Trump said he started taking the drug after talking with Conley. 'He said well if you'd like it. I said yeah I'd like it, I'd like to take it,' Trump said. Medics around the nation have expressed concern at the news, warning Americans to not take the drug without at least consulting their doctor But medics around the nation have expressed concern at the news, warning Americans to not take the drug without at least consulting their doctor. Dr. William Schaffner told The Washington Post: 'I certainly would not recommend that people in the U.S. ask their physicians to prescribe hydroxychloroquine for the prevention of Covid. Its use is entirely speculative.' Former Planned Parenthood President Dr. Leana Wen tweeted: 'There is NO evidence for hydrochloroquine being effective in treatment of #covid19 or prophylaxis to prevent the disease. 'This is a medication that has serious side effects. I am very concerned about @realDonaldTrump continuing to model behavior that could harm many Americans.' And Dr. Rob Davidson, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Medicare, said: Today @realDonaldTrump announced that's he's taking Hydroxychloroquine to prevent #COVID19. This is dangerous. Ignore him. There is no evidence of benefit and there is evidence of harm. 'Trump is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands. Let's not add to that number. California and 16 other states can sue the Trump administration for rolling back enforcement of the Endangered Species Act by allowing consideration of economic impacts, disregarding climate change and allegedly weakening protections for many imperiled creatures, a federal judge ruled Monday. In denying administration officials request to dismiss the suit, U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of Oakland said the states had shown they could suffer biological and economic harm if the law were weakened. The Endangered Species Act, signed by President Richard Nixon in 1973, protects the existence and habitat of more than 1,600 plants and animals threatened with extinction. More than 300 of the species live in Californias lands and waters, including bighorn sheep, gray wolves, humpback whales and bald eagles. The rules announced in August by President Trumps Interior Department allow the government to consider economic impacts to landowners when deciding whether to protect a species and its habitat. The rules also make it easier to remove a species from the protected list and limit an agencys assessment of likely threats to a species in the foreseeable future barring any consideration of global warming and its impact on a species habitat. Other changes would reduce restrictions on federal government actions that might harm an imperiled creatures habitat and would weaken current protections for species now designated as threatened, or nearly endangered. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said at the time that the new rules would ease regulatory burdens on landowners and industry while ensuring recovery of our rarest species. But the states, in a lawsuit in September, said the changes violated both the language and the purpose of the Endangered Species Act. Lawyers for the administration argued that the states had failed to allege that they would suffer any harm. But Tigar said state governments could lose commercial revenue from the loss of fish and wildlife and might also use their own funds to restore species protections. 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. Tigar also rejected the governments argument that the suit was premature, saying the states did not have to wait for harms to occur before challenging the policy. And despite the administrations claim that it would enact future rules to protect individual species, the judge said the new policy neither guarantees nor requires such protections. State Attorney General Xavier Becerra welcomed the ruling. In California, we recognize the importance of biodiversity, and we cherish the hundreds of endangered species that make their home in this state, he said in a statement. The suit was joined by the states of Massachusetts, Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, and by the District of Columbia and New York City. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko Washington: The US has said that it is for India and Pakistan to determine the pace, scope and character of any discussions on Kashmir. Our position on Kashmir has not changed. The pace, the scope, the character of any discussions in Kashmir is for the two sides to determine. We support any and all positive steps that India and Pakistan can take to forge closer relations, State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau said. Were aware of the clashes. We remain concerned about the violence and we encourage to all sides to make efforts for finding a peaceful resolution, Trudeau said at her daily news conference yesterday. The State Department spokesperson, however, did not respond to questions on the remarks by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address on Monday. I wouldnt speak to Mr Modis comments, that would be for him to speak to, Trudeau said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Thailand's cash-strapped national carrier will look to undergo a restructuring through the kingdom's bankruptcy court, premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha said Tuesday, as the stricken company is battered by the crash in tourism caused by the coronavirus. Thai Airways -- which is 51 percent owned by the government -- has long fought to stay afloat, registering losses of almost $800 million over the past three years. Its troubles come as the world aviation sector faces its biggest crisis, with borders globally being closed, which has sent a number of airlines either into bankruptcy or forced them to seek massive government help. Thai Airways' debt was 245 billion baht ($7.6 billion) at the end of last year, according to local media, which also said it was set to outpace its assets in 2020. Prayut said instead of allowing the airline to go bankrupt, it will ask the insolvency court's for a reorganisation that will allow it to set out a debt restructuring plan. "I am letting Thai Airways submit into the rehabilitation plan and we will not let them go bankrupt as it will affect more than 20,000 lives," he said in a televised address after a cabinet meeting Tuesday. "It is the one way that the airline can operate and the staff still have a job," he said, adding the government would not provide financial support. In a statement after the announcement, the airline said it "will not be dissolved or go into liquidation or be declared bankrupt", though its union said some 5,000 staff out of its 20,000-strong team is expected to be let go. The finance ministry will also likely reduce its shareholder stake, which means it would no longer be a state enterprise, said a government spokesperson. Under Thailand's bankruptcy laws, a company undergoing rehabilitation will not have to repay its creditors during the process, said lawyer Ukrit Detsiri of Price Sanond, which represents international hotel chains and food and beverage companies. Thai Airways creditors will have to work out a "best solution", which could mean debtors can only recover some of their money, said Ukrit. Aviation expert Brendan Sobie said the troubled carrier has tried restructuring in the past, to no success. "They've had issues with government and political meddling on a lot of decisions," said the Singapore-based analyst. Allegations of executive mismanagement, bloated bureaucracy, and corruption have long plagued the airline, which has also come under pressure from increased competition from low-cost carriers. The government was previously mulling a 54 billion baht bailout for the airline, which was met with a public outcry. Thailand's economy is expected to shrink more than six percent this year as the outbreak shatters the country's crucial tourism industry, with all flights into the country banned until the end of June. A remote indigenous Amazonian tribe has said that their traditional remedies made from tree bark and honey have helped when treating symptoms of the coronavirus. The virus has spread rapidly in Amazonas, where more than 20,000 people have been infected with the virus, and 1,400 people have died. The spread has increased fears for the region's indigenous people, who have a history of being greatly affected by foreign diseases. Brazil has an estimated 800,000 indigenous people from 300 ethnic groups. Satere-Mawe indigenous leader Andre Satere (pictured right) and other members of the group return to the community of Wakiru, in Taruma neighbourhood, a rural area west of Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil, after collecting native plants of the Amazon rainforest, to treat people showing symptoms of the coronavirus, May 17 Far from lab coat and face mask territory, a group of indigenous healers with feather and leaf headdresses has been working its way up the Amazon river, looking for medicinal plants to treat the new coronavirus. In a small motor boat, five men from the Satere Mawe tribe have been trying to help their people survive without using the saturated state health system in Amazonas, in northwestern Brazil, which despite its remoteness is one of the places hit hardest by the pandemic. 'We've been treating our symptoms with our own traditional remedies, the way our ancestors taught us,' said Andre Satere Mawe, a tribal leader who comes from a small village on the far outskirts of the state capital, Manaus. 'We've each used the knowledge handed down to us to gather treatments and test them, using each one against a different symptom of the disease.' Satere-Mawe indigenous people prepare medicinal herbs to treat people with symptoms of COVID-19 in the Wakiru community, May 17 A Satere-Mawe indigenous child sits beside an man preparing medicinal herbs to treat people in the tribe with symptoms of coronavirus, May 17 The virus has overwhelmed hospitals in the Amazonas and forced authorities to dig mass graves for the dead. It has also raised fears for the region's indigenous peoples, who have a tragic history of being decimated by diseases brought in from the outside world. The virus has infected 40 indigenous groups, with 537 positive cases and 102 deaths, according to the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples' Association. The Satere Mawes' remedies include teas made from the bark of the carapanauba tree, which has anti-inflammatory properties; from the saracuramira tree, an anti-malarial; and ingredients such as mango peel, mint and honey. Satere-Mawe indigenous leader Valdiney Satere, 43, collects caferana, a native plant of the Amazon rainforest used as medicinal herb, May 17 Priscila Tavares Batista, 36 remains in a bed protected by a mosquito net with her son Jone Tavares, 2, after being treated with medicinal herbs after showing symptoms, May 17 Villagers who suspect they have had the new coronavirus say the traditional remedies work. 'I was feeling weak, it felt like I had something in my lungs, I couldn't breathe,' said Valda Ferreira de Souza, a 35-year-old artisan. 'I took a home-made syrup, which made me feel a lot better.' Rosivane Pereira da Silva, 40, helps Andre Satere Mawe prepare these remedies. She learned the techniques from her grandfather Marcos, who at 93 years old is still teaching her what he knows. Satere-mawe indigenous men navigate the Ariau river wearing face masks during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic at the Sahu-Ape community, May 5 When the pandemic arrived in Amazonas, 'I went and asked him what to do,' said Da Silva. The Satere Mawe, an ethnic group of about 13,000 people, live mainly in the Andira-Marau indigenous reserve. But Andre Satere Mawe's group and others have moved closer to Manaus in recent decades. Not that they are relying on the city's health services. 'They've been forced to choose who gets care and who doesn't - and we don't,' he said, 'but we've learned to fend for ourselves.' Brazil is now the country with the third highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, reporting 262,545, with 17,509 reported deaths. Brazil has now surpassed Britain, Spain and Italy in the past 72 hours on the list of total infections, and is behind only the United States (1.5 million) and (290,000). Last month, experts at two of the country's leading universities said under-testing could mean the real figures were 15 times higher or more than those recorded by the Ministry of Health. The giant South American country of 210 million people is torn by a political battle over how to respond to the virus. Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro compares the virus to a 'little flu,' condemns the 'hysteria' surrounding it and is urging the country to get back to work to stop an economic crash. State and local authorities, however, are largely calling on citizens to stay home and practice social distancing - backed by the Supreme Court, which gave them the final say in the matter. Bolsonaro is now seeking his third health minister since the pandemic began. He fired the first after publicly battling over stay-at-home measures, and the second resigned last week after less than a month on the job, reportedly over the president's insistence on widespread use of the controversial and unproven malaria drug chloroquine to treat the disease. Hospitals in several areas are meanwhile operating close to full capacity, and the hardest-hit cities have begun burying victims in mass graves, even as the number of infections continues to soar. Netflixs show Money Heist has become popular across the globe. The characters and actors playing them on the screen have become household names. Nairobi is one of the most-loved characters from Money Heist. While Nairobi has managed to win all the hearts with her robber skills in the show, the real life Alba Flores is equally talented. Apart from the Spanish show La Casa de Papel (Money Heist in English), Alba has also played a Telugu character in a movie. The Spanish movie, titled Vicente Ferrer, was largely based on the life and events of a Jesuit missionary. The man, originally from Spain, visits the state of Andhra Pradesh and decides to live there in order to improve the lives of the people. The Money Heist star played the role of Shamira in the movie released in 2013. A clip of her character has been doing rounds on the internet. In the short clip, Alba can be seen speaking in Telugu fluently, impressing many netizens. In the movie, she belongs to the village of Anthapuram in Andhra Pradesh and wears traditional clothes. She had also sported a bindi and braid to complete the Indian look. A fan page has shared the image on Instagram and the actress has been since being appraised for her versatility. Can yall believe that she (Alba Flores) played such heavy roles right in the start of her career I mean, if THAT was the start, I cant imagine what shell do in the future, shes already above the skies right now, and she achieved ALL of this fame and love with side roles, read the caption. Three people including two juveniles were apprehended in connection with a theft at a residence in Geeta Colony of Shahdara, police said on Tuesday. According to police, Monu Sheikh (27), a ragpicker bought the stolen items from the minors and the gang was active in the trans-Yamuna Area, they said. All three are residents of Jagatpuri and with their arrest, we have solved five cases of house break-ins, police said. The thefts came to light after one of the victims registered a complaint with police stating that two mobile phones and five laptops were stolen from his residence following which a case was registered on May 3. "During investigation, our team analysed CCTV footage and arrested the seller (Sheikh) of the stolen property. We have recovered two stolen laptops and a mobile from his possession, said Amit Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara). He disclosed that he purchased the stolen articles from two burglars," he added. A stolen mobile phone and two laptops were recovered from the juveniles, he said further. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with restaurant industry executives about the coronavirus response, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on May 18, 2020. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo) Trump Administration Reaches Deal on Manufacture of COVID-19 Drugs, Ingredients The Trump administration has signed a $354 million contract with a Virginia-based company that will lead efforts to manufacture key medicines and drug ingredients for use in the fight against COVID-19. Phlow Corp. is heading a team that will make active pharmaceutical ingredients and the chemical compounds for those ingredients, as well as generic drugs that are in short supply because of surges in hospitalized patients due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. The ingredients and drugs will be manufactured in the United States, including at a new facility to be built in Virginia. The specific drugs werent identified but doctors have warned about shortages of hydroxychloroquine because of its widespread use against COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus. Hydroxychloroquine is usually used against malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis. The related medication chloroquine, the antibiotic azithromycin, and the sedative fentanyl have also seen large increases in use during the pandemic, according to Premier Inc. Recent decades have seen a decline in the manufacturing of generic medicines and drug ingredients in the United States. More than 80 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients and chemical ingredients used in the United States to manufacture generics and over-the-counter drugs are produced abroad. The majority come from China and India. The federal governments four-year contract with Phlow may be extended, for a total of $812 million. Phlow is a startup founded this year to help our nation secure its own strategic drug reserve. America needs a reliable source of domestically manufactured pharmaceuticals and key drug ingredients in the midst of the pandemic, Phlow CEO Dr. Eric Edwards said. An arrangement of hydroxychloroquine pills in Las Vegas, on April 6, 2020. (John Locher/AP Photo) This advanced manufacturing capability will significantly fortify our nations pharmaceutical supply chain for critical medicines, including many required to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19, he said in a statement. Rosemary Gibson, a Phlow board member, told The Epoch Times last month that many countries, including the United States, have become dependent on China for thousands of medicines and ingredients. If China shut the door on exports of the core chemicals, and other ingredients to make them, well see, the countries waiting in line to get vital medicines to care for their populations. Were already beginning to see the pricing rivalry for certain drugs that are now becoming more scarce, because global demand has increased with coronavirus. Its a very serious situation that were approaching, she said. The new project Phlow is leading will be seen in the future as a defining moment and inflection point for protecting American familiesand our countryfrom current and future public health threats, Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, said in a statement May 19. Phlow is partnering with Civica Rx, a nonprofit pharmaceutical company aimed at bringing down the cost of drugs; the Medicines for All Institute at the Virginia Commonwealth University; and AMPAC Fine Chemicals, a Las Vegas-based maker of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The group has begun manufacturing chemical ingredients, active ingredients, and finished forms for more than a dozen medicines to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Researchers at the Microbiology Research Facility work with CCP virus samples as a trial begins to see whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce the severity of COVID-19, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, on March 19, 2020. (Craig Lassig/Reuters) The team is using a technique called flow chemistry, or the mixing of chemical reactions in a tube or pipe, which enables faster reactions and other benefits. This technology has not been widely adopted in the generic pharmaceutical industry but when used, it can increase the quality, safety, and volume of medicines, yielding lower costs for Americans, the team said in a statement. The government funds come from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. America has the capabilities, resources, and expertise to secure our medical supply chains; now the Trump Administration is providing the leadership to make it happen, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. Working with the private sector, HHS is taking a significant step to rebuild our domestic ability to protect ourselves from health threats by utilizing American-made ingredients and creating new American jobs in the process. UN Special Envoy Geir Pedersen On Tuesday said that the anti-conflict sides in Syria have agreed to come to Geneva and to discuss the next agenda. He further said that following this agreement by the opposing parties provides a new opportunity for trust and peace in this enclosure. He said that this is a better chance to establish peace in the region. This will also put an end to the long-standing struggle here. Both sides have agreed to negotiate the constitution. In his statement, he said that as soon as the outbreak of the Corona epidemic subsided, both sides have agreed to participate in the Geneva meeting and discuss the next agenda. However, he has not done any tithi treatment in this regard. He said that this important meeting of the Constitutional Committee is not possible through a virtual meeting. For your information, let us tell you that the peaceful rebellion started in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad nine years ago has turned into a complete civil war. So far more than three lakh people have been killed in it. In this civil war, the entire country has been destroyed and the powerful countries of the world are also entangled. Also Read: Chinese Lab claims, 'We have prepared corona medicine, successful test on animals' Trump makes big disclosure, taking hydroxychloroquine as precaution More than 90,000 people died due to corona in America US President Donald Trump threatens to freeze WHO funding Nearly 4.2 million people have been moved to safety in the coastal regions of India and Bangladesh anticipating one of the severest cyclones in decades, Amphan, making landfall somewhere on the border of the two countries on Wednesday, officials said. On Tuesday, Amphon was still several hundred kilometres out to sea in the Bay of Bengal, packing winds of up to 235 kmph and gusts of 255 kmph. It is, however, expected to lose some steam before the landfall between Digha in West Bengal and Hatiya Islands in Bangladesh. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), cyclone Amphan is expected to cause more damage than its predecessors, cyclone Bulbul in November 2019 and cyclone Alia, 11 years ago. During Bulbul, a total of 1.8 lakh people had been evacuated and about a million people were affected. We have shared the data with Bangladesh also as part of regional office of World Meteorological Organisation, said Sanjib Banerjee, deputy director general of regional meteorological centre in Kolkata. The cyclone will hit when India and Bangladesh are in various stages lockdown to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cyclone relief centres in both the countries are being used as quarantines for a large number of migrant workers returning home. Officials said around 2 million have been evacuated in the coastal districts of West Bengal (1.8 million) and Odisha (2 lakh) and about 2.2 million in Bangladesh. In both Bengal and Odisha, the government has turned vacant school, colleges and other government office buildings into relief centres to ensure social distancing norms. At least three West Bengal coastal districts - East Midnapore, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas and four of Odisha -- Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara --- are likely to bear the brunt of the cyclone. We have around 60 cyclone shelters. But to maintain social distance we will use nearly 600 schools and colleges, where evacuated people will be shifted, Partha Ghosh, district magistrate of East Midnapore. In the six coastal blocks of South 24 Parganas, at least 4200 migrants, who returned from other states over the past few days, have been kept in quarantine, some in cyclone shelters. Now, these shelters cannot be used for evacuees and the administration has turned panchayat offices into cyclone shelter homes. The silver lining is that Covid-19 has not spread in the remote villages of coastal blocks, said Javed Khan, disaster management minister of Bengal. Even though South 24 Parganas has registered 97 Covid-19 cases till date, none have been reported from its six coastal blocks, where the evacuation is in progress. In East Midnapore, only one of 52 cases has been reported from its six coastal blocks. Nodal officers have been deputed for each shelter and front line workers, such as police, doctors and civil defence personnel are being given PPEs, P Ulaganathan, district magistrate of South 24 Parganas, said. In Odishas Balasore, where there are 121 Covid-19 cases, officials said only those quarantine centres, which have not been occupied, will be used for cyclone relief. In the states Bhadrak district, another low-lying Covid-19 hot spot, district collector Gyana Ranjan Das said arrangements had been made to shift the evacuees to cyclone shelters inside 72 panchayats and 363 schools in the district. 558 schools have also been identified to accommodate more people if required, he said. In addition to usual items like food, drinking water and medicines, this is the first time that masks and sanitisers, too, are being stocked at the shelters. People were being told about maintaining social distancing norms. Nodal officers have been deputed for each shelter and front line workers such as police, doctors and civil defence personnel are being be given PPEs, P Ulaganathan, district magistrate of South 24 Parganas, said. While asking people to maintain social distancing, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said maintaining social distancing may not be possible everywhere, as the priority was to save lives in the cyclone. Odishas special relief commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Jena admitted that running cyclone relief centres during the pandemic was a challenge and said the situation was under control and that the district collectors had been given a free hand. Bangaldesh junior disaster management minister, Enamur Rahman, said the number of shelters had been doubled to ensure social distancing, and everyone would be made to wear masks. Banerjee said that nobody should step outside their homes from Wednesday morning till Thursday noon, and should wait for government clearance. Railways and union home ministry have been requested to suspend movement of trains bringing in migrants from other states during the same period, she said. District administrations in the two states are making public announcements in the coastal areas and have told fishermen not to venture out to sea, while small fishing boats that had ventured out earlier were contacted on distress alert transmitters and asked to returned to shore. NDRF and SDRF have been deployed in Bengal and Odishas coastal areas and sandbags are in place to strengthen embankments. Amphans impact on Odisha and West Bengal will likely be felt from Tuesday night onwards as wind speeds in the coastal areas are expected to pick up. Kolkata can see wind speed as high as 130 km per hour, an IMD statement said. Jena said gales between 95-110 kmph are likely to pummel the districts of Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj from Wednesday morning onwards even though the impact in Cuttack and Bhuvaneshwar will not be as severe. The entire region, including parts of north-east, will witness heavy to very heavy rainfall because of the cyclone till Friday. (With AFP inputs) Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has donated a set of equipment to Benin to fight the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the Ministry of Health told PANA on Tuesday Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 17:43:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HEFEI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Wang Mengmeng likes carrying a notebook wherever she goes, a practical way to facilitate her work. From questions to suggestions, or even complaints, she writes it all down during her talks with villagers. "That's my way to get to know the villagers. Whether it's about agricultural production or loan applications, we will respond to their concerns as soon as possible," said Wang, Party chief of Xikong Village of Dingyuan County, east China's Anhui Province. However, things were totally different when she first came to the village in 2013. Nobody trusted her for obvious reasons. She was just a 25-year-old graduate fresh out of school back then. Before graduation, Wang met a woman at a construction site in her university, which turned out to be a life-changing moment for her. The woman was resting near a tree at noon, holding a baby in her arms. She looked even younger than Wang. "Why are you working here?" Wang asked. "Because there's no work in my village," the woman replied. "It not only hurt me to hear that but reminded me that I also had several relatives who had to work away from home because there was not much to do in the countryside," Wang recalled. Unlike her classmates who pursued dreams in big cities, Wang, against her parents' wishes, returned to her hometown of Dingyuan County and settled down in Xikong Village, intending to vitalize the rural area. People had been planting rice and wheat for decades in Xikong Village until the arrival of the young graduate. She proposed to upgrade the agricultural industry by introducing more profitable crops such as vegetables, grapes and strawberries. She invested 100,000 yuan (about 14,000 U.S. dollars) in her strawberry planting experiment in 2013 even though nobody believed she could succeed. "She looked too weak and thin for farm work back then," said Jin Jiaqun, a 65-year-old resident from the village. Within less than a month, more than half of the strawberry seedlings died due to a lack of experience. She was so frustrated and burst into tears looking at the dead strawberries in the fields. She had to replant the seedlings after consulting with experts. "It wasn't very successful in the first year, but I was able to break even and gained plenty of experience," said the new farmer, who won people's trust with her actions. Seven years on, more than 260 hectares of lands have been utilized in the village to plant cash crops such as strawberries and watermelons, or raise crawfish, earning villagers an average annual income of 15,000 yuan. A total of 135 households have been lifted out of poverty. Wang was elected as a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, in 2018. She was also the youngest deputy from the Anhui delegation that year. At this year's "two sessions," she plans to draw people's attention to digital community construction and call for more support for rural regions in this regard, so as to empower China's villagers. "My task is to represent the masses and look for the right direction for rural development," said Wang. Enditem ISTANBUL The Turkish media have come under increasing pressure in recent years as dozens of journalists remain behind bars and the country continues to rank toward the bottom of global press freedom indexes. Now, recently introduced banking regulations pose new threats for reporters covering economic developments in the country amid the coronavirus pandemic, which media advocates say should be immediately revised to limit future prosecutions on journalists and domestic media organizations. On May 7, Turkeys banking regulator, the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, published measures in the nations Official Gazette that mandated the imposition of fines for disseminating information that would damage the financial system and lead to systemic risks due to the loss of trust in the financial system. The regulations would also impose fines for the creation of false or misleading impressions regarding the supply, demand or price of financial instruments. Though the measures are not primarily aimed at journalists, the wording could have an effect on media professionals reporting on economic trends as Turkey, like other countries, grapples with the economic shocks of the COVID-19 crisis, said Ozgur Ogret, Turkey representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists. The experts we have talked to all stated that the vagueness of the text makes it potentially dangerous and I agree, Ogret told Al-Monitor. The regulation is one more reason for journalists to worry and maybe self-censor, if nothing else. The developments come after the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency temporarily blocked three international banks BNP Paribas, Citibank and UBS from performing Turkish lira-foreign exchange transactions earlier this month to prevent perceived manipulation of financial markets. Turkish regulators had previously launched legal action against London-based financial institutions, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency, over allegations they had weakened the Turkish lira, which fell to a historic low of 7.25 against the US dollar May 7. The alleged currency manipulation and measures to shield Turkish financial markets from further volatility are part of a state efforts to regain control over capital movements as emerging markets are battered by pandemic concerns and the Turkish lira has lost 16% of its value since the start of the year. Yet the regulations come in an already restricted media climate where 95% of mainstream outlets are pro-state or owned by government-friendly enterprises and independent media organizations remain under pressure following a general decline in freedom of speech rights since the 2016 coup attempt. Erol Onderoglu, the Turkey representative for Reporters Without Borders, told Al-Monitor that conditions are such that journalists aiming to inform properly, vocal experts and recalcitrant citizens are taken as a threat. Two Bloomberg News reporters remain on trial in Turkey for allegedly undermining the nations economy through their reporting of a 2018 currency crisis. If convicted, the pair face up to five years in prison, and while they continue to seek acquittal, the case also included 36 other people and social media users who shared information deemed to be intentionally damaging for the nations economy. The Bloomberg case is the main reason that makes this new regulation worrisome, Ogret said. If that can happen, it is not illogical to assume that a banking regulation may cause trouble for finance and economy reporters or commentators. More recently, Fatih Portakal, a prominent and often critical TV anchor for the Fox News channel in Turkey, was charged for posting false social media messages to manipulate the public on his Twitter account. If found guilty for the posts, which stipulated the likelihood of future government financial interventions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Portakal could face up to three years in prison. This comes as 855 social media users are sought for detention for sharing provocative online posts. As of April 27, Turkeys Ministry of Interior said it had detained 402 of the account holders, alleging their posts were attempting to cause panic over the governments response efforts to stem the spread of the virus. In other press freedom developments, seven journalists were charged May 8 for violating the regulations restricting coverage of national intelligence operations. Journalists from the news website OdaTV and the newspapers Yeni Yasam, Yenicag and Birgun face charges that could carry sentences of eight to 17 years in prison for reporting on the death of a Turkish intelligence officer killed in Libya, where Ankara is supporting the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord amid an ongoing conflict. Earlier in May, a media storm took place when commentator Sevda Noyan boasted on live TV that her family had stockpiled enough weapons to kill 50 people if an attempt was made to overthrow the government. Noyan said she also had a list of suspect neighbors she would target in the case of a coup attempt. Responding to public criticism of the incident, Ebubekir Sahin, the head of Turkeys broadcast regulator RTUK, said that the TV channel that aired Noyans comments would not be reprimanded and that the incident as not a matter to make a big deal about. Although he later stepped back, saying that Noyans remarks were unacceptable, no punitive action was taken against the broadcaster as of this writing. Meanwhile, prominent opposition figure Canan Kaftancioglu, the Republican Peoples Party leader in Istanbul, was widely condemned after appearing on a Halk TV program in which she spoke about a government change and even a change in the [governance] system through early elections or some other way in the coming period. Pro-government commentators said the phrase some other way was a veiled endorsement of a coup in Turkey, and RTUK imposed fines on Halk TV and a five-week ban on the program that aired Kaftancioglus remarks. This came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan filed a criminal complaint May 6 against Ragip Zarakolu, a managing director of the Evrensel newspaper and Arti Gercek news website, over a column titled There is no escape from ill fortune in which he allegedly supported a coup. Zarakolu has denied such claims, but the column was condemned by government officials, including Erdogan's communications director, Fahrettin Altun. Altun accused the writer of making coup and execution threats against Erdogan for publishing the presidents photo next to a photo of former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who was executed following a 1960 coup. Ogret said that given the highly sensitive media environment, the new banking regulations could act to further restrict journalistic coverage of developments in Turkey as the nation continues to deal with the political and economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic. Freedom of speech has been in decline in Turkey for years now and it drags press freedom along with it, Ogret said. He continued, The government wants nothing but official comments on the news about any given subject, whether it be economy or Syria or the coronavirus. Those who dare to step out of that boundary are living and reporting in fear of retaliation with each story or social media post. GHENT, Belgium and ROCKVILLE, Md., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ProDigest and CosmosID announce today the winner of the GMTI challenge. The El Aidy lab from the university of Groningen, won the challenge with their submitted research plan to investigate the "Role of anti-Parkinson's Disease (PD) medication in enhancing bacterial overgrowth and community dynamics along the gastrointestinal tract." The project will be conducted on ProDigest's gastrointestinal SHIME platform. Upon intake of anti-PD medication, the shifts in the microbial saccharolytic and proteolytic activity will be measured, and the taxonomic and functional modulation of the gut microbiota will be assessed by sequencing and analysis with CosmosID's industry-leading microbiome analysis pipeline. "We were very enthusiastic about the response from companies and universities. We received almost 50 submissions from all corners of the world. The decision was not an easy one," said Dr. Pieter Van den Abbeele, CSO of ProDigest and part of the reviewing committee. Manoj Dadlani, CEO of CosmosID, commented: "Professor El Aidy's proposed study touches on two exciting areas of research; the Gut-Brain Axis as well as pharmacomicrobiomics. Studies like this are crucial for understanding how drugs are metabolised, the link between the microbiome and patient response as well as investigating prevalent gastrointestinal side effects associated with many medications in this area of medicine." "I am very delighted to have received the joint SHIME/CosmosID pre-clinical study award," said professor Sahar El Aidy "Together with the advanced microbiome sequencing technology at CosmosID, the highly developed compartmentalization of the SHIME in vitro model that ProDigest provides, would be ideal for us to study pre-clinical effects of anti-PD medication on the gut microbial community and how this, in turn, impacts the level of drug absorbed in the upper intestinal tract." More details can be found on the CosmosID blog . Contacts For ProDigest: Aurelien Baudot +32 9 241 11 90 [email protected] For CosmosID: Kelly Moffat +1 703 995 9879 [email protected] SOURCE CosmosID Holy Diamond Records signee - Obaa L is here with a brand-new Afro Beat hit titled "Fa Ma Me" featuring Ghanas fast-rising star Smokeybeatz. The Afro-beats jam is spiced up with pensive love lyrics and an infectious hook which basically talks about two couples professing their love to each other. The music video, which was directed by Richmond Amoako, was shot in a coded location. Scenes of the video depicts two people going about their daily love lives and relishing in their wins. In the lyrics, the lady was requesting for the guy's heart as a token of his love to her. The guy on the hand also promised to stay loyal to her regardless of the situation. Video: Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Super cyclone 'Amphan' weakened into an extremely severe cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal Tuesday afteroon as it rolled towards the Indian shores in West Bengal and Odisha where lakhs of people were evacuated from vulnerable areas and shifted to safety, officials said. The two states are on high alert, as the cyclone, cramming high-velocity winds, triggered rains in several parts of Odisha. An India Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletin said the cyclone lay centred over west-central Bay of Bengal, about 520 km south of Paradip in Odisha and 670 km south-southwest of Digha in West Bengal. It was moving north-northeastwards at a speed of 14 kmph. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said around three lakh people have been evacuated from the coastal areas in the state. The evacuees, she said, have been shifted to cyclone shelters. Authorities, however, were mindful of the difficulty they could face in ensuring social distancing norms at these shelters in the state which has witnessed a surge in COVID-19 cases over the last few days. "Indeed, there will be some problems but we will ensure that social distancing is maintained at cyclone centres," he said. Banerjee said she will talk to the railways and ask it to not run Shramik Special trains to the state to bring back migrant labourers from Wednesday till Thursday morning as a precautionary measure. Odisha is in a state of readiness to evacuate around 11 lakh people living in vulnerable areas, officials said. The process has already started and an unspecified number of people have been sheltered in cyclone centres. Coastal districts of North and South 24 Parganas, and East Midnapore, including the ecologically fragile Sundarbans, in West Bengal face a serious threat of inundation and significant damage to life and property. "The evacuees have been put up at cyclone shelters, schools and colleges. Our experience in tackling cyclone Fani and Bulbul last year will be put to good use," the state's Disaster Department Minister Javed Khan said. The government, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, has distributed more than two lakh masks among the evacuees, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) have been handed out to the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) personnel deployed in the vulnerable areas, a senior official said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to chief ministers of West Bengal and Odisha -- Mamata Banerjee and Navin Patnaik--and assured them of all possible help to deal with the situation, officials said in New Delhi. 'Amphan' had turned into a super cyclonic storm from extremely severe cyclonic storm on Monday, only the second such tropical storm over the Bay of Bengal in two decades, before getting somewhat enfeebled. Odisha was savaged by a super cyclone in 1999 that had claimed around 10,000 lives. As 'Amphan' rumbled towards the Indian coastline, the effect was felt in Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Khurda districts of Odisha which witnessed light rain and wind. Both are set to intensify over Tuesday and Wednesday. The cyclone is likely to make a landfall between Digha, some 180 km south of Kolkata in West Bengal, and Hatiya islands in Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon. The maximum sustained wind speed at the time of the landfall is likely to range between 155 and 165 kmph, gusting to 180 kmph. IMD Director-General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said since the cyclone is gradually weakening, its impact is unlikely to be very severe in Odisha. However, coastal districts like Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore are likely to be battered by heavy rains and high-velocity winds from Tuesday evening, he said. Fourteen teams of National Disaster Response Force, each consisting of 45 personnel, and 20 units of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have been deployed in the districts likely to be hit. "Around 4,000 SDRF personnel are monitoring the evacuation operation. The entire fishermen community has been asked not to venture out to the sea for the next two days, and those who are at sea have been asked to return," an official of the West Bengal disaster management department said. Relief materials, including dry food and tarpaulin, have been dispatched to coastal areas, he said. Quick response teams comprising trained civil defence volunteers and vehicles with safety gear have already reached the districts. The State Emergency Operation Centre at the secretariat is in constant touch with the exigency units set up in the districts, he said. The state's forest department has, meanwhile, formed rapid response teams to ensure that tigers from Sundarbans in South 24 Parganas do not stray into nearby human settlements. Chief Wildlife Warden Ravi Kant Sinha said a control room has been set up at Gosaba to monitor the situation in the mangrove forests round-the-clock. Rapid response teams have been deployed in Sajnekhali and Jharkhali in South 24 Parganas with tranquiliser guns, nets and speed boats to negotiate the creeks during urgency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Community Aid has announced it will open three of its stores in the midstate on Friday. As Cumberland and York counties move into the states yellow phase the organization will reopen its stores in the Mechanicsburg, Hanover and York areas. The stores are located at 4833 Carlisle Pike in Hampden Township; 793 Baltimore St. in Penn Township, York County, and at 2001 Springwood Road in York Township. The store will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and donations will be accepted from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The organization made the announcement on its Facebook page. When the stores open there were be some noticeable changes related to COVID-19: All customers and employees are required to wear face masks. There will be a limit on the amount of people inside the stores. There will be floor markings at the cash register to ensure social distancing and cleaning after every transaction. The fitting rooms will be closed. Associates are not able to help unload donations to ensure social distancing and some locations may be unable to accept large furniture at this time. There are 37 counties in the western part of the state that have moved into the yellow phase, while 12 more counties in Pennsylvania will move into the yellow phase on Friday including Cumberland, York and Perry counties. Stores in the Harrisburg and Lancaster areas are located in counties that are still in the states red phase and will remain closed. CommunityAid Selinsgrove reopened to the public on May 8 when Snyder County entered the yellow phase". Community Aid is a nonprofit organization that sells gently used items and raises funds for distribution to local schools, churches, synagogues, temples, and non-profit charitable organizations. --Sign up for PennLives newsletters 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. You can follow Daniel Urie on twitter @DanielUrie2018 and you can like PennLives business page on Facebook at @PennLiveBusiness Our Divisions Copyright 2021-22 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved This website follows the DNPA Code of Ethics. RACINE COUNTY As COVID-19 testing ramps up in Racine County, the percentage of those tests coming back positive remains double the rate of positive tests statewide and within the county, the City of Racines percentage of positive tests is double the rest of the county. Racine County has the third-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state after Milwaukee County, 5,076, and Brown County, 2,118. Among Racines neighboring counties, Kenosha has 866 confirmed cases, Waukesha 492 and Walworth 287. Statewide, 148,237 tests have come back negative while 12,885 were positive, showing the states percentage of positive tests remains at 8%. As of Tuesday afternoon, the percentage of confirmed tests in Racine County was 15.7%; 1,097 came back positive and 5,871 came back negative. Within the City of Racine Health Departments jurisdiction, 715 cases were confirmed positive and 2,580 were confirmed negative, which mean out of all tests administered, 21.7% tested positive. The Central Racine County Health Department reported 382 confirmed positive cases and 3,291 confirmed negative, meaning only 10.4% of those tested were positive. The city still has another 93 probable cases and CRCHD reported another 106. Racine County has reported 20 deaths due to COVID-19, eight in the City of Racine and 12 in the rest of the county; statewide that number is 467. About 16% of patients statewide, 2,110, have required hospitalization. As of Tuesday, the novel coronavirus has killed 467 Wisconsinites, according to the state Department of Health Services. Over 500 tests collected at Festival Hall The Wisconsin National Guard collected 522 samples at the drive-thru testing site at Festival Hall on Monday as part of a weeklong initiative to expand testing within the City of Racine. Free community testing is scheduled to continue from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday. Anyone who wishes to be tested can walk to the parking lot or drive up in their vehicles; those who wish to take advantage of drive-up testing should enter Pershing Drive by turning right off of Main Street while headed northbound, next to Gateway Technical College. Test results take 48 hours to process so they are not reflected the states updated COVID-19 numbers released on Tuesday. According to the latest data published on the Department of Health Services website, 5,463 tests came back negative and 1,061 cases came back positive. The Festival Hall site is one of more than 40 ongoing free testing sites in Wisconsin as the state aims to ramp up its testing measures to get a better understanding of the spread of COVID-19. No doctors note is needed to get tested; its open to everyone. The site at Festival Hall is the second free community testing site so far in the county. The first ran from May 11-15 at Burlington High School. There are now 25 National Guard teams throughout the state devoted entirely to COVID-19 testing. Each team is made up of 20-30 citizen soldiers and/or airmen. According to the National Guard: After collecting the specimens at each site, Wisconsin National Guard troops send the test kits to a state lab for analysis, and individual citizens receive their results via a phone call from their local health department or a state call center within three-to-five days following the test. Industrial facility testing Also on Tuesday, the National Guard reported that it was conducting testing at an undisclosed industrial facility in Sturtevant. The state is investigating about 300 facilities (mostly comprised of workplaces and long-term care facilities) nationwide where localized outbreaks of COVID-19 are confirmed or suspected. The specific locations of the outbreaks are not disclosed by DHS, excluding nursing homes. Thirty of those investigations are in Racine County. Two nursing homes in the county have been subject to investigations so far: Ridgewood Care Center, 3205 Wood Road in Mount Pleasant, and The Bay at Burlington Health and Rehabilitation Center, 677 E. State St. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Like many sectors airline, chemical, tourism, hotels, motels, and retail, the igaming industry is taking a dive during the times of Coronavirus. According to the most positive estimations by the American Gaming Association, the US economy will lose $21.3 billion in direct spending by consumers, if casinos stay closed for two months. If the quarantine is carried over into the summer, however, losses will escalate, and it is difficult to foresee with any degree of precision right now the extent of the disaster the world will face after the end of the lockdown. Land-based casinos are bearing the brunt of the economic crisis in the gambling industry. As soon as the virus arrived to America, the majority of them closed their doors to visitors. These radical measures were justified: the crowds had to be stopped from flocking where people touch chips, cards, slot machines, drinks, and money and, in so doing, spread Coronavirus among themselves. By early-April, therefore, almost all facilities in the United States around 94 percent of them were temporary out of service. In Finland, brick-and-mortar casinos were closed even earlier. At the beginning of March, Veikkaus, the Finnish national gaming company, announced that it would shut down not only land-based facilities but also all gaming sites and slot machines in supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants, coffee shops, and kiosks. Feel Vegas and Pelaamot were also closed to visitors. All customer events that Veikkaus often organizes were cancelled until the end of the quarantine. Online activity has been popular since the late 1990s, and many people had preferred wagering from homes even before the Corona pandemic broke out. Now, when people are forced into isolation and cannot fly to Casino Helsinki or the PAF Casino in Mariehamn, they are expected to turn to websites, which offer a wider selection of bonuses than land-based casinos. They can find an equally rich depository of bonuses on licensed and unlicensed websites. Both types of websites treat their customers to generous bonuses, though the Finnish governments attitude to them differs. It lends complete support to licensed local websites run by the PAF and RAY but takes issues with unlicensed foreign operators. At licensed websites, players data are protected: neither their maximum wagers nor restriction to operating hours nor self-exclusion measures are ever disclosed. Players also need to satisfy certain conditions to join local websites. They must be at least 18 years of age. Unless they join a No Registration Casino (known as kasinot ilman rekisteroitymista), they need to register to start playing. They also need to have a Finnish bank account, a Finnish security number, and a permanent address in Finland. Veikkaus also requires players to set a daily and monthly loss limits. Among the most secured licensed casino websites designed for Finnish players are Paf.com, Betsson, Unibet, ComeOn, and NordicBet. The governments protection is not extended to Finns wagering with foreign unlicensed providers. Because placing bets with unlicensed websites is not outlawed in Finland, players can register with any foreign operator but they do this at their own risk. On their part, foreign websites 888sport, Bet365, Rizk, BetWay, and LeoVegas, among others encourage Finnish players to use their bonuses and even translate their content into Finnish language to make their interaction with it easier. A FILE is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions in the case of a mother-of-two, who is accused of stealing almost 12,000 worth of jewellery from two homes. Andrienna Williams, 38, who has an address at Elm Green Close, Elm Park, Castletroy appeared before Limerick District Court after she was charged with burglary. She is also accused of handling a stolen bank card which was used at a shop in the city a number of hours after it was taken. All of the offences are alleged to have happened on dates last month. Garda Aine McWilliams said it will be alleged the defendant stole a number of rings after she entered a house in the Ennis Road area between 3pm and 4.15pm on April 29. She said the rings, worth around 4,000, had been left on the kitchen counter by an occupant who was upstairs cleaning at the time. The second burglary is alleged to have happened at a house in Farranshone on April 30. Garda McWilliams told Judge Carol Anne Coolican rings, jewellery and a watch were taken from a bedside locker and that the culprit had leaned over the owner who was asleep at the time. Ms Williams is also accused of using a stolen bank card to carry out a transaction to the value of 28.75 on April 29 and with stealing goods worth 40 from Dunnes Stores, Harveys Quay on January 20, last. Opposing bail, Garda McWillams said CCTV footage has been obtained by investigating gardai and that a number of independent witnesses have also made statements in relation to the burglaries. She said the defendant is addicted to Xanax and she expressed concerns she would commit further similar offences if released and would not abide by any bail conditions. Solicitor Tom Kiely said his client had cooperated with gardai when questioned and was willing to abide by any conditions imposed by the court. He said she is entitled to the presumption of innocence and he asked the court to note the current delays in progressing cases particularly given the Covid-19 situation. Judge Coolican said she was not inclined to grant bail in the circumstances. Waiting lists dwindle at Quebec's youth protection agency, but is that a good sign? The wait for youth protection services in Quebec is at a historic low, and junior health minister Lionel Carmant says credit should go to the government's recent $65 million investment into the system. But experts and union officials believe the decrease is morel likely due to the pandemic, which has closed many of the usual facilities where children in need of help are identified. With the exception of Nunavik, the Monteregie and the Eastern Townships, waiting lists for youth protection services in the province are empty, Carmant said at a news conference this weekend. Carmant attributed the development to a funding increase in the in Quebec's 20192020 budget, which included $47 million to hire an additional 600 case workers. But Universite du Quebec en Outaouais professor Marie-Eve Clement, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Violence Against Children, said empty waiting lists were to be expected. Restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 mean there are fewer opportunities to observe and report potential cases where protective care may be necessary, she said. In a 2019 report, the Director of Youth Protection (DYP) said 20 per cent of its cases were first flagged in schools, 34 per cent in community organizations and 10 per cent in the community. "All of those sources are now unavailable," Clement said. 'Good initiatives,' but union says more needs to be done Steve Garceau, the national representative for the APTS union, which represents social service workers, also named teachers, community organizers and staff at CLSCs as crucial parts of the protection system that have effectively been sidelined by COVID-19 restrictions. Garceau said the union's research shows reports have declined 30 per cent around the province since the pandemic began. Carmant acknowledged he is "very worried" that the DYP is not hearing about the province's most vulnerable children. But he added that the lack of waiting lists now means "when there is a report, it will be dealt with in a reasonable time." And he said various changes made at the DYP had led to a "net improvement in the situation." Story continues Carmant noted various programs the government has implemented to address concerns about the safety of children during the pandemic, including awareness campaigns, flyers sent in the mail and better contact between the DYP and schools and community organizations. These are "good initiatives," Garceau said, but added that Quebec still needs to do more, especially for the most vulnerable children. At this point, students in Montreal won't return to school until September at the earliest, he observed. "That's a long time, very long, for a child in a vulnerable situation" to be out of contact with people who can help, Garceau said. Laura Murdock, a University of South Carolina PhD candidate in chemistry, examines a polymer film that outperformed all other known membranes used for separating carbon dioxide and methane. She created the membrane, which was designed by a machine learning algorithm for superior performance. Scientists at the University of South Carolina and Columbia University have developed a faster way to design and make gas-filtering membranes that could cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce pollution. Their new method, published in Science Advances, mixes machine learning with synthetic chemistry to design and develop new gas-separation membranes more quickly. Recent experiments applying this approach resulted in new materials that separate gases better than any other known filtering membranes. The discovery could revolutionize the way new materials are designed and created, Brian Benicewicz, the University of South Carolina SmartState chemistry professor, said. "It removes the guesswork and the old trial-and-error work, which is very ineffective," Benicewicz said. "You don't have to make hundreds of different materials and test them. Now you're letting the machine learn. It can narrow your search." Plastic films or membranes are often used to filter gases. Benicewicz explained that these membranes suffer from a tradeoff between selectivity and permeability - a material that lets one gas through is unlikely to stop a molecule of another gas. "We're talking about some really small molecules," Benicewicz said. "The size difference is almost imperceptible. If you want a lot of permeability, you're not going to get a lot of selectivity." Benicewicz and his collaborators at Columbia University wanted to see if big data could design a more effective membrane. The team at Columbia University created a machine learning algorithm that analyzed the chemical structure and effectiveness of existing membranes used for separating carbon dioxide from methane. Once the algorithm could accurately predict the effectiveness of a given membrane, they turned the question around: What chemical structure would make the ideal gas separation membrane? Sanat K. Kumar, the Bykhovsky Professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia, compared it to Netflix's method for recommending movies. By examining what a viewer has watched and liked before, Netflix determines features that the viewer enjoys and then finds videos to recommend. His algorithm analyzed the chemical structures of existing membranes and determined which structures would be more effective. The computer produced a list of 100 hypothetical materials that might surpass current limits. Benicewicz, who leads a synthetic chemistry research group, identified two of the proposed structures that could plausibly be made. Laura Murdock, a UofSC PhD student in chemistry, made the prescribed polymers and cast them into thin films. When the membranes were tested, their effectiveness was close to the computer's prediction and well above presumed limits. "Their performance was very good, much better than what had been previously made," Murdock said. "And it was pretty easy. It has the potential for commercial use." Separating carbon dioxide and methane has an immediate application in the natural gas industry; CO2 must be removed from natural gas to prevent corrosion in pipelines. But Murdock said the method of using big data to remove the guesswork from the process leads to another question: "What other polymer materials can we apply machine learning to and create better materials for all kinds of applications?" Benicewicz said machine learning could help scientists design new membranes for separating greenhouse gases from coal, which can help to reduce climate change. "This work thus points to a new way of materials design," Kumar said. "Rather than test all the materials that exist for a particular application, you look for the part of a material that best serves the need that you have. When you combine the very best materials then you have a shot at designing a better material." Kenyan-based beer maker, East African Breweries Limited, has donated an additional Sh50 million to the Covid-19 Emergency Fund. Kenya Breweries Limited Finance Director Kinya Kimotho presented the cheque to Kennedy Kihara, Secretary Emergency Board Response Fund Covid 19 at a handover ceremony at KICC Nairobi. The Sh50 million is an addition to the Sh70 million the company donated towards alleviating the coronavirus crisis in Kenya. EABL had already spent Sh70 million to fund the production and distribution of one million hand sanitiser packs to front line health workers and vulnerable communities. The company also undertook a public awareness campaign to help fight the spread of Covid-19, the brewer said in a statement on Monday. At this critical time, with our country in the middle of the biggest crisis since independence, EABL continues to partner the Government of Kenya to combat the spread of Covid-19 disease, to save lives. We are pleased to complement Kenya COVID-19 Emergency Funds role in helping frontline health workers and others in critical need during this time, EABL Group MD Andrew Cowan said. Meanwhile, EABL has said its profit after tax for the year ending June is likely to decline by 25% compared to the previous period. The COVID-19 global pandemic and the subsequent response measures taken across the region have impacted our business negatively, the company said in a statement on Saturday. EABL, which is controlled by British drinks group Diageo, reported Sh11.52 billion in profit after tax for the year ended June 2019. NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Chi "Vincent" Ko has finalized a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission regarding allegations that Mr. Ko's former company, First Pay Solutions, allowed a small number of rogue independent agents to sign up fraudster merchants for credit card processing. The rogue agents submitted falsified applications that caused First Pay and First Data (now owned by Fiserv) to accept working relationships with dishonest merchants, who then engaged in fraudulent activities that harmed consumers. The rogue agents allegedly created unlawful websites, registered shell companies, and generated fake invoices and shipping labels to avoid detection by First Pay and its processing company, First Data. These bad actors operated without Mr. Ko's knowledge, and many of these agents were convicted based upon the cooperation of Mr. Ko, himself described by the government as a victim in those government cases. Jim Walden, Managing Partner of Walden Macht & Haran and lawyer for Mr. Ko, states, "Mr. Ko leveraged his background in the Asian restaurant industry to create a company that helped connect traditionally underserved business owners with payment processing solutions and access to the payment networks. As the company grew, Mr. Ko hired experienced risk and underwriting professionals to oversee an expansion into the online and related payments industry and to interface directly with First Data's internal risk and underwriting departments. First Pay's risk department ultimately failed to effectively screen out deceptive merchant applications submitted by a small set of fraudulent sales agents. That failure caused substantial financial harm to both First Pay and Mr. Ko, who agreed to turn over his entire $100 million First Pay portfolio to First Data in 2014 so that the income could be used to repay consumers harmed by the dishonest activities of these fraudulent agents and merchants. Mr. Ko unequivocally denies prior knowledge that these agents and merchants were engaged in fraud. He has spent the past several years working as a First Data executive and has continued to cooperate diligently with law enforcement to assist them in the prosecution of the fraudulent agents who engineered these pernicious schemes." Walden continues, "Mr. Ko is confident that if the matter were to proceed to trial, the facts of the case would definitively demonstrate that First Pay exceeded its underwriting obligations and was, itself, a victim of these fraudulent agents. The arrests of these individuals were made possible by Mr. Ko's voluntary cooperation with law enforcement. When, after these convictions, the FTC turned its sights on Mr. Ko claiming he 'should have known' about their activities, Mr. Ko decided to resolve this matter expeditiously by paying an additional monetary penalty that was far less than the legal fees he would have spent defending against the lawsuit." Mitchell C. Shapiro of the MCShapiro Law Group, a recent addition to Mr. Ko's legal team with over 25 years experience in fintech and payment industry matters, states, "Mr. Ko is pleased that the FTC was willing to accept a settlement that permits him to rebuild his portfolio of low-risk merchant clients, primarily restaurants and others in the Asian-American business community (of which he previously had amassed 13,000), and to continue providing proprietary and other technology services and solutions to any other payments industry participants, including financial institutions, acquirers, processors, ISOs and sales agents." Media contact: Julia Pacetti, [email protected], (917) 584-7846 SOURCE Walden Macht & Haran French citizens and residents travelling home from outside the European Union will be asked to observe a two-week "voluntary" quarantine, France's foreign minister said Tuesday. The measure will not affect non-EU foreign visitors as the bloc's exterior borders remain closed in a bid to contain the coronavirus epidemic. "Starting Wednesday, we will ask all French people... returning to France and people who reside in France to voluntarily submit to a quarantine" of two weeks, Jean-Yves Le Drian told the LCI broadcaster. This will apply only to those returning from beyond the EU, he said. There has been no quarantine for citizens or residents returning to French soil until now. The new measure will rely on "individual responsibility", Le Drian explained. Returning travellers can choose whether to observe the autonomous lockdown at home or another venue. In March, the European Union banned foreign nationals from entering its Schengen area, an open border zone comprising 22 of 27 member states, with exceptions for medical workers and essential travel. Last week, it set out plans for a phased restart of travel, urging member states to reopen internal borders while recommending that external frontiers remain shut until at least the middle of June. "Concerning the internal borders, we have reciprocity agreements with neighbouring countries and one can imagine that progressively, provided deconfinement works and the pandemic does not resume, we will be able to reconsider these closure measures," said Le Drian. "I think that progressively from June 15, we will be able to start a generalised easing, at least that is what I hope." France's main Charles-de-Gaulle airport, north of Paris, has installed thermal cameras to detect arriving passengers with a high fever, one of the symptoms of coronavirus infection. Search Keywords: Short link: SPRINGFIELD The Illinois Department of Employment Security has confirmed that a new online portal that processes claims for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance briefly allowed public access to applicants personal information including Social Security numbers. The PUA system, which went online May 11, is a federal program that provides unemployment benefits to gig workers and other independent contractors who are not normally covered by regular unemployment insurance. The data breach was first made public Saturday when state Rep. Terri Bryant, a Murphysboro Republican, said in a news release that she had been alerted to the issue by a constituent the previous day. Through a series of just two clicks, this constituent stumbled upon the personal information of thousands of unemployment applicants on the IDES website, Bryant said. This came up in a spreadsheet with thousands of names containing sensitive information. The information she was able to access included the name, address, Social Security number, and unemployment claimant ID number of thousands of people. In a statement Monday, IDES said its analysis found that one PUA claimant had inadvertently accessed personal data for a limited number of claimants. That claimant notified the department of the issue and within an hour, it was corrected to prevent any future unauthorized access, the agency said. The state of Illinois contracted with the international business services company Deloitte to build and maintain the web-based portal. IDES said it is now working with the company to run a full-scale investigation into the problem while conducting additional tests to prevent any future data breaches. It also said it is working to notify affected individuals and will release the analysis of its investigation once its completed. Asked about the issue during his daily COVID-19 briefing Monday in Chicago, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said similar issues have occurred elsewhere in the public and private sectors but that the state and Deloitte were working to resolve the problem. This, as you know, has happened in large corporations and other aspects of other governments around the United States, and we dont like it happening here, Pritzker said. Deloitte, which built that system, and obviously the glitch that was in there is something that was a result of the work that was done to build it, but they are offering credit reporting for all of those who are affected by it to make sure that they can monitor their credit in case theres any problem they may undergo. Meanwhile, IDES still encourages people covered by the program to continue filing for benefits through the PUA portal. The agency said more than 50,000 claims have been processed through the system so far. The program provides up to 39 weeks worth of benefits for qualifying workers who have COVID-19-related claims. People with questions or who need help with unemployment benefits are encouraged to visit IDES.Illinois.gov. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The pair teamed up again for a remake of the cult classic Wake In Fright, which airs as a two-part miniseries on Network Ten later this year. "Alex deliberately didn't want to watch the original film, which I think is great," says Stenders. "Obviously he's been acting since he was a teenager, but he's at the perfect age right now that he can [perform] very honestly and authentically and realistically." Many of us have watched Dimitriades grow from baby-faced lothario into leading man. Kriv Stenders, who directed him in his Logie-winning performance in The Principal, says he is 'blown away' by the actor's work ethic. "That was a very challenging role, Alex was virtually in every scene and it was just effortless," Stenders recalls. "He doesn't have any airs or graces about him He's paid his dues and is up there as one of the greats." "I try and keep a low profile as much as possible these days," he says, climbing into a booth with a black baseball cap balanced high on his head, his white T-shirt ridged with laundry folds. "I'm not rocking up to too many events ... I have become more and more private," he affects an old-timey voice, "in me old age." Before we meet, several people warn me that Alex Dimitriades might be a bit 'difficult'. After 25 years in the tabloids he's notoriously guarded about his personal life, so I'm ready for anything. But when he arrives for lunch at the so-hip-it-hurts Sydney cafe The Grounds of the City, there's no trace of attitude. Dimitriades seems more like a 20-something lad than a 43-year-old man as he taps restlessly at his iPhone 5. "Stop it!" he yells into the screen when it starts to rattle. He doesn't like email. Never listens to his voicemail. He has Instagram but keeps his account hidden. "I just don't like people I don't know commenting on all my s--t, it makes me feel awkward," he says. "If I don't know that person it's just like 'Who the f--k are you? Shut your mouth!'" He laughs, a high-pitched, infectious giggle. "Just sit down, you don't know me. Just, shhh!" Dimitriades in his breakout role as Nick in Heartbreak High. We order: New Zealand pinot noir and burrata and lobster slathered in butter. He complains about the size of the crustacean. Sings a few bars of an unknown song. Steals a fry from my plate. Giggles again. I wonder if he's bored. "No, that's not what I think. It's like saying something just to f--k with someone. People don't know when I'm joking, so it's quite bizarre." An acting career was almost accidental. After an open casting call in Sydney's south-west, Dimitriades was cast in The Heartbreak Kid, the raunchy story of Claudia Karvan falling for her much younger student. Karvan was only a few months older than him, despite the on-screen age gap. "I was chatting to her about this at the Logies this year when we presented an award together for the hundredth time they love putting us together and it's the only time I ever see her but I forget how young she was as well." The hit film was quickly spun off into an afternoon television series, Heartbreak High. "It's weird because the film was really successful and launched me personally, but I seem to get more feedback on the series it shaped so many teenagers' lives, and they can really relate to it. If you had an inkling of 'interesting' about you then [the show] was your thing. People feel quite fortunate to have had that in their lives at that age, which is nice to hear. Especially because at the time, it was all so overwhelming, I wasn't really trying to hear that. I was like, 'yeah whatever'. When you're that young and have that much attention on you, you don't know how to deal with it." IATA is also proposing that temperature scans be done as soon as travelers arrive at the airport, and potentially again when they land at their destination, if local health officials deem it necessary. Passengers and crew members should also be asked to wear masks both in the airport and while on the airplane. And airport access should be limited to workers, travelers and those critical to a travelers journey. At least seven killed as gunmen open fire on worshippers offering evening prayers at a mosque in Parwan province. Gunmen have opened fire in a mosque in central Afghanistan, killing at least seven worshippers and wounding five others, officials said. Parwan provinces police chief Haroon Mubarez said on Tuesday the gunmen stormed the mosque when worshippers were offering evening prayers after breaking their Ramadan fast. Seven people have been killed and 12 wounded. The gunmen fled the area, he told the AFP news agency. It was unclear how many gunmen were involved in the attack. Afghanistans Ministry of Interior confirmed Tuesdays attack in Parwans capital Charekar, blaming it on the Taliban. The armed group denied responsibility. Uptick in violence The United Nations has warned of an alarming uptick in violence against civilians in Afghanistan. Last week, a shocking attack on a Kabul maternity ward killed 24 people, including newborn babies. Violence increased around the country even after a February 29 United States-Taliban pact on the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces in exchange for Taliban security guarantees. Elsewhere in the country, Afghan security forces on Tuesday clashed with Taliban fighters near the city of Kunduz, a strategically important centre that has been one of the Talibans main targets and which the group has briefly captured twice in recent years. 200517172632386 Security forces largely repelled the Taliban offensive with the help of air support. Assadullah Khalid, acting Minister of Defence, said during a visit to the city that more than 50 fighters and eight security force members had been killed. The Taliban has rejected repeated calls for a ceasefire by the Afghan government. It denies any involvement in the maternity ward attack and the US believes the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) was responsible. The US has sent its special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to Doha and Kabul to press the Afghan government and the Taliban to start the stalled peace talks. Khalilzad has said he will push for a reduction in violence in Afghanistan during his trip. Since the COVID-19 infection flare-up in December 2019, the malady has spread to right around 100 nations around the world with the World Health Organization proclaiming it a general wellbeing crisis. The worldwide effects of the coronavirus sickness 2019 (COVID-19) are now beginning to be felt, and will essentially influence the Healthcare Industry in 2020. A recent report by Grey2K USA suggests that more than 14,000 injuries were reported at Greyhound racing in the U.S. between 2008 and 2016. These injuries mainly included broken legs, crushed skulls, seizures, paralysis, and broken backs. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), the percent of dogs and cats owned by households is 36.5% and 30.4%, respectively. While this clearly depicts the increasing need for medical services and treatment for pets, the demand for orthopedic veterinary implants is set to see remarkable rise in the near future. Increasing focus on pet health insurance is also identified as an important factor driving the market for orthopedic veterinary implants. The global orthopedic veterinary implants market will exhibit a robust CAGR of over 8% during the forecast period (2019 2029). Get Sample Copy of Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/22939 Company Profiles Vet Implants scil animal care company GmbH KYON Pharma, Inc. Everost Inc. BioMedtrix, LLC Integra LifeSciences RITA LEIBINGER MEDICAL GmbH & Co. KG B. Braun Melsungen AG DePuy Synthes (Sub. Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc.) Intrauma S.p.A. Surgical Holdings Ortho Max Manufacturing Company Pvt. Ltd. Novartis AG Key Takeaways Orthopedic Veterinary Implants Market Study Accounting for over a fourth of market value shares, tibial plateau levelling osteotomy (TPLO) implants will remain the most preferred product type owing to their ability to stabilize the stifle joint after rupture of cranial cruciate ligament. Trauma fixations with the application of intramedullary nails, bone plates, and bone screws are extensively used for the treatment of bone fractures. Increased availability of veterinary practitioners, rise in surgical procedures, and heightened number of injuries in pets are factors expected to increase the number of visits to pet clinics and hospitals. North America is expected to be significant revenue generator in the orthopedic veterinary implants market owing to increase in number of surgical procedures arising from obesity-related diseases such as arthritis and sports-related dislocation of hips and bones. Significant product launches are boosting the orthopedic veterinary implants market growth. For instance, in October 2019 , Veterinary Orthopedic Implants launched HyProtect antimicrobial coated implants. Get To Know Methodology of Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/22939 Innovative product specifications and rise in pet care expenditure for surgical procedures are significantly favoring market growth and is expected to provide lucrative opportunities to manufacturers during the forecast period. Strategic Partnerships Winning Imperative for Market Participants Manufacturers in emerging countries are focusing on strategic collaboration or alliance with regional players as well as local distributors to increase their footprint. For example, BioMedtrix collaborated with Laboratorios Macrimasa-Vet in January 2019 for distribution of its TPLO Curve, Universal Hip (including Micro & Nano Hip), I-Loc IM Fixator in Spain. In March 2016, DePuy Synthes (part of the Johnson & Johnson) entered into an exclusive strategic alliance with Value Stream Partners, LLC to design, develop and implement programs for hip and knee replacements. Access Full Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/22939 Know More About the Report Persistence Market Research offers a unique perspective and actionable insights on orthopedic veterinary implants in its latest study, presenting historical demand assessment from 2014 2018 and projections from 2019 2029. The global orthopedic veterinary implants market is segmented in detail to cover every aspect of the market and present a complete market intelligence approach to the reader. The study provides compelling insights on orthopedic veterinary implants market on basis of product type (total knee replacement, total hip replacement, trauma fixations, tibial tuberosity advancement implants, tibial plateau leveling osteotomy implants, advanced locking plate system, total elbow replacement), End User (veterinary hospitals, veterinary clinics) and across five major regions. EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES Three decades ago an 18-year-old girl stood in a Kigali church stealing glances at the powerful businessman in her neighbourhood. Four years later the militias he is accused of financially backing would kill almost her entire family. The businessman was Felicien Kabuga, arrested in Paris on Saturday (May 16) after more than a quarter of a century on the run. The teenage girl was Dimitrie Sissi Mukanyiligira. "I am a new person who survived through very bad times and he has been hiding for over 26 years. And he is now arrested, that is very good news, it's a success story, it's an achievement. And then he will face the justice." Kabuga is accused of providing funding to the Hutu militias that slaughtered around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. Among the dead were Mukanyiligira's two brothers - cut down with machetes, and her sister - killed by a grenade as she sought refuge in a hospital. Kabuga is accused of buying machetes and firearms for the death squads and Mukanyiligira remembers Hutu militias going in and out of his house. "That was the question for my kids: Mama, how many people had he killed? I said no, he didn't kill one or two, he killed all of us, all of them because he was the financier, the brain behind all the plots. Imagine if people wanted to kill but they didn't have machetes, you know, so he is the number one financier." According to French police, Kabuga had been living under a false identity in an apartment in a Paris suburb. Kabuga is now being held in a prison in central Paris. His arrest paves the way for the fugitive to come before the Paris Appeal Court and later be transferred to the custody of the international court, which is based in the Hague, Netherlands and Arusha, Tanzania. Annie Glenn, widow of astronaut John Glenn and advocate for those with disabilities and communication disorders, died on Tuesday morning at 100 years old. According to the Associated Press, Glenn died of "COVID-19 complications" at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minnesota. A virtual memorial service, open to the public, will be conducted online on Saturday, June 6, 2020, at 11 a.m. As a young woman, Glenn had a severe stutter, which made communication difficult. During a 1998 interview with TODAY, she said that she was a "95, 85% stutterer," which meant that the speech difficulty was present in the majority of her speech. "It didn't make any difference with (John)," Glenn told TODAY at the time. "He's helped me all my life." Mr. And Mrs. John Glenn Portrait (Mickey Adair / Getty Images) In 1973, a TODAY segment inspired Glenn to seek treatment for her stutter. She and her husband were watching the show while a doctor discussed a new method of treatment for stutterers. The three-week program in Roanoke, Virginia would be intense and complex, but she enrolled. During that time, she relearned each letter of the alphabet and was forced to talk to strangers in public, something that she had always feared because of the severity of her stutter. "Every word that I utter, I am working on my speech," Glenn told NBC's Nightly News in 1983. "It's something that I am going to have to do all of my life." John Glenn And Annie Glenn (Ralph Morse / Getty Images) As part of the program, Glenn wasn't allowed to call friends or family, including her husband, for the entire three-week course. When it was finally done, she picked up the telephone to call John and was able to speak to him. She reportedly continued to work with the speech therapist who founded the treatment for several more years. "I just think that I am so lucky or fortunate that I can talk, period," Glenn said in 1983. That course started her career as an educator and advocate. She became an adjunct professor with the speech pathology department at Ohio State University, and in 1983 received the first national award of the American Speech and Hearing Association for "providing an inspiring model for people with communicative disorders." Four years later, the award was named after her and has been granted to celebrities like James Earl Jones, Julie Andrews and TODAY's own Willie Geist and his father, Bill. In 1998, Glenn was honored with a Department of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, according to the Associated Press. In 2009, she received an honorary doctorate of public service from Ohio State. The Glenns were married for 73 years. John Glenn died at 95 in 2016; during his life he was the first American to orbit the Earth and served as a United States senator for the state of Ohio. He completed his final space flight in 1998 at 77 years old. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - iCo Therapeutics (TSXV: ICO) (OTCQB: ICOTF) ("iCo" or the "Company"), today reported financial results for the year ended December 31, 2019. Amounts, unless specified otherwise, are expressed in Canadian dollars and presented under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). Stated William Jarosz, President and CEO of iCo Therapeutics Inc., "2019 represented a year of significant advances as we entered into a Phase 1b clinical trial for Oral Amphotericin B and we welcomed a new partner, Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., who are developing our iCo-008 (also known as bertilimumab). While COVID 19 has disrupted our business as with many other companies, we remain encouraged by our progress in 2019. " 2019 Operational and Financial Highlights Oral Amp B Delivery System On December 9, 2019, we initiated a second study using oral Amphotericin B (Phase 1b) exploring safety and pharmacokinetics of multiple ascending drug doses (MAD) in healthy subjects. On February 25, 2020 we announced that that this study was successfully completed with no serious adverse events. On April 15, 2020, we announced the pharmacokinetic data from this study which showed a doubling in the AUC (0-inf), a measure of drug accumulation, after 10 days dosing compared to day 1 dosing. iCo-008 On October 21, 2019, the US Court approved a sales order which assigned IMMUNE's rights and obligations under the IMMUNE License Agreement to Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. This approval was followed by the Israeli court's approval of the US driven sales order. Under the terms of the sales order, Alexion was required to pay US$6 million into the Court in the settlement of IMMUNE's creditor claims in exchange for IMMUNE's rights under the IMMUNE License Agreement. Corporate During the year, we completed two private placements for net proceeds of approximate $3 million. Financial results for Year End 2019 We incurred a total comprehensive loss of $ 1,932,202 for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to a total comprehensive loss of $1,712,724 for the year ended December 31, 2018, representing an increased loss of $219,478 . The increase in the loss is primarily the result of higher general and administrative expenses and lower research and development tax credits offset by lower research and development expenses recognized during 2019. Research and development expenses were $917,475 for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to $1,420,457 for the year ended December 31, 2018, representing a decrease of $502,982. The decrease related to lower contract research expenses because there were no clinical trials conducted on the Oral Amp B program until December 2019. In the prior year, research and development expenses related to the manufacture of clinical drug supplies and the initiation and successful conclusion of its Phase 1a clinical study in Australia. For the year ended December 31, 2019 general and administrative expenses were $1,288,198 compared to $781,282 for the year ended December 31, 2018, representing an increase of $506,916. The increase reflects higher professional fees and management consulting fees during the period due to the Company's participation in the IMMUNE bankruptcy process. Liquidity and Outstanding Share Capital As at December 31, 2019, we had cash and cash equivalents of $989,937 compared to $10,140 as at December 31, 2018. As at May 15th, 2020, we had an unlimited number of authorized common shares with 153,747,713 common shares issued and outstanding. For complete financial results, please see our filings at www.sedar.com. About iCo Therapeutics Inc. iCo Therapeutics identifies existing development stage assets for use in underserved ocular and infectious diseases. Such assets may exhibit utility in non-ophthalmic conditions outside the Company's core focus areas and if so the Company will seek to capture further value via partnerships. iCo shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "ICO" and on the OTCQB under the symbol "ICOTF". For more information, visit the Company website at: www.icotherapeutics.com. No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the content of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulatory Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements included in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "seek," "believe," "project," "estimate," "expect," "strategy," "future," "likely," "may," "should," "will," and similar references to future periods. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on iCo's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to iCo and relate to, among other things, anticipated financial performance, business prospects, strategies, regulatory developments, market acceptance and future commitments, including statements relating to reporting further data regarding studies for Oral Amp Delivery System, the timing of receipt of the statistical analysis for clinical data, the timing, receipt and amount of Australian refundable tax credits, any decrease in research and development expenditures and the completion of additional funding and commencement of additional clinical studies. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are based only on information currently available to iCo and speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by iCo in its public securities filings and on its website, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. In evaluating forward-looking statements, readers should consider the risk factors set out herein and in the Company's Annual Information Form dated April 29, 2019, a copy of which is available under iCo's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and as otherwise disclosed in the Company's filings under its profile on SEDAR from time to time. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and iCo disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. iCo Therapeutics Inc. 1 604 800 9860 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56034 Distributing Over 1,700 Judges Kits (75+ Lbs of Cannabis Products) To Consumers Across Oklahoma through Partnership with Cali Roots OKLAHOMA CITY, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High Times, the most well-known brand in cannabis, and creators of the worlds first and largest cannabis judging competition, the Cannabis Cup, announced today its return to Oklahoma this May to bring the Cannabis Cup Peoples Choice Edition to consumers across the state, providing the public with the opportunity to judge the coveted Cannabis Cup safely from the comfort of their own home. The High Times Cannabis Cup is the worlds foremost cannabis festival, originally founded in 1988 in Amsterdam. While most Cannabis Cup events were set up as two or three-day festivals, given the threat of COVID-19 High Times has created the new Peoples Choice Edition as an extension of the brand, which for the first time ever will allow consumers to judge the most renowned cannabis competition in the world safely from their own homes. This allows consumers in Oklahoma the unprecedented opportunity to try 28 different strains in a one ounce box, and judge them against each other in order to award the states best, as determined by the states consumers. Consumers interested in judging the first ever Peoples Choice Cannabis Cup are encouraged to visit cannabiscup.com/apply to RSVP for one of the judges slots. Categories include Flower (Sativa, Hybrid or Indica), Pre-Rolls, Non-Solvent or Solvent Concentrates, Vape Pens, Topicals, and Edibles (Food Items and Non-Food [tinctures & capsules]). The brand will partner with Oklahoma dispensary group Cali Roots, a chain of licensed medical cannabis dispensaries across the state. Intaking over 75 lbs of cannabis flower and other products across two locations in 4 days, the chain's tradition of providing the best variety of premium medicinal products to consumers across the state continues as the teams work to break down pounds of the best product in OK into grams, and get them into the peoples hands. About High Times: For more than 45 years, High Times has been the worlds most well-known cannabis brand - championing the lifestyle and educating the masses on the benefits of this natural flower. From humble beginnings as a counterculture lifestyle publication, High Times has evolved into hosting industry-leading events like the Cannabis Cup and the High Times Business Summit, while providing digital TV and social networks, globally distributed merchandise, international licensing deals and providing content for its millions of fans and supporters across the globe. In the world of Cannabis, High Times is the arbiter of quality. For more information on High Times visit http://www.hightimes.com . About Cali Roots: Cali Roots is a chain of licensed medical cannabis dispensaries located in Oklahoma. Our helpful and educated staff will ensure you find the cannabis that best suits your needs. Our mission is to provide our members with the best products in Oklahoma and outstanding service. At Cali Roots we believe that our members come first and should always leave satisfied or we will make it right! Our shelves are stocked with a wide variety of premium medicinal products to ensure our members have every option available to them. We pride ourselves in providing a comfortable atmosphere, and great customer service. We look forward to meeting you! Find us online at www.calirootsok.com or on social at @calirootsok_ Connect with Us & Consume our Content at Websites: https://hightimesinvestor.com/ https://hightimes.com/ https://ir.hightimes.com/ https://dopemagazine.com/ http://culturemagazine.com/ https://greenrushdaily.com/ Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/HighTimesMag/ https://instagram.com/hightimesmagazine https://twitter.com/high_times_mag https://www.facebook.com/Dope.Magazine/ https://www.instagram.com/dopemagazine/ https://twitter.com/DOPE_Magazine https://www.facebook.com/FreeCultureMag/ https://www.instagram.com/ireadculture/ https://twitter.com/iReadCulture https://www.facebook.com/greenrushdaily/ https://www.instagram.com/greenrushdaily/ https://twitter.com/greenrushdaily Media Inquiries mediateam@hightimes.com Personnel from the Ghana Police Service have supplied water to residents of Zion City, a community in the Kpone Katamanso municipality of the Greater Accra Region. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Peter Okyere, Assistant Officer in charge of the transport Unit of the Ghana Police Service, said the Police were helping to bring some comfort to the people. He said the Police would enforce the various directives issued by the president of the republic of Ghana and also seek the welfare of the population. According to him, over 20 communities had benefited from the service's free supply of water since the President assured the citizens free water and electricity for a period of three months to cushion the residents during the outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic. DSP Okyere stated that, the Police had put in place stringent measures to ensure that the supplied water was not sold to other residents, saying the police would prosecute offenders. The Officer informed that, the police would continue to protect the citizens and asked residents to have absolute confidence in the Police. Mr. Richard Tsatsu, Assembly member for the area, thanked the Police for their timely intervention. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Hundreds of migrant labourers gathered on an approach road to Bandra Terminus here on Tuesday before the departure of a Shramik Special train, leading to chaos in the area for some time. The crowd was later dispersed by police, a Western Railway official said. The incident comes over a month after hundreds of migrant workers had assembled near the Bandra station over their demand that arrangements be made for them to return to their native places in the wake of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. In a video clip of Tuesday's incident that went viral on social media, a large number of migrants were seen carrying their luggages and running towards the gate of the Bandra Terminus. The crowd started gathering in the area around 11 am, sources said. The Western Railway in a statement later said a Shramik Special train was scheduled for Purnia from the Bandra Terminus in which passengers registered with the state authorities were to travel. However, many people, who were not registered and not called by the state authorities, gathered on a road and a bridge near the station, it said. "The bonafide passengers were checked and allowed to enter the station by the state machinery. The train left the Bandra Terminus around 12 noon with 1,700 labourers and their families who were entitled to travel," Western Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Ravinder Bhakar said. The crowd outside the station was later dispersed by police, a railway official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BRIDGEPORT Lisa Morrissey marked her first official day as the citys new health chief by politely contradicting Mayor Joe Ganims previous COVID-19 advice to constituents. Without a permanent health director, Ganim has been the face of his administrations response to the new coronavirus crisis and has often urged residents to wear face masks and gloves. But Morrissey, who made her official debut Tuesday during the mayors daily Facebook briefing on the virus, said she has told her husband and children not to use gloves. It gives some people a false sense of security, Morrissey said, noting many people handle foreign objects and surfaces with their gloves, and then touch their faces and cell phones. Theyre almost like a second skin. The very microbes ... youre trying to avoid by wearing gloves, youre touching them with the gloves and still touching your face ... If youre not wearing gloves, youre going to be more cognizant of what youre doing with your hands. Hired away from the same post in Danbury, Morrisseys nomination received final approval from a divided Bridgeport City Council Monday night. She replaces Maritza Bond, who left Bridgeport in late January, several weeks before the pandemic struck Connecticut and the nation, to head New Havens health department. Bond has played a very public role in that citys response to the new coronavirus. Ganim has had an acting health chief working behind-the-scenes, but some on the council had grown concerned Bridgeports own approach to the pandemic was lacking. At of Tuesday, the city had 137 fatalities and more than 2,900 cases, according to the state. We dont have a real robust health director to coordinate all this stuff, Council President Aidee Nieves told the Connecticut Post Monday for a story about how the CVS pharmacy chain opened free COVID testing sites in New Haven and Hartford, but not Bridgeport. Councilman Ernie Newton before casting a vote to hire Morrissey Monday night expressed a similar concern to Nieves: We dont have a plan for the hot spots in the city where blacks and browns can die if we dont put a plan together. As of late last week, for example, the health department and Bridgeport public housing were not collaborating to track the infection rates among the latters low-income tenants. Morrissey, who is black, told Ganim Tuesday she will be very focused on some of the health disparities impacting communities of color (and) seeing what we can do to try to reduce some of those. She left Danbury April 22 and has been volunteering in Bridgeport and pushing to open the citys first walk-up COVID testing site for the convenience of residents who have no cars and rely on public transportation. Mondays divided, 11-8 council vote was not about Morrisseys qualifications. Members praised her resume and her background in infectious diseases. Most focused their criticism on the hiring process, either complaining not enough candidates were interviewed or taking issue with the fact Morrissey would not be moving from Danbury to Bridgeport as necessitated by the charter. I have concerns regarding the interview process, how long was this job posted (and) about other resumes that might not have been submitted and were not given an opportunity, said Councilwoman Maria Valle, who ultimately voted yes. Shes highly qualified, said Councilman Avelino Silva, who voted against Morrissey. I was really impressed with her. Its unfortunate I cant support it. ... Im bothered (by) how some things transpired. Other no votes included Marcus Brown, Alfredo Castillo, Jorge Cruz, Mike DeFilippo, Matthew McCarthy, Maria Pereira and AmyMarie Vizzo-Paniccia. Morrissey, who has four kids in the Danbury schools, had previously claimed she was never told about the positions residency requirement. She wasnt given all the information she should have had when she applied, said Councilwoman Mary McBride-Lee, who voted for Morrissey. You cant just pick up the children like that and move to somewhere else. Newton noted that, per state statute, Connecticuts health director could appoint Bridgeports should too much time pass with the position being vacant. However, such a move is rare and has not happened in at least 30 years, according to the state. Say you vote her down. The state will appoint a health director (and) they can live in Timbuktu, Newton claimed. Nieves, who also backed Morrissey, said the city could not afford to start a new search during the coronavirus crisis. Otherwise, she argued, The message you will be sending is your personal agenda is more important than the city itself. Tiagz said, "I'm hyped to join the Sony/ATV team thank you Jon Platt and Brittany Perry. I remember walking into Sony/ATV for the first time, and I felt like I was at my friend's house super awesome." Recently, Tiagz has been working on his debut EP, They Call Me Tiago, which was just released on May 15. His EP features singles such as "My Heart Went Oops," which has earned over 19 million Spotify streams, and "Zoom", which was co-written by a fellow verified TikTok user Absorber and inspired by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. They Call Me Tiago also unveils new songs that show his versatility and feature trap, hip-hop, EDM and Latin styles. Tiagz, originally from Canada, began his music career just two and half years ago after teaching himself how to create his own tracks and beats. He first gained fame on TikTok in 2019 after making songs that featured snippets from other TikTok memes, including "Rise and Shine", "Chicken Leg Piece", and "I'm in the Ghetto (Ratatata)". Since then, Tiagz has made name for himself and quickly earned 1.8 million TikTok followers, 3.9 million listeners on Spotify, and a deal with Epic Records. Related links- Follow Sony/ATV on Instagram, Twitter, Spotify, Facebook, and Linkedin. SOURCE Sony/ATV Related Links sonyatv.com Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Polaris Market Research recently introduced new title on Global Structural Steel Market Report 2020 from its database. The report provides study with in-depth overview, describing about the Product / Industry Scope and elaborates market outlook and status to 2026. The Report gives you competition analysis of top manufacturer with sales volume, price, revenue (Million / billion USD) and market share. The global structural steel market size is estimated to reach USD 141.49 billion by 2026 growing at a CAGR of 5.6% during the forecast period, according to a new study published by Polaris Market Research. Structural steel market is primarily driven by increased utilization in heavy-material industries. Increasing R&D operations in structural steel production to improve corrosion resistance, strength, and durability is likely to have a positive impact on the global structural steel industry. Rapidly growing demand from end-use industries such as is also expected to boost the market growth over the forecast period. Get Sample Copy @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/structural-steel-market/request-for-sample Structural steels have extensive application in transmission line towers, construction, and manufacturing sheds. Increasing awareness among consumer about flexibility and fabrication in construction materials is anticipated to increase structural steel market size over the forecast period. Increasing use of product in construction of residential and non-residential structures especially in the developing countries are major driving factors for the market. Transmission tower is among one of the most significant applications that consumes large quantity of different type of structural steel. Global target by different regional governments to achieve maximum electrification, specifically in the underdeveloped areas has further strengthened the transmission tower market. This in turn has led to increased utilization of structural steel for manufacturing different types of transmission towers. Rising environmental impacts are encouraging governments, manufacturers and consumers to use environmentally sustainable products, which is further expected to escalate demand for structural steel. Major manufacturers are developing technically advanced steel products which can help in waste reduction and can be suitably recycled. Buildings made by these products do not include mandates such as treatments for preventing insect infestation, mold, and decay, which is anticipated to strengthen the market growth. Get Discount Offer @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/structural-steel-market/request-for-discount-pricing Building & construction is among the most lucrative application segment for structural steels. Growing number of supportive initiatives by the governments across the regions to provide subsidies and funds to make housing affordable, especially for the lower- & middle-income factories has resulted in increased consumption of structural steel in residential construction. Asia Pacific is the dominant regional segment for structural steel with rapid demand coming from China, India and Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand. Demand in these countries is boosted by extensive infrastructural investments. North America and Europe have also witnessed moderate growth rates in the market. The global market if highly competitive and moderately fragmented. Mergers & acquisitions and joint ventures are some of the key strategies undertaken by the major market players in the industry. Some of the key structural steel market players includes Arcelor Mittal S.A., Hebei Group, Baosteel Group Co., Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation, POSCO, Tata Limited, Wuhan Group, and Bohai Group. To customize the study according to your specific requirements please click At : https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/structural-steel-market/request-for-customization Contact Us Polaris Market Research Phone: 1-646-568-9980 Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com Longtime Mike Pompeo aide Toni Porter has been identified as the government official at the center of an inspector general's probe into whether the secretary of state had a taxpayer employee walk his dog and perform other errands. Pompeo asked President Trump to fire the career inspector general, Steve Linick, in a move that has been reverberating since Trump ordered the move late Friday night. It has since been revealed that Linick has been probing allegations that Pompeo had a government official order food, do laundry, and walk his beloved dog, Sherman. Longtime Mike Pompeo aide Toni Porter has been identified as the government employee whose role allegedly doing personal business for the secretary of state was being probed by an inspector general Mike Pompeo is pictured with new puppy Mercer in a photo shared to Instagram over the weekend The ousted State Department inspector general was said to have been investigating claims Mike Pompeo, pictured, made a staffer walk his dog Sherman (seen above) and pick up his dry cleaning The Kansas City Star reported Tuesday that Linick was investigating the role Porter, a senior advisor to Pompeo, played and 'whether she as a political appointee was conducting Pompeos personal business on government time,' according to the paper. The investigation began after 'multiple complaints' to an IG hotline, a source told the paper, and did not come from Porter herself. Porter served as Pompeo's district director when he was a congressman from Kansas. She then followed him to the CIA and on to Foggy Bottom. Toni Porter serves as a senior advisor to Pompeo Like Pompeo is a dog lover, according to her social media postings - one of the photos she shared is seen above Porter followed Pompeo from his congressional office to the CIA and on to the State Department President Trump defended Pompeo Monday after the story exploded although neither Trump nor Pompeo mentioned it during a cabinet meeting Tuesday. 'Hes a high quality person, Mike. Hes a very brilliant guy,' Trump said at the White House Monday. 'And now I have you telling me about dog walking, washing dishes and you know what, Id rather have him on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes because maybe his wife isnt there or his kids arent you know,' Trump said. 'What are you telling me its terrible. Its so stupid. You know how stupid that sounds to the world? Unbelievable,' Trump said. Porter spent years as Pompeo's district director Toni Porter pictured with her son Nick at the White House According to her LinkedIn page, Porter served as Pompeo's district director beginning in 2011. She also worked in real estate, and as a Pompeo volunteer in 2009. She attended Kansas State University, and is a founding member of the HopeNet docent society. Like Pompeo, she appears to be a dog-lover. A source in Kansas described her role to the Star as 'some combination of chief of staff and executive assistant.' A 2018 Politico article identifies Porter as holding 'a somewhat fuzzy role in which she handles whatever tasks Pompeo asks her to do, including serving as a liaison to others in the department.' She was his chief of protocol at the CIA. Two officials have now told NBC Linick was looking into whether Secretary of State Pompeo made the staffer carry out personal tasks, including booking dinner reservations for the Republican and his wife Susan, pictured in September 2019 Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 00:32:21|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CHICAGO, May 19 (Xinhua) -- More than 300 Chinese cuisine experts and restaurant owners from more than 50 countries and regions gathered online at the Third U.S. International Chinese Cuisine Forum on Monday to tackle the challenges Chinese cuisine faces during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme of the forum this year focused on how Chinese cuisine getting out of the difficulties after COVID-19, strengthening exchanges and cooperation with world catering industry and introducing high technologies. Addressing the forum, Chinese Consul General in Chicago Zhao Jian said Chinese cuisine is treasured memory of Chinese people and Chinese nation, as well as a window for people worldwide to know and understand China. "It condenses Chinese people's yearning for a better life, and is a name-card of China." Zhao praised U.S.-China Restaurant Alliance for organizing affiliated Chinese restaurants and donating more than 100,000 Bentos to healthcare workers, first responders and essential workers across the United States during the fight against COVID-19. Facing difficulties, Zhao believes Chinese restaurants will work together through thick and thin to embrace new development. Tony Hu, chairman of the U.S.-China Restaurant Alliance who hosted the forum, said it is especially important to host the forum when COVID-19 pandemic is severe worldwide, as it provides a platform for Chinese cuisine experts and restaurant owners to exchange views, share experiences, dispel doubts, and strengthen the conviction in the fight against COVID-19. All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese Vice Chairman Liu Yiqin made a speech at the forum online. The first two U.S. International Chinese cuisine forums were held on the sidelines of the annual Centennial National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show in Chicago in May. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the annual event this year has been cancelled. The U.S.-China Restaurant Alliance, originally named American Chinese Restaurant Institute established in 2018, is dedicated to build a global platform to facilitate Chinese cuisine's exchange with the world's catering industry, promote famous Chinese cuisine brands worldwide, and introduce world's famous catering brands into China. Enditem PARIS, May 19 (Reuters) - The aerospace industry should be among the sectors that can tap a planned European recovery fund, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday. France and Germany on Monday proposed a 500 billion euro ($546.4 billion) Recovery Fund that would offer grants to European Union regions and sectors hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. "The European Recovery Fund must allow us to provide support to the aerospace industry and its 3,000 subcontractors," Le Maire told the economic and European commissions of the lower house of the French parliament. "The emergency for me is to soften the shock, but also to keep financing innovation and investment" without which he said Airbus risked falling behind its competitors such as Boeing . Aerospace is one of three industries along with carmaking and tourism which the French government has singled out for sector-specific state support programmes, which Le Maire said he aimed to have ready by July. France and Germany proposed that the fund would be financed through European Commission borrowing on markets to make grants to regions and sectors struggling to get back on their feet after the coronavirus crisis. Other EU leaders still have to give their backing to the fund at a summit next month and Le Maire predicted difficult talks until then with Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, where the issue of joint debt is a taboo. (1 = 0.9151 euros) (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by Jason Neely) News Washington, DC - This week, the Presidents Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice held a hearing on law enforcement recruitment, training, and retention over three days via teleconference. Each teleconference featured expert witnesses who provided testimony and, subsequently, answered questions from the Commissioners. On Tuesday, May 12, the Commission received testimony from Dr. Charlie Scheer, Assistant professor at the University of Southern Mississippi; Arlington (Texas) Police Chief Will Johnson; Valerie Cunningham, Deputy Chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, and; Mike Yankowski, Assistant Director of Institutional Ethics and Compliance at Michigan State University and the retired chief of Lansing Police Department. Testimony and discussions focused on recruitment. Dr. Scheer provided the results of a comprehensive survey on police recruitment, and Chief Johnson recommended grant funding for police cadet programs to encourage young people to commit to the profession. Deputy Chief Cunningham recommended focusing on marketing campaigns that are inclusive of females, tailoring all contact the agency has with its applicants so that its mutually beneficial to both, focusing on the preview of what the career will look like to that applicant, and developing a meaningful professional relationship with the applicants. Chief Yankowski provided the final testimony, addressing the need to hire people who fit the community policing mindset individuals who are highly ethical, of good moral character, and good communicators. We can't make the mistake of just hiring a warm body to fill that vacancy, he said. On Wednesday, May 13, the Commission heard testimony from Erik Bourgerie, Director, Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST); Palm Beach County (Fla.) Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, and; Cass County (Nebraska) Sheriff William (Bill) Brueggemann. Testimony and discussion focused on training. POST Director Bourgerie testified about the need for experiential based training. As the academy progresses, training scenarios should become more complex, such as domestic violence calls. Our current training method fails both our peace officers and our domestic violence victims. The first time new peace officers encounter the complexity, emotions and dangers inherent in a DV call is when theyre in the field and lives are truly on the line. Sheriff Bradshaw testified about the lack of management training, stating, As older, experienced officers retire, they leave upper level vacancies that will often be filled with officers with little or no formal leadership or management training. He advocates for an investment in future leaders. Sheriff Brueggemann recommended regional training centers and reforms to training academies in order to provide more seats for small and rural departments. On Thursday, May 14, the Commission completed its hearing with testimony from William Bill Johnson, Executive Director, National Association of Police Organizations Inc. (NAPO); Pima County (Ariz.) Sheriff Mark Napier; Baltimore (Md.) Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, and; Tempe (Ariz.) Police Chief Sylvia Moir Testimony and discussion focused on retention. Executive Director Johnson recommended that every officer in this nation have access to a peer mentoring program. One cannot overstate the importance of confidential, peer mentoring services to supporting officers mental health and wellness. Chief Moir shared a similar sentiment, saying that there is a recognition that officer wellness encompasses more than physical health. It includes the mental and emotional well-being, as well -- healthier officers are more productive officers, so successful agencies are starting wellness programming in the Academy and continuing it throughout an officers career. Sheriff Napier testified that there is inadequate funding for substantive research into the development of best practices for law enforcement leaders confronting modern policing challenges. In addition, theres very limited research into officer wellness, causes of officer suicide and suicide prevention. He recommends the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) make available substantive funding over 10 years for meaningful law enforcement research." Commissioner Harrison shared: The most common issues I hear about when I speak with officers are the state of the facilities they work in, the conditions of vehicles the drive, and the age of the technology and equipment that they use every day. Improving these conditions is a cornerstone of my five-year Departmental Transformation and Improvement Plan because it speaks to the culture of the department and whether the officers feel the department is making the right investments in their well-being. All this could possibly bring about very productive opportunities for Vietnam to diversify its resources across various supply sources and follow a new course in trade. Setbacks and obstacles More than ten years ago, when Mr. Truong Dinh Tuyen was the Minister of Trade, he had a vision to make Vietnam a focal market for regional and global raw materials. Mr. Tuyen nurtured this vision based on the fact that Vietnam has all the conditions for manufacturing many products. The country has a favorable geographical location and a strong and rational economic policy, and many FTAs had been signed with several partner countries. However, in the first few years of joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mr. Tuyen noticed the biggest and weakest setback Vietnam faced was that the country was too dependent on import of materials from outside, mainly from China. Although Vietnam produced many goods and also exported a substantial amount of products, the country was not in a position to bargain prices, which is both a paradox and a disadvantage. For all the rational reasons, Mr. Truong Dinh Tuyen could not realize his vision at that time, and within three years of joining the WTO, weaknesses in the supply chain of input materials in some export industries such as textiles, footwear, and wooden furniture began to surface. The Government began a plan to implement projects to develop materials in order to supply on site for a number of key export products, but these projects have either been shelved or not had the desired results. Mr. Pham Quoc Doanh, former Deputy Head of the Enterprise Development and Reform Steering Committee under the Government, acknowledged that after decades of development, Vietnam has still not been able to build the supply of raw materials properly. For example, the planning of cotton growing areas, which is considered the backbone of the textile and apparel industry, has been in planning stage since 2010 and facing structural difficulties and obstacles in land clearances, among many other reasons. Besides not mastering the supply of input materials, Vietnam's support industries have not even created a basic foundation yet. At present, a number of industries in electronics, textiles, leather and footwear, and assembly of cars and motorbikes, still do not have a support industry and rely heavily on import of raw materials and components, causing passive production as well as higher production costs. These are the two weaknesses that economists consider to be "double obstacles" that are impeding Vietnam's export industry. Opportunity to diversify When China, known as the "world's factory," became the epicenter of the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the entire global manufacturing supply chain was disrupted. Now in an effort to move the production supply chain out of China, the US recently revived the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) which was initiated in 2007 between the United States, Japan, Australia and India. After several years of being in limbo, this group of four countries has resumed a four-party dialogue and upgraded it to the level of their countrys foreign ministers. Now, QSD is seeking to add three more countries of South Korea, New Zealand and Vietnam in its joint discussions. Mr. Le Xuan Nghia (PhD), a member of the Economic Advisory Group to the Prime Minister, said that the US is a major trading partner of Vietnam, but the US has long been separated from the Asia-Pacific trade bloc, which is a disadvantage for Vietnam. With the decision to establish a prosperous economic network, a dialogue with QSD with three more countries will be an opportunity for Vietnam to restore its strategic position in the US market. In a report dated May 2020, the World Bank said that Vietnam is a promising destination for a wave of factories to relocate from China, increase its export turnover and attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Institutional Investment (FII) seeing the present status of Vietnam's macro-economic situation. EVFTA is expected to be ratified by the National Assembly on May 20 on the first day of the 9th Session of the 14th National Assembly. After being ratified by the National Assembly, the EU and Vietnam will complete the notification process, and EVFTA will then officially be in effect. The US wants Vietnam to join the QSD Group and along with EVFTA it will be a dual opportunity for the country to implement the policy of effectively shifting and diversifying sources of supply and reducing excessive reliance on one market. Speaking with Saigon Investment, economist Pham Chi Lan, a former member of the Prime Minister's Research Board, said that this was a great opportunity for Vietnam and the countrys economy. The problem now is only how Vietnam will take advantage of these opportunities and achieve its goals. According to Ms. Pham Chi Lan, the key to using opportunities for change, and successfully diversifying the supply chain, while developing content of added value, is the approach taken by the enterprises, which is the core of the economy. She believes that if businesses do not change and push themselves to the next level, they will still remain at the lowest levels of the value chain. This will eventually mean that the value chain and the economy of Vietnam will still remain static. Hoang Son VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / Gold Terra Resource Corp. (TSXV:YGT)( Frankfurt:TX0)(OTC PINK:TRXXF) ("Gold Terra" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of the remaining six drill holes from Sam Otto (Link to plan view) on its 100% wholly-owned Yellowknife City Gold ("YCG") project in the Northwest Territories. This concludes the winter drilling program at Sam Otto with 34 holes totaling 9,622 metres. Highlights include: 1.30 g/t Au over 50.6m , including 3.02 g/t Au over 9.0m (TSO20-083) , including (TSO20-083) 1.18 g/t Au over 51.65m, including 2.07 g/t over 11.05m and 2.03 g/t over 13.5m (TSO20-081) The three holes drilled at Sam Otto Main covered a strike length of 300 metres (100m spacing) and all intersected wide zones of gold mineralization, with two of the holes having the widest greater than 1 g/t gold intersections ever drilled at Sam Otto to date (Link to cross-sections). In addition, these holes were drilled below the current pit constrained inferred resource (based on a US$1,300 gold price) and therefore remains open at depth. The mineralized system is also open along strike to the north as only two shallow holes were drilled (TSO17-021 and 025) and both intersected 10 to 20 metre zones of greater than 1 g/t. The other three holes drilled in the 'connector' zone (area between Sam Otto Main and Sam Otto South) did not intersect any significant gold mineralization. With the assistance of Vrify, the Company has posted on its website a model with cross-sections depicting the results of the 2020 winter drilling program at Sam Otto, which extends for a strike length of 4.5 kilometres. The Vrify deck can be accessed directly (click here) or visit the Projects section of the Gold Terra website (click here). President and CEO David Suda stated: "Overall, the drilling campaign at Sam Otto was successful in expanding the footprint of the gold mineralized system and indicating the potential to add to the current inferred mineral resource estimate dated November 4, 2019. With the first part of our 2020 drilling program completed, we will now move our sights to further resource expansion with a drilling program on the Crestaurum high-grade deposit as soon as conditions permit." Technical Appendix: This news release reports the assay results from 6 drill holes totaling 1,925 metres from which 1,320 core samples were assayed. Assay results range from non-detectable gold to a highest assay of 15.05 g/t Au. The Company inserts certified standards and blanks into the sample stream as a check on laboratory Quality Control (QC). Drill core samples are cut by diamond saw at Gold Terra's core facilities in Yellowknife. A halved core sample is left in the core box. The other half core is sampled and transported by Gold Terra personnel in securely sealed bags to ALS (ALS) preparation laboratory in Yellowknife. After sample preparation, samples are shipped to ALS's Vancouver facility for gold analysis. Gold assays of >3 g/t are re-assayed on a 30 g split by fire assay with a gravimetric finish. Samples with visible gold are additionally assayed using a screen metallics method. ALS is a certified and accredited laboratory service. ALS routinely inserts certified gold standards, blanks and pulp duplicates, and results of all QC samples are reported. Drill holes were drilled at right angles to the zones of mineralization and dip angles of holes were designed to intersect the zones as close to normal as possible. Zones reported here are interpreted to be 85-95 percent of true thickness. The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Joseph Campbell, Chief Operating Officer, a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Sam Otto Main & Connector - DDH Intersections (Sections 4850N to 3550N) Section 4850N Drill Hole Dip Azimuth UTM Location From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au g/t Easting Northing TSO20-081 -55 270 639949 6944849 200.95 252.60 51.65 1.18 incl 200.95 212.00 11.05 2.07 incl 218.50 232.00 13.50 2.03 258.00 260.15 2.15 0.75 Section 4750N TSO20-082 -46 270 639955 6943400 152.20 154.20 2.00 2.11 173.50 204.00 30.50 0.57 incl. 179.50 182.50 3.00 1.58 incl. 198.85 202.00 3.15 1.70 227.40 230.90 3.50 0.62 254.93 258.04 3.11 1.63 290.50 295.50 5.00 0.68 Section 4650N TSO20-083 -48 270 639960 6944650 247.90 256.50 8.60 0.50 269.90 320.50 50.60 1.30 incl. 294.00 303.00 9.00 3.02 Section 3950N TSO20-084 -45 270 639904 6943952 No significant intersections Section 3800N TSO20-085 -45 270 639895 6943801 No significant intersections Section 3550N TSO20-080 -52 270 639823 6943571 No significant intersections About the Yellowknife City Gold Project The YCG project encompasses approximately 790 square kilometres of contiguous land immediately north, south and east of the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Through a series of acquisitions, Gold Terra controls one of the six major high-grade gold camps in Canada. Being within 10 km of the City of Yellowknife, the YCG is close to vital infrastructure, including all-season roads, air transportation, service providers, hydro-electric power and skilled tradespeople. The YCG lies on the prolific Yellowknife greenstone belt, covering 70 km of strike length along the main mineralized shear system that host the former-producing high-grade Con and Giant gold mines. The Company's exploration programs have successfully identified significant zones of gold mineralization and multiple targets that remain to be tested which reinforces the Company's objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada. Visit our website at www.goldterracorp.com. For more information, please contact: David Suda, President and CEO Phone: 604-928-3101 I Toll-Free: 1-855-737-2684 dsuda@Goldterracorp.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain statements made and information contained in this news release constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, this forward-looking information can, but not always, be identified by use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative connotations thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information regarding the potential to add to the current inferred mineral resource estimate dated November 4, 2019 and the Company's objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section in the Company's most recent MD&A and annual information form available under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that would cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Except as required under applicable securities legislation and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information. SOURCE: Gold Terra Resource Corp View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/590358/Gold-Terra-Intersects-130-gt-Au-over-506m-at-Sam-Otto-Main-on-its-Yellowknife-City-Gold-Project-in-the-Northwest-Territories Pope Francis gives his blessing from his studio's window, overlooking St. Peter square, at the Vatican. During his weekly Sunday blessing, Pope Francis welcomed the fact that from Monday Holy Mass can be celebrated in Italy with the congregation present -- but he urged the faithful to follow the rules. Please, lets go ahead with the norms, the prescriptions, that they give us to safeguard the health of each of us, and of the people. (Image: AP) Russia's emergency ministry is sending specialists and equipment to Dagestan for large-scale disinfection of the region due to the coronavirus pandemic. Disinfection will primarily affect medical and educational institutions, enterprises and social facilities, the press service of the ministry said. "Within the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a group of specialists and technicians of the Russian Emergencies Ministry will carry out special disinfection," TASS cited the ministry as saying. In total, 140 people and 26 units of equipment will be involved in the work. "Specialists of the Russian Emergencies Ministry will carry out large-scale disinfection of medical and educational institutions, social services, buildings and structures of transport infrastructure," the Ministry of Emergencies said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that he is concerned about coronavirus spread in Dagestan and about reports of self-treatment and late applications for medical aid. "Despite the relative stabilization, the danger of the coronavirus infection remains across the country, and the situation in Dagestan is especially difficult," the head of state said during his meeting with the authorities and members of the public of Dagestan. According to the president, the republic "registers all new revealed cases of the disease, its heavy complications, and, as of recently, the healthcare system in the region is faced with the serious load." "Despite the selfless efforts of the doctors, and nurses, the number of tragic outcomes grows, including among the medical workers themselves. People also complain that the required medical assistance is not always available on time and in full," Putin noted. "At the same time, according to the specialists estimations, the main reasons behind the development of heavy complications are late application for medical aid and attempts of self-treatment at home," the president underscored. According to the head of state "a further analysis into the implementation of sanitary medics recommendations on self-isolation regime and on the prohibition of mass events in Dagestan is needed." The president ordered a detailed report on the directions in which federal assistance must be provided to Dagestan. "I will give orders to heads of agencies that are on the line, immediately. The republic will receive all support - financial, material and staff - certainly," Putin assured. According to a regional breakdown of Russia's official coronavirus tally, 3,460 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Dagestan only 29 Covid-19 deaths have been recorded in the region. The British High Commission in Accra has repatriated 700 of their stranded national in Ghana, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The exercise, carried out at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra, saw the British nationals sent home to be reunited with their families. Mr Iain Walker, the British High Commissioner, in an interview with journalists in Accra, said the exercise was targeted at tourists and short-term travelers, since they were likely not to have access to long term accommodation and welfare provisions. He said the exercise was being done not only in Ghana but across the world to get UK citizens who find themselves in distress situations safely home by the British government. Were ensuring that the most vulnerable British travelers who want to return home from Ghana can do so," Mr Walker said. "I understand some people will be disappointed not to have been able to secure a ticket. The UK government is working closely with airlines, the authorities and other governments to make sure options are available for citizens to return to the UK as soon as possible." He said even though the passengers had gone through the process of testing for Covid-19 before departure, mandatory quarantine was part of the British Governments directives in curbing the further spread of the virus in the UK. Mr Walker also assured that his outfit, together with the Government of Ghana, was making collaborative efforts to curbing the Covid-19 pandemic in Ghana. The British High Commission continues to work closely with the Ghanaian Government to tackle the threat of COVID-19. Whether that is UK funding to support Ghanaian companies to produce Ghanaian made PPE (personal protective equipment); looking to utilize UK Foreign Direct Investment to build new hospitals, or supporting projects to enable millions of the school children stuck at home to continue learning, we are doing what we can to support our friend Ghana, during this difficult time. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video STRICT coronavirus restrictions have done something many would have thought impossible. Grand-standing by TDs was severely curtailed due to the two hour limit on Dail sessions. The chairman of the Covid-19 Response committee, Michael McNamara, warned TDs he had to be ruthless with time-keeping to make sure everybody gets a fair crack of the whip. This resulted in brief five-minute slots for most politicians to grill senior health officials. What played out was six hours of - by TDs standards - snappy questioning as they sought answers on how the State is responding to perhaps the greatest ever crisis to hit the country. So what have we learned - and not learned - from the officials who have a massive influence on how Ireland is dealing with the global pandemic? 1. The cost of the new National Childrens Hospital (NCH) - which has already spiralled to a sum in the region of 2bn - could rise by as much as 40pc based on Construction Industry Federation (CIF) estimates of the impact of new workplace safety measures, like physical distancing. Separately, the CIF projected that the cost of building a house could rise by 15,000. 2. Department of Health Secretary General Jim Breslin expects the coronavirus emergency to last for years to come. He said: We need to be aware that we will continue to be in the acute emergency phase of this crisis for some time with further waves an ever-present danger. 3. The HSEs plans for coronavirus testing and contact tracing is expected to cost several hundreds of millions of euro, according to HSE boss Paul Reid. TDs were told the health service now has the capacity to carry out 100,000 tests-a-week and costs so far have come to 35m. Read More 4. A total of 43 health service staff have become so ill with Covid-19 that they have ended up in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). TDs were told that this is a lower rate of ICU admissions than the general population. Overall 31.5pc of coronavirus cases have occurred among healthcare workers and 259 have been hospitalised. 5. Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan and Mr Reid are at odds over employers receiving details of their workers coronavirus test results. The Data Protection Commissioner has received complaints on the issue. Mr Holohan said this amounts to a breach of confidentiality, full stop. Mr Reid later defended employers being given workers results in extremely exceptional cases, such as in a pandemic. 6. Ireland wont be recommending the use of a drug US President Donald Trump says he is taking to stave off coronavirus. Mr Trump said he is taking hydroxychloroquine - usually used for malaria and lupus. Waterford TD Matt Shanahan asked health officials if it is being considered for use here. HSEs chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said more research is needed and the drug has cardiac side effects so it wont be recommended here. 7. Mr Holohan could not say when the 14-day quarantine rules for passengers arriving to Irish airports would be lifted. It came after Fine Gael TD Colm Brophy warned the regulations could kill our tourism industry. Mr Holohan said no measure thats been recommended will be in place longer than health officials believe they are necessary. 8. Health chiefs offered no guarantee that all nursing homes are fully compliant with infection control procedures. Fine Gael TD Fergus ODowd raised the issue, saying 18pc of homes inspected in 2018 were non-complaint and asked for absolute assurance that they all are now. Mr Breslin could not give this guarantee but said both public and private nursing homes know their responsibilities. 9. The need for social-distancing means emergency care in hospitals will have to change this winter. Mr Reid told TDs that the record trolley crisis seen last year cannot happen and things will have to be done very differently. 10. Dail business continues to be carried out very differently as well. Sessions of longer than two hours are not allowed as after that time - if someone present falls ill with the disease - the participants are all considered close contacts. Oireachtas authorities have also sought further heath advice after some of the committee witnesses were unwilling to attend together for more than one two-hour session. While Mr Holohan and Mr Brelsin were in the Dail Chamber for the first session, Mr Reid gave his evidence by video-link from a room elsewhere in the Leinster House complex later in the day. New advice offered to the Oireachtas suggests that even taking a break between two hour sessions may not be enough for the participants not to be considered close contacts. So even more strict rules may be coming down the line. The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday took strong exception to Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Raos comments describing the Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package announced by the Centre as bogus and hollow. Union minister of state for home G Kishan Reddy said the Telangana chief ministers comments were irresponsible and unwarranted, at a time when the states and the Centre were supposed to work together as Team India, and overcome the crisis arising out of Covid-19 pandemic. This is not the time to do politics. It is a challenging time for the Centre and the states to bury their differences and work together to tackle the present crisis. We should focus on bringing the country back to normalcy, Reddy said in a media interaction through video conference. Explaining the details of the stimulus package announced by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitaraman, Reddy said KCR should study the package thoroughly before making unwarranted statements. Stating that the tone and tenor of KCRs comments were highly objectionable, the Union minister wondered what loss the package had caused for Telangana. It is in fact a wholesome package aimed at benefitting all the states in a big way, cutting across the regions and parties, he said. He wondered whether Telangana wouldnt get new hospitals and diagnostic centres under the new package. Does it not help thousands of small-scale businesses and shop owners get Mudra loans and ensure work for construction labourers? How can KCR call it a bogus package? Reddy asked. Reacting to the Telangana chief ministers criticism on linking of relaxation of FRBM norms with certain economic reforms, the Union minister argued that the reforms were only aimed at boosting the economy and attracting new investments into the country. He pointed out that the Telangana government, too, was liking payment of financial assistance to farmers under Rythu Bandhu scheme with reforms in agriculture. KCR announced that Rythu Bandhu is applicable only if the farmers cultivate the crops listed by the government. Did we oppose your policy on Rythu Bandhu? If what you are doing is correct, how can you blame the Centre for insisting on reforms? You cant have this double-standard, Kishan Reddy said. BJP Telangana unit spokesman K Krishna Sagar Rao also condemned KCRs criticism against the Centres stimulus package. We understand the frustration of KCR, as the Central government has imposed certain conditions for using the increased FRBM limits, demands accountability and fiscal discipline, he said. Stating that the chief ministers comments were in bad taste and language was unacceptable, Rao said his party strongly objected to the derogatory language by the CM against the Centre. He has failed to maintain fiscal discipline, contain corruption and check resource mismanagement, which has bankrupted the state, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. says the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to seek protection from creditors but the womens apparel retailer believes it can emerge from restructuring stronger and more resilient in a sector hard hit by virus-related lockdowns. The Montreal-based companys application under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act was heard by the Quebec Superior Court Tuesday, which approved an order that appointed restructuring monitor Ernst & Young and stayed creditor action for an interim period. Reitmans said it is in the process of securing interim financing in conjunction with its court filing to let its stores continue normal operations throughout the CCAA process. The company says it remains open for business on all of its e-commerce websites and in stores as they reopen according to government guidelines, with 130 to 140 bricks-and-mortar outlets reopening Tuesday, mostly in Quebec. The companys brands have 80 stores in the GTA. Filing for protection under the CCAA is truly the hardest decision we have had to make as an organization in our almost one hundred years of history, but this pandemic has left us no choice, said president and CEO Stephen Reitman. He told The Star that the company was in the process of implementing a successful digital-first strategy to drive growth, until the pandemic forced the closure of all retail stores in mid-March and pushed the retail industry into a new and unknown era. He said the company has strong national brands, a robust digital-retail strategy and a loyal customer base that values affordable fashions and has been shopping on our websites at a record pace since the start of the pandemic. Reitman said he is confident the company can emerge successfully from restructuring, though likely with fewer bricks-and-mortar outlets. The mandated closures of Reitman stores along with other fashion retail outlets, as a sector not deemed essential by health authorities, followed a net loss for the company of $87.4 million for the year up to February due to the disappointing sales from its plus-size brands. Although corrective measures were implemented, changes occurred late in its fiscal year, the company said in a year-end filing. The companys stores accounted for 80 per cent of overall revenue going into the crisis. In addition, temporary factory closures in China disrupted the supply chain, delaying delivery of merchandise and increasing freight costs, the company said in the filing, adding that said some credit lines had become unavailable. Store closures to promote physical distancing led to the temporary layoff of 90 per cent of its store employees and 30 per cent of head-office staff. The publicly traded company also suspended its dividend. The company said it had liabilities as of Feb. 1 of $189.7 million versus $89.4 million of cash and cash equivalents. Reitmans owes amounts to various landlords and expects to terminate a number of leases across Canada. It envisions a liquidation sale of inventory at some stores and intends to honour its commitments under loyalty programs. Craig Patterson, a retail analyst and consultant at the Retail Council of Canada, said the company had been investing to refurbish stores and rejuvenate its fashion lines until the pandemic, which has led to filings for creditor relief by a number of brands including footwear retailer the Aldo Group Inc., also based in Montreal, hit it from left field. They were looking to turn things around but needed to pivot fairly quickly. Reitmans says it employs approximately 6,800 people and operates 576 stores including 259 Reitmans, 106 Penningtons, 80 RW & CO., 77 Addition Elle and 54 Thyme Maternity. Advertisement British teachers are today being urged to follow the lead of their French counterparts by going back to work and getting more than 1.4million children into class after two months in lockdown. Ministers across the Channel have revealed that they have had 70 cases of coronavirus in 40,000 schools and nurseries in the past 11 days and none of the children or staff are seriously ill. It came as parents have been told that when English schools reopen children still at home are unlikely to get any more online learning materials until September, when it is hoped all pupils will return. Emmanuel Macron's government agreed to open schools with their militant union chiefs having declared the country's children must not be 'the collateral victims' of the coronavirus crisis. The success of the back to school policy in France has been put down to a range of safeguards, including strict social distancing and use of masks, and will be examined closely in the UK where the Government is in an almighty battle with teaching unions over reopening schools in England on June 1. And across the 20-plus EU states where schools are open again there has been no spike in cases with experts saying there is only a small risk to teachers, children and their families. Yet the UK's National Education Union has urged its members to bombard head teachers with health and safety queries in 22-page demands document - and said schools should make it clear that 'no marking should take place' for health and safety reasons. Several councils have already ruled out reopening schools while headteachers across the country have refused to open their gates next month. As millions of parents wait to hear if their children will return to school on June 1, it has also emerged: Unions have produced a 22-page documents for teachers containing 169 questions required to be answered before schools open; Former prime minister Tony Blair weighed in and backed Boris Johnson's calls for pupils to go back to school, saying some children were receiving no education at all; Some schools have already ruled out opening and those planning to will halve class sizes to 15, clean tables and toys Councils, particularly in Labour-run authorities such as Bury in the north-west, have already ruled out reopening schools while Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham warned last night: 'I worry it's too soon'; Schoolchildren wearing protective mouth masks and face shields back in class at Claude Debussy college in Angers, France The French Government feared that children and their futures would be damaged without school for two months Students wait outside Cassignol College before returning and resuming classes in Bordeaux, France - any child over the age of 11 must wear a mask Tony Blair BACKS Boris Johnson's plans to reopen schools Many significant figures in Britain, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair (pictured) have asked for UK schools to reopen as some children are not receiving any education at all Tony Blair has said Boris Johnson's administration is right to be opening schools again. The Prime Minister's plans to start sending children back to school next month has come under attack from teaching unions and some local authorities, with critics arguing it is too soon to lift the coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions. Mr Johnson, in his address to the nation on May 10, said Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils would be the first to go back, starting on June 1 'at the earliest'. In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday evening, Mr Blair said the Government was adhering to scientific advice by preparing schools to open their doors again. 'They're right, I think, to be reopening the schools,' said Mr Blair. I don't think they would say that they're putting school opening above health risks. What they're doing is basing it on the evidence, actually. 'There are countries that have reopened parts, at least, of their school system. 'If you look at all the best evidence and again, my institutes assembled a lot of the different data on this, it's, especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low.' Advertisement The chaos in the education system means that millions of parents remain in the dark over whether their children in reception, year 1 and year 6 will returning to school in just 13 days time. In France around a quarter of the nation's school children have returned to class because they live in areas deemed less affected by the virus. It was a similar story in Belgium where primary and secondary schools have been told to restart smaller classes of final-year pupils under strict social distancing rules. Jean-Michel Blanquer, France's education minister, said there had been 70 cases of coronavirus in around 50 schools since reopening. A total of 70 schools were closed as a result, to stop further infection. 'This shows that our measures are as strict as we said they would be,' he said. Schools forced to shut included seven in the northern town of Roubaix, where just one boy was infected but was thought to have come into contact with pupils from other schools. He also insisted that children who had picked up Covid-19 had not caught it inside schools, where rigorous health measures are being enforced. Mr Blanquer added: 'It is absolutely essential that our children are not the collateral victims of health conditions.' A 57-page education ministry document has been handed to teachers explaining rules on social distancing. The 96 'departements', or regions, of the country were initially split into the green, yellow or red categories two weeks before lockdown was to be eased across France on May 11. By the time this date arrived, the yellow regions were allocated to either a green or red category. How has France got its children back into schools after lockdown? In France, the Government has decided: Masks are compulsory for all school children over the age of 11 - anyone below that doesn't have to wear one but will be provided with them if parents want them - or if they start showing any symptoms of illness; Classes are not allowed any more than 15 children and only one child per desk; Any school with a single case of coronavirus is closed immediately, the person is isolated and the areas cleaned before reopening; Advertisement Green areas were allowed to reopen their primary schools on May 11, as well as ending some other lockdown restrictions, while red areas have had to keep schools closed. Around 185,000 middle school pupils in green zones also went back to class yesterday. Unlike in nursery and primary schools, all staff and pupils must wear masks. Former prime minister Tony Blair last night backed calls for pupils to go back to school, saying some children were receiving no education at all. Mr Blair told BBC Newsnight: 'If you look at all the best evidence, and my Institute has assembled a lot of the different data on this, especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low. 'Private schools will have been educating their children throughout this. 'Parts of the state system will have been. But then there are some children who will have been having no education at all.' A girl wearing a face mask is pictured using hand gel from a dispenser as she arrives to school in Austria Schools in Denmark (pictured) have reopened primary schools and nurseries and the number of coronavirus cases are in fact decreasing Germany have opened schools for their older children, with some even taking examinations such as this biology class in Dortmund (above) Schools in Belgium (pictured) have been maintaining strict social distancing guidelines in their classrooms Reopening schools across Europe has not caused a spike in coronavirus cases. Evidence from 22 EU states that have restored classes suggests little or no risk to pupils, teachers or families. The revelation piles pressure on unions resisting plans to send younger children back from June 1. The National Education Union yesterday even claimed it was not safe for teachers to mark workbooks. But an EU meeting was told that the gradual return to school had not resulted in 'anything negative'. Denmark reopened primaries and nurseries a month ago and has seen infection rates continue to fall. Norway, which is outside the EU, has taken similar action without a rise. Around 1.4million French pupils went back to class last week and of around 40,000 schools and nurseries only 70 were closed again following virus cases. Germany has reopened schools for older children and plans to allow younger year groups back later in the summer term. Alan Smithers, a professor in education at the University of Buckingham, said: 'The unions have been asking for evidence, and this is it. 'So they should start cooperating fully with the Government so that our schools can open again as soon as possible.' The NEU instead is urging strict two metre social distancing measures remain in place - as is being done in other workplaces. The planning document also includes a 20-page safety checklist, written jointly with fellow unions, Unite, Unison and GMB, which it will urge its members to go through with bosses before they return to schools 'Health and safety reps have the legal right to be consulted on the risk assessment and future amendments,' the document states. Pictured right is a summary of checklist questions for representatives to answer, including: 'Are you satisfied with the cleaning and hygiene arrangements that will operate from when extended opening begins?' Pictured left are more steps from the summary of checklist questions for reps to answer. Right are questions for reps to ask about site preparation 'Reps need assurances about the systems that the head teacher will be able to implement. Without these assurances there can be no expectations on either staff or parents,' the document states The DfE is asking head teachers to undertake an audit of how many staff are available, both teaching and support staff The document states: 'The Planning Guide is explicit that unlike older children and adults, early years and primary age children cannot be expected to remain 2 metres apart from each other and staff The unions have asked more than 100 questions of a headteacher, which it describes as a safety checklist The unions have asked more than 100 questions of a headteacher, which it describes as a safety checklist Reps are given guidance to ask if individual pupil risk assessments will be in place for all pupils who 'exhibit anti-social behaviour, eg biting, before a decision is made' The workplace checklist tells reps to ask about what guidance will be given to staff on how to support children - and will visitors be provided PPE where necessary Labour-run Bury council yesterday became the latest local authority to reject the Government's timetable for sending children back to class. It joins Hartlepool, Liverpool and Stockport. Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden refused to rule out penalties for town halls that refuse to reopen schools from June 1. Blazenka Divjak, education minister of Croatia, which holds the rotating EU presidency, told European colleagues yesterday: 'We haven't heard anything negative about the reopening of schools, but it is probably too early to have final conclusions.' She noted at the video meeting that schools had imposed 'very high security conditions' including smaller class sizes and very close cooperation with health ministries and epidemiological services. She stressed the results needed 'to be treated with caution' as the return to normal life was in its very early stages. UK officials say they hoped the evidence from other countries would reassure teachers. A source at the Department for Education said: 'We looked closely at international examples when drawing up our plans for a phased return. 'These initial findings from European countries are encouraging and suggest that our similarly cautious approach will minimise the risk of transmission.' The Government wants a phased reopening from June 1, with Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils going back first. Professor Van-Tam said children were not 'high-output transmitters' of Covid-19. Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta star Maurice Fayne is back home after he was arrested for allegedly using a $2 million PPP coronavirus loan to buy luxury items and make child support payments. The reality star, 37, was pictured taking a phone call outside of his home in Georgia over the weekend. Fayne was sitting upon a slick red BMW and drinking a soda as he pressed the phone against his ear, appearing deep in thought. Back home: Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta star Maurice Fayne is back home after he was arrested for allegedly using a $2 million PPP coronavirus loan to buy luxury items and make child support payments Fayne was dressed comfortably in a white T-shirt and flashy red sweatpants. Fayne was sipping from the soda bottle as he listened intently to the call, before eventually returning back inside his house. Authorities say Fayne used an emergency loan from the federal government to lease a Rolls Royce, make child support payments and purchase $85,000 worth of jewelry. Fayne, who goes by Arkansas Mo on the VH1 show 'Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta,' was arrested Monday on a charge of bank fraud, the Department of Justice said in a news release. Moving on: Fayne was sipping from the soda bottle as he listened intently to the call, before eventually returning back inside his house Fayne is the sole owner of transportation business Flame Trucking and in April he applied for a loan that the federal government was offering to small businesses decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, officials said. In his application, Fayne stated his business employed 107 employees with an an average monthly payroll of $1,490,200, the release said. Fayne requested a Paycheck Protection Program loan for over $3million and received a little over $2million, officials said. Maurice 'Mo' Fayne attends 'Ferrari Karlie' Single Release Party at Buckhead Loft on July 18, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia Pictured: Maurice 'Mo Arkansas' Fayne on VH1's 'Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta' in the 2019 series of the show. Fayne appeared on several episodes of 'Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta' as the love interest of Karlie Redd, a longtime cast member Pictured: A 2018 file photo of a vintage gold luxury day date watch. Fayne spent over $1.5million on jewelry, investigators said He used more than $1.5million of the loan to purchase jewelry, including a Rolex Presidential watch and a 5.73 carat diamond ring, the release said. Fayne also leased a 2019 Rolls Royce Wraith and paid $40,000 in child support. 'At a time when small businesses are struggling for survival, we cannot tolerate anyone driven by personal greed, who misdirects federal emergency assistance earmarked for keeping businesses afloat,' said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. When he met with investigators last week, Fayne denied spending the loan on anything besides payroll and business expenses. Pictured: File photo of a Rolls Royce Wraith taken in Geneva, Switzerland in March last year. Fayne also leased one of the models on a spending spree after being sent over $2million for a coronavirus business loan from the federal government But last Monday, federal agents searched Fayne's home and seized the jewelry and around $80,000 in cash, including $9,400 Fayne had in his pockets, the release said. Fayne's attorney Tanya Miller said there was 'considerable confusion' about PPP guidelines and over whether owners could 'pay themselves a salary' when asked about the charges by CNN. She added that she hopes these 'issues' will be better explained in the near future. He was released on $10,000 bond. Fayne appeared on several episodes of 'Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta' as the love interest of Karlie Redd, a longtime cast member, news outlets reported. Some students sponsored to Europe for post-graduate studies by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) are reportedly stranded abroad because of the alleged lack of funding from the commission. The students this month sent a letter to the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, complaining that life for them abroad has been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic which has prevented them from even engaging in menial jobs for survival. While we had survived with working as bar attendants, warehouse assistants and even care workers during these nine months of being sent overseas without upkeep, this assistive source of income has been lost due to the COVID19 pandemic, said about 25 students who signed the letter to Mr Lawan on behalf of the 2019 NDDC scholars. With the pandemic, scholars are unable to meet up with their basic obligations like rent and feeding and are living on the constant threat of ejection by their landlords in different parts of the world. Some of the 210 students who were fortunate to win the NDDC scholarship were unable to leave Nigeria for their studies because the commission did not even give them N500,000 take-off grant for their visa processing and flight cost, the students said. The students said the NDDC also failed to pay the US$30,000 to cover tuition and upkeep for all the other students who were able to leave Nigeria for their respective schools in the U.K. READ ALSO: Mr President Sir, the tuition fee and maintenance cost of US$30,000,00 ought to have been paid immediately on resumption and arrival of students in respective countries of study. For clarity sir, scholars resumed in September 2019 while others resumed in January 2020. Till date, no one has received the payments. Not only are the universities tired of writing to the commission without any form of acknowledgment, the universities have now locked out majority of students from their online portal, meaning students who resumed in September 2019 can no longer continue to work on their dissertation for Masters students, and students who resumed in January cannot register for their next semester courses and PhD students can no longer access university services for their research. In addition to this, universities have now transferred the tuition debt to scholars and have given scholars tight deadlines to make payments, otherwise they would be reported to the respective immigration offices for eventual deportation. This is nine months of the lives of some of the brightest Nigerian students about to be thrown in the refuse bin of history. The NDDC was established 20 years ago as an intervention agency to fast-track development in the troubled Niger Delta region. But many feel the impact of the commission, which is frequently entangled in corruption scandal, is yet to be felt. Other Nigerian students who benefited from the NDDC scholarship in the past had complained of being abandoned in a similar manner by the commission. The NDDC is being supervised by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. The then Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Usani, suspended the scholarship programme in 2017 until the commission cleared the backlog of payment meant for the old beneficiaries. PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately confirm if the NDDC cleared the backlog and could not get its response to the latest complaints. The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, did not respond to calls and text message to his phone line. The new management of the NDDC is currently being probed by the House of Representatives over alleged N40 billion spent in two months without due regard to the Fiscal Responsibility Act. A disinfection worker sprays anti-septic solution at classroom to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images) Follow the latest coronavirus news in Ireland and across the world on the Independent.ie live blog. 22:00 19/05/2020 EU will help Ireland rebuild economy and get back to work after coronavirus crisis - Donohoe John Downing VARIOUS EU aid packages worth a total of 2trn can play a vital role in helping Ireland rebuild the economy after coronavirus and get people back to work, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said. Speaking after a video conference of EU finance ministers, Mr Donohoe welcomed the latest joint proposal by France and Germany for a total 500bn coronavirus rescue fund giving to grants member states. The money would be raised by breaking a long-standing taboo about the EU borrowing heavily on international money markets and repaying it out of Brussels coffers. The Finance Minister said discussions were continuing on how this initiative - proposed by German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and French President, Emmanuel Macron - would work in practice. Brussels diplomats said the frugal four Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Denmark remained opposed to the EU shouldering member states debts and also against expanding the overall scale of the EU budget. Read More 21:00 19/05/2020 HSE suspends practice of telling employer test results before employees The HSE has suspended the practice of informing employers of coronavirus test results before the employees who were tested. The move comes after complaints were received by the Data Protection Commission (DPC), which subsequently raised concern about the incidences. Earlier on Tuesday, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said informing employers before their staff was a breach of confidentiality. It is understood the incidences relate to widespread screening of large workforces, including meat plants, with public health officials alerting employers in the first instance in an effort to trigger prompt infection control steps. Read More 19:40 19/05/2020 Annual Croagh Patrick pilgrimage cancelled Eavan Murray The annual Reek Sunday pilgrimage on Croagh Patrick in Co Mayo has become the latest event cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision to abandon this years event, on Sunday July 26, comes after weeks of speculations. In a statement, the Reek Sunday Organising Forum said concern about visitor numbers and adherence to public health advice were the main deciding factors behind the decision to cancel. Organisers admitted it would be logistically impossible to safely oversee the pilgrimage which attracts around 3,000 climbers every year. Read More 17:56 19/05/2020 16 further deaths and 51 new confirmed cases The Department of health has been notified of 16 further deaths linked to Covid-19 and 51 new confirmed cases. 17:50 19/05/2020 Decision due soon on extending Covid-19 unemployment payment, says Finance Minister Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said the Government will make a decision soon on how long the emergency pandemic unemployment payment will continue. The 350 euro weekly payment was first introduced in March and is due to expire in June. Asked about plans to extend the payment beyond June, Mr Donohoe said he knew the money was important for families and the Government was looking at the period and what amounts would be paid. Speaking at Government buildings on Tuesday, he said: We know these payments are important and they will continue for a period of time but we just have to decide over what period and at what level. We are only a few days into the re-opening of the economy and we just need some information to become available to us as to how the re-opening of the economy affects people on the wage subsidy scheme and the number of people availing of the PUP. We hope to have more data available to make a decision about those two issues soon and we will then make an announcement regarding the value of these payments and what is going to happen them. Read More 16:45 19/05/2020 HSE's plans for coronavirus testing to cost 'hundreds of millions of euro' Cormac McQuinn THE HSE's plans for coronavirus testing and contact tracing is expected to cost hundreds of millions of euro, a Dail probe of the response to the crisis has been told. The chairman of the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response, Michael McNamara, asked how much testing has cost so far and into the future. Earlier TDs were told the health service now has the capacity to do 100,000 tests per week. HSE boss Paul Reid said that the costs so far have been "roughly 35m between testing and tracing". He predicted the costs into the future will be into the hundreds of millions of euro "based on the volume well be testing in the coming year". Mr Reid said the HSE is "still in dialogue" with the Department of Public Expenditure on the matter. Mr McNamara asked for a breakdown on how much has been spent with individual labs. Mr Reid did not have such figures to hand but gave an undertaking that this would be provided to the committee in writing. 16:05 19/05/2020 Gardai report 70 spitting and coughing incidents Aoife Walsh Visit our Covid-19 vaccine dashboard for updates on the roll out of the vaccination program and the rate of Coronavirus cases Ireland A total of 70 incidents of spitting and coughing against members of An Garda Siochana have been recorded during the past month. Figures released by gardai today revealed that members had to use anti-spit guards 57 times from April 8 until May 16 2020. Commissioner Harris said: "Regrettably, these reprehensible spitting and coughing attacks on our personnel continue. These are a significant health and safety risk to our members in the current environment. We must protect them from such attacks." Gardai reported that up to last Saturday they have invoked regulations 241 times out of the hundreds of thousands of interactions with the public. These include both arrests and incidents without arrest where name and address details were taken. Of the 241 incidents, two were as a result of an instruction from a relevant medical professional. Gardai say arrest remains a last resort. There have been 1,621 incidents where other offences were disclosed in the course of Covid-19 operations. These range from incidents such as drink driving or disqualified drivers detected at checkpoints, to drugs and weapons seizures, to public order offences. The Garda National Vetting Bureau (GNVB) has processed 24,335 vetting applications for Covid-related roles from March 12 to May 16 this year. This includes applications across medical and healthcare roles, and voluntary groups. GNVB is up-to-date with all vetting applications. The current turnaround time for vetting applications is one day. 15:50 19/05/2020 Irish health chiefs not recommending drug Trump taking to stave off Covid-19 Cormac McQuinn IRISH health chiefs won't be recommending the use of a drug that US President Donald Trump says he is taking to stave off coronavirus. Mr Trump said he is taking hydroxychloroquine in a bid to avoid the disease. The drug is used for malaria and lupus and experts have warned it has cardiac side-effects. "I'm taking it for about a week and a half now and I'm still here, I'm still here," Mr Trump said. Waterford Independent TD Matt Shanahan asked HSE bosses attending a Dail committee if the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) or other medics here are looking at the use of the drug to prevent the disease. The HSE's chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said authorities here are not recommending its use. He said: "This is a drug that's used for other conditions. "Theres been some small studies done which to date don't show any direct benefit. "The current advice from us in this country from the expert advisory group in line with other countries - is that more research is needed before we demonstrate this is of any benefit either in prevention or treatment of Covid-19." Mr Henry warned: "It is a drug that is not without side effects particularly cardiac side effects and as such we would not be recommending it for prevention of Covid-19." 15:20 19/05/2020 Airline passengers could dodge 14-day quarantine by coming into country via north - Holohan's warning letter to Harris Eilish O'Regan Airline passengers coming from the UK who want to dodge 14-day quarantine rules could travel via Northern Ireland to the Republic, posing a public health risk, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has warned. In a strongly worded letter to Health Minister Simon Harris on May 12 he said there is a risk of imported cases associated with non-essential travel from and through Great Britain to Ireland via Northern Ireland if different arrangements were to apply to such overseas travel. The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) highlighted this risk and recommended that measures be taken to address the potential threat. The previous week Dr Holohan also wrote to the Minister saying he was worried about Irish people taking summer holidays abroad and he called for a mandatory quarantine of 14 days after flying here. It should apply to all people who return to Ireland from overseas with limited exceptions such as supply chain workers and those travelling to Northern Ireland. Read More 14:10 19/05/2020 Dr Tony Holohan has said that Ireland's response to Covid-19 cannot be compared with other countries where there are individual contributing factors. Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane put it to him that days after the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) advised that the blanket restrictions be lifted a visiting ban for nursing homes was imposed. Mr Holohan said that on March 12 it was recommended that visits to nursing homes cease as part of a series of different pieces of advice including school closures. "It was a change in our assessment of the disease on the 11th of March that led us to that point. "Up to that point we didn't think we shouldn't introduce such arrangements because we understand that these are restrictions on people visiting their loved ones in places where they live." Mr Holohan added: "I should point out to you that nevertheless, in terms of cross-country comparisons - and we've done this - the length of time between a country reporting its first case and then implementing visitor restrictions in the way that we did on that occasion we were the quickest country in the world." Under further questioning from Mr Cullinane Mr Holohan said there are more than 200 clusters of coronavirus cases in long-term residential settings and the Sinn Fein TD said: "I think we can all accept that that's very, very high." Mr Holohan insisted: "It doesn't relate to visitor restrictions. "Because we know that the point at which visitor restrictions were recommended by us which is on the 12th of March - we had had no reported clusters at that moment in time." He said that New Zealand, Australia, Canada and "a range of countries across Europe" all took a "substantially longer time" to implement visitor restrictions. He said it was done here before advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) "We were very responsive to the disease," he said. 14:00 19/05/2020 Dr Tony Holohan has defended the timing of when visitor restrictions were placed on nursing homes as he was grilled on the decision in the Dail. Nursing homes have been among the worst-hit places in the coronavirus crisis with many vulnerable residents falling ill and passing away. Mr Holohan insisted that no country put restrictions in place more quickly than Ireland and denied that outbreaks in homes related to visitors. He came under pressure on the issue at the Dail's Special Committee on Covid-19 Response. Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane put it to him that Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) - which represents private operators - restricted visitors in early March. He said that on March 10, Mr Holohan and the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) advised that the blanket restrictions be lifted and that was the advice given to nursing homes. Mr Holohan disputed this. He said the advice given on that day was more broad and didn't relate only to nursing homes but "a range of different actions that are happening over the course of that week." He said there had been "substantial concern" at NPHET "that there was a lot of unilateral action taking place" with organisations taking their own decisions about what public health actions they needed to take. He said this was not informed by NPHET advice and "our clear concern was to try and ensure that we had all of the country, all of the organisations, operating in step with our advice." He said that he has been quoted as saying there should not be restrictions on but that's not correct. "If you check our press release in relation to that time we said that visitor restrictions in respect of nursing homes are not appropriate at this moment in time - which is a totally different thing to what has been interpreted by many people," he added. 13:40 19/05/2020 SENIOR health officials have been unable to provide an assurance that all nursing homes are fully compliant with infection control regulations. Nursing homes have been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic and older people are among the groups who are most vulnerable to the disease. At the Covid Response Committee Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd raised the issue of coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes. He said that just 123 of 581 homes around the country were fully compliant with Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) regulations according to the most recent data. Mr O'Dowd said that in 2018 37 homes out of 215 inspected were non-compliant in infection control which he described as a "very basic protection". He asked the senior health officials for an "absolute categoric assurance" that all nursing homes both public and private are now fully compliant with infection control procedures. Department of Health boss Jim Breslin did not confirm that this was the case in his answer. Mr Breslin said infections standards are in place for nursing homes and it's part of the responsibilities of those who run them. He said Hiqa plays an important role in relation to nursing homes and issue guidance to providers about their responsibilities. Mr Breslin said coronavirus is "much more infectious" than the typical flu outbreaks and "much more severe in its impact". He said that it's hard to keep flu out of nursing homes each year. He said the response to Covid-19 in nursing homes remains an "absolute focus" of the public health effort, And he said nursing home management are "very clear what their responsibilities are". 13:20 19/05/2020 O'Leary predicts 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity for growth after crisis John Mulligan Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary believes there will be "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunities for growth in the next couple of years as the aftermath of the coronavirus leaves behind a radically changed aviation industry. He also said the carrier's nascent relationship with Airbus is close to collapse and that Ryanair's Austrian subsidiary Lauda will probably migrate to a Boeing fleet. He was speaking as Ryanair released full-year results that showed it made a profit of just over 1bn in the 12 months to the end of March. "I think there is going to be significant opportunities into the summer of 2021 for Ryanair to grow strongly," said Mr O'Leary. "In fact, if anything, I would try to accelerate our growth into 2021 because there's going to be opportunities there with airports. There's certainly going to be a huge surplus of available pilots and cabin crew all over Europe." Read More 13:00 19/05/2020 Northern Ireland Executive to discuss restriction relaxation over family meetings Foster The Northern Ireland Executive is set to revisit whether people should be able to meet immediate family indoors. First Minister Arlene Foster said ministers are constantly reviewing medical evidence. A series of lockdown relaxations were announced in the region on Monday, which included groups of up to six people who do not share a household being allowed to meet outdoors. Garden centres and recycling centres re-opened their doors and fishing restarted, while churches and places of worship are to open for private prayer and golf is set to restart on Wednesday. Drive-in church services and entertainment will also be permitted. 12:40 19/05/2020 Celebrities urge people to reach out to others Celebrities including Gordon Ramsay and David Walliams encourage people to reach out to others as part of a video call to mark Mental Health Awareness Week. The video forms part of ITV's Britain Get Talking campaign. 12:20 19/05/2020 Return to play in GAA is more difficult than other sports Expand Close Park strife: Croke Parks pitch may remain empty until new protocols are in place. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Park strife: Croke Parks pitch may remain empty until new protocols are in place. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile Colm Keys Last month the 2019 drawn All-Ireland final referee David Gough brought some practical thinking to some of the challenges involved in a return to play, if it is to happen this year, in Gaelic games. While the focus is rightly on the issue of contact in Gaelic football, hurling, ladies football and camogie, some of the other small detail that you could so easily forget about was brought to light in an interview he conducted with 'Game On' on 2FM. How, for instance, would four umpires be able to pack into a referee's car and take off to a club ground, not to mention a county ground somewhere down the country, without observing some form of distancing, even if the two-metre Government guideline had been relaxed by then. It might not, he suggested, be the most prudent way to start off refereeing again. Read More 12:00 19/05/2020 Mexico begins reopening despite coronavirus onslaught fears Expand Close Mariachi musicians wear masks to guard against coronavirus as they play at an empty Garibaldi square in Mexico City (Eduardo Verdugo/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Mariachi musicians wear masks to guard against coronavirus as they play at an empty Garibaldi square in Mexico City (Eduardo Verdugo/AP) Mexico issued guidelines on Monday for restarting operations in the automotive, mining and construction sectors, pushing ahead with reopening the economy despite a growing national toll from the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about unsafe work sites. With Mexico's coronavirus death toll having surged past 5,300, and with 51,633 known cases, officials are wrestling with how to restart key industries without triggering a greater spread of the highly contagious respiratory virus. The moves to loosen restrictions follow growing pressure from the United States to reopen factories that are vital to supply chains of US-based businesses, especially in the vast automotive sector. Mexico's reopening plans have drawn criticism from some politicians worried that the still-rising pandemic tide in Latin America makes it unsafe to send more people to work. 11.45 19/05/2020 Tony Holohan gives outline of national and international spread of Covid-19 Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan has given an outline of the spread of coronavirus here and across the globe. His statement: "Since Covid-19 emerged in China in December 2019, it has spread widely and rapidly around the world. "As of today, there are over 4.5 million cases worldwide, with 24,200 of these in Ireland. "Sadly, 1,547 people in Ireland have lost their lives. I am acutely conscious of the grief that people have experienced over the past three months." He expressed his condolences to all those who have lost loved ones. Irish health authorities first heard reports of a novel coronavirus infection during the second week in January, Mr Holohan said. In his statement he said: "Immediately, senior public health people in this country began to confer, monitor and collaborate with colleagues internationally. "It became clear from an early stage that this would become a significant challenge for the world." "It is equally true that the worlds experience with this virus is still unfolding, with tragic consequences for many countries, irrespective of levels of preparedness, wealth or development." Mr Holohan said that there were "high levels of preparedness" here "arising from our experience with pandemic influenza and other public health challenges". "It was quickly clear to us that this virus was very different. "The ease of its transmission, its severity, particularly for those who are vulnerable, combined with the fact that there is no natural immunity to this virus, no medicines available for its specific treatment and no vaccines, has presented an unprecedented global public health challenge." On January 30 the World Health Organisation declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The NPHET held its first meeting on January 27 and has hled 31 meetings to date. Mr Holohan says the NPHETs role "has been to provide clear advice to the public on how to protect themselves, their families and their communities, and to provide advice to Government, when it was necessary to do so, regarding wider societal public health measures" It adds: "By mid-March, it became evident that unprecedented action was needed to prevent spread of infection and high rates of hospitalisation and ICU admissions and significant mortality. "Our collective actions have suppressed the infection and protected the health of people in this country and undoubtedly saved lives." However, he warns there is "no certainty" the spread of the virus can be kept suppressed. 11:20 19/05/2020 Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan will warn TDs that there is "no certainty" that Ireland can keep spread of coronavirus suppressed His remarks are to be made before the Dail's Special Committee on Covid-19 response. Mr Holohan is the chairman of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) and today's meeting will be TDs' first opportunity to quiz him in public. He is expected to tell them that the "cornerstone of the response in this country has been based on a public health evaluation of risk and public health-informed recommendations to Government as to what measures can be taken at each point in order to minimise the impact of this disease." But he will warn: "There is no certainty that we can keep this virus suppressed. 11:00 19/05/2020 'Very small' weddings could take place in July- Simon Harris Read More Health Minister Simon Harris has said "very small" weddings with close family and friends might be able to take place in July. According to the Government road map out of lockdown, small weddings would be permitted in the Republic of Ireland by phase four, which is due to begin on July 20. Mr Harris told Newstalk FM the Government will be working on more detailed guidance about weddings over the next few weeks. "Over the next weeks what we have to do is provide more clarity in relation to this. At the moment, what we're saying is we could arrive at a point at stage four in July - and even that date can't be guaranteed - we will have to see how we get on in the next few weeks," he said. "In stage four of our plan we are saying you could have small social gatherings ie a small wedding or baptism. Small is going to be small - 100 is mot small, 80 or 90 is not small. We are talking about a very small gathering with very close family and friends." Read More 10:40 19/05/2020 'We're stuck here and can see no end in sight,' say Irish tourists in Algarve Expand Close Difficult: Shops in Portugal are beginning to reopen but flights out of the country are in short supply. Picture: Reuters / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Difficult: Shops in Portugal are beginning to reopen but flights out of the country are in short supply. Picture: Reuters Eavan Murray Irish tourists stranded in the Algarve could be stuck there for months to come. Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair have grounded all flights from the Portuguese coastal region, and there are fears that without Government intervention it could be many more weeks before some of the holidaymakers get home. Despite still advertising flights from Faro to Dublin from May 31, Aer Lingus has confirmed that all flights from the regional airport are cancelled indefinitely. The Department of Foreign Affairs has urged Irish citizens to make contact with the Irish Consulate in Lisbon and notify it of their presence. Two retired Irish couples have spoken of their frustration after they struggled with multiple cancellations and problems rebooking flights and receiving refunds from Aer Lingus. Read More 10:20 19/05/2020 Australia's Qantas to provide in-flight masks but will not leave seats vacant Qantas Airways Ltd said on Tuesday it would introduce new measures on board such as providing masks and cleaning wipes to ensure safe travel and give passengers peace of mind during the pandemic but it would not leave middle seats empty. Catering will be simplified, aircraft cleaning will be stepped up and passengers will be asked to limit movement around the cabin once seated as part of the new measures to be put in place from June 12, the airline said. Masks will not be mandatory but Qantas will recommend that passengers wear them in the interest of everyone's peace of mind, it said. Qantas Group Medical Director Dr Ian Hosegood said social distancing, such as leaving the middle seat empty, was not practical on board, and the airline did not believe it was needed given the low transmission risk. "The data shows that actual risk of catching coronavirus on an aircraft is already extremely low," he said. "That's due to a combination of factors, including the cabin air filtration system, the fact people don't sit face-to-face and the high backs of aircraft seats acting as a physical barrier." 10:00 19/05/2020 Femicides in Argentina reach 10-year high under coronavirus lockdown The number of women killed in Argentina has reached a 10-year high under coronavirus lockdown, a leading rights group said on Monday, with more than 50 femicides in less than two months. Three of those women were murdered in just the last four days, according to La Casa del Encuentro, a Buenos Aires-based feminist group that said not only the numbers but the severity of the violence was hugely concerning. "We're very worried. It's the highest number in 10 years," said Ada Rico, the group's president and director of the organizations Femicide Observatory watchdog project. "(Women) are being beaten to death or strangled," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Twelve women are killed every day in Latin America because of their gender in a crime known as femicide, according to the United Nations, and the region is home to 14 of the 25 countries with the highest rates of femicide in the world. The vast majority of killings go unprosecuted. 09:40 19/05/2020 Coronavirus Ireland: New mortgage arrears crisis now 'inevitable' Shane Phelan A fresh mortgage arrears crisis is inevitable due to the pandemic, a report from a leading academic has warned. The new research suggests a largely State-owned lender has been driving repossession cases and calls into question the level of supervision being provided by the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI). Dr Padraic Kenna, director of the Centre for Housing Law, Rights and Policy at NUI Galway, said given the economic impact of the coronavirus, it was important that mistakes of the past were not repeated. Covid-19 will inevitably result in a new round of mortgage arrears, and many of the challenges of the last decade will re-emerge, he warned. Read More 09:20 19/05/2020 Dr. Tony Holohan gives an update on Ireland's coronavirus status The coronavirus death toll in Ireland has risen to 1,547 after a further four deaths were announced by the National Public Health Emergency Team. 88 further cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Ireland to 24,200. 09:00 19/05/2020 Trump taking malaria drug despite potential side effects and no evidence that it protects against coronavirus Donald Trump has said he is taking a malaria drug to protect against coronavirus, despite warnings from his own government that it should only be administered for Covid-19 in a hospital or research setting due to potentially fatal side effects. The president told reporters he has been taking hydroxychloroquine and a zinc supplement daily for about a week and a half now. He spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential cure for Covid-19 against the advice of many of his administrations top medical professionals. The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat coronavirus. Mr Trump said his doctor did not recommend the drug to him but he requested it from the White House physician. 08:40 19/05/2020 UK care home deaths under scrutiny as report suggests agency workers spread virus Coronavirus in UK care homes will be thrust into the spotlight again amid reports ministers knew a month ago that temporary workers were helping spread the killer disease. Care chiefs will appear before MPs on Tuesday to update them on how homes and their staff are coping with the pandemic. It comes as The Guardian claimed a leaked Public Health England study found workers who transmitted coronavirus across six care homes had been brought in to cover for staff who were self-isolating to prevent the vulnerable people they looked after from becoming infected. The paper reported the study was conducted over the Easter weekend from April 11 to 13. It alleges the results have been known in the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) since at least the end of last month, but were only circulated to care home providers, councils and local directors of public health last week. 08:20 19/05/2020 Careless theories risk making bats a scapegoat for coronavirus, expert says Expand Close Nathusius pipistrelle, one of serveral bat species found in Ireland. Photo: Deposit / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Nathusius pipistrelle, one of serveral bat species found in Ireland. Photo: Deposit Bats have been unfairly blamed for spreading coronavirus and face potential long-term damage to their reputation due to unproven theories and careless untruths on the internet, an expert on the winged wonders has said. Lisa Worledge, head of conservation services at UK charity the Bat Conservation Trust (BCT), said the spurious allegations created widespread and misplaced fear about the role of the nocturnal critters during the pandemic. And she said there were fears about the long-term reputation of the famously private creatures as the coronavirus death toll increases, with some countries sanctioning culls in an attempt to stop the spread. 08:00 19/05/2020 Pandemic forecast warned 39,000 could have died in Ireland by today Cormac McQuinn and Ellen Coyne Ireland could have suffered 39,000 deaths from Covid-19 by today, a Dail inquiry into the State's response to the pandemic will be told. The death toll in the country stood at 1,547 last night. But Department of Health secretary general Jim Breslin will reveal terrifying modelling from the start of the emergency to the Dail's Special Committee on Covid-19 Response today. Mr Breslin will also offer a defence of the response to outbreaks in nursing homes as the committee examines witnesses for the first time. Read More 07:40 19/05/2020 Royal budget faces financial blow due to coronavirus lockdown The royal budget could lose millions of pounds in revenue while residences remain closed to tourists during the coronavirus crisis, it has been reported. Members of staff in the royal household face pay freezes and projects have been halted amid the closures. These include Buckingham Palace, which usually welcomes visitors during summers when the Queen is at Balmoral. The Sun newspaper reports Lord Chamberlain Earl Peel the most senior official of the royal household has warned staff that income is expected to fall by a third this year. In an email to staff seen by the newspaper, the Lord Chamberlain said the royal household was not immune to the impact of the pandemic. 07:20 19/05/2020 India coronavirus infections surge past 100,000, deaths top 3,000 Coronavirus cases in India reached 100,000 on Tuesday, matching the number of intensive care unit beds in the country, while the rate of growth of new infections showed little sign of slowing. India reported 4,970 new cases over the past 24 hours, taking the total from the outbreak to 101,139. Deaths rose by 134 to 3,163. The number of Indian cases has easily outstripped China, where the virus originated late last year and which has been one of the infection hotspots in Asia. China has reported just under 83,000 COVID-19 cases, but has kept the daily rise in new infections to single digits for the past week. In contrast, new cases in India continued to rise by an average of more than 4,000 each day over the past week, according to a Reuters tally based on official data, despite a severe weeks-long lockdown. India officially extended that lockdown on Sunday to May 31, although several states indicated they would allow businesses to reopen. 07:00 19/05/2020 WHO launches investigation of its handling of pandemic The World Health Organisation (WHO) has bowed to calls from most of its member states to launch an independent investigation into its management of the international response to the coronavirus. The move comes after weeks of finger-pointing between the US and China over the pandemic, which has killed more than 300,000 people and devastated the global economy. The comprehensive evaluation, sought by a coalition of African, European and other countries, is intended to review lessons learned from WHOs coordination of the global response to Covid-19. But it would stop short of examining contentious issues such as the origins of the new coronavirus. She appeared on Loose Women last week and claimed that she was abducted by aliens as a child. Now Scarlett Moffatt has shared her belief that pyramids were built by time travellers when speaking on her conspiracy theory podcast on Monday. The reality star, 30, was joined by her boyfriend Scott Dobinson and This Country actress Daisy May Cooper for the bizarre discussion. Bizarre: Scarlett Moffatt, 30, has shared her belief that pyramids were built by time travellers when speaking on her conspiracy theory podcast on Monday Her BBC sounds podcast titled Scarlett Moffatt Wants To Believe was launched last week with a special on aliens. Now, Scarlett has declared that 'time travel is real and the pyramids prove it.' She explained that the speed of light has 'exactly the same' figures as the coordinates for the Great Pyramid of Giza. She then said: 'Basically Einstein and Stephen Hawking said if you could travel at the speed of light you could travel back in time. Interesting: She explained that the speed of light has 'exactly the same' figures as the coordinates for the Great Pyramid of Giza (stock photo) 'Because humans could not measure the speed of light back then to that precision, I reckon people from the future have travelled back in time to build the pyramid.' Her theory impressed Daisy who was shocked and replied: 'The chances of 9 numbers written down in that order is a billion to one.' She then went on to explain that hieroglyphics are just 'emojis from the future.' Egyptian hieroglyphs were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt. Guests: The reality star, 30, was joined by her boyfriend Scott and This Country actress Daisy May Cooper for the bizarre discussion (Daisy pictured in February) Scarlett said: 'There's a little helicopter hieroglyph, there's one that looks like UFOs, there's one that looks like a light bulb.' Last week, Scarlett appeared on Loose Women to promote her podcast and share some of her beliefs. The presenter left the panel in shock as she also admitted she believes the 'Paul McCartney is dead' conspiracy theory - a longtime urban legend that alleged the Beatles legend, 77, died in the 60s and was secretly replaced by an impersonator. Appearance: Last week, Scarlett appeared on Loose Women to promote her podcast and share some of her beliefs The media personality spoke to Andrea McLean, Nadia Sawalha, Brenda Edwards and Gloria Hunniford about her experience with what she perceived as an alien invasion. 'My earliest memory ever is when me and my dad used to take a notepad to a field to go looking for crop circles', Scarlett shared. 'My boyfriend doesn't believe this, but when I was 10, a massive beaming light came when through my window, and I had a dream, well I think the [aliens] wanted to think it was a dream, and Scott seems to think that it was just a car headlight and that it was probably a dream! 'My middle name is Sigourney because my dad is a fan of Sigourney Weaver from the film Aliens'. While the hosts raised their eyebrows, the Geordie star attempted to reason: 'I'm literally obsessed. Me and Scott on our first date, I asked him if he thought we'd really been to the moon. 'This is what confuses us - people say 'Oh I believe we've landed on the moon', but then they find it really far-fetched that there can't be other planets where other little men haven't travelled to our planet.' What's going on? The presenter left the panel in shock as she also admitted she believes the 'Paul McCartney is dead' conspiracy theory The TV star later shared her thoughts on the 'Paul is dead' phenomenon, which first emerged in September 1969 after college students at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa published articles claiming various clues to his supposed death could be found in The Beatles' album cover artwork and lyrics. Expressing her take on the theory, Scarlett said: 'Well I don't know if he's dead, but there's loads of evidence that he's been replaced by a lookalike. If you sing some of the Beatles' lyrics backwards, it says that!' 'Paul, if you're watching, can you let us know if you're alright?', Andrea joked. Strange: The media personality spoke to Andrea McLean, Nadia Sawalha, Brenda Edwards and Gloria Hunniford about her experience with what she perceived as an alien invasion Kansas City Coronavirus Discount Buying Guide Debuts Shopping during a pandemic: How to buy secondhand goods KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- As the summer approaches, some people are looking for economical ways to upgrade their wardrobe. It's called different names like thrifting, consignment and vintage. However, no matter what you know it as, the commonality is that someone else has worn the clothes or items before you. Local Crash Consequences KC man faces murder charges for fatal February crash KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City man has been charged in connection with a February 4 crash that killed two people. Michael P. Mertens, 28, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, leaving the scene of an accident, receiving stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and driving while a license was revoked, the Jackson County prosecutor announced Monday. Winning COVID Economy Pentagon buys 3 mobile labs from KC's MRIGlobal Hide Transcript Show Transcript HANDLE 600 TESTS A DAY. INSIDE A NORTHLAND WAREHOUSE, IT LOOKS LIKE A 20 FOOT TRAILER. BUT KANSAS CITY'S MRI GLOBAL WILL TELL YOU IT'S ANYTHING BUT. WHEN YOU GUYS A YEAR AGO RETHINKING ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE STANDING IN FRONT OF RIGHT NOW, WAS A PANDEMIC IN YOUR CRYSTAL BALL? Happy B-Day To Hottie Hannah Palmer Celebrates Birthday In Revealing Pink Lingerie Hannah Palmer sent temperatures soaring with her latest Instagram update, which featured her celebrating her birthday in a set of lace lingerie. She looked pretty in pink as she posed seductively while licking her finger. Hannah's post consisted of a single snapshot that saw her wearing the sexy getup. Pervs Cope With COVID Pr0n Game Shortage In pandemic, adult entertainment becomes more like social networking The coronavirus pandemic has upended the adult content industry, pushing thousands of new people to present adult performances online to make money while also creating more ways for viewers seeking intimacy while in lockdown to make personal connections with performers online. More Health Concern For Commander-In-Chief Another study shows drug touted by Trump doesn't help coronavirus patients, but it can raise heart attack risk Another study shows that hydroxychloroquine - a drug President Donald Trump said showed promise in treating the coronavirus - appears to not help Covid-19 patients and, instead, places them at increased risk of heart attack. Strongman Down South As hospitals in Brazil teeter on the brink of collapse, Bolsonaro does pushups with supporters The health care system in Brazil's largest city is wavering on the brink of collapse and coronavirus deaths throughout the South American nation are soaring -- but President Jair Bolsonaro nonetheless reveled in crowds of supporters on Sunday, joining yet another anti-lockdown protest in Brasilia. Nickname Might Stick Biden's new nickname for Trump: 'President Tweety' Less than a week after he said he was "really resisting" giving President Trump a nickname, it appears Joe Biden's changed his mind. The former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee revealed on Monday that he's calling Trump "President Tweety." Prez Trump Offers Housekeeping Advice For SecState Pompeo Trump says if Pompeo's 'wife isn't there' a staffer should do the dishes so he can work WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said Monday he preferred for government employees to wash Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's dishes if his wife or child weren't present, to allow him to do his work. The president was responding to a question about Pompeo recommending that Trump fire a State Department inspector general who was investigating Pompeo's potential misuse of government resources. Meet New Money Boss China pledges $2 billion to fight coronavirus as Donald Trump threatens to cut WHO funding permanently Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged an additional $2 billion to battle the novel coronavirus over the next two years while the United States doubled down on its criticism of the World Health Organization at its annual gathering Monday. Working Club Comeback Susanna Says: Burning it all down and building back up again Photo courtesy of Susanna Lee I'm a Kansas City native, born and raised. As a pro comedian and storyteller, I travel a bit, and find myself in small-talk situations quite often, which usually include questions of where I'm from and what it's like there. Slight Warm Up Today Your Storm Track 5 Daily Forecast Cloudy skies with patchy drizzle again to start your Tuesday. The sun is back late day with highs near 70 by 5 p.m. Once again we share our morning peek at pop culture, community news and a smattering of info from across the nation and around the world . . .is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . . BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. The scientist who created Florida's COVID-19 data portal wasn't just removed from her position on May 5, she was fired on Monday by the Department of Health, she said, for refusing to manipulate data. Rebekah Jones said in an email to the USA TODAY Network that she single-handedly created two applications in two languages, four dashboards, six unique maps with layers of data functionality for 32 variables covering a half a million lines of data. Her objective was to create a way for Floridians and researchers to see what the COVID-19 situation was in real time. Then, she was dismissed. "I worked on it alone, sixteen hours a day for two months, most of which I was never paid for, and now that this has happened I'll probably never get paid for," she wrote in an email, confirming that she had not just been reassigned on May 5, but fired from her job as Geographic Information Systems manager for the Florida Department of Health. After USA TODAY Network first reported Jones' removal from her position in charge of the Florida COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard she created, she confirmed, as reported by CBS-12 in West Palm Beach that she was fired because she was ordered to censor some data, but refused to "manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen." She provided no further details. In an email last Friday to researchers and other data users, Jones warned that with her removal changes were likely coming to the accessibility and transparency of the dashboard data. "They are making a lot of changes. I would advise being diligent in your respective uses of this data," she wrote. Related Video: Restaurants and Bars Draw Crowds After Reopening Researchers who saw the email reacted with shock and dismay, suggesting it could be evidence that the Gov. Ron De Santis' government was censoring information to support the case for re-opening Florida. Lucky Tran, a Biologist and public health communicator at Columbia University, on Twitter reacted to the news in a series of tweets: "When politicians censor scientists and manipulate the numbers, the rest of us suffer," he wrote. Story continues US Congresswoman representing Tampa Bay, Kathy Castor wrote: "Floridians will not feel safe in opening up without transparency." Governor Ron DeSantis' spokeswoman, Helen Aguirre Ferre, issued a statement to the Miami Herald, saying: The Florida COVID-19 Dashboard was created by the Geographic Information System (GIS) team in the Division of Disease Control and Health Protection at the Florida Department of Health. Although Rebekah Jones is no longer involved, the GIS team continues to manage and update the Dashboard providing accurate and important information that is publicly accessible. But emails from Jones through April showed that Jones was the one responding to feedback from researchers in a bid to improve and update her product. Jones told the USA TODAY Network that she alone was responsible for "every line of code." In a May 5 email in which she announced the launch of a Spanish-language version of the dashboard, Jones wrote: "Please be patient as we get all this connected and running smoothly, and do let me know if you see any errors." It was sent the same day she was removed from her role managing of the dashboard. For 60-days Jones said she never took a day off, not even when a powerful April 12 Easter tornado leveled her parents' home in Southeast Mississippi. A GoFundMe page was set up to help her family recover. Luckily, her mother survived. Her father, a truck driver, was in Texas at the time. "Sorry if Ive been a little slow to respond these last few days," she wrote to data users in an email just 3 days later reporting updates to how data was organized, and the inclusion of county-level race data. Jones provided detailed updates in emails every few days, often technical and always responsive to user feedback. At the time was dismissed, she was working on making historical data more accessible to users. On April 25, Jones provided an explanation to why the data set would go from morning and evening daily updates to just once per day. "Were gearing up to provide more analytics and data, and would not be able to process the full dataset twice daily with the staff we have," she wrote. "We have been directed to start tracking data related to reopening, and it is consuming a lot of staff hours on very short notice." Days later she would be removed from the position entirely and her data users sounded the alarm that government might be censoring science. Jones had worked with the Department of Health as a geospatial analyst and then a Geographic Information System (GIS) manager since obtaining her doctorate in Geography from Florida State University in 2018. She holds a masters of science degree in geography and mass communication from Louisiana State University and a bachelors in Journalism and Geography from Syracuse University. The Department of Health has so far not replied to request for comment. Follow Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon on Twitter: @alemzs This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida scientist fired for refusing to 'manipulate' COVID-19 data Kumawood actress, Matilda Asare has strongly opposed the perception that Kumawood is to be blamed for the collapse of the English Speaking Movies (Ghallywood) in Ghana. For Matilda who is also a producer, there is no way Kumawood can be held responsible for whatever has happened to Ghallywood. Get Digital Versions of Graphic Publications by downloading Graphic NewsPlus Here. Also available in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store In a recent interview with Graphic Showbiz on politics, the movie industry among other topics she said, I dont agree with those saying Kumawood collapsed Ghallywood. "In Kumawood, we write stories about our culture and traditions, Ghallywood copies Nigerian and other foreign cultures. We use our local lifestyle but Ghallywood imitates others, even their costumes and storylines are foreign. Kumawood may sometimes fall short when it comes to technical ability but it is Ghallywood which has failed the industry. They could be doing movies on the various regions of Ghana and their cultures instead of doing foreign stuff, she said. Asked how she feels when Kumawood actors are described as illiterates, this is what Matilda has to say, I am not bothered one bit about such comments. "We do local movies and we need to be local. There is nothing wrong with doing movies in our local dialect, she stressed. Making suggestions on how the movie industry could bounce back, Matilda said, "when I joined the industry about 15 years ago, it wasnt like this. Back then, we used to produce movies on CDs for sale globally. That has changed; nobody buys CDs any longer. Our leaders would have to adapt to the change; when time changes, you also change. The coronavirus disease has also destroyed things, there is no doubt about that. "I was scheduled to premiere my latest movie, Heroes of Africa on April 11 but I had to postpone it because of the pandemic Again, there were no laws to guide the industry and piracy is killing us. Now that the National Film Authority has been put in place, it has to perform its role effectively so that we can have our Film Bill in place, she said. Matilda was of the opinion that when it came to content on television, there should be 70 per cent local content and 30 per cent foreign. Telenovelas are being shown all over the place; it is very bad and certainly doesnt augur well for our local movie industry, she said. We need to market our movies well and use all available platforms. Our marketing strategy must be apt. We can also appeal to investors to invest in our movies as well as individuals. Matilda went on to disclose that she has political ambitions and plans to enter Parliament. I want to go to Parliament in the future. There is no point meddling in politics if you have no political ambitions, she said. She praised the Akufo-Addo administration saying it was on course as far as the promises it made to the creative industry were concerned. It may not have fulfilled every single promise, but I can confidently say that it is on course, she added. 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 The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has said that Nigerians still await President Muhammadu Buharis address on the COVID-19 lockdown. According to a statement on the official Twitter handle of the party, the address by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha is not valid as it is not recognised by the laws of the land. PDP has noted the assumption of Presidential powers by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, to announce an extension of lockdown and curfew in our country in relation to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Read Also: Why Most Countries Are Lifting Lockdown Restrictions: Shehu Sani Advertisement Our party points out that nowhere in our laws are the powers to broadcast Presidential executive orders to declare curfew and restriction of movements vested in the Office of the SGF. The action of the SGF has brought serious confusion in the polity regarding the legality or otherwise of the directives contained in the SGFs announcement. Such powers are vested in the person and office of Mr. President and not exercisable by proxy, directly or indirectly; which makes the action of the SGF a recipe for serious constitutional crisis in our country. Our nation is a state governed by dictates of the law, particularly in the exercise of powers vested in statutory offices, especially that of the President. The @OfficialPDPNig holds that the announcement by the SGF is, therefore, another manifestation of abuse of our statutory offices arising from the abdication of responsibilities by President @MBuhari since the last five years, which had also become more pronounced in this fight against COVID-19. Our party, therefore, invites Mr. President to end the confusion in the polity, arising from the action of the SGF, by immediately addressing Nigerians in his official capacity to fulfill the demands of our laws in respect of the necessary protocols on restrictions and other management procedures in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in our country. The company is due to pay around $1.9 million in November 2020 after securing a loan in 2018 for the acquisition of a 23.8% stake in Chilean lithium miner SQM. During a session where the company was answering questions from investors, Tianqi... Grain growers say China's decision to impose tariffs of up to 80 per cent on barley imports from Australia could cost the country $500 million a year. Grain and trading groups said in a statement the move was likely to put a stop to Australian barley exports to China because it artificially increased the price of the grain. "For a number of years China has been Australias largest barley export market and Australia is the largest supplier of barley to China. This imposed duty makes Australian barley less competitive into the Chinese market," the grain industry groups said. Victorian grain grower Brett Hosking estimates that China's new tariff on Australian barley imports could cut his revenue by $100,000 this season. Credit:Angela Wylie Victorian grain grower Brett Hosking estimated the move would cut revenue from his barley crop by about $100,000 this season and lower prices. He said barley that would normally go to China would be sent elsewhere, increasing supply and pushing down prices. "It's a massive hit for farmers, for rural communities and for the Australian economy," he said. As Bay Area retailers reopened on Monday for curbside pickup after being shuttered for weeks amid the coronavirus pandemic, foot traffic was slow across San Francisco. While stores are eager to reopen retail sales plunged by record levels in April there were signs that most shoppers continue to stay home as broader shelter-in-place orders remain. Many business owners have doubts that online sales alone can sustain them, with shoppers still barred from entering stores to browse products. Government mandates for shop workers including 6-foot distancing and masks add to business challenges. Many of the shops in the Haight-Ashbury district were still closed as of Monday morning, with at least 10 reopening. By noon, foot traffic was rising but shoppers were scarce at home goods store My Favorite, said co-owners Sharon Lacayo and Mattias Karlsson. Theyve had some online orders since March, mostly puzzles and games, but said they expect business to remain quiet even with curbside pickups. Its exciting to hear we can open up again, but every day is a question mark, Lacayo said, noting that both she and Karlsson had to file for unemployment and laid off two of their employees. Its like youre starting all over again. The most activity on Haight Street was a line outside of Nice Kicks, which saw more than 15 people mostly men with expensive shoes, some in attire from streetwear brand Supreme, looking down at their phones waiting to pick up shoes. One shopper said he always comes to Nice Kicks and was waiting to pick up Air Jordans 1. Across the street, True Sole, another shoe and clothing store, wasnt faring as well with no customers outside as of Monday morning. All nine Bay Area counties are allowing outside pickups for all retailers as of Monday, in hopes of reviving a battered economy. On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom relaxed some of the criteria to reopen the economy after local leaders said previous state rules were too stringent. Over 13,000 Bay Area retail workers were laid off in just 10 weeks, according to a Chronicle analysis of state labor filings, though many cuts were classified as temporary. Business owners are unsure how many workers they can rehire if sales remain slow. Chuck Hanhan, the manager of Goodfellas, a smoke and gift shop at 1432 Haight St. that reopened Monday, said he had to lay off more than half of his employees during shelter in place. Were hoping that now we can at least start back up and see how this goes, Hanhan said as he sold a hemp wick to a customer on Monday. Its a trial run. The store has been getting some business from social media and phone calls, but Hanhan is hoping for more foot traffic. In Glen Park, the usually vibrant neighborhood was quiet aside from a handful of AT&T wire technicians outside. There were customers at Canyon Market, Glen Park Hardware and Buddies Market, essential businesses that were allowed to stay open during shelter-in-place orders. Perch, an eclectic gifts and home accents store on Chenery Street, didnt attract much foot traffic with its window display of bath sundries. And Eric Whittington wasnt able to draw many customers to Bird & Beckett, the book and record store he has owned since 1999. On Monday, he set up a table with hand sanitizer in the storefront vestibule, made handwritten signs and prepared for customers social distancing by marking off 6-foot increments with small stools on the sidewalk. Were figuring it out as we go, Whittington said. Were just trying to make people feel comfortable, but its probably going to be small for a long time. Whittington considers himself fortunate because sales have increased during the shelter-in-place order. He doesnt have a typical online store and opted to use only phone and email orders and made deliveries himself. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Without federal assistance, Whittington said Bird & Beckett has been able to keep paying both of its part-time employees while they stayed home the past two months. Revenue has risen to between $5,000 and $6,000 per week from $4,000 during normal circumstances. Im lucky to have a backlog of people who have ordered books that I havent been able to keep up with in my deliveries, said Whittington, whose business also relies on customers browsing the bookshelves and attending the live musical performances he hosts every week. Now concerts are being streamed online. Eventually, were going to need an audience in here, he said. That might take some time. Pariya Coene, a Glen Park resident on maternity leave from her consulting job, was out of the house Monday for one of the first times since her son was born Jan. 18. She was unaware that retail stores could reopen for curbside pickup and joked that she got scolded in the market for not knowing the rules about social distancing. Coene said her family generally planned to stay at home, where they are renovating their backyard, until there is a coronavirus vaccine. Were not going to change how we behave for now, she said. We mostly shop online. I think people are still going to spend money, but this is going to permanently shift the way that we spend money. Shwanika Narayan, Rusty Simmons and Annie Vainshtein are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: shwanika.narayan@sfchronicle.com, rsimmons@sfchronicle.com, avainshtein@sfchronicle.com Tim Fischer/Midland Reporter-Telegram Midland Memorial Hospital has transferred 16 Midland Medical Lodge residents back to the nursing home because they have either recovered from the coronavirus or are asymptomatic, CEO Russell Meyers said Monday. More than 30 residents from the lodge were transferred to the hospitals COVID-19 units two weeks ago after the Texas Health and Human Services Rapid Response Team became involved with controlling the outbreak at that facility. The impact of the pandemic in the United States has been nothing short of cataclysmic. Last week more than 36 million American workers filed unemployment claims. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the official national unemployment rate has reached almost 15 percentthe highest level since the Great Depressioneven though the agency acknowledges that the incidence is much higher. The St. Louis Federal Reserve estimates that this could rise to 47 million by the end of the second quarter. An estimated 40 million people are expected to lose health insurance. Over 91,000 people in the United States have died from COVID-19. Having pumped trillions of dollars into Wall Street, the Trump administration and states are pushing to reopen the economy under unsafe conditions. With its pursuit of the policy of herd immunity in defiance of all recommendations by scientists, the ruling class is preparing the conditions for a health and social disaster that will even outstrip the devastating impact of the first wave of the pandemic. Workers will not only return to work under conditions that are completely unsafe, those who will fall sick from the virus in the coming months will also be confronted with a health care system that has been pushed to the brink of financial collapse by the pandemic, and which will be even more severely understaffed than in the first months of the pandemic. Whatever medical expertise and knowledge that has been gained in the first months of the pandemic about how best to treat patients that are ill with COVID-19, threaten to be completely undermined by a class policy that is oriented entirely toward safeguarding the profits of corporations at the expense of the lives of workers. Reports indicate that health care workers, even though they have been on the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus, are one sector of the workforce that has been hardest hit by the mass layoffs. Just when health care workers are most needed in assisting in measures to contain the outbreaks throughout the country from every conceivable aspect, the system sees them as a drain on their rapidly diminishing revenues due to cancellation of lucrative elective surgeries and declines in emergency room visits and outpatient services. Fig 1 IMF World Economic Outlook Growth Projections According to National Data-National Income and Product Accounts, the first quarter of 2020 saw the US Gross Domestic Product shrink 4.8 percent. Health care expenditures have declined an astonishing 18 percent, some of the worst being in rural sectors where the anemic health infrastructure has been placed on standby facing massive revenue shortfalls and insolvency. According to Ryan Kelly, executive director of Mississippi and Alabama Rural Health Associations, facilities are just bleeding through cash right now. Theyre just dying on the vine, and it opens up the question of whos going to treat these patients when they close. The Bureau of Labor Statistics places the number of health care positions lost since January 2020 at 1.436 million, an 8.7 percent decline. Hospitals have shed 121,000 jobs, a drop of 2.3 percent. Ambulatory health care services have shed 1.2 million jobs, 15.4 percent. Offices of dentists have let go of 519,000 jobs, which account for 53.2 percent of their workforce. Physicians offices have cut 249,000 positions, a 9.2 percent decline. Additional sectors impacted by job losses include nursing homes, mental health institutions and community-based residential care facilities. There have been several reports of traveling nurses that were terminated after going to centers of the crisis in New York City to help overcome a desperate shortage of staff at the peak of the pandemic. Beckers Hospital Review states that 256 hospitals and hospital systems around the country have furloughed tens of thousands of employees. In one survey, 21 percent of physicians indicated that they either had been laid off or forced to take cuts in pay and bonuses since the beginning of the pandemic. For doctors, bonuses can amount to up to 50 percent of their total compensation. Emergency department doctors have been reported to be forced to take pay cuts of up to 40 percent. Fig 2 Monthly Change According to a report in Medscape from April, many doctors have been either put on pure production, meaning that they are still technically employed but do not get compensated and do not work. Others have been forced to use their sick time off and graduating residents have been told that the start dates for their new jobs are being delayed. Considering the extremely difficult and stressful working conditions, and the low pay, a growing number of physicians and nurses are considering quitting their jobs. In a particularly stark manifestation of the fact that the response to the pandemic by the ruling class has been entirely determined by profit interests, closures are also being prepared in New York, which for months was the epicenter of the worldwide pandemic. The very public hospitals in working-class communities that have been most heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic are now under threat of having to close their doors. The social and economic trauma of the massive COVID-19 outbreak threatens the states 29 non-profit safety-net hospitals that are in minority and low-income neighborhoods, which treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. Hospitals like Brooklyn Hospital Center and St. Barnabas in the Bronx have just resumed scheduling the much-needed operative cases that had been pushed back for several weeks. Yet, hospital administrators admit that this lost revenue will be impossible to reclaim. Gary Terrinoni, CEO of the Brooklyn Hospital Center, said in an interview with Politico, Were going to need close to $100 million between now and the next three or four months. Otherwise, the hospital might have to close. Around 70 percent of its patients are on Medicaid or Medicare or are uninsured. The hospital closures of the past decades have already been a significant factor in driving up the death toll of the first wave of the pandemic. Over the past two decades, 16 hospitals were closed in New York City alone, eliminating 22,000 hospital beds which were desperately needed at the peak of the pandemic in New York in MarchApril. Fig 3 Rural Hospital Closures In rural areas, the situation is particularly dire. According to the University of North Carolina Sheps Center for Health Services Research, at least 130 rural hospitals have closed across the US in the last 10 years. Most closures took place in states where lawmakers countered Medicaid expansion. Texas saw 20 hospitals closed, Tennessee lost 13 hospitals, nine were closed in Oklahoma and seven in the state of Georgia. 2019 had seen the highest list of closures; in the first four months of 2020 there have been 12 hospital closures. A USA Today study found that nearly 600 US rural counties without hospitals have at least one reported COVID-19 case. These counties have seen more than 15,000 COVID-related deaths. Given the crumbling health infrastructure, with governors and local governments pushing to open their communities to economic activities and, all the while, new cases confirmed growing at faster rates in rural and non-metropolitan areas, these make ready conditions for a perfect storm. Alan Morgan, the CEO of the National Rural Health Association, told the Ottawa Herald, I dont see a path forward that doesnt play out horribly in rural communities. The rationale for these mass layoffs and impending closures, which are completely irrational from the standpoint of the social and medical needs of the population amidst a pandemic, lies in the subordination of health care to the principles of private profit. With hospitals functioning as quasi companies that are predominately dependent on the profits they derive from lucrative surgeries and procedures to remain solvent, the pandemic pushed many hospitals to the brink of total collapse as they prepared for the surge. Many hospitals in the US operate on razor-thin margins. A study conducted by the Congressional Budget Office in 2016 found that approximately 23 percent of all hospitals were working with negative margins. They projected that by 2025, if they can achieve the same productivity as the economy, the share of hospitals with negative margins would rise to 40 percent. And if they did not, that could climb to as much as 60 percent. On March 18, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that all elective surgeries, nonessential medical, surgical and dental procedures would be delayed during the COVID-19 outbreak. In the effort to increase personal and public safety while conserving personal protective equipment (PPE), hospitals moved to cancel nonemergency procedures while having foregone treatment with primary care and subspecialty providers. According to the Kaufman Hall National Hospital Flash Report Summary from April 2020, Hospitals median Operating EBITDA Margins fell more than 100 percent in March, dropping a full 13 percentage points relative to last year, bringing the median margin into negative territory. The term EBITDA margin is a measure of a companys operating profit as a percentage of its revenue. The acronym stands for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Knowing the EBITDA margin allows for a comparison of one companys performance with others in the same industry. Fig 4 EBITDA Hospital-based revenues made by lucrative and profitable procedures such as joint replacements and elective cardiac surgeries tend to balance the losses from many acute care services. One measure of operating room productivity is time, and this was down 20 percent compared to the same period last year. Hospital occupancy dropped dramatically as hospitals across the country prepared for a surge in coronavirus infections. The median occupancy rate declined from 65 percent to 53 percent, year over year. The number of discharges decreased by 11 percent, and adjusted patient days in the hospital fell by 15 percent. Emergency room visits declined by 15 percent in the same period last year. At the same time, charity care and bad debt rose 13 percent year over year, a trend that hospital administrators believe will accelerate in the next few months with skyrocketing unemployment and concomitant loss of health insurance. Hospital expenses have taken a toll, with total expense per adjusted discharge jumping 18 percent. The smallest hospitals were affected most by these factors, with supply costs jumping 40 percent year over year. Drug expenses jumped 30 percent across all hospitals. The pandemic has also seen sharp increases in costs for caring for patients with COVID-19. Kaiser Family Foundation has estimated that the cost of treating a patient with COVID-19 will range from $20,000 to close to $90,000 if they need intensive care unit stay and ventilator support. FAIR Health estimated the average cost with commercial coverage at $38,221. The coming months will only see a further escalation of this dynamic. A recent analysis by the American Hospital Association (AHA) noted that hospitals and health systems face unprecedented and catastrophic financial pressure due to COVID-19, The AHA found that the number of people employed in US hospitals in 2019 stood at 7.425 million. Health care accounted for 18 percent of the United States GDP. The estimate of the impact over four months from March to June 2020 from the COVID-19 pandemic is $202.6 billion. According to the AHA, the net financial impact of COVID-19 on hospitalization over four months, from March to June 2020, for the nations hospitals and health systems will collectively see a loss of $36.6 billion, including payments for COVID-19 patients. Non-federal hospitals stand to lose $161.4 billion in canceled hospital services, including elective surgeries, outpatient treatments and reduced emergency department services. The additional costs of purchasing needed PPE in these four months are estimated at $600 million per month. The additional costs of supporting frontline workers in COVID-19 hotspots are expected to be $2.2 billion. These include the cost of childcare, housing, transportation and medical screening. The AHA study does note that their model certainly is underestimating costs and the real financial impact on the collective health system. The pandemic has led to sharp declines in drug manufacturing, delay caused by fractured supply chains, further complicated by an increase in demands, which has translated to higher costs for hospitals. Wage and labor costs have risen for hospitals and health care systems facing the brunt of the pandemic. With surge volumes inundating hospitals in severe outbreak zones and health care workers becoming sick, hospitals have implemented bonus pay for frontline workers. Staffing firms have raised their prices to send workers to assist in these efforts. Counter to this, many hospitals in sectors of the country where the outbreak remains small are facing unproductive labor costs due to cutbacks in services, creating a redundant and costly workforce. Additionally, in preparation hospitals purchased expensive equipment. They have also expanded their treatment capacity or set up additional spaces and ICU beds, which drive capital costs. Amid all of this of mass death and social devastation, insurance companies have, in fact, profited from the pandemic. Credit agency Moody has noted, US health insurers will nonetheless remain profitable under the most likely [pandemic] scenarios. They estimate that cancellation of necessary but elective surgeries and the unwillingness of patients to subject themselves to risks of infection have led to 20 to 40 percent in savings on medical costs per month. In an article published in FierceHealthcare, David Wichmann, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, explained to analysts that cost reductions were surpassing COVID-19 expenses and that revenue is up compared with 2019. The expectation is that the rest of the years earnings will meet projections. Wendell Potter, a former Cigna executive turned industry critic, tweeted that UnitedHealth had spent $1.7 billion in the first quarter in stock buybacks. Tim Nimmer, the chief global actuary at Aon, explained to Reuters that health care use has declined by about 30 to 40 percent when COVID-19 patients are excluded. For each month that this goes on, we are expecting about 1.5 to 2 percent in annual costs to be reduced. These developments underscore the rapacious nature of capitalism that sees in these horrific times opportunities to extract even more profits while the talent and skills of millions of people are squandered for immediate cost-saving measures, which threaten to lead to the preventable death of tens of thousands more people. As the founding President and CEO of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association, Mr. Hornung will lead the member-based association in stakeholder advocacy and public engagement focused on ensuring that renewable energy and energy storage play a central role in transforming Canada's energy mix during this period of historical global transformation. With a corporate office in Ottawa, the Canadian Renewable Energy Association will have national influence as well as a regional presence in jurisdictions across the country. The association will work to create conditions for a modern energy system that makes significant and positive contributions to Canada's economy and clean energy future. It will provide forums devoted to dialogue, collaboration and stewardship, and growth of the industry. The formation of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association reflects the growing importance of innovative energy solutions that integrate multiple renewable energy technologies. The members of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association are uniquely positioned to deliver clean, low-cost, reliable, flexible and scalable solutions for Canada's energy needs. Wind and solar generation meet an already significant and growing proportion of Canadian electricity demand, with a combined grid-connected installed capacity of more than 16,500 megawatts (MW). Recent power purchase contracts have confirmed that wind and solar energy are cost-competitive with conventional generation, with wind now being the lowest-cost source of new electricity generation in Canada. There is also rapid deployment of these technologies at both residential and commercial scales in Canada. Solar PV has been deployed in every province and territory across Canada. As Canada's leader in residential and commercial solar installations, Ontario reported a total of 2,673 MW in solar PV installations at the end of 2019. Diverse energy storage projects are playing a growing role in maximizing the contributions of clean generation to grid flexibility and reliability, with more than 20 storage facilities under contract by Ontario's grid operator alone. Quotes "The launch of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association is a major step forward toward the realization of more comprehensive energy solutions encompassing wind, solar and energy storage in Canada. It needs a leader with a clear vision of the modern energy system we're building in Canada, and an understanding of our membership's unique role in that effort. Robert Hornung brings that to the table, and we look forward to his leadership as our industries join forces in this very exciting new endeavour." Michelle Chislett, Interim Board Chair, Canadian Renewable Energy Association; and Managing Director, Canada & U.S. Development, Northland Power "We're launching a new association not only during an ongoing energy transition, but also during the massive challenge of managing through a pandemic and ensuring recovery from its economic impacts. More than ever, Canada's policy focus must remain on a transition to a clean economy powered by renewable energy. A unified voice for solar energy, wind energy and energy storage will help navigate the way to Canada's emission reduction targets while creating good jobs and economic opportunity in urban centres, rural areas and Indigenous communities across the country." Jason Chee-Aloy, Interim Board Vice Chair, Canadian Renewable Energy Association; and Managing Director, Power Advisory LLC "I'm honoured and excited to be leading a new association with a mandate unlike any other. There is a clear public desire to see advancement of the technologies we represent to capture the full promise of a renewable energy future. The Canadian Renewable Energy Association is the right vehicle to help make that promise a reality, while delivering great business value to each and every member." Robert Hornung, President & CEO, Canadian Renewable Energy Association Robert Hornung Biography Robert Hornung has been President of the Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) for nearly 17 years. During his time as President, he represented the interests of CanWEA members who are Canada's wind energy leaders wind farm owners, operators, project developers, consultants, manufacturers and service providers. Together with members and stakeholders, Robert helped facilitate wind energy growth in Canada from under 300 megawatts to over 13,000 megawatts of installed capacity through advocacy and engagement efforts. Prior to joining CanWEA, Robert worked on climate change issues with the Pembina Institute, Environment Canada, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and Friends of the Earth Canada. Robert is currently on the Advisory Council of Positive Energy, a University of Ottawa research project that seeks to strengthen public confidence in Canadian energy policy. Background Bloomberg NEF has forecasted global investment of US$5.3 trillion in wind power generation assets, US$4.2 trillion in solar power generation assets, and US$843 billion in batteries in the period 2018-2050. It further forecasts that wind and solar will supply almost 50 per cent of the world's electricity by 2050. in wind power generation assets, in solar power generation assets, and in batteries in the period 2018-2050. It further forecasts that wind and solar will supply almost 50 per cent of the world's electricity by 2050. CanWEA and CanSIA currently share head office space in Ottawa and have a long history of collaboration on matters of mutual interest. Most recently they were among a number of signatories from Canada's clean energy sector to an open letter to Prime Minister Trudeau on the need for clean-energy-focused stimulus in order to build a better, more resilient economy in the wake of COVID-19. Learn more about the campaign and share your support for a better, more resilient Canada . and have a long history of collaboration on matters of mutual interest. Most recently they were among a number of signatories from clean energy sector to an open letter to Prime Minister Trudeau on the need for clean-energy-focused stimulus in order to build a better, more resilient economy in the wake of COVID-19. Learn more about the campaign and share your support for a better, more resilient . The amalgamation of CanSIA and CanWEA was approved through separate membership votes on special resolutions on November 28, 2019 . . The Canadian Renewable Energy Association will open its doors on July 1 , and hold its first AGM concurrent with its Energy Transformation Canada conference and tradeshow, scheduled for November 10-12 in Toronto . About the Canadian Renewable Energy Association The Canadian Renewable Energy Association is the voice for wind energy, solar energy and energy storage solutions that will power Canada's energy future. Our association works to create the conditions for a modern energy system through stakeholder advocacy and public engagement. Our diverse members are uniquely positioned to deliver clean, low-cost, reliable, flexible and scalable solutions for Canada's energy needs. Our vision is to ensure wind energy, solar energy and energy storage play a central role in transforming Canada's energy mix. About the Canadian Wind Energy Association The Canadian Wind Energy Association (CanWEA) is the voice of Canada's wind energy industry, actively promoting the responsible and sustainable growth of wind energy. A national non-profit association, CanWEA serves as Canada's leading source of credible information about wind energy and its social, economic and environmental benefits. About the Canadian Solar Industries Association The Canadian Solar Industries Association (CanSIA) is a national trade association that represents the solar energy industry throughout Canada. CanSIA's vision for Canada's solar energy industry is for solar electricity to be a mainstream energy source and an integral part of Canada's diversified electricity mix by 2020, operating in a supportive and stable policy and regulatory environment within a similar frame. SOURCE Canadian Wind Energy Association For further information: or for interview opportunities, please contact: Anastasia Smolentseva, Communications Advisor, Canadian Wind Energy Association, 613-857-3359, [email protected]; Isabel Payne, Communications, Canadian Solar Industries Association, 613-736-8938, [email protected] Related Links http://www.canwea.ca On May 14, two women in Pakistan were shot and buried after a video of them kissing a man resurfaced online. The women were cousins, ages 22 and 24 respectively, and they were murdered in what is called "honor killing." Kissing video that caused the murder According to police officer Muhammad Nawaz Khan, both women lived in a remote village in North Waziristan province in Pakistan. There were two suspects behind the murders, one of them was the father of one of the victims, and the other is the brother of the other victim. Khan said that both men were arrested on May 17 and they confessed to shooting and burying the women. What led to the killings was the leaked video captured in a mobile phone that shows a man kissing both women on the lips, while an unidentified third woman can be heard laughing in the background. The said the video was captured last year but it resurfaced on social media this month. According to Khan, the video led to the family's decision to kill the women. The third woman's life is not in danger, but the man in the video was arrested on May 18 and was charged with vulgarity. The areas in North and South Waziristan in Pakistan are known to be very conservative and they have a strict "honor code." According to Amnesty International, women in the area are not allowed to go outside unaccompanied and the social standing of a family depends on the obedience of the women to family demands. Also Read: Man Positive with COVID-19 Refused to Go to the Hospital, Hugs Neighbors Out of Spite The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan or HRCP said in a statement that a lot of people have condemned the senseless killings of women in Waziristan on social media. Authorities were called to make it clear that the public is not in favor of the practice. HRCP added in their statement that the local administration must make sure that the third girl and the man in the viral video are safe. Honor killings in Pakistan According to the 2019 report by Human Rights Watch, around 1,000 honor killings happen in Pakistan every year. However, there are no official statistics around the number because most killings are not reported or they are ruled out as suicide or natural death. Pakistan passed a bill in October 2016 that fixed a loophole that allowed murderers to avoid prosecution if they are pardoned by the family of the victims. In the past, family members who were complicit in the murders could pardon those who committed the murder. The new legislation was passed after a social media star and feminist Qandeel Baloch was killed by her brother in Punjab for "dishonoring" the family. Honor killings in the country are now equivalent to a life sentence, but it is still a common practice in Pakistan's tribal areas. The honor killings are done to women who are said to have brought dishonor and shame to their families. Even though the bill was passed in 2016, honor killings were still prevalent in Pakistan, and the recent killing of the two women proves it. Pakistan is ranked as the sixth most populated country in the world and it has a notorious reputation when it comes to gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum's 2020 gender gap report. Related Article: Kim Jong-Un Dead? Portraits of Supreme Leader's Ancestors Removed from North Korea's Famous Square @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. WASHINGTON - Joe Biden's campaign lobbed a spanner into Alberta's post-pandemic economic recovery strategy Monday with a promise to rip up U.S. President Donald Trump's approvals for the Keystone XL pipeline if the former vice-president succeeds in taking over the White House next year. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2020 (611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. In this March 7, 2020, file photo Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden acknowledges the crowd during a campaign rally in Kansas City, Mo. Biden's campaign says the former vice-president will rip up President Donald Trump's approvals for the Keystone XL pipeline if he takes over the White House next year. THE CANADIAN-AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File WASHINGTON - Joe Biden's campaign lobbed a spanner into Alberta's post-pandemic economic recovery strategy Monday with a promise to rip up U.S. President Donald Trump's approvals for the Keystone XL pipeline if the former vice-president succeeds in taking over the White House next year. Campaign officials finally ended the presumptive Democrat nominee's months of self-imposed silence on how he would handle the politically sensitive expansion project, an ambitious, 1,900-kilometre heavy-oil line that would move 830,000 barrels of Alberta bitumen each day over the Canada-U.S. border to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. It wouldn't be the first time that Biden has stood in the way of the Calgary-based TC Energy expansion. As vice-president, he was a key member of Barack Obama's administration, which slow-walked the project championed by the former Conservative government throughout Obama's second term before finally blocking construction outright shortly after the Liberals were elected in 2015. "Stopping Keystone was the right decision then and its still the right decision now. In fact, it's even more important today," policy director Stef Feldman said in a written statement, first reported by Politico. Trump, meanwhile, has spent "every day of his presidency" ignoring the looming climate crisis, making matters worse by pulling the U.S. out of the Paris accord, weakening national fuel standards, and rolling back regulations for air and water pollution, Feldman continued. "That denial of science ends on Day 1 of a Biden presidency," she said. "Biden strongly opposed the Keystone pipeline in the last administration, stood alongside President Obama and Secretary (of State John) Kerry to reject it in 2015, and will proudly stand in the Roosevelt Room again as president and stop it for good by rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit." TC Energy spokesman Terry Cunha issued a statement late Monday that ignored the comments from the Biden campaign, instead extolling the virtues of Keystone XL as an engine of investment and jobs growth "in a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty and unemployment." "The project will further stimulate millions of dollars in new provincial, state and local taxes along the pipeline route and also ensures our energy demands are met with North American production improving the security of our domestic supply chains," the statement said. No other pipeline project has been as extensively examined as Keystone XL, it added, "and every study had squarely concluded it can be built safely and in an environmentally sound manner." The $8-billion US expansion, long a central element of efforts in Canada to expand export markets for Canadian fossil fuel, has been beset by delays, protests and injunctions almost since its inception. It became a major flashpoint in 2011 when celebrity-studded protests outside the White House helped crystallize environmental opposition to the energy sector. Trump has repeatedly sought to kick-start the project, signing an executive order in the earliest days of his presidency that was thwarted by a federal judge in Montana who concluded the State Department had not adequately assessed the potential environmental impact of the project. The president signed a fresh permit in March that not only cleared the way for construction, but also appeared designed to prevent further legal problems with State Department permits. But again, a Montana court halted the project on the grounds that the impact on endangered species in the state hadn't been properly assessed. In the meantime, Keystone XL has come to define the widening fissure between an energy industry that's straining to redefine its mission in the 21st century and growing public opposition to North America's dependency on fossil fuels a tension that has created deep-seated political challenges in Canada, where the oilpatch is central to the country's economic fortunes. "Rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline is the touchstone of any meaningful plan to address the climate crisis," said Tamara Toles O'Laughlin, the North American director of 350 Action, the political wing of climate-justice group 350.org. "Tribal nations, farmers and ranchers, and many other communities who have resisted Keystone XL for more than a decade know this pipeline would derail all plans for climate survival and adaptation." Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has committed $1.5 billion to the expansion, along with a $6-billion loan guarantee, as his United Conservative government extends outreach efforts in the U.S. in hopes of breathing new life into a sector hit hard in recent months by record-low oil prices and the economic impact of COVID-19. "We remain confident Keystone XL remains a critical part of North America's post-pandemic economic recovery," Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage said in a statement. Without it, the U.S. would remain dependent on heavy crude from places like Venezuela and subject to the sort of market instability triggered in March by a dispute between Russia and Saudi Arabia, she added. "Rather than speculating about the outcome of the U.S. election, we will spend our time continuing to meet with our U.S. allies and speak to Alberta's role in supporting North American energy independence and security." During a roundtable discussion last week hosted by the Canadian American Business Council, Kenney said his government would be investing "significantly more" in expanding Alberta's footprint in the U.S. to more effectively advance the province's energy interests. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2020. Follow James McCarten on Twitter @CdnPressStyle Annie Glenn, the wife of the late astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn and a communication disorders advocate, is reported to have died at age 100. The cause of death was COVID-19 complications. The Glenns were married for 73 years when John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, died in 2016 at age 95. Annie Glenn died early Tuesday morning at a nursing home near family in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was 100. "She lived her entire life with a man who became universally revered, but to millions across the globe, Annie Glenn was her own kind of hero," begins the Cincinnati Enquirer obituary for Annie Glenn: Annie, as everyone knew her, lived in the shadow of fame, but emerged in mid-life to become an inspiration for people with disabilities around the world by overcoming the chronic stuttering that afflicted and limited her during the years her husband was becoming a household name. She was born Anna Margaret Castor in Columbus on Feb. 17, 1920, and her father, a dentist, moved the family to New Concord, Ohio, when she was 3. Her parents joined a monthly card club called "Twice 5 Club," which included John Glenn's parents. She and John, who was 17 months younger, shared a playpen from whence a quintessential love story would take root. Despite her speech impediment she stuttered 85% of the time Annie was a top student and readily was accepted in the close-knit college town 70 miles east of Columbus in rural Muskingum County. In the sixth grade, however, she experienced her first hint of the humiliation that would haunt her through much of her life when one of the students laughed at her as she recited a poem before the class. "I realized I was not normal," Annie told The Dispatch in 2007. "I was lucky to have grown up where I was accepted. When I went out in the world, even to Zanesville and Cambridge, I had a lot of hurt feelings. I knew I was loved and accepted in New Concord." Her husband, John Glenn died in 2016 at age 95, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A youthful police constable from Buuri West in Meru County, Kenya committed suicide following a domestic dispute with his wife. Michael Siwalo allegedly shot his spouse, Silvia Ramat Letei, in the stomach at 6:15pm before turning the gun on himself and fired a bullet in his chest. The incident happened at the couples house in Panama area, Timau Township in Meru County. In a report filed at Timau Police Station, Siwalo, whose service number is 116272, is said to have shot his 25-year-old partner once. Police proceeded to the scene and found the officers wife seated against the wall near the main door. She was in a lot of pain, and was bleeding [profusely], reveals the police statement, saying Letei was taken to Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital in critical condition. The officers (who rushed to the scene) also entered the couples bedroom, where they found police constable Michael Siwalo lying dead with a gunshot wound in the chest, says the police report filed under OB Number 38/15/5/2020. Police say the couples bedroom was disorganised, suggesting there was a struggle before the shooting. It has been established that Siwalo had been allocated the firearm, an AK-47, with 30 rounds of ammunition at 6pm in preparation for curfew duties. The said-rifle was recovered in the bedroom with a magazine loaded with 27 rounds of ammunition and one in the chamber. Also recovered from the scene, are two cartridges, said the police report. The deceased was taken to Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue as investigations into the matter continue. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Warning follows a threat by Trump who recently told the Navy to fire on any Iranian ships that harass US vessels. In an alert that appeared aimed squarely at Iran, the United States Navy issued a warning on Tuesday to mariners in the Gulf to stay 100 metres (109 yards) away from US warships or risk being interpreted as a threat and subject to lawful defensive measures. The notice to mariners, which was first reported by Reuters News Agency, follows US President Donald Trumps threat last month to fire on any Iranian ships that harass Navy vessels. Armed vessels approaching within 100 meters of a US naval vessel may be interpreted as a threat, according to the text of the notice. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new notice to mariners was not a change in the US militarys rules of engagement. The Pentagon has stated that Trumps threat was meant to underscore the Navys right to self-defence. The Bahrain-based US Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement that its notice was designed to enhance safety, minimize ambiguity and reduce the risk of miscalculation. It follows an incident last month in which 11 Iranian vessels came close to US Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Gulf, in what the US military called dangerous and provocative behaviour. At one point, the Iranian vessels came within 10 yards (nine metres) of the US Coast Guard cutter Maui, the US military said. A speedboat of Irans Revolutionary Guard training a weapon toward the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which was seized in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19 by the Guard, in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas [File: Morteza Akhoondi/Tasnim News Agency via the AP] Trumps threat followed that incident, which Tehran, in turn, said was the fault of the US. The head of Irans elite Revolutionary Guard responded to Trump by threatening to destroy US warships if its security is threatened in the Gulf. The back-and-forth is just latest example of razor-sharp tension between Washington and Tehran, which has steadily escalated since 2018, when Trump withdrew from Irans 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed crippling sanctions. Animosity reached historic heights in early January, when the US killed top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad. Iran retaliated on January 9 by firing missiles at bases in Iraq, causing brain injuries among US troops at one of them. Close interactions with Iranian military vessels were not uncommon in 2016 and 2017. On several occasions, US Navy ships fired warning shots at Iranian vessels when they got too close. But Iran had halted such manoeuvres before the April incident. By Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General William Barr said on Monday he does not expect a Justice Department review of the FBI's handling of 2016 election interference to lead to criminal investigation of former President Barack Obama or former Vice President Joe Biden. "As to President Obama and Vice President Biden, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don't expect Mr. Durham's work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man," Barr said. Federal prosecutor John Durham is reviewing the origins of the investigation of Russia's 2016 election interference. President Donald Trump in recent weeks has repeatedly referred to a scandal he calls "Obamagate," saying without evidence that Obama was tied to "the biggest political crime in American history." Trump stepped up those claims as he faced criticism for the administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 88,000 Americans, and prepares to face Biden in the November election. Barr added that the election should be decided strictly on policy debates, and that any investigation of a political candidate would need to be approved by him personally. "We cannot allow this process to be hijacked by efforts to drum up criminal investigations of either candidate," Barr said. Barr did not rule out the possibility of others being criminally investigated, without offering specifics. Trump has not made clear what he is accusing Obama of doing, but the allegations appear to focus on law enforcement actions taken at the end of Obama's presidency. Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded in March 2019 that Russians had actively tried to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, both through the hacking of the Democratic National Committee's email system and through propaganda. While his report documented numerous contacts between Trump's campaign and Russia, he said there was not sufficient evidence to prove there was a criminal conspiracy. Story continues Russia has repeatedly denied trying to influence the election and Trump has dismissed the idea as a hoax. Barr has faced scathing criticism from Democrats and former career prosecutors in recent months who say he is the one who has politicized the justice system in favor of allies of Trump. Earlier this month, Barr moved to dismiss the criminal charges against Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had already pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. In February he intervened to recommend a lighter sentence for Trump's longtime friend Roger Stone. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball; Editing by Scott Malone, Chizu Nomiyama and Dan Grebler) Editors note: This guide will be regularly updated throughout the week to include newer events. Manila (CNN Philippines Life) This week, go on a week-long virtual art tour; attend art classes; join discussions on Filipino culture, womens rights, and the future of the creative industry; and share a breather (and a 10-minutes performance) with strangers on the Internet all in the comfort of your own home. "Stay Home of NU Rock: '00s Rock Down Reunion" Former DJs of the legendary NU 107, a now-defunct local radio station focused on Filipino rock music, are coming together for a virtual reunion via Facebook Live. Catch the station's DJs from the '00s Francis Brew, Russ Davis, Dylan, Kim, Monica, Cyrus the Virus, Roanna, Jay Tish, Andee Banandee, April, Shannen, Quark, and Diego Castillo with special guests Ebe Dancel, The Itchyworms, Gabby Alipe, Miggy Chavez, and Rico Blanco. "Stay Home of NU Rock: '00s Rock Down Reunion" is happening on May 23, Saturday, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Check the official Facebook page for more updates. Poster from KWAGO/FACEBOOK "Bad Connection (or Subtitles to Silence)" With the global pandemic far from being over even after two months of strict quarantine, we all badly need a break. Bad Connection aims to offer exactly that: a 20-minute pause from all the chaos and stress. A project by Makati City-based bookstore Kwago, Bad Connection is described as a call to pause and just be. To log out from information overload and constant disembodied communications. The event consists of two parts: 10 minutes for introspection, and another 10 for performance. If you are curious to see how Bad Connection would play out, and if interested to take a quick breather with other folks from the Internet, sign-up for the event or check out the event page to learn more. Poster from STUDIO CANTERO/FACEBOOK "Creative Conversations: ANO NA?" Join renowned artists from different industries as they talk about how creatives should move forward in the new normal. Moderated by Gabbie Tatad, the Creative Conversations: ANO NA? panel discussion will feature commercial photographer Gabby Cantero, celebrity stylist David Milan, fashion photographer BJ Pascual, director Judd Figuerres, and interior designer Martina Bautista. Catch it live via Studio Canteros Facebook page on May 20, Wednesday, at 5 p.m. Poster from AYALA MUSEUM/FACEBOOK Ayala Museums International Museum Day Virtual Visits While its physical address remains closed due to the quarantine, Ayala Museum has prepared a week-long celebration of International Museum Day and its all online. Watch a free screening of their gallery film Millenium of Contact: Chinese & Southeast Asian Ceramics in the Philippines, which will be available for 48 hours starting on May 18, Monday. From May 20, Wednesday, to May 22, Friday, catch Ayala Museums virtual exhibition in the video game Animal Crossing featuring work by artists Damian Domingo, Jose Honorato Lozano, and Juan Luna. Also happening on Friday is Kids Curate, where children can make their own art exhibitions. Wrapping up the week is a virtual tour of Fernando Zobels Toward Abstraction on May 23, Saturday. Visit Ayala Museum on Facebook for updates. Poster from PHILIPPINE EDUCATIONAL THEATER ASSOCIATION/FACEBOOK Lets Get Creative art classes The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) continues to bring free art classes online. On May 18, Monday, join Dudz Terana and learn how to create a character through make-up. On May 20, Wednesday, John Moran will be teaching a do-it-yourself shadow theater and puppeteering for kids. End the week by learning techniques on storytelling through masks with Ian Segarra on Friday, May 22. All classes will be streamed via Facebook Live from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Poster from PHILIPPINE EDUCATIONAL THEATER ASSOCIATION/FACEBOOK "Pasaway Culture" Aside from their usual art classes, PETA is also holding an online discussion to answer a question weve been hearing more frequently nowadays: Pasaway nga ba ang mga Pilipino? Speakers Dr. Elizabeth de Castro from the Psychosocial Support and Childrens Rights Resource Center (PST-CRRC) and John Andrew Evangelista from the Sociology Department of the University of the Philippines Diliman will be leading the discussion, with moderators Erik dela Cruz and Cris Gonzales. Catch Pasaway Culture on May 19, Tuesday, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Visit PETAs Facebook page for more details. Poster from GABRIELA: AN ALLIANCE OF WOMEN/FACEBOOK "Pandemic Tales: Untold Stories of Women During the Lockdown" Since the lockdown, there has been an increase of domestic abuse cases not just in the Philippines, but in many other countries as well. The Center for Women's Resources, GABRIELA, and Voices of Women for Justice and Peace are partnering to host another installment of their online discussion entitled Pandemic Tales: Untold Stories of Women During the Lockdown. The discussion will platform stories of frontline workers, indigenous women, artists, and small food producers amid the pandemic, with Dr. Reginald Pamugas, psychiatrist and vice chair of Health Action for Human Rights, as the main speaker. To join the discussion on May 20, Wednesday, at 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., register here. European countries should brace themselves for a deadly second wave of coronavirus infections because the pandemic is not over, the World Health Organisations top official in Europe has said. In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Dr Hans Kluge, director for the WHO European region, delivered a stark warning to countries beginning to ease their lockdown restrictions, saying that now is the time for preparation, not celebration. Dr Kluge stressed that, as the number of cases of Covid-19 in countries such as the UK, France and Italy was beginning to fall, it did not mean the pandemic was coming to an end. The epicentre of the European outbreak is now in the east, with the number of cases rising in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, he warned. Source: Exclusive: Second more deadly wave of coronavirus to hit Europe this winter I for one, agree with WHO, and even if it waits silently until next winter, it will rear its head again. This is a worldwide pandemic and nothing but a worldwide pandemic, and will return suddenly sometime later this year, just like the Spanish flu did around a hundred years ago. Therefore, emerge from this lockdown now, get our asses in gear and this time get prepared. Like with Polio unless there is a actual vaccine, things will never be the same. The difference is that we will have no excuse for not preparing for the next round of King Coronavirus. I could be wrong, yet I wish to be wrong, but we will have the equipment/infrastructure in place should a similar pandemic occur in the future. If I am right no one including any government will have an excuse for a repeat of the many blunders, intentional or not, that have been laid out for all to see during the past few months. black and white, we now know what to expect. Previously the effects were known but ignored, but if it comes back, there will be absolutely no excuse or way for the government & so called experts to hide behind the she did, he did, they did, WHO and China did mantra of games that they are currently using to try to salvage and save face If anything has come clear about all that has happened, it is that most governments are ill prepared to help and defend the simple people of their country. The system is based only on profits, not human life and preservation What do I believe about King Corona? Does not matter! But it is, even if they try to play games about it, a serious issue. Too many people I know about are suffering and or their families are suffering from this virus. If anything, we are definitely not getting the truth about it and sooner or later we will pay the piper I know one thing.I do not want my sweetpea and her family and or me and my family to get it and being smart is the smart thing to do WtR A medical staff works with samples for Covid-19 testing in the central province of Nghe An, April 17, 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Van Hai. Two flight attendants on board a repatriation flight from Russia were among four new Covid-19 patients in Vietnam, the Health Ministry confirmed Monday evening. The other two patients were passengers on board a repatriation flight from the U.S. The latest additions have taken the number of active infections in Vietnam to 61. "Patient 321," 44, and "Patient 322," 39, are residents of Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City. They worked on Vietnam Airlines flight VN0062 from Russia that landed May 13 at the Van Don Airport in Quang Ninh Province. After completing their medical clearance and migration procedures, the entire cabin crew flew to Hanoi. At 10 a.m. the same day, the crew departed on flight VN7485 with no passengers from Hanoi to HCMC. They were isolated at Vietnam Airlines premises on Hong Ha Street in Tan Binh District after landing. The two attendants shared a room. The following day, both were tested for the first time and the results came out negative. Two days later, "Patient 321" had a fever of 38.2 degrees Celsius. On May 17, the results of his second test came out positive. After "Patient 321" had a fever, "Patient 322" was isolated in another room. His samples tested positive a day later. The two are currently being treated at the Cu Chi field hospital in HCMC. "Patient 323" is a 19-year-old woman and "Patient 324" a 18-year-old man. Both are residents of HCMCs Tan Binh District and students in the U.S. who returned to Vietnam on flight VN001 that landed May 16 at Noi Bai Airport in Hanoi. The woman occupied seat 41D and the man 27K. The two were quarantined on arrival at the National Center for Security and Security Education in the Hanoi National University in Thach That District. They tested positive Sunday and are currently under treatment at the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases in the capital city. Also Monday, three Vietnamese patients were confirmed free of the novel coronavirus in Hanoi. Vietnam has recorded 324 Covid-19 cases to date, 184 of them imported. Of these 263 have recovered after treatment. No deaths have been recorded so far and no community transmission recorded for over a month. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said late last week that the country will focus on preventing transmission sources from abroad. It will continue to close its doors to international commercial flights and foreign tourists, he said. Tran Dac Phu, a senior advisor at the Public Health Emergency Operations Center, said Sunday that Vietnam has done well in detecting and curbing Covid-19 infections. The pandemic has affected 213 countries and territories, with reported deaths are close to 315,000. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently pull funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO) if it does not commit to major substantive improvements within 30 days, according to a letter to the WHO chief shared by Mr Trump on Twitter. In a four-page letter to WHO director-general, Tedros Ghebreyesus, Mr Trump set out what he called repeated missteps by the organisation. Mr Trump claimed that the WHO shares the responsibility for the large number of deaths in the crisis. He alleged that mismanagement on the part of the WHO and reliance on information from China had dramatically worsened the epidemic and spread it globally. Mr Trump said he would make a temporary freeze of funding permanent and might also reconsider U.S. membership of the organisation at the end of the 30-day deadline if he saw no improvements. The only way forward for the World Health Organisation is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China, the U.S. president asserted. He said discussions with the organisation on how to reform the WHO had already begun. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving Americas interests, Trump concluded. The U.S. president faced international criticism when he announced in April that he would be halting funding to the WHO while a 60- to 90-day review took place. He has also faced criticism over how the White House initially responded to the virus. READ ALSO: Mr Trump has repeatedly accused the organisation of failing in its response to the coronavirus pandemic. He has said that U.S. taxpayers provided between 400 and 500 million dollars a year to the organisation. That funding is largely appropriated by Congress. Mr Trumps criticisms of the WHO echo some experts, who say the organisation relied too heavily on information from China in the initial stages of the outbreak. (dpa/NAN) Joe Biden recently told a popular Spanish-language radio broadcaster that he would introduce a comprehensive immigration proposal on his first day as president. He spoke alongside Latino civil rights activists about the spread of the coronavirus in meatpacking plants staffed primarily by immigrants. His wife, Jill, who is learning Spanish while stuck at home by the pandemic, has begun meeting weekly with small groups of Latino members of Congress, taking notes on a range of issues to share with her husband. In a private conversation months ago with some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee distanced himself from some of the Obama administration's most controversial immigration policies, including its high number of deportations. "He basically, respectfully, said that was the Obama administration's decision, as a whole. He didn't run point for that," said Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.), who helped arrange the meeting last year and endorsed Biden in December. "And Joe Biden, on top of that, mentioned that under his presidency, we wouldn't see the need nor would we see those numbers of deportations. That's just not what his path is going to be." In public and behind the scenes, Biden has been taking steps to address the view among some immigration rights activists that he has been dismissive of their concerns. It could be a critical weakness - Biden lost Latinos in several high-profile primaries to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) well after he began to reposition himself - and one that could be pivotal to his fate in several general-election states, such as Florida and Arizona. These activists are desperate to see President Trump defeated, and they fear Biden has yet to deliver a compelling and effective counterargument on immigration - or even talk about the issue as much as Trump does. They worry that if the former vice president is too focused on winning the support of white voters in swing states who like some of Trump's hard-line immigration stances, Biden could alienate some Latino voters, who are expected to become the country's largest nonwhite voting bloc this fall. And there is lingering resentment for how the Obama administration promised to make immigration restructuring a top priority, then deported more than 3 million people. Biden said in a tense Univision interview in February that those deportations were "a big mistake" that caused many families pain. While Cardenas and many who have endorsed Biden are confident he would govern differently, others are skeptical. Some were disappointed that Biden did not publicly condemn Trump's decision last month to temporarily halt immigration because of the high unemployment rate, an action that a majority of Americans agree with. Others are waiting for him to weigh in on recent proposals to give stimulus checks to undocumented immigrants who often are essential workers. Some were alarmed when the Biden campaign began airing an ad in battleground states that accused Trump of having "rolled over for the Chinese" amid the pandemic and "let in 40,000 travelers from China." The ominous narration coupled with images of Chinese officials looked and sounded like something the Trump campaign would release, said Cristina Jimenez, executive director and co-founder of United We Dream, which advocates for the undocumented. "It leaves a lot of concern for us . . . that Biden would use Trump messaging to talk about immigration when, quite frankly, some of his policies were getting on the right pathway," she said. "There's definitely been a missed opportunity to lift up how he would be different than Trump." The Biden campaign declined to make the candidate available for an interview. While Biden has broadly promised to undo Trump's immigration actions, he has long been cautious in talking about his own proposals, a reflection of the complicated politics he faces as he looks to November. As Biden prepared to run for president last year, he was briefed by Sen. Robert Casey Jr., D-Pa., who months earlier had defeated Republican Lou Barletta, a former congressman and Trump supporter who made fighting illegal immigration the focus of his campaign. Democratic studies of the 2016 election results have highlighted the advantages Trump gained by promising to shut foreigners out of the country and put Americans first, particularly among white blue-collar voters. The Biden campaign points to the 2018 midterm elections as evidence that while Trump's rhetoric on immigration might have won him votes in 2016, that power did not carry over in 2018. To win Pennsylvania in 2020, Casey told Biden in what he called a "pretty blunt" conversation, the next Democratic presidential nominee must attract the white working-class voters who liked Trump's economic promises, including his immigration stances. He urged Biden to emphasize the economic benefits of immigration while pledging to secure the southern border to keep drugs and criminals out. "You have to make it very clear that you stand for border security - and not just that you stand for it but that you voted for it," Casey said, citing past measures that have won Democratic backing. But at the same time, he said, most voters want an immigration system that is humane and fair. The separation of families at the border was a wake-up call for some voters, Casey said. "I think some voters were like: 'Whoa, wait a minute - that's not what I wanted. You mean to tell me that's what your policy is? No, we don't want that. We want to keep the drugs out. We want to keep the bad people out. We want to keep out the guys who are going to take away my job. I don't want to do this,' " Casey said. "People on their own were shaking their heads and saying, 'I didn't mean that when I voted for you.' '' Several months after that conversation, Biden met privately with Latino members of Congress who urged him to acknowledge mistakes by the Obama administration and boldly differentiate himself from Trump. During the primaries, immigration rights activists protested outside Biden's campaign headquarters and confronted him at public events, demanding apologies for and explanations of the Obama-era deportations. "You should vote for Trump," Biden curtly told one protester last year. As with much of his campaign so far, the implicit message from Biden on immigration is as simple as Trump's promise to build a wall: He's not Trump. Biden released a lengthy immigration plan late last year that calls for a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, something supported by most Americans, and a number of other policies that are broadly popular across the political spectrum. He has vowed to invest $4 billion in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador over four years to lessen violence and poverty so fewer migrants flee north - a continuation of work he started as vice president. Biden has called for an increase in the number of employment-based visas given to immigrants - but has also promised to work with Congress to reduce that number during times of high unemployment. The campaign declined to give specific numbers. During the primary fight, Biden agreed under pressure to back a suspension of all deportations for 100 days and then only deport those who have committed felony crimes. He did not give his support to other policies pushed by activists and backed by significant segments of his party, such as removing criminal penalties for those who cross the border illegally, removing barriers from the border or abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some activists worry Biden will fall into the same trap they say Barack Obama did: agreeing to greater immigration enforcement and border security to placate Republicans - and not getting major changes in exchange. "Over time we've created an overly punitive system of immigration that really treats and sees immigrants as 'the other,' " said Lorella Praeli, who led Hillary Clinton's Latino outreach in 2016 and is now the president of Community Change Action, which advocates for those who are marginalized. "The question for Biden in this moment is: What is his compelling vision? And can he reassure immigrant Latino voters . . . that he can actually deliver a humane and fair system?" Biden's primary campaign lagged substantially behind Sanders in organizing Latino voters. Sanders dominated in heavily Latino neighborhoods during the Iowa and Nevada caucuses, and he won the most votes from Latinos in the California and Texas primaries. "Politicians think if you go out and get a couple of endorsements or you do some webinars, you're, like, really working with our community and we're really going to show up," said Chuck Rocha, the strategist who built Sanders's Latino outreach program and has been lobbying the Biden campaign to hire him. "You've got to spend some money and go out and talk to Latinos." Biden campaign officials have promised to significantly increase outreach to Latinos and further diversify the campaign's staff now that it has raised more money, although they declined to provide target numbers. They noted that Biden won a plurality of Latino votes in the Florida primary, and exit polls show he also led in the Virginia and North Carolina primaries. Biden's November strategy is squarely focused on winning three Rust Belt states that were key to Trump's 2016 victory - Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin - along with Florida and Arizona, which have large Latino populations. Although the Latino population in the Rust Belt states is small, Rocha said mobilizing those voters could give Biden the small margin he needs to beat Trump. The president's campaign has been targeting those same voters in recent months. In the Sanders campaign, Rocha said he started conversations with Latino voters by talking about immigration, even though polling showed health care was their No. 1 concern. "I knew in my heart that to make a connection with them - so that they would listen to us about health care, which we would get to - I needed to lead with an emotional issue," he said. Emotion is key to how Biden talks about the issue. Biden's campaign says that his positions reflect the middle ground and that he would bring a vastly different approach to immigration than Trump's. "The cornerstone of his approach to immigration comes back to family," said Cristobal Alex, a senior adviser to Biden who works on immigration policy and Latino outreach. "He understands what it's like to lose family members and is able to make the connection to what it's like for families torn apart by Trump's horrible immigration policies." As Biden spoke earlier this month on a virtual coronavirus panel organized by Latino civil rights activists, he called for greater protections for undocumented workers and acknowledged the terror many of them face simply going to work or seeking medical care. He spoke compassionately, but vaguely. In the online comments, one activist called on Biden to show greater leadership, while another remarked that "this is a prepared speech more for Americanos that aren't in our community." Another asked for specific solutions. "We don't need to hear statistics. We need change," one activist wrote. "We need to know you care." - - - The Washington Post's Emily Guskin and Scott Clement contributed to this report. Forces allied with Libyas internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) say they have recaptured two towns near the Tunisian border from eastern-based renegade military commander Khalifa Haftars forces. Our heroic forces have entered the towns of Bader and Tiji amid welcome from their residents, the media office of the Burkan Al-Ghadab (Volcano of Rage) Operation, the government-led counteroffensive launched last April, said in a statement on Facebook on Tuesday. On Monday, forces allied to the GNA retook the strategic al-Watiya airbase south of the capital, Tripoli. The base had been under Haftars control since 2014. Analysts say losing the base, one of the main strongholds for Haftars forces in western Libya, is a significant blow to Haftars year-long campaign to seize the capital from the GNA. After losing control of the base, Ahmed al-Mesmari, the spokesperson for Haftars Libyan National Army (LNA) said on Tuesday Libyas eastern-based forces had withdrawn from some embattled areas of the capital Tripoli. However, al-Mesmari said in the televised speech that the base had been abandoned as part of a long-planned strategic decision and that only old, obsolete equipment was left there. He said the forces had carried out a redistribution and repositioning in the battlefronts, disengaging from some crowded residential areas. This move was not made in the spur of the [moment]; it was planned for months. Weve been pulling out strategical equipment and heavy military gear from the base, al-Mesmari said. Only yesterday orders were given from personnel to withdraw under our air cover. The withdrawal was successful, and weve moved the personnel and all the weaponry and ammunition. We have our own plans and we will recapture the airbase. GNA military spokesman Mohammed Kanunu inspects the al-Watiya airbase after its allied forces recaptured it [Hazem Turkia/Anadolu Agency] GNA forces retook the al-Watiya airbase after weeks of attempts, their biggest advance in a year that deprives the LNA of its only airfield near Tripoli. After taking the base, they paraded what they said was a Russian-made Pantsir air defence system mounted on a truck, along with an Arabic manual. GNA Minister of Interior Fathi Bashagha said on Twitter that Haftars chance of success is now effectively zero following his loss of Watiya. Losing momentum Haftars forces have been fighting for more than a year to capture Tripoli, the seat of the GNA, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence. The GNA, recognised by the United Nations, has moved onto the front foot in the war since January with increased military help from Turkey. The LNA, under Haftar, is supported by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Russia and Egypt. Violence between the two sides has raged in recent weeks despite repeated international calls for a humanitarian truce in Libya to focus on the fight against the coronavirus. Libya has been in turmoil since the NATO-backed overthrow of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The UN imposed an arms embargo on Libya after Gaddafis removal, but it has been repeatedly violated. Al Jazeeras Mahmoud Abdelwahed reporting from Tripoli said the loss of the al-Watiya airbase for Haftars forces has changed the balance of power in other front lines namely in southern Tripoli. The spokesman of Haftars forces stated that they are repositioning, regrouping and this is interpreted as hes paving the way for a kind of withdrawal, Abdelwahed said. After recapturing Tiji and Bader, government forces have since moved on to the town of Asabia, another Haftar stronghold, Abdelwahed said. Tarhuna now remains the only major stronghold for Haftars forces in western Libya. A large cache of weapons and ammunition was also seized by the GNA after the takeover of al-Watiya airbase from Haftars forces [Hazem Turkia/Anadolu Agency] Its clear that Haftars forces are losing momentum, especially [considering] the series of setbacks they suffered over the two months, Abdelwahed said. They lost six strategic cities and towns along the western coast in mid-April, the strategic al-Watiya airbase on Monday, Tiji and Bader this morning in the western mountain. And Asabia has almost fallen to the government forces. The question now is whether or not Haftars forces will withdraw to the city of Tarhuna. He added that government forces say they will continue defending Tripoli until they repel the attack by Haftars forces in southern Tripoli. When the Japanese HTV-9 cargo vehicle launches to the International Space Station on 20 May it will carry a part of Europe in its pressurised module. The second iteration of the European Drawer Rack (EDR-2) is destined for the European Columbus laboratory and will provide even greater opportunities for science in space. Columbus has been flying 400 km above our heads as part of the International Space Station for 12 years. Its collection of facilities enables European scientists to run experiments across scientific disciplines including biology, metallurgy and physics, as well as research in radiation and testing new technology in microgravity. A facility for the future As the International Space Station enters its 20th year of operations, EDR-2 is part of a comprehensive upgrade of Columbus to offer faster, easier and more flexible access to researchers on Earth. The rack was developed by an industrial team led by Thales Alenia Space Italy, based in Turin, Italy. As the name implies, the facility offers room to run experiments by supplying power, data communication, cooling, nitrogen and venting waste gasses. Rob Postema from ESA's exploration systems team says: "The rack is based on a simplified architecture to accommodate many types of sub-facilities with different dimensions and masses. We can even use it to support experiments nearby the experiment rack, so long as these are within the Columbus cabin." The standard-sized racks that fit in all Space Station laboratories are the size of large fridges, and fly in the Japanese HTV to the International Space Station. Once on board they become easier to manipulate for the astronauts in weightlessness. A facility for science and technology The first three experiments planned for installation in EDR-2 include a metal 3D printer, an instrument investigating granular materials and a facility looking into heat transfer. ESA intends to use the 3D printer to produce metal parts through additive manufacturing - a process considered the next important step in building structures and parts in space. The VIP-GRAN experiment will investigate how particles behave in microgravity to understand the underlying physics in detail. This involves looking at how particles jam together as they flow through small openings. The Heat Transfer Host will continue ESA's investigations into convection - how heat is transferred through air and liquids. Investigating the process in space allows researchers to look at the core mechanics without gravity getting in the way. This should improve future satellite cooling systems as well as confirm or fine-tune computer models that can be applied on Earth to improve cooling for electronics such as smartphones and computers. These experiments are the first in a long line planned for the new facility. More than double The EDR-2 will not replace the original European Drawer Rack but run in parallel, increasing the possibilities of research and technology demonstration in space. EDR-2 will benefit from other Columbus upgrades to modernise data management and improve data-rates for scientists operating their experiments from laboratories on Earth. The EDR-2 and most of its experiments will be operated from CADMOS, the French User Support Operations Centre located in Toulouse, France. A full-scale Engineering Model of EDR-2 is available at CADMOS to test instruments and prepare experiment operations, as well as run control versions of experiments on Earth. Watch the launch of EDR-2 in HTV-9 on NASA television or via JAXA. Live coverage starts at 19:00 CEST (17:00 GMT) with launch scheduled at 19:30 (17:30 GMT). HTV-9 is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station on 25 May. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. A cashier wears a mask and gloves at the Presidente Supermarket in Miami on April 13, 2020. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) With Pandemic Relief, Many Americans Make More Money While Unemployed WASHINGTONThe COVID-19 pandemic has devastated large swaths of the U.S. labor market, leaving millions out of work. As businesses across the country are anxious to open their doors, they may begin to face another challenge. The unemployment insurance program expanded by the coronavirus relief package is so generous that it might discourage workers from returning to work, economists say. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act was signed into law on March 27, marking the largest stimulus package in U.S. history. The bill, among others, substantially expands unemployment insurance in order to help workers who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. One provision of the bill, the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, provides a $600 weekly benefit on top of regular unemployment insurance benefits. This additional payment in the CARES Act provides income expansion rather than income replacement for most unemployed workers throughout the country. According to a study by Peter Ganong, Pascal Noel, and Joseph Vavra, economists at the University of Chicago, 68 percent of people who are eligible for unemployment benefits receive compensation that exceeds their prior wage. Before the pandemic, the program typically provided unemployment benefits that were a fixed fraction of workers previous earnings. The crisis, however, transformed the unemployment system, which is now rewarding jobless workers with more. The study found that the estimated median replacement ratethe ratio of unemployment benefits to the workers original weekly salaryis 134 percent, and nearly 20 percent of unemployed workers are receiving benefits at least twice as large as their lost wage. The economists also demonstrate the weakness in the current system. Certain workers are receiving more money to stay at home than employed workers are getting who may be putting their lives at risk by working at hospitals or grocery stores. For example, the median retail worker who is laid-off can collect 142 percent of their prior wage in unemployment insurance, while grocery workers are not receiving any automatic pay increases, the economists stated in their report. Janitors working at businesses that remain open do not necessarily receive any hazard pay, while unemployed janitors who worked at businesses that shut down can collect 158 percent of their prior wage. Source: Working paper titled US Unemployment Insurance Replacement Rates During the Pandemic by Peter Ganong, Pascal Noel, and Joseph Vavra at University of Chicagos Becker Friedman Institute. The research concludes that while theres a strong argument in favor of income support during the pandemic, unusually high replacement rates can induce both distributional concerns between essential and non-essential workers and labor supply disincentives as the economy recovers. The CARES Act also expands eligibility to many workers who were previously ineligible for unemployment insurance, such as self-employed people and gig workers, which will run until the end of the year. Next Relief Package The $600 supplemental benefit under the Act will expire on July 31. The new $3 trillion coronavirus relief package passed by the House Democrats on May 15 would extend the benefit to Jan. 31, 2021. The bill, however, faces an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate and White House. Many Republicans are concerned the expanded benefits would harm millions of small businesses that are struggling to go back to normal. This is hurtful policy, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said in a statement. These unemployment bonuses are going to further undermine workers relationship with their workplace, and theyre going to kill small businessesboth of which will make long-term unemployment much worse. Ernie Tedeschi, policy economist at Evercore ISI, believes that withdrawing the $600 emergency benefit prematurely might cause issues as well. I agree that wage replacement rates above 100 percent are not a desirable permanent fixture of the labor market, particularly when its healthy. But I worry more about the opposite risk right now, he said at a webinar hosted by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) on May 18. If the government withdraws the benefits prematurely, that would effectively give unemployed workers a 50 percent pay cut or more midway through the summer, with no recourse for them, he said. He proposed that the unemployment benefits could be gradually tapered off in states that are improving. Glimpses of Hope In just eight weeks, 36.5 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits, more than 1 of every 5 workers in the United States. And the number is expected to rise. The scale and speed of job losses in the United States is unprecedented, wiping out more than two decades of employment gains, according to Julia Pollak, labor economist at ZipRecruiter, an online employment marketplace. Source: ZipRecruiter However, there are some glimpses of hope. Despite a staggering labor market disruption, some companies are in a completely unprecedented hiring spree, she said at the NABE webinar. Compared to April 2019, software engineering jobs have risen quite dramatically. And nursing jobs have really shot through the roof even though weve seen large layoffs of nurses at many hospitals, she said. Companies that have the most job listings right now include Amazon, Shipt, Oracle, Walmart, CVS, Uber Eats, and Starbucks, according to Pollak. A recent survey by ZipRecruiter showed that only 27 percent of workers reported having the same hours and pay that they had before the crisis. Half of the respondents had been laid off or furloughed and the remaining 23 percent had either seen their working hours cut or their wages cut, or both. However, the survey found that 87 percent reported they would apply for work now and the majority of them defined their need for a new job as urgent or extremely urgent. Another survey by Kaiser Family Foundation showed that vast majority of people (83 percent) who have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus expect to get previous employment back within six months. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend: Kazakhstan will take processing industry support measures, Kazakhstans Minister of National Economy Ruslan Dalenov said, Trend reports with reference to the press office of Kazakhstans prime minister. Thus, Dalenov said that industry financing mechanisms are being expanded. Now, processing enterprises, regardless of size, will receive preferential financing of working capital under the corresponding program of National Bank. Long-term agreements will be accepted by national development institutions as a firm guarantee. Dalenov added that manufacturing entities will be able to receive soft loans under the Business Roadmap 2025 state program. Export crediting will also be provided. In order to provide banks with a joint loan for one borrower, syndicated lending will be introduced. In addition, an Industry Development Fund will be created. Processing facilities will be receiving credits through the Fund at a rate of no more than 3 percent, Dalenov said. The government also supported a number of measures to promote goods of local producers. This includes off-take contracts in public procurement, procurement of the quasi-public sector and subsoil users, obligations on the use of Kazakh materials and equipment for recipients of preferential financing. These obligations will be established in licensed contractual terms to private investors. The mechanism for providing investment subsidies for the acquisition of agricultural machinery will be improved. In addition, reimbursement of transport costs of manufacturers of high value added export products will be increased to 80 percent. Working capital replenishment will be facilitated by an accelerated VAT refund, Dalenov said. --- Follow the author on twitter: @nargiz_sadikh Patients have been desperate for drugs that can treat or prevent COVID-19 but experts on Tuesday cautioned against the approach that President Donald Trump said he is taking. Monday, the president said the White House physician prescribed him hydroxychloroquine, a drug commonly used to prevent and treat malaria and address autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. This drug has shown enough promise on viral cells in a dish that it is being tested across the globe to treat and reduce the risk of infection by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Early results of those tests raised serious concerns about the drugs safety, especially for people with heart conditions, while showing that it is unlikely to help those having the most severe responses to the coronavirus. Nivaquine, tablets containing chloroquine, and Plaqueril, tablets containing hydroxychloroquine, are shown in February 2020. The sense of most of my colleagues is that hydroxychloroquine is useless, said Otto Yang, an infectious disease specialist at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California. Hydroxychloroquine works against all kinds of viruses in a test tube, including the flu, HIV, chikungunya and dengue, he said. But that effectiveness does not seem to translate to people either to reduce illness or, in at least one flu trial, to prevent it. In clinical trials against all of those, it completely failed. I dont see any reason that its going to be different for this virus, he said. We need to move on. The decision to take any drug requires considering both the risks and benefits. In this case, doctors said, using hydroxychloroquine to treat or attempt to prevent illness may be substantially worse than doing nothing. Hydroxychloroquine can cause dangerous heart rhythm abnormalities. On April 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned against its use outside a hospital setting or clinical trial: Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19. The drug can cause side effects such as diarrhea and eye problems that could be confused with COVID-19 and might add to a patients anxiety, said Jacqueline Fincher, president of the American College of Physicians, who runs a private practice in Thomson, Georgia. Story continues Fincher said shes had a few patients ask about hydroxychloroquine, and they were more curious about what she thought than in taking it themselves. She prescribes the drug to patients with autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, or short-term to people going on a mission trip, for instance, to areas with malaria. She wouldnt consider giving it to people who are otherwise healthy but afraid of COVID-19. Many of her patients who are most at risk for severe cases of COVID-19 are older and have heart conditions or take medications that could exacerbate the side effects of hydroxychloroquine. 'Medication I can't live without':: Lupus patients struggle to get hydroxychloroquine, in demand for COVID-19 Im not sure why [Trump] has latched onto this, but I think its concerning in that you know other people will say, If its good enough for the president, its good enough for me, Fincher said. We dont want people to die of cardiac dysrhythmia, because they were trying to prevent COVID. That would just be awful. Aaron Glatt, chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau in New York, said he prescribed hydroxychloroquine early in the pandemic, when there were no other options because we were seeing people die all around us. It was worth it while the drug was being studied, he said. But in light of questions about the drugs safety and the lack of evidence to suggest its helpful, he is no longer willing to prescribe it for seriously ill patients. The jurys still out, Glatt said, on whether it will be helpful to patients earlier in the course of disease or to prevent infection or serious illness but he wouldnt prescribe it for these reasons until he sees results from clinical trials. He said hes particularly troubled by the idea of people taking the medication to prevent COVID-19 if they are not routinely exposed to people with the disease. In that case, he said, the medication would present only risk with no clear benefit. One other concern is that higher demand for hydroxychloroquine could deny access to people who need it to treat their chronic autoimmune disease. Fincher said she has three patients who struggled this spring to get the drug. Michael Hogue, president of the American Pharmacists Association, said pharmacists have been concerned about maintaining access for chronic patients, and they try to ensure a constant supply for them. Hogue said pharmacists have seen a spike in demand for the drug since the president started talking about it in March. Theres no question that consumers are asking their physicians for the medicine, he said, or that doctors have written a growing number of prescriptions for it. Some pharmacies, especially those in areas that are not COVID-19 hot spots, therefore not prioritized by suppliers, have not been able to keep up with the demand, he said. Patients taking the drug to prevent disease might be prescribed one 200-mg pill per day, but a hospitalized patient might be started at four pills the first day, and two for the next four to six days, he said. Despite skyrocketing global demand, hydroxychloroquine continues to sell for about 22 cents per pill, and insurance generally covers the cost, Hogue said. Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University Langone Medical Center, said he thinks theres so little supportive evidence and so many questions about hydroxychloroquine that its unethical to prescribe the drug outside a clinical trial. Caplan said hes worried that the presidents support for the drug will encourage charlatans. When the president says, Im on this stuff, every crackpot begins to sell phony stuff online, he said. Hes also worried that people will see the president not wearing a mask, not keeping his distance from others and taking hydroxychloroquine and will decide that they should do that, too. Dont substitute that drug for a mask, Caplan warned. We know masks work. Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foundation does not provide editorial input. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hydroxychloroquine side effects should make people rethink Rx requests LAUNCHER.SOLUTIONS (Launcher), a technology provider specializing in loan originations, announced today its entrance into the Credit Union market with its configurable loan origination system appTRAKER. Launchers full suite of software solutions will now be available to Credit Unions as well as other lenders and financial institutions. Launcher created appTRAKER Loan Origination System for lenders who demand more from their originations software. 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Learn more at http://www.launcher.solutions or call 877.5LNCHER. Follow LAUNCHER.SOLUTIONS on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/launcher.solutions. The deceased, Eric Ntam was seeking shelter under the tree which fell on him during the heavy rain storm, leading to his death. Mr Kwame Nsowah, Assemblyman for the community told the Ghana News Agency that Mr. Ntam's unfortunate death had thrown the community into a state of shock and grief. The body of the deceased who left behind a wife and a six-month old baby, has been deposited at Dunkwa-on-Offin Hospital mortuary for preservation. ---GNA Admission: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had told President Trump that Steve Linick should be removed as inspector general. Photo: AFP via Getty Images Congressional Democrats say the State Department watchdog fired by President Donald Trump last week was investigating possible impropriety in massive arms sales to Saudi Arabia last year, adding new questions to the watchdog's abrupt dismissal. Democrats said yesterday that ousted inspector general (IG) Steve Linick was probing how the State Department pushed through a $7bn (6.41bn) Saudi arms sale over congressional objections. Democrats previously suggested the dismissal might have been tied to Mr Linick's investigation of allegations that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may have improperly ordered staff to run personal errands for him. Mr Linick's dismissal late Friday comes amid broader concerns over Mr Trump's removal of numerous inspectors general at various executive branch departments. Mr Trump said he had lost confidence in those fired but has not given specific reasons, which lawmakers from both parties have criticised. In his first public comments on the matter, Mr Pompeo said he had recommended to Mr Trump that Mr Linick be removed because he was "undermining" the State Department's mission, but he would not address specifics except to say it was not in retaliation for any investigation. "It is not possible that this decision, or my recommendation rather, to the president rather, was based on any effort to retaliate for any investigation that was going on, or is currently going on," Mr Pompeo said, adding that he did not know if Mr Linick's office had been looking into possible impropriety on his part. Mr Trump confirmed yesterday that he had fired Mr Linick at Mr Pompeo's request. "I have the absolute right as president to terminate. I said, 'Who appointed him?' And they say, 'President Obama.' I said, look, I'll terminate him," Trump said at the White House. Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was troubled that Mr Linick was sacked before the completion of the Saudi investigation. Mr Engel had called for that probe after Mr Pompeo in May 2019 invoked a rarely used provision in federal law to bypass a congressional review of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. "His office was investigating - at my request - Trump's phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia," said Mr Engel. "We don't have the full picture yet, but it's troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr Linick pushed out before this work could be completed." He called for the State Department to turn over records related to Mr Linick's firing that he and the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, had demanded on Saturday. Meanwhile, Trump ally Senator Chuck Grassley, who has pushed in the past for the protection of inspectors general, renewed a call for the White House to provide full explanations for the reasons behind the dismissals of Mr Linick and the earlier ouster of intelligence community watchdog Michael Atkinson. "An expression of lost confidence, without further explanation, is not sufficient to fulfil the requirements of the IG Reform Act," Mr Grassley said in a letter to Mr Trump. "Congress intended that inspectors general only be removed when there is clear evidence of unfitness, wrongdoing, or failure to perform the duties of the office." Over the weekend, congressional aides had suggested that it may have been prompted by a probe into allegations that the secretary had ordered a staffer to pick up takeaway food, collect dry cleaning for him and his wife, and care for their dog. While problematic, such allegations are unlikely to result in any kind of severe consequence against Mr Pompeo if proved correct. Honolulu, May 19 : Hawaii Governor David Ige has unveiled a four-phase reopening plan as the US Pacific state reported no new COVID-19 cases in less than two weeks. The state has completed the first phase of "saving lives and flattening the curve" in the community, and has reopened low-risk businesses in the last few weeks, reports Xinhua news agency. It will start to gradually reopen medium-risk businesses and operations beginning in June in the second stage, according to the plan. The reopening of high-risk businesses and operations will eventually follow, as long as Hawaii's disease activity continues to remain manageable, the governor stated in a press release. In the third stage which involves long-term recovery, Hawaii will renew and rebuild economy through planning and policy discussions, incorporating transitional workforce modernization opportunities, supporting economic diversification initiatives, targeting the development of emerging industries, and advancing long-term resiliency planning. The state will focus on re-opening highest risk businesses and activities, while remaining cautious and adjusting safe practices as needed. Resilience is the intended outcome for the state in the fourth stage. "It is important to act with care by maintaining physical distancing and safe practices throughout the re-opening, to protect the health and safety of the people of Hawaii," Ige said on Monday, noting that he was committed to making decisions based on data, science and best practices. He also announced the extension of the mandatory 14-day quarantine for both travellers arriving in Hawaii and inter-island visitors through June 30. Hawaii has a total of 640 COVID-19 cases, with 17 deaths. China finally admits destroying early coronavirus samples according to Chinese officials allegedly for safety purposes, not as a cover-up as stated by the US. This is revealed by Chinese officials after a long spat this has vindicated claims by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo late last month. The COVID-19 samples were indeed destroyed giving credence to part of the Five Eyes Intelligence report. Newsweek reports that on Friday, Liu Dengfeng, a supervisor with China's National Health Commission, verified the authorized destruction of coronavirus samples by the CCP on January 3 in laboratories that were unauthorized, as a report by relevant Chinese officials. Liu stressed all actions were done not to cover up any complicity, instead to prevent any biohazards that the lab samples posed and release of unknown pathogens worse than those concocted in Chinese labs. Furthermore, these labs were not authorized to keep and handle such samples, destruction of these samples were mandated by Chinese public health laws. How many labs were involved in the state-sanctioned destruction of the first viral samples, was not mentioned by Liu. Admitting such claims was necessary over the souring diplomatic relations between the US and Mainland China because of the COVID-19 outbreak starting in Wuhan. A month earlier, Pompeo said,"The CCP kept the virus sample, instead of sharing it with other nations to analyze." The US official said the failure of the CCP to inform the World Health Organization was condemnable because the pandemic got worse than it should have. Also read: Shocking Evidence from Western Intelligence Claims to Prove China's Lies, Misdirection of Coronavirus Pompeo attacked China's continued denial till now on the point that it keeps all the information that helped killed more than 313,260 people worldwide, with 4,721,828 cases, all because human-to-human transmission was kept on hold at Xi's request. Another is the whiteout done on whistle blowers who warned of the new coronavirus, overall China's actions in preventing analysis and destruction of samples have proven to be detrimental for the entire world. Compared to other countries, the US has been hit hard and with more deaths than any other country now, surpassing even Italy. President Trump had an interview with the Fox Business Network, expressing disappoint on the very conduct of China. The accepted narrative of the coronavirus A viral outbreak started in Wuhan on December 31 in China, spreading all over the world as the US and China were inking a trade deal that was called a success by Washington. Later Trump expressed misgivings in events that followed soon after. A report from the Department of Homeland Security last Sunday revealed that during the pandemic, China kept it a secret in early January, began hoarding medical supplies that led to shortage. The Associated Press got a May 1 report of Chinese increasing imports and less import of medical supplies. Adding more bullets to the Five Eyes intelligence alliance that alleged rub outs and disappearances of whistle blower, 'destroy viral samples', and deleted mentions of the COVID-19 in early stages. Evidenced from the "Five Eyes intelligence alliance" document included China destroying coronavirus samples, which Liu Dengfeng admitted to, but not as a cover up for greater safety concerns. Related article: Shocking Evidence from Western Intelligence Claims to Prove China's Lies, Misdirection of Coronavirus @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Kylie Jenner certainly knows how to look white hot despite being in quarantine. The 22-year-old make-up model smoldered as she showed off her signature curves in a series on Instagram Story videos posted on Tuesday. She certainly seemed to be enjoying her $36.5million mansion as she shared self taken videos while sitting on one of the couches on the property. Scroll down for video White hot: Kylie Jenner smoldered as she showed off her signature curves in a series on Instagram Story videos posted on Tuesday Kylie proudly showed off her enviable figure as she sported a clinging white long-sleeved bodysuit by Naked Wardrobe. She accessorized with a small gold chain necklace featuring a rectangular pendant as she tilted the camera down to show off her midsection and thighs. Her highlighted locks were put in an updo as she kept the bangs down in a middle-part as they cascaded down the side of her face which had plenty of make-up on nit including pink blush and dark lip. Lap of Luxury: The 22-year-old mogul certainly seemed to be enjoying her $36.5million mansion as she shared self taken videos while sitting on one of the couches on the property Wow factor: Kylie proudly showed off her enviable figure as she sported a clinging white long-sleeved bodysuit by Naked Wardrobe Golden: She accessorized with a small gold chain necklace Stunner: Her highlighted locks were put in an updo as she kept the bangs down in a middle-part as they cascaded down the side of her face which had plenty of make-up on nit including pink blush and dark lip Getting racy: She tilted the camera down to show off her midsection and thighs Kylie has kept very active on social media during Los Angeles County's Stay At Home order. The previous night she shared a gift basket from Chrissy Teigen featuring her latest cookbook and cookware from her collection along with a personalized note. Hours before that Kylie shared the exciting news that her skincare range is finally launching in Europe via Douglas Cosmetics. How thoughtful: The previous night she shared a gift basket from Chrissy Teigen Nice gesture: The gift featured her latest cookbook and cookware from her collection along with a personalized note The reality star proudly put her pout on display with plenty of matte nude lip in the short video. She said: 'I am so excited to finally announce that Kylie Skin will be at Douglas in Europe officially on May 22 which is a really special day because it is also my Kylie Skin one year anniversary. 'So thank you guys for all of your support, I cannot wait. You can shop online at Douglas.' Good night: Kylie also shared an image of BFF Anastasia 'Stassie' Karanikolaou asleep cuddling with a teddy bear Yum: She shared an image of a half pepperoni and half pepperoni pineapple pizza asking her followers to vote on which flavor they liked better She also donned a dizzying patterned top for the short video as her highlighted tresses were worn down in a middle-part. No doubt this was a huge deal as the German perfume and cosmetics retailer has over 1,900 stores and franchised outlets in over 19 European countries including Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Norway, and France. Kylie Skin officially launched in May of last year. Wow factor: Hours before that Kylie shared the exciting news that her skincare range is finally launching in Europe via Douglas Cosmetics 'I am so excited': The 22-year-old mogul proudly put her pout on display with plenty of matte nude lip in the short video Big moment: She expressed her excitement over the May 22 release as Kylie Skin was launched on the same day last year Flaunting it: She also donned a dizzying patterned top for the short video as her highlighted tresses were worn down in a middle-part This comes just days after she showed off her toned abs in a casual fleece set during an impromptu photoshoot at her ultra-luxurious home in LA on Friday. Kylie let one side of her tank top fall off her shoulder as she pouted for the camera. Planting her hands on her waist, Kylie emphasized her slim center. Weekend warrior: This comes just days after she showed off her toned abs in a casual fleece set during an impromptu photoshoot at her ultra-luxurious home in LA on Friday The makeup mogul went with neutral tones for her makeup, playing up her cheekbones with perfectly placed bronzer. Her brown locks were slicked back to show her honey-hued highlights in the front. Though the youngest Kardashian/Jenner sister was indoors, she still hid her eyes behind some dark shades. In the background you could see the ultra modern decorating of her eight-figure 'resort complex' in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Babe in beige: The 22-year-old billionaire let one side of her tank top fall off her shoulder as she pouted for the camera Home, sweet home: Kylie picked up the 19,250 square foot home for $36.5million late last month, adding another property to her impressive portfolio Fancy living: The home features a 24/7 guardhouse, several bars, a gym, and two guest apartments for her closest pals Kylie picked up the 19,250 square foot home for $36.5million late last month, adding another property to her impressive portfolio. She also owns three homes in Calabasas and another in Beverly Hills. The home features a 24/7 guardhouse, several bars, a gym, and two guest apartments for her closest pals. Given the luxurious amenities, Kylie been more than happy to abide by stay at home orders with daughter Stormi. The other day the mother-of-one shared a clip of her little girl learning an important lesson in patience. Happy together: Given the luxurious amenities, Kylie been more than happy to abide by stay at home orders with daughter Stormi Play time: Kylie shared a shot of her little girl in the play room later that day Worth the wait: The other day the mother-of-one shared a clip of her little girl learning an important lesson in patience Social experiment: Kylie put out a bowl of candy, telling Stormi she could have three pieces if she waited until her mom came back from the other room. The two-year-old was a master at restraint, waiting until mom came back for her reward Kylie put out a bowl of candy, telling Stormi she could have three pieces if she waited until her mom came back from the other room. Though the sweets were tempting, the two-year-old practiced restraint. 'Ooh! Chocolates,' Stormi said softly while leaning over the bowl, before sitting back up and singing, 'Patience, patience!' The only child excitedly shouted and jumped up and down as her mom returned from the bathroom, giving her some candy. Stormi is Kylie's only child. She co-parents the little one with on-off boyfriend Travis Scott. One rocket hit near the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday morning, security sources told AFP, the first to land in the high-security zone in weeks. The blast could be heard across the Iraqi capital and triggered security sirens at the US embassy compound but did not cause casualties, the sources confirmed. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. It follows more than two dozen similar attacks against American interests in Iraq since October that the US has blamed on Iran-backed factions among Iraq's security forces. The volleys of rockets, which have killed US, British and Iraqi armed personnel, have severely strained ties between Baghdad and Washington. Tensions reached boiling point in January when the US killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike on Baghdad. But the US and Iraq have hoped to reset the relationship since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi took the helm earlier this month, with bilateral talks planned for June. The negotiations are expected to set a framework for the presence of US troops, which deployed to Iraq in 2014 to lead a coalition fighting back the Islamic State group. But the forces are a thorn in the side of Iran and its allies in Iraq, which have insisted they leave the country. On Sunday, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US "will not be staying either in Iraq or Syria and must withdraw and will certainly be expelled". The US-led coalition has already drawn down its 7,500-strong force in Iraq this year, citing a decreased threat from IS and difficulties training Iraqi forces due to the spread of the coronavirus. Critics who expect Stormont powersharing to work without dispute are naive, the finance minister said. Differences between the DUP and Sinn Fein over testing for coronavirus were aired in the Assembly on Tuesday. Sinn Fein has consistently pressed for more widespread checks over many weeks, and criticised the decision to halt most contact tracing earlier in the pandemic. Efforts are being ramped up at present after the peak of infection passed, and Conor Murphy said the shared aim of ministers in Northern Ireland was to save lives and livelihoods. To expect that a five-party coalition would embrace these issues without any disputes amongst us was probably naive Conor Murphy He said: Our arguments in the executive over this have been about policy matters. He said they involved huge challenges which nobody had envisaged the executive would have to face when they restored powersharing in January. To expect that a five-party coalition would embrace these issues without any disputes amongst us was probably naive. I have a very strong working relationship with Robin. He addressed a joint news conference with health minister Robin Swann on Tuesday at Stormont. Earlier in the pandemic, Sinn Feins deputy first minister Michelle ONeill criticised Mr Swann for being too slow to begin testing. They also aired differences over support being provided by the British Army. Mr Murphy said: We were in a significantly challenging political atmosphere with the ongoing effects of austerity, with Brexit, with the five-party coalition, with the shortened timeframe in terms of getting matters resolved all those challenges faced us and this pandemic came along. Mr Murphy said he had worked closely with the health minister on managing their response to the crisis. Our shared priority is to protect lives and livelihoods. He blamed Tory austerity for helping to run down the health service and said future implications would be very challenging. I hope it prompts a rethinking in London and Dublin. He maintained there was an excellent level of co-operation across the Irish border but said clarity was key. There can be no return to the way we were in December 2019 Robin Swann Mr Swann repeated his message that the NHS was in need of radical transformation and needed extra funding to do so. He said health trusts had been asked to begin rebuilding services to cater for non-Covid-19 care. For the foreseeable future it would be akin to running two health services alongside each other. The minister added: There can be no return to the way we were in December 2019. Instead, he said, they should embrace innovative practices shown during the pandemic, like telephone consultation. We need to set our sights higher than a return to the old status quo, rebuilding gives us an opportunity. The Health Minister has published the Mental Health Action Plan as part of his commitment to improve the mental health of the population in NI. More info: https://t.co/wjrizOO7Ym Action Plan: https://t.co/QJ6Pal1knI pic.twitter.com/OfvIA22U51 Department of Health (@healthdpt) May 19, 2020 He published a mental health action plan on Tuesday featuring comprehensive funding. It included specialist perinatal mental health services, the development of managed care networks for child and adolescent mental health services and forensic mental health services. There will be further support given to primary care in the community. The initiative includes a dedicated Covid-19 plan which outlines the psychological wellbeing and mental health response. The minister added: The importance of this has been brought into sharp focus during these unprecedented times, when the mental health of the population is suffering as a result of the devastating impact of Covid-19. Being prohibited from practicing law in Indiana apparently is no impediment to continuing to hold office as the state's attorney general. The Indiana Supreme Court on Monday declined to say whether its 30-day suspension of Republican Curtis Hill's law license created a vacancy in the office of attorney general that Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb is obligated to fill. In a 5-0 ruling, the state's high court said Holcomb's attempt to secure, in effect, an advisory opinion in the context of intervening in an attorney discipline manner was "inappropriate," since the issue was not litigated and is extraneous to the disciplinary case against Hill. As a result, it's still unclear whether the Indiana statute mandating the attorney general be "duly licensed to practice law" creates a vacancy when the attorney general temporarily is barred "from the practice of law." Holcomb could choose to find out by asserting the attorney general's office is vacant due to Hill's suspension and appointing a new attorney general to finish the eight months remaining in Hill's term. In that case, Hill either would have to accept the loss of his office or challenge the appointment of his successor in court. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Forty cases have been lodged and 94 people arrested across Gujarat under the stringent PASA Act for attacking frontline staff, including police, involved in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior official said on Tuesday. The Gujarat Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Act is usually invoked against dreaded criminals and repeat offenders. "Since the lockdown was imposed over 50 days ago, we have lodged 40 FIRs and arrested 94 persons under PASA Act for attacking on duty government staff. Recently, we lodged two FIRs in Bharuch and arrested four persons. They were sent to Surat jail under PASA," state Director General of Police Shivanand Jha said. "The 40 offences include 28 attacks on police, six on home guards, and two each on medical staff, revenue officials and ASHA workers," Jha said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Founder and CEO of Iranian Financial Services Firm Extradited on Money Laundering, Wire Fraud, and Conspiracy Charges FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, May 18, 2020 Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers and U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced the unsealing of a six-count federal indictment against Seyed Sajjad Shahidian, 33, Vahid Vali, 33, and PAYMENT24 for conducting financial transactions in violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran. The defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit offenses against and to defraud the United States, wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft. Shahidian, who was arrested and extradited from the United Kingdom, made his initial appearance earlier today before Magistrate Judge David T. Schultz in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Vali remains at large. According to the allegations in the indictment, PAYMENT24 was an internet-based financial services company with approximately 40 employees and offices in Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan, Iran. The primary business of PAYMENT24 was helping Iranian citizens conduct prohibited financial transactions with businesses based in the United States, including the unlawful purchase and exportation of computer software, software licenses, and computer servers from United States companies. According to PAYMENT24's website, the company charged a fee to circumvent "American sanctions," and claimed to have brought in millions of dollars of foreign currency into Iran. According to the allegations in the indictment, beginning in or before 2009 through November 2018, Shahidian, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of PAYMENT24, conspired with Vali, the Chief Operating Officer of PAYMENT24, and other individuals to commit offenses against the United States by violating the restrictions on trade and exports from the United States to Iran. On its website, PAYMENT24 sold a package to assist its Iranian clients with making online purchases from United States-based businesses, which included a PayPal account, a fraudulent "ID card and address receipt," a remote IP address from the United Arab Emirates, and a Visa gift card. The PAYMENT24 website also offered its clients advice on how to create accounts with a foreign identity and how to avoid restrictions on foreign websites, including advising clients to "never attempt to log into those sites with an Iranian IP address." As part of the scheme, Shahidian and Vali made material misrepresentations and omissions to United States-based businesses regarding the destination of the United States-origin goods. In order to accomplish the transactions, Shahidian obtained payment processing accounts from United States-based companies using false residency information, fraudulent passport documents, and other false documents fabricated using the identity and personally identifiable information of another person. Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), unauthorized exports of goods, technology or services to Iran, directly or indirectly from the United States or by a United States person are prohibited. This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Minneapolis Division of the FBI. The Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs secured the extradition from the United Kingdom with significant assistance from law enforcement authorities in the United Kingdom. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy C. Rank and Charles J. Kovats of the District of Minnesota and Trial Attorney David Aaron of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. The charges contained in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Topic(s): Counterintelligence and Export Control National Security Component(s): National Security Division (NSD) USAO - Minnesota Press Release Number: 20-463 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Cancer June 22-July 22 A little revision will go a long way! It mightnt net you a jackpot but looking through receipts, mortgage repayments, statements and various other paperwork may unveil mistakes that save money. If any negotiations are met with resistance rethink your strategy and leave it for a few weeks. Try to be as self-reliant as possible. Leo July 23-August 22 Your instincts are on high alert as Mercury digs deep in your sector of psychology and enhances your intuition. Trust your gut and dont let anyone change your mind or talk you into something that doesnt feel right. Exploring your mindset will also enable you to get to the core of any deep seated issues. Virgo August 23-September 22 Lack of information or not knowing how best to maximise your energy and resources is the bane of any organised Virgos existence and over the next few weeks things will be hectic. Youll need to simply accept that there mightnt be definitive answers or guarantees. Hedge your bets, go with the flow and be open to distractions and sudden changes. Libra September 23-October 22 Vivacious, welcoming Librans are known as the people persons of the zodiac, and now youll be even better at picking up the subtlest cues when it comes to body language. No one will be able to pull a shifty watch on your watch which could compel you to stick up for someone whos being taken advantage of. Scorpio October 23 November 22 You may have been engaged in a power struggle of late with a tug-o-war becoming a draining but necessary process. Now that the dust has settled somewhat and a semblance of clarity has returned youll be in a better position to negotiate the terms of possessions and money but also values and points of view. Money outcomes show great promise! Sagittarius November 23-December 20 You may find that youre butting heads with people in authority more often today or that others are questioning your knowledge and experience. Youre also more likely to feel rebellious and lock horns with the powers that be which could also prompt you to uncover and publicise certain injustices. Avoid bureaucratic headaches by crossing your Ts. Capricorn December 21-January 19 Recent weeks of tweaking and readjustment have hopefully shown you the merit in being flexible and open to new developments. Now that youre back into a steady rhythm remain open to changes and appreciate the potential and excitement they signal. Meanwhile, your money sector is flooded with positivity bringing ease and perhaps a major purchase. Aquarius January 20-February 18 Pay it forward, you plugged in Water Bearers, and use all of your connections for the greater good! With the stars bringing out your best particularly in terms of networking and humanitarian efforts, play matchmaker, sing someones praise on social media and introduce friends that you know can and will help each other. Your generosity could end up touching lives. Pisces The central governments announcement of increasing the gross borrowings to Rs 12 lakh crore from the budgeted Rs 7.8 lakh crore in FY21 will largely take care of the revenue shortfall, leaving little space for fiscal stimulus, a report by India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said. "Notwithstanding the low crude prices and increased excise on petrol and diesel, Ind-Ra estimates the gross and net-tax revenue of central government in FY21 to fall short of the budgeted estimate by Rs 4.32 lakh crore and Rs 2.52 lakh crore, respectively," the report said. Weak economic activities are also set to have an impact on non-tax revenue, and dividend and profit and other non-tax revenue would therefore decline by Rs 1.48 lakh crore from the FY21 budget estimate, the report said. "This means the central government is staring at a revenue shortfall of Rs 4 lakh crore from the FY21 budget estimate," the report noted. The report also says that the government is unlikely to meet the revised estimate of FY20 due to the country-wide lockdown. The centres gross and net-tax revenue has been estimated to be Rs 1.73 lakh crore and Rs 1.20 lakh crore, which is less than the FY20 revised estimate. 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 "This would translate into a revenue shortfall of Rs 1.62 lakh crore from the FY20 revised estimate," the report said. The report also says that the revenue shortfall would account for 95.1 percent of the increased borrowings, leaving a purse of just around Rs 20,000 crore for the central government to provide fiscal stimulus. Track this blog for latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak "This is too small an amount to make any difference to the sagging economic activities/demand," the report said. The report said that the onus is on the central government to provide support to not only vulnerable sections of the society but also state governments, because the actual battle against COVID-19 and associated expenditure is incurred by the state governments. To combat the economic fallout of the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a relief package of Rs 20 lakh crore. While announcing the various tranches, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week gave out the break up on Rs 20 lakh crore. Experts had been looking out for how increased government spending would help the economy get going. However, after the announcement of all five tranches, scope for increased government spending is minimal. "The government's fiscal support programme totals Rs 21 lakh crore, which includes Rs 8 lakh crore of measures announced by the RBI. However, we estimate that the actual fiscal impact on the budget will be only Rs 1.5lakh crore (0.75 percent of GDP), based on our calculations and assumptions made during the series of announcements," said Rahul Bajoria, chief India economist at Barclays Plc. A note by HSBC Securities said that the fiscal cost of the whole package, including announcements made in March, would amount to Rs 2.13 lakh crore, which is 1 percent of GDP. The impact of the 10 percent of GDP package on the fiscal deficit is small, said Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC Securities. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Ynvisible Interactive Inc. (TSXV: YNV) (OTCQB: YNVYF) (FSE: 1XNA) (the "Company" or "Ynvisible") a market leader in electrochromic interfaces and printed electronics, announces a Business Transfer Agreement to acquire the printed electrochromic displays business of rdot AB ("rdot") of Gothenburg, Sweden. The deal expands Ynvisible's client list, strengthens the Company's sales and marketing team and brings new assets to its digital marketing and product creation. "rdot has a proven track record for excellent marketing of electrochromic displays and is generating sales. It's strong in digital channels. The COVID pandemic rapidly changed how companies conduct business, and rdot's born-digital approach to business is proving to be effective in these times," said Tommy Hoglund, VP Sales & Marketing. "With this acquisition, we're delighted to strengthen our sales and marketing team with this rich set of capabilities and further tools for prototyping." rdot has been seeking a route to industrial scale manufacturing of electrochromic displays. Through the deal, the rdot client base gains access to Ynvisible's industrial scale production, quality control and technology transfer capabilities. Mr. Hoglund continued, "rdot's electrochromics display prototyping business is on a strong growth path but has lacked resources to develop client opportunities to high volume industrial production. Ynvisible is equipped to serve clients' production needs and transfer this capability to other manufacturing sites where end clients may need them more locally." "I am confident that all of our existing clients will have positive feelings about this deal. The fact that a larger organization with additional resources and capabilities is behind the electrochromic display technology will ultimately benefit the clients," said Felix Karlsson, CEO of rdot AB, who will be joining the Ynvisible team. "It feels great to join Ynvisible, both personally and from a commercial perspective. At the end of the day, what drives all of us is to widely spread the adoption of printed electrochromic displays. Joining Ynvisible is a step in that direction." The Business Transfer Agreement between Ynvisible's wholly owned subsidiary Ynvisible Production AB and rdot AB includes a transfer of rdot's property and assets. The purchase price is 1.2 million Swedish Kronas (approx. $171,000 CAD), plus time limited performance based remuneration. rdot's two employees join Ynvisible as new employees. For further information on rdot's display business, see www.rdotdisplays.com. Ynvisible Interactive Inc. Closes Private Placement On May 14, 2020, Ynvisible announced that it would be closing, subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange, a non-brokered private placement of 7,500,000 common shares of the Company (the "Shares") at $0.20 per Share to raise gross proceeds of $1,500,000 (the "Offering"). Ynvisible announces that with acceptance from TSV Venture Exchange the private placement has been closed. The securities issued pursuant to the private placement bear a statutory four month hold period expiring September 15, 2020, in accordance with applicable securities laws. "Making Things Alive" Webinar Series In response to the cancellation of all industry conferences and events for spring and summer 2020, Ynvisible Interactive began hosting a free webinar series "Making Things Alive." The series is raising awareness around Printed Electronics and brings key industry experts, partners and clients to speak and present recent developments with Ynvisible. The events have drawn an international audience, with participants from over 40 countries viewing the live webinar sessions. The third session in the series will take place today, May 19, at 11:00 AM (EST) and will include talks by Material Connexion and Electroninks. Ynvisible's CEO, Jani-Mikael Kuusisto, will also briefly discuss the rdot Business Transfer Agreement. Details of the third webinar in the series: Making Things Alive: Bridging Industry Needs with Printed Electronics Design, Prototyping, and Volume Production Date: May 19, 2020 Time: 11:00 AM (EST) Registration Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__gUTVcdlS5y4ehbqoBqhmg Recordings of the first two webinars are available on Ynvisible's YouTube channel. About Ynvisible Interactive Inc. Ynvisible is a leading company in the emerging printed and flexible electronics sector. Given the cost and power-consumption advantages over conventional electronics, printed electronics are a crucial enabler of mass adoption of the Internet of Things ("IoT") and smart objects. Ynvisible has the experience, know-how and intellectual property in the field of electrochromic materials, inks, and systems. Ynvisible's interactive printed graphics solutions solve the need for ultra-low power, mass deployable, & easy-to-use electronic displays and indicators for everyday smart objects, IoT devices, and ambient intelligence (intelligent surfaces). Ynvisible offers a mix of services, materials and technology to brand owners developing smart objects and IoT products. www.ynvisible.com For additional information regarding Ynvisible Interactive and other corporate information, please visit the Company's website at ynvisible.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/ynvisible @ynvisible Facebook: www.facebook.com/ynvisible Instagram: @ynvisibleinteractive LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ynvisible/ ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS "Jani-Mikael Kuusisto" CEO For further information, please contact: Elyssia Patterson Investor Relations +1 778-683-4324 ir@ynvisible.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Ynvisible Interactive Inc. believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Ynvisible Interactive Inc. management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Ynvisible Interactive Inc. undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. ### To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56080 New Delhi, May 19 : The Modi government in order to double the income of farmers by 2022 announced a slew of measures last week, and it is widely expected that these reforms will benefit farmers who are reeling under the Covid-19 crisis. IANS spoke to Ashok Dalwai, chairman of the Committee for Doubling Farmers' Income, on the issue of strategic reforms initiated by the government and their importance to the farm sector. He said the alternative market provided to the farmers will give them more earning power. The reforms will unshackle the agriculture value chains by deregulating the essential commodity trade and introducing a Central law to ease inter-state farm trade, effectively overriding the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis that have shown resistance to change in the past. "We are not ending the APMC, but reforming it. Till now APMC was regulated by the state governments, now the private sector can establish its own APMC which will give an alternative market to farmers," Dalwai said. He said the way the telecom sector provided options to the consumers to choose the operators of their choice, in the same way the private AMPC will give farmers the choice to sell their produce at a better price anywhere in India. "The proposed amendment to the Essential Commodities Act of 1955 will ensure seamless movement of farm produce not only inter-state, but also within the state. Anyone having a central license can buy and sell anywhere," Dalwai said. Dalwai said many states have already adopted the reforms and more will join in the future. "The new law related to APMC will be definitely adopted by the state governments and the Centre will provide the framework for inter-state trade of agricultural produce. If a farmer in UP wants to sell his produce to a market in Karnataka, he does not need to go there. He can do so online. The way e-NAM works for APMC mandis, e-platform will work for such farmers." He said the amendment to the Essential Commodities Act has been initiated with the sole purpose to provide better prices to the farmers. The government has also decided to free certain categories of agricultural produce such as cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onions and potatoes from the government's control and lend more predictability to even export policies. On the question of challenges due to Covid-19 with regard to doubling farmers' income, Dalwai said, "The farmers have not been impacted due to the pandemic. There will be no problem in achieving the target of doubling farmers' income by the year 2022." by Biju Veticad Mgr Jacob Muricken, auxiliary bishop of Palai, has decided to spend his life in prayer, meditation, Bible studies and writing. His decision is not hating the world, but teaching men to look at the world in the right way, fixing our eyes only on God. Palai (AsiaNews) For the first time in the history of the Indian Church, a serving bishop has expressed the firm desire to pursue a deeper spiritual life like the hermits of the ancient Church. Mgr Jacob Muricken was ordained auxiliary bishop of Palai in 2012. He felt an inner calling in 2017 to live alone, to lead an ascetic life abandoned to God. The following year, he wrote to the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church, which is led by Card George Alencherry, and to his Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangattu. Bishop Muricken has led a very simple life since the beginning of his priesthood and in 2016 he decided to donate one of his kidneys to a 31-year-old man from a poor Hindu family. He said that he felt a calling to lead the ascetic life of a hermit, a practice that was common in the ancient Church that somehow stopped. "I have been called to resume this hermitic lifestyle, said the bishop. This will strengthen the Church more". The hermit is a person who contemplates God and lives completely in union with nature, using only what is essential for life. The latter will be spent in prayer, meditation, Bible studies and writing, which would allow the person to lead a life of silence. Such an existence entails only one meal a day, exclusively vegetarian. I will cook alone and use a wooden and stone bed and chair. In his view, this is not hating the world, but teaching men to look at the world in the right way, fixing our eyes only on God. Asked if he will have the opportunity to be in contact with the faithful, Bishop Jacob said that people will be able to visit him once a month, in a controlled manner. For him, the calling to live as a hermit is for everyone and will bear fruit for all the faithful and even the world. In a recent interview with Deepika, a regional Catholic newspaper in Kerala, the prelate noted that his life will be one of contemplation before the Tabernacle. As to where he will live, his bishop, Mgr Kallarangattu suggested somewhere in his diocese. Since hermit life is not possible among known people, Bishop Jacob wants to spend his life as a hermit on the top of Nallathanni hill, Idukki district, at an existing monastery, Mar Thoma Sleeha. This humble bishop is not reluctant to say service is important, not people. If I leave my responsibility in the diocese, God will pick the most suitable man for that position. My prayers will contribute more power and spirit to our Church. Saint Francis of Assisi is the saint who influenced me most in my life. My calling to the hermitage is a call to the highest level of conversion and holiness. Bishop Jacob is still waiting for the approval by Card Alencherry, the senior archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, and Synod of Syro-Malabar bishops. Once made, their decision will be communicated to the Congregation of Oriental Churches. [Republished with permission of Fortress Press] To the Reverend Doctor Johann Hess, pastor at Breslau, and to his fellow-servants of the gospel of Jesus Christ (1527 A.D.): Grace and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Your letter, sent to me at Wittenberg, was received some time ago. You wish to know whether it is proper for a Christian to run away from a deadly plague. I should have answered long ago, but God has for some time disciplined and scourged me so severely that I have been unable to do much reading or writing. Furthermore, it occurred to me that God, the merciful Father, has endowed you so richly with wisdom and truth in Christ that you yourself should be well qualified to decide this matter or even weightier problems in his Spirit and grace without our assistance. But now that you keep on writing to me and have, so to speak, humbled yourself in requesting our view on this matter so that, as St. Paul repeatedly teaches, we may always agree with one another and be of one mind (1 Cor. 1:10; 2 Cor. 13:11; Phil. 2:2). Therefore we here give you our opinion as far as God grants us to understand and perceive. This we would humbly submit to your judgment and to that of all devout Christians for them, as is proper, to come to their own decision and conclusion. Since the rumor of death is to be heard in these and many other parts also, we have permitted these instructions of ours to be printed because others might also want to make use of them. To begin with, some people are of the firm opinion that one need not and should not run away from a deadly plague. Rather, since death is Gods punishment, which he sends upon us for our sins, we must submit to God and with a true and firm faith patiently await our punishment. They look upon running away as an outright wrong and as lack of belief in God. Others take the position that one may properly flee, particularly if one holds no public office. I cannot censure the former for their excellent decision. They uphold a good cause, namely, a strong faith in God, and deserve commendation because they desire every Christian to hold to a strong, firm faith. It takes more than a milk faith to await a death before which most of the saints themselves have been and still are in dread. Who would not acclaim these earnest people to whom death is a little thing? They willingly accept Gods chastisement, doing so without tempting God, as we shall hear later on. Since it is generally true of Christians that few are strong and many are weak, one simply cannot place the same burden upon everyone. A person who has a strong faith can drink poison and suffer no harm, Mark 16:18, while one who has a weak faith would thereby drink to his death. Peter could walk upon the water because he was strong in faith. When he began to doubt and his faith weakened, he sank and almost drowned. When a strong man travels with a weak man, he must restrain himself so as not to walk at a speed proportionate to his strength lest he set a killing pace for his weak companion. Christ does not want his weak ones to be abandoned, as St. Paul teaches in Romans 15:1 and 1 Corinthians 12:22. To put it briefly and concisely, running away from death may happen in one of two ways. First, it may happen in disobedience to Gods word and command. For instance, in the case of a man who is imprisoned for the sake of Gods word and who, to escape death, denies and repudiates Gods word. In such a situation everyone has Christs plain mandate and command not to flee but rather to suffer death, as he says, Whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven and Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul, Matthew 10:28, 33. Article continues below Those who are engaged in a spiritual ministry such as preachers and pastors must likewise remain steadfast before the peril of death. We have a plain command from Christ, A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep but the hireling sees the wolf coming and flees (John 10:11). For when people are dying, they most need a spiritual ministry which strengthens and comforts their consciences by word and sacrament and in faith overcomes death. However, where enough preachers are available in one locality and they agree to encourage the other clergy to leave in order not to expose themselves needlessly to danger, I do not consider such conduct sinful because spiritual services are provided for and because they would have been ready and willing to stay if it had been necessary. We read that St. Athanasius fled from his church that his life might be spared because many others were there to administer his office. Similarly, the brethren in Damascus lowered Paul in a basket over the wall to make it possible for him to escape, Acts 9:25. And also in Acts 19:30. Paul allowed himself to be kept from risking danger in the marketplace because it was not essential for him to do so. Accordingly, all those in public office such as mayors, judges, and the like are under obligation to remain. This, too, is Gods word, which institutes secular authority and commands that town and country be ruled, protected, and preserved, as St. Paul teaches in Romans 13:4, The governing authorities are Gods ministers for your own good. To abandon an entire community which one has been called to govern and to leave it without official or government, exposed to all kinds of danger such as fires, murder, riots, and every imaginable disaster is a great sin. It is the kind of disaster the devil would like to instigate wherever there is no law and order. St. Paul says, Anyone who does not provide for his own family denies the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim. 5:8). On the other hand, if in great weakness they flee but provide capable substitutes to make sure that the community is well governed and protected, as we previously indicated, and if they continually and carefully supervise them [i.e., the substitutes], all that would be proper. What applies to these two offices [church and state] should also apply to persons who stand in a relationship of service or duty toward one another. A servant should not leave his master nor a maid her mistress except with the knowledge and permission of master or mistress. Again, a master should not desert his servant or a lady her maid unless suitable provision for their care has been made somewhere. In all these matters it is a divine command that servants and maids should render obedience and by the same token masters and ladies should take care of their servants. Likewise, fathers and mothers are bound by Gods law to serve and help their children, and children their fathers and mothers. Likewise, paid public servants such as city physicians, city clerks and constables, or whatever their titles, should not flee unless they furnish capable substitutes who are acceptable to their employer. In the case of children who are orphaned, guardians or close friends are under obligation either to stay with them or to arrange diligently for other nursing care for their sick friends. Yes, no one should dare leave his neighbor unless there are others who will take care of the sick in their stead and nurse them. In such cases we must respect the word of Christ, I was sick and you did not visit me ... (Matt. 25:4146). According to this passage we are bound to each other in such a way that no one may forsake the other in his distress but is obliged to assist and help him as he himself would like to be helped. Article continues below Where no such emergency exists and where enough people are available for nursing and taking care of the sick, and where, voluntarily or by orders, those who are weak in faith make provision so that there is no need for additional helpers, or where the sick do not want them and have refused their services, I judge that they have an equal choice either to flee or to remain. If someone is sufficiently bold and strong in his faith, let him stay in Gods name; that is certainly no sin. If someone is weak and fearful, let him flee in Gods name as long as he does not neglect his duty toward his neighbor but has made adequate provision for others to provide nursing care. To flee from death and to save ones life is a natural tendency, implanted by God and not forbidden unless it be against God and neighbor, as St. Paul says in Ephesians 5:29, No man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it. It is even commanded that every man should as much as possible preserve body and life and not neglect them, as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:2126 that God has so ordered the members of the body that each one cares and works for the other. It is not forbidden but rather commanded that by the sweat of our brow we should seek our daily food, clothing, and all we need and avoid destruction and disaster whenever we can, as long as we do so without detracting from our love and duty toward our neighbor. How much more appropriate it is therefore to seek to preserve life and avoid death if this can be done without harm to our neighbor, inasmuch as life is more than food and clothing, as Christ himself says in Matthew 6:25. If someone is so strong in faith, however, that he can willingly suffer nakedness, hunger, and want without tempting God and not trying to escape, although he could do so, let him continue that way, but let him not condemn those who will not or cannot do the same. Examples in Holy Scripture abundantly prove that to flee from death is not wrong in itself. Abraham was a great saint but he feared death and escaped it by pretending that his wife, Sarah, was his sister. Because he did so without neglecting or adversely affecting his neighbor, it was not counted as a sin against him. His son, Isaac, did likewise. Jacob also fled from his brother Esau to avoid death at his hands. Likewise, David fled from Saul, and from Absalom. The prophet Uriah escaped from King Jehoiakim and fled into Egypt. The valiant prophet, Elijah, 1 Kings 19:3, had destroyed all the prophets of Baal by his great faith, but afterward, when Queen Jezebel threatened him, he became afraid and fled into the desert. Before that, Moses fled into the land of Midian when the king searched for him in Egypt. Many others have done likewise. All of them fled from death when it was possible and saved their lives, yet without depriving their neighbors of anything but first meeting their obligations toward them. Yes, you may reply, but these examples do not refer to dying by pestilence but to death under persecution. Answer: Death is death, no matter how it occurs. According to Holy Scripture God sent his four scourges: pestilence, famine, sword, and wild beasts. If it is permissible to flee from one or the other in clear conscience, why not from all four? Our examples demonstrate how the holy fathers escaped from the sword; it is quite evident that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob fled from the other scourge, namely, hunger and death, when they went to Egypt to escape famine, as we are told in Genesis 4047. Likewise, why should one not run away from wild beasts? I hear people say, If war or the Turks come, one should not flee from his village or town but stay and await Gods punishment by the sword. That is quite true; let him who has a strong faith wait for his death, but he should not condemn those who take flight. Article continues below By such reasoning, when a house is on fire, no one should run outside or rush to help because such a fire is also a punishment from God. Anyone who falls into deep water dare not save himself by swimming but must surrender to the water as to a divine punishment. Very well, do so if you can but do not tempt God, and allow others to do as much as they are capable of doing. Likewise, if someone breaks a leg, is wounded or bitten, he should not seek medical aid but say, It is Gods punishment. I shall bear it until it heals by itself. Freezing weather and winter are also Gods punishment and can cause death. Why run to get inside or near a fire? Be strong and stay outside until it becomes warm again. We should then need no apothecaries or drugs or physicians because all illnesses are punishment from God. Hunger and thirst are also great punishments and torture. Why do you eat and drink instead of letting yourself be punished until hunger and thirst stop of themselves? Ultimately such talk will lead to the point where we abbreviate the Lords Prayer and no longer pray, deliver us from evil, Amen, since we would have to stop praying to be saved from hell and stop seeking to escape it. It, too, is Gods punishment as is every kind of evil. Where would all this end? From what has been said we derive this guidance: We must pray against every form of evil and guard against it to the best of our ability in order not to act contrary to God, as was previously explained. If it be Gods will that evil come upon us and destroy us, none of our precautions will help us. Everybody must take this to heart: first of all, if he feels bound to remain where death rages in order to serve his neighbor, let him commend himself to God and say, Lord, I am in thy hands; thou hast kept me here; thy will be done. I am thy lowly creature. Thou canst kill me or preserve me in this pestilence in the same way as if I were in fire, water, drought, or any other danger. If a man is free, however, and can escape, let him commend himself and say, Lord God, I am weak and fearful. Therefore I am running away from evil and am doing what I can to protect myself against it. I am nevertheless in thy hands in this danger as in any other which might overtake me. Thy will be done. My flight alone will not succeed of itself because calamity and harm are everywhere. Moreover, the devil never sleeps. He is a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44) and tries everywhere to instigate murder and misfortune. In the same way we must and we owe it to our neighbor to accord him the same treatment in other troubles and perils, also. If his house is on fire, love compels me to run to help him extinguish the flames. If there are enough other people around to put the fire out, I may either go home or remain to help. If he falls into the water or into a pit I dare not turn away but must hurry to help him as best I can. If there are others to do it, I am released. If I see that he is hungry or thirsty, I cannot ignore him but must offer food and drink, not considering whether I would risk impoverishing myself by doing so. A man who will not help or support others unless he can do so without affecting his safety or his property will never help his neighbor. He will always reckon with the possibility that doing so will bring some disadvantage and damage, danger and loss. No neighbor can live alongside another without risk to his safety, property, wife, or child. He must run the risk that fire or some other accident will start in the neighbors house and destroy him bodily or deprive him of his goods, wife, children, and all he has. Article continues below Anyone who does not do that for his neighbor, but forsakes him and leaves him to his misfortune, becomes a murderer in the sight of God, as St. John states in his epistles, Whoever does not love his brother is a murderer, and again, If anyone has the worlds goods, and sees his brother in need [yet closes his heart against him], how does Gods love abide in him? (1 John 3:15, 17). That is also one of the sins which God attributed to the city of Sodom when he speaks through the prophet Ezekiel 16:49, Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, surfeit of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. Christ, therefore, will condemn them as murderers on the Last Day when he will say, I was sick and you did not visit me (Matt. 25:43). If that shall be the judgment upon those who have failed to visit the sick and needy or to offer them relief, what will become of those who abandoned them and let them lie there like dogs and pigs? Yes, how will they fare who rob the poor of the little they have and plague them in all kinds of ways? That is what the tyrants do to the poor who accept the gospel. But let that be; they have their condemnation. It would be well, where there is such an efficient government in cities and states, to maintain municipal homes and hospitals staffed with people to take care of the sick so that patients from private homes can be sent there as was the intent and purpose of our forefathers with so many pious bequests, hospices, hospitals, and infirmaries so that it should not be necessary for every citizen to maintain a hospital in his own home. That would indeed be a fine, commendable, and Christian arrangement to which everyone should offer generous help and contributions, particularly the government. Where there are no such institutions and they exist in only a few places we must give hospital care and be nurses for one another in any extremity or risk the loss of salvation and the grace of God. Thus it is written in Gods word and command, Love your neighbor as yourself, and in Matthew 7:12, So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them. Now if a deadly epidemic strikes, we should stay where we are, make our preparations, and take courage in the fact that we are mutually bound together (as previously indicated) so that we cannot desert one another or flee from one another. First, we can be sure that Gods punishment has come upon us, not only to chastise us for our sins but also to test our faith and love our faith in that we may see and experience how we should act toward God; our love in that we may recognize how we should act toward our neighbor. I am of the opinion that all the epidemics, like any plague, are spread among the people by evil spirits who poison the air or exhale a pestilential breath which puts a deadly poison into the flesh. Nevertheless, this is Gods decree and punishment to which we must patiently submit and serve our neighbor, risking our lives in this manner as St. John teaches, If Christ laid down his life for us, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16). When anyone is overcome by horror and repugnance in the presence of a sick person he should take courage and strength in the firm assurance that it is the devil who stirs up such abhorrence, fear, and loathing in his heart. He is such a bitter, knavish devil that he not only unceasingly tries to slay and kill, but also takes delight in making us deathly afraid, worried, and apprehensive so that we should regard dying as horrible and have no rest or peace all through our life. And so the devil would excrete us out of this life as he tries to make us despair of God, become unwilling and unprepared to die, and, under the stormy and dark sky of fear and anxiety, make us forget and lose Christ, our light and life, and desert our neighbor in his troubles. We would sin thereby against God and man; that would be the devils glory and delight. Because we know that it is the devils game to induce such fear and dread, we should in turn minimize it, take such courage as to spite and annoy him, and send those terrors right back to him. And we should arm ourselves with this answer to the devil: Article continues below Get away, you devil, with your terrors! Just because you hate it, Ill spite you by going the more quickly to help my sick neighbor. Ill pay no attention to you: Ive got two heavy blows to use against you: the first one is that I know that helping my neighbor is a deed well-pleasing to God and all the angels; by this deed I do Gods will and render true service and obedience to him. All the more so because if you hate it so and are so strongly opposed to it, it must be particularly acceptable to God. Id do this readily and gladly if I could please only one angel who might look with delight on it. But now that it pleases my Lord Jesus Christ and the whole heavenly host because it is the will and command of God, my Father, then how could any fear of you cause me to spoil such joy in heaven or such delight for my Lord? Or how could I, by flattering you, give you and your devils in hell reason to mock and laugh at me? No, youll not have the last word! If Christ shed his blood for me and died for me, why should I not expose myself to some small dangers for his sake and disregard this feeble plague? If you can terrorize, Christ can strengthen me. If you can kill, Christ can give life. If you have poison in your fangs, Christ has far greater medicine. Should not my dear Christ, with his precepts, his kindness, and all his encouragement, be more important in my spirit than you, roguish devil, with your false terrors in my weak flesh? God forbid! Get away, devil. Here is Christ and here am I, his servant in this work. Let Christ prevail! Amen. The second blow against the devil is Gods mighty promise by which he encourages those who minister to the needy. He says in Psalm 41:13, Blessed is he who considers the poor. The Lord will deliver him in the day of trouble. The Lord will protect him and keep him alive; the Lord will bless him on earth and not give him up to the will of his enemies. The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed. In his illness he will heal all his infirmities. Are not these glorious and mighty promises of God heaped up upon those who minister to the needy? What should terrorize us or frighten us away from such great and divine comfort? The service we can render to the needy is indeed such a small thing in comparison with Gods promises and rewards that St. Paul says to Timothy, Godliness is of value in every way, and it holds promise both for the present life and for the life to come (1 Tim. 4:8). Godliness is nothing else but service to God. Service to God is indeed service to our neighbor. It is proved by experience that those who nurse the sick with love, devotion, and sincerity are generally protected. Though they are poisoned, they are not harmed. As the psalm says, in his illness you heal all his infirmities (Ps. 41:3), that is, you change his bed of sickness into a bed of health. A person who attends a patient because of greed, or with the expectation of an inheritance or some personal advantage in such services, should not be surprised if eventually he is infected, disfigured, or even dies before he comes into possession of that estate or inheritance. Article continues below But whoever serves the sick for the sake of Gods gracious promise, though he may accept a suitable reward to which he is entitled, inasmuch as every laborer is worthy of his hire whoever does so has the great assurance that he shall in turn be cared for. God himself shall be his attendant and his physician, too. What an attendant he is! What a physician! Friend, what are all the physicians, apothecaries, and attendants in comparison to God? Should that not encourage one to go and serve a sick person, even though he might have as many contagious boils on him as hairs on his body, and though he might be bent double carrying a hundred plague-ridden bodies! What do all kinds of pestilence or devils mean over against God, who binds and obliges himself to be our attendant and physician? Shame and more shame on you, you out-and-out unbeliever, for despising such great comfort and letting yourself become more frightened by some small boil or some uncertain danger than emboldened by such sure and faithful promises of God! What would it avail you if all physicians and the entire world were at your service, but God were not present? Again, what harm could overtake you if the whole world were to desert you and no physician would remain with you, but God would abide with you with his assurance? Do you not know that you are surrounded as by thousands of angels who watch over you in such a way that you can indeed trample upon the plague, as it is written in Psalm 91:1113, He has given his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and the adder, and trample the young lion and the serpent under foot. Therefore, dear friends, let us not become so desperate as to desert our own whom we are duty-bound to help and flee in such a cowardly way from the terror of the devil, or allow him the joy of mocking us and vexing and distressing God and all his angels. For it is certainly true that he who despises such great promises and commands of God and leaves his own people destitute, violates all of Gods laws and is guilty of the murder of his neighbor whom he abandons. I fear that in such a case Gods promise will be reversed and changed into horrible threats and the psalm will then read this way against them: Accursed is he who does not provide for the needy but escapes and forsakes them. The Lord in turn will not spare him in evil days but will flee from him and desert him, The Lord will not preserve him and keep him alive and will not prosper him on earth but will deliver him into the hands of his enemies. The Lord will not refresh him on his sickbed nor take him from the couch of his illness. For the measure you give will be the measure you get (Matt. 7:2). Nothing else can come of it. It is terrible to hear this, more terrible to be waiting for this to happen, most terrible to experience it. What else can happen if God withdraws his hand and forsakes us except sheer devilment and every kind of evil? It cannot be otherwise if, against Gods command, one abandons his neighbor. This fate will surely overtake anyone of this sort, unless he sincerely repents. Article continues below This I well know, that if it were Christ or his mother who were laid low by illness, everybody would be so solicitous and would gladly become a servant or helper. Everyone would want to be bold and fearless; nobody would flee but everyone would come running. And yet they dont hear what Christ himself says, As you did to one of the least, you did it to me (Matt. 25:40). When he speaks of the greatest commandment he says, The other commandment is like unto it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:39). There you hear that the command to love your neighbor is equal to the greatest commandment to love God, and that what you do or fail to do for your neighbor means doing the same to God. If you wish to serve Christ and to wait on him, very well, you have your sick neighbor close at hand. Go to him and serve him, and you will surely find Christ in him, not outwardly but in his word. If you do not wish or care to serve your neighbor you can be sure that if Christ lay there instead you would not do so either and would let him lie there. Those are nothing but illusions on your part which puff you up with vain pride, namely, that you would really serve Christ if he were there in person. Those are nothing but lies; whoever wants to serve Christ in person would surely serve his neighbor as well. This is said as an admonition and encouragement against fear and a disgraceful flight to which the devil would tempt us so that we would disregard Gods command in our dealings with our neighbor and so we would fall into sin on the left hand. Others sin on the right hand. They are much too rash and reckless, tempting God and disregarding everything which might counteract death and the plague. They disdain the use of medicines; they do not avoid places and persons infected by the plague, but lightheartedly make sport of it and wish to prove how independent they are. They say that it is Gods punishment; if he wants to protect them he can do so without medicines or our carefulness. This is not trusting God but tempting him. God has created medicines and provided us with intelligence to guard and take good care of the body so that we can live in good health. If one makes no use of intelligence or medicine when he could do so without detriment to his neighbor, such a person injures his body and must beware lest he become a suicide in Gods eyes. By the same reasoning a person might forego eating and drinking, clothing and shelter, and boldly proclaim his faith that if God wanted to preserve him from starvation and cold, he could do so without food and clothing. Actually that would be suicide. It is even more shameful for a person to pay no heed to his own body and to fail to protect it against the plague the best he is able, and then to infect and poison others who might have remained alive if he had taken care of his body as he should have. He is thus responsible before God for his neighbors death and is a murderer many times over. Indeed, such people behave as though a house were burning in the city and nobody were trying to put the fire out. Instead they give leeway to the flames so that the whole city is consumed, saying that if God so willed, he could save the city without water to quench the fire. No, my dear friends, that is no good. Use medicine; take potions which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street; shun persons and places wherever your neighbor does not need your presence or has recovered, and act like a man who wants to help put out the burning city. What else is the epidemic but a fire which instead of consuming wood and straw devours life and body? You ought to think this way: Very well, by Gods decree the enemy has sent us poison and deadly offal. Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God. Article continues below Moreover, he who has contracted the disease and recovered should keep away from others and not admit them into his presence unless it be necessary. Though one should aid him in his time of need, as previously pointed out, he in turn should, after his recovery, so act toward others that no one becomes unnecessarily endangered on his account and so cause anothers death. Whoever loves danger, says the wise man, will perish by it (Ecclus. 3:26). If the people in a city were to show themselves bold in their faith when a neighbors need so demands, and cautious when no emergency exists, and if everyone would help ward off contagion as best he can, then the death toll would indeed be moderate. But if some are too panicky and desert their neighbors in their plight, and if some are so foolish as not to take precautions but aggravate the contagion, then the devil has a heyday and many will die. On both counts this is a grievous offense to God and to man here it is tempting God; there it is bringing man into despair. Then the one who flees, the devil will pursue; the one who stays behind, the devil will hold captive so that no one escapes him. Some are even worse than that. They keep it secret that they have the disease and go among others in the belief that by contaminating and poisoning others they can rid themselves of the plague and so recover. With this idea they enter streets and homes, trying to saddle children or servants with the disease and thus save themselves. I certainly believe that this is the devils doing, who helps turn the wheel of fate to make this happen. I have been told that some are so incredibly vicious that they circulate among people and enter homes because they are sorry that the plague has not reached that far and wish to carry it in, as though it were a prank like putting lice into fur garments or flies into someones living room. I do not know whether I should believe this; if it is true, I do not know whether we Germans are not really devils instead of human beings. It must be admitted that there are some extremely coarse and wicked people. The devil is never idle. My advice is that if any such persons are discovered, the judge should take them by the ear and turn them over to Master Jack, the hangman, as outright and deliberate murderers. What else are such people but assassins in our town? Here and there an assassin will jab a knife through someone and no one can find the culprit. So these folk infect a child here, a woman there, and can never be caught. They go on laughing as though they had accomplished something. Where this is the case, it would be better to live among wild beasts than with such murderers. I do not know how to preach to such killers. They pay no heed. I appeal to the authorities to take charge and turn them over to the help and advice not of physicians, but of Master Jack, the hangman. If in the Old Testament God himself ordered lepers to be banished from the community and compelled to live outside the city to prevent contamination (Leviticus 1314), we must do the same with this dangerous pestilence so that anyone who becomes infected will stay away from other persons, or allow himself to be taken away and given speedy help with medicine. Under such circumstances it is our duty to assist such a person and not forsake him in his plight, as I have repeatedly pointed out before. Then the poison is stopped in time, which benefits not only the individual but also the whole community, which might be contaminated if one person is permitted to infect others. Our plague here in Wittenberg has been caused by nothing but filth. The air, thank God, is still clean and pure, but some few have been contaminated because of the laziness or recklessness of some. So the devil enjoys himself at the terror and flight which he causes among us. May God thwart him! Amen. Article continues below This is what we think and conclude on this subject of fleeing from death by the plague. If you are of a different opinion, may God enlighten you. Amen. Because this letter will go out in print for people to read, I regard it useful to add some brief instructions on how one should care and provide for the soul in time of death. We have done this orally from the pulpit, and still do so every day in fulfillment of the ministry to which we have been called as pastors. First, one must admonish the people to attend church and listen to the sermon so that they learn through Gods word how to live and how to die. It must be noted that those who are so uncouth and wicked as to despise Gods word while they are in good health should be left unattended when they are sick unless they demonstrate their remorse and repentance with great earnestness, tears, and lamentation. A person who wants to live like a heathen or a dog and does not publicly repent should not expect us to administer the sacrament to him or have us count him a Christian. Let him die as he has lived because we shall not throw pearls before swine nor give to dogs what is holy (Matt. 7:6). Sad to say, there are many churlish, hardened ruffians who do not care for their souls when they live or when they die. They simply lie down and die like unthinking hulks. Second, everyone should prepare in time and get ready for death by going to confession and taking the sacrament once every week or fortnight. He should become reconciled with his neighbor and make his will so that if the Lord knocks and he departs before a pastor or chaplain can arrive, he has provided for his soul, has left nothing undone, and has committed himself to God. When there are many fatalities and only two or three pastors on duty, it is impossible to visit everyone, to give instruction, and to teach each one what a Christian ought to know in the anguish of death. Those who have been careless and negligent in these matters must account for themselves. That is their own fault. After all, we cannot set up a private pulpit and altar daily at their bedside simply because they have despised the public pulpit and altar to which God has summoned and called them. Third, if someone wants the chaplain or pastor to come, let the sick person send word in time to call him and let him do so early enough while he is still in his right mind before the illness overwhelms the patient. The reason I say this is that some are so negligent that they make no request and send no message until the soul is perched for flight on the tip of their tongues and they are no longer rational or able to speak. Then we are told, Dear Sir, say the very best you can to him, etc. But earlier, when the illness first began, they wanted no visit from the pastor, but would say, Oh, theres no need. I hope hell get better. What should a diligent pastor do with such people who neglect both body and soul? They live and die like beasts in the field. They want us to teach them the gospel at the last minute and administer the sacrament to them as they were accustomed to it under the papacy when nobody asked whether they believed or understood the gospel but just stuffed the sacrament down their throats as if into a bread bag. Article continues below This wont do. If someone cannot talk or indicate by a sign that he believes, understands, and desires the sacramentparticularly if he has willfully neglected itwe will not give it to him just anytime he asks for it. We have been commanded not to offer the holy sacrament to unbelievers but rather to believers who can state and confess their faith. Let the others alone in their unbelief; we are guiltless because we have not been slothful in preaching, teaching, exhortation, consolation, visitation, or in anything else that pertains to our ministry and office. This, in brief, is our instruction and what we practice here. We do not write this for you in Breslau, because Christ is with you and without our aid he will amply instruct you and supply your needs with his own ointment. To him be praise and honor together with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen. Because we have come upon the subject of death, I cannot refrain from saying something about burials. First of all, I leave it to the doctors of medicine and others with greater experience than mine in such matters to decide whether it is dangerous to maintain cemeteries within the city limits. I do not know and do not claim to understand whether vapors and mists arise out of graves to pollute the air. If this were so my previously stated warnings constitute ample reason to locate cemeteries outside the city. As we have learned, all of us have the responsibility of warding off this poison to the best of our ability because God has commanded us to care for the body, to protect and nurse it so that we are not exposed needlessly. In an emergency, however, we must be bold enough to risk our health if that is necessary. Thus we should be ready for both to live and to die according to Gods will. For none of us lives to himself and none of us dies to himself, as St. Paul says, Romans 14:7. It is very well known that the custom in antiquity, both among Jews and pagans, among saints and sinners, was to bury the dead outside the city. Those people were just as prudent as we claim to be ourselves. This is also evident in St. Lukes Gospel, when Christ raised from the dead the widows son at the gates of Nain (for the text of Luke 7:12 states, He was being carried out of the city to the grave and a large crowd from the city was with her). In that country it was the practice to bury the dead outside the town. Christs tomb, also, was prepared outside the city. Abraham, too, bought a burial plot in the field of Ephron near the double cave where all the patriarchs wished to be buried. The Latin therefore employs the term efferi, that is, to carry out, by which we mean carry to the grave. They not only carried the dead out but also burned them to powder to keep the air as pure as possible. My advice, therefore, is to follow these examples and to bury the dead outside the town. Not only necessity but piety and decency should induce us to provide a public burial ground outside the town, that is, our town of Wittenberg. A cemetery rightfully ought to be a fine quiet place, removed from all other localities, to which one can go and reverently meditate upon death, the Last Judgment, the resurrection, and say ones prayers. Such a place should properly be a decent, hallowed place, to be entered with trepidation and reverence because doubtlessly some saints rest there. It might even be arranged to have religious pictures and portraits painted on the walls. Article continues below But our cemetery, what is it like? Four or five alleys, two or three marketplaces, with the result that no place in the whole town is busier or noisier than the cemetery. People and cattle roam over it at any time, night and day. Everyone has a door or pathway to it from his house and all sorts of things take place there, probably even some that are not fit to be mentioned. This totally destroys respect and reverence for the graves, and people think no more about walking across it than if it were a burial ground for executed criminals. Not even the Turk would dishonor the place the way we do. And yet a cemetery should inspire us to devout thoughts, to the contemplation of death and the resurrection, and to respect for the saints who rest there. How can that be done at such a common place through which everyone must walk and into which every mans door opens? If a cemetery is to have some dignity, I would rather be put to rest in the Elbe or in the forest. If a graveyard were located at a quiet, remote spot where no one could make a path through it, it would be a spiritual, proper, and holy sight and could be so arranged that it would inspire devotion in those who go there. That would be my advice. Follow it, who so wishes. If anyone knows better, let him go ahead. I am no mans master. In closing, we admonish and plead with you in Christs name to help us with your prayers to God so that we may do battle with word and precept against the real and spiritual pestilence of Satan in his wickedness with which he now poisons and defiles the world. That is, particularly against those who blaspheme the sacrament, though there are other sectarians also. Satan is infuriated and perhaps he feels that the day of Christ is at hand. That is why he raves so fiercely and tries through the enthusiasts to rob us of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Under the papacy Satan was simply flesh so that even a monks cap had to be regarded as sacred. Now he is nothing more than sheer spirit and Christs flesh and word are no longer supposed to mean anything. They made an answer to my treatise long ago, but I am surprised that it has not yet reached me at Wittenberg. [When it does] I shall, God willing, answer them once again and let the matter drop. I can see that they will only become worse. They are like a bedbug which itself has a foul smell, but the harder you rub to crush it, the more it stinks. I hope that Ive written enough in this pamphlet for those who can be saved so that God be praised many may thereby be snatched from their jaws and many more may be strengthened and confirmed in the truth. May Christ our Lord and Savior preserve us all in pure faith and fervent love, unspotted and pure until his day. Amen. Pray for me, a poor sinner. Martin Luther, Luthers Works, Vol. 43: Devotional Writings II, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, vol. 43 (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1999), 11938. The EU expressed deep concern about the harsh measures taken by the Turkish government against municipalities led by pro-Kurdish opposition mayors in the south-east of the country, Peter Stano, EU Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in a statement. The statement runs as follows: Decisions and actions taken by the Turkish authorities against municipalities with mayors from opposition parties remain of deep concern, in particular when they appear to be politically motivated. This is notably the case of the recent suspension of five more mayors in the south-east of the country and their replacement with trustees. The total number of dismissed mayors in the south-east of Turkey since August 2019 reached 45. In addition, hundreds of local politicians and elected office holders and thousands of members of the HDP have been detained on terrorism-related charges since the local elections in March 2019, and investigations have been launched against other mayors. As previously stated, while the Turkish government has a legitimate right to fight terrorism, it is also responsible for ensuring this is done in accordance with the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, enshrined in its Constitution and Turkeys international commitments. It should not be done for political reasons, applying broad anti-terror or criminal legislation. These measures, along with the excessive use of legal proceedings against local elected representatives, exemplified by the launch of criminal investigations against the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara in mid-April, seriously undermine the proper functioning of local democracy. Turkey should repeal measures inhibiting the functioning of local democracy, in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission and with Turkey's commitment to the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The Washington Post "Post Reports" is the daily podcast from The Washington Post. Unparalleled reporting. Expert insight. Clear analysis. Everything you've come to expect from the newsroom of The Post - for your ears. - - - A Tennessee couple were in critical care after being attacked by a machete-wielding man who was angry about coronavirus shutdowns, police said. Kelvin Edwards, 35, attacked Kevin Craft, 55, and his wife, Leanne Craft, 50, of Brentwood, on Sunday afternoon at a Public Storage site in Nashville, the Metro Nashville Police Department said in a statement. Kelvin D. Edwards has been interviewed and is now at booking. Warrants charging him with 2 counts of attempted murder are being prepared. pic.twitter.com/2vT5SwUsvp Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) May 18, 2020 Edwards took the machete from his bin at the storage facility and continued striking the couple even after they were bleeding on the floor, police said. The victims were transported to hospital after police officers used multiple tourniquets to control their bleeding. Police said they found Edwards with his hands raised in surrender on the street outside the facility three minutes after receiving a 911 call about the attack. Investigators said Edwards, who is homeless, told them he attacked the couple to demonstrate his anger about the coronavirus shutdowns and his inability to get into Rescue Mission, an organisation that serves homeless people. We are pulling for the recovery of Kevin & Leanne Craft of Brentwood who were attacked by a machete-wielding stranger Sun afternoon. Here are parts of this afternoon's news conf, which includes officers who worked to arrest suspect Kelvin Edwards & save the lives of the victims. pic.twitter.com/RSm1QN301u Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) May 19, 2020 Edwards was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder for the attack Sunday, police said. According to its website, the Nashville Rescue Mission has remained open to individuals without shelter during the pandemic. YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Tigran Avinyan participated on May 18 in the online meeting of the World Economic Forums Europe and Eurasia Group, the deputy PMs Office told Armenpress. The meeting participants discussed the strategies of governments and businesses aimed at overcoming the economic crisis caused by the novel coronavirus, as well as the challenges existing in global and regional value chains and the possible solutions. In his remarks the Armenian deputy PM said all countries are facing a public health crisis and the coronavirus is going to be a problem for a long time. Introducing Armenias strategy on overcoming the crisis, he said the current restrictions enabled to gain time and get adapted to the situation, increase the capacities of the healthcare system. Thereafter, the government mitigated the restrictions after the necessary preparations, at the same time imposing new compulsory rules and guidelines for the economy and public behavior in this new situation. Tigran Avinyan said this crisis period is also an impetus to make key reforms, especially in the digital sphere. He touched upon the future development opportunities of the digital economy, digital governance and digital society and briefly presented Armenias experience. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Decrease Font Size Font Size Increase Font Size Article body Thirty national cyber and critical infrastructure security leaders are joining the McCrary Institute as senior fellows, adding their expertise toward development of practical solutions to national security challenges. This select group includes senior leaders with a depth of experience in government, private industry, and academe. Their high-level government service includes at the White House, on Capitol Hill, in the Department of Defense, and the law enforcement, intelligence, and homeland security communities. This new cohort of senior fellows is tremendously talented and brings a wealth of national security expertise, said Frank Cilluffo, McCrary Institute director. Their knowledge will help power our efforts to shape policy and impact practice in the United States and build a community of experts committed to advancing our cyber and critical infrastructure security. Senior fellows participate actively in the development and execution of the work plans of the McCrary Institute, engaging through multimedia, pursuing research and publishing regularly on timely topics of pressing interest and concern. The insights and experience that this distinguished group of senior fellows brings to the table will help take the work of the institute to a new level, said Charles D. McCrary, namesake of the institute and Auburn University Trustee. These fellows will deepen the institutes capacity to help tackle some of the countrys most pressing challenges. The McCrary Institute, based in Auburn but with additional centers in Washington D.C., and Huntsville, seeks practical solutions to pressing challenges in the areas of cyber and critical infrastructure security. Through its three hubs, the institute offers end-to-end capability policy, technology, research and education on all things cyber. The new McCrary Institute Senior Fellows are: RADM Tom Atkin (Ret.) Managing Principal The Atkin Group Chris Button Director of Intelligence Financial Systemic Analysis & Resilience Center Cheri Caddy Senior Advisor, Cybersecurity Policy & Strategy U.S. Department of Energy Christopher Cleary Chief Information Security Officer U.S. Department of the Navy Harry Coker Senior Executive (Ret.) Central Intelligence Agency Daniel Collier Chief of Intelligence Operations Air University Chris Cummiskey Chief Executive Officer Cummiskey Strategic Solutions Brian de Vallance Principal Crosscut Consulting Nicholas Eftimiades Professor Penn State University John Felker Cybersecurity Expert Emily Frye Director for Cyber Integration The MITRE Corporation Scott Gibson Head of Strategy and Planning for Global Security Uber James Goosby General Manager, Instrumentation and Controls Support Southern Company Thomas Harrington Associate Deputy Director (Ret.) Federal Bureau of Investigation Lt. Gen. Reynold Hoover (Ret.) Principal RNHoover Consulting Daniel Kaniewski Managing Director, Public Sector Innovation Marsh & McLennan Companies Catherine Lotrionte Professor Georgetown University Jeanette Manfra Global Director of Security & Compliance Google Cloud RADM Mark Montgomery (Ret.) Executive Director Cyberspace Solarium Commission Timothy Newberry Founder BlackHorse Solutions Tom Patterson Chief Trust Officer Unisys Christopher Porter National Intelligence Officer for Cyber National Intelligence Council Harvey Rishikof Senior Counsel ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security Marcus Sachs Chief Security Officer Pattern Computer Emily Scala Homeland Security Expert Todd Stein Senior Vice President Irrimax Corporation Miles Taylor Head of National Security Policy Engagement Google Errol Weiss Chief Security Officer Health Information Sharing & Analysis Center Joe Whitley Practice Chair, Government Enforcement & Investigations Baker Donelson Henry Willis Director, Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC) Strategy, Policy, and Operations Program RAND Corporation New Delhi, May 19 : The countrys tourism industry is staring at 2 crore job losses as industry insiders cite Central apathy and a predictably long recovery period. Accordingly, the industry is left with a tough choice between downsizing and survival given that no stimulus measure is in sight. Consequently, the workforce employed with the sector is desperately searching for new vocational avenues. The aviation, tourism and hospitality sectors put together contribute around 10 per cent of India's GDP and employ over 60 million people. Out of which, 3 crore are employed with the tourism sector alone, as per industry estimates. Subsequent to the Covid-19 outbreak, the lockdown to curb its spread has led to fear and operational restrictions. "This sector is the hardest hit and may take several months to recover. Without adequate government support to the tourism industry, job losses are imminent," Aloke Bajpai, Co-founder and CEO, IXIGO travel app, told IANS. "Governments across the world have announced specific support and relief measures for airlines, hotels and the tourism industry. The Indian government needs to take stock of the situation and undertake relevant relief measures for the travel industry as well," Bajpai added. The industry predicts that the massive erosion of wealth due to the Covid-19 outbreak will have a cascading impact on the sector, as reduced discretionary spending will ultimately hit the sector hard. "There will be at least 50-60 per cent industry wide job losses," Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-Founder of EaseMyTrip.com, told IANS. "Tourism (airlines, hospitality and allied sectors) provides more than 5 crore direct and indirect jobs. I think these would be heavily impacted in the short period. We can predict a re-run of 2016 volumes during 2021," Pitti added. Notably, the industry warned that a majority of companies in the sector will be wiped-out in around three months' time. "The majority of the tourism sector in India is run by small and medium sized firms which at the most will have 3-4 months of cash left for survival. As things stand now, the recovery is too far," Kunnal Sharma, Founder of niche travel firm UncrushedLeaves, told IANS. "Job losses are feared in the sector and as they take place, they might cause socio-economic problems for the states which depend heavily on tourism for revenue and employment. Plus, there is no clarity for the MSME component of the stimulus; as of now tourism firms are grappling for the way forward," Sharma added. This view was echoed by Aashish Gupta, Consulting CEO of The Federation of Associations of Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH). According to him, the inbound tourists from foreign countries are unlikely to recover for the next 12-15 months. He said that the major season for travel for international tourists is from October to March, and it accounts of 45 per cent of the country's tourism business, including guides etc. "The whole value chain of the tourism business, be it tour operators, agents, hotels or guides, rely mostly on foreign business. Almost everybody's capacities are down 80-90 per cent," Gupta told IANS. He noted that there would over 1 lakh tour operator businesses, over 50,000 travel agencies, and more than 15,000 adventure tour operators. Further, around 19 lakh entities operate in the tourist transport business, and all these companies are in deep distress right now with no silver lining in sight. Gupta said that tourism, travel and hospitality accounts for around 10-12 per cent of India's total employment and 70 per cent jobs are currently at risk. Around 5 crore jobs, both directly and indirectly related to tourism and hospitality, are at stake, he said. "More niche segments like a cruise or a trek are finished. They are very small in terms of business volume and their businesses are completely compromised, which means that no cash is coming in and the companies are at a very severe state," Gupta said. -IANS team-biz/sn/arm A North Dakota construction firm that has received backing from President Donald Trump has now secured the largest border wall contract ever awarded, a $1.3 billion deal to build 42 miles of black-painted fencing through the rugged mountains of southern Arizona. The company that won the contract, Fisher Sand and Gravel, has been repeatedly lauded by the president in White House meetings with border officials and military commanders, the result of a long and personalized marketing pitch to Trump and ardent supporters of his barrier project. After its initial bids for border contracts were passed over, the company and its CEO, Tommy Fisher, cut a direct path to the president by praising him on cable news, donating to his Republican allies and cultivating ties to former Trump adviser Stephen Bannon, GOP Senate candidate Kris Kobach and other conservative figures in Trump's orbit. Fisher's first and only other major border contract, for $400 million, is under review by the Department of Defense Inspector General, after Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about improper White House influence on the procurement process. The IG's office confirmed Tuesday that the audit is ongoing. The new award to Fisher carries an average cost of more than $30 million per mile of border barrier, more expensive than any other contract for Trump's wall. The project has morphed from a 2016 campaign promise into one of the largest federal infrastructure projects in U.S. history. The 42-mile span of border south of Tucson, Arizona, where Fisher will build presents significant engineering complexities, with steep terrain and water crossings, including the Santa Cruz River basin, which floods during summer "monsoon" storms, according to border officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the project. Swelling the price tag further was a design change from the president requiring the barrier to be painted black, adding approximately $1.2 million per mile, according to government contracting estimates obtained this month by The Washington Post. Raini Brunson, a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who confirmed the contract was awarded to Fisher, said contract amounts are determined by a range of factors. "Each project cost is contingent upon its unique characteristics such as geotechnical, topographical, hydrological and hydraulic, underground utilities, final real estate access, and the cost of materials and labor," Brunson said in an email. The $1.275 billion contract - Tucson Package 3 - consists of "a series of projects within a geographical area with more complex terrain," Brunson added. Under Army Corps procurement rules, the contract went to the lowest-priced technically acceptable bid, she said. Trump has brought up Fisher in White House border wall meetings again in recent weeks, when he directed border officials and the Army Corps to paint the steel barrier black, a design change that would add at least $500 million to the overall cost. The president has told aides the darker color will absorb more solar radiation and scorch the hands of any would-be border-jumpers who try to climb the fence. Engineers say the black paint will increase long-term maintenance costs and will boost the metal's ability to retain heat by less than 10 percent. The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the Fisher award Tuesday. Attorneys for the company did not respond to an inquiry, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) referred questions to the Army Corps. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, blasted the contract in a statement to The Post, noting the Pentagon Inspector General's audit is not yet complete and that the country is in the grips of a pandemic and economic crisis. "It speaks volumes to the administration's lack of transparency that they didn't announce this award - the largest ever - and we continue to learn about contracts to companies without a proven track record from the media," Thompson said. "Given the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing investigation into Fisher, the administration should pause construction and contracting decisions until the investigation has concluded favorably and it is safe to resume nonessential construction projects." The section of border where Fisher will build is between Nogales, Ariz., and the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge, an area that has long been an active smuggling corridor. The contract also includes a portion east of Nogales where the Santa Cruz River traverses the border. Such water crossings have required the installation of specialized storm gates that can be left open during summer months to prevent the structure from being torn down by flash floods. While the contract awarded to Fisher is the single-largest award to date, another firm, Southwest Valley Constructors Co, a subsidiary of federal contracting giant Kiewit, has received multiple awards worth more in total, records show. The Arizona Daily Star first reported the Fisher contract, which has not been announced by the Department of Defense or CBP. A CBP official familiar with the area said building a barrier will be "a challenge" and that the higher cost for the contract was likely the result of its "remoteness, rugged terrain, and logistical challenges." The official was not authorized to discuss the Fisher award publicly. Tommy Fisher's enthusiastic support for the president, and Fisher's unconventional promotional efforts have made his company a darling for some of the president's most militant supporters. It also has made it a target for Democratic lawmakers. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., a close ally of the president's, urged him to hire Fisher while sharply criticizing the Army Corps for passing over the company. Fisher donated to Cramer's Senate campaign, appeared with Cramer as he ran for office and was Cramer's personal guest at Trump's State of the Union address last year. Cramer did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Fisher has paid the lobbying firm Odney more than $100,000 since 2017 while trying to secure border wall contracts, records show. North Dakota-based Odney also worked for Cramer during his 2018 Senate run. While bidding on government border wall contracts, Fisher has build border barriers on private land for the activist group "We Build the Wall," in some cases purchasing the land himself, according to court filings. The group's advisory board is led by Bannon, Kobach, Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince and other conservative personalities. Its president, Brian Kolfage, frequently taunts and spars with environmental groups and immigrant advocates on social media. "ANOTHER HUGE WIN! Congrats Tommy Fisher!" Kolfage wrote on Twitter. "It's clear you built @WeBuildtheWall the best border wall ever on the US border and now you're being rewarded for your hard work." Fisher sued the Army Corps last year when the company was not selected to be one of the preapproved firms eligible to bid on border wall contracts, claiming the process was unfair. Cramer spoke to the president about Fisher and at one point held up a White House budget office nominee to compel the Army Corps to disclose information about the bidding process that it said would violate procurement rules. The company was subsequently added to the pool of eligible bidders, and once its foot was in the door, it could outbid competitors. Fisher's $1.3 billion bid was the lowest on the 42-mile span, according to one official with knowledge of the contract. As part of Fisher's marketing push, the company has claimed it can build the barrier faster and for less money, using a signature technique that deploys a fleet of excavators to install elongated segments of steel bollards into the ground and hold them in place until they are secure, instead of relying on conventional bracing methods. Trump has made the barrier project a major theme of his reelection pitch, and Homeland Security officials say crews are still on track to deliver on the president's promise to complete nearly 500 miles of new fencing by the end of the year. They have finished at least 187 miles so far, according to the most recent figures from CBP. The Trump administration has allocated more than $15 billion for the project to date, but only about one-third of that has been appropriated by lawmakers. The White House has diverted most of the rest of the money from military construction projects and counternarcotics programs. - - - The Washington Post's Josh Dawsey contributed to this report. New Delhi: Not many would know that actor Sumeet Raghvan, known for the show Sarabhai vs Sarabhai, played a crucial role in BR Chopras Mahabharat. The iconic show has returned to TV decades later and is breaking several records like Ramayan. Sumeet starrred as a young Sudama in the show. His role, however, seems to have gone unnoticed in Mahabharat, which had big stars such as Puneet Issar, Mukesh Khanna, Roopa Ganguly and Nitish Bharadwaj. Since the show started airing again, Sumeet said that he was flooded with questions after people guessed its him as Sudama. In an interview to news agency IANS, the actor said, "Once the episodes were aired again, there was a flurry of questions on my social media profile. People were taking screenshots of the episode tagging me, asking, Is this you? We never knew you were a part of this epic show!' I am happy that I got to work with such revered actors and be a part of a classic like 'Mahabharat'." 'Mahabharat' was a huge hit in the 80s-90s and is being equally loved in 2020 too. It aired on Doordarshan and is one of the most-watched shows after Ramayan. Meanwhile, of his role as Sudama in Mahabharat, Sumeet said that he was signed for the show when he was very young and joked it was because he was skinny. But he never realised the show would create history. "I was very young when I bagged the role, and I was as excited as any new kid on the block. I was quite skinny at the time, probably that's why I got the role," he quipped. "We had barely shot for 3 to 4 days and I remember shooting the Sandipani Ashram portions in Film City and the rain dance sequence at Chena creek. Back then, I did not realise that I was going to be a part of history," Sumit, a renowned face in TV and Marathi industries, added. Mahabharat featured Mukesh Khanna as Bhishma, Pankaj Dheer as Karna, Gajendra Chouhan as Yudhishthir, Arjun as Arjun, Roopa Ganguly as Draupadi, Puneet Issar as Duryodhan and Nitish Bharadwaj as Krishna. Jonah Hill (Credit: Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP) Beating the likes of Samuel L. Jackson and Adam Sandler, it's emerged that Jonah Hill is the sweariest actor in all of Hollywood. The star of movies like Superbad and 21 Jump Street scooped the accolade after 3,500 movies were analysed for their robust language. Read more: 10 films that got science wrong Hill's swear count was assisted hugely by his role in The Wolf of Wall Street, in which he played trader Donnie Azoff. That movie, as inspected by Buzz Bingo, which broke down the numbers, features a massive 715 expletives in all. Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street (Credit: Paramount) It helped Hill climb to 376 curse words through all the movies in his relatively short career so far, beating some considerably more seasoned actors. Behind Hill is his Wolf of Wall Street co-star Leonardo DiCaprio with 361 swears on screen, Samuel L. Jackson with 301, Adam Sandler with 295, Al Pacino with 255, Denzel Washington with 193, Billy Bob Thornton with 145, Seth Rogen with 143, Bradley Cooper with 142 and Danny McBride with 136. Read more: What to watch on Netflix this week Movies-wise, tense Netflix swear-festival Uncut Gems comes in just behind The Wolf of Wall Street with 646 swears. Then it's Casino with 606, Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back with 509, Fury (489), Straight Outta Compton (468), Summer of Sam (467), Nil By Mouth (432), Reservoir Dogs (418) and Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (414). Accepting the accolade gladly, Hill took to Instagram with a gushing missive. Less than a month since the last troubleshooting was completed, the Asia America Gateway (AAG) submarine cable is now broken down again, substantially obstructing Vietnamese netizens international connection. Internet service providers (ISPs) in Vietnam have confirmed that the submarine cable system faced an issue on May 14, causing Internet speed in the country to be disrupted. A representative of a domestic ISP said all connections through the AAG system have been redirected through other systems to minimize the connection latency for users. The cable system is notorious for its high frequency of recesses throughout the year. The latest maintenance on the AAG cable system was completed less than a month ago, on April 21. E-mail, Facebook barely loading Duy Tung from Ho Chi Minh City has quite a few complaints about the sluggish Internet speed over the last few days. Gmail takes a while to open and even longer if there are attachments. Even Messenger continually reports failure to deliver messages. Most services with foreign hostings are slow these days, Tung said, referring to Googles email service and Facebooks chat app. Hong Uyen from District 5 in the southern metropolis also finds the speed bump disrupting her daily work. Her job requires engagements in virtual conferences, to which the slightest fluctuation in Internet bandwidth can make a vexing experience. The average meeting lasts 30 to 60 minutes, yet the choppy Internet may drag it out twice as long. Everyone is frustrated at the bandwidth problem, Uyen said. According to customer feedback, the download speed of international services has significantly worsened, affecting work operations of various firms as well as general usage of the Vietnamese public. Our company is [letting employees] work from home via online tools, yet the Internet speed has halted many meetings. The work progress is naturally hindered, which causes us a great deal of frustration, Uyen said. A run of the Speedtest tool provided by the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC) to measure the Internet speed of a local ISP by Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday afternoon showed both upload and download speeds hovered around 10Mbps. Another ISP returned a result of 20Mbps, which is much lower than the average of 61.69Mbps for fixed broadband Internet services of Vietnam announced by VNNIC in April. The endless loop of cable disruption The AAG is a 20,000-kilometer submarine communications cable system connecting Southeast Asia with the U.S. mainland across the Pacific Ocean via Guam and Hawaii. It was put into operation in November 2009. The segment connecting to Vietnam is 314 kilometers long and strikes land in Vung Tau City in the southern region, delivering up to two terabits per second. The AAG system holds an extensive track record on international connection issues and has been blamed for many occasions where Internet speed slumped in Vietnam. In November and December 2019, a malfunction in the system was detected and was not completely fixed until late January. The cable went on to break down again in February, affecting domestic Internet speed until the problem was resolved in March. IA and AAE-1, two other international Internet cable lines employed by Vietnamese ISPs, have exhibited the same pattern of issues. Both faced problems since late 2019 and did not return to normalcy until early February. Despite the ISPs claims of backup mechanisms in place regarding AAG malfunctions, the recent instances of Internet interruption speak volumes about the still-prominence status of the AAG cable system to Vietnamese users. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Washington, May 19 : Accusing the World Health Organization (WHO) of "alarming lack of independence from" China, US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull out of the agency and end its funding if it did not institute reforms within a month and end its subservience. In a four-page letter addressed to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that he posted Monday night on Twitter, Trump said: "The repeated missteps by you and your organisation in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly to the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is only if it can demonstrate its independence from China." Trump's warning came in the middle of the annual meeting of the WHO's decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, that is being held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The US paid $553 million of the WHO's $6 billion budget last year. China paid only $43 million but its President Xi Jinping has said that Beijing would contribute $2 billion to its campaign against COVID-19. Last month, Trump had ordered a freeze on US contributions to the WHO saying it had spread misinformation about the pandemic that originated in China. Trump listed in his letter a chronology of what he said were a series of errors by the organisation's leadership because of its pliancy to China that have led to the explosion of the COVID-19 pandemic. He accused Tedros of misleading the world by asserting on February 3 that the chances of COVID-19 going anywhere outside China were "very low" and that travel restrictions were "causing more harm than good". He said that Tedros' position "bolstered" China's campaign to end or prevent travel restrictions. While China was preventing international inquiry into the pandemic's origins, destroying samples of the virus and refusing to share data, Trump said that Tedros was praising its transparency. He warned that if there were not "substantive improvements" within the next 30 days, he would make the temporary freeze of funding permanent. Trump's funding freeze has been criticised by Democrats as leading to lessening of Washington's global standing and endangering the campaign against COVID-19. Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it "dangerous, illegal" and said that it "will be swiftly challenged" because Congress had allocated the money. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Cowlitz County District Court Judge Jamie Imboden has been charged with driving under the influence, and he has agreed to not hear any DUI cases until his own case is resolved. Though he declined to talk about details of the case while charges are pending, Imboden said Monday he disagrees with the allegations and account in a Kelso police officers report of the April 17 incident. I look forward to having my day in court, presenting my witnesses, and being vindicated, he said. I believe in and trust the legal process and anticipate a just result. According to a traffic citation, a Kelso officer stopped Imboden, 48, at about five minutes before midnight on a Friday night. The officer was dispatched to a report of a black convertible headed eastbound over the Allen Street bridge. A 911 caller reported the convertible was driving erratically at high speed, ran a red light and nearly hit other vehicles. Imboden denied having anything to drink when he was pulled over in the 2400 block of Allen Street. He told the officer that the cars owner, a former legal client who was sitting in the passengers seat, had been drinking instead, according to the citation. (Imboden has been on the bench for less than 18 months.) The officer reported that Imbodens movements were slow and uncoordinated, his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and the car smelled of intoxicants. Imboden consented to a field sobriety test, during which the officer smelled intoxicants on his breath. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI. He declined to give a voluntary breath sample at the police station and was cited and released to his wife, according to the citation. Imboden himself reported the case to the state Commission on Judicial Conduct the following Monday morning, Cowlitz District Court Presiding Judge John Hays said Monday. That commission investigates allegations of judicial misconduct, and has the ability to admonish or censure judges as well as recommend their suspension or removal to the State Supreme Court. The judicial conduct commission did not impose any restrictions on Imboden, but while his case is being heard, Imboden has agreed to not hear any motions, trials or pleas in any DUI cases, Hays said. He will also not preside over any Kelso Municipal Court cases other setting aside warrants. Nearly all DUI cases are heard at the district and municipal court levels. The restrictions that we set up were not required, Hays said. (We) thought they would be the most appropriate to keep public confidence in the system. The charge does not otherwise impede Imbodens legal authority to serve as a judge, Hays said. It would not necessarily do so even if he was convicted, but wed have to address that when it happened, if it happened, Hays said. Imboden was elected to the District Court bench in 2018 and sworn in January 2019. To avoid the appearance of any conflicts of interest, Kelsos assistant city attorney and Imbodens attorney filed a joint motion the week after his arrest to send the case from the Kelso Municipal Court to Clark County District Court. Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Michael Evans signed that motion, so the case will be heard entirely in Clark County, Hays said Monday. My primary desire here is that we preserve the integrity of our municipal and District Court clerks position, Hays said, so anyone that comes before us feels that theyre being treated fairly on the prosecution and defense side, and no one believe or thinks that were attempting to have any influence on this case one way or another. Love 7 Funny 22 Wow 14 Sad 8 Angry 36 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 19:22:58|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close JAKARTA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- A male Sumatran tiger has been found dead in a wire snare trap in a forest area in Siak regency in Indonesia's western province of Riau, a local authority said on Tuesday. A rotten pig carcass was found inside the dead tiger's stomach. The pig was presumably used as bait, according to the Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency Center (BKSDA). The agency received a report about the dead tiger on Monday from PT Arara Abadi (AA), a company holding industrial forest permits on the area. The local conservation agency's chief Suharyono said the company made the report after being told by a head of a village nearby of the incident. "The area is the habitat of Sumatran tigers," Suharyono was quoted by Indonesia's state news agency Antara as saying on Tuesday. The agency chief estimated that the male tiger, aged between one and two years old, was ensnared in a trap for about a week, worsening the wounds in the carnivore's right front leg which most likely led to an infection. The already critically endangered species also died of dehydration as the water source was far away from the location, he said. The Sumatran tiger has been listed as a critically endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List since 2008. According to the estimates of Indonesia's Environment and Forestry Ministry, as of December 2018, the population of Sumatran tigers in the archipelago stands at no more than 600 due to a loss of habitat and poaching. Enditem Sometimes proteins misfold. When that happens in the human brain, the pileup of misfolded proteins can lead to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS. Proteins do not misbehave and misfold out of the blue. There is a delicate ecosystem of biochemical interactions and environments that usually let them twist, unfold, refold and do their jobs as they're meant to. However, as researchers from Michigan Technological University explore in an article published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience, even a small change may cause long-term consequences. For amyloid beta peptides -- considered a major hallmark of Alzheimer's disease -- a common chemical modification at a particular location on the molecule has a butterfly effect that leads to protein misfolding, aggregation and cellular toxicity. Ashutosh Tiwari, associate professor of chemistry at Michigan Tech, explains that misfolded amyloid beta proteins tend to pile up and form aggregates, which can form stringy fibrils or balled-up amorphous shapes. To understand what causes the different shapes and to assess their toxicity, Tiwari's team looked at acetylation. Acetylation is one of the most common chemical modifications proteins undergo, but one of the least researched in terms of how it affects amyloid beta toxicity. On amyloid beta proteins, acetylation can occur at two sites: lysine 16 and lysine 28. The team found that acetylation at lysine 16 led to the disordered aggregates that formed sticky but flexible amorphous structures and showed high levels of toxicity. They also found the aggregates showed higher free radical formation. "No one has done a systematic study to show if you acetylate amyloid beta it changes how the aggregate looks, then it changes its biophysical properties and hence toxicity," Tiwari said. "What we're saying is that the shape, stickiness and flexibility of the aggregated protein structure can play a vital role in the cellular toxicity and may also affect the mechanism of toxicity." In Alzheimer's, these aggregates accumulate in the part of the brain that affects memory. It's a disease that the Alzheimer's Organization reports is the sixth leading cause of death in the US and will cost the nation about $305 billion in 2020. Tiwari says what we truly need to understand about the disease is that there is no single cause, no single trigger, and probably no silver bullet because of the chemistry involved. "This is how a subtle change on a single position can affect a whole protein's aggregation," Tiwari said, adding that the effect of acetylation on tau, another protein aggregation, has been far more studied than amyloid beta. Also, many researchers still think a misfolded protein has to look a certain way to become problematic, and that other misfolded forms are less of an issue. Tiwari agrees some of the proteins' changes are subtle, and compares discerning the differences and their effects to snow tires. Snow tires have deeper treads and a more flexible material to handle winter roads, but it's hard to point out those features at highway speeds. Like different kinds of tires, protein shapes can appear indistinguishable at a distance. "This is not something that can be viewed from afar -- it's a touch-and-feel property," Tiwari said. "We have to interrogate these properties. We have to look at these structures more deeply from both morphology and biophysical perspectives." When we do, we may better understand the complexity of the misfolded proteins and amyloid beta toxicity that can cause neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. ### GlaxoSmithKline hailed a major breakthrough after its revolutionary injection to prevent HIV thrashed the standard treatment in a clinical trial. The company said an injection of its cabotegravir drug every other month had been 69 per cent more effective than rival Gilead's daily Truvada pill at preventing men from catching HIV. The tests were so successful that researchers stopped the study three years early. Boost: For GlaxoSmithKline CEO Emma Walmsley, HIV is a research priority The 'game-changing' injections mean GSK could be poised to retake the lead in the 20 billion global HIV drugs market. Glaxo previously dominated the sector but has since fallen behind Gilead. The apparent success of the drug will be a big boost to chief executive Emma Walmsley, who has made HIV one of her top research priorities alongside respiratory, oncology and immune-inflammation medicines. The drug was developed at ViiV Healthcare, which is majority-owned by GSK. Kimberly Smith, ViiV's head of research, said a long-acting injection was a better treatment because users have been shown to struggle with a routine of daily pills. Some also say this adds to the stigma around the virus. Smith said: 'If approved, this long-acting injectable has the potential to be a game-changer for HIV prevention by reducing the frequency of dosing from 365 days to six times per year.' She added: 'Individuals have to show up every eight weeks in the clinic for the injection but in-between there is not a need to take a pill daily, so you really change the equation for adherence with a long-acting drug.' Researchers opened the study of 4,600 men, who have sex with men and transgender women, in late 2016 in countries including the US, Brazil, South Africa and Thailand. The randomised trial found that 50 men caught HIV during the period covered by the study 12 of whom had been receiving GSK's treatment and the other 38 of whom were taking daily pills. Preventive therapies are seen as the key to controlling the spread of the disease, which can develop into AIDS, among at-risk populations. The trial, which has not been peer-reviewed, has a sister study examining the effects of the injection treatment on women. And GSK has a pipeline of other treatments that include combination pills for people living with HIV, which affects 38m worldwide. The virus was first identified in the 1980s and is thought to have crossed over into humans decades before when hunters ate an infected chimpanzee or got its blood into an open wound. Jared Baeten, an epidemiologist at the University of Washington, Seattle, said the results were 'really exciting'. Cambridge-based GSK is collaborating with firms and research groups across the world to work on promising potential coronavirus vaccines. It is working with Sanofi on a vaccine that is expected to enter clinical trials later this year. GSK shares rose 2.4 per cent, or 39.4p, to 1687.2p last night. Iran Warns U.S. Of 'Firm Response' Over Interference Against Venezuela-Bound Fuel Tankers By RFE/RL May 18, 2020 Iran has warned the United States against conducting "piracy" in the Caribbean as five Iranian tankers laden with fuel sail toward Venezuela. The tankers' voyage comes as a senior U.S. official told Reuters on May 14 that the United States was considering what action it could take in response to Iran's shipment of fuel to crisis-stricken Venezuela. In a letter to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on May 17, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned the United States about "sending troops to the Caribbean Sea with the aim of interfering with the transfer of Iran's fuel to Venezuela." Zarif wrote that the United States must "give up bullying on the world stage" and respect international maritime law, calling any U.S. move "piracy and a major peril to international peace and security," according to a statement on the Foreign Ministry website. Abbas Araqchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, summoned the Swiss ambassador in Tehran and issued a similar warning. He told the Swiss, who represent U.S. interests in Iran, that any U.S. threat against the tankers will be met with an "immediate and firm response." Unilateral U.S. sanctions have targeted Iran and Venezuela's oil industry and other sectors, depriving Tehran of much-needed cash and adding pressure on Venezuela's badly managed economy. Tehran has already helped President Nicolas Maduro by flying planes with chemicals for refineries amid a gasoline shortage, a symptom of economic and political chaos in Latin America's one-time largest oil producer. With both countries under U.S. sanctions, there is little to stop them from directly trading or bartering with each other outside international financial channels. Elliot Abrams, the U.S. State Department's Venezuela envoy, last month alleged that Venezuela is paying Iran in gold to help its troubled energy sector and denounced growing cooperation between Washington's two adversaries. The five Iranian tankers are estimated to be carrying at least $45.5 million in fuel. Four of the vessels -- Petunia, Fortune, Forest, and Faxon -- are already in the Atlantic after passing through the Suez Canal and Mediterranean, according to ship tracking service MarineTraffic. One of the vessels, the Clavel, is still in the Mediterranean as of May 18. The latest tensions come after the U.S. Navy in April accused Iran of harassing its ships in Persian Gulf. Iran last year seized ships off its waters and Britain briefly seized an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar to prevent it from shipping oil and fuel to Syria in violation of sanctions. The United States has accused Tehran of attacking several vessels in the Persian Gulf. Tensions between the two countries escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/us-iran- venezuela-sanctions/30617938.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Jammu: Accusing Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit of repeatedly scuttling the peace process between India and Pakistan, the state BJP today demanded that the Union government declare the diplomat a persona non-grata. The Government of India must declare Abdul Basit a persona non-grata and expel him immediately, party spokesman, Brig (retd) Anil Gupta said here. The BJP leader said Basits controversial statements on Kashmir and his act of dedicating Pakistans Independence Day today to the independence of Kashmir are blatant breaches of diplomatic protocol. Basit has on earlier occasions also crossed the Red Line, which was ignored by the government. Yet he continues to misuse his diplomatic immunity by meddling in Indias internal affairs, Gupta said. He said the Pakistani diplomat has thrown to wind all the diplomatic niceties and was behaving like a spokesperson of the Pakistani deep state attempting to provoke the Indian government and such a person has no locus-standi to stay on the Indian soil. Basit was responsible for scuttling the commencement of the likely peace process when he insisted on consultations with Kashmiri separatist leaders despite Indias objection just prior to the scheduled meeting of foreign secretaries of the two countries, Gupta said. He said Basit has not only been interacting with the separatists but also issuing provocative statements. It is surprising that Pakistan is not seeing the writing on wall in its country which is heading towards disintegration with freedom movements having peaked in PoK, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan and continues to dream of taking away Kashmir, he said. Earlier in the day, Basit said Pakistan was dedicating its Independence Day today to Kashmirs freedom and will continue to extend full diplomatic, political and moral support to the people of the state. He made the comments at an event at the Pakistan High Commission to celebrate his countrys Independence Day. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Tension continues in Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday after an encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in Nawakadal area of Srinagar. An encounter is currently underway between security forces and terorrists at Nawakadal area of Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir. In the encounter, one terrorist has been killed while one Police SOG personnel has been injured. Tension started on the intervening night of May 18-19 after the security forces received a credible police input last night, which was followed by exchange of fire. The firing resumed in the morning. As a precautionary measure, mobile Internet services and telephony services, except BSNL postpaid, have been suspended temporarily in Srinagar. The official Twitter handle of Kashmir Zone Police tweeted on the wee hours of Tuesday that an encounter has started at Srinagars Kanemazar Nawakadal area. State police and CRPF are on the job. This tweet was followed by another update by Jammu & Kashmir Police informing that the operation started after received a credible intel. In the exchange of fire that was followed, one police SOG personnel has been injured. Earlier on Sunday, one Hizbul terrorist was gunned down and an army jawan was martyred in Jammu & Kashmirs Doda district after an encounter. Incidents of similar military action were reported from Kulgam and Beighpora. One of the most significant victories for Indian Armed Forces in Beighpora encounter was the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo. Also Read: COVID-19 cases in India crosses 1 lakh mark, more than 3,100 dead Also Read: India Meteorological Department issues warning, says Amphan Cyclone to move towards West Bengal as extremely severe cyclonic storm #Encounter has started at #Kanemazar #Nawakadal area of #Srinagar. JKP and CRPF are on the job. Further details shall follow. @JmuKmrPolice Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) May 18, 2020 Update.The operation was launched on a credible police input last night in #Kanemazar #Nawakadal #Srinagar. Some exchange of Fire took place during night. One Police SOG personnel injured. Firing resumed during search in the morning and the operation continues. J&K Police (@JmuKmrPolice) May 19, 2020 In the Handwara encounter that ensured before that, India lost decorated colonel Ashutosh Sharma, Major Anuj Sood, 2 army jawans and 1 police officer. The security forces managed to gun down 2 terrorists in the operation. Also Read: Uttar Pradesh: 3 migrants killed, more than 12 injured as truck overturns in Mahoba For all the latest National News, download NewsX App This is very uncertain times for the world especially governments, businesses, and individuals but what is important is its not time to panic rather time to prepare to weather the impact of Covid-19. There are support systems and things businesses and individuals can do to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on their business and live. Unfortunately, Covid-19 is not only taking lives but destroying business and disrupting the economic gains of countries. The majority of businesses across the globe are worried about the viability of their business over the next couple of months. Start-ups and most businesses in Ghana have not been spared as recovery is very uncertain because the Ghanaian economy is in distress. However, most business owners and individuals are confident and optimistic of the longer-term rebound after the covid-19 crisis. This can only happen when businesses are getting advice and guidance from professionals to help them restructure their finances/operations to weather the current circumstance at hand. For most businesses, cash flow is a major concern as demand for service/product has seen very significant reduction and most of them are struggling to retain and pay their staff. This reduction in sales and shut down of demand/supply chain operations is creating very high job losses leading to high unemployment. Ways to Weather the impact of Covid-19 on Business v Get accurate information on your business cash flow and use it to plan for more v Forecast the business opportunity your business has and extend your service to specific clients v Access the demand and supply chain operations of your business and modify areas that need restructuring to avoid waste. v Scale down your expenditure on operation and maximize your available resources. v Get help from professionals on training, product specification and marketing strategy to meet customer needs v Take advantage of government stimulus packages in place v Restructure your business by having a joint venture with local providers within your sector to reduce your expenditure v Check for local resources,ie cancellations of schools, gatherings, occasions that could possibly affect your business operations and put in a plan to mitigate the impact v Provide first-hand preventive measures for both your customers and employees on the Covid-19 pandemic v Diversify your supply chain if you solely depend on a single local/global supplier. It is important to note that sustaining a business takes experience, time, knowledge, skill, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jerry.J.Afolabi, unlike others, is passionate about financial education, independence, and financial freedom. He is approachable, provides one on one client engagement and genuinely interested in helping people to take control of their own finances. Please kindly use the links below to follow my page on FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE channel for more MoneyTalk and Videos. WhatsApp # +233541238987 Source: Jerry.J.Afolab 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 President Donald Trump said Monday that he is taking a malaria drug to lessen symptoms should he get the new coronavirus, even though the drug is unproven for fighting COVID-19. Trump told reporters he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily for about a week and a half now. Trump spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential cure for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administrations top medical professionals. The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus. Trump said his doctor did not recommend the drug to him, but he requested it from the White House physician. Trump repeatedly has pushed the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine with or without the antibiotic azithromycin, but no large, rigorous studies have found them safe or effective for preventing or treating COVID-19. They can cause heart rhythm problems and other side effects. The Food and Drug Administration has warned against the drug combo and said hydroxychloroquine should only be used for coronavirus in formal studies. Two large observational studies, each involving around 1,400 patients in New York, recently found no benefit from hydroxychloroquine. Two new ones published Thursday in the medical journal BMJ reached the same conclusion. MORE: Study finds more deaths, no benefit from malaria drug Trump touted as coronavirus cure 50-expert panel recommends against controversial drug combination for coronavirus illness Gresham man accused of smuggling misbranded chloroquine from China to resell for coronavirus treatment When I got to Vice, I figured I will lose this job one day to a layoff, but maybe Ill be able to make it here a bit longer than before said one staffer who had gone through a digital-media job loss before. I think a lot of reporters have that mind-set. Most of my reporter friends have been laid off once, if not twice or three times before. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. According to a new study published by Polaris Market Research the worldwide microscope market is anticipated to reach USD 12,851.2 million by 2025. In 2017, the electron microscope segment dominated the global market, in terms of revenue, whereas Asia-Pacific accounted for the majority share in the global microscope market. Several technological advancements in the fields of nanotechnology, semiconductors and life sciences have augmented the growth of the microscope industry. In addition, this has encouraged government bodies to invest in research and development; which in turn has led to an increase in research and development activities in companies, small laboratories and academic institutions. Companies and academic institutions are increasing collaborations for shared use of advanced laboratory equipment has further supplemented market growth. The other factors driving the market growth include lightweight and portability of certain microscopes production of robust, more accurate and relatively cheaper instruments, and widespread adoption of microscope use by manufacturers across various domains. Emerging market in developing countries and newer innovative fields of application provide numerous opportunities for growth. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/microscope-market/request-for-sample The major driver of the growth of the microscope market is the advancements in the field of nanotechnology. Various factors such as optimal energy consumption and its conservation, environmental preservation, and increasing industrial productivity and quality by optimizing operational efficacy have fuelled the growth of nanotechnology. Also, miniaturization in semiconductor and electronics industry and material science has boosted market growth. Furthermore, the extensive use of microscopes and technological advancements in the field of forensic sciences, pharmacology, cell biology, biophysics and microbiology among other life sciences has augmented market growth. In view of increasing technological advancements and its benefits, there has been an increase in the research and development activities in companies, small laboratories and academic institutions. It has also encouraged the government bodies to increase funding of such research and development activities. Moreover, companies and academic institutions are collaborating in order to use advanced laboratory equipment, which in turn has also supplemented market growth. The recent technological advancements in the manufacturing process of microscopes has led to the production of robust, more accurate and relatively cheaper instruments. In addition, certain microscopes are lightweight and portability in nature which has further contributed to the market growth. Furthermore, recent advancements in commercial applications of nanotechnology, life science and semiconductor manufacturing has led to a widespread adoption of microscope use by manufacturers across various domains. Browse for full research summary: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/microscope-market Asia-Pacific dominates the global market and is predicted to exhibit growth at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This rapid growth is due to the swelling economic growth in countries such as China and Japan. Various factors governing the growth in this region include presence of major market players in this region, increasing government and rapidly increasing research and development activities. Furthermore, various technological advancements in the field of material and life sciences, and nanotechnology is further boosting the market growth. The different types of microscopes include optical microscopes which is further categorized into inverted microscopes, stereomicroscopes, phase contrast microscopes, fluorescence microscopes, confocal scanning microscopes, near field scanning microscopes, other optical microscopes; electron microscope which is further categorized into transmission electron microscope which is further categorized into scanning electron microscope; scanning probe microscope; and others. The electron microscope segment is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period owing to technological advancements, in the fields of material and life sciences. Electron microscope segment is further sectioned into scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope. The key market players profiled in the report include Nikon, Carl Zeiss AG, Leica Microsystems, Hitachi High Technologies, Bruker Corporation, NT-MDT Company, FEI Company, Jeol Ltd., Olympus Corporation, Asylum Research, Omax Corporation, Amscope, Celestron, Motic and Magnus Analytics. These market players have adopted various strategies such as such as new product release, novel technology development and collaboration among others to expand their foothold and increase their customer base. Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/microscope-market/request-for-discount-pricing About Polaris Market Research Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. Contact us- Polaris Market Research Phone: 1-646-568-9980 Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com As part of our #LockdownLessons series, Bizcommunity is reaching out to South Africa's top industry players to share their experience of the current Covid-19 crisis, how their organisations are navigating these unusual times, where the challenges and opportunities lie, and their industry outlook for the near future. Tony Clarke, MD of the Rawson Property Group How is your company responding to the crisis and how have you had to change the way you work? How are you navigating physical distancing while keeping your team close-knit and aligned and your clients happy? How has the lockdown affected your staff? Have you set out any guidelines or HR policy in terms of health, safety whilst working from home? Any trends youve seen emerge as a result of the crisis? Your key message to those in the property sector? What do you predict the next six months will be like? We chatted to Tony Clarke, managing director of the Rawson Property Group, to get his take.Theres no doubt that we have needed to act quickly to continue to serve our customers in these challenging times. The Rawson Property Group has invested heavily in time and money (millions of rands and 2.5 years) in building our award-winning technology ecosystem which we are leveraging to its fullest to contribute an essential service to communities across our country, and we are committed to meet these urgent needs in our communities.To enable the continuation of these services as seamlessly as possible, we have introduced six efficient products; virtual valuations, Rawson 3D virtual tours, Rawson virtual showhouses, electronically signed documentation and online meetings. These will serve as important stop-gaps during lockdown and social distancing, and ultimately form part of a much larger service strategy as well.Weve had to rely heavily on technology to keep interacting and communicating efficiently with our staff, partners, key stakeholders and clients. Constant communication in the form of email, video calls, webinars helped teams stay connected and informed. Our innovative suite of tech tools enabled our agents to serve existing and new clients efficiently and effectively, in spite of lockdown restrictions.In order to keep our staff informed, upskilled and to ensure that our agents make the best possible use of their time, we created our very own internal Covid-19 e-learning page. This was developed specifically to house all relevant information: documentation, daily training / motivational videos, answers to frequently asked questions, etc., to assist in setting them up to be leaps ahead when the lockdown restrictions are lifted.The Rawson Covid-19 task team, made up of key managers in our franchisor team, worked around the clock to provide an outline on tips and tools in the form of training videos, information packs and training material for the e-learning platform mentioned above. Making sure that the Rawson brand takes current challenges head on.It's clear that in todays society, busy seems to be the currency of success, even now that our whole world has come to a halt. At Rawson, were grateful to have such a strong and capable workforce who have shown their support and remained focused during this time. If anything, the past months have presented an amazing opportunity for us to learn from each others experiences, and benefit from each others strengths.With employees working from home, perhaps even more so, during this pandemic, there is no doubt that some employees may face certain challenges. Work stress coupled with family problems and other anxieties eventually leads to burn out - an issue that potentially permeates under these conditions. At Rawson, we take the health and mental wellbeing of our employees very seriously and have encouraged an open-door policy. Our staff are encouraged to engage with HR or their relevant managers about any work-related issues or other anxieties.Communication is vital in order to identify key stress factors and address the issue by setting daily realistic goals. Doing a time audit and creating a realistic schedule for work delivery is one way to reduce some anxiety.Technology has rapidly become an important enabler in property transactions. Now more than ever, having the right technology is vital to maintaining operations, including being able to communicate with team members, clients.We have to accept that the world has changed and will never be the same again, thanks to Covid, this also applies to our industry and the way we market property. We believe that it will be sellers themselves who end up galvanising change in the property industry. Given these precarious times, we believe it is the sellers who will start insisting that agents use virtual tools to market their homes, rather than open their homes to large volumes of people who might contaminate their space. We have to learn to adapt and thrive under these circumstances.No matter what is happening in the world, people still need a roof over their heads, which will always mean that they need to be able to keep buying, selling and renting property. There will be an urgent need or desire to buy or sell as soon as possible for some people and we intend on being there to meet their urgent needs through virtual property transactions. Social distancing will continue and lead to the accelerated adoption of services that facilitate streamlined real estate transactions - once more consumers experience the benefits of selling a home without dozens of show house visitors. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You should upgrade or use an You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser Gardai investigating the disappearance of Northern Ireland man Tony Lynch 18 years ago believe they have uncovered his car from Lough Erne in Co Fermanagh. They described the development as "significant" in their investigation and vowed to continue their search for Mr Lynch. Michael Anthony Lynch, also known as Tony, was last seen on Fermanagh Street in the Co Monaghan town of Clones on Sunday, January 6, 2002. The 54-year-old father-of-four was reported missing to Garda almost a week later. Born in Newtownbutler in Co Fermanagh, Mr Lynch had been working in Co Cavan at the time. When he failed to turn up for work his family became concerned for his welfare and raised the alarm. Mr Lynch had moved from Magheraveely, Co Fermanagh, to a flat in Clones two months before he went missing. At the start of the year gardai renewed their appeal for information on the disappearance. On Monday members of the public on the shore noticed something strange in the water at Lough Erne. They contacted Clones Garda Station and they along with PSNI officers carried out a dive at the site and found a car. It is believed to be the white Mitsubishi Galant of Mr Lynch and has been taken for further examination. As part of the renewed appeal into the disappearance searches were carried out at 10 lakes in Co Monaghan with PSNI searching areas across the border. The searches were to continue and were to include lakes in and around the border region, however the searches were suspended in March because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Inspector Graham Tolan of Monaghan Garda Station said: "An Garda Siochana will continue to investigate missing persons cases for as long as it takes. In this case An Garda Siochana have been searching for Mr Lynch for 18 years. "We are grateful to the members of the public who alerted us to this anomaly in the water. Id like to remind the public that small pieces of information, no matter how insignificant they may seem, can often prove vital, as is the case today. "We will continue to work with police in Lisnaskea who are investigating the circumstances surrounding the discovery". Speaking on RTE One's Crimecall last year, Mr Lynch's wife Angela recalled the day she went to his flat and realised he was missing. Expand Close Tony Lynch's wife Angela / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Tony Lynch's wife Angela "Every single thing he owned was in that flat," she said. "It was like he just went out to the shop and just didn't come back." Mrs Lynch added that her husband is always on the family's mind and in their hearts. She continued: "I just want to find Tony for my children. "This is their daddy, this is the person they loved very much. "They will always look for their daddy, just like I want to find my husband, that will never change. "All we want is the right to find him and to bring him home, that's all we want." Sinn Fein MLA Michelle Gildernew offered her support to the family of Tony Lynch and called for anyone with information to come forward. "Tony went missing suddenly 18 years ago and his disappearance has caused unimaginable grief and stress to his family and the local community and the pursuit for information continues to this day," he said. I want to make an appeal to members of the public who may have any information on Tonys disappearance, no matter how insignificant they may feel that it is, to immediately contact the Gardai or the PSNI." I will proactively work with the police, community and the Lynch family to give them every ounce of my support in these difficult times." REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) announced today that it will commit $300,000 to Common Sense Media in support of the Wide Open School program, a free and openly accessible collection of online learning experiences and social and community services, for kids and families. CZI is also funding an additional 11 grants for $75,000 each -- totaling $825,000, to support professional development aimed at helping educators deliver high-quality distance learning that is grounded in equity, cultural responsiveness, and the science of learning and human development. These 11 grants are a part of CZI's previous $5 million in grantee support announced on April 20 . "Without quality training and support grounded in equity, schools risk further marginalizing our most vulnerable and disconnected students," said Sandra Liu Huang, Head of Education at CZI. "The goal of this work is to equip schools with the information they need to design and execute remote learning plans that are accessible, inclusive and support the wellbeing of all teachers and students." Geared towards grades K-12, Common Sense Media built Wide Open School in response to the shift to distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The free collection of learning experiences is curated by the editors at Common Sense Media and offers a range of resources including those that can be completed offline and on smartphones, as well as bilingual and English-language learner resources . "School has been disrupted for the majority of students across the country, and the generous investment by CZI in Wide Open School will help us continue to provide families and educators with trusted materials and expand our resources," said James P. Steyer, CEO and founder of Common Sense, the leading nonprofit organization whose mission is to help kids, families, and educators thrive in a world of media and technology. "As we move into summer, the need for free, quality learning materials and a daily structure will be even greater to combat summer slide and keep kids engaged while they are home." The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has also funded an additional 11 professional development grants aimed at helping school and district leaders support student and teacher wellbeing as they transition to remote learning environments. The grants focus on students and communities who are most vulnerable during this transition and went to the following organizations: Beloved Community to support schools and district leaders to apply an equity lens across their COVID relief decision-making and planning. Diversity Talks to turn their youth-led professional development into a webinar series aimed at engaging in racial-equity oriented conversations, understanding the emotional needs of young people and sharing best practices for virtual engagement. Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) is helping leaders develop plans to ensure educational equity and access to learning while empowering historically marginalized students. EOS is also providing virtual training to create spaces for innovation throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The Equity Institute (EI) is offering district partners the opportunity to engage with its learning labs virtually while providing direct support to promote educational equity during this crisis. Kingmakers of Oakland is supporting school districts across the U.S. to ensure meaningful engagement and wellbeing of African American male students during school and district response efforts. Latinos for Education is providing virtual training to educators and education leaders across the country focused on the needs of Latino students, teachers and families via their new online platform EdCentro. Leading Educators is focused on providing tools and evidence-based guidance that meet districts' needs to address unfinished learning and meet the health and emotional needs of students and adults during COVID relief efforts. Moonshot edVentures is supporting a diverse pipeline of school leaders as they launch and maintain distance learning environments that support student and teacher wellbeing. Special Education Leader Fellowship (SELF) is working with school and district leaders to develop distance learning plans that provide meaningful support and access to exceptional learners. New Teacher Center has created a COVID-19 Community Hub that includes a series of student-centered, evidence-based communities of practice, webinars and resources for teachers and leaders. 228 Accelerator to support districts as they institute remote learning plans and immediate relief for students. Their support focuses on ensuring student and teacher perspectives are meaningfully included in the design of their work. For more information about how CZI and our partners are responding to COVID-19, visit chanzuckerberg.com/covid-19 . About the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Founded by Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg in 2015, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) is a new kind of philanthropy that's leveraging technology to help solve some of the world's toughest challenges from eradicating disease, to improving education, to reforming the criminal justice system. Across three core Initiative focus areas of Science, Education, and Justice & Opportunity, we're pairing engineering with grant-making, impact investing, and policy and advocacy work to help build an inclusive, just and healthy future for everyone. For more information, please visit www.chanzuckerberg.com . SOURCE Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Related Links https://chanzuckerberg.com/ New Delhi : There are some lesser known but interesting facts about our National Anthem. It is a reflex in us to rise the moment we hear the pride inducing words from our National Anthem Jana Gana Mana, quite literally leaving all what we are busy with. It was adopted in its Hindi version by the Constituent Assembly as Indias National Anthem on 24 January 1950. The soulful composition evokes a sense of patriotism in every Indian. Lets take a look at 10 interesting facts about our National Anthem which you were probably not aware of: Jana Gana Mana is a five-stanza Brahmo hymn titled Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata. The first stanza of it has been adopted as Indias National Anthem. It is written in Bengali and is attributed to Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It takes approximately 52 seconds to play the entire song. There is a shortened version comprising the first and last lines which can be rendered in 20 seconds. The line in the anthem Punjab Sindhu Gujarat Maratha Dravid Utkal Banga denotes the regions of India before partition as the National Anthem was written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1911. The first rendition of the song was during a convention of the Indian National Congress on December 16th, 1911. 'Jana Gana Mana' was performed for the first time in Hamburg on 11th September, 1942. It was only on 24th January 1950 that this song was officially declared as national anthem of India. Interestingly, Rabindranath Tagores poem (Amar Sonar Bangla) was later selected as Bangladeshs national anthem. There is no provision of law which compels anyone to sing the national anthem. It is not considered disrespectful to the nation or to the anthem if a person chooses only to stand up in respectful silence. As provided in Section 3 of the Act, whoever intentionally prevents the singing of the Jana Gana Mana or causes disturbances to any assembly engaged in such singing shall be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. Whenever the Anthem is played or sung, the audience shall stand to attention. However, when in the course of a newsreel or documentary the Anthem is played as a part of the film, it is not expected of the audience to stand. A false message spread vigorously across e-mail, WhatsApp and other social networking sites, that UNESCO announced our anthem as the 'Best National Anthem' in the world. However, reports say that UNESCO has denied any such declaration on their part. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Pennridge to vote on one textbook; further review on other one She has been keeping her exercise regime consistent throughout the COVID-19 lockdowns. And Goldie Hawn was at it again on Tuesday as she took her bike for a spin as part of her workout session. The 74-year-old Overboard actress put her safety first with a helmet on while looking chic in sportswear. Keeping fit and healthy: Goldie Hawn was spotted keeping up with her daily exercise regime on Tuesday when she took to the streets of Los Angeles to ride her bike The Snatched actress wore a black long sleeved top that featured a scooped neck design. The longtime partner of Kurt Russell teamed the look with blue and white tights and accessorized with bike riding gloves. The beauty wore her blonde hair down and appeared to be wearing very little to no makeup. Natural workout look: The Overboard star wore her blonde hair down and appeared to be wearing very little to no makeup Fun for all: Goldie's appearance comes after she took to Instagram last week to showcase her trampoline dance workout Goldie's appearance comes after she took to Instagram last week to showcase her trampoline dance workout. The red carpet fixture moved about in her activewear to Dua Lipa's song, Physical. She captioned the clip: 'My crazy @mindup mindful movement for today. Dance, jump and twirl like nobody's watching.' Goldie added: 'And thanks @dualipa for the best addition to my trampoline playlist #letsgetphysical.' The video also gave fans a look into her home gym - consisting on a stationary bike, barre rod, free weights, a treadmill and elliptical. Having fun while working out: The mother of Kate Hudson moved about in her activewear to Dua Lipa's song, Physical Family time: Goldie was recently spotted on a masked family walk in April Goldie and her partner Kurt Russell had been filming The Christmas Chronicles 2 in Vancouver, Canada, when the COVID-19 crisis hit North America and like many other productions, their's was shut down. The film is a sequel to their 2018 Netflix holiday movie and had been due for release this coming holiday season. Meanwhile, Goldie has also signed up to reunite with her First Wives Club co-stars Diane Keaton and Bette Midler for the film Family JewelsThe comedy revolves around three women who are forced to spend the holidays together with their children and grandchildren after the man they were all once married to dies suddenly right before Christmas. Maureen Elias expected her familys final move with the military to come as a relief. She and her husband, Dustin, purchased a house in Oakton, Va., where the Army was transferring them from California for Dustins final assignment as he neared the end of his 20-year career. They expected to be on the East Coast by April 1, just in time to close on their dream home. But the novel coronavirus had other plans for the Elias family, as the Defense Department first paused all international travel for service members and their families, and then expanded that order to movements within the United States. The Eliases were now in California indefinitely, stuck paying $3,700 a month for a rental home near Los Angeles and a $4,500 mortgage for a house that stood empty on the other side of the country. The Army did not offer them any financial support. Its like, killing me inside, Maureen Elias, 42, said. Here I have this big beautiful home I cant wait to move into and I dont know when that can even happen. The Elias familys situation is one of thousands resulting from travel freezes ordered by the Department of Defense that have created enormous financial hardship for some families and even split others up. The Pentagon announced the first restrictions in March and extended them through at least the end of June for all service members and their families scheduled to move to new duty stations, permanent or temporary upending a system that moves its people to different bases around the world every couple of years. On Friday, a Pentagon spokesman said that Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper was reviewing the freeze order every 15 days and had made no decision to change the current policy. The military arranges roughly 400,000 personal property shipments a year, with 40 percent of them happening between mid-May and late August, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report. The majority of moves being approved now, as the peak moving season begins, require a waiver signed by a senior commander. 'They say government is doing so much but ham to ab bhi yahi hain' IMAGE: Migrants wait at a government school to get screened before boarding buses for the Anand Vihar Railway Station to leave for their native places. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo With utensils packed in a bucket, besides other belongings, 42-year-old Lal Babu's family walks from Manesar to Gurgaon railway station everyday in hope of getting their chance to travel back to Bihar's Muzaffarpur district. Babu says his family of five got their registration done for Shramik Special trains from a volunteer before they crossed over from Bhiwadi, where they were working on a construction site. They however, don't have the number or any document now. "Three weeks back, I asked for help from a boy who was volunteering at a place where food was being distributed in Bhiwadi. However, all of that has stopped now, it was in initial days of lockdown. He had said our registration is done and we will be able to get a train from Gurgaon. We are camping in nearby Manesar now under a flyover as cops in Gurgaon won't let us spend time there," Lal Babu said. They walk over 20 kms to the railway station with their belongings everyday as they cannot afford to leave them behind in case the family manages to board a train to their hometown. Lal Babu is among several other migrants, who have no idea about their registrations and are clueless about when they will get a chance to go back home. "We walk to the station daily in hope they would let us go. I ask at the station every day that if my name has come up in the list and they ask us to go back and not come there. They say government is doing so much but ham to ab bhi yahi hain (we are still here)," he said. Accompanying Lal Babu's family of five, is Bharat Kumar, who used to work as a labourer in Sohna. "My contractor did not pay my balance and asked me to vacate the room too. My wife and son are waiting for me in Bihar but I don't have means to go. My son told me on phone that they saw in the news that everybody is walking back home and why don't I come too. I told him that I am too far and won't be able to survive that long a walk," he said. Two kids with their face covered with cloth are waiting outside the railway station entry, where their parents have gone to find out about the train. "My father has gone inside. I am taking care of our utensils and bag till he returns. We will go in train then," 5-year-old Krish said. Atari Devi, his mother, said, "There is no hope that we will be coming back and it will be difficult for us to buy all utensils again so I have packed them all to go back. There are several trains which are going but not our train. We have to go to some other area and wait because here police will not allow to stay". As per the official data, over 10,000 migrants have left for their hometown since last week through Shramik Special trains and roadways buses. "The schedule for these trains has not been made public and only workers selected by authorities are being allowed entry inside the station premises after proper screening. Arrangements have been made at Tau Devi Lal stadium for these migrants and no one should come directly to the station," a representative at the railway station said, who refused to be identified. The migrants, however, say it is a long wait to get entry to the stadium as there are already enough people inside. "We went to the stadium but could not go inside as the guard told us there is no space inside for more people and they don't allow us to gather outside the stadium," Imarti Devi said. European Banking Federation: Online Work Session about Bank-Domain Posted by Publisher Internet The registry of .bank and the European Banking Federation (EBF) will on May 27th at 15:00 CET co-host the online work session: The Cybersecurity & Digital Banking Benefits of .BANK. You are welcome to participate at this online event. In the past months, more than 2,500 US-banks have registered almost 3,000 Bank-Domains ? that?s almost half of the banks in the country. Their reasoning? The Bank-Domain, available exclusively for verified members of the global banking community, is the trusted, verified, and more secure option to support their online presence. The Bank-Domain is incorporating robust security measures such as mandatory verification, email authentication, and strong encryption. Experts are sure about this: the new bank domain officially supported by the American Bankers Association will revolutionize the electronic banking and online business of banks worldwide. Even the registration process of bank domains is secured thanks to more verification steps. Only banks that are authorized and controlled by the responsible supervisory authority are entitled to register bank domains. The security experts of the registry examine each candidate for a bank domain. ICANN Registrar Secura as Registrar will, of course, help and accompany its customers during the implementation of all steps of the registration and verification processes. The choice of possible terms that a bank can use to register a bank domain is regulated by a strict \Name Policy\. Possible are terms that correspond to the name of the bank and to registered or unregistered trademarks in use in the banking institution. However, the rules also allow abbreviations (\Acronyms\), geographical additions and omissions. The geographical additions allow that in addition to the central (brand) name of a bank, also branches can be \branded\ geographically with their own bank domain. In addition to verifying the domain owner, high technical standards are required for active bank domains, in order to render bank domains a safe zone. The operator and the users of a website with a bank address can rely on a higher security than users of sites with other domain extensions. Scams like phishing become very hard if the bank is using a .bank domain. Hans-Peter Oswald https://www.domainregistry.de/bank-domains.html https://www.domainregistry.de/bank-domain.html Abdruck und Veroeffentlichung honorarfrei! Der Text kann veraendert werden. Secura GmbH ist ein von ICANN akkreditierter Registrar fur Top Level Domains. Secura kann generische Domains registrieren, also z.B..com, .net etc. und daruber hinaus fast alle aktiven Lander-Domains registrieren. 2018 landete Secura beim Industriepreis unter den Besten. Secura gewann 2016 den \Ai Intellectual Property Award 2016\ als \Best International Domain Registration Firm Germany\. Beim \Innovationspreis-IT der Initiative Mittelstand 2016\ wurde Secura als Innovator qualifiziert und wurde beim \Innovationspreis-IT der Initiative Mittelstand 2016\ im Bereich e-commerce auch als einer der Besten ausgezeichnet. Beim Innovationspreis-IT der Initiative Mittelstand 2012 und beim Industriepreis 2012 landete Secura GmbH unter den Besten. Beim HOSTING & SERVICE PROVIDER AWARD 2012 verfehlte Secura nur knapp die Gewinner-Nominierung. Seit 2013 ist Secura auch bei den Neuen Top Level Domains sehr aktiv. Secura meldet Marken fur die Sunrise Period als Official Agent des Trade Mark Clearinghouse an. ICANN-Registrar Secura GmbH Frohnhofweg 18 D-50858 Koeln Germany Phone: +49 221 2571213 Fax: +49 221 9252272 secura@domainregistry.de http://www.domainregistry.de http://www.com-domains.com New Delhi: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Monday posted a consolidated loss of Rs 5,237 crore for the January-March quarter of 2019-20 fiscal mainly on account of provisions for statutory dues. The company had posted a profit of Rs 107.2 crore in the same period a year ago. Bharti Airtel registered consolidated revenue of Rs 23,722.7 crore during the reported quarter. The company had posted revenue of Rs 20,602.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19. The company posted exceptional items totalling Rs 7,004 crore during the quarter ended on March 31, 2020, that comprises a charge on account of reassessment of regulatory cost. For the year ended on March 31, 2020, the company posted a net loss of Rs 32,183.2 crore and a revenue of Rs 87,539 crore. For 2018-19, Bharti Airtel had reported a net profit of Rs 409.5 crore and revenue of Rs 80,780.2 crore. Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, of Bharti Airtel said, "These are unprecedented times for everyone across the world as we battle the impact of COVID-19 and its consequent impact on livelihoods". He added that telecom has played an essential role in keeping the country going, and hoped that the government will implement the recommendations of the regulator and the intent of the New Telecom Policy and bring down the high levels of regulatory levies and taxes that the sector is subjected to. Bharti Airtel said the company has undertaken a capex investment of Rs 25,359 crore on a consolidated basis during the year to ensure superior customer experience besides front-ending some investment to ensure seamless services during the ongoing pandemic. UWs SBDC Receives CARES Act Funding to Assist Wyoming Entrepreneurs The Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network received $1.28 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to provide recovery technical assistance for small businesses harmed by the current pandemic. The funds, distributed through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), will provide education, training and business advising to overcome supply chain disruptions, staffing challenges, a decrease in gross receipts or customers, or a closure due to COVID-19. The CARES funding provides programming, education and advising to existing Wyoming businesses whose operations were affected by COVID-19. The Wyoming SBDC Network also will continue to provide business advising, education and technical assistance to all other small businesses in the state, including any pre-venture clients. The University of Wyoming hosts the Wyoming SBDC Network within its Office of Research and Economic Development. As businesses begin to open in the state under Gov. Mark Gordons modified public health orders announced at a news conference April 28, many will not return to business as usual, and operational and financial pressures will continue. The money provided to the Wyoming SBDC Network will provide continuing advising and education assistance for the next year, as business recovery will be an ongoing process. As Wyoming's economy reawakens, our small businesses may find themselves facing continued operational challenges, Gordon says. This funding will provide much-needed assistance to businesses impacted by COVID-19. The CARES Act provides resources that will enable our SBA Resource Partners (Network), including the Wyoming SBDC Network, to provide specialized one-on-one recovery assistance to businesses in Wyoming and across rural America, says Dan Nordberg, director of the SBAs Office of Rural Affairs and Region VIII administrator. The SBA identified eight core areas for small business recovery programming: accessing financial resources; workplace health and safety threats; disaster preparation; online commercialization; alternate modes of service delivery; intellectual property protection; cybersecurity; and mitigating the effects of reduced travel. Wyoming SBDC State Director Jill Kline and her team have played a key role in assisting Wyoming small businesses with understanding and applying for financing through the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans, says SBA Wyoming District Director Amy Lea. These resources will enable them to continue to assist Wyoming small businesses with recovering from the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on their businesses in the coming weeks and months, Lea says. While the SBDC continues to provide its valuable services to Wyoming small businesses, this funding allows it to extend its reach with additional programming targeted directly at economic recovery and resiliency, says Ed Synakowski, UWs vice president for research and economic development. The University of Wyoming is delighted to support the SBDC and the Wyoming Business Council in providing these services at this time of extraordinary need. The Wyoming SBDC Network will provide a mixture of online programming, one-on-one advising and industry expert consulting to businesses experiencing or recovering from interruptions in operations related to COVID-19. These economic recovery steps are a statewide effort and will be coordinated with other entities in the state, such as the Wyoming Business Council (WBC), to ensure that services avoid duplication and that programming will reach those most affected by the disruption in business. "We understand how much our Wyoming businesses need seamless collaboration and cooperation from their state resources at this time," WBC CEO Josh Dorrell says. "The Business Council is working closely with our partners, particularly the SBDC, to ensure efficiency in this effort." The Wyoming SBDC Network wants to hear about the specific needs of small businesses to help plan programming and secure professional resources to provide assistance. An anonymous, three-item survey is available at https://bit.ly/WY_SBDC_COVID_Survey. The Wyoming SBDC Network provides confidential, no-fee advising and technical assistance to all Wyoming small businesses in any stage of their life cycles. For more information or to make an appointment with a business adviser, visit www.wyomingsbdc.org. The Wyoming SBDC Network maintains a regularly updated and comprehensive collection of COVID-19-related resources for small businesses at www.wyomingsbdc.org/covid19. RTHK: UK lawmakers pressure government over testing British lawmakers on Tuesday heaped fresh pressure on the government for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, calling its testing regime "inadequate" in the early stages. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been criticised for his initial response to the global pandemic, and has faced weeks of pressure about the availability of tests for the virus. The country has seen 34,796 deaths -- the second-highest toll in the world behind the United States -- and 246,406 cases, according to the latest figures. But despite a recent surge in daily tests and the expansion of eligibility, MPs on a parliamentary committee said: "Testing capacity has been inadequate for most of the pandemic so far." "Capacity was not increased early enough or boldly enough. Capacity drove strategy, rather than strategy driving capacity," they said in a 19-page letter to Johnson. The findings by the House of Commons science and technology committee come after six sessions of evidence involving scientists, public health experts and government advisers, which also looked at other countries' responses to the virus. On Sunday, Britain carried out 100,678 tests for coronavirus, but only 1,215 tests were carried out on March 10 -- just two weeks before a nationwide lockdown was ordered and as cases spiked. MPs said there was "consensus... that testing capacity has been too low". The government has also come under sustained pressure about the spread of the virus in care homes, and the testing of frontline health and social care workers. Official data published last week indicated that more than 12,500 deaths of care home residents were linked to the virus. The committee said abandoning community testing on March 12 left care home residents and workers unable to get tests "at a time when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant". The failure by government body Public Health England to publish its testing policy was "unacceptable for a decision that may have had such significant consequences", it added. Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who maintains care homes were a government priority, on April 2 announced that 100,000 tests a day would be conducted by the end of that month. MPs said that was "more of a personal initiative by the secretary of state" than a decision based on public health or scientific advice. But they suggested that having that capacity could have given the government "more options" at an earlier stage of the pandemic. Lack of testing capacity was also a factor for the decision to stop contact tracing on March 12, the committee said. Hancock has made an army of contact tracers a key part of a new approach to tackling the spread of the virus, alongside wider community testing and the roll out of a smartphone app. He announced on Monday that 21,000 contact tracers have been recruited, and testing has been expanded to include everyone aged five and over with symptoms. A new target of 200,000 tests per day has been set for the end of this month. The government aims to use data from all three sources to inform its easing of lockdown measures, including the partial reopening of schools. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. At the beginning it felt almost like an art installation, an experiment, he said. But from song to song, it very quickly became something very human. Concertgoers were required to wear face coverings to the theater, though they were allowed to remove them once seated. Tickets came without seat assignments, and members of a household could sit together. The theater recorded everyones name and address, so they could be contacted later in case someone turned out to be infected. The driving force behind the event was Uwe Eric Laufenberg, a veteran actor who is the Wiesbaden theaters director. Not everyone is happy about his aggressive push to restart live performances. Last month, Mr. Laufenberg stirred a political firestorm when he called government-mandated restrictions a violation of the German constitution and suggested reaction to the pandemic was overblown. He was accused by some commentators of echoing the arguments of right-wing groups that have protested measures designed to stop the viruss spread. Boney Kapoor Mumbai: Filmmaker Boney Kapoor on Tuesday said his house help has tested positive for coronavirus. In a statement, the producer said 23-year-old Charan Sahu, a member of his staff told them that he was feeling unwell on Saturday evening and after that, the filmmaker sent him for tests. Advertisement Photo After his Covid-19 test result came positive, Kapoor informed the society authorities. The BMC is now in the process of getting Sahu into a quarantine centre. "Myself, my children and the other staff at home are all fine and none of us are showing any symptoms. In fact we haven't left our home since the lockdown started," Kapoor said in the statement. The producer expressed his gratitude to the Maharashtra government and the BMC for their swift response for their house help. Advertisement Photo"We shall be diligently following the instructions and advice given to us by BMC and their medical team. We are sure that Charan would soon recover and be back at home with us," he added. According to the health ministry, death toll due to coronavirus rises to 3,163; cases climb to 1,01,139. Is Sinic Holdings (Group) Company Limited (HKG:2103) a good dividend stock? How can we tell? Dividend paying companies with growing earnings can be highly rewarding in the long term. Yet sometimes, investors buy a stock for its dividend and lose money because the share price falls by more than they earned in dividend payments. Some simple research can reduce the risk of buying Sinic Holdings (Group) for its dividend - read on to learn more. Explore this interactive chart for our latest analysis on Sinic Holdings (Group)! SEHK:2103 Historical Dividend Yield May 19th 2020 Payout ratios Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. So we need to form a view on if a company's dividend is sustainable, relative to its net profit after tax. Looking at the data, we can see that 20% of Sinic Holdings (Group)'s profits were paid out as dividends in the last 12 months. With a low payout ratio, it looks like the dividend is comprehensively covered by earnings. Is Sinic Holdings (Group)'s Balance Sheet Risky? As Sinic Holdings (Group) has a meaningful amount of debt, we need to check its balance sheet to see if the company might have debt risks. A quick check of its financial situation can be done with two ratios: net debt divided by EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation), and net interest cover. Net debt to EBITDA is a measure of a company's total debt. Net interest cover measures the ability to meet interest payments. Essentially we check that a) the company does not have too much debt, and b) that it can afford to pay the interest. With net debt of 2.47 times its EBITDA, Sinic Holdings (Group)'s debt burden is within a normal range for most listed companies. We calculated its interest cover by measuring its earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), and dividing this by the company's net interest expense. With EBIT of 15.52 times its interest expense, Sinic Holdings (Group)'s interest cover is quite strong - more than enough to cover the interest expense. Story continues Consider getting our latest analysis on Sinic Holdings (Group)'s financial position here. Dividend Volatility One of the major risks of relying on dividend income, is the potential for a company to struggle financially and cut its dividend. Not only is your income cut, but the value of your investment declines as well - nasty. With a payment history of less than 2 years, we think it's a bit too soon to think about living on the income from its dividend. Its most recent annual dividend was CN0.13 per share. We like that the dividend hasn't been shrinking. However we're conscious that the company hasn't got an overly long track record of dividend payments yet, which makes us wary of relying on its dividend income. Dividend Growth Potential The other half of the dividend investing equation is evaluating whether earnings per share (EPS) are growing. Growing EPS can help maintain or increase the purchasing power of the dividend over the long run. Sinic Holdings (Group)'s earnings per share are up 363% on last year. We're glad to see EPS up on last year, but we're conscious that growth rates typically slow as companies increase in size. The company is only paying out a fraction of its earnings as dividends, and in the past been able to use the retained earnings to grow its profits rapidly - an ideal combination. Any one year of performance can be misleading for a variety of reasons, so we wouldn't like to form any strong conclusions based on these numbers alone. We'd also point out that Sinic Holdings (Group) issued a meaningful number of new shares in the past year. Regularly issuing new shares can be detrimental - it's hard to grow dividends per share when new shares are regularly being created. Conclusion Dividend investors should always want to know if a) a company's dividends are affordable, b) if there is a track record of consistent payments, and c) if the dividend is capable of growing. We're glad to see Sinic Holdings (Group) has a low payout ratio, as this suggests earnings are being reinvested in the business. We were also glad to see it growing earnings, although its dividend history is not as long as we'd like. Overall, we think there are a lot of positives to Sinic Holdings (Group) from a dividend perspective. Investors generally tend to favour companies with a consistent, stable dividend policy as opposed to those operating an irregular one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. Just as an example, we've come accross 3 warning signs for Sinic Holdings (Group) you should be aware of, and 2 of them are significant. We have also put together a list of global stocks with a market capitalisation above $1bn and yielding more 3%. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Ukraine cuts sugar exports by over 50% in April 20:00, 19.05.20 1792 Ukrsugar experts have worsened their forecast for sugar exports in the current marketing year from 300,000 tonnes to 120,000 tonnes. The Spanish Health minister, Salvador Illa, has announced new regulations concerning the use of masks in public areas in force from Thursday 21 May. Published in the BOE (official state gazette) on Wednesday, a new order will make the use of face masks compulsory in closed public spaces as well as in open areas where keeping a distance of two metres is impossible. This is in addition to the obligation to wear a mask on public transport already in force. The ruling allows "any type of mask that covers mouth and nose, but preferably the hygiene or surgical kind." Scarves will not be able to be worn as substitutes. The measure will be in force throughout the state of alarm and "its possible extensions". On Wednesday this was due to be extended until 7 June. Children under the age of six will not be obliged to wear a mask although the Health ministry "recommends" their use among three to five-year-olds. Also exempt are people with "respiratory difficulties that could be aggravated by the use of a mask" as well as those with other health conditions that could be worsened or a "disability or dependence that causes behavioural alterations that make the use of a mask inviable". Masks do not have to be worn during "activities whose nature makes them incompatible" with their use. The text does not specifying further, alhough the ministry has endorsed the interpretation that this can be applied to individual practising sports such as runners and cyclists, even though they pass through areas where keeping a distance is impossible. Illa said on Tuesday that the authorities would not be giving out free supplies of masks and it would be up to the general public to provide their own. A maximum price of 96 cents was fixed in April for the basic surgical type mask available from pharmacies. The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) is up in arms against the Minister of Aviation Joseph Kofi Adda, accusing him of usurping the powers and authority of the Minister for health. The Association is agitated that the Minister has been laxed in ensuring proper disinfection of the airports where traders and businessmen and women transact business by taking delivery of parcels and cargoes on a daily basis in these critical times when efforts are being made to curtail the spread of COVID-19. Even more shocking and dangerous according to the GUTA executives is the fact that Domestic flight operations have begun and traders and the generality of the Ghanaian people are commuting to and from various destinations, a trend the argue should have prompted the Minister to swiftly move in to implement and enforce safety measures including disinfecting aircrafts and cargoes. The Minister in a statement dated May 15, 2020 bordering on a recent disinfection exercise at the Kotoka International Airport, accused Messrs. David Kwadwo Amoateng and Nana Poku, the Greater Accra Regional Chairman and Secretary of GUTA respectively of making pronouncements that were calculated at causing disaffection for him and the Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited, Mr. Yaw Kwakwa. The two GUTA executives have accused the Minister of taking the safety and lives of their members who transact business at the Airports for granted by refusing to adhere to a directive from the Minister of Health Kwaku Agyemang Manu through a letter dated May 17, 2019 to take steps to comply with International Legislation concerning International Health Regulations for disinfection of Ghanas Airports. The Aviation Ministers letter read in part that Matters of Aviation policy and Airport management principles and standards as well as internationally approved procedures are highly specialized that Messrs. Amoateng and Poku are not sufficiently qualified to make pronouncements or pass judgement on, especially regarding the ability, management capacity and competence of senior management officers of the sector, as they are not the appointing authority to question the positions of these two senior government officials. But at a press conference on Tuesday May, 19, 2020, the two GUTA executives described the Aviation Minister as the one who is rather ignorant and incompetent. According to them, they are better informed and abreast of issues as far as the industry is concerned, particularly in this era of COVID-19, than the Minister, citing Mr. Addas posturing, pronouncements and actions. They argue that it is the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service that has jurisdiction over all matters relating to Health and disinfection at the Airports and not the Ministry of Aviation and the Ghana Airports Company Limited. A statement read at the press conference stated in part that, "it is clear from your statement that you still do not understand what we are talking about. Open your eyes! The world has a pandemic called COVID 19. Dealing with viruses and pandemics by LAW is under the jurisdiction of MINISTRY OF HEALTH not MINISTRY OF AVIATION. Your ego has blocked your reasoning and has accelerated the spread of the Virus and loss of Ghanaian lives. The statement continued that "Overwhelming information came from the stakeholders meetings with the Ministry of Health. We do not think even you can tell the Minister of Health how he should be doing and conducting disinfection at the Borders. They have a huge department called Port Health, and they actually have offices at the Airports. It is Ghana Health Service, not the Ghana Airport Company who checks peoples temperature and yellow cards when they come in and out of passport control. This is a prime example of the way things should be at the Airport concerning health matters and now you are trying to change it in a way that is challenging common sense and the law. GUTA says it is unbelievable that the Minister would ask for a contract with the approved disinfection company, but has no contracts with the Port Health Unit, the Ghana Immigration Service, the Police and Customs who all operate in the Airports. "Do you have contracts with Port Health, Immigration Service, the Police, Customs, for them to be at the Airport? GHS has already contracted the Disinfection Health Service more than a year ago. You have not helped them to perform a public duty and now that there is PANDEMIC and people of Ghana want answers, you claim that you are under duress which is caused by the fact that you failed to act on the Minister of Health Letter dated 1t7h May 2019 with the reference number MOH/OM/LCB-AV/14919. You want everyone to come and sign contracts with you, even though it has nothing to do with you because of your selfish interest, they posited. According to them, it is clear that the Minister who cites some cost elements as part of reasons why the legitimate company contracted to carry out disinfections at the Airports, LCB Worldwide Ghana Limited has not been allowed to carry out its mandate, does not value the lives of Ghanaians. "Mr Minister, how much does the life of a Ghanaian worth? According to your explanation, not $20. Traders are business people; we know there is no free lunch, one way or another we the traders of Ghana who are the hard currency owners of this country, who are the taxpayers of this country will end up paying for it. Whether it will be from airport taxes, air ticket charges, we dont know where the payment will come from, but we know that we will end up paying for it. Whatever the cost is, it is not worth losing our lives. This is the principal reason why we have supported and paid for the Disinfection Health Service at the ports of Tema and Takoradi." Again, they accuse the Aviation Minister of incompetence saying it was under his watch that Ghana recorded her first COVID-19 case through the Airport, which then spread across the country. "Answer this Mr. Minister? Where did COVID-19 virus come from? Did it come into Ghana from Tema or Takoradi Ports where the Ministry of Health successfully executed the Disinfection Health Service with the help of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority? or Did it come from the Airport where you have refused to assist the Health officials in implementing the Disinfection Health Service? We, the same, ill-informed Group or people, can tell you that the COVID-19 Virus came through the Airport that you manage, and it spread all over Ghana. It only requires common sense to see this, not awards from Airport Council International, they argued. The French-bred, 12-year-old Aubrac bull, Dauphin, has retained his top position on the ICBF Dairy Beef List for 2020. With a calving ease of less than 1pc and a dairy beef index of 159, he has a five-star rating both within the Aubrac breed and across all breeds. Irish AI centres describe him as one of the highest-rated proven Aubrac bulls in France on maternal abilities, and he is a very popular choice with breeders. Another Aubrac bull, Cesar, with an index of 134, has been placed fourth on the 2020 list. A son of the 13-year-old bull sold in 2019 for over 3,000. The Saler bull, Ulsan, described by the AI service as having a massive Replacement Index combined with kgs of daughter milk, with the added benefit of a proven record of easy calving, is highly recommended as the ideal choice for small beef maiden heifers. The number three on the list is the Limousin, Ewdenvale Ivor, which is being described by the service as the new superstar with his glittering pedigree carrying five stars on both Terminal and Replacements indices within the Limousin breed and across all beef breeds. With a calving difficulty of 5.7pc on heifers, he ie being promoted for his calving ease and breeding impressive daughters with plenty of milk. He is a well-balanced sire between Terminal and Replacement at 159 and 151 respectively. The most striking feature of the list has been the takeover of the high places by Belgian Blues, with seven of the breed occupying the consecutive positions from fifth to 11th. Progress While most of these bulls are Belgian-bred, two are Irish-bred, which is a considerable level of progress by Irish breeders. The highest-placed of these is Ross Alo, with an index of 128. Bred by Jarlath Duggan, of Ross, Rathdowney, Co Laois he is a son of the Belgian Sire Blak Du Baty dEprave and out of the Irish-bred dam Ross Treasa and was purchased by the Belgian Cattle Breeding Centre, BBGs Station at Ciney. The Ross Herd ranks among the leading pedigree Belgian Blue herds in the country with some of the top rated dams of the breed. The Tintin De My (Tiy)-bred dam, Ross EL, was listed by ICBF in 2016 as the top Euro-star Replacement Index Belgian Blue cow in the country, and numerous animals from the herd have been sold for leading prices. The second Irish-bred Belgian Blue on the 2020 list is Boherard Cian, featured on these pages. The key investors are a group of HNIs and angel investors from Dubai, UAE, Illumnus said in a statement, without disclosing any details. Mumbai: Edtech startup Illumnus on Tuesday said it has raised $1,00,000 (about Rs 75 lakh) in seed funding from a group of high networth individuals (HNIs) and angel investors to market and expand its services. The key investors are a group of HNIs and angel investors from Dubai, UAE, the company said in a statement, without disclosing any details. "We are very excited about this. We plan to market and expand our services in four countries by the end of this year with an organic and sustainable growth," Illumnus founder Akash Deep Singhal said. "We have already doubled our team bringing A-players to build a scalable SaaS based LMS platform, which the educational institutions always deserved but never got," he added. Illumnus, the Collaborative Learning Management System (C-LMS) for educational institutions, was founded by IIT Bombay alumnus Akash Deep Singhal and his brother Akshaya Singhal from BITS Pilani. "We are thrilled to support and help Illumnus grow leaps and bounds. In times where the world of education is increasingly becoming digitally driven, we find Illumnus very well placed to capture the market not only in India but in other global markets as well," the investor group was quoted as saying in the statement. "Edtech in the business-to-business (B2B) space has seen a lot of investment in recent times from large players like Google and Microsoft as well. However, the solution offered by Illumnus is more end-to-end and provides seamless learning and pupil management capabilities to schools and parents alike," it said. As the country is under lockdown to curtail the spread of COVID-19, edtech platforms have seen a surge in enrolment with professionals signing up for up-skilling and schools and colleges using them to finish pending syllabus. Illumnus provides premier educational institutions with their internal digital learning network, simplifying the communication flow among the students and teachers even after school hours. JEFFERSON CITY Missouri officials in late April warned of possible retaliation by the Chinese government after Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against the country for its response to the new coronavirus pandemic. Members of Gov. Mike Parsons administration, in the days after the lawsuit was filed, expressed concern about cyberattacks and disruptions in shipments of personal protective equipment, or PPE, from China, according to emails obtained by the Post-Dispatch through an open records request. The emails are further evidence that officials in the Parson administration were caught off-guard by the headline-grabbing lawsuit, which the Chinese government has called very absurd. Asked about the lawsuit on the day it was filed, Parson told reporters Im not sure what thats all about. Parson, a Republican, appointed Schmitt as attorney general in late 2018 after Josh Hawley was elected to the U.S. Senate. Missouri has long courted China as a trading partner, with the state operating a trade office in Shanghai and two former governors visiting the country in recent years. Chinese-owned firms, such as Smithfield Foods, are major employers in the state; 21 Missouri-based companies, including World Wide Technology, Maritz Holdings and Peabody Energy, operate in China. Head-scratching, criticism from some, praise from others, as Missouri sues China News of the lawsuit landed Attorney General Eric Schmitt a prime-time interview on Fox News. But it's unclear what else the lawsuit will accomplish. As with any lawsuit we file, we did extensive research on many different avenues and issues related to the suit before filing we felt compelled to take action to hold the Chinese government accountable for their actions, and we stand by the suit, said Chris Nuelle, spokesman for the attorney generals office. Were proud that Missouri is leading the charge to hold China accountable for their misdeeds that have cost lives, jobs and unprecedented economic downturn, he said. On April 22, the day after the attorney generals office sued, Rob Dixon, director of the Department of Economic Development, sent an email to Aaron Willard, Parsons chief of staff, and Drew Erdmann, the state chief operating officer. Sandra Karsten, director of the Department of Public Safety, was copied on the email. We are expecting some degree of retaliation against Missouri as a response to the Attorney Generals lawsuit against the Chinese government, Chinese Communist Party, and other Chinese officials and institutions, Dixon said. Of most immediate concern: the potential to disrupt PPE shipments and cyberattacks. Hours earlier, Ann Pardalos, community and economic development manager in the Department of Economic Development, sent a memo to Dixon outlining potential Chinese threats. Among possible retaliatory measures, Pardalos said China could: Halt all Chinese exports to Missouri. As you are well aware, a number of health care providers, labs, etc. are currently importing critical supplies of PPE from China. Turn away Missouri exports. Restrict or confiscate the business license and registration from the states China office. Rescind all travel authorizations and visas for Missouri citizens and business executives. Pull all Chinese students from Missouri. Hack Missouri state government websites and other critical IT infrastructure. On April 23, Stephen Meyer, a special assistant in the Office of Administration, wrote a memo saying the IT director in the attorney generals office informed the states deputy cyber information security officer of the lawsuit after the attorney general filed it. On Tuesday April 21, at approximately 11:30 AM, Tricia Heislen (IT Director for the AGOs office) reached out to Theresa Frommel (Deputy CISO, Office of Cyber Security) to inform her that the Attorney General just filed a lawsuit against the Chinese Government over their handling of the Coronavirus, Meyer said in the memo to three administration officials, including Sarah Steelman, Office of Administration commissioner, and Erdmann. Meyer went on to describe steps taken to prepare for potential retaliation; those steps were apparently redacted from records provided to the Post-Dispatch. Our OCS (Office of Cyber Security) team consistently operates as if a target is on our back, so when one really gets put there, I have full confidence that we will be diligent in our protection and response, Meyer said. He said that ever since protests in Ferguson in 2014, the state had elevated its cyber security protocol. We have mitigations already in place to combat this potential threat, Meyer said. That same day, Jeff Wann, chief information officer in the Office of Administration, sent an email with the subject line Potential Chinese Retaliation to Erdmann and Steelman. Drew, I let Sarah know a couple of days ago about this issue and we have been on high alert for the last two days plus today, Wann said. We went on high alert within a very short time of the AGs announcement. Despite the states heightened concern, no retaliatory acts appear to have taken place. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Office of Administration told the Post-Dispatch there has not been a noticeable uptick in cyberattacks at this time. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. By Online Desk On Thursday, the government issued a new SOP for the resumption of domestic flight operations from May 25. Some of the key points of it are mandatory Aarogya Setu app for passengers except not children below 14 years of age, thermal screening zone for fliers before entering the airport terminal building, sanitisation of passengers' baggage before entry into terminals. Meanwhile, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 3,435 and the number of cases to 1,12,359 in the country on Thursday, registering an increase of 132 deaths and 5,609 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 63,624, while 45,299 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said. "Thus, around 40.32 per cent patients have recovered so far," a senior health ministry official said. Dallas Lawrence Dallas Lawrence, a digital/crisis and public affairs veteran, has joined Roku streaming TV service as head of communications for its business platform. He's held a variety of key PR jobs such as VP-corporate affairs at Mattel, chief global digital strategist at Burson-Marsteller and senior VP for digital media at Levick. Lawrence also did a stint with the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad and at the Pentagon in the office of public liaison & community relations for Defense Secretaries Rumsfeld and Gates. Most recently, Lawrence was chief communications & brand officer at OpenX, the Los Angeles-based advertising technology company. Mumbai: Bollywood actress Kriti Sanon, who has made a solid mark for herself in the movie business by delivering back-to-back stellar performances on the silver screen, recently took to social media to come out in support of daily wage employees as she shared a heartbreaking post. Kriti penned a long note and even requested Cine And TV Artistes' Association (CINTAA) to help the workers. Taking to social media the 'Mimi'actress shared a video of a daily wage worker wherein he can be seen sharing how the producers have been trying to clear their dues. "No hooks, no bells or whistles, just straight rap" is the perfect way to describe Red Bull Music's '64 Bars' series, which was created by Aotearoa's very own David Dallas. The series has featured some of the countries top talents, such as Church & AP, Abdul Kay, and even David Dallas himself. And now they've just dropped their latest video which sees up and coming Australian rapper 'Lisi' take to the mic and kill his performance. Lisi was born in NZ but moved to Aussie when he was 3, where he eventually grew into a talented and hungry young MC quickly taking over the Australasian rap game. The 19-year-old reps his hometown of Goodna in both his music and social media activity, and also tried to somewhat distance himself from the drill rap scene that currently owns Aussie hip-hop: The 43-district is not where we have drillers and stuff like that. But it is a place where theres adversity, he told Macario De Souza on Red Bulls Behind the Bars podcast. From now on Im trying to give a positive image to the kids of Goodna. Check out his dope performance up top and make sure to keep an eye on this emerging star. Three penguins got their own private view of a museum's art collection when they took a trip out from the zoo. The trio of Humboldt penguins, Bubble, Maggie and Berkley, were given the freedom to wander around the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. The birds from Kansas City Zoo were filmed waddling around the exhibits together after the coronavirus lockdown closed both the museum and zoo. Three Humboldt penguins from Kansas City Zoo native to Peru enjoyed the exhibits at Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, including paintings, sculptures and tapestries The trio of birds preferred paintings by the Italian Caravaggio, said the museum's CEO The Humboldt penguins were less impressed by the works of French impressionist Monet Executive Director and CEO of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Julian Zugazagoitia said that he was seeing how the penguins reacted to art. Mr Zugazagoitia said that the penguins preferred the work of Italian painter Caravaggio than that of French impressionist Monet during their visit. Executive director and CEO of Kansas City Zoo Randy Wisthoff said: Taking care of wild animals at Kansas City Zoo we are always looking for ways to enrich their lives and stimulate their day and during this shutdown period really missed having visitors come up to see them. The three penguins from Kansas City Zoo, Bubble, Maggie and Berkley, waddle around and explore the museum while the crowds are kept away by the coronavirus lockdown The video, posted by the Nelson-Atkins Museum on May 14, has been viewed nearly 70,000 times We were happy to visit and the penguins absolutely loved it. Zugazagoitia said he spoke Spanish to the penguins as the birds are native to Peru and Chile. The video, posted by the Nelson-Atkins Museum on May 14, has been viewed nearly 70,000 times. It had the caption Quarantine has caused everyone to go a little stir crazy, even the residents of the Kansas City Zoo. So several of the penguins decided to go on a field trip to the Nelson-Atkins, which is still closed, to get a little culture alongside it. These aren't the first penguins to be given the freedom to explore during the coronavirus lockdown. Executive Director and CEO of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (right) Julian Zugazagoitia (left) said he was watching the penguins to see how they reacted to art At Singapore Zoo a dozen penguins were allowed to wander around the area near their enclosure, including the children's play area. An obstacle course was also set up for the birds in Singapore to help strengthen their leg muscles. The Humboldt penguins are native to the coastal areas of the South American countries and are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature. They have a lifespan of around 20 years and the base of their beaks is distinctively pink. Over-fishing, climate change and ocean acidification have been blamed in part for the reduced population of the birds. Organizer of a targeted assassination of the member of the ATO, Kyiv-2 police squad Amina Okuyeva, and an attempt to kill her husband Adam Osmayev, was presented a notice on suspicion under a procedural leadership of prosecutor's office of Kyiv region. "It is established that the suspect is a native of Chechnya, a citizen of the Russian Federation. In order to commit the intentional murder of Amina Okuyeva and Adam Osmayev, he looked for killers in Ukraine who subsequently shot the car," a press service of the Office of Prosecutor General. Russian citizen is guilty under Part 3 of Article 27, Points 6, 11, 12 of Part 2 of Article 15, Part 2 of Article 115 and Part 3 of Article 27 (complicity in a crime, attempted crime, intentional murder) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. As reported, Okuyeva, a volunteer soldier who fought Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine, was killed and her husband, Adam Osmayev, was wounded. Their car came under fire at a railway crossing near the village of Hlevakha in Kyiv region late on October 30. Kyiv's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) opened a criminal investigation pursuant to Point 11 of Part 2 of Article 115 (premeditated murder) of Ukraine's Criminal Code. The suspect in the attempted murder of volunteers, was transferred to the territory of self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics in June 2017, as a part of an exchange of prisoners on December 29, 2019. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 02:04:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MADRID, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Spanish health authorities on Tuesday confirmed slight increases in the numbers of new COVID-19 deaths and coronavirus cases in the country. Eighty-three people lost their lives to COVID-19 on Monday, 24 more than a day earlier, taking the total number of confirmed deaths in Spain to 27,778. It was the third consecutive day the death toll had been below 100. Although the regions of Catalonia and Madrid accounted for 51 of the 83 fatalities, five regions (Valencia, Andalusia, Murcia, Galicia and Navarra) reported no deaths at all. There was also a slight increase in the number of new COVID-19 cases detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which check if the coronavirus is active in the body. The health ministry reported 295 new infections (compared with 285 new cases 24 hours earlier), taking the total number of confirmed cases to 232,037. At the start of the week, the health ministry changed the way it collects the daily totals of new cases and deaths, calculating the 24-hour period from midnight to midnight rather than from 9 p.m. to 9 p.m. as it had done previously. Also on Tuesday, the Spanish government confirmed that it will ask the Spanish parliament to extend the current State of Alarm for a further 15 days, rather than a month-long extension it had previously been seeking. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had said that he will seek a fifth and final extension to the State of Alarm, which will come into effect on May 24 if approved by lawmakers. Spain imposed the State of Alarm on March 15 to control the spread of the coronavirus. It is the first of three emergency levels a Spanish government can apply under exceptional circumstances. It grants the government special powers to limit the movement of citizens, control the means of production, use private assets if needed, and also use the military to carry out essential logistical and supply jobs. Enditem Airline passengers coming from the UK who want to dodge 14-day quarantine rules could travel via Northern Ireland to the Republic, posing a public health risk, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has warned. In a strongly worded letter to Health Minister Simon Harris on May 12 he said there is a risk of imported cases associated with non-essential travel from and through Great Britain to Ireland via Northern Ireland if different arrangements were to apply to such overseas travel. The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) highlighted this risk and recommended that measures be taken to address the potential threat. The previous week Dr Holohan also wrote to the Minister saying he was worried about Irish people taking summer holidays abroad and he called for a mandatory quarantine of 14 days after flying here. It should apply to all people who return to Ireland from overseas with limited exceptions such as supply chain workers and those travelling to Northern Ireland. They could be placed in a designated facility. Expand Close Dr Tony Holohan. Picture: Steve Humphreys / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Tony Holohan. Picture: Steve Humphreys Read More All newly arrived passengers should also have to complete a public health locator form, according to the newly published correspondence. He said NPHET was concerned that as the number of domestic cases of the virus here declines and we move towards easing measures that the relative importance of the risk of importation of cases from overseas increases. The aim was to eliminate non essential travel and NPHET was concerned that Irish citizens may be actively planning to resume travel overseas in the near term for tourism purposes. Meanwhile, the letter sent to Mr Harris last week, giving the go ahead from NPHET for the start of phase one of the roadmap exiting lockdown Dr Holohan said that workplaces had the potential to become the centre for new clusters of infection as public health measures are eased. There is a need for the slow, gradual , stepwise and incremental easing of some restrictions on the proviso there is a strong emphasis of the risks involved. He said there will be an ongoing risk of Covid-19 for nursing homes over the next six to eighteen months and it was recommended that an expert independent panel be set up to oversee the issue. This would examine the measures needed to 2021 to protect nursing homes. He also warned that stricter measures may have to be reintroduced if there is a strong upsurge of infection following the easing of lockdown. He pointed to countries like South Korea and Germany where loosening of lockdown led to a rise in cases. Do you know a doctor, nurse, caring neighbour, shop worker or someone else excelling on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19? Nominate them for our Frontline Star of the Week award HERE A day after the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notice extending the lockdown by another 14 days and released new guidelines, Uttar Pradesh government on Monday (May 18) released guidelines for the fourth phase of the coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown which will remain in place till May 31. What's allowed Main Sabzi Mandi (4pm to 7 am), Retail Sabzi Mandi (open from 6 am to 9 am), fruit shops (8 am to 6 pm) Four-wheelers (three passengers including the driver) Bike (one passenger allowed; two allowed only in case of a female passenger) Three-wheeler (three including the driver) Street vendors, hawkers Restaurant (only home delivery allowed) Stadiums (without spectators) Printing press and dry cleaners Industrial activities outside containment zones but employees will have to wear masks and follow social distancing norms Sweet shops but only home delivery and take aways Nursing homes/private hospitals for emergency operations Markets to open in staggered manner and a decision in this regard will be taken by trade associations of the respective districts. Marriage halls, but permission will be required by the government to hold a function. Number of guests cannot exceed 20. What's not allowed Schools, colleges and educational institutions to remain closed Cinema halls, gyms, shopping malls to remain closed Religious gatherings Air services (Except emergency/air ambulance) Metro services Hospitality services (except for corona warriors) No movement of people and vehicles from 7pm till 7 am except those involved in essential services. New Delhi : The Indian Railways has operated 1,565 'Shramik Special' trains since May 1 and ferried over 20 lakh migrants back home, the national transporter said on Tuesday. While Uttar Pradesh has allowed 837 trains, Bihar has permitted 428 and Madhya Pradesh more than 100, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet. As of Monday night, 162 trains were in transit and 1,252 had reached their destinations. Around 116 more are currently in the pipeline, it said. According to data till Monday night, more than 496 trains have originated from Gujarat and 17 more are in the pipeline, while over 266 trains have already started from Maharashtra, with 37 more in the pipeline. Among other originating states, 188 trains have started from Punjab, 89 from Karnataka, 61 from Tamil Nadu, 58 from Telangana, 54 from Rajasthan, 41 from Haryana and 38 from Uttar Pradesh. Out of the trains that have terminated so far, the maximum has been in Uttar Pradesh at 641, while 73 more are in transit, followed by Bihar with 310 and 53 more on the way. The operation of these trains has, however, led to a political mud-slinging, with the opposition accusing the Centre of charging fares from migrants and then the Centre accusing some states having non-BJP governments of not providing permission for the migrant trains to run. Goyal, in a series of tweets on Monday, said he had spoken to the Odisha, Bihar and the Uttar Pradesh governments, and they assured him of permitting more trains. A 'Shramik Special' train carries around 1,700 passengers, instead of the earlier 1,200, to ferry as many workers home as possible. Initially, these trains had no scheduled stoppages during the journey, but the Railways now allows up to three stoppages in the destination states. While the transporter is yet to announce the cost incurred on these special services, officials indicated that the national transporter is spending around Rs 80 lakh per service. NASA is looking to pay US citizens to spend eight months in social isolation inside a Russian laboratory. The goal is to simulate the longterm social distancing that astronauts will endure on future missions to Mars. The location is "a unique multi-compartment facility used as an analog for isolation, confinement, and remote conditions" located in the Russian Academy of Science's Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow. From NASA's announcement of the opportunity: NASA is looking for highly motivated U.S. citizens who are 30-55 years old and are proficient in both Russian and English languages. Requirements are: M.S., PhD., M.D. or completion of military officer training. Participants with a Bachelor's degree and other certain qualifications (e.g., relevant additional education, military, or professional experience) may be acceptable candidates as well. Participants will experience environmental aspects similar to those astronauts are expected to experience on future missions to Mars. A small international crew will live together in isolation for eight months conducting scientific research, using virtual reality and performing robotic operations among a number of other tasks during the lunar mission. The research will be conducted to study the effects of isolation and confinement as participants work to successfully complete their simulated space mission. Results from ground-based missions like this help NASA prepare for the real-life challenges of space exploration and provide important scientific data to solve some of these problems and to develop countermeasures. Compensation is available for participating in the mission. There are different levels of compensation depending upon whether or not you are associated with NASA or if you are a NASA employee or contractor. Qantas and Jetstar have announced a new range of safety measures including free face masks and sequenced boarding to ensure travellers fly safely during the coronavirus pandemic. The airlines will roll out the 'Fly Well' program from June 12 as Australian states and territories prepare for the return of domestic travel. Before take-off, customers will check in online or through an app and will be strongly encouraged to use the self-service bag drop. Qantas and Jetstar have announced a new range of safety measures during the coronavirus pandemic including face masks for all passengers There will be hand sanitising stations at departure gates (pictured) to stop the spread of COVID-19 Travellers will be given a face mask for peace-of-mind and sanitising wipes to clean their seat belt, tray and armrest. Passengers will also be asked to avoid moving around cabin and staggered boarding and disembarkation will be implemented to avoid crowding. Qantas Group Medical Director Dr Ian Hosegood said the risk of catching coronavirus on a plane is 'already extremely low'. 'That's due to a combination of factors, including the cabin air filtration system, the fact people don't sit face-to-face and the high backs of aircraft seats acting as a physical barrier,' he said. 'Social distancing on an aircraft isn't practical the way it is on the ground, and given the low transmission risk on board, we don't believe it's necessary in order to be safe. 'The extra measures we're putting place will reduce the risk even further.' Staggered boarding and disembarkation will be implemented to avoid crowding The airlines will roll out the 'Fly Well' program from June 12 as Australian states and territories prepare for the return of domestic travel Qantas and Jetstar aircrafts are already fitted with hospital-grade HEPA filters, which remove 99.9 per cent of all particles including viruses. On average, air inside the cabin is refreshed every five minutes. All passengers are encouraged to download the government's COVIDSafe app, while airline employees are required to follow strict hygiene protocols. Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said safety is at the core of the airlines operations. Travellers will be given a face mask for peace-of-mind and sanitising wipes to clean their seat belt, tray and armrest Before take-off, customers will check in online or through an app and will be strongly encouraged to use the self-service bag drop 'From the early rescue flights we operated right into Wuhan and then more recently bringing Australians back from places like the US and Europe, we have a lot of experience at creating a safe cabin environment for passengers and crew,' he said. 'We're relying on the cooperation of passengers to help make these changes work for everyone's benefit, and we thank them in advance for that. 'Given the great job Australians have done at flattening the curve, we're confident they'll respond positively to these temporary changes to how we fly.' Mr Joyce said they would continue to work with the government as well as monitor the roll out of the safety measures. DENVER The U.S. Forest Service announced that the purchase of land around Colorados Sweetwater Lake is among its top 10 acquisition priorities for 2021. The agencys list released last week ranked the purchase in Garfield County ninth among 36 land acquisition projects, The Colorado Sun reports. The forest service requested $8.5 million from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund. The fund is supported by royalty payments from offshore drilling companies. In December, Congress allocated $495 million from the fund for 2020, the largest distribution in 17 years. The Sweetwater Lake property is the largest request on the forest services $87.1 million list of priority projects. What often makes these things successful, in addition to being appropriate parcels, is having broad-based support and that is something we feel really good about, White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams said. We have a wide range of governments, agencies and groups supporting this. Fitzwilliams hopes to partner with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to improve and maintain a campground and boat launch at the property if federal funding is approved. We are looking at a new type of shared stewardship with them and how we go about this, he said. New Delhi: Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modis reference to Balochistan in his Independence Day speech, Pakistan on Monday claimed that this proved its contention that India has been allegedly fomenting terrorism in the province. Pakistan also asserted that the situation in Balochistan cannot be equated with Kashmir. Pakistan Prime Ministers Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, while responding to Modis Independence Day speech, said the Premier was only trying to divert world attention from the grim tragedy that has been unfolding in Kashmir over the past five weeks. The reference to Balochistan, which is an integral part of Pakistan, only proves Pakistans contention that India, through its main intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), has been fomenting terrorism in Balochistan, Aziz was quoted as saying by a Foreign Office statement. Azizs remarks came after Prime Minister Modi brought up Pakistani atrocities on people of Balochistan and PoK in his Independence Day speech on Monday. From the ramparts of the Red Fort, I want to express my gratitude to some peoplethe people of Balochistan, Gilgit and Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) -- for the way they whole-heartedly thanked me, the way they expressed gratitude to me, the way they conveyed their goodwill to me recently, Modi said. This is for the first time the disturbed areas in the control of Pakistan have been mentioned by any Indian Prime Minister during his Independence Day speech.Aziz claimed that Indias involvement was confirmed by the public confession of RAWs active service Naval Officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was arrested in March this year from Balochistan. Thousands of unarmed youth are protesting every day for their right of self determination in Kashmir, where more than 70 innocent Kashmiris have been killed and more than 6,000 injured, while there is constant curfew and complete media blackout for the past 37 days, Aziz claimed. These events have nothing to do with terrorism. It is an indigenous movement for self determination, a right promised to the Kashmiris by the UN Security Council, he said.He claimed that at this time, the contrast between Kashmir and PoK could not be more stark. Aziz said India is a large country, in fact the second largest in the world and this must be acknowledged, but a large country does not automatically become a great country, specially when it unleashes such brute force against innocent citizens to suppress their right to protest or when it deliberately uses pallet guns to permanently destroy the eyesight of over 100 youth. He said India should recognise that the core issue of Kashmir cannot be resolved by bullets and needed a political solution, through serious negotiations between India and Pakistan. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi, May 19 : Amid the raging politics over providing 1,000 buses to transport stranded migrant workers to their native places, the Congress, here on Tuesday, again wrote to UP Additional Chief Secretary Avneesh Kumar Awasthi seeking permission to bring the buses standing at the state's border near Agra to Noida and Ghaziabad. In a letter to Awasthi, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's personal aide Sandeep Singh said, "You have asked us to bring the buses to Noida and Ghaziabad in the letter sent to us at 11.05 a.m. today (Tuesday)." "For the last three hours, the buses are at Ucha Nagala in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, near Agra. The administration is not allowing us to enter the state. We again urge you that it's time to show sensitivity," he said and added, give the permission for our buses to reach Noida and Ghaziabad. Earlier in the day, Singh had written to Awasthi to give time till 5 p.m. to bring the buses to the Ghaziabad and Noida borders. This followed Awasthi's letter to Priyanka Gandhi to handover the 1,000 buses to the District Magistrates of Ghaziabad and Noida by 12 noon. Stating that several buses are in Delhi and Rajasthan and permits are being acquired, Singh told the Additional Chief Secretary, "We will need some more time to get the permits and the buses will be handed over to the state government by 5 p.m." Earlier in the morning, the state government asked Priyanka Gandhi to send 500 buses each to Ghazaibad and Noida by 12 noon. Awasthi in his letter to Priyanka Gandhi's aide said, "As you don't want to send the buses to Lucknow, and want to hand them over at Ghaziabad or Noida borders, please hand over 500 buses to the Ghaziabad District Magistrate by 12 noon at Kaushambi and Sahibabad bus depots. And the rest 500 buses to Gautam Buddha Nagar District Magistrate near the Expo Mart in Noida." Awasthi said the administration would check the fitness, permits and other documents of buses and use them immediately. However, the UP government earlier in the day alleged the list of buses submitted by the Congress included registration numbers of cars, scooters and autos. UP government spokesman Siddhartha Nath Singh said in Lucknow the Congress deserved condemnation for this kind of 'fraud and forgery'. Congress president Sonia Gandhi should respond to the actions of her children, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi, he added. Meanwhile, the Congress released the video of buses standing at the state's border near Agra. On the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, Priyanka Gandhi after giving the list of buses shot a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary alleging the Chief Minister's Office was playing politics over poor migrants. The letter, written at 2.10 a.m, she said a missive received from Awasthi's office at 11.40 p.m. on Monday said the buses should report at Lucknow by 10 a.m. on Tuesday. On Monday, Priyanka Gandhi's personal secretary claimed to have sent details of buses and their drivers to the UP government as demanded by the state government. Bloodshed in Afghanistan: Bombing leaves multiple casualties Iran Press TV Monday, 18 May 2020 6:04 AM A bombing attack has left at least seven people dead and over 40 others injured in eastern Afghanistan, just hours after the government took a step towards national reconciliation with President Ashraf Ghani entering a power-sharing agreement with his long-time rival Abdullah Abdullah. Local media said on Monday that explosives on a vehicle were detonated by its driver near the building of the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) Special Unit in Ghazni Province in the early hours of the day. The victims were believed to be mostly NDS employees. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack as of yet. Violence has spiked in Afghanistan in recent weeks. The Taliban militant group, which has struck a "peace" deal with the United States not to hit international forces in Afghanistan, has ratcheted up attacks on Afghan forces, even as it has been involved in a piecemeal prisoner swap with Kabul that was required under that same deal. In a horrendous attack last Tuesday, three gunmen attacked a maternity hospital in Kabul, opening fire at pregnant women and newborn babies there. At least 24 people were killed and 16 others were injured before the gunmen were taken out by Afghan security forces. Even though the Taliban said it was not responsible for that attack, a claim that the US also made, the Afghan government said the militant group was to blame. The US has attempted to downplay Taliban violence in order not to see the deal collapse. The agreement, signed in February, allows for the phased withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan. The Afghan war, the longest in US history, started with a US invasion of the country in 2001. The deal was also supposed to lay the groundwork for a peace process between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The recent uptick in violence has only made that prospect unlikely. Last Tuesday, and in the face of the rising violence, President Ghani ordered the country's military to switch to offensive mode from a defensive one that had been adopted several months before in an attempt to save the deal between the US and the Taliban. Meanwhile, President Ghani has resolved a dispute with a major rival, eliminating political infighting and strengthening the government. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak will visit Berlin on June 2, an informed source told Interfax-Ukraine. According to it, during the visit, a meeting with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is planned, and on the agenda there will be, in particular, a discussion of how to resolve issues blocked in the Trilateral Contact Group for the Settlement of the Situation in Donbas, such as identifying new checkpoints of parties' disengagement line, the establishment of a ceasefire regime and the organization of a new exchange of prisoners. The source also noted that the visit of Kuleba and Yermak to Germany had been agreed even before Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Russia Dmitry Kozak paid a working visit there. When we see photos of food being wasted on farms and at the same time long lines at food banks across America, we believe that we need shorter lines and longer tables, he said. We need many ways to make sure that we use total resources of the federal government, the private sector and NGOs so that food will not be a problem, but actually the solution. D onald Trump has threatened to permanently cut off funding to the World Health Organisation if it fails to make major changes within a 30 day deadline. The US leader published his full letter to the organisations chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in the early hours of Tuesday. Mr Trump, in the letter, criticised the WHO for not doing enough, saying it "consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading" late last year in Wuhan. He lambasted the WHO for repeatedly "praising" China and said the only way forward for it was to "demonstrate independence from China". the organisations chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been given the deadline of 30 days to make 'major changes' to its response to the pandemic / World Health Organization/AFP via Getty Images The president added that if the WHO did not "commit to major substantive improvements", he would "make his temporary freeze of US funding permanent and reconsider our membership". Mr Trump said in the letter, which he shared on Twitter, that he would reconsider membership of the US in the body. "If the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation, Mr Trump said. Last month Mr Trump instructed his administration to temporarily halt funding to the organisation over its handling of the pandemic. The US President said the WHO had "failed in its basic duty and it must be held accountable as the crisis continues to grip the world. He said the group had promoted China's "disinformation" about the virus that likely led to a wider outbreak of the virus than otherwise would have occurred. The WHO said a review of the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic would be launched "at the earliest appropriate moment. It said the independent evaluation will "review experience gained and lessons learned" during the pandemic. The organisation has faced criticism over its response to the coronavirus outbreak but director general Dr Tedros said the global health body sounded the alarm early, and we sounded it often. This page is being updated Gardai seal off an area near the beach in Courtown last July Two teenage brothers have been charged with the rape of a 17-year-old girl at a popular Wexford holiday resort last summer. The brothers - aged 15 and 17 years old - are not from Wexford and appeared before Judge Brian O'Shea at Wexford District Court. Both appeared having been arrested by gardai yesterday morning at their home and charged with counts of rape. They are charged with the rape of the teenage girl at a time unknown between the late evening of last July 27 and the early hours of last July 28 at the Burrow area of Courtown Harbour. Judge O'Shea was told that the matter will be dealt with by the Central Criminal Court. Gardai objected to bail on the basis of the serious nature of the charges involved. Judge O'Shea was told that both brothers were being represented by defence solicitor Chris Hogan. The mother of the two boys was also in court for the hearing. Objecting The arresting gardai involved, Garda Jacinta Gordon and Garda Gavin Tracey, both confirmed that gardai were formally objecting to bail. In outlining the case to the court, Gda Tracey said it will be alleged that the 17-year-old girl involved had become separated from her friends on the evening in question. As she attempted to locate her friends, it will be alleged she came across five teenage youths some distance outside the Wexford seaside resort. It will be alleged that the teenage girl was then held down and raped by two of those youths. Judge O'Shea was told the younger brother was 14 years old at the time of the alleged incident but is now 15. The older brother is currently 17 but will turn 18 years very shortly. The court heard the garda investigation involved extensive CCTV security camera footage, DNA tests and multiple statements. Remand Mr Hogan said his clients were seeking a remand on bail pending further court hearings. However, Gda Gordon and Gda Tracey said there were serious objections to a remand on bail. Sergeant Gary Rayner confirmed to the court that accommodation was currently available at Oberstown Detention Centre for both the accused. Judge O'Shea noted that the charges before the court could scarcely be more serious. He remanded both teens in custody. Both will appear again before Wexford District Court on May 25 when gardai will confirm the status of the book of evidence in the case. The book of evidence in the matter is understood to be at an advanced state of preparation by Wexford gardai. The court was told that the alleged incident had attracted an enormous amount of media publicity last year. Aeroflow Healthcare survey results highlight the prominence of incontinence in middle-age women while also displaying the lack of education and available resources. This study confirms what we already suspected: that social stigma and a lack of education about incontinence stand in the way of treatment, said Aleece Fosnight, PA-C and Medical Advisor for Aeroflow Urology. Without proper treatment, incontinence can snowball into larger health issues." Aeroflow Healthcare, a nationwide provider of durable medical equipment, announced today the results of a proprietary survey designed to highlight the struggle and stigma middle-aged women experience with incontinence. The third-party administered survey polled 1010 adult women aged 40 to 64 living in the United States and was completed on March 16, 2020. The full survey results can be found here. The surveys key findings fall within three main categories: Prevalence: Incontinence is very common among women aged 40-64, with almost 3/4 (72%) of women surveyed having experienced issues with bladder control or leakage, and 74% first experiencing incontinence between those same ages. 65% say they experience bladder leakage at least once a month and for 1 in 4 women, it is a daily occurrence. Stigma: 52% of middle-aged women have tried to hide loss of bladder control after experiencing it in public, while another 42% are embarrassed to discuss it with family or friends, indicating a strong incontinence stigma. For over half of these women (53%), incontinence affects their daily lives and activities, including work, career, education, ability to exercise, ability to run errands, and even their ability to attend social gatherings. Lack of Education and Treatment: More than half of women surveyed (56%), did not visit a healthcare provider after experiencing loss of bladder control, and 37% said they did not seek treatment because they did not think it was a big deal, illustrating a lack of education and awareness around incontinence. The results of this survey highlight how far society still has to go in promoting awareness and discussing incontinence, and shows that women are led to believe bladder control and leakage are merely a normal process of aging. This study confirms what we already suspected: that social stigma and a lack of education about incontinence stand in the way of treatment, said Aleece Fosnight, PA-C and Medical Advisor for Aeroflow Urology. Breaking down those barriers is such an important step in preventative treatment and normalizing incontinence. Without proper treatment, incontinence can snowball into larger health issues such as urinary tract infections, kidney failure, and depression, and can even impact life issues like personal finance. Incontinence shouldnt be embarrassing, but it all starts with healthcare providers educating patients on the symptoms, how common this issue is and how to address it. We hope this study raises awareness around the prevalence of incontinence in all women and how important it is for us to start having meaningful conversations on the topic to ultimately drive earlier detection and treatment for patients. About Aeroflow Healthcare Aeroflow Healthcare was founded in Asheville, NC in 2001 as a home oxygen provider, and has since grown to become a nationwide provider of durable medical equipment. In 2017, Aeroflow was also awarded the HME Excellence Award for Best Home Medical Equipment Provider and has been recognized as a business offering top-notch benefits to employees with the Great Place to Work Award. Aeroflow is an accredited Medicare and Medicaid provider and accepts most commercial insurance. To learn more about Aeroflow Healthcare and getting medical equipment through insurance, visit aeroflowinc.com. Media Inquiries Kyle Evans FischTank PR Email: kyle@fischtankpr.com Aeroflow Contact Kristin Robinson Marketing Manager, Aeroflow Urology Email: kristin.robinson@aeroflowinc.com Prerecorded ceremony for local veterans Airing 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. May 25. The ceremony is replacing annual program held at the Veterans Memorial Garden in Antelope Park. The ceremony will air on LNKTV, Lincoln's government access channel. The program will include a reading of the names of all Lancaster County veterans who have died in the past year. To view the program, go to ALLO channel 2; Spectrum channel 1300 or Kinetic channel 1005. The ceremony also will be available on demand at lincoln.ne.gov (keyword: LNKTV) and youtube.com/LNKTVcity. It will also be shared on the Veterans Memorial Garden's Facebook page. Update: The body of missing person Collen Magner has been found. Gardai are today looking for the public's help in finding Donegal woman Colleen Magner, who has been missing for the past two days. Colleen, 43, has been missing from the Derrybeg area of Donegal since Sunday, May 17. She is described as 5'7", with long brown curly hair, and of medium build. When last seen, Colleen was wearing a pair of black leggings and black runners. Anyone with information on her whereabouts are asked to contact Gardai in Milford on 074 915 3060 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111. The Queen could lose 18 million amid the coronavirus lockdown, the Lord Chamberlain warned staff in an email. With royal palaces closed because of restrictions on movement to stop the spread of the killer virus, the Queen is set to miss out on income from millions of tourists. And in an email to staff, Lord Chamberlain Earl Peel, head of the Royal Household, admitted royal income is expected to fall by as much as a third this year. He also told workers that there will be a pay freeze, as well as a freeze on recruitment. Last year, tourism earned the royals more than 70million from ticket and souvenir sales. The royals earn millions from the Crown Estates, though that income will now fall significantly amid lockdown. Buckingham Palace brings in around 12 million a year, Windsor Castle 25 million, Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh 5.6 million, the Royal Mews 1.6 million and Clarence House 132,000. The royals earn millions from the Crown Estates, though that income will now fall significantly amid lockdown The Queen is worth 350 million and the Sovereign Grant, paid to the royals annually by the taxpayer to fund official duties, was 82.4million last year. The email read: 'The crisis has already tested our resilience, adaptability and preparedness in many ways and at all levels across the organisation. It has also had a significant impact on the activities of the whole Royal Household. 'Although the UK appears to be over the peak of infections, it remains unclear when measures such as social distancing will come to an end. 'We must therefore assume it could still be many weeks, if not months, before we are able to return to business as usual. 'There are undoubtedly very difficult times ahead and we realise many of you will be concerned.' The bulk of the loss in royal income will come from royal palaces remaining closed to tourists over the summer, with refunds for people who have already bought tickets. According to the Sun, some staff have been asked to work from home and, though they will not be furloughed, they've been told there may be recruitment and pay freezes. In his email, the Lord Chamberlain said 'property spend' would be reduced a move that could affect planned 33 million renovations of Buckingham Palace. The Royal Household employs around 500 people but is currently operating on a skeleton staff in many areas. Buckingham Palace brings 12 millions in for the Royal Family every year, though that income will now drop Windsor Castle brings 25 million into the royal coffers every year. The Lord Chamberlain has told staff they could now face a pay freeze amid lockdown Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh brings in 5.6 million, though income will drop by a third this year A source said: 'Many staff are loyal and will do what they do for a pay cut. But the email went down like a lead balloon.' The crisis has also led to aides putting all of the Queen's engagements up until 2022 under review. One said they aren't able to make any plans as they don't know what will happen in the future with restrictions. The Queen's diary has to be planned up to two years in advance, allowing her to juggle visits from foreign heads of state with her own trips, as well as those of other royals. However, all 26 of her remaining investitures for the year have been cancelled, with medals for 120 recipients expected to now be posted. Buckingham Palace said: 'The whole country is very likely to be impacted financially by coronavirus and the Royal Household is no exception. 'However, the time to address this will be when the full impact of the situation is clearer.' File Photo New Delhi: The Modi government has withdrawn its earlier decision to pay full salary to the employees. This means that companies will no longer be required to pay their employees a full salary during the lockdown. The move has come as a relief to companies and the industry, but it has come as a shock for the employees. Advertisement Narendra ModiIt may be recalled that Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla had issued guidelines on March 29, a few days after the lockdown, telling the company and other employers to pay their officers the full amount without deduction even after the month was over. A nationwide lockdown has been in place since March 25 to curb the Covid-19 epidemic. Now, the fourth phase of the lockdown has been in effect from May 18. The home ministry had also directed that action be taken against landlords who evacuated students or migrant workers who did not pay during the lockdown. PhotoThe Supreme Court on Friday directed the government not to take any action against companies that do not pay their dues during the lockdown. Advertisement Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Sunday issued fresh guidelines for the fourth phase of lockdown. The new guidelines issued by the Home Ministry on Sunday mention six types of standard operating protocols. Many of them are involved in human trafficking. Technavio has been monitoring the school stationery supplies market and it is poised to grow by USD 15.12 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005734/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global School Stationery Supplies Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. ACCO Brands Corp., ADVEO France SAS, BIC Group, ITC Ltd., Kokuyo Camlin Ltd., Newell Brands Inc., Pelikan International Corp. Berhad, PILOT Corp., STAEDTLER Mars GmbH Co. KG, and WH Smith Plc are some of the major market participants. The emphasis on product premiumization will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Emphasis on product premiumization has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. School Stationery Supplies Market 2020-2024: Segmentation School Stationery Supplies Market is segmented as below: Product Paper Products Computer And Daily Use Writing Instruments Geography APAC Europe North America South America MEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43722 School Stationery Supplies 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 school stationery supplies market report covers the following areas: School Stationery Supplies Market size School Stationery Supplies Market trends School Stationery Supplies Market industry analysis This study identifies a growing emphasis on omnichannel retail as one of the prime reasons driving the school stationery supplies market growth during the next few years. School Stationery Supplies Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the school stationery supplies market, including some of the vendors such as ACCO Brands Corp., ADVEO France SAS, BIC Group, ITC Ltd., Kokuyo Camlin Ltd., Newell Brands Inc., Pelikan International Corp. Berhad, PILOT Corp., STAEDTLER Mars GmbH Co. KG, and WH Smith Plc. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the school stationery supplies market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform School Stationery Supplies Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist school stationery supplies market growth during the next five years Estimation of the school stationery supplies market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the school stationery supplies market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of school stationery supplies market vendors Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five Force Summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Product Market segments Comparison by Product Paper products Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Computer and daily use Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Writing instruments Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by product Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024 North America 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 by geography Volume driver Demand led growth Market challenges Market trends Vendor Landscape Competitive scenario Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Industry risks Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors ACCO Brands Corp. ADVEO France SAS BIC Group ITC Ltd. Kokuyo Camlin Ltd. Newell Brands Inc. Pelikan International Corp. Berhad PILOT Corp. STAEDTLER Mars GmbH Co. KG WH Smith Plc Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005734/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ Russias President Vladimir Putin dismissed on Tuesday Armenias and Belaruss persistent calls for the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) to set uniform energy tariffs which would reduce the cost of Russian natural gas imported by them. Both ex-Soviet republics heavily dependent on Russian gas have been pressing for the creation of a single EEU market for natural gas and other fuel. It would essentially mean the same gas prices for gas-exporting Russia and the four other members of the Russian-led trade bloc. The Russian gas price for domestic consumers has always been significantly lower than for Armenia and even Belarus. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian insisted on the idea of uniform gas tariffs during a video conference with the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. A single market for energy resources functioning under non-discriminatory principles must be one of the foundations of our integration, he said. Qualitative progress in integration processes is impossible without it. It is impossible to ensure equal economic conditions for all participants of the union without it. Putin rejected the idea, implying that Yerevan and Minsk should agree to even deeper economic integration with Moscow before pushing it. As regards a common tariff for shipments and transit of gas proposed by our Armenian and Belarusian friends, we believe that it can be introduced only in a [broader] single market with a single budget and a single system of taxation, he said. As we know full well, such a deep level of integration within the EEU has not yet been achieved. In the meantime, gas prices must be set on the basis of market conditions I want to stress, my dear colleagues, that this is common international practice, added Putin. The leaders of Kyrgyzstan and hydrocarbon-rich Kazakhstan appeared to side with Putin on the issue. Pashinian and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko say that Moscow should cut the prices of gas delivered to their countries also because of the recent coronavirus-related collapse in global energy prices. Lukashenko complained last month Belarus is now paying more for Russian gas than European Union member states. For the same reason, the Armenian government urged Russias Gazprom giant in late March to cut its wholesale gas price for Armenia. The government hopes that such a move would at least prevent a sizable increase in internal Armenian gas prices sought by Armenias Gazprom-owned gas distribution network. The Gazprom Armenia network argues that they have remained unchanged since Gazprom raised its wholesale tariff by 10 percent in January 2019. The gas operator has incurred major losses as a result. A federal lawsuit filed this week alleges that students with autism are illegally being denied an education during the government-ordered coronavirus school shutdown. Read more Students with autism are illegally being denied an education during the government-ordered coronavirus school shutdown, a lawsuit filed this week alleges. The outcome of the lawsuit, seeking class-action status and filed in federal court in Philadelphia on behalf of two Bucks County children, could potentially affect thousands of disabled students. At its heart is a claim that Gov. Tom Wolf failed to name as life-sustaining services those that provide in-person education to nonverbal and partially verbal children with autism kids for whom online instruction and services are ineffective. Also named are Education Secretary Pedro Rivera and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which collectively have broken state and federal law and deprived severely disabled children of their right to a free and appropriate public education, according to the suit. The lawsuit comes as challenges mount against districts handling of special-education services during the pandemic. A class-action suit was filed in Hawaii last month. In New Jersey, some districts initially asked parents to waive legal rights before special-education students could receive remote special-education services, but a state Education Department order reversed that, saying the request was illegal. Betsy DeVos, the federal education secretary, opted not to ask Congress for a waiver exempting schools from special-education laws during coronavirus closures. READ MORE: Coronavirus has upended education for all children. For those with disabilities, the challenges are greater. Before the pandemic closed schools Wolf ordered all Pennsylvania schools shut for in-person instruction on March 16, and extended the closure for the remainder of the school year on April 9 James and Brennan, both 7-year-olds with autism attending school in the Central Bucks School District, spent 32 hours a week receiving educational and therapeutic services. At school, they received one-on-one services from a range of teachers, aides, and service providers. Each now receives just over an hour per week of online services. The children, both of whom use devices to communicate, are identified only by first names to preserve their privacy. Both boys are regressing, with their education at a standstill, said James J. Pepper, the lawyer representing the families. As things stand now, online learning is the only option for school districts, and its not cutting it for these kids, Pepper said. They are not receiving an education, and the state is responsible." ASK US: Do you have a question about the coronavirus and how it affects your health, work and life? Ask our reporters. Some private providers of educational services for children with autism are deemed life-sustaining and are providing one-on-one services during the pandemic, according to the suit. The families do not fault Central Bucks, whose teachers and therapists the suit lauds as having made heroic efforts to help both boys through online learning. But their disabilities mean that even such efforts cannot give the boys the education they are guaranteed by state and federal law. That the Wolf administration says two tobacco manufacturers, a hair-restoration business, and a fireworks warehouse are life-sustaining businesses while educational and therapeutic services for children with severe disabilities are not is illogical and illegal, according to the suit. The services and instruction children with autism receive at public schools in the commonwealth are inarguably life-sustaining.' This is especially true if the construction of a casino, the manufacture of cabinets, the manufacture of chocolates were all deemed as such by Governor Wolf." The pandemic is affecting all Pennsylvania public school students education negatively, but most children are resilient and can recover lost ground easily, Pepper said, while the stakes are highest for children like Brennan and James. It is literally impossible for nonverbal and partially verbal children to receive the education they are legally entitled to through online learning, said Pepper. And because of this, the defendants have left my clients and thousands of other children like them on the side of the road. The suit seeks compensatory damages, as well as a change directing the classification of services for nonverbal and partially verbal children as life-sustaining. A spokesperson for the state Education Department said officials had not received the suit yet and declined to comment on pending litigation. The Central government on Tuesday informed the Bombay High Court that state governments can now directly procure rapid antibody test kits from the 13 validated Indian companies to carry out surveillance testing for COVID-19. Earlier, these kits had to be procured through the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Justice R B Deo of the HC's Nagpur bench was hearing a petition filed by one Shrivaray Kulkarni that raised concerns about the manner in which COVID-19 patients were being tested at hospitals in Maharashtra's Amravati district. Additional Solicitor General A U Aurangabadkar informed the court that the ICMR had validated 13 Indian companies for manufacturing rapid antibody test kits and the state governments can procure these directly from them. "In view of this, the court expects Maharashtra to forthwith procure the kits from the companies whose products are validated by the ICMR. It is expected that the state government shall procure the kits without being fettered by either red-tapism or the standard operating procedure or protocol of inviting quotations/tenders," the court said. The court was told that at present it is unclear as to who will bear the cost of these kits. Justice Deo then said the state government's efforts at this stage should be result-centric and it could always pay and recover the cost later if the ICMR was responsible to bear the expenditure. "It is now beyond doubt that the rapid antibody test kits are needed at least for surveillance and preliminary screening and the availability thereof would assist the administration to combat the epidemic effectively," Justice Deo said. The petitioner informed the court that hospitals were not testing high-risk contacts of COVID-19 positive patients. The court noted that as per the affidavit filed by the Amravati Municipal Corporation, 16 high-risk contacts and 27 low-risk contacts of a COVID-19 patient was identified, but only eight throat swabs were taken for testing. "The Amravati Municipal Corporation and the Collector shall file an affidavit explaining why all high-risk contacts were not tested," the court directed and posted the matter for further hearing on May 26. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 06:18:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ALGIERS, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad on Tuesday highlighted the necessity to include Chinese among the foreign languages taught by different educational platforms in this North African nation. Attending the inauguration ceremony of a new TV channel named El Maarifa (knowledge), which is dedicated to offering distance learning, Djerad recommended teaching the Chinese language in the programs of this channel. "In addition to Arabic and French, I recommend to add English, and Chinese in particular, in the learning programs," Djerad said. "China is a world leading nation in the high tech sector, hence it's necessary for us to master the Chinese language, in a bid to learn more about this far away civilization, and thus reinforcing our strong bilateral relations," he said. The new channel, the first of its kind, will provide distance learning content to Algerian students at all levels and all specialties, including those preparing for final exams. This new TV channel broadcasts programs via Algeria's Alcomsat 1 satellite. Enditem BARCELONA, SPAINEvery five days, Daniel Ordonez opens 1,400 pipe taps in a waterfront hotel here in Barcelona that locals call The Sail because of its shape. Each tap has to run for about five minutes, so the task takes him a full day. Its probably the most boring part of my job, but its needed, he said, to avoid a form of pneumonia that can be spread by bacteria in the water: Legionnaires disease. Ordonez, who is in charge of maintenance at the hotel, has been its sole continuous occupant for the past two months, wandering its ghostly halls because of another illness that has ravaged the country and the globe: COVID-19. When the hotel closed in mid-March as part of a countrywide lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Ordonez, an industrial engineer, agreed to self-isolate inside in order to avoid any deterioration of the premises that could delay its reopening, whenever that might be. He now lives alone on the 24th floor, which gives him an unrivalled view of the city, its beaches and the Mediterranean. At the start, I thought I would be here for about two weeks, said Ordonez, who is single. But now its been eight, with no clear end in sight. Arguably Barcelonas most emblematic luxury lodging, the W Hotel stands 99 metres tall and 27 storeys high, dominating the citys waterfront. Some might find walking its deserted corridors, peering into its vacated salons, or dining alone on a plate of fried chicken and vegetables cooked in a cavernous restaurant kitchen unsettling, but Ordonez does not. Its been a bit weird to watch my few socks spin inside the washing machine of a huge laundry room, but Ive now also had time to get used to that, he said with a wry smile in a recent interview with a visitor from a safe distance. With an official death toll of just over 27,000, Spain has been one of the European countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. This month, the government in Madrid started to gradually ease lockdown restrictions in order to return the country to what Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calls the new normalcy by late June. But there is no indication of when Spain will recuperate losses from a tourism industry that accounted for 12 per cent of its economy last year. As of last week, foreign visitors face a 14-day quarantine upon arrival, a measure that will be maintained as long as necessary to avoid imported cases that could annul the gains of the domestic lockdown efforts, the Spanish health minister, Salvador Illa, warned Tuesday. Ordonez, 37, left behind a house on the outskirts of Barcelona to take up room in the grand hotel and continue his maintenance duties. Still, he said, he would stay as long as needed in a hotel where he knows every nook and cranny, from its ventilation shafts to its underground storage areas. This was already my second home before the lockdown, he said. The lockdowns and border closures imposed around the globe to limit the spread of the coronavirus left many people stranded in unlikely locations, including two friends who hunkered down in an empty London pub or a couple on an extended honeymoon in the Maldives. Many wealthy people fled big cities, finding a haven in their countryside homes or even a wellness centre on Bali. But the Barcelona hotels decision to ask Ordonez to stay inside highlights a different issue: infrastructures that need looking after, even when business has ground to a halt. Barcelona, one of Europes main tourism destinations, drew almost 12 million visitors last year. Before the coronavirus hit, residents and politicians had been debating the impact of this record tourism influx, including issues like the flood of day-trippers disembarking from cruise ships and the proliferation of Airbnb apartments that raised property prices in central Barcelona. Now, the absence of tourists has left Barcelona and other vacation destinations across Spain facing an ominous economic threat. Exceltur, a Spanish tourism lobby, forecast in March that Spains tourism revenues would fall by at least 55 billion euros nearly $60 billion (U.S.) this year. If countries like Spain, Italy and Greece are now also not going to get a summer tourism season, the countries in the north will also suffer because they will face a much larger European bailout, said Bary Pradelski, an associate professor of economics at the National Centre for Scientific Research in France. He has been advocating for holiday travel to resume rapidly at least between regions within the European Union with a very low risk of infection. Travel is big business for the EU, of which Spain is a member (tourism accounts for 10 per cent of the blocs gross economic output). Free movement across borders is also a core element of life in an interconnected continent. In a bid to salvage the summer tourism season, the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, recommended last week that countries with similar levels of coronavirus outbreaks should ease travel restrictions. The commission said this should ultimately lead to a restoration of free movement among the blocs 27 member states. But its advice is not binding, and each member is likely to stick to its own policies. One night in the penthouse at the W Hotel in Barcelona can cost as much as 13,500 euros (about $14,660). The hotels management declined to discuss the financial consequences of keeping the suite and its other 472 rooms closed since March, but a couple of weeks ago, its parent company, Marriott, reported a slump in first-quarter earnings. Marriott also said that its revenue per available room fell 90 per cent in April. On his own in the hotel, Ordonez, who is normally in charge of a crew of 20 maintenance workers, has faced some challenges such as trying to fix something while standing on a stepladder. Occasionally, he has called on the help of the only other person on duty in the building: a rotating guard who monitors the hotels security cameras from a basement control room. (The guard does not sleep in the hotel.) But there is an upside to working in a deserted space, Ordonez said. This month, he tested the hotels public address system without worrying about disturbing the clientele. A fair share of our time normally involves responding to customer complaints, he said. This issue has certainly gone away for now. Early in Spains lockdown, with the country reeling from an increasing death toll and escalating economic devastation, Ordonez decided to do more than test the taps: he adjusted the curtains and lighting in some rooms to create a giant heart on the hotels facade. It became a beacon of solidarity with the countrys health-care professionals. Since the waterfront promenade reopened this month, residents have been taking selfies in front of the heart. It felt like a great way of connecting with what is going on outside, Ordonez said. Read more about: P rince William has urged frontline workers to talk about their mental health as they help the UK fight coronavirus. In a video message, the Duke of Cambridge urged emergency service staff, care home employees and ambulance workers to "take care of yourself too". The message comes after Prince William and wife Kate promised to make campaigning on mental health their "top priority" in the coming months. Prince William was speaking for the Our Frontline Initiative, supported by the prince's charity foundation for emergency workers who may be suffering from mental health issues. Prince William and Kate Middleton / PA He said in a video posted on the Our Frontline Twitter account: I want to say a huge thank you from myself and Catherine for all you are doing to keep everyone safe. You and your families are making huge sacrifices, and we want you to know that the whole country is enormously proud of you. The challenges you are facing, day in, day out, are unprecedented. Even in normal circumstances, frontline work can take its toll not just on your physical health, but also on your mental wellbeing. From my time with the air ambulance, I know all too well how determined frontline workers are to put a brave face on and keep going. Kate and William share a message for Mental Health Week William has worked as an air ambulance pilot and has spoken out about how the pressures of the job sometimes took a toll on his mental health - causing him "enormous sadness". He added in the Our Frontline video: When you spend all day taking care of others it is easy to forget that you need to take care of yourself too. But its OK to say when youre not feeling OK. There is support available to you, if and when you need it. Our Frontline was launched a few weeks ago by mental health charities Mind, Samaritans and Shout, as well as Hospice UK and the Royal Foundation. WASHINGTON, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 15, 2020, Sarah Cusick, a Hearing & Speech Assistant at MedStar's Washington Hospital Center, filed suit against MedStar and the Washington Hospital Center (WHC), D.C. Superior Court Case No. 2020 CA 002531 B, for wrongfully terminating her employment because she reported the Hospital's failure to protect patients and staff under federal and District of Columbia protocols. Among the problems she reported between March 9 and March 18, 2020, were that WHC failed to provide staff with personal protective equipment (PPE), to screen patients and visitors for COVID-19 symptoms, to reschedule non-emergent appointments and appointments for high-risk patients, to practice social distancing in the Hospital's cafeteria, or to adequately train staff on COVID-19 protocols. After her supervisors failed to take action to address these problems, Ms. Cusick posted videos on Twitter that showed that Hospital personnel failed to follow D.C. and federal guidelines on screening and social distancing protocols. Immediately after she posted her videos, the Hospital terminated her employment on the ground that her posts were damaging to MedStar's "brand." Ms. Cusick's case is the latest in a series of whistleblower lawsuits brought by healthcare workers whose employers retaliated against them after they reported safety issues. As one example, a nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital alleged in her suit that the hospital terminated her based on her reports of ineffective PPE. Lynne Bernabei, one of Ms. Cusick's counsel, stated that employees like Ms. Cusick are risking their lives every day to give life-saving treatment to COVID-19 patients. This is the time for hospitals, such as the Washington Hospital Center, to protect its healthcare providers, who protect all the rest of us in society. Ms. Cusick is represented by Lynne Bernabei, Alan Kabat, and Devin Wrigley of Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC. A copy of the complaint will be provided upon request. Contact: Lynne Bernabei, Esquire (202) 302-2247 [email protected] Devin Wrigley, Esquire (240) 418-0794 [email protected] SOURCE Bernabei & Kabat, PLLC Related Links bernabeipllc.com China-made machine guns boost weaponry capabilities for combat vehicles, boats, and helicopters Global Times Source:Globaltimes.cn Published: 2020/5/19 2:46:37 China's newest Gatling-style machine guns are expected to provide light combat vehicles, motor boats, and helicopters with heavier firepower. One model features six 7.62mm caliber barrels and can shoot 6,000 rounds per minute, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Sunday. The independently developed weapon, comparable to the US-made Minigun, has been used on various combat vehicles including light armor tanks and quad bikes, according to CCTV. China recently finished developing a more powerful version. With three -12.7mm caliber barrels, the upgrade has the highest round-per-minute at 2,000, and a bigger cartridge that can hold 400 bullets, making it more powerful than regular large-caliber machine guns, CCTV said. Last year, China revealed the Z-20, the country's most advanced utility helicopter. The chopper is expected to become the main combat aircraft of the Chinese Army's aerial assault brigades, Shanghai-based news website eastday.com reported on Sunday. The Chinese-made Gatling guns could be installed on the Z-20, which would allow it to provide firepower support for assault ground troops, the report also said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Australia's trade minister said Tuesday that his country does not want a trade war with China, but maintained Beijing had erred by imposing stiff tariffs on Australian barley in what is widely seen as punishment for advocating an investigation into the coronavirus pandemic. China effectively ended imports of Australian barley by putting tariffs of more than 80% on the crop, accusing Australia of breaching World Trade Organization rules by subsidizing barley production and selling the crop in China at below production costs. The move came a week after China banned beef imports from Australia's four largest abattoirs over labeling issues. Australia is not interested in a trade war. We don't pursue our trade policies on a tit-for-tat basis, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told reporters. We operate according to the trade rules that we strongly support. Birmingham said China has made errors of both fact and law in applying WTO rules, adding that there was no evidence that Australia was engaged in dumping of products. The trade dispute has coincided with Australia's push for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and responses to it. Beijing has denied they are related. The World Health Organization bowed to calls Monday from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the virus, which was first found in China late last year. The evaluation would stop short of looking into contentious issues such as the origins of the virus. Chinese President Xi Jinping said China supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19 and it should be based on science and professionalism led by WHO, and conducted in an objective and impartial manner. Australia has been seen as a leader in rallying global support for an inquiry, attracting Chinese criticism that it is parroting the United States and inviting a Chinese boycott of exports and services. The Chinese Embassy in Australia said Tuesday that the WHO consensus reached by its decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, in Geneva did not vindicate Australian calls for an investigation. The draft resolution on COVID-19 to be adopted by the World Health Assembly is totally different from Australia's proposal of an independent international review, an embassy statement said. To claim the WHA's resolution a vindication of Australia's call is nothing but a joke, the statement added. Weihuan Zhou, a University of New South Wales international trade expert, said China began its barley investigation in 2018 in response to Australia imposing anti-dumping duties on Chinese steel and aluminum. But Zhou said he suspects the Chinese decisions on beef and barley are because of Australia's advocacy for the coronavirus investigation. His suspicion was bolstered by China's decision to set the anti-dumping tax at 73.6% far higher than the 56% that Chinese industry had requested. Beijing also imposed a 6.9% anti-subsidy tax. Birmingham said he understood why people drew the link between trade and Australia's coronavirus stance given Chinese Ambassador Cheng Jingye's unhelpful comments in a newspaper interview last month. Cheng told The Australian Financial Review that Australia might face a Chinese boycott of its tourism and exports of wine, beef and other goods if the government pressed for a coronavirus inquiry. China is the No. 1 market for Australian beef, accounting for about 30% of exports. Others can debate whether or not there's a linkage, Birmingham said. Beijing has regularly used access to its huge market as leverage against governments from Norway to Canada in political disputes over the past decade. Chinese officials routinely refuse to confirm a trade disruption is related to a political clash but make it clear Beijing wants concessions. Australian barley farmer Andrew Weidemann said the tariff barrier stops the trade completely with Australia's biggest customer. It's a really bitter pill to swallow, Weidemann said. It's a real dent in our economy and it will have a big impact. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) When the UK went into lockdown, thousands of customer-facing businesses found themselves obsolete overnight. Hairdressers, masseurs and gyms how could they possibly cater for customers virtually? But for one area of the self-care industry, it quickly became clear that, while not without its challenges, the remote revolution could keep the industry alive. In homes all over the UK, people discovered that they didnt have to stop seeing their therapist they could take their sessions online instead. For those who need urgent psychiatric care, or are experiencing a mental health crisis, even during lockdown there are still options to see NHS staff face-to-face (albeit with extra measures in place, such as personal protective equipment). Click here to find your local NHS urgent mental health 24-hour helpline. For everyone else, telephone and virtual video sessions are now widely available. Hilda Burke, psychotherapist and author of The Phone Addiction Workbook, says: While theres no substitute for being in the same room with a therapist, there are, of course, cases where face-to-face therapy isnt an option whether thats for financial or geographic reasons. More recently, in the past three months, the Covid-19 global pandemic has rendered online therapy a life saver for many. UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) accredited psychotherapist Henry Adeane adds: Phone and Zoom therapy will be around forever now to a much greater degree. And I think thats a good thing. Thats not to say that digital sessions are preferable to face-to-face work, or that the former isnt substantially different to the latter. But the technology means that, until lockdown restrictions are significantly eased, those needing to talk through their issues with a professional are still able to do so. Heres everything you need to know about getting the most out of online or telephone therapy. What are the challenges of telephone and online therapy? These are different depending on the medium. Telephone therapy, as well as eliminating cues from body language and facial expressions, also poses a challenge when it comes to the art of silence. It can be dismaying for a client, says Adeane. Theyre talking and then they stop and the therapist might wait for a little while. In face-to-face sessions, the therapist might often give a natural moment of silence to reflect on whats been said, and the client can tell they are attending to them respectfully and empathically. But when they cant see you, it can feel a bit frightening; the client becomes worried that the therapist isnt there, or that theyre not listening, or the phones gone dead. Video therapy eliminates this issue, but the technology can be harder to manage. For instance, if the therapist or clients broadband connection is unstable, frustrations can quickly arise from frozen screens and unheard revelations. And with both mediums there are issues around privacy and the therapeutic space itself. Finding a confidential space can be tough for some clients, says Oliver Jarvis, a therapist with a private practice in North London. Sometimes people want to talk about somebody they live with, or to share something deeply personal that they dont want others around them to overhear. He adds that, for face-to-face sessions, the therapist creates a therapeutic space that the client associates with the work one that they are able to physically leave behind at the end of a session. With distance therapy, theyre still in the same space where they might just have had a revelation, sometimes a painful one, and that can be challenging. Which is better: telephone or online therapy? It really is down to whatever makes you as the client feel most comfortable. That being said, the experts tend to prefer working over a video app such as Zoom or Skype. My preference is video, says Adeane. Its a better experience for both the therapist and the client. Youre connecting when you can see each other. Celebrities including will.i.am, Laura Whitmore and Phillip Schofield star in Mental Health Awareness Week video Jarvis agrees that the visual aspect of a video session is beneficial: Theres so much of our communication that isnt done just by words, and sometimes it can be therapeutic for the therapist to notice something, he says. For example, if the client starts crying, having someone acknowledge that can give permission for the emotion theyre experiencing. Are there any benefits to remote therapy? In some cases, the informality and removed nature of working remotely can actually enable them to be more vulnerable. I have a few clients whove previously found it quite difficult to open up in face-to-face sessions, says Jarvis. Theyve opted for telephone rather than video therapy, and its become easier for them to share what theyre experiencing it feels like its the technological equivalent of the analytic couch [where the client cant see the therapist]. How can I get the most out of a session? First and foremost, a confidential space is key somewhere private where you feel able to truly open up. This can be difficult during lockdown depending on your living situation. Adeane says that some of his clients use their cars, while Jarvis recommends asking housemates or family members to occupy themselves in another room during your therapy sessions. Make as much of a consistent ritual out of it as possible Hilda Burke adds: Many of my clients take their phone outdoors as they dont want to run the risk of a partner of child overhearing their conversation. She also recommends shutting down all other devices and notifications so that you can be fully present. As a step on from this, getting the room set up so it resembles a therapeutic space can be helpful. Adeane recommends ensuring a box of tissues and glass of water are near to hand, plus putting a clock somewhere visible so you are aware of the time boundary. Make as much of a consistent ritual out of it as possible, says Jarvis. Have a space thats designated for therapy it could be as simple as a certain spot on the sofa and make it as comfortable and with as few distractions as possible. From a technological perspective, making sure computer software updates are taken care of in advance, and that whatever video platform youre using is up to date, is a simple way of ensuring things go smoothly. Finding a stable platform on which to rest your device and raising it so the camera is at eye level is also helpful, says Adeane, as it gives the impression that client and therapist are making eye contact. Jarvis adds that choosing to hide self-view so that the client can only see the therapist and vice versa is good practice, as it means you dont get distracted by looking at yourself on the screen. The ritual of travelling to and from therapy may be lost, but that doesnt mean we shouldnt try to replicate it somehow. Jarvis recommends setting aside time either side of a session to go into the space and settle yourself before therapy begins, and then give yourself room to evaluate your emotions afterwards even if its just five minutes. Finally, Burke advises planning a future in-person session: If youre starting therapy now, make sure to arrange with your therapist to do a face-to-face session once lockdown restrictions have been eased there really is no substitute for being in the room together. How can I find a therapist? Professor Sarah Niblock, CEO of the UKCP, advises ensuring a potential therapist is accredited by a reputable organisation, whose members are highly trained and regulated. Whatever the medium of delivery, the clients welfare is sacrosanct so please make sure you are selecting a highly trained professional to support you, she says. 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Show all 16 1 /16 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Stormzy Stormzy told Channel 4 in 2017 that by opening up about his depression he hoped to help others. "I think for them to see I went through it would help," the BRIT-award-winning musician said. "For a long time I used to think that soldiers dont go through that. You know? Like, strong people in life, the bravest, the most courageous people, they dont go through that, they just get on with it...and thats not the case." Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Robert Pattinson Twilight star Robert Pattinson told The Telegraph he struggled with depression for a period of time. 'I had a bit of a struggle at first because my life really contracted and I couldn't do a lot of the stuff I used to be able to do." He advised aspiring Hollywood actors to "take care" of your mental health. "If you get as famous as quickly as I did, your personal growth stops suddenly. Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Michael Phelps Former American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, experienced periods of depression and suicidal feelings. He told Today in 2018: "After years and years and years of just shoving every negative, bad feeling down to the point where I mean, I just didn't even feel it anymore...and for me, that sent me down a spiral staircase real quick and like I said, I found myself in a spot where I didn't want to be alive anymore." Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Zayn Malik Zayn Malik told The Sunday Times Style magazine about suffering with an eating disorder and anxiety. "Were all human. People are often afraid to admit difficulties, but I dont believe that there should be a struggle with anything thats the truth," said the former One Direction singer. "If you were a guy, you used to have to be really masculine, but now expressing emotion is accepted and respected. Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Will Young Singer Will Young has spoken about his experience with suicidal thoughts. "There's a part of my brain that is telling me that you're about to die, [so] you either shut down, freeze or you run. The only thing I can do is go to bed." He said that without the help of his therapist he probably would have been successful in his suicide attempts. I have so many mental thoughts in my head: Youre never going to sing again. That was a s*** dance move. Theyre hating you. Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Professor Green After his father took his own life in 2008, rapper Professor Green started speaking openly about his mental health problems and the pressure on men to be strong. We have to figure out a way that men can talk to one another and figure out how to make themselves feel better, he told theiNews. Although he is pleased to "start conversations" Green warns how becoming a mental health spokesperson can be high pressure. Its difficult because sometimes youre having a great day, then someone comes up and tells you something absolutely horrific; Im not a psychologist and its really hard." Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Donald Glover American actor, comedian, writer and musician Donald Glover, who performs under the name Childish Gambino told Vice in 2013 he'd been through periods of depression following the end of his tour. "I was just super depressed. I mean, I tried to kill myself. I was really fucked up after that [tour], because I had this girl that I thought I was going to marry and we broke up. I didnt feel like I knew what I was doing. I wasnt living up to my standard, I was living up to other peoples standards, and I just said I dont see the point'. Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Shawn Mendes Shawn Mendes told People magazine that talking about his mental health problems was the "scariest" thing he's ever done. "I still struggle with it but just remember every day that everyone deals with some level of anxiety or pressure; we're all in it together." He told The Sun in 2018: "All pain is temporary, and the thing is with anxiety, and why it's such a hard thing for people who don't have it to understand." Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Jim Carrey Comedian and actor Jim Carrey told iNews that he had struggled with depression throughout his life. At this point, I dont have depression. I had that for years, but now, when the rain comes, it rains, but it doesnt stay. It doesnt stay long enough to immerse me and drown me anymore. Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Pete Wentz Fall Out Boy frontman Pete Wentz has spoken openly about his bipolar disorder diagnosis and other mental health problems. He said that it took him to reach breaking point before asking for help. "My best piece of advice, more than anything, is that there's other people out there that feel [suicidal], or are feeling that right at that time," he said. "Maybe your favorite actor, or a guy in a band, or whoever, there are people who feel that exact same thing and have made it through that. I would say more than anything, you're not alone in it." Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Jon Hamm "I struggled with chronic depression," Mad Men star Jon Hamm told The Guardian in 2010. "I did do therapy and antidepressants for a brief period, which helped me." Hamm said medication helped change his "brain chemistry" enough so he could get out of bed. "I don't want to sleep until four in the afternoon. I want to get up and go do my shit and go to work," he says. Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Rob Delaney Catastrophe actor and comedian Rob Delaney, who lost his son Henry to brain cancer in January 2018, said he has long struggled with depression and encouraged others in the same position to seek help. "Asking for help is strong because it leads directly to staying alive," he says. "Not asking for help is as fear-based a decision as a human being can make and can lead you swiftly in a bad direction. It's not exaggerating to say that path can end in death." Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Dwayne Johnson has spoken on numerous occasions about mental health. On ITV's Lorraine Kelly he said: "Depression doesn't discriminate, and I thought that was an important part of the narrative if I was going to share a little bit of my story of the past. Regardless of who you are or what you do for a living or where you come from, it doesn't discriminate, we all kind of go through it. If I could share a little bit of it and if I could help somebody, I'm happy to do it." Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Ryan Reynolds "I have anxiety, I've always had anxiety," the Deadpool actor told the New York Times in 2018. "Both in the lighthearted Im anxious about this kind of thing, and Ive been to the depths of the darker end of the spectrum, which is not fun. Reynolds said he went through a period of partying to try and make himself "vanish" in some way and would frequently suffer with anxiety-related insomnia. Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Bruce Springsteen Bruce 'The Boss' Springsteen told Esquire magazine in 2018 that although he wouldn't describe himself as being mentally unwell, he has "come close enough" and takes medication to cope. "Im on a variety of medications that keep me on an even keel; otherwise I can swing rather dramatically and the wheels can come off a little bit. Rex Features 16 male celebrities who have spoken about mental health Prince Harry Prince Harry has been a vocal supporter of mental health campaigns like 'Time To Talk'. He also has spoken openly about his own problems following the death of his mother, Princess Diana. He told The Telegraph: I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions when all sorts of grief and sort of lies and misconceptions and everything are coming to you from every angle." Harry said there was "huge merit" in talking about your issues and keeping quiet only makes things worse. Rex Features She emphasises the need to carry on with therapy if you were having face-to-face sessions before lockdown started as stopping therapy suddenly is not advised; for new clients, Professor Niblock says: It is a good idea to speak to a number of therapists to find the best fit for you. Your therapist will work with you to find the best way to communicate with maximum privacy depending on your particular circumstances. Both the UKCP and British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) have directories of trained psychotherapists and counsellors. When will face-to-face therapy sessions be possible again? Whatever the medium of delivery, the clients welfare is sacrosanct so please make sure you are selecting a highly trained professional to support you The government website states that the NHS is open for medical services, including services relating to mental health. However, the website also urges people to continue to work from home when possible, while indoor meetings with individuals you do not live with are still not allowed. As of now, in-person therapy sessions are likely to resume by 21 June. San Francisco Supervisor Gordon Mar is introducing a proposal for the November ballot on Tuesday that would carve out a new city office dedicated solely to investigating and rooting out government corruption and the waste of taxpayer money. Mars proposal, an amendment to the City Charter, would create the Office of the Public Advocate, an independently elected watchdog with broad authority to issue subpoenas, conduct investigations and introduce legislation all in the service of ensuring accountability within city government. Proponents of a similar measure tried to create a public advocate office in 2016, but the measure failed by fewer than five percentage points. But the still-smoldering public corruption scandal touched off by the FBIs arrest of former Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru created the impetus for myself and other good-government advocates to revisit the public advocate proposal, Mar said. The latest scandal just highlights that we need structural reform to address casual corruption and pay-to-play politics, and to make the city more accountable and transparent, Mar said. It shouldnt take an FBI investigation by the Trump administration to root out local corruption. And while federal investigators have a much more far-reaching set of tools for criminal probes such as phone taps and confidential informants, which they employed while investigating Nuru if we had a public advocate, it wouldnt have taken decades for Director Nurus wrongdoing to be addressed, Mar argued. Nuru has been charged with fraud in connection with several alleged schemes, the Justice Department alleges, to give associates preferential treatment on bids for city contracts and building projects. Jeff Chiu / Associated Press Under Mars proposal, the citys public advocate could be elected for up to two consecutive four-year terms, but there would be no limit on non-consecutive terms. Candidates would also have to have been licensed to practice law in all of the states courts for at least a decade. Mar needs a total of at least six votes from his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to put the measure on the November ballot. If it passes, the city would vote for its first public advocate in November 2022, barring an unforeseen special citywide election. Mar would then have to convince voters that the city needs another office with a minimum of four staff members at a time when it is facing down an unprecedented budget deficit of up to $1.7 billion. In 2016, the City Controllers Office estimated that a four-person staff for the office would cost $600,000 to $800,000 annually. Mar said the proposal was crafted with the citys financial woes in mind. The public advocates work cutting down on waste and fraud would help us save money over time, he said. There is also a question of how the public advocates work would harmonize with multiple agencies across city government tasked with investigating municipal corruption, fraud and waste. The City Attorneys Office, Controllers Office, the Ethics Commission and the District Attorneys Office all have anti-corruption divisions. But unlike those agencies, Mar said the public advocate would have the benefit of focusing exclusively on government corruption and waste, rather than as one division within an office with a broader mandate. This will be the sole responsibility of the office to investigate and eliminate corruption and the waste of taxpayer money and abuse of power, Mar said. Given the breadth and depth of casual corruption and pay-to-play politics that continues to plague our city government, we need structural reform to address it. David Campos, a former supervisor and the main proponent of the failed 2016 effort, said a public advocate brings a proactive, not reactive, eye to city operations. When it comes to existing offices, their job is to look backward at what happened. Theyre not so focused on whats happening today, he said. Mar said his office was still working out the details for how the public advocates responsibilities would complement not duplicate the work of existing offices. 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. With his public advocate proposal, Mar is also walking a fine line of calling for structural reform of existing city anti-corruption efforts without indicting the work of agencies doing that work. Supervisor Matt Haneys call for an independent investigation into the Nuru allegations privately rankled officials in the City Attorney and Controllers offices who are jointly conducting an internal investigation into city corruption, stemming from the Nuru allegations. John Cote, a spokesman for the City Attorneys Office, said the office would not take a position on Mars legislation. I would simply point out that our offices track record of rooting out waste, fraud and corruption is unparalleled, Cote said, before ticking off a list of the offices accomplishments over the past few years, often in partnership with the city controller. In the past two years, internal investigations have led to the ousters of former Health Director Barbara Garcia; the former director of the Department of Building Inspection, Tom Hui; and the former president of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Vince Courtney. We have issued two dozen subpoenas in the Nuru investigation alone, Cote said. That investigation is thorough, comprehensive and ongoing. Mar said, In no way is the public advocate proposal meant to imply that our existing city departments are not doing their jobs adequately. Dominic Fracassa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: dfracassa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - West Red Lake Gold Mines Inc. (CSE: RLG) (OTCQB: RLGMF) (FSE: HYK) ("West Red Lake Gold" or the "Company") announces exploration plans on its West Red Lake Project property located in the prolific Red Lake Gold District, Northwestern Ontario, Canada. West Red Lake Gold plans to initiate a 3,000 metre exploration drill program on the NT Zone during mid June to follow up on the positive results announced on January 15, 2020. Several holes will be drilled below the drill holes of the previous drill program with the purpose of extending gold mineralization to greater depths. Additional exploration drill holes are also planned to extend the NT Zone gold mineralization 150m to 250m further along strike to the north-east. West Red Lake Gold plans to focus exploration drilling on the southern 1 kilometer ("km") portion of the 2 km long NT Zone, initially between surface and 200 metres depth. Exploration work on the northern portion of the NT Zone will also take place. The geology of the northern portion is more complex due to folding and the presence of intrusive rocks, which together provide attractive exploration potential in the area. The NT Zone, which is located on the Rowan Joint Venture portion of the West Red Lake Project, trends north-east from the south property boundary for a distance of 2 kms to where this regional scale structure intersects with the east-west trending Pipestone Bay St Paul Deformation Zone. The area of planned exploration work on the southern portion of the NT Zone is located approximately 800 metres south of the former Rowan Mine. The NT Zone is a large-scale alteration/deformation zone. The scale and style of the iron-carbonate alteration within the NT Zone is interpreted to be associated with large multi-stage hydrothermal systems. Gold mineralization in the NT Zone is associated with silica/sulphide replacement of the iron-carbonate zones within altered volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Mr. John Kontak, President of West Red Lake Gold Mines stated "The upcoming exploration drilling at the gold-bearing NT Zone provides a good opportunity for the expansion of the gold mineralization on the property. We are looking forward to exploration drilling in 2020 on this attractive gold property." The Rowan Mine property is situated in the Red Lake Archean Greenstone Belt which hosts the high-grade gold mines of the Red Lake Gold District. Twenty kms to the east of the Company property are the world class Red Lake Mine and Campbell Mine, which have a geologically similar setting illustrating the exploration potential for high-grade gold zones on the Company's West Red Lake Project - which hosts three former gold mines. The Company also announces that options have been granted to consultants of the Company to purchase, in aggregate, 1,900,000 common shares in the capital of the Company at an exercise price of $0.10 per common share for a period of 24 months. Technical Information The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Kenneth Guy, P.Geo., a consultant to West Red Lake Gold and the Qualified Person for exploration at the West Red Lake Project, as defined by National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" ("NI 43-101"). West Red Lake Gold Mines is a Toronto-based minerals exploration company focused on gold exploration and development in the prolific Red Lake Gold District of Northwest Ontario, Canada. The Red Lake Gold District is host to some of the richest gold deposits in the world and has produced 30 million ounces of gold from high grade zones. The Company has assembled a significant property position totalling 3,100 hectares in west Red Lake (the "West Red Lake Project") which contains three former gold mines. The Mount Jamie Mine and Red Summit Mine properties are 100% owned by the Company and the Rowan Mine property is held in a joint venture with Evolution Mining Limited. The West Red Lake Project property covers a 12 kilometre strike length along the Pipestone Bay St Paul Deformation Zone and the Company plans to continue to explore the property both along strike and to depth. For more information, please contact: John Kontak, President Phone: 416-203-9181 Email: jkontak@rlgold.ca The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Certain statements contained in this news release constitute "forward looking statements". When used in this document, the words "anticipated", "expect", "estimated", "forecast", "planned", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements or information. These statements are based on current expectations of management, however, they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this news release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements. West Red Lake Gold Mines does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward- looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date hereof, except as required by securities laws. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56059 Flowers at front of house as officer collects evidence Police carry out a search at the scene of the attack A 57-year-old man who was murdered in west Belfast was gunned down in front of his two horrified daughters. Kieran Wylie was shot several times at close range in a house in Lenadoon Avenue around 10pm on Sunday. Two of his children aged 16 and 28 witnessed the barbaric slaying, which has left the local community in shock. Detectives on Monday night said they are investigating a potential dissident republican connection to the killing involving two gunmen, who are understood to have been on foot. Read More Local residents tried to help the victim but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Detective Chief Inspector Darren McCartney said the victim was known to the PSNI. He added that Mr Wylie had been previously informed by police he was "under threat". "Certainly one of the lines of inquiry we are investigating is that there is a violent dissident republican motive towards this murder," said DCI McCartney. He also said his thoughts were with Mr Wylie's family, particularly his two children who had witnessed the "brutal" shooting. "The lifelong effect of what they witnessed last night are unimaginable," he said. Those involved in this murder selfishly gave no thought to the impact on front line emergency services who are already working hard to keep people safe during this global pandemic with an already stretched resource Detective Chief Inspector Darren McCartney "This was a brutal killing and I believe Kieran was shot a number of times at close range." White boilersuited police forensics officers combed the scene for clues on Monday. DCI McCartney said the community was shocked at what had happened. "Those involved in this murder selfishly gave no thought to the impact on front line emergency services who are already working hard to keep people safe during this global pandemic with an already stretched resource," he said. "They also showed a complete disregard for the community. "Those involved in this appalling murder offer nothing to the local community and need to be brought to justice. "Nothing justifies killing another person and the recovery of the gun that was used in last night's murder is a key line of inquiry for me." He appealed for anyone with information to contact police and said he was making the major incident public portal available, which can be accessed here. It can be accessed from any device with internet access, and videos and images can be uploaded on to it. A source told the Belfast Telegraph: "This poor man was murdered in cold blood in front of his daughters. It was a despicable, atrocious act. "Something like this can never be justified. The local community don't want this on their doorsteps." There were flowers in the window of the smartly-painted terraced property where Mr Wylie lost his life in the horrendous late night attack. Justice Minister Naomi Long condemned the "senseless and brutal murder" and offered her "deepest sympathies to the family". "There is no place for the gun in our society and those responsible for this appalling crime have left a family grieving and a community in shock," Mrs Long said. "Our first responders are dealing with an unprecedented health emergency and are trying to protect and save lives. "It is beyond comprehension why anyone would divert them from those lifesaving duties at this or any other time." First Minister Arlene Foster and Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill both condemned the murder. West Belfast MP Paul Maskey told the Belfast Telegraph that the community was "shocked and angered" by the horrific incident, which "came out of the blue". Local SDLP councillor Brian Heading called for a halt to such "senseless violence". Updated Date: 11 July 2020, 22:19 A Truck driver was pulled on Saturday for lunch 3.19 per thousand breath-alcohol limit on the motorway in Rhineland-Palatinate from the traffic. After a witness noticed the unsafe manner of driving by the 47-Year-old, he informed the police. The witness remained behind the tractor and steered to the car by the officials, via mobile phone to the load. The officers stopped the driver, then on the A65 towards Landau at the connection Haloch centre. The National Coordinator of the One-district, one-factory (1D1F) programme, Mrs. Gifty Ohene-Konadu, has inspected progress of a new factory being set up by beverage giant, Kasapreko, in the Ashanti Regional town of Tanoso (Atwima Nwabiagya District). Set upon a 10,000-metre square property, the yet-to-be-commissioned structure, which is almost completed and has already commenced production of a number of Kasapreko brands, and will augment operations at the current Tanoso manufacturing complex, producing an estimated 85,000 bottles of various products by the company. The new Tanoso complex is part of government's flagship One-district, one-factory initiative, which assisted the beverage company to access a $20 million Eximbank loan for the construction of the project, which is expected to create 3,000 direct and indirect jobs for the youth, particularly inhabitants of the area. Completion of the multi-purpose facility, which was commenced in January, comes a full month ahead of schedule. Following her tour of the multi-million-dollar facility, Mrs. Ohene-Konadu stated how impressed she was by Kasapreko, at the expeditious completion of the project. She was particularly pleasantly surprised when it was communicated to her that production of some of the company's best-known items had already started. Kasapreko CEO, Mr. Richrad Adjei, on his part, expressed how profoundly grateful his outfit was to the government of Ghana for the 1D1F initiative, whose proactiveness has ensured the realisation of this new frontier by Kasapreko. Set up three decades ago at Nungua in Accra, Kasapreko is today, the largest producer of carbonated soft drinks and alcohol in the country, and boasts of the most diverse product range for variant consumer preferences. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video In one episode, ex-president Poroshenko discussed Yuriy Lutsenko as a candidate to replace Shokin. Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach on May 19 made public leaked audio recordings of phone conversations held by former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State John Kerry with ex-President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. At a press event held in Kyiv on Tuesday, Derkach said U.S. officials asked that Petro Poroshenko ensure the dismissal of the-then Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin. One of the conversations on the said issues was allegedly recorded on December 3, 2015, where the voice that's purportedly John Kerry's is heard saying: "I just wanted to try to urge you to see if there's a way to get by this problem of replacing the prosecutor general, you know, [Viktor] Shokin because per my perception, he's blocked the cleanup of the Prosecutor General's Office," said Kerry. The next audio recording is dated March 22, 2016, where Derkach claims the voices of Joe Biden and Petro Poroshenko are heard. Read also"Critical": Biden put pressure on Poroshenko on PrivatBank nationalization, leak claims Biden allegedly claims that the condition for providing $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine is the change of the prosecutor general and the government: "[] there is a new government and a new attorney general, I am prepared to do a public signing of the commitment for the billion dollars." In turn, Poroshenko offered that Biden to look into Yuriy Lutsenko, the then-leader of the pro-president's BPP faction, as a candidate for the prosecutor general's post to replace Shokin: "Extremely strong motivation. One of the possible candidates was leader of my faction [Yuriy] Lutsenko who is a public figure. If you think that a politically motivated figure would be not very good from your point of view, I'll recall this proposal. Because nobody knows that I'm gonna propose Lutsenko." At the same time, Poroshenko asks Biden to influence the Samopomich faction in the Ukrainian Parliament on the issue of supporting the candidate for a new prime minister. Audio quality and background noises in leaked tapes of what MP Derkach says are phone conversations between Petro Poroshenko and U.S. officials suggest they were recorded on the Ukrainian side, in the office where Poroshenko held talks with his counterparts. The recordings made public on today, on May 19, have been cropped, which leaves certain responses to leaked statements cut out. As reported earlier, the then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden bragged that Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin had been dismissed only after threatened on behalf of the U.S. president not to provide Ukraine with a $1 billion in loan guarantees. An Australian doctor has cautioned against becoming 'complacent' about COVID-19 hygiene and social distancing advice as restrictions are eased, as the threat of infection 'is not over'. Dr Preeya Alexander, a general practitioner in Melbourne, wrote a post on her social media account The Wholesome Doctor directed at those who are feeling 'excited' and 'relieved' about restrictions being gradually lifted. 'It's wonderful we can now have five people over (please know that number includes kids and babies) and have gatherings of up to 10 outdoors in most states,' she said. Dr Preeya Alexander, who works as a general practitioner in Melbourne, wrote a post on social media directed at those are very 'excited' and 'relieved' about certain restrictions lifting Last weekend hundreds of Australians flocked to beaches and cafes after getting a taste of freedom as coronavirus lockdown restrictions eased on Friday (pictured in Melbourne on Sunday) We will remain 1.5 metres apart in the home. There will be no share platters where everyone touches stuff. We will be washing hands frequently. 'But it's not time to completely relax and become complacent; things can get real very quickly again.' Last weekend hundreds of Australians flocked to beaches and cafes after getting a taste of freedom as coronavirus lockdown restrictions eased on Friday. Businesses opened their doors for the first time on May 15 after being closed for dining service for nearly eight weeks. Businesses opened their doors for the first time on May 15 after being closed for dining service for nearly eight weeks (Pitt Street Mall in Sydney on Sunday) Cafes, restaurants and bars have only been allowed to offer takeaway service under the restrictions which were introduced on March 23 to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus (A cafe in Kirribilli, Sydney, on Saturday) 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 Exercise groups and churches were also allowed to operate again under the first stage of the government three-step plan to kick-start the economy and return daily life back to normal. Cafes, restaurants and bars have only been allowed to offer takeaway service under the restrictions which were introduced on March 23 to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus. Dr Preeya said despite the slow return to normal, COVID-19 still exists in Australia and people are still contagious - so if you have any symptoms like a runny nose, cough or fever you need to get tested at a mobile clinic. 'Just as before, this virus needs people to spread. The more we mingle, touch each other and gather the more it can spread in the community,' she said. For this reason social distancing and good hand hygiene are still crucial elements of being allowed outdoors and will help the virus from becoming a 'huge issue' as it has done in countries overseas The three-step plan to relaxing lockdown in Australia STAGE 1 * Five visitors allowed at home * Gatherings of up 10 in business and public places * Work from home if it works for you and your employer * Small restaurants, cafes and shopping open * Home sales and in-person auctions resume * Children back in classrooms * Libraries, community centres, playgrounds and outdoor boot camps open * Local and regional travel resume STAGE 2 * Gatherings of 20 people in your home, business and public places * Work from home if it works for you and your employer * Gyms, beauty, cinemas, galleries and amusement parks open with COVID-safe plans * Organised community sport allowed * Caravan and camping grounds reopen * Some interstate travel * States and territories may allow larger numbers in some circumstances STAGE 3 * Gatherings of up to 100 people * Return to workplaces * Pubs, clubs, nightclubs, food courts, saunas and some gaming venues open * All interstate travel resumes * Consider cross-Tasman, Pacific island and international students travel * States and territories may allow larger numbers in some circumstances Advertisement For this reason social distancing and good hand hygiene are still crucial elements of being allowed outdoors and will stop the virus from becoming a 'huge issue' as it has done in countries overseas. 'Honestly, we haven't seen anyone since restrictions lifted other than immediate family. But tonight a couple are coming over,' she said on a personal note. 'Let me be clear, we will remain 1.5 metres apart in the home. There will be no share platters where everyone touches stuff. We will be washing hands frequently. 'My point is simply, it's not time to be complacent. Treat your soul, see those who bring you joy but be careful. It's way harder with small kids but adults can do all the right things and promote hand washing.' 'My point is simply, it's not time to be complacent. Treat your soul, see those who bring you joy but be careful,' she said (Port Melbourne on Sunday) Coronavirus symptoms and how it spreads: Symptoms of coronavirus Symptoms can range from mild illness to pneumonia. Some people will recover easily, and others may get very sick very quickly. People with coronavirus may experience: fever flu-like symptoms such as coughing, sore throat and fatigue shortness of breath How it spreads There is evidence that the virus spreads from person-to-person. The virus is most likely spread through: close contact with an infectious person contact with droplets from an infected person's cough or sneeze touching objects or surfaces (like doorknobs or tables) that have cough or sneeze droplets from an infected person, and then touching your mouth or face How to prevent it Everyone should practice good hygiene to protect against infections. Good hygiene includes: washing your hands often with soap and water using a tissue and cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze avoiding close contact with others, such as touching Advertisement Dr Preeya noticed over the weekend that people on the streets and in supermarkets had gotten 'complacent' with their distancing. She said seeing this scares 'doctors to the bone' because this virus is not 'over' and things can easily get out of control. 'We all have to still do our part (by sticking to the rules) to protect each other and the healthcare system,' she said. As the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to ravage the world, scientists are frantically searching for a vaccine or new drug that will effectively counter the lethal effects of the virus that leads to COVID-19 disease. Now, new research from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* shows SARS-CoV-2 replication and respiratory disease can be produced in African green monkeys using a much lower and more natural dose of SARS-CoV-2 than has been employed in other non-human primates studies. Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (green) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow), isolated from a patient sample. Image captured at the NIAID Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID Why are animal models useful? An effective vaccine is the only way to ensure COVID-19 is totally eradicated. A detailed understanding of how the virus achieves its damaging effects, and of the illness itself, are fundamental to building a vaccine or drug. Such vaccines need to be tested in animals during preclinical studies to reveal any potential adverse severe effects and find an effective dosage. However, SARS-CoV viruses show a propensity to unwanted immune activation following immunization with candidate vaccines of various types. These include inactivated whole virus, recombinant DNA subunit, virus-like particles, and live attenuated virus based on vector use. The same type of hypersensitivity reaction to the virus is also seen after the induction of infection in experimental animals. The close similarity between SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 mandates careful evaluation of any candidate vaccine before it enters human trials. This, in turn, means that a suitable animal model is essential to rule out such immune complications before such vaccines are commercially released. Such models will also help uncover the mechanics of disease spread and virus-immune interactions. Features of an ideal animal model Many animal models allow SARS-CoV-2 replication and also develop non-fatal illness to varying degrees after exposure to the virus through their respiratory tracts. These include mice, hamsters, ferrets, and non-human primates (NHPs). Each of these models is useful in one or more ways to study the virus and the illness. However, NHPs are more reliable when it comes to comparing the host responses to infection in humans because of their genetic similarity. This also underlies the development of reagents to study the immune response. It was in the recent weeks that the earliest assessment of the utility of Rhesus and cynomolgus macaques was reported. The difference in clinical features in these two NHPs indicates a greater suitability of some species compared to others, to serve as human models of CoV infection. African Green Monkeys as a SARS-CoV-2 model For the earlier SARS-CoV, African green monkeys (AGM) supported viral replication most efficiently, compared to Rhesus and Cynomolgus macaques, and only the first species showed significant replication in the lower respiratory tract after inoculation with SARS-CoV. The autopsy findings in these animals also showed features of disease similar to that in humans. They also have the same viral receptor, ACE2. These features brought them to the attention of researchers in the current study. The animals were inoculated with a low-passage isolate of SARS-CoV-2 to test their potential as a model for this infection. The strain used was from the first clinical case in Italy, and the first virus from clade V to be used to induce experimental infection in NHPs. The AGMs are shown to replicate several aspects of disease in humans, including high levels of viral replication and pneumonic lesions. Thus, this is a suitable model to study the process of disease in humans as well as to screen potential vaccines and therapeutics. The researchers found that at 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, and 21 days following inoculation with the Italian isolate by both intratracheal and intranasal instillation, no clinical signs of disease were found. Imaging was also inconclusive. Three of the animals were sacrificed on day 5 but showed some signs of pneumonia with hyperemia. Nasal secretions showed viral RNA and infectious viral particles in three animals, but the rectal swab in one animal only showed infectious viruses, while another two showed viral RNA. All animals showed the presence of both in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, but not in plasma. Inflammatory markers were increased, including IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, and IL-6. The latter is an activator of inflammatory pathways and predicts respiratory failure in humans with COVID-19. Fibrinogen levels were high, as is in keeping with the known role of IL-6 in fibrinogen synthesis as an acute phase change, and the presence of bleeds in the lungs. AGM Model Helps Clarify Some Diagnostic Points Overall, the AGMs failed to show signs of overwhelming illness, even while there were changes in the lungs and the blood, showing that the animals were suffering infection with systemic responses. The failure of chest X-rays to show changes in keeping with the lung lesions has implications for the reliability of this imaging technique as a screening method for humans as well. The use of CT scans or plethysmography could be a more dependable way to visualize lung lesions in animal models. A second exciting sidelight is the presence of gut lesions in infected AGMs, as has been noted in humans as well. This reflects the expression of the ACE2 receptor in the gut epithelium as well. Despite the presence of such injury, there were no overt gut-related symptoms, except for a loss of appetite in most animals around the third day from infection. The study shows that infection of AGMs with SARS-CoV-2 results in the release of inflammatory mediators with similar immune signatures as human cases. The changes in laboratory parameters and markers of inflammation underline the utility of this model in the study of the host response to COVID-19. *Important Notice bioRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Advertisement Behold the island that never fails to beak the interest of holidaymakers - thanks to its spectacular chicken-shaped rock formation. And its name? Chicken Island, naturally. This eggs-traordinary tropical paradise, also known as Koh Kai, is in the Poda group of islands in the Thai province of Krabi, with the poultry-themed limestone rock formation located on its southern tip. Peck-turesque: Chicken Island, also known as Koh Kai, is in the Thai province of Krabi This feature isn't the only part of the island that lures visitors, though. They also enjoy its tranquil beach. And the coral reef that surrounds the island makes it popular with snorkellers. Chicken Island is uninhabited and largely remains undeveloped. There is a small snack shack, though. For those feeling peckish. Beak-a-boo: Chicken Island is uninhabited and largely remains undeveloped. There is a small snack shack, though One Tripadvisor reviewer said that Chicken Island 'really does look like a chicken'. Though another said it resembles a turkey more A birds eye view of Chicken Island, which can be reached by boats departing from Krabi Visitors can chug past the island on tourist boats that depart from Krabi, 30 minutes away, while those that set foot on it at low tide can saunter across a sandbar to the neighbouring islands of Koh Mor on the left and Tup on the right. Travellers are warned that visiting the island in the off-season can be dangerous due to rising tides and rough seas. Tripadvisor users who've visited during suitably calm periods have left rave reviews. At low tide a sandbar emerges, allowing visitors to walk across to the nearby islands of Koh Mor and Tup Travellers are warned that visiting the island in the off-season can be dangerous due to rising tides and rough seas K&M wrote: 'The rock formation does actually look like a chicken and its really cool.' Dxbjamn said: 'It's stunning. Beautiful fish off the coast of the island which you can see when you snorkel in the beautiful clear blue water.' However, Top King of Kings added: 'Although I can see why it is called Chicken Island, in all honesty, it looks like a turkey.' Chicken Island is temporarily closed, due to the coronavirus pandemic. To the commentator who never sees anything positive about Donald Trump, here you go. I think hes the greatest president weve had in years. No matter what the media does or the Democrats do to him, specifically Pelosi, he comes back because he loves this country, he fights for this country, he stood up for this country, hes shown all these other countries who have sponged off of us and taken advantage us whos boss and were not going to take it anymore. Scientists have raised concerns over how galactic cosmic rays would affect astronauts on deep space missions, as it can cause dementia and permanent memory loss. NASA has designed a machine that simulates the rays by combining protons, helium ions and heavier ions to create a radiation environment. The gun-like instruments was first used used on mice, which received acute and chronic doses while in cages. The American space agency hopes the technology will help them better understand the risks of human exploration to the moon, Mars and beyond. NASA has designed a machine that simulates the rays by combining protons, helium ions and heavier ions to create a radiation environment. The American space agency hopes the technology will help them better understand the risks of human exploration to the moon, Mars and beyond Galactic cosmic rays comprise a mixture of highly energetic protons, helium ions, and higher charge and energy ions ranging from lithium to iron, and they are extremely difficult to shield against. These ions interact with spacecraft materials and human tissues to create a complex mixed field of primary and secondary particles. NASA has revealed that it has, for the first time, developed fast beam switching and controls system technology to recreate galactic cosmic rays (GCR) in a laboratory. Historically, most research on understanding space radiation-induced health risks has been performed using acute exposures of monoenergetic single-ion beams, the researchers shared in a study published in the journal PLoS Biology. However, the space radiation environment consists of a wide variety of ion species over a broad energy range. Using the fast beam switching and controls systems technology recently developed at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at Brookhaven National Laboratory, a new era in radiobiological research is possible. The gun-like instruments was first used used on mice, which received acute and chronic doses while in cages The device allows scientists to choose the amount of radiation that is beamed at the specimens. The GCR simulator is designed to hit mice and rats at critical locations that would be similar to how they would on the human body. The beams, which can measure 60x60 centimeters square, are able to be focused on a target area to deliver a dose of space radiation as researchers see fit. The first experiment using the simulator was conducted in 2018, where thirty-three unique ion-energy beam combinations were delivered in rapid sequential order (under 75 minutes), cumulatively mimicking the GCR environment experienced by shielded astronauts on a deep space mission. A few months later, the team used the device on animals for the first time over the period of four weeks to investigate how the quality and dose-rate effects risks of radiogenic cancers, cardiovascular disease, and adverse effects on the central nervous system. NASA also said the technology can be tested on materials, allowing them to understand how rockets and space suits may be affected by the high-energy particles. The beams, which can measure 60x60 centimeters square, are able to be focused on a target area to deliver a dose of space radiation as researchers see fit The results of these early experiments are yet to be published, but the authors suggest the first run of the cosmic ray simulator will allow them to plan for future operations. Deep space travel is a dream of many scientists and the GCR simulator is part of their master plan to achieve it. Previous studies have warned about the effects astronauts could encounter will traveling millions of miles from Earth on in particular is deemed space brain. They believe astronauts on deep space missions could suffer from dementia and permanent memory loss as cosmic rays bombard and damage their brains. They say GCR may leave astronauts them anxious, depressed, paranoid and more likely to make flawed decisions. The study looked at exposure to highly energetic charged particles in rodents. This resulted in cognitive impairments and dementia. The study by University of California, Irvine follows previous research that showed somewhat shorter-term brain effects of galactic cosmic rays. Professor of of radiation oncology Dr Charles Limoli said: 'This is not positive news for astronauts deployed on a two-to-three-year round trip to Mars. 'The space environment poses unique hazards to astronauts. 'Exposure to these particles can lead to a range of potential central nervous system complications that can occur during and persist long after actual space travel - such as various performance decrements, memory deficits, anxiety, depression and impaired decision-making. 'Many of these adverse consequences to cognition may continue and progress throughout life.' Taraba State government has warned the residents of the state to strictly comply with the COVID-19 guidelines already made known to them, while it declares open all worship centres in the state. The announcement of the re-opening of religious activities in the state was made public on Monday, May 18 in a live broadcast by the state deputy governor, Haruna Manu, Naija News understands. Manu, during the broadcast, urges residents to stick to the already announced precautionary measures against the global pandemic, declaring that the state government has eased the restriction of movement and other activities across the State. He stated, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays have been set aside to enable the residents to carry out their activities from 8 am. to 6 pm. Manu, however, noted that lockdown would still be maintained on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays while the weekends free for religious activities. The Taraba State government urges religious heads and residents to adhere to the order, warning that violators of the order will be dealt with. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, on Monday night reports two hundred and sixteen new cases of Coronavirus in Nigeria. This brings total confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria to 6175. Share this post with your Friends on Donald Trump has blasted that Fox News 'is no longer the same' after anchor Neil Cavuto issued a stark warning that hydroxychloroquine 'will kill you' in the wake of the president's revelation that he has been taking it to prevent coronavirus. Trump tweeted Monday night: '@foxnews is no longer the same. We miss the great Roger Ailes. You have more anti-Trump people, by far, than ever before. Looking for a new outlet!' Ailes, former CEO Fox News, resigned in July 2016 amid charges of sexual harassment from dozens of women. He died in May 2017. Trump then sent out a barrage of retweets which took aim at Cavuto. Cavuto, 61, who is immunocompromised himself and suffers from MS, has earlier urged people to be extremely careful taking the drug adding that it could kill those who have certain underlying health conditions. Trump, earlier on Monday, revealed that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for over a week. Scroll down for video Fox News host Neil Cavuto took aim at President Trump's revelation he has been taking hydroxychloroquine as preventive treatment for coronavirus Trump , earlier on Monday, revealed that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for over a week and then took to twitter Monday night The warning from the Fox News presenter, a network that has long been supportive of the president and his administration, came after Trump concluded his remarks. 'That was stunning,' Cavuto said. 'The fact of the matter is though, when the president said 'what have you got to lose?', in a number of studies, those certain vulnerable population has one thing to lose: their lives,' Cavuto explained. 'If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment to ward off the virus, or in a worse-case scenario you are dealing with the virus and you are in this vulnerable population, it will kill you.' he said. 'I cannot stress enough. This will kill you. So, again, whatever benefits the president says this has, and certainly it has had for those suffering from malaria, dealing with lupus, this is a leap that should not be taken casually by those watching from home or assuming, well the president of the United States says it's OK,' he said. 'Even the FDA was very cautious about this unless in a clinical trial safely and deliberately watched. I only make this not to make a political point here, but a life-and-death point. Be very, very careful,' Cavuto urged. 'A VA study showed that among a population in a hospital receiving this treatment, those with vulnerable conditions respiratory conditions, heart ailments they died,' Cavuto noted. He also mentioned that other studies that found the drug to be ineffective at treating coronavirus. The remarks also drew surprise on Twitter with DailyMail.com's Piers Morgan writing: 'Wow.. even Fox News anchors are warning their viewers to ignore what Trump's just said or it may kill them.' Aaron Rupar, an editor at Vox was shocked at Neil Cavuto's rebuke of the presidential advice The remarks also drew surprise on Twitter from DailyMail.com columnist Piers Morgan Cavuto's remarks carried an added sense of urgency given that he is someone who has had his own share of serious health problems Aaron Rupar, an editor at Vox was similarly shocked at Cavuto's rebuke of the president's advice. 'Fox News's Neil Cavuto is stunned by Trump's announcement that he's taking hydroxychloroquine: 'If you are in a risky population here, and you are taking this as a preventative treatment ... it will kill you. I cannot stress enough. This will kill you.' Cavuto made his impassioned remarks from a unique perspective as someone who has a number of health problems of their own. Cavuto, a husband and father-of-three has multiple sclerosis and was diagnosed twenty-three years ago, at the age of 38. Months after being diagnosed he underwent treatment for stage 4 cancer in the form of Hodgkin's Lymphoma which he managed to beat. In 2016 he underwent a triple heart bypass operation, but the Fox anchor appears to be doing well. The president made his announcement that he was taking hydroxychloroquine at the White House during an event with restaurant workers on Monday. 'I'm taking it - hydroxychloroquine. Right now yeah. A couple of weeks ago, started taking it,' he said. 'I would've told you that three to four days ago, but we never had a chance because you never asked me the question,' Trump continued. The Food and Drug Administration warned in April that hydroxychloroquine can significantly increase the risk of death in people, especially those with heart problems, and cautioned against its use. Hydroxychloroquine has potentially serious side effects, including to the heart The president repeatedly has touted hydroxychloroquine - used to treat malaria, lupus and other diseases - and the antibiotic azithromycin, often referred to as 'Z-pack,' to be used to treat the coronavirus. Side effects of hydroxychloroquine Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhea, dizziness, or headache slow heartbeat, symptoms of heart failure (such as shortness of breath, swelling ankles/feet, unusual tiredness, unusual/sudden weight gain) mental/mood changes (such as anxiety, depression, rare thoughts of suicide, hallucinations) hearing changes (such as ringing in the ears, hearing loss), easy bruising/bleeding signs of infection or liver disease muscle weakness, unwanted/uncontrolled movements (including tongue/face twitching), hair loss, hair/skin color changes low blood sugar, severe dizziness, fainting, fast/irregular heartbeat, seizures - from WebMD Advertisement Trump, 73, said he took one dose of the z-pack antibiotic and is now taking a zinc supplement along with a daily hydroxychloroquine pill. He noted he's had no side effects. 'I'm taking the two - the zinc and the hydroxy,' he said. 'So far I seem to be okay.' 'I have been taking it for about a weekend for about a week and a half,' he noted. 'Every day. I take a pill every day.' 'At some point I'll stop,' he added. The president shrugged off warnings about the side effects of hydroxy issued by the FDA and the National Institutes of Health. Both medical organizations note the drug is only approved for the use of patients in hospitals who have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. 'You're not going to get sick or die,' he said about taking the medication. 'I've taken it about for a week and a half now. And I'm still here.' 'I've heard a lot of good stories. And if it is not good, I will tell you right. I'm not going to get hurt by it. It has been around for 40 years for malaria, for lupus, for other things. I take it,' Trump said. Hydroxy has potentially serious side effects, including altering the heartbeat in a way that could lead to sudden death, and the FDA has warned against its use for coronavirus infections except in formal studies. Dr. Sean Conley, the White House physician, released a memo Monday night, saying he and Trump discussed the matter and believed the gain from using hydroxychloroquine outweighed its risk factors A study released last Monday showed hydroxychloroquine does not work against the coronavirus and could cause heart problems. It was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and follows an earlier study in the New England Journal of Medicine that also showed the drug doesn't fight the virus. Additionally, the FDA and the National Institutes of Health issued warnings about using the drugs for coronavirus patients. 'Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been shown to be safe and effective for treating or preventing COVID-19. They are being studied in clinical trials for COVID-19, and we authorized their temporary use during the COVID-19 pandemic for treatment of the virus in hospitalized patients,' the FDA warning said. 'Although there is anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin may benefit people with COVID-19, we need solid data from a large randomized, controlled clinical trial to determine whether this experimental treatment is safe and can improve clinical outcomes,' Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert and head of the NIH, said last week. Trump dismissed such studies and complained they were done by the Veterans Administration, where he does not have a lot of supporters. Trump repeatedly has advocated for hydroxychloroquine to be used as a treatment option for the coronavirus even as many medical officials - including Dr. Tony Fauci, who sits on the White House Coronavirus Task Force - have urged a more cautious approach, noting the lack of reputable scientific studies on hydroxychloroquine. Associated Press ESPAAOLA Police have seized cellphones of a New Mexico sheriff accused of showing up drunk to a SWAT standoff. The Espanola Police Department executed a search warrant last week at the Rio Arriba County Sheriffs Office for the personal and work cellphones of Sheriff James Lujan, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. The search warrants came as part of an investigation into a misdemeanor charge filed against Lujan by Espanola police for resisting, evading or obstructing an officer. A criminal complaint filed in March said Lujan, in plainclothes, attempted to take over the scene involving a barricaded subject in Espanola. The complaint, written by interim Espanola police Chief Roger Jimenez, states Lujan refused, despite commands from officers, to leave the scene. The complaint also says he smelled like alcohol and appeared to have trouble keeping his balance. Lujan told Jimenez he was communicating with Phillip Chacon, the man who was the target of the SWAT standoff and had barricaded himself inside his home while officers tried to serve him with an arrest warrant, according to the criminal complaint. Ninth Judicial District Attorney Andrea Reeb said there was some difficulty obtaining Lujans cellphones and that she made a call to Lujans attorney, Nathaniel Thompkins, to say Lujan needed to turn over the phones. Espanola police Sgt. Jeremy Apodaca, a department spokesman, said Lujan was compliant when served with the search warrant. Thompkins declined to comment. The search warrant for Lujan also included information about another search warrant served earlier earlier last week by Espanola police for the cellphone of an Espanola city councilor. John Ramon Vigil was charged last week with several felonies, including conspiracy to commit bribery of a public officer and unlawful interest in a public contract, after officers discovered text messages, emails and Facebook messages he exchanged with Chacon. A detective found the messages on Chacons phone while investigating aggravated battery charges against the man. Officers had some difficulty getting Mr. Vigil to exit his residence and comply with the search warrant, according to the document. Lujan, along with Undersheriff Martin Trujillo, then arrived at Vigils home, according to the search warrant, and detectives at the scene said they thought Lujan was obstructing their investigation. Sheriff Lujan continues to show a pattern of arriving on active scenes in which Espanola Police personnel are investigating crimes and interfering, according to the search warrant. Sheriff Lujan has offered no assistance that has resulted in a positive outcome. Moreover, Sheriff Lujan has contacted or been contacted by two separate individuals who were under felonious investigations during the investigation. Reeb was appointed special prosecutor in the Lujan case after state Attorney General Hector Balderas and 1st Judicial District Attorney Marco Serna recused themselves, citing conflicts of interest. TRENTON Score another one for the press freedom fighters. Mayor Reed Gusciora told The Trentonian on Monday that the city will soon begin allowing the public to call into to the capital citys daily coronavirus briefings. Were not conceding The Trentonian is right, Gusciora, an attorney, said in an interview. We still believe we are correct: They are one-way briefings. Theyre not deliberative. The about-face comes after city clerk Dwayne Harris locked down the briefings after audio of councilwoman Robin Vaughns homophobic rant against the openly gay mayor leaked to The Trentonian. City officials have continued holding the coronavirus briefing each day while keeping the public in the dark. The clerk gave city officials a pass code that changes each day for them to be able to access the teleconfernece. The Trentonian has sued the city for violating the state Sunshine Law and the Open Public Records Act for holding the unadvertised public meetings and failing to release audio recordings of the COVID-19 briefings. The Trentonian has asked a judge to to prevent the city from ever again hosting an unauthorized public meeting and require it to make reasonably comprehensible minutes available of each and every council meeting that has occurred without adequate notice. The newspaper is represented by attorney C.J. Griffin of the law firm Pashman Stein Walder Hayden. The Trentonian contends the secret powwow that Vaughn went ballistic on was, in fact, a public meeting because officials discussed the global public health emergency and other city business. The de facto secret meeting ultimately devolved into a shouting match generating international headlines: Vaughn accused Gusciora of being a drug addict; the mayor called the councilwoman an idiot, child, little a**hole, and suggested that she needed a lobotomy; and Harrison called her ugly. Gusciora previously conceded that OPMA was violated but called the violations de minimis. He said the COVID-19 briefings were intended to be one-way conversations but acknowledged they turned into full-blown discussions sometimes, with council members asking questions. Asked why the the city changed course after the newspaper sued, Gusciora claimed it was because of Vaughns continued outburst on the calls. Its specifically because of the one councilwomans outbursts and continuous attempts to make it deliberative, he said. Were just going to make it public. The pubic wants that information anyway. This is not Soviet space secrets. As for the obvious public-access violations, the mayor said, Were just gonna have to agree to disagree. I havent said it enough these past two months, but I am thankful Gov. Phil Murphy is at the helm during this unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. I believe many lives have been saved here under his rational leadership, with decisions based on facts, science and data, as well as a priority on citizens' lives over money. I can not overstate how refreshing it is to have an elected leader actually value lives over the economy. It is ridiculous and sad that I even have to write a sentence like the one above, but, unfortunately, Murphy is among a minority of leaders who actually have morals that mirror my own. I truly believe my family and I are safer because of this, which is especially important when you live in the most densely populated state in this country. Slow and steady will win this race. It will do us no good health-wise or economy-wise to open too soon and too quickly, only to suffer greater than we already have in this first round of the coronavirus. I feel lucky to live in New Jersey. Thank you, Gov. Murphy. Keep up the good work. Fran Carroll, Hamilton Township, Mercer County Driven, by data, out of Trenton Gov. Phil Murphy just released his five-step plan to fully reopen New Jersey. Considering his abysmal treatment of the elderly in stopping the COVID-19 outbreak at long-term care facilities leading to thousands of preventable deaths, I was surprised to see that Murphy left out Step 6: He gets fired next year as governor. Driven by the data, of course. Michael Pickert, Livingston See cost of our freedoms at the DMZ The Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea reinforces the important lesson of Memorial Day: Freedom comes at a very high cost. Some 70 years ago, on June 25, 1950, forces from northern Korea invaded the south. Consequently, led by the United States, a group of allies responded to the north's aggression. By the time the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, about 37,000 U.S. service members had died to defend and secure freedom on the Korean peninsula. Their ultimate sacrifices were not in vain. Today, South Korea stands as a testimony to their sacrifices. Without the hardships endured by U.S. military members heroically executing their duties, South Korea would have been denied the opportunity to emerge as a free nation. Memorial Day is a time for solemnity to honor our fallen heroes. Over the years, we have corrupted this day of reverence into an extended holiday weekend. On Memorial Day, we should remember the valuable lesson of the Korean War: Freedom is never free. We should take time to reflect on those brave individuals who died so we can continue to enjoy the blessings of liberty, peace and freedom. John Di Genio, Jersey City Too many cronies spoil the bus A May 14 editorial, Murphys Law: Keep NJ Transit dysfuntional, criticizes Gov. Phil Murphy for scuttling two nominees to the NJ Transit board, namely Mike Beson and Janna Chernetz. While the editorial may be correct about Beson being a political crony, Chernetz shares the same credential. He he is a political crony of state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen. Further, I find your description of her as a universally respected transit sage and having a decade of transit policy experience coming far short of the credentials a good board member should possess. If you read Weinsteins bio, there is nothing about her transit experience as a rider. Her focus was principally with bicycle and pedestrian issues. In my minds eye, that puts her on almost equal footing as Beson, who got nominated simply because hes connected to Murphy. I personally know two individuals, David Peter Alan, chair of the Lackawanna Coalition, and Len Resto, president of New Jersey Association of Rail Passengers, who are more than qualified to sit on the NJ Transit board. Alan bas been an in the trenches transit advocate for more than 40 years. He is also a contributing editor at Railway Age. Resto has an extensive backround in rail. I would venture to say both these individuals are more than qualified to serve on the board. The problem: Neither is politically connected like Chernetz and Beson. Stephen E. Thorpe, Winfield Park Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. The latest Global Energy Alert report on 'How To Profit From The Oil Market Crash' is an absolute must-read for everyone from crude oil traders to energy investors. Sign up for your risk-free trial today and get the report for free. (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) (Click to enlarge) Chart of the Week (Click to enlarge) - U.S. natural gas production is expected to decline by 2 percent in 2020, averaging 97.1 billion cubic feet (Bcf/d), down from 99.2 Bcf/d in 2019. - Gas output was already expected to flatten heading into 2020, prior to the onset of the global pandemic. - The EIA expects Henry Hub prices to average $2.14/MMBtu in 2020, or $0.43 cents lower than the 2019 average. Market Movers - EQT (NYSE: EQT) began curtailing natural gas production in Pennsylvania and Ohio, according to a regulatory filing by Equitrans Midstream Corp. (NYSE: ETRN). - Oasis Petroleum (NYSE: OAS) reported a larger-than-expected first-quarter loss, and cut spending by 50 to 60 percent. - Petronas farmed out its 50 percent stake in an offshore block in Suriname to ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM). Tuesday, May 19, 2020 Oil prices have climbed to their highest level in months, with WTI at $32 and Brent breaking $35 per barrel. Sentiment has vastly improved over the past few weeks, and recent promising news about a potential coronavirus vaccine has boosted energy and equity markets. Oil prices rise, but too far? WTI has rocketed into the $30s on hopes of supply cuts and demand rebound. Fears of storage tank topping have subsided, which has helped boost prices. But there is still plenty of downside risks to the rally. Chinas oil demand rises back to pre-pandemic levels. Chinas oil demand is thought to have rebounded to about 13 mb/d, just shy of the 13.4 mb/d level seen before the initial lockdown. Meanwhile, Chinas air quality is now worse than it was before the pandemic. Deferred maintenance creates new problems. With so much of the global oil industry idled, maintenance is being deferred en masse. That could cause problems later, driving up maintenance costs and also potentially leading to more unplanned outages. Shale cuts deeper than expected. The U.S. and Canada have lost somewhere between 3.5 and 4.5 mb/d from shut-ins. In North Dakota, more than 7,000 wells have been closed, shutting down 950,000 bpd of production. Related: Oil Jumps 11% On Signs Of Demand Recovery Indias fuel demand rises. Indias fuel demand is rising as the government moves to lift restrictions. Petrol sales from state-owned refiners plunged by 61 percent in April, year-on-year, but has been down 47.5 percent in May, a sign of a pickup in demand. Natural gas storage running out. Natural gas could suffer a similar fate as crude oil, with oversupply leading to rapidly filling up storage. COVID-19 does not stop EV revolution. The coronavirus will hit EV sales hard this year, but sales of gasoline and diesel vehicles will suffer worse in percentage terms. In the long run, the pandemic wont change the trajectory for EVs. In 2020, EV sales will drop by 18 percent, according to BNEF, while the internal-combustion engine will see sales fall by 23 percent. The long-term electrification of transport is projected to accelerate in the years ahead, the report said. Petrobras downgraded as pandemic rages. Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) saw its outlook downgraded by Raymond James because of the rapid spread of COVID-19 in Brazil, which now holds the fourth-largest number of cases. The pandemic is totally out of control, analysts at Raymond James wrote. They view a lockdown as likely. Companies worth $2 trillion calling for green recovery. A group of more than 150 companies worth $2 trillion are calling on governments to ensure that their economic stimulus packages are grounded in bold climate action. New York kills Williams gas pipeline. New York and New Jersey blocked key water permits for the controversial $1 billion Northeast Supply Enhancement natural gas pipeline owned by Williams Cos. (NYSE: WMB). Williams said it would not reapply at this time. EIA: Shale to decline by 200,00 bpd in June. The EIA said that U.S. shale production will decline by 197,000 bpd June, compared to May. The Permian will lose 87,000 bpd. Gas production will also decline by 779 mcf/d, with losses from the Permian and Anadarko leading the way. Exports fall 35 percent from Corpus Christi. Crude oil shipments from the U.S. from the port of Corpus Christi have declined by 35 percent since the first quarter. More oil bankruptcies this week. Gavilan Resources LLC, an oil company formed by Blackstone Group, filed for bankruptcy on Monday. Offshore drillers Fieldwood Energy LLC, which operates in the Gulf of Mexico, filed for bankruptcy this week, its second Chapter 11 filling in two years. Ultra Petroleum (OTCMKTS: UPLC) also filed for bankruptcy for the second time. Net Zero claims from Big Oil questioned. A new report casts doubt on the seriousness of the net-zero promises from the oil majors. None of the companies are aligned with 1.5C warming targets. Related: Battery Metal Demand Set To Soar By 500% WTI June expiring with stability. The June WTI contract expires on Tuesday and there has been on rerun of the chaos seen a month ago, when WTI crashed into negative territory. Investors betting on gasoline. After chaos in WTI pricing, some fund managers are instead looking to invest in gasoline or Brent. Shell-Cnooc invest $5.6 billion in China ethylene. Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) and Chinas Cnooc (NYSE: CEO) signed an agreement to invest $5.6 billion in an ethylene project in the Chinese city of Huizhou. Shale drillers keep drilling. A new study looks at some of the incentives that shale companies have to keep drilling, including a desire to avoid having leases expire on land. By Josh Owens for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: - On Saturday, May 16, President Uhuru Kenyatta closed Kenya's border with Tanzania and Somalia following a spike in imported COVID-19 cases - The president said only cargo vehicles would be allowed entry and the drivers must test negative for the disease - Tanzania dismissed Kenya's move claiming it had "managed the disease" as it retaliated by blocking all truck drivers from the country regardless of their COVID-19 status Kenya has sent back 182 more Tanzanian truck drivers who tested positive for COVID-19 at the border as tension between the two countries escalate over the management of the pandemic. This came as Kenyan truck drivers were stranded at the Kenya-Tanzania border after Tanzania blocked Holili, Horohoro, Namanga and Isibania entry points. READ ALSO: Makau Mutua says William Ruto will re-emerge with a bang "Timing is everything" President Uhuru Kenyatta closed Kenya's border with Tanzania on Saturday, May 9, citing increase in imported COVID-19 cases. Photo: The East African. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Ugandan woman delivers baby inside latrine Kenyan truck drivers with negative COVID-19 results were also denied entry to Tanzania even as Nairobi allowed those from Dodoma to enter into the the country. "Out of 214 cases detected at Kenya-Tanzania border, 182 are foreigners and were sent back," Health CS Mutahi Kagwe said during a press conference at Afya House on Tuesday, May 19. On Saturday, May 16, President Uhuru Kenyatta closed Kenya's border with Tanzania and Somalia following a spike in imported COVID-19 cases. The president who spoke at State House in the afternoon of Saturday, May 16, said only cargo vehicles would be allowed entry into Kenya and the drivers must test negative for the disease. The rising cases of coronavirus among truck drivers has got the Ministry of Health worried. Photo: Daily Monitor. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Mimi sitatishwa, naendelea kumuunga mkono DP Ruto, Kimani Ichung'wah asema "In the last week we have unfortunately witnessed an increased number of imported cases among individuals crossing into our countries through our borders; these areas have become a matter of grave concern to us," Uhuru said. "Forty three cases have recently crossed the border from Somalia and Tanzania. There will be a cessation of movement of persons and any passengers into and out of the territory through Tanzania and Somalia effective midnight today," he added. The United States (US) recently claimed hospitals in Dar es Salaaam were overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients as it warned its citizens in the country. Do you have an inspirational story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My boss in Saudi Arabia had denied me food for more than 10 days- Miriam Wangari| Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday demanded that China reveal "immediately" the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama chosen by the Dalai Lama, 25 years after the six-year-old was seized. The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in India and enjoys a wide global following, in May 1995 identified Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second most senior figure in Tibetan Buddhism's largest school. The boy was taken into custody three days later and has not been seen since, with human rights groups calling him the world's youngest political prisoner. "Tibetan Buddhists, like members of all faith communities, must be able to select, educate and venerate their religious leaders according to their traditions and without government interference," Pompeo said in a statement. "We call on the PRC government to immediately make public the Panchen Lama's whereabouts and to uphold its own constitution and international commitments to promote religious freedom for all persons." China appointed its own Panchen Lama, who has made a number of tightly scripted public appearances, even though many Tibetans do not recognize him. Sam Brownback, the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, last week warned that Beijing should not see the Panchen Lama episode as a model for the Dalai Lama's reincarnation. China's officially atheist government has made clear it could seek to name a successor to the 84-year-old Dalai Lama, whose charisma has brought global attention to Tibet for decades. In a rare statement on the Dalai Lama-appointed Panchen Lama, a pro-Beijing official in Tibet said in 2015 that the young man was healthy, enjoying an education and "does not want to be disturbed." Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan today held phone talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt Sameh Shoukry. As reported the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the foreign ministers exchanged views on the actions that are being taken at the national level in order to address the challenges due to the novel coronavirus. The foreign minister mentioned the dynamics of the dialogue between Egypt and Armenia with satisfaction and particularly emphasized the need to take steps for full implementation of the potential for cooperation in the drug industry, alternative energy, information technologies and innovation, agriculture and other sectors and attached importance to the sessions of the Armenian-Egyptian intergovernmental commission. Minister Mnatsakanyan tweeted the following about his discussion with his Egyptian counterpart: Good discussion over the phone with Egyptian colleague Sameh Shoukry. We intend to keep up strong and dynamic Armenia-Egypt bilateral cooperation and political dialogue based on long and solid tradition of friendship and respect. We exchanged information and views on regional and international issues of mutual interest. Le Tuyet H. was patient number 19. She caught the disease from her niece who had flown back to Vietnam from the UK in March. H. is getting better every day. Photo Kenh 14 What followed for the 64-year-old woman was a catalogue of life-threatening illnesses including falling into a coma and three heart attacks. But H. wasnt ready to go, and although she is still being treated in hospital in Hanoi, her condition has improved greatly. She has also officially recovered from the virus, after testing negative for COVID-19 on three occasions. I was really afraid because I didnt know why my body had become like that, H. said. I only knew about my situation after I woke up from the coma and the doctors explained that this disease is really horrible. At first, I dont know much about COVID-19. I am just a housewife so I stay at home most days and didnt understand this disease. The woman, who lives in HCM City, had visited the capital during Tet (Lunar New Year). It was during her visit to see other members of her family she came into close contact with patient 17, her niece. Her relative had made headlines after becoming the first person to test positive in what was known as the second phase of infections following 22 days without any reported cases in the country. The 26-year-old flew back to Vietnam on March 2 but it appears had not fully declared her medical history. Earlier she had visited France and Italy, where at the time the virus was spiralling out of control and was the hardest hit region in the whole of Europe. After learning she had the disease, H. was tested the following day and her results also came back positive for coronavirus at Hanois National Hospital of Tropical Diseases. I never thought I would get this virus, H. added. Most patients make a full recovery within two weeks, but not H. She began to develop severe complications a week into treatment before slipping into a coma. She was having trouble breathing and showing signs of acute respiratory distress syndrome, so she was moved to intensive care. On April 8, a month after contracting coronavirus, she suffered three cardiac arrests. Doctors battled to save her life and eventually, on the 47th attempt at resuscitation, her heart began to beat once more. Dr Mac Duy Hung of ICU of National Hospital of Tropical Diseases said: When the patient moved to ICU, she had acute respiratory distress syndrome, so we had to use a ventilator and carry out extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) Then she suffered the cardiac arrests, all the doctors tried their best to save her. When her heart stopped, we thought the worst. Then it pumped again and we felt very lucky, but still couldnt rest. At 1am none of the doctors on that shift could sleep. H.'s son and caregivers help her in a physical therapy session. Photo Kenh 14 Although H. has tested negative for coronavirus for three times and can meet her sons, she is still weak and cant walk on her own. But she is very happy that she overcame a life or death situation. Her oldest son, Luu Ngoc, said he and his brother travelled from HCM City to Hanoi a week after their mother tested positive. But because of her condition, they were not allowed to see her. When we werent allowed to visit my mother, every day I talked to the doctors about my mothers condition, said Ngoc. Because my mother has been in bed for so long, her limbs had not moved much so her muscles became weaker. She will need to exercise to improve her health. Today is the third day my mother has undergone physical therapy. As for his mother, after her traumatic ordeal, she is grateful to be alive today to tell her story. Although COVID-19 has been shown to affect people of all ages, the elderly and those with underlining medical conditions, like H., are especially vulnerable to the virus. Sometimes, my relatives and friends call to encourage me. God blessed me so I am alive. I am so grateful for the doctors efforts to save me, H. told To Quoc newspaper. Even though I've tested negative for the virus, I am too weak to go home. After cheating death many times, H. is confident that she can make a full recovery and be reunited with her family soon. I believe I have enough energy to get well and get on my feet by myself. I have recovered 70 per cent, and even though my heart, lungs and kidneys have been affected by the virus. VNS Minh Nhan Habsou is looking after her sister's children after she died giving birth during their flight. The baby also died. UNHCR/Selim Meddeb Hamrouni As soon as they heard the first gunshots, Habsou and her sister Mariama* grabbed their children and ran for their lives. When the bandits arrived, I saw them with my own eyes, Habsou said, recalling the attack last month on her home village of Gangara, one of the hardest hit in an upsurge of violence in north-western Nigeria which has forced 23,000 to flee in April alone. Mariama was heavily pregnant and did not survive the hard 24-hour trek by foot to safety in neighbouring Niger. "My sister's delivery started she did not survive." While we were still in Nigeria, my sister's delivery started she did not survive. Her baby boy was alive. We took him with us. But he was weak. Eight days after we arrived here, he was taken to a health centre, but he died a few days ago, Habsou said sadly. Giving a cup of cloudy water to the youngest of nine children five her own, four of her sister - she is now looking after, she recounted her tale quietly, her eyes full of emotion and determination: It's extremely painful, the worst ordeal of my life, and there's nothing I can do. Brutal attacks in Nigeria force thousands of women and children into Niger's Maradi region (Selim Meddeb Hamrouni, camera/ Linda Muriuki, script/ Walter Kigali, editor) UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency reported last week that 47 people were killed in one of the deadliest attacks by gunmen in Kankara town (Katsina state) and the nearby villages of Danmusa and Dusi-ma. In addition 22 villagers were killed on April 1 in Gangara, Sokoto State, according to the local police. The Nigerian Armed Forces have responded to the latest wave of attacks in Nigerias Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara states with air strikes. An estimated 23,000 refugees have fled extreme violence in northwestern Nigeria since April, the @UN reports. Most of the people fleeing are women and children The number of refugees fleeing to Niger has nearly tripled from last year pic.twitter.com/s6NyoMol3Z AJ+ (@ajplus) May 13, 2020 Last month alone UNHCR says some 23,000 people fled the upsurge in violence taking to 60,000 the number who have fled in the last year ongoing attacks by armed groups in the Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina states of Nigeria. As a result of the cross-border insecurity, an additional 19,000 Niger nationals are also now displaced in their own country. UNHCR is extremely concerned about the deteriorating situation.Those fleeing speak of extreme violence unleashed against civilians, murders, kidnappings for ransom and pillaging and looting of villages. "The situation in the region is a cause for concern, particularly in view of the rise of criminal groups operating in Nigeria. This is the whole point of UNHCR's presence in the region," said Alessandra Morelli, UNHCR Representative in Niger. We have opened a sub-office in Maradi to better coordinate the emergency response at the local level and to better protect people forced to flee the violence. The essence of our mandate is proximity. "We have lost everything." New arrivals are in urgent need of water, food and access to health services, as well as shelter and clothing. Like Habsou, many were unable to take any belongings with them. We have lost everything. I don't know what happened to our husbands. Until today I have no news, added Habsou. Habsou, like many other residents of Gangara, has taken refuge in Garin Yahaya, a village located 15 km from the Nigerian border in the Maradi region of Niger. A village of narrow streets and banco (earth) houses, it is now full to bursting point. Since the beginning of April, its 3,300 inhabitants have welcomed around 2,500 fellow Hausa-speaking relatives. Every courtyard is crammed with dozens of people, mainly women and children, taking refuge from temperatures which can exceed 45 degrees. Nigerian refugee women and relatives in Niger in the village of Garin Yahaya where they have found safety. UNHCR/Selim Meddeb Hamrouni Everyone's eyes speak of hunger, tiredness and anxiety. At this rate, the village's food stocks will not last long. Right now, we would like to have food, shelter but we just hope for peace and tranquillity so that we can return home, said Maigari Abara-Gangara, the refugees leader. A tall, skinny man, wearing a large straw hat, he recounted in detail the attack on Gangara, normally home to some 5,000 people. "On 1 April, at the late afternoon prayer time several hundred unidentified men armed with guns attacked the village. They entered on foot and fired on the young men, those who could resist. The bandits were killing, burning and looting. They set fire to the granaries that held our food stocks, he said. Similar attacks have taken place all over the three states, triggering the latest influx to Niger. But the "bandits" are also making incursions there, causing local populations to abandon homes and flee for their lives. On May 10, they attacked a village only eight kilometres from Garin Yahaya to steal cattle. They were caught by a patrol of Nigerian security forces on their way back to Nigeria. A clash erupted and two civilians were shot and injured. The refugees from Nigeria were allowed to seek protection in Niger despite border closures due to COVID-19. Now, UNHCR is working closely with authorities in Niger to relocate at least 7,000 refugees to safety and provide water, food, shelter, access to health and other essential support. We provide protection and access to basic services such as health, education and access to water. UNHCR, as part of the United Nations system, is also working with the Niger authorities to relocate refugees to villages of opportunity far from the border, to ensure their safety and ease the pressure on the host population," Morelli added. *Full names withheld for protection reasons While many of the Bollywood stars are expressing grief and anger on the condition that migrant workers have been left in, Sonu Sood, on the other hand is on the field doing whatever he can. He is not only feeding those who are homeless, but he is also making sure that they reach home safely. After sending about 350 migrant workers back to their home in Karnataka via 10 buses, Sonu Sood is now gearing up to send more workers back to their home in Jharkhand, Bihar, UP and Odisha. Twitter "Yes, we are planning to do this for other states also like UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. Lots of people are approaching us and we are trying to put things together. But since there are a lot of permissions required, whether its the medicals of people who are travelling or the other states also accepting these migrants, thats a tedious job to be done but yes, we are on it," he told ETimes in an interview. BCCL In another interview to Mumbai Mirror, he revealed that his team is in the final stages of putting things together to send the workers to Ranchi and Bihar. "We are in the final stages of putting things together for Ranchi and Bihar. The paperwork is in process," he said. BCCL Furthermore, he said that he is ensuring the safety of all passengers by following the norms. "In these buses, half the capacity goes. For example, if the buses have a seating capacity of 50, only 20-25 per cent is sent to ensure social distancing. If it was a normal situation, we could have sent 700 people. But we could only send 300-350 people to ensure social distancing and these are the rules we need to follow." Instagram Apart from this, Sonu Sood has been feeding 45,000 people in Mumbai daily. He has also been providing meals to 25,000 people during the holy month of Ramadan. He has also offered his six-story hotel in Juhu to accommodate the medical staff treating Covid-19 patients. Twitter After sending migrant workers back home, he had said that everyone deserves to be with their families at this time. "I strongly believe that in the current times when we are all facing this global health calamity, every Indian deserves to be with their families and dear ones. I've taken official permissions from the Maharashtra and Karnataka Governments to help these migrants reach home in about ten buses," Sonu had told IANS. Sonu Sood / Instagram "It was really moving for me to watch these migrants walking on roads including the little kids and old parents. I shall continue doing the same for other states as well to the best of my abilities," he added. Meanwhile, people are hailing him as a superhero. Apart from some other celebrities have also gone all out of help the migrant workers. E nvironment Secretary George Eustice gave drinkers a glimmer of hope today as he said he was optimistic pubs would be able to reopen in July albeit with social distancing measures in place. Challenged in the Commons by David Johnston, MP for Wantage, to acknowledge that pubs operating as takeaways is not a substitute for being open properly, Mr Eustice replied: Of course we also recognise that until things return to something closer to normal and they can open normally, hopefully later this summer, then it will not give them all of the trade they previously had. After a follow-up question by West Bromich West MP Shaun Bailey, Mr Eustice added: As the Prime Minister has outlined, we intend that the hospitality sector including pubs would be able to tentatively start gradually opening hopefully during the month of July subject to the epidemiology supporting such a move. And of course we are already working with the hospitality and pub sector to identify what social distancing measures they might be able to put in place to make that work properly. Mr Eustice's comments echoed those delivered by Dominic Raab on May 11, who said pubs and restaurants would be not open until July 4 at the earliest. Brewers and pubs recently spoke out against the Government's two metre social distancing policy, arguing that World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines suggest a one metre gap would be sufficient. The British Beer and Pub Association who last week last week revealed Britains 47,000 pubs faced pouring as many as 70 million untouched pints away said the two-metre rule would make reopening "impossible" for many. BBPA chief executive Emma McClarkin said: Re-opening in July will be great for those pubs who can meet the social-distancing measures required by then. However, it must be recognised that no two pubs are the same and for many, ensuring a distance of two metres will be impossible, keeping them closed for much longer. Actioning advice from the WHO for example to use one metre for social distancing from July would enable many more pubs to viably re-open and serve their communities again. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast We stand ready to work with the Government to help pubs re-open in a safe and financially viable way as soon as possible. Additional reporting by PA A sign reading Get out Sanchez is seen at a protest outside the Spanish Socialist Party headquarters in Madrid on Sunday. Around 20 protesters congregated on Monday afternoon around the home of Spains transportation minister, Jose Luis Abalos, in a public-shaming event known popularly in Spanish as an escrache. Abalos, who is also a top-ranking official with the Socialist Party (PSOE), was not inside his residence at the time. According to eyewitnesses, demonstrators confronted the ministers wife and daughter as they returned to their home, which is located in the north of the Madrid region. The incident follows a series of street protests that have been taking place in Madrid and other Spanish cities against the coalition government, made up of the PSOE and junior partner Unidas Podemos, and its handling of the coronavirus crisis. The "escrache" outside the home of Transportation Minister Jose Luis Abalos on Monday. The protests in Madrid intensified over the weekend, after health authorities on Friday rejected the regions request to move to the next phase of the coronavirus deescalation plan. While much of the country is now in Phase 1, which allows some degree of social interaction and the reopening of some businesses, Madrid remains in Phase 0, although a few restrictions have been eased. A recent Civil Guard report warned about the risk of growing social unrest over the coming months. Spain has been under a state of alarm since mid-March, when the government implemented emergency powers to keep citizens in confinement in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced that he will be requesting congressional approval for a final one-month extension to the state of alarm, which is due to expire on May 24. Growing protests At 9pm on Monday, around 200 protesters gathered outside PSOE headquarters on Ferraz street in Madrid to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Marchers cried Sanchez, you criminal! Down with communists! and Long live Spain, long live the king! as police officers stood by and asked protesters to respect social-distancing rules. Meanwhile, some 500 demonstrators marched in Paseo de la Habana, located in Spains wealthiest neighborhood, where they banged on pots and pans, called on the government to resign, and chanted Freedom! as the national anthem played in the background. Two leaders of the far-right party Vox showed up at the protest: Rocio Monasterio, party chief in the Madrid region, and Ivan Espinosa de los Monteros, Voxs congressional spokesperson. The anti-government protests began a week ago on Nunez de Balboa street, in the Spanish capitals upscale Salamanca district, and have spread to other parts of the city such as Moncloa, Chamartin and Paseo de la Castellana. Vox officials Ivan Espinosa de los Monteros (l) and Rocio Monasterio have their picture taken with two protesters on Paseo de la Habana on Monday. Luis De Vega Hernandez Demonstrations have also taken place this weekend elsewhere in the Madrid region, including the municipalities of Majadahonda, Pozuelo, Alcobendas, San Sebastian de los Reyes and Galapagar. In Alcorcon, a municipality that is part of the greater Madrid metropolitan area, there were moments of tension on Monday when anti-government protesters were met by another group of marchers bearing anti-fascist symbols. Around 25 police officers were dispatched to the scene as insults and threats were exchanged. Spain rising to its feet At a virtual news conference held on Monday by Voxs Political Action Committee, party spokesperson Jorge Buxade said that the demonstrations represent a Spain that is rising to its feet, but denied that his party has been encouraging people to take their balcony protests down to the streets. We are only encouraging Spaniards to be free and to exercise their freedoms, he said. Those are not demonstrations. It is Spaniards walking with national flags and demanding freedom during the period of time that the government, in its generous wisdom, has allotted for walks, he explained, in reference to the time slots when adults are allowed outside for a walk or other exercise. Jorge Buxade of Vox during a news conference on Monday. We are convinced that indignation is going to grow exponentially, added Buxade, claiming that demonstrators respected social-distancing rules at all times despite video evidence to the contrary. The party representative underscored that the only demonstration organized by Vox, strictly speaking is the one it has called for Saturday in all of Spains provincial capitals. Demonstrators have been asked to show up in private vehicles rather than on foot to ensure social-distancing rules are respected. According to police sources, the Interior Ministry has banned the protests from taking place in Catalonia. While openly applauding recent street marches against the government, Vox was keen to highlight that it is not the organizer: public-health legislation sets out fines of up to 600,000 for behavior that poses a risk, or causes very serious damage to the health of the population, such as a spike in coronavirus transmission due to violations of public-health recommendations. With reporting by Luis de Vega, Lucia Ramos Aisa, F. Javier Barroso and Miguel Gonzalez. English version by Susana Urra. Small businesses can now set up an online store for free on Facebook and Instagram, the social network has announced. Facebook Shops will enable users to create and customise a page for their business as well as choose which product to showcase. The social network said the new feature has been designed to help small businesses forced to close and now struggling during the coronavirus lockdown. The feature has gone live on Facebook and Instagram in the UK and Ireland on Tuesday. Facebook said the new tool means that any seller no matter their size or budget, can bring their business online and connect with customers wherever and whenever its convenient for them. The social media giant said potential customers will be able to find Shop pages on a businesss Facebook page or Instagram profile, and then place orders via the businesss website. A Facebook Shops page for small businesses (Facebook) Facebook also confirmed that in the future, users will be able to view items and make purchases from within the firms messaging platforms WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram Direct. Right now many small businesses are struggling, and with stores closing, more are looking to bring their business online, Facebook said. Our goal is to make shopping seamless and empower anyone from a small business owner to a global brand to use our apps to connect with customers. Thats why were launching Facebook Shops and investing in features across our apps that inspire people to shop and make buying and selling online easier. Facebook also announced it was testing a loyalty programme linked to the Shops feature, which could see users earn points on their Facebook account which can then be used to claim rewards. New Haven police said they are investigating a shooting in the Fair Haven Heights neighborhood Monday afternoon that sent one person to the hospital. Police were called around 5:45 p.m. to residence on Fairmont Avenue between Fulton Street and Lancraft Street for a report that a person had been shot in front of the home, Capt. Anthony Duff said. The Rivers State Government has finally dropped charges against the two pilots of Caverton Helicopters; Samuel Ugorji and Samuel Buhari.... The Rivers State Government has finally dropped charges against the two pilots of Caverton Helicopters; Samuel Ugorji and Samuel Buhari. Chief Magistrate D.D. Ihua-Maduenyi of a Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt remanded the two pilots of Carverton Helicopters after they were charged on four counts of disobedience to lawful order by violating the Executive Order of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike. The pilots were later released. However, the Rivers state Government through the Honourable Attorney-General withdrew the charges Tuesday. State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Paulinus Nsirim in a statement said, The Rivers State government has withdrawn and discontinued the two separate charges (PMC/532C/2020 and PMC/533C/2020) preferred against the two pilots of Caverton Helicopters Ltd and the 10 passengers on board before the Port Harcourt Chief Magistrates Court. Consequently, the presiding Chief Magistrate, D. D. Ihua-Maduenyi Esq; has struck out the two charges and discharged all the defendants. Caverton, a logistics company, provides support services for oil and gas companies in Nigeria, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Total, Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron. When planning your next vacation, you might want to consider Madagascar. Though it is known for its endearing ring-tailed lemurs, Madagascar is a little off the beaten track and is an island of "untouched beauty." There truly is something for everyone here. For the nature enthusiast, Madagascar is home to many species of animals and plants that can be found nowhere else in the world. For those looking to soak in some world cultures, and enjoy tasty cuisine, Madagascar's rich multi-ethnic heritage offers an unforgettable experience. And for the adventure seekers, the island's changing landscape offers unique adventures in the wilderness, following an experienced guide. Madagascar was even a haven for pirates once, and travellers may go in search of their secrets. 10. Unique Wildlife Madagascar is famous for its many lemur species. Image credit: Andrea Izzotti/Shutterstock.com Madagascar is perhaps most famous for the distinctive ring-tailed lemur, one of thirty-two species of lemur, all found only in Madagascar and its smaller surrounding islands. Madagascar is also home to a number of other unique species. Approximately 75% of Madagascars wildlife do not live anywhere else in the world. Habitat destruction and climate change are serious threats to many of these species, and many are already critically endangered. Some of the most unique animals include the aye-aye, fossa, blue coua, panther chameleon, Malagasy rainbow frog, and the Satanic Leaf-Tailed Gecko. For the wildlife enthusiast, Madagascar is simply a must-visit destination. 9. Unique Flora Beautiful Baobab trees at sunset at the avenue of the baobabs in Madagascar. Image credit: Vaclav Sebek/Shutterstock.com Another symbol of Madagascar is the majestic Baobab, or upside-down tree. Six of the worlds nine species of Baobab trees are found here. The travelers palm, with unique fronds that grow from east to west, is another famous tree species unique to Madagascar. All told, approximately 90% of the 10,000 species of plants in Madagascar grow nowhere else in the world. Unfortunately, agriculture and mining industries threaten many of these species with extinction. Some of the most critically endangered are the Madagascar banana tree, Sohisika trees, Bismarck palm, and the Tahina palm. 8. Two Seasons Rain clouds gather over Madagascar's mountains. Image credit: Dudarev Mikhail/Shutterstock.com For those looking to escape changeable seasons, Madagascar has just two seasons to offer. From November to April is the rainy season, and May to October is the dry season. Such long seasonal windows can make planning a vacation easier. But visitors should also remember that there is a great deal of regional variation in climate across the island, owing to varying elevation and prepare accordingly. Madagascar is also prone to powerful cyclones in the rainy season, attracting extreme storm chasers. 7. Culture The Hiragasy is a musical tradition in Madagascar from the Merina ethnic group of the Highlands. Image credit: Pierre-Yves Babelon/Shutterstock.com The culture of Madagascar is a mixture of various cultures from around the world, reflecting the origins of its African Austronesian indigenous peoples, the Malagasy, and the influence of its French colonial settlers. Arabic, Indian, English, and Chinese influences all combine alongside these into a unique multi-ethnic cultural milieu. There are two official languages, Malagasy, the dominant language of the island, and French. Visitors to the island are greeted by warm and welcoming locals, and unique cultural experiences. The festivals combine Malagasy and Catholic traditions. To catch some of their unique festivals, be sure to plan ahead. The Famadihana Festival, also known as the Turning of the Bones, is only held every seven to nine years. 6. Cuisine Local Malagasy woman frying bananas in oil at her stall on market next to main road. Image credit: Lubo Ivanko/Shutterstock.com The cuisine of Madagascar reflects its rich multi-ethnic roots. Traditional Malagasy cooking combined with French colonial influences for a variety of flavourful dishes, with rice at the center of every meal. Some traditional dishes include Zebu (grilled or stewed beef), Romazava (braised meat served with a variety of spices and mixed greens), and Tilapia a la Malagasy (fish cooked in a flavorful tomato sauce). There are options for the vegetarian in the crowd as well, including Lasary (mixed vegetables sauteed with rice), Minsao (stir-fried noodles and vegetables), or Madagascar beans. 5. Zafimaniry Woodcraft Part of the unique culture of Madagascar is the wood crafting knowledge of the Zafimaniry., Once spread across the island, this craft is now practiced solely by the Zafimaniry, residing in a remote wooded corner in a south east corner of the island. . To the Zafimaniry, this is not just a craft, wood is central to their beliefs and traditions surrounding life and death. Wooden surfaces are elaborately ornamented, and wooden structures built without metal hardware. Mortise and tenon joints are used instead to hold the structures together. In 2008 this unique woodcraft culture was inscribed on the UNESCOs Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 4. A Pirate Haven The cemetery of past pirates at St. Mary Island, Madagscar. Image credit: Javarman/Shutterstock.com A lesser-known feature of Madagascar is that it was once a haven for pirates during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the golden age of piracy. The islands independence from European powers, naturally sheltered harbor, plentiful food and fresh water, and friendly local population provided the perfect base for pirate activity. Many stories surround Madagascars pirates, including the legend of the Land of Libertalia, a pirate colony founded on the island. Visitors can go searching and decide for themselves whether or not Libertalia truly existed. One thing is for certain, there is a pirate graveyard in Ile Saint Marie. Though many have visited it, perhaps the answers to Libertalia lie there still, waiting to be discovered. 3. Changeable roads Evergreen tropical rainforest with rocky small waterfall crossing in the middle in Ranomafana national park Madagascar. Image credit: Hajakely/Shutterstock.com Anyone looking for some serious off the beaten track adventures will find that Madagascar has plenty to offer. Road routes change every year due to the shifting rivers following cyclones, and no two adventures are quite the same. With limited Wi-Fi and cell coverage, it is easy to disconnect and truly get lost in the wilderness. But dont worry, there are plenty of experienced guides available to lead you on the wilderness adventure of your dreams and bring you safely back home. 2. Andasibe-Mantadia National Park Chameleon in the primeval forests of the Andasibe National Park, Eastern Madagascar. Image credit: LouieLea/Shutterstock.com Madagascar is home to a stunning array of unique natural beauty, and the Andasibe-Mantadia National Parks offer one of the best opportunities to sneak a peek at the overwhelming variety and unique natural treasures. A highlight for visitors of this park is the unique call of the Indri, one of the largest lemurs. Thirteen other species of lemur inhabit these parks, along with fifteen other mammal species, over 100 bird species. The parks are also home to a range of plant life, including tambourissa, ravinala, pandanus, palisander and ebano. A true nature lovers paradise. 1. Bemaraha Tsingy National park Tsingy de Bemaraha Nature Reserve, Madagascar. UNESCO World Heritage Site. Image credit: T.Sahl/Shutterstock.com Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990 for outstanding natural beauty, this Labyrinth of the Stone forest is a truly unique landscape. Visitors can traverse over walkways through forests of tall, pointed limestone, the tsingy, home to a surprising variety of animals, including the fossa, thirteen species of lemurs, over 100 bird species, fifteen bat species, and sixty varieties of reptiles. Visitors can also view the untouched forests, lemurs, and waterfalls of Manambolo Gorge. From nature lovers and adventurers, to photographers, this park has something special to offer everyone. Nearly 1,000 people from Jammu and Kashmir, including 500 students, are on board a 'Shramik Special' train which left Pune for Udhampur on Tuesday evening, an official spokesman said. This is the second 'Shramik Special' train to bring back Jammu and Kashmir residents stuck in Maharashtra due to the coronavirus lockdown. "As many as 50 student volunteers have been trained by local medicos in Pune to tackle any medical or other health issues on board during the 40-hour long journey from Pune to Udhampur," said Assistant Resident Commissioner Sheikh Zahoor, who is supervising evacuation of the stranded persons from Maharashtra. On May 14, around 1,000 people, including 400 students, were evacuated by a special train from Nagpur. A total of 2,000 people of the union territory have been evacuated from Maharashtra so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A supermarket chain that once was retrenching in the Charleston area is beefing up its presence with the addition of a new grocery store in the suburbs. North Carolina-based Food Lion is adding a 17th supermarket in the Lowcountry with a new location in the Jedburg community on U.S. Highway 78 where Jedburg Road becomes Mallard Road in Dorchester County. A company spokesman did not immediately respond for comment on an opening timeline, but the project could be completed by year's end, according to Dorchester County economic development director John Truluck. The area just west of Summerville town limits is in a growing part of the county where new housing developments have sprung up in recent years and several new industries and businesses are located nearby. It's also not far from the big warehouse developments in Berkeley County along Interstate 26. RPM & Associates of Chattanooga, Tenn., is constructing the new 35,000-square-foot supermarket across from a Dollar General store, according to a project commencement filing with Dorchester County. Muckenfuss Properties LLC owns three parcels of about 26 acres on the corner where construction has begun. The site abuts Norfolk Southern Rail Line to the south and Green Bay Branch to the west. Food Lion, part of Belgium-based conglomerate Ahold Delhaize, operates 16 supermarkets throughout the Charleston metro area from Moncks Corner to Ravenel and downtown Charleston. It has no stores in Mount Pleasant after closing its last two remaining stores in the growing suburb in 2012. Last summer, Food Lion took over a former Bi-Lo store on St. James Avenue in Goose Creek a few months after Bi-Lo's parent, Southeastern Grocers of Jacksonville, decided to close the supermarket. The Film Academy is considering postponing the 2021 Oscars amid the ongoing pandemic, after rules were relaxed to allow streamed films to be considered. The 93rd Academy Awards were set to take place on February 28 2021. But multiple sources have claimed that the ABC telecast of the Oscars will be moved to a different date, yet there is currently no definitive plan in place. Up in the air: The Film Academy 'is considering postponing 2021 Oscars' amid the ongoing pandemic... (Brad Pitt pictured with his Oscar in February) 'It's likely theyll be postponed. The details have yet to be fully discussed or even formally proposed', a source told Variety on the condition of anonymity. Another source said that the ceremony date remains unchanged. For the first time, and only for this year, movies that debuted on a streaming service without a theatrical run will be eligible for a gong. When new rules were announced in April because of COVID-19 severely affecting the movie industry and movie-goers, Academy President David Rubin said it was too soon to know how the 2021 Oscars could change. Things have to change: For the first time, and only this year, movies that debuted on a streaming service without a theatrical run will be eligible for an award Hollywood's biggest night: Steve Martin and Chris Rock are pictured at the last Academy Awards in February 'Its impossible to know what the landscape will be,' he told Variety. 'We know we want to celebrate film but we do not know exactly what form it will take.' Last month it was announced that movies that skip the big screen will be allowed to contend for Oscars this year, the Academy said in a significant rule change forced by the coronavirus pandemic. Traditionally the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences requires at least a seven-day run in Los Angeles theaters for movies to be eligible for Hollywood's biggest prize. Making it happen: Last month it was announced that movies that skip the big screen will be allowed to contend for Oscars this year as long as they had a planned theatrical release (Ellen DeGeneres is seen at the 2014 event) But picture houses in America's second city have been closed since mid-March, with no date set for them to reopen. 'Until further notice, and for the 93rd Awards year only, films that had a previously planned theatrical release but are initially made available on a commercial streaming... platform may qualify,' the Academy said in a statement. Debate has raged in recent years over Oscar contenders produced by streaming giants such as Netflix, including last year's 'The Irishman' and 2018's 'Roma.' Until now, the films have been shown at theaters for brief windows before moving online, in order to remain eligible. 'It's impossible to know what the landscape will be,' Academy president David Rubin told Variety last month. 'We know we want to celebrate film but we do not know exactly what form it will take.' Jimmy Kimmel is pictured at the awards in 2018 The Academy, seen as the apex body of the Hollywood film industry, insisted that its commitment to viewing 'the magic of movies' at a theater is 'unchanged and unwavering.' 'Nonetheless, the historically tragic COVID-19 pandemic necessitates this temporary exception to our awards eligibility rules,' added President David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson. Once theaters reopen, the Academy will set a date from which the rule change will no longer apply, and standard theatrical qualifying requirements will return. But films released at theaters in major cities outside Los Angeles will also become eligible. Under other new rules agreed by governors during an April 28 video call meeting, sound mixing and sound editing Oscars will be merged. Allowances will be made for scrapped film festivals that serve as qualifying events for movies in certain categories. With the pandemic threatening to wreak havoc on Hollywood's award season, industry bodies have been scrambling to adapt to the closure of theaters and postponement of major titles. In March the Golden Globes became the first to relax entry rules, allowing films that had planned 'a bona fide theatrical release' to compete even if the release was later scrapped. Major US movie theaters say they do not plan on reopening until the summer, with some exceptions in states like Georgia and Texas that have already allowed theaters to reopen. The Screen Actor's Guild Awards are reportedly also changing their rules to consider honouring films that did not premiere in theaters. According to an email sent to studios on Thursday, films that were originally scheduled to be released in theaters that were forced to debut digitally due to the coronavirus pandemic will now be eligible for nomination. The 2021 awards season has been thrown into chaos due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the Academy Awards reportedly set to be delayed by four months to allow for a wider range of releases. In the email obtained by Variety, SAG are planning to follow temporary new criteria recently set by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Once theaters reopen, the Academy will set a date from which the rule change will no longer apply, and standard theatrical qualifying requirements will return. Reese Witherspoon is seen in 2006 This would allow for films that were streamed or released for purchase on a Video On Demand (VOD) service before being played in theaters to be considered for awards. The email said: 'We are still revising our film release criteria but will be following the Academys rule change to allow titles with a planned theatrical release to be eligible if streamed or released on VOD first. 'Full language will be announced in June along with the rest of our rules.' It's also thought that past requirements that studios provide a DVD copy for SAG members to view when considering nominations will also be relaxed, with 'digital screeners now permitted during the pre-nom voting phase.' The SAGs are one of the more recent ceremonies to appear in Hollywood's annual awards season, with its first ceremony taking place in 1995. Nominations for the awards come from two committees, one for film and one for television, each with 2100 members of the union selected at random each year. The full group of members, which can be in the hundreds of thousands, are then asked to vote for each award. A group of attorneys representing immigration detainees have filed a class action lawsuit seeking the release of all of the detainees being held at a privately-run detention center in Elizabeth after an officer recently died from COVID-19 and the conditions allegedly remain inadequate at the facility. The lawsuit is demanding the release of all 114 detainees being held at the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact correctional facilities across the country. The lawsuit highlights four people currently detained at the facility, who have said sick detainees are being given inadequate medical care, social distancing is impossible at the detention center, and that soap, hand sanitizer, and cleaning supplies are in short supply, according to the lawsuit. One described the detention center, which is privately run by CoreCivic, as being filthy." Their concern is heightened because the detention center continues to admit new individuals, continues to transfer people in and out of the prison from other ICE facilities and is allegedly not enforcing screening protocols that would mitigate the entry of COVID-19 into the facility, according to the lawsuit. Unless this Court intervenes to order the release of the (detainees), they will face dramatically increased chances of contracting COVID-19, becoming seriously ill or injured, and dying, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit says ICE has the discretion to release all inmates held at the Elizabeth facility. Inaction from ICE and CoreCivic will be deadly for our clients, said Chia-Chia Wang, organizing and advocacy director for the American Friends Service Committee in New Jersey. An ICE spokesman said the agency could not respond to pending legislation. CoreCivic, a for-profit prison corporation, also declined to comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, but a spokesman said it has implemented a Coronavirus Medical Action Plan in all of their facilities, including in Elizabeth. CoreCivic is working hard to protect our employees, those entrusted to our care, and our communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, said spokesman Ryan Gustin. ICE has released around 900 immigrants detained nationwide since March, according to the lawsuit, but nearly 28,000 individuals remain detained. The agency said in mid-April it released everyone it planned to release. Immigration attorneys and advocates have continually turned to the courts in order to get detainees, who are typically held on civil matters, released as health experts have warned that correctional facilities could be devastated by the virus. ICE has not reported the deaths of any detainees in N.J., but one detainee has died in California. A guard at the Elizabeth detention center, who last worked April 20, died last week from COVID-19 and 18 detainees have tested positive, though the lawsuit alleges that number is most likely higher since ICE does not engage in universal testing. Immigration attorneys from the Immigrant Defense Project, American Friends Service Committee and New York University School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic filed the class action lawsuit in federal court Friday. Gothamist first reported on the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that conditions at the detention center were deficient in several respects, including health and sanitation prior to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 10,000 New Jersey residents. The detention center is a former warehouse in which detainees sleep in dorms that contain up to 40 beds in one room that are clustered closely to each other," according to the lawsuit, and has one bathroom. There are no windows at the detention center, according to the lawsuit. The deteriorating conditions has prompted one man, who has been detained since January after fleeing threats and violence in Ghana, to initiate hunger strikes during the health crisis. According to the lawsuit, the man eats, sleeps, and passes every day in close quarters with other detained men, some of who are sick and coughing. Another detainee, according to the lawsuit, recently tried to commit suicide because of the psychological toll of being detained during a pandemic. The Ghanaian man has twice requested that ICE release him from detention on humanitarian grounds, and the agency has refused both times, according to the lawsuit. I am very frustrated, sad, and depressed by what I am experiencing in this facility, he said, according to court documents. "I still dont understand why the government is continuing to detain me and putting my life at risk, even though they know that COVID-19 is present in the facility and will continue to spread. A Mexican native who lived in the United States for more than a decade before being detained in March, has asthma and has experienced chest pain and shortness of breath while detained, but the medical staff allegedly refused him adequate treatment, according to the lawsuit. The Mexican native and those in his dorm allegedly often do not have soap, according to the lawsuit. The 30-year-old is very worried about the virus and getting infected, the lawsuit says. If mass release of the detainees does not occur, the attorneys are seeking expedited bail hearings in order for detainees to be seen in court in hopes of a release. However, the lawsuit alleges that immigration court proceedings have been in shambles since the health crisis began in March. Bond hearings have been abruptly cancelled or adjourned and have delayed the issuance of bond decisions, while detainees have had little access to their attorneys, law libraries or evidence, including medical records and evaluations necessary for their release request, according to the lawsuit. The Ghanian man, who has initiated the hunger strikes, was originally supposed to have an asylum hearing April 21, but he was forced to ask for a continuance because he had difficulty communicating with his attorney and preparing to present his case to the immigration court while at the Elizabeth detention center. With every passing day, (the mans) fear of illness and death grows, the lawsuit says. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Joe Atmonavage may be reached at jatmonavage@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, a youth from Meerut city, Uttar Pradesh was seen with a Rs 10 note pasted on his mouth. As per reports, after the youth was caught loitering despite lockdown restrictions the youth pasted the note on his mouth in an effort to avoid the consequences. The individual has been identified as a contractual worker. Caught loitering As per reports, the contractual worker even tried to defend his actions by saying that proper mask costs at least Rs 30 and he did not have that much money. The youth has been identified as Amit. Amit reportedly resides in the Parikshitgarh area of the district and had travelled to the city in order to collect payment from his employer. According to reports, Circle officer, Civil Lines, Sanjeev Deshwal, while speaking to local media said that while he was on lockdown duty on May 17 he saw a bike with two youths. Deshwal further added that while the driver of the bike was wearing a mask fashioned out of a handkerchief, Amit who was riding pillion was not wearing anything to cover his face and after noticing the cops he quickly pasted a ten-rupee note on his face. Read: Study: Tests On Hamsters Reveal Face Masks Can Reduce Spread Of Coronavirus Read: COVID-19: Kuwait, Qatar Impose Jail Term For People Found Without Masks As per reports, once the officer caught up to the bike carrying Amit and his friend, they questioned the duo and Amit admitted to not having a mask. The officers then reportedly handed the duo two masks and warned them not to move around without covering their faces. After the incident, an FIR was registered against them under IPC section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and relevant sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act. Read: South Korea To Provide 10,000 Masks & Protective Equipment To Native American Veterans Read: Coronavirus: Beijing Announces Wearing Masks Outdoors Not Necessary The use of various objects as substitutes for facemasks has been reported from many countries. As per reports, a few weeks back a woman was seen wearing a Buzz Lightyear style helmet instead of a standard face mask while she decided to go out shopping and run errands. In another incident, a woman from China decided to wear a full giraffe costume as a form of protection when going to the pharmacy and running important errands. (Representative Image) A customer picks up a bottle of soju at a shop in Seoul, April 28. / Korea Times file By Lee Kyung-min The government said Tuesday that it will make significant revisions to the law governing the manufacturing, sales and distribution of alcoholic beverages, in a move to help level the playing field for domestic businesses that are increasingly dwarfed by the rapid growth of the imported alcoholic beverage market over the past few years. The Ministry of Economy and Finance said local breweries will be able to save time and money via simplified regulations, eased rules on licensing and streamlined tax filing. "We believe the revisions will help remove overall inefficiencies, thereby helping local breweries gain a competitive edge against imported ones. Related industries are also expected to benefit," a ministry official said. The measure came amid steady decline in sales by domestic breweries over the past few years, an inevitable result of what they consider a "loophole" long exploited by their foreign counterparts that are not subject to the same heavy tax and "growth-stunting" regulations. Domestic producers claim imported products sell cheaper and are more accessible to consumers. The ministry's collected data showed domestic breweries reported a 2.5 percent year-on-year decrease in sales between 2014 and 2018, while imported alcoholic beverage market grew 24.4 percent year on year in the same period. Economy and Finance Ministry Deputy Minister for Tax and Customs Lim Jae-hyeon, center, speaks during a press briefing at Sejong Government Complex, April 18. Courtesy of Ministry of Economy and Finance Modernizing Rapidly and Cost Effectively Embracing Agile Digital Services A Stronger Future Ready Approach Oklahoma state government is using cloud technologies to help limit the spread of COVID-19 and cope with massive economic disruption the virus is leaving in its wake.The states Department of Health recently launched a mobile app that lets medical staff engage remotely with at-risk citizens who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. The app, created by Google and MTX Group, enables the state to quickly contact citizens who report COVID symptoms and direct them to testing sites.In addition, the state worked with Google to expand capacity of its unemployment insurance call centers. New online application processes and AI-powered virtual agents are helping the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission cope with unprecedented demand for unemployment claims and expedite benefits disbursements to qualified applicants who have lost jobs during the pandemic.Heres an agency thats designed to handle 1,500 to 2,000 claims per week thats now getting up to 60,000 claims per week, said Oklahoma Secretary of Digital Transformation David Ostrowe, during a May 12 webcast exploring how cloud technologies are supporting coronavirus response efforts . Weve been able to stand up new capabilities fast. We have already processed about $650 million in claims.Ostrowe, a private sector business executive who was drafted into public service by Gov. Kevin Stitt, has led efforts to modernize Oklahoma state government services since 2019. Urgent needs triggered by COVID-19 kicked that work into high gear.The fundamental lesson we learned from the pandemic is we were grossly unprepared for the level of this crisis, Ostrowe said.He says cloud technologies have transformed how the state expands digital capacity and rolls out new services. For instance, Oklahomas symptom tracking app was launched in 48 hours.Everything in my world normally takes two years and costs $10 million, Ostrowe said. We stood this thing up in a few days, which was unbelievable. It also came in at cost -- and the cost was reasonable.Public sector technology experts at Google say the pandemic is driving significant changes in how states and localities across the nation think about digital systems and services, including elevating the value and importance of IT modernization among executive leadership.Were seeing increased participation from policymakers in technology decisions, and were seeing more political leaders engage in these discussions, said Leah Popoff, who leads state and Local government affairs and policy for Google Cloud. We think this is a great opportunity to converge conversations between state IT leaders and policymakers.During the May 12 webcast, Popoff and Christopher Haas, a Google Cloud strategic business executive, pointed to several ways cloud technologies are supporting state and local government COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.Agencies are using cloud-based data dashboards to provide real-time analytics and data visualizations to track and control the spread of the virus, for example. These tools also are becoming more important for guiding policy around the economic recovery.Governments will need to integrate their data into a centralized platform so it can be transformed, combined and analyzed to aid in COVID response efforts, said Haas. Then you can use those insights to create a comprehensive view of how citizens are engaging with benefit programs and make informed decisions around relaxing or enforcing social distancing policies.In addition, digitization and smart automation are keys to coping with growing demand for social services programs. Technologies such as automated document processing help agencies process, store and access mountains of paper documents submitted by citizens who are applying for benefits, while cloud-based chatbots and virtual agents increase capacity of agency contact centers and eligibility systems.Cloud is enabling state and local agencies to add these new capabilities with unprecedented speed.Pressure to act has made long procurement times infeasible, Popoff said. Were seeing many states act quickly with modular solutions to handle the massive demand and changing requirements for unemployment systems, and they have immediately improved the citizen experience. This will hopefully set these agencies up for future modernization.Armed with an emergency declaration from the governor, Ostrowe bypassed some traditional government procurement hurdles in Oklahoma to address the pandemic and its economic fallout. He used that opportunity to implement innovative cloud-based solutions that could quickly provide help to citizens in need.Government shut down the economy whether we should have or shouldnt have, we did -- and now its our job to get it restarted, Ostrow said. Part of that is getting funds to people who are suffering.In addition, cloud technologies put in place today will become the foundation for improving resiliency of Oklahoma state government IT systems and delivering higher levels of service.I can tell you, Ostrowe said, were going to come out of this experience far stronger.You can learn more about establishing a Future Ready approach for your agencys new normal at govtech.com/futureready A coronavirus face mask that looks better suited to space travel than the daily commute will begin shipping to customers at the end of this month. The BioVYZR 1.0 is fitted with a motor-powered fan that pushes air through filters, removing harmful pathogens, and a large visor to stop users touching their faces and transmitting the infection. It was created by Canadian start-up VYZR technologies, and has so far received more than 204,000 investment from supporters including doctors, nurses and dentists through crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. The high tech mask hit the assembly lines last month. It is expected to cost around 141 when it goes on general sale. It comes amid rampant speculation that standard face masks may not offer adequate protection from the coronavirus. The BioVYZR 1.0 uses a motor-powered fan to push air through two purifiers, removing harmful pathogens, before it is breathed in by the user Users attach the mask with a large strap around the chest and breathe normally. Air is sucked in by a fan at the back of the mask, behind the head, and pushed through filters. It is then expelled through the sides of the mask. BioVYZR's co-founder Yezin Al-Qaysi says the futuristic Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) stops almost all airborne pathogens getting to its user. 'We're in the grips of a fiery debate over whether Covid-19 is transmitted only by large droplets, or through aerosols as well,' he said. 'Until a scientific consensus crystallizes, we'll need PPE that can effectively prevent airborne transmission of COVID-19. That s why we made the BioVYZR.' Production of the textile part of the mask has already begun, while en-masse production of its air purification system is due to begin shortly, an update posted on May 17 reads. All masks, which are being built in China, will be constructed to meet the demands of working in a hospital. Production of the textile part of the mask has already begun, and the air purification system is expected to hit the production line this month The mask has been supported by more than 200,000 from backers including doctors, nurses and dentists Official guidance from the UK government on whether wearing even a simple face mask helps to slow the disease spread has been patchy, although experts are now leaning towards the view that something is better than nothing. A review of scientific literature by the University of East Anglia found masks have a 'small protective effect' that could shield elderly and vulnerable people. But they said the evidence was not strong enough to recommend their widespread use. A University of Oxford study published on March 30 concluded that surgical masks and medical-grade N95 masks are just as effective at stopping the spread of infection as each other. Data from countries where mask wearing has been enforced suggests they may curb the spread of infection. Austria took this step on April 6, following a spike in infections, and saw its rate of infection drop from 90 per million people to ten in less than a fortnight. The Czech Republic and Slovakia were the first two European countries to make masks compulsory, and they have both recorded tiny infection rates. Two people are pictured wearing masks on London's Clapham Common. Face masks are only recommended for use on public transport and in shops, not mandated How to make your own coronavirus face mask: Online DIY tutorials detail method for vacuum cleaner bag or T-shirt to create protection that leading scientists say is effective against bug The BioVYZR 1.0 mask is expected to offer a higher level of protection than other masks currently available. In the UK, face coverings are recommended for those entering 'enclosed spaces where social distancing is not always possible', such on public transport or in some shops. However, they are not a mandatory requirement. It is also not recommended that those taking exercise use them. Apple consistently divulges little on business movements but the signs are there, Photo: Shutterstock As manufacturer of Apples AirPod earphones, Goertek Vina Co., Ltd. in the northern province of Bac Ninh has been in a hurry to recruit 10,000 labourers, including manual workers, office staff, and managers with an offered maximum salary of VND25 million ($1,100) per month for management positions to serve operation of a new manufacturing facility. The interview period is taking place from the end of April until the end of this month. In March, the company notified 700 trainee staff to work at its new AirPods and speakerphone manufacturing facility in Bac Ninh, with income offered at VND9-11 million ($390-480) per month. Responding to VIR about the moves from the US tech giant, a Goertek representative declined to reveal any information, only asserting that Apple always requires its partners to keep silence regarding its business plans. This recruitment coincides with recent news published on Nikkei Asian Review that Apple will allegedly produce millions of its wireless AirPods in Vietnam from this quarter. The Vietnamese officials even granted special permits for a key Apple AirPod assembler to help the company bring in engineers to the country for smooth production during the lockdown. It is believed that to start operations in this quarter, Apple and its partners have signed co-operation agreements as well as silently installed manufacturing facilities without disclosing any information. In a white paper on Vietnams industrial real estate in the first half of last year published by Savills Vietnam, Goertek Vina was named as one of the large-scale groups that had relocated facilities from China to Vietnam to avoid negative impacts of the US-China trade war. And this January, Goertek Vina was granted an investment certificate for its project to manufacture electronics, network equipment, and multimedia products with a total investment of $260 million. Along with Goertek, other Apple vendors have also taken root in Vietnam, in service of the giants production. For example, AirPod assembler Inventec is currently building a plant in Vietnam. Merry Electronics, Apples acoustic component supplier, is also reportedly collaborating with Luxshare to prepare a facility in Vietnam. The company said its operations will begin this summer. Other Apple suppliers such as Foxconn and Pegatron are also increasing their footprint in northern Vietnam, even though they are not necessarily helping to make Apple products there currently. Le Hoai Quoc, former director of Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park Management Board, told VIR that numerous data makes them believe that Apple has relocated its facilities to Vietnam. Along with the US-China trade factor that is spurring Vietnam to become a safe destination, the country also has more advantages compared to others in Southeast Asia due to the long border with China. The factory may likely be located in the north to be suitable and convenient with the parts supply chain of Apple. Haiphong port city may be a suitable selection, Quoc said. Echoing this view, Linda Liu, an economist at Malaysian-backed Maybank Kim Eng, told VIR that the ongoing pandemic is akin to a wake-up call for multinational companies about the risks of over-dependence on China. The virus outbreak will further solidify the supply chain shifts towards the ASEAN as global multinational companies adopt a China+1 strategy to diversify supply chain risks, said Liu. According to the Financial Times, the US-China tensions and the COVID-19 outbreak have enhanced the exposure of dependence on a single nation for production. That has made global companies think twice about moving out of China and diversifying business lines to the other countries. Thus, companies will prefer markets benefiting their sales revenues, which may be one of the main reasons behind Apple relocating its manufacturing lines of AirPods in Vietnam, which has previously been in favour of iPhones. Moreover, the local preference on the other Apple products is quite impressive. Similar to Apple, its biggest competitor South Korean-based Samsung has accelerated production lines in the country. Specifically, Samsung smartphones have continued to be manufactured in its two facilities in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen during the health crisis, while facilities in India were interrupted. Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, his mother Mehroonisa Siddiqui and a few family members travelled to their hometown Budhana, Uttar Pradesh, from Mumbai, last week, and all of them are under a 14-day quarantine. While many speculated that Siddiqui travelled home to celebrate Eid, he clarified on Twitter that it was their mothers wish to go home, as she is unwell. Due to the recent loss of my younger sister, my mother who is 71yrs old got anxiety attack twice. We have followed all the guidelines given by the State Government. We are #HomeQuarantined at our hometown Budhana. Please #StaySafe #StayHome Nawazuddin Siddiqui (@Nawazuddin_S) May 18, 2020 And negating Eid celebration reports, his brother, director Shamas N Siddiqui, also tweeted a copy of the travel permission they took from Mumbai police. Ammi used to take care of our sister (Syama Tamshi Siddiqui). She couldnt accept her death and has not been keeping well. She recently started having anxiety attacks and has been requesting us to take her to Budhana. We couldnt go earlier because of the lockdown, says Shamas, 36, adding that the day communication started, Nawaz took the required permission. Their youngest sister Syama had been battling cancer since she was 18 and she died last year in December at the age of 26. @PTI_News @thakur_shivangi Recently, after the death of our Sister from cancer, Our 71-year-old mother is very ill, That is why @Nawazuddin_S had to go BUDHANA with mother and not to celebrate Eid. pic.twitter.com/CoUUpR3WAY Shamas N Siddiqui (@ShamasSiddiqui) May 18, 2020 Shamas, whos in Mumbai, adds, Ammi ki haalat kharaab ho rahi thi. And Nawaz bhai wanted to fulfil her wish. They reached there on may 11. No one knew about this earlier. After reaching home, they got their Covid-19 test done, and thankfully results came negative. Shamas suspects that maybe after their test results, the information got leaked from somewhere. Thats alright, but people should not speculate that he went there for Eid, he urges. In fact, he further clarifies that the family wont celebrate the festival this year because of Syamas death. Hamaara koi apna hume chhod ke chala gaya hai, hum kaise Eid manaa sakte hain? he adds before saying that Nawaz isnt in a state to speak with anyone. Director Shamas Nawab Siddiqui (Vidya Subramnaian/Hindustan Times) Hes very worried about Ammis health. Though shes doing better now, bhai has no plans of coming back to Mumbai anytime soon. Hell be back only when shootings resume, says Shamas, adding, Our family in Budhana also needs him. He wanted to be with our siblings who stay there but wasnt getting the time earlier. Then for the last two months, we all were stuck at home. Before concluding, he requests everyone to celebrate Eid at home. Stay at home, follow all the norms and celebrate the festival. This isnt the right time to step out, he urges. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The commemoration of VE Day resulted in various commentators on radio and in the press referencing Eamon de Valeras visit in May 1945 to the German delegation in Dublin to express condolences on the death of Hitler. Minimising De Valeras action, some explained it as a mere tactical error or blunder resulting from an over-rigid application of the principle of Irish neutrality. It was and remains a great deal more egregious than that. Pre-WWII, throughout the 1930s, De Valera was fully aware of the barbaric conduct of Hitlers tyrannical Nazi regime and also its reign of terror on German Jews. During the war he was not only able to follow events but was personally informed of and received intelligence reports on Nazi barbarism and the mass murder of Jews. Well before Hitlers death the existence of the concentration camps was known and in the first months of 1945 international publicity revealed the fate of both the dead and the liberated skeletal survivors of the concentration camps. Prior to the war, following the advice of its deeply flawed, pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic ambassador in Berlin Charles Bewley, the Irish Government ignored almost all requests made by terrified Jewish families for permission to reside in Ireland. Letters in the State archives containing such requests starkly depict the horrors of 1930s Germany. Of course, Irelands doors largely stayed closed to concentration camp survivors taking up permanent residence in the State even after the wars end. By May 1945 there could be no doubt Hitler was a genocidal monster responsible for the death of millions. No principle of neutrality compelled De Valera to express condolences on Hitlers death. His doing so was an act of moral turpitude and showed contempt for the sacrifice of the many thousands of courageous Irish citizens who fought on the Allied side against Germany. Alan Shatter Former minister for justice, equality and defence, Dublin 16 'Modern, liberal' Ireland reveals double standards We've had a lot of heat generated over the Normal People TV series. Liberals seem to have got themselves particularly excited over the whole thing, regarding it as a great blow for freedom, sexual maturity, etc, etc. If thats what keeps them happy, fair enough. Those who dared question aspects of the film were pounced on as killjoys, prudes, reactionary the usual name calling. That old term of sneering abuse was also wheeled out moral majority. That put us in our place. But who are the real moral majority? The film went ahead, some people raised (by and large) reasonable objections/critiques. That was the height of it. Compare and contrast this with the events a few months previously when a Catholic speaker, Jason Evert, was due to give a number of speeches at various locations. They werent on TV, attendance wasnt compulsory, sensitive liberals need not attend. A storm ensued and several venues backed out for fear of the reaction. Welcome to modern, liberal Ireland. Eric Conway Navan, Co Meath Trust in difficult science, not illogical 'couch virologists' With the coronavirus continuing to constrict and confine us to our homes, impatience and scepticism are growing. While scepticism is both healthy and useful, it can transform into cynicism quickly under difficult circumstance, like the one we find ourselves in currently. I have heard whispers within my lockdown locality, ones that ask why havent the scientists got a clear answer on whether you can catch the virus twice; others speculate if the WHO has a motive for keeping us ignorant and some just cannot understand why they dont have a full understanding of the virus by now. It was always my understanding that science was difficult, I never expected it to be made more difficult by couch virologists who cannot understand the science they never studied. I am not canvassing against critical thought, but I do stand against illogical thought. If we let the science do the talking itll be over quicker. Lets not put Galileo under house arrest, lets trust in science. Ross Kearney Dublin 13 Curtain comes down on home-made face masks My wife would dearly love to make face coverings for the family and friends. However since Simon Harris seems to believe that drapery/houseware stores are there purely for the sake of selling curtains she cannot buy material or knicker elastic to make said face coverings. Eamon Ward Co Wexford Advertisement Some Abia residents have expressed concern over the five new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state in spite of governments measures to contain the spread of the pandemic. Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu announced a confirmation of the new cases of the virus on Monday after one of the two initial index cases was successfully treated and discharged. Reacting to the unhealthy development in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia, the residents said that the emergence of fresh cases portend danger for the state. Dr Felix Onu, the President of the Associaiton of Resident Doctors at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, said that he was not surprised over the development, considering the lax in the enforcement of the governments guidelines on prevention against the pandemic. Onu said that the fresh cases showed that community transmission had been going on in the state. He said that all the contacts with one of the index cases at FMC tested negative for the virus. All the people at the hospital that had contact with an index case that was handled and later discharged went into isolation and later came out negative. The implication is that community transmission has been ongoing, since the index cases did not have any travel history, he said. He further said that people from other states were still finding their way into Abia, in spite of the border closure and restriction in inter-state travels. Our borders are not effectively manned. There is the infiltration of people, even from the virus endemic states, into Abia, hence the fresh cases, Onu said. He blamed the porousity of the Abia borders, leading to the alleged entry of people from other states, on sharp practices at the borders. He also alleged that many residents were abusing the ease of lockdown by the state government. According to him, many residents are skeptical about the reality of the virus in Abia. Many of the people are not convinced that the disease exists and they still carry on as if nothing is happening. They do not observe social distancing or use of face masks. They say they cannot contract the virus. This is unfortunate. People we know have died. Our medical doctor colleagues have lost their lives to the disease. So, people should be cautious and comply with the recommended guidelines to check further spread of the virus, Onu said. The ARD boss recommended intensive public education and enlightenment by the government and other stakeholders on the need for people to comply strictly with the guidelines. Also, Chief Obinna Ibe, the Chairman of the Correspondents Chapel of the Abia Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, blamed the new cases on the failure by residents to strictly obey the rules and regulations issued by government and health authorities. Ibe also said that many residents abused the opportunity provided by the ease of lockdown by disregarding the recommended guidelines, especially social distancing. He urged the inter-ministerial task force on COVID-19 to up its game and ensure that residents complied with the guidelines. He also called for more stringent measures to secure the borders in order to make sure that people from other states were not allowed to come into Abia. If you are vigilant, you will discover that people are still crossing the borders from Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Imo axis into Abia. The state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Chief Uchenna Obigwe, also expressed disappointment over the fresh COVID-19 cases. He said that the development called for strict enforcement of the guidelines by government and health authorities. Obigwe, who said that human beings are difficult to manage attributed the development to failure by residents to strictly obey the guidelines due to corruption and poverty. He urged the government to ensure the continued closure of the borders in order to prevent the entry of people from other states into Abia. The labour leader further called on the government and health workers to urgently embark on the contact tracing of those that might have come in close contact with the fresh cases. The only way to arrest further spread of the virus is for the government and health workers to embark on the contact tracing of the people that had contact with the patients as was done with the two initial index cases. Government should also ensure strict enforcement of the border closure, while residents should endeavour to comply with all the guidelines issued by the WHO. People should strive to obey WHO guidelines by observing social distancing, regular handwashing, use of sanitisers and face masks, Obigwe said. (Natural News) Research warns that a lot of conventional oat cereals contain alarming amounts of glyphosate, a carcinogenic pesticide. But did you know that chlorpyrifos, another toxic pesticide, could also be hiding in your breakfast? Chlorpyrifos in non-organic milk Data from a study conducted by the Organic Center has found that at least 60 percent of the non-organic milk sampled by researchers had residues of chlorpyrifos. According to experts, chlorpyrifos is unsafe at any concentration. Fortunately, you can avoid certain food products at the grocery to eliminate this toxic chemical from your kitchen. Chlorpyrifos is a neurotoxin or a chemical that affects the nervous system and brain. Even small amounts of exposure to neurotoxins can cause permanent health damage to infants and children. Exposure to chlorpyrifos can negatively affect childrens IQ and harm the parts of the brain that control behavior, emotion, language and memory. A new study from the University of Southern Denmark has also shown that chlorpyrifos exposure in pregnant women can result in ADHD in their children. Since millions of pounds of chlorpyrifos are sprayed on crops in the U.S. annually, most Americans are exposed to the pesticide via milk, fruit and other produce. Separate studies conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warn that babies and developing fetuses are exposed to at least five times more chlorpyrifos than what the EPAs standard deems safe. The study findings also showed that children consume chlorpyrifos at 11 to 15 times the EPA standard. (Related: Hawaii bans toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos linked to neurological damage in children but its legal in the other 49 states (and youre eating it).) But despite these alarming results, in 2017 the Trump EPA chose to ignore proven scientific data in favor of the pesticide industry. The EPA also canceled a proposed ban on chlorpyrifos. Additionally, the EPA refuses to take action to keep the toxic pesticide out of milk and produce for five more years. Even though the EPA wants to wait to evaluate chlorpyrifos again, at least 30 million pounds of the neurotoxin will be sprayed on crops, potentially endangering the health of children all over the country. Because the EPA has yet to ban chlorpyrifos, farmworkers and their families have suffered alarming consequences. According to an article in The Guardian, Californias Central Valley has some of the heaviest use of chlorpyrifos in the country. Parents from the area have expressed concern about drifting clouds of pesticides that cause childrens chronic health problems, like learning problems and attention deficit disorders. Children from families in the area have also experienced other negative side effects such as vomiting, painful skin irritations, debilitating headaches and dizziness, along with developing autism and respiratory ailments. Protecting your family from chlorpyrifos The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has expressed support for a complete ban on chlorpyrifos, like the bill currently under consideration in the Senate. EWG also suggests that grocery stores stop supplying foods that may contain traces of the neurotoxin. If you want to protect your family from the side effects of chlorpyrifos, buy only organic milk and organic versions of the most potentially contaminated produce. Health experts warn that chlorpyrifos residues are usually detected on certain kinds of imported fruits and vegetables, such as peaches and nectarines imported from Chile, bell peppers and hot peppers imported from Mexico and domestic and imported cilantro. To learn more about the dangers of chlorpyrifos and other harmful pesticides, visit Pesticides.news. Sources include: EcoWatch.com TheGuardian.com Varanasi, May 19 : A retired professor of Ayurveda department of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) died of Corona infection at super-specialty wing of the BHU hospital on Monday. This is the fourth Corona death in Varanasi. District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma confirmed, "The 80-year-old retired professor of Shivala area had been admitted to BHU's super-speciality wing following sharp deterioration in his health. He was tested positive two days ago." The professor had been a former head of Ayurveda department of BHU. Earlier, a 73-year-old patient of Corona virus, who was a retired government employee and resident of Lanka area, had died at the intensive care unit of BHU Hospital on May 16. A 58-year-old woman resident of Lallapura area, who was a patient of hypothyroidism, hypertension and diabetes died on May 14, ten days after she was admitted to the BHU hospital with acute respiratory infection. A Kolkata-returned trader had expired on April 3 while his laboratory test report came on April 4 informing that he was Corona infected. Later, his wife and daughter-in-law were also tested positive, although they got cured and were discharged from DDU district hospital. Considered to be the Ten Best UFO Photos Ever Taken I am sure that we could add more pictures to this list but these are considered ten o... RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association and ASRM (the American Society for Reproductive Medicine) are partnering to host their annual Federal Advocacy Day as a virtual event on Wednesday, May 20, 2020. More than 400 advocates from all 50 states will meet virtually with members of Congress and their staff to discuss the physical, emotional, and financial impact of infertility and reproductive care. We are thrilled to host so many advocates from across the country who will proudly speak up for the tens of thousands of women and men in their states struggling to build their family, said Barbara Collura, President and CEO of RESOLVE. While transforming Advocacy Day to a virtual event was the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the very positive result is that we have increased participation and have wider representation this year. For the first time ever, advocates from all 50 states are participating in Advocacy Day! ASRMs members, which include reproduction and infertility specialists, gynecologists, urologists, mental health professionals and others, are ready and excited to amplify the need for expanded access to reproductive and infertility care and a continued and growing investment in medical research by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. We look forward to seeing the impact of what is expected to be our most widely attended Advocacy Day yet, said Sean Tipton, ASRM Chief Advocacy, Policy and Development Officer. More than 400 patients, physicians, and others who support the infertility community will meet with their Members of Congress. Advocates share their personal stories and ask their Members of Congress to support several key pieces of legislation that impact the infertility community, including: Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act, S. 1652 And H.R. 2965 Access to Infertility Treatment and Care Act, S. 1461 and H.R. 2803 Women Veterans and Families Health Services Act, S. 319 and H.R. 955 Every Child Deserves A Family Act, S. 1791 and H.R. 3114 PCOS Awareness Month Resolution, S. Res. 317 and H.Res. 146 Medical Research Funding, FY 2021 Appropriations By sharing their own personal stories, our advocates demonstrate the true impact that could be made with the passage of several important pieces of legislation, added Collura. For more information visit RESOLVEs 2020 Federal Advocacy Day Issues webpage. ----------------------------------------- About RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association: Established in 1974, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association is a non-profit organization with the only established, nationwide network mandated to promote reproductive health and to ensure equal access to all family building options for men and women experiencing infertility or other reproductive disorders. One in eight U.S. couples of childbearing age has trouble conceiving or carrying a pregnancy to term. RESOLVE addresses this public health issue by providing community to these women and men, connecting them with others who can help, empowering them to find resolution and giving voice to their demands for access to all family building options. For more information, visit http://www.RESOLVE.org. About the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM): For almost a century, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has been the global leader in multidisciplinary reproductive medicine research, ethical practice, and education. ASRM impacts reproductive care and science worldwide by creating funding opportunities for advancing reproductive research and discovery, by providing evidence-based education and public health information, and by advocating for reproductive health care professionals and the patients they serve. With members in more than 100 countries, the Society is headquartered in Washington, DC, with additional operations in Birmingham, AL. For more information, visit: http://www.asrm.org. Wayne Gelinas and Lea King have been forced to shutter their Mohawk Trail eatery and go online. But they also have been providing meals to those also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Wigwam Supports Community With Free Meal Program NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Despite their own challenges during the pandemic, the Wigwam's owners have managed to give back to the community with free Sunday meals Wayne Gelinas and Lea King have been forced to shutter their Mohawk Trail eatery, at least for the time being. But they have found a way to continue business online while providing free meals to those in need. "It's important to local businesses to support the community because the community has been there for us in the first place," King said in an email exchange. "The survival of the Wigwam depends on the community and for us, this is our home. This is where Wayne was born and where we decided to retire. If we can help to alleviate some neighbor's concerns and help to solve the hunger issue during the pandemic we know it brings out the best in people." King said when COVID-19 hit her daughter Emily and her boyfriend Michael, who are recent graduates of Stanford University, decided to shelter in place at the Wigwam. While bunkering down. they came up with the meal program. "Together they had the brains, the motivation, and the experience," King said. "They decided if they had food on the table, none of the neighbors in North Adams and Florida Mountains would go hungry." So in April, they began cooking extra food in hopes of helping the community's most vulnerable and those who may be experiencing difficulties finding meals during the pandemic. The Wigwam Community Meals program is completely voluntary and every Friday, King posts on Instagram and Facebook a reminder that those interested can reserve a meal. "Anyone who has financial difficulty and is hungry is offered a freshly prepared meal, no questions asked," she said. So far the menu has included pasta with meat sauce, chili con carne, Italian sausage stew and garbanzo beans with fresh focaccia bread. King said they recently partnered with the Al Nelson Friendship Center Food Pantry to distribute donated bread, pastry, and fresh produce. King said they have four volunteer drivers who deliver both the meals and groceries to those at the most risk who are unable to pick up the meals themselves. As of this weekend, they have served more than 250 meals and have helped 30 families a week. King said folks can donate here to help support the meals program. King said this hasn't been without challenges and with the demand for meals and groceries increasing, the Wigwam must also juggle its own financial and operational issues. "We would like to cook for those in need until we can open the store," she said. "We need to make income ourselves as the funds come from our equity line of credit. The Wigwam is our only source of income and it's a seasonable store." They purchased the historic property two years ago, settling into the house while refurbishing the historic cabins and landmark gift shop. They added coffees, a cafe and bakery. The rental cabins had been booked this year for local college commencements, weddings and summer events but the novel coronavirus pandemic has meant cancellations and refunded reservations. King said because they have been unable to open, they changed the way they do business and opened up an online store for their inventory and souvenirs "We believe it's survival," she said. "Sadly many small businesses will not survive if they don't pivot their business model. We are not sure if we would make it but we would try everything in our power to hang on to the Wigwam and make it work." King encouraged people to visit the online store and do whatever they can to support local businesses during these challenging times. "Local businesses have been part of the fabric in small towns in Western Massachusetts and they will not survive something like COVID-19," King said. "The Wigwam has been a local treasure since 1914 and its survival during the pandemic is up to the community. We brought the Wigwam back to life in 2018 after it sat vacant in a decade. It's already on life support while giving back to the community we love. "Please help us make it so generations in the future can continue to create memories on the summit and enjoy the view with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine." By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijans Ministry of Energy held a video conference with the Secretary-General of the International Energy Charter Urban Rusnak to discuss Baku's chairmanship of the International Energy Charter Conference in 2020, the ministry said in its official website on 18 May. During the videoconference, the sides exchanged views on the technical and organizational issues of the 31st International Energy Charter Conference on "Energy Efficiency for All: Innovations and Investments", which is scheduled for December 16-17, 2020 in Baku. Furthermore, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organization's activities in 2020 was assessed, the current state of modernization of the International Energy Charter was viewed, the organization of work of the Modernization, Executive, Management and Strategy groups, approval of documents and meetings were discussed. Deputy Minister of Energy, Deputy Chairman of the International Energy Charter Conference Samir Valiyev attended the meeting from the Azerbaijani side. Azerbaijan has been cooperating with the International Energy Charter for more than 20 years and signed the International Energy Charter in 2018 becoming the 88th country or international organisation to sign the International Energy Charter, which is a declaration of political intention aiming at strengthening energy cooperation. Azerbaijan will chair the Energy Charter Conference in 2020 and the decision to this end was signed in Brussels in 2018. The Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan and the International Energy Charter cooperate in the field of energy efficiency. Within the framework of the cooperation, an agreement was reached to conduct "In-Depth Review of the Energy Efficiency Policy of Azerbaijan". --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Jeremy Renner pulled off the heroic feat of renovating a 1970s condo for his beloved mother, with the help of the Property Brothers, on a new episode of Celebrity IOU. Renner, 49, had already told his mother Valerie, who raised Jeremy and the rest of her kids in Modesto, California that he had picked up this condo for her in Woodland Hills, California, so she could be closer to her kids and grandkids in Los Angeles. What he didn't tell her was that he teamed up with Drew and Jonathan Scott, a.k.a. The Property Brothers, to turn this outdated condo into a modern 'forever home' in just five short weeks. Renner renovates: Jeremy Renner pulled off the heroic feat of renovating a 1970s condo for his beloved mother, with the help of the Property Brothers, on a new episode of Celebrity IOU Jeremy's mom: Renner, 49, had already told his mother Valerie, who raised Jeremy and the rest of her kids in Modesto, California that he had picked up this condo for her in Woodland Hills, California, so she could be closer to her kids and grandkids in Los Angeles. Property Brothers: What he didn't tell her was that he teamed up with Drew and Jonathan Scott, a.k.a. The Property Brothers, to turn this outdated condo into a modern 'forever home' in just five short weeks The episode begins with the Scott brothers driving to see the condo for the first time, as they marvel at his experience with house-flipping, since he has over 25 renovations to his credit. 'He's a really hard strong sweet dude,' Drew says of The Avengers star, as they both discuss what their 'super powers' would be. They meet with Jeremy at the house, saying 'It's really great on the outside but it needs some work in here.' Drew: 'He's a really hard strong sweet dude,' Drew says of The Avengers star, as they both discuss what their 'super powers' would be Meet: They meet with Jeremy at the house, saying 'It's really great on the outside but it needs some work in here' The house was built in 1979, Drew asks if he was 'really vain like Jonathan' and checked his hair in the mirrored wall. 'This is a place for my momma, a hub for all of us to come visit.' Jeremy says. She's from Modesto and he moved down to LA in 1993 so she's kind of up there by herself. Mirrored: The house was built in 1979, Drew asks if he was 'really vain like Jonathan' and checked his hair in the mirrored wall Hub: 'This is a place for my momma, a hub for all of us to come visit.' Jeremy says 'My mom means everything to me. She's given me everything and she's sacrificed everything.. She had me when she was 17 or 18 years old,' Renner says. She says she's forgiven herself for the mistakes she made with him because he was her first. 'Don't call her grandma, it's mee maw, she might hurt you,' Renner jokes. Sacrifice: 'My mom means everything to me. She's given me everything and she's sacrificed everything.. She had me when she was 17 or 18 years old,' Renner says Mee Maw: 'Don't call her grandma, it's mee maw, she might hurt you,' Renner jokes. 'She has this murderous resting face which I have, I made a career out of it.' 'When I was nominated for the Academy Award for Hurt Locker, I called her and asked her to be my date,' Renner says. Back at the house, Renner says he needs it done in five weeks, and adds that mom has 'no idea' this is going on. Oscar date: 'When I was nominated for the Academy Award for Hurt Locker, I called her and asked her to be my date,' Renner says Quick fix: Back at the house, Renner says he needs it done in five weeks, and adds that mom has 'no idea' this is going on 'She's actually living in my house temporarily with the kids and the grandkids and she has no idea I'm doing this,' Renner says Renner says Mom would like 'Cape Cod' style and he says he's done, 'a lot of homes in my past,' and his job kind of 'paid' for his acting career. Renner says he was living in a structure but it wasn't done yet and he had to get in his tuxedo and 'step over all this stuff' to go to the limo for the Oscars. Oscar renovation: Renner says he was living in a structure but it wasn't done yet and he had to get in his tuxedo and 'step over all this stuff' to go to the limo for the Oscars 'Anyone can build something from the ground up,' Renner said, adding that building within 'limitations' is more in his wheelhouse. 'He's done it all he's the two of us in one dude,' Drew jokes. They talk about the plans, opening everything up, Renner says he wants a spare room for visitors along with the three bedrooms upstairs. Ground up: 'Anyone can build something from the ground up,' Renner said, adding that building within 'limitations' is more in his wheelhouse Two in one: 'He's done it all he's the two of us in one dude,' Drew jokes Spare room: They talk about the plans, opening everything up, Renner says he wants a spare room for visitors along with the three bedrooms upstairs 'Whoever designed this kitchen must have been a terrible cook because they didn't want to smell what they were burning,' they say. They want to remove the 'ugly mirror wall' and provide an 'open floor plan' for the kitchen. 'We'll wall off the space next to the kitchen for an additional bathroom' for Jeremy. Old kitchen: 'Whoever designed this kitchen must have been a terrible cook because they didn't want to smell what they were burning,' they say 'It would be a big thing for us and we're really excited this is five weeks away from happening,' Renner says. Before they go to commercial, Renner kicks of the demolition phase by kicking off a railing onto the floor. 'The boys asked me if I want to start demoing right now, and the answer is 'h**l yes,' Renner says. Big thing: 'It would be a big thing for us and we're really excited this is five weeks away from happening,' Renner says Demo start: Before they go to commercial, Renner kicks of the demolition phase by kicking off a railing onto the floor Demo: 'The boys asked me if I want to start demoing right now, and the answer is 'h**l yes,' Renner says Drew says Renner has 'superhero demo moves' as they start tearing apart the house and punch through the walls. They bring in the construction crew to complete the demolition and have to build temporary support beams while Jeremy is filming something and Drew is shopping for cabinets, so Jonathan is putting the massive support beam. 'A beam like this weighs a ton, so you want to make sure you get it in one try.' Jonathan says. Superhero moves: Drew says Renner has 'superhero demo moves' as they start tearing apart the house and punch through the walls 'It's worth the work, it's worth the effort and a lot of people wouldn't do it,' Jonathan says 'This is really hard work but at least I don't have to go to the gym because I'm getting my pump on,' Jonathan says before the commercial break. When asked what Renner sees this home as, he says 'a beautiful hub for our family' so his mother can be close to all her kids and grandkids. Worth it: 'It's worth the work, it's worth the effort and a lot of people wouldn't do it,' Jonathan says 'We only have five weeks to get a lot of work done,' adding it will be 'really really tight' and nothing can go wrong. Renner says it's the first time he's making choices for someone else, since all of his other work has been for him. 'That's what I want to give my mom, a lifestyle.' Choices: Renner says it's the first time he's making choices for someone else, since all of his other work has been for him Jonathan says he 'knows his stuff' and he thinks it will be a 'beautiful space' adding that Jeremy is 'totally tied in' to what his mother will like. He adds that the look will be clean but simple and sophisticated. Two weeks into the reno, all the electrical is replaced and the HVAC has been replaced as well, replacing the mirror wall with regular drywall. Knows his stuff: Jonathan says he 'knows his stuff' and he thinks it will be a 'beautiful space' adding that Jeremy is 'totally tied in' to what his mother will like. Jonathan talks with Victoria on his design team about the hardwood floors, as Victoria thinks they do tile on the upper level to make it 'feel more grand' and so all the kids wouldn't trip. 'The front entrance is so key,' Jonathan adds. 'I love that we can make the front entrance so special,' as Jonathan admits it was Victoria's idea before going to commercial In the third week of the renovation, the cabinets have arrived as Jonathan meets Victoria to pick out tile, as they rule out marble countertops. Victoria: Jonathan talks with Victoria on his design team about the hardwood floors, as Victoria thinks they do tile on the upper level to make it 'feel more grand' and so all the kids wouldn't trip 'It's going to tie together the whole color palate so I really want to get it right,' Jonathan adds, as they consider porcelain over quartz. 'We want it to be classy, but we want to make sure, with grandkids crawling all over it, it's going to be durable,' Jonathan says. They end up going with porcelain, as they look at floor tiles, as Jonathan says it will Valerie's, 'forever home.' Getting it right: 'It's going to tie together the whole color palate so I really want to get it right,' Jonathan adds, as they consider porcelain over quartz. He goes to meet Jeremy at the site where they resurface the entire staircase where they are putting in a fireplace to 'create a focal place for the entire living room.' Jonathan and Jeremy start putting together the island in the kitchen, as Jeremy marvels that they make full slabs of porcelain, joking it's going to be like eating on a toilet bowl. Jeremy says the house is looking awesome and he can't wait for his mother Valerie to see it as they go to commercial. Jonathan and Jeremy: He goes to meet Jeremy at the site where they resurface the entire staircase where they are putting in a fireplace to 'create a focal place for the entire living room' Can't wait: Jeremy says the house is looking awesome and he can't wait for his mother Valerie to see it as they go to commercial With just seven days left, Jonathan says it's 'all hands on deck' as him and Jeremy install the new iron spindles. 'No kid is gonna get their head stuck in here,' Jeremy jokes about the iron spindles. 'It's nice to put stuff together instead of break stuff, although breaking stuff is fun,' Renner adds. Spindles: With just seven days left, Jonathan says it's 'all hands on deck' as him and Jeremy install the new iron spindles Head: 'No kid is gonna get their head stuck in here,' Jeremy jokes about the iron spindles. They put together the fireplace feature wall, as Jonathan says is an example of how they want 'old to meet new.' 'That plaster is going to bring that old European feel to live,' Jonathan adds as they put the tile pattern together. 'This is a beautiful, beautiful choice,' Renner says about the pattern. When asked if she thinks he's up to something, he says she always thinks he's up to something since he usually is, but she knows he's busy. Fireplace: They put together the fireplace feature wall, as Jonathan says is an example of how they want 'old to meet new' Tile pattern: 'That plaster is going to bring that old European feel to live,' Jonathan adds as they put the tile pattern together With four days until the reveal, Jonathan says they are at the final stages as they bring the countertops together. 'Not only do these counters look amazing, but they fit like a glove, which doesn't always happen,' Jonathan adds. Jeremy says he's a 'pretty tactile guy' and he is 'pretty sold' on the porcelain which is 'pretty bad ass.' Countertops: With four days until the reveal, Jonathan says they are at the final stages as they bring the countertops together They fit: 'Not only do these counters look amazing, but they fit like a glove, which doesn't always happen,' Jonathan adds Jonathan adds this is the final stretch as they are putting the finishing touches on the fireplace. Jonathan adds he knows his stuff and half the stuff from the design were his ideas, as Jeremy jokes Jonathan has maybe a good eye but he's lazy, before adding he's a good guy and he's 'crushing' the renovation as they go to commercial. With just one day until the reveal, Drew, Jonathan and Jeremy start putting the furniture together from Living Spaces. Final touches: With just one day until the reveal, Drew, Jonathan and Jeremy start putting the furniture together from Living Spaces Everything is in and the final touches is staging everything in the rooms. 'Everything exceeded what I anticipated and my mom will be super happy,' Jeremy says. Drew jokes if there was some strong finishing music for him looking across the railing, as Jeremy jokes to stop turning everything into a movie. Exceeded: 'Everything exceeded what I anticipated and my mom will be super happy,' Jeremy says Strong music: Drew jokes if there was some strong finishing music for him looking across the railing, as Jeremy jokes to stop turning everything into a movie Drew adds that Valerie knew Jeremy and the kids got this place for her, but she had no idea all the work has been done. 'I don't think this is my house Jeremy,' Valerie says, before breaking down and hugging her son.' What did you do?' She jokes 'Where is my wall of mirrors?' and he said it was a lot of work and he said he had a lot of help and she goes, 'Are you the Property Brothers?' No idea: Drew adds that Valerie knew Jeremy and the kids got this place for her, but she had no idea all the work has been done. What did you do: 'I don't think this is my house Jeremy,' Valerie says, before breaking down and hugging her son.' What did you do?' Help: She jokes 'Where is my wall of mirrors?' and he said it was a lot of work and he said he had a lot of help and she goes, 'Are you the Property Brothers?' When they ask what her first impression is, how the house makes her feel, she says, 'Fancy' and they go get her a 'fancy' drink. 'Just the floors alone are so beautiful,' Valerie says when she sees all the framed photos. 'My life has come full circle. I can have all my children here, my grandchildren here,' Valerie says. Fancy: When they ask what her first impression is, how the house makes her feel, she says, 'Fancy' and they go get her a 'fancy' drink Full circle: 'My life has come full circle. I can have all my children here, my grandchildren here,' Valerie says They ask about an embarrassing story and she says he would get naked at two years old and put on her heels and walk to their neighbors. They ask if she's ready to see the kitchen and she says it was the worst part of the house and she is clearly stunned. 'Oh my god, this is not the same house. This kitchen is so big,' she adds, before they go to commercial. Embarassing: They ask about an embarrassing story and she says he would get naked at two years old and put on her heels and walk to their neighbors Reveal: 'Oh my god, this is not the same house. This kitchen is so big,' she adds, before they go to commercial 'This kitchen is so big. It was so small and so cramped,' Valerie says as they feel the counter as Jeremy adds that it's porcelain. 'I would probably have it filled with little humans and they would all be on the counter helping me bake,' Valerie says. She adds that Valerie and Jeremy's sister took a class to make 'fancy cakes' for the kids as the brothers joke they want her to put their birthday on her calendar. She said that was the sink she wanted and Jeremy brings up that she bathed all her kids in the sink as she says she never dropped him as Drew jokingly picks up Jeremy to 'bathe' him in the sink. 'I made all my mistakes with him, but he turned out all right,' Valerie says. All right: 'I made all my mistakes with him, but he turned out all right,' Valerie says Kitchen: 'This kitchen is so big. It was so small and so cramped,' Valerie says as they feel the counter as Jeremy adds that it's porcelain Kitchen sink: She said that was the sink she wanted and Jeremy brings up that she bathed all her kids in the sink as she says she never dropped him as Drew jokingly picks up Jeremy to 'bathe' him in the sink They show her the bedroom and she says this is 'so gorgeous' and it's the perfect place for her grandkids. They show her the guest bedroom which she says is 'gorgeous' and adds she's so grateful for all the work they did. Drew thought the best way to end this was to have the house fill up with the people she loves, as all the kids and grandkids come in. Gorgeous: They show her the bedroom and she says this is 'so gorgeous' and it's the perfect place for her grandkids Bedroom: They show her the guest bedroom which she says is 'gorgeous' and adds she's so grateful for all the work they did Family: Drew thought the best way to end this was to have the house fill up with the people she loves, as all the kids and grandkids come in Drew jokes that he could see Jeremy tear up a bit and that his superpower is to make a superhero cry. 'I'd say I love you mom but this is just another way of expressing it,' Jeremy tells his mother as they embrace. Jeremy is seen surrounded by his entire family in the home he just rennovated as the episode comes to an end. Expressing love: 'I'd say I love you mom but this is just another way of expressing it,' Jeremy tells his mother as they embrace PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 07:09:02 Products Recycled from Plastic Bottles, Fishing Nets and Organic Fabrics Italian Entrepreneur Launches KAMPOS, A 100% Sustainable, Eco-Friendly Luxury Apparel Brand For more information regarding Kampos from media and/or key influencers, please contact: Dan Springer Communications Director KAMPOS dan.springer@kampos.com Ph. +0118587909551 (US) (Also available via WhatsApp and Google Hangouts) KAMPOS, an Italian startup company, today announced the launch of a socially-responsible, environmentally friendly line of products and accessories to celebrate the history and beauty of the Mediterranean Sea. Founded by entrepreneur Alessandro Vergano, KAMPOS corporate vision is to offer luxury products with a conscience, now and for generations to come. All products are made of recycled plastic bottles, abandoned ghost fishing nets, or other recycled nylon and/or organic fabrics. Every product and accessory detail have been studied and designed to be sustainable. KAMPOS products are recycled AND are recyclable after use. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005 KAMPOS Red Coral men's swimsuit (Photo : KAMPOS) Fashion companies have a tremendous platform from which to reach consumers in a positive manner, but few have embraced social issues as part of their business model, said Vergano, KAMPOS co-founder and chief executive officer. KAMPOS is different in that sustainability is at the core of everything we do from the selection from raw materials to product development to packaging. This means consumers will realize long-lasting performance of the products in which they invest because of enhanced durability and will be acting in a socially responsible manner with each purchase. Verganos vision for KAMPOS is to raise awareness worldwide of the impact of plastic pollution and abandoned fishing nets by offering sustainable, alternative high fashion solutions for consumers who share in the companys mission. A percentage of KAMPOS revenues will be donated One Ocean Foundation (https://www.1ocean.org/en/), a non-profit founded in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. The joint effort is to accelerate solutions to ocean issues promoting a sustainable blue economy and enhancing knowledge through ocean literacy. KAMPOS initial product line, which is all made in Italy, consists of swimsuits, shirts, t-shirts, perfumes, sunglasses, pareos (wraparounds) and accessories for men, women, and children. The companys products are made of: Econyl, 100% regenerated nylon (filament) or certified GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) organic and biological cotton; and Newlife, a unique, certified system of recycled polyester filament yarns that are 100% post-consumer bottle sourced, processed into a polymer through a mechanical -- not chemical -- process, and spun into yarn. No plastic is used in the packaging. The product line is now officially online at www.kampos.com and will be available for purchase in May. In June, KAMPOS plans to open its initial store in Porto Cervo, Sardinia (Italy) at the prestigious Promenade Du Port. The name KAMPOS is an abbreviation of the Greek word HIPPO KAMPOS, which translates into Seahorse. In Rome and Greek cultures, the Seahorse was sacred to Neptune and Poseidon, the Sea Gods. It was considered a symbol of power, authority and good fortune with strong emotions and intuitions. Vergano launched KAMPOS in homage to his heritage and to celebrate the Mediterranean lifestyle. KAMPOS innovative luxury fashion line includes active involvement from some of Italys more prominent creative and photography talent including the Carla Pozzi Agency and Art Director Roberto Da Pozzo in Milan. Additional information about KAMPOS, its products and accessories, are available on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005 The pandemic has laid bare US dependence on China and India for drugs and raw materials for making medicines. Looking to lessen dependence on foreign supply chains for critical medicines in the fight against coronavirus, the Trump administration has awarded a contract worth up to $812m for a newly formed United States company to manufacture drugs and drug ingredients to fight COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the US dependence on China and India for both drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients APIs the raw materials needed to make medicines. The US Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday it had awarded a four-year, $354m contract to privately-held Phlow Corp to make COVID-19 drugs, other essential drugs and their ingredients. The contract can be extended for up to $812m over 10 years. For far too long, weve relied on foreign manufacturing and supply chains for our most important medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients while placing Americas health, safety, and national security at grave risk, Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, said in a statement. Phlow echoes that sentiment on its website, stating: The United States drug supply chain is broken, becoming dangerously dependent upon Foreign Suppliers for our most essential generic medicines. The drug company, which was incorporated in January, said the contract will help it contribute to a national stockpile of APIs and has already started making those ingredients and finished dosage forms for over a dozen essential medicines to treat hospitalised COVID-19 patients. Phlow also says it has delivered more than 1.6 million doses of five essential generic medicines used to treat COVID-19 patients to the US Strategic National Stockpile. Supplies of many of these medicines have been squeezed as demand has soared in the wake of the pandemic. India and China account for a vast majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients used to make drugs in the US. More than 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients are produced overseas, Phlow says on its website. The manufacturing of generic drugs in the US is vulnerable to disruptions in foreign drug supply chains this has been made more pressing by recent trade wars and the COVID-19 pandemic. Phlow has partnered with other groups, including Civica Rx, Ampac Fine Chemicals and the Medicines for All Institute to manufacture the medicines. All pharmaceutical products by Phlow will be made on American soil, according to the companys website. The company said it is working to build advanced manufacturing capability in Virginia, as well as sterile injectables manufacturing facilities. France and Germany on Monday laid out plans for a 500-billion-euro ($544 billion) European fund backed by joint EU borrowing to fight the economic fallout from the coronavirus, as the continent pushed ahead towards normality with major landmarks reopening after a two month-hiatus. St Peter's Basilica and the Acropolis in Athens opened their doors to visitors alongside many European shops, restaurants and churches, as Italy reported that its daily death toll from the virus had fallen below 100 for the first time since early March. More than 4.7 million people have tested positive and 315,270 have been killed by the disease since it emerged in Wuhan late last year, according to an AFP tally. Recent days have seen soaring infections in Brazil, India and South Africa. Battling against allegations from the United States and elsewhere that it concealed the scale of the problem, China vowed to back an independent inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus after it is "brought under control". US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticised both China and the WHO. By ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS (AFP/File) Chinese President Xi Jinping insisted during an address to the World Health Assembly -- the WHO's decision-making body -- that Beijing had been "transparent" throughout the crisis. Beijing also offered to share a vaccine once one became available. But China's main critic US sharpened the tone at the same talks, accusing the WHO of being too close to Beijing. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited the move to include Taiwan in the UN health agency as a sop to Beijing, as he charged that China "continues to withhold vital information about the virus and its origins". Amid the blame game, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned the virus' impact on the southern hemisphere could be "even more devastating" than in the global north. South America, Africa hit hard In Asia, India extended its lockdown covering 1.3 billion people to the end of May as it reported its biggest single-day jump in infections on Sunday. But natural catastrophe threatened to derail the plans to keep transmission at bay -- with Cyclone Amphan barrelling towards India and Bangladesh at speeds of 240 kilometres (145 miles) per hour, two million people face evacuation. In Latin America, Brazil now has the fourth-highest caseload in the world at 241,000 confirmed infections, and deaths have risen sharply in recent days. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has ignored social distancing practices and criticised the need for a lockdown. By Sergio LIMA (AFP) Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has blamed lockdowns for unnecessarily hurting the Brazilian economy. He has defied social distancing measures, even as experts and regional leaders have warned that the country's healthcare infrastructure could collapse. Ecuador reported the first COVID-19 case in one of its indigenous Amazon tribes, deepening the crisis in one of South America's hardest-hit countries. Nicaraguan hospital staff have said the country's health system is overwhelmed with patients suffering from respiratory illnesses. Relatives have reported that the bodies of loved ones were being carted off in pick-up trucks for "express burials" without their consent. "Mourners are forced to chase trucks with the coffin to find out where their loved ones are being buried," the opposition National Coalition said in a statement denouncing government secrecy. There was also grim data in Africa, where the number of infections rose rapidly. South Africa on Sunday reported 1,160 new coronavirus infections, the highest daily number since the first case was recorded in March, taking the total to 15,515 -- the highest on the continent. Deep economic pain The coronavirus has also left the world economy facing its worst downturn since the Great Depression. Fresh evidence of the deep economic damage came when Japan announced its first recession since 2015. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron proposed borrowing 500 billion euros to help the EU's worst-hit sectors and regions. By Kay NIETFELD (POOL/AFP) The world's biggest economy is also going to suffer a massive downturn, US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell warned. "The data we'll see for this quarter, which ends in June, will be very, very bad. There'll be a big decline in economic activity, big increase in unemployment," Powell said. Global markets were nevertheless buoyed by the Franco-German economic relaunch plan, lower death rates in some countries --- and encouraging results from clinical trials of a potential vaccine by Moderna. The first stage trial provoked an immune response similar to people convalescing from the COVID-19 disease in eight recipients, according to the company. It has a larger phase 2 trial involving more patients due to begin soon. 'Courageous' In a sign of solidarity, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed "borrowing from the market in the name of the EU" to fund 500 billion euros of spending on the 27-strong bloc's "worst-hit sectors and regions". Countries benefiting from the financing would not have to repay the sum, said Macron. Gondoliers returned to the canals of Venice, even if they are now wearing masks and gloves. By ANDREA PATTARO (AFP) "The aim is to ensure that Europe comes out of the crisis more cohesive and with more solidarity," said Merkel, calling the proposal "courageous". If agreed with other EU members, the fund would break through the bloc's fiscal deadlock. Northern countries such as Germany have until now firmly rejected joint debt in the name of budget discipline. But it immediately ran into resistance, with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz insisting that any help "has to be in the form of loans, not grants". With infection numbers falling, Europe sought to pick up the pace on its exit from the lockdown. In Venice, the gondolas returned to the waters again, even if the gondoliers wore gloves and masks. Locals welcomed the sight. "It's good news, a sign of everyone's desire to get back to normal as soon as possible, but without ever lowering our guard in order to defeat the virus once and for all," said Giovanni Giusto, city councillor for the Protection of Traditions. burs-tgb-hmn/jj Photo of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2018. (Photo Credit: US Navy) By Du Wenlong As a result of the strong appeal of the Japanese government, RIMPAC 2020 hosted by the US Navy will be held in Hawaii in August, according to Japanese media reports. The reports said that the US had once planned to cancel the military exercise this year, amid concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Japanese government strongly urged the US military to host RIMPAC 2020 as scheduled. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19, Japans move is intended to strengthen its role in the US-Japan alliance, strengthen the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)s comprehensive combat capabilities, and create more opportunities for Japan to strengthen all-round cooperation with the US in the Western Pacific in the future. First, hosting RIMPAC 2020 amid the global pandemic could play an important role in strengthening the alliance between Japan and the US in the Pacific Ocean. Whether the exercise is conducted in Guam or the waters off Hawaii, the JMSDF would become the main force. If the number of participating militaries is relatively small, then the number of US warships and combat ships of other countries will correspondingly be small. In the circumstances, Japans role will be stronger than ever. Therefore, highlighting Japans role in the Japan-US alliance may be the primary choice. Second, as the US ally in the RIMPAC, Japan can conduct joint exercises with the US in some high-confidential subjects, and the comprehensive combat capability of its weapons and equipment can also be tested to a certain extent. The exercise will play an important role in improving the JMSDFs long-range combat and offensive capabilities. On this basis, if Japan can make more friends, build more military relations, and obtain more s allies, the JMSDF can go further and faster. Therefore, Japans attitude is likely to be a manifestation of promoting military normalization. In recent years, with the acceleration of the shift of the US global strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region, it has got increasingly relied on Japans role in the region. Therefore, the future US-Japan alliance will be further strengthened in both traditional and non-traditional security dimensions. First, the US-Japan alliance is indispensable and will play a major role in advancing from Asia-Pacific to Indo-Pacific. At present, although it is a one-ocean strategy in the Western Pacific, that is, the Pacific strategy, with the implementation of the Indo-Pacific strategy in the future, it will radiate to the Indian Ocean through the South China Sea. And it can change from one ocean to two oceans and from a small combat space to a large one. It is foreseeable that if the US-Japan alliance can expand into the US-Japan-Australia alliance and develop from one line to a large triangular relationship, then the roles Japan and the US play cannot be underestimated in the process of this strategic advancement. Second, the US and Japan hope that Japans role and its influence on the surrounding areas will be further enhanced through such exercises. For example, the development of military ties between Japan and the US is accelerating. Five Osprey transport aircraft have been delivered, and the order for another 17 will greatly increase Japans maritime attack capabilities. Moreover, the Izumo-class helicopter carrier has recently removed the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) in the bow of the ship,in a bid to embark F-35B stealth fighters. To sum up, military and technical collaborations, including combat training exercises centering on the maritime offensive and defensive, between Japan and the US are much closer than ever recently. This also shows that Japan is very consistent with the US in terms of joint maritime operations and joint training as well as the Indo-Pacific strategic process. The two sides can carry out more in-depth cooperation. It also indicates that the JMSDF will take the initiative in Japans future military normalization. (The author Du Wenlong is a retired senior colonel who had been engaged in research works about military construction under Chinas PLA Academy of Military Sciences. He is now a special commentator for the CCTV military channel.) Disclaimer: This article is originally published on cnr.cn and translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. My name is Roger Ernesto La O Munoz, and I am currently detained in the Joe Corley Detention Facility located in Conroe, Texas. I fled Cuba to escape physical and psychological torture including extrajudicial imprisonments, beatings and repeated retaliation from government officials due to my opposition to the Castro regime. To seek protection in the United States, I flew to Nicaragua then traveled through Central America through a combination of bus, walking and horseback. I am a college graduate with a degree in hygiene and epidemiology. I am writing with the assistance of, and on behalf of, 55 fellow detainees, including a doctor and nurse. Together, we have a message for the president of the United States, immigration judges who are weighing our requests for release, human rights organizations and the American public: We are Cubans, Latin Americans, Indians, Africans and other nationalities. We are human beings who fled from the dictators and regimes of our countries to the United States in search of freedom. Today, within this crowded detention facility, all of us are victims of this pandemic; we find ourselves in a concentration camp with death orders from COVID-19. We only ask to fight for our lives with our families at our sides, as we are in no way a risk to this society. It would be better that the government use these centers, food, resources and staff to help the people who need it most. Conditions in this center are ripe for the propagation of the novel coronavirus. Detainees with respiratory symptoms are forced to go without medical assistance, and there are over 30 people in most dorms, making social distancing virtually impossible. We do not have access to personal protective equipment like masks or gloves. When the doctor walks by people bang on the door to try to get medical attention. I have seen people carried out in critical condition. Meanwhile, individuals from the border and other detention centers are being transferred to the facility. I was transferred here from El Paso, though I had a sore throat at the time. One evening, ICE officials came to my dorm and tried to pressure me into signing documents stating that they have taken sufficient preventative measures. When I refused, one official got on top of me, yelled at me, and tried again to coerce me into signing the papers. I did not. Detention center staff members do not have PPE, nor do the kitchen workers. Testing and widespread checks for fevers are nonexistent. We have reported these conditions to Joe Corley staff, but nothing has happened. We are asking pleading for help before we become victims of COVID-19. If released, we are willing to use our expertise to assist in the fight against COVID-19 and donate blood. We pose no risk to this society and are deeply troubled by the scarcity of resources and medical personnel to tend to an inevitable spread within these walls. Ernesto La O Munozs op-ed was conveyed to the Houston Chronicle through the Immigration Justice Campaign. PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 11:08:21 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 456 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / When people think of fitness, they probably think about weight lifting. James Cork, founder of TC1 Gels (@tc1gel) sees it a bit differently though. TC1 has always been a proud sponsor of athletes of all shapes and sizes, and they believe that helping people get in shape is one of the greatest things you can do in this life.TC1 is an e-commerce brand that specializes in creating top of the line fitness gear, supplements and workout enhancers that are proven to help people get the most out of their workout routine.Cork started TC1 after he worked with other fitness brands' marketing teams. After creating a culture of success at the brands he worked at, he decided to start his own company. Cork has always been interested in helping people and he's always had a passion for fitness. Combine that with his marketing knowledge he knew he could create a great line of products that could help people achieve their fitness goals.Cork created products like their top selling sweat ignition gel, workout supplements, and probiotic shakes. Cork is directly targeting products that can help accelerate others' fitness journeys while helping them as quickly as possible.Cork said in the past they got a little too ambitious with certain products and ended up losing money on experiments that didn't really pan out. He says that those failed experiments were a great learning experience and he knows that every single failed product was just a stepping stone to his company's next breakthrough.Their most profitable products were what they already sold the most of: their sweat gel. Cork says they will continue creating products within the realm of supplements and workout enhancers, hoping to eventually become best sellers in both of those categories. The phrase "he who chases two rabbits catches none" comes into Cork's mind and TC1 is staying focused on absolutely crushing it in just one area.Moving forward, TC1's plan for growth is heavily reliant on social media and their Instagram presence. They are rapidly growing their page through hosting constant giveaways and capitalizing on influencer shoutouts. They also run ads through Facebook that are able to reach a large audience of people who are interested. They believe that social media is one of the greatest tools for building a business today and they're going to continue growing their online presence.Most importantly they want to keep their number one goal the same: to help people get passionate about their health so that they can create a fitness routine that works for them.For more informationWebsite: https://tc1gelshop.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tc1gel/ Phone: (888)-998-2894SOURCE: Expresswire.co An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan has sentenced two Islamist militants to death for their involvement in a 2017 suicide bombing at a Sufi shrine in Sindh province in which 82 people were killed. According to police, the accused -- Nadir Ali and Furqan -- were identified by the eyewitnesses and judicial magistrate Mushtaq Ali Jokhio through CCTV footage. The duo, who were sentenced to death by the court on Monday, were found guilty in the 2017 bombing case in Sehwan Sharif area of Sindh province. As many as 82 people were killed and over 250 others were injured when a suicide bomber launched a grenade before blowing himself up at the Sufi shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan Sharif on February 16, 2017 The Islamic State militant group had claimed the responsibility for the brutal attack. The blast hit as Sufi Muslims were gathering to perform the dhamaal ritual. The sect is regarded as heretical by Salafist jihadi groups, including the ISIS, the Taliban and the al-Qaeda. Ali and Furqan had reportedly carried out recce of the shrine with the suicide bomber a day before the explosion. In his statement to the court, Jokhio had identified Ali and said that he had confessed to facilitating the terrorists, the Express Tribune reported. The convict had told the magistrate that he rented a room in Sehwan a day before the blast, while also inspecting the tomb of Lal Shahbaz Qalander from the inside to make the bombing successful, the report said. The shrine's caretakers had also identified the convicts, claiming that they had seen them congratulating each other in the parking lot. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) About 500 shops fined in Ho over COVID 19 non-compliance 500 shops and business owners in the Ho Municipality have been fined by Ho Municipal Assembly for not implementing measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19. An ongoing sensitization and compliance exercise by the Environmental Health Department, led to the closure of shops and businesses that ignored COVID-19 prevention regulations including social distancing, the installation of hand washing facilities, and the wearing of face masks. The culprits were charged to pay fines ranging from GHC150.00 to GHC500.00 and also guided on how to implement the protocols. Mrs Sybil Boison, Regional Environmental Health Officer, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that most shops and businesses plainly ignored the directives despite an increase in the community spreading of the virus, hence the deterrent measure. She said the exercise would be implemented across the Region, adding that the Department would teach the construction of tippy-taps as a cost-free alternative to veronica buckets and other hand washing systems. The team is also inspecting the health certificates of food vendors, and ensuring that commercial drivers wore face masks and did not carry more passengers than approved. Mr Peter Pariki, Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Focal Person for the Region, remarked that the actions being taken were aiding compliance, and that the situation would be monitored for desired results. He added that the sensitization efforts required more support, and appealed to the media and other stakeholders to help Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Recently issued Government Regulation (PP) No. 17/2020 on the management of civil servants is another seismic shift undermining Indonesias democratic checks and balances. PP No. 17/2020 basically gives the president full power and arbitrary authority to promote, demote or fire any civil servant. The vice chair of the Civil Service Commission (KASN), Tasdik Kisnarto, gave a rather nonsensical reason for granting this micro-management authority to the president. He claims that the president can take over civil service appointments if the merit system is abused. This is an absurd reason, giving an individual such arbitrary powers over a merit system already in place. Basic logic calls for removing the merit systems flaws, not giving one individual arbitrary power to supersede it. The Jakarta Post published an apt editorial Fight COVID-19, not critics, on the relative silence regarding a certain creeping authoritarianism, felt especially in President Joko Jokowi Widodos second term. Of course, the government can say every day that it sees challenges from the opposition, with some very vicious rhetoric being voiced in public. Government spokespersons point to this as a clear sign of their open and free democratic attitude. This, however, is a facade to a more disconcerting political culture that seems to have taken root lately. The policy and political debates are quite freely conducted among the elites. Elite opposition with political and financial power can make harsh challenges, even often stating untruths with impunity. Only to be co-opted later for a position within government. Meanwhile, genuine criticism backed with argument and data from regular people can be silenced through foul methods both legal and illegal as in the case of Ravio Patra. It is still unknown who hacked Ravios phone to spread fabricated messages from him calling for unrest. The bigger concern, however, is the favorite cudgel used by those in power to silence their critics: the infamous 2008 Information and Electronic Communications (ITE) Law. Observers have noted an increasing frequency in the usage of this defamation law in recent years. On top of these, the well-intentioned government is bulldozing forward to set up and implement seriously flawed policies. The most recent is the omnibus bills, which again give arbitrary powers to the executive to operate above the regulatory framework. The recent omnibus bills are the tip of the iceberg on top of problematic laws that the legislature has been trying to push forward in the past few years. As noted by Kevin Evans in this paper last year (The danger of lame ducks rushing all those laws) where he cited the revision of the Criminal Code (KUHP), which among many other problems grants powers to the state to encroach widely on the private lives of its citizens, the law weakening the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), to drafts seeking to redefine economic rights governing natural resources. All these are serious symptoms of a very suffocating virus akin to COVID-19 infecting the lungs of Indonesian democracy. Certainly, Indonesia is not moving in a police-state direction, as warned by Yuval Harari using China and Israel as examples in his piece in the Financial Times: the World after Coronavirus. It is much more low-tech for now, but unfortunately much less detectable because the authoritarian direction we are heading toward is based on good intentions. President Jokowi does seem to have a genuine ambition to develop and grow Indonesia as a country since he was catapulted to political primacy in 2014. Unfortunately, he seems to be unaware of the law of unintended consequences in considering his policies, as well as political moves forward, in particular since his re-election. It is without question that he is frustrated with the slow economic progress that he envisioned for the country, which has been further impeded by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Therein, lies the danger and explanation as to why Jokowi and his government appear slow in dealing with the pandemic. In the midst of this pandemic his government seems to hold to a one-dimensional goal of economic growth and building infrastructure. Economic growth is measurable concretely as a legacywhile consolidating democracy, a healthy political culture and maintaining checks and balances is not. This does seem to have been Jokowis main perspective from the beginning, but this limited view jeopardizes our democracy further in a time of crisis like this. The pattern of government behavior and its double standards toward criticism is worrying enough. But Jokowis good intentions about keeping the economy moving and growing at all costs in the midst of a very delicate and complicated situation beyond the pandemic can have unintended effects that could cause the collapse of the lungs of our democracy come 2024. There seems to be no clear protege or successor groomed to continue Jokowis legacy. Meanwhile it is quite apparent that he is surrounded by very pragmatic politicians and power brokers with no grand vision for the country. Thus, the million-dollar question is what happens in 2024? The only thing clear now is that whoever gains the throne in the next election will inherit a very cushy seat of power with very strong arbitrary powers concentrated at the helm. And the vultures and power brokers are comfortably positioned around that seat. It is something that Jokowi is unintentionally setting up now. As the old adage says: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If the President continues on his path of strengthening arbitrary powers in the hands of the presidency for the sake of speedy action for economic growth, he may be on the way to gifting immense powers to a president who may not be as well intentioned as he is after the 2024 elections. *** Research fellow, Department of Politics and Social Change CSIS Indonesia San Antonio police are searching for those involved in a drive-by shooting on the far East Side that wounded a teenager. Just after 1:30 a.m.,Tuesday, police were called to the 3500 block of Southton View after shots were heard in the area. When they arrived at the location, they found a 19-year-old man who had been hit with birdshots in his ankle and hand. More than 100 miniature white flags -- one for every life lost as a result of COVID-19 in Warren County -- dot bustling Route 22 westbound outside St. James Lutheran Church. It was the idea of a female congregant at the Pohatcong Township church who wanted to do something to recognize those who are no longer with us, said David Morris, the churchs treasurer. The congregant, who declined to be identified for this story, got the idea after seeing something similar being done for the 3,408 lives lost in Connecticut to COVID-19. Were losing people all over the place, each one of those flags is a life, she told lehighvalleylive.com on Monday. I look up the number every day and had to add one more flag. Morris said the woman contacted him about the idea for the flags on May 3. It came to fruition this past Thursday, when they found a spot between the church and neighboring Saint James Lutheran Straw Church Cemetery in Greenwich Township perfect for the memorial. The pair decided to place the flags in a straight line versus in a patch because Morris said it would add more impact for motorists passing by. A sign was placed in front of the display, stating, In Memory of Warren County lives lost to COVID-19. Part of our goal was to emphasize how important it is that people are dying here, Morris said. "Its important that people recognize what people are doing here and that we have to take the cautions seriously. The coronavirus death toll in New Jersey increased to 10,435 Monday as state health officials announced the total number of confirmed cases climbed to 148,039. The latest numbers include 1,735 new cases and more than 83 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, according to health officials. In Warren County, there currently are 110 deaths reported from COVID-19 by the Warren County Health Department, according to the countys website. We wanted people to see how many lives this really represents, Morris said. Tell us your coronavirus stories, whether its a news tip, a topic you want us to cover, or a personal story you want to share. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. People sit at Cafe Gavlen as it reopened with restrictions such as rules concerning opening hours and physical distance in Nyhavn, Copenhagen Denmark May 18, 2020. Ritzau Scanpix/Niels Christian Vilmann via Reuters) Fast In, First Out: Denmark Leads Lockdown Exit COPENHAGEN, DenmarkFour weeks after Denmark began easing its lockdown, Danes on May 18 returned to cafes and restaurants, confident that the coronavirus outbreak is under control. Denmark in April became the first country in Europe to reopen schools, day-care centers, and smaller businesses. It didnt see a subsequent rise in COVID-19 cases. The quick shutdown and the fact that Danes actually listened to messages from authorities about good hygiene and social distancing are the main reasons weve come this far, said Hans Jorn Kolmos, a professor in clinical microbiology at the University of Southern Denmark. Danes are less likely than the French or Italians to hug and kiss as a form of greeting, which has also been a factor in limiting the spread, Kolmos said. Coronavirus-related deaths and the R reproduction ratea measure of transmissionare falling. Health authorities on May 15 reported no deaths for the first time since March 13. Health experts now say Denmark is very unlikely to be hit by a second wave of the COVID-19 infection that has so far killed 548 people. With a population of only 5.8 million, the death rate in Denmark is on par with that of Germany with around nine per 100,000less than most other European countries, including 36 in neighboring Sweden, 33 in the Netherlands, and 52 in both Britain and Italy. The results have been achieved without mass testing and contact tracing. Denmark hasnt recommended the use of face-coverings, as many other countries have. Early in the outbreak, Denmark shied from a comprehensive testing and tracing scheme, partly due to a shortage of testing kits, despite calls from the World Health Organization to ramp up testing. Danish authorities began testing more broadly only in late-April and said last week they would start a tracing program. Denmark was one of the first European countries to announce a lockdown on March 11, restricting public gatherings and closing schools, restaurants, and bars, but imposing less strict limits on daily life than in Italy or France. Back to School A month later, the government embarked on its gradual reopening by letting the youngest children go back to school, drawing some concern from medical experts who said it was too early. Last week, Denmark entered Phase 2 of its easing, allowing shopping malls to reopen followed by cafes and restaurants this week. We now have the coronavirus under control, said Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen last week. When the Copenhagen cafe Coffee Collective opened its doors to seated customers on May 18, it was quieter than usual. Most enjoyed their coffee alone at tables placed apart, while some sat outside at tables on the street. I think it was a good decision (to shut down early), because we can see now on the numbers that everything has worked better than in some neighboring countries, said Ellen Vallentin Asmus, a graphic illustrator, enjoying a coffee at the cafe for the first time in two months. I think in Denmark theres a strong culture of following the rules and listening to the government, and I think that has helped with everyone taking the restrictions and social distancing seriously, said Sydney-Johanna Stevns, a strategist at a research and design lab in Copenhagen. Mentally, its nice to be out and have something of a normal life again. Danes began returning to work this month but workplaces have restricted the number of employees allowed, leaving public transport half empty. The fast lockdown and reopening were partly due to Denmarks centralized government structure, which enabled quick and seamless coordination and a unified voice, said Jan Pravsgaard Christensen, a professor of immunology of infectious diseases at the University of Copenhagen. The governments decision to shut down early contrasted with the approach in Sweden, where the death toll relative to the size of the population is four times higher, as authorities have kept large parts of society open. Frederiksen said political decisions had to be made quickly and waiting for scientific evidence would have put too many lives at risk or caused unnecessary harm to the economy. The strategy we follow is a political choice, she said in April. Our approach is science-based, but we cannot wait for evidence. We would simply risk too many lives if we did. By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen & Nikolaj Skydsgaard FILE PHOTO: Japan's SoftBank Group Corp Chief Executive Masayoshi Son bows his head after his presentation at a news conference in Tokyo By Sam Nussey TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T> CEO Masayoshi Son on Monday pinned his hopes on a small group of "winged unicorns" to save the performance of his $100 billion Vision Fund - although he gave few clues on which ones they would be. Announcing a record annual loss for his tech conglomerate, and an $18 billion shortfall at the Saudi-backed Vision Fund, Son told an earnings presentation on Monday that tech unicorns had plunged into the "valley of the coronavirus". But he said a smaller number of the tech companies would make it and could eventually account for 90% of the value of the portfolio. He showed a slide where cartoon unicorns were falling down a hole as a lone winged unicorn flew to safety on the other side. The 62-year-old businessman offered few clues as to which of the fund's 88 portfolio companies would eventually succeed. Son said winners from the current crisis included companies in food delivery, online medical services, video streaming and online shopping. Overall, the pandemic has been a disaster for the fund. "If Son had a good idea of what these companies are he would have singled them out," said Amir Anvarzadeh, market strategist at Asymmetric Advisors. SoftBank has limited exposure to areas like online education and streaming, with TikTok parent Bytedance one notable exception. In food delivery, there has been demand from locked-down consumers but vendors also have faced disruptions, including being forced to shut down. Uber and similar portfolio companies have been hammered by a slump in their core ride-hailing business. Online medical services, such as Ping An Healthcare and Technology <1833.HK>, have seen an upswing, although questions remain over the broader application of this type of healthcare technology. Son's thesis that a small number of hits can make up for other failures is typically applied to early-stage investment, because there's greater potential upside. Story continues But the Vision Fund has focused on late-stage startups, meaning there may be less uplift. ISOLATED EMPIRE Son's business empire is "becoming increasingly isolated," Mio Kato, analyst at LightStream Research wrote in a note on the Smartkarma platform. Long-time ally Jack Ma is exiting SoftBank's board and Son, under pressure from U.S. activist fund Elliott Management, has been forced to sell down his Alibaba stake to fund share buybacks. SoftBank has also been unable to secure further cash from the Vision Fund's big backers like Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund due to poor performance. Without more funds "Softbank can't raise its mark to market values by throwing more good money after bad," Kato wrote. The fund's portfolio slipped underwater at March-end. On Monday, Son repeated his pledge of no bailouts for struggling parts of the portfolio, although there are funds in reserve for "follow-on" investments. A stark change of tone from Son was reserved for WeWork, which as recently as November he said was heading for a rapid recovery. The largest portfolio companies "have a relatively good chance of passing through the valley of the coronavirus," Son said. "The exception is WeWork." (This story refiles to fix capital letter in SoftBank in headline) (Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by David Dolan and Jane Merriman) There have been several stories about the Ghana movie industry that makes the industry look gloomy and not appealing. These stories are mostly about the envy, jealousy and backstabbing stories, and needless attacks on themselves over frivolous issues. However, the death of Bishop Bernard Nyarko has opened up the industrys bad light and the various physical and spiritual attacks these actresses and actors suffer at the hands of their colleagues just because they are doing well than them. Speaking on Okuseku The Talk Show, Actress Mcbrown has opened up on how she got poisoned while she was on set at Nkenkansu and almost lost her life as a result. She said after shooting a scene for a movie she could not recall its title, she shared her food with one colleague who she wanted to remain anonymous. Nana Ama said after eating with the colleague, the colleague left where they were. It was after thirty minutes that she started to feel some sharp pains in her stomach. Nana Ama Mcbrown was sent to the Kenkansu hospital where there was no Doctor and she was later rushed to Komfo Anokye Teaching hospital. She said she fell unconscious so the only thing she saw was that she woke up at Komfo Anokye Teaching hospital. Nana Ama Mcbrrown used the opportunity to advise people who want to be movie stars to persist and persevere because every industry has its own challenges and the ability to get over leads to success. SILVER SPRING, Md., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As the COVID-19 pandemic response continues, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have been working around the clock on many fronts to support the U.S. food and agriculture sector so that Americans continue to have access to a safe and robust food supply. As a next step in carrying out Executive Order 13917, the USDA and FDA today announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to help prevent interruptions at FDA-regulated food facilities, including fruit and vegetable processing. This is an important preparedness effort as we are approaching peak harvesting seasons, when many fruits and vegetables grown across the U.S. are sent to be frozen or canned. The MOU creates a process for the two agencies to make determinations about circumstances in which the USDA could exercise its authority under the Defense Production Act (DPA) with regard to certain domestic food resource facilities that manufacture, process, pack, or hold foods, as well as to those that grow or harvest food that fall within the FDA's jurisdiction. While the FDA will continue to work with state and local regulators in a collaborative manner, further action under the DPA may be taken, should it be needed, to ensure the continuity of our food supply. As needed, the FDA will work in consultation with state, local, tribal and territorial regulatory and public health partners; industry or commodity sector; and other relevant stakeholders (e.g. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Occupational Safety and Health Administration) to chart a path toward resuming and/or maintaining operations while keeping employees safe. We are extremely grateful to essential workers for everything they do every day to keep our pantries, refrigerators and freezers stocked. All of the food and agriculture sector -- whether it is regulated by the USDA or FDA -- are considered critical infrastructure, and it is vital for the public health that they continue to operate in accordance with guidelines from the CDC and OSHA regarding worker health and safety. As we work to get through the current challenge together, we remain committed to workers' safety, as well as ensuring the availability of foods, and that our food remains among the safest in the world. Additional Information On April 28, 2020, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 13917, Delegating Authority Under the Defense Production Act with Respect to the Food Supply Chain Resources During the National Emergency Caused by the Outbreak of COVID-19, delegating the powers of the President under the DPA to the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure continuity of operations for our nation's food supply chain. The Executive Order gave the Secretary of Agriculture the authority to utilize the DPA if needed to require the fulfillment of contracts at food processing facilities. The MOU makes clear that the FDA will work with stakeholders to monitor the food supply for food resources not under the USDA's exclusive jurisdiction in order to prevent interruptions at FDA-regulated food facilities. This action is another in a series of proactive steps the USDA and FDA have taken to maximize food availability following unprecedented disruptions the COVID-19 pandemic has caused to food supply chains that have been established and refined for decades. Supporting Industry and Protecting Frontline Workers Our nation's food and agriculture facilities and workers play an integral role in the continuity of our food supply chain. The USDA and FDA have been working to ensure that frontline workers in food facilities and retailers that have remained on the job during this crisis have the information and resources they need for business continuity and to continue working safely, which includes mitigating the risk of spreading COVID-19. We continue to provide information and update frequently asked questions on both the FDA and USDA's websites. We will continue to work with facilities and farms, CDC, OSHA, and state, tribal, and local officials to ensure facilities and farms are implementing practices consistent with federal worker safety guidelines to keep employees safe and continue operations. We are working with our federal partners who have the authority and expertise over worker safety to develop information on protecting worker health. We are also working with other federal partners to assist the food and agriculture industry in addressing shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), cloth face coverings, disinfectants and sanitation supplies. Monitoring and Securing Human and Animal Food Supply Chains 24/7 Throughout the pandemic, the USDA and FDA have been closely monitoring the food supply chain for shortages in collaboration with industry and our federal and state partners. We are in regular contact with food manufacturers and grocery stores. We have issued guidances to ensure regulatory flexibility to safely reroute food that typically would be bought in bulk by food facilities and restaurants, like eggs and flour, directly to consumers. Food Safety Reminders for Every American As we continue to respond to COVID-19, we want to remind consumers that there is no evidence that COVID-19 has been transmitted by food or food packaging, as well as the importance of taking precautionary food safety steps to protect against foodborne illness pathogens such as Salmonella and E. Coli. With respect to the safety of food across the U.S., both the USDA and FDA continue to use their respective authorities, including conducting inspections, as appropriate. The agencies also continue to monitor foods for hazards, work with industry on any potential or reported issues in their facilities, and conduct food recalls when appropriate. This applies to both domestically produced food and food that is imported from other countries. Unlike foodborne gastrointestinal (GI) viruses like norovirus and hepatitis A that often make people ill through contaminated food, foodborne exposure is not known to be a route of transmission for SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. With respect to foodborne pathogens, the CDC, FDA and FSIS continue to work with state and local partners to investigate foodborne illness and outbreaks. During this coronavirus outbreak, we will continue to operate to prepare for, coordinate and carry out response activities to incidents of foodborne illness in both human and animal food. Additional Resources: Media Contacts: USDA: [email protected]; FDA: [email protected] SOURCE U.S. Food and Drug Administration A new report from Fitch Solutions tips Vietnam for a swift transition to 5G given the governments support for the technology and the countrys device manufacturing sector. Vietnam began trialling 5G in May this year, and Fitch has predicted that commercial services could launch by mid-2020. The countrys government is pushing for the introduction of 5G, and Fitch expects this to continue with the advent of enterprise grants and test beds. The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to lead to operators delaying commercial 5G launches as they divert investment towards boosting their 4G capacity. However, Fitch noted that the state-owned operators active in Vietnam could be pressured to stick to the governments desired 5G timeline. Major operators Mobifone, Viettel and Vinaphone have all seen demand for mobile data surge during the pandemic after the government introduced lockdown measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. All three operators have increased data allowances for their subscribers. While Vietnams government has not yet issued 5G licences whether via auction or allocation the countrys operators were granted trial licences in 2019, which Fitch notes could be converted. Viettel achieved the countrys first 5G connection in May 2019, while in March this year Mobifone claimed it was ready to launch commercial 5G after successfully trialling a network covering four Vietnamese cities. The operators have selected overseas vendors for their 5G deployments, with Mobifone using equipment from Samsung and Vinaphone tapping Nokia. The market leading Viettel has deals in place with Nokia and Ericsson, but has also stated that it is developing 5G equipment in-house. Vietnam also looks set to begin production on 5G smartphones, with the Vingroup conglomerate striking a manufacturing deal with Fujitsu and Qualcomm in June last year. According to Fitch, this could lead to more affordable devices which would accelerate the adoption of 5G. However, the firm noted that the advent of 5G in Vietnam will be felt most acutely in the enterprise sector rather than the consumer segment. New Delhi, May 19 : Economic distress and social discontent will rise over the next 18 months unless there are efforts to manage the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, World Economic Forum (WEF) has said. These are the findings of Covid-19 outlook report published on Tuesday by the World Economic Forum in partnership with Marsh & McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group. The report taps into the views of nearly 350 senior risk-professionals who were asked to look at the next 18 months and rank their biggest concerns in terms of likelihood and impact for the world and for business. The immediate economic fallout from COVID-19 dominates companies' risks perceptions. These range from a prolonged recession to the weakening fiscal position of major economies, tighter restrictions on the cross-border movement of goods and people, and the collapse of a major emerging market. In examining the interconnections between risks, the report also calls on leaders to act now against an avalanche of future systemic shocks such as the climate crisis, geopolitical turbulence, rising inequality, strains on people's mental health, gaps in technology governance and health systems under continued pressure. The key findings of the report include "prolonged global recession", "high unemployment", "another outbreak of infectious disease" and protectionism dominate the list of near-term worries for companies. It argues that "We are not ready for the knock-on effect of far-reaching environmental, societal and technological risks. But a "green recovery" and more resilient, "cohesive, inclusive and equal societies" can emerge if leaders act now". John Doyle, President and CEO, Marsh, said: "Even before the COVID-19 crisis, organizations were faced with a highly complex and interconnected global risk landscape. From cyber threats to supply chains, as well as the well-being of their colleagues, businesses will now rethink many of the structures they formerly relied on". "To create the conditions for a speedier recovery and a more resilient future, governments and the private sector need to work together more effectively. Along with major investments to improve health systems, infrastructure, and technology, one of the outcomes of this crisis has to be that societies become more resilient and capable of withstanding future pandemics and other major shocks", he added. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The armed robbers, said to number about eight, fired indiscriminately during an operation to rob a gold dealer in the community, resulting in the death of three persons, including the driver of the District Chief Executive, Mr William Bediako. The driver, Mr Samuel Osei, together with some officials of the Assembly were returning from a community sensitization programme on the COVID-19 in the area, when the incident occurred. The other victims were Kwaku Miller, alias Osofo 25, and Kwaku Danso 60, who was said to be lying in front of his shop, when a bullet hit him. Four others who sustained various degrees of gunshot wounds have been admitted at Agroyesum Hospital for medical attention. The incident, which was said to have happened around 7pm on Monday evening, had thrown the community into a state of fear and panic. Mr Godwin Ahianyo, Ashanti Regional Police Public Relations Officer, told the Ghana News Agency that, the Regional Command had dispatched crime scene investigators headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Philip Cosmos, the Regional Crime Officer, to the community. He said the robbers succeeded in taking away four pounds of gold valued at GH17,000.00 from one P. K. Adom, a gold dealer at Manso Dadiese. Mr Ahianyo said the robbers after the operation began to shoot indiscriminately and the bullets hit the victims resulting in their deaths and others sustaining injuries. He said the police retrieved an AK 47 rifle and some ammunitions from the scene. Mr Ahinayo said the police had intensified its investigations and called on the people in the area to give the police the needed information to apprehend the culprits. Mr Seth Agyei, Assembly member for the area, speaking earlier to the GNA, said the DCE's driver, who met his untimely death, was returning from a COVID-19 community sensitization programme at Manso-Daatano together with some health officials of the District Assembly when the incident occurred. He wondered why the robbers could shoot to kill innocent people after succeeding in getting whatever they were looking for. Meanwhile, some residents of the area have decried the poor nature of the road network, which contributed to the delay of the arrival of police personnel during the attacks. Agya Appiah, Chairman of the Unit Committee, appealed to the government to immediately fix the road in the area. ---GNA Employee protection could be a major headache facing businesses as they get back to work, an employment law expert has warned. David Gaffney of Gaffney Solicitors in Cork said there are further questions to be answered for businesses in relation to how to protect their staff. The majority of businesses are likely struggling to fully understand what exactly is expected of them upon reopening. Small offices, for example -- how will they gauge what is enough work to bring people back to an office? How will they be able to ensure social distancing? Many businesses may not be able to ever afford to bring all their staff back. There is no doubt that employers are concerned that difficulties around physical distancing may delay the return of workers to their place of work, and worker concerns around virus transmission may likely pose an obstacle to them returning to work. Mr Gaffney said firms need to develop or update a policy which should include a risk assessment of the workplace in order to minimise threats to workers. These policies should include references to cleaning of workplaces and provide guidance on physical distancing measures and use of Personal Protective Equipment. There is also now a comprehensive policy to be formulated as to what staff and employers should expect when they come to work -- what exactly is required to have customers in a premises, what constitutes adequate personal protective equipment, etc. People need confidence in order to return to work in a time of trepidation. A spokesperson for the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation said the Protocol for Re-opening Business and Society, provides employers and employees with a clear compliance framework by which to reopen businesses, return to work safely and continue to operate. She added: In addition, the Protocol specifically states that it is not designed to prohibit the introduction of further specific measures in particular sectors or workplaces, as long as they enhance the measures set out in the Protocol. Further supports for employers and workers will be developed and provided where appropriate. It is a living document. WASHINGTON - In the growing series of President Donald Trump's controversial removals of inspectors general, the firing of State Department IG Steve Linick might be the most problematic. Linick, we've come to find out, had been investigating Attorney General Mike Pompeo personally, as well as a major decision Pompeo had approved on an arms deal with Saudi Arabia. And both the White House and Pompeo have said the removal of Linick was Pompeo's call. On Monday, Pompeo's office made the case for why Linick deserved to be removed. But, at least at this point, it's pretty thin gruel. As The Washington Post's John Hudson and Carol Morello report, Pompeo and his office are spotlighting two key issues with Linick: that he didn't mesh with the State Department's goals, and that there were leaks involving his investigations. Here's the crux of the case they made for Linick's removal: "Pompeo told The Washington Post that he advised Trump to fire Linick because he was not 'performing a function' that was 'additive for the State Department.' "One of Pompeo's top aides, Brian Bulatao, said concern over Linick had grown because of a 'pattern of unauthorized disclosures, or leaks,' to the news media about investigations that were in their early stages. Bulatao said officials had no evidence Linick was personally responsible for the leaks but believed that they could taint the outcome of ongoing probes. "Bulatao also said the secretary was frustrated with Linick's indifference to an 'ethos statement' Pompeo formulated for employees last year that includes mottos such as 'I am a champion of American diplomacy.'" Let's take the leaks first. The story highlighted is from the Daily Beast, which reported in September that Linick was investigating the State Department's special envoy to Iran, Brian Hook, who is close to White House senior adviser and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The investigation involved alleged retaliation against an aide for her Iranian American ethnicity and perceived political bias. (The story came shortly after Linick had similarly released a report that alleged harassment and retaliation against other State Department employees who were perceived as disloyal to Trump.) The Daily Beast cited as its source "two government sources involved in carrying out the investigation." While acknowledging no evidence to link Linick to the leaks, Bulutao says: "You know the IG is normally charged with carrying out the investigation. It certainly was a very strong finger-pointing at IG Linick's way." Firing someone based upon suspicion and inference, though, isn't generally a satisfactory reason. What's more, it's not clear what Linick might have had to gain by leaking this, even if he had. The report naming Hook did indeed come out several weeks later. At least if that were true, though, it might hold some water. As for the other allegation against Linick - that he wasn't performing an "additive" function and that he didn't sufficiently subscribe to Pompeo's "ethos statement" - that's even more puzzling. An inspector general is tasked with independent oversight of their department and questioning the powerful. Their adherence to the slogans of the department leaders - in this case, Pompeo's "I am a champion of American diplomacy" - wouldn't seem to be one of their chief concerns. Indeed, you could argue that it would be counterproductive for an IG to align with their department leaders' respective slogans as if they are there to promote the leaders' defined agenda and vision for the department that they are supposed to be holding to account. The other thing about IGs is that their "additive" function is, by definition, to root out wrongdoing and problems within the department. Linick has, by all accounts, produced a series of very serious reports alleging problems within the State Department. His willingness to investigate Pompeo personally is also a rather bold move by an inspector general and suggests he was hardly a wallflower declining to carry out his defined duties. Pompeo, for what it's worth, has said he was unfamiliar with the investigations involving him. But he would have been well familiar with the other two completed investigations mentioned above that cast his department and powerful White House allies in a negative light. Whether any of those investigations was warranted, of course, is a valid question. Maybe the argument could be that Linick's actions were frivolous, wrongly concluded or politically motivated. That's what Trump has suggested about other IGs he's removed, including intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson (whose firing Trump made clear was tied to Atkinson forwarding the whistleblower complaint that led to Trump's impeachment) and acting Health and Human Services inspector general Christi Grimm (whose report alleging "severe shortages" of hospital equipment during the coronavirus outbreak Trump cited). But that's not even the argument that Pompeo and his office are making. Perhaps that's because they recognize saying that would only reinforce the apparent retaliatory nature of the firing, as Trump's comments have. But saying this was about leaks that Linick hasn't even been connected to and about Linick's lack of adherence to Pompeo's messaging doesn't exactly suggest a strong basis for firing. And when you overlay that on what Linick had investigated - Pompeo, the arms deal Pompeo signed off on, a Kushner ally and a well-connected GOP donor named Robert Pence (no relation to the vice president) - it should only raise more questions about how all this went down. Northern Irelands specialist Covid-19 custody facility has detained more than 50 alleged offenders with coronavirus or its symptoms since the outbreak began. The sealed-off 10-cell block in Musgrave Street police station in Belfast has been in operation for two months. As of the start of this week, 53 people have been held there. Any arrested person in Northern Ireland who has coronavirus or is displaying symptoms of the virus is transported to the facility by adapted Covid-19 mobile response vehicles based at nearby Antrim Road station. PA Media was given exclusive first access to the Covid-19 block to witness how the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has adapted to the challenges of custody in a pandemic. As the regions biggest custody facility and the only one with an embedded nurse-led healthcare team, Musgrave Street was the obvious choice to house the block. Expand Close Members of the PSNI Covid-19 Unit at Musgrave Street custody suit in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Members of the PSNI Covid-19 Unit at Musgrave Street custody suit in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire It has been operational at a time when overall arrest rates have fallen quite sharply due to the lockdown. In the first few weeks of the restrictions, Musgrave Street saw the number of detainees fall by 44%. Opening on March 17 as the outbreak was taking hold, the Covid 19 block is on a different floor to the cells where non-symptomatic detainees are held and is subject to strict infection control measures. All officers and custody staff who physically interact with symptomatic detainees are required to wear full personal protective equipment (PPE), comprising a body suit, face shield, respirator mask, glasses and gloves. Expand Close A Member of the PSNI Musgrave street custody team looks through a cell door wearing the PPE required to interact with a suspected Covid-19 detained person in a detention block at the station in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Member of the PSNI Musgrave street custody team looks through a cell door wearing the PPE required to interact with a suspected Covid-19 detained person in a detention block at the station in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire It is the same level of PPE worn by the officers in the mobile units that transport alleged offenders to and from the facility in Belfast city centre. Chief inspector of Musgrave Street custody suite, Peter Brannigan, said his team has had to adjust to some fast-paced changes. Its been quite a dynamic environment, something that we couldnt have prepared for, but we have responded to it quite effectively and dynamically, he said. Whilst the custody process itself hasnt changed, how they deal with a detained person has. Expand Close Peter Brannigan, chief inspector of Musgrave Custody Suit in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Peter Brannigan, chief inspector of Musgrave Custody Suit in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Mr Brannigan said staff have had understandable fears about working in an environment where Covid-19 is present. He said he hoped some of those had been addressed with regular communication of key health and safety messages from commanders. People are concerned, people are frightened and people want to be reassured, he said. The senior officer also reflected on the impact of incidents involving officers out on the beat who have been coughed at or spat at by people claiming to have Covid-19. It generates panic right away in terms of the police officer, you know theyre human beings at the end of the day, doing a job, he said. Expand Close Members of the PSNI Covid-19 Unit at Musgrave Street custody suit in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Members of the PSNI Covid-19 Unit at Musgrave Street custody suit in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Since March, officers have been issued with spit and bite guards to deal with such situations. Between March 22 and April 15 in 2019, Musgrave Street held 877 alleged offenders; in the same period this year the number was 492. Mr Brannigan said the fall in overall arrest numbers does not tell the whole story. He said an increase in the threshold for arrest and a drop-off in lower level crimes associated with the night-time economy meant a high proportionate of detainees were being held for more serious offences. Suspects who are due before a judge also now appear via video-link from Musgrave Street, in an effort to reduce footfall through the regions courts meaning the detainees are also spending more time in police cells. Expand Close A Member of the PSNI Musgrave street custody team looks through a cell door wearing the PPE required to interact with a suspected Covid-19 detained person in a detention block at the station in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A Member of the PSNI Musgrave street custody team looks through a cell door wearing the PPE required to interact with a suspected Covid-19 detained person in a detention block at the station in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire So the level of staff work hasnt actually decreased, even though the prisoner numbers have done, so its a different working environment, said the chief inspector. Numbers dont always tell that story. The creation of the Covid-19 block is only one of a series of infection control measures introduced at Musgrave Street. Communications networks and equipment have been improved to enable solicitors to conduct remote consultations with their clients and police doctors are also now able to perform remote assessments via iPads. Perspex screens have been installed throughout the facility, most notably in interview rooms to divide detectives from the suspects they are questioning. Expand Close NOTE FACE PIXELLATED BY PA PICTURE DESK PSNI officers release someone from custody while operating in full PPE gear in Belfast. Coronavirus Wed May 13, 2020 13-05-2020 Belfast UK Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire. Unique Reference No. 53736887 Picture date: Wednesday May 13, 2020. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp NOTE FACE PIXELLATED BY PA PICTURE DESK PSNI officers release someone from custody while operating in full PPE gear in Belfast. Coronavirus Wed May 13, 2020 13-05-2020 Belfast UK Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire. Unique Reference No. 53736887 Picture date: Wednesday May 13, 2020. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire The PSNI has completely reconfigured its custody accommodation across the region to reflect the lower arrest rates during lockdown. It has consolidated operations in five suites. As well as Musgrave Street, Strand Road in Londonderry, Lurgan, Omagh and Antrim remain open. Una Williamson, the PSNI head of reducing offending and safer custody, said social distancing is often impossible in a custody scenario. At times, custody detention officers or custody sergeants must interact with detained persons, she said. We do have all of the personal protection equipment available for any of those interactions, and that is from the basic interaction where gloves and masks are required right up to full PPE if were dealing with a symptomatic person. Expand Close Una Williamson, PSNI Head of Reducing Offending and Safer Custody at Musgrave Custody Suit in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Una Williamson, PSNI Head of Reducing Offending and Safer Custody at Musgrave Custody Suit in Belfast. PA Photo. Picture date: Saturday May 16, 2020. See PA story HEALTH Coronavirus Ulster Custody. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Ms Williamson said adapting to the new Covid-19 operating environment has been one of the most significant challenges the organisation has faced. In terms of the speed and in terms of the changes weve had to make it has probably rated up at the top in terms of a challenge, she said. We have put systems into place within weeks that would normally possibly take months or even longer. But I would say its been a successful one from a policing perspective, in terms of how we faced it and how weve adapted and made those changes both on the front-line and organisationally. Chennai, May 19 : As many as 688 persons tested positive for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu over the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 12,448, said the State Health Department. In a statement, the Health Department said 688 persons tested positive including those who came from Dubai (23), Maldives (1), Kuwait, Dubai and Malaysia (13 initially tested negative and later turned positive), Maharashtra (49) and Kerala (1). Three Covid-19 patients lost their lives taking the total death toll to 84. The number Covid-19 patients who were cured and discharged on Tuesday was 489 and the total is 4,895. According to the government, a total of 10,333 samples were tested taking to total over 3.48 lakh to date. Testing of 887 samples is under process. The state capital Chennai continued to see the highest number of infections at 552, taking the total tally to 7,672. The number of infected children in the age group 0-12 went up to 747. The total number of active cases in Tamil Nadu stands at 7,466. Texas has failed to meet key criteria designed to guide the reopening of the state, even as Gov. Greg Abbott pushes to lift more public health restrictions, a Houston Chronicle analysis shows. Mark McClellan, one of the chief medical advisers on Abbotts strike force and a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, listed key criteria in late March for rolling back the reopening, including being unable to properly trace the source of new infections, a sustained rise in cases for five days or coronavirus patients overwhelming the hospital system. A Chronicle analysis of public data shows the state is in good shape in terms of hospital beds, but the number of new cases is continuing to climb. Since April 24, when Abbott first started rolling back restrictions put in place to control the virus, Texas has seen a 55 percent increase in new cases per day. And many major cities, including Houston, still lack the manpower to trace the source of all new infections. CORONAVIRUS UPDATES: Stay informed with accurate reporting you can trust on HoustonChronicle.com Abbott also has placed a lot of weight on the declining positive test rate, which dropped to 5.2 percent as the state started offering testing to people without symptoms. And he cited the comparatively low number of deaths in Texas, roughly 4.7 per 100,000, which ranks 41st nationally. As the state moves into phase two of reopening, Abbott said that every decision has been supported by his team of medical experts. That commitment to data, to doctors, underpins todays announcement, he said. Still, some experts say a more robust system is needed to sustain the economy as it reopens. I think we need to dramatically scale up the amount of testing in the workplace, said Dr. Peter Hotez, an expert on vaccines at the Baylor College of Medicine. A second problem is that our ability to do contact tracing is incredibly limited. Heres why the benchmarks are useful, the limitations of those goals and where Texas stands in meeting them as Abbott considers opening the state further: Benchmark #1: Sustained reduction in new cases for at least 14 days Reasoning: A sustained reduction in new cases would show the virus is on its way to being contained. Decreases in new cases mean its easier to track new hot spots and for hospitals to treat patients safely. Tougher restrictions on public movement could be loosened. Limitations: As testing increases, the number of new cases is likely to increase as well. New outbreaks can occur, causing new case counts to spike after sustained decreases. Since April 24, Texas has almost tripled its test rate per day from 10,430 to 28,188. Abbott has stressed instead the positive test rate as the key metric guiding his decisions. The positive test rate is the number of confirmed positives divided by the total number of tests with results returned to the state. Simply taking the raw number of new cases does not tell the full story, importantly you must look at the positivity rate, said Abbott spokesperson John Wittman in response to emailed questions. Where we stand: Texas has never seen a 14-day reduction in new cases. A three-day drop in new cases happened twice so far. From April 24 to May 3, Texas saw 10 days of consecutive increases in new cases per day. The report co-authored by Abbotts adviser argued for returning to restrictions if new cases increased for five days or more. According to the data provided by the state, Texas has a downward trend for 14 days on the positive test rate. The positive test rate is down to 4.48 percent, 19th lowest in the U.S. Benchmark #2: The ability to safely treat all patients requiring hospitalization Reasoning: Hospital space, staff and equipment are finite resources. If the virus spreads out of control and a large number of patients requires hospitalization, hospitals can be overrun and patients can suffer or die due to the lack of resources. Limitations: Hospital resources vary by region, so a statewide average may not accurately depict the situation in more rural counties. And Texas official statistics on hospitalizations include only confirmed cases. They dont include patients who either havent been tested for COVID-19 or whose test results are pending. Suspected coronavirus cases were nearly 30 percent of hospitalizations in the Houston region, where 566 people were hospitalized Sunday with confirmed coronavirus test results, and another 223 patients were suspected of having the disease. Available bed data from the state took a sharp increase from early March to early May, but that was due to hospitals starting to report their numbers to the state, according to Darrell Pile of the South East Texas Regional Advisory Committee, one of the agencies tasked with collecting data on hospital resources. Where we stand: As a whole, the state has not come close to filling its hospital beds and ICU beds or running out of available ventilators. Pile said hospitals in the Houston region have enough beds, intensive care unit beds and ventilators to accommodate the novel coronavirus patients. Benchmark #3: The capacity to test all people with COVID 19 symptoms (30,000 tests a day on average) Reasoning: Experts say widespread testing is necessary to determine how far the virus has spread and where hot spots may have occurred. If there is a reduction in new cases even with increased testing, this shows the virus is not spreading out of control and gives policymakers a clearer picture on what to do next. Limitations: The more common swab tests have a 30 percent false negative rate. Reliable antibody tests are still in development. There are still challenges in getting enough testing and analysis supplies to allow testing for anyone who wants one. Even if the state has the capacity to consistently test 30,000 or more people a day, mixed messaging from all levels of government could lead to confusion on whether someone should get tested, said Dr. Umair Shah, executive director of Harris County Public Health. Additionally, lack of information and mental fatigue regarding the virus are other reasons people wouldnt go and get tested, he said. Where we stand: Testing capacity has increased steadily and reached 30,000 tests a day three times so far. May 13 marked the first time the state met and exceeded its benchmark, receiving test results for more than 49,000 people. The weekly average reached 28,000 tests. Abbott also announced May 11 that state agencies would test all nursing home residents and staff for the virus, which means the state will need to test about 230,000 people. Texas has improved to 41st in the country in tests per 100,000 people, from second worst in the country on April 11. Benchmark #4: Capacity to monitor confirmed cases and their contacts (Goal is 4,000 tracers) Reasoning: Identifying and tracing everyone who came in contact with COVID-19 patients allows the government to have a more focused response to the pandemic. Instead of widespread shutdowns, specific areas of a community could be shuttered and resources could be more efficiently deployed. Limitations: This practice tracking and monitoring an infected persons contacts to limit the spread of the disease is called contact tracing. Its effective but difficult to do properly when case counts are high. For example, one new case in South Korea came in contact with more than 5,000 people at local nightclubs in the country, according to multiple media reports. Contact tracers could reach only about half of that group in an effort to define the scope of the hot spot. Where we stand: Abbotts office says the state has deployed more than 2,000 tracers and expects to meet its goal of 4,000 by the end of May. The National Association of County and City Health Officials estimates 30 workers per 100,000 would meet the need for contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic. That would mean a count of 7,700 tracers in Texas, far from the 4,000 goal of Gov. Abbott. Despite nearly doubling the number of contact tracers in Harris County at the beginning of the outbreak, public health officials were unable to keep up with the coronaviruss spread. They gave up on contact tracing every single COVID-19 case at the beginning of April, focusing instead on at-risk populations, such as nursing homes and health care workers. They hope to jump-start that practice again by the end of this month, when 300 contact tracers will be added to the countys ranks. City officials around the Houston region plan to add even more, bringing the total to 600. Benchmark #5: Death rate/mortality due to the virus Reasoning: The percentage of confirmed coronavirus cases ending in death shows the highest cost of the pandemic. A low mortality rate would indicate the virus is not taking as many lives per number of cases. Limitations: Public health experts believe its likely coronavirus deaths are undercounted. This can be due to people dying from the virus without being tested first. Where we stand: Confirmed deaths due to the virus have remained low in Texas, in comparison to other states, at 4.65 deaths per 100,000. About 2.8 percent of confirmed cases in Texas have died. Texas has one of the lowest death rates in the country, Wittman said. Alex Stuckey and John Tedesco contributed to this report. matt.dempsey@chron.com jordan.rubio@chron.com stephanie.lamm@chron.com Geneva, May 19 : The majority of the world's population remains susceptible to COVID-19 and there is a long road to travel as the risk remains high, the chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said. "This is a dangerous enemy, with a dangerous combination of features: this virus is efficient, fast, and fatal," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported. Even in the worst-affected regions, the proportion of the population with the tell-tale antibodies is no more than 20 per cent, and in most places, less than 10 per cent, Tedros said. "In other words: the majority of the world's population remains susceptible to this virus," he said. "The risk remains high and we have a long road to travel." There have been over 4.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported to the WHO, with more than 300,000 people having lost their lives. Its health impacts extend far beyond the sickness and death caused by the virus itself, said Tedros, adding that it is also more than a health crisis, as the global economy is headed for its sharpest contraction since the Great Depression. "All countries have faced challenges in coming to grips with this virus, rich and poor, large and small," he said. Tedros said the WHO had sounded the alarm early, noting that when the Geneva-based organization declared a global health emergency on January 30, there were less than 100 cases and no deaths outside China. "We all have lessons to learn from the pandemic," he said. "Every country and every organization must examine its response and learn from its experience." Tedros said he will initiate an independent evaluation at the earliest appropriate moment to review experience gained and lessons learned, and to make recommendations to improve national and global pandemic preparedness and response. He urged member states to strengthen the WHO. "The world doesn't need another plan, another system, another mechanism, another committee or another organization," he said. "It needs to strengthen, implement and finance the systems and organisations it has -- including WHO." Citing the example of nations coming together under the banner of the WHO 40 years ago to rid the world of smallpox, Tedros proclaimed that "when solidarity triumphs over ideology, anything is possible," as COVID-19 has tested, strengthened and strained the bonds of fellowship between nations. The 73rd World Health Assembly kicked off on Monday for an unprecedented two-day online discussion focusing on future response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text The coronavirus pandemic has brought many people suffering from either the virus itself or from the economical impact of the countermeasures to fight against it. Amid all these, however, world leaders are having strained relations with their fellow officials as accusations go back-and-forth. A recent meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday intended to pull the countries of the world together against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic turned sour as tensions rose between the United States and Chinese leaders. Donation for a 'good' cause At the start of the forums, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that Beijing would be donating $2 billion to help the fight against the coronavirus which will be used in dispatching healthcare workers and medical supplies to several countries around the world affected by the pandemic, as reported by the New York Times. The funds given will be utilized over two years and amounts to more than double the financial aid given by the United States before President Trump's orders last month to cut off the donations. The Asian country's donation will also set China as the frontrunner of international efforts meant to control the COVID-19 pandemic that has made people around the world suffer. The move, however, was seen by American authorities as a way to distract the world of China's alleged hiding of information regarding the coronavirus in the early stages of the pandemic. The arguments have been developing over the past few weeks with a recent debacle over Taiwan's inclusion as an observer over the World Health Assembly (WHA). The independent island was ruled out of WHO membership by Beijing as it considers the province awaiting reunification with the mainland. Also Read: Chinese Envoy Found Dead in Israel, Police Investigating Possible Foul Play A divided world According to the CNBC, Taiwan was part of the World Health Assembly as a non-voting observer between 2009 and 2016. The province's representation at the assembly has been blocked by Beijing, however, as scepticisms arose. Former US defence department official, Drew Thompson, who was responsible for managing bilateral relations with the Chinese, Taiwanese, and Mongolian governments, said that "China has always been the arbiter of whether or not Taiwan can participate in WHA meetings, and it makes that decision based on its own political calculator of the state of cross-Strait relations, rather than concern for global public health." The announcement by President Xi was made in a video conference to the WHA, which is an annual event that is being conducted virtually as new pandemic situations arise. President Trump, on the other hand, declined to lead the opening of the two-day gathering, which gave the Chinese president the chance to lead the assembly himself. "In China, after making painstaking efforts and sacrifice, we have turned the tide on the virus and protected lives," said President Xi. "We have done everything in our power to support and assist countries in need." The US secretary of health and human services, Alex M. Azar II, replied with criticism that both the WHO and China lacked the proper handling of the pandemic that led to unnecessary deaths and suffering. "We must be frank about one of the primary reasons that this outbreak spun out of control," said Azar. "There was a failure by this organization to obtain the information that the world needed, and that failure cost many lives." Other leaders, in response to the remarks given by the involved parties, shared the lack of global cooperation that is needed in fighting the pandemic as they urge every nation to set aside their differences and work together. "No country can solve this problem alone," Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said. "We must work together." Related Article: China Admits Destroying Important Early Coronavirus Samples Not as Cover Up But for Safety Concerns @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Conspiracy theorists believe the new $10 bank note in Australia features a symbol almost identical to a coronavirus cell. The Royal Australian Mint began circulating the new note in September 2017, two years before the virus was identified in Wuhan, China - the original epicentre. A small minority of misguided COVID-19 deniers are pushing the ridiculous theory the symbol is proof the virus is a government hoax. One person shared a photo of the note in a group noting the similarities between the design and scientific images of coronavirus. The COVID-19 cell is widely depicted as being round with small spike-like branches protruding from the main body. The COVID-19 cell is widely depicted as being round with small spike-like branches protruding from the main body Even after the theory was debunked by another user who recognised the true meaning of the pattern, others commented agreeing the timing was suspicious While a similar looking symbol is featured on the note, it actually represents a bramble wattle, which is native to Australia. Bramble wattle, also known as acacia victoriae, is found in eastern parts of Australia and is a shrub-like tree with prickly spines. The note also includes a picture of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, bush poet Banjo Paterson and Dame Mary Gilmore. Even after the theory was debunked by another user who recognised the true meaning of the pattern, others commented agreeing the timing was suspicious. 'I bet it's got a tracking device implanted in the note,' one person said. Conspiracy theorists believe the new $10 bank note in Australia features a symbol almost identical to a coronavirus cell 'Give me one person who can actually prove the virus... Anybody,' another added. Scientists across the globe have been discussing the impacts of COVID-19 since it was first identified in December 2019. There are more than 4.9 million known cases globally, including 320,000 who have died and another 1.9 million who have already recovered. COVID-19 was first identified in Wuhan in December 2019, but rapidly spread to almost every corner of the globe. Entire nations - including Australia - have been forced into lockdown in an attempt to slow the spread of the deadly respiratory virus. In spite of the numbers, conspiracy theorists have repeatedly questioned the legitimacy of the infection and even linked it to the rollout of the 5G technology network. Others have used the virus as an opportunity to spruik dangerous anti-vaccination agendas. Panaji, May 19 : Five Russians, all of them minors, were booked for violating lockdown norms and drinking in a public place at the north Goa beach village of Ashwem, police said on Tuesday. Police inspector in-charge of Pernem police station Sandesh Chodankar said: "All are Russian nationals, who are minor in age. They have been booked for violation of lockdown norms and drinking in public". The police officer denied that the five offenders attended a major party event. "They were just five teenagers drinking at a deserted place. After fining them, we asked them to go back to their hotel rooms," Chodankar said. Fragments from the Dead Sea Scroll thought to be completely blank, are actually covered in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic inscriptions, study reveals. Pieces of the scroll held by the University of Manchester were examined by experts from Kings College London and the University of Malta who found the tiny letters. One of the fragments has four lines of text with 15-16 letters including the word Shabbat (Sabbath) that could be related to the biblical book of Ezekiel (46:1-3). Using a multispectral imaging technique that involves looking at it through different wavelengths, Professor Taylor also found the Hebrew letter for L on a fragment. The discovery means that the pieces held by the University of Manchester are the only authenticated fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the UK. One of the fragments (pictured) has four lines of text with 15-16 letters including the word Shabbat (Sabbath) that could be related to the biblical book of Ezekiel (46:1-3) Four fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls held by the University of Manchester were put through detailed imaging by Professor Joan Taylor from Kings College London. Professor Taylor found letters, sewn thread, ruled lines and even discernible words on the ancient pieces of parchment previously assumed to be blank. All of these small pieces of parchment were unearthed in the official excavations of the Qumran caves, and were never passed through the antiquities market. In the 1950s, the fragments were gifted by the Jordanian government to Ronald Reed, leather expert at the University of Leeds, so he could study their physical and chemical composition. It was assumed that the pieces were ideal for scientific tests, as they were blank and relatively worthless. These were studied and published by Reed and his student John Poole, and then stored safely away. 'In the early days of research, in the '50s and '60s, the excavators sometimes donated many artifacts, usually ceramics, to collaborating museums as gifts,' Dennis Mizzi, from the University of Malta told Smithsonian Magazine. In 1997 the Reed Collection was donated to The University of Manchester through the initiative of Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis, George Brooke. These fragments have been stored in Reed's own labelled boxes in The John Rylands Library, and have been relatively untouched since then. When examining the fragments for the new study, Professor Taylor thought it possible that one of them did actually contain a letter. She therefore decided to photograph all of the existing fragments over 0.4inches that appear blank to the naked eye, using multispectral imaging. 51 fragments were imaged front and back and six were identified for further detailed investigation - of these, it was established that four have readable Hebrew/Aramaic text written in carbon-based ink. The study has also revealed ruled lines and small vestiges of letters on other fragments. The most substantial fragment has the remains of four lines of text with 15-16 letters, most of which are only partially preserved, but the word Shabbat (Sabbath) can be clearly read. Four fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls held by the University of Manchester were put through detailed imaging by Professor Joan Taylor from Kings College London This text may be related to the biblical book of Ezekiel (46:1-3). One piece with text is the edge of a parchment scroll section, with sewn thread, and the first letters of two lines of text may be seen to the left of this binding. 'Looking at one of the fragments with a magnifying glass, I thought I saw a small, faded letter - a lamed, the Hebrew letter 'L',' said Professor Taylor. 'Frankly, since all these fragments were supposed to be blank and had even been cut into for leather studies, 'I also thought I might be imagining things. But then it seemed maybe other fragments could have very faded letters too.' 'With new techniques for revealing ancient texts now available, I felt we had to know if these letters could be exposed. 'There are only a few on each fragment, but they are like missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle you find under a sofa.' The research team is currently undertaking further investigations of these fragments in consultation with The John Rylands Library and Professor Brooke, as part of a larger project studying the various Qumran artefacts at the John Rylands Library. By Express News Service VISAKHAPATNAM: ChiefMinister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday formally transferred Rs 10,000 each to 19,893 people of affected villages abutting LG Polymers plant at RR Venkatapuram in Visakhapatnam. Addressing the victims and officials of Visakhapatnam district from his camp office at Tadepalli, the Chief Minister said tragic incidents such as the gas leak in LG Polymers should not occur again in the State. The CM appealed to people not to panic as the State government will always stand by them. He said for the first time Rs 1 crore was paid to 12 families, whose members had died in the gas leak. The governments priority is to restore normalcy and provide help to the victims, he asserted. He informed that the Centre and the State have constituted committees to investigate the incident. Action will be taken against those responsible as per the recommendations of the committees. None will be spared, he assured. Responding to a victims plea, Jagan Mohan Reddy promised to give jobs to one member each from 12 families. He praised the district officials, ministers and YSRC leaders, who responded to the situation with alacrity. He said the ministers had spent a night in the affected villages to boost the confidence of the people. He also interacted with some of the victims during the video conference. District Collector V Vinay Chand informed the Chief Minister that sanitisation will continue in the affected villages. The medical camps will be conducted for the next one month in the said villages, he said.Later, addressing mediapersons, Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao alias Avanthi said compensation was paid to every member of 6,398 families in 17 colonies abutting the LG Polymers plant. He stated that the Chief Minister directed all industries in the State be inspected to prevent recurrence of such accidents. He clarified that the State government will take action against LG Polymers as its negligence led to the accident. A case has already been filed against the company and action will be initiated once the committee submits its report. The minister informed that the company deposited Rs 50 crore with the Collector as per the National Green Tribunals (NGT) directive. The Animal Husbandry department will supply fodder to cattle in the affected villages. Ward volunteers will visit each and every house to ascertain whether the compensation has been credited to their bank accounts or not, Avanthi explained.He said those who wish to file complaints against the company can send them to the Collector next week.Commissioner of Police RK Meena, GVMC commissioner G Srijana, Joint Collector M Venugopala Reddy, Vizag MP MVV Satyanarayana, MLA Adeep Raj were also present. NEERI report on Meghadri Gedda likely by tomorrow Visakhapatnam: GVMC is awaiting National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) report with regard to styrene presence in Meghadri Gedda reservoir. GVMC water supply SE Venugopal said the report is likely to be received by Wednesday. He said PCB and regional testing lab have found that pollutants in the reservoir are within permissible limits. 13K tonnes of SM shifted to S Korea The LG Polymers on Monday stated that it had shifted styrene monomer (SM)inventory in the plant and styrene tanks at Vizag Port, totalling 13,000 tonnes, to South Korea. MD Jeong Sunkey said, We are focusing on restoring normalcy here. With the help of a team of experts from Seoul, we have formed a special task force to support victims and their families. As part of community action month, the East Missouri Action Agency is hosting an event on Thursday in their parking lot in Park Hills. We will have various departments from the agency providing information about the programs and services we offer, EMAA Program Coordinator Rob Baker said. Then it kind of grew into, 'what can we do for the community?' The agency partnered with Prairie Farms, who will provide free ice cream. They will also be providing free 25-pound boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables in conjunction with Proffer Produces Farm to Family Project through the USDA. Some other community partners will be on-hand to share information about their services. The Lunch Lady Food Truck will also be on site for anyone who would like to purchase lunch. It will be a drive-through event so residents are encouraged to stay in their vehicles. They will pull into our lot, the partners will go to their vehicles, distribute the information and whatever handouts they might have, Baker said. Then we will load the vegetable and fruit box into their vehicle, and then the last stop on the way out will be Prairie Farms to give everyone an ice cream. The event is scheduled to go from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., but it will be as long as supplies last. The address is 403 Parkway Drive in Park Hills. Baker said they plan to have 200 boxes of produce on-hand, but they will also be offering them once a week through the end of June at their Park Hills location, as well as others locations in other counties. Families in the area will have ample opportunity to take advantage of the Farm to Family Project that Proffer Produce is participating in, Baker said. The boxes will be offered at the Park Hills office on Thursdays at 11 a.m.; at the Washington County Head Start on Thursday at noon; at the St. Genevieve Head Start on Tuesdays at noon; and at the Cape Girardeau Head Start at Tuesday at 11 a.m. Nikki Overfelt is a reporter for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at noverfelt@dailyjournalonline.com. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Russh magazine editor Jess Blanch was one of the first to notice his potential when she saw him strutting around Bondi aged 15. "He obviously has an incredibly strong look but it's his presence that ensures you never forget the first time you see him or meet him," she says. "His success has been due his undeniable star quality. He literally lights up a room." They certainly are going fine. After being notoriously "discovered" by a talent scout while shoplifting a packet of matches from a Gold Coast convenience store aged 14, the feline-faced It Boy has risen the ranks of the international fashion world, appearing in campaigns for top brands such as Balmain, Versace and Tom Ford shot by photographers such as Steven Klein, Mario Sorrenti and David Sims. His agents, New York fashion power-broker Jen Ramey and top Sydney model stable Kult, are on the phone constantly. More recently he has captured headlines for his party lifestyle and famous mates, all artfully documented on his Instagram account, @IBlameJordan (he has 907,000 followers and counting). Jordan Barrett reclines by the pool of a Sydney mansion sucking in his stomach. By anyone's measure, the 21-year-old from Byron Bay has a perfect rig, but you can imagine how unforgiving the fashion editors of New York or Paris or Milan can be. "I'm not over-exercised," Barrett says when I ask if he feels pressure to look like the other male models: rail thin or super buff. "I've never really had an athletic body, you know? It hasn't really happened. But I'm OK with it. I'm definitely comfortable with the way I look ... I don't want to be too ripped, or too freaked out about looking like that. Things are going fine how it is." Blanch says Barrett is nothing less than the face of his generation. "It's a generation who believe in total freedom and have no interest in doing things the way they've always been done," she says. "They live deeply in the moment and are revolutionary thinkers, all of them activists in their own way ... he doesn't apologise for being himself and he runs like he has nothing to lose." Barrett exudes a magnetic, slightly devious energy, prowling around the pool for the Executive Style shoot, looking for validation but keen to offer an opinion. He makes a big show of eating some fruit salad, then I catch him stealing chips from the stylist in the dressing room. When the time comes to pose for the camera he snaps into position a true professional. When he's being interviewed, his attitude changes entirely. He sighs, whistles, huffs, puffs, fidgets and sounds catastrophically bored. I wonder if he enjoys this crazy life of photo shoots and ruthless scrutiny? "[Modelling] has opened so many doors and opportunities in life," Barrett says. "It's not like: let's go to a shoot and let's go home. It just opens so many doors to everything that I'm doing. It lets you do whatever you want, and be wherever you want ... And I have access to do whatever I want." He flicks his mane of hair and blinks at me, eyes as blue as the pool. Next question? I attempt to ask about the prison-style "stick and poke" tattoos all over his body. There's "0% interest", "Psycho", "Only The Good" and, most curiously "Monica Lewinsky". "I've answered that question too many times," he says, then rolls his eyes and takes a breath. "[My tattoos] remind me of great times with people that I love, and lots of fun times. Each one is with different friends and different moments that I'll remember. They're such long stories." I convince him to tell me about one and he points to a tattoo reading "007". "[This] happened with two of my closest friends, who I'm not going to name [reportedly fellow models Lara Stone and Bella Hadid] we were at Cannes Film Festival in the south of France have you been? So they close down the whole f--king thing at the bottom of the Hotel du Cap, and they won't let you off ... so we ended up throwing ourselves onto a boat, like a moving one ... So three of us successfully pulled off this mission and we have 007 to remember it." Barrett grimaces, and seems to regret what he's just said. "Can you please not repeat that?" he asks. "I just don't want it to be in some stupid rag like the Daily Mail." It's true, the tabloid publishes Jordan Barrett stories with a slavish zeal in fact it's already run a version of this 007 story. "They've almost ruined Bondi for me," Barrett moans. "They're just always in Bondi and I'm always in Bondi and I'm always barefoot and I'm always not wearing much clothing I'm an easy target." Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 22:57:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at the 73rd World Health Assembly at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, May 18, 2020. (WHO/Handout via Xinhua) BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday urged some politicians in the United States to stop shifting blame to others and cooperate with the international community to jointly defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press conference when he was asked to comment on a letter published on Twitter by U.S. President Donald Trump. In a letter to the Director-General the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a copy of which was published by Trump on Twitter Monday, the president threatened that the United States will permanently cut off its funding to WHO if the latter does not commit to what he called "substantive improvements within the next 30 days." "China has chronologically expounded our work of prevention and control of the novel coronavirus disease many times," said Zhao, adding that the WHO has also clarified the mistakes in the U.S. accusation. He said the U.S. leader's letter is an attempt to mislead the public vaguely and to smear China, as well as shirking its own responsibility. This is nothing but a futile attempt, he added. Photo taken on May 15, 2020 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) As COVID-19 is still spreading in the United States and other parts of the world, unity and cooperation, saving lives and economic recovery remain the most pressing tasks, Zhao said. He added that the proportion and standard of assessed contributions are confirmed by all WHO member states and it is a legally binding obligation for all member states to pay their assessed contributions on time and in full. The U.S. decision to freeze its funding to the WHO according to its own will is a practice of unilateralism and violation of its international obligation, Zhao said. At this crucial juncture of the global fight against the pandemic, to support the WHO is to safeguard the ideals and principles of multilateralism, support international cooperation and the battle for saving lives as well, said Zhao, adding that China will, as it has always done, support the WHO's leading role in international cooperation to fight COVID-19 and will continue to support the WHO's work in various means. China calls on the international community to increase political support and funding for the WHO, and coordinate global resources to win the battle against the pandemic, said Zhao, adding that the U.S. attempt to use China as an excuse to shirk its international obligations to the WHO is barking up the wrong tree. PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 04:50:35 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 393 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / MGX Minerals Inc. ("MGX" or the "Company") (CSE:XMG)(FKT:1MG)(OTC PINK:MGXMF) is pleased to announce that it has settled its debt to A.I.S. Resources Limited ("A.I.S."). On November 1, 2019, A.I.S. commenced an action against MGX in the Supreme Court of British Columbia claiming unpaid fees for exploration and related services. MGX and A.I.S. have entered into a settlement agreement under which MGX will issue 3,705,733 common shares in the capital of the Company at a deemed price of $0.075 per share (the "Debt Shares").The Debt Shares will be issued in full satisfaction of the claim by A.I.S. As part of the settlement agreement, A.I.S. has provided a release of MGX and agreed to end its lawsuit against the Company.The Debt Shares will be subject to a statutory hold period and not eligible to vote at the upcoming annual general meeting.About MGX Minerals Inc.MGX Minerals invests in commodity and technology companies and projects focusing on battery and energy mass storage technology, extraction of minerals from fluids, and exploration for battery metals, industrial minerals, and precious metals.Contact InformationPatrick PowerChief Executive Officerppower@ mgxminerals.com Web: www.mgxminerals.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "potentially" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com SOURCE: MGX Minerals Inc. The sister of Travis McMichael, who is alleged to have murdered Ahmaud Arbery, has admitted that she posted a disturbing image of the 25-year-olds dead body on Snapchat because she is a true crime fan. Lindsay McMichael, the sister and daughter of suspects Travis and Gregory McMichael, added that her post was not malicious, in comments made to The Sun. The thing is Im a huge fan of true crime I listen to four or five podcasts a week Im constantly watching that sort of thing, said the 30-year-old. It was more of a, Holy s**t, I cant believe this has happened. She added: It was absolutely poor judgement. The admission comes as images, said to be those Ms McMichael posted on Snapchat the day Mr Arbery was shot dead, circulated amongst locals in Brunswick, Georgia. The image showed the young black mans body on the ground, soaked in blood. Lee Merrit, an attorney representing the Arbery family, commented that both the McMichaels actions and the Snapchat post were disturbing. First you have [Gregory] McMichael sharing with a news station a video of the murder then you have his daughter sharing an image of Ahmauds bullet-ridden body on Snapchat, said Mr Merrit. Its deeply disturbing behavior. It also highlights that there are probably more video and more images of before, during and after Ahmauds murder these images arent meant for public consumption in this way, the attorney added. Video showing police attempting to taser Mr Arbery in 2017 was published on Monday after The Guardian obtained the recording via public records request. His familys lawyers told the paper that Glynn County police had harassed the young black man, and that this appears to be just a glimpse into the kind of scrutiny Ahmaud Arbery faced not only by this police department, but ultimately regular citizens like the McMichaels and their posse, pretending to be police officers. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty That comes as an attorney representing the 64 and 34-year old suspects, who were arrested on 7 May, said that additional video of the February 23 shooting could exonerate the father and son. There are a number of photographs, there are a number of records, attorneys Franklin and Laura Hogue said last Friday. All of those will have to be assimilated, and importantly, time-lined, so that every single second, our hope is, will put together the truth of what happened on the 23rd [of February]. Ms McMichael told The Sun last week that she did not believe her brother and father had murdered Mr Arbery, and said: I will until the day that I die believe that he had no intention of malice like that. Video showing the young black mans murder caused widespread outrage when it was posted online earlier this month. The McMichaels were then arrested almost two months after the shooting, whilst many criticised Glynn County police inaction. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently freeze funding to the World Health Organization. In a late Monday tweet, Trump said he would make a temporary freeze of funds indefinite, if the WHO did not commit to improvements within 30 days. The president suspended U.S contributions to the WHO last month and accused it of promoting China's quote "disinformation" about the coronavirus outbreak. In a letter attached to Trump's Monday tweet, he told WHO head, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, the only way forward now was if the WHO could demonstrate independence from China, and said his administration had already begun reform discussions with Tedros. Earlier, Trump had said the WHO had done quote - "a very sad job" in its handling of the virus. The U.S. contibuted more than $400 million dollars to the WHO in 2019 - around 15% of the organization's budget. Also on Monday, the WHO said an independent review of the global virus response would begin as soon as possible. Meanwhile, it received further backing and a hefty pledge of $2 billion dollars from China. At 11:25 p.m. on a winter Wednesday, Tami Shipley, a real estate agent with RE/MAX in Baytown, received a phone call from a private number. Thinking it may be a potential client who worked nights, she picked up. On the other end was a man who said he was interested in buying a home. But Shipley began to get a strange feeling. He was oddly vague in the specifics. He said, Im sorry. Im having a hard time hearing you, she recalled him saying. Would you mind going into a room that has tile floors? Or hardwood floors? When Shipley asked for his name and number, saying she could call him in the morning, he persisted, asking her to put on flip flops. He said, Make sure, when you walk on the hardwood or tile floors, make sure I can hear your sandals flopping on the floor. Shipley is one of roughly 100 female real estate agents who have told the Houston Association of Realtors they have received phone calls from a man known in the industry as the foot-fetish creep, the most recent of which came in early May, according to the association. While it is unknown whether the same man is responsible for all of the calls, the association said calls followed a similar script, initially inquiring about a home, then turning the conversation to the agents footwear or feet. On HoustonChronicle.com: Mortgage rates hit all-time low as coronavirus worries spread The association has been tracking such calls since at least 2010, when it released an article advising victims to contact the police. The organization sent out additional safety alerts in five subsequent years after agents reported further calls. Still, law enforcement agencies said the decade-long pattern of harassment had not reached their radars. When Shipleys phone rang for the fifth time that night, her fiance picked up and asked for the harassment to stop. Then the threats began, Shipley said: If youre not going to cooperate, Im going to go over there and kill you both. And dont forget, I know where you live. The most recent string of calls which began in November and targeted at least 10 real estate agents in Baytown, The Woodlands and Spring marked the first time HAR has heard of the calls escalating to physical threats. Brett Podolsky, a Houston attorney who often represents clients in cases of telephone harassment, said a physical threat is a clear violation of Texas criminal statutes. But so are repeated telephone calls made anonymously or in a manner reasonably likely to harass, annoy or alarm recipients. I get harassment cases all the time, he said. The statute is written so broadly as to make anything that could be reasonably annoying a crime if law enforcement wants to press charges. After the alleged threat, Shipley called 911. Unfortunately, for us, we didnt really have a lot to go on, said Steve Dorris, public information officer for the Baytown Police Department, which responded to the call. The department had neither the mans phone number nor name. It also didnt have information about the history and scale of the calls. Many of the agents being harassed did not live in Baytown, and those that did may not have filed a report with police. We take all of this seriously, but it does take on a different dynamic if we get multiple reports about this, Dorris said. Dozens of calls Shipley continued receiving calls from a blocked number the following day starting at 5:40 a.m. In East Houston, real estate agent Iliana Ballard received nearly 20 calls over three days from a blocked number starting Feb. 25; the man said he was interested in a home, then asked her to change into flip flops to help with the phone reception. She did not call police because she thought itd be a waste of time. In Cypress, real estate agent Cathie Bortz also received an onslaught of calls from a blocked number starting Feb. 25; the caller initially said he needed help finding a home, then asked about her flip flops and pedicure. She called 911, but said the constable did not think it was harassment and only took her name. The calls continued until 6:07 a.m. the next day. I dont mind people liking feet, Bortz said. But Im getting nervous Realtors can be targeted, and killed, because we go to vacant houses by ourselves. So Id love it if the police did something. Brad Rudolph, manager of the newly formed Behavioral Threat Management Unit at the Harris County Sheriffs Office, recommended the women file police reports to create a paper trail. On HoustonChronicle.com: HAR increases MLS subscription fees for first time in 20 years Rudolphs unit is focused not on arrests, but on preventing potentially dangerous situations from spiraling into violence. When the unit looks into a case, one of the first things it asks for are reports. If we have 10 or 12 reports that have the same type of activity, that may be of more broad concern than a single incident, he explained. Just call the police According to HAR, the caller often stops calling if a man gets on the line. Matt Burrus, the associations chief communications officer, said that years ago, one brokerage invested in a special service that revealed blocked numbers to help the Webster Police Department locate the caller, resulting in a citation. After the intense influx of calls, Shipleys phone stopped ringing with unidentified numbers. As days went by, she stopped worrying that caller may be stalking her. Im not scared to go outside, like I was. But Ballard and Bortzs experience suggest the caller had just moved on to other women. Shipleys advice is not to try to be polite if a caller turns a business call to the subject of shoes or feet. Just hang up and call the police. rebecca.schuetz@chron.com twitter.com/raschuetz The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of health care, and cancer services is certainly not immune to this new coronavirus. Despite this challenging and worrisome time, many positive developments have emerged that we can be grateful for, including how cancer patients continue to get the care they need at Nuvance Health. Cancer patients are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19. Weve taken every precaution to protect them, including stringent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for weighing the benefits and risks of continuing to treat patients. Every decision we make includes the patients wishes and has their best interest at the forefront of their treatment plan. The cancer centers at Nuvance Health have continued to provide high quality care for our patients during this crisis because of the following safeguards we have in place. To reduce the number of people interacting with each other, staff who can effectively do their job remotely are working from home. We divided our clinical staff into teams who work only with each other. All patients and staff are screened for COVID-19 risk factors, and anyone suspected or confirmed COVID-19 is not allowed in our cancer centers. To prepare for the inevitable outbreaks of COVID-19 in our communities, we implemented a no visitor policy early on, which was a decision we did not take lightly. We know its very difficult to have cancer and go through a new diagnosis or treatment without family present. But its just not worth the risk to let visitors into the cancer centers. We connect patients with loved ones virtually. Many of our patients and their families are relieved to know we dont allow visitors. Infection prevention protocols are more critical now than ever before. Were using barriers at check-in stations, markings on the floor for where to stand, and assigned seating in waiting areas to help guide appropriate social distancing. Check-in stations, chairs, and exam rooms are sanitized between each patient. We follow cleaning protocols at least hourly throughout the day, with a deep clean daily. All patients and staff are required to wear a mask, and hand hygiene stations are throughout the cancer centers. Telemedicine has been a real game-changer for our patients, the majority of whom are coming in for three-, six- and 12-month follow-ups. Most patients showing no progression of disease can be seen via telemedicine, while those needing a physical exam or CT scan are of course accommodated. Were working together to reduce the number of in-person visits required for patients who need a physical exam. For example, our breast care team has done an excellent job of outlining who needs to see patients in person: The breast surgeon does the physical exam, and anyone else conducts telemedicine sessions based on that exam. Many of our patients continue to receive infusion chemotherapy and radiation oncology. Surgery was the only cancer treatment that was generally on hold, although we still operated on patients whose best treatment option was immediate surgery. Now, as our communities observe a decrease in the rate of new COVID-19 infections, we may be able to resume more procedures and operations following the guidance of the state and federal government. We follow national guidelines, such as from the American College of Surgeons and Society of Surgical Oncology, to determine if a patient should have surgery or if its safe to delay surgery and explore other treatment options. During a twice-weekly, system-wide surgical oncology case review, over 25 cancer surgeons across Nuvance Health discuss each individual patient and determine the benefits or risks of surgery. Some patients who will ultimately need surgery can have chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, or radiation therapy before surgery to shrink cancerous tumors, which is a standard treatment that weve provided for our patients well before COVID-19. Were testing patients for COVID-19 before surgery, and taking extra precautions if they test positive. For all surgical patients, were limiting the number of people in the operating room to those actively participating in the operation, and we get our patients out of the hospital as soon as possible after surgery, within safety guidelines. Im so incredibly proud of Nuvance Health cancer leaders, physicians, and our entire care teams. Weve been working around the clock, implementing these new processes and protocols to ensure safety measures are taken to protect our cancer patients and staff at all of our hospitals and care centers. I firmly believe thats why our patients have been doing so well. Well emerge from this situation stronger, and with more options for care as many new developments will carry forward long after we overcome this pandemic. And thats something for which our incredible patients present and future can all be grateful. Dr. Margo Shoup is the Network Chair of Cancer Services for Nuvance Health which encompasses Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital, Norwalk Hospital, Sharon Hospital in Connecticut; Northern Dutchess Hospital, Putnam Hospital, and Vassar Brothers Medical Center in New York. What lies beyond the pandemic? MassForward is MassLives series examining the journey of Massachusetts businesses through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic. ___________ As the sun set on Worcester Monday evening, its skyline included a crane towering above the construction site at Polar Park. For the first time in seven weeks, work on the future home of the Worcester Red Sox continued after it was suspended amid the coronavirus pandemic. Leading the charge to complete the ballpark on time is Manafort-Precision, a company that opened an office in Worcester eight years ago. Like many on its workforce, the companys experience predates its arrival in Worcester. We have an incredible group of tradesmen that weve been working with for years and years, Regional Vice President & Project Manager Tim Harvey said. Some of our guys have been here for 35, 40 years. I would definitely attribute a lot of our success to the men and women who come in every day. Thats our workforce. Im incredibly proud of them. The origin of Manafort-Precision dates back even further. The company celebrated 100 years as it began work on Polar Park. In 1919, James Manafort founded the New Britain House Wrecking Company in Connecticut after immigrating from Italy. More than a century ago, the company focused primarily on demolition. Even in 1919, the company focused on sustainability, reselling the lumber and materials gathered from demolition projects. Four generations later, the company has evolved into a workforce of more than 800 employees across New England. In a short time in Worcester, its fingerprints appear across the city from Worcester State University to UMass Memorial Medical Center and now Polar Park. Were humble that we're able to be a part of it, Harvey said. I grew up in the Worcester area. A lot of our guys are from the Worcester area or Worcester County. All of us as a whole group are humbled that we get to be a part of it. Harvey said about 26% of the staff resides locally. In accepting the bid to construct Polar Park other employment goals were also included. Twenty percent of the staff is made of people of color and 10% are women. Harvey and Superintendent for Manafort-Precision on the Polar Park project Dan Applin described the pride from those on the project who live in the area. Theres an understanding of what the project means to the city that enjoyed so much momentum prior to the pandemic. When discussing construction on Polar Park last month, City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. reminisced about the announcement when the city secured the Worcester Red Sox. He said he couldnt remember a time when the city was more excited. That enthusiasm has permeated across the site at Polar Park. This should change Worcester, Applin said. We've been trying to get Worcester to grow for 20, 30 years now. I think this ballpark is actually going to change Worcester and make it a city on the map. The nearly $100 million project was scheduled to be complete by April 2021 in time for the start of the Worcester Red Sox inaugural season in the city. The timeline, though was established prior to the coronavirus pandemic. On April 1, Augustus halted all construction on non-essential construction in the city, which included Polar Park. Seven weeks later the project restarted on Monday. When the city halted construction, we understood that the health and safety of our workers was paramount, Chairman and Principal Owner of the Worcester Red Sox Larry Lucchino said in a statement. We had faith that the stoppage would be temporary. We are all therefore pleased with the citys news. We will support our local construction workers, and we will abide by the conditions set forth by our leaders to ensure an environment that complies with their public policy and expert medical recommendations. Earlier this month, the Worcester Red Sox declined to assess if the project could still meet the deadline. Last month, Augustus expressed some optimism that if work continued before June, the deadline could be met. The same optimism exists within Manafort-Precision. Before we stopped we were on time for everything. Right on schedule, Applin said. But I dont think there will be a problem catching back up to schedule. We should be in good shape. MassForward is MassLive's series examining the journey of Massachusetts' small businesses through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic. Related Content: The Arquus teams of Limoges have recently completed the production of the 1,000th Sherpa armored vehicle. It is a major milestone for the Sherpa family, founded in 2006, which has constantly evolved since. It thus joins a very select circle of multipurpose vehicles, 14 years after its first presentation at Eurosatory 2006. Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link Arquus Sherpa "Light Scout" variant (Picture source: Army Recognition) Deployed on all theaters of operations and in all configurations, the Sherpa armored vehicles serve daily in a wide range of forces. That milestone crowns the quality of design and production of the vehicles of the Sherpa range, as well as its versatility. In its different versions, the Sherpa can perform most missions and carry most of the equipment of the defense and security forces. The Sherpa family is currently comprised of four base models: the Sherpa Scout, an armored vehicle for liaison and reconnaissance seating 4 or 5 soldiers, also available in a Station Wagon version; the Carrier, fitted for troop or communication systems transport; the APC, for protected troop transport; and the Sherpa Special Forces, designed for missions behind enemy lines. Unveiled at Eurosatory 2006, the Sherpa has received unanimous acclaim for its compactness, exceptional mobility and important payload, which provide the vehicle with high versatility and upgradability. Various forces have quickly experienced these capabilities. The NSPA (NATO Support and Procurement Agency) has notably ordered Sherpa vehicles in a communications systems carrier version for the ISAF (International Security Assistance Forces) deployed in Afghanistan. Since 2006, Chile, Lebanon and Indonesia have acquired Sherpa vehicles to reinforce their police and security forces capabilities. An Assault Ladder version was then developed by Arquus in 2014 to provide security forces with unprecedented capabilities in the fight against organized crime and terrorism. India, the Brazilian Federal Police, as well as the French GIGN have soon selected that version. A most iconic vehicle, the Sherpa Assault Ladder is deployed on all the Groups delicate interventions. In 2016, the (then) French Minister of Defense, Jean-Yves Le Drian, announced a contract for 300 Sherpas to be delivered to Kuwait. These vehicles have been the highlight of the DGA 2019 show in Kuwait City. Sherpas commercial success, in all versions and configurations, has allowed for the foundation and growth of a durable and long-term industrial activity, combining modern methods, long-term expertise and high-quality design. Since 2006, all Sherpa vehicles are produced at Arquus site in Limoges, with a completely dedicated production line. In 14 years, more than 1,000 Sherpa vehicles of all versions and configurations have rolled out of the production line. The Garchizy plant has also contributed to that industrial organization by providing with the Sherpas armored hulls. 2019, the year of all records for the Arquus plant of Limoges, has also been a record year for the Sherpa production line. With more than 200 vehicles produced, the Sherpa has been at the heart of Arquus growth. The Arquus plant in Limoges has proved its ability to tackle a strongly sustained production pace, producing up to two Sherpa vehicles per day. These records, set on the plants 80th anniversary, illustrate the dynamism and renewing ability of a historic site of the French Defense. That 1,000th Sherpa milestone crowns the exceptional expertise of the engineers who have designed the Sherpa and have kept developing it, to help him face the threats met on the battlefield and answer the commanders tactical needs. It also rewards the quality of the industrial organization created to allow the production and support of proven vehicles, renowned for the quality of their performance and protection. Sherpa production line at Arquus' plant in Limoges (Picture source: Arquus) Burma Almost 200 Homes Set Ablaze in Myanmar's Rakhine State Lekka Village was reduced to ashes on May 16. / Ko Aung SITTWE, Rakhine StateAround 200 houses in Lekka Village, Rakhine State were burnt down this weekend in alleged arson by the Myanmar military, according to local residents. The empty village is located in Mrauk-U Township on the Yangon-Sittwe road, some 11 kilometers north of Mrauk-U Town. Local residents fled the village for nearby camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in April last year following clashes between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA). According to local residents, around 150 Myanmar military soldiers arrived in Tein Nyo Village, near Lekka, on Saturday morning. Around 50 soldiers then reportedly entered Lekka at noon and left the village around 4 p.m.. From a distance, we saw the soldiers enter the village. Around five minutes later, we heard gunshots and saw smoke. We could only watch and do nothing, a villager from Lekka who asked for anonymity told The Irrawaddy. The Myanmar military said in a statement on Sunday that the AA opened fire on security personnel near Lekka Village around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. According to the military, the security personnel returned fire and the AA troops set fire to the village around 2:45 p.m. before fleeing into the mountains to the west of the village. The military claimed the AA burned down around 20 houses, but local residents say that around 200 homesmore than half the houses in the villagewere burned. Lekka villagers said they saw their houses on fire as they were sheltering at the IDP camps nearby Tein Nyo and Pi Pin Yin villages. We went to see our village and found that it was reduced to ash. But it does not look like it was caused by fighting. Even the houses in sequestered corners of the village were burnt down, a said a Lekka villager who is taking shelter at the IDP camp in Pi Pin Yin village, on condition of anonymity. All the houses in the center of the village were burnt down. Only some houses at the entrance of the village were left intact. We are already in deep trouble, and as the remaining houses have now been burnt, it is not any different from death for us, she added. The Rakhine State lawmaker for Mrauk-U Township, U Tun Tha Sein, confirmed that a school building and 193 houses were destroyed in fires in Lekka. There are some 300 houses in Lekka Village. A total of 193 houses and a school were burnt down. The villagers will know best who is responsible for the fire. You will know if you ask them, the lawmaker told The Irrawaddy. Twenty-seven men were arrested by the Myanmar military on April 10 last year in Lekka on suspicion of having ties to the AA after the AA launched an attack on a temporary military outpost and a police battalion in Mrauk-U the day before. The villagers denied having ties to the AA and the relatives of the 27 men later claimed they were tortured during military detention. Three Lekka residents, ages 25, 35 and 41, have since died in military detention. The Tatmadaw, as the military is known, said that one of the deaths was a suicide, one was related to a heart condition and another was drug-related. Military spokesperson Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told The Irrawaddy at the time that the military reported the deaths to the relevant police station in line with procedures and also sent the bodies to Sittwe Township Hospital for post-mortem examinations. However, relatives of the victims said they were not allowed to see the victims bodies. The Myanmar military has opened cases against the 24 other villagers from Lekka under the Counterterrorism Law. The villagers are still awaiting trial. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Hands 22 Assam, Meitei Rebels Over to Indian Govt Rakhine Court Frees Civilians, Says No Evidence in Terrorism Case Five Civilians Injured by Shelling in Muslim Villages in Rakhine Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan will attend the ceremony of assumption and oath of office of President-elect of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) Arayik Harutyunyan, as reported the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia in response to an inquiry from Armenpress. The special session of the National Assembly dedicated to the assumption of office by Arayik Harutyunyan will be held on May 21 (6 p.m.) in the auditorium of the Culture and Youth Center in Shushi. Journalists entrance will be prohibited. Leader of Free Homeland Party Arayik Harutyunyan was elected president based on the results of the second round of the presidential elections in Artsakh on April 15. His opponent was Minister of Foreign Affairs Masis Mayilyan. The first round of the vote was held on March 31. The citys port authority has readied a facility, Covidcare ashram, for non-critical, asymptomatic patients with no co-morbidities in Wadala (East). The facility will be exclusively for the port employees and pensioners. Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) chairman Sanjay Bhatia, on Monday, said that apart from medical facilities, the patients will be encouraged to do yoga, meditation among other techniques to recover. We have identified a facility that can house 60 people from the port area itself. We will conduct sessions online for the patients, said Bhatia, a meditation practitioner himself. He has been conducting healing sessions for employees and pensioners during the lockdown period. In a webinar on Monday, Bhatia also said that the port trusts hospital will also add 80 more beds for Covid-19 patients. We had 50 beds first, which was increased to 75 later. Till date, we have had 241 patients and recorded 27 deaths, Bhatia said. The port trust also has 35,000 pensioners and 6,000 employees on its pay-roll. We have observed that a lot of patients are coming in late for treatment. So we have now appointed a nodal officer in each department who are calling the pensioners to check on their health if they are showing any symptoms, he said. With a decrease in port activities, the authority is working on a masterplan that looks at an urban overhaul of the port area that stretches from Wadala to Colaba. However, with the pandemic ensued lockdown, MbPT is estimating a 3-4 month delay in all its projects, including the development of the waterfront. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Leaving Cert students will be able to choose what level they are assessed under before their calculated grades are finalised. Students can nominate whether they are assessed under Higher or Ordinary level before their grade estimations are completed, the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) has told its members. Conflicts of interest in a school, like a parent teaching their child, will also have to be declared, and teachers must not be subjected to any influence, pressure or coercion by parents, guardians or students. Official, detailed guidance on how teachers will issue calculated grades is expected to be issued tomorrow. This was signalled by Joe McHugh, the Minister for Education, earlier this week. This guidance is expected to outline exactly how teachers should arrive at estimated marks and a student's class ranking. One of the safeguards built into the process includes declaring conflicts of interest within a school. The ASTI has also sought full legal protection for teachers to be put in place, and it has sought legal advice from its own advisers. According to the ASTI, the mark and ranking of students submitted to the national standardisation process cannot be considered as a mark from an individual teacher. "This is because the judgement of an individual teacher is subject to a school-based alignment process prior to finalisation." While students can appeal their grades, this is confined to checking for errors in data entry. Student's work that has already been submitted to the State Examinations Commission is understood to be en route back to teachers who now will need it for assessment. While the Department of Education has asked that schools have their end of the data processed and submitted by the end of May, the ASTI believes this target is overly ambitious. Once schools have signed off on students' estimated grades, they will be submitted to the Department of Education for standardisation. Updated guidance published by the department this week says that any attempts to influence, pressure or coerce a teacher for a certain grade will be regarded as "totally inappropriate". Both the ASTI and the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) have raised concerns over the fairness and equity of the process of calculated grades. Both unions say they will support the process during the current emergency but this should not be taken as setting a precedent, or as an agreement to operate such measures in the future. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump said Monday that he is taking a malaria drug to protect against the new coronavirus, despite warnings from his own government that it should only be administered for COVID-19 in a hospital or research setting due to potentially fatal side effects. Trump told reporters he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily "for about a week and a half now." Trump spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential cure or prophylaxis for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration's top medical professionals. The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus. Trump said his doctor did not recommend the drug to him, but he requested it from the White House physician. "I started taking it, because I think it's good," Trump said. "I've heard a lot of good stories." The Food and Drug Administration warned health professionals last month that the drug should not be used to treat COVID-19 outside of hospital or research settings, due to sometimes fatal side effects. Regulators issued the alert for the drug, which can also be used to treat lupus and arthritis, after receiving reports of heart rhythm problems, including deaths, from poison control centers and other health providers. Trump dismissed reports of side effects, saying, "All I can tell you is, so far I seem to be OK." At least two White House staffers tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, sparking concerns about the steps taken by the administration to protect the president and sending Vice President Mike Pence and other officials into varying forms of self-isolation. The White House has since mandated that those in the West Wing wear face coverings and has introduced daily testing for the virus for the president, vice president and those they come in close contact with. Trump says he continues to test negative for the coronavirus. Trump last underwent an "interim" checkup in a November visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that was not noted on his public schedule. His last complete physical took place in February 2019. Several prominent doctors said they worried that people would infer from Trump's example that the drug works or is safe. "There is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine is effective for the treatment or the prevention of COVID-19," said Dr. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association. "The results to date are not promising." People should not infer from Trump's example "that it's an approved approach or proven," because it's not, said Dr. David Aronoff, infectious diseases chief at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Hydroxychloroquine can cause potentially serious heart rhythm problems even in healthy people, but "it's hard to infer" that Trump's artery plaque, revealed in tests from his 2018 physical, makes the drug especially dangerous for him, Aronoff said. White House officials did not make the president's physician, Navy Cdr. Dr. Sean Conley, available for comment, nor did they say whether any other administration officials were also taking the drug. Trump said he took hydroxychloroquine with an "original dose" of the antibiotic azithromycin. The president has repeatedly pushed the use of the drug with or without the azithromycin, but no large, rigorous studies have found them safe or effective for preventing or treating COVID-19. Two large observational studies, each involving around 1,400 patients in New York, recently found no benefit from hydroxychloroquine. Two new ones published Thursday in the medical journal BMJ reached the same conclusion. One, by French researchers, gave 84 hospitalized patients the drug and 97 others the usual care. There were no differences in the odds of death, need for intensive care or developing severe illness. The other study from China was a stricter test: 150 adults hospitalized with mild or moderate illness were randomly assigned to get hydroxychloroquine or usual care. The drug made no difference in rates of clearing the virus or time to relief of symptoms, and they brought more side effects. In April, the National Institutes of Health launched a study testing hydroxychloroquine versus a placebo drug in 500 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Last week, NIH announced another study to see if hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin can prevent hospitalization or death in people with mild to moderate illness. About 2,000 U.S. adults with confirmed coronavirus infections and symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath will get the drugs or placebo pills. U.S. prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine surged roughly 80% in March to more than 830,000 compared with same period in the prior year, according to data tracking firm IQVIA. That jump in prescribing came before the federal government accepted nearly 30 million doses of the drug donated to the strategic national stockpile by foreign drugmakers. Since then, millions of those tablets have been shipped to U.S. hospitals nationwide for use treating patients with COVID-19. - Zeke Miller, Marilynn Marchione and Darlene Superville of the Associated Press wrote this story. Marchione reported from Milwaukee. AP medical writer Matthew Perrone in Washington contributed to this report. Reach key decision makers with sales-ready leads that shorten your sales process. Move the needle by delivering funnel qualified leads to your sales team. Learn more Apple on Sunday said it has reopened nearly 100 of its retail outlets around the world. The company will be opening an additional 25 stores in the United States and 12 more in Canada this week, according to a Bloomberg report. Apple previously had closed all its retail stores due to the spread of COVID-19. Our commitment is to only move forward with a reopening once were confident we can safely return to serving customers from our stores, Apple Senior Vice President of Retail Deirdre OBrien wrote in an open letter to companys customers. We look at every available piece of data including local cases, near and long-term trends, and guidance from national and local health officials, she continued. These are not decisions we rush into and a store opening in no way means that we wont take the preventative step of closing it again should local conditions warrant. Apple Stores set to reopen in the United States are in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Oklahoma and Washington state, Bloomberg noted. Taking Precautions Apple has instituted measures to make their stores safe for employees and customers, OBrien noted, including the following: Limiting occupancy to enable social distancing; Requiring employees and customers to wear masks. Apple will provide a mask to any customer who doesnt have one; Taking the temperature of customers before they enter a store and asking them whether they have symptoms of COVID-19 or recently were exposed to someone infected with the virus; and Performing enhanced deep cleanings that place special emphasis on all surfaces, display products, and highly trafficked areas. The response to COVID-19 is still ongoing, and we recognize that the road back will have its twists and turns. But whatever challenges lie ahead, COVID-19 has only reinforced our faith in people in our teams, in our customers, in our communities, OBrien wrote. Down the road, when we reflect on COVID-19, she continued, we should always remember how so many people around the world put the well-being of others at the center of their daily lives. Kudos for Plan Apples approach to reopening its stores received praise from some quarters. Apples reopening plan appears to follow local rules and restrictions that are designed to lower or minimize risk, said Charles King, principal analyst atPund-IT, a technology advisory firm in Hayward, California. A D V E R T I S E M E N T Its hard to find any fault with the plan, he told TechNewsWorld. However, the pace of Apples reopening is surprising, observed Sucharita Kodali, analyst at Forrester Research, a market research company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Frankly, Im surprised they didnt open when all their malls reopened, she told TechNewsWorld. They were one of the first to close, if you recall, even though malls have continuous operating clauses for their tenants. This was even before local ordinances forced stay-at-home orders, Kodali pointed out. Other brands, like Louis Vuitton and Saks, have reopened very safely, and I expect Apple will do the same, she added. Risky Doing Business Apples pace of store reopenings is right if its precautions prevent people from transmitting infections, said Greg Sterling, vice president of market insights at Uberall, maker of location marketing solutions based in Berlin, Germany. Since testing remains inadequate and theres no vaccine until at least 2021 if then theyre taking a very careful, thoughtful approach, he told TechNewsWorld. While Apple is being careful, its in the same boat as any retailer opening up for business during the COVID-19 crisis, noted Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, an advisory services firm in Bend, Oregon. With a pandemic, where you dont know who is infected and who isnt, any resumption of business comes with risk, he told TechNewsWorld. Playing It Safe Those risks should be reduced by the safety measures the company has adopted, noted Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a technology advisory firm inCampbell, California. A D V E R T I S E M E N T The guidelines are very proactive and should do the job of keeping Apples staff and customers safe, he told TechNewsWorld. By proactively checking shoppers temperatures before they enter and requiring both workers and customers to be masked at all times, Apple should be able to minimize risk to both consumers and employees, King added. Given the uncertainty about how COVID-19 is transmitted, Apple is being diligent, Sterling said. Theyre doing all the things that one would expect limiting capacity, requiring face masks and giving consumers multiple options, including curbside pickup, he observed. Those measures should make consumers comfortable returning to Apples stores, Kodali added. They seem to be doing the same things as grocers and other essential retailers, and people seem perfectly fine going to those locations, she said. Influential Brand Because of its powerful brand, Apples approach to reopening its stores could influence other retailers. Apple has always been one of the companies that others look to for best practices and, as in the past, will set an example for other companies to follow, Bajarin said. Apple is a retail leader and will be a model for others to varying degrees, Sterling noted. Best Buy is doing similar things. Apple is a bellwether thats watched by other retailers, Enderle remarked. Its also averse to litigation, which may be another reason some retailers will be watching the company closely. A lot of retailers dont understand the litigation risk should someone come into their store and catch the virus, he pointed out. Apple will make every effort to make sure it isnt one of those retailers. That implies that Apple will be safer than most other retailers. Rebel Without a Mask While Apple may feel its safety measures are needed to keep its customers and employees safe, not everyone may agree. This is like bringing up politics at the familys Thanksgiving dinner, observed Michael Arrigo, a HIPAA expert witness with No World Borders. There are very polarized opinions about this, he told TechNewsWorld. Sometimes theres violence when people are told to wear masks. Forcing people to wear masks could irritate some folks, Kovali acknowledged, but added, people who would not comply probably dont index as strongly with being Apple customers, anyway. The situation is made worse for retailers by the signals people are getting from the nations capital, Enderle suggested. With the mixed guidance from the administration, it makes things unusually dangerous for retailers, he said, because as they try to enforce the rules, it sounds like theyre speaking out against the president. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Mitchell Kukulka. Friday, May 15 11:42 p.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Lee Township. 9:20 p.m. Deputies were dispatched to a Homer Township roadway area in reference to a report of a 61-year-old man who was intoxicated and wandering near the roadway. The man was contacted at his residence and was advised to stay off the roadway if he had been drinking. 9:11 p.m. A deputy received a Child Protective Services referral in reference to a 25-year-old Montrose woman who reported possible sexual allegations involving her 2-year-old daughter and the child's 36-year-old Ingersoll Township father. The deputy made contact with the 36-year-old male at his residence and investigated the incident. The deputy forwarded a report to CPS in Genesee County for further investigation. 8:52 p.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash Warren Township. 8:19 p.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Mills Township. 8:12 p.m. Deputies responded to a car-deer crash in Greendale Township. 6:10 p.m. While on routine patrol, a deputy conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for speeding. During investigation, it was discovered the 26-year-old female driver had a suspended driver's license. The woman was cited for speeding. 6:07 p.m. Officers performed a death investigation in the 800 block of Cambridge Street. 2:09 p.m. A deputy assisted a Michigan State Police trooper with a 25-year-old Greendale Township woman who was having a psychiatric episode. She was transported to MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland ER by EMS for protective custody. The deputy followed the EMS rig to the ER until the MSP trooper could clear the scene and head to the hospital to fill out a mental health petition. 1:52 p.m. Officers responded to a vehicle crash in the 4300 block of West Wackerly Street. 1:40 p.m. A deputy spoke with a 51-year-old woman by telephone, who said she is a state guardian for a 42-year-old Jasper Township woman. The 42-year-old had called the guardian and told her she has been sick for the past four days, but is refusing any medical treatment. The guardian said the 42-year-old sounded intoxicated, and possibly using drugs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the deputy was advised not to visit the address if the woman was refusing medical treatment. 11:11 a.m. A deputy assisted the Midland City Police Department during their investigation of a traffic crash in the City of Midland. 7:43 a.m. Deputies responded to a Lincoln Township location for a report of a man wandering around in the rain talking to himself. Contact was made with a 61-year-old man who was having a mental health issue. EMS responded to the scene and transported the man to the Mid-Michigan Medical Center-Midland for treatment. 7:06 a.m. Officers responded to a fatal vehicle crash in the area of Isabella Street and Smith Street. 5:54 a.m. Deputies checked a Lee Township trailer park for a report of several people fighting in the rain. The deputies did not locate anyone fighting. 1:26 a.m. Deputies were dispatched to a Mills Township location in reference to a 19-year-old boy who reported a 22-year-old Hope Township man damaged his vehicle and assaulted him. The estimated cost of damage was $200. The 22-year-old was arrested for simple assault and malicious destruction of property. 12:05 a.m. Deputies were dispatched to a Mount Haley Towship area for a report of gunshots heard late at night. The deputies did not hear any gunshots. South Africa has applied one of the most stringent approaches to containing the virus in Africa with a nationwide lockdown. It sent tens of thousands of health-care workers into communities to screen and test, rather than wait for cases to show up at hospitals. It even banned the sale of alcohol, which sends thousands to emergency wards every month, as a way to keep intensive care beds open. More than 300 people have died of covid-19 in South Africa. (TNS) Late last Friday, the architect and manager of Florida's COVID-19 dashboard praised by White House officials for its accessibility announced that she had been removed from her post, causing outcry from independent researchers now worried about government censorship.The dashboard has been a one-stop shop for researchers, the media and the public to access and download tables of COVID-19 cases, testing and death data to analyze freely. It had been widely hailed as a shining of example of transparency and accessibility.But over the last few weeks it had "crashed" and gone offline; data has gone missing without explanation and access to the underlying data sheets has become increasingly difficult.The site was created by a team of Florida Department of Health data scientists and public health officers headed by Rebekah Jones. She announced last week her removal as of May 5 in a heartfelt farewell note emailed to researchers and other members of the public who had signed up to receive updates on the data portal.Citing "reasons beyond my division's control," Jones said her office is no longer managing the dashboard, is no longer involved in publication, fixing errors or answering questions "in any shape or form."She warned that she does not know what the new team's intentions are for data access, including "what data they are now restricting.""I understand, appreciate, and even share your concern about all the dramatic changes that have occurred and those that are yet to come," she wrote."As a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months. After all, my commitment to both is largely (arguably entirely) the reason I am no longer managing it."Jones signed off, "It was great working with you guys. Good luck, and stay safe."Jones did not respond to emailed requests to comment and the Department of Health did not reply to inquiries fromregarding Jones' removal and access to data.But researchers who have relied on unobstructed access to underlying raw data said they interpret Jones' removal as a clear indication of government censorship of science."We would not accept this lack of transparency for any other natural disaster, so why are we willing to accept it here?" said Jennifer Larsen, a researcher at the University of Central Florida's LabX.Jones' removal and changes to the dashboard access is especially unusual given that the dashboard was lauded in April on CBS' Face the Nation by Dr. Deborah Birx, a top official of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force."If you go to the Florida Public Health website on COVID, they've been able to show their communities' cases and tests district by district, county by county, ZIP code by ZIP code," Birx said. "That's the kind of knowledge and power we need to put into the hands of American people so that they can see where the virus is, where the cases are, and make decisions."Jones was also profiled by Esri, the software company that provides the product used to build the interactive visualization."Jones packaged data for academic and private researchers who are also creating models to help predict and explore impacts," the company wrote."If you look at our data services, there's a lot of publicly available data, because it's critical information," Jones said at the time. "The efforts in the academic community to do serious data modeling are crucial right now."Data access has not worsened further, yet, but researchers are sounding the alarm in response to Jones' email.Restricting the data, UCF's Larsen said, is the equivalent of cutting off hurricane forecasts as a storm approached."It's all of us being denied access to what we need to know to be safe," she continued, adding "it's just absurd that this is being treated differently than any other threat to Floridians."Professor Ben D. Sawyer, who is the director of LabX at UCF a team of researchers, data scientists and engineers working to understand patterns in Florida's COVID-19 data that have practical applications fears the data will become less available."The ability of scientists to help is directly related to how much access we're given to data," he said, warning that with less raw data, scientists will be able to produce less accurate, less useful work.There's also "the worry that the scientists within government who can access the full data are being actively censored," he said."That's a real worry."When Sawyer and Larsen tried requesting the previously available underlying data, DOH officials said that because the data are "provisional" no such requests would be considered until May 2021.Yet the state regularly publishes provisional data, including for infectious diseases such as influenza."Transparent, unfettered access to valid and granular data is central to effective disease control and prevention," wrote Jay Wolfson, a Senior Associate Dean at the University of South Florida's Morsani College of Medicine.While Wolfson does not advocate for data to be released in an uncontrolled manner, he said limitations on raw data or "provisional data" should simply be qualified. "Good science does this routinely."For Wolfson there are at least two explanations behind restricting data. One is if the data are "too flawed" to be useful. The other "is that the data reveal information that could be disturbing or contrary to stated narratives.""Either case poses dilemmas for the very way the public's business is being conducted. And while economic measures are vitally important to the health of the state, the health of the people of the state ultimately determines the state' economic success," Wolfson wrote.Asal M. Johnson, an assistant Professor of Public Health at Stetson University, has also been frustrated with decreasing data access."If we can not download data, further analysis becomes increasingly difficult as you can not easily calculate incidence and prevalence rates. This type of independent research by universities is critical as it can help tax payers and residents to make informed decisions regarding their actions," she wrote in an email.Johnson also was dismayed that racial and ethnic data has been consistently excluded from Florida's line listing of cases. Such data was reported by medical examiners, but that data table has also been censored by the Department of Health.Citizens have a right to the data, Johnson said, and making it less accessible "further complicates the control of COVID-19."As to why the DOH is restricting access to data at this time, Johnson could only speculate: "To undermine evidence-based decision making to prioritize (the) economy.""However, they are pretending that public health is what has damaged (the) economy. They are getting it wrong; the economy is damaged because we ignored evidence to protect public health," she wrote, adding "They think they can save their own political interest by restricting information.""If the governor and his team are not pleased with speculations like this, then they have no choice but being transparent. We, as Florida residents, have right to have access to clear and easy to analyze information."Sawyer at UCF tends to agree."The worry is that Florida is open. And if that goes poorly, they don't want data available that shows it is in the process of going poorly. I don't know that that's true, but that is my worry."For Larsen, if the politics of Gov. Ron DeSantis' reopening Florida are at play, it's a no-win situation."The virus doesn't really give a damn if you hide its numbers." Fidelity Japan Trust PLC - Results of the Annual General Meeting LEI: 549300ND695NEJ5GP172 At the Company's Annual General Meeting held on 19 May 2020, all resolutions were duly passed by a show of hands. The resolutions passed under special business were as follows: - to renew the Directors' authority to allot a limited number of currently unissued ordinary shares for cash; - to issue such shares without first offering them to existing ordinary shareholders pro-rata to their existing holdings; and - to renew the Company's authority to purchase up to 19,870,042 of its own ordinary shares for immediate cancellation or for retention as Treasury shares at the determination of the Board. This represents approximately 14.99% of the number of ordinary shares in issue on 7 April 2020 Proxy results will shortly be available online at www.fidelityinvestmenttrusts.com. The Board notes that a significant minority of votes were received against resolution 4 - the re-election of Philip Kay. The Board will be engaging with shareholders on the issues reflected by this vote. An update on these discussions will be provided in the interim results. The Portfolio Manager's AGM presentation is available on the Company's website at: http://fidelity.co.uk/japan Contact for queries: Natalia de Sousa, Company Secretary For and on behalf of FIL Investments International Telephone: 01737 837 846 have higher college GPAs, be politically tolerant, be agreeable and conscientious, have a more positive college experience, and be self-employed. omeschooling works. The roughly 2 million children who currently learn at home join a millennia-old practice supported by many government officials, scholars, college officials, and employers.While mainstream America has embraced homeschooling as a viable and positive educational option-and as 55 million K-12 students and their parents have been thrust into "crisis-teaching at home"-the angst of some academics over homeschooling has abruptly emerged.Professors Elizabeth Bartholet of Harvard University and James Dwyer of William and Mary School of Law organized a summer meeting toIn a highly controversial article in Harvard Magazine, Erin O'Donnell advanced Bartholet's arguments in favor of a homeschooling ban.Yet, what does the evidence tell us about homeschool educational and social outcomes? Is there any sound corpus of evidence that homeschooled children are actually educationally deprived or maltreated? And what worldview drives anti-homeschoolers such as Bartholet and Dwyer?Most reviews of homeschooling research reveal generally positive learning outcomes for children. Joseph Murphy and Brian Ray provide quite optimistic reviews, while other appraisals present positive, albeit more tentative , conclusions. A one-of-its-kind review of only peer-reviewed research by Ray revealed that 11 of the 14 peer-reviewed studies on academic achievement found that homeschool students significantly outperformed conventionally schooled children. Both of the publicly available state-provided data sets showed higher-than-average test scores for homeschooled children.A similar pattern emerges for the social, emotional, and psychological development of the homeschooled.The clear majority of peer-reviewed studies show that homeschoolers often have better parent-child relationships and friendships than conventionally schooled children. Homeschoolers are happy, satisfied, and civically engaged A growing body of research indicates that graduates of home-based education excel. Eleven of the 16 peer-reviewed studies on success into adulthood (including college) showed that homeschoolers had better results for political tolerance, college GPA, and college retention than students in conventional schools. After reviewing the relevant literature, Gloeckner and Jones concluded that theHomeschoolers are not being educationally deprived, maltreated, or abused. On the contrary, the research literature suggests that rates of abuse (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect) are lower among homeschoolers than institutionally schooled children.Although there are certainly cases when homeschoolers are abused (and such cases should be prosecuted), banning homeschooling is not the answer, nor will it improve education or make children safer.As a society we do not, for example, close public schools when a child is abused there. When scholars like Bartholet, Fineman and Worthington, and Dwyer and Peters advocate for a total or presumptive ban on homeschooling, they do so without solid support from the empirical literature. When Bartholet and others advocate for forcing children to enter the public school system, they are ignoring evidence that only approximately 40 percent of conventionally schooled students are at, or above, proficiency in reading and mathematics.Certainly, many public educators are engaged in terrific efforts to provide high-quality education, but it is also clear that the public school system has significant limitations.Why, then, do some academics want more government control and restrictions on homeschooling? We think it is not hard to perceive: They do not approve of the values and beliefs of the parents who choose to homeschool.One of us partially addressed the answer in a scholarly journal some years ago. Ray identified four classes of negativity toward parent-led home-based education. Some scholars make theoretical arguments that government schools are the gold standard of education that advances the common good, while private schooling is bad for society. A second group argues that homeschooling is an attempt to "cocoon" one's children from ideas and people that the parents disdain. Another category holds that homeschooling harms children philosophically, psychologically, religiously, physically, and educationally. And the fourth group goes against homeschooling by theorizing why the state should have more domination over children and their parents.In the end, however, all of those categories of opposition are founded on different values, beliefs, and presuppositions than those at the core of parent-led homeschooling. Dwyer and Peters , for example, presuppose thatand that the state is the entity that shall decide over what aspects of a child's life his parents have authority.In a similar vein, Bartholet argues that the state, not the parent, shall have the ultimate authority to decide what and how children shall be taught. Parents, in her world, must prove to the state that they deserve permission to educate their children outside of the government's control. Fineman's philosophical zeal is so clear that anything other than state-funded and state-controlled education must be banned by the government.These kinds of ideas simply stem from their philosophical and religious worldviews. It is "natural" for them to conclude that the civil government must control children's teaching, training, and indoctrination. It is natural because their worldviews cannot comprehend or tolerate a worldview such as classical liberalism or Christianity that holds the state should not control boys' and girls' educational formation, unless parents are abusive.While the relevant research has limitations , scholarly research shows that homeschooling has positive outcomes for children. There is certainly no body of clear evidence that homeschooling undermines children's academic and social development and should be restricted. Certain academics' agitation over homeschooling appears to be based on their perspective that the state-and not parents-should control the education of all children.Compared to conventional students, homeschool graduates are more likely toIn summary, opponents of homeschooling lack empirical data for their arguments, and judges and governmental officials consistently hold that parents have the right to educate their children at home.Those arguing for state domination lost their major battles in legislatures, courts, and the public mind in the 1980s and 1990s. Homeschooling advocates have strong support in protecting their freedom to educate outside state-run systems.College personnel, employers, and independent business advocates should be glad about homeschooling. It is a form of free enterprise. It costs taxpayers less than public schooling and its graduates are well-equipped to be the next generation of entrepreneurs, leaders, parents, householders, creators, and everyday citizens. In summary, we agree with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's analysis of this issue: New Delhi, May 19 : In a major development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against two retired Major Generals and two others for allegedly tampering with the Limited Departmental Competitive Examination marks in 2002, for wrongful selection of 44 candidates for promotion. According to the CBI FIR, accused Major General (retired) M.V. Bhat was then a Brigadier and was posted as the Director of Survey Training Institute, Hyderabad, while Major General (retired) K.R.M.K. Balaji Rao was also a Brigadier and worked with the Institute as the Deputy Surveyor General. The CBI has also named J.K. Rath, who was the Deputy Director and R. Rama Singh was the Establishment and Accounts Officer of the institute. The CBI had launched an inquiry into the allegation that the examination marks were tampered with, after the complaint was forwarded by the Ministry of Science and Technology in October 2018. The Survey of India employees had alleged malpractices in the compilation of marks for which exam conducted in October 2002 for promotion of Group "D" employees to Group "C". According to the FIR, a total of 384 candidates applied for the examination and 298 appeared. The FIR states that in August 2002, the institute constituted an examination board of four officers, with the then Brigadier Bhat as Chairman, then Brigadier Rao as Member Secretary, Rath as STI (Member), and Singh. The FIR alleged that responsibility to set the papers was of the Chairman, evaluation of answer sheets was to be done by the Chairman or the board members. It said that the examination was conducted at 10 centres across the country and answer sheets were evaluated by the board members in Hyderabad. The FIR stated that the marks were also compiled by the board, after which 74 employees were promoted from Group D to C. "The compilation of marks was done in the Director's handwriting and it was signed by him and other members," it said. "Based on the inquiry findings, the CBI FIR states that there was wrongful selection of 44 candidates based on the manipulated mark sheets," the FIR stated. Motorola Edge Plus is set for its India launch at 12PM today. The flagship Motorola smartphone comes after its earlier launch, the foldable Motorola Razr (2019), somewhat flopped due to underwhelming reviews and major questions about its durability and longevity. With a more regular flagship device, the Motorola Edge Plus will look to take on competition in the premium smartphone market in India. The smartphone is launching just in time as the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions are being gradually lifted, hence allowing individuals to buy smartphones once again. Having been unveiled already in USA, heres taking a look at what the Motorola Edge Plus may mean for the Indian smartphone industry. Specifications The Motorola Edge Plus will be the latest smartphone in India to run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, the flagship processor of the year. As a result, 5G connectivity will be an integrated feature as well, although India has no signs of 5G at least in the foreseeable future. The processor is paired with 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage. All of this performance prowess can be seen in the dual-edge type display, which not only looks quite impressive, but will come with some sort of edge functionality as well. The display itself is 6.7 inches in size, with full HD+ resolution, HDR10+ content rating and a 90Hz fast refresh rate. To the rear, it features a quad camera setup, headlined by a 108-megapixel sensor with optical stabilisation. The other units include 8-megapixel telephoto module with 3x optical zoom range and OIS, a 16-megapixel ultra-wide module, and a depth-sensing 3D time of flight (ToF) module. The camera unit will be able to record up to 6K videos at 30fps, and full HD slow motion videos at up to 120fps. Up front, the display punch hole houses a 25-megapixel snapper that can take HDR shots and record full HD videos at up to 120fps. All of this is powered by a 5,000mAh battery, with 18W fast charging, 15W wireless fast charging, and 5W reverse wireless charging as well with compatible devices. Connectivity and sensor chops of the Motorola Edge Plus include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 (with support for the new Bluetooth LE standard), USB-C 3.1, an under-display optical fingerprint sensor and a barometer. Launch details While the Motorola Edge Plus India launch is confirmed for 12PM today, Motorola has not announced any live stream to mark the devices launch in India. Unless last moment change of plans are put forth, it is likely that the Motorola Edge Plus will be directly made available on Flipkart, the exclusive launch partner. It remains to be seen if any launch offers are also made available once the sale goes live. Comparison with rivals In USA, the Motorola Edge Plus was priced at $999 (~Rs 75,700) upon launch, which is a rather steep point of pricing. Given its specifications, the prime rivals for the Motorola Edge Plus in India would be the Samsung Galaxy S20 and S20 Plus, and the recently launched OnePlus 8 Pro. While Samsungs flagship duo are priced at Rs 70,499 and Rs 73,999 in India respectively, OnePlus pulled off a major pricing coup with the flagship OnePlus 8 Pro. Despite its $999 price tag in USA, the company priced it at Rs 54,999 in India, thereby giving it some degree of value considering its flagship bearings. With this in mind, pricing will likely play the major deciding factor behind how impactful the Motorola Edge Plus may turn out to be in the industry. While the premium segment is typically a slow mover, it has picked up pace in India of late, and the Motorola Edge Plus will be looking to eat into a share of this market, should it get its bearings right. 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 Pennsylvania homeowners and renters who are elderly or have disabilities may get a state rebate check earlier than expected, officials announced Tuesday. Gov. Tom Wolf and Treasurer Joe Torsella said the state will begin sending payments Wednesday, six weeks before Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program checks usually go out. This commonsense solution gives thousands of our older and vulnerable residents their rebates early when they need it, Wolf said at a news conference Tuesday. The program is aimed at seniors and adults with disabilities who meet certain income requirements up to $35,000 annually for homeowners, and up to $15,000 for renters. Homeowners can qualify for a payment that totals $975, while renters can receive up to $650. Usually, the state sends rebate payments on July 1. Under a bill approved by the General Assembly and signed by Wolf, the Department of Treasury and the Department of Revenue will process applications on a first-in-first-out basis, allowing for rebates to be issued earlier. The state will issue about 500,000 rebate payments, with 111,000 going out this week and 60,000 delivered weekly thereafter. Torsella said the early payments send a message to some of our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians: We hear you. The program is funded by the Pennsylvania Lottery and slot gaming revenue. Wolf closed the states casinos in March as he shuttered all businesses that arent life-sustaining in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. While experts agree the measures were necessary to keep hospitals from becoming overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients, the states finances have taken a major hit. Tax revenues plummeted by $2 billion in April alone, 50% below official estimates. In Pennsylvania, total gambling revenues fell from $304 million in February to just $153 million last month, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Whether the state order closing casinos will affect the future of the rebate program remains to be seen, though Torsella said this years payments will not be impacted. The program reached more than half a million households and cost roughly $250 million during the last fiscal year. The governor and legislature will be looking at the outlook for all of next year across all the revenue sources that have been challenged, Torsella said. Applicants have until December 31 to apply for a rebate, and the forms can be found on the Department of Revenues website. 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. [May 19, 2020] Instructure Becomes Utah's First Certified Business Equality Leader SALT LAKE CITY, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Instructure today announced it has become the state of Utah's first certified Business Equality Leader. The certification program, recently launched by Equality Utah , provides forward-thinking companies with the opportunity to promote diversity and enhance workplace performance by modeling and encouraging more inclusive behaviors at work. The certification process involves a culture and policy assessment, an inclusivity survey, and several custom diversity and inclusion training sessions. "Instructure is leading the way as the first company in Utah to become a certified Business Equality Leader," said Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah. "Time and again, they have demonstrated their enduring commitment to diversiy and inclusion, and - through this certification - they are sending a bold message that they welcome and value every team member in their full humanity." The Business Equality Leader certification process includes consultation with the organization's human resources and diversity and inclusion teams, executive training, management training, and workplace culture training sessions. The program is designed to be tailored to meet specific company goals while offering educational resources that help all employees learn about building more inclusive environments for all employees. "We believe that work should be a place where every employee can thrive, and that is why we decided to make a public commitment as a Business Equality Leader," said Jeff Weber, executive vice president, people and places, Instructure. "Teams built from diverse perspectives create better products and services, which in turn helps us better serve students and schools in the pursuit of learning. We're glad the lessons we learned from the program are continuing to help us create a more equitable workplace today." To learn more about the Business Equality Leader program, visit https://www.equalityutah.org/bizleaders . About Instructure: Instructure helps people grow from the first day of school to the last day of work. More than 30 million people use the Canvas Learning Management Platform for schools and the Bridge Employee Development Platform for businesses. Learn more at www.instructure.com . CONTACT: Becky Frost Senior Director, Corporate Communications Instructure 801-869-5017 [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/instructure-becomes-utahs-first-certified-business-equality-leader-301061549.html SOURCE Instructure [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. New police bodycam footage shows officers in Georgia trying to use a taser on Ahmaud Arbery while his hands were up and he was unarmed in 2017. Lawyers for Arbery's family said the video suggests that the 25-year-old underwent harassment from Glynn County authorities. Three years before Arbery, 25, was shot dead by a white former cop and his son while jogging in February, he had a tense encounter with police officers in Glynn County, Georgia. In November 2017, Officer Micheal Kanago reportedly approached Arbery after he suspected him of using marijuana and questioned why he was sitting alone in his car. Footage obtained by The Guardian shows Kanago questioning Arbery, who explained that he was relaxing inside his vehicle and rapping over instrumental beats. An officer tried to use a taser on Ahmaud Arbery (pictured) during an interaction in 2017 but the taser did not work Arbery adds that it's his day off from working at Blue Beacon Truck Wash. 'You want to know why I'm f****** with you?' Kanago asks, before instructing Arbery to remove his hands from his pocket. Kanago later claimed to have felt threatened by Arbery and later wrote that 'veins were popping from [Arberys] chest, which made me feel that he was becoming enraged and may turn physically violent towards me.' At the time, Kanago requested help from an additional officer. 'Youre bothering me for nothing,' Arbery says to Kanago in bodycam footage. Officer David Haney (right) tased Arbery (left) in November 2017, as revealed by police bodycam footage Officers suspected Arbery (pictured) if using marijuana and other criminal activity while he relaxed inside in vehicle on his day off Arbery continues to question the officer, who soon admits that the area is well known for drug use and criminal activity. 'Criminal activity? Im in a f****** park. I work,' Arbery says. David Haney, the second officer at the scene, arrives minutes later and yells at Arbery to remove his hands from his pockets, which he did. That's when Haney tries to use a taser on Arbery. However the taser did not work. 'I get one day off a weekIm up early in the morning trying to chill,' Arbery told the officers. 'Im just so aggravated because I work hard, six days a week.' Arbery is eventually released by the officers, but barred from driving his car because his license is expired. Arbery (pictured) told Officer Kanago that he was rapping inside his car as a way to relax on his day off Officers eventually let Arbey go, but he was not allowed to drive his car because of a suspended license. Lawyers with Arbery's family described the incident as 'a situation where Ahmaud was harassed by Glynn county police officers.' They told The Guardian that there was 'no justifiable reason' for Arbery to be confronted with a taser. Additionally, they suggested that the video is proof that Glynn County police have unfairly targeted Arbery in the past. 'This appears to be just a glimpse into the kind of scrutiny Ahmaud Arbery faced not only by this police department, but ultimately regular citizens like the McMichaels and their posse, pretending to be police officers,' a statement read. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Arbery was placed on probation in 2013 for having a gun while at a high school basket ball game. He was later charged with shoplifting and violating his probation in 2018. Arbery's family lawyer's said those charges are unrelated to his death. In February, Arbery was killed by Travis McMichael, 34, and his 64-year-old father, Greg McMichael. Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, have been jailed on murder charges since May 7 Gregory and Travis have been jailed on murder charges since May 7. The elder McMichael, a former police officer, told police he suspected Arbery was responsible for recent break-ins in the neighborhood. He also said Arbery attacked his son before he was shot. Arbery's mother has said she believes her son was merely out jogging Arbery's mother has said she believes her son was merely out jogging. Defense lawyers for Gregory McMichael said last Friday that they have examined evidence that 'tells a very different story' about Arbery and the two men charged with killing him. Attorney Laura Hogue told reporters: 'There is more than one video of the incident.' She did not give any specifics. A roughly 40-second cellphone video of the shooting was leaked online last week, a day before the McMichaels were charged the felony murder and aggravated assault. The video fueled a national outcry not just over the killing but also that more than two months passed before arrests were made. Attorney Franklin Hogue, hired to defend Gregory McMichael along with his law partner wife, said more details would be revealed at a preliminary court hearing that he plans to request soon. 'The truth will reveal this is not just another act of violent racism,' Franklin Hogue told a news conference outside the couple's Macon office. 'Greg McMichael did not commit murder. Greg McMichael is not a party to the crime of murder. Video footage which showed Gregory and Travis embroiled in a scuffle with Arbery before they fatally shot him sparked national outrage after it was published on social media earlier this month Attorneys for Arbery's parents have said security camera video from the same home construction site Feb. 23 shows Arbery on the property right before the shooting. They also say the footage shows Arbery committing no crimes. 'There were frequently people on the construction site both day and night,' attorneys for Arbery's parents said in a statement Friday. 'Ahmaud Arbery seems to be the only one who was presumed to be a criminal and ultimately the only one murdered based on that assumption.' Travis called 911 to report a possible trespasser on English's property the night of Feb. 11, less than two weeks before Arbery was shot. He described a 'black male, red shirt and white shorts.' 'When I turned around and saw him and backed up, he reached into his pocket and ran into the house,' Travis told the 911 operator. 'So I dont know if hes armed or not. But he looked like, he was acting like he was.' Ahmaud Arbery 'was chased for FOUR MINUTES' by father and son before he was shot dead in a Georgia neighborhood, family lawyer says The lawyer for Ahmaud Arbery's family said the 25-year-old was chased for four minutes before being gunned down by a white father and son in February. According to attorney S. Lee Merritt, the initial video that was leaked by Brunswick attorney Alan Tucker and revealed Arbery's last moments on February 23 is much longer. Merritt confirmed to Fox News on Monday that the new video shows William Bryan, who recorded the shooting, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, chasing Arbery for four minutes while he was jogging in the Satilla Shores neighborhood near Brunswick, Georgia. No other information has been released regarding the extended video, but Arbery's family is expected to release a statement today. Scroll down for video According to attorney, S. Lee Merritt (left), who is representing the Arbery family, the initial video that was leaked by Brunswick attorney Alan Tucker and revealed Ahmaud Arbery's last moments on February 23,shows the McMichaels chasing Arbery for four minutes Shocking cellphone video captured the moment Gregory and Travis McMichael confronted Arbery in the street. In the footage Travis is seen engaging in a physical fight with Arbery before shooting him with a shotgun This map shows the February 23 encounter between Arbery and the McMichaels Arbery was killed February 23 after the father and son trailed him in their white pick-up truck after he jogged past their yard. The elder McMichael told police he suspected Arbery was responsible for recent break-ins in the neighborhood. But local police have said there have been no break-ins in the area for the last couple of months. The attorney of the owner of the house under construction said she thinks Arbery was getting water. A man in similar clothes appeared in videos from the home at least twice, lawyer J. Elizabeth Graddy said. The homeowner, Larry English, lives hours away and set up motion-activated security cameras that send him a text when they start filming. English called the Glynn County Police after one notification on December 17. No one was arrested, but a detective sent English a text message three days later giving him Gregory McMichaels phone number and identifying him as a retired law enforcement officer, adding 'he said please call him day or night when you get action on your camera,' according to the December 20 text shared by Graddy. English never read the text until Graddys firm started reviewing his phone days ago. 'He never called Gregory McMichael. He never took him up on that offer,' Graddy said. The video fueled a national outcry not just over the killing but also that more than two months passed before arrests were made. Hundreds of people came to the Glynn County courthouse demanding accountability on Saturday. Arberys family ended the rally thanking the crowd for their support and saying 'we are all running for Ahmaud'. Officers with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are seen arresting both McMichaels on May 7 The crowd then marched away from the courthouse, taking a knee in silence and blocking traffic for more than 60 seconds to symbolize the days it took for arrests in the case. Then they chanted: 'When black lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back.' The McMichaels have been jailed on murder charges since May 7. Merritt took to Twitter on Saturday to share that local police had given a property owner the retired officer's number in December to report when people were on his property. 'Police told the homeowner where #AhmaudArbery was last seen to contact Greg McMichael if his cameras caught someone on his property,' he said in the Saturday tweet. Protesters gather outside the Glynn County Courthouse during a rally to protest Arbery's killing on Saturday The crowd marched away from the courthouse, taking a knee in silence and blocking traffic for more than 60 seconds to symbolize the days it took for arrests in the case 'McMichael in turn gathered a posse & began hunting for Ahmaud, or someone who fit his description, catching up with him on 2/23/20 killing him.' Attorney Franklin Hogue, hired to defend Gregory McMichael along with his law partner wife, said more details would be revealed at a preliminary court hearing that he plans to request soon. 'The truth will reveal this is not just another act of violent racism,' Franklin Hogue told a news conference outside the couple's Macon office. 'Greg McMichael did not commit murder. Greg McMichael is not a party to the crime of murder.' L. Chris Stewart, an attorney also representing Arbery's family, derided the older McMichael for having possession of the video. 'He had that tape by himself. He delivered it. We have questions about the length of it,' the lawyer said. He later added: 'I have no doubt that Mr. McMichael and his son believe what he did was OK. It just wasn't. Travis never should have gotten that shotgun. That is significant.' Faithful sitting in the benches, following the rules of social distancing, during a mass, the first day the presence of faithful was allowed during masses, in Turin, Italy, Monday, May 18, 2020. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP) Italy Opens Churches as Virus Rules Dictate How to Eat, Pray VATICAN CITYItaly and the Vatican allowed the first public Masses to be celebrated since March on May 18 as coronavirus restrictions have been eased further, following a sharp confrontation between church and state over limits on worshiping in the era of COVID-19. Guards in hazmat suits took the temperatures of the faithful entering St. Peters Basilica, where Pope Francis celebrated an early morning Mass for a handful of people commemorating the centenary of the birth of St. John Paul II. Across town, the Rev. Jose Maria Galvan snapped on a latex glove and face mask before distributing Communion to the dozen parishioners attending Mass at his SantEugenio parish. Before I became a priest, I was a surgeon, so for me, gloves are normal, he joked afterward. Im dexterous (with gloves) so the hosts dont get away from me. It was all part of Italys next step in emerging from the Wests first coronavirus lockdown, with commercial shops and restaurants reopening and barbers giving long-overdue trims for the first time since March 10. But with several hundred new infections still being recorded every day, the reopening is hardly a free-for-all, with strict virus-containing measures regulating everything from how you get your coffee to the way you pray. The government has published 120 pages of detailed norms for the resumption of work, play, worship, and commerce, with some of the most intricate protocols reserved for the resumption of public religious observance. The fear is that the elderly, who are among the most religiously devout and also the most at-risk for infection, could be exposed to the virus with resumed religious services in the onetime European epicenter of the pandemic. Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Orthodox, and Siks have their own protocols, with at the very least masks required for the faithful and a one-meter (about three feet) distance kept at all times. The first protocol was linked with the countrys Catholic bishops, after they issued a blistering public critique of Premier Giuseppe Contes government when it refused to allow public Masses two weeks ago, during the first easing of restrictions. The bishops complained that their freedom to worship was being trampled on, suggesting they believed the state was violating the terms of the Lateran Treaty, the 1929 accord that regulates the relationship between the Italian state and the Vatican. Eventually, an accord was reached, but it imposes a series of restrictions on access and even the administration of the sacraments: At SantEugenio, the Sunday 11 a.m. Mass usually exceeds 500 people. Now, only 150 can attend. Everyone must wear a face mask and sit apart. Theres no holy water or choir, and unused pews for the morning Mass were roped off with tape to keep them sanitized for when bigger crowds come later in the day. Priests must wear gloves during Communion and take care to offer the host without coming into contact with the hands of the faithful, according to the protocol. It goes without saying that the priest doesnt place the Eucharistic host on the tongue of the faithful, as is the Vaticans preferred way. But Pope Francis has made clear he supports the measures, even if he bristled early on at the lockdown and said live-streamed Masses can never be a substitute for the real thing. In his Sunday noon prayer, he welcomed the resumption of communal church celebrations and the reception of sacraments but appealed for caution: Please, lets go ahead (following) the rules and prescriptions weve been given to care for the health of each and everyone. The Vatican has its own post-lockdown reopening norms, and as a sovereign state, isnt beholden to the Italian government measures. But in some cases, it is going beyond them, with the guards bearing thermo-scanners in St. Peters Square taking the temperatures of anyone who wants to enter the basilica. During a Mass later on May 18 in front of John Paul IIs tomb in the basilica, Lucina Wodzisz, her husband, and two boys wore face masks, but the priest didnt. And he didnt use a latex glove when distributing Communion, either. But Wodzisz was thrilled anyway to be able to celebrate the centenary of John Pauls birth by visiting his tomb. The Polish family is particularly devoted to the former Karol Wojtyla (the eldest Wodzisz son is named Karol) and had only hoped to pray before his tomb on the first day St. Peters reopened to the public. We came to be close to the tomb, but we got a Mass! she marveled. Its a great sensation to be back. By Nicole Winfield The FBI has accessed two iPhones used by the perpetrator of a terrorist attack, claiming the devices reveal al Qaeda had directed the plot. It is the latest development in a long-running debate about the degree to which technology companies should be obliged to change their products in order to assist law enforcement investigations. Mohammed Alshamrani, a member of the Saudi air force who was training in the US, killed three people at the Pensacola navy air station in Florida on 6 December last year. In an audio recording released in February, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed to have directed the shooting. FBI officials now say they have obtained evidence the gunman had been in regular contact with al Qaeda, describing the attack as "the brutal culmination of years of planning and preparation". US Attorney General William Barr told a press conference on Monday: "Thanks to the great work of the FBI - and no thanks to Apple - we were able to unlock Alshamrani's phones." It is not clear how the FBI managed to access the iPhones, one of which Alshamrani shot. NBC reported that the agency overcame Apple's technology preventing automated passcode guesses. Apple said it responded to the FBI's first requests for information "just hours after the attack" and provided "every piece of information available to us, including iCloud backups, account information and transactional data for multiple accounts". "The false claims made about our company are an excuse to weaken encryption and other security measures that protect millions of users and our national security," the company stated. Mr Barr said a "trove of information" had been found on the phones due to the "FBI's ingenuity, some luck, and hours upon hours of time and resources", without which "this information would have remained undiscovered". Alshamrani had been communicating with al Qaeda "using end-to-end encrypted apps, with warrant-proof encryption", Mr Barr added. Story continues The terrorist had "been radicalised by 2015" and joined the Royal Saudi Air Force with the specific intention of carrying out a "special operation" according to the Department for Justice. The complaint echoes the case of the San Bernadino terrorist attack in which the FBI attempted to force Apple to create software which would allow it to unlock one of the attacker's phones. The FBI ultimately withdrew its legal request after managing to unlock the iPhone through a third party, which was paid $900,000 (737,000) to break into it. At the time some of Apple's biggest competitors, including Google and Microsoft, supported it in a joint legal brief appealing against a court decision forcing it to create a "back door" for law enforcement to access its devices. "It is because we take our responsibility to national security so seriously that we do not believe in the creation of a back door," said Apple. The company described the FBI's proposals as making "every device vulnerable to bad actors who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers". "There is no such thing as a back door just for the good guys, and the American people do not have to choose between weakening encryption and effective investigations." 1,500 People attending a massive party turned violent as Florida Police officers break up, according to a recently published officer. Violation of Mass Gatherings in Florida As Florida has opened its economy under Phase 1 of "Opening Up America Again," it seems that the guidelines are not strictly followed. The gathering of more than 10 persons is still not allowed under this phase to control the spread of the infectious and deadly virus. This is not the first time that people in Florida violated the prohibition of mass gatherings. It can be remembered that in March this year, people flocked in the beaches of Florida and disregarded the precautions from CDC and Pres. Trump. It turned out negatively, six Florida students who were believed visited the same beach in the state tested positive for the virus. At the time they were found out to have the virus, contact tracing was immediately made. Another Mass Gatherings in Florida After State Lockdown that Turned People to be Violent Florida Police Officers receive a dispatch that a massive party was going on over the weekend. Officers were trying to disperse a crowd of more than a thousand indviduals who were blocking the streets in DeLand on Sunday according to Volusia County Sheriff's Office. Instead of cooperating to the deputies, people turned violent and they pelted the officers with glass bottles, a bar stool, other objects, while two men were arrested because they were seen exchanging firearms. In the official statement released by the Sheriff's office, it says: "The behavior that occurred here overnight was dangerous, senseless, unacceptable and an embarrassment to our community. None of it will deter law enforcement from coming back when we're needed." According to the police, they arrive in the large gatherings shortly after midnight and they found two men exchanging a firearm. They were told to drop the weapon, one of them threw it and found a way to escape from the scene but they were soon captured. The weapon was identified as 9mm and arrested Charles Turner, 37 years old. It was also found out that Turner has lengthy criminal histories and with 18 prior convictions. Additionally, Police Officers charged him, two counts of possession of a weapon, inciting a riot, and among others. Meanwhile, the other person involved in the exchange of firearm was identified as Alphonso Parker, 27 years of age, is also facing the same charges. However, it is still not known of Parker had prior convictions. The County Sheriff's Office said: "After securing Turner and Parker, two deputies were hit with a cup of alcohol. While the person who threw it was being taken into custody, one of the deputies was sucker-punched by another male subject who immediately fled the area." They also added: "Another deputy and DeLand PD officer were hit with a barstool and mason jar by other members of the crowd who immediately fled. Glass bottles were also being thrown at patrol vehicles in the street while arrests were being made." Subsequently, the dispersal of mass gatherings left a Volusia officer with a minor knee injury while a DeLand officer suffered from a minor head injury. Read a related article: [May 18, 2020] Comcast Continues Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration With Contribution to ACRS Comcast (News - Alert) Washington today announced a $55,000 contribution to Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) in support of the non-profit organization's COVID-19 response effort and digital literacy training needs in Western Washington. The contribution is part of a series of activities and initiatives kicked off by Comcast earlier this month to educate the public about the impact of the pandemic, and honor Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Comcast recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a far-reaching impact on all communities. The impact of COVID-19 continues to be a deep concern, especially for limited English-speaking residents and immigrants and refugees in the greater Seattle area who may be unfamiliar with healthcare systems and further isolated by the digital divide. Even more alarming is the racial discrimination attached to this virus, inciting hate speech, racial bullying and fear of seeking assistance based on citizenship status and/or being Asian or Pacific Islander. According to data collected by several Asian American organizations, more than 1,600 hate incidents have been self-reported across the nation since mid-March. To support our local community's response to these incidents, Comcast is providing a $55,000 grant to ACRS to help reach thousands of immigrants, refugees and other underserved AAPI community members. The grant will support the organization's operational relief and ongoing tech and digital literacy needs, including: Rapid response to clients in need of food, emergency financial assistance and rental assistance. Increased multilingual hotline services for emergency information and referral services to support community members needing health resources, access to safety net programs and services. Increased employment assistance, job counseling, unemployment navigation, and case management. Increased services through the internet. This includes case management and technical training for clients to help them use internet-based tools and online resources. Targeted digital literacy classes to support immigrants and refugees who have basic familiarit with computers and are seeking employment or career advancement. On May 1, Comcast announced several activities in support of Asian culture during Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Throughout the month, Comcast is celebrating the AAPI community's remarkable contributions to American culture, film, science, sports, and history with Xfinity TV's 'Asian American Film & TV collection' Destination and Free Preview. The 'Asian American Film & TV collection' destination on Xfinity X1 brings together all of the Asian film, TV, music, and web content available on the platform in one place. During AAPI Heritage Month, the destination will also feature a selection of award-winning movies, documentaries, biopics, and television series curated into a special collection featuring popular Asian American actors such as John Cho and Ken Jeong, music content from Music Choice, Stingray, and TVK-Pop, and more. Additionally, throughout the month, Comcast is featuring a selection of free AAPI programming from a variety of networks and subscription video on demand services including: GMA Pinoy, Filipino On Demand, Kocowa, Hi YAH!, Anime Network, and Eros Now. X1 customers can access the destination by saying "Asian American" into the Xfinity Voice Remote. A selection of programming will also be available on Xfinity Flex and the Xfinity Stream app and portal. About Comcast in Washington Comcast is deeply committed to Washington, where our 4,500+ employees serve more than 1.6 million residential and business customers throughout our state footprint. Comcast is Washington's leading provider of XFINITY video, high-speed Internet, "smart home" and phone services. Comcast operates Xfinity retail stores throughout Washington, which feature a welcoming and modern retail environment that highlights the complete line of Xfinity Home and Comcast Business technology offerings, including Xfinity Mobile, Xfinity X1, Xfinity Home and Xfinity Internet. To learn more about Comcast in Washington, visit: https://washington.comcast.com/ View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005691/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Celebrity photographer and film producer Atul Kasbekar has been actively trying to help fight the pandemic, and recently joined hands with producer Manish Mundra and the celebrity shout-out platform 'Tring', to fight the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic with help from various celebrities from the industry. Everyone is doing their bit to make sure that we, as a nation are doing our best to fight the global pandemic. Atul Kasbekar and Manish Mundra have brought various celebs like Farhan Akhtar, Sonakshi Sinha, Vidya Balan, Vir Das, Mrunal Thakur and others together, and they have provided PPE kits to the frontline workers who are risking their lives on a daily basis. The actors have also urged people to donate for the production of these essential kits that are being distributed across the country. Atul and Manish, along with celebrity chef Vikas Khanna, have also secured huge amounts of rations for Noida and Mumbai in these trying times. Also Read : Akshay Kumar Donates 500 Smart Watches To Nashik Police To Track COVID-19 Symptoms Atul Kasbekar is one of the most renowned photographers known for his Kingfisher Calendar shoots. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio House Republicans on Tuesday voted to block a proposal from a Democratic lawmaker that would have required lawmakers and others to wear face masks during official House proceedings. The House Rules Committee voted down party lines to indefinitely postpone a resolution sponsored by state Rep. Mike Skindell, of Lakewood, and co-sponsored by 33 other House Democrats. Under a maneuver sponsored by state Rep. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, the resolution almost certainly wont be brought up again through the remainder of the legislative term, which runs through 2021. The resolution would have required everyone, including lawmakers, to wear a mask or face covering over their mouth and noses during official House proceedings, including committee hearings and legislative sessions. There were exceptions for children younger than two, and for those unable to wear masks due to a medical condition or a recommendation from the state health department. House Speaker Larry Householder, a Perry County Republican, put the measure up for a vote. He has been openly skeptical of the benefits of wearing face masks and has told reporters he doesnt own one. Householder and other Ohio House Republicans also have been increasingly skeptical of shutdown measures Gov. Mike DeWine has taken to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But masks particularly have emerged recently as a hot-button political issue, including in the Ohio House. During recent legislative sessions, most Democrats have worn masks while most Republicans havent. Meanwhile, DeWine, a Republican, has strongly recommended that Ohioans wear face coverings when out in public. He has said he wears one himself. After years of recommending against them, state and federal health officials ended up changing their stance on face masks this year, partially in response to a grassroots campaign and apparent success in Austria. Public-health and medical experts, including those at the Cleveland Clinic, now say that masks when worn properly can help block the spread of drops of saliva and mucus that contain the coronavirus and allow it to spread through the area. Republican lawmakers and other opponents meanwhile have questioned the science that says masks are effective, pointing to some conflicting views on the issue. The dynamics have implications for public policy Gov. Mike DeWine last month said he would require that re-opening businesses mandate masks for customers and employees, but quickly walked it back to only apply generally to employees. Businesses are free to require customers to wear them and some have chosen to do that. Meanwhile, a draft plan under consideration by the Ohio Department of Education would require students and teachers to wear masks if and when K-12 schools re-open in the fall. An unscientific survey by the Ohio Parent Teacher Association found that parents are split over the issue. State Rep. Kristin Boggs, a Columbus Democrat who sits on the House rules committee, said she is dismayed that the issue has become so political. I think any common sense would say this shouldnt be a partisan issue, she said. This isnt about politics. Its about public health. But Seitz said he thinks much of the public discussion over masks is virtue signaling," a form of political correctness. He called the mask resolution a sideshow. The Democratic minority is not going to impose restrictions on the Republican majority, he said. Weve been elected too, and we make it a matter of personal choice if you care to wear a mask or not wear a mask. Read recent coverage by cleveland.com: Ohio plan envisions masks for students and teachers, at-home temperature checks when schools reopen Ohio officials backing off mandatory face mask requirement for re-opening businesses See which Greater Cleveland stores require customers to wear masks as of May 13 In response to Gov. Greg Abbotts mandate that residents and staff at all nursing homes be tested for the coronavirus, the Midland Fire Department will soon begin testing at local facilities, Midland Memorial Hospital CEO Russell Meyers said Monday. Abbotts office asked fire departments statewide to aide with testing, Meyers said. He said the hospital will be working with MFD to provide necessary training and develop a plan of action for those who test positive. One of the key concerns that we have, which we will continue to emphasize throughout this process, is that as we test large numbers of nursing home residents as well as staff members that we have a very clear plan for what to do with the patients who come up positive, Meyers said. If we test several hundred people in the community, the chances are very good that some of them will be positive. He said they expect any positives to be either people who have the virus but are asymptomatic or people who are experiencing mild symptoms. Those patients could self-isolate at the affected nursing homes, Meyers said. As long as those cases can be managed in those nursing homes, thats what we want to happen, he said. It is not a good scenario for the hospital to be inundated with new patients who dont need us -- who are asymptomatic, who have minor symptoms, who could be managed at home in the nursing homes. More than 30 residents from Midland Medical Lodge were transferred to the hospital two weeks ago after testing positive for the coronavirus. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Larry Wilson said at the time that those residents were transferred because the Texas Health and Human Services department determined the lodge was not properly isolating those residents. Sixteen of those residents from Midland Medical Lodge, who are now asymptomatic, were transferred back to the facility after the HHSC provided additional infection control training to lodge staff, Meyers said Monday. Meyers said the hospital and fire department do not yet have a timeline for beginning testing at area nursing homes, in part because the fire department has not received their order of testing swabs. He said Midland Memorial will provide an update later this week on the plan for testing that subset of the population. Well have more conversations in the next day or two. That will lay out not only what the fire department needs but also how best to interact with the nursing homes, how to make sure that they not only are prepared for the mass testing that were talking about, but also they have a plan for how to deal with the results of the testing, Meyers said. If they have a lot of negative tests, thats great If they have a lot of positive tests that we havent seen today, we will need to be sure that weve all agreed on what the plan is for how theyre going to manage those positive results. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 00:22:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- China would welcome it if Australia gives up its political manipulation on COVID-19 and returns to the broad consensus of the international community, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Tuesday. A draft resolution on COVID-19, drafted by the European Union (EU) and co-sponsored by dozens of countries, has been submitted to the World Health Assembly (WHA). Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne Monday reportedly described this as international support for an "independent review" of the pandemic and "a win for the international community." Zhao told a press briefing that China supports a comprehensive review of the global battle against the pandemic after situations worldwide have been controlled. It should be led by the WHO and conducted in a science-based, professional, objective and impartial manner, he said. "China has been consistent and clear about this all along," he added. The draft resolution, which is under discussion at the WHA, is consistent with China's position and reflects widespread consensus of other countries. China, along with other parties, has actively participated in the consultations and co-sponsorship of it, said the spokesperson. The content of the draft resolution is totally different from the "independent review" alleged by the Australian side, Zhao stressed. "For example, the draft resolution proposes to start assessment in due time instead of an immediate so-called review, reaffirms the key leading role of the WHO instead of switching to other leaderships and calls for summarizing experiences and lessons gathered in international health responses coordinated by the WHO instead of a 'presumed guilty' investigation targeting a specific country," Zhao said. It is suggested that the Australian side read the original text carefully instead of making conclusions based on assumptions, said the spokesperson. The text of the draft resolution calls on WHO member states to prevent discrimination and stigmatization, crack down on erroneous and false information, strengthen cooperation in fields including research and development of diagnostic tools, diagnosis and treatment methods, drugs and vaccines, animal-originated virus, and assess the WHO's work on pandemic fight in due time, Zhao said. "We hope the resolution will be adopted as a result of consensus by the 73rd WHA with full and accurate implementation," he said. Enditem A group of Tataskweyak Cree Nation elders and leaders blocking traffic access to Manitoba Hydros Keeyask project site were served an injunction by the Crown corporation Monday afternoon. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/5/2020 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A group of Tataskweyak Cree Nation elders and leaders blocking traffic access to Manitoba Hydros Keeyask project site were served an injunction by the Crown corporation Monday afternoon. The protest began Friday in opposition to Hydros plan to bring up to 1,000 new workers into the community during a staggered shift change beginning today, a plan community leaders say disregards their safety and well-being. "Our protest was and will be peaceful," Tataskweyak Chief Doreen Spence said Monday. "We informed the RCMP of our intentions, and we have not, and do not intend to, disrupt traffic going anywhere other than the Keeyask site." Spence said the lockdown of access is meant to keep the community, the workers, and the region which has thus far prevented any cases of COVID-19 safe. "For the better part of the 20th century, Tataskweyak and other Indigenous communities have disproportionately borne the brunt of disease brought in from outsiders (and) the impacts of hydroelectric development in the province," she said. "An outbreak of COVID-19 in our community will continue this cycle and devastate our community." The Keeyask generating station project is being developed by Hydro alongside York Factory and War Lake First Nations, as well as Tataskweyak and Fox Lake Cree Nations. Hydro did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday on the injunction, but on Saturday, media relations spokesman Bruce Owen said the shift change followed the plans and protocols of Manitoba Health. In an affidavit filed May 18 to the Queens Bench Winnipeg Centre and shared with the Free Press, chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said he endorsed, reviewed and consulted on Hydros protocols, and that they met current public health guidelines. Roussin said in the affidavit the work rotation would include some employees or contractors travelling from other provinces and countries, adding that Hydro will require a 14-day self-isolation period and a screening with a negative COVID-19 test on the day of travel to the construction site. In an affidavit in support of the injunction, David Bowen, the director of the Keeyask project, said the blockade prevented crucial materials from reaching the site and would make the planned workforce rotation "impossible to implement." Bowen said Hydro suspended travel to the Keeyask camp on March 22, while scaling its workforce down to 512 from pre-pandemic levels of 1,400 workers. He said the workers on-site need relief. In Hydros statement of claim, they say lost revenue resulting from the traffic delays or stoppages amount to $10.5 million per month. The statement also alleges there is "no scientific or medical basis" to the claim the new workers will put northern Manitobans at greater risk. In the affidavit, Bowen expressed concerns the situation could block access for food trucked in to the site; as of May 15, he says there was enough food on-site to last just seven days. "Based on the current COVID-19 situation, the fact that there have been no confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 at the project site, and consultations with regional and provincial health authorities, (Hydro) has decided to resume a pre-pandemic work schedule, while maintaining a reduced workforce of approximately 1,000 workers," he wrote in his statement. That total includes Manitoban workers as well as others from across Canada and from other countries; at most, 200 out-of-province workers are due, Bowen wrote, adding that fewer than 10 international travellers will be required. Bowen wrote that since March, Hydro has been "open" with Tataskweyak about its plans for COVID-19 prevention. However, local leaders like Spence and Tataskweyak band councillor Nathan Neckoway say their concerns havent been adequately addressed. Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee arrived at the traffic lockdown Monday afternoon, and was heavily critical of Hydros decision-making. "This is a case where our values are different from theirs," he said. "We value the lives of humans more than anything else. We value our First Nations safety and well-being over corporate interests. Thats something that makes us who we are." "It appears their interests are not our interests," he added, pointing out that four Indigenous communities are partners in the project. "I think its unethical for a corporate entity to push their own agenda at the expense of human lives and the safety of our people." Settee said the project is important, but not essential or worth risking the health of communities particularly vulnerable to virus transmission during a global pandemic. "Our first priority is the safety of our people," he said. Neckoway said chiefs from Fox Lake, York Landing, and War Lake also opposed the influx of workers. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Niki Ashton, the Member of Parliament for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, called Hydros actions arrogant and colonial. "I would say this really speaks to how little (Hydro) values Indigenous lives and the lives of working people," Ashton said Monday. "This is a slap in the face to one of their four First Nation partners on this project, which has invested in it, has people working on it, and whose territory it is on." Neckoway pointed out that the return of workers today means many people will have to travel from southern Manitoba north of the 53rd parallel something the provincial government is not currently permitting. He said despite the injunction, there are no plans to budge from Provincial Road 280, where the group will continue to notify traffic its their mission to protect the region from COVID-19 while allowing residents access. "We are doing this for the betterment of northern Manitoba residents," he said. "We will stand to protect our people against COVID-19." ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca - The court said Sudan must pay the money to terrorism victims after investigations revealed it helped al Qaeda carry out the bombings that killed 224 people and wounded thousands - The attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaaam were believed to have been revenge for US involvement in the extradition of four members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) - The attacks placed the then al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on the list of the most wanted men and he was eventually killed in 2011 in Pakistan after several years of hiding The 1998 bombing victims in Kenya and Tanzania have finally found justice after the United States (US) Supreme Court awarded them KSh 1 trillion in damages. In a unanimous ruling on Monday, May 18, the court said Sudan must pay the money to terrorism victims after investigations revealed it helped al Qaeda carry out the bombings that killed 224 people and wounded thousands. READ ALSO: Essential services: Nurse arrested in Nakuru after sneaking out of Nairobi to visit boyfriend The 1998 bomb blast in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam on the US embassy buildings killed more than 200 people. Photo: The Standard. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Tanga Tanga, Kieleweke should cease fire or lose to competition - Senator Mwaura Judge John Bates of the Federal District Court in Washington said the then al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden received the support and protection of the Sudanese intelligence and military from foreign intelligence services and rival militants. "Sudan harbored and provided sanctuary to terrorists and their operational and logistical supply network. It provided bin Laden and Al Qaeda hundreds of Sudanese passports. The Sudanese intelligence service allowed Al Qaeda to travel over the Sudan-Kenya border without restriction," part of his ruling read. The 1998 bomb attack left over 4,000 people injured. Photo: US embassy. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Hospitali za Brazil zajaa pomoni huku wagonjwa wa COVID-19 wakifurika The judge awarded the petitioners about $10.2 billion ( KSh 1.02 trillion) in damages, including roughly $4.3 billion (KSh 430 billion) in punitive damages. Foreign nations are ordinarily immune from suits in American courts. The Congress, however, amended the laws in 2008 allowing plaintiffs to seek damages in some situations related to terrorism. The bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaaam were widely believed to have been revenge for US involvement in the extradition, and alleged torture, of four members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) who had been arrested in Albania for an alleged series of murders in Egypt in the two months prior to the attacks on August 7, 1998. The attacks placed bin Laden on the list of the most wanted men and he was eventually killed in 2011 in Pakistan after several years of hiding. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My wife pushed me to marry another woman - Pastor Habil Were | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke A day after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao slammed the Centre over the stimulus package and accused it of treating states like 'beggars', Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday hit out at him saying the language used was 'objectionable'. "I cannot use such language. I don'tknowhow to use such language.He (Rao) is reminding the Nizam (erstwhile ruler of Hyderabad state). He is impatient. His comments are uncalled for. Telangana society will not support the language the chief minister has used," Reddy said. Referring to the earlier package announced by the Centre to fight the COVID-19, he sought to know from Rao whether or not Telangana had benefited from such measures. Mounting a sharp attack on the Narendra Modi-led NDA government over the Rs 20 lakh crore fiscal stimulus package, Rao late Monday alleged the Centre was treating states like "beggars" and imposing "laughable" conditions for increasing borrowing limits under the FRBM Act. "This is 'pure cheating. Betrayal. Jugglery of numbers. All gas. The Centre has reduced its own prestige," he had told a press conference here, referring to conditions linked to the increased borrowing limits for states under the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act. Rao said international journals had commented whether the Union Finance Minister's aim was to revive the GDP or to reach the Rs 20 lakh crore number (the stimulus package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi). "This is a very cruel package. It is fully in a feudal policy and dictatorial attitude. We fully condemn this. This is not what we asked for," Rao, who had supported several measures taken by the Centre so far in the fight against coronavirus, had said. At a time when the finances of states were paralysed due to COVID-19 global pandemic, the state governments wanted funds to reach them so that they can help people in different forms, he said. "When we asked for it, you treat states like beggars, what did the Centre do? Is this the way reforms are implemented in India?" he asked during an interaction with media after a cabinet meeting. For example, two per cent increase under the FRBM Act (about Rs 20,000 crore in Telangana) has been given. But, the conditions mentioned are "laughable" and "very nasty" though the loan was to be fully repaid by the state, he said. Explaining the situation, Rao said Rs 2,500 crore each would be allowed if reforms were implemented in the power sector and in market committees as suggested by the Centre. "Is this a package? What is this? This cannot be called a package. Very sorry.. This is not the policy to be followed in a federal system... Then what are the state governments for?" the Telangana Rashtra Samithi supremo asked and said they were also constitutional governments and not subordinates. The CM said he felt anguished and the way the Centre was wielding control over states was against the spirit of federalism. "Prime Minister ji said cooperative federalism. This has proved that it is totally hollow and bogus," he added. The state, however, has already fulfilled certain conditions, he added. Addressing media here through video conference, Kishan Reddy, said the Prime Minister brought the best practices in the world to tackle the COVID-19 after holding discussions with a cross section of people, including politicians, media houses, opposition leaders, intellectuals and heads of other nations, on the prevailing situation. "I am asking (Rao) if it is not true that Telangana people will benefit from this Rs 20 lakh crore package. FRBM limit has been increased with an intention to see the states also grow. Devolution of funds was also increased (during NDA regime) by nine per cent. This is a daring step taken by the PM keeping in view of his earlier stint as CM (of Gujarat), he added. Reddy, Union Minister of State for Home, said 20 crore people, including 54 lakh from Telangana, have been given Rs 500 per month through the Jan-Dhan accounts in the country during the COVID-19 lockdown. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An 85-year-old man was moved to tears after strangers drove from all over his town of Cape Code in their antique cars to surprise him with a special parade for his birthday. Gerald Broadbridge has loved cars since he was a child; he has pictures from his childhood proudly standing next to soap box cars. Before coronavirus hit, his family said he loved going to car shows, and it's typical for him to go the grocery store for one quick thing and come back two hours later because he struck up a conversation with someone in the parking lot about their car. MORE: Retired police officer with ALS reunites with military son during surprise parade Perhaps the best thing about his love of cars is how it bonded him to his grandchildren. He taught all of his grandchildren, who call him Boo Boo, how to drive. "Since he lived far away from us it made him feel like he was a part of us growing up," his granddaughter Meg Coyle said. "He'll always call us and ask how the driving is going." PHOTO: Twenty-four cars total came to surprise Gerald Broadbridge with his very own antique car parade. (Meg Coyle) PHOTO: Gerald Broadbridge, 85, waves to the drivers of the antique cars who came to surprise him forhis birthday. (Meg Coyle) After months of not being able to visit her parents due to the pandemic, Broadbridge's daughter Lisa Coyle wanted to plan something for his 85th birthday, so she reached out to Cape Cod's British Car Club to ask if they would be willing to bring one or two cars to a parking lot near Broadbridge's house for him to admire as a birthday surprise. "Within the hour, two people had called me back saying, 'We're so in,' and telling me, 'We'll see who wants to drive,'" Coyle said. "They were so sweet and so excited about it." On Sunday, Coyle and her family, who live three and half hours away in Connecticut, told Broadbridge they were coming to visit for the day. She suggested he take her daughter Molly, who is a senior in high school, out for a "graduation ride" in his vintage red Corvette. The family told him that afterward they would meet him at the beach. PHOTO: The drivers came from all over Cape Cod to celebrate Broadbridges birthday. (Meg Coyle) Broadbridge didn't know that when he got back to the parking lot, a huge surprise would be waiting for him. Story continues The Coyles were shocked to see that the British Car Club didn't organize just one or two cars to come 24 cars came to wish Broadbridge a happy birthday with a full-blown parade. All of the people in the cars, who before that day were strangers, honked and waved, and many even made custom posters bearing birthday wishes. MORE: Couple celebrates 73rd wedding anniversary with a surprise parade in quarantine "He just couldn't believe that 24 people came from so far in these antique cars to surprise him and organize and do this for him," Coyle said. "He loves car shows and there's not many around. So if you're him and get your own personal car show he didn't even know what to do with himself." For his family, his reaction was the greatest gift of all. PHOTO: Broadbridges family made this poster to thank the Cape Cod British Car Club for making his birthday special. (Meg Coyle) "He cries at anything," Meg Coyle joked. "But all of us were crying. I was videotaping him and his mouth was wide open. He was just speechless." In addition to the parade, the Cape Cod British Car Club also gifted Broadbridge a 1-year membership so he can continue to talk about cars with other car lovers even after the big birthday surprise was over. MORE: 2-year-old who spent 700 days in foster care gets parade on adoption day "I am a big believer that there are more good people than bad it just reaffirms how wonderful people are," Lisa Coyle said. "There are no words." The parade served as a reminder that even in a time where he can't physically touch on another, acts of kindness from strangers can continue to touch hearts. "Even 6 feet away we are all capable of touching others in creative ways beyond our imagination. It wasn't just a celebration for him, but a true celebration of humanity. People are so good," Meg Coyle said. "Standing there watching strangers rise up and take a drive will leave a forever imprint on our family's heart." 85-year-old moved to tears by antique car birthday parade originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Iran's Tanker Convoy of Gasoline Sailing To Venezuela Radio Farda May 18, 2020 Iran yesterday warned the United States not to interfere with a convoy of five Iranian tankers heading towards Venezuela and loaded with approximately 220-240 million litters of gasoline. According to TankerTrackers.com an oil shipping analysis firm, five Iranian flagged tankers FORTUNE, PETUNIA, FOREST, FAXON and CLAVEL were loaded in the Persian Gulf Port Shahid Rajaee in March and April. At this point it is not clear if the United States has any plans to interdict the Iranian vessels, but it has not made any threats. Years of instability in Venezuela has disrupted its refining capacity and forced oil rich country to buy gasoline on the international market while Iran's oil exports have come to a standstill with U.S. sanctions imposed in 2018, forcing it to look for any buyers far and beyond. Iran and Venezuela have been allies for more than a decade since the onset of Hugo Chavez presidency and during Nicholas Maduro's rule. Iran has also recently conducted flights to Venezuela using the U.S. sanctioned Mahan Air to deliver key spare parts for the beleaguered Venezuelan oil industry. The two countries allegedly exchanged gold in the transaction. TankerTrackers.com located the tankers Fortune and Petunia at the Shaid Rajaee port on March 13 and April 19 respectively. The convoy of ships passed through Suez Cannel earlier this month and now has a trajectory towards Venezuela. In an interesting plot twist the Clavel broadcast its destination as Rotterdam on May 14, however several hours later it changed it back to Caracas. The first of the convoy Fortune and Petunia are projected to reach Caracas on May 27. Iran does not have many of these small oil and chemical tankers and they are usually "used for domestic transfers " according to TankerTrackers. Considering how cut off Venezuela and Iran are from the international money markets it is reasonable to assume that the transaction was completed with gold exchange. Although the Caribbean waters contain many EU territories it is safe to assume that Iran will be avoiding an incident similar to the faith of its supertanker GRACE 1 last year when Gibraltar stopped the vessel on suspicion of transporting oil to Syria. Radio Farda is working with TankerTrackers on this developing story. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-s-tanker- convoy-of-gasoline-sailing-to- venezuela-/30617349.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Jammu & Kashmir government on Monday notified Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020, which specify the conditions and the process to obtain the documents required tor applying to jobs and avail other privileges restricted to residents. All people who have resided in the UT for 15 years, or have studied for seven years and appeared in class 10th or 12th examination in an educational institution in the region, and their children, are eligible for grant of domicile. Children of central government, All India service, bank and PSU, statutory body , and central university officials , who have served in Jammu of Kashmir for a total period of 10 years will also be eligible for domicile status. Besides, all migrants and their children who are registered with Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner will be granted domicile certificate. Children of those residents of Jammu and Kashmir who reside outside the Union territory in connection with their employment of business or other professional or vocational reasons have also become eligible for grant of domicile status. The rules provide a simple procedure for the issuance of the Domicile Certificate. There shall be a timeline of 15 days for issuance of the certificate after which the applicant shall be free to approach an Appellate Authority. The decision of the Appellate Authority shall be binding upon the issuing authority and the orders of the Appellate Authority are to be complied within seven days, failing which the defaulting officer shall be liable for a penalty of Rs 50,000 out of his salary. The Appellate Authority will also have revisional powers. It can, either suo moto or on through an application made, call for records, check the legality of any proceedings and pass appropriate orders in reference. The rules have a provision that applications for grant of Domicile Certificate can be submitted either physically or electronically. Permanent Residents of the erstwhile State of J&K in whose favour Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) has been issued by the competent authority before October 31, 2019 shall be eligible for receiving their Domicile Certificates on the basis of PRCs alone and no other additional document shall be required for such residents. Kashmiri migrants can get the Domicile certificate on production of either a PRC or certificate of registration of migrant. As a result of the new rules and procedure, West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs), safai karamcharis and children of women married outside Jammu and Kashmir shall also be now eligible for Domicile Certificate. A simple and easily available set of documents such as Ration Card, Immovable Property record, verified Education certificates, Electricity Bills or verified Labour Card/Employer Certificate, have been prescribed for obtaining the Domicile Certificate. The Government has also constituted a committee to accelerate recruitment to government vacancies and to ensure transparency, inclusiveness and speed and that the committee has been asked to identify the vacancies for being filled up on immediate basis with priority to Class IV vacancies. The Committee will also ensure that necessary sanctions are obtained, rules are notified and any hitches in the recruitment process are removed. A comment from the UT administration or the opposition could not be sought by the time this story went to print. A huge blast at a gunpowder store in central Kabul destroyed dozens of shops and houses early on Wednesday, killing at least four people and wounding nine, police said. Deputy city police chief Zulmay Khan said gunpowder in shops selling ammunition for hunting rifles caused the explosion. At least nine people were wounded, he said. The blast gouged a huge crater out of the neighbourhood, threw piles of burning wreckage into the street and shattered windows for hundreds of metres around. Ali Shah Paktiawal, the criminal director of Kabul police, had said earlier it was a car bomb and that at least four or five people were killed. But after further investigation, Paktiawal said it "was not a terrorist act." Oman Air operated a flight from London to Muscat, which departed on May 18, to bring 37 Omanis back to their homeland, along with 31 residents. The aircraft, which landed early in the morning on May 19, operated from Muscat to London early on Monday to transport expatriates who chose to leave the country. The airline also operated a chartered flight to London on May 12, for a large Oil & Gas company with major business activities in Oman. That flight carried 169 passengers; the return flight brought 126 passengers to Muscat. All guests and crew took extensive safety precautions before, during and after the flights. In the last several weeks, Oman Air has operated a number of flights to bring citizens home from countries including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, India, England, Jordan, Cyprus, Thailand and Tanzania along with several cargo-only flights to bring food, commodities and medical supplies from India and China. - TradeArabia News Service Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday took a dig at NCP chief Sharad Pawar on his recent letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the economic stimulus package, and demanded a similar measure from the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government. However, the Congress hit back asking why did MLAs of the Opposition party donated their local area development fund to the PM Cares Fund instead of to the CM Relief Fund if they are so concerned about Maharashtra, which has reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country. The NCP and the Congress are the constituents in the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. "Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government should announce a package on the lines of the Centre. NCP chief Sharad Pawar has written several letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He should write one such letter to CM Uddhav Thackeray as well," Fadnavis said, after meeting state Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari along with other BJP leaders. In his recent letter to the PM, Pawar stated that the Centre's economic stimulus package lacked provisions to compensate the losses incurred by farmers during the lockdown period, which has left no cash in their hands. He had also stated the package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was "more of the supply chain- centric" whose benefits will take longer time to reach farmers. However, the Congress alleged that the BJP was anti-Maharashtra and politicising every issue. "MLAs of the BJP donated their local area development fund to the PM Cares Fund. Why they did not donate the amount in the CM Relief Fund?" asked state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant. He said that instead of supporting the state government in its fight against COVID-19, the BJP was bent on playing Sawant sarcastically said that the state government should rather not announce any economic package on the lines of the Union government because it is "full of hollow promises". "The state has already undertaken several steps to ease problems of people. The Centre is creating problems in functioning of the state government," he alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chairman of the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) Na Jai-chel / Courtesy of KOFIA By Anna J. Park Na Jai-chel, 60, has been leading the Korea Financial Investment Association (KOFIA) since the start of this year, after he was elected as chairman to lead the association until the end of 2022. With a new National Assembly set to start at the end of the month, attention is on whether the experienced financial leader can get legislation long-cherished by the financial industry passed by it. This includes the abolition of the securities transaction tax and reform of the National Pension Fund. Na, the former CEO of Daishin Securities, has vowed to focus on bringing necessary changes in these areas. In his New Year message, the CEO stated that it was paramount to create an investment environment, which can contribute to increasing people's wealth. He also stressed similar pledges during his campaign for chairman of the association, including tax reform in the capital market, the annulment of the securities transaction tax, and vitalization of the private fund market, among others. Based on his previous messages as well as the financial industry's long-term wishes, Na is expected to conduct an active campaign on lawmakers and the financial authorities to deliver the voice of the investment sector. A campaign at the Assembly is expected to begin, once the members of parliamentary committees are decided. Since taking office at the association in early January, the chairman reshuffled the organization's public relations department to bolster its function and role to effectively buttress the association's campaign for these legislative efforts. However, some market insiders have expressed concerns over whether Na, who has spent his entire 35 years working at Daishin Securities beginning as a regular employee through becoming the organization's head, has ample networks to deal with public officials, as he's never assumed a role at a public financial organization. Thus, the chairman's next moves will be closely followed to see whether he can get the investment industry's wishes to come true with brand-new legislative amendments. Given that the abolition of the securities transaction tax was an election pledge by the ruling and opposition parties during last month's general election, it is highly likely that the issue will be discussed in-depth at the national Assembly Financial Committee. It is estimated that transaction tax collection amounts to about 8 trillion won ($6.5 billion) a year. The chairman also needs to closely communicate with the finance ministry as well. El presidente @MartinVizcarraC informa sobre la situacion del Estado de Emergencia en el #Dia65 y las acciones que realiza el Gobierno para contener la propagacion del COVID-19. En vivo: https://t.co/mAveUstqA0 https://t.co/m2KCRE9VwK At the hand-over ceremony (Photo: VNA) The donations were handed over to the Ambassadors to Vietnam of Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The gifts, which are hoped to help the countries effectively deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, include anti-bacteria cloth face masks, medical face masks, specialised protective clothing, and made-in-Vietnam COVID-19 test kits. Speaking at the hand-over ceremony, Dung highlighted the importance of enhancing cooperation among countries to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, hoping that the gifts will partly help the countries address difficulties caused by the medical crisis. He expressed his belief that with efforts made by their governments and people, the countries will quickly overcome this difficult time. The official said he hopes the countries governments would continue to coordinate, especially through mechanisms led by ASEAN, to facilitate the repatriation of their citizens and create favorable conditions for those who stay, especially international students, to have access to essential services. For their part, the foreign diplomats thanked the Government and people of Vietnam for the support, emphasising that these medical supplies are not only valuable material support, but also vivid evidence of the friendship and reliable partnership between Vietnam and other countries. The ambassadors praised Vietnam's success in dealing with the pandemic, saying that Vietnam is a typical model in this fight. They affirmed that their countries will continue to work closely with Vietnam to minimise impacts of COVID-19 on socio-economic development, as well as to recover from the epidemic. Previously, in April, the Vietnamese government also provided support for Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to help them in their fights against the disease./. The buses arrived early Monday to drop off dozens of children at a Hasidic school in Brooklyn. Neighbors watched with alarm as the children, few of them wearing masks, filed into the building, crowded into classrooms and played on the roof at recess in violation of public health orders that have kept schools across the state closed since March. It was definitely a regular day for them, like business as usual, said Joe Livingston, who lives across from the school building in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Thats dangerous. The police brought the school day to an abrupt end around noon, after a neighbor who had seen the children playing on the roof called 311, officials said. Officers found about 60 children at the school, and quickly sent them all home, Sgt. Mary Frances ODonnell, a police spokeswoman, said. The dispersal of students from the yeshiva was the latest of several episodes that have ignited tensions between the authorities and Hasidic Jews since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Texas A&M engineering researchers seek to develop a ventilation control system to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in public buildings While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there is a need to look ahead for innovative new ways to make public buildings safer for both visitors and employees. Zheng O'Neill of the J. Mike Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering and a team of Texas A&M University researchers are seeking to develop a smart ventilation control system with grant support from the National Science Foundation. The goal of the project is to investigate the viability of a smart ventilation control system that could operate with a normal mode and an emergency "pandemic mode," as needed, for common public buildings such as offices, classrooms and retail stores. "During the outbreak period of the pandemic, to maintain essential activities, some public buildings such as retail stores and essential government facilities have to remain operational. Critical employees are required to work inside these public buildings," O'Neill said. "With proper measures, the built environment could help minimize the potential for COVID-19 infection, including smart and enhanced heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) design and operations, higher humidity levels, surface cleaning and hygiene specification, spatial configuration, etc." She said the socio-economic impact generated by COVID-19 has the potential to be mitigated by the implementation of the proposed smart ventilation control system, increasing the resilience of HVAC systems and possibly reducing the infection risk even during times of global pandemic. "These buildings are designed and operated in normal conditions by default," O'Neill said. "The fundamental question is, with the current HVAC equipment and systems in existing public buildings, can we do something with a transformative and smart ventilation control by diluting the air in a space with cleaner air from outdoors to reduce the infection risk of an individual occupant?" ### O'Neill, who serves as associate professor and J. Mike Walker '66 Faculty Fellow II in the department, is partnering on the project with Qingsheng Wang, associate professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, as well as her postdoctoral research associate Yangyang Fu and her doctoral student Xing Lu. The terminology "white states," "white people," or "white American" generally addresses those people who are of European descent, and make the majority of the people living in the United States. Specifically, the European Americans (descendant of the first European settlers) make the largest ethnic group of White Americans. This is not surprising considering the European colonization of the Americas. Today, white people constitute circa two thirds (about 61% of people are white) of all races in The Unites States. Who Is White? Jose Moya, a historian from Barnard College, believes that the concept of "whiteness" originated from Anglo-Saxons during their conquering of the Americas when they divided and characterized those who were different than them as inferior. Throughout the history of the US, there have been many definitions of "Whiteness," and the majority of those definitions reflected a social definition of race. The term "white" was closely tied to the enslavement of African-Americans. David R. Roediger, professor of American Studies and History at the University of Kansas, believes that the construction of whiteness in America represented a mental distance between slaves and their owners. There was a time when Italians, Irish, and Russians were not considered to be White in United States history. Today, White people are those of European descent, but many of the non-European people like Jewish Americans, Hispanics, Latinos, and others are also classified (by the United States Census) as White even though they might not be perceived as White. Geographic Distribution Of White Americans The United States Census is the primary source for the data determining the whitest states in the US. The northernmost state in the northeastern part of the United States is also the whitest in the United States. That is Maine. How white is Maine, then? It might surprise you, but around 93.6% of people in Maine are white. Brewer and Belfast are the places with most white people in Maine, both having more than 96% of white people. Vermont, another northern state, caps at about 93%, and Rutland and Barre are the whitest places. The third state with most of the white people in West Virginia (Yes, the same place from the John Denver song) with 92.1%. Next is New Hampshire, where 90.4% of the citizens are white, and the fifth-place belongs to Montana with 86.3%. Iowa, North Dakota, Kentucky, Wyoming, and South Dakota complete the list of the ten whitest states in the United States. Basically, most of the whitest states are located in the northern parts of the country. The further south you travel, there is more racial diversity. Hawaii, California, and New Mexico are among the most racially diverse states. Hawaii, in particular, is considered to be one of the most racially diverse states in the entire world, with many different ethnic groups and cultures. Mumbai, May 19 : TikTok sensation Faizal Siddiqui's account has been banned after he came under the scanner for allegedly "glorifying" acid attack in a video. The ban was enforced "due to multiple community guidelines violations". Faizal, who had a 13 million-plus following on the video sharing application, posted a clip in which he is seen throwing a liquid on a girl's face for betraying him. Later the girl is seen in the clip with grotesque make-up, suggesting a disfigured face. Before throwing the liquid onto the girl's face, he mouths the dialogue: "Tumhe usne chhorr diya jiske liye tumne mujhe chhorra tha? (The guy you left me for, has left you?") TikTok said Faizal's account "was banned due to multiple community guidelines violations". Acid attack survivor Laxmi Aggarwal took to Instagram, where she shared the video and lashed out at Faisal. She thanked the National Commission for Women for cognizance of the video. She wrote alongside the video: "Thanks to National Commission for Women for taking cognizane of the viral video by TikTok 'influencer' Faizal Siddiqui promoting acid attack.Such videos/actions should be strictly debarred which are against the society." "We are working day and night to stop the acid attacks , violence against women. This cringe activity is not called influencing but promoting crime. Such persons are a curse to our society. So it is important to ban such videos and accounts from the social media. Come forward-we urge you to stop acid violence-Stop Sale Acid @ncwindia," she added. Filmmaker and actress Pooja Bhatt took to Twitter and said that the video is depraved. "What on earth is wrong with people? This is depraved. How can you allow this kind of content on your platform @TikTok_IN This man needs to be taken to task. As for the woman in the video - do you realise what immense harm you are causing by participating in this?" Pooja wrote. Actress Swara Bhasker tweeted: "Hey @TikTok_IN why and how are you allowing this kind of content -which is SO obviously celebrating and promoting aggression and violence against women, and perpetrating false misogynistic stereotypes -to be published & viewed freely on your platform??? #Shame." Actor Ashish Chowdhry called it a pure example of sick side of social media. "Pure example of the sick and diseased side of social media. @TikTok_IN must show sense by chopping of its tumour infected parts. Theres a bunch of stupidly enthusiastic people doing just about anythin on social media,who must be shown the door in order to keep a proper decorum." Popular Nollywood actor, Okechukwu Ukeje, popularly known as OC Ukeje, in a new interview, has opened up on how his marriage limits him. In an interview with Newsman Gbenga Shaba, OC Ukeje stated spoke on his 6 years marriage; I do to Ibukunoluwa Togonu-Bickerrsteth in 2014. While reacting to a question on why he has been missing in many movie productions since he got married, he said, Marriage has been interesting. I said that because, on one hand, people expect that you are doing all films all the time but, more importantly is what kind of work you want to do. If you have a specific goal for your career, then you have to be specific about your choices. I dont think ive been on the scene for some time now, and im obviously shuffling between here and where my wife lives. Advertisement Read Also: Trailer Alert: O.C Ukeje, Adesua Etomi, Ireti Doyle Star in The Arbitration Marriage obviously cuts back on how much time I have been able to work here in Nigeria, but im not complaining because the most important thing is that people who want you in their projects will reach out to you and if they are interesting projects, we will surely work together. Im still working and figuring out few options internationally, and for me, thats more important thing right now. So far, really cannot complain, honestly. On why his wife doesnt live with him, he said; and the reason I say this is because I think that for every upwardly mobile person or people at some point in your life you are going to have to deal with distance with your partner. Whether at the upstart of a relationship or in the middle or somewhere much later you will experience it. So I know it is a shock for people to say that you get married and that you start doing long distance. First of all because of our work choices, and our current positions as far as work is concerned. So it benefits us both for now to be where we are, and then over the next couple of months, and months can vary. It will begin to add up and then how to unify households will come into play he added. Swiggy has received additional funding of Rs 14 crore from Samsung Ventures Investment in its ongoing Series I round, thereby taking the total amount invested by Samsung Ventures in this round to Rs 57 crore, according to documents filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, accessed through business intelligence platform Tofler. The Bengaluru-based food delivery startup has allotted 602 series I preference shares for the round and one equity share to Samsung Ventures. This round is a small top up on the ongoing series I round of funding through which the company had already raised $156 million. According to a report from a valuer appointed by Swiggy, its fair valuation stands at Rs 1.89 lakh a share, giving it a valuation of $2.8 billion, compared to the $3.6 billion it was valued at most recently. In the latest round, investors including Tencent and Samsung Ventures acquired shares at Rs 2.36 lakh a share, according to the filings. The report has used the discounted cash flow model of valuation, by comparing it with similar food delivery firms abroad, such as Grubhub, Justeat and Takeaway. It has benchmarked Swiggy against the multiples on which other companies' shares were traded. Further, the company has also appointed Daniel Brody, Managing Director of Tencent Holdings, as a nominee director on its board. These developments come at a time when the Bengaluru based food delivery major has seen a major change in its business strategy because of COVID-19 and the ongoing lockdown in the country. The startup recently said it has asked 1100 employees to leave the organisation and has scaled down its cloud kitchen operations majorly. It is currently in the process of pivoting itself from the core food delivery business to an overall hyperlocal delivery play, catering to grocery, food and parcel delivery for consumers. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak At least nine migrant workers were killed and several others were injured after a truck collided with a bus in Bihar's Bhagalpur on Tuesday At least nine migrant workers were killed and several others were injured after a truck collided with a bus in Bihar's Bhagalpur on Tuesday. The incident took place in Naugachhia, after which a rescue operation was launched after the truck, which was carrying the migrants during the lockdown, fell off the road, according to ANI. Bihar: At least 9 labourers dead & several injured after a truck & a bus collided in Naugachhia, Bhagalpur. The truck in which the labourers were travelling, fell off the road following the collision. Rescue operation underway. pic.twitter.com/rGVxw6xQVh ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2020 A spate of incidents have been witnessed in which migrant workers, desperate to reach their native states amid the lockdown imposed to stop the spread of coronavirus, have lost their lives of received injuries during the journey. In Maharashtra's Yavatmal, three migrant labourers and a bus driver were killed and 22 others injured when the vehicle they were in hit a stationary truck. The vehicle was on its way from Solapur to Nagpur railway station where the labourers were supposed to board a Shramik Special train to reach their native places in Jharkhand. In Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya, 26 labourers were killed when two trucks met with an accident. Sixteen migrant workers were run over by a good train in Maharashtra's Aurangabad after they fell asleep on the railway tracks after walking for hours. In Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar, 12 migrant workers were seriously injured on Monday in a road accident while on their way to Bihar in a bus. Representative Image Bihar has reported 1,423 confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which 652 are migrant labourers who have returned home from outside the state. Out of the 652 who tested positive, 218 have come from Delhi, followed by 141 from Maharashtra, 139 from Gujarat, 36 from Haryana and 33 from West Bengal. The state government had randomly collected 11,800 samples from among 7.4 lakh returnees, according to a report by The Times of India. Of the 11,800 samples, reports of 8,337 came on May 18, which showed that almost eight percent tested positive for the novel coronavirus, it said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has asked the state health department to increase the testing rate by around 1,000 samples per day from the current capacity of 2,000, the report said. Coronavirus LIVE updates COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show Around 8.20 lakh more migrant labourers are expected to come to Bihar by 505 special trains in the next eight to nine days, said Transport Secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, adding that 76,000 labourers and other passengers arrived in the state by 47 trains on May 18. The state has observed a rise in the number of coronavirus cases after the 'Shramik Special' trains began arriving. The state has committed to permitting 50 'Shramik Special' trains per day. "I am very happy to inform that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and I had a fruitful discussion about the migrant workers of Bihar and he has given permission to run 50 Shramik Special trains per day to take them home," Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted in Hindi on May 18. Coronavirus state-wise tally Officials, however, said 50 trains per day were not enough to ferry around 40 lakh migrants of the state stranded across the country. "In reality, the state needs to run 200 per day to carry its migrants home," an official told PTI. The state has an estimated 40-45 lakh migrant population working across several states, though there is no definite statistics on it. (With inputs from PTI) Follow our full coverage on COVID-19 here Chennai, May 19 : Space industry experts are divided over whether big-bang changes/reforms proposed in the Indian space sector are going to be incremental. "This time, the approach is expected to be big-bang, involving restructuring of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)," an industry expert told IANS preferring anonymity. The restructuring he speaks about is corporatisation of ISRO's production/operational units so that the private sector can be a co-traveller in ISRO's space missions and there is a level playing field for them. The production units of ISRO -- rockets and satellites and the rocket launch centre at Sriharikota and the upcoming one in Tamil Nadu -- should be corporatised so that there is no conflict of interest, the expert said. Similarly, the satellite payload and data product services too can be hived off into a company. The development of payloads can be done by technology labs, universities and the private sector, the expert added. According to him, with the strategic space activities with Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian space sector can fully focus on commercial aspects with a sectoral regulator. On May 16, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that Indian private sector will be a co-traveller in India's space sector journey and a level-playing field will be provided for them in satellites, launches, and space-based services. She also said a predictable policy and regulatory environment will be provided to private players. According to her, the private sector will be allowed to use the facilities of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and other relevant assets to improve their capacities. Sitharaman said future projects for planetary exploration, outer space travel and others are to be opened up for the private sector, adding there will be a liberal geo-spatial data policy for providing remote-sensing data to tech-entrepreneurs subject to various checks. "The reform announced is a big bang reform. Already ISRO follows a Government-Owned-Company-Operated (GOCO) model. Many private entities are using ISRO's facilities in SHAR in Sriharikota such as the solid propellant casting plant. These facilities can be corporatised and put under one public sector unit, New Space India Limited," Vijay Anand, former Financial Advisor, Department of Space and Former Advisor to ISRO Chairman, told IANS. Pointing out that nearly 90 per cent of the rockets and satellites are fabricated in the private sector and given the complexity of the systems, the design authority, quality assurance, integration and mission planning are with ISRO. "Barring quality assurance and design authority, in due course industry can form a consortium and take it over. There is such a proposal on which action has been initiated," Anand, who is currently an independent external monitor at Indian Institute of Science and Indian Rare Earth Ltd, said. According to him, certain facilities and labs can be earmarked for testing by the private sector at a cost. Further ISRO can hand hold, review, transfer technology and others at a price. "Products from the Indian space industry should be rated to international standards, built to specification rather than built to print and capable of capturing a part of the global market," Anand added. On the research side, instead of ISRO sponsoring it, it is the industry that should be doing that. According to Anand, the larger issue is creating a level playing field in the industry. On the other hand, ISRO will be required because there are sovereign liabilities when it comes to launches, space debris and others. "This requires a Space Act with rules there under which will prescribe the liabilities, penalties, insurance and safety standards for such activities. In order to avoid a conflict of interest, a space regulatory authority has to be created," Anand added. India is a signatory to various outer space treaties and the sovereign liability devolves on the Government of India represented by the Department of Space. He agreed that the strategic aspects of the space are with DRDO and occasionally they do take a launcher or get a satellite contract manufactured. Dismissing any big bang approach of corporatisation of ISRO's production and other units, a senior space sector official on the condition of anonymity told IANS: "Already ISRO's facilities are being used by the private sector." According to him, the reforms/changes that would be brought in will bring in more clarity and give comfort factors for the private sector. While welcoming the private participation in the Indian space research activities former Chairman of ISRO Madhavan Nair had told IANS: "However we have to carefully consider some of the policy matters. First of all, there has to be our national space law which will define responsibilities and liabilities." Nair said there has to be a proper control mechanism to ensure that the sensitive and critical technologies do not fall into the wrong hands. "In spite of not having a viable aerospace industry in the country, ISRO has taken up initiative to ensure industrial participation in its programmes," Nair said. According to him, space doesn't bring large revenues or profits and that how many would take up this challenge is a question. "Space exploration is still more complex because returns are negative and it is only a long-term investment. The implementation has to be done taking into account sensitivity to international regulations like MTCR (Missile Technology Control Regime) and international space laws," Nair said. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Overdrive Maruti Suzuki has rolled out safety protocols that must be strictly followed at all dealerships and service centres across the country. The company has a vast network of over 3800 service centres across 1914 cities. These protocols ensure the safety of all employees and customers while working in the post lockdown world. The protocols have been developed after taking guidance from the social distancing initiative set by the government and other authorities in the best interest of people. The key measures include training of over 80,000 employees on how to work while minimizing the risk of contracting the virus. All the employees will go through a routine check for temperature and they will be monitored through a health app on a daily basis. Most of the service networks will work on a digital platform where the job cards, E-Invoicing and customer feedback will happen through mobile while insisting on a digital mode of payment. All the employees will wear protective gear at all times. Cars will be sanitized while being picked up and dropped off. And lastly, the customer will have access to hand sanitizers across the service centres and dealerships. The company has extended warranty and free service benefits until June 30th and also approached customers with tips about how to take care of their vehicles during the lockdown. Over 2000 company workshops are ready to take care of customer service needs across 1100 cities after taking approval from government authorities Kenichi Ayukawa, managing director and CEO at Maruti Suzuki India said, "Maruti Suzuki is committed to taking every possible effort to ensure the safety of customers visiting the service centres. With Social Distancing as the new normal, we encourage our customers to avail convenience and safety of doorstep services such as 'Service on Wheels' and 'Pick and Drop'. With these service initiatives, customers need not step out of their homes for car servicing." He added, "The workshop employees have been trained and equipped to make service processes contactless, requiring no paperwork, with focus on hygiene, safety and remote monitoring facilities." CHICAGO, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), one of the world's largest exchange holding companies, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MATCHNow, the largest equities alternative trading system (ATS) in Canada, from Virtu Financial, Inc. Upon successful completion of this acquisition, Cboe will gain a foothold in a key capital market new to the company, while expanding the geographic presence and diversifying the product capabilities of its North American equities business. Ownership of MATCHNow is also expected to provide Cboe with a strategic pathway to build towards a comprehensive equities platform for the Canadian markets and potentially establish a significant presence in the region. MATCHNow is Canada's largest broker-neutral dark pool, accounting for nearly 65 percent market share in total Canadian dark trading, or approximately 7 percent in total Canadian equities volume.1 Canada is one of the world's leading equities markets2, where Cboe sees further growth potential driven by off-exchange trading, the recent opening of the market to multi-venue competition and overall robust economic growth. Cboe has a proven track record in integrating and growing acquisitions. It plans to invest in MATCHNow's growth, and deploy MATCHNow's innovative products, solutions and industry expertise to serve Canadian equity markets and investors. The transaction reflects Cboe's broader growth strategy, which includes targeting acquisitions that have the potential to accelerate its geographic and asset class presence, while deepening its customer reach. Ed Tilly, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cboe Global Markets, said: "MATCHNow offers an innovative equities platform, pioneering spirit and customer-first approach that are complementary with Cboe's equities business. This is a highly strategic acquisition that enables us to expand into a new key geography, and strengthens our position as a global leader in providing innovative solutions and technology to enhance our customers' trading experience. With our U.S. and European presence covering many of the world's largest equities marketplaces, we are excited to enter the Canadian market." Bryan Blake, Chief Executive Officer of MATCHNow, said: "Cboe will bring an innovative mindset, economies of scale, market expertise and client distribution that can further propel MATCHNow's growth and inject robust competition into the Canadian marketplace. The Cboe team has a history of developing equities markets and we look forward to enhancing our capabilities further by leveraging Cboe's core strengths as a leading global exchange operator." Designed to offer enhanced execution for institutional, retail and proprietary order flow, MATCHNow combines frequent call matches and continuous execution opportunities in a fully confidential trading book. It is also a top provider of Conditional Orders, a product that is seeing growing adoption in Canada and could become a meaningful contributor to MATCHNow's volume growth. The transaction, which Cboe plans to fund with cash on hand, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, however, the company noted that the purchase price is not material from a financial perspective. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings, contributing approximately $0.01 to earnings per share in 2020. MATCHNow is a profitable business that generated over CAD10 million in revenue in 2019. About Cboe Global Markets, Inc. Cboe Global Markets (Cboe: CBOE) is one of the world's largest exchange holding companies, offering cutting-edge trading and investment solutions to investors around the world. The company is committed to defining markets to benefit its participants and drive the global marketplace forward through product innovation, leading edge technology and seamless trading solutions. The company offers trading across a diverse range of products in multiple asset classes and geographies, including options, futures, U.S. and European equities, exchange-traded products (ETPs), global foreign exchange (FX) and volatility products based on the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX Index), recognized as the world's premier gauge of U.S. equity market volatility. Cboe's subsidiaries include the largest options exchange and the third largest stock exchange operator in the U.S. In addition, the company operates one of the largest stock exchanges by value traded in Europe and is a leading market globally for ETP listings and trading. The company is headquartered in Chicago with a network of domestic and global offices across the Americas, Europe and Asia, including main hubs in New York, London, Kansas City and Amsterdam. For more information, visit www.cboe.com. CBOE-E CBOE-OE CBOE-C Cboe Cboe Volatility Index, VIX, and Cboe Global Markets are registered trademarks of Cboe Exchange, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as "may," "might," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. All statements that reflect our expectations, assumptions or projections about the future other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance and estimates based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business and may include statements about future business strategies and the consummation of the transaction and the expected timing and terms thereof. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the impact of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic, including changes to trading behavior broadly in the market as well as due to the temporary suspension of open outcry trading in response to COVID-19; the loss of our right to exclusively list and trade certain index options and futures products; economic, political and market conditions; compliance with legal and regulatory obligations; price competition and consolidation in our industry; decreases in trading volumes, market data fees or a shift in the mix of products traded on our exchanges; legislative or regulatory changes; our ability to protect our systems and communication networks from security risks, cybersecurity risks, insider threats and unauthorized disclosure of confidential information; increasing competition by foreign and domestic entities; our dependence on and exposure to risk from third parties; fluctuations to currency exchange rates; our index providers' ability to maintain the quality and integrity of their indexes and to perform under our agreements; our ability to operate our business without violating the intellectual property rights of others and the costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights; our ability to attract and retain skilled management and other personnel; our ability to accommodate trading volume and transaction traffic, including significant increases, without failure or degradation of performance of our systems; misconduct by those who use our markets or our products; challenges to our use of open source software code; our ability to meet our compliance obligations, including managing potential conflicts between our regulatory responsibilities and our for-profit status; damage to our reputation; the ability of our compliance and risk management methods to effectively monitor and manage our risks; our ability to manage our growth and strategic acquisitions or alliances effectively; restrictions imposed by our debt obligations; our ability to maintain an investment grade credit rating; impairment of our goodwill, long-lived assets, investments or intangible assets; and the accuracy of our estimates and expectations. More detailed information about factors that may affect our actual results to differ may be found in our filings with the SEC, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and other filings made from time to time with the SEC. We do not undertake, and we expressly disclaim, any duty to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. 1 Market share by volume traded in trailing 12-month period as of Dec. 31, 2019 2 World Federation of Exchanges 2020 SOURCE Cboe Global Markets, Inc. Related Links http://www.cboe.com/ Imperial Valley News Center Consultant Agrees to Plead Guilty to RICO Offense Related to Bribery Scheme that Enriched L.A. City Councilmember Los Angeles, California - A real estate development consultant has agreed to plead guilty to a federal racketeering offense for participating in a wide-ranging pay-to-play scheme in which developers bribed public officials including a member of the Los Angeles City Council to secure official acts that would benefit their projects. George Chiang, 41, of Granada Hills, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute. Chiang was charged with participating in the RICO conspiracy in a criminal information filed today in United States District Court. In conjunction with the charging document, federal prosecutors also filed a plea agreement in which Chiang agreed to fully cooperate in the governments ongoing investigation into political corruption in the City of Los Angeles. In the court documents, Chiang admitted that he participated in a criminal enterprise called the Council District A Enterprise (CD-A Enterprise). The enterprise was led by a member of the Los Angeles City Council and involved individuals engaged in a course of conduct including bribery and honest services fraud designed to enrich themselves, to conceal their activities from authorities and the public, and to maintain and advance their political power. The public officials involved in the CD-A Enterprise received cash; consulting and retainer fees; political contributions; tickets to concerts, shows, and sporting events; and other gifts in exchange for affecting the success of development projects. In early 2014, Chiang was a real estate broker who was recruited by Individual 1 a longtime employee of the City of Los Angeles, who eventually became the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development to be a consultant who would interface with Chinese companies that were developing real estate projects in Los Angeles, according to court documents. As he started providing consulting services, Chiang became a close political ally of Councilmember A, who was a member of the Planning and Land Use Management Committee and member of the Economic Development Committee, according to court documents. Chiang also became a close ally of Councilmember As special assistant. Through these relationships, Chiang developed a business relationship with Justin Jangwoo Kim, a fundraiser for Councilmember A. Kim previously agreed to plead guilty to a bribery offense involving Councilmember A and the special assistant. Members and associates of the CD-A Enterprise conspired with one another to facilitate bribery schemes that would provide Councilmember A and other City officials financial benefits and keep members in power to maintain the CD-A Enterprises political stronghold in the City, according to Chiangs plea agreement. In exchange, Councilmember A, Individual 1, and members and associates of the CD-A Enterprise, would take official action to ensure certain development projects and CD-A Enterprise associates received favored treatment from the City and thereby secure their bribe-financed influence. In addition, members and associates of the CD-A Enterprise sought political contributions from developers and their proxies (e.g., lobbyists, consultants, etc.) to benefit Councilmember A and his allies in exchange for official acts to benefit those developers and their proxies, including defendant Chiang. Chiangs plea agreement contains a 22-page factual basis that details certain activities of the CD-A criminal enterprise. According to the factual basis, Councilmember A accepted bribes from Company D, a China-based real estate development company, which employed Chiang as a consultant. Among other things, Company D funneled $66,000 to an associate of Councilmember A and pledged $100,000 to a political action committee to benefit a relative of Councilmember A running for the CD-A seat on the City Council. In exchange, Councilmember A filed motions and voted to approve Company Ds Project D at City hearings. In addition, Chiang agreed to pay Individual 1 a share of the lucrative consulting proceeds he received from Company D in exchange for Individual 1 shepherding Project D through the approval process in Individual 1s capacity as Deputy Mayor, according to the plea agreements factual basis. Individual 1 directly and indirectly accepted more than $100,000 from Chiang for assisting in obtaining approvals for Project D, including by exerting pressure on other City officials who could influence the projects success, according to court documents. The court has not scheduled a date for Chiang to enter his guilty plea. Once he does formally enter the guilty plea, he will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. The case against Chiang is part of an ongoing public corruption investigation being conducted by the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office. Chiang is the third person to agree to plead guilty to a federal felony related to this ongoing investigation. In addition to Kim, former Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitchell Englander has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of scheming to falsify material facts related to his cover up of cash payments and other gifts offered from a Los Angeles businessperson. Kim is scheduled to enter his guilty plea on June 3, and Englander is set to plead guilty on June 4. Any member of the public who has information related to this or any other public corruption matter in the City of Los Angeles is encouraged to send information to the FBIs email tip line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or to contact the FBIs Los Angeles Field Office at (310) 477-6565. The case against Chiang is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mack E. Jenkins, Chief of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Assistant United States Attorney Veronica Dragalin of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section. By PTI KARACHI: Seven Pakistani soldiers and a civilian driver were killed in two separate terror attacks in the restive Balochistan province, an official statement said on Tuesday. Terrorists targeted a vehicle of the Frontier Corps using improvised explosive devices in the Pir Ghaib area on Monday night, killing six Pakistan Army soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani military. The soldiers were identified as Naib Subedar Ihsan, Ullah Khan, Naik Zubair Khan, Naik Ijaz Ahmed, Naik Maula Bux and Naik Noor Muhammad. ALSO READ | Taliban says Kashmir Indias internal affair, can't support Pakistan A civilian driver Abdul Jabbar was also killed in the attack. In a separate incident in Balochistan's Kech, another soldier, identified as Sepoy Imdad Ali, was killed during an exchange of fire with the militants. The incident took place early in the morning when security personnel were clearing the area for fencing the border. This is the second terror attack on the Pakistani soldiers in 10 days in the restive province. On May 9, six soldiers, including a major, were killed in Buleda area when their vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device. Resource-rich Balochistan in southwestern Pakistan borders Afghanistan and Iran, but it is also Pakistan's largest and poorest province, rife with ethnic, sectarian and separatist insurgencies. Baloch nationalists are active in the Balochistan province and often target the security forces and people from other provinces, especially Punjab. Technavio has been monitoring the baby diapers market and it is poised to grow by USD 16.94 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 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/20200518005504/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Baby Diapers Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on Covid-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Domtar Corp., Essity Aktiebolag (publ), First Quality Enterprises Inc., Hengan International Group Co. Ltd., Kao Corp., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Koninklijke Philips NV, The Procter Gamble Co., Unicharm Corp., and Unilever Group are some of the major market participants. The increasing focus on steps to improve product features will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Increasing focus on steps to improve product features has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Baby Diapers Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Baby Diapers Market is segmented as below: Product Disposable Training Swim Pants Others Geography North America APAC South America Europe MEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43667 Baby Diapers 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 baby diapers market report covers the following areas: Baby Diapers Market size Baby Diapers Market trends Baby Diapers Market industry analysis This study identifies rising R&D investments by key market competitors as one of the prime reasons driving the baby diapers market growth during the next few years. Baby Diapers Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the baby diapers market, including some of the vendors such as Domtar Corp., Essity Aktiebolag (publ), First Quality Enterprises Inc., Hengan International Group Co. Ltd., Kao Corp., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Koninklijke Philips NV, The Procter Gamble Co., Unicharm Corp., and Unilever Group. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the baby diapers market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Baby Diapers Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist baby diapers market growth during the next five years Estimation of the baby diapers market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the baby diapers market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of baby diapers market vendors Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Product Market segments Comparison by Product Disposable Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Training Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Swim pants Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Product Market Segmentation by Distribution channel Market segments Comparison by Distribution channel Retail stores Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Online channels Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Distribution channel Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024 South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024 MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Key leading countries Market opportunity by geography Volume driver Demand led growth Market challenges Market trends Vendor Landscape Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors Domtar Corp. Essity Aktiebolag (publ) First Quality Enterprises Inc. Hengan International Group Co. Ltd. Kao Corp. Kimberly-Clark Corp. Koninklijke Philips NV The Procter Gamble Co. Unicharm Corp. Unilever Group Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005504/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ Congress president Sonia Gandhi has called a meeting of opposition parties on May 22 to discuss the plight of migrant workers due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown and the government's handling of the crisis, including the announcement of the economic package. According to sources, the aim of the meeting, which Gandhi will chair via video-conferencing, is to bring the like-minded parties together on a common platform and find a solution to the hardships faced by lakhs of migrants returning to their native places. Around 17 opposition parties have agreed to participate in the meeting, which will also focus on the problems faced by the farmers and the changes in labour laws in BJP-ruled states, including Uttar Pradesh. The virtual meeting will be held at 3 PM on Friday, sources said, adding the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have not confirmed their participation yet. The Congress chief has personally made calls to several opposition leaders and sought their coorperation in finding a joint strategy to address the issue of stranded migrants, sources said. Confirming her participation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata told reporters,"Yes, there will be a meeting of opposition parties on Friday evening through video conferencing to discuss the present COVID situation and the lockdown impact. I will be there." CPI leader D Raja said his party would participate in it. He said his party would also raise the issue of some states diluting the labour laws. Asked about the meeting, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have risen to the occasion whenever there have been pressing issues. "Parliament which is the supreme authority has virtually been sidestepped and parliamentary scrutiny and oversight seems to be virtually non-existent. Democratic institutions in the country are in a state of slumber and it does not bode well for democracy," he said. Rendered jobless due to the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown, which began on March 25, and desperate to get home, thousands of migrant workers across the country are undertaking long and arduous journeys to their native places on foot, on bicycles or packed into trucks. Many of them have been killed in accidents in different parts of the country. The Opposition has criticised the government over its handling of the migrant crisis. The Congress and other opposition parties have also attacked the Centre for allowing BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to amend labour laws to lure foreign investors and "to strip workers of their basic rights". These changes include exempting industrial units from labour welfare statutes, allowing them to take steps such as increasing daily and weekly working hours of workers, and depriving workers of their right to move court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) One takeaway from Tuesday's Senate coronavirus bailout hearing: The Treasury Department and Federal Reserve both think the worst could be yet to come for America's economy. Why it matters: Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated his belief that a full recovery may not come until there's a vaccine, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said there's the risk of "permanent damage" if states delay reopening. The pair gave the first of the required updates to Congress on the $500 billion fund set aside in the CARES Act. In the virtual hearing, the Senate Banking Committee pressed Powell and Mnuchin on whether the economic programs were enough to support businesses or localities that are in need. Powell said the Fed would continue to adjust the terms, and possibly the eligibility, of its lending programs as we learn more. Its already expanded eligibility for its medium-sized business and its state lending programs. said the Fed would continue to adjust the terms, and possibly the eligibility, of its lending programs as we learn more. Its already expanded eligibility for its medium-sized business and its state lending programs. Mnuchin also said the Treasury was fully prepared to take losses on the money it is extending to backstop the Feds lending programs. Thats a shift from comments last month, when he said the U.S. would recover the money. The big picture: Many of the Fed's coronavirus lending programs have yet to launch. Powell said he expected all of the programs to be up and running by the first week of June. One fiery moment: Sen. Elizabeth Warren pushed Mnuchin on whether the businesses receiving relief from certain programs would be required to keep workers on their payrolls. "Different facilities have different requirements," Mnuchin said. He also added that there is a provision in the Main Street Lending Program that "we expect people to use their best efforts to support jobs." Between the lines: Mnuchin was pressed on the eight-week period that businesses are required to spend Paycheck Protection Program funds. Small businesses want it extended, but that fix would need to come from Congressional legislation, not the Treasury Department. MOSCOW -- When the lockdown order came, Yevgenia found herself shut in with a recidivist abuser. Her husband had beaten her two weeks earlier, and she knew he was capable of doing so again. She had begun making plans to leave. If not for the coronavirus, perhaps Id have managed to avoid this situation, she said in a phone interview from Yekaterinburg, where she lives. In the end, the fight erupted over a block of butter. She bought a cheap brand to save money -- they had both found themselves unemployed -- and he flew into a rage, she said. She ran out of the apartment, locked the door from the outside, and called the police. This time I wanted to go all out, she said. I had the guts to file a complaint, to document my injuries, to leave him, to block him from my life. But the officers who arrived didnt share her concerns. They refused to detain her husband and told her to make amends, she said. Yevgenia ultimately apprehended an older policeman out on patrol, who accepted her complaint and took her to the hospital. She moved in with a friend to avoid seeing her husband. Because of the risk of infection and travel restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, she could not join relatives in another city. But she followed through on her pledge to sever ties with her husband. His friends and relatives would have blamed me as usual, she said. My husband always said that I drove him to that state, that Im guilty for whatever beatings I get. Culture Wars The story recounted by Yevgenia, who asked that her last name be withheld for safety reasons, is typical of accounts from victims of domestic violence across Russia. The problem has worsened in other countries as well since lockdown measures were imposed: The World Health Organization has warned of a worldwide spike in April, noting an up to 60 percent increase in the number of emergency calls from women in EU member states. But in Russia, figures testifying to a growth in domestic-violence complaints have escalated an acrimonious and longstanding clash over cultural values, fueling mutual recriminations between womens rights activists warning of a deepening societal scourge and their conservative opponents, who assert that domestic violence shouldnt even exist as a term. This is a problem plucked out of thin air, said Vitaly Milonov, a lawmaker in parliaments lower house who is a prominent crusader against gay rights and liberal values. Violence is a punishable offense. Why do we need to single out domestic violence? Along with a group of other conservative lawmakers, Milonov has appealed to Russias prosecutor-general to investigate media outlets that report a rise in domestic violence, arguing that such claims undermine marriage as an institution. The lawmakers comments are in line with the views of a vocal minority in Russian society, backed informally by the Russian Orthodox Church, that has denounced proposed measures to tackle domestic violence as part of an attempt to undermine what opponents of such measures call traditional values. The article that provoked the latest salvo appeared on April 22 in business daily RBC, noting a 24 percent increase in the number of calls to a nationwide crisis hotline for women. The evidence of an increase does not come only from the media and civil society. On May 5, Russias human rights commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, reported a two-and-a-half-fold rise in incidents of domestic violence since lockdowns began at the end of March. The outlook is not optimistic, she told state news agency RIA Novosti. Milonov instead cites a very different set of figures. The Interior Ministry said that the number of registered crimes in the family and domestic sphere was 13 percent lower than last year, apparently comparing the statistics from April 2019 and April 2020. Womens rights activists say such statistics do not reflect reality. They argue that only a small minority of women in Russia report violence to the police -- and that when they do, officers often refuse to impose charges or pursue the case due to the administrative burden and the likelihood of the alleged perpetrators acquittal. A law partially decriminalizing domestic violence, which President Vladimir Putin signed in February 2017, has ushered in what critics warn is a climate of impunity for abusers. And lockdown measures during the pandemic, they say, have placed those women who are unable to leave home and seek refuge in an even more precarious position. The number of domestic violence cases has dropped because women are too scared to call the police, said Yelena Zolotilova, director of the Regional Centre for the Prevention of Violence. She can only call if the man leaves. But where will he leave? 'We Cant Really Help Women Right Now' In a phone interview from Rostov-on-Don, the southern city where the organization is based, Zolotilova said a woman had recently called the NGO after her intoxicated husband beat her and left her at home with her mother-in-law and her disabled son. She was unable to leave due to strict lockdown measures, violation of which risks a minimum 4,000-ruble fine ($55). But she feared violence would resume with her husbands return. Zolotilovas NGO owns a three-bedroom apartment that functions as a shelter for victims of domestic violence, but one victim is already living there and the quarantine regime means Zolotilova cannot make the accommodation available to the woman in question. We cant really help women right now. All the hotels are closed, we dont have the funds to rent more apartments, and theres no crisis center in Rostov-on-Don, she said, referring to dedicated shelters for women. Before wed send them to other regions, but now we simply cant help. So she and her volunteers offer verbal support, dispensing advice by phone. WATCH: Russians' Views Of Domestic Violence The ANNA Center, a womens rights NGO that Putins government has labeled a foreign agent because it subsists partly on foreign grants, told RFE/RL it has recorded a 31 percent increase in calls to its emergency hotline for women since Russias coronavirus epidemic began in March. There were 2,050 calls in February, deputy director Andrei Sinelnikov said -- in April that number had risen to 2,682. Our consultants are literally inundated with calls, he said in a phone interview. Were only able to answer 20 percent of incoming calls. Armed with a new grant from Avon, a British-based cosmetics company that has pledged money to tackle domestic violence globally, the ANNA Center is doubling its workforce to more than 20 employees and volunteers working remotely across Russia. The hotline has been active from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. -- now it is to run 24 hours per day. A proposed domestic-violence law, which would bring Russias legal system closer in line with most Western countries, has stalled in its passage through parliament. In the meantime, the group of female lawmakers that is actively lobbying the legislation has asked the government to exempt victims of domestic conflicts from punishment for violating quarantine measures. In one Siberian city, a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old who complained to police of sexual harassment on April 22 were subsequently charged with violating quarantine measures -- a scenario the lawmakers group and other activists want to avoid. The man who allegedly harassed the teenagers was arrested. Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Russian parliaments upper house, the Federation Council, said legislators would return to discussions of that domestic violence bill once the pandemic passes. I doubt therell be a spike in domestic violence. On the contrary, families are going through this tough period together, she told RBC on April 22. Oksana Pushkina, a maverick lawmaker who is the public face of the campaign for legislation on domestic violence, had a darker prediction. If we dont introduce this law, she said. Well be grappling with the consequences of this pandemic for decades." With reporting by Maria Karnaukh of Current Time Dharamsala, May 19 : Tibet's self-declared government-in-exile President Lobsang Sangay on Tuesday thanked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for making a strong call to China for the release of the second-highest holy monk, the Panchen Lama. Thanking the US Secretary of State "for not only consistently supporting the Tibet issue, but also making a call for the Panchen Lama in the strongest words ever in a long time", Sangay said in a statement that "this shows the US' unwavering solidarity with the Tibetan people". Referring to the global call on China to release the Panchen Lama, Sangay said, "It sends a strong message to the Chinese government that the international call for Panchen Lama is stronger than ever and will continue to campaign for his release until he is able to return to his rightful place at the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Tibet." The statement reiterated the US' concerns over China's ongoing campaign to eliminate the religious, linguistic and cultural identity of Tibetans. Pompeo said, "The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism with spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. But China's persecution of the Panchen Lama is not unusual. "The United States remains deeply concerned about the PRC's ongoing campaign to eliminate the religious, linguistic and cultural identity of Tibetans, including through the ongoing destruction of communities of worship and learning, such as the Larung Gar and Yachen Gar Buddhist Institutes." "We call on the PRC government to immediately make public the Panchen Lama's whereabouts and to uphold its own constitution and international commitments to promote religious freedom for all persons," Pompeo added. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama recognised Gedhun Choekyi Nyima on May 14, 1995, as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. Within three days of the announcement, he was abducted, making him one of the youngest political prisoners in the world. The Dalai Lama has been living in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Tibetan government-in-exile is based in this northern hill town of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. NEW YORK (May 19, 2020) - While most children infected with the novel coronavirus have mild symptoms, a subset requires hospitalization and a small number require intensive care. A new report from pediatric anesthesiologists, infectious disease specialists and pediatricians at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, describes the clinical characteristics and outcomes of children hospitalized with COVID-19, during the early days of the pandemic. Published in the Journal of Pediatrics, the report compares 46 children between one month and 21 years old, who received care either on a general unit, or in the Pediatric Critical Care Unit (PCCU) at CHAM. This is the largest single-center study from the United States to date to describe in detail the full spectrum of COVID-19 disease in hospitalized children. Researchers found that children requiring intensive care had higher levels of inflammation and needed additional breathing support, compared to those who were treated on a general unit. Of the children being cared for in the PCCU, almost 80% had Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), which is more commonly associated with critically ill adult COVID-19 patients, and almost 50% of children with ARDS were placed on ventilators. On average, children in the PCCU stayed in the hospital four days longer than children on the general unit. Researchers at CHAM and Einstein also found that while obesity and/or asthma was highly prevalent in children in this study, these complications did not increase the likelihood that a child would need enhanced levels of care. "We know that in adults, obesity is a risk factor for more severe disease, however, surprisingly, our study found that children admitted to the intensive care unit did not have a higher prevalence of obesity than those on the general unit," said lead author Jerry Y. Chao, M.D., M.Sc., pediatric anesthesiologist, CHAM, and assistant professor of anesthesiology, Einstein. Researchers also found that more than half of the children had no known contact with a COVID-positive person. This may reflect the fact that the virus can be spread by asymptomatic people and COVID19 may be more prevalent in communities with a high population density. "Thankfully most children with COVID-19 fare well, and some do not have any symptoms at all, but this research is a sobering reminder that children are not immune to this virus and some do require a higher level of care," said senior author Shivanand S. Medar, M.D., FAAP., attending physician, Cardiac Intensive Care, CHAM, and assistant professor of pediatrics, Einstein. "These preliminary findings contribute to our understanding of COVID-19 in pediatric patients, but more research is needed to determine how the virus truly impacts children." ### Co-authors of the paper include Kim Derespina, M.D., critical care attending, CHAM, and assistant professor of pediatrics, Einstein; Michael D. Cabana, M.D., M.P.H., Physician-in-Chief at CHAM and The Michael I. Cohen, M.D., University Chair, Department of Pediatrics at Einstein and Montefiore; and Betsy Herold, M.D., chief of the division of pediatric infectious diseases and vice chair for research, CHAM and Einstein, and professor of pediatrics, of microbiology & immunology, and of obstetrics & gynecology and women's health, Einstein. For next steps, the investigators plan to follow the patients and examine their long-term outcomes. About Montefiore Health System Montefiore Health System is one of New York's premier academic health systems and is a recognized leader in providing exceptional quality and personalized, accountable care to approximately three million people in communities across the Bronx, Westchester and the Hudson Valley. It is comprised of 11 hospitals, including the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and more than 200 outpatient ambulatory care sites. The advanced clinical and translational research at its medical school, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, directly informs patient care and improves outcomes. From the Montefiore-Einstein Centers of Excellence in cancer, cardiology and vascular care, pediatrics, and transplantation, to its preeminent school-based health program, Montefiore is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system providing coordinated, comprehensive care to patients and their families. For more information please visit http://www.montefiore.org. Follow us on Twitter and view us on Facebook and YouTube. Tinsukia (Assam) : Suspected ULFA-Independent militants exploded four bombs in various parts of Assam's Tinsukia district on Monday as the state celebrated the 70th Independence Day. There was no casualty or injury in any of the explosions. An improvised explosive devise (IED) exploded near Indira Gandhi School at Laipuli on the outskirts of district headquarters of Tinsukia town at 7.15 AM, the police said. This was followed by another explosion in line no.6 of Badlabhata tea estate in Doomdooma area where the third IED was also set off at Masuwa locality, they said. The fourth one exploded at Gamtumati in Philobari area where ULFA-I militants on August 12 night had shot dead two persons and injured six others in indiscriminate firing at Bahbon village. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg warns China-style regulation of internet platforms could spread to other countries, as leaders across the world consider greater online laws. The CEO voiced concerns Monday about which type of internet laws will come out on top in years to come, suggesting he wants 'more democratic' Western countries to lead the way. Speaking in a live discussion with EU commissioner Thierry Breton, Zuckerberg said the 'really dangerous' model used by countries like China where censorship is the norm could become attractive to nations still on the fence about how they want to regulate. Zuckerberg urges Western countries to counter China's approach with a democratic alternative, deeming it the 'best antidote' in preventing the Asian country's approach from becoming prevalent elsewhere. Scroll down for video Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg warns China-style regulation of internet platforms could spread to other countries, as leaders across the world consider greater online laws 'What I worry about is right now, I think, that there are emerging two very different frameworks that are underpinned by very different sets of values,' he said. 'Just to kind of be blunt about it, I think that there is a model that is coming out of countries like China that tend to have very different values than Western countries that are more democratic. 'I think right now a lot of other countries are looking at China and their economy and the companies that are coming out of there, and saying, 'Hey that model looks like maybe it might work, maybe it gives our government more control over different things'. 'So it might be attractive in different ways to force everyone to localize data and make it so that, basically you don't have to respect human rights quite as much, in how the society gets run and I just think that that's really dangerous and I worry about that kind of model.' Zuckerberg urges Western countries to counter China's approach with a democratic alternative, deeming it the 'best antidote' in preventing the Asian country's approach from becoming prevalent elsewhere It is not the first time Zuckerberg has taken aim at China, having criticized the country's state censorship mechanisms, claiming that Facebook's lack of presence in the country meant it was able to make decisions more freely about freedom of expression in contrast to social rivals such as TikTok. In 2018, Zuckerberg faced congressional hearings on the data practices of his company - particularly the data breaches by Cambridge Analytica - and the lack of any complete competitor. While testifying, the CEO said breaking up Facebook would result in Chinese corporations filling the void that might not share Facebooks American values. 'I think you can bet that, if the government here is worried about... whether it's election interference or terrorism... I don't think Chinese companies are going to want to cooperate as much and aid the national interest there,' he said. Zuckerberg also spoke out against the US constraining its own companies, noting it would only give way to overseas - specifically Chinese - competitors. 'If we adopt a stance which is that, we're going to, as a country, decide to clip the wings of these [American] companies and make it so it's harder for them to operate in different places or they have to be smaller, then there are plenty of other companies out there willing and able to take the place of the work that we're doing,' he said. 'And they do not share the values that we have.' Zuckerberg admitted he, as the creator of Facebook, was to blame for data being stolen and allegedly used to hijack the 2016 presidential election. In his defense, he claimed he had been alerting the FBI to attacks on RNC and DNC members, and other accounts since 2015, but admitted Facebook was 'too slow' to respond to accounts spreading disinformation. BLOOMINGTON The McLean County Board on Tuesday night postponed voting on a plan to "reopen" McLean County to allow the county Board of Health to weigh in on the matter. But even as the board delayed a vote until a special meeting of the board at 5:30 p.m. May 28, some members said it was time for businesses to reopen in spite of COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in McLean County. "I think it's important to get our businesses open as fast as we can," said member George Wendt. Small businesses are having a difficult time and "the longer the quarantine, the more problems with mental health," he said. Member Jim Soeldner said, "The small businesses are hurting," especially in rural areas. The board had been expected to vote on a Staged Implementation Plan for the Heart of Illinois Sub-Region, which could result in 11 Central Illinois counties "reopening" sooner than the larger North-Central Region established by Gov. J.B. Pritzker. But board member Chuck Erickson, who was to call for the vote Tuesday night, agreed to delay the vote until the special meeting to give the McLean County Board of Health a chance to weigh in on the plan. Seven board members wrote to the county clerk requesting the special meeting, triggering board Chairman John McIntyre, as allowed by state statute and County Board rules, to call the special meeting. Meanwhile, the Board of Health called a special meeting to discuss the plan for 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Erickson favors the HOI plan and told The Pantagraph earlier Tuesday: "We had 10 votes to move the HOI plan. To get to that 11th vote (of the 20-member board), some members wanted it to go to the health department (and Board of Health) first. "I'm not conceding anything," Erickson said. "We're sending it to the health department to say 'How can we implement this in McLean County?' That's really what's going on here." McIntyre said: "Right now, I'm supporting the (HOI) plan. I wanted to give our Board of Health a chance to review the governor's plan and the HOI plan and time for our state legislators to review this." During the board meeting, State's Attorney Don Knapp said the Board of Health should weigh in on the matter because the Illinois Department of Public Health and local health departments have statutory authority regarding isolation and quarantine, including as it impacts shuttering a business. "The Board of Health has total operational control of the (county) health department," Knapp said. There's nothing operationally that the County Board can do to force the health department to do something, Knapp said. In addition, board members said they want to see what would happen with the COVID-19 drive-through testing site at the McLean County Fairgrounds. That testing site, which has been open since March 28, is scheduled to close at 5 p.m. Friday. The board approved sending a letter, drafted by member Josh Barnett, to IDPH and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asking that the testing site remain open. Continued testing is critical to any reopening plan, several members said. Board member Carlo Robustelli encouraged the health department to develop a local testing plan. Member Elizabeth Johnston asked that any replacement site allow walk-up testing. Asked earlier Tuesday why he supported the HOI plan, McIntyre said, "There is a large majority of people in this county who feel businesses need to be open sooner." The HOI plan calls for separating out Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Fulton, Marshall, Stark, McLean, Livingston, Bureau, Putnam and LaSalle counties from the governor's North-Central Region, which basically includes the northwest quadrant of Illinois with McLean County at the southeast corner. The governor's plan splits the state into four regions, allowing each to slowly reopen based on several factors, including COVID-19 infection rates and available hospital beds. But the detailed Heart of Illinois plan indicates that the 11-county subregion could potentially open sooner because the area benefits from high levels of medical services per capita and sufficient surge capacity to manage an increase in COVID-19 patients. The HOI plan calls for reopening based on data, including health care, hospital bed and equipment availability; testing capacity; and community engagement. While the plan got mixed reviews during last week's board executive committee and Board of Health meetings, McIntyre said the HOI plan makes sense. "The counties that already are meeting the metrics can move forward," McIntyre said. "It's a better plan for us to follow right now considering the number of people we have out of work." During the meeting, the board heard that it had received 54 communications from residents: 27 regarding reopening McLean County; six regarding jail inmate privileges; and 21 calling for a housing plan for individuals who test positive for COVID-19 but can't isolate, those who are asymptomatic but need to quarantine because they have been exposed to COVID, and those who live in congregate but high-risk settings such as the jail. In other business, the County Board voted 15-4, with McIntyre not voting, to freeze the salary of the circuit clerk at $105,290 through Dec. 31, 2024; freeze the salary of the coroner at $100,324 through 2024; and lower the salary of the auditor from $100,302 to $80,600 through 2024. Member William Caisley voted "no," saying the current economic conditions caused by COVID-19 wouldn't last four years. Caisley, Wendt, and members Lyndsay Bloomfield and William Friedrich voted "no." The board also: Approved expanding the Bloomington-Normal Enterprise Zone to accommodate expansion of the Ferrero candy factory at 2501 Beich Road, Bloomington, which will add 50 employees to the current workforce of 300. Approved ordinances abating taxes on property purchased by Rivian Automotive and Brandt Industries after learning that both businesses had met payroll obligations in project development agreements. Contact Paul Swiech at 309-820-3275. Follow him on Twitter: @pg_swiech. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. As expected, the housing market slumped in April. There is some evidence of a pickup in activity recently, but any lasting resurgence will be dependent on the course of the pandemic. Note that April sales are for contracts typically signed in February and March. So the report for May will probably be even worse (based on March and April contracts). From SacRealtor.org: April 2020 Statistics Sacramento Housing Market Single Family Homes April closed with 1,013 sales, down 13.4% from the 1,170 sales in March. Compared to one year ago (1,496), the current figure is a 32.3% drop. ... The Active Listing Inventory increased 10% from March to April, from 1,658 units to 1,823 units. Compared with April 2019 (2,094), inventory is down 14.9%. The Months of Inventory increased from 1.4 to 1.8 Months. This figure represents the amount of time (in months) it would take for the current rate of sales to deplete the total active listing inventory. ... The Median DOM (days on market) decreased from 8 to 7 and the Average DOM decreased from 26 to 16. Days on market represents the days between the initial listing of the home as active and the day it goes pending. emphasis added 1) Overall sales decreased to 1,013 in April, down 32.3% from 1,496 in April 2019. Sales were down 13.4% from March 2020 (previous month).2) Active inventory was at 1,823, down from 2,094 in April 2019. That is down 14.9% year-over-year. This is the twelfth consecutive month with a YoY decline in inventory. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to pull the US out of the World Health Organization, accusing it of botching the global coronavirus response and of being a "puppet of China". The American leader has been locked in a bitter spat with Beijing, alleging it covered up the initial outbreak in central China late last year before the disease unleashed death and economic devastation across the planet. More than 317,000 people have died of COVID-19 out of nearly 4.8 million infections worldwide, and governments are scrambling to contain the virus while seeking ways to resuscitate their hammered economies. With more fatalities and cases in the United States than any other country by far, under-pressure Trump has blamed the WHO for not doing enough to combat its initial spread. "They're a puppet of China, they're China-centric to put it nicer," he said at the White House. "They gave us a lot of bad advice." Trump had already suspended US funding to the UN body, and after his White House comments, he tweeted a letter he had sent to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus threatening to make that freeze permanent. "It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world," the letter said. "The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China," it added, giving the body 30 days to show "substantive improvements". Before the threat, the WHO had promised an independent review of its pandemic response. Beijing has furiously denied the US allegations that it played down the threat, and Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated at the World Health Assembly that his nation had been "transparent" throughout the crisis. As he launched his latest attack on China, Trump also dropped a bombshell saying he was taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that his own government's experts have said is not suitable for fighting the coronavirus. "I take a pill every day," said the president, adding that he is using it because he has "heard a lot of good stories". - 'A test from God' - Experts have warned that the social distancing measures that have impacted more than half of humanity will remain necessary to stop the virus until a vaccine or viable medical treatment is available. Development work on a prophylactic is under way at breakneck speed around the world, and results from a trial in the United States sparked optimism on Monday. Early -- and small -- clinical trials of a vaccine by US firm Moderna showed encouraging results, with recipients showing an immune response similar to people recovering from COVID-19. It will begin a larger second-phase trial soon. In China, meanwhile, scientists at Peking University have said they are developing a drug that can help stop the pandemic without a vaccine by using antibodies that can neutralize the virus. They are planning clinical trials for the treatment, and are hoping to have the drug available later this year and in time for any potential winter outbreak. Authorities around the world are keeping an eye on such breakthroughs as the virus continues on its destructive path, with many poorer nations now seeing a dramatic rise in infections even as the caseload eases in more developed parts of the world like Europe. In Indonesia, gravediggers at a cemetery earmarked for COVID-19 victims in the capital Jakarta are struggling to keep up with the number of corpses arriving every day, trying not to touch the bodies and lessen the chance of getting infected themselves. "I've been digging graves for 33 years now and I've never been this tired before," said gravedigger Minar. "This is probably a test from God." - Violence in Chile - The vast economic damage caused by the virus has led to unprecedented emergency stimulus measures by governments and central banks, and the latest came from Europe where France and Germany laid out a half-trillion-euro fund. The hard-hit continent has seen deaths and hospitalizations drop in recent days, sparking optimism about a post-pandemic recovery. The daily death count in the United States has also slowed over the last couple of days, as all 50 states began easing lockdown measures to varying degrees. Despite the hope in Europe and North America, other countries are only just starting to feel the full force of the virus, and United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned the impact on the southern hemisphere could be "even more devastating". Already, Brazil has overtaken Britain to have the third-highest number of infections in the world with more than 255,000 confirmed cases, and the death toll in Latin America and the Caribbean has topped 30,000. In Chile, where the government has imposed strict distancing measures in some areas after a dramatic rise in cases, the economic pressure from lockdowns was brought into sharp focus as violence erupted in a crowded, poor area on the outskirts of the capital Santiago. Angry residents wielding sticks erected barricades and threw rocks at riot police, who fought back with tear gas and water cannon. "It is not because of the quarantine," resident Veronica Abarca told AFP. "It is aid, food, what people are asking for right now. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics Senate Republicans find themselves in a familiar place: steamrolled by President Donald Trumps purge of government watchdogs and offering little indication of how they plan to stop him. Some GOP senators offered tacit rebukes on Monday after the president fired the State Departments inspector general late on a Friday night without providing a clear explanation for his decision, as required by law. Those lawmakers did the same last month when Trump sacked the intelligence communitys inspector general, Michael Atkinson again, late on a Friday night. And both times, their pleas have been ineffective. The president has defied Senate Republicans without hesitation, continuing to fire and reassign inspectors general whom he feels are insufficiently loyal to him without engendering blowback from his party. Its a dynamic that reflects both Trumps hold on the GOP and the limits of Congress broader ability to rein in a president. Several Senate Republicans reiterated Monday that the president is required by law to elaborate on his decision to fire Steve Linick, the State Departments inspector general. They said they would wait for his response to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has sent letters to Trump demanding more detailed explanations of his firings of Atkinson and Linick. When he fired the two, Trump said in his official notification letters he had lost confidence in both men. Its very clear that the president has to provide a justification 30 days prior to the removal of an inspector general, said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who co-wrote the 2008 law requiring notification to Congress ahead of an inspector generals removal. It is not a sufficient justification to say he simply lost confidence. As the co-author of that law, I know that is not what we intended. We intended a more fulsome explanation. But Trump unequivocally defended his most recent move further underscoring that GOP senators warnings arent having an effect. Story continues It happens to be very political whether you like it or not. And many of these people were Obama appointments. So I just got rid of him, the president said. Former State Department Inspector General Steve Linick. Trumps decision to fire Linick without complying with the 2008 law is the latest example of the presidents concerted campaign against high-level administration officials in the aftermath of his acquittal in the Senates impeachment trial, with a particular focus on those who played a role in his impeachment. Several Republican senators who faulted Trump for his conduct toward Ukraine during the trial but still voted to acquit him said they had hoped Trump would learn a lesson from the impeachment saga. But Trump has emerged emboldened and eager for retribution, even as Republicans speak out against him. We deserve an explanation, said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.). These are important positions. They are watchdogs for these agencies, and they have an important role to play, and I think its important for us to be a part of the oversight process. But Republicans also acknowledged that the president has the authority to decide who serves in his executive branch, and most stopped short of endorsing more aggressive mechanisms to compel the presidents compliance. As Democrats introduced legislation that would require congressional approval for the firing of an inspector general, several Republicans said it was too soon to consider such an action and reiterated that the president is already required by law to provide a detailed justification, even as he maintains the authority to hire and fire these officials. The inspector general serves a purpose, said Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, a member of GOP leadership. But they do serve at the discretion of the president, which seems to be contradictory but thats the way the law is written. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters on Monday that he would consider supporting legislation from Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) aimed at shielding inspectors general from politically motivated terminations, but he didnt rule out introducing his own proposal. I would like to see a way to preserve the independence of the inspectors general, Romney said. There are multiple ways one could potentially do that. Linicks firing drew criticism from some Senate Republicans over the weekend, including Grassley, Collins and Romney. Theyre the same GOP senators who sought details on Trumps firing of Atkinson, who was also sacked on a Friday night with little by way of an official explanation. And on Monday, Grassley sent yet another letter to the president demanding that he provide a written explanation for his removal of Linick by June 1. The Iowa Republican also followed up on his previous demand about Atkinsons firing. That response was due on April 13, but Trump has thus far ignored the letter. Grassley said on Monday he expects a response this week, adding he has been pressing the White House on the issue. I had a telephone call maybe two weeks ago because I was complaining I didn't get an answer, Grassley said. And they said, 'We're gonna get you one right away.' Well, they didn't get it right away. But we're gonna get it. Rather than heed the senators advice, Trump called out Collins in a tweet late Sunday night and said she and other senators should deal with this whole whistleblower racket. It was a direct shot not only at Collins, but also at Grassley, who has long advocated for the independence of inspectors general and protections for whistleblowers. When asked about Trumps tweet, Collins said there seems to be a bit of confusion and emphasized that her comments were in reference to the removal of the State Department inspector general. Its not just the usual suspects who have asked Trump to back off his war on independent oversight agencies. Last month, Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) wrote to Trump asking him to support inspectors general rather than undermine them, in particular after Trump reassigned a Health and Human Services watchdog who had published reports that were critical of the administration. One thing I think must be done is that we follow the law, which is 30 days notice and a rationale, Portman reiterated on Monday. Although we understand these are executive branch confirmed positions and the president has the right under the Constitution to decide who he wants in his executive branch, we wanted there to be some degree of independence. Trump said on Monday he fired Linick at Secretary of State Mike Pompeos request. Linick was investigating Pompeo and his wife over allegations that they improperly directed political appointees to run personal errands for them, including walking their dog and picking up their dry cleaning. Linick was also probing the Trump administrations effort to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia without congressional approval, Democrats said on Monday. The Democratic-controlled House Foreign Affairs Committee is investigating the firing, alongside the Democratic minority of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Republicans have thus far declined to join that effort, prompting withering criticism from Democrats. Is a mild rebuke the most my Republican colleagues can muster? A tweet? Concerned statements? Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. They are so afraid of President Trump, they cling almost to his ankles that when they know he is doing wrong, when they know he is hiding the truth, theyre afraid to say anything. They shudder. Ive never seen anything like it. 188 Shares Share Within the current COVID-19 pandemic, health care workers and educators have quickly needed to make adaptations and sacrifices. In order to make room for the conservation of necessary aspects of care, we need to take a conscientious look at our resources. As such, two missions have been embraced nationally by health care systems and university hospitals: conserve personal protective equipment (PPE), and reduce viral exposures to staff and students. Medical education was quickly one of the first targets identified to reduce both PPE and exposures, leading medical students nationwide to be pulled out of clinical environments. Resident education has rapidly followed, as residents are clinically or administratively redeployed. While this seems like a major hit to medical education objectives, adaptation and creativity can ensure that these goals are not ignored, and instead, new opportunities are generated. Organizational guidance for learners during the pandemic The American Medical Association (AMA) issued guidance on March 17 and March 30, 2020, recommending a hold on all clinical duties for medical students. Additional guidelines from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) corroborated these recommendations. These organizations encouraged medical schools to remove students from clinical environments when and where appropriate to conserve supplies, reduce stress on clinical educators who are also practicing themselves, and to protect students. Similar guidelines were set forth by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for residents and fellows, with the ultimate goals of safety and supervision in mind. Notably, with the cancelation of elective cases, the ACGME loosened clinical case number requirements, and will instead rely on individual programs and directors to determine competency for graduation. Guidance from these organizations suggests creating new alternatives to replace educational objectives. In some cases, these substitutions are natural, such as in the preclinical years, where educational materials were often already being delivered virtually in some capacity. In other situations, such as for residents and senior medical students, comparable and enriching substitutions for clinical experiences become more challenging. Creatively maintaining educational goals The population of medical students and residents is not an idle one. The vast majority of these learners expect to be challenged and thrive when being put to the test. Students are actively looking to be more involved and feel empowered in confronting administrators when educational alternatives are not meeting expectations. In order for all parties to be successful during this time, we must get creative with our solutions and create two-way lines of open communication. Straightforward methods of adapting to strained times within the health care system will not cut it. Fortunately, physicians and those in training are often deeply creative and capable of finding solutions never entertained before. As an example, pulling most learners away from face-to-face clinical encounters was vital. However, this does completely eliminate clinical interaction. With current technologies, learners are able to join rounds virtually via video conference or join telemedicine clinics remotely. Moreover, learning telemedicine is an opportunity students are not likely to have experienced prior to the current pandemic. Another consideration has been maintaining surgical education goals for residents as elective cases are on hold. It may make immediate sense to double-scrub residents in emergent cases to increase surgical experience, but this consumes additional PPE. It also opens the door for more residents to concurrently be placed in quarantine if exposure occurs. In these instances, creative solutions may include remote surgical simulation or virtually watching microscopic dissection. Additional skillsets may also be cultivated through communication workshops or interdisciplinary projects around topics of interest, such as end-of-life care or epidemiology. Although the immediate outlook may seem bleak, creative solutions can provide enriching and unique opportunities for learners at all stages. Value-added roles for learners Adapting educational experiences relies on the understanding that learners of all levels can be placed in value-added roles. With some creativity and support, these roles can combine learners desire to help with the needs of the health care system to bridge service and education.1 By opening the door for innovation, large-scale, safe opportunities can be created by eager learners and administrators within weeks or even days. Some examples of these value-added roles include assisting with PPE production and supply chains, staffing hotlines (sometimes in multiple languages), providing support to community members in need, creating wellness initiatives, and assisting in telehealth where appropriate. All of these activities can satiate learners desires to be involved in this historical time, and provide educational value. Attitude is everything While this situation is unprecedented, educators and learners alike must remember that everyone is facing similar challenges, and it is our attitude in this time that will ultimately predict the outcome. If learners believe educational adaptations will never suffice, their participation and growth will not be meaningful. Similarly, if educators are wary or hesitant to investigate new educational or technological alternatives, their learners will remain stagnant during a time of great potential opportunity. Instead, we can embrace this era and adopt the attitude that we are all learning new skills and information that might not previously have been explored. Many of these outlets will strengthen our clinical careers or educational programs in the future in unexpected and beneficial ways. We must all remain hopeful and committed to the task at hand, and allow the COVID-19 pandemic to enhance professional development rather than render learners temporarily obsolete. Carolyn S. Quinsey is a neurosurgeon. Casey Hribar is a medical writer. Image credit: Shutterstock.com NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Four Miami siblings built a website that shares tips for turning quarantine time into quality time. Qtips.org offers a variety of entertaining activities to do online for free, from live concerts to kids' crafts and everything in between. The website includes 3D tours of the best museums in the world, e-classes at Harvard, cooking classes, home exercise programs, DIY ideas, wellness tools, live-streamed and recorded concerts, top films, documentaries, shows, ted talks, masterclasses and much more. This began when four siblings decided to make the best of a bad situation by searching for the most entertaining and educational experiences online. They decided to share the best resources they discovered with others who are in the same situation they're in. "We found a lot of great things to do online and it feels great to share them with others who are facing the same challenges we're facing," said Sean Wolfington, a 16-year-old sophomore at Belen High School and co-creator of Qtips.org. along with his three younger sisters. "It feels really good to have an opportunity to play a small part in helping others," said Maria Grace Wolfington, a 14-year-old 8th grader who attends the Carrollton School, along with her sisters. "We created the kids section because we know what kids like," said Isabella Wolfington, 12 years old. "There are a lot of really fun things to do on the site for every age," added Ana Cristina Wolfington,10 years old. "After the kids built the website, they created a press release so more people could learn about the cool site they built," said Ana Wolfington, the children's mother. "We're crazy proud of them." SOURCE Qtips.org Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including divisional commander Junaid Ashraf Khan, were killed in a gun battle with security forces at Nawakadal in Srinagars old quarters on Tuesday. Khan is the youngest son of senior separatist leader and Tahreek-e-Hurriyat chairman, Mohammad Ashraf Khan alias Sehrai. This was the first gun battle between security forces and militants in the citys old quarters in the past two years. The presence of militants in the area is being seen as the re-emergence of militancy in the densely populated part of Srinagar. Police said a joint operation was launched in the area late on Monday night by police and CRPF following a specific tipoff about the presence of militants. The operation, carried out along with the Central Reserve Police Force, began at around midnight when security forces encircled a cluster of houses in the neighbourhood. Local residents said they heard an exchange of fire at around midnight. The exchange of fire resumed on Tuesday morning and the gun battle ended at around 1 pm, when troops recovered two bodies from a house that was blasted during the fighting. Jammu and Kashmirs director general of police Dilbag Singh said both militants were locals. We have identified the terrorists as Junaid Ashraf Khan, who is from Srinagar, and Tariq Ashraf Sheikh from Pulwama. Junaid is the younger son of Hurriyat chairman Mohammad Ashraf Khan. He joined militancy two years ago, he said. Singh told a news conference that Khan was operating in the four districts of Srinagar, Budgam, Pulwama and Shopian. His associate had joined militancy only in March, he added. Khan was allegedly involved in more than half a dozen criminal cases, attacks on security forces and issuing threats to civilians, Singh said. He was operating as the divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen for central Kashmir, including Pulwama and Shopian, he said. Singh said security forces are trying to keep Srinagar as peaceful as possible, but enemies make attempts to disturb the peace. Most of the grenade attacks in the city have been linked to the Hizbul Mujahideen. We arrested 12 people and busted modules, which were trying to attack the city, he said. Singh said Khan was being tracked by the security forces for many days and the operation was launched on Monday after officials received a specific input about the presence of militants in the area. Mobile internet services across Srinagar were suspended and voice calls of all service providers other than BSNL were snapped during the operation. Strict restrictions were imposed in the area because of fears that the killing of the militants could trigger clashes in the old quarters of the city. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown in late March, there has been surge in gun battles and top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo was recently killed with an associate at Beighpora Gulzapora. The security forces had described his death as a big success and a setback for the Hizbul Mujahideen. Khan was the second top Hizb commander to be killed in Kashmir in recent days. After the killing of Naikoo, the Hizb had announced the names of three new commanders, including Ghazi Haider, who was named the groups new operational chief. Khan had joined militancy in March 2018 after he went missing from his house in Srinagar. Later, he posted a picture of himself holding a gun on social media and announced he was joining the Hizbul Mujahideen. The same year, his father Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, 74, replaced Ali Shah Geelani as the chief of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. Khan had done his MBA from Kashmir University before joining militancy. Universal credit claims have surged since the coronavirus lockdown began, with Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showing unemployment on the rise. (PA) Unemployment claims surged by 69.1% in Britain swiftly after the coronavirus lockdown began. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday is the most comprehensive yet on how the pandemic has rippled through the UK labour market. It shows the number of claims for jobseekers allowance and universal credit claimants looking for work spiked between March and April, reaching 2.1 million. Other headline unemployment figures from the ONS are released with a time-lag however, covering only the three months to the end of March. They show an internationally recognised measure of employment at a joint-record high of 76.6% and unemployment close to record lows at 3.9% going into the crisis. READ MORE: Fears for 6,000 jobs with Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia owner on the brink Another sign of the pandemics early impact on the labour market comes in the vacancy figures, with employer concerns appearing to slow hiring in March. The number of vacancies dropped by 170,000 in the quarter. Other estimates based on real-time earnings information from employers suggest the number of paid employees dropped by 1.6% in April compared to March. Meanwhile earnings growth slowed to an annual rate of 2.7% in the three months to March. The official joblessness tally is widely expected to rise in the coming months. Jagit Chadha, director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said the latest figures included only a very early snapshot including one week of the lockdown and more than two months running up to it. He told BBC Radio 4s Today programme shortly before the data was released that the unemployment rate would continue to move higher this year. He said the think tank expected it to reach at least 10% of the workforce, the highest since the early 1990s. Aligarh, May 19 : Aligarh BJP MP Satish Gautam has urged the district officials to ban the use of loudspeakers for 'azaan', in keeping with the directives of the Allahabad High Court. The MP told reporters that the high court has permitted 'azaan' from mosques but without loudspeakers. He said he had met the authorities for implementation for the same, as many mosques in the city were found violating the orders and using loudspeakers early in the morning. The Allahabad High Court on May 15 had allowed 'azaan' from mosques but said that the use of loudspeakers could not be permitted. The court said that 'azaan' was a part of Islam but using loudspeakers were not a part of the religion. When contacted, District Magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh, said that Supreme Court guidelines in this matter said the sound system could be seized and confiscated only if they were found to be creating noise beyond the permissible limits. "If we receive further order from the state government in this regard, we will implement it," he said. BJP MLA Sanjeev Raja also said that the high court order should be implemented in letter and spirit. Former Samajwadi party MLA, Zamirullah Khan, said that these leaders were raising this issue to target Muslims. "Instead of fighting the coronavirus, they are concerned about announcements of 'azaan' on loudspeakers," he added . He even went on to claim that some political leaders were spreading coronavirus across the city and their samples should also be taken for testing. Khan said, "All of them, including MP and MLAs, had attended the religious rituals after demise of a real estate developer's mother. Later, the businessman also succumbed to the virus and several of his family members were also reported positive. However, they have not been quarantined." With the first day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri approaching on Sunday, we cant help but feel that this years celebrations will certainly be different from previous years. Since returning to hometowns has been prohibited due to COVID-19, some Malaysians are stuck in the cities, away from their parents and grandparents who live in the village or kampung. Social distancing measures will also drastically change the ways we observe special occasions; with fewer people, less noise, and less warm hugs altogether. But lets not let the virus season dampen eid festivities. Heres how you can celebrate Raya to the fullest without breaching social distancing measures. Up to 20 people per gathering Practice social distancing even at open houses. Photo: iStock Malaysians will be allowed to visit friends, neighbors, and relatives within the same state on the first day of Hari Raya, which racks up to 24 hours worth of catching up with your best friends! However, a maximum of only 20 people will be allowed to gather in one home as long as groups respect social distancing measures. This means that homes that are too small to host 20 people sitting or standing at least a meter apart will need to reduce the headcount or risk having the police or military come knocking on their doors. Meanwhile, patients who have recovered from COVID-19 are advised to stay home. Wear a mask at all times Stay fashionable and virus-free this raya. Photo: Instagram / @behatico So what if your mask doesnt match your baju raya? Local Malaysian fashion brands like Behati and Nala Designs have come up with stylish face masks you can use to make a fashion statement and show off your Raya OOTD on Instagram while staying safe from the virus. Salam from afar Greeting or giving salam when we meet our loved ones this year will be a tad different due to social distancing. Before self-isolation, it was common to see people shaking hands and kissing cheeks when they meet. This year, lets find ways to salam from afar and minimize contact, especially when greeting those vulnerable to COVID-19 like the elderly. According to Malaysias Health Director-General Noor Hisham Abdullah, 50 percent of COVID-19 deaths were victims aged 60 years old and above. Story continues One option would be to stretch out our hands and then hold it over our hearts. Utilize video calls Video calls are a great way to close the distance. Photo: Unsplash / Gabriel Benois As for those who will be separated from their elders, we feel your heartache. Raya just wont be the same without everyone under one roof, baking cookies and exchanging duit raya. Thankfully, theres video conferencing. Call your loved ones up this Raya via Zoom, Skype, or other video conferencing platforms. Zoom allows up to 49 on-screen participants while WhatsApp is testing a feature to accommodate up to 50 people per video call. Use e-wallets to send duit raya Send e-duit raya to minimize contact. Photo: Touch n Go Traditionally, adults would give children money during the festive occasion in the form of cash sealed in envelopes. But in this era of self-isolation, that seems impossible. So why not choose to send duit raya electronically through e-wallets? There are many e-wallet apps out there, including GrabPay, Boost, Maybank, and Touch n Go. Most of these apps will feature services for sending and receiving duit raya. Plus, its more environmentally-friendly than the traditional way of giving raya money since we would be using much less paper. Other stories to check out: Bonus backlash: Struggling Pos Malaysia promises better rewards when COVID-19 situation improves Shopping malls in KL double down on efforts to welcome Hari Raya visitors Teen mom remanded after newborn survives four-story fall This article, Malaysians, heres how you can celebrate Hari Raya while social distancing, originally appeared on Coconuts, Asia's leading alternative media company. Want more Coconuts? Sign up for our newsletters! Everywhere from Nepal to Sweden, North America to China, tiny gorgeous birds called rosefinches delight bird watchers and catch the eyes of nature-trail enthusiasts. Belonging to the songbird family, Fringillidae, rosefinches are believed to have originated somewhere in the Sino-Himalayas. (L: Prateek Kulkarni/Shutterstock, R: Dararat Insuwan/Shutterstock) However, these small but beautiful birds have diversified over the centuriesand spread out their locations, too. Chances are, there is a type of rosefinch living somewhere near you at some point during the year; even up in Scandinavia, there are common rosefinches that follow a loop migration path from India to spend their springs and summers. The rosefinch typically has a pinkish color to it, which explains the name of this particular branch of the finch family. But with so many different types, can you tell them apart? Here are a few of the selected breeds. 1. Common Rosefinch (Carpodacus erythrinus) The common rosefinch is also called the scarlet rosefinch and lives primarily in Europe and Asia. Females and juveniles have a dull coloration to them, but grown males are almost rosy-carmine in color with white bellies and dark wings. (Wildlife World/Shutterstock) 2. Dark-Rumped Rosefinch (Carpodacus edwardsii) Found primarily in Bhutan, China, Myanmar, and Nepal, the dark-rumped rosefinch differs from the common rosefinch in a way that its name might suggest; this bird has a dark underside to its tail, giving it a dark rump as described. 3. Great Rosefinch (Carpodacus rubicilla) Youre most likely to find this particular rosefinch in the Middle East; it primarily makes its home in countries like Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. These rosefinches are large and round, living in temperate scrubland and tundrasand while there are a few different types of great rosefinches out there, you might be able to identify them by the paler white coloring of the females and the dark pink coloration of the males. 4. Pallass Rosefinch (Carpodacus roseus) If you find yourself near Russia, Japan, or Mongolia, you might come across this particular rosefinch. Its much stouter than the common rosefinch. An adult male is easy to identify by the silvery markings on its head. Its coloration is a bit more muted than some of its other more vibrant cousinsit looks like more of a dusky rose in color than a brighter pink or redbut dont be fooled; this rosefinch is just as pretty as the others. 5. Pink-Browed Rosefinch (Carpodacus rodochroa) Found in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, usually in the Himalayas, the pink-browed rosefinch has been observed migrating to Bhutan, Tibet, India, Nepal, and even Pakistan. It earned its name due to the coloration on its brow; instead of white or duller coloring, this rosefinch boasts a darker pink color above its eyes. By ANI MUMBAI: Central paramilitary forces will be deployed in several areas of Mumbai on Tuesday to assist the local police in the on-going battle against coronavirus. "Total 5 companies of CISF and CRPF to be deployed in zones 1,3,5,6 and 9 in Mumbai from today," said Mumbai Police PRO while speaking to media. Notably, Zone -1 is Colaba to Marine Drive, Zone 3 is from Tardeo, Nagpada, Worli to NM Joshi Marg, Zone 5 is from Dharavi to Dadar, Zone 6 from Chembur to Mankhurd and Zone 9 is Bandra to Amboli (Andheri West). Mumbai is one of the worst COVID-19 affected regions in Maharashtra. The total number of positive cases in the city is 21,152, the BMC said. The death toll in Mumbai rose to 757 after 23 more people succumbed to the infection on Monday. More to the point, it advised the jury to complete that second section only if it found Martin not guilty of first-degree murder or was unable to agree on that charge. After about two hours jurors said they could not agree on the first charge but concluded Martin was guilty of second-degree murder. That led to the second trial. Brnovich told the U.S. Supreme Court the results of the second trial and the guilty verdict on first-degree murder should stand. If nothing else, Brnovich argued that Martin, in seeking to have the verdict in the first trial voided, knew there was a risk that he could be retried on first-degree murder when he successfully appealed the second-degree murder conviction. Not true, Bolick wrote for the Arizona Supreme Court. The general rule is that the prosecution is entitled to only one complete opportunity to prove the case, he said. Bolick said that does not apply in cases when a mistrial is declared because of a hung jury where they cannot reach a verdict. But Bolick said that wasnt the case here. Prabhas gave an exceptional performance in the two part Baahubali namely, Baahubali : The Beginning and Baahubali : The Conclusion. The film received a thunderous response and even crossed the 1000 crore mark. The film also crossed boundaries and received a great applause bagging many accolades. During the pandemic, Baahubali is the only film that is stirring up the excitement within the viewers and even the channels are receiving a good TRP owing to its popularity and Prabhas' fandom. The climax still gives theatrical feels and one totally gets goosebumps watching the same. Prabhas' on screen presence always creates a wide impact, each time. The actor is loved for his well toned physique, strong delivery of dialogues and always making a unique connect with his audiences via his films and characters. Prabhas' fanbase sees no boundaries and he is popularly hailed as a Pan-India superstar. With his constant hardwork and dedication, the actor has always delivered films that reach heights. The amount of diverse characters the actor has delivered one will always fall short of words for describing the versatility Prabhas holds. The actor is also the first choice of every director because of his popularity and dedication towards his work. On the work front, Prabhas is all geared up for his next being a first ever PAN-World release with a Nag Ashwin directorial followed by Prabhas 20th. His previous film Saaho as well broke records and recieved a hulking support from fans across. ALSO READ: Prabhas- Rana Daggubati Combo To Set The Screens On Fire Yet Again After Baahubali Franchise? NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AI.Reverie, a pioneer in synthetic data generation and a Forbes Top Machine Learning Startup to Watch in 2020, today announces that it has won an AFWERX Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract to enhance computer vision models for the Department of Defense. The award extends AI.Reverie's successful partnership with the Air Force to the Army. The Defense Department looks to AI.Reverie to accelerate reconnaissance to the speed required in a contingency environment. The computer vision models that power intelligence-gathering must be trained on data from classified locations and hard-to-reach places. Pentagon AI experts have detailed the high-cost, labor intensive labeling process the data must then undergo before it can be put to work. AI.Reverie's synthetic data platform represents a critical breakthrough for computer vision. It resolves the challenges of rare data and expense by automatically generating millions of fully annotated, richly diverse images quickly and at a low cost. AI.Reverie aims to generate images across the electromagnetic spectrum that will empower soldiers to more accurately identify objects and make life-saving decisions. "We are excited that the Department of Defense has renewed its investment in our team so we can support more impending missions," said AI.Reverie co-founder and CEO Daeil Kim. "SBIR grants have allowed us to contribute to cutting-edge technology for a meaningful endeavor, which is exactly what we set out to do." Air Force SBIR 20.1 was the first joint program with the Army, Navy and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to provide competitive awards enabling innovative small businesses to explore their technology potential within the Defense Department. About AI.Reverie AI.Reverie is a synthetic data platform that trains AI to understand the world. It offers a suite of synthetic data and vision APIs to help businesses across different industries train machine learning algorithms and improve AI applications, along with benchmarking services to measure the impact. About AFWERX AFWERX is an innovation arm of the U.S. Air Force established in 2017. Its focus is to provide non-traditional innovators the opportunity to solve challenges and increase effectiveness within the Air Force. AFWERX has partnered with the U.S. Air Force SBIR with a start-up approach. They have accelerated timelines and processes to quickly scale innovation within the DoD. Photo(s): https://www.prlog.org/12822883 Press release distributed by PRLog SOURCE AI.Reverie Continuing his attack on World Health Organization (WHO), US President Donald Trump on Monday (May 18) threatened to permanently stop US funding to the global health body unless it commits to substantive improvements within the next 30 days. Trump made the announcement in a scathing letter sent to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday. The US president later shared screenshots of his letter on Twitter. That is why it is my duty, as President of the United States, to inform you that, if the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization, Trump wrote. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving Americans interests, he added. President Trump remarked that the US as been in talks with the WHO on how to reform the organization, without elaborating on the measures. In Mondays letter, Trump said the review has confirmed many of the serious concerns I raised last month and identified others that the World Health Organization should have addressed, especially the World Health Organizations alarming lack of independence from the Peoples Republic of China. Here is the full text of the letter President Trump sent to WHO chief: Dear Dr. Tedros: On April 14, 2020, I suspended United States contributions to the World Health Organization pending an investigation by my Administration of the organization's failed response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This review has confirmed many of the serious concerns I raised last month and identified others that the World Health Organization should have addressed, especially the World Health Organization's alarming lack of independence from the People's Republic of China. Based on this review, we now know the following: The World Health Organization consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from the Lancet medical journal. The World Health Organization failed to independently investigate credible reports that conflicted directly with the Chinese government's official accounts, even those that came from sources within Wuhan itself. By no later than December 30, 2019, the World Health Organization office in Beijing knew that there was a "major public health" concern in Wuhan. Between December 26 and December 30, China's media highlighted evidence of a new virus emerging from Wuhan, based on patient data sent to multiple Chinese genomics companies. Additionally, during this period, Dr. Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, told China's health authorities that a new coronavirus was causing a novel disease that was, at the time, afflicting approximately 180 patients. By the next day, Taiwanese authorities had communicated information to the World Health Organization indicating human-to-human transmission of a new virus. Yet the World Health Organization chose not to share any of this critical information with the rest of the world, probably for political reasons. The International Health Regulations require countries to report the risk of a health emergency within 24 hours. But China did not inform the World Health Organization of Wuhan's several cases of pneumonia, of unknown origin, until December 31, 2019, even though it likely had knowledge of these cases days or weeks earlier. According to Dr. Zhang Yongzhen of the Shanghai Public Health Clinic Center, he told Chinese authorities on January 5, 2020, that he had sequenced the genome of the virus. There was no publication of this information until six days later, on January 11, 2020, when Dr. Zhang self-posted it online. The next day, Chinese authorities closed his lab for "rectification." As even the World Health Organization acknowledged, Dr. Zhang's posting was a great act of "transparency." But the World Health Organization has been conspicuously silent both with respect to the closure of Dr. Zhang's lab and his assertion that he had notified Chinese authorities of his breakthrough six days earlier. The World Health Organization has repeatedly made claims about the coronavirus that were either grossly inaccurate or misleading. On January 14, 2020, the World Health Organization gratuitously reaffirmed China's now-debunked claim that the coronavirus could not be transmitted between humans, stating: "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." This assertion was in direct conflict with censored reports from Wuhan. On January 21, 2020, President Xi Jinping of China reportedly pressured you not to declare the coronavirus outbreak an emergency. You gave in to this pressure the next day and told the world that the coronavirus did not pose a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Just over one week later, on January 30, 2020, overwhelming evidence to the contrary forced you to reverse course. On January 28, 2020, after meeting with President Xi in Beijing, you praised the Chinese government for its "transparency" with respect to the coronavirus, announcing that China had set a "new standard for outbreak control" and "bought the world time." You did not mention that China had, by then, silenced or punished several doctors for speaking out about the virus and restricted Chinese institutions from publishing information about it. Even after you belatedly declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020, you failed to press China for the timely admittance of a World Health Organization team of international medical experts. As a result, this critical team did not arrive in China until two weeks later, on February 16, 2020. And even then, the team was not allowed to visit Wuhan until the final days of their visit. Remarkably, the World Health Organization was silent when China denied the two American members of the team access to Wuhan entirely. You also strongly praised China's strict domestic travel restrictions, but were inexplicably against my closing of the United States border, or the ban, with respect to people coming from China. I put the ban in place regardless of your wishes. Your political gamesmanship on this issue was deadly, as other governments, relying on your comments, delayed imposing life-saving restrictions on travel to and from China. Incredibly, on February 3, 2020, you reinforced your position, opining that because China was doing such a great job protecting the world from the virus, travel restrictions were "causing more harm than good." Yet by then the world knew that, before locking down Wuhan, Chinese authorities had allowed more than five million people to leave the city and that many of these people were bound for international destinations all over the world. As of February 3, 2020, China was strongly pressuring countries to lift or forestall travel restrictions. This pressure campaign was bolstered by your incorrect statements on that day telling the world that the spread of the virus outside of China was "minimal and slow" and that "the chances of getting this going to anywhere outside China [were] very low." On March 3, 2020, the World Health Organization cited official Chinese data to downplay the very serious risk of asymptomatic spread, telling the world that "COVID-19 does not transmit as efficiently as influenza" and that unlike influenza this disease was not primarily driven by "people who are infected but not yet sick." China's evidence, the World Health Organization told the world, "showed that only one percent of reported cases do not have symptoms, and most of those cases develop symptoms within two days." Many experts, however, citing data from Japan, South Korea, and elsewhere, vigorously questioned these assertions. It is now clear that China's assertions, repeated to the world by the World Health Organization, were wildly inaccurate. By the time you finally declared the virus a pandemic on March 11, 2020, it had killed more than 4,000 people and infected more than 100,000 people in at least 114 countries around the world. On April 11, 2020, several African Ambassadors wrote to the Chinese Foreign Ministry about the discriminatory treatment of Africans related to the pandemic in Guangzhou and other cities in China. You were aware that Chinese authorities were carrying out a campaign of forced quarantines, evictions, and refusal of services against the nationals of these countries. You have not commented on China's racially discriminatory actions. You have, however, baselessly labeled as racist Taiwan's well-founded complaints about your mishandling of this pandemic. Throughout this crisis, the World Health Organization has been curiously insistent on praising China for its alleged "transparency." You have consistently joined in these tributes, notwithstanding that China has been anything but transparent. In early January, for example, China ordered samples of the virus to be destroyed, depriving the world of critical information. Even now, China continues to undermine the International Health Regulations by refusing to share accurate and timely data, viral samples and isolates, and by withholding vital information about the virus and its origins. And, to this day, China continues to deny international access to their scientists and relevant facilities, all while casting blame widely and recklessly and censoring its own experts. The World Health Organization has failed to publicly call on China to allow for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, despite the recent endorsement for doing so by its own Emergency Committee. The World Health Organization's failure to do so has prompted World Health Organization member states to adopt the "COVID-19 Response" Resolution at this year's World Health Assembly, which echoes the call by the United States and so many others for an impartial, independent, and comprehensive review of how the World Health Organization handled the crisis. The resolution also calls for an investigation into the origins of the virus, which is necessary for the world to understand how best to counter the disease. Perhaps worse than all these failings is that we know that the World Health Organization could have done so much better. Just a few years ago, under the direction of a different Director-General, the World Health Organization showed the world how much it has to offer. In 2003, in response to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in China, Director-General Harlem Brundtland boldly declared the World Health Organization's first emergency travel advisory in 55 years, recommending against travel to and from the disease epicenter in southern China. She also did not hesitate to criticize China for endangering global health by attempting to cover up the outbreak through its usual playbook of arresting whistleblowers and censoring media. Many lives could have been saved had you followed Dr. Brundtland's example. It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My Administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste. That is why it is my duty, as President of the United States, to inform you that, if the World Health Organization does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests. Need to take emergency money out of your retirement fund? With more than 36 million Americans unemployed in the wake of the pandemic, you are not alone. Thats the largest rise in claims since the U.S. Department of Labor started tracking the data in 1967. As a result, the federal government changed the rules surrounding retirement accounts so we can take our money out more easily. The changes were part of the massive $2 trillion economic stimulus plan called the CARES Act. However, Vanguard is advising investors that taking money out of our retirement accounts comes at a cost. Borrowing from your retirement plan may be a better strategy than withdrawing money. Heres why, according to Vanguard: When you borrow from your 401(k) or other IRA or retirement plan, you generally begin to repay the loan with every paycheck. The automatic nature of repayment makes it more likely that the borrowed money will be returned to your long-term savings. Yes, you can repay a withdrawal from the plan for up to three years under the new law, but it can take more discipline and foresight to do so, the mutual fund giant said in a note to clients. The biggest risk of any retirement plan loan is that you wont be able to pay the money back. If that happens, your unpaid balance is considered taxable income. Typically, you would owe ordinary income taxes and, if you are under age 59, there is a potential 10% early withdrawal penalty tax as well. The tax burden could be significant, and that could take a serious toll on your savings. Under the CARES Act, rules are looser now for withdrawals from 401(k) plans and IRAs. Chiefly, the government legislation waived required minimum distributions in 2020. Should you want to make a withdrawal and if you retirement plans permits it, you can take out up to $100,000 total from all retirement accounts, including IRAs and that money wont be subject to a 20% withholding for taxes. If your plan usually charges a distribution fee for withdrawals, it will be waived if it is coronavirus-related. And if youre younger than age 59, the 10% federal penalty tax also is waived. You would normally owe ordinary income taxes on the withdrawal, but you can pay those taxes over a three-year period, under the CARES Act. Or avoid taxes entirely if you can pay the money back into your account within three years. Retirement plans that allow loans also doubled the amount that investors can borrow to $100,000 or 100% of the vested account balance, whichever is less. This is until Sept. 23. If your plan usually charges a loan origination fee, it will be waived. Loan payments can be suspended. If you already have loans outstanding against your retirement fund, and are affected by the coronavirus, you can suspend your loan payments for up to a year. Following the suspension period, your retirement fund loan will be recalculated to include interest accrued, and the length of time you have to repay the loan may be extended. Even if you havent been affected by the coronavirus, you can suspend payments on any plan loan until July 15. Vanguard issued some tips on its website: Start small. While you can withdraw up to $100,000 (or 100% of your balance), you may not want to take out so much. Check your plan whether you can request additional withdrawals or loans. If you have a loan, suspend the payments. The legislation allows you to suspend loan payments for up to a year. Not only will you have up to an extra year to pay back your loan once payments resume, but youll have extra money in each paycheck over the next year to help with current financial obligations. Remember to plan for how youll repay yourself. The CARES Act allows you to tap into your retirement accounts without penalty taxes and repay the money over three years. Your ability to access money for the short-term needs of today but paying yourself back is important. It means you wont owe taxes on the money and you also wont wipe out your hard-earned, long-term retirement funding. Erin Arvedlund of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote this story. 2020 The Philadelphia Inquirer Visit The Philadelphia Inquirer at www.inquirer.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MI - William Vailliencourt, the Livingston County Prosecutor, has called Gov. Gretchen Whitmers executive orders vague" and challenging to enforce. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has been unambiguous in her response to him and other law agencies statewide. Her office stated an awareness of opposition to the enforcement of orders made in response to the coronavirus outbreak, but added that theres no way around their validity until a court ruling. The Governors orders are presumptively valid until and unless ruled invalid by a courtnot the other way around, the AGs Office said in a statement. Further, the Attorney General issued a letter of guidance to law enforcement last week affirming the enforceability of Executive Orders 69 and 70. Thus, its not that these local law enforcement agencies cant enforce the orders, they simply dont want to." Livingston County Prosecutor defies Gov. Whitmers executive orders on legal, not partisan grounds In addition, Nessels office pointed to a statement by the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, an association consisting of all 83 elected county prosecutors, confirming that the Executive Orders are still in force until a Court of Claims ruling. Vailliencourt is the president of the association and signed the statement This is a bi-partisan group of legal experts who have spoken out simply because its the right thing to do, Nessel said in a statement Friday, May 15. To those law enforcement agencies that have questioned their ability to enforce the Governors Order in light of the current legal dispute, both the Department of Attorney General and the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan have independently confirmed that the Governors orders are valid and enforceable until and unless a court says otherwise. While they may be valid, prosecutors can still review violations on a case-by-case basis to see if criminal charges are appropriate, Vailliencourt said in a clarifying statement on his views. A willful violation of an executive order is a misdemeanor, according to order 2020-59. A part of that review is assessing if legal challenges could be made to those charges and if the law is clear enough to provide adequate notice to people of what is being prohibited, he said. It is because of these ambiguities and concerns that I, as your Livingston County Prosecutor, have not filed any criminal charges for violation of the orders. He also posted a video message summarizing his views on the county prosecutor Facebook page. The Enforcement of Executive Orders in Livingston County My views on the enforcement of executive orders in Livingston County. For more details: https://bit.ly/2WzZr4m Posted by Livingston County Prosecutor William Vailliencourt on Friday, May 15, 2020 The Republican prosecutors joint statement from PAAM and his separate comments on social media sparked Ragan Lake, the lone Democratic challenger for his seat, to accuse him of flipflopping his position. Vaillencourt seems to change his mind depending on which group he thinks is listening, Lake said in a statement. When he feels there are individuals who believe the orders shouldnt be enforced, he says its fine to ignore the orders. But when hes with his fellow prosecutors from across the state who know better, he changes his tune. Voters have a right to know what does Vaillencourt really believe," she asked. "He hasnt renounced his earlier statement. Does he believe the orders should be obeyed and enforced in Livingston County or not? While Lake doesnt seek blanket enforcement of the executive orders, instead viewing some violations as teachable moments, she criticized Vailliencourt for failing to provide the county with a clear understanding of the orders and their importance. Vailliencourt is running for re-election this fall against Lake and fellow Republican David Reader, former chief judge of the 44th Circuit Court. The primary is Aug. 4. Party winners will advance to the general election on Nov. 3. 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. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces. Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. Read more on the Livingston County Prosecutor election: 'Justice has become lost says former Livingston County chief judge running for prosecutor Im not in the good-old-boy network,' Livingston County prosecutor says to challenger Being a prosecutor is a calling, says Democratic candidate for Livingston County Prosecutor Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of the ASEAN Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) Vietnam, on May 18 participated in the 32nd ASEAN Australia Forum, which was held in the form of an online conference. Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung, head of the ASEAN Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) Vietnam (Photo: VNA) In his speech at the event, Dung emphasised ASEAN's proactive and timely efforts and its close coordination with partners in coping with COVID-19 and minimising the socio-economic impacts caused by the pandemic. He affirmed that, together with efforts to cope with the disease, Vietnam will work closely with other ASEAN countries and partners, including Australia, to maintain ASEAN's activities through teleconferences, continue to actively promote orientations and priorities for cooperation set out in 2020 and the implementation of the Community Vision 2025, strengthen ASEAN mechanisms, develop the Mekong sub-region, and expand partnerships for peace and sustainable development. Dung proposed cooperation orientations between ASEAN and Australia in preventing and controlling COVID-19, ensuring support for citizens affected by the disease, minimising its impacts on socio-economic development, and preparing post-epidemic recovery and development plans. He stressed the need to effectively utilise existing development cooperation programmes within the ASEAN-Australia cooperation framework in these efforts. Dung urged countries to enhance solidarity and respect of the rule of law, and build trust in order to ensure an environment of peace, safety and stability to facilitate cooperation. As an annual meeting at the Deputy Foreign Ministerial level, the conference aimed to review the process of cooperation and discuss measures to promote the ASEAN-Australia partnership, especially their coordination to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Representatives from ASEAN member nations and Australia updated information related to disease prevention measures and experiences. The two sides agreed to promote sharing of information, experience and technical assistance, and help each other to improve their ability to cope with future disease outbreaks. They pledged to support citizens affected by the pandemic, exert efforts to minimise its impacts on socio-economic development, and coordinate policies to prepare post-epidemic recovery plans. Both sides affirmed their commitment to promoting their strategic partnership, especially in this difficult time, in order to overcome challenges caused by the pandemic, thus further strengthening cooperation. They agreed to continue promoting the Plan of Action to implement the ASEAN-Australia Strategic Partnership (2020-2024), emphasised their support for an open, fair, rules-based international multilateral trading system towards upgrading the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) and signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement in 2020./.VNA Andhra Pradesh: Srikakulam tally mounts to 14 as seven fishermen test positive May 19,2020 | Source: The Hindu Seven fishermen, who returned to native places in special buses from Chennai, tested positive taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 14 in the Srikakulam district. Officials said they were being shifted to hospitals in Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam. The fishermen belonged to Srikakulam, Itchapuram, Sompeta and Kaviti mandals. Apart from Chennai, more than 800 fishermen returned to Srikakulam district from Veraval of Gujarat in the first week of May. Their medical reports are yet to come from laboratories in Kakinada and Visakhapatnam. The district administration collected blood samples from 1,405 persons on Sunday as the situation turned alarming with the spurt in positive cases among the fishermen. Additional District Medical and Health Officer B. Jagannatha Rao said that results of as many as 3,858 tests would reach the district in a few days. The persons with COVID-19 symptoms have already been sent to special quarantine centres in the district. Special care is being taken for their speedy recovery. Five out of 14 patients recovered quickly. It is a good sign although cases number had gone up in the district, said Mr. Jagannatha Rao. With the increase in positive cases, District Collector J. Nivas directed officials to be on alert and implement lockdown rules strictly in containment zones, including one in P.N. Colony of Srikakulam. Relax norms Meanwhile, people living in P.N.Colony have been requesting district officials to relax norms since only one case was identified and no other case has been detected in the last three weeks. Life becomes horrible in containment zone as people are not allowed even to visit pharmacies. We request the Collector and other officials to review the situation and relax norms since more than 20,000 people living in P.N. Colony and surrounding areas are facing problems, said P. Srikanth, a resident of the colony. The Organising Committee has pointed out that the prize was awarded to Alexey Kavokin for predicting Bose-Einstein exciton and excitonic polaron condensation at room temperature. This has led to the creation of polariton lasers. Polariton lasers consume several times less energy than a conventional semiconductor laser. Most importantly, they can be used to create qubits, basic elements of quantum computers of the future. These technologies make a significant contribution to quantum computing systems. 'Russia is one of the world leaders in polaritonics, a field of physics studying light and material quasi-particles, or liquid light. On the basis of liquid light, we are developing polariton lasers - devices that can bring our country a victory in the race of quantum technologies. While the American giants Google and IBM are investing billions in quantum technologies based on superconductors, we are pursuing a much cheaper and potentially more promising path by developing a polariton platform for quantum computing. For me, this award is evidence that our efforts in the field of quantum polaritonics have been recognised by the international scientific community,' said Alexey Kavokin. The Quantum Devices Award was founded in 2000 by Fujitsu Quantum Devices Ltd., affiliated with Fujitsu, a major Japanese electronics manufacturer and IT company. Today, the award is funded by the Japanese section of the steering committee of the International Symposium on Compound Semiconductors (ISCS) along with two other prestigious scientific awards - The Welker Award and The Young Scientist Award. It should be noted that the Quantum Devices Award was previously conferred on scientists from Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the UK and many other countries, but it is the first time that the award has been received by a scientist from Russia. Alexey Kavokin heads the Spin Optics Laboratory of St Petersburg University and the Quantum Polaritonics group at the Russian Quantum Centre. He is also a Professor at the University of Southampton (UK), where he heads the Department of Nanophysics and Photonics. In 2011, he won a mega-grant from the Government of the Russian Federation, as part of which the I.N. Uraltsev Spin Optics Laboratory was established. In 2018, the Professor headed the International Centre for Polaritonics at the Westlake University in China. Because of the global pandemic the awards ceremony will take place next year - during Compound Semiconductor Week 2021 in Sweden. ### A remotely-operated U.S. Navy submersible will search the ocean floor off Greece for the wreckage of a Canadian air force maritime helicopter and its missing crew members. The CH-148 Cyclone went down as it was approaching HMCS Fredericton in the Ionian Sea following a surveillance training mission on April 29. The salvage operation will get underway closer to the end of the month, said Lt.-Gen. Mike Rouleau, who is in charge of overseas and domestic Canadian Forces operations. "Speed in this search and recovery is very important for a number of reasons," Rouleau said Monday. "The first is for the families. The second relates to our [Canadian Armed Forces] ethos we do not leave our fallen behind. And the third is, the environment will degrade [crash] evidence over time." Location of wreckage is known A mixed team of Canadian and American naval specialists will be aboard the recovery vessel to oversee the operation. Rear-Admiral Craig Baines, the commander of Canada's East Coast fleet, said the military has a clear idea of the crash location and the Cyclone is equipped with an underwater emergency beacon that continues to transmit for up to 30 days. He said the signal can only be picked up by a nearby ship; once the salvage vessel arrives, he said, it should be able to zero in on the location. Watch | Rear-Admiral Baines describes the challenges facing the salvage team The wreckage may have been moved around by underwater currents. Both Baines and Rouleau said the recovery operation will continue for as long as it takes to retrieve the remains of the aircrew and one sailor still missing in as much as 3,000 metres of water. "We will remain at the site until we are satisfied that we have recovered all that we can," said Rouleau, who would not put a timeline on the length of the recovery operation. Department of National Defence The remains of Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough of Nova Scotia were retrieved on the day of the accident, along with the partial remains of Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald. Story continues Those still missing are Capt. Kevin Hagen from Nanaimo, B.C.; Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin from Trois-Rivieres, Que.; Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke from Truro, N.S.; and Master Corp. Matthew Cousins from Guelph, Ont. The Cyclone was within minutes of landing on the frigate when it inexplicably crashed in full view of crew members on the warship, Baines said. It had passed the ship after taking photos and was repositioning to conduct what's known as a "deck hoist" operation the lifting and lowering of personnel and equipment by the aircraft when the crash occurred, he added. Modules from the flight data recorders were found almost immediately after the accident, but they are designed to break away from the aircraft and float to the surface. Maj.-Gen. Alain Pelletier, who oversees joint air operations, would not say what information may have been gleaned from the recorders, but did indicate that the Cyclone fleet remains under an "operational pause." He refused to speculate on a possible cause. Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan suggested recently the investigation could take a year or more. Board of inquiry underway Rouleau said that, in addition to the flight safety investigation, two other administrative probes are underway or are about to be launched. One of them is a summary investigation to establish the status of the missing crew, which will aid families in the estate planning process. The other is detailed military technical investigation, known as a board of inquiry, which looks at whether military procedures or equipment were to blame. Watch | Lt.-Gen. Rouleau: 'We do not leave our fallen behind' Given the depth at which the wreckage can be found, defence expert Michael Byers said the Canadian military was left with few options. "There are only a few manned submersibles that can go that deep," he said. "I'm not sure a manned vehicle would prove much of an advantage in this situation. And technology has advanced with regards to remotely operated, deep sea submersibles." Experts have been wondering whether a salvage operation is possible in the Ionian Sea, known for its depth and underwater canyons. A few hundred kilometres due south of the crash site is a region known as the Calypso Deep, the deepest point in the Mediterranean at 5,267 metres (17,280 feet). Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. According to a new study published by Polaris Market Research the global personal protective equipment (PPE) market is anticipated to reach USD 81.35 billion by 2026. The market growth is propelled majorly by the increasing concerns of employers over the safety of its employees. Employers are highly responsible for offering a healthy and safe workplace to their workers. Employees working at industrial sites are prone to different forms for hazards, they are likely to come across sharp objects, flying sparks, unbearable loud noise, falling objects, and chemicals that could cause them serious injuries. Companies especially those belonging to industrial, manufacturing, and construction sectors have realized that it is better to take precautions and prevent any lethal damage to any of their workers. Many regulatory bodies have laid guidelines to promote the safety and health of workforce. For instance, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the U.S. is responsible for formulating standards that are aimed to encourage a safe and healthy environment for employees. OSHA has set requirements for the use of PPE such as 29 CFR 1910.135 (Head protection); 29 CFR 1910.137 (Electrical protective equipment); 29 CFR1910.136 (Foot protection), and29 CFR 1910.138 (Hand protection), among others. OSHA together with few other agencies such as National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), among others standardizes guidelines for work environment. Get sample copy of this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/personal-protective-equipment-market/request-for-sample PPE finds application in various industries including oil & gas, petrochemicals, transportation, food& beverages, power & energy, construction, and healthcare, among others. Among these industries, construction industry is experiencing highest application, and is among one of the largest end-use industry that is driving the market. The industry is flourishing in Asia Pacific region, primarily due to the presence of developing nations that are heavily investing in their infrastructural facilities. Key Findings from the study suggest that the largest share of the market in 2017 was of the North American region. Moreover, the market is segmented on the basis of products and end use. On the basis of product, the market can be segmented into eye protection, hand protection, head protection, hearing protection, fall protection, protective clothing, professional footwear, and respiratory protection, among other. Professional footwear is anticipated to foresee highest growth, owing to their wide range of application across various industries. These footwears are largely utilized for protection from sharp edge objects, and helps avoid direct contact from any hazardous chemicals. Complete Summary with TOC Available @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/personal-protective-equipment-market Major players operating in the market includes companies such as MSA Safety Inc., Ansell Ltd., 3M Company, Alpha Pro. Tech Ltd., Rock Fall Ltd.,JSP Ltd., Oftenrich Holdings Co. Ltd, JAL Group, COFRA Holding AG, Golden Chang, Avon Rubber p. i. c., Rahman Group, and Honeywell International Inc., among others. Personal Protective Equipment Market Size and Forecast by Product Type Eye Protection Hand Protection Head Protection Hearing Protection Fall Protection Protective Clothing Professional Footwear Respiratory Protection Personal Protective Equipment Market Size and Forecast by End Use Type Transportation Manufacturing Chemical Construction Food & Beverage Oil & Gas Mining Personal Protective Equipment Market Size and Forecast by Regions North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK France Asia Pacific China India Japan South America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/personal-protective-equipment-market/request-for-discount-pricing About Polaris Market Research Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Contact us- Polaris Market Research Phone: 1-646-568-9980 Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com [May 19, 2020] MatriSys Bioscience is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. James Mackay to its Board of Directors SAN DIEGO, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MatriSys Bioscience, Inc., a leader in the field of microbiome-based therapeutics for the treatment of skin conditions, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. James Mackay to its Board of Directors. Dr. Mackay joins the Board of Directors of MatriSys Bioscience with over 30 years of experience in the development of pharmaceuticals, and a strong record of bringing multiple drugs to market and patients. Dr. Mackay is founder, president, and CEO of Aristea Therapeutics, an immunology company focused on developing treatments for orphan diseases. Prior to founding Aristea Therapeutics, Dr. Mackay led the successful $1.2B acquisition and transition of Ardea Biosciences into AstraZeneca. He was President & CEO of Ardea Biosciences from 2013 to 2018. He set up an innovative model for Ardea that retained the biotechs independence and accountability for the development of the gout franchise while developing a collaborative relationship with the parent company, AstraZeneca. Prior to Ardea Biosciences, Dr. Mackay was Global Product Vice President for Diabetes franchise at AstraZeneca where he played a critical role in the successful development of the AstraZeneca/Bristol-Myers Squibb diabetes alliance. He held a number of senior roles in AstraZenecas Clinical Development Function including portfolio management of all AstraZeneca Clinical resources and budget worldwide and management of AstraZenecas strategic partnerships with drug development CROs. In addition to being a seasoned business leader, James is an experienced board member who has played a pivotal role in the San Diego biotechnology community. He currently sits on the Board and Executive Committee of CONNECT, is Vice-Chair of CONNECT and sits on the Board of Governors of BIOCOM. James is also a formr Board member of the San Diego Economic Development Corporation (EDC). On behalf of MatriSys Bioscience and the Board of Directors, I welcome James as we look forward to drawing upon his strategic, operational and clinical judgment, said Magda Marquet PhD, Chairwoman of MatriSys Bioscience. We are thrilled to team up with him at a critical time in our evolution as we advance our lead program through Phase 2. His significant insights and experience running large pharmaceutical and small biotechnology businesses will be essential while we continue to strengthen the development of our skin microbiome technology assets. I am delighted to have the opportunity to join the MatriSys Bioscience Board of Directors at such a critical time for the company as we enter Phase 2 clinical development. The microbiome technology that underpins MatriSys is ground-breaking and I look forward to working with the management team to develop the MatriSys products through to approved drugs being prescribed to patients, said Dr Mackay. Dr. Mackay has a BSc in Genetics and obtained a PhD in Medical Genetics from Aberdeen University, Scotland. About MSB-01 MatriSys Bioscience is currently developing MSB-01 which is a commercially viable room-temperature stable topical formulation of freeze-dried S. hominis Strain A9 bacteria for application to the lesional skin of atopic dermatitis patients. About MatriSys Bioscience MatriSys Bioscience is a clinical stage Specialty Biopharmaceutical Company focused on developing and commercializing rational microbiome therapies for the top five dermatology and skin care conditions. Our foundational microbiome therapeutics platform is based on the pioneering work of Richard L. Gallo MD PhD, Distinguished Professor and Founding Chair, Department of Dermatology at the University of California, San Diego and the http://gallolab.ucsd.edu/ . For more information, please visit http://www.matrisysbio.com/ . Contact: [email protected] 858.456.3919 [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Brig Gen Nunoo-Mensah (rtd) 19.05.2020 LISTEN Brig Gen Nunoo-Mensah (rtd) has said he will hurriedly go and register for a new voters' register when the exercise begins. I believe President Nana Akufo-Addo has Ghana's interest at heart, so why should I fight over voters' register? he asked, adding if they decide to compile a new register, I will go and register so I can vote as a Ghanaian. Defends Jean Mensa Nunoo Mensah described the Electoral Commission's (EC) Chairperson, Jean Mensa, as competent and effective person, who when given the chance, would supervise the upcoming polls peacefully without any trouble. Ms Mensa, I know her well, she is a wonderful lady, he sounded praises on the EC boss, indicating that he doesn't see any reason or need for anybody to complain or agitate over the compilation of a voters' register. According to him, the two past EC leaders, Afari Djan and Charlotte Osei, were also equally competent and up to the task but sadly people always managed to find fault with their work, which was very unfortunate. Nunoo Mensah observed that virtually all the past EC leaders were accused of being either National Democratic Congress (NDC) or New Patriotic Party (NPP) persons, which he said, was very unfortunate. He was speaking during a Neat FM programme in Accra. According to him, there is total mistrust in the country, a situation which he claims has given room for people to make noise and agitate whenever the need arises for the compilation of a new voters' register. Nunoo Mensah, who has travelled wide across the globe, said in the western world issues of elections were always done in a peaceful atmosphere so he wondered why Ghanaians could not do same. He raised a red flag about plans by a disgruntled political party to cause mayhem during the December polls. Without mentioning the name of the political party, he said their fiendish project was informed by the stark reality that they could not win the December polls. The authorities, he said should address the security challenges that the disgruntled persons sought to pose in the country. The people have already intended to be troublesome, if we cannot win then let us destroy it so nobody wins, Nunoo Mensah a known NDC person, said about these faceless people. According to him, those planning to cause mayhem in the country already know that their ambition to win the polls will not work so they want to hide behind the new register issue to cause trouble. Nunoo Mensah, without mincing words, stated emphatically that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was a good man and would not do anything to hurt the country. He therefore wondered why the opposition NDC opposed every decision of the President. Nunoo Mensah observed with pain that Ghanaians had developed the habit of always kicking against the decision of a sitting president on political lines, saying it started from Nkrumah's time. ---Daily Guide A simmering dispute between the states electric grid manager and the Public Utility Commission has burst into view over a request by Tesla to make it easier to develop battery storage systems in Texas. The electric carmakers request before a committee of Electric Reliability Council of Texas, wouldnt normally attract much attention. But Texas regulators and ERCOT have been struggling for more than two years over how to accommodate developing battery storage technology that experts predict could accelerate demand for renewable energy sources and ultimately reduce electricity prices. Large batteries can be charged from solar units or other forms of energy at night when power is cheapest and the stored energy sold when prices peak during midday. But Texas has been slow to adopt the technology, treating battery storage as a form of power generation and retail consumption with big cooling systems instead of just one integrated network. One Texas regulator said hes embarrassed by the time it has taken for the state to nimbly embrace new technology. SEEKING SOLUTIONS: How will batteries plug into Texas power grid? This is the kind of thing Texas should be able to adopt to, Commissioner Arthur C. DAndrea said. When there is a new technology, a new way of doing things, we embrace it and pull it into the market and we make it work. Integrated battery storage systems essentially self-contained ready-to-go units that sit on concrete slabs are becoming more sophisticated sources of low-cost and resilient power for manufacturing sites, office buildings and homes. They also are competing with fossil-fuel and other sources of electricity and and the retail providers that sell it. Tesla filed an urgent request last month with ERCOT, asking the grid manager to make it clear that integrated battery systems are considered wholesale storage. Without that clarity, battery developers are prevented from using advanced and more efficient technology to provide new capacity to the ERCOT system as early as next year, according to Teslas application. Tesla did not return a call for comment. The staff of the Public Utility Commission took the unusual step of filing comments in Teslas ERCOT case, saying Texas already has rules in place to accommodate new integrated battery technology. PLUGGING IN: Battery storage on verge of changing Texas power grid But ERCOT questioned the validity of the comments because staff members didnt sign their individual names to the comments, commission Chairman DeAnn Walker said during a recent public meeting. I find that offensive, Walker said during the meeting Thursday. She said the commission staff is doing what its supposed to do and that ERCOTs reaction reflects a long-standing disagreement among staffers at ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission. She didnt elaborate. Technology is going to change and we have to be nimble to be able to change and do things with it, Walker said. ERCOT would not comment. The dispute illustrates the ongoing power struggle in Texas between those at companies like Tesla who are pushing new technology such as the self-contained battery system and an electricity grid manager overseen by a board dominated by the power industry. Generators dont want to see a new source of competition which battery storage would be, said Ed Hirs, an energy economist at the University of Houston, and ERCOT is essentially acting as the gatekeeper to keep storage companies out. If you want a free market, said Hirs, Texas needs to allow battery entrepreneurs on to the grid. lynn.sixel@chron.com twitter.com/lmsixel Page Content The Council of Minister of St. Maarten has received a proposal from the Kingdom Council of Ministers on the liquidity support for St. Maarten to be able to carry out the Sint Maarten Stimulus and Relief Plan (SSRP). On Tuesday, May 12, 2020, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra and State Secretary Raymond Knops, in a hastily called meeting with the Prime Ministers of the Dutch Caribbean via video conference, verbally outlined the intentions of the Netherlands to assist the countries in this time of crisis and beyond. This discussion was held without documentation or specifics pertaining to the content of what would be proposed. While the Prime Ministers were given an opportunity to give feedback, it was without clear knowledge or understanding of what was on the table. We were informed that the proposal would be added to the agenda for the Kingdom Council of Ministers meeting on May 15, 2020. Finally, on Thursday, May 14, the official documentation was received by the Council of Ministers. In less than 24 hours, the Council of Ministers had to finalize its response in an instruction to the Minister Plenipotentiary Rene Violenus so that it could be presented in the Kingdom Council of Ministers meeting of May 15, 2020. This was less than sufficient time to prepare St. Maartens position, considering the grave and far-reaching consequences for Parliament, civil servants, all government-subsidized entities, government-owned companies, unions and the people of St. Maarten in general. Some of the proposed conditions can be attained within the time frame and were already included in our proposal to the unions. However, a number of these conditions set out by the Dutch government are unattainable in this time frame and do not consider our economic position, especially as we are still in the recovery stages after Hurricane Irma. Moreover, legislative amendments are required in order to comply with a number of these conditions which will affect a large number of the population and stakeholders whom we have not had a chance to meet and will not be able to meet before an answer is expected on Wednesday, concluded Prime Minister Jacobs. Prime Minister Jacobs is scheduled to be in a Plenary Public session of Parliament today at 3:00 PM in order to bring Parliament up to speed on the proposal made by the Netherlands. This meeting will also serve as an opportunity for the government to garner the support of Parliament on the way forward. Leonard Levitt, a journalist and author whose investigative and gossipy revelations of wrongdoing by the New York City police made him a must-read as the self-anointed conscience of Police Headquarters, died on Monday at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 79. The cause was complications of lung cancer, his daughter, Jennifer Levitt, said. A fiercely independent reporter for the now-closed New York Newsday starting in 1985, Mr. Levitt was lauded as a reform-minded inspiration by his supporters and attacked as a nit-picker by his critics. An article he wrote in 1991 spurred a re-investigation of the 1975 killing of Martha Moxley, a teenager in Greenwich, Conn., which led to murder charges against Michael C. Skakel, a neighbor and cousin of the Kennedys. Mr. Levitt accused the local police of deferring to the Skakel family in the early stages of the investigation, which he detailed in the book Conviction: Solving the Moxley Murder: A Reporter and a Detectives 20-Year Search for Justice (2004), written with Frank Garr, the prosecutions lead investigator. RALEIGH The newest addition to the Scream franchise will be filmed on the North Carolina coast. Shooting for the fifth movie will take place in Wilmington later this year once safety protocols are in place, according to a Monday release from the producing company, Spyglass Media Group. The film will feature David Arquette as Dewey Riley the role he played in the four previous Scream movies. So far Arquette is the only cast member to have been revealed, though producers have been in contact with other legacy cast, the release says. I am thrilled to be playing Dewey again and to reunite with my Scream family, old and new, Arquette said, according to the release. Scream has been such a big part of my life, and for both the fans and myself, I look forward to honoring Wes Cravens legacy. This will be the first film of the long-running franchise not to be under the direction of Craven, whom the release hails as the maestro of horror. Craven died in 2015. The first movie was released in 1996, followed by Scream 2 in 1997, Scream 3 in 2000 and Scream 4 in 2011. Six soldiers were killed when their vehicle was targeted by a roadside bomb in the Pir Ghaib area, southeast of Quetta. Islamabad, Pakistan At least seven soldiers have been killed in two separate attacks in the southwest Pakistani province of Balochistan, the countrys military says, the latest violence in a region torn by separatist violence. Six soldiers were killed when their vehicle was targeted by a roadside bomb in the Pir Ghaib area, about 55km (34 miles) southeast of the provincial capital Quetta, late on Monday, the military said in a statement. The soldiers were returning to base camp after routine patrolling duty, the statement said. Bashir Amand, a local administration official, confirmed the death toll to Al Jazeera. In a separate attack on Monday, a soldier was killed during an exchange of fire with terrorists in the Mand area of the province, along the border with neighbouring Iran, the statement said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the area has seen a resurgence of ethnic separatist violence in recent weeks. Six soldiers were killed in a similar attack earlier this month. That attack was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), an armed group calling for independence for the ethnic Baloch areas of the province. Mineral-rich Balochistan is Pakistans largest but least populous province, located in the countrys southwest. Its districts regularly appear at the bottom of socioeconomic indicator rankings in the country, and residents complain that they do not receive a fair share of their provinces extracted mineral and petrochemical wealth. The $60bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project has brought renewed attention to the province, where a major deep-water port in the town of Gwadar is the culmination of a trade route being established to link China with the Arabian Sea through the length of Pakistan. Baloch separatists have termed the projects imperialism and targeted Chinese engineers and workers associated with them. Thousands of Pakistani military and paramilitary personnel are deputed to protect CPEC infrastructure projects still under construction and other areas of the province, where the police and civil administration have secondary authority. Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras digital correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim. GRAND RAPIDS, MI From pizza and Middle Eastern food to chicken wing and salads, there are plenty of options residents who are looking to take a break from home cooking amid the coronavirus pandemic. While dine-in service at Michigans bars and restaurants remains closed, many restaurants are offering carry-out service and delivery. Delivery, for restaurants that dont offer it directly, can often be accessed through third-party providers such as Uber Eats, Grub Hub or Door Dash. Heres a look at five places in Grand Rapids to consider for Takeout Tuesday. Pepinos Grand Rapids Pepinos, 130 Ionia Ave. SW, offers a host of items for takeout, ranging from cheesy breadsticks and mozzarella sticks to wings, subs, sandwiches and an assortment of pizzas. The restaurant is offering takeout service from noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The restaurants takeout menu can be viewed here, and orders can be placed online or by calling (616) 742-0042. La Familia Jalisco Mexican Restaurant La Familia, 4022 Alpine Ave. NW, in Alpine Township, offers an array of Mexican food, ranging from tacos and fajitas to tortas, quesadillas, and tostadas. The restaurant offers takeout from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday. La Familias menu can be found on its Facebook page, and orders can be made by calling (616) 202-4141. Al-Bos Eurocafe-Bakery Al-Bos, 2930 Shaffer Ave. SE, in Kentwood, offers numerous European-style dishes such as schnitzel, beef stroganoff, roast lamb, gyros and more. The restaurant is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. Its menu can be found here, and orders can be made by calling (616) 325-2800. Gravel Bottom Craft Brewery Gravel Bottom, 452 Ada Drive SE, in Ada Township, offers beer and food for takeout on Tuesday through Saturday. Its menu includes flatbread sandwiches, chicken wings, appetizers such as nachos and beer cheese, and salads. Gravel Bottoms menu can be seen here, and orders can be placed online or by calling (616) 920-7398. Shiraz Grille Shiraz Grille, 2739 Breton Road SE, in Grand Rapids, offers takeout on Wednesday through Saturday, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. The restaurant offers a variety of Middle Eastern food, including hummus, salads, kababs, stews served with rice or Persian grilled potatoes, and a selection of vegetarian options. Orders can be placed by calling (616) 949-7447. The restaurants menu can be seen here. If you would like your restaurant featured in this carryout and delivery series, please email bmcvicar@mlive.com. The Powering Positivity campaign by MLive Media Group highlights how Michiganders are supporting one another during the coronavirus pandemic. It is sponsored by The MediLodge Group. Read more: DNR officer hides in swamp to bust men who tore apart beaver dam, shot at beavers 500-gallon raw sewage overflow reported in Augusta Township Facebook avatars are the new craze, how to create yours Seeking to secure the nation's supply of critical medications, the Trump administration has signed a $354 million contract that would create the nation's first strategic stockpile of key ingredients needed to make medicines. The four-year agreement was signed Monday with Phlow Corp., a generic drug maker based in Virginia. According to a news release to be made public Tuesday, the project will use federal funds from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority under the Department of Health and Human Services. The goal is twofold: to enable the U.S. to manufacture essential drugs at risk of shortage and to create a reserve of active pharmaceutical ingredients to reduce the dependence on foreign suppliers. Phlow's CEO, Dr. Eric Edwards, told NBC News that the company had been in discussions with the administration back in November but that the project was fast-tracked once COVID-19 hit. "We said: 'We have a short-term and long-term solution. We know that there are certain key essential generic medicines that are going to go into shortage if this thing starts spreading,'" Edwards said. "There were drugs that were already on the FDA drug shortage list long before COVID-19 and we already saw what was happening with PPE, and we knew this was going to be as bad or even worse." "PPE" is short for personal protective equipment used by medical personnel. Edwards said the company is set to provide more than a dozen medications and ingredients used for sedation, pain management, blood pressure control and antibiotics. It has already produced over 1.6 million doses of five essential generic drugs used to treat COVID-19 that were added to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile in March. The pandemic has created a surge in the number of hospitalized patients which may create a shortage of supplies of critical medicines, HHS said in a statement. The team will be able to rapidly provide U.S. health care systems with finished, sterile, injectable generic medicines at risk of shortage. Story continues Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak Phlow will be manufacturing the drugs in partnership with the nonprofit pharmaceutical company Civica Rx, Virginia Commonwealth University and AMPAC Fine Chemicals, a manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The total value of the Phlow contract is up to $812 million, which includes the possibility of an additional $458 million to keep the project going longterm. It was first reported by The New York Times. "This is an historic turning point in the battle of President Trump to bring our pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply chain home to American soil," White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told NBC News. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists called the contract a potential "game-changer." The use of advanced technology will allow for faster production of drugs, reduce the potential for error, and enable a nimbler approach to changing market demands such as the urgent need for medications weve seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Tom Kraus, vice president of government relations at ASHP But Allen Goldberg, a spokesman for the Association for Accessible Medicines, the organization that represents manufacturers of generic drugs, said they're wary of a startups ability to address such a longstanding issue in the industry. This is a systemic situation -- drug shortages, onshoring, manufacturing -- that requires a much bigger policy conversation, he said in a statement. American patients are served by a thoughtful, systemic approach and not any one-off contract. The move would help address a longstanding concern in the health care sector, experts said, as the vast majority of raw drug ingredients are produced overseas, mainly in India and China because of cheap manufacturing costs and less stringent regulations. Experts have long feared a significant supply disruption caused by the country's dependence on foreign manufacturing. The coronavirus pandemic has forced hospitals to scramble to source critical medications for COVID-19 patients. In some cases, fear of shortages has created a competitive landscape among health care providers seeking the same medications. Arash Dabestani, senior director of pharmacy at NYU Langone Health in New York, said getting the necessary drugs often involves a team of six people making calls to wholesalers, distributors and direct manufacturers as early as 9 a.m. And even then, they may get only half the supply they really need. "It's like an auction," Dabestani said. "Whoever screams the loudest gets it." Image: AMPAC Fine Chemicals (AMPAC Fine Chemicals) Even before the coronavirus, pharmacy directors like Dabestani would consistently monitor for possible drug shortages. During the pandemic, additional drugs went into shortage, including fentanyl, an opioid pain reliever commonly used to sedate patients on ventilators. Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston echoed a similar concern in late March for albuterol, an asthma drug being used to treat respiratory complications due to COVID-19. But drug shortages in hospitals are nothing new. At any given time in the U.S., more than 100 drugs are in short supply. The Food and Drug Administration maintains a public database that indicates which drugs are in shortage. But when the coronavirus hit, the need for certain drugs became more acute. The FDA has even asked manufacturers to evaluate their own supply chains, including active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished dose forms, for supply chain disruptions caused by the coronavirus, according to the agency's website. In real time, hospitals are sometimes down to a month's or even less than a day's worth of certain drugs, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. In the age of the coronavirus, the potential consequences of supply shortages caused by disruptions overseas have come into sharp focus as countries like India, a major pharmaceutical exporter, restrict key drug ingredients and medications. But according to Tuesday's contract announcement, the government-Phlow partnership will introduce a new model to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. "We believe this work can revolutionize America's generic drug manufacturing model by enabling Phlow to produce affordable ingredients used to manufacture essential medicines in the U.S.," said Dr. Frank Gupton, co-founder of Phlow, chair of Virginia Commonwealth University's Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering, and CEO of the Medicines for All Institute. Download the NBC News app for full coverage and alerts about the coronavirus outbreak Edwards said Phlow will operate the nation's first strategic active pharmaceutical ingredients reserve, a supply of critical raw drug ingredients that will be stored in secure locations around the country. "When there is a trade dispute or a natural disaster or a pandemic that creates a vulnerability in the supply of one or more drugs, as soon as we see that vulnerability begin to manifest itself, Phlow Corporation will pull that active ingredient out and we'll work with our conversion partners, such as Civica, to make the finished dosage form, then get it into the Strategic National Stockpile," Edwards said. Phlow has declined to comment on the exact drugs and ingredients being manufactured with its partners, citing national security concerns and competition among other generic drug manufacturers. "I cannot emphasize enough how vulnerable our supply chain is and how critical some of these drugs are in shortage," Edwards said. In a statement Wednesday, Phlow said the federal government issued an appeal for applications in February in a process known as a "broad agency announcement." "After weeks of negotiation, we were awarded a sole-source, cost reimbursement contract," the company said. George Washington University law professor Steven Schooner said he was surprised by the size of the contract. It seems like a strange use of HHSs emergency acquisition authority to award a contract of this size for four years with an option to extend the period up to ten years," Schooner said. In a statement released Thursday, an HHS spokesperson said Phlow "put together a very experienced team of established partners to ensure success to this endeavor." "Each are experts in their field and provide the foundation for sound business practices and program success," the spokesperson added. "As included in the contract, all agreements and pricing will be transparent and reviewed by BARDA on a monthly basis." The deal has refocused attention on the controversial history of Edward's former company, Kaleo, which he co-founded with his brother. Kaleo was the subject of a U.S. Senate subcommittee investigation after it sharply raised the price of its opioid overdose antidote Evzio in the middle of the opioid crisis. According to a 2018 report by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Kaleo increased its price of the drug more than 600 percent by 2016, costing taxpayers more than $142 million over four years. A spokesperson for Phlow said that Edwards was "never involved or allowed to be involved in pricing decisions for the company." KYODO NEWS - May 19, 2020 - 21:40 | World, All North Korea has further eased restrictions placed on foreign diplomats, such as banning visits to areas outside their residential districts, even as leader Kim Jong Un has been absent from public view for around 20 days until Tuesday. The Russian Embassy said Monday that foreign diplomats are now allowed by the North Korean Foreign Ministry to visit a number of department stores in Pyongyang, signaling the country's leadership is confident of preventing the new coronavirus spread in the capital. North Korea has cut off traffic to and from China and Russia since earlier this year to curb an outbreak of the virus that causes respiratory disease called COVID-19. It has claimed that the virus has not made inroads into the nation. Kim's movements, meanwhile, has not been reported in state-run media since May 2, when the official Korean Central News Agency released photos showing him attending a ceremony to mark the completion of a fertilizer factory the previous day. Rejecting a rumor that he was in bad health, the South Korean government said in April that Kim may be taking preventive steps against the virus. Following the virus pandemic, North Korea's economy has apparently faced a severe downturn as trade with China, its closest and most influential ally in economic terms, has become stagnant, foreign affairs experts say. Amid mounting fears about shortage of food and daily necessities, panic buying was briefly rife in Pyongyang, with locals rushing to go to department stores and supermarkets, according to South Korea's spy agency. Earlier this month, Russia said it has sent 25,000 tons of wheat in humanitarian aid to North Korea. In early February, North Korea started to implement strict measures on foreign diplomats and international organization staff, including quarantining many of them, but the country has lifted such restrictions since March in a phased manner. Related coverage: FOCUS: Coronavirus pandemic makes China a hot-button issue in U.S. election North Korean official proposed clam smuggling operation to Japan Xi urges cooperation against virus in message to Kim: Xinhua KITCHENER Working face-to-face with a deadly disease is a daunting task. It poses a risk that hospital workers take on every day. To date 214 patients with COVID-19 21 per cent of everyone testing positive for the disease have been admitted to one of the regions three hospitals, according to Region of Waterloo Public Health. Fifty-five of those patients required a bed in the intensive care unit. The numbers seem small, but the risk of infection for hospital workers is high. As of Friday, Grand River Hospital had 38 patients with COVID-19. Here is a look inside the Kitchener hospitals fight against this disease, and how health care workers have adapted to new challenges. The emergency department There is a sign on the door to the break room in Grand River Hospitals emergency department. It declares the room a COVID-19 conversation-free zone. Even health care workers need a break. But outside the break room, the new reality for hospital workers is one fraught with infection control protocols, full protective gear and the uncertainty of who might have the virus. Grand River Hospitals emergency department can sometimes be the first point of contact with health care for someone suspected of having COVID-19, said Dr. Rupinder Sahsi, an emergency department physician. It can be very hard to determine who has COVID and who doesnt have COVID based on symptoms alone, he said. The most common symptoms can resemble pneumonia, the flu or asthma, Sahsi said. Patients have trouble breathing, have a fever and a cough. Whether a patient comes in on an ambulance or walks into the emergency department, if they have symptoms that look like a respiratory illness, Sahsi said physicians assume they have the virus. During the pandemic, everyone who comes to the emergency department is screened when they first enter. They are asked to sanitize their hands and wear a mask. If they have the classic, telltale symptoms of the disease fever, difficulty breathing, cough they are asked to wait in a designated area for suspected COVID cases. Sahsi said many people come to the hospital worried they have the disease, and he said that is completely understandable. COVID has become so scary to so many people that any symptom that they have, theyre going to be worried for their welfare and the welfare of people around them. Once suspected cases are admitted, they are given a medical assessment. The patients heart rate and blood pressure are checked. The level of oxygen in the patients bloodstream is also checked. Checking blood oxygen levels is a crucial assessment in identifying COVID-19 cases, Sahsi said, because it is a respiratory infection affecting a patients lungs and ability to breathe. Sahsi said physicians will conduct what is called a walk test. If the patients blood oxygen level doesnt drop when they walk, they are healthy enough to go home and self-isolate. When a physician has examined the patient, they will then determine whether the patient requires further testing, if a swab sample is needed to test for the disease, if they are well enough to go home or if they need to be hospitalized. Test results at the hospital usually take 48 hours or less. Sahsi has not had many severe cases of the virus come into the emergency department. This is a credit to the community for staying home and shutting down most parts of the economy. We were very worried that without the aggressive social distancing and shutdowns that weve had, that our health-care system would be completely overrun over patients, Sahsi said. If a patient comes in on an ambulance, they may be a more severe case, Sahsi said. This doesnt happen often, but when it does hospital staff are informed of the patients vital signs by paramedics, so they can prepare. In most cases when somebody is quite unwell with COVID and gasping for breath, the big thing that they need is supplemental oxygen because theyre not getting enough oxygen into their bloodstream, Sahsi said. He said most COVID patients require some degree of supplemental oxygen that can be delivered through prongs in the nose, a mask over the face, or in the most critical circumstances, a ventilator. The emergency department has become a quiet place. Sahsi has never seen it this empty. He thinks it might be because people are avoiding hospitals out of fear of catching the disease, but he wants people to know the hospital is clean and safe and there for everyone. Just because theres a pandemic doesnt mean that people dont get sick for the same reasons they got sick before. People still have heart attacks, strokes, people still have severe acute disease and they deserve care as well. The ICU where only the most severe cases go Hinda Hassan is a nurse in Grand River Hospitals intensive care unit. This is where the most severe cases of COVID-19 end up. If a patient needs to be put on a ventilator or life support, they are sent to the ICU. Our practice before COVID was somewhat predictable, she said. Before the pandemic, nurses would get a report on an incoming critical case and then make all the necessary preparations for that patient. Now with the potential of positive COVID-19 cases coming through the doors, there is a level of risk that wasnt there before. Theres a bit more of a thought process, Hassan said. Now we have to consider the high likelihood of getting COVID. Hassan wears full protective gear for 12 hours a day. It gets hot, uncomfortable and sweaty. But the nurse takes it in stride. It is part of our profession. Weve been trained for this, she said. Like all health care workers, Hassan is also constantly learning more about this disease, and the virus crippling ability to sicken people shocks her. What I find most surprising with the symptoms is someone could have subtle symptoms and be self-isolating at home, then one week or two weeks later they just deteriorate, Hassan said. When that happens, those patients come to the ICU. When the ICUs resource nurse, or lead nurse, is made aware of a case coming in, nurses like Hassan get prepared. They make sure a negative pressure room is ready to go. These rooms use negative pressure to prevent air from leaving the room. They are useful for containing the virus when high-risk procedures takes place. Grand River Hospitals intensive care unit has five of these rooms, with the ability to set up eight more. The emergency department also has negative pressure rooms. The necessary equipment, monitors, IV pumps and medications are prepared and a critical care physician, also known as an intensivist, is notified a critical case is coming in. The unit specializes in life support and airway intervention like putting patients on a ventilator. COVID-19 has intensified this already high-pressure situation. These procedures produce aerosols that make the environment dangerous to everyone in the room. Intubation is the procedure in which someone is placed on a ventilator. A tube is inserted into a persons airway through the mouth to help them breathe, explains Dr. Paul Hosek, a critical care specialist. It is a team effort, he said. It involves respiratory therapists, nurses and physicians. It is also a procedure that requires health care workers to get very close to the patient. For exceptionally challenging intubation cases, an anesthesiologist will be called upon. They possess the highest skill level of airway management in the building, Hosek said. Usually we only call them for very difficult airway cases. But our threshold for managing airways now is much lower for calling anesthesia, he said. We do want the best possible person managing that airway if theyre available. Presumed or confirmed cases do not typically go straight to the ICU upon arrival at the hospital. Only if they suddenly get very sick in the emergency department would they require the attention of a critical care specialist. This whole thing could have been way worse. We could have been swamped with critically ill patients, like Italy or Spain or New York City. And were not, were very lucky, Hosek said. The ICU is an even more stressful place these days, and Hosek said it can be quite exhausting for everyone. It is a time-consuming task to make sure he is wearing his personal protective equipment properly and that it has been properly disinfected. When you go in and out of a room, to examine someone or comfort someone, its so easy to forget, to make a mistake, he said. We do our best to educate each other and spot each other when we are doing it. But despite the added layers of stress, there are moments of hope and happiness, too, like when a person is well enough to be taken off a ventilator. Theres just a round of applause throughout the unit and people are extremely happy that this can be beat, Hosek said. It is very gratifying. The COVID-19 units Most of the hospitals COVID-19 patients who are not in critical care are in one of three designated units. One used to be the stroke ward. Another was a clinical teaching unit. Now they serve one purpose: to help COVID-19 patients get better. The hospitals Freeport Campus also has a care unit. Patients are usually alone in a room or with one other person at the same stage of the illness. Joanne Belkwell said they do this to avoid the risk of reinfecting someone. Figuring out where to locate incoming patients is one of Belkwells duties as the units resource nurse. Theres different levels of illness. Some people arent that sick and some people are so sick, she said. Classic COVID has become a common phrase around the hospital. Like Hassan, Belkwell said she has been stunned with the speed at which some patients conditions worsen. Its really shocking. Its not the patients that I thought that would get sick, she said. She has seen seemingly healthy patients in their 20s, 30s and 40s gasping for breath. She has seen fevers that never seem to give up. She has seen patients suddenly get so sick they need to be sent down to the ICU to be placed on a ventilator. One morning theyre on a little bit of oxygen, it sneaks up, it sneaks up, and by that night theyre in ICU. Its less than 24 hours. Its scary. Belkwell said her job was already busy, but now its even busier. As a resource nurse, Belkwell is responsible for managing up to nine nurses on her team, to make sure her unit has personal protective equipment, to follow up on new hospital policies and also help with patient care. I feel like Im responsible for everybodys safety and thats a big part of it, she said. I speak with the physicians, with the managements about a new policy and its, its hard cause they seem to be changing every day, Belkwell said. Managing personal protective equipment is a giant task. Nurses wear face shields, surgical caps, gowns and face masks. When they go into a patients room, they put on a fresh face mask and put it away in a zip-lock bag when they leave the room to avoid contamination. The masks are being kept aside to be reused eventually, Belkwell said. Nurses are constantly washing their hands. Belkwell said her hands feel like sandpaper. Face shields are set down to sanitize after each interaction with a patient. Then the surfaces they were placed on are sanitized. Its a cumbersome process that adds stress to a nurses work day, Belkwell said. Each nurse reuses the same face shield that is kept in a zip-lock bag with the nurses name on it. The hospital keeps an inventory of how many days worth of masks are left, and Belkwell said it doesnt look good. It is part of the reason nurses try to limit the number of times they go into a patients room. They will bundle tasks like blood pressure checks and the administration of medication whenever possible to save on masks and to lower the risk of exposure. Were scared of catching it. Were scared of bringing it home. Were scared of giving it to our families, she said. But despite the fears, Belkwell said nurses have been prepared to get sick because it can happen to anyone. Our unit has not had an outbreak, and I am personally so proud of all of us, Belkwell said. Keeping in touch Staying connected with patients families has become a big part of the job for Hassan and Belkwell. The phones are always ringing, Belkwell said. They are constantly fielding calls from concerned family members, asking for updates on their loved ones. In the ICU, Hassan said staff make great efforts to update family members as often as they possibly can. They understand why these policies are in place, Hassan said. But it has been very hard on families. Sometimes it can be difficult to communicate with patients through a mask. Sometimes patients are confused about why their families cant visit them in the hospital, Belkwell said. They dont understand why their families cant come in and families are frustrated and scared too, she said. We do try to support them as much as we can, Belkwell said. Gone are the days where you just come in and out and in and out of the rooms, - Vybz Kartel's son Likkie Addi born Akheel Raheim Palmer was congratulated by his dad in a photo shared by the convict on his Instagram page - The couple is expecting a baby boy and held a colourful baby shower for the child who will be Kartel's first grandson - The artiste commended the two even adorably calling the young lady his daughter - The dancehall star remains behind bars in Jamaica after he was found guilty of murder back in 2014 and sentenced to life imprisonment Jamaican Dancehall star Vybz Kartel is set to become a grandfather with the news of his 16-year-old son expecting a child with his girlfriend. Kartel's son Likkie Addi born Akheel Raheim Palmer appeared on a congratulatory message shared by the convict on his Instagram page. READ ALSO: Comedian Jalang'o laughs off claims of his boys' club escapades trending online READ ALSO: Mike Sonko gifts adopted son Gift Osinya brand new car on 19th birthday In the snap, Addi was standing next to his teenage girlfriend who was heavily pregnant as they posed and smiled for the camera. According to Urban Islandz, the couple is expecting a baby boy and held a colourful baby shower for who will be Kartel's first grandson. Kartel commended the two even adorably calling the young lady his daughter. READ ALSO: Leonardo DiCaprio joins campaign to support Virunga national park after 13 rangers protecting gorillas were killed READ ALSO: Kenyans start Twitter row with Tanzanians after Magufuli's decision to shut down borders "Congrats to my son and daughter and extended family. #newgeneration #gazanation," he wrote. According to Urban Islandz, the couple is expecting a baby boy and held a colourful baby shower for the child who will be Kartel's first grandson. The news received mixed reactions from fans online, with some congratulating the entertainer while others questioning why the teenage couple decided to have a baby at such a tender age. The dancehall star remains behind bars in Jamaica after he was found guilty of murder but continues to do music and is very active on social media. He was sentenced to life imprisonment back in 2014 and recently appealed against the charge. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My wife pushed me to marry another woman - Pastor Habil Were | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke In a major development on Tuesday, May 19, India was among 10 nations that were elected by the 73rd World Health Assembly to the Executive Board of the World Health Organisation for a period of three years. The other new members include Botswana, Colombia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Oman, Republic of Korea, Russia, and the United Kingdom. The WHO Executive Board is comprised of 34 individuals technically qualified in the health sector designated by member states which are elected by the World Health Assembly. The Board holds two meetings annually- the first one in January and a shorter meeting in May immediately after the World Health Assembly. The principal functions of the Executive Board is to give effect to the decisions and policies of the Health Assembly, to advise it and to facilitate its work. Currently, Dr. Hiroki Nakatani of Japan is the Chairman of the WHO Executive Board. On May 22, 2020, the 147th session of the Board shall be conducted where the election of the chair, vice-chairs, and rapporteurs will take place. Read: WHO Chief Bats For A 'healthy, Safe, Fair' World At 73rd WHA Speech | Full Statement Here Botswana Colombia Ghana Guinea Bissau India Madagascar Oman Republic of Korea Russian Federation United Kingdom have been elected by #WHA73 as new members of the WHO Executive Board https://t.co/yXhsYHYdBNpic.twitter.com/67b9Nvv8N1 World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 19, 2020 Read: Experts: US President Trump's Threats To WHO Could Undercut Global Health Dr.Tedros welcomes resolution for an independent probe In his opening remarks at the World Health Assembly on Monday, WHO chief Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the resolution for a step-wise process of impartial, independent, and comprehensive evaluation into the COVID-19 response. He promised to initiate an independent evaluation at the earliest so that recommendations can be made to improve national and global pandemic preparedness and response. At the same time, Dr.Tedros stressed that such an evaluation must encompass the entirety of the response by all actors. India was one of the numerous countries who had supported this resolution. Dr.Tedros remarked, WHO is committed to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement. For us, change is a constant. In fact, the existing independent accountability mechanisms are already in operation, since the pandemic started. The Independent Oversight Advisory Committee has today published its first report on the pandemic, with several recommendations for both the Secretariat and Member States. He added, In that spirit, we welcome the proposed resolution before this Assembly, which calls for a step-wise process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation. To be truly comprehensive, such an evaluation must encompass the entirety of the response by all actors, in good faith. Read: Trump Tells WHO It Has No Future Lest It Show Independence From China; Explodes In Letter Read: US President Trump Calls WHO 'puppet Of China'; Attacks Joe Biden For Opposing Travel Ban KYIV. May 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) Ukrainian MP Andriy Derkach has made public audio materials that may indicate the influence of ex-Vice President of the United States Joseph Biden on the fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko. "We will unveil recordings of telephone conversations with voices similar to those of Petro Poroshenko and Joseph Biden, testifying to the facts of international corruption and state treason at the highest state level," Derkach said during an online conference at Interfax-Ukraine agency on Tuesday. According to Derkach, he received the recordings from investigative journalists, and Poroshenko personally did the recording of the conversations. The first topic of the recordings, the deputy noted, concerns the receipt of "$1 billion in exchange for maintaining Burisma schemes and international corruption." The records, as Derkach notes, date back to 2015-2016, in particular, they refer to the need to dismiss Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin at that time, "who was investigating the Burisma case and tapped into Biden at that time." "Biden leaves for Kyiv to put pressure on Petro Oleksiyovych regarding Shokin. There's a powerful argument in Biden's pocket ... a $1 billion loan guarantees ... such was a price to save Biden from prison," Derkach said. The deputy claims that the $1 billion received was used to receive military government orders by enterprises related to Poroshenko. The second topic of the recordings, according to Derkach, concerns the collapse of the parliamentary coalition and the upcoming elections in February 2016. "Poroshenko admits that there is no coalition ... instead of fulfilling the requirements of the Constitution and declaring a re-election, Petro Oleksiyovych held to the promises given to Biden personally and blocked the Cabinet's dismissal," Derkach explained. "These conversations clearly show ... Biden ruled Ukraine," the deputy said. Also, according to him, the audio recordings say about Biden's influence through the supervisory boards of large state enterprises. "We handed over all the hours-long records we have at our disposal together with a statement about high treason, as well as of facts of international corruption to the Prosecutor General's Office ... for registering criminal proceedings," Derkach summed up. He also added that, in his opinion, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Razumkov "blocks the creation of the inquiry commission ... which is a violation of the law on regulations." "Such a commission could effectively investigate the facts of international corruption," Derkach said. Former prosecutor Kostiantyn Kulyk, who was present at the press conference, added that Ruslan Riaboshapka, when he was the prosecutor general, "completely stopped the investigation of economic crimes of the Yanukovych regime and stopped the $6 billion budget confiscation planned for 2019." "A report has been prepared on this fact that Riaboshapka had committed the crimes pursuant to Articles 349, 364 and 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ... it is about interference with the activities of a law enforcement officer, abuse of power, exceeding of the limits of authority and disclosure of the secrets of pretrial investigation. I hope that the monitoring over the investigation by will be organized by Ukrainian parliamentarians ... I consider it necessary to initiate the creation of a temporary investigative commission of the Verkhovna Rada to investigate opposition to the investigation of economic criminal cases of the Yanukovych regime," Kulyk said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) Media giant ABS-CBN is considering the retrenchment of its employees by August if it stays off the air by then, the network's president and CEO told the Senate on Tuesday. "I'm afraid if we do not get back on air soon, by August we may have to consider beginning a retrenchment process," ABS-CBN president and CEO Carlo Katigbak told the Senate Committee on Public Services. Despite losses in substantial revenues after they were ordered to shut down on May 5, Katigbak said they remain committed to their promise that their 11,000 workers will still have jobs for at least three months. "We felt it would be very, very painful to put our employees out on the street without them having an idea as to how they can continue earning a living and continue to feed their families," he noted. However, Katigbak said that such commitment cannot remain "open-ended," due to the network's financial constraints. The network's franchise had expired on May 4. "We continue to lose a substantial amount of money every month," he said. ABS-CBN is banking on the grant of a provisional franchise supported by Congress as among the reasons why the National Telecommunications Commission should not recall its assigned frequencies. The House of Representatives is eyeing the passage of the provisional franchise which would be valid until October 31. However, on Monday it recalled the approval of the measure on second reading, with some lawmakers saying that they wanted to deliberate on the issue further. "Our end objective is hopefully to secure a 25-year franchise," Katigbak told the Senate panel. "If securing the franchise is the fastest way to go back on air, then we have no objection to that." The senators noted during the hearing that a 25-year franchise should be considered instead of the five-month provisional franchise being proposed by the House. "Tayo rin nagpapahirap sa trabaho natin (We're just making our jobs more difficult)," Senator Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao said. "Five months is not enough unless we finish deliberations until October 31." Senator Risa Hontiveros also raised that should Congress act on the matter, a "pro-worker" franchise would set a good precedent for other networks to also look into the welfare of their employees. Financial analyst April Tan previously told CNN Philippines that despite losses, ABS-CBN still has around 4 billion left which would allow it to support its workers at least until August. The Supreme Court on Tuesday required the National Telecommunications Commission to comment on the network's plea to nullify the order to stop its operations. In its petition, the Kapamilya network said that it incurs losses ranging from 30 million to 35 million every day that it is off air. The network's shutdown was heavily criticized as an attack on press freedom, since President Rodrigo Duterte made public rants over its failure to air his campaign advertisements in 2016. Manitoba Conservation and Climate revealed in a release Monday the current risk of wildfire is high across southern and central regions of the province. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/5/2020 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Manitoba Conservation and Climate revealed in a release Monday the current risk of wildfire is high across southern and central regions of the province. To prevent wildfires, all provincial burn permits issued under The Wildfires Act within the burning permit area are suspended immediately and no other permits will be issued until further notice. Multiple wildfires are burning near the Northern Affairs community of Camperville and Pine Creek First Nation (PCFN). The Canadian Red Cross assisted the PCFN with the evacuation of about 100 people, most of which were able to return on Monday. The release also stated there have been several other areas of the province where human-caused wildfires have been reported. The province is reminding the public to never leave an outdoor fire unattended and always extinguish before leaving. Anyone using an ATV should stay on developed trails, stop frequently to check areas around the engine and exhaust for debris, and carefully dispose of any debris caught in equipment. A small shovel, axe and fire extinguisher should be carried on ATVs at all times. The latest information on municipal burn restrictions can be found at www.manitoba.ca/wildfire. Man charged after selkirk assault Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. One man has been charged with assault following an incident on Selkirk Avenue after which another man was sent to hospital. On Sunday, at 5:57 p.m., the Winnipeg Police Service responded to a report of a stabbing in the 400 block of Selkirk Avenue. A 27-year-old male victim had been walking in the area when he was approached by a male who allegedly tried to sell him methamphetamine. When the victim declined, the male allegedly attacked the victim with a knife and then fled. Upon arrival, officers located the victim and began to apply medical treatment. The victim was transported to hospital in stable condition. Soon after, North District General Patrol officers, with the assistance of community members and the K9 Unit, located a suspect in the 500 block of Manitoba Avenue. A 20-year-old male has been charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, carrying concealed weapon prohibited device or ammunition, failure to comply with condition of release order and failure to comply with a probation order. He was detained in custody. "Minority-owned businesses are critical to Americas supply chain. ... it is imperative that we all come together ... so that they can continue to make a meaningful economic impact on their communities, Regina Heyward, Wells Fargo SVP and Head of Supplier Diversity. Wells Fargo & Company and the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) have announced the creation of four Minority Business Leadership Academies. The year-long academy program is designed to enable minority suppliers to expand their business capabilities. "Minority-owned businesses are critical to Americas supply chain. In todays times of uncertainty and disruption, it is imperative that we all come together to give diverse businesses across the country access to the resources to retool, restore, and recover so that they can continue to make a meaningful economic impact on their communities, said Regina Heyward, Senior Vice President and Head of Supplier Diversity for Wells Fargo. In supplier diversity, our team has been working diligently and collaboratively with our supply chain and capacity-building partners to provide diverse businesses with support, resources and opportunities. The Minority Business Leadership Academies will be held live or virtually at four NMSDC regional council locations: Washington (DC): hosted by the Capitol Region MSDC; Miami (FL): hosted by the Florida State MSDC; New York (NY): hosted by the New York-New Jersey MSDC; Phoenix (AZ) - San Diego (CA): hosted by the Pacific Southwest MSDC. NMSDC President and CEO Adrienne Trimble cited the value to minority supplier development and NMSDCs ability to forge innovative partnerships with its corporate members. Minority-owned businesses nationwide employ 6.3 million people and generate annual revenue of more than $1.6 trillion, Trimble said. Wells Fargo consistently demonstrates its strong commitment to our supplier diversity programs that serve NMSDC-certified minority-owned businesses. The Minority Business Leadership Academy program has four basic goals: Build the value proposition for each minority business owner; Enhance best practices in business development, organizational capabilities and scalability; Foster greater readiness to meet industry needs; and Increase competitiveness when seeking contracts and opportunities in the global marketplace. Each of the Minority Business Leadership Academies represents a one-year commitment for a group of 15-20 qualifying applicants. Participants must be certified MBEs with a track record of high performance, offering quality products and services that are needed and used by firms within the financial services industry. Wells Fargo collaborated with NMSDC and its national affiliate network in 2016 to develop the Minority Business Leadership Academy concept. In 2019, more than 40 minority businesses participated in three Minority Business Leadership Academies within the Capital Region MSDC, Houston MSDC and Southern California MSDC. Wells Fargo Issues Grants to Six NMSDC Regional Councils In addition to the four $25,000 grants that will fund the 2020 Minority Business Leadership Academies, as part of the company's ongoing support of the NMSDC, Wells Fargo will also award six $10,000 grants benefiting the following NMSDC regional councils: Capital Region; Carolinas-Virginia; Georgia; North Central; New York-New Jersey; and Southwest. The funds will be used to support or enhance an existing MBE development program. NMSDC Adds Extra Support Resources in Response to COVID-19 Emergency In early March, the dramatic economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were becoming clear to Adrienne Trimble and her NMSDC team. We quickly recognized a lot of fear and uncertainty bubbling up in the marketplace, she said, specifically within the minority business community. NMSDC immediately began to leverage innovation with their communication resources and technology to bolster the organizations ability to continue providing service and support while protecting health and safety for all. Several significant initiatives resulted, including: Virtual Town Hall Series | Weekly Series called Managing in a National Emergency features sessions covering timely topics, critical business updates, and expert insights. Town Halls are available in real-time or on demand at NMSDC.com. Specialized MBE/Corporate Matchmaking | NMSDC is collecting requests for key PPE and other items needed (i.e. masks and gloves) and sharing out to their MBEs. In some cases, minority businesses have been able to pivot to provide or produce pandemic-related items. SBA Collaboration | NMSDC is working with the SBA to identify a process which will enable the organization to aid and train MBEs on how to access and complete loan and grant applications. COVID-19 Taskforce | Comprised of our affiliate Presidents and representatives from our Corporate Membership and MBEs, this group is sharing best practices and making recommendations about programming and resources to support MBE viability today and into the future. The objective, according to Trimble, is to position NMSDC as a one-stop resource for MBE-centric news, resources, and support services. About NMSDC The NMSDC advances business opportunities for certified minority business enterprises (MBEs) and connects them to corporate members. One of the countrys leading corporate membership organizations, NMSDC was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes. The NMSDC network includes a national office in New York and 23 affiliate regional councils across the country. The network also includes five international partner organizations located in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, China and South Africa. To meet the growing need for supplier diversity, NMSDC matches its more than 12,000 certified minority-owned businesses to a network of more than 1,750 corporate members who wish to purchase their products, services and solutions. NMSDC, a unique and specialized player in the field of minority business enterprise, is proud of its unwavering commitment to advance Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American suppliers in a globalized corporate supply chain. For more information, visit http://www.NMSDC.org. About Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.98 trillion in assets. Wells Fargos vision is to satisfy our customers financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,400 locations, more than 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 31 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 263,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 29 on Fortunes 2019 rankings of Americas largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories. Chile's supreme court on Monday confirmed the extradition to France of a Chilean accused of murdering his Japanese ex-girlfriend in 2016 in the east of France. Narumi Kurosaki, then 21, vanished from her university after eating with Nicolas Zepeda, who returned to Chile by the time her disappearance was reported days later. French investigators believe Kurosaki was killed by Zepeda in a jealous rage but her body was never found despite extensive searches. Last month, Chile agreed to extradite Zepeda, 29. On Monday, the country's top court "confirmed the judgement delivered on April 2," according to the decision seen by AFP. Kurosaki was living on a university campus in Besancon, France on December 4, 2016 when she was last seen alive. Her body has never been found. "I'm delighted with this decision," Besancon's public prosecutor Etienne Manteaux told AFP. "This extradition will allow for a trial with the presence of the suspect, who will be able to defend himself." Manteaux also praised Chilean authorities for agreeing to the extradition despite the absence of a treaty between the two countries. According to investigators, Zepeda went to Besancon at the beginning of December 2016 to see his former girlfriend. On the evening of December 4, the pair entered her residence together. The prosecutor said several students heard "howls of terror, cries" that night but no-one called the police. Kurosaki's disappearance was not reported for several days. Zepeda, the son of a wealthy Chilean family, met Kurosaki in Japan in 2014. At the time of her disappearance, the pair had broken up and she was in a new relationship. Chilean Nicolas Zepeda, pictured at an extradition hearing in Santiago March 5, 2020, has been ordered sent back to France to face trial for the alleged murder of a Japanese student A wife's attempt to publicly humiliate her clueless husband's first go at making the bed in 45 years backfired when his creative ways of presenting the extra cushions proved an unlikely viral hit. Joanne Sterling who lives in Manson, Washington, firmly told her husband Jim that he had to 'pull his weight' around the house for the first time, after he retired from his role as the boss of a hardwood flooring store. She gave him the job of making the bed and was left in hysterics after seeing how the extra pillows baffled the 66-year-old, who thought they were supposed to be piled up against the wall. Retired pharmacy technician Joanne, shared a photo of the bizarre set-up on her Facebook to mock how clueless Jim was and did the same the following few days with his next attempts. Joanne Sterling who lives in Manson, Washington, has been documenting her husband Jim's hilarious attempts at making the bed for the first time in 45 years on social media. Pictured: Jim using pillows as a makeshift prison for a teddy Joanne asked Jim to 'pull his weight' around the house, after he retired from his role as the boss of a hardwood flooring store. Pictured: Jim and Joanne Sterling Jim and Joanne's daughter Jessy, racked up almost 20,000 likes after her post about his bed making skills went viral on Facebook. Pictured: Jim piled all of the cushions on top of each other The couple's daughter Jessy, also shared Jim's amusing attempts at helping around the house on social media, racking up almost 20,000 likes, comments and shares. However their plans of embarrassing Jim failed to work as once he saw that his imaginative ways of arranging the cushions had struck a chord, he set about creating more elaborate displays to poke fun of himself. Joanne said: 'I just don't think he had any idea what to do with the extra pillows, so put them anywhere. 'Once he'd retired, I told him he had to start pulling his own weight and start helping out around the house. Joanne said Jim seemed baffled by the extra pillows and began putting them anywhere. Pictured: Jim included inflatable flamingos in his display of cushions Jim had four cushions left over from his first attempt at making the bed. Pictured: One of Jessy's post on Facebook 'When he did the first one, he didn't say anything about it. He just let me find it on my own.' Once he had sorted the duvet and normal pillows, Jim was still left with four more cushions and appeared to be stumped by what to do with them. On the first day, he piled them all on top of each other, creating two identical totem-like piles with the yellow cushions on top. The following day Jim laid the two yellow cushions and two floral questions in a line in front of the head pillows, creating almost a second level. On the third day, he hid all of the ornamental cushions underneath their functional pillows before piling all eight of the furnishings into the middle of their bed. Jim has been playing up to his new-found fame by experimenting each day with elaborate methods of presenting the pillows. Pictured: Jim hiding the pillows under their duvet Joanne said Jim's designs are funny but she's happy that he's making the bed every morning. Pictured: Jim placed all the cushions at the bottom of the bed Joanne shared each of the unusual attempts to arrange them on her Facebook page each day, until her daughter spotted the hilarious situation and made the viral post of her dad's failed attempts. Since becoming a viral hit, Jim has played up to his new-found fame by coming up with increasingly elaborate methods of presenting the pillows. Joanne said: 'His designs are funny, but honestly, I'm just so happy he is making the bed every morning. 'He still doesn't tell me about what he's done, he just leaves it as a surprise for me when I walk into the bedroom. Joanne revealed she's surprised each time Jim makes the bed, because he doesn't tell her what he's done. Pictured: Joanna and Jim Sterling Joanne revealed her favourite of Jim's attempts was the first one, saying his creativity keeps them both in a good mood. Pictured: Jim hid all the cushions underneath the pillows Joanne admits she's surprised by the amount of interest Jim's creations have received. Pictured: Jim's attempt at using props 'The bed stays this way until we go to bed, and I giggle every time I pass by it. 'My favourite was the very first one because it made me laugh so hard. It keeps us both in a good mood. 'I couldn't believe the interest his little creations have had. I guess other couples can just relate to a husband not knowing what he's doing around the house. 'Now he thinks he's famous, I think it's starting to egg him on. He has even started incorporating props like teddies and even an inflatable flamingo.' Joanne believes other people can relate to having a husband who doesn't know what they're doing around the house. Pictured: Jim and Joanne as high school sweethearts Joanne admits she's been egging Jim on because he thinks he's now famous. Picture: A day when Jim refused to make the bed MANILA, Philippines The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday clarified that the Philippines is engaging in expanded targeted testing rather than mass testing for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In a virtual press forum, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire explained that the term expanded targeted testing is more appropriate as they are conducting tests which are focused on people manifesting COVID-19 symptoms and those who have been exposed to positive cases. We are trying to veer away from this term na mass testing kasi gusto namin isipin ng mga tao na this is not indiscriminate testing, she said. (We are trying to veer away from this term, mass testing because we want people to think that this is not indiscriminate testing.) Pag sinabi mong mass testing iniisip ng mga tao buong populasyon ng Pilipinas, which is not the case, she added. Ang expanded testing po iyon pa rin po iyong tayo ay magpo-focus doon sa mga taong kailangan talagang i-test talaga because of exposure and symptoms. (When you say mass testing, the people would think it is for the entire Philippine population, which is not the case. The expanded testing focuses on people who really need to get tested because of exposure and symptoms.) The DOH made the statement in support of Malacanangs earlier pronouncement that the use of the term mass testing is incorrect. According to DOHs first guidelines, those who will be required to undergo COVID-19 testing include people who have exhibited symptoms, have had contact with an infected person, with travel history to areas with COVID-19 cases and those who are in severe or critical condition. It later expanded the protocols to include those among the vulnerable sector such as senior citizens, have pre-existing medical condition and frontline health care workers. Vergerire said the public also needs to understand that not all Filipinos may undergo testing for COVID-19 with the countrys limited resources. Story continues She added that the government has intensified the contact tracing efforts to further combat the spread of the dreaded viral disease. Ang contact tracing po ay napaka-importante para sa ating lahat. This is part of the major components of the response to COVID-19, she said. At present, the Philippines has a total of 38,315 contact tracers. From May 8 to 13, the country has conducted an average of 7,809 tests a day. The government said it aims to conduct at least 30,000 tests a day by the end of the month. As of May 19, the Philippines has recorded a total of 12,942 COVID-19 cases, with 837 deaths and 2,843 recoveries based on the data published by the DOH. RRD (with details from Correspondent Aiko Miguel) The post Phl conducting expanded targeted testing, not mass testing vs COVID-19 DOH appeared first on UNTV News. Hundreds of migrant labourers gathered on an approach road to Bandra Terminus in Mumbai on Tuesday before the departure of a Shramik Special train for Bihar, leading to chaos in the area for some time. The crowd was later dispersed by police, a Western Railway official said. The incident occurred over a month after hundreds of migrant workers had assembled near the Bandra station demanding transport for their repatriation to their native places in the wake of the coronavirus-enforced lockdown. In a video clip of Tuesday's incident that went viral on social media, a large number of migrants were seen carrying their luggage and running towards the gate of the Bandra Terminus. SEE: Hundreds of migrants gather near Mumbai's Bandra station The crowd started gathering in the area around 11 am, sources said. The Western Railway in a statement later said a Shramik Special train was scheduled for Purnia from the Bandra Terminus in which passengers registered with the state authorities were to travel. However, many people, who were not registered and not called by the state authorities, gathered on a road and a bridge near the station, it said. "The bona fide passengers were checked and allowed to enter the station by the state machinery. The train left the Bandra Terminus around 12 noon with 1,700 labourers and their families who were entitled to travel," Western Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Ravinder Bhakar said. The crowd outside the station was later dispersed by police, a railway official said. Some migrants later said they had received calls on their phones a day earlier with the callers claiming to be police personnel who informed them that they were eligible to board the train. "I received a call on my mobile phone on Monday with a man saying that he was a police personnel. He told me that I could board the train on Tuesday. The caller said he would call back again to inform me about the timing of the train, but never got back," claimed Mohammed Ahmed, a migrant labourer. Another labourer Sanjeev Kumar said he had completed the mandatory registration process and was informed over phone by 'policemen' about the timing of the train, which was to leave on Tuesday. "But when I reached the station, I wasn't allowed to board the train," he said. A Railway Protection Force (RPF) official said that a word about the Shramik special train leaving for Bihar somehow spread among migrants who rushed to Bandra terminus with the hope of boarding it even without tickets. An eyewitness said a group of migrants raised slogans against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, but the police immediately dispersed them. Referring to the video clip, a senior RPF officer said it was of the roads outside the station premises which fall under the jurisdiction of the Mumbai Police. "RPF personnel were deployed inside the station premises and we allowed the bona fide passengers with proper tickets to enter the station and board the train, making them maintain social distance," he said. The WR has operated 582 Shramik special trains and ferried over 8.30 lakh migrants between May 2 and 18. Australians working from home face a big tax bill if they can't back up their claims. During the first week of the COVID-19 lockdowns in early April, the federal government announced Australians would be able to claim a flat rate of 80 cents an hour. Tax agent H&R Block's director of tax communications Mark Chapman said those working from home could be penalised if they tried to squeeze more from their upcoming tax return. 'That is how you get into trouble with the tax office,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'If they ask you to prove your claim, they're going to expect to see all of those calculations.' Australians working from home face a big tax bill if they can't back up their claims. Pictured is Adelaide woman Victoria Bowes in her study on April 2, before the government announced Australians could claim a flat rate of 80 cents an hour for working at home The Australian Taxation Office could potentially penalise someone 75 per cent of the tax deduction claim. Australian tax office crackdowns Individual working from home expenses Investment property rentals Meal and uniform claims Union fees and subscriptions Car expenses Source: H&R Block Advertisement 'If it looks like you've deliberately set out to put in an incorrect claim, I hate to use the word fraud but if you're defrauding the ATO, it does become quite expensive then,' Mr Chapman said. Those working from home are urged to keep receipts for everything, from the purchase of paper and desks at Officeworks to heating and internet bills. 'If you make a claim based on what you think are your actual costs and you've not got the calculations to back it up and the paperwork - the receipts, the invoices - then you will get potentially into trouble,' Mr Chapman said. He expected the ATO to be particularly vigilant, with coronavirus restrictions likely to see a record number of white collar workers doing their day job from the kitchen benchtop or the home study. Those working from home are urged to keep receipts for everything, from the purchase of paper and desks at Officeworks (Richmond store in Melbourne pictured) to heating and internet bills 'They will be this year because they're so many people working from home at the moment and they're not just working from home occasionally,' Mr Chapman said. 'This is an area where there's going to be a big spike in claims and whenever you see that kind of thing, the ATO will be looking to focus on that.' The ATO was also likely to be cracking down on property investors who moved into a country home they owned - but which they hadn't rented out - in a bid to escape cities like Sydney and Melbourne with more active coronvirus cases. 'If you're living in a rental property yourself, if you're letting friends or family live in it, then you can't claim any deductions for that property,' Mr Chapman said. 'That could be an issue at the moment because in some cases people have moved into their rental property because it's in a location which is potentially easier to accommodate lockdown, if you've got a place in the country.' H&R Block's director of tax communications said investors who owned beachside homes (like these ones at Byron Bay on the NSW far-north coast) could negatively gear their property if the coronavirus border closure caused their rental income to dry up Landlords claiming rental income losses, also known as negative gearing, needed to prove they had a tenant in there. COVID-19 labour market at a glance Unemployment: it surged from 5.2 per cent in March to 6.2 per cent in April - the highest since September 2015 Number unemployed climbed by 104,500 to 823,300 In April, 489,800 people left the labour force, which meant 594,300 either lost their job or gave up looking for one Underemployment soared by 4.9 percentage points to record 13.7 per cent Tally of underemployed Australians surged by 603,300 to 1.8million Participation rate plunged by an unprecedented 2.4 percentage points to 63.5 per cent Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Advertisement Mr Chapman expected negative gearing claims to surge, as a record number of tenants deferred their rent for six months, due to COVID-19 either costing them their job or working hours. Border closures are also expected to hit investors in holiday spots who let out their homes through Airbnb, giving them grounds to claim rental losses on tax provided they had advertised it for lease and not lived there themselves. 'This year, suddenly your rental market has completely dried up,' Mr Chapman said. 'If they're simply seeing their rental market dry up and the property's sitting empty, the ATO has said they will be flexible around that. 'If you would normally be renting the property out and can't because of COVID-19, in those situations they will allow people to claim deductions.' The 2019-20 financial year is ending on June 30, which means tax returns will need to be filed by October 31 to avoid being charged a penalty. New York Federal authorities are urging governors to use extreme caution in deciding when to resume visits at nursing homes, saying it shouldnt come before all residents and staff have tested negative for the coronavirus for at least 28 days. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services criteria for relaxing restrictions at nursing homes come more than two months after the agency ordered homes to ban visitors. Instead of firm dates, it lists a variety of factors state and local officials should consider, such as adequate staffing levels at homes and the ability to regularly test all residents and workers. Were urging governors to proceed with extreme caution because these are the most vulnerable citizens. We know that nursing homes have struggled, Seema Verma, head of CMS, told The Associated Press. Already, outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities have claimed more than 33,000 lives, more than a third of all coronavirus deaths in the U.S., according to a count by the AP. The recommendations bolster the Trump administrations broader guidelines that say senior care facilities should be among the last in a community to reopen, given the vulnerability of their elderly residents. And they noted that some homes may have to wait even longer than 28 days from the last negative test if they have had problems with infection controls, staffing or other issues. Once visits resume, family members and others should still wear face coverings and practice social distancing, CMS said. Although the ban on visitors is intended to keep residents safe, Toby Edelman of the Center for Medicare Advocacy said the prolonged isolation could have negative consequences, since family members often act as an extra set of eyes to ensure their loved ones are being properly cared for. Its been necessary but it takes its toll on residents and family members, psychologically, mentally, physically in every conceivable way, Edelman said. Dr. Sharon Inouye, a professor of geriatrics at Harvard Medical School in Boston, said its been distressing to watch her mother cope with the isolation. She got pretty depressed initially. She kept calling me and sometimes shed be crying, Im so lonely,'" said Inouye, who had to cancel plans to fly out and see her mother at an assisted living facility in the San Francisco area. Inouye's sister, who lives closer to the home, was only able to see their mother from a distance twice. The in-person encounters between family members and residents by the home's entrance are difficult for staff to coordinate more frequently, Inouye said. For weeks, nursing homes have been calling on local and federal officials for help accessing tests and personal protective equipment. Mark Parkinson, president of the American Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes and assisted living facilities, said the testing of residents and staff should be possible within a few weeks with the federal government making access for homes more of a priority. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS 278 Onondaga County businesses have told NY theyre open, McMahon says McMahon: Leaning toward opening Oneida Shores beach, more mobile testing coming Onondaga County coronavirus death toll over 100 after new data from NY state Gov. Cuomo encouraging NY teams to plan reopening: I want to watch the Buffalo Bills Back Index Forward Weekly News Digest May 19, 2020 In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. For other up-to-the-minute news, check out ITIs Twitter account: @ITINewsBreaks. CLICK HERE to view more Weekly News Digest items. COVID-19 NEWS: 'Libraries Around the World Prepare for a New Normal' bibliotheca published an article stating the following: Across the world, many countries have begun a gradual reopening of public life in an attempt to return a sense of normalcy to residents lives and diminish the economic impact of the Covid-19 global pandemic. [L]ibraries are struggling to figure out the best course of action to safely resume providing services to their communities. The Australian Library and Information Association sums it up nicely: Reopening will not mean going back to the way things were pre-COVID-19; it will mean putting in place the new normal approach to library services. In British Columbia, the Vancouver Public Library allows users to schedule a time to pick up holds. Users provide identification through a window, then back up beyond 6 ft. while library staff leave a bag of requested materials outside the door to be retrieved. When materials are returned through the book drop, staff members leave them untouched for 72 hours as a safety precaution. Additionally, remote holds pick-up solutions further reduce user/staff contact while still providing access to physical library materials. Ulsan Metropolitan City Library in South Korea has been using bibliothecas remoteLockers to provide access to physical materials during the pandemic. Continued social distancing concerns mean it will be a while before libraries are again the bustling centers of community activity, full of story time tots, book clubs, and study groups. Still, as some businesses begin to reopen at limited capacity, it may be helpful for libraries to take cues from those that have begun to reopen as they determine their own process for a phased approach. For more information, read the article. Send correspondence concerning the Weekly News Digest to NewsBreaks Editor Brandi Scardilli An amateurish infographic tweeted by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday night attempts to show Texas and Floridas superiority over California and New York in everything from their respective COVID-19 death rates to state income tax. According to the Four Most Populous States by the Numbers graphic, the two southern states have fewer coronavirus deaths and smaller budget deficits. It also notes that Florida and Texas have reopened dine-in restaurants, salons and barbershops, and churches, while California and New York have not. Abbott's only comment was a chin-stroking Hmmm Its not clear who created the chart; no credit is provided. But beyond the blurry photos, there are clues that the workmanship is less than professional. Some figures are not current and others are misleading. For example, the 13 percent California income tax only applies to those making over $1 million per year. An unfortunate typo has turned the word mortality into morality. According to the graphic, Texas has the lowest morality rate of the four states. The Houston Chronicle reported Texas had 1,801 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the largest single-day jump since the pandemic began. Replies to the governors Twitter post ran the gamut. There was much red state flag waving and needling of blue states: God bless Texas!, Great Job Governor Abbot [sic] and Governor DeSantis. Hey Gavin and Cuomo, you might want to learn something and To you California or New York nut jobs, if you move here, vote Republican, dont want TX to become CA or NY!!! But a number of people questioned the graphics figures, such as the mortality rate, which should be COVID-19 deaths as a percentage of cases not total population. Others pointed to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Texas, suggesting that the tweet "would not age well." A few noted that unlike California and New York, Texas and Florida get a disproportionate amount of federal aid that allows them to keep their own taxes artificially low or that the deficit figures did not account for Texas' $45 billion pension debt. MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here. Mike Moffitt is an SFGATE Digital Reporter. Email: moffitt@sfgate.com. Twitter: @Mike_at_SFGate Pastor dies from coronavirus after laying hands on infected followers, declaring them healed Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Frankline Ndifor, a popular self-styled prophet and former presidential candidate in Cameroon, died from the coronavirus Saturday after laying hands on dozens of his infected followers and pronouncing them healed from the disease. He was 39. The BBC reported that the death of the pastor, who founded Kingship International Ministries, caused so much mayhem it took police hours to retrieve his corpse from his home, where he died in Bonaberi, as his family and followers prayed for his resurrection. Rigobert Che, one of the pastors followers, told Voice of America that it was only last Wednesday that Ndifor had prayed for him and several dozen others who were either diagnosed with the virus or suspected they had been infected. Now that Ndifor is dead his followers are worried about their healing from the virus. "This is a pastor that has been laying hands [on the sick] and claiming that he cures COVID-19," Che said. "If you, the person that claims that you are curing COVID-19, you are dead, what about the fellow people that were affected by the COVID-19? Now that he is dead, I do not know how the people that he was laying hands on will be healed." The Cameroon Tribune reported that the pastor was sick for weeks before his death but he didnt seek medical help until early Saturday morning when his symptoms began to overwhelm him. He reportedly called the Regional Delegate of Public Health to refer him to a doctor, but by the time the doctor arrived he was in a coma and subsequently died. Doctor Gaelle Nnanga told VOA that Ndifor died less than a week after he was diagnosed with the coronavirus. Nnanga said he had been called by church members to help the pastor on Saturday, but by the time he and his team arrived, Ndifor was having severe respiratory issues that led to an agonizing death less than 10 minutes after he was treated. A government official in Douala also noted that the pastors followers refused to accept the medical examiners death pronouncement and had chased medical staff away from his home and told people that he was simply away on a spiritual retreat with God. Ndifor was a well-known faith healer who placed seventh out of nine candidates in Cameroons 2018 presidential election with 23,687 votes, VOA reported. Before his death he prayed for many people infected with coronavirus in his home and church and donated buckets and soap to the poor so they could also protect themselves from the coronavirus by washing their hands. His last public outing was on April 20, when he went out into Doualas streets to distribute facemasks. Some 3,300 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in Cameroon and 147 of them have died, according VOA. Medical personnel in the Central African nation of more than 27 million are now begging for increased security at hospitals as they face increasing attacks from people infected with the coronavirus or their loved ones. Gervais Gabriel Atedjoe, secretary general of Cameroons National Medical Council, told VOA that last week, angry crowds exhumed at least four corpses of people buried after they died of COVID-19 in the cities of Douala and Bafoussam to stop the spread of the virus. They insisted that people needed to be properly buried. "It is unbelievable, unacceptable that a medical doctor or medical personnel should be putting up a fight over a corpse with a family. They [the crowds] should understand that these people [the healthcare workers] are coming to help so that they should not be infected," Awah Fonka, governor of Cameroons Western Region, said. This year celebrations for the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan will be muted as lockdowns remain in place for many countries and the risk of new waves of coronavirus remains high. TRT World reports in its article What you need to know about Eid al fitr 2020 that with Eid less than a fortnight away, many Muslims across the world are getting used to the idea that this years celebration will be unlike any other, and not in a good way. The coronavirus pandemic has brought normal life to a standstill, including religious practice, with communal prayers and nightly Ramadan prayers impacted by the restrictions brought in to stifle the spread of the pandemic. Eid al-fitr, one of Islams two major religious holidays, is also certain to be affected by the pandemic, as even those countries that have been relatively successful in combating the virus seek to keep the risk of further contagion contained. Eid al Fitr, meaning Festival of Breaking the Fast, celebrates the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Eid is announced at the beginning of the tenth month of the Islamic calendar called Shawwal, which follows the month of Ramadan. The sighting of the moon is therefore important in announcing the start of a new lunar month. This years celebration is set to start on the evening of Saturday 23rd May but may differ due to the methodology involved in moonsighting. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted ordinary life, especially social interactions. Eid is normally a festival that involves large meals with extended families and visits to the houses of relatives and friends. There is little doubt therefore that even in places where lockdowns are relatively lax, people will have to avoid making unnecessary trips and avoid getting too close to people. It is likely many countries will cancel the communal Eid prayer and those that do decide to proceed will have to make sure social distancing measures are enforced. That means keeping a two-metere gap between the person next to you during the prayer. Some countries, such as Iran and Pakistan, have allowed the resumption of communal prayers as long as they take social distancing measures into account. In the May 14 edition of her Fox News show, Laura Ingraham interviewed Dr. Ivette Lozano, a Texas physician, who was having trouble with a pharmacy that had refused to fill her off-label prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) without submitting to new red tape. It seems the Texas pharmacy board is requiring physicians to reveal patients medical diagnoses before allowing pharmacies to dispense HCQ prescriptions. Dr. Lozanos pharmacy must have been citing Title 22, Part 15, Chapter 291, Subchapter A, 291.30. However, if one goes to Texas Pharmacy Rules at the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, and clicks on the link for Subchapter A just under Chapter 291, the webpage one is taken to does not list 291.30. A little more digging gave me Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Response at the Texas Medical Board, which, under COVID-19 Emergency Rules, has this link: Texas State Board of Pharmacy -- 291.30. Medication Limitations. That link is for a webpage showing that 291.30 was an emergency action, and it makes this requirement of Texas physicians like Dr. Lozano who prescribe HCQ,: (1)the prescription or medication order bears a written diagnosis from the prescriber consistent with the evidence for its use. On May 15, the day after Laura Ingrahams interview of Dr. Lozano, The Texan ran Pharmacy Board Loosens Restrictions on Hydroxychloroquine Prescriptions, Reversing Course by Kim Roberts: Because of her concern for patient privacy that seemed incompatible with the unprecedented rule, Lozano contacted State Senator Bob Hall to ask for help reaching the Texas State Board of Pharmacy. Hall was concerned about the rule that seemed to be inhibiting the dispensing of these potentially life-saving prescriptions Additionally, he is concerned about collusion between the pharmacy board and pharmaceutical companies who want to prevent the use of an inexpensive drug while they develop a new, expensive drug. The article also states that Dr. Lozano learned about the treatment from one of President Trumps press conferences. The article did not include a link to the new webpage at the Texas pharmacy board from which it quoted the new relaxed rules. Perhaps Roberts found the quote at this webpage, which outlines the rationale for issuing 291.30 in the first place. This May 15 Guidance Statement attempts to further clarify the rule. (It also states that it is in response to several news stories, perhaps Lauras.) The operative language is surely this: The intended use for the drug is not required if the practitioner determines the furnishing of this information is not in the best interest of the patient in accordance with Board rule 291.34 (b)(7). [See (7)(A)(vii), its on the second page of the rule.] Not buying it. If the intent here was to prevent stockpiling or hoarding, then the requirement of submitting a written diagnosis would be unnecessary. And how is the Board reversing course? The Board is merely restating its rule. After reading the May 15 Guidance Statement, one wonders what Roberts is thinking about? The Board will have reversed itself when it rescinds its demand for a written diagnosis. The Texas Register provides a longer version of 291.30 that goes into more of the reasoning behind the emergency rule. So how did I find out about 291.30? After all, Im not a pharmacist, nor do I play one on television. Well, I found out about the Texas rule at the American Medical Associations Boards of pharmacy and other actions relating to COVID-19 prescribing, which details the rules on this matter for 33 states, including Texas. The AMA worries that prescriptions for some medications, including Dr. Lozanos off-label use of HCQ, might be inappropriate. In Derek Lowes Hydroxychloroquine Update, May 4, we read that some people have (very vocally) suggested that HCQ be given prophylactically, and a study testing this is underway in the UK. Here in America, HCQ is already being used prophylactically to prevent malaria for those who travel abroad, such as to Africa. The point here is that HCQ is so safe that its long been prescribed for perfectly healthy people to keep them that way. Perhaps HCQ should be over-the-counter (OTC) during the pandemic. Perhaps healthy adults should be allowed to carry HCQ and self-medicate; much like patients who never leave home without the nitroglycerin pills they use for their angina. Laura Ingraham has been a champion of the off-label use of HCQ for COVID-19 for a couple of months now. To watch the segment referred to above, click on The Ingraham Angle -- Thursday, May 14, and then click on the 10:20 point on the progress bar. That will position you toward the end of Lauras interview of Michael Caputo, with whom she discusses HCQ. That segues into the interview of Dr. Lozano. The whole thing takes about eight minutes. One can also find the video at Lauras homepage at Fox News in the Full Episodes row. [See also American Thinker's "Is Big Pharma behind the great war on hydroxychloroquine" from May 5. -ed.] I havent been able to ascertain whether HCQ is manufactured in the U.S., but I do read that India manufactures 70% of the world's supply of HCQ. Perhaps the concerns of Texas State Senator Hall (no relation) about collusion are valid. Perhaps Big Pharma is seeking a ban on the off-label use of a drug that is so dirt cheap that they cant make any money making it. Jon N. Hall of ULTRACON OPINION is a programmer from Kansas City. EPA Donald Trump is continuing to defend an unproven coronavirus treatment involving the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine despite studies from within his own government highlighting dangerous potential side effects. The president claimed the Department of Veterans Affairs study involved candidates who were almost dead and in very bad shape when taking the unfounded Covid-19 treatment, which many have said does not actually prevent or cure the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. He also shot back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, calling her a waste of time after the California Democrat said on a live television interview that she would oppose him using the experimental treatment while citing his weight and referring to him as morbidly obese. The president who has referred to women as "fat pigs" and criticised Miss Universe contestants for their appearance called the House Speaker "sick" and accused her of having "mental problems". Following his remarks, Speaker Pelosi said: "I didn't know that he would be so sensitive." Criticism is meanwhile mounting over Mr Trumps decision to test the drug for himself while nearly 90,000 Americans have died due to the coronavirus pandemic. He repeated his claim that the only reason the US has the world's highest number of coronavirus cases topping more than 1.5 million is because of the frequency of testing, which he previously claimed was "common sense" ignored by the press, though just days ago he said testing was "overrated". His misleading claim ignores the relatively low rate of per capita testing. The president said the high number of cases identified in the US isn't necessarily a bad thing. "I view it as a badge of honour," he said. His comments followed a White House announcement for an executive order to "suspend" what federal agencies consider "unnecessary regulations" he says are preventing business development during the pandemic. That order preceded the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention's extension of a controversial border restriction that effectively prevents nonessential travel, including many asylum seekers, from entering the US-Mexico border. Follow live coverage as it happened Please allow a moment for our live blog to load Read more Trump defends hydroxychloroquine habit after insulting female reporter Is Donald Trump actually morbidly obese? Federal judge denies Trump familys request to drop lawsuit How two Trump tweets caused an 'Obamagate' domino effect in the Senate Trump says it's 'badge of honour' for US to lead in coronavirus cases Trump signs executive order 'suspending' regulations impeding economy By Francois Murphy VIENNA, May 19 (Reuters) - A group of European Union states opposed to big spending by the bloc will present a counter-proposal to Franco-German plans for a 500 billion euro ($547 billion) coronavirus recovery fund, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday proposed the fund to offer grants not loans to the hardest hit EU regions and sectors. But Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, a group https://twitter.com/sebastiankurz/status/1262432177213575168?s=20 of EU member states known as the "frugals", oppose far-reaching ideas such as the mutualisation of member states' debt. "We are sceptical," Kurz, a conservative, was quoted as saying in the Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten newspaper. "Our position is clear: we want to show solidarity with states that were hit particularly hard by the crisis but we believe that loans are the right way, not grants." Kurz spoke to his Dutch, Danish and Swedish counterparts on Monday and said they share that position. "In the coming days we will present a proposal with our own ideas. We believe it is possible to stimulate the European economy and yet avoid a mutualisation of debt," he said. France and Germany, whose agreements usually pave the way for broader EU deals, proposed that the European Commission borrow the money on behalf of the whole EU and spend it as a top-up to the 2021-2027 EU budget that is already close to 1 trillion euros over that period. While Kurz said it was "legitimate" for France and Germany to make their proposal, he added it must "be decided by all member states of the EU". ($1 = 0.9145 euros) (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Alexander Smith) Dung briefed the meeting on the implementation of results from the Special ASEAN Summit and Special ASEAN+3 Summit on COVID-19 (with China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea) on April 14th. Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Quoc Dung attends the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) at the Deputy Foreign Ministerial level held on May 18th. (Photo:VNA) He proposed focusing on the implementation of four major points agreed at these gatherings: establishing a COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund and regional reserve warehouses of medical supplies, developing standard procedures in response to emergency public medical conditions, and putting forth post-COVID-19 recovery plans. Regarding the 36th ASEAN Summit and related meetings, slated for June, Dung said Vietnam is stepping up preparations, with attention being paid to ensuring the highest security and safety for delegates. He called for close coordination from other ASEAN member countries in the preparation work to ensure success. Other ASEAN member countries lauded Vietnams ASEAN Chairmanship so far this year, especially the countrys response to the pandemic. They affirmed their support for the enhancement of the realisation of the major results from the Special ASEAN Summit and Special ASEAN+3 Summit on COVID-19 proposed by Vietnam, and committed to continued coordination with Vietnam to complete ASEAN priorities under the set roadmap. The countries said they believe that the 36th ASEAN Summit will be a success and pledged to join hands with Vietnam in the preparation work. Following the ASEAN senior officials meeting is the 32nd ASEAN-Australia Forum co-chaired by Malaysia and Australia, also in the teleconferencing format./. Tibor Peter Nagy capture d'ecran Tibor Peter Nagy Jr., the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs says as the situation in Cameroons restive North West and South West Regions deepens, the belligerents must now stop [the] violence and start talking. Taking to Twitter Monday, May 18, 2020, Ambassador Nagy says the killing of civilians is inexcusable, citing the killings in Ngarbuh attributed to state forces and the killing of the Mayor of Mamfe by armed separatists. His words: Government killing of civilians in Cameroon is inexcusable. I urge follow-through on Ngarbuh investigation and many other incidents of this nature. I also condemn separatist attacks on local officials such as the murder of Mamfe's mayor. Stop violence, start talking. Cameroon-Info.Net recalls that on February 14, 2020, at least ten children and three women were among those killed when soldiers carried out an operation in Ngarbuh, a village in the country's North West Region. Government initially blamed the deaths on the separatists. But on April 21, 2020, the report of the commission of inquiry into the incident faulted Major Nyiangono Ze Charles Eric, Commander of the 52nd Motorized Infantry Battalion (BIM) in Nkambe and all the servicemen who took part in the Ngarbuh operation. It emerged that Major Nyiangono authorized the reconnaissance mission which was led by Sergeant Baba Guida commander of the Ntumbaw joint regiment. The detachment comprising three servicemen and two gendarmes enlisted seventeen members of a local vigilante committee. In faulting the state forces, the inquiry said: Following an exchange of gunfire, during which five terrorists were killed, and many weapons seized, the detachment discovered that three women and ten children had died because of its action. Panic-stricken, the three servicemen with the help of some members of the vigilante committee, tried to conceal the facts by causing fires. On his return to Ntumbaw, Sergeant Baba Guida who led the operation, submitted a deliberately biased report to his superiors, a report on which the Government initially based its statement. We also recall that on May 10, 2020, armed separatists ambushed and killed Ashu Prisley Ojong, Mayor of Mamfe in Manyu Division. Two service men were wounded in the attack according to authorities. These are only isolated cases of the violence and abuses taking place in the restive area. Many are those who have proposed a US led mediation to end the crisis. FILE PHOTO: Internet LAN cables are pictured in this photo illustration taken in Sydney By John Miller ZURICH (Reuters) - Sunrise Communications Group and French billionaire Xavier Niel's Salt Mobile launched a broadband joint venture on Tuesday targeting 1.5 million Swiss households, a new challenge to the country's largest telecoms provider, Swisscom's. The former rivals pledged to invest up to 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.1 billion) over the next 5-7 years in a "fiber to the home" platform focused on underserved areas. According to Switzerland's regulator, Swisscom had 51.3% broadband market share to close 2018, compared to 11.5% by Sunrise and 17.7% by Liberty Global's UPC. Sunrise Chief Executive Andre Krause said the joint venture, called Swiss Open Fiber, aimed to take on a large minority financial partner and talks with investors had begun. It comes as movement restrictions to halt the spread of COVID-19 underscore the role of home broadband, with many of Switzerland's 8.6 million people working from home. Sunrise said it would get support in set-up and operating activities from Swiss Fibre Net, which is owned by shareholders including Lucerne and Bern utilities and is pushing an independent broadband network accessible to all providers. "While Salt and Sunrise will act as anchor tenants, the infrastructure network will be offered to all retail operators," Sunrise said. The joint venture will be headed by Marc Furrer, head of Switzerland's federal telecommunications regulator until 2016. "Swisscom has practically a monopoly in 'fiber to the home'," Furrer said. "Movement will come into the market only with infrastructure competition." Swisscom did not comment directly on the deal, but said it had invested about 16 billion francs in networks and information technology in the last 10 years, including landlines to about 74% of all homes and businesses in Switzerland. Krause ruled out a renewed Sunrise-Salt merger bid after Swiss authorities blocked a merger with Salt predecessor Orange a decade ago. "That's not something we're planning to do," he said on a call. Story continues In a previous attempt to gain broadband infrastructure, Sunrise made a $6.3 billion bid for UPC before the Swiss company's shareholders blocked it last year. ($1 = 0.9717 Swiss francs) (Reporting by John Miller; editing by Thomas Seythal, Louise Heavens and Philippa Fletcher) There has been a dip in the relationship between India and Nepal in the past month. Two issues have contributed to it. The first was an internal rift within the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) where Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli faced a challenge from senior party leaders and former PMs, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and Madhav Kumar Nepal. The crisis was defused after China mediated a deal between the leaders. If there were any doubts about the Chinese investment in the NCP and backing for Mr Oli, it was dispelled. Delhi noted the development, quietly. The second, more public, episode has been the controversy over the border. India inaugurated a road that crosses through Lipu Lekh Pass, part of an area both countries claim as their own. There is a long history to claims and counter-claims, but what is relevant is this. India possesses the territory; it sees it strategically important; and it will continue to expand infrastructure. The issue is, however, a subject of ultra-nationalist politics in Nepal. Mr Olis own nationalist politics (which seems to disappear when it comes to China), and domestic political opinion resulted in Kathmandu taking a strong position. While Beijing supports Mr Oli in general, domestic factors are driving Nepals rhetoric on this issue. In fact, India and China, in 2015, agreed to have trade across the pass, an acknowledgement by Beijing of Indias control over the area. Nepal should reconcile to the status quo and stop its anti-India rhetoric. India can offer a diplomatic sop by agreeing to start a dialogue on border issues. But Delhi must be vigilant, and keep a check on the Chinese-backed Oli regime. Patients who test positive for the novel coronavirus after having recovered are not contagious, a new study finds. Researchers from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) looked at 285 survivors who tested positive after previous tests said they were negative. None of the 790 people that the patients came into contact with were found to be infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. The team says the findings are a sign that some areas might be safer to reopen than previously believed. Of the 790 people that about 285 're-infected' coronavirus patients came into contact with, none were found to be infected with the virus. Pictured: People wearing face masks wait to take a test for the new coronavirus at a testing facility in Incheon, South Korea, May 13 Researchers believe the patients were not re-infected but rather they they were shedding dead virus particles. Pictured: Staff at a COVID-19 testing center pass a mouth swab self test kit to a driver at a drive-up testing center in Los Angeles, California, May 14 Researchers also found that the virus samples collected from the patients who tested positive a second time couldn't be grown in lab cultures. This suggests the patients were not re-infected but rather that they were shedding dead virus particles. The results are welcome after health authorities in South Korea raised alarms last month upon dozens of recovered patients testing positive for the virus again. As of Tuesday, more than 400 people have reconfirmed cases of the virus, according to the KCDC. 'We're putting more weight on the theory that dead virus fragments remain in a recovered patient's body, since we haven't seen evidence of infectivity,' Dr Ki Moran, a professor at the National Cancer Center Graduate School, told The Wall Street Journal. Because of the study's results, South Korean health officials will no longer consider people infectious after they recover from COVID-19. This means that after recovering or completing an isolation period, resident will not have to test negative for the virus before returning to school or work 'Under the new protocols, no additional tests are required for cases that have been discharged from isolation,' the KCDC wrote in a report, according to Bloomberg. Cases in which someone has tested positive again will not be referred to as 'PCR re-detected after discharge from isolation.' The report also found that almost all of the 285 patients had antibodies, which provides more evidence that antibodies provide protection against the virus. However, it remains unclear how many antibodies one needs to prevent being re-infected and how long they remain in the body. The findings are not just important to South Korea but across the world, including local and state governments in the US as they grapple with how to safely reopen. One idea has been to issue 'immunity passports' or 'risk-free certificates' to people who were infected but later tested negative. But the World Health Organization (WHO) advised against this and said the accuracy of such documents could not be guaranteed. 'Some governments have suggested that the detection of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, could serve as the basis for an 'immunity passport' or 'risk-free certificate' that would enable individuals to travel or to return to work assuming that they are protected against re-infection,' the WHO said in a statement. 'There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection.' Mexico reported its first confirmed COVID 19 case in late February. As of 13 May, there are 40,186 confirmed cases of the virus in the country and 4,220 deaths. UN Human Rights in Mexico has been working closely with national and local institutions to help ensure that measures taken to combat the virus do not unduly impact on human rights, especially on those most vulnerable. Ricardo Neves is a staffer in Mexico, with a focus on monitoring and supporting journalists and human rights defenders. He says the pandemic has been a challenging time for these groups. How has COVID 19 affected your work? When it comes to work, the [physical] distancing has a huge impact. One of the absolute privileges of our work is that it usually entails meeting all sorts of people and having close contact with a number of people, victims, civil society, organization, authorities. After all, you know, human rights work is all about the people and the bonds we create. So the foremost impact is definitely the inability to personally meet all these people. And it's a heavy toll because our work can be understood or simplified to a certain extent as receiving information from people, usually victims or their representatives duly processing it and delivering key messages to other people who have the duty or the power or ability to generate positive change for the situation. So being further away than usual limits our capacity to receive information and our capacity to advocate and pursue positive change. What are some of the challenges facing human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico during the pandemic? Mexico is a country where the work of both human rights defenders and journalists is already extremely complicated. During the COVID-19 pandemic context, the situation hasn't changed. We have seen a continuation of attacks against journalists and human rights defenders. For example, we have at least one journalist who was brutally shot and killed, another journalist who was stabbed, and a third one was also shot, but fortunately recovered, during the coverage of a protest. All of them women. When it comes to human rights defenders, we have documented at least three killings so far during the pandemic. How is UN Human Rights in Mexico supporting journalists and human rights defenders during these extraordinary times? We focus on supporting the operation of the National Protection Mechanism [for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists] and we keep participating in the meetings of the governing board where protection plans for journalists and human rights defenders are decided. So our focus is on protection and also, of course, of proactively providing information to different institutions regarding international human rights standards and concrete recommendations on how to act. Why is it important to stand together, stand up for human rights, especially during the pandemic? Solidarity and understanding are key in these trying times. First of all, we must understand that despite the obvious economic implications, we're dealing with a human issue and not a financial one. A human rights-based approach places human beings in the center of the emergency responses and other measures. The virus is a threat to the whole human kind, regardless of country, religion, possessions or ethnicity. This means that no country can solve or overcome this alone. Only if we act together in solidarity can we overcome the virus and pave the way for recovery from its many impacts. 19 May 2020 [May 19, 2020] Durabook Unveils First Rugged Tablet with Intel's 10th Gen Intel Core Processor FREMONT, Calif., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Durabook Americas, Inc., a leading manufacturer of rugged computing solutions, including the Durabook line of laptops, mobile tablets, and all-in-one computers, today announced they have upgraded the popular U11. The new model is the first to feature the 10th generation Intel Core processor, an exclusive quick-removable PCIe SSD, and a fanless design. Setting the pace for today's 'new normal' world, the Durabook U11 tablet is TAA compliant, improves performance by almost 260%, and is easy to clean and disinfect. "Most companies today have legacy systems and devices that they need to support. The U11 was developed specifically to be able to interface with both the most recent devices and those deployed even 20 years ago," said Tom Wang, president of Durabook Americas. "Our all-inclusive for all purposes Durabook U11 has it all. Within its extremely compact and rugged exterior, it packs an unprecedented number of productivity features as well as a generous amount of space for further expansion. It is the only fanless tablet in its class." The unit is fully rugged and built to withstand extreme conditions and stand the test of high-stress field-use demands. Handy and efficient, the U11 keeps data and personnel safe in real time as it supports an active workforce. It ensures smooth-running operations, no matter where it is used or under what conditions. Built with the dependable technology essential to produce and deliver exceptional projects under any deadline, the cutting-edge Durabook U11 tablet excels in the following applications: asset management, diagnostics and maintenance, working manual viewing, ticketing, and field services. It is ideal for use in the following industries: military, public safety, professional service, and utilities. The ability to customize the U11 for unique applications makes it the perfect rugged tablet for both public safety professionals and utility workers. Some of the features of the Durabook U11 that make it stand out from the competition include: 10th Gen Intel Core Processor this 10th Gen Intel Core Procssor is the best solution for the mobile tablet platform. Its low power consumption design, powered by better thermal management, guarantee stable system performance under harsh environments. No CPU-throttling occurs when temperatures goes higher. this 10th Gen Intel Core Procssor is the best solution for the mobile tablet platform. Its low power consumption design, powered by better thermal management, guarantee stable system performance under harsh environments. No CPU-throttling occurs when temperatures goes higher. Intel UHD graphics offers maximum dynamic frequency of 1.15GHz; compared to Intel HD graphics 615, the 3D effective speed is up to 128% faster. offers maximum dynamic frequency of 1.15GHz; compared to Intel HD graphics 615, the 3D effective speed is up to 128% faster. Long-life, hot-swap battery delivers power and functionality without sacrifice. Optional high-capacity battery provides non-stop operation for up to 24 hours with a single battery. Hot-swappable capability enables field workers to operate without interruption. delivers power and functionality without sacrifice. Optional high-capacity battery provides non-stop operation for up to 24 hours with a single battery. Hot-swappable capability enables field workers to operate without interruption. Exclusive military-grade quick SSD release easy SSD removal without having to open any covers saves time and effort. Available with SATA interface or with PCIe as a second option. easy SSD removal without having to open any covers saves time and effort. Available with SATA interface or with PCIe as a second option. Built-in seamless connectivity high-speed data transmission capability of Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 9260 and Bluetooth V5.0 means smooth, congestion-free data processing at all times. high-speed data transmission capability of Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 9260 and Bluetooth V5.0 means smooth, congestion-free data processing at all times. 11.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) LCD with next generation proprietary DynaVue technology DynaVue sunlight readable technology with up to 1,000 nits provides exceptional viewing of detail, even in direct sunlight. 10-point capacitive multi-touch panel has four touch modes (glove, stylus, water, finger), optimizing use in both indoor and outdoor applications. DynaVue sunlight readable technology with up to 1,000 nits provides exceptional viewing of detail, even in direct sunlight. 10-point capacitive multi-touch panel has four touch modes (glove, stylus, water, finger), optimizing use in both indoor and outdoor applications. Expandable and configurable i/o options assure enhanced flexibility for various i/o options such as: PCMCIA Type II Module, ExpressCard 54 Module, and RFID Module; other customized features available by request. The U11 also supports USB 3.1 type C connectivity to take advantage of the latest devices. assure enhanced flexibility for various i/o options such as: PCMCIA Type II Module, ExpressCard 54 Module, and RFID Module; other customized features available by request. The U11 also supports USB 3.1 type C connectivity to take advantage of the latest devices. Fanless design fan failure can lead to system overheating and damaging other components. Fanless design also means no noise (0 dBA), a critical element in some user scenarios, such as battle field, hospital, and stealth modes. fan failure can lead to system overheating and damaging other components. Fanless design also means no noise (0 dBA), a critical element in some user scenarios, such as battle field, hospital, and stealth modes. Efficient EMS device medical-purpose born feature that enables users to provide medical staff's identification and to verify patients' information simultaneously. Two expansion models available: 2 nd smart card reader, or 2 nd smart card reader and RFID reader. Unit can be equipped with two smart card readers for identifications, one for medical personnel and the other for patients. medical-purpose born feature that enables users to provide medical staff's identification and to verify patients' information simultaneously. Two expansion models available: 2 smart card reader, or 2 smart card reader and RFID reader. Unit can be equipped with two smart card readers for identifications, one for medical personnel and the other for patients. Rock-solid design rubber frame protectors encompass all sides to enhance protection. The unit is MIL-STD-810G certified, ANSI 12.12.01 C1D2 certified, and IP65 rated, assuring shock, 6-foot drop and vibration protection, as well as the ability to withstand use in a wide range of temperatures. AVAILABILITY Durabook's upgraded U11 rugged tablet is now available with a MSRP starting $1,949 . For more details, visit www.durabook.com/us/products/u11-tablet. For sales inquiries, contact [email protected] , or call 800-995-8946. ABOUT DURABOOK AMERICAS Durabook Americas, Inc. is a subsidiary of Twinhead International Corporation, a leading manufacturer and customizer of rugged computing solutions, including the globally acclaimed Durabook brand. Driven to meet customer needs in the America's, Durabook devices are designed, manufactured and tested in-house to assure maximum quality and reliability. These cost-effective ruggedized laptops, tablets, and all-in-one PCs are high-performance solutions that increase productivity, drive a clear return on investment and deliver a low total cost of ownership for government and enterprise customers in markets like oil & gas, power & utilities, field service, military, and public safety. For more information on Durabook, visit www.durabook.com. PR Contact: Rita Lee Copernio (714) 891-3660 [email protected] All products/services and trademarks mentioned in this release are the properties of their respective companies. 2020 Durabook Americas. All rights reserved. View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/durabook-unveils-first-rugged-tablet-with-intels-10th-gen-intel-core-processor-301061925.html SOURCE Durabook Americas [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Saudi military trainee, who reportedly killed three US sailors and wounded several other back in December 2019 on a military base in Pensacola, Florida, worked with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to plan the attack, US officials said. According to an international media report, the US investigators uncovered the al-Qaeda connection after the FBI broke through the encryption protecting the Saudi attackers iPhone, which took months because Apple refused to unlock the phone. As per reports, the attack led to the expulsion of 21 Saudi military pupils who had been studying at the base with the attacker. The FBI report said that the gunman, who was killed by authorities, had been radicalised before arriving Florida for a three-year aviation course, which the US navy hosts for allied foreign servicemen. The records reportedly revealed that the gunman had been in active contact with the AQAP, which is an off-shoot of al-Qaeda based in Yemen. READ: Hawaii Public Pension Fund Suffers Worst Loss In 17 Years Furthermore, the authorities said that the evidence they have been able to develop from the killers devices shows that the Pensacola attack was actually the brutal culmination of years of planning and preparation by a longtime AQAP associate. According to the media outlet, the groups leader, Qasim al-Raymi, was also confirmed in February to have been killed during a US operation. AQAP had also released an audio message earlier with Raymis voice, in which he said that the group was behind the naval base shooting. While speaking to the media outlet, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that the gunman was more than inspired by AQAP as he had been sharing tactics and co-ordinating with the group on plans for the attack. READ: COVID-19: Legislation Introduced In Congress To Bring Back US Companies From China The military base attack further strained the US-Saudi relations. It also marked a major development in the US fight against terrorism. Moreover, the attack also led to the defence department to pause all international military training in the US until further vetting measures could be put in place. Great disappointment While disclosing the details of the terror investigation, the Trump administration also criticised Apple for refusing to help unlock the gunmans phones, which he had attempted to destroy before he was shot dead. While speaking at a news conference FBI and attorney General William Barr reportedly said that the investigators received effectively no help from Apple in bypassing the phones. Barr even called it a great disappointment that the company had refused to help investigators. (Image: @WorldSupporter/Twitter) READ: US President Trump Calls WHO 'puppet Of China'; Attacks Joe Biden For Opposing Travel Ban READ: Trump Leadership Built 'strongest COVID-19 Testing', Says White House As Death Toll Spikes Pro-democracy group, Mass Action Committee (MAC), is beseeching government to quickly suspend the UNIPASS Ghana deal to allow for further due diligence and value for money analysis. MAC claims the current contractual engagement is fraught with many technical and other challenges that have the propensity to give government a raw deal. UNIPASS system is an e-Customs system introduced by the government to provides swift customs clearance, seal the leaking revenue basket and facilitate trade at the countrys ports. The single window electronic international trade facilitation system was developed by the Customs UNIPASS International Agency (CUPIA) of South Korea. It comes to replace an older system which was run collectively by Ghana Community Network Services (GCNet) and Customs World of Dubai (formerly known as West Blue). But the Executive Secretary of MAC, Atik Mohammed, in a statement issued today and copied to Peacefmonline.com, pointed out that; "...if government allows the UNIPASS arrangement to stand, it would be perilously gambling with our revenue mobilization efforts with a system that is not End-to- End, has no proven record of performance anywhere and more significantly, will be breeding a monopoly; which situation poses a danger to revenue generation. "We are therefore requesting government to suspend the UNIPASS arrangement to allow further consultations and due diligence in order to avoid revenue loss to the country in this all important revenue generation undertaking," portions of the statement read. Read the full statement below: 1. Government as part of its efforts to maximize revenue from international trade, conceived the idea of having a single window system at the countrys entry points. Giving effect and meaning to this noble and efficiency enhancing mechanism, has over the years led government to engage the services of entities like GCNet, WESTBLUE, SML and Ghana Link among others. These bodies performed varied functions within the scope of the single window system. 2. However, upon assumption of office by the NPP government, a contract was awarded to Ghana Link to provide the UNIPASS platform that will replace the GCNET/WESTBLUE software. The resultant UNIPASS Ghana that was created from this contractual engagement, is fraught with many technical and other challenges that have the propensity to give government a raw deal. And to that extent, we in the Mass Action Committee (MAC) are demanding of government to suspend the UNIPASS Ghana deal to allow for further due diligence and value for money analysis. TECHNICAL/SOFTWARE ISSUES 3. The UNIPASS software is far from being qualified as an End to-End system because it does not include a manifest platform. The Manifest Module constitutes the basic and first Customs Declaration Entry Point. Absent this Manifest Module, it is impossible to process any Declaration. This defect therefore belies the claim that, the Integrated Customs Management System ICUMS is an all-in-one customs management solution. It is important to state that, this obvious deficiency with the so called UNIPASS Ghana platform, arises in large part, from how the very software was developed. 4. Contrary to the agreement to engage the original CUPIA (Customs UNIPASS International Agency) of Korea, the UNIPASS Ghana software was built by some Koreans brought in by Ghana Link on UNIPASS KOREAs technology. Although this technology was named UNIPASS Ghana by these Koreans, it is not the original UNIPASS software built by CUPIA. Indeed, their version appears very much like a carbon copy of WESTBLUEs Declaration Platform. 5. The UNIPASS software developed and used in Korea unlike the Ghanaian version, is a complete software with the capacity to handle the processing of all documents from Manifest Declaration to the Clearing of Goods. 6. The non-End-to-End capability of the UNIPASS system was exposed during the trials in Aflao, Tema and Takoradi. The system failed abysmally. Subsequent to this failure, Ghana lost sixty six million Ghana Cedis (GHS 66,000,000.00) in the first two days of implementation. Thus, exposing the inability of the UNIPASS system to measure up to the standards of the GCNET Platform. It is also worthy of note that, given the irredeemable tragedy that was occasioned by the inefficiency of the system during the test runs, a reluctant re-adaptation of the manual system of clearing goods was resorted to at the Aflao Border and Takoradi Port. 7. It must be emphasized that, the decision to obtain UNIPASS was founded on the expectation that, it would be an improvement over the GCNET Platform and not worse than it. The unfortunate reverse outcome that was seen, was mainly because the system that was built on UNIPASS technology in Ghana by the Korean developers, had never been tested anywhere prior to its implementation in Ghana. 8. Beyond the worrying technical concerns with UNIPASS Ghana, there are also fundamental issues of private monopoly over Ghanas major revenue source. It will be recalled that, prior to the UNIPASS arrangement, there were different vendors at the port providing various solutions within the single window regime with the fee structure below: Vendor Fee 1.WESTBLUE -CCVR 0.28% 2. SML-External Price Verification 0.17% 3. GCNET 0.40% Total Charges(1+2+3) 0.85% 9. However, the new contract that entitled Ghana Link to provide UNIPASS, gives it complete control of all Entry/Exit Points at a fee of 0.75% on the total C & F of all imports into the country. Meanwhile, under the erstwhile NDC administration, Ghana Link had been awarded a contract that gave them the sole responsibility of undertaking all scan activities at all Entry Points in Ghana (i.e. Tema Port, Takoradi Port, Aflao Border, Kotoka Airport among others) at a charge of 0.30% on the total C & F of all imports into the country. This implies that, Ghana Link is now with UNIPASS earning 1.05 of all C & F on imports into the country as shown below: Entity/Activity Fee UNIPASS 0.75% Ghana Link-Scan 0.30% Total Fee Charges by UNIPASS and Ghana Link 1.05% 10. From the foregoing, it is clear that if government allows the UNIPASS arrangement to stand, it would be perilously gambling with our revenue mobilization efforts with a system that is not End-to- End, has no proven record of performance anywhere and more significantly, will be breeding a monopoly; which situation poses a danger to revenue generation. 11. We are therefore requesting government to suspend the UNIPASS arrangement to allow further consultations and due diligence in order to avoid revenue loss to the country in this all important revenue generation undertaking. SIGNED Atik Mohammed (Executive Secretary) Source: Atik Mohammed 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 Previously, China imported rice in small quantities from Vietnam, but the country has recently increased imports from Vietnam and accepted higher prices. The General Department of Customs (GDC) reported that the total amount of rice exported to China in the first three months of the year reached 162,000 tons, accounting for 11 percent of total exports. The average price that Chinese buyers paid for Vietnamese rice was VND12.7 million per ton, up by VND1.7 million than that of the last year. Meanwhile, Vietnams average export price in the first three months of the year was VND10.7 million per ton. As such, the export price to China was VND2.7 million per ton higher than the price at which Vietnam sold to other countries. China is buying Vietnams rice at a price much higher than the Philippines, which is Vietnams number 1 rice buyer. Dan Tri newspaper cited statistics from GDC as reporting that in the last three months, the Philippines imported more than 500,000 tons of rice at VND9.9 million per ton only. Vietnam, after half a month of interruption, has resumed rice export. However, the exports will be implemented under strict control to ensure domestic food security. Only 400,000 tons of rice will be exported in April, and the same amount is predicted for May. Vietnam, after half a month of interruption, has resumed rice export. However, the exports will be implemented under strict control to ensure domestic food security. Only 400,000 tons of rice will be exported in April, and the same amount is predicted for May. While the government takes cautious steps in exporting rice, experts believe that Vietnam will not lack rice and it is necessary to let exports return to normal. If only small amounts of rice are exported, Vietnam will see rice abundance and the prices will fall. If so, both enterprises and farmers will suffer. Duong Van Chin, a respected rice expert, former director of the Mekong Delta Rice Institute, thinks Vietnam should speed up rice export to be able to sell rice at good prices. He said it would be better to export 5 million tons of rice by the end of May, because the winter-spring crop is the major crop in Mekong Delta, the rice granary of the country. Later, the government should allow export of 1.5 million tons more of summer-autumn crop rice, and that will be enough for this year. As the world prices are high, it would be better to allow enterprises to export rice in large quantities, which would bring benefits to both exporters and farmers, Chin said. High profits will help encourage farmers maintain their rice production, which is an important factor to ensure domestic food security." According to Reuters, India, the biggest exporter, has resumed its exports after three weeks of interruption. Thai 5 percent broken rice price has dropped to $530-538 per ton from $550-580 per ton. Le Ha Will FIEs distribute rice in the local market? As a market economy, Vietnam has to open its markets to foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) but the opening may lend a hand to FIEs to control the home market. In the past few years, intellectuals across the spectrum have fallen out of love with Big Tech. The frightful five Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft wield enormous power, with their combined wealth exceeding $5 trillion. After years of market consolidation and exploitative practices, critics in the United States are pushing to break up Big Tech monopolies with antitrust law. Social media networks are a centrepiece in this conversation: they violate privacy, amplify sensational content and fake news, and manipulate users to keep their attention. Breaking up Big Social Media sounds great, but how would this look in practice? A number of legal scholars and politicians have proposed reforming social networks by using antitrust law and regulations to create a more competitive marketplace. Leaving this task to market forces, however, is a bad idea that will not solve the central problem: proprietary control of the networks and the exploitation of user attention for profit. A solution based on digital socialism is needed to transform social media into a global democratic commons. This would eradicate Big Social Media by placing ownership and control directly into the hands of the people. The antitrust proposal Various scholars have put forward two main ideas to break up Big Social Media, neither of which can sufficiently accomplish their goals. The first one seeks to dismantle past mergers and acquisitions. Facebook, for example, bought up Instagram and WhatsApp years ago, and is now seeking to integrate all three platforms into a seamless communications network. Scholars like Tim Wu, Sarah Miller, and Matt Stoller have suggested breaking Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp into three separate companies. They hope these companies would then compete for customers, which would compel them to treat users with respect. Yet there is no good reason to believe this would do much for privacy and competition itself does not necessarily curb harmful behaviour. Even if these companies are broken up, given that their business model is based on serving ads and the exploitation of user data, they would have no serious incentive to change their behaviour. Furthermore, these companies are able to monetise surveillance because the data is running through their platforms, and they force people to be a part of their networks in order to interact with their friends and family. For example, a user who does not like Facebooks privacy practices can leave for another network, but then they have to convince their friends to join them. The second idea proposes a solution to this problem: make social networks interoperate. Social media platforms would be forced to allow members of one network to interact with members of another. For example, a Facebook user would be able to post a comment under a YouTube video while logged into Facebook, and vice-versa. Users data would also be portable so they could move their profile to a different platform. Interoperability exists in other communications services, such as telephone networks and email. However, the competition through interoperability antitrust proposal is deeply flawed. The reason Big Social Media firms are able to raid everyones data and mistreat users is that they are centralised, cloud-based intermediaries. If I want to share a photo with you, I first upload it to, say, Facebooks servers, and then you download it from Facebooks servers. The user experience is then determined by Facebooks network software. This form of cloud-based centralisation gives corporations power over the platform and the data. Proprietary network ownership provides corporations with the coercive power to monetise user data and force ads on users. Making proprietary networks interoperable does not change this power dynamic. The companies will simply compete to collect more data and serve more ads so they can generate profits. Some antitrust scholars have also suggested social media networks can solve this problem by charging people to use their networks. Users who do not like spying and ads can pay out of pocket for social networking instead. A subscription-based social network might sound great for the middle and upper classes, but it is a non-solution for the billions living in poverty. Those with little or no income are not going to pay for privacy or any other exploitation-free benefits, such as ad-free access. This same conundrum plagues the mobile app ecosystem, where 70 percent of apps spy on users through hidden trackers. Proprietary control of the apps prevents the public from stripping out the trackers, and competition among millions of apps does nothing to prevent app publishers from mistreating users. Building a social networking commons The new antitrust proposal will fail to remedy social media ills because it is wedded to competition in a capitalist system. A genuine solution must, therefore, eliminate the profit incentive and give people direct control over the means of computation. To fix social media, activists and lawmakers need to press for digital socialism a commons-based solution embodying libertarian socialist principles of self-governance, decentralisation, and federation. Social media would be transformed from a profit-seeking enterprise into a global democratic commons. A technological foundation has already been created (as I detail below). To see this through, we need to pass laws imposing decentralised, free and open-source technology solutions on the social media ecosystem. Big Tech corporations would be forced to relinquish user data, and social networking infrastructure would be owned and controlled by the users. The platform software would be open source so the public can inspect the code and customise the user experience. To ensure the network infrastructure will be well developed and maintained, governments would subsidise public interest technology. Technologists could be paid to develop software at public universities and non-profit organisations. Developers across the world would collaborate and borrow code from each other, while individuals and communities would join networks or form new ones as they see fit. Governments could also subsidise the rollout of broadband internet and personal cloud infrastructure. Inexpensive FreedomBox devices could be provided to lower-income households and small server farms could be operated by local communities. Corporations might participate in some form, but the new laws and technology would effectively cut off their ability to privatise control, generate large profits, push ads, or spy on users. Funds for implementing social networks can be raised by taxing the rich and Big Tech firms. Resources for infrastructure and development should be extended to people in the Global South as compensation for colonialism, including recent revenue extraction through digital colonialism. Social media decentralisation The foundation for a commons-based social media system was laid in the establishment of the Fediverse a set of interoperable social networks based on free and open-source software. Fediverse platforms include Mastodon (akin to Twitter), PeerTube (akin to YouTube), and PixelFed (akin to Instagram). The Mastodon social network, which has more than four million registered users, is the most polished example to date. Its feature set resembles Twitter: you can post to your wall, like and share other posts, follow user accounts, and so on. However, there are a few crucial differences. For one, there is no central server or administrator through which all user activity, data, and membership flow. Instead, you join one of many servers, called instances, which host and transmit user data. Each instance sets its own terms and conditions: it might ban hate speech and pornography, or focus on a shared hobby or interest. To open an account, you simply sign up with an instance. Let us say you pick the username Alice at an instance called instance123.social. Your social media handle would be: @alice@instance123.social. Alternatively, you can pay to host your own instance and set the code of conduct to your liking. The Fediverse uses shared communications protocols like ActivityPub so that users can interact across platforms. For example, a user from Mastodon can post a comment or follow a user from the PeerTube social network without ever leaving Mastodon. This is similar to email, where you can send messages from a Gmail account to a Yahoo account. With Twitter, you have one timeline that displays posts and activity from other users. With Mastodon, you can pick from three timelines. The first is your home timeline that displays content (such as wall posts or videos shared) by the people you follow. The second is a local timeline that displays content from members of your instance. The third is your federated timeline, which displays content from other instances. Each timeline provides a different way to interact and discover content. To make sure the experience is safe and enjoyable, Mastodon builds in a variety of content moderation policies. Individual users can filter out other users and instances that they do not want to see or interact with. Instance moderators can also filter out other users or instances. For example, if another instance is loaded with white supremacists, then you or your instance administrator can block that instance. The ability for individuals to create their own instances, interact across networks, and set their own code of conduct undermines the centralised ownership and control model of Big Social Media. And because the server software powering Mastodon falls under a strong Free Software licence, the public can modify it to make it work as they wish. For example, some developers created Glitch, a modified version of Mastodon which has its own set of features built in. In Glitch, you can set your posts as local-only so that they will not show up in outside instances. The open sourcing of the network software also creates direct accountability to the public. If the Mastodon developers tried to, say, place banner ads inside their platform, an outside developer could take the code, strip out the ads, and release an ad-free version to the community. The current Fediverse model is mostly decentralised, but there is room for improvement. Server administrators still possess the authority to surveil users and impose content moderation decisions on instance members. This means users have to trust the server administrators they interact with. To address this feature, Free Software developers are creating peer-to-peer technologies that fully distribute power and privacy down to the end users. The LibreSocial network offers a glimpse of how this can work. There is no need to trust server administrators because the peer-to-peer architecture eliminates them altogether. Instead, the social network is operated by the community of end users through the LibreSocial software. The network is free and open-source, easy to use, and allows for customisation of the user experience such as how to visualise a user wall, or social games through the use of plugins that anyone can create or download. While LibreSocial is still in a testing phase (which will soon be open to the public), the developers have built an impressive model for a fully decentralised social network. Replacing digital capitalism with digital socialism The ingenuity of the free software community is central to the struggle for tech rights and equality. Solutions like the Fediverse and LibreSocial prove that a world in which users are not exploited is possible. But they alone cannot pull away the billions of users stuck inside Big Social Media. Ultimately, activists will have to push for new technologies, laws, and regulations that eradicate Big Social Media and transition the world to a social media commons. Unfortunately, current legislative proposals by US legal scholars and Congress promote a capitalist model where many Facebooks and Twitters compete to capture data and user attention. This will not solve our problems. Just as we cannot fix the climate crisis with clean coal, all of the above energy solutions, or cap-and-trade market-based reforms, we cannot fix social media with corporate owners, proprietary technology, centralised clouds, and market competition. The masters tools will never dismantle the masters house. A genuine solution requires digital socialism: a decentralised social media commons based on free and open-source technology, supported by laws and the public purse. The foundation is already set, but a popular movement is needed to see it through. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. This story was corrected to reflect that the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino never stopped taking reservations. Their casino gambling floors remain closed until further notice, but some Atlantic City establishments are still taking reservations for hotel rooms as early as next week. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is allowing room reservations as early as May 28, followed by the Tropicana, Caesars and Resorts Casino Hotel starting on June 7, according to their websites. The Ocean canceled all previous reservations up to June 14, according to its website, but is taking online reservations starting June 15. A spokeswoman said the Hard Rock never stopped taking hotel reservations, but simply re-evaluates every week whether it can honor those reservations based on the governors restrictions. It has no plans to reopen the hotel room rentals before the casino can fully reopen, she said. Richard Broome, a spokesman for Caesars, said the business will open whenever the governor allows it, and the availability of reservations in the future are part of our plan to ensure we have business when we are allowed to re-open. The date does not indicate that we have any insight into the actual re-opening date, Broome said. Hotels have technically been allowed to remain open under the restrictions set by Gov. Phil Murphy, but most casino hotels closed completely when Murphy stopped gambling March 16. The governor has not said when he plans to lift those restrictions, but some hotels have announced plans to reopen and keep customers safe, including contactless check-in and increased cleanings. A bicyclist rides by Tropicana Atlantic City, Friday, March 20, 2020. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the casinos to close Monday night, March 16, to help stop the spread of coronavirus.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Murphy reopened beaches and boardwalks starting Friday, the beginning of Memorial Day Weekend, but is requiring people to stay six feet apart and not gather with anyone outside their immediate household or romantic partners. April was the worst month ever for Atlantic City casinos, with revenue at the citys nine casinos down nearly 69% in April from the same month a year earlier. Not all casino hotels are being as aggressive with their reopening plans. The Borgatas website does not allow any room reservations earlier than July 1. The casinos will be prepared to welcome back their employees and customers at the appropriate time with the health and safety of all foremost in their plans, James Plousis, chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, told the Associated Press last week. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. OnePlus has announced that its protection plans for accidental damages are now available in 27 European countries. The companys protection plans were launched back in April, and are already available in the US. There are four OnePlus Protection Plans in total OnePlus offers various different protection plans that you can shoes from, at different price points. There are four protection plans in total, including OnePlus Care, Extended Warranty Plan, Screen Protection Plan, and Accidental Damage Plan. The OnePlus Care is the most comprehensive one. It covers your smartphones against various damage, including accidental drops, crash, breakage, and liquid for 2 years. Advertisement That being said, these Protection Plans are now available in all countries, and are only available for the OnePlus 8 series. Were speaking about Europe in specific here, of course. The so-called Phase 1 rolled out to the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, and Ireland on April 30. Do note that you cannot add a plan to a device your already own. You can select a protection plan upon purchasing a new phone. Advertisement The Phase 2 will roll out soon, and will include the Czech Republic, Malta, Hungary, Belgium, Cyprus, Lithuania, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, and Luxembourg. If you live in any of these countries, you can now add a protection plan. You can add it to a device you plan to purchase. You can add a protection plan until May 25, if youd like. Not all four plans are available in Europe Now, be sure to note that not all four plans are available in Europe. In its forum post, OnePlus notes that only two plans are available for the OnePlus 8 series at the moment, in Europe. Advertisement The company highlights a Screen protection plan and Accidental Damage Protection Plan. It seems like the OnePlus Care option is not available, nor the Extended Warranty Plan. The Screen protection plan will cover your device against damages to the screen and back cover by an accidental drop, crash, or breakage for 12 months. The Accidental Damage Protection Plan will cover your device against damages by an accidental drop, crash, breakage, and liquid. If youd like to know more, make sure to check out the companys post. The OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro were announced last month. Those two phones are considerably more expensive than their predecessor, so including such a protection plan may not be a bad idea. THE Chinese firm Huawei has launched a stinging attack against the US, amid fears that new sanctions on the telecoms and technology giant by Washington could lead to industrial threats against some of Ireland's biggest employers. Donald Trump's administration is set to ban US firms from supplying components to other companies that provide Huawei with key technology. At an analyst conference, company executives responded by describing the move as "pernicious and arbitrary" and said that it would "have an effect". The move could leave some Irish-based subsidiaries of US multinational firms fearing an indirect loss of business. "Based on what I know, if the US further blocks key technology supply to Huawei, China will activate the 'unreliable entity list', [and] restrict or investigate US companies such as Qualcomm, Cisco and Apple, and suspend the purchase of Boeing airplanes," said the editor in chief of the Chinese 'Global Times', Hu Xijin. Apple is Cork's largest industrial employer, with more than 6,000 people. Qualcomm also has offices in Cork. Last year, Fianna Fail TD Willie O'Dea voiced fears for the future of Analog Devices, which employs more than 1,200 people in Limerick and provides components to Huawei for smartphones. A spokesman for Huawei could not say if the tightening sanctions would directly affect companies located here. But other company executives said the US was involved in a crude game of one-upmanship for trade reasons. "The US is leveraging its own technological strengths to crush companies outside its own borders," the company said in a statement. "Ultimately this will harm US interests." China has complained to the US about the tightening sanctions, which the US says has been taken on foot of security fears over Huawei being too close to the Chinese government. "In its relentless pursuit to tighten its stranglehold on our company, the US government has decided to completely ignore the concerns of many companies and industry associations," the Huawei statement continued. "To attack a leading company from another country, the US government has intentionally turned its back on the interests of Huawei's customers and consumers. This goes against the US government's claim that it is motivated by network security. "This decision by the US government does not just affect Huawei. It will have a serious impact on a wide number of global industries. In the long run, this will damage the trust and collaboration within the global semiconductor industry which many industries depend on, increasing conflict and loss within these industries." Huawei is China's largest technology company and said yesterday that it will be "significantly affected" by a Commerce Department decree barring any chipmaker using American equipment from supplying Huawei without approval from the US government. Washington's decision drew condemnation from Beijing, which regards Huawei as a national champion because of its success in dominating global networking technology. China and Huawei have threatened retaliation. After killing Hizb-ul-Mujahideens IED expert, Tahir Bhat in Doda, security forces have now launched a manhunt to nab the oldest surviving terrorist, Jehangir Saroori aka Mohammad Amin Bhat as the crackdown against the terror outfit continues in Jammu and Kashmir. This militant is hiding in the upper reaches of Marwah and Dachhan belt in Kishtwar district adjoining Doda district. He is the oldest surviving terrorist in J&K and carries an award of around 50 lakh on his head that was announced by the police and National Investigating Agency, said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity. He added that though security forces have intensified operations to nab the dreaded terrorist, difficult terrain and lack of technical intelligence were the two major factors that eluded forces of success all these years. He has been active in Jammu and Kashmir since 1992 and Pakistani handlers glorify him while recruiting Kashmiri youth, the official said. The officer divulged that even if their sources or assets get to know about Saroori, the unavailability of transport plays a spoilsport. The officer, who was recently shifted to Kashmir, recalled that Saroori had three associates-- Riyaz aka Hazari, Mudassir and a Gujjar boy Talib with whom he moved around in that area, more specifically in Rennie area. Saroori had been active in Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban and Bhaderwah areas before turning dormant. However, he reactivated his terror activities and was the mastermind behind the killing of BJP state secretary, Anil Parihar and his brother, Ajit Parihar in Kishtwar town in November 2018 followed by the killing of RSS functionary Chandrakant Sharma and his bodyguard in April 2019. As per the NIA chargesheet, Saroori had planned and executed the killing of Parihar brothers to create a divide in communally sensitive Kishtwar town. In October 2018, 30 lakh bounty was announced on Jehangir Saroori by the Jammu and Kashmir police for any information leading to his capture. The Kishtwar police had also put up wanted dead or alive posters in the region for Saroori and his associates. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON De Laurentis(right) at the Longmen Grottoes during a trip to Luoyang in Henan province in 2006.[Photo provided to China Daily] For Pietro de Laurentis, an Italian Sinologist who has been dedicated to Chinese studies for two decades, what fascinated him most about Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, was not the scenic West Lake or the delicious cuisine, but rather, Chinese calligraphy. Anyone who has studied Mandarin knows that Chinese characters play a dominant role in the language. Chinese characters have their own meaning and history. "Hangzhou is unique, because it gave me enlightenment on Chinese calligraphy," says de Laurentis. De Laurentis is a researcher with years of experience in studying modern Chinese, ancient Chinese and Chinese calligraphy in China. His first visit to the country was back in 1998 and since then, he says, he has visited the country numerous times. Majoring in Chinese, de Laurentis' interest in Chinese calligraphy sprouted at an Italian university in 1999, which helped him make some Chinese friends from Shanghai residing in Italy, including a calligraphy teacher. In an article of recollection, de Laurentis points out that he believed that culture is not just knowledge he learned in textbooks. "When I was studying Chinese at the university, I found there's an oasis of culture ahead of me," he writes. "The Chinese culture in textbooks is charming, but I am more interested in Chinese people," he notes, adding that Chinese characters and calligraphy are what he uses to communicate with people from China. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:58:49|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LUSAKA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Zambian Vice President Inonge Wina said on Tuesday that the country needs at least 1.3 million masks for pupils before schools reopen next month. Examination classes are expected to resume on June 1 after the schools were closed due to COVID-19. President Edgar Lungu has announced that pupils in examination classes should start learning and directed authorities to provide face masks to all pupils and put in place measures to ensure the protection of the pupils. However, stakeholders have expressed divided opinions on the readiness of the schools to reopen. The vice-president said the reopening of schools will only occur once all protective measures for pupils and teachers are put in place. In remarks delivered when she toured Medical Stores, a government agency responsible for manufacturing and storage of drugs, Wina said the face masks were needed in order to protect teachers and pupils. She has directed the health ministry to collect all donations made by various partners towards the COVID-19 fight and distribute them to schools and to ensure that all schools were disinfected. Zambia has recorded 772 COVID-19 cases and seven deaths since the first cases were reported on March 18. Enditem Revellers partying outside an East London gated community have been condemned by veteran newsreader and John Suchet and playwright Steven Berkoff for reportedly having sex in full view of residents and calling Mr Berkoff's wife a 'rich c***'. Police have been called out to a beach next to a gated complex in Limehouse, where drinkers reportedly gather to flout lockdown rules. Mr Berkoff, 82, said: 'We have had groups of people smoking seriously strong drugs under our balcony. With the smell drifting in through our windows, couples having sex under our balcony. Playwright and actor Steven Berkoff says he and his wife have been sworn at by people partying on a small beach on the River Thames outside his home in Limehouse, East London The Thameside beach has become a hotspot for drunken revellers who are said to be taking drugs and swearing at residents in the flats above 'People are constantly urinating against our home. 'We've been sworn at and threatened and had to call police on a number of occasions. 'Recently my wife confronted a group who screamed 'f*** off you rich c***' at her. 'Of course people come to the beach in the daytime and make noise and sunbathe and we don't mind that at all. But at night it's awful.' Tower Hamlets has removed protective gating at the neighbourhood, over fears the revellers could get trapped inside at night. Tower Hamlets has removed a gate that cordons off the beach from the flats in Limehouse John Suchet said his neighbours' lives had been made a misery by people parying outside his home In 2018, Mr Berkoff wrote Harvey, a one act play following the Harvey Weinstein scandal, his acting roles include the villainous General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy. His neighbour, radio host and veteran newsreader John Suchet, is also unhappy. The 76-year-old said: 'I am not affected by the anti-social behaviour because of where my home is, but I know my neighbours' lives are being made a misery. 'It seems very odd to remove the gate and in my opinion extremely dangerous." The neighbourhood has a make-shift beach - a section of the River Thames people can sit at, which attracts visitors from all over London. A Tower Hamlets Council spokesman said: 'We encourage anyone experiencing anti-social behaviour to report incidents on our website or to the police. 'If the gate is locked and there is a member of the public on the beach, they may become trapped with no means of exit.' Whats going on in Ag? It seems no industry has been unaffected by COVID-19, and agriculture is no exception. With personal protective equipment (PPE) being in high demand for the health care system, PPE will likely be in short supply for the 2020 growing season for producers. Members of the American Association of Pesticide Safety Educators (AAPSE) are raising the alarm as of April 2020 there are few if any N95 respirators to be found for purchase. Unfortunately, distributors are not accepting new orders, and respirators are back-order till June, July or later. What producers need to know, label-required PPE is still required and pesticide may not be applied without them. Home-made mask are not adequate alternatives for label-required respirators or mask. No exemptions or relaxation of the requirements to follow the PPE label-requirements have been made by the EPA. It may be necessary for producers to select alternative products or practices, if the required PPE is not available. One options is to use re-usable gloves and wash them to be re-used if disposable gloves are not available. Pesticide labels require respirators to prevent unacceptable levels of exposure to the applicator, if applicators go without the required PPE, this may present an additional burden to emergency departments. What can producers do to prepare for the respirator shortage? Make sure to review the product labels to identify which products require respiratory protection. Evaluate your existing inventory and/or availability of PPE required for products you plan to use. If you cant acquire the required PPE to meet label requirements, seek alternative products, there may be a similar product with different label requirements for PPE. Remember you can always wear PPE that offers more protection than the label requires. For N95 disposable filtering facemask (with two straps, NIOSH-approved) is equal to a full-face or half-mask respirator with N95 particulate filters. N99 or N100 disposable facemasks (NIOSH-approved) could be used as an alternative to an N95, as these would provide more protections. Remember you must have a medical evaluation clearing you for the type of respirator and a fit test for each type and model of respirator before use. Resources for finding alternative products with different PPE requirements. Nebraska Department of Agriculture Database from Kelly Solutions - compiled of pesticide products to be sold in the state of Nebraska. It is searchable by company, product, pest, site, and active ingredient, to name just a few search options. CDMS Label Database - Crop Data Management Systems (CDMS) has current labels and Safety Data Sheets online for pesticide registrants. Agrian - This search engine has a safety tab that lists the PPE requirements without having to search the label. The pesticide label can also be referenced. USDA Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Database - Documents include common pests by crop, and a variety of pest management options. NPICs Product Research Online - Search for federally-registered pesticides by crop, by pest/weed, and read labels online. Most seed planted today is treated, meaning it is coated with an herbicide and/or fungicide to help protect the seedling. It is important to think about pesticide safety when handling treated seed, therefore make sure to read your seed tag label. The seed tag will identify personal protective equipment PPE requirements for handling the seed. Most treated seed tags require long pants, long sleeves, socks, shoes, and chemical resistant gloves to handle the seed. Choose the right chemical resistant gloves, many seed treatments require gloves that are 14-mil thickness or greater when handling treated seed. Stay safe and make sure you are protecting yourself from chemical exposure when handling or using any pesticides on the farm. For updated information on crops in Nebraska please visit UNL CropWatch at https://cropwatch.unl.edu/ If you have any questions, please contact me at 402-367-7410 or by email at Melissa.Bartels@unl.edu. Melissa Bartels is an innovative cropping and water systems educator for Nebraska Extension-Butler County. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Instagram sensation Tammy Hembrow has been making the most of the easing restrictions on bars and restaurants in Queensland as the state continues to flatten the coronavirus curve. The fitness model, 26, enjoyed a luxurious seafood lunch while sipping on a frozen margarita at an upmarket restaurant on the Gold Coast on Tuesday. The mother-of-two donned a skintight blue T-shirt with a goddess print, which she paired with high-waisted jeans. 'Indulging in pleasures of the human experience': Tammy Hembrow went out for lunch on Queensland's Gold Coast on Tuesday as the state lifts coronavirus-related restrictions She styled the trendy ensemble with early 2000's-inspired translucent blue glasses and a nude baguette bag, and pulled her hair into a high ponytail. The blonde bombshell kept her makeup simple with full coverage foundation, winged eyeliner and a nude lip. She feasted on a range of oysters with different toppings, writing in the caption: 'Indulging in pleasures of the human experience.' Trendy: The mother-of-two donned a skintight blue T-shirt with a goddess print Delicious! The fitness model, 26, enjoyed a luxurious seafood lunch while sipping on a frozen margarita at an upmarket restaurant on the Gold Coast on Tuesday At present, up to 10 patrons can dine at a restaurant at one time. The Saski Collection founder has been in a celebratory mood of late, and recently congratulated her sister Starlette Thynne on her 20th birthday. 'Happy birthday my lil Taurus twin. I love you so much, sissy,' she captioned a photo of the pair on Sunday. Celebrations! Tammy has been in a celebratory mood of late, and recently congratulated her sister Starlette Thynne (left) on her 20th birthday Starlette was quick to comment back, writing: 'Love you so much.' Tammy is rumoured to be dating Soundcloud rapper Erick Delgado, who is based in New York City. She had visited NYC in February, a month before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The international community has attributed Vietnams remarkable achievements in taking on COVID-19 to the close cooperation between the countrys Government and its people. Scott Hammel is an international student advisor at California State University, Fullerton. He has a personal connection with Vietnam, as he lived and worked in the country from 2011 to 2012 and has a beautiful half-Vietnamese daughter. He kept a close eye on the COVID-19 situation in the country throughout the crisis. Scott Hammel and his daughter (Photo: Scott Hammel) Scott and his daughter Maia had a two-month holiday in Vietnam just recently in summer 2019. Shortly after returning home he heard for the first time about a strange respiratory disease breaking out in China and spreading to neighbouring countries, including Vietnam. He felt a huge sense of relief that he had left already, but has now changed his mind after seeing how the outbreak has been handled. When the virus started to spread outside of China in January my first thought was Im glad we returned to the US. Now Im wishing we had stayed in Vietnam, Scott told the Vietnam News Agency. Vietnams approach to tackling the coronavirus epidemic has been in large part determined by its system of government and its citizens willingness to make sacrifices for the overall well-being of society. My personal opinion is that Vietnams approach has been very effective and Western countries would do well to re-evaluate the society vs individual balance, says Scott Hammel (Photo: Scott Hammel) Indeed, most Vietnamese people are willing to cooperate with the Government in dealing with the pandemic, due to the Governments consistent approach of putting peoples well-being before economic benefits. The approach was affirmed in a report from Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc presented to the national cadres conference in Hanoi on April 23 to discuss the COVID-19 fight and identify measures for socioeconomic stabilisation and development. The report restated Vietnams consistent view that fighting the pandemic is like fighting a war. In response to the appeal from the Party and the PM, people and soldiers at home and abroad came together to fight COVID-19, according to the report. Vietnams approach could be summarised as prioritising prevention, locking out external risks, zoning epidemic-hit areas and stopping it from spreading, using effective treatment, and, most importantly, accepting short-term economic losses to protect peoples health. Vietnam is a leading example for countries to study and follow, said Japanese American Krista Aoki. As an outsider, (I saw that) its clear Vietnam chooses a people-first approach - take care of the people first, worry about the economy later. Vietnam had recorded zero fatalities as of May 18, making it stand apart from many countries around the world, where the number of infections is in the thousands or even tens of thousands, and fatalities are high. As at May 18, 260 COVID-19 patients in Vietnam had been given the all-clear, raising the countrys recovery rate to over 80 percent (Photo: National Hospital for Tropical Diseases) Praising Vietnams achievements in its fight against the virus, Amy Searight, Senior Advisor and Director of the Southeast Asia Programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said: Vietnam launched a rapid and aggressive response to the coronavirus outbreak that so far has been highly successful, with zero reported deaths. She attributed the success to the countrys social mobilization, saying the ability of the Communist Party of Vietnam to mobilize society has been on full display through clear public messaging, the ability to isolate individuals with symptoms and track their second- and third-hand contacts, the quarantining of incoming travellers, and the enlistment of medical students, retired doctors, and nurses. Foreign media praises Vietnams achievements in COVID-19 control (Photo: VNA) Given the complicated development of COVID-19 around the world, with 4.8 million affected and deaths totalling 316,000, Vietnam, with 320 cases of infection, including 180 imported cases, has been one of only a few highlights in the global fight against the deadly coronavirus. The achievements and joint efforts of both the Government and the people of Vietnam have been praised by international media and organisations./.VNA A worker holds a flag while demonstrating during a strike outside of Allan Brothers Fruit on May 16, 2020 in Naches, Washington. Photo: Getty Images Randy Narvaez had worked for a Denver-area King Sooper store for over 30 years by the time he died from the coronavirus. In a press release, his union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, said there are a dozen cases among his co-workers. Even if they all survive, theyll see their pay reduced by the time they recover. King Soopers parent company, Kroger, ended a $2 hero pay bonus this week. Full-time workers will get another thank you payment of $400, part-timers get $200, and after that, its business as usual. Except it wont be, not for Randy Narvaez and not for his co-workers, who are pleading with Kroger to extend the hourly bonus or at least shut their store down to clean it. Theres an old conflict between employers like Kroger and workers like the UFCWs members; it is far older, in fact, than COVID-19. A great difference in perspective, and thus of opinion, separates bosses from workers at all times. Created by capitalism and wedged open by decades of policy, this gap has fatal qualities, and they have become difficult to ignore. The pandemic has spawned a thousand ponderous takes about the state of inequality in America. Most concede at minimum that inequality exists and can be dangerous, though some, like a recent New York Times editorial by the libertarian economist Michael Strain, have argued that it isnt much of a problem. But the pandemic also highlights a curious trend among some in the right wing. These conservatives see value in the notion of inequality. They freely admit that there are haves and have nots, or a front row and back row, and will even speak of exploitation and pain. But these right-wing populists take one obvious, true point that lockdown measures inflict economic pain, the severity of which corresponds inversely to a persons wealth and journey from there into the land of the goons. Consider a recent effort from Peggy Noonan, a Pulitzer Prizewinning columnist for the Wall Street Journal. Unlike some fellow conservatives, Noonan allows the necessity of mask-wearing and social-distancing. But! There is a class divide between those who are hard-line on lockdowns and those who are pushing back, she ventured. A correct statement, though she doesnt seem to know which side is which. In her version of class war, professional elites stand on one side of the divide, hectoring workers who just want to make rent. The working-class people who are pushing back have had harder lives than those now determining their fate, she continued. They havent had familial or economic ease. No one sent them to Yale. They often come from considerable family dysfunction. This has left them tougher or harder, you choose the word. But reality doesnt quite match up with Noonans imagination. Workers arent pushing back against lockdowns. Theyve organized protests of an entirely different variety. For weeks, theyve rallied against elites their bosses who wont clean their job sites or hand out enough masks and who take away hazard pay while theyre still dying. This isnt left-wing sloganeering, but fact. Most Americans overwhelmingly back continued lockdown measures, even if theyve lost major income during the pandemic. The polling is unambiguous. In April, Gallup reported that low-income adults were still more likely to fear illness from COVID-19 than financial hardship, which by then had already become acute. Later the same month, an IPSOS poll found that high-income households in 14 countries surveyed, including the U.S., were mostly likely on average to support economic reopening. The poorer a household, the less likely a respondent was to agree that states should reopen. The financial implications of the pandemic have thus been felt most severely among people of color, according to a poll from the Associated Press and NORC and they are not the people protesting the lockdowns. Though Noonan derided Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer for calling the protests racist and misogynistic, there isnt actually much doubt that Whitmer was right. Protesters in multiple states waved Confederate flags; some carried anti-Semitic signs. White supremacists flocked to some rallies. At a protest in Whitmers state, a man brandished a brunette doll that hung from a noose, which seems plenty misogynistic, among other things. Meanwhile, a more accurate vision of class war emerged in a new Washington Post report on a suburban enclave in Georgia. Allowed to reopen by the states Republican governor, Brian Kemp, the luxury Avalon shopping center drew patrons desperate for a venti Starbucks. I just want to feel normal, I guess, a woman told the Post. But someone has to pay for normal, and it isnt necessarily going to be the woman browsing her local Anthropologie. A worker, the Post added, had started her shift with a prayer, beseeching a God who was bigger than corona. The fear was as unequally distributed as the areas wealth. The discrepancy between the Post piece and the Noonan op-ed is partly a product of form. One work is reported; the other is opinion, which is too often a sinecure for the terminally out of touch. A few minutes of research might have salvaged Noonans column, but when theres no expectation that a writer will do anything but pontificate, outlets end up with pieces that manage to be false and dull at the same time. But Noonans errors still have some value. In her haste to cry revolution, she reveals how little the right understands class at all. There is a real socioeconomic divide between Yale-educated epidemiologists and blue-collar workers, but it doesnt generate lockdown anxiety. And though small business owners are suffering, as Noonan points out, the people who work for them may feel markedly more reluctant to get back on the job. What spilled out into rallies several weeks ago isnt class war, but culture war. Workers arent asking to go back to the mall. Theyre fighting to live. Gavilan Resources, a Houston oil and gas company backed by Blackstone Group, has filed for bankruptcy protection, a casualty of the coronavirus-driven oil crash and a legal dispute with a joint venture partner. The Houston energy company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday in federal court in Houston. The company said it plans to sell its business and assets while embroiled in a legal battle with Houston-based Sanchez Energy over jointly managed oil and gas leases in the Eagle Ford shale of South Texas. The precipitous decline in oil prices from the combined effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the flooding of oil markets by warring international producers forced Gavilan into these chapter 11 proceedings, CEO David Roberts Jr. said in the bankruptcy filing. Since the fall of 2018, however, Gavilan has been entangled in ... an increasingly unworkable relationship with Sanchez. Sanchez, founded in 2011 by Laredo businessman and former Texas gubernatorial candidate Tony Sanchez Jr., did not immediately return a request for comment. RELATED: Houston-based Sanchez Energy braces for $1.5 billion loss Gavilan joins a growing number of U.S. energy companies, including Whiting Petroleum, Skylar Exploration, Diamond Offshore and Freedom Oil and Gas, that have filed for bankruptcy protection as the coronavirus pandemic has wiped out demand for oil-related products and sent prices tumbling. Founded in 2017 by funds managed by Blackstone Energy Partners, Gavilan is a privately-held oil and gas producer in the Eagle Ford shale play in south Texas, where it holds about 77,000 acres of oil and gas leases. The company in 2017 partnered with Unsub and Sanchez Energy to acquire the so-called Comanche assets in the Eagle Ford from Anadarko Petroleum for about $2.3 billion. Gavilan paid Anadarko roughly $1.13 billion, or about half of the purchase price, to acquire half of Anadarkos Eagle Ford assets. Gavilan, Unsub and Sanchez entered into joint operating and development agreements to drill in the Eagle Ford, which requires the completion of 60 wells each year for five years until September 2022. However, the joint venture has struggled to develop new wells after oil prices plunged in 2014, leading to a legal dispute between Gavilan and Sanchez over the venture and ownership of assets. Sanchez filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2019, and is undergoing financial restructuring. Gavilan in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing reported assets of $1 billion to $10 billion, and debt of about $552 million. Its largest creditors include Maverick, WGR Operating, Venado and Mitsui. A meeting of the World Health Organisation that was supposed to chart a path for the world to combat the coronavirus pandemic instead on Monday turned into a showcase for the escalating tensions between China and the United States over the virus A meeting of the World Health Organisation that was supposed to chart a path for the world to combat the coronavirus pandemic instead on Monday turned into a showcase for the escalating tensions between China and the United States over the virus. President Xi Jinping of China announced at the start of the forum that Beijing would donate $2 billion toward fighting the coronavirus and dispatch doctors and medical supplies to Africa and other countries in the developing world. The contribution, to be spent over two years, amounts to more than twice what the United States had been giving the global health agency before President Donald Trump cut off American funding last month, and it could catapult China to the forefront of international efforts to contain a disease that has claimed at least 315,000 lives. But it was also seen particularly by American officials as an attempt by China to forestall closer scrutiny of whether it hid information about the outbreak to the world. Xi made his announcement by video-conference to the World Health Assembly, an annual decision-making meeting of the WHO that is being conducted virtually this year because of safety considerations during the pandemic. Trump declined to address the two-day gathering, providing the Chinese president an opening to be one of the first world leaders to address the 194 member states. In China, after making painstaking efforts and sacrifice, we have turned the tide on the virus and protected lives, Xi said. We have done everything in our power to support and assist countries in need. In videotaped remarks to the assembly after Xi spoke, Alex Azar, the US secretary of health and human services, countered with sharp criticism of both the WHO and China, saying their handling of the coronavirus outbreak led to unnecessary deaths. We must be frank about one of the primary reasons that this outbreak spun out of control, Azar said. There was a failure by this organisation to obtain the information that the world needed, and that failure cost many lives. In an unmistakable reference to China, he said, In an apparent attempt to conceal this outbreak, at least one member State made a mockery of their transparency obligations, with tremendous costs for the entire world. In their remarks to the assembly, other leaders criticised the lack of world unity in fighting the pandemic and, without naming any one country, urged nations to set aside their differences. No country can solve this problem alone, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said. We must work together. But Trump administration officials swiftly denounced Chinas aid announcement as an attempt to influence the WHO, which is facing pressure from member states to investigate whether it was complicit in Beijings lack of transparency in the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan. Chinas commitment of $2 billion is a token to distract from calls from a growing number of nations demanding accountability for the Chinese governments failure to meet its obligations under international health regulations to tell the truth and warn the world of what was coming, John Ullyot, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said in a statement. As the source of the outbreak, China has a special responsibility to pay more and to give more. The director-general of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, nodded to criticism of the organisations own handling of the early weeks of the outbreak, saying the agency would review lessons learned about its global response. But he did not address Trumps insistence that the health agency investigate allegations widely dismissed by scientists that the coronavirus originated in a lab in China. Xi in his speech called for any examination to take place after the health crisis had subsided. In recent weeks, Chinese leaders and citizens have become increasingly aware of the international criticism and open hostility over Chinas initial handling of the outbreak. Top American officials have been scathing, but European leaders have also spoken of mysteries surrounding the outbreak in China that needed to be addressed. Chinas aggressive diplomacy and international anger over exports of Chinese-made medical equipment that turned out to be shoddy have also contributed to the rising tensions. Around 100 nations have called for an independent investigation into the origins of the pandemic. Against that backdrop, and with the imminent start of the annual National Peoples Congress in Beijing on Friday, Xis move appeared to be an effort to win over international support and calm the public anxieties in China. Certainly this is a very tricky moment for Xi, said Dali L Yang, a political scientist at the University of Chicago. Clearly he doesnt want this really to be hanging above him, given how many countries are engaged and have asked for an investigation into the origins of the virus. Trumps retreat from the global stage has created openings for China, which has been seeking to reshape multilateral institutions long dominated by Washington. Ryan Hass, a China scholar at the Brookings Institution, said a familiar pattern had emerged. Whenever Trump withdraws the US from international leadership, Xi announces that China will step forward, said Hass, who was a senior Asia director on former president Barack Obamas National Security Council. Xi has been ruthlessly opportunistic about seeking to exploit Americas withdrawal from global leadership for Chinas advantage. Washingtons weak diplomatic hand was apparent on Monday when its efforts to lead a coalition of countries seeking to win Taiwan admission to the assembly as an observer failed. The self-governed island, which Beijing claims as its own territory, had observer status until 2016. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top American officials had recently called on the WHO and its members to reestablish Taiwans admission over Beijings objections. Trumps fury at the WHO, and his decision last month to freeze financial contributions to the group in the middle of a global pandemic, came as critics pointed to his own administrations slow and bungled response to a pandemic that has sickened nearly 1.5 million people in the United States and killed nearly 90,000. To many of the presidents supporters, the WHO and other international organisations are to blame for lost jobs, low wages and economic uncertainty in the United States. But Trump will need to convince a broad part of the electorate that he was not responsible for the deaths and massive economic calamity caused by the virus. Casting the WHO and the Chinese government as enemies could be an effective way, at least in the eyes of his supporters, for Trump to blunt fierce criticism from Democrats over his failures on the pandemic. Why is it that China, for decades, and with a population much bigger than ours, is paying a tiny fraction of $s to The World Health Organisation, The United Nations and, worst of all, The World Trade Organisation, where they are considered a so-called developing country and are therefore given massive advantages over The United States, and everyone else? Trump tweeted over the weekend. Trump also tweeted that instead of cutting off all funding to the WHO, he was considering making payments of 10% of what we have been paying over many years, matching much lower China payments. Have not made final decision. All funds are frozen. Beijing contributed a total $86 million to the WHO in 2018 and 2019, indeed much less than Washingtons $893 million contribution over those two years. White House officials on Monday declined to say whether the 10 percent plan might move forward in the days ahead. Andrew Jacobs, Michael D Shear and Edward Wong c.2020 The New York Times Company ALBANY Albany County will rely on 225 county employees who have had their workloads reduced during the pandemic to help the region reach the final state metric to start re-opening some local businesses sometime this week. Employees from several departments, including probation and human resources, took an online test on Monday to become contact tracers. Similar efforts were underway in Rensselaer and Schenectady counties, Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said. The eight counties in the region need to have 383 contact tracers to meet requirements set by the state. Contact tracing allows investigators to determine how many people an infected individual came in contact with and then get the information to those people so they can isolate and stop themselves from unknowingly spreading the virus. County employees who take the test will work under the counties' health departments if they are assigned to do contact tracing work. The state is also hiring people to be contact tracers at $27 an hour. County employees will still be paid their current salaries. However, most of the counties in the region have said they believe they already have enough tracers for their existing cases. Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLauglin said the tracers are there in case the region sees a large spike and questioned why the state was requiring all the tracers to be trained before a region could re-open. "We should be able to re-open today," McLaughlin said Monday during his daily news briefing. "What difference does that make? We'll get them trained and get it done and they'll be sitting around with nothing to do." McCoy said he expects the region will have between 400 and 500 trained tracers once the training program is complete. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage The region has met six of the seven requirements to reopen but needs to bulk up its contact tracing operations to start the first phase of the process. Phase one will allow greater construction work to occur and further use of curbside pickup for retail businesses as well as the resumption of manufacturing and agriculture. The region previously fell short of requirements for declining hospitalizations and deaths, but the state shifted the timeline to hit those metrics, leaving the region only needing to meet the tracer requirement to reopen. I hope by tomorrow, we can say we are open, maybe by Wednesday," McCoy said. But the reopening and future phases of it including the opening of stores in the second phase and opening of restaurants and hotels in the final phase could reignite the spread of coronavirus, which for several weeks has been mostly declining locally and around the state. Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said a large stable of contact tracers will be key if the reopening triggers a reversal in the decline in COVID-19 cases that have occurred during the two-months of the stay-at-home order. I have no doubt, opening up will mean an increase in our cases, Whalen said. What you do today will influence what happens in two-weeks time. Because the virus incubation period can last up to 14 days, Whalen said it could will take two weeks before an increase in cases is seen once the reopening begins. It could take up to five weeks before a spike in deaths is noticed. Continuing to wear masks, regularly washing hands and social distancing will help slow the spread once the reopening is underway. "We'll just have to watch it very carefully" in the coming weeks, Whalen said. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Several regions of the state have been allowed to begin the reopening process, including the Southern Tier, Mohawk Valley and Finger Lakes. The counties that are part of the Capital Region reopening are Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Columbia, Greene, Washington and Warren counties. Albany County is the population center and has had the highest number of infected residents. McCoy said the number of residents diagnosed with COVID-19 climbed by 23 Monday to 1,478 total confirmed cases. He said 827 people were in quarantine. As of Monday, 29 people were hospitalized and five were in intensive care. McCoy returned to a common refrain during the two-month stay-at-home order: Younger people were not doing enough to stop the spread of the virus and that could lead to a spike now that the reopening will soon start and increase the contact between people. Residents in the 20-29 age range are more likely to feel no symptoms of the disease, he said, and could unknowingly spread the virus to older, more vulnerable people if they do not adhere to social-distancing rules. Youre the ones who are going to spread more than anyone else, McCoy said. Please pay attention to that. McCoy said the infection rate among Albany County residents in the 20-29 age group was surging and close to eclipsing the rate among those between the age of 50 and 59. Also on Monday Saratoga County recorded its first COVID-19 death since April 30 and 15th so far during the pandemic after a 75-year-old Halfmoon man died, county officials said. They did not say what day the man died or if he was a nursing home resident. Albany, Columbia and Greene counties also saw one death each overnight. But the four deaths should not be an impediment to the region re-opening as the state metric is a three-day average of less than five deaths. A Costco manager took a customer's cart away and kicked him out of the store after the patron refused to wear a mask amid the coronavirus outbreak. The customer, who filmed his encounter with a Costco manager named Tison and posted the footage on Instagram, refuses to comply with a request to put on a mask because he woke up in a 'free country'. Tison's response is to calmly walk away with the cart while telling the customer to 'have a nice day'. The customer is left in disbelief, makes an insulting remark about the manager, gives up his Costco membership card to a woman who came with him to the store and proclaims, 'I'm not an f-----g sheep.' A Costco manager named Tison (pictured) took a customer's cart away and kicked him out of the store after the patron refused to wear a mask amid safety measures being taken against the coronavirus outbreak The customer (pictured), who filmed his encounter with the Costco manager named Tison and posted the footage on Instagram, refuses to comply with a request to put on a mask because he woke up in a 'free country' Costco issued a new policy from May 4 requiring all customers and workers to wear a face mask inside its stores and gas stations. 'The use of a mask or face covering should not be seen as a substitute for social distancing,' the statement read. 'Please continue to observe rules regarding appropriate distancing while on Costco premises.' The rule sparked a backlash among some shoppers who took to social media to slam the move. 'I will not comply with your mask rule!,' one person posted on Twitter. Others blasted the move an 'abuse of power': 'You have hit a new low... you are an American corporation with an obligation to support our American values, dictating face mask for your workers is one thing but forcing this on your loyal members who paid for a membership is a complete abuse of power.' Tison's response is to calmly walk away with the cart As Tison is pulling away with the cart, he wishes the customer, 'Have a nice day' The patron makes an insulting remark about the manager as he gets further away with the cart Anger over the move comes despite CDC guidance recommending all Americans wear face masks when venturing out of their homes into places where it is difficult to social distance. Despite the backlash, Tison received support for putting his foot down from those who viewed the footage online. Twitter user TonyD, who posts under the handle demondd218 and works as an analyst, praised the move. 'Good on @Costco ...they made the announcement weeks ago that every member will be required to wear a mask..this a------e went in there just to cause a scene! So everyone else is wearing masks to protect him..but he won't wear one to protect others?? Enjoy your Rona Sir!' the Twitter user wrote. Despite the backlash, Tison received support for putting his foot down from those who viewed the footage online. Twitter user TonyD, who posts under the handle demondd218 and works as an analyst, praised the move in a tweet (pictured) The customer followed up his video post to rail against people online who criticized him for his refusal to wear a mask. Calling himself a 'speak-out, public villain,' and appearing shirtless in the footage, he insists, 'I've got every f-----g right to not wear a mask.' 'This isn't about wearing a mask. This is about control,' he says. So far, there have been more than 1.5 million confirmed cases in the US of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for more than 92,000 deaths. GREEN ISLAND Honeywell is closing its Green Island factory that makes airplane brakes amid the government coronavirus lock down orders that have crushed the airline industry. The closure is expected to take place by next year. "Honeywell is planning to close the Green Island site and move work to our South Bend, Indiana facility by (the third quarter of 2021) to streamline operations and better serve our customers," Honeywell spokesman Scott Sayres told the Times Union. "We realize this would, unfortunately, affect valued employees and were committed to open communication through this period. We will follow all legally required notice, collective bargaining and consultation obligations." The Green Island Honeywell plant employed about 40 union workers as of a few years ago when the unionized workforce was locked out by management over a dispute over a new contract. The contract was later approved and the plant got back to work. Officials with UAW Local 1508 that represents the Honeywell workers in Green Island could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. The South Bend facility also makes brakes and is the larger of the two facilities. Honeywell had no more details about the closure to provide to the Times Union. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage As Texas reopens, most workers who cannot work remotely are understandably worried about their health and safety. Some do not know whether its better to stay home for the health of their families, or go back to work to keep their job and pay for necessities. While hardly perfect, new COVID-19 leave laws give workers the right to paid COVID-19 time off if theyre told to quarantine, if theyre taking care of a sick family member or child whose school is closed, or if a child care provider is unavailable because of COVID-19. Even though most employers are required to share information about leave rights for employees, many workers dont know about the new law. Most workers are now eligible for two weeks of leave at full pay if they are under a stay-at-home order, told to quarantine by a health care provider, or have COVID-19 symptoms and are seeking a diagnosis. Most workers are also eligible for two weeks of reduced-pay leave to take care of a family member with COVID-19, and up to 12 weeks of reduced-pay leave to take care of a child whose school or child care provider is closed. Department of Labor charts, posters and guidance explaining the law are available online at dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic. For more information about rules and eligibility, visit the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid website or talk with a lawyer. If you need time off because of COVID-19, follow the policy that your employer has updated, or if there is no updated policy, request COVID-19 leave the same way you request any time off. Make sure to say you need COVID-19 leave and explain why you cannot work. Tell your supervisor the names of everyone involved the health care provider who advised you to quarantine, the child or family member you are caring for, or the school or day care thats shut down. A doctors note isnt necessary. However, not all companies have to provide COVID-19 time off. Companies with more than 500 workers are not covered. Employers of health care providers and emergency responders can choose whether to offer this leave. Small companies with less than 50 workers can also decide to not provide the 12 weeks of family leave for workers whose children are stuck at home if granting the leave might force the business to shut its doors. Regardless, those small companies must still provide sick leave to workers advised to quarantine or those who are sick. All businesses should talk to a lawyer to clarify how the rules apply to them. Even if a company isnt covered by the new laws, having a COVID-19 leave policy makes sense. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has explained that flexible and supportive leave policies are critical to maintaining healthy business operations. Employees who arent given leave may come to work sick out of fear of losing their jobs only to spread COVID-19 throughout their workplaces. If a company is covered, tax credits may be available to recover the cost of providing COVID-19 leave. Check with your tax adviser. And having a COVID-19 leave policy in place (and posting the mandatory notice from the Department of Labors website) should reduce the risk of a lawsuit down the line. COVID-19 leave laws allow workers to recover damages if theyre wrongfully denied leave or retaliated against for asking for COVID-19 leave. When employers follow these laws and workers know their rights, Texas will be safer for everyone. Hannah Cramer is a staff attorney at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid Inc. Texas RioGrande Legal Aid provides free legal services to people who cannot afford an attorney in 68 Southwestern counties, including the entire Texas-Mexico border. California Gov. Gavin Newsom told CNBC on Tuesday that he is "not worried" about Tesla CEO Elon Musk moving the company's operations out of the state. "I'm also not worried about Elon leaving anytime soon," Newsom said in an interview that aired on "Fast Money." "I've had a lot of conversations with him, and we're committed to the success and the innovation and the low-carbon, green growth economy that he's been promoting for decades and the state of California is accelerating in." Musk said earlier this month on Twitter that he was prepared to move Tesla's headquarters and future operations out of California amid a dispute with public health officials in Alameda County, where the electric vehicle maker manufactures most of its cars for the U.S. and Europe. Tesla also sued the county over its coronavirus-related business restrictions, which had limited Tesla's production since March. At Musk's behest, Tesla reopened for production has been making new cars at its Fremont factory since Mother's Day weekend, and was operating in defiance of local health orders for days. TWEET As CNBC previously reported, internal Tesla communications showed that production shifts had fully resumed, minus some temp workers and some of the administrative and other employees who were still able to work remotely, rather than coming in to the Fremont factory. Newsom, a Democrat, said he has known Musk for decades and had "great respect and admiration for his innovative spirit." He argued that California has been a key partner to Tesla as it grew to become the world's leading player in electric vehicles. "I think it's in all our interests to continue to find areas of common ground and that's, by the way, exactly what we do in the state of California with Tesla," Newsom said. "And they were accommodated, and they began reopening as manufacturing and logistics and warehousing all across the state has operated and reopened in the last few weeks." Newsom's comments come as Palo Alto-based Tesla scouts for a location for its new final assembly plant. CNBC reported last week that the company was zeroing in on Texas or Oklahoma. Musk has said the next plant will be the company's "Cybertruck" Gigafactory. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Newsom's remarks. Morgan Stanley auto analyst Adam Jonas told CNBC last week that he believes the share of Tesla vehicles produced in California will shrink in the coming years. He said it is economically "challenging" to produce vehicles in the state. "There is no doubt in our mind that over time, that Fremont's proportion of global production will go down and we think the next plant is clearly going to be in Texas," said Jonas, one of the earliest bullish Wall Street analysts on Tesla. Newsom said he was believes doing business in California is advantageous for companies, including Tesla. "We may not be the cheapest place to do business but we're the best place to do business," he argued. Shares of Tesla closed Tuesday's session slightly lower at $808 each. The stock is up 93% so far this year. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 19:03:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SUVA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said on Tuesday that Fiji is already exploring a step-up in its manufacturing and assembly capacities for those looking to relocate supply chains to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. While opening the first series of business and economic roundtable discussions on Tuesday, Bainimarama said Fiji bit the bullet and made hard decisions early to spare the island nation of a large-scale COVID-19 outbreak. With most businesses having re-opened their doors, Fiji could theoretically resume its role in regional supply chains from Wednesday, he said, adding that Fiji has far more to offer than they expect. The prime minister said that Fiji is a nation of immense potential for investment, including in the services sector, which is served by geographic advantages, a built-in luxury brand, and a skilled IT-savvy, English-speaking workforce. Meanwhile, Fijian Minister for Commerce, Trade and Tourism Faiyaz Koya said that for Fiji, the rules may change in terms of how they do business overseas. Budget support for small and micro businesses in Fiji will be considered in the next budget, said Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum. For his part, the economy minister said that given the significant loss of jobs in tourism, the government was seeing an increased uptake in small and micro enterprises in response to the economic fallout of COVID-19. He said that while unemployment is likely to remain high due to the crisis, the Fijian government is envisioning avenues to try to soften the impact. The Reserve Bank of Fiji said the nation's economy is now expected to decline more sharply than the earlier estimate of -4.3 percent on account of the catastrophic impact of COVID-19. Enditem Associated Press The widow and two sisters of a U.S. Marine killed in Afghanistan are suing Alec Baldwin, alleging the actor exposed them to a flood of social media hatred by claiming on Instagram that one sister was an insurrectionist for attending former President Donald Trump's Washington, D.C., rally on Jan. 6 last year. The sister, Roice McCollum, protested peacefully and legally; was not among those who stormed the U.S. Capitol that day and, after being interviewed by the FBI, was never detained, arrested, accused of or charged with any crime, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne. The lawsuit comes as Baldwin is immersed in an ongoing investigation into the death of a cinematographer and the wounding of a director last fall after a prop gun the actor was holding on a movie set went off. Australians have raised more than $2,000 for a diver who was fined after heroically jumping off his boat to rescue a whale calf trapped in shark nets. Django, who only shared his first name and refused to say why he was fined, jumped in his tinny and travelled 500metres into the water at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast on Tuesday morning after spotting the distressed whale. Drone footage showed him rip off his shirt and put on flippers before diving into the water to cut the stranded whale free. It's unknown how long the calf - believed to be a humpback - had been trapped. Many social media users rushed to Django's defence after he revealed he'd been fined and created the GoFundMe page which has now reached $2,100 in a matter of hours. A mystery man in a tinny could be fined for bravely rescuing a whale calf trapped in shark nets off the Gold Coast The organiser of the page said any extra money raised would go to a charity or research foundation for whales. 'Not all heroes wear capes, some have a heart and a dingy!' one person wrote. 'Great job to the legend that saved this baby whale from a horrible fate!' another said. 'Ill donate to help him pay his fine. Aussie hero I say. Well done mate,' said a third. The penalty for intentionally moving too close to a whale comes with an on-the-spot fine of $630.75, or a maximum fine of $20,814. The whale was first spotted in trouble at about 7am Tuesday by a drone operator at Burleigh Hill where it was seen badly tangled in the nets. Drone operator James Kable said the whale looked 'very distressed'. 'I saw a whale and thought, ''that's pretty cool'',' Django, who had been looking for large manta ray on his boat, told 7News. 'I saw it was in the net and thought, ''well, that's not that cool''.' Django said the whale had been approximately eight to nine metres deep and said he wasn't worried because he was 'a decent free diver'. 'But because of the adrenaline, about 2m (down) my heart was just pumping ... so that's why I had to keep coming up and going down,' he said. While he knows he is in trouble, Django said he assumed anyone would have done the same. Django, who only shared his first name and refused to say why he was fined, sped 500metres into the water at Burleigh Heads on Tuesday morning after spotting the whale. A GoFundMe page has since been created to cover the costs for any fine he receives Drone operator James Kable said the whale looked 'very distressed' while being caught in the net (pictured) Seaworld rescue crews were waiting nearby in the water but remained on standby due to a suspected communication issue with the Department of Boating and Fisheries. During this time the mystery man took it upon himself to untangle the whale and was spoken to by a fisheries rescue team after cutting the animal free. Conservationists are calling on the government to remove shark nets as the whales head north for their annual migration to warmer waters. He sped 500metres into the water at Burleigh Heads on Tuesday morning, taking off his shirt and donning fins before diving into the water to cut the baby whale free Wildlife photographer Scott Wilson said he was also gearing up to free the whale but was strictly told by authorities not to. 'Obviously due to public liability, it's a risk they don't want to accept,' he told Sunrise. Griffith University marine biologist Dr Olaf Meynecke told ABC it was the first time a whale had been caught in nets during May. 'The condition are also extremely unusual for entanglement,' he said. 'It's quite windy, it's choppy usually the whale stays further away when these south-easterly conditions are prevailing.' There has been a number of job loses across the world as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic which has brought economic activities to a standstill. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) projects that Covid 19 would wipe out over 195 million jobs by the second quarter of 2020 and the US alone, 36 million to 40 million jobs have been lost between February to May. For those who will remain in their jobs, they cannot tell when they will receive their next salaries, a situation which has created a financial uncertainty among many employees of organisations. To help navigate this financial uncertainty, the Chief Executive Officer of Axis Pensions Trust, Mr Afriyie Oware, appeared on the Springboard, Your Virtual University to share his perspectives on the situation the global economy finds itself in and how individuals could cope in times like this. The disruption Commenting on how huge the disruption has been, Mr Oware said it had been a bit devastating as the virus was probably the biggest crisis in his lifetime. It has decimated economies across the world, it has crashed the markets to levels we havent seen in a long time and it has distracted global trade and created the biggest rate of unemployment. Businesses are suffering in many ways. The shutdown has affected production across the world and supply chain has been considerably impacted while demand has weakened because of consumer spending power being constrained, he noted. He said the already precarious situation for SMEs in an economy such as Ghana had even worsened as credit conditions become tightened. Bailout money He said it had been very difficult for the world, prompting lots of countries to dole out financial bail out to enterprises. Narrowing it down to Ghana, he said the government had introduced various measures that had helped to navigate a path towards stability. In terms of welfare, the employment situation is very much linked to the personal financial situation and as far as peoples employment are threatened, there is a huge effect on their welfare. We in Ghana can attest to the fact that a lot of people have struggled to cope. On average, people do not have efficient savings to live on for more than a month. In the US, which is a developed country, according to research, only 40 per cent of all Americans can meet a US$3000 emergency and what this means is that if the employment situation is not cured, it will create another catastrophe that we may not have considered, he explained. What individuals must do Commenting of what individuals must do in times like this, Mr Oware said employment meant a lot to people while for others, it meant more than just a way of earning income. For some, it is their social identity, it represents access to social network and a support system. For those of us who are working, the work we do defines our routine so when your job is taken away from you, it can emotionally and psychologically affect you. My advice is that unemployment is a major change in your circumstance so you have to go back to planning. You have to plan for the worse and hope for the best, he stated. He also urged individuals to restructure their routines and activities and during the period that they were home as unemployed, and learn a new skill or pick up a new vocation. It is also important to recognise that during the period of unemployment, your incomes are very limited so it is important to prioritise necessities and cut your expenditure. If you are lucky to walk out of job with a payout which is from a provident fund or ESB, then you are probably one of the luckiest in the world, he noted. Not a good time to start a business Mr Oware also advised against starting new businesses in such times. I know there is this fantasy to start a business but listeners should know that over 60 per cent of all new businesses started fail in first year and close to 90 per cent fail by the fifth year. You dont have to start one during this period of uncertainity. It is ,therefore, not appropriate in a period of uncertainty like this to try and start a business, however, if there are some people who have started some successful businesses you know, it is advisable to back them with any spare resources you have other than start a new one, he advised. 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 The suspicion was filed to a native of Chechnya, who is the citizen of Russia now Open source The law enforcers notified suspicion to the organizer of the murder-for-hire of Amina Okueva and attempted murder of Adam Osmayev as the Prosecutor Generals Office reported. The suspicion was filed to a native of Chechnya, who is the citizen of Russia now. A perpetrator found killers in the territory of Ukraine and they shot the car with Amina Okueva. In January 2020, the killers were detained. The murder of Amina Okueva occurred in the Kyiv region on October 30, 2017; she and her husband were attacked from an ambush. The shooter used an assault rifle of a 5.45-mm caliber. Okueva took a bullet to the head, while Osmaev sustained a leg wound and survived the attack. The woman of Ukrainian origin, Okueva was a Muslim; she was buried in Dnipro city, according to the Muslim traditions. The criminal proceeding was opened due to the murder of Okueva. Ihor Redkin, the citizen of Ukraine of 1964 year of birth, was detained in the suspicion in the murder of Amina Okueva. A church in Texas has cancelled public masses after a 79-year-old priest was diagnosed with pneumonia believed to have been caused by coronavirus. Father Donnel Kirchner, who worked at the Holy Ghost Parish in Houston, died last week. The church had resumed masses on May 2 after Texas began loosening its stay-at-home orders. But in a statement, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said the parish has now cancelled its services indefinitely as of May 14 the day after Kirchners death. The 79-year-old shared a home with seven other members of his religious order. Five have since tested positive for COVID-19, including two priests who had been active in public masses since the beginning of May. If anyone has attended masses in person at Holy Ghost Church since the reopening, we strongly encourage you to monitor your health for any symptoms and be tested for COVID-19, as a precautionary measure, Holy Ghost pastor, William Bueche, said in a statement. Father Donnel Kirchner (above), who worked at the Holy Ghost Parish in Houston, died last week just days after being diagnosed with pneumonia The 79-year-old shared a home with seven other members of his religious order. Five have since tested positive for COVID-19, including two priests who had been active in public masses since the beginning of May (Pictured: Holy Ghost Parish, Houston, TX) In an update on its website, the church said it was possible that Kirchner had contracted coronavirus prior to his death and that one or more of the community might have been exposed. The cause of death is unknown, but Kirchner was diagnosed with pneumonia before passing away at home on May 13. Its not clear if he was tested for COVID-19, the Archdiocese said. Meanwhile, the members who have since tested positive are all asymptomatic and are now in quarantine in the parishs residence, isolated away from the rest of the community, officials said. Brought into effect from April 2 to April 30, Gov. Greg Abbotts stay-at-home orders excluded churches, congregations and houses of worship. The Archdiocese had suspended all weekday and Sunday masses from March 18 onwards, though its churches were allowed to remain open for private prayer at their own discretion. The church had resumed masses on May 2 after Texas began loosening its stay-at-home orders. But in a statement, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston said the parish has now cancelled its services indefinitely as of May 14 the day after Kirchners death After the orders expired, parishes were permitted to resume mass on May 2 so long as they followed state social distancing guidelines, which included having all congregants wear masks and sit six-feet apart in alternate rows. The Archdiocese says in-person attendance at the 900-capacity church had been closely controlled, with Sunday masses never exceeding 179 people. Although the parish had followed cleaning, sanitation and social distancing guidelines prescribed by State health officials since reopening on May 2nd, they determined at that time it was best to close the Church immediately to public Masses until the results of their tests were known, a statement from the parish read. Harris County, where the Holy Ghost Parish is situated, has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Texas, with 8,176 confirmed cases and 179 recorded deaths. Cases and fatalities of COVID-19 have been steadily rising across the state since reopening began. As of Tuesday, Texas has 47,784 cases of coronavirus, an increase of 909 on the day before. Deaths, meanwhile increased by 11 to 1,347 state-wide. The Archdiocese says in-person attendance at the 900-capacity church had been closely controlled, with Sunday masses never exceeding 179 people. For now, the church will remain closed Phased reopening has continued this week, with personal service businesses, childcare services and offices now permitted to open. Bars and recreational facilities will be permitted to reopen Friday with a capacity cap of 25 percent. Restaurants, meanwhile, will be allowed to increase their dine-in capacity to 50 percent. Elsewhere in the county, COVID-19 cases have been documented at other places of worship as states being reopening efforts. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, a church was forced to suspend in-person services last week after one attendee later tested positive for coronavirus. The health department is now investigating three cases ties to the church, officials announced. Churches across the state were permitted to open by Gov. Bill Lee on May 1, so long as capacity was limited and face masks were recommended, though not mandatory. Also, in California, more than 180 people may have been exposed to COVID-19 following a religious service in Butte County on May 10 that was held in violation of the states stay-at-home orders. One worshipper tested positive for the virus the next day. While California has started reopening select counties, including Butte, public gatherings of any kind are still forbidden. The mother of a 15-year-old girl who died over the weekend from coronavirus complications said she's numb, but is determined to tell her daughter's story. Dar'yana Dyson's mom, Kandace Knight, said the teenager died from complications of the coronavirus. The teenager attended Milford Mill High School in Baltimore County and would have turned 16 next month. The Maryland Department of Health confirmed the first death in the state from a COVID-19-associated condition called Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). The MDH said MIS-C is a severe inflammatory syndrome where pediatric patients present with features similar to Kawasaki disease, according to a national health alert issued last week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MIS-C appears to be rare and most children who get COVID-19 will not develop MIS-C, according to the CDC. Knight spoke to sister station WBAL-TV Monday as she took a break from planning her daughter's funeral. "It happened so fast. I never thought that taking my daughter to the hospital for a stomach pain that I wouldn't be walking out of there with her," Knight said. Knight took her daughter to the hospital on May 11. She had a fever, stomach pains and didn't want to eat. Eventually, she also developed a rash. Knight described it as coming on very quickly. "It was through her whole body, through her feet, her hands, her back and then it just disappeared. We never seen the rash again," Knight said. Knight said her daughter initially tested negative for coronavirus, but then doctors tested her for the antibodies. "They took her back to an isolated room and said that she had tested positive for the antibodies of corona," she said. "They said that somehow or another, she got both the coronavirus and the children's one." Knight said her daughter was placed on a ventilator. Then, on Saturday, six days after being admitted to the hospital, she died. "She just was too good for this world, she was too good for this world. She was so beautiful, she was too good for this world," Knight said. Dyson was funny, loved music, loved to dance and to look out for her siblings. Her mom said she's sharing her nightmare to hopefully help others. "I hope that this can save another child. People need to really understand that this kills people. This hurts people this hurts people in ways that they'll never be able to come back from," Knight said. "Any loss of life from this virus is tragic, but the loss of a child is devastating. Our prayers are with the family and loved ones of this young person," Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski said in a statement. "This is a stark reminder that this virus spares no one, and that we all must remain vigilant in our efforts to stay home, socially distance, and limit the spread of this deadly disease." Knight hopes autopsy results will give them a lot more information they should be back in about a week. The family has a candlelight vigil planned for Wednesday. Ruchi Ghanashyam, who was only the second woman Indian high commissioner to the UK since independence when she took over in December 2018, has retired and is leaving for home this week after a term she described as a roller-coaster ride on Monday. The first woman to hold the top job in India House was Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, from 1954 to 1961. For 57 years, London waited for another woman high commissioner, and then two come along. Ghanashyam is to be succeeded by Gaitri Issar Kumar, ambassador in Belgium. Ghanashyams short term was busy: General elections were held in India and the UK, besides prolonged debates over Brexit with hopes of a free trade deal with India, and now the coronavirus pandemic that left thousands of Indians stranded in the UK. Speaking to members of the Indian Journalists Association (established May 1947) by video-link, Ghanashyam said: There was never a dull moment. We came across many challenges but they could be addressed with the help of our large diaspora. The attack on the mission on August 15, 2019, when a large crowd protesting against changes made by New Delhi in the federal structure of Jammu and Kashmir, was a traumatic experience for her, when additional police were called to rescue people trapped. The situation could have been more traumatic, but we managed to get the Indians who had come to celebrate Independence Day into the building, she said, recalling events of the day, that snowballed into a diplomatic row between the two countries. Ghanashyam also made headlines for jhadu diplomacy, for taking up the broom and mop to clean sections of the heritage building and the pavement in the Strand that were sullied by eggs and projectiles hurled by protestors on September 3. It has been possible to deal with the challenge of dealing with thousands of stranded Indians, she said, due to the large diaspora. Many individuals and groups across the UK came forward to arrange their stay and extended medical and other assistance. People here have been very welcoming, shows how well the person who holds the office of Indian high commissioner is regarded. There are multiple aspects of our engagement with the UK, but our biggest strength is the large diaspora, she said. Ghanashyams predecessor, Y K Sinha, was appointed information commissioner in New Delhi after retiring. After a career in diplomacy, Ghanashyam remained diplomatically silent as journalists mentioned the possibility of a new assignment beckoning her back home. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON PARIS (Reuters) - Total has called off a plan to acquire Occidental Petroleum's assets in Ghana, which was conditional on the completion of the acquisition of Occidental's other assets in Algeria, the French energy company said on Monday. The deal was part of an $8.8 billion (7.2 billion pounds) agreement reached between Total and Occidental to over Anadarko's assets in Mozambique, Ghana, Algeria, and South Africa. Occidental in 2019 decided to unload those assets as part of a $38 billion deal to buy Anadarko Petroleum that has soured due to the global downturn in fuel demand. While a deal over the assets in Mozambique has been reached, Total said that an agreement over the assets in Ghana fell through after authorities in Algiers blocked Total's acquisition of Occidental's assets in Algeria. The acquisition of assets in Ghana was conditional upon the completion of the Algeria asset sale, Total said. Algeria blocked Occidental's deal to sell those assets earlier in the month. Total added that Occidental had informed the company that, as part of an understanding with the Algerian authorities, that Occidental would not be in a position to sell its interests in Algeria. "Given the extraordinary market environment and the lack of visibility that the group faces... Total has decided not to pursue the completion of the purchase of the Ghana assets," Total said in a statement. Occidental shares have been under pressure all year, and has cut staff and reduced expenses to deal with its high levels of debt taken on during the Anadarko acquisition. Shares rose $1.26 on Monday, or 9%, to $15.08 each. Total shares rose 7.4% on Monday. (Reporting by Bate Felix; editing by Jason Neely, Louise Heavens and David Gregorio) M S Thanaraj By Express News Service TIRUCHY: Heavy rain and gale that lashed the district on Sunday night laid waste hundreds of acres of harvest-ready bananas in Andhanallur, Musiri and Lalgudi blocks. However, the damage was less compared to the gale in April when 300 hectares were wiped out. Muruganantham, a farmer in Adhavathur village said, I planted about 1,000 saplings (Nendran and Neipoovan). Usually, there would be two phases of summer gale. We saved the crop in the first phase. This time, we took bunches of Nendran variety as it was close to harvest stage, but poovan is still in flowering stage and is damaged. Periyasamy, a farmer in Lalgudi, said many farmers had kept the fruits in the trees as the returns was less. We will be forced to sell poovan for just Rs 20 per kg. As nendran is exported to Kerala, the loss seems much lesser for the farmers, he added. Paddy submerged in Pudukkottai Rain submerged paddy crop in Annavasal, Manamelkudi, and other areas in Pudukkottai district. The crops were ready for harvest in the next 10-15 days. Farmers said that they would now be able to harvest only 25 per cent of the crop. We are already facing heavy loss due to corona and the rain has added to our woes. We will be able to harvest only about 25% of our paddy now. My crops are submerged in water. It will take 1-2 days for the water to drain. During the time, crop at the bottom part will be unfit to harvest, said Azhagarsami, a farmer in Sittanavasal. In Sittanavasal alone, about 80 acres of crop has been affected. Paddy cultivated in one acre fetches an earning of Rs 30,000-35,000, said farmers. Each farmer spends Rs 25,000 per acre. I spent Rs 40,000 on my 1.5 acres of land. I was expecting to sell it for Rs 50,000-55,000. A nights rain has ruined my chances of profit. We also use the paddy for our personal use. But now everything is gone, said Annadurai, a farmer in Sittanavasal. A commission monitoring $500 billion of coronavirus relief funding produced its first report Monday -- though according to the report, there weren't that many receipts to comb through. The Treasury Department has so far disbursed only $37.5 billion of the $500 billion carved out in the CARES Act to be used for emergency lending to businesses and state and local governments, according to the report from the Congressional Oversight Commission. The $37.5 billion was put toward purchasing corporate debt, which will largely benefit big companies. Of the $500 billion total, $29 billion is available for airlines and $17 billion is available for businesses "critical to maintaining national security," according to the report. No loans have been doled out from that reserved pot of money, nor has any public documentation been released on who the money is going to, the report said. One of the most anticipated programs the $500 billion will support is the Main Street Lending Program, which will provide loans out to midsize businesses. No money has been disbursed through that program either, the report said. Appearing Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the department is working to disburse the entire $500 billion fund. "The only reason I have not allocated it fully is we are just starting to get these facilities up and running," he told committee members. "We want to have a better idea as to which one of the facilities needs more capital as well as the potential for adding additional facilities. So I expect to allocate all of the capital, as needed, as was given to us." Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, also appearing before the committee, said funds from the Main Street Lending Program should be ready for distribution by the end of May. Powell said the terms for qualification have been revised multiple times in order to include more businesses. Story continues MORE: 'The American public doesn't know that we're getting those answers': How Congress is handling oversight during the coronavirus crisis The Congressional Oversight Commission, created by the $2 trillion CARES Act passed in late March, will issue a report every 30 days. So far, though, the commission's work has been impeded by the delayed appointment of a leader, which would allow the members to proceed with hiring staff and arranging meetings. The commission members so far include Reps. French Hill, Republican of Arkansas, and Donna Shalala, Democrat of Florida, as well as Sen. Pat Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Bharat Ramamurti, a senior Democratic aide who formerly worked on oversight for Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren's office. The fifth member of the commission, its leader, will be picked jointly by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Asked about the delay on Monday, neither office provided any update on the timeline for their decision. On May 5, Pelosi said she was "waiting to hear back" from McConnell about their pick. "We're having conversations. We're going back and forth and hopefully we'll have a decision soon," she told reporters. PHOTO: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks during a meeting with restaurant industry executives about the coronavirus response, in the State Dining Room of the White House, May 18, 2020, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP) Despite the incomplete staffing, the first report served as an initial blueprint for the commission's next few years. The report framed how the country got to this point, what steps the government has taken to address it, and where oversight of the money will be necessary. At the root of it all, the commission wrote, are two main questions: What are the Treasury and the Fed doing with the $500 billion of taxpayer money, and who is that money helping? The commission should have plenty to dig into once funds begin to be disbursed. The Federal Reserve has already committed to releasing monthly reports on the names and amounts borrowed by each lending facility created by the $500 billion. According to commission member Ramamurti, once the commission knows who is and is not getting support, and on what terms, the most important next step will be tracking what companies do with that support. "What kinds of decisions do they make? And do we think that it was a good use of the public's money to support a company in those kinds of acts?" Ramamurti told ABC News in late April. But first, the money will need to be disbursed. According to the report, the Treasury has already accepted applications from airline companies and companies critical to maintaining the country's national security, both of which were due a few weeks ago. MORE: With no leader, commission overseeing virus relief struggles "The Treasury has received applications for these loans and is in the process of reviewing them," the report said. ABC News' Matthew Vann contributed to this report. Editor's Note: This story has been updated with comments from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. What to know about the coronavirus: How it started and how to protect yourself: Coronavirus explained What to do if you have symptoms: Coronavirus symptoms Tracking the spread in the U.S. and worldwide: Coronavirus map Tune into ABC at 1 p.m. ET and ABC News Live at 4 p.m. ET every weekday for special coverage of the novel coronavirus with the full ABC News team, including the latest news, context and analysis. Treasury has disbursed only a fraction of $500 billion coronavirus relief fund, commission reports originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Panaji, May 19 : The number of active cases of COVID-19 in Goa has increased to 42, according to Health Minister Vishwajit Rane. "#Goa's count for COVID19 positive cases to touch 42. More confirmatory tests pending at #GMC. Fresh count includes cases from Nizamuddin train, Team Goa working hard to further strengthen the SOP'S and keeping Goa safe," Rane tweeted late on Monday. Goa has seen a surge of COVID-19 cases over the last few days, even since relaxations were introduced to allow for restricted inter-state travel, both by road and rail. The state didn't have single COVID-19 case between April 3 and May 13. But since May 14, the state has recorded 42 active cases. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Monday, that a majority of the active COVID-19 cases recorded in the state last week were involved persons from Maharashtra, who had crossed over into the state. Its over for Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green. The Beverly Hills, 90210 star, 46, confirmed they are separated after she was photographed with Machine Gun Kelly. Fox and Green have been together for 15 years and married for a decade. They share three children, sons Noah Shannon, 7, Bodhi Ransom, 6, and Journey River, 3. Buzz swirled on Monday that Fox, 34, and the 30-year-old rapper, real name Colson Baker, were hooking up after paparazzi caught them grabbing food in Los Angeles amid the coronavirus pandemic. They appear together in the upcoming film Midnight in the Switchgrass. On his podcast With Brian Austin Green, the actor clarified Fox didnt cheat and that he doesnt want people to think either she or Machine Gun Kelly are villains. Brian Austin Green confirms he and Megan Fox are separated amid rumors she's dating Machine Gun Kelly. Here they are in December 2019. (Photo: Getty Images) I just want to be able to clear the air on everything going on, he began on Mondays episode. This is it, I dont want to have to talk about this anymore, Megan doesnt really want to talk about it anymore, Im sure Colson doesnt want to talk about it anymore, so this is kind of everything. In order for people to really understand whats going on Green said he had to start at the beginning. According to the actor, things began to fall apart at the end of 2019 when she was off on location. Green said Fox was out of the country for nearly six weeks, which was a long time for their relationship. I had this dream that she came back from work and that we were distant that things were off, he recalled. Green texted his wife about the dream, who was sympathetic but it was eerily foreboding. When Fox returned, he said they were distant. It was almost exactly what I dreamed. The actor said he wanted to give the Transformers star time to get settled back home, thinking she was just tired and jet-lagged. But, after a few weeks, things didnt change. They hadnt progressed, we werent feeling any closer towards each other, Green shared, explaining he sent her a text asking if he should be worried about their marriage. Her text back wasnt reassuring. When they talked face-to-face, Green said Fox explained how she felt more like herself while she was away filming when she was alone. Story continues I was shocked and I was upset about it, but I cant be upset at her. And I wasnt upset at her because that wasnt she didnt ask to feel that way, Green explained. He said they decided to separate and give themselves time and so they could take some space. Things just didnt really change from there, he noted. The actor had nothing but kind things to say about Fox, praising her as a responsible person who really loves the kids. We talked about the fact that separation we cant pretend that it wont affect the kids because it will, he added. The control we have is how it affects the kids. He continued, Neither one of us did anything to each other. Shes always been honest with me, Ive always been honest with her. Weve had an amazing relationship and I will always love her and I know she will always love me. And I know as far as a family, what we have built is really cool and really special. Green said he and Fox will maintain a genuine friendship and still do family vacations and holidays as a family and really make that a focus for the kids. However, the actor admitted adjusting to their new normal is a big change for both of us. So, Megan has continued working and doing that. She met this guy, Colson, on set on this film shes working on Ive never met him, but Megan and I have talked about him, Green shared. Theyre just friends at this point, he continued. From what shes expressed hes a really just nice, genuine guy. I trust her judgment. Shes always had really good judgment. I dont want people to think that her or he are villains or that I was a victim in any way with any of this. Because I wasnt. This isnt something new for us, this is something new for people to experience and hear about in the press I dont want anybody to be vilified in this situation. Green got emotional and admitted it sucks when life changes. Theres that pit in my stomach of I really dont want Megan and I to be at odds, he continued. Shes been my best friend for 15 years and I dont want to lose that. Fox and Green met on set of her former sitcom Hope & Faith in 2004 when he was 30 and she was 18. They were on and off, but ultimately tied the knot in 2010. The news of their breakup shouldnt come as a surprise to fans as they have been photographed without their wedding rings for weeks. It also might not be the end for these two. In 2015, Fox filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. Months later, they announced she was pregnant with their third child and the couple ultimately reconciled. Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 23:03:45 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 608 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / MOTA VENTURES CORP. (CSE:MOTA)(FSE:1WZ)(OTC:PEMTF) (the "Company") a direct to consumer provider of a wide range of CBD products globally, is pleased to announce it will be hosting an investor conference call on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 with Mota Ventures management, Ryan Hoggan, CEO and Joel Shacker, President to discuss recent announcements.The call will be held on May 20, at 1:15 pm Pacific Time.Conference details:Canada/USA TF: 1-800-319-4610International Toll: 1-604-638-5340Germany TF: 0800-180-1954Callers should dial in 5 - 10 min prior to the scheduled start time and simply ask to join the call.Conference replayCanada/USA TF: 1-800-319-6413International Toll: +1-604-638-9010Replay Access Code: 4620About Mota Ventures Corp.Mota is an established eCommerce, direct to consumer provider of a wide range of CBD products in the United States and Europe. In the United States, the company sells a CBD hemp-oil formulation derived from hemp grown and formulated in the US through its First Class CBD and Nature's Exclusive brands. Within Europe, its Sativida brand of award winning 100% organic CBD oils and cosmetics are sold throughout Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. Mota Ventures is also seeking to acquire additional revenue producing CBD brands and operations in both Europe and North America, with the goal of establishing an international distribution network for CBD products. Low cost production, coupled with international, direct to customer, sales channels will provide the foundation for the success of Mota Ventures.ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORSMOTA VENTURES CORP.Ryan HogganChief Executive OfficerFor further information, readers are encouraged to contact Joel Shacker, President at +604.423.4733 or by email at IR@ motaventuresco.com or www.motaventuresco.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementAll statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including with respect to the international distribution of CBD products and the creation or acquisition of CBD brands. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited those identified and reported in the Company's public filings under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com . Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.SOURCE: Mota Ventures Corp. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 22:25:17|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory letter on Tuesday to the opening ceremony of U.S. industrial conglomerate Honeywell's emerging market headquarters and innovation center in central China's Wuhan City. Praising the company's efforts in building long-term cooperation and achieving common development with China, Li said he expected the headquarters and the center to develop and produce more high-quality products that are intelligent, safe and oriented toward consumer demand to improve people's livelihood worldwide and facilitate social development. In the face of the economic downward pressure at home and abroad, China's commitment to deepening reform and opening-up and welcoming overseas enterprises to expand investment and cooperation with China will remain unchanged, the premier said in the letter. Li pledged continuous efforts to create a market-oriented, law-based and globalized business environment where companies of different ownerships, domestic or foreign, are treated as equals. He welcomed enterprises from all over the world to seize the opportunities in China and better achieve win-win results. Currently, Honeywell has over 50 wholly-owned enterprises and joint ventures in more than 30 cities across China, including 21 plants. Enditem Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram The Committee to Protect Journalists yesterday joined 30 other rights organizations in a joint letter urging the government of Burundi to ensure that the internet remains accessible before, during, and after the presidential elections scheduled for tomorrow. In the letter, addressed to President Pierre Nkurunziza, the organizations, which are part of the #KeepItOn coalition against internet shutdowns, also call for the unblocking of all independent media websites and a guarantee that the public will be informed about any potential internet disruptions. Currently, at least three independent news websites are blocked in Burundi, according to the letter. Burundis elections are taking place amid a hostile environment for the media, including the ongoing detention of four journalists from the Iwacu news website and government bans on the BBC and Voice of America broadcasters, as CPJ has documented. Read the letter in full here. Additonal reporting by Eamon Quinn and Cianan Brennan Ireland will continue in the acute emergency phase of the Covid-19 crisis for "most probably years", with "further waves an ever-present danger," according to the Secretary General of the Department of Health. Jim Breslin, who is due to appear alongside the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Tony Holohan, and HSE Chief Executive Officer, Paul Reid before the new Oireachtas Special Covid Committee today, will tell TDs in his opening remarks, that: "This is not a 1, 2 or even a 3-day storm, after which we move to the recovery phase. "The acute phase of this crisis will definitely be measured in months and most probably in years, rather than days." He will also tell the committee that Ireland's health service has been "tested to the limits but not overwhelmed" however "there is much more work to do, in particular in improving test turnaround times" and "the deaths we have experienced in our long-term care facilities are the most difficult aspect of our experience with Covid-19". Meanwhile, the Munster economy will take "a lot longer" to recover from the national Covid-19 jobs slump even as the return to work got underway yesterday for many builders and some retail staff, a leading economist has warned. Jim Power said that, paradoxically, the return to work would lay bare the regional divides that have long scarred the economy because so much economic activity and high-paying jobs were concentrated in the Dublin and east coast region compared with other locations. We will see in Munster that the improvement will take a lot longer than in Dublin or the east coast for example because there is much more of an economic dependency on tourism and hospitality, he said. Look at County Clare, look at County Kerry, and County Cork where tourism is an incredibly important part of the economy and tourism is going to take a long time to get back. His comments come as new Government figures show that the number of people availing of some sort of emergency or unemployment payment reached a new peak since the onset of the crisis in March. The number of people on the 350-a-week payment fell by 5,000 in the week to 585,000, while the number on the wage-support scheme rose by 7,800 to 464,000, according to figures from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Including people on Aprils official unemployment count, the figures mean that 1.26 million, or a new record of 66% of the entire private sector workforce, are receiving some sort of Covid-19 or unemployment payment. A further four people have died from Covid-19, bringing the overall death toll to 1,547 in Ireland, the lowest death toll seen since March 27. Just two of the deaths were recent, with the other two dating from April. Meanwhile, 88 further cases were reported, bringing the total number of confirmed to 24,036. All 58 roles have been cast, but understudies still are welcomed to apply. Princetons McCarter Theatre Center, in collaboration with the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, will host a free virtual community reading of McCarter artistic director and resident playwright Emily Manns 1985 docudrama Execution of Justice 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 22. The ensemble play, which premiered on Broadway in 1986, chronicles the murder trial of Dan White, who assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and openly gay City Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978. Mann built the script entirely from trial transcripts, news reports, interviews and "words from the street. The play examines historical, yet timely, issues of civil/human rights, legal vs. judicial justice, the miscarriage of justice, and political violence in America, notes the release publicizing Fridays reading. The reading falls on Harvey Milk Day, marking the 90th anniversary of the birth of Milk, considered to be the first openly gay elected official in California. McCarter invited any and all people to join in the online reading, but since has reported that all roles have been assigned. However, organizers are looking for standby readers to wait in the wings just in case of attrition on the day of the event. Those interested in joining the standby list must submit an application online by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, May 20. No play reading experience or preparation is required. Those who just want to be audience members for the reading also must register ahead of time. The drama includes mature themes and language, including oppressive/homophobic speech and the verbatim description of the assassinations of Moscone and Milk. A copy of the play will be sent to all participants -- both listeners and readers -- along with readers role assignments and information on how to sign into the Zoom conference by phone and computer, will be sent on Thursday, May 21. The reading will be followed by a facilitated discussion on how the play relates to contemporary times and personal experiences. The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, co-sponsor of the program, is a community activist center for LGBTQIA children, "intersectional families and all marginalized people. Its headquarters is located in Princeton. The event is supported in part by the Stages Online partnership with New Jersey Theatre Alliance designed to bring theater programs into homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also part of McCarters ongoing McCarter@Home series. Next up in the series will be In Conversation With Cynthia Nixon, the actress and politician, 4:30 p.m. Friday, May 29. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism you rely on and trust. Email Patrick OShea at poshea@njadvancemedia.com Ontario is promising an independent commission into the long-term-care system where COVID-19 spread like wildfire, but opposition parties and health-care unions warn it falls short of a full public inquiry like the one into SARS. The effort will begin in September with details on a leader and membership to come, Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton said Tuesday as the death toll among nursing home residents from the highly contagious new coronavirus reached at least 1,408 with five employees dead. She and Premier Doug Ford rejected a public inquiry with broad powers to compel witnesses, documents and records as repeatedly demanded by opposition parties in recent weeks, insisting that process would take years. We need answers now, Ford told a news conference on a day that saw Ontarios overall COVID-19 count rise by 505 confirmed and probable cases to 24,929 and deaths increase by 14 to 2,018 in the previous 24 hours, according to a Star compilation of data from health units at 5 p.m. Peoples lives depend on us getting the answers as soon as possible. We cannot afford to wait, said Fullerton, a former family doctor. More than 6,000 nursing-home residents and staff have been infected, with residents accounting for about three-quarters of the official provincial death tally despite Fords promise to construct an iron ring of protection around vulnerable nursing home residents living in close confines ripe for the spread of any bug. Critics blame the government for not acting soon enough to supply nursing homes with masks and other personal protective equipment, limit visitors and ban part-time staff from working at more than one facility to limit the spread of the virus, which has ravaged long-term-care facilities across Canada and in other countries. The New Democrats, Liberals and Green party said they favour a full public inquiry free of government control, and insisted many improvements needed in the nursing-home system can be made without waiting for a full slate of recommendations. As you find the problems, you fix them, said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, joining Green Leader Mike Schreiner in calling for a minimum standard of daily care for nursing home residents, higher wages and full-time jobs and benefits for personal support workers so they dont have to hop from one home to another to make a living. Its pretty clear that the premier wants to control what the report says, Horwath added. A full public inquiry takes the control out of the hands of the government. Liberal House Leader John Fraser said Fords promise of an independent commission is suspect after the findings of his last one were shot down by two independent watchdogs the provinces auditor general and the Financial Accountability Office. Ford tapped former B.C. Liberal premier Gordon Campbell to lead a financial commission of inquiry into Ontarios books after winning the 2018 election. The commission concluded the province had a $15 billion deficit in the 2018-19 fiscal year, with Finance Minister Rod Phillips himself later finding the shortfall was, in fact, $7.4 billion. That was a phony $15 billion deficit as a context for cuts, said Fraser. That cant happen when we ask the difficult questions about COVID-19 and our response in long-term care. Fullerton accused the Liberals of neglecting long-term care during their 15 years in office and letting the wait list grow to more than 30,000 by not building enough new nursing home beds. Responding to concerns about the commissions independence, the minister said it will have public input, it will have public hearings. But critics remained skeptical. The fix is in, said former Progressive Conservative MPP Randy Hillier, now sitting as an Independent in the legislature. The president of a leading health-care union, whose 60,000 members include personal support workers who have contracted COVID-19 at nursing homes, said Fords claim of urgency to avoid a public inquiry also rings hollow. The rationale today was timing. Theyre not even talking about doing a commission until September, said Sharleen Stewart of the Service Employees Internation Union. Public inquiries have been held into tragedies with far fewer deaths than COVID-19, such as SARS with 44, tainted water in Walkerton, which claimed six victims, and the case of nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer, who killed eight nursing home residents. Fullerton said details of the commission will be finalized over the summer, including terms of reference, a leader, membership and reporting timelines. Several nursing homes had dozens of deaths and the rapid spread through staff prompted Ford to ask for federal assistance from five military medical teams. Hospitals sent SWAT teams to help care for residents and boost infection control. There were concerns about a lack of testing in nursing homes early on, which the government has since addressed by testing all residents and staff, but critics said that effort began too late, after the virus began spreading quickly, particularly in older homes with as many as four residents to some rooms. The Ontario Long Term Care Association said it supports the commission so it can address long-standing and systemic issues highlighted by COVID-19. With files from Robert Benzie Lamu Senator Anwar Loitiptip has called for speedy investigations into the shooting of his father by police in Nanyuki. The Senators father, David Kiwaka, was shot in the leg on Sunday, May 17 by an officer attached to Doldol Police Station near Nanyuki town in Laikipia County. He is recuperating at the Nanyuki Cottage Hospital. While circumstances leading to the shooting are still unclear, unverified reports claim that Kiwaka was shot for not wearing a mask. I am currently in Nanyuki pursuing the matter. Justice must prevail for my father. Thats why I am calling for speedy investigations and for the officer involved to be arrested, said Anwar. The senators wife, Saumu Mbuvi, also spoke on the matter, taking to social media to castigate the police. According to governor Sonkos daughter, her father in law was shot in broad daylight. They shot my father in law today, yet it was still daytime!!! Police brutality must stop. Every day we get cases of them shooting innocent citizens and nothing is being done its time this end. Police brutality must and should stop! We are tired. Stop taking advantage of your power to intimidate innocent citizens, Saumu stated. What did the US do before and after January 11? US president Donald Trump recently caused an uproar worldwide when he said that the National Institute of Health began developing a COVID-19 vaccine on January 11, signaling that the Trump administration had been lying about China hiding information about the virus and casting doubts over the real timeline of the coronavirus epidemic in the US. US president Donald Trump said NIH began developing COVID-19 vaccine on January 11 at a press conference on May 15. (Screenshot from C-Span) Scientists at the NIH began developing the first vaccine candidate on January 11think of thatwithin hours of the virus's genetic code being posted online, Trump said at a press conference on May 15. Trumps remarks contradicted US politicians, who have continued to accuse China of covering up information on the coronavirus, blocking an effective global response. But if it is true that scientists started working on vaccines on Jan. 11, which would have required specific information from China, how could it be that China was hiding information? Trump claimed that he wasnt told about the virus threat until the end of January, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed China for putting the U.S. behind the curve in trying to contain the coronavirus outbreak and found it incredibly frustrating to work with the Chinese government to obtain data. According to Trump, the US began developing a vaccine several hours after China shared the virus genome sequence information with the WHO on January 12. This means that China shared its information on the virus transparently with the world, including the US, in a timely manner, and accusations of a China coverup are just lies. Meanwhile, its worth noting that in order to develop a vaccine, genetic data is not sufficient, and scientists need virus strains to start their experiments. However, it wasnt until Jan. 24 that China first isolated the COVID-19 virus strain, so where did the strain come from? Did the US know about the virus earlier than it let on? Trumps remarks have led some to question the true timeline of the outbreak in the US, prompting speculation that the pandemic may have appeared in the country earlier than officially announced. According to Business Insider, new evidence is emerging to show that cases of the coronavirus may have spread to the US as early as December 2019 and January 2020. The mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, Michael Melham has tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, and believes he contracted COVID-19 in November, US media reported on April 30. Data shows that as many as 171 people in Florida may have been infected with COVID-19 as early as Jan. 1, and none reported having travelled to China. The data was later deleted by the Florida Department of Health, according to American newspaper The Palm Beach Post. Is this what Pompeo calls Americas transparency and openness and the sharing of information? What is the government trying to hide? Moreover, as the first US cases of coronavirus were reported on Jan. 21, is it reasonable to think that the US started working on a vaccine when not a single case had been reported in the country? One reasonable explanation is that the Trump administration not only knew about the virus, but also knew about the threat it posed much earlier than they claimed, and they never told the truth to the American people. If the US government had known about the virus threat early enough to start developing a vaccine in January, why didnt it take proper actions to contain the virus in the following two months, saving tens of thousands of lives? On March 11, two months after work had begun on developing a vaccine, the US had only tested 4,900 people out of 327 million. The US has 4 percent of the worlds population, but now accounts for 28 percent of deaths from COVID-19 globally, becoming the new epicenter of the pandemic. As of May 18, the U.S. death toll topped 90,000 while the number of cases has reached 1.5 million. What else is Uncle Sam hiding? How many more lives will be lost due to the governments failure to respond to the coronavirus? Donald Trump has some explaining to do to the world. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, met on Monday in Beijing to prepare for the upcoming NPC annual session. Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over meetings of Monday's session. While addressing the closing meeting, Li said the third session of the 13th NPC is an important gathering to be held at a time when the overseas COVID-19 epidemic situations remain grim and complex, while major strategic achievements have been made by China in curbing the coronavirus. To convene the session successfully will be of great significance to overcoming the negative impacts of the COVID-19 epidemic, securing a decisive victory in the fight against poverty and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Li said. Li called for all-out efforts to accomplish various tasks of the annual session, while adopting effective epidemic prevention and control measures. The NPC annual session, after being postponed for more than two months over COVID-19, will open on May 22. The 13th NPC now has 2,957 deputies. Lawmakers on Monday approved in principle a work report of the NPC Standing Committee, and entrusted Li to deliver the report to the NPC annual session on behalf of the committee. Lawmakers voted to approve a draft agenda of the NPC annual session and a draft name list of the session's presidium and secretary-general, and decided to submit the drafts to the preparatory meeting of the annual session for review. They also voted on deputy qualifications and personnel matters. On Monday, Li also chaired meetings of the Council of Chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee and attended group deliberations. During group deliberations, lawmakers lauded the NPC Standing Committee's work over the course of more than a year, including its initiation of legislation to strengthen legal safeguards for public health after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic. Lawmakers vowed to focus on the targets of poverty eradication and achieving a moderately prosperous society in all respects to advance the work of the legislature. - Many people responded to the lifting of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon by going to the mall, restaurants and shops - Some celebrities took to social media to express their frustration over those peoples behavior - The celebrities who reacted are Janno Gibbs, Paolo Contis, Solenn Heussaff, and Gretchen Barretto - According to them, there is a real danger of creating a second wave of COVID-19 infections that might be worse than the first wave PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Many Filipinos responded to the lifting of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) by going to the mall, restaurants and shops. KAMI learned that some celebrities took to social media to express their frustration over those peoples behavior. The celebrities who reacted are Janno Gibbs, Paolo Contis, Solenn Heussaff, and Gretchen Barretto. These celebrities emphasized the danger of creating a second wave of COVID-19 infections that might be worse than the first wave. Here are their viral reactions: Janno Gibbs: Yan tayo e. Screenshot by Fashion Pulis Source: Instagram PAY ATTENTION: Shop with KAMI! The best offers and discounts on the market, product reviews and feedback. Paolo Contis: Kaway kaway. In English, second wave. Screenshot by Fashion Pulis Source: Instagram Solenn Heussaff: GCQ doesnt mean back to normal. We need to be even more careful now. Second wave is always the worst. Screenshot by Fashion Pulis Source: Instagram Gretchen Barretto: Humanity should never allow a repeat of same mistake in 1918. Screenshot by Fashion Pulis Source: Instagram PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! In a previous report by KAMI, Ai-Ai also criticized the people who went malling after the ECQ was lifted. There are now 12,718 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Philippines. 2,729 patients have recovered while 831 have died. 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! Watch our awesome hosts talk about romance amid the COVID-19 crisis in the Philippines! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: KAMI.com.gh Seizure of assets of former Tatfondbank managers worth $1.4 billion upheld RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 10:51 19/05/2020 MOSCOW, May 19 (RAPSI) The Eleventh Commercial Court of Appeals has dismissed an appeal filed by ex-member of board of chairmen of Tatfondbank Guzel Fattakhova against seizure of assets worth 96.7 billion rubles (about $1.4 billion) belonging to persons formely controlled the bank, according to court records. The applicant has attempted to challenge the February ruling of the Tatarstan Commercial Court. The court ordered the seizure of assets and also prohibited the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography (FSSRCC) to register transfers of ownership of several premises and land plots belonging to defendants. Petition filed by Russias State Corporation Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) to introduce interim relief was satisfied in part: the agency demanded to seize in total assets worth 141.39 billion rubles (about $2.3 billion). In substantiation of the claim, DIA cites the facts evidencing that the persons in control over the bank committed actions aimed to defraud it of its assets, in particular, to form simulated debts, replace valuable assets with unrealizable ones; purchased non-marketable securities; transferred liquid assets in trust of an affiliated organization and made other dubious deals. Besides, the persons in control of the bank failed to undertake measures aimed to prevent Tatfondbank bankruptcy, the DIA statement reads. As a result, the financial standing of the bank has been seriously undermined, what was the reason, the claimant believes, of the situation where it could not meet the demands of its creditors. On July 18, 2018, the court granted a motion of Tatfondbank and declared Musin bankrupt. Before that, the court initiated a procedure of restructuring Musins debt. The DIA sought 16.7 million rubles ($255,000) from the banker. Notably, Musin is charged with embezzlement. According to investigators, in August 2016, employees of the bank provided false data to the Central Bank of Russia to obtain a credit and subsequently embezzle the funds. Later, the money was transferred to the accounts of affiliated companies. Investigators believe that overall damage in criminal cases against Musin reaches 50 billion rubles (about $765.6 million). Thirteen cases over abuse of office opened against Musin are allegedly connected with embezzlement of 18 billion rubles ($275.6 million) belonging to Tatfondbank. Criminal prosecution In July 2019, the Investigative Committee reported that Musin would stand trial on charges of abuse of office. According to investigators, in December 2016, Musin siphoned liquid collateral security amounting to more than 20 billion rubles ($315 million) prior to the appointment of temporary administration in the troubled bank. Thus, he caused damage in the form of credit outstandings worth over 7 billion rubles to Tatfondbank, the statement reads. Over 19 billion rubles have not been returned, investigators claim. There are 517 volumes in the case against Musin. Moreover, investigators believe that the defendant was involved in other crimes. The total damage caused by Musins actions is estimated at more than 53 billion rubles (nearly $835 million), according to the Investigative Committee. A court has seized his assets worth more than 4.2 billion rubles. As soon as a Covid-19 vaccine is available in China, Beijing will make it globally available, thus ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries, according to Chinese President Xi Jinping in remarks made at the opening of the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly. Without directly referring to US criticism, Chinese president Xi Jinping said that China has acted with openness, transparency and responsibility, while providing information to the WHO in a most timely fashion. In fact, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission did start reporting to the WHO on a pulmonary disease in a first statement on 31 December 31st, 2019, saying that people had been infected after being in contact with the Huanan Fresh Seafood Market. On January 5th, Chinese scientists published the complete genome of the virus, and on 12 January, the WHO issued a statement identifying 41 cases of coronavirus. Ten days later, the global health body acknowledged that the virus could be transferred between humans, declaring a pandemic on 30 January. Xi Jinping told his audience that the WHO should lead the global response, a jab at Washington which recently said it would withdraw funding for the organisation. Billions promised The Chinese leader stressed that Beijing had sent a large amount of medical equipment and assistance to over 50 African countries and the African Union as African countries in particular, have weaker public health systems. Helping them build capacity must be our top priority, and international cooperation in fighting the virus should be strengthened. China has promised to provide two billion dollars over a two-year period, work with the UN to set up a global humanitarian response depot and hub in China, help Africa by establishing a cooperation mechanism to enable Chinese hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals, and revamp the capacity of Africa's Center for Disease Control based in Addis Ababa It will also work together with the G20 on a debt service suspension initiative for the poorest countries. Most importantly, Covid-19 vaccine development and deployment in China, when available, will be made a global public good, according Xi' said. First successes Currently, there are more than 100 potential vaccines in development world-wide. At least eight have started testing on humans, including five Chinese ones. On May 18th, the US biotech firm Moderna said in a statement that it had reached "positive interim" results with the first clinical tests of its vaccine performed on a small number of volunteers. The vaccine, mRNA-1273, appeared to produce neutralising antibodies in all eight people who received the experimental vaccine, the company said. The complete results of the phase 1 tests are not yet known, but the vaccine is "generally safe and well tolerated," Moderna said. The company's shares increased in value by 26 percent in early trading on Monday. Other laboratories, like the Chinese company, Sinovac Biotech, had already started clinical trials, and reported good safety and efficacy of vaccine trials on laboratory monkeys. French vaccine controversy Meanwhile, in France, a row erupted after drugmaker Sanofi said it would reserve first shipments of any vaccine it discovered for the United States. The comments prompted a swift rebuke from French President Emmanuel Macron who said that any vaccine should be treated as "a global public good, which is not subject to market forces," a stance echoed by Xi Jinping on 18 May. Sanofi chief executive Paul Hudson said the US had a risk-sharing model that allowed for manufacturing to start before a vaccine had been finally approved, while Europe did not. "The US government has the right to the largest pre-order because it has invested in taking the risk," Hudson told Bloomberg News. Macron's top officials are scheduled to meet with Sanofi executives to discuss the issue in the coming days. By Huw Jones and Joice Alves LONDON (Reuters) - Six European Union states will scrap bans on short-selling shares introduced during bouts of extreme market volatility in March when national lockdowns were rolled out across the bloc to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. The bloc's securities watchdog, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), said Austria, Belgium, France, Greece and Spain had decided not to renew short-selling bans that expire at 2159 GMT on Monday. Italy has decided to lift its ban, due to expire on June 18, to align itself with the other five EU states, ESMA said. French markets watchdog AMF said that since the implementation of the ban, it has observed a progressive normalisation in trading. "Markets have partly reduced their losses, trading volumes and volatility have returned to levels that are still high compared to mid-February, however this reflects market participants uncertainties in the current context," the AMF said in a statement. Equity strategists told Reuters the end of the bans underlined how liquidity had improved in major European countries, but questioned any impact the curbs had made. "I don't think it (the ban) has made much of a difference, to be honest," said Kevin Gardiner, global investment strategist at Rothschild & Co Wealth Management. "I won't pretend that it had a material detrimental impact on capital markets that I have been able to see". Equities has been out of favour over the past two months as investors have preferred safer assets such as gold. "Short selling bets are not particularly sexy anyway," said Edmund Shing, global head of equity derivatives strategy at BNP Paribas, pointing instead to hopes of a recovery as lockdowns are gradually lifted. The six bans left traders facing a patchwork of interventions in what is mean to be a seamless pan-European stock market of 27 countries at a time of extreme uncertainty. Story continues Germany and Britain declined to introduce short-selling curbs. Last week the World Federation of Exchanges, hedge funds industry associations AIMA and Managed Funds Association, and the European Principal Traders Association called on the French markets regulator and Finance Ministry to end the ban. "Over the longer term, the bans risk undermining confidence in key European financial markets and hampering the goal of a Capital Markets Union, something that will be vital to European recovery from the profound economic shock caused by COVID-19," the letter said. The ESMA itself has required holders of net short positions in shares to notify their national regulator if the position reaches or exceeds 0.1% of the issue share capital. This measures remains in force until June 16 and can be renewed. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alison Williams) Karnataka recorded its single biggest day spike in Covid-19 cases with 149 new patients being quarantined. 113 of the 149 new cases have a history of interstate travel with most of them carrying the dreaded virus from Maharashtra to the interiors in Karnataka. For instance, Mandy alone reported 71 new cases today and all of them were returnees from Mumbai, Maharashtra. The education minister of Karnataka Suresh Kumar, while pointing finger at the migrants who had come back from other states for the spike in the number of cases said, These cases, unfortunately, dont have any certificate, so they have not gone through any testing before coming. The minister pointed out that it was in this context that the Karnataka government on Monday decided to restrict entry of people coming from Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu at least till May 31. In spite of the large spike, Suresh Kumar pointed out that Karnataka is at number 12 in the country in the number of cases. The state, till now, has 1,395 positive cases registered including 40 deaths and 543 recoveries. Responding to another question on the ability of the state to handle a further increase in the number of cases, the minister said: Our current bed occupancy rate is 6.09 per cent and fatality rate at 2.8 per cent. While Karnataka currently has 46 testing labs-- 28 government and 18 private together capable of testing 8,000 cases per day, it is aiming to increase the capacity to 60 testing facilities by the end of May to be able to test 10,000 people a day. Meanwhile life returned to almost normal in most parts of the state with traffic jams being witnessed in several major cities of the state including capital Bengaluru. Tickets on some inter-district buses like Shivamogga to Bengaluru were sold out in minutes with KSRTC assuring to beef up its services further. Except for shopping malls, theatres and restaurants, most other commercial establishments have restarted operations. In 2014, Zonghong Ou was appointed CEO of Ronshine China Holdings Limited (HKG:3301). 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. Third, we'll reflect on the total return to shareholders over three years, as a second measure of business performance. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid. Check out our latest analysis for Ronshine China Holdings How Does Zonghong Ou's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? At the time of writing, our data says that Ronshine China Holdings Limited has a market cap of HK$13b, and reported total annual CEO compensation of CN3.2m for the year to December 2019. We note that's an increase of 39% above last year. It is worth noting that the CEO compensation consists almost entirely of the salary, worth CN3.1m. As part of our analysis we looked at companies in the same jurisdiction, with market capitalizations of CN7.1b to CN23b. The median total CEO compensation was CN3.7m. Next, let's break down remuneration compositions to understand how the industry and company compare with each other. Talking in terms of the sector, salary represented approximately 68% of total compensation out of all the companies we analysed, while other remuneration made up 32% of the pie. Ronshine China Holdings has gone down a largely traditional route, paying Zonghong Ou a high salary, giving it preference as a compensation method to non-salary benefits. That means Zonghong Ou receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a company that size. While this data point isn't particularly informative alone, it gains more meaning when considered with business performance. You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Ronshine China Holdings, below. SEHK:3301 CEO Compensation May 18th 2020 Is Ronshine China Holdings Limited Growing? Ronshine China Holdings Limited has seen earnings per share (EPS) move positively by an average of 23% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 50%. Story continues Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. Most shareholders would be pleased to see strong revenue growth combined with EPS growth. This combo suggests a fast growing business. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings. Has Ronshine China Holdings Limited Been A Good Investment? Ronshine China Holdings Limited has generated a total shareholder return of 14% over three years, so most shareholders would be reasonably content. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median. In Summary... Remuneration for Zonghong Ou is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a similar sized company . The company is growing EPS but shareholder returns have been sound but not amazing. As a result of these considerations, I would suggest the CEO pay is reasonable. On another note, Ronshine China Holdings has 3 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about. Important note: Ronshine China Holdings 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. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. No-frills carrier Vietjet is offering more than 200,000 tickets priced at only 0VND on all routes from May 5 to June 30 in response to the Vietnamese People Travel Vietnam program of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism. The ticket price is exclusive of taxes and fees, the private airline said. Specifically, from now to June 30, each Vietjet flight will have a maximum of 25 tickets priced at 0VND, excluding taxes and fees, occupied for travel companies in order to bring Vietnamese people to attractive destinations across Vietnam. In addition, Vietjet will continue implementing the special promotion of super-saving tickets priced only from VND18,000, exclusive of taxes and fees, which are available on its website and mobile app from now until the end of May 16, with the flight period extending to December 31, except for national holidays. Vietjet pioneers in recovering local economic activities in order to stimulate domestic tourism demand and create favorable conditions for people to travel in the new normal context after COVID-19. People and tourists can fly freely with Vietjet on 45 domestic routes covering Vietnam and more than 300 green flights daily. Commercial flights between Vietnam and other countries are still suspended but the Southeast Asian country has lifted most restrictions on domestic flights. The COVID-19 epidemic is now under control in Vietnam, which has reported over 300 cases. No virus-related death has been documented. The country has recorded no locally-transmitted cases for a month so local authorities are encouraging people to travel domestically in a bid to shore up the national economy. Almost all businesses have been allowed to reopen, following extensive social distancing measures enforced in April. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! (Natural News) White House trade adviser Peter Navarro accused China of deliberately letting the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) spread, during a number of interviews over the weekend. Navarro first made his accusations in Fox Business Networks WSJ at Large Friday, before reiterating them while talking to ABC News on Sunday. China hid the virus behind the shield of the World Health Organization, and that was a time, Gerry, when that virus could have been contained in Wuhan, Navarro said to Fox Business Networks Gerry Baker. Instead, what China did was put hundreds of thousands of Wuhanians and Chinese on planes that were allowed to go to Milan and New York and elsewhere, but not to Beijing and Shanghai. When Baker asked if Navarro was accusing China of deliberately allowing international travel to let the virus spread, the latter stated that it was a matter of fact. It should not be in dispute. China plotted to seed the virus On Sunday, Navarro followed up his Fox interview by accusing China once again, this time on ABC News. Here, he stated that China plotted to seed the coronavirus globally by allowing sick travelers to fly overseas. Yes, I do blame the Chinese, said Navarro. The Chinese, behind the shield of the World Health Organization for two months, hid the virus from the world, and then sent hundreds of thousands of Chinese on aircraft to Milan, New York and around the world to seed that. Yes, I do blame the Chinese, White House adviser Peter Navarro says on economic challenges in U.S. due to COVID-19, claiming that China behind the shield of the World Health Organization for two months hid the virus from the world. https://t.co/vTqcX6SuVX pic.twitter.com/6wtvIDI84i This Week (@ThisWeekABC) May 17, 2020 Evidence does exist that China did conceal information about the coronavirus from the WHO. It seems likely the communist Chinese government was fully aware its own people were spreading the pandemic through international travel. Navarros claim echoed that made by President Donald Trump during a Fox News town hall event on May 3. You could fly out of Wuhan where the primary problem was and you could go to different parts of the world, but you couldnt go [from Wuhan] to Beijing and you couldnt go to any place in China, Trump stated. So whats that all about? Latest in a string of accusations against China Navarros accusations are the latest that have been hurled by the administration as it seeks to hold China accountable for its actions during the pandemic. Prior to this, Trump accused China of having artificially created the virus in a lab in Wuhan. Specifically, the president claimed to have seen evidence that the virus originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Were going to see where it comes from, Trump said at a White House event on April 30. We have people looking at it very, very strongly. Scientific people, intelligence people, and others. Were going to put it all together. I think we will have a very good answer eventually. And China might even tell us. However, Trump declined to give his sources, saying that he wasnt allowed to disclose them yet. Earlier in April, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed to how China has refused to share data on the virus. The mere fact that we dont know the answers that China hasnt shared the answers I think is very, very telling, Pompeo said. He also noted how the Wuhan Institute of Virology was just a handful of miles away from the wet market where the virus supposedly made first contact with humans. Pompeo has since pressed China to let outside experts into the institutes labs so as to determine where exactly the virus came from. However, reports have since come out saying that China has already destroyed any evidence linking the lab to the coronavirus. Sources include: Breitbart.com BusinessInsider.com Twitter.com TheGuardian.com Shutting down school choice in Ohio, as hinted at in the May 15 op-ed by Susan Kaeser (Rethink school vouchers in financial downturn"), is the wrong move for Ohios students and would bring further uncertainty to families trying to make the best decisions for their childs education during the ongoing pandemic. Rather than end a program that has benefited thousands of Ohios children, and return to the one-size-fits all education approach that has failed so many students, policymakers should look for smart and innovative solutions that put the needs of students and families first. Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), which The Buckeye Institute has championed, is one such idea that would directly give families the tools they need to continue their childs education during future epidemics or natural disasters. This includes such things as equipment for distance learning, tutors, and curriculum support. Universal open enrollment is another option that would give families the ability to attend schools that offer programming better suited for their child. Whether it be school vouchers, ESAs, or universal open enrollment, Ohio policymakers must put the needs of families and students first, and not merely fund the status quo. Greg R. Lawson, Columbus Greg R. Lawson is a research fellow at The Buckeye Institute. Acquisition will expand Accenture's capabilities for digital engineering services in Italy Accenture (NYSE: ACN) in Italy has entered into an agreement to acquire Turin-based boutique systems integrator PLM Systems. The acquisition will expand Accenture's capabilities to help clients improve how they generate, manage and benefit from product data in design, engineering and manufacturing. Founded in 1996, PLM Systems specializes in designing and building information systems for product lifecycle management. Its clients are Italian and international automotive, industrial equipment, fashion and aerospace and defense companies. Product lifecycle management systems help companies manage all relevant information about a product from its inception to its disposal. Companies can use them in engineering and other functions to innovate and manage new products. The acquisition of PLM Systems will boost Accenture's capabilities and presence in the market for digital engineering services. Its team will join Accenture Industry X.0 in Italy. This is the part of Accenture that uses digital technologies to continuously improve how industrial companies design, engineer and manufacture products and services and operate industrial facilities. "Digital technologies like artificial intelligence are taking product lifecycle management to a new level. This offers industrial companies a huge opportunity to transform a core business function engineering", said Nigel Stacey, managing director and global lead of Accenture Industry X.0. "PLM Systems' expertise and experience in product lifecycle management will allow us to help clients make the best use of their product data." "PLM Systems will be a cornerstone of progressing Accenture's leadership in engineering digitization services," said Mauro Marchiaro, managing director, Strategy Consulting at Accenture in Italy. "We will combine our Industry X.0 capabilities with PLM Systems' methodologies and solutions. This combination will allow us to make the industrial product development process more efficient and sustainable for our clients." "We're excited to become part of Accenture," said Alberto Codrino, CEO of PLM Systems. "Its client base and global footprint will offer our team new opportunities to expand their skills and we can develop even better technology solutions for clients to innovate and manage new products". The planned acquisition of PLM Systems is part of an overall growth strategy to expand critical skills and capabilities in strategic, high-growth areas. It is the fourth digital manufacturing advisory, services and solutions provider that Accenture has acquired recently. It is following Callisto Integration in Canada, Silveo in France and Enterprise System Partners in Ireland. Other recent acquisitions Accenture has made to strengthen its Industry X.0 business include German embedded software company ESR Labs, Dutch product design and innovation agency VanBerlo, U.S. product innovation and engineering company Nytec, and German strategic design consultancy designaffairs. Completion of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed. About Accenture Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services in strategy and consulting, interactive, technology and operations, with digital capabilities across all of these services. We combine unmatched experience and specialized capabilities across more than 40 industries powered by the world's largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. With 509,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture brings continuous innovation to help clients improve their performance and create lasting value across their enterprises. Visit us at www.accenture.com. Accenture Industry X.0 helps businesses master the digital reinvention of industry when they use advanced digital technologies to transform core operations and unlock new revenue streams and business models. We support every aspect of our clients' multi-phase transformation, including workforce, customer experience, R&D, engineering, manufacturing, business support, and ecosystems. Visit https://www.accenture.com/us-en/services/industryx0-index. Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information and discussions contained herein, statements in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "positioned," "outlook" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. For a discussion of risks and actions taken in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see "Our results of operations have been adversely affected and could in the future be materially adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19)" under Item 1A, "Risk Factors" in Accenture plc's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended February 29, 2020. Many of the following risks, uncertainties and other factors identified below are, and will be, amplified by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). These risks include, without limitation, risks that: Accenture and PLM Systems will not be able to close the transaction in the time period anticipated, or at all, which is dependent on the parties' ability to satisfy certain closing conditions; the transaction might not achieve the anticipated benefits for Accenture; Accenture's results of operations have been adversely affected and could in the future be materially adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19); Accenture's results of operations could be adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic and political conditions and the effects of these conditions on the company's clients' businesses and levels of business activity; Accenture's business depends on generating and maintaining ongoing, profitable client demand for the company's services and solutions including through the adaptation and expansion of its services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the evolving technological environment could materially affect the company's results of operations; if Accenture is unable to keep its supply of skills and resources in balance with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, the company's business, the utilization rate of the company's professionals and the company's results of operations may be materially adversely affected; Accenture could face legal, reputational and financial risks if the company fails to protect client and/or company data from security breaches or cyberattacks; the markets in which Accenture operates are highly competitive, and Accenture might not be able to compete effectively; changes in Accenture's level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on the company's effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition; Accenture's profitability could materially suffer if the company is unable to obtain favorable pricing for its services and solutions, if the company is unable to remain competitive, if its cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if it experiences delivery inefficiencies; Accenture's results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; as a result of Accenture's geographically diverse operations and its growth strategy to continue to expand in its key markets around the world, the company is more susceptible to certain risks; Accenture's business could be materially adversely affected if the company incurs legal liability; Accenture's work with government clients exposes the company to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment; if Accenture is unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with its size, the company might be unable to achieve its business objectives; Accenture's ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on its reputation in the marketplace; if Accenture does not successfully manage and develop its relationships with key alliance partners or fails to anticipate and establish new alliances in new technologies, the company's results of operations could be adversely affected; Accenture might not be successful at acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses; if Accenture is unable to protect or enforce its intellectual property rights or if Accenture's services or solutions infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or the company loses its ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, its business could be adversely affected; Accenture's results of operations and share price could be adversely affected if it is unable to maintain effective internal controls; changes to accounting standards or in the estimates and assumptions Accenture makes in connection with the preparation of its consolidated financial statements could adversely affect its financial results; many of Accenture's contracts include fees subject to the attainment of targets or specific service levels, which could increase the variability of the company's revenues and impact its margins; Accenture might be unable to access additional capital on favorable terms or at all and if the company raises equity capital, it may dilute its shareholders' ownership interest in the company; Accenture may be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to its incorporation in Ireland; as well as the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the "Risk Factors" heading in Accenture plc's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and other documents filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this news release speak only as of the date they were made, and Accenture undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements made in this news release or to conform such statements to actual results or changes in Accenture's expectations. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005161/en/ Contacts: Accenture in Italy accenture.stampa@accenture.com +39 331 6989467 Jens R. Derksen Accenture Industry X.0 +49 175 57 61393 jens.derksen@accenture.com President Moon Jae-in delivers a speech during the third-year anniversary of his inauguration at Cheong Wa Dae, May 10. Moon said the government will bolster the reshoring of Korean firms overseas. / Korea Times file 'Risk diversification' plan needed to reduce value chain disruption By Lee Kyung-min The government's initiative to bring the country's manufacturing back home, known as its "reshoring initiative," has gained a lukewarm response from local businesses which claim that there is no reason to return home unless the government overhauls "outdated and growth-stunting" regulations. The Moon Jae-in administration's move to speed up reshoring came amid elevated concerns of global value chain disruption brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. An official from the Federation of Korean Industries said businesses will have no reason to return without a measure to reduce labor costs. "Many firms have come under increasing pressure over the past few years due to a rapid hike of minimum wage. Without assurances involving substantial reduction in the fixed labor cost, they will not return," said an official who refused to be named said. Unless the government makes drastic changes to lift "unreasonable" restrictions, companies will not come back to a country long bogged down by militant labor unions that continue to thrive on complicated, complex and inconsistent labor policies, the experts said. Some say government policy should focus on how best to diversify risk, instead of obsessing over the number of firms fully reshored a rather meaningless and futile attempt lacking corporate profit concerns. "The situation for Korean firms is completely different from U.S. or Chinese firms," Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade senior research fellow Cho Chul said. San Francisco-Based Restauranteur Agrees To Cooperate With Government Investigation and Agrees To Plead Guilty To Honest Services Wire Fraud Charges San Francisco, California - San Francisco restauranteur Nick James Bovis has agreed to cooperate with a federal investigation and to plead guilty to honest services wire fraud and wire fraud charges alleged in a newly-filed criminal information, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett of the San Francisco Division. The parties have requested that a hearing be scheduled on Thursday, May 21, 2020, before the Hon. William H. Orrick, United States District Judge, to allow the defendant to plead guilty to the charges by videoconference. Originally, Bovis, 56, of San Mateo, was charged in a criminal complaint filed January 15, 2020. The original complaint alleged that Bovis and San Francisco Director of Public Works Mohammed Colin Nuru, 57, of San Francisco, attempted to bribe an unnamed San Francisco Airport Commissioner. Specifically, the complaint charged that beginning in January of 2018, and until April of 2018, Nuru and Bovis attempted to use cash and free travel to bribe the airport commissioner. Nuru and Bovis allegedly were involved in a scheme to offer bribes in exchange for assistance from the commissioner to win a bid for the right to run a restaurant in the San Francisco International Airport. The new information filed by the government today charges Bovis with two separate crimes: honest services wire fraud and wire fraud. Bovis has signed a plea agreement indicating that he wishes to plead guilty to both crimes. The terms of the plea agreement would require Bovis to cooperate with an ongoing investigation and to surrender assets acquired as a result of his illegal conduct. The conduct underlying the crimes to which Bovis has admitted were submitted to the court in a separate Exhibit A that was filed under seal and thus is not available to the public. Although the factual basis of the plea agreement is not public, the information filed today provides details about the crimes to which Bovis has pleaded guilty. For example, the alleged honest services wire fraud began years prior to the fraud alleged in the original complaint. Specifically, the information alleges that Bovis began participating in the honest services wire fraud scheme at an unknown date, but at least as early as in or about 2015, and continuing through on or about January 28, 2020. Further, the information alleges Bovis participated in . . . a scheme to defraud the public of its right to the honest services of public officials, through bribery and kickbacks . . . and that Bovis transmitted a wire communication on March 22, 2018, in connection with the scheme. With respect to the wire fraud count, the information alleges that Bovis participated in the scheme beginning April of 2018 and that the he used wire communications in furtherance of the scheme. Bovis faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count to which he has agreed to plead guilty. In addition, the court may order additional terms of supervised release and restitution. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. 3553. The prosecution is being handled by the Office of the U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Californias new Corporate Fraud Strike Force and is the result of an investigation by the FBI. Photograph: Canadian Press/Rex/Shutterstock Police in Nova Scotia knew that a gunman carrying out a murderous rampage was traveling in a fake police car 12 hours before they warned the public, according to a recently unsealed warrant. New details of Canadas worst mass shooting were revealed on Tuesday after media outlets successfully petitioned for the unsealing of warrants used during the hunt for the man to search two properties he owned. Gabriel Wortman murdered 22 people on 18 and 19 April, before he was eventually shot dead by police outside a gas station. The latest revelations will add pressure to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who have come under scrutiny for their response to the shooting and reports that neighbours had warned police that Wortman posed a threat before the murders. Related: Nova Scotia shooting: ex-neighbours say they warned police about gunman The 40-page document, part of which is redacted, describes Wortman as a sociopath and says he was stockpiling gasoline and ammunition. As police searched for Wortman on 20 April, a judge authorized federal police to search his two properties: his cottage in the coastal town of Portapique and another property nearby, called the warehouse in the documents. Wortmans partner who survived a severe beating the evening of 18 April at the start of his killing spree told police that Wortman wasnt a police officer wannabe and didnt like police officers and thought he was better than them. The woman, who was handcuffed by Wortman but was able to escape, also told police that after he attacked her, she saw him pouring accelerant on his cottage and he had several firearms in the vehicle he had designed to look like an RCMP cruiser. Shortly after they arrived at the scene of the first shooting in Portapique on the night of 18 April, a neighbour told officers that a man he identified as Wortman had shot at him and was driving a police vehicle. But it wasnt until the next morning that police warned the public Wortman was driving a replica police vehicle, according to the warrant. While disguised as a police officer, Wortman killed six people, including an RCMP officer. Another acquaintance described Wortman as a psychopath and several people said they suspected he was stockpiling gasoline and propane tanks. According to the warrant, Wortman told residents that he kept barrels of lime and muriatic acid under the deck of one of his properties to help dispose of a body. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. President Donald Trump's US-Mexico border wall is tearing through environmentally important land that is sacred to the Tohono O'odham people. Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider While the coronavirus pandemic has shut down a lot of the world, construction on President Trump's long-touted US-Mexico border wall has continued. The US Customs and Border Protection is building 43 miles of 30-foot-high wall through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, in Arizona, on sacred land for the Tohono O'odham people. J. Weston Phippen, a writer in New Mexico, visited the wall this spring with Ofelia Rivas, a tribal leader and activist. Opponents have long decried the environmental effects and ineffectiveness of a physical barrier, but at some point numbers fail to communicate what as the O'odham know always follows a wall. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. In her favorite memory of Quitobaquito Springs, Ofelia Rivas is a teenager. The elders had agreed to teach her the ceremony, passed through generations of Tohono O'odham warriors, even though she was so young, and a woman. Their car left the highway in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument just before the US-Mexico border, onto a dirt road that was once a wagon trail. Conquistadors and Jesuit priests exploring the new world had carved the path, though Rivas knew her own people's history here reached back thousands of years. From the car's windows, Rivas looked up at saguaro and organ-pipe cactus that were the tallest she'd ever seen. The desert monsoons had washed boulders and sand across the two-track rut, and the overgrown mesquite branches clawed at the doors with a screech. When they reached Quitobaquito, the elders bent to drink from the water. Then they built a small fire to warm their coffee, because the old men loved coffee, and for the rest of the day Rivas wandered the rocky hills alone, stopping to pray over the graves of her ancestors. As the sun set, she returned to the elders by the still burning fire, where she first learned the blessing for this land. Story continues This spring, when the novel coronavirus was still a distant threat, I returned with Rivas to Quitobaquito. But as we drove the old path, everything had changed. Thirty-foot-long steel poles were being raised for President Donald Trump's wall in Organ Pipe, two hours southwest of Tucson, Arizona. The contractors working for Customs and Border Protection had scraped a two-lane road over the wagon trail, and their bulldozers and purple Porta-Johns rested in the shadow of the wall. As the road bent around Monument Hill, we lingered beside a white sign with bold red letters that said "Blasting Warning Signals." "I can't believe it," Rivas, now 63, said as she squinted through her gray-streaked bangs. "There are remains on those mountains." Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider The crews were dynamiting this sacred O'odham site to soften the clay for the wall, which, when I visited, stood in spurts for 10 miles from the base of Monument Hill to Quitobaquito. But as of April, while the rest of the nation has sheltered in place, CBP's construction workers have quickened their pace, completing 15 of 43 planned miles in and around the national monument, exploding the rock, scraping the desert, and felling ancient cactus. "For us," tribal chairman Ned Norris told Congress in February, "this is no different than the DHS building a 30-foot wall through Arlington Cemetery." Everything from Phoenix to the Sea of Cortez once belonged to the O'odham. And Quitobaquito was the land's heart. Young men began the yearly salt pilgrimage by its waters, running south for days to wade in the ocean. When the US-Mexico border split their home, in 1853, Quitobaquito remained in O'odham hands by the grace of 200 yards, though many of their people now lived in Mexico. Even after the US forced the O'odham onto a reservation in 1927 and Quitobaquito passed to federal hands, the ceremonies continued. It was only after 9/11 that it became difficult to bless the springs, when agents in green Border Patrol uniforms stopped Rivas to ask who she was and what purpose she had there. us Mexico border wall construction Ruobing Su/Business Insider There were times Rivas could hardly bring herself to give the yearly blessing. It was changing so much from her memory. And somewhere between flying to New York to speak at the United Nations and protesting Border Patrol's incursion on O'odham land, Rivas let her responsibility to the springs slip. It had been years since she visited. When I met her in the Organ Pipe visitor-center parking lot, she was eager to return. Even in spring it was 85 degrees Fahrenheit, harsher still without a cloud in the sky. Rivas greeted me in a colorful ankle-length dress, carrying a water bottle, a bag of ceremonial supplies, and a wooden staff adorned with feathers. She was practically giddy as we set out. She laughed as we passed two agents chasing a stray dog through the desert. It was a skinny brown mut with its ribs showing, and I'd watched it slip through a gap in the wall earlier. "That's a serious offense," Rivas joked. "Crossing without papers." As we rounded Monument Hill we stopped, and I told the agents that the dog probably had a home over the border. The nearest town was only a few miles away. But the agents either didn't hear me or didn't care, and they kept on after the animal. Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider As we drove farther, Rivas grew more sullen at the sight of the wall, of the scraped road. Halfway to the springs Rivas asked me to stop. "Have you seen death?" she asked. "Like a dead body?" I said. She didn't fully explain the question. She just shot me a disappointed look, then said something about having to do the ceremony on her own. What always follows a wall The weekend I visited Organ Pipe, the tourists were out in droves, drawn like flies to the flurry of construction at the border, and the newly scraped road. A heavyset man in a cutoff shirt rode a yellow trike motorcycle past us as he steadied a bulldog on his lap. I counted 12 jeeps, some with American-flag stickers on their windows, as their sunburned passengers pointed their phone cameras toward the wall. Sedans and RVs passed us, and with each new vehicle Rivas' eyes grew wide. "Wow," she said. "I can't believe it." From Tucson, the highway to Organ Pipe is almost a straight shot southwest through some of the most remote land in the country. It was once a busy migration corridor. Until 2014, much of the national monument was closed for a decade after drug smugglers killed a park ranger. And while most migration has since moved to Texas, signs near Organ Pipe's campgrounds still read "Smuggling and Illegal Immigration May Be Encountered in This Area." Earlier, I'd watched a tourist couple in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van park near the Porta-Johns. A woman with zip-off pants jumped out. "Can I go to the other side?" she yelled to her husband, who said nothing as she marched toward a gap in the wall. Between July and September, almost anywhere a wall bisects a wash in the Sonoran desert it clogs with debris during the yearly thunderstorms. This happened three hours to the east, in Nogales, when a torrent flattened sections of wall drowned two people and caused $8 million in damages. In Organ Pipe, CBP will occasionally open these massive floodgates to let water flow underneath, and that of course means people can flow underneath too. The woman spread her arms in the gap as she posed for a photo. She stepped back to stare at the gap in the wall, then muttered, "What's the f---ing point?" as she climbed back into the van. The short answer is that building a wall in Organ Pipe was the easiest option. Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider After Trump declared a national emergency at the border last year, he bypassed Congress and diverted $18 billion for wall construction. This section in Organ Pipe will span 43 miles. It crosses a wildlife refuge to the west, spans all of Organ Pipe, and ends at the O'odham Nation. Even though most migrant traffic steers toward Texas these days, there the border follows the Rio Grande, where land is often privately held. Throughout all of Arizona, however, the federal government has owned everything within 60 feet of the border since 1907. With the 15 miles completed in Organ Pipe at a cost of $21 million a mile CBP says it's built 142 miles of wall along the border under Trump, though some people gripe about this figure. In places like Organ Pipe, where chest-high metal railing, called a vehicle barrier, was erected in the mid-2000s, some argue Trump has only updated the border fencing. But this ignores how a 30-foot structure, which CBP says is "high enough to inflict severe injury or death from a fall," will forever change the desert here. There are the environmental considerations. Organ Pipe is an International Biosphere Reserve, one of only 56 in the US. Twenty-three endangered and at-risk species call the monument home. This desert is also a migration corridor for the jaguar, and the Sonoran pronghorn, which the US has already devoted $27.3 million to protect. Topped with stadium lights that outshine any nearby town, how the wall will affect these animals is anyone's guess. Trump waived all environmental laws to speed construction in Organ Pipe with the REAL ID act, a rider in a 2005 bill that funded the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The devastation of land, of plants, of animals these are arguments made most often against the wall in Organ Pipe. They are tangible concerns, many of which the O'odham share. But at some point numbers fail to communicate what's happening here, and what, as only the O'odham know, always follows a wall. Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider As Rivas and I continued the drive, we passed chopped saguaro cactus discarded like yard waste. Some looked old enough to predate the border. For generations, saguaro had nourished the O'odham between the dry winters until the summer thunderstorms arrived. To this day the O'odham harvest the saguaro's fruit. They call it "grandmother" and believe it has a soul. Defending O'odham land from US militarization From the awning outside Rivas' home, I looked out on black mesquite and palo verde trees and orange bursts of wildflowers. Her town, Ali Chuk, means "little clearing" in O'odham, and rests on the western slope of mountains that define Organ Pipe's border. Mexico was less than a mile south. And to the east was a wrinkled peak called Ve'Ju-Pan. "As children we climbed all over that mountain," she said. "We played all day and came home in the evening. No one ever bothered us." A cool wind blew north, and Rivas remembered how each Sunday her aunt dragged her by the dress to Catholic church. She'd screamed up the road until she wriggled free from the dress and ran home naked so she could visit the elders with her father. All her life it seemed, someone tried to extinguish this deeply essentially part of her, the O'odham part. But Rivas comes from a long line of rebels. Her dad lived in Mexico, where 2,000 of the 34,000 O'odham still live today, and he carried a gun to defend his land from intruding ranchers, firing the occasional pot shot as a warning. The family's own cattle are descended from stock Pancho Villa gave to Rivas' grandfather for his help during the Mexican Revolution. So as a teenager, when the Bureau of Indian Affairs shipped Rivas to the Stewart Indian School, in Nevada, where teachers scolded her for speaking O'odham, she practiced her language on the bus. Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider In 1993 her father died of a heart attack, a month before she graduated from college. She returned home with the intention of leaving shortly after. "But there were things that needed to be done culturally that were not being done," Rivas said. "The politicians here wanted to be American and to follow whatever that means. But we're O'odham. We have certain obligations." I asked what that meant. Rivas pointed to the Ve'Ju-Pan peak. "My father taught me that this mountain has a name, it has a song, it has an essence of who it is." Shortly after Rivas came home, the government built walls in and around the border cities to funnel migration into the deserts. And whereas before some 200 migrants crossed O'odham land each day, now 1,500 came. Drug traffickers, too, tearing over the fenceless border in their trucks. In 2004, the tribal council allowed DHS to build a vehicle barrier on their land. That 4-foot metal fence now marks the international line through Organ Pipe and the O'odham reservation. But without consulting the tribe, Border Patrol put traffic checkpoints on the highways. The whop-whop-whop of helicopters broke the silent desert nights. The agents, in green uniforms, patrolled O'odham neighborhoods on foot and tore up the desert in their SUVs. "Unfortunately," O'odham chairman Ned Norris, then serving his first term, told the Arizona Daily Star, "there are some bad apples in the basket, and we have some pretty aggressive border agents." Rivas became intimate with this change as she helped elders from her father's hometown cross through a new entry gate nearby. Agents swarmed the old men and women, Rivas said, forcing them on their knees with guns to their heads. "Like you see on TV when they execute people," she said. These stories are so common on O'odham land that you begin to think they're lies. Years ago, I'd interviewed a tribal member thrown to the ground, maced, and held at gunpoint in front of his daughter's school bus. Agents stormed homes because footprints migrant footprints, perhaps led to the property. Border Patrol can detain a driver and search a car for no other reason than it is peak smuggling time. They can strip-search you based on a hunch. Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider Within 100 miles of the border, basic rights like the Fourth Amendment don't exist. There's a war here, what Timothy J. Dunn, a sociology professor at Salisbury University, calls "low-intensity conflict" in his book "The Militarization of the US-Mexico Border." Dunn borrowed the term from the Pentagon, which had fashioned it to describe battles of ideology fought with or among civilians, where the military takes on a police-like role, and personal rights succumb to the needs of national security. The same month I visited Rivas, her neighbor had found a surveillance camera pointed at the local children's rec center, hidden in a gallon jug painted black. Each night, Rivas sleeps beside a photo of her and Subcomandante Marcos, the philosopher Marxist who led southern Mexico's indigenous in armed rebellion. She met Marcos in the late '90s and has since started a nonprofit called O'odham Voice Against the Wall. When DHS ordered more agents to the area, and when the agency broke ground on a new operational base 15 minutes west of the O'odham Nation, in 2010, Rivas protested this incursion of tribal sovereignty. But long before she'd met Marcos, Rivas' father taught her she'd always need to fight. "When you're born Indian," Rivas told me, "You always have to defend yourself and your land." Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider What Rivas wanted to show me most was being built atop Ve'Ju-Pan mountain. We'd swung up the rocky incline and were pointing out red blossoms when I saw a Border Patrol SUV coming toward us on the road below. We had a good jump on them, though, and we continued slowly uphill. As we reached the top, another agent stepped in front of the car. "How's it going?" he asked kindly. A diesel truck hummed beside him, and in the back was a periscope-looking pole, a mobile surveillance system, outfitted with radar, thermal imaging, and cameras that'd probably watched us since we left Rivas' home. We told the agent we wanted to see where the IFT tower was being built. And again, kindly, he waved us past. In June of last year, the Israeli defense company Elbit won a $26 million contract to build 10 integrated fixed towers in O'odham land. Each 160-foot tower can monitor every person within 7.5 miles, day or night, and were "field-proven" in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The O'odham tribal council approved construction, but the deal seems to have been made under duress. "We're only as sovereign as the federal government will allow us to be," Verlon Jose, then the tribal vice chairman, said. Contractors had staked out only the tower's base so far, and Rivas walked the perimeter and picked at the native plants. As she chewed on a berry, she asked me if I could see the vehicle-barrier fence below. It was an almost imperceptible clearing in the desert brush. Prevention through deterrence funnels migrants through the deadly desert onto O'odham land On March 17, CBP announced 91 more miles of wall planned for Arizona, leaving the largest remaining, fenceless gap on O'odham land. Before this latest news, I'd talked to Todd Miller, a reporter and author who lives in Tucson. It was difficult to reason why, strategically, he said, the government needed a wall in Organ Pipe. It hadn't been an immigration hotspot in years. "Honestly," Miller said, "the only way it does make sense is that Trump wants to build a wall and this is where he can do it. So why not?" Miller's latest book, "Empire of Borders," explained how DHS policy has moved in the opposite direction. The idea was to create "border sets," as Miller described, that would extend our nation's border to southern Guatemala, through Panama, and into South America. Today, Miller wrote, "thinking of the border as a single line was ridiculous." Yet here was Trump's DHS spending billions on rusty steel poles. "It just seems to me to be very Trumpian," Miller said. But with the revelation of 91 more miles, it all clicked. Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider When Rivas returned home after her father's death, the border policy that pushed migrants onto O'odham land was called "prevention through deterrence." By walling border towns, the government figured no rational human would choose to walk days through deserts where the temperature reaches 120 for weeks, where the only water for miles is held inside cactus with thorns that shred flesh. But prevention through deterrence coincided with the collapse of Mexico's peso, and that same year the North American Free Trade Agreement passed, which decimated Mexico's rural farmers. So migrants, mostly Mexican at the time, weighed starvation and a future less certain for their children and chose the desert. In maps that plot the fallen migrants with dots, the O'odham nation became a sea of red. "So if the question is, 'What does a wall through Organ Pipe do?'" Miller said. "Well, smugglers will find other places without a wall." When I asked CBP if it was concerned about funneling migration onto O'odham land with the new wall, the agency said, "In an attempt to circumvent the barrier, violators will often seek out places along the border they perceive as vulnerable." More than 7,000 migrants have died on their journey north since prevention through deterrence. And those are only the bodies we've recovered. But unlike before, the new border-crossers are overwhelmingly Central American. These people, too, now flee US actions that have helped destabilize their governments and economies even seeded the gangs that rape and rob them on their streets. Never having imagined a desert like the Sonoran, these people won't understand that they'll need to drink two gallons of water a day as they walk. Their tongues will swell from thirst. Their dying brains will panic with hallucinations. In their attempt to find moisture, they will eat handfuls of sand, and O'odham land will once again become a killing field. The smuggler's journey In Phoenix I met a man who is crucial to understanding the consequences of a wall. The US might label him a Sinaloa cartel operative, but the reality is more complicated. What's important is that, in a few years, he's learned to circumvent our multibillion-dollar solutions. Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider "The only thing a wall will do is raise the prices," the man said as he leaned on a wood chair in the kitchen, his arms thick from years of construction work. In 2015, the man was deported. Deputies working under former Sheriff Joe Arpaio pulled the man over in one of their immigration sweeps that targeted Latino neighborhoods, and that ended the man's legitimate work. He placed $9,000 from his back pocket on the blonde-wood table. "The last time we worked near Sonoyta," he said of the Mexican town beneath Organ Pipe, "was three days ago." His entry into the smuggling world came about simply. The man who returned him to the US asked if he wanted a job, and, recently jobless, he said yes. "Now I'm his boss," the man chuckled. He directs two dozen smugglers working in the US lookouts, drivers, informants. So his phone is always ringing, from the moment he drops his daughter at school in the morning until long after she's asleep. We like to think, or have been led to think, that people like this man operate under a pyramid, that someone like El Chapo, El Mayo, or El Mencho exert control over an organization that reaches beyond the border into our cities. But the smugglers I've known work in affinity groups, tied by family or hometown. The man and his group have no cartel allegiance except for the $1,000 tax they pay to cross a migrant through Sinaloa-controlled land. The man is a link in a chain. He can be replaced without any disruption to the flow at our border. And he is driven by an unstoppable motivation: like the people he crosses, he too wants to feed his family. It was dark outside the windows as the man explained the many ways to cross. In human smuggling, a premium is placed on safety. So the easiest and most expensive route is through an official port of entry. I asked how he circumvents customs officers, and the man rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. "Everyone has a price," he said. The least expensive is through a wall. The smugglers will need to cut the wall, of course, but this can be done with a welder in 10 minutes during daylight to hide the sparks. These routes involve avoiding CBP surveillance cameras, ground sensors, roving Border Patrol agents in SUVs, and days of following a guide. I read somewhere that the Taliban, when explaining how they could withstand the bottomless resources of the US government, said that while the Americans may have all the watches, they had all the time. I thought of this when I asked the man how he evades a border built by the most powerful nation on earth. "I learned this work with patience," he said. "We study Border Patrol's schedules, their shifts." Each month he buys a few thousand dollars in binoculars, radios, and camping gear the lookouts will need as they record the movements of agents from desert hilltops. Then he opened his phone to a Google Maps screenshot, a swath of land marked with areas to avoid and a line winding between. "We also have equipment that can locate a phone number exactly where it is." "Where do you buy that?" I asked. He smiled and rubbed his fingers together again. "Everything has a price." With some crude math, what we have is a $21 million per-mile wall, a $26 million contract for 10 towers in O'odham land, DHS's $50 billion yearly budget, and some 20,000 Border Patrol agents along the border drawing yearly salaries. All that, against a few dozen determined smugglers. So when the man told me they'll always find a way to cross, I believed him. Then his phone rang with news of another group headed to Phoenix. He stood from the table, shook his head and sighed, as if exhausted. "I'm always answering my phone," he said, "all day and night." Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider The blessing At Quitobaquito Springs, I slowed near a row of cars. Rivas grabbed the bag of ceremonial items from my trunk, along with the wooden staff, which, because I'd failed her earlier question about knowing death, she made clear I was not allowed to touch. A dense ring of cottonwood and willow trees surrounded the springs. The limbs created an archway and the air grew cooler as we neared. It felt like we'd entered a portal from the desert, and when we emerged, ducks swam in a knee-deep pool of water clear as a windowpane. Grass lined the pond, and I spotted endangered Sonoyta mud turtles scurrying from the edges. Some 270 species of plants, half of the flora in the monument, depend on this oasis. And whereas the desert has an eerie, still quality, birds chirped from the trees and insects skittered about Quitobaquito. The spring exists because an underground aquifer bubbles through a fault line, some of the water not having seen the light since the last ice age. CBP, by its own estimate, pumps 84,000 gallons a day to mix with concrete for the wall's base. So it's not unreasonable to think that it could all disappear. But no one knows for sure, because Trump bypassed the environmental surveys. I stayed silent while Rivas recited the blessing, focused on the pink glow of dusk on the hills. Before we'd left the parking lot that day, Rivas said I couldn't record the ceremony's specifics. She'd only say that the ritual was a form of "spiritual upkeep," one that would signal to the ancestors buried nearby and to the plants and animals at the springs that the O'odham still protected this land. Before construction began last summer, the National Park Service surveyed the 60-foot path scraped by CBP's bulldozers. The survey found 22 archaeological sites and countless artifacts, like arrowheads, knives, pottery shards, rocks cracked by fires that may have warmed the descendants of the O'odham 10,500 years ago, even bones. CBP said it had recovered all artifacts before construction. But that meant they'd been removed from the land beyond the blessing. And with the wall, nothing would remain as Rivas remembered it. More Border Patrol SUVs would follow, spotlights, perhaps surveillance towers, and an arsenal of technology that, for two decades, has only altered the flow of migration and failed to stop it. "They do all kinds of things to try and wipe you out," Rivas had said. "They take away your history." Organ Pipe Border Wall Caitlin O'Hara for Business Insider After the ceremony, we drank from the water as Rivas did on her first trip with the elders. Then we left to beat the setting sun. With the cool of evening, the desert came alive and a black-tailed jack rabbit jumped in front of the car, which Rivas remembered was good eating as a child. We spotted a mobile surveillance tower in the distance that we'd missed earlier. And at Monument Hill we paused where we'd seen the two agents chasing the dog. "Here, pup, here," we called out the window. But nothing. After all Rivas had shared with me that day, for some reason the capture of this dog made me most upset. It was young, maybe six months, and seemed to be wandering. Maybe it'd been pushed out of its home, or never had one. Maybe it just couldn't find food. But I couldn't imagine why Border Patrol needed to catch it, or where they'd send the animal. Rivas, too, shook her head, and we complained to each other as we drove. But as we rounded Monument Hill, there was the dog, standing in the middle of the road, staring at us and panting. "Look," Rivas said, "it's smiling." I wanted to open the door and take it somewhere safe. It would get close to freezing at night. And it must have been thirsty after running from the agents for so long, so I felt behind my seat for water. "What are you doing here?" Rivas called out the window. The dog tilted its head. As we stared, the little brown mutt took a cautious step to the side, then disappeared into the desert. Read the original article on Business Insider A n immediate review into Transport for Londons finances in the wake of its 1.6 billion coronavirus bailout has been ordered by the Government. It came as a war of words broke out between Mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps over the true state of TfLs cash crisis and how much was caused by the loss of millions of passengers due to the lockdown. Mr Shapps, in a statement to Parliament last night, said the Mayors stewardship of TfL, which he chairs, over the last four years had left it in serious financial difficulty before the virus reached the UK. He said: The settlement for TfL was needed for two reasons. Most important is the significant fall in revenue caused by Covid-19. However, an important secondary factor was the pre-existing poor condition of TfLs financial position as a result of decisions made over the last four years. "Combined with significant cost increases and delays to Crossrail, this left TfL in serious financial difficulty even before the public health emergency. Mr Shapps said, to help prevent further bailouts being required, there would be an immediate and broad ranging Government-led review of TfLs future financial position and structure. Whitehall sources today said it would probably take weeks for the terms of reference to be decided and an expert appointed. One suggested that TfL may simply be asked to conduct a review under government oversight. Londoners heeding Boris Johnson's call to return to work - In pictures 1 /12 Londoners heeding Boris Johnson's call to return to work - In pictures Pedestrians and cyclists make their way across London Bridge Daniel Hambury Traffic building up on the A13 in Dagenham Jeremy Selwyn Pedestrians pass heavy traffic passing over Tower Bridge PA Construction workers at Borough Yards Daniel Hambury Pedestrians and cyclists make the way across London Bridge Daniel Hambury Bumper to bumper traffic on an approach road to Tower Bridge PA Nigel Howard Nigel Howard Traffic on the M25 motorway near Egham, Surrey PA Mr Khan reacted angrily, accusing Mr Shapps of making a statement that was at best misleading. He said: TfLs finances were in much better shape immediately before Covid-19 than the mess I inherited from the Prime Minister [Boris Johnson] when he left City Hall. Over the past four years we have reduced TfLs operating deficit by 71 per cent on a like-for-like basis and increased cash reserves by 16 per cent. "Like-for-like operating costs have fallen each year, which has never happened before. Disagreements between both sides emerged within hours of detail of the bailout being announced on Friday morning. The Government said it was the Mayors decision to hike the congestion charge from 11.50 to 15 from next month. Mr Khan said last night that the requirement that TfL urgently bring forward proposals to widen the scope and levels of the C-charge and ultra-low emission zone levy was a Government red line to enable the bailout to be secured. Both central London road levies had been suspended when lockdown began on March 23 but were reintroduced yesterday. A woman is seen wearing a protective face mask on a platform at North Acton station / REUTERS Today it emerged that a temporary rush-hour ban on pensioners using the Freedom Pass and the 60+ Oyster card, which allow free Tube and bus travel, would only apply in the morning, not also in the evening as first feared. Business analysts said the review of TfLs finances could be crucial if it were published near next Mays mayoral elections, which were postponed for a year by coronavirus. TfL finance documents seen by the Standard show it had increased its cash reserves by about 800 million in a year, to almost 2.1 billion, prior to the pandemic. This was largely due to a backlog in spending on capital projects. Its total debt had risen from 9.8 billion in 2015/16, when Mr Johnson ended his term as mayor, to 11.9 billion by last December. After waiting for 14 hours, hundreds of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh boarded buses from Sonipat but the promised ride home never did happen and they were dropped off at a shelter home in the Haryana town itself. Kuldeep Kumar was one of those who got on to a Haryana Roadways Transport Corporation bus from Kundli Industrial area on the Delhi-Haryana border at 7.30 p.m. on Monday, happy the daylong wait had finally ended and he and his family would be home the next morning. Instead, much to their shock and disappointment -- the bus stopped at Sonipat's Shambhu Dayal College, a makeshift shelter home, just a few kilometres away. And that's where the 22-year-old, his wife Aarti and his 10-month-old daughter Divyanshi were on Tuesday. We have no idea what is happening. I thought I will be home by now. Nobody is telling us how long we have to be here, Kuldeep told PTI over the phone. There are almost 600 others with Kuldeep, locked within the confines of the temporary shelter home at the college and other homes' nearby. Officials handling the massive rush of migrants returning home on Monday said they were left with no option. "Some buses did leave for Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh government had permitted the entry of only a certain number of buses. But more people reached than what had been permitted, so people (migrant labourers) were kept in a shelter home," explained Ashutosh Rajan, sub-divisional magistrate, Sonipat. An increasingly frantic Kuldeep, who lost his job as a loader at the Kundli Industrial Estate, said he can't go back to his rented accommodation in Sersa village nearby because his landlord had ordered him not to return, fearing he would bring with him the coronavirus infection. The village headman had announced that the government had made arrangements for migrant labourers to go back to their home state Uttar Pradesh. And Kuldeep took them at their word. So, on Sunday, he settled his dues with his landlord. And at the crack of dawn on Monday, around 5 am, left Sersa village for the Kundli Industrial Area a short distance away with his wife and baby. There were hundreds of others like him. It was a long wait in the scorching heat. When he finally boarded the bus at 7.30, they were assured they will be taken to Rae Bareli. His woes have only aggravated since then. He said his family have been allocated a room in the college along with another family. There are no facilities and no arrangements for infants and children, not even milk for his daughter. The temperature is soaring and we have to open the windows. But that brings in hot air. A small fan for one room with two families does not serve the purpose and my daughter keeps crying, he said. Several others in the home said they face the same predicament. His friend and colleague Ajay Kumar, also stranded in the shelter home, complained of bad quality food. "We are being served tasteless' khichdi'. If we can't eat it, how can the children have it," said Ajay, who is with his wife Vimlesh and seven-month old son Sushil. Like Kuldeep, Ajay has also been jobless since the lockdown and is desperate to return to his village in Rae Bareli. Sandeep Kumar Mishra (39), one of the migrant workers at the shelter home, said they had no clue that they will be brought to the shelter home. Officials at the shelter home, too, don't have any idea on when they will be allowed to go back, he said. "They have locked the shelter home. There is no way out and officials here do not have any answer," he alleged. Sanjay G, the CEO of the Zilla Parishad, Sonipat, who is coordinating the operation to send migrant labourers back to their home states, said only 30 buses were to go to Uttar Pradesh and each bus was to carry only 30 people. He said only those migrant workers who had registered on the state portal were to be ferried. Accordingly, calls were made to them, but those who had not registered also turned up. "As per the plan, only 30 buses carrying 900 people were to go to Uttar Pradesh. I am not aware who gave the permission to send buses other than those decided upon. I have raised the issue with the Haryana Roadways State Transport," Sanjay said. He added that nearly 600-700 migrant workers and their family members have been sent to different shelter homes. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ST. LOUIS Local leadership changes are planned this month by the U.S. Coast Guard. Capt. Scott Stoermer, commander of Sector Upper Mississippi River, and incoming Commander Mick Scott, currently deputy commander, discussed the leadership transition Monday during the first session of this years FreightWeekSTL, a conference on the regions transportation and logistics industries. This years events are virtual with the conferences being released at noon each day. In late May, Scott will take the reins from Stoermer. In Mondays online presentation, Stoermer focused on the shared governance that guides Coast Guards operations in connection with state governments, port communities, freight customers and recreational boaters. It really involves a collaborative approach to keep things moving as safely as possible, said Stoermer, noting one user spent more than $1 million to reroute necessary cargo because they didnt have access to the waterways. Stoermer has been responsible for more than 2,200 miles of commercially navigable waterways on the upper Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois Rivers. He noted they are part of a total system with 25,000 miles of navigable waterways and 360 ports nationwide that have an economic value of $5 trillion. He said the USCGs Waterway Action Plan sets up the shared governance and communication is imperative. Scott said his top priorities to support shippers and carriers ability to transport freight safely and cost effectively are communications and operational flexibility. He said the action plan formalizes centuries of hard lessons learned. He said he was involved in decisions to reopen the St. Louis Harbor during the 2019 flooding and that, after seeing the millions in revenue lost, the Coast Guard recognized it had to do something, adding he believes it was worth it and the right thing to do. Successes like that are almost entirely a function of communications, Scott said. He also said a Coast Guard cutter is being moved to St. Louis from Omaha and discussed plans over the next 10 to 12 years to replace aging fleet vessels. He spoke on how he plans to leverage technology, including eATON (electronic aids to navigation). Stoermer said the Coast Guard has been been out for their spring runs, noting floating aids to navigation constellation is in great shape from New Orleans to Minneapolis. He said more time is needed to repair some shore side navigation aids damaged by last years flooding. The two also noted the coronavirus pandemic was has forced the Coast Guard to modify operations. Im proud to say were well equipped to deal with ambiguous and strange challenges and unknown circumstances, and this time is no different, Stoermer said. Were open for business and conducting missions since implementation of some of the requirements. That no one has been diagnosed with COVID to date is a testament to their commitment to following the requirements, and we will stay at it as we work though the recovery phase, he said. Industry similarly has responded professionally as we work with a region of professionals that also responds in a resilient and adaptive way, and Im impressed with how theyve implemented plans and new safety procedures. Mary Lamie, Executive Vice President of Multi-Modal Enterprises for Bi-State Development which operates the St. Louis Regional Freightway, said the Virtual FreightWeekSTL 2020 seeks to continue the effort begun in 2018. The weeklong event is being delivered by St. Louis Regional Freightway, The Waterways Journal and Bi-State Development is sponsored by Burns McDonnell and Lochmueller Group, with Arco, Contegra, CMT and Southern Illinois Construction Advancement Program. For more details visit www.freightweekstl.com. New South Wales will ease coronavirus lockdown restrictions further from June 1. The state will cautiously reopen pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes for 20 people to dine in - doubling the current patronage limits. Art galleries, libraries and museums will also be permitted to start trading again in two weeks - almost 60 days after they were forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision will bring an important economic boost for the struggling industries, which were crippled by the forced closures on March 23. Premier Gladys Berejiklian is also expected to permit intrastate travel from June 1. Pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes in New South Wales will be permitted to sit 20 patrons from June 1, as the government eases coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Pictured: Last drinks at the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel in Sydney before bars closed on March 23 Regional travel within New South Wales will ease in just two weeks following a relaxation of coronavirus lockdown restrictions Earlier on Tuesday, the premier said she worked closely with regional communities before making her decision. 'Some want it desperately because they appreciate the economic activity that will bring, and others are a bit more anxious about what that means,' she said. In relation to reopening cultural institutions, Ms Berejiklian said they would be required to adhere to 'strict new protocols' - particularly for the duration of the pandemic. 'NSW is home to some of Australia's best art galleries and museums... I look forward to them reopening to the public,' she said. Art galleries, libraries and museums will also be permitted to start trading again in two weeks 'I would encourage museums, galleries and libraries to be innovative to ensure strict social distancing is adhered to and good hygiene measures are followed.' The number of visitors will be limited to one for every four square metres, and group tours will be put on hold for the time being. The new rules comes as Ms Berejiklian clashed with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk after the latter said she may not reopen her state borders until September. Ms Palaszczuk said her government hoped to ease some interstate travel by July, but not necessarily for people in New South Wales. 'That could be for example South Australians coming to Queensland, because South Australia does not have community transmission,' the Premier said. 'I am not going to put at risk the lives of Queenslanders there is community transmission in NSW and Victoria. If other states want to look at working with Queensland, absolutely I am open to that.' The decision is an important economic boost for the struggling industry, which has barely stayed afloat since the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to close their doors on March 23 Residents in New South Wales will have plenty of options for travel, including the scenic coasts or Byron Bay Western Australia and South Australia have also signalled borders could remain shut until the end of winter. A spokeswoman for the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney told Daily Mail Australia it was imperative that New South Wales allowed regional travel as soon as it was safe to do so. 'Tourism is going to be so important to the social and economic recovery of NSW. Future travellers can give our regional communities the boost they need to bounce back by visiting and spending locally,' she said. 'Once regional travel in NSW is allowed, it will be more important than ever for us all to practice physical distancing and good hygiene to protect ourselves and those we come into contact with.' The state government on Tuesday confirmed intrastate travel will be allowed from June 1 A farmer walks near the shells of dead mussels lying in the dried-up bed of the Namoi River near the north-western New South Wales town of Walgett on Oct. 6, 2019. (David Gray/Getty Images) Chinese State-Owned Companies Own More Australian Water than Sydney Harbour Holds Concerns about Chinas investments in Australias water interests have been re-sparked by recent ABC coverage, highlighting inadequate government scrutiny over foreign investment in precious resources. On May 6, ABCs 730 program revealed that state-owned Chinese enterprises now own water entitlements in Australia. One of them is Unibale, an Australian subsidiary of state-owned COFCO Group (China Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation), Chinas largest food processor, manufacturer, and trader. The investigation by 730 found that Chinese investors collectively own 732 gigaliters of water, more Australian water than Sydney Harbour holds, or 1.9 percent of the water on the market. Unibale has acquired more than 7,000 megaliters of water entitlements in the northern end of the Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales (NSW). Free Trade Not Reciprocated by China The Australian water market is split into different sections within each state, and the largest one is the Murray-Darling Basin in the south-east. Foreign investment in the water supply of the Murray-Darling Basin started to surge after the easing of basin trading rules in 2014 and has been a divisive issue. The first registration report published by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) in 2018 shows that one in 10 water entitlements is foreign-owned, with Chinese and American investors both having the largest stakes at 1.9 percent each, followed by the UK at 1.1 percent. Despite arguments that foreign ownership is part of an open economy and free trade system, Luke Simpkins, the CEO of NSW Irrigators Council (NSWIC) told The Epoch Times that there have been genuine concerns in the irrigation sector over the impact of foreign ownership on the livelihood of local farmers, and this was accentuated by the drought last year. On behalf of NSWIC, the former federal MP for Cowan West Australia wrote to federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg late last year to express serious concerns about foreign ownership and agricultural purchases at the time when farmers were financially and psychologically weakened by the drought. He also highlighted the greater concern about Chinese ownership as in most cases the companies appear to be linked to the Chinese government. The point that the free trade approach of Australia in property and water ownership is not reciprocated by China tends to undermine the faith of Australians in Chinese ownership, Simpkins said in an email to The Epoch Times. The punitive action by the Chinese Government against Australian agriculture also erodes the views of Australians on the broader property ownership matter, he added, referring to the escalating threats by Beijing about Australian barley and beef exporters over the last two weeks. Chinese Entities Dance to the Tune of the CCP Queensland National MP George Christensen said that Australia had good reason to question the intention behind the Chinese entities purchase of water entitlements at such a scale that has made China have more Australian water than there is in the Sydney Harbour. The problem is they use these purchases of strategic Australian assets, including water, for the benefit of the Chinese Communist Party and not the benefit of Australia, he told The Epoch Times. He said that the real danger to Australias interests is that Chinese companies are not just driven by profit, which is the case with foreign entities from other countries and which is understandable. Rather, the Chinese companies are acting on the instruction of a brutal regime which means that business, both state-owned and private, have to dance to its tune. When your motive is to continue the subjection of a billion people and turn other countries into vassal states that you can also control then we have a big problem! he said. Christensen is the chair of the joint standing committee on trade and investment growth and recently initiated an inquiry into Chinas economic infiltration of Australia. He is encouraging the public to submit evidence related to any such water rights transactions that may be detrimental to Australias interest. We also need to ensure we are on a level playing field when it comes to foreign investment and that foreign investment is in our national interest. In fact, episodes involving the reckless conduct of Chinese entities are not rare. In 2018, Chinatex Australiaassociated with Chinese state-owned Unibalewas reported to have attempted to evade a $31 million compensation payment ordered by the Supreme Court of NSW to local beef provider Bindaree for reneging on beef supply deals agreed in 2016. Former national senator John Williams warned in the Senate that Chinatex Australias conduct should be a great concern to all Australian companies who do business with Chinese state-owned companies. More Transparency Needed In an attempt to regulate foreign ownership of water entitlements, the federal government introduced a self-reporting register, requiring overseas companies that own water entitlements to declare their interests to the ATO. The register is not accessible to the public, and there is limited detail about the owners or the usage of water. The ATO also confirmed to ABCs 730 that it has had limited opportunities for compliance activity since the system was established. It was also revealed that the Chinese acquisition skirted around the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). Law firm McCullough Robertson partner Duncan Bedford told 730 that the FIRB approval may be required for the acquisition of water assets when it forms part of a broader business acquisition, but on its own, water entitlements do not require FIRB approval. More concerning, such transactions are largely exempt from the tightened foreign investment restrictions introduced in late March, which is understood as a preemptive measure to prevent China from snapping up Australians strategically important assets during the crisis induced by CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus. Under the new restriction, nearly all foreign asset purchases are subject to FIRB approval. Professor Quentin Grafton of the Australian National University argued that concerns about the acquisition of water assets by foreign investors can be addressed with a transparent public information system, which is essential to foster a fair and level market that leaves no ground for unfair abuse of market power. Grafton, a water economist, suggested that the focus should be placed on setting up a complete and above-board registration system covering both Australian and foreign investors to make effective scrutiny possible. As such, it is important that Australians know who is using our water, be it individual or corporate, or Australian or foreign entity, as well as what the water is being used for, he told The Epoch Times. This should be a public resource and its critically important to the country, he said. He is hopeful that the ACCCs investigation into water trading markets in the Murray-Darling Basin will shed more light on what needs to be done to ensure a fair market. The ACCC is expected to submit to the Treasurer an interim report on the inquiry by May 31 and provide the final report by the end of November. By PTI NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday hailed the new domicile rules notified in Jammu and Kashmir, with its president JP Nadda saying they will give the "long due" rights to all refugees as well as to Kashmiri Pandits living outside the union territory. People belonging to West Pakistan, Valmikis, women marrying outside communities, non-registered Kashmiri migrants and displaced people will soon get domicile under a new set of rules issued by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday. ALSO READ| BJP's Bandi Sanjay Kumar likens Bhainsa clashes to Kashmiri Pandit exodus "The new domicile rules gazetted in J&K are a welcome step. This will give the long due rights to all refugees incl those from West Pak, SC workers from rest of India settled in J&K for decades, children of KPs living outside J&K to claim domicile now. Equality & Dignity for all," he said on Twitter. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra noted that the Jammu and Kashmir government has now notified new domicile rules. "The domicile rules notified now replace the erstwhile J&K permanent resident rules that stood abrogated along with the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A. This is something that India had long waited for," he said. Joe Biden's campaign said Monday that as president, he would rescind the Trump administration's permit authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline, likely elevating the project into a 2020 campaign issue. If completed, the pipeline, which has spent the past decade in political and legal limbo, would help carry some 830,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada to refineries in Texas. The project was rejected by the Obama administration in 2015, sending what environmentalists hoped would be a signal that the United States was a global leader on fighting climate change. Trump promised during his 2016 campaign to revive the project, saying it posed no risk to the environment and suggesting its added jobs would be a boon for the economy. Shortly after taking office, his administration issued permits to allow it to move forward, but it has remained stalled because of legal challenges. The former vice president's renewed opposition to the project is likely to make it a flash point in the November election, again testing the popularity of Trump's drive to reverse Obama-era environmental policies. Stef Feldman, the Biden campaign's policy director, cited the potential economic harm she said the project would cause. "Denial of science ends on day one of a Biden presidency," Feldman said in a statement. Since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, Biden has reached out to various factions in the party, hoping to present a unified front against Trump. Environmentalists are an influential part of the Democratic coalition, and the battle over the Keystone pipeline has great symbolic and substantive importance for them. "Biden strongly opposed the Keystone pipeline in the last administration, stood alongside President Obama and Secretary Kerry to reject it in 2015, and will proudly stand in the Roosevelt Room again as president and stop it for good by rescinding the Keystone XL pipeline permit," Feldman said, referring to then-Secretary of State John Kerry. Biden has a mixed relationship with environmentalists, who urgently want to halt Trump's steady push to undo environmental, energy and conservation regulations. In June, Biden rolled out a $1.7 trillion plan to eliminate the nation's contributions to climate change by 2050 at the latest. The former vice president has also promised to recommit the United States to the landmark Paris climate agreement, which Trump abandoned during his first months in office. Although Biden's climate plan was more ambitious than anything proposed by Obama, it attracted criticism from liberals who faulted Biden for not pledging to ban fracking and for attending a fundraiser co-hosted by a co-founder of a natural gas company. Beyond that, Biden's environmental critics worry that he will not try to rein in greenhouse gas emissions as aggressively as climate scientists say is necessary. In 2018, a panel of U.N. climate scientists said the world has one decade to stop irreversible damage from global warming caused by humans. Last month, Biden said he is open to "expanding" his climate plan, in part as a way to woo former supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. The presumptive nominee has won endorsements from former vice president Al Gore and from the political arm of the League of Conservation Voters, which spent more than $80 million in the 2018 election. His campaign also made a point of adding liberal Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Varshini Prakash, co-founder of the outspoken climate group Sunrise Movement, to a policy advisory panel. Biden has found a way to talk about environmental policy amid the pandemic by highlighting early research linking air pollution to covid-19 death rates. He has tied the pandemic and climate change together as areas in which he says Trump has rejected science and reason in favor of ideology.s "This is a nonscience president," Biden said during an online fundraiser last month, referring to Trump, who called climate change a hoax before becoming president. "He doesn't believe in science. Sadly, our recent response to climate change has been a lot like our response to the pandemic." The Keystone XL pipeline was controversial even within the Obama administration, undergoing environmental reviews that stretched through both of his terms. BuzzFeed reported in 2013 that Biden told an environmental activist in South Carolina that he opposed the project but added that within the administration, "I'm in the minority." Environmentalists said the project would disturb fragile ecosystems and increase the risk of oil spills, while some Native American groups said it would harm their ancestral lands. Conservatives said the project would provide jobs and inexpensive energy and argued that it carried little risk. Toward the end of his administration, Obama rejected the pipeline on environmental grounds, prompting an outcry from Republicans who accused him of making the move for political reasons. Although Trump's administration has authorized the necessary permits, the project faces several legal challenges. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Montana reaffirmed his ruling canceling another key permit, finding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had failed to adequately assess the risk that the project posed to endangered species. Hillary Clinton also struggled with the issue, ending a long silence in 2015 to come out against the project as she ran for president. She had tried to remain neutral because she had been involved in negotiations over the pipeline as secretary of state, but she eventually said she opposed it after Sanders began winning liberal support for his denunciation of the project. The building at the corner of 79th Street and Vincennes Avenue houses a convenience store on the ground level and apartments above, according to posts on social media from the Chicago Fire Department, which has had crews battling the blaze since about 6:30 a.m. The fire was entirely struck out about 9:15 a.m. With countries slowly starting to reopen after a strict lockdown for over two months, governments, airlines and regulators across the world are starting to put in new measures to allow safe travel amid the global pandemic. With no potential vaccine in sight and virus far from over, here are new measures being put in place for air travel by some of the major countries in the world. European Union, the United Kingdom Starting from the European Union and the United Kingdom, the region where tourism sector accounts for 10% of the GDP, new measures proposed by the airlines and airports reportedly state compulsory wearing of face masks for passengers. Airlines and airports are required to reorganise luggage drop-off and pick-up section to avoid crowds. Travellers should also keep minimum movement onboard a flight to avoid physical contact with co-passengers and cabin crew. Read: '14-day Quarantine' Will Inhibit Flyers Even If Global Aviation Resumes: IATA Survey United States The United States, which is also one of the largest tourist destinations in the world has no government-imposed guidelines for air travel yet. But airlines have issued advisories for travellers asking them to wear face coverings at all time and some have even decided to leave middle seats empty in their flights as part of social distancing measure. As per reports, some major airlines in the country have also asked airports to conduct temperature checks of passengers and staff member before allowing them to board the flight. Read: IATA, UPU Warn Of Air Capacity Shortage, Call For Swift Action To Keep The Mail Moving South Korea South Korean regulator has made temperature checks of passengers compulsory and has asked airports to ensure travellers maintain a three feet distance while standing in queues before boarding flights. Airports must also keep hand sanitizers at every nearest place they can find. As per reports, Korean Air Lines Co Ltd is making temperature checks for international travellers mandatory, while for domestic passengers wearing face masks is compulsory barring children below the age of two. South Korea is among the few countries that have successfully managed to contain the outbreak. Read: ACI, IATA Demand Urgent Financial Support To Protect Jobs, Operations China Meanwhile, China, where the disease first emerged is requiring passengers to fill out an electronic health declaration before boarding a flight. The Chinese aviation regulator has also made temperature checks at the airports mandatory for all passengers and staff members. The regulator has also asked travellers to sit as far as possible on board an aircraft and has made wearing of face mask compulsory throughout the course of the journey. Read: 'Evidence Says Covid Transfer Risk In Flights Is Low; Don't Leave Middle Seat Empty': IATA IATA guidelines The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on May 5 said that it does not support mandating social distancing measures that would leave middle seats empty in flights. The IATA on Tuesday said it is in favour of the wearing of face coverings for passengers and masks for the crew while on board aircraft but does not recommend airlines to leave 'middle seats' empty as part of the social distancing measures, claiming that evidence suggests that the risk of transmission onboard aircraft is low because the High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters on modern aircraft clean cabin air efficiently. (Image Credit: AP) COLUMBUS, Ohio - Annie Glenn, who was thrust into the spotlight in 1962 when her husband became the first American to orbit the Earth, but who shied away from the media attention because of a severe stutter that later moved her to advocate for people with speech disorders, died Tuesday. She was 100. Glenn died of complications from COVID-19 at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minnesota, where she had moved in recent years to be near her daughter, said Hank Wilson, a spokesman for the Glenn College of Public Affairs at Ohio State University. NASA later announced her death. Her husband, John Glenn, died in 2016 after an extraordinary life that also included breaking the transcontinental speed record and serving as a Democratic U.S. senator from Ohio. He and Annie were married for 73 years. The relationship was the stuff of fairy tales and one of the great love stories of all time, Dale Butland, the senators former speechwriter and chief of staff, said in a written statement Tuesday. During WW II, the Korean war and two flights into outer space, Annie patiently waited for her John to come home, Butland said. Since December of 2016, Johns been patiently waiting for his Annie. Today, theyre both where they always wanted to be: together for all eternity. At age 53 in 1973, she enrolled in an intensive program at the Communications Research Institute at Hollins College, now Hollins University, in Roanoke, Virginia, that gave her the skills to control her stutter and to speak in public. By the time 77-year-old John Glenn returned to space in 1998 aboard the space shuttle Discovery, she showed she had become comfortable in her public role when she acknowledged she had reservations about her husbands newest flight. John had announced one year before that he was going to retire as a senator, so I was looking forward to having him as my own because I had given him to our government for 55 years, she told a NASA interviewer. Her career in advocacy included service on the boards of child abuse and speech and hearing organizations. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Associations Annie Glenn Award was created to honour people who overcome a communication disorder. Annie will be remembered for her work to lift others up, including those who shared her struggles with communicative disorders, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, said in a written statement. Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, called Glenn our most beloved Ohioan and ordered flags flown at half-staff. NASA released a statement calling her a stalwart member of the space and military communities. She stood steadfastly by her husband as he took to space once again as the oldest person to orbit Earth, even as she continued her own lifelong public service on behalf of children, the elderly, and the disabled, the statement said. In 1998, Defence Secretary William Cohen honoured Annie Glenn with the Department of Defence Medal for Outstanding Public Service, calling her a hero in her own right and praising her for being a strong voice for children, speech and communications, and the disabled. In 2009, Glenn received an honorary doctorate of public service from Ohio State, where she served as an adjunct professor of speech pathology. The university bestows an Annie Glenn Leadership Award annually. Glenn was born Anna Margaret Castor on Feb. 17, 1920, in Columbus, and knew her future husband while they were growing up in New Concord. She was offered an organ scholarship to The Juilliard School, but World War II began, and John proposed, so she decided to stay with him, according to a biography on the Glenn Colleges website. The high school sweethearts attended Muskingum College and were married in 1943. They had two children, David and Lyn, who survive them. The Glenns served on the board of the college, now Muskingum University, and Annie Glenn was named a distinguished alumni fellow in speech communications. A virtual memorial service officiated by the Rev. Amy Miracle, of the Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, will be held at 11 a.m. June 6, Wilson said. No parishioners or guests will attend in person because of restrictions in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic that took Annie Glenns life. Fears of a possible new COVID-19 outbreak in a Chinese region of over 100 million residents have escalated after two cities from the area went under Wuhan-style lockdown. Officials from Jilin province of north-eastern China appointed two hospitals today as designated coronavirus facilities to deal with the overwhelming spike of suspected COVID-19 patients. Chinese officials have imposed strict quarantine measures on two cities in Jilin as a local infection cluster continues to spread and threaten neighbouring areas. It comes as Wuhan, the city where the pandemic began, reported a new infection today, bringing the total of active confirmed cases in the former epicentre to seven. A 'mysterious' cluster of COVID-19 infections has ravaged a Chinese region of over 100 million residents as footage captures throngs of hazmat-clad workers conduct mass-testing on the citizens under Wuhan-style lockdown. Pictured, medical workers wait to be disinfected as they line up to submit the COVID-19 samples in Jilin on Sunday Officials from Jilin province of north-eastern China appointed two hospitals today as designated coronavirus facilities to deal with the overwhelming spike of suspected COVID-19 patients. Volunteers wearing protective suits stand guard at the temperature checkpoint at the entrance of a residential community on May 17 A video released by The Beijing News has shown hazmat-clad health workers giving coronavirus testing to residents in Jilin province as part of the mass-screening carried out by the local government. Authorities from Shulan, a city of 700,000 people located in Jilin province, said that they 'will severely punish' the residents who violate lockdown rules. The city of Jilin, home to 4.5 million, has sealed off one of its districts this week after changing the area's emergency level to 'high-risk'. More than 40,000 residents in both cities have received nucleic acid tests as the authorities scramble to prevent a second wave of the outbreak. It comes as a cluster of infections emerged in Shulan earlier this month continues to spread and threaten the north-eastern Chinese region of 'Dongbei', which has 108 million residents. The Dongbei area is a geographical region covering three provinces: Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang. More than 40,000 residents in its second-largest city Jilin and Shulan have been screened as the authorities scramble to prevent a second wave of the outbreak. Pictured, a medical worker collects sample for COVID-19 testing at the Tongji community in Shulan Dongbei, reminiscent of the Midlands in the UK, is a geographical region corresponding specifically to the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang Shulan, a city of 600,000 people located in Jilin province of north-western China, has tightened quarantine measures today by banning residents from leaving their homes in compounds with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases. The picture taken on May 17 shows an entrance of a market is blocked in Jilin province The province of Jilin reported five new infections today, bringing the total of confirmed cases related to the cluster to 39. All the infections are believed to have all linked to the same source. But officials are still unravelling how the first patient, a 45-year-old laundry worker, contracted the killer bug. The cities of Jilin and Shulan have appointed one local hospital each as designated facilities to quarantine COVID-19 patients, according to the authorities today. Six officials - one from Shulan and five from Jilin city - have been removed from their posts following the emergence of the cluster, Chinese media report. The city of Shulan has been under lockdown since May 9 after registering 12 COVID-19 cases in the space of two days. Four days later, the city of Jilin, with a population of more than four million, shut down its borders and suspended public transport after reporting six new confirmed cases last Wednesday, all linked to the infection cluster in Shulan. Households from areas with no infections can appoint only one family member to go out to purchase essentials once every two days for a maximum of two hours. A volunteer wearing a protective suit is seen scanning a woman's health QR code at the temperature checkpoint at the entrance of a residential community in Jilin city on May 17 Shulan, a city of 700,000 people located in Jilin province of north-western China, has been a COVID-19 hotspot after reporting a cluster of infections earlier this month Jilin city reported six new confirmed cases on Wednesday, all linked to the Shulan cluster, bringing the total number of cases linked to a local laundry worker to 21. Police officers clad in protective suits stand guard outside Jilin city's railway station on May 13 From Sunday, officials in Jilin city have sealed off one of its districts Fengman, after detecting 12 infections. The area's emergency level has also been changed from 'medium-risk' to 'high-risk'. Shulan officials decided to implement further restrictions on its residents after the cluster of infections continue to spread across the province, according to an official notice issued yesterday. The directive, billed as 'Shulan's most strict measures', said that residential compounds with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases have been sealed off from Monday, with no citizen allowed to enter or leave. Daily supplies will be delivered to residents' front doors by local supermarkets. Households from areas with no infections can appoint only one family member to go out to purchase essentials once every two days for a maximum of two hours. Residents who break such rules will be banned from leaving their homes completely and 'severely punished in accordance with the laws', the notice said. The cities of Jilin and Shulan are located in the eponymous province of Jilin, which borders Russia and North Korea. Workers are seen lining up for medical workers to take swabs for the coronavirus test at a large factory in Wuhan on May 15 as the city pledges to screen all of its 11 million citizens in 10 days As of today, Jilin province has reported a total of 39 confirmed COVID-19 infections, of which 20 were recorded in Shulan and 19 were detected in the city of Jilin. All of the cases were linked to a local laundry worker, a 45-year-old woman who tested positive on May 7 and was reported as the first confirmed infection. But it remains unclear how the patient contracted the virus. Nine patients from the cluster of infections have recovered, according to the Jilin Health Commission today. No deaths have yet been reported. It comes as Wuhan, the city where the pandemic began, has kicked off its 10-day coronavirus testing on its 11 million residents as seeing an emergence of new cases in Wuhan in recent days, after 35 days without fresh infections. Wuhan reported a new infection today, bringing the total of active confirmed cases in the former epicentre to now seven. On May 10, the former ground zero recorded six confirmed infections, sparking fears of a new outbreak in the city that lifted the draconian lockdown only over a month ago. China has largely brought the virus under control, but it has been on edge about a potential second wave as it has lifted lockdowns and restrictions across the country. Editor's Note: With so much market volatility, stay on top of daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our speedy summary of today's must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here! (Kitco News) - McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX; TSX: MUX) posted a net loss in the first quarter, most of which was due to an impairment charge, and production has been impacted by government restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the company reported Tuesday. The company listed a net net loss of $99.2 million, 25 cents a share, primarily due to an $83.8 million impairment adjustment for the Gold Bar mine and $6.3 million spent on exploration and advanced projects. The loss in the year-ago quarter was $10.1 million, or 3 cents a share. The $83.8 million write-down for Gold Bar, located in Nevada, is necessary because a change in the geological interpretation resulted in a substantial reduction in expected gold production over the life of mine, the company said. For first quarter, McEwen Mining listed production of 29,200 gold ounces and 553,200 silver ounces. This equals 35,100 gold-equivalent ounces at an average gold-silver price ratio for the quarter of 94:1, the company said. The gold output was up from 26,900 ounces in the first quarter of 2019, while the silver production was down from 703,200. The company said each of its mines has been impacted by efforts to combat COVID-19, with government restrictions often the deciding factor. McEwen added that production and cost guidance for 2020 has been withdrawn until the situation normalizes. The San Jose Mine in Argentina was temporarily suspended on March 20 and restarted April 14, although travel restrictions mean it will take some time before full production is achieved, the company said. Mining at Black Fox Mine in Canada was suspended on March 26 and resumed normal operations on April 14. The company opted to scale back Gold Bar operations on March 26 and suspended them on April 1, although downstream activities are continuing, such as heap leaching and process-plant operation. The company recently resumed stripping to access the next ore benches in the Gold Pick West deposit and processing of stockpiled mineralized material. We continue evaluating the next stages to resume normal operating capacity, the company said. McEwen said rigorous safety measures have been instituted to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and no employees have been infected so far. The company also gave an update on a previously reported that notice from New York Stock Exchange regarding the $1 minimum share price listing standard. As of April 21, the Securities and Exchange Commission and NYSE have provided temporary relief from the $1 minimum share price standard, providing the company until December 3, 2020 to regain compliance, the company said. A pensioner in his eighties has been warned he must comply with a protection order taken out against him by his adult son. The elderly man was brought before Judge John Cheatle at Dublin District Court accused of breaching the order under the Domestic Violence Act. Judge Cheatle noted the pensioners son had made the complaint. He lived with the accused having moved home a number of years ago and had obtained the protection order. Another one has been taken out by the mans wife, the court heard. The elderly man did not address the court. His solicitor pleaded for bail and said there were concerns over his level of understanding. The pensioner was afraid of his son, the solicitor said. Granting bail, Judge Cheatle said it was a difficult situation and he asked if anything could be put in place to ensure everyone was kept safe. The court heard the family lived in a substantial enough dwelling. Judge Cheatle ordered the accused to abide by the terms of the order and he made it a condition of bail. If there were further alleged breaches the court may require him to live somewhere else, he warned. The mans case was listed for mention later this month. CHELMSFORD, Mass., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- First Light Diagnostics, Inc., a developer of breakthrough automated products for rapid, sensitive, and cost-effective diagnosis of life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant infections, has acquired a "Paycheck Protection Program" (PPP) loan with the US Small Business Administration (SBA) as part of the US Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The loan of $1.1 million to First Light Diagnostics is part of a program intended to help small businesses in the US keep workers on their payroll with partially forgivable loans. First Light Diagnostics is developing and intends to commercialize a unique range of breakthrough diagnostic products to rapidly, sensitively and cost-effectively detect life-threatening infections, to determine effective antibiotics at the onset of infection, and to attenuate the spread of antibiotic resistance In mid-March First Light Diagnostics closed their facility in Chelmsford in accordance with the emergency orders of Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, furloughed roughly half of their employees and instructed the remaining staff to work remotely. Working closely with their banking partner, Century Bank, First Light was able to secure the $1.1 million PPP loan and return the furloughed employees onto their payroll on April 27. First Light has begun to implement a re-start plan and will have their facility ready to safely reopen in May. "This is a challenging, unprecedented time for businesses and First Light Diagnostics is no exception," said David Macdonald, President and CEO of First Light Diagnostics. "We appreciate the government's assistance through the CARES Act as we navigate the current situation, with an eye toward a return to regular business." About First Light Diagnostics, Inc. First Light Diagnostics is developing and intends to commercialize a unique range of breakthrough diagnostic products to rapidly, sensitively and cost-effectively detect life-threatening infections, to determine effective antibiotics at the onset of infection, and to attenuate the spread of antibiotic resistance. Don Straus is the company's Founder and primary inventor of the company's core scientific technology. Based on its proprietary MultiPath detection technology, First Light's products combine the clinical performance of the most advanced commercial laboratory tests with speed, cost-effectiveness, and ease-of-use. This will improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, and prevent inappropriate use of powerful antibiotics. To learn more, please visit: www.firstlightdx.com. David Macdonald President and CEO First Light Diagnostics [email protected] Mobile: (858) 997-9641 Related Images first-light-diagnostics.png First Light Diagnostics First Light Diagnostics is developing and intends to commercialize a unique range of breakthrough diagnostic products to rapidly, sensitively and cost-effectively detect life-threatening infections, to determine effective antibiotics at the onset of infection, and to attenuate the spread of antibiotic resistance SOURCE First Light Diagnostics, Inc. Related Links http://www.firstlightdx.com The government of Ghana has launched three new policy initiatives designed to deepen financial inclusion and accelerate digital payments in line with governments vision of building a payment system that accelerates economic development. Announcing the policies National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy, Digital Financial Services Policy and cash-Lite Roadmap, the Minister of Finance, Ken-Ofori Atta said Digital payments help drive transparency, accountability, efficiency, as well as greater womens participation in the economy. Moving away from cash helps our country advance towards achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals. The National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy, developed in collaboration with the World Bank, aims at increasing financial inclusion from currently 58 percent to 85 percent by 2023, helping create economic opportunities and reducing poverty. The Digital Financial Services Policy, developed in partnership with CGAP, builds on existing technological gains to create a resilient, inclusive, and innovative digital ecosystem that contributes to social development, a robust economy, and a thriving private sector. The Cash-Lite Roadmap, designed in collaboration with the United Nations-based Better Than Cash Alliance, puts forward concrete steps to build an inclusive digital payments ecosystem. This includes better access to financial services, enabling regulation and oversight, and promoting consumer protection. According to the Finance Minister, public and private sector actors need to work hand in hand, digitizing in a responsible manner, to turn these new policy initiatives into tangible benefits for all Ghanaians. These assertions are even more relevant in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2017, the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHIPPS) under the auspices of the Central Bank of Ghana, launched the Mobile Money Interoperability scheme to facilitate the simple and convenient movement of funds across mobile money platforms. In November 2019, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, announced an initiative to pilot a Central Bank digital currency (CBDC) in a Sandbox environment. This would foster competition, reduce the operational costs associated with cash, and move the country closer to achieving its cash-lite objectives. The Central Bank has also set up a Fintech and Innovation Office to drive the Banks Cash-lite, e-payments, and digitisation agenda. Efforts at ensuring the development of the FinTech industry culminated in the establishment of the Ghana Chamber of Technology by industry players as its umbrella body. Among other things, the Chamber provides a forum for FinTechs and Payment Service Providers to share experiences and also serve as a single point of interaction with the Central Bank and key stakeholders. The latest figures from GhIPSS show that the use of electronic payment channels that go through GhIPSS platform went up by 81 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. The launch conforms to the call by the Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia on financial institutions, telecommunications, and fintech sectors to find innovative ways of turning mobile phones and the mobile money platforms into vehicles of economic emancipation for the many players in the large informal sector. He made this statement during the launch of QRPay and Proxypay by the Bank of Ghana in March. According to Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen, Managing Director of the United Nations-based Better Than Cash Alliance, "Ghana is already recognized as a global digital payment success story! We look forward to continuing to work with our members, the Government, as well as with the private sector and international organizations, to accelerate the new ambitious cash-lite roadmap, in a way that is responsible and responsive to the needs of all Ghanaians. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, these policies reinforce the governments unwavering commitment to digitising the Ghanaian economy and providing the soft infrastructure that will enable the private sector, payment service providers and all other ecosystem players to innovate digital financial solutions in a conducive environment to the benefit of all Ghanaians. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video CRANBROOK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSXV:"EPL") is pleased to announce that through staking, it has acquired 20 claims prospective for uranium totaling approximately 7620 hectares in the Athabasca Basin area of Saskatchewan, Canada. The newly acquired claims were staked during recent re-openings of lapsed claims held by the Government of Saskatchewan. The three new uranium projects are 100% owned by EPL and are not subject to any royalties to underlying vendors. Cable Bay The Cable Bay property consists of 9 claims totaling 4070 hectares. The property is contiguous to the south and west with the ALX Resources-Pacton Gold Carpenter Lake JV, and to the east with a block of claims recently acquired by Cameco Corporation. The property overlies approximately 9 km of the central portion of the Cable Bay Shear Zone ("CBSZ") south of the margin of the Athabasca Basin. The CBSZ is a crustal-scale, regional lithotectonic domain boundary, nearby and parallel to the Virgin River Shear Zone which hosts the Centennial uranium deposit. Such major structural features are deemed important as pathways for mineralized fluids. The Cable Bay project was covered by a 2010 JNR Resources Inc.-Goldak high sensitivity airborne magnetometer survey. JNR integrated the results from this survey with previously acquired VTEM and DIGHEM geophysical data as well as basement geology and stream and lake geochemical data to define magnetic and conductor settings thought to be prospective for uranium mineralization. (AR 74G07-0066) The newly acquired Eagle Plains tenures cover two targets zones designated as medium-high priority by JNR. Both areas of interest are along the margin of the prospective Virgin River schist and are associated with DIGHEM conductors, magnetic linears and complex structural geology. Lazy Edward Bay The Lazy Edward property consists of 7 claims totaling 1420 hectares straddling the southern margin of the Athabasca Basin with the majority of the property covering basement rocks. The claims cover a series highly of prospective and underexplored basement-hosted conductors outlined by historical geophysical exploration including three target zones with coincident DIGHEM conductors and magnetic linears defined by JNR Resources in 2010. Two of the areas of interest, including a high priority target, lie within a complex group of folded magnetic units with good conductor correlation and have never been drill tested. The other medium-high priority zone is inside the basin with basement depths ranging from about 70 meters to 200 meters based on historical drilling in the area. The area of interest is located on a fold nose coincident with a series of NE trending ground and airborne geophysics conductors. Flat Rock Island The Flat Rock Island property consists of 4 claims totaling 2129 hectares along the southeastern shore of Lake Athabasca. The tenures cover a swarm of ground and airborne conductors overlain by a shallow (<200m) cover of Athabasca sandstone. The above information is taken directly from the public Saskatchewan Government geoscience database including the Saskatchewan Mineral Deposits Index (SMDI), Assessment Reports (AR) and the online Saskatchewan GeoAtlas. Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a Qualified Person, but form a basis for ongoing work on the Cable Bay, Lazy Edward Bay and Flat rock Island projects. Management further cautions that past results or discoveries on proximate lands are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be achieved on the subject properties. Charles C. Downie, P.Geo., a "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and a Director of Eagle Plains Resources Ltd., has prepared, reviewed, and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release. About Eagle Plains Resources Based in Cranbrook, B.C., Eagle Plains continues to conduct research, acquire and explore mineral projects throughout western Canada. The Company is committed to steadily enhancing shareholder value by advancing our diverse portfolio of projects toward discovery through collaborative partnerships and development of a highly experienced technical team. Managements' current focus is to preserve its treasury while advancing its most promising exploration projects. In addition, Eagle Plains continues to seek out and secure high-quality, unencumbered projects through research, staking and strategic acquisitions. Since 2012, Eagle Plains has added to its portfolio a number of new projects exceeding 130,000 ha targeting mainly gold, uranium and base-metals in Saskatchewan, a highly-prospective mining jurisdiction which was recently recognized by the Fraser Institute as one of the top 3 jurisdictions in the world in terms of Investment Attractiveness. Throughout the exploration process, our mission is to help maintain prosperous communities by exploring for and discovering resource opportunities while building lasting relationships through honest and respectful business practices. Expenditures from 2011-2019 on Eagle Plains-related projects exceed $20M, most of which was funded by third-party partners. This exploration work resulted in approximately 30,000 m of diamond-drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work facilitating the advancement of numerous projects at various stages of development. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Tim J. Termuende" President and CEO For further information on EPL, please contact Mike Labach at 1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673) Email: mgl@eagleplains.com or visit our website at http://www.eagleplains.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. SOURCE: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/590472/Eagle-Plains-Resources-Announces-Acquisition-of-Uranium-Exploration-Claims-in-the-Athabasca-Basin-Saskatchewan The nurses stood by his bedside, holding his hand and stroking his forehead. In the makeshift ICU, machines beeped and soughing air flowed through the oxygen mask covering his face. Louie, youre not alone. Were here for you, said Julie Falasca, a registered nurse, as she squeezed his hand. Marylin Monzon, a fellow registered nurse, leaned in, put her hand on top of his head and stared into his closed eyes. His oxygen levels were dropping. His breathing was labored. And his heart rate was rising. The end was near. By the morning of April 21, Louis C. Schmidt, a 74-year-old patient with no living relatives, had been at Holy Name Medical Center for 10 days after contracting COVID-19. Hed been admitted from a Teaneck nursing home. Caregivers took on the role of family for the man whose next of kin was listed as a longtime friend. When Schmidt died later that evening, he was surrounded by a group of nurses and staff. They wouldnt let him die alone. We prayed, and we held his hand until he took his last breath so he wasnt alone..." Falasca said. We were there because his family couldnt be. Throughout the pandemic, the staff at the Teaneck hospital one of the hardest hit in the state during the crisis has witnessed horrific scenes and countless deaths from the coronavirus. It has treated patients from all walks of life as families were prevented from visiting due to the highly contagious nature of the virus. Those nurses would not allow any patients to face the end alone. So they adopted Schmidt, becoming his family for 10 days until COVID-19 took his life. For the nurses and other staff, it felt longer. They came to adore him: his wry sense of humor, his smile, the fighter attitude and his little quirks, like his particular fondness for ginger ale. He had grown weaker as his condition worsened with each passing day. And by the end, he was barely responsive, unable to speak. Yet he could still communicate through squeezes of the hand that signaled to nurses he was still there, still fighting. We want to ensure that we give them the dignity, the respect and the love that they would feel had family members been there, said Monzon, a nurse for 22 years who lives in Rahway. Health care workers form bonds from the heartache they experience daily, as they attempt to play both caregiver and family member amid rules that prohibit loved ones from visiting hospitals. The dual role eventually takes a toll, especially when they lose the patients who stand out for them. And Schmidt stood out. There was just something about him. Nurses and staff at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck by the beside of Louis C. Schmidt, a 74-year-old patient with no living relatives who had contracted COVID-19. Staff ensured the man did not die alone.Photo by Jeff Rhode Sleepless nights Nightmares wake her in the night. Other days, Falasca lies restless in bed, unable to sleep. Shes worried about her patients making it through to the morning. Theres nights I cant even sleep," said Falasca, who has been a nurse for 16 years. "I have nightmares. Did I do enough? Did I do everything that I could for him? Is he comfortable? Is his family OK? And I just go on and on and on with that. And then even on your days off, you call in: How did he do last night? What did they do? Are they OK? We all do it. Falasca especially worried about Schmidt. He was admitted into the makeshift ICU, where he was surrounded by other patients in beds encased by plexiglass. Her colleagues knew how much she cared about him, and they always gave her updates on his condition. Shed come prepared with a list of questions like a parent whose child just spent his first night at summer camp: Hows he sleeping? Has he been restless? Hows his breathing? Monzon also took to Schmidt immediately. He was tough, with a confident swagger and a charming grin. He had some sass in him You know that crooked smile that you get when you see somebody and youre like: Yeah, OK Louie, we got it, Monzon said playfully. Thats the reaction you got when you cared for Louis. He was tough. He seemed impervious. "He wasn't somber. He was like, 'Yeah, I got this,'" Monzon said. Beneath all that swagger was a gentleness, a man who seemed to have lived too much life to make a fuss. Yet somehow this kind man had just one longtime friend, who spoke to Schmidt daily through video calls arranged by nurses. In those first days, Schmidt was upbeat and playful. The two nurses got a kick out of his seemingly endless requests for ginger ale and distaste for water. I was like, No, Louie youre supposed to drink the water, said Falasca, a Hackensack resident. Hes like, No, no, I dont want this. So they kept the ginger ale coming. He just kept on drinking it and drinking it," Falasca said. They would joke around with him, sometimes be a little feisty, she added. Schmidt always left them with a smile. Then his condition turned grave. Nurses and staff at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck by the beside of Louis C. Schmidt, a 74-year-old patient with no living relatives who had contracted COVID-19. Staff ensured the man did not die alone.Photo by Jeff Rhode Bonds and loss The pandemic has exacted an emotional toll on New Jerseys nurses. Normally, patients arrive, get better and go home. But then came the coronavirus. Its been traumatic, Monzon said. Theres really no words to describe this other than probably the worst roller coaster in the world, she said. Monzon paused as her voice tightened and she choked up. We all refuse to cry because I think if we start, we wont stop, she said. Patient volume at Holy Name has decreased in recent weeks, leaving everyone relieved. But COVID-19 patients remain, allowing little time to take stock. "So we dont have that chance to sit back and reflect because were always still thinking: Our patient is here. What do we need to do? Whats the fight for this one today? Monzon said. For nurses, its a calling. To hold patients hands, to be there by their bedsides. To watch them recover and walk out with their families. And to help the others who never will. When we have moments to celebrate, we celebrate, Monzon said. And when we have moments that we cant celebrate, and we have to say our goodbyes, we say a prayer. We hold a hand, and I think we all mourn. "And then we kind of have to straighten up the shoulders, and then we have another person to fight for. Nurses and staff at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck by the beside of Louis C. Schmidt, a 74-year-old patient with no living relatives who had contracted COVID-19. Staff ensured the man did not die alone.Photo by Jeff Rhode On the morning of April 21, Falasca was tending to another patient when she learned Schmidts condition had deteriorated. She went to see him as soon as she could. It was around 8 a.m., and his breathing had grown labored. His chances of survival grew slimmer by the hour. Falasca said the Lords Prayer, watching his chest move up and down. She squeezed his hand. Monzon was also by his side, as were other staff members. Falasca told him he wasnt alone. It was still morning, and Falasca had to tend to her other patients. There are always other patients to check on, new people to get to know. But she would return. Schmidt died later that evening during a shift change. "Around 7 p.m., right before we left," Falasca said. He was never alone the entire day, she said. Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Chief Immigration Officer Charmaine Gandhi-Andrews has warned immigration officers that severe penalties can be imposed if any officer is found to be distributing sensitive and confidential information collected by the Immigration Division. The warning came in the form of a letter issued on May 13, just days after Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar presented at a virtual news conference scanned copies of Passenger Declaration Forms and Manifest of Passengers (Embarking/Disembarking) in Transit Forms related to the March 27 visit of Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez. Advertisement Two dams have burst after several days of heavy rainfall Tuesday forcing the evacuation of around 10,000 people in mid-Michigan, where the governor said one county could be 'under approximately 9 feet of water' by Wednesday morning. For the second time in less than 24 hours, families living along two lakes and a river were ordered Tuesday to leave home. The evacuations in Michigan followed days of heavy rains in parts of the Midwest that also brought flooding to Chicago and other parts of Illinois, Ohio and other states. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for locations along the Tittabawassee River after the breach at the Edenville Dam in Midland County, about 140 miles (225.31 kilometers) north of Detroit and the Sanford Dam, about seven miles (11.26 kilometers) downriver from Edenville. MICHIGAN: An aerial view of water from a broken Edenville Dam seen flooding the area as it flows towards Wixom Lake in Michigan MICHIGAN: For the second time in less than 24 hours, families living along two lakes and a river were ordered Tuesday to leave home. Pictured above vehicles and signs are submerged in floodwaters in downtown Sanford MICHIGAN: Floodwaters are seen along a street in downtown Sanford. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for locations along the Tittabawassee River after the breach at the Sanford Dam MICHIGAN: Floodwater surrounds gas pumps at Wixom Lake Gas & Launch Tuesday along the Tittabawassee River in Beaverton MICHIGAN: The Midwest has been hit by heavy flooding, with residents in one Michigan county forced to evacuate their homes amid fears of 'imminent dam failure'. The driver of this red pickup truck was rescued in Saginaw County, Michigan on Tuesday MICHIGAN: A view of a dam on Wixom Lake in Edenville, Michigan, Tuesday. People living along two mid-Michigan lakes and parts of a river have been evacuated following several days of heavy rain MICHIGAN: Water rushes through the Edenville Dam. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for locations along the Tittabawassee River after the breach at the Edenville Dam in Midland County, about 140 miles (225.31 kilometers) north of Detroit 'Extremely dangerous flash flooding is ongoing along the Tittabawassee River in Midland county due to catastrophic dam failures at the Edenville and Sanford dams,' the weather service said on its website, noting that anyone near the river should seek higher ground immediately, be prepared for immediate evacuations, and not drive into flooded roadways. 'This flooding will continue all along the length of the river in Midland county, and possibly extending into Saginaw county where a Flash Flood Watch is also in effect.' Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer late Tuesday declared a state of emergency for Midland County and urged residents threatened by the flooding to evacuate the area. She said shelters have opened across the county and are available to residents who need a place to go. 'This is unlike anything we've seen in Midland County,' she said. 'If you have a family member or loved one who lives in another part of the state, go there now.' Whitmer said downtown Midland faced an especially serious flooding threat. 'In the next 12 to 15 hours, downtown Midland could be under approximately 9 feet of water. We are anticipating an historic high water level.' Emergency responders went door-to-door early Tuesday morning warning residents living near the Edenville Dam of the rising water. Some residents were able to return home, only to be told to leave again following the dam's breach. MICHIGAN: A view of the flooded area near the Sanford dam. 'This is unlike anything we've seen in Midland County,' Gov Whitmer said. 'If you have a family member or loved one who lives in another part of the state, go there now' MICHIGAN: Floodwaters are seen along a street in downtown Sanford. A state of emergency has been declared MICHIGAN: Damaged utility poles are seen during flooding in downtown Sanford MICHIGAN: A view of the flooded area near the Sanford Dam on Tuesday. 'Extremely dangerous flash flooding is ongoing along the Tittabawassee River in Midland county due to catastrophic dam failures at the Edenville and Sanford dams,' the weather service said on its website MICHIGAN: The evacuations include the towns of Edenville, Sanford and parts of the city of Midland, which has 42,000 people, according to Selina Tisdale, spokeswoman for Midland County. Flooding by the Sanford Dam The evacuations include the towns of Edenville, Sanford and parts of the city of Midland, which has 42,000 people, according to Selina Tisdale, spokeswoman for Midland County. 'People are communicating well and looking after each other and their loved ones,' Tisdale said. 'Were heartbroken for those with lots of home and property damage.' Edenville Dam holds back Wixom Lake. Officials also were watching the Sanford Dam south of Edenville. The city of Midland, which includes the main plant of Dow Chemical, sits on the banks of the Tittabawassee River about 8 miles (12.87 kilometers) away from that dam. Dow Chemical Co. has activated its emergency operations center and will be adjusting operations as a result of current flood stage conditions, spokeswoman Rachelle Schikorra said in an email. MICHIGAN: Sanford Dam in Midland County, Michigan is pictured. Officials can not contain the amount of water spilling over its gates MICHIGAN: An aerial view of flooding as water overruns Sanford Dam MICHIGAN: Floodwaters overflow at Sanford Dam. The Sanford Dam, which was built in 1925, received a fair condition rating 'Dow Michigan Operations is working with its tenants and Midland County officials and will continue to closely monitor the water levels on the Tittabawassee River,' Schikorra said. Earlier, Midland County 911 sent out a series of alerts saying the Edenville and Sanford dams were at risk of failing. Midland County Emergency Management later said that the dams were 'structurally sound.' It said water flowing through the dam spillgates couldn't be controlled, however, so evacuation measures remained in place. In 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revoked the license of the company that operated the Edenville Dam due to non-compliance issues that included spillway capacity and the inability to pass the most severe flood reasonably possible in the area. The Edenville Dam, which was built in 1924, was rated in unsatisfactory condition in 2018 by the state. The Sanford Dam, which was built in 1925, received a fair condition rating from the commission. Both dams are in the process of being sold. There were 19 high hazard dams in unsatisfactory or poor condition in Michigan in 2018, ranking 20th among the 45 states and Puerto Rico for which The Associated Press obtained condition assessments. Two area schools had been opened Tuesday morning after the initial evacuation, but people who had been at one of the schools left by early afternoon. More than 50 roads in Midland County have now been closed. 'We were back at home and starting to feel comfortable that things were calming down,' said Catherine Sias, who lives about 1 mile (1.61 kilometers) from the Edenville Dam and left home early Tuesday morning. 'All of a sudden we heard the fire truck sirens going north toward the dam.' Sias, 45, said emergency alerts then began coming on her cell phone and people started calling to make sure they were safe. 'While packing, there were tons of police and fire trucks going up and down the roads,' she added. 'As far as I know, all of our neighbors got out.' M-30, the state highway trunkline that's also the main road through Edenville and the route Sias was using to evacuate, was backed up with vehicles. While driving, she saw the rushing Tittabawassee River. 'It was very dramatic, very fast and full of debris,' she said. Meanwhile, other residents went to shelters set up in area schools. 'We were laying in bed when I heard sirens,' local Jon St. Croix told the Midland Daily News. MICHIGAN: A resident in Midland County, Michigan is pictured kayaking down the street. Homes were evacuated the threat level considered extreme, with an 'extraordinary threat to life or property' MICHIGAN: The Midland Area Farmers Market is pictured after flooding on Tuesday MICHIGAN: A resident looks on at a deluge of water in Saginaw County, Michigan Tuesday morning MICHIGAN: Water inundated a gas station in Wixom, Michigan. Nearby residents were forced to evacuate to local schools 'A fire truck was driving around, broadcasting that (we needed) to evacuate. It's a scary thing - you're sleeping and awake to sirens.' St. Croix, 62, his wife and a next-door neighbor were among more than a dozen people sheltering in one school. Volunteers at the schools said about 120 vehicles were in the parking lots of a couple of schools and about 30 people had been staying on cots inside, according to WNEM-TV. About a dozen people hunkered down overnight at a school in nearby Sanford but had left by early Tuesday afternoon, said Tom Restgate, an American Red Cross safety officer. The cots inside the school were spread out to observe social distancing recommendations to fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Restgate said. Meanwhile, heavy rains also caused flooding in parts of northwestern Indiana, including Crown Point - the Lake County seat - where about seven inches fell over the weekend. OHIO: In Westerville, Ohio locals were picked up by rescue crews in a motorized boat OHIO: Westerville residents are pictured being evacuated from their homes following heavy rain In Chicago, water that flooded some areas downtown was receding on Tuesday, but Larry Langford, a fire department spokesman, said that he did not expect power to be restored at the iconic Willis Tower for days because the rains caused the building's subbasements to fill with as much as 25 feet (7.6 meters) of water. And in DuPage County, west of the city, a search for an 18-year-old woman who was swept away by a surging DuPage River last Friday remained suspended on Tuesday because the water remained too high and the current too swift to conduct the search safely. Tony Martinez, spokesman for the DuPage Forest Preserve District, said the area of the river where the woman was swept that is typically about 25 feet wide remained 200 yards wide. ILLINOIS: The Chicago River overflowed its banks and flooded the Riverwalk on Monday ILLINOIS: The Windy City was battered by heavy rain, which caused the Chicago River to breach its banks on Monday Un A, the female North Korean presenter of Echo DPRK, a YouTube channel believed to be managed by the North Korean regime, talks in one of the channel's clips posted on May 7. / Captured from YouTube By Kang Seung-woo North Korea is changing the way it promotes its closed-off regime to international audiences, with the propaganda now being produced in various and modern styles and with the presenters' signature bombastic style of speech being toned down. It is a stark contrast to the conventional propaganda put out by its state media that was traditionally unfriendly and unilateral. It is believed the change was made following its leader Kim Jong-un's repeated instruction to develop realistic and up-to-date propaganda. Echo DPRK, a YouTube channel that is believed to be managed by the North Korean regime, is one of the new-style outlets. Since its launch in August 2017, the channel has uploaded some 40 videos and has gained over 7,000 subscribers. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is the North's official name. The video channel featuring a female North Korean presenter named Un A began its propaganda in earnest last November by uploading 20 video clips that introduced the nation's major tourist destinations in the capital city of Pyongyang. In particular, the channel gained international recognition amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With the novel coronavirus spreading across the world, there were growing concerns that the epidemic may have reached the reclusive state although it has claimed to have zero infections. In a Feb. 29 clip, Un A explained what measures the North Korean government took to prevent the COVID-19 outbreak, while she explained in a March 24 upload why there were zero cases in the North. In a video uploaded April 25, she visited a department store in the capital and checked if anything was out of stock, refuting foreign media reports on panic buying in Pyongyang due to speculation over its leader's poor health. "I think fake news is the last thing we need in the time of such a fierce battle with COVID-19, and it is another reason why we should remain vigilant," she says in the video, which has been viewed over 24,000 times so far. When its leader returned to the public eye on May 1, visiting a fertilizer plant in Sunchon, South Pyongan Province, some media outlets reported the place may be part of the North's clandestine pursuit of uranium extraction for use in nuclear weapons. The channel posted another video on May 7, saying the factory will represent a great boost for crop production. The North's new style of propaganda taking advantage of social media is expected to continue, as its leader pursues practical methods of promoting his country. Kim Yo-jong, sister of Kim Jong-un, is in charge of the North's propaganda department. WASHINGTON - The Senate on Tuesday confirmed a conservative Texas lawyer nominated by President Donald Trump to the Federal Election Commission, restoring a voting quorum on the agency for the first time since August amid a mounting backlog of complaints and requests for guidance in an election year. Trey Trainor, an Austin, Texas-based election law attorney, has pushed for less regulation of money in politics and opposed efforts to require politically active nonprofit organizations to disclose their donors. He previously advised the Republican National Committee and Trump during the 2016 election. The party-line confirmation of Trainor ends the longest period in the agency's history without a quorum, giving the panel the four votes necessary to regulate and enforce federal campaign finance laws. With Trainor, the commission is again equally divided ideologically, which could resume the FEC's practice of often deadlocking on alleged election violations. Two vacancies remain on the panel, and it is unclear when the Senate will take action to fill them. Trainor's nomination had been in limbo since 2017 amid questions over his social media postings and a standstill among Senate leaders on an approach to appointing commissioners. Government transparency groups had widely opposed his nomination. Meanwhile, campaign finance lawyers from all sides of the political spectrum had pleaded for a fully functioning FEC. During a hearing on his nomination earlier this month, Roy Blunt, R-Mo., the Senate Rules and Administration Committee chairman, said he hoped to restore the FEC's quorum to help candidates "navigate the novel campaign issues that have been created by this pandemic." The final Senate vote on Trainor's nomination was 49 to 43. "I am grateful for the trust that President Trump has placed in me and I am heartened by the confirmation of the U.S. Senate. I look forward to serving the American people in this important position," Trainor said in a statement. Caroline Hunter, a Republican who serves as the chairwoman of the panel, said she was looking forward to a fresh perspective. "He has a lot of experience in representing candidates and PACs, and I think that practical perspective will be good for the commission," she said. In the absence of a quorum, the commission could not vote on complaints or give guidance through advisory opinions, which help political candidates navigate complex areas of campaign finance law. In recent months, advocacy groups had been filing lawsuits against the FEC in an effort to speed up the enforcement process, essentially bypassing the complaints process at the agency. Hunter said she is eager for the commission to be able to defend itself against such suits and conduct official work again. "The first thing I plan to do is vote to authorize the commission to defend itself in federal court to prevent the speech regulators from shaping the law with no input from the commission," she said. Democratic FEC commissioner Ellen Weintraub said she is ready to get back to work, noting that there are 350 matters on the agency's enforcement docket and 227 items waiting for action. "I hope to have a constructive working relationship with Trey," Weintraub said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us." Brad Smith, chairman of the conservative group Institute for Free Speech, welcomed Trainor's confirmation, saying the agency's work is especially crucial in an election year. Smith, a former FEC chairman, called on Senate and White House leaders to restore the full six-member commission. "Trey Trainor is a well-qualified and welcome addition to the Commission. The FEC can now, hopefully, defend its actions in court and provide guidance to speakers on how to comply with the law," Smith said in a statement. Government-transparency advocates said they are concerned about Trainor's views on the disclosure of political donors, and called for a dramatic overhaul to end partisan gridlock at the FEC. "We hope that Trey Trainor will faithfully uphold the anti-corruption laws on the books and work with his colleagues to swiftly resolve the backlog of complaints and advisory opinion requests before the FEC, despite the concerns raised about his qualifications during the confirmation process," said Meredith McGehee, executive director of Issue One, which seeks to reduce the role of money in politics. Among the attendants was Tong Thi Phong, Politburo member and Standing Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly. The event featured moving stories from guests recalling the life and revolutionary cause of Uncle Ho, as well as beautiful songs praising the late leader, thus expressing the entire nations infinitive respect and gratitude for his great sacrifices and devotion. * A monument of President Ho Chi Minh was inaugurated in the northern province of Nam Dinh on May 17. The monument is located at the most solemn venue on the campus of the headquarters of the Nam Dinh Provincial Police in Nam Dinh City, covering an area of nearly 400 square metres. It features a statue depicting Uncle Ho in his familiar khaki outfit with an upright position. The statue weighs over 5.5 tonnes, measuring 3.9 metres in height, and is firmly placed on a 3.6-metre high platform. Delegates cut the ribbon to inaugurate the monument of President Ho Chi Minh. According to a Nam Dinh Police representative, work started on the monument on December 27, 2019, at a total cost of more than VND5 billion (US$214,395), donated by the units officers and soldiers as well as collectives and individuals across the province. After the inaugural ceremony, delegates offered flowers and incense to pay tribute and respect to President Ho Chi Minh. * The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) held a workshop in Hanoi on May 17 to celebrate the 130th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh. At the event, delegates focused on discussing and sharing valuable experiences of exemplary trade union officials in practical activities at all levels in terms of studying and following Uncle Hos lifestyle. * In celebration of the late Presidents birth anniversary, the Ho Chi Minh City authorities launched a tree planting campaign on Sunday, during which the municipal leaders requested that each unit in the city implement at least one green development work with suitable forms in 2020. Officials, public servants, soldiers and residents in HCM City were encouraged to keep the environment clean, participate in planting green trees and develop green aspects in their families, residences and working places. Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan (C) and delegates plant green trees in the campus of the University of Economics and Law. (Photo: tuoitre.vn) Immediately after the launching ceremony, Politburo member and Secretary of the HCM City Party Committee, Nguyen Thien Nhan and delegates planted more than 250 green trees in the campus of the University of Economics and Law, Vietnam National University-HCM City. On November 28, 1959, President Ho Chi Minh wrote an article which was published on Nhan Dan (People) newspaper, stressing the significance of tree planting to each person, family and the entire nation. It has since become an annual festival of the Vietnamese at the beginning of each Lunar New Year. * The quintessence of President Ho Chi Minhs thoughts, morality and lifestyle was the focus of a symposium held by the scientific council of the Tri Viet Institute at the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) on May 17. Within the discussion, presentations were made on issues such as the harmony of the late leaders ideology and style as well as his thoughts on public health care, religions, culture, and mass mobilisation. * Also on May 17, the Ho Chi Minh Museums branch in the central province of Binh Thuan opened an exhibition that spotlighted President Ho Chi Minhs activities at the Duc Thanh School, where he worked as a teacher before leaving the country to seek ways for national salvation. On display were nearly 200 paintings and photos of the leader, along with important documents in his life and career. The exhibition also introduced role models in the studying and following of President Ho Chi Minhs thoughts, morality and lifestyle in Binh Thuan province. * On the morning of May 17, the Youth Union and the Youth Federation of Hai Duong province organised a voluntary programme for public health themed Young physicians follow Uncle Hos teachings in Kinh Mon town. Young doctors provide free medical checkups for local people. Young doctors presented gifts and offered free medical checkups and medicines to 200 national contributors, disadvantaged people and ex-youth volunteers in the wards of Hiep Son, Pham Thai and An Luu. * On Sunday, the Ben Tre provincial Party Committee held a ceremony to review the four-year implementation of the Politburos Directive 05 on accelerating the studying and following of President Ho Chi Minhs thoughts, morality and lifestyle. On the occasion, the province presented certificates of merit to five collectives and nine individuals with outstanding performance in studying and following Uncle Hos ideology, morality and lifestyle during 2018-2020. Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Kryklii has held a videoconference with Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Natela Turnava to discuss the resumption of regular passenger flights between the two countries, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry has reported. In particular, Kryklii thanked Turnava for Georgia's comprehensive and friendly support for Ukraine and spoke about all stages of the resumption of passenger transport in the country. Turnava, in turn, said Georgia was ready to open its borders to regular international flights from July 1. Therefore, she stressed the need to resume flights between the two countries as soon as possible. Kryklii said Ukraine was ready to act quickly and synchronously to open its borders to passenger traffic in coordination with the foreign ministries of both countries. Therefore, Ukrainian airlines have already addressed the Georgian side with a statement of readiness to resume flights. "Both sides are now actively working to create all the necessary safe conditions for passengers after the resumption of flights," the Infrastructure Ministry said. According to the report, Kryklii and Turnava discussed trade and economic relations between the two countries, possible options for stimulating the economy during the coronavirus crisis and bill No. 1182-1-d "On Inland Water Transport," adopted at first reading, which launches the reform of river transport. Georgian Deputy Economy Ministers Genadi Arveladze and Akaki Saghirashvili, Ukrainian Deputy Infrastructure Minister Oleh Yushchenko, Head of the State Aviation Service Oleksandr Bilchuk and representatives of the Infrastructure Ministry also participated in the videoconference. op A high-powered committee headed by a Delhi High Court judge has been informed by DG (Prisons) that 15 inmates and a staff found COVID-19 positive in Rohini jail are quarantined and undergoing treatment, while the process of tracing other prisoners who came in contact with them is still underway. The Director General (Prisons) told the committee headed by Justice Hima Kohli that a Special Task Force (STF) has been formed for 'contact tracing' of suspected cases in all the jails here, including Rohini jail, and if necessary coronavirus test will be done on other inmates who had come in contact with the COIVD-19 positive prisoners. It has been reported by DG (Prisons) that all the 15 inmates as well as the staff are asymptomatic, the committee recorded in its minutes of meeting held on Monday evening. A total of 16 inmates and one jail staff tested COVID-19 positive last week. The first positive case was reported after an inmate had undergone a surgery in DDU Hospital on May 11. After being found positive, he was shifted to LNJP Hospital, dedicated for COVID-19 treatment, where he is recuperating. The committee, set up on Supreme Court's order to look into decongesting prisons and prevent spread of COVID-19 there, decided that new entrants in jail should be kept in isolation wards to prevent their intermingling with other inmates. It said precautions be taken by jail staff, medical staff, maintenance staff and others entering the premises for delivery of essentials so that they do not come in direct contact with the prisoners. Feeling concerned about the issue, the committee chairperson asked the DG (Prisons) regarding availability of individual cells in any prison which can be converted into isolation cells for keeping the new entrants at least for an initial period of 14 days to prevent them from coming in contact with other inmates. Minutes of the meeting recorded that the DG (Prisons) informed that jail no.15 of Mandoli prison has an overall capacity of 280 prisoners and it has 248 individual cells with attached toilets and currently it houses 178 inmates, who are 'high risk prisoners'. It has been decided by the committee to shift the 160 of these 178 high risk prisoners to different jails in Tihar which also has high risk wards to accommodate them. The other 18 who are working as 'sahayak' will remain in Mandoli jail. The committee was satisfied with the steps being taken by jail authorities to prevent the spread of coronavirus in prison premises. It was informed that till Monday, a total of 3,678 prisoners, including undertrials and convicts, have been released on interim bail, parole or remission of sentence as part of the programme to de-congest jails here to contain the spread of COVID-19. The committee also made it clear that no prisoner in whatsoever category/ class he falls and whatever nature of offence he is facing trial, can seek or claim to be released from prison as a matter of right. It said the Supreme Court has clarified on April 13 that it has not directed the states or Union Territories to compulsorily release the prisoners from their respective prisons. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) RXA today announced it has appointed John Larsen as the co-founder and CEO of the new RXA-run entity, Weave Workforce. The establishment of Weave Workforce allows a tighter focus on the development and sales of the product and was made possible by the success of the RXA Workforce Optimization application," said Jason Harper, CEO, RXA. RXA, the leader in applied artificial intelligence, advanced data science, and analytics allowing companies to make smarter, faster decisions, announced today the establishment of Weave Workforce LLC, an RXA studio company. Weave Workforce is designed to help service businesses address the persistent challenges of aligning employee schedules to fluctuating demand by customers especially in these times of unprecedented uncertainty. In addition to the launch of the new company, RXA today announced it has appointed John Larsen as the co-founder and CEO of the RXA-run entity. Weave Workforce will leverage RXAs Workforce Optimization product and will continue to build on the intelligent demand forecasting and staffing engine. Establishing Weave Workforce as a separate entity will allow the solution to scale and adapt to additional customers and markets, with a focus on those with highly variable demand. The product has been used previously by Belle Tire to improve same store profitability by over 8% and a large pharmaceutical retailer to identify $24M in annual labor savings. Since we began using RXAs Workforce Optimization solution, we have been able to accurately forecast demand, our employees are better utilized and our customers are consistently receiving the attention they need in the storefront. We were able to reinvest capital that was saved from reduced labor costs back into our employees. Workforce Optimization has improved our business and I am excited to see how it develops as a separate entity, said Don Barnes III, president, Belle Tire. The appointment of John Larsen as co-founder and CEO of Weave Workforce lends experienced leadership to guide company growth. He is currently the founder of Yield Innovation, which helps companies identify and validate new business opportunities. Prior to Yield Innovation, Larsen held a variety of strategy and operations responsibilities at Ford Motor Company, including exploration and launch of new mobility businesses and partnerships. He also brings experience from the types of industries Weave Workforce will serve, including automotive maintenance, healthcare and retail. Weave Workforce is the first company to come out of the RXA Studio business model and with John as a leader, we are ready to capitalize on the opportunity it presents, said Jason Harper, CEO, RXA. The establishment of Weave allows a tighter focus on the development and sales of the product and was made possible by the success of the RXA Workforce Optimization application. For a service business, labor is their most valuable resource but also the most challenging to schedule given the variability of demand. This is particularly acute right now with the unprecedented impact of COVID-19, says Larsen. "The new entity will weave together a companys internal data, human experience, and external data to provide AI-based forecasting, staffing, and workforce scheduling." About Weave Workforce Weave Workforce is a technology company applying artificial intelligence to harmonize employee schedules to the fluctuating demand of service businesses. They achieve this with an intelligent forecasting, staffing and scheduling engine that combines a companys internal data with external signals and human intuition to provide simultaneous improvements in productivity and customer satisfaction. Weave Workforce is an RXA Studio company. Website: http://www.weaveworkforce.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/weaveworkforce About RXA RXA is a leading applied artificial intelligence and data science company founded in 2016 in Ann Arbor, MI. RXA has a diverse portfolio of services and solutions such as being a leading Domo implementation and consulting firm, customized artificial intelligence kick-start programs, and an RXA Studio to support the development of new products, companies, and proprietary solutions such as Media Optimization, Voice of Customer, and Workforce Optimization to help organizations improve their ROI and decision making while streamlining operations. RXAs solutions are currently being leveraged by over 70 different customers across North America, Europe, and Asia. RXA has been awarded Rising Star, Innovative Partner of the Year, and Application of the Year by Domo, Inc. Website: http://www.rxa.io Twitter: @RXAio LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rxa.io By Karthikeyan Sundaram India is on course for a rare current-account surplus as the coronavirus pandemic roils demand for imports, according to Barclays Plc. The banks current-account tracker points to a small deficit of $3 billion in 1Q 2020, followed by successive unwelcome surpluses, mirroring subdued economic activity, analysts led by Rahul Bajoria, its Mumbai-based senior economist, wrote in a note. For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here While low oil prices are serving as a tailwind for the economy, we think the bigger impact on the current account balance will come from reduced demand for both oil and non-oil imports, wrote Bajoria and Shreya Sodhani. Indias trade plunged in April as a nationwide lockdown to contain coronavirus ravaged supply chains and brought domestic demand to a halt in Asias third-largest economy. Exports shrank 60% from a year earlier, while imports declined 59%, helping narrow the trade gap to $6.76 billion from $9.8 billion in March, according to government data. CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH Indias imports have contracted in 10 of the past 12 months amid a protracted slowdown even before the virus outbreak. The trend has prompted Barclays to raise its current-account surplus forecast to $19.6 billion, or 0.7% of GDP, for the year to March from $10 billion previously. India reported a current-account deficit of $1.4 billion in the December quarter. Brazilian bombshell Alessandra Ambrosio wore a CDC-recommended, black-patterned mask to go for a jog with her dog in Santa Monica on Tuesday. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti extended the stay-at home order 'beyond May 15' due to the 38,466 confirmed COVID-19 cases in LA County, which has led to 1,842 deaths as of Tuesday. The 39-year-old CAA Model flaunted her taut tummy in a cinched grey T-shirt, black leggings, and matching sneakers. Exercise: Brazilian bombshell Alessandra Ambrosio wore a CDC-recommended, black-patterned mask to go for a jog with her dog in Santa Monica on Tuesday Alessandra called her chocolate Labrador Retriever, whom suddenly appeared in her life around Easter, her 'guardian angel' on May 10. Missing from Ambrosio's side was her Italian boyfriend, Alanui co-designer Nicolo Oddi, whom she met at HQ2 Nightclub in Atlantic City back in July 2018. The American Housewife guest star's two children - daughter Anja, 11; and son Noah, 8 - spent Monday with their father, Re/Done denim founder Jamie Mazur. The ex-couple amicably ended their decade-long engagement in March 2018. Grim: LA Mayor Eric Garcetti extended the stay-at home order 'beyond May 15' due to the 38,466 confirmed COVID-19 cases in LA County, which has led to 1,842 deaths as of Tuesday Athleisure attire: The 39-year-old CAA Model flaunted her taut tummy in a cinched grey T-shirt, black leggings, and matching sneakers Quarantine foster? Alessandra called her chocolate Labrador Retriever, whom suddenly appeared in her life around Easter, her 'guardian angel' on May 10 Just the two of us: Missing from Ambrosio's side was her Italian boyfriend, Alanui co-designer Nicolo Oddi, whom she met at HQ2 Nightclub in Atlantic City back in July 2018 Stylish: The model flaunted her flat midsection in her workout attire So fit: The Brazilian-born beauty opted for black leggings that had sheer paneling Hillside hike: The American Housewife guest star's two children - daughter Anja, 11; and son Noah, 8 - spent Monday with their father, Re/Done denim founder Jamie Mazur Little Anja might only be 11 years old, but she already boasts 24,200 Instagram followers in the account run by her family. On Monday, Alessandra - who boasts 17.6M social media followers - Instastoried herself relearning how to play the piano 'after decades' thanks to the coronavirus quarantine. Ambrosio played Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer's 1961 song Moon River, which won two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award. Music fans might recognize the wistful ballad as the song Audrey Hepburn performed as Holly Golightly in Blake Edwards' 1961 movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's. Hidden talent! On Monday, Alessandra - who boasts 17.6M social media followers - Instastoried herself relearning how to play the piano 'after decades' thanks to the coronavirus quarantine 'Two drifters...': Ambrosio played Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer's 1961 song Moon River, which won two Grammy Awards and an Academy Award Iconic: Music fans might recognize the wistful ballad as the song Audrey Hepburn performed as Holly Golightly in Blake Edwards' 1961 movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's On Sunday, the Fyre Festival paid promoter modeled GAL Floripa's golden $108 'Yantra Top Ouro' and $92 'Yantra Bottom Ouro.' Alessandra was just representing her second swimwear line, which she co-founded in March with her younger sister Aline and BFF Gisele Coria in March. Ambrosio - who retired from Victoria's Secret in 2017 - previously ran her eponymous swimwear line ale by Alessandra from 2014-2018. The MasterChef guest star will next appear on make-up mogul Charlotte Tilbury's Beauty Happy Hour, which streams live on Instagram this Thursday at 11am PST. 'Recharging': On Sunday, the Fyre Festival paid promoter modeled the golden $108 'Yantra Top Ouro' and $92 'Yantra Bottom Ouro' from her second swimwear line, GAL Floripa The rock elm, common in the Midwest, has been identified in Williamstown. Plans for the Mohawk Bicycle/Pedestrian Trail are seen in two sections: here, Syndicate Road to Cole Aveneue; and next slide, the continuation to the Spruces Community Park. PreviousNext Williamstown Trail Project Must Account for Rare Elm Update May 20: On further examination, Henry Art says the rare rock elm has died within the past year and is not expected to delay the project further. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. After two decades of planning, an east-west trail through town hit an "eleventh-hour" snag on Thursday night. But officials are confident the issue can be resolved quickly in order to keep the Mohawk Bicycle/Pedestrian Trail on track to break ground next spring. The $5.6 million project was before the town's Conservation Commission to review the impact on wetlands along the planned route from the intersection of North Street (Route 7) and Syndicate Road to the Spruces Community Park on Main Street (Route 2). Commissioner Hank Art shared a discovery he made earlier in the day on Thursday about a plant that he found long ago along the path of the trail. "I'd mentioned the occurrence of Ulmus thomasii, known as rock elm or cork elm that would be sacrificed as being in the alignment of the bike path," Art said, referring to a site visit he made earlier in the day with Con Comm Chair Lauren Stevens and town Conservation Agent Andrew Groff. "I mentioned that I didn't think it was a state listed [protected] species and not a concern." Later Thursday, Art realized why it was not listed by Mass Wildlife's Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. "This afternoon, I checked the Mass Natural Heritage site and could not find rock elm listed," he said. "The reason is it doesn't appear to occur in the commonwealth of Massachusetts. This presents a bit of a sticky situation in which this may be a plant that Natural Heritage doesn't know is found in Massachusetts. "It made me, when I discovered this, have a little bit of a gasp. This may be a rare and endangered species in the commonwealth because we're on the extreme eastern edge of the distribution, and it is not a contiguous distribution out to the Midwest, where it's a relatively more common species." Art, an emeritus professor of environmental studies and biology at Williams College, said he was a little "embarrassed" that he has known about the presence of rock elm in the area for 20 years but did not realize how rare it might be in the commonwealth. "This is the 11th hour, 30th minute or whatever in this project," a chagrined Art said. Stevens pointed out that even if the Con Comm gave its blessing for the project on Thursday, there still were steps that needed to be taken at the local level to make it happen. Specifically, the town must sign off at town meeting on easements and right of ways needed to make the 2.4-mile, 12-foot trail a reality. And there still are final sign-offs pending from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has jurisdiction over the Spruces land, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Once the land transfers and permits can be finalized, the project has to be put to bid by Oct. 1 in order to receive funding from the federal government, Mass Department of Transportation project manager Dave Shedd told the Con Comm. The project, which ultimately will link up with a similar trail in North Adams and someday link to the Ashuwilticook Rail Trail, is being funded 80 percent with federal dollars and 20 percent with state dollars. The concern raised by Art needs to be addressed but probably will not cause any delays, according to testimony Thursday from Tim Dexter, the fish and wildlife supervisor for MassDOT. "What I'd suggest is, if it's rock elm, as you mentioned, it's not currently state listed, but we could see if we could try to avoid it as part of the project," Dexter said. "As you know, GPI [Wilmington's Greenman-Pedersen Inc., engineering] has worked hard to thread a needle through this site to minimize wetland impacts and rare species sites. "If we can't avoid impacts to that tree, at that point, I'd ask Natural Heritage if they think it is appropriate to incorporate that tree into our mitigation site." That means finding a nursery to obtain rock elm trees for transplanting in one of the five proposed wetland replication areas that GPI designed into the project. "That sounds entirely reasonable," Art said. The first step, the commissioners agreed, was to have Groff get in touch with Massachusetts Natural Heritage to alert the agency to the presence of the species, which also is found in the Champlain Valley and upper Hudson Valley in Vermont, Art said. He likened it to another rare species in town, the hairy honeysuckle. "In Massachusetts, it's only found in three sites, and two are in Williamstown," Art said. "If you go to Michigan, it's all over the place. We fight our battles on the edges of the ranges of species rather than right in the middle of where they might be abundant." In general, the commissioners seemed satisfied with the answers to their questions about the 1,000-page notice of intent submission submitted by GPI on behalf of the town. The trail will cross three intermittent streams and the Green River. The 82-foot long, 16-foot wide prefabricated truss bridge will run about 14 feet over the river and creates one of the largest single impacts to a wetland area. GPI project scientist Laura Krause told the commission her firm expects the Green River crossing to create 1,837 square feet of permanent wetland impacts and 1,014 square feet of temporary wetland impacts. "The temporary impact areas will be restored to existing grade and restored with a wetland seed mix," Krause said. "The permanent impacts will be replicated immediately adjacent to the site." Overall, Krause said the project impacts 4,501 square feet of bordering vegetated wetlands, and it has 5,121 square feet of replication areas. "You've mitigated beyond the proposed impact, and the net effect is positive?" Commissioner Tim Car asked. "Is that a fair assessment?" "Yes," Krause replied. The Con Comm agreed to continue its hearing on the trail project to its May 28 meeting, when it hopes to have a resolution of the rock elm question. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 02:41:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A staff member wearing a face mask works at the archaeological site of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, on May 18, 2020. Greece celebrated International Museum Day on Monday digitally with the country's museums still closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, more than 200 archaeological sites reopened for the first time after two months, as the country continues on the path to the "new normality." (Xinhua/Marios Lolos) ATHENS, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Greece celebrated International Museum Day on Monday digitally with the country's museums still closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, more than 200 archaeological sites reopened for the first time after two months, as the country continues on the path to the "new normality." Greece was in full lockdown from March 23 until May 4, but in the past two weeks has gradually started easing restrictive measures. Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou visited the Athens Acropolis on the day. "The marbles were shining in the sun, as in the verse of George Seferis. With care for our unique cultural monuments, with love and recognition of their eternal value - and the strict, of course, observance of health measures - we will all rise together a little higher," she told Xinhua and other media, pointing to a poem by one of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century and Nobel laureate. "Just a little more and we shall see the almond trees in blossom, the marbles shining in the sun, the sea, the curling waves. Just a little more, let us rise just a little higher," Seferis had written. The archaeological sites are the first category of cultural sites to return to normal operation in Greece. On June 1 open-air cinemas will open, followed by museums on June 15 and art events a month later, as Culture Minister Lina Mendoni has announced. They will all operate with all the necessary safety measures. On the Acropolis hill on Monday, the staff had face masks on, visitors were strongly advised to use also, along with antiseptics, and social distancing rules were applied. "Now we must all combine our visit, the joy offered by the monuments, archaeological sites, and our museums in a while, with the safety measures. Greek and foreign visitors should feel absolutely safe inside archaeological sites," Mendoni, who accompanied Sakellaropoulou, said. Ian Coe, a British living in Greece, was among the few visitors of the Sacred hill. "It has been fantastic, absolutely beautiful. (I was) very fortunate to be here today with a few people as it is reopened. It is a strange experience for everybody. We have to be careful, we have to wash, use the mask, take precaution, look after each other, but in Greece, you have done a very good job dealing with the problem," he said. In addition to archaeological sites all middle and high schools nationwide, as well as shopping malls reopened Monday, under restrictions. Greek authorities have given the green light for the reopening since May 4 of most of the businesses which had closed during the lockdown. Restaurants, cafes, and bars will return to business on May 25 and hotels on June 1. On Monday, Greece's Health Ministry announced two new confirmed COVID-19 cases and two more deaths within the past 24 hours. The total of confirmed infections across Greece now stands at 2,836, with 165 deaths, according to an e-mailed ministry press statement. Cantsink piles offer patented helix design and certified performance. "Companies like Payne that have achieved widespread respect and recognition are valued partners in Cantsinks commitment to creating a sustainable built environment." Cantsink proudly announces that Payne Pile Company, a division of Payne Construction Services, has joined its distribution network for top-quality, U.S. steel helical piles. Founded by Brian Payne in 1974, Payne Construction Services and Payne Pile Company are now operated by his son, Sean Payne, with his wife, Missy, providing administrative support and Geoff Goss providing hand-to-hand customer and product support. The Payne headquarters, including a 10,000 square foot materials storage facility, is located in New Hampshire, with a satellite facility in Connecticut. Payne provides helical piles to customers in the Northeast region with products delivered to site or picked up locally. Both Cantsink and Payne Piles are family owned and operated, making Cantsinks reputation for quality, customer support, and innovation in helical piles a perfect fit for Paynes demonstrated devotion to excellence. Cantsink has more than 30 years experience in the foundation support business. Payne, also respected in its industry, has received numerous industry awards for innovation and successful endeavors. Both companies are focused on the many versatile uses of helical piles for construction and remedial structural support. Geoff Goss, Paynes Director of Business Development, said the top-quality products and ongoing customer support Cantsink provides creates supply-chain assurance for every application. We are hands-on with everything we do, Goss said. The support we receive from Cantsink reflects the way we like to do business. They always respond promptly to our questions, and we dont always get that from a lot of other companies. They help us and back us all the time. These are good, quality products to install, at a great price as well. In addition to their patented helical design, Cantsink products provide the reassurance that they are tested and certified to the highest industry standards. And with Cantsinks long-standing commitment to sustainability, projects seeking LEED certification may be able to claim LEED credit from using Cantsink products. Patrick Hutchinson, Cantsinks President and Founder, said he is proud to have Payne in the companys network of dependable distributors. Companies like Payne that have achieved widespread respect and recognition are valued partners in Cantsinks commitment to creating a sustainable built environment, Hutchinson said. When we work together to forge a reliable supply chain that respects the quality of our products, fair, reasonable pricing, and unwavering customer support, we help create communities where people can live, work and shop with confidence. Payne customers for Cantsink helical piles can purchase them without paying sales tax, if they pick up the products at the New Hampshire location. They can always expect the kind of personal engagement Payne extends to every customer by working directly with Geoff or Sean for any of their needs. I always go the extra mile for our customers, Goss said. For more information about Cantsink products and how installers can receive free, hands-on training at Cantsink headquarters, visit http://www.cantsink.com. To learn more about Payne Pile Company and Payne Construction Services, visit http://www.paynebuildingmovers.com . Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday asserted that there is a need to expand online system as institutes of the state are closed for around two months because of the COVID-19 induced lockdown. Kumar directed the officials concerned to show e- content to students through Doordarshan Bihar and take measures to increase the time slot on the channel for providing class-wise to all students, according to an official release. The department should also develop e-content for classes I to V on the lines of classes VI to XII and post syllabus of various classes on the website for helping students in their studies, the chief minister said in a meeting. The meeting was held to discuss how the state can benefit from the Centre's Rs 20 lakh crore economic package. Kumar directed the officials concerned to get ration cards of all the eligible families prepared at the earliest and also ensure that they are linked with Aadhaar, as it would help them get the benefits under the 'One nation, one card' scheme. He said the Centre is going to adopt the Bihar model reform measures in the energy sector, he said. The Urban Development and Housing Department should take steps for providing cheaper housing to poor people living in urban areas, Kumar said. He also issued orders to make a survey on the street vendors of the state so that they can be given the benefits of different schemes, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 04:18:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly via video link in Beijing, capital of China, May 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) Xi's speech upholds the vision of building a global community of health for all and demonstrates China's sense of responsibility amid the crisis, according to the scholars. BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Experts and scholars across the world spoke highly of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Monday speech at the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA), hailing his proposals are of great importance to promote global cooperation in the pandemic fight. Addressing the opening of the WHA session via video link, Xi announced concrete measures to boost global fight against COVID-19, such as providing international aid and making the country's COVID-19 vaccine a global public good when available. According to the scholars, Xi's speech upholds the vision of building a global community of health for all and demonstrates China's sense of responsibility amid the crisis. Delegates attend the 73rd World Health Assembly via video link in Beijing, capital of China, May 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) Ren Minghui, assistant director-general for Universal Health Coverage/Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO), said Xi's speech is visionary and pragmatic, which once again demonstrates China's firm belief in building a community with a shared future for mankind. Xi not only talked about how to effectively prevent and control the spread of the disease, but also on support for economic recovery and social development of the affected countries, especially developing countries, as well as for the WHO's actions, Ren said. Nadhum Ali Abdullah, an Iraqi analyst from Baghdad-based think tank Arab Forum, said Xi's speech at the WHA sent a message that "the mankind has a common destiny, and that China is opening its doors to international cooperation to combat this pandemic." Staff members do nucleic acid tests at a lab in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Feb. 13, 2020. (Xinhua) Igor Shatrov, deputy director of Russia's National Institute for the Development of Modern Ideology, said the coronavirus pandemic is a "serious test" in which "humanity must realize that we live in a single world and have a common destiny, so it should unite in the face of a global threat." Noting that China's efforts are particularly remarkable amid the pandemic, Sylwester Szafarz, former consul general of Poland in the Chinese city of Shanghai, said, "They are aiming at sharing valuable Chinese experience and expertise, modern equipment and highly qualified medical personnel with numerous other nations in need." China's medical supplies for 18 African countries arrive at the Kotota International Airport in Accra, capital of Ghana, April 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Zheng) Adhere Cavince, a Kenyan researcher of international relations with a focus on China-Africa relations, said that global health governance requires urgent strengthening, adding that "such cooperation can only take place when countries deal with each other in an honest, transparent, and reciprocal manner." French writer and sinologist Sonia Bressler pointed out that Xi's speech confirms "an opening of China to the world and a shared and collective responsibility." Noting China's support and help to African countries in the fight against the pandemic, she said the brotherhood is necessary, demonstrating Xi's Chinese vision of "Tianxia," which "means we all live under the same sky." A NSW woman's account of a US body modifier's involvement in her botched labia removal is truthful and makes sense, a Crown prosecutor says. But Howard Rollins' lawyer argues the 'deliberately deceptive' complainant's version of events was affected by sedatives she took just before the procedure in January 2015. 'This allegation against a man of unblemished character must be one of the least meritorious cases this court has ever seen,' barrister Margaret Cunneen SC said on Tuesday. Howard Rollins' (pictured) lawyer argues the 'deliberately deceptive' complainant's version of events was affected by sedatives she took just before the procedure in January 2015 Rollins, a 42-year-old also known as Luna Cobra, has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory to the female genital mutilation, arguing he arrived at the Newcastle tattoo parlour hours after the woman had her labia removed. The woman aged in her 30s has told Sydney District Court she endures daily pain and believes too much was taken off. Crown prosecutor Georgia Turner said Judge Ian Bourke should discount the theory the woman was affected by Valium while a thermal cautery unit burnt off centimetres of flesh. 'She has described where the accused was at all times,' Ms Turner said in her closing address on Tuesday. 'She's not confused about what happened. She didn't have to reconstruct any events or fill in any gaps.' The judge-alone trial has heard the woman had dozens of body modifications including custom scars, silicone implants and piercings in the years prior to 2015 in her quest to look like a mermaid. Rollins, a 42-year-old also known as Luna Cobra, has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory to the female genital mutilation, arguing he arrived at the Newcastle tattoo parlour hours after the woman had her labia removed The woman gave evidence that when the consensual procedure began, her yells of pain prompted Rollins to order the man doing the work to get more anaesthetic. She says Rollins told her she didn't have to go through with the procedure - a statement the defence submits was said at another time and place. In her 'typically authentic, blunt way' the woman received more painkillers and said keep going after reasoning she couldn't walk out with her labia partially removed, Ms Turner said. 'It makes sense,' the prosecutor said. '(The) actions she described are consistent with the accused being present, knowing what the procedure was and assisting in the procedure.' The woman aged in her 30s has told Sydney District Court (pictured) she endures daily pain and believes too much was taken off But Ms Cunneen said the complainant had reconstructed the events of the labia removal to suit her story. She presented a list of 35 'very obvious' inconsistencies between her account and that of others - and queried how the woman didn't smell her flesh being burned off. 'This case is based entirely on the evidence of a person who was unable to be truthful about almost anything,' the defence barrister said. 'This was the tactic she used - to write out of her account people she knew could contradict aspects of her evidence. 'It was untruthful and an indication of how she deals with the inconvenient truth. She was not only deliberately deceptive but also affected by valium.' Rollins' comment about the woman not having to go through with it was his usual protocol with clients, including when the woman had an earlier eyeball tattoo, Ms Cunneen said. 'We say this very squarely - she has made an effort to write Mr Rollins into this offence.' Judge Bourke is due to deliver his verdict and reasons on May 26. Rollins' bail was continued until that time. "An Associated Press review of those states found that at least 10 states also share the names of everyone who tests positive." A review by the Associated Press found that public health officials "in at least two-thirds of U.S. states" are sharing the addresses of people who confirmed to have the coronavirus with first responders. Widespread disclosure of who has tested positive is said to be intended to protect medical workers and first responders from exposure, but the practice sparks concerns involving racial profiling, privacy, and security. At least 10 states share the names of everyone who tests positive, reports the AP: Sharing the information does not violate medical privacy laws, under guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Law enforcement officials say the information helps them take extra precautions to avoid contracting and spreading the coronavirus. But civil liberty and community activists have expressed concerns of potential profiling in African-American and Hispanic communities that already have an uneasy relationship with law enforcement. Some envision the data being forwarded to immigration officials. In Tennessee, the issue has sparked criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who only became aware of the data sharing earlier this month. "The information could actually have a 'chilling effect' that keeps those already distrustful of the government from taking the COVID-19 test and possibly accelerate the spread of the disease," the Tennessee Black Caucus said in a statement earlier this month. Many members of minority communities are employed in industries that require them to show up to work every day, making them more susceptible to the virus and most in need of the test. The AP review shows that public health officials in at least 35 states share the addresses of those who have tested positive for the coronavirus provided by the state or local health departments to first responders who request it. In at least 10 of those states, health agencies also share their names: Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Tennessee. Wisconsin did so briefly but stopped earlier this month. Read more at the Associated Press: COVID-19 data sharing with law enforcement sparks concern YouTube CPAC UPDATE: 9:03 a.m. The United States has agreed to Canada's request to extend the mutual ban on non-essential cross-border travel until June 21. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the extension today. He calls it an important decision that will protect citizens in both countries. The deal, which prohibits discretionary travel while permitting trade shipments, commerce and essential workers to continue to move in both directions, was first reached in mid-March and extended for 30 days last month. Officials and stakeholders on both sides of the border have hailed the agreement as a successful measure in curbing the spread of COVID-19 while ensuring vital supply chains remain intact. The U.S. is currently home to more than 1.5 million active cases of COVID-19, 42 per cent of the world's active caseload, and a death toll that crossed the 90,000 threshold over the weekend, growing at a rate of more than 1,000 fatalities a day. The Canadian Press ORIGINAL: 8:13 a.m. Speaking from outside his home in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discusses the federal government's response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The United States has agreed to Canada's request to extend the mutual ban on non-essential cross-border travel until June 21. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the extension today. He calls it an important decision that will protect citizens in both countries. The deal, which prohibits discretionary travel while permitting trade shipments, commerce and essential workers to continue to move in both directions, was first reached in mid-March and extended for 30 days last month. Officials and stakeholders on both sides of the border have hailed the agreement as a successful measure in curbing the spread of COVID-19 while ensuring vital supply chains remain intact. The U.S. is currently home to more than 1.5 million active cases of COVID-19, 42 per cent of the world's active caseload, and a death toll that crossed the 90,000 threshold over the weekend, growing at a rate of more than 1,000 fatalities a day. OAKLAND, Calif., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente announced it has added Calm, a leading app for mindfulness meditation and sleep, to its digital self-care portfolio via kp.org/selfcareapps. Kaiser Permanente members can now download Calm Premium on their smartphone, computer, or tablet through their kp.org account. The nonprofit integrated health system is the first to offer the app to its members at no cost. The availability of the Calm app is part of Kaiser Permanente's continued commitment to provide its members with new ways to support emotional wellness anytime and anywhere, particularly during times of increased stress and anxiety. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found a majority of adults said worry or stress related to the coronavirus pandemic has had a negative effect on their health and well-being, resulting in problems sleeping or eating, or increased alcohol or drug use. "As we all continue to grapple with the uncertainty, stress, and sometimes fear brought on by COVID-19, it's essential that we tend to our physical and mental health," said Don Mordecai, MD, psychiatrist and national leader for mental health and wellness at Kaiser Permanente. "We know mindfulness meditation can support emotional well-being, and the Calm app is a great way for people to learn life-changing skills to reduce anxiety, be more resilient, and make self-care a priority." Kaiser Permanente members will have unlimited access to Calm content, including an ever-growing library of guided meditations, sleep stories for deeper and better sleep, and video lessons on mindful movement and gentle stretching. "We're proud to partner with Kaiser Permanente to increase accessibility to mental fitness, and champion the importance of taking care of your mind," said Calm chief strategy officer Alexander Will. "Together, we're helping millions of people ease stress, sleep better, and build resilience to ultimately live a happier, healthier life." Kaiser Permanente clinicians reviewed many options and chose Calm and myStrength, which was added in March, as the first 2 apps to offer to members at no cost based on their effectiveness and ability to support mental health and emotional care. Kaiser Permanente will continue its commitment to support mental health and wellness by growing its digital self-care portfolio and bringing new and effective tools to its members, including more top-rated apps. The new Calm offering reflects Kaiser Permanente's ongoing commitment to addressing the mental health and wellness needs of its members and communities. Kaiser Permanente provides integrated mental health care focused on early intervention, personalized treatment, patient empowerment and support, and the latest innovations in care delivery, including telehealth services and digital self-care tools that put evidence-based practices at members' fingertips. While most mental health and wellness resources on kp.org are available to the general public, access to the 2 new apps are limited to Kaiser Permanente members who have active kp.org accounts. To get access to the Calm app at no cost, members must begin registration at kp.org/selfcareapps through a web browser and click on the "Get Calm" button located on the web page. These self-care resources are secure and confidential and not intended to replace treatment or clinical support. For more information about eligibility, please visit kp.org/selfcareapps . About Calm Calm is the #1 app for mental fitness, designed to help you manage stress, sleep better and live a happier, healthier life. With hundreds of hours of original audio content available in six languages, Calm supports users in more than 190 countries. Apple's 2017 iPhone App of the Year and one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies of 2020, Calm boasts over 80 million downloads to date, averaging 100,000 new users daily. For more information, please visit us at www.calm.com. About Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.4 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/ For more information, contact: Diana Yee, [email protected], 510-225-5086 SOURCE Kaiser Permanente Related Links http://www.kaiserpermanente.org Buy2Sell has distributed a diverse range of branded goods to the medium and high-end market segments in Vietnam over the last five years. The company, which belongs to Singapore's LLHP Group, has signed distribution agreements with thousands of international suppliers and distributed over 200,000 items, including cosmetics, food & beverage, fashion, household appliances, pharmaceuticals and electronics items since entering Vietnam in 2015. The imported products on Buy2Sells platform for Vietnamese consumers come from over 60 countries around the world including South Korea, Australia, Europe Union and the U.S. Products displayed on shelves at the Buy2Sell showroom in District 7, Center South Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City. The company provides its suppliers with direct orders, product registration, customs clearance and market channel development. Its B2B platform has built a wide distribution network with high-end retail chain stores and supermarket chains nationwide. Buy2Sell develops different market channels to increase visibility and brand awareness for its customers. It organizes annual conferences and match-up events in Vietnams largest cities, Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, to introduce new products to buyers and provide them with a hands-on experience. Buyers and suppliers at a match-up event organized by Buy2Sell. "Foreign suppliers choose to work with Buy2Sell because of our genuine business model and professional investment in our website, which carries many products," a company representative said. "Our upcoming goal is to develop our market share by representing more brands, connecting more Vietnamese buyers and offering them easy access to purchase international goods through the supply chain, bringing consumers quality products at reasonable prices," he added. The rep said Vietnam has improved its position in the global economy and its consumer market is among those with the highest potential in Southeast Asia. "Notably, the countrys economy has maintained an impressive growth rate with an open business climate. It is now a member of many bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements, including those with great influence, like the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA)". Buy2Sell is also well-known for its franchise connection platform (infranchise.vn) and B2B marketing services (marketedin.com). It has recently expanded to Hong Kong and provided financial solutions for buyers via Finaxar Singapore. Buy2Sell directors (from left) BarnabeChevillotte, Elena Hong and Harry Morant. Buy2Sell was founded by experienced investors from Singapore, Hong Kong, France and Vietnam. It has succeeded in growing its revenues without raising capital. Showroom: No 09TM Block D, Florita Tower, D4 Street, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City. Office: 6th Floor No.167 Dien Bien Phu Street, Da Kao Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Email: info@buy2sell.vn Website: https://buy2sell.vn/ Lack of work and dwindling finances coupled with "indequate supply" of food made life so miserable for a group of around 100 migrant workers in Kerala that they took the extreme step of setting out on a long march on foot back home thousands of kilometers away. Carrying water cans and some of their belongings, the workers, from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, started walking along railway tracks from nearby Vallapatnam, home to many plywood based industries, on the ardous journey early on Tuesday. "We want to go back to our home states. Food was being served only once a day and we have no money. There is no work here," workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh rued in chorus after being spotted by Railway Police Force (RPF) personnel and taken to camps. The workers complained that they were not getting adequate food at the camps and the government was not arranging any trains to help them return to their homes. Some labourers alleged they were getting only 2 kg wheat for a family of four for a week and sought to know how they would be able to manage. "We want to go home. We are even prepared to walk," Sushil Kumar said. The workers were stopped by the police, who pacified them and sent them back to their camps in three KSRTC buses. Meanwhile, the district officials said the complaints made by the workers would be looked into. Till May 15, a total of 33,000 guest workers have left Kerala by 29 trains to their home states. The Centre has last week asked the state governments to provide food and shelter to migrant workers if they are found walking on roads and railways tracks, and ensure they board special trains to reach their native places. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) MCLEAN, Va., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In support of America's transforming critical infrastructure, the members of the Utility Broadband Alliance (UBBA) appreciate Chairman Pai and the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) decision to make spectrum available for utilities to maintain critical infrastructure. UBBA includes multiple utilities, technology providers and service companies with a mission to provide its members with a forum to collaborate and share best practices in private Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology. After the May 13th FCC approval of a Report and Order to realign the 900 MHz band, UBBA members offered following comments: "Ameren could not be more pleased that the Chairman and the other Commissioners have paved the way for this company to deploy a smarter, stronger and more secure communications network with far greater bandwidth," said John Hughes, Director of Network Engineering for Ameren. "We thank the FCC for all its hard work in crafting a decision that will support a future where broadband plays a key role in the control and management of our network, thereby allowing us to provide enhanced service to our customers." "Motorola Solutions applauds the FCC for creating a broadband opportunity in the 900 MHz band that will meet utilities' evolving needs for long-range data communications, video and IoT," said Scott Schoepel, Vice President, Global Enterprise, Motorola Solutions. "As a founding member of the Utility Broadband Alliance, we are proud to have worked alongside industry partners to advocate for the private, secure and resilient broadband that is essential to the continued modernization of the electrical grid. We look forward to delivering infrastructure, networks and devices that will fulfill this promise." "Nokia thanks the FCC for opening the 900 MHz band for broadband communications. Today's action, which will turn underused narrowband spectrum into prime broadband spectrum, represents the type of innovative spectrum policy that continues to power U.S. economic leadership," said Brian Hendricks, Vice President of Government Relations Americas. "Ericsson is pleased to see the full FCC approve Chairman Pai's proposal to make new spectrum in the 900 MHz band available for new services. The newly reconfigured 900 MHz band will help support existing LTE networks and new 5G networks, enabling a broad range of use cases among many industries," said Kevin Zvokel, Head of Networks, Ericsson North America. "We look forward to working with our customers as they roll out innovative applications and services that take advantage of this new broadband allocation." "Private LTE enables utilities to build a wireless communication network for today, tomorrow, and beyond supporting numerous solutions such as AMI, Volt/Var optimization, distributed generation, micro-grids, wildfire mitigation, and more," said Mike Brozek, Senior Vice President, Technology & Engineering at Anterix. "What's lacking is broadband spectrum to build these networks. The FCC recently took a major step forward to provide that spectrum in the 900 MHz band, offering the ideal foundation for wireless communication networks the future requires." "The Utility Broadband Alliance aims to assist its members in planning, designing, and deploying secure, reliable, and resilient private broadband networks to support America's changing critical infrastructure. As grid modernization and digitization are driving utilities to move beyond legacy communications, we are happy to see the FCC enable the 900 MHz band for broadband to meet this growing need," said Bobbi Harris, Head of Member Engagement and Operations for UBBA. About the Utility Broadband Alliance The Utility Broadband Alliance (UBBA) is a collaboration of utilities and ecosystem partners dedicated to championing the advancement and development of private broadband networks for America's critical infrastructure industries. Members access resources that accelerate their journey towards a secure, resilient, and future-proof grid. Learn more at: https://www.ubba.com/ Media Contact: Bobbi Harris UBBA Member Engagement & Operations 919-609-8185 SOURCE Utility Broadband Alliance Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 16:17:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close YANGON, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The China's CITIC Group Tuesday donated protective equipment to be used in fight against COVID-19 in Kyaukpyu town of Myanmar's Rakhine state. "The donation represents the social responsibility of Chinese companies in Myanmar while portraying Paukphaw (fraternal) friendship between China and Myanmar," said Tan Shufu, economic and commercial counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar, expressing his hopes for rapidly overcoming the pandemic through cooperation. Such donation means not only a medical assistance but also a mental encouragement to local Rakhine ethnic people, Yangon Region Minister for Rakhine Ethnics Affairs U Zaw Aye Maung said at the event. Aiming to support anti-pandemic measures in Kyaukpyu town, the CITIC Group provided 25,600 medical masks, 350 personal protective equipment (PPE) and 650 face shields. The local facility quarantine centers are in need of such medical supplies and this donation would be a great help for COVID-19 fight, said U Aye San, a member of donation committee of Kyaukpyu. The medical supplies are the second batch of the CITIC Group's donation after the group provided 30 tons of rice and 10 disinfectant sprayers to help local people fight against COVID-19 in Kyaukpyu earlier this month. Enditem Or, more accurately, the homes of the jurors in Texas.In a first for U.S. courts, a legal case in Texas selected its jurors on Monday entirely electronically. More than 24 potential jurors for a summary jury trial got on Zoom to go through the selection process with two judges. The process was livestreamed on YouTube Since the case is a summary trial, meaning the jurys verdict is non-binding, officials thought it would be an ideal scenario for testing the viability of remote jury trials. Judge Emily Miskel, who was one of the two who oversaw the selection, told Reuters that, if the virtual case is successful, it could lead to more uses of virtual meeting technology in court proceedings after the coronavirus pandemic recedes.For example, jury selection could be done online, rather than everyone having to come down to the courthouse, but the trial would be done in person. The teachers in private schools in Telangana were in dire straits and some have been forced to take up farm work during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown as they have not received salaries from mid March,a body of them said on Tuesday. There were around 11,700 government-recognised private schools in the state employing around 1.50 lakh teachers and they had not got their salaries since March 15, Telangana Private Teachers Forum president Sheik Shabbir Ali claimed. Left with no option, some private teachers were now forced to take up agricultural works in villages. In one instance, a teacher in Yadadri-Bhongir district had taken up drought-related works of removing unwanted plants in a village, he said. The association has represented to the government and also officials in districts about the problem despite circulars that teachers should be paid salaries as per government orders issued while announcing lockdown, he said. However, the managements were not paying salaries, he said. As most of the teachers shifted to urban areas from villages, they do not have ration cards which made them ineligible to receive government assistance, including rice and financial aid, announced for the poor during the lockdown, Ali said. The forum has sent a representation to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on May 16, requesting steps for payment of salaries, job security and addressing other problems of private schools teachers, he said. When contacted, Telangana Recognised School Managements Association presidentK Papi Reddy said payment of salaries got delayed as school fees from parents could not be received properly during the lockdown. The salaries would be paid after schools reopen, he said. Reddy said salaries were paid till March. Meanwhile, a senior official of the department told PTI that the government would do its best to ensure that no teacher goes unpaid. The teachers were employed directly by the school managements, the official added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) WASHINGTON - Three leading House Democrats said Tuesday they plan to open an investigation into the replacement of the Transportation Department's acting inspector general, concerned that the move was tied to an ongoing investigation of Secretary Elaine Chao's dealings with the state of Kentucky. Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and has faced questions aboutwhether her department has given preferential treatment to projects in the state. On Friday, President Donald Trump named Howard "Skip" Elliott, the head of a pipeline safety agency, as acting DOT inspector general. Mitch Behm, the department's deputy, had been filling that role. In letter to Chao and Elliott, leaders of the House oversight and transportation committees tied Elliott's appointment to what they called a broad assault by the Trump administration on inspectors general, who serve as internal government watchdogs. The lawmakers requested information about Chao and her team's communications with the White House about the decision to replace Behm. They asked Elliott to disclose whether the scope of any of the office's investigations have changed since his appointment. "We are concerned that Mr. Behm's removal could be an effort to undermine the progress of this investigation, which we understand is ongoing," the lawmakers wrote to Chao. "Any attempt by you or your office to interfere with the Office of Inspector General's investigation of yourself is illegal and will be thoroughly examined by our Committees." In a statement, Chao's office respond to the concerns about the Kentucky investigation, but said that the president was within his legal authority to name Elliott acting inspector general. "Mr. Elliott will bring decades of valuable expertise to the role of Acting Inspector General, both in safety and in law enforcement," the statement said. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. One of the three lawmakers, Transportation Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., asked the inspector general twice last year to examine whether Chao was giving preferential treatment to Kentucky. In October 2019, DeFazio said he first requested the inspector general's office look into Chao's influence on a discretionary grant program called Infrastructure and Rebuilding America (INFRA). In a December letter to the inspector general DeFazio amplified his concerns. "New information has emerged that points to a troubling pattern of potential favoritism by the Secretary and her inner circle of staff at the Department of Transportation (DOT) and has heightened my concern about these issues," he wrote then. DeFazio cited news accounts from Politico that he said revealed "that Secretary Chao's office has degraded the ability of career staff at DOT to objectively assess the merits of grant applications." DeFazio also raised questions about Chao's family's shipping business and whether she followed her ethics agreement to divest stock in Vulcan Materials, both of which the House oversight committee is investigating. In Tuesday's letters, DeFazio along with Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Gerald Connolly, D-Va., leaders on the oversight committee, urged Chao to advise the White House to reinstate Behm, who they called a veteran public servant. Behm took on the role of acting inspector general when the office's former leader retired in January. In the letter to Elliott, the lawmakers said they viewed his appointment as part of a broader attack by Trump on inspectors general across the government. "This assault on the integrity and independence of Inspectors General appears to be an intentional campaign to undermine their ability to expose corruption and protect taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse," the letter said. The same day he named Elliott to the job at the Transportation Department, Trump removed State Department inspector general Steve Linick. Linick was said to be investigating whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had a staffer run nonwork errands for him and to have nearly finished a review of an arms-sale deal with Saudi Arabia. Elliot had a 40-year career in the railroad industry, serving as an executive at freight company CSX Transportation before joining the Trump administration. The lawmakers questioned what in his professional background qualified him to serve as inspector general. Elliott is also set to continue as the head of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration while serving as acting inspector general. The lawmakers wrote that the dual roles would stretch him too thin, and presented significant conflicts of interest. The inspector general's office has at least one open audit that touches on Elliott's leadership at the pipeline agency, they wrote. As head of the pipeline agency Elliott reports to Chao, but as inspector general he ought to be independent of the department's leadership, they said. "Your dual roles threaten both the safety of our transportation system and the integrity of the DOT Office of Inspector General," the lawmakers wrote, saying Elliott should resign from one job or the other. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., the top Democrat a senate subcommittee that oversees pipeline safety, said she was also concerned about the potential for conflicts of interest in combining the two jobs. "Acting Inspector General Skip Elliott being charged with auditing and investigating the actions of PHMSA Administrator Skip Elliott makes a mockery of the entire system of Inspectors General," Duckworth said in a statement. "Trump's haphazard approach to firing and hiring Inspector Generals is detrimental to the stability, operations and oversight of the federal government, the Department of Transportation and - most troubling - the entire concept of an accountable, transparent government." In the statement, Chao's office said Elliott would be expected to recuse himself from audits or investigations connected to things that fall under his responsibilities at the pipeline agency. Jeff Guzzetti, who worked with Behm at the inspector general's office when they were both senior officials there, said Behm was made the office's deputy after a rigorous selection process. "Mitch is organized. He's sharp as a tack and he gets it," Guzzetti said. "He's very practical and also very ethical," said Guzzetti, who is now an aviation safety consultant. "He was a kind of a business genius on Wall Street early in his career, and wanted to do something more meaningful through public service and joined the IG, probably making a lot less money." On Friday, Trump nominated Eric J. Soskin, a Justice Department attorney, to serve as the permanent inspector general. As the office's deputy, Guzzetti said Behm was the obvious choice to be its leader until the confirmation of a permanent replacement. "I can't for the life of me figure out why he was unceremoniously removed like that, so suddenly," Guzzetti said, adding that the move to sideline him was a shock. Guzzetti said that the pipeline safety administration itself has numerous challenges, and the inspector general "is a full-time job." "It's a big agency with a lot on their plate," he said. "It's very odd to me. It sounds wrong." - - - The Washington Post's Tom Hamburger contributed to this report. The outcome of Vedanta board meeting failed to enthuse investors as it largely remained a non-event that didn't take into account key issues surrounding the company's delisting proposal. The Vedanta stock price slipped 2.5 per cent after the company's Board of Directors approved the delisting at Rs 87.5 per share. However, the stock price has remained stable since the company put forth the delisting proposal on May 12. {mosimage} Proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS), which termed Vedanta's delisting proposal as 'opportunistic', had hoped that company's independent directors should guide the minority shareholders on the proposed delisting and indicate a price range that they believe reflects the intrinsic value of the stock. "It will be a shame if the board throws regulations back at shareholders saying that as the price is going to be determined by reverse book-building, you decide the price," the note said. ALSO READ:Vedanta board approves proposed de-listing from BSE, NSE However, this is exactly what has happened. Not only has the board approved the delisting at Rs 87.5 a piece, which is close to stock's 52-week low, it has also approved the draft of the postal ballot notice through which the company will seek shareholders' nod to the proposal. A special resolution in this regard will be mooted soon, following which the company will initiate a reverse book building process after it receives necessary regulatory approvals. The stock on Tuesday settled at Rs 90.10, 2.5 per cent lower than previous closing, but 1.1 per cent higher than the closing on May 12 when the company submitted its voluntary delisting proposal to the stock exchanges. What should be the fair delisting price? The delisting price proposed by the company is closer to its current market price, which does not reflect its fundamental value due to COVID-19-linked crash across the market. Brokerage HDFC Securities says Vedanta Resources, the promoter company, was taken private on the London Stock Exchange at a 27 per cent premium to the prior close. "The value per share of Vedanta's stake in Hindustan Zinc Ltd itself is Rs 137 apiece. The book value of Vedanta as on September 30, 2019, was Rs 178," it says. That said, the final delisting price has to be higher than what the company has proposed. ALSO READ:Vedanta share price falls over 3% on nod to de-listing proposal What options do shareholders have? Now ball is in shareholders' court as to how they want to proceed. Since mutual funds own about 10.9 per cent stake in Vedanta as on March 31, 2020, while LIC owns another 7 per cent, these institutional investors can ensure that the delisting happens at much higher than the indicative delisting price. As for minority shareholders, they have a choice whether to participate in the reverse book-building offer or not. HDFC Securities has explained the implications for both the options: If you don't participate: If you do nothing and keep holding the shares, and eventually the delisting happens at a higher price, you will still have the chance to offer the shares in six months post the actual delisting at the same price. "In case the delisting fails, the shareholder does not lose anything; the shares are in the demat account and he has the chance to sell them in the market when the buyback offer is close to ending at a much higher price that the indicative offer price," says HDFC Securities in a note. If you participate: If you do participate in the delisting offer, you should quote a higher price for tendering your shares. "Offer the shares at a price of say Rs 160-180 and wait for the outcome. If promoters are serious about delisting, they may have to shell out higher price than the indicative offer price." If the delisting price turns out to be higher than your offer price, your shares will get accepted at the delisting price. If it fails, then the shares offered in the offer will be returned. In this case, however, the company's share price may fall sharply in the market. ALSO READ:Vedanta delisting proposal against minority shareholders' interest, say experts "The risk to the current shareholders will be if the offerors either lose interest in buying out beyond a certain price or are precluded by regulator or judiciary or creditors in proceeding with the offer. In such a case, the upward move in the stock price may halt and reverse," the brokerage says. "Shareholders may therefore weigh as to whether they would want to wait for a higher final exit price to be determined (with the accompanying risks and delays) or be satisfied with a limited rise in the stock price on the stock markets in anticipation of a higher exit price." Note that once all the approvals are received, the delisting process could take three to six months, subject to delays due to litigation. HDFC Securities cites the example of Essar Oil. The company's delisting process was first mooted in 2014, which took four years to conclude amid regulatory hurdles and opposition from shareholder advisory firms. The promoter group currently owns 50.14 per cent in Vedanta while the rest is held by institutional investors and minority shareholders. It has to take its shareholding to at least 90 per cent to complete the delisting. ALSO READ:Big beneficiaries of Tranche IV stimulus: Adani, Vedanta, Tata Power, Anil Ambani's Reliance live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Nestle India on Tuesday urged the government to allow food processing industries to deploy 75 percent workforce to ensure adequate production capacity utilisation in factories, saying without which there could be disruptions in goods supply. The FMCG major at present is looking at production capacity enhancement through technologies and expressed concerns that under-utilisation of workforce will put pressure on the company and add to costs. Nestle India Chairman and Managing Director Suresh Narayanan in a video conferencing with reporters said that under the social distancing guidelines, 100 percent capacity utilisation is not possible and the company is taking help of machine capacity enhancement for meet productivity needs. Coronavirus India LIVE News Updates "Larger companies are trying to use technologies -- value analysis and value engineering -- to enhance productivity, but yes, if it persists for a long time then it would have an impact on the company," he 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 Narayanan, who is also the chairman of CII National Committee on Food Processing Industries, said food companies on behalf of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) have made presentations to the government asking for permission to increase the labour strength to 75 percent in green and orange zones. "This (social distancing) means that deployment of the workforce can never be 100 percent. You can not have social distancing and 100 percent workforce at the place at any point of time. Our exercise has shown that maximum of 75 percent you can do that after realignment of lines," he said. Presently, at most places, permissions have been granted to operate with manpower of anywhere at 50 to 60 percent. "So that's where my suggestion would be -- in the orange and green areas and we had requested this through CII as well -- that the food processing industries be allowed to enhance workforce to 75 percent because otherwise we will have a situation where shortages (of goods) will persist because nobody will be able to produce at 100 percent of what they have been doing pre-COVID," the Nestle India CMD said. Stating that the company has now attained a production capacity utilisation of 70 percent, he said if the manpower restrictions persist for a long time then it would have an impact on the company and may have an enhanced cost to its bottomline. He further said that such easing now "would help mitigate some of the future shortages that might occur if we persist at operating at 50 percent or below..." Nestle India, which presently operates eight production units in India, also said that its workers are coming back. At warehouses, where the company has a substantial number of contract workers, the situation has improved in the last couple of weeks, the company said adding that the availability of trucks and e-passes for workers has also increased. "Fundamentally, things are getting under control but not perfect. They are not back to normal but much better than what they were a few weeks back," Narayanan said. The company claimed it has been able to capture around 45 percent of the universal distribution coverage. "It is ramping up each week. Our smaller town distribution has been ramped up and did well. Smaller distributors have a much better coverage," he added. On being asked about Nestle India's investment plans, Narayanan said that the proposals are intact. "Focus of Nestle group on India is not diluted by an iota. Our investment plan continues and our Sanand facility is under the process of construction. There is little bit of delay because issue of migrant workers has also affected Gujarat but project wise, it will carry on as per schedule, Narayanan said. While talking about the consumer behaviour during the pandemic, he said buyers are looking towards brands, which are trustworthy and provide nutrition. Nestle India also expects premiumisation of the portfolio to increase as a segment of "fortunate people, who have been able to to hold their income line". However, Narayanan said there would be a lot of trading down as well and "Nestle has prepared itself for both trading up and trading down as its portfolio has that intrinsic flexibility. On being asked as whether Nestle would introduce some more brands to tap the growing opportunity in the premium segment, Narayana said: "We have some brands in the space and they would be tune up in consonance of need and requirements." The FMCG major is also focusing on the e-commerce segment, which has suddenly become important during pandemic. "The pace of growth (e-commerce) has dramatically shifted. Over the last 2-3 years, we have invested significantly in our digital and e-commerce capabilities. We would continue to ramp up as we go forward, with partnership with many players, he said. Last year, Nestle got around 1.5 percent of its sales from online, and now it has doubled, the CMD said. Nestle India also expects an opportunity for the popular price products (PPP) in the market as the sales of value packs in the rural markets are going to increase where buyers are expected to hold their discretionary spends due to economic turmoil. "It is possible that probably in the semi-urban and some rural market, you would start seeing smaller packs doing better. As many migrant workers have gone back to the states, they are people who have used consumer brands in cities and are aware of the brand," he said. The opportunity of large size would also be there in the metro market as pantry loading by people is going to stay for a while, he added. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here Former WWE superstar Shad Gaspard went missing during a beach swim. The search for him is still ongoing. On Sunday, TMZ revealed that Gaspard and his 10-year-old son joined a group of swimmers at the newly opened Venice Beach. At 4:00 p.m. local time, the group was reportedly slammed by a strong current. When the lifeguards tried to rescue everyone, they group was already around 700 feet away from the shore. Los Angeles Fire Department lifeguard specialist Pono Barnes said that Gaspard told the rescuers to get his son first. A few moments later, another massive wave crashed on him before he went missing. Authorities believe he submerged in the ocean. "That group was stuck in one of the rip currents and were swimming just north of the lifeguard tower," Barnes explained. "That's why lifeguards were able to get there so soon, but unfortunately, one did, however, submerge." They sent helicopters, divers, and boats to perform a search and rescue operation, but they were all directed to go back to the shore before sundown. The search resumed on Monday morning at around 7:00 a.m. local time. According to Barnes, the weather when the incident happened made it more challenging for them to look for the 39-year-old former professional wrestler. The wind and tidal swing made the rip current even stronger and more prevalent compared to previous days. As they continue the search, Kenichi Haskett of the LA County Fire Department Lifeguard Division also issued another statement and described what happened while the rescuers were still in the middle of the ocean. "He [Shad Gaspard] ended up getting pushed down by a wave, and we couldn't find him, and we immediately started with our rescue boats, called in additional lifeguards to search that location of his dad." Haskett narrated. Meanwhile, according to the photos of the Daily Mail, Shad's wife Siliana Gaspard remained on the beach as the Coast Guard searched. "I saw the young boy who was inconsolable and his mother who had her arms wrapped around him," one onlooker told the online news site. "The whole thing was just heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking to see this mother and child in complete despair." Currently, the rescue team is still battling against the rain and turbulent waters as they continue the rescue attempt. The LA County Lifeguards division also noted that their Marine Technical Team collaborated with Baywatch Del Rey to perform side-scanning sonar around the area. WWE Hopes For The Best As of the writing, there is still no official update on Gaspard's status or the search's progress. However, several WWE superstars and Hall of Famers sent their wishes online. OVW Wrestling wrote, "We hope and pray that OVW alumnus Shad Gaspard is found and is okay. All of our thoughts and prayers are with his family and rescue teams at this time." "I'm beyond sad today, I don't normally ask for miracles often but please please please let this end well for @Shadbeast please pray or send ur thoughts if u have a spare moment," Santino Marella commented. Cassandra Leigh Brownsdon, 31, from the Sunshine Coast, was caught with 29 grams of ice and more than $4,800 in cash last October A successful businesswoman on a six-figure salary at a communications company has found herself behind bars after becoming addicted to ice. Cassandra Leigh Brownsdon, 31, from the Sunshine Coast, was caught with 29 grams of ice and more than $4,800 in cash last October. Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday heard Brownsdon - a national accounts manager - was on parole when police caught her riding a motorbike unlicensed while high. She tried to flee police, but fell off the bike and was found with 10 small sealed bags of drugs and money in her possession. Brownsdon had 28 prior convictions for drug offences and 25 convictions for burglary, the Courier Mail reported. The mother-of-one had been sentenced to more than two years' jail last year for aggravated burglary. On Monday, Brownsdon pleaded guilty to drug possession and supplying $350 ice (methamphetamine) - which she called 'salt and vinegar' in text messages. On Monday, Brownsdon pleaded guilty to drug possession and supplying $350 ice (methamphetamine) - which she called 'salt and vinegar' in text messages Her defence barrister said her client got hooked on drugs when she was young due to a rough upbringing. The court heard Brownsdon didn't break the law for five years after going to rehab and starting her successful career in recruitment and communications companies. But just as Brownsdon was about to start her own human resources company, she became reliant on drugs amid a battle with mental health issues. Justice Frances Williams said Brownsdon's life was 'drug-affected' and 'chaotic' but acknowledged that she went to rehab. 'You have used your time (in jail) in an endeavour to gain additional skills which will benefit you when you are ultimately released,' she said. Brownsdon was sentenced to three years behind bars. She will be eligible for parole on November 16. Tapping into a beer rating app allowed researchers to track military and intelligence personnel, including some who checked in at a military base that hosts a CIA training facility known as "the farm." Users of Untappd, a smartphone app for beer lovers, also posted photos that showed debit cards, military ID cards, locations of fighter jets and possibly sensitive military documents, the open-source research and investigative journalism group Bellingcat reported Monday. The app encourages users to log what they're drinking and where, and lets them rate their favorite sudsy drinks and discover new ones. Using their phone's geolocation, they can check in to drinking establishments or discover other nearby bars and restaurants. But with some creativity and "a little bit of digging," those interested in snooping can use those same features to discover military posts and other sensitive sites, as well as the people who frequent them. "Examples of users that can be tracked this way include a U.S. drone pilot, along with a list of both domestic and overseas military bases he has visited, a naval officer, who checked in at the beach next to [Guantanamo Bay's] detention center as well as several times at the Pentagon, and a senior intelligence officer with over seven thousand check-ins, domestic and abroad," wrote Foeke Postma, a Bellingcat researcher and trainer who authored the report. "Cross-referencing these check-ins with other social media makes it easy to find these individuals' homes." Untappd shows nearly 600 unique visitors on its Ramstein Air Base page who have rated more than 2,600 beers -- not including other establishments on base that have their own pages. NPR announced Tuesday that a new $4.7 million grant from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt will enable the company to open two new newsroom hubs. The donation from Schmidt and his wife, Wendy Schmidt, to the Collaborative Journalism Network will create two new regional newsroomsone in California and a Midwest hub connecting Member stations in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraskathat will increase local coverage across the states, especially in underserved communities, and will expand investigative reporting capacity, according to NPR. They will help the public radio stations in those states expand their local reporting and their contributions to the national radio programs. The California newsroom will serve the 17 public radio stations across the state, which air in 50 cities. The midwestern hub will serve the 25 public radio stations in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska that broadcast in 63 cities. Also Read: Local Newspaper Closures and Layoffs Accelerate During the Pandemic: 'Hardly Anyone Is Safe' In a statement, Wendy Schmidt said, Local news is especially important, and with so many newsrooms in decline, we need to invest in strengthening reporting resources from trusted sources like public radio. These regional news hubs will not only increase local reporting of critical issues, they will also elevate diverse voices and perspectives in regional and national stories. The timing of the grant is noteworthy given how many local papers and outlets are struggling amid the pandemic and shutting down. Read original story NPR Gets $4.7 Million Grant, Will Open Newsroom Hubs in California and Midwest At TheWrap A senior Australian official has accused China of 'cheap politicking' after Beijing attempted to trivialise Canberra's role in the global push for a coronavirus inquiry. Beijing's top diplomat in Canberra on Tuesday said Australia 'taking responsibility' for the probe is 'nothing but a joke' after 137 countries signed a Canberra-led motion at the World Health Assembly for an independent investigation into the virus. In response, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said he would not engage in a 'war of words' with China, but fired another shot in the escalating diplomatic row. 'Australia is not going to engage in cheap politicking over an issue as important as COVID-19,' Senator Birmingham told Sky News. 'COVID-19 has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world, including Chinese lives. It's caused economic devastation with the loss of millions of jobs, including Chinese jobs. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said he would not engage in a war of words with China, which could further sour the already strained relationship President of the Western Australian Farmers Federation Rhys Turton poses for a photograph in his empty barley fields near York in the Wheatbelt region, 100km east of Perth on Tuesday, May 19 following China's decision to impose an 80 per cent barley tariff 'I would have thought the appropriate response from China's ambassador in Australia would have been to welcome those outcomes.' The Lowy Institute's China expert, Richard McGregor, told The Australian that Chinese ambassador Cheng Jingye had not 'gone rogue', and was following instructions from his superiors. He previously suggested the Chinese people would boycott Australian goods and services should the nation continue to push for a probe into the origins of the virus. On Monday night, China imposed a whopping 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley exports as apparent punishment for Scott Morrison's push for the inquiry. The Chinese Embassy in Canberra has dismissed claims that Australia is responsible for getting China to agree to a coronavirus inquiry Following the overwhelming global support for the probe, Liberal-National Senator Matt Canavan said it meant Australia was 'massively vindicated' after being the first country to call for the probe in April. But Chinese officials said the motion, which China has agreed to, is very different from Australia's original proposal. Prime Minster Morrison wanted to give health officials the power to enter countries without invitation to inspect a disease outbreak, much like weapons inspectors. But China has only agreed to a probe once the pandemic is over. A statement from the Chinese Embassy read: 'A close look at the draft itself can easily come to such a conclusion. 'All those who know the consultation process that led to the resolution understand this. 'To claim the WHA's resolution a vindication of Australia's call is nothing but a joke.' Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country acted with openness, transparency and responsibility all along. 'This work needs a scientific and professional attitude and needs to be led by the WHO. And the principles of objectivity and fairness need to be upheld,' Xi told the world health assembly meeting. Xi also said China would stump up $3.1 billion over the next two years to help deal with the disease. It comes as Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said Australian farmers will try to replace Chinese barley buyers after Beijing imposed an 80 per cent tariff. Mr Littleproud said the federal government is urgently searching for more buyers in Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia and other countries. But half of Australia's barley exports normally go to China and farmers fear a 'devastating' hit this year if they are forced to offer discounts to sell all their produce elsewhere. Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi jinping in January 'We will not take our foot off the accelerator in finding other markets,' Mr Littleproud said. 'We have opened up greater access into India. We now have a free trade agreement that starts on 5 July with Indonesia and also within the Middle East - Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are also interested.' Mr Littleproud denied Australia and China are in a trade war and pointed to rising Chinese demand for Australian iron ore as supply from Brazil is reduced due to coronavirus. 'No, there's no trade war. In fact, even today, I think you have seen that there's increased demand for iron ore out of China,' he said. Similarly, Senator Birmingham said Australia would not ever engage in a trade war with China. 'Australia is not interested in a trade war. We don't pursue our trade policies on a tit-for-tat basis,' he said. 'We operate according to the trade rules that we strongly support.' China imposed an 80 per cent tariff on Australia barley last night after an 18-month anti-dumping investigation. Dumping is when a country exports a product unfairly cheaply to permeate a foreign market, with producers often subsidised by the government. China announced a 80.5% levy on barley exports starting May 19. Pictured is a barley farmer in central west NSW Industry hits back at China following tariffs The chief executive of Grain Producers Australia, Andrew Weidermann, says farmers are not scared to cut ties with China. He said while he hopes the two nations will come to a dually beneficial agreement, the industry will always find a way to survive. 'We want to negotiate on this with China and continue to do business,' he told The Australian. 'But if they slam the door in our face, we have to consider not doing business in China.' Advertisement China has accused the Australian government of subsidising farmers through the farmhousehold allowance and the Murray-Darling basin project. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham today said the allegations were 'ridiculous' because most of Australia's barley is produced far away from the basin. He said: 'It's completely ridiculous to be listing things like the Murray-Darling Basin infrastructure upgrades as some sort of subsidy to barley exporters when the bulk of that barley comes out of Western Australia or South Australia and is firmly dry-land farming. 'The Murray-Darling Basin is nowhere near Geraldton or other parts of the barley-growing world and I think it demonstrates the absence of factual analysis in the decision that's been made by China.' He did not rule out the idea that Beijing imposed the tariff as revenge for the government's call for an inquiry into the origins and spread of coronavirus. Australian barley farmer Andrew Weidemann said the tariff barrier 'stops the trade completely' with Australia's biggest customer. 'It's a really bitter pill to swallow,' Mr Weidemann said. 'It's a real dent in our economy and it will have a big impact.' You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Yuma News Yuma, Arizona - On Sunday May 17, at 2:45 am a fire in a garage was reported at 6096 East 47th Place. Arriving Yuma Fire Department personnel found heavy smoke and flames coming from a 3-car garage at that location. Flames were coming through the roof and 2 vehicles were on fire in the driveway in front of the garage. All occupants were confirmed to be out of the home. Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control, but the garage did sustain a partial roof collapse and the fire did extend into some of the living areas of the home. One of the residents was alerted to the fire by their dogs barking at the door to the garage. The door was opened to find smoke and flames inside. The door was closed and the residents and their 3 dogs were able to evacuate safety. Due to the damage to the home, it was not able to be reoccupied. The fire originated in the garage, but the cause of the fire remains under investigation. This was the second house fire that YFD responded to over the weekend. On Saturday morning just before 3:00 am firefighters responded to a fire in the backyard of a home in the 4200 block of West 14th Street. Arriving YFD personnel found smoke and flames coming from the rear patio area of 4202 West 14th Street. The residents had already safely evacuated the home. Firefighters were able to quickly knock down the fire. There was extensive damage to rear area of the room and it would not be able to be reoccupied until repairs could be done. In both house fires, the American Red Cross was called to assist residents. Leia (left) developed complications of the coronavirus while her identical twin Thea is thought to have escaped unscathed. (Wales News Service) A mother of identical twins has revealed how one suffered a life-threatening illness after overcoming the coronavirus, while the other is thought to have escaped unscathed. Hannah Godwin, 35, noticed her five-month-old daughter Leia had a rash and fever while lying next to her healthy and happy sister Thea. Leia was rushed to hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with a mysterious inflammatory condition. Blood tests later revealed the youngster has beaten the coronavirus, despite never showing symptoms. NHS doctors have been told to look out for signs of multi-system inflammation after intensive care units in London saw eight children with unusual symptoms, some of whom tested positive for the coronavirus. Leia has spent the past three weeks in hospital, while Thea is at home in Risca, Wales. Although Leia is no longer in critical care, doctors have warned she has a long road to recovery. Early research suggests the coronavirus is mild in four out of five cases, however, it can trigger a respiratory disease called COVID-19. The twins' mother Hannah Godwin noticed only one of them seemed under the weather. (Wales News Service) God knows what could have happened if she hadn't had the treatment she had early on, said Godwin. I'm so glad we noticed the difference in the girls. Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area Explained: Symptoms, latest advice and how it compares to the flu Doctors have likened the mysterious inflammation to Kawasaki disease. This is a rare condition that usually affects children under five and causes blood vessels to become inflamed, leading to heart complications in around a quarter (25%) of patients. Left untreated, complications can be fatal in 2% to 3% of youngsters. Although unclear, Kawasaki disease is thought to be due to an overreaction of the immune system to an infection. Doctors have requested genetic testing to better understand why Leias body reacted as it did. They also want to take blood from Thea to see if she has had the coronavirus and, if so, investigate why her body did not react the same way. Story continues It just went really out of hand, really quickly Godwin took Leia to the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport. While there her temperature spiked, she said. That's when they found the pin-prick rash on her feet. Doctors did not initially think Leia may have had the coronavirus. They started treating straight away for sepsis and meningitis, said Godwin. Over the next few days, Leias breathing became laboured and she was transferred to critical care. She went through a really, really scary time, said Godwin. It just went really out of hand, really quickly. Doctors noticed Leias arteries had swollen to a life-threatening size. The consultant was very, very honest with me and said: If there's a rupture she's not going to survive, said Godwin. Leia was then transferred to the specialist Noahs Ark Childrens Hospital for Wales in Cardiff, where she tested positive for antibodies to the coronavirus and was treated in isolation. Antibodies are immune-fighting proteins released in response to an infection. Once an individual has overcome the infection, memory antibodies circulate in low levels in the bloodstream to prevent the virus taking hold again. Antibody tests tell medics a person has had a specific infection. Doctors suspect Leia developed the Kawasaki-like disease, which has no set method of diagnosis. When doctors kept using the term 'linked to coronavirus' to me I was getting frustrated when she's never had it, said Godwin. But they did an antibodies test and it came back positive, meaning at some point in the last five months she has had it but was asymptomatic. Leia is no longer in intensive care, with her mother able to give her oral medication in hospital. The youngster is also given two blood thinning injections every day to prevent clots. Godwin and her husband Simon, 33, have been visiting while also looking after Thea and their older daughters Gracie, nine, and Nia, 12. Although Leia is still in hospital, Godwin insists she is doing well. She is fine in herself, you wouldn't know she was ill, and she's as strong as it gets so I'm sure we're just waiting it out, she said. Godwin is speaking out to raise awareness of the inflammatory disorder. A spokesman for Public Health Wales said: In recent weeks, paediatricians and paediatric intensive care specialists have identified a small number of children presenting to hospitals across the UK with signs of circulatory shock and a hyper-inflammatory state. Some children presented with symptoms similar to toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and others had symptoms consistent with Kawasaki disease, a rare inflammatory condition. Investigations by The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, as well as clinicians from across the UK, are ongoing to learn more about this rare condition. Leia has been in hospital for the past three weeks. (Wales News Service) Coronavirus: What we know about the Kawasaki-like disease The vast majority of coronavirus complications worldwide have occurred in the elderly or already ill, with youngsters largely escaping unscathed. Nevertheless, doctors have spotted signs of a Kawasaki-like disease post-infection in some children. Symptoms usually include fever, rash, red eyes, dry or cracked lips, swollen lymph nodes, and redness on the palms and soles of the feet. Doctors have also drawn parallels to TSS, often associated with tampon use. TSS a medical emergency can cause fever, flu-like symptoms, nausea, vomiting and difficulty breathing. Experts have warned these symptoms are a sign the body is overwhelmed as it tries to fight an infection. Speaking at a Science Media Centre briefing, Professor Russell Viner president of the The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health previously pointed out the number of coronavirus deaths among children in the UK could be counted on two hands. He estimated between 75 and 100 youngsters across the country have been admitted to hospital with the Kawasaki-like disease. The total numbers of children who get this syndrome are very small, said Professor Viner. Around 5,000 children die tragically each year. Some of these are premature babies, but 160 to 170 die in car crashes. Those deaths are tragic but also rare. How do we manage those? We buy child seats, we use seat belts, we sometimes buy better cars; but we dont stop driving. This syndrome is much, much more rare than car accidents involving children. As of 27 April, NHS England knew of fewer than 20 cases where an association between the coronavirus and the Kawasaki-like condition had been noted by doctors, the BBC reported. NHS England issued an urgent alert to GPs to be aware of the condition, but stressed no link had been established with the coronavirus. At least 15 US states are looking into the rare inflammatory disorder, according to New York governor Andrew Cuomo. Professor Alastair Sutcliffe, from University College London, previously said: There is apparently a small risk but no grounds for panic. Godwin has to wear protective gear when holding Leia. (Wales News Service) What is the coronavirus? The coronavirus is one of seven strains of a virus class that are known to infect humans. Others cause everything from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which killed 774 people during its 2002/3 outbreak. Since the coronavirus outbreak was identified, more than 4.8 million cases have been confirmed worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. Of these cases, over 1.7 million are known to have recovered. Globally, the death toll has exceeded 318,700. The coronavirus mainly spreads face to face via infected droplets expelled in a cough or sneeze. There is also evidence it is transmitted in faeces and can survive on surfaces. Symptoms include fever, cough and slight breathlessness. The coronavirus has no set treatment, with most patients naturally fighting off the infection. Those requiring hospitalisation are given supportive care, like ventilation, while their immune system gets to work. Officials urge people ward off infection by washing their hands regularly and maintaining social distancing. Students whose plans to study abroad have been affected due to COVID-19 will get a fresh chance to apply for the JEE-Main, the entrance exam for engineering colleges, the HRD minister announced on Tuesday. "In view of the representations received from various Indian students, who were scheduled to join colleges abroad but are now keen to pursue their studies in India due to the changed circumstances arising out of COVID-19, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has decided to give an opportunity," Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal "Nishank" said. The application window for the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE-Main), which opened on Tuesday, will have to be completed by May 24. "Students who were not able to complete their application forms due to other reasons can also make use of this opportunity," NTA Director Vineet Joshi said. The exam, which was earlier scheduled in April and was postponed due to lockdown restrictions, will be held across the country from July 18-23. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the decision of over 48 per cent Indian students who wanted to study abroad, according to a report by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), which comes out with global rankings for educational institutions. The significantly lower return on investment in an already expensive international higher domain and the further reduced chances of employability in the post COVID-19 world have a key role to play in this shift, experts at QS have pointed out. The novel coronavirus has claimed over three lakh lives with more than 48 lakh people infected across the globe. The deadly virus has brought several countries to a standstill with many imposing international travel restrictions, delaying or disrupting the study-abroad plans of students. Meanwhile, the HRD minister launched an artificial intelligence-powered mobile application called the "National Test Abhyas" for mock tests for the JEE-Main and medical entrance exam NEET. "The app has been developed by the NTA to enable the candidates to take mock tests for upcoming exams such as the JEE-Main, NEET under the NTA's purview. It has been launched to facilitate the candidates' access to high-quality mock tests from the safety and comfort of their homes since there was a demand for making up the loss to students due to the closure of educational institutions and NTA's test-practice centres (TPCs) because of the continuing lockdown," a senior official in the HRD ministry said. "With this facility for students, India has taken the lead in restoring a semblance of normalcy in one more crucial area, test preparations, even as we tackle these unprecedented times that have led to significant changes around the world," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three young Asian woman were called 'corona' and had coat hangers thrown at them in a racist attack outside a Coles. Linh Phung said she, her sister, and a friend were abused by a group of masked teenagers in Launceston, Tasmania, on Monday afternoon. The University of Tasmania student, who is Vietnamese, claimed the teens racially abused them with slurs blaming them for coronavirus. Linh Phung (pictured) said she, her sister, and a friend were abused by a group of masked teenagers in Launceston, Tasmania, on Monday afternoon 'These kids threw candies at us and called us corona. I asked them to stop, but we had to walk by them,' she said. Ms Phung said the group continued to throw objects at them until she got fed up and approached them after being hit with a coat hanger. Footage then shows the two boys covering their faces with their jumpers and yelling at the girls, before a girl with the teens lashed out. 'We are so angry and confused. This is hurtful mentally. I have lived in Australia for 6 years and this is our second home,' Ms Phung said. The brother of one of the boys and the former employer of the girl involved confirmed the attack after the video was posted online. They pleaded with dozens of angry locals not to judge them by association. Footage then shows the two boys covering their faces with their jumpers and yelling at the girls 'The employee in question hasn't been engaged in active employment with our business for some time,' the business wrote in a statement. 'We certainly can control the types of people we hire and these events have come as a complete shock to us. 'This young girl has attended a well known private school and has a loving and supportive family. Our team will not and do not tolerate discrimination at all.' Tasmania Police said it was aware of the incident but it had not yet been formally reported by any of the three alleged victims. 'There is no excuse for verbal or physical abuse in our community and violence and intimidation will not be tolerated,' it said. 'This incident does not reflect the behaviour or values Tasmania Police expects from members of the public. 'We encourage members of the community to be mindful and considerate of others, particularly as we continue to respond to COVID-19.' [May 19, 2020] OODA Health Strengthens Operational Focus with Hire of New CFO and COO OODA Health, a healthcare technology company focused on empowering patients, providers, and payers with real-time healthcare interactions, today announced that Brian Meewes is joining the company in the role of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Brian will be based at OODA Health's headquarters in San Francisco. The hiring of the company's first CFO and COO comes at a time when OODA Health is helping to transform the healthcare system by addressing the $400B in administrative waste and financial burden it causes for patients, providers and payers, which is now being exacerbated by COVID-19. OODA has recently partnered with Blue Shield of California to provide a financial backstop to providers at the front line of caring for patients with COVID-19. The company also announced a recent commercial expansion of its patient payments platform with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona that is helping to improve the financial lives of more providers and patients in that market. "We are proud to have Brian join the OODA Health team. He is a seasoned executive who brings many years of financial and operational experience that will help us immensely," said Giovanni Colella, M.D., Co-Founder and Co-CEO, OODA Health. "As we position OODA to rapidly grow and further penetrate our target markets, he will help us to rapidly scale our operations and reach and will be a strong addition to the management team." Brian joins OODA Health from Alto Pharmacy, where he ran growth and operations as well as serving as VP of Finance, helping the business grow 10x, launching into three new markets, and improving gross margins by over 40% during his 2.5 year tenure. Prior to Alto, Brian was VP and Head of Finance at Symphony Commerce, and previously was head of strategic finance and analytics at BigCommerce. Brian previously spent seven years at Amazon as finance leader for their fulfillment center and worldwide supply chain analytics, as well as several of their growth business lines, including Amazon Fresh and Amazon.com (News - Alert) grocery. "I am so honored to join this company and be a part of the OODA Health team," said Brian Meewes, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, OODA Health. "Despite the challenges of COVID-19, OODA has a strong cash position and committed customers. I am a firm believer in creating a new retail experience in healthcare and am excited to bring my own financial and operational experience to help OODA fully realize this opportunity." "We welcome Brian and are excited for him to join us," said Seth Cohen, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, OODA Health. "Brian has a strong track record of scaling operations and leading finance at high growth companies and will be an asset to OODA as we focus on achieving the performance and scale we need to transform healthcare payments in a way that benefits patients, providers and payers." About OODA Health OODA Health's mission is to transform healthcare administration by enabling real-time interactions between patients, providers and payers. We're focused on eliminating the friction and delays in current payment processes that will save $400B of wasted spend, improve the member experience and inspire greater collaboration between providers and payers. Leveraging an innovative technology platform, OODA Health partners with leading health plans and providers including Anthem, Dignity Health, a part of CommonSpirit Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Blue Shield of California, Hill Physicians Medical Group and others. For more information about OODA Health, please visit www.ooda-health.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005322/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Ruby Rose has offered fans a rare glimpse inside her Los Angeles home. As the Australian actress self-isolates in California during the coronavirus pandemic, the beauty has been sharing plenty of pictures to Instagram taken around the colourful property. When she's not staying in her stylish Hollywood hideout, the 34-year-old also calls a futuristic cabin hidden in the bush in Victoria, Australia, home. Come on in! Ruby Rose (pictured) has offered fans a rare glimpse inside her Los Angeles home in recent Instagram posts. The star also has a second base back in home in Australia After house hunting in Los Angeles in 2017, Ruby settled on a property with an open plan lounge, huge fireplace, exposed beam ceilings and plenty of character. She has decorated the sizeable interior with vibrant pieces of art, high-end designer furniture and vintage ornaments throughout. Hollywood hideout: After house hunting in Los Angeles in 2017, Ruby settled on a property with an open plan lounge, huge fireplace, exposed beam ceilings and plenty of character Colourful! She has decorated the sizeable interior with vibrant pieces of art, high-end designer furniture and vintage ornaments throughout The home also boasts plenty of privacy. There is a secluded backyard with a swimming pool that is hidden among large trees and plants, ensuring Ruby can soak up the sun in peace. The Orange Is The New Black star's Australian base is equally as private, yet much more secluded. Luxury! Her home in California also boasts plenty of privacy outdoors Tranquil! There is a secluded backyard with a swimming pool, hidden among large trees and plants, ensuring Ruby can soak up the sun in peace Cosy! Ruby is seen posing in her sun-drenched LA bedroom with her dog (left), and also in her stylish bathroom (right) The Melbourne-born talent has spent the past two Christmases with family in a remote cabin in Victoria, nestled on the edge of bushland by the coast. It features black wood, glass walls and a huge futuristic-inspired triangle window with metal beams at the front of the property, leading to views of the water. Ruby previously told a fan the property is in 'a secret magical place in Victoria'. Wow! Ruby's Australian base (pictured) is just as private. She has spent the past two Christmases in a remote cabin in Victoria, nestled on the edge of some bushland by the coast Impressive! It features black wood, glass walls and a huge futuristic-inspired triangle window with metal beams at the front of the property, leading to views of the water It is unclear if Ruby owns the architectural marvel, if it belongs to her family or she leases it whenever she's back Down Under. After last visiting Australia in December, Ruby said she felt 'recharged'. 'My Home. Australia is truly the most beautiful place on earth,' she said before returning back to Los Angeles where she is based for work. Face visors may not stop infected patients spreading coronavirus, a leading public health expert has warned. Britons are now being encouraged to wear face masks on public transport and in situations where social distancing is not achievable, such as in shops. Retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Waitrose have even bought transparent visors for staff to wear in a bid to protect them against COVID-19. But Professor Linda Bauld, of the University of Edinburgh said the visor may not prevent people from spreading the virus to other people. While masks are thought to have the opposite benefit - preventing spread but not necessarily infection - Professor Bauld said visors are unlikely to do a good enough job of containing breath droplets exhaled by the wearer. Face visors are being worn around the world by people trying to protect themselves from the coronavirus, but experts are sceptical that they can stop someone spreading the virus if worn without a mask (Pictured: A security guard in Belgium wearing a visor) 'I dont think theres any strong evidence theyre something the public should be wearing on a routine basis,' Professor Bauld told The Guardian. 'The key thing is to cover the mouth and the nose. 'The face coverings that people are being encouraged to use, for example, on public transport is not to protect the wearer, but to protect other people.' Professor Linda Bauld, from the University of Edinburgh, told The Guardian: 'I dont think theres any strong evidence theyre something the public should be wearing on a routine basis' In comparison to face masks, the visor would be intended to stop droplets from breath, coughs or sneezes drifting into the wearer's face, but would be unlikely to stop air coming out of their own nose and mouth. Masks are such a hot topic because of the way the coronavirus spreads - it infects people by piggy-backing on droplets of moisture which are expelled from people's lungs when they breathe. These go further if someone coughs or sneezes and, if they're inhaled by someone else, the viruses can latch onto cells in the airways and trigger COVID-19. Explaining the one-sided benefit of a visor, Professor Bauld added: 'The reason for having a visor which would cover the upper half of your face would be if youre regularly coming into contact with the public at closer range, and you might be exposed to somebody who is emitting those small droplets that were all aware are very efficient at carrying the virus.' Professor Bauld's comments come after doctors at the University of Iowa last month claimed face shields 'offer a number of advantages' in fighting the pandemic. In an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), they said: 'Face shields can be reused indefinitely and are easily cleaned with soap and water, or common household disinfectants. 'They are comfortable to wear, protect the portals of viral entry, and reduce the potential for auto-inoculation by preventing the wearer from touching their face.' 'People wearing medical masks often have to remove them to communicate with others around them; this is not necessary with face shields. WHAT DO EXPERTS SAY ABOUT FACE SHIELDS? In a scramble to find ways to protect people from catching the coronavirus, masks, goggles, visors and gloves have all been touted as possible layers of protection. Some people have even been seen with homemade attempts, such as wearing lunchboxes or water bottles over their faces. But do visors work? Epidemiologist Dr Eli Perencevich and a team of scientists at the University of Iowa said a visor could reduce the amount of virus someone inhaled by up to 92 per cent form 2m away from the source. They said it is unlikely to be possible to do a scientific study fast enough to be useful, and added: 'Face shields... should be included as part of strategies to safely and significantly reduce transmission in the community setting.' Dr Robert Glatter, a doctor at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said: 'While we don't have hard trials or data on the efficacy of face shields at this time, early data from their use in patients with influenza [which is droplet-spread] is promising,' Medical Xpress reported. But research done before the pandemic does not show any clear benefits of using visors on their own, other scientists say. A study named 'Face shields for infection control: A review' by Dr Raymond Roberge at the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) was done in 2016. After looking at evidence from other studies Dr Roberge concluded that face shields have no proof to back up claimed benefits of using them on their own. He said viruses or bacteria could come in through around the edges of the visor and still cause infection. Writing in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene he said: 'Due to the lack of a good facial seal peripherally that can allow for aerosol penetration, face shields should not be used as solitary face/eye protection, but rather as [an addition] to other PPE (protective facemasks, goggles, etc.). 'Given the dearth of available data regarding the appropriate use of face shields for infection control, scientifically sound research needs to be conducted on the use of this form of PPE.' Advertisement 'The use of a face shield is also a reminder to maintain social distancing, but allows visibility of facial expressions and lip movements for speech perception.' The piece, authored by Iowa's Dr Eli Perencevich, said that shields 'appear to significantly reduce the amount of virus' inhaled. Some research has shown that people are at risk of becoming more seriously ill with COVID-19 if they receive a larger 'viral load' - the first dose of viruses that they are infected with. Dr Perencevich and colleagues pointed to a study that simulated how much of a flu virus a healthcare worker wearing a visor would have been exposed to. Results showed they inhaled around 92 per cent less of the virus when standing 2m away - the strict social distancing advice. But the same study revealed shields were less effective after 30 minutes, when the particles had dispersed into the surrounding room. Dr Perencevich and colleagues added that 'major policy recommendations should be evaluated using clinical studies'. But they said: 'It is unlikely a randomized trial of face shields could be completed in time to verify efficacy. 'No clinical trial has been conducted to assess the efficacy of widespread testing and contact tracing, but that approach is based on years of experience. 'Face shields... should be included as part of strategies to safely and significantly reduce transmission in the community setting.' Tech giant Apple last month announced it was going to begin producing its own face shields for medical workers battling the pandemic. Chief executive Tim Cook said it had also designed its own transparent protective visor and begun mass production at its factories in the US and China. Last week Apple revealed it plans to sell them to the public soon and that it would sell shields at cost, meaning it won't make a profit off of them. British chocolate giant Cadbury has also started to make visors, teaming up with engineering firm 3P Innovation to produce thousands of the gadgets. The visors will be made through 3D printing technology, which is normally used to make chocolate sculptures at the chocolatier's factory in Bournville. Frontline NHS workers, including nurses treating coronavirus patients in intensive care, are told to wear visors. Medics are also instructed to wear shields during aerosol-generating procedures, such as intubating a patient. If in 'extremely short supply', medics are urged to re-use single-use visors. They must cover the forehead, extend below the chin and wrap around the face. They should be cleaned using a detergent - the same decontamination process used for any bit of PPE that needs to be donned again. Visors will degrade with repeated cleaning, according to the guidance, which says they should be 'resupplied regularly'. Waitrose announced it had ordered protective visors at the end of March, revealing staff could wear them at work if they wanted to stay safe. Marks and Spencer followed suit weeks later and gave front-line employees plastic face shields, to protect them against COVID-19. And Co-op introduced visors earlier this month, giving thousands of staff the option to wear the gadgets during their shift if they wanted. It comes after a study last week found men are less likely to wear face masks than women because they are seen as 'not cool' and 'a sign of weakness'. Experts surveyed nearly 2,500 US adults, finding that men were more likely to see face masks as being 'shameful' and be put off by the perceived stigma. Eight per cent of men and five per cent of women said they would definitely not be wearing a face mask when outside of their homes. The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike. We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve. An unsealed search warrant document related to the Nova Scotia mass shooting investigation shows that police believe the gunman was abusive, paranoid about security on his properties and one witness described him to RCMP as a "psychopath." The rampage unfolded over about 13 hours, beginning in the small community of Portapique the night of April 18 and ending the next morning at a gas station in Enfield, nearly 100 kilometres away, after the gunman was fatally shot by police. He killed 22 people. On April 20, a justice of the peace authorized RCMP to search two of the gunman's properties: his cottage on Portapique Beach Road and another property on nearby Orchard Beach Drive, which is referred to as "the warehouse" in the documents. The order allowed police to search all the structures, outbuildings and vehicles on the properties belonging to 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman. Document shows info police gathered The 40-page document, known as an information to obtain a search warrant (ITO), outlines the information police gathered in the case. Multiple witnesses told police Wortman talked about having many guns, had been abusive, seemed paranoid and that the property in Portapique was equipped with a lot of security equipment. One witness described Wortman as intelligent but, "a psychopath," who was severely abused as a child and paranoid about the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the statement detailed in the document. The same person relayed that Wortman once had a mental breakdown, and kept guns at his denturist office as well as his Portapique property. The witness also told police that Wortman, "would dress up as a police officer and would role play. Gabriel had a whole uniform with a hat, jacket and has a vest." The document said one witness told police Wortman "wasn't a police officer wannabe and didn't like police officers and thought he was better than them." Several witnesses told police that the gunman had recently bought $800 worth of gas, with one person adding that they believe he'd also purchased propane bottles. Numerous statements described him as wealthy. Another person, who had known Wortman for nine years, described him as controlling and paranoid. Story continues The same person also told police that they had heard Wortman talk about, "getting rid of bodies, burning and chemicals." They said he kept lime and muriatic acid under his deck. The statements outlined in the document have not been tested in court. Document includes redactions Sgt. Angela Hawryluk, a 28-year veteran of the force, outlined the information she gathered to support the search warrant application. It includes conversations with the officers investigating the case and their reports and emails. The document, which includes redactions, outlines statements made by witnesses and people who knew the gunman. A justice of the peace approved Hawryluk's request that the document be sealed. Tim Krochak/Getty Images CBC News made an application to unseal the court records in April in the hope they would offer insight into what RCMP knew about the gunman and when they became aware of that information. In a hearing in Truro provincial court Tuesday morning, Judge Laurel Halfpenny MacQuarrie agreed to sign an order authorizing the release of one of the ITOs, which spells out evidence investigators gathered to request a search warrant. The Crown redacted the document after consulting with the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency, which is involved in the investigation because several of the firearms are believed to have come from the United States. Statement from common-law spouse The document includes a summary of the statement Wortman's common-law spouse gave police. She told them that on the evening of April 18, they'd been having drinks and FaceTiming friends at the "warehouse" a garage with an attached apartment at the Orchard Beach Drive property. The person's name is redacted, but police previously said Wortman committed a serious assault on April 18 on his common-law spouse, who survived the attack, hid and then subsequently shared information with RCMP. The court document said a witness emerged from the woods at 6:34 a.m. on April 19. The spouse told police she saw Wortman pour accelerant in the cottage and the warehouse, as well as on his Ford-150 truck, a black Jeep and a Ford Taurus. Steve Lawrence/CBC She said Wortman owned military-style guns and had several firearms in the front seat of one of the vehicles he'd designed to look like an RCMP cruiser on the night of April 18. The woman heard shots as she hid in the woods overnight and ran to a neighbour's home to call 911 when she emerged, the document said. She told police Wortman had smashed her cellphone and she couldn't access any others. The document said police found two burned Ford Tauruses, one at each of Wortman's Portapique properties. Man shot but survived The court document also offers insight into an attack on two other people, one of whom was shot. On the night of April 18, the pair called 911 and while still on the phone, drove toward a home burning in Portapique. Upon arrival, they noticed what appeared to be a police vehicle parked outside. Assuming it was an officer, the witnesses said they rolled down the window when the vehicle pulled up along beside them. But at that point the man who one witness later identified as Wortman pulled out a handgun and shot at them two or three times. Realizing what was happening, they ducked. One of the people in the car was shot, the other wasn't injured. They "sped away" and encountered actual RCMP officers called to the area and reported to them what happened. The man who was shot later found a bullet under his shirt while he was waiting for an ambulance to arrive. WATCH | Witnesses describe N.S. gunman as "psychopath": court documents: 'Come out with your hands up' In a statement to RCMP, an acquaintance who first met the gunman eight years ago noted that they called 911 when they learned on the morning of April 19 that Wortman was wanted by police. About 10 to 15 minutes later, a marked police car showed up in the acquaintance's driveway in Glenholme, N.S. It was Wortman, and they called 911 again. Much of the statement is redacted but it says the witness said they could hear a helicopter nearby and eventually heard their doorbell ring and they thought Wortman entered the house. Then they heard banging on the glass and someone said, "Come out with your hands up, Gabriel, come out with your hands up." They then got a call saying Wortman had moved on toward the community of Lower Onslow and that they should remain inside. Steve Lawrence/CBC When police shot Wortman in Enfield, N.S., officers found five firearms and a can of ammunition in the stolen vehicle he was driving. The RCMP examined the guns and found they included a rifle with the selector switch set to fire and a shoulder strap. Another semi-automatic rifle had a round in the chamber, as did a pistol, and spent shell casings from the pistol were found in the car, according to the ITO. A second pistol had the hammer cocked and the safety off. The calibres of the firearms are redacted. Wortman also had Const. Heidi Stevenson's 9-mm Smith & Wesson service pistol in the stolen vehicle. The gun was missing two magazines. Crown redacting 6 other ITOs The documents said that because the Portapique properties were damaged by fire, the RCMP were bringing in a forensic anthropologist to search the fire scenes. The expert was requested on April 20, but scheduling meant they couldn't arrive from Ontario until April 26. It's still not clear what, if anything, was seized from the two Portapique properties. The actual search warrant, as well as a return, which can outline what evidence was seized, has not yet been released. There are another six search warrants that federal and provincial Crown prosecutors are in the process of redacting in consultation with the RCMP and CBSA. The next court hearing about the application to unseal documents has been set for May 25, by which point the Crown said redactions of six other ITOs will be complete. Several other media outlets, including CTV, Global News, the Globe and Mail, Postmedia, The Canadian Press, the SaltWire Network and the Halifax Examiner joined CBC's application and are also represented by Halifax lawyer David Coles. MORE TOP STORIES In this article T Simon Ritzmann/Getty Images Last week, after months working from home to help flatten the curve of the coronavirus outbreak, Twitter announced that its employees will be allowed to continue to work remotely permanently. Technology companies have made working from home not just possible, but some now argue just as productive as the traditional office. Microsoft gave us email, Slack brought instant messaging to the enterprise, and Zoom Video Communications video conferencing, but Silicon Valley as a whole has been at the forefront of flexible work arrangements. As the coronavirus outbreak spurred nationwide safety orders, many businesses sent their workers home. In the latest CNBC|SurveyMonkey Workforce Survey, about half of all people in the workforce (48%) indicate they've been able to do their jobs remotely in recent weeks. In the survey, remote workers report higher levels of job satisfaction than those still going into the office. Many workers say they want to keep working from their improvised kitchen table offices, with their spouses, children, and dogs as their new coworkers. Silicon Valley salary reset Technology workers have always been a bit spoiled when it comes to working from home. In a Wall Street Journal|SurveyMonkey poll conducted in early March, prior to the announcement of any mandatory shelter-in-place orders or large-scale work-from home policies, 62% of workers in the technology industry called it "very possible" for them to work from home easily the highest of any industry. In the new CNBC|SurveyMonkey results, 83% of tech workers say they've been able to work from home in recent weeks, and many want their new routines to stick. More than a quarter (27%) say they'll want to work from home all the time from now on, and 36% say they'll want to work from home more often than they used to. Just 5% say they'll want to work from home less often than they had previously, and a mere 2% never want to work from home again. The survey polled a national sample of 9,059 workers in the United States and was conducted May 410, 2020. To use the parlance of the tech industry itself, increased remote work makes their labor market ripe for disruption. If those numbers play out, the job market for technology workers could look much different than it did before the pandemic. Tech workers are highly paid: 44% of tech workers reported incomes in the six figures again, easily the highest of any industry. With more companies allowing their employees to work from anywhere, that also allows them to hire from anywhere vastly increasing the pool of available job candidates, a theme Linked In CEO Jeff Weiner hits regularly: "Equal talent deserves equal access to opportunity." That means competition for jobs at places like Facebook and Twitter will increase, with potential to set off a chain of events a brain drain from other industries, a consolidation of talent at a few top tech companies, a decrease in average salaries, a dispersal of the Silicon Valley labor force that will have wide-ranging effects. To use the parlance of the tech industry itself, increased remote work makes their labor market ripe for disruption. Out of habit, inertia, or just a plain fear of change, many white-collar workplaces have avoided allowing employees to regularly work from home but that may soon change. Plenty of so-called knowledge workers are finding that they can comfortably do their job from just about anywhere they have a wifi connection and their laptop. Large majorities of workers in the consulting & research (85%), insurance (84%), advertising and marketing (73%), finance and financial services (70%), legal (68%) industries have been doing their jobs remotely as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, according to the CNBC|SurveyMonkey data. Among these same workers, most report wanting to either work from home all the time even when it is safe to return to the office, or at least wanting to work from home more often than previously. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards CNBC|SurveyMonkey Q2 2020 Workforce Survey Where remote work doesn't work Workers in other industries have had less success shifting to working from home. By necessity, with schools and businesses closed and shelter-at-home orders in place nationwide, teachers, counselors, and social workers have been forced to adjust to working from home just like everyone else. But these jobs often rely on one-on-one, in-person interactions that just aren't possible to maintain virtually. Among workers in the education industry, for example, 79% say they've been doing their job remotely in recent weeks on par with those in the technology or advertising & marketing industries noted above. Among education workers, however, just 10% say they think they will want to work from home all the time when the coronavirus outbreak is no longer a threat. By industry, education workers have the highest proportion who say they never want to work from home again when it is no longer necessary (19%), and they also have an above average proportion who say they want to work from home less often than they used to (16%). For any parents who've been frustrated by their children's sub-par experiences with virtual learning, these data suggest that teachers are just as unhappy with the arrangement. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards CNBC|SurveyMonkey Q2 2020 Workforce Survey Like teachers, many nonprofit workers have jobs that rely on personal interactions, such as running community health organizations or after-school programs; but like the white collar fields described above, many other nonprofit workers have desk jobs that can be done from just about anywhere. Nonprofit employees are reporting mixed success at this remote work experiment. Just 12% say they will want to work from home all the time even after it is safe to go back to the office well below the 19% average among all workers. About as many (14%) say they never want to work from home again when it is no longer required the second-lowest percentage among workers by industry. Some of the industries that have been most affected by the stay-at-home orders are those that rely on in-person interactions to a degree that makes working from home impossible. Restaurants, hotels, and nail salons have all experienced a steep drop-off in demand in recent weeks, resulting from both regulations and a widespread fear of among the public spreading or catching the coronavirus germs. The spike in unemployment that began in early April was driven in large part by the forced closure of these industries, and many workers in these industries were furloughed or laid off as a result. There was no mistaking Chris Hemsworth at the school gate in Byron Bay on Monday. The Extraction star looked as handsome as ever while collecting his children from their classes. The 36-year-old hunk was every bit the doting father as he walked with his daughter India Rose, eight, and twin six-year-old sons, Tristan and Sasha. Now that's an Extraction! Hunky actor Chris Hemsworth showed off his famous muscular physique when he picked up his three children - India Rose, eight, and twin six-year-old sons, Tristan and Sasha - from school in Byron Bay on Monday The off-duty actor showed off his muscular frame in simple grey T-shirt and light khaki chino pants, and wrapped a long sleeve grey sweater around his waist. Chris jokingly pretended to be a crossing guard as he directed his barefoot brood towards the car. The Hollywood star is enjoying some downtime with his family amid the coronavirus lockdown. Daddy duty: The Hollywood star is enjoying some downtime with his family amid the coronavirus lockdown Meanwhile, the actor said 'a massive thank you to everyone that checked out (his new film) Extraction' and 'made it the #1 film' on Netflix. 'It looks like it is going to be Netflix's biggest feature film of all time, which is absolutely mind-blowing and we are blown away by the response and the support,' Chris gushed, in a video seen by his 41.3million followers. Netflix revealed that Extraction earned the biggest opening-day audience for any film, and it was projected to be watched in 90 million households over the first four weeks of its release. According to the streaming platform, Extraction has been streamed by 'an estimated 90 million households' since it premiere on April 24. Chris continued: 'So, on behalf of myself, the Russo brothers, Netflix, and director Sam Hargrave, thank you so so much. We love you guys.' The movie follows Chris' character Tyler Rake, a 'black market mercenary' who tackles his most dangerous job yet, to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned crime lord. Casual but hot: The off-duty actor showed off his muscular body in simple grey T-shirt and light khaki chino pants, and wrapped a long sleeve grey sweater around his waist Mumbai, May 19 : Actor Priyanshu Painyuli will get to fulfill his desire of being an army officer, at least on-screen. Growing up in an army family in Bengaluru, Priyanshu instantly connected with the character in "Rashmi Rocket". "My father retired as a Colonel in the army. It's a beautiful story and when the role first came to me, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. It's a world I understand and am familiar. So I instantly felt at home," he said. "But more than me, my father was excited that I am going to play an army officer. The uniform is a badge of honour that officers wear. Wearing the uniform is a matter of great pride and responsibility. I want to play it with utmost sincerity and dedication. This is a character that has shades of both strength and vulnerability," he added. There was a time when he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. "I did wish to join the army when I was really young; you always do when you see your father in uniform. But now as an actor, it will be great to fulfil that desire at least on screen. It's a fantastic character and I can't wait for the film start. We were to start workshops this month but due to the lockdown that's on hold," said Priyanshu. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text A file photo of a mother putting a mask on a child. A new mental-health screening program in Orange County is working with schools to identify students who may need help. (August de Richelieu/Pexels) OC Psychologist Talks Mental Health During Pandemic, Helping Kids We know there are three waves with this pandemic, Anaheim, California-based licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Martin J. Eaton says. First and foremost, medical; second and understandably, economic; but the hidden, and possibly the most devastating, is the negative impact on childrens and adults mental health, he told The Epoch Times. A recent survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California has found that half of Californians report mental health concerns because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nationwide, as many as 75,000 deaths of despairdue to suicide or substance abusecould result from the pandemics mental toll over the next several years, according to Well Being Trust research. Amid soaring reports of domestic violence, child abuse, and suicide in Orange County, medical professionals such as Eaton are studying the traumatic experiences people are facing. Eaton, the founder of Well Family, a counseling and educational support center with multiple locations in Southern California, and his team are collaborating with high schools statewide to identify mental health issues in minors, through an online interactive screening survey launched in May. Dr. Martin J. Eaton (Courtesy of Dr. Martin J. Eaton) Pilot screenings, which are taking place at Santiago Middle School in Orange and Samueli High School in Santa Ana, are completed in less than 10 minutes, and allow Eatons team to identify children who need further outreach. The screener is like talking to a psychiatrist, Eaton explained; based on how a user responds, there are related questions. So what it was able to do was to create this kind of interactive dialogue, Eaton said. In less than 10 minutes, researchers will be able to have a fairly thorough screening for 90 percent of the most common mental health issues. Respondents receive a follow-up call from a psychologist on Eatons team and resources are available. We will then proactively reach out to that individual and talk to that individual really determining if someone is potentially imminently dangerous to themselves or others, he said. For people who are experiencing minor negative issues, they will still be able to access resources through the platforms portal. Some of those resources range from cost-free counseling, hotline calls, and an on call now feature that allows users to connect with a psychologist. And though our focus has been more on the issues with kids, just because sometimes theyre the silent population that not everyone is able to see, our screener reaches out to both kids and adults, Eaton said. In addition to helping individuals, the program allows Eaton to understand the mental health situation in the county. The goal is to create this data point with as many different schools who want to participate, and then provide basically an overview kind of like a snapshot of what we see is going on in Orange County, as well as potentially with youth today, he added. On April 7, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a press conference that our children are most vulnerable because theyre not able to communicate as effectively as many of the adults and caregivers. He noted that some adults are understandably struggling with mental health issues more than others, especially those who have been furloughed or laid off. Eaton divides the difficulties people are combating into two categories: the ongoing mental health issues pre-COVID-19 and the arising mental health issues due to COVID-19. He has found a significant increase. The ratio is generally about one in five people have mental health issues. Because of the pandemic, he said, that ratio is getting closer to two in every five people. Youre seeing new people impacted because many people had a sense of consistency in their life that now this epidemic disrupted from a loss of income, or a loss of social support, or a loss of predictability, he said. Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, an agency that serves Los Angeles and Orange counties, reported a jump in calls on its suicide and disaster helplines related to COVID-19 to 1,800 in March from 22 calls in February. Coronavirus callers top concerns are anxiety/stress and health issues, but financial concerns also weigh on them, and suicide was mentioned by 20%, according to a press release. Former princess Tessy Antony De Nassau has revealed the identity of her mystery boyfriend and said she is 'very happy' after finding love again with a hunky Swiss businessman. The ex-royal, 34, is currently in isolation with her two sons Prince Gabriel of Nassau, 14, and Prince Noah of Nassau, 12, whom she shares with ex-husband Prince Louis of Luxembourg, 34, who she divorced last year. Tessy has now revealed how she finally feels happy after falling for financier and CEO Frank Floessel. She told Hello magazine that it 'took a long time' after her divorce, but she now feels 'very happy', explaining: 'After every relationship it takes a while to heal when the heart has been broken. It has been really, really wonderful for me to realise that I am able to trust and love again. It's nice to see that life goes on.' Former princess Tessy Antony De Nassau, 34, has revealed the identity of her boyfriend as hunky Swiss businessman Frank Floessel. She had sparked rumours she has a new man in her life after sharing loved-up snaps on Instagram over the Easter weekend (pictured) The entrepreneur and businessman is currently working as CEO and president of CBA Finance, and according to his Linkedin page splits his time between Zurich and London Entrepreneur Frank got his master's degree in ETH Zurich and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is currently CEO and president of CBA Finance. His LinkedIn page details how he built his second company over 16 years from 3 to 600 employees. The entrepreneur also appears to be an active outdoors-man, and a keen backcountry skier. The former royal appears to have known Frank for several years, having written about his work on her blog in September 2018. Tessy divorced her former husband Prince Louis of Luxembourg in September last year, admitting it had taken her 'a long time' to heal from their break up He has also acted as a trustee for the organisation Professors Without Borders, which Tessy co-founded in 2016. The organisation shared a snap of the duo, alongside another trustee Piers Hedley, on their Facebook page in October 2019. Tessy had previously sparked speculation that she had started a new relationship after sharing snaps with Frank on her Instagram page during lockdown. The businessman was also pictured on a family hike with the proud mother and her two boys, with Tessy captioning the photos 'Family is all that matters' with two love heart emojis. The former royal appears to have known Frank for several years, with her organisation Professors Without Borders sharing a picture of the duo together in October 2019 (pictured, left, Frank, centre, trustee Piers Hedley, right, Tessy) Tessy went on to reveal how she how she is 'very happy' that her ex-husband Prince Louis maintains a close bond with their sons, despite the fact they can't see each other during quarantine. She said her son's 'love and trust' with their father had 'become stronger' because of the separation during the pandemic. Tessy has previously told how her family 'suffered greatly' when she became a princess in 2006 after marrying Prince Louis, whom she met in 2004. Speaking on Sky News special report The Meghan Effect, Tessy explained: 'My little cousin needed to change schools twice. My twin brother was incredibly bullied at work he still is today. Frank was also pictured on a family hike with the proud mother and her two boys on April 4, with Tessy captioning the photos 'Family is all that matters' with two love heart emojis 'My sister, my parents suffered, my oldest brother doesn't talk to me anymore because of that, because it was too much for him to handle. 'That was when I married in, and when I got divorced, oh my gosh the same.' Born a commoner, Tessy joined the Luxembourg Army in 2002 at the age of 18, rising to the rank of corporal. Two years later, when she was one of a handful of female UN peacekeepers in Kosovo, she met Prince Louis, who was visiting the army. His family only became aware of their love affair when Tessy fell pregnant and gave birth aged 19, and unmarried, in September 2005, providing Grand Duke Henri with his first grandson. Tessy has previously told how her family 'suffered greatly' when she became a princess in 2006 after marrying Prince Louis, whom she met in 2004 Born a commoner, Tessy joined the Luxembourg Army in 2002 at the age of 18, rising to the rank of corporal. Two years later, when she was one of a handful of female UN peacekeepers in Kosovo, she met Prince Louis, who was visiting the army It infuriated the royal family, and Prince Louis renounced any claim to the title of Grand Duke due to the constitutional crisis they had created by having a child out of wedlock. When Tessy married Prince Louis in September 2006, six months after giving birth in a modest country church wedding, the Grand Duke stripped her of any claim to his title. The couple's fairytale marriage broke down in 2016, and they were granted a decree nisi in February last year. The couple's fairytale marriage broke down in 2016, and they were granted a decree nisi in February last year Tessy, who in 2017 was named Woman of the Decade by the Women Economic Forum for her work in women's empowerment, now lives in London with Gabriel and Noah, while Louis lives in Paris - though she appears to be in isolation somewhere more rural. The philanthropist is the co-founder of social enterprise Professors Without Borders which aims to improve access to higher education across the globe. She also works as a consultant, public speaker and is a UN Association patron. A Magistrates Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has convicted the owner of the demolished Prodest Hotel in Eleme, Gogorobari Needam and his manager, Bariledum Azoroh over defiance of state governments COVID-19 lockdown order. The Court also fined the parties N50,000 each for contravening Governor Nyesom Wikes Executive Order. Recall that Governor Nyesom Wike had last week demolished Prodest Hotel in Alode and Etemeteh Hotel in Onne, both in Eleme Local Government Area of the state. Also Read: Demolition Of Hotels In Rivers State Is Condemnable: Fani-Kayode Advertisement Delivering her verdict, Senior Magistrate Rita Oguguo, ordered that Azoroh be quarantined at the isolation centre in Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Elekahia for 14 days to ascertain his coronavirus status She ruled that the accused violated Governor Nyesom Wikes executive order on closure of hotels in the state as contained in Rivers State Executive order Number 7, paragraphs 3 and 4. Before his sentence, Azoroh had insisted on seeing his counsel, Godwin Awi, who was absence in court due to his inability to get a pass that allowed access the court due to continued lockdown of Port Harcourt and Obio-Akpor council areas. Storyful An explosion at a home in the Bronx triggered a large fire, leaving at least one person dead and eight others injured, including five police officers suffering smoke inhalation, according to local officials.A blast was reported before 11 am at 869 Fox Street in the Longview neighborhood of the Bronx. This footage, released by the NYPD, shows officers working to rescue a woman pinned under a couch in a house next door. The 68-year-old woman was in a serious condition, authorities reported after being rescued.New York City Council Member Rafael Salamanca, who was on the scene, said the fire was due to a gas explosion, though the cause has yet to be confirmed. Credit: NYPD via Storyful Cochlear implants have been FDA approved for use in children since 1990 with Cochlear TM Nucleus Implants obtaining the first approval. Decades of research and current surgical and clinical practice underscore the efficacy of earlier implantation to achieve their personal best language and speech outcomes. 1-13 The research and support in practice by trained hearing health professionals provided the foundation to approve the indication be lowered to 9 months, along with the considerable developments in technology and evolving speech coding strategies in modern day cochlear implant devices. "In light of all that has happened, access to hearing and hearing healthcare is more important now than ever. Hearing connects us to people and access to sound for those with hearing loss is important for connection as we continue to socially distance ourselves to mitigate this virus," said Dr. Jace Wolfe, PhD, CCC-A, Chief of Audiology & Research, Hearts for Hearing. "For children especially, having access to sound during the important language development stages is critical. We know for children born with profound hearing loss, the earlier they receive cochlear implants, the greater their opportunity for success with hearing, speech and language." According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, an estimated three in 1,000 infants are born in the U.S. each year with moderate, severe or profound hearing loss.14 Additionally, hearing loss is the most common congenital condition in the U.S.14 Hearing loss has a major impact on a child's life, including speech and language development, literacy, mental health, social and cognitive functioning, educational achievement, employment and socio-economic opportunity.3 Research shows that children with a severe-to-profound hearing loss who receive cochlear implants early achieve better speech recognition than children who continue to use hearing aids, underscoring the importance to not delay access to cochlear implants because doing so can have lingering developmental consequences.3,4 "As states begin to allow more surgeries, we hope this expanded indication will help hospitals to prioritize pediatric cochlear implant surgeries. Our hopes are that children get access to hearing technology that will help them obtain age-appropriate speech and language as soon as they can," said Patricia Trautwein, MA, AuD, Vice President, Product Management & Marketing, Cochlear Americas. While many early intervention factors contribute to a child succeeding with a cochlear implant, cochlear implants provide improved: auditory awareness of sounds at levels within the normal range of hearing15; speech understanding, sound clarity and language skills15; hearing in noise16; quality of life16; and educational outcomes.17 Up to 80 percent of children who received cochlear implants younger than 12 months of age demonstrate receptive vocabulary knowledge within the normal range by school entry, and 81 percent of children who receive cochlear implants early attend mainstream schools.13,18 "When we got the news that our daughter failed her newborn hearing screening and was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at birth, it gutted us. We had never met a deaf person before our daughter and did not know what life would look like raising a child with hearing loss," said Christy Keane, mother to Nucleus Cochlear Implant recipient, Charly, and social media influencer focused on motherhood and children with hearing loss. "Thankfully, we had an amazing care team who helped us understand all of the possibilities on this journey, and we decided to have Charly implanted at 10 months of age. Now, nearly 3 years old, Charly receives speech therapy every day, previously in school but now virtually, and we work together at home on her listening and language skills. Thanks to all the early intervention factors we provided her, Charly is on track developmentally and we're so excited to see what her future will bring." In the U.S., the Cochlear Nucleus Implant System is intended for use in children 9 to 24 months of age who have bilateral profound sensorineural deafness and demonstrate limited benefit from appropriate binaural hearing aids. Children 2 years of age or older may demonstrate severe to profound hearing loss bilaterally.* This FDA approval is extended to all current Cochlear Nucleus Implant models, as well as all models developed in the future by Cochlear. Cochlear implants are typically covered for children by Medicaid and most insurance plans.** For more information on implantable hearing solutions for children with hearing loss, visit IWantYouToHear.com. For more clinical information on the longitudinal outcomes of cochlear implantation for children with hearing impairment, visit: www.outcomes.nal.gov.au/key-findings. About Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH) Cochlear is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions. The company has a global workforce of more than 4,000 people and invests more than AUD$180 million each year in research and development. Products include cochlear implants, bone conduction implants and acoustic implants, which healthcare professionals use to treat a range of moderate to profound types of hearing loss. Since 1981, Cochlear has provided more than 600,000 implantable devices, helping people of all ages, in more than 180 countries, to hear. www.cochlear.com/us References Waltzman SB, Roland JT Jr. Cochlear implantation in children younger than 12 months. Pediatrics. 2005; 116(4): 487-493. Cuda D, Murri A, Guerzoni L, Fabrizi E, Mariani V. Pre -school children have better spoken language when early implanted. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2014; 78(8):1327-1331. Ching T, Dillon H, Marmane V, Hou S, Day J, Seeto M, Crowe K, Street L, Thomson J, Van Buynder P, Zhang V, Wong A, Burns L, Flynn C, Cupples L, Cowan R, Leigh G, Sjahalam-King J and Yeh A. Outcomes of early-and late-identified children at 3 years of age: Findings from a prospective population-based study. Ear Hear. 2013; 34(5): 535-552. Leigh J, Dettman S, Dowell R. Evidence-based guidelines for recommending cochlear implantation for young children: Audiological criteria and optimizing age at implantation. Int J Aud 2016; 55:S9-S18. Cosetti M and Roland J. Cochlear implantation in the very young child: issues unique to the under-1 population. Trends Amplif. 2010 Mar; 14(1): 46-57. Holt R and Svirsky M. An exploratory look at pediatric cochlear implantation: is earliest always best? Ear Hear. 2008 Aug; 29(4):492-511. Roland J, Cosetti M, Wang K, Immerman S, Waltzman S. Cochlear implantation in the very young child: Long-term safety and efficacy. Laryngoscope. 2009; 119(11): 2205-2210. Holman MA, Carlson ML, Driscoll CL, Grim KJ, Peterson RS, Sladen DP, Flick RP. Cochlear implantation in children 12 months of age and younger. Otol Neurotol. 2013; 34(2):251-258. Dettman SJ, Pinder D, Briggs RJ, Dowell RC, Leigh JR. Communication development in children who receive the cochlear implant younger than 12 months: Risks versus benefits. Ear Hear. 2007; 28(2 Suppl):11S-18S. Ching TY, Dillon H, Day J, Crowe K, Close L, Chisholm K, Hopkins T. Early language outcomes of children with cochlear implants: interim findings of the NAL study on longitudinal outcomes of children with hearing impairment. Cochlear Implants Int. 2009;10 Suppl 1:2832. Colletti L. Long-term follow-up of infants (4-11 months) fitted with cochlear implants. Acta Otolaryngol. 2009 Apr; 129(4):361-6. Nicholas J and Geers, A. Spoken language benefits of extending cochlear implant candidacy below 12 months of age. Otol Neurotol. 2013; 34:532-538. Dettman SJ, Dowell RC, Choo D, Arnott W, Abrahams Y, Davis A, Dornan D, Leigh J, Constantinescu G, Cowan R, Briggs RJ. Long-term communication outcomes for children receiving cochlear implants younger than 12 months: A multicenter study. Otol Neurotol. 2016 Feb; 37(2): e82-95. Program to Enhance the Health & Development of Infants and Children (PEHDIC) [Internet]. American Academy of Pediatrics; c2020 [cited 10 Feb 2020 ]. Available from: https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/PEHDIC/Pages/Early-Hearing-Detection-and-Intervention.aspx. Novak MA, Firszt JB, Rotz LA, et al. Cochlear implants in infants and toddlers. Ann Otol Rhino Laryngol Suppl 2000;185:46-49. Hirschfelder A, Grabel S, Olze H. The impact of cochlear implantation on quality of life: The role of audiologic performance and variables. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2008 Mar;138(3): 357-362. Wyatt JR, Niparko JK, Rothman M, deLissovoy G. Cost Utility of the Multichannel Cochlear Implant in 258 Profoundly Deaf Individuals. Laryngoscope.1996;106:816821. Semenov, YR, Yeh, ST, Seshamani, M, Wang, N-Y, Tobey, EA, Eisenberg, LS, Quittner, AL, Frick, KD, Niparko, JK, CDaCI Investigative Team. Age-Dependent Cost-Utility of Pediatric Cochlear Implantation. Ear Hear. 2013;34(4):402-412. * In the United States, the cochlear implant system is intended for use in children 9 to 24 months of age who have bilateral profound sensorineural deafness and demonstrate limited benefit from appropriate binaural hearing aids. Children 2 years of age or older may demonstrate severe to profound hearing loss bilaterally. In Canada, the cochlear implant system is intended for use in children 12 to 24 months of age who have bilateral profound sensorineural deafness and demonstrate limited benefit from appropriate binaural hearing aids. Children 2 years of age or older may demonstrate severe to profound hearing loss bilaterally. ** Payer coverage policies may not align with new indications. Exceptions for coverage should be sought through the prior authorization process. Contact your insurance company or local Hearing Implant Specialist to determine your eligibility for coverage. Please seek advice from your health professional about treatments for hearing loss. Outcomes may vary, and your health professional will advise you about the factors which could affect your outcome. Always read the instructions for use. Not all products are available in all countries. Please contact your local Cochlear representative for product information. Views expressed are those of the individual. Consult your health professional to determine if you are a candidate for Cochlear technology. Cochlear Limited 2020. All rights reserved. Hear now. And always and other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of Cochlear Limited or Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions AB. SOURCE Cochlear Limited Related Links www.cochlear.com/us Advertisement Nearly 200 people were arrested and two men were shot at the massive annual Go Topless Jeep Weekend celebration in Texas, where hundreds packed onto a beach in their pickup trucks for a day of drinking and partying. Hundreds of Jeep vehicles and four-wheelers were gathered on Crystal Beach for the Jeep festival on Bolivar Peninsula, an annual event where Texans come out in their trucks, wave American and Confederate flags, and enjoy the sun and sand. Hundreds of youngsters were seen ignoring social distancing orders as they piled into their trucks and swam in the water. Overall 189 people were arrested and jailed over the weekend, a majority of the arrests being misdemeanor crimes, including driving while intoxicated, and traffic citations, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said Monday according to 12NewsNow. Two men were shot at the event when a man fired into a group of people just before midnight Saturday, the second day of the weekend event, following an altercation. Overall 189 people were arrested and two were shot at Texas' Go Topless Jeep Weekend on Bolivar Peninsula this weekend. Vehicles adorned with flags, including a Confederate banner, pictured at the annual gathering at Crystal Beach on Saturday Hundreds of Jeep vehicles and four-wheelers gathered on Crystal Beach for the Jeep festival on Bolivar Peninsula, an annual event where Texans come out in their trucks, wave American and Confederate flags, and enjoy the sun and sand Hundreds of youngsters were seen ignoring social distancing orders as they piled into their trucks and swam in the water Galveston County Sheriff's office boosted police presence this year after 129 people were arrested last year. A deputy pictured speaking to a group of people riding a Jeep on Sunday May 17 at Crystal Beach The injured men were airlifted to the University of Texas Medical Branch for surgery on Sunday. Their condition is not immediately known. 'A group of men started fighting and it transferred over to females fighting,' Trochesset said. 'When the women were fighting, a husky male discharged a firearm.' 'No arrests were made following the shooting and the investigation is ongoing,' according to NBCDFW. There is no word on whether the shooter has been taken into custody. The Galveston County Sheriff's Office boosted their police presence at the weekend event this year after 129 people were arrested and six hospitalized last year. Police were notably not handing out citations for a lack of face coverings or failure to maintain social distancing. 'There is almost no way to deal with any six-foot rule,' Trochesset said. 'Its almost impossible to enforce.' The Galveston County Sheriff's Office boosted their police presence at the weekend event this year after 129 people were arrested and six hospitalized last year. Young people pictured partying at the weekend event on Saturday Beachgoers pictured hanging out at the Go Topless Jeep Weekend event at Crystal Beach on Sunday A parade of four-wheelers pictured making their way down Crystal Beach for the weekend event on Saturday A corvette is pictured followed by a police vehicle during the annual Jeep Weekend gathering on Saturday Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas General Land Office reopened beaches on May 1 after coronavirus closures The Sheriff's office added 70 extra deputy patrols to the beach for the weekend event. The Texas Department of Transportation also sent reinforcements of 30 additional state troopers Overall in Texas there are over 48,600 cases of COVID-19 and 1,300 fatalities. The Sheriff's office added 70 extra deputy patrols to the beach for the weekend event. The Texas Department of Transportation also sent reinforcements of 30 additional state troopers, according to Chron. 'We take precautions and of course, were safe but at the same time, we gotta live,' 46-year-old Joey Roy, who visited Crystal Beach over the weekend with his girlfriend Aloha Flake, said. 'This is our right. This is why we live here. This is why America is great.' For some attendees, the overwhelming and wild crowds has deterred them from returning to the festival next year. Two men were shot at the event when a man fired into a group of people just before midnight Saturday, the second day of the weekend event, following an altercation. Police pictured at Crystal Beach following shooting The injured men were airlifted to the University of Texas Medical Branch for surgery on Sunday. Their condition is not immediately known The scene of the shooting that took place around midnight Saturday pictured above 'I don't think I would ever wanna come down here during a Jeep weekend, where it's just uncontrolled and crazy. Because I've got a five-year-old daughter and my wife here,' attendee Jason Simpkins said to 12NewsNow. 'I don't think it's a place you would wanna bring a family.' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas General Land Office reopened beaches on May 1 after coronavirus closures. However, health experts are warning that opening the state up too soon could trigger a second wave of the virus. Overall in Texas there are over 48,600 cases of COVID-19 and 1,300 fatalities. A half-trillion-euro European fund laid out by France and Germany sparked optimism Monday about fighting economic fallout from the coronavirus, as did encouraging early results on vaccine research by a US biotech firm. Global markets surged as Europe pushed towards normality with major landmarks reopening after a two-month hiatus, and as China told the World Health Organization it would back an independent inquiry into the handling of the outbreak once the pandemic is "brought under control." At the White House, US President Donald Trump slammed China's handling of the crisis -- and dropped a bombshell by revealing he has been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that is an unproven treatment against coronavirus. US President Donald Trump has revealed that he is taking the controversial drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against the coronavirus. By Brendan Smialowski (AFP) Trump, who has tested negative for COVID-19, dismissed safety warnings about the drug, saying he is taking it "because I think it's good. I've heard a lot of good stories." Nearly 4.8 million people have tested positive and more than 317,560 have been killed by the disease since it emerged in Wuhan, China late last year, according to an AFP tally. Chinese President Xi Jinping, battling allegations from Washington and elsewhere that his country concealed the scale of the problem, told the World Health Assembly -- the WHO's decision-making body -- that Beijing had been "transparent" throughout the crisis. Beijing also offered to share a vaccine once one became available. But China's main critic, the United States, sharpened the tone at the same talks, accusing the WHO of being too close to Beijing, citing as evidence the continued exclusion of Taiwan from the UN health agency. Vaccine hope In the United States, the hardest-hit nation, deaths surpassed 90,000, but all 50 states have begun easing lockdown measures to varying degrees, and the 24-hour death toll fell for a second day to 759, one of the lowest in weeks. Toll of coronavirus cases and deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean as of May 18, 2020. By Nicolas RAMALLO (AFP) In Michigan, where car assembly lines cranked up for the first time in two months, employees wore masks and endured temperature checks and social distancing protocols. As death and hospitalization rates continue to drop in Europe -- Italy's daily death toll fell below 100 for the first time since early March -- Europe sought to pick up the pace on its exit from the lockdown. St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican and the Acropolis in Athens opened their doors to visitors alongside many European shops, restaurants and churches. In Venice, the gondolas returned to the waters, even if the gondoliers wore gloves and masks. "It's good news, a sign of everyone's desire to get back to normal as soon as possible, but without ever lowering our guard in order to defeat the virus once and for all," said Giovanni Giusto, city councillor for the Protection of Traditions. Gondoliers returned to the canals of Venice, even if they are now wearing masks and gloves. By ANDREA PATTARO (AFP) Global markets were buoyed by the 500-billion-euro ($540 billion) European fund, along with encouraging early results from clinical trials of a potential vaccine by Moderna. The first stage trial provoked an immune response similar to people convalescing from the COVID-19 disease in eight recipients, according to the company. A larger phase 2 trial is due to begin soon. But fears for Latin America, Africa Despite the hopeful signs, recent days have also seen soaring infections in Brazil, India and South Africa. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned the virus's impact on the southern hemisphere could be "even more devastating" than in the north. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (C) has ignored social distancing practices and criticised the need for a lockdown. By Sergio LIMA (AFP) In Latin America, Brazil overtook Britain to have the third-highest caseload worldwide at more than 255,000 confirmed infections. Deaths have risen sharply. President Jair Bolsonaro has blamed lockdowns for unnecessarily hurting Brazil's economy. He has defied social distancing measures, even as experts and regional leaders warn the country's healthcare infrastructure could collapse. The total death toll in Latin America and the Caribbean now exceeds 30,000. Around half of Chile's 50-member senate, as well as four ministers, went into quarantine after coming into contact with at least three colleagues infected with the novel coronavirus. Nicaraguan hospital staff have said the nation's health system is overwhelmed with patients suffering from respiratory illnesses. Relatives have reported that the bodies of loved ones were being carted off in pick-up trucks for "express burials" without their consent. "Mourners are forced to chase trucks with the coffin to find out where their loved ones are being buried," the opposition National Coalition said in a statement denouncing government secrecy. There was also grim data in Africa, where the number of infections rose rapidly, and South Sudan's first vice president, the former rebel leader Riek Machar, has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said Monday. Loans, not grants German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron proposed borrowing 500 billion euros to help the EU's worst-hit sectors and regions. By Kay NIETFELD (POOL/AFP) The coronavirus has left the world economy facing its worst downturn since the Great Depression. Fresh evidence of the deep damage came when Japan announced its first recession since 2015. The world's biggest economy is also headed to a massive downturn, US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell warned. April-to-June data "will be very, very bad," Powell said, adding that the economic hardship "could stretch through the end of next year." In a gesture of European solidarity, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed "borrowing from the market in the name of the EU" to fund 500 billion euros of spending on the 27-strong bloc's "worst-hit sectors and regions." Countries receiving financing would not have to repay the sum, said Macron. Northern countries including Germany had until now firmly rejected joint debt in the name of budget discipline -- and the plan quickly met resistance from some quarters. But the relaunch plan was welcomed elsewhere as a sliver of light, with European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde dubbing it "ambitious, targeted and welcome." burs-tgb-hmn-mlm/ec/it/to Congress president Sonia Gandhi will on Friday chair an opposition leaders meeting via video-conferencing to discuss the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown, the Centres Rs 20 lakh crore package, the plight of migrants, farmers and the suspension of labour laws in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states. A Congress leader said Gandhi and her partys key ally, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, were keen on holding the meeting and chalk out a future course of action. He said the two spoke twice to finalise the meeting. People aware of the matter said the opposition parties want to put pressure on the government to accept their demands for announcing adequate relief measures, including direct cash transfers for the poor, migrant workers, farmers as well as a financial package for micro, small and medium enterprises as part of a revised package to revive the crisis-hit economy. The opposition parties want to discuss the Covid-19 situation. That is good. We discuss with the government regularly. Now, the opposition parties will discuss how we can do better and what we are facing, said West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Banerjees Maharashtra and Jharkhand counterparts, Uddhav Thackeray and Hemant Soren, Pawar, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief MK Stalin, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Communist Party of India general secretary D Raja will attend the meeting. Rashtriya Janata Dal, Indian Union Muslim League, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, All India United Democratic Front, Loktantrik Janata Dal and Revolutionary Socialist Party leaders, too, are expected to join it. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party were yet to confirm their participation, the people added. This will be the first meeting of the opposition leaders since the lockdown was enforced across the country on March 25 to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. The Congress and the BJP have been involved in a war of words on issues like the plight of migrant workers left jobless by the lockdown. The workers have continued to cycle and walk back to their homes even as buses in late April and special trains have been arranged for them since May 1. The Congress has accused the government of being insensitive towards the plight of the workers. The BJP has hit back and blamed the opposition party for politicising the issue. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi interacted with and arranged transportation for a group of workers from Delhi on Saturday. The two parties have also exchanged words over the suspension of major labour laws in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to help businesses recoup from the Covid-19 blow and to create more jobs. Rahul Gandhi has accused the government of using Covid-19 as an excuse to exploit the workers, suppress their voice and crush their human rights. The Congress has called the Centres Covid-19 economic package hopelessly inadequate and said it has left high and dry several sections, including 130 million families at the bottom half of the population, migrant workers and farmers. It has maintained the package only amounts to Rs 1,86,650 crore, which is barely 0.91% of the GDP, and includes already budgeted expenditure, regulatory measures, and proposed reforms. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the package last week to help individuals and businesses. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced details of the package, which the Centre has said is equivalent of a little below 10% of the GDP. BJP refused comment on the meeting. Hyderabad-based political analyst C Narasimha Rao said the entire country is pained at seeing the plight of migrant workers, maintaining that it is the responsibility of both the ruling side and the opposition parties to ensure these stranded labourers return safely to their home states. The opposition parties should join hands and put pressure on the government to ensure the suffering of the migrant workers is ameliorated, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A newly-wed woman, mothers who said emotional farewell to their kids and sons who left their aged parents to fend for themselves - these are some of the first batch of 88 male and female Indian nurses who started their work on Tuesday to help the UAE fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The team of nurses arrived in the UAE from India early this month to help the Gulf nation combat the coronavirus. The nurses are from Aster DM Healthcare hospitals in the states of Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra. After a week of quarantine and another round of COVID-19 negative results, the nurses began an orientation programme on Sunday. The deployment to their assigned facilities began on Tuesday. "A large number of them are going to hospitals under the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). The DHA is also supporting some private players (healthcare groups) by deputing these nurses to places where there is a requirement. It is important that we support each other now," Dr Azad Moopen, founder chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, told the Gulf The nurses from India voluntarily took up the challenge of battling coronavirus abroad for three to six months despite their personal circumstances. Ashly Jayson, 25, is one of the youngest in the team, is a newly-wedded COVID warrior from Kerala. She credits her husband for allowing her to join the unique health mission. "He is also a socially committed person. He has worked to promote the Kerala government's 'Break the Chain' awareness campaign, sometimes using my pictures. For each and every nurse, this is a challenging situation worldwide," she told the Dubai-based English daily over phone. Stephanie Newton from Aster Bangalore left behind her three children, including the youngest who turned one this month. She said goodbye to them before leaving them in the care of her family. "As nurses we need to take up our job with a smiling face and we are here to help people suffering from a deadly disease. Though we have our own concerns, we need to remain courageous and I am thankful that my husband and eldest son are very supportive," she said. Varsha Kanitakar from Maharashtra could not even say goodbye to her only son, aged nine, as he was away with his father in Karnataka. "It took time for me to convince my husband to let me come. My family will face the challenge of handling my son without me when he has to get back to school," she said. Sijo Thomas has left behind his aged parents. The only son to his parents, Sijo faced a dilemma of convincing them before he set out on the mission, the report said. "All patients are equal for nurses. We should be ready to provide our care wherever it is necessary. We can't choose the cases. I am really grateful for getting this opportunity to serve people who need our care the most," he said. The nurses had arrived in the UAE amid a surge in the number of COVID-19 infections in the Gulf nation. The novel coronavirus which originated in Wuhan in December last year has claimed 318,851 lives and infected over 4.8 million people globally, according to Johns Hopkins University data. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The parents of an infant who died from meningitis after he was released from Silverton Medical Center in Oregon are suing the hospital for $6.3 million. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed in the death of 7-month-old Blaize Wheeldon and accuses hospital staff of medical negligence and the negligent infliction of emotional distress. It names a Silverton hospital emergency room doctor and Legacy Health, which operates the hospital, as defendants, The Statesman Journal reported. Hospital officials said this week they were not aware of the lawsuit, but said it was Legacy Healths practice to not comment on litigation. According to the lawsuit, Blaize showed significant signs and symptoms of systemic Meningococcemia when he was first taken to the Silverton hospital on May 11, 2018. The parents attorney accuses the treating ER physician of failing to properly assess these signs and symptoms, including the presence of a rash that nurses noted and an abnormal respiratory pattern. Medical staff allegedly did not test for a meningococcal infection, instead giving Blaize Tylenol and sending him home after a few hours, according to the lawsuit. Over the next few hours, Blaizes fever and fussiness persisted and his parents took him back to the hospital. This time he was flown to a Portland hospital, where he died. Because of the medical staffs unreasonable conduct, Blaizes condition worsened and resulted in his death, the lawsuit says. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits Oregon Officials at the Kaduna custodial centre have demanded that relatives of inmates who died during the April 1 violent protest at the centre must sign an undertaking absolving the authorities of being responsible for the deaths. The undertaking is part of the conditions set by the centres management to be met by the late inmates families before the bodies are released to them. A copy of the letter obtained by PREMIUM TIMES is addressed to the controller of corrections at the Kaduna State corrections headquarters, through the deputy controller of corrections in charge of the centre. It is accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by a deponent. Apart from stating in the letter that the inmates died of natural causes, the signatory is also to pledge that they would not institute any legal case against the authorities of the centre over the inmates death. The undertaking reads in part; On behalf of the family of the above named inmate (late), we are pleading with the Nigerian Correctional Service to release his body to me for burial, and that we dont have anything against the Nigerian Correctional Service about his death. We believe that he died a natural death. This is happening despite the fact that the report of the probe panel, the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) claimed it set up to investigate the fatal protest, is yet to be submitted. While the deputy controller of corrections in charge of the centre, Usman Ahmed, said he would comment on the matter only if our reporter could disclose the source of the information, the centres welfare officer, Abubakar Sadangi, confirmed the development. Mr Sadangi made the confirmation believing he was talking to a member of the family of a victim whose relations are yet to comply with the centres instruction. The protest This newspaper had earlier reported protest by inmates of the custodial centre on April 1 over the fear of the spread of coronavirus disease at the facility, and the governments failure to urgently decongest the custodial centres as earlier promised. The protest had gone out of hand leading to full-blown violence, which left four inmates dead. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported the centres continued denial of the fatalities recorded during the riot, insisting that no life was lost. However, following this newspapers report on April 4, detailing the death of the inmates and injuries sustained by NCS officers during the crisis, the management made a volte-face, declaring that only four inmates died. But rather than giving details of the dead inmates, a statement signed by the controller of Kaduna State correctional headquarters, Sanusi Danmusa, said those who died as a result of injuries sustained from the incident were condemned inmates and not those awaiting trial. This claim has also been found to be false as details reported by this newspaper have proved. But the centre is yet to provide details of the victims to the public. Three corpses collected Meanwhile, investigations by PREMIUM TIMES have revealed that three of the four bodies have been claimed by the concerned families who signed the undertaking already prepared for them by the custodial centre. But the family of 24-year-old Wisdom Felix, who was allegedly tortured to coma before his eventual death at an undisclosed hospital, is reluctant to sign the undertaking. Apart from describing the manner through which their sons death was announced to them as callous, the Cross River indigenes are querying the circumstances leading to Mr Felixs death. According to his sister, Doris Felix, Mr Sadangi called her one morning with a brief introduction of who he was and said, If you are interested in Wisdom Felixs body, you need to come for it. The devastated sister said she was shocked by the officials attitude but could not shout because she was close to their bedridden mother. She said; We had been agitated since we read in the news that Wisdom was in coma but we could not go anywhere because there was lockdown. We kept making calls but no one seemed to be telling us the truth. So it was sudden and devastating when Mr Sadangi called to say we should come for his corpse. Just like that? The day the prison officials visited the address in the inmates records, Doris said, since they had relocated from the area, she had to let her fiance, Ahmed Usman, who still lives in the area, to meet the officials in front of Nevilla hotel on Constitution road, near Kigo Road in Kaduna. Advertisements READ ALSO: Upon getting to the custodial centre in the company of representatives of three other families, Mr Usman said right in the office of the deputy controller in charge of the centre, he was handed a copy of the letter serving as an undertaking. I told them I could not sign because Im just an in-law to the family. So I was handed a copy to serve as a format to be used. Felixs name was written as replacement for the late inmates name in the copy, while the details of where the family representatives name should be inserted is also clearly indicated, Mr Usman told PREMIUM TIMES on the phone. NCS speaks Since the deputy controller of corrections in charge of the centre refused to speak, our reporter pretended to be one of the late Felixs relation to speak to the centres welfare officer, Abubakar Sadangi, who confirmed the development. According to Mr Sadangi, it was the practice to guide families of dead inmates on how to write the letter as a condition for the release of the bodies. Mr Sadangi said; Yes, others have come to collect the bodies. We printed for them because no one has the format except us. In fact, we would have printed for the man that came for Wisdom Felix too but he said he is just an in-law. But if you authorise (him) to collect the body, I can call him tomorrow (Monday) so that he can come over and he would sign, then we would go to high court for affidavit. Do you want to bury him here or you are taking him to Cross River? Meanwhile, the NCS spokesperson, Austin Njoku, has said he is unaware of the development, saying the probe panel set up to investigate the incident was yet to conclude its task. This thing you are telling me is strange to me. We are yet to be through with the report of the committee because the entire service is currently concerned on how to ensure that no centre records any case of coronavirus, he said. Family seeks justice The family of the late Felix has accused the NCS of compounding their woes, describing the circumstances that surrounded the arrest and trial of the deceased as unfair, unjust and unbelievable. The deceased, whose father, Felix Orga, was said to have retired as a trainer at a police college before he died in 2006, was said to have missed the opportunity to further his education, like his other siblings, due to the vacuum created in the family by the fathers death. According to the victims eldest sister, Doris, though they are from Cross River State, they have stayed for a very long time in Kaduna. She said their fathers death and the attendant financial crises faced by the family had led to the ill health of their mother, Ruth Orga. While we were trying to care for our mother, Wisdom, who was working at a barber shop as a barber, was arrested in 2018 following a disagreement with an unnamed girlfriend over a lost phone, she said. We thought it was a minor issue until we realized that the SARS men that arrested him had suddenly paraded him for armed robbery, which was clearly far from what he was arrested for. He was charged to court and for the past two years his matter had been coming up at the state high court 3. Later, there was disagreement between our lawyer and the judge over different things entirely, and that was what we learnt led to his case dragging. Even the girlfriend went to court to say she wasnt interested in his trial but all to no avail, she said. According to Doris, the matter led to the paralysis of their mother, who she said was very attached to the late son. Till his death, our brother was the head of a Christian fellowship in the prison, and so we were shocked when we read about his torture. Now, I do not work because the lockdown in Kaduna has ruined my snack business. How do we break such news to our mother who is already bedridden, she added. Mr Felixs younger sister, Felicia Felix, who also spoke to our reporter on the phone, also said it would be difficult for the family to claim the corpse of a man she noted was illegally remanded. Now we are being asked to beg for the corpse and still pledge that we would not sue the prison for killing an innocent child. We need Gods intervention. We dont know what to do because we cant even tell our mother, Felicia said. Myanmar has handed over 22 militants to India in an unprecedented development triggering speculation of a policy shift towards separatist rebels from the Northeast in the neighbouring country. The rebels belong to four active separatist outfits from the Northeast UNLF, PLA, KYKL, PREPAK (Progressive) and the NDFB which had already inked an agreement with the government last January. Four cadres in the group are affiliated to the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), which was active in north Bengal years ago but is almost non-existent now. It was actively supported by ULFA during the 1990s when rebel camps were in existence in southern Bhutan. All the militants who were handed over had served jail sentences after being apprehended in January last year at Taga in Myanmars Hukwang Valley following an operation by the Tatmadaw (Myanmar military). There were no clashes during the raid nor any casualties although 24 militants from different outfits were nabbed and sent to jail. There is hope of similar episodes in the future. The real challenge is to convince Tatmadaw to unleash a more aggressive policy in the future, an official said, adding that two ULFA cadres apprehended at Taga were released from jail earlier. No Senior Leaders Apprehended The episode marks a good beginning and a triumph for the Indian government in its efforts to convince Naypyidaw to eliminate the camps and training facilities of Northeast rebels. Some observers also feel that it is an indication of the growing cooperation between the two neighbours to put an end to militancy. The latest incident comes almost a year after an operation in south Mizoram when the Indian army made additional deployment to assist the Assam Rifles to prevent Myanmarese rebels and refugees from sneaking into India. However, the 22 rebels are mostly middle-rung cadres who had been living in Myanmar for the past 10 years. Currently, over 6,000 cadres belonging to ULFA and six separatist outfits from Manipurs Imphal are still at different locations in the neighbouring country. Inputs suggest that only three senior leaders from these outfits are currently in Myanmar while the rest operate out of hideouts from different countries. Among the three, one leader stays in a locality inhabited mostly by residents from another country some of whom are also engaged with an intelligence agency. Since the raid at Taga last year, the rebel groups have been compelled to scout for safer areas in Myanmar. Sources said that cadres from at least two outfits have taken to farming in plots of lands either leased from locals or sanctioned by the Tatmadaw in sparsely populated areas. Signs of Change? Among the neighbouring countries, only Myanmar had been reluctant to crack the whip on the rebel groups from the Northeast for several reasons including paucity of resources. Currently, for the Tatmadaw, it is more important to sustain the operations against the Arakan Army in Rakhine State and other outfits in the disturbed Shan State bordering China. None from the group who had been handed over had been apprehended from any of the camps or hideouts still intact in Sagaing Division and Chin State of Myanmar. New Delhi has been making a case for more operations and especially against the independent faction of ULFA which has a presence in the Konyak and Pangmi Naga regions in Sagaing Division contiguous to the eastern districts of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. The movement of army columns had been reported from Konyak villages of Chenhoyat and Niensing close to the Indo-Myanmar border two months ago but they did not dismantle the camps located in remote hilly locations. A Naga activist from Dimapur had also issued a press release alleging human rights abuses by the army. It may be too early to say if this incident marks a policy shift in Myanmar towards the Northeast rebels. But there is a high possibility now of more rebels being handed over if they are apprehended in the future. Certainly, the mistrust that once marked the ties between the armies of the two countries seems to be withering. The likelihood of the chapter in 2001 being repeated is also less when UNLF chairman Sana Yaima was reportedly taken into custody by the Tatmadaw but released within a few weeks. Requests from New Delhi to hand him over were rejected. And contrary to media reports, Tatmadaw had turned down requests from the Indian army to join hands during Operation Golden Bird conducted in 1995 in Mizoram to prevent a large squad of rebels from ferrying weapons received in Bangladesh. A section of government officials is of the view that patience is the key to deal with Tatmadaw since it cannot be expected to conduct operations similar to Bhutan where all the camps belonging to ULFA, NDFB and KLO were demolished within a week in 2003. Disclaimer: (The author is a senior journalist in Guwahati. Views expressed are personal) US responsible for any unwise measures against Iranian ships IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, May 18, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi on Monday termed the threat from the US officials shameless, adding if the US takes any action against Iranian tankers, they will be faced a decisive response by Iran and needless to say that they are accountable for consequences of any irrational actions against Iranian tankers. Mousavi reiterated that the United States has no right to create nuisance against Iranian tankers in the free Seas and has no right to create obstacles to the international trade under the excuse of unlawful sanctions, warning of consequences and strong response from Iran. Iran has issued the necessary warnings through the Swiss Ambassador in Tehran and Iran's Permanent Representations at the United Nations as well as Zarif's letter to the UN Secretary-General against any inadvertent actions by the US in the high Seas, he further noted. Mousavi made it clear that Iranian border guards were not involved in the deaths of Afghan citizens in Harirud border river. Elaborating on findings about human tragedy by Iran-Afghanistan Joint Border Commission, Mousavi said that controlling borders is crucial everywhere in the world and the entrance of foreigners must be legal meanwhile some migrants want to enter a country illegally and it is the duty of the border guards not to let them to do so. In addition to respect to Afghan government and its million citizens who are living in Iran, we are looking for legal traffic and entrance to the states but human and drug traffickers, as well as terrorist groups want to enter the country illegally, he added. He is pointed out that no reports were made by our border guards, security or military on the alleged night; he stated that the weather at that night was bad and it is not clear how those people died. We reject the claim that the incident took place in our territory by Iranian border guards. At the same time, I said that the solution of these problems is not to bring these issues to the press and raise controversy, while the border issues need to be pursued through the diplomatic delegations formed for the purpose, Mousavi noted. Referring to this point that it was our border guards who requested a meeting of the Border Commission, he reaffirmed that a delegation from Afghanistan came to Iran to hold talks a few days ago and after negotiations with their respective officials, they later returned to Afghanistan. We are waiting for the results of their inquiry. What we are emphasizing is that it did not happen in Iran and by Iranian border guards. Asked about the alleged agreement made by Iran and Russia over Bashar al-Assad's future, he stated, "We reject such a claim." He added that Iran's relations with Syria are close, friendly, and strategic, noting not only Iran but also any other countries in the world are not in a position to make decision for the Syrian government and people. It is the Syrian people who decide about their own fate. 3266**1416 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 19.05.2020 LISTEN Ghanaian actress, Regina Adu Safowaa, has sparked another dating rumour with her latest Instagram post. Today, May 19, 2020, happens to be the birthday of Ghanaian actress, film producer, entrepreneur, Politician and the CEO Smarttys Management and production, Selasie Ibrahim Adu Safowaa, who happens to be an intimate friend of Selassie Ibrahim, took to her Instagram page and wished her a happy birthday. She captioned it: Happy Birthday to my man #Papas bestie @Selassie_ibrahim.I love You Chairwoman, live forever. It would be recalled that Adu Safowaa who was rumoured to have engaged in a sexual relationship with Ghanaian businessman, Dr. Kwaku Oteng, who is married to 5 women, in a bid to prove her innocence to fans and the general public, took to her Instagram page to address the rumour on May 17, 2020, and rained attacks on herself should the sexual allegations leveled against her are true. The latest post has since sparked another dating rumour. According to RazzNews.coms source,#Papas bestie in her post refers to one of the biggest Politicians in Ghana The source alleged extensively that, as a result of proving herself further that she is truly not having affair with Dr.Kwaku Oteng, who owns a chain of businesses in Ghanas herbal medicines, broadcasting, beverages, and transport industries, hence the reason to reveal the man she is dating in Selasies birthday post. Well,all attempts by RazzNews.com to reach the Actress who is the face of Adonko bitters in Ghana, and some parts of Africa to ascertain the truth of the matter proved unproductive. Brad Pitt has recorded a special message for graduating students at missouri State University. The 56-year-old actor gave a shout-out to the graduating class of 2020 in a video posted to the college social media pages on Monday. 'We have one more surprise for our #BearGrads: A special message from one of Springfield's own. Thanks, Brad.' the caption accompanying the clip read. Hollywood royalty: Brad Pitt recorded a special message for the graduating class of 2020 at Missouri State University The Oscar-winner, who appears to be growing his hair out, could be seen relaxing in his back yard wearing a green T-shirt. 'Hi everyone, Brad here from quarantine with a shout-out to the graduating class of Missouri State University!' the Troy star said in the clip. 'It must be very strange doing this in these trying times, but know we're rooting for you. Our money's on you to make this world a better place. And we wish you all the best in your future endeavors. He ended his message with, 'You did it, you made it! Enjoy, congrats again, and think big!' Brad is an alum of the University of Missouri but grew up in Springfield, Missouri where Missouri State is located. After studying journalism and advertising at college Brad realized his passion for movies and moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1980s were he began acting lessons. 'It must be very strange doing this in these trying times, but know we're rooting for you. Our money's on you to make this world a better place. And we wish you all the best in your future endeavors.' The Oscar winner said His home town: Brad grew up in Springfield, Missouri, where the university is located. He is an alum of University of Missouri The clip was presented by school President Clif Smart alongside their mascot Boomer the Bear. 'I was really proud of all our faculty and staff who sent literally hundreds of video congratulations. Even after that, you think we need one more congratulatory video? Okay, I'll get you one,' Smart said. 'Our students always say that Missouri State University and Springfield feel like home. It's just a place where people always remember where they've come from.' Smart later explained, in a follow-up message, that Dr. Elizabeth King from the College of Education made Brad's video appearance possible. 'Elizabeth, nicely done,' he said. One more surprise: The clip was presented by school President Clif Smart alongside their mascot Boomer the Bear ATLANTA, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Edible, the world's largest franchisor of fresh fruit arrangements and all-natural fruit snacks and dipped treats, is creating a new path to franchise ownership with the launch of a "Manage-To-Own" program. This innovative program is for individuals who have the drive and motivation to be hands-on operators and eventually join Edible's rapidly-growing global team of franchisees, but who may lack much of the capital needed to open an Edible store. For an initial investment of only $30,000, a Manage-To-Own candidate is granted operational control over an Edible franchise with the ability to acquire full franchise rights over time. After paying the initial franchise fee, participants selected for the program will participate in Edible's 90-day franchisee training program. Upon completion of training, they will take over operations of an Edible location and will have access to all resources, support and business tools available to Edible franchisees. "Our founder immigrated from Pakistan to the United States as a child, then opened his first store as a teenager, so we not only understand that power of the American Dream but also recognize the realities around the need for funding to pursue that dream," said Cheikh Mboup, President/COO of Edible. "Fortunately, he had a family friend who was willing to help him launch the vision that later became Edible. Now, 20 years later, we're paving the way for more aspiring, motivated entrepreneurs to take control of their destinies. There are many who have the skills to succeed yet may not have access to the financing they need to get started. This is an amazing opportunity and we're honored to share it with future generations of business owners." Edible is in the process of interviewing and selecting individuals to participate in the program. Once accepted, trainees will have the advantage of entering a franchise system with significant momentum. Same-store sales for the brand are up 8.7% YTD, and Edible has once again proven to be "recession-proof" in recent months with incredible 61% same-store growth for the month of April. In fact, Edible just experienced its most successful Mother's Day holiday in company history. "Given the current rate at which Edible is growing and evolving, there has never been a better time to join this organization, and I can't imagine a better path for doing so than through this Manage-To-Own Program," said Mboup. "With sales steadily increasing across our network, this opportunity can serve as the launching pad for pursuit of the American Dream, with an established and reputable brand, without breaking the bank." While this will be an ongoing initiative, there are a limited number of slots available for 2020 and applicants will be considered on a first come, first served basis. Anyone interested in being considered for the Manage-To-Own program is asked to submit their resume to the Edible franchise team at [email protected]. About Edible Brands Edible Brands is the parent company of Edible, the world's largest franchisor of stores offering all-natural fruit snacks, dipped treats and fresh fruit arrangements with more than 1,100 locations worldwide. Since its founding in 1999, the company has been recognized as an industry leader, ranking first in its category in Entrepreneur magazine's annual "Franchise 500," Entrepreneur's Top 40 of "Fastest Growing Franchises" and "America's Top Global Franchises" as well as being included among the "Inc. 5000" list of the fastest growing privately-held companies. Edible fresh fruit arrangements, chocolate Dipped Fruit, fresh fruit smoothies, fresh produce boxes and other treats can be ordered through any local Edible store or online at edible.com. Edible has franchise opportunities available in a number of key markets in the United States and Canada. For more information about owning an Edible please visit ediblefranchise.com. SOURCE Edible Brands Related Links http://www.edible.com Police patrol Montreal's Old Port on May 17, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes) Defend Both the Health and Prosperity of Canadians, Open Letter Tells PM Governments are exaggerating the benefits of flattening the curve while neglecting health and economic costs of lockdown, say health and business leaders As pandemic lockdown measures continue in some form across the country, a group of leaders in a variety of sectors are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to strive for a better balance in protecting not only Canadians health but also their prosperity. In an open letter to Trudeau, the group criticizes the lockdown policy Ottawa has pursued to combat the spread of COVID-19 and the stark choice given to Canadians. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, Canadians have been presented with a stark choiceeither selflessly shut down the economy to save lives or selfishly worry about the economy and condemn thousands to a vicious illness, states the letter, signed by 24 leaders in 10 sectors, including business, health care, and public policy. The letter says governments exaggerated the benefits of flattening the curve while neglecting the cost of the lockdown on peoples health and the economy. What seems clear by now is that the lockdown did contribute to flattening the curve, but the measures employed were disproportionate to the objective. Moreover, flattening the curve was not without significant cost to our well-being, whether from the health or the economic point of view, it said. The consequences include economic costs like the deficit spending required to support people who are out of work, and the health costs resulting from illnesses such as heart disease or cancers going untreated or undiagnosed due to people being afraid to go to the hospital. Other major concerns include mental health and social issues that might be exacerbated by the current conditions. The letter argues that as the lockdown begins to be lifted and society enters a new phase of the crisis, the government needs to articulate a more balanced strategy. We can and must do better, it advises Trudeau. It is the responsibility of our leaders to defend both the health and prosperity of Canadians. These goals are not in conflict but reinforce one another. The letter also takes issue with the government shifting the goalposts on thresholds for reopening the economy and returning to normal. The rationale for the lockdown seems to have morphed subtly from managing the outbreak by flattening the curve to preventing the illness from infecting Canadians at all, pushing the timeline for a return to some economic activity into the summer, and a return to normal a year or more into the distance when a vaccine is available, it says. Its an impossible goal that is being pursued at an almost incalculably large cost to the well-being of Canadians in exchange for a largely illusory benefit. The letter comes as some are questioning the necessity of continuing the lockdown, which has resulted in shuttered businesses, millions of lost jobs, huge corporate losses, and a skyrocketing deficit as the government continues to pay benefits to help those impacted by the shut-downs. Macdonald-Laurier Institute managing director Brian Lee Crowley, one of the letters signatories, says that given the knowledge gained about COVID-19 up to now, its time for a change in direction. Early on, when we didnt know very much about the virus and we didnt want the health-care system to be overwhelmed, our objective with the lockdown was to flatten the curve, which we have achieved. And now Trudeau mentioned a few weeks ago that we could be doing this for almost two years as we wait for a vaccine. But we cant afford to do this, he says. We need to get beyond this mentality where public authorities can enforce the limits the way they have. The letter urges Trudeau to show the courage to lead us in a better direction, noting that Canadians need a clear indication of how to move toward normality. Any easing of the lockdown is going to increase the infection ratethe crucial question is how we can do it without increasing the death rate, it says. This is what we are looking for from you, not endless announcements of programmes to pay us while we wait. We need as much information as possible about the risks of returning to work and how to mitigate them while leaving the final decisions in the hands of local workers and employers who know their circumstances best. Having reached this point, says Crowley, we need to have more faith in people to act sensibly when it comes to COVID-19. Were not in the same state of ignorance that we were in at the beginning, he notes. Since a lot more is known now about the disease and the country has done better than what may have been initially forecast, Crowley says Ottawa should aim toward getting people back to work instead of continuing putting this strain on the public purse. I understand that it was necessary to get people to cooperate and difficult decisions had to be made, he says. But its known now that COVID is not as dangerous as we thought it might be and the implications of it are manageable. We know better how to handle it, and its time now for government to start dialling back the rhetoric and turn COVID from a big scary boogeyman into something that is a manageable public health issue. Hand sanitizer available for clients and tables set apart are part of the rules for reopening in Milan. (Photo: AFP/Miguel Medina) "Today, with the opening of the bars, life in Tirana is taking a breath of fresh air after being locked up in our cages for several weeks," said Sokol Hoti, a young man in his thirties sitting on the terrace of the Santa bar in the centre of the Albanian capital. Under new regulations designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, restaurants and bars in the country are supplying hand sanitiser, employees wear gloves and masks, and customers are limited to two per table, which in turn must be spaced 3m apart. Elsewhere in Europe, restaurants and cafes were cautiously reopening, with customers seeming reluctant. Women have coffee and pastry at Cafe Some Milan residents availed themselves of the chance to enjoy Some Milan residents availed themselves of the chance to enjoy a coffee and pastry on a cafe terrace for the first time after two months in lockdown. (Photo: AFP/Miguel Medina) In Rome, at Piazza Navona in the city's historical centre, all cafes remained closed, save one with a sign posted outside announcing "Good Morning, Welcome for Breakfast" written in English. Tables were lined up but diners were nowhere in sight. A few steps away, at the San Eustachio Il Caffe, a favourite of tourists, owner Raimondo Ricci lamented the lack of clients. "There's no one here. Closed or open, it's the same thing," Ricci told AFP. Meanwhile, at French bistro L'education nationale in Denmark's capital Copenhagen, Eric Poezevara had filled his fridges and was impatient to welcome back lunch clients outdoors on a terrace as well as indoors. "The ambiance is going to be a little strange. People go to restaurants to enjoy themselves, but now, people are going to be a little tense, looking around and thinking 'Do you have (the coronavirus), or don't you?," he said prior to Monday's lunch rush. The restaurant can welcome only half as many guests as usual, in order to respect social distancing rules. "We'll see if it's worth it," Poezevara said. Under new rules, Danish restaurants must respect social distancing regulations, offer guests hand sanitiser, and pay particular attention to hygiene. LOOKING FORWARD TO IT Meanwhile, Cecilia, a 41-year-old yoga teacher, enjoyed a cup of coffee on the terrace of a popular spot in the Copenhagen neighbourhood of Norrebro. "I've been looking forward to just seeing people relaxing in the streets, not hustling around ... that sense of people just hanging out," she told AFP. Many Danish restaurants have said they will stay closed a while longer in order to adapt their reopening to the new regulations. In Spain, excluding Madrid and Barcelona, and Portugal, cafes and terraces also opened up as the countries continued easing restrictions. In Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan, patrons were having their temperatures checked at restaurant entrances as waiters donned masks and gloves to serve meals and drinks. Restaurants opened across Kazakhstan with the exception of Almaty - the country's largest city and one with the most coronavirus cases. In Azerbaijan, restaurants and cafes also reopened but remained largely deserted, according to an AFP reporter. Natik Aliyev, a cafe manager in central Baku, told AFP that four hours after opening he had only had two customers. "People are still scared and avoid public spaces," Aliyev said. Meanwhile, students were also returning to classrooms in greater numbers in Denmark, Greece, Belgium and Portugal on Monday. A renowned French author who has built his career in being a serial-killer expert and reflecting it on his novels admitted to being a fraud. He also revealed that one of the biggest lies he has told is the supposed murder of his wife who is apparently non-existent. In his string of revelations, 67-year-old Stephane Bourgoin built an empire after he authors 40 crime books which sold millions of copies all over France. As a result, he was also considered as one of the top experts about serial-killers in his field. How his web of lies was exposed Bourgoin's lies were exposed in an online investigation that revealed him as a serial liar as opposed to his claims of being an expert on serial killers. Aside from his published crime book, Bourgoin's status as a serial-killer expert paved the way for him to host a number documentaries focusing on the subject in French television. In the documentaries, the author claimed that he had interacted with at least 70 serial killers in the span of his career through interviews. Moreover, he also claimed to have trained in the base of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Quantico, Virginia. However, one of Bourgoin's biggest lies was when he stated that his own wife was a victim of a serial killer. According to him, his wife was killed in 1976 by a man who already killed dozens and confessed after he was arrested. Read also: World's Most Notorious Murderer Arrested After 23 Years, Slaughtered 800,000 Overwhelming shame forced him to come clean Readers and supporters of his books were living in the lie until January when all his lies avalanched on him. He was accused of not telling the truth about his past and earning the sympathy of others through his lies. After which, Bourgoin confessed to the French press that the wife whom he claimed died in a murder did not exist at all. In addition, he also admitted that he never trained with the FBI and that he claimed to have met more serial killers than he actually has. During an interview with Paris Match in the past week, the author said that his lies have already weighed him down. He also expressed his shame after he lied and concealed the truth about his life. He even referred to himself as a mythomaniac during his talk with Le Parisein. According to Bourgoin, the wife that he was referring to was actually a figment of his imagination and was based on a woman named Susan Bickrest who he had a brief encounter with, in a bar in Florida. It was indeed true, however, that Bickrest was killed by a serial killer known as Gerald Stano in 1975. Stano, who was executed in 1998, later on confessed to killing 41 other women aside from Bickrest. During his revelation, Bourgoin said that he felt like he is in need of psychological counseling after realizing that his lies have already caught up with him. He also said that he exaggerated many aspects of his life because of the fact that he never felt truly loved. Moreover, the author apologized to everyone who got caught amid his web of lies. Related article: Mexican Journalist Slayed in Armed Attack, Third to Die in 2020 @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The government has determined that boosting private investment, attracting foreign investment, increasing exports, accelerating public investment disbursement and promoting domestic demand are the five key solutions to revive the economy. After nearly a month of implementing social distancing measures to contain the coronavirus, the government decided to begin lifting restrictions from April 23 so as to gradually restore socio-economic activities with the double goal of keeping the disease in check while maintaining economic growth and social security. The reality in the past few months has underlined the urgent need for each country to strengthen its capacity in economic self-reliance, including Vietnam. As the world is becoming more economically open and deeply integrated, economic self-reliance in the time of a new normal does not mean returning to self-sufficiency and freezing international trade relations, but rather increasing an economys resilience to sharp falls in both supply and demand, breaks in supply chains, the plunge in domestic and international economic relations, and stricter standards concerning epidemic prevention. In that spirit, enterprises needs to proactively adjust their production and business plans; realign supply chains by diversifying their partners and increasing their focus on the domestic market; and promote digital transformation, e-commerce, remote working applications and non-cash payment. The functional authorities and local governments, for their part, need to step up the fight against bureaucracy and corruption, intensify administrative procedure reform and improve the business environment so as to reduce costs for enterprises such that the private sector and the domestic market are truly the main engines of post-coronavirus economic growth. At the same time, it is also necessary to quickly formulate and implement a national investment and trade promotion campaign to confirm Vietnam as a safe destination, ready to welcome new flows of foreign investment, and campaign for the relocation of production stages with higher added value to Vietnam from foreign investors who are financially and technologically capable, as well as compliant with Vietnamese laws. Furthermore, measures are needed to boost domestic demand, accelerate public investment projects, increase proactivity in securing materials, and enhance the innovation and administration capacity of enterprises. The coronavirus is exposing the weaknesses of the economy but is also an opportunity for Vietnam to identify and overcome them. As such, strengthening economic self-reliance is one of the foremost solutions for sustainable development as non-traditional security challenges and the risks of diseases and natural disasters can become impediments that affect economic growth targets in the long term and upend peoples lives. The mysterious death of a seven-month-old boy is being treated as suspicious. Bodhi John was rushed from a home in Aberdeen to Muswellbrook Hospital, in the New South Wales Hunter region, at about 3pm on Sunday. Doctors were unable to save him. The home was examined by forensic specialists, while family friends are being urged to come forward. 'The child's death is being treated as suspicious,' Detective Inspector Matthew Zimmer told reporters on Tuesday. Bodhi John (pictured) was rushed from a home in Aberdeen to Muswellbrook Hospital, in the New South Wales Hunter region on Sunday. Staff were unable to revive him It's believed the family only lived in the home (pictured) for a few days before Bodhi's death and the house has since been investigated by forensic specialists 'Were hoping that examination will identify injuries the child may have suffered which may have contributed to the childs death.' Neighbours said the mother, Maddison Graham, had only moved into the home a few days earlier with her three children, The Newcastle News reported. Police are also hoping to speak to the boyfriend of the mother, Ashley Morgan, who was staying at the house at the time of Bodhi's death, according to Nine News. There is no suggestion the mother or her boyfriend were involved in the death. Neighbours reported loud noises coming from the home on Saturday morning. 'We just heard the dogs barking more than they usually do, doors banging and people yelling,' one neighbour said. 'It is a pretty horrible thing.' Detective Inspector Zimmer said a postmortem on the child would be conducted within the next two days and the mother and immediate family were 'cooperating' with the investigation. Neighbours said the mother, Maddison Graham (pictured), had only moved into the home a few days earlier with her three children 'We are speaking to people who have had contact with the child in the days and hours leading up the child's death,' he said. 'We are also asking any members of the community who know the family or have had contact or interactions with the family in the days leading up to the child's death to contact Hunter Valley Police or Crime Stoppers.' Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000. Mexico City - Today, Banco de Mexico and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), presented the report "Climate and environmental risks and opportunities in Mexico's financial system: From diagnosis to action," which calls upon Mexican financial institutions to make a collective effort to incorporate environmental issues into their risk assessment and corporate governance strategies, as well as to take advantage of the opportunities that would result from the transition to a low-carbon economy. The report highlights that climate change and environmental degradation are critical challenges of our time, as they lead to loss of natural capital, ecosystem degradation, lower productivity, and a reduction of the populations well-being, at both the national and global level. As part of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), the central banks along with other financial authorities have become more involved in initiatives geared towards encouraging financial institutions to accurately acknowledge and assess the impact of environmental risks, in view that such phenomena can have significant consequences on credit risk, financial stability, and social development. This publication is a first in-depth diagnosis of the current degree of readiness of Mexican financial institutions to assess climate, environmental, and social risks. The results are based on a survey conducted on the senior management of over 60 institutions and consider nearly 90% of the credit portfolio of the banking system, 80% of the assets reported by fund managers to Mexicos National Securities and Banking Commission (CNBV), 90% of the assets managed by the Retirement Funds Administrators (AFORES), and 44% of the assets reported by insurance companies. When talking about this initiative the Governor of Banco de Mexico, Alejandro Diaz de Leon, highlighted the importance of collective action of all the actors of the financial system. He also expressed his confidence that the report will serve as the basis for the development and implementation of standardized methodologies and criteria in the evaluation of environmental and social risks, which are essential for long-term prosperity. It is clear that we need to manage risk far better than we currently do, and this becomes more vital in the context of climate change which remains the existential challenge facing humanity. Financial institutions that sufficiently factor in climate risk, will be able to ensure the long-term sustainability of their portfolios. This study offers useful recommendations for financial institutions and regulators in preparing for the future, said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP According to the report, although Mexican financial institutions have become more aware of climate risks, they are still required to integrate more systematic and standardized measures, implement the international agenda, and develop methodologies and areas of responsibility within their own corporate governance structures. In this regard, it draws upon implementing specific actions to mitigate environmental risks and increase green financing flows to the Mexican economy, such as: i. defining a national taxonomy for green and sustainable activities, ii. setting clear timelines and corporate governance commitments by financial system actors to improve and monitor climate risk management, iii, designing the incentives to incorporate environmental-related factors to firms strategic planning, and iv. developing voluntary reporting standards for Mexican firms. Climate change and environmental degradation are critical challenges of our time, and the financial sector has a key role to play in tackling these issues. The recommendations of this report such as clear timelines and commitments at the board level to incorporate social and environmental aspects into major plans of action, risk management policies, annual budgets, and business plans will hopefully resonate with decision makers at the highest levels of the Mexican financial sector, said Achim Steiner, Administrator, UNDP. Read the full report in English here and in Spanish here. Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey is a leader in the use of precision medicine and immunotherapy in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Through a partnership with RWJBarnabas Health, Rutgers Cancer Institute provides comprehensive and compassionate cancer care to adults and children. The Institute has a dual focus on care and research. More than $100 million in annual federal, state and philanthropic grants support its faculty members and allows the Institute to make meaningful contributions to the oncology community. Currently, the Institute has 56 active clinical trials that have a focus on precision medicine. "The true power of Caris' Precision Oncology Alliance is the collective contributions of each member institution towards improving the quality of personalized therapeutic insights in cancer treatment," said Chadi Nabhan, MD, MBA, FACP, Chairman of the Precision Oncology Alliance. "Caris looks forward to working with the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and its team of internationally recognized physicians and researchers who have a proud legacy of transforming laboratory discoveries into clinical practice in furthering this mission." Through the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance, Rutgers Cancer Institute will partner with other notable cancer centers and academic institutions to broaden patient access to precision cancer care, have early access to Caris MAI (Molecular Artificial Intelligence) offerings, and establish evidence-based standards for cancer profiling and molecular testing in oncology. By leveraging the comprehensive genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic profiling services available through the Caris Molecular Intelligence platform, physicians from the Rutgers Cancer Institute will be able to prioritize therapeutic options and determine which clinical trial opportunities may benefit their patients. Additionally, the Institute's researchers will partner with other Alliance members to contribute to and publish data and advance collaborative clinical trials. "The dedicated research and healthcare teams at Rutgers Cancer Institute know that a focus on patient experience and outcome is critical to providing comprehensive cancer care," said Shridar Ganesan, MD, PhD, associate director for translational science and chief of molecular oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute, who is also a professor of medicine and pharmacology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Omar Boraie Chair in Genomic Science. "We look forward to harnessing the valuable insights generated by the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance and the opportunity to provide our own valuable contributions to the latest advancements in personalized medicine." The Caris Precision Oncology Alliance comprises 37 academic, hospital and community-based cancer institutions, including 11 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. The Alliance now includes over 2,000 physicians, spanning more than 425 locations, who provide services for over 330,000 people with cancer each year. Caris Precision Oncology Alliance members also have access to Caris Pharmatech's oncology trial network, which can help reduce the time it takes to identify and connect appropriate patients with novel targeted cancer therapies in clinical development. "The Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey is a recognized leader in cutting-edge precision medicine research and therapeutic offerings," said Brian J. Brille, Vice Chairman of Caris Life Sciences. "The Caris Precision Oncology Alliance continues to grow in new and meaningful ways because of comprehensive cancer centers like the Rutgers Cancer Institute, which is devoted to advancing individualized cancer research and treatments." Find out more about the Caris Precision Oncology Alliance at: www.carislifesciences.com/precision-oncology-alliance. About Caris Life Sciences Caris Life Sciences is a leading innovator in molecular science focused on fulfilling the promise of precision medicine through quality and innovation. The company's suite of market-leading molecular profiling offerings assesses DNA, RNA and proteins to reveal a molecular blueprint that helps physicians and cancer patients make more precise and personalized treatment decisions. MI Exome whole exome sequencing with 22,000 DNA genes, and MI Transcriptome whole transcriptome sequencing with 22,000 RNA genes along with cancer-related pathogens, bacteria, viruses and fungi analysis run on every patient provides the most comprehensive and clinically relevant DNA and RNA profiling available on the market. Caris is also advancing precision medicine with Caris MAI (Molecular Artificial Intelligence) that combines its innovative service offerings, Caris Molecular Intelligence with its proprietary artificial intelligence analytics engine, DEAN, to analyze the whole exome, whole transcriptome and complete cancer proteome. This information, coupled with mature clinical outcomes on thousands of patients, provides unmatched molecular solutions for patients, physicians, payers and biopharmaceutical organizations. Caris Pharmatech is changing the paradigm and streamlines the clinical trial process by assisting biopharma companies with accessing research-ready oncology sites for clinical trials. With over 200 research sites within the Caris Pharmatech JIT Oncology Network, biopharma companies can identify and enroll more patients, faster. Caris Pharmatech Just-In-Time Clinical Trial Solutions focus on rapid site activation and patient enrollment to streamline the drug development process. By implementing a Just-In-Time (JIT) Research System, site activation and patient enrollment is achievable within 14 days for pre-registered locations with pre-qualified patients. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris Life Sciences offers services throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and other international markets. To learn more, please visit www.CarisLifeSciences.com or follow us on Twitter (@CarisLS). About Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey As New Jersey's only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute, along with its partner RWJBarnabas Health, offers the most advanced cancer treatment options including bone marrow transplantation, proton therapy, CAR T-cell therapy and complex robotic surgery. Along with clinical trials and novel therapeutics such as precision medicine and immunotherapy many of which are not widely available patients have access to these cutting-edge therapies at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital in Newark, as well as through RWJBarnabas Health facilities. Along with world-class treatment, which is often fueled by on-site research conducted in Rutgers Cancer Institute laboratories, patients and their families also can seek cancer preventative services and education resources throughout the Rutgers Cancer Institute and RWJBarnabas Health footprint statewide. To make a tax-deductible gift to support the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, call 848-932-8013 or visit www.cinj.org/giving. Caris Life Sciences Media & Company Contact: Lindsey Bailys GCI Health [email protected] 212-798-9884 Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Media Contact: Michele Fisher Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey [email protected] 732- 235-9872 SOURCE Caris Life Sciences Related Links http://www.carislifesciences.com PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, May 19, 2020 Infosys (NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, today announced that it is partnering with the State of Rhode Island in launching a privacy-first contact tracing solution to help Rhode Islanders and state officials slow the spread of coronavirus throughout the state. This is part of the state's effort to safely reopen businesses while reducing occurrences of community transmission. Leveraging existing Infosys technologies, the company developed a mobile app that will help Rhode Islanders follow required health and safety guidelines, monitor their own activities and support the Rhode Island Department of Health by providing accurate data with user consent. The application, called "CRUSH COVID RI," will utilize Infosys' Location Based Services platform to create individualized location diaries, while protecting user privacy. The mobile app will serve as a one stop shop for pandemic response, connecting Rhode Islanders with resources about quarantine and isolation supports, symptom monitoring, and up-to-date disease information from the Rhode Island Department of Health. "Rhode Island has been at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus and we are honored to have the opportunity to assist in developing this critically important asset for the state," said Ravi Kumar, President, Infosys. "By repurposing existing technologies with proven results, Infosys was able to quickly deliver a contact-tracing solution that will hopefully turn the tide on coronavirus, all while protecting Rhode Islanders' health and privacy. We are grateful to the state for including us in this important initiative." "We have been asking Rhode Islanders to keep a diary of who they come into contact with, each day," said Governor Raimondo. "Especially now, as we begin the process of reopening our state, this type of contact tracing is critical to identifying and slowing the spread of the virus. Thanks to the generous work of our partners at Infosys, we now have a tool at our fingertips to do just that. I encourage all Rhode Islanders to download this app and be proactive in crushing COVID-19." The user interface for the application was designed at Infosys' Providence Design + Innovation Center, and the app will include additional features, such as GPS-based location sensing, location maps and services and push notifications. About Infosys Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. We enable clients in 46 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With nearly four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer our clients through their digital journey. We do it by enabling the enterprise with an AI-powered core that helps prioritize the execution of change. We also empower the business with agile digital at scale to deliver unprecedented levels of performance and customer delight. Our always-on learning agenda drives their continuous improvement through building and transferring digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. Visit http://www.infosys.com to see how Infosys (NYSE: INFY) can help your enterprise navigate your next. Safe Harbor Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects, financial expectations and plans for navigating the COVID-19 impact on our employees, clients and stakeholders are forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the 'safe harbor' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the effects of government and other measures seeking to contain its spread, risks related to an economic downturn or recession in India, the United States and other countries around the world, changes in political, business, and economic conditions, fluctuations in earnings, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, our ability to manage growth, intense competition in IT services including those factors which may affect our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, industry segment concentration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks or system failures, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which Infosys has made strategic investments, withdrawal or expiration of governmental fiscal incentives, political instability and regional conflicts, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our industry and the outcome of pending litigation and government investigation. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our United States Securities and Exchange Commission filings including our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2019. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. Infosys may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the Company unless it is required by law. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/633365/Infosys_Logo.jpg Media contacts: For further information, please contact: [email protected] SOURCE Infosys Related Links http://www.infosys.com/ Native Sun News Today Columnist Not only has capitalism run rampant since the fall of Communism, it seems that the state of South Dakota has now taken up the slack as it deals with the Tribal Nations (there are nine of them) in our area. This month Governor Kristi Noem threatened the tribes with legal action if they dont remove their travel checkpoints for COVD-19 put in place some weeks ago. Restrictions have been implemented by the Cheyenne River and Oglala Sioux Tribal governments for the safety of the Oyate on their treaty protected homelands. Noem argues that the tribes do not have the right nor the duty nor the power to close their highways even in the face of the worst health epidemic in our lifetime. She will reverse that decision, and the State of South Dakota will within 48 hours take legal action if the tribes dont remove their travel restrictions on public roads. Whether it is a contesting for State Power or simply a willful governors wielding of the power that her state has spent 200 years trying to impose on indigenous peoples, there is serious doubt about her purpose. Elizabeth Cook-Lynn. Courtesy photo Does anyone remember the State Jurisdiction Era (1950-80) when a white power movement to Terminate and Relocate tribal nations was a nation-wide disgrace to those who understood the meaning of Racism? Noem is a Republican who makes regular trips to the White House in order to make her governing decisions (including support for one of the worst farm bills in recent history), in support of the Trump Presidency and its drive toward opening up businesses and plants following its own nationwide shut down. Indian Nations have the right and responsibility to protect their people. Politicians like Noem should know the scholarly work of dozens of scholars of Indian Law who have written that the State of South Dakota (1889) has never had the power to de-legitimize the 1868 treaty rights of sovereign native nationhood. There is a legal history here. Contact Elizabeth Cook-Lynn at ecooklynn@gmail.com Copyright permission Native Sun News Today Join the Conversation Participants are encouraged to share a happy photo with the hashtag #HALTdv The shattered brother of murdered mum Hannah Clarke has shared an emotional message on the three-month anniversary of her horrific death. The 31-year-old Brisbane woman burned to death alongside her three children when her evil estranged husband Rowan Baxter set her car ablaze in a shocking case of domestic violence. To mark the anniversary of their deaths, Ms Clarke's brother Nathaniel released a heartfelt video message on social media on Tuesday asking people to participate in an online remembrance. '[Tuesday] will mark three months since my sister Hannah and her three children were killed in a horrific act of domestic violence,' Mr Clarke said. To mark the anniversary of their deaths, Ms Clarke's brother Nathaniel released a heartfelt message on social media on Tuesday asking people to participate in an online remembrance 'To honour their beautiful memories, we are hosting a virtual memorial on Facebook at Small Steps 4 Hannah.' Small Steps 4 Hannah is a charity set up by Hannah's family to hep curb domestic violence in Australia. Participants are asked to share a photo or video of something that makes them happy, incorporate the word 'HALT' into the caption and upload it on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #HALTdv. HALT represents the initials of Hannah and her children Aaliyah, age six, Laianah, age four and Trey, age three. The online event runs all day on Tuesday and was set up to raise awareness for Domestic Violence month in Queensland. Hannah Clarke (pictured with daughters Aaliyah and Laianah) was killed along with her three children after her abusive husband, Rowan Charles Baxter, set their car alight Aaliyah (left), 6, Laianah (right), 4, and Trey (centre), 3, were murdered by their own father Earlier this month, Ms Clarke's parents Lloyd and Suzanne said their daughter and grandchildren's deaths were not in vain and highlighted the prevalence of unreported domestic violence. 'It's good to see goodness come out of such a horrific thing,' Ms Clarke previously told 7 News. She said she was surprised how the community rallied around her family and was 'pleased' the country was outraged over the horrific crime. 'I hope that would make a change for legislation, a change for things. People don't realise, Hannah didn't realise for years it was domestic violence,' she said. The couple said they are still struggling to come to terms with what happened and social distancing because of COVID-19 have further isolated them from their loved ones. Three months since they lost their daughter and grandchildren to a horrific murder suicide that stunned Australia, Hannah Clarke's heartbroken parents say her death was not in vain Mr and Mrs Clarke pictured at the funeral of their daughter Hannah Clarke and her three children 'The tears are always just there,' Mrs Clarke said. 'Especially with the isolation, not being able to have people just pop in and say hello,' Mr Clarke added. Days after their daughter and grandchildren were brutally murdered, the couple appeared on A Current Affair and explained the extent of the family's suffering at the hands of Hannah's husband. Suzanne Clarke (pictured) with granddaughters Aaliyah, 6 and Laianah, 4 Ms Clarke revealed her daughter had even discussed writing a will, saying: 'She said to me only last week, ''Mum should I do a will''?' ''What happens to my babies if he kills me? Because he'll go to jail for murder, who gets my children?'' She said, ''I want you and dad to have them or Nat. I don't want his family to have them''. 'I didn't think he'd hurt the kids. She was concerned he would kill her. I believed that could be possible.' The family said the dedicated mum would do anything for the young kids, and was working to start a new life for them. Despite suffering burns to 97 per cent of her body during the horrific attack, she remarkably managed to cling on to life long enough to file a police report before she died in hospital the following day. 'She did everything for those kids,' her father Lloyd explained. 'To the end she fought to make sure if he survived he got punished doing to her babies. She was so brave.' In a massacre which rocked Australia, Baxter attacked his family in Camp Hill, after putting his wife through years of emotional, sexual and financial abuse. Despite heroic attempts by passersby, the children all died at the scene in February. Children place butterfly stickers on the coffin during the funeral for Hannah Clarke and her three children Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey in Brisbane on March 9 Speaking to Daily Mail Australia at the time, the distraught couple said their daughter had finally broken free from the monstrous fitness fanatic. The murdered mum told friends she was a 'survivor not a victim' in a gut-wrenching final Instagram post just days before her death. After finally breaking free from Baxter, she said would 'never let anyone mistreat her again' and hoped her daughters would 'grow up being strong women'. Ms Clarke had suffered at the hands of her abusive husband for more than ten years, before finally leaving him in November. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has spoken about his fears that other countries may emulate Chinas strict regulation of the internet. In a video conversation with European Union industry commissioner Thierry Breton, Zuckerberg said: Just to be blunt about it, I think there is a model coming out of countries like China that tend to have very different values than Western countries that are more democratic. Zuckerberg spoke of his willingness to work with Western democracies to create rules around data privacy. He also praised the EUs data protection regulation, which regulates how personal data may be used within the bloc. Read more: Coronavirus - Facebook extends working from home until 2021 Zuckerberg said: I dont think that theres a question that theres going to be regulation. I think the question is, whose framework is going to win around the world? Breton warned Zuckerberg that his social media firm and other tech giants may be subjected to tough rules if they do not step up efforts to take down disinformation. When you are the CEO, at the end of the day, you are the only one to be responsible, no one else, Breton said during an online event organised by the Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE). Regulators around the world have urged social platforms such as Facebook, Google and Twitter to do more to stop the flow of disinformation, especially coronavirus-related fake news. Its a huge issue. We have discussions with many persons including Mark and I really appreciate the efforts. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didnt, Breton said. Read more: Mark Zuckerberg has too much control At the end of the day, the mission of the CEO is to listen to everyone, then to take a decision. At the end of the day, it will be Mark who will be responsible and nobody else. Breton said strong regulations would be introduced if the companies did not show progress. The European Commission is currently drafting a digital services act that will rein in US tech giants, especially those seen as gatekeepers to information. Zuckerberg reiterated his call for governments to regulate harmful online content, saying it was not for companies such as his to decide on the issue. He was sent home to Perth after the coronavirus pandemic forced filming of the eighth season of The Bachelor was suspended. And on Tuesday, Locklan 'Locky' Gilbert reunited with some of his fellow Australian Survivor co-stars. Sharing a group selfie to Instagram, the 30-year-old Bachelor star appeared to be in good spirits as he posed with his former castmates. Back together! On Tuesday, Locklan 'Locky' Gilbert (far right) reunited with his Australian Survivor co-stars in Perth while filming of The Bachelor remains on hiatus. L-R: David Genat, Luke and Mary Toki, Harry Hills Locky was joined by this year's 'Golden God' and winner David Genatt, Harry Hills and 2019 Champions V Contenders star Luke Toki and his wife Mary. The group were also joined by Luke's brother Jake and another male, while they made the most of the sunny weather in the city. It comes after reports Locky's flirtatious behaviour has landed him in hot water with Channel 10. Day out: Locky was joined by this year's 'Golden God' and winner David Genatt, Harry Hills and 2019 Champions V Contenders star Luke Toki and his wife Mary Rugged: It comes after reports Locky's flirtatious behaviour has landed him in hot water with Channel 10. Pictured during his stint on Australian Survivor earlier this year According to a report in Confidential on Sunday, Locklan has been hooking-up with many of the stars, with producers giving him a 'talking to' to tone it down. 'No one is shocked by Locky being so keen,' an insider told the publication. The source added that all of the female contestants this season are very attractive: 'The girls this year are smoking hot.' The whispers come after Locky raised eyebrows with a Mother's Day post earlier this month, that appeared to prove he hasn't found love on the show. Naughty! According to a report in Confidential on Sunday, Locklan has been hooking-up with many of the stars, with producers giving him a 'talking to' to tone it down. Locky shared a photo of flowers he had purchased for his mother: 'There is only one woman special enough for this amount of flowers.' The forthcoming season of The Bachelor has been put on halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. Channel Ten have said they will resume filming as soon as it is deemed safe. Archaeologists had found fragments of human bone and teeth in the chest, but these had been removed months earlier for analysis and radiocarbon dating. All that was left was a bit of dirt, the stone slabs of the tomb and the cracked limestone of the ridge. Human-remains detection dogs, or cadaver dogs, are used worldwide on land and water. Well-trained dogs help find the missing and dead in disasters, accidents, murders and suicides. But the experiment in Croatia marked the start of one of the most careful inquiries yet carried out of an unusual archaeological method. If such dogs could successfully locate the burial sites of mass executions, dating from World War II through the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s, might they be effective in helping archaeologists find truly ancient burials? On the scent of new tombs Panda wasnt kidding. Neither was Mali, the other Belgian Malinois trained by Ms. Pintar and her husband, Christian Nikolic. Each dog gave her final indications that day by either sitting or lying inside the flattened circle of the tombs, their noses pointing toward the burial chests within. In some cases they leapt into the small burial chests before offering an alert. The dogs archaeological expedition had been initiated by Vedrana Glavas, an archaeologist at Croatias University of Zadar. She already knew a great deal about the necropolis at Drvisica, having fully excavated and analyzed the contents of three tombs there. Inside each were rough limestone burial chests. She and her team recovered amber beads, belt buckles, bronze pins, teeth and phalanges. Each chest once held at least two bodies, which radiocarbon dating confirmed were 2,700 years old. The skeletal material was highly fragmented, however, and is still being analyzed. But were there other tombs on the site, and could the dogs help locate them? After that first preliminary search and its surprising result, Dr. Glavas had beers at a local pub with the dogs handlers. They decided to hold off any discussion for a few weeks. H ydroxychloroquine is a controversial anti-malaria drug which has been thrown into the spotlight in recent months by US President Donald Trump, who says he has tried it as a potential defence against coronavirus. Several studies have shown that the drug has no effect on Covid-19 patients, could be harmful and has the potential to cause heart problems. The French Government banned the use of the drug as a treatment for coronavirus, while the US Food and Drug Administration also withdrew its authorisation and cautioned against the use of hydroxychloroquine use with coronavirus patients. But researchers behind a global study into hydroxychloroquine led by Oxford University have warned against dismissing the dug prematurely, saying it could still save lives. The study, known as Copcov, aims to enrol 40,000 healthcare workers from across the world to determine whether the drug is effective at fighting Covid-19. Donald Trump revealed he was taking the drug / AP One of the trials lead investigators, Dr Will Schilling, said: We really dont know if hydroxychloroquine works or not in prevention or very early treatment. That question remains unanswered." Professor Nick Day, director of the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, also leading the study, added: By the time patients are admitted to hospital virus multiplication is well past its peak and inflammation in the lungs and other complications may prove lethal. At this stage the steroid dexamethasone, which reduces inflammation, saves lives but the antivirals hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine do not. However, that does not rule out that they could be effective much earlier in the illness. Prevention is much easier than cure. "The Copcov study will find out if these drugs can prevent Covid-19 or not. The benefits found in small post-exposure treatment trials, although modest, could be very valuable if they were confirmed. Candlelit vigil for coronavirus victims and NHS - In pictures 1 /17 Candlelit vigil for coronavirus victims and NHS - In pictures Getty Images PA Getty Images PA PA PA PA Getty Images Getty Images Getty Images PA AP AP Meanhwile one hydroxychloroquine study found that the drug helped hospital patients survive coronavirus. Researchers at Henry Ford Health System in the US found that 13 per cent of people given hydroxychloroquine died, compared to 26 per cent of those who weren't given the drug. Dr Marcus Zervos, head of infectious diseases at Henry Ford, told a press conference: "Our results do differ from some other studies. What we think was important in ours ... is that patients were treated early. "For hydroxychloroquine to have a benefit, it needs to begin before the patients begin to suffer some of the severe immune reactions that patients can have with Covid." But other researchers not involved in the trial, the results of which were published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, remain sceptical. Dr. Todd Lee of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal wrote: "As the Henry Ford Health System became more experienced in treating patients with Covid-19, survival may have improved, regardless of the use of specific therapies." Mr Trump raised eyebrows when he said he takes hydroxychloroquine, despite warnings from his own government's health experts. He told reporters that he takes a hydroxychloroquine pill every day, combined with zinc. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is another champion of the drug and recently said he'd taken it when he became infected with coronavirus. Mr Bolsonaro tested positive for Covid-19 after months of playing down the virus' severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside his country. The drug is controversial / AFP via Getty Images What is hydroxychloroquine and is it safe? Hydroxychloroquine is a drug used to treat acute malaria, lupus, and some types of arthritis. It is a derivative of chloroquine, which is also used to treat malaria. It is widely used to treat rheumatic diseases as it can reduce inflammation, pain, and swelling. The drug is on the World Health Organisation's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a system. However, it is not free of risk: common side effects of taking it include vomiting, headache, changes in vision, and muscle weakness, while severe side effects can include allergic reactions, vision problems, and heart problems. What has Trump said about taking the drug? Mr Trump said he took the drug daily with zinc, "because I think it's good. I've heard a lot of good stories." "You'd be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the front-line workers, before you catch it," he added. "The front-line workers many, many are taking it. I happen to be taking it. "I'm taking it, hydroxychloroquine, right now, yeah. A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it. Mr Trump said his use of the medicine was approved by the White House physician, Sean Conley, but said that it was he, not his doctor, who took the first step. Trump: I started taking it because I think it's good... I've heard a lot of good stories / AP "I asked him, 'what do you think?' He said, 'if you'd like it.' I said 'yeah, I'd like it.'" Trump said he has received many "positive calls" from people telling him about the malaria drug. He said he had received a letter from an unidentified New York doctor, who said he had given the drug to hundreds of patients and "I haven't lost one." "It seems to have an impact, and maybe it does, maybe it doesn't but if it doesn't, you're not going to get sick or die," Trump added. "I take a pill every day. At some point I'll stop." He told reporters he showed "zero symptoms of Covid-19. A new trial has suggested hydroxychloroquine could help coronavirus patients / AFP via Getty Images "Every couple days they want to test me, you know, for obvious reasons, he said. I mean I am the president, so they want to test me. I don't want to be tested but they want to test me," he said. "I've shown always negative." Mr Trump has also retweeted claims Americas leading infectious disease expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, misled the US on hydroxychloroquine by refusing to endorse the use of the anti-malaria drug in combating Covid-19. Commenting on Mr Trump's remarks regarding the drug, Dr Stephen Griffin, associate professor in the School of Medicine, University of Leeds, said they were a staggering, irresponsible act that could very well also amount to self-harm. He warned that hydroxychloroquine is prescribed and monitored carefully because of its potential side effects. He said people following Mr Trumps example could endanger themselves. Former Government chief scientific adviser Sir David King said of Mr Trump: Every word he says should be ignored in terms of advice. He added: Im sorry but this is not the pronouncements of a person who is listening to the scientists. He is making it up as he goes along. What's the official advice about taking hydroxychloroquine? The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an advisory warning that hydroxychloroquine has "not been shown to be safe and effective". It cited reports that the drug can cause serious heart rhythm problems in coronavirus patients. The FDA has withdrawn its authorisation for hydroxychloroquine use with coronavirus patients. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says there are no approved drugs or therapeutics to prevent or treat Covid-19. The UK Government has said that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are not licensed to prevent Covid-19 or treat symptoms. Dr June Raine, chief executive of the UK's medical products regulator, said in June: "We have told those conducting clinical trials using hydroxychloroquine to treat or prevent COVID-19 to suspend recruitment into their trials. "Neither hydroxychloroquine nor chloroquine are licensed to treat COVID-19 related symptoms or to prevent infection. "It is important to note that patients taking hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat other health conditions can continue to do so, as advised by their healthcare professional, as the balance of benefits and risks remains favourable in the licensed uses." Several clinical trials have shown that hydroxychloroquine has no positive effect on coronavirus patients. Some trials have suggested the drug could cause heart problems / AFP via Getty Images But a major UK trial is set to resume after it was paused because of concerns about side-effects, raised in studies that have since been retracted. The COPCOV trial will give chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine or a placebo to more than 40,000 healthcare workers from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. One of the lead researchers, Professor Sir Nicholas White from the University of Oxford said: "Hydroxychloroquine could still prevent infections, and this needs to be determined in a randomised controlled trial." Prof Martin Llewelyn, of the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, said: "Although rates of coronavirus are low just now in the UK, healthcare workers are still being affected across the NHS and a second wave of infection this winter is widely expected. One small uncontrolled study in France on the use of hydroxychloroquine in combination with another drug, azithromycin, found some reduction in patients viral load. However, another study from France, published in the BMJ medical journal, found that hydroxychloroquine did not help significantly reduce admission to intensive care or death rates of people hospitalised with pneumonia due to coronavirus. Staff in a hospital in the UK / POOL/AFP via Getty Images A randomised clinical trial carried out in China, also published in the BMJ, also concluded that taking hydroxychloroquine did not speed up recovery for hospitalised patients with mild to moderate persistent Covid-19. The study also found that those taking hydroxychloroquine were more likely to have adverse events. The Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) said in May it was aware of 218 trials involving chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. There have been more than 16.4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus throughout the world, with around 650,000 deaths. Additional reporting by PA Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Thousands of Gambians have taken to social media to express disappointment on European Unions Facebook post campaigning for homosexuality right, as they vowed to fight in support of the practice in the country The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday described as fake the Congress list of 1,000 buses submitted to it for transporting migrant workers, and said some of the registration numbers of vehicles given therein were of three-wheelers. However, the Congress claimed its buses were on the UP-Rajasthan border at Uncha Nagla in Bharatpur and requested permission to get them moving. All through the day on Tuesday, both sides exchanged a number of letters over the buses that the Congress proposed to provide in order to send stranded migrant workers home. We are at the UP border at Uncha Nagla with the buses for the past three hours. The Agra administration is not allowing us to enter. This is the time to show sensitivity. We request you again to grant permission to allow entry of all our buses immediately, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadras private secretary Sandip Singh said in a letter sent to additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi at 3.45 pm on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the party had reiterated its commitment of providing all the 1,000 buses at Noida and Ghaziabad by 5pm. Some of our buses are coming from Rajasthan while some are coming from Delhi. The process of getting permits is underway. As the number of buses is high, it may take some hours. As asked by you, we will make efforts to take them to the Ghaziabad/Noida border by 5pm, said Priyanka Gandhi Vadras private secretary in his letter to Awasthi at 12.15pm on Tuesday. He even requested the state government to keep the list of passengers and route map ready by 5pm to avoid any problem in their operation, saying, This will be a historic step when the UP government and the Congress party will keep away their political reservations. The Congress response came a few minutes after the state government asked the party to provide the buses to the district magistrates of Noida and Ghaziabad by 12 noon on Tuesday. Please refer to your letter dated May 18, 2020. As per your letter, you have shown your inability to provide buses at Lucknow and want to provide buses at the Noida and Ghaziabad borders. Under such a situation, please provide 500 buses to the district magistrate, Ghaziabad, at Kaushambi and Sahibabad bus stops by 12pm. In addition, provide 500 buses to the district magistrate, Gautam Buddha Nagar, at Expomart, said Awasthi in his letter sent to Priyankas private secretary on Tuesday morning. We are being stopped on the UP border with Rajasthan near Fatehpur Sikri. We are not being allowed to enter. We are trying to reach Noida/Ghaziabad borders now, said Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Ajay Kumar Lallu on Tuesday noon. UP government spokesman and minister for MSMEs Sidharth Nath Singh accused the Congress of providing a fake list to the state government. Singh said preliminary inquiry into the Congress list had shown that the list carried registration numbers of three-wheelers. He showed to the media some documents, saying the list provided by the Congress had numbers of auto-rickshaws, etc and blamed Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for giving a fake list. This is a three-wheeler number This is the number of a goods career. This is unfortunate. We condemn it. Congress president Sonia Gandhi should give an explanation for this, the minister said. The Congress had provided the list through an email to the state government at about 8 pm on Monday. In response to the Congress list, Awasthi at about 11.30pm on Monday had asked the party to provide the buses, along with names of drivers and conductors in Lucknow at 10 am on Tuesday. Taking strong exception to the state governments directives to provide 1,000 buses in Lucknow, the Congress said there was no point in taking empty buses to Lucknow when the migrant labourers were stranded on the UP-Delhi borders. A large number of migrant labourers are stuck on the Delhi-UP border and a large crowd is seen at registration centres. Under such circumstances, sending 1,000 empty buses to Lucknow is not only a waste of time and resources, it is also inhuman and a creation of anti-poor mindset, said Priyankas private secretary in his letter to Awasthi sent at 2.10am on Tuesday. The Congress had on Saturday requested the state government for permission to run 1,000 buses from Noida and Ghaziabad to carry stranded migrant workers home. The state government accepted the Congress proposal on Monday and informed the party the same afternoon, asking for a list of buses at the earliest. India and Bangladesh are preparing to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people from coastal areas as they brace for the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal to make landfall this week. Officials began evacuating villagers and halted port operations on Monday ahead of the super cyclone, which is expected to arrive on Wednesday and has increased pressure on emergency services already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic. Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night, with sustained wind speeds of up to 270km per hour (165mph), according to data from the US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre. Although the storm has weakened slightly since then, it was still recording wind speeds up to 240kph (150mph) on Tuesday. It comes as India eases its Covid-19 lockdown, imposed in April to slow the spread of the virus, which has infected 96,169 people and killed 3,029. Up to 300,000 people in coastal areas of the states of West Bengal and Odisha are thought to be in immediate danger from the storm and may need to be evacuated, Indian officials said. Satya Narayan Pradhan, director-general of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDSR), warned capacity in cyclone shelters had been significantly reduced due to social distancing rules. He said there was normally room for 500,000 evacuees in the shelters, but this number had been cut down to 200,000 to allow for space between people. We have to evacuate people from low-lying areas, and protect them from the coronavirus too, a senior official from Indias home ministry told Reuters under condition of anonymity. Its not an easy task. Rinkesh Roy, chairman of the Paradip Port Trust, said operations at the port of Paradip in Odisha were being wound down and officials were clearing the port ahead of the storm after authorities ordered ships to move out to sea to avoid damage. On Monday, Narendra Modi, Indias prime minister, chaired a meeting to review the response measures and the evacuation plan for Cyclone Amphan. I pray for everyones safety and assure all possible support from the Central Government, Mr Modi wrote on Twitter after the meeting. The storm is the second super cyclone on record which has formed over the Bay of Bengal, according to Indias meteorological chief, following a devastating 1999 storm in Odisha state which left nearly 10,000 people dead. In Bangladesh, Enamur Rahman, the disaster management junior minister, said officials were planning to move about two million people from coastal areas into cyclone shelters to protect them from the storm. The cyclone season in India and Bangladesh usually runs from April to December, with severe storms forcing tens of thousands to evacuate and causing widespread death and damage to crops and property. India, with a coastline of 7,516km (4,670 miles), gets hit by more than a tenth of all the worlds tropical cyclones, with the bulk of them hitting its eastern coast around the Bay of Bengal. Additional reporting by Reuters Last week, Matt Hancock, the secretary of state for health, claimed that the government had thrown a protective ring around care homes since the start of the coronavirus crisis. Unfortunately, since that protective ring was thrown, 20,000 people have somehow found a way to die within it, so somewhat unsurprisingly, the quality of that protective ring, and the degree of protection it provides, is a subject on which Hancock was required to provide more detail to the House of Commons. It has been regularly remarked upon of late that Hancock is tired. But hes not so much tired as traumatised. He goes through the motions of these horrifying dispatches in a kind of sullen monotone, like the PTSD-addled cave guide in The League of Gentlemen, who drifts with no tonal differentiation between explanations on the formation of stalactites to how he sees the outline of the dead boys face in shadows on the wall. We will keep working to strengthen the protective ring we have cast around all our care homes, Mr Hancock said. On Monday, Priti Patel was in the House of Commons, her face set in her traditional vacant half-smirk, as the government pressed on with its immigration bill, launching its extravagantly ill-judged social media campaign to celebrate ending free movement and the taking back control of our borders. Its possible then, just possible, that somewhere within government, somebody is aware of the staggeringly obvious fact that protective rings need to work from day one. A protective ring that needs strengthening is not a protective ring. We have tested symptomatic residents of care homes, Hancock said, a claim that no one who actually works in a care home would agree with, but is probably less untrue than most of the other claims going around so itll do for now. But the problem Hancock has got, what we in the news business like to call the top line on care homes, is that right at the start of the coronavirus crisis, nominally before the fictional ring was thrown around them, thousands of people were rushed into them from hospitals, to free up bed capacity. Those people werent tested for coronavirus, and now care home workers and owners and managers and everyone in between are lining up to go on the TV and the radio and explain that that is precisely how Covid-19 came into their care homes, where it then spread, well, like the highly contagious virus it is. Anyone whos actually been inside Hancocks protective ring appears to be scarred by the unmistakable stench of death. And this, really, is the problem with the protective ring. Its that after it was built, coronavirus was subsequently rained down above it from on high, like a sort of Covid-19 napalm. And in an especially cruel twist, it was done by the very people whod just claimed to have put in place a protective ring that doesnt actually exist. When one searches for analogies for Hancocks protective ring, sadly one finds only the final days of the Sri Lankan civil war, in which terrified Tamils were rushed towards specially created safe havens, only for those safe havens to then be deliberately and callously bombed from the air. Indeed, it is kind of best to think of Hancock and his protective ring as a very odd, very low-budget Baywatch remake, in which Hancock sprints in very, very, very slow motion towards various care homes and throws his life-saving protective ring towards them. Except that there isnt actually a protective ring at all, theres just words. I have thrown my protective ring around you! shouts the protective ringless Hancock, his eyes alive with the hope that the power of his words will convince them to overlook the demonstrable certainty that absolutely no protective ring is there. In many ways, its worse. The trouble with a protective ring that is retroactively created through words alone, and then subsequently claimed to have been strengthened, is that there is now a fairly large degree of ambiguity over which side of the ring is meant to be the beneficiary of its protection. Back in the first days of coronavirus, visits to care homes were banned ostensibly to keep the vulnerable safe. Now it is by no means clear whether the protective ring is meant to keep coronavirus out or in. Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Show all 19 1 /19 Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Two elderly people chat on a street in Valencia, Spain on 4 May EPA Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent People look at the city from Villa Borghese park in Rome during the first day of Italy's next phase in its coronavirus lockdown Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent An elderly couple who has not been outside for nearly two months enjoys the weather as they sit on a bench in a park in Athens on 4 May AFP via Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Henri de Chassey, wearing a protective face mask, kisses his partner Margaux Rebois, who is returning to Paris after spending two months in Brussels on 4 May REUTERS Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A commuter in protective mask wears gloves at an underground station in Brussels as some companies are allowed to bring workers back to the office EPA/STEPHANIE LECOCQ Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Paralympic swimmer Inigo Llopis prepares to swim in San Sebastian, Spain, for the first time since the lockdown began Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A worker wearing personal protective equipment disinfects a school in Athens as Greece relaxes its nationwide lockdown REUTERS Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A Spanish National Police officer distributes protective masks in Melilla, Spain, on 4 May EPA Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent An employee poses in front of halfway-cured hams in a factory in Guijuelo, Salamanca, Spain, on 4 May EPA Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Workers in protective suits disinfect a high school in Athens as Greece moves to reopen schools for final-year students on 11 May EPA Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A worker disinfects a bus as transport vehicles are disinfected several times a day as part of Belgium's lockdown exit strategy Belga/AFP via Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A worker from Textilia haberdashery in Brussels holds a fabric that can be used to make customised protective face masks as Belgium relaxes its lockdown measures REUTERS/Yves Herman Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A bride tries on a wedding dress at a bridal shop in Madrid on the first day that some small businesses are allowed to open during Spain's lockdown REUTERS Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent People walk across the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping mall in central Milan as Italy eases its lockdown AFP/Getty Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A couple kiss in the Duomo Square in Catania as Italy starts moving out of its lockdown Reuters Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Mirel Chetan organises the books of the Antonio Machado bookstore in Madrid after 51 days of closure Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A couple kiss in front of the sea in Catania as Italy begins a staged end to a nationwide lockdown due to the spread of the coronavirus disease ANTONIO PARRINELLO/ REUTERS Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A waiter at Caffe Cracco handles takeaway coffee in Milan on 4 May as Italy starts to ease its lockdown Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A woman holds a yoga posture as she exercises by the Colosseum monument in Rome on the first day of Italy relaxing its lockdown measures VINCENZO PINTO/AFP via Getty Images At one point, the secretary of state for health found himself explaining that, actually, our care home death rate compares favourably with some other countries. Not all other countries. Not like South Korea, for example, where there hasnt been a single one. It was nevertheless an interesting comparison, given that last week, when the UK found it had the highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe, Boris Johnson began to describe country-to-country comparisons as premature. Now the policy has been gently tweaked to mean that it is only premature to make unfavourable comparisons. The few remaining favourable ones to be found are fine, for now, so who can blame Hancock for getting in there while he can? In recent weeks, it has been suggested that far from being accidentally leaked from a Chinese laboratory, coronavirus could have been secretly created by the Trump administration, as a last-ditch attempt to get Mexico to pay for the wall which has not yet been built, on the grounds it will now be desperate to keep Americans out. That seems a little far fetched, not to say high risk. Far better to just do a Hancock and build the wall through the power of your imagination. Nobody has to pay for that, not your grandparents, not Mexico, not anybody. Well, not with cash anyway, just with life, and rarely, if ever before, has that particular stock been valued quite so cheaply. EDWARDSVILLE Several items related to the coronavirus pandemic are up for consideration at Wednesdays Madison County Board meeting, including funding for an ultraviolet sanitation unit for the Madison County Jail. Most of the items are being brought through the Finance and Government Operations and the Grants committees. Included in the Finance Committees items is an emergency appropriation for $100,000 for the portable ultraviolet sanitation unit, which will be used to assist disinfecting portions of the Madison County Jail. Jails, prisons, nursing homes and other facilities where people are densely packed together with limited ability to move freely are especially concerning to public health officials because of the ability of the COVID-19 virus to easily spread. So far there have been no cases reported at the Madison County Jail. The U.S. Department of Justice is providing $58,008 of the approximate $100,000 cost for the unit, with the remainder coming from the Jail Commissary Fund. Also under the Finance Committee are two additional COVID-19 related emergency appropriations: a $132,879 federal grant coming through the Illinois Department of Public Health and a $25,000 grant from Phillips 66 to provide safe shelter to first responders exposed to COVID-19 due to their work. Madison County Community Development is also seeking approval to apply for several COVID-19 related grants, including $1.75 million in CARES ACT stimulus funding. Alton and Granite City receive separate funding from CDBG. According to MCCD, Alton will receive $544,824, Granite City $417,675 and the county $793,450. The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development has suggested the priority use for the funding is Homeless Assistance, Public Services and Mortgage & Rental Assistance, but final guidelines have not been published. MCCD is also seeking approval to apply for the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Emergency Homeless Lodging Sub-Recipient Program, which provides hotel/motel vouchers so the homeless can shelter-in-place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant total is $48,000. The meeting is set for 5 p.m. Wednesday, and will be held via teleconference. To listen to the meeting, visit www.co.madison.il.us/public for instructions. To address the County Board email public comments to public@co.madison.il.us with email titled County Board along with first and last name; the first 5 submissions will be read aloud. Bihar Board 10th Result 2020 Released | The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) released the Bihar Class 10 results. The Bihar 10th results for matric students were released on the official websites of Bihar Board at biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in and biharboard.ac.in. The board completed the compilation process of marks after the submission of evaluation results to it. The Bihar Board students can directly check their BSEB Class 10 exam results here by filling in the admit card details in the slots provided below. Candidates who had appeared for the examination are advised to keep their admit cards handy as the BSEB class 10 results are supposed to be announced by the Bihar Board any time today. Apart from the official websites biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in and biharboard.ac.in, the BSEB 10th result can also be checked via SMS. Here's how to check the Bihar Board 10th result: Step 1: Visit the official website at biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in or biharboard.ac.in Step 2: On the home page, click on the 'Results' Step 3: Tap on Class X Matriculation results Step 4: Select your stream and click on 'Result' Step 5: You will be directed to a new page where you will have to key-in your credentials Step 6: Enter the captcha text Step 7: You can now check and download your BSEB Class 10 Result 2020. For checking the BSEB Class 10 Results 2020 via SMS, students must type - BSEB10 -space- ROLL NUMBER and send it to 56263. The Bihar Board Class 10 examination 2020 was cconducted from February 17 to 24. The evaluation process began on May 6 and concluded last week. Last year, the Bihar Board Class 10 Result pass percentage was 80.73 percent. Gordon says interviews with Girkin, Poklonskaya can be used as materials for trial in The Hague Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon has said that he interviewed member of the Russian State Duma, former "Prosecutor" of the occupied Crimea Natalia Poklonskaya and terrorist Igor Girkin (Strelkov) with the assistance of Ukrainian special services. "I did the interviews with Natalia Poklonskaya and Igor Girkin in collaboration with Ukrainian special services. No one has ever done such interviews before in Ukraine to question either Poklonskaya or Girkin about treason and the crimes that were committed with the participations of these people in the territory of Ukraine," he said in a vide message posted on his YouTube channel. Gordon also said that memory sticks with the materials of the interview have been sent to The Hague. "Answers from Poklonskaya and Girkin will be key evidence in the trial on the annexation of Crimea and setting off the bloody massacre in Donbas," he said. The journalist also emphasized that Deputy Prosecutor General Gyunduz Mamedov, who is in charge of the Crimea and Donbas issues, has posted a thankful message on behalf on the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (PGO) to Gordon for his assistance to Ukraine in investigating high-profile cases on the events in Crimea in Donbas. Gordon also addressed fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the European Solidarity party, as well as the journalists who shamed him and suggested them to appeal to the PGO with their questions and after that to make a public apology to him. As reported, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it would analyze the situation with an interview of member of the Russian State Duma, former "Prosecutor" of the occupied Crimea Natalia Poklonskaya and former so-called "Defense Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic" Igor Girkin (Strelkov) to Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon. The European Solidarity party also appealed to the SBU with a demand to launch a criminal case against Gordon on stirring up hatred, support for terrorism and undermining Ukraine's sovereignty. Staff at Cork and Dublin airports have been told by management that up to 1,000 jobs could potentially be lost due to the impact of Coveid-19 on global air travel. The Daa briefed all staff at lunchtime today telling them the drastic reduction in air passengers numbers means the company must reduce front line employee numbers. While the chief executive Dalton Phillips did not state specifically what cuts in employee numbers would be imposed he said the last time both Cork and Dublin airports handled just 21 million passengers they had 750 to 1,000 fewer employees. Approximately 3,500 staff are employed in the DAA which includes both airports and its travel retail subsidiary Aer Rianta International (ARI). Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Daa was set up to handle about 33 million passengers per year in Dublin and 2.6 million passengers per year in Cork. However, traffic in 2021 could be as low as about 21 million passengers at Dublin and Cork airports next year, compared to 35.5 million passengers last year. Approximately 250 staff are employed at Cork Airport which is likely to handle just 900,000 passengers this year. It is estimated that it could take three to four years for passenger numbers at Cork to return to 2019 levels. In a statement to the Irish Examiner today, the airport said: Cork Airport has briefed staff and will now engage with its employees and staff representatives in relation to the cost reduction measures required to address the economic crisis that is affecting businesses throughout the aviation sector. We are not making any further public comment at this time. Staff were told that details of a voluntary redundancy scheme will be outlined next week. The Internal Revenue Service has started sending out stimulus payments on prepaid debit cards and staffing a phone line to answer questions about the payments, but as of yet, theres no option to talk to a live person on that number. This week, the IRS began sending nearly 4 million economic-impact payments by prepaid debit card, instead of by paper check. The card comes from Metabank. People can use the prepaid cards to make purchases, get cash from in-network ATMs, and transfer funds to their personal bank account without incurring any fees. They can also check their card balance online, by mobile app, or by phone without incurring fees, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a news release Monday. There are fees for other uses such as withdrawing money from an out-of-network ATM ($2 plus fees charged by the ATM operator, though the $2 fee is waived for the first transaction); a balance inquiry by ATM (25 cents); withdrawing cash from a bank teller ($5 after the first withdrawal); and replacing a lost or stolen card ($7.50 plus $17 for faster delivery). Fiserv The IRS will continue sending out checks as well. Adding prepaid cards to the mix will enhance its check-printing capacity so it can send out more payments more quickly, Lauren Sanders, an attorney with the National Consumer Law Center, said in an email. Also, people without a bank account and those sheltering in place can use the cards without leaving home or paying fees to a check casher. Most people can avoid the debit-card fees, she added. To activate the card, users will have to call a phone number and provide some information to verify their identity. The debit card is an attempt to shorten the 20-week timeframe for paying all eligible Americans. Due to technology constraints, the IRS only can mail about 5 million paper checks each week, Erin Hatch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, said in an email. On Monday, the IRS, whose customer-service phone lines have been closed for months, said in a news release that it is starting to add 3,500 telephone representatives to answer some of the most common questions about Economic Impact Payments. The release did not give the number, but a spokesman said it was 800-919-9835. However, when I made multiple calls to that number Monday and Tuesday, there was only recorded information and no option to speak to a live person. The IRS has not explained why. Hatch said an oversight subcommittee has reached out to the IRS about that. Still looking for your payment? As of May 8, about 128 million stimulus payments had been made, but its unclear how many remain. If your return included direct deposit information, you should have been paid in April, according to an update from the committee. If you filed a 2018 or 2019 return and did not have a refund deposited into a bank account, you had until May 13 to enter your banking information into the IRS Get My Payment portal to get a direct deposit. If you did not get a direct deposit, you will receive a paper check or prepaid card. Checks are being issued in reverse adjusted gross income order starting with people with the lowest incomes first, the committee said. People who did not file a tax return but receive Social Security, railroad retirement, Supplemental Security Income or certain veterans benefits will get their stimulus payment the same way they get those benefits. The committee estimates that about 13.1 million people who get Social Security or railroad retirement benefits and dont file a tax return are still awaiting payments. People who were not required to file a return, did not file a return and are not receiving those benefits can get a payment by going to another IRS portal called Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info and entering information that is used to generate a mini-return. People who are required to file a return should not use this tool, or they will have to file an amended return. It turns out fraudsters have also used that non-filers tool to get payments, said Crane Hassold, senior director of threat research with Agari, an email-security firm. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Between April 15 and April 29, a Nigerian cybercrime group called Scattered Canary filed at least 82 fraudulent claims for stimulus payments using this tool for non-filers, Agari said in a report issued Tuesday. At least 30 of them were accepted by the IRS and presumably paid out, apparently onto Green Dot prepaid cards, it said. For the other 52, we just dont have confirmation, Hassold said. Agari said the ring may have filed the claims using W-2 forms it got through phishing emails purporting to be from a top executive to human resources people seeking employee payroll information. Phishing attacks targeting a quickly growing remote workforce have increased significantly, the report said. Hassold said he believes Canary also is using such information to file fake unemployment claims in some states. Agari has evidence showing it filed at least 174 fraudulent claims in Washington and 17 with Massachusetts. Canary is likely only one of such groups exploiting the IRS and unemployment offices, he added. On Saturday, the website Krebs on Security reported that a well-organized Nigerian crime group is committing large-scale fraud against multiple state unemployment insurance programs, with potential losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Krebs reported seeing a memo from the Secret Service that said the ring has been filing unemployment claims using Social Security numbers and other information belonging to identity-theft victims, including from first responders, government personnel and school employees. It said the ring targeted Washington primarily, along with North Carolina, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Wyoming and Florida. Asked if California has been hit with or investigated this type of fraud, the Employment Development Department said in an email that it monitors claims and has an identity verification system in place to help ensure the individuals are who they say they are when applying for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits. It added: The department is able to validate the majority of individuals who provide additional documentation, and the requirement serves as a deterrent to those attempting to commit fraud. Kathleen Pender is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: kpender@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kathpender WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. One month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, two former Purdue Boilermakers, Maj. Gen. Frederick L. Martin and 2nd Lt. George S. Welch, met when Martin pinned Welch with the Distinguished Service Cross award, the United States second-highest decoration. Although the ceremony was the only definitive record that the two men met, Martin and Welch shared many other connections spanning multiple decades, including that both men earned the Distinguished Service Cross, died within months of one another and are buried within 500 yards of one another in Arlington National Cemetery. The connections were uncovered by a Purdue doctoral history student, Lt. Col. John Garick Chamberlin, with the help of Michael Smith, a professor of history. What got me interested in these two individuals was the dichotomy between them, Chamberlin said. Its fascinating that they both ended up following each other around even though they werent actually connected to each other. The parallels kept building as I did more research. Chamberlin is an active duty U.S. Air Force officer, pursuing his Ph.D. as part of the Air University Faculty Development program. He has been an Air Force member for 26 years, spending nine years enlisted and 17 years as an officer. He received a masters in Middle East studies, taught Arabic at the Air Force Academy and commanded at the Air Forces Squadron Officer School. He is the current Air Force Institute of Technology liaison officer to Purdue. In the role, Chamberlin leads 20 Air Force graduate students and works with the Air Force ROTC program, Purdues Veterans Success Center and the Purdue Military Research Institute to support military-connected students. His research areas are modern Middle East history, medieval and crusades era history, United States and Middle East interaction and aviation history. Chamberlins research on Martin and Welch recently was published in Air Power History magazine in an article he wrote titled Pearl Harbor and Purdue University: Pioneer Aviators Seek What Lies Before. Martin was born in 1882 in Liberty, Indiana. He enrolled in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue in 1904. His background in engineering made him well suited to join the Coastal Artillery, assisting in integrating new weapons and calculating firing solutions to target moving ships. In 1920, Martin trained to be a pilot and began a series of commands in flight and technical training. These experiences, in part, paved the way for him to be chosen as a commander to fly one of the planes in the Armys race to complete the first around-the-world flight. Martins aircraft and one other got lost in the attempt, but all fliers returned safely and all four crews received the Distinguished Service Cross for their efforts. By 1940, Martin was chosen to command the Hawaiian Air Force. Welch was born in 1918 and came to Purdue from Wilmington, Delaware, in 1937 to enroll in mechanical engineering. He received his pilots license after formally training in a Purdue aviation course, then associated with the Civil Aeronautics Authority. While waiting to train with the Army Air Corps, Welch changed his major to science. A colleague speculated he made this decision to learn about meteorology and navigation portions. During his junior year, Welch left Purdue to join the Army Air Corps, earned his wings and was commissioned to Wheeler Field in Hawaii in January 1941. Although Martin and Welch were both on the island the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, it went very differently for the two men. Martin, along with Navy aviation counterpart Adm. Patrick Bellinger, had correctly assessed eight months prior that the Japanese might enact a surprise attack without an official declaration of war, but the base hadnt made plans operational yet. On the morning of the attack, Martin also suffered a chronic ulcer attack. By Dec. 17, the general and several other leaders were relieved of their command pending investigation. Spoiler alert: Welch was exonerated in the investigation and continued to serve. In contrast, Welch experienced a high point of his career on Dec. 7. On his first run, Welch shot down one dive bomber. By the end of the day, Welch had been hit four times, including one at his engine and propeller. He shot down three more Japanese aircraft despite one jammed gun. Welch became a minor celebrity, being featured in at least 650 newspaper articles across the country in the span of two months. Welch joined a media and rally tour to recruit for the Air Corps. He wouldnt return to action until a year to the day of Pearl Harbor in New Guinea, where he shot down three more planes and earned status as ace. By the end of 1943, he was among the top aces, reaching 16 confirmed victories. To read the full story on Martin and Welchs coincidental connections, visit Chamberlins article on pages 27-34 in Air Power History magazine. About Purdue University Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu. Writer: Madison Sanneman, msannema@purdue.edu Media Contact: Joseph Paul, paul102@purdue.edu (working remotely but will provide immediate response) Source: John Garick Chamberlin, chambe89@purdue.edu Note to Journalists: A 1942 newspaper photograph capturing the meeting of Maj. Gen. Frederick L. Martin and 2nd Lt. George S. Welch and a photo of the history student who completed the research is available via a Google Drive folder. On an average 2018 day in Michigan, 271 people died. About 69 died of heart disease. Another 58 from cancer. Third on the list was chronic lower respiratory diseases, with about 16 deaths per day. Fast forward to 2020, and the coronavirus is on pace to be the leading cause of death in April, averaging nearly 100 deaths per day, using the most conservative state counts. And most other major causes of death arent seeing declines in numbers. With the added surge of COVID-19 deaths, April 2020 was the deadliest month in Michigan since 2000, with 11,713 deaths and counting. That doesnt surprise hospital workers like Detroit Medical Center emergency room Dr. Robert Klever. "It hasnt been easy at times. The amount of deaths we see from coronavirus is quite remarkable, Klever said. Right now, we see more deaths in a week than we (normally) see in a whole month. And a couple times were seeing more deaths in a day than we see in a month. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the deadliest month in Michigan this century was January 2018. Cancer, stroke and heart disease deaths were a bit higher than normal, while pneumonia and flu deaths and COPD deaths were at or near record levels, that month. In total, 9,477 people died in January 2018 in Michigan well above the 20-year average of about 7,500 deaths per month and a couple hundred more than the previous record. But deaths during the pandemic are shattering old records. The four deadliest weeks in Michigan this century line up with the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in Michigan: the weeks ending in April 4, April 11, April 18 and April 25. And numbers are still trickling in, per Michigan Department of Health and Human Services officials. The common denominator is clear, experts say: Its because of the coronavirus. There are more people dying, absolutely, said Dr. Teena Chopra, Wayne State University infections diseases professor and DMC corporate medical director of hospital epidemiology. If you compare our data to previous months, previous years, we have a higher number of deaths. And these are due to COVID clearly. And its not just our hospital. All of the hospitals nationally have higher deaths, because of COVID. Of Michigans 11,713 deaths in April, 2,747 are attributed to the coronavirus, according to state data taken from death certificates making it the leading cause of death. Michigans publicized data for coronavirus deaths which currently stands at 4,915 shows slightly higher numbers for two reasons: It includes deaths in which COVID-19 was a primary or associated cause of death, and that data is available faster since its based off hospital reports instead of death certificates, said Jeff Duncan, MDHHS director of the Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics. Coronavirus has been the primary cause of death for more than 3,800 people in Michigan since the pandemic started in March. Death totals bust coronavirus myths The high number of COVID-19 deaths have caused some to question the numbers on social media. Claims have circulated that hospitals get paid more when a death is labeled a COVID-19 fatality; and that deaths are on par for a typical year people are just dying for a different reason. Doctors and experts refute both claims. You dont get paid when someone dies. You get paid for caring for somebody, said Ruthanne Sudderth, senior vice president of public affairs at the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. What hospitals receive in payment from the federal government, the CARES Act funding, the state funding that is for caring for COVID patients. It is not related to the number of deaths. While some funding is tied to how many COVID-19 patients a hospital has, thats black and white, based on whether a persons swab tests positive or negative. Chopra said the coronavirus can also unearth underlying conditions, such as heart disease, pneumonia or arrhythmias, making it a gray area for doctors when determining whats the primary cause of death and whats an associated cause. The second claim, that elderly people who are most affected by the coronavirus would have died now from other causes, is also incorrect, experts say. State vital statistics separate deaths by week, showing a surge in total deaths of all causes. The spike starts when the pandemic hit Michigan in late March. Some weeks have seen 150% to 160% of the deaths expected, compared to the same weeks in 2019. Browser does not support frames. A New York Times graphic shows Michigan is seeing one of the largest increases in deaths versus what was expected in the the nation. The nature of the pandemic can also cause changes in death trends, experts said. For example, deaths from vehicle crashes could decrease as less people are driving, but some other death categories could increase as people ignore health warning signs in hopes of avoiding the hospital, Sudderth said. Heart disease, stroke, Alzheimers, chronic lower respiratory disease, diabetes and influenza all saw double-digit percentage increases in deaths during the last week of March and first two weeks of April compared to the same weeks in 2019. As COVID-19 numbers slow down, hospitals are returning to most of their normal functions excluding procedures like cosmetic surgeries, Sudderth said. But its important people understand the true death toll COVID-19 has caused so far, Chopra said, as the state grapples with how to ease its precautions. The more mortalities we are seeing gives us an indication and a lesson," Chopra said. We have to be prepared for whats coming with the second and the third surges of this disease." 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. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces. Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. Related stories: Tuesday, May 19: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan The flu has killed 2,200 Michiganders since 2000. Coronavirus topped that in a month. Northern Michigan restaurants and shops can reopen Friday, Whitmer says Coronavirus preparedness, response plans required for Michigan businesses set to reopen Michigan coronavirus crisis causes delays in other health care, sometimes with deadly consequences PORTLAND, OR - Researchers from SWOG, a cancer clinical trials group funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, will make 31 presentations as part of the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, the online annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), which runs May 29-31. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, ASCO officials cancelled the annual Chicago meeting, the world's largest cancer research conference, and switched to an online format. About 2,215 abstracts will be presented over three days, and more than 3,400 abstracts were accepted for online publication. SWOG investigators will report on trials involving cancer treatment, prevention, and care strategies, as well as results of the first trial run through the NCI's National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) to focus on financial toxicity - the severe financial and emotional toll exacted on patients by the costs of their cancer care. Davendra Sohal, MD, MPH, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati, will deliver an oral presentation on the primary findings from S1505, a randomized SWOG trial that compares two common chemotherapy regimens for early-stage pancreatic cancer, and tests chemotherapy prior to pancreatic cancer surgery. In S1505, one group of pre-surgery patients received modified FOLFIRINOX, or mFOLFIRINOX, a combination of three chemotherapy drugs - fluorouracil, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin. The other group received a combination of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel. Sohal and his team found that chemotherapy treatment prior to surgery results in good outcomes - regardless of the drugs patients receive. Of the patients who received mFOLFIRINOX, 73 percent underwent surgery for their pancreatic cancer, while 70 percent of patients who received gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel underwent surgery. Two years after treatment, 43 percent and 47 percent of all eligible patients who started treatment were alive in the mFOLFIRINOX and gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel arms, respectively. "We didn't find that one regimen was better than the other," Sohal said. "We did demonstrate that treating pancreatic cancer patients with chemotherapy before surgery can be done safely, and we established a benchmark with this approach, which can help us build future trials that can test other pancreatic cancer drugs and further refine pre-surgery chemotherapy treatment." Here are other SWOG highlights of the ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program: Results from S1211 will be orally presented by Saad Usmani, MD, a hematologist with Atrium Health and co-vice chair of SWOG's myeloma committee. Usmani's phase II SWOG study is the first randomized trial comparing treatments for high-risk multiple myeloma, a difficult-to-treat version of this blood cancer for which there is no standard of care. Usmani and his team compared the effects of eight cycles of chemotherapy with lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone induction with or without the addition of elotuzumab. Results were negative; The addition of elotuzumab didn't offer a significant benefit. However, patients on both arms of the trial appear to have better progression-free survival, and lived much longer, than high-risk multiple myeloma patients typically do. This finding casts a positive light on combination treatment for this disease, and sets a tangible benchmark for the next SWOG phase III trial. Results from S1416 will be orally presented by Priyanka Sharma, MD, vice chair of SWOG's breast cancer research committee and professor of medicine at the University of Kansas Cancer Center. Eve Rodler, MD, of the University of California Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, serves as co-leader of S1416. More than half of all cases of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) demonstrate DNA repair deficiency, which can be due to an inherited, or germline mutation, in the BRCA gene, or due to other causes leading to tumors that appear "BRCA-like." In other words, they behave like tumors caused by a BRCA mutation but don't have an inherited gene abnormality. In germline BRCA mutation associated breast cancers, this DNA repair deficiency is successfully treated with PARP inhibitors, and Sharma and Rodler wanted to see if these drugs could also be effective for BRCA-like cancers. In S1416, patients were treated either with standard cisplatin chemotherapy and a placebo, or cisplatin plus veliparib, an investigational PARP inhibitor. Patients with germline BRCA normal but BRCA-like TNBC who got the investigational drug in addition to cisplatin had significantly improved progression-free survival and showed a trend towards improved overall survival. NCI funded the study with AbbVie Inc. providing veliparib to support the study through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with NCI. Results from S1417CD will be presented in a poster discussion session by Veena Shankaran, MD, MS, co-director of the Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Shankaran's SWOG trial, S1417CD, is the first prospective, multicenter study of financial toxicity. The primary goal was to determine how often patients with metastatic colorectal cancer experience financial hardship over the course of their treatment. Patients filled out questionnaires assessing assets, debt, spending, stress level, and quality of life when they enrolled in the trial, then subsequently three, six, nine and 12 months into their treatment. Dr. Shankaran and her team also pulled patients' credit reports at the trial's start and finish. Results are arresting. Three out of four patients experienced major financial hardship, defined as taking on credit card debt, taking out a loan, having a 20 percent or greater drop in income, or selling or refinancing a home. What's more, most patients enrolled in the trial were not considered financially vulnerable. Shankaran said the findings underscore the need for clinical and policy solutions, such as early financial navigation for patients and the elimination of cost sharing between patients and their insurance companies. Results from one cohort of S1609 will be presented in a poster session by Sylvia Adams, MD, a SWOG and ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) investigator and professor of medicine at the Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University Langone Health. Adams wanted to test immunotherapy drugs to treat metaplastic breast cancer, a concept she came up with through ECOG-ACRIN, which is also part of the NCTN. At the suggestion of the NCI, she found a home for her idea in DART, short for Dual Anti-CTLA-4 & Anti-PD-1 blockade in Rare Tumors, a unique SWOG trial testing the immunotherapy combination of ipilimumab plus nivolumab in a variety of rare cancers. Metaplastic breast cancer is a rare form of TNBC that's actually a hybrid, including cells from the breast and tissue such as muscle or bone. These unique features make this cancer very difficult to treat, and most patients die within nine months of developing metastatic disease. In this sub-set of DART, 17 eligible patients with metaplastic breast cancer received the immunotherapy combination. Three had positive, lasting responses; their tumors shrank significantly and all three remain alive and progression-free 23 to 27 months after treatment. While one patient died on the study, and some experienced side effects such as fatigue, Adams said results are promising, leading her team to study trial tissue samples to determine if there is a biological reason behind the positive responses. S1609 was sponsored by NCI and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company provided nivolumab to support the study through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with NCI. "I'm particularly impressed with this year's ASCO presentations," said SWOG Chair Charles D. Blanke, MD. "They spotlight some of our most ground-breaking clinical trials in recent years, and are a testament to the creativity, ambition, and tenacity of SWOG researchers." ### SWOG Cancer Research Network is part of the National Cancer Institute's National Clinical Trials Network and the NCI Community Oncology Research Program, and is part of the oldest and largest publicly-funded cancer research network in the nation. SWOG has nearly 12,000 members in 47 states and six foreign countries who design and conduct clinical trials to improve the lives of people with cancer. SWOG trials have led to the approval of 14 cancer drugs, changed more than 100 standards of cancer care, and saved more than 3 million years of human life. Learn more at swog.org. Delhi government on Monday announced a detailed set of restrictions and relaxations including allowing industrial firms in the national capital whose name starts with A to L to function from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, while those firms with names from M to Z to operate from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm. . "In order to ensure staggering of work/business hours, industrial establishments shall be permitted to function in staggered business hours. Industrial firms whose registered name starts with M/s A to M/s L may function from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, whereas firms whose registered name starts with ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have sent Harris Countys 2020 U.S. Census drive underground. Less than 54 percent of residents have so far responded by mail, online or by phone, according to the countys dedicated census website. Now, can the citys spray paint brigade help muster more participation? Three of five planned murals commissioned through UP Art Studio have popped up across the area to promote Houston and Harris Countys #YES to the Census campaign. The latest, by Lee theonelee Washington, fills a curvy wall outside the Alief YMCA. Washingtons layered mural depicts the face of a woman as if seen through the screen of a smartphone, over a map of the world. Anat Ronen painted the first of the projects murals at the Gulfton HPD Substation, 6227 Southwest Freeway, using a snapshot theme that depicts diverse Houstonians she has photographed. Sebastien Mr. D. 1987 Boileau imagined Houstons skyline in rainbow hues on a wavy film strip for his mural at Light Bulbs Unlimited, 1203 Westheimer in Montrose. PANDEMIC MURALS: How street artists around the world are responding to COVID-19 UP Art Studio co-owner Elia Quiles said she is close to securing a wall for the fourth mural in the South Central-Texas Southern University area, and the fifth will be done at Harris Countys Aldine Library. The locations are strategic. For example, the Alief YMCA is hosting food drives, senior citizen support, daycare for essential workers and online programs during the pandemic. Those kinds of programs could evaporate if Harris Countys census data falls short. The data collected is used to allocate federal funds that help to provide school lunches, better health care, better streets, improved housing, better parks and public safety. The deadline for self-responses is Oct. 31. Completing the form takes just a few minutes at my2020census. molly.glentzer@chron.com Top hits: Get Houston Chronicle stories sent directly to your inbox WASHINGTON Facing the gravest U.S. economic crisis in decades, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offered Congress contrasting views Tuesday of what the governments most urgent priority should be. Striking a theme frequently pushed by President Donald Trump, Mnuchin warned that prolonged business shutdowns would pose long-term threats to the economy, from widespread bankruptcies for small businesses to long-term unemployment for millions of Americans. There is risk of permanent damage, Mnuchin said. Powell, by contrast, stressed, as he has in recent weeks, that the nation is gripped by an economic shock without modern precedent and that Congress must consider providing further financial aid soon to support states, localities, businesses and individuals to prevent an even deeper recession. What Congress has done to date has been remarkably timely and forceful, Powell said. But we need to step back and ask, Is it enough? Their points of emphasis reflect the contours of a debate occurring across the country, among individuals, business people and political leaders, about when and under what circumstances the economy should reopen and what further help the government can or should provide. Mnuchin and Powell offered their views at an oversight hearing of the Senate Banking Committee at which members of both parties questioned them about when their agencies will distribute more of the emergency aid that Congress provided in late March to struggling small businesses and households. Powell said that a highly anticipated lending program the Fed is creating for small businesses should be operating by the end of the month. And in a turnaround, Mnuchin said the Treasury is now prepared to absorb some losses in that program, which is funded by Treasury. Doing so could enable the Fed to take on further risk with the program and help more struggling companies. During the hearing, Mnuchin clashed sharply with Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts over the administrations support for a phased reopening of the economy and over its reluctance to require that all companies that receive government aid keep their workers on the payroll. Brown charged that the Trump administration was risking the lives of lower-income workers by supporting reopening efforts and was doing so simply to boost financial markets. He asserted that the administration hasnt done enough to protect front-line workers by, for example, ramping up viral testing even as most states start allowing restaurants, stores and gyms to reopen. The administration wants to put more workers at risk to boost the stock market, Brown said. Your characterization is unfair, Mnuchin responded. The hearing was the first in a planned series of quarterly oversight sessions focused on spending programs authorized in the $2 trillion federal relief package that is overseen by the Treasury Department and Fed. They include the $660 billion small business lending facility, known as the Paycheck Protection Program, as well as $46 billion in grants to airlines and $454 billion to support the Feds lending. The Fed announced in March that it would set up the Main Street Lending Program, which will provide up to $600 billion in loans to medium-sized businesses that are too large to participate in the Paycheck Protection Program. The Treasury has provided $75 billion, drawn from the $454 billion set aside by Congress, to cover any losses from the Main Street program. Mnuchin said that under some scenarios the Treasury could lose some or all of that $75 billion. Our intention is that we intend to take some losses, he said. The Fed has also said it will buy debt issued by state and local governments, which are facing plummeting revenues as the viral outbreak has eliminated tens of millions of jobs and slashed income tax and sales tax revenue. At the same time, states and cities are facing much higher health care costs. Yet the Feds program will make it easier for governments to borrow in the municipal bond market. Powell, under questioning, said that states might need more direct help from the federal government to avoid laying off workers, with the unemployment rate, at 14.7%, already the highest since the Great Depression. Mnuchin came under sharp questioning from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who charged that he wasnt doing enough to force companies that receive aid from the Main Street Lending program, as well as other aid provided by the Fed and Treasury, to keep workers on their payrolls. The senator pressed Mnuchin to ensure that the loans include that requirement. When Mnuchin declined to commit to that change, Warren said, Youre boosting your Wall Street buddies. Mnuchin told Warren that the legislation providing the funds includes restrictions on top executive pay and on company dividends and stock buybacks. Mnuchin said in prepared testimony that so far, the paycheck program has processed more than 4.2 million loans for over $530 billion to keep tens of millions of hardworking Americans on the payroll. The loans need not be repaid as long as the borrowing business uses 75% of the money to cover workers paychecks. But many small companies say the terms are too onerous. To have the loans forgiven, they must rehire all their employees within eight weeks of receiving the funds, even if they have little business or work for them to do. These companies argue that they might have to lay off their workers again at the end of the eight weeks and may have little money left to help ramp up when business does return. Mnuchin, pressed about those issues and about opening the loan program to more nonprofits, said his department was considering making changes. One frustrated recipient of the small-business lending program, Brooke Sheldon, has so many questions about repaying her loan that she isnt sure she wants to use the money. Sheldon, a New York-based event planner whose corporate events this spring and New England weddings this summer have been canceled, is troubled by the rules governing the use of the loan money: In order for the government to forgive their loans, companies must use 75% of it for payroll. The remaining 25% is limited to expenses for rent, mortgage interest and utilities. If Sheldon has to repay the loan, the first bill would be due in November, and she doesnt expect her company, Lilybrooke Events, to have generated income by then. If I use the money for rent and then have to pay the loan back when I still dont have income especially not additional income to pay for back payments I would rather have closed my office, she said. ___ AP Business Writer Joyce M. Rosenberg contributed to this report from New York. A joint team of border security agencies operating at the Aflao frontier on Saturday seized a large parcel of suspected narcotic drug at an unapproved route of beat 6 in the Ketu South District of the Volta region. The team, which comprised personnel of the Ghana Immigration Service, Customs Excise and Preventive Service and the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) personnel, busted the consignment on the dawn of Saturday at about 0310 hours upon intense surveillance at the beat enclave. Assistant Inspector, Mr Felix Klu-Adjei, Volta Regional Public Affairs Officer of GIS in a release said, the teams intelligence led to the discovery of the motive of the smugglers. He said the smugglers then abandoned the consignment fleeing into the adjoining bushes to avoid arrest. The Public Affairs Officer said the consignment was eventually seized and sent to the Aflao GIS Command for examination, which revealed 53 well-packaged slabs of suspected cannabis in the form of loaves of bread and weighed 22683.2 grams. Mr Klu-Adjei said the current bust was sequel to 31 parcels arrested barely 48 hours at beat 11 by the GIS border patrol officials. He said the consignment had been officially handed-over to NACOB for further investigations while the suspects were being pursued and their modus operandi tracked. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Ireland is in a golden age for archaeological discoveries as new technology and droughts expose thousands of ancient sites and monuments. According to Teagasc researcher and archaeologist Robert O'Hara, new sites are being identified all the time through archaeological excavation, chance discoveries on farms, and by the use of satellite and drone imagery. He says there were over 1,500 reports of new sites to the Archaeological Survey of Ireland (ASI) last year. Cropmarks - traces of a monument that no longer appear at the surface but may still be visible in aerial images through differential crop growth - are particularly obvious during dry spells. Careful stewardship "The vast majority are on privately held farmland and survive, as they have for centuries, through the awareness and careful stewardship of farmers," said Mr O'Hara. "Agri-environment schemes like REPS and GLAS have given guidance to farmers on securing and preserving archaeological sites." As part of an ongoing project looking at grassland management histories, the Spatial Analysis Unit in Ashtown has been examining photographic archives from Ordnance Survey Ireland taken in 1995, 2000 and 2005, as well Google Earth images from the last decade. They have identified over a dozen 'new' archaeological sites. Among the most exciting discoveries are two deserted medieval settlements. At Kilcurly, Adare, Co Limerick, earthworks were identified over several hectares beside a medieval church. Several circular enclosures and rectangular building foundations are visible. A second settlement was identified at Cloonastiallas, Co Roscommon, where several rectangular house plots flank a 170-metre long 'street'. In Kerry, the discovery of a 'barrow' burial site epitomises the proper stewardship of archaeological sites, according to Mr O'Hara - the farmer has avoided impact during farm operations and drainage. "Although the site is not formally listed in the records of the ASI, the farmer has gone to the trouble of avoiding the site during farm operations, including field drainage," he said. Mr O'Hara warned that many unrecorded sites are vulnerable to unwitting destruction through land improvement or hedge clearance. He said ASI records are updated 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. "There are severe penalties for unlawful interference with or damage to archaeological monuments," he said. This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. One day in 1987, Nita Pippins received a call from her only child, Nick, a 33-year-old actor in Manhattan who was dying of AIDS. Mom, Im in bed. I cant get out of bed, her son told her. Its time. Ms. Pippins, a retired nurse living in Pensacola, Fla., put her belongings in a friends house, took what she could and moved to New York to care for her son. At age 60, she began an improbable and remarkable second act. Devastated and ashamed by her sons AIDS diagnosis, and troubled that he was gay, Ms. Pippins initially kept the illness a secret from her family and friends. And she felt out of place in the big city. On breaks while caring for her son, with whom she had moved in, she would sit inside the Nathans Famous restaurant then in Times Square and repeat, I hate New York. I hate New York. I hate New York. BOCA RATON, Fla., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CallCabinet, a leading global provider of cloud-native call recording, quality assurance, and AI solutions, is pleased to announce the general availability of their Atmos platform for Microsoft Teams. Atmos integrates directly into the Teams environment and delivers Microsoft Azure-based compliance call recording to businesses of all sizes. CallCabinet is working with Microsoft to certify Atmos under Microsoft's new Certified for Microsoft Teams certification program for compliance recording solutions. The Atmos solution securely captures Microsoft Teams' communications across web, desktop client (Windows and Mac), mobile applications (iOS and Android), and desktop phones. The Atmos integration for Microsoft Teams does not require any additional on-device software or on-premises hardware. Atmos uses the Azure infrastructure to capture and securely store all Teams calls, ensuring the highest standards in compliance and global data sovereignty. Call playback, download, and secure sharing is possible from any Teams internet-capable device through Atmos' web-based interface. "Organizations around the world consider Microsoft Teams to be an indispensable tool because it provides effortless collaboration across a wide variety of devices," stated Ryan Kahan, CallCabinet CEO. "Listening to our customers' needs, we integrated our compliance and analytics solution directly into the Microsoft Teams platform." Ryan continued, "Atmos delivers a turn-key solution that seamlessly integrates with Microsoft Teams in just a few hours." Mike Ammerlaan, Director of Microsoft 365 Ecosystem marketing at Microsoft Corp. said, "We're pleased to see CallCabinet's Atmos solution benefit from being built and run on Microsoft Azure. Online and mobile collaboration has experienced rapid adoption and with it the need for global compliance. CallCabinet, combined with Microsoft Teams, helps ensure global compliance for customers and complements the use of Teams across their enterprise." Businesses globally are experiencing a pivot to a remote workforce and even when the current conditions change, experts predict that a significant percentage of the workforce will remain remote. Organizations have become acutely aware that regulatory practices can no longer be bound to the office and must follow the workforce wherever they are. Atmos is perfectly positioned to facilitate remote compliance, especially on the Microsoft Teams platform. The Atmos integration for Microsoft Teams is a milestone in helping to change compliance from locational to individual. To learn more about CallCabinet's Atmos compliance recording for Microsoft Teams, schedule a free demo today at www.callcabinet.com. About CallCabinet CallCabinet enhances carriers and global enterprises by providing Cloud-based call recording, quality assurance, and Analytics through AI. CallCabinet's solutions capture customer interactions whenever, wherever, and however they occur. The Atmos network is natively developed for the Cloud to be a secure and compliant multi-platform, multi-tenant, carrier-grade solution that is telephone system/platform agnostic. CallCabinet's affordable, one-of-a-kind call recording solutions are available through distributors, resellers, and on a white-label basis worldwide without the need for additional hardware, maintenance, and long-term contracts. Discover the power, flexibility, and scalability of Atmos at www.callcabinet.com. Media Contact: CallCabinet 800-653-1389 [email protected] Related Images callcabinet-logo.png CallCabinet Logo Related Links CallCabinet Atmos compliance recording for Microsoft Teams CallCabinet Atmos SOURCE CallCabinet Corporation Related Links http://www.callcabinet.com An undertrial prisoner at Tihar Jail has accused the prison staff of using him to the pass around mobile phones to other inmates. The prison officials, however, refuted the allegation. In a video circulated on social media, the prisoner claimed that he "followed orders from officials" so that he too could make calls while lodged inside the jail. However, the jail official refuted the allegation and said that the under trial was caught red handed while he was passing the mobile phone to another inmate. "He is an inmate lodged in jail number 1. He is a habitual criminal with cases of robbery and other offences against him. He has been in and out of jail many times," a senior jail official said. "Sometime back, the jail staff in Jail number 1 had foiled an attempt of throwing some mobile phones into the jail. The CCTV footage revealed involvement of the under trial. Appropriate action as per jail manual is being taken against him," Director General (Tihar) Sandeep Goel said. To put counter pressure on jail staff and for his vested interests, he has come up with this video. Action will be taken against him for this act as well as for the possession of a mobile phone, which is a prohibited item, they said. "In the video, he is leveling allegations against some jail officials which are baseless. One phone has been recovered from his possession and search is on to recover the other phones too. We are trying to find out from where he has procured the phones. We are also trying to ascertain if any staff was involved," the officer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lawn mowing is an essential service offered by commercial landscaping companies involved in their $53 billion industry, yet for most companies, it is a loss leader. At most, lawn mowing has a 10 percent profit margin due to it being commoditized (almost anyone can ride a mower and do an acceptable job), and hyper-competitive (landscapers underbid each other to win business). Even ride-on mowers are not sufficient to help landscaping companies increase profitability because they still depend on human labor. Rising wages, a shrinking labor pool, and the need to prevent injuries in the field are a few of the reasons why human labor, which accounts for 45 percent of the total costs associated with lawn mowing, prevents companies from increasing their profitability. Enter Graze, the fully autonomous, solar-powered commercial mower that enterprising investors should keep an eye on. Equipped with a robust suite of sensors (i.e., RADAR, LIDAR, GPS, ultrasonic sensors, odometry sensors, and an optical suite), Graze can rapidly map job sites and execute mowing paths without colliding into obstacles (e.g. trees, people) while also using data to further improve precision and efficiency. Unlike traditional equipment manufacturers that focus on one-off equipment sales, Grazes business model is subscription focused. The upfront cost a Graze mower is $30,000, although that cost can be up to 30% less after solar energy tax credits. Traditional commercial mowers, on the other hand, can cost up to $15,000. Considering how Graze mowers have an expected five-year shelf life, two years longer than traditional mowers, the cost difference is not significant. Graze also charges $1,000 per month per mower for ongoing maintenance, however landscaping companies can easily offset the fee with labor savings costs and increased productivity. With Graze, if a four-person landscaping team only then requires two employees, they are not just saving 50 percent on labor, but are also realizing a potential 3x to 5x margin bump. A few features Graze plans to introduce in the future include the ability to: Track and plan around weather data Detect and defend against turf and plant diseases Provide data analytics and insights to its customers Manage mower fleets with artificial intelligence, thereby providing a reduction in indirect labor costs (i.e., administrative personnel). Graze has established relationships with leading landscaping businesses such as LandCare and Mainscape, which have signed letters of intent to order 400 Graze mowers. This order has an estimated value of $36 million, consisting of upfront equipment costs and recurring subscription fees. The Graze founding team consists of commercial landscaping and robotics industry experts with decades of industry expertise with leading companies such as John Deere, Miso Robotics, Microsoft, and SpaceX. Graze is looking for investors to help it continue shaking up the landscaping space. If youre ready to get in on this ground-floor opportunity to see your money grow over time, check out the Graze website and learn more about investing here. Related: This Fully Autonomous Lawnmower Is Uprooting Commercial Landscaping 4 Fun Ways for Millennials to Dip Their Toes Into Investing The Filipino Retail Investor Is Evolving Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved 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 State Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster, is getting another big money assist in her bid to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Gary, as Northwest Indiana's representative in Congress. The Seattle-based Voter Protection Project announced Monday it's spending "six figures," or at least $100,000, to create and send three different mailers to some 83,000 likely primary voters in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties ahead of the June 2 election. The nation's largest political action committee focused on voting rights said it's highlighting Candelaria Reardon's efforts to hold President Donald Trump accountable, in contrast to Democratic Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., who initially did not support the 2019 House impeachment inquiry. "Former Republican Tom McDermott opposed Donald Trump's impeachment and has actively worked to make voting inaccessible for Hoosiers," VPP President Matt Liebman said. The first mailer from the group which legally cannot coordinate its efforts with Candelaria Reardon's campaign also criticizes McDermott for opposing a program to bus to the polls 18-year-old high school students from Gary during the 2008 presidential primary. Incoming UW President to Serve on National Council on Competitiveness Incoming UW President Ed Seidel Incoming University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel will be at the table with some of the nations leaders in industry, higher education and research as a member of the Council on Competiveness, the leading national organization focused on keeping the United States at the forefront of economic competitiveness. Seidel, who becomes UWs 28th president July 1, was invited to join the council based upon his career and recent service as the vice president for economic development and innovation for the University of Illinois System. His membership gives Wyoming its first-ever presence in the national organization. I intend to make long-term economic and workforce development for the state of Wyoming an important part of my administrations focus, and participating on this council will provide tremendous support for this effort, says Seidel, whose membership on the council was approved last week by the UW Board of Trustees. This will create national-level networking and partnership opportunities for the university and the state; allow us to influence national and regional policy recommendations; and provide visibility for the university and the state at the national level. Seidel will join more than 20 university presidents on the council, including those from Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Colorado and the University of Illinois. Other members of the council include two dozen CEOs, such as those of Royal Dutch Shell and Deloitte; and the leaders of several national laboratories under the Department of Energy. Additionally, he will be a part of the councils new flagship initiative, the National Commission on Innovation and Competitiveness. That commission aims to expand the role of higher education in leadership and workforce development; create new models for public-private partnerships; set the stage for a new wave of entrepreneurship and job creation; and build critical digital and physical infrastructure. Todays economy is changing at an unprecedented speed, and universities, companies, states and nations are scrambling to adapt. No one can address these issues alone, Seidel says. Laying the groundwork for the new economy is fundamental to the universitys land-grant mission, and it will require partnerships with businesses, community colleges, schools and others from around the state -- and around the nation. Seidel notes that the Council on Competitiveness led the 2004 National Innovation Initiative, which shaped the policy agenda for the bipartisan America Competes legislation under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama that supported investments in the National Science Foundation. Such legislation provided support for science and technology investments such as the National Center for Atmospheric Research-Wyoming Supercomputing Center near Cheyenne. The council also worked with the Department of Energy to create the American Energy and Manufacturing Competitiveness Partnership, including new programs to use all sources of U.S. energy to support advanced production and supply chains for U.S. businesses. Wyoming has strengths that feed directly into national needs, including the states K-12 computer science education programs; projects like Wyoming Integrated Test Center and Carbon XPrize; and corporate partnerships like those in UWs Center of Innovation for Flow through Porous Media and others from the ENDOW initiative, Seidel says. We will be in a position to help lead a national discussion and set policy that will benefit Wyoming and states like ours. Seidel is working to assemble a group of Wyoming business, higher education and other leaders to work with him to advance the states economy through research and education -- and to make sure our membership on the council can be as effective as possible. Our aim is to develop better ideas for programmatic activities at the university and in partnership with community colleges, communities and companies to advance the long-term economic development activities of the state, he says. facebook like button Tweet tweet button for twitter Published May 19, 2020 The University of Louisiana Monroe Presidential Search Committee selected seven semifinalists to interview for the schools top post. The committee has fulfilled the first part of its mission by selecting a group of semifinalists with specific qualifications to lead ULM, UL System President and CEO Jim Henderson said. Each of our nine member institutions is unique and I am confident that the best person to lead ULM is among these candidates. The semifinalists are: Katrice Albert, Founder and Principal, Third Eye Consulting Group, LLC Ronald Berry, Dean, College of Business and Social Sciences, University of Louisiana at Monroe Daniel Heimmermann, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, The University of Texas Permian Basin Timothy Holcomb, Associate Professor Fellow, Farmer School of Business Endres, Miami University Jeannine Kahn, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Louisiana System Julia Letlow, Executive Assistant to the President for External Affairs and Community Outreach, University of Louisiana at Monroe Sheri McMahan, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, California State University- Fullerton The committee will interview the semifinalists on ULMs campus the week of Aug. 17 with opportunities for student and campus community involvement. The next ULM president will be selected by the full Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System at a special meeting Aug. 27. I commend our semifinalists and the search committee for their flexibility and willingness to adapt as we conduct this search in the midst of a pandemic, Board Chairman Mark Romero said. The next leader of ULM will undoubtedly carry that adaptability into his or her presidency. Chairing the University of Louisiana at Monroe presidential search committee is UL System President and CEO Jim Henderson as a nonvoting member. Voting members are ULM Faculty Senate President Janelle McDanielle and UL System Board Members Mark Romero, James Carter, Elizabeth Pierre, Lola Dunahoe, Mimi Methvin, Shawn Murphy, Alejandro Perkins, Joe Salter and Student Board Member Rachel Lautigar. Nonvoting members are Carl Aron of the State Pharmacy Board, ULM SGA President Olivia Bailey, ULM Alumnus Dennis Blunt, ULM Alumni Association President Sara Benecke Brice, Alberta Brown Green and Susan Hoffman of the ULM Foundation Board of Trustees, Former SGA President Hannah Livingston, Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo, Monroe Chamber Board Chair James Moore III and former ULM Student Athlete James Wright. All information regarding the search, including a video of todays meeting, is posted at ULSystem.edu/ULMsearch. For information, please contact Contact Cami Geisman, VP for External Affairs, 225.202.0870 or Cami.Geisman@ulsystem.edu. But Dr. Barbot re-emerged on Tuesday, participating in the mayors virtual news conference from what appeared to be a city office, a hanging cabinet visible behind her. She answered questions matter-of-factly regarding new city data on the virus, and studiously avoided any hint of conflict with Mr. de Blasio. In her brief responses, Dr. Barbot used the word team. Three times. The way that you put it is exactly how I was going to put it, she told the mayor at one point after a question from a reporter on the March incident. Mr. Mayor, I echo your framing. Mr. de Blasio has had a tense relationship with his Health Department throughout his tenure, including when the agency was headed by Dr. Barbots predecessor, Dr. Mary T. Bassett, who resigned in 2018. But it flared with a new ferocity over his decision this month to place a different agency in charge of contact tracing, seen as a critical part of allowing economic activity to return to the city. The decision caused anger inside the Health Department, which has conducted contact tracing for decades involving diseases such as tuberculosis and H.I.V. Top officials were not told of the move until days before a public announcement. Mr. de Blasio had decided the task could be more effectively done by Health and Hospitals. The agency, which runs the citys 11 public hospitals, is far larger, and its head, Dr. Mitchell Katz, has been seen in City Hall as an effective leader who proved himself during the surge of infected patients in April. Healthcare analysts have cautioned investors against blind optimism for long-term gains after the ASX surged on Tuesday morning on positive news about a possible coronavirus vaccine. "I am confident the medical communitys ability to treat this will improve, but there may not be a silver bullet, ever," said JP Morgan's executive director of healthcare research, David Low. CSL is one of several biotech giants pivoting resources towards COVID-19 research. Credit:AAP The S&P/ASX200 opened Tuesday 2.5 per cent higher, or 138 points, to hit 5599 after 15 minutes of trade. The local bourse followed gains on Wall Street overnight, where stocks rallied on news that biotech company Moderna's first tests of a coronavirus vaccine on humans appeared to be effective. The local healthcare sector started the day up 0.2 per cent, with biotech giant CSL trading 1 per cent higher at $309.31 at 10:30am in Sydney. By 4pm, the sector had dropped by 0.8 per cent and CSL had lost 1 per cent for the session. Sheltering in place for at least two months has meant different things to everyone: new work-from-home situations, uncertainty, and adjustments to the new normal. In light of shifting situations around the globe, AD wanted to discover what quarantine has meant to various artists working in isolation and what effect this unprecedented time has had on their work and creativity. Ugo Rondinone Photo: Courtesy of the artist Swiss multimedia artist Ugo Rondinone, a global art presence, is perhaps best known for his fluorescent painted Seven Magic Mountains sculptures installed in the Nevada desert in 2016. Rondinones wide-ranging, powerful work addresses the concepts of time, meditation, and slowing down. Finding myself in an empty studio for [the last six] weeks, I resorted to an intimate work: writing one-line poem drawings, which I havent done since 2003. And also brushing sunset/sunrise watercolors, Rondinone tells AD from his studio in Harlem, which is a converted church. This is a good time for me to work in silencecocooning myself into my own time, these two pastimes I love most and tire of least. ugorondinone.com Eric Croes Photo: Simon Demeuter Belgian artist Eric Croes has been quietly working away in his studio in Brussels, a five-minute walk from his house. He has taken advantage of the short commute to bring his dog, Mammouth, a little dachshund, to and fro. Croes has been one to watch these past few years, building up an artistic practice of fanciful and colorful ceramic totems and sculptures, all highly personal. He once told AD that these works were ways for him to tell personal stories without bothering anyone. As for the past few weeks on lockdown, the artist says, God never closes a door without leaving a window open. Croes was meant to have a solo show mid-March at Sorry Were Closed, his Brussels gallery, but he says, Instead of drowning in melancholy, I took advantage of the time to throw myself into my work: I started working on a commission for the city of Nantes and it took an unexpected turn during this strange period. During the modeling process, it became something like an ex-voto covered with good luck charms. I wanted it to be like a good genie protecting the passersby. Its also brought me good luck in the studio during this time. instagram.com/eric.croes Story continues Josh Sperling Photo: Courtesy of the artist American artist Josh Sperling has been spending lockdown with his family at home in Ithaca, New York, where he also works. He is known for his shaped canvases painted with saturated colors, which live in a space between sculpture and painting. Sperlings distinct visual vocabulary has made him a rising talent to watch these past few years. As with innumerable other working artists, many of his shows and art fairs have been canceled due to the global health crisis. But he has taken this challenging moment in stride. I am not pressured to produce work and the extra time has afforded me the opportunity to experiment, he tells AD. This piece is a direct result of the extra time. I am constantly designing pieces that push the act of stretching canvas to its physical limit, and I often design shapes not knowing if it is even possible to stretch canvas over them. The pandemic has given me the extra time to turn past ideas into something real. instagram.com/joshsperling Julia Chiang Photo: Courtesy of the artist Would it surprise you to hear that of the five female artists contacted for this story, only two were able to participate? There are, of course, lots of moving parts for everyone, but running a household, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of kids were the reasons cited more than once for not being able to contribute right now. Brooklyn-based artist Julia Chiang, however, has carved out the time to do a series of watercolors on paper, some of which are being offered via Frieze online by her gallery, the Modern Institute. Twenty percent of sales is earmarked for Doctors Without Borders and the Glasgow Night Shelter for Destitute Asylum Seekers. Chiang titled each work with the date it was made, explaining, I figured this is the time we are living [in], and the reason I started them was because of this unique time were all sharing, so why not just mark these dates. Being an artist and a mom of two small children just adds to all of the challenges of everyday life. Chiang tells AD, The scale [of watercolor] allows me to move quickly between kids. I usually make them while the girls are making something too, so we work together. instagram.com/juliachiang Jean-Michel Othoniel Photo: Courtesy of the artist French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel has been sheltering at home and studio in Paris since the middle of March. Best known for his iconic handblown glass sculptures, Othoniel says, At the beginning, I had to close my big studio with more than 10 assistants working for me. It was really hard, but we found a solution and they all work from home now. Then I was totally depressed for two weeks, [but] after this solemn period, I started to draw in my home studio, dreaming of sculptures for a better world. His first drawing is a heart for the Red Cross, inviting his Instagram followers to donate to the organization. At the same time, this prolific artist is considering the ways art can contribute to the world. I am thinking a lot about the future and how to create a living space where you can experience a new intimacy with art you need to see or touch, he says. Othoniel is also building a new studio with Johan Creten that he will open to artists and small groups of art lovers, a platform open to different communities created to engage people with art and education. Eddie Martinez Photo: Courtesy of the artist American painter Eddie Martinez has been busy in his Brooklyn studio working with both traditional and unconventional materials. I have been working like a maniac, in fact, in my home studio, which Im lucky enough to be able to do, he says. Martinez has exhibited works from a series called White Outs over the past few years; in lockdown, he has continued to make drawings and paintings, fueled by emotion and anger. Obviously there is a lot of anger and anxiety in this country right now, so I do feel some relief making these works and sharing them on Instagram, etcetera. He also recently made a drawing and donated it to New Yorks Coalition for the Homeless, along with other drawings to various NYC-focused COVID-19 support initiatives. instagram.com/elmersfud Robert Nava Photo: Courtesy of the artist Emerging American painter Robert Nava has spent his isolation living and working in his Brooklyn studio. There is a raw energy that inhabits his canvas of thick paint and linework, with subjects that have been described as fantastical monsters. Being lucky to live in the studio, and being able to paint in this time, really has shown me that art making can be such a therapeutic process on the soul, Nava says. Art can hopefully serve as a glimmer of hope during a time of doubt, across all genres. Speaking of the above work created during the pandemic, Nava continues, I was wanting to be something of an unseen myth, in a sense of being a protector and propelling forward. I wanted its face to show determination. The work is trying to look forward to whats next. instagram.com/robertnava7 Xavier Veilhan Photo: Courtesy of the artist French artist Xavier Veilhan defies categorieshis artistic practice encompasses filmmaking, installations, performances, sculpture, photography, and drawing, to name a few of his chosen media. Famed for representing France at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017 and turning the French Pavilion into an immersive recording studio, he is also known for his larger-than-life sculptures. AD was interested to learn that the artist has been doing little drawings every day during confinement. When asked about these works, Veilhan says, Every day for two months now, I do 40 minutes of exercise, then sketching, then cooking for five people, then drawing again, then cooking again. I love this routine, since what is appearing on the paper is more of a discovery than an invention. instagram.com/xavier_veilhan Liza Lou Photo: Courtesy of Artist and Lehmann Maupin, NY, Hong Kong, Seoul American artist Liza Lou has been working on a community project since the start of lockdown. From her studio in Los Angeles, the artist known for her large-scale sculpture and installations with glass beads has thrown herself wholeheartedly into an art initiative on Instagram. These past few weeks, Ive been asking myself what art means in times of trouble. It led me to start a community art project, Apartogether, on Instagram, inviting the public to make comfort blankets out of whatever material they have available and to use the hashtag #apartogether_art, she explains. As part of the project, Ive been doing live Instagram studio visits with other artists and archiving the conversations on the website. For me, this has felt like a moment to think about collaboration, community, and connection in an inexorable situation and to find ways to talk about the hope and courage that underpins all art making. instagram.com/liza_lou_studio Johan Creten Photo: Courtesy of the artist Before being contacted by AD for this article, Belgian artist Johan Creten was putting the finishing touches on a project he had taken up during confinement in Paris. Cretens work, mostly sculpting in clay and bronze, often explores themes of nature, power, politics, and spirituality and expressions of what can be described as the storm within. During the summer of 1991, Creten was invited to spend time in the Villa Saint Clair, in Sete, in the South of France. This was a period during which the world was battling another pandemic. The artist worked on a show there called Quarantine. Twenty-nine years later, in COVID-19 lockdown, Creten decided to tell a very personal and hopeful story through an experimental short film by Gerrit Schreurs, called En Quarantaine. The film premiered on his gallerys Instagram a few weeks ago and is visible here. instagram.com/johan_creten Peter Regli Photo: p.regl Like many of us, the New Yorkbased, Swiss conceptual artist Peter Regli has been especially fixated on grocery shopping of late, as supermarkets offer the rare reprieve from sheltering in place. For him, however, produce isnt simply the stuff of survival, its a source of sculpture. I usually have a lot of fruits and vegetables in my house and I like to arrange them, he told Lock Kresler of Levy Gorvy, in a recent interview with the gallery. I dont put them in the fridge, I like to put them in bowls and display them everywhere. They become like sculptures. Unhappy with the size of the average bowl, he has been creating his own, handcrafting large-scale ceramic vessels in a range of richly hued, seemingly vegetable-dyed glazes. A group of the monumental pieces just appeared in an online exhibition room at Levy Gorvy, with a portion of the proceeds going to #FirstRespondersFirst, a Harvard initiative providing resources to health-care workers on the front lines of the pandemic. Its a changing thing, Regli noted of his creations. You dont just leave the bowl there until the fruits rotten, you keep on using it. I eat it away not just for show, but for decoration. I like to eat a lot of fruit, so its fun. These days, we all need fun.Sam Cochran Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest The Indian Council of Medical Researchs (ICMR) new testing guideline, released on Monday, has left doctors confused. Doctors said that the new rule, which states that only symptomatic patients with influenza-like illnesses (ILI) within hotspots and containment zones are qualified for coronavirus tests, is a diplomatic decision to decrease the number of contaminated zones. Doctors claimed that the new rule implicates that other suspected people with similar symptoms from outside these areas will not be tested. The Union Health Ministry defines the containment zone as a specific geographical area where positive cases of coronavirus are found. The authorities declare some lanes or neighbourhoods as containment zones even if it has one case, but it is declared a hotspot particularly when more than 6 cases appear. Now, doctors associations are raising the question if no more new patients arent diagnosed outside the already marked zones, there will be no enmarkment of new containment zones of hot spots. This will ultimately diminish the rising number of infected zones but let loose undiagnosed Covid-19 patients from other areas, alleged doctors. The rule is diplomatically correct, fundamentally wrong. This will help to reduce new containment zones as no more new cases will be identified outside those areas. Thus, no new containment zones will be created, said Dr Deepak Baid, president of the association.But this will let go of several undetected patients even if they have symptoms. At present, in Mumbai, there are over 3,000 containment zones. Indian Medical Association (IMA) also criticised the new rule and demanded the involvement of doctorsassociations in framing it. So far, we have been testing symptomatic patients coming to our fever clinics. Now, with the new rules, we will never let them go if they dont belong from containment zones, said Dr Avinash Bhondwe, president IMA- Maharashtra. Doctors also fear that it may increase the number of submissions of fake addresses. This may force people to give wrong addresses from the containment zones to qualify for the test. And we dont even have the provision to check it. But it will delay the contact tracing of infected patients, he added. Other than this, people with recent international travel history, symptomatic close contact of infected patients, health workers, patients with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), high risk contact of confirmed patients, symptomatic migrant workers and hospitalized patients can undergo tests with the recommendation of doctors. The Indian Council of Medical Researchs (ICMR) new testing guideline, released on Monday, has left doctors confused. Doctors said the new rule, which states that only symptomatic patients with influenza-like illnesses (ILI) within hotspots and containment zones are qualified for coronavirus tests, is a diplomatic decision to decrease the number of contaminated zones. They claimed that the new rule implicates that other suspected people with similar symptoms from outside these areas will not be tested. The rule is fundamentally wrong. This will help in reducing new containment zones as no more new cases will be identified outside those areas. But it will let go of several undetected patients even if they have symptoms, said Dr Deepak Baid, president of the Association of Medical Consultants. Doctors also fear the rule may lead to patients submitting fake addresses. People may give wrong addresses of containment zones to qualify for the test. And we dont even have the provision to check it. It will also delay the contact tracing of infected patients, said Dr Avinash Bhondwe, president Indian Medical Association, Maharashtra. People with recent international travel history, symptomatic close contact of infected patients, health workers, patients with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), high-risk contacts of confirmed patients, symptomatic migrant workers and hospitalised patients can undergo tests on the recommendation of doctors. Some said Clubhouse had brought back the spontaneity of real-life interactions, which vanished with the coronavirus. Gillian Morris, founder of Hitlist, a flight booking app, said logging in to the app felt like bumping into people and striking up a conversation at a coffee shop. Its like walking into a party where you know people are ready to mingle, said Sonia Baschez, 33, a digital marketing consultant in San Francisco who was invited to use Clubhouse. Since joining the app a week and a half ago, Ms. Baschez said, she has spent three to five hours a day on it. Sure, you could be talking to people on the phone, but that just seems so weird, she said. Youre not forced to be part of the conversation the entire time on Clubhouse. You can just listen to other people talking about interesting subjects and jump in when you want. Last weekend, the author Shaka Senghor and Mr. Mckesson, the activist, each spent hours on the app discussing prison reform, police brutality and other topics related to their interests. A former FBI hostage negotiator, Chris Voss, recently held an open Q. and A. on Clubhouse. Jared Leto and Ashton Kutcher are users; Kevin Hart also showed up one time. Leo Polovets, an investor at Susa Ventures, a venture capital firm, said Clubhouse sometimes felt like a tech conference, with discussions on tech-related topics and appearances from prominent techies. Its almost like a podcast with audience participation, he said. Thats during the day. After hours, Clubhouse is more like a rowdy dive bar. At around 10 nearly every night, 30 to 50 people form a room on the app where everyone is a host, moderator privileges are given freely, microphones are mostly unmuted and users swap their profile pictures in real time to memes and images related to the conversation. They call themselves the Back of the Bus. Ryan Dawidjan, 28, an account executive at a tech company, holds court and ensures everyone in the room follows the rules: no boring tech talk and no talking about Clubhouse. He playfully boots people from host roles for violating these sacred terms. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:50:50|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Two militants were killed Tuesday in a fierce gunfight with government forces in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, police said. The gunfight broke out at Kanemazar-Nawakadal locality of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "In a fierce gunfight with police and paramilitary here today two militants were killed," a senior police official in Srinagar said. "The gunfight started early today and went on for several hours." According to police, the gunfight broke out early on Tuesday after government forces cordoned off the area on specific intelligence information suggesting the presence of militants. "No sooner the joint contingents of army and police reached near the suspected area, the militants present there fired upon them, thereby triggering a gunfight," the police official said. Immediately after the gunfight, mobile internet services and voice calling was snapped in the city. Local media reports said a policeman and a paramilitary trooper were wounded during the gunfight. The slain militants were identified as local cadres of region's indigenous outfit - Hizbul Mujahideen. Reports said two residential houses were damaged during the gunfight. Officials said the area was cordoned off Monday night. Earlier this month a top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit Riyaz Naikoo along with his accomplice was killed in a gunfight in region's Pulwama district. A civilian was also killed and several others injured following the clashes during the gunfight. Enditem MIAMI, Fla. Skylar Valentine stars in a twisted new IR fantasy scenario from Skylar Valentine stars in a twisted new IR fantasy scenario from DickDraimers.com , in which a naive teen meets her newly-released prison pen pal. Valentines co-star, DD honcho Branden Richards said, "I had been wanting to shoot with Skylar from even before she had done a professional scene! But circumstances forced us to wait and wait and wait until finally it happened, and it was everything! Skylar is one of the most beautiful girls in the industry today. Wonderfully petite, 4 7, with an ass that you can't believe is attached to her tiny body! Photographing her alone was a joy! We've been trying to get her back since we shot this first scene, so hopefully we can create some more magic soon!" Valentine commented, Id been looking forward to working with Branden for a while, but we had different schedules. It was definitely worth the wait, though. It was different from all my other scenes, but super comfortable. Performing in it came pretty naturally, I guess because I was so excited to finally do a scene together! Naive Teen Helps Convicted Black Felon Get Readjusted To Society has a runtime of 48 minutes and is available for streaming and download here Follow Skylar Valentine on Twitter New Delhi, May 19 : Amid the political heat over Congress requisitioning buses for the stranded migrant workers, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday attacked the Uttar Pradesh government, accusing it of "crossing all limits" and asking it to put "BJP banners" on the buses, but not reject the help for the migrant workers. In a series of tweets, Priyanka Gandhi, who is also in-charge of the party's eastern UP, said: "The state government has crossed all the limits. When we got a chance to sideline political differences to help the migrant workers, all kinds of obstacles have been created. "Yogi Adityanath ji, if you want, then put up BJP banners and posters on the buses, but don't reject our services because three days have been wasted in this political nonsense and in those days, many migrants have lost their lives." In her tweet, Priyanka Gandhi also tagged a video of Congress workers arguing with the UP police at the state's borders, asking them to allow the buses. The politics over the buses for stranded migrant workers heated up on Tuesday as the Congress accused the Uttar Pradesh government of not allowing the vehicles arranged by the state party, asserting that around 500 buses were stopped at the UP-Rajasthan border towards Agra. Priyanka Gandhi's personal aide Sandeep Singh asked the UP government to allow the buses to pass through Noida and Ghaziabad. Earlier in the day, the UP government asked Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to provide a list of party-organised buses for ferrying migrants to the district magistrates of Ghaziabad and Noida, just as it appeared that the issue was settled. The UP government then alleged the list submitted by the Congress included registration numbers of cars, scooters and autos. UP government spokesman Siddhartha Nath Singh said in Lucknow the Congress deserved condemnation for this kind of 'fraud and forgery'. "Congress president Sonia Gandhi should respond to the actions of her children, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi", he added. Meanwhile, the Congress released the video of buses parked at the state's border near Agra. In the evening, UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu was detained by the state police. Read on for the most recent top news you may have missed in Phoenix. Police asking for help in search for missing 18-year-old Read the full story on 12NEWS. Person contacted in connection to South Mountain brush fires Read the full story on 12NEWS. Some restaurants reopen dine-in service, but how is business? Read the full story on 12NEWS. Suspect in fatal shooting now in custody Read the full story on Houston Chronicle. Police: Man, woman found shot to death inside home Read the full story on MySanAntonio. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. According to Phoenix PD, Jeremiah Frazier was last seen in the area of South 24th Street and East Broadway Road in Phoenix. Detectives contacted a person who is believed to be connected to a series of small brush fires at South Mountain. A downtown Phoenix restaurant that depends on workers at nearby businesses says things have been much slower. A suspect has been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting last week in Phoenix, police said Monday. They said 27-year-old Jonathan Jesse Juarez has been booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree murder. Biloxis Beau Rivage Resort & Casino will reopen Monday, June 1, MGM Resorts has announced. MGMs other Mississippi property, Gold Strike Casino Resort in Tunica, will open to the public in a limited capacity on Monday, May 25, the company announced on Tuesday. According to MGM, the two Mississippi casino resorts will be the first of the companys U.S. properties to reopen following closure earlier this year amidst the COVID-19 crisis. At each property, the public opening will follow an invitation-only weekend. MGM Resorts has released details of a seven-point safety plan to combat the spread of coronavirus. Among other measures, employees will be screened, will receive temperature checks and will be required to wear masks. Guests are strongly encouraged to wear masks, and in some settings where physical distancing is more difficult and/or barriers do not exist, will be required to do so. Masks will be required at salons, table games without physical barriers and in elevators, unless patrons are riding with guests from their own travel group. Under Mississippi Gaming Commission guidelines, occupancy will be limited to 50% of capacity. Table games and slot machines will be rearranged to allow for physical distancing. Some food and beverage options will be included in the first phase of reopening; and Gold Strikes buffet will operate but will not be self-service. Our hearts are with everyone in our communities, and around the world, who has been personally impacted by this crisis, said Bill Hornbuckle, MGM Resorts Acting CEO and President. As we plan to reopen our resorts, the health and safety of our guests and employees guide all of our decision-making. Getting many of our employees back to work and welcoming guests through our doors once again will allow us to do what we do best entertain. We cant wait. Room reservations can be made at www.goldstrike.com and www.beaurivage.com. Coronavirus has major impact on labour market, says ONS statistician, as claimant count rises to highest since 1996. A measure of the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the United Kingdom leapt to its highest level since 1996 in April, the first full month of the governments coronavirus lockdown. The claimant count rose by 856,500 the biggest ever month-on-month jump to 2.097 million, a 69 percent increase, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Tuesday. The surge would have been even sharper without a government programme to pay 80 percent of the wages of workers put on temporary leave by their employers, who do not count towards the unemployment total. The ONS said emergency changes to the UKs welfare system meant the claimant count number included more people who were still actually in work than normal, but the scale of the rise in claims showed the hit to the labour market. In March, employment held up well, as furloughed workers still count as employed, but hours worked fell sharply in late March, especially in sectors such as hospitality and construction, ONS Deputy National Statistician Jonathan Athow said. While only covering the first weeks of restrictions, our figures show COVID-19 is having a major impact on the labour market. 200518195424328 Tej Parikh, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said the governments wage subsidy scheme was holding off some job losses for now but it was not clear how firms would react when they are required to help fund it from August. Many companies will still be in the middle of a cashflow crisis, and will struggle with any cost increases. Government faces an onerous task in winding down the scheme without causing too much pain, he said. Vacancies show record fall Experimental data for jobs in April, based on tax figures, showed the number of people on companies payrolls fell by 1.6 percent from March and were 1.2 percent lower than a year before. Vacancies fell by the most on record in the February-April period, down 170,000 to 637,000, with hospitality job openings falling the most. Other data published by the ONS served as a reminder of how strong the UKs labour market was going into the COVID-19 crisis. The UKs unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in the January-March period covering only one week of the lockdown which began on March 23 from 4 percent in the three months to February. But with much of the economy shut down by the government to slow the spread of coronavirus, the UK could be heading for its sharpest economic slump in more than 300 years, the Bank of England has warned. The countrys budget forecasters have warned the unemployment rate could hit 10 percent in the April-June period, even with millions of workers shielded by the governments scheme to pay their wages while they are temporarily laid off. British finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday eight million employees were now covered by that scheme and more than two million claims had been made under a parallel programme for self-employed workers. Productivity fell sharply in the first quarter, with output per hour worked down by 1.1 percent from the final quarter of 2020. Output per worker which includes those on furlough was down 2.9 percent compared with a year earlier, the biggest fall since 2009. Amid the downturn, UK investors on Monday began to price in the possibility of the Bank of England overcoming its long-standing reluctance to take rates below zero from the end of 2020 as it contemplates what could be the biggest economic slump in three centuries. The number of coronavirus cases in Uttarakhand on Tuesday climbed to 111 after the state recorded its sharpest single day spike of 15 cases, officials said. Chamoli district reported its first case after a man who had returned from Delhi tested positive for the disease. The man, his wife, two children and a sister, who had been staying together at a quarantine centre in his village, have now been shifted to the isolation ward of the district hospital, Chief Medical Officer K K Singh told reporters in Gopeshwar. Nainital reported seven cases, Udham Singh Nagar three, Bageshwar and Pauri Garhwal two cases each,ahealth department bulletin here said. The majority of patients are migrants or people who had a travel history to Mumbai, Delhi and Haryana, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Saad... The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Saad Abubakar, on Monday, urged Nigerian Muslims to look for crescent of the moon from Friday which will serve as an indication to the end of the one month Ramadan fast. Abubakar made this declaration via a statement signed by Professor Salisu Shehu, Deputy Secretary-General, NSCIA. He said that the advice was in line with the advice of the National Moon Sighting Committee (NMSC), that Muslims should look for the crescent from Friday, 22nd May, 2020 which is equivalent to 29th Ramadan, 1441 AH. Abubakar said, The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alh. Muhammad Saad Abubakar, CFR, mni, felicitates with the entire Muslim Ummah in Nigeria and all over the world on the 1441 AH Ramadan Fast. The Council prays that the Almighty Allah grant us the opportunity to witness more of it on earth. Amin. Following the advice of the National Moon Sighting Committee (NMSC), Friday, 22nd May, 2020 (G) which is equivalent to 29th Ramadan, 1441 AH is the first day to look for the Crescent of Shawwal, 1441 AH. However, on that day, the moon will set few minutes before the sun which makes the sighting of the crescent practically impossible. Nonetheless, the President-General, in compliance with the Sunnah of the Prophet (SAW), enjoins the Nigerian Muslim Ummah to search for the crescent of Shawwal 1441 AH immediately after sunset on Friday, 22nd May, 2020 equivalent to 29th Ramadan, 1441 AH. Muslims all over the country are hereby enjoined to be on the lookout for the announcement by His Eminence, the President-General of NSCIA, on the termination of this years Ramadan fast. In addition to established and traditional Islamic leaders in each locality, members of the National Moon Sighting Committee who can be contacted to report credible positive sighting of the Shawwal crescent. Police have booked three persons in Kollam on Tuesday for allegedly hiding their health status and travelling from the Gulf. They tested positive on their arrival in Kollam medical college hospital and later they reportedly told the police that they had symptoms before their travel. We have registered cases against them under the Disaster Management Act, said Kollam rural police superintendent S Harishankar. Now health authorities have asked all travellers who arrived by the Abu Dhabi-Thiruvananhtpuram flight on Sunday to undergo PCR tests immediately. Many complaints have surfaced that people often suppress their fever by taking paracetamol tablets before taking flights to escape thermal scanners, said a senior health official. There are also unconfirmed reports that these three had tested positive during anti-body tests in Abu Dhabi and they were allowed to board the flight in last moment, the three told the police during questioning. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had termed their behaviour most irresponsible. It is a serious issue. We will take it up with the Union Government and embassies concerned. We have been asking for thorough tests before taking our expatriates. The affected will endanger others also, the CM had said on Monday. Later police in Kollam (south Kerala) registered cases against them under the disaster prevention act. A 34-year-old nurse from Kuwait, who was cured of the disease in Malappuram in north Kerala, tested positive on Monday. She landed at Kozhikkode airport from Kuwait with a cured certificate. She was asked to come for a re-test after a week and tested positive again. This is first of its sort in the state but in others parts of the country such cases reported, said Malappuram district medical officer K Sakeena. She said a special medical board has been constituted to treat her. With 38 flights from foreign countries and 24 trains from other states scheduled to arrive in the next two weeks, the state is bracing for a major surge in cases. Arrivals from West Asian countries and other states led to a surge in active cases from 16 to 130 in last 11 days. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON TORONTO, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Compass Gold Corp. (TSX-V: CVB) (Compass or the Company) is pleased to announce that it will host a webinar and conference call at 11:00 a.m. E.T. on Thursday, May 21st, to provide a review of the Companys recent activities, as well as its plans for continuing exploration on its Sikasso Property in southern Mali. Before the webinar, investors are invited to review the Companys latest news releases ( http://compassgoldcorp.com/category/news/ ). Our latest investor presentation will be available on our website on Thursday. Compass CEO, Larry Phillips, said, We continue to be excited about the results were receiving from the field, and about the newest exploration work we are conducting now as we approach the rainy season in Mali beginning in about six weeks. We want to take this opportunity to provide investors with an exploration update, and once again, we will have our Exploration Manager, Dr. Madani Diallo, and our Technical Director, Dr. Sandy Archibald, P.Geo, joining the rest of our management team on this webinar. We hope that you will either join us on this webinar or go to our website afterward to review the replay. The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, May 21st, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and is to be recorded and available for later playback. Replay details will be available on Compasss website following the call. Please register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PbPnzfT5Sfmb44-4m1Ucjg The event will also be live-streamed on Adelaide Capitals YouTube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Jpt_DWjF1qSCzfKlpLMWw For technical and security reasons, all participants will be muted, but will be able to type their questions into the Q&A during the webinar. You can also submit any questions to: info@adcap.ca . Or iPhone one-tap : Canada: +16473744685,,81463900888# or +16475580588,,81463900888# Or Telephone: Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): Canada: +1 647 374 4685 or +1 647 558 0588 or +1 778 907 2071 or +1 438 809 7799 or +1 587 328 1099 US: +1 312 626 6799 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 646 558 8656 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 301 715 8592 Webinar ID: 814 6390 0888 Password: 493847 International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kd7jPQ2vD About Compass Gold Corp. Compass, a public company having been incorporated into Ontario, is a Tier 2 issuer on the TSX- V. Through the 2017 acquisition of MGE and Malian subsidiaries, Compass holds gold exploration permits located in Mali that comprise the Sikasso Property. The exploration permits are located in three sites in southern Mali, with a combined land holding of 867 km2. The Sikasso Property is located in the same region as several multi-million-ounce gold projects, including Morila, Syama, Kalana and Komana. The Companys Mali-based technical team, led in the field by Dr. Madani Diallo and under the supervision of Dr. Sandy Archibald, P.Geo, is conducting the current exploration program. They are examining numerous anomalies first noted in Dr. Archibalds August 2017 National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Sikasso Property, Southern Mali. Qualified Person This news release has been reviewed and approved by EurGeol. Dr. Sandy Archibald, P.Geo, Compasss Technical Director, who is the Qualified Person for the technical information in this news release under National Instrument 43-101 standards. ForwardLooking Information This news release contains "forwardlooking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the Companys planned exploration work and management appointments. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forwardlooking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by such information. The statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forwardlooking information except as required by applicable law. For further information, please contact: Compass Gold Corporation Compass Gold Corporation Larry Phillips Pres. & CEO Greg Taylor Dir. Investor Relations & Corporate Communications lphillips@compassgoldcorp.com gtaylor@compassgoldcorp.com T: +1 416-596-0996 X 302 T: +1 416-596-0996 X 301 Website: www.compassgoldcorp.com NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images On Friday night, local journalist David Lytle tweeted a photo of a large crowd hanging out in San Francisco's Marina neighborhood, unmasked and drinking on the sidewalk. Many appeared to be standing less than six feet apart outside Howells, a wine bar on Chestnut Street. He also shared a video of the brazen shelter-in-place violators congregating in front of neighboring wine bar Cultivar. Quickly, the tweets went semi-viral, leading the San Francisco Police Department to respond to the scene, where they admonished Howells bar for not complying with SFs health order and forwarded a report to the City Attorney, according to KQED. Season Four of Canadian crime drama Cardinal and Italian period drama Made in Italy are at SBS on Demand from Thursday. Cardinal All six episodes available to stream. Cardinal returns to the frozen winter of Algonquin Bay where it all began for Detectives Cardinal and Delorme. A routine missing persons case turns into a spree of murders, with seemingly random victims left in the wilderness to freeze to death. Connecting the dots in a case that hits ever closer to home forces both Cardinal and Delorme to confront choices theyve made in the past as they face off against a dangerous adversary bent on revenge. The fallout will leave no one in Algonquin Bay untouched. Made in Italy In Italian with English subtitles. All eight episodes available to stream. Made In Italy follows the story of Irene (Greta Ferro), a daughter of Southern Italian immigrants, who applies for a job position at the fashion magazine Appeal in order to finance her college studies. Soon enough, she moves up the ladder of success at the magazine. As Milans fashion industry evolves, her life will also undergo radical changes. She will meet many young designers taking their first steps, on the verge of exploding onto the international market as the spotlight of the fashion world is about to shift from French haute couture to Italian pret a porter. Some of fashions biggest names such as Albini, Curiel, Krizia, Missoni, Valentino, and many others who dominated the world of 1970s fashion, have opened up their archives to lend breath taking articles of clothing and accessories to the production. Thursday, 21 May on SBS On Demand. Earlier this year, the organizers of the annual IFA event in Berlin announced it will not be held in a traditional manner due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Now they have provided more details about the event that will take place on September 3-5. The good news is that the forum will be held in Berlin as usual despite the ban of events gathering more than 5,000 people until October 24 as per local laws. There will be four main events spread across three days and each event will hold up to 1,000 people. Only people with invites can enter and the event won't be open for the public. The organizers said that all the rules at the event are made with people's safety in mind. The local authorities will be helping on site to ensure that social distancing, crowd management and public hygiene are maintained. Source BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Elnur Baghishov - Trend: As many as 2,111 people have been infected 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 the ministry. According to Jahanpur, 62 more people have died from the coronavirus over the past day. Jahanpur added that the condition of 2,698 people is critical. So far, more than 716,000 tests have been conducted in Iran for the diagnosis of coronavirus. Iran continues to monitor the coronavirus situation in the country. According to recent reports from the Iranian officials, over 124,600 people have been infected 7,119 people have already died. Meanwhile, over 97,100 have reportedly recovered from the disease. The country continues to apply strict measures to contain the further spread. Reportedly, the disease was brought to Iran by a businessman from Iran's Qom city, who went on a business trip to China, despite official warnings. The man died later from the disease. The Islamic Republic only announced its first infections and deaths from the coronavirus on Feb. 19. The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019. The World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11 declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. Former immigration minister Caroline Nokes speaks with Border Force officers and the HM Coastguard in Dover, to discuss migrants' attempts to reach Britain by small boat. (Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images) A former minister has warned rushing through controversial immigration reforms next year risks shortages in roles on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic. Caroline Nokes, Britains immigration minister until last year, sounded the alarm in a virtual Commons debate as MPs voted to end EU free movement rules last night. The Conservative MP urged the government not to roll out wide-ranging reforms in a big-bang fashion in just seven months time, as Britain grapples with the pandemic. The Home Office is a machine that moves slowly, she added, recommending a more phased approach rather than the planned full launch date of January 2021. READ MORE: UK jobless claims surged 69% as lockdown began Planned points-based reforms are likely to make it harder to recruit from abroad in sectors, jobs and skillsets not prioritised by the government, and significantly curb inflows of low-paid migrant workers. Nokes served as immigration minister under former prime minister Theresa May, before losing her job shortly after Boris Johnson took office. She said many care home owners, freight firms, retailers, food processors and childcare providers would have to navigate Britains visa system for the first time to recruit staff. Even if firms manage to successfully recruit and get in the necessary paperwork, Nokes fears application delays. Nokes asked if they could be confident their sponsorship applications would be processed on time, when it was very much not business as usual at the Home Office. She said officials were already struggling with backlogs of EU settled status applications, closed visa application centres and the virus-linked suspension of other continued residence applications. She also said care workers and hospital support workers risked being forgotten once again, as they are not included in a new fast-track NHS visa. We cannot open hospitals if we cannot clean the loos, she told MPs as she questioned the absence of ancillary staff from a new NHS visa scheme. She also warned few Brits were coming forward to work in agricultural jobs, where firms have relied heavily on eastern and central European workers no longer benefiting from free movement. Story continues Find out how your MP voted on the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill at second reading, here: https://t.co/Cwzi9Z64cf#ImmigrationBill UK House of Commons (@HouseofCommons) May 18, 2020 Nokes welcomed the departure from EU rules that MPs approved in the immigration and social security bill on Monday night (18 May), however. There is no doubt that we must turn off free movement. We must uphold the outcome of the 2016 referendum. The bill moved a step closer to becoming law after being approved by 351 votes to 252 on its second reading in the Commons. The government has pledged to set out further details of its planned reforms later this year. The Labour party opposed the plans, with shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds accusing ministers of rank hypocrisy for clapping for carers while backing such reforms. READ MORE: UK government presses on with ending free movement In the midst of this crisis the government is putting forward an immigration system containing a salary threshold of 25,600 it sends a signal and tells people that anyone earning less than that is unskilled and unwelcome in our country, he said. But Patel outlined the governments case for reform, saying the end to free movement delivers on the promise we made to the British people. It gives the government the powers needed to deliver an immigration system that is firm, fair and fit for the future, the points-based system the public voted for, a system that will support our economic recovery by prioritising jobs for people here in the UK while continuing to attract the brightest and the best in terms of global talent, she said as she opened the debate. Apple's AR app has customised QR codes for different apps and services. Apple is reportedly working on a new AR app that is set to release in the upcoming iOS 14. Apples Find My app is also said to get some new AR features. The latest iOS 14 leak comes from ex-TechCrunch reporter Josh Constine. Whats more interesting in this leak is the name of Apples AR app which will resonate heavily with Indians. Its called Gobi which means cauliflower in Hindi. So thats an interesting choice. Moving on its features, the AR app has customised QR codes for the Mac Pro, Star Wars, Apple Watch and even Starbucks. These QR codes open up the Mac Pro and Apple Watch websites, and it also opens the Star Wars Rogue One movie on iTunes. The Starbucks Card opens the apps sign-up flow. Thats not all. The leaked iOS 14 files also reveal a shopping feature on the Gobi app. This leads users to the Apple store online where users can check out a 3D rendering of the Apple Watch. Gobi could also be used at Starbucks and the AR app could suggest discounts that can be availed. Another feature in Gobi shows an AR version of the pagoda tower that can be placed on a table. Similar to Google AR, Gobi would also let users place AR objects in the real environment. Apples Find My app will give sound and vibration feedback while users locate their missing devices. The app will play encouraging sounds according to the progress of users finding their iPhones or iPads. iOS 14 is expected to release later this year but well most likely get to see its unveiling at the upcoming WWDC taking place next month. (Newser) An actor best known for his role in the 2008 Twilight film was found dead in his Las Vegas condo Wednesday, as was his girlfriend. Gregory Tyree Boyce was 30 and his girlfriend, Natalie Adepoju, was 27, per the Hollywood Reporter. No details have yet been revealed regarding cause of death. Boyce played Forks High School student Tyler Crowley, who nearly hits Kristen Stewart's Bella Swan while driving before Robert Pattinson's Edward Cullen saves her, leaving an indentation in his van. TMZ reports he only acted in one other project. In an emotional Facebook post, his mother reveals that more recently he had become a talented chef and had plans to open a chicken wing restaurant, and that his girlfriend was working as his assistant. "We were supposed to meet on Tuesday with my dad to discuss some plans for our near future to launch us into a great future, but that never happened," she wrote. story continues below She writes that "During quarantine, we started walking in the evenings. Me, you, Natalie, Alaya and Kaniya found a beautiful trail to walk on, we loved it out there." Alaya is Boyce's 10-year-old daughter; Adepoju leaves behind a son. Boyce's mother says she last saw her son two days before his death, the day after Mother's Day. "You walked me to my car, hugged me, kissed me on my cheek and told me that you love me and to call you when I got home. That was it. Never another hug, kiss or to hear those words, I love you again," she writes. "I'm broken." In an Instagram post on his 30th birthday in December, Boyce wrote, "At one point I didn't think I would make it to see 30 years old. Over the years like everyone else I have made mistakes along the way, but today is one of those days I only reflect on the great ones. What a time to be alive. Happy Dirty 30 self! Let's make the rest of these years your best!!" (Read more celebrity death stories.) Sydney: China effectively banned Australian barley imports after concluding Canberra's water market was a subsidy for growers, documents showed on Tuesday, a position Australian government sources described as ludicrous. Australia said it was considering an appeal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as it tries to dampen fears that China is launching a trade war in retaliation for Australia's calls for an investigation into the origin of the novel coronavirus. "There is no trade war - everyone needs to take a deep breath and a cold shower," Australian Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud told reporters in Canberra. Littleproud is one of two ministers who has tried unsuccessfully to contact their Chinese counterparts to smooth escalating tensions over the trade of barley and beef to Australia's largest trading partner. China said on Monday it would apply an 80.5% tariff on Australian barley imports for the next five years, a move expected to all but halt a billion-dollar trade. Beijing did not publish its justification for the tariff, but documents seen by Reuters show China concluded Australia's Murray Darling Plan - a scheme to improve the wellbeing of an ecologically vital river system - was central to its findings. Under the plan, Australia buys water rights from irrigators to improve the health of the basin, an area twice the size of Spain and home to 40% of Australias agricultural output. "Using the Murray Darling Basin Plan as justification is frankly absurd. It buys water from irrigators, 99% of whom do not grow barley," an Australian government source said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to talk about the matter. "Even worse is the scheme impacts the east coast when nearly all Australian barley sold to China comes from the west." A second Australian government official said a WTO appeal would take at least two years, and risked escalating trade tensions with China just as Australia is facing its first recession in three decades because of the impact of COVID-19. "How can we not go to the WTO? Their justification has so many holes, I'm sure we will win and we have duty to the farmers, but at what cost?" said the second government source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of issue. Small Beer Western Australia state Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan said growers in her electorate would lose about A$200 million as a result of China's action. Growers could be forced to sell their premium barley - often used for making beer - to the Middle East for livestock feed at a heavy discounts, raising pressure on the federal government to refer the matter to the WTO. China has committed to increase its purchases of US agriculture under a phase one trade agreement with Washington, and US growers of corn and sorghum could benefit from the Australian barley ban. "We call on the Australian government to support Australias farmers and exporters ... and immediately pursue the WTO Dispute Settlement process to the fullest extent possible," Australia's grain industry body, GrainGrowers, said in a statement. China was Australia's largest barley market, buying half the country's barley exports in a trade worth about A$917 million ($600 million) a year. Ignited by a comprehensive free trade deal, two-way trade between Australia and China has grown annually to be worth A$180 billion ($124 billion). China's growth has propelled demand for Australian agricultural goods, services such as tourism and education, and natural resources like iron ore. Fears that China intended to punish Australia for its push for an international coronavirus inquiry grew last month when Beijing's ambassador said Chinese consumers could shun Australian wine, beef and universities in response. Earlier this month China suspended beef imports from four of Australia's largest meat processors, citing safety issues. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 18:07:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have revealed that genetic exchange with an unknown wolf-like canid helped Tibetan mastiffs adapt to high altitudes, according to a study published online in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. As the highest plateau in the world, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is famous for its low oxygen, low temperatures and strong ultraviolet radiation. With the migration and settlement of human beings, domesticated animals also survived the harsh living environment. Genetic exchange is key in the adaptive evolution of domesticated animals. Earlier studies suggest that the EPAS1 gene might help reduce hypoxia and resist frigidity in Tibetan animals. The Tibetan mastiff, an ancient domestic dog from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, was believed to have obtained the EPAS1 gene from a genetic exchange with a Tibetan wolf. Scientists from the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have sequenced the genomes of Tibetan mastiffs and Tibetan wolves, finding that the EPAS1 genes in the two species are both derived from an unknown wolf-like canid. Enditem Welcoming New Openings The Company's 11 new-construction openings in the U.S. represent nearly 1,000 rooms. The recent openings, including properties across its La Quinta by Wyndham, Wingate by Wyndham, Days Inn by Wyndham, and Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham brands, are situated in destinations primed for domestic, drive-to leisure travel such as Miramar Beach, Fla.; Houston, Texas; Spokane, Wash.; and Wisconsin Dells, Wis. Laying Foundation for the Future Developers are also starting construction on hotels in the pipeline, reinforcing optimism for the industry's recovery. Developers for Wyndham-branded hotels broke ground on approximately 10 new hotels in the U.S. year-to-date, including a Microtel hotel in Hot Springs, Ark.; a La Quinta hotel in San Antonio, Texas; an extended-stay Hawthorn Suites hotel in Oklahoma City, Okla.; and a Trademark Collection by Wyndham hotel in Leavenworth, Kan. "Despite a rapidly changing landscape for hotel developers around the world, a number of our owners are pressing forward with new-construction projects in the economy and midscale segments, reinforcing our overall confidence in the long-term viability of our industry," said Krishna Paliwal, head of Architecture, Design and Construction for Wyndham. "New-construction growth, however gradual, represents our optimism for the future of travel. Not only do our highly recognizable brands provide significant value to hotel owners who join the Wyndham family, especially during difficult times, but they also represent the consistent, trusted and affordable experience travelers will be seeking now more than ever before." Igniting the Conversion Engine Though construction has generally slowed across the industry, Wyndham continues to welcome new projects while igniting its powerful conversion engine, which is fueled by the strong value proposition across its portfolio of well-known brands. In the first quarter, Wyndham's conversion pipeline increased 8% globally year-over-year. The Company has a proven track record of growing net rooms during lodging cycle downturns and, with over 15,000 independent economy and midscale hotels in the U.S., converting independent hotels to Wyndham brands remains an important source of consistent rooms growth for the Company through both up and down cycles. Well-Positioned for Recovery The impact of COVID-19 continues to rapidly evolve and many factors remain uncertain. As the pandemic begins to abate in the U.S., Wyndham's existing franchisees are likely to be well-positioned for recovery. The Company operates a nearly 90% drive-to business in the U.S. with a concentration in the select-service chain scale segments - which have outperformed higher end full service hotels during the pandemic - and over 95% of its domestic guests originate within the U.S., making them less reliant on air travel. Wyndham also recently announced "Count on UsSM," a new long-term, multi-faceted initiative to build confidence among guests and to support franchisees as it prepares to welcome travelers back to its U.S. hotels. The initiative will immediately focus on further elevating health and safety protocols at Wyndham hotels in the wake of COVID-19, shoring up critical supply chains and introducing new standards, training and guidelines grounded in guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wyndham has expanded its relationship with industry leader Ecolab on requiring consistent use of Ecolab's EPA-approved disinfectants in guestrooms and public spaces nationwide. Those interested in developing a hotel under one of Wyndham's brands may visit development.wyndhamhotels.com for additional information. About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) is the world's largest hotel franchising company by the number of properties, with 9,300 hotels across approximately 90 countries on six continents. Through its network of over 828,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveler, Wyndham commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company operates a portfolio of 20 hotel brands, including Super 8, Days Inn, Ramada, Microtel Inn & Suites, La Quinta, Baymont, Wingate, AmericInn, Hawthorn Suites, The Trademark Collection and Wyndham. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is also a leading provider of hotel management services. The Company's award-winning Wyndham Rewards loyalty program offers 83 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. For more information, visit www.wyndhamhotels.com. CONTACT: Rob Myers Sr. Director, Global Communications Wyndham Hotels & Resorts +1 (973) 753-7086 [email protected] SOURCE Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Related Links http://www.wyndhamhotels.com A 27-year-old man from Gagandeep Colony in Bhattian Bet, who died on May 15, was found positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. The youth was brought to the Ludhiana civil hospital on May 15, but was declared dead during treatment. As per protocol, his samples were collected on May 16, and were later found positive for Covid-19. Meanwhile, a two-year-old girl from Mandeep Nagar in Choti Haibowal was also confirmed infected, taking the district count to 176. According to health authorities, she is the youngest Covid patient in Ludhiana. The child was rushed to Dayanand Medcial College and Hospital (DMCH) with acute abdominal pain three days ago. Doctors performed emergency intestinal surgery on her, following which her samples were sent for Covid testing. She tested positive on Monday evening. Acting promptly, DMCH authorities asked 35 employees, including, doctors and paramedical staff, to remain under home quarantine for 14 days. Deputy commissioner Pradeep Agrawal said the total number of patients in Ludhiana was 176, of which 125 had been cured and discharged, a recovery rate of 71%. Eight people have succumbed to the virus Civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga said now there were 43 active cases in the district. BORSTAL JAIL SUPERINTENDENT AMONG 139 CONTACTS TRACED A day after six inmates of Borstal Jail were found positive for Covid-19, the jail authorities have traced their 139 contacts. They include 89 inmates and 50 jail staffers, including the jail superintendent, Kulwant Singh. These inmates were arrested by the Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur police and kept at the special Borstal Jail before being shifted to the central jail in Ludhiana. Kulwant said, We have set up special Covid-19 barracks. Accused arrested from different districts are sent here. These six inmates had come to Ludhiana between April 20 and 26. We have traced their 139 contacts, out of which 89 are inmates, who were in same barracks with them, the superintendent added. He said among these 89 contacts, as many as 39 inmates were out on bail. We have written to the civil surgeon to trace these persons and quarantine them, he said, adding that the entire staff cannot be quarantined, so they were conducting their screening and will isolate the staffers with symptoms. TWO POSITIVE MEN MISSING The health authorities have been unable to trace two men, aged 18 and 22, who had visited the flu corner at the civil hospital on May 16 with symptoms of flu. After they tested positive, health staff tried contacting them but found their details, including phone numbers, incorrect. Civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga said the men had stated that they lived in Prem Vihar Street No 1 and Shahi Bagh Colony Street No 11. FOUR TTEs QUARANTINED After sending the entire Railway Protection Force (RPF) staff deployed at Ludhiana railway station under quarantine on May 18, the railway authorities on Tuesday asked four train ticket examiners (TTEs) to also isolate themselves as they had come in contact with RPF staff. A research team at a Beijing university has claimed to have successfully tested an experimental drug on animals that could shorten the recovery time for Covid-19 patients and offer short-term immunity to the pathogen, which has infected 4.8 million people globally and killed over 315,000 since originating in China late last year. A Peking University statement said on Monday that the team led by Sunney Xie, the director of its Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Genomics, has successfully identified multiple highly potent neutralising antibodies against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of the respiratory disease COVID-19, from convalescent plasma [a blood fluid] by high-throughput single-cell sequencing. According to a study on the teams research published on Sunday in the online medical journal Cell, the potent neutralising antibody could be used to develop drugs for both therapeutic intervention and prophylactic [preventive] protection against SARS-CoV-2. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage If the Covid-19 epidemic reappears in the winter, our neutralising antibody might be available by that time, Xie said in the statement. When we injected antibodies into infected mice, after five days the viral load was reduced by a factor of 2,500, Xie told the news agency AFP. That means this potential drug has [a] therapeutic effect. The drug uses neutralising antibodies -- produced by the human immune system to prevent the virus infecting cells -- which Xies team isolated from the blood of 60 recovered patients. Antibodies have been successfully used in treating other viruses like HIV, Ebola and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. Clinical trials in the US have showed Ebola drug Remdesivir shortened the recovery time in some Covid-19 patients by a third. Over 100 vaccines for Covid-19 are in the works globally even as the World Health Organisation has cautioned developing one could take up to 18 months. Three Covid-19 vaccines have entered phase II of clinical trials in Beijing, a municipal health official has said. Separately, five innovative drugs have also been approved for clinical trials and all of them have entered phase II clinical studies, said Xu Qiang, the head of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission. Beijing, Xu was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency, will accelerate the research and development of diagnostic reagents, drugs, vaccines and medical equipment and support pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers in expanding their capacity to meet the increasing demands. The second phase of the clinical trials is expected to be completed successively beginning in July A total of 2,036 volunteer participants have been inoculated for the second phase of clinical trials and researchers are assessing whether or not the vaccines are safe and effective, Xinhua reported. Technavio has been monitoring the critical care diagnostics market and it is poised to grow by USD 1.72 billion during 2020-2024, at a CAGR of 17% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, the 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/20200518005500/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Critical Care Diagnostics Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will decelerate during the forecast period. Abbott Laboratories, Becton, Dickinson and Co., bioMerieux SA, Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., Chembio Diagnostics Inc., Danaher Corp., EKF Diagnostics Holdings Plc, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Quidel Corp., and Siemens Healthineers AG are some of the major market participants. The focus on the diagnosis of infectious diseases will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Focus on the diagnosis of infectious diseases has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Critical Care Diagnostics Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Critical Care Diagnostics Market is segmented as below: Application Microbial And Infectious Disease Testing Hematology Testing Cardiac And Lipid Testing Coagulation Testing Others Geography North America Europe Asia ROW End-user Emergency Care Units Operating Rooms ICUs 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=IRTNTR43701 Critical Care Diagnostics 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 critical care diagnostics market report covers the following areas: Critical Care Diagnostics Market size Critical Care Diagnostics Market trends Critical Care Diagnostics Market industry analysis This study identifies data management and connectivity to EHRs through interoperability as one of the prime reasons driving the critical care diagnostics market growth during the next few years. Critical Care Diagnostics Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the critical care diagnostics market, including some of the vendors such as Abbott Laboratories, Becton, Dickinson and Co., bioMerieux SA, Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., Chembio Diagnostics Inc., Danaher Corp., EKF Diagnostics Holdings Plc, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Quidel Corp., and Siemens Healthineers AG. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the critical care diagnostics market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Critical Care Diagnostics Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist critical care diagnostics market growth during the next five years Estimation of the critical care diagnostics market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the critical care diagnostics market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of critical care diagnostics market vendors Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Application Market segments Comparison by Application Microbial and infectious disease testing Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Hematology testing Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Cardiac and lipid testing Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Coagulation testing Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Application Market Segmentation by End-users Emergency care units Operating rooms ICUs Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Asia Market size and forecast 2019-2024 ROW Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Key leading countries Market opportunity by geography Market drivers Market challenges Market trends Vendor Landscape Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Competitive scenario Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors Abbott Laboratories bioMerieux SA Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. Chembio Diagnostics Inc. Danaher Corp. EKF Diagnostics Holdings Plc F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Quidel Corp. Siemens Healthineers AG Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005500/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. told donors on a call on Tuesday that it was important to condemn criticism of Israel that drifts toward anti-Semitism, including on the political left, even as he acknowledged that he had gotten in trouble for such calls in the past. Criticism of Israels policy is not anti-Semitism, Mr. Biden said. But too often that criticism from the left morphs into anti-Semitism. Mr. Biden, who was answering a question about anti-Semitism on the left in the United States and England, added that arguably, we havent heard enough about the Holocaust because people are still trying to deny its horrible reality. So many people forget, he went on, its almost hard to believe. The remarks came as Mr. Biden works to unite the Democratic Party and appeal to progressives, especially younger ones, who viewed him with suspicion during the primary race. A cohort of younger progressives have been outspoken in opposition to Israels policies toward Palestinians, particularly under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mr. Biden did not cite any specific examples of anti-Semitic comments on the left or specifically identify individuals or groups that he was concerned about. Amid dire predictions that the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to spread, threatening to inflict massive death and suffering upon the poor and oppressed countries of the global south, Washington sought to turn Mondays annual conference of the World Health Organization into an arena for its relentless campaign to scapegoat China. The 73rd annual World Health Assembly, bringing together representatives from the WHOs 194 member states, was held Monday, as the worldwide number of confirmed coronavirus cases stood at roughly 4.8 million and deaths at 317,000, while hundreds of millions of working people across the globe have lost their jobs and incomes. COVID-19 patients are treated inside a non-invasive ventilation system named the 'Vanessa Capsule' at the municipal field hospital Gilberto Novaes in Manaus, Brazil, Monday, May 18, 2020. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana) Under these conditions, the Trump administration delivered a belligerent pre-recorded video from its Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, which doubled down on Washingtons unfounded allegations against both the WHO and China. We must be frank about one of the primary reasons this outbreak spun out of control, Azar said. There was a failure by this organization to obtain the information that the world needed, and that failure cost many lives. Azars denunciation came amid reports that US President Donald Trump has decided to extend indefinitely a freeze his administration imposed on US funding for the WHO, $400 million that constitutes one-fifth of world health bodys annual budget. Turning his fire on China, Azar echoed the lurid conspiracy theories hatched by the Trump White House casting Beijings response to the outbreak of the pandemic as a deliberate attempt to infect and debilitate the United States. In an apparent attempt to conceal this outbreak at least one member state made a mockery of their transparency obligations, with tremendous costs for the entire world, Azar said. We saw that WHO failed at its core mission of information-sharing and transparency when member states do not act in good faith. All of this is nonsense. As WHO chief Tedros Adhanon Ghebreysus made clear in his own speech to the meeting, the WHO "sounded the alarm early, and we sounded it often." On January 30, the WHO declared a global health emergency, its highest level of alert, based on information supplied by China. At the time, there were less than 100 confirmed cases and not a single death outside of China. The US government decided to ignore the alert, concerned above all to downplay the dangers of the coronavirus in order to keep share prices rising on Wall Street. Its response, once the impact of the pandemic was undeniable, was to direct the overwhelming majority of resources into a massive multi-trillion-dollar bailout of the financial markets. Washingtons criminal negligence and indifference had its inevitable effect, making the US the number one nation by far in terms of the spread of the coronavirus and its mass death toll. With barely four percent of the worlds population, the United States has recorded close to a third of the worlds confirmed infections and fully 29 percent of the worlds deaths. There could not be a more irrefutable indictment of US policy. The spurious attacks on the WHO and China are aimed at diverting attention from this criminal record, while at the same time advancing US imperialisms pursuit of global geo-strategic interests by escalating the war drive against its main global rival. While in the United States and Europe, the first epicenters of the pandemic, capitalist ruling classes are attempting to launch a premature reopening of the economy" in order to resume the unrestrained exploitation of the working classno matter what the cost in terms of health and livesthe pandemic continues it global spread. In his remarks to to the global health meeting, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the virus has spread across the world and is now moving into the global South, where its impact may be even more devastating." The WHOs director general, Tedros, made a similar warning stating that developing states and those suffering from violence and conflict are trying to confront this threat in the most challenging of circumstances." How do you practice physical distancing when you live in crowded conditions?" he asked. How do you stay at home when you have to work to feed your family? How do you practice hand hygiene when you lack clean water?" These are the conditions that confront the majority of humanity, leading to the most explosive growth of the pandemic in the former colonial and historically oppressed countries. In South America, the number of confirmed cases has risen to over 443,000, and the number of deaths to over 23,000. Brazil, the continents largest country, accounts for well over half the confirmed cases, more than 244,000, while studies indicate that the real number is likely 15 times higher. The number of confirmed deaths stands at over 16,000. In Sao Paulo, Brazils largest city and the epicenter of the countrys COVID-19 outbreak, the mayor has admitted that the city's public hospitals are near collapse. Already filled to 90 percent capacity, they will have to turn away new patients within two weeks. As the number of cases and deaths soar, Brazils fascistic President Jair Bolsonaro has demanded an unrestrained resumption of capitalist production, urging the countrys financial and corporate oligarchy to go to war against even the limited social-distancing measures imposed by state governments. He has also signed a decree granting full immunity to public authorities for any mistakes" made in dealing with the pandemic. Even as Bolsonaro and his supporters within the military move to consolidate ever-more authoritarian forms of rule to enforce the herding of workers into unsafe factories and workplaces, there has been an explosive growth of protests and strikes by health care workers, who have suffered the highest death toll in the world, with 116 nurses dying since the outbreak of the pandemic. South Asia is also suffering one of the highest rates of increase in coronavirus infections on the planet. Indias confirmed cases have risen to over 100,000, and deaths to over 3,000. The deadly virus is taking its greatest toll in the slums of Delhi and Mumbai. While the far-right Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has imposed one of the most extreme lockdowns in the world, the countrys ramshackle health care system is not prepared to deal with the outbreak. The country spends barely 1 per cent of GDP on health care. The result is disease, hunger and police violence and brutality for the masses of workers and oppressed. The impoverishment and hunger are being utilized to push workers back into factories, while the government exploits the crisis to push through a massive privatization and economic restructuring program aimed at attracting corporate and financial investment away from China. On May 18, Sri Lankas number of confirmed coronavirus cases reached 986 with nine deaths. Despite the danger of spreading the virus, the government of President Gotabhaya Rajapakse has reopened the countrys economy beginning on May 11, ending its lockdown. Although Colombo and the adjoining Gampaha district remain under curfew, all public and private sector enterprises have been allowed to function all over the island, with one third of their normal work force. At the same time, in line with its policy of utilizing the pandemic to intensify its militarization plans, the Rajapakse government has deployed soldiers in Colombo and inside trains, train stations and bus terminals, supervising public movements. The Philippines has recorded 12,718 confirmed cases and 831 deaths. President Rodrigo Duterte has extended a lockdown until June. Duterte has intensified his crackdown on democratic rights under the cover of the pandemic crisis. His government has shut down the countrys biggest television network, ABS-CBN, under the flimsy legal pretext of the expiration of its franchise. But the real reason was the networks critical attitude toward Dutertes authoritarian moves. Afghanistan has emerged among the hardest hit countries in South Asia. Devastated by the nearly two-decades long US imperialist war, the COVID-19 outbreak has only intensified the suffering of its population. Currently, Afghanistan has 7,072 confirmed COVID-19 cases and about 173 people dead due to the virus. With little testing, these numbers are unquestionably a fraction of the real toll of the virus. Africa as of Monday saw its confirmed cases rise to nearly 87,000, with close to 2,800 deaths. With Lesotho reporting its first infection, every one of the 54 countries on the continent has become part of the global pandemic. With its impoverished health care systems the least able to confront the deadly virus, the WHO has predicted that some quarter of a billion Africans will become infected and as many as 190,000 will die within the first year of the pandemic. South Africa had 15,515 confirmed cases and 264 deaths as of Monday. The countrys Western Cape has seen the highest rate of community transmission of the virus, concentrated in its poor and densely populated townships like Khayelitsha, Cape Towns largest informal settlement. The highest number of confirmed deaths in Africa630have been recorded in Egypt, which has reported 12,229 confirmed cases. The US-backed dictatorship of General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has exploited the pandemic to escalate its police state repression, rounding up journalists for writing articles questioning the regimes figures and its handling of the crisis. Sharp increases in case numbers have also been reported in Nigeria, the continents most populous nation, with nearly 6,000 confirmed cases and 182 deaths. With only 28,000 tests having been done, resulting in 21 per cent positive results, the real numbers are unquestionably vastly higher. Ghana has also seen a sharp increase in its cases, with more than 500 workers at a fish processing factory having tested positive for coronavirus. Since May 1, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana have all seen their numbers of coronavirus cases double, even as the governments of all three countries introduced a phased reopening of businesses and production. In the Middle East, the number of COVID-19 cases rose to over 465,000 on Monday. The highest number of cases150,000has been recorded in Turkey. Iran has over 122,000 cases and the highest number of confirmed deaths in the region, 7,057. It reported its steepest one-day increase in cases on Monday, with 2,294 more people testing positive. The government began reopening the countrys economy late last month, easing quarantine restrictions. While the deadly virus is also spreading through Syria, Libya and Yemen, three countries whose social infrastructures have been decimated by US-backed imperialist interventions, the lack of testing by local authorities or international organizations has left the scope of the crisis unknown. All over the world, from the US and Western Europe, to Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and intensified the previously existing conditions of pervasive social inequality, the transfer of wealth from the masses of working people to a ruling financial oligarchy, a hollowing out of democratic forms of rule and an increasing turn toward authoritarianism, and the buildup toward imperialist war. With the lives of millions of people all over the world hanging in the balance, the battle against the pandemic emerges ever more openly as a political struggle that can be waged successfully only by means of the independent political mobilization and international unification of the working class in the fight for socialism. The occupants used weapons that are prohibited by the Minsk agreements Open source On May 18, pro-Kremlin militants attacked the Ukrainian positions 11 times and used weapons of prohibited calibers. This was reported by the headquarters of the Joint Forces Operation. Militants fired at the positions near Bohdanivka (Donetsk region) with 82-mm caliber mortars and large-caliber machine guns; grenade/rocket launchers, large-caliber machine guns, and small arms were applied in the area of Taramchuk, Krasnohorivka and Shirokino. No casualties among the Ukrainian military have been reported. As we reported earlier, the patrol of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission was shelled in the occupied territory of Donbas. At 13:36, on May 15, while the SMM mini-UAV was in the process of landing (and at an altitude of 5m from the ground), four SMM patrol members outside the vehicles saw two incoming flaming projectiles explode in the air, and subsequently saw and heard two explosions and smoke at an altitude of about 80m-100m from the ground, and at an assessed distance of 20m north-north-west of the patrols position, the message says. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:24:20|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a 300-million-U.S.-dollar emergency assistance loan to strengthen Pakistan's public health response to the COVID-19 and help meet the basic needs of the vulnerable and poor segments of society, the ADB said on Tuesday. The loan will support the purchase of medical supplies and personal protective equipment for hospitals and their frontline health workers, upgrading of medical facilities, and training of health workers, the ADB said in a statement. The assistance will also help purchase of emergency vehicles to strengthen rescue capacity in remote border areas, and strengthening COVID-19 awareness among communities with limited television or internet connectivity, according to the statement. To protect the poor, the ADB will provide cash assistance to directly benefit the women of poor households through a government's program, launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the statement said. Earlier in April, the ADB repurposed 50 million U.S. dollars from Pakistan's National Disaster Risk Management Fund to help the country strengthen its health care system amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 01:16:40|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The top UN envoy for Libya on Tuesday reported alarming military escalation in the country despite the threat of a COVID-19 outbreak. "I had hoped to be able to deliver a more positive report to you today. But unfortunately, just when we think that the bottom has been reached in Libya, we somehow manage to achieve new depths of violence, heartlessness, and impunity," Stephanie Williams, the UN secretary-general's acting special representative for Libya, told the Security Council. "Despite our determined efforts and the secretary-general's plea for an immediate cease-fire to allow Libyans to respond to the common threat of COVID-19, I regret to report that there has been no lull in the fighting between the government of National Accord (GNA) forces and Gen. (Khalifa) Haftar's Libyan National Army." For nearly 15 months following the launch of Gen. Haftar's attack on Tripoli in April 2019, armed conflict has been raging in and around some of Libya's most densely populated areas, she said. As a result of the intensifying armed hostilities, coupled with the dire socio-economic impact of COVID-19, 1 million people are now in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. This includes 400,000 internally displaced Libyans, along with 654,000 migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. In the past 12 months of warfare in and around Tripoli, 201,000 Libyans were forced to flee their homes, she said. "As we survey the carnage wrought by almost 15 months of unrelenting violence in Libya, I believe we have reached another turning point in the conflict. From what we are witnessing in terms of the massive influx of weaponry, equipment and mercenaries to the two sides, the only conclusion that we can draw is that this war will intensify, broaden and deepen with devastating consequences for the Libyan people." She asked the Security Council to apply pressure on those regional and international actors that are fueling the conflict. "As foreign intervention increases, the Libyans themselves are getting lost in the mix, their voices crowded out. We must not let Libya slip away. We must enable responsible Libyans to write their own future," said Williams. Enditem HARTFORD On the eve of Connecticuts initial reopening for non-essential businesses, Gov. Ned Lamont on Tuesday ordered that flags return to full-staff as a hopeful signal that the state has finally turned a corner two months after many began sheltering in place and unemployment soared. Coincidentally, the states death toll fell to 23, the lowest one-day fatality total since April 6, while two nationally known physicians who serve on the governors Reopen CT Advisory Group, told reporters that Connecticut is as ready as it can be for the first phase of reopening many businesses, including socially distant, outdoor dining. Dr. Scott Gottlieb of Westport, the former head of the federal Food & Drug Administration, and Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a special health adviser under President Barack Obama, warned that while the coronavirus pandemic should wane during the summer months when its outdoor transmission is less likely, its expected to return in the fall. This emphasis on using face masks, having small gatherings and having as much outdoors as possible are pretty evident in the way that the task force and your government have been thinking about reopening the process, Emanuel told reporters during the governors daily update from the state Capitol. Emanuel stressed that the state is being cautious in its multi-phased rollout. And youve also developed a set of standards and when you might have to hold back and reverse course because the outbreak has gotten so severe, said Emanuel, of Philadelphia, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. The 23 fatalities reported on Tuesday brought the state total to 3,472 since March 17. The net decrease of six hospitalizations, for a total of 914 statewide, was the 27th consecutive day of declining hospitalizations. In thinking about how to reopen and how to phase the reopening, I have been impressed by the thinking of both looking at the public health measures on one axis and looking at the economic impact on another axis, Emanuel said. Both factors need to be taken into account, and you need to get to that sweet spot: Places where the public health risks are low or you can lower them by measures like holding activities outside, and the economic impact is large, so that when you open up, you have a lot of people going back to work and you have a large amount of economic activity that can resume. Emanuel said he favored opening the states sleep-away summer camps, but was overruled. He warned that casinos are very problematic for older patrons, and warned that they should be kept closed in early phases of reopening. IN response, late Tuesday night, Rodney Butler, Mashantucket Pequot tribal chairman, said he found Emanuels remarks profoundly offensive and uninformed. He stressed the importance of the two tribal casinos to the state economy, with 12,000 workers and an annual contribution of $250 million to the state.. Gottlieb said the state is positioning itself well for the fall, by training hundreds of people in contact tracing, the process of interviewing COVID-19 patients to find out who they might have met and infected, so those people can be warned and self-quarantine to stop the spread. Its not going to prevent outbreaks from occurring, Gottlieb said. I think were going to have outbreaks in the fall in different cities, in different states, and were going to have to address that, but the hope is that we can prevent another national epidemic and we can prevent those outbreaks from becoming very large with this kind of a toolbox. Lamont said the nearly 50-member advisory group will be disbanded after Wednesday because they have done the tough work of putting together the various metrics his administration will use as it progresses with the various phases. A Boston-based consultant has also been hired as part of the states participation in a seven-state regional coordination. These are folks, amazing volunteers, who I would say in many cases over 100 hours a week, back-and-forth, late at night, emails, texts, Zoom, and I prevailed upon them to do this, Lamont said of the advisory group. I think this is probably a good time to turn that page, although weve gotten to know each other very well. And Zeke and Scott wont be able to hide and neither will a lot of the friends Ive made on the reopening committee. Many of them are going to stay actively involved. On Monday, a new executive order listed June 20 as a date to possibly open movie theaters and gyms, while allowing for large gatherings in excess of the current five-person limit. But Lamont said the date is merely a benchmark and all future phases will depend on how the first works. What were going to do is take May 20, take a look out two or three weeks, see how were doing against our different metrics, see if people are following the protocols and make some determinations about some of the phase two openings, and give people some notice, Lamont said. Metrics include declines in hospitalizations, as well as decreasing percentages of COVID-19 infections compared to the total number of people tested. Lamont reiterated that June 1 will be the day that hair salons and barbershops are allowed to open again. On April 8, in honor of state residents who died, Lamont ordered that state flags be flown at half-staff. On that date, 58 deaths were reported and the statewide total was 335. More than 10 times that number have now died from COVID-19-related causes. Lamont said hes learned a lot over the two months the state has shut down a portion of its economy in attempt to save lives. He said he tried to get the best and brightest to help the state cope with the crisis, which pushed hundreds of thousands of people to unemployment. He described himself as cautiously confident going into Wednesday. He pointed to the order to raise the flags. That does not mean that some guy is hanging up the mission accomplished banner, but it does mean that if you guys stay disciplined, focused on what weve got to do, make sure you wear the masks, listen to what Scott and Zeke said, Lamont said. I think were going to turn the corner on May 20 and be able to to get through this summer together as a state. kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT On Monday the Catalan government announced plans to administer one million serologic tests in order to draw up the map of COVID-19 immunity among the Catalan public, as reported by this newspaper last Sunday. The Catalan Health Ministry has revealed that the test which detects the presence of virus-fighting antibodies will be aimed primarily at health care professionals: 170,000 hospital and primary care staff across Catalonia. So far several hospitals have already begun surveying their staff, including Barcelonas Hospital Clinic and Parc Tauli in Sabadell. The results that this national plan is expected to yield will be used to determine the level of immunity among health care staff. The survey will also include staff employed in a range of hospitals and clinics, care homes and other facilities. Also included will be the entire workforce of the medical emergency service, as well as first responders like local and Catalan police officers who have been in close contact with patients, even though they are not employed by the health service. While a calendar has not been decided yet, the plan is to evaluate the immunity condition of healthcare personnel over the next twelve months. Adria Comella, the director of Catalonias Health Service, and Robert Fabregat, the general manager of research and innovation in health care, have explained that the plan will cost around 5M and that it aims to monitor the unfolding of the pandemic and to establish the profile of patients who recovered from the illness by place of residence, age, profession and underlying condition. The healthcare executives have also indicated that they intend to test other grups, such as individuals who were suspected of having caught the disease and were dealt with as such, but were not given a PCR test for confirmation purposes, as well as the prison population. The testing will be conducted in several waves to complement the data on the spread of COVID-19 and its evolution. Fabregat noted that the survey will allow the Catalan authorities to draw a more accurate picture of the situation in Catalonia as a whole and to compare the impact of the pandemic on certain groups and at the various stages in which the lockdown restrictions have been eased. For instance, they will be looking at the Odena region, where the first critical outbreak was recoded in Catalonia, and Terres de lEbre, where COVID-19 has barely had an impact. Furthermore, the health authorities intend to test labourers currently working in Lleidas fruit harvest. Fabregat pointed out that these people have been living together in close quarters for some time and it is important to spot any new cases as soon as possible. Geographical differences The results of this survey will complement the study by Spains Health Ministry, which kicked off a few weeks ago, whose preliminary results suggest that only six per cent of Catalans have tested positive for antibodies. This newspaper approached a number of experts who have indicated that Catalonias actual immunity figure might be higher because several areas that have been hit hard by the pandemic, such as Odena, Barcelona city and the larger metropolitan area, were included in the results of one single province. Therefore, Madrids data could be skewed or biased. Specifically, healthcare professionals will be tested in hospitals, whereas patients who presented with COVID-like symptoms but werent given a PCR diagnostic test will be given an appointment with their primary care centre for serologic testing. As for other groups, no decision has been made yet, but Fabregat said that one option would be for pharmacies to handle the tests. This survey stems from a research project carried out by the Microbiology and Immunology services of Barcelonas Hospital Clinic working with researchers from IDIBAPS, ISGlobal and Centre de Regulacio Genomica (CRG). Besides the Clinic, other Catalan hospitals that will also contribute to the project are Vall d'Hebron, Sant Pau and Hospital del Mar (Barcelona), Josep Trueta (Girona), Arnau de Vilanova (Lleida), Joan XXIII (Tarragona), Bellvitge (L'Hospitalet de Llobregat), Germans Trias (Badalona), Parc Tauli (Sabadell) and Althaia (Manresa). Catalan health ministry officials also indicated that a number of clinic laboratories will play a role in the study: Clilab Diagnostics (Consorci de Laboratori Intercomarcal de l'Alt Penedes, l'Anoia i el Garraf) and Cat Lab. Massive PCR testing makes no sense The general manager of research emphasised that primary care centres will play a key role in PCR and antibody testing, once the lockdown has been lifted. Primary care facilities must drive this effort, whilst ensuring that they do not exceed their capacity. At the moment their main goal is to manage new cases and their contacts by means of PCR testing and do follow-up work on patients who reported symptoms in the last months by testing them for antibodies, he insisted. Catalonias PCR testing capacity has increased in the last few weeks, according to the health authorities. As the lockdown restrictions are progressively lifted, Fabregat estimates that the system could administer about 17,000 tests daily, a figure that will rise significantly over the next three or four weeks. However, Fabregat stated that testing volume will remain below capacity and that primary care centres will guarantee that everyone who needs a PCR test, gets one although massive PCR testing makes no sense as it is an unsustainable effort for any country. Testing is not the solution to everything; instead, we need to bear in mind its intended purpose, he said. In order to ascertain whether someone is an active COVID-19 case, a direct test is needed and PCRs are the most reliable tool. In contrast, a form of indirect diagnostic tool is required in the case of patients who are recovering or have completely recovered from the disease. Serologic tests measure the antibodies produced by our immune system. On Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the Capitol region of New York, which encompases Albany, can begin to reopen on Wednesday. A day earlier, Cuomo had said that Western New York, the area around Greater Buffalo, will begin reopening on Tuesday. These actions followed the governor tweaking the states reopening guidelines to make Buffalo and Albany may soon be eligible, but New Yorkers wont know for several weeks at least if reopening increased the spread of COVID-19. On May 5, Cuomo said that the state will begin allowing regions to start reopening as long as they meet seven metrics that include: a decrease in hospitalizations and deaths over a 14-day period, 30% of hospital and intensive care unit beds available, a decline in new hospitalizations, the capacity to run 30 COVID-19 tests per 1,000 residents and 30 contact tracers for every 100,000 residents. Neither the Capital Region nor Western New York met these requirements, as they were 10 days away from reaching the 14-day benchmark and had only seen a small decline in hospitalizations and deaths. Over the weekend, Cuomo changed these restrictions, so that as long as this criteria had been met from May 15 forward, those regions would be able to reopen, provided they identified the required number of contact tracers, which is 30 for every 100,000 residents in the area. On Monday, Western New York reached its goal of 521 tracers, resulting in its ability to reopen. The Mid-Hudson region had also hoped to reopen this week, despite having met only five of the states seven metrics, but it was denied as it was one of the hardest hit regions during the height of the states COVID-19 outbreak. As soon as Albany and Buffalo reopen, the only regions still shut down will be New York City and its surrounding suburbs, which contain 70% of the states population and which were the hardest hit by the virus. All other upstate regions began reopening on May 15. While one might wonder whether letting regions reopen before theyve met the decreasing caseload criteria is safe, Dr. Robyn Gershon, a clinical professor of epidemiology at New York Universitys School of Global Public Health, told City & State that shes not concerned, since Western New York and the Capitol Region have seen fewer than 15 hospitalizations and five deaths within a three-day period, she feels meeting the 14-day benchmark is inconsequential. However, Gershon said it will be impossible to know if these metrics helped to contain the virus in the regions that have reopened until weeks from now. Two, three, four more weeks after (a region has) reopened: what happens then will really tell us how well our measures our social distancing, our face mask usage have worked, Gershon said.Cuomos administration did not respond to a request for comment. Even the countries that have been praised for their stealthy response and containment of the virus, such as South Korea, Germany and China, saw an uptick in new COVID-19 cases after they began relaxing some restrictions. Public health experts expect that the U.S. will similarly see COVID-19 cases re-emerge in June, as it relaxes its social distancing measures. Because COVID-19 may take from five to 14 days after transmission for symptoms to appear and some infected with the disease may be asymptomatic, it is difficult to track the number of new coronavirus cases and make sure that lockdowns are reinstated before widespread community transmission has occurred. While certain regions may not see an increase of COVID-19 hospitalizations within a 14-day period, that doesnt mean people are not becoming infected. Many New Yorkers have not even set foot into a hospital unless theyre extremely sick, and antibody tests have suggested that many New Yorkers who contracted the virus were never tested, which means that there may be COVID-19 cases in these regions that are not being documented. That makes acting with the utmost caution incredibly important. If you do good things now, you see good results three to six weeks from now, Tara Kirk Sell, a professor at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told The Atlantic. If you dont do the right things now, then it takes a little while to see those opposite results. Its also highly likely that the actual number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in New York and across the country are incomplete, due to a lag in data reporting and collection, according to The Atlantic and The New York Times. The only way the state would be able to effectively assess how it's doing, and to contain outbreaks, while reopening is with wide-scale testing and contact tracing. But without beefed-up testing capacity, the state doesnt stand a chance at properly executing its contact tracing program. State officials have been asking the federal government to provide it with the funding it needs to ramp up its testing capacity since March. In late April, President Donald Trump agreed to help the state increase its testing capacity to 40,000 tests per day but that number is still far below the amount of tests experts estimate would be needed to safely reopen. Ultimately, it will take at least three weeks, possibly more like six, to know if reopenings were done in a safe enough way that future COVID-19 outbreaks were prevented, according to the Associated Press. Until then, it would behoove the state to fight its own quarantine fatigue and exercise the utmost caution before giving its regions the okay to enter into its first or second phase of reopening. Vodafone Ghanas exemplary digital channels have simplified its engagement with customers during this unprecedented period. The Telco has empowered customers to digitally access its products and services from the safety of their homes whilst enjoying convenience, ease of use and speed. This is in line with Vodafones commitment to ultimately reduce customers risk of exposure to the virus. The Telcos digital platforms include MyVodafoneApp, a unique self-care mobile application, which allows customers to purchase voice and data bundles, send money, top up their account, see the last few transactions and raise any customers concerns and many more. Essentially, the app combines customer touchpoints and enquiries in one place. Customers can download the free app from the Google Play Store and App Store. Vodafone also introduced TOBi, an industrys first virtual assistant that performs customer care functions and provides 24-hour assistance to customers on products, services and enquiries. The machine learning chatbot addresses basic enquiries via messenger chat on social media and MyVodafoneApp. TOBi continues to improve itself by taking feedback and learning from its interactions with customers. Today, payments for all Vodafone services can simply be done via the phone using Vodafone Cash, Ghanas most secure mobile money platform. Customers can also use the platform to purchase airtime, bundles and pay utilities. Vodafone has also waived charges on transfers to other Vodafone Cash users. This has brought great relief to customers during this period. Additionally, customers can connect with Vodafone Ghana via its social media handles @vodafoneghana on Instagram, @AskVodafonegh on twitter and facebook.com, www.vodafone.com.gh and via WhatsApp on 0501 000 300. Vodafone Business and fixed broadband customers can also conveniently manage and pay their bills via the online platform https://myvodafone.vodafone.com.gh/pay. Enterprise customers can also call the toll-free number 0800 10 000 from any Vodafone number or 0302 334 040 from any number. Commenting on Vodafones digital customer experience channels, Angela Mensah-Poku, Director of Commercial and Digital Transformation said: Ahead of the outbreak, we began a journey to deliver our customers needs digitally, in line with our passion for creativity and innovation. This birthed various channels that are empowering our customers to, amongst other things; manage their account, purchase bundles, pay bills, request broadband service and initiate sim swap process. Whilst we have in place measures that ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone who visits our shops, our digital channels simplify interactions with customers and offer them convenience and flexibility. Vodafone Ghanas consistent pursuit of new technology to enhance experience and offer convenience, has given customers incredible benefits during this period. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Illustration of the Five Eyes (FVEY) By Nie Shuyi Kevin Rudd, former Australian Prime Minister, continuously posted on social media on May 10, local time, asking the US, the Australian government, the Five Eyes (FVEY) and Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, demanding answers for what's the top-secret intelligence of the 15-page so-called "virus source" dossier. Rudd pointed out that the fundamental purpose of this farce is to get rid of the accusations of ineffectiveness in the fight against COVID-19 of the Trump administration, and Murdoch was helping Trump to get re-elected. In addition to Australia, the UK and Canada also do not support the relevant statement about "Top Secret Intelligence."According to a report on the website of the US Foreign Policy magazine, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that it is too early to conclude the "origin of the virus"; a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the origin and spread process of the virus "needs work with international partners including China." The friction between the countries of the FVEY caused by the pandemic is actually just the tip of the iceberg of disputes and disagreements within the FVEY over the past years. At a time when American unilateralism is on the rise, this once-integrated global intelligence network has already cracked because of complex geopolitics and national interests. The FVEY composed of the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand can be said to be the top "circle of friends" of the US global intelligence network. But in fact, the FVEY is not an equal alliance structure. The FVEY was born out of the technical intelligence cooperation system established by the US and the UK during World War II. After the end of World War II, the cooperation agreement was revised, and the three countries, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, joined as independent countries to form the so-called FVEY. During the Cold War, the FVEY gradually formed a pattern with the US as the core, the UK and Canada as the second echelon, and Australia and New Zealand as the third echelon. After the 9/11 attacks, Australia was gradually promoted to the same position as Canada, forming a flat pattern with the US as the core, the UK, Canada, and Australia on an equal footing while New Zealand is relatively weak. From this perspective, the FVEY is nothing but the grasp of the intelligence network that the US uses to monitor the world. The intelligence services of the other four countries are nothing but tools of the American intelligence service. In the meantime, the conflict of interest among the FVEY countries is also intensifying. Since Trump took office, under the "America first" or even "America No.1" thinking, the zero-sum game thinking of the US has also harmed the interests of the other four countries. Taking the construction of 5G networks as an example, the Trump administration has used "Huawei jeopardizes the security interests of Western countries" as an excuse and asked the other four countries to cut with Huawei in the past two years. But for these countries, the abandonment of Huawei may bring substantial economic losses. Canada's Globe and Mail reported that if Huawei's products and services were banned, it would cause damage to Canada's largest telecommunications companies, including Bell and Telus, by more than $1 billion, and severely affect the deployment of 5G networks. Despite the strong opposition of the US, the British government decided in April this year to allow Huawei to participate in the construction of 5G networks in the UK and emphasized that the government will not discuss the decision again. This also shows that although the four countries still rely on the US in the field of intelligence and security, they are also reluctant to follow the US in a circumstantial areafor their own national interests. The false intelligence incident once again made other FVEY countries realize how brazen the American politicians can ignore the interests of their allies for the sake of political self-interest. In fact, under the constant erosion of US unilateralism, the continued deepening of internal suspicions is a foreseeable general trend, whether in the FVEY or America's alliance system. (The author is a commentator at Haiwainet.cn, People's Daily Overseas Edition.) Police and fire investigators launched a criminal probe Sunday into the cause of an explosion at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles that sent firefighters running for their lives. Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Departments major crimes division were working with the city Fire Departments arson investigators to determine what might have sparked the blast that shot a ball of flames out of the building Saturday night and scorched a fire truck across the street, police spokesman Josh Rubenstein said. Were in the very early stages of the investigation to understand what happened and figure out how to move forward, he said. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was assisting local fire investigators, an agency spokeswoman said. The blast injured a dozen firefighters. Some of them who ran out onto sidewalks, where they tore off their burning protective equipment, including melted helmets, officials said. Everybody off the roof! a firefighter shouted in scanner traffic captured on Broadcastify.com. Mayday mayday mayday! All companies out of the building. Mayday mayday mayday! another shouted. Firefighters first thought they were battling a routine structure fire, city fire Capt. Erik Scott told KNX Radio, but as they got a little farther in the building they started to hear a loud hissing sound and a significant rumbling that you could feel vibrating throughout the area. He said one significant explosion shook the neighborhood around 6:30 p.m. Firefighters inside had to run through a wall of flames he estimated as 30 feet high and wide, and those on the roof scrambled down a ladder that was engulfed in flames. Three firefighters were released after spending the night in the hospital, fire department spokesman Nicholas Prange said Sunday. Of the eight who remained hospitalized, two were in critical but stable condition, he said. Officials initially announced that 11 firefighters were injured. But Prange said a 12th was treated and released for a minor injury. All were expected to survive. Things could have been so much worse, said Los Angeles Fire Department Medical Director Dr. Marc Eckstein, who helped treat the injured at Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. There was light to moderate smoke when firefighters entered the one-story building in the citys Toy District and went on the roof normal procedures to try to quickly knock down any flames. Los Angeles Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said one of the firefighters inside the building thought things didnt seem right the pressure from the smoke and heat coming from the rear of the building were increasing. He directed everyone to get out, and they quickly started exiting the building as it was rocked by the explosion. Firefighters on the roof scrambled down ladders with their protective coats on fire. The wall of flames shot out the building and burned seats inside a fire truck across the street. More than 200 firefighters rushed to the scene, and dozens of engines, trucks and rescue vehicles clogged the streets. The fire spread to several nearby buildings, but firefighters were able to douse it in about an hour. Scott said the building was a warehouse for SmokeTokes, which he described as a supplier for makers of butane honey oil. Butane is an odorless gas that easily ignites, and its used in the process to extract the high-inducing chemical THC from cannabis to create a highly potent concentrate also known as hash oil. The oil is used in vape pens, edibles, waxes and other products. A call to SmokeTokes went unanswered on Sunday, and the companys voicemail was full. On its website, SmokeTokes advertises a variety of products including puff bars, pipes, dab tools, vaporizers, torches and butane, and cartridges. The company says it is an international distributor and wholesaler of smoking and vaping products, and related accessories. Prange, the LAFD spokesman, said carbon dioxide and butane canisters were found inside the building but that it was still not clear what caused the blast. Adam Spiker, executive director of the cannabis industry group Southern California Coalition, said he didnt know what activities were taking place inside the building. However, if the business was using butane in cannabis extraction it would be illegal because the city has never issued a license for that type of operation. Because of safety concerns, such businesses are typically restricted to industrial areas and kept away from urban centers. If they were doing volatile extraction with butane they couldnt be legal in the city of LA to do those types of activities, Spiker said. He said the coalition was unaware of the business having any type of license and something about this doesnt pass the smell test. Information so far puts up a lot of alarm bells, Spiker said. In 2016, there was another major fire at a business called Smoke Tokes at a nearby address. The Los Angeles Times reported at the time that it took more than 160 firefighters to put out the blaze and that they encountered pressurized gas cylinders that exploded in the fire. No one was injured in the fire. It was unclear whether that business and the one that burned Saturday were connected. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Energy Oil Gas Anwar Raslan, who is accused of beating and torturing detainees, has denied the charges against him, claiming instead that he helped to free prisoners reports Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. A former Syrian intelligence officer on Monday denied beating and torturing detainees in prison as he faced trial in a German court for crimes against humanity. In a written statement read by his lawyers, Anwar Raslan, 57, said he had neither beaten nor tortured prisoners at the Al-Khatib detention centre in Damascus, where he is charged with overseeing the murder of 58 people and the torture of 4,000 others. Sitting behind a plexiglass screen because of the coronavirus pandemic, Raslan appeared deep in concentration as his lawyers Michael Boecker and Yorck Fratzky took about 90 minutes to read his statement. Rather than torturing prisoners, Raslan claimed he had helped to free many detainees arrested in the uprising against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad from March 2011. The trial in Koblenz, which began on April 23, is the first court case worldwide over state-sponsored torture by the Assad regime. Raslan and fellow defendant Eyad al-Gharib, 43, are being tried on the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows a foreign country to prosecute crimes against humanity. As he entered the courtroom, wearing glasses and a dark jacket and sweater, Raslan greeted his two lawyers with a smile and a hand over his heart, a common greeting in the Middle East. It is the first time he has spoken publicly about the crimes he is charged with, allegedly committed at the prison between April 29, 2011 and September 7, 2012. Distance myself At the opening of the trial, prosecutors said Raslan had overseen rape and sexual abuse, electric shocks, beatings with fists, wires and whips and sleep deprivation at the prison. Referring to accusations made by witnesses, he repeatedly denied any responsibility, particularly in the case of an alleged rape. It is against our morals, against our religion, he said. I distance myself from such acts if they have been committed, he added. Raslan worked for 18 years in the Syrian intelligence services, where he rose through the ranks to become head of the domestic intelligence investigation service, according to a German investigator who testified on the second day of the trial. Raslan defected and fled Syria at the end of 2012 before arriving in Germany in July 2014 under a programme for Syrian refugees in need of special protection. The trial could last up to two years, according to observers, with the victims due to begin testifying in July. Wolfgang Kaleck, secretary general of the German NGO European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, which is supporting 17 victims in the proceedings, said Raslan had issued, not merely received and followed, orders in his department. We do not believe he played a minor role, Kaleck said. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, at least 60,000 people have been killed under torture or as a result of the terrible conditions in Assads detention centres. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. Islamabad, May 19 : A Pakistan anti-terrorism court has sentenced two men, said to be associated with the Islamic State (IS) terror group, to death in a case pertaining to the 2017 suicide blast at a shrine in Sindh province that killed around 70 people. On Monday, the judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court-XVI found the two men, Nadir Ali and Furqan, guilty of facilitating suicide bomber Barar Brohi who on February 16, 2017 blew himself up at the packed-to-capacity courtyard of the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, reports Dawn news. The court handed them capital punishment on 70 counts (for killing of 70 victims) and ordered to pay a collective fine of 14 million PKR each to the state. It also ordered the convicts to pay a collective fine of 14 million PKR, as compensation to the legal heirs of victims. The judge also awarded 10-year imprisonment to each convict for also injuring 65 people. They were ordered to pay a fine of 100,000 PKR for causing wounding each victim. Additionally, the convicts were awarded a collective sentence of 24-years each for their involvement in the bomb blast and ordered to pay 100,000 PKR fine each, said the Dawn news report. Nadir Ali was further given life imprisonment for possessing explosives in addition to seven-year imprisonment for possessing illicit weapons and a 50,000 PKR fine. However, their death sentences were subject to confirmation by the Sindh High Court. Other sentences of imprisonment would run concurrently. The case against five alleged absconding accomplices was kept on dormant file until their arrest or surrender. The court ordered protection of two private witnesses, who voluntarily turned up to testify against the convicts, during the trial leading to their conviction. The prosecution recorded testimonies of 29 witnesses, including police officials, who deposed that minutes before the blast three men hugged the suicide bomber and congratulated him on the premises of the shrine before leaving. [May 19, 2020] Media Alert - States Consider Broadening Sales Tax Base to Include Internet Services and Digital Advertising Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting: What: States considering broadening sales tax base to include internet services and digital advertising to increase tax revenues and help with dire budget challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on state economies. Why: States and municipalities across the nation face budget gaps related to the Covid-19 pandemic's economic impact on cities, counties, and states. Many have called their situations dire and have expressed the need for significant federal funding. On May 15, the US House of Representatives passed the #HeroesAct that would provide as much as $1 trillion directly to states and municipalities. This bill is already facing opposition in the Senate and even if a version of the bill is approved by Congress, and signed by the President, it will likely be weeks or even months before funds reach the states. To try to offset their potential budget gaps, New York, Maryland, and Nebraska introduced bills that would expand their respective sales tax bases to include digital advertising. The Maryland legislature passed the bill but their Governr recently vetoed it. It is expected that the legislature may override the veto when it convenes for a special session at the end of May. If the bill becomes law, it is expected to raise $100 million. The bills in New York and Nebraska remain stuck in committee. Some states are revisiting raising significant revenue by broadening their sales tax bases to include internet access (at one point the Congressional Research Service estimated that a sales tax on internet services could raise as much as $6.5 billion across the U.S.). That said, trying to apply sales tax to internet access and digital-only services, like digital advertising, would violate the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA), enacted in 1998 to protect the development of internet technology. States would need to find a way to overcome that. Who: Tax expert and influencer Mark Friedlich, CPA, Esq., Senior Principal, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting North America, is available to discuss these sales tax issues. PLEASE NOTE: The content of this alert is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. The information is provided with the understanding that Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. Contact: To arrange interviews with Mark Friedlich or other federal and state tax experts from Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting on this or any other tax-related topic, please contact: View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005359/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] T he UK has published its terms for a free trade agreement with the European Union as it looks to ramp up pressure on Brussels amid faltering talks over post-Brexit relations with the bloc. Announcing the move in Parliament on Tuesday, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said the Government had taken the decision to make public the UK's draft legal texts "to help facilitate discussions" in upcoming rounds of negotiations. Among the 12 documents being published is a 291-page draft comprehensive free trade agreement. Meanwhile, International Trade Secretary Liz Truss on Tuesday also published the tariff schedule the UK would operate at the end of the transition period for those countries with whom the UK does not have a free trade agreement. The moves came after the third round of talks between UK and EU negotiators once again ended in stalemate last week. 'You're better than that' - Gove interrupted while attacking Labour's Brexit stance Current sticking points between London and Brussels include disagreements over how fishing access will work after the ongoing transition period ends in December and the EU's call for Britain to continue following level-playing field arrangements. Making the UKs proposition public on a host of topics, ranging from energy to law enforcement, means all of the EU 27 member states will be able to see the offer on the table, not just the European Commission, which is conducting the talks. Prime Minister Boris Johnsons official spokesman told reporters at a briefing: We are publishing them as a constructive contribution to the negotiations so they are available to all and so that the Commission can share the text with the member states. But the spokesman added: We are not seeking to negotiate directly with member states and never have. Brexit briefing: 226 days until the end of the transition period Mr Gove meanwhile told the House of Commons that the EU wanted the UK to continue to follow its rules while itself refusing to row back on fishing rights. The EU essentially wants us to obey the rules of their club even though were no longer members and they want the same access to our fishing grounds as they currently enjoy, while restricting our access to their markets, he told MPs when answering an urgent question about the third round of talks. He added: To help facilitate discussions in the fourth round and beyond, the Government has today published the full draft legal text that weve already shared with the Commission and which, together with the EUs draft agreement, have formed the basis of all discussions. The UK texts are fully in line with the Governments document entitled The Approach To The Future Negotiations, which was published on 27 February. The former justice secretary said success in the fourth round of the talks, due to start on June 1, depends on the EU recognising that the UK is sovereign. Reacting to the UK's move, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said he welcomed the transparency being shown. I welcome the UKs publication of draft legal texts today," he said in a post on Twitter. Transparency is very important in negotiations." Mr Barnier also remarked that the European Commission had itself published a comprehensive legal agreement over two months ago, and, looking ahead, emphasised the need for progress in negotiations as the transition period progresses towards its scheduled December 31 expiry date. In the next round, we must make tangible progress across all areas, including level-playing field and governance," he said. Michel Barnier on Brexit negotiations: You cannot have the best of both worlds As it stands, the UK is set to leave the EU's single market and customs union at the end of this year, when the Brexit transition period is set to expire. The transition period came into effect upon the UK's formal departure from the EU, on January 31, and is aimed at offering negotiators on both sides time to hammer out a trade agreement while Britain remains bound to the bloc's rules in the interim. It can be extended, if both parties jointly sign off on such a move by the end of June. The Government has repeatedly ruled out prolonging the transition period, however. Signalling the Government's intentions to change its regulatory arrangements after the transition period comes to an end, Ms Truss on Tuesday confirmed that post-Brexit tariffs will see duties axed on around 62 billion worth of imports. The Department for International Trade said the new regime - to be called the UK Global Tariff (UKGT) - will also see tarrifs protected for industries such as agriculture, automotive and fishing. Items such as dishwashers, freezers and even Christmas trees will see zero tariffs under the regime, while the Government said cooking products such as cocoa and baking powder will also be levy free. The UK will also see thousands of tariff variations on products scrapped - including more than 13,000 tariff variations on products including biscuits, waffles, pizzas, quiches, confectionery and spreads. Ms Truss said: Our new Global Tariff will benefit UK consumers and households by cutting red tape and reducing the cost of thousands of everyday products. With this straightforward approach, we are backing UK industry and helping businesses overcome the unprecedented economic challenges posed by coronavirus. The Government has said it will maintain a 10 per cent tariff on cars, as well as those on agricultural products such as lamb, beef, and poultry to protect British industry. It has also set a temporary zero tariff rate on some products used to fight Covid-19 which would otherwise charge a levy under the new regime, though it added that most pharmaceuticals and medical devices - including ventilators - are set to be tariff-free. The Nigerian Navy (NN) has said it arrested 10 pirates who had hijacked a Chinese vessel, MV HAILUFANG II off the coast of Ivory Coast. It said 18 crew members on board the vessel were rescued. Commodore Ibrahim Shettima, the Commander Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT said that the arrest and rescue happened on 15 May. He said that the rescued crew members, comprising Chinese, Ghanaians and Ivorians, were attacked by pirates off the coast of Cote dIvoire. The pirates took control of the vessel and directed the vessel toward Nigerian waters, he said. Shettima said that the Nigerian Navy was alerted of the attack. It immediately dispatched the NNS NGURU to intercept the vessel. On interception of the vessel at about 140nm south of Lagos Fairway Buoy, the pirates refused to comply with the orders of the Navy Ship. Hence, the NN had to conduct an opposed boarding of the vessel. All ships crew were safely rescued, while the 10 pirates were arrested, he said. The commodore noted that the last five known or documented pirates attacks were outside Nigerian waters, which the NN responded in the interest of regional security. This is aptly captured in the NN Total Spectrum Maritime Strategy, which covers Nigerias outermost maritime area of interest, encompassing the entire West African waters and the GoG. This underscores the need for increased regional cooperation in terms of information sharing and further deepening of response capability. For instance, this rescue effort was bolstered by additional intel received from the Beninous Navy during the operation, he said. The NN also warned criminals within the GoG to desist from their acts. The NN has the capability and will power to deal with such perpetrators, he said. Shettima said the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ete Ibas, was committed to ensuring maritime security within Nigerias maritime space and the Gulf of Guinea. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Helsinki, Finland Tue, May 19, 2020 07:41 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8e7313 2 News Finnair,long-haul-flight,international-flights,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-lockdown,COVID-19-travel-ban,COVID-19-travel-restriction,reopening Free Finland's national airline will restart routes between Europe and Asia in July once countries begin to lift coronavirus restrictions on travel, the company announced on Monday. Beijing and Shanghai will be the first long-haul destinations to reopen, alongside Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok and three Japanese routes, Finnair said in a statement. Flights to Delhi and New York will follow in August. The move makes Finnair one of the first European carriers to restart intercontinental flights, after the Lufthansa Group announced on Friday it would resume 19 long-haul routes by early June. "We expect aviation to recover gradually, starting in July," Finnair chief commercial officer Ole Orver said in a statement, adding that the company intends to bring its operations back to one-third of normal capacity. Finnair cut 90 percent of its flights on April 1 and issued a profit warning as coronavirus restrictions brought international passenger travel almost to a standstill. Facemasks will be mandatory on all Finnair flights "until at least the end of August," Finnair spokeswoman Paivyt Tallqvist told AFP. "We have also taken a number of steps to avoid unnecessary movement on board," Tallqvist said, including having passengers disembark in smaller groups, and limiting capacity of shuttle bus transport between aircraft and the terminal to 50 percent. Flights along the so-called "shorter northern route" between Helsinki and Asia, bypassing the Middle East, have been a key part of the Finnish carrier's growth strategy in recent years, with passenger numbers on its Asian routes doubling between 2010 and 2018. On Monday, Finnair also announced it would restart 26 European routes in July, including to Brussels, Moscow, Prague and Paris. Destinations including Rome, Madrid and Warsaw would be added in August, the firm said. Finnair said it would open further routes on a monthly basis depending on demand and how travel restrictions change over the summer. 35 of the 92 people (38%) who attended services at a rural Arkansas church March 611 tested positive for the coronavirus, ultimately killing three, according to a case study released Tuesday by the CDC. Why it matters: Places of worship continue to be a problem for controlling the widespread transmission of the coronavirus, especially as some churches and local government officials push to loosen restrictions on religious gatherings. Contact tracing found that an additional 26 people were infected after interacting with attendees of the church, and one person from that group died. Most of the cases were aged 19 and older. Both the pastor and his wife developed coronavirus symptoms and closed the church indefinitely on March 12. The big picture: Outside of public service announcements on hygiene and social distancing, the CDC has largely left guidance on whether to reopen places of worship to the states. In Arkansas, the state banned indoor gatherings of more than 10 people, but exempted religious services. Almost 200 people are being quarantined after a possible cluster in California was identified after people attended a church service on Mother's Day, the Los Angeles Times reports. Kentucky and Kansas both had federal court rulings against their governors' orders to temporarily ban mass gatherings at religious services. The bottom line: Even with care and caution, in-person congregations can become hotbeds for coronavirus outbreaks as some states begin to reopen public spaces and businesses. Go deeper: Major coronavirus outbreaks around the world have been tied to religion Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is smart enough to know that auditors and inspectors general arent appointed to advance a political mission or make the boss look good. Their job is to ferret out waste, corruption and misspending. But as State Department Inspector General Steve Linick reportedly was investigating potential abuses of office by Pompeo himself, Linick got the boot on Friday. Pompeos ego is surpassed in this administration perhaps only by his boss. He and President Donald Trump hate having their judgment questioned. Pompeos ferocity went embarrassingly on public display in January when he lashed out at National Public Radio after a co-host asked questions in an interview that Pompeo deemed unauthorized. Linick was pursuing leads on two different fronts. One involved Pompeos emergency authorization of $7.5 billion in military sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, bypassing a congressional hold. Linick also was investigating complaints that Pompeo was using State Department staffers to perform personal errands for Pompeo and his wife. The New York Times described errands such as picking up the family dog from a groomer and having diplomatic security agents pick up restaurant takeout meals. Pompeo also used government aircraft for personal trips to Kansas when he was weighing a possible Senate election bid. If Linicks firing by Trump, at Pompeos request, was in retaliation for any of these probes, Pompeo deserves a lot of uncomfortable legal scrutiny. Even leading Republicans on Capitol Hill are expressing concerns about potential violations of federal law. Why have inspectors if they can be fired because their investigations make the president or other senior officials look bad? In a Washington Post interview Monday, Pompeo insisted he was not briefed on Linicks investigation. Pompeo is very careful with his words. Not briefed doesnt mean he didnt know what Linicks investigation entailed. It means no one formally sat down to give him the details in an official setting. Linick and other State Department inspectors general have, without partisan favor, been responsible for exposing tens of billions of dollars in waste and fraud during the past two decades. Linick, a veteran of Republican and Democratic administrations, issued an embarrassing report in May 2016 outlining then-Secretary of State Hillary Clintons decision to route official emails through a personal server in the basement of her home. The track record here is doubly troubling considering Trumps insistence that he retain the ability to fire inspectors monitoring how he dispenses aid under a $2 trillion pandemic-relief package approved by Congress in late March. Congress should close this firing loophole to make inspectors general truly independent of the officials theyre assigned to investigate. Previous administrations have respected inspectors independence as a necessary function of democracy. Why does this administration bristle at the idea of transparency and accountability like its an anesthesia-free root canal? A political earthquake is rumbling through Ivory Coast. On April 28, an Ivorian court found Guillaume Soro, a hopeful in the October presidential election, guilty of embezzlement and money laundering. The 48-year-old former rebel commander-in-chief was sentenced to 20 years in jail. The political dimension of Soros conviction was not lost on Ivorian citizens. They have watched his rise to power over the past two decades. But his presidential ambitions largely explain his judicial downfall. Soros conviction can be understood as the latest chapter of a power struggle that began to unravel since president Alassane Ouattaras re-election in October 2015. Several pointers appear to corroborate the suspicion that Soros prosecution was politically motivated. His arrest warrant was made public when it was known to all that he was in Europe, providing a compelling reason for him not to return home. The charges filed against him include conspiracy to overthrow sitting president Ouattara. The decision to proceed against him in absentia, alongside other concerns about due process, suggests that the governments main intention was to keep him at bay, not in custody. Overall, many Ivorians see Soros conviction as an attempt to exclude him from the presidential elections scheduled for late October. This would pave the way for the election of Ouattaras favourite candidate and current prime minister, Amadou Gon Coulibaly. Soros ascent to power There are much wider implications to these developments too what Soros conviction means for international criminal justice. Two interrelated questions stand out. Why did Soro fall from grace in the first place? And does his demise provide the International Criminal Court with a second and arguably undeserved chance to deliver justice for atrocities perpetrated during almost a decade of civil conflict in the West African country? There is arguably nobody in Ivory Coast who contributed more to Ouattaras ascent to the presidency than Soro. Soro was the commander-in-chief of the rebel forces that brought former president Laurent Gbagbos illiberal regime to an end. Soros military and political struggle to topple Gbagbo began with the failed coup of September 2002. It lasted until Gbagbos defeat and arrest in April 2011. Ouattara felt understandably indebted to Soro and rewarded him generously. For this reason, he also turned a blind eye on the atrocities perpetrated by Soros rebels as they marched on Abidjan. But as time passed and the wartime loyalties faded away, Soros past became a political liability for Ouattara and a looming threat for Ivory Coasts fragile democracy. Still, Ouattara twice came to the rescue of his former ally. His government refused to comply with two arrest warrants against Soro. One was issued by a French judge in December 2015. The other was requested by the government of neighbouring Burkina Faso in January 2016. The falling out Attitudes towards Soro began to change in late 2016, when Ouattara took institutional, political and judicial steps to distance himself from his former ally. Even the adoption of the new constitution, which established the position of vice president and added an upper chamber to the unicameral national assembly, provided an occasion to weaken Soros grip on power. But it was Soros suspected involvement in the mutinies of January and May 2017 that marked the point of no return. Now he was perceived as a threat to the Ivorian state, Soros finances and ties with wealthy benefactors suddenly came under close scrutiny by the national judiciary. Unwilling to accept Ouattaras proverbial olive branch and endorse his handpicked successor, Soro cut all remaining ties with the president. He resigned from the national assembly speakership and from his party in February 2019. It was then that Soro, no longer under Ouattaras patronage, became a viable target for international prosecution. A test for the credibility of the ICC Having Soro prosecuted in The Hague is certainly appealing to the Ouattara government. A domestic trial would be politically costly. And, given Soros popularity and influence over the military, likely conducive to civil turmoil. At the same time, recourse to international justice is not fail-proof either. The gross mismanagement of the case brought against former president Gbagbo and Charles Ble Goude is still fresh in the memory of many Ivorians. It led to their acquittal in January 2019. It also served to undermine the credibility of the Hague-based tribunal. Soros recent conviction offers an opportunity for improvement and redemption that the court cannot afford to pass. Apart from justice being done, bringing a case against Soro would also help address perceptions about the courts impartiality or lack thereof. It would be the first international prosecution targeting a high-ranking member from the winning side of the civil war. On this point, it is worth recalling that scholars and observers of Ivorian politics have lamented the Prosecutors silence regarding alleged crimes committed by pro-Ouattara forces. Assuming International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensoudas office actually capitalises on this opportunity, how would Ivorian authorities react? Several cues suggest the Ivorian government wants the court to open a case against Soro, the sooner the better. Past interactions between Ivorian authorities and the Hague-based court may help make sense of why and how recent domestic decisions call for ICC scrutiny of Soro. A double win? Let us not forget that the Ouattara government surrendered both Gbagbo and Ble Goude to the international court, in 2011 and 2013 respectively. When it refused to surrender Gbagbos wife Simone, the Ivorian judiciary charged her with war crimes, thus halting the ICCs complementarity jurisdiction. Soro too has been convicted for crimes that do not fall within the International Criminal Courts subject-matter jurisdiction. There is nevertheless no worse country to be in than France for those who seek to escape international justice. For the past 25 years, French authorities have proactively investigated, arrested, and surrendered to international criminal tribunals suspects from numerous countries. These range from the Western Balkans to Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Central African Republic, Libya and Syria. Lastly, an ICC prosecution has far-reaching political and personal consequences for defendants that may even outlast their acquittal. This was proven by the fact that Gbagbo and Ble Goude have been unable to return home and resume their political careers pending appeal. A case against Soro would be a win for both the Hague-based court, in dire need of a credibility boost, and the outgoing Ivorian administration, seeking to smoothly transfer powers to someone who will continue, rather than undo, Ouattaras legacy. What remains to be seen is whether Soro will accept his grim situation or fight to fulfil his dream of capturing the presidency of Ivory Coast by any means necessary. Marco Bocchese, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Illinois at Chicago This article, slightly modified by Justice Info with the agreement of the author, is republished from The Conversation under Creative Commons license. Read the original article. By Laman Ismayilova Soz (Word) literature project has extended application deadline for the contest of poems, essays and photographs dedicated to nature protection. Initially, the last filing date was set for April 30, 2020, but the organizers decided to extend the deadline until July 31, 2020. The competition "Let's save nature with love!" is open for students receiving education in a specialty related to the ecology and nature in Azerbaijan. Kids aged 12 and older can join another contest titled "Nature through the eyes of children". According to the rules, all poems and essays should be in Azerbaijani, Russian and English. Those who wish to take part in the competition must provide their biography and photography. Poems, essays, photographs and artwork for the competition should be sent to the email address: [email protected] The final date is April 30, 2020. Soz (Word) literary project aims to promote works of national poets and writers and increase attention to literature. Supported by the Cultural Ministry and the State Economic University (UNEC), the project is important from the point of view of propaganda of Azerbaijani culture. Soz project is headed is famous poetess Nigar Hasanzade. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz In Aden, Yemen, deaths have reportedly surged to at least five times higher than normal, raising concerns and fears that the novel coronavirus has been spreading unhindered in the Yemeni port city. With war-torn capitals healthcare in shambles and ill-equipped medical facilities, hundreds more than what has been reported have succumbed to the COVID-19 disease since the first case was recorded at the government's interim capital over a month ago. According to Saddam al-Haidari, a physician at a public hospital, the death toll from the coronavirus registered in the city has "increased seven-fold", local media reported. Hospitals, in several areas, refused to admit the patients with COVID-19 like symptoms in recent days, health sources told a news agency. Medical facilities lacked the equipment and the PPEs to be able to treat the coronavirus. Not just that, several doctors in Aden abandoned their jobs due to lack of access to protective gear, and many hospitals shut down, as per media reports. Read: Not Just Taiwan! US Warns China It Could Reassess Hong Kong's Status; Fires Warning At Xi Read: China To Be Held Accountable At World Health Assembly Amid Coronavirus Crisis: Sources Patients collapsed near hospitals Save the Children's director of programmes in Yemen, Mohammed Alshamaa, reportedly said that teams on the ground witnessed how critical patients were sent away that reported respiratory distress. Some even collapsed near the hospitals, he added. An average of 50 deaths per day have been reported since May 7, which is five times higher than the baseline average of 10 deaths per day, the director stressed. Head of the Civil Affairs Department, that issues death certificates in Aden, told a news agency that over 86 deaths have been reported in Aden due to several epidemics and fevers in the last 24 hours and there was no treatment. Furthermore, the internationally recognised government and the World Health Organisation criticised the rebels for their lack of transparency, as just one death, has been recorded in territory under their control, according to reports. "We're hearing from our teams on the ground that there are patients who are dying at the door of the hospital, there are families who have lost two or three family members in the past few weeks, so that's particularly concerning," advocacy media and communications director for Save the Children, Yousra Semmache said. At a morgue service, a gravedigger in Aden said that he had never seen such constant flow of dead and piles of bodies even in a city that has seen multiple bouts of battles during the civil war, a news agency reported. Read: Judge Tosses Out Oregons Coronavirus Restrictions Read: UK Adds Loss Of Taste And Smell To List Of Coronavirus Symptoms (Image Credit: AP) When the gunman in last months mass shooting in Nova Scotia bought $800 worth of gas a few weeks before the massacre, those who knew hed done so didnt think much of it until the night the neighbourhood went up in flames. Those who knew the man who took 22 lives and left a trail of destruction across several small communities in the province said he was a psychopath, paranoid, and controlling, but also, a millionaire and very smart. He talked about the ways he knew to get rid of a body and claimed he kept the chemicals to do so in barrels under the deck of his house in Portapique, N.S. A heavily redacted document unsealed by the courts Tuesday revealed these details and also raised questions about the state of mind of the man who would go on to commit one of the worst mass murders in Canadian history. The document, used by the RCMP to obtain a search warrant in the days following the shootings, offers disturbing witness descriptions of the shooter. The gunman talked about the different ways he could get rid of bodies, either through burning or chemical means, one witness told the RCMP. The witness said the shooter talked about using lime and muriatic acid to get rid of bodies, and kept barrels of each under the deck of his Portapique property. Serial killer John Wayne Gacy was known to have used lime and muriatic acid to help dispose of some of the bodies of his victims in the late 1970s. Three witnesses interviewed by RCMP commented that the shooter had bought a large quantity of gas $800 worth in the weeks leading up to the massacre. On the night of the murders, he used gasoline to help set fire to his cottage, his warehouse and his cars. The next morning, he also burned down another house in Wentworth, N.S., after killing its occupants. The shooters long-time girlfriend who had been having drinks with the gunman before he assaulted her the night the massacre began told police that he had guns like the military people have and that he had put all of them on the front seat of his car. According to police documents, she told them he had approximately five guns, two of which were handguns, one of which was a military firearm the details of which were redacted and two more unnamed weapons, details of which were also redacted in the RCMP document. The girlfriend, whose name was redacted throughout the report, managed to escape that evening, and hid in the woods until she was found by police the following morning. The report also indicated the police believe the shooter obtained parts of his uniform from a retired RCMP member. That is just some of the information brought to light in the document after Nova Scotia provincial court Judge Laurel Halfpenny MacQuarrie released the first of a series of information-to-obtain (ITO) documents and production orders that were filed by the RCMP in the wake of the Portapique, N.S. shootings. An ITO document is the rationale submitted by police to a judge in asking for a warrant. A production order compels a person or organization to produce documents and records to police. Lawyer David Coles, on behalf of a consortium of media organizations, requested the unsealing of the five ITOs and two production orders. Police have since filed 10 similar documents with the provincial courts. In the ITO, dated April 24, 2020, Sgt. Angela Hawryluk of the RCMP stated that police would be searching Gabriel Wortmans Portapique properties for, among other things, human remains. It was not just a search warrant. It was a search warrant and an assistance order, said Peter German, a retired RCMP deputy commissioner. And the assistance order requested the judges approval to perform excavations on the property. That combined with the fact that the police are seeking the assistance of an anthropologist leads me to believe that they are following up on the comments that he made to witnesses that he knows how to dispose of bodies. And they are being careful to ensure that there are no bodies buried on the property. An initial warrant had been filed to search the premises on April 20. The April 24 document sought to extend the term of that first warrant to accommodate the anthropologist, who would be travelling from Ontario. The ITO also raised questions about Wortmans state of mind in the days before the massacre. Various witnesses who knew the shooter told police he was: a millionaire and very smart, cheated, was a psychopath and abused (redacted). They also said he was controlling and paranoid, paranoid about the pandemic, and had a mental breakdown. The shooters girlfriend told police that though he was known to collect firearms, decommissioned police cars and role-play in a Mountie uniform, he wasnt a police officer wannabe and didnt like police officers and thought he was better than them. There definitely are red flags that were there, said German. People knew things about him, but theres no indication that those red flags reached the ears of the police, which is unfortunate. At the top of document released Tuesday, the RCMP lists the type of evidence it would be looking for should the judge grant a search warrant. The first item on that list is: a) Firearms, ammunition, explosives, chemicals, (redacted). It is unclear what that redacted item is, but it is again mentioned later in the list: g) Documents related to acquisition of firearms, ammunition, explosives, (redacted) and chemicals. A redacted item is mentioned in the same context later in the document: I believe that Gabriel WORTMAN had access to computers in order to keep track of his business dealings. Gabriel WORTMAN also collected firearms and (redacted) and I believe that he conducted research on these items. One witness told police that on the evening of April 18, he drove past the gunmans house, which was on fire, when an RCMP vehicle pulled up beside his car and as he rolled down the window to talk to what he presumed was a police officer, he was shot. The witness drove away and came across the first officer arriving on the scene. He told the officer hed been shot, and said that there is a police car down there or a car that looks like a police car that was shooting at them. Given that eyewitness evidence, it is not clear why police did not alert the public to the fact that the killer was driving a replica police car until the following morning. Questions have also been raised about the RCMPs failure to issue a province-wide emergency alert once the force knew a killer was on the loose. With files from The Canadian Press SM Steve McKinley is a Halifax-based reporter for the Star. Reach him via email: stevemckinley@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @smckinley1 Read more about: Colin Macy-OToole from Below Deck Mediterranean revealed that his first meeting with Madison Stalker from Below Deck Sailing Yacht was a little uncomfortable. Colin Macy-OToole |Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Macy-OToole, who is known for his friendly disposition joked with Stalker on his podcast, Radio Check about coming in for a hug and realizing she didnt know who he was. Stalker and Macy-OToole had a good laugh about the moment with Macy-OToole recalling the meeting as being more on the cringy side. It was the most awkward thing I ever said hello to ever in my life, he joked about their first meeting. I dont know how to emphasize that more. Macy-OToole met Stalker with other cast members He recalls meeting up with Parker McCown, Georgia Grobler, and Stalker when the trio was in town. Macy-OToole first received a text message from one of the Long Island charter guests. The guest, likely one of the Long Island bros shared that he was hanging out with the Below Deck Sailing Yacht friends. RELATED: Below Deck Med: Colin Macy-OToole Shares Wild Experiences in Boating (And the Funny Moment He Met Andy Cohen) Macy-OToole knew McCown through Facebook. Georgia and I have talked about music and stuff, he says. And Madison, I knew you were on the show, but we never talked before I met you. So we all go to this club and the first person I see is Georgia, he recalls. I give her a big hug. Then I see Parker, I give him a hug. And then I see you in the corner sitting on top of a couch. Macy-OToole says to Stalker. Then things get super awkward So Macy-OToole goes in for the hug with Stalker. And I could just tell that I didnt know if you didnt like me, or were like get away from me, he laughs. No, I was just like, Who f**king is this?' Stalker says laughing. Macy-OToole says he then apologizes to her. Stalker tells him she loves hugs, but was really thinking, Oh no was I f**ked up when I met you? Because do you understand how many times that happens to me? Where [its] like, Hey Mads! And Im like, Hey I probably met you when I was drunk. And I dont even remember who you are.' RELATED: Below Deck Sailing Yacht: Parker McCown Awkwardly Witnesses Jenna and Adams Fight (Exclusive) She thought that she had met him when she was drunk and then just didnt remember him. But Macy-OToole didnt know that and thought he had offended her somehow. I felt bad afterwards, Macy-OToole says. Because I just assumed everyone thats on Below Deck basically watches Below Deck, which I should not assume anymore. He hilariously recalled the situation where he eagerly approached her and she seemed to not know who he was. Like who the hell is this guy, he says as Stalker is heard laughing in the background. The misunderstanding gets funnier but ends well Macy-OToole figured Stalker didnt want to talk to him so he turned to Grobler to chat with her. Meanwhile, he thinks Stalker was concerned Macy-OToole was creeping on Grobler. Finally, Grobler let Stalker know that Macy-OToole was apart of the Below Deck family. RELATED: Below Deck Sailing Yacht Features the Most Awkward Marriage Proposal Ever At this point, Stalker and Macy-OToole are laughing on the podcast. She says, Im sorry Im such an awkward human! You know me now, but Im just silly and goofy and have the biggest heart. And I thought I was being the a**hole for not remembering meeting you! So thats why I looked confused. Both kicked off their friendship with a total misunderstanding, but Macy-OToole assured listeners that today they are besties. YouTube restores John Pipers Coronavirus and Christ audiobook after violation ban Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment YouTube restored access to Reformed theologian John Pipers audiobook Coronavirus and Christ on his Desiring God channel Monday after taking it down last week for "violating" the platform's community standards. The audiobook was uploaded to YouTube and DesiringGod.org on April 8 but was subsequently taken down from the video-sharing website on May 15 without any explanation except a notification saying the video was "removed for violating community guidelines." Even though it had been removed on Pipers channel, the video was still available on the Crossway Podcast YouTube channel here and archived online. YouTube released a statement on April 28 announcing that in response to COVID-19, it had expanded its fact check information panels to the United States by up-ranking, down-ranking and demonetizing certain videos that mention the topic. On April 7, YouTube Chief Product Officer Neal Mohan told Axios that the Google-owned platform had already removed thousands of COVID-19 videos for violating policies YouTube's policies [about the new coronavirus] are entirely focused on the content of a video and not who is doing the speaking, Axios reported. After being reinstated, Pipers audiobook on the Desiring God YouTube channel jumped from over 187,000 views to more than 200,700 views as of Tuesday afternoon. In the book, Piper, the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the founder of Desiring God, offers six biblical answers to the question: What is God doing through the coronavirus? YouTubes censorship of the audiobook followed a call by 22 military chaplains to discipline a senior army chaplain for sending nearly three-dozen other chaplains an email containing a copy of the e-book. The 22 military chaplains, some of whom are from the LGBT community, had a problem with the book because it states that some people will be infected with the coronavirus as a specific judgment from God because of their sinful attitudes and actions. Representing the 22, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which advocates for a strict separation of church and state within the U.S. military, urged Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to punish Senior Chaplain Col. Moon H. Kim. Kim is the command chaplain of U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea, the largest U.S. military installation outside of the United States. The complainants, MRFF said, do not subscribe to the ultra-conservative/Reformed/evangelical Christian theology of John Piper. In a section titled, Examples of Specific Judgements on Specific Sins, Piper wrote that one example is the sin of homosexual intercourse, citing 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. A copy of Kims email that contained the PDF sent to the chaplains was reviewed by The Christian Post. 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 [government] endorsement and validation of what the book espouses and proclaims. Reps. Doug Collins, R-Ga., Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., and 18 other Republican House members signed a joint letter asking the Pentagon to protect the religious liberty of service members from the demands of an anti-religion group. Piper also responded to the issue in a 17-minute audio interview posted online. I think it would be fair to say that some of my views about what the Bible teaches, even rightly understood, the author of that letter hates. He hates what I think, Piper said, referring to MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein. They are, he says, incendiary, bigoted, vulgar not just because he misunderstands, but, in part, because he does understand, and thats how he thinks and feels about some of what the Bible teaches. I consider all of those views to be true because they are what the Bible teaches, and therefore, theyre very valuable to know, Piper stressed. So I think its not just that he misunderstands, but that he gets some things right in those quotes, and he just doesnt like them. Piper said there are three areas where Weinstein seems to misrepresent his stance in either the letter to Esper or an earlier interview with CP. For example, when I say that some people will be infected with the coronavirus as a specific judgment from God because of their sinful attitudes and actions, he assumes that I know who those people are, or at least what kind of people they are, Piper said. But heres what I write on page 72. ... The coronavirus is ... never a clear and simple punishment on any person. The most loving, spirit-filled Christian, whose sins are forgiven through Christ, may die of the coronavirus disease. But it is fitting that every one of us search our own heart to discern if our suffering is Gods judgment on the way we live. Edmonton, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Grizzly Discoveries Inc. (TSXV: GZD) (OTCQB: GZDIF) (FSE: G6H) ("Grizzly" or the "Company") invites investors to join Michael Dufresne - M.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., for a webinar detailing the investment opportunity and results potential at its road accessible, gold-silver-copper projects located in southeastern, British Columbia, Canada. The Company has work programs planned and anticipates news with results during Q3 and Q4 of 2020. Live Webinar The Grizzly webinar will take place on Wednesday, May 20th at 12:00pm EST. The link provides online registration to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_W44xNKLTSBqfEzW7eX2eJg After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. The webinar event is facilitated by Paul Benwell & Associates (PBA). ABOUT GRIZZLY DISCOVERIES INC. Image 1 To view an enhanced version of Image 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/4488/56061_5a471aa414294841_003full.jpg Grizzly is a diversified Canadian mineral exploration company with its primary listing on the TSX Venture Exchange with 67.1 million shares issued, focused on developing its precious and base metals properties in southeastern British Columbia. The Company holds, or has an interest in, over 156,000 acres of precious-base metal properties in British Columbia, Canada. On behalf of the Board, GRIZZLY DISCOVERIES INC. Brian Testo CEO, President Tel: (780) 693-2242 For further information, please visit our website at www.grizzlydiscoveries.com or contact: Jim Greig Corporate Development Tel: 778-788-2745 Email: jgreig@grizzlydiscoveries.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56061 Sonam Kapoor's Sweet Note For Her Parents Sharing two adorable pictures of her parents, Sonam captioned them as, "Happy happy anniversary parents.. I love you so much and miss you so much. 36 years married and 11 years of dating! Insane ! Your love story is the best kind filled with love laughter and family and because angst only belongs in films not real life. Love you love you love you ps ( you both also produced the three most confident and crazy children ) we hope we make you proud! @anilskapoor @kapoor.sunita." Anil Kapoor Says He Chose Love Over Career Earlier, the Malang actor shared a video, in which he recounted the moments before he popped the question to Sunita and said," This is the beginning of a long love story on the night of May 17. I signed a kind of important film, which was a big step in my career, and on May 18, I took an even bigger step. I proposed to my girlfriend Sunita and asked her to be my wife. Oh God, I was so stressed. I kept on postponing and postponing... A time came when I had to choose career or love. I chose love and I proposed to her on May 18." Anil Kapoor And Sunita Kapoor's Love Story Is Straight Out Of A Bollywood Film "I fell in love with her voice first. I thought oh God, what a beautiful voice yaar, kya English bolti hai, pronunciation is so well'. I met her for the first time at Raj Kapoor's house. She was so attractive, and if I may say, sexy also... she wore these gogo glasses, which are big, round and rimmed. Then we started chatting on the phone, and our friendship grew. First, it was a very platonic friendship, which developed into love. I started missing her when she wasn't around. I had to speak to her, I felt a vacuum. I would travel by buses to meet her," Anil recalled in an interview with Hindustan Times. Some Major Relationship Goals For Us In a Humans Of Bombay post, Anil had said that Sunita has always been his strong pillar of support. He was quoted as saying, "They don't make people like her anymore. She's the perfect mother, perfect wife...and the reason I wake up every morning, motivated. You know why? When I ask her, Arrey, yesterday only I gave you so much money' she says, Woh sab khatam ho gaya...it's all finished!' and I jump out of bed and run to work!" Officials are expected to discuss issues aimed to help unblock the work of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk. Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba are planning to visit Berlin on June 2 to conduct consultations on Donbas settlement within the Normandy Four and the Trilateral Contact Group. That's according to UNIAN's informed source in diplomatic circles. During the visit, consultations are set to be held with the advisor to the Federal Chancellor for International Affairs, Jan Hecker, and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. Read alsoRenewed Ukrainian delegation holds first meeting in Minsk talks on Donbas settlement The officials are expected to discuss issues aimed to help unblock the work of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk, including toward opening more checkpoints along the line of contact, agreeing on another ceasefire effort, and conducting another stage of prisoner swap. Earlier, on May 16, the Presidential Office reported that Andriy Yermak had held a meeting with the G7 Ambassadors and the head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine. At the meeting, Yermak said that in the coming weeks he would pay a visit to Berlin alongside foreign minister Kuleba, where consultations on ways to increase the efficiency of the Normandy format and Minsk talks would continue. The Verkhovna Rada has sent for the first repeated reading bill No. 2693 on media. Some 278 deputies voted for such a decision, an Interfax-Ukraine correspondent reported. The authors took the initiative to send the bill for a repeated first reading. "We received dozens of requests from media representatives, had a three-day video conference with the Council of Europe. At the moment, many structural amendments are needed. It's better to submit it [draft law] for a second first reading. The changes relate to the powers of the National Council and the regulation of online media, and bringing many provisions, including on broadcasting communities, to the rules of the European Directive on Audiovisual Media," said author of the bill and chairman of the Rada's Humanitarian and Information Policy Committee Oleksandr Tkachenko. The author of an alternative bill, MP of the European Solidarity faction Mykola Kniazhytsky, supported the idea on the basis of two documents and, taking into account the existing proposals, to write a new bill. Dame Joan Collins has criticised the UK government for being 'ageist' to those over the age of 70 amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis. In her column for The Spectator on Sunday, the actress, 86, claimed government advice saying elderly people needed to stay indoors during the global pandemic was 'utter discrimination'. Holding nothing back, she said: 'I've always thought Western society was terribly ageist, and I don't just mean showbiz folk but across the board. Calling it out: Joan Collins, 86, criticised the UK government for being 'ageist' and their 'utter discrimination' against over-70s during the coronavirus crisis in a column she wrote on Sunday 'Then the UK government insisted the over-70s, horrible expression, were part of the vulnerables, an even more horrible expression, and should remain in lockdown, the most horrible expression of all, until a vaccine is found. 'That was utter discrimination against the hardy individuals who have no health issues. But more harmful was bolstering the existing belief among the general public that the old should keep out of everyone's way.' The Dynasty star added that she declared 'stunningly healthy' by her GP on her most recent visit, and has never limited herself by her age, which was true of others too. Holding nothing back, Joan claimed the government telling those over 70 to stay inside was 'discrimination' and 'harmful' because of how it allowed the public to treat older people Joan said there are 'hundreds of thousands' of people like her that are certain to feel the same way about being told to stay indoors throughout the UK's lockdown. Picking out fellow elderly actors, Joan said it was a shame 88-year-old Coronation Street star William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow, was not allowed to return to work because of the government's advice. She also detailed her shock when pal Christopher Biggins, 71, was stopped by members of the public during a run, because they believed he should remain inside. Earlier this month, Joan declared she'd 'settle' at living til she's 100 - and brushed off the age difference between her and husband Percy Gibson. Joan married Percy, 55, in 2002, and said in a new interview that 'people make too much fuss about age, which is just a number.' Speaking to The Mirror, Joan said: 'I think theres a big difference between biological age and the age youre supposed to be. 'As you know, [Percy] is somewhat younger than me. At first people would always say, "What are you going to do about the age difference?" Id say, "Well, if he dies he dies!"' She mused: 'Will I outlive you all? No, I dont want that. Ill settle for 100 years old, like Olivia de Havilland, who played Melanie in Gone With The Wind. She lives in Paris and is still going strong.' Following an abnormally warm start to the week for portions of the Plains, the threat for severe weather will ramp up midweek. On Monday night, a few strong thunderstorms produced damaging winds that snapped large tree branches and brought down power lines for portions of Montana. Hail-producing thunderstorms followed on Tuesday. More numerous severe thunderstorms are expected to follow at midweek across portions of the northern and central Plains. Unseasonably warm conditions to start the week and an influx of moist air will help provide the atmospheric fuel for some potentially explosive storms into Wednesday night. Storms are expected to initiate just east of the Rockies and push into parts of Nebraska, the Dakotas and even into the southern portion of Canada's Saskatchewan province through Wednesday night. A separate area of severe weather will also rattle western Texas during this time. CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP Very large hail, damaging winds and localized flash flooding will be the greatest threats with Wednesday's storms. However, even an isolated tornado or two cannot be ruled out. An AccuWeather Local StormMax of 70 mph is possible in the strongest storms. The risk of thunderstorms is expected to shift slightly to the east on Thursday, and any severe weather is anticipated to be isolated in nature. Following another lull in the severe weather on Friday, AccuWeather meteorologists anticipate another period of severe weather to ramp back up for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. "The threat of severe weather during the holiday weekend into the central and northern Plains will continue right to [the middle of next week]," AccuWeather's Lead Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said. Storms can bring damaging winds, hail and heavy rainfall over this period, Pastelok added. Isolated tornadoes are another danger. The threat zones this holiday weekend will also stretch into parts of the southern Plains. Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios. by Vladimir Rozanskij Churches and monasteries are among the most affected by the pandemic. Series of deaths at Lavra di St. Sergius, Novospasskij and Donskoj in Moscow, and at the patriarchal one of St. Daniel. Among the clergy and monks there are "denialists" ("it is not possible to get infected inside churches"). Many churches and monasteries remained open so as not to miss the indispensable offerings of the faithful. Patriarchate seeks new measures to support priests in economic difficulties. Support for widows of priests who have died of the virus. Moscow (AsiaNews) - While the country shyly begins to hope for a weakening of the epidemic, the Orthodox Church continues to count its victims, especially in monasteries. The community most affected continues to be that of Lavra di St. Sergius, where other deaths have occurred in the last few days: on May 15 the 61-year-old Igumen Ferapont (Apollonov, photo 2) died, one of the superiors of the monastic community, which followed the death of the 46-year-old Hieromonk Modest (Panchenko) (photo 1) and the Hierodiacon Kallist (Kosulin), as well as some simple brothers of the monastery. Monk Simon (Bajko), 68 years old, of the Novospassky monastery in Moscow, also affected by the pandemic, died this week. Fortunately, Metropolitan Dionisij (Porubaj) was cured of the coronavirus in the same monastery; other monasteries in which almost all the monks are infected are the large complex of the Donskoy of Moscow, and the patriarchal complex of St. Daniel. In the Ukrainian diocese of Vinnitsa, 49-year-old protoierey Aleksij Irodov, who served in the patriarchate of Moscow, died. The choir director, 60-year-old Mikhail Gareev, died in the Trinity church in Chelyabinsk in the Ural region. One of the oldest serving priests of the diocese of Moscow, 87-year-old protoierej Nikolai Djatlov, also died. Many wonder why Orthodox priests are so exposed to infection, so much so as to spark debates on social media and the national press. Even a Swedish newspaper, the Dagens Nyether, has investigated the matter, noting the uncertainties of Patriarch Kirill (Gundjaev) and the conflict that has arisen with the orthodox virus "denialist" fundamentalists, who maintain "it is not possible to get infected inside churches." Another reason is the difficulty of sustaining the churches and monasteries, which have remained open so as not to miss the indispensable offerings of the faithful. Several observers have highlighted the low confidence of the Russians in civil and ecclesiastical authorities. According to Andrej Zubov, interviewed by the Swedes, you in Europe are used to choosing the rulers, we in Russia are not. This is why people here think that the rules are made to get around." In particular, the rules imposed on church attendance have sparked many protests in various locations. The pandemic crisis further widened the dissent between the Ukrainian "national" Orthodox faithful, who chose the online liturgies (photo 4), and the "Muscovite" ones who went to the church demonstratively, with the result that the Ukrainian monasteries of the Patriarchate of Moscow are among the most affected by the virus. The spiritual father of the Sredneuralsky monastery near Yekaterinburg, the Igumen with the skhima Sergij (Romanov, photo 3), is one of the leaders of the "denialists". The Orthodox authorities had forbidden him to preach and speak in public after he cursed all those who speak of the closure of churches due to the "pseudopandemic", with heavy allusions to Patriarch Kirill himself. On May 14, however, he released a short video on Znak.com, in which the starets congratulates the faithful for the feast of the icon of "sudden joy", with the words: "The sun, the air and the water are our dear friends. My dear, we are alive and well, what I wish for you too". In these days the nuns of his monastery have broadcast a video of patriotic songs and dances in the woods, also to support the optimism of their spiritual director. The patriarchate, meanwhile, is looking for new measures to support priests in economic difficulties, creating lists of the neediest, blocking the layoffs of parish employees and supporting in particular the widows of priests who have died of the virus. Other initiatives are aimed at supporting the clinics, hospitals and care centers more closely linked to the Orthodox Church, and most active in the care of Covid-19 patients. By PTI SRINAGAR: Several political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, including the National Conference, on Tuesday demanded roll back of the new domicile rules, saying the BJP-led central government is "sneakily" speeding up new ordinances to redesign the Union Territory's demography while the country is battling the COVID-19 pandemic. The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday decided to reopen "fresh registration" for Kashmiri migrants and displaced persons, a move which was welcomed by the BJP and Kashmiri Pandit community. The decision paves the way for inclusion of bonafide people who migrated from the Union Territory. People belonging to West Pakistan, Valmikis, women marrying outside communities, non-registered Kashmiri migrants and displaced people will soon get domicile under a new set of rules issued by the administration. ALSO READ | New J&K domicile rules will give 'long due' rights to refugees, Kashmiri Pandits: BJP "In these severely difficult times of the global pandemic, which the world is struggling to deal with, the government of India is sneakily speeding up new ordinances to effect demographic changes in Jammu and Kashmir and turn its residents into a minority in due course of time," a statement issued by the Hurriyat Conference faction headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said. The new rules come when people are "already under duress", it said. The Centre "believes that at this time the world is distracted by the pandemic to take notice. "We fervently appeal to the global community and people with a conscience in India, to wake up to these happenings in J&K and respond to our situation in the light of ethics and principles of justice," the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat Conference said . The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the CPI(M) alleged that the move to bring new domicile rules was part of the BJP government's "ploy to redesign" the Union Territory that is bound to further widen the gulf between it and the rest of the country. The party said that "at a time when people are seriously concerned about the spread of the coronavirus, the BJP government is busy in redesigning the Union Territory". "The fresh domicile notification issued on Monday, while the region is under the grip of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, is extension of the unconstitutional and undemocratic assault carried out by the BJP government on August 5 last year," senior CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said in a statement here. The Centre on August 5 last year had revoked the special status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and divided it into Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh The National Conference (NC) on Tuesday said it vehemently opposes the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order, 2020, and Grant of Domicile Certificate Rules, 2020. The party demanded immediate revocation of these rules. "Both the S.O 1229 (E) Domicile law and S.O. 166 prescribing the procedure for grant of Domicile Certificate are made in exercise of power under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, challenged in a number of petitions before the Supreme Court, the hearing before the Constitution Bench has commenced and is proceeding ahead," the NC said in a statement. "With the constitutional validity of the Act impugned and the petitions under consideration of the court, the government, in tune with the universally accepted principle of 'constitutional proprietary', is under an obligation to desist from exercising powers under the impugned Act, including the power to promulgate domicile law and rules in question," it said. The NC said the party has taken a principled stand on the floor of the Parliament and outside that the decisions of August 5, 2019, are unconstitutional, unilateral as also against the federalism and the basic structure of the Constitution. "The party has pleaded these grounds before the court. "Events post August 5 in Jammu and Kashmir also indicate massive public disapproval of the decisions in all the three regions (Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh)," it added. Though the domicile order and rules would not be acceptable at any point of time in view of the known stand of the party, the NC said the measures are aimed at dis-empowering the people of Jammu and Kashmir and effecting demographic change. "The timing of the order and procedure in question is also grossly inappropriate and unethical in as much as when entire mankind including the people of Jammu and Kashmir are in complete lockdown and engaged in a battle of survival with the coronavirus," it added. The BJP hailed the new domicile rules notified in Jammu and Kashmir, with its president J P Nadda saying they will give the "long due" rights to all refugees as well as to Kashmiri Pandits living outside the union territory. The All Parties Migrants Coordination Committee (APMCC) said, "It was a Red Letter Day in real sense for the entire Kashmiri Pandit community as it now feels connected and their sentiments respected by the present central government" Youth All India Kashmir Samaj (YAIKS) president, R K Bhat, said the BJP government has taken another step for the welfare of the people. Col Tej K Tikoo, president AIKS, welcomed the move and said that this order rectifies nearly all the anomalies of the earlier orders and addresses the grievances of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits to a large extent. Other prominent Kashmiri Pandit organisations of Delhi, including Jammu and Kashmir Vichar Manch (JKVM) and Roots in Kashmir (RIK), expressed their gratitude to the Centre. Gardai outside the shop where Daithi Douglas was shot dead A 31-year-old Dublin man due to be charged with the 2016 feud-related murder of David 'Daithi' Douglas is expected to be flown to Ireland today on an Air Corps aircraft. A risk assessment carried out by gardai deemed it would be "unsafe" for Lee Canavan to travel from London to Dublin on a commercial plane. Instead, detectives from the garda Extradition Unit will travel to arrest Mr Canavan at an RAF airbase and travel back with him on the military plane, which is due to land at Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel this evening. It is expected he will then be arrested and taken to Kevin Street Garda Station ahead of a planned court appearance. Gruesome Mr Canavan is the suspected gunman in the gruesome Douglas murder case and has been in custody in England since his arrest on foot of a European Arrest Warrant in January. "Because this man is due to be charged with a murder which is part of a feud that has claimed 18 lives, it was deemed that it was not suitable for him to be put on a commercial flight," a senior source said last night. "It was deemed to be too much of a risk to himself and other passengers, so that is why he is being brought back to Ireland on a military aircraft. "A major armed garda operation will be put in place at Baldonnel for his arrival." Mr Canavan's extradition to Ireland was ordered last week at Westminster Magistrates' Court. Catherine Brown, on behalf of the Irish Government, said: "It's an accusation of murder with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and an accusation of criminal damage with a maximum sentence of 10 years. "It is said that 'Daithi' Douglas was standing at the door of his wife's shop when he was approached by a lone gunman who fired three shots at him. He fell back into the shop. "The requested persons proceeded to fire four shots into his head and body as he lay on the floor. A total of seven shots were fired. "His daughter was in the back of the shop at the time of the shooting. "He was taken to hospital and pronounced dead at 4.55pm. "The criminal damage occurred when a Mercedes vehicle, which was previously stolen in June 2016 from a property in Dublin, was used as the getaway vehicle for the alleged murder. "The requested person is seen exiting that vehicle along with another person." Mr Canavan had previously resisted extradition after claiming "overcrowding conditions" in Irish prisons. Mr Douglas (55) was murdered as part of the Hutch- Kinahan feud on July 1, 2016. In August 2018, senior cartel figure 'Fat' Freddie Thompson received a life sentence at the non-jury Special Criminal Court for murder. His DNA was found in two "spotter" cars used in the shooting, and detectives also identified him in CCTV footage as the driver of one of the vehicles. In January last year, Nathan Foley (21), of Rosary Road, Maryland, was given a six-year sentence for driving one of the cars used in planning the murder and involvement in setting the getaway cars on fire. Last February, Gareth Brophy (25), of Reuben Walk, the getaway driver of the car used in the murder, received 10 years. The political feud threatening the future of the US Postal Service. The United States Postal Service, in desperate need of emergency funding, is reported to be reviewing its package delivery fees. President Donald Trump has long said it should charge companies like Amazon far more for its services. But Amazons owner, Jeff Bezos, also owns The Washington Post long a focus of Trumps attacks. Al Jazeeras Shihab Rattansi reports. Chamoli has reported its first case of COVID-19 with one person testing positive for the virus in the district. The man had returned from Delhi along with his family to Mathkot Pajyana village in the district on May 15, Chief Medical Officer K K Singh told reporters here on Tuesday. His swab samples were sent for testing on May 17. He was staying along with his wife, two children and sister at a quarantine facility set up at a primary school in the village. After the man tested positive, he and his family were brought to the isolation ward of the district hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The U.S. government has announced tough restrictions on the sale of semiconductors produced using American equipment to China's Huawei. It claimed the restrictions are part of efforts to defend "national security." The aim is to strangle Huawei, which the Chinese government has been nurturing like a doting parent. Beijing responded with plans to invest around W3 trillion in a domestic chip manufacturer (US$1=W1,234). The U.S. and China have entered a full-fledged war in the area of semiconductors, which have both industrial and military value. The semiconductor industry is more than just a business sector in the U.S. and China. The U.S. government has been demanding that Samsung, TSMC and other global chipmakers to build plants in the U.S., seeking to realign the semiconductor ecosystem. Intel rolled out the new "pRam" computer chip late last year, aiming to change the entire playing field. The Chinese government meanwhile has been planning since 2015 to invest W170 trillion by 2025 to boost the country's semiconductor self-sufficiency to 70 percent. Japan, which fell behind Korea in the global semiconductor race, is trying to get Intel and TSMC to set up production bases there. But even as the world's superpowers are rolling up their sleeves to win the global semiconductor war, the only plan the Korean government seems to have is to invest W1 trillion in chip development over the next decade. That pales in comparison to the W170 trillion China is spending over a decade. The government has if anything been obstructive. What was it doing when it took Samsung as many as five years to get power supply to its memory chip plant in Pyeongtake due to protests from residents there? At one time it attempted to unveil Samsung's proprietary semiconductor production information on the grounds of public good, which could harm the country's industrial interest as global competitors are hell-bent on beating the world's memory chip leader. And tough regulations are hindering production at chip plants that need to operate around the clock. Semiconductors account for more than 20 percent of Korea's total exports. They are key components in not only high-tech IT products but also precision-guided weapons, and a strong semiconductor industry helps a country bolster its national security. Korean companies became global players through their own efforts and ingenuity. But now the U.S. and Chinese governments have launched a semiconductor war, there is no telling what kinds of pressure Korean companies may have to endure. As a huge storm brews outside the country's borders, Korean businesses are having to worry about how they will be affected by bureaucracy and politics here rather than getting on with their vital job. Acquisitions and mergers with foreign companies, too, have ground to a virtual halt. Does the government have the faintest idea what it is doing? A Sharadhaa By Express News Service There might be many successful films, but not every film reaches cult status. Om is one such film, says Shivarajkumar who played the titular role in actor Upendras third directorial. The film, which was released on May 19, 1995 celebrates its silver jubilee today. Calling Om a rare film that can be loved for generations, Upendra believes this kind of magic happens seldomly. One of the most cherished films in Sandalwood and across India, Om holds a Limca record for re-releasing more than 550 times. It was also released 30 times in Bengalurus Kapali theatre. The film, produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar under Poornima Enterprises, was a story written by director Upendra, who had written the screenplay. With chartbuster music by Hamsalekha and cinematography by BC Gowrishankar, Om was made with a 70 lakh budget. Interestingly, this gangster love drama featured real-life gangsters - Bekkina Kannu Rajendra, Tanveer, Korangu Krishna, and Jedaralli Krishnappa playing pivotal roles. As fans of Shivanna and Uppi are planning special celebrations amid the lockdown period, we caught up with the actor and director in a telephonic interview where they spoke about the special landmark film. This will be a film that will be spoken even after 10 years, and this was possible because of Upendra, who at that time, was futuristic in his filmmaking, says Shivanna, who also thanked his father (Dr Rajkumar), mother (Parvathamma Rajkumar) Vardanna, (Rajkumars brother) Hamsalekha and Gowrishankar, Upendra and the entire team for making Om possible. Chanting of Om mantra is a very positive feeling, and when it became the films title, it brought in all the good vibes. It was a title that Upendra got Appaji to write it in kumkum, recalls Shivanna, who also makes a special mention about the two songs, which was sung by Dr Rajkumar. Brahmananda Omkara and O Gulabiye are memorable to date, says Shivanna, who reminisces how during those times, films under their home banner were usually family-oriented or comedy films and Om was of a different shade and unique. Om was a film that made the entire country turn towards Sandalwood at that time. Everybody chanted Om, despite the film not being dubbed in any language. Thats the greatest thing about the film, says Shivanna, adding, It was a film that was out on television almost 21 years after its release, which set another example about how some films are in demand. Responding to queries about future collaborations between him and Upendra, Shivanna says, Upendra and I have plans to come together for a film. I will be meeting him after 10 days, and let us hope we come up with a script that can be another cult classic. Fragrance of love against a rowdyism backdrop was the highlight of OmUpendra feels mesmerised thinking how Om is still the talk of the town. I would say everything about Om is Gods grace. I recall a few lines mentioned by Dr. Rajkumar - Finding a cinemas success is like a Chidambara rahasya. When an actor of that stature has mentioned, we cant dig more deeply into it, he says. Upendra also recalls how Om was discussed for four years before it actually took off. It was when I narrated it to Annavru (Dr Rajkumar). He became the inspiration, and people like Vardanna, producer Parvathamma Rajkumar, actor Shivarajkumar, Hamsalekha, and Gowrishankar coming together paved way for the film to reach great heights. Of bringing real-life gangsters to play important roles, Upendra says that it was not an initial thought. I wanted to spread a message to people to give up on rowdyism, and I thought it is best to be told from their voices. Thats when I approached a few gangsters. Accordingly, I did a few changes in the script, and we shot the scenes with real-life gangsters, explains Upendra. Though a lot about Om has been spoken by Upendra on many occasions, his conversations are never complete without a mention of Vardanna. He also makes a special mention about Shivanna. As a director, I have my fixation about how a scene should be shot, and Shivanna was very encouraging, says Upendra, also explaining how he managed to find a balance between violence and peace in Om. The fragrance of love against a rowdyism backdrop was the highlight of Om, he says. Ask Uppi, if the audience can hope for another Om from the two. Lets hope. Not everything happens overnight. It is time, situation, people, and atmosphere, which should come together to make it happen, and this happens only some times, says Upendra, who mentions that if not for the lockdown period, he would have celebrated the success of Om with all his and Shivanna fans. Hope we come out of the crisis, I am looking forward to watching Om once again along with Shivanna, he says. Hyderabad, May 19 : Psychological impact of Covid-19 is higher on ophthalmologists as they are at an increased risk of close contact with the patient's eyes and face, reveals a study. The L.V. Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad, in collaboration with the All India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS) and The George Institute for Global Health India conducted an online study to evaluate the psychological impact of the Covid-19 crisis on trainees and practising ophthalmologists in India during the lockdown. The results of this study demonstrated that a significantly high proportion of ophthalmologists were affected psychologically as they are at an increased risk of close contact with the patient's eyes and face, according to LVPEI. Covid-19 outbreak has affected millions globally, both physically and mentally, causing psychological impact such as stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, denial, anger and fear, it said. Psychological implications can be attributed to direct or indirect effects of the illness on livelihood and living conditions. Asymptomatic transmission of the disease causes fear and anxiety. In addition, lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and social discrimination increases the stress and anxiety levels among healthcare professionals, it said. Stigmatisation of health care professionals during an epidemic is common. There is a need for personalised mental health care from psychologists and psychiatrists, especially for those with moderate/severe depression and/or suicidal/self-harm ideations. This study showed that even the health workers who are not in the forefront of Covid-19 care and at less risk of being affected are suffering mental health consequences due to multiple factors. "The national and state ophthalmology societies, health administration, and the government should be cognizant of the need to support the mental health of all the healthcare workers, and not only those in the frontline of the management of COVID-19 infection," said Dr Rohit C. Khanna, Epidemiologist and Director, Rural Eyecare services, LVPEI. The survey covered 2,355 ophthalmologists and ophthalmologists-in-training in the age group of 25 to 82 years. Depression was significantly higher in younger ophthalmologists. It was also higher in non-practicing ophthalmologists, as also those who were considerably worried about their training or professional growth, and those with difficulty in meeting living expenses. The results indicated that 765 (32.6 per cent) had some degree of depression, 504 (21.4 per cent) had mild, 163 (6.9 per cent) moderate and 101 (4.3 per cent) severe depression. According to the survey report 75 (3.2 per cent) ophthalmologists had suicidal/self-harm ideations during more than half of the period over the last two weeks. This was much higher than the 10 per cent prevalence for common mental disorders reported from the general population in India. The high level of depression could be due to a generalised pervading climate of uncertainty among the ophthalmologists, triggered by the limitations in training and job security; fear factor as Covid-19 can cause severe symptoms in a segment of infected individuals; limited knowledge and availability of personal protective equipment (PPE); lack of adequate care in hospitals; and a shortage of ventilators and intensive care unit beds if someone were to contract the disease. It could also arise out of a fear of carrying infection to the family members at home, including the elderly and sick. Finally, the entire situation has implications on the career in the intermediate term, as the patient volume in most of the eye hospitals is expected to decrease significantly, thus impacting their financial sustainability and the quality of training. The survey was done using Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a self-report measure used to assess the severity of depression over the prior two weeks. It was designed to understand the status of the mental health of ophthalmologists and possibly use the data to design policies and programmes and provide useful solutions. The research was conducted primarily by Dr Khanna, Dr Santosh G Honavar, Asha Latha Metla, Amritendu Bhattacharya, and Dr Pallab K. Maulik. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) While on a jog in China, a Chinese jogger experienced a collapsed lung as he did the distance, wearing a face mask for safety. The runner did go distance about 2.5 miles before his lung collapsed on his rounds. Zhang Ping (not his real name), 26-years old, got sent to the Wuhan Central Hospital last May 7, soon after he hard breathing with severe chest pains after running. When his lung was examined at the hospital, the patient's left lung had a hole and shriveled by 90%. Doctors diagnosed the reason for the lung burst to be high pressure, which was caused by wearing a mask while jogging. After going under the scalpel and treatment at the OR, he is now stabilized that was confirmed in social media post. The patient was under lockdown where he lived, and tried running for two weeks to have better fitness after a two month of staying at home, based on the history obtained by the hospital. Tracking the cause of the lung collapse, it was learned that he started from three km, and ended up at six km when the accident occurred. According to Zhang, most joggers wore a mask when exercising for the most part. It was not ideal but he still wore it. While running for only 2.5 miles, last Thursday he experienced hard breathing with chest pains on a usual run that ended getting treated in the Operating Room. On that night, he still tried to run but he is unable to do it so he walked home instead. Upon arriving home, the pain got worse and he was rushed to the hospital. Doctors who examined the runner discovered the left lung has deflated by 90%, collapsing and pushing the heart towards the right inside the chest. Also read: Bodies of Two Dead Sisters With Bags on Their Heads, Tossed Off a Bridge What You Need to Know About Your Lungs If air will build up in between the outer part of the lungs and the rib cage, this is what is called Pneumothorax. One of the reasons that a pneumothorax happens is when air is leaking from the lungs, such conditions are asthma or cystic fibrosis, though it might afflict healthy individuals. Another is that comes from the outside or inside of the body can harm a person. But it can occur in people who are otherwise completely healthy. If the air is too much, a lung is squashed by the pressure and makes it collapse. It does not happen too often and it will not be a fast diagnosis too. All the symptoms will be traced before considering it. Several tests will be needed, with a visit to a specialist in lung problems. How big or how small will be the judge of treating a pneumothorax, or if it's expanding. Draining is the option to treat it, whether it be a syringe or a tube. Situations similar to Mr Zhang is potentially dangerous. It would have been fatal if he was brought in much later. The affliction that beset Zhang was a spontaneous pneumothorax that happens rarely and occasionally. This is usually caused by blebs that are air-filled sacs that form, when they burst the lungs will collapse as the air is let out. Not everyone is susceptible to the condition as well, but is common in tall, thin men from 20 to 40 years, smoking too. If the Chinese jogger did not wear a face mask, his lungs would not have collapsed. By covering with a mask, Dr Chen said it will impede the circulation of oxygen, so never wear a mask when exercising. Related article: Beijing Claims Expelling USS Barry When PLAN Failed @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A 36-year-old Railway Protection Force (RPF) sub-inspector was allegedly shot dead by a man when the officer was on patrol duty in Uklana here, police said on Tuesday. Munish Sharma, the in-charge of Uklana Railway Station Police post, which is located between Hisar and Jakhal railway stations, was shot dead Monday night near railway tracks at Uklana, about 45 km from here. Railway police personnel and locals rushed Sharma to a private hospital from where he was being taken to the Hisar Civil Hospital in a private car, but he died midway, they said. Sharma, who hailed from Jaipur's village Bassi, had joined the force's unit here about a year ago. The police have started investigations into the case based on the statements of eyewitnesses. Police said according to witnesses, Sharma noticed that three youths were sitting on the railway line and caught one of them, while the two others managed to run away. Suddenly, the youth Sharma had caught took out a pistol from his pocket and shot him in the stomach, they said, adding people nearby caught the accused who fired at the SI. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The first tranche of 50 ventilators out of 200 ventilators being donated by the US administration to India is expected to arrive soon to bolster the countrys response to the Covid-19 pandemic, American officials said on Tuesday. This is a donation. The US government plans to donate 200 ventilators to India, and we expect the first tranche of 50 to arrive soon, said Ramona El Hamzaoui, acting director of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID, on behalf of the US and through the generosity of the American peopleis providing access to medical supplies and ventilators to India and other countries, El Hamzaoui said. She said USAID is working closely with Indias health ministry and the Indian Red Cross Society and other stakeholders in both countries to assist in the delivery, transportation and placement of the donated ventilators. The equipment will complement Indias efforts to make the best of care urgently available to those most in need without impacting the availability of these supplies to the American people, she added. The American officials were unable to state what authorities in the US had meant when they said the ventilators would be repurposed. El Hamzaoui said the US government, private companies, and non-profit and academic organisations have shared their expertise with partner countries such as India on the production of ventilators and other equipment. Some have open source intellectual property and we fully appreciate the urgency and recognise the global constraints, she added. People familiar with developments in New Delhi said Trump himself had made it clear that the ventilators are a donation. The firms providing the equipment will be paid by USAID, they said on condition of anonymity. As of now, the plan is to deliver 100 ventilators in May and the remainder in June. USAID will give us the final schedule next week, said one of the people cited above. An influential group of British lawmakers is accusing the government of failing to conduct enough tests for the new coronavirus, saying the lapse helped Covid-19 cut a deadly swath through the countrys nursing homes. The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee says that testing capacity has been inadequate for most of the pandemic so far. In a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, committee chairman Greg Clark said Britains testing capacity drove strategy, rather than strategy driving capacity. The UK authorities initially sought to trace and test everyone who had been in contact with people infected with the coronavirus. But they abandoned that strategy in mid-March as the number of infections overwhelmed the countrys limited testing capacity. Click here for the full coronavirus coverage Clark, a lawmaker from the governing Conservatives, said that pivotal decision meant that nursing home residents and staff were not tested at a time when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant. Thousands of nursing home residents have died with Covid-19. The countrys testing capacity has now been scaled up to more than 100,000 tests a day, and the government plans to reintroduce a test, track and trace policy as part of plans to control the virus and ease the nationwide lockdown. But the committee also said that it is not clear that the lessons of the delays to testing have been learned. No one irritates Donald Trump quite like Barack Obama. Trumps run for president was in part triggered by his enmity for Obama, his desire to one-up him, and he has performed his presidency as a singularly focused attempt at Obama erasure, dismantling what he can of what Obama built and undoing policies Obama instituted. Obama is everything that Trump is not: intellectual, articulate, adroit, contemplative and cool. He also happens to be a black man. The fact that he could not only ascend to the height of power but also the heights of celebrity and adoration vexed Trump. Trump set about to demonstrate that none of that mattered, none of it could supersede the talents of a confident counterfeit. He convinced himself that Obama was the convenient recipient of affirmative action adulation from a world thirsty for racial recompense, an assuaging of white guilt. Trump has held this view well before anyone heard the name Barack Obama. In 1989, Trump said in an NBC News interview, A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white, in terms of the job market. Trump went so far as to say, Ive said on occasion, even about myself, if I was starting off today I would love to be a well-educated black because I really believe they do have an actual advantage today. This was not a compliment. Trump adheres to the theory of unearned black privileges at the expense of white effort, that there is a hand-me-out meritocracy specifically for black people, a form of cultural welfare. This made Obama an early target for Trump. He questioned Obamas birth and his heritage, his abilities and educational pedigree. He questioned his leadership and his work ethic. Trump knew the terrible legions of flaws he possessed and was incredulous that this black man could be devoid of any. So, he feverishly searched for error, sometimes inventing it, moreover projecting his own error onto Obama. Obama became Trumps foil for personal reasons of racial and cultural insecurity. But Trumps view of him perfectly aligned with a larger phenomenon: A significant swath of white America grated at the uppityness of this black man who would set the tone for how Americans should behave and his black wife who would lecture them about what to eat. Obama wasnt on the ballot in 2016, but in a way he was. Trump wasnt only running against Hillary Clinton, he was also running against the black shadow of a black man. These voters chose the opposite of Obama, they chose the moral and intellectual antithesis, someone who could arrest the advance that Obama represented: an ascension of multicultural power and a coming erasure of white advantage and the dominance of white culture, all of which establishment forces had either allowed or encouraged. Trump was elected to restore the cultural narrative of the primacy of whiteness. Now, with the colossal disaster of his COVID-19 response threatening his re-election prospects, Trump is attempting to draft Obama once again as his primary opponent. No president would have wanted this pandemic to happen on their watch. But it is hard to imagine another president handling the situation as poorly as Trump, which has led to far more death and suffering than was necessary. Where we are with this virus was not inevitable. It is the direct result of Trumps failed policies. Trump has tried for months to do what he has always done: invent an alternate reality, lie, blame and brag, deny responsibility and claim victory. But that simply doesnt work as well when the coronavirus has claimed more American lives in a few months than the Vietnam War claimed in a decade. It doesnt work when tens of millions of Americans are out of work and the economy is teetering on a depression. So, Trump is reaching past Joe Biden in his basement for an opponent who evokes a more visceral disdain from his base: Obama. He has cooked up an Obamagate conspiracy, claiming that the former president committed the biggest political crime in American history, by far! Of course, there are no crimes other than the ones Trump himself has committed. But this is a familiar territory for Trump, projection and deflection. By using sleight of hand to turn the focus to Obama on a phony scandal, he hopes to make people look away from the mountain of dead bodies on which he is now perched. Trump is trying to make Obama his Willie Horton, the black criminal George H.W. Bush successfully used as a racial cudgel in his race against Michael Dukakis in 1988. Trump believes that there is a seesaw mechanism to his political fortunes: If he can drag someone down, it will lift him up. For now, that person is Obama, the man who lives in Trumps head, who stalks his dreams, the countervailing symbol to Trumps deficiencies. @CharlesMBlow Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison; Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Source: Getty) Chinas been making headlines all year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, which first broke out from Hubei provinces Wuhan city, and for how the country initially attempted to smother the outbreak of the virus. Exactly a month ago, Australias Foreign Minister Marise Payne made a push for an independent inquiry into how China handled the outbreak, drawing ire from Chinese officials, who called the move political manoeuvring. Since then, tensions between Australia and China have progressively worsened. China has made trade decisions that punish Australia in a way that has commentators speculating they are made in retaliation to the Covid-19 inquiry. Heres a timeline of whats happened so far, and what it all means for Australia. 19 April: Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne calls for an inquiry. Payne said on ABC Insiders it was fundamental to determine an independent review mechanism to examine the development of this epidemic. The inquiry should find out about the genesis of the virus, about the approaches to dealing with it, and addressing it, about the openness with which information was shared, about interaction with the World Health Organisation, interaction with other international leaders. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison with Foreign Minister Marise Payne addressing media at Kirribilli House on December 10, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by James D. Morgan/Getty Images) Paynes initial intention was for the independent probe, which was also backed by Labor, to be conducted outside of the World Health Organisation. The WHO has received criticism claiming it has been heavily influenced by China. [To have the WHO conduct the inquiry] strikes me as somewhat poacher and gamekeeper, Payne said. 26 April: Chinese Foreign Ministry labels probe politically motivated suspicion. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang attacked Australias Covid-19 inquiry as highly irresponsible. "Currently, with the pandemic still spreading across the world, the most pressing task is to put people's life and health first and work together to defeat the virus," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said. Story continues Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang speaks during the daily press briefing in Beijing on March 18, 2020. (Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images) "At such a critical juncture, it is highly irresponsible to resort to politically motivated suspicion and accusation. Australia should put aside ideological bias and political games and contribute to the global cooperation in fighting the virus, instead of doing things to the contrary, he added. Around 27 April, Chinese ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye called the inquiry dangerous and warned it could cause Chinese consumers to boycott tourism and international students to Australia as well as popular products like wine and beef. 10 May: China threatens to impose an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley imports. Australia exports between $1.5 billion to $2 billion worth of barley a year to China, and is Australias top three agricultural exports to China. Barley is a grain commonly used in breads, soups, stews but is largely grown as animal fodder and as a malt source in alcohol like beer. The tariff proposal comes after an 18-month investigation by China into Australian barley dumping. Dumping is a process where a product is sold at a lower price overseas than at home in an effort to undercut local businesses. Chinas Ministry of Commerce believed Australian barley had been imported against trade rules, and that its domestic industry has suffered substantial damage. The next day, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he did not believe it was the case that the proposed tariff might be connected to the Covid-19 inquiry. They certainly havent raised it as connected to other issues. I would be extremely disappointed if it was, the prime minister told reporters in Canberra. It was later revealed that China had been rejecting calls from senior Australian ministers in relation to the proposed barley tariffs. 12 May: China suspends beef imports on Australian beef, blacklisting four Australian abattoirs. The four meatworks represent more than a third of beef exports to China and were set to make $3.5 billion this year, according to an analyst speaking to ABC. But Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said the suspensions were due to highly technical issues stretching back more than a year and was a separate issue to the investigation into the Covid-19 outbreak. However, international economic lawyer Weihuan Zhou said his suspicions that the beef ban was related to the Covid-19 inquiry were confirmed. 17 May: 62 countries back joint push for the inquiry. A draft motion calling for an independent inquiry, jointly drafted by Australia and the European Union, gained the support of countries such as the UK, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. This came ahead of a crucial World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting held on Monday in Geneva. 18 May: China goes ahead with the 80 per cent barley tariffs, which has deeply concerned the National Farmers Federation (NFF). The new tariffs will significantly curtail and, most likely stop, exports of Australian barley to China by artificially increasing the price, until the situation can be resolved, said NFF CEO Tony Mahar. Agricultural Minister David Littleproud said Australia will probably appeal to the World Trade Organisation to reverse the tariff and denies that there is any trade war going on. Deputy leader of the National Party David Littleproud reacts during a press conference at Parliament House on May 14, 2020 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Sam Mooy/Getty Images) In the meantime, Australia will be looking at other markets to export barley, such as India, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, he said. There is no trade war. Everyone needs to take a deep breath, take a cold shower and understand that we produce the best food and fibre in the world and we have marketplaces that well be able to send our barley and other produce into other markets if our producers wish to do so. 19 May: More than 120 countries have co-sponsored the motion calling for a Covid-19 inquiry. Even China joined in on backing a comprehensive review of the pandemic after the virus has been brought under control. Chinese President Xi Jinping speaking via video link to the World Health Assembly, on a giant screen beside a street in Beijing on May 18, 2020. China supports a "comprehensive evaluation" of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic after it "has been brought under control". (Photo by GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images) This means the motion is set to pass, since a motion only needs two-thirds of WHA member states to go ahead, but Australia is working to get a unanimous vote. US President Donald Trump appeared to show backing for the inquiry in a tweet. We are with them! https://t.co/H7DRHXPJYb Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2020 What does all of this mean for Australia? BetaShares chief economist David Bassanese told Yahoo Finance that Chinas squabbles over beef and barley were designed to remind Australia of its importance as a trading partner. That said, I dont think China really wants to escalate trade tensions too far, especially as Australia along with much of the rest of the world now appears more willing to stand up to such bullying tactics. Were essentially looking to call Chinas bluff, he said. China is a member of the World Trade Organisation, which means it cant impose trade restrictions without good legal reasons, Bassanese said. Simply displeasure at some of our political actions is not one of them. AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver also added that these issues tend to flare up before cooling back down again. Will this trade spat impact Australian prices? No not unless the trade tensions escalate, said Oliver. At present there is no real impact on the Australian consumer. It would only be an issue if Australia responded with tit for tat tariffs on, say, Chinese consumer goods imports (which may mean higher prices for the affected goods) or if China stopped buying many more Australian goods like, say, iron ore and coal which would affect the Australian economy and jobs. If Australia retaliates with tariffs on imported goods from China, then we might see prices for domestic goods go up, Oliver said. But so far there is no sign of this and if it does occur it would likely be limited to some items and probably not those that Australians buy directly. But according to independent economist Stephen Koukoulas, Australias economy will be worse off from Chinas trade restrictions. At a time we are already in a deep recession, this will limit the recovery and in the process reduce the jobs rebound we are all hoping to see in the months ahead, he told Yahoo Finance. What does this mean for share market investors? The trade tensions will add volatility into the market. The share market may be affected if the trade dispute escalates as it might mean weaker economic growth, Oliver told Yahoo Finance. Bassanese said the equity market looks likely to struggle and even hit low points again despite the lifting of coronavirus restrictions. Indeed, the outlook for economic growth and corporate earnings remains subdued, and our equity market is also vulnerable to any renewed weakness on Wall Street. In this regard, its concerning that the virus is still not under control in the United States, and moves to re-open parts of its economy are leading to heightened concern of a second wave of cases. Tune into Episode 4 of the Yahoo Finance Breakfast Club: Live Online series on Thursday 21st May 10am AEST. Follow Yahoo Finance Australia on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. WHO #coronavirus special envoy, Dr David Nabarro says 'we don't want anyone to believe there is a vaccine round the corner' and adds "the virus will be a constant threat". Get the latest on #COVID19: https://t.co/ISEx6RxbMM pic.twitter.com/Zh9ZZljTpz SkyNews (@SkyNews) May 19, 2020 STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The World Health Organizations special envoy for the coronavirus (COVID-19), Dr. David Nabarro, said, the virus will be a constant threat during an interview with SkyNews, a British broadcaster. Nabarro, a doctor with an extensive history battling global viruses, has previously spoken publicly about the likelihood of the virus creating a lasting presence in society in an April interview with SkyNews. His comments echo other medical experts who believe the virus will be a factor for the foreseeable future. Weve been saying this virus will be here to stay for some time because we dont want anybody to believe that a vaccine is just round the corner and its going to be possible for everybody in the world to be vaccinated in a matter of months, Nabarro said in a video posted on Twitter Tuesday undercutting some promising reports that indicate a vaccine could be available as soon as January. Despite the possibility of the coronavirus posing continued risk, Nabarro said: Weve got other viruses around that are constant threats and weve learned to live with them," citing HIV, which causes AIDS. To cope with that reality, Nabarro said that it will mean changing our behavior, it will mean respecting physical distance as much as possible, it may well mean wearing face protection all the time, especially when on public transport(ation) and in public spaces. And, even with those precautions, Nabarro said outbreaks are still possible, which will cause us to have to be ready for there to be some inconvenience as these are suppressed as quickly as possible. All of us will have to play our part with government supporting us as we go about it, he said. Nabarros interview comes as the virus has flattened locally, with Staten Island registering its lowest one-day rise in COVID-19 deaths. Globally, there have been more than 4.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University, along with approximately 322,000 deaths. More than 1.6 million people have recovered from the virus, Johns Hopkins data showed. "We leaned into the real smoke and premium ingredients with this line and are offering consumers that great hardwood smoked flavor, without having to fire up the smoker," said Samantha Hovland, Natural Choice brand manager. "Lunchtime is a busy time for people, so we're helping take the guesswork out of it by providing products that are nutritious, convenient and customizable, and also packed with exciting, authentic flavors." "While these are premium products, prepared using a prolonged meat smoking technique that's sure to disrupt the category, we're offering Natural Choice hardwood smoked lunch meat to consumers at the same price point as our traditional Natural Choice lunch meat line," said Hovland. The first of its kind to the consumer retail market, Hormel Natural Choice hardwood smoked products (MSRP $3.49 4.99) can be found at select retailers nationwide. Another noticeable update to the Natural Choice brand offerings through the hardwood smoked product line is the eye-catching new packaging. The bold, black package of the Natural Choice hardwood smoked products is a departure from the traditional Natural Choice brand line and features the product in whole form through a flame-shaped window versus the brand's signature rectangular window. For more information about Hormel Natural Choice brand, including recipes, nutritional information and where to buy, visit https://www.hormel.com/Brands/Hormel-Natural-Choice-Deli-Meats-Wraps-Snacks-Bacon-Hams-Stacks-Pepperoni or follow the brand on social media at https://www.facebook.com/hormelnaturalchoice, https://www.instagram.com/hormelnaturalchoice, https://twitter.com/HormelNatural, and https://www.pinterest.com/hormelnatural. ABOUT HORMEL FOODS INSPIRED PEOPLE. INSPIRED FOOD. Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $9 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include SKIPPY, SPAM, Hormel Natural Choice, Applegate, Justin's, Wholly, Hormel Black Label, Columbus and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the "Global 2000 World's Best Employers" list by Forbes magazine for three straight years, is one of Fortune magazine's most admired companies, has appeared on Corporate Responsibility Magazine's "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" list for the 11th year in a row, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement Inspired People. Inspired Food. to bring some of the world's most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://csr.hormelfoods.com/. SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation Related Links http://www.hormel.com The Tarkwa Diocese Of Methodist Church has donated gallons of liquid soap, hand sanitizers, surgical face masks, surgical gloves, waste bins, Veronica buckets with stands, hand towels and hand washing basins. Handing over the items to the Municipal Health Director, Right Reverend Thomas Amponsah-Donkor, Diocesan Bishop of Tarkwa, said the presentation forms part of the church's corporate social responsibility to the society in these challenging times. He said as a church they have social responsibilities and also recognize the fact that the world has been at a war front in the face of the pandemic which is ravaging nations across the world. The church thought that we should visit the Municipal Health Directorate and use it as opportunity to say thank you to our health workers who have been at the frontline of the war against COVID-19, he said. Right Reverend Amponsah-Donkor said: We know the sacrifices you are making and we appreciate your dedication and commitment in these challenging times. The Diocesan Bishop advised Ghanaians to constantly wash their hands and follow all the precautionary measures to avoid contracting COVID -19. Receiving the items, Mrs Caroline Otoo, Municipal Health Director of Tarkwa-Nsuaem, expressed her profound gratitude to the Bishop and the Methodist Church for assisting them to carry out their obligations effectively. She said the donation was timely because the directorate was hard-pressed with logistics to handle the coronavirus pandemic in the Municipality. Mrs Otoo appealed to individuals, philanthropists and organizations within Tarkwa and its enclave to emulate the steps of the Methodist Church Ghana Tarkwa Diocese. The Diocesan Lay Chairman, Mr Emmanuel K. Bedai, Synod Secretary, Very Reverend Lewis Smart Asare, Diocesan Acting Administrator, Reverend Barjona Isaac K. Andoh, the Diocesan Coordinator for Gender and Family Life Issues, Mrs. Naana Oforiwaa Yankey and the Cathedral Administrator, Miss Lydia Otsiwah were present at the ceremony. ---GNA [May 19, 2020] Vector Group Announces Procedures to Participate in Virtual 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR) previously announced that the Company will hold its 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders in a virtual format meeting only, via the Internet, with no physical in-person meeting. As previously announced, the Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 28, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Annual Meeting will provide every holder of Common Stock of the Company at the close of business on March 31, 2020 the ability to vote their shares at the Annual Meeting or by proxy, one vote for each share of Common Stock held by such holder, and ask questions during the Annual Meeting via live webcast. Attending as a Record Holder To participate in the Annual Meeting, stockholders of record should visit https://web.lumiagm.com/254176245 and enter the 11-digit control number printed on your proxy card or Notice of Availability of Proxy materials you previously received and the meeting password, vector2020. Registering to Attend the Virtual Annual Meeting as a Beneficial Owner If your shares are registered in the name of your broker, bank or other agent, you are the "beneficial owner" of those shares and those shares are considered as held in "street name." To attend the Annual Meeting, beneficial owners must first obtain a valid legal proxy from your broker, bank or other agent and then register in advance to virtually attendthe Annual Meeting. Follow the instructions from your broker or bank included with the proxy materials, or contact your broker or bank to request a legal proxy form. After obtaining a valid legal proxy from your broker, bank or other agent, to then register to attend the Annual Meeting, you must submit proof of your legal proxy reflecting the number of your shares along with your name and email address to American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC. Requests for registration should be directed to [email protected] or to facsimile number 718-765-8730. Requests for registration must be labeled as "Legal Proxy" and be received no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, May 22, 2020. You will receive a confirmation of your registration by email after we receive your registration materials. You may attend the annual meeting and vote your shares at https://web.lumiagm.com/254176245 during the meeting. Additional Information Stockholders eligible to participate in the Annual Meeting can: Access the meeting platform beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET on May 28, 2020. Submit questions and vote your shares electronically during the meeting via live webcast at https://web.lumiagm.com/254176245. If you encounter any technical difficulties during the log in or meeting time, please visit https://go.lumiglobal.com/faq for technical support. About Vector Group Vector Group is a holding company for Liggett Group LLC, Vector Tobacco Inc., New Valley LLC, and Douglas Elliman Realty, LLC. Additional information concerning the Company is available on the Company's website, www.VectorGroupLtd.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005977/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The world is full of invasive species. They come into new spaces and push out other animals and plants by generally wreaking havoc. An invasive species is a non-indigenous species (e.g. plants or animals) that adversely affect the habitats it invades economically, environmentally or ecologically. Sometimes, invasive species can be effectively dealt with and brought under control, but at others, they present a true, lasting menace to the environment. Here are ten of the most harmful invasive species now on the planet. 10. Water Hyacinth Eichhornia or water hyacinth suffocating a water body in Portugal. Image credit: Ana Couto/Shutterstock.com This pretty water plant is native to the Amazon, as well as waterways in South America but it has now been introduced to over 50 countries worldwide, which is causing trouble. The water hyacinth grows extremely quickly. According to Earth Rangers.com, depending on the size of the patch, it can double its size in just six measly days. This plant sits on top of the water, covering it. When it takes over, it blocks the sunlight from reaching other plants living under the water. It also makes it too difficult for animals to travel through the water. These changes alter the ecosystem dramatically, causing harm to native species. 9. Northern Pacific Sea Star The Northern Pacific seastar, was accidentally introduced into Australia in the 1980s. It is found in the Derwent Estuary (Hobart), Tasmania and Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. Image credit: CSIRO Seeing a starfish-also called a sea star- may seem like a special moment for some. If you find yourself in Australia, however, it might not be so great. Sea stars are native to the Asian waters but they have also been introduced to Australian seas by boats. This is proving to be a problem. Sea stars eat a lot and they breed very quickly. Their overabundance is causing harm to the spotted handfish, which is already endangered. 8. Small Indian Mongoose A small Indian mongoose (Herpestes javanicus). Image credit: Chung Bill Bill/Wikimedia.org These lovable-looking creatures were brought to parts of South and Central America, as well as Asia from Southeast Asia in order to kill off unwanted populations of snakes and rats. The trouble is, they also eat everything else, including endangered animals like hawksbill turtles, pink pigeons, and the Amami rabbit, to name just a few. 7. Asian Long-horned Beetle Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora malasiaca) in Japan. Image credit: Feathercollector/Shutterstock.com If you live in North America or Europe, you may have heard a lot about this insect in recent years. The Asian long-horned beetle was brought abroad from Korea, Japan, and China in shipments of wooden materials. These guys love to burrow into tree bark, and are known for destroying deciduous trees, as they do so. They eat the bark of a wide variety of trees, sometimes so much so that they cannot survive, which can have a big impact on forests. 6. Zebra Mussel A piece of log near the sea covered by zebra mussels. Image credit: Yaman Mutart/Shutterstock.com Do not let their name fool you. These sea creatures are not a delicious and fancy type of African mussel headed for your dinner plate. Zebra mussels come from the seas in Southeastern Europe, and have migrated to parts of Russia, North America, and Europe on the bottoms of boats. They are invasive because, like other animals on this list, they reproduce so quickly and feed on plankton that native fish, as well as other mussels, need in order to survive. 5. Asian Carp Invasive Asian carp in the tailwaters of Bagnell Dam on the Osage River that makes the lake of the Ozarks. Image credit: Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock.com This fish was brought over from Eurasia to North America and Europe, and has since become a pest. It stirs up too much sediment, preys on the eggs of other fish and eats their food. Because they reproduce quickly, their large numbers can change the ecosystems they inhabit. 4. Cane Toad Cane toad in a tropical rain forest, Queensland, Australia. Image credit: Peter Yeeles/Shutterstock.com The cane toad is native to the Americas but has since made its way to Australia to control crop pests. Now, it needs something to control it. Like something from a sci-fi movie, it emits toxic ooze to put off its predators. This is killing Australian predators that are not immune to its secretions, unlike the predators in its native habitats. 3. European Starling European common starling. Image credit: Arjma/Shutterstock.com In its native habitat, this bird is found in Northern Africa, parts of Asia, and of course, Europe. They are fierce invaders, taking over the nests of other birds, and swarming onto farmers fields and decimating grain crops, as well as fruit. 2. Kudzu A wall covered up by kudzu. Image credit: Satyajit Misra/Shutterstock.com This invasive species is a plant, and it is actually quite pretty in small amounts. Unfortunately, however, it never seems grow in small amounts. It can cover entire homes-perhaps even whole estates-with its amazing leafy power. Some call it the vine that ate the South, referring to the southern US, and it is easy to see why. This vine can cover ground, trees, bushes, and anything else it encounters, quickly. In doing so, it smothers other plant life. 1. Common Rabbit A wild rabbit in the UK. Image credit: Coatesy/Shutterstock.com You may have heard the expression multiplying like rabbits and there is a good reason for it. Mother rabbits can have up to 30 babies in just one year. They may not all survive, but it sure makes for a potentially large colony. Rabbits are cute but they often compete for food and habitat with native species. They are actually native to Southern Europe and Northern Africa, but they are now living pretty much everywhere. HOUSTON, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkeley Research Group (BRG), a leading global advisory firm, announced today that Scott Baxter has joined the firm as a managing director in its Energy & Climate practice. He will be based in the firm's Houston, Texas, office. He has over 30 years of global energy investment banking experience. He has been a primary advisor in executing over $200 billion in energy restructuring transactions, corporate mergers and acquisitions, private equity capital raises and independent fairness opinions to special committees. He has also provided expert witness testimony in several litigation matters. His industry expertise spans the upstream, midstream, downstream, oil field services and renewable energy sectors. Baxter has significant experience advising governments and state-owned energy companies on strategic, M&A and privatization transactions, including structuring and negotiating production-sharing agreements, farm-in agreements and joint ventures. His previous energy investment banking experience includes opening and running the Houston office for Petrie Partners and serving as head of the Americas for J.P. Morgan's global energy group, managing director in the global energy group at Citigroup (Salomon Brothers), and head of the energy group for Houlihan Lokey. BRG President Tri MacDonald said, "We are very pleased to have an advisor of Scott's caliber and reputation join BRG's Energy & Climate practice." Christopher Goncalves, BRG Energy & Climate practice chair, said, "We are excited about the timely addition of Scott and his extensive expertise in strategic advisory, bankruptcy and financial restructuring, private capital raising and expert witness testimony to our global team of energy experts." BRG's Energy & Climate practice includes leading energy and environmental experts who serve clients in the areas of expert analysis and testimony for dispute resolution, as well as strategic, commercial, policy, regulatory, project development, financial, market and forecasting advisory services. Their expertise spans the energy sector, including power and renewable, natural gas and LNG, and upstream exploration and production. The Energy & Climate group's financial advisory expertise includes project finance, corporate finance, valuation, restructuring and capital raising. About BRG Berkeley Research Group, LLC (BRG) is a global consulting firm that helps leading organizations advance in three key areas: disputes and investigations, corporate finance, and strategy and operations. Headquartered in California with offices around the world, we are an integrated group of experts, industry leaders, academics, data scientists and professionals working beyond borders and disciplines. We harness our collective expertise to deliver the inspired insights and practical strategies our clients need to stay ahead of what's next. Visit thinkbrg.com to learn more. SOURCE Berkeley Research Group, LLC Related Links thinkbrg.com [May 19, 2020] Moblico Technology is Providing Distributors the Tools to Adapt and Thrive in a New Economy KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Moblico is transforming the business landscape for distributors, helping them stay always connected. With new ways to order remotely and engage with texting and mobile apps, Moblico is driving the shift that's helping distributors secure the supply chain during times of unexpected crisis through curbside pick-up and remote operations. "Moblico's technology has played a significant role in our ability to keep our business running smoothly amid the pandemic," says Lauren Roberts, CEO of CFM Distributors. "Despite the new set of challenges we're facing as a result of the pandemic, the technology, like what we have with Moblico, enables us to maintain the same levels of communication with customers while providing accurate and timely information." Wholesale is a 5.7 trillion dollar industry, and the pandemic has exposed the inefficiencies and vulnerabilities of the supply chain. Moblico saw a sharp increase in the use of its mobile ordering and engagement platform during the pandemic, nearly a 130% increase in March and a 76% increase in April. The post-pandemic economy will require innovative solutions to keep business moving no matter what situations arise. Many distributors have yet to adapt to the tech-driven, cloud-based economy of the 21st century; legacy methods that utilize limited communication and mobile commerce technology are not aging well, proven by recent events. Solutions such as Business Texting, also known as text-to-landline, are enabling seamless communication between sales and support teams and their customers anytime, anywhere, while leveraging distributor branches' existing landline phone numbers. Business Texting enables text-based ordering, customer support, and visual communication through pictures, videos, and documents. Leveraging a platform also enables simpler tracking and management of text-based communications, while decreasing wait timesand improving productivity. The mobile app designed for distributors creates a centralized platform to bring together an array of services, regardless of platform, in one convenient location. Customers can quickly order, build lists, and shop on their mobile phones. With Moblico's Marketing Engine, distributors can deliver personalized content, communicate, and build deeper connections with customers. Among other use cases, the mobile app is used by distributors' customers to scan products to shopping lists, search and order product parts, click-to-call and click-to-text with branch locations able to lookup manufacturer warranties, and much more. Moblico is also creating new opportunities to engage with customers remotely, not only by messaging capabilities like SMS, MMS, email, TXT2CHAT, and in-app push notifications but also through marketing and content initiatives. Digital advertising, promotions, training, events, and loyalty rewards help to drive marketing campaigns and provide additional opportunities to interact with current and potential customers. Robust content pieces like videos, informative literature, calculators, and more, are helpful, practical tools that provide ongoing value for those same customers. In addition, Moblico's promotional tool suite makes it possible for distributors to monetize their mobile communication programs. "Historically, our industry has lagged behind when it comes to adopting new technology," adds Roberts. "But the situation created by this pandemic has proven the need and importance of evolving with new and innovative technologies. It's enabling companies like ours to conduct business remotely, observe Federal guidelines, and keep our employees and customers safe." Moblico's roots are based in mobile business solutions, helping distributors accomplish more while on-the-go, enabling remote ordering, communication, content dissemination, and more. For distributors to thrive in today's economy, it takes an exceptional customer experience, increased productivity, cloud-based operations, and targeted outreach, all of which Moblico's technology provides. About Moblico Since 2010, Moblico is the only solution provider focused on offering a complete turn-key mobile communication and engagement platform wholesale distributors need to go mobile. Today, over 2,500 distribution locations trust Moblico to drive 4x-8x higher customer engagement rates and 800% sales spikes with their mobile commerce, communication and marketing programs. Moblico solutions include Business Texting, Broadcast Messaging, Team Texting, Mobile Hybrid App, Scan-to-Buy, Mobile Commerce, Weather Triggered Notifications, Geo-Targeted Digital Marketing and more, all under one roof. Our custom solutions are easy to use and designed to fit wholesale distributors of any size. Visit moblico.com to hear directly from distributor podcasts who share their mobile best practices and learnings, and sign up to try Moblico's Free 30-Day Trial or request a live demo. Contact: Pierre Barbeau, Co-Founder/CEO at Moblico [email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moblico-technology-is-providing-distributors-the-tools-to-adapt-and-thrive-in-a-new-economy-301061936.html SOURCE Moblico [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Construction will be the focus of stage one of Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's plan to salvage the state from economic ruin. Almost half a billion dollars will be unlocked to accelerate road, bridge and pavement-sealing works across the state in a bid to save jobs. Construction will be the focus of Queensland's economic recovery. Credit:AAP/Dan Peled A further $200 million will be handed to local councils to undertake minor infrastructure projects while $11.25 million will be used to improve homes in cyclone-affected areas. The recovery plan comes as Treasurer Cameron Dick revealed the state's mini-budget would be released in September, a month before the state election. Its Tuesday, February 18, and Europe is on the brink of the worst epidemic in a century. In just three days time, Italy will discover that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been silently spreading in the north of the country. Over the coming days, the rest of Europe will make similar discoveries. The virus, as it will later be revealed, has entered senior residences and the lungs of intensive care patients across the continent. But that Tuesday, the 30 people who were beginning a two-day meeting in the headquarters of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in Solna, Sweden, do not recognize the risk. They are the members of the ECDCs Technical Advisory Committee, the guardians of public health in Europe. Among this group is Fernando Simon, the director of the Spanish Health Ministrys Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies and the man who has been offering daily figures on coronavirus deaths and infections in Spain since March. The meeting revolves almost completely around a problem that is considered under control. Health workers hug outside the emergency ward of the Severo Ochoa hospital in Leganes (Madrid) during the peak of the pandemic. A review of the minutes from this meeting, to which EL PAIS has had access, is disconcerting. Reading this document three months and more than 166,000 global fatalities later, it is evident that no health official present there foresaw what was about to happen. The Technical Advisory Committee believed that Covid-19 presented a low risk to the European population, and only a few warnings were raised about the danger of the virus, the need to detect whether it was already in Europe, and the need for measures to stop it from spreading. But these warnings only comprised around 20 points on a 130-point document summarizing the deliberations of the two-day meeting. All actions appeared to be left for a future date, and some proposals were postponed until two or three weeks later. The health officials from Austria and Slovakia said that it would be unwise to spark fear among the population, while Fernando Simon warned against the risk of stigmatizing people getting tested for Covid-19. When asked what he meant by this on Monday, Simon replied that he was referring to the need to control the transmission of the virus, rather than focus on a few individual cases. Most of the meeting was spent discussing technical and preparatory details, such as what criteria should be used to test suspected cases of the virus, which would erupt across the continent in less than 72 hours. The ECDC is an organization with few powers. Its goal is to provide expertise and proposals for coordination so that countries can more effectively protect the health of their population, an objective that was not met in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. The minutes show signs of the coming disaster, yet proposals to address the problem were left in limbo. False sense of calm By the time the meeting took place, there were 45 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Europe. All of these cases had either been imported or transmitted to one of their contacts. An 80-year-old Chinese tourist from Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus pandemic originated, had also died in Paris. The ECDC studied these cases and underscored that local contagion appeared to be minor, with few infections that were easy to track. This led the group to conclude that the virus presented a low risk to Europe and a low to moderate risk to the health system. Mike Catchpole, the chief scientist at the ECDC, warned, however, about the high transmission rate after reviewing the first two coronavirus outbreaks recorded in Europe one in a German company, and another in a ski resort in the French Alps. The representative from Germany expressed his misgivings about the containment strategy that was being followed at the time, arguing: It has not worked because diseases do not respect borders. The German official also suggested taking more steps, but apparently without any success. No trace of the virus At this point, the SARS-CoV-2 virus was spreading throughout Europe, but was not being detected by healthcare systems. The reason for this was the definition of a coronavirus case and the criteria used for testing. Under this criteria, a patient must have traveled to Wuhan in order to be tested. This meant that no tests were being carried out on people showing coronavirus symptoms, or on intensive care patients with pneumonia of unknown origin. The technical committee agreed on this criteria in February and only appeared to waver when the representative from Denmark argued: It is important to know where and when to look for the virus. For example, in the case of severe pneumonia it would be logical to look for the virus, he added the next day. The representative from the Netherlands explained that a group of doctors had been tasked with collecting samples to analyze. He urged taking a proactive approach and getting ready to manage outbreaks such as those reported in Japan and Vietnam. What is certain, however, is that the criteria for testing was not changed until February 25, four days after Italy recorded its first two coronavirus fatalities. Shortage of tests When the crisis hit, several European countries found that they did not have enough tests to diagnose all suspected cases of Covid-19. The meeting in February foresaw this problem. The committee suggested that travelers coming from countries such as Japan, Vietnam and Singapore, which had begun to detect community transmission of the virus, should also be tested for Covid-19. But the representative from Finland warned that this would be unsustainable. He explained: This would lead many people to ask for tests, most of which would come back negative, but the burden on the health system would be enormous. A field hospital in the Spanish region of Asturias tests health workers for coronavirus. Oscar Corral The representative from Germany said that protocols for PCR tests, the most reliable detectors of the virus, had been distributed to more than 20 hospitals, while more than 1,000 tests had been carried out. It was an early indication of how Germany, the country which has made the most effort in testing suspected cases, would approach the pandemic in the future. Shortage of face masks When Germany tried to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for its health workers, it found the international market empty of stock, the German health official explained at the meeting, noting the difficulties of encouraging national production. The representative from the Netherlands stated that there is very little PPE available, while the Irish official said that the country had declared a health emergency and is stocked. The minutes from the meeting do not indicate whether Fernando Simon said something at this point. What is known is that on March 8, as the pandemic was taking hold of Spain, the country did not have enough PPE for health workers. Two days later, the Spanish Health Ministry would try to centralize all PPE purchases rather than have each regional government procure its own supplies, a move that did little to solve the problem. There is just one mention in the minutes of what would eventually become one of the major problems of the coronavirus crisis: overwhelmed hospitals. The only reference to this issue was made by the representative from the Netherlands, who said his country could have problems with bed capacity in hospitals and that the main concern lies in adopting measures to slow and mitigate the epidemic. An underestimation They underestimated the virus, said Daniel Lopez Acuna, a former official at the World Health Organization who currently teaches at the Andalusia School of Public Health, after reading the minutes from the ECDC meeting. It is a position shared by all sources consulted by EL PAIS. Even looked at from the perspective of back then, with what was already known [about the coronavirus], it can be seen that neither the transmission capacity of the virus or the impact of international travel were adequately assessed, he added. The fear over what happened with H1N1 [swine flu], when governments were later criticized for having invested in prevention, had an influence [on the response to the coronavirus crisis], explained an EU source who wished to remain anonymous. During that health crisis, EU agencies were accused of taking action that led to a waste of large sums of public money, and unjustified scares and fears about the health risks faced by the European public, as claimed in a 2010 report from the Council of Europe. Joan Ramon Villalbi, a member of the board of the Spanish Society of Public Health and Administration (Sespas), agreed that the experience of the first SARS and MERS epidemics did not indicate at any point a propagation comparable to that which has turned the coronavirus into a global pandemic. English version by Melissa Kitson. Scuffle: Eddie Chu was among the legislators removed from the chamber. Photo: Anthony Kwan/Getty Images Rival Hong Kong politicians scuffled yesterday over the leadership of a key committee which could pave the way for a debate on a controversial China national anthem bill. In chaotic scenes, pro-democracy legislators charged at security guards surrounding pro-establishment politician Chan Kin-Por, who had taken the chairman's seat. Guards hauled several legislators out of the chamber, some kicking and shouting. Some tried leaping over the guards from benchtops to take back the chairman's seat, only to be forced back. The pro-democracy faction chanted "foul play" and held a placard reading: "CCP (Chinese Communist Party) tramples HK legislature." "It's an illegal meeting. I hope you can leave immediately," opposition legislator Ted Hui shouted at Mr Chan. But as the protests continued, Mr Chan called a vote, which ended with pro-Beijing member Starry Lee being elected as chairman. "They can take away the rules of procedures today but I am sure the Hong Kong people won't forget today," said Democratic representative Dennis Kwok. Eddie Chu, who was among those carried out, said: "If Hong Kong was a democracy, we would not need to start scuffles like this. "Unfortunately we are forced into this situation. I can foresee more fights within the chamber and outside." The house committee's role is to scrutinise bills before a second reading in the legislative council. It has built up a backlog after failing to elect a chairperson since last year. That backlog includes a bill that would criminalise abuse of China's national anthem. It is expected to be given a second reading on May 27. Protesters have been calling on social media for city-wide demonstrations on that day. Social distancing for the pandemic has put a brake on protests since January, but demonstrations are expected to resume as the outbreak comes under control. The arrest of 15 activists in April, including politicians, a publishing tycoon and senior barristers, thrust the protest movement back into the spotlight and drew condemnation across the world. China's Hong Kong affairs office warned this month that the city would never be calm unless "black-clad violent protesters" were all removed, describing them as a "political virus" that seeks independence from Beijing. Congresswoman Donna Shalala answered a range of questions, both personal and on her policymaking responsibilities, as part of the Leading Change: Past, Present, and Future webinar guided by Terri Scandura, the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business Schools Warren C. Johnson endowed chair professor of management. University President Julio Frenk welcomed his predecessor and praised her strong voice and very considerable substantive expertise on many issues that have a direct impact on our country, our community, and our University. Shalala said her first real job after collegeas a 20-year-old Peace Corps volunteer in Iranset the foundation for her long career in leadership, both in government and in academia. It made me a citizen of the world but also gave me confidence that you could drop me any place on earth and I could figure out how to get things done, Shalala said. Take a young American, drop them down in a mud-hut village in a very, very foreign country and give them a list of things to do. From that experience you learn a lot about poverty, about culture, and an enormous amount about yourself. She cited the challenges of generating legislation and working on the national board with oversight for the stimulus package when so much is still unknown about the virus. Youre flying blind without knowing a lot about how its transmitted, without having a treatment, said Shalala. So, what we have done is to repeat and repeat what you have to do which is very straight-forward, low-tech stuffwash your hands, cover your face, social distancing, and staying at home. And in terms of shaping legislation, weve had to first invest in the science to make sure that we were part of an international coalitionmillions of dollars in the search for treatment and for a vaccineand second we had to bolster the economy, particularly the working people. We have to get money into the pockets of people who lost their jobs, she explained. The longest acting secretary of Health and Human Services in U.S. history, Shalala said she disagreed with political leaders in Florida and elsewhere who have moved to reopen the economy before the measures public health experts have urged have been met. I would not open up a business without testing everyone in that business, she said. If I was the leader, I would have starved this disease to the point at which our infections were going down for 14 days and then start the contact tracing and the isolation of people who test positive. Were not doing this systematically. Red flags, yellow flagsthats focused on opening upthats not a public heath strategy integrated with an employment strategy, Shalala said. The public health people have been clear about what we need to do, but were not doing it yet, and thats in part because the federal government has abdicated its responsibility. She lauded the business sector for its ability to adapt and provide needed support for supplies and other facets in the fight to combat the impact of the coronavirus. The creativity of business has been amazing; Bacardi producing hand sanitizer, businesses retooling their manufacturing so they can produce masks or ventilators, she remarked, but added that more could have been done if businesses had been asked. Shalala recommended that future leaders calling for change must first know their subject matter and the culture of their organizations. You have to be a strategic thinker, its not just a matter of having a list of things that you want to do, and you have to understand the culture that youre in, she pointed out. She cited her experience running the Department of Health and Human Services where each of the different agenciesthe National Health Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administrationall had different cultures. Its very much like a great research university where business schools and law schools and arts and sciences departments all have a different culture, Shalala explained. People think of culture as ethnic, but its more than that. For students, Shalala said that it is likely that a national service corps will launch later this year and possibly by August that will offer service opportunities and the chance to pay off their educational loans. And she had some insight for students graduating this year. Take a course in contact tracing, she said. There are going to be thousands of jobs. And if you wanted to enter business or the health care sector, itll give you a lot of interactions with people, teach you a set of skills, and is a wonderful way to start a career and help your country. In terms of leadership, Shalala encouraged students to develop expertise in a special field along with interpersonal skills. You have to learn empathy and learn leadershipIve learned a lot over the yearsbut more than anything else if you want to be a leader in our country or any country on earth, youve got to understand peoples lives, she said. You cant make policy and you cant be a leader unless you understand the lives of the people around you. As we dragged our luggage across Los Angeles International Airport's cavernous customs processing hall, my 15-year-old son asked, "Are we in the right place?" Customs at LAX is typically overfilled with arrivals. This time, there were banners welcoming us to the United States, but no people. Only a maze of retractable belt barriers greeted us. My kids and I had been asking the same question all day. We'd just discovered what it's like to fly internationally during the coronavirus lockdown and were about to experience our first domestic flight since the pandemic. It had been a long day. We'd already crossed nine time zones and spent 12 hours flying from Nice, France, to California. And we still had a long way to go. It was a series of flights that would expose us to the reality of flying during the covid-19 outbreak - a strange new world of deserted terminals, Purell packets parceled out to passengers and social distancing requirements. My three teenage kids and I had been stuck in Nice during the outbreak. We battened down the hatches for two months while the virus raged through Europe and then planned our escape to Uncle Pete's basement in Spokane, Washington. Getting out wasn't easy. My travel agent had recommended a flight from Nice to Los Angeles via Paris on Air France, and then connecting to a nonstop on Alaska Airlines to Spokane. But airlines were canceling various legs of our trip before we could book them. Ultimately, we had help from our Medjet membership, which contracted with a company called FocusPoint International to help secure our departure. That brings us to the first time we asked ourselves if we were in the right place: when we arrived at the Nice airport early on a Saturday morning. In the airport, we found a small group of masked passengers waiting in a roped-off area for the terminal to open. It felt like a doctor's office. No one said a word, and there was a sense of anticipation, as if someone was about to receive a bleak diagnosis. Half an hour later, after a police officer checked our passports and collected affidavits declaring that we were traveling for an essential purpose, we were allowed inside the terminal. Nice's airport is the third-busiest in France, but remarkably, there were only two flights leaving that day: one to Paris, the other to London. That made gate announcements unnecessary. On the aircraft, everyone wore masks and every middle seat remained empty. No snacks, no drinks. And as in the waiting area, there was almost complete silence on the half-full flight. On any other Saturday, the international terminal at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport would be controlled chaos. But when we arrived, it had been drained of passengers and sat like an empty monument to a forgotten war. I saw vacant gates, empty waiting areas, shuttered shops but almost no sign of human life. At passport control, the customs agent didn't flinch at our overstayed visa. We found our Los Angeles flight at the far end of the terminal, with a few passengers milling around the gate. A flight attendant later told me that they expected 64 passengers on a Boeing 777-300 with a capacity of 296. Only 33 passengers checked in for Flight 66. It was an improvement, she said, from last week's L.A. flight, where only 13 people boarded. Shortly after takeoff, the crew distributed health declaration forms that asked us where we'd been and whether we had any covid-19 symptoms. Air France takes social distancing seriously. Our section of the cabin had only three other passengers, all seated on the other side of the aircraft. The flight attendants appeared only occasionally on the almost 11-hour flight to offer a shrink-wrapped meal or snack and then disappeared behind the curtain. Otherwise, we were free to do what we wanted. We stood and walked around and practiced our yoga stretches and nobody cared. Keeping a face mask on for 11 hours isn't easy. With no one else in the cabin, I saw other passengers reverting to "half mask" after a few hours, with the cloth covering only their mouth or chin. Breathing through a mask can be difficult, and with no cabin crew to enforce the mask rule, it was clear that for now, full mask usage, like seat belts, was meant for takeoff and landing. Air France disembarked the plane a few rows at a time to maintain social distancing. At the end of the boarding ramp, a customs agent wearing a clear plastic face shield checked our declarations and asked us how we were feeling. He didn't perform a temperature check. Then he motioned for us to continue down the passageway, past several more uniformed agents. Based on media reports, I had assumed that Los Angeles would be busier. It wasn't. Maybe they'd moved to a smaller room, I wondered. But no. At the end of the hall, a lone customs agent scanned our passports and waved us through. The kids, bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, didn't seem to care that we'd just made it through customs without having to wait. It was a short, memorable walk from the international terminal to Terminal 2. It led past a completely shut down Terminal 3 formerly occupied by Delta Air Lines. It's been closed since the first week of April. Fortunately, what's left of Delta's operations looked almost normal. Some of the shops in Terminal 2 were open, including a Starbucks where I could re-caffeinate. Masks have been mandatory at LAX since May 11, but not everyone wore them. Delta boarded our Seattle flight a few rows at a time to keep passengers apart. The moment I stepped on board, a flight attendant pressed a sanitizing wipe into my hand without telling me when to use it. Should I disinfect my hands? The tray table? The armrest? The in-flight announcements were different, too - the usual safety information combined with messages about Delta Clean, the airline's initiative to block middle seats and sanitize the aircraft. I fell asleep after takeoff and woke up to find a goody bag in the seat between my son and me. It was a clear plastic bag with a mini-bottle of water, Cheez-It crackers, Biscoff cookies and another sanitizing wipe. It had been nearly 20 hours since we left France, and we were starting to feel the sleep deprivation when we landed in Seattle. My two youngest kids found our gate and fell asleep in their chairs. My oldest son and I decided to take a walk around the airport to see if this was the Sea-Tac we remembered from just a few years before, when we'd been here on a stopover on our way to Alaska. Most of Seattle's flights appeared to be operating out of the main terminal. The Terminal A gates looked completely abandoned. This emptiness prompted me to wonder once again whether I was in the right place. This didn't look like any airport I'd ever seen; I felt like an extra in a movie about Armageddon. On our puddle jumper from Seattle to Spokane, I was too tired to sleep. I fidgeted nervously with my third Purell packet. I was still trying to process what I'd seen that day: Sharing a terminal with passengers who all seemed to be traveling to a funeral. Boarding an almost empty plane to cross the Atlantic. Walking through a deserted customs area. Entire terminals shut down, seemingly forever. I asked my kids what they thought of the adventure. They just offered a collective shrug, the default response of a teenager. OK, maybe they don't have half a lifetime of memories of full airports and a vibrant travel industry. They just know that they're back in America after being trapped abroad for months. But maybe they're onto something. Instead of focusing on what's changed, I should think about what hasn't. The planes are still flying. The airports are still open. People are traveling. All along the way, we saw signs of an imminent comeback. If passenger numbers continue to grow at this rate, our Air France plane to LAX will be full by June and they'll add another flight, and then another. It's just a matter of time before Terminal 3 is back in business in Los Angeles. And for every downbeat passenger, we also met people like the family from Alabama who were on our last leg from Seattle to Spokane, who acted like it was just another flight. Except they were all wearing face masks, of course. What's it like to fly during the outbreak? It's weird and emotionally exhausting. Two days after arriving in the United States, my kids and I are symptom-free. But we'll stay in my uncle's basement during our two-week self-quarantine, just to be sure. And then, who knows? I'd like to document the recovery of America's tourism industry - if my kids let me. - - - Elliott writes The Washington Post's Travel section's Navigator column. The coronavirus pandemic has hit stocks hard. Few industries have experienced more pain than retail. Consumer spending has fallen dramatically, especially for luxury goods. Canada Goose Holdings Inc (TSX:GOOS)(NYSE:GOOS) is on the front lines of this impact. Year to date, GOOS stock is down 40%. But the coronavirus is only the latest challenge for the company. Since their highs in 2018, shares have lost two-thirds of their value. Canada Goose stock was ripe for a correction, especially as shares once traded at 150 times trailing earnings. But at some point, the correction will go too far. Already, GOOS stock looks like the bargain of the decade on several valuation metrics, yet the ultimate impact of the coronavirus remains unclear. How much will the coronavirus hurt Canada Goose? Are shares a buy today or is it best to wait? Understand the impact The coronavirus presents a broad challenge for Canada Goose. But before we cover the headwinds, its helpful to understand how the company intends to grow to understand connection between the two should be clear. Canada Goose is a luxury retailer best known for its $1,000 jackets used by professional mountaineers and scientists in Antarctica. The companys products are renowned for their quality and the hefty price tag represents that commitment. Founded in Toronto, the company still generates one-third of its sales from Canada. Another one-third comes from the U.S., with the remainder a mix of international sources. Last year, Canada and U.S. sales rose by roughly 25%. International sales, meanwhile, skyrocketed by 61%. The international opportunity is still a minority of revenue, but it represents Canada Gooses biggest growth runway. The company recently opened its first stores in China, the largest luxury market in the world. If its success can be replicated in markets like China, South Korea, and Japan, GOOS stock could triple in value. The coronavirus has placed a big delay on that international expansion. Consumer spending is significantly lower for luxury goods. Construction on new stores has come to a halt. And retail shopping in general, particularly in physical locations, could take years to return to baseline. Story continues But now trading at 25 times earnings an 85% discount to its previous valuation is it time to buy GOOS stock? Buy Canada Goose stock? Heres the good news: Canada Goose isnt going away. It has a multi-decade, storied history thats difficult to replicate. Its reputation is seared into the psyches of its customer base. Before the crash, roughly 90% of its buyers reported that theyll return to the company for their next jacket purchase. Thats quite a feat considering the garments can cost $1,000 or more. The long-term international growth story wont go away either. These markets remain a perfect fit for the company once conditions normalize. But when exactly will retail sales return to normal? Thats the biggest question plaguing the stock. Long-term investors can capitalize. Its almost a certainty that Canada Goose will survive the pandemic. Its also likely that the days of rapid growth will return, eventually. Will that occur in a few months or a few years? Its difficult to say, but if youre willing to buy and hold this stock for a decade, the wait will likely be worth it. But if youre not ready to commit, take a look at some other opportunities that the market has presented in recent weeks. The post Canada Goose (TSX:GOOS) Stock: How Bad Is the Coronavirus Impact? appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada. More reading The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Canada Goose Holdings. Fool contributor Ryan Vanzo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fools purpose is to help the world invest, better. Click here now for your free subscription to Take Stock, The Motley Fool Canadas free investing newsletter. Packed with stock ideas and investing advice, it is essential reading for anyone looking to build and grow their wealth in the years ahead. Motley Fool Canada 2020 Princes Charles has backed a government campaign looking to encourage British people to take up jobs on the farm this harvest. Defra launched the initiative 'Pick for Britain' last month to bring workers and employers together as the impact of Covid-19 leaves a diminished workforce. From pickers and packers, to plant husbandry and tractor or forklift drivers, there are a wide range of roles available. Now the Prince of Wales has shared a video message, saying the country needs an 'army of people to help'. I do not doubt that the work will be unglamorous and, at times, challenging," the senior Royal said. "But it is of the utmost importance and, at the height of this global pandemic, you will be making a vital contribution to the national effort. "If we are to harvest British fruit and vegetables this year, we need an army of people to help." The Prince of Wales has shared a message in support of the #PickForBritain campaign. ??????@DefraGovUK pic.twitter.com/a7WIDYo7E0 Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) May 19, 2020 Recent estimates by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) show that there could be a shortage of 80,000 farm workers in the UK due to the coronavirus crisis. Three UK agricultural labour providers Concordia, HOPs and Fruitful have already launched the 'Feed the Nation' campaign. In his video, the Prince of Wales said people are needed who are 'genuinely going to commit': "In the coming months, many thousands of people will be needed to bring in the crops. "It will be hard graft but it is hugely important if we are to avoid the crops going to waste". The recent signing ceremony seeks to establish strategic co-operation between Saint-Gobain Vietnam and Nam Long Investment JSC Specifically, Saint-Gobain Vietnam will provide a diverse range of reliable, international-quality gypsum ceiling and drywall solutions to accompany Nam Long's projects such as Flora apartments and Valora townhouses, Mizuki Park, or luxury villas in the ecosystem of Nam Long's urban areas. Along with this, Saint-Gobain Vietnam will supply up to 100,000 square metres of solutions and products. Saint-Gobain Vietnam will supply up to 100,000 square metres of solutions and products. Being the exclusive supplier of plaster ceiling and drywall solutions for Nam Long JSC once again affirms the quality and reputation of Saint-Gobain Vietnam. This co-operation is an opportunity for Saint-Gobain Vietnam to continue accompanying and creating more living space and well-being for consumers, Tran Duc Huy, CEO of Saint-Gobain Vietnam said. On the occasion, the representative of Nam Long Investment JSC said, Saint-Gobain Vietnam's solutions meet both national and international standards. They will help us quickly deliver superior quality from general to detail for a series of urban developments. Belonging to Saint-Gobain Group a world-leader in the habitat and construction markets Saint-Gobain Vietnam offers a wide range of products and services for constructions. Saint-Gobain Vietnam designs, manufactures, supplies, and distributes materials and solutions that are preferred and used in many projects such as hotels, schools, hospitals, malls, and dwelling-houses in Vietnam. RIDGEWOOD, N.J. Muslim families isolated at home during the coronavirus quarantine are missing traditions during the holy month of Ramadan, such as praying at mosques, sharing communal meals and visiting family and friends. In their place, many find solace, joy and faith by creating prayer spaces inside their houses modeled after the places where they normally would worship. The result in homes across New Jersey has been a colorful, DIY celebration captured in photos and shared on social media. "For us, this was a way to create a space for our children, because we knew we wouldn't be able to take them to mosque this year and have iftar [meals] with family and friends," Stephanie Aspero said. "It was important to have something, even if it's just symbolic." Decorating one's home for the holy month, which began in late April, is not a new tradition, but it's taken on new significance this year because of the isolation wrought by the coronavirus. Families want to keep the festive spirit of Ramadan, especially for children who look forward all year to the holiday. Ramadan ends Saturday in a three-day celebration called Eid al-Fitr. Essma Bengabsia, executive director of the New Jersey-based Muslim Network, a coalition of mosques, businesses and other groups, said photos of people's prayer spaces have popped up on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. "One person after another put up a picture, and it just picked up a lot of steam," she said. "People really loved the idea and started crafting their own prayer spaces and mini-mosques at home." At her house, Aspero draped purple and gold sheets in the shape of a tent in the den and placed blue and white pillows and a prayer rug on the floor. A string of white bulbs hangs above. She laid out children's books about Ramadan for her 10-year-old daughter and 5-year-old twins. "When the lines of work and home get blurred, its nice to have a dedicated space for all of it," said Aspero, 34, a high school English teacher. Story continues In Clifton, New Jersey, Eyad Asmar used materials from his shuttered printing shop to make designs on corrugated plastic sheets resembling old mosque walls with dome roofs. He set up the scene in the family room with a doorway to go inside, where rugs are laid down for five daily prayers and special Ramadan prayers called Taraweeh. His children, ages 6, 8 and 11, helped him pick out materials and prints for the "mini-mosque." "Ever since they were little, we'd go to mosque with them, and they'd get used to the Ramadan spirit," said Asmar, 38. "I think this helps. They feel like not everything went away." Stephanie Aspero, second from left, and her family from right, Aspero's husband, Ahmad, and their daughters, Sarya, 5, Sennah, 5, and Ryanne, 10 created a prayer space in their home during Ramadan. Similar displays are popping up around the country, indoors and outside. In Dearborn, Michigan, organizations launched a citywide competition in search of the home with the most festive outdoor decorations for Ramadan. In Brooklyn, Anesa Vucetovic said she's seen photos on WhatsApp of people's displays. In her home, she decorated an area in the foyer with a rug, moon and stars, candles, a banner and lights "to give it that spiritual feeling." She plans to hoist a balloon arch for the Eid celebration, she said. Ramadan is the ninth month on the Islamic calendar, when Muslims believe the Quran was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. During Ramadan, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and focus on prayer, charity and sacrifice. From left, Eyad Asmar, his wife, Ramia, and daughters Touleen, 8, and Noor, 11, pray at their homemade mosque on May 8. It's normally a deeply communal time. At the NIA Masjid and Community Center in Newark, Salma Latif usually leads storytelling and craftmaking programs for kids this time of year. She switched to live online classes for children because of the pandemic. She taught them how to make Ramadan banners and mosque walls with items they might have at home, such as paper, markers and cereal boxes. "It's nice to see they're having this unified Ramadan experience," said Latif, 28, of Livingston, New Jersey. "Theyre making things and sending pictures to each other. Its really been a great source of joy." Hannan Adely is an education and diversity reporter for NorthJersey.com. Email: adely@northjersey.com Twitter: @adelyreporter This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Muslims create mini-mosques at home to mark Ramadan amid coronavirus Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) The government will need billions of pesos to hire up to 136,000 contact tracers for probable COVID-19 patients, the Department of Health said Tuesday. Estimates made by Health Secretary Francisco Duque III estimated the cost at 11.7 billion, assuming that authorities will agree to fill all these slots to allot a contact tracer for every 800 people. "Assuming we pay them each 30,000 a month, if we keep them to do contact tracing for at least three months, all told, the budget required for that is about 11.7 billion," Duque told senators during a five-hour inquiry into the progress of COVID-19 response in the country. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III earlier proposed to hire laborers displaced by the two-month lockdown as contact tracers to help the government's response and provide temporary work and wages. Duque, however, noted that there are certain skills for communication as well as technology literacy to fulfill the job, which entails getting in touch with family, friends, and other people who had close contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient. The StaySafe app is also being tapped to digitize the tracing database. Senator Sonny Angara, who has survived COVID-19, said tracing should be "real-time" or may otherwise be rendered useless. Based on his experience, contact tracers only got in touch with him on April 24 a month since he tested positive and already two weeks after he was discharged from the hospital. Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson also pointed out why there are more people tested than the tally of people traced to have interacted with coronavirus patients. Duque explained that tracing is only triggered once a person is confirmed to have the virus. Acting Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua of the National Economic and Development Authority added his agency is also ready to present a proposal to convert a cash-for-work program currently meant to cover up to 1 million workers to cover the manpower needed for contact tracing. Chua added that the number of contact tracers to be hired will "depend on the amount we are willing to pay." The Department of Health said it has hired 38,315 contact tracers as of May 14, but will need an additional 126,000 workers. Economic managers have earlier voiced concern that public funds are running low as COVID-19 expenses pile up. Dominguez said state revenues amounted to 706.85 billion from January-April, down 21 percent compared to 900.33 billion collected during the same period in 2019. The biggest difference was the postponed tax payment deadline, Dominguez added, which the government expects to collect later on as lockdown rules are lifted. Separately, NEDA proposed that the conduct of the 2020 census of population to be delayed to September for safety reasons, four months later than schedule. The flight carrying medical aid for Palestinians took place despite the UAE and Israel having no formal ties. An Etihad Airways plane flew from the capital of the United Arab Emirates into Israel on Tuesday to deliver coronavirus aid to the Palestinians, the airline said, marking the first known direct commercial flight between the two nations. The flight took place despite the UAE having no formal diplomatic ties with Israel, while there are no commercial flights between the two states. However, it marks an open moment of cooperation between the countries after years of rumoured back-channel discussions between them over mutual enmity towards regional rival Iran. In the past, private and diplomatic planes often had to travel to a third country before heading onto Israel. Etihad, a state-owned, long-haul carrier, confirmed that it had sent a flight Tuesday to Tel Avivs Ben Gurion Airport. 200516161811707 Etihad Airways operated a dedicated humanitarian cargo flight from Abu Dhabi to Tel Aviv on 19 May to provide medical supplies to the Palestinians, the airline told The Associated Press news agency. The Emirati government did not provide immediate comment. Videos showed crew at Ben Gurion Airport off-loading stacks of cardboard boxes with large banners over them reading: UAE AID: for Palestine to fight Coronavirus (COVID-19). The United Nations said it coordinated the 14-tonne shipment of urgent medical supplies from the UAE to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in the Palestinian territories, according to a statement from the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO). The aid includes personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical equipment. Most notably, it includes 10 ventilators that are acutely needed, the statement added. It was not immediately clear whether the 14 tonnes of aid were transported on the Tuesday Etihad cargo flight. Etihad was not mentioned in the UNSCO statement. Palestinian officials in the occupied West Bank made no immediate comment. Health officials in the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by the Hamas movement, said they had no knowledge of any aid shipment for Gaza from Abu Dhabi. An Israeli official said the flight would be delivering humanitarian aid provided by the UAE to the Palestinians and that the cargo flight was coordinated with the Israeli government. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject. Neither the Gaza Strip nor the West Bank has its own airport, meaning most cargo bound for Palestinian territory must enter through Israel. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times and Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images) US to Send Russia 200 Ventilators as Russian CCP Virus Cases Near 300,000 MOSCOWThe United States said on Tuesday it would this week start delivering 200 medical ventilators to Russia, which has the worlds second-highest number of confirmed CCP virus cases (not counting China), commonly known as the novel coronavirus. Russia reported 9,263 new infections on Tuesday, pushing its nationwide total to 299,941, and 115 more deaths, taking the total death toll to 2,837. The new cases were for a fourth successive day below 10,000. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Monday Russia had halted the growth in infections and that there were other positive signs. Mishustin, one of four government ministers to catch the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, has been discharged from a clinic and is now working normally, the Interfax news agency quoted his spokesman as saying on Tuesday. The U.S. embassy in Moscow said Russian President Vladimir Putin had requested assistance from the United States and that U.S. President Donald Trump had offered to send 200 U.S.-made ventilators. U.S. President Donald Trump (R) attends a meeting with Russias President Vladimir Putin during the G-20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images) The presidents spoke by telephone on May 7. The first batch of 50 ventilators should be ready for shipment on Wednesday, while the remaining 150 will be ready shortly after, the embassy said in a statement. Russia sent a batch of its own ventilators to the United States in early April, but U.S. officials say they were not needed in the end. The Russian ventilator in question, the Aventa-M, came into the spotlight last week after it was reported to have caused fires in hospitals in Moscow and St Petersburg. That prompted Russia to suspend the use of Aventa-M ventilators produced after April 1. By Tom Balmforth and Maria Kiselyova Epoch Times staff contributed to this report. Dubai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Skheikh Zayed exhibition, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Sunday. PTI Photo/PIB(PTI2_11_2018_000244B) Aditi Bhaduri Now that the kerfuffle in the Gulf region over Islamophobia in India has subsided it is time to take a dispassionate look at events. In the wake of reports of boycotts and violence against some Muslims by some Hindu vigilantes in India, as a response to the callousness and irresponsibility displayed by the Tablighee Jamaat during COVID-19, some prominent citizens of GCC countries, including a member of parliament in Kuwait, began calling out Islamophobia in India. It began with some Islamophobic tweets by Indian expatriates located in the GCC states, and gained currency when an earlier distasteful tweet about Arab women by a member of the Indian parliament surfaced. At the onset, it needs to be stated that Islamophobia anywhere and in any form is to be condemned. Several of those called out for their Islamophobic tweets have lost their jobs in the Gulf region. So would ties between India and GCC be adversely affected? There is every indication that ties are rock solid and will not be affected by the follies of a misguided few. For instance, soon after the Kuwaiti MPs appeal to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to intervene in India to take up the cause of alleged discrimination and Islamophobia in the country Kuwaits Ambassador to India Jassem al-Najem in a statement to the Kuwaiti News Agency commended the historical relationship between Kuwait and India, stressing that Kuwait and India share many principles in their foreign policies, like respecting UN Charter, non-interference in other countries affairs and respecting sovereignty of nations. Soon after, the UAE sent humanitarian aid to India - as it has been sending to numerous other countries. The UAE Ambassador to India said: "The UAE is committed to extending critical support to nations seeking to bolster their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. UAE assistance to India comes in recognition of the profound and brotherly ties our two countries have shared throughout the years." It actually mirrors the deep ties that have been assiduously cultivated by successive governments over the years, but into which Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular has invested considerable effort and energy, in a bid to woo investments, shore up Indias energy security and ramp up regional security. And there is every reason to believe that ties will remain unscathed. If bilateral ties between India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) began with sourcing cheap labour and then expanding into energy security, then today they span almost every field. Counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing Since 2003 defence cooperation between the two sides began, expanding quickly into cooperation in counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing. After decades of depending and outsourcing its security concerns to its Western allies primarily the US the Gulf countries are having a rethink and coming into their own as far as the security architecture of the region is concerned, increasingly looking eastwards - to militarily strong countries like Russia, China, and India. Countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia have extradited those wanted by India on terrorism charges, including men with Pakistani passports. In 2018, India signed a pact with Oman that allows the Indian Navy to use the strategic port of Duqm, overlooking the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. In February this year the Embassy of Kuwait opened a defence attache office in Delhi. Kuwaiti Ambassador to India Al Najem said opening of the military office in New Delhi attests that there is a real desire to increase defence and security cooperation between the two friendly countries. Most of the GCC countries had agreed to participate in Indias MILAN 2020 naval military exercise, now postponed because of COVID-19. Indias ties with not just the GCC but the Arab world, in general, had become so all encompassing that in 2016 the First Ministerial meeting of the Arab-India Cooperation Forum was convened in Manama, Bahrain, capturing both the momentum and the depth of relations that India had cultivated and begun enjoying with its extended neighborhood. A highlight of these ties was when UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan came to Delhi as the chief guest for the 2017 Republic Day parade, one of the many high profile visits between India and the region. The prime minister has undertaken several visits to the region, including to the State of Palestine the first-ever visit by an Indian prime minister. India has successfully navigated the region's tricky terrain and the many fault-lines, to enjoy good relations with all sides. Undoubtedly a watershed moment in India-GCC ties had been Pakistan's refusal to join the Saudi-led coalition war in Yemen. That gave a great fillip to ties with the GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain with India. All three monarchies have honoured Prime Minister Modi with their countries' highest civilian awards. However, the real cement in ties with the GCC is economic. There is, of course, the well known Indian expat community there the regions largest expat community at 8 million strong - and the billions of dollars they send home in remittances, which may see a significant downturn now in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. India is the worlds second-largest oil importer and a significant market for the GCC countries. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are two of Indias top four trading partners. The UAE has been one of the top ten sources of FDI flows into India over the last one decade, while FDI flows from India to the GCC account for almost $3 billion. Total trade volume between India and the GCC have seen robust growth in 2018-19, with imports from the Gulf countries to India reaching $79.70 billion, almost double the $41.55 billion exports from India to the Gulf region. Indians have opened businesses in the region, become one of the major real estate investors, and are significantly involved in areas like healthcare, something that will continue in the foreseeable future. One million Indian tourists, for instance, visited Dubai in 2019. During his maiden visit in February 2019 to India Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced his readiness to invest $100 billion in India. Similarly, Invest Bahrain is looking to invest $500 million into India. The GCC also figures majorly in Indias energy security. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) became the first foreign company to build strategic oil reserves in India. Saudi ARAMCO in partnership with ADNOC has entered into a joint venture for $44 billion worth Ratnagiri Refinery and Petro-Chemical project Ltd. Last year Saudi Aramco signed a $15 billion agreement with Indias Reliance Industries Ltd. Indias ONGC Videsh has acquired a 10 percent stake in an offshore oil concession in Abu Dhabi for $600 million and has signed an agreement for joint exploration in the newly discovered tight oil and shale gas reserves in the Khaleej al Bahrain basin. In November last year Modi delivered the keynote address at the annual high profile Saudi Future Investment Initiatives Summit, when two agreements were also signed between Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd and Saudi Aramco for setting up a second fuel reserve facility in Karnataka; and between Indian Oils West Asia unit and Saudi Arabias Al Jeri company for downstream sector cooperation. More recently, as part of its COVID-19 diplomacy, India has sent a rapid response team to Kuwait, medical personnel to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and COVID-19 related drugs to numerous Arab countries, including those of the GCC. It may, therefore, be safe to say that ties remain on solid ground because India is what the GCC countries are looking for a militarily and economically strong country. After all few Indians with their Islamophobic tweets do not represent the entire nation of 1.3 billion Indians as numerous Arab students, businessmen, professionals, tourists and patients who have visited or are living in India will testify. As the domestic situation grows bleaker for him and his ruling party, Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan is struggling to turn the Turkish publics attention away from home. In his desperation, Erdogan is laying bare his designs to cement the cornerstones of a new/old empire founded on an odd coupling of Turkish ethnic chauvinism that harks back to a mythical Turkic ancestor in pre-Islamic Central Asia, and an aggressive brand of Muslim Brotherhood Islamist ideology. Haci Yakisikli, of the pro-Erdogan newspaper Yeni Akit, is a good source to turn to for a chilling view into the mindset of the Erdogan regime. On his personal Twitter account, he rejoices at the Amazing News!: The Turkish World Cooperation and Solidarity Society together with 100 NGOs are preparing to file lawsuits at the international level concerning 12 islands, Crete, Libya, Mosul-Kirkuk, Crimea and Western Thrace that they believe legally belong to Turkey! These lands might be able to re-join Turkey! Although observers have described this as the ravings of a madman, thousands of right-wing Turkish academics, journalists and opinion pundits subscribe to these irredentist dreams and they are growing more and more belligerent in their calls for the restoration of Turkish rights in the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. Undoubtedly, much of this is orchestrated. On 11 April, Erdogan announced that his government would continue its resolute defence of Turkish rights and interests in Cypriot regional waters in the Aegean. Turkey claims it is operating on behalf of the interests of the Turkish Republic of Cyprus that was created following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and that is recognised by no other member of the international community but Turkey. His remarks came after a joint declaration by Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, France and the United Arab Emirates denouncing Turkish activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. Ankaras oil and gas drilling operations in areas where Cyprus has exclusive economic rights have been condemned on numerous occasions by the abovementioned countries, as well as by the EU and the US. To further fuel tensions in the region, the Anadolu Agency (AA) reported Thursday, 15 May, that the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPAO) officially asked the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya for permission to drill in the eastern Mediterranean. The state-run news agency cited Erdogans Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez as saying that the exploration work will begin as soon as the process is completed. GNA head Fayez Al-Sarraj signed a widely condemned maritime border agreement with Erdogan in November last year in order to create a Turkish maritime zone that improbably stretches from southern Anatolian shores to the coast of northeast Libya. Then, in another of those three card monte games the Turkish regime plays to deflect attention from its own belligerent and autocratic policies, officials of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lashed out at Al-Sarrajs chief adversary, the Commander of the Libyan National Army Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. In an interview with the Turkish A Haber news channel on 16 May, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Haftars forces were growing more aggressive as they continued attacks targeting Libyan civilians. Cavusoglu likened this to the Syrian regimes aggression against its people. Critics of Erdogans policies at home and abroad have said much the same if not worse about the activities of Turkish militias in Libya and Syria. Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar may have spoken the truth when he said that no Turks have died in Libya. But this has not prevented the Erdogan regime from sending thousands of Syrians to die in Libya, including children. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which has been monitoring and tracking Turkish operations to transfer Syrian mercenaries to Libya, reports that the Turkish backed factions in Afrin have been recruiting minors in order to send them to engage in fighting in the side of the GNA against Haftars forces in Libyan territory. According to the Syrian rights organisation, 22,250 Syrian mercenaries have volunteered to join fighting in Libya, with 287 killed in Libyan territory so far. Among the total number of recruits, some 150 children between the ages of 16 and 18, have been recruited to fight in Libya, the majority of whom are of Al-Sultan Murad Division, by offering material incentives, exploiting their difficult living situation and poverty. Sixteen of these children have been killed so far. Thanks to these mercenaries, the GNA has been growing more aggressive in its military offensives despite EU High Representative Josep Borrells reiterated appeals to all sides to adhere to a truce. Borrell may not have mentioned the Turkish-backed GNA militias explicitly, but the implied censure was clear. The GNA had initially committed to a ceasefire agreement in January while Turkey has become more and more brazen in its breaches of the UN embargo on arms and military support for the warring factions in Libya. As is often the case with Ankaras best laid schemes, spanners crop up to make them go awry. A recent spanner is the increasingly close relations between Benghazi and Damascus. Turkey may face additional obstacles to its military interventions in Syria and Libya as a result of increasing cooperation between its adversaries in these two war-torn countries, reports Paul Iddon for AhvalNews website. The relations have not yet translated into substantial military cooperation against Turkey, but considerable potential is there, he observes. Cooperation could be in the form of joint diplomatic efforts, but also an exchange of knowledge, intelligence and expertise, Iddon wrote, citing the representative of a research and consulting firm based in eastern Libya. Benghazi and Damascus could coordinate attacks against the Turkish military and its militia proxies in both countries to divide and stretch Turkeys attention as well as its resources. Iddon also cited Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the University of Oklahoma, as saying that Haftar and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad presented themselves as the secular option for their countries, invariably portraying their opponents (the Turks and the Turkish-backed militias) as Islamic State-like fanatics. Landis also notes that Al-Assad and Haftar are both allied with Russia and hope to find ways to leverage their new relations against Turkey. Earlier this month, a delegation of the Libyan National Army announced that it had opened an embassy in Damascus as part of joint Syrian-Libyan efforts to combat Turkish aggression. The establishment of formal representations between Damascus and the LNA raises the possibility of diplomatic and economic, as well as military cooperation down the road, Iddon observes, adding: The LNA can help Damascus economically, since it controls Libyas oil reserves, and diplomatically, through its connections with the Gulf states that oppose Turkeys policies in the region. The Gulf states, specifically the UAE, appear to be a crucial component of the Benghazi-Damascus cooperation against Turkey. Jalel Harchaoui, a research fellow at the Conflict Research Unit of the Clingendael Institute, who focuses on Libya, told Ahval that the LNA delegations visit to Damascus 3 March revealed the increasingly close ties that now exist between the UAE and Syria. This dynamic is true diplomatically, but also financially, and perhaps militarily also, Harchaoui said. One effect of such developments is to feed Erdogans bent for seeing conspiracies being hatched against him everywhere. In a teleconference with his cabinet 11 May, Erdogan railed against an alliance of evil with its mastermind in the Gulf. As other commentators observed, such statements are part and parcel of the Erdogan regimes propaganda drive that has grown increasingly strident since the Turkish economy and currency began their downward spirals against the backdrop of Ankaras military adventures abroad and its mounting tensions with Europe and the Arab region because of his persistent illegal drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, creating yet more enemies for Turkey. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 May, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: With 90% of all liquor vends across Delhi closed since March 25, bootleggers have been coming up with innovative ways to smuggle the spirits into the capital city. Although all shops were shut since March 25, on May 4, the government had allowed 100 of the 864 liquor stores in Delhi to reopen. But they were in no way able to manage the huge crowds that descended on them in blatant violation of all social distancing norms. Experts say the huge profit margins and the wide demand-supply gap has bootleggers moving in to fill the void. From hiring the elderly or disabled people as carriers to transporting liquor hidden in vegetable carts, the bootleggers over the last two months used every trick in their book to milk the dry days while avoiding arrest. The Narela police on April 26 arrested a 75-year-old woman for smuggling liquor from Sonepat, Haryana. The woman told police she was paid 2,000 to sit as a pillion rider on a scooter to avoid suspicion. While the young man, who hired her, abandoned the scooter on seeing the police and fled, the elderly woman could not run and was caught. Police found at least 100 bottles of liquor with her, each containing about 330ml. Hoping that police would not stop disabled persons for checking, a bootlegger roped in a physically disabled person. When police stopped the two at Nangloi on April 28, they found 90 bottles of liquor, each bottle measuring 180ml, smuggled from Bahadurgarh, Haryana. The 40-year-old disabled person told police that a friend had promised him 500 for each trip he made. Last month, police registered at least 300 cases under the Excise Act and also seized around 30,000 bottles of liquor. Delhi Police officers said with the government opening all shops, except those in malls and containment zones, there will be a reduction in bootlegging. In the last one month, police found bootleggers smuggling liquor in vehicles carrying loads of cauliflower, cucumber an other vegetables. On May 2, when police stopped an e-rickshaw loaded with cucumbers, the drivers behaviour aroused suspicion, prompting the police to carefully sift through the cucumbers. They found 580 bottles hidden inside the cucumbers. In Chhawla, two men were arrested for using a private ambulance to smuggle 913 liquor bottles. Deputy commissioner of police(Dwarka) Anto Alphonso, said the two were paid 2,000 each by the owner of the ambulance vehicle to ferry the contraband. It isnt just vehicles or unusual carriers. Until last week, when movement of all persons except those involved in essential services, restricted across the city, a 36-year-old man came up with the idea of getting alcohol to his buyers in south Delhi while posing as a Good Samaritan out to distribute food to the underprivileged. He was arrested from Jaitpur on May 10. Retired IPS officer Vikram Singh, who was the director general of Uttar Pradesh Police, said when there is a prohibition, criminals do come up with innovative ways to beat it. Liquor was unavailable until recently. The profit margins for a smuggled bottle is very high so they find innovative means to smuggle them, he said. Delhi Police spokesperson Mandeep Randhawa said even so, police are one step ahead of them. Our personnel on the ground are alert and keep an eye on every vehicle passing through the border. Apart from acting on tipoffs we also conduct random checks on suspicious vehicles. We rely on intelligence from our sources to catch these smugglers. Bootleggers may come up with innovative ways but we are ahead of them. This is the reason why we have busted illicit liquor transported in ambulances, vegetable carts, milk canisters. Millions of people were being moved to safety as one of the fiercest cyclones in years barrelled towards India and Bangladesh on Tuesday, but with evacuation plans complicated by coronavirus precautions. "Amphan" is expected to pack winds gusting up to 185 kilometres (115 miles) per hour when it hits eastern India and Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon or evening, and with a storm surge of several metres, forecasters said. Bangladesh authorities fear it will be the most powerful since cyclone Sidr devastated the country in 2007, killing about 3,500 people -- mostly due to a deluge of sea water sweeping in. Junior disaster management minister Enamur Rahman said Tuesday that they have already evacuated several thousand people from low-lying areas. "We will evacuate up to 2.2 million and try to keep casualties at zero," Rahman told AFP. To ensure social distancing in view of the coronavirus pandemic, the number of cyclone shelters has been doubled by using schools, with masks compulsory, Rahman said. "We are also keeping separate isolation rooms in the shelters for any infected patients," he added. Yamin Chowdhury, an official in Bangladesh's Barisal province, said the coast guard was helping to bring back thousands of people from remote islands. Fishing boats have been ordered to return to shore and all ports and fish landing stations shut down. "Coastal dwellers in Bangladesh are facing an impossible choice," Snigdha Chakraborty from aid group Catholic Relief Services (CRS) said in a statement. "There is limited space in existing evacuation shelters and people who have been on COVID-19 lockdown might hesitate to leave their less-sturdy homes to go to a central ?- and possibly crowded ?- shelter." She warned of "grim days ahead", with poor sanitation, limited access to safe water and health facilities. The coronavirus lockdown had also cut off many people's income and eaten up their cash reserves, she added. - Diggers and chainsaws - In India, West Bengal state official Manturam Pakhira said more than 200,000 people were being evacuated from coastal districts and the Sundarbans, a vast mangrove forest area. "Authorities are also supplying masks and sanitisers and making arrangements so that they can maintain safe distance from each other," he said. Arjun Manna, who works for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in the Sundarbans, told AFP that loud speakers were urging locals "to wear a mask and maintain social distancing in the shelters". In Odisha state, relief commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena told AFP that 20,000 people have been evacuated, with 600 disaster teams "pre-positioned" and contractors standing by with diggers and chainsaws. "We will evacuate more people depending on the situation. No one will be allowed to stay in huts with thatched roofs in coastal areas," Jena said. He too said that in order to ensure social distancing, additional temporary shelters have been identified, with the state ready to house 1.1 million people if needed. "We have made arrangements for soap, water tanks for hand washing and face masks. We are also educating people about the need to cover their mouths," he said. - Modi prays - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that he was praying for everyone's safety after chairing a virtual meeting on preparations Monday. Bangladesh's low-lying coast, home to 30 million people, and India's east are regularly battered by cyclones that have claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in recent decades. In 1999, the eastern Indian state of Odisha was hit by a super-cyclone that left nearly 10,000 dead. In 1991, a typhoon, tornadoes and flooding killed 139,000 in Bangladesh. While the storms' frequency and intensity have increased -- blamed partly on climate change -- deaths have fallen thanks to faster evacuations and more shelters. Volunteers urge people to evacuate to shelters ahead of the expected landfall of Cyclone Amphan in Khulna, Bangladesh Bangladesh is aiming to evacuate more than two million people ahead of Cyclone Amphan Hong Kong: SFST visits Govt Property Agency Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury Christopher Hui today visited the Government Property Agency to learn about its enhanced property management measures and support for frontline workers amid the COVID-19 epidemic. Mr Hui toured various divisions of the department and was briefed on their work, including the infection control measures implemented in joint-user government office buildings to combat COVID-19 and operations after public services had returned to normal. He said the Government had made use of the Anti-epidemic Fund to provide a $1,000 monthly allowance to each of the eligible cleaning and security staff for not more than four months in the fight against the epidemic. As one of the major departments engaging contractors for cleaning and security services, it had made arrangements with contractors to disperse the March and April allowance amounting to approximately $6 million that benefitted some 3,000 workers, Mr Hui noted. Additionally, the Government announced earlier a series of measures to support enterprises and safeguard jobs, including rent concessions for about 290 tenancies managed by the department, benefitting about 140 tenants. Another key area of its work is to take forward projects with cross-department facilities in implementing the single site, multiple use model in multi-storey development on government land to optimise the use of land resources. Mr Hui said the Government Property Agency provides strong support to all other departments, providing timely solutions to ensure the effective implementation of infection prevention measures that safeguard the well-being of officers working in government buildings and members of the public visiting the premises for public services. This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Packages of beef imported from Australia are on sale at a supermarket in Beijing (Mark Schiefelbein/AP) Australias trade minister has said that his country does not want a trade war with China. China effectively ended imports of Australian barley by putting tariffs of more than 80% on the crop, accusing Australia of breaching World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules by subsidising barley production and selling the crop in China at below production costs. The move came a week after China banned beef imports from Australias four largest abattoirs over labelling issues. Australia is not interested in a trade war. We dont pursue our trade policies on a tit-for-tat basis, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told reporters. We operate according to the trade rules that we strongly support. Mr Birmingham said China has made errors of both fact and law in applying WTO rules, adding that there was no evidence that Australia was engaged in dumping of products. Australia is not interested in a trade war. We dont pursue our trade policies on a tit-for-tat basis Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham The trade dispute has coincided with Australias push for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and responses to it. Beijing has denied they are related. The World Health Organisation bowed to calls on Monday from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the virus, which was first found in China late last year. The evaluation would stop short of looking into contentious issues such as the origins of the virus. Chinese president Xi Jinping said China supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to Covid-19 and it should be based on science and professionalism led by WHO, and conducted in an objective and impartial manner. The Chinese Embassy in Australia said on Tuesday that the WHO consensus reached by its decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, in Geneva did not vindicate Australian calls for an investigation. The draft resolution on Covid-19 to be adopted by the World Health Assembly (WHA) is totally different from Australias proposal of an independent international review, an embassy statement said. To claim the WHAs resolution a vindication of Australias call is nothing but a joke, the statement added. In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called on Australia to completely abandon political manipulation and return to the general consensus of the international community, which China believes is for an eventual investigation once the pandemic is contained. China is the number one market for Australian beef, accounting for about 30% of exports. Australian barley farmer Andrew Weidemann said the tariff barrier stops the trade completely with Australias biggest customer. Its a really bitter pill to swallow, Mr Weidemann said. Its a real dent in our economy and it will have a big impact. The former stables which was used for the distribution of drugs in the Meath St area A prolific street-level drug dealing operation led by junior members of the Kinahan cartel has been dealt a major blow after their HQ was demolished by Dublin City Council. Gardai were present when a number of sheds and stables in the Molyneux Yard area of the Liberties were torn down last week. "This had been their operational hub for over four years at this stage and the criminals are not one bit happy about it," a senior source told the Herald. "This was where they hid their stash and distributed the drugs to other dealers, as well as hosting meetings. "It had been raided by gardai on a number of occasions. It is now going to be developed as a commercial site." Last month, the Herald revealed that there had been a recent "drugs drought" in many Dublin suburbs because of the coronavirus pandemic. Robust This had led to many drug addicts who source illegal drugs in their own areas to travel into the south inner city to source drugs. The Kinahan-linked gang was making a fortune from drug dealing. Due to the huge numbers travelling into this area, a special "robust" policing plan was set up by Kevin Street gardai. Detectives have been monitoring the activities of the ruthless thugs behind the drugs network. These include an out-of-control teenager with very close links to Liam Brannigan (37), who was jailed for eight years last month for conspiring with Kinahan cartel murder plotters to assassinate Dublin man Gary Hanley. Another criminal heavily involved in the south inner city dealing network is a 29-year-old "thug and enforcer" who was arrested after officers recovered two handguns and ammunition in a raid on a south inner-city apartment last February. Gardai have been involved in an investigation in relation to the gang after a number of people who owed them drugs cash were brutally assaulted last year in separate incidents, including a savage knife attack on one young man. [May 19, 2020] Encamp Secures $3.1M in Series A Funding to Fuel Product Development Encamp, an environmental, health, and safety (EHS) software platform, today announced it has raised $3.1 million in Series A funding, led by Allos Ventures and High Alpha Capital, with participation from IU Ventures. Funds will be used to expand the development of the Encamp platform. Along with their investment, David Kerr, managing director at Allos Ventures, and Mike Fitzgerald, partner at High Alpha, will join the Encamp board of directors. Encamp makes it easy to manage your EHS documents, deadlines, permits and tasks, all in one, modern platform. The Compliance Platform is an essential product in the Encamp EHS Suite, allowing users to get up-to-the-minute views of their entire compliance reporting schedule across the enterprise on a clean, visual calendar that is synced to federal and state EHS databases to ensure accuracy. Encamp plans to further develop its platform this year, which will deliver a more comprehensive look at applicable regulations and requirements for EHS reporting with companies of all sizes and industries. "The funding and expertise that our partners at Allos Ventures, High Alpha, and IU Ventures have provided will allow us to better serve our customers, who desperately need a tool like ours to help ensure that they're compliant with government standards," said Luke Jacobs, CEO and co-founder of Encamp. "Encamp is on a mission to make EHS compliance fast, simple and accurate, and we know that our tool will help companies of all sizes achieve environmental goals." Encamp is quickly becoming an integral and innovative solution for EHS professionals. By streamlinng environmental compliance reporting, companies can better understand, manage and comply with all requirements for business operations, while enhancing accuracy and efficiency. "Encamp's solution is well-timed to meet the needs of companies across the US faced with the increasing complexity of environmental regulations and compliance. We believe the market will see a significant shift towards automating and streamlining compliance," says David Kerr, managing director at Allos Ventures. "Encamp is a powerful EHS solution and we are excited to collaborate with a passionate team of experts as they work to build a great company." "We're excited to continue partnering with the Encamp team as they help large organizations drive efficiencies and digitize their manual compliance reporting," says Mike Fitzgerald, partner at High Alpha. "We believe Encamp is tackling a massive opportunity as their industry undergoes a digital transformation and moves offline data and processes to the cloud." Encamp launched in 2018 and is currently the largest third-party filer of EPCRA Tier II reporting in the country. They currently work with more than 170 customers including American Tower (News - Alert) Corporation, Nutrien Ag Solutions and Asmark Institute, tracking more than 10,000 compliance dates and managing more than 2,500 facilities across the country. Encamp was also recently named TechPoint Mira Awards 2019 Startup of the Year and the 2019 OH&S New Product of the Year. To learn more about Encamp, visit https://encamp.com. About Encamp: Encamp is on a mission to create a world where good for business is good for the environment. Encamp is automating EHS compliance and risk-minimization for modern companies. The Encamp Compliance Platform equips EHS teams to better understand their compliance responsibilities for all facilities, manage workflows and documentation in a powerfully simple interface, and meet all compliance requirements in one unified system. Currently, Encamp serves more than 2,500 facilities nationwide and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. About Allos Ventures: Allos Ventures invests in early-stage technology companies based in the Midwest. Investments focus on B2B software companies at a Series A or B stage, augmenting the capital provided by seed and startup investors. In addition to the capital Allos provides, portfolio companies benefit from the extensive operating and business-building experience of the firm's managing partners, who make themselves available as needed to support each portfolio company's growth. About High Alpha: High Alpha is a leading venture studio focused on building next-generation B2B SaaS (News - Alert) companies through a new model for entrepreneurship that unites company building and venture capital. The High Alpha team partners with entrepreneurs, investors and large corporations to conceive, launch and scale new software companies. For more information: highalpha.com or on Twitter (News - Alert) at @highalpha. About IU Ventures IU Ventures is a Code Section 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to empowering Indiana University (News - Alert) faculty, alumni, and friends to support and invest in IU-affiliated innovation. Through three programs -- the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund, the IU Angel Network and The Quarry -- IU Ventures works to provide opportunities for individuals affiliated with IU to network with fellow entrepreneurs; build innovative new businesses; and support growing enterprises through donations, investments, time and talents. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005240/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Another early investor of Moderna is on the cusp of owning a stake worth at least $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) after the biotech firm reported encouraging early trial results for an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The value of board member Bob Langer's 3.2 per cent holding, including stock options, rose to $US934.3 million ($1.4 billion) on Monday (US time), as the shares surged 20 per cent to a record $US80 each. Langer, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, would be at least the third individual with Moderna holdings topping $US1 billion, joining chief executive officer Stephane Bancel and Harvard University professor Timothy Springer. The value of Bob Langer's 3.2 per cent stake has more than quadrupled this year. Credit:AP Moderna, whose shares have more than quadrupled this year, released interim data from a small phase 1 trial showing positive early signs that the vaccine can create an immune system response to the virus in humans. The news helped fuel a broader surge in stocks, with the S&P 500 advancing 3.2 per cent, the most since April 8. Langer, 71, has licensed or sub-licensed patents to more than 400 biotech, pharmaceutical, chemical and medical companies, according to his biography at MIT's Langer Lab. Thomas "Reem" Cotton died from complications brought on by COVID-19 just over one year after his release from prison. Read more I found myself reading obituary after obituary of the COVID-19 dead while talking to friends and family of Thomas Reem Cotton. Cotton, 54, died of the virus on April 29. Colleagues have carefully and compassionately tended to the memories of some of the hundreds in the Philadelphia area who have died: The larger-than-life jokester of a father. The matriarch of a large family who cheerfully defied doctors expectations from lifelong health challenges. The musician who was nowhere near ready to play her last song. And the man who spent 28 years behind bars only to die shortly over a year after earning his freedom. That was Cotton, a man who loved his friends and family and the Los Angeles Lakers, who got two college degrees in prison, and who was a widely respected advocate for prison reform. And who by all accounts spent a lifetime in prison answering for his part in a 1991 drug-house robbery where two men were fatally shot. In 1995, the second-degree murder charges were dismissed, and Cotton continued serving time for aggravated assault and other charges. WHYYs Ximena Conde chronicled the life of a man who transcended his prison cell in his own journey for redemption, but also for the redemption of others. It made me wish I had met him. READ MORE: Awards ceremony, even at a distance, reminds me how much I miss Philly | Helen Ubinas To read the obituaries, distinct yet profoundly similar, is an exercise in wishful thinking. Wishing theyd had more time. (That includes the elderly who had other health issues that so many seem willing to sacrifice.) Wishing we didnt live in a world where compassion and empathy are exercised only as long as its convenient. Were all in this together until were not because we want a freedom haircut or manicure or gym time! Cotton was getting a masters degree from St. Josephs University when he was released in February 2019. He was still working on his thesis at the time of his death. He was a beloved employee at Eastern State Penitentiary, where he was the supervisor of Education and Community Engagement. He talked about going to law school. He was finally under the same roof as his wife, Karen Watson, who has cancer. He wasnt done living not even close. Neither was the Connecticut father who left an emotional note on his phone for his wife and kids before dying. Or the New York City doctor who delayed his retirement to fight the pandemic that killed him. Or most of the Americans who have lost their lives to the coronavirus while politicians and patriots continue to talk of deaths if they consider them at all in the abstract or as collateral damage because, well, everyone dies. Ive lost track of how many times Ive heard that kind of dismissive justification for not wearing masks or defying social distancing guidelines or acting a complete fool because someone had the gasp nerve to suggest that we be decent to one another. Endless examples of people yelling, whining, or worse when asked to wear a mask, for instance, are just a Google search away. In a recent Washington Post story about the reopening of a Georgia shopping center, one shopper said: When you start seeing where the cases are coming from and the demographics Im not worried." How are so many of us so comfortable with the stunning loss? How dare anyone claim love of country when they would rather wave a piece of cloth in faux patriotism over their heads than wrap a piece of cloth around their faces to actually save lives. Two months into the pandemic and we are nowhere near appreciating the scope of the historic loss. Ive heard people suggest that the disconnect is somehow the fault of the media, as if American deaths havent been marked in story after story, page after page of obituaries. The truth is there. Its always been there. We cant force you to accept it. READ MORE: The people we've lost to the coronavirus What we should do, perhaps what we should have long done, is replace the deranged and dangerous White House news conferences with photo after photo of those who have died, or at the very least split the screen between Donald Trump and his enablers peddling propaganda with portraits of the dead. Some communities have already begun to honor coronavirus victims. A church in Ohio created a flag memorial. In New York, a memorial called Ribbons of Remembrance is dedicated to Westchester County residents. Our national death toll needs to be permanently memorialized. If so many of us choose to reject the inconvenient truths of this pandemic, we can at least try to remind those who come after of what didnt have to be: Americans selfishly sacrificed fellow American lives. I vote for finally giving Trump the wall he deserves. Much like the memorial wall that honors those who died in Vietnam, Trumps wall should list the names of every American who died of COVID-19. Except Trumps wall will have to be bigger. As of Memorial Day 2019, there were 58,276 names of those killed in Vietnam. More than 90,000 Americans have so far died from the virus. JOSEPH PREZIOSO Once upon a time in America, President Donald Trump said that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose a voter. Running on a campaign slogan of Make America Great Again, he became president of what many already believed was the greatest country in the world. Three years later, we lead the world in the number of citizens testing positive for COVID-19 and COVID-19 deaths. Trump cannot be blamed for the virus nor can he blame China or the World Health Organization for his failure to prepare this nation for the coming virus that would become a pandemic. The historical record contains no evidence that this president did anything of consequence for at least six weeks to address the coming health care crisis before declaring COVID-19 to be a national emergency on March 13. By the time Trump acted, the health care crisis required social distancing on a national level that resulted in an economic crisis with food lines becoming the norm and 26 million became unemployed. The worlds greatest economy was and will be in a state of collapse. In response, the political right orchestrated demonstrations to liberate certain states to distract the cult of personality from the actual cause of their outrage, which is the incompetence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The let us infect you crowd is proof that more than 90,000 Americans can die on Trumps watch and he still won't lose any voters and indicates America isn't great its broken. John Pagoda Rensselaer Contessa 'Tessa' Del Monte has had three foals in five years and nothing has ever gone as planned. After Tessa's recent experience, her owners, Shelley and Benoit Dupuis, who comprise Shelley Racing Stables of Omemee, Ont., will surely expect anything in the future. Tessa's first foal, Tinas Majesty ($120,193), who was born three weeks early, was rushed to the Ontario Veterinary College (the OVC, at the University of Guelph) when she was just five days old. While there, Tinas Majesty underwent successful treatment for a septic hock. Tessa's second foal, All The Kings Gold, was born one week early during a power outage in the middle of the night. For Tessa's third foal, this past April 7, Tessa developed ventral ruptures that evolved into a lot of swelling and edema under her abdomen. She had trouble walking and was in a great deal of pain. Veterinarian Dr. Kelli Gilson, of Fraserville's Gilson Equine Veterinary Services, examined Tessa that day and determined that the mare's Archangel foal was still alive, but was not due until May 3. Tessa was transferred to Dr. Gilson's veterinary hospital for emergency care on April 8, where she became even more swollen and uncomfortable. She would lie down and would need help to get back up. Dr. Gilson reached out to the OVC for help, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic they were not staffed to monitor the mare. It was explained that their treatment solution would be a terminal C-section and that Tessa, unfortunately, would have to be euthanized. Dr. Gilson's response was, "We can at least try to save both of them." Challenge accepted. The first step was to wrap Tessa's huge abdomen in bandages, which provided some support for the weight of the foal and the accumulating fluid. Tessa became more and more uncomfortable, but the foal continued to survive. "We visited her twice daily, feeding her peppermints, carrots and fresh cut grass provided by my mother in law, Andree Dupuis." Dr. Gilson decided a slow induction was necessary, as Tessa could not continue to suffer much longer. On April 15, the Archangel filly, Bella Monte, was born. Bella Monte Bella Monte 'Bella' had trouble breathing, initially, and Tessa became very shocky. Given the circumstances, Dr. Gilson was not sure either one would survive the night. Nevertheless, thanks to the amazing and tireless care of Dr. Gilson and her assistant, Meg, both the mare and foal survived. Bella received excellent colostrum from Shelley's friend, Lori Ferguson, and the foal was bottled every hour for four days and nights. Bella Monte Bella Monte Tessa was aware that she had a foal, but she was too sick to look after it or provide milk. On Saturday, April 18, Tessa did not look well and her chances of survival were not certain. A decision was made between Dr. Gilson, Shelley and her husband, Ben, to try and procure a nurse mare for Bella. The cry for help was posted on "everything Standardbred" -- including the Standardbred Canada website -- on the Saturday evening. The next morning (Sunday, April 19), a nurse mare had been found. Mary Christopher offered her mare, Keystone Eliza, who had tragically lost her foal earlier in the week due to a breech birth. Bella Monte Bella Monte Shelley and her father in law, Andre Dupuis, drove to Acton that Sunday, picked up 'Eliza' and took her to Dr. Gilson's clinic, where she was placed in the stall next to Tessa. "Kelli (Dr. Gilson) told us that when she took the foal from Tessa, Tessa seemed to know that she was helping the foal. Tessa softly called to the foal and then watched through a crack in the board as Eliza accepted the foal and started nursing her." Keystone Eliza and Bella Monte. Keystone Eliza and Bella Monte. Fast Forward one month later and Bella and Eliza are thriving. Additionally, Eliza is treating Bella as her own. Tessa is slowly improving, but she is still carrying extra fluid under her abdomen. Although she is not yet 100 per cent, Tessa is not requiring any pain medication. She has been going outside in her own round pen on grass three times a day with her goat friend, Thor. Given everything, Tessa is surely happy to be home. Shelley has told Trot Insider that her friend, Tom Riley, was instrumental in helping get Eliza and Bella home, as his large trailer surely made for a successful voyage. The experience and outcome has surely resonated with Shelley, who stated, "We will always be thankful for Dr. Gilson and Meg, who never gave up on our Tessa and gave us Bella." (L to R) Shelley Dupuis, Ben Dupuis, Contessa 'Tessa' Del Monte. (L to R) Shelley Dupuis, Ben Dupuis, Contessa 'Tessa' Del Monte. (With files from Shelley Dupuis) MasterChef fans have said goodbye to Sarah Clare after she was eliminated from the competition. On Tuesday, Sarah failed to impress judges Jock Zonfrillo, Melissa Leong and Andy Allen - as well as guest chef Peter Gunn - after presenting them with an incomplete version of Peter's intricate Black Box dessert. The dessert, which included a total of 11 elements, was missing chocolate soil and lacked flavour, according to the judges. 'Sad to see her go!' On Tuesday, MasterChef fans were left devastated after Sarah Clare was eliminated from the competition after her dessert failed to impress judges After Sarah was revealed as the chef going home, she described her journey in the competition as a 'whirlwind'. 'You learn something every day. It's been a whirlwind. I've had so much fun, so much fun. I'm going to be taking a fair bit back to the restaurant. No offence, not the Black Box,' she added, poking fun a Peter's technical dish. Dozens of Sarah's fans were devastated to see her go, including one who wrote on Twitter: 'Sad to see Sarah Clare go. Shout out to her amazing hairstyles this season.' Another said: 'Thank you Sarah Clare, for lighting up our nights with every appearance.' Not quite perfect: Sarah presented the judges with an incomplete version of Peter Gunn's intricate Black Box dessert, which included a total of 11 elements Going home: Sarah described her journey in the competition a 'whirlwind'. 'I've had so much fun, so much fun. I'm going to be taking a fair bit back to the restaurant. No offence, not the black box,' she said, poking fun a Peter's technical dish Fans: Dozens of Sarah's fans were devastated to see her go, including one who wrote on Twitter: 'Sad to see Sarah Clare go. Shout out to her amazing hairstyles this season' 'Sad for the other contestants to have to say tartare to Sarah Clare,' one shared. 'And thats a (hair) wrap for Sarah Clare,' someone else added, referring to the chef's eclectic choice of accessory. There were other fans who were relieved that it was Sarah going home instead of Sarah Tiong, who was also in the bottom two with her. One wrote: 'Super relieved Sarah Tiong didn't get eliminated, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sarah Clare was a little filthy with how little air-time she got for how long she was on the show. Phew! There were other fans who were relieved that it was Sarah Clare going home instead of Sarah Tiong (pictured hugging Sarah Clare) 'Hanging by a thread': One wrote on Twitter, 'Super relieved Sarah Tiong didn't get eliminated, but I wouldn't be surprised if Sarah Clare was a little filthy with how little air-time she got for how long she was on the show' 'Sarah C has been hanging on by a thread for sometime. Meanwhile, as much as it pains me, Laura had a great cook,' another tweeted. Reflecting on her time on the show, Sarah said: 'Two years ago, there is no chance I would have been able to get that to dish up. Oh! So I really do feel like I've grown.' Sarah first came to fame in season 10 of MasterChef alongside the likes of Reece Hignell, Jess Liemantara and Khanh Ong. Outside of MasterChef, Sarah runs Ilha Restaurant in Cygnet, Tasmania, which specialises in casual modern Australian dishes with a South American influence. MasterChef continues Wednesday at 7.30pm on Channel Ten People line up at Manco & Manco Pizza on the boardwalk in Ocean City on Saturday; not everyone was wearing masks or keeping social distance. Read more Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday questioned his counterparts decisions to reopen beaches in two states, and Philadelphias top health official bluntly told residents to stay away from the Shore on Memorial Day weekend. With the start of the unofficial summer season imminent, their pointed remarks underscored the tensions and frustrations over the pace of restoring the coronavirus-devastated economy even as virus-related death tolls continue to creep upward. Dont go to the beach, said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley. While that likely wasnt a message the Cape May County Tourism Department had in mind, Farley argued that public safety trumped any other consideration. Wolf said he was nonplussed by his fellow governors actions. Im not sure why the governors of Maryland [Larry Hogan] and New Jersey [Phil Murphy] have opened their beaches," he said. "but they have. He reiterated that he would not be modeling swimwear at a Jersey Shore beach any time soon. READ MORE: Jersey Shore beaches: Whats open, whats allowed, and what you need to know first While the rates of case increases continue to decline, the grim statistics constitute a horrific portrait of a pandemic. With 83 additional deaths reported on Monday, New Jerseys toll increased to 10,435. Pennsylvania added 87, for a total of 4,505. Worldwide the virus has been blamed for over 300,000 fatalities. Public officials continue to plead for patience and for their constituents to err on the side of staying away from each other. During last weekends dry run at the Shore, people appeared to be practicing social distancing on the beaches. But it was evident that even if crowds could gather safely on spacious beaches Wildwoods, for example, can seem as large as the Sahara the boardwalks and other attractions could present challenges. Legions of social distance violators and the maskless occupied the Ocean City boardwalk on Saturday, and Farley warned that Shore venues might be ideal for spreading a virus that visitors would bring back home. You might have gone to the beach every Memorial Day weekend for years, he said. "But this is not the time to do that. The beaches are open as part of the first phase of New Jerseys overall reopening plan, on which Murphy elaborated Monday. The data we have been seeing over the past weeks has signaled that its becoming safer to dip our toes back in the water, Murphy said. We are opening up businesses in a way to still provide maximum protection for residents, while allowing more of our workers to get back on the job. 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. In this first phase, businesses that have curbside pickup, nonessential construction, beaches, and elective surgeries are allowed to restart activity. Data permitting, the state will move into stage two, in which more retail establishments, restaurants at limited capacity, personal-care businesses, museums, and libraries will be allowed to reopen. Stage three will include green lights for bars, with some restrictions, more dining, and critical in-office work. But Murphy said the state would proceed with caution. This is not going to be quick, he said. Were going to move deliberately based on data. Wolf has continued to be circumspect about the reopening timetable. On a day that gym owners in Bucks County and across the river in Bellmawr defied official orders and opened their doors, Wolf said he couldnt say when gyms could resume operations. Again, we have a timeline that is being set not by the state. Its being set by the coronavirus, the governor said. Were looking for ways to defeat that virus. READ MORE: A Bellmawr gym reopened despite Gov. Murphys orders. The owners were issued a citation but plan to continue operating. About 200 people gathered outside the Atilis gym in Bellmawr not long after daybreak Monday as it prepared to get back in business. Formally, youre all in violation of the executive order, a Bellmawr police officer who arrived at the scene said to the owners and their supporters. On that note, have a good day. With that, the officer walked away as the crowd erupted in cheers. Officially, Camden County later served the owners with a citation and court summons. In Montgomery County, Commissioner Joseph C. Gale announced that he deliberately violated social distancing protocols by joining VFW members in placing U.S. flags in veterans graves at St. Matthews Cemetery in Conshohocken. That was in response to the countys decisions to defer the annual Memorial Day flag ceremony to July Fourth. Commission Chair Val Arkoosh, a doctor, said Gales behavior was an excellent example of a bad example. She said Gale should have been in quarantine because he has had direct exposure to someone who has tested positive. She said that during the event he did not wear masks and was not wearing gloves while handing flags to older participants. This is not a comment about veterans, this is not a comment about a lack of respect for veterans, she said. I urge others not to copy this behavior." The county learned that it would lose the JCPenney department store in Montgomery Mall, among nearly 250 that were closing for good, including stores at Oxford Valley and Cherry Hill Malls. And in a list that is likely to grow, three local restaurants Farmicia in Old City, Mad River in Manayunk, and Vitarellis in Cherry Hill announced they were going out of business. READ MORE: Restaurant closings in the Philadelphia area begin with Farmicia, Mad River, Vitarellis But a positive development emerged on Wall Street Monday, driven in part by promising results from a coronavirus vaccine trial, which acted like a performance-enhancing substance on the stock market. The Dow rocketed 700 points at the opening and partied all day, finishing up 911, or nearly 4% higher than Fridays close. READ MORE: Triple whammy of good news powers Dow more than 900 points But the future of the virus still appeared to be about as uncertain as that of the stock market, as it remained unclear what effect the loosening of restrictions was having. Data trends seem to be good, said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, but its too soon to tell. Staff writers Michael Klein, Ellie Rushing, Allison Steele, Rob Tornoe, and Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article. Lockdown in Ukraine could be extended until June 22, Ukraine's Deputy Health Minister, Chief State Sanitary Doctor Viktor Liashko has said. "We are currently monitoring the dynamics in Poland, the most similar scenario. Therefore, we will still be on the plateau. However, we cannot take into account seasonality since we do not yet understand how the virus will behave in our conditions in the summer. So the question is that we will extend the lockdown until June 22 but it will be adaptive with relaxed measures. However, everything will depend on the epidemiological situation," Liashko said on the 1+1 television channel on Tuesday, May 19. According to him, if there is a rapid decline in the number of coronavirus cases, the lockdown could be lifted earlier. On March 12, the government introduced the lockdown in Ukraine to counter the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In particular, trading establishments were closed, except groceries, pharmacies, gas stations, and banks. The operation of the subway in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro, municipal, intercity, and interregional road, rail, and air transport services were suspended. On March 28, Ukraine completely closed its border to scheduled passenger traffic, including air traffic. On April 24, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced a lockdown exit plan, which consists of five stages. The first easing of lockdown restrictions in Ukraine started on May 11. Currently, the lockdown has been extended until May 22. As of May 19, Ukraine reported 18,876 COVID-19 cases. Some 260 new cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours. op The lack of confidence in the government also derives from the stereotype about the government. This is what Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said during a live broadcast on Facebook today. He recalled the days when he was a member of the political opposition and the speeches he would give and stated the following: People think the only reason I would get up and oppose the government was because I had a deal with the authorities. Now many people think about what they would do if they had power, or they think we have come to power to racketeer, smuggle, kill and do business. I say that the mindset of mafia is so immersed in our country that it doesnt matter that we made a revolution in the country. People are asking themselves what the government is doing and imagining that they would destroy everything and start over. Im sorry, I dont think like that, and dont try to link me to you with that mentality. Wellington, May 19 : The popularity of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has soared in the country following her management of the COVID-19 crisis, with months to go before the general elections. Ardern, who took office in October 2017 and has since then dealt with two other major crises, has an approval of 59.6 among New Zealanders, according to a survey published on Monday by the Newshub-Reid agency. However, the leader has always enjoyed popularity among her countrymen and after her election there was even talk of a "Jacindamania" phenomenon, reports Efe news. Over the last couple of months, Ardern implemented a series of drastic measures to check the spread of the highly infectious coronavirus in the Oceanic nation, drawing praise from the people and gaining their approval. The Labour leader, who currently leads a coalition government with New Zealand First and Green Party, has gained 20.8 percentage points from the previous poll, when the government was staring at people's discontent over housing problems and homelessness. If Ardern can maintain the current support, her party could come to power with an outright majority, securing 72 of the 120 seats in the Parliament, in the upcoming elections on September 19, according to the survey. The 39-year-old said the survey results reflected the work they had done together, and she just "have had the humble and privileged opportunity to be leading at this time". Ardern has received widespread praise for prioritizing the well-being of the people, and for her gestures of empathy towards them, including virtual interaction with children to discuss the pandemic, which has resulted in 1,153 cases and 21 deaths in the country. Ardern also stood out for the compassion shown to the victims of the supremacist attack on two mosques in the city of Christchurch in March 2019, in which 51 people died, and her leadership during the eruption of the Whakaari volcano, where 21 people lost their lives last December. Egyptian, Moroccan, Kuwaiti and Jordanian caricature associations joins force to present the first pan-Arab virtual caricature exhibition entitled Ramadanyat Caricature has existed in Egypt for nearly a century now, with cartoonists such as Sarokhan and Mohamed Rakha establishing the form. Since the Arab Spring a generation of cartoonists has also emerged in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf countries. They prove just as adept as artists from Morocco or Egypt at identifying and making fun of the gluttonies and excesses that Muslims give in to on the pretext of the fast during Ramadan, turning the holy months meaning on its head. Established in 1984, the Egyptian Society for Caricature this week joins forces with the Moroccan Society for Caricature, the Kuwaiti Society for Caricature, and the Jordanian Tomato Cartoon website to present the first pan-Arab virtual caricature exhibition entitled Ramadanyat. A five-minute video features 55 caricatures by a cartoonists from 15 Arab and Muslim countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Tunisia, in addition to two participants from the USA and India. The exhibition is coordinated by cartoonists Amena El Hamady from the United Arab Emirates and Fawzy Mursi from Egypt. The video has been broadcast on social media channels and related websites. Under quarantine, with mounting fear of the coronavirus, the strangeness of Ramadan this year is reflected in cartoons about hypochondria and social distancing, and others that underline the heroic role of medical workers. Many feature the green spherical visualisation of the virus as a playful and wicked being. It also includes one work by Egypts prominent late cartoonist Mohammed Effat, who passed away last year. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 May, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Penetron on call: Because of the urgency of the repair project, Penetron specialists (and Water Utility Department managers) closely monitored progress of the waterproofing application. The Arbekovo project was a complete success. The Water Utility Department officials were pleasantly surprised to see the pumping station back in operation after less than two weeks of repair work. In April 2020, Penetron crystalline technology was applied to the restoration of a key water pumping station in Penza, Russia. The repair work was completed in record time and helped to maintain the citys drinking water supply. Penza, a city of over 500,000 inhabitants about 625 kilometers (388/miles) southeast of Moscow, needed to alleviate a serious problem with the third pumping station in Arbekovo District of the city. Adding Durability to a Key Water Pumping Station The Arbekovo pumping station is a key component in the water supply system for Penza, explains Igor Chernogolov, President of Penetron Russia. Thats why the repair project was closely monitored by Water Utility Department managers and regional government representatives. To return the pumping station to full function as soon as possible and ensure the impermeability of the stations below-grade concrete structure, Penetron crystalline waterproofing material was specified for topical application. The ease of application along with rapid effectiveness of Penetrons crystalline technology was an important parameter for the Arbekovo station project. Safe for Drinking Water & Easy to Apply A surface-applied, integral crystalline waterproofing material, PENETRON slurry is completely non-toxic and NSF-61 approved for potable water applications. The PENETRON slurry is easily and quickly applied by brush or spray to either the positive or the negative side of concrete. With the Arbekovo project, the application was simplified by applying the slurry on the negative side of the pump station - a further benefit of the Penetron System. In the presence of moisture, the active ingredients generate an insoluble crystalline formation that penetrates deeply into the structure. The crystals self-heal micro-cracks, pores and capillaries to prevent water and water-borne chemicals from penetrating into the concrete, even under high hydrostatic pressure. Cracks that develop during the lifetime of the concrete are self-healed by PENETRON, resulting in permanent concrete protection. The Arbekovo project was a complete success, confirms Igor Chernogolov. The Water Utility Department officials were pleasantly surprised to see the pumping station back in operation after less than two weeks of repair work. The Penetron Group is a leading manufacturer of specialty construction products for concrete waterproofing, concrete repairs and floor preparation systems. The Group operates through a global network, offering support to the design and construction community through its regional offices, representatives and distribution channels. For more information on Penetron waterproofing solutions, please visit penetron(dot)com or Facebook(dot)com/ThePenetronGroup, email CRDept(at)penetron(dot)com, or contact the Corporate Relations Department at 631-941-9700. As shuttered sectors of New Jersey's economy begin inching back to life with more outdoor activities approved, such as horseback riding, Assemblyman Ron Dancer has sponsored a resolution supporting the Meadowlands Racetrack to resume horse racing, initially without spectators. With a proper plan in place, the Meadowlands Racetrack should be allowed to operate, especially with Governor Cuomo announcing the reopening of all New York racetracks without fans effective June 1," said Dancer (R-Ocean). "By resuming horse racing, the gaming and racing industries would be able to generate revenue while stimulating our economy from internet wagering within the state, as well as, simulcasting the races to other states that have already approved the return of horse racing. Dancer noted that the industry supports 13,000 jobs and has led to the preservation of more than 175,000 acres of farmland and open space in New Jersey. We cannot let the gaming and racing industry fall to the wayside and must ensure they can reopen in the safest way possible," concluded Dancer. "This resolution would do just that and keep one of New Jersey's staple industries afloat. The resolution supports the Equine Center at Rutgers University and the Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association of New Jersey proposal to safely phase in the return of horse racing to the Meadowlands Racetrack with the 'trifecta' health-related protocols of social distancing, hand sanitizing and face coverings. (SBOANJ) When COVID-19 patients are critically ill, the biggest threat to their lives is lung dysfunction. If their lungs don't work, their blood can't circulate enough oxygen to the brain, the liver and other organs. A new cohort study out of West Virginia University suggests one piece of life-support equipment--an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine--can be especially useful for treating some of these COVID-19 patients. But ECMO may be less helpful for COVID-19 patients who are older, who have preexisting conditions and whose heart function has deteriorated. The findings appeared in ASAIO Journal. An ECMO machine works by pumping someone's blood outside of their body, oxygenating it and returning it to the body. In this way, the ECMO machine gives the lungs--and sometimes the heart--time to rest and heal. It can keep some patients alive when ventilators alone aren't enough. The research team analyzed 32 COVID-19 patients with severely compromised lung function who were supported with ECMO. At the time of the researchers' analysis, 22 of the patients--or 68 percent--had survived. Of those 22 patients, 17 were still on ECMO. Only five had been removed from ECMO and lived. Those five patients had something interesting in common: they all received a kind of ECMO that supports the lungs but not the heart. None of the patients who had lung and heart ECMO support had been removed from ECMO successfully yet. This disparity probably exists because patients who got ECMO support for both their heart and lungs were sicker to begin with, and their heart function was more compromised. Insights like these help clinicians to "counsel patients and family members about the individualized risks and benefits of ECMO," said Jeremiah Hayanga, WVU's director of ECMO and a member of the research team The team also included Vinay Badhwar, the executive chair of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, and Jeffrey Jacobs, a consultant to HVI and a non-faculty collaborator with the School of Medicine's Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery. Patients whose disease is restricted to the lung have been shown to have better survival, and this is indeed true for all indications of ECMO. When both heart and lung function are impaired, however, there is a reduction in survival, and selection in these patients warrants even greater scrutiny." Jeremiah Hayanga, WVU's director of ECMO and a member of the research team The researchers also discovered that patients who were under 65 and had fewer preexisting conditions--such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease--also fared better on ECMO than their older counterparts who had more medical issues. "Our previously published research on national ECMO use has highlighted that patients over age 70 have drastically reduced survival," Hayanga said. "This may likely be a function of their coexisting illnesses and a lack of reserve. Indeed, the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization that provides oversight for ECMO programs around the world considers age 65 as a relative contraindication. As such, patients with advanced age require careful evaluation to ensure the benefit outweighs the risk." Besides being relatively young, what else might improve COVID-19 patients' outcomes from ECMO? Steroids. Of the five patients who were successfully removed from ECMO, four had been receiving steroids through an IV. This discovery contradicts earlier findings out of China, which suggested steroids might do more harm than good. "It is a fact that any given treatment is a single instrument in an orchestra of other treatments," Jacobs said. "The role of multiple medications in the treatment of COVID-19 remains unclear, including intravenous steroids while on ECMO, antiviral medications--like remdesivir--and antimalarial medications--like hydroxychloroquine. Ongoing research is necessary to determine the role of these medications in the treatment of patients with COVID-19, both in patients treated with ECMO and in patients not treated with ECMO." But just because the data suggest younger, healthier COVID-19 patients--especially those prescribed steroids--may be more likely to respond well to ECMO, that doesn't mean other patients should never receive ECMO support. "At the WVU HVI, we pride ourselves in offering individualized, patient-centric care to all patients," Hayanga said. "Our multidisciplinary team takes a very individualized approach to all patients who may benefit from ECMO support, and we fully assess the potential benefits and risks of supporting any patient with this advanced method of life support." Washington, DC - May 19, 2020 -- Vaccines that protect people from infection by Streptococcus pneumoniae, which kills up to 1 million children ever year worldwide, train the immune system to recognize the pathogen's thick sugar capsule. Pneumococcus capsules are not only the active ingredient in vaccines; they're also key to the pathogen's virulence. But different strains have different capsules, which means vaccine researchers need to identify all capsule types. This week in mBio, pneumococcus experts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham describe a newly-found capsule--the 100th to be identified since the pathogen was first discovered in the late 19th century. Microbiologist Moon Nahm, M.D., who led the study, said identifying new capsules is critical to keep up with the rapidly changing bacteria and update vaccines that can save lives. Current pneumococcal vaccines contain 10-13 different types of capsules, and they cause a person's immune system to produce antibodies against those capsules. "If you get rid of the capsules, then the bugs cannot cause the infection," Nahm said. But pneumococcus is a moving and constantly evolving target. As vaccines vanquish some capsules, new ones emerge that can shield the virus from the immune system. As a result, the vaccines become less effective, and the pathogen still poses a serious threat, even to immunized children. Nahm likened the pursuit of a pneumococcus vaccine to an ongoing game of whack-a-mole: Even as it protects people against known capsules, new ones pop up. "Pneumococcus is smart," said Nahm. "It's critical for scientists to know about different capsule types." In the last decade or so, Nahm's lab in Birmingham--recognized as a reference lab by the WHO--has identified 10 new capsules. His research focuses on finding ways to make vaccines both more effective and less expensive. (The current pneumococcal vaccine costs about $100 per dose, putting it out of reach for many children in low-income countries.) Nahm and his collaborators discovered the new capsule after being contacted by the Global Pneumococcal Sequencing (GPS) project. With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, GPS researchers had sequenced the genomes of more than 20,000 pneumococci strains. When those researchers found strains with capsule genes they didn't recognize, they sent the strains to Nahm's group, which identified the new and 100th capsule structure. Notably, Nahm and his team discovered that some of the genes responsible for the new capsule came from oral streptococci, germs that live in the mouth and nose. Oral streptococci rarely cause diseases and are usually thought to be benign (though they can cause cavities). The connection suggests that the pathogenic pneumococci can capture advantageous genes from other, less harmful bacteria. That ability may help the pathogen hide even better in the body. Nahm said diagnostic tests will need to differentiate between the genes in benign bacteria, and those in streptococci. "We have to improve our diagnostic assays in the future to avoid false positives," he said. That connection may also affect vaccine research. "If we don't know which gene is coming from which species, then we could get the vaccine design wrong." ### The American Society for Microbiology is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of 30,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences. ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications and educational opportunities. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences. The history of the Church during pandemic is full of saints who were miraculously defended from disease. "I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all to Jesus Christ. That is why, in preaching, I say 'we lepers,' not, 'my brethren.' " Saint Damien of Molokai The history of the Church during pandemic is full of saints who were miraculously defended from disease. For instance, the Church invokes Saint Roch against epidemics. Saint Roch was given the power to cure the bubonic plague by laying his hands on its victims. In the course of his ministry, Roch himself contracted the plague and retreated into the forest, seeking a quiet death. But God commanded a nobleman's dog to bring Roch food. When the pooch licked his wounds, Roch was suddenly healed of the plague, and he went back to healing the sick. Saint Charles Borromeo served as Archbishop of Milan when the Black Death came to his city. Born to a powerful family of merchants, Charles spent his entire fortune and went deeply into debt feeding the poor. Amazingly, he never contracted the plague himself, crediting his good health to a strict regimen of fasting and prayer. He went on to organize the final session of the Council of Trent and became a key leader in the Counter-Reformation. Damien De Veuster's story isn't like that. Father Damien was a Belgian missionary who served in a Hawaiian leper colony; he worked there for sixteen years until he succumbed to the disease himself, just three months shy of his fiftieth birthday. And that was that. There was no miracle cure, no supernatural immunity. His story has no happy ending at least, not in the worldly sense. And yet his story is no less extraordinary. The local bishop presented Father Damien to the 600 lepers of Kalawao on the island of Molokai in 1873. He introduced himself to them as "one who will be a father to you, and who loves you so much that he does not hesitate to become one of you; to live and die with you." The assignment was supposed to be temporary, but Father Damien had no intention of ever leaving Kalawao. Before he even met them, this 33-year-old priest loved his new flock so intensely that he resolved to spend the rest of his days with them, however many or few those days may have been. And, clearly, he had no expectation of a long life or good health. Live with them he did. Father Damien spent those sixteen years building homes, dressing wounds, digging graves, and teaching the Faith. Then, at last, he himself contracted the disease. Over the next four years he became more and more disfigured. As lesions spread across his body and his limbs began to fail him, he wrote in a letter: "I am calm and resigned, and very happy in the midst of my people. The good God knows what is best for my sanctification. I daily repeat from my heart, Thy will be done." I often find myself wondering why miracles don't seem as plenteous as they used to be. Of course, they're out there: Padre Pio would give any medieval wonder-worker a run for his money. But why wasn't Father Damien healed like Saint Roch? Was he somehow less deserving? Imagine if some young priest in Milan prayed at Saint Charles's tomb and was suddenly given the power to heal Covid victims by laying his hands on them. Wouldn't that win hearts and minds for Christ? Are we somehow less deserving? Miracles happen all the time, all over the world. Look at Melissa Villalobos. Her life, and the life of her unborn child, were saved by the miraculous intervention of Saint John Henry Newman in 2013. And what about the Bleeding Host of Betania, Venezuela? And the seventy confirmed miracle-healings that have occurred at the Sanctuary of Lourdes in France? Miracles still happen. We just don't care. Maybe it won't be the conspicuous, supernatural, water-into-wine miracles that will win the West back to the Faith. Maybe it's the everyday miracles of ordinary saints like Father Damien men who love the unlovable and bear the unbearable. We should remember Christ's admonishment to the official who asked Our Lord to heal his son. "Unless you see signs and wonders," Jesus sighed, "you will not believe." Likewise, He said to Thomas the Apostle, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." When God wants to enter our hearts, He doesn't usually go for shock-and-awe. Maybe it won't be the conspicuous, supernatural, water-into-wine miracles that will win the West back to the Faith. Maybe it's the everyday miracles of ordinary saints like Father Damien men who love the unlovable and bear the unbearable. Day after day they brave illness and death, confident in the promise of everlasting life. G.K. Chesterton once noted that "each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it most." These are the saints who will convert our generation the hidden ones. We live in the Age of the Selfie, which values celebrity above all else. The great saints of our age will go about like guardian angels, unseen and unthanked, as they heal wounds, fill bellies, and dry tears. They won't have the most Twitter followers. Their YouTube videos won't get 100,000 views in the first 24 hours. Their opinions won't be quoted in The New York Times. But they'll be fathers to their children, living and dying with them. They'll be men of quiet duty, sweet and modest women who seem nothing but a shadow cast by the kindly light they follow. The coronavirus pandemic is the stage where these very modern saints, these silent heroes, will be born. I think especially of the priests (many of them older men themselves) who minister to the sick and dying, often at great risk to themselves. Our own Father George W. Rutler spent his birthday (March 23) serving as an ad hoc chaplain to the makeshift hospital at the Javitz Center, just down the street from his parish in Hell's Kitchen. "I have a pact with my Lord," he explained to me in an email, "that I shall dutifully go into the world wherever he send me with the understanding that it is accessible by the Lexington Avenue IRT subway." And, so, he went. Over fifty priests have already died from coronavirus, including Father Giuseppe Berardelli of Casnigo, Italy. The 72-year-old priest died of the coronavirus after giving his respirator to a younger man. It puts one in mind of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who volunteered for to be starved to death by his jailers in Auschwitz in the place of a Polish prisoner of war because the man had a wife and children. It's our duty to find these priests, not only to honor them (they'll refuse the honor anyway), but to show the world what Christ's holy priesthood is really about: they are shepherds tending their flocks and fathers nurturing their children. The great saints of our age will go about like guardian angels, unseen and unthanked, as they heal wounds, fill bellies, and dry tears. We know that the mainstream media is deeply anti-Catholic. It will only report on the Catholic Church in order to damage her reputation. They'll report on the sex-abuse scandal but ignore those tens of thousands of priests who live ordinary lives of humble service to God and His people. That's the story that will really scandalize our culture. But it's up to us the Church Militant to tell it. So, I'd like to invite you to send us photos* of your priests (monks, nuns, or even bishop!) tending to coronavirus victims whether they're offering bedside consolation, delivering the Holy Sacrament, Anointing the Sick, livestreaming Mass, visiting the elderly, collecting donations, or any other service they're rendering to their flock. To submit a photo, tag Crisis Magazine on Twitter (@CrisisMag), Facebook (@CrisisMagazine), or Instagram (@CrisisMag). Or, if you prefer, you can email it to me at editor@crisismagazine.com. This isn't a contest, but, having said that, Crisis Magazine is partnering with Sophia Institute Press on this photo drive to help encourage submissions. The best photographer and the priest he photographs will each receive free copies of five of Sophia's new releases: The winners will also receive a pack of fifty Saint Corona prayer cards. Our pastors reflect the light of Christ in our lives. Help us to share them with the world. A blessed feast of Saint Damien of Molokai to you all. Father Damien, ora pro nobis. And to all the priests and religious out there, fighting on the front lines of the Covid pandemic thank you. Know that you're never far from our thoughts, and always in our prayers. * We ask that you please respect the privacy of everyone in the photograph priests, patients, and bystanders. Ask permission before you take the photo and be sure to get everyone's approval before posting it online. Remember that, as with anything privacy-related, "Uhhh Hmm Well, yeah, I guess so" means "No." Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has expressed shock and concern over the visuals of injured migrant labourers travelling in an open truck with tarpaulin-wrapped dead bodies of Auraiya accident victims in Uttar Pradesh. "This inhumane treatment of our migrant workers could possibly be avoided. I request @UPGovt & Office of @NitishKumar'ji to arrange suitable transportation of the deceased bodies till Jharkhand border & we will ensure adequate dignified arrangements to their homes in Bokaro," Soren tweeted. Twenty-six migrant labourers lost their lives and more than 30 were injured in Auraiya when two trucks one coming from Punjab and another from Rajasthan collided on the highway at around 3.30 am on Saturday. Of the total deceased, 11 were natives of Bokaro district in Jharkhand. A day later, the Uttar Pradesh authorities sent back their bodies along with survivors on three trucks. The photos of the trucks went viral on social media, leading to outrage, after which the the bodies were loaded onto ambulances near Prayagraj. The accident in Auraiya is the latest one in a string of mishaps involving migrant workers returning to their native states amid the coronavirus lockdown. Most of the victims were sitting on sacks of lime powder loaded on the trailer and were crushed when the vehicles overturned and fell into a ditch following the crash near an eatery between 3 am and 3.30 am on the Auraiya-Kanpur Dehat stretch of the national highway, police said. "In the accident, most of the labourers were crushed under these bags, which were on the trailer truck, and died. Some of them succumbed to injuries on the way to hospital," District Magistrate Abhishek Singh said, adding that all the deceased were men. The mini-truck, which was going from Delhi to Madhya Pradesh, had stopped at the eatery as some workers wanted to have tea. It was carrying around 22 people, including five women and seven children, officials said. The trailer truck with 43 migrants was coming from Rajasthan, they said. Both the vehicles were ferrying people who found themselves without jobs, money or food during the lockdown and were desperate to get back home. Local villagers assisted the police and the administration in the rescue operation as earthmovers were used to pull out the people from under the lime sacks. The badly mangled vehicles showed the intensity of the crash. Maureen Peters, curator of history at The Rooms, the provincial museum for Newfoundland and Labrador, already has her first COVID-19 artifact. Six feet apart or six feet under, your choice, the block-letter poster reads. Peters says the sign will be a critical artifact for Newfoundlanders 100 years from now because were close-talkers and this poster is going to mark a time in history when theres a real switch in how we physically interact with people. Hundreds are visible around St. Johns, thanks to local hotel owner Marcel Etheridge, who felt that a blunt statement was needed to drive home the need for social distancing. He says he simply put a new twist on an old slogan. He printed 1,500 posters and hes had so many requests from small businesses, shelters and even the local police station that he will be printing another thousand. Under normal conditions, the sign would be stored in the museums vault or in the environmentally controlled conservation lab. But for now its in Peters living room while she works from her kitchen table trying to anticipate the objects the museum will need to tell the story of this pandemic for generations to come. Canadian museums are trying figure out how to document the COVID-19 pandemic even while its still happening. Peters is one of many curators working from home, scrambling to map out a strategy to ensure she doesnt miss out on opportunities to collect objects that will explain this historic moment to future museum visitors. Its not easy, says Jean-Marc Blais, director general of the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa. All of a sudden we are in this moment that has a beginning, but we dont know when the end will be. Time provides historical perspective to better understand what objects reflect a historic event. Museums trying to document COVID-19 dont have that luxury, he says. Some museums feel they have to react quickly or important artifacts might disappear. You run the risk of missing out, says Peters. Gail Lord, president of Lord Cultural Resources, a museum consulting company based in Toronto, says the pandemic presents a unique opportunity for museums to connect to people and participate in the present moment, something museums need to do more of. Its a challenge several museums are tackling by using rapid-response collecting, an emerging trend in North America and Europe that has museums collecting contemporary objects related to current events. Peters says the poster is an iconic artifact for a museum dedicated to telling the story of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her own family history in the province dates back at least 300 years, and she says that having to physically distance when talking is a real change for Newfoundland culture. The poster is a symbol of how that shift of separation is going to start. As soon as Peters heard about the posters, she phoned Etheridge from her kitchen and asked him to put one aside for her. One morning, while she was driving her brother to his essential-service job at the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation, where he makes hand sanitizer also to be collected for the museum Peters dropped by the Captains Quarters, the hotel Etheridge owns. He had left a stack of posters inside the hotels front door for her, so I felt OK to go in and just grab one of those because I wasnt going to be in touch with anybody. Viviane Gosselin, director of collections and exhibitions at the Museum of Vancouver, says staff are focused on rapid response. In 2019 they acquired and then exhibited in February of this year six of the 40-foot banners created for the July 2018 aerial blockade organized by Greenpeace against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in British Columbia. When Gosselin heard there was to be an online presale of the much coveted shoe created by Vancouver designer John Fluevog in honour of Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbias provincial health officer, museum staff were ready. Its like buying a ticket for a hot concert, says Gosselin. The shoe is important because its a Vancouver response to the pandemic, but its also about how these women are the number one public health officers in each province, and theyre the generals and theyre heroes. Though the museum hasnt actually acquired the shoes yet the online presale was so popular the website crashed Gosselin says Fluevog has promised her a pair in August once the shoes are ready for shipment. Julia Petrov, curator of daily life and leisure at the Royal Alberta Museum, says museum staff there are used to collecting artifacts at events as they happen, having scavenged pink pussy hats from the Edmontons Womens March in 2017 and protest banners from the march for climate change in 2019. For COVID-19, Petrov wants to collect the personal protective equipment made by Alberta businesses and anything else that helps people connect to this historic experience. At the City of Torontos museums and heritage services department, chief curator Wayne Reeves has already reached out to Daniel Rotsztain, creator of the two-metre-radius circular pipe known as the social distancing machine. Well known in urban planning circles, it demonstrates the difficulty of maintaining physical distance on Torontos streets. Rotsztain, an urban geographer, donned his hooplike contraption, fastened to his body with a series of harnesses, and careered around town, bumping into things to show the challenges of doing everyday errands. At the Museum of Canadian History, Blais says curators will focus on artifacts that reflect the huge change the pandemic is causing socially, politically and economically. Curators are watching the evolution of the situation closely and considering the types of material culture that could be acquired, he says. At this stage were considering what is referred to as raw material, which will be reassessed in the future to determine what is worth keeping for future generations. While museums focus on three-dimensional objects, curators say the stories behind the objects are just as important. The story can give an object an added significance that makes it more important for a museum to collect, says Gosselin. A Facebook post tipped Gosselin to the story of PhD student Denise Fong, who is making face masks out of scraps of fabric and offering them to friends parents and grandparents. Fong is now being flooded with requests from seniors living in Vancouvers Chinatown. Gosselin asked Fong to set aside some masks for the museum because they speak to people wanting to protect themselves and others, and the really caring gesture that Denise made. Peters is looking for artifacts that tell the story of Newfoundlanders ability to mix resilience with humour. She intends to collect a cross-stitch by embroidery artist Jaimie Feener that reflects advice Health Minister John Haggie gave to parents who take their kids shopping during the pandemic: Please dont let them lick the handle of the shopping cart. Feener says its overwhelming and surprising that her cross-stitch has become a sought-after museum artifact. Its a really big deal to think I could be going to the museum some day with my family and seeing it. Peters is also working with Dale Jarvis, provincial folklorist for Newfoundland and Labrador, to gather testimonials. Jarvis wants the stories of home-care workers who are really seeing this pandemic from a different perspective than those of us who are safely at home in quarantine. He hopes to build a database of stories and memories about what has worked, what hasnt worked, and then that database becomes more than just a historical record, he says. It becomes something that might be useful to people in the future if they are confronted with a similar situation. Even the scarves worn by Dr. Eileen de Villa, Torontos medical officer of health, have an important story to tell, says Reeves, who hopes to acquire the very first scarf de Villa wore to a COVID-19 press conference. It underscores the personality that she brings to a very serious situation and the front she conveys to the public on a daily basis. While curators feel pressure to document the pandemic as people are responding to it, Gosselin says she is careful to balance compassion with the museums collecting mandate. Its our job to document the highs and the lows and the struggles of Vancouver, but we have to be tactful because everyone is struggling. Karen Black, the former head of the City of Toronto's Museums and Heritage Services, is a fellow in global journalism at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto A further 16 people have died from Covid-19 the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) confirmed. There have now been a total of 1,561 deaths in Ireland from the coronavirus. 51 new cases were also confirmed today by health authorities bringing the total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Ireland to 24, 251. Dr. Cillian De Gascun, Chair of the NPHET Expert Advisory Group said the figures indicate consistent suppression of Covid-19 within the community. He said: "Despite broadening the case definition and increases in referrals the positivity rate has continued to decline. This indicates a consistent suppression of COVID-19 in the community." A further breakdown of data provided by the HPSC shows: 57% are female and 43% are male the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years 3,143 cases (13%) have been hospitalised Of those hospitalised, 390 cases have been admitted to ICU 7,661 cases are associated with healthcare workers Dublin has the highest number of cases at 11,759 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,379 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,372 cases (5%) Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 60%, close contact accounts for 37%, travel abroad accounts for 3% Earlier today senior health officials appeared before the Oireachtas special committee on Covid-19. They were discussing Ireland's response to the pandemic. During these appearances, the Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan and the Chief Executive of the HSE Paul Reid directly contradicted each other over employers receiving employees coronavirus results. It was revealed that the Data Protection Commissioner had received complaints in some instances of mass testing employees, management had received the employee's results first. When the news first broke during the morning session of Tuesday's committee, CMO Dr Tony Holohan said the practice would be a "breach of confidentiality, full stop. Employers should not be receiving results for employees. In the afternoon session, Paul Reid, Chief Executive of the HSE, was pressed on the matter by Sinn Fein's Matt Carthy, who asked how many employers had been informed of their employees' test results before the employees themselves, and said that public health officials can make a "judgement call" on the issue. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said the government will shortly decide on how long the pandemic unemployment payment will continue for and at what level. Mr Donohoe said he did not want the government to discriminate against women returning to work after maternity leave and that officials were addressing these concerns. Asked about plans to extend the Covid-19 350 unemployment payment beyond June, Mr Donohoe said he knew the money was "important" for families and that the government was looking at the period and what amounts would be paid. A nurse treating COVID- 19 patients in Assam's Nalbari district has attended her duties till the day preceding her wedding, and even offered to join work on her big day after the rituals are over. Oli Barman's dedication and sincerity have attracted a lot of admiration on social media. Nalbari Deputy Commissioner Bharat Bhushan Devchoudhury also went to attend her wedding ceremony at Singimari village in the district on Monday. "I am really encouraged seeing the dedicated service of this young girl. She is a real warrior and a hope for us in such a difficult time," Devchoudhury said. After months of preparations and loads of shopping, the coronavirus outbreak has changed all plans of Barman who works in the Swahid Mukunda Kakati Civil Hospital. "It was so uncertain that we were in doubt whether the wedding would at all take place or not. Many of our relatives suggested we postpone the ceremony, but we decided to go ahead after the lockdown norms were relaxed," she told PTI. A nurse since 2018, Barman said her duty is in the emergency section for the last two months and she could not execute any of the planned programmes for the wedding as leaves of the people in the healthcare sector got cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Barman had her 'mehendi' on Saturday night after the duty hours and joined the hospital on Sunday morning again. On Sunday, the health worker attended her day shift and then went home for the 'Joran', a traditional ritual where the women family members of the bridegroom gift her fineries to be worn during the wedding. "Had my senior officer wanted me to join duty on Monday night, I would have definitely done so after the wedding rituals are over. In this situation, service to the people comes first," she said. Barman said only a few close relatives and friends were invited to the ceremony. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The bad news? Youve just been diagnosed with cancer. The worse news? The countrys in the middle of a pandemic and you cant connect with your oncologist. Thankfully, there is good news. Dozens of people are ready and waiting to answer every single question you have about your cancer diagnosis, treatment plan, therapy and recovery, and theyll help you navigate the changes wrought by the current COVID-19 pandemic. These trained professionals wont charge you a dime, they wont capture (and sell) your data for their own purposes and theyll spend as much time with you as you need, in English or in Spanish. Whats more, you dont even have to leave your house to connect with them. Who are these people? Theyre the Cancer Information Specialists at the federally-funded National Cancer Institute Contact Center at 1.800.4.CANCER, otherwise known as the Cancer Information Service, your tax dollars at work. Were here to be of value to the public, of value to the NCI, said Dawn Sittauer, a 30-year veteran of this NCI service and current program director of the CIS, which is operated via a government contract through Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Taxpayers are our stakeholders. We serve them to the best of our ability always. Heavy hearts soared Monday with news that Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine candidate the frontrunner in the American market seemed to be generating an immune response in Phase 1 trial subjects. The company's stock valuation also surged, hitting $29 billion, an astonishing feat for a company that currently sells zero products. But was there good reason for so much enthusiasm? Several vaccine experts asked by STAT concluded that, based on the information made available by the Cambridge, Mass.-based company, there's really no way to know how impressive or not the vaccine may be. While Moderna blitzed the media, it revealed very little information and most of what it did disclose were words, not data. That's important: If you ask scientists to read a journal article, they will scour data tables, not corporate statements. With science, numbers speak much louder than words. Even the figures the company did release don't mean much on their own, because critical information effectively the key to interpreting them was withheld. Experts suggest we ought to take the early readout with a big grain of salt. Here are a few reasons why. The silence of the NIAID The National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases has partnered with Moderna on this vaccine. Scientists at NIAID made the vaccine's construct, or prototype, and the agency is running the Phase 1 trial. This week's Moderna readout came from the earliest of data from the NIAID-led Phase 1. NIAID doesn't hide its light under a bushel. The institute generally trumpets its findings, often offering director Anthony Fauci who, fair enough, is pretty busy these days or other senior personnel for interviews. But NIAID did not put out a press release Monday and declined to provide comment on Moderna's announcement. The n = 8 thing The company's statement led with the fact that all 45 subjects (in this analysis) who received doses of 25 micrograms (two doses each), 100 micrograms (two doses each) or a 250 micrograms (one dose) developed binding antibodies. Later, the statement indicated that eight volunteers four each from the 25-microgram and 100-microgram arms developed neutralizing antibodies. Of the two types, these are the ones you'd really want to see. We don't know results from the other 37 trial participants. This doesn't mean that they didn't develop neutralizing antibodies. Testing for neutralizing antibodies is more time-consuming than other antibody tests and must be done in a biosecurity level 3 laboratory. Moderna disclosed the findings from eight subjects because that's all it had at that point. Still, it's a reason for caution. Separately, while the Phase 1 trial included healthy volunteers ages 18 to 55 years, the exact ages of these eight people are unknown. If, by chance, they mostly clustered around the younger end of the age spectrum, you might expect a better response to the vaccine than if they were mostly from the senior end of it. And given who is at highest risk from the SARS-2 coronavirus, protecting older adults is what Covid-19 vaccines need to do. There's no way to know how durable the response will be The report of neutralizing antibodies in subjects who were vaccinated comes from blood drawn two weeks after they received their second dose of vaccine. Two weeks. "That's very early. We don't know if those antibodies are durable," said Anna Durbin, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins University. There's no real way to contextualize the findings Moderna stated that the antibody levels seen were on a par with or greater than, in the case of the 100-microgram dose those seen in people who have recovered from Covid-19 infection. But studies have shown antibody levels among people who have recovered from the illness vary enormously; the range that may be influenced by the severity of a person's disease. John "Jack" Rose, a vaccine researcher from Yale University, pointed STAT to a study from China that showed that, among 175 recovered Covid-19 patients studied, 10 had no detectable neutralizing antibodies. Recovered patients at the other end of the spectrum had really high antibody levels. So though the company said the antibody levels induced by vaccine were as good as those generated by infection, there's no real way to know what that comparison means. STAT asked Moderna for information on the antibody levels it used as a comparator. The response: That will be disclosed in an eventual journal article from NIAID, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. "The convalescent sera levels are not being detailed in our data readout, but would be expected in a downstream full data exposition with NIH and its academic collaborators," Colleen Hussey, the company's senior manager for corporate communications, said in an email. Durbin was struck by the wording of the company's statement, pointing to this sentence: "The levels of neutralizing antibodies at day 43 were at or above levels generally seen in convalescent sera." "I thought: Generally? What does that mean?" Durbin said. Her question, for the time being, can't be answered. Rose said the company should disclose the information. "When a company like Moderna with such incredibly vast resources says they have generated SARS-2 neutralizing antibodies in a human trial, I would really like to see numbers from whatever assay they are using," he said. Moderna's approach to disclosure The company has not yet brought a vaccine to market, but it has a variety of vaccines for infectious diseases in its pipeline. It doesn't publish on its work in scientific journals. What is known has been disclosed through press releases. That's not enough to generate confidence within the scientific community. "My guess is that their numbers are marginal or they would say more," Rose said about the company's SARS-2 vaccine, echoing a suspicion that others have about some of the company's other work. "I do think it's a bit of a concern that they haven't published the results of any of their ongoing trials that they mention in their press release. They have not published any of that," Durbin noted. Still, she characterized herself as "cautiously optimistic" based on what the company has said so far. "I would like to see the data to make my own interpretation of the data. But I think it is at least encouraging that we've seen immune responses with this RNA vaccine that we haven't seen with previous RNA vaccines for other pathogens. Whether it's going to be enough, we don't know," Durbin said. Moderna has been more forthcoming with data on at least one of its other vaccine candidates. In a statement issued in January about a Phase 1 trial for its cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine, it quantified how far over baseline measures antibody levels rose in vaccines. EDENVILLE, Mich. - Rapidly rising water overtook dams and forced the evacuation of about 10,000 people in central Michigan, where the governor said one downtown could be under approximately 9 feet of water by Wednesday. For the second time in less than 24 hours, families living along the Tittabawassee River and connected lakes in Midland County were ordered to leave home. The National Weather Service on Tuesday evening urged anyone near the river to seek higher ground following castastrophic dam failures at the Edenville Dam, about 140 miles (225.31 kilometres) north of Detroit, and the Sanford Dam, about seven miles (11.26 kilometres) downriver. Michigan Gov. Gretchen said downtown Midland, a city of 42,000 about 8 miles (12.87 kilometres) downstream from the Sanford Dam, faced an especially serious flooding threat. Dow Chemical Co.s main plant sits on the citys riverbank. In the next 12 to 15 hours, downtown Midland could be under approximately 9 feet of water, the governor said. We are anticipating an historic high water level. Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Midland County and urged residents threatened by the flooding to find a place to stay with friends or relatives or to seek out one of several shelters that opened across the county. She encouraged people to do their best to take precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus, such as wearing a face covering and observing social distancing to the best of your ability. This is unlike anything weve seen in Midland County, she said. If you have a family member or loved one who lives in another part of the state, go there now. Emergency responders went door-to-door early Tuesday morning warning residents living near the Edenville Dam of the rising water. Some residents were able to return home, only to be told to leave again following the dams breach several hours later. The evacuations include the towns of Edenville, Sanford and parts of Midland, according to Selina Tisdale, spokeswoman for Midland County. We were back at home and starting to feel comfortable that things were calming down, said Catherine Sias, who lives about 1 mile (1.61 kilometres) from the Edenville Dam and first left home early Tuesday morning. All of a sudden we heard the fire truck sirens going north toward the dam. Sias, 45, said emergency alerts then began coming on her cellphone and people started calling to make sure she was safe. While packing, there were tons of police and fire trucks going up and down the roads, she added. As far as I know, all of our neighbours got out. While driving along a jammed M-30, the state highway thats the main road through Edenville and that crosses the river north of town, Sias saw the rushing Tittabawassee River. It was very dramatic, very fast and full of debris, she said. Dow Chemical has activated its emergency operations centre and will be adjusting operations as a result of current flood stage conditions, spokeswoman Rachelle Schikorra said in an email. Dow Michigan Operations is working with its tenants and Midland County officials and will continue to closely monitor the water levels on the Tittabawassee River, Schikorra said. In 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revoked the license of the company that operated the Edenville Dam due to non-compliance issues that included spillway capacity and the inability to pass the most severe flood reasonably possible in the area. The Edenville Dam, which was built in 1924, was rated in unsatisfactory condition in 2018 by the state. The Sanford Dam, which was built in 1925, received a fair condition rating. Both dams are in the process of being sold. There were 19 high hazard dams in unsatisfactory or poor condition in Michigan in 2018, ranking 20th among the 45 states and Puerto Rico for which The Associated Press obtained condition assessments. Flood warnings in Michigan were issued following widespread rainfall of 4 to 7 inches (10.2 to 17.8 centimetres) since Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy runoff pushed rivers higher. The Tittabawassee River was at 30.5 feet (9.3 metres) and rising Tuesday night - flood stage is 24 feet (7.3 metres). It was expected to crest Wednesday morning at a record of about 38 feet (11.6 metres). The heavy rains early in the week also caused flooding elsewhere in the region. In Chicago, water that flooded some areas downtown was receding Tuesday, but Larry Langford, a fire department spokesman, said that he did not expect power to be restored at the iconic Willis Tower for days because the rains caused the buildings subbasements to fill with as much as 25 feet (7.6 metres) of water. The building was closed to tenants and visitors. The Washington Post is providing this news free to all readers as a public service. Follow this story and more by signing up for national breaking news email alerts. Residents of a housing society near Birla College in Kalyan complained to the civic body on Tuesday that the quarantine stamp on residents hands easily wipes off in less than 24 hours. Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) is finding out if there has been a change in the ink used for the stamp. We had earlier received complaints from residents that the ink is leading to skin irritation. We had started marking the finger but we will probe into the quality of ink, said Vijay Suryavanshi, KDMC commissioner. After a man tested positive in a housing complex near Birla College, all residents were home quarantined. The housing society has 48 flats and more than 150 residents. Around 12.30pm on Monday, the KDMC officials took a survey and stamped the hands of every tenant. By 9am on Tuesday, the ink had faded and in some instances there was no sign of ink. It did even last for 24 hours, let alone 28 days of quarantine, said Sanket Juwatkar, 28, a resident. Meanwhile, KDMC officials have been asking everyone to stay at home and follow lockdown rules. For the past two months, we have been asking everyone who has been quarantined, to stay indoors. All essentials such as grocery are being provided through home delivery. People can step out only for emergency. But, people have been violating norms and this is the reason we still need to stamp those in quarantine, said Suryavanshi. . Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:04:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOSCOW, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, previously tested positive for COVID-19, has been discharged from hospital and resumed work, Sputnik reported on Tuesday, citing his spokesman Boris Belyakov. Mishustin on Tuesday held an online meeting at his office in the government house and is preparing for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Belyakovz said. On Monday, Mishustin chaired an online meeting of the government's infection response coordination council in hospital. Putin on Tuesday signed a decree restoring Mishustin's power. The decree, published on the Kremlin website, became effective immediately. After Mishustin said on April 30 that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and was hospitalized, Putin has ordered First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov to temporarily perform Mishustin's duties. On Thursday, Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova said she has recovered from the virus and returned to work. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov remained hospitalized for COVID-19 infection, while Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev is undergoing treatment at home. Enditem Brandman University formally affirmed its commitment to guarantee admission to students who earn an Associate Degree for Transfer from the California Community Colleges. This is a natural partnership for Brandman, Chancellor Gary Brahm said. Brandman University is formally recognizing its long-term commitment to offer guaranteed admission at junior status to any California community college graduate who earns an Associate Degree for Transfer, also known as an ADT. This is a natural partnership for Brandman, Chancellor Gary Brahm said. Our institutions are both positioned to serve working adults. By combining a clear transfer pathway with the promise of admission, we increase the odds that any student who enrolls at a California community college campus with the ultimate objective of earning a bachelors degree will be successful. Graduates holding any Associate in Art for Transfer or Associate in Science for Transfer degree can be admitted to Brandman and will need no more than 60 additional units to complete a bachelors degree. All students who enroll with an ADT will have a direct pathway to a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Studies. Additional pathways lead to many more degrees within such majors as business, psychology, sociology, criminal justice, early childhood education, organizational leadership, communications and media, legal studies, and social work. The California Legislature created the ADT in 2010 to facilitate transfers between the California Community Colleges and the California State University. The program has since grown to help community college graduates transfer to Brandman and other participating members of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities, as well as several Historically Black Colleges and Universities in multiple states. This partnership with Brandman University, with its commitment to quality, flexible learning and its track record in serving student veterans, offers California community college students a guaranteed transfer option, California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley said. We are proud to welcome Brandman into the fold of nonprofit colleges and universities that formally recognize the rigor and preparedness that our Associate Degree for Transfer confers as part of a streamlined path to earning a bachelors degree. The California Community Colleges awarded more than 41,000 Associate Degrees for Transfer in 2017-18, according to the colleges most recent State of the System Report. Community college leaders hope to confer more than 51,000 ADTs during the 2021-22 academic year. An official memorandum of understanding affirming Brandmans status as an ADT partner went into effect on May 4. Brandman was already a supporter of the program, however, having accepted a combined 200 students who applied after earning an ADT during the Fall 2018, Spring 2019 and Fall 2019 application terms. More information on the ADT is available here. ### ABOUT BRANDMAN UNIVERSITY Brandman University is a private, nonprofit institution accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission. As part of the Chapman University System, Brandman blends a legacy of academic excellence with innovative programs and support services designed for students with busy schedules. The university offers more than 80 undergraduate, graduate, credential and certificate programs. Brandman serves about 24,000 students, more than 14,000 of whom enroll in academic credit programs, at 25 physical campuses in California and Washington, as well as online. Brandman offers fully-online courses for students anywhere in the United States and for military personnel serving abroad. For additional information, visit the universitys website. ABOUT CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation, composed of 73 districts and 115 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year. California community colleges provide career education and workforce training; guaranteed transfer to four-year universities; degree and certificate pathways; and basic skills education in English and math. As the states engine for social and economic mobility, the California Community Colleges supports the Vision for Success, a strategic plan designed to improve student success outcomes, increase transfer rates and eliminate achievement gaps. For more information, please visit the California Community Colleges website or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Donald Trump honours 10-yr-old Indian-American, others for helping Covid warriors Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, felicitated a group of girl scouts for extending help to essential service providers. Girl Scout Troop 744 of Elkridge, Maryland included Sravya Annappareddy, an Indian-American 10-year-old, and Laila Khan and Lauren Matney. They donated 100 boxes of cookies to health workers and firefighters. They also prepared and sent hundreds of personalised cards to local medical professionals. Watch the full video for more. ...read more It was heartbreaking for me when it didnt go because I really believed in the project. I really believe that Jillian Bell is a genius, and I loved our team, says Schwartz, who also was a producer on the show. Once it doesnt go, I look back at those three years and Im like, Man, did I make a mistake by devoting so much of my time in television to this? Because now that its in the rearview, I have nothing to show for it. Gold is another bender as of Friday amid clearly heightened tensions between the United States and China--tensions that the precious metal bulls are expecting will make the pre-COVID-19 trade war pale by comparison. Gold hit $1,755 an ounce on Friday, and analysts are expecting more gains this week as a series of China-related events unfold, helped along even more by grim economic data. Source: Goldprice.org Not only is the US letting loose another round of restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei, but its also finally putting the 5G war on the pedestal it should: As the absolute dictator of global technological dominance. This means that nothing short of a cold war with China will have any effect. Gold loves situations like this. Related: 2 Reasons To Bet On Bitcoin Right Now On the Huawei front, Washington on Friday issued new rules requiring foreign makers of semiconductors using American technology to obtain a US license specifically to ship semiconductors designed by Huawei, to Huawei. Thats a huge blow for Huawei, which largely relies on US-made semiconductors. Its also a blow, of course, for American manufacturers of Huawei chips. The only reprieve is a 120-day waiver for chips already in production. Huawei has been deemed a security risk, but its also the king of 5G and global dominance means fighting this company. On Sunday, China fired back, vowing to take all necessary measures against what the Chinese Ministry of Commerce described as abuse of power. The U.S. uses state power, under the so-called excuse of national security, and abuses export control measures to continuously oppress and contain specific enterprises of other countries, the Ministry said in a statement, as reported by AP. Gold loves a good Cold War, and this time around it is likely to be an actual war rather than a tariff spat. Thats what gold bugs are banking on. In the meantime, gold is gaining on equities losses, with the DOW losing over 270 points Friday on fear of another battle--worse than the earlier trade war--with China. But even further buoying gold is economic data that shows retail sales diving more than 16% in April. Consumer sentiment in the United States, though, isnt as bad as gold bugs would have thought, and that means golds rise could be tempered unless fears of a cold war with China continue with increasing momentum. Gold wont be able to rise on economic data alone because states are gradually starting to open up, and while a recovery wont necessarily be V-shaped and will take time, recovery is where it seems to be going based on sentiment. While the DOW lost over 270 points Friday, it also pared some of those gains on a University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey that came in higher than expected despite the pandemic shockwaves. It wont be a sudden surge for gold, regardless. As Jeff Write, executive vice president of GoldMining Inc., told MarketWatch, I think gold is going higher towards $1,800, but still choppy trading days ahead to get there. By Tom Kool for Safehaven.com More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: Puducherry on Tuesday reported two COVID-19 cases, taking the number of infections in the union territory to 10, a top Health department official said. A 61-year old man and a 34-year old television mechanic tested positive for the virus, Director of Health and Family Welfare Services S Mohan Kumar told P T I. The 61-year old man, a resident of Mahe region (an enclave of Puducherry in Kerala) was admitted to the Government General hospital in Mahe for treatment, he said. The man had returned from Dubai on May 17 and was admitted to a hospital in Kannur in neighbouring Kerala before being shifted to the government general hospital in Mahe today, Mohan Kumar added. The television mechanic, who had come into contact with a resident of neighbouring Arumbathapuram villagenow under treatment at Indira Gandhi Government Medical College Hospital, tested positive for the virus. Mohan Kumar said the contact history of the person was traced. Six people are undergoing treatment in the hospital and it includes a man from Arumbathapuram, his wife and a nine-year old girl. Also, five people including a woman from neighbouring Tamil Nadu districts of Villupuram and Cuddalore are under treatment in the centrally administered JIPMER, Mohan Kumar said. Meanwhile, the opposition AIADMK accused the ruling Congress and its ally DMK, of hoodwinking people by adopting double standards on the issue of opening liquor shops in the union territory. AIADMK leader A Anbalagan said while the Congress and DMK were opposing resumption of liquor sales in neighbouring Tamil Nadu by organising demonstrations, the parties and their leaders were however, keeping mum on the Puducherry government's decision to reopen the outlets here. The territorial government had on Monday initially announced that liquor outlets would open today before postponing it to Wednesday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) California workers compensation provider Preferred Employers Insurance has announced financial donations to three organizations to help them provide relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Preferred Employers Insurance has made a significant charitable donation to Big Table, an organization that provides support to hospitality employees impacted by the outbreak. PHOENIX, May 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) is committing $5 million to Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) to provide loans through their lending division Prestamos CDFI (Prestamos) to assist Arizona small business owners whose businesses have been economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This collaboration will help CPLC distribute loans to small business owners through the federal government's Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). "We are hearing from small business owners, and we see how hard they are working to protect their businesses and keep their employees safe," says Pam Kehaly, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. "We serve thousands of small businesses and as we continue to assist Arizonans through this global pandemic, we want to be a part of the solution to help small business owners continue to serve Arizona, provide jobs, and help rebuild our local economy." The $5 million in funding from BCBSAZ will enable CPLC Prestamos, a Community Development Financial Institution, to offer additional PPP loans to Arizona businesses to support their employees. To date, Prestamos has been able to support 321 businesses with more than $11 million in PPP funding, preserving 1,615 jobs. Prestamos is an SBA-approved lender and offers high-quality lending and consulting services for business owners, helping to create financial stability and job opportunities for communities most in need since 1980. "Small businesses are hurting, and it's creating a significant ripple effect. If an employer is unable to meet payroll, families are unable to put food on the table, bills are unable to be paid and the local economy suffers," said David Adame, president and CEO of CPLC. "While many small businesses in the state have been denied access to emergency capital, we're grateful that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is partnering with Chicanos Por La Causa to provide additional resources that will allow small business owners to continue serving our communities." Prestamos is an approved lender for the federal PPP and will issue funds backed by BCBSAZ to qualifying applicants in Arizona who meet the PPP's criteria and eligibility. Qualifying companies with less than 500 employees can apply for a loan to assist with payroll, rent and utilities to support their business through the COVID-19 pandemic. For more details on eligibility and to apply, visit prestamosloans.org/ppp. CPLC has partnered with BCBSAZ for more than 20 years. While the organization was founded in Arizona, it is one of the largest Hispanic nonprofits in the country, helping to promote stronger, healthier communities across the Southwest. CPLC empowers lives by delivering a comprehensive range of bilingual and bicultural services in health and human services, housing, education, and economic development. This commitment is the latest in a series of steps BCBSAZ has taken to assist Arizonans during the COVID-19 pandemic, including small business owners. For more information about how BCBSAZ is helping the Arizona community during the global pandemic, please visit azblue.com/coronavirus. About Chicanos Por La Causa Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. (CPLC) is a community development corporation that provides services in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. Since 1969, CPLC has been changing lives by developing self-sufficiency and instilling empowerment in those we serve. Our focus areas are economic development, education, integrated health & human services, and housing. CPLC provides a better life through offering business and employment opportunities; ensuring everyone has the solid foundation of an education; providing hope through a pathway of recovery, restoration, and resiliency; and ensuring that a safe, secure, affordable home is available to every individual we serve. Today, we have 48 programs and services, nearly 1,000 employees, and 110 offices, making CPLC the third-largest Hispanic nonprofit in the nation and the number one charity in Arizona. For more information, please visit www.CPLC.org. About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) is committed to helping Arizonans get healthier faster and stay healthier longer. With a focus on connecting people with the care they need, BCBSAZ offers health insurance and related services to more than 1.7 million customers. Through advanced clinical programs and community outreach, BCBSAZ is inspiring health in Arizona. BCBSAZ, a not-for-profit company, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. The company, and its subsidiaries, employ more than 2,400 people in its Phoenix, Chandler, Flagstaff, and Tucson offices. To learn more, visit azblue.com. SOURCE Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Related Links http://www.azblue.com President Trump and his GOP sycophants are busy talking about cutting Medicare and Medicare while at the same time openly insisting that the lives of the elderly should be sacrificed for the best interest of the U.S. economy. OPINION In short, if youre 60+ years or older, what youve heard from this narcissistic, pathological and sociopathic President and his GOP enablers is that the lives of senior citizens are worth less than the lives of younger Americans. The problem, of course, is without the same number of votes President Trump received from senior citizens in 2016 -- he has no chance of being re-elected. Ive lived in Delray Beach, Boca Raton area now for over 30 years, and I can tell you the vast majority of seniors I meet and talk with are conservatives. Yet, I am hearing a big shift among them in the last several weeks. More and more, Im hearing from GOP registered seniors that theres no way theyre going to vote for Trump again. Its a huge difference from four years ago, and its starting to manifest itself in the national and Florida polling. The primary GOP Seniors are turning on Trump because they know he and Mitch McConnell are going to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. This almost always leads to the discussion of Trumps disastrous handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and his nonstop lying. What I am hearing from seniors is showing up in the national and local polls. According to a recent Morning Consult poll, President Trumps approval rating among voters over the age of 65 has dropped 20 points between March and the end of April. This is a massive problem for President Trump, especially here in Florida, a state the President cannot lose if he has any hope of being re-elected. In 2016, President Trump won seniors by 17 points. Such polls like the Morning Consult and a Quinnipiac poll was taken in late April found Trump 10 points behind Mr. Biden among voters over 65. Still, the reversal being found in recent polls has yet to materialize in the famous elderly Republican bastion The Villages, the worlds largest 55-plus retirement community, located in Sumter County, Florida. Ms. Chris Stanley, the president of The Villages Democratic Club, isnt sure the opinions of Mr. Trump have changed The lines are drawn here in The Villages, and they have been drawn since early 2016If you come as a Trump supporter who is no longer going to support him in November youve just lost your social group. Ms. Stanley, however, does say she sees one critical difference this year than she saw in 2016. Fewer Trump 2020 flags flying the only visible form of political support permitted in the community. Cathy Hardy, the chair of the Sumter County Democratic Party, says she, like me, is hearing among a handful of locals that President Trumps handling of COVID-19 is the nail in the coffinThe health concerns of people nationwide are intensified here in Florida. Ms. Hardys Democratic Committee ran a virtual fundraiser in April to raise money for buying stamps since so much campaign information must now be delivered by mail. She reports that in a good month, she sees 5 to 20 first-time donors. These last fundraising efforts generated a whopping 85 new contributors. In the most recent Morning, Consult poll seniors said the government should prioritize halting the spread of the virus over-focusing on the economy by a gargantuan 6 to 1 ration. Some older adults say that Mr. Trump himself a septuagenarian (a person whose age is in the seventies )doesnt seem to understand how vulnerable and undervalued this crisis has made them feel. Wendy Penk, a lifelong Republican in her 60s from Charlotte, North Carolina in a recent interview with the press voiced discontent with Trump and the GOPs policy of making them sacrificial sheep The people my age, we have become dispensable. The debate over lifting lockdowns has exposed Donald Trumps eagerness to open up and get the economy moving again, even at the expense of the lives of hundreds of thousands of older voters. They, as retirees, are focused on their lives and arent willing to reopen schools or local businesses at the risk of their losing their lives. Ms. Penk sounds like the seniors I have been interviewing throughout my day. They voted for Mr. Trump in 2016 but now are among Republicans for Biden. Ms. Penk joined a Facebook group. She worries about her husbands health, and says Mr. Trumps handling of the pandemic cemented her decision to vote a straight blue ticket in November Ive never seen this level of mishandling my entire life, and I was around during Richard Nixon and WatergateThis coronavirus situation has just highlighted how inept [President Trump] is. While plenty of seniors will still support President Trump, as I pointed out, older voters tend to be more conservative in their politics, especially here in Florida. Nationally, Republicans have historically won the voters in the 65 and over age group in the past three presidential elections, while Democrats have expanded their edge among young voters. In 2016, President Trump won the carried the 65 and over age group by 9 points, according to Pew Research, but that was four years ago. Now several recent national polls are showing former Vice President Biden leading Mr. Trump among seniors. While its true, the election is still is 168 days away, the trend of seniors abandoning both President Trump and Republican officeholders represents a clear warning sign for the 2020 election. Besides Florida being CRUCIAL for Trumps re-election, he faces Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan. These states happen to have the oldest population demographics. If Trump loses Florida, he will lose the election. Still, if he gets crushed in Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan among senior voters, he and the GOP could be facing a genuine blue Tsunami. That fattens the Democrat majority in the House of Representatives and could flip control of the Senate on November 3, 2020. The consequences of President Trump losing his re-election bid cannot be overstated. This is a President and Administration that has committed many crimes that are being covered up. Trump losing re-election will mean many in his family, and his Kakistocracy of an Administration will be facing grand juries, prosecution, and career-ending jail sentences. Michael Binder, director of the University of North Floridas Public Opinion Research Lab, confirms my understanding of Florida politics and says Trump cant win without themIf he loses a sizable chunk, or even if Biden can get that margin small, Trump is ruined. Ken Holmes, a lifelong Republican voter from the deep red state of Mississippi, told a reporter recently that seniors arent expecting everything to be easy... As adults who have been through Vietnam, and as adults with parents who have been through World War II, we know what sacrifice is But we need an adult in the room. Mr. Holmes, who works as a receptionist at a local hospital outside Jacksonville, Florida, told the reporter that he had a friend die from the virus. For him, the final straw came when Mr. Trump called the coronavirus a hoax. The crisis he says Has just confirmed how incompetent [President Trump] is and how uncaring he is for others. Holmes now insists hes planning to vote for Mr. Biden in November, the first time hes ever voted for a Democrat in his life. Brand Dubai, the creative arm of the Government of Dubai Media Office, has partnered with several restaurants and cafes from its Proudly from Dubai network to bring easy recipes with minimal ingredients to peoples homes, said a report. The collaborative initiative brings a taste of Dubais vibrant restaurant scene to the public and gives them a chance to experience the unique cuisines of diverse outlets without leaving their homes, said a report in WAM. While inspiring culinary creativity, the initiative also encourages the public to rationalise food shopping and reduce wastage, practices that support food security. Shaima Al Suwaidi, City Branding Manager at Brand Dubai, said Brand Dubai is reaching out to people in innovative ways to help enrich their lives during the Covid-19 period while highlighting important messages about food security and preventive practices. "We partnered with restaurants and cafes from our Proudly from Dubai network to enable people to savour a range of recipes from some of Dubais most exciting restaurants. The initiative brings together more than 30 main courses, side dishes, desserts, hot drinks and cold drinks to the public which they can easily prepare at home. Though the participating restaurants are very popular among the public, the current circumstances have prevented many people from visiting them," she said. Al Suwaidi added that one of the key focuses of the initiative is to raise awareness about socially undesirable practices like hoarding of food supplies, which can lead to wastage. The UAE leadership has reassured the public that the country is able to provide all required food and medical supplies without any disruption and stressed on the importance of behaviours and practices that support food security, she said. Fatma Almulla, City Branding Executive at Brand Dubai, said the participating restaurants are sharing simple recipes that people can easily make from the comfort of their homes. The initiative seeks to bring moments of joy and creativity to people during these challenging times. The recipes provide a detailed step-by-step guide for whipping up delectable dishes for the family using only a handful of commonly used ingredients usually available in the kitchen. Participating entrepreneurs said they were excited to take part in the initiative and reconnect with their customers in innovative ways. Brand Dubais support has enabled them to share distinctive yet simple-to-prepare dishes with the public, they said. They expressed the hope that the crisis will end soon allowing them to serve their customers in a more personal way. Currently, restaurants are operating at limited customer capacity due to the precautionary measures in place. The restaurant owners thanked Brand Dubai for finding creative ways to raise their visibility in the current circumstances, the report said. Thiruvananthapuram, May 19 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said there were 12 new cases of coronavirus in the state, taking the total number of positive cases currently under treatment to 142. "All 12 came from outside -- four from abroad and the rest from outside the state. We were holding on with fewer cases, but the situation has now changed, as expected with the arrival of our people from abroad and within the country. We still have not reached the stage of a community spread because of our strong containment strategy," said Vijayan. Till Tuesday, 642 people have been reported positive for coronavirus in the state. Of these 53 came from abroad and 46 from other states who came by road and six by ships. "Lockdown norms have been relaxed, therefore, all should be very cautious. Up to now, 72,000 people from outside the state have returned. More and more will be coming back. We know things are tough, but everyone will be brought back," said Vijayan. "It has come to our notice that some restaurants are serving food within their premises; this is not allowed. Only parcel services are allowed. Reports have also come where private tuition centres have resumed work. This should not happen. Similarly, more people are now arriving at hospitals. This is not good as any wrong move would be detrimental, if protocols are not followed," said Vijayan. "Examinations are now scheduled. All arrangements will have to be ensured by the education authorities for the smooth conduct," added Vijayan. "Today there were reports that some migrant labourers in Kannur and a few other places came out of their camps and demanded that they wanted to go back. Some of them tried to go to Odisha on bicycles. Our officials took care of them and have informed them that they would be sent back by trains very soon," said the CM. He said the police would begin a campaign for wearing face masks as 2,036 people were on Tuesday found without the masks. He pointed out that there are 71,545 people under observation in homes while 455 are in various hospitals. There are 33 hotspot areas in Kerala, the CM added. Happy birthday Nawazuddin Siddiqui: Actor sent chits to village girl via kites, sent messages to himself on pager Nawazuddin Siddiqui appears to be the perfect example of a rags-to-riches story as the actor has lived his journey from sleeping on an empty stomach to making it big in Bollywood in the city of dreams, Mumbai. From sending across paper chits to his village crush to sending messages to himself on his pager, Nawazuddin has as many stories to tell, given the number of twists and turns in his life. (Read full story here) Anil Kapoor remembers proposing to Sunita Kapoor: I had to choose career or love, I chose love Anil Kapoor and his wife Sunita Kapoor are celebrating the anniversary of a relationship milestone - when he popped the question and asked her to be his wife. The actor shared a video on Twitter, in which he recounted the moments leading up to the proposal, and said that he was so stressed. (Read full story here) Neha Dhupia shares photos of daughter Mehr: Just like that our baby girl is 1.5 years old Actor Neha Dhupia took to Instagram to share few pictures of her daughter Mehr Dhupia Bedi. The little girl is now one-and-a-half years old. Sharing them, Neha wrote: ... and just like that our baby girl is 1 1/2 years old ... @mehrdhupiabedi. (Read full story here) Neetu Kapoor shares perfect family pic with Rishi Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor: How I wish this picture could remain complete as is Neetu Kapoor has shared a heartbreaking post on Instagram after the death of her actor husband, Rishi Kapoor. The post shows Rishis family which had Neetu, children Ranbir Kapoor and Riddhima Kapoor Sahni, and granddaughter Samara. Rishi died last month after a two-year-long battle with leukaemia. (Read full story here) Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara expecting first child together American actor Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara are expecting their first child together. A source told Page Six that the very private pair have been keeping a low profile during the Covid-19 pandemic and have been quarantining at their home in Los Angeles. (Read full story here) Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Shankari Sundararaman By As the onslaught of Covid-19 rages across the world, Southeast Asia is addressing the pandemic from a domestic and regional perspective. While there have been accusations and counter-accusations elsewhere, Southeast Asia, through ASEAN and its dialogue partners, have made efforts to address the pandemic at the multilateral level. Covid-19 has laid tremendous stresses on a highly globalised world, pushing countries to adapt to a new normal. While several countries have opted for nationwide lockdowns and social distancing norms domestically, it is also critical to understand the regional efforts. Southeast Asia is driven by the official processes of the ASEAN multilateral frameworks regionally. The core underpinnings of regionalism are based on a series of well-entrenched official practices, carried out through nearly 1,500 meetings of officials and diplomats annually, who run the multilateral processes related to the workings of the organisation. These annual interactions have been set aside because of the spread of the pandemic. One of the most onerous tasks has been for Vietnam, the Chair of ASEAN for the year 2020. Not only has Vietnam had to handle the outbreak of the pandemic domestically, it has also had to orchestrate the ASEAN responses and continue to look at addressing joint approaches with its extended dialogue partners, including major players such as the US and China. Vietnams objective as ASEAN Chair has been to focus on promoting the groups collective response at the regional level. These responses relate to three core areasfirst, information sharing was critical to address the number of cases and the provisions for treatment of the infected; second, ensuring the implementation of strictures that helped in the prevention of movement at national borders and ports of entry; third, addressing the evacuation and return of citizens who were stranded in other countries within Southeast Asia and elsewhere. ASEANs responses are on two broad parallelsat the intra-ASEAN level among the member countries and at the regional level with its dialogue partners. At the intra-ASEAN level, there have been a series of meetings to address the pandemic. In February 2020, the ASEAN Defence Ministers issued a joint statement, highlighting the coronavirus outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) endorsing the WHO. It called for promoting defence cooperation, especially through military medical collaboration. More importantly, the joint statement sought to reinforce the spirit of a cohesive and responsive ASEAN Community. This was followed by an ASEAN working group meeting on 31 March 2020, which focused on measures to address the spread of Covid-19. On 1 April 2020, the ASEAN-US meeting, through video conferencing, was a critical step in reinvigorating their ties. The US gave $18.3 million in assistance to the ASEAN region to fight the outbreak. Southeast Asia as a region has faced health and humanitarian issues and has received $3.5 billion in assistance from the US over a period of two decades. Apart from the financial assistance, the US and ASEAN have attempted to exchange information through the workings of agencies such as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to address best practices and options during the pandemic. On 14 April 2020, a special ASEAN Summit on Covid-19 was convened to address regional responses to the pandemic. Aimed at directing the future course of action, member states discussed options to support one another in ensuring a steady supply of medical equipment, especially the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line medical workers. The summit also addressed concerns of uninterrupted supply of pharmaceutical products and medicines. Shortages of medicines and food supplies are critical concerns among all nations, but for the ASEAN region where economic disparities divide the members, this concern critically addresses regional developmental gaps. The special summit was closely followed by the ASEAN+3 meeting with dialogue partners across the East Asian regionChina, Japan and South Korea. This meetings core agenda was procuring a continuous flow of merchandise and suppliesboth medical and food. One of the concerns of the ASEAN+3 meeting was the impact Covid-19 could have on the socio-economic situation within countries of the region. Concerns relating to political instability due to socio-economic factors in the region are critical for these nations. Even within the context of addressing the pandemic there has been increased reference by members of parliament among the ASEAN nations to ensure human rights remains at the forefront of any government action directed to address the pandemic. Promoting the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management was seen as an effective measure to coordinate the activities through intergovernmental agencies of the region. Finally, the meeting also addressed the need for joint funding for the region to ensure members were able to access funds during this crucial time. ASEANs record of success on issues of non-traditional security has been more effective than on traditional security matters. The gap between policy and implementation will need to be addressed properly. Shankari Sundararaman Professor at School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi (shankari@mail.jnu.ac.in) While most people are familiar with the hallmark symptoms of COVID-19 by nowcough, fever, muscle aches, headaches and difficulty breathinga new crop of medical conditions are emerging from the more than 4 million confirmed cases of the disease around the world. These include skin rashes, diarrhea, kidney abnormalities and potentially life-threatening blood clots. Its not unusual for viruses to directly infect and affect different tissues and organs in the body, but it is a bit unusual for a primarily respiratory virus like SARS-CoV-2, which is responsible for COVID-19, to have such a wide-ranging reach in the body. We see a number of other viruses affect so many different organs in the body, says Dr. Kristin Englund, an infectious disease expert at the Cleveland Clinic. But do we see influenza, or other respiratory viruses spread to so many different organs? Not usually. The reports of these non-respiratory effects started to build as doctors began treating more and more patients, and much of current scientific understanding of them is still in the early stages, and not confirmed with rigorous studies. But recognizing they exist could help health care professions spot them sooner, and possibly minimize their effects on patients health. Heres a rundown of what the science says, so far, about these lesser-known effects of the disease. Skin rashes and COVID toes Its not unusual to see skin rashes in someone with a viral infection, says Dr. Kanade Shinkai, professor of dermatology at University of California, San Francisco, and editor in chief of JAMA Dermatologythink chicken pox, or herpes. There can be two reasons for this: either the invading virus is directly targeting the skin, as is the case with chicken pox in which the virus sequesters in the telltale pustules on the skin, or the lesions are a byproduct of an aggressive immune system fighting mightily against an intruding microbe, like the rash that can form during Epstein Barr Virus or West Nile infections. Story continues Whats unclear about COVID-19 is whether the rashes associated with infection are specific to the virus, meaning there is actual virus in the skin, or if they are a manifestation of the immune system reacting to the virus that is elsewhere in the body, Shinkai says. So far, doctors have reported a range of skin-related conditions that might be connected to COVID-19, including head-to-toe red rashes, hive-like eruptions, blister-like bubbles and even lacy, purply rashes spreading across larger patches of skin. Recently, the lesions that have captured the most attention are red, tender bumps that appear around the toes and heelsdubbed COVID toes. Shinkai says there arent enough data yet to determine whether any of these skin symptoms are related at all to COVID-19. Recently, more and more reports of skin rashes are coming to doctors attention (often through telehealth consultations), but given the limited amount of testing available in the U.S. to date, not all of these reports have been followed up with COVID-19 testing. In an effort to address that, dermatologists around the world are starting to create registries of information on confirmed COVID-19 patients and their skin conditions. To begin to see if there is a link between the two, Shinkai says, doctors need to perform head-to-toe exams of every positive COVID-19 patientliterally looking in between the toesto confirm any relevant skin findings. The next priority is looking at the medical histories of patients with rashes, including medications they might be taking that could contribute to their skin reactions. Finally, wherever possible, if the patients agree, doctors should be taking biopsies of skin lesions to test for the presence of SARS-CoV-2. All of that could be useful in managing patients in coming months and even years, since the skin lesions might be an early sign of infection that doctors could use to guide decisions to advise people to isolate themselves and potentially lower their risk of spreading infection to others. The rashes may also help identify people who might be at higher risk of COVID-19 complicationsthe lacy purple rashes, for example, are also common among people who tend to develop blood clots, which can obstruct blood flow to the brain and other important organs. These studies are needed to really help us understand if anything about the skin findings helps us predict who will become ill, and who might experience severe illness, says Shinkai. These are critical questions that might allow us to triage people better when they are coming in with infection or even consider different ways to support them through their infection. Gut and Intestines When gut experts learned about how the SARS-CoV-2 virus latches on to the bodys cells to launch infection, they realized COVID-19 symptoms wouldnt be limited to the lungs. In order to bind to a cell, the virus uses a receptor called ACE2 which is found on lung cells, but also abundant in intestinal cells. We were all thinking the same thing, says Dr. Brennan Spiegel, director of health services research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and professor of medicine and public health there and at University of California, Los Angeles. We knew ACE2 is expressed so heavily in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and we know the virus is in the saliva. So this thing could be getting into the GI system because its in saliva, and we swallow saliva. As more people have developed COVID-19, its become clear that not all of those infected display the classic respiratory symptoms that doctors focused on early in the pandemic; many people only experience diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. An influential New England Journal of Medicine paper describing COVID-19 symptoms, published in February, said that only 3.8% of patients had diarrhea. A lot of doctors took that to mean that if someone had diarrhea, then they probably dont have COVID-19, says Spiegel, who is also co-editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Gastroenterology. That has been proven wrong, or inconsistent. But that set the stage for our understanding that well, maybe [COVID-19] isnt really a GI issue at all. In a paper published in Nature Medicine on May 13, researchers in Hong Kong reported that SARS-CoV-2 can infect both bat and human intestinal cells in the lab. The scientists created organoids, or clusters of intestinal cells meant to roughly mimic the intestine, and then exposed them to the virus in a lab dish. SARS-CoV-2 could churn out additional copies of itself in both the bat and human organoid environments. Not only does it seem like COVID-19 can impact the GI system, evidence suggests that when it does, it can have an especially damaging effect on patients. In a study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Spiegel worked with colleagues in Wuhan, China, where the virus first emerged in humans, and found that people with intestinal complaints tend to be diagnosed later, and also tend to endure longer infections. Most likely, thats because the GI system is a massive immune organ, he says. Once you are infected, it takes a long time to clear the virus out. We found that on average people have diarrhea for five days, with a range from one to 14 days. Appreciating that COVID-19 can affect the gut as well as the respiratory system is critical, especially when it comes to controlling spread of infection. Studies have shown that this virus can be shed in the feces, which means that shared bathrooms can be a source of infection. Spiegel advises people who are diagnosed with COVID-19 and still at home to use separate bathrooms from the rest of their house- or apartment-mates if possible, and if not, then separate rolls of toilet paper. He also suggests that everyone in these situations close the toilet lid before flushing to prevent aerosolizing any virus in the waste water, as well as completely cleaning the seat and washing hands after every visit. And if its me and Im living with someone who is positive, I am wearing a mask for sure in the bathroom, he says. In most cases, the harsh acids in the stomach would normally kill microbes that enter the gut via saliva. Spiegel and his team have hypothesized that heartburn medications, which are meant to neutralize the highly acidic environment of the stomach to protect its lining, may be creating fertile ground for SARS-CoV-2 to travel freely into the gut system. Theyre currently conducting a study to determine if those who use these drugs might be a higher risk of developing gut-related COVID-19 symptoms. Kidney The gut isnt the only open target for the virus; kidney cells also carry the ACE2 receptor. In some studies, doctors have reported finding SARS-CoV-2 in the urine of infected people, although extensive studies of kidney tissues so far arent conclusive. Some studies have found virus in the urine, and some studies did not. Some autopsies have found virus in the kidney, and some did not, says Dr. Kenar Jhaveri, associate chief of nephrology at Northwell Health, a large, non-profit health care provider in the New York area. Its also not clear yet what finding virus actually means when it comes to infection. Just because there is virus sitting there in a certain organ doesnt mean its pathologic. We dont know if there is cause and effect, he says As more patients started to come to the hospital with COVID-19 in early 2020, Jhaveri and his colleagues began seeing a spike in cases of acute kidney injury among COVID-19 patients, and launched a study to better understand what, if any, relationship the virus had to the kidneys. While we were in the trenches, we were all of a sudden getting almost triple the amount of consultations than we normally get at this time of year, he says. That was unusual and we wanted to quantify it. He studied the electronic health records of more than 5,000 people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the Northwell Health system (which has hospitals throughout New York), and reported the findings in the journal Kidney International. He found that 36.6% of admitted COVID-19 patients developed acute kidney injury, and of those 1,830 patients, 14% required dialysis to compensate for their failing kidney function. (These were all patients who had not had kidney transplants or did not have pre-existing end stage kidney disease.) Kidney injury correlated with worsening respiratory symptoms; nearly 90% of those needing ventilators developed kidney problems compared to around 22% of those who did not need mechanical ventilation. Given the data so far, Jhaveri says its possible that the SARS-CoV-2 virus could be affecting the kidneys in one or both of two waysfirst by directly infecting kidney cells, using the ACE2 receptor, and/or by triggering an aggressive inflammatory response in the body. The cytokine storm [of the immune system] affects the blood vesselsthey start leaking fluid, and blood flow is decreased to different organs, he says. There are tubules in the kidney that are part of the excretion component of the kidneys and they do not like when there is less blood flow. When that happens, they develop ischemic damage. They arent able to maintain oxygenation and they kidney gets injured. Other early studies of hospitalized COVID-19 patients show similar percentages of people with kidney complicationsaround 30% to 40%. Whats more concerning, says Dr. C. John Sperati, associate professor of medicine in the division of nephrology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is the possibility that in some people with COVID-19, the virus may be causing structural damage to the kidneys well before they experience any symptoms. Give it time, and seven or 10 days after symptoms start developing, 30% of them may develop decreased kidney function, says Sperati. But among hospitalized patients, for example, doctors are finding microscopic amounts of blood, as well as hints of proteins, in the urine, both of which are signs of cellular injury to the kidneys even if the patients dont complain of any symptoms. That means that, among people infected with the virus who arent hospitalized, there may be a significant percentage who are at risk of kidney injury but may not be treated until the damage is severe enough to need dialysis. The problem there is that if you arent diagnosed with COVID-19 until you get to that extreme point, you are much more likely to have a severe or even deadly outcome; among COVID-19 patients who develop acute kidney injury, says Sperati, the mortality rate is significantly higher among those who need dialysis. Testing for blood and protein in the urine could indicate which people might be at higher risk of developing kidney-related problems with their COVID-19 infection, and that could steer doctors away from certain medications that could further burden the kidneys. Longer term, Sperati is concerned about the possible medical legacy COVID-19 might have on the kidneys. Protein and blood in the urine signal cellular injury, which, combined with COVID-19 could put people at higher risk of compromised kidney function later in life, even if they dont immediately experience kidney problems related to their COVID-19 infection. Liver The liver, too, is full of cells that harbor the ACE2 receptor, and lab studies using cells in petri dishes show that SARS-CoV-2 can enter and infect these cells using the receptor. Further, over half of people hospitalized for COVID-19 seem to have elevated or lower-than-normal levels of liver enzymes, which could signal that the virus has invaded the organ. Combined, those two facts make it reasonable to question whether the virus can infect and injure the liver. Fortunately, however, current data suggest that COVID-19 infection doesnt lead to dramatic liver failure, says Dr. Raymond Chung, director of hepatology and the liver center at Massachusetts General Hospital. That could mean that the virus effect on the liver is less due to direct infection and more likely caused by the heightened inflammatory response that affects a number of different organs as the disease progresses. We see liver tests worsen when the patients get sicker and other organs, like the lungs and heart, are affected, says Chung. In many ways it may be a barometer for whats going on systemically. The liver may be responding to the stress of the [immune reaction]. Blood Clots and Stroke One of the more urgent risks arising from the growing database of COVID-19 cases has to do with blood clots, including those that can lead to stroke. Even before COVID-19, doctors had been studying how certain viruses (like influenza) and bacteria can contribute to higher risk of stroke. However, some experts believe SARS-CoV-2 could be uniquely damaging to the circulatory system. It remains possible that there is a specific aspect to this virus that leads to a particular increase in the risk of blood clotting, says Dr. Michael Elkind, professor of neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University and president-elect of the American Heart Association. As with lung, kidney, liver and intestinal cells, blood-vessel cells also carry the ACE2 receptor, which means the virus could be directly infecting the cells that line the vessels and, therefore, contributing to clot formations. We have autopsy studies looking at the effect of COVID-19 throughout the body, and we see evidence of small blood clots in different organs throughout the body, says Elkind. That supports the idea that COVID-19 causes a tendency for the blood to clot. Usually, when we see blood clots, we may see them in one location such as the leg, or lung. But in these cases we are seeing them throughout many organs in the body, suggesting that this is a systemic process going on. Armed with that knowledge, doctors are currently debating whether all patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19 should be given blood thinners to reduce the risk of clotting. Its a controversial issue right now. Were talking here about higher doses of blood thinner to prevent arterial as well as venous blood clots, Elkind says. Some early studies suggest that COVID-19 patients treated with blood thinners while hospitalized experienced fewer complications and left the hospitals sooner than those who were not. That doesnt establish that blood thinners are responsible for the improvement, but indicates they may be worth exploring in more rigorous studies. Such studies are underway, both in animals and in the lab, as well as with available autopsy tissue from infected patients. Some researchers are also beginning to collect biopsies from COVID-19 patients while they are hospitalized, although these are challenging given restrictions on performing any procedures on COVID-19 patients during which the virus could spread to health care workers or others in the hospital. At Columbia University, scientists are building a biobank of tissue, including from the heart, that have been taken from COVID-19 patients and could begin to reveal how SARS-CoV-2 is affecting various organs, and what consequences that has for health outcomes. Smell and Taste Another group of intriguing reports from people affected by COVID-19 has to do with their loss of smell and taste. Most of us are familiar with the way congestion from a cold or allergies can impact these senses; doctors are now investigating whether losing smell and/or taste could be a sign of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. On March 26, the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery launched a survey on its website to collect more information about the prevalence of these symptoms from doctors and patients. The Academy is the professional organization for ear, nose and throat specialists but the survey was open to any health care provider or patient. As of publication, about 900 people have responded to 16 questions about smell and taste effects; about a quarter reported losing those senses themselves (in the case of patients) or seeing patients lose those senses (in the case of providers). More studies will be needed to understand if these losses of sense are permanent, says Dr. James Denneny, executive vice president for the Academy and clinical professor at the University of Missouri. So far, researchers are finding that SARS-CoV-2 particles are heavily concentrated in the area where the nose, throat and mouth meet. The damage may be caused by the inflammatory reaction that causes tissues to swell and compress and compromise the nerves, or because of more direct viral infectiononly more detailed autopsy studies can provide information to clarify that question. I expect that as the pandemic winds down, there will be opportunities to look at pathologic specimens that may give us more clarity in looking at nerve endings, says Denneny. The success of those studies will also depend, to some extent, on the data that have been and are currently being collected from patientsincluding blood and tissue samples that could provide valuable genetic information, among other things, about how the virus affected their various body systems. Early on in the pandemic, doctors didnt know to look for wide-ranging symptoms, and even if they did, there hasnt been a useful repository for depositing and sharing that data in a way that would help doctors to pick out trends and study patterns. From the study standpoint, we at this point in time should be gathering a lot of data, such as radiological data [from X-rays and CT scans], and doing a lot of blood tests on patients, says Englund. We need to reach across different hospital systems so we are able to get a much more nationwide databasethat would be wonderful to look at more symptoms. Widespread testing will also help us to understand those patients who had different symptoms that we didnt recognize as being related to COVID-19. Were just at the beginning of understanding this disease. All graphics by Lon Tweeten for TIME. (St. Paul, MN) With all other omnibus budget bills agreed to, the House wrapped up the special session early Friday morning by agreeing to put nearly $1 billion on the states credit card. Sponsored by Rep. Dean Urdahl (R-Grove City), HF5, as amended, calls for $987.9 million in general-obligation bonding for public works projects across the state. We have a pretty darn good bill, said Urdahl, chair of the House Capital Investment Committee. Id call it great, but I am from Minnesota. Passed 119-11 by the House, the omnibus capital investment bill was quickly passed 60-2 by the Senate and is headed to the governor. Its heavy on infrastructure, Urdahl said. I think it addresses many of the important needs of the State of Minnesota. Roughly a quarter of the bill is focused on transportation. MORE See the spreadsheet We improved this bill at every stage, said Rep. Alice Hausman (DFL-St. Paul), the DFL lead on the House Capital Investment Committee. I have a particular affection for the part of the bill that provides $77 million for housing for those who dont have a safe place to sleep at night. We will feel that impact all over the state. Better luck a second time Friday morning marked the Houses second try at passing a capital investment bill in 2017. An $800 million bill did not receive the needed 81 votes it got 70 when put to a vote May 17. By law, capital investment bills need three-fifths approval of each body to pass. Republicans hold a 77-57 seat advantage in the House. Gov. Mark Dayton unveiled a $1.5 billion proposal in January, and Sen. David Senjem (R-Rochester) sponsored a $973 million plan that did not receive a Senate vote. The bill approved May 3 by the House Capital Investment Committee totaled $600 million. Odd-numbered years are traditionally focused on establishing a state budget with a smaller bonding bill; even-numbered years are often centered on a large capital investment plan. A chaotic finish to the 2016 session, however, resulted in no bill. Capital investment was also part of the unsuccessful special session discussion over the final seven months of 2016. Urdahl said the current version largely makes up for last years inaction, with many of the new projects for emergency needs. Hausman said that higher education needs typically account for about one-third of a capital investment bill. This year's total is about 20 percent. The University of Minnesota would receive $119.93 million, with the largest amount being $66.67 million for a health science education facility on the Minneapolis campus to meet the needs of the Medical School and the Academic Health Center. More than $28.3 million in funding for a chemical sciences and advanced materials building on the Duluth campus is included in the bill, as is $20.6 million for system-wide asset preservation and $4 million for a plant growth research facility on the St. Paul campus. Just over $92.3 million is included for the Minnesota State system, including $25 million in asset preservation. WATCH Full video of floor debate on the bill. The remainder is proposed to be spent on seven projects, including $25.3 million for the second phase of the Education Village at Winona State University, and $18.57 million to remodel Eastman Hall at St. Cloud State University for the relocation of consolidated student health services and academic programs. Other projects would occur at Hibbing Community College, Minnesota State Community and Technical College, Northland Community and Technical College, and South Central College. Since 1992, the system has paid one-third of non-asset preservation capital construction. Among the other projects included in the agreement are: $116.33 million in local road improvement fund grants; $71.12 million for rail grade separation crossings on crude oil rail transport corridors in Coon Rapids, Moorhead and Red Wing; $70.26 million for renovation and expansion at the state security hospital in St. Peter; $56.25 million for the local road improvement program; $55 million in water infrastructure ($40 million for wastewater and $15 million for drinking water); $31.88 million to rehabilitate the 10th Avenue bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis; $25.41 million for contaminated sediment management actions to restore water quality in the St. Louis River Area of Concern; $15 million for Department of Natural Resources asset preservation; $15 million for the first phase of renovation of the seal and sea lion habitat at Como Zoo; $12.1 million for the Orange Line bus rapid transit line between Burnsville and downtown Minneapolis; $11.55 million for four flood hazard mitigation projects; and $7.85 million for a bridge project at the Minneapolis Veterans Home. Per Article 11 of the state constitution, public debt may be issued, in part, to acquire and to better public land and buildings and other public improvements of a capital nature and to provide money to be appropriated or loaned to any agency or political subdivision of the state for such purposes. By issuing bonds, the state receives a certain amount of money now and pays the bond holders back over time with interest. Imperial Valley News Center U.S. Attorney Honors Law Enforcement Officials with Excellence in the Pursuit of Justice Awards San Diego, California - U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer today announced the 2020 recipients of the third annual Excellence in the Pursuit of Justice awards, which honor 77 federal, state and local law enforcement officers for their work on cases in San Diego and Imperial counties. Recipients were selected in a number of categories, including Lifetime Achievement, Exceptional Service, Cases of the Year, Investigations of the Year, Community Impact, and Collaboration. The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to U.S. Border Patrol Assistant Chief Chancy L. Arnold, the longest-serving Border Patrol agent in the United States. I greatly respect the crime-solving and life-saving efforts of the incredible law enforcement community in San Diego and Imperial counties, said U.S. Attorney Brewer. These awards celebrate the diligence, courage and extraordinary character of these recipients, all of whom were nominated by prosecutors in this office. During this unprecedented time of global pandemic, our award ceremony will not be held in person this year. I regret that I cannot express my gratitude to these deserving honorees directly but I am giving them a virtual standing ovation. Some of the recipients honored for Cases of the Year include U.S. Border Patrol agents who were confronted by an armed assailant on November 26, 2018. According to court records, Hector Rodriguez-Chavez pointed a loaded gun at one of the agents, and in a split-second decision, the agent grabbed Chavez's weapon and wrestled it out of his hands. Another agent, Patrick Powers, assisted by deploying his taser, and the agents were able to arrest Rodriguez-Chavez. FBI agents, including Brian Loveland, were assigned the investigation. Hector Rodriguez-Chavez pleaded guilty in September 2019 and was sentenced in February 2020 in federal court to 141 months in prison. The nomination said: The agents quick, disciplined action at a critical moment avoided bloodshed and saved both their own and the defendant's lives. This was followed by a thorough investigation, which delivered a just result and reflected law enforcement at its professional best. The awards are presented to agents and officers who demonstrated creativity, initiative, and persistence to achieve justice in difficult cases, including major opioid and methamphetamine investigations, gun prosecutions, immigration fraud and even action on the high seas chasing drug traffickers. Each one of these award recipients has shown an exceptional dedication to the pursuit of justice for victims and to the safety of our community, and for that I am extremely proud and grateful, Brewer said. These are demanding and dangerous jobs that all too often go unappreciated. Agents and officers put their lives on the line because they want to make a difference. We need to give them support and sincere appreciation for their service and sacrifice. Exceptional Service awards were given to FBI Agent Bradlee Godshall for investigation of environmental crimes; Tom Eilers, Director, Imperial County Law Enforcement Coordination Center, for his years of leadership; and Bryan Chehock of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration for his work to address the opioid epidemic. Today also marks National Peace Officers Memorial Day, as well as the conclusion of National Police Week, which commemorate the courage and selflessness of law enforcement officers throughout our nation. Sadly, it is also a time to honor and pay tribute to the men and women who lost their lives in the line of duty last year and whose names were engraved this year on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial. It is particularly appropriate to honor our fallen heroes now, given the significant risks our brave first responders face during this pandemic. As of May 7, 2020, the Fraternal Order of Police reports that 92 law enforcement officers have died from the Coronavirus nationwide. For a list of award recipients, please see the table below. Jaipur, May 19 : Women prisoners belonging to different age groups at a Jaipur jail are contributing to the battle against Covid-19 by making thousands of face masks, either with sewing machines or by using needle and thread. They say they want to change the society's perception about them, as they don't want to be recognised just as criminals, but as warriors in this war against the unseen enemy, jail officials said. In Jaipur, these women prisoners have made around 70,000 masks which are said to be of the highest quality. As these women are experts in stitching, the masks made by them are earning praises from different departments, said Monica Agrawal, SP, Jaipur Mahila Jail. As the news of these women prisoners' work spread, others jails have also started following suit, Agarwal said. The masks made by these women are sent to 'Ashayen', the jail shop, from where the IB, CBI, PHQ, RAC and many NGOs are buying them. "We get cloth from the power loom of the Central Jail. We purchase materials from them and have the best hands to stitch the masks. We can say with pride that our quality is the best," Agarwal added. A single mask costs Rs 8 and this amount is being sent to our accounts department, she said, adding that these women prisoners have helped the department earn credentials, name and fame. "There is huge demand for these masks among many government institutes, she said. Agarwal said the women prisoners were disappointed for being branded just as "criminals" and hence they are more than happy to serve in this noble task of making face masks. She said the prisoners feel that they have finally got an opportunity to shred their criminal tag and serve the society in a meaningful purpose. "We have got a chance to change people's mindsets. We want to wash away our sins and hence we are making masks," Agarwal quoted the prisoners as saying. Besides Jaipur, prisoners at the Udaipur Mahila Jail have also made around 4,000 masks, said Udaipur's Deputy Jailor, Beena Meena. According to her, "There are around 42 women in the Mahila Bandi Sudhar Grah, who have been working through the day to get the masks ready so that they can help people in their fight against Covid-19. Sometimes, they work till midnight to finish preparing their quota of face masks." Many of these inmates are old and don't have very good eyesight. Yet, they are pitching in to do their bit in these testing times. PARIS -- Youths clashed with police into the early hours of Monday in a Paris suburb after the death of a young man in a motorcycle accident, which some in the community blamed on the police, Le Parisien newspaper and residents reported. The trouble in Argenteuil, a suburb on the northern outskirts of Paris, marks the latest outbreak of disorder as Frances strict lockdown rules to tackle the novel coronavirus have increased social tensions. Videos posted on social media showed teams of CRS riot police moving into housing estates. Some youths let off fireworks, while bins had been set on fire and police tear gas swirled in the air. Associates of the deceased accident victim, identified as Sabri Choubi, 18, said his death was caused by a collision with a police car. Officials at the Paris police department did not immediately respond to a request for a comment. Clashes broke out in various council housing estates around Paris last month. Frances banlieues - high-rise, low-income neighborhoods that encircle many of its cities - are frequently flashpoints of anger over social and economic inequality and allegations of heavy-handed policing. RICHMOND, Va., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Phlow, a U.S.-based, public benefit drug manufacturing corporation, has received federal government funding of $354 million for advanced manufacturing of America's most essential medicines at risk of shortage, including medicines for the COVID-19 pandemic response. This project has been funded with federal funds from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The total contract value awarded to Phlow is up to $812 million which includes a four-year base award of $354 million with an additional $458 million included as potential options for long-term sustainability. With its strategic partners, Civica Rx, Virginia Commonwealth University's Medicines for All Institute, and AMPAC Fine Chemicals, Phlow has initiated manufacturing chemical precursor ingredients, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and finished dosage forms for over a dozen essential medicines to treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19-related illnesses. Many of these medicines are in shortage and have previously been imported from foreign nations. The partnership with HHS/ASPR/BARDA immediately enabled Phlow, with the help of its partners, to deliver over 1.6 million doses of five essential generic medicines used to treat COVID-19 patients to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), including medicines used for sedation to help patients requiring ventilator support, medicines for pain management, and certain essential antibiotics. Phlow is also building the United States' first Strategic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients Reserve (SAPIR), a long-term, national stockpile to secure key ingredients used to manufacture the most essential medicines on U.S. soil, reducing America's dependency on foreign nations to support its drug supply chain. "BARDA has long focused on expanding pharmaceutical manufacturing infrastructure in the United States, not only to develop and produce vaccines, but also for essential medicines, and their key ingredients used to make these drugs," said BARDA Acting Director, Dr. Gary Disbrow. "Collaborating with Phlow and its partners is an important step in expanding our manufacturing of strategic APIs and critical medicines at-risk of shortage." "Years from now, historians will see this innovative project as a defining moment and inflection point for protecting American familiesand our countryfrom current and future public health threats," said Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy. "For far too long, we've relied on foreign manufacturing and supply chains for our most important medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients while placing America's health, safety, and national security at grave risk. We are now moving swiftly in Trump time to forge an American solution, one that leads with American ingenuity, American workers, and American factories all dedicated to ending our drug shortages and expanding drug manufacturing infrastructure for a healthy and secure future." The threat of pandemics like COVID-19 has exposed the United States' heavy reliance on foreign pharmaceutical supply chains. Over 80 percent of APIs and chemical ingredients used in the U.S. to manufacture generics and over-the-counter drugs are produced abroad, the majority coming from China and India. "In the midst of this pandemic, America needs a reliable source of high quality, domestically manufactured, affordable pharmaceuticals and their key ingredients," said Eric Edwards, MD, PhD, co-founder, president and CEO, Phlow. "This advanced manufacturing capability will significantly fortify our nation's pharmaceutical supply chain for critical medicines, including many required to treat patients hospitalized with COVID-19." Over the past twenty years, due to economic and regulatory factors among others, manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients and essential generic medicines in the U.S. sharply declined. This collaboration with United States Government provides security and sustainability to the nation's drug supply chain, enabling the U.S. to create a solution to combat the nation's chronic issue with generic drug shortages. Led by Dr. Frank Gupton at the Medicines for All Institute, based at Virginia Commonwealth University College of Engineering, the team will use "flow" chemistry and other continuous advanced manufacturing processes to help manufacture its API. This technology has not been widely adopted in the generic pharmaceutical industry but when used, it can increase the quality, safety, and volume of medicines, yielding lower costs for Americans. "We believe this work can revolutionize America's generic drug manufacturing model by enabling Phlow to produce affordable ingredients used to manufacture essential medicines in the U.S.," said Dr. Gupton, co-founder of Phlow, chair of Virginia Commonwealth University's (VCU) Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering and CEO of the Medicines for All Institute. "As a strategic partner, VCU and the Medicines for All Institute will be able to develop and commercialize innovative chemical process technologies for Phlow to enable domestic end-to-end drug manufacturing with the ultimate goal of providing affordable, high-quality, and U.S. manufactured medicines to patients." Civica Rx, the nation's leading non-profit pharmaceutical company, was formed to combat drug shortages and price spikes in hospitals. This contract enables Civica to manufacture the finished dosage product on the same site as Phlow's precursor and API production and work with Civica's network of more than 1200 hospitals, consisting of over 30% of licensed hospital beds in the U.S., to make these medicines immediately available to doctors and patients who need them. "This partnership fits perfectly with Civica's mission to make essential generic medications accessible and affordable," said Martin VanTrieste, president and CEO of Civica Rx. "We thank Phlow, VCU and AMPAC for their collaboration and commitment to serving patients, and we thank the federal government for partnering with us to bring urgently needed advanced manufacturing capabilities for the production of essential generic drugs to the United States." In order to begin rapidly producing medicines for patients in need, Phlow partnered with AMPAC Fine Chemicals, a leader in commercializing continuous processes, and a custom manufacturer of API and precursor chemical ingredients based in the U.S. Phlow is working with AFC to produce ingredients used in the manufacturing of essential medicines, and is working to build an advanced manufacturing capability in Virginia and Sterile Injectables Manufacturing Facilities. About Phlow Phlow Corporation ("Phlow") is a public benefit pharmaceutical manufacturing company dedicated to providing high-quality, low-cost pharmaceuticals through state-of-the-art, U.S. based advanced manufacturing processes. The company will manufacture precursor chemical ingredients, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), and finished pharmaceutical products, domestically for essential medicines critical to the Nation's healthcare. To help ensure the quality, safety, and affordability of pharmaceutical products of strategic importance to the United States, Phlow utilizes advanced manufacturing platforms, including continuous manufacturing, to provide essential medicines to its customers, health systems, and government partners. About Civica Rx Civica Rx was established in 2018 by health systems (CommonSpirit Health, HCA Healthcare, Intermountain Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, Providence St. Joseph Health, SSM Health, and Trinity Health) and philanthropies (Gary and Mary West Foundation, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, and Peterson Center on Healthcare), in partnership with the Veteran's Administration, to reduce chronic generic drug shortages and related high prices in the United States. It exists in the public interest as a non-profit, non-stock corporation committed to stabilizing the supply of essential generic medications. Today over 50 health systems are Civica members, representing more than 1200 hospitals with over 30% of the licensed hospital beds in the United States. In just over a year, Civica launched 20 sterile injectable medications and expects to launch another 20 medications this year, building toward 100 by 2023. Civica ensures it has dedicated manufacturing capacity for the medications that are most needed through redundant manufacturing and a strategic safety stock of medications. About AMPAC Fine Chemicals AMPAC Fine Chemicals (AFC) is a United States-based, custom manufacturer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs, Drug Substances) and registered intermediates. AFC solves problems through technology and innovation to reliably deliver quality products that save and improve lives. With over 75 years of experience, AFC has mastered challenging chemistries, enabling us to provide the highest quality services to our customers. Our fully cGMP compliant facilities located in California, Texas, and Virginia specialize in process development, scale-up, and production from kilograms to multi-ton quantities. AFC has expanded its capabilities to include contract analytical services. These services are conducted at AMPAC Analytical, located near our headquarters in California. About Virginia Commonwealth University and The Medicines for All Institute The Medicines for All Institute (M4ALL), based at Virginia Commonwealth University College of Engineering in Richmond, Virginia, is committed to improving global access to high-quality medications by driving down production costs. By re-imagining manufacturing processes, the institute's chemical engineers and chemists optimize active pharmaceutical ingredient production and provide open access to manufacturers around the world to enhance the security of medicine supply chains. The institute was founded in 2017 with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority known as BARDA is part of the office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. BARDA invests in the innovation, advanced research and development, acquisition, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products needed to combat health security threats and is playing a leading role in the COVID-19 response efforts. SOURCE Phlow Corp. Addressing a press conference on May 18, Hung said the 19-day session will be conducted in two phases. The first will be online meetings from May 20 to 29 with the participation of NA deputies nationwide. Lawmakers will gather in person for the second phase, from June 8 to 18. The NA is scheduled to pass ten draft laws and five draft resolutions and give opinions on six bills at the session. The legislature will also consider and decide upon important socio-economic and budgetary issues, including reports on COVID-19 prevention efforts, the impact of the pandemic on national socio-economic development, and solutions to deal with the disease and promote socio-economic development. NA deputies will also review the State budget statement in 2018, discuss increases to charter capital at the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) from State budget, and review the implementation of NA Resolution No. 88/2014/QH13 on reforming the curricula and textbooks for general education. They will consider and approve resolutions on the National Target Programme on Socio-economic Development in Mountainous and Ethnic Minority Areas in the 2021-2030 Period; the exemption of agricultural land use taxes; the piloting of an urban government model in Da Nang; and a number of specific finance-budget mechanisms and policies for Hanoi. A report on the conversion of investment modes for some sections of the North-South Expressway will be tabled for consideration. Regarding supervision, the NA will conduct a thematic supervision of the implementation of policies and laws on the prevention and fight against child abuse and vote to adopt a resolution on this issue and another one on the NAs supervision programme in 2021. The NA will also set up a national election council; consider and decide on personnel tasks; and consider and approve resolutions on other important issues, including those related to the adoption of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). According to Hung, the NA will not have a Q&A session at this plenary session. The right to question NA deputies can still be exercised by sending documents to ministers and members of the Government. By Azernews By Akbar Mammadov The capital of USs Arizona state, Phoenix, has declared May 28 "Azerbaijan National Day", Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles reported on May 19. According to the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, Mayor Kate Gallego signed a relevant statement on this issue. The statement sent to the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles emphasizes that the Azerbaijani people created the first secular and democratic republic in the Muslim world on May 28, 1918. Furthermore, the statement notes that after Azerbaijan regained its independence in 1991, the United States was one of the first countries to recognize the country and establish diplomatic relations with it. It is emphasized that after regaining its independence, Azerbaijan strengthened its sovereignty and independence, became one of the fastest-growing and most modern countries in the world, and today is the largest economy in the region and the largest trading partner of the United States in the South Caucasus, the consulate general said. The statement also noted that millions of Azerbaijanis around the world, including the United States and Phoenix, marking May 28 as Azerbaijan's National Day, commemorates the contributions of their ancestors to the spread of democracy in the surrounding regions, including Central Asia and the Middle East, and celebrates the significant achievements of the Republic of Azerbaijan as a free and independent state. At the end of the declaration, Mayor Kate Gayego declared May 28 in Phoenix "Azerbaijan National Day" and called on residents to celebrate this holiday and the success of Azerbaijan. It should be noted that with a population of 1.6 million, Phoenix is the fifth most populous city in the United States. Students eat their lunch on desks with plastic partitions as a preventive measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus at Dajia Elementary School in Taipei, Taiwan on April 29, 2020. Sam Yeh | AFP | Getty Images Several Asian economies appear to have contained the spread of the coronavirus within their borders, with the number of daily new cases slowing to a trickle in the last few weeks. That's a feat that few globally have achieved even as an increasing number of countries and territories started winding down containment measures to get their economies going again. Public health experts have warned governments against resting on their laurels because new outbreaks could resurface even after the virus appears to be contained as seen in China and South Korea. Still, some Asian economies such as Taiwan and Hong Kong have for many days over the past month reported no new infections, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Those economies arrived at that stage via different routes, but experts pointed out that their governments were generally quick to enact containment measures and appeared to have learned from their experience handling the SARS outbreak nearly 20 years ago. SARS, which stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome, first emerged in China in 2002 before affecting nearly 30 countries and territories, most of them in Asia, according to the World Health Organization. The coronavirus disease, which has been formally named Covid-19, was also first detected in China. Since its emergence last December, the virus has infected more than 4 million people across 188 countries and territories, according to Hopkins. Taiwan Population size: Roughly 24 million Covid-19 tally: 440 confirmed cases, 395 recoveries and seven deaths, according to Hopkins data as of May 17 Taiwan, a self-ruled island across a narrow strait from mainland China, is one economy that has avoided a large outbreak of the coronavirus disease. That's despite its extensive air links with the mainland and not having access to vital information from the WHO. A widely cited report published in March in the Journal of the American Medical Association attributed Taiwan's ability to contain its outbreak partly to its use of big data and technology. Specifically, the ways that Taiwan which China claims as its province uses technology include: Integrating its national health insurance and immigration and customs databases, which allowed authorities to identify potential cases based on their travel history and clinical symptoms; Requiring travelers to the island to complete an online health declaration form prior to their departure or upon arrival, so that they can be separated based on their risks of infection at immigration. Those effort came on top of the Taiwanese government's early decisions to close borders, ban exports of face masks and increase mask production domestically. Authorities encouraged the use of masks to reduce transmission months before many others, including the WHO, recommended the same. The effectiveness of those measures allowed Taiwan to avoid locking down its economy, with businesses largely operating as usual. Schools were closed for an extended winter break but reopened in late February with additional precautions in place. Hong Kong Population size: Around 7.5 million Covid-19 tally: 1,055 confirmed cases, 1,024 recoveries and four deaths, according to Hopkins data as of May 17 Hong Kong's government was relatively quick in tightening border controls, implementing strict quarantine, and introducing extensive social-distancing measures such as shutting government offices, closing schools and canceling large-scale events. Measures were tightened when the city a special administration region of China experienced a surge in cases in March due to residents who returned from overseas. Authorities expanded Hong Kong's testing capacity and closed gyms and restaurants but stopped short of a lockdown or stay-at-home order. Hong Kong has one of the highest testing rates in Asia. The 168,291 tests that it's estimated to have conducted translates to around 22,448 tests per 1 million people, according to statistics site Worldometer. But some experts said Hong Kong owes some of its success so far at containing its outbreak to its people who among other things started wearing protective masks early on even without any official directive to do so. "Researchers studying Hong Kong's approach have already found that swift surveillance, quarantine and social-distancing measures, such as the use of face masks and school closures, helped to cut coronavirus transmission," read an article published in scientific journal Nature. Earlier this month, the city started to reopen schools and other venues such as gyms, cinemas, and bars and pubs. The government also eased the limit on public gatherings from a group of four to eight. Vietnam Population size: More than 97 million Covid-19 tally: 320 confirmed cases, 260 recoveries and no deaths, according to Hopkins data as of May 17 As a frontier economy that shares a border with China, Vietnam has punched above its weight in the way it responded to the outbreak, experts said. The country was among the earliest to tighten border controls in January. The government also imposed large-scale quarantines, as well as closing schools and some businesses such as gyms and restaurants very early on. Burma Myanmar Police Make Asia's Biggest-Ever Drugs Bust in Shan State Weapons and ammunition, alongside bags of crystal methamphetamine and meth-laced yaba pills seized by the Myanmar police and military, are seen in this undated photo near Loikan Village in Shan State, between February and April 2020 in what the UN Office on Drugs and Crime described as Asia's biggest-ever drug bust. / Myanmar Police / UNODC / REUTERS JAKARTAMyanmar police say they have seized a huge haul of liquid fentanyl, the first time one of the dangerous synthetic opioids that have ravaged North America has been found in Asias Golden Triangle drug-producing region. In a signal that Asias drug syndicates have moved into the lucrative opioid market, Reuters can reveal that more than 3,700 liters of methylfentanyl was discovered by anti-narcotics police near Loikan Village in Shan State in northeast Myanmar. The seizure of the fentanyl derivative was part of Asias biggest-ever interception of illicit drugs, precursors and drug-making equipment, including 193 million methamphetamine tablets known as yaba. At 17.5 tonnes, the yaba almost equaled the amount seized in the previous two years in Myanmar. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said the scale of the bust was unprecedented and Myanmars anti-drug authorities had dismantled a significant network during a two-month operation involving police and military. Also seized were almost 163,000 liters and 35.5 tonnes of drug precursors, as well as weapons. There were more than 130 arrests. Even so, the methylfentanyl discovery was an ominous indicator for the regions illicit drug market, the UN agency and a Western official based in Myanmar told Reuters. It could be a game-changer because fentanyl is so potent that its widespread use would cause a major health concern for Myanmar and the region, said the Western official, who declined to be identified. In an interview with Reuters, the head of law enforcement for Myanmars counter-narcotics agency, Colonel Zaw Lin, said the methylfentanyl had been verified using state-of-the-art equipment. The seizure showed the methods of the drug syndicates were changing, he said. Fentanyl and its derivatives have caused more than 130,000 overdose deaths in the US and Canada in the past five years, according to government agencies. The opioid epidemic has not swept Asia, Europe or Australasia but there have been signs it is an emerging threat. We have repeatedly warned the region fentanyl could become a problem but this is off the charts, said the UNODCs Southeast Asia and the Pacific representative Jeremy Douglas. It is the shift in the market we have been anticipating, and fearing. Deadly mix While Myanmar police did not disclose the purity and exact make-up of the methylfentanyl found, it comes in two main variants, both more potent than fentanyl, according to the European Unions drug monitoring agency. Fentanyl itself is 25 to 50 times stronger than heroin. Increasingly, drug traffickers have been mixing fentanyl and its derivatives with heroin, meth and cocaine, adding to their potency and lethality. Half of all heroin and cocaine overdoses in the US included substances with traces of synthetic opioids in 2017, a Rand Corporation analysis found. A Canadian survey found 73 percent of those who tested positive for fentanyl did not know they had consumed it. Col. Zaw Lin said the methylfentanyl and other drugs and precursors were found in clearings near Loikan Village where several drug factories were located but had been abandoned when the raids took place. Upon interrogation, the offenders revealed most of the drugs would be distributed inside Myanmar and distributed around neighboring countries, he said. But we are still conducting interrogations. We havent totally got the final destinations yet. Liquid fentanyl is usually converted into powder before being sold, often in tablet form, two analysts, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters. Cheap to make, easy to traffic As well as being easier and cheaper to produce than heroin, strong synthetic opioids like fentanyl can be readily concealed and transported as only small amounts can deliver thousands of doses. At a time when the coronavirus pandemic has closed borders and curbed movements in many countries, the UNODC is concerned that fentanyl will still spread around the world. For decades, Asian crime syndicates in partnership with ethnic minority militias have used the Golden Trianglecentered on northern Myanmar and including parts of Laos and Thailandto grow opium and refine heroin. More recently, meth production by groups such as the Sam Gor syndicate has exploded in the region, in part due to a crackdown in neighboring China. Col. Zaw Lin said the methylfentanyl had come from a neighboring country but declined to identify it. Myanmar police documents reviewed by Reuters said most of the seized drugs, precursors and equipment had come from China. China, along with Mexico, has been a major supplier of fentanyl to North America but escalating law enforcement efforts have brought a slump in Chinese exports of the synthetic opioid to the US, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Mexican cartels have picked up the slack but the UNODC said recent difficulties obtaining precursors from China had crimped their fentanyl production. Northern Myanmars proximity to China makes it an attractive alternative for Asian drug syndicates looking to produce fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, analysts said. The alliances between Myanmars ethnic militias and transnational crime groups must be broken or the synthetic drug problem will continue to deteriorate, said the UNODCs Douglas. Col. Zaw Lin said Myanmar was stepping up efforts to disrupt the syndicates and was increasing cooperation with other nations. Myanmar is carrying out counter-drug operations as one of our top national priorities, he said. You may also like these stories: Mon Community Leaders Building Drug-Treatment Center for Youth The new proposal, announced by Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, would mean British holidaymakers would be able to travel to foreign resorts and return to the UK without entering quarantine - PA Holidaymakers could be able to travel abroad this summer after the Government announced plans to create "air bridges" with other nations. The proposal, announced by Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, would mean that holidaymakers would be able to travel to foreign resorts and return to Britain without entering quarantine. The Government is expected to announce a 14-day quarantine period for international arrivals this week. Anyone who breaches the quarantine faces fines of between 1,000 and 10,000. It was feared that the plan would end any realistic hopes of foreign travel this summer, given that any holiday would be followed by two weeks in isolation. But on Monday night Mr Shapps said the plans would be reviewed every three weeks and exemptions with countries with similar levels of the virus could be introduced. That raises the prospect of agreements with Spain, France, Italy and Germany. A passenger from the first Lufthansa flight to Greece following a nationwide lockdown is testing for coronavirus - Reuters "It is the case we should consider further improvements for example things like 'air bridges', enabling people from other countries who have themselves achieved lower levels of coronavirus infection, to come to the country," he said. Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer, told the Downing Street press conference the UK was "driving down our case rate to the point where we are becoming an area of low incidence of Covid-19". He added: "Then it becomes more sensible to think about what the contribution of travellers from abroad might be." Ministers are considering potentially unlimited fines for persistent offenders, The Telegraph understands. Sources suggested the fines would be "significantly higher" than 1,000 and could reach "five figures". "We want to send a very clear signal to discourage people from breaching the quarantine," said a senior Whitehall source. Magistrates would have powers, in exceptional circumstances, to levy unlimited fines if there were persistent breaches or a refusal to pay. Story continues Only visitors from the common travel areas including Ireland, Guernsey and Jersey will be exempt, along with a "very limited" group of up to 30 professions or jobs, under the policy to be announced this week. The bulk of exemptions will be 12,000 freight drivers a day bringing in food, medicines and vital supplies. Others will be in specialist jobs protecting national security or critical infrastructure or required to meet international obligations. These include diplomats, defence personnel, specialist engineers, some police and border officers, some Eurostar staff and North Sea oil rig workers. The regulations will be enforced by Border Force officers, with some support inland from the police. Thousands of furloughed immigration enforcement officers could also be deployed. Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, on Monday suggested that ministers will rely heavily on individuals policing themselves alongside the enforcement. However, the quarantine plans have been described as "idiotic" and "unimplementable" by Michael OLeary, Ryanair's chief executive. "You dont have enough police in the UK to implement a two-week lockdown," Mr O'Leary said. Lucy Moreton, a professional officer for ISU, the immigration and borders union, said: "Britain is not an ID card country. We cannot challenge people who are walking about. "You could post the fine to them but, if they have gone back to the United States, there is no means to recover the fines." He has derogatory comments for anyone who does not agree with him. How can Vice President Mike Pence, a religious person, stand there day after day and honestly believe that Trump is a decent human being? Trump is a poor excuse for a man, yet alone for the President. He is destroying our democracy and alienating us from the rest of the world. He was going to drain the swamp, but now the swamp is overflowing. The world used to look for us for answers, now they are laughing at this country. If you are religious, you should be asking the heavens for help, to protect our country, the destruction Trump is causing. The worst is about to get worse. In Texas, where 5 million people already go without health insurance, nearly 1.2 million more are projected to join their ranks far more than any other state. That's the estimated collateral damage from the coronavirus recession, assuming the national unemployment rate hits 20%, according to a recent Urban Institute report. Some believe the real jobless number for April may already be that high. In that scenario, 25 million adults and children in the U.S. are expected to lose employer-sponsored health insurance. The vast majority 7 in 10 nationwide will get coverage elsewhere, the study estimated. MICHAEL JORDAN MANIA: Hilarious memes celebrate final hours of 'The Last Dance' doc But in Texas, just 1 in 2 are projected to be covered, which would be the lowest share among the states. The surge in uninsured arrives while COVID-19 is still raging and states are struggling to restart their economies safely. Laid-off workers who lose health insurance generally have a 60-day window to sign up for replacement coverage, usually through their company plan or the federal health exchange. It's a complicated decision that can be expensive, and unemployed Texans have a weak record of enrolling in such backup plans. That's why the report projects such a low take-up in the state. Losing insurance will greatly compound the health and financial challenges for people, hospitals, doctors and the broader economy. On HoustonChronicle.com: Texas reports massive surge in COVID-19 cases in single day "It's devastating for the families that won't be able to get the care they need," said Vivian Ho, a Rice University economist who specializes in health issues. "Many are gonna try to tough it out on their own, and they could get really ill." It's also devastating for health providers, she said. Their patient volumes have declined sharply amid coronavirus fears, and they've had to ramp up spending on supplies and preparation for COVID-19 cases. "Providers are already running in the red," Ho said. "This is gonna turn it blood red." Even before the pandemic, hospitals were struggling with a large number of uninsured and underinsured patients in the state, said John Hawkins, senior vice president for the Texas Hospital Association. Facilities in Texas provide billions in uncompensated care, and he said the costs are generally passed on to commercial customers and taxpayers in hospital districts. Adding more uninsured now will amplify the strain. "It's huge," Hawkins said. "It has a fiscal impact and a quality-of-life impact." Every state will see an increase in uninsured, the study shows. But Texas stands apart in both the total number to be added and the share of workers projected to end up without coverage. Why so bad? It's no coincidence. For years, Texas' statewide elected leaders have rejected efforts to improve access to care. They turned down Medicaid expansion time and again, and resisted programs to help people enroll in the federal marketplace. Texas is leading the legal challenge to overthrow the Affordable Care Act, a case headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Thirty-six other states, including some led by Republican governors and legislatures, have expanded Medicaid, a key plank of the ACA. The federal government pays 90% of those costs, and expanding Medicaid would cover nearly 1.6 million working poor in Texas that was the figure before the pandemic led to millions of layoffs and furloughs. In Texas' existing Medicaid program, the state sets the lowest income threshold in the country. If a single mom with two kids earns more than $3,800 a year or $317 a month she makes too much to get Medicaid coverage in Texas, said one expert. "We have the stingiest eligibility in the country," said Stacey Pogue, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin. The income cap in Texas is 17% of the federal poverty level for a family of three, which is lower than in Alabama and Mississippi, said the Kaiser Family Foundation. The average income cutoff for the U.S. is 138% of poverty level, which is generally the level in states that expanded Medicaid. In those states, over half of the people losing employer insurance will get Medicaid coverage. "This is the purpose of the Medicaid program, to provide a safety net to people in financial distress," wrote Bowen Garrett and Anuj Gangopadhyaya of the Urban Institute's Health Policy Center. Texas lags in another metric: Just 23% of those eligible for a marketplace plan enrolled in an ACA option. That's lower than in the U.S. (32%) and far lower than in Florida (47%) even though Florida has a Republican governor and hasn't expanded Medicaid, either. "In Texas, maybe there's less of a culture of coverage," said Katherine Hempstead, a senior policy adviser at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which helped support the Urban Institute report. That could be related to the type of households, family income, immigration status and other factors. All that's in addition to public policies from lawmakers, along with ideology and politics. She believes the dynamic could change, perhaps with the new wave of workers who lose health plans during the pandemic. They're accustomed to having coverage and may prioritize it more highly than the uninsured in the past. They could pressure elected leaders to expand Medicaid and push for other ways to help residents navigate the marketplace. Such efforts are underway in other states. "Sometimes a catastrophe can reshape what's considered normal and who's considered to be deserving," Hempstead said. "This experience could normalize other kinds of health coverage. There's so much financial strain right now, and Texas is passing on a huge source of federal money." For years, Texas hospitals have fallen short in pushing for Medicaid expansion, which could be worth $100 billion in federal funding over a decade. The picture has changed, Hawkins said, because of the coronavirus and the energy bust. "These are extraordinary times," he said, "and if there's a federal tool we can use, we ought to figure out how to access it." ___ (c)2020 The Dallas Morning News Visit The Dallas Morning News at www.dallasnews.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. SHELTON Seven more city residents six residents of nursing homes, another a male in his 40s have died with coronavirus-related complications, according to health district data released Monday. In Naugatuck Valley Health District data released Monday, Covid-19-related cases in Shelton reached 478. The citys laboratory-confirmed Covid-19-related deaths now stand at 101, with probable cases at 24. We extend our sincere condolences to the families of the individuals who have lost their loved ones due to Covid-19 complications, said NVHD Health Director Jessica Stelmaszek, adding that while Mondays report includes a high number of deaths, these occurred between April 24 and May 15. The increase in the citys death toll comes two days before Gov. Ned Lamont's projected phase 1 reopening on May 20. While outdoor restaurants are the hallmark of the phase 1 plan, some other services will also be open for business. NVHD officials continue to urge residents to stay home as much as possible and continue to practice physical social distancing by keeping at least 6 feet between you and others if you must go out for essential errands. To minimize the amount of people who can potentially be exposed, designate one person per household as the person who will do the grocery shopping or other essential errands. If you must go out in public, please wear a cloth face covering. Per Lamonts executive order, any person in a public place who is unable to or does not maintain a safe social distance should cover their mouth and nose with a mask or cloth face-covering. In addition, individuals must use a mask or cloth face covering when using the services of any taxi, hired car, livery, ride-sharing or similar service or means of mass public transit, or while within any semi-enclosed transit stop or waiting area. Overall, as of Monday, there are 1,422 laboratory-confirmed positive cases in the Valley, with by far the most in Shelton. There were 332 in Naugatuck, 230 in Ansonia, 202 in Seymour, 138 in Derby and 42 in Beacon Falls. Data shows that 408, or 29 percent, of the 1,422 confirmed cases among Valley residents are individuals who currently reside in a nursing home, assisted living facility, group home or similar setting. Overall, 206 of Sheltons 478 confirmed Covid-19 cases are residents of nursing or assisting living facilities. According to NVHDs Monday data, 148, or 36 percent, of the 408 individuals have died due to Covid-19 complications are residents of nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Statewide, positive cases stand at 38,116 14,436 of which sit in Fairfield County with 3,449 deaths from Covid-19-related complications. Hospitalizations dropped 17 to 920. For public health surveillance, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated deaths are defined as patients who tested positive for Covid-19 around the time of death, said Stelmaszek, adding that this is not a determination of the cause of death. Of the Valley laboratory-confirmed Covid-19-related deaths, 112 were people 80 and older, 37 were between 70 and 79, 12 were between 60 and 69 years of age, one was between 50 and 59, and two was between 40 and 49. Positive cases cover a wide range of ages, with Valley data showing that 285 people are 80 and older; 141 are between 70 and 79; 210 are between 60 and 69; 222 are between 50 and 59; 207 are between 40 and 49; 190 are between 30 and 39; 138 are between 20 and 29; 23 between 10 and 19 years of age; and six between ages 0 and 9. The state Department of Public Health now publishes a report at ct.gov/coronavirus that breaks down positive Covid-19 cases by town. brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com US securities filings show that only four of 12 listed oil and gas companies that received emergency government aid made available for small businesses said they would return it ahead of a deadline for firms that do not need the funds to do so. The US Treasury Department offered amnesty to public companies that return money they borrowed by May 18, saying it would deem they made the application in good faith due to economic uncertainty fueled by the coronavirus outbreak, before guidelines were clarified. The US energy sector has been clamoring for government aid in the wake of plummeting oil prices that have driven several debt-laden exploration and production companies into bankruptcy. While President Donald Trump said last month his administration would formulate a plan to help the oil and gas industry, no specific aid has been announced. This has left energy companies to seek relief under the broader $2.3 trillion US stimulus package. One aspect of the latter that has been used by oil and gas firms is the so-called Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses, which provides loans that can be forgiven to cover payroll expenses, as well as mortgage interest, rent and utility costs. Denver-based exploration and production company PDC Energy Inc, which has a market capitalization of $1.3 billion, said on May 8 it had returned its $10 million PPP loan. Natural Gas Services Group also returned its $4.6 million PPP loan. Its chief executive, Stephen Taylor, said the Midland, Texas-based compression equipment provider had to cut 20% of its workforce after it returned the funds. Public companies and their employees were being "discriminated against" by a "politically driven process," Taylor told analysts during the company's May 7 earnings call. Dawson Geophysical Co returned its $6.4 million PPP loan last week, the company said in a May 14 filing. Midland-based Dawson, which produces seismic data for oil and gas firms, cited "an abundance of caution" and new guidance for the decision. Calumet Specialty Products, an Indianapolis-based refiner that received $31.4 million through five PPP applications, said Tuesday it repaid its loans by the deadline, also due to the "subsequently-changed guidance." Among those receiving loans, but which had not disclosed whether they would return the funds as of Monday, were exploration firms Amplify Energy Corp and Battalion Oil Corp, which received $5.5 million and $2.2 million respectively. Houston-based onshore driller Independence Contract Drilling got a $10 million PPP loan. The quartet, along with the other five listed oil and gas firms that received PPP loans, did not respond to requests for comment. Energy companies have also benefited from emergency tax reform enacted due to the pandemic. More than $2 billion of benefits were recorded by a combined 43 companies due to two changes in the tax code, including one allowing current losses to be offset against past income tax bills, a Reuters review of first-quarter earnings statements found. Microsoft HoloLens 2 was announced back at MWC 2019. It is priced at $3500 (Rs 265000 approx. directly converted) HoloLens is the company's pair of mixed reality smart glasses. Microsoft HoloLens is a device that can deliver a true mixed reality experience, bringing in objects from the virtual world into ours to create a unique experience. We at Digit have experienced a number of immersive demos using the Microsoft HoloLens. From exploring key landmarks around the world while sitting in a conference room to watching a video game world come to life in front of us on a simple table, the experiences are breathtaking. However, the HoloLens is an expensive headset, and thus it has found space for itself in industrial applications. The HoloLens 2 is currently available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Japan, the U.K., and the United States. Microsoft has announced that the HoloLens 2 will be available in the fall of 2020 in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. According to Microsoft, HoloLens 2, a self-contained holographic computer, offers the most comfortable and immersive mixed-reality experience available, enhanced by the reliability, security, and scalability of the cloud and artificial intelligence services from Microsoft. When compared to the first generation headset, immersion has improved in the new HoloLens 2. The company has more than doubled the field of view while retaining the industry-standard 47 pixels per degree of sight. The device consists of a new display thats more technically sophisticated but draws less power. Underpinning the device is a new time-of-flight sensor, inbuilt AI and semantic understanding logic, and eye-tracking sensors. HoloLens 2 enables direct manipulation of holograms with real-life instinctual interactions. Log-ins happen with the help of Windows Hello integration. According to Microsoft, comfort levels have also improved thanks to the use of light carbon-fibre material and a new mechanism for wearing it without readjusting the device. A new dial-in fit system makes the device more comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The American software corporation believes that HoloLens 2 becomes more capable when combined with existing and new Azure services. Its also supplemented by Microsofts mixed reality applications like Dynamics 365, Remote Assist, Dynamics 365 Layout, and the new Dynamics 365 Guides applications. You can read more about the HoloLens 2 here. Advertisement Travellers have moved onto a picturesque nature reserve in West London, sparking heated opposition from residents. Eight caravans and motorised homes, plus an assortment of other vehicles have been illegally camped out on Ham Lands nature reserve in Ham, south west London for the past week. Locals living close to the beauty spot, at the heart of the 'best village in London', say they have been told by Richmond upon Thames council that the new arrivals cannot be removed due to the coronavirus pandemic. They were told that the government had asked councils to allow travellers to stay on council-owned land, to enable them to access vital healthcare during lockdown - provided that they adhere to the law. Residents in the Ham community were told the travellers would be allowed to remain on site for at least three months. The picturesque area is home to several species of birds and insects and adjoins the River Thames, while celebrities including Tom Hardy, Amanda Holden and Lady Annabel Goldsmith live just a mile away in Ham Common. Pete Townshend of The Who and Sir David Attenborough also live in the exclusive nearby district. The area is popular with dog walkers, horse owners, nature lovers and families who are now angry and claim it has become an eye sore and a hive of anti-social activity. Group of travellers have set up caravans and tents on a site in Ham, Richmond, a picturesque nature reserve in south west London Government measures to prevent spread of Covid-19 mean that the travellers will be allowed to remain at the site in Ham Lands, Ham in west London for at least three months Locals claim the tranquillity of the nature reserve has been shattered by people riding across it in quad bikes, cars and vans. After complaining to the council, they were told that there was nothing that it could do because of new coronavirus guidelines which prevent them from evicting travellers to stop the virus from spreading. Residents including Christian Ward (pictured) raised the issue with Richmond Council The council said in a statement: 'Under the new Government Covid19 guidance, councils are being asked to allow traveller sites to stay on council-owned land, to enable them to access vital healthcare during lockdown - provided that they adhere to the law.' Christian Ward, 42, who was at Ham Lands with his two children, Willoughby, 3 and Marlow, 5, told MailOnline: 'People come here to enjoy this beautiful space but now it's been ruined. 'There's all kinds of mess that has been created and vehicles are being driven across it at high speed. What the council are saying does not make sense, they are just trying to wash their hands of the problem. 'Just because there's a coronavirus pandemic underway does not mean that the law should not be upheld.' Mr Ward, a sports teacher at a local school added: 'I don't understand the lifestyle of these travellers because they cause a lot of problems. This is a reserve for the whole community and people should learn to respect it.' Nigel Summers, 58 said locals were dubious about offers from travellers of carrying out work such as guttering, paving and cutting down trees as there had been claims of over charging and shoddy work. He added: 'These travellers did not come at the start of the lockdown so why are they being protected by coronavirus guidelines saying that they can access local health services and can't be moved? 'It's not right that they will be allowed to remain here and ruin our lives' A park security official who visits the traveller camp each day and only wanted to give her first name of Maria told MailOnline: 'We won't be able to move them for at least another three months because of coronavirus. 'We've had problems of people riding quad bikes and a number of thefts have been reported. This is an affluent, middle class area and the locals are not happy about it but legally, our hands are tied. There's really not much we can do apart from ask the travellers to behave themselves.' Richmond-upon-Thames council also claimed that the 'unauthorised traveller camp' would be allowed to remain provided those living in it do not 'burn rubbish, drive on footpaths or go to the toilet in the open.' The council adds: 'They must also not damage the site and abuse, intimidate or harass anyone or participate in any form of antisocial behaviour.' Eyewitnesses said that an angle grinder was used to cut through a gate while concrete bollards were also knocked over allowing the traveller convoy to take over the nature reserve. One local resident who contacted MailOnine but did not want to be named said: 'These travellers have done all of this and they also broke into the nature reserve by breaking through a gate. Richmond council told residents that, under government rules, councils must allow travellers to remain on council-owned sites so they can access vital healthcare amid the pandemic Eight caravans and motorised homes, plus an assortment of other vehicles have been illegally camped out on Ham Lands nature reserve in Ham, south west London for the past week 'They have already breached the coronavirus guidelines on illegal traveller camps by carrying out illegal behaviour and should not be allowed to remain. The whole thing is a disgrace.' A resident of the traveller camp, who did not want to be named, told MailOnline that they had not carried out any anti-social or illegal behaviour. He said: 'We come here every year, spend a few months, look for work in the local area and then leave. It's a beautiful spot and we're no trouble at all. The locals don't like us, they're a stuck-up bunch who don't like travellers.' When asked how they managed to enter Ham Lands with their vehicles he said he did not want to speak any further. Richmond-upon-Thames councillor Martin Elengorn, Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee, said in a statement: 'We know that residents do not like seeing unauthorised camps in our parks and open spaces, particularly when many of us are using these spaces a lot more since the lock down. Neither do we. But our hands are tied. Locals claim the tranquillity of the nature reserve has been shattered by people riding across it in quad bikes, cars and vans A resident of the traveller camp, who did not want to be named, told MailOnline that they had not carried out any anti-social or illegal behaviour Richmond-upon-Thames council also claimed that the 'unauthorised traveller camp' would be allowed to remain provided those living in it do not 'burn rubbish, drive on footpaths or go to the toilet in the open' 'Under the new national rules, we cannot use our usual powers to evict travelling families from unauthorised encampments and the Government has asked councils to allow those families to stay while the crisis continues. With some vulnerable people among their number, this will allow them to access healthcare and reduce the potential spread of the virus. 'Our Park Guard security team and the Police are currently working with the travellers to ensure that they do not behave illegally whilst staying in the borough. Residents who are concerned about illegal behaviour are able to make reports to the police by calling 111.' A statement from Richmond Council said: 'Normally, the Council retains the power to work with the Police to ensure travellers move on. However, under the new Government Covid-19 guidance, councils are being asked to allow traveller sites to stay on council-owned land, to enable them to access vital healthcare during lockdown - provided that they adhere to the law. Witnesses claimed that an angle grinder was used to cut through a gate while concrete bollards were also knocked over allowing the traveller convoy to take over the nature reserve The council confirmed they would be monitoring the ongoing situation and may consider moving the travellers on if they break the rules 'Under Government rules, and during the lockdown, unauthorised traveller camps will be allowed provided they do not burn rubbish, drive on footpaths or go to the toilet in the open. 'They must also not damage the site and abuse, intimidate or harass anyone or participate in any form of antisocial behaviour.' The council further confirmed they would be monitoring the ongoing situation and may consider moving the travellers on if they break the rules. They added: 'The Council understands that residents are concerned about the presence of the unauthorised camp on Riverside Drive in Ham. 'However, the authority is currently not legally able to move them on, although we are monitoring the situation closely in order to be in a position to defend any decision to move them on.' Councillor Martin Elengorn, Chair of Richmond Council's Environment and Sustainability Committee, added: 'We know that residents do not like seeing unauthorised camps in our parks and open spaces, particularly when many of us are using these spaces a lot more since the lock down. Neither do we. But our hands are tied. 'Under the new national rules we cannot use our usual powers to evict travelling families from unauthorised encampments and the Government has asked councils to allow those families to stay while the crisis continues. 'With some vulnerable people among their number, this will allow them to access healthcare and reduce the potential spread of the virus. 'Our Park Guard security team and the Police are currently working with the travellers to ensure that they do not behave illegally whilst staying in the borough. Residents who are concerned about illegal behaviour are able to make reports to the police by calling 111.' [May 19, 2020] Gensource Announces Addition of Societe Generale as Joint Mandated Lead Arranger for Senior Debt Financing of the Tugaske Project Gensource Potash Corporation ("Gensource" or the "Company") (TSX-V: GSP), a Saskatoon-based fertilizer development company focused on sustainable potash production, announces today that it, together with mandated lead arranger and coordinating bank KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH ("KfW IPEX-Bank"), welcomes Societe Generale to the bank consortium. Societe Generale has been appointed as joint lead arranger alongside KfW IPEX-Bank for the senior debt facility ("Debt Facility" or "Facility") for the Tugaske Project ("Tugaske" or "Project") finance package. Gensource is very pleased to formally add Societe Generale to the Facility team. Societe Generale is a French multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Paris, France. KfW IPEX-Bank was mandated as lead arranger and coordinator in October 2019 (see Gensource news release dated 18 Oct 2019) to structure the Debt Facility and manage the syndication. KfW IPEX-Bank is a leading specialist financier of international structured project and export finance, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. It is an affiliate of German bank KfW Bankengruppe. Mike Ferguson, President & CEO of Gensource, commented "We are extremely pleased that Societe Generale wanted to be part of the Tugaske opportunity and we are thrilled to add them as a joint mandated lead arranger with KfW IPEX-Bank. These two lenders are major players in the greenfield project finance in mining and agriculture sectors and have demonstrated success in financing fertilizer projects all over the world. If Aesop is correct when he said that "A man is known by the company he keeps", then Gensource is very proud to be in the company of two such strong and well-respected international financial institutions as KfW IPEX-Bank and Societe Generale. The addition of Societe Generale as joint lead arranger is another significant step towards completing the financing that will move Tugaske to construction this year." Lenaig Trenaux, Regional Head of Metals and Mining, Americas of Societe Generale added "As a leading bank with a global footprint in the mining industry and a presence in Canada we are very pleased to have the opportunity to take a lead role in the financing of this innovative fertilizer mining project alongside KfW IPEX-Bank." "We are pleased to have found with Societe Generale a partner bank that will take part in the ongoing work on this important and sustainable fertilizer mining project which will not only benefit the Canadian economy but also support our German suppliers, important clients of KfW IPEX-Bank, in these turbulent times." said Michael Nosbusch, Global Head of Metals and Mining at KfW IPEX-Bank. Agreements have been executed by the parties, indicating that: KfW IPEX-Bank and Societe Generale will act as Joint Mandated Lead Arrangers to arange the Debt Facility for the Tugaske Project. A total Debt Facility of approximately USD 180 million is agreed. Each of the Mandated Lead Arrangers will support the project with a significant take and hold commitment. KfW IPEX-Bank and Societe Generale will complete due diligence work together, including the in-depth review of technical, environmental, social, market and financial aspects of the project. A significant portion of the Facility is to have Export Credit Agency (ECA) coverage to reduce both lender risks and the Project's interest costs; structuring of the ECA component will be managed by KfW IPEX-Bank. In its roles as deal coordinator and bookrunner KfW IPEX-Bank will continue its work to form a supportive and reliable lender consortium for the Debt Facility. Final definitive terms for the Debt Facility will be developed and agreed following the due diligence process. Subsequently, Gensource and the Mandated Lead Arrangers will prepare and execute a definitive facility and security documentation at financial close. The ultimate financing of the Project is conditional upon the successful completion of the detailed due diligence process. "Climate change and food security issues make it urgently necessary to forge tighter links between economic and ecological matters in the interests of sustainable development. We feel fortunate to have KfW IPEX-Bank and Societe Generale as like-minded partners who share the same vision and commitment toward promoting ecologically sound, socially just, and economically robust projects," added Mike Ferguson. "We envision the Tugaske project as an innovation in potash production that can help safeguard both the livelihoods and quality of life for coming generations." About Gensource Gensource Potash is a fertilizer development company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and is on track to become the next fertilizer production company in that province. With a small scale and environmentally leading approach to potash production, Gensource believes its technical and business model will be the future of the industry. Gensource operates under a business plan that has two key components: (1) vertical integration with the market to ensure that all production capacity built is directed, and pre-sold, to a specific market, eliminating market-side risk; and (2) technical innovation which will allow for a small and economic potash production facility, that demonstrates environmental leadership within the industry, producing no salt tailings, therefore eliminating decommissioning risk, and requiring no surface brine ponds, thereby removing the single largest and negative environmental aspect of potash mining. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This news release may contain forward looking information and Gensource cautions readers that forward- looking information is based on certain assumptions and risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations of Gensource included in this news release. This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements", which often, but not always, can be identified by the use of words such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", or "plan". These statements are based on information currently available to Gensource and Gensource provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's expectations. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements with respect to Gensource's future plans, objectives or goals, to the effect that Gensource or management expects a stated condition or result to occur, including the ability to finance the Tugaske Project or other projects, the establishment of vertical integration partnerships and the sourcing of end use potash purchasers. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results relating to Gensource's financial condition and prospects, the ability to finance the Tugaske Project or other projects on terms which are economic or at all, the ability to establish viable vertical integration partnerships and the sourcing of end use potash purchasers could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements for many reasons such as: failure to finance the Tugaske Project or other projects on terms which are economic or at all; failure to settle a definitive joint venture agreement with a party and advance and finance the project; changes in general economic conditions and conditions in the financial markets; the ability to find and source off-take agreements; changes in demand and prices for potash; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; technological and operational difficulties encountered in connection with Gensource's activities; and other matters discussed in this news release and in filings made with securities regulators. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Gensource's forward-looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on Gensource's forward-looking statements. Gensource does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by Gensource or on its behalf, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005312/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Kochi: The Kerala police has registered a case against three non resident Keralites who returned from Abu Dhabi to Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday for hiding the fact that they are infected with coronavirus. The three passengers from Kollam landed at Thiruvananthapuram by concealing their state of health. Talking to media persons, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the incident serious. It is unclear how the trio could board the flight. The state government will urge the Union government to take up the matter with Abu Dhabi, he said. The three men have been sent to Government Medical College, Parippally, Kollam where their swab samples were tested positive and they were soon admitted. Though the Kerala government urged the Centre to make pre-boarding Covid 19 test mandatory for all passengers, it is not being followed. Meanwhile, many expats who returned by the special flights, as part of Vande Bharat Mission, have tested positive for the virus infection. Since they tested positive soon after landing, it is clear that they were infected before reaching the state. The chief minister during the daily press conference said that the situation is alarming as the inflow of NRKs from other states and abroad continues. Most of those returning are from highly affected red zone areas. A total of 38 flights will operate from different countries to Kerala till June 2, carrying 6530 expats. Most number of flights will be from Gulf countries, informed the chief minister. But, Waters said, "David thinks he owns it. I think he thinks that because I left the band in 1985, that he owns Pink Floyd, that he is Pink Floyd, that I'm irrelevant and I should just keep my mouth shut. We're all welcome to our opinions. But there have been rumblings and grumblings in the ranks I'm told by friends of mine who follow these things, and some of the questions being asked are: 'Why do we have to sit and watch Polly Samson (Gilmour's wife) for year after year, month after month, day after day, and the von Trapps reading us excerpts from their novels to get us to go to sleep at night?' And that's a very good question. 'And yet we don't get to hear about anything that Roger's doing or about 'This is Not a Drill' [Waters' postponed tour], or when he makes a piece of work, it's not shown, and so on and so forth. And none of his work is publicized. The fact that his and Sean Evans' film 'Us and Them,' which has just gone out digitally for streaming everywhere, is not mentioned." Mitch McConnell has selected Marco Rubio to serve as acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Rubio replaces Richard Burr, who stepped down last week because hes under investigation by the FBI regarding stock sales he made just before the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic caused stock values to plummet. Rubio was once best known in the Senate for his amnesty-style immigration reform bill. Now, hes probably best known for his hardline views about China, Russia, Cuba, and Venezuela. For those like me who share these views, Rubios selection is welcome. Unlike the House Intelligence Committee, Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Committee are said to have a pretty good working relationship. That used to be the case on the House side, but those days are a distant memory now. In theory, its good to have a decent level of bipartisanship on a committee that deals with highly sensitive matters critical to our national security. In practice, it depends. Bipartisanship is impossible when a dishonest opportunist like Adam Schiff heads up the committee Dems. On the Senate side, Mark Warner is the ranking Democrat. Im not a fan of Warner, but hes no Adam Schiff. Even so, I wonder whether the era of good feeling on the Intelligence Committee would survive Democratic control of that committee. Call me cynical, but I doubt it would. Warner said he welcomes Rubios elevation to committee chairman, calling him a great partner on intelligence and national security issues. The two have teamed up on the matter of Chinas theft of intellectual property and in an effort to unify European nations against Russias incursions into the continent. Both are important issues as to which bipartisan cooperation is welcome. Warner and Rubio have also worked together on the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Such interference is also a matter worth investigating. However, certain aspects of the investigation, most notably the subpoena issue to Donald Trump Jr., have not been welcomed by the White House. Rubio currently serves as chairman of the Small Business Committee, In normal times, this is something of a backwater. However, it is now a very big deal due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. As Politico observes: [Rubios] panel was responsible for the creation of the Paycheck Protection Program, a lifeline for small businesses and a key component of the $2 trillion CARES Act and the following $484 billion relief bill. Rubios appointment to head the Intelligence Committee would normally require him to give up the chairmanship of the Small Business Committee. However, Rubios new appointment is temporary. This may be grounds for granting him a waiver that would allow him to head up both committees. The fact that Rand Paul is next in line to chair the Small Business Committee might make a waiver for Rubio attractive to some members of the Republican caucus. The global death toll from the coronavirus is almost 319,000 with more than 4.8 million infections confirmed, causing mass disruptions as governments continue to try to slow the spread of the new respiratory illness. Here's a roundup of COVID-19 developments in RFE/RL's broadcast regions. Afghanistan The son of Ahmad Shah Masud, the revered anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban commander, says he and several members of his family have tested positive for the coronavirus. In a May 19 post on Twitter and Facebook, Ahmad Masud said his COVID-19 symptoms were not "so serious," while warning that this did not mean that the virus should not be taken seriously. Masud said he and several family members received the results of their coronavirus tests conducted a few days ago on May 19. He said they will go into quarantine for two weeks. Masud, 31, called on his countrymen to follow health protocols and guidelines by the Health Ministry to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Masud, who was 12 when his father, known as the Lion of Panjshir, was assassinated by Al-Qaeda suicide bombers, said last year that he wanted to work to galvanize anti-Taliban groups. "Let's defeat the coronavirus by working together and respecting guidelines," Masud wrote on Facebook on May 19. The outbreak has so far killed 178 Afghans and infected over 7,600, according to official figures. The actual numbers are likely to be significantly higher, as few tests are being carried out in the war-ravaged country. Earlier this month, Health Minister Ferozuddin Feruz tested positive for the coronavirus. His condition was reported as "stable" by his spokesman, who said he self-isolated at home. Central Asia Kyrgyzstan will ramp up its industry on June 1 by allowing all factories to resume operations, after being shut for more than two months as authorities tried to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The government said in a statement on May 19 that while industry will resume, some restrictions will stay after June 1, namely the holding of cultural, sports, and scientific events will remain banned. Additionally, operations at entertainment facilities, playgrounds, Internet clubs, computer game centers, and kindergartens will also remain suspended. As of May 19, the number of coronavirus cases in Kyrgyzstan was reported as 1,243, including 14 deaths. In neighboring Tajikistan, religious leaders announced on May 18 that traditional mass prayers in the country's mosques devoted to the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday this weekend will be canceled due to the pandemic. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated for two or three days after the end of Ramadan -- the month during which Muslims do not eat and drink during the daytime. Tajik health authorities said on May 18 that 1,729 coronavirus cases were recorded in the country, with 14 deaths. In Kazakhstan, President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev signed a decree on establishing a state medal, "Khalyq Alghysy" (People's Gratitude), that will be awarded to individuals for their contributions in the fight against the coronavirus. Kazakh health authorities said on May 19 that there were 6,751 confirmed cases, including 35 deaths. The latest figures in Uzbekistan, on May 19, were 2,802 positive tests, including 13 deaths. Turkmenistan remains the only country in the region that has not officially registered a single coronavirus case yet. Experts are skeptical of the claim that there are no cases, given the lack of transparency and independent media in the country. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been working on a possible visit to Turkmenistan to assess the situation on the ground of one of the world's most tightly run countries. Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov has said his country is ready to host the WHO mission. Bulgaria Bulgaria says it has agreed with neighboring Greece and Serbia to ease travel restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus as of June 1. "We have agreed with Greece from June 1 to allow travel without quarantine for people traveling for business, family, or humanitarian reasons," Prime Minister Boyko Borisov told reporters on May 19. Speaking after taking part in a conference call with the Greek, Romanian, and Serbian leaders, Borisov said Sofia and Belgrade agreed similar arrangements. He also expressed hope that Romania would soon join the initiative. Bulgaria closed its borders to most travelers in mid-March as part of its lockdown measures. Diplomats, seasonal workers, and returning Bulgarian nationals have been admitted to the country but have to spend two weeks in quarantine. Bulgaria eased its lockdown this week as the number of new infections decreased. The European Union member state reported 24 new cases on May 19, bringing the total to 2,259 cases, including 112 deaths. From June 1, travelers will have to sign a declaration at the borders with Greece and Serbia that they do not have coronavirus symptoms, Borisov said. "The goal is to create conditions for a restoration of travel and tourism between the citizens of the four countries without imposing a 14-day quarantine, while observing all hygienic requirements for security and deterrence of the coronavirus," the prime minister said. Bulgaria is also holding talks with Austria and Germany to ease travel restrictions, he added. Russia The Kremlin said on May 19 that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has returned to work after recovering from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, as total infections in Russia approached 300,000. A decree signed by President Vladimir Putin published on the Kremlin's website annulled his previous ruling appointing Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov as acting prime minister due to Mishustins illness. Mishustin on April 30 announced he had tested positive for the virus. He held several online meetings with his government while in the hospital. Mishustin's reinstatement came after health officials reported 9,263 new infections in Russia over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 299,941, the second-highest in the world after the United States, as officials said new cases were dropping off. Russia has reported 2,837 deaths, a number met with skepticism by critics who say fatalities are being underreported. Other high-ranking Russian officials have tested positive for the virus, including Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova, and Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev. Pakistan Pakistan's Supreme Court has ordered the government to lift some of the remaining restrictions imposed on businesses to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The court order affects shopping malls and businesses that have been closed on weekends. The ruling said that as long as markets were open, there was no justification to shut shopping malls, and it found no "justifiable rational or reasonable" basis for businesses to be ordered to shut on weekends. The court said the virus "apparently is not a pandemic in Pakistan" and questioned why fighting it was "swallowing so much money. The ruling "puts more lives at risk" and "reflects a broader attempt by Pakistani federal authorities to trivialize the impact" of the outbreak, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). Pakistan has reported nearly 45,000 COVID-19 cases, including more than 960 deaths, but HRW said the actual count was almost certainly much higher, given "minimal testing." With the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holidays on the coming weekend, transport and retail shopping are expected to draw massive crowds. Pakistani authorities allowed markets to reopen last week in a phased lifting of a countrywide lockdown, and they were immediately packed with customers, with few signs of social distancing or masks covering the nose and mouth. Doctors have expressed concern about the reopening, saying the virus could quickly spread and overwhelm the health system. The court's order, which is binding, was issued using its broad authority to rule without waiting for a case to come before it. With reporting by RFE/RL's Bulgarian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, and Uzbek services, Reuters, and Dawn A collaborative approach from all the stakeholders is required for revival and growth of the hospitality industry, which has been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Maharashtra tourism and environment minister Aditya Thackeray said. He emphasised on preparing guidelines for sustenance and revival, and for growth of the sector in the state, post the coronavirus crisis. The state government wants to develop Maharashtra as a tourism positive state, Thackeray said. "We have to take Maharashtra ahead, pitch it to the world. I am really keen that Maharashtra will be the first to declare and deliver something for the hotel industry," the minister said while addressing various concerns of the hospitality industry. He said various efforts will be required for a quick revival of the sector and for which, there is a need to figure out ways to collaborate with other sectors. "For this, we need to prepare two documents- one for the industry's sustenance plus revival, and another for driving its growth after that. This is something we have to do together, make a massive effort to get the industry back on track," Thackeray said. He said a task force has been set up to take steps for revival and growth of the sector in the medium to long term. "We will make an effort to get people across the world to come to us and stay in our hotels. We need travellers who will spend at least 36 hours in the cities they visit. We have to revive very quickly, take the sector ahead and figure out how we can work with the other Sectors," Thackeray said. Safe travel will be important, for which there will be a need to be transparent with numbers of COVID-19 cases, the way it has been far, he said. "The way 9/11 changed travel, COVID-19 will do the same. We will have to adjust, spaces are limited in Mumbai and Maharashtra, so we have to be together as a group and move ahead as a team," he added. The industry also presented the issues to the minister. Issues like increased excise licence fees that are payable upfront at this critical time, abolishing electricity duty that is charged at 21 per cent, property tax waiver for 6-9 months, the need for liquidity and working capital among others were some of the issues that the industry urged the minister to resolve. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Trumps top energy chief speaks with Axios about America's oil boom, carbon emissions and more as they relate to the coronavirus outbreak. Why it matters: U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette has been at the center of Trumps efforts to help the oil industry struggling amid the pandemic. Here are highlights from the interview (not yet covered in other stories): AXIOS: You've said recently that America will remain energy independent after this. But, isnt the fact the U.S. had to get so involved in last month's oil-production deal led by OPEC a sign that were still heavily dependent upon the global market, and thus not energy independent, despite being the worlds biggest producer of oil? Brouillette: I see it the other way around. Forty years away ago, we couldnt get involved because we were wholly dependent upon those imports for our economy. The mere fact we are independent, we are in fact energy dominant, allows us to have those conversations. There is a big difference between being dependent and exercising trade amongst nations and thats what you see in the oil markets today. Refiners set up for heavy sour [oil] and they choose to be that way. Were engaging in trade with countries. Thats just fundamental. The American Petroleum Institute has opposed any government support, especially for oil producers struggling before the pandemic. Do you agree? Brouillette: There were companies perhaps headed toward insolvency pre-pandemic and those were decisions made by independent companies. If they borrowed too much money or borrowed at a bad rate, those decisions are going to have consequences, and in our view the government should not step in to change the ultimate outcome. There are going to be people who are going to go by the wayside. They were going to go by the wayside regardless of the pandemic. I dont think its appropriate for the government to step in and save people from bad decisions. What's your response to the huge decline in emissions the pandemic is causing as large swaths of the world economy shuts down? Brouillette: The initial estimates at least numbers Im looking at suggest carbon emissions have been reduced fairly dramatically because weve shut down the economy, but I dont think weve actually reached the numbers that are in the Paris Agreement. It just gives you a sense of, perhaps, how unrealistic some of the goals are. What more do we have to do? Weve practically shut down the world economy and we still havent met the goals that were set in the Paris Agreement. What more can we do? If were going to be serious about this, we have to get more serious about things like nuclear energy. Economists generally say, the lower oil prices go now, the higher they will later. Are you concerned about eventually high oil and thus gasoline prices? Brouillette: Im not worried about it. I think as demand comes back youll see production come back in the United States again. Go deeper, with more parts of Wednesday's interview: By Stephanie Nebehay and Emma Farge GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization's head said on Tuesday he would keep leading the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut off funding and quit the body. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus defended the agency's role after the United States again withheld full support for a resolution on the pandemic. "We want accountability more than anyone," Tedros told a virtual meeting of the WHO'S 194 member states. "We will continue providing strategic leadership to coordinate the global response." Washington allowed the resolution calling for a review into the global response to the pandemic to pass by consensus, but said it objected to language about reproductive health rights and permission for poor countries to waive patent rules. WHO officials running the meeting clapped and cheered after the resolution was passed without a vote hours after Trump tweeted his threat to pull the United States out of the body. It calls for a review into the WHO-led global response, something the United States has demanded. But the U.S. mission in Geneva said in a statement that paragraphs on the right of poor countries to waive patents to obtain medicine during a health emergency would "send the wrong message to innovators" trying to produce new drugs and vaccines. The reproductive healthcare language could be interpreted as requiring countries to permit abortion. "The United States believes in legal protections for the unborn," it said. China and the United States also sparred in the closing moments of the assembly over the issue of Taiwan. Taiwan lobbied hard to be included as an observer at the two-day meeting and received support from the United States, Japan and others, but says it was not invited due to opposition from China. BACKING FROM CHINA Even as Trump has proposed quitting the WHO, the body has received backing and a two-year pledge of $2 billion in funds from China's President Xi Jinping. Story continues Many other leaders expressed support for Tedros. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for international cooperation in response to the pandemic. "At times like these, the greatest act of courage is to play as a team," she continued, without an overt reference to the United States. During his three years in office, Trump has criticised many international organisations and quit some. Still, European diplomats said they were taken aback by Washington's decision to stand aside at the WHO while China is boosting its role. "It was so striking to see Xi Jinping seizing the opportunity to open up, with broad (cooperation), and make a proposal for $2 billion, and say if ever there is a vaccine they will share it with everyone," a European diplomat said. "It's exactly what we feared: the space liberated by Washington will be taken up by China." The WHO declined to comment on Trump's threat to quit, saying only that it had received his letter and was considering its contents. Tuesday's resolution calls for a review into how the novel coronavirus spread after making the jump from animals to humans, believed to have happened in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year. Some countries including hard-hit Spain and Italy suggested the body could emerge stronger from the pandemic through reform. "This should be a time for renewing our organisation and we renew our strong commitment to the organisation," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. (Editing by Jon Boyle and Angus MacSwan) The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan has called on the Federal Government to review or reverse the privatisation of the nations power sector. The Senate President made the call while contributing to a motion on the Power Sector Recovery Plan and the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic sponsored by Senator Gabriel Suswam. Also Read: NNPC, CBN To Fund Accommodation, Feeding Of Nigerian Returnees During Quarantine Lawan said: We gave them our common patrimony and they still come back as DisCos and GenCos to look for money from the public. Advertisement The time has come to review and probably reverse this privatisation, if we leave them for the next 10 years there would be no power in Nigeria. Like I said before this motion was taken, the privatisation has so far not been successful. We expected efficiency, effectiveness in power supplies but probably on both sides, maybe the purchase agreements were not adhered to on both sides. What is obvious is that the DisCos particularly have no capacity at the moment to supply us power. As Massachusetts inches toward reopening certain businesses and industries the coronavirus pandemic will prevent Worcester from celebrating Memorial Day as it has in the past. On Monday, City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. announced that he was implementing a virtual celebration to honor the citys veterans. The city of Worcester has always prided itself on our dedication of honoring our veterans, particularly our veterans who have made the ultimate sacrifice and their families, Augustus said. We know this is an important part of our civic life to honor our veterans. Each year, the city celebrates Memorial Day at locations across Worcester including ceremonies at the Vietnam Memorial, Hope Cemetery and Elm Park. Augustus said the city already conducted wreath layings and the water ceremony at Elm Park. Each was recorded and will be replayed on Memorial Day as part of a virtual celebration. More details regarding specifics will be released later this week in anticipation of the holiday on Monday. Worcester will make sure that our veterans and their sacrifice will be memorialized and honored, but well do it in a way thats safe given our situation this year, Augustus said. We know many of our veterans are older and their family members are older and we dont want to do anything that puts them at risk. Worcester also wants to limit the risk when people flock to Hope Cemetery to dress graves. Water at the cemetery will be turned off to prevent hundreds touching the nozzles over the course of a weekend. Those spicketts could be touched by hundreds of people over the course of a weekend, which will not be a safe thing to do given the circumstance were in, Augustus said. The cemetery will be open and visitors are asked to bring their own water if they intend on planting flowers or other items. The city also asks that visitors follow social distancing guidelines and remain at least six feet apart. We want to do it in a way that allows you the chance to go through that important part of Memorial Day, Augustus said. But do it in a way that keeps you and your family and other safe. Related Content: By Akbar Mammadov On the second day of the large-scale tactical drills that kicked off on May 18, the Azerbaijani Army fulfilled tasks of the withdrawal to the areas of the combat mission at night, the Ministry of Defense reported on May 19. Thus, the troops conducted a battle-march on time, route and tasks assigned during the night and in conditions of reduced visibility. Earlier, on May 18, according to the plan of large-scale exercises, rocket-artillery units left the places of their permanent deployment on alert and moved to the areas of destination. Furthermore, on the same day, the troops, command posts, combat, and reserve units that had been put on alert moved to the areas of responsibility. The troops' redeployment was implemented covertly and operationally, according to the demands of their organization. The commandant service regulated all movements of military personnel and military equipment. In the meantime, according to the combat coordination plan of the troops of the Nakhchivan garrison for 2020, the Command-Staff Exercises with the involvement of several formations and units started on May 18. The subunits of military formations and units that had been brought into the state of combat readiness of various levels were withdrawn to areas of concentration and combat support, to firing and starting positions. It should be noted that the Azerbaijani Army started large-scale operational-tactical exercises in line with the combat exercises plan for 2020 on May 18. The drills will last till May 22 and involve various types and kinds of troops, military associations and units of the Azerbaijani Army. Up to 10,000 servicemen, about 120 tanks and armoured vehicles, up to 200 rocket and artillery systems of various calibres, multiple rocket launchers and mortars, up to 30 military and frontline aircraft, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles for various purposes will take part in the exercises. In the course of combat firing exercises to be held at various firing ranges at night, in complex terrain and radio-electronic environment, the tasks of organizing coherence among tank, aviation, artillery military units and other combat elements, the use of landing and special manoeuvring forces in the depths of enemy defence, improving the skills of management bodies, as well as moral and psychological support of personnel will be fulfilled, the ministry said. All actions will be carried out with ensuring the accurate interaction of the troops involved in the exercises, especially at night and in difficult climatic conditions. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz K9 Da Chong relic site in Ba Vi mountain on the outskirts of Hanoi a government shelter during the anti-American war of President Ho Chi Minh and other leaders of the Communist Party and the State. K9 is located about 70km to the West of Hanoi downtown in the Ba Vi mountain range. It has become a place for pilgrimage of Vietnamese people. Uncle Hos memorial house in Van Phuc village is where President Ho Chi Minh wrote the The Call for National Resistance, mobilizing the entire nation for the resistance war against France, while taking refuge here before moving on to the anti-French resistance base in the mountain. One in eight Australians believe 'utterly baseless' conspiracy theories that coronavirus is linked to 5G technology, while almost 40 per cent believe the outbreak came from a Chinese lab, according to a new poll. Essential Research has unveiled the results of a recent survey of 1,073 Australians, who were asked a series of questions about the health pandemic. The majority of respondents (77 per cent) believe the outbreak in the virus epicentre of China is much worse than the official statistics from Beijing claim. One in eight (13 per cent) believe Microsoft founder Bill Gates is somehow responsible for the coronavirus and 12 per cent think the 5G wireless network is being used to spread the virus. One in eight Australians believe 'utterly baseless' conspiracy theories that coronavirus is linked to 5G technology. Pictured is a protester at mass rally in Melbourne on May 10 The same number of people believe the pandemic is being used to force people into getting vaccinations. The results prompted the federal government to renew warnings about claims linking 5G to coronavirus are bogus. 'Any suggestions that there is a link between 5G and coronavirus are utterly baseless,' Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said on Tuesday. 'There is no evidence that the use of these radio waves in mobile networks is harmful to health or related to the current health pandemic.' Two in five believe the virus was engineered and released from the P4 lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan, a theory for which Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said there is no evidence. One in eight Australians surveyed believed Microsoft founder Bill Gates (pictured with wife Melinda) is somehow responsible for coronavirus The same proportion of people rejected the theory, while a quarter are unsure. One in five believe the media and government are exaggerating the death toll to scare the population. Eighty per cent remained either very or quite concerned about coronavirus while almost three quarters (73 per cent) are happy with the federal government's response to the pandemic. The poll results follow protests across Australia led by 5G-conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers. Conspiracy theorists bearing signs with anti-5G messages joined anti-vaxxers and other Victorians furious with the state's strict lockdown measures at a recent mass rally held in Melbourne, where 10 arrests were made. Two in five believe the virus was engineered and released from P4 laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Pictured are workers inside the lab in 2017 There were also angry scenes at Mullumbimby near Byron Bay in northern NSW last month when Telstra installed 5G upgrades despite a local council unanimously agreed not to support any upgrades that will facilitate 5G technology. Australian professor of medicine, and public health advocate John Dwyer recently described conspiracy claims that 5G causes the deadly virus as 'dangerous nonsense'. 'At this time in the fight against the epidemic, this is dangerous nonsense. Even to have a few people think differently that social distancing isn't for them is a silly idea and is putting all of us at risk,' he told Seven News last month. 'For some people, the idea of a conspiracy theory turns them on. Most of the time, it doesn't matter that much but in this particular case, it's dangerous.' MBABANE Head teachers have come out to claim that food in schools is rotting while over 300 000 emaSwati are in urgent need of food aid. According to the 2019 Eswatini Vulnerability Assessment findings, about 230 000 emaSwati face acute food insecurity. However, with the advent of COVID-19, slightly over 300 000 people have been identified as beneficiaries of the food aid programme pioneered by government. The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) noted that the figures of food insecure emaSwati could escalate due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. The issue of rotting food in schools has raised concerns among head teachers after government had intended to donate the food to the needy following that schools were closed due to the partial lockdown which was implemented about two months ago. Memorandum The Ministry of Education and Training, through a memorandum sent through regional education officers (REOs), had requested head teachers to provide information of current quantities of food supplies in their respective schools. The form they had to fill required the head teachers to identify the school, the school code and amount of: beans, maize, rice, cooking oil and peanut butter among others. Information gathered was that the ministry intended to distribute the food to the needy following the indefinite closure of schools. In an interview with some of the head teachers, they said they welcomed governments decision to donate the food to the needy, but to date it had not been collected and was wasting away in the storerooms. They said most of the storerooms were not well built, resulting in the food rotting. They claim that rain water sipped into the storerooms where the food was kept, resulting in the food items being soaked and ultimately rotting. Victimisation A head teacher in one of the schools in the Manzini Region, who preferred anonymity in fear of victimisation, said they were told to avail records of the food which had to be submitted to their executive and they did just that. We are shocked that to date the food which is now rotting has not been collected by government yet there are thousands of people starving, the head teacher said. She said when government issued the instruction in April that they should supply information on the quantities of food in the various schools, it was already starting to get spoilt as some of it had been distributed to the schools in February yet the storerooms were not conducive for keeping food. When I last checked the food about a week ago, it was in a very bad state, the head teacher said. She said there were about seven 50kg beans and rice, three bags of 50 kg maize- meal and samp at her school. Both the maize-meal and samp are spoilt, save for the beans. The head teacher said they had tried to contact the inspector of schools to find out what was happening and they were allegedly told that they had no clue, since the ministry had been mum on the issue. Another head teacher in the Lubombo Region also said when he last checked the food, it was not in a very good state. He said even if schools could reopen, the food would not be fit for consumption by the pupils due to its current state. Meanwhile, another head teacher from the same region echoed his colleagues sentiments, adding that the food was attracting weevil. I have at least four bags of beans and when I recently checked, I found out that it had weevils, he said. The head teacher said it was the same issue with the five bags of maize which also had weevils. He added that he had fears that the food was no longer in a consumable state. Swaziland Association of Schools Administrators (SASA) Secretary Siphasha Dlamini said they had received several reports from head teachers that the food was spoilt. Dlamini said, in particular, the maize-meal got spoilt quickly. The secretary said they had no idea why government decided not to collect the food following its announcement but they suspected that there was influence from some sectors or concerns if schools would reopen. Meanwhile, she said government had sent them a message to go to schools to assess the state of the food and report on their assessment. President of the Eswatini Principals Association, Welcome Mhlanga, said there were no reports received by the organisation on food that was rotting in schools. Mhlanga said they had only received an instruction through UNICEF to forward information to the ministry on the state of the food in their various schools. by Shafique Khokhar Quotas will give minority students greater access to higher education and allow them to qualify for better paying jobs. Priests and activists want to see the law enforced, not just remain on paper. Lahore (AsiaNews) Christian, Hindu and Sikh and other religious minority students will be entitled to 2 per cent quota in Punjab universities as part of the Punjab Minorities Empowerment Package. A bill to that end was introduced in February 2019 by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), with a 5 per cent quota. Even with a lower percentage, minority students will have the same opportunities in the admission policy by higher educational institutions. Minorities in Pakistan face many forms of discrimination. Christians and churches have often seen their land and churches seized; Hindus suffer as a result of tensions between India and Pakistan and minority women and girls are often the victims of abductions and forced conversions. In the name of justice, Pakistans central government reserved a 5 per cent share in employment to counter joblessness among minorities. It adopted a law to that effect on 26 May 2009. However, he latter has been applied intermittently by provincial governments. The minority quota often goes unfilled, especially for the most qualified positions. For Fr Kamran Ghouri Daniel, from the Diocese of Islamabad, the decision by the Punjab government is the best way to help minorities climb the social ladder through education". He also thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government calling on them to ensure that "this law is applied and not just remain on paper. Asif Aqeel, a journalist and a member of an association that supports minority rights, calls this decision "historic" as it "will enhance the well-being of religious minorities, especially Christians, Sikhs and Hindus. In his view, support for the law by Punjabs Minorities and Human Rights Minster Ejaz Augustine was important. Cecil Chaudhry, executive director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace, describes the decision as "encouraging" and "very positive". However, he would like to see the government ensure that the law is actually applied and that job quotas are enforced as they are often not applied in the "right spirit". Located in San Luis Obispo, CA and recognized as the first winery to plant grapes within Edna Valley, Chamisal Vineyards is a Chardonnay lovers winery. The historic property also produces Syrah, Grenache, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir that is known for its distinct nutmeg/orange zest/tangerine flavor termed Chamisal Spice.' But its their multiple Chardonnays (eight different kinds) about which aficionados of the varietal rave. From rich and creamy, to clean and vibrant, theres a Chamisal Chardonnay to please every palate. Chamisal (named after chamise, a rose family flower that grows prolifically around the vineyard, and chamisal, referring to dense thickets of the flower that cover the hills of coastal California) has long produced bold, complex, and distinctive wines of character that well embody the regions natural characteristics and are known for their intense flavor, mouthwatering texture, and impeccable balance. Edna Valley is situated only six miles east of the Pacific Ocean, making it Californias closest appellation to the coast. The region benefits from a cool micro-climate and unique mix of soils that combine to provide ideal conditions for the production of Chamisals world-class Chardonnays across a range of styles. Winemaker Fintan Fin du Fresne, who is originally from Wellington, New Zealand, was brought on as head winemaker in 2006; his sustainable approach to winemaking is site-driven; each of his wines is crafted as an expression of the unique terroir of the vineyards from which it is sourced. When applied to Chardonnay, this approach produces a range of versatile and distinctive wines that range from full-bodied and supple with generous oak influence (i.e. the 2017 Monterey County Chardonnay) to crisp, elegant, and mineral-driven (i.e. the 2018 Stainless Chardonnay), each one a nod to the natural characteristics of its terroir. Chamisal Vineyards has been SIP (Sustainability in Practice) certified in the vineyards since 2010 and was the second-ever winery to be SIP-certified in 2016, though the winery has always gone above and beyond the requirements to maintain the health of the vineyard and improve biodiversity in the area. Chamisal Vineyards exceeds certification requirements with organic practices like compost teas and cover crops to improve soil health and biodiversity. Sustainable practices at Chamisal Vineyards include the use of compost, cover crops, minimal organic fertilizers, a rooftop solar array and the introduction of drought-tolerant rootstock and moisture-sensors to mitigate irrigation needs, as well as a water-recapture system that reclaims 100 percent of winery process water for irrigation needs. Currently closed during stay-at-home orders, Chamisals inviting tasting room is situated amidst the vines and features cozy patio seating where guests can order by the glass or by flight. Until the tasting room once again opens to visitors, bring the flavor of Edna Valley into your home by ordering online here. Photos courtesy of Chamisal Vineyards Dr Chua Ying Xian, deputy head of Pioneer Polyclinic, examines a patient. PHOTO: National University Health System SINGAPORE The Chinese national presented a puzzle for Dr Chua Ying Xian, 34, and his team who had been deployed to a migrant worker dormitory to screen workers for COVID-19. The team was also there to help manage any chronic medical conditions. The worker had complained of a fever, stomach pains, headache and chest pains but none of the symptoms really fit the profile of a coronavirus case. His vital signs were also good, while checks revealed that the man did not actually have a fever. Upon reflection and further questioning, he finally revealed that he was actually very stressed. He really couldn't communicate with his family back home for a prolonged period of time. So that also created more stress to him, as well as worry about whether he will lose his job (if he tested positive). The family physician and deputy head of Pioneer Polyclinic told Yahoo News Singapore that he is worried about the mental stressors that many migrant workers are subject to amid the pandemic. It's no longer just about COVID, and it's no longer just about diagnosing them. It's about managing them for the long run. He added that mental health worries will also be an issue for the local population. Just like any other chronic diseases, these will continue to pose a challenge for us in the coming months, when we do get better control over the COVID situation. Dr Chua is one of thousands of medical frontliners battling COVID-19 day after day and a new study says primary care physicians (PCP) in Singapore like him have a high level of commitment to their work, as well as confidence in their work environment. Some 216 PCPs took the online survey, which consisted of questions on work and non-work-related concerns, impact on personal and work life, level of pandemic preparedness, stress reduction factors, and personal coping strategies related to COVID-19. Some 90 per cent felt safe with the equipment and support, and are prepared for the fight, while 93 per cent disagreed that they would leave their profession because of the risks of infection. About 91.9 per cent also accepted the risk of infection as part of the job and that patient care comes first. Story continues The study is a collaboration between Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Polyclinics, National University Health System and College of Family Physicians of Singapore. Its said to be the first study in the region examining the social and psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on PCPs. Dr Hou Minsheng, family physician at Choa Chu Kang Polyclinic. PHOTO: Kong Chong Yew/NUHS Like Dr Chua, Dr Hou Minsheng, 32, has been on the COVID-19 frontlines since Dorscon Orange was declared by authorities. Under the orange level of the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (Dorscon), a disease is considered to be severe and spreads easily from person to person, but the disease has not spread widely in Singapore and is contained. Alongside his colleagues, Dr Hou rotates regularly into the Red Zone at Choa Chua Kang Polyclinic. It is where patients who have had a history of fever or any respiratory tract symptoms are placed. The father of two spends up to eight hours a day swathed in Personal Protective Equipment, which includes a mask, goggles, surgical gown and cap. Asked if the outfit feels claustrophobic, he agreed. We to try to drink up before (putting on the PPE), but not too much, otherwise you have to keep going to the toilet. And at the same time, sometimes people do feel nauseous or unwell, so we will get them to de-gown and take a rest before (working) again. Alluding to how his goggles can mist up while decked out in PPE, Dr Hou explained the need to guard against literally clouded judgement while on duty. When we are in the Red Zone, we have to keep a high level of vigilance for alternative diagnosis because not everybody who comes in with fever or respiratory symptoms has COVID. One particular patient presented with a fever, as well as shortness of breath and chest pains. We did an ECG and we found that it was a serious form of heart attack and we immediately activated an ambulance to bring him to the hospital, where he received an emergency balloon and stent, he recalled. Dr Hou has also become extra cautious about hygiene - on days when he is in the Red Zone, he brings a separate change of clothes to work. Once home, he washes his hands, puts his dirty clothes in a separate laundry load and showers before he interacts with his family. Sometimes, I feel a heartache. The first thing I would normally do otherwise, when I come home is to give them a hug, greet my wife and my children and talk to them. Both Dr Chua and Dr Hou admitted to feeling anxious at the start of the outbreak, when little was known about the coronavirus or its modes of transmission. I would say that I'm glad to have been placed where I am now, to be able to serve my community this way, said Dr Hou. So, over and above the little bit of anxiety is just being in a privileged position to do this at this point in time. I'm actually grateful for the opportunity. And I think these sentiments are shared by most of my colleagues. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore Related stories: COVID-19: Singapore reports 305 more cases, 495 additional recoveries No known cases of COVID-19 re-infection in Singapore: NCID official COVID-19: Robertson Quay restaurants told to stop selling takeaway booze At least three lakh people have been evacuated from coastal areas of West Bengal in view of the impending super cyclonic storm Amphan and all steps have been taken to deal with any eventuality arising out of it, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday. Banerjee said she and senior state government officials are directly monitoring the situation and announced several helpline numbers. All precautionary measures are taken to deal with any eventuality arising out of the super cyclone. I had a word with Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding it. At least three lakh people have been evacuated from three coastal districts of the state and moved to relief shelters, she told a press conference here. The evacuees have been shifted to cyclone shelters and all other precautions are being taken, Banerjee said. The chief minister said she will talk to the Railways not to run any Shramik Special trains to bring back migrant labourers to the state from Wednesday till Thursday morning as a precautionary measure. Amphan is expected to cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha in West Bengal and Hatiya islands in Bangladesh on May 20 as a very severe cyclonic storm after losing some steam as it approaches landfall with a maximum sustained wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph gusting to 180 kmph. The meteorological department, which has issued an orange message for West Bengal, has warned of extensive damage in Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah, South and North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts. Zareen Khan says people still assume Salman Khan helps her find work: "I cannot be a monkey on his back" Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 11:45:03|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, May 19 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake of 5.3 magnitude struck off Japan's Fukushima Prefecture on Tuesday, the weather agency here said. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor, which occurred at 12:17 p.m. local time, was centered offshore, with its epicenter at a latitude of 37.5 degrees north and a longitude of 141.5 degrees east, and at depth of 50 km. The weather agency has not issued a tsunami warning or advisory as a result of the offshore quake. The earthquake logged 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale which peaks at 7 in some areas of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, the JMA said. In the neighboring prefectures of Miyagi, the quake also registered 3 on Japan's seismic scale, said the JMA. There have been no immediate reports of major damage or injuries as a result of the quake. Japan's nuclear watchdog has not, as yet, issued any warning about irregularities or abnormalities at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, or the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture. Enditem MINNEAPOLIS, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CSDZ, a Holmes Murphy company, is pleased to welcome Cal Beyer to its Minnesota team as Vice President of Workforce Risk and Worker Wellbeing. Beyer has over 30 years of safety, insurance, and risk management experience, with 24 of those years serving the construction industry. Prior to joining CSDZ, he was the director of risk management for Lakeside Industries in Issaquah, WA. At Lakeside, Beyer catalyzed the construction industry mental health and suicide prevention movement. "We've had a crisis in the industry for quite some time, and it's not one you might immediately think about," said Jerry Ouimet, President of CSDZ. "When we think of risk hazards in the construction industry, we think of the hole a worker might step in or the beam that might fall, but the real hazard is the distraction that's mental and emotional. Until we address these components, we'll continue to lose people to suicides and serious, even fatal, injuries. Adding Cal to the team is an integral step in our mission to curtail the mental health crisis in the construction industry." "For as far back as we can remember, we've had hard hats, but those were focused on keeping construction workers safe from outside hazards to the brain. We've never focused on the inside hazards to the brain," Beyer added. "CSDZ has been an industry innovator for over 100 years, and I look forward to joining them in helping employers and employees address and overcome these invisible risks." Beyer has served on the Workplace Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention since its inception in 2010. He served as Co-Lead of the task force from 2015-17 and was appointed to the Executive Committee in 2016. He was a driving force in the task force being awarded the 2016 Gary Bird Horizon Award for Innovation from the International Risk Management Institute (IRMI). Additionally, Beyer was appointed to the Expert Advisory Group of the Center for Workplace Mental Health of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation in 2019. Beyer, a former Eagan resident, is excited to return to Minnesota with his wife, Kris. They look forward to being in the same state as their five children and cheering for the Wild. About CSDZ CSDZ established in 1919 initially as a contract surety organization is a nationally recognized specialty risk management organization. CSDZ is considered the construction industry's committed leader in risk, innovation, and contributing to our partners' success. In partnership with our parent company, Holmes Murphy, we are proud to be one of the largest employee-owned brokerages in the nation. Contact: Mariah Kerns (515) 783-2604 [email protected] SOURCE CSDZ [May 19, 2020] Validian Provides Update on Filings Ottawa, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Validian Corporation (OTC: VLDI; Validian or the Company), a leading innovator in cyber security technology, today announced that it has incurred unforeseen delays in filing its Form 10K for 2019 due to COVID-19. Validian is working diligently to complete and file its Form 10K for 2019 as soon as possible and upon filing will be fully compliant again. Upon filing its Form 10K, Validian will then proceed to complete and file its Form 10Q for Q1 2020 as soon as possible thereafter. About Validian Corporation Validians technology seamlessly secures the complete lifecycle of data: in use, in memory, at rest and in transit. It works on all applications, databases, devices, operating systems and technology platforms and everywhere in between. Validin is a U.S. public company with offices in the U.S. and Canada. Visit www.Validian.com for more information on its digital asset solutions. Safe Harbor Statement Investors should carefully consider the information contained in this news release before making an investment in the shares of the company. Information contained in this news release contains "forward looking statements", which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," expects," "may," "should," or "anticipates" or negative thereof or given that the future results covered by such forward -looking statements will be achieved. The preceding matters constitute cautionary statements identifying important factors with respect to such forward-looking statements, including certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from the future statements. Other factors could also cause actual results to vary materially from the future results covered in such forward-looking statements. Contact: Validian Corporation [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] 2020 has been ill fated to say the least. The year has brought upon the the toughest of times for mankind in decades courtesy of the coronavirus pandemic. Sweden, which has been much in the news for not putting in place restrictive measures to contain the virus, lost more than 10,000 lives in April. It was the deadliest month the country has witnessed since December of 1993. SDD The Scandinavian country has kept schools open for children under the age of 16, along with cafes, bars, restaurants and businesses, and urged people to respect social distancing guidelines. Rather than imposing restrictions in the country, the Swedish government has relied on its people taking responsibility themselves to stem the spread of coronavirus. More than 3000 deaths have been due coronavirus and close to 7000 are due to natural causes. A total of 10,458 deaths were recorded in the country of 10.3 million inhabitants in April, Statistics Sweden said. "We have to go back to December 1993 to find more dead during a single month," Tomas Johansson, population statistician at Statistics Sweden, said in a statement. Reuters In total, 97,008 deaths were recorded in Sweden during the whole of 1993, which in turn was the deadliest year since 1918, when the Spanish flu pandemic ravaged the country. Johansson told AFP there was no official breakdown explaining the high death toll in December 1993 but said there was a flu epidemic at the time. According to preliminary data, the number of deaths has been on the decline since the end of April, including in Stockholm -- the epicentre of the Swedish epidemic -- where the highest number of deaths were recorded in early April. Agencies The Swedish approach to the novel coronavirus has come under criticism both at home and abroad, particularly as the number of deaths has far exceeded those in neighbouring Nordic countries, which have all imposed more restrictive containment measures. On Monday, Sweden reported a total of 30,377 confirmed cased of the novel coronavirus and 3,698 deaths. KYODO NEWS - May 19, 2020 - 22:37 | Japan, Coronavirus, All Japan is considering lifting a state of emergency in Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo later this week as the numbers of new coronavirus infections in the three prefectures have remained low, government officials said Tuesday. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will make the final decision on Thursday after hearing opinions from health experts, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. While the government has assessed that the western prefectures have also secured enough hospital beds and capacity to conduct virus tests, Abe and his aides are carefully watching the situations in Tokyo and Hokkaido, according to the officials. Abe lifted the state of emergency in 39 of Japan's 47 prefectures last week and said it would be possible to do the same in the rest of the areas even before its expiry on May 31, if certain criteria are met. The eight remaining are Tokyo, Osaka and five prefectures in their surrounding areas, as well as Hokkaido, a grouping where nearly half the country's population lives. They have been divided into three groups based on geographical proximity -- the metropolitan area encompassing Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, the Kansai region of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo, and Hokkaido. The government will decide whether to lift the emergency by group, the officials said. "Compared with when the emergency was declared, the numbers of new patients in the eight prefectures have fallen significantly," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a press conference. The government plans to focus on three criteria to decide whether to end the emergency, under which people have been requested to avoid nonessential outings and businesses that require close person-to-person interactions have been asked to shut temporarily. They are the situation of new cases, capacity to provide medical services and whether monitoring systems, including polymerase chain reaction tests, are sufficient, according to the sources. One of the numerical targets proposed by a government panel of experts for lifting the emergency in the remaining prefectures is whether infections have fallen below 0.5 new cases per 100,000 people in the past week. For Tokyo, with a population of roughly 14 million, it would mean that the number of people infected with the virus would have to be fewer than 70 in one week. The three Kansai prefectures had all cleared the numerical target as of Monday, with a senior government official saying, "They will be fine (for the lifting) if things remain as they are." The figures for Hokkaido, Tokyo and Kanagawa are 0.87, 0.77 and 1.07, respectively. "It's still difficult for Hokkaido. I believe the metropolitan area will aim for the lifting at the end of the month," a source close to Abe said. "But there's no plan to lift Saitama and Chiba earlier (than Tokyo and Kanagawa)." On Tuesday, the daily number of new coronavirus cases reported in Tokyo totaled five, the same as two days ago which was the lowest since the capital was placed under a state of emergency on April 7. Another government source did not rule out the possibility of the eight prefectures together seeing the lifting on Thursday, saying the decision will not be made in light of one criterion, such as the number of new cases. The below-0.5 criterion is more stringent compared with other countries, with Germany calling for 50 or below and New York requiring less than two over the three previous days on average out of 100,000 people. The health ministry on Tuesday said 17,000 hospital beds have been secured for potential COVID-19 patients in Japan. Related coverage: Gov't OKs cash handouts to struggling students amid pandemic Single parents take to meeting online to air concerns amid pandemic Astronauts offer tips on life in confined space FREE 3xLOGIC and Sonitrol Online, On Demand Training Availability Extended The number of students currently enrolled in just the 3xLOGIC Certification Courses for infinias and VIGIL is greater than the total number of certificates we had issued before we started free trainingthats incredible. Brandon Harless, 3xLOGIC Training Manager 3xLOGIC, Inc., a leading provider of integrated, intelligent security solutions, today announced extended deadlines to sign up and complete its FREE infinias and VIGIL certification training courses, as well as sister company Sonitrols CLOUD access and mySonitrol.net courses. Sign up for zero-cost training now ends on 31 May and participants have 30 days to complete the courses, even if they sign up on the last day of registration. During these challenging times, the company has rolled out its best-in-class, eLearning Academy thats just as user-friendly as its wide array of solutions. 3xLOGIC wants to assist its partners in making productive use of unplanned downtimeget certified! Trainees for all the courses come from 47 US states and 24 countries around the world. In all, 542 different companies are represented among the trainee pool and the course completion rate already exceeds 33% after only 6 weeks. Through this free training offer, the number of students currently enrolled in just the 3xLOGIC Certification Courses for infinias and VIGIL is greater than the total number of certificates we had issued before we started free trainingthats incredible. said Brandon Harless, 3xLOGIC Training Manager. New technician training certification for infinias consists of 10 modules and assessments. The infinias Access Control Certification course introduces new terminology to the student, presents core and peripheral hardware, and provides best practices for configuration and navigation. The VIGIL Video Management course also contains 10 modules featuring current hardware offerings as well as in-depth navigation of the VIGIL Client, Server, and other utilities within the VIGIL Suite of products. The Sonitrol CLOUD Access Course introduces the Sonitrol network to the terms, concepts, and hardware associated with their Cloud-managed Access Control offering. A total of seven modules walk the trainee through the configuration, navigation, and management of the user interface and Dealer Portal. The mySonitrol course is geared toward the end user. This course consists of six modules that instruct on the key concepts from signing on, running reports, editing users, video integration and management of the Sonitrol Access Control System. 3xLOGIC and Sonitrols eLearning Academy certification courses are available TODAY, to get started visit https://go.bluevolt.com/SPSAcademy About 3xLOGIC 3xLOGIC Inc. has been a leading innovator in server and cloud-based security technology for 15+ years. The company is recognized for providing easy-to-use surveillance and business intelligence solutions that seamlessly integrate video, access control, and disparate data such as ATM, Point-of-Sale, analytics, and more. 3xLOGICs video surveillance solutions are engineered for ease of installation, scalability and affordability combined with a managed services portfolio that enables integrators to effectively evolve from dealers to high-value strategic partners. Follow 3xLOGIC on Facebook, Linked-in, or our Twitter account, and read our latest news at http://www.3xlogic.com. About Sonitrol Sonitrol is the leader in verified electronic security, offering Intrusion Detection, Access Control, Video Surveillance and Fire Monitoring. Sonitrols ability to verify intrusion, through patented audio technologies in real-time, offers unrivaled credibility with law enforcement. Sonitrol provides for some of the fastest police response times, lowest false alarm rates and the best apprehension record, over 180,000, in the security industry. For more information on Sonitrol, visit sonitrol.com. Press Contact North America Bruce J. Doneff, Public Relations, 3xLOGIC 843.476.3022 bruce.doneff(at)3xlogic(dot)com Press Contact UK and Europe Linda Tyrrell, The Henley Group International linda(a)henley.co(dot)uk +44 (0)1491 570972 Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE Theres a rumble in New Mexicos oil patch and its not just the sound of big rigs rolling down the road. Republicans Gregg Fulfer of Jal and David Gallegos of Eunice are locked in an increasingly hard-hitting primary election contest for the Senate District 41 seat Fulfer has held since 2018. Gallegos, who is giving up his state House seat to challenge Fulfer, has raised the incumbents 2019 vote in favor of a Democratic-backed $7 billion budget bill in his attempt to oust the incumbent. He also says Fulfer used his connections as a former Lea County Commission member to get appointed to the Senate during the final days of ex-Gov. Susana Martinezs second term in office. Being in a safe seat, its a huge risk (to forego a reelection bid), but Id rather give the people a choice, Gallegos said. For his part, Fulfer said he voted for last years budget because he and other Republican senators worked to get $389 million included for road and highway repairs statewide with much of that money earmarked for southeastern New Mexico. Its easy to sit back and not negotiate anything (and just vote no), Fulfer said. Senate District 41 stretches across New Mexicos southeastern corner. It includes parts of Hobbs and Carlsbad, and sits atop the Permian Basin where oil production levels skyrocketed in recent years before recently slowing due to falling global prices. Its a GOP-leaning seat, and no Democrats or Libertarians filed to run in the district this year. That means whoever wins the Republican primary will have a free ride in November. Fulfer, who owns Fulfer Oil and Cattle Co., acknowledges he was a little bit shocked when he found out in March that Gallegos was running against him in the primary election. He has reported raising $134,900 for his reelection bid, though that figure includes $85,000 in loans made from his business to his campaign. He also has the endorsement of the National Rifle Association. For his part, Gallegos, a retired supervisor for New Mexico Gas Co., has raised about $79,650 for his campaign. Among his donors are several oil field companies. Gallegos has served in the state House since 2013 and founded the Legislative Prayer Caucus in 2016. He said the caucus now includes about 34 members, both Democrats and Republicans. While both candidates have local government experience, Fulfer said he brings more firsthand oil industry experience to the Senate than Gallegos would. He also said he would work to expand New Mexicos manufacturing of oil and natural gas products. Being in business, you end up understanding a lot about budgets and how regulations affect businesses, he said. However, he has faced criticism from his opponent for recusing himself from voting on a 2019 bill dealing with recycled water from oil production. I think thats the wrong person to have there standing up for oil and gas when theyre going to recuse themselves, Gallegos said. Fulfer said in an interview that the legislation was too closely related to his business for him to vote on it but that he does not feel a conflict of interest exists on other oil-related bills. The two candidates have also disagreed over teacher pay raises, with Fulfer supporting 6% raises provided last year and Gallegos claiming it would have been more fiscally prudent for the state to give teachers bonuses, not raises, when it had a big budget surplus. Vaccines that protect people from infection by Streptococcus pneumonia, which kills up to 1 million children every year worldwide, train the immune system to recognize the pathogen's thick sugar capsule. Pneumococcus capsules are not only the active ingredient in vaccines; they're also key to the pathogen's virulence. But different strains have different capsules, which means vaccine researchers need to identify all capsule types. This week in mBio, pneumococcus experts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham describe a newly-found capsule--the 100th to be identified since the pathogen was first discovered in the late 19th century. Microbiologist Moon Nahm, M.D., who led the study, said identifying new capsules is critical to keep up with the rapidly changing bacteria and update vaccines that can save lives. Current pneumococcal vaccines contain 10-13 different types of capsules, and they cause a person's immune system to produce antibodies against those capsules. If you get rid of the capsules, then the bugs cannot cause the infection." Moon Nahm M.D, Study Lead and Microbiologist, American Society for Microbiology But pneumococcus is a moving and constantly evolving target. As vaccines vanquish some capsules, new ones emerge that can shield the virus from the immune system. As a result, the vaccines become less effective, and the pathogen still poses a serious threat, even to immunized children. Nahm likened the pursuit of a pneumococcus vaccine to an ongoing game of whack-a-mole: Even as it protects people against known capsules, new ones pop up. Pneumococcus is smart," said Nahm. "It's critical for scientists to know about different capsule types." In the last decade or so, Nahm's lab in Birmingham--recognized as a reference lab by the WHO--has identified 10 new capsules. His research focuses on finding ways to make vaccines both more effective and less expensive. (The current pneumococcal vaccine costs about $100 per dose, putting it out of reach for many children in low-income countries.) Nahm and his collaborators discovered the new capsule after being contacted by the Global Pneumococcal Sequencing (GPS) project. With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, GPS researchers had sequenced the genomes of more than 20,000 pneumococci strains. When those researchers found strains with capsule genes they didn't recognize, they sent the strains to Nahm's group, which identified the new and 100th capsule structure. Notably, Nahm and his team discovered that some of the genes responsible for the new capsule came from oral streptococci, germs that live in the mouth, and nose. Oral streptococci rarely cause diseases and are usually thought to be benign (though they can cause cavities). The connection suggests that the pathogenic pneumococci can capture advantageous genes from other, less harmful bacteria. That ability may help the pathogen hide even better in the body. Nahm said diagnostic tests will need to differentiate between the genes in benign bacteria and those in streptococci. "We have to improve our diagnostic assays in the future to avoid false positives," he said. That connection may also affect vaccine research. "If we don't know which gene is coming from which species, then we could get the vaccine design wrong." While the whole world remains locked down due to COVID-19, China surely is open for business. Even the city that started it all, Wuhan, is fully open after a 76-day lockdown. Reuters However, a recent report by Bloomberg reveals that the Chinese province of Jilin has put 108 million people in lockdown starting today, after 34 cases of the novel coronavirus surfaced, along with a death in the past few weeks. In case you didnt know, Jilin is situated in the northeast part of China. Authorities have shut services of busses and trains from leaving or entering the region. Schools, offices all have been shut. This sudden came after three new cases sprung up on Saturday, followed by two new cases emerging on Sunday. As of now, the entire region of Jilin has around 127 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, with two deaths reported for now -- this is all thanks to the strict lockdown measures during February and March, just like how it was seen in Wuhan in Hubei, China. The government of Shulan, a city in Jilin, said on WeChat today that it would be adhering to stringent measures to contain the novel coronavirus. It has announced that residential compounds with confirmed or suspected cases will be shut off completely. It also announced that only one person from each family allowed to leave to purchase essentials for two hours every two days. Reuters Authorities arent still able to find whats causing the sudden rise in cases. Some feel its due to Chinese citizens returning from Russia since its not very far from the border. Russia also sits at the second spot for one of the worst-hit nations around the world, after the United States of America. As of now, Russia has at least 290,000 active cases with 2,722 deaths reported. China, on the other hand, has reported roughly 84,000 cases with 4,638. DALLAS, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) has been granted Candidate for Accreditation status with the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) for its new Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program being launched at USAHS Dallas campus*. USAHS is now accepting applications to the DPT program, which will launch in Dallas this fall. "The University's success blends our modern, interdisciplinary health sciences education with a focus on unparalleled patient care and service to the community," said Dr. Thomas Werner, DPT Program Director in Dallas. "We are pleased to have completed another step in the pre-accreditation process, which started over two years ago." The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences opened the new Dallas campus in 2019, located in the Riverside Commons complex in Irving-Las Colinas, to help meet the growing demand for qualified rehabilitative science professionals and advanced-practice nurses in Texas. USAHS Dallas currently offers programs in occupational therapy and speech-language pathology on campus. The University also offers several online health science graduate programs including Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Master of Health Administration (MHA), Master of Health Science (MHS), and Doctor of Education (EdD). "Texas is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation; combined with an aging population, the demand for healthcare services in Texas and the greater DFW area will be remarkable," Dr. Werner added. "The impact of this shortage will be profound if there are not enough licensed, practice-ready professionals prepared to meet this growing demand in the next decade." The projected increase in demand for physical therapists is 22% through the year 2028, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That projection means the country is expected to need more than 54,000 new physical therapists within the next decade. Founded in 1979, USAHS is an accredited, graduatelevel university that is committed solely to health and rehabilitative sciences through innovative classroom and clinical education. USAHS is a private university that has been serving the Austin area since 2012, with other campuses in St. Augustine and Miami in Florida, and San Marcos in Southern California. USAHS is the largest graduate-level physical and occupational therapy institution in the U.S. with more than 9,600 alumni. "Our graduates from Austin have consistently demonstrated that they are well-prepared to practice as effective, interdisciplinary problem-solvers, and leaders in their professions," said Dr. Brian Goldstein, University Chief Academic Officer. "The programs being offered at the Dallas campus represent some of the most in-demand professions in healthcare, not only in Texas but across the United States." *Program's Status in Pre-accreditation Process Effective April 28, 2020, the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences' Doctor of Physical Therapy program at the Dallas, Texas campus has been granted Candidate for Accreditation status by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (1111 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA, 22314; phone: 703-706-3245; email: [email protected]). If needing to contact the program/institution directly, please contact Dr. Jackie Crossen-Sills [email protected]. Candidate for Accreditation is a pre-accreditation status of affiliation with the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education that indicates the program is progressing toward accreditation and may matriculate students in technical/professional courses. Candidate for Accreditation is not an accreditation status, nor does it assure eventual accreditation. Media Contact: Joe Cockrell [email protected] 480.241.6992 SOURCE University of St. Augustine Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 14:21 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8ffaa1 1 National nurse,pregnant,COVID-19,coronavirus,COVID-19-death-toll,pandemic,health Free A four-month pregnant nurse suspected of having COVID-19 in Surabaya, East Java, died on Monday after receiving treatment at two different hospitals, officials reported. Ari Puspita Sari, 26, had been working at Royal Hospital for a little over a year treating non-COVID-19 patients. According to hospital spokesperson Dewa Nyoman Sutanaya, Ari was admitted and treated there for three days after showing symptoms of COVID-19. As her condition kept deteriorating, she was referred to Dr. Ramelan Navy Hospital (RSAL), also in Surabaya, on Friday. She reportedly passed away at around 10.50 a.m. on Monday, along with her unborn baby. At the time of her death, her swab test result had not been issued, but RSAL helped with the burial using COVID-19 protocols, Dewa said as quoted by tribunnews.com. Her death was confirmed by Indonesian Nurses Association (PPNI) chairperson Harif Fadhilla on Monday, who also reported the current number of nurses who have contracted by the disease. Read also: COVID-19: #IndonesiaTerserah trends as frustration mounts over physical distancing violations, govt policies Twenty nurses nationwide have died of COVID-19, he said as quoted from kompas.com. Fifty-nine nurses have been confirmed to have COVID-19, while 48 others are suspected of having the disease. The data might not be factual as [the patients stepped forward] voluntarily. There might be many nurses who do not report their status, he said, indicating that the actual number of nurses with COVID-19 might be bigger than the collected data. Saya mendengar kabar duka tentang berpulangnya Ibu Ari Puspita Sari, seorang perawat di Rumah Sakit Royal Surabaya... Posted by Presiden Joko Widodo on Monday, May 18, 2020 President Joko Jokowi Widodo expressed his condolences on Aris death through his official Facebook account. I heard the sad news about Ari Puspita Sari, a nurse at the Royal Hospital Surabaya who passed away with her baby, he wrote. My heart goes out to Ari, doctors and other medical workers, as well as those who work on the frontline, battling COVID-19. A 52-second video showing a patient being taken to a hospital isolation unit by medical staff in hazmat suits previously went viral on social media. The video, posted by a Facebook user named Bayou Prakoso on Facebook on Monday, was captioned: A nurse of Royal Hospital in Surabaya, positive for COVID-19 and four months pregnant, has little chance to survive as she already depends on a respirator. Please pray for this mother and her baby. Several other medical workers were seen calling Aris name from afar as she was wheeled into an elevator under tight COVID-19 protocols. Several hours after the video went viral, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa posted a picture of the nurse on her official Instagram account, announcing that she had passed away. Another medical hero from East Java has passed away. Me, personally, and the East Java administration send our hearts to her and we thank her for her work, she wrote in the post. (trn) A 26-year-old New Jersey man spit and coughed on Jackson police officers Monday after being asked to leave a Dollar General store when he removed his mask and touched other customers, authorities said Marquise Cadet also told police he had the coronavirus, fought with officers on several occasions, tried to flood a holding cell and removed all his clothes while being processed, Jackson police said in a statement. The wild incident started to unfold just before 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Manhattan Street Plaza business when Cadet wouldnt obey an employees instructions to put on a face covering he had removed, officials said. When cops arrived Cadet wouldnt provide his name, claiming he was from another state and did not have identification on him, the police statement said. Cadet then put his hands behind his back and told police to arrest him. As the officers tried to handcuff Cadet, he pulled away and ran, officials said. After being caught following a short chase on foot he again struggled with police trying to take him into custody, authorities said. Police then learned Cadets identity when they conducted a search and found his drivers license. Cadet was far from finished, though, according to police. He continued to physically resist officers as they tried to secure him in the patrol car and buckle his seatbelt. When Cadet arrived at police headquarters, his antics continued, officials said. Cadet resumed cursing at officers, spitting directly into the face of one while declaring he had COVID-19, according to police. After being placed in a holding cell, Cadet used the cots mattress to cover a surveillance camera and started to use the toilet to flood the cell, police said. Police then moved Cadet to another room where he spit and coughed repeatedly, cursed at officers and stripped naked, according to authorities. Finally, Cadet fought with officers from another shift who were bringing him to the Ocean County jail after freeing himself from the transport belt in the rear of the patrol vehicle Cadet was charged with obstruction, resisting arrest, hindering apprehension, aggravated assault and making terroristic threats during a state of emergency). He remains held at the county jail. Police noted the area where Cadet was processed was later cleaned and disinfected. Gov. Phil Murphy has repeatedly referred to people who dont comply with executive orders regarding social distancing, wearing masks and obeying police as knuckleheads. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Kolkata, May 19 : At least 12 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been kept on stand-by as the cyclonic storm is likely to hit a large part of the coastal areas with "very heavy rainfall" on Wednesday evening. Besides West Bengal, a warning has also been issued for Odisha, Sikkim and Meghalaya till Thursday. Cyclone Amphan (pronounced as 'um-pun') is expected to make a landfall somewhere between West Bengal's Digha and Hatya Island in Bangladesh. A part of it may also make a landfall somewhere between Kakdwip and Sagar Island in the state's South 24-Parganas district at a minimum speed of 155-165 km/hour (maximum 185 km/hour). Currently, the cyclonic storm lies centred over west-central Bay of Bengal about 570 km nearly south of Paradip in Odisha, 720-km south-west of Digha (West Bengal) and 840-km south-southwest of Khepupara in Bangladesh. Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday called up West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee assuring her necessary assistance from the Centre. Sources at the state secretariat Nabanno said that Shah telephoned West Bengal CM this morning and spoke to her in detail about the arrangements made in various south Bengal districts. He reportedly told the CM that the Centre is keeping a close watch on all the developments related to the cyclonic storm. "The Union minister also said the Centre is ready to provide, if needed, all relief materials to the state government," state government sources said. Earlier, Banerjee had already directed the state disaster management authorities to transport the evacuees to temporary cyclone centres for safety. Three coastal districts of East Midnapore, South 24-Parganas and North 24-Parganas are expected to be the worst affected in the cyclonic spell. Besides these three districts, cyclone Amphan is also likely to affect other south Bengal districts -- Howrah, Hooghly, West Midnapore and Kolkata. Round-the-clock control rooms have been opened in several districts to review the situation. Several steps have been taken by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the Kolkata Police to monitor the situation on an hourly basis. A centralised control room has also been opened at the KMC, Arannya Bhavan and the state secretariat Nabanno to keep a close watch on the situation. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text HONG KONG, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Now on its ninth edition, the prestigious JNA Awards will hold its Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner at Rosewood Hong Kong on 14 September 2020. Launched only last year, Rosewood is a new five-star luxury venue overlooking the Victoria Harbour in the heart of the city. The JNA Awards, which has been organised by Informa Markets since 2012, is one of the most renowned awards programmes in the international jewellery and gemstone trade. It is dedicated to promoting and encouraging best practices, innovation and excellence; and aims to bring sustainable advancement to the industry on a global scale. "It is often said that 'out of adversity comes opportunity.' The same rings true for our industry today, wherein a pandemic has highlighted the need to be resilient, adaptable and flexible. Now more than ever, it is important that we celebrate the achievements we have made as an industry in the past year, as well as show our commitment and dedication to moving the trade forward in this unprecedented and most challenging time," says Letitia Chow, Chairperson of the JNA Awards and Director of Business Development - Jewellery Group at Informa Markets. Chow continues that she and the rest of the JNA Awards team look forward to once again welcoming and meeting industry peers from around the world to this annual affair. As in the past eight editions, the 2020 JNA Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner will be held during Jewellery and Gem WORLD Hong Kong. The JNA Awards 2020 is supported by Headline Partners Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, Shanghai Diamond Exchange, and DANAT, together with Honoured Partners KGK Group, China Gems and Jade Exchange and Guangdong Land Holdings Limited. For more information, visit www.JNAawards.com or contact: JNA Awards Marketing Informa Markets (Hong Kong) +852 2516-2184 marketing@jnaawards.com Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1161572/JNA_Awards_2020.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1169870/IM_Jewellery_GMV_Lock_ups_RGB_Indigo_Green_Grad.jpg Cecile Rol-Tanguy, a heroine of the French Resistance who helped lead a popular uprising against the German occupation of Paris, died on May 8 at her home in Monteaux, about 130 miles from Paris. She was 101. Her family announced the death. Ms. Rol-Tanguy joined the Resistance at age 21, after the Nazis moved into Paris. She acted as a clandestine liaison officer for her husband, Henri Rol-Tanguy, a prominent Communist and a colonel of the Forces Francaises de lInterieur (French Forces of the Interior), who worked alongside Gen. Charles de Gaulles London-based Free French Forces. President Donald Trump called for banning cattle imports from all nations who have not 'really been with us' at a White House event Tuesday, where he announced a new multi-billion program for U.S. farmers. Trump talked up a cattle ban as well as slapping on new tariffs at an event to announce $19 billion in aid to farmers to put money in their pockets amid the coronavirus outbreak which has closed restaurants and disrupted food supply. 'Why are we bringing in cattle from other countries when we have so much ourselves?' Trump asked at the event, which was attended by farmers, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, and first daughter Ivanka Trump. 'Its a very small number, but its still cattle coming in,' Trump explained when asked about what he is proposing. 'We have tremendous amounts of supply, cattle and you know all but generally speaking supply tremendous supply. Our the farmers have done an incredible job. And now the distribution is being made much better than it has been. It will be better than hit has been,' Trump said. Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, right, looks on as Trump adjusts his suit during an event on the food supply chain during the coronavirus pandemic, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, May 19, 2020, in Washington. The president announced a $19 billion plan to boost farmers 'Im saying why are we bringing in cattle old trade deals that were made a long time ago. Why are we bringing that in cattle from other countries when we have so much ourselves?' he asked. The U.S. imported 530,000 head of cattle this year, according to Beef Market Central, with Mexico and Canada as the main sources. Trade with both nations is governed by the USMCA trade deal negotiated by Trump's advisors. Speaking to Perdue, Trump said: 'Now in some cases, I thought your answer was very good. Theyve been great allies. Theye been working with us for many years. Sometimes we needed the cattle. Sometimes we dont.' Beef cattle at the Kasko Cattle feedlot, which are affected by a supply chain blockage caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks at meat-packing plants, in Coaldale, Alberta, Canada May 6, 2020. President Trump on Tuesday spoke about banning cattle imports to the U.S. Trump announced $16 billion in direct aid to farmers and $3 billion in food purchases Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue adjusts his mask before an event in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, May 19, 2020, in Washington Farm workers harvest zucchini on the Sam Accursio & Son's Farm on April 01, 2020 in Florida City, Florida. Sergio Martinez, a harvest crew supervisor, said that the coronavirus pandemic has caused them "to have to throw crops away due to less demand for produce in stores and restaurants. The farm workers who are essential to providing food for homebound families are worried that if the restaurants stay closed and peoples changed grocery store habits continue they would be out of work with no work for the near future." John Duffy plants 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 Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, speaks during an event on the food supply chain and the coronavirus pandemic, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, May 19, 2020 Then he added: 'I would say generally speaking unless this is a country that's really has been with us we shouldnt be taking their cattle, okay. And that's the way were going to handle it.' Trump's negotiators failed to secure country of origin labeling for Canadian and Mexican beef during trade deal talks. Trump announced a program through the Agriculture Department to make $16 billion in direct aid to farmers and $3 billion in food purchases to be used for a Food Box Distribution Program. Farmers suffering a 5 per cent loss can get direct payments of up to $250,000 per person under the program, Bloomberg News reported. Trump already steered billions to farmers amid the trade war with China. The program aids dairy farmers, fruit and vegetable growers, and livestock producers. The effort comes amid a massive jump in U.S. unemployment and also severe challenges for farmers. Amid meat processing plant closures linked to the coronavirus, there have been reports of farmers euthanizing cattle and pigs, while dairy farmers have been discarding milk supply due to distribution problems. School and restaurant closures have impacted demand. Last week Purdue and Ivanka Trump toured a facility that packed food boxes for needy families. A number of passengers who arrived at the Lucknow Airport by a Vande Bharat flight from Sharjah on May 9 have complained about gross mismanagement causing agony, especially to senior citizens and pregnant women. While a probe has been ordered by the authorities into the allegations that passengers were made to stand at the tarmac for hours, these 182 passengers have been kept in quarantine at different hotels in the city. Director of Lucknow Airport AK Sharma said he had set up an inquiry after the matter was brought to his notice. It was the duty of the airlines to bring the passengers into the lobby from where they could have gone to their respective quarantine centres. The aim of setting up an inquiry is to see why the passengers suffered and had to wait for hours at the tarmac, he said. Colonel (retired) Sharad Awasthi, 66, who boarded the flight with his wife Shikha, 62, from Sharjah after a forced extended stay due to the lockdown, said, Both of us had been touring the Gulf since January 15 but our plans went haywire due to the disruptions caused by Covid-19 pandemic. However, we were able to return to Lucknow on May 9, but were disappointed to see poor preparations, which caused hardship to the passengers. The flight landed at Lucknow airport around 9 pm , but instead of taking them to the lobby and offering them seats, or water, the passengers were made to stand at the tarmac itself for over two hours. The tarmac was full of mosquitoes and standing there for such a long time after a four-hour long flight was torturous, Awasthi said, adding, there were no senior officials to listen to their woes. They could not even use the washroom. According to the passengers, there were eight pregnant women, who just couldnt stand for long and had to sit on the ground. They wanted to use the washroom but were denied permission to leave the tarmac by the security forces manning the area. The security forces, they said, kept saying all the passengers would be allowed to go after they got the requisite instructions. The passengers were called three hours in advance at the Sharjah airport and they spent a good four hours inside the flight. Thus, most were desperate to reach their quarantine centre at the earliest, said one of the passengers in quarantine. Col Awasthi said, The situation was difficult for pregnant women and the aged, some of whom showed signs of illness. We husband and wife were already under distress as we both have age-related ailments. We ran out of our stock of medicines around one-and-a-half month back. So, we were not feeling well and wanted to sit somewhere. We needed a glass of water and some snacks but no official of AAI or district administration was present to listen to our problems. I was so surprised to see a photograph of the district magistrate garlanding a passenger published in a daily, while we kept on searching for any official at the airport. The passengers alleged that there was no one to guide them. There were only policemen and paramilitary personnel to greet us. It was 12 am when we started searching for buses for our hotels, said Col Awasthi. A pregnant woman, resident of Kanpur who came from Sharjah and had chosen Radison hotel for her stay, was refused room by the hotel staff because they were not ready to open their hotel for just one person. Later, the police helped her with another city hotel. However, during all this, no officials of the district administration were seen, Col Awasthi quoted the woman as saying. Director of Lucknow Airport Sharma said, We had to maintain social distancing according to the protocol and guidelines. It was our first experience and perhaps some mistakes were made. We will surely improve. It was not only the AAI but a lot of other departments like CISF, district administration that were also involved in the process. However, the airlines are bound to make arrangements for the aged people and women in the flight. When the question was put to Lucknow divisional commissioner Mukesh Meshram, he said, We are not aware of any such incident after the flight landed in Lucknow on May 9. If such complaints are made by any passenger, we will definitely probe the matter. Around 17 opposition parties have agreed to participate in the meeting which will be held via videoconferencing. New Delhi: The Congress has called a meeting of like-minded opposition parties on Friday to discuss the plight of migrant workers and the changes in labour laws by some states, sources said.Congress president Sonia Gandhi will chair the meeting of leaders of opposition parties, the sources said on Tuesday. Around 17 opposition parties have agreed to participate in the meeting which will be held via videoconferencing. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have not yet confirmed their participation, they said. Rendered jobless due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, which began on March 25, and desperate to get home, thousands of migrant workers across the country are undertaking long and arduous journeys to their native places on foot, on bicycles or packed into trucks. Many of them have been killed in accidents in different parts of the country. The Opposition has criticised the government over its handling of the migrant crisis. The Congress and other opposition parties have also attacked the Centre for allowing BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to amend labour laws to lure foreign investors and "to strip workers of their basic rights". These changes include exempting industrial units from labour welfare statutes, allowing them to take steps such as increasing daily and weekly working hours of workers, and depriving workers of their right to move court. China has joined as a co-sponsor to a vital motion at the World Health Assembly calling for an independent review into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. After weeks of high-stakes negotiations, accusations of a Washington-smear campaign and trade strikes on Australia, China's decision to co-sponsor the resolution means it will pass with full consensus at the meeting of the assembly on Tuesday night. China had opposed Australias calls for an independent global inquiry, but has now insisted the motion it will co-sponsor is vastly different to Canberras position. Chinese President Xi Jinping. Credit:Xinhua The motion was originally put forward by the European Union, but after negotiations with a number of countries, including Australia, it was strengthened to explicitly state the review should be "impartial, independent and comprehensive". Australia lobbied the United States and the United Kingdom to join the resolution last week. Sam Neill in Jurassic Park (Credit: Universal) Sam Neill will be reprising his role of grumpy palaeontologist Alan Grant in Jurassic World: Dominion. But not for a while yet. Filming of the latest movie in the long-running dinosaur franchise, being helmed by Colin Trevorrow, had to be halted just two weeks into production, following the coronavirus lockdown. Speaking on the Fitzy & Wippa show on NovaFM in Australia, he explained that the cast are now 'in the fridge'. Read more: Mission: Impossible 7 and 8 pushed back They got two weeks done, he said. I was waiting in London for my stuff to start and then it became apparent it was going to close down in a day or two. I got a flight to Perth, made it as far as Sydney and got into the quarantine thing. He went on: We'll start as soon as we can. We're supposed to be in London but it's a complete mess at the moment. I'd like to think that maybe we could start or restart in this part of the world and then finish off in the studio. Jurassic World (Credit: Universal) We're using the Bond stage [at Pinewood] to build these enormous sets in London. They'd like to use those, ideally, but if nothing is happening there, I don't know when we can get started. Filming had started on the movie in February, in Vancouver, with other locations in Malta, Hawaii and Hawley Common in Hampshire. But the film was put on a hiatus on 13 March, 10 days prior to the UK's full lockdown. Read more: Actors who quit iconic roles There's no news yet on when production might restart, but currently the movie still has its release date of 11 June, 2021, in place. Neill will be back on screen alongside Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Satler, and Jeff Goldblum as smooth-talking maths whizz Dr. Ian Malcolm. They'll join Chris Pratt, Bryce Dalla Howard, Jake Johnson and Omar Sy on the bill. Taiwan expresses dissatisfaction over exclusion from WHA ROC Central News Agency 05/18/2020 07:13 PM Taipei, May 18 (CNA) Foreign Minister Joseph Wu () has expressed dissatisfaction that Taiwan was not invited to attend the virtual World Health Assembly (WHA) that began Monday despite significant support worldwide. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses deep regret and strong dissatisfaction that the World Health Organization (WHO) Secretariat has yielded to pressure from the Chinese government and continues to disregard the right to health of the 23 million people of Taiwan," Wu said at a press conference. Fourteen of Taiwan's diplomatic allies submitted a proposal for the issue of Taiwan's exclusion to be put on the WHA agenda, but it is unlikely the issue will be discussed because the agenda has been significantly shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wu said. Taiwan will wait until later in the year when meetings are expected to be conducted normally to promote its bid, following suggestions from its allies and like-minded nations, Wu said. There has been significant support for Taiwan's WHO participation from world leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he said. So far, governments from 29 countries have expressed support for Taiwan's WHO campaign, and politicians from 43 countries, including more than 600 lawmakers from North America, Europe, and Central and South American countries, have given their backing, according to Wu. Sensing the opportunity presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the relatively few people in Taiwan who have tested positive (440 as of Monday) for the disease or died from it (seven), Taiwan's government mounted an aggressive publicity campaign focused on getting an invitation to the WHA. Because it is not a member of the United Nations, Taiwan has to rely on the goodwill of other countries to take part in United Nations affiliated organizations such as the WHO. China has sought to block Taiwan from any activity that would suggest it is an independent entity, but Taiwan was able to attend the WHA, the WHO's decision-making body, as an observer under the name "Chinese Taipei" from 2009 to 2016 when Taipei's relations with Beijing were better under the then-Kuomintang administration. Since 2017, however, China has persuaded the WHO not to invite Taiwan, in line with Beijing's hardline stance on cross-Taiwan Strait relations since President Tsai Ing-wen () of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party took office in May 2016. Taiwan was hoping for a breakthrough this year by touting the help it has provided to other countries to combat COVID-19, to no avail. Wu repeated Monday the efforts Taiwan has made. Taiwan is working closely with the United States and many European countries to develop rapid testing kits, vaccines, and medicines for COVID-19, he said. It has also donated 27.5 million face masks, 131 infrared thermal imaging cameras, 35,000 forehead thermometers, and 250 automatic body temperature detection systems. More help will soon be on the way, Wu said, with Taiwan now preparing to donate another 23.5 million surgical masks, 1.16 million N95 masks, 170,000 protective gowns, 600,000 isolation gowns, 70 respirators, 34 PCR test devices, and 500,000 quinine tablets. The minister urged the WHO Secretariat to listen carefully to reasonable appeals from the international community, be professional and neutral, resist interference by the Chinese government, and allow Taiwan to take part in all WHO meetings, mechanisms, and activities. "The people of Taiwan abhor the two-faced behavior of the Chinese government, which claims to care for their health and welfare while actually seeking to deprive them of their right to health at every turn," he said. WHO principal legal officer Steven Solomon recently said the WHO director-general could not invite Taiwan to join the WHA meeting this year as an observer because there was not clear support from WHO members. "To put it crisply, directors-general only extend invitations when it's clear that member states support doing so," Solomon said. "Today, however, the situation is not the same. Instead of clear support, there are divergent views among member states and no basis there for -- no mandate -- for the DG to extend an invitation (to Taiwan)." The WHA is scheduled to hold its 73rd session on Monday and Tuesday, but it will be a virtual meeting due to travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the WHO. (By Lee Hsin-Yin) Enditem/ls NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address A Chinese guard wears a protective mask as he stands at the entrance to the Forbidden City as it re-opened to limited visitors or the May holiday, in Beijing, China, on May 1, 2020. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) Trading With the Devil Commentary The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) isnt used to being pushed around. But U.S. President Donald Trump knows how to shove, and he can shove pretty hard when he sets his mind to it. Within the space of a year or so, from 2018 to 2019, he trashed all of the fundamentally imbalanced trade arrangements that China had built its wealth upon at the expense of U.S. manufacturers over the past 40 years. No one was surprised, therefore, at Beijings reaction to Trumps hard-hitting trade war and stiff tariff policies toward Chinese products. A big part of Chinas initial response was to resort to retaliatory trade practices against U.S. products, such as canceling purchases of U.S. soybeans and other agricultural products. Beijing Going After Red States Not coincidentally, China was also punishing states that supported Trump in the 2016 election. That was clever on Beijings part, but it changed nothing. Trump kept hammering the Chinese economy with his tariffs, and the Chinese economy kept declining. Even now, amid the United States 2020 election season, Chinas targeting of pro-Trump states is designed to erode support for the one man the regime cant tolerate as president of the United States. Meanwhile, U.S. legislators are trying to strip China of legal immunity, which would enable U.S. citizens to sue China for damages from the COVID-19 pandemic. A Smarter Strategy At the same time, Chinas global strategy was a bit smarter. The idea was to isolate the United States from its allies, especially those that were heavily dependent upon China for trade. The thinking in Beijing was that, for most nations, their lucrative trade relations with China would trump political, cultural, and even military alliances with the United States. And for a while, that was true, at least in some instances. Until recently, Australia was a perfect example of that policy. It has been, of course, closely aligned with the United States since World War I. But as a lightly populated country rich in natural resources and in relatively close proximity, Australia relies on China as a major market for its commodities. Those include a variety of minerals, coal, gas, and ore, as well as barley and beef. In short, Australia has benefited greatly from Chinas economic rise. Today, in terms of both imports and exports, China is Australias largest trading partner. Australia imports about 25 percent of its manufactured goods from China, and up to 13 percent of its coal exports go to China. AustraliaA Perfect Opportunity As such, Australia posed a terrific opportunity for Beijing to deepen and expand its economic and cultural relationships with a close U.S. ally. That explains why, as late as May 2019, former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard insisted that Australia wouldnt take sides in the U.S.China trade disputes. It was an understandable but tenuous balancing act that made some sense at the time. Australia didnt wish to jeopardize its deep trading relationship with China. It wasnt that successive Australian governments havent been aware of Beijings grand plans for a global presence in every sphere of activity. Its no secret that technological, military, and cultural preeminence are also part of Chinas ambitions. But what could Australia do about it? Containing Beijing was far beyond Canberras capabilities. If it was anybodys job to do so, it was Washingtons. And until recently, Canberra was behaving just as Beijing hoped it would. But then Beijing sabotaged its smartest strategy. These days, Australia is seeking to manage the risks that come with relying so heavily upon one market, particularly one that has demonstrated its willingness to bully its own people and trading partners alike. Today, like much of the world, Australia now understands two very important facts about China that can no longer be ignored. Beijings Pandemic Misstep First, Beijings monstrous extradition bill and the Hong Kong crisis that followed was just a preview of the CCPs treachery. But the viral outbreak that followed in late 2019 was the real deal-breaker. The pandemic that destroyed the worlds economies shattered any remaining illusionsself-imposed or otherwisethat Australia and many other trading partners may have held with respect to Chinas view of other nations. For many Western nations, including Australia, the CCPs own actions have made neutrality untenable. Its simply no longer wise or even politically or morally viable. Not only did the CCP lie about viruss origin and the timing of the outbreak, the Party leadership silenced its own doctors, denied that it could be transmitted human-to-human, and withheld critical scientific information from the rest of the world. China an Outlaw Nation As a result, China has clearly shown that its an outlaw nation. Most countries now understand that the regime in Beijing operates without any regard for human lifenot for its own citizens, nor the rest of the world. To its great credit, Australia recently issued a call for an investigation into the source and cause of the pandemic, even though its costing them dearly in exports to China. Australia has been unequivocal that going forward, in the grand struggle thats rapidly unfolding between the United States and China, theyre siding with the United States. Beijing Blows Big Chance With UK, the World But Australia isnt the only nation to wake up to the China threat. With Trump pressuring an intransigent UK government to dump Huawei as a 5G telecom equipment provider, the U.S.UK special relationship was becoming decidedly less special the past couple of years. For many months, Trump threatened Britain with fewer trade opportunities and lowering security cooperation levels if the UK approved Huawei as a participating 5G vendor. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, however, not inclined to be seen as a performing monkey to U.S. demands, wasnt in a cooperating mood on that very sensitive issue. Thus, the Huawei question presented a brilliant opportunity for China to split the U.S.UK alliance wider than its been in centuries. But Beijings initial handling of the epidemic allowed the virus to infect the worldincluding Johnsonand has all but destroyed any chance that Huawei will be a part of the UKs 5G upgrade. In fact, the UK is now reviewing every aspect of how it views the Chinese regime. Despite its grandiose propaganda and its overt puppeteering of World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, most of the civilized world understands that China is solely responsible for the pandemic. The Partys apparent attempt to use the CCP virus to springboard into a position of global leadership demonstrates the fact that dictatorial regimes that answer to no one have little understanding of those democratic ones that do. As a result, the brutes in Beijing lack the vision and nuance needed to understand Western nations reaction to the CCPs most egregious crimes against humanity. The Faustian trade deals that many Western nations made with China are crumbling more each day, as the Chinese Communist Party shows them just what it means to make a deal with the devil. James R. Gorrie is the author of The China Crisis (Wiley, 2013) and writes on his blog, TheBananaRepublican.com. He is based in Southern California. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said the government will shortly decide on how long the pandemic unemployment payment will continue for and at what level. Mr Donohoe said he did not want the government to discriminate against women returning to work after maternity leave and that officials were addressing these concerns. He also welcomed a commitment by France and Germany for a 500bn European recovery fund and said this would help support employment here and rebuild the Irish economy. This followed a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council and finance ministers earlier today. Asked about plans to extend the Covid-19 350 unemployment payment beyond June, Mr Donohoe said he knew the money was "important" for families and that the government was looking at the period and what amounts would be paid. They will continue for a period of time. But we just have to decide over what period and at what level. We are simply a few days into the reopening of the economy and we just need some information about how the affects the numbers on the wage subsidy scheme and the number of people who are availing of the PUP (pandemic unemployment payment). I would hope we will have more data available on those issues soon and then we will be able to make an announcement soon regarding the value of these payments and what is going to happen to them. Figures released on Monday show that 585,000 people who were unemployed last week will this week receive their weekly payment of 350 under the COVID-19 pandemic unemployment payments scheme. Furthermore, almost a billion euro has been paid to subsidise wages benefiting nearly half a million workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told his Fine Gael party meeting on Monday night that the unemployment payment would "absolutely2 be extended next month. ZEE5, the largest creator of original content in India announces its next film 'Ghoomketu' set to release on 22nd May. An aspiring writer's 101 retreat into the life of the protagonist, Ghoomketu is played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The movie is a comedy-drama from the viewpoint of an inexperienced writer struggling to make it big in the film industry in Mumbai. On his quest to come up with a great story, he is inspired by day to day mundane life activities. Will his ambition and determination exceed his talents? Or will a corrupt cop, who is on a mission to find Ghoomketu, put a brake on his 30-day escapade? Directed by Pushpendra Nath Misra and produced by Phantom Films and Sony Pictures Networks (SPN), this film will be exclusively releasing on ZEE5. The quirk and humour in the movie is exaggerated with dramatic linguistic annotations. The film is set in a wickedly playful backdrop and will be great for the entire family to watch together. The film also has ace director Anurag Kashyap as a cop and the talented Ila Arun as Ghoomketu's Aunt, in lead roles along with Raghubir Yadav, Swanand Kirkire, Ragini Khanna and others. The film will also see special cameos from Amitabh Bachchan, Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Chitrangada Singh, Lauren Gottlieb and filmmaker Nikhil Advani. Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui shares, Ghoomketu is a quirky, never-seen-before character and I thoroughly enjoyed playing him. Anurag, who is generally behind the camera, will be seen sharing screen space with us and it was a great experience to work with him as an actor. 'Ghoomketu' has a phenomenal storyline which will definitely entertain the audience. During this time of the lockdown, I am glad that a humorous film that the entire family can watch is being streamed on ZEE5. Actor Anurag Kashyap shares, Every film is a labour of love and I saw the conviction in the director of Ghoomketu and hence decided to do something which is my least favourite thing to do, which is act. The film is funny and heartwarming. Film Director Pushpendra Nath Misra adds, Wherever we go, we are never far away from our roots. Ghoomketu, as the name suggests, is a story of the 'journey to the beginning'. This a film where the protagonist - a writer- draws inspiration from the idiosyncrasies of his own family members. This was a dream project with a stellar cast (sublime actors, all of them), and the freedom to tell the story in a non-stereotypical way. For all the writers, their observation begins at home. This film is a celebration of our family members - our 'Bua's and 'Chacha's and 'Dadda's - who we (Ghoomketu) always carry in our hearts, wherever we go. I am glad it will reach the huge family audiences of ZEE5. Aparna Acharekar, Programming Head, ZEE5 India expresses, Ghoomketu' is a film made for every member of the family and for them to relate to someone or maybe just sit back and have a good laugh. From a star-studded cast to its quirky characters, the film is a perfect treat for the audience. At ZEE5, we are proud to present Ghoomketu on Eid, our third Original film after Bamfaad and Ateet, to entertain viewers during the lockdown." Vivek Agrawal, Producer, Phantom Films says, Ghoomketu is one of those rare gems that will put a smile on your face while taking you through the struggle of a man who is out there trying his luck in Bollywood films. Bringing this story to life has been a roller-coaster ride, just like the protagonist's journey in the film! It has been a pleasure working on 'Ghoomketu' a project that is relatable for many people, on so many levels and we are thrilled to have ZEE5 on board to release it. This quirky comedy is all set to confuse, entertain and make you laugh this Eid weekend. When a $40B company looks for software which has been battle tested for real-world-use, were thrilled when iCONECT is selected, comments Ian Campbell, CEO of iCONECT. The platform is built for scale yet provides an intuitive web-based interface for both simple and complex projects. iCONECT CA Inc., a privately held leader in legal technology / eDiscovery, today announced that PwC Canada has selected the iCONECT document eDiscovery platform as it looks to enhance its ability to deal with its clients future legal, privacy, regulatory or governance issues. The move enhances the PwC Canadas Forensic Technology Services teams offering, bringing a highly collaborative approach to a clients' needs in document management, electronic discovery and computer forensics. PwC Canadas strategic priorities remain firmly in place as we continue to execute on one of our core values and capability to respond with agility to the ever-changing environment in which we operate, says William Platt, Partner at PwC Canada. We chose iCONECT for its ability to not only perform basic eDiscovery review, but it also presents both conceptual analytics and PII (Personally Identifiable Information) auto-redaction in an intuitive web-based interface. Beyond its ability to import, view, search, analyze, categorize, report and print documents in any legal case, the latest version of iCONECT v10 contains leading edge features such as manual review Oversight; multi-language support, Continuous Active Learning AI and COVER; a module that identifies, reports and redacts PII, PHI, sensitive data or keywords to comply with current and future privacy governance standards. PwC Canadas wide-ranging experience covers almost every industry sector where teams apply legal principles to electronic information, understanding the risks and consequences of spoliation and non-compliance. The firm helps companies formulate a discovery plan then delivers it with minimum disruption. With forensics and information governance professionals in over 30 countries, they understand local legislative and cultural environments and are able to draw on their global network to process large and complex cases quickly and efficiently using state-of-the-art technology and computer forensics laboratories worldwide. When a $40B company looks for software which has been battle tested for real-world-use, were thrilled when iCONECT is selected, comments Ian Campbell, CEO of iCONECT. The platform is built for scale yet provides an intuitive web-based interface for both simple and complex projects. ABOUT iCONECT DEVELOPMENT, LLC iCONECT software has been selected for use in some of the worlds largest high-profile projects such as the ENRON investigation, BP-Oilspill, NASA-Columbia Return to Flight, FDIC-900+ Banking Investigations and most recently the creation of a public access archive for the 30,000 JFK document and audio files released by the CIA. iCONECT was recently named one of the 30 Fastest Growing Tech Companies 2019 by Silicon Review. http://www.iconect.com About PwC Canada At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. More than 7,850 partners and staff in offices across the country are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax, consulting and deals services. PwC Canada is a member of the PwC network of firms with more than 276,000 people in 157 countries. Find out more by visiting us at http://www.pwc.com/ca. 2020 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the Canadian member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see http://www.pwc.com/structure for further details. A Nigerian lady who recently recovered from COVID-19 has told of the effect garlic, ginger, lemon, and tumeric concoction had on her. The lady talked about what it was like fighting the deadly virus after spending two weeks in the hospital. She expressed gratitude for her life and said the symptoms is like nothing she has ever experienced. She shared her symptoms with her followers and said that the Virus is better heard of than experienced. She also warned people about using the garlic, ginger, lemon and tumeric concoction touted as a good herbal remedy to combat the symptoms of COVID-19. She said drinking the concoction was so corrosive it was slowly peeling off her abdominal lining. She wrote: Okay so I did not realize how ungrateful I was to be alive until COVID 19 taught me a great lesson. This past two weeks fighting for my life in the hospital no be moinmoin. Let me tell you what the virus does. **Dry throat first. You will cough tire nothing will come out. ** Running nose plus better migraine *** The neck pain is first class. ***It will so take away ones sense of smell you cant even perceive bleach as pungent as it is. **Every food will taste like shaft infact as strong as salt is couldnt taste it. ** Then your lungs will feel like its full of water. To breath will be like you are panting for your life. **Then when you call for help pray that the person is not dead before ambulance arrives. Take it easy with the garlic ginger turmeric lemon concoction ooo. It was so corrosive it was slowly peeling off my abdominal lining. The Virus is better heard of than experienced. Guys the virus no dey play please stay safe. FYI. I work frontline so I always wore my face mask, face shield and even goggles. I changed my gloves less than every 5mins, washed my hands and used hand sanitizer to the extent my skin was peeling yet still I caught the virus. Im thankful to God that this picture i have here is not my Obituary. STAY AT HOME AND ALLOW NO GUEST TO COME VISIT. STAY SAFE. The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to file within four weeks its response on a plea seeking a direction to authorities not to spray disinfectant Sodium hypochlorite on humans or any other living being in Uttar Pradesh. The Lucknow bench of the high court passed the order on a Public Interest Litigation moved by a local lawyer. Hearing the matter through video conferencing, the bench comprising justices Anil Kumar and Saurabh Lavania also granted two weeks to the petitioner to file his rejoinder. The petitioner has demanded that the state government be asked to strictly follow the central government's guidelines of not spraying Sodium hypochlorite on humans. The PIL also demanded that the state government must issue directions to local administrations not to use the chemical on humans. In the petition, it has been alleged that the chemical is hazardous not only for humans but also for every living being, yet there have been instances in Uttar Pradesh where the local administration has allowed spray of Sodium hypochlorite on people to check the spread of coronavirus. The state counsel, however, submitted that the state agencies were following the guidelines framed by the Centre, and the assertions made in the PIL were misconceived and wrong. After considering the issue, the bench allowed the state to file a counter affidavit in the matter. The court directed its registry to list the matter after six weeks for the next hearing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 01:56:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TRIPOLI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan National Center for Disease Control on Tuesday announced three new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 68. A total of 35 recoveries and three deaths have been reported so far, according to the center. Libyan authorities have taken a series of precautionary measures against the deadly disease, which include imposing a curfew, closing schools and mosques, banning public gatherings and closing all borders. Enditem A 19-year-old law student who was mistakenly killed in a drive-by shooting fled Lebanon for better life in UK after her refugee father was shot in the back during rebel fighting, it has been revealed. Aya Hachem was hit by one of several shots fired from a vehicle as she walked to a Lidl supermarket near her home in Blackburn, Lancashire, on Sunday. Three men aged 39, 33 and 36 continue to be questioned on suspicion of her murder after their arrests on Monday. Today it emerged that her father, Ismail Hachem, arrived in the UK 10 years ago looking for safety as an asylum seeker. According to family friends, he had been shot in crossfire in Lebanon and moved to England hoping for a new life, spending nine years as an asylum seeker. After years of hard work he received his British citizenship last year. Aya, the eldest of four siblings, had arrived in the UK with her family as refugees after fleeing Lebanon when she was still a girl. In 2010, the country had faced a tense border clash with Israel in the disputed Golan Heights territory that killed four people. The fighting had itself following on from the 2006 Lebanon War in the same region that left hundreds dead, and a 17-month period of political instability in the country which culminated in the 2008 conflict involving Hezbollah militants. Aya's former school paid tribute to her as 'a beautiful young girl who fled her home country in search for a better life in the UK'. The second year University of Salford student died in hospital a short time after emergency services were called to the scene in King Street at around 3pm. On Tuesday, Lancashire Police said a post-examination showed she died from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Reports have said that her body will now be flown to Lebanon for her burial. University of Salford student Aya Hachem (pictured) died shortly after she was shot from a car window in Blackburn, Lancashire at around 3pm yesterday Three men aged 39, 33 and 36 continue to be questioned on suspicion of her murder after their arrests on Monday. Pictured: A cordon remains in place around the scene And according to long-term family friend Luky Hussein, the shooting is bringing the horrors of war back for Ismail. 'They fled Lebanon for the war with people threatening to kill him,' he said. 'Coming from something like this to the UK and now his daughter gets shot. This is history repeating itself. I can't imagine what he must be going through." Luky, of Blackburn, who has known Ismail for the 10 years since he arrived in the UK, revealed Ismail had been shot in Lebanon. 'I'm sure it brings it all back for him. He's got a bullet mark in his back, he was shot while he was living in Lebanon. He got caught in crossfire once.' Hardworking Ismail would volunteer at Luky's family takeaway in return for food - while he was banned from working as an asylum seeker. 'The struggles he has been through, he only got granted citizenship last year. Four times his application got refused. His two younger children were born in the UK. 'Finally last year he got his citizenship - and now poor Aya has been shot.' It has emerged that Aya's father, Ismail Hachem, arrived in the UK 10 years ago looking for safety as an asylum seeker. According to family friends, he had been shot in crossfire in Lebanon In an emotional statement, Ismael and Aya's mother Samar said: 'Our beautiful 19-year-old daughter Aya has been taken from us in the most horrific circumstances.' 'She was the most loyal, devoted daughter who enjoyed spending time with her family especially her brothers and sisters Ibraham, Assil and Amir.' Senior Investigating Officer Det Supt Andy Cribbin said: 'Our determination to find who was responsible for the death of Aya continues and we have a large team of detectives working on the inquiry. 'We know that a lot of people have expressed their support for the police investigation and I would like to thank them for that. 'However, we know of a number of videos of the incident are on social media and it is important that people formally report these to us as they are potential evidence. 'We would also ask people, even if they are well-intentioned, not to share these videos out of respect for Aya and her family. 'Similarly, I would urge people not to speculate online about the cause of the incident and to instead share what they know with us, as their information could prove vital.' Witnesses to the tragedy claim the gunman was firing at the Quick Tyre and Quick Shine car wash, but missed and instead shot the University of Salford student. Ms Hachem, who was a young trustee with the Children's Society, had been close to her home when she was shot and killed on King Street. Pictured: Police forensics officers look at a car wash and valet inside the cordon on King Street in Blackburn Aya had excelled at high school in Blackburn and had dreamed of becoming a solicitor after completing her degree. She had just completed her exams and was learning to drive. A neighbour claimed that the Aya and her family had only arrived in the UK 'six or seven years ago' after fleeing Lebanon. The Middle East was hit by the Arab Spring in 2011, with Lebanon experiencing unrest and protests against the government. The country has since suffered from ISIS terror attacks. Ms Hachem's father Ismail Hachem today paid tribute in heartfelt Facebook post. 'My strong daughter lawyer Aya Ismail Hashem God's mercy on your pure soul,' he wrote. One witness to the tragedy said online that Ms Hachem had been 'shot to the floor from a car window' as she walked down the street. 'A woman casually walking down the street gets shot to the floor from a car window,' they said. 'Get me out of this place. Shaken to f***. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.' Another added: 'The aim, I believe, was to shoot out the glass in the big main window of the tyre place near Lidl. He missed and shot the lady.' Ms Hachem (pictured), who was a trustee with the Children's Society, had been just 100 metres from her home when she was shot and killed on King Street A passerby on King Street also today suggested the car wash was the target of the attack, following a previous dispute between the two parties. 'It is some sort of dispute regarding the car wash,' he said. 'There had been a fall out and this was a revenge attack.' Detectives from Lancashire Police's Major Force Incident Unit were seen around the car wash today in protective suits as the investigation into Ms Hachem's death continued. The murder investigation centres around a car 'with a number of occupants' which was spotted leaving the scene shortly after Ms Hachem was shot. A vehicle matching its description - a light-coloured, possibly metallic green Toyota Avensis - was found abandoned on Wellington Road, a short distance away from the scene. Police added there is 'no evidence to suggest Aya was the intended target of this attack and every indication is that she was an innocent passerby.' Ms Hachem had recently passed her second-year law exams at the University of Salford and was the Vice Chairperson of the university's law society. Her father, Ismail Hachem, paid tribute to his 'strong' daughter in a Facebook post. Pictured: The Toyota Avensis police believe was involved in the shooting of Ms Hachem 'My strong daughter lawyer Aya Ismail Hashem God's mercy on your pure soul,' he said. 'They who broke our back with your horizon you were all dream, science and morals. Oh Allah, inspire us with patience and solace.' Her former teachers at Blackburn Central High School have described her as a model student who was hardworking and determined to be the very best she could be. A statement released by the school read: 'She had lots of friends and was involved in helping others by organising charity events. 'A beautiful young girl who fled her home country in search for a better life in the UK. 'At school she embraced every opportunity and was one of the students whose achievement we have celebrated on numerous occasions, an example of what is possible 'She and will always be remembered for her diligence, her beautiful character and her humble nature.' Ms Hachem (pictured), who was a young trustee with the Children's Society, had been close to her home when she was shot and killed on King Street In another touching tribute, Noreen Hussain added: 'Aya Hachem was exactly the type of young woman I'd love for her to aspire to be like. I therefore write this with a very heavy heart. 'As at no point would her parents have imagined she would be taken away during a turbulent time for the world in such a tragic way. 'A mindless gunman has robbed Aya of her life and her family and friends and all those in society, of the good she was doing for others. 'Such a noble and caring soul and intelligent and bright young person.' The teenager, whose family had fled war-torn Lebanon, was found 'unresponsive' on the ground after gunshots were heard in the area around King Street on Sunday. Armed officers, along with as many as seven squad cars and a helicopter, attended the scene and the victim was rushed to hospital, where she sadly died a short while later. Pictured: Forensics officers on King Street, Blackburn after the shooting of Aya Hachem Her father, Ismail Hachem, paid tribute to his 'strong' daughter in a Facebook post today (Pictured: Police on the scene) The Asylum and Refugee Community (ARC) Project in Blackburn paid tribute to the 'beautiful' and 'much loved' Ms Hachem in a Facebook post today. 'With great sadness and heartache we have to share with you that we have lost Aya, beloved eldest daughter of Samar and Ismael from Lebanon,' a statement said. 'Aya, one of our own, lost her life in a horrific senseless attack, randomly caught up in a shooting outside Lidl, King Street, Blackburn as she walked past at around 3pm on Sunday. 'Aya, a beautiful 19 year old young woman from Lebanon, had just passed her 2nd year law exams at Salford University and had a dream and ambition to study international law. 'Aya and her family are much loved in our ARC community. Our hearts and prayers are with them at this painful time especially during this holy month of Ramadam when Aya and her family were fasting.' Pictured: An armed police officer at the scene on King Street, Blackburn, today following the death of a woman from a gunshot wound on Sunday Armed officers, along with as many as seven squad cars and a helicopter, attended the scene and the victim was rushed to hospital The Children's Society Chief Executive, Mark Russell, said: 'We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of one of our young trustees, Aya Hachem. 'She was a truly remarkable young woman, and an inspiring voice for children and young people. Our thoughts are with her family at this awful time.' Friends of the 'beloved' teenager have raised more than 25,000 in just 12 hours to build a Masjid - a mosque - in her honour in west Africa. In a JustGiving post, Hannan Qazi wrote: 'I urge you all to share and donate and grant this beautiful reward to our late sister. 'The Masjid will be built in association with Muslim Hands and built in Niger, West Africa.' In an urgent appeal for witnesses, Terry Woods, of Lancashire Police, said: 'This was an appalling and senseless attack on an innocent young woman, whose life was cut short while she was simply out doing some shopping. Police are seen on King Street today where a woman, 19, was shot and later rushed to hospital where she was pronounced dead 'First and foremost our condolences are with her family, who have lost their daughter during the holy month of Ramadan. For her life to have been cut short like this is unthinkable and her family are understandably utterly distraught. 'We are now asking anybody information to come forward. We know King Street was reasonably busy at the time of the attack and there will have been witnesses in the areas of King Street and Whalley Banks, near Lidl and the A674, who may have seen something or who may know who is responsible. 'We believe a green-coloured Toyota Avensis was used to commit the offence, and this car was later recovered nearby. If you saw the car in the area of King Street and Whalley Banks, or if you saw it being abandoned on Wellington Road, again we would urge you to get in touch. 'Similarly if you have information about who had been using this vehicle either on the day of the attack or in the weeks preceding, please tell us. 'We are also still appealing for anybody with mobile phone, CCTV or dashcam footage taken in the area between 10am and 4pm yesterday to send it to us. Lancashire Police later confirmed that a murder investigation had been launched following the 19-year-old's death 'We appreciate people may not want to get involved and may be reluctant to come forward, but an innocent young woman has been killed in broad daylight and we are asking anybody with any information at all to search their consciences and get in touch to tell us what they know.' The force is appealing for any information from people who were near the murder scene on King Street - even if they were flouting lockdown rules. DS Holmes added: 'We appreciate this will have caused a lot of worry in the community, but we have deployed significant additional resources, including armed officers, to carry out high visibility patrols in the area to provide reassurance to residents. 'Anyone with concerns or questions is welcome to speak to those officers.' Anyone with information is asked to get contact the police on 101, quoting log number 817. Alternatively, information can be provided anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. The Hong Kong stock market finished session sharp higher on Tuesday, 19 May 2020, as risk appetite buying underpinned on following an enthusiastic night on Wall Street, after a U. S. biotech firm said that results from its first human trial of a vaccine candidate against the new coronavirus had been "positive". Meanwhile, hopes of gradual re-opening of some economies also boosted sentiment. At closing bell, the benchmark Hang Seng Index advanced 1.9%, or 453.36 points, to 24,388.13. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index spurted 1.61%, or 156.94 points, to 9,883.37. The gains in Hong Kong were mostly across the board, with banks and property developers the day's big winners. Out of the 50 index constituents, 48 rose. Investors appetite for risk assets underpinned on tracking gains on the Wall Street overnight on news on the first clinical tests of a coronavirus vaccine. Drug company Massachusetts-based Moderna announced encouraging results in very early testing of an experimental coronavirus vaccine. Adding to an upbeat mood was the firm saying in a press release that provisional clinical data showed that the vaccine created coronavirus antibodies in some of those who took part in the trial and added that it was "generally safe". A Phase 3 trial, the largest and most important to validate the efficacy of a vaccine, should begin in July. The World Health Organization has said there are more than 100 candidate vaccines worldwide in various stages of developmental process and trials aimed at combating the virus. Investors have kept a close eye on vaccine programs of several drugmakers, cheering any positive development amid fears of a second wave of infections as governments start easing restrictions. Investors are hoping that a working vaccine for COVID-19 can be developed and that it will help reassure people and businesses as the economy reopens. News of favourable results about a potential vaccine, coupled with the easing of lockdown measures across the globe, supported risk sentiments. Tech stocks were in focus after the compiler of Hang Seng Index decided to proceed with its biggest revamp to the benchmark gauge in 14 years. The inclusion of the new economy stocks in the benchmark will come as early as August. Alibaba, which reports its earnings on Friday, gained 3.4%. Meituan Dianping, which gained 3.2%, rose to an all-time high, while Xiaomi gained 5.2%. The chances of these three companies being included in the index during the next rejig are high. Index heavyweight Tencent added 1.7%. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As The World Enters a New Cold War With China, Canada Must Make a Stand: OToole The world is entering a new Cold War with China in the wake of the pandemic, says Conservative leadership candidate Erin OToole, and if Canada doesnt take a stronger stance against Beijing, it will remain vulnerable to the regimes misdeeds. The original Cold War was Soviet communism, and now its Chinese communism but the characteristics of communism are always the same: Keep freedom down, keep religion down, keep information down, he said in an interview. I think we need to push back, added OToole, the Official Oppositions shadow minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development. We have to coordinate with our allies much, much closer on China so that we cannot be isolated. Beijing likes to isolate a country like they did with [Canada]imprisoning our citizens, disrupting trade. The more they can isolate a country and use their size and their economic clout, thats what Beijing likes to do. OToole said Canadas hesitation to hold the Beijing regime to account on several issues, not just its mishandling of the pandemic, has put the country at increasing riskfrom Chinas imprisonment of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, to retaliatory trade practices, to spying and exerting influence on Canadian institutions. And as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to face growing criticism and international calls to investigate the origins and spread of the CCP virus, commonly referred to as the coronavirus, Canada has remained noticeably silent. But of late, some signs have emerged signalling a change in tone from the federal government amid widespread condemnation of its hesitation to criticize the regime, as well as a sea change in public opinion. An Angus Reid poll published May 14 found that more than 85 percent of Canadians believe China lied about what it knew about the virus. Additionally, four in five Canadians polled want the government to look into Chinas misconduct on domestic security issues. Canada recently joined a coalition of over 120 countries to back a joint Australian and European Union push for an independent inquiry into the origins of the virus outbreak. Canada also signed a letter supporting Taiwans observer status at the World Health Assembly this weeka move that Beijing strongly opposes. Backing the virus inquiry is essential for Canada and the world, said OToole, as Beijings coverup and apparent influence on international agencies like the World Health Organization (WHO) need to be addressed. Currently, four of the U.N.s 15 specialized agencies are headed by Chinese nationals, and the WHO has been roundly criticized for putting lives at risk by adhering to Beijings narrative during the crucial early weeks of the virus outbreak. We have an economic catastrophe and a health pandemic globally in large ways that was fuelled and made much worse by the lack of transparency of the regime in Beijing, and their co-option of the World Health Organization and other agencies meant to prevent the pandemic, said OToole. So it shows that if we let these problems linger, it can lead to serious global disruption down the road. A New Direction As much of the world looks to reset its relationship with China, the key for Canadas strategy moving forward is to first recognize the true nature of the CCP as an authoritarian regime, said OToole. We have to deal with the Chinese regime in reality, and how it acts and how it is, not how we would like it to be, he said. The CCP really takes advantage of the fact that many people around the world dont understand the true goals of the regime, and view them as largely being benign and just a different system of politics. OToole contests that if the federal government takes the brutal nature of the regime as a starting point, it will naturally inform policy on a wide spectrum of pressing issuesfrom human rights and security, to pandemic policy and diplomatic relations. We want to have positive relations with China but to do that, we cannot ignore the actions of the regime. We have to be able to balance the economic aspects of that relationship, trade, but also highlight human rights abuses, security issues, their manipulation of agencies of the United Nations, he said, adding the regime should always be called out when caught in wrongdoing. If were silent, its in many ways like we accept these actions and that shouldnt be the case. We should be working with our democratic allies like the United States, Australia, and others to provide a counterbalance and to express concern, to push back appropriately so that we can condemn that action and hopefully lead to different conduct by the Chinese regime. With reporting by Danielle Zhu Martin van Trieste, the chief executive of Civica Rx, is also on Phlows board. And another board member, Rosemary Gibson, is a senior adviser at the Hastings Center, a nonpartisan bioethics institute, who has frequently written and testified about the dangers of the United States reliance on Chinese drug manufacturing. Dr. Edwards said his company would focus on critical care medicines used to treat hospitalized patients with Covid-19, including medicines that are used for sedation to help patients requiring ventilator support, pain management and certain essential antibiotics. Production has already begun at an Ampac facility, he said, while Phlow builds new plants. China is the main global supplier of the raw ingredients used in many common drugs, including antibiotics like penicillin and painkillers like ibuprofen and aspirin. In recent years, observers like Ms. Gibson have warned about dependence on China for raw pharmaceutical ingredients, pointing to the widespread recalls in 2018 of the blood pressure drug valsartan that were traced to problems at a single Chinese factory that made the drugs active ingredient, which was contaminated with a possible carcinogen. Dr. Edwards said Phlow was incorporated in January, though he began working on it last year, before the emergence of the coronavirus. The aim, he said, was strengthening Americas supply chain and manufacturing American generic medicines at risk of shortage. He planned at first to use advanced manufacturing technology to produce generic drugs for children. But he switched gears, he said, when the pandemic emerged, and responded to a request from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for proposals to use advanced manufacturing to assist in the Covid-19 response. Dr. Edwards is also a founder of the pharmaceutical company Kaleo, which he created along with his twin brother, Evan Edwards, to sell the Auvi-Q, a competitor to the EpiPen, the emergency allergy treatment. The Auvi-Q, a talking auto-injectable pen, hit the market in 2013 as part of a partnership with the French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, but Dr. Edwardss company soon ran into roadblocks. In 2015, the Auvi-Q was recalled after it turned out the product might not have been delivering the proper dosage of epinephrine, the medicine used to stop a dangerous allergic reaction. In 2016, Sanofi ended its relationship with Kaleo and returned the licensing rights. Kaleo relaunched the improved Auvi-Q in 2017. Brian Austin Green (right) and his wife, actress/model Megan Fox (left), take a souvenir photo in the Magic Kingdom November 26, 2010 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida Megan Fox secretly wed long-time love Brian Austin Green in a barefoot beach ceremony in 2010 in Hawaii with only his eight-year-old son Kassius present. Megan Fox and husband Brian Austin Green attend the Underground Event Screening of Paramount Pictures' 'TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES' at UFO Sound Studios on October 5, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures International) Megan Fox (L) and actor Brian Austin Green arrive at the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 13, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Brian Austin Green has confirmed he and wife Megan Fox have separated after nearly a decade of marriage. Beverly Hills, 90210 star Green, 46, and Hollywood actress Fox, 34, tied the knot in 2010 and have three sons together. Green revealed their break-up in the latest episode of his podcast, saying they have been "trying to sort of be apart" since the end of last year. "I will always love her," Green said. "And I know she will always love me and I know as far as a family what we have built is really cool and really special." Green said the family would still go on holiday together, before becoming emotional and describing Fox as "my best friend for 15 years". He said: "It sucks when life changes and something that you're used to, that you've been doing for 15 years, you try and not get rid of but you change. Expand Close (L-R) Actors Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green attend The Celebrity Source's Inaugural "Stars 4 Smiles" event at Harbor UCLA Medical Center on September 16, 2014 in Torrance, California. (Photo by Earl Gibson III/Getty Images) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (L-R) Actors Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green attend The Celebrity Source's Inaugural "Stars 4 Smiles" event at Harbor UCLA Medical Center on September 16, 2014 in Torrance, California. (Photo by Earl Gibson III/Getty Images) "There's the unknown aspect, there's that pit in my stomach. I really don't want Megan and I to be at odds. "She's been my best friend for 15 years and I don't want to lose that." Green also referenced pictures of Fox with the rapper Machine Gun Kelly, whose real name is Colson Baker. He said: "She met this guy, Colson, on set. I've never met him. Megan and I have talked about him. They're just friends at this point." Video of the Day Green added: "I trust her judgement, she's always had really good judgement. I don't want people to think her or he are villains or that I was a victim in any way." Green and Fox, whose film roles include the Transformers franchise, Jennifer's Body and Above The Shadows, started dating in 2004, when he was 30 and she was 18. They became engaged in 2006 and were married in Hawaii in June 2010. RACINE The City of Racine Public Health Department on Tuesday issued an order limiting mass gatherings of people through July 31. The order applies to planned and spontaneous public events, including festivals, block parties, use of city park pavilions and all other events which require city approval or permits, according to a City of Racine news release. According to the order, mass gatherings of any kind outside of a household unit are not allowed through July 31. As we continue to address the spread of COVID-19 in the community, we know that large gatherings present a direct threat to public health. One asymptomatic individual can infect dozens or more people and cause an outbreak," Public Health Administrator Dottie-Kay Bowersox said. Events scheduled to occur after July 31 will be reviewed by the public Health Department in the coming weeks and approval or denial of those events will be based on the best data relating to the prevalence and spread of COVID-19 in the community, city officials stated. "The city now has over 700 confirmed cases of coronavirus, when just a week ago we were at about 460 cases. That is why today I have issued an order to stop all large events that require city approval until July 31, 2020," Bowersox said. "Events currently being planned or scheduled to happen after that date will be evaluated based on what the spread of coronavirus looks like in the community over the coming months." As of Monday, more than 700 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed within the jurisdiction of the City of Racine Health Department, which also includes Wind Point and Elmwood Park. There are another 355 confirmed cases in the rest of the county, and 20 deaths countywide. The greater Racine area remains in the top 20 nationwide in terms of the rate of spread of the coronavirus, according to public data compiled by The Upshot and The New York Times. Racine currently ranks third both in the total number of cases and has the third-highest per capita rate of positive COVID-19 cases in the state. Racine County is the state's fifth most populous county, behind Milwaukee, Dane, Waukesha and Brown counties. "I want to also clarify that this order is in addition to and separate from the citys extension of the Safer at Home order which expires on May 26," Bowersox said. She said that later this week, she plans to issue orders giving businesses and residents guidelines on what will be a phased and gradual reopening of the local economy. Emergency declaration The announcement of the Health Department order was made after it was learned that Mayor Cory Mason planned to ask the City Council tonight to allow the city's declaration of emergency related to COVID-19 to extend until July 31. The current emergency declaration, which was ratified by the City Council on April 20, is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. on Monday. Emergency declarations give greater powers to administrators, like the mayor and public health officer, to enforce and create rules. They also allow municipalities to direct resources more quickly to address a crisis, such as a natural disaster or pandemic. The emergency declaration is separate from the Safer at Home order; they are distinct edicts. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, after the Supreme Court overturned Safer at Home, said that municipalities and public health departments should still be able to legally enforce restrictions due to COVID-19 if the novel coronavirus is an active threat in the community. Before being overturned, Safer at Home statewide was supposed to end May 26. Racine extended its order based on advice from the city attorney that the city had the authority because it has its own public health officer. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. But Tranchita said her lawyers have told her the civil case could take another year to resolve, and the appellate court setback coupled with Lunas age is prompting her decision to sell her belongings and put her home on the market, she said. A Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and his son were shot dead in broad daylight in western Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. The killing took place in Sambhal district, which is a little over 200 kilometres from national capital Delhi. The SP leader Chhote Lal Diwakar and his son were gunned down after a fight broke out over a work being done under MGNREGA scheme of the central government in the area, the police said. Some work was being carried out under MGNREGA due to which some dispute happened. Two people have been shot dead, said Yamuna Prasad, Superintendent of Police, Sambhal. News agency IANS quoted the family members of the SP leader as saying that Diwakar and his son had gone for a walk in the fields when the assailants came on a motorbike and after a brief altercation, shot them dead. They fled on foot, leaving their motorbike behind. Samajwadi Partys district president Firoz Khan said that Diwakar had been the partys candidate for Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2017. He, however, did not fight the polls as the seat went to some other candidate of the SP-Congress coalition. He claimed some local gang leaders killed the SP leader and his son. Chhote Lal Diwakar of Sansoi village had some tussle with former pradhan (village head) over MGNREGA work. The father and the son died on the spot in bullet firing. Their bodies have been sent for post-mortem and FIR is being registered. Three teams have been formed, some people have been detained and the probe is on, said SP Sambhal. Police said that one of the accused has been identified as Savinder, a local strongman. We have detained four people who are being interrogated, said SP Yamuna Prasad. A large number of SP workers reached the village soon after the news of the double murder spread. Adequate police force has been deployed at the village to ensure that no untoward incident takes place. Two terrorists, including Junaid Ashraf Khan 'Sehrai' whose father is chairman of the separatist conglomerate Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, were killed on Tuesday after a 15-hour long gun battle with security forces in a densely populated area in downtown Srinagar, officials said. Photograph: Umar Ganie/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Locals try to douse a fire at a residential house burnt down during a gunfight between security force and terrorists in Srinagar. Khan, an MBA from the Kashmir University, had joined militancy in March 2018. Before returning to the Valley and joining the Hizbul Mujahideen terror group's ranks, he had worked in a couple of multinational companies in Delhi. Jammu and Kashmir director general of police Dilbag Singh said Junaid was a self-styled divisional commander of the banned terror outfit. The second terrorist killed in the encounter, Tariq Ahmed Sheikh, was a resident of Pulwama and had joined militant ranks and files in March, he said. They were killed in an encounter with police and para-military forces, the DGP said. Photograph: Umar Ganie/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Security personnel stand guard during the encounter. As the encounter broke out slightly after midnight, authorities snapped all private mobile networks and shut down mobile internet in Srinagar district as a precautionary measure. After the encounter, which ended this afternoon, angry residents poured out on streets as some houses caught fire during the 15-hour long operation in the densely populated Nawakadal area. Two security men also suffered minor injuries during the encounter. Tuesday's encounter was a signal to security forces that militants had entered Srinagar city, which had been cleared completely by 2014. The last encounter that took place within the city was in 2018 when three militants were killed. Photograph: Umar Ganie/ Rediff.com IMAGE: Kashmiri youths pelt stones at a security personnel vehicle near the encounter site. Junaid was the first such case where a son of a separatist leader of Jammu and Kashmir had joined a terror group. The kins of other separatist leaders are working with government departments or are settled abroad. He had three cases registered against him which included injuring special police officer Umar Rashid in Srinagar city last year. His father Ashraf Sehrai, who dislodged pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani from the chairmanship of Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, had declined from making a public appeal to call his son back from militancy. QUITO, Ecuador - Beyond the hot spots of Brazil and Mexico, the coronavirus is threatening to overwhelm Latin American cities large and small in an alarming sign that the pandemic may be only at the start of its destructive march through the region. More than 90% of intensive care beds were full last week in Chiles capital, Santiago, whose main cemetery dug 1,000 emergency graves to prepare for a wave of deaths. In Lima, Peru, patients took up 80% of intensive care beds as of Friday. Peru has the worlds 12th-highest number of confirmed cases, with more than 90,000. Were in bad shape, said Pilar Mazzetti, head of the Peruvian governments COVID-19 task force. This is war. In some cities, doctors say patients are dying because of a lack of ventilators or because they couldnt get to a hospital fast enough. With intensive care units swamped, officials plan to move patients from capitals like Lima and Santiago to hospitals in smaller cities that arent as busy running the risk of spreading the disease further. Latin American countries halted international flights and rolled out social distancing guidelines around the same time as the U.S. and Europe, delaying the arrival of large-scale infection, said Dr. Marcos Espinal, director of communicable diseases at the Pan American Health Organization. Latin America was the last wave, said Espinal, who previously worked at the World Health Organization. He warned that authorities need to maintain anti-virus restrictions even as the U.S. and Europe reopen. Some of the hardest-hit cities, like Lima and Santiago, imposed strict, early lockdowns. But officials have struggled to enforce them, whether among the wealthy who are used to flouting regulations or lower-income people who depend on day labour or selling things on the street to feed their families. Latin America is the worlds most unequal region, a reality that Espinal said made it difficult to balance health and economic growth, with millions facing increased poverty during quarantines, curfews and shutdowns. A month after swamping the Ecuadorian coastal city of Guayaquil in one of the first serious blows to Latin America, COVID-19 is sickening thousands in the capital of Quito, where 80% of intensive care beds were occupied as of Friday. In terms of intensive care, were stripped bare, city health secretary Lenin Mantilla said. Quito has more than 2,400 confirmed infections, and Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos said he expected the peak to come toward the end of June. He assured citizens that the city was prepared and would avoid the fate of Guayaquil, where hundreds died at home, left in living rooms for days before overworked coroners could retrieve the bodies. Those who perished in hospitals in coastal cities were put in chilled shipping containers that served as makeshift morgues. The number of deaths in Quito jumped alarmingly over the weekend, from 114 to 209, and doctors said they dreaded the coming days. I have a 26-year-old woman next to me who walked in. Three hours later, shes suffocating because we dont have a respirator available, said an intensive care doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the media. I think were getting to the point that you saw in Europe, where people died for lack of respirators. Ecuador has banned most private car trips and imposed a 2 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily quarantine, but thousands of people can be seen buying from street vendors across the capital. The worst-hit country in Latin America remains Brazil, which is third in the world for reported infections at more than 250,000 even with limited testing. More than 85 per cent of intensive care beds are full in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Now, other countries are surging. Chile has imposed new restrictions in Santiago after cases doubled over the past week, to more than 34,000 in the country of 18 million people. Under the new restrictions, people will have to receive a police permit to leave home, with violators fined the equivalent of thousands of dollars. Essential workers are exempted. Were on very, very thin ice, said Claudio Castillo, a professor of public policy and health at the University of Santiago. In Colombias Amazon region, cases have shot up in recent weeks, from 105 at the start of the month to 1,006 on Monday. The infections are concentrated in Leticia, a city on the Amazon river that borders both Brazil and Peru. Locals believe its related to the increase in cases in Brazils Amazon. Even though Colombias president has militarized the border, many still cross. Residents often work in one country and live in the other. Leticia relies on two poorly equipped hospitals, which have about a half-dozen respirators between them. Authorities recently began transporting seriously ill patients to Bogota after a failure at a hospital oxygen plant. Officials said Monday that they will open hotels in Leticia to take in people with less severe coronavirus cases. Health workers also complain of limited access to testing and say they are overworked to the point of collapse. In Mexico, intensive care occupancy is below 50 per cent in most cities, although deaths have begun to overwhelm funeral homes and crematoriums in the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa. Meanwhile, in Quito, a growing number of people say they know someone who died of what was likely COVID-19, although many are not tested. Marcelo Lopez, who delivers food, said his 35-year-old cousin gargled with honey and ginger because he believed it would protect him from the virus. Unemployed, his cousin delayed going to a hospital this month even after feeling sick. When he finally acted, it was too late he was seriously ill, Lopez said. There were no ventilators in the hospital, and he died. ___ Weissenstein reported from Havana. Contributing to this report were Maria Verza and Carlos Rodriguez in Mexico City; Christine Armario in Bogota, Colombia; Joshua Goodman in Miami; Franklin Briceno in Lima, Peru; Eva Vergara in Santiago, Chile; and David Biller in Rio de Janeiro. US Attorney General William Barr. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images The FBI has gained access to iPhones belonging to a gunman who killed three sailors at a naval base in Pensacola, Florida, in December, revealing ties to al Qaeda. Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray announced the news on Monday, saying that the FBI managed to unlock the devices without Apple's help. The findings come after Barr said Apple failed to provide substantial help in gaining access to the shooter's phones back in January. Barr's remarks once again raised the complicated issue of whether Apple should be obligated to break privacy protocols by unlocking devices in matters of national security. The fear is that if Apple were to create such a tool, it could fall into the wrong hands and become a larger privacy issue. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The FBI managed to gain access to iPhones belonging to a gunman who killed three sailors at a Florida naval base in December, revealing new evidence that links the shooter to al Qaeda, Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Christopher Wray announced at a press conference on Monday. The announcement comes months after Barr accused Apple of failing to help authorities gain access to the shooter's phones to assist with the investigation back in January. Newly discovered evidence found on the phones revealed that the shooter, Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, had "significant ties" to al Quaeda, they said. The revelation comes after Barr previously said that the attack was an "act of terrorism" in January. Authorities now have more information on Alshamrani's activities in the years, months, and days leading up to his attack. "Today I am pleased to announce that thanks to the relentless efforts and ingenuity of FBI technicians, the FBI finally succeeded in unlocking Alshamrani's phones," Barr said during Monday's press conference. Story continues Barr said again on Monday that Apple "would not help" officials gain access to the gunman's iPhones. Apple had previously refuted such claims, saying that it provided iCloud backups, account information, and other data from Alshamrani's account to assist with the investigation. "We asked Apple for assistance. The president asked Apple for assistance," Barr said. "Unfortunately, Apple would not help us unlock the phones. Apple had deliberately designed them so that only the user in this case, the terrorist could gain access to the contents." Apple said in a statement that it responded to the FBI's first requests for information immediately following the attack on December 6 and has "continued to support law enforcement during their investigation." The company said it provided the FBI with all the information it had available and has offered ongoing technical and investigative support in the months since. "The false claims made about our company are an excuse to weaken encryption and other security measures that protect millions of users and our national security," Apple said in a statement. "It is because we take our responsibility to national security so seriously that we do not believe in the creation of a backdoor one which will make every device vulnerable to bad actors who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers." It's not the first time the FBI has gained access to a shooter's phone as part of an investigation without Apple's help. Apple took a similar position back in 2016 when it clashed with the FBI over whether it should unlock an iPhone linked to a shooting in San Bernardino, California. The FBI ultimately worked with a private company to unlock that device. The issue boils down to fears that if Apple were to create such a tool for unlocking an iPhone, there's a possibility it could be used for nefarious purposes if malicious actors were to get a hold of it, as privacy experts have previously told Business Insider. "I would say the chances of it falling into the wrong hands are 100%," Mark Nunnikhoven, vice president of cloud research for cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, previously said to Business Insider. Apple cited a similar concern in its statement. "There is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys, and the American people do not have to choose between weakening encryption and effective investigations," Apple said in its most recent statement, which is consistent with its response from January. Creating such a method for unlocking phones could also put user data in the hands of Apple employees since they are presumably the ones that would be developing such a tool, Nunnikhoven also said when discussing the issue with Business Insider in January. That would seemingly go against Apple's hands-off approach when it comes to consumer data. Monday's press conference once again raised the thorny issue of whether Apple should be obligated to help the FBI gain access to users' devices when it comes to matters of national security. "In cases like this where the user is a terrorist, or in other cases where the user is a violent criminal, a human trafficker, a child predator, Apple's decision has dangerous consequences for the public safety and the national security, and is in my judgement, unacceptable," Barr said. "Apple's desire to provide privacy for its customers is understandable, but not at all costs." Read the original article on Business Insider Raphael's final paintings unveiled in the Vatican after shock discovery in 2017. The Vatican Museums have unveiled the final paintings of the High Renaissance master Raphael, which were discovered during the restoration of the frescoes in the Vaticans Hall of Constantine. The allegories of Justice and Friendship, comprising two female figures painted in oil on the bare wall - among the room's frescoes - are believed to be the last works carried out by Raphael before his death aged 37 in 1520, reports Vatican News. The exceptional discovery was made in 2017 during restoration work in the great hall, which began five years ago, in a programme overseen Restoration Laboratory of the Vatican Museums with the support of the Patrons of the Arts. During the restoration, nails were found beneath the surface of the wall to anchor a layer of rosin, spread on still hot and covered with a thin layer of plaster. Read also: At the time of the discovery, restorer Fabio Piacenti told Italian newspaper La Stampa: By analysing the painting, we realised that it is certainly by the great master Raphael. He painted in oil on the wall, which is a really special technique. The cleaning and removal of centuries of previous restorations revealed the typical pictorial features of the master. The paintings were scheduled to be unveiled on 20 April during an international conference to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael, however the event was cancelled due to the coronavirus emergency. Instead the unveiling ceremony took place on 13 May in the presence of the director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta, and a handful of other people including technicians, art experts and Vatican officials. Read also: In 1509 Raphael was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint four rooms in the papal residences, now known as the Raphael Rooms. The largest of these - the Hall of Constantine - depicts four episodes in the life of the first Roman emperor to recognise the Christian faith and grant freedom of worship. The paintings portray the defeat of paganism and the triumph of the Christian religion. On the death of Raphael, the surrounding frescos were completed by his students and collaborators, notably Giulio Romano and Giovan Francesco Penni with whom he worked in Villa Farnesina. The restored work by Raphael will be on view to visitors to the Vatican Museums whose reopening, after a two-month closure due to the coronavirus, is expected imminently. A leading expert at the World Health Organisation today ruled that it is on balance safe for children to start going back to school next month. Dr David Nabarro said of the plans for a phased reopening of classrooms with strict safeguards and hygiene rules: There will be risks but its a case of balancing up the risks. "You dont want children staying at home and missing out on school for a long time. The verdict of Dr Nabarro, the WHOs coronavirus envoy to Europe, piled pressure on trade union leaders not to obstruct the moves towards a gradual return to school, which other countries have undertaken successfully, for example Norway, where schools are fully open. Robert Halfon, chairman of the Education Select Committee, called on Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to take a lead on the issue, telling the Evening Standard: Keir Starmer was supposed to have changed the Labour Party well, this is his first big test. If David Blunkett, Alan Johnson and Tony Blair recognise the importances of schools reopening, Keir Starmer should speak out too. However, this morning Labour appeared to put up more obstacles to schools reopening. During a morning media round, Rebecca Long-Bailey, the union-friendly shadow education secretary, listed four conditions to be met before children could get back to lessons, including having full testing, tracking and tracing systems in place. Her list added to the demands made by unions leaders who were today meeting Education Secretary Gavin Williamson for talks. Unions also say that teachers cannot mark childrens work in case infections are spread. Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson arrives in Downing Street, London / PA Mr Williamson, who has taken a softly-softly approach in recent days in the hope of easing the deadlock, is expected to stress that the Government supports a gradual approach which is already subject to the five tests, such as no steep rise in the rate of coronavirus spreading. London Councils, the umbrella group for local authorities in the capital, was expected to issue guidance that it backed a return to school lessons but that individual headteachers would be in charge of deciding whether they were adequately prepared. Hopes of a breakthrough came as the number of deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK passed 44,000, according to the Office for National Statistics. Dr Nabarro stressed that any re-opening of classrooms must be carefully handled and that teachers must be comfortable with the arrangements. He said it was not clear if children can infect teachers or bring virus back into their family households. He told Sky News: I would want to be very much in contact with the teachers, I would want to check out with them... are they comfortable about restarting school, keeping the children in bubbles in the playground and trying to maintain physical distancing as much as possible. He went on: When Im finding teachers who are really going about this carefully, we have teachers in the family, and they are talking to me about it a lot, then yes I think we should just start doing it and do it gradually and see how it goes. The government is aiming for schools to begin re-opening from June 1st in a phased approach / Getty Images Based in Geneva, close to the French border, he said he would be happy for French children to return to school given what he knows about arrangements being put in place there. A total of 22 European countries have starting getting children back into classes, including Denmark, Germany and France. In the UK, the Government is proposing that reception and year six pupils return but with major changes to allow for social distancing. Classes will be split into groups of 15, and children asked to form bubbles which do not interact with others. Pick-up and drop-off times will be staggered, along with breaks and lunchtime. Dr Nabarro said questions surrounding children transmitting the virus were not yet answered. I have to ask for everybodys patience on this because the virus is new and we are learning about it every day, he said. Mr Halfon seized on the growing body of evidence that disadvantaged children are suffering the greatest setbacks because of missing school. He told the Standard: We face a potential decade of educational poverty, a safeguarding crisis and a digital divide. "The risks to these vulnerable children are worse than the risks of having a phased and cautious reopening of schools. If we are not to have a left-behind generation, our schools should open in a slow and deliberative was as outlined by the Government on June 1. Loading.... Ms Long-Bailey said Labours four tests would have to be met and there were serious problems with the Governments plans. There are concerns about measures on social distancing, the plans are not detailed enough, they are not as stringent as other European have taken, she said. The Government also has not published its scientific evidence so that can be opened up to scrutiny. So we want the Government to get this right. Parents and teaching staff are rightly anxious and they want to know that our children, the most precious thing in the world to us, are going to be safe when we move to a wider re-opening of schools. So I would say that there are a number of things the Government needs to do urgently today. Loading.... Labours tests are to publish all scientific advice to peer review; confirmation that there is no expected rise in the R number, the rate at which the virus spreads; getting track and trace in place before schools re-open: setting up a task-force with unions and experts to draw up safety rules. Health Minister Nadine Dorries seized on Dr Nabarros words, saying he had said that, with safeguards, it was safe for children to return to school in a phased way. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast Former Labour prime minister Mr Blair today published analysis by his foundation that suggested London has headroom to ease lockdown by 10 per cent. The Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Usman Mohammed, has been removed from office. The Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, who ordered Mr Mohammeds removal on Tuesday said the decision takes immediate effect. The spokesperson to the Minister, Aaron Artimas, said the removal of Mr Mohammed was part of the continuing measures to reposition and improve the performance of the power sector in the country. The Honourable Minister of Power, Engineer Sale Mamman hereby announces major changes at the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) Accordingly, the Managing Director of the TCN, Usman Gur Mohammed, has been removed from office with immediate effect. He is being replaced with Engineer Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, as Managing Director, in acting capacity. The Honourable Minister has also confirmed the appointment of four directors who have been on acting position in the company for some time. They are Engineer Victor G. Adewunmi, Executive Director, Transmission Services Provider; Engineer J Lawal, Executive Director, Independent SystemsOperator; Ahmed Isa-Dutse, Executive Director, Finance & Accounts, and Justin I. Dodo, Executive Director, Human Resources & Corporate Services. All the changes and appointments have been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Artimas said. It was not clear if the removal of the Managing Director and the reorganisation of the top management had anything to do with a crisis that brewed in the of the transmission company last week following the retirement of a senior staff and the staff union leader. Company in crisis On Monday last week, the sacked MD retired the General Manager, Special Duties of the company, Chris Okonkwo in controversial circumstances. Mr Okonkwo is also the president-general of the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC), the umbrella body of all senior and management staff workers in the power sector. The union leader was removed despite still having about four and a half years before his official exit from service. The announcement of the controversial retirement triggered a crisis, which split the workers association along two support lines. One of the groups based in the headquarters in Abuja, supported by the National Union of Electricity Employees, sided with the management of the now removed Mr Mohammed. The others, supported by the TCN branches of the SSAEAC, were sympathetic to the embattled union leader, Chris Okonkwo. The regional branch president of SSAEAC TCN Branch Abuja, Ibrahim Mohammed, said his members were ready to embark on a nationwide labour protest that could result in the disruption of electricity transmission in the country if the retirement was not reversed. Mr Okonkwo told journalists in Abuja said his retirement was illegal as it did not follow due process. The Managing Director does not a right to take such a decision against a deputy General Manager without the Board of the TCN, Mr Okonkwo told PREMIUM TIMES. READ ALSO: In the absence of a board, the Minister of Power is the only person who is given the power under the law to take such a drastic action after investigation, he said. Following the MDs removal on Tuesday, Mr Okonkwo who had petitioned the minister, said the decision of the former MD to announce the retirement of a senior manager of TCN without the Ministers knowledge showed his incompetence. He praised Mr Mohammeds removal. Amid Maharashtras spiraling Covid-19 cases, the state found one bright spot on Tuesday when civic authorities told the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High court that the city has been moved out of the red zone. The Centres new guidelines are said to have helped Nagpur district come out of the red zone. In Vidarbha, only Akola and Amravati where 14 and 20 deaths were reported respectively due to Covid-19, continue to remain in the red zone. During a hearing the counsel for Nagpur Municipal Corporation told Justice Rohit Deo that the city would now be an orange zone as only 138 active Covid-19 patients are in the containment zones. The NMCs submission came right at the moment when the court was about to pass a ruling on petitions challenging the action of the NMC Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe, who issued lockdown guidelines contrary to the Central and State guidelines. On the other hand, in a notification issued by the chief secretary, Ajoy Mehta on Tuesday stated that there will be only red and non-red zones in the state. With only seven deaths and 378 positive cases, of which only 138 remain active, in the last 59 days, Nagpur district has received non-red zone category. This has resulted in more relaxations in lockdown restrictions. The relaxed rules, which will come into effect from May 22, will remain in place till May 31. Various shops dealing in non-essential trades like the salon, spa, private offices, and government offices can open with 100% attendance, RTO registration etc. can resume. Wine shops, which were now giving home delivery, are also likely to open. Referring to the states new guidelines, Mundhe and collector Ravindra Thakare will issue guidelines for the city and Nagpur rural, respectively. Meanwhile, 444 Covid-19 patients have recovered in Vidarbha region so far. Among them, 248 are from Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Buldhana and Washim in Amravati division while 196 people from Bhandara, Nagpur, Chandrapur and Gondia district of Nagpur division. Taiwan's infamous 'dollar diplomacy' fails to buy friends or respect: experts Global Times By Hu Yuwei and Huang Lanlan Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/18 19:53:40 The attempt of Taiwan authority to buy recognition from international community with masks amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, like its traditional means of pleasing its "allies" with huge amounts of money, has brought the island nothing but embarrassment. Taiwan's money diplomacy seems unable to stop its allies from leaving, as keeping so-called diplomatic relation with Taiwan did not conform to most countries' long-term strategy and interests, analysts said. Tsai Ing-wen's authority claimed last month to donate 10 million face masks to some Western countries it regards as political "allies," despite its own mask shortage and well-maligned decision to halt mask exports to the Chinese mainland. But their pretended generosity, serving political interests of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has unsurprisingly got cold shoulders of many recipients, if we remembered how Paraguay, one of its "allies," reportedly grumbled the 100,000 masks Taiwan had donated were not enough. Paraguay eventually appealed to the Chinese mainland for help. Ho Ching, wife of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, displayed an apparent lack of enthusiasm to Taiwan's belated mask donation on her social media, though the first lady later updated a "thank you" post under the pressure. Taiwan had issued a ban on the export of surgical face masks and consequently struck a deal for two surgical mask production lines Singapore set up in Taiwan. Taiwan's trick prompted many Singaporean netizens to comment across social media with "Erm, thanks, but no thanks." Tsai's "mask diplomacy" in the pandemic is just a tool that local authority utilizes to satisfy its own vanity, seeking for a feeling as if it is "important and welcomed to international community," said Ni Yongjie, deputy director of the Shanghai Institute of Taiwan Studies. "But in fact, the 'mask diplomacy' is just another self-deceiving attempt of DPP as the international society has seldom taken its voice seriously," Ni told the Global Times. History has proved that the Taiwan authority's attempt of fawning over its "allies" and gaining respect through "donation diplomacy" is no more than wishful thinking. Seven countries have abandoned Taipei and turned to establish diplomatic relations with Beijing after DPP took office in 2016. The Solomon Islands announced to break "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan in September 2019. Facing pressure of economic slowdown in recent years, Taiwan has been nonetheless spending as much as $322.63 million in aiding its then "allies" in the Pacific region from 2011 to 2017, according the Pacific Aid Map made by Australia-based Lowy Institute. Ironically, the paying out didn't work. "The US has offered Taipei few actual helps but pies in the sky, and even that has coaxed Taipei to be self-satisfied and compliant," Ni said. "Money can buy Taiwan neither 'friendship' nor respect," Ni said. Observers predicted that the number of Taiwan's "allies" will decrease to fewer than 10 within two or three years and will eventually drop to zero. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Recap: Remember when Bitcoin reached its record near-$20,000 high back in 2017 and graphics card prices went through the roof? It might have been a dark time for non-mining consumers, but AMD and Nvidia were enjoying the profits. In the case of the latter, however, its been alleged in a lawsuit that the company reported $1billion in crypto revenue as gaming revenue. As per The Register, the suit dates back to 2017, but an amended complaint was filed this week in California. It comes from a group of angry investors, who say Nvidia misled them with its financial reporting. 2017 was the year when cryptocurrency exploded, with Bitcoin coming close to $20,000 in December and other coins reaching record highs. The profit from mining led to graphics cards being bought in bulk for mining rigs, which resulted in shortages and hugely inflated prices. Despite Nvidias promise that it remained focused on gamers, few members of its core market could afford or were willing to buy its products. "In early 2017, Nvidia faced an unusual problem: its flagship product was flying off the shelves. Under normal circumstances, such a trend would be cheered," the suit reads. "But the enormous sales growth owed not to an increase in demand from gamers (Nvidia's traditional consumer), but rather to bands of online prospectors who were buying up the processors by the thousands and deploying them in massive datacenters to solve complex mathematical problems in pursuit of digital tokens." While everything seemed rosy for Nvidia, the suit claims it knew the cryptocurrency craze would come to a sharp end, so it decided to conceal much of the cryptomining sales. Its alleged that the company insisted its dedicated mining cards were being sold to miners, and the booming gaming graphics card sales were coming from gamers. In reality, both miners and some gaming fans were buying up gaming GPUs. Investors say that by reporting mining revenue as gaming sales, it appeared that Nvidia's GeForce products were doing well and wouldnt be affected by a crypto crash. "Launching the crypto SKU and reporting its sales in the OEM segment thus allowed defendants to claim that any mining-related revenues were cordoned off in OEM, creating the impression that Nvidias crown jewel gaming business was insulated from crypto-related volatility (and the crash in demand that would follow the cryptocurrency markets inevitable bust)," the suit claims. When the inevitable happened and crypto prices crashed, Nvidias shares fell 19 percent in November 2018, losing almost half their value a month later. Its claimed that the company under-reported its cryptocurrency-mining revenues by around $1.13 billion. The suit seeks damages for what it claims was a violation of US securities laws, but it would be surprising if the complaint succeeded. Why would Nvidia report gaming card sales in a segment other than gaming, even if they werent being used for that purpose? And its not as if buying multiple GeForce cards for cryptomining was a secret. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bolt Metals Corp. (CSE: BOLT) (FRANKFURT: NXFE) (OTCQB: PCRCF) (the Company or Bolt Metals), an Indonesia-based company focused on developing battery mineral projects in the AsiaPacific region, is pleased to report Indonesias parliament has passed revisions to its mining law aimed at removing red tape and attracting investment into the sector. A leader in nickel production, Indonesia continues to update its national strategy and laws governing the minerals and mining sector, supporting their mandate to lead the world in battery metals and cathode material production capacity. On May 8, 2020 BloombergNEF stated, Indonesias desire to move up the value chain and leverage its nickel wealth into becoming an EV and battery manufacturing hub is supported by the fact that it may have the lowest manufacturing costs in Asia. Reuters reported on May 12, 2020 that Indonesia has looked to attract foreign investors by creating a full nickel supply chain, starting from extraction, processing into metals and chemicals used in batteries, all the way to building electric vehicles. Bolt Metals flagship Cyclops project is ideally situated on the north shores of Papua Province, Indonesia. Its proximity to air and sea transport links, gentle topography and an experienced local workforce make it amenable to low cost development. The Company is evaluating results from its bench scale test program and exploration campaign (the details of which are set out in press releases issued by Bolt Metals on October 28, 2019 and September 24, 2019 respectively) in order to initiate the construction of a pilot process test plant in Canada. The test plant will contain an integrated circuit to produce high purity nickel and cobalt strip solutions, required to develop battery grade material. Ranjeet Sundher, CEO, remarks, Bolt Metals has always maintained that Indonesia is perfectly placed to leverage its world leading nickel supply into a battery materials superpower. 2020 has seen the continuation of several exciting developments within the country, laying the foundations for continued future growth in every vertical of the EV supply chain. Were looking forward to resuming operations and continuing to advance our Cyclops nickel project in the coming months, with the goal of becoming a key player in Indonesias emerging battery materials sector. About Bolt Metals BOLT Metals is a Canadianbased exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of production grade nickel and cobalt deposits, key raw material inputs for the growing lithiumion battery industry. Visit http://boltmetals.com/ to find out more. Bolt Metals Corp. Ranjeet Sundher President and CEO (604) 922-8272 rsundher@boltmetals.com Steve Vanry CFO & Director (604) 922-8272 steve@vanrycap.com Sean Bromley Director & Investor Contact (778) 985-8934 sean@theparmargroup.com Reader Advisory This news release may contain statements which constitute forward-looking information, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of the Company, its directors, or its officers with respect to the future business activities of the Company. The words may, would, could, will, intend, plan, anticipate, believe, estimate, expect and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future business activities and involve risks and uncertainties, and that the Companys future business activities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, fluctuations in market prices, successes of the operations of the Company, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such information will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required under the applicable securities laws. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. EX-NSA adviser Michael Flynns lawyers accuse US District Court judge of bias and asked that the case be reassigned. Lawyers for President Donald Trumps former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn on Tuesday asked a United States appeals court to force a judge to dismiss the criminal charges against him as requested by the Justice Department. In an emergency petition, Flynns lawyers asked that the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit order District Judge Emmet Sullivan to grant the departments request to dismiss the case. Sullivan on May 13 signalled reluctance to drop the charges, appointing a retired judge to provide advice on whether Flynn should actually face an additional criminal contempt charge for perjury. Flynn, who also served as a Trump campaign adviser in 2016, pleaded guilty in 2017 to charges of lying to the FBI about his conversations with Russias ambassador in Washington, DC, but later sought to withdraw his plea and accused the FBI of tricking him. The Justice Departments decision to ask the judge to drop the charges followed public pressure from Trump and the Republican presidents political allies. Flynns petition also argues that, if there are further proceedings, the case should be assigned to another judge because Sullivan has shown bias against the defendant. An innocent man has been the target of a vendetta by politically motivated officials at the highest level of the FBI, Flynns lawyers wrote in the new filing. The egregious Government misconduct, and the three-year abuse of General Flynn and his family, cry out for ending this ordeal immediately and permanently. The district judges orders reveal his plan to continue the case indefinitely, rubbing salt in General Flynns open wound from the Governments misconduct and threatening him with criminal contempt. Sullivan at a 2018 hearing expressed disgust and disdain towards Flynns criminal offence, saying: Arguably, you sold your country out. The departments May 7 reversal in a case in which Flynn previously pleaded guilty drew accusations from Democrats and retired career prosecutors that Attorney General William Barr was politicising the US criminal justice system to benefit Trumps friends and associates in criminal cases. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a staunch ally of Trump on Capitol Hill, stepped into the debate about the case on Tuesday, saying Sullivans decision was the latest example of Trump aides and advisers being treated unfairly in the US legal system. As if this debacle needed even more shocking behaviour, I understand a federal judge may try to continue prosecuting one of these cases, even though the prosecution itself wants to drop it, McConnell said in a floor speech. The judge has taken it upon himself to go browsing for other hostile parties. Obviously, that subverts our constitutional order in which the executive alone decides whether to prosecute cases. Police have released more details about an incident yesterday which ended with a car crashing in Derry after a cross border chase. Two men aged 29 years old were arrested following a report of a car driving erratically in the Strathfoyle area of Derry on Monday. Inspector Cummings said: At around 2pm, police received a number of reports from the local community following a black Honda Accord driving dangerously in the area. "On arrival of police, the vehicle made off towards the Foyle Bridge area when it failed to stop for police. As it headed towards the Culmore Road, the vehicle was stung by police but continued to travel. "The vehicle collided with a silver Audi A7 and the driver of the Audi suffered shock but was not injured during the incident. "The car crossed over the border before eventually being located again on fire in the Lenamore Road area. "Officers conducted an extensive search of the area and two men were arrested on suspicion of a number of offences. "One man was released pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service and the other male remains in police custody." The police officer said he would like to thank the local community who made police aware of this vehicle driving dangerously in the area. "Thankfully, we are not dealing with people injured or even worse following this incident. Local and Neighbourhood Policing Team colleagues worked alongside and received support from An Garda Siochana with this investigation. "The disregard of these individuals for the safety of others is in complete contrast to the assistance and support provided by the local community to help apprehend those involved. Our enquiries are continuing in relation to this investigation and if anyone has any further information regarding this incident or footage from either the Strathfoyle area or Culmore Road, please contact police on 101 quoting reference number 786 18/05/20. "Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime. DeAndre Baker does not have to turn his gun over to Florida police, and it will instead stay with his attorney. The Giants cornerback was ordered to turn in his licensed firearm to the Miramar Police Department as a condition of his $200,000 release on bond. But attorney Patrick G. Patel told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday that police wont be getting Bakers gun, after a Broward County judge granted a motion filed by Bakers legal team. Baker was arrested on charges of armed robbery (four counts) and aggravated assault with a firearm (four counts). He turned himself in to authorities Saturday and was released on bond Sunday. Baker on Monday pleaded not guilty to all eight charges. Bakers legal team led by Bradford M. Cohen filed a motion Monday to prevent him from having to turn over his weapon. That motion was approved Tuesday morning, Patel said. Bakers lawyers also filed a motion to allow him to return to New Jersey as soon as its safe to travel up there, amid the coronavirus pandemic. The motion, according to court documents, includes a stipulation that Baker needs to attend OTAs, though the Giants are currently conducting those meetings via Zoom and have asked him to not attend so he can focus on his legal matters. It also mentions a tentative training camp start date of July 13, which hasnt been announced by the NFL. Patel said as of Tuesday morning that motion hasnt been approved yet, but Judge Mariya Weekes indicated to Bakers legal team that he can go back at any time," he said. Weekes has no issue with that," Patel said. "He can come and go when needed. Per the motion, Baker would be traveling with members of his support team and does not pose as a flight risk. As part of the gun-related motion, Baker still cant possess any firearms. They all must be surrendered to Patel, who is based in Jersey City. Baker cant get his gun(s) back until the court allows. We have concerns, because we dont believe any of the witnesses in this case, Patel told NJ Advance Media on Monday. "If we just turn the gun in, theyre just going to say, Well, thats the gun. You know what I mean? If we dont [turn the gun in], they can say its a black gun, then it turns out to be a blue gun. It further adds to my suspicion that this is a shakedown. Buy Giants tickets: StubHub, SeatGeek Baker and Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar allegedly robbed party guests Wednesday night in Miramar, taking more than $12,000 in cash and several luxury watches, including an $18,000 Rolex and a $25,000 Hublot, according to an arrest warrant. Baker, Dunbar and a third person allegedly fled the scene in expensive cars, including a Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. No gun was fired at the scene, according to the warrant. As for why Baker owns a gun, Patel said its his constitutional right. Well, hes got a license for it, Patel said. To ask him that and not a billion other people? The answer is simple: Because he has a constitutional right to own a gun. And unlike a lot of other people like Plaxico Burress he has a license for it and a license to carry it. [Baker] was an upstanding enough citizen for the state of Florida to issue him gun carry permit prior to this incident." Get Giants text messages from reporters: Cut through the clutter of social media and text directly with the Giants beat writers. Plus, exclusive news and analysis every day. Sign up now for a free trial. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Zack Rosenblatt may be reached at zrosenblatt@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 23:01:10|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) officially landed Chinese social media platforms Weibo and Douyin on May 18th, the first-ever Climbing Day celebrated in China. According to the news release from IFSC website, this action is aimed to provide more exposure of sport climbing events, athletes and stories to the Chinese audience. Anne Fuynel, IFSC Marketing and Communications Director, said the move aims to attract young people who use the social networks. "China is without any doubt one of our leading countries in the world, we are so excited for our future climbs in China," said IFSC president Marco Scolaris. Enditem EDENVILLE, Mich. Rapidly rising water overtook dams and forced the evacuation of about 10,000 people in central Michigan, where the governor said one downtown could be under approximately 9 feet of water by Wednesday. For the second time in less than 24 hours, families living along the Tittabawassee River and connected lakes in Midland County were ordered to leave home. The National Weather Service on Tuesday evening urged anyone near the river to seek higher ground following castastrophic dam failures at the Edenville Dam, about 140 miles (225.31 kilometers) north of Detroit, and the Sanford Dam, about seven miles (11.26 kilometers) downriver. Michigan Gov. Gretchen said downtown Midland, a city of 42,000 about 8 miles (12.87 kilometers) downstream from the Sanford Dam, faced an especially serious flooding threat. Dow Chemical Co.s main plant sits on the citys riverbank. In the next 12 to 15 hours, downtown Midland could be under approximately 9 feet of water, the governor said. We are anticipating an historic high water level. Whitmer declared a state of emergency for Midland County and urged residents threatened by the flooding to find a place to stay with friends or relatives or to seek out one of several shelters that opened across the county. She encouraged people to do their best to take precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus, such as wearing a face covering and observing social distancing to the best of your ability. This is unlike anything weve seen in Midland County, she said. If you have a family member or loved one who lives in another part of the state, go there now. Emergency responders went door-to-door early Tuesday morning warning residents living near the Edenville Dam of the rising water. Some residents were able to return home, only to be told to leave again following the dams breach several hours later. The evacuations include the towns of Edenville, Sanford and parts of Midland, according to Selina Tisdale, spokeswoman for Midland County. We were back at home and starting to feel comfortable that things were calming down, said Catherine Sias, who lives about 1 mile (1.61 kilometers) from the Edenville Dam and first left home early Tuesday morning. All of a sudden we heard the fire truck sirens going north toward the dam. Sias, 45, said emergency alerts then began coming on her cellphone and people started calling to make sure she was safe. While packing, there were tons of police and fire trucks going up and down the roads, she added. As far as I know, all of our neighbors got out. While driving along a jammed M-30, the state highway thats the main road through Edenville and that crosses the river north of town, Sias saw the rushing Tittabawassee River. It was very dramatic, very fast and full of debris, she said. Dow Chemical has activated its emergency operations center and will be adjusting operations as a result of current flood stage conditions, spokeswoman Rachelle Schikorra said in an email. Dow Michigan Operations is working with its tenants and Midland County officials and will continue to closely monitor the water levels on the Tittabawassee River, Schikorra said. In 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission revoked the license of the company that operated the Edenville Dam due to non-compliance issues that included spillway capacity and the inability to pass the most severe flood reasonably possible in the area. The Edenville Dam, which was built in 1924, was rated in unsatisfactory condition in 2018 by the state. The Sanford Dam, which was built in 1925, received a fair condition rating. Both dams are in the process of being sold. There were 19 high hazard dams in unsatisfactory or poor condition in Michigan in 2018, ranking 20th among the 45 states and Puerto Rico for which The Associated Press obtained condition assessments. Flood warnings in Michigan were issued following widespread rainfall of 4 to 7 inches (10.2 to 17.8 centimeters) since Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy runoff pushed rivers higher. The Tittabawassee River was at 30.5 feet (9.3 meters) and rising Tuesday night flood stage is 24 feet (7.3 meters). It was expected to crest Wednesday morning at a record of about 38 feet (11.6 meters). The heavy rains early in the week also caused flooding elsewhere in the region. In Chicago, water that flooded some areas downtown was receding Tuesday, but Larry Langford, a fire department spokesman, said that he did not expect power to be restored at the iconic Willis Tower for days because the rains caused the buildings subbasements to fill with as much as 25 feet (7.6 meters) of water. The building was closed to tenants and visitors. Arizona News Tucson, Arizona - The idea of moving at warp speed probably resonates with Star Wars fans. A galactic empire is impossible if it takes 100 years for a signal, much less a warship, to move from one system to another at the universal speed limit, 186,000 miles per second, the speed of light. Serious science fiction lovers know that the warp drive does not traverse space at faster-than-light speeds. It warps space, or leaps through another dimension it takes a massive shortcut. So, whats the shortcut for vaccine development? Safety testing? It is impossible to test for long-term consequences without observing recipients for a long timenot a few days or weeks. If experts are worrying about long-term effects of having the disease, why not about the vaccine? If one consequence might be a massive immune over-reaction to a later exposure to the coronavirus, wed need to await another outbreak. Efficacy testing? One way to test for efficacy is to find an animal model. See whether unvaccinated animals get the disease when deliberately exposed, while vaccinated ones are protected. If this works, you still need to test humans: vaccinate one group, give one group a placebo, and see whether a larger proportion of the unvaccinated get sick. Normally, you would wait to see how the subjects fare in the real world, where they might get naturally exposed during their usual activities. This takes time. You could speed this up by giving them all a dose of the virus, which might kill some of them. That would be unethicalwouldnt it? One could test for antibodies, but do they work? Some are asserting that the antibodies that survivors have might not protect them. Why would the vaccine antibodies be better? For one thing, the virus might mutate. Maybe it already has. Then what about production and distribution? How about sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into producing various vaccine candidates, just in case they work? Then you could just waste it all if they dont. For distribution, why not mobilize the armed forces to quickly vaccinate 300 million people? Our furloughed medical workers might not be up to the job. Might arms be needed if people resist? Incidentally, if everybody gets the vaccine, theres no control group. Doesnt the scientific method call for one? Why the hurry? Experts like Tony Fauci and Bill Gates say we cannot go back to work until theres a vaccine. (Note that they did not say a safe and effective vaccine.) In fact, we could go back todayif the government were not stopping us. One reason for hurry is that the epidemic might be gone, and the vaccinators couldnt take the credit. We have no vaccine for the Spanish flu of 1918, the Asian flu of 1958, or the Hong Kong flu of 1968, all of which killed far more than the current pandemic, and all of which went away. A speedy vaccine, which was developed for the predicted 1976 mass extinction/swine flu pandemic that never was, resulted in deaths and Guillain-Barre syndrome. Humanity survived many waves of far more deadly pestilence before vaccines. The smallpox vaccine may have finally eliminated smallpox, but smallpox lesions were identified in Egyptian mummies from the 3rd century B.C., but not in earlier or later mummies. It re-emerged in the 6th and 7th centuries A.D., disappeared until the 11th century, then after being almost absent for about 300 years re-emerged in the 15th century. In 2020, much has happened with amazing speed: the flattening of the economy, the suspension of civil liberties, the destruction of medical practices. Censorship of any information that the World Health Organization (WHO) doesnt like, for example about potential game-changers like vitamin D and high-dose vitamin C. The declaration of a new drug remdesivir as the standard of care after an underwhelming study was prematurely stopped. The sequencing of the coronavirus genome. Revolutionary experimental DNA and RNA vaccine technologies. Those who were seemingly prescient about the potential of coronavirusBill Gates holds a 2015 patent on a coronavirus created with recombinant gene technology, and the Gates Foundation held a crisis simulation modeled on a coronavirus in October 2019did nothing to shore up preparedness measures such as equipment stockpiles. Fear spreads at the speed of light. After 70 years and 100 million users of antimalarial drugs with remarkable safety, FDA is inspiring fear of heart problems from using hydroxychloroquine or azithromycin for COVID-10but dont worry if its for lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or malaria. We need an immediate return to letting doctors practice and letting people work. They need accurate information, so they can make prudent decisions about protecting themselves and their loved ones. We need an immediate end to the dictatorial influence of a few long-entrenched experts or media giants, and investigations of conflicts of interest with all deliberate speed. What we do NOT need is panic-inspired warping of safety testing. The compiler of Hong Kongs benchmark stock index will for the first time admit companies with weighted voting rights (WVR) and those with secondary listings, as constituent stocks. The decision, announced by the Hang Seng Indexes Company on Monday after a two-month consultation, paves the way for technology giants such as Xiaomi, with its WVR structure, and Alibaba Group Holding, with its secondary listing, to be included in the index. It marks the most important revamp of the 50-year-old Hang Seng Index since the inclusion of H-shares in 2006. The earliest possible time for the inclusion of new stocks will be August. The reform aims to make sure the benchmark index tracking Asias third-largest stock market includes the most valuable stocks. The index has until now excluded WVR and secondary-listing companies even though they are the largest and most traded shares in Hong Kong. The decision to add these companies into the Hang Seng Index is strongly supported by the market, with 90 per cent of respondents are in favour, said Vincent Kwan, chief executive of Hang Seng Indexes in a telephone conference after the announcement. The change will be an important milestone for the Hang Seng Index to cover the increasing number of technology companies listing in Hong Kong. The weighting of the companies in the index will be capped at 5 per cent, below Tencent Holdings, AIA and HSBC the three largest stocks in the index, each capped at 10. The limit is aimed at preventing a single stock from becoming too prominent. Kwan said many respondents wanted to see a limit on the proportion of these companies that make up the benchmark index because a secondary-listed company can get around some of the exchanges disclosure requirements. Some investors consider that the WVR structure is not fair to all shareholders. For the secondary listing companies, the index compiler will only count the shares registered in Hong Kong. Alibaba had about 23 per cent of its issued shares registered in Hong Kong at the end of March. Story continues Before the announcement after the market closed on Monday, investors had bet on the news. Alibaba jumped 3.1 per cent to close at HK$203, Meituan Dianping rose 2.1 per cent to HK$121.9 while Xiaomi edged up 0.7 per cent to HK$12.04. The Hang Seng Index increased 0.6 per cent to close at 23,934.77. It is a good move. It reflects the Hong Kong capital markets is moving closer to the mainland trend in which technology companies are playing an important role in the market, said Frederick Chu Ian-kit, head of ETFs at China Asset Management (Hong Kong). The Hang Seng Index, as the signature index of Hong Kong, will catch up on this trend. It will also encourage more US-listed technology firms to have a secondary listing in Hong Kong. To compete with other financial hubs, Hong Kong changed its rules in April 2018 to allow companies with WVR a structure that allows founders and key managers to own shares with more voting rights than others to seek IPOs here. It also makes it easier for US-listed technology firms to have secondary listings here. Alibaba, which listed in New York in 2014, raised US$13 billion in a secondary listing in Hong Kong in November. It is the largest listed company in Hong Kong in terms of market capitalisation, at HK$4.32 trillion (US$557.3 billion), representing 12 per cent of the citys total market cap. Alibaba, the owner of the South China Morning Post, has not been qualified to join the Hang Seng Index because of its secondary listing status. The compiler said in the consultation paper that it needed to open the door as it expected more US tech firms to list here. Chinese e-commerce company JD.com has filed for a secondary listing in Hong Kong to raise US$2 billion at the end of this month, according to market sources, while gaming company NetEase is also reported by Bloomberg to be doing the same thing soon. Alibaba, food delivery firm Meituan Dianping and Xiaomi are the three WVR companies listed in Hong Kong now, and the trio always rank among the top five most traded stocks in the city. Together they commanded almost HK$5.3 trillion (US$679 billion) in market value at the end of 2019, about 56 per cent of the current market capitalisation of the Hang Seng Index. The Hang Seng Index, launched in November of 1969, has 50 constituent companies and tracks the biggest and most liquid stocks in the city. There are currently 23 exchange-listed products tracking the Hang Seng Index, representing more than US$20 billion in assets under management. On average, over 280,000 HSI futures and options contracts were traded in Hong Kong daily last year. The value of Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) assets invested in funds tracking the Hang Seng Index is about US$8 billion, according to data released in the consultation paper. The MPF is Hong Kong's compulsory retirement pension plan. The inclusion of secondary listing companies in the Hang Seng Index will raise hopes that the mainlands watchdog, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), will admit those firms shares into the stock connect schemes, which allow cross-border trading by investors in Hong Kong and the mainland. Help us understand what you are interested in so that we can improve SCMP and provide a better experience for you. We would like to invite you to take this five-minute survey on how you engage with SCMP and the news. More from South China Morning Post: This article Chinas tech behemoths like Alibaba, Xiaomi will be allowed to join Hong Kongs benchmark Hang Seng Index as biggest reform since 2006 approved first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. New York, May 19 : US President Donald Trump has said that he is taking hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as a preventive for COVID-19 and dismissed controversies in the US around its use saying, "I'm still here". "A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it. I've heard a lot of good stories," he told reporters on Monday in Washington. With the media rife with stories about what are said to be its dangers and criticism of Trump for advocating the drug's use, he said: "I was just waiting to see your eyes light up when I said this. When I announced this. Yeah, I've taken it for 1 and a half weeks now. And I'm still here. I'm still here." HCQ has been caught in the vortex of political polarisation because Trump had advocated it and Democratic Party leaders immediately criticised him for taking it. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Party leader in the Senate accused him on MSNBC of giving false hopes and said: "It is just dangerous what he did." Trump said that he had asked the White House doctor to prescribe it for him to ward off the coronavirus and the physician said in a statement that they agreed "the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks". He is tested daily for COVID-19 and has repeatedly shown to be free of it. "I've heard a lot of good stories. And if it is not good, I will tell you right. I'm not going to get hurt by it. It has been around for 40 years for malaria, for lupus, for other things. I take it," the President said. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) National Task Force on COVID-19 has recommended that healthcare workers and others caring for coronavirus patients use HCQ as a preventive. ICMR Director-General Balram Bhargava said early last month: "Hydroxychloroquine is recommended only for a healthcare worker who is treating a COVID-19 patient. "Secondly, it's recommended only for persons staying with and caring for a household patient who has been tested positive. They can take that only for prophylaxis - only for prevention." HCQ is widely used in India to both prevent and treat malaria. Trump began promoting HCQ on March 19 and later he tweeted about a combination of HCQ and azithromycin to treat COVID-19. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency authorisation for HCQ use. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, obtained the drug for use in the state, which is the epicentre of the pandemic in the US. On Monday night, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, told CNN about Trump: "I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group, morbidly obese, they say." Apparently Bhargava is not considered a scientist. Trump had personally requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to relax the ban on HCQ export and allow India to export doses ordered before the COVID-19 pandemic. India agreed and sent the US 3.5 million tablets and nine tonnes of ingredients to manufacture it. The controversy in the US is over HCQ's side effect of abnormal heart rhythms and dangerously rapid heart rate in some patients. Doctors prescribe it only after considering the heart condition of the patient. The FDA has directed that it should, therefore, be used only under medical supervision. HCQ's risks received further attention from a study by University of Virginia researcher Jayakrishna Ambati that the risk of death was found to be higher in former servicemen suffering from COVID-19 who were treated with it compared to those who were not. Other studies like one in France have shown that HCQ helped patients with COVID-19. In Kiryas Joel in New York State a doctor has reported that if patients are treated in the early stages with a combination of HCQ, zinc and an anti-biotic, according to CBS New York Vladimir Zelenko told the station that only two of the 400 patients he treated with the combination had died. Cardiologist Avni Thakore is now leading a study of Zelenko's prescription. She told CBS: "What we know about the mechanism of action of the drugs suggests they could be helpful early in the course of a viral infection." (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed [May 19, 2020] Area9 Lyceum Launches Free 'Kindness' Adaptive Learning Module CHESTNUT HILL, Mass., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Area9 Lyceum is partnering with educator Esther Wojcicki, author of the best-selling How to Raise Successful People, to develop learning modules based on Wojcicki's "TRICK" principles of Trust, Respect, Independence, Collaboration, and Kindness. The first module on "Kindness" will be offered for free, starting this week, on the Area9 website. Wojcicki, known affectionately as the "Godmother of Silicon Valley" (her three daughters are the CEO of YouTube, the founder and CEO of 23andMe, and a top medical researcher), developed the TRICK principles to encourage behaviors that help people become successful. What applies in the classroom is equally impactful in business, particularly in times of significant change, such as COVID-19. "The more distant people are from each other, the more organizations need to rely on their values to create cohesion and promote collaboration," said Ulrik Juul Christensen, M.D., Executive Chairman CEO of Area9 Lyceum. "We believe the TRICK principles, as developed by Esther Wojcicki - our much-admired advisor and friend - will help people become more successful in the new normal." The Kindness module, which was developed on the Area9 Rhapsode adaptive learning platform, addresses a core component of corporate culture: genuine compassion and caring for others. Such behaviors must be modeled by leaders and reflected in the interactions of colleagues at all levels of an organization. As Wojcicki explained, "The message from leaders has to be, 'We care about you - you are important.' When people experience kindness, they will also model the same behaviors when dealing with others." Subsequent TRICK learning modules to be launched on the Area9 site are: Trust the foundation of an effective environment Respect promoting autonomy and individuality Independence encouraging innovation and creativity Collaboration a crucial 21st century skill that is key to how work gets done "The TRICK principles are timeless and yet timelier than ever as the COVID-19 response results in paradigm shifts across the business landscape," Christensen added. About Area9 Lyceum Area9 Lyceum builds 21st century skills and competencies through the world's first four-dimensional learning platform, Area9 Rhapsode. Based on more than 20 years of research into human factors and cognition, Area9 Lyceum's AI-based platform delivers truly personalized learning at scale - cutting training time in half, guaranteeing proficiency and making lasting impacts on careers and business outcomes. About Esther Wojcicki Esther Wojcicki is a leading American educator, journalist, and mother. She is the author of How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results. She founded the Media Arts program at Palo Alto High School, building a journalism program from a small group of 20 students in 1984 to one of the largest in the nation. Wojcicki serves as Vice Chair of Creative Commons and has previously worked as a professional journalist for multiple publications and blogs on her website. www.wojway.com and for Thrive Global. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/area9-lyceum-launches-free-kindness-adaptive-learning-module-301061478.html SOURCE Area9 Lyceum [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Indian Railways has operated 1,565 'Shramik Special' trains since May 1 and ferried over 20 lakh migrants back home, the national transporter said on Tuesday. While Uttar Pradesh has allowed 837 trains, Bihar has permitted 428 and Madhya Pradesh more than 100, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet. As of Monday night, 162 trains were in transit and 1,252 had reached their destinations. Around 116 more are currently in the pipeline, it said. "Under the leadership of PM @NarendraModi, more than 20 lakh workers have been sent to their homes by the Railways on 1,565 Shramik Special trains," the minister said. According to data till Monday night, more than 496 trains have originated from Gujarat and 17 more are in the pipeline, while over 266 trains have already started from Maharashtra, with 37 more in the pipeline. Among other originating states, 188 trains have started from Punjab, 89 from Karnataka, 61 from Tamil Nadu, 58 from Telangana, 54 from Rajasthan, 41 from Haryana and 38 from Uttar Pradesh. Out of the trains that have terminated so far, the maximum has been in Uttar Pradesh at 641, while 73 more are in transit, followed by Bihar with 310 and 53 more on the way. The operation of these trains has, however, led to a political mud-slinging, with the opposition accusing the Centre of charging fares from migrants and then the Centre accusing some states having non-BJP governments of not providing permission for the migrant trains to run. Goyal, in a series of tweets on Monday, said he had spoken to the Odisha, Bihar and the Uttar Pradesh governments, and they assured him of permitting more trains. A 'Shramik Special' train carries around 1,700 passengers, instead of the earlier 1,200, to ferry as many workers home as possible. Initially, these trains had no scheduled stoppages during the journey, but the Railways now allows up to three stoppages in the destination states. While the transporter is yet to announce the cost incurred on these special services, officials indicated that the national transporter is spending around Rs 80 lakh per service. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 15:30:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Five Afghan policemen were killed and seven others wounded after some gunmen in police uniform opened fire inside a checkpoint in Maruf district of southern Kandahar province on Tuesday, provincial police spokesman Jamal Barikzai said. According to the spokesman, three attackers who obviously served as Taliban's infiltrators within the police rank "committed the crime at around 2:30 a.m. local time," leaving five police dead and seven wounded. Two infiltrators were killed in the firefight and the third one escaped, Barikzai said. Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi has confirmed the attack, claiming that three infiltrators opened fire and killed 18 police in a checkpoint in Taghari area of Maruf district, but didn't say if the attackers had escaped. Enditem E-commerce companies have started taking orders for non-essentials from consumers in cities even classified as red zones after the government relaxed norms for lockdown 4.0. The online retail platforms have started taking orders for non-essentials in cities such as Mumbai and Bengaluru, industry insiders say. Confirming the development, Paytm Mall said they have started deliveries for all their PIN codes for non-essentials as well. In a statement, Srinivas Mothey, Senior Vice-President Paytm Mall, said: Our merchants, offline shopkeepers, and logistics partners have all ramped up operations in tier-I metro cities and all red zones in the country. We have opened up all our pin codes and are now taking orders for non-essentials delivery. While the state governments have not yet officially come out with rules and regulations for operations in their specific areas, many relaxations have already been offered. This is part of the baby steps the government is taking to enable opening up of the economy, which has suffered a body blow after a two-month-long lockdown because of COVID-19. An Amazon India spokesperson did not share details of areas that have been opened up for servicing, but said they were looking to revive the six lakh retailers and small businesses which sell on the platform. We are humbled by the opportunity to be an extended partner to the government as it balances saving lives alongside creating livelihoodwe remain committed as always to ensuring the safety of our customers and our employees while creating business and employment opportunity, the Amazon spokesperson 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 Delhi NCR-based e-commerce platform Snapdeal said more than 65 percent of the orders booked on their platform today came from tier 1 cities that are in the red zone. Further, more than double the consumers who came to look for products on Snapdeal actually bought something, showing that consumers were waiting for e-commerce deliveries to begin in major cities. On an average, users bought two to three products in one go, simply checked out their pre-loaded carts, which they have been accumulating over the last four to six weeks, said a Snapdeal spokesperson. Among the cities which led the surge for Snapdeal are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Patna, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Jaipur, Kota, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Indore and Kolkata. The company gave details of products that were ordered, which include budget phones, garments, trimmers, home goods like pressure cookers and equipment needed to work from home like monitors and keyboards. The deliveries will start from today (May 19). Honored with Five Gold Stevie Awards for Company of the Year, Innovation of the Year, Employee Engagement Event, Achievement in Management, and Consumer Services TSX/NYSE/PSE: MFC SEHK: 945 BOSTON, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - John Hancock was honored with eleven Stevie Awards in the 18th American Business Awards, including five Gold, four Silver and two Bronze. The winners will be presented their awards on Wednesday, August 5 during a virtual ceremony. John Hancock awards include: GOLD: SILVER: Marianne Harrison , Woman of the Year Business Services Industries , Woman of the Year Business Services Industries John Hancock , Company of the Year Insurance Large , Company of the Year Insurance Large John Hancock , Most Innovative Company of the Year 2,500 or More Employees , Most Innovative Company of the Year 2,500 or More Employees John Hancock Amazon Connect, Best Technical Support Solution Computer Technologies BRONZE: John Hancock "Vitality Challenge" Campaign, Marketing Campaign of the Year Financial Products & Services John Hancock , Achievement in Organization Recovery "Our mission at John Hancock is to make decisions easier and lives better for our customers, while being equally committed to building healthier and more equitable communities," said Marianne Harrison, President and CEO of John Hancock. "We are thrilled to be recognized for our innovative work to achieve both of those priorities. Last year, we launched the first and only life insurance designed for Americans living with diabetes and a new company-wide speaker series created to encourage employees to share their biggest ideas, personal experiences and unique perspectives, among other important initiatives. It is very exciting to see the hard work of our teams honored with these outstanding awards." The American Business Awards are the premier business awards program in the United States. More than 3,600 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of categories. More than 230 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process to select this year's Stevie Award winners. "Despite the toughest business conditions in memory, American organizations continue to demonstrate their commitment to innovation, creativity, and bottom-line results," said Stevie Awards president Maggie Gallagher. "This year's Stevie-winning nominations are full of inspiring stories of persistence, ingenuity, resourcefulness, and compassion." Details about The American Business Awards and the list of 2020 Stevie winners are available at www.StevieAwards.com/ABA. About John Hancock and Manulife John Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. We operate primarily as John Hancock in the United States, and Manulife globally, including Canada, Asia and Europe. We provide financial advice, insurance and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. Assets under management and administration by Manulife and its subsidiaries were CAD$1.2 trillion (US$0.8 trillion) as of March 31, 2020. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as MFC on the TSX, NYSE, and PSE, and under 945 on the SEHK. Manulife can be found at manulife.com. One of the largest life insurers in the United States, John Hancock supports more than 10 million Americans with a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, investments, 401(k) plans, and education savings plans. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at johnhancock.com. About The Stevie Awards Stevie Awards are conferred in eight programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com. Sponsors of The 2020 American Business Awards include John Hancock, Melissa Sones Consulting, and SoftPro. SOURCE John Hancock A year to the day since they launched an ambitious campaign to become the first app-based workforce in the country to join a union, Foodora couriers are standing two metres apart outside the food delivery giants headquarters. Its May Day, and couriers are mad. This is not the anniversary theyd hoped for. The second floor of the sleek brick building on Richmond Street will soon be empty. Foodora has initiated insolvency proceedings after recently announcing a hasty exit from the Canadian market. Couriers are protesting these decisions, which will put 3,000 of them out of work amid a pandemic. They are protesting what they see as an attempt to circumvent the union drive, one that the provinces labour board recently ruled could proceed over Foodoras objections. And theyre protesting a broader problem: a system that often excludes gig workers from basic protection, including the right to join a union. All the issues that have always existed are out in the open now, says Ivan Ostos, one of the couriers brandishing Lysol wipes and a microphone at the socially distanced May Day rally. Theyve never been more glaringly obvious. Were simply not respected. Over the past year, Foodora has rebuffed complaints about a business model based on classifying its fleet of cyclists and drivers as independent contractors. Foodora said the model has benefits: most notably, it provides freedom and flexibility to workers who can be their own boss. It also creates a hurdle to unionizing: independent contractors do not have that right under Ontario law. The company sank significant resources into fighting Foodora couriers attempt to challenge their job classification, the first step toward joining the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. In February, Foodora lost. Now its May Day, and the company will soon be gone, citing an inability to grow in a competitive market. It says the legal dispute with CUPW has nothing to do with the decision. For Ostos, the timing stings. Theres all this stress from this pandemic thats going on, he says. It probably couldnt have happened at a worse time. But the battle is not over, he says, because it was never just about Foodora. This is about the whole gig economy, he says. This is about the whole Canadian economy. Around 1.7 million Canadians work in the gig economy, according to a recent Statistics Canada study, based on the latest available data from 2016. Its a small proportion of the workforce, around eight per cent, but one thats steadily grown over the past decade. Many see it as part of an overall trend, one where more and more workers are in short-term, casual, or otherwise unstable jobs. Foodora couriers campaign to join the Canadian Union of Postal Workers went public in May last year. In reality, the campaign started long before that. It originated not in a boardroom, but in Torontos green spaces: with the city itself serving as food couriers workplace, parks are the equivalent of the office water cooler. Any relationship between co-workers that exists, exists because of the initiative of the couriers to meet each other, says courier Chris Williams, who was first introduced to the idea of unionizing at a courier gathering in Trinity-Bellwoods. Like most app companies, Foodora has always described itself as a digital platform not an employer. Couriers receive little in the way of formal training. They can buy Foodora-branded bags and jackets, but as self-employed contractors, they are not required to wear them. They pick up work through an app, not a manager. For all those reasons, Foodora argues its couriers do not fit the description of an employee with the right to join a union. Putting aside this formidable legal obstacle, CUPW organizer Liisa Schofield says the first challenge to unionizing Foodora couriers was another defining feature of the job: isolation. In a job mediated almost entirely by an app, most Foodora couriers didnt even know who their colleagues were let alone whether they had the same concerns about working conditions. We really had to completely tear apart any traditional modes of organizing, she says. It was really about street outreach. Schofield helped couriers develop ways to start building relationships with co-workers. The templates ranged from a 30-second exchange at a stoplight to a five-minute chat outside a restaurant to a half-hour debrief over coffee. Gig workers in Canada A breakdown of gig workers in Canada, by the numbers: $4,303 Median annual earnings for gig economy workers in Canada. $530 Average monthly earnings for a Foodora courier. 10.8% The percentage of male gig workers new to Canada; compared 6.1% of male gig workers born in Canada. Source: Statistics Canada and Foodora, 2016 The ultimate test was whether, in even the briefest version of the conversation, a fellow courier would provide their name, their number, and say a keyword: union. Even Schofield was surprised at the uptake. As a campaign that was really largely based on cold calls I have never had a more positive experience of approaching workers, she says. There was just like an atmosphere in the air of people wanting change and needing to see it in their lives. Couriers pay had been stagnant for years at $4.50 a delivery plus $1 per kilometre from restaurant to drop-off. That structure also meant much of the work in particular, the travel back from a delivery to a pickup was unpaid. For Williams, isolation on the job wasnt simply a hurdle to unionizing. It was also a reason unionizing felt necessary. Loneliness just kind of impoverishes your life, generally speaking, but it also means that youre probably unsupported, he says. If you get in an accident, its quite a safety hazard because no ones going to come to you at the hospital. And to Williams, all those problems had a root cause: couriers status as independent contractors. These trends dont have our best interest at heart. They allow for the company to have a really flexible workforce that kind of just accepts whatever wages they set, he says. And I think, intuitively, a lot of us recognize thats not good enough. Foodora has always maintained its independent contractor model is an opportunity for workers. When it acquired Toronto-based food delivery startup Hurrier in 2015, Foodora said it absorbed an existing business that worked alongside independent contractors who executed food deliveries on behalf of the company. This model was working well for both sides, the company said in a statement. So we maintained it. Hurriers founder Adam Hasham says his original aim back in 2013 was to use technology to make courier work fairer. An algorithm could dispatch orders quickly and simply, based on which courier was closest to the pickup point. Human discretion at traditional courier companies left room for discrimination. I had heard a lot of horror stories about how some couriers were being treated, he says. Hasham says he used the independent contractor model because at the time he couldnt afford to pay couriers a regular salary. Back then, he says around 80 per cent of his startups revenue went to couriers wages. While he saw technology as a force for good, he never saw it as a panacea. I think unionizing, historically, really helped workers, says Hasham. (Unions) are the ones that kind of kicked off a five-day work week, with 9-to-5 hours, vacations and all these basic employee rights that are super important. Foodora, which is owned by Berlin-based multinational company Delivery Hero, bought Hashams startup in 2015; the software he built to dispatch orders still powers the companys app. As couriers prepared to hold a union vote in August 2019, the company encouraged them to vote No so that it could continue to work directly with riders without third-party interference. The results of the vote were sealed until the parties could resolve the key legal issue, one that spoke to the essence of the gig economy. Were Foodoras couriers truly independent contractors, acting as their own bosses? Or were their working conditions largely beyond their control dictated by an app on their smartphone? The hearings took place at the Ontario Labour Relations Board in a sage green room plagued by constant internet failure. Despite the somewhat anachronistic setting, the proceedings drew an unusually large and often youthful crowd. It was the first real window into an app companys operations in Canada. Lawyers for Foodora argued strenuously that couriers fit the legal description of a contractor, acting essentially as self-employed entrepreneurs. While Foodora may occasionally intervene in couriers work for the sake of quality control, lawyers argued drivers and cyclists were largely in control of their day-to-day working conditions. They owned their own equipment and exercised discretion over when and where they worked. But Foodoras position did not convince the labour board. In a decision issued in February this year, chair Matthew Wilson ruled Foodoras couriers did not look much like entrepreneurs at all. Evidence of couriers dual-apping working for multiple food delivery apps at one time was not entrepreneurialism, he ruled. It was simply evidence of hard work. Ultimately, Wilson ruled that couriers, in fact, looked more like dependent contractors a middle ground between traditional employees and independent contractors, and a category of worker that has the right to unionize. It was the first ruling of its kind on the gig economy in Canada. The labour boards ruling didnt mean couriers had officially unionized, but it meant they had the legal right to. That opened the door to months more legal wrangling between CUPW and Foodora to unseal the union ballots cast months earlier. What made the ruling so significant was not just that it was the first about an app-based workforce, but that it was so expansive in its reasoning. I think that the board, thankfully, kind of resisted the temptation to just be as kind of minimalist as possible, says Ryan White, the lawyer representing CUPW. They certainly made a few comments and I think really provide us with a very good kind of jumping-off point for future platform-based applications and future gig economy applications. In response to the decision, Foodora said it was assessing how it would move forward, adding for now, it was business as usual. Within weeks, the advent of a global pandemic made business as usual impossible. Couriers quickly found themselves on the front lines of the crisis delivering meals and even medication. For some, it only sharpened the argument for joining a union. We never got any kind of pay raise or danger pay or anything like that. During the pandemic, we were still making the same s---ty rates that we were before, says courier Alexander Kurth. It just shows how essential unions are in order to protect what all of us deserve. Before the negotiations between CUPW and Foodora could begin in earnest, Foodora announced its exit from Canada. It came in the form of a late April email to couriers, with the subject line Important Update. In the email, Foodora said it was not able to grow our business into a leading position in the highly competitive and saturated Canadian environment. Couriers, the email said, would receive a notice terminating their contract later that day. Despite the undeniable economic uncertainty created by the pandemic, some couriers questioned whether Foodora was truly a loser amid the tumult. The day after Foodora announced its departure, its parent company released its first-quarter results. Globally, orders and revenues had doubled; the pandemic, its report noted, had strengthened demand. But based on Foodoras next move initiating insolvency proceedings in Canada the success had not translated locally. According to its creditors list, the company is $4.7 million in debt. Couriers are not listed as creditors. They are expected to receive their wages in full before the company leaves. That fact has not lessened couriers indignation. Im angry at this company for abandoning thousands of workers when theyre needed the most, says Kurth. We were always disposable to them. And its infuriating. The May Day rally closes with a round of Solidarity Forever, a labour anthem inspired by an early-20th-century coal miners strike in West Virginia. Its an era that seems a world away from a group of young people whose boss is an app, an app created by software engineers inspired by Silicon Valley. But for couriers, the song concludes with a fitting line one about creating a new world from the ashes of the old. That, says Schofield, was the whole point of a campaign aimed at the heart of the gig economy. It cant continue the level of exploitation that its been dependent on, she says. Its days are numbered. Hustled, a podcast series investigating the gig economy, launches May 19. Subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. Listen to episode one of Hustled: David vs. Goliath What does a deputy sheriff do without a sheriff? Australia has spent the last three-quarters of a century as America's uniquely loyal ally. Again and again, Australia signed up for US wars that other American allies refused to join. The Brits were too smart to join the American war in Vietnam. Canada was too wise to touch the 2003 US invasion of Iraq. And Wellington was so wary of US nuclear weapons that it, in effect, took the "NZ" out of ANZUS. US President Donald Trump has questioned the F-35 fighter jet program. Credit:AP But Canberra sent troops into even the dumbest American wars in the belief that it was paying an insurance premium against the day when Australia needed US help. Now that Australia finds itself facing its most precarious geopolitical situation since World War II, the insurance policy is looking pretty threadbare. Donald Trump has shown that he is happy to ignore, insult and injure American allies whenever the mood takes him. On Friday it was through the F-35 fighter jet program that Australia, among other allies, has relied on. Trump called it "crazy". Australia decided to join the US in supporting the F-35 program more than a decade ago under the Howard government, when it was just an idea. It was then known as the Joint Strike Fighter project. MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle has taken multitasking to another level by delivering a live report while her son was secretly lying on her lap. The 44-year-old host shared behind-the-scenes footage of her work from home situation on Monday, revealing she had a special guest with her as she discussed Disney and MGM Resorts reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic. 'Meet our new Disney analyst,' Ruhle wrote when she shared the heartwarming clip on Instagram and Twitter. Multitasking mom: MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle, 44, delivered a live report from her home on Monday while her son Reese was secretly lying on her lap The NBC News senior business correspondent looked every bit the professional as she delivered the report one would never guess that she was also enjoying some one-on-one time with her son Reese. The 11-year-old was out of the camera's view during the broadcast, but in the clip she shared on social media, she could be seen resting her arm in his back while he was sprawled across her lap. Reese, who had on a button-down shirt, red tie, and khakis, appeared to be wearing his school uniform despite his classes being moved online. Ruhle wore a bright blue sweater for the segment, but like most people who have been working from home, she donned cozy sweatpants knowing that they wouldn't be seen. Doting mom: Ruhle rested her hand on her 11-year-old son's back while he rested his head on her leg Behind-the-scenes: The host looked every bit the professional as she delivered the report with her son out the camera's view Too cute! Ruhle was discussing Disney and MGM Resorts' plans to reopen, and in her caption, she joked her son is their 'new Disney analyst' The video has been viewed more than two million times on Twitter, and commenters especially other journalists were quick to praise the anchor. 'Thats amazing,' wrote White House correspondent Annie Karni, while Rex Chapman said: 'Best thing I've seen today.' 'Omg this is so awesome,' John Marshall tweeted. 'It's the family version of not wearing pants on camera.' And Today anchor Hoda Kotb gave Ruhle a special shout out the next day. 'Happy Tuesday! Mamas get it done,' she tweeted while reposting the clip, prompting Ruhle to comment: 'The Juggle is REAL!' Working from home: Ruhle has a makeshift studio set up in her home for her live broadcasts Family fun: The mom, who also has a 14-year-old son, Harrison, and seven-year-old daughter, Drew, has shared other photos of her kids in the studio Bonding: Last week, the mom shared a photo of herself doing an arts and crafts project with her daughter, Drew, explaining it's one of the benefits of working from home Ruhle also has a 14-year-old son, Harrison, and a seven-year-old daughter, Drew, with her husband, Andy Hubbard, and like most families across the country, they are balancing working remotely with their kids' online schooling amid the global crisis. The anchor has a makeshift studio in her home, and it's not off-limits to her children. She recently shared a picture of two of her kids goofing off in front of the camera, writing: '#homestudiolife.' Last week, the mom shared a photo of herself doing an arts and crafts project with her daughter, Drew, while opening up about the benefits of working from home. 'After 14yrs of NYC parenting, Ive rarely made it to an after school class,' she admitted. 'Ive run 10 city blocks in stilettos to catch the final bow of a show. Ive changed into a bathing suit in the back of a taxi for mommy and me swim class more times than I care to admit... 'And today, when the clock struck 3, I walked upstairs and thanks to the magic of @craftstudionyc and #zoom, #dreamcomedrew and I rocked some rainbows and embraced our wildest watercolor dreams.' DALLAS, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC) ("SC"), today issued the following statement regarding its voluntary settlement with 33 states and the District of Columbia, which alleged that auto loans that SC funded through certain automobile dealers dating back to 2010 violated consumer protection laws because of the high risk that certain borrowers would default: SC's voluntary agreement with the attorneys general resolves a legacy underwriting issue stemming from an investigation that commenced in 2014, and is another key milestone in addressing issues related to that time period. We are pleased to put this matter behind us. Santander Consumer is fully reserved for this matter, and no additional charges will be taken in connection with the settlement. SC has fully cooperated with the attorneys general throughout the investigation, and the settlement has no material impact on SC's or Santander US' operations or our ability to serve customers. SC is a responsible lender in a highly regulated environment. SC operates under large financial institution standards, which include rigorous risk, compliance and controls around lending and loan servicing. Over the last several years, we have strengthened our risk management across the board improving our policies and procedures to identify and prevent dealer misconduct, and tightening standards to ensure affordability. All of this important work helps SC remain competitive and well-positioned for future growth. About Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. (NYSE: SC) ("SC") is a full-service consumer finance company focused on vehicle finance, third-party servicing and delivering superior service to our more than 2.9 million customers across the full credit spectrum. SC, which began originating retail installment contracts in 1997, had an average managed asset portfolio of approximately $60 billion (for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020), and is headquartered in Dallas. (www.santanderconsumerusa.com) CONTACT: Media Relations Laurie Kight 214.801.6455 [email protected] Investor Relations Evan Black 800.493.8219 [email protected] SOURCE Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc. Related Links http://www.santanderconsumerusa.com Rantoul, IL (61866) Today A mainly sunny sky. High 19F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight A mostly clear sky. Low 6F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. A B-1B Lancer flies with a Danish F-16 during a training mission for Bomber Task Force Europe, May 11, 2020. Aircrews from the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., took off on their long-range, long-duration Bomber Task Force mission to conduct interoperability training with NATO allies and partners. Operations and engagements such as these demonstrate and strengthen the shared commitment to global security and stability. (Courtesy photo by Danish Air Force) X 0 20 Help Keep Us Soaring We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month. Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways: ALBANY Albany Medical Center is one of 16 hospitals statewide that will participate in a two-week pilot program designed to see whether New York hospitals can safely resume visitations amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Greater New York Hospital Association and Healthcare Association of New York State will implement the program, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday. It is terrible to have someone in the hospital and then that person is isolated, Cuomo said. Not being able to see their family or friends I understand the health reasons for that. We were afraid of the virus spread. But this is a pilot project to see if we can bring visitors in and do it safely. Hospitals across the state began barring visitors in March as the virus took hold in New York. Exceptions were allowed in some cases, such as for parents who had a child in the hospital or a birthing mother who wanted her partner by her side. But overall, few were allowed in from the outside and those who were had to undergo temperature checks and be screened for symptoms and travel histories. The psychological toll of the no-visitor policies has been well-documented and devastating for many, hospital staff included. As families and loved ones have been kept away, they are sometimes the only ones there to offer comfort during a dark and scary time. Some hospitals have attempted to make up for the loss by bringing in tablets to set up virtual visits. Still, many patients have died alone, with no one by their side. Under New Yorks pilot program, visits by family members and loved ones will be allowed at select hospitals but will be time-limited and involve certain precautions. The visitors will be subject to symptom and temperature checks, and required to wear personal protective equipment. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage This is getting visitors back into hospitals with the right precautions, with the right equipment, Cuomo said Tuesday. Albany Med appears to be the only local hospital participating in the pilot, according to details shared during Cuomos daily coronavirus briefing. Hospital spokesman Matt Markham said Tuesday that under the pilot program Albany Med will allow one visitor 18 years of age or older to visit a patient during a two-hour period each day. Those visiting COVID-19 patients will be required to use additional PPE. Visitors will be screened for temperatures and respiratory symptoms and issued masks. Visitors may also bring masks from home. The hospital will also remind visitors to practice good hand hygiene, he said, by using waterless hand cleanser that's been placed at public entrances around the hospital. In April, Albany Med officials said students from Albany Medical College had begun volunteering to help set up video chats between patients and their families to help decrease the isolation patients might feel and, in some cases, say goodbye. "Its important for the family members to still connect with their loved ones in the hospital," Albany Med President and CEO Dennis McKenna said at the time. "Its a chance for them to connect with the patient, to talk with them, to pray with them and this is really remarkable," he continued. "So we thank our medical students." Other hospitals participating in the pilot include Plainview Hospital and Huntington Hospital in Long Island; Lenox Hill Hospital, New York Presbyterian, NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, Mount Sinai Hospital, Jacobi Medical Center, Montefiore - Henry and Lucy Moses, Coney Island Hospital, Maimonides Medical Center and Mount Sinai Queens in New York City; Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Erie County; St. Josephs Hospital Health Center in Onondaga County; Westchester Medical Center in Westchester County; and Bassett Medical Center in Otsego County. Citing the "interests of justice,'' a federal judge has ended Oregon refuge occupation leader Ryan Paynes federal supervision a year and a half early. Payne, once described as a pivotal architect of the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, served his prison term of three years and one month and completed half of the three years of supervised release that U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown ordered in March 2018. He received credit for the time he was held in jail after his arrest in late January 2016. Payne was sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiring to impede federal employees at the wildlife refuge through intimidation, threat or force. He paid his $10,000 restitution in full by Sept. 23 Payne married after getting out of prison, has four children with his wife and one on the way, according to his lawyer Lisa Hay, Oregons federal public defender. He is head of operations at REM Technologies, a start-up company in Belgrade, Montana. The company is developing a new method of processing raw materials in the metals supply industry. Hes been employed there since August after working as a licensed electrician for another company since his release from custody, according to his lawyer Lisa Hay, Oregons federal public defender. Mr. Paynes compliant conduct and positive contribution to his community throughout the past 18 months of supervised release demonstrates that further supervision is unnecessary, Hay wrote to the court. Federal prosecutors did not object. Brown granted Paynes request, effective May 12. Payne was one of 18 people who either pleaded guilty or were convicted by a jury in the 41-day Malheur refuge occupation in 2016. Prosecutors originally indicted 26 people. Leader Ammon Bundy, brother Ryan Bundy and five others were acquitted of all charges during a trial. The government dropped a conspiracy case against independent broadcaster Pete Santilli. In January 2018, a federal judge in Nevada dismissed separate conspiracy charges against Payne, Ammon and Ryan Bundy and their father, Cliven Bundy, after she found prosecutors engaged in flagrant misconduct'' and a deliberate attempt to mislead'' and made several misrepresentations to both the defense and the court about evidence. The U.S. Attorneys Office is appealing the dismissal. -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Subscribe to Facebook page Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter China to help Africa enhance disease preparedness, control capacity: Xi Global Times Source:Xinhua Published: 2020/5/18 19:14:30 China will establish a cooperation mechanism for its hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals, said Chinese President Xi Jinping Monday at the opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly via video link. China will also accelerate the building of the Africa CDC headquarters to help the continent ramp up its disease preparedness and control capacity, Xi said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The Taraba State Government on Tuesday said it has discharge all coronavirus patients from its isolation centre after they recovered from the virus. As at Monday, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, recorded 17 confirmed Coronavirus cases for Taraba, with one discharged so far. But Tarabas Deputy Governor, Haruna Manu, said the patients were discharged after successful treatment protocols and series of test which returned negative and certified them free of the virus. Speaking in a statewide broadcast on Tuesday, Manu said the development meant that there is no active coronavirus case in the state, adding that the feat was achieved with concerted efforts of the government, health workers in the frontline against the virus and other stakeholders in the state. He thanked the citizens for their adherence to health and safety measures put in place by health experts and the government, but warned that the state was still at risk of the pandemic if citizens lower the bar on all safety and precautionary measures. It is important for me to say that even with the present zero active cases of COVID-19 infection in the state, we cannot yet say that we are completely free of the risk of infection. We must, therefore, remain committed to those international protocols introduced by the World Health Organisation and which have been domesticated to serve our needs and purpose in the state, he said. ST. LOUIS It passed by a wide margin with little debate or dissent. The moment offered barely a hint of the long, difficult effort to achieve simple fairness at city lunch counters. The occasion was the St. Louis Board of Aldermen's 20-4 vote on May 19, 1961, to ban racial discrimination at restaurants, diners, taverns, theaters and other places of public accommodation. Mayor Raymond R. Tucker praised the vote as a "significant step forward." If the four aldermen who voted against it spoke out, the City Hall reporters didn't consider the quotes worth using. But it had been too long in becoming ordinance. Seven years earlier, the board voted 17-10 to protect the notion that business owners could refuse service for reasons of race or creed. Since World War II, the city's small bloc of black aldermen had been proposing a public-accommodations bill so that blacks could sip coffee and eat hamburgers alongside whites. Every year but 1954, when it was voted down, the idea would "die in committee." Peaceful sit-ins at local lunch counters wore down the old attitudes. But the demonstrators had to do a lot of sitting, sometimes in jail. On July 8, 1944, black and white women with the Citizens Civil Rights Committee went to the busy lunchrooms in the big downtown department stores. The blacks were refused service. When whites passed food to their black friends, the lunchrooms closed for the day. In the 1950s, Catholic, Jewish and mainline Protestant leaders urged aldermen to end segregation. So did Jordan Chambers, a longtime political leader referred to in the newspapers of the day as the "negro mayor of St. Louis." But hotelkeepers and restaurateurs said it would drive away business. In 1955, William Flori, a leader of the Tavern Owners' Association, pleaded, "We've got enough trouble in our taverns the way it is." Within a few years, protesters were taking seats at Pope's Cafeteria downtown, the F.W. Woolworth's in midtown and Howard Johnson's at 3501 North Kingshighway. William L. Clay Sr., then a freshman alderman (and future congressman), was among those arrested in a lengthy series of sit-ins at the HoJo's in 1959. Some protesters were high school students. Mayor Tucker said the city wouldn't prosecute blacks seeking "fair treatment," although he stopped short of condoning mass protests. In October 1960, Pope's and five other downtown cafeterias relented. The Greater St. Louis Restaurant Association followed suit one month later, paving the way for an aldermanic change of heart. When the roll was called May 19, five aldermen who had opposed it in 1954 joined the new majority. Two terrorists, including Junaid Ashraf Khan 'Sehrai' whose father is chairman of the separatist conglomerate Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, were killed on Tuesday after a 15-hour long gun battle with security forces in a densely populated area in downtown Srinagar, officials said. Khan, an MBA from the Kashmir University, had joined militancy in March 2018. Before returning to the Valley and joining the Hizbul Mujahideen terror group's ranks, he had worked in a couple of multinational companies in Delhi. Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said Junaid was a self-styled divisional commander of the banned terror outfit. The second terrorist killed in the encounter, Tariq Ahmed Sheikh, was a resident of Pulwama and had joined militant ranks and files in March, he said. They were killed in an encounter with police and para-military forces, the DGP said. As the encounter broke out slightly after midnight, authorities snapped all private mobile networks and shut down mobile internet in Srinagar district as a precautionary measure. After the encounter, which ended this afternoon, angry residents poured out on streets as some houses caught fire during the 15-hour long operation in the densely populated Nawakadal area. Two security men also suffered minor injuries during the encounter. Tuesday's encounter was a signal to security forces that militants had entered Srinagar city, which had been cleared completely by 2014. The last encounter that took place within the city was in 2018 when three militants were killed. Junaid was the first such case where a son of a separatist leader of Jammu and Kashmir had joined a terror group. The kins of other separatist leaders are working with government departments or are settled abroad. He had three cases registered against him which included injuring special police officer Umar Rashid in Srinagar city last year. His father Ashraf Sehrai, who dislodged pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani from the chairmanship of Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, had declined from making a public appeal to call his son back from militancy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thanks to efforts to smoothen the last miles of logistics services in Chinas rural areas, villagers can now buy and sell products through e-commerce platforms more easily. Villagers make a special snack with Chinese dates and walnuts in the e-commerce service center of Beidi village, Jinghe county, northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. (Photo by Kuerbanjiang Mamuti/Peoples Daily Online) In the past, villagers had to go to towns to pick up and send parcels. With the establishment of logistics centers, now they could prepare for orders placed by buyers after receiving them and then send the products via the convenient logistics system at any time. E-commerce platform has emerged as an important channel to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on agricultural produce in China. Recently, quite a lot of government officials took to livestreaming to promote local specialties. Ripe papaya has a natural fragrance and sweet taste just like that in the pleasant smell of fresh grass and trees after rain. The ones with big belly taste the best. Head of Hekou Yao autonomous county, southwest Chinas Yunnan province introduced local papayas during a livestreaming show. The show attracted more than 650,000 viewers within half an hour and helped sell out 80 tons of papayas. Local people pack agricultural products including ginger and organic red rice in the e-commerce service center of Tuling village, Yichun, east Chinas Jiangxi province, to meet orders placed by costumers across the country on e-commerce platforms. (Photo by Zhou Liang/Peoples Daily Online) The Chinese officials have achieved remarkable results in livestreaming shows. Head of Dangshan county in east Chinas Anhui province sold 70,000 kilograms of pears via livestreaming, while deputy head of Leye county in south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region sold 20,000 kilograms of citrus fruits within two hours during a livestreaming show. According to statistics, Chinese mayors and heads of county have sold more than 4 million kilograms of agricultural produce within one month via the livestreaming platform of Chinas Pinduoduo, an online e-commerce platform famous for offering group buying deals with big discounts. While e-commerce is helpful in promoting sales of agricultural produce, it has not worked effectively for every household in the countrys rural areas from the start. Although it seems simple to promote and sell local products via livestreaming show, online transactions would have been impossible and delivery of products laborious without improved transportation, logistics and information services. Logistics services in many rural areas often involve huge bulk, great weight, low unit price, small number of orders, low frequency, and scattered locations for collection and distribution of parcels, which caused many courier companies to only set up logistics centers in town-level areas rather than villages to save cost. Logistics service system enables people of Huangling village, Renshou county, Meishan, southwest Chinas Sichuan province to receive their parcels in time even though they live more than 50 kilometers away from the central area of the county. (Photo by Yao Yongliang/Peoples Daily Online) To solve problems with the last miles of logistics network, Chinas State Post Bureau issued a three-year action plan, specifying that basically all Chinas administrative villages are expected to enjoy delivery services by 2022. The action plan has led to the establishment of an increasing number of e-commerce service centers and express delivery outlets in villages nationwide. Last year, an e-commerce service station was established in Jinmi village, Zhashui county, northwest Chinas Shaanxi province. Now, the village has both an e-commerce service station and a livestreaming room to promote sales of agricultural products. At present, all of the townships in Zhashui county have e-commerce service centers and all the villages and townships across the county are basically covered by a logistics service system with a county-level distribution center. Not long ago, an independently developed smart logistics track network was put into a trial run in Huazhou city, Maoming, south Chinas Guangdong province. The track, which took six years to develop, mainly serves the needs for transshipment of local express services, poverty alleviation industrial bases, and delivery of goods. Consisting of base stations, lower cableways, shuttle robots, and a storehouse, and a distribution system, the smart logistics track can help deliver goods to destinations within an hour. After farmers sending a parcel from a village base station, a shuttle robot, which is powered by lithium batteries, automatically takes the parcel along the lower cableway to a town-level base station at low cost. Parcels of online orders sent from across the country can be delivered to villagers in the same way. Such smart and lightweight logistics track which features low cost, fast construction, fewer resources, low volume, and high frequency enjoys certain operating conditions in rural areas. Besides, advance technologies such as big data and cloud computing can also help boost efficiency of the logistics system in these areas, thus ensuring that products sent from and to villages can be handled on time at low cost. Smoothening the last miles of logistics service for rural areas is an inevitable requirement for Chinas endeavors to free its impoverished population from poverty and revitalize rural areas. The countrys targeted policies and measures based on the actual conditions and situations of various areas, scientific management methods, and overall arrangements will help guarantee effective running of the logistics service network of rural areas and eventually enrich lives of people in rural areas. United Nations, May 19 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was unlikely that world leaders will attend the annual UN summit in September, putting a damper on the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the would body. In a letter to General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande on Monday, Guterres suggested exploring alternative ways of holding the meeting such as through pre-recorded speeches by the leaders of the 193-member nations. The September meeting was expected to be a celebration of the UN's landmark anniversary and an occasion for the Presidents, Prime Ministers and royalties to look back at its 75 years and chart its future in the 21st century. The General Assembly had planned a one-day summit on September 21 on the theme 'The Future We Want, the UN We Need: Reaffirming our Collective Commitment to Multilateralism'. An ambitious 75th anniversary declaration looking to the past and the future of the UN has been under preparation through negotiations conducted by Permanent Representatives Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani of Qatar and Anna Karin Enestrom of Sweden. Guterres said that travel restrictions and quarantines were likely to continue into September when the annual summit is held and under those conditions "it is highly unlikely that Heads of State and Government from all Member States will be able to travel to New York in September". "Therefore, you may wish to recommend that the General Assembly considers holding the General Debate of the seventy-fifth session in a different format, such as using pre-recorded messages provided by Heads of State and Government or Ministers, with physical presence in the General Assembly Hall limited to one delegate per delegation based in New York," he wrote in the letter seen by IANS. This arrangement would also allow the general debate to continue with the participation of speakers from the member countries "at the highest level possible". He said following a similar format for the 75th anniversary commemoration. "COVID-19 is an unprecedented and devastating crisis that has spared no one, and the engagement of the General Assembly will be essential for a large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive multilateral response," Guterres said. The annual high-level meeting brings together leaders from around the world and beyond the speeches and meetings at the UN, more is achieved on the sidelines as they meet for formal and informal meetings dealing with bilateral and multilateral issues. At last year's summit attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping were notable absentees and were expected this year. In their speeches during the week-long general debate, leaders sketch out their countries' foreign policy priorities and world view, leading to verbal clashes in some instances. A Youth Plenary was also planned with a youth-driven, global dialogue on the future of the UN. (Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed on Twitter @arulouis) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text By IANS GUNTUR: The AP Crime Investigation Department (CID) has registered a case against 66-year-old P Ranganayakamma for allegedly posting objectionable comments on social media on the Vizag gas leak and the governments response to it. The CID is also investigating the role of a man, Malladi Raghunath, in the matter. A case under Sections of 505 (2) (making statements that create or promote enmity),153 (A) (indulging in wanton vilification), 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 120-B r/w 34 (criminal conspiracy) and also under Section 67 of IT Act, 2008 was registered against the woman. The woman, in her social media account, raised 20 questions such as why there were no arrests in Vizag gas leak and why the government allowed the leftover styrene to be sent back to South Korea. Meanwhile, TDP leaders met Ranganayakamma at her residence in Guntur on Tuesday. Ranganayakamma said she did not have any bad intentions and merely shared a post of one her friends. She said TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh contacted her over phone and extended support to legally fight the case. Holly Willoughby appeared on This Morning today wearing a pretty green floral midi dress from British high street brand Ghost. Made from a lightweight georgette fabric with a shirred bodice and sheer sleeves, the dress (which costs 169 and is already sold out) is typical of the brand, which was founded back in 1984 and has become known for its floral prints and flattering, feminine cuts. Which is perhaps why Willoughby has had a bit of a lockdown love-in with the brand, with todays appearance marking the 11th time she has worn Ghost since February. Just last week she wore the Audree Wendy Confetti Hearts dress (169, shop it here), and back in mid-April she opted for the brands black Lili silk polka dot dress (179, shop it here) and then the brands Marley Dress 120 in Flossy Folk Floral Blue (120, shop it in red here) the following day. The most fashion-forward look came a few days later, when Willoughby wore the white daisy print puff sleeved Lucinda dress (169, shop it here). Holly is not the only celebrity harnessing the power of a Ghost summer dress. The Duchess of Cambridge recently took the her doorstep of her Anmer Hall home in Norfolk to clap for the nations carers wearing the labels blue Anouk floral satin midi. Choosing, alongside her whole family, to wear the colour of the NHS as a nod of appreciation, Kates dress, which cost 129, quickly sold out following her appearance. But that wasnt the first time the Duchess had donned Ghosts blue florals. Kate had also previously (secretly) worn the brand on a trip to Pakistan in October 2019, when she wore the super pretty pale blue floral Avery Ghost dress to a function held at the British High Commission. On both occasions Kate looked breezy, effortless and approachable, whilst simultaneously put together. And this is the magic of a good Ghost dress, for under 200 (and often under 150), you get something pretty yet super practical which looks just as good paired with stilettos for a formal event (as Willoughby wears hers on This Morning) as it does paired with trainers to pop out for a walk in the park. A sartorial magic that no doubt wasnt lost on Carrie Symonds, who chose to wear a pink floral Ghost dress for her debut appearance outside No. 10 as First Girlfriend. Not only was it a savvy move to champion the British high street at such a moment, but also at 120, the puff sleeve midi made her feel relatable. Carrie Symonds waits for Boris Johnson to arrive in Downing Street after he officially became prime minister / Getty Images Much of Ghosts ascending popularity is thanks to the gentle yet assured rebrand undertaken at the hands of Sameera Azeem, who was appointed creative director back in 2016. Originally a slinky, bias cut dress-centric brand, Ghost, founded in 1984 by designer Tanya Sarne, thrived in the 1990s. Worn by nineties models and It girls, the brand was so popular by 2004 that it had 11 boutiques, eight perfumes and plans to branch out into swimwear and denim. Two years later, however, Sarne left the brand, after which Ghost disappeared off the fashion week schedule and there followed a decade of declining sales. Since she was brought on board by Ghosts new owner Touker Suleyman (of Dragons Den fame), Azeem has managed to breathe new life into the brand by reducing the price point, adding bold florals and leopard to their roster of bias cut pastel-coloured viscose dresses and focusing on Instagram influencers as a means of advertising. In 2014, two years before she took the job, the average age of the customer was 50. Today, its 30-35. No longer just a destination for ethereal bridesmaid dresses, Ghost is now a go-to high street destination for every day, work and partywear. According to The Telegraph, sales on Ghosts website alone were up 95 per cent in 2017 compared to 2014, and it has already expanded from just one UK shop to four, as well as being stocked in 32 bridal shops across the country, and sold online at Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and John Lewis. When one throws in a handful of seriously high profile brand devotees, its clear Ghosts star is on the ascent. Shop Ghost's best summer dresses: Lucinda dress, 169 | Buy now Audree Dress Confetti Heart, 169 | Buy now Jolie Dress Poppy Ditsy, 89 | Buy now Lili Dress Happy Spot, 179 | Buy now Jo Dress Dakota, 89 | Buy now Ghost Marley Dress Red 145 | Buy now Poet dress in Lemon, 60 | Buy now Dr. Andres Sanchez, Periodontist in Eden Prairie, MN, Offers Less Invasive Dental Implant Surgery We utilize PIEZOSURGERY for a wide range of services when we need to be extra careful in the mouth. This allows us to carefully remove bone, diseased teeth, or access the sinus cavity without putting the patients health at risk. Experienced periodontist in Eden Prairie, MN, Dr. Andres Sanchez, offers a virtually pain-free solution to help patients get dental implants and bone grafting through PIEZOSURGERY technology. PIEZOSURGERY uses ultrasonic vibrations to gently cut bone in the mouth without harming surrounding tissues. This is often used to prepare a patient for dental implants, especially when the implants need to be placed in a sensitive area of the mouth. We utilize PIEZOSURGERY for a wide range of services when we need to be extra careful in the mouth. This allows us to carefully remove bone, diseased teeth, or access the sinus cavity without putting the patients health at risk, says Dr. Sanchez. PIEZOSURGERY is so unique because it cuts using ultrasonic vibrations instead of drills and burs. This difference means that Dr. Sanchez can offer more precise care without damaging soft tissue. It is often used during dental implant treatments, including assisting in tooth extraction or a sinus lift when implants need to be placed in the upper molar region of the mouth. When used to prepare for dental implants, it often improves the healing time, both before and after surgery. PIEZOSURGERY has been proven to help by: Easing the tooth extraction process Assisting in gum disease treatment Removing diseased areas of the teeth Accessing the sinus cavity during a sinus lift Dr. Sanchez routinely uses PIEZOSURGERY for the placement of dental implants, which are lifelike tooth replacement solutions that restore a patients bite and smile aesthetics. Dental implants are placed in areas of the mouth where teeth have been extracted or are missing and can even be used to replace an entire arch of missing teeth. Depending on a patients needs, Dr. Sanchez can provide new teeth in just one appointment. PerioWest prides itself on offering patients comfortable treatments and gentle dentistry. By offering PIEZOSURGERY, Dr. Sanchez is able to give patients an improved experience. Additionally, the periodontist offers sedation options to help block discomfort and ease anxiety. Patients also benefit by choosing an experienced periodontist for their dental implant or tooth extraction needs. A periodontist, like Dr. Sanchez, has spent extra years studying the hard and soft tissues of the mouth, and can provide improved care during these major treatments. Those interested in learning more about PIEZOSURGERY or dental implants, or who would like to schedule a private consultation with PerioWests periodontist in Eden Prairie, MN, are encouraged to visit the practice website at http://www.periowestmn.com or call 952-567-7457. About the Periodontist PerioWest is a periodontal practice offering personalized dental care for patients in Eden Prairie, MN and the Twin Cities areas. Dr. Andres R. Sanchez received his Certificate & Masters Degree in Periodontics from the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He is a board-certified periodontist and a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology. In addition, Dr. Sanchez has been involved as a primary author in more than ten scientific papers published in major periodontal and implant dentistry journals. PerioWest provides state-of-the-art dental implant treatment, LANAP laser therapy, and advanced periodontal care to Eden Prairie, MN and the Twin Cities areas. To learn more about Dr. Sanchez and the services provided at PerioWest, please visit the practice website at http://www.periowestmn.com or call 952-567-7457. Oregon man caught in Lyon County with $760,000 of marijuana Today we'll look at D4t4 Solutions Plc (LON:D4T4) and reflect on its potential as an investment. In particular, we'll consider its Return On Capital Employed (ROCE), as that can give us insight into how profitably the company is able to employ capital in its business. First up, we'll look at what ROCE is and how we calculate it. Next, we'll compare it to others in its industry. Last but not least, we'll look at what impact its current liabilities have on its ROCE. Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What is it? ROCE is a measure of a company's yearly pre-tax profit (its return), relative to the capital employed in the business. Generally speaking a higher ROCE is better. Ultimately, it is a useful but imperfect metric. Renowned investment researcher Michael Mauboussin has suggested that a high ROCE can indicate that 'one dollar invested in the company generates value of more than one dollar'. How Do You Calculate Return On Capital Employed? Analysts use this formula to calculate return on capital employed: Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities) Or for D4t4 Solutions: 0.13 = UK3.3m (UK30m - UK3.9m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2019.) Therefore, D4t4 Solutions has an ROCE of 13%. See our latest analysis for D4t4 Solutions Does D4t4 Solutions Have A Good ROCE? When making comparisons between similar businesses, investors may find ROCE useful. We can see D4t4 Solutions's ROCE is around the 12% average reported by the IT industry. Independently of how D4t4 Solutions compares to its industry, its ROCE in absolute terms appears decent, and the company may be worthy of closer investigation. D4t4 Solutions's current ROCE of 13% is lower than its ROCE in the past, which was 22%, 3 years ago. Therefore we wonder if the company is facing new headwinds. You can click on the image below to see (in greater detail) how D4t4 Solutions's past growth compares to other companies. Story continues AIM:D4T4 Past Revenue and Net Income May 19th 2020 When considering ROCE, bear in mind that it reflects the past and does not necessarily predict the future. Companies in cyclical industries can be difficult to understand using ROCE, as returns typically look high during boom times, and low during busts. ROCE is, after all, simply a snap shot of a single year. You can check if D4t4 Solutions has cyclical profits by looking at this free graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow. What Are Current Liabilities, And How Do They Affect D4t4 Solutions's ROCE? Short term (or current) liabilities, are things like supplier invoices, overdrafts, or tax bills that need to be paid within 12 months. Due to the way the ROCE equation works, having large bills due in the near term can make it look as though a company has less capital employed, and thus a higher ROCE than usual. To counteract this, we check if a company has high current liabilities, relative to its total assets. D4t4 Solutions has current liabilities of UK3.9m and total assets of UK30m. Therefore its current liabilities are equivalent to approximately 13% of its total assets. Low current liabilities are not boosting the ROCE too much. Our Take On D4t4 Solutions's ROCE This is good to see, and with a sound ROCE, D4t4 Solutions could be worth a closer look. There might be better investments than D4t4 Solutions out there, but you will have to work hard to find them . These promising businesses with rapidly growing earnings might be right up your alley. If you are like me, then you will not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Six paramilitary soldiers were killed and four wounded in Pakistan's restive southwestern province of Balochistan in a roadside bomb attack on their vehicle, officials said early Tuesday. The incident happened in the hilly areas of Bolan district, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of the provincial capital Quetta late on Monday. "Six Frontier Corps personnel were killed in a roadside bomb blast while four others received injuries and have been sent to hospital," Deputy Commissioner Bolan Murad Kasi told AFP. The bomb hit the vehicle during a routine patrol, he added. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Baluch separatists demanding greater autonomy have been waging an insurgency for years while the province is also riven by sectarian strife and Islamist violence. Six soldiers were killed in a similar roadside bomb blast earlier this month. The incident was later claimed by the Balochistan Liberation Army, a Baloch separatist group. Mineral-rich Balochistan, bordering Afghanistan and Iran, is the largest of Pakistan's four provinces, but its roughly seven million inhabitants have long complained they do not receive a fair share of its gas and mineral wealth. China is investing in the area under a $54-billion project known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), upgrading infrastructure, power and transport links between its far-western Xinjiang region and Pakistan's Gwadar port. Thousands of paramilitary troops carry out security checks and help police in maintaining law and order in restive parts of Pakistan. Thousands of paramilitary troops carry out security checks and help police in maintaining law and order in restive parts of Pakistan such as Balochistan Iran's foreign ministry spokesman on Monday warned that the Islamic Republic will react if the United States government makes any move against its tankers heading to Venezuela. "What Americans stated regarding our oil tankers in various locations around the world is illegal and shameless," Abbas Mousavi said during a press conference in Tehran. Five Iranian tankers likely carrying at least $45.5 million worth of gasoline and similar products are now sailing to Venezuela, part of a wider deal between the two U.S.-sanctioned nations amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. Mousavi added that Iran has no intention of pulling out of Syria. He said Iran would stay for as long as the Syrian "government and nation" wanted them to. Iran's presence in Syria was no business of the United States or Israel, he said. New Delhi: The government's Rs 20.97 lakh crore Covid-19 package lacks in addressing immediate concerns of the economy as the actual fiscal impact of the additional stimulus is only about 1 per cent of GDP as opposed to the claim of 10 per cent, Fitch Solutions said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12 announced a stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore, or nearly 10 per cent of GDP, to deal with the economic fallout of COVID-19. The contents of the package were broad-based and announced in five tranches. "About half of the package amount covers fiscal measures that had previously been announced and also include the estimated economic impact of monetary stimulus from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)," Fitch Solutions said in a note. The rating agency said a seeming reluctance for fiscal expansion by the central government amid the COVID-19 crisis in India also poses a significant downside risk to its 1.8 per cent growth forecast for 2020-21 fiscal. "India's economic crisis is growing increasingly dire due to surging COVID-19 infections and weak demand both domestically and externally. We believe that every delay to effective government stimulus will only deepen the downturn, which will eventually require even more spending to lift the economy out of the doldrums, which could see the deficit come in wider," it said. The new fiscal stimulus announced between May 13 and May 17 is "made up of the government loan guarantees, credit extensions to be led by banks, and regulatory amendments," it said. The new spending will only amount to about 1 per cent of GDP, which would take India's total central government COVID-19 fiscal response to-date to only 1.8 per cent of GDP, it said. "We see the package as being lacking in addressing the immediate concerns of the economy and have revised our central and combined deficit forecasts for FY2020/21 (April-March) to 7 per cent and 11 per cent of GDP respectively, from 6.2 per cent and 9 per cent previously," the rating agency said. The package, it said, will not have a major fiscal and economic impact, despite the government's claim of its '10 per cent of GDP' size. Of the host of new stimulus measures, only about six pension fund support, temporary tax cuts, farm infrastructure upgrades (if funds are quickly disbursed and projects rapidly executed), free food provision for migrant workers, funds to safeguard rural employment and an emergency fund for post-harvest activities can be quantified as a fiscal stimulus with a near-term impact. "Loan guarantees have been excluded as they will not have an immediate fiscal impact and will depend on other factors such as loan demand and bank propensity to lend," it said. Stating that it is skeptical of the efficacy of the announced measures despite the broad-based package, Fitch Solutions said the Government loan guarantees should technically aid credit flow to MSMEs through non-bank lenders. However, this will only aid to stem business closures in the economy rather than support an expansion at this point. Moreover, confounding new rules on MSME definition which have both an investment and a newly introduced turnover limit will also hamper credit flow as businesses may fail to meet one or the other, rendering them ineligible for the MSME stimulus credit. "Many of the announced schemes such as regulatory changes and vague reform plans also only target medium-term supply-side issues but fail to address immediate demand-side issues. As such, we expect further fiscal spending to be announced over the coming months, especially after India extended its nationwide lockdown by another two weeks to May 31, which would further impact economic activity," it said. The rating agency said central government revenues are likely to contract by 18.1 per cent in FY2020/21 due to repeated extensions to nationwide lockdowns amid a worsening Covid-19 outbreak domestically, and weak appetite for fiscal stimulus by the central government to lift the economic activity. With the unemployment rate at over 20 per cent and a weak economic outlook both domestically and externally, both personal income and corporate income tax revenues will remain under severe stress over the coming quarters, it said. While India is pushing to reopen its economy, Fitch said this is motivated by an urgent need to limit further economic hardship rather than an easing outbreak situation and infections could well accelerate after lockdowns are lifted, which would hamper the pace of economic recovery going forward. Also, India's debt-to-GDP will almost certainly surge as a result of this crisis as the government will have to fund its expenditures with increased domestic borrowing amid a revenue shortfall. India's combined government debt stands at about 70 per cent of GDP as of December 2019, of which central government debt is at 47 per cent of GDP. An increased debt load will entail higher interest payments and this would divert even more resources away from more productive economic spending, and thus constrain India's long-term growth potential, Fitch said. "As opposed to other fiscal stimulus packages in the region, India's package includes previously announced measures and also monetary stimulus, making the actual fiscal impact of the additional stimulus only about 1 per cent of GDP," according to Fitch estimates. The stimulus includes positive reform efforts, loan guarantees, and other measures that will be somewhat supportive of the Indian economy during the crisis and over the medium term. "The frugal fiscal crisis intervention will likely impede a rapid economic recovery and accordingly, tax revenues, and we are revising our FY2020/21 (April-March) central fiscal deficit forecast to 7.0 per cent of GDP and overall fiscal deficit forecast to 11.0 per cent of GDP," it added. Egypt's Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty will be tested for the coronavirus after he had met with a provincal governor who was later diagnosed with the flu-like disease, ministry spokesman Mohamed El-Sebaie said in TV comments late on Monday. Daqahliya governor Aymen Mokhtar announced his infection on Monday evening after he had met with the minister earlier on the day to discuss projects in the governorate. The minister said in a statement late on Monday that he was in good condition, adding that preventative measures had been taken during the meeting including wearing face masks and gloves and following physical distancing rules. All people who had come in contact with the infected governor will be examined and the ministry's office, where the meeting was held, will be sanitised, according to the ministry. The governor said he was tested for the virus after showing some symptoms two days after a director at the governorate office tested positive for COVID-19. The governor had also met with local development minister Mahmoud Sharawy last week, he said as he spoke to satellite TV channel MBC, noting that all people who had come into contact with him would be traced and tested. He will be transferred to a quarantine hospital in the Nile Delta governorate of Daqahliya. The local development minister also said all prevention measures were followed during the 10 May meeting, adding that his ministry's office had been sanitised several times since the meeting. All the ministry's workers and visitors have their temperature measured before entering the ministry building, he added. Egypt has so far registered 12,764 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 645 fatalities. Search Keywords: Short link: Google appears to be leaving the Active Edge feature behind on the Pixel 4a. This is according to 9To5Googles Stephen Hall, who mentioned earlier this morning that hes certain Google chose not to include it on the upcoming phone. If true, it would be the first Pixel phone since Google chose to implement it that didnt have it on board. If you remember correctly, Active Edge was introduced with the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Its returned with every Pixel phone since then. Including the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL, and the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. Advertisement Would no Active Edge on the Pixel 4a be such a bad thing? Losing a feature could be viewed as either a good or bad thing. Perhaps its all in the eye of the beholder. But would not having Active Edge on the Pixel 4a be such a bad thing? For Google Active Edge was a way to add an easy, physical method of initiating the interaction with Google Assistant. A way that wouldnt really require you to touch the display. It almost always seems easier to either tap the Google Search bar or just say the hotword though. Then theres the scenario where you accidentally activate Google Assistant with Active Edge because you squeezed the phone too hard. Advertisement Sure that seems minor but its likely that it happens to more users than youd think. If Google is choosing not to add it to the Pixel 4a, theres probably a reason. It could be a cost-saving measure, or maybe it just wasnt used enough If Google is indeed cutting the Active Edge feature on this upcoming device there are more than a couple reasons why it could be doing so. One could be a cost-saving measure. Rumors have suggested that the Pixel 4a could be available at $349 for the 128GB model. Thats a lot of storage for that cost. Especially when you consider the other features on the phone and how high-quality the phone is likely to be. Advertisement One way to bring the price down to that point would be to remove features. Its also possible that Google looked at whether people were using it very often or not. If Active Edge wasnt getting much use, then it would just be an additional function that would push the price up unnecessarily. In either case, it looks like users will be interacting with Google Assistant through voice or touch interaction. Foreigners visiting Tanzania will no longer be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival, the health ministry has said. The measure was introduced last month to help prevent importation of coronavirus to the country. But new guidelines released by officials on Monday now require travellers simply to be screened for symptoms at the point of entry. "All travellers are required to truthfully fill out Travellers Surveillance Form available onboard or in any other transport means, and submit it to Port Health Authorities upon arrival," read part of the ministrys statement. Foreign visitors and residents alike are still expected to observe hand hygiene, wear masks and maintain social distancing. The decision comes a day after President John Magufuli said he would consider re-opening the country to tourists if the number of those hospitalised for coronavirus remained low for the next week - something the ministry of healths announcement has now put in motion. The move to relax travel restrictions has been interpreted as a gesture by the government to show that the spread of the epidemic is under control. But opposition party ACT-Wazalendo has said that infections and deaths in the country are rising. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A Lebanon County Republican lawmaker is adding his voice to the calls for the immediate resignation or removal of Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine. Rep. Russ Diamond said Levine needs to go. He cited the horrific results of the departments COVID-19 policy in regard to the number of cases and deaths that have occurred in nursing homes and other facilities under the departments oversight. More than two-thirds of the states coronavirus deaths have occurred in long-term care facilities. Diamond has introduced a resolution calling for Levines ouster or for Gov. Tom Wolf to demand the health secretarys resignation. Last week, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Franklin County, called for Levines resignation, saying she has committed the equivalent of policy malpractice in her handling of the coronavirus pandemic and its spread through nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. On Tuesday, Diamond said the scope of the pandemics toll on nursing home and long-term care facilities did not become apparent to the public until House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny County, demanded the release of more details regarding the number of deaths that have occurred inside these facilities. To date, he said only a portion of the requested information was provided and that didnt occur until a month after the request was made. Dr. Levines resistance to release data and her non-cooperation with co-workers, in this case a co-equal branch of government, would never be considered acceptable business management practices in the private sector, Diamond said in a news release. When lives were on the line in Pennsylvania, Levine did not sufficiently answer the call to public service and her duty to carry out appropriate control measures to limit the spread of disease in order to protect all Pennsylvanians. What makes matters worse is that were talking about the most vulnerable among us. When questioned in a news conference Tuesday, Levine said she had no specific reaction to Diamonds call for her removal. I remain committed to protecting the residents of Pennsylvania, Levine said. To date, state figures show that nursing homes residents and personal care homes account for 13,813 cases of COVID-19 and 2,191 cases among employees, for a total of 16,003 cases at 557 distinct facilities in 44 counties. Out of 4,624 COVID-19 deaths that have occurred in Pennsylvania, 3,145 involved residents from nursing or personal care facilities. Diamonds call for Levines removal comes on the same day the Department of Health released data on the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths at long-term care facilities in Pennsylvania. In a statement about the datas release, Levine said, "COVID-19 is a particularly challenging situation for these settings as they care for residents with serious medical conditions. We will continue to work to ensure the safety and wellbeing of residents through education, resources and testing. The data provides the number of cases, number of employee cases and number of deaths that have occurred at each facility. For facilities with less than five in any of these data points, the information is redacted. Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf defended his health secretary, saying, My assessment of Dr. Levine is that she is doing a phenomenal job, and I think weve got to be careful about blaming the messenger for the message. Diamond said the initial U.S. reports of a COVID-19 outbreak report from Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., a week prior to Wolfs March 6 disaster emergency declaration, should have been instructional to Levine. Instead of heeding that clear warning, Dr. Levine instituted Department of Health policies which halted routine inspections and issued guidance for nursing facilities to admit and readmit patients who tested positive for COVID-19, Diamond said. For the vulnerable Pennsylvanians residing in those facilities, its like they were being forced to live within a ticking time bomb. He added that he found it disturbing to learn last week that at some point during the height of the COVID-19 crisis, Levine removed her own mother from a central Pennsylvania personal care home and checked her into a premium hotel. For these reasons and more, I have introduced House Resolution 879. I ask my colleagues for their full support," Diamond said. Dr. Levine serves at the pleasure of Gov. Tom Wolf and I urge him to answer the heartbreak of thousands of Pennsylvanians, and widespread public calls for competence and transparency, by immediately removing Dr. Levine from the position of Pennsylvanias secretary of Health, or demanding her resignation. Jan Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@pennlive.com. Follow her on Twitter at @JanMurphy. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. More from PennLive Full list of Pa. nursing homes with coronavirus cases and deaths Pa. Health Secretary talks about coronavirus cases and deaths in nursing homes Rebekah Jones, the architect and onetime manager of Florida's COVID-19 dashboard, said on Monday she was removed from her post after she would not censor data. In an email to CBS12 News, Jones said she refused to "manually change data to drum up support" for Florida's plan to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic. The dashboard shares data on coronavirus cases, testing, and deaths by county and ZIP code, and is used by the public and academic and private researchers working on coronavirus models. Jones led a team of Florida Department of Health data scientists and public health officials to create the dashboard, which was praised last month by Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force. Earlier Monday, Florida Today reported that on May 5, Jones sent an email to researchers letting them know that she had been removed from her position, and for "reasons beyond my division's control," they would no longer be publishing or fixing data. Jones wrote that she did not know "what data they are now restricting," and "as a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months." Over the last few weeks, the dashboard has gone offline, data has disappeared without explanation, and it's been difficult to gain access to underlying data sheets, Florida Today reports. The Florida Department of Health did not respond to requests for comment on the data and Jones' removal from her position. More stories from theweek.com Trump spent hours retweeting, slamming Fox News, including profane attacks on host Neil Cavuto Newly declassified email shows FBI's Comey worried about Flynn's frequent talks with Russia's ambassador Trump's press secretary says with any other president, 'the media would take him at his word' Officials on Monday identified the five people - including a 4-year-old boy from Allentown - who were killed when the SUV they were in slammed into a construction vehicle on Route 3 in Bergen County late Sunday. The SUV driver, Michelle Toledo, 38, along with passengers Irvina Gee, 20, Sheckylle Chain, 23, and Ayana Navas, 16, all of Paterson, died at the scene of the devastating wreck, authorities said. The Allentown child, Noah Alexander Dejesus, succumbed to his injuries a short time later at an area hospital. Authorities did not describe any relationships among the occupants. The crash occurred around 10:45 p.m. Sunday on Route 3 West in Rutherford, just west of the entrance ramp from Route 17 South, according to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella. The five who died were in a Nissan Rogue, which crashed into the back of a front-loader vehicle that was also headed west on Route 3 after pulling onto the highway from a Route 17 south ramp. The operator was returning to the Route 3 construction site after dropping a load at the construction yard, Musella said in a statement. While traveling west on Route 3, he was struck from behind by the Nissan Rogue. The operator immediately pulled to the side of the road and called 9-1-1. Authorities arrived to find a horrific crash, where the Nissan had major front-end damage. Emergency workers managed to briefly resuscitate the 4-year-old at the scene, but he could not be saved. The initial thought is that its simply an awful accident nothing criminal in nature, Rutherford police Chief John Russo told NJ Advance Media earlier on Monday. Local police and the county prosecutors office were continuing to investigate the crash, Musella said. The prosecutor commended the Rutherford police for their efforts and professionalism in response to this tragic event, he added. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The Minister of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross and the Road Safety Authority (RSA) have confirmed that the Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Testing (CVRT) network will reopen from May 18 for vehicles with a test due date prior to 28 March 2020 (before the 3-month extension to commercial vehicle certificates of roadworthiness came into effect). The resumption of testing for vehicles with a test due date on or after 28 March 2020 is expected to follow over the coming weeks. The recommencement of CVRT services will be subject to detailed measures being put in place by each individual CVRT test centre operator to mitigate against the spread of COVID19. Commenting on the possible re-opening of other RSA services the Minister said, In April I extended the period of validity of roadworthiness certificates, licences and other certificates that were due expire from 28 March 2020 and couldnt be renewed because of the suspension of many RSA services. While most customers of these services will not need to avail of them in the short term, because of these extensions, I do however want to see the phased reopening of the RSAs services so we can contribute to the process of reopening Irelands economy and society. Therefore I have asked officials in my Department and in the RSA to continue to engage with a view to producing a road map for the phased resumption of other RSA services, including the National Driver Licence Service (NDLS), Driver Theory Test (DTT), National Car Test (NCT) and the Driving Test. This must be done in line with the Governments road map for easing of Covid19 restrictions, published on 1 May, and in compliance with the National Return to Work Safely Protocol agreed by employer and worker representatives. Minister Ross said, On 28 March I took the necessary step of advising the suspension of many of the services provided by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) in order to comply with the restrictions, announced by Government, to stop the spread of Covid19. Today I am announcing the partial resumption of the Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Testing system. This move reflects the importance of testing for the safe provision of the transport of goods and people by road. The resumption of CVRT testing is subject to robust protocols being put in place by each testing centre that meet public and occupational health requirements in order to protect staff and customers. The Health and Safety Authority has new powers that allow it to close workplaces where there is very poor management of health and safety, but this will only be applied as a final resort The Road Safety Authority will be communicating with each of the 150 CVRT centres from today concerning the resumption of services. If a CVRT testing centre cannot put the required measures in place, they should not resume services until they are assured that they can protect their staff and customers who come to the testing centre. By Ayya Lmahamad By the decision of the Board of the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the license of OJSC Standard Insurance Company was annulled on May 19, press-service of the bank reported. The decision were made in accordance with Articles 4, 109.1.2, 118.1.1 and 118.1.2 of the law On insurance activity due to complete loss of capital, unreliable current activities and violation of consumer rights. In accordance with the provisions of the legislation, the powers of the management bodies of the company have been suspended and transferred to a temporary administrator, as well as a petition was sent to the court to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against the company. The financial position of the insurance company OJSC Standard Insurance continued to deteriorate for a long time. In accordance with Presidential Decree of November 2019, after the abolition of the Chamber for Supervision of Financial Markets and transfer of relevant powers, the Central Bank began to assess the financial situation of the insurance sector. During the assessment it was revealed that the total capital of the company is significantly below the established requirements. Discussions with the company's management were held regarding the full recovery of capital. However, the shareholders did not present a specific plan for the full recovery of the company's capital. The performance of Standard Insurance is low as well and the company has ended up with a loss in the last two years. The issue of behavior in the country's insurance market, especially in the field of consumer protection, was repeatedly raised before the company's management. The chronic liquidity problem of the company has led to serious delays in the settlement of insurance cases, which has led to increased discontent of consumers with insurance services. The Central Bank emphasizes that it will continue to systematically control financial stability of the insurance sector and compliance of the insurance market behavior with the legislation. All measures taken are aimed at developing the insurance sector and protecting the rights of insurance consumers. Standard Insurance has been operating in the insurance market of Azerbaijan since February 2002. The Company provided 4 types of compulsory and 24 types of voluntary insurance services. Today the number of insurance companies licensed to operate in Azerbaijan is 21. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz BORD na Mona has said potential legal action by an environmental lobby group poses a very real threat to the company's plans to harvest peat this year. In a letter to all employees on Monday, Bord na Mona chief executive Tom Donnellan said he was taking seriously a solicitor's letter from Friends of the Irish Environment (FOIE). The letter said the FOIE is concerned about media reports which appear to suggest the recent An Bord Pleanala (ABP) decision on substitute consent permits peat harvesting. A decision to grant leave to apply for substitute consent, simply permits a further application for substitute consent. In no way is development authorised by these decisions, said the letter. Accordingly we hereby put you on notice that if any works or development is carried out, without development consent we are instructed to commence proceedings pursuant to Section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 and we will rely upon this correspondence in relation to the costs of same, the letter added. In his message to Bord na Mona workers, Mr Donnellan said the Bord Pleanala decision allowed the company to commence the formal substitute consent application process and begin pre-harvesting preparations. He described the correspondence from FOIE's solicitors as a threat that we will take seriously as it follows their challenge to ABP which ultimately struck down plans for the phased transition of two Midlands power stations to net zero emissions. Our plans and applications will be reviewed again in light of this current threat by FOIE, with a view to taking every measure possible to ensure we submit the strongest possible substitute consent applications to ABP, he added. As I said previously, harvesting will sustain peat supplies to Derrinlough Briquette Factory, the Horticulture business and to meet the reduced peat requirement for Edenderry power station. I remain hopeful that our application will be successful, but I am also cognisant of the very real threat posed to the harvest this year as a result of any potential action by FOIE and perhaps others. In a statement, the FOIE said recent reports that the turf cutting season is in full swing on privately owned bogs had resulted in letters to the Chairperson of Growing Media Ireland (GMI) and the officers of Turf Cutters and Contractors Association (TCCA). The FOIE said letters copying the Bord na Mona letter were issued to Michael Fitzmaurice, TD, the chairman of the TCCA and Luke Ming Flanagan, MEP, their PRO, as well as to John Neenan, the chairperson of Growing Media Ireland (GMI) which represents the majority of the countrys privately-owned producers of horticulture peat. The States January 2019 Statutory Instrument attempting to exempt industrial scale peat cutting was struck down by the High Court last autumn, the FOIE said. In the letters to the organisations, the FOIE warned that the requirement for planning permission for sites of over 30 hectares is the law and any extraction undertaken without permission is unauthorised. Sites of over 10 hectares require planning permission but not an Environmental Impact Assessment. The FOIE said the turf cutting industry's claim that no substitutes for the growing medium are available is simply not true. What is true is that excellent substitutes are available even from one of the foreign peat extraction companies operating in Ireland - but that they cost money when peat has always been virtually free. The FOIE said it spent eight years in the courts simply to have the requirements of the Environmental Impact Directive applied to this industry. We believe that when the consequences of this activity are properly and fully examined, it will be obvious that our bogs must urgently be rewetted to meet our biodiversity commitments, to attenuate flooding, and to allow them to return to their natural function in absorbing greenhouse gases. The group urged residents to report any activities to their local authority and copy the report to the FOIE. DETROIT, May 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PsyGenics, Inc. is providing notice of an incident that may affect the security of certain PsyGenics customers. While PsyGenics is unaware of any attempted or actual misuse of this information, notice is being provided to potentially affected individuals, as well as certain federal regulators. On March 25, 2020, as part of a regular security review, PsyGenics discovered that on March 24, 2020, a PsyGenics employee forwarded PsyGenics customer information contained within Excel spreadsheets to their personal email address without authorization. The investigation determined the impacted spreadsheets contained the following types of information for certain individuals: their name, diagnosis code, appointment time and provider name. Treatment notes or similar information were not included in the information the employee sent to their personal email address. On May 18, 2020, PsyGenics will began mailing notice letters to affected individuals. In addition, the notice encourages potentially impacted individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review account statements credit reports, and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity and report any suspicious activity immediately to their insurance company, health care provider, or financial institution. Information on obtaining a free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus can be obtained by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com, calling 877-322-8228, or contacting the three major credit bureaus directly at: Equifax, P.O. Box 105069, Atlanta, GA, 30348, 1-800-685-1111, www.equifax.com; Experian, P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013, 888-397-3742, www.experian.com; TransUnion, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016, 800-680-7289, www.transunion.com . Potentially impacted individuals may also find information regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes and the steps they may take to protect their information by contacting the credit bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission or their state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement or the individual's state Attorney General. PsyGenics takes information privacy and security matters extremely seriously and will remain vigilant in its efforts to safeguard and protect sensitive information, while taking any additional steps that may be necessary to mitigate and remediate this incident. Additional information about the data event can be obtained at www.psygenics.org. SOURCE PsyGenics, Inc. Around 90 people from Kerala stranded in Ludhiana returned to Thiruvananthapuram on a Shramik Special train from the Jalandhar railway station on Tuesday night. The passengers included around 20 nursing students from Christian Medical College (CMC), Ludhiana, while others were employees of private companies and some labourers. They had applied to travel back home on the Punjab Helpline Portal, following which they were called to the Amar Shaheed Sukhdev Interstate Bus Terminal in Ludhiana for the Thiruvananthapuram from Jalandhar. Ludhiana district administration coordinated with the Jalandhar administration and sent these passengers there on three buses after their medical screening at the local ISBT. Varghese, a nursing student, said she had been staying at the CMC hostel during the lockdown. I didnt face any problem, but as the government was providing the facility for stranded people, I decided to go back home, she said. Mohammad Fayaz had come to Ludhiana two months ago for work, but got stuck here after the curfew was clamped. I got shelter at the mosque on Rahon Road where we were provided all facilities. I applied to return to Kerala after I got to know of the special trains, he said. After medical screening at the Ludhiana ISBT, passengers were taken to the Jalandhar railway station in buses. (HT Photo) Another passenger, requesting anonymity, said his company had allowed him to work from home, but it was inconvenient to do so from the paying guest facility. So, he chose to travel back home for now. I will return after the situation normalises, he said. Assistant deputy commissioner Iqbal Singh Sandhu said three buses were sent to Jalandhar railway station carrying migrants from Kerala, while three buses carrying around 90 migrants were sent to various districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Aligarh, Meerut and Muzaffarpur. In mid-March, Joe Tasby, who is blind, walked into the emergency room of Southern Hills Hospital in Las Vegas with his guide dog Cupid. He thought he had torn a shoulder tendon lifting weights. I thought Id be able to just walk out in three days, but it ended up being 20, the Vietnam veteran told CNN. But when doctors examined the 70-year-old, they discovered lung disease and heart arrhythmia. He was admitted immediately with Cupid by his side. Tasby began losing his vision five years ago, the result of glaucoma and diabetes. Guide Dogs for the Blind set him up with Cupid last year. During the first few days in the hospital, Tasby's daughter Tiffini came to feed and walk Cupid. But while he was there, the coronavirus pandemic hit. Southern Hills Hospital locked down, banned visitors and Tasbys first worry was how to care for his yellow Labrador retriever. Thats when Barbara Borbeck, a nurse at the hospital, came into the picture. Barbara stepped up and said, You dont worry about that. I will take care of that for you," Tasby recalled. For nearly three weeks, Borbeck walked, fed and cared for Cupid. She even enlisted other hospital staff to help out on her days off. "With the kind of work Cupid does, it's important that he's not getting ill and that we maintain his normality, said Borbeck. When the yellow Lab ran out of his specialized dog food, the animal lover went on a mission to find it. Not an easy task due to barren shelves from panic buying. The nurse took a 40-minute drive to a specialty store to find the right stuff. That certainly was good news for Cupid, because he was on double-duty. With the hospital on lockdown, therapy dogs had not been allowed to make their rounds. On some of her daily walks, Borbeck visited other hospital departments with Cupid, which she says brought lots of smiles during the pandemic. Tasby and his Lab finally headed home April 1. "It was emotional," said Borbeck. "Joe is such an amazing man and Cupid -- he's my buddy. We are happy they are going home, but I'm so looking forward to visiting Joe and Cupid again when things open back up." Tasby says it isn't just the physical healing he is grateful for -- it's the compassion of the heroes among us. "If you find somebody at the right time doing the right thing, that's Barbara," Tasby made clear. Being a Vietnam veteran, I recognize heroes when I see them, he said. "We have so many frontline heroes. When a frontline individual goes above and beyond like that, you feel it deep inside your heart. What do you say to a person who goes above and beyond like that? Tasby wondered. I spent a lot of time volunteering and helping veterans, and when I see something like this turn back towards me, it leaves me speechless. 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. Read more: Japan share market finished session higher on Tuesday, 19 May 2020, following an enthusiastic night on Wall Street, fuelled by optimism about a potential vaccine for the coronavirus after Drugmaker Moderna Inc experimental COVID-19 vaccine showed promising results in a small early-stage trial. At closing bell, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average advanced 299.72 points, or 1.49%, to 20,433.46. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 26.76 points, or 1.83%, at 1,486.05. Total 32 issues of 33 industry category of Topix index ended in positive territory, with Iron & Steel, Insurance, Marine Transportation, Glass & Ceramics Products, Rubber Products, Nonferrous Metals, Banks, and Securities & Commodities Futures issues being notable gainers. Investors appetite for risk assets underpinned on tracking gains on the Wall Street overnight on news on the first clinical tests of a coronavirus vaccine. Drug company Massachusetts-based Moderna announced encouraging results in very early testing of an experimental coronavirus vaccine. Adding to an upbeat mood was the firm saying in a press release that provisional clinical data showed that the vaccine created coronavirus antibodies in some of those who took part in the trial and added that it was "generally safe". A Phase 3 trial, the largest and most important to validate the efficacy of a vaccine, should begin in July. The World Health Organization has said there are more than 100 candidate vaccines worldwide in various stages of developmental process and trials aimed at combating the virus. Investors have kept a close eye on vaccine programs of several drugmakers, cheering any positive development amid fears of a second wave of infections as governments start easing restrictions. Investors are hoping that a working vaccine for COVID-19 can be developed and that it will help reassure people and businesses as the economy reopens. News of favourable results about a potential vaccine, coupled with the easing of lockdown measures across the globe, supported risk sentiments. Horiuchi was referring to the full reopening of Japan's economy, some major cities of which, including Tokyo and Osaka, are still under coronavirus-linked restrictions under the state of emergency. A continued drop in new daily COVID-19 cases in the areas that are still under restrictions, such has been the case recently, will likely see all restrictions lifted in the near future by the central government and Japan's economy fully brought back on line Financial issues including banks and insurers found favor, with Dai-ichi Life Holdings adding 2.8%, while Tokio Marine Holdings climbed 4.5%. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group both ended the day 4.1% higher. Cyclical issues including steelmakers and shipping lines gained traction on hopes for Japan's economic restart, with JFE Holdings leaping 6.6%, while Nippon Steel jumped 6.8%. Kawasaki Kisen rose 4.7%, while counterpart Mitsui O. S. K. Lines ended the day 4.9% higher. Panasonic Corp. surged 7%, after announcing a day earlier that due to healthy demand for its batteries from U. S. partner Tesla Inc., talks were now underway to expand their joint plant in Nevada. ECONOMIC NEWS: Japan Industrial Production Declines 3.7% On Month In March --Japan industrial production fell a seasonally adjusted 3.7% month-on-month in March, final data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed on Tuesday. Shipments fell 5.8% in March. According to initial estimate, shipments was down 5%. Inventories grew 1.9% in March, as initially estimated. Inventory ratio gained 8.4% versus the initial estimate of 8.5%. On a yearly basis, industrial production declined 5.2% in March, as estimated. Further, data showed that capacity utilization fell 3.6% on month in March, following a 1.8% decline in the previous month. On an annual basis, capacity utilization decreased 7.6% in March, following a 7.3% fall in the prior month. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Washington: President Donald Trump escalated his threats against the World Health Organisation over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying he would permanently cut US funding if it does not make sweeping reforms. He said that the international agency must demonstrate "independence from China", according to a letter, which the president posted on Twitter late Monday American Eastern Standard Time. "If the World Health Organisation does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organisation permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation," Trump wrote in the letter to Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In a tweet accompanying a copy of the letter, Trump called it "self-explanatory". Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 19.05.2020: As of Tuesday, a total of 218 COVID-19 new cases were recorded in Armenia, bringing the total number to 5,041 cases. According to the latest data, 2,164 COVID-19 patients145 people in the past dayhave recovered thus far, whereas 64 othersan increase by threehave died. As health minister Arsen Torosyan noted, hundreds of citizens with positive COVID-19 test results but who have no symptoms or have very mild symptoms will return home from the places of isolation, while newly diagnosed citizens will not be isolated in hotels or hospitals. Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan will attend the inauguration of Artsakh president-elect Arayik Harutyunyan into office. The inauguration ceremony in Shushi town will be broadcast live on Thursday at 6 pm. A videoconference of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council was held on Tuesday. According to Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, in the context of global economic challenges, the need for the rapid formation of a common natural gas market today is particularly acute for Armenia, and a single market of non-discriminatory energy sources should be one of the foundations of our integration. He noted that Armenia proceeds from the fact that the application of common approaches to pricing in the EEU single natural gas market should be specified in the Strategic Directions of Development of Eurasian Integration until 2025. In turn, Russian president Vladimir Putin noted that an EAEU single natural gas tariff cannot be set yet. "A common tariff may only be introduced on a common market with a common budget and a common taxation system. Such a deep integration level has not been reached in the EAEU so far," Putin added. The trial of the second president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, has been rescheduled. Presiding Judge Anna Danibekyan informed that a notification had been received from Izmirlian Medical Center stating that Kocharyan was in the hospital and could not attend this court hearing. Given that the hearing could not be held in the absence of the defendant, the court adjourned until May 26. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has decided to allocate $280 million to Armenia to fight against the novel coronavirus, the fund said in a press release. The IMF added that the augmentation of access will help the authorities contain short-term risks and will provide resources to meet the urgent human and economic implications of COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government on Monday said the country is not yet ready for full reopening of its economy. Boss Mustapha, chairman of the... The federal government on Monday said the country is not yet ready for full reopening of its economy. Boss Mustapha, chairman of the presidential task force (PTF) on COVID-19, disclosed this at the daily briefing of the task force in Abuja. Mustapha, who is also the secretary to the government of the federation, said any relaxation of the current guidelines concerning the eased lockdown will result in negative consequences for the populace. The reality is that in spite of the modest progress made, Nigeria is not yet ready for full opening of the economy and tough decisions have to be taken for the good of the greater majority, he said. Any relaxation will only portend grave danger for our populace. Advisedly, the current phase of eased restriction will be maintained for another two weeks during which stricter enforcement and persuasion measures will be pursued. The two weeks extension of phase one of the eased restriction is also to enable other segments of the economy prepare adequately for compliance with the guidelines, preparatory to reopening in the coming weeks. For the PTF, we share your pains but our future is in the hands of every Nigerian and future decisions will depend greatly on our compliance. He added that there will be a review of the guidelines for the second phase of the lockdown relaxation, which will end on June 1, 2020, and called for the cooperation of states to ensure that the spread of the virus is contained. For sustainability of the gains recorded, the PTF shall continue to support states by developing guidelines to shape decision-making for future steps in the response and aggressively scale up efforts to ensure effective community information, he added. It is believed that these steps will help consolidate the gains made so far, and position the country to effectively overcome the pandemic. AMHERST The Town Council voted unanimously Monday to endorse Town Manager Paul Bockelmans proposal to make it easier for restaurants to add outdoor dining areas. The zoning amendment intended to help restaurants meet public health guidelines when they begin to reopen from a state-ordered shutdown of dining rooms due to the coronavirus pandemic would relax zoning rules for up to six months. During this period, the Planning Board would have no say in administrative actions related to rules for outdoor dining. The proposal essentially cuts the board out of the regulatory process, temporarily transferring its authority to department heads such as building commissioner, planning director and other employees Bockelman supervises. Bockelman told the Council Monday that restaurants could benefit from the extra space on sidewalks and else where to meet social distancing requirements meant to stem the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Under a reopening plan for Massachusetts outlined Monday by Gov. Charlie Baker, restaurants which have been allowed to offer delivery or takeout only since March could reopen with limited capacity as early as mid-June. Building Commissioner Robert Morra also addressed the Council to explain the proposed changes. The proposal would allow administrative approval of retail, food and drink, and personal care establishments in place of the special permit or site plan review required under the current bylaw. He said the change would be in effect for 180 days from its adoption. The current bylaw would be restored at the end of that period, he said. The Planning Board the special permit process takes a minimum of about 70 days from the filing of an application by a business owner to approval. Morra said some decisions made under the temporary zoning amendment might have an expiration date of six months, while others could be permanent. For example, retail sales outdoors might be allowed only during through the summer and fall. A new restaurant proposed in a vacant storefront would be an example of an approval that would be permanent, he said. District 5 Councilor Darcy DuMont expressed concerns about the section of the proposal allowing new businesses to open absent the normal Planning Board public review, vetting and comment process, which requires public hearings that give residents the opportunity to question developers and the board. That feels problematic, DuMont said, adding: That would otherwise need a lot more discussion about starting up. Councilor Shalini Bahl-Milne, who also represents District 5, urged her colleagues to act now to help struggling businesses. Right now the question is not about pleasing people, but saving peoples livelihood, she said. The Council voted 13-0 to send the proposal to the Planning Board for a recommendation. Some councilors argued for bypassing the Planning Board entirely, since any input it offers will be advisory and not binding on the Council. They advocated for a vote without any referral to the board, saying the streamlined process must be approved quickly to try and save any restaurant that could potentially go out of business. According to the Councils vote, the Planning Board will take up the matter in the first or second week of June, after which the Council is expected to approve the amendment. By Bernard Rowan It's time to draw lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. No, it's not over. Yes, a resurgence may occur. Different situations obtain in different places. However, I think it's none too soon to sketch a few hazarded guesses about what we've learned or should learn from this experience. Some of the lessons draw from South Korea's path of progress in beating back this viral menace. First, we've grown used to wars, national security, defense establishments, and facing threats. Military threats aren't the only or primary threats to the national interest. Mass infections threaten life fundamentally, like war. We should fight them like wars. Counterforce and counter-value apply when fighting COVID-19. Countries that mobilized their national defense apparatuses often found themselves inadequate to the task. Some countries, noticeably the U.S., failed to do enough under the guise of this 21st century global war. Slow, late, and without the same punch for mobilization that fighting the Chinese, Al Qaeda, Soviets, Russians, or Nazis featured. We're less able to ramp up medical and public health research and disease prevention efforts than military or intelligence threats. We should review the tremendous investments made in surveillance and military technologies following 9/11. Will we do so much for this war? We can't think of preventing global and national pandemics as second priorities. Second, in many places, the national infrastructure for domestic disasters is fundamentally lagging. It's fashionable, and not just in Euro-American quarters, to decry "big government" and to want more local control. Nowadays everyone cries for Daddy in a disaster. Provincial, state, and local authorities posture with the rhetoric of shame hidden as blame. If there are lessons for national security, there are lessons for provincial, state, and local security. Our sub-national levels of government and public administration for health are woefully inadequate. Many countries have found in this time new needs for infrastructure development, or neglected infrastructures in need of 21st century overhauls. It's expensive. We should've saved many more lives. Third, we see the lesser results of unbridled enthusiasm for global supply chains and for not-so-hidden monopolies. When a nation's meat supply is beholden to one or two producers, or when ventilators and masks needed for life depend on distant proto-enemies (or proto-allies), we've gone far too far. The economics of comparative advantage still make sense, but there are limits. Similarly, many countries trust food, medical, energy and other critical supplies to a small group of mega-producers. Believers in competition should take pause. The faces of monopsony, oligopoly, and related threats abound in advanced economies and need reform. South Korea experienced less of these problems because the society benefits from its political history and sage public administration. The country is a democracy, but it's a unitary government with less addiction to personal liberty. Liberty has its place, but it isn't allowed to inhibit emergency actions in war and the conduct of war to save lives, property, and liberty. South Korea effectively mobilized her military, police, medical and civilian offices to combat the illness with identification, quarantining, treatment and tracking of spread and its causes. Citizens had to follow relevant laws or face consequences. It doesn't need to be as extreme as Chinese methods either. This points to a fourth lesson. Liberty never was and isn't an infinite or unqualified value. Limits on liberty should occur to preserve it, and to prevent harm to others. We must also remain vigilant to totalitarian, fascist, or slave-molding societies and their technologies of anti-freedom. However, COVID-19 shows the need to limit personal freedom to preserve life and aid in combatting public health wars. Finally, I think we learn to remember the precious and fragile balance of life on Earth. It's not just caused by knowing certain sizes of asteroid could destroy the planet. It's not just caused by the threat of nuclear and conventional holocausts, which never ended, and now feature more prominently again. It's caused by human public health disasters, wars, and pandemics. Humanity cannot control nature, but it's doomed and blessed to try and lessen its negative possibilities. To preserve life, liberty, and property for this generation and the next several, we need to do better, much better. What are the lessons of the coronavirus pandemic? Bernard Rowan ( browan10@yahoo.com ) is associate provost for contract administration and professor of political science at Chicago State University. He is a past fellow of the Korea Foundation and former visiting professor at Hanyang University. The novel coronavirus is ideally suited to infect human cells rather than animal ones, a new study by researchers in Australia claims, raising questions about the origin of the virus, which has until Tuesday killed over 3.18 lakh people and infected more than 4.8 million globally. Using an in silico or computer simulation method, the researchers found that the data generated indicated SARSCoV2 is uniquely adapted to infect humans, raising questions as to whether it arose in nature by a rare chance event or whether its origins lie elsewhere. A team of four researchers, including two trained in India, tested the binding affinity of Covid-19 virus spike protein to humans and several animals including pangolins. Also read: 4,970 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours push Indias tally past 1 lakh-mark Notably, SARSCoV2 spike protein had the highest overall binding energy for human ACE2 (a receptor on cells), greater than all the other tested species including bat, the postulated source of the virus. This indicates that SARSCoV2 is a highly adapted human pathogen, the study found. The study is yet to be peer-reviewed and is now available on the prestigious US-based Cornell Universitys pre-print server. An independent expert spoke to HT and said the research was plausible but the evidence put out to support it was thin. China has consistently cited international research to deny that the virus originated in a high-security biology lab in Wuhan Institute of Virology. The central Chinese city of Wuhan is where the Covid-19 disease broke out late last year. Also read: Covid-19 response, Chinas offer of help - All about day 1 of WHO session The four researchers of the paper, however, were surprised at the rapid rate at which the virus adapted to humans. Normally a virus will bind tightly to the cells of its normal host species and less tightly to cells of species it has not infected before. The surprise with Covid-19 is that we found that it bound tightest to human cells than any other species we tested. This is either a massive coincidence or Covid-19 has somehow, in the past, been adapted for human cells. One way in which this can happen is via culture with human cells in a lab, lead researcher Nikolai Petrovsky, a clinician and vaccinologist, told HT over email. The other researchers involved are Sakshi Piplani and Puneet Singh - both are bioinformatics scientist originally trained in India - and David Winkler, a professor of biochemistry and genetics. Piplani and Petrovsky are affiliated to the Flinders University in Australia. Singh is with Vaxine Pty and Winkler is affiliated to the La Trobe University. Yes, this virus looks and behaves as if it is perfectly adapted to humans. That is a surprise for a virus that has apparently just entered humans for the first time, Petrovsky said. He added that zoonotic events, where pathogens jump from animal to human are not rare and have been regularly witnessed in diseases like Ebola, bird flu, MERS etc. What is rare is to not find any animal source of the virus. For example, for MERS it was rapidly identified to be coming from camels, SARS from bats via civet cats, Ebola from bats via monkeys. So far, no animal source has been found for Covid-19 this may still be found, but its absence allows other possibilities to be considered. Not everyone, like Richard H Ebright, from the department of chemistry and chemical biology at the USs Rutgers University is fully convinced. The conclusion of the paper that the virus was pre-adapted for human transmission is consistent with the scenario of lab gain-of-function research followed by a lab accident, Ebright told HT over email. Gain-of-function is a scientific research term, which means accelerating research that improves the ability of a pathogen to cause disease. However, the evidence for that kind of an incident in a lab is thin in the paper, Ebright added. However, the evidence for the conclusion of the paper that the virus was pre-adapted for human transmission is thin, he said. Petrovsky said their study shows the need to carry out more research into the origins of the coronavirus. Of course, we know there were institutes in Wuhan that were researching bat and pangolin coronaviruses to which Covid-19 is most closely related, with genetic elements from both. It is certainly possible that if both viruses ended up in a cell culture together, which is not unheard of in a lab due to cross-contamination, then a new variant virus could be created just as it does in an animal that is infected by two viruses at the same time, he said. Both scenarios are equally possible, hence the need to do further investigation to see if either of these is the most likely explanation. The need for further investigation is also emphasised in the research paper. Given the seriousness of the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, it is imperative that all efforts be made to identify the original source of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The researchers added: In particular, it will be important to establish whether Covid-19 is due to a completely natural chance occurrence where a presumed bat virus was transmitted to humans via an intermediate animal host or whether Covid-19 has alternative origins. This information will be of paramount importance to help prevent any similar human coronavirus outbreak in the future. The police at Dodowa are investigating a case in which a worker with Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) allegedly shot a security guard to death at Shai Hills in the Shai-Osudoku District of Accra. According to the Dodowa Divisional Police, the victim was a worker of a company called Green House Company Limited, one of the One District One Factory facilities at Shai-Hills, near Afienya. The suspect, identified as Thomas Kwaku Oppong, allegedly shot and killed Kwame Huzzey opposite the company last Thursday. Chief Inspector Stella Dede Dzakpasu, acting Public Relations Officer of the Tema Regional Police Command, said preliminary investigation revealed that the Green House Company Ltd, where the deceased was a worker, had a land dispute with the suspect. According to the police, Huzzey, on May 13, 2020, went to the disputed land to inspect the company's ongoing projects where he is alleged to have been shot by the suspect. He was rushed to the Tema General Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The police PRO said that investigators retrieved one pump action gun, six live cartridges, two spent cartridges and a short gun from the crime scene, adding that the suspect is currently in their custody assisting in investigation. -Daily Guide Laboratory technicians work on testing samples from people to be tested for the CCP virus at a laboratory in Shenyang, China, on Feb. 12, 2020. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Locals in Northeastern China: There Are More CCP Virus Infections Than Officially Reported Local residents of the northeastern cities of Shenyang and Jilin told The Epoch Times there are cases of the CCP virus that arent being reported by authorities as they enforce strict rules to isolate people and lock down hospitals and other facilities. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus, first broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, then quickly spread to all parts of the country. After a period in March when local authorities throughout China proclaimed that there were little to no new infections, regions of northeastern China confirmed a second wave outbreak that erupted in April. Shenyang From early May to May 19, Chinas National Health Commission only reported three infections in Shenyang during the second wave outbreak. The patient zero was 23-year-old Hao, who was diagnosed on May 10, and had traveled from Jilin city, Jilin Provinceanother northeastern city with a severe outbreakon May 5. The other two were colleagues of Hao, and were diagnosed on May 13. All three live and work in Hunnan district of Shenyang. However, Hunnan was designated as a low-risk region for virus spread, while the nearby Sujiatun district was designated a medium-risk region, according to the Liaoning provincial government. While authorities did not report any cases from Sujiatun, this districts designation indicates the outbreak there could be more severe than in Hunnan district. Shenyang residents told The Epoch Times about COVID-19 cases they heard from family members and relatives, including in the Dadong and Yuhong districts of Shenyang. A nurse at Shenyang 463 Hospital [in Dadong] became infected with the virus from her boyfriend. She hadnt had any symptoms in the first several days. She then transmitted the virus to other medical staff because she [didnt know she was infected and] kept on working, Mr. Bian told the Chinese-language Epoch Times on May 16. According to an official document from the Shenyang government leaked onto social media, the nurse is surnamed Liu. She and a friend rent a room in Dadong district, but live at her boyfriends home when both of them dont need to work night shifts. Her boyfriend, who chatted with Hao at work, is one of the diagnosed patients on May 13. Mr. Bian said he heard of a diagnosed patient who was not announced by authorities, who lives in Sujiatun district, who traveled from Jilin city. Another Shenyang resident, Mr. Ji, said that Yuhong district also has diagnosed patients. But it [the government] doesnt tell us, he said. It sent a fleet of more than 10 vehicles. Wherever the vehicles stopped, dozens of people dressed in protective suits got off the vehicles and forced local residents to be isolated at quarantine centers. Jilin Residents in Jilin city also said they heard of cases authorities did not report. Ms. Wen lives in Shulan, a county-level city within Jilin citys jurisdiction. As a close contact of one of the infected families there, she told the Chinese-language Epoch Times more details about the outbreak on May 18. Authorities announced that the patient zero is a cleaning lady who works at the Shulan police bureau. She has a big family, a brother, and three sisters, Wen said. One of her sisters works at the Shulan Peoples Hospital. Wen said that the patient zero has been sick for a while. She infected many members in her family. Her mother died of the virus several days ago, and the youngest member infected in her family is a five-year-old girl. The government didnt report any of them, Ms. Wen said. She added that authorities ordered the patients family members to be isolated in Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province, to prevent further spread. Wen added that the provincial government also dispatched police officers from other cities to assist the Shulan police bureau, because all staff at the Shulan police bureau and their families are being isolated in Jilin city, per authorities instructions. Wen also said the Shulan Mining Affairs Bureau General Hospital has been modified into a makeshift hospital dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients. The Epoch Times could not independently verify the information local residents provided. Investors and the media are invited to listen to the call through the company's website at investors.target.com (click on the link under "Upcoming Events") WHO: Evidence show that the Iranian armys navy did not know about the Konarak Frigate's situation and whereabouts for about three hours after it was hit by a missile fired from another Iranian vessel on May 10. During the past week, there have been significant questions about the incident but no one in the line of command of Iranian armed forces bothered to answer those questions. There are two hypothesis about the case: Hypothesis 1: The Naval Force did not know what happened to one of its vessels Videos published on social media by fishermen who went to the rescue of the damaged frigate show that Konarak was hit by a missile around 15 Hrs local time, but no relief and rescue team was dispatched to the site to rescue the injured sailors before the fishermen arrived. The Fishermen say they observed smoke rising from the frigate from a distance of 10 miles. They reached the site of the incident after about 1.5 hours and tried to rescue injured sailors who were still on board. Eventually, they sent some of the injured personnel to the shore on a boat and told the officials about the incident from a distance of 12 miles to the shore where communication by phone was possible. This means that the Iranian Navy did not know about the incident involving its vessels at least until 18:30 local time. This comes while navy helicopters needed only some 30 minutes to get to the site. Ehsan Soltani, a twitter user, wrote: "The army rescue team reached the site after two hours! They hit their own frigate and only the fishermen noticed the rising smoke and rushed to the sailors' rescue." The question is: Why the navy did not send a rescue team sooner? Unconfirmed reports say Konarak was hit while carrying a target for the Jamaran frigate that was taking part in a military exercise. Konarak must have been in contact with commanders in the naval force before the incident, which means they should have already known about its location. So, why no one looked for the vessel? Why the commander did not ask about it? Based on evidence, either the commander did not know what had happened or they were not able to find their own frigate. Hypothesis 2: Commanders knew about Konarak's situation and whereabouts The naval force commanders can claim that they knew about the situation and whereabouts of the damaged vessel. In this case, there are more important questions to be asked: If they knew about the incident and its location, why they did not help between 15:00 Hrs to 18:30 Hrs? Couldn't helicopters fly the 60 Km distance to the ship in 3.5 hours and help the sailors who were fighting for their lives? What else were they doing that was more important than saving the ship and those on board? Did they need 3.5 hours to arrange and coordinate a rescue effort? If yes, then that is a catastrophe. In a video posted on social media, fishermen say they rescued 13 navy sailors. They had arrived on the site 1.5 hours after they saw the smoke. But when they made it to the place, the Iranian army rescue teams were not still there. What kind of a military exercise was it? These questions and hypotheses show that most probably for three and a half hours Iranian naval force commanders did not know about what had happened to one of their ships. Or even if they knew and wanted to help, they did not know where it was. This reveals even a bigger incompetence. According to the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader and the commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces, Iran's naval force is a "strategic force." How come that such a strategic force cannot find its own vessel that it had sent to a mission? If it finally found it, why did it take 3.5 hours? Every second of that 3.5 hours was vital for wounded sailors suspended between life and death. At least 100-odd migrant workers, who set out to their home states in north India on foot from here on Tuesday were stopped and sent back by the police to their respective camps. The workers complained that they were not getting adequate food at the camps and the government was not arranging any trains to help them return to their homes. "We want to go back to our home states. Food was being served only once a day and we have no money. There is no work here," workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh rued. Carrying water cans and some of their belongings, the workers started walking from nearby Vallapatnam, home to many plywood based industries, on their homeward journey when the Railway Police Force (RPF) personnel spotted them and informed the police. Some labourers alleged that they were getting only 2 kg wheat for a family of four for a week and sought to know how they would be able to manage. "We want to go home. We are even prepared to walk," Sushil Kumar, a worker said. The group of workers was stopped by the police, who pacified and sent it back to their camps. Later, the 'guest workers' were taken to their respective camps in three KSRTC buses. Meanwhile, the district officials said the complaints made by the workers would be looked into. Till May 15, 33,000 guest workers have left Kerala by 29 trains to their home states. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ministry of Labour & Employment has notified new rules that allow for reduced employees' provident fund (EPF) contributions for three months till July. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 13 announced a reduction of statutory provident fund (PF) contribution by both employers and employees to 10 per cent of basic wages from the existing 12 per cent for the next three months (May, June and July). The decision was taken to offer more take home salary for employees and to give relief to employers in payment of the PF, amounting to liquidity support of Rs 6,750 crore. In line with FM Sitharaman's announcement, the labour ministry issued a circular on Monday which said that the reduction in EPF contributions will be applicable "in respect of wages payable by it for the months of May, June and July, 2020". "Whereas due to Covid-19 pandemic, lockdown is in force across the country and the Central Government after making necessary inquiry is satisfied that to provide liquidity in the hands of employers and employees, there arises a need to amend the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Labour published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, section 3, sub-section (ii) vide number S.O. 320(E), dated 9th April, 1997," the Ministry of Labour notified. Also Read: EPF relief for employers! Govt to continue EPFO contribution for 3 months; PF contribution cut to 10% Here are 5 things to know about new EPF rules: The revised rule will be applicable for the three months - May, June and July. The decision to reduce the EPF contributions is expected to benefit 4.3 crore employees and 6.5 lakh employers facing liquidity crisis due to coronavirus-led nationwide lockdown. The benefit of cut in EPF contribution will be available to all establishments covered under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation or EPFO, including the exempted PF trusts. This scheme will not be applicable for workers eligible for 24% EPF support under PM Garib Kalyan Package. In March, FM had announced that the government will take care of EPF contribution of both the employer and the employee for the next three months, which was further extended till July. This scheme is applicable for organisation with up to 100 employees, where 90 per cent of employees draw less than Rs 15,000 salary. The Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and public sector undertakings (PSUs) will, however, continue to contribute 12 per cent as employer contribution to the EPFO. By Chitranjan Kumar A Greens-dominated council in Byron Bay has blocked the installation of 5G in the town, after protesters made bizarre claims that the waves caused serious diseases. Councillors agreed to halt work on the Telstra tower, claiming they hadn't been given 'assurances' that high speed internet didn't affect people's health. Protesters have battled to stop workers from accessing a mobile tower in Mullumbimy for the past month, calling the network 'unsafe and untested'. Throughout the coronavirus crisis, conspiracy theorists have peddled unsubstantiated claims that 5G, a mobile network, can cause the virus. Thousands of locals in Byron signed a petition to block high-speed internet from coming to the town, including members of the anti-vaccine community. A local protester is seen in April in Mullumbimy, Byron Bay (pictured) trying to stop in installation of 5G in the town While high-frequency waves from the likes of X-rays and ultraviolet rays can be damaging over time, 5G is a non-ionising, low-frequency wave, meaning it does not cause any internal damage to cells. But the overwhelming scientific evidence has not persuaded activists in the town, known as Australia's hippie capital. 'We have never seen so much electromagnetic activity. What we were after was some assurance that there would be further research done on the impacts of it,' Byron Greens councillor Michael Lyon said, according to the Daily Telegraph. 'Before the development of 5G went ahead we wanted to be satisfied that there were no health risks. 'It is a divisive issue here and we wanted to be able to prove to the community it is safe.' Residents fear 5G technology can have harmful effects on health but these claims have been debunked by the scientific community (pictured, a local protest in April) The roll-out of 5G networks in Australia began in June 2019, with technology using a similar frequency to existing 3G and 4G networks. The only difference with 5G is it can work at faster speeds as it uses a higher band. Sydney University Emeritus Professor Simon Chapman, an expert in the development of cancers, said there is no evidence whatsoever that 5G - or any mobile network - causes serious illness. 'With every generation of technology rolled out we hear the same claims for internet or radio or mobile signals. It is predictable this group would protest against 5G,' he said. Protester Dean Jeffreys told 7 News in April he feared electromagnetic radiation from 5G would affect his immunity. Around 200 protesters in Byron Bay (pictured in April) battled to stop 5G being brought into the area 'Especially in this age of coronavirus, you want to have your immunity as strong as you can,' he said. Australian professor of medicine, and public health advocate John Dwyer described conspiracy claims that 5G causes the deadly virus as 'dangerous nonsense'. He also refuted claims 5G technology is harmful to our health. 'It's right up there with wind farms causing cancer,' Professor Dwyer told Channel Seven earlier this month. 'At this time in the fight against the epidemic, this is dangerous nonsense. Even to have a few people think differently that social distancing isn't for them is a silly idea and is putting all of us at risk.' 'For some people, the idea of a conspiracy theory turns them on. Most of the time, it doesn't matter that much but in this particular case, it's dangerous.' Cyprus - FoodNurish is a blog that is operating in the Health & Fitness niche providing information, scientific arthrography, and shopping guides on topics such as health, longevity, natural remedies, fitness, supplementation, and nutrition. The authors of the blog carry out stringent research to answer common questions of the health enthusiasts and help them select the best anti-aging supplements available in the market. To make things more convenient for the blog (Newser) Annie Glenn, the widow of astronaut and Sen. John Glenn and a communication disorders advocate, died Tuesday at age 100, per the AP. Glenn died of COVID-19 complications at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minn., said a rep for the Glenn College of Public Affairs at Ohio State. At the time of John Glenn's death in 2016, the pair who met as children had been married 73 years. She'd moved out of the apartment they shared in Columbus in recent years and gone to live with her daughter. Annie Glenn was thrust into the spotlight in 1962, when her husband became the first American to orbit Earth, but she shied away from media attention because of a severe stutter. Later, she underwent an intensive program at the Communications Research Institute at Virginia's Hollins College that gave her the skills to control her stutter and to speak in public. story continues below Her career in advocacy for those with communication disorders included service on the advisory boards of numerous child abuse and speech and hearing organizations. The Annie Glenn Award was created to honor individuals who overcome a communication disorder. Defense Secretary William Cohen honored Annie Glenn with the Department of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 1998. He called her "a hero in her own right" and praised her for being "a strong voice for children, speech and communications, and the disabled." In 2009, Glenn received an honorary doctorate of public service from Ohio State, where she served as an adjunct professor of speech pathology in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science. The department bestows an Annie Glenn Leadership Award annually. She is survived by her two children, Lyn and David. (Read more obituary stories.) Two police officers in Kansas City, Missouri, face assault charges for allegedly slamming a transgender womans face into a concrete sidewalk during an arrest that was captured on video. A grand jury indicted7, and Charles Prichard, 47, on one misdemeanor charge each of fourth-degree assault related to the May 24, 2019, physical encounter, the Jackson County prosecutors office announced. The video, recorded by a passerby outside a beauty supply store, shows the officers kneeing the woman in the face, torso and ribs and forcing her arms over her head while handcuffed. The woman was black; the officers are white. The woman has since died after being shot in October at a Kansas City home, and a man has been charged in her death. She went by various first names, including Brianna or Brionna, Bebe, and Briya. Her surname was Hill. Prosecutors said police arrested Hill after she got into a dispute with someone at the beauty supply store. Both she and the stores owner called 911, and the owner asked officers to remove Hill. The officers said Hill was resisting arrest when they forced her to the ground outside the store. During the arrest, while Hill is on her stomach, video allegedly shows Brummett and Prichard kneel on top of her torso, ribs and back. Brummett is alleged to have slammed Hills face into the concrete twice before placing his body weight onto her neck and shoulder while the officers handcuffed her. Court documents say Prichard can be heard on the video saying, We tried to be easy, and You made it this way. Hill can be heard moaning and crying in pain until she eventually goes silent. Hill was ticketed for trespassing, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and possession of drug paraphernalia. Brummett and Prichard maintain that they used reasonable force, according to a statement from their attorneys. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Cambridge, Mass., May 18, 2020 - In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have published a pair of studies in a COVID-19 special issue of the Harvard Data Science Review, freely available via open access, describing new methods for accelerating drug approvals during pandemics and for providing more accurate measures of the probabilities of success for clinical trials of vaccines and other anti-infective therapies. "Randomized clinical trials--where patients are assigned randomly to two groups, one receiving a new treatment and the other receiving a placebo or reference treatment--are the gold standard for determining the safety and effectiveness of a treatment," says Andrew Lo, Ph.D., the study's senior author and the Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. "Only when the treatment group shows significant improvement over the control group, will regulators approve the therapy." He adds, "the current process is designed to protect the public by minimizing the chances of "false positives" (approving ineffective and unsafe therapies), and by and large, it's been very successful." But there is a trade-off between false positives and false negatives (not approving a safe and effective therapy), and Lo and his collaborators have developed a framework that uses an epidemiological model of COVID-19 to calculate the optimal statistical threshold for approving a drug during a pandemic. "In the midst of an outbreak, many lives are at stake so we need to be less concerned about false positives and more concerned about false negatives than during normal times," says Lo, "In response, we've developed an analytic framework that allows regulators to make this trade-off systematically, transparently, and rationally." At the core of this new framework--which was jointly developed in collaboration with MIT students Qingyang Xu and Danying Xiao, and former MIT student Shomesh Chaudhuri, Ph.D. (now at QLS Advisors)--is an explicit optimization algorithm designed to minimize the expected loss of life across various scenarios generated by a statistical model of an infectious disease. This algorithm, says Xu, will lead to more drug approvals during outbreaks, not unlike the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA) program. "Our framework complements the EUA, allowing regulators to incorporate loss-of-life considerations quantitatively during periods of extraordinary stress," explains Xu, the lead investigator of the study. In a companion study authored by Lo and MIT Ph.D. students Kien Wei Siah and Chi Heem Wong, the MIT researchers estimated the probabilities of success (PoSs) of clinical trials for vaccines and other anti-infective therapies using the Citeline dataset provided by Informa Pharma Intelligence, part of UK-based publishing company, Informa. This dataset includes 43,414 unique triplets of clinical trial, drug, and disease over the past 20 years, yielding over 2,500 vaccine programs and more than 6,800 nonvaccine, anti-infective programs, the largest dataset of its kind. "The PoS is a key input into each major decision of every biopharma company about which disease to tackle and how much resources to devote to it," observes Lo. Because a successful clinical trial can mean billions of dollars in revenues, small changes in PoS can lead to very different business decisions. Therefore, having timely and accurate measures of PoS is critical--and often, these better measures of risk and reward allow investors to put more capital to work. The overall estimated PoS for industry-sponsored vaccine programs is about 40%, which is the highest among all disease groups (by comparison, the PoS of cancer trials is, historically, less than 5%), and 16.3% for industry-sponsored nonvaccine, anti-infective programs. Viruses involved in recent outbreaks--Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola, and Zika--have had 45 nonvaccine and 35 vaccine development programs initiated over the past two decades, and there have been only two approved vaccines to date (for Ebola). This points to a clear need for new policies to address this gap. "As governments around the world begin to formulate a more systematic strategy for dealing with pandemics beyond COVID-19, these estimates can be used by policymakers to identify areas most likely to be underserved by private sector engagement and in need of public sector support," said Wong, the study's lead author. These results are part of Project ALPHA (Analytics for Life-sciences Professionals and Healthcare Advocates)--an ongoing initiative at the MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering (LFE) where Lo is director--to help make the biomedical funding ecosystem more efficient. "We now provide this information on a regular basis, it's not just a one-shot deal," Lo says. Users can obtain the most current PoS estimates at https://projectalpha.mit.edu. ### About the Harvard Data Science Review The Harvard Data Science Review is the open access platform of the Harvard Data Science Initiative, published by the MIT Press. HDSR publishes high quality content that helps to define and shape data science as a rigorous field of study with global impact. Established in 1962, the MIT Press (Cambridge, MA and London) is one of the largest and most distinguished university presses in the world and a leading publisher of books and journals at the intersection of science, technology, art, social science, and design. MIT Press books and journals are known for their intellectual daring, scholarly standards, interdisciplinary focus, and distinctive design. For almost 50 years, the MIT Press journals division has been publishing journals that are at the leading edge of their field and launching new journals that have nurtured burgeoning areas of scholarship. Harvard Data Science Review, Chaudhuri et al. "Bayesian Adaptive Clinical Trials for Anti-Infective Therapeutics During Epidemic Outbreaks" https://hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/non4rfk6/release/1 Harvard Data Science Review, Lo et al. "Estimating Probabilities of Success of Vaccine and Other Anti-Infective Therapeutic Development Programs" https://hdsr.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/pnp0pr4j BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 2.00 am ET Tuesday, the Office for National Statistics releases UK labor market statistics. The ILO jobless rate is seen rising to 4.4 percent in three months to March from 4 percent in three months to February. Ahead of the data, the pound held steady against its major rivals. The pound was worth 130.99 against the yen, 1.1862 against the franc, 0.8945 against the euro and 1.2199 against the greenback as of 1:55 am ET. 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. Vow ASA, through its subsidiary Scanship AS, has been awarded a 2-million-euro cruise ship supply contract with a larger European shipbuilding group. The contract is for an advanced wastewater purification system to be delivered in 2021 to a cruise ship planned for 2023 operations. The contract includes delivery for one optional cruise vessel. "During this challenging period of Covid 19 for the cruise industry, this contract demonstrates a forward-looking industry maintaining high focus on environmentally sustainable growth. We are proud to continue our cooperation with this yard following six earlier successful deliveries to sister vessels": says Henrik Badin, CEO of Vow ASA in a statement. Henrik Badin - CEO Vow ASA Tel: +47 90 78 98 25 Email: henrik.badin@vowasa.com About Vow ASA In Vow and our subsidiaries Scanship and Etia we are passionate about preventing pollution. Our world leading solutions convert biomass and waste into valuable resources and generate clean energy for a wide range of industries. Cruise ships on every ocean have Vow technology inside which processes waste and purifies wastewater. Fish farmers are adopting similar solutions, and public utilities and industries use our solutions for sludge processing, waste management and biogas production on land. Our ambitions go further than this. With our advanced technologies and solutions, we turn waste into biogenetic fuels to help decarbonize industry and convert plastic waste into fuel, clean energy and high-value pyro carbon. Our solutions are scalable, standardized, patented and thoroughly documented, and our capability to deliver is well proven. They are key to end waste and stop pollution. Located in Oslo, the parent company Vow ASA is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker VOW from 13 January 2020). The Vow group has 120 employees in Norway, France, Poland and the US. This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. (Newser) Scientists have completed the first comprehensive look at how the pandemic has affected greenhouse gas emissions, and the big stat is eye-popping. Daily emissions dropped 17% in April as nations around the world went into lockdown mode, according to the study in the Nature Climate Change journal. That figure is unprecedented. For context, the Washington Post notes that a UN report last year said emissions must fall 7.6% a year starting in 2020 to avoid the worst effects of a warming climate. But those worried about the planet should hold off on the celebration. "History suggests this will be a blip," says Stanford's Rob Jackson, one of the study's co-authors. In fact, the researchers estimate that the year-end reduction will end up being somewhere between 4% and 7%, depending on the speed and scope of the reopening of economies around the world. story continues below And if 17% sounds like a lot, consider that the reduction brings us back only to what levels were in 2006, a clear sign of how fast the issue has accelerated in the last 14 years, per the Verge. Also, even though the world was in an unprecedented shutdown, 83% of emissions were still pumped out. "There's a lot of inertia in the infrastructure, in the built environment," says another researcher, Corinne Le Quere of Britain's Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research. "It seems like many things are able to function on their own, at least for a short time." The Guardian, meanwhile, rounds up reaction to the report, including the assertion from the chief of the International Energy Agency that the biggest drop in carbon in history is "nothing to celebrate" because it's the result of "economic trauma," not policy. (Read more greenhouse gases stories.) Brazil recorded its highest number of coronavirus deaths in a day as Latin America began to feel the full force of the pandemic, while the World Health Organization agreed to investigate its response to the crisis. With infections rapidly approaching five million, deaths topping 320,000 and the global economy devastated, there are fears that the worst is yet to come for the poorer parts of the world as they desperately try to contain the spread of the virus. There was an alarming surge on Tuesday in Brazil as daily COVID-19 deaths crossed 1,000 for the first time, but far-right President Jair Bolsonaro remains bitterly opposed to lockdowns, having described them as unnecessary over a "little flu". "Our country is going from bad to worse, it is getting worse," said retiree Gilberto Ferreira in Rio de Janeiro. "We have an inefficient government, and the people also do not obey the rules of the pandemic." Infections in Brazil -- already the third-highest globally -- were climbing by the thousands, with the outbreak in the world's sixth-largest country expected to accelerate until early June. The coronavirus surge in Latin America has forced some areas to suspend their plans to loosen restrictions, with Argentina's second city Cordoba rolling back plans to ease a lockdown because of a spike in infections. There have been warnings about the impact of the pandemic on the least privileged communities, and World Bank chief David Malpass said Tuesday that up to 60 million people could be "pushed into extreme poverty". In a worrying illustration of the mounting economic pressure, Chile -- which is also suffering from a sharp rise in cases -- deployed soldiers on the outskirts of its locked-down capital Santiago after clashes with protesters angry about food shortages and job losses. "They don't have jobs, they are locked up in their house, they can't go out to look for work," said Jorge, an unemployed carpenter. "They are forcing the Chilean, the worker, to go out and steal." On the other side of the world, authorities were scrambling to move people to safety while also trying to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as the fiercest cyclone in decades in the Bay of Bengal bore down on millions of people in eastern India and Bangladesh. - 'Permanent damage' - The grim numbers from Latin America came as the World Health Organization agreed to launch an independent investigation into its handling of the outbreak after scathing attacks from the United States, which is locked in a feud with Beijing over the pandemic. President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently cut US funding to the WHO, accusing the UN body of being a "puppet of China" and helping Beijing cover up the initial outbreak. China has furiously denied the allegation, saying the US is making such claims to "shirk responsibility and bargain over its international obligations to the WHO". Russia has denounced Trump's threat, and the European Union has also backed the WHO, saying it was "not the time for finger pointing". The row has threatened efforts to coordinate a global response to the pandemic, but the American president has dug in and continued to target China and the WHO as he faces intense domestic pressure to find a way out of the crisis. The United States is the worst-hit country in the world, with nearly 92,000 COVID-19 deaths and over 1.5 million cases, and many are wearying of the social distancing measures that have hammered the world's biggest economy and left tens of millions unemployed. Trump is keen to see an end to confinement measures in the US with the presidential election due in November, and his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned the American economy risks suffering "permanent damage" the longer the lockdown continues. - Dramatic CO2 drop - Since first emerging in central China late last year, the virus has transformed life and business around the world with its impact felt in multiple ways, from once-busy city centers falling silent to significant environmental changes. Researchers reported Tuesday that global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels are set to drop by up to seven percent in 2020 because of the pandemic, the sharpest decline since World War II. But the dramatic drop would still "make barely a dent in the ongoing build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere", said Richard Betts, head of climate impacts research at Britain's Met Office Hadley Centre. And as Asia started to assess the damage caused by the pandemic, some countries have realised there have been some unforeseen benefits, despite the larger economic destruction. Vietnam has seen a drop in crime during its nationwide isolation, Hong Kong has hailed an early end to its annual flu season, and now Thailand -- notorious for its high number of road fatalities -- has seen a marked improvement in safety. "Accidents have gone down quite a lot," said Banjerd Premjit, chief of an emergency medical team operating just outside Bangkok, crediting Thailand's virus measures -- including a ban on alcohol sales -- for the trend. "People drink less and they're less reckless on the roads." burs-qan/hg Four Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy vessels alongside U.S. Naval Forces in the Gulf By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In an alert that appeared aimed squarely at Iran, the U.S. Navy issued a warning on Tuesday to mariners in the Gulf to stay 100 meters (yards) away from U.S. warships or risk being "interpreted as a threat and subject to lawful defensive measures." The notice to mariners, which was first reported by Reuters, follows U.S. President Donald Trump's threat last month to fire on any Iranian ships that harass Navy vessels. "Armed vessels approaching within 100 meters of a U.S. naval vessel may be interpreted as a threat," according to the text of the notice, which can be seen here. (https://bit.ly/36msOL2) A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new notice to mariners was not a change in the U.S. military's rules of engagement. The Pentagon has stated that Trump's threat was meant to underscore the Navy's right to self-defense. The Bahrain-based U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement that its notice was "designed to enhance safety, minimize ambiguity and reduce the risk of miscalculation." It follows an incident last month in which 11 Iranian vessels came close to U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Gulf, in what the U.S. military called "dangerous and provocative" behavior. At one point, the Iranian vessels came within 10 yards (9 meters) of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Maui, the U.S. military said. Trump's threat followed that incident, which Tehran, in turn, said was the fault of the United States. The head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards responded to Trump by threatening to destroy U.S. warships if its security is threatened in the Gulf. The back-and-forth is just latest example of razor-sharp tension between Washington and Tehran, which has steadily escalated since 2018, when Trump withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed crippling sanctions. Story continues Animosity reached historic heights in early January, when the United States killed top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad. Iran retaliated on Jan. 9 by firing missiles at bases in Iraq, causing brain injuries among U.S. troops at one of them. Close interactions with Iranian military vessels were not uncommon in 2016 and 2017. On several occasions, U.S. Navy ships fired warning shots at Iranian vessels when they got too close. But Iran had halted such maneuvers before the April incident. (Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Sandra Maler and Tom Brown) At the 17th Huawei Global Analyst Summit, Huawei announced that it would advance its computing strategy with the industry ecosystem, and foster an ecosystem with computing and HUAWEI CLOUD to cultivate the fertile ground for the digital world. Huawei has and will continue to promote the industry ecosystem and innovate technologies and products. In 2020, Huawei will invest USD200 million in the computing ecosystem and develop 2 million developers worldwide. By innovating products and solutions and optimizing business models, Huawei is dedicated to cultivating the fertile ground, where partners can develop more applications and fully tap into data value for business benefits. The Huawei ecosystem innovation centers, jointly built with industry partners, are the regional catalysts for computing industry incubation, including best practices showcase, industry chain enablement, industry solution incubation, computing talent development, innovative enterprise cultivation, and application innovation. In recent years, the Huawei cloud and computing industry ecosystem is thriving thanks to global collaboration. For example, HUAWEI CLOUD has more than 10,000 consulting partners, and the number of technology partners for HUAWEI CLOUD and ISVs in computing has exceeded 3,500. Moreover, 37 ecosystem innovation centers have been established around the world. Over 5,000 cloud applications and Huawei-certified solutions have been rolled-out, which are all provided by our partners of HUAWEI CLOUD and computing. The new digital infrastructure driven by cloud, AI, and 5G is a new engine for the global economy. In particular, cloud is the key to unleashing the potential of AI and driving robust economic growth. The continuous innovation has made HUAWEI CLOUD the first choice for digital and intelligent transformation of governments and enterprises, bringing shared business success for customers and partners. Huawei aspires to offer diversified, abundant, and more affordable computing for ubiquitous cloud and pervasive intelligence. According to the Ubiquitous Computing Power: the Cornerstone of an Intelligent Society, a report released by Huawei, the per capita computing power is highly correlated with the economic development. For example, in the traditional manufacturing industry, the investment of 1 US dollar in computing power can increase the output value by 10 dollars. All shops selling essential commodities in Maharashtra's Aurangabad city will remain open from May 21 in the fourth phase of the COVID-19 lockdown, an official said on Tuesday. Municipal commissioner Astik Kumar Pandey, in an order, said all shops selling essential commodities within the city limits will be allowed to function from May 21. Aurangabad district has recorded 1,073 COVID-19 cases so far and the city has been under complete lockdown since May 17, the official said. Pandey has issued new guidelines for the fourth phase of the lockdown, which will be implemented from May 21 onwards, he said As per the order, shops selling commodities, vegetable and fruit vendors can operate every day from 7 am to 1 pm in the city. The civic chief has also appealed to citizens to practise social distancing and wear masks in public, the order stated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) COVID-19 prevention trial opens for high-risk healthcare workers COVID SHIELD is a major collaborative effort led by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in partnership with human data science company IQVIA. The trial is being run through hospitals across the country, including in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. The trial's lead investigators are the Institute's joint head of Infectious Diseases and Immune Defence Professor Marc Pellegrini, and Professor Ian Wicks who is joint head of Clinical Translation at the Institute and a rheumatologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. COVID-19 is caused by the newly identified virus SARS-CoV-2. The virus can lead to a severe and progressive respiratory illness, requiring ventilatory support and it can be fatal. Professor Pellegrini said that in addition to searching for vaccines and treatments, it was important to explore preventative medicines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. "COVID SHIELD is gold standard in its design as a multi-centre, randomised, double-blind study," he said. "The trial is focused on our frontline and allied healthcare workers who are at an increased risk of infection due to repeated exposure caring for sick patients. Our aim is to help people stay safe, well and able to continue in their vital roles." The trial will enrol 2250 participants through participating hospitals and healthcare providers. Half of the participants will be given hydroxychloroquine, while the other half will receive a placebo tablet - both for the duration of four months. Professor Wicks said hydroxychloroquine was a well-known prescription medication that had been used for more than 50 years, initially for malaria and subsequently for autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. "Rheumatologists are very comfortable with the drug's safety profile. Like any medication hydroxychloroquine has certain side effects, but fortunately these are well known and quite uncommon. "The medical specialists conducting COVID SHIELD are highly experienced in using hydroxychloroquine in the clinic. All participants will be screened based on rigorous selection criteria and closely monitored throughout the trial to ensure safety," he said. Professor Wicks said there were other trials underway assessing the drug's activity as a treatment, but that COVID SHIELD was the first to test the drug as a prophylaxis (prevention) against contracting COVID-19. "We are hopeful this Australian trial will provide a definitive answer to this question. Hydroxychloroquine has shown promising anti-viral activities, including against SARS-CoV-2, and so this is what we will be exploring further," he said. Professor Pellegrini said the hydroxychloroquine to be used in the study had been supplied by the manufacturer for that purpose and therefore would not impact patients who routinely required the drug for other conditions. "COVID SHIELD will not be diverting hydroxychloroquine for routine use from pharmacies, hospitals, or other patient supply chains," he said. Frontline and allied healthcare workers who wish to participate in the trial can visit https:/ / covidshield. com. au from 20 May 2020 to see if they are eligible for the study. ### The research is supported by the Australian Government. About the Institute's COVID-19 response The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is leading a number of major research responses to COVID-19 in collaboration with research partners in universities, hospitals and the private sector. Our researchers are working towards better approaches to diagnose, treat and prevent the spread of coronaviruses, both to address the current COVID-19 global outbreak, as well as in preparedness for future coronaviral disease outbreaks. This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 Trend: Azerbaijans Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov has held a telephone conversation with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov on May 19, 2020, Trend reports with reference to the ministry. The ministers, in accordance with the instructions received after the telephone conversation between the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussed the situation related to the assemblage of the Azerbaijani citizens in border districts of Russias Republic of Dagestan and considered practical measures for the speedy return of citizens of the two countries to their homeland, emphasizing the importance of daily coordination of joint efforts in this direction. The sides exchanged views on further strengthening bilateral strategic relations and multifaceted cooperation, including in matters of economic-trade relations, and the expansion of cargo transportation. The ministers also exchanged views over the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Minister Elmar Mammadyarov informed his colleague on the latest video-conference with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. 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. Brad Tschida 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? Unnecessary. After fully subsidizing primary and secondary education, why should the citizens of Montana underwrite the cost of post-secondary education to any greater extent? Most Montanans, especially those on fixed incomes, cant afford further confiscation of their hard-earned personal income. By subsidizing post-secondary education, we create incentives for the MUS to increase their costs and promote programs that may be a disadvantage to students. Montana ranks 47th49th in per capita income. If our share of educational expenses is commensurate with the income of citizens here, Id make the case that funding is about where it needs to be. 2. Do you think the state of Montana should increase state funding for affordable housing? Why or why not? No. Virtually every time government gets into the business of the private sector, bureaucratic regulations stifle productivity, costs increase, and business development is restricted. If Missoula City and County planning offices actually reduced their oppressive regulations and made the permitting process simpler, housing costs would decrease. What does the city of Missoula create by charging builders / developers $15,000 or more to build a single-family home? Increased home costs and less affordability! If Missoula City and County were serious about helping make housing more affordable, they would take a page from nearby counties and reduce their permit and fee costs. 3. What, in your view, is the largest issue with management of Montanas public lands? What should be done about it? Maintaining and increasing access within the federal and state lands in Montana and establishing true balanced use of public lands. Many groups presenting themselves as hunting / fishing / outdoor recreation organizations, actually strive to limit multiple and balanced use of federal and state lands (i.e., green decoys) and use dark money from foreign donors to reduce the amount of, and true access to, public lands. Montana is the Treasure State because of the resources placed here by God, and property taxes can be reduced by using best practices to harvest timber, minerals and fossil fuels to grow our economy. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 One of the most important reforms announced last week by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman relates to the liberalisation of the agriculture sector. By announcing that the outdated Essential Commodities Act will be amended, she set the ball rolling for ending both license-permit raj and inspector raj in the agriculture sector. This is not merely the 1991 moment of ending an inefficient relic of the socialist era, but the unwinding of 700 years of systematic policy bias against farmers and farm produce traders. A combination of two sets of laws have defined how farm produce is bought and sold in India the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) and the state-level Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Acts. ECA was enacted in 1955 to control production, supply, trade, and storage of certain commodities deemed to be essential (farm products in the list include onions, potatoes, edible oils, jute, rice paddy, sugar and so on). The Act itself does not lay out the regulations but allows states to issue control orders related to dealer licensing, stock limits, the power to fix prices, compulsory purchases and restrictions on transportation. In turn, the authorities are given draconian powers to raid hoarders, confiscate stocks, cancel licensing and even imprison offenders. The APMC system, meanwhile, forced farmers to sell their produce only through designated channels and mandis. The combination led to an inefficient regime of licenses, permits and inspectors. The drawbacks of the system were well documented over decades and many economists had argued for change. Some attempts were made to reform it piecemeal but the system had largely remained intact till now. In 2019 alone, an estimated 76,000 raids were conducted in different parts of the country under ECA. The system was not only unfair to farmers and traders, but it also was not even very good at achieving its main goal of price stability. As illustrated clearly in the latest Economic Survey (Volume 1, 2019-20), ECA actually increased the volatility of prices for commodities such as onion, pulses and sugar. It also did not lower the wedge between retail and wholesale prices. Instead, the Survey found evidence that ECA raids mostly led to the harassment of traders (merely 2-4% of ECA related cases stand up in court). It does not need a degree in economics but plain common sense to understand why the ECA-APMC system failed. Farm production is bunched according to harvests, and price stability depends on storage. By forcing farmers to sell their produce through designated channels, and placing arbitrary restrictions on inventory, the system discouraged price discovery and storage. Anyone who invested in storage ran the risk of being called a hoarder and facing prosecution. Thus, every year, India sees prices of vegetables such as onions swinging wildly from being too high to too low. Countries that do not even grow food (like Singapore), meanwhile, continue to enjoy stable food prices. The systematic bias in agriculture policy goes back to measures introduced seven centuries ago by Alauddin Khilji. Having conquered large swaths of India, he introduced harsh policies to artificially hold down prices and control trade. Contemporary records suggest that these measures were aimed at cheaply supporting a large army and enriching the Turkic nobility while deliberately impoverishing the general population. It is quite extraordinary that Indian school textbooks today present Khiljis systematic exploitation as reforms and blame the traders who were subject to draconian punishments. This same tilted agricultural policy was used by the East India Company in the late 18th and early 19th century to force Indian farmers to grow indigo (for British industry) and opium (for China), and then sell it at depressed prices through agents. It completely impoverished rural India and caused repeated famines. In the second half of the 19th century, the system was adapted to control raw cotton prices to favour the mills of Manchester. The Berar Cotton and Grain Market Act of 1887 is the forerunner of todays APMC acts. Importantly, the British were very careful to keep their own hands clean so that the blame fell on the traders. Thus, those who provided the supply chain were accused of hoarding. This is the source of the 1950s and 60s film plots. The FMs announcement, therefore, promises to remove a deep-rooted bias against farmers and the food supply chain (not to mention a source of multilevel rent-seeking). A central law will be introduced to allow farmers to sell their produce as they wish. Barrier-free interstate trade is to be encouraged. State-level APMC laws are already being changed one-by-one to complement this change. Of course, the government will retain the power to intervene in extreme situations, say a war, when markets break down. This ends the license permit raj for the agricultural sector three decades after this was done for the rest of the economy. It also creates a common national market for agricultural products. Sanjeev Sanyal is principal economic adviser, Government of India. The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON While living independently, her mother broke the same hip twice. The first time, she recovered fully and quickly, a feat Jeanette attributed to growing up in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and drinking a lot of milk, Lucci said. The butter pecan ice cream she ate straight out of the container, Lucci added with a laugh, also may have helped. The second break didn't heal as well, and Jeanette had to start using a walker. That hardly slowed her down. During visits from Lucci and often her husband, Jeanette would venture out in her leopard kitten heels for shopping trips, long lunches and live jazz over dinner at her favorite Palm Beach restaurant. The family hired people to help look after her, but Jeanette balked. She fired everyone, Lucci said. She wanted to do everything herself." The one exception turned out to be a godsend, Lucci said: a geriatric nurse who happened to be the daughter of one of Jeanette's friends. She gained Jeanette's trust and eventually recommended the perfect assisted living community, one rich with music and performances. The transition proved an adjustment. At the beginning, Lucci checked in daily. Sometimes her phone calls were simple reminders to turn on The Voice (Jeanette had a thing for Blake Shelton) or flip to Dancing with the Stars, another favorite, on which Lucci appeared in 2008. But it didn't take long for the community to feel like home. Until Lucci and her husband can be with her mother in person, they're grateful for what they have, including the virtual visits by video that allow them to see her and feel reassured by her sweet smile. "She's not as sharp as a tack as she used to be, and that's OK at 103, Lucci said. But she is still present and remembers us. ... She has not forgotten us or forgotten our relationships, so she's happy. The tiny South American nation of Suriname holds legislative elections next week despite the coronavirus pandemic, and amid corruption scandals and tough economic times. Some 380,000 registered voters will cast ballots on May 25 to elect the 51-member national assembly, with safety measures in place to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19. Suriname, a Dutch-speaking country on the northeast shoulder of South America, has had very few coronavirus cases and only one death. But while the last of its first 10 cases was reported at the end of March, Health Minister Antoine Elias said that an 11th case, a Brazilian, tested positive on Saturday. The Brazilian allegedly entered the country illegally alongside eight other men, who are all being held in quarantine. Until this latest case, all previous infections had been declared cured. Last week, the government started easing lockdown measures -- introduced in March -- opening up businesses but keeping land borders with French Guiana to the east and Guyana to the west closed. Voters will be required to maintain social distances and wash hands at the 649 polling stations, mostly located in schools. There are 17 parties contesting the 51 seats. Opposition figures have complained about potential fraud with polling stations being staffed exclusively by members of President Desi Bouterse's ruling National Democratic Party, and about a bloated electoral roll that allegedly includes people who died years ago. The independent electoral bureau (OKB) chairwoman Jennifer van Dijk-Silos demanded that Interior Minister Mike Noersalim "clean up the list." She also called for transparency and demanded that authorities inform the public about virus safety measures. "People will not show (up) to cast their vote if they have no confidence that when they enter the school premises that they will not be infected," Van Dijk-Silos said. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, only the Organization of American States and Caribbean Community will act as election observers, with the European Union forced to cancel its mission. Political parties have been unable to hold rallies due to lockdown measures but have turned to internet debates via Zoom, live Facebook sessions and car parades using loudspeakers. Campaigning has been overshadowed by a slew of corruption scandals, including involving the central bank, and the dire economic outlook. The country of fewer than 600,000 people depends heavily on mining and fishing. President Desi Bouterse of Suriname, which will hold elections in May TYSONS CORNER, Va., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellebrite, the global leader in Digital Intelligence (DI) solutions for public and private sectors, today announced it has rebranded the industry's most comprehensive Digital Intelligence product suite. Building on accelerated company growth and continuing its mission to enable customers to create safer communities through digital transformation, the company detailed new product capabilities with enhanced user experience. The changes are the culmination of over two decades of innovation in accessing, managing and analyzing data with cutting edge technology. "Digital Intelligence is an expanding space and this evolution reflects our continued commitment to lead and shape it alongside our customers and partners," said Mark Gambill, CMO. "Digital Forensics is part of a wider space: Digital Intelligence. It's much more than access to data it's about managing and analyzing it to quickly pinpoint the critical evidence to complete an investigation." New Product Names The new product names go into effect on May 19, 2020. Innovating To Optimize The Investigation Workflow Each year, nearly 10,000 organizations across the globe depend on the latest innovation delivered in Cellebrite's Digital Intelligence solutions to assist in over 5 million cases each year. The following is available as of today: Cellebrite Physical Analyzer 7.33: Surface relevant data more quickly with an intuitive user interface and capabilities that enhance accessibility to data from extracted devices. Surface relevant data more quickly with an intuitive user interface and capabilities that enhance accessibility to data from extracted devices. Cellebrite UFED Cloud: Gain the ability to access cloud data from over 50 sources. Instantly view digital activity across multiple devices and locations, including device backups. Use watch-lists, text translations, and data enrichment to improve the review process. Gain the ability to access cloud data from over 50 sources. Instantly view digital activity across multiple devices and locations, including device backups. Use watch-lists, text translations, and data enrichment to improve the review process. One Simplified Review Process: Users of Physical Analyzer can now add UFED Cloud capabilities to their Cellebrite Physical Analyzer for a seamless review process. Evolving Data Analysis For Actionable Insights Customers can automate the analysis of digital data using AI to identify patterns, reveal connections and uncover leads with greater speed and accuracy with Cellebrite Pathfinder. Multi-Data Sources: Ingestion of multiple source files including, mobile devices, computer, cloud, call-detail-records, third party applications and a variety of file extensions. Ingestion of multiple source files including, mobile devices, computer, cloud, call-detail-records, third party applications and a variety of file extensions. Unique Investigation Modules : Automatically surface critical insights from very large datasets with a single dashboard with multiple views, including suggestive search. : Automatically surface critical insights from very large datasets with a single dashboard with multiple views, including suggestive search. Flexible Infrastructure: Adhere to regulatory requirements with enhanced user management, permissions and performance monitoring. "We live in an amazing time where technology has transformed the way agencies and businesses operate," said Mark Gambill, Cellebrite, CMO. "The clock is ticking for them with each investigation. Organizations can't keep up with the volume of information available and what is needed is the ability to accelerate the process to get to actionable intelligence. The demand for the Digital Intelligence solutions we provide is greater than ever." Solutions To help expedite their digital transformation, Cellebrite is now offering customers bundled solutions enabling them to quickly implement industry specific workflows. Law Enforcement: Build stronger cases and protect communities with Digital Intelligence solutions for Forensic Examiners, Investigators, Field Teams, Prosecutors and Agency Management. Build stronger cases and protect communities with Digital Intelligence solutions for Forensic Examiners, Investigators, Field Teams, Prosecutors and Agency Management. Military & Intelligence: Gain valuable intel in seconds with Digital Intelligence solutions for SSE operatives, Counter-intelligence and Counter-narcotics agents. Gain valuable intel in seconds with Digital Intelligence solutions for SSE operatives, Counter-intelligence and Counter-narcotics agents. Business: Protect corporate assets and strengthen civil cases with Digital Intelligence solutions for Corporate Investigation, eDiscovery, and Incident Response. To learn more about recent product updates and solution capabilities, please read the in-depth blog. About Cellebrite Cellebrite is the global leader of Digital Intelligence solutions for the law enforcement, government and enterprise organizations. Cellebrite delivers an extensive suite of innovative software solutions, analytic tools, and training designed to accelerate digital investigations and address the growing complexity of handling crime and security challenges in the digital era. Trusted by thousands of leading agencies and companies in more than 150 countries, Cellebrite is helping fulfill the joint mission of creating a safer world. To learn more visit us at www.cellebrite.com Contact: Olga Shmuklyer, SVP Fusion PR Mobile: (917) 715-0329 [email protected] Adam Jaffe, VP of Global Communications, Cellebrite Mobile: +1 609 502 6889 [email protected] SOURCE Cellebrite Related Links http://www.cellebrite.com Bengaluru, May 20 : The cattle killing tiger that had been terrorising the Kundukere area of Karnataka has been captured. A domestic cattle devouring injured male tiger has been captured outside Karnataka's Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR), an official said on Tuesday. "The tiger was caught inside an agricultural field, 2 km away from the forest boundary. It's a 4-year-old male tiger," T. Balachandra, Conservator of Forests and Field Director, Project Tiger, Bandipur, told IANS. The cattle killing big cat had been terrorising the villagers for a month now outside the Kundukere part of the tiger reserve, which falls on the southeastern side of BTR and beside Bandipur. "The tiger killed and ate 20 domestic cattle. It made its territory outside the forest near a human habitation," said Balachandra. Image Source: IANS News Kundukere is a critical tiger habitat within the reserve, along with Gundre, N. Begur, Moliyur, Ainur Marigudi, Hediyala, Maddur, GS Betta and Bandipur. Injured in infighting with other tigers, the big cat's upper right side of the left leg was infested with maggots, and cellulitis was setting in. "Maggots have formed and pus formation is there. Cellulitis is setting in and gangrene is the next stage if the injury does not heal," the forest official said. According to Balachandra, the injury has enfeebled the tiger, rendering it hapless to hunt actively and forcing it to depend on domestic cattle for survival. "This injury has disabled the tiger in its movement. It was not moving briskly. It was only coming in the night and eating the cattle. It was also not in a position to lift the cattle, it didn't have the strength," said the senior Indian Forest Service (IFoS) officer. He said the tiger could have transformed into a man-eater had it not been captured, considering its disability and injury. After the capture, the forest department has shifted the big cat to Mysuru Koorgally for treatment. Bandipur Tiger Reserve, an 874 sq km national park, was formed by integrating most of the forest areas of erstwhile Venugopala Wildlife Park established in 1941, and later enlarged to its current state in Chamarajanagar district, about 220 km southwest of Bengaluru. The tiger reserve lists 28 species of mammals, including Royal Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, common leopard, bonnet macaque, Indian pipistrelle and barking deer, among others. -- Syndicated from IANS MIAMI Life-threatening surf and rip currents were forecast for U.S. East coast beaches as Tropical Storm Arthur kicks up ocean swells offshore, the National Hurricane Center warned on Monday. As of Tuesday morning, the storm had transitioned into an extratropical low pressure system wit a warm front extending northeastward from the circulation, the Hurricane Center said. It was another early start for the Atlantic hurricane season: Arthur formed Saturday in waters off Florida, marking the sixth straight year that a named storm has developed before June 1. The Hurricane Center said up to 5 inches of rain was expected in spots along the coast of North Carolina before the storm turned away from the coast on Tuesday. On Monday morning, the storms center was located about 85 miles (135 kilometers) south-southwest of Morehead City, North Carolina. Arthur had top sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph) and was moving to the north-northeast at 14 mph (22 kph). A tropical storm warning was issued for parts of North Carolinas coast, from Surf City to Duck, including Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, and heavy rainfall is expected for much of the eastern part of the state, said Michael Lee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Newport, North Carolina. But the main threat that were really trying to get out there is that there is enhanced risk for dangerous rip currents both today and tomorrow. So, any folks who want to try to go to the beach and get in the water, we have a high risk out for most of our beaches, Lee said. The weather service said eastern North Carolina should prepare for some localized flooding and dangerous marine conditions along the coast. Minor inundation from storm surge is possible for very low-lying areas adjacent to the ocean, sounds, and rivers, with overwash of dunes and flooding of properties and roadways possible for locations where dune structures are weak, mainly north of Cape Lookout, the weather service said. While there may be a component of warming waters and climate change in other pre-June storms, Arthur is more of a subtropical storm system than a traditional named storm and its water is cooler than whats usually needed for storm formation, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. A lot of these out-of-season storms are weak fleeting ones that meteorologists can see now because of satellites and better technology and would have been missed in earlier times, Klotzbach said. Local forecasters in the Bahamas said showers have lingered over the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco, which are still struggling to recover after being hit by a Category 5 hurricane last year. Patients are being cared for in tents in Grand Bahama after Hurricane Dorian damaged the islands hospital. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Public health officials in at least two-thirds of U.S. states are sharing the addresses of people who have the coronavirus with first responders. Supporters say the measure is designed to protect those on the front line, but it has sparked concerns of profiling in minority communities already mistrustful of law enforcement. A review of those states found that at least 10 also share the names of everyone who tests positive, the Associated Press reported. Sharing the information does not violate medical privacy laws, under guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Law enforcement officials say the information helps them take extra precautions to avoid contracting and spreading the coronavirus. But civil liberty and community activists have expressed concerns of potential profiling in African-American and Hispanic communities that already have an uneasy relationship with law enforcement. Some envision the data being forwarded to immigration officials. Public health officials in at least two-thirds of U.S. states are sharing the addresses of people who have the coronavirus with first responders (pictured: Paramedics wheel a patient from a triage area to the emergency entrance outside Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn) In Tennessee, the issue has sparked criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who only became aware of the data sharing earlier this month. The agreement known as a memorandum of understanding was not publicized when it was signed on April 3, but instead distributed to local leaders across the state. 'The information could actually have a "chilling effect" that keeps those already distrustful of the government from taking the COVID-19 test and possibly accelerate the spread of the disease,' the Tennessee Black Caucus said in a statement earlier this month. Many members of minority communities are employed in industries that require them to show up to work every day, making them more susceptible to the virus and most in need of the test. The AP review shows that public health officials in at least 35 states share the addresses of those who have tested positive for the coronavirus provided by the state or local health departments to emergency dispatch centers that request it. In at least 10 of those states, health agencies also share their names: Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Tennessee. Wisconsin did so briefly but stopped earlier this month. Sharing the information does not violate medical privacy laws, under guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Law enforcement officials say the information helps them take extra precautions to avoid contracting and spreading the coronavirus (pictured: a heathcare worker takes a nasal swab from a resident in New York City, on May 13) In Tennessee, the issue has sparked criticism from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers who only became aware of the data sharing earlier this month. The agreement known as a memorandum of understanding was not publicized when it was signed on April 3, but instead distributed to local leaders across the state Thomas Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said law enforcement agencies should explain why they are collecting names or addresses and assure minority communities that the information wont be turned over to the federal government. He noted the Trump administrations demands that local governments cooperate with immigration authorities as a concern. 'We should question why the information needs to be provided to law enforcement, whether there is that danger of misuse,' Saenz said. Law enforcement officials note they have long been entrusted with confidential information such as social security numbers and criminal history. The COVID-19 information is just a continuation of that trend. According to the national Fraternal Order of Police, more than 100 police officers in the United States have died from the coronavirus. Hundreds more have tested positive, resulting in staffing crunches. 'Many agencies before having this information had officers down, and now theyve been able to keep that to a minimum,' said Maggi Duncan, executive director of the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police. Critics wonder why first responders dont just take precautions with everyone, given that so many people with the virus are asymptomatic or present mild symptoms. Civil liberty and community activists have expressed concerns of potential profiling in African-American and Hispanic communities that already have an uneasy relationship with law enforcement. Some envision the data being forwarded to immigration officials (A man is moved into an ambulance in the Bronx after collapsing, April 22) Wearing personal protective equipment only in those cases of confirmed illness is unlikely to guarantee their protection, they argue. In Ohio, Health Director Dr. Amy Acton issued an order April 24 requiring local health departments to provide emergency dispatchers the names and addresses of people within their jurisdictions who tested positive for COVID-19. Yet the order also stated that first responders should assume anyone they come into contact with may have COVID-19. That portion of the order puzzles the American Civil Liberties Union. 'If that is a best or recommended practice, then why the need or desire to share this specific information with first responders?' said Gary Daniels, chief lobbyist for the ACLUs Ohio chapter. Duncan said having the information beforehand is valuable because it allows officers 'to do their jobs better and safer.' To use the data, officers arent handed a physical list of COVID-19 patients. Instead, addresses and names are flagged in computer systems so that dispatchers can relay the information to officers responding to a call. In Tennessee, the data is purged from the emergency communications system database within a month, or when the patient is no longer being monitored by the health department, according to health officials and agreements the AP reviewed. First responders also must agree they wont use the data to refuse a call for service, a requirement also implemented in most other states using the information. Law enforcement officials note they have long been entrusted with confidential information such as social security numbers and criminal history. The COVID-19 information is just a continuation of that trend (pictured: Cars line up for a drive-thru coronavirus test in Carver, MA) In Ohios Franklin County, which includes the state capital, health officials reported 914 confirmed and probable cases to dispatch agencies in May and April, but removed those names from the list after patients spent 14 days in isolation, said spokeswoman Mitzi Kline. Some are not convinced. The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition described sharing the medical information as 'deeply concerning,' warning that doing so may undermine the trust governments have been trying to build with immigrants and communities of color. 'Tell us how its working for you, then tell us how well its been working. Dont just tell us you need it for your job,' said state Rep. G.A. Hardway, a Memphis Democrat who chairs the legislative black caucus. The data remains highly sought after by law enforcement. In Pennsylvania, two police unions sued to force local health officials to disclose both patient names and addresses. The lawsuit is still pending. New Hampshire health officials agreed to start sharing names and addresses in mid-March, but initially there was a misunderstanding. Some first responders also informed local leaders of current cases, said state health department spokesman Jake Leon. That has stopped and 'we have not experienced additional issues,' Leon said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 20) President Rodrigo Duterte assured PMGen. Debold Sinas that he will keep his post as the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief despite criticisms from his mananita birthday celebration which allegedly violated quarantine measures. Ako yung ayaw na malipat siya. He is a good officer. He is an honest one. Hindi niya kasalanan kung may mang-harana sa kanya sa birthday niya, said Duterte in his weekly public address aired early Wednesday morning. [Translation: I am the one who dont want him to be transferred. He is a good officer. He is an honest one. It is not his fault if they serenaded him during his birthday.] Duterte said he needs police officers like Sinas to help him enforce the law in Metro Manila, especially now the region is under the modified enhanced community quarantine. It is his time to be there and I do not believe in just firing him because he was serenaded with Happy Birthday, added the President. The Philippine National Police Internal Affairs Service filed criminal charges before the Taguig City Prosecutor's Office against Sinas and 18 of his colleagues last May 15. The police officers implicated in the case surprised Sinas with a "mananita" feast on May 8 to honor him on his special day. Among those tagged in the complaint filed by the PNP-IAS include Deputy Regional Director for Administration Nicolas Bathan, Deputy Regional Director for Operations Florendo Quibuyen, Chief Regional Staff Florencio Ortilla, Regional Internal Affairs Service NCR director Gerry Galvan, PNP Human Rights Affairs Office chief Ildelbrandy Usana, Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division chief Eliseo Tanding, and Regional Intelligence Division chief Remus Medina. Sinas has apologized for the incident but claimed he found "nothing wrong" with the gathering, noting proper social distancing and health measures were followed by the guests. But photos of Sinas "mananita" feast, originally posted on the NCRPOs official Facebook page, showed a group of police officers in casual attire huddled around tables, giving roses to the PNP official, and having him blow candles on birthday cakes for the occasion. The photos went viral, causing the celebration to receive flak from netizens. PNP Chief PGen. Archie Gamboa said the national police force will not comment further on the issue as they will await the courts verdict on the case involving Sinas and his NCRPO officers. Upon hearing from the West a firm "no" regarding the lifting of sanctions, Russia hasn't abandoned attempts to find a way to settle the issue that has long become a real nuisance. Until now, Russian propaganda masterminds mostly focused their efforts this end on a massive campaign aimed to raise an international outcry, claiming that "sanctions hinder the fight against the corona", trying to win hearts of certain EU member states, including through providing "humanitarian" assistance to Italy, while also seeking to secure the adoption of the relevant resolution of the UN General Assembly. Despite all efforts, Russia's appeal was turned down, "which in fact is a rather justified move on the part of the West" because the sanctions in question had been imposed over the Kremlin's aggression, which Moscow "doesn't intend to cease no matter what, even amid the deadly pandemic," Apostrophe reported citing Democratic Europe. "Moreover, none of the economic restrictions in any way hindered the supplies of humanitarian cargo, medical essentials or food. Therefore, Moscow's weak arguments didn't hold water," the article reads. In this regard, it's no surprise that even a statement of support voiced by UN chief Antonio Guterres was of no help to Russia, authors add. Read alsoEU: Sanctions don't impede potential humanitarian aid to Russia over coronavirus The failure led the Kremlin to changing the tactic of exerting pressure on Western powers. Now it appears they're planning to act through the platform of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), "the structure Moscow pretty much fully controls." Diplomatic sources in one of the CIS member states have told Democratic Europe that Moscow proposed to release a joint statement by CIS heads of government as regards the spread of the novel coronavirus. "Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov at a recent presser stated that the efforts to tackle the COVID-19 will be on top agenda of the CIS prime ministers meeting on May 29, which further confirms the information received about the draft being finalized," the report reads. Leaving aside the general rhetoric about the global threats the COVID-19 pandemic has brought, it's the closing lines of the draft statement that are worth noting as it seems they are key to the very idea of signing it, the article reads. "The statement will urge all countries to abandon trade wars, unilateral sanctions introduced bypassing the UNSC, and other measures of economic pressure or coercion on the part of certain state actors against others. Signatories will reaffirm their intention to seek free, fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, predictable and stable conditions for trade and investment," the leaked draft shows. "The scale of the cynicism of those who drafted this is truly astounding though, for it is Russia that's long been applying what's called 'energy diplomacy' in order to exert pressure on both the countries of the former Soviet bloc and the West. Besides, it was Moscow who stood behind unleashing most of the trade wars within the post-Soviet space, many of which are still ongoing," the piece reads. "This directly testifies to the fact that the Kremlin itself isnt going to step back from applying the 'power of the strong' wherever it's possible." "Most likely, the CIS prime ministers' meeting on May 29, announced by Sergei Lavrov will see the statement being signed by all participants as they are unlikely to snub Russia's request (read 'instruction')," the Democratic Europe article suggests. "Incidentally, this will also be a pretty vivid example of Russia putting pressure on the post-Soviet countries the kind of pressure Moscow will never hesitate to apply, regardless of the global COVID-19 developments." Read alsoRussia once again refutes direct participation in Donbas conflict It is noted that Russia "stubbornly refuses to admit the obvious: sanctions were imposed for their aggression against Ukraine, the downed flight MH17, their support for the Assad regime in Syria, Russian meddling in U.S. elections, and the Salisbury poisoning." "Moreover, their list of reasons to impose even more sanctions is much longer than the already obvious international crimes the Kremlin had committed. This includes a foiled coup in Montenegro where Russian intelligence was widely implicated, support for separatism in Catalonia and Scotland, multiple cyberattacks on various European institutions, and so on," the report reads. "Perhaps this is precisely what provoked the Kremlin to try and push the West toward sanction lifting. Moscow's miscalculation, however, possibly lies in confusing tolerance with weakness," the authors say. If Russia really wants to have their sanction burden eased, the article suggests, "it would be enough for them to simply fulfill the relevant demands rather than manipulate the global pandemic issue to achieve their goals." This article is part of our Remembering Lives Lost project to honor victims in the Houston region whose families have chosen to publicly disclose their cause of death as COVID-19. Edison Hendrix Jr., 33 Edison Hendrix Jr. knew how to make people laugh, even if that meant breaking into song and dance, as if he were on stage with a Motown group. He always (imitated) the Temptations, said his sister, Tiffany Atkinson. He would just do whatever it took for a laugh and he was not shy at all. Family members remembered Hendrix, 33, of Humble, who died April 17 after being diagnosed with COVID-19, as an upbeat person who liked to lighten the mood. Im sad hes gone but I want to remember him by the good times we had, said his mother, Shelia Hendrix, 55, who survived her own bout with the new coronavirus. And by his sense of humor. In addition to his mother and sister, Edison Hendrix is survived by his fiancee, brother and several nephews and aunts. He recently had been living with his mother to save up for his wedding, planned for next year. Family members described Hendrix, also known as Tater, as a big-hearted truck driver who earlier in life had encouraged friends to join the trucking industry in an effort to keep them off the street. He helped inspire people to turn their lives around, Atkinson said. Everybody wasnt dealt a decent hand like my brother, Atkinson said. They did different things in the streets to survive, and my brother was like, You can still get money and do it the legal way. Hendrix grew up in the Houston area. He worked hard from the moment he got a job, Atkinson said. When he decided to follow in his fathers footsteps and become a truck driver, he transported goods across the region. More recently, as a driver for Because of Christ Trucking, he remained closer to home. He also was part of a car club. He loved to race his 2011 Chevy Camaro at a local track in his spare time, family members said. Atkinson believes she caught the virus around the same time as her brother and mother, but she was never tested. She said they developed symptoms in late March after visits to a laundromat and a Livingston casino. Edison Hendrix was hospitalized for several days in the Humble area after receiving the diagnosis. His illness was difficult for members of the close-knit family because they couldnt all be together as his condition worsened. His sister said she spoke to Hendrix on the phone about two hours before he died. She told him she loved him, and that she would call the next day. All my friends have lost someone they love, Atkinson said. I never thought in a million years that it would have been my brother. julian.gill@chron.com As the global death toll from the ongoing covid-19 pandemic climbs, employers are scrambling to address the explosive rates of anxiety, depression, substance abuse and potential suicides that have emerged along with it. Like the virus itself, this secondary epidemic is expected to affect far more people than the existing healthcare system can address, leaving employers to pick up the slack. The numbers are daunting. Vida Health, a digital network of therapists and clinicians that works with companies like Cisco, Visa, PayPal and Boeing, has seen 15% to 20% week-on-week increases in mental health and stress-related appointments since mid-March, and a 30% to 50% boost in new client interest. "Everyone is looking for virtual mental health care right now," Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Tilenius said. "We're just hiring as fast as we can." Just under one-fifth of a company's employees typically have a mental health disorder, as evidenced on health insurance claims, Tilenius said. In recent weeks, that number has risen to between 60% and 70%. "Everybody's got some level of anxiety with this pandemic," she said. Elke Van Hoof, a psychologist who specializes in stress and burnout, says companies need to provide a tight web of tools and support for employees during the course of the regular workday. Examples include webinars on topics like pandemic resilience and work-life balance. Organizations should also have staffers trained on both early signs of psychological struggle and how to intervene. Most larger companies in Europe already have this infrastructure in place due to European Union occupational safety legislation. Employers are obliged to ensure mental and social well-being, regularly evaluate it, and address lagging areas while maintaining employee privacy-which is most easily accomplished through a well-being department. Specific practices vary country by country, but many companies have a chief well-being officer or chief happiness officer specifically focused on these tasks. "It's a very good and efficient system to reduce long-term absence and dropout," Van Hoof said. Axa Belgium, a Paris-based insurance company, has beefed up existing infrastructure. The company already employed a well-being team of eight and trains managers how to converse with employees about mental health, allowing them to intervene before problems arise. "People that already had difficulties before the pandemic-now life becomes even more difficult because it's an extra layer of problems," said Axa chief happiness officer Elke Aelbrecht, who works out of the company's Brussels office. The company created digital tool kits for both employees and managers on relevant topics like stress, fear, insecurity and parenting. U.S. employers usually don't take such a direct approach. Mental health triage often falls to HR departments, and chief well-being officers are few and far between. Most companies instead offer workers access to treatment through insurance benefits and employee assistance programs (EAP), while also pushing subscriptions to meditation and stress relief platforms. Such perks are popular. Intuit, which is transitioning to remote work, says its 9,400 employees have completed 42,661 stress relief and well-being sessions on the platform Whil in the past five weeks-nearly the same number of sessions logged in the two years prior. The company is providing ten extra days of paid time off, plus another 20 days of family support time employees can use in small chunks, like an afternoon off for home schooling. While extra time off will help employees manage stress, vacation alone does not actually lower stress unless it is part of a coordinated effort to address the factors causing it, such as job uncertainty or financial strains, Van Hoof said. The stigma around mental health remains endemic in America. Employees largely remain quiet about personal challenges, and depression alone costs employers over $100 billion per year, mostly in missed work and low productivity. While many companies have expanded EAP programs, only a fraction of eligible workers take advantage of them. "We have a long way to go to eliminate stigma," said Elyse Cohen, senior director of health, wellness and food programs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. "The pandemic has catapulted business leaders into leaning into an issue that they may have shied away from." Van Hoof says normalizing the fact that anyone can suffer is key to removing such stigma. Rather than labeling a worker as, say, depressed or sleep disordered, she emphasizes the underlying and often relatable issues: cognitive fatigue or an inability to re-energize. "It should be normalized so that people are open about it and can proactively seek help as soon as possible," she said. The coronavirus pandemic is a difficult situation for everyone, not just those with preexisting mental health conditions. Some are struggling with fear or loneliness, while others melting down while working at home with children. Companies that provide better care for workers at this time will likely emerge stronger for it. "This is a defining moment for the reputation of companies," says Scott Beth, Intuit's chief diversity and inclusion officer. "Five years from now, people will remember how their companies treated them during the most profound shock of our work lifetimes, and it will really speak to our brands and our reputations for a very, very long time." Devastating evidence has come to light confirming that the Johnson governments murderous policies have led to the deaths of thousands of care home residents. Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that around 12,000 people have died in the UKs care homes. The real figure is far higherat least 20,000 according to the Financial Times and the Times. Researchers at the London School of Economics (LSE) Care Policy and Evaluation Centre concluded that 22,000 care home residents in England and Wales may have died as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19. The LSE found that ONS data on care home deaths directly attributed to the virus significantly underestimated the impact of the pandemic, accounting for four out of 10 (41.6 percent) of the excess deaths in care settings recorded in recent weeks in England and Wales. It states, Calculating total excess mortality in care homes since 28 December and adjusting this by the assumption that 15 percent of care home residents die in hospital, suggests that by 1 May there had been in excess of 22,000 deaths of care home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic54 percent of all excess mortalityin England and Wales. The government is desperate to cover-up the scale of its crimes. Last Friday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock declared that the government had tried to throw a protective ring around care homes right from the start of the outbreak. In truth, the government turned the UKs 20,000 care homeshousing over 400,000 elderly and vulnerable peopleinto killing fields. Among the most heinous crimes of the Tories was the directive from NHS England in March to clear thousands of people out of hospital beds, with many sent to their death beds in care homes. The NHS, de-staffed and brought to its knees by tens of billions in budget cuts over the previous decades, feared that it would be unable to cope with an influx of coronavirus patients. In a bid to ensure there would be no photos and footage of COVID-19 patients dying in hospital corridors, as in Italy, thousands of elderly people were booted out of hospital, many without even being tested to see if they were infected. In a letter to the Sunday Times this week, the owner of a private care home providing 500 beds in the southwest of England revealed, On March 17, Sir Simon Stevens, the NHS chief executive, said hospitals had to get 90,000 beds cleared, so they needed to get 30,000 people out. So, they sent patients with no tests into care homes. They said: We dont need testsyouve just got to take them. The letter from Stevens to all NHS hospitals demanded they Urgently discharge all hospital in patients who are medically fit to leave. The owner added, Well, Ive now got two homes with COVID-19. We can trace it. In both homes, it came from residents bringing the virus from hospital. So, when the manager of another of my homes rang to tell me hed refused, I said categorically, Well done. That home has 90 beds, and to this day it is still COVID-free. He continued, The government is boasting how it did so well in protecting the NHS, but the reality is deaths in care homes. Hospitals were also declared out of bounds for residents of care homes who needed vital medical attentionwith the result being social murder on an industrial scale. The care home owner commented, We were sent a public health document on March 13, which said that if any of our residents got significantly ill, they wouldnt be allowed into hospital and would have to die in their home. Wed never read anything like it. Many on social media are critical of the governments lies and propaganda. Opposing the claims of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove on Sunday on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show that care homes had been adequately protected during the pandemic, one doctor tweeted, I dont often tweet politics but watching @michaelgove on #Marr, I have to say this: The care homes I look after DID have COVID-positive residents discharged from hospitals. The staff DID NOT have adequate PPE [personal protective equipment]. Other residents caught COVID and DIED in HIGHER NUMBERS as a result. Last month, it was reported that Britains Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, along with other senior scientists, had warned politicians very early on about the risk COVID-19 posed to care homes. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) have been advising the government twice weekly since the first coronavirus meeting on January 22. According to reports, Vallance had flagged the risk of care home and hospital outbreaks at the start of the epidemic. While the government launched its cynical protect the NHS campaign, under conditions in which front-line nurses were having to combat a deadly virus with inadequate or no PPE, nursing homes were left to their fate. As recently as March 12, the only government advice on care home residentsdating back to February 25was, it remains very unlikely that people receiving care in a care home will become infected. This guidance remained in place until March 13, more than a week after the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Chris Whitty, confirmed publicly that it was highly likely community transmission had started and that organisations should proceed on this assumption. However, the guidance continued to say that cases in care homes were very unlikely for eight days after there was known community transmission. Due to the governments herd immunity strategy, the disease ran rampant throughout the population in January, February and for further weeks into March. Last week, results from a study by researchers at Cambridge Universitybased on a survey at the citys Addenbrookes Hospitalfound that thousands of nurses, doctors and healthcare workers could be carrying COVID-19 without realising they have been infected and that they may, in many cases, show no symptoms. On April 2, the Department of Health issued separate guidance that negative tests for coronavirus were not required before discharging people from hospital into a care home. The document was signed jointly by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the NHS and Public Health England. The CQC is now investigating claims that several hospitals returned people to care homes despite suspectingor even knowingthey were infected. The crisis was worsened by soaring staff absence rates. According to the Guardian, Care homes have been running at 10 percent to 20 percent staff absence rates and many homes have been trying to isolate residents in their rooms to reduce infection spread, but this can also make their normal care more difficult and residents needs less visible. Absence rates in some homes are far higher. One care home manager in the north west of England told the World Socialist Web Site that up to 70 percent of staff had been off during the pandemic. Its been absolute chaos. Its been like a whirlwind. Staff running out, never to be seen again. With the effect on staffing levels, it is impossible to keep a lid on it [the virus]. Residents without [mental] capacity but with no symptoms can spread the virus as they wander the halls and day rooms. Responding to Hancocks lies, Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, the largest representative body for independent social care services, said he wanted to see the evidence of what exactly the protective ring consists. He said, Ask them why, if in February the government was prioritising care homes, we did not see the statistics on deaths? On Monday, the Guardian reported fresh outbreaks of COVID-19 in care and nursing homes in west London. It cited Dr Anna Down, a clinical lead at a GP practice with 1,000 residents on its books in 15 privately run nursing homes. Down said, Just when we thought there might be light at the end of the tunnel, two new or worsening care home outbreaks over the past 48 hours. In one home, 27 people had already died from confirmed or suspected COVID-19. The home, which had not recorded any new cases for a fortnight, diagnosed eight of 22 people living in one of its units with the virus, when testing was carried out. Five residents have also been hospitalised in the past few days. Twilight actor Gregory Tyree Boyce has died, according to multiple reports. Boyce, 30, was reportedly found dead on May 13 along with his girlfriend, Natalie Adepoju, 27, E! News reports. According to the report, the couple was found dead in a Las Vegas condo, and a cause of death has not been reported. "Twilight" actor Gregory Tyree Boyce dies at 30 https://t.co/M4E8r0JxYJ pic.twitter.com/5CY9WLl2ne Variety (@Variety) May 18, 2020 Boyce played Tyler Crowley in Twilight. He is survived by his 10-year-old daughter, Alaya. Your browser does not support the video tag. The hunt has begun for over 6,000 pieces of art - created by some of Australia's most celebrated artists - whose whereabouts are unknown. Natalie Wilson, the curator of Australian and Pacific art for the Gallery of New South Wales, is creating an online catalogue of submissions for the Archibald Prize ahead of next year's 100th anniversary of the country's most famous artistic prize. Ms Wilson said over 6,000 pieces submitted for the prize before 2003 are missing and they could be anywhere, from private clubs to galleries, museums or even hanging in someone's home. Natalie Wilson, the curator of Australian and pacific art for the Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney, is creating an online catalogue of Archibald submissions dating back to 1921 to mark its 100th anniversary (pictured: A sketch by Paul Constances in 1935) Ms Wilson said over 6,000 pieces, specifically before 2003, are missing and they could be anywhere including in private clubs, galleries, museums or even hanging up in someone's home The gallery wants to know the location of the artwork, photographs if no images are available online, and the information of the person who has the pieces in their possession. 'We're calling out to people around Australia to look in their attics or ask their great aunts and uncles if there is a portrait in their family that was perhaps painted by an Archibald artists.' Ms Wilson told ABC Radio Brisbane. Ms Wilson is trying to locate works, especially from the early decades of the portraiture prize, created by artists including Enid Dickson and Constance Paul - and images from the Wynne and Sulman Prize collections. 'One is from the 1930s from Enid Dickson who didn't use paints, but pastels, in the 1930s. Gwen Grant is another who painted in the very first decade, and there's so many works where we have no idea where they are,' she said. The gallery is looking for the current location of the artwork, photographs if no images are available online, and the information of the person who has the pieces in their possession (pictured: 'Self-portrait at Moree' created by Joe Furlonger in 2014) Ms Wilson is trying to locate works, especially from the early decades of the prize, created by artists including Enid Dickson and Constance Paul - and images from the Wynne and Sulman Prize collections (pictured: 'The Power and the Passion' by Michael Mucci) Another highly sought-after piece is a portrait of architect Burley Griffin created by Constance Paul in 1929. The main hurdle with locating this piece is the Art Gallery of NSW only has a preliminary sketch, so they don't know what the final piece looks like. Ms Wilson believed Australians would be excited to help the gallery find the missing artwork. 'We know where 1,500 are and we're putting together the pieces of the Archibald puzzle so we can put together an archive online that people around Australia can use and to have a look at the history of the prize,' she said. Hillary Clinton has written three fat memoirs. Lest anyone forget, thousands of her emails were leaked en masse to the public. But that vast source material, or a certain sense of Hillary fatigue (persistent cries from critics that she shut up and go gently from the spotlight), didnt dissuade author Curtis Sittenfeld from adding to the Hillary canon with her new novel, Rodham. As youve probably have heard by nowbecause well-read women tend to greet a new Sittenfeld book with all the excitement of a Marvel movie premierethe buzzy political fantasy, which is officially published today, imagines that Hillary falls for the burly, charismatic Bill Clinton and follows him back home to Arkansasbut doesnt end up marrying him for reasons that seem all too believable. I move to fucking Fayetteville for you, Rodham says in one strangely satisfying fight scene, and you cant even keep your pants zipped. Some people may think they know all they need to know about Hillary, but it was her longevity, and her ever-evolving public face, that first inspired Sittenfeld to start writing Rodham in March 2017. Around the time of the 2016 election, I realized that school children who knew that Hillary was running for president often, literally, didnt know that Bill existed, Sittenfeld told Vogue by phone. The bestselling author of Prep, American Wife, and the short story collection You Think It, Ill Say It recalled the story of a little girl she knows who put on a mini pantsuit and dressed as Hillary for Halloween a few years ago, but who was flabbergasted to recently discover that Clinton had been first lady too. The Hillary she had been for Halloween was the woman who ran for president, not the woman who actually lived in the White House, recalled Sittenfeld. In real lifefor many grown-ups, anywaythe two are impossible to separate, which may well have contributed to Clintons crushing electoral college loss. She was a feminist standard-bearer, who also, notably, remained at her husbands side despite multiple claims of infidelity and sexual harassment. Story continues I was really fascinated by the idea of how the election might have turned out differently if adults didnt see Bill and Hillary as so interconnected, Sittenfeld said. So Sittenfeld rewrote history (herstory?) with Rodham, an escapist alternate universe in which George W. Bush never becomes president; Donald Trump exists, but remains a mere Twitter charlatan; Clintons repeated sexual transgressions actually matter to voters; and, above all, Hillary chooses her own adventure, untethered from the fate of dutiful political wife. I knew from real life that she had turned down his proposals twice before accepting the third time, so it seemed like a plausible path not taken, Sittenfeld said of her critical plot twist. The Clintons themselves have made myth of Hillarys initial refusals and Bills warning to his future wife that his career could subsume hers. I really want you to marry me, but you shouldnt do it, he recalled telling her in his speech at Hillarys history-making 2016 Democratic National Convention. Some might find that ominous, but not Sittenfeld. Weirdly, it almost feels like a testament to their love, she said, like someone saying, Im going to be so bad for you right before you sleep together. Leave it to Sittenfeld (who, in American Wife, gave us the mental image of a thinly veiled Laura Bush gazing down at a young W.s head between her legs) to make the Clintons long and somewhat scandalous love story seem...kinda hot? The almost intolerable ecstasy between them makes it hard for Sittenfelds Hillary to walk away from fictional Bill, a unicorn of a guy who actually loves her for her brain. The two sex each other silly from Yale Law School to San Francisco to the rural roads of Arkansas, where, in between campaign stops, Bill asks, Will you take off your panties and let me touch you while I drive? His compulsive infidelity is but one of five reasons the pragmatic Hillary tallies for dumping him; still, she barely makes it out of Fayetteville. The margin between staying and leaving was so thin, Hillary laments in Rodham. Really, it could have gone either way. In 2008s American Wife, Sittenfeld recast Laura Bush as a librarian turned first lady named Alice Lindgren who, like the real-life former first lady, gets into a car accident in high school that that leaves a classmate dead. But in Rodham, Sittenfeld leans all the way in to the Hillary-ness, not bothering to change names and using a full-bleed, sepia-toned vintage photo on the cover. In part, Sittenfeld said her reason for proverbially going there is boring: She worried it might have been confusing to change the Clintons names and the chain of events. But Sittenfeld is also keenly aware that Hillary is a polarizing figure, which makes a 473-page novel told by a first-person narrator based on her potentially polarizing too. The book didnt have to be called Rodham, and it didnt have to feature a picture of Hillary. That, obviously, was a choice, she said. Some readers will really embrace this book and some will want to avoid it. I think I was just feeling like, Let me help steer you. Whichever path you want to take, Im going to make it really clear for you. When I ask Sittenfeld how shes allowed to use Hillarys maiden name and photois it because Clinton became so famous that it all falls under fair use? I think the answer to your question is yes, she replies. The book did undergo legal review by my publisher and here we are. As the buzz builds for Rodham, I wonder how spending years seeped in Hillarys brain shaped Sittenfelds own ideas about sexism as a female author in an industry that reveres male literary genius. I seriously think (today anyway) that I may have written the great American novel, the author tweeted in September 2019, while working on Rodham. You might not realize it because Im female and because the cover will probably be either a dress or a woman whose face you cant see, so this is just an FYI. When I ask Sittenfeld if, six books into her career as one of the countrys foremost novelists, she feels her work wont be received with the same reverence as a male counterpart, she recalls a panel she moderated last year with the author Sheila Heti. She basically said that a lot of the work that women do is greeted with and discussed with a reflexive skepticism, Sittenfeld said. I felt like it was such a great pinpointing of something that Ive experienced personally, and Ive witnessed so much. It certainly applies to women running for office. I think it applies to almost everything women do, and certainly to women writing books. Its a sometimes-subtle tonal difference that Sittenfeld observes: If you read a profile in a magazine about a male, it would be very plausible that...it would be packaged as This is the great American novel or This is the novel of the year. If thats said about womens books, I cant remember when, she said. Its more likely that books by women would be branded and described as the beach book of the summer. Theres just this subtext of respect thats given to men and deference to their authority and their intent thats absent in descriptions of women in their art, Sittenfeld said, before laughing a little. Not that I have strong feelings about any of this. It presents for her, a sort of Hillary-esque dilemma: Does she use her fame and privilege to call out the gender differences, or risk looking whiny and being told to pipe down and do her job? In all honesty, having this conversation with you, saying the things I just said, even as I said them, I was like, Hmm, I wonder if that will come back to bite me, Sittenfeld admitted. And, by the way, I believe what I just said. As the buzz for Rodham reaches fever pitch, the question looms: Will real-life Hillary read the novelized version of her what-if life? Sittenfeld doesnt expect her to, and shes resisted the urge to reach out. Ive considered sending her the book, but it feels a little cheeky, she said. I dont think I get to write exactly the book I want and become best friends with Hillary. That might be too much to ask of the world. Originally Appeared on Vogue Mount Sinai first in US using artificial intelligence to analyze COVID-19 patients Mount Sinai researchers are the first in the country to use artificial intelligence (AI) combined with imaging, and clinical data to analyze patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). They have developed a unique algorithm that can rapidly detect COVID-19 based on how lung disease looks in computed tomography (CT scans) of the chest, in combination with patient information including symptoms, age, bloodwork, and possible contact with someone infected with the virus. This study, published in the May 19 issue of Nature Medicine, could help hospitals across the world quickly detect the virus, isolate patients, and prevent it from spreading during this pandemic. "AI has huge potential for analyzing large amounts of data quickly, an attribute that can have a big impact in a situation such as a pandemic. At Mount Sinai, we recognized this early and were able to mobilize the expertise of our faculty and our international collaborations to work on implementing a novel AI model using CT data from coronavirus patients in Chinese medical centers. We were able to show that the AI model was as accurate as an experienced radiologist in diagnosing the disease, and even better in some cases where there was no clear sign of lung disease on CT," says one of the lead authors, Zahi Fayad, PhD, Director of the BioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute (BMEII) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "We're now working on how to use this at home and share our findings with others--this toolkit can easily be deployed worldwide to other hospitals, either online or integrated into their own systems." This research expands on a previous Mount Sinai study that identified a characteristic pattern of disease in the lungs of COVID-19 patients and showed how it develops over the course of a week and a half. The new study involved scans of more than 900 patients that Mount Sinai received from institutional collaborators at hospitals in China. The patients were admitted to 18 medical centers in 13 Chinese provinces between January 17 and March 3, 2020. The scans included 419 confirmed COVID-19-positive cases (most either had recently traveled to Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began, or had contact with an infected COVID-19 patient) and 486 COVID-19-negative scans. Researchers also had patients' clinical information, including blood test results showing any abnormalities in white blood cell counts or lymphocyte counts as well as their age, sex, and symptoms (fever, cough, or cough with mucus). They focused on CT scans and blood tests since doctors in China use both of these to diagnose patients with COVID-19 if they come in with fever or have been in contact with an infected patient. The Mount Sinai team integrated data from those CT scans with the clinical information to develop an AI algorithm. It mimics the workflow a physician uses to diagnose COVID-19 and gives a final prediction of positive or negative diagnosis. The AI model produces separate probabilities of being COVID-19-positive based on CT images, clinical data, and both combined. Researchers initially trained and fine-tuned the algorithm on data from 626 out of 905 patients, and then tested the algorithm on the remaining 279 patients in the study group (split between COVID-19-positive and negative cases) to judge the test's sensitivity; higher sensitivity means better detection performance. The algorithm was shown to have statistically significantly higher sensitivity (84 percent) compared to 75 percent for radiologists evaluating the images and clinical data. The AI system also improved the detection of COVID-19-positive patients who had negative CT scans. Specifically, it recognized 68 percent of COVID-19-positive cases, whereas radiologists interpreted all of these cases as negative due to the negative CT appearance. Improved detection is particularly important to keep patients isolated if scans don't show lung disease when patients first present symptoms (since the previous study showed that lung disease doesn't always show up on CT in the first few days) and COVID-19 symptoms are often nonspecific, resembling a flu or common cold, so it can be difficult to diagnose. CT scans are not widely used for diagnosis of COVID-19 in the United States; however, Dr. Fayad explains that imaging can still play an important role. "Imaging can help give a rapid and accurate diagnosis--lab tests can take up to two days, and there is the possibility of false negatives--meaning imaging can help isolate patients immediately if needed, and manage hospital resources effectively. The high sensitivity of our AI model can provide a 'second opinion' to physicians in cases where CT is either negative (in the early course of infection) or shows nonspecific findings, which can be common. It's something that should be considered on a wider scale, especially in the United States, where currently we have more spare capacity for CT scanning than in labs for genetic tests," said Dr. Fayad, who is also a Professor of Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "This study is important because it shows that an artificial intelligence algorithm can be trained to help with early identification of COVID-19, and this can be used in the clinical setting to triage or prioritize the evaluation of sick patients early in their admission to the emergency room," says Matthew Levin, MD, Director of the Mount Sinai Health System's Clinical Data Science Team, and a member of the Mount Sinai COVID Informatics Center. "This is an early proof concept that we can apply to our own patient data to further develop algorithms that are more specific to our region and diverse populations." Mount Sinai researchers are now focused on further developing the model to find clues about how well patients will do based on subtleties in their CT data and clinical information. They say this could be important to optimize treatment and improve outcomes. ### Xueyan Mei, a trainee in the Graduate School of Biological Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Yang Yang, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, also contributed to this work. About the Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest academic medical system, encompassing eight hospitals, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai is a national and international source of unrivaled education, translational research and discovery, and collaborative clinical leadership ensuring that we deliver the highest quality care--from prevention to treatment of the most serious and complex human diseases. The Health System includes more than 7,200 physicians and features a robust and continually expanding network of multispecialty services, including more than 400 ambulatory practice locations throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 14 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of the Top 20 Best Hospitals in the country and the Icahn School of Medicine as one of the Top 20 Best Medical Schools in country. Mount Sinai Health System hospitals are consistently ranked regionally by specialty by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, visit https:/ / www. mountsinai. org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. COVID-19 fatalities may be much more than what is being reported WHO gives nod for probe into coronavirus outbreak India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 19: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that it would initiate an independent probe into the COVID-19 response. A majority of the member countries said that it wanted a probe on the issue. Beijing, however, relented on its opposition for an inquiry into the origin of the virus. 61 countries had moved a resolution at the World Health Assembly, the WHO's decision-making body seeking an impartial probe of the WHO's response to the coronavirus pandemic. The resolution also sought the identification of the zoonotic source of the virus. Over 100 nations seek probe into coronavirus origin 119 of the 194 countries showed support for the resolution. On the issue of the origin of the virus, all parties have agreed to an International Health Regulation emergency committee suggested working and asked the WHO chief to work in close collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organisation and all countries to find out the animal source and the transmission routes of the virus, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Zhao Lijian said. The purpose is to reduce the risk of similar incidents in future, he also said. He also said that the content is in line with China's consistent position. China hopes all parties will in science-based and cooperative spirit focus on enhancing cooperation and engage in constructive dialogue in improving the global public health system. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 05:38:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Health workers transport a COVID-19 patient at San Jose Hospital in Santiago, Chile, May 20, 2020. (Photo by Jorge Villegas/Xinhua) SANTIAGO, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Chile has reported 46,059 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 478 deaths from the disease as of Monday. In the past 24 hours, 2,278 new cases of infection were detected and 28 more patients died, the highest number of fatalities from COVID-19 in a single day so far, the country's health ministry said. Of the new cases, 2,018 had symptoms while 260 were asymptomatic. Currently, 670 patients are on ventilators, including 116 in critical condition, Deputy Health Minister Arturo Zuniga told reporters at a press conference. Another 526 ventilators are available at public and private hospitals around the country, said Zuniga. In the previous 24-hour period, health authorities carried out 17,515 tests for COVID-19, bringing the total of tests undertaken since testing began in March to 381,011. With experts predicting the country's outbreak will reach its peak in the next few weeks, officials have declared a total lockdown in more than 30 districts of the capital Santiago and its metropolitan area, preventing some 7 million residents from circulating freely. Since March, Chile's government has also taken other measures to contain the outbreak, including closing its borders, suspending classes, closing non-essential businesses and imposing a nighttime curfew. Gettyimagesbank The foreign ministry called in a senior Japanese diplomat on Tuesday to lodge a protest after Tokyo's latest annual diplomatic book repeated territorial claims to South Korea's easternmost islets of Dokdo. Kim Jung-han, director general for Asia and Pacific affairs at Seoul's foreign ministry called in Hirohisa Soma, a senior official from the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, to express regret over the book's content and urge for Tokyo to retract the claims. Soma walked into the ministry building at about 11 a.m., without taking questions from reporters. The foreign ministry urged Japan to retract the claims. "We strongly protest that Japan has renewed its unjust territorial claims to Dokdo, which is clearly our inherent territory, historically, geographically and by international law, and we urge for an immediate retraction of the claims," foreign ministry spokesperson Kim In-chul said in a commentary. "We once again make it clear that the unjust claims by the Japanese government cannot affect in any way our sovereignty over Dokdo and that we will sternly act against any provocation on the islets." In the book, Japan claimed that it is "contrary to the facts" to use the expression "sexual slavery" when referring to Korean victims who were forcibly taken by the Japanese military to work at frontline brothels during World War II and that South Korea agreed not to use the expression in a 2015 deal reached between the two countries to address the comfort women issue. Japan's latest claim to Dokdo comes as bilateral relations remain chilled after months of discord stemming from pending wartime issues, including the unresolved issue of compensating Korean forced labor victims. South Korea was under Japan's colonial rule from 1910-45. Unlike the versions of the past two years, Japan began to term South Korea "an important neighbor" again, according to Kyodo News, apparently to reflect Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's remarks describing Korea as such in parliamentary sessions in last October and in the beginning of this year. Japan had called Korea a country that "shares strategic interests" in the 2017 version, but it has omitted that part for the past three years. South Korea rejects the claims because the country regained independence from Japan's colonial rule and reclaimed sovereignty over its territory, including Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula. Since 1954, South Korea has stationed a small police detachment on Dokdo. (Yonhap) A Dubai-returnee tested positive for novel coronavirus, taking the total number of positive cases to 92 in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, officials said. Four people recovered from the disease in the state. Three were from Kangra, while one was from Hamirpur, they said. A 21-year-old man from Chamba's Chuhadi tested positive on Tuesday. He had returned from Dubai via Punjab's Amritsar airport on May 13, Special Secretary (Health) Nipun Jindal said. He was kept under institutional quarantine in Kangra's Damtal, he said, adding that he would be shifted to PRT Baijnath. Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said that three patients in Kangra recovered from novel coronavirus on Tuesday. With this, eight people have been cured in Kangra out of a total of 21 positive cases in the district, he added. Now, active cases in Kangra have reduced to 12. One man died in March in the district due to the disease. Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner Harikesh Meena said that one more COVID-19 patient admitted at RCH, Bhota has been cured and will be sent for home quarantine for fourteen more days. With this, the number of active cases in Hamirpur now stands at 10. Of total 15 positive cases in the district, four recovered whereas one died, he added. The total number of infected people stands at 92. While 50 of them were cured, four died. The active cases in the state now stands at 38, officials said. Of these, 12 are in Kangra, ten in Hamirpur, seven in Bilaspur, six in Chamba, two in Sirmaur and one in Una. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The 2020 Global Display Industry Spring Trend Release event was held in Gu'an County, Hebei province, on May 18. [Photo courtesy of China Fortune Land Development Co., Ltd] The 2020 Global Display Industry Spring Trend Release event was held in Gu'an County, Hebei province, on May 18. As the first multinational conference for the display industry held since the COVID-19 outbreak, it attracted more than 8,000 participants who discussed new development trends in the industry for the post- coronavirus era. Jointly hosted by the People's Government of Langfang Municipality, the Industry and Information Technology Department of Hebei province, and the China Optics and Optoelectronics Manufacturers Association (CODA), the video conference attracted over 750,000 viewers online. Industry experts from countries including China, Japan and South Korea analyzed the challenges and opportunities facing the new-type display industry across the world. Participants shared their views on new development trends from different perspectives of the industry chain and offered up risk response strategies. Liang Xinqing, executive vice chairman and secretary general of CODA, said: "Displays will feature more prominently in people's lives in the post-coronavirus era. Due to the epidemic, new products and application scenarios have emerged and brought new opportunities for the display industry, such as livestreaming, video conferences, online education, facial recognition and medical displays." Currently, more than 30 upstream and downstream enterprises in the display industry have gathered in Gu'an County. It is now the only county in China that is home to two top screen makers, BOE and Visionox. Liang Xinqing noted that new-type display industrial clusters in Gu'an and many other places across the country, built by China Fortune Land Development (CFLD), a leading developer and operator of the New Industry City, play an important role in promoting the development of the new-type display industry and commercialization of the technology. Reports state that CFLD is focused both on the display industry and building new-type display industrial clusters, centered around such aspects as display panels, modules, upstream materials and application products. With 142 people testing positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, the number of such cases rose to 4,748 in Uttar Pradesh, officials said. "A total of 4,748 cases have been reported so far in the state from 75 districts, of which 1,847 are active (in 72 districts) while 2,783 people have been discharged from hospitals after recovery. Till now, 118 deaths due to the disease have been reported in the state," Principal Secretary, Medical and Health, Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters. He said as many as 6,870 COVID-19 tests were conducted across Uttar Pradesh on Monday, adding that the state is also ramping up its pool-testing facility. "We are emphasising on surveillance and over 3.23 crore people have been surveyed by 81,695 teams in Uttar Pradesh. Those having symptoms (of COVID-19) have been given the required treatment," Prasad said, adding that the Aarogya Setu mobile application is being used and alerts are being sent to people. "We have made 20,768 calls on the basis of the alerts generated by the app and 181 people have been quarantined, while 50 have tested positive for coronavirus," he said. The official said the migrant workers coming from other states are being monitored by health workers. "Over 4.76 lakh people have been screened, 565 of them showed symptoms of coronavirus and their samples were sent for testing. Of those, the reports of 117 have come and 26 people have tested positive," he added. "The positivity percentage in migrants is 22.2, while in the state, it is 2.6," Prasad said. Of the 118 deaths due to COVID-19, 27 were in Agra, 19 in Meerut, 11 in Moradabad, eight each in Aligarh and Kanpur, five in Gautam Buddh Nagar, four each in Sant Kabir Nagar, Firozabad, Mathura and Jhansi, three in Varanasi and two each in Mainpuri and Ghaziabad. One death each has been reported from Lucknow, Hapur, Bulandshahr, Basti, Bijnor, Prayagraj, Jalaun, Pratapgarh, Amroha, Bareilly, Shrawasti, Azamgarh, Etah, Kanpur Dehat, Mahoba, Kushi Nagar and Lalitpur. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A South African Airways (SAA) plane is towed at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Jan. 18, 2020. (Rogan Ward/Reuters) SAA Has Spent $539 Million Since Filing for Bankruptcy Protection: Practitioners CAPE TOWNSouth African Airways (SAA) has spent just under 10 billion rand ($540 million) since it entered a form of bankruptcy protection, business rescue practitioners said on May 15 as they flagged a structured wind-down process as their preferred option for the carrier. The troubled state-owned airline, which has not made a profit since 2011 has been burning cash and is dependent on government bailouts to remain solvent. It entered business rescue in December in a last-ditch bid to save the company. In terms of the amount of money that has been utilized by the airline from the fifth of December to the end of April we indicate that the total spend was 9.9 billion rand, Siviwe Dongwana, joint business rescue practitioner appointed to turn around SAA, told lawmakers on Friday. A fifth of the money was spent on aviation fuel and 16 percent went on salaries and allowances, he said, referring to some of the major expenses incurred during this time. Administrators at SAA said in the absence of extra funding the best way forward might be to run a structured wind-down of the business rather than liquidation, which opposition parties have called for. There is no question of doubt in my mind that a liquidation process would materially erode value and the net recovery for creditors could be an absolute disaster, said Les Matuson, joint business rescue practitioner at SAA, when answering questions from lawmakers. Early this month South Africas Labour Court ordered a halt to layoffs at the ailing airline, siding with two trade unions who had argued that the airlines administrators had acted unfairly. On May 13, the administrators, who have no previous aviation experience and are under pressure to produce a restructuring plan after being in the job for five months, said they would not sell assets for an interim period without involving the government. SAA has received bailouts worth more than 20 billion rand over the past three years. It is running low on cash after the pandemic forced it to halt all commercial passenger flights and the government told the administrators it would not provide further funding. Were excited to be working with M2i and their unique bio-degradable delivery mechanisms and formulations to develop new options for farmers. Corteva Agriscience, a leading pure-play agriculture company, and M2i, a leader in the field of pheromones for biological crop protection, announced today multi-year global agreements for the research, development and global commercialization of pheromone-based insect control solutions. The two companies will collaborate closely to bring to market M2is expansive portfolio of semiochemicals, which include pheromone-based products, for specialty and row crops. Combining technologies from Corteva and M2i, they also will develop novel solutions to help farmers control crop pests and extend the life of plant-based insect-control traits. Details of the agreement were not disclosed. Corteva Agriscience is committed to providing farmers with a range of choices for controlling pests, including products derived from natural origins, said Susanne Wasson, President, Crop Protection Business Platform, Corteva Agriscience. Were excited to be working with M2i and their unique bio-degradable delivery mechanisms and formulations to develop new options for farmers. Within six short years, M2i has achieved leadership in pheromone insecticide solutions as the cornerstone of the transition to more ecologically friendly, sustainable production agriculture, and has become the world reference in this sector. We are pleased to cooperate with a leader such as Corteva Agriscience, as we contribute to its expansion into biocontrols. We are convinced that the conversion towards a sustainable agriculture will be made in close cooperation with farmers, thanks to the help of expert groups such as Corteva, declared Philippe Guerret, CEO and Chairman of M2i. These are the first collaboration agreements for Cortevas newly created global Biologicals portfolio, which is dedicated to developing resources for farmers using foliar and soil applied biological controls, nutrition use efficiency and bio-stimulants, soil health and bio-fertilizers. Pheromones provide highly effective insect control by trapping or disrupting mating behaviors of the targeted pest. This target-specific approach provides a viable solution for integrated management against crop pests. About Corteva Agriscience Corteva Agriscience is a publicly traded, global pure-play agriculture company that provides farmers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry - including a balanced and diverse mix of seed, crop protection and digital solutions focused on maximizing productivity to enhance yield and profitability. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and an industry-leading product and technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the company is committed to working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. Corteva Agriscience became an independent public company on June 1, 2019 and was previously the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. More information can be found at http://www.corteva.com. Follow Corteva Agriscience on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube. About M2i Life Sciences: Founded in 2012, M2i is a French industrial group, expert in the design, formulation and production of complex molecules. Thanks to our research laboratory in Lacq (64), combined with its production plant based in Salin de Giraud (13) and its manufacturing center in Parnac (46), M2i developed its own expertise in pheromones for the protection of biological diversity in crops and for animal welfare. The company designs, manufactures and markets natural products capable of replacing traditional pesticides. In this capacity, M2i received, amongst 20 other awards, the 2015 Corporate & Environment Award from the French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development, the 2015 Green Chemistry Award, the 2016 RMC PME Trophy and the 2017 European Business Award for Environment of the European Commission, and then the Pierre Potier Prize for chemistry in favor of sustainable development. M2i employs 165 people, including more than a quarter in R&D, and holds 22 patent families protecting its technology and innovative product lines. M2i Life Sciences, an industrial ambition serving excellence and innovation. For more information: http://www.m2i-lifesciences.com ST. LOUIS Pride Cleaning and Restoration owners Jim and Susan Seubert are donating cleaning products to local police and firefighters. Located at 2437 Lemp Ave, the firm has been using only plant-based cleaning products for the past two years with the goal of providing safer cleaning, disinfecting and deodorizing. After intense research, Jim Seubert convinced Susan Seubert to invest in the new technology and start producing their own all natural solution to take care of their clients needs and provide a better and safer option. The cost of the National Children's Hospital could rise by 40% due to the Covid-19 outbreak, it has been warned. Speaking at the Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19, the head of the Construction Industry Federation Tom Parlon told Labour Deputy Duncan Smith that he had "been told by industry figures" that the cost of the 1.7 billion project could rise by 40%. Around the nation, state lockdown orders during the coronavirus pandemic have led to sharp debates over the trade-offs inherent in such orders. We have no doubt that states have and should have extremely broad authority to take steps to protect public health during an outbreak that has sickened so many Americans. But we also have no doubt that some of the restrictions imposed by states are utterly inconsistent with the First Amendment. Consider California. Three weeks ago, hundreds gathered at the Capitol to protest the state's stay-at-home order. In response, the California Highway Patrol indefinitely banned all in-person protests at state facilities. Such a ban on protests is at odds with the way California treats other activities. Gov. Gavin Newsoms initial stay-at-home order carved out exceptions for socially distant exercise and visits to gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores and other essential businesses. On May 8, Governor Newsom permitted bookstores, toy stores, clothing stores and florists to reopen for curbside delivery, yet the blanket ban on protests remains. It's 2020, and Microsoft is still juggling two very different APIs (application programming interfaces) in Windows 10. In one corner, you've got the old-school Win32 API and its decades-long legacy. In the other, there's the Universal Windows Platform (UWP), a modern API that debuted with Windows 10 (building on Windows 8's WinRT architecture). UWP is meant to let apps work across a variety of devices, including PCs, the Xbox One and HoloLens, and it focuses on security, since you can only install software via the Microsoft store. But many developers have been slow to embrace it, since it also means ceding a certain amount of control to Microsoft. So what's a software giant to do? At the Build 2020 developer conference today, Microsoft unveiled one potential solution: Project Reunion, an effort to bring together the two APIs. The company says it's working to decouple both APIs from the Windows OS so that they can sit on a more common platform. And it'll serve as a way for a variety of apps, no matter if they're built on C++ or .Net, to add new features. That includes the WinUI 3 framework, which developers can use to add modern menus and toolbar styles to any app. WinUI 3 will also make software more usable across a variety of device types, as it can adapt to touch and mouse interfaces on the fly. Additionally, as part of Project Reunion Microsoft is also releasing WebView2, a component that lets developers bring the new Chromium Edge engines into their software. Both WinUI 3 and WebView 2 are available for preview today, and Microsoft is aiming for a full release later this year. At Build, Microsoft executives will also show off the flexibility of Project Reunion. We'll see how developers can take an existing C++ app (which looks like it could have been made 15 years ago), modernize its design and bring it right to an iPad. Given Microsoft's dire lack of tablet-friendly Windows 10 apps -- something that really hurt the Surface Go 2 -- a concerted push to modernize software would be useful for consumers and developers alike. Additionally, Microsoft announced that its open sourcing Fluid Framework, its technology that allows for fast data synchronization and collaboration across multiple apps. For example, you could display data from a spreadsheet as a table in a separate document and crucially, the instant you change something on the spreadsheet, its reflected in the table. By letting go of the reins a bit, the company is aiming to spark more developer interest in Fluid Framework. Itll give developers more of a reason to implement Fluid in their apps and websites, as well as to contribute to its development. Check out all of our Build 2020 news here! HK judicial affairs interrupted as Jimmy Lai's case postponed Global Times By Wang Qi Source:Global Times Published: 2020/5/18 23:53:40 The founder of Hong Kong-based anti-government and pro-separatist tabloid Apple Daily Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who is suspected of being the mastermind behind illegal assemblies and riots during the 2019-2020 political turmoil in Hong Kong, was released on bail after a court arraignment was postponed at Hong Kong's West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on Monday. Analysts said due to pressure from foreign forces and local opposition groups, it would be hard for Hong Kong courts to sentence Lai and other anti-government and pro-separatist activists, and they will bring more harm to the city's public order. Hong Kong media reported that prosecutors requested the case moved to June 15, and the case will be transferred to a district court. Hong Kong-based news portal website on.cc reported that the maximum penalty for Lai's charges is five years in prison. Cases against 14 other defendants were also postponed. Lai, 72, regarded as a traitor and one of the instigators of the social unrest in Hong Kong in 2019, has been arrested for multiple times on different charges, including organizing and participating in unauthorized assemblies in August and October. He was one of the 15 riot leaders arrested by the Hong Kong police on April 18. Lai would have been sentenced if he was just an ordinary Hong Kong resident. However, too many interests and politics are intertwined behind the mastermind of Hong Kong riots, which forces judges to think about it more, Tian Feilong, a Hong Kong affairs expert at Beihang University in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday. Tian believes Lai's case shows how Hong Kong's judicial independence has been interfered by external forces. He urged Hong Kong judges to stick to the rule of law. "Hong Kong's future is gloomy if the court were to fall," Tian noted. Before Monday's arraignment of Lai and 14 others, including Hong Kong barrister Martin Lee Chu-ming, at least 40 Hong Kong residents from six groups gathered outside the court with banners saying, "Punish the traitors severely, show judicial values," as reported by local news outlet hk.on.cc on Monday. "We in Hong Kong urgently need the full support of the West and the US," Lai said in an article titled "A Call for Help" published in his Apple Daily on Sunday. "We are calling for your help." "Jimmy Lai, Please don't use the word 'we' (all Hong Kong residents) to represent your gang," Leung Chun-ying, a former Hong Kong chief executive, posted on Facebook on Sunday. The moral civilization of the Western countries is rapidly declining. Hong Kong people don't want moral values from the West, and neither do they want to be the bridgehead of the new cold war between the central government and Western countries [as claimed by Lai] We refuse to let Western countries disrupt Hong Kong through people like Lai, Leung noted on his post. Lai also pleaded for help from the West on Saturday during an interview on a TV program on the island of Taiwan, which analysts said "is just like an insane love confession between lovers." But Monday's decision implies Lai's undignified begging worked. "I miss the CIA, I want the US, the UK, and foreign countries to influence (help) us. Their (external power) support is the only way for us to survive," Lai said. Some analysts questioned the timing of the court arraignment on June 15. That means Lai could participate in illegal rallies very likely to take place in early June, the same month when protests against the now-withdrawn Extradition Bill started last year. "It might cause a huge uproar in Hong Kong society amid the coronavirus epidemic," Tian said. Lai recently noted in the Taiwan program that their demonstration in early June will be conducted differently. People might come to the streets once again amid the epidemic. Lai once said in public to a US official that he is leading a war in Hong Kong for the US fight against the mainland government. "We are on your side sacrificing our lives, our freedom, everything we have, fighting this war in the frontier for you." Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a Monday briefing that Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs and any foreign government or individual has no right to interfere. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Watching from afar as much of the world was brought to its knees by the coronavirus, African scientists, engineers and innovators have turned to homegrown solutions to prepare for the worst case scenario. By the time the virus hit Africa, where cases have risen relatively slowly, images of overwhelmed hospitals and stories of health workers strapped for protective gear had been streaming in for weeks. Mehul Shah from Ultra Red Technologies, a 3D printing company in Nairobi, said he and his partner Neeval Shah quickly realised they could be "first responders" in producing locally-made equipment. In only three days they put together a working design for 3D-printed face shields made up of a visor that clips onto a plastic sheet. They currently produce around 500 a day. "It's very important that we can show Kenyans that we can do this here and we don't need to rely on importation. We have got the innovative know-how and the means to get this done here," he told AFP. The team is also helping produce components that would allow ventilators to be used on more than one patient, as well as printing parts for locally-made ventilators. While Kenya only has 912 cases and 50 deaths after a little over two months, "we are preparing for the worst case scenario," Mehul said. He said it was "a first" to see manufacturers in Kenya and even worldwide collaborating so much. "All the companies are looking at how they can use their resources to help out. All the competitors who would be fighting against each other are all coming together." In Benin, the start-up Blolab -- a digital fabrication laboratory - has also been printing 3D face shields. - Contact-tracing apps - Developers in Kenya's thriving tech scene are among several on the continent working on contact tracing apps. FabLab, an innovation hub in western Kisumu has developed an application called Msafari (Safari means journey in Swahili) which can track passengers on public transport. With it, passengers entering a minibus taxi -- known as a matatu -- can input a simple code on their phone along with the vehicle registration number. "If one of those passengers tested positive we are now able to trace all the contacts who checked in on that particular vehicle, " said Tairus Ooyi, the lead app developer and data scientist at FabLab. - Low-cost ventilators - Another busy area of innovation has been the production of ventilators, which have been in short supply even in rich countries as COVID-19 patients needing oxygen have swamped hospitals. Most African countries have only a handful of the machines and 10 have none at all, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. In Kenya, engineering students in collaboration with the medical department at the Kenyatta University, produced a low-cost ventilator at a tenth of the price of an imported machine -- estimated at $10,000. Doctor Gordon Ogweno, a medical professor at the university said Kenya had about 50 working ventilators for a population of more than 50 million. "We are making machines with locally available material ... pandemics can come and go but other conditions also require critical care," he said. The ventilator is undergoing clinical trials. In Ghana, the Academic City College in Accra and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi managed to produce a ventilator costing between $500 and $1,000 which takes only an hour to assemble. A group of Rwandan biomedical scientists at the Integrated Polytechnic Regional College in Kigali have also been testing a locally made prototype ventilator. Meanwhile in Somalia, which has limited capacity to respond to its growing caseload, 21-year-old Mohamed Adawe has invented an automated resuscitator. While doctors normally need to pump oxygen via an Ambu bag valve mask by hand on patients struggling to breathe, Adawe's contraption -- made up of a wooden box, pipes and an electric system -- pushes oxygen from an air tank into a mask placed over the patient's mouth. "I saw people having difficulties in breathing and many have died because they could not get a machine to help them provide vital oxygen," said Adawe, who is studying public health. - Drones and robots - Aside from locally-made items -- African countries are also employing other technology to tackle the virus. Rwanda last week began using four humanoid robots in coronavirus treatment centres to minimise human to human contact. They can screen temperatures and monitor the status of patients. In Ghana, the US-based company Zipline which uses drones to ferry medicines, blood and vaccines to avoid poor roads, has begun to transport coronavirus tests. "The government told us that their biggest challenge is that the virus has spread out of the cities, they have suspected cases popping up in the rural areas and the logistics from the rural areas to the cities are very difficult," said Zipline CEO in Ghana, Daniel Marfo. burs-fb/pma Irish tourists stranded in the Algarve could be stuck there for months to come. Both Aer Lingus and Ryanair have grounded all flights from the Portuguese coastal region, and there are fears that without Government intervention it could be many more weeks before some of the holidaymakers get home. Despite still advertising flights from Faro to Dublin from May 31, Aer Lingus has confirmed that all flights from the regional airport are cancelled indefinitely. The Department of Foreign Affairs has urged Irish citizens to make contact with the Irish Consulate in Lisbon and notify it of their presence. Two retired Irish couples have spoken of their frustration after they struggled with multiple cancellations and problems rebooking flights and receiving refunds from Aer Lingus. Dominic Ledwidge O'Reilly (80) and his wife Gabrielle Judge (75), from Firhouse, Dublin, are at the point of despair because three separate flights from Faro since April 29 have been cancelled. The couple received a refund after the airline was contacted by the Irish Independent, but any hopes they had of flying home soon were dashed. Speaking from their apartment in Cabanas de Tavira near the Spanish border, Ms Judge said they weare eager to get home. "We are fed up and feel trapped," she said. "We have been here since February 13, and were due to go back on April 30. We have had three cancellations from Aer Lingus. "We both have underlying health issues and fortunately we have a very good local pharmacist who has helped us, but we have had to pay for a lot of medications." Ms Judge said she and her husband were finding it difficult to deal with the uncertainty around when they would be able to fly. "There is no end in sight which is all the more upsetting," she said. "We contacted the Irish consul in Portugal and haven't heard anything. "There are flights going to Dublin from Lisbon but for us to get there it would require us to take a bus, a train and then another train. We would be so exposed to Covid we would be in danger. We cannot possibly risk it." Mr O'Reilly, a retired national press photographer, said they were not alone in their plight. "There are other Irish pensioners here who are in the same boat and some of them are very frail," he said. "We are all looking out for each other and we are trying to keep on the bright side but it's very hard not to feel worried." Another couple, who asked not to be named, but are both retired gardai from Co Kildare, have been stranded since April 30. They have continued to pay for their rental apartment, but say that the added costs are a major concern for many Irish people trapped in the same circumstances. "We are lucky we are in a nice two-bedroom apartment and we are paying a reasonable amount of money but if we have to stay until July or August we are going to have an issue," they said. "And that is just us, there are a lot of Irish people here in the same boat. "I think the Government is going to have to repatriate people. There are a lot of people affected by this and many of them are elderly." A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs has appealed for anyone experiencing difficulties to make contact, saying: "Any Irish citizen who believes an Embassy may not be aware of their presence should register online." A spokesperson for Aer Lingus said: "We are reviewing our future operating schedule on an ongoing basis and following guidance from relevant governments in relation to when we will be able to operate particular routes." Climate disasters this year, including Cyclone Amphan expected to hit Indias eastern coast on Wednesday, are likely to compound the problems related to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic since 2020 is also likely to be the warmest on record, a paper published on May 15 in British Nature journal has warned. There is a 74.67% chance of 2020 being the warmest year ever and a 99.94% chance that it will among the top five warmest years, the American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in March. The paper by Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists and students has listed heat waves in north India, floods in the delta regions of West Bengal and Bangladesh, wildfires in Siberia, bushfires in Australia, locust crises, drought, water scarcity and floods in Africa, a hurricane in the US among others as climate-attributable risks. The risks are likely to intersect with the Covid-19 crisis over the next 12 to 18 months. A concerning body of evidence already indicates that climate hazards, which are increasing in frequency and intensity under climate change, are likely to intersect with the Covid-19 outbreak and public health response. These compound risks will exacerbate and be exacerbated by the unfolding economic crisis and long-standing socioeconomic and racial disparities, both within countries and across regions, said the paper. Fiji was hit by a category 5 tropical cyclone Harold in April. The Gulf Coast of the US is bracing for hurricane season while Louisiana has become the Covid-19 mortality hotspot. In South Africa, authorities are struggling to maintain social distancing during flooding in informal settlements. Drought in Zimbabwe has left millions without access to clean water, the paper said. The paper warned extreme heat events in the US and outside are likely to lead to excess mortality and morbidity, disrupt power supplies, hospitals and emergency services, especially in cities. Emergency response agencies and first responders will have to be deployed across multiple crises at the same time. For example, American Federal Emergency Management Agency is coordinating Covid-19 as well as ongoing extreme weather responses. Indias National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is faced with similar dual responsibilities including rescue and evacuation efforts related to Amphan. Cyclone Amphan is very intense and has the potential to do large-scale damage. It is a big challenge as the cyclone is striking during the outbreak of Covid-19. We [NDRF] are facing two disasters. It a cyclone in the time of Covid-19, NDRF chief SN Pradhan said. The paper has recommended coordination at every level of government to prevent potential conflicts of strategy across agencies as difficult policy decisions may lie ahead, including whether hospitals, especially intensive care units, can be evacuated safely. It has also recommended policies on managing health risks during large scale evacuation or sheltering. Detailed plans need to be drafted for compound risk preparedness and governments need to ensure continuous electricity and water supply to avoid an increase in transmission of Covid 19, it said. The paper said overall a long-term strategy for pandemic preparedness is also needed. ...Covid-19 is neither the first nor only time that our globalized society will face these types of compound risks; for example, Puerto Rico was forced to stop Zika surveillance and response in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria [2017]. Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, said while they were preparing the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, they realised that the worst-case scenarios are the compound climate events, where multiple extreme events overlap. For example, floods due to extreme rains and the high tide coming together when the sea level is also high. Or where the warming in the tropical oceans are making it much more fertile in terms of cyclonic activities and intense storm surges [cyclone Amphan is the best example], said Koll. Koll added even developed nations are not well equipped to mitigate such kind of compound events. Most of the low-to-middle income nations in the tropics do not have early warning systems in place or long-term policies to adapt and mitigate climate change. Now, on top of that, the Covid-19 pandemic is presenting new hurdles. Koll said the paper points out that the growing threats of climate crisis cannot be disregarded. We need a framework to address both the disasters hand-in-hand. Experts say that the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic have highlighted the potential threat from biological terrorism to Western countries. Although not 100% conclusive, overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that the novel virus jumped from animals to humans by accident rather than being accidentally released from a lab or deliberately engineered. Yet there are still significant concerns that Western countries are at risk of engineered pandemics or bioweapons, and claims that the security measures of the U.S. and its allies are not keeping up with the science. Experts say that the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic have highlighted the potential threat from biological terrorism to Western countries. Pictured above, a patient is loaded into an ambulance in New York The coronavirus pandemic has sparked security concerns for the U.S. and its allies. Pictured above, Defense Secretary Mark Esper The dire health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic could be encouraging to terrorists, former U.S. and UK officials have warned. Pictured above, healthcare workers in New York City place a nasal swab from a patient into a tube for testing The pandemic has highlighted how under-prepared even developed nations are for a global health crisis, with a lack of personal protective equipment and health care infrastructure, coupled with the difficulties of finding an effective treatment. The dire health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic could give a 'green light' to terrorists, former U.S. and UK officials have told NBC News. Assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Robert Kadlec told the news outlet: 'Many of the very worst-case characteristics of an intentional event are also being seen in this naturally occurring pandemic.' Assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Robert Kadlec told the news outlet: 'Many of the very worst-case characteristics of an intentional event are also being seen in this naturally occurring pandemic.' The former head of the UK government's National Counter Terrorism Security Office, Chris Phillips has visited many of Britain's university-operated or privately administered laboratories and had concerns that an insider could obtain a bioweapon. 'If you were a hardened terrorist and had worked in a lab for years, you would know how to do it,' he said, adding that the coronavirus crisis has proven that you 'can never be secure enough.' Modern gene-technology means that scientists are able to mutate and reconstruct viruses, enabling the creation of dangerous pathogens in a laboratory. Dr. Asha George, a public health specialist who heads up the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, believes there is insufficient security in place to protect against havoc-wreaking pathogens, whether naturally-occurring or engineered. George testified in front of Congress last year that the U.S. needed to upgrade its security measures to accommodate the threat from bio-terrorism. Dr. Asha George, a public health specialist who heads up the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, believes there is insufficient security in place to protect against havoc-wreaking pathogens, whether naturally-occurring or engineered. Pictured above, Trump speaks during a National Nurses Day event at the Oval Office amid the coronavirus pandemic The pandemic has highlighted how under-prepared even developed nations are for a global health crisis, with a lack of personal protective equipment and health care infrastructure, coupled with the difficulties of finding an effective treatment for the illness. Pictured above, a temporary field hospital at the Walter E. Convention Center in Washington, D.C. Richard Pilch of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies speculated to Axios that a state actor like North Korea or a terrorist organization could see the devastation caused by the coronavirus and be 'influenced by Covid-19 to consider pursuing a biological weapons capability.' 'Potential adversaries are of course seeing the same things we're seeing,' he said. Meanwhile the Pentagon and the intelligence community are reportedly investigating whether the coronavirus could be used as a bioweapon. The US Defense Department, overseen by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, recently started investing resources into investigating if hostile actors could weaponize the pandemic, sources familiar with the situation told Politico. Laos to press ahead with 'destructive' new dam on Mekong Environmentalists have criticised Laos for pressing ahead with plans for another "destructive dam" on the Mekong River, a waterway already strangled by hydropower schemes. The flow of the Mekong, Southeast Asia's longest river, is interrupted by a cascade of dams in Chinawhere it is called the Lancang. Two downstream damsthe Xayaburi and Don Sahonghave been built in Laos, which wants to construct seven more as it strives to live up to its billing as the "Battery of Asia". Water levels have dropped to record lows over the last year, exposing rocks and killing fish, a phenomenon blamed by villagers in Thailand and Laos on the operations of dams. On Monday, Laos' communist government submitted proposals for the Sanakham damclose to the northeastern border with Thailandto the Mekong River Commission (MRC). The MRC is a dam consultation body for Mekong nations, but has been accused of being toothless in stopping river projects sponsored by governments and big business. The consultation process is in fact a "rubber stamp" to get work started on the Sanakham this year in time for a 2028 completion, according to International Rivers, a key campaign group against damming. "What the Mekong needs immediately is the moratorium on large-scale hydropower dams... not more destructive dams that will benefit a few at the expense of communities in the Mekong basin," Paiporn Deetes of International Rivers told AFP. The MRC says the Sanakham dam consultation includes an environmental impact assessment on the waterway and its communities. Landlocked, corrupt and poor, Laos has turned to billion-dollar hydropower schemes for investment, hoping to sell the electricity for a profit to its neighbours as well as provide energy to its remote populations. But critics say dams have been railroaded through despite mounting evidence of ecological damage to one of the world's most biodiverse waterways. Villagers along the Mekong in Laos and Thailand say their fish catch has dwindled as the dams have come online. Studies show sediment flow has thinned, leaving the river increasingly anaemic as it winds towards the Vietnamese delta. The Mekong feeds around 60 million people. Phys.org 2003 - 2020 powered by Science X Network Theme(s): Others. Beijing: Two people were killed and at least 13 injured when a 5-magnitude earthquake struck Qiaojia County in southwest China's Yunnan province, the authorities said Tuesday. One person was trapped in debris, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Rescue forces have rushed to the quake zone. According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the quake struck at 9.47 pm on Monday. The epicentre of the earthquake was at a depth of eight kilometres and it was felt in Huize County of Qujing City as well as the cities of Zhaotong, Xuanwei and Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture. The county government of Qiaojia has sent rescuers to 16 townships for rescue and disaster relief. Patna, May 19 : Six labourers were killed on Tuesday morning when a truck carrying them collided with a bus in Bhagalpur district of Bihar, police said. Four others were injured in the accident. Police said the accident occurred when the truck loaded with iron pipes reached Ambho Chowk in Kharik police station jurisdiction. It hit an oncoming bus, following which the truck tipped over, trapping the labourers under the falling iron pipes. Police said it suspected more persons could be trapped under the pipes and was trying to clear the road. The truck driver absconded after the accident. Kingsley, a Nigerian patient who had contracted the novel coronavirus, was recently discharged from Guangzhou Eighth Peoples Hospital, south China's Guangdong province after month-long treatment. Foreign volunteers write greeting cards to foreign residents under quarantine in Baiyun district, Guangzhou, April 20. Photo by Chen Jimin, China News Agency I received good care and medical treatment in China, and Im grateful toward the medical workers, the man said. So far, all 41 imported COVID-19 cases and 143 infected but asymptomatic foreigners have been discharged from hospitals in Guangzhou. The city dispatched a working group to guide pandemic containment, and offered daily services, foreign affairs communication, emergency response and 24-hour service. In addition, it also rolled off a package of management policies, and set up 46 workstations across the city to help foreigners. Guidebooks of living in Guangzhou have been available for foreigners in every residential communities and designated quarantine hotels since March, which introduce hotel information and contact information of nearby supermarkets and restaurants. Besides, the city has also dispatched work teams to residential communities and hotels that work 24 hours a day, which are all equipped with translators or translating machines. Mike, an kindergarten teacher from Egypt living in Lixing community, Zengcheng district of Guangzhou, said China was doing its best to protect peoples lives and health, which made him safe and reassured, adding that he is happy living in the country. Valeria from Russia shared the photos and videos she took at a quarantine site in Guangzhou with her friends, and they all hailed the environment and meticulous services. Sakamoto from Japan wrote a letter to the hotel he stayed for quarantine, saying I encountered nothing unpleasant or inconvenient in Guangzhou. The 14-day quarantine was a happy experience for me. Angolan volunteer Rufino Eugenio Guilherme (R), works with a partner to deliver breakfast to quarantine rooms at Guangzhou Headquarter International Hotel, Huangpu district, Guangzhou, April 18. 26-year-old Rufino is a senior student at South China University of Technology. Photo by Chen Jimin, China News Agency In an open letter to its Chinese and foreign residents, Guangzhou required that service agencies and individuals treat Chinese and foreigners equally, and do not discriminate based on nationality, skin color or gender. The letter also provided 20 how-tos on entering 16 kinds of facilities in the city, as well as extensive tips on living in Guangzhou, to make sure foreign residents enjoy the same services in the city as their Chinese peers do. Touched by the attentive services, more foreigners volunteered to help on the front line of COVID-19 control. Cameroonian student Wilson and his Burundian friend volunteered to deliver food at a designated quarantining hotel in Baiyun district of Guangzhou, while foreign students from Guangdong Mechanical and Electrical Polytechnic set up the citys first international volunteering organization, an 84-member group offering translation service for neighborhood committees and foreign residents. Besides, 14 students from Tanzania and other 12 African countries studying at the Southern Medical University organized a service team to help medical workers at Guangzhou Eighth Peoples Hospital comfort foreign asymptomatic coronavirus carriers. Twenty-five volunteers from 15 foreign countries, including the U.S., Angola, Cameroon, France, Ghana, Italy and India recently shared their stories of fighting COVID-19 on an exchange meeting held at a community service station in Guangzhou's Tianhe district. One of the volunteers who have stayed in the city for 20 years said he takes Guangzhou as his home, and some said their friends have been inspired to join the volunteering service by them. By taking the most comprehensive, strict and thorough control and prevention measures, China is gradually improving COVID-19 containment results and has realized important phased achievements, gaining wide recognition and praise from foreigners in Guangzhou. Gureeye Abdirahman Abdinasir, a graduate student from Southern Medical University said he understands China's control measures, as the country prevents the virus, not people. Angolan volunteer Rufino Eugenio Guilherme calls each foreign resident in the designated hotel for an update on their health, April 18. The 26-year-old Angolan is a senior student at South China University of Technology. Photo by Chen Jimin, China News Agency It is because of the strong preventative measures taken by the country that we are now able to move freely, said Catherine McNabb from Canada, who is the chief sales officer at the marketing department of Four Seasons Hotel in Guangzhou. Alima Danfakha Gakou, head of a consular delegation of African countries in Guangzhou and consul general of Mali in Guangzhou, highly praised the unremitting efforts of China in the fight against COVID-19 on behalf of the consul generals from 65 countries and other officials of the consulates in Guangzhou, at a recent meeting. Giving full recognition to Chinas sharing of disease containment experiences and provision of preventive medical materials, she thanked Guangzhou for its efforts to protect the general interests, and to advance friendship, solidarity and cooperation. The federal government will help keep Centros buses running in Central New York with an emergency grant of $28 million in coronavirus relief aid. The money is from the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that Congress approved in March to ease the toll of the coronavirus pandemic. The aid awarded Monday through the Federal Transit Administration will help support operations for Centros bus service in Syracuse, Oswego, Auburn, Rome and Utica, according to U.S. Rep. John Katko and Sen. Charles Schumer, who advocated for the funding. About $21.5 million will be set aside for Centros operations in Onondaga County and $6.5 million for Oneida County, said Centro spokesman Steve Koegel. Centro has been offering free bus rides and losing money since the end of March. The free rides include Call-A-Bus services. Bus riders have been asked to continue boarding and exiting through the rear doors. Centro ridership has declined by about 70% during the pandemic, Koegel said. The extra room on buses has allowed passengers to distance themselves from others while traveling. Most of Centros 600 employees have stayed on the job during the pandemic. The company has continued service on an enhanced Saturday schedule. Koegel said its too early to assess the public authoritys financial losses since the state closed non-essential businesses in late March. Centros operating budget for fiscal 2020-21 is about $78.6 million. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources After mom dies of coronavirus in NYC, Syracuse woman takes on a final promise: a place to rest Who can get a coronavirus test in NY? Cuomo widely expands eligibility for thousands Cuomo: No more New York lockdowns planned, even as coronavirus is expected to slowly spread Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751 New Delhi, May 19 : Mother Dairy, a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), has contributed in stabilising the dairy supply chain in Vidarbha and Marathwada region amid the nationwide lockdown to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, a statement issued by the Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying said on Tuesday. Located in the Civil Lines area of Nagpur city, Mother Dairy is extending all possible support to the farmers and procuring an average milk volume of 2.55 lakh litres per day in Vidarbha and Marathwada region, said the statement. Mother Dairy is committed to strengthen the connect between the farmers and consumers. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the region, Mother Dairy has not ceased its procurement operations for even a single day; instead it has increased its milk inflow by 16 per cent despite these testing times and lean season. The total number of villages now covered under the milk procurement system stood at around 2,500 in the 10 districts of Vidarbha and Marathwada. Mother Dairy has ensured that all associated farmers duly receive timely payments once in 10 days in their bank accounts for their produce with complete transparency in testing and weighing mechanism. In the last two months, benefits to the tune of around Rs 65 crore have been accrued and paid to the farmers. The dairy has also made requisite arrangements of balanced cattle feed and feed supplements to the milk producers of the region. Mother Dairy, with its network of over 90 booths in Nagpur and nearby towns, has ensured consistent supplies to the consumers with following the requisite safety precautions. It said as part of the requirements, persons or groups of persons who desired to produce face masks and sell to the public must register with Foods and Drugs Authority (FDA) before they could produce to do so. Mr Albert Ankomah, the Upper West Regional Director for the FDA, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Wa on Tuesday. He said it was illegal to sell an unregistered product in Ghana; hence the FDA was educating the people on the need for them to register before producing and selling nose masks to avoid being in conflict with the law. He therefore called on tailors and dressmakers to observe the FDA requirements in producing nose masks for public use in the fight against the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The GNA had observed that following calls by health experts and the President to regularly wear nose masks, especially at public places such as the markets, several people, including tailors and dressmakers in the Upper West Region had ventured into the production and sale of nose mask to the public. However, Mr Ankomah said currently, no individual or group of people in the Region had registered with the FDA to produce nose mask for sale. He said the practice was a source of worry as some of the nose masks being sold in the Region did not meet the FDA standard, which had posed serious health risk to the users and could thwart the efforts in the fight against the COVID-19. The FDA Boss explained that producers who wanted to register were required to pay annual registration fees of GH250.00 while those producing for organizational use (noncommercial) were also required to pay listing fees of GH150.00. Other requirements were: twelve samples of the nose mask, application letter and completed application form for Class One Medical Devices, the nose mask must be a three-layer Calico-Stiff (hard/medium)-Calico or Calico-Calico-Calico. Face or nose mask should cover the nose, mouth and chin area with a three layer thickness of not less than 0.759mm, Mr Ankomah stated. He explained that producers who want to produce with colorful fabric must produce in the format; Caloco-Caloco-Cloth, to prevent the user from inhaling the dye used in designing the cloth. He also urged the public to buy registered and quality nose masks which was effective in fighting the deadly COVID-19. Mr Ankomah said buyers should look out for the FDA registration number on the labeling of the nose mask as well as the three-layer standard before buying. He said reducing the spread of the CVID-19 was paramount and that the FDA had intensified public sensitisation on the use of the nose masks. ---GNA HNX - 5/19/2020 8:41:00 AM Pursuant to the Document No. 65/2020/CV-CPI dated 11th May 2020 of Cai Lan Port Investment Joint Stock Company regarding the cancellation of the shareholder list for attending 2020 Annual General Meeting, Vietnam Securities Depository (VSD) would like to announce as follows: Cancelling the shareholder list for holding 2020 Annual General Meeting on the record date of 20th March 2020 Reason for cancellation: Due to the complicated developments of the Covid 19 pandemic, the company decided to change the meeting date of 2020 Annual General Meeting. (Newser) One aspect of the 2020 race is getting more and more attention: Polls consistently show that President Trump is losing support among older voters amid the pandemic. The upshot of coverage is that Trump has plenty of time to turn things around, but if he fails to do so, Joe Biden gains an important potential avenue to the White House. Details: 'Seismic' shift: Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 by 13 points among those 65 and older, but this year, he trails Biden by a single point in the same group, per an analysis of polls at FiveThirtyEight. If this 14-point swing holds in Novemberand that's a big if, notes the analysisit would represent a "seismic shift in the voting behavior of America's oldest voters," writes Geoffrey Skelley. Trump also has fallen significantly among voters 55 and older; he won by 10 points in 2016 but is currently tied with Biden. Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 by 13 points among those 65 and older, but this year, he trails Biden by a single point in the same group, per an analysis of polls at FiveThirtyEight. If this 14-point swing holds in Novemberand that's a big if, notes the analysisit would represent a "seismic shift in the voting behavior of America's oldest voters," writes Geoffrey Skelley. Trump also has fallen significantly among voters 55 and older; he won by 10 points in 2016 but is currently tied with Biden. The pandemic: The White House's internal data suggests that much of Trump's trouble with seniors stems from his daily coronavirus briefings, reports the Wall Street Journal. The briefings, which he has since curtailed, were roundly criticized because Trump frequently attacked reporters and spoke at length about his own medical theories. The story quotes a campaign insider who notes that seniors were watching the briefings closely because they were most at risk for the virus, and many grew frustrated at the lack of usable information. story continues below Amplifying that: "Trump has suffered a double whammy with seniors from the coronavirus crisis, both in terms of a dislike for his personal demeanor and disapproval of his policy priorities," Democratic strategist Geoff Garin tells the New York Times. "If theres a durable change with older voters, it could well cost Trump the election." "Trump has suffered a double whammy with seniors from the coronavirus crisis, both in terms of a dislike for his personal demeanor and disapproval of his policy priorities," Democratic strategist Geoff Garin tells the New York Times. "If theres a durable change with older voters, it could well cost Trump the election." Key states: Trump has fallen behind among older voters in battleground states including Florida (he was down by 10 in an April Quinnipiac poll) and Pennsylvania (down by 6 in an April Fox poll), per the Journal. Trump won by double digits in 2016 in both states among voters 65 and older. A CNN analysis notes that voters older than 45 make up the biggest share of the electorate in those two states as well as four others seen as crucial to victory: Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. Trump has fallen behind among older voters in battleground states including Florida (he was down by 10 in an April Quinnipiac poll) and Pennsylvania (down by 6 in an April Fox poll), per the Journal. Trump won by double digits in 2016 in both states among voters 65 and older. A CNN analysis notes that voters older than 45 make up the biggest share of the electorate in those two states as well as four others seen as crucial to victory: Arizona, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin. Alarm sounded: Kellyanne Conway has been among the most vocal advisers warning the president about the problem with older voters, reports the Times. The White House has begun rolling out ads praising Trump's coronavirus response and highlighting initiatives, featuring both Trump and VP Mike Pence, that might appeal to seniors. That includes expanding telehealth for Medicare recipients and signaling more flexibility about mail-in voting for the general election. Kellyanne Conway has been among the most vocal advisers warning the president about the problem with older voters, reports the Times. The White House has begun rolling out ads praising Trump's coronavirus response and highlighting initiatives, featuring both Trump and VP Mike Pence, that might appeal to seniors. That includes expanding telehealth for Medicare recipients and signaling more flexibility about mail-in voting for the general election. Summing up: It seems fair to say that Trump is "currently underwater with older voters," writes Skelley at FiveThirtyEight. "Going forward, well keep a careful eye on things to see if this shift in voter sentiment holds. Because if it does, it could have a major impact on the outcome in November." (Read more President Trump stories.) Springfield Bishop Sets Guidelines for Reopening Churches ADAMS, Mass. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield is taking precautions in line with the state's reopening plan it begins to resume worship within its churches. The diocese's parishes were closed mid-March along with other defined "nonessential" operations as Massachusetts officials sought to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus and "flatten the curve" of hospitalizations during the pandemic. "I was pleased to learn that the opening of churches will be part of the first phase of the state's reopening measures," said Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski in a statement on Monday. "In recent days, we have asked parishes to begin planning for their reopening, taking into account limited capacity and social distancing, as well as cleaning procedures after every public use of the church. ... "It is important that our churches must be in full compliance before we resume public Masses." The reopening advisory board appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker released a phased plan on Monday for different sectors of Massachusetts to begin resuming operations in the coming weeks. Places of worship were among the venues being allowed limited use beginning this week. Churches, temples, mosques and other venues are limited to 40 percent of the occupancy at any one time; those not sharing a household must be seated at least 6 feet away from each other. Adults and older children must wear face coverings, including while entering and exiting, unless there is an existing health issue. Children younger than 2 should not be masked and it is at the guardian's discretion for children up to age 5. Online services are still encouraged as much as possible and Rozanski said those who are most vulnerable to the disease should continue watching at home. "I am extending the dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass even after we reopen out of an abundance of caution and concern for the most vulnerable who are most susceptible to contract this virus," he wrote. Rozanski said parishes will be allowed to resume public Masses on Saturday at 4 p.m. but only if they have submitted "written assurance that they have met all the state, municipal and diocesan guidelines, and received a response giving permission to resume." Because of this, some parishes may not be able to hold regular services until the following weekend. Guidelines issued on May 15 will continue in effect and Masses will omit the Sign of Peace and Communion by cup, and holy water fonts will remain empty and covered. Communion will be allowed in hand only. Parishes will be allowed to add extra liturgies to accommodate capacity limitations but only after 4 p.m. on Saturdays and only if time for cleaning is set in between. Priests will not be required to wear masks except during Communion as long as they maintain a 6-foot distance. The diocese has also set out guidelines for sacraments given in hospitals or other health care facilities. Any other parish activities and home visits are still not allowed. More information can be found at www.diospringfield.org From ELLE Tracee Ellis Ross is a fashion killer. Any of the Black-ish actor's Instagram posts prove it. Then, of course, there's her iconic Moschino 2019 Met Gala look where she held a literal gold picture frame in front of her face the entire night. For Tracee, having fun with fashion (and life) is key. To mark the Pattern Beauty founder's latest film The High Note (out online May 29), her first huge lead, we spoke to her about all things fashion: Photo credit: Jon Kopaloff Mum gave me an innate love of glamour. My mum [Diana Ross] was extremely glamorous at home, not just on the stage. Thats probably why I never go out in full sweats. During my childhood, she would only wear tracksuits if they were fancy and with high heels. As a child, clothes were my armour. It fed into a persona I put on to cover my insecurities. It was a way to present an identity if I wore a great outfit, I could conquer the world. When I was a toddler, Id wrap myself in a bedsheet, wear Mums heels and become a queen. Now, clothing is a form of creative expression. Photo credit: Karwai Tang European women opened my eyes to individual style. In my early teens, my family home was in Paris and I went to boarding school in Switzerland. It was there I met Italian twins Java and Rosie, whose style will always be etched into mine. It was all chic tracksuits with Superga sneakers, fur coats and tons of gold jewellery. Photo credit: Frederick M. Brown I still wear the Ralph Lauren cashmere cable knits that I bought in the late 1980s. After moving back to the US aged 16, I worked at one of their stores at the weekends, which meant I could buy discounted looks. Id been obsessed with the brand for years, and my mother always said theres nothing wrong with spending money on clothes if you take care of them. Story continues Photo credit: Gilbert Carrasquillo I'll always remember my mum's leather two-piece phase. She had coordinating sets of North Beach Leathers trousers and oversized bomber jackets in every colour, from powder blue to yellow. I can see her influence in my obsession with coordinating: I cant stand having my toes and fingernails painted different colours, my shoes must match my belt and my knickers must match my bra. Minimal doesn't have to mean boring. Im my best accessory, so I never overdo jewellery. I love a clean ear or bare neck. My understated grey Giorgio Armani prom dress from 1990 has been slated on Instagram but I coveted it at 18-years-old. My door knocker Tracee hoop earrings are my staple statement. Photo credit: Omar Vega Katharine Hepburn taught me the power of a good suit. I love that she wore wide-leg trousers and blazers in her movies. I always feel so pulled together wearing one. She started my love of tux jackets Ill wear one over evening gowns, or with sweatpants to vote in elections. My latest shape is a boxy Saint Laurent one. After seeing my brother Evan in the flyest, pale-green suit on the red carpet recently, I borrowed it the next day for a cover shoot. I could chronicle my journey of self-acceptance through my hair. Its my greatest form of expression. Sometimes its big, sometimes its small, sometimes elegant, gravity-defying, electric I dont think theres anything as chic as a slicked-back bun, but when my hair is loose, it has a mind of its own. There will always be dishes in my sink and too many clothes in my home. I hate to throw clothes away; I still have a beautiful Norma Kamali slip dress from when I was 22. I wore it to my brother Ross wedding three years ago. My clothes are a reflection of myself. Tracee Ellis Ross new film The High Note is available to watch online from May 29. ELLE UK's June 2020 issue is on newsstands from May 7, 2020. Alternatively, you can buy single issues of the magazine online here. Fancy reading the June 2020 issue digitally? Download the ELLE app this month and get your first issue for free. You Might Also Like Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters Fifteen Republican state attorneys general have filed a legal brief telling a federal judge they support the justice departments attempt to drop its case against the former national security adviser Michael Flynn. The move comes after almost 2,000 former justice department figures condemned the move to drop the case. Flynn, a retired general, was fired by Trump for lying to the vice-president about conversations with the Russian ambassador. He pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Obama administration requests to unmask Flynn, as an American speaking to surveilled foreign nationals during the investigation of Russian election interference, a routine intelligence practice, are at the heart of Donald Trumps attempts to create a scandal, the so-called Obamagate, to ensnare his predecessor and his challenger at the polls this year, former vice-president Joe Biden. But Judge Emmet Sullivan has put a hold on attorney general William Barrs attempt to drop the case against Flynn, and appointed a retired judge, John Gleeson, to argue against the motion to dismiss. According to CNN, which obtained a copy of the legal brief, the Republican attorneys general believe Sullivans questioning of the justice department was the court inserting itself into prosecutorial discretion and politics. They urged Sullivan to dismiss the case, ending Flynns legal jeopardy. They also asked him to dismiss Flynns charge without irrelevant or personal comment. The 15 Republican attorneys general who filed the brief are from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. In their open letter last week, almost 2,000 former justice department figures condemned the justice departments stance on Flynn. Governments that use the enormous power of law enforcement to punish their enemies and reward their allies are not constitutional republics, they said. They are autocracies. Story continues On Monday, the Senate judiciary committee chair, Lindsey Graham, said he would seek the ability to subpoena records from senior intelligence officials in the Obama administration. Barr, meanwhile, said no criminal investigations would be opened into Obama or Bidens actions in office towards Flynn. But Barr also claimed he would never use the criminal justice system for partisan political ends. Critics noticed the dissonance in his stance. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:04:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MANILA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese business companies have stood firmly behind the Philippines in the fight against COVID-19, donating nearly 10 million pesos (197,078 U.S. dollars) and nearly 3 million pieces of much-needed medical supplies to stop the spread of the epidemic, China's Ambassador Huang Xilian said. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Chinese firms have donated 2.65 million medical masks, 250,000 pieces of protective suits, gloves, and goggles to the Philippines, according to Huang. He said major donors include the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC), Bank of China, Panhua Group, China Information Communication Technology Group, Power Construction Corporation of China, China Road and Bridge Corporation, China Railway Design Corporation, China Geo-Engineering Corporation, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, China Energy Engineering Corporation and Qingjian Group. Ambassador Huang added that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, co-owned by SGCC, also donated 1 billion pesos (about 19.7 million U.S. dollars) to the Philippine government. Moreover, he said Dito Telecommunity, co-owned by China Telecom, provided 375,000 kilos of rice to Philippine local governments. Huang said Zhejiang Dahua Technology offered a thermal temperature monitoring solution. Huawei provided technical support for diagnosis and treatment system using remote CT scans in Baguio General Hospital Medical Center, he added. Chinese multinational corporations have also joined the humanitarian campaign, Huang said. These corporations include Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Foundation which donated 107,000 test kits and 500,000 medical masks, TikTok which contributed a million U.S. dollars to the Philippine General Hospital Medical Foundation and the 51talk sent medical supplies worth 5.25 million pesos (about 103,387 U.S. dollars) to the Philippines. The ambassador said the Chinese reagents and testing equipment manufacturers, such as Sansure Biotech Inc. and Beijing Genomics Institute Group, also responded timely to the demand of the Philippines to ensure sufficient supplies. Huang said these manufacturers also dispatched professional teams to the Philippines to provide personnel training and technical support, and helped the Philippines to expand its COVID-19 testing capacity. "In light of the urgent need of medical supplies in the Philippines, Chinese manufacturers have prioritized the requests and orders from the Philippines and exported huge amounts of medicines and medical equipment to the Philippines, overcoming a lot of unexpected difficulties," Huang said. "The pandemic is a common enemy of mankind. Solidarity and cooperation are the most powerful weapons (to combat the epidemic)," he said. Huang said the global pandemic has strengthened the partnership between China and the Philippines to mount a collective response to defeat the viral disease. "China will stand firmly with the Philippine people till the day of final victory," Huang said, adding that Chinese enterprises "will continue to contribute to the new era partnership evolving between the two countries." Enditem (Newser) Police in small-town Virginia say they've nabbed one of two thieves who wore watermelons on their heads while robbing a convenience store earlier this month. The Louisa Police Department announced the arrest on Saturday, hours after sharing surveillance photos of the thieves wearing hallowed-out watermelons with holes for eyes at a Sheetz store on May 5 or 6, per Fox News. "Thank you to the community for all your assistance," the department added. Per NDTV, a user said he'd posed for a photo with the pair after finding them at another store on the day of the theft. The user even posted the image, which showed the suspects wearing the same clothing as in the surveillance images. "I've got to say though, they get an A+ for creativity," another user commented. "Well they couldn't find a mask anywhere!" a third wrote on the post, which has since been deleted. story continues below "The amount of work that you have to do to actually hollow-out a watermelon to stick it on your head, I think, is kind of crazy," a Sheetz customer tells CNN. "Why? Why would they do that? It's so stupid." Police Chief Tom Leary says that the second suspect who arrived at the scene in a 2006 black Toyota Tacoma pickup truck is still being sought, though a 20-year-old man was arrested Friday. Justin M. Rogers is charged with wearing a mask in public while committing larceny, underage possession of alcohol, and petit larceny of alcohol, per WRIC. It's an "unusual" case for "a really nice, quiet town," Leary tells CNN. "This is definitely not something you see very often in Louisa." (Read more weird crimes stories.) Omar Spry of Los Angeles Housing + Community Investment Department pushes a cart of residents' bags into a West L.A. hotel that has been turned into housing for homeless people during the coronavirus outbreak. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) Only about half of the 15,000 hotel and motel rooms that California has leased for mostly homeless people to slow the spread of the coronavirus are now occupied, a review of state records by The Times shows. More than a month into Gov. Gavin Newsom's program to get homeless people off the streets, the occupied rooms account for at most less than 5% of the 151,000 people who sleep on street corners, under bridges and in emergency shelters across California. As of Monday, 7,919 hotel rooms had guests and another 7,700 were vacant, according to figures released by Newsom's office. The actual number of rooms leased for homeless people in the statewide program known as Project Roomkey could be even lower since Newsom's goal also included rooms reserved for people, homeless or not, who needed to quarantine or isolate themselves because of the coronavirus. What Newsom launched in early April as a coordinated effort to address homelessness during the pandemic has led to mixed results. But, in general, it has progressed so slowly that it has fallen short of many expectations and is unlikely to get most of those who need help indoors. In some counties, the largest impediments have been delays in preparing leased rooms for occupancy, not, as the governor has complained, NIMBY interests at the local level. In other counties, it has been a shortage of staff to care for homeless residents, providing services, such as food services, security, nursing and case management. "This has not been a challenge of leasing hotels," said Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who is co-chair of the state's homelessness task force. "The challenge is much more in insufficient numbers of service providers to deal with a much larger capacity of people and a big question about rehousing." Under the program, county officials are responsible for determining how many rooms to set aside for homeless people. But the actual implementation of Project Roomkey is forcing officials from many counties to question how many homeless people the program can bring in, Steinberg said. Thats because there arent enough service providers to help run the hotels and eventually help transition the residents into permanent housing. Story continues Sacramento County is doing better than the state as a whole, with two-thirds of the 420 rooms it leased now filled. But because of the backlog of people waiting for a room, it has held off on signing leases for another 570 rooms, Steinberg said. It's a predicament that has not yet arisen in Los Angeles County, where the pace has been set by how fast negotiators have been able to sign leases with hotels and motels. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority has filled most rooms within two to three days of their availability. But that could change as the agency finds the ranks of local service providers thinning. "We're frankly getting close to understanding what our system capacity is," said LAHSA's interim Executive Director Heidi Marston. "Our big [service] providers are getting stretched. That's a very real concern. Unless we can bring in more human capital to do this work, we're going to have a hard time continuing to expand capacity." Project Roomkey is largely funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has vowed to reimburse the state and individual counties for 75% of the cost of leasing hotel rooms and providing services. Only homeless people who meet certain criteria, including being older than 65 and having health conditions that make them susceptible for dying of COVID-19, qualify. However, only rooms that are occupied are covered by FEMA under the program. And while it's unclear whether some counties are paying hotel owners for rooms that they have leased but haven't filled, that is not happening in L.A. County. The program's goal of leasing 15,000 rooms would be enough to house about 10% of California's estimated homeless population a figure that falls far short of the total number of homeless people in the state who are 65 or older or have chronic medical conditions such as heart disease or diabetes. In Los Angeles County alone, officials have identified 15,000 people a quarter of the county's homeless population who meet the age or health criteria and set that as its goal. As of Monday, the county had secured 3,245 rooms and moved guests into 2,102. On Wednesday, the San Diego Convention Center opened its doors as the city's newest emergency homeless shelter. (City of San Diego) Statewide data provided by Newsom's office on Monday showed that two large Southern California counties have more trouble filling rooms. San Diego has filled only about 20% of the 2,029 rooms it has under lease, and Orange County just under 30% of its 666 rooms. A senior official with Newsom's administration told The Times that the state was very proud of the pace and scale at which counties have gotten homeless people into hotels and motels. It's an effort that took weeks and otherwise would've taken months or years. This official said the state still wants to see counties moving faster to fill beds and bring people indoors. The state data doesn't specify how many of the leased rooms are for those in need of quarantine or isolation for COVID-19, as opposed to those who are homeless. Craig Sturak, a spokesman for the San Diego County Health Department, gave slightly different numbers than the state, saying Friday that the county had about 1,700 rooms leased and 370 rooms occupied. Many of the beds were secured before Project Roomkey began, he said, "in anticipation of a large number of COVID-19 cases that would not require hospitalization but also would not be able to isolate at home." About 200 of the 370 rooms are for homeless people older than 65 with underlying health conditions, he said. Sturak didn't explain why so many beds that could be used to house homeless people are empty, even as thousands remain on the streets, but said "there are other resources and programs to serve homeless individuals who do not need the level of care provided at these rooms." The San Diego Convention Center, famous for hosting Comic-Con and other events, is housing nearly 1,200 homeless people during the pandemic. Most were brought there from cramped shelters, where the virus is more likely to spread. Joel Jon Roberts, chief executive of the statewide homeless services and housing development agency PATH, said that San Diego's leaders are well aware of what might happen if there's a sudden jump in coronavirus cases among the local homeless population. According to the county's federally mandated point-in-time count, 7,619 homeless people were living outdoors or in shelters as of January, a 6% drop from the previous year. "My sense is that they are trying to keep rooms open in case of an outbreak," he said. "Nobody knows what the number could be. Look at New York City and how bad it's been there." In addition to running shelters in San Diego, PATH is providing services at four leased hotels in Los Angeles County as well. While it has been able to fill rooms quickly, in some cases, it has taken more than two weeks to get rooms ready after the leases are signed. More than 600 unoccupied rooms are in hotels that are not yet ready to open in some cases because former guests had yet to leave or in others because repairs were needed. L.A. city and county negotiators have struggled to strike deals with large hotels near downtown, where the highest concentration of homeless people live on the streets in skid row. Including several smaller hotels in the vicinity of downtown, there are enough rooms for less than 4% of the area's homeless population, according to a Times analysis. But the owners of some small hotels and motels have complained of being shut out of the process. LAHSA, which is responsible for operating the hotels, has asked negotiators to target properties of 100 rooms or more to ease the logistics of contracting for food service, security, healthcare and case management. Echoing Steinberg, Roberts said his agency has had to scramble to find people with the proper training to help run the hotel shelters. Still, he's very pleased with how quickly they've gotten rooms up and running. "We cant just, next week, hire 20 clinicians to do this kind of work," he said. "So we're moving people from outreach and other contracts." At least two Southern California counties have outpaced Los Angeles in filling hotel and motel rooms, though they both have much smaller homeless populations. Riverside, which rented individual rooms rather than whole hotels, has secured 266 rooms and has filled them all a number accounting for about 10% of its homeless population. Ventura County started working on rooms in mid-March and has among the state's highest success rates. Its 388 rooms are more than 80% occupied. Tara Carruth, manager of Ventura County's homeless oversight agency, said hotel owners were eager to lease rooms and the county provided staffing. In total, the county identified about 350 people who met the age or health criteria for Project Roomkey or about 27% of its homeless population and has leased enough rooms to accommodate that number and more. Even as rooms eventually fill up, the impact of the statewide program will be hard to gauge, partly because of the duplicate goal of both L.A. County and the state to get 15,000 homeless people off the streets, and a lack of accurate population data for comparison. Acknowledging that the pace of leasing rooms and the limits on staffing for services will probably put the county's goal out of reach, Marston said she's not backing down. There has been a lot of enthusiasm for Project Roomkey despite its shortcomings. I do think there are ways of serving 15,000 people, Marston said. We have built an amazing capacity. Lets keep building the capacity we have and turn the rooms over so we can serve more people. Paul McDermott has been the CEO of Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE:WRE) since 2013. This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. The aim of all this is to consider the appropriateness of CEO pay levels. Check out our latest analysis for Washington Real Estate Investment Trust How Does Paul McDermott's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? According to our data, Washington Real Estate Investment Trust has a market capitalization of US$1.6b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$3.9m over the year to December 2019. That's a notable increase of 9.2% on last year. We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at US$650k. We note that more than half of the total compensation is not the salary; and performance requirements may apply to this non-salary portion. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations from US$1.0b to US$3.2b, and the median CEO total compensation was US$5.1m. 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 15% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 85% is other remuneration. Washington Real Estate Investment Trust is largely mirroring the industry average when it comes to the share a salary enjoys in overall compensation So Paul McDermott receives a similar amount to the median CEO pay, amongst the companies we looked at. While this data point isn't particularly informative alone, it gains more meaning when considered with business performance. The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Washington Real Estate Investment Trust has changed from year to year. Story continues NYSE:WRE CEO Compensation May 19th 2020 Is Washington Real Estate Investment Trust Growing? Over the last three years Washington Real Estate Investment Trust has shrunk its earnings per share by an average of 88% per year (measured with a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 8.6% over last year. Sadly for shareholders, earnings per share are actually down, over three years. And the modest revenue growth over 12 months isn't much comfort against the reduced earnings per share. These factors suggest that the business performance wouldn't really justify a high pay packet for the CEO. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts. Has Washington Real Estate Investment Trust Been A Good Investment? Given the total loss of 35% over three years, many shareholders in Washington Real Estate Investment Trust are probably rather dissatisfied, to say the least. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation. In Summary... Paul McDermott is paid around the same as most CEOs of similar size companies. The company isn't growing EPS, and shareholder returns have been disappointing. This doesn't look great when you consider CEO remuneration is up on last year. Few would argue that it's wise for the company to pay any more, before returns improve. CEO compensation is an important area to keep your eyes on, but we've also identified 5 warning signs for Washington Real Estate Investment Trust (1 is potentially serious!) that you should be aware of before investing here. If you want to buy a stock that is better than Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. No longer do first-home buyers need a 20% deposit. Coupled with servicing mortgages being cheaper than renting in many cases, and vendors increasingly willing to negotiate on price, young Kiwis have the best opportunity to get on the housing ladder in more than a decade. Read more: Reserve Bank keeps OCR at current level However, Mayne emphasised that the sector still needs a boost to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, including policy changes. She brought to light the latest Statistics New Zealand data revealing that homes transferred to overseas people dropped from 2,900 in the year ended March 2019 to fewer than 700 in the year ended March 2020. The government has given an assurance that its singularly focused on delivering things that will aid the countrys recovery, she said. As part of that, they should revisit their policy which stopped almost all non-residents from buying existing homes. Opening up New Zealand real estate a little more would definitely provide a boost to the housing market and country. With recent statistics showing more foreign owners selling than buying, maybe we could allow those who already own property here to buy again. That would help with real estate transactions without lifting the proportion of foreign ownership. Indian buyers have resumed purchases of Malaysian palm oil after a four-month gap following a diplomatic row, with buying spurred by a fall in domestic inventories and discounted prices, trade sources said. The renewed purchases come amid improving trade relations between the two countries after the formation of a new government in Kuala Lumpur, with Malaysia signing a deal last week to buy a record 100,000 tonnes of Indian rice. Leading Indian importers last week contracted up to 200,000 tonnes of crude palm oil from Malaysia, the world's No.2 producer after Indonesia, to be ... Well give it a shot: While we dont have all the answers, we support Mayor Lori Lightfoots decision to hold off on church services for now. One reason? Lessons learned from the Mount Vernon, Washington, choir outbreak earlier this year where 53 choir members became sick and two died. One symptomatic person attended a rehearsal and likely sickened the rest. A published Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on the outbreak determined that the act of singing vocal cords that push droplets into the air caused the coronavirus to spread more than it would in other spaces, such as a grocery store. Unless theres an outbreak of singing at your local Jewel. Which we doubt. YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. Armenian foreign minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan had a telephone conversation today with foreign minister of Egypt Sameh Shoukry, the Armenian MFA told Armenpress. The officials exchanged views on the actions taken by both countries to address the challenges caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The FMs praised the dynamic of dialogue between Armenia and Egypt and reaffirmed their mutual readiness to continue the actions aimed at further expanding the bilateral agenda. In addition to other spheres, the minister emphasized the need to take steps to fully utilize the cooperation potential in pharmaceutics, alternative energy, IT, innovation, agriculture and other areas. In this context they highlighted the activity of the Armenian-Egyptian inter-governmental commission. The two FMs also touched upon the cooperation issues within multilateral frameworks, including in the African Union, the Eurasian Economic Union and the UN. During the phone talk the Armenian and Egyptian FMs discussed also the current situation in the region, broad range of issues of mutual interest, reaffirming Armenias and Egypts readiness to closely cooperate with one another based on the historical friendship traditions. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images Jamie Dimon, the billionaire chief executive of JP Morgan, said Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic must serve as a wake-up call to build a fairer society. Related: Coronavirus US live: Trump claims to take hydroxychloroquine and threatens to withdraw US from WHO It is my fervent hope that we use this crisis as a catalyst to rebuild an economy that creates and sustains opportunity for dramatically more people, especially those who have been left behind for too long, he wrote in a memo issued ahead of his banks annual shareholder meeting. The last few months have laid bare the reality that, even before the pandemic hit, far too many people were living on the edge, Dimon added. This is not the first time that Dimon has criticized the system that built his $1.2bn fortune. Last year, when leftwing Vermont senator Bernie Sanders was leading in Democratic polls, he acknowledged the flaws in capitalism, but warned that socialism led to stagnation, corruption and often worse. Dimon has been tipped as a possible treasury secretary should Joe Biden be successful in his presidential bid. Biden is also reportedly considering his former presidential rival Michael Bloomberg, the multi-billionaire founder of the Bloomberg news service, as a future head of the World Bank. Some 36 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance in the last two months as quarantine measures shut down large swathes of the US economy. Last week, the Federal Reserve said 40% of households earning less than $40,000 had reported a job loss. Women, people of color and those without college education have been the hardest hit. This crisis must serve as a wake-up call and a call to action for business and government to think, act and invest for the common good and confront the structural obstacles that have inhibited inclusive economic growth for years, said Dimon. 19.05.2020 LISTEN Financial markets are very fundamental to the economic development of every nation. Through the financial intermediation process, scarce financial resources are efficiently allocated to productive sectors of the economy. Surplus funds are channelled from surplus-spending units to deficit-spending units. For the financial market to be efficient in performing its role in the economy, it must have the appropriate depth and breadth both on the supply side and the demand side; there must be a broad range of financial products and services to satisfy the diverse needs of various customers. Large businesses, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), retail businesses as well as individual economic units need access to varying forms of both short term and long term financing to expand their businesses. Also, efficient and proper functioning financial markets imply operational, informational and allocation efficiencies. Operational efficiency exists when financial transactions or service costs are reduced to the barest minimum. Thus, investors are able to pay the lowest fees to earn a descent profit. Informational efficiency implies that, the prices of financial market instruments properly reflect all available information. Allocation efficiency is when capital is channelled and distributed to its very best use. Financial market participants are able to use accurate and available market information to make informed decision about how to allocate financial resources. Therefore, financial institutions thrive on the existence of reliable information to channel capital to the sectors of the economy where they can be put to best use. Financial and economic literature contends that an important source of market failure is information asymmetrywhen parties of an economic relationship have unequal level of information. In markets where one party has superior knowledge of a relationship than others, it may lead to adverse selection and moral hazard problems. This could result in mistrust and eventual discontinuity of vital financial services. Thus, to curb these problems, certain institutions have sprung up to facilitate financial transactions by providing reliable information in the financial markets. One key institution of this sort is credit rating or credit referencing agency. Their existence is very critical for financial market development in any economy. Credit reference agencies provide avenue for the independent assessment of firms or individuals credit quality. Credit reference bureaus (CRBs) facilitate credit information sharing among financial institutions. Such agencies are able to use verifiable information to thoroughly assess a units borrowing history, repayment characteristics, cash flow position among others. These vital information are able to assist them to form an opinion or predict the current and future credit worthiness of individuals and entities. It is very obvious that, the free flow of reliable and credible information ensures transparency and fairness which are very critical for the development of financial markets. In line with this, the Bank of Ghana enacted the Credit Reporting Act, 2007 (Act 726) in the latter part of 2007 which eventually paved way for the operation of credit reference bureaus in Ghana. Consequently, XDS Data credit referencing bureau fully commenced operation in 2010 as Ghanas first credit referencing bureau. .Along the line, two others, Hudson Price Credit Bureau and Dun and Bradstreet Credit Bureau limited also began operations in Ghana. Have they lived up to expectation? Given that the presence of well-functioning credit referencing bureaus reduces asymmetric information and its associated problems in financial markets, we expect an improvement in the credit delivery, easy access to credit and reduction in banks non-performing loans following the advent of CRBs in Ghana. The presence of CRBs in the financial market presents a win-win situation for financial institutions on one hand and borrowers on the other hand. Financial institutions get credit information on prospective borrowers that can facilitate processing of credit requests to reduce the risks of bad debts. On the borrowers side, a good credit record provides an incentive for competitive pricing of loan facilities. Several studies have shown that credit reference bureaus reduce borrowing cost and bad loans to some extent. In the Ghanaian context, several concerns need to be addressed after years into their operations. Questions pertaining to visibility of their operations, how efficient they have been, the extent to which their services are used by the banks and how their activities are reducing credit risks are yet to be answered. It is very surprising to know that majority of financial institutions relationship managers are oblivious of the existence of such institutions, and the few ones that are aware have deficient information on the activities of these reference bureaus. Regarding the number of financial institutions that are subscribing to their services, studies have shown that some of the financial institutions are very reluctant to engage in information sharing with the credit referencing bureaus for fear of their major customers being poached by other financial institutions. Not only does this development affect the operations of the credit reference bureaus, it also reduces the pool of credible information at their disposal from which other financial institutions can tap. Thus, this lackadaisical attitude of some financial institutions to share information with the credit referencing agencies may deepen the already existing information asymmetry problem. Access to credit facility remains a major problem especially among the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), retail businesses and individuals despite the operation of credit reference bureaus. This contradicts the general notion that the existence of credit referencing bureaus improves access to credit. Over 80% of Ghanaian businesses are in the informal sector where poor business record keeping is prevalent. This to some extent explains why access to credit by SMEs and retail businesses are very difficult. Besides they are also not aware of the activities of these credit reference bureaus which they can utilize to improve their access to credit and reduce their borrowing cost. Non-performing loans in the banking sector has witnessed some interesting trends following the commencement of the activities of credit reference bureaus in Ghana. It can be observed form the graph that prior to the activities of credit reference bureaus in Ghana in 2010, non-performing loans were increasing unabatedly. Following the commencement of their operations, non-performing loans decreased yearly till 2014. These initial gains were reversed from 2015 to 2017 before falling in 2018. Though the rise in non-performing loans in 2017 can be partly ascribed to the banking sector cleansing which led to the revocation of the operating licences of some banks, it can be inferred that the activities of the credit reference bureaus are having significant positive impact on the non-performing loans in the financial sector. Ghana-Non-Performing Loans Trend in Ghana Source: www.theglobaleconomy.com, The World Bank What is the way forward? The presence of credit referencing bureaus in Ghana is gradually having impact on financial market development through the improvement in credit delivery. Nevertheless, their activities are fraught with a number of limitations which need to be addressed as a matter of urgency so that they can fully perform their role in reducing information asymmetry for better financial market development. Firstly, Bank of Ghana should fully enforce the provisions of the Credit Reporting Act 2007, (Act 726) which paved way for the operation of credit reference bureaus in Ghana. Financial institutions should be mandated to share information on the credit history of their borrowers to the credit references agencies. Violators in this regard should be made to face the full rigours of the law. Financial institutions should be admonished to embrace the bigger picture and stop harbouring the fear that they can lose their major customers to competitive financial institutions. The passage of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) is meant to protect the privacy and personal data of individuals. Non-compliance with the provisions of the Act is an offence which may attract civil liability or criminal sanctions or both depending on the magnitude of the infraction. Thus, being guided by this act, credit reference bureaus therefore cannot be disclosing private and confidential information about customers except disclosure within their mandate as prescribed by law. Financial institutions should therefore be rest assured that information sharing with the credit referencing bureaus will allure to their ultimate benefit. In a hypothetical example, lets assume that customer A goes to borrow from Bank X and goes to Bank Y for another credit. These two institutions share the credit history with the credit reference agencies. Customer A again goes to Bank Z for another loan request, should Bank Z resort to the credit reference bureau for information on customer A, quickly they will know the credit history and base on that, Bank Z can reduce its single obligor limit to customer A. This would not put undue pressure on customer A who is already saddled with loans from the other two banks. The overall effect is that customer A can honour his or her payment obligation to all the banks which will reduce the possibility of the loans going bad with these institutions. Secondly, public education should be intensified on the importance of credit referencing bureaus in the development of financial markets. Financial institutions and borrowers should be encouraged to use their services. This will reduce lending premiums and reward borrowers of good credit quality with good lending rates whiles bad borrowers in the financial market are also exposed. Also, the credit reference bureaus should be empowered to source information about businesses and individuals independent of the ones provided to them by the financial institutions. This will enable them to have a comprehensive view of potential customers and better assess their credit worthiness. Also, this will enable them to have information on businesses and individuals with no borrowing history to better assess them during their first credit request from the financial institutions. Conclusion Credit reference bureaus play a vital role in financial market development by mitigating asymmetric information and its associated problems in financial markets. This facilitates efficient allocation of capital to the productive sectors of the economy. Thus, their activities should be given the much needed attention to better leverage on the numerous benefits they present for financial market development. About the Authors: Daniel TAYLOR Bernard SARPONG Daniel TAYLOR is a Chartered Accountant with years of treasury experience in the banking sector. He holds certification from The Financial Markets Association (ACI) and Bachelor of Commerce Degree from University of Cape Coast. He is currently a final year Master student in International Audit, Economics and Finance at UCA in France. Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-taylor-ca-aci-bcom-0b62a41a0 Bernard SARPONG is young Economist with research focus on Development, Financial and Monetary policies for inclusive growth in Emerging and Frontier Economies. He holds both Master of Philosophy and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Ghana. He is currently a Fixed Income and Money Market Dealer at Republic Bank Ghana Ltd. Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernard-sarpong-61a332146 Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are exclusive to the authors and do not represent those of their respective institutions. Welcome to Morningstar.co.uk! You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details. Biotechnology company Moderna has said that the preliminary findings of its test for coronavirus vaccine development have shown favourable results. The experimental vaccine appears to be safe and able to trigger an immune response against the infection, Moderna said on Monday. According to global news agency Reuters, the coronavirus vaccine led to production of protective antibodies among a small group of healthy participants. Moderna also said that the vaccine tried on eight people so far must now be repeated in a larger number of people so as to find out its efficacy in the real world. The vaccine is among over 100 others being developed worldwide to fight against coronavirus pandemic. The technology used by Moderna involving genetic material from the virus called mRNA is comparatively new. Even as the experimental vaccine showed positive results in the first phase of the trial, there is possibility of many glitches when tested on a bigger subject group, said infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security, Dr Amesh Adalja. "We are investing to scale up manufacturing so we can maximise the number of doses we can produce to help protect as many people as we can from SARS-CoV-2," Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel said in a statement. "The Moderna team continues to focus on moving as fast as safely possible to start our pivotal Phase 3 study in July and, if successful, file a BLA," he added. The biotechnology firm signed agreements with Swiss contract drugmaker Lonza Group AG and the US government to produce massive quantities of its coronavirus vaccine. Meanwhile, shares of Moderna Inc rallied over 30 per cent in the intraday trade Monday after the drugmaker said that its experimental coronavirus vaccine showed promise in a small early-stage trial. Moderna stock has more than tripled since February and risen 240 per cent in the year through Monday's close. Also read: Lockdown 4.0 Live Updates: Buses, autos, cabs open, malls, metro, flights shut; India COVID-19 cases-1,01,139 Also read: Taking HCQ for about 'a week and a half' to protect against COVID-19: Trump The Bombay high court on Tuesday refused to interfere in the March 25 decision of the high power committee set up to decide on releasing prisoners on temporary bail and parole based on the directions of the Supreme Court to decongest jails to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The HC has directed one of the four petitioners who had challenged the classification of prisoners by the HPC to file a fresh petition which would include the outcome of a May 11 representation by the petitioner before the HPC. A division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice SS Shinde while hearing the petitions filed by four persons, incarcerated for various crimes under special enactments sought setting aside the March 25 decision of the HPC to not extend the benefit of interim bail or parole to persons booked under special acts. The petitioners had claimed that as the decision of HPC was discriminatory it should be set aside and persons punished or awaiting trial for crimes under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act (MPID), Unlawful Activist Prevention Act (UAPA) and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) should also be given interim bail or parole. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, on March 23 the Supreme Court had issued directives to decongest jails and directed state HPCs to decide on which prisoners or undertrials could be released. On Tuesday, when the four petitions came up for hearing the court was informed by senior advocate Satish Talekar that on May 11 the HPC while hearing a representation had refused to budge from its March 25 decision to not allow persons booked under special acts to be given interim bail or parole. Talekar said that even though some of the crimes under the special acts had a punishment in the form of paying a minimal fine, the accused were being denied interim bail/parole. The bench, however, said that it was not inclined to interfere with the HPC decision and disposed of the petition with a liberty to the petitioners to file a fresh petition by including May 11 decision of the HPC. Similarly in the petition filed by Humayun Merchant, an aide of former don Iqbal Mirchi through advocate Dr Sujay Kantawala, the court was informed that Merchant was booked under the PMLA Act. He had filed bail applications in both the sessions court and high court and had also challenged the March 25 decision of the HPC in the high court. After hearing the submissions the court held that he could not pursue a similar cause in different courts and dismissed his petition with the liberty to pursue bail proceedings in one of the courts. N ancy Pelosi today led the warnings against Donald Trump's "dangerous" behaviour after he admitted taking the controversial malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in a bid to stop contracting coronavirus. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, the US President told how he has been taking the drug once a day "for about a week and a half", despite repeated warnings from US public health officials that its effect remains largely unknown, and that it should only be given in a hospital or research setting. Mr Trump, who has pushed hydroxychloroquine publicly on several occasions as a potential cure for coronavirus, told reporters on Monday: "I started taking it, because I think it's good... I've heard a lot of good stories." But his comments prompted a chorus of alarm, with Ms Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, raising concerns for the "morbidly obese" president amid the unproven treatment of the drug against Covid-19. Asked about Mr Trump's comments in an interview on CNN, Ms Pelosi said: "As far as the President is concerned, he's our President and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group that is... morbidly obese, they say." Based on the results of Mr Trump's last heath check, he does not officially qualify as morbidly obese. David Aronoff, infectious diseases chief at Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville, also reiterated concerns that hydroxychloroquine can cause potentially serious heart rhythm problems even in healthy people. He added that people should not infer from Mr Trumps example that its an approved approach or proven. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer echoed Ms Pelosi's concerns and called Mr Trumps remarks dangerous. Maybe hes really not taking it because the president lies about things characteristically, Mr Schumer said on MSNBC. Chuck Schumer said Mr Trump's remarks on the controversial malaria drug were 'dangerous' / REUTERS I dont know whether he is taking it or not. I know him saying he is taking it, whether he is or not, is reckless, reckless, reckless. In the UK, former government chief scientific adviser Sir David King told Good Morning Britain that Mr Trump's advice should be "ignored". I think he speaks from the top of his head and every word he says should be ignored in terms of advice," he said. Im sorry but this is not the pronouncements of a person who is listening to the scientists. He is making it up as he goes along. GP Rosemary Leonard warns people not to take Hydroxychloroquine Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey also told BBC Breakfast: I think it surprised a lot of people last night when President Trump announced this. However, that really is a matter between him and his clinician rather than the government of the UK. Dr Rosemary Leonard added that the malaria drug is "prescription only medicine" and that the drug is "not harmless". Donald Trump revealed he is taking hydroxuchloroquine as treatment against Covid-19 / Getty Images Pressed on whether President Trumps actions were irresponsible as a world leader, she replied: I really think its a matter between him and his clinician which I do not want to comment on. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Associatio, warned that for studies around the use of the malaria drug, "the results to date are not promising". There is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine is effective for the treatment or the prevention of Covid-19," said Mr Harris. The Food and Drug Administration had warned health professionals last month that the drug should not be used to treat Covid-19 outside hospital or research settings, due to sometimes fatal side effects. Coronavirus infecting a cell - In pictures 1 /9 Coronavirus infecting a cell - In pictures Coronavirus infecting a cell EPA An image captured and color-enhanced at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA and made available by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows a colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (red) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow) EPA The SARS-COV-2 virus begin the infection process of cytoplasm of the cell, inside which is the nucleus, responsible for storing the genetic material of the cell EPA Tthe SARS-COV-2 virus particles after infection and viral replication inside the cell (white circle in the left corner) EPA A series of dark spots, which are viral particles of the SARS-COV-2 virus, trying to infect the cytoplasm of the cell, inside which is the nucleus, responsible for storing the genetic material of the cell EPA An arrow pointing to a novel coronavirus particle attached to cell membranes, displaying its typical glycoprotein spike 'corona' on the viral surface (issued 02 April 2020), seen in an electron microscope image, the first black and white portrait of the SARS-CoV2 virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease EPA An image captured and color-enhanced at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA and made available by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) shows a colorized scanning electron micrograph of an apoptotic cell (purple) heavily infected with SARS-COV-2 virus particles (yellow) EPA Regulators issued the alert for the drug, which can also be used to treat lupus and arthritis, after receiving reports of heart rhythm problems, including deaths, from poison control centres and other health providers. Studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that the malaria drug was ineffective when it comes to combatting the virus. Fox News, which is often the network of choice for Mr Trump's supporters, also warned their viewers against taking the drug. Anchor Neil Cavuto, who has multiple sclerosis and other health issues, said: "This is a leap that should not be taken casually by those watching at home or assuming, well, the President of the United States says it's okay." He urged viewers of the network to "be very, very, careful". Mr Trump responded by reposting a series of Tweets which labelled Mr Cavuto "irresponsible" and "gullible". Mr Trump said that the White House doctor did not recommend hydroxychloroquine to him. He added that he requested the drug from his own doctor. The White House physician Sean Conley said in a statement released through the White House press office that after numerous discussions with Mr Trump about the evidence for and against using hydroxychloroquine we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks. At least two White House employees tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, sparking concerns about steps taken by the administration to protect the president and sending vice president Mike Pence and other officials into varying forms of self-isolation. The White House has since mandated that those in the West Wing wear face coverings and has introduced daily testing for the president, vice president and those they come in close contact with. Mr Trump had an interim check-up in a November visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre that was not noted on his public schedule. His last complete physical was in February 2019. Hydroxychloroquine remains unproven as a treatment for coronavirus in clinical trials. Several studies in various countries have found that it provides no benefit to coronavirus patients and may have side effects. No cure has yet been found for Covid-19. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 19:59:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HEFEI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- On a rainy afternoon, Zhou Yumei accompanied a philanthropist to Jinzhai Hope Primary School, China's first primary school built under Project Hope, to look for 15 pupils for a free summer camp in Beijing. With the goal of ensuring students in poverty-stricken areas enjoy greater access to education, the Project Hope was launched in 1989 by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China and the China Youth Development Foundation. Tucked away deep in the mountains, Jinzhai Hope Primary School was founded on May 19, 1990 in Nanxi Township, Jinzhai County of east China's Anhui Province. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the school. "Before the two-story building was erected, the school was originally in an old ancestral hall," said Yu Gan, a teacher at the school for 37 years. "When the new school was ready, the students rushed into the classrooms with roars of laughter, and were excited to find that it had access to electricity. Some of them wouldn't get up from the new chairs and desks. I wrote a lot on the new blackboard that day, much more than usual," recalled Yu. But the building of the new school was no panacea. Like many students in the 1990s, Zhou was forced to drop out of school several times due to poverty. Jinzhai was an important revolutionary base for the Communist Party of China and was where a major branch of the Red Army was founded. However, its remote location and poor transportation facilities had held it back as one of the most impoverished areas in China. "I had to quit school for the first time at the age of 11 because my family couldn't afford the tuition. I later found a job at a restaurant to wash dishes," said Zhou, who is now 36. About a month later, she received a call from the school and was told someone was willing to pay her tuition. It was an entrepreneur from south China's Guangdong Province, who donated 400 yuan (about 56 U.S. dollars) through Project Hope to Zhou. "After the establishment of the school, donations started to pour in from all over China, including money, clothing and school supplies such as pens and books," said Jiang Huai, the principal. However, even with the funds from Project Hope, Zhou still "needed to climb the mountains to collect firewood and sold it for money" to continue her education. "Going to school was a luxury at that time. Our family of five lived in a crude thatched hut which leaked on rainy days," Zhou said. In junior high school, when Zhou was on the brink of being pulled out of school again, a civil servant from neighboring Jiangsu Province lent a hand. "I wrote the donor a letter, vowing never to quit school and pay him back when I grow up. He also wrote back to encourage me," she said. "We never met, but he influenced me a lot." Zhou eventually finished high school in 2002 and went to Shanghai after graduation. After trying various jobs, she finally settled down at a manufacturing company and took eight years to rise from an assembly line worker to vice chairperson, the quickest ever in the company. In her spare time, Zhou is a public welfare activist. In 2016, she gave up her job and returned to her hometown to concentrate on the cause of Project Hope. "When I was a child, I often sat in the hills and looked into the distance, hoping that one day I could go out. Now my dream has come true, but eventually I decided to come back," she said. Official data showed that as of September 2019, Project Hope had received over 15.2 billion yuan in donations since its establishment, aided nearly 6 million students in financial difficulty, and built 20,195 primary schools across China. As for Zhou, her team has helped more than 2,000 children since 2016. She is now also the mother of an adopted girl. More than 5,400 students have graduated from Jinzhai Hope Primary School over the past 30 years, and many have taken up professions such as teachers, doctors and journalists. The school was renovated in 2004 and has expanded into a five-story modern building. "Nowadays, there are almost no kids dropping out of school because of poverty. What we're doing now is to bring them more care, give them a good education and a happy childhood," she said. Enditem Have Sheriff Offices in North Carolina, possibly even Beaufort County's Sheriff Office, become too political in the discharging of their sworn constitutional duties? No, the sheriff is a constitutional officer. Yes, the Sheriff Office, on strong occasion, often reverts back to political patronage in the dispensation of their sworn constitutional duties. New Jersey auto dealerships and bicycle shops will once again be allowed to conduct in-person sales starting Wednesday morning the latest reopening step Gov. Phil Murphy has announced as the states coronavirus outbreak continues to show signs of slowing and the states economy continues to suffer. Murphy said Tuesday that car and motorcycle dealerships and bicycle shops are permitted to resume in-person sales at 6 a.m. Wednesday, with precautions. State officials continue to call for residents to practice social distancing and to wear masks when they visit stores in person. We know this is an important step for dealerships and for people who need access to transportation, and it is, unquestionably, another step forward on our road back, Murphy said during his daily coronavirus briefing in Trenton. In-person sales at car dealerships have been banned for nearly two months during the pandemic, though remote and online sales have been allowed. While DMV offices are closed, residents who buy a vehicle from a dealership can register them online. Those who buy a car from a private individual cannot. Murphy stressed Tuesday that residents should not expect him to announce new reopening plans every day. But, he added, we are constantly war-gaming a whole range of decisions. If the curves keep going in the right direction, well continue to try to take those steps as responsibly and as quickly as we think we can, the governor said. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage New Jersey, a densely populated state of 9 million residents, announced 162 new deaths attributed to COVID-19, with 1,055 new cases, on Tuesday. The state has reported at least 10,586 total deaths attributed to COVID-19, with at least 149,013 total cases, since the outbreak started March 4. Only New York has more deaths and cases among American states. About 41% of deaths have been of residents or staff at longterm care facilities, including nursing and veterans homes. Meanwhile, more than half of all victims have had underlying medical conditions. Officials have said the number of daily new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations in the state continues to drop after two months of near-lockdown orders. There were 977 COVID-19 patients in New Jerseys hospitals as of 10 p.m. Monday the first time that number has been below 1,000 since the state started tracking hospitalizations in early April. In recent days, Murphy has allowed state and county parks to reopen with social-distancing restrictions, permitted nonessential retail businesses to offer curbside pickup, and said beaches, boardwalks, and lakes can be open this summer with guidelines. And he said Tuesday restaurants may be able to serve diners outdoors and nonessential businesses could let shoppers in stores within a matter of weeks." On Monday, Murphy outlined a broader multi-stage reopening plan and said the state is currently in Stage 1. He didnt provide hard dates for when stages 2 (additional activities allowed, with restrictions) and 3 (most activities allowed, with restrictions) will happen. But he said Stage 2 could happen within weeks if the downward coronavirus trends continue. The governor also said the state can move past Stage 3 and into a new normal only after theres a vaccine or widespread effective treatment. Nearly 1.1 million residents have filed for unemployment since mid-March, and many say theyve been waiting for weeks to get paid and have struggled with the states busy phone and online systems. The state government is predicting $10 billion in tax revenue losses through next year, and Murphy has warned of massive public-worker layoffs if the state doesnt get more federal aid. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of emergency situations informs that on May 19, as of 08:30, the roads across Armenia are mainly passable. The ministry told Armenpress that only the road leading to the Amberd Fortress will be difficult to pass, and the road to Lake Kari will remain closed for uncertain time. The Georgian side reported that the Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open only for trucks. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan All of the winners of the Childrens Books Ireland Awards are women. The five women include writers and illustrators of verse novels and Irish language books. Maire Zepf, Northern Ireland's first Children's Writing Fellow, won the coveted Book of the Year Award for her verse novel, Noinin. She tells the dark story of the online grooming of a shy teenage girl who falls for a boy she meets online. When she goes to meet him she never returns. The judges said it is a very modern and accessible tale of the dangers of social media. Sarah Crossan Ireland's former Laureate na nOg, Sarah Crossan, won the Honour Award for Fiction for her verse novel, Toffee. Her book is about the relationship between a teenage girl, who has run away from her abusive father, and an elderly woman with dementia, who mistakes her for a close childhood friend. The judges found that complex themes of identity, child and elder abuse, memory loss, loneliness and connection are explored with sensitivity, honesty, warmth and respect. Ashling Lindsay won the Honour Award for Illlustration for her artwork in The Tide, written by Clare Helen Welsh. The judges remarked on the exquisite illustrations in the book, a poignant portrayal of a young girl coming to an understanding of her grandfather's memory loss. Kim Sharkey won the Ellis Dillon Award for her first children's book, Mor agus Muilc, two strange characters who are joined by others in a dance towards their doom. The judges describe the retelling in picture and text of an unusual and dark tale as stylish, quirky and admirably faithful to the oral Irish tradition. Kim Sharkey Meg Ryan received the Judges' Special Award for The Deepest Breath, a verse novel about a girl exploring emerging sexual identity, friendship and love. The judges describe the verse novel as thoughtful, exquisitely gentle and heart-rendering. The new Reading Hero Award was presented to Harry Darcy, 11, a young reader from Gorey, Co Wexford. His best friend, Rossa Comerford, 11, nominated Harry for the award because Harry always had his head in a book no matter where he is. Meg Grehan Reading and rugby are Harry's two favourite things, and he has been known to do both together. He reads on the subs' bench at matches while waiting to take to the field and he could not resist dipping into a book at his birthday party. Teachers, parents, guardians, relatives, friends and librarians were asked to nominate their reading hero. The winners were announced by book-loving broadcaster, Rick O'Shea, and celebrated online for the first time in the award's 30 year history. The annual awards, sponsored by KPMG, recognise excellence in writing and illustration in Irish or English and are open to books by authors and illustrators who are born in Ireland, are permanently resident in the state or are Irish citizens. A panel of judges read 99 books submitted last year and a shortlist of 10 was announced in March. China will welcome India back to negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at an appropriate time, Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen said at a press conference on Monday, reported country's state media. Wang said talks on the regional free trade deal are proceeding smoothly, with participating members in intense discussions on a few remaining issues, the Global Times reported. The RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), namely, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and five of ASEAN's FTA partners--Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. India, which is also ASEAN's FTA partner, opted out of RCEP in November 2019. According to Global Times, if RCEP can be signed this year, it would reverse the negative impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on regional trade and investment. "Recognizing India as a valuable original participant, the 15 RCEP Participating Countries (RPCs) said they would welcome India's return to the negotiations, according to the joint statement of the 29th RCEP Trade Negotiating Committee (RCEP TNC) Meeting held via video conference in late April," the Global Times said in its report. Earlier in January this year, Union Minister Piyush Goyal had called RCEP an 'unbalanced agreement'. "RCEP was an unbalanced trade agreement, which was not fulfilling the guiding principles on which the RCEP was started. Therefore, India chose not to participate in it," Goyal had said in a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2020. Last year, India decided not to join the RCEP agreement as its key concerns were not addressed. The key issues behind India's decision not to be part of RCEP included inadequate protection against import surge, insufficient differential with China, possible circumvention of rules of origin, keeping the base year as 2014 and no credible assurances on market access and non-tariff barriers. (ANI) Also Read: J-K: Mobile internet services suspended in Srinagar following encounter LIVE updates of Cyclone Nivar (tracking). The very severe cyclonic storm has made landfall along the Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coast Hurricanes have become stronger worldwide during the past four decades, an analysis of observational data shows, supporting what theory and computer models have long suggested: Climate change is making these storms more intense and destructive. The analysis, of satellite images dating to 1979, shows that warming has increased the likelihood of a hurricane developing into a major one of Category 3 or higher, with sustained winds greater than 110 mph, by about 8% a decade. The trend is there and it is real, said James P. Kossin, a researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and lead author of the study, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Theres this remarkable building of this body of evidence that were making these storms more deleterious. Kerry Emanuel, a hurricane expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved in the study, said the findings were much in line with whats expected. When you see things going up all over the globe like that, the ducks are kind of in order, he said. But in the North Atlantic, where hurricane activity has increased in recent decades and storms have caused tens of billions of dollars of damage in the United States and the Caribbean, factors other than climate change may have played more of a role in the increase in intensity, Emanuel said. Physics suggests that as the world warms, hurricanes and other tropical cyclones should get stronger, because warmer water provides more of the energy that fuels these storms. And climate simulations have long showed an increase in stronger hurricanes as warming continues. But confirming that through observations has been problematic, because of the relatively small number of hurricanes every year and the difficulty of obtaining data on their wind speeds and other characteristics. Even in the United States, storms that do not potentially threaten populations are measured less than others. Were doing collectively a bad job of measuring tropical cyclones around the world, Emanuel said. Weve all believed we should see more intense hurricanes. But its very very tricky to find it in the data. Kossin and his colleagues got around the limitations by using satellite images of storms worldwide and using computers to interpret them with a long-accepted pattern-matching algorithm, or set of instructions. They had done this before, in a study published in 2013, but that analysis only included imagery from 1982 to 2009 and the findings, while similar, were not statistically significant. In the new study the researchers extended the data set by 11 years, using imagery from 1979 to 2017. The first time through we found trends but they hadnt risen to the level of confidence that we would require, Kossin said. The findings of the new study are statistically significant. This is saying, OK now, the historical observations are also in agreement with the theory and models, he added. The study looked at tropical storms worldwide because that provided a lot more data than looking at those in just one region. And every region has natural variability or other factors that can affect storm intensity and make it more difficult to tease out the effects of warming. When you look at the picture globally, it tends to wash away that regional variability, Kossin said. The trend rises above the noise. The North Atlantic has seen increased hurricane activity in recent decades, by a measure that combines intensity with other characteristics like duration and frequency of storms. On Thursday, NOAA will issue its forecast of activity for this season, which officially runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Forecasts by other organizations have suggested that this year may be an active one. But the North Atlantic is one region where climate change may be overshadowed by other factors, Emanuel said. We do see clear signals and strong trends in the North Atlantic, he said. The problem is we cant uniquely attribute that to greenhouse gases. Some scientists say that long-term natural variability in sea surface temperatures, on a time scale of decades, has played the major role in affecting North Atlantic storm activity. Others say that mandated reductions in sulfur emissions from fossil-fuel burning over the past few decades may be more important, by affecting ocean temperatures through a series of atmospheric connections. Whatever the main factors are, the study suggests that climate change will play a long-term role in increasing the strength of storms in the North Atlantic and elsewhere, Kossin said. Planning for how to mitigate the effect of major storms must take this into account. From a short time scale, these trends are not going to change the risk landscape, Kossin said. But over the long term, he said, the risk landscape could change, and in a bad way, not in a good way. c.2020 The New York Times Company 97464342_SOUTHPORTEU.jpg Boris Johnson has been accused of hypocrisy over new immigration laws that will bar the type of low-paid migrant care workers who have safeguarded the elderly during the coronavirus crisis. Labour and a former Conservative immigration minister Caroline Nokes both urged the Government to adopt a more nuanced and intelligent approach to such workers rather than branding them as unskilled. They were backed by an ICM poll which showed more than six in ten members of the public said they valued care workers and other low-paid staff more since the Coronavirus outbreak - and believed the Government should make exemptions to allow them into the UK after Brexit. The disclosures came as MPs debated the Government new immigration Bill which will end free movement from EU from January 1 next year, at the end of this years transition period. It will introduce a points-based system that will expand the number of skilled workers who can come from the EU and the rest of the world but ends migration to the UK by unskilled workers. The system sets a salary threshold of 25,600 a year below which migrants can only earn extra points the may need if they are in shortage areas and earn over a minimum of 20,480, which excludes most care workers, shop workers, NHS ancillary staff and construction workers. Nick Thomas-Symonds, shadow home secretary, said: It is rank hypocrisy towards our NHS and care workers over 180,000 in England and Wales alone to stand and clap for them on a Thursday night, and then tell them that they are not welcome in the UK on a Monday. He said the Bill would make workers in the NHS and the care sector feel unwelcome in this country, as well as labelling retail workers, carers, local government workers, refuse collectors, and many more as 'low skilled'. These are the very same workers who have been keeping this country running throughout the crisis. This Bill creates a threat to our national interest. Story continues It risks the NHS not being able to fill the desperately needed roles for trained nurses and care home workers at the very moment when we rely on the NHS most. Ms Nokes said she supported ending freedom of movement by January 1st next year to fulfil the majority vote in the 2016 referendum but urged the Government to proceed with caution and a phased approach. She said that even with the scale of unemployment anticipated after the coronavirus crisis, there was no guarantee that British workers would fill the gaps left by so-called unskilled staff in fields such as social care. Earlier she also cautioned: It is a mistake to refer to people who are working in the care industry, construction, road haulage, people who are stacking those supermarket shelves who we have been so reliant on over the past six weeks to feed ourselves to call them unskilled. I think it is always a mistake to call them unskilled. They may not have graduate qualifications, they may not be earning over 25 thousand pounds a year, that does not mean they are unskilled. Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, said the Government had moved to support foreign health care workers during the coronavirus pandemic by extending their visas and waiving the health surcharge. This included doctors, nurses, paramedics, midwives, radiographers, social workers and pharmacists. She said the Government was working on long-term plans to tackle social care, which had already received an extra 1.5 billion. However, she warned that the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) said the immigration system was not the sole solution to problems in social care. The ICM poll found 61 per cent of the public believed there should be exceptions for care workers and nurses from any blanket salary threshold. Sunder Katwala, Director of thinktank British Future, which commissioned the poll, said: The Government will need to strike the right balance too and accept that peoples value isnt determined by their salary level. Dreamstime, HO / TNS A Newton Police Department officer was life-flighted to a hospital after a suspect hit his vehicle head on with a stolen sheriffs unit, police say. A Newton County Sheriff deputy stopped a car near the courthouse on a welfare concern, according to a news release from the sheriffs office. "'Obamagate.' It's been going on for a long time." President Donald Trump's repeated claims that his predecessor engaged in something illegal - without giving details on what that might be - were dismissed on Monday by his own attorney general, who said an ongoing review of the FBI's handling of the investigation into Russia's election interference was unlikely to lead to a criminal investigation of former President Barack Obama or former Vice President Joe Biden. "As to President Obama and Vice President Biden, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don't expect Mr. Durham's work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man. Our concern over potential criminality is focused on others," said U.S. Attorney General William Barr. At Barr's request, federal prosecutor John Durham is reviewing the origins of the 2016 election interference probe. Trump in recent weeks has attempted to rebrand that investigation as an alleged criminal plot to damage his presidency, and the allegations reached a fever pitch during a blitz of 120 tweets and retweets on May 10, Mother's Day. The next day, Trump was asked to clarify his allegations. REPORTER: "What is the crime, exactly, that you're accusing him of? TRUMP: "You know what the crime is. The crime is very obvious to everybody. All you have to do is read the newspapers, except yours." Trump has stepped up claims of what he calls "Obamagate" as he faces criticism for his administration's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and prepares to face Biden in the November election. After Barr's announcement on Monday, Trump said he was surprised that Barr did not expect the Justice Department review to lead to a criminal probe into his political rivals. REPORTER: "What do you think of Mr. Barr's decision?" TRUMP: "Well, I think if it was me, they would do it. I think for them, maybe they're not going to. I don't know. I'm surprised because Obama knew everything that was happening... As far as Biden is concerned, that I can't tell you. Only he knows what he knows. I don't think he knows too much. But I think Obama and Biden knew about it. They were participants. But... So I'm a little surprised by that statement." Some of Barr's critics may have been surprised, too, as many of them have accused the U.S. attorney general of politicizing the justice system in favor of Trump allies. Earlier this month, he moved to dismiss the criminal charges against Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had already pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. And in February, he intervened to recommend a lighter sentence for Trump's longtime friend Roger Stone. Sales Aspendale It took just eight days for 43 Nepean Highway to sell. It fetched $1.8 million in a deal brokered by Commercial Bureau's Gideon Marcus, in conjunction with Bella Charlton. The 881 sq m property which has direct beach access was hotly contested by neighbours, water seekers, and developers, Mr Marcus said. Bowna An Albury based professional couple has snapped up the farm and family lifestyle holding, Old Toonallook, at 1233 Wymah Road. Rodwells Ruralco Property's Dave Colvin said Old Toonallock's history dated back to 1870 when it was a Cobb & Co stabling point. The restored 50 plus sq m homestead and 104 hectares farm sold around $2.5 million, "within the pre-sale estimation," he said. President Ho Chi Minh with the people of Nghe An on June 14, 1957, his first visit home in 50 years. It was during this visit, he declared: "I am a son of Nghe An who has been away from home for 50 years. Normally, people have mixed feelings when coming back home after such a long time: they would be happy but at the same time feel self-pity for missing events and developments that occurred when they were gone. But in my case, all I feel now is happiness because when I left, our hometown, our country were still under the reign of colonialists and our people were slaves. Now we have our freedom." [May 18, 2020] Excelra to Provide Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory With Small Molecule Medicinal Chemistry Intelligence Data to Help Develop Drug Design Platform HYDERABAD, India, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Under a three-year agreement, Excelra a leading global data and analytics company will provide Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) with GOSTAR, a small molecule medical chemistry intelligence database to aid drug design projects. The platform will support the aims of the Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine (ATOM) consortium, which seeks to reduce the drug discovery process from six years down to one year. Excelra will give LLNL (a member of the ATOM consortium) full access to GOSTAR a vast repository of approximately 8 million small molecule discovery compounds and ~40,000 preclinical/clinical candidates and approved drugs. In addition to periodic data updates, Excelra will also provide custom curation support and data preparation for AI/ML modelling on a need basis. GOSTAR is the world's largestsmall molecule medicinal chemistry intelligence platform that provides a comprehensive overview of millions of compounds, linking chemical structure to biological, pharmacological and therapeutic activities. It aids in early and optimization stages of drug discovery. Jonathan Allen, LLNL Bioinformatics Scientist and ATOM R&D Team Lead said: "Experimental data curated to support computational modeling work is a critical element of ATOM's pre-clinical discovery pipeline. We look forward to working with GOSTAR and leveraging Excelra's expertise to improve data-driven, small molecule property prediction." Raveendra Dayam, Director Chemistry Services, Excelra said: "GOSTAR allows discovery researchers navigate through known and quantified interactions of small molecules with drug targets representing the vast biological space. We are glad to partner with LLNL to support their drug design platform aimed at shortening drug discovery timelines." About ATOM : The Accelerating Therapeutics for Opportunities in Medicine (ATOM) consortium is a public-private partnership with the mission of transforming drug discovery by accelerating the development of more effective therapies for patients. ATOM's goal is to transform drug discovery from a slow, sequential, and high-failure process into a rapid, integrated, and patient-centric model. The consortium is integrating high performance computing, diverse biological data, and emerging biotechnologies to create a new pre-competitive platform for drug discovery. Visit www.atomscience.org About Excelra: Excelra's data and analytics solutions empower innovation in life sciences. The Excelra Edge comes from a seamless amalgamation of proprietary data assets, domain expertise and data science to accelerate drug discovery and development. Visit www.excelra.com Contact: Dorothy Paul Director Marketing Tel: +91-9908130236 [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/692189/Excelra_Logo.jpg SOURCE Excelra Knowledge Solutions Pvt Ltd [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New York, May 18, 2020 -- Authorities in South Africa should conduct a swift investigation into the beating of journalist Paul Nthoba and drop all charges against him, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 15, at least four police officers in Meqheleng, in Free State province, beat Nthoba, the owner and editor of the weekly Mohokare News local newspaper, who had photographed them while they were on patrol enforcing the areas COVID-19 lockdown, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ via messaging app. The officers later charged Nthoba with obstructing law enforcement under a COVID-19 regulation of the Disaster Management Act of 2002, he said. If convicted under that law, Nthoba could face a fine and up to six months in prison. Authorities must do the right thing and immediately drop the charge against Paul Nthoba, who was insulted and gratuitously assaulted by police for simply chronicling them at work, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. For the same officers to feel so emboldened that they could beat him again, this time in a police station in front of a senior officer when he sought to open an assault case, is beyond belief. Authorities must not let them get away with this violence and intimidation toward the press. Nthoba told CPJ that the incident began when he photographed police officers on patrol, and one of the officers insulted him and said an offensive slur about his mother. When Nthoba approached the officers, one slapped him across the face while three others punched and kicked him, saying he did not have permission to photograph them, Nthoba said. Nthoba recorded audio of the altercation on his phone. In the recording , reviewed by CPJ, the journalist is heard shouting and asking why the officers are assaulting him. One of the police officers can be heard slapping Nthoba and demanding he hand over his phone, and asking whether he wants another beating. Nthoba told CPJ that police grabbed his phone, but were unable to delete the photographs because it was password protected. After the attack, Nthoba went to the Ficksburg police station to file a complaint against the officers, he said. The same officers arrived at the station while Nthoba was giving a statement, and they again tried to confiscate his phone, he said. He tried to resist, and the officers proceeded to slap, punch, and kick him in the presence of a senior officer at the station, he told CPJ. The officers confiscated his phone, and the senior officer told Nthoba that he was wrong to have photographed the officers without permission, the journalist told CPJ. Officers detained Nthoba in the police station holding cell for four hours, released him after filing the charges against him, and returned his phone, he told CPJ. He is due to appear in court on August 27, he said. Nthoba said the police officers initially refused to give him a J88 form to document his assault, but relented after a friend, a retired police officer, intervened. He was examined at a local hospital and was treated for trauma, bruises, and swelling in his face, mouth, and head, as well as internal injuries, he said. Journalist Paul Nthoba. (Photo: Kekeletso Pitso) Journalist Paul Nthoba. (Photo: Kekeletso Pitso) Nthoba said he has gone into hiding as he feared for his safety and was worried police would further harm him. The journalists lawyer, Dan Thulo, told CPJ via messaging app that he planned to pursue a civil claim against the South Africa Police Service and national Police Minister Bheki Cele. National police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo told CPJ via messaging app that the Police Service was waiting for a report from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, a government watchdog, before we consider saying or doing anything regarding this matter. Sontaga Seisa, the spokesperson for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, confirmed via messaging app that the office had received a complaint against the Ficksburg police and had started investigating. He said the directorate had also been informed that police had pressed a charge against the journalist for failing to produce a COVID-19 work permit. Nthoba told CPJ that the police docket said he was facing an obstruction charge and did not mention a work permit. He said he does possess that permit, but police never asked to see it. Also on May 15, a Johannesburg high court criticized South Africas Defense Force and Police Service, as well as the accountable cabinet ministers, for their heavy-handedness in enforcing the countrys COVID-19 lockdown, according to news reports. Two of the victims in the Sunday night crash that killed five people, including a toddler, were students at the same Paterson school, the district superintendent said. One of the five people killed in a horrific crash on a Bergen County highway, Ayana Navas, 16, was a sophomore at the School of Education and Training, one of the four academies at the John F. Kennedy Education Complex, said Paul Brubaker, district spokesman. Another one of the victims, Irvina Gee, 20, was an alumna of the same city school, Superintendent Eileen F. Shafer said in a statement. A third victim, Michelle Toledo, 38, was Navas mother, Shafer said. Our hearts go out to the families of all who perished, she said. We pray for those who lost their lives, as well as for the families and friends who mourn them. Five people, including Gee, Navas and Toledo, were killed when the SUV they were in slammed into the back of a construction vehicle on Route 3 in Rutherford, leaving a scene of gnarled metal and debris on the Bergen County highway. All except for the toddler were Paterson residents, authorities said. The crash happened around 10:45 p.m. Sunday on Route 3 West, just west of the entrance ramp from Route 17 South, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella previously said in a statement. The five people were riding in a Nissan Rogue when they crashed into the back of a front-loader vehicle that was also headed west after it pulled onto the highway from a Route 17 south ramp. When officers arrived, they found the Nissan with severe front-end damage, the SUV ripped up from the impact. Emergency works briefly revived a 4-year-old who was also in the SUV. Along with Gee, Navas and Toledo, Sheckylle Chain, 23, was also killed in the crash. The 4-year-old, Noah Alexander Dejesus, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, later died from his injuries. The initial thought is that its simply an awful accident nothing criminal in nature, Rutherford police Chief John Russo told NJ Advance Media earlier on Monday. 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. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has largely been pilloried on social media and by national publications over his response to the coronavirus, while on the other coast, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has received praise for his response. Much of the DeSantis criticism stems from his decision to keep beaches open for spring break during the early days of the pandemic - inaction that came at a time when governors such as Newsom imposed strict shelter-in-place orders to slow the spread of the virus. When beaches in Jacksonville reopened in April, a number of social media hashtags such as #FloridaMorons began to circulate on Twitter, and the Washington Post published an op-ed titled, "In Florida, we love our beaches. Thanks to our governor, now we can die for them." When Florida began to reopen last week, DeSantis was criticized by media outlets, health experts and House Democrats for moving too quickly, while in California, Newsom received only small criticism for putting his own state in Stage 2 of its reopening plan a few days later. The casual observer may be led to believe the two governors' reopening plans differ wildly, but that casual observer would be wrong. Here's a comparison of California and Florida's responses to the coronavirus pandemic. The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers has announced the appointment of David Barkasy (pictured) as a producer at the firms Liberty Los Angeles Office. Barkasy resides in Charleston, S.C., and will establish a presence for The Liberty Company in South Carolina. He has more than 20 years of industry experience, and has previously held positions at USI, C.T. Lowndes & Company, and Mark Edward Partners. Barkasy specializes in the education, transportation and manufacturing industries. An artist who says she was hired by Jeffrey Epstein to paint nude portraits of his underage victims, has exclusively told DailyMail.com how Donald Trump ogled her while he visited the pedophile at his New York City office. Maria Farmer, the first woman to publicly accuse Epstein of sex abuse, claims Trump had to be ushered into another room with Epstein telling him: 'No, no, no, she's not here for you.' The 50-year-old said she was hired by Epstein soon after she graduated from The New York Academy of Art age 25, meeting Trump on the third day of working for the financier, who died in an apparent suicide last August. She said: 'It was nine o'clock at night and Epstein's office was entirely empty. I was [sitting] wearing running clothes, my legs were showing. '[Trump] walks in and I acknowledge him and he's just staring at my legs. I felt like I was his dinner, the way he was looking at me.' Maria Farmer says Donald Trump ogled her when he stopped by Jeffrey Epstein's New York City office, she exclusively told DailyMail.com. She was hired by Epstein soon after she graduated from The New York Academy of Art at age 25, meeting Trump on the third day of working for the financier The now 50-year-old said: 'It was nine o'clock at night and Epstein's office was entirely empty. I was sat wearing running clothes, my legs were showing. [Trump] walks in and I acknowledge him and he's just staring at my legs. I felt like I was his dinner, the way he was looking at me' Maria Farmer was one of the first to speak out against the late financier after she was allegedly sexually assaulted by Epstein and Maxwell in 1996, claiming she was introduced to the pair while a graduate student at the New York Academy of Art and ended up working for Epstein as an art consultant. Pictured: Farmer in 1996 just after she was allegedly assaulted by Epstein Farmer believes Epstein had two ulterior motives for her employment - for her to paint nude portraits of his victims. Pictured: This is one of the last pictures Farmer ever did for more than twenty years. She said she painted this at Les Wexner's property in Ohio, where she was allegedly assaulted by Maxwell and Epstein She continued: 'He assumed I was there for him, as Epstein walks in and says: ''No, no, no, she's not here for you,'', and they were smirking, and Epstein said: ''Go in there''. 'There was someone in there for him, I don't know who. This was my third day. I didn't have a clue what was going on, I thought maybe he was there for a meeting, but now I know - no one, who went into that office was there for a real reason.' Farmer added: 'When I reported it to the FBI the following year, I called him ''that game show host'', as he was so cheesy.' Farmer spoke to DailyMail.com about her ordeal at the hands of the pedophile and his alleged procurer Ghislaine Maxwell that she says has affected her life. She said was introduced to the pair by The New York Academy of Art's then-dean Eileen Guggenheim at Farmer's thesis show. Guggenheim allegedly persuaded Farmer to sell a piece of work to Epstein for half the price. Farmer accuses of Guggenheim of putting her in harm's way, claiming she even brought Farmer to Epstein's New Mexico ranch. She said: 'When we went to Zorro Ranch, [Guggenheim] asked me to sit on [Epstein's] lap and flirt with him, but I wouldn't. This is the dean, who made us and two others go on this so called ''retreat'' there. 'She was telling us to make sure you tell them how good they are - ''Do it for the academy, Maria''. Epstein would donate huge amounts of money, so she would provide girls.' Guggenheim has denied any wrongdoing. Farmer said she was introduced to Epstein and Maxwell by The New York Academy of Art's then-dean Eileen Guggenheim at Farmer's thesis show. Pictured: Farmer while studying at the school (left) and the year she claims she was assaulted by Epstein in 1996 (right) Guggenheim allegedly persuaded Farmer to sell a piece of work to Epstein for half the price. Pictured: Farmer in her 20s looking at a Van Gogh painting Farmer claimed Guggenheim urged her to sell Epstein her painting of a shirtless man gazing at a young woman - which was a homage to Edgar Degas' famous painting known as The Rape - for just $6,000. Pictured: The painting by Farmer that she says Epstein bought from her thesis show at the New York Academy of Art Activists have launched a petition to remove the New York Academy of Art's board chairman Eileen Guggenheim (pictured) after she allegedly made Farmer sell her rape-inspired painting to Epstein for half the price, a year before the young woman would go on to become a victim of the pedophile, DailyMail.com can disclose Epstein later offered Farmer a job as his personal art consultant and as a receptionist at his office on the Upper East Side, which happened to belong to Les Wexner, the billionaire businessman who mysteriously bankrolled Epstein's life as his one and only financial client. Farmer believes Epstein had two ulterior motives for her employment - for her to paint nude portraits of his underage victims and introduce Epstein to her 16-year-old sister Annie. Annie, now a doctor and therapist, also claims she was abused by Epstein. Farmer claims she saw Trump several times when she worked for Epstein, who only paid her $1,000 a month. Among the times she said she saw Trump was 'once with Ghislaine, then another time he was chatting with people in the office, this was 1995.' She added: '[Trump] never came and went from Epstein's house on 71st, he always came to Villard House, which was Wexner's old office, across the street from Victoria Secret's flagship store.' Farmer claims Trump's ex-wife Ivana was also a regular visitor, saying the billionaire's first wife 'went everywhere' with Maxwell. She continued: 'They were very, very good friends. Ivana was her best friend, that was creepy. Ivana was on QVC, selling jewelry at the time. Donald would be with Epstein, and Ivana with Ghislaine.' Farmer claims she saw Donald Trump several times when she worked for Epstein, who only paid her $1,000 a month. Among the times she said she saw Trump was 'once with Ghislaine, then another time he was chatting with people in the office, this was 1995' Farmer claims Trump's ex-wife Ivana was also be a regular visitor, saying the billionaire's first wife 'went everywhere' with Maxwell. She continued: 'They were very, very good friends. Ivana was her best friend. Donald would be with Epstein, and Ivana with Ghislaine' Farmer said she spent three months in isolation, rarely seeing anyone, and was told she couldn't leave the estate. Pictured: Farmer the year she was hired to work for Epstein Farmer said Ghislaine even gave her 'one of the cheap bracelets that Ivana was selling on QVC and I threw it in the bin.' Farmer said her relationship with Epstein and Maxwell came to a horrific end when she was allegedly sent to Wexner's 336-acre estate in New Albany, Ohio, as 'artist-in-residence'. In hindsight, Farmer said it seemed to be a ploy to ostracize her from her younger sister. Farmer said she spent three months in isolation, rarely seeing anyone, and was told she couldn't leave the estate. She explained: 'One time Epstein and Ghislaine were there and she came into my room wearing just a robe and told me: ''We are going to go into Jeffrey's room.'' 'My stomach sank. I wasn't their type, they went for women who looked very young, and I was 26 at the time. 'She said Jeffrey wants a foot massage, he had really gross feet, so I started touching them, and he was making all these groaning noises. 'I stopped and said: ''Am I hurting you? I'm not very good at this.'' 'He then told me to come and sit next to him, he was watching a math program. I sat down in between them.' Farmer said her relationship with Epstein and Maxwell came to a horrific end when she was allegedly sent to Wexner's 336-acre estate in New Albany, Ohio, as 'artist-in-residence', although Farmer said in hindsight it was a ploy to ostracize Farmer from her younger sister Farmer believes Epstein had two ulterior motives for her employment - one being that she would introduce Epstein to her 16-year-old sister Annie (pictured in 2019 after Epstein's arrest). Annie, now a doctor and therapist, also claims she was abused by Epstein She continued: 'They began assaulting me over my clothes at first, then inside, I don't remember some of it, as I was so terrified and just sat there like a doll, then I burst into tears.' After the alleged assault, Farmer said she went back to her quarters and blocked all the doors with any bits of furniture she could find. She claims when she looked through her items for photos of her sister semi-naked for an art piece she was working on, the photos had been stolen. Farmer said she was trapped at her lodgings for the next 12 hours until she was finally able to leave, but with a security guard allegedly telling her if she ever came back she wouldn't make it out alive. Farmer reported the assault and Epstein to the cops, with police and FBI reports seen by the New York Times backing up her claims of reporting the pedophile to the authorities. She eventually fled New York and moved around the country, renovating and flipping properties to make money, while giving her a place to live. Despite changing her number, from time to time, Farmer said she'd receive threats from Maxwell to keep her mouth shut. Farmer is currently fighting two rare cancers. She is suffering from a brain tumor that she believes was caused by stress from the alleged assault. She was also recently diagnosed with lymphoma, which has spread across her chest surrounding the heart. Farmer is currently fighting two rare cancers. She is suffering from a brain tumor that she believes was caused by stress. She was also recently diagnosed with lymphoma, which has spread across her chest surrounding the heart Farmer calls the 'family' of Epstein victims her 'Survival Sisters', who have empowered the 50-year-old to speak out after years in hiding. Farmer said: 'I love these women and I'm heartbroken for all of them. We have a WhatsApp group and communicate online, we're a family, it's everything, we are one. We call each other Survival Sisters, we have love, they set up this GoFundMe page for my medicine, as they don't want me to die' A GoFundMe page has been set up by fellow Epstein accusers and is being organized by Virginia Giuffre, who claims she had sex with Prince Andrew at the age of 17, a claim he has denied. They are hoping to raise $75,000 for life-saving treatment and a fifth of the total has already been raised, including a donation from Robert F Kennedy Jr. Farmer calls the 'family' of Epstein victims her 'Survival Sisters', who have empowered the 50-year-old to speak out after years in hiding. Farmer said: 'I love these women and I'm heartbroken for all of them. We have a WhatsApp group and communicate online, we're a family, it's everything, we are one. 'We call each other Survival Sisters, we have love, they set up this GoFundMe page for my medicine, as they don't want me to die.' She added: 'The Survival Sisters want me to live and I'm going to make sure I do. I can feel their love, it's so amazing, people are also giving a few dollars in donations, despite the times we're living in, I'm overwhelmed by their generosity.' Currently, at least 61 Epstein victims are in settlement talks with his estate regarding a victim's compensation fund, which is reportedly $100 million although Farmer says that it's significantly less, maybe just $80,000 each, and the estate only wants to pay out to girls underage at the time. Farmer said she needs the money for her cancer treatment and, if there's any leftover, to set up a foundation, but the most pressing situation is her health. Farmer believes a brain tumor that had wrapped around her head 'like an octopus' developed from the stress of dealing with the trauma of her past. She said: 'I had to carry dirty secrets for these people. They took my career, my life and health.' "Our industry is going to be transformed by how we leverage cellular biology and new tissue engineering to help the body repair itself, and replace damaged tissue from the impact of chronic and disabling diseases," said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, the chief executive officer of Hackensack Meridian Health. "Our goal is to back innovative evidence-based approaches and products. We are confident in the science, and solutions, EpiBone brings to the market." "We are proud of our work, and are excited to be working more closely with Hackensack Meridian Health," said Nina Tandon, Ph.D., MBA, the CEO and co-founder of EpiBone. "Our goal is to harness the power of regenerative medicine to help as many patients as possible, and having help from a world-class hospital system like Hackensack Meridian Health will only serve to expedite our work." EpiBone's Craniomaxillofacial, or EB-CMF, product is being tested in its first trials as a treatment for ramus continuity defects in the mandible (jaw). The company was granted Investigational New Drug clearance to proceed with a Phase I/II clinical trial of the product last May. EB-CMF is a living, anatomically correct bone graft made from a patient's own fat-derived stem cells. First, a CT scan of the patient's defect area leads to the creation of a bone scaffold. The patient's fat tissue is then extracted, from which stem cells are isolated, and expanded. The resulting cells are then seeded onto the scaffold within a bioreactor, where they are subjected to warmth, pressure, and a steady flow of nutrients all of which coaxes the stem cells to differentiate into osteoblasts, cells that begin to lay down new bone matrix. Once the graft has had a chance to mature in the bioreactor, it is then implanted into the patient's body, where it naturally integrates with the native bone. Pain, surgical and hospital time can all be potentially reduced when compared to other surgical options. With EpiBone's proprietary methods of creating a bespoke bone graft, bone missing because of genetic defects, traumatic injury, or lost through illness can be replaced. "I was trained to replace like with like, bone with bone. To be able to accomplish that task with the patient's own bone without harvesting and shaping it would be ideal," said Robert Morin, M.D., a specialist in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Hackensack Meridian Health. "Technology such as EpiBone's is tremendously exciting and will radically redefine approaches to procedures and treatments in the future." "The Bear's Den program continues to invest in exciting companies at the vanguard of medicine," said David Perlin, Ph.D., senior vice president and chief scientific officer of the Hackensack Meridian Health Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI). "This kind of transformative health venture is what we envisioned when we started planning for the CDI's Institute for Restorative Health." EpiBone is also exploring using the same technology to replace cartilage, and treat osteochondral injuries, among other applications. Launched in 2017, Bear's Den features a panel of experts, including Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert C. Garrett, leading physicians, key network executives, venture capitalists, patent attorneys, who gather regularly to vet proposals from entrepreneurs. The health network's novel incubator has vetted many products and strategies to streamline care delivery, reduce infections, lower hospital readmissions and help patients partner in their care with physicians. ABOUT HACKENSACK MERIDIAN HEALTH Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. Hackensack Meridian Health comprises 17 hospitals from Bergen to Ocean counties, which includes three academic medical centers Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, JFK Medical Center in Edison; two children's hospitals - Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital in Hackensack, K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital in Neptune; nine community hospitals Bayshore Medical Center in Holmdel, Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, Ocean Medical Center in Brick, Palisades Medical Center in North Bergen, Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge, Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy, Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, and Southern Ocean Medical Center in Manahawkin; a behavioral health hospital Carrier Clinic in Belle Mead; and two rehabilitation hospitals JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison and Shore Rehabilitation Institute in Brick. Additionally, the network has more than 500 patient care locations throughout the state which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, fitness and wellness centers, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers and physician practice locations. Hackensack Meridian Health has more than 34,100 team members, and 6,500 physicians and is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy, committed to the health and well-being of the communities it serves. The network's notable distinctions include having four hospitals among the top 10 in New Jersey by U.S. News and World Report. Other honors include consistently achieving Magnet recognition for nursing excellence from the American Nurses Credentialing Center and being named to Becker's Healthcare's "150 Top Places to Work in Healthcare/2019" list. The Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine at Seton Hall University, the first private medical school in New Jersey in more than 50 years, welcomed its first class of students in 2018 to its On3 campus in Nutley and Clifton. Additionally, the network partnered with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to find more cures for cancer faster while ensuring that patients have access to the highest quality, most individualized cancer care when and where they need it. Hackensack Meridian Health is a member of AllSpire Health Partners, an interstate consortium of leading health systems, to focus on the sharing of best practices in clinical care and achieving efficiencies. For additional information, please visit www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org. ABOUT EPIBONE: EpiBone, Inc. is a privately-held, clinical-stage regenerative medicine company focused on skeletal reconstruction. Sitting at the intersection of biology and engineering, the company harnesses the power of stem cells to create living solutions that become a seamless part of a patient's body. EpiBone is currently developing a pipeline of bone, cartilage, and compound (bone and cartilage) products. For more information, visit: https://www.epibone.com/. ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DISCOVERY AND INNOVATION The Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI), a newly established member of Hackensack Meridian Health, seeks to translate current innovations in science to improve clinical outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases and other life-threatening and disabling conditions. The CDI, housed in a fully renovated state-of-the-art facility, offers world-class researchers a support infrastructure and culture of discovery that promotes science innovation and rapid translation to the clinic. SOURCE Hackensack Meridian Health Related Links http://www.HackensackMeridianHealth.org The Centre on Tuesday asked state governments to ensure timely and complete evacuation of people from low lying areas in the path of Cyclone Amphan and maintain adequate quantities of essential supplies. West Bengal and Odisha will be worst affected by the cyclone, which is packing in wind speed up to 200kmph. The instructions came as cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired the third meeting of the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to review the preparedness of states and central ministries and agencies to deal with the Cyclone Amphan, which is likely to make landfall on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Union home minister Amit Shah spoke to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and assured her help to deal with the situation arising due to the cyclone, news agency ANI reported. HR Biswas, the director of Meteorological Centre in Odishas Bhubaneswar, said Amphan lay centred over the west-central Bay of Bengal, about 520km south of Paradip (Odisha), 670km south-southwest of Digha (West Bengal) and 800km south-southwest of Khepupara in Bangladesh. It is likely to weaken to an extremely severe cyclonic storm, move north-northeastwards over the Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha and Hatiya Islands during Wednesday afternoon or evening as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 180 kmph, he said. Such wind speeds, according to weather officials, could make Amphan one of the biggest storms to hit India in about a decade. The cyclone is being continuously tracked by the Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. IMD director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said its impact is unlikely to be very severe on Odisha since the super cyclone is gradually weakening. However, coastal districts like Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore are likely to be battered by heavy rains coupled with high-velocity winds from Tuesday evening, he said. Evacuations Odisha and West Bengal were moving families to more than 1,000 shelters in government offices and educational centres and were converting Covid-19 quarantine centres into cyclone shelters. Trains plying thousands of migrant workers from Delhi to Odisha were diverted to avoid the cyclones path. Odishas special relief commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said the evacuation of people living in low-lying areas, thatched and mud structures in the coastal districts is under progress and the process will be completed by evening. Jena said the state government has made arrangements for evacuating more than 11 lakh people as a precautionary measure. We are in constant touch with the collectors of the 12 districts which have been put under alert in view of the cyclone. We are fully prepared to deal with any eventuality, Jena said. Chief secretary AK Tripathy said four senior officers with vast experience in handling such calamities have been deputed to different districts on the direction of chief minister Navin Patnaik to supervise preparations and guide the local administration. As high-velocity winds may damage power infrastructure and roads, necessary equipment and manpower have been mobilised in order to ensure quick restoration in the affected areas, he said. Fourteen units of National Disaster Response Force and 20 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have been deployed in the districts likely to be hit. Cyclone Amphan comes as India eased restrictions under the fourth phase of lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease, which has infected more than 100,000 people and killed over 3,000. (With agency inputs) Researchers have found in a large study that having at least two servings of dairy products can lower the risk of getting diabetes and high blood pressure as well as metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a mixture of more than one condition that raises the risk of getting cardiovascular diseases. The study titled, Association of dairy consumption with metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and diabetes in 147,812 individuals from 21 countries, was published in the latest issue of the BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care. The Primarily Population Health Research Institute funded this study. What was the study about? The researchers wrote that several studies look at the risk of metabolic syndrome, hypertension, and diabetes among those who consumed dairy products. These studies have been reported from North America and Europe mainly, and there has been little evidence from India, China, Africa, and South America. Five conditions, including high blood pressure, characterize metabolic syndrome, obesity around the abdomen, raised triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and blood sugar. Metabolic syndrome raised the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and related diseases and death. There have been studies that show that dairy products, including whole-fat foods and fermented dairy products, including yogurt and cheese, can have a beneficial effect on metabolism and can lower the risk of metabolic syndrome and high blood pressure. This was part of the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study to see the effects of dairy product intake and prevalence of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and high blood pressure after an average of 9.1 years of follow up. What was done? This was part of the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study that included persons aged between 35 and 70 years residing in 21 different nations on five continents. The countries were, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Iran, Malaysia, occupied Palestine territory, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe. The participants were followed up for a median time of 9.1 years. Association of intake of dairy products with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its components was seen. This was tested in 112,922 participants. For the follow-up, a total of 57,547 persons who did not have high blood pressure at the start of the study were checked if they developed high blood pressure. Similarly, 131,481 persons who did not have diabetes at the start of the study were followed up, and it was assessed if they developed diabetes. Food specific questionnaires (food frequency questionnaires FFQ) were given to the participants. Dairy products consumed within a day included milk, yogurt, yogurt drink, cheese, and mixed dishes prepared with dairy. Food was also classified based on constituents including those with whole milk, whole fat yogurt, whole fat cheese, whole fat yogurt drinks, and mixed dishes prepared with whole-fat dairy products as well as those with low-fat dairy products such as those with 1 to 2 percent milk, skimmed milk, low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese, and low-fat yogurt drink. Other parameters such as age, sex, smoking status, education level, weight, height, waist and hip circumference, waist to hip ratio, and blood pressure. Blood samples were analyzed for blood sugar, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL cholesterol (HDLC), triglycerides, apolipoprotein A1, and apolipoprotein B. Baseline cut off were: 130/85 mm Hg blood pressure waist circumference above 80 cm HDL less than 1-1.3 mmol/l Triglycerides more than 1.7 mmol/dl Fasting blood glucose more than 5.5 mmol/l From the questionnaires, average daily dairy consumption was found to be 179g, of which 124.5g was full fat, and 65 g was low fat. What was found? The key findings of this study were that higher consumption levels of whole fat (not low fat) dairy products were associated with a higher risk of development of metabolic syndrome and its five contributing factors. It also led to a lower risk of high blood pressure and diabetes. High consumption of dairy was defined as at least two servings per day compared to no intake of dairy. Those that took more of whole fat dairy along with low-fat dairy also had a lowered risk of metabolic syndrome. Those that consumed only low-fat dairy had an unaltered risk of metabolic syndrome development. Those taking at least two servings of dairy per day had an 11 to 12 percent reduced risk of high blood pressure and diabetes. The risk was lowered by 13 to 14 percent among those taking three servings. Among the participants, 13,640 and 5,351, with no high blood pressure and diabetes, respectively at the start of the study, developed the conditions during follow up. Conclusions and implications The researchers concluded that Higher intake of whole fat (but not low fat) dairy was associated with a lower prevalence of MetS and most of its component factors, and with a lower incidence of hypertension and diabetes. They call for more extensive randomized controlled trials to see the effects of whole-fat dairy products and the risk of development of high blood pressure, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. They signed off saying, If our findings are confirmed in sufficiently large and long term trials, then increasing dairy consumption may represent a feasible and low-cost approach to reducing MetS, hypertension, diabetes, and ultimately cardiovascular disease events worldwide. The World Health Organization agreed Monday to launch an independent investigation of how it led the international effort to deal with COVID-19. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement at the U.N. agencys yearly General Assembly. A coalition of WHO member countries had called for such an investigation. Tedros said the examination would not seek to answer the hotly debated issue of where and how the virus came to be. American President Donald Trump has claimed he has proof suggesting the coronavirus was created in a lab in China. China denies the accusation. The scientific community says all evidence to date shows that the virus jumped to humans from animals. Trump has repeatedly attacked the WHO, claiming that it helped China hide the extent of the coronavirus spread. Several Republican Party lawmakers have called on Tedros to resign. Earlier Monday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that he supports calls for an investigation to learn how the coronavirus started and spread. But he argued for such action to start only after the worldwide health crisis is under control. Xi spoke at the online WHO gathering. The new coronavirus was first publicly identified in China in late December. It has since spread around the world, killing more than 315,000 people and infecting almost 4.8 million. At the meeting Monday, Xi said China has always been transparent about its knowledge of the virus. He also announced that his country would provide $2 billion for the fight against COVID-19 over two years. Governments around the world have been enforcing stay-at-home orders to stop the spread of the virus. Many also have called on people to wear face coverings and stay physically distant from others when they must go out in public. Those measures have brought economies to a halt. On Monday, Japan became the latest country to report that its economy is in recession. Governments, especially in Europe, are starting to ease restrictions after reporting progress in bringing infection and deaths rates down. Belgium on Monday permitted stores and museums to reopen. More students returned to schools. International travel restrictions are still in place in many areas, but some popular sites are reopening, including the Acropolis in Athens, Greece, and Saint Peters Basilica at the Vatican. In India, a rise in new infections has led the government to extend its nationwide lockdown through the end of the month. The government reported more than 5,000 new cases and 157 deaths Monday. Egypt is closing stores, beaches and parks during the holiday that marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Egypt also has established a nighttime curfew. The United States is easing some restrictions. It leads the world in numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths, with about 1.5 million confirmed cases and 90,000 deaths. I'm Caty Weaver. VOA News reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English. George Grow and Ashley Thompson were the editors. _____________________________________________ Words in This Story transparent -adj. honest and open: not secretive 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 lockdown -n. an emergency measure or condition in which people are temporarily prevented from entering or leaving a restricted area or building (such as a school) during a threat of danger beach -n. an area covered with sand or small rocks that is next to an ocean or lake park -n. a piece of public land in or near a city that is kept free of houses and other buildings and can be used for pleasure and exercise The spat between Rami Makhlouf and the Syrian regime continues, with each side making accusations and counter-accusations reports Aram News. The past 24 hours have seen accelerating tensions between the Syrian government and businessman Rami Makhlouf. The Syrian regimes Ministry of Communications and Technology issued a new statement on Monday concerning businessman Rami Makhlouf and his refusal to pay taxes owed by his company, Syriatel. The statement read: In response to what Syriatels board of directors published on social media, the Syrian Telecommunication Regulatory Authority [SYTRA] as a public entity first, is not in the position to necessitate emphasizing the reliability of its documentation and data, to which the law has granted an official capacity and strength of evidence. Makhlouf strongly denied this, saying that his company had indicated its willingness to pay the amounts it owed, and had requested to determine the amount for the first payment as well as subsequent installments. The Syrian governments statement added that what Makhlouf, chairman of Syriatels board of directors, said in his statement Monday morning came as part of a campaign of deceit and evasion aimed at avoiding payment of funds to the public treasury. According to the statement, Makhlouf did not grant Syriatels executive team the authorization to sign the agreement that includes payment of funds to the public treasury. This statement was accompanied by a document issued by Syriatels executive management saying that the team had recorded Makhloufs refusal to grant them the necessary authorization. In a statement he published Monday morning on his official Facebook page, Makhlouf denied what the regimes Ministry of Communications had said regarding Syriatels missed deadline for payment, as well as the companys refusal to pay legally owed sums related to rebalancing its license. Makhlouf said in his Facebook post: In response to what the Syrian Telecommunication Regulatory Authority published on its official Facebook page, about the refusal of Syriatel to pay the sums imposed on it, we must point out that the statement was untrue. He added that his company sent a letter on May 10, 2020, to SYTRA stating its willingness to pay the sums imposed on it, and demanding to determine the amount of the first payment and other subsequent instalments and benefits arising from it. The Ministry of Communications on Sunday published a statement on its Facebook page threatening to obtain the money owed by Syriatel through all legitimate and legal means, warning the company of all legal and operational consequences of its refusal to adhere to the rights of the state. For his part, Makhlouf appointed his son Ali as a member of Syriatels board of directors, replacing his brother Ehab, who submitted his resignation due to the dispute over revenues between the company and the Ministry of Communications. This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author. By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Government has launched a massive evacuation drive for cyclone Amphan, which has intensified into a super cyclonic storm. Six coastal and north Odisha districts have been put on high alert to deal with any eventuality. The super cyclonic storm over Westcentral Bay of Bengal moved north-north eastwards with a speed of 15 kilometers per hour during the last six hours and lay centred about 480 kilometers south of Paradip. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday spoke to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and discussed about Odishas preparedness to tackle the situation. Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said that four north and coastal districts of the state, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jagatsinghpur and Mayurbhanj and parts of Jajpur are likely to receive heavy rain from Wednesday morning due to the impact of the cyclone. The SRC said that evacuation of people from vulnerable and low lying areas of the coastal districts have already started and will be completed by Tuesday evening. The state government had readied for evacuation of nearly 12 lakh people from the low lying and vulnerable areas of coastal districts. Official sources said that administration of coastal districts are persuading people to leave for safer places in view of the cyclone. Senior IAS officer Madhu Sudan Padhi, who has been deputed to Balasore district to supervise the relief and rescue operations, said focus was on to evacuate people from Bhograi, Baliapal, Remuna, Bahanga and Soro areas in the district. Chandbali and Basudevpur blocks have been put on high alert. Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed to respond to any emergency, said Bhadrak Collector Gyana Das. India Meteorological Department (IMD) said damage is expected in Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, and Mayurbhanj districts under the influence of super cyclonic storm Amphan, which will likely weaken into extremely severe cyclone within six hours. The national forecaster has predicted total destruction of thatched houses, extensive damage to kutcha houses, bending or uprooting of power and communication poles, and widespread damage to standing crops in these districts. Met Office has issued orange warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places in Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, and Mayurbhanj districts and isolated heavy rainfall in Cuttack, Khurda, and Puri districts on Tuesday. Light to moderate rainfall or thundershower will likely occur at most places in coastal Odisha and at few places in the remaining districts of the State during the same period. "Rainfall activity and winds will increase in the State between 3 am and 10 am on Wednesday," said Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Scientist, Umasankar Das. Winds gusting up to 125 km/hr will likely prevail along and off north Odisha coast - Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts on Wednesday morning. While Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, and Jajpur districts will experience winds gusting up to 75 km/hr during the period. In a special bulletin IMD, Odisha, said that Amphan will likely move north-northeastwards across north-west Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal -Bangladesh coasts between Digha and Hatiya Island (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans on Wednesday afternoon or evening as a very severe cyclonic storm with winds gusting up to 180 km/hr. The government initially advised returning travellers from Wuhan, northern Italy and Iran to self-isolate upon their return, but that requirement was dropped in late March without explanation or justification. All quiet: A deserted departure lounge at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5. Credit:Getty Images There is so far little scientific evidence that introducing a quarantine now will deliver the benefits that could have been achieved had a tough regime been implemented at the start of the pandemic, as occurred in Australia and other less-affected countries. The government is under growing pressure to produce the science that underpins the impending decision. "Now that domestic transmission is decreasing, it is the right time to prepare new measures at the border to protect us from imported cases and the risk of a second wave of infections from those arriving here," a Downing Street spokesperson said. Britain's official death toll reached 35,341 on Tuesday - one of the highest in the world - however the number of new infections, hospital admissions and deaths are falling. An announcement about when the restrictions will come into force and who they will apply to is imminent - in the first phase, all arrivals will likely have to self-isolate for two weeks in a private residence, or in a hotel arranged by the government if needed. Police or immigration officers may conduct random checks. The aviation industry is working overtime to make sure the policy is workable at the arrival gates and includes a string of exemptions, including for 'low-risk' markets such as Australia. Going nowhere: Heathrow Airport in London, UK. Credit:Bloomberg Michael O'Leary, the chief executive of budget carrier Ryanair - Europe's biggest airline - this week blasted the quarantine scheme as "idiotic and unimplementable" and claimed face masks are the key to safe travel even though their effectiveness in lowering transmission is not universally accepted. Rafael Schvartzman, the International Air Transport Association's regional vice-president for Europe, warns a 14-day quarantine would have a "profound negative impact" on the economy. "Other countries around the world are starting to consider how their restrictions could be phased out to help restart the global economy," Schvartzman says. "Imposing a 14-day quarantine now sends a signal that the UK is moving in the opposite direction. It is therefore vital the government sets out the details of how its policy will work, including how the restrictions will be phased out as soon as there is an appropriate set of measures to safely restart the aviation system." Schvartzman notes the UK is the world's third-largest air passenger market, supports more than 1.5 million jobs and generates about 100 billion ($187 billion) in GDP. "Without underestimating the challenge of tackling the virus, with the Bank of England warning that the UK is entering the deepest recession on record, we would urge the government to consider how aviation can help boost the economy," he says. Fewer flights will also mean a slower resumption of trade. About 40 per cent of the value of UK exports to non-European Union countries goes in the cargo hold of passenger planes at Heathrow every year. Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye wants the UK to develop an 'exit plan' from the quarantine scheme, and to work with the United States and European Union on developing an international standard for declaring which countries qualify as low-risk. "I think the approach to take is the risk-based approach, as we do with security where, if two countries are very low-risk free of transmission, there should be a free flow of passengers between those countries." Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs this week that "air bridges" may eventually be part of the policy. "It is the case we should indeed consider further improvements for example things like air bridges enabling people from other areas, other countries, who have themselves achieved lower levels of coronavirus infection to come to the country, so those are active discussions that go beyond what will initially be a blanket situation," he said. Subscriber content preview Some owners, fearing they won't get forgiveness, have said they're considering not using the money. By JOYCE M. ROSENBERG AP Business Writer NEW YORK Small businesses hoping for more leeway in using coronavirus loan money were disappointed as the government released instructions for seeking forgiveness for the loans. Forms the Small Business Administration released late Friday didn't address two concerns shared by many owners about the $659 billion Paycheck Protection Program. According to the instructions, loans can still be forgiven in full only if the money is spent within eight weeks of receiving it. And businesses must use at least 75% of it for workers' pay, with the remaining amount limited to rent, mortgage interest and utility expenses. . . . Annie Glenn, the widow of astronaut and US Sen. John Glenn and a communication disorders advocate, died Tuesday at age 100 after contracting coronavirus. Glenn died of COVID-19 complications at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minnesota, said Hank Wilson, a spokesman for the Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. At the time of John Glenn's death in 2016, the two had been married 73 years. She had moved out of the apartment they shared in Columbus in recent years and gone to live with her daughter, Lyn, according to Wilson. Annie Glenn was thrust into the spotlight in 1962, when her husband became the first American to orbit Earth. She shied away from the media attention because of a severe stutter. Annie Glenn died Tuesday of COVID-19 complications at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minnesota. In this December 16, 2016 file photo, Annie arrives to view the casket of her husband John Glenn She was the widow of astronaut and US Sen. John Glenn. Pictured, Annie and John wave to friends at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 8, 1998 after a nine-day science mission Annie was a communication disorders advocate. In this December 8, 1983 file photo, Annie Glenn speaks during an interview in Newport, New Hampshire Later, she underwent an intensive program at the Communications Research Institute at Hollins College, now Hollins University, in Roanoke, Virginia, that gave her the skills to control her stutter and to speak in public. By the time 77-year-old John Glenn returned to space in 1998 aboard space shuttle Discovery, Annie showed she had become comfortable in her public role when she acknowledged that she had reservations about the retired senator's second flight. 'John had announced one year before that he was going to retire as a senator, so I was looking forward to having him as my own because I had given him to our government for 55 years,' she told a NASA interviewer. Her career in advocacy for those with communication disorders included service on the advisory boards of numerous child abuse and speech and hearing organizations. The Annie Glenn Award was created to honor individuals who overcome a communication disorder. Defense Secretary William Cohen honored Annie Glenn with the Department of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service in 1998. He called her 'a hero in her own right' and praised her for being 'a strong voice for children, speech and communications, and the disabled.' In 2009, Glenn received an honorary doctorate of public service from Ohio State, where she served as an adjunct professor of speech pathology in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science. The department bestows an Annie Glenn Leadership Award annually. John Glenn and Annie (right) pose with their son Dr. David Glenn (left) and daughter, Lyn (second left) after the senator arrived with his shuttle crewmates at the Kennedy Space Center from Houston, Texas on October 26, 1998. Annie moved in with Lyn when John died in 2016 Astronaut John Glenn gives the thumbs up as he rides in an open car with his wife Annie during a ticker tape parade down New York's Canyon of Heroes on November 16, 1998 In this February 3, 1962 file photo, astronaut John Glenn poses with his wife, Annie, outside their Arlington, Virginia, home during his first news conference Marine Major John Glenn, Jr. waves as he walks from his Navy F-8-U-1-P Crusader jet plane after it set a new speed mark by zooming coast-to-coast in the elapsed time of three hours, 23 minutes and about eight seconds. He's pictured with Annie, Lynn, 10, and David, 11 Pictured: (l-r) President John F. Kennedy, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth, John Glenn, wife Annie Glenn, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson during Glenn's presentation ceremony of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Distinguished Service Medal on February 23, 1962 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station American astronaut John H. Glenn Jr. and his wife Annie ride with American Vice President (and later President) Lyndon Baines Johnson during a tickertape parade in Glenn's honor, New York, March 1, 1962. The parade was in celebration of Glenn's historic space flight in the Mercury-Atlas 6 space mission (also known as Friendship 7) Glenn was born Anna Margaret Castor on February 17, 1920, in Columbus. Senator John Glenn and his wife Annie Glenn pose in 1984 at City Hall in Tallahassee, Florida She met her husband while they were children growing up in New Concord. She was offered an organ scholarship to The Julliard School, but World War II began and John proposed - so she decided to stay with him, according to a biography on the Glenn College's website. The high school sweethearts attended Muskingum College and were married in 1943. They had two children, David and Lyn. The Glenns served on the board of trustees of the college, now Muskingum University, and Annie Glenn was named a distinguished alumni fellow in speech communications at the school. A virtual memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 6, 2020, at 11am EDT. The service will be officiated by the Rev. Amy Miracle, pastor for the Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus. The memorial will be virtual with no parishioners or guests in attendance due to the COVID-19 restrictions. She is survived by her two children. Pictured, Annie and John arrive at The White House for the State Dinner honoring President Jiang Zemin of China on October 29, 1997 She is pictured with US Sen. John Glenn - who was an Ohio senator - on May 14, 2015 Not that long ago, a lot of us were under the impression that like all things, Indian OTT shows were very loosely made and couldn't possibly live up to their European and American counterparts. Shows like Mindhunters, Westworld, and Ozark were shows we all swore by. Yes, Sacred Games came pretty close, but the second season left us bereft, best summed up in this meme - Twitter/MemeLord Then came along 2020 and boy oh boy, were we proven wrong. Throughout 2019, our shows were becoming better and better, with each passing season, to the point where we made something like Paatal Lok. If you guys still haven't watched the show, thinking Oh, its just Amazon Prime's version of Sacred Games, y'all are dead wrong. Amazon Prime Video It is a genuinely well-made show, and something that is much, much more well crafted than Sacred Games was. So get out from beneath the rock that you've been living under and watch the show. Netflix As for those of you who have indeed watched the show, and are looking for your next series to hook yourself on to, here are five Indian OTT shows that people are guaranteed to love if they enjoyed watching Paatal Lok. Jamtara - Sabka Number Ayega A Netflix series that shows how exactly internet phishing and credit card fraud works in India, Jamtara is entertaining for a number of reasons. It is very tightly written and strikes a good balance between giving out information while delving deep into the lives of the criminals involved, their socio-economic backgrounds and how it shapes them, and what a life of crime entails in rural India. Yes, it has it's share of issues, mainly that it has some unnecessary masala added to it, but that still is done rather tastefully. Delhi Crime Another Netflix series that focuses on crime in Delhi, Delhi Crime is a retelling of the 2012 Delhi Rape case, that shook India to its core. Most of us thought that we were aware of just how brutal the incident was in real life. Trust us, we were wrong. The show put forth some chilling, and seriously nerve-wracking stuff that was never part of the public domain before. Seriously guys, if you're into shows that cover crime, do give this a watch, to understand, just how depraved humanity has become. Asur Available on Voot, Asur is masterfully crafted tale of a serial killer, operating in tier III India. The beauty of the show lies in the manner with which it completely decimates the notions of good & bad, and what qualities make heroes. The cinematography is spot on, and there are visuals that are somewhat disturbing, but again, they have been shot really well, to add a meaningful impact. The Family Man Okay, we agree, Amazon Prime's The Family Mani isn't anywhere nearly as gory as the previous shows listed, but it genuinely is a great crime/chase thriller. Plus, the performances of stalwarts like Manoj Bajpayee is a good enough reason to watch the show. Criminal Justice Hotstar's Criminal Justice is one of those shows that pretty much flew under the radar, and went nearly unnoticed. However, people who watched the show, couldn't stop recommending it. Vikrant Massey, Pankaj Tripathi, and Jackie Shroff are all powerhouse performers. When you give them a really well-written script to perform on, what ensues is nothing short of a spectacle. A must-watch, if you ask us. Trust us when we say that if you are looking for a crime drama that has you biting your nails to the root, this list, pretty much sorts you out for a couple of weekends April has seen more Swedes die than in any one month for 19 years, as the coronavirus outbreak caused the death toll to surge but the country is sticking to its decision not to impose strict lockdown measures enforced by many other countries. Around 3,700 people have died of coronavirus in Sweden since the first reported fatality in March, figures from the Statistics Office showed on Monday. About 90 per cent of the deaths were of people over the age of 70 and living in care homes. The country has suffered a higher death rate compared to its Scandinavian neighbours Norway has recorded 233 deaths while 300 deaths occurred in Finland. However, Sweden has a higher population than its immediate neighbours. In January 2000, 110.8 people died per 100,000 of the population, higher than the 101.1 people in April this year. Before that, the worst death rate was suffered in December 1993, when the toll for all deaths was 11,057 compared to 10,458 in April this year. The Swedish government made headlines for being an outlier in Europe by keeping most restaurants, bars and schools open as the pandemic rages on. Officials leading its low-scale approach have argued that it is more sustainable in the long run and puts the responsibility not to spread the virus squarely on the shoulders of the population. Under Swedens relaxed approach, most restaurants, bars, schools and other venues remained largely business as usual. Meetings of up to 50 people are permitted and dining in at cafes and restaurants is permitted as long as they space out tables and serve only seated customers. Earlier this month, the countrys chief epidemiologist said there was little he would have done differently, apart from dong more to prevent outbreaks in Swedish care homes. Anders Tegnell, who led Swedens coronavirus response, told CNBC earlier this month that the peak of infections has been passed in Stockholm and said the countrys response shows that schools can be kept open without any major problems at all. He said: We can keep our society reasonably open, without huge effects Of course, there is huge regret over the fatalities that weve had but were not really clear how that could have been avoided. We know that these [elderly care home] settings are very vulnerable in this kind of situation and were not sure that doing something different would make a huge difference to that. When asked if Sweden would implement the same policy in the future if a pandemic were to occur again, Mr Tegnell said the country would to a great extent, yes. Now we know things that we could do better, for sure, but on the whole I think we could go down the same route, he added. Sweden reported a total of 30,377 positive cases of the virus on Monday, with 3,698 deaths. Additional reporting by agencies Offshore oil and gas companies operating in Ireland say the current Government formation talks between Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Greens is undermining their sector and will put jobs at risk. The three political parties are aiming to conclude talks on a programme for government by the end of the month that would end the current caretaker government. For a number of years now the Green Party has called for an end to oil and gas exploration off the Irish coast. Such a ban was included in a list of 17 demands the Greens issued before they would enter Government formation talks. However, the Irish Offshore Operators' Association said such a policy would mean there could not be a repeat of the Kinsale Head gas fields off the Cork coast which have provided natural gas to the Irish grid for decades but are now coming to the end of their life. "The hope of an increase in the offshore energy sector in Cork is being sacrificed as the two main political parties look to the Greens and their 7% support to shore up a Government," the association's CEO Mandy Johnston said. "Any proposal to undermine exploration will not only end the prospects of jobs, it will also weaken our energy security which is needed for a vibrant economy and it will actually damage the environment." "Even if Ireland were to meet all its targets to switch over to renewable energy we will still need gas to keep us going for decades to come as that transition happens. The question is not whether we need it, it is about where do we get it?" Ms Johnston said that if there is a ban on offshore exploration Ireland would need to import gas from the UK. "Not only do imports put foreign powers in charge of supply and price, they actually increase our carbon emissions. Imports generate up to 30% more emissions than Irish offshore gas." YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu on being re-appointed Prime Minister of Israel and forming a new Cabinet. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the congratulatory message runs as follows, ''I cordially congratulate you and offer my best wishes on the occasion of being re-appointed Prime Minister of Israel and forming a new Cabinet. I am confident that the coalition government headed by you will continue the development path of Israel, recording new success and achievements. The Government of the Republic of Armenia is interested in continuing the political dialogue and active cooperation with the newly formed Israeli Government in different spheres of bilateral relations, as well as for further deepening and strengthening partnership on multilateral formats. I hope that with mutual efforts we will be able to enrich the partnership agenda between Armenia and Israel and develop mutually beneficial partnering relations for the benefit of our countries and peoples. I wish you goof health and all the best, and lasting peace and welfare to the friendly people of Israel''. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan Having demonstrated exceptional readiness for the opening of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IB DP) and received authorization in record time, Brookes Moscow IB International School announces another breakthrough initiative in distance learning for Year 12-13 IB students from Russia and around the world. Brookes Moscow wants to help those IB DP students who have been displaced because of COVID-19 through our distance learning program or at our campus in Moscow. France said on Monday it is exploring novel ways to maintain cooperation with India amid the Covid-19 crisis, especially in education, and has augmented the proportion of scholarships for this academic year by 50% or 10 crore. The efforts are focused on maintaining people-to-people exchanges despite the lockdown and suspension of events. France also intends to turn the Covid-19 crisis into an opportunity to boost partnerships in education, research and culture. France is fully geared to enable the start of the academic year for new students through virtual classrooms, if necessary. Authorities are hoping students will be able to join their classes in France in autumn, if not September. France has also augmented its proportion of scholarships by 50%equivalent to 10 crorefor this academic year. These scholarships will be awarded regardless of whether a student starts the semester in India or France, a statement from the French embassy read. French ambassador Emmanuel Lenain said: The strategic partnership between India and France is nurtured through strong people-to-people ties. As France and India gradually emerge from their lockdowns, their exchanges will serve as building blocks for a new world and a common future. Trusted global scientific collaboration is the need of the hour since no country can achieve a breakthrough alone in the Covid-19 crisis, he said. Our country recognises that education will play a critical role in shaping a post-pandemic world, and thus reiterates that Indian students and researchers are welcome in France, he added. Notwithstanding logistical and planning challenges, France will continue to welcome Indian students for higher studies. France has taken care of its foreign students on an equal footing with their French counterparts, ensuring their safety and well-being through its social and public healthcare system. Visas and scholarships were extended, where necessary, amid the Covid-19 crisis. The French Embassy will also organise a virtual version of its biannual Choose France Tour at the end of September for the intake of students for the 2021 academic session. This will enable more French institutions to interact with students from all over India. The French government is also committed to the National Plan for Open Science, and the third edition of the Indo-French Knowledge Summit is scheduled in Pune in 2021 to bring health and the environment into greater focus. French network programmes are adapting to the situation arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, and Alliance Francaise centres in more than 13 Indian cities have arranged online classes during the lockdown. This has ensured continuity in French language lessons for more than 31,000 students. The statement said France remains one of the most affordable destinations for higher education, with many institutions boasting some of the highest global standards and offering more than 1,500 courses taught in English. Business and engineering programmes are the most sought after, though France has courses in niche areas as well. The latest global rankings have shown four of the six best animation schools of the world are in France, including Rubika, which has a campus in Pune. On the cinematic front, while the Cannes festival will be missed, a film market will be held online in June and there will be online professional meetings for the film industry. With more and more streaming platforms, there is a great potential for Indo-French collaborations and exchanges, the statement read. The French embassy is continuing collaborations with Indian partners, such as the launch of the Serendipity Arles grant that provides opportunities for artists from South Asia to participate in the Arles Photography Festival next year. The Assises Internationales du Roman/Villa Gillet in Lyon recently saw the virtual participation of Indian writers. India will also be the guest of honour at the 2021 Paris Book Fair, for which preparations are underway. The French Institute in India, through its #ifionlineprogramme, is bringing France to Indian homes through films, documentaries, museum visits, online training, and dance and music performances. PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 15:00:37 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 666 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / Women in Agribusiness today announced that nominations are being accepted for its 2020 Women in Agribusiness Demeter Award of Excellence, which recognizes women who have achieved excellence in their field or demonstrated an outstanding contribution to the agribusiness industry. It also announced that its Student Scholarship Program, which last year provided the opportunity to 20 college students to attend its annual Women in Agribusiness Summit, is now accepting applications.2020 WIA Demeter Award of ExcellencePast recipients of the Women in Agribusiness Demeter Award of Excellence were notable for their work on mission-critical projects, including managing more than $800 million of annual commodity spend, or being the top woman in a business platform role in a company of 21,000 employees. Another was heralded as being an advocate for women in agriculture for more than 30 years, through writing their stories and sharing with more than 235,000 growers.Successes like that are welcome in nominations for this year's award, where up to three recipients will be chosen. Each will be invited to accept her award at the 2020 Women in Agribusiness Summit. Recipients of the award, which is so named after Demeter, the goddess of the harvest from ancient Greek mythology, will be notified prior to being recognized.Criteria for nomination includes:Woman with a minimum of 10 years of experience in the ag and/or food industry;Woman who is a positive example to other women in the industry;Woman who breaks down barriers and serves as a resource for others; andWoman who consistently exemplifies professionalism.Nomination forms are available on the Women in Agribusiness website. There is no limit to the number of entries, which will be accepted through Friday, July 10, and self-nominations are permissible as well.Student ScholarshipsNow in its eighth year, WIA Student Scholarships help defray recipients' attendance costs for the annual Women in Agribusiness Summit. Applicants must be full-time undergraduate or graduate students attending an accredited college or university, and majoring in agribusiness or a related field. Sponsorships from industry companies, such as Cargill, Nutrien and Rabobank, make these scholarships possible. Students hail from colleges such as Cornell University, Duke University and Texas A&M University."Right now, we already have three young women interested in securing a scholarship for this year. They've heard how positive an experience it is from friends and colleagues so they are very excited to attend in 2020," said Carrie Vita, program manager of the scholarship program, who shared some of the comments of past participants:"I find it hard to put into words just how inspiring and motivating it was to be a part of such a large and excited group of women all gathered towards the common goal of promoting a profitable and sustainable future for agriculture and feeding the world." - Kristi Schammel, Indiana University, sponsored by Intrexon"It was an incredible opportunity to meet extraordinary women from different parts of the United States and even from other countries who are involved in the Agricultural Industry. I was able to network with potential employers and also, I had the chance to learn a lot from all the presentations." - Caren Ayala, Texas Tech, sponsored by Global TalentApplications for student scholarships, which are available here, are being accepted until Tuesday, June 30, 2020.Learn more about the Women in Agribusiness Summit, which has fostered an international community of women who are passionate about agribusiness and sharing industry knowledge to help professional women know their business better, at womeninag.com . Follow us @Womeninagri, like us on Facebook, join our Linkedin Group.CONTACT:Michelle Pelletier Marshall+1.978.790.0565mmarshall@ highquestgroup.com About Women in AgribusinessWomen in Agribusiness is a business unit of HighQuest Group, a global agribusiness consulting, events and media firm. The Women in Agribusiness initiative took root in 2012, with the first conference held in Minneapolis. WIA initiatives have grown to include WIA Membership, WIA Demeter Award of Excellence, Student Scholarships, WIA Today and year-round WIA Meet Ups. Learn more at womeninag.com SOURCE: HighQuest Group A screenshot from the Adult resuscitation e-learning course This crucial piece of work will provide training for the vital healthcare professionals who are facing COVID-19 on the frontline and will benefit the patients who are under their care. In uncertain and trying times such as these, work like this will help make a difference. In a period of global disruption, teams at Learning Technologies Group (LTG) have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to assist with the UKs coronavirus response in a small but meaningful way. LTG has provided a program of support including a free six-month, 100,000+ user license for Instilled by PeopleFluentthe new Learning Experience Platform (LXP) launched last yearto long-term LEO Learning client Resuscitation Council UK (RCUK). In March 2020, RCUK was approached by a key member of the Resuscitation Department at the Nightingale Hospital at ExCeL London with a request to provide learning content for the wave of returning clinicians that were mobilized as part of the UK governments coronavirus response. With LEO Learning supporting RCUK across multiple learning initiatives since November 2010, the organization contacted LEO on Wednesday 25 March with these urgent requirements. With the first of the Nightingale Hospitals due to be opened the following week, RCUK needed to be able to launch eLearning content that was fully fit for purpose by the morning of Monday 30 March. Staff from RCUK, LEO Learning, Gomo and Instilled all came together over the weekend and across global time zones in order to make this a reality. Instilled was quickly identified by the LTG team as a key component in addressing some specific challenges RCUK was facing, including: Ease of use for all users, including returning healthcare workers who arent familiar with modern digital learning platforms. Support for self-service login. Overall flexibility to allow a wide range of media types. Dynamic scalability to grow in line with the demand for more returning clinicians. The five-module adult resuscitation eLearning course was adapted from existing RCUK course material and adjusted specifically for an audience of former professional clinicians returning to deal with patients affected by COVID-19. Built utilizing the cloud-based eLearning authoring tool Gomo, all content is mobile-responsive and allows downloads of key chartsincluding a specific algorithm for COVID-19 life support applicationensuring that key information can be referenced in the field. Everyone at LEO Learning and our sister companies at LTG is proud to be even a small part of the response to the current medical effort, said LEOs Managing Director, James Greenwood. While we sincerely hope that this life-saving training will be required as rarely as can be wished for, were grateful for the opportunity to provide it in a way that will help those saving lives get back to work with a minimum of fuss. We are incredibly grateful to the team at LEO who assisted Resuscitation Council UK to set up a Learning Experience Platform (LXP) to host and deliver a bespoke course, Adult resuscitation e-learning, for the NHS in under 72 hours, said Dr James Cant, CEO of Resuscitation Council UK. This crucial piece of work will provide training for the vital healthcare professionals who are facing COVID-19 on the frontline and will benefit the patients who are under their care. In uncertain and trying times such as these, work like this will help make a difference. For more information on the project, check out this case study. /Ends. About LEO Learning LEO Learning believes that technology-enabled learning innovation has the power to deliver transformational results. Our purpose is to help clients deploy learning technology to deliver outcomes precisely aligned to their business goals. Backed by more than 30 years of experience, we design engaging learning architectures that fit seamlessly into businesses and improve performance throughout the entire organization. LEO Learning has the deep understanding of learning design and technology, and pioneering creative approach, necessary to drive learning transformation. LEO Learnings expanding global customer base includes organizations such as the NHS, Civil Service Learning, Jaguar Land Rover, Visa, Volvo, Suncorp, Fidelity, Virgin Atlantic, Novartis, Godiva, Volkswagen, Dunhill, KPMG, Roche, and Mars. LEO Learning is part of Learning Technologies Group plcs award-winning group of specialist learning technology businesses. For more, visit leolearning.com. About Instilled by PeopleFluent Instilled is an easy-to-use, structured corporate learning experience platform (LXP) that supports a modern learning culture. Part of PeopleFluents talent management and learning products, the platform leads learners to the right content created by subject matter experts and peer groupswithout distractions. Instilled draws on nearly 20 years of experience providing learning consulting and technologies for authoring, delivery, and analytics. Instilled combines award-winning technologies within Learning Technologies Group into one efficient learning experience platform. For more, visit instilled.com. About Gomo The Gomo learning suite provides multi-award-winning products that allow you to create, deliver, update, and track beautiful multi-device eLearning. With Gomo Authoring, you can create truly responsive and adaptive HTML5 content that looks perfect on all devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. With Gomo Delivery and Analytics, you can get content into the hands of learners instantly via websites, direct link, the Gomo LMS wrapper, social media, and moreall with full xAPI analytics. With an ever-growing client base including the BBC, British Airways, BT, Centrica, General Electric, HSBC, LOreal, Royal Mail Group, Shell, Sony, Squarespace, TDK, Vodafone, Weetabix, Whatsapp, the World Health Organization and many more, Gomo is quickly becoming the established choice for global organizations seeking collaborative, future-proof and responsive HTML5 multi-device eLearning. Gomo is part of Learning Technologies Group plcs award-winning group of specialist learning technology businesses. For more, visit gomolearning.com. About Resuscitation Council UK Resuscitation Council UK is saving lives by developing guidelines, influencing policy, delivering courses and supporting cutting-edge research. Through education, training and research, were working towards the day when everyone in the country has the skills they need to save a life. FILE PHOTO: Imported barley is transported from a cargo ship at the port of Nantong By Dominique Patton and Colin Packham BEIJING/SYDNEY (Reuters) - China added to tensions with Australia on Monday by announcing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties totalling 80.5% on Australian barley imports from May 19, which is expected to all but halt a billion-dollar trade between them. China's Ministry of Commerce said it had confirmed dumping by Australia and significant damage on its domestic industry as a result, following an inquiry which began in 2018. The tariffs on barley, which will remain in place for five years, are the latest agricultural commodity to be affected by a deteriorating relationship between Canberra and Beijing. The Chinese ministry said duties of 73.6% would be levied on all companies, including four named exporters, The Iluka Trust, Kalgan Nominees Pty. Ltd, JW&JI Mcdonald & Sons and Haycroft Enterprises, as well as an anti-subsidy duty of 6.9%. Australia is the biggest barley supplier to China, exporting about A$1.5 billion to A$2 billion worth a year, which is more than half its exports. Barley is used both for brewing and animal feed. "There aren't many alternative markets. It could be sold to Saudi Arabia, but it will be heavily discounted to what Australian farmers could have received by selling to China," an Australian government source told Reuters. By contrast, China - the world's top barley importer - will simply shift purchasing to other key producers, including France, Canada, Argentina and some smaller European exporters. "It's very replaceable," said Andries De Groen, managing director at Germany headquartered barley trader Evergrain. Australia's Minister for Trade Simon Birmingham said the Chinese decision was deeply disappointing. "We reject the basis of this decision and will be assessing the details of the findings while we consider the next steps," Birmingham said in an emailed statement. "We reserve the right to appeal this matter further." Story continues Australia's relationship with Beijing soured in 2018 when it banned Huawei from its nascent 5G broadband network, while tensions were escalated by concerns within Canberra over China's attempts to secure greater influence in the Pacific. "The issue is part of broader juggle that Australia makes between its political place in the west and economic place in the east," Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said of the barley tariff. China has been angered in recent weeks by Australia's call for an independent inquiry into the origins of coronavirus. Last month, Beijing's ambassador to Australia said Chinese consumers could boycott Australian beef, wine, tourism and universities in response to Canberra's demand. Days later, Beijing suspended imports from four of Australia's largest meat processors, worth about 20% of Canberra's beef exports to China. (Reporting by Min Zhang and Dominique Patton in BEIJING and Colin Packham in SYDNEY; Editing by Louise Heavens and Alexander Smith) [May 19, 2020] University of Michigan School of Information Invites MMS Holdings Executive Kelly J. Hill to Join External Advisory Board MMS Holdings Inc. (MMS) - an award-winning, data-focused CRO - announced today that its Executive Director of Global Business Operations and Strategy Kelly J. Hill has accepted an invitation to join the University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI) External Advisory Board (EAB). Serving on a three-year term, Hill will join a group of internationally-recognized experts who consult with the UMSI Dean on a wide range of strategic topics, including research initiatives, curriculum innovation, and social impact. Members are considered carefully and invitations are reserved for those who meet the high standards of the University. "USMI's vision is to deliver innovative, elegant and ethical solutions connecting people, information and technology, and Kelly Hill deeply understands that," says Dr. Thomas A. Finholt, Dean and Professor of Information, UMSI. "When there is a need for world-changing information discoveries, we will be there. Our board members, like Kelly, are essential in accomplishing this vision." A University of Michigan alumna with a Master's of Science in Clinical Research and Statistics, Hill currently leads global strategic business functions at MMS that include project and account management, business development, and marketing. With MMS executive leaders, she is spearheading digital transformation initiatives to meet the needs of those in the health science and pharmaceutical industries. Additionally, she is a founding member of the Health Analytics Collective - a research supergroup led by MMS, the Center for Translational Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, MIT (News - Alert), and Julia Computing. The group's aim is to leverage real-world evidence, observational data that are generated during routine clinical practice, and patient health care databases to enhance decision-making, thus speeding the drug discovery and development process. "The healthcare and related industries are in an er of discovery and rapid change in terms of how data and information is gathered, aggregated, analyzed, shared, and used to inform, and MMS is on the forefront of this in partnership with our pharma and research clients," says Kelly J. Hill, Executive Director of Global Business Operations and Strategy, MMS. "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join the UMSI external advisory board and this esteemed group of educators and information and technology innovators." View the profiles all EAB members, including those from Intel, J.P. Morgan, Smithsonian, Pitney Bowes, Nextdoor, Disney (News - Alert), and others, here: https://www.si.umich.edu/alumni/volunteer-and-engagement-opportunities/external-advisory-board About MMS MMS is an award-winning, data-focused CRO that supports the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device industries with a proven, scientific approach to complex trial data and regulatory submission challenges. Strong industry experience and a data-driven approach to drug development make MMS a valuable CRO partner, creating compelling submissions that meet rigorous regulatory standards. With a global footprint across four continents, MMS maintains a 97 percent customer satisfaction rating, and the company has been recognized as a leading CRO in Global Health & Pharma's international awards programs for three consecutive years. For more information, visit www.mmsholdings.com or follow MMS on LinkedIn. About the University of Michigan School of Information First chartered in 1996, the University of Michigan School of Information delivers innovative, elegant, and ethical solutions connecting people, information, and technology. UMSI creates and shares knowledge so that people will use information-with technology-to build a better world. For more information, visit www.si.umich.edu or follow UMSI on Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005661/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Environmental health officers and inspectors from the Department of Agriculture and the Workplace Relations Commission will be drafted in to ensure workplace compliance with new guidelines. The reopening of construction sites yesterday saw around 150,000 people return to work under new guidelines published by the government and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) in recent weeks. However, it was yesterday revealed that there are just 67 active HSA inspectors across the county. Business Minister Heather Humphreys has pledged extra resources for the agency, but an exact number of new staff or the size of the investment has not yet been revealed. In response to queries from The Irish Examiner, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation said that support would come from other agencies, however the response did not put a number on the additional resources. "The HSA is deploying all its available inspectors across sectors to carry out both spot checks and other inspections to check compliance with the Protocol. "A range of other inspection bodies are also being mobilised to inspect and check compliance with the Protocol, including the Environmental Health Officers, Department of Agriculture and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), among others. "So, the Government is ramping up the number of staff available to carry out inspections significantly." The Department added that it is confident that the majority of businesses will continue to adhere to public health guidance and that it was "important to remember that we are only at the start of phase one". However, the Department warned that even with extra resources, it will not be possible for every workplace to be checked for compliance. "Even with the enhanced cohort of inspectors available to the HSA, they cannot be expected to go into every business in the country. That would be entirely unrealistic and unachievable. What they will do is a mix of unannounced inspections, along with providing advice and information through the HSAs Workplace Contact Unit." Labour TD Ged Nash has said that the "hands-off" approach to the safe return to work is not enough. He said that Health Minister Simon Harris's call for "cop on" won't be effective policy. "The news that there are only 67 active Health and Safety Agency inspectors available this week is not good enough, and for the Minister for Health to urge collective 'cop on' is not a realistic policy to protect workers. The hands-off policy from Fine Gael is not good enough." [snippet1]987600[/snippet1] Neil Gaiman has apologised to the people of Scotlands Isle of Skye after breaching the countrys lockdown rules, calling himself stupid and foolish. Police spoke to the American Gods author after he admitted to travelling more than 11,000 miles from New Zealand to his Isle of Skye holiday home, despite Scotland being under lockdown. Only essential journeys are currently allowed under the countrys Covid-19 restrictions. Writing on his online journal, Gaiman said that he had done something stupid and wasnt thinking clearly, adding that his home life and work had been turned upside down by the Covid-19 lockdowns in New Zealand. Gaiman and his wife, the musician Amanda Palmer, announced earlier this month that they had separated during quarantine, with Palmer remaining in New Zealand with their son. Gaiman wrote that he was panicked and more than a little overwhelmed by his circumstances in New Zealand, and followed UK government advice when deciding to fly to Skye. He admitted, however, that he was wrong to do so. Since I got here Skye has had its own tragic Covid outbreak 10 deaths in a local care home, Gaiman wrote. Its not set up to handle things like this, and all the local resources are needed to look after the local community. So, yes. I made a mistake. Dont do what I did. Dont come to the Highlands and Islands unless you have to. He continued: I want to apologise to everyone on the island for creating such a fuss. I also want to thank and apologise to the local police, who had better things to do than check up on me. Im sure Ive done sillier things in my life, but this is the most foolish thing Ive done in quite a while. Gaimans trip to Skye was previously described as gobsmacking by SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackwood, who said: We will welcome all to the Highlands when it is safe to do so. For now, stay away. A courier driver who dumped a pile of packages by a road side has been fired. The Toll Group announced on Tuesday a driver has been fired after packages were found by a walker on a street in Mangere, South Auckland, on April 28. The decision follows a three-week investigation into the man. A Toll Group spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the company was working with affected customers and the packages had all been 'safely fulfilled'. A toll delivery driver has been fired after a woman discovered a pile of packages dumped on a street in Mangere, South Auckland, on April 28. Pictured is a photo of the parcels being examined by a council worker The packages were first found by a local woman who flagged down a council employee who then collected the parcels and notified police. The company issued a statement declaring an investigation would be launched and said the actions were 'clearly unacceptable'. The woman's cousin, Shane M, later shared a photo of the council worker standing next to the huge pile of packages on Twitter. 'Cousin out on her morning walk found these parcels dumped. If your delivery hasn't arrived, it's probably here,' he wrote. Once news of the incident emerged, angry customers began flocking to the company's Facebook page demanding information about their missing parcels. 'I had a parcel sent on the 23rd of April from Auckland and it still hasn't been delivered,' one man wrote. 'I'm thinking it may have been one of the parcels that was dumped on the side of road by the Toll courier that was on the news and Toll hasn't come clean about it yet. I'm so p***ed off about the poor service and lack of support from Toll couriers.' Toll Group announced on Tuesday the driver responsible had been fired following a three-week investigation into the incident 'Can someone get back to me in regards to my package?' a woman added. 'Status says still Currently at Auckland airport but now starting to wonder if its been dumped in the side of the North Western motorway.' Toll group is not the only delivery company to receive complaints as home deliveries surge amid the COVID-19 lockdown. Last month, NZ Post was slammed after a Waiheke woman shared footage of a courier driver throwing parcels into his van, after she claimed some of her items had turned up broken. Meanwhile, Aus Post was criticised online after Australians ordered to stay home claimed couriers were not leaving enough time for them to answer the door, forcing them to instead pick up their packages from post offices. John Wood Group PLC ('Company') LEI: 549300PLYY6I10B6S323 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") The Annual General Meeting (the "AGM") of the Company will be held at Sir Ian Wood House, Hareness Road, Altens, Aberdeen, AB12 3LE, Scotland on Friday, 19 June 2020 at 2.00pm. The Company is continuing to monitor the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK and the impact it may have on the arrangements for the AGM. Unless current restrictions are lifted in advance of the AGM, the Company will arrange to hold the meeting with the minimum attendance required and shareholders will not be permitted to attend in person. Shareholders are encouraged to check our AGM website at www.woodplc.com/investors/annual-general-meeting for details before attending. Shareholders will be able to ask questions about the resolutions in advance of the AGM. Instructions on how to do so will be given in the Notice. Trading Update As previously announced, a trading update will also be provided on the date of the AGM on 19 June 2020. Notification authorised by: Martin J McIntyre Company Secretary BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Elchin Mehdiyev Trend: Among those who closely monitor work of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, there are Armenian residents of this region, Azerbaijani MP, Chairman of the community, Tural Ganjaliyev, said. Ganjaliyev made the remark at the parliamentary meeting in Baku, Trend reports on May 19. Appealing to the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, some Armenian residents expressed a desire to live together peacefully within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan in accordance with its Constitution, the chairman added. "While appealing to these Armenians, I would like to say that they must unite with other rationally thinking Armenian residents, the chairman said. Together with the Azerbaijani community, they must make efforts for joint living in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, put an end to the presence of Armenian invaders and the occupation regime there, the chairman said. The work of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region has been annoying to the opposite side and there is a reason for that, Ganjaliyev added. We have witnessed the provocative statements of both Armenia and the occupation regime. 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. Islamabad, May 19 : Prominent Pakistani clerics have announced resumption of five-time congregational prayers at mosques across the country, saying that uncertainty about the end of the COVID-19 pandemic could not stop people from activities of daily life and regular business. The congregations were banned when the countrywide lockdown was imposed in March to contain the spread of coronavirus, Dawn news reported However, with the beginning of Ramzan in April, the government agreed on 'Taraweeh' prayers in an agreement with clerics under the defined standard operating procedures (SOPs) which allowed only limited number of people at mosques. The fresh announcement by the clerics on Monday came after a meeting in Karachi where the clerics expressed the view that nothing was sure about the coronavirus pandemic and in this situation, Muslims couldn't leave prayers and their rituals out of fear. "No one knows that when this virus would come to an end. So in this situation we cannot quit everything in the name of precaution and fear. It's time to reopen Masjid and offer congregation prayers," said a statement issued after the meeting quoting Islamic scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani as saying. "We hope for cooperation from the government. The government should also announce lifting the ban on congregational prayers and Taraweeh... It would help in removing all those fears and reservations which run high across society," he said. "In these challenging times, there is a strong need for unity between the government and citizens of the country to make their due contributions." The development comes as Pakistan has registered a total of 43,336 COVID-19 cases, with 926 deaths. Latest updates on Eid al-Fitr 2020 -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text India reported more than 30,000 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past week, a look at Union health ministry data suggests. Last Tuesday, on May 12, the Ministry of Health in its morning update notified the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country at 70,756. As per the health ministry data on the morning of May 12, there were 46,008 active coronavirus cases in the country, 22,454 patients had been cured or discharged while 2,293 people had died from the deadly contagion. A week later, today morning, the ministry announced that the national Covid-19 tally has breached the 100,000-mark. There are 101,139 coronavirus cases in the country - 30,380 more as compared to last Tuesdays figure (70,756). There are 58,802 active coronavirus cases in the country while 39,173 patients have been cured or discharged. More than 3,000 people in the country ( 3,163 to be precise) have died from the deadly contagion till date in India. Also read: 4,970 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours push Indias tally past 1 lakh-mark Maharashtra continues to be the worst-affected state when it comes to coronavirus infection. The Covid-19 tally in the state has breached the 35,000-mark. There are 35,058 Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra and 1,249 fatalities. The number of patients who have recovered from the disease or have been discharged from the hospital have climbed to 8,437 in Maharashtra. Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Delhi are the states with the highest incidence of Covid-19 cases. Also read: Show discipline, Kejriwals appeal as Delhi reopens amid Covid-19 fears In Tamil Nadu, Covid-19 cases have soared to 11,760. The Covid-19 tally in Gujarat, as per the Ministry of Health, stands at 11,745. Six hundred and ninety-four people have died due to the coronavirus disease here. Gujarat has seen 4,804 recoveries so far. As many as 10,054 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the national capital. One hundred and sixty-eight people have died from the infection in Delhi while 4,485 have made a recovery, the health ministry stated. Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday said reforms are needed to bring more efficiency in making crop nutrients available to farmers at an affordable rates. The minister held a meeting with government officials from various states, officers from the department of fertilisers, progressive farmers and other stakeholders via videoconferencing, an official statement said. In the meeting, important feedback was given to the minister regarding reform measures that could be taken forward in the fertilisers sector. "Gowda said reforms are continuous process and needed to bring more efficiency in delivering affordable fertiliser to farmers in the country," the statement said. He asked participants to come up with their suggestions freely so that these could be incorporated while taking final policy decisions. This meeting was attended by secretary fertilisers, additional secretary of fertilisers, officials of state government of Kerala and Odisha and representatives of fertiliser companies. Islamic Republics President Hassan Rouhani Monday called for the establishment of a few main political parties in the country that could take turns to govern. Iran has dozens of registered political parties and groups but their ability to become nationwide, grassroots influential organizations are curbed by the authoritarian nature of the political system. Rouhani in a meeting with a group of political figures said, I believe that for the future of the country we should pursue [establishment] of parties. If we want to reinforce the regime and help it to survive, we need two or three main political parties to alternatively govern the country. All parties and groups allowed to operate in Iran must accept the Islamic Republic constitution and have no opposition to the nature of the governing system, based on the rule of the Supreme Leader. Iran has two main political factions; the conservatives, supported by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who are now essentially at the helm of important state structures and reformists who have increasingly become weaker. These are not organized singular political parties but are rather political currents, each with their own internal groupings. President Rouhanis reformists allies lost in Februarys parliamentary elections and now he has to govern in a country dominated by conservatives and hardliners. He warned during the elections that the domination of one political current is harmful to the country. Having at least one parent educated to degree-level gives 11-year-old children an advantage in the classroom equivalent to an extra year in school, a study has found. Scientists assessed how children did in maths and assessed what factors influenced their attainment. They found various factors have a detrimental impact on school grades, such as socioeconomic status, sex of the child, and the child's IQ. However, the level of parental education was the strongest predictor of child attainment in mathematics at 11 years old. The research reinforces fears that children from less qualified families are suffering greater disruption to their education during lockdown while they rely on their parents for home schooling. Scroll down for video Scientists assessed how children did in maths and assessed what factors influenced their attainment. They found various factors have a detrimental impact on school grades (stock) Researchers at the University of Sussex studied around 9,000 children who were born in the early 90s in Britain. Their parents answered questions via a questionnaire when the mother was pregnant and regular updates kept tack of the child's development. Parents said what their highest level of education achieved was from a list of six options: no qualifications; CSE or GCSE; an O level or equivalent; an A level or equivalent; vocational qualifications; and a university degree. The data found that 9.2 per cent had either no qualifications or a CSE/GCSE, 5.5 per cent had a vocational qualification, 26.3 per cent had an O level, 34.3 per cent had an A level and 24.7 per cent had a degree. Writing in their study, the researchers say: 'The strongest predictor of attainment was parental educationwhen compared to parents with a CSE qualification and below, children whose parents had a degree equated to increased maths attainment at age 11 by 0.412 levels.' The 0.412 level difference between degree- and CSE-educated parents is comparable to almost an entire extra year of education, the scientists claim. The scientists say that this finding is not surprising but say it definitely gives an advantage to children with highly-educated parents. Researchers at the University of Sussex studied around 9,000 children who were born in the early 90s in Britain. they found the level of parental education was the strongest predictor of child attainment in mathematics at 11 years old (stock) 'It demonstrates the importance of parents within their child's education and suggests that having higher-educated parents may potentially 'buffer' the negative impacts of the transition to secondary education on children's attainment,' the authors write in the paper, published today in the journal Royal Society Open Science. The scientists say it is most likely that the degree-educated parents may be better at negating the disruptive influence of moving from junior school to secondary school. For example, the researchers suggest, parent with a degree may have stronger pro-educational views as well as getting their child more involved extracurricular activities. Parents with degrees may also be more likely to check homework, discuss schoolwork and monitoring their child's social wellbeing and academic attainment, the study authors suggest. Danielle Evans, lead author of the study and a doctoral researcher at the University of Sussex, told MailOnine: 'We cannot determine exactly how the education level of parents influences childrens maths attainment from this study, but it is likely to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors; higher-educated parents pass on traits that are linked to educational success, but they are also more likely to provide an intellectually stimulating environment for their children through increased educational activities for example.' During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, many children have had their learning disrupted and are being home-schooled. A recent survey by The Key, a national information service for heads and governors, revealed that an estimated 700,000 state school pupils are not being set any work by their teachers. Other research found that better-off children are doing 75 minutes a day more home learning than the poorest. Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) claims the lockdown is likely to widen the disparity in school achievement between the poor and the affluent. By Akbar Mammadov The capital of USs Arizona state, Phoenix, has declared May 28 "Azerbaijan National Day", Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles reported on May 19. According to the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, Mayor Kate Gallego signed a relevant statement on this issue. The statement sent to the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles emphasizes that the Azerbaijani people created the first secular and democratic republic in the Muslim world on May 28, 1918. Furthermore, the statement notes that after Azerbaijan regained its independence in 1991, the United States was one of the first countries to recognize the country and establish diplomatic relations with it. It is emphasized that after regaining its independence, Azerbaijan strengthened its sovereignty and independence, became one of the fastest-growing and most modern countries in the world, and today is the largest economy in the region and the largest trading partner of the United States in the South Caucasus, the consulate general said. The statement also noted that millions of Azerbaijanis around the world, including the United States and Phoenix, marking May 28 as Azerbaijan's National Day, commemorates the contributions of their ancestors to the spread of democracy in the surrounding regions, including Central Asia and the Middle East, and celebrates the significant achievements of the Republic of Azerbaijan as a free and independent state. At the end of the declaration, Mayor Kate Gayego declared May 28 in Phoenix "Azerbaijan National Day" and called on residents to celebrate this holiday and the success of Azerbaijan. It should be noted that with a population of 1.6 million, Phoenix is the fifth most populous city in the United States. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz OnePlus has now confirmed that it will disable the color filter camera on the OnePlus 8 Pro in an upcoming software update. The company acknowledges the privacy-violating implications of the feature and will work on it further before relaunching it. 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 The OnePlus 8 Pro was all over the news last week; this time not due to any display issues, but over its "novel" color filter camera that allowed users to see through solid objects. Sadly, the fun isn't going to last for much longer. OnePlus has now confirmed that it will disable the color filter camera on the OnePlus 8 Pro in a future software update. The company says it will temporarily disable the function and work on it to prevent future privacy breaches, before relaunching it in the future. The update is billed to be sent out within a week. Sorry, people. Enjoy it while it lasts. Families practice social distancing while playing near the San Clemente Pier on Monday. (Gabriella Angotti-Jones / Los Angeles Times) The day after Gov. Gavin Newsom cracked the door for more counties to potentially lift additional coronavirus-related restrictions, Orange County officials made it clear that they want to get through as quickly as possible. Officials hope to see larger parts of the retail economy including shopping malls and restaurants reopen with social distancing restrictions as soon as possible. While health officials said they are still planning how to move further into what the state calls Phase 2, members of the Board of Supervisors said Tuesday that time is of the essence. "We can put together a plan, and I'm still keeping my fingers crossed," said Supervisor Andrew Do. "I'm hoping that by this weekend, were going to enter Phase 2 fully." Doing so would mean shopping malls could reopen, for instance, as could restaurant dining rooms albeit with modifications. Even if Orange County doesn't meet the exact letter of all the new reopening rules, which Newsom unveiled Monday, officials emphasized their preference is still to send a plan to the state as quickly as possible. "To the extent that perfect is the enemy of the good, we dont want to let that happen," said Supervisor Don Wagner. "If we need to supplement, lets supplement." The focus, he added, should be: "Let's open as much as possible. Let's open as soon as possible. Let's open as safely as possible." Newsom said the loosened rules would allow 53 of Californias 58 counties to move further into the second of four stages toward reopening. The relaxed restrictions were welcomed by larger urban counties that had decried the state's previous criteria as onerous, if not unattainable, for more populous areas. Under the revised metrics, counties will no longer be kept from loosening the shutdown rules if there have been COVID-19 deaths in the previous two weeks. Counties also will be able to move toward a more expansive reopening if they can show fewer than 25 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in the last 14 days, or show that fewer than 8% of residents tested for the virus over a seven-day period were positive. Story continues Another factor is hospitalizations. Counties either have to show that the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals hasn't increased by more than 5% over a seven-day period or that they haven't had more than 20 hospitalizations on any single day over a 14-day period. Orange County officials did not comment on the new rules Monday except to say that they would "be in touch after we have had time to review the governor's announcement" and did not immediately respond Tuesday when asked whether there are metrics the county doesn't meet. Given that so many more counties can now petition the state to further relax coronavirus restrictions, Supervisor Lisa Bartlett said it's important for Orange County to submit a plan as quickly as possible so it secures a favorable position in the queue. "Weve got to really kind of turn the ship around as quickly as possible," she said. That's especially the case as the pandemic continues to keep many storefronts closed which, in turn, has dammed the county's revenue stream. As of April 17, the county projected it would lose $126.1 million in revenue this fiscal year because of COVID-19, according to projections discussed Tuesday. Next fiscal year, the chasm is projected to deepen to $332.4 million. While those figures are not set in stone changes to California's overall budget picture and potential further support from the federal government are among the contributing factors officials said it's clear there will be challenging times ahead. "The sole reason for economic difficulties in this time is that businesses have been shut down and employees have been laid off," said board Chairwoman Michelle Steel. "If we support businesses and get them open as fast as possible, that will boost our economy and, most importantly, provide essential jobs because every private-sector job is essential ... to struggling Orange County residents who have lost their work and their ability to put food on the table because of this crisis." Times staff writers John Myers, Taryn Luna and Phil Willon contributed to this report. Houstonians are expressing a deeper sense of mutual trust, compassion, and solidarity than ever before, with many also calling for policies that will reduce inequalities and improve public schools, according to a recent Rice survey. Were a different population. We see the world differently than we did five to 10 years ago, said Stephen Klineberg, founding director of the Rices Kinder Institute for Urban Research and an emeritus professor of sociology. The Kinder Houston Area Survey, which was conducted between Jan. 28 and March 12, got responses from 1,001 Harris County residents, and results were released Monday during the Kinder Institutes annual luncheon which was held virtually for the first time because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Klineberg, who has conducted the survey for the past 39 years, said this years survey has been one of the most remarkable coming just days before the novel coronavirus jolted the Houston community and the world, and showing that Houston residents were hopeful for their city, but ready for a change. Economy and community Houstonians were particularly confident in the economy, with nearly 70 percent of those surveyed having favorable views about local job opportunities. Residents still, however, said there is still work to do. Traffic was considered the areas biggest issue by 30 percent of respondents, followed by the economy with 13 percent, and flood and crime, which was both listed by 11 percent of participants. Many respondents said they had issues when it comes to accessing health care or economic opportunities, with a quarter of respondents saying they lacked health insurance and more than one-third had difficulty paying for groceries. More Houstonians than ever are also calling for government programs to address inequality, according to the survey. Sixty-one percent said government should take action to reduce income differences, 72 percent favored federal health insurance for all Americans, and 79 percent said the government should ensure residents who want to work can find employment. The numbers have increased from a decade ago, when they stood at 45 percent on income differences, 60 percent on healthcare for all, and 64 percent on employment. Klineberg said the responses indicated the growing inequalities when it comes to health care and economic opportunities, which disproportionately affect the citys black and Hispanic communities. Houstonians are also more trusting of those around them, less fearful of crime and have shifted their views on what constitutes a crime. Seventy percent rejected the suggestion that possession of small amounts of marijuana should be treated as a crime up from 44 percent in 2003 and 34 percent in 1995. Forty-two percent of those who responded said most people can be trusted, which is up from 37 percent in 2016 and 31 percent in 2014. Education Klineberg said he was most struck by Houstons support and concerns regarding education. More than half of Houstonians, or 55 percent, said schools need significantly more money to provide a quality education, whereas 39 percent said schools have enough money to provide a quality education if used wisely. Two decades ago, the responses were reversed, with a majority of participants believing schools had enough money, according to Rice data. Seventy percent were also in favor of increasing local taxes in order to provide universal preschool education for Houston students. Klineberg said this significant shift in views on education likely relates to the citys history, where residents once relied more on natural resources and skills within oil and agriculture to make money rather than education. Now, Klineberg says the economy will likely rely more on human resources, which is laid bare by the pandemic and growing inequalities, which leave African-American and Latino communities less educated. Diversity Participants in the survey were also more supportive of marginalized groups, calling for policies that welcome refugees and expressing more positive feelings toward Muslims, undocumented immigrants and the LGBTQ community. Opinions on gay rights have changed dramatically, Klineberg said with 62 percent of people in favor of legal adoption rights for gay parents in 2020 versus the 49 percent in 2020 and 17 percent in 1991. But some things havent changed. Consistently, Houstonians are anti-abortion, but pro-choice, Klineberg said. More than 50 percent of respondents deemed abortion morally wrong, but 63 percent said they were opposed to laws making it difficult to abort a pregnancy. Flooding, global warming The understanding and concerns about global warming and climate change have also shifted, with more people believing that its caused by human activity and that storms and flooding will be a long-term reality in Houston, the survey found. Houstons vulnerability is real. Its a real normal and new conditional that we need to deal with, Klineberg said. Almost 80 percent of respondents said severe storms are a guarantee in the next decade and 65 percent called to stop construction or building in areas that are known to flood. Just over half consider climate change or global warming a very serious problem, with an increasing amount of people believing that human activities not normal climate cycles are to blame. This year, 69 percent blamed humans for climate change, an increase from the 48 percent in 2011. Ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Houston, residents were hopeful about the economy and jobs, but two months later, the regions oil industry collapsed and people were unemployed. Similarly, residents are facing unemployment and economic uncertainty after the coronavirus has forced businesses and operations to close all over the city. Its a sad consequence that will make next years survey particularly interesting, but hard to predict, said Klineberg who analyzes nearly 40 years of Kinder Houston Area Surveys in his latest book Prophetic City: Houston on the Cusp of a Changing America. We will have a rare opportunity to measure systematically the actual impact on area residents attitudes and beliefs of their experience in coping with the health and economic consequences of the pandemic. brittany.britto@chron.com A strip of land on a small island at the state's westernmost point might be only 1 kilometre long, but it has highlighted the delicate politics between government, the resources industry and native title holders. Dirk Hartog Island, off the Shark Bay coastline, is both a national park and tourism destination, but its main claim to fame is being home to Return to 1616, a globally significant rehabilitation project aiming to restore the land to how it was before the arrival of the Dutch explorer for which it's named. The endangered dibbler, pre-reintroduction to Dirk Hartog Island in 2017. With Environment Minister Stephen Dawson. In recent years the project has eradicated the feral sheep, goats and cats that drove native species to extinction on the island and slowly reintroduced native animals one species at a time, some critically endangered in Australia. But there are many more stakeholders than just dibblers and banded hare-wallabies. Glenn Polk Autoplex has renewed its dedication to farmers by continuing to be a RAM Agricultural Truck Dealer. This means that the dealership is able to offer a particular AgPack package to farmers when a new RAM truck is purchased. Glenn Polk Autoplex has renewed its commitment to local farmers by continuing to be a designated official RAM Agricultural Dealership. This means that the dealership is able to offer a particular AgPack package to farmers when a new RAM truck is purchased. Farmers who take advantage of the AgPack are able to have access to items which include but are not limited to the following: Flexible payments and special financing through AgDirect Special discounts on Michelin & BF Goodrich tires $1,000 seed corn or $250 soybean seed rebate from NK Seed Discount and a gift card for Rhino Ag Products $1,000 credit towards AgroLiquid Crop Nutrition Ram exclusive after purchase rebates up to $500 on EBY flatbeds and truck upfits Many more In order for Glenn Polk Autoplex to remain a designated RAM Agriculture Dealership, it must have at least three team members who have successfully completed an agricultural training program. The program has been created by farmers and ranchers, been peer-reviewed and carries industry endorsements. Finally, the dealership is continuing its education when it comes to agriculture in Texas. By staying up to date on current industry trends and anticipating what might be coming in the future, the dealership will be able to better help and support its farm customers. Individuals who would like to learn more about the RAM Agricultural designation can visit the dealerships website at https://www.glennpolkautoplex.net/. Potential customers who would like to speak with a Ram Agricultural Specialists at Glenn Polk Autoplex can call 844-390-1547. Finally, for those who would like to have a more personal experience and visit the dealership in person, it is conveniently located at 4330 N Interstate 35 in Gainesville. India's third Covid wave likely to peak on Jan 23, daily cases to stay below 4 lakh: IIT Kanpur scientist India logs over 3.17 lakh new Covid cases in last 24 hours; daily positivity rate up at 16.41 per cent COVID-19 fatalities may be much more than what is being reported Cong President Sonia Gandhi to chair opposition meeting over migrant workers' situation on Friday India oi-Ajay Joseph Raj P New Delhi, May 19: Congress president Sonia Gandhi is all set to chair an opposition meeting over the migrants' plight and the alleged dilution in the labour laws on Friday. This meeting will be held via video conference as fifteen parties have confirmed their participation in the meeting. Recently, thousands of migrant workers were seen headling their way back home while marching on the state highways or hitchhiking. This decision, by the migrant workers, came amid the nationwide lockdown that has been imposed due to the spread of coronavirus in the country. Coronavirus crisis: Within a fortnight, Maharashtra records 19,561 COVID-19 cases On Sunday, the Centre had said it has developed an online National Migrant Information System (NMIS) to track the stranded migrant workers' movements and to further facilitate their travel. Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, lask week, had hit the streets and was seen interacting with the migrant workers. Referring to this, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman panned it as "dramebaazi". Coronavirus may have silently existed in China as early as last October While addressing a press conference, Sitharaman said, "Go walk with them, pick up their bags rather than sitting next to them and talking to them." She further went on to say that the Centre joined hands with other state governments to run special trains for the migrant workers. "I am urging the opposition party very politely, folding my hands and requesting them here. We must all come together and help migrant labourers in this crisis," Sitharaman had said. WATERLOO REGION Waterloo Regions three hospitals are gearing up to resume surgeries and procedures put on hold back in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its expected this will take many weeks considering the need for preoperative care that was suspended, according to a joint release. Patients will be contacted about rebooking their procedures and do not need to reach out to their doctors offices. We acknowledge that there are many people in our community who have been waiting for these procedures and services, and thank them for their patience as weve worked through this challenging time, said Lee Fairclough, president of St. Marys General Hospital and hospital lead for the Waterloo Wellington hospitals pandemic response. Each hospital in Waterloo Wellington is developing a plan, along with working together on how to best to handle the resumption of these services as a region including optimizing the use of resources. Hospitals must meet conditions outlined by the province, including having capacity to care for patients including those with COVID-19, adequate supplies of personal protective equipment and drugs for surgeries, and the ability to slow activity if theres an increase in coronavirus patients. We will move forward thoughtfully to respond to the need to increase our services and continue to provide safe care to our community, Fairclough said. Resuming scheduled care for patients waiting for treatment has to be balanced with the need to ensure hospitals can be ready for any surge in COVID-19 patients. Along with caring for COVID-19 patients, hospitals are also providing hands-on support to long-term care homes experiencing an outbreak. Theyll consult with community care providers, who will be providing necessary care following procedures once those begin again. One of the important considerations is the current local status of COVID-19, said Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, acting medical officer of health for Waterloo Region. As a region that continues to see community cases, and continues to manage outbreaks in congregate care settings, we will be monitoring the situation closely and working with hospitals to determine when it will be safe to proceed. Many of the conditions currently in place at hospitals will continue, such as visitor restrictions and the requirement for patients to wear masks. A St. Marys hospital spokesperson said the earliest the services can begin is when theres a shift in government directives the current emergency orders are in place until at least May 29 and theres stabilization in the community. - According to Rubadiri, she tried so much to fit into society both while living in the US and in Kenya without success - Sharing her confession on Instagram, the mother of one disclosed she found it difficult to fit in because her accent and "funny name" betrayed her - Rubadiri said things worked out for her when she gave up trying to fit in the society and embraced the fact that she was different Many people in the world have struggled to be where they are or to be who they are today and Victoria Rubadiri is not an exception. The Citizen TV news anchor shared the struggles she went through while living in America and back home in Kenya. READ ALSO: Never mess with bride: Wedding photographer teaches mother-in-law lesson for attempting to outshine bride READ ALSO: 9 glamorous photos of young Maria actress Gloria that prove she is innocent and loving In a lengthy post on her Instagram page, Rubadiri confessed the biggest challenge was her name and her unique accent while in the US. "I have always wanted to fit in. I will admit it has been a weakness of mine. I guess it stemmed from that insecure 10-year-old Kenyan girl trying to find a place in this new world, called America. My funny accent, and funny name, would ensure my square peg would never fit in their round holes," she wrote. READ ALSO: Serikali ya Uganda kutoa barakoa za bure kwa wananchi According to the TV girl, she tried to fit in her own culture which she described as foreign, and the harder she tried the more noticeable it was. "A decade ago when I returned to Kenya, after 14 years in the US, I was met with the same dilemma this time trying to fit into a culture that was my own but was so foreign. Again my funny accent, and funny name, (Rubadiri is Malawian) made sure of that. I realised the harder I tried to fit in, the louder my difference would scream," she added. Rubadiri revealed being a journalist saved her as it turned her into a student who had to learn from her Kenyan people. She added not having the comfort of belonging in her society kept her hungry to learn more and pushed her to excel. The riveting beauty disclosed things changed once she accepted her attempts to fit in the society had failed terribly and decided to accept herself instead. "Once I accepted that I am terrible at fitting in and better off working on myself and my craft that changed everything for me. So heres to the outsiders, the misfits, the quirky, awkward, quiet ones. Celebrate your difference, while daring to shape the world around you," added Rubadiri. On Mother's Day, Rubadiri said she had given up a lot in order to be the best mom to her teenage daughter According to her, she had to let go of the tag of a typical single mom, something that really helped her in her motherhood journey. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My wife pushed me to marry another woman - Pastor Habil Were | Tuko TV Source: TUKO.co.ke ROSEMONT, Ill., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The use of medical cannabis has garnered a lot of recent attention, especially as parts of the United States and Canada have legalized its use. While it has been studied in cancer and nerve pain, not much is known about the usage rate and its efficacy in managing chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain. According to a new study released as part of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' (AAOS) Virtual Education Experience, up to 20% of patients presenting to an orthopaedic surgeon with chronic MSK pain are using cannabis to manage their pain, with many reporting success. Additionally, two-thirds of non-users are interested in using it for the management of MSK pain, prompting a need to further study its effects. "Over time, we've certainly seen an increase in the use of cannabis to manage musculoskeletal pain," said Timothy Leroux, MD, assistant professor, Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto, and orthopaedic surgeon, Arthritis Program, University Health Network. "There is definite interest to see if cannabis can be used to manage chronic MSK pain, as opposed to other conventional treatments such as anti-inflammatories and opioids. With this study, we wanted to get a lay of the land as to who is using it, what proportion are using and what they perceive the efficacy to be." Currently, 33 states, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands have approved medical marijuana/cannabis programs.i The majority of U.S. adults (59%) believe marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use, and 32% say it should be legal for medical use only, according to a September 2019 Pew Research Center survey.ii The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only approved one prescription drug that contains a substance derived from marijuana.iii The study, "Understanding the Rate and Perceived Efficacy of Cannabis Use for the Management of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain," looked at the rate and pattern of cannabis use among patients with chronic MSK pain, self-reported efficacy and potential barriers to cannabis use for non-users. Of 629 patients enrolled in the study, one in five are currently using or have used cannabis to manage their chronic MSK pain, of which 90% reported it effective in managing their pain and 40% said it decreased their use of other pain medications. Fifty-seven percent said it was more effective than other pain medications. Of cannabis users, only 26% received a recommendation from a physician. The majority were recommended cannabis for chronic MSK pain by a friend or family member. The most common cannabinoid used was cannabidiol (39%) and the most common route of use was the ingestion of oils (60%). "Most doctors, especially orthopaedic surgeons, don't have prescribing power for cannabis, so there is minimal physician oversight when it comes to cannabis use to manage chronic MSK pain," said Dr. Leroux. "To complicate things, it's a little bit of a Wild West in the cannabis industry in terms of what you get in a product, namely actual vs. labelled composition, and consistency. Another challenge is that we don't fully know what products, formulations, dosages, and routes of administration are best to manage chronic MSK pain. Given the high rate of use observed in this study and little physician oversight, there's an impetus for us as a medical community to try to understand what role, if any, cannabis may serve in the management of chronic MSK pain." The study found that patients who used cannabis for chronic MSK pain: Have multiple conditions, including depression, back pain, chronic pelvic pain and chronic neck pain (p < 0.001) Were more likely to report a greater burden of pain, including a greater total number of painful areas (p < 0.001), a history of pain clinic visits (p = 0.003), a longer duration of a painful condition (p = 0.003), and a higher rate of pain medication use, specifically muscle relaxants (p = 0.002) and opioids (p = 0.002) Were more likely to use or have used cannabis for recreation (53.2%, p = 0.001) Sixty-five percent of non-users (n=489) reported they would be interested in using cannabis to control MSK pain, but lacked knowledge regarding efficacy, access, commonly used products, doses and methods to administer. "For those who didn't use cannabis, we found stigma, access and knowledge of cannabis to similarly be reported as barriers to use," said Dr. Leroux. "We tend to associate cannabis with a younger age due to recreational use, but in our study, age was not a significant factor influencing use for the management of chronic MSK pain. In the current study, patients reported use well into their 80s, many whom we assumed would want to use more conventional products. We'd like to repeat this study in the next few years to see how use and demographics change as people become more comfortable with the idea of cannabis as the norm as well as what role state legalization plays in patients' attitudes towards its use." Disclosure Statement About the AAOS With more than 39,000 members, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is the world's largest medical association of musculoskeletal specialists. The AAOS is the trusted leader in advancing musculoskeletal health. It provides the highest quality, most comprehensive education to help orthopaedic surgeons and allied health professionals at every career level to best treat patients in their daily practices. The AAOS is the source for information on bone and joint conditions, treatments and related musculoskeletal health care issues and it leads the health care discussion on advancing quality. Follow the AAOS on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. i National Conference of State Legislatures. State Medical Marijuana Laws. https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx. Updated Oct. 16, 2019. Accessed Feb. 5, 2020. ii Pew Research Center. Two-thirds of Americans support marijuana legalization. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/11/14/americans-support-marijuana-legalization/. Accessed Feb. 5, 2020. iii U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FDA press release. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-drug-comprised-active-ingredient-derived-marijuana-treat-rare-severe-forms. Accessed Feb. 4, 2020. SOURCE American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Related Links http://www.aaos.org Jane Fonda has revealed that she uses weed to get to sleep, instead of taking medication, but the actress insists that she's 'never been majorly into pot'. The 82-year-old activist, who was just revealed as the newest celebrity spokesperson for CBD brand Uncle Bud's, explained that she has been using more and more hemp-based products in her life recently - including a weed pen that helps her to get better shut-eye. 'I use a pen that limits how many doses you get, which is way better than taking sleeping pills.' she explained. 'But I was never majorly into pot to tell you the truth. However, I have osteoarthritis, so things that help with pain and inflammation are good.' Helping hand: Jane Fonda, 82, has revealed that she uses a weed pen in order to get to sleep at night, explaining that marijuana is 'way better than taking pills' Open book: The actress and activist, who was just named as the newest celebrity ambassador for Uncle Bud's CBD line, has been open about her use of marijuana in the past Fan: In a 2015 interview, Fonda revealed that she was 'still smoking pot every now and then' Fonda - who lives in California, where the use of marijuana is legal - has previously been revealed as a fan of LA-based weed pen brand Dosist, which sells the kind of pens that she is referring to. The company, which uses recycled plastic to create its products, in line with Fonda's strong sustainability-focused stance on eco-activism, offers a range of pens that contain THC and are aimed at helping with different day-to-day issues. For someone like Fonda, who is looking to get better rest at night, the brand has a 'sleep' version of its THC and CBD pens - which dispenses a 2.25mg dose per inhale. Dosist also offers bliss, calm, relief, arouse, and passion varieties. Fonda's confession that she has been using weed as a sleep aid is not the first time she has opened up about her casual enjoyment of the drug. In a 2015 interview with DuJour magazine, the Grace and Frankie star revealed: 'I still smoke pot every now and then,' while joking that she cannot watch movies while under the influence of marijuana because it impairs her judgment. 'The number of movies I've seen thinking, "This is probably the best I have ever seen," and then I'll see it again sober and think, "What was I thinking?"' Fonda has also recently begun incorporating more CBD-based product into her daily life - as well as sharing them with her close friends and family, particularly those who need help with 'pain and inflammation'. 'I have relatives who are elderly and I have sent them [Uncle Bud's CBD] products and they have really made a difference for them,' she shared while discussing her new role for the hemp brand. Busy bee: The two-time Oscar winner, who has been sharing regular updates from her life in lockdown, described the coronavirus pandemic as a 'huge crossroads in history' Joker: In a recent video, Fonda filmed her daily routine, joking that she likes to end the day with a giant martini The two-time Oscar winner said that he is also looking into the environmental benefits of hemp, explaining that she has been a fan of hemp clothing for two years now, but has recently learned more about the ways in which the material can be used to create other things. 'I have indigenous friends who grow industrial hemp, and Im learning a lot about hemp as a viable economic sector we need to foster,' she said. 'I found out recently, for example, that Henry Ford made a car out of industrial hemp fiber, and theres something on YouTube that shows a guy with a sledge hammer trying to make a dent in this hemp fiber car, and he couldnt. So it was a hemp fiber car that couldnt be dented that ran on hemp oil!' Although Fonda has long been an outspoken activist for environmentalism and sustainability, she explained that her time in quarantine has given her all the more motivation to make a change in the world around her. Describing this time as a 'huge crossroads in history', she explained that she 'feels very motivated' to impact the way the world deals with the impact of the pandemic. 'Humanity is at a unique crossroads in history and we need to define whats happening and make sure the right people are controlling how it turns out, so I feel very motivated to do what I can,' she added. While in quarantine, Fonda has been doing her best to spread the word about climate change, regularly calling for people to get involved in the movement on social media - while also documenting her day-to-day life in lockdown. Funny girl: She also documented her lockdown workout routine, joking around that she did the same squats in jail after being arrested during a public protest Last month, she turned TikTok's 9 To 5 trend into a way to talk about her activism, revealing how fighting for the environment makes up part of her daily routine. 'Now this pandemic is causing terrible suffering and changing what we can do in this time of social distancing,' she wrote in a recent issue of People. 'But its also an important teachable moment for the other pandemic that confronts us: the climate crisis.' 'COVID-19 is teaching us how dangerous denial is and how important science and preparedness is. Its also proving that we are able to take massive collective action when the stakes are high. 'Clearly we are capable of fundamentally changing our behavior to protect the health and safety of our families. Were also seeing how nature can heal when we take action.' Her partnership with Uncle Bud's is also something that aligns perfectly with her activist ideals, with the actress explaining that if the products weren't eco-friendly and animal-kind, 'she wouldn't have gone near them'. '[The brand] reached out to me thinking the alignment between them and me made sense,' she explained. 'I wasnt so sure in the beginning. Then I tried the products out for a few months, and I really like em. 'I like the skin creams, I like the aching muscle creams, I like the lip balm, I like the hand sanitizers, I like the fact they were giving free hand sanitizers to a homeless youth organization. And I think they work. If it wasnt a U.S.-made product and eco-friendly and animal-kind, I wouldnt have gone near them.' MBABANE The Kingdom of Eswatini is above the mark of 25 poorest countries in the world and has been excluded from an initiative to have its debt with the World Bank cancelled. Over 300 lawmakers from around the world last Wednesday urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to cancel the debts of the poorest countries in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and to boost funding to avert a global economic meltdown. The initiative, led by former US presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Ilham Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, comes amid growing concern that developing countries and emerging economies will be devastated by the pandemic. To assist the Kingdom of Eswatini in its efforts to prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by COVID-19, the World Bank Group approved E110.6 million ($6 million) in health emergency funding for a project that will help strengthen the countrys health systems preparedness to respond to this and potential future emergencies. Obligations In the letter, parliamentarians from two dozen countries on all six continents, said debt service obligations of the poorest countries should be cancelled outright, instead of being simply suspended, as agreed by the group of 20 countries in April. Failing to do so means those countries would not be able to prioritise spending needed to fight the virus, which in turn could lead to continued disruption to global supply chains and financial markets, they wrote. The lawmakers also urged the IMFs Georgieva and World Bank President David Malpass to support creation of trillions of Dollars of new Special Drawing Rights, the currency of the IMF. Sanders said poor countries needed every cent to care for their people, instead of servicing the unsustainable debts they owed to the large international financial institutions. Cancelling the debt of the poorest countries was the very least that the World Bank, IMF and other international financial institutions should do to prevent an unimaginable increase in poverty, hunger, and disease that threatens hundreds of millions of people, he said as quoted by Money web. However, Communications Officer in the Ministry of Finance said Eswatini had no debt with the IMF and the country was not part of the initiative. She confirmed, however, that Eswatini had loans with the World Bank. Status According to the World Population Review, 2020, the financial status of a country has nearly everything to do with a nations gross domestic product (GDP). This value correlates with the monetary value of a countrys goods, services, and products over the course of a year. So the GDP of every country is calculated annually, and it is very similar to credit scores in a sense, albeit on a much larger scale. Eswatinis GDP in 2018 was E87 billion ($4.711 billion). The WPR listed Liberia, Central African Republic, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Malawi and Mozambique as some of the poorest countries in the world. Eswatini is not listed among the 25 poorest countries in the world. The United States and Canada have extended a ban on non-essential travel between the two countries for another 30 days. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced the extension on Tuesday, saying they would keep the ban in place to fight the spread of coronavirus across the shared land border. "This is an important decision that will keep people in both of our countries safe," Mr Trudeau said during his daily coronavirus press briefing. It is the second extension since the ban was initially introduced in mid-March. It was extended in April until 21 May and would now continue to 21 June, with decisions likely to continue on a rolling basis as new information becomes available. "As we've seen the decisions that we're taking are very much made week to week in this crisis," Mr Trudeau said. "The situation is changing rapidly and we're adjusting constantly to what is the right measure for Canadians to get that balance right between keeping safe and restoring a semblance of normality and the economic activity that we all rely on." "We're going to keep making those decisions as time goes on. It was the right thing to further extend by 30 days our closure of the Canada-US border to travellers other than essential services and goods." "But we will continue to watch carefully what's happening elsewhere in the world and around us as we make decisions on next steps." When first announcing the ban in March, Mr Trump said the temporary closure of the northern border was by "mutual consent". Mr Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that he's hopeful the border will eventually open. "We're talking to Canada. As things clean up in terms of the plague, we're both going to want to do the normal, we want to get back to normal," he said. Mr Trump said the border could open before 21 June as both countries were "doing well". "Canada is our neighbour, we have a great relationship, we love Canada. So we're going to be talking and at the right time we'll open up very quickly. That'll go very easily," he said. The Grayzones Max Blumenthal reveals explosive new details on the CIA spying and sabotage operation against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Max Blumenthals new expose details how the US surveilled and targeted Assange inside Ecuadors London embassy, all while working with Trump mega-donor and casino magnate Sheldon Adelsons security team and a Spanish company that had initially been hired to protect the embassy. Drawing on court testimony and internal documents, Blumenthal reveals how the CIA sabotaged an asylum plan for Assange; installed software that allowed it to directly monitor him; and harassed and monitored Assanges attorneys, friends, family, and journalist colleagues. Guest: Max Blumenthal, Editor of The Grayzone and author of The Management of Savagery. Max Blumenthals article: The American friends: New court files expose Sheldon Adelsons security team in US spy operation against Julian Assange Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. The Special Mission Aircraft Market research report provides the latest industry data, growth, key segments and future trends on the basis of the detailed study. Moreover, this market report also allowing you to identify the opportunity and growth rate of the leading segment, revenue growth and profitability. The entire Special Mission Aircraft market has been sub-categorized into application. The report provides an analysis of these subsets with respect to the geographical segmentation. This research study will keep marketer informed and helps to identify the target demographics for a product or service. Request a FREE Sample Copy of Global Special Mission Aircraft Market Report with Full TOC At: https://www.valuemarketresearch.com/contact/special-mission-aircraft-market/download-sample By Application Maritime Patrol Anti-Surface Warfare & Anti-Submarine Warfare Airborne Early Warning & Control Aircraft Search & Rescue Air Refueling Other The research report also covers the comprehensive profiles of the key players in the market and an in-depth view of the competitive landscape worldwide. The major players in the Special Mission Aircraft market include Textron Inc., SAAB AB, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bombardier, Israel Aerospace Industry Ltd. (IAI), Boeing, Gulfstream Aerospace, and Siemens AG. This section includes a holistic view of the competitive landscape that includes various strategic developments such as key mergers& acquisitions, future capacities, partnerships, financial overviews, collaborations, new product developments, new product launches, and other developments. This section covers regional segmentation which accentuates on current and future demand for Special Mission Aircraft market across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Further, the report focuses on demand for individual application segment across all the prominent regions. Browse Full Global Special Mission Aircraft Market Research Report With TOC At: https://www.valuemarketresearch.com/report/special-mission-aircraft-market About Us: Value Market Research was established with the vision to ease decision making and empower the strategists by providing them with holistic market information. We facilitate clients with syndicate research reports and customized research reports on 25+ industries with global as well as regional coverage. Contact: Value Market Research 401/402, TFM, Nagras Road, Aundh, Pune-7. Maharashtra, INDIA. Tel: +1-888-294-1147 Email: sales@valuemarketresearch.com Website: https://www.valuemarketresearch.com President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned the World Health Organization to 'clean up their act' after he threatened to permanently stop American funding for the group. 'They have to clean up their act. They have to do a better job,' he said at an event with farmers at the White House. 'They have to be much more fair to other countries, including the United States or we're not going to be involved with them anymore. We'll do it a separate way.' He offered no further details but, on Monday, he threatened to reconsider membership of the United States in the health group. President Donald Trump said the World Health Organization needs to 'clean up' its act President Trump threatened to permanently stop American funding for the World Health Organization and with draw U.S. membership to the group President Trump shared a four page letter written to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to Twitter on Monday evening, saying the organization needs to make 'major substantive improvements within the next 30 days' for U.S. funding to continue. He wrote: 'If the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization.' The threat came on the same day the WHO bowed to calls from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the coronavirus. Chinese President Xi Jinping also announced China would provide $2 billion to help respond to the outbreak and its economic fallout. Xi said China supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19 and that it should be 'based on science and professionalism led by WHO, and conducted in an objective and impartial manner'. Despite Xi's words, China has slapped an 80 per cent tariff on Australian barley in what is widely seen as retaliation for Australia's investigation demands. The move has sparked fears of a trade war that could embroil Britain, which has also backed calls for an inquiry. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot characterized China's newly announced contribution as 'a token to distract from calls from a growing number of nations demanding accountability for the Chinese government's failure to meet its obligations.' Scroll down to read the letter in full The president shared a four page letter written to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, pictured, to Twitter, saying the organization needs to make 'major substantive improvements within the next 30 days' for US funding to continue The president shared his four page latter on Twitter late on Monday evening Trump suspended U.S. contributions to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting China's 'disinformation' about the coronavirus outbreak, although WHO officials denied the accusation and China said it was transparent and open. The president has repeatedly attacked WHO, claiming that it helped China conceal the extent of the coronavirus pandemic in its early stages. The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 topped 90,000 Monday with more than 1.5 million cases. Sharing the letter which raised more than a dozen grievances with the WHO, Trump tweeted: 'This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory!' Calling the WHO's 'political gamesmanship deadly', Trump added that their 'repeated missteps' have been 'extremely costly for the world'. 'The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China...I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving American's interests,' the letter said. He said a review 'confirmed many of the serious concerns I raised last month'. Trump also claimed that the WHO had 'ignored credible reports' about the virus in December 2019 or earlier, 'including reports from the Lancet medical journal'. The editor of the Lancet, Richard Horton, today rebuked Trump and said no such reports had existed. 'The Lancet did not publish any report in early December 2019, about a virus spreading in Wuhan. The first reports we published were from Chinese scientists on January 24, 2020,' he said. Earlier, Trump said the WHO had 'done a very sad job' in its handling of the virus and he would make a decision soon on U.S. funding. In his letter Trump said the only way forward for the body was if it could demonstrate independence from China, adding that his administration had already started reform discussions with Tedros. Donald Trump threatens to permanently pull WHO funding in this excoriating four page letter On Monday, the WHO said an independent review of the global virus response would begin as soon as possible and it received backing and a hefty pledge of funds from China, in the spotlight as the origin of the pandemic. Tedros said he would launch an independent evaluation of WHO's response 'at the earliest appropriate moment' alluding to findings published Monday in a first report by an oversight advisory body commissioned to look into WHO's response. The 11-page report raised questions such as whether WHO's warning system for alerting the world to outbreaks is adequate, and suggested member states might need to 'reassess' WHO's role in providing travel advice to countries. Trump said on Saturday his administration was considering numerous proposals about the World Health Organization, including one in which Washington would pay about 10 per cent of its former level. In a posting on Twitter, Trump underscored that no final decision had been made and that US funding for the global health agency remained frozen. World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shake hands in Beijing on January 28, 2020 The World Health Organization (WHO) World health assembly. China said it supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19 and that it should be 'based on science and professionalism led by WHO, and conducted in an objective and impartial manner' Previously, the U.S. sent about $400 million a year to the WHO, which is ten times the amount China contributes. The United States was the WHO's biggest donor. Questions remain about the relationship between China and the WHO. It was earlier reported that the CIA believes China bullied the WHO into delaying the declaration of a global health emergency in January, even as Beijing hoarded medical equipment. It is the second Western intelligence report to indicate that China strong-armed the WHO into downplaying the risks of the epidemic, after a German intelligence document reported by Der Spiegel suggested that Chinese leader Xi Jinping personally pressured WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In a statement to DailyMail.com, the WHO denied that it had bowed to any outside pressure in the early stages of the pandemic. Tedros emphasized that WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a global health emergency on January 30, its highest level of alert, at a time when there were fewer than 100 cases outside of China. Trump suspended U.S. contributions to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting China's 'disinformation' about the coronavirus outbreak, although WHO officials denied the accusation and China said it was transparent and open. Animal markets, which remain popular across much of Asia, have been in the spotlight since January when Chinese officials said COVID-19 most likely jumped from animals to humans at the Huanan market in Wuhan In the following weeks, WHO warned countries there was a narrowing 'window of opportunity' to prevent the virus from spreading globally. During the first few months of the outbreak, WHO officials repeatedly described the virus's spread as 'limited' and said it wasn't as transmissible as flu; experts have since said COVID-19 spreads even faster. It declared the outbreak to be a pandemic on March 11, after the virus had killed thousands globally and sparked large epidemics in South Korea, Italy, Iran and elsewhere. China says it is willing to back the WHO's investigation, but Beijing's move to slap tariffs on Australian exports are widely seen as retribution for Australia's efforts in rallying global support for an inquiry. The 80 per cent tariff has sparked fears of a global trade war - after China earlier threatened a boycott of Australian goods and services. Beijing claims the tariff is linked to a breach of WTO rules and not related to coronavirus, but Australia says there is no evidence of this. The 73.6 per cent anti-dumping tax and 6.9 per cent bonus tax are a far higher level than Chinese industry had requested, bolstering suspicions of a political motivation. China's ambassador in Canberra has previously hinted at a boycott of Australian products such as beef and wine. Australia's trade minister said today that his country does not want a trade war with China, but there are fears that Britain and others will be dragged into the row. 'Australia is not interested in a trade war. We don't pursue our trade policies on a tit-for-tat basis,' Simon Birmingham told reporters. Chinese President Xi Jinping defended his country's response to the crisis, saying China had acted 'with openness and transparency' Experts have warned that Britain is vulnerable to a trade war with China as a 'small open economy' which is 'more reliant on multilateralism and an open world economy' than the US. The UK has also supported the call for an inquiry and said that China faces 'hard questions' about the source of the coronavirus pandemic, adding there would have to be a 'deep dive' into the facts around the outbreak. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has said that things will not go back to 'business as usual' between the UK and China after the pandemic eases. A Foreign Office spokesman said yesterday: 'There will need to be a review into the pandemic, not least so that we can ensure we are better prepared for future global pandemics. 'The resolution at the World Health Assembly is an important step towards this.' Over 80 per cent of people in the UK want Beijing to face a global inquiry into what happened, according to a poll commissioned by the Henry Jackson Society think tank. Meanwhile, seven in ten people believe ministers should try to take legal action against the Chinese government if it is found to have broken international law in relation to its outbreak response. At the end of last month, the government stopped publishing China's coronavirus death figures alongside its own, in a nod to claims that Beijing was covering up the true extent of the outbreak in the country. However, China hit back at the UK last week, with Beijing's state-controlled Global Times claiming that Britain would need a 'miracle' to get out of the health crisis as it condemned London's response to COVID-19 as 'flippant' and 'ill-prepared'. Her deep FERC practice experience includes regulation of electricity markets and the laws the commission administers, including the Federal Power Act, Natural Gas Act and Interstate Commerce Act. Her in-house experience also gives her insight into the legal and business issues facing utility companies and how they manifest in interactions with FERC. During her career, Ms. Amerkhail also spent four years working for an electric utility in Texas in a number of technical positions. "Jennifer brings comprehensive business and legal experience that positions our energy group for continued growth. Importantly, she is an excellent fit with Jenner & Block's culture and her values align with ours," said Katya Jestin, Jenner & Block's co-managing partner. Randy Mehrberg, who serves as co-managing partner with Ms. Jestin and is co-chair of the Energy Practice, added, "Jennifer's FERC and utilities experience bring immediate and exceptional value to our energy industry clients. We're excited to have her join our growing team." Most recently, Ms. Amerkhail served as assistant general counsel for Entergy's FERC Legal Group, where she provided leadership, strategic advice and counseling for internal legal resources and business partners to solve legal, regulatory and compliance issues before FERC and regional transmission organizations. In her time at Entergy, she litigated return on equity and capital structure issues in cost-of-service rate cases before FERC's administrative law judges. Ms. Amerkhail drafted pleadings and advocated for Entergy companies' interests in tariff disputes, mergers and acquisitions, and rulemakings. There, she also gained extensive experience navigating the complexities of regional transmission organization markets and planning processes, including Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), ISO New England and New York ISO. Prior to joining Entergy, in her 16 years at FERC, Ms. Amerkhail held a number of roles, including team lead on important issues like the California Energy Crisis and formation of certain regional transmission organizations, advisor to FERC Commissioner Linda Breathitt, acting deputy director for the central energy market regulation division, expert witness in the administrative litigation division, and finally, as an appellate attorney in FERC's Solicitor's Office. In the latter role, she briefed and argued cases before the First, Seventh and DC Circuits defending FERC's decisions on electric markets and rates, hydroelectric licensing, natural gas pipeline project certification, oil rates and enforcement matters, obtaining an 84 percent win rate. Ms. Amerkhail was the go-to lawyer for transmission cost allocation appeals during that time, handling four major appeals, including a case that established the "roughly commensurate" cost-benefit standard for FERC cost causation decisions. Ms. Amerkhail was part of a lead team that marshalled through the first major refinements to FERC's open access rules, Order No. 890, and defended on appeal FERC's Order No. 1000, which instituted significant transmission planning and cost allocation reforms. Early in her FERC career, she evaluated merger applications and drafted opinions on initial decisions from administrative law judges. Ms. Amerkhail began her career in the electric utility industry at the Lower Colorado River Authority in Texas as a marketer of power and ancillary services, conservation planner and load forecasting analyst. "Jennifer is known in the energy industry for being a person of great integrity with a deep understanding of the industry's legal, business and technical issues," said Suedeen Kelly, Energy Practice co-chair with Mr. Mehrberg and former FERC commissioner. "I know her level of quality first-hand, having worked with Jennifer at FERC, and I look forward to working with her again as my colleague and partner." In addition to Ms. Kelly, Jenner & Block's Energy Practice features a diverse group of lawyers, including the former executive vice president of Exelon Corporation and former president of PSEG Energy Holdings, former vice president of regulatory and policy strategy at ComEd, and former US Supreme Court clerks steeped in energy issues. "Many things clients, culture, reputation and excellence attracted me to Jenner & Block. In particular, I was drawn to the high-caliber of lawyers in the Energy Practice and the ability to work with them collaboratively to overcome challenges for clients," said Ms. Amerkhail. "This is a great opportunity for me to use my legal and technical experience to quickly and completely address those issues for clients." Ms. Amerkhail earned her JD with honors from The George Washington University Law School and her BA with honors from Brown University. ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK'S ENERGY PRACTICE Amid high-stakes changes in the energy sector, Jenner & Block provides clients with cutting-edge strategic guidance, a nationally recognized litigation track record, public policy advocacy and deep transactional experience. The energy group, who include a former FERC Commissioner, the former general counsel of Exelon Corporation and former president of PSEG Energy Holdings, and the former vice president of regulatory and policy strategy at ComEd, has experience handling the full range of issues confronting energy companies today. These issues include bankruptcy and restructuring, litigation and investigation matters, and transactional and regulatory counseling, including environmental. They have also counseled energy clients on privacy and data breach response. In 2019, Law360 recognized the group as a Practice Group of the Year. To read Law360's profile, please click here. ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK Jenner & Block LLP is a law firm with global reach, with offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC. The firm is known for its prominent and successful litigation practice and experience handling sophisticated and high-profile corporate transactions. Firm clients include Fortune 100 companies, large privately held corporations, financial services institutions, emerging companies and venture capital and private equity investors. In 2019, The American Lawyer recognized the firm as the #1 pro bono firm in the United States for the ninth time in 12 years; the firm has been ranked among the top 10 in this category every year since 1990. In 2019, the publication also recognized the firm as the #3 international pro bono firm, and in 2018, named the firm as its first "Pro Bono Champion." SOURCE Jenner & Block LLP Related Links https://jenner.com/ President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has expressed shock over the death of the Chief Judge of Yobe, Justice Garba Nabaruma, describing him as an erudite judge. Mr Lawan, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi in Abuja on Tuesday, commiserated with the family of Mr Nabaruma, his friends and professional colleagues over the loss. He also condoled with the government and people of Yobe over the sudden departure of Judge, who presided over the state judiciary for nearly a decade. Nabaruma was an erudite judge and leader, who worked assiduously to reform the judiciary in the state. Justice Nabaruma left behind an indelible mark, not only on the state judiciary but also on the legal profession in general, Mr Lawan said. The Senate President prayed to Allah to forgive the departed for his sins and grant him Aljanat firdaus. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that Mr Nabaruwa died on Monday evening at the National Hospital, Abuja. (NAN) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Reuters) Prague, Czech Republic Tue, May 19, 2020 15:43 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd909e9c 2 News Czech-Republic,COVID-19,travel,tourism,coronavirus Free The Czech Republic is planning to ease travel between the central European country and other countries deemed safe from risks of coronavirus from June 8, Health Minister Adam Vojtech said on Monday. The Czech Republic was among the first countries in Europe to ban entry by foreigners and even banned most Czechs from travelling abroad to keep the spread of the infection under control in March. Some restrictions have been eased but the country is still not open for foreign tourism and Czechs are required to present a negative coronavirus test upon return or go into quarantine. Read also: Italy to allow travel to and from abroad from June 3 Discussions have been underway to open borders with neighbors such as Austria and Slovakia, which have also taken steps to relax their border regimes. Vojtech said he had proposed that as of June 8, travel to and from a list of risky countries - to be determined but currently likely to include Spain, Italy or France - would be subject to the current requirements while others deemed safe - such as Austria, Slovakia or Croatia - would be exempt. Vojtech said the list of risky countries would be updated continuously. Prime Minister Andrej Babis said last week that borders with Slovakia and Austria could be fully opened from June 8. Separately, Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said on Monday that borders with all neighboring states - Poland, Germany, Austria and Slovakia - could be open by mid-June, news agency CTK reported. The foreign ministry also said Czech tourists may be allowed to travel to Greece from July. Your sense of humor may not come across in a text, so avoid sarcasm. Emoji (those little pictures usually used to convey a feeling) are okay with friends but probably not with your boss. Dont type in all capital letters that can be construed as shouting. Paris: French nurses and doctors faced off with President Emmanuel Macron at a leading Paris hospital on Friday, demanding better pay and a rethink of a once-renowned public health system that found itself quickly overwhelmed by tens of thousands of coronavirus patients. French President Macron on a visit to the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in February. Credit:AP "We are desperate. We no longer believe in you," said a nurse who confronted Macron at the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, saying she's using a long-expired surgical mask. "We are the shame of Europe." "That's not true," the president countered - but he could barely get a word in as medics peppered him with grievances. Apparently anticipating such tensions and fearing they could further hurt Macron's image, the president's office didn't allow a single video, photo or radio reporter on the visit. Macron acknowledged mistakes in reforming the national hospital system, which has faced decades of cost cuts, leaving medical facilities in one of the world's richest countries short of staff, masks and breathing machines needed to fight the virus crisis. A major shift in consumer sentiment is tipped to help Australian manufacturers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, as the federal government points to the crisis as proof of the need for local procurement. Industry Minister Karen Andrews will back the case for using government contracts to support local manufacturers in an economy that can no longer rely on all the supply chains that existed before the crisis. Federal Industry Minister Karen Andrews. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen In a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Ms Andrews will praise Australians companies that rushed to make ventilators, masks, gowns and other personal protective equipment to help in the crisis, naming them as proof of the power of government procurement. "Things that would normally take years can actually be achieved in weeks when the will is there," she will say. DUBLIN, Ireland, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Origina, a leading global IBM third-party software support provider, announced today that Ron Belt, founder and managing partner of Capitalmind Corporate Finance, has been appointed a non-executive director for the company. Belt has over 25 years of experience in the technology sector in a variety of leadership roles. He has worked in many sectors, including cybersecurity, e-commerce, media, and software. He brings a wealth of corporate finance expertise, as well as a background of having worked with many fast-growing companies. "We're delighted to announce the appointment of someone of Ron's caliber to our board," Tomas O'Leary, CEO and founder of Origina, says. "His appointment is very exciting as we hope to leverage Ron's experience as an advisor and shareholder of high-growth European technology companies." He has maintained an active role in Capitalmind Corporate Finance for the past two decades, taking part in over 135 mergers and acquisitions. Belt is also active in the entrepreneur community, maintaining relationships with some rapidly growing businesses on AngelList. Belt is expected to add considerable value to the board, which is currently chaired by Tiarnan O'Mahoney. Combined with the wealth of experience presented by the founders and senior executives at Origina, the company looks forward to continuing its creation of one of Europe's fastest-growing IT support firms. Belt's appointment arrives at a key juncture for Origina, with the company experiencing 100 percent year-over-year growth in revenue and expanding into North America and parts of Europe. His years of experience will be pivotal in the expansion of Origina's already global presence. About Origina Origina is the world's leading provider of independent IBM software support in a rapidly expanding independent third-party software maintenance (TPSM) market. The company works with some of the largest companies across the world, saving them hundreds of millions of dollars. Addressing the demand from organizations needing lower-cost alternatives to the escalating price of technical maintenance, support, and consulting services offered by IBM, Oracle, and SAP, the TPSM market is anticipated to pass $1bn by 2022. Origina is one of the most exciting high-growth technology support companies to come out of Ireland. Using a unique platform-enabled and flexible business model allows it to help IBM software clients to switch from IBM, generate savings of 50 percent and get a vastly improved service. SOURCE Origina Hollyoaks star Chelsee Healey has reportedly been summoned in by 'appalled' soap bosses after she flouted lockdown regulations. The actress, 31, has sparked backlash after she was spotted outside Lauren Goodger's jailbird ex Jake McLean's home in Essex, which is more than 200 miles from her Manchester abode. Chelsee, who has played Goldie McQueen since 2016, is said to have been told off about her behaviour by soap bosses and they are now 'looking into what consequences she is likely to face'. Showdown: Hollyoaks star Chelsee Healey has reportedly been summoned in by 'appalled' soap bosses after she flouted lockdown regulations (pictured at the British Soap Awards in 2019) A source told The Sun: 'Chelsee has been hauled over the coals by Hollyoaks bosses. She had been spoken to by bosses about her behaviour. 'The cast represent the show and in their contract it states they can't bring the show into disrepute.' They added: 'This isn't a quick visit to a friend's house round the corner she travelled over 200 miles to see a man. They are appalled at her behaviour and are looking into what consequences she is likely to face.' Chelsee's representative declined to comment, MailOnline has contacted Hollywoaks for comment. Oh dear! The actress, 31, has sparked backlash after she was spotted outside Lauren Goodger's jailbird ex Jake McLean's home in Essex, which is more than 200 miles from her Manchester abode (Lauren and Jake pictured in 2013) In March, Boris Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and threatened people with fines or even arrest if they do not 'stay at home'. He stated four key circumstances in which people can leave the home; shopping for basic essentials, exercising once a day, a medical reason or travel to work for key workers. Britons have had to avoid meeting up with friends and families since March 16, a week before the full lockdown came in on March 23. Not happy! Chelsee, who has played Goldie McQueen since 2016, is said to have been told off about her behaviour by soap bosses and they are now 'looking into what consequences she is likely to face' Lauren previously dated Jake for four years between 2012 and 2016. Jake, who was 18 at the time, was jailed for three-and-a-half years after conning his way into a mother's house two days before Christmas in 2006, overpowering her before a masked gang ran in and raided the family home. Lauren's jailbird ex was part of vicious criminal gang and it is believed he only served half of his sentence, he is since said to have fathered a child with another woman. Romancing: As well as romancing Lauren, Jake also enjoyed a string of dates with TOWIE star Yazmin Oukhellou (pictured in 2019) last year although it soon fizzled out As well as romancing Lauren, Jake also enjoyed a string of dates with TOWIE star Yazmin Oukhellou last year although it soon fizzled out. Chelsee shares daughter Coco, two, with her ex Jack Malloy, who was jailed for 12 months in 2015 for dangerous driving, using a vehicle without insurance and driving while disqualified. She has since appeared on Celebs Go Dating in a bid to find love after their split in 2016. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has backed calls for an independent inquiry into its handling of the pandemic as China pledged $2bn (1.83bn) for efforts to contain the coronavirus in developing countries and the US accused the body of presiding over a costly failure. Speaking at the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general, said he welcomed a proposal by more than 120 countries -tabled by the EU and Australia but not supported by China - for a "stepwise process of impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of its response to the pandemic. Dr Tedros said he would launch "an independent evaluation at the earliest appropriate moment". But Alex Azar, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, told the assembly that the pandemic had "spun out of control" in great part due to a costly "failure" by the WHO. "There was a failure by this organisation to obtain the information that the world needed, and that failure cost many lives," he said. The Assembly usually meets in Geneva, but this year's meeting is being held virtually because of the virus pandemic. An early report into the WHO's handling of the crisis by its independent oversight body said the organisation had "demonstrated leadership" and that its performance should be reviewed but not during the "heat of the response". The report also said that the WHO would need an estimated $1.7bn (1.56bn) to the end of the year, leaving it with a funding gap of $1.3bn. Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, told the assembly by videolink he would back a "comprehensive review" of the pandemic after it had been brought under control. Answering critics who said the country covered up the outbreak when it first emerged in Wuhan at the end of last year, Mr Xi insisted his country had acted with "openness, transparency and responsibility", providing information to the WHO and relevant countries in a "timely fashion". He also tried to smooth over criticism by announcing $2bn (1.87bn) to support virus response efforts, calling for continued research into the source of the virus, pledging to make vaccines globally available when possible and encouraging sharing best practices. It is unclear whether the Chinese funding would be channelled directly to the WHO. In his address to the assembly, Dr Tedros answered critics who said the organisation had been slow to respond at the beginning of the outbreak. "WHO sounded the alarm early, and we sounded it often. "We notified countries, issued guidance for health workers within 10 days, and declared a global health emergency - our highest level of alert - on the [30th] of January. At the time, there were less than 100 cases and no deaths outside China." ( Daily Telegraph, London) The Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) with support from the UNFPA and Canada Project Objectives has launched a Reproductive Health project in Nzema East of the Western Region to implement strategies that would improve upon the lives of adolescents. The project dubbed "Empowering Adolescent Girls through Improved Access to Reproductive Health Information and Services and Quality Gender-responsive Services" is aimed at empowering adolescent girls by providing them with education on their reproductive health, information on sexual and Gender-Based Violence prevention and linking them to health facilities for services. It would also create the platforms for them to participate in health decision making and as well as equip them with legal literacy skills. Also, more health professionals would build their capacity to provide quality youth-friendly and gender-sensitive Sexual and Reproductive Health services to the adolescent. Mr Nii Ankonu Annorbah-Sarpei, Programme Director of the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights said ultimately, more adolescent girls would be empowered to exercise their rights on sexual reproductive health. He was speaking during an inception and orientation meeting on the project at Axim. The project, he said would directly target out-of-school female adolescents between the ages of 10-19 years, marginalized and disadvantaged girls, particularly those with disabilities. Mr Annorbah-Sarpei said already, sensitization programmes on gender-responsive topics relating to Sexual Reproductive Health among 5,000 adolescent girls has been undertaken with 2,000 adolescent girls referred for facility and outreach contraceptive services through girls' and young people's peer networks and community mobilization programmes. Also, 25 girls with disabilities have been trained on Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) and legal literacy. The programme director said it was important to help young people know about their reproductive health and to contribute to achieving the SDGs by 2030. "We will continue to churn out a programme that provides young people with age-appropriate, culturally relevant and scientifically accurate information and skills that promote their health and development", he added. Mr Annorbah-Sarpei added that the beneficiaries were nurtured to have positive attitudes and values such as open-mindedness, respect for self and others, having a sense of responsibility with regards to SRHR. Established in 2004, the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) is a national Ghanaian NGO made up of various groups and organizations working on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) issues. He stated that through advocacy, capacity-building and evidence generation, ARHR works to protect the rights and interest of poor and disadvantaged Ghanaian populations, particularly, women of reproductive age, newborns and young people at national and sub-national levels. The ARHR employs a rights-based approach in its programmes aimed at empowering communities, especially women of reproductive age and young people to realise their SRH rights and to demand protection, prevention and mitigation of abuses, and the provision of quality services. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Academic denounces lack of food distribution among poor during pandemic; police say she is held for inciting violence. Ugandan police have arrested a prominent activist for allegedly inciting violence as she led a group of protesters against what they called slow distribution of food and other relief goods to vulnerable people affected by coronavirus-related restrictions, according to local media. Stella Nyanzi, a vocal critic of President Yoweri Museveni, together with a small group of activists, was arrested on Monday as she was marching towards the office of Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda in the capital, Kampala. In a petition on Monday, Nyanzi and others had urged the government to revise anti-coronavirus measures that have benefitted the rich and created an apartheid state and occasioned avoidable suffering upon many vulnerable Ugandans, especially women and low-income earners. Through the petition, the activists also called for food distribution for those in need and free face masks for everyone, as well as for the release of political prisoners and those held for violating measures meant to contain COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Police spokesman Patrick Onyango said Nyanzi had been arrested for inciting violence. She is exploiting the COVID-19 situation to advance her political motives, he told Reuters News Agency. Stella Nyanzi earned a huge following on social media for her bold attacks on President Yoweri Museveni over his crackdown on political dissent [Abubaker Lubowa/Reuters] Uganda has implemented one of Africas strictest lockdowns, including a dusk-to-dawn curfew. It has also closed businesses and schools, banned public gatherings and the use of private and public vehicles other than those of essential workers such as medical staff. To date, the country has recorded 248 confirmed coronavirus cases and no related deaths according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, Nyanzi, an academic and poet, has in recent years earned a huge following on social media for her bold attacks on Museveni over his crackdown on political dissent and decades-long rule. In August last year, a magistrates court convicted her on charges of cyber-harassment and sentenced her to 18 months in jail. She subsequently appealed her sentence and a judge in February quashed the ruling. Some doctors and rights activists have criticised the strict lockdown measures, which they say have caused deaths of expectant mothers and patients with chronic diseases who struggled to find transport to hospitals. A judge says the University of California can be sued for allegedly discriminating against low-income, minority and disabled applicants by mandating the SAT and ACT as an admissions requirement. The ruling comes as UC prepares to decide whether to stop making standardized tests a mandatory part of the application process. The lawsuits allegations, if proven, could show that the university knew that its policy choice would disproportionately impact minority and low-income students as well as disabled students, said Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman in a ruling made public Tuesday. He said California law prohibits discriminatory government policies even if the bias was unintentional. The regents are scheduled to meet Thursday and consider UC President Janet Napolitanos proposal to eliminate the requirement of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the American College Testing exam for students seeking admission in the fall of 2021. Her plan, announced May 11, would allow students applying in 2021 or 2022 to submit their SAT and ACT scores. Applications for 2023 and 2024 would not include test scores, and in 2025, Napolitano wants UC either to create its own exam or to eliminate admissions tests. The standardized testing requirements have been suspended for current high school juniors. Tests were canceled this spring but are due to resume in the summer and fall. Advocates for low-income and minority students have long said the tests are unfair to applicants who cannot afford preparation classes or tutors and those whose first language was not English, and exclude many qualified students while reducing diversity. Advocates also question whether Napolitanos proposal goes far enough. While testing would be optional for 2021 and 2022, upper-income white students would still be more likely to take the exams and submit their scores, and to have access to online exams available this fall, Public Counsel, a law firm involved in the suit, said in comments. What steps will UC take to make sure the results do not stigmatize students from underrepresented groups? the firm asked. The lawsuit, if successful, would prohibit use of the exams in UC admissions. COVID Resources Coronavirus Map Tracking COVID-19 cases across the Bay Area and California. The suit noted that the universitys Academic Senate had refused to require the SAT for admissions in the 1960s, finding that the test scores had little or no relationship to future success at UC, before reversing course in 1979. Seligman, in his ruling, said the evidence could show that the university knew the test had an adverse impact on disadvantaged and minority applicants. Public Counsel attorney Mark Rosenbaum said that the SAT and ACT in California are on their last legs and that the time has come for the Regents to end reliance upon a discriminatory test that over the decades has fenced out hundreds of thousands of qualified students of color and students from low-income families from the UC system. UC noted that the judge had only allowed the suit to proceed and had not ruled on the merits of the case. The university said its Academic Senate had established a task force to reconsider the tests in January 2019, 11 months before the suit was filed. The University is deeply committed to admitting and enrolling a high-achieving student body that reflects the diversity of California, UC said. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko Giant steel maker Hoa Phat Group (HPG) earned revenue of 19.5 trillion VND (835.9 million USD) in the quarter, up 28 percent year-on-year. The company reported post-tax profit of 2.3 trillion VND in Q1, up 27 percent against last year. In addition to steel production, Hoa Phat also operates in other fields such as furniture, refrigeration, real estate and agriculture. Illustrative image (Photo: VNA) On the stock market, Hoa Phat shares (HPG) rose sharply after plummeting to the two-year bottom of 6,200 VND per share at the end of March this year. Currently, HPG is being traded at around 23,600 VND per share, approximately equal to the price recorded at the beginning of this year. Hoa Phats market share of construction steel increased to 31.9 percent in Q1 with an output of nearly 733,000 tonnes after excluding steel billets. Of the estimate, the amount of exported finished steel products reached 135,000 tonnes, up 74.8 percent over the same period last year. The provision of steel billets reached about 350,000 tonnes, mainly for export. The main export markets for steel billets are China and Southeast Asian countries. The company also provided the market with nearly 145,000 tonnes of steel pipes. In March, Hoa Phat supplied a total of 486,000 tonnes of finished steel products and steel billets to domestic and foreign markets. Another notable steel producer, Hoa Sen Group (HSG), also witnessed profit growth during the reviewed period. The fiscal year of Hoa Sen Group differs from others, starting from July 1 and ending on June 30 of the following year. Therefore, the first quarter of this year is considered the second quarter of the 2019-20 fiscal year of the Hoa Sen Group. In the quarter, Hoa Sens revenue reached 5.8 trillion VND, down by 16.3 percent year-on-year. Finance expense dropped by 44 percent to 223 billion VND, selling expense decreased by 48 percent to nearly 504 billion VND and corporate management costs slumped by 104 billion VND to 142 billion VND. Post-tax profit reported in the quarter was 201 billion VND, nearly four times higher than the profit achieved in the same period last year. In the first six months of the fiscal year 2019-2020, the group reached 382 billion VND in post-tax profit, 3.2 times higher than the same period last year and completed more than 95 percent of the profit target assigned for the whole year. According to SSI Securities Co, these results were attributed to the improvement in gross profit margin. Inventories were kept at a safer level, which allowed the company to focus on profits instead of sales as in previous years. These were the results achieved after one year of restructuring the distribution system, SSI said. Other steel enterprises that reported profit growth in the first three months of this year was Vietnam Germany Steel Pipe JSC. The company recorded profit of 10.6 billion VND, up 3.8 percent year-on-year. But this profit was less than one third of that reported in the previous quarter. Notably, Nam Kim Steel JSC (NKG) suffered a loss of more than 100 billion VND in Q1 last year but enjoyed post-tax profit of 41.5 billion VND in the period this year. Revenue in Q1 reached 2.45 trillion VND, down by 16.7 percent year-on-year, in which export revenue was 1.13 trillion VND, contributing about 46 percent of total revenue. As for business activities, Nam Kim Steel has continuously strengthened its cooperation with SMC, an industry partner. The continuous increase of SMC's ownership ratio in Nam Kim as well as the use of SMCs personnel in Nam Kim shows the close co-operation between these two units. Recently, the two funds, Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited and Amersham Industries Limited, sold a total of more than nine million shares of Nam Kim (NKG), reducing their ownership to less than nine million shares and no longer the major shareholders of the group. Nam Kim plans to reach 12 trillion VND in revenue this year, down slightly from the revenue achieved in 2019. It also aims to collect 200 billion VND in post-tax profit, a sharp increase compared to the profit achieved in 2019. Consumption is expected to reach 700,000 tonnes, up 7.4 percent compared to that of 670,000 tonnes achieved in 2019. Thong Nhat Flat Steel Joint Stock Company (TNS) also enjoyed after-tax profit of 1.6 billion VND in Q1 this year while suffering a loss of 7.6 billion VND in the same period last year./. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riska Rahman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 17:45 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd91297a 1 Business Kresna-Life,insurance,payment,claims,policy-holders Free Privately-owned insurer PT Asuransi Jiwa Kresna (Kresna Life Insurance) is preparing a scheme to pay out its policyholders, as the company reels from the impact of COVID-19 on its finances. The company announced on May 14 that it would postpone insurance claim and benefit payments for Kresna Link Investa (K-LITA) and Protecto Investa Kresna (PIK) policyholders, citing force majeure as its reason. The details of the scheme will be disclosed to its policyholders as late as 30 days from the date of the notification letter issuance on May 14, Kresna Life announced in a statement on Monday. The policyholders interest is our main priority. Therefore, we will continue to try our best to settle it in good faith by prioritizing our obligations to all policyholders, president director Kurniadi Sastrawinata said in the statement. The insurer also asked policyholders for understanding, as it claimed the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were behind its failure to pay their policies. The economic and stock market crises caused by the pandemic have reportedly affected the insurers liquidity for its underlying investments, which led to it delaying and halting its policy payments temporarily, according to its notification letter. The delay applies to the payout for maturing policies from Feb. 11, 2020, to Feb. 10, 2021, as well as investment benefit payment claims due between May 14, 2020, and Feb. 10, 2021. The adjustment to the amount of policy and investment benefits, along with the payment procedure, will be conducted after Feb. 11, 2021, it stated. However, Kresna Life is not alone, as other insurers have encountered similar troubles. Previously, ailing life insurer Asuransi Jiwa Bersama (AJB) Bumiputera was said to have been facing difficulties paying its policyholders claims following turmoil within the insurers organization since 2016. State-owned insurer PT Asuransi Jiwasraya has also been in the spotlight following its failure to pay its customers matured policies worth Rp 16 trillion (US$1.07 billion) due to investment mismanagement. On Jan. 24, the AGO ordered the suspension of 800 securities accounts related to Jiwasraya as part of its ongoing investigation to uncover alleged corruption at the ailing insurer. The move led to privately-owned life insurer PT Asuransi Jiwa Adisarana Wanaartha (WanaArtha Life) suffering from liquidity problems. Advertisement The US Coast Guard has suspended its search for former WWE star Shad Gaspard, two days after the wrestler disappeared after being pulled out to sea. Gaspard, 39, has been missing since Sunday afternoon after he and his son were caught in a rip current while swimming at the newly-opened Venice Beach. The wrestler reportedly told lifeguards to rescue his 10-year-old son first, who was pulled from the water in good condition and did not require hospitalization. But lifeguards were unable to rescue his father, former WWE star Shad Gaspard, who was caught in the riptide and has been declared missing. Former WWE star Shad Gaspard, 39, is missing after being pulled into sea while swimming at California's Venice Beach Sunday afternoon with his son Gaspard's wife posted this missing flyer to his social media accounts and hers asking the public for help in finding her husband Shad Gaspard's wife, Siliana Gaspard, was seen leaving Venice Beach being comforted by close friends after a tragic incident Sunday Friends of Gaspard released a statement on behalf of the family thanking the public for their support. Former fellow wrestler Matt Morgan took to Twitter to shared photos of him and his friend through the years (pictured) The USCG confirmed on Tuesday morning it is no longer assisting in recovery efforts and the LAPD is now leading investigations. Friends released a statement on behalf of the family on Monday night thanking the public for their support. '[Shad's] family appreciates all the love, support, and concern through this horrible ordeal. At this time they are not ready to make any public or official statements to any media outlet And ask all to respect their wishes', Fellow wrestler Kofi Kingston tweeted. Several friends and members of the wrestling community, including Montel Vontavious Porter, also tweeted the message at the request of the family. Fellow WWE star JTG, who performed alongside Gaspard in wrestling tag team, 'Cryme Tyme', took to Twitter to share a screenshot of a heartfelt conversation he had the missing wrestler in January. 'If ever I die tomorrow just know I love you as a brother and friend for ever even past this life', Gaspard wrote, to which JTG replied: 'Love you too brotha #Nohomo'. Retired professional wrestler and now Florida city mayor Matt Morgan also shared photos of him and his friend through the years on Twitter on Tuesday morning. 'Never did the meaning 'brother' mean more to me than it did with#ShadGaspard. I'll never forget the day Shad posted these pics of us early 20 something-year-olds,& illustrating our pathway through life's accomplishments & into fatherhood side by side 4 20 years!I love u brother,' he tweeted. DailyMail.com was there as multiple lifeguards were on the scene on Sunday, along with divers, rescue boats, paramedics on standby, the coast guard flying back and forth and helicopters hovering over the crowded beach for nearly three hours. 'I saw the young boy who was inconsolable and his mother who had her arms wrapped around him,' said one onlooker. 'The whole thing was just heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking to see this mother and child in complete despair.' On Monday afternoon Gaspard's wife Siliana Gaspard was seen on the beach being consoled by close friends as the search continued for her husband. Fellow wrestling star JTG shared a screenshot of a heartfelt conversation he had with Gaspard in January Gaspard (left) is best known as a member of the wrestling team Cryme Tyme with fellow WWE star JTG (pictured together) The boy's mother Siliana Gaspard remained on the beach Sunday evening and was seen staring out into the ocean while the coast guard conducted a search People can be seen consoling one another on the beach as the search for Shad Gaspard continues Siliana was seen flanked by close friends as they left Venice Beach while divers continue their search for Shad Gaspard A tent has been set up by the Los Angeles County Fire Department in the search for Shad Gaspard Helicopters can still be heard hovering over the beach and many locals are asking the question why the beach wasn't closed off if the rip currents were so strong Gaspard is best known as a member of the wrestling team Cryme Tyme with fellow WWE star JTG The boy was unharmed and later walked off the beach with an adult friend for about fifteen minutes, while his mother Siliana Gaspard remained on the beach painstakingly staring out into the ocean. 'We had one of our lifeguards go out to make a double rescue of a father and a son,' Kenichi Haskett, Los Angeles County Fire Dept Lifeguard Division told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview. 'The father unfortunately got pushed down by a wave as they were getting pulled out of the current. The lifeguard rescued and grabbed the boy, the son, and tried to grab the father as well. 'He ended up getting pushed down by a wave and we couldn't find him and we immediately started with our rescue boats, called in additional lifeguards to search that location of his dad.' Gaspard is best known as a member of the wrestling team Cryme Tyme with fellow WWE star JTG. Since leaving the wrestling world in 2010, Gaspard pursued an acting career starring in several movies including Think Like A Man Too. He married wife Siliana Gaspard in 2009 and they share one son together. The mother and a few friends left the beach at about 12:30pm. The rescue station was also shut down at the same time. Prior to leaving, Siliana was seen sitting on the beach with some friends and possible family members who were consoling her and rubbing her back. Their son had left about 30 minutes prior with an adult and another young boy. Officials wouldn't confirm whether or not the body had been found. Helicopters can still be heard hovering over the beach and many locals are asking the question why the beach wasn't closed off if the rip currents were so strong. 'There were unusually strong rip currents the day before this happened. Two girls were pulled out because of the riptide. I am not sure why swimmers weren't warned,' Daisy Godfrey tells DailyMail.com. 'Lifeguards were there immediately but the helicopter took almost an hour to get there.' 'If you feel a strong pull, that's the time to get out of the water. But many swimmers may not think anything of the pull, especially if they don't go to the beach a lot.' Gaspard was swimming with his 10-year-old son when he was pulled out to sea. His son was rescued and unharmed 'We had one of our lifeguards go out to make a double rescue of a father and a son,' Kenichi Haskett, Los Angeles County Fire Dept Lifeguard Division told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview 'The father unfortunately got pushed down by a wave as they were getting pulled out of the current. The lifeguard rescued and grabbed the boy, the son, and tried to grab the father as well' Multiple lifeguards were on the scene, along with divers, rescue boats, and paramedics on standby Haskett encourages people to swim in front of an open lifeguard tower and to always check in with the lifeguard about the swimming conditions One local resident said she was brought to tears just the other day when her daughters were in harm's way while swimming at the same beach Gaspard married wife Siliana Gaspard in 2009 and they share one son together. Gaspard had launched an acting career since leaving the wrestling world in 2010 Haskett encourages people to swim in front of an open lifeguard tower and to always check in with the lifeguard about the swimming conditions. 'Stay knee deep, you don't need to out and get pounded by the shore. Know your abilities and stay within your abilities,' Haskett advises. Local resident Lisa Thompson said she was brought to tears just the other day when her daughters were in harm's way while swimming at the same beach. 'Yesterday my two girls got pulled in by lifeguards. It was upsetting, I was crying. My daughters didn't even know realize they were getting pulled out.' 'I have been doing this for 33 years, and this is only the second time this has ever happened,' a Venice Beach lifeguard told DailyMail.com. The mother and son were seen sitting under the tent as the rescue mission continues in raining weather and choppy waters Monday morning As of 7am, the search for the missing dad continued with his wife and young son on site The search was suspended Sunday evening and picked up again Monday morning To make the search more challenging, it has been raining since early Monday morning As of 7am, the search for the missing dad continued with his wife and young son on site. 'The mother and son have remained on the beach at the same location since yesterday. Neighbors have provided them with water and blankets and chairs. 'And one neighbor who lives right on the beach just steps away from the incident has opened his doors for them in case they need a bathroom or a place to rest,' Venice local Patricia Powell tells DailyMail.com. To make matters more challenging, it has been raining since early morning. A boy cleans their house damaged by Cyclone Bulbul in Bakkhali, India, on Nov. 10, 2019. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP via Getty Images) India Evacuates Thousands Threatened by Cyclone Amid Pandemic BHUBANESWAR/KOLKATA, IndiaIndia began evacuating thousands of villagers and halted port operations ahead of a cyclone expected to hit its east coast this week, officials said on Monday, piling pressure on emergency services grappling with the CCP virus pandemic. The cyclone, expected to make landfall on Wednesday, comes as India eases the worlds longest lockdown, imposed in April against the virus, which has infected more than 96,169 people and killed 3,029. The states of Odisha and West Bengal sent disaster management teams to move families from homes of mud and thatch to places of shelter from the severe cyclonic storm, Amphan, which is expected to gain strength in the next 12 hours. We have to evacuate people from low-lying areas, and protect them from the coronavirus too, said a senior official of Indias home ministry who sought anonymity. Its not an easy task. The cyclone season usually runs from April to December, with severe storms forcing the evacuations of tens of thousands, causing widespread death and damage to crops and property, both in India and neighboring Bangladesh. Authorities at the port of Paradip in Odisha ordered ships to move out to sea to avoid damage as the cyclone formed over the Bay of Bengal was likely to intensify into a super cyclonic storm. Operations have been wound down, said Rinkesh Roy, chairman of the Paradip Port Trust. We are clearing the port. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a meeting in New Delhi, the capital, to plan how to mitigate damage and injuries. The extremely severe cyclonic storm Amphanis likely to gain more strength and intensify further into a super cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours, weather officials said in a statement, forecasting heavy rain in eastern and southern areas. India, with a coastline of 4,670 miles, gets hit by more than a tenth of all the worlds tropical cyclones, the bulk of them hitting its eastern coast around the Bay of Bengal. Epoch Times staff contributed to this report The Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporations (NNPC) have agreed to fund the cost of quarantine accommodation and feeding of all Nigerian returnees from abroad during the pandemic period. Read Also: Cross River To Quarantine Visiting NCDC Team This was made known in a tweet sent out on the verified Twitter handle of Bashir Ahmad, the presidential aide on new media. See what he tweeted below: Advertisement The NNPC and CBN agree to fund, as part of their CSR, the cost of quarantine accommodation and feeding for all Nigerians returning to the country from abroad, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama has disclosed. Advertisement The Vice-President of South Sudan, Riek Machar, who was part of a taskforce to fight coronavirus, is in self-isolation after testing positive for Covid-19. Mr Machar said as several other members of the taskforce were infected a new team was taking over their work. His wife, who is Defence Minister Angelina Teny, some bodyguards and other staff also have the virus. Experts worry that decades of conflict has left South Sudan incapable of dealing with a surge in new infections. So far South Sudan has recorded 236 cases of Covid-19 and four deaths. Last week, the authorities announced the virus had reached a UN refugee camp in the capital, Juba, where some 30,000 people have sought seeking shelter and protection. A case has also been confirmed in a similar camp in northern Bentiu, home to almost 120,000 people, the AFP news agency reports. Quarantine Mr Machar said that a member of the Covid-19 taskforce tested positive for coronavirus last week. As that person had been mixing with the rest of the team, he decided that everyone on the taskforce be tested. Many of our colleagues who have been found positive are in good health from now onwards we shall be quarantining ourselves in the house, Mr Machar said. Mr Machar formed a joint government with his political rival President Salva Kiir in February after years of conflict which has resulted in hundreds being killed and thousands being displaced. As part of the power-sharing deal, Mr Machar, is ranked first among four vice-presidents serving as deputy leaders to Mr Kiir. Apart from dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, South Sudan has also been named among countries most at risk of what the UN World Food Programme (WFP) calls a hunger pandemic. The WFP says that hunger and malnutrition in the country are at the most extreme levels since 2011, with almost 60% of the population struggling to find food every day. Making the situation worse, swarms of locusts which had destroyed crops across East Africa arrived in South Sudan earlier this year. The outbreak and rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic has made normal Medicare enrollment significantly more difficult in some areas of the country, Rich says With the pandemic dictating how the country operates and moves forward, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared that All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four territories have been approved for major disaster declarations to assist with additional needs identified under the nationwide emergency declaration for COVID-19.(1) In response, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have recently granted a special enrollment period (SEP) for Medicare beneficiaries who were unable to enroll during the normal election period due to the coronavirus crisis. The outbreak and rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic has made normal Medicare enrollment significantly more difficult in some areas of the country, says Dave Rich, CEO of Ensurem LLC a growing online multi-carrier insurance brokerage. We need to reach out to seniors living in affected areas and make sure they understand the SEP. As stated by the CMS, the SEP is available from the start of the incident periodwhich is defined as the effective date of the Presidents initial emergency declaration on March 1and for four full calendar months after (through the end of June).(2) According to Ensurem, here are some key points regarding this policy: This SEP is available nationwide to residents of all states, tribes, territories, and the District of Columbia effective March 1, 2020.* This declaration does not mean that all Medicare beneficiaries get an SEP. To be eligible, beneficiaries must meet certain criteria. All other rules apply. For those who qualify, the SEP opportunity will run through June 30, 2020. *Note: Beneficiaries will not be expected to provide proof that they were affected by the pandemic-related emergency What does this mean for beneficiaries? Beneficiaries who were eligible for a different election period but were unable to enroll* in a plan during the allotted time period have until June 30, 2020, to enroll. Enrollments received are effective the first day of the following month. *Note: This applies to anyone that could have used the MA-OEP SEP but did not Rich, whose company specializes in the Medicare market, notes that navigating the vast array of coverage options and making the best decision can be dauntingnonetheless doing so amidst a pandemic. Ensurems goal is to facilitate the exchange of information between the rapidly growing U.S. senior population and the healthcare industry via innovative, user-friendly technology. The COVID-19 pandemic makes this a unique time in our history, becoming more concerningand even frighteningfor seniors every day, Rich says. This is a rapidly developing situation that could see changes at any time, so it is imperative for those who may be affected by this policy get the most up-to-date information possible. Ensurems contact center, which logs over 2,000 calls per day, is standing by to handle calls from seniors in question as to whether they are affected by these extended deadlines. The contact center has access to those FEMA-designated areas that have been impacted across the nation and is available to answer general questions pertaining to coverage options. The contact center is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET at (800) 729-5109 (TTY: 800-631-3750.) We cannot assume that seniors will focus on the various enrollment extensions available, or even understand them, Rich says. Its critical that we communicate this to our seniors right now; up-to-date information is available through the Ensurem contact center. About Ensurem Ensurem, headquartered in Clearwater, FL, is a leading technology and product distribution company serving carriers and consumers within the massive U.S. senior market. The company provides end-to-end solutions for carriers, including product development, digital marketing, and consumer-centric front ends and back end. For more information, visit http://www.ensurem.com. 1. COVID-19 Disaster Declarations. COVID-19 Disaster Declarations | FEMA.gov, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), fema.gov/coronavirus/disaster-declarations. 2. MacDonald, Ilene. CMS Clarifies Actual Dates of Special Enrollment Period Due to COVID-19. RISE, 11 May 2020, risehealth.org/insights-articles/revenue-quality/cms-clarifies-actual-dates-of-special-enrollment-period-due-to-covid-19/. # # # In light of the COVID-19 situation weve written and launched the Gentle Bears Big Hibernation, which is designed to help parents talk to their kids about quarantine and working from home, Spilsbury said. GBs Gentle Bear program serves as a compassionate bridge between the insurance industry and the vulnerable people that our clients serve. It provides a way to emotionally connect the work that we do with the market and the community. Gentle Bear has been our symbol of caring and charity for over 10 years now, added Nadia Forlani, national tender manager. The program, which was designed with advice from child psychologists, includes a digital storybook that helps explain to children the changes to life at home during quarantine. Gentle Bear is normally something that is given out when kids need a hug and that kind of thing. So, weve been looking to work out what does Gentle Bear look like in a quarantine, social distancing environment? What we came up with was the Gentle Bears big hibernation storybook, Spilsbury explained. Its a storybook weve given out to clients and employers around Australia to use with their staff who are working from home. Its a short story about Gentle Bear going into quarantine or hibernation and his aunt - or his parental figure - is working from the cave, so he helps her adjust to working from home. The ultimate goal behind the Gentle Bear program, Forlani says, is to provide a socially conscious connection between the community and GB. His role adapts to meet contemporary challenges while promoting our companys mission to guide, guard and go beyond for our clients with strength and compassion, she said. The digital book helps create a conversation with a child about working from home and what quarantine means. It also helps establish boundaries during work hours, such as when the parent may not be accessible to the child. Spilsbury also believes the digital storybook is a particularly useful resource because one of the greatest stressors for parents who work remotely is having to juggle their workload with looking after young children. A big challenge for remote workers, particularly when theyre in school lockdowns and things like that, is just having kids at home and having to work at the same time, he said. The book provides a guided, child-friendly, easy to understand way of having a conversation about boundaries while working from home. So, it talks about boundaries and spaces in the house that a parent might not be available and activities that a kid can do while their parent isnt available. Its an important move for the insurance sector because it highlights the industrys quick efforts to provide support and relief to their clients during crisis situations. Spilsbury says the industry was built on providing support during times of great distress. I think the foundation of the insurance and broking industry is helping clients in situations where theyre faced with some kind of disruption to normal life or crisis type event. Often thats providing insurance against that or providing claims management to support them after that incident occurs, Spilsbury explained. But I think on the whole the insurance and broking industry is there to help people through crisis situations and particularly in the workers compensation industry - working from home is creating new challenges for employers to manage their workforce. So, this is one of many tools were providing to employers to help their staff to make the transition and make this period a little bit easier. And its been well received Spilsbury says the feedback suggests the digital playbook has been a fun and light way to communicate difficult situations to young children who may not otherwise understand the circumstances. [The feedbacks] been really fantastic. The overarching comment weve received is its just something thats different, its light and fun compared to some of the other resources that are coming out at the moment, he said. We got a really lovely email yesterday from one of our clients who had read the book with her grandchild and that had prompted a really positive conversation between them about working from home its just one little thing the industrys doing to make the world a little bit more cheerful. The Madras High Court on its own took up as PIL reports of several hundred tons of paddy getting spoilt and issued notice to the state government asking it to submit details about storage facilities besides directing it to protect farm produce. A special bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and Anita Sumanth took notice of reports in an English and Tamil daily in which it was stated with photographs that paddy which was kept in the open was spoiled due to the rains. The bench also directed the government to take immediate steps to protect the farm produce, in particular the paddy cultivated in the delta region. Justice M Sathyanarayanan made a note of the reports and forwarded it to Chief Justice AP Sahi seeking his permission to allow the court to take it up as a PIL. In his note, the Judge said "In delta regions of the state there is a bumper harvest of paddy and for want of storage facilities the harvested paddy is stored in open places. A week back there was a thunderstorm and as per weather reports it is likely to occur again." A item also appeared in a Tamil daily that on account of sudden downpour paddy stored in open places got spoiled, the judge said. The chief minister has also issued a press release dated April 26 as to the availability of storage facilities in regulated markets. "But in real practical sense it is yet to be put in place and that apart, procurement of paddy is not also taking place for want of funds," the judge added. Since agricultural and allied activities are permissible during lockdown, the judge sought the permission of the Chief Justice to initiate 'suo motu PIL' on the issue. The court also wanted the authorities to implement the instructions of the chief minister and a government order dated April 15 promising such facilities to store cultivated paddy and file a compliance report to the court by May 26. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leading Bahrain government officials led by Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and Chairman of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani recently paid a visit to the project site of the upcoming Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre coming up in Sakhir region of the kingdom. The foundation stone for the BD83.6-million ($220 million) project was laid by HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister in January. During the site visit, Al Zayani was given a presentation on the projects implementation phases by the Tilke consultancy and Cebarco Bahrain, the contractor of the project, reported BNA. The minister expressed delight at the beginning of the implementation of the strategic project, noting that the state-of-the-art exhibition centre will motivate all sectors that support tourism in order to diversify sources of income, in line with the directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The Expo Centre will come up on a 309,000-sq-m area next to the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. The 149,000-sq-m main building will include 10 exhibition areas, totalling 95,000 sq m, along with dedicated areas for retail and events. The facility will also include a 4,500-sq-m conference hall divided into three separate hi-tech rooms, in addition to twenty-seven small and medium sized conference and meeting rooms, said the report. The new facility will significantly strengthen the kingdoms event infrastructure and enable it to host greater numbers of larger events in the future, it added. LOS ANGELESFollowing his February conviction on extortion and fraud charges in a case involving the Nike shoe corporation, Michael Avenatti was jailed in New York City to await trial in a separate case on charges that he defrauded his former client, AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels. But on April 12, Avenatti was released and allowed to return to Southern California, due to concerns that he could contract a coronavirus infection behind bars. But even though the terms of his release during which he remains under home confinement at a friends house in Venice, California are set to expire after 90 days, Avenatti now appears intent on remaining on the west coast as long as he can. He was set to return for a June 17 sentencing hearing in the Nike case, by in a document filed Monday, Avenattis attorneys asked federal Southern District of New York judge Paul Gardephe to push the hearing until August. According to the request, filed by defense attorneys Scott Srebnick and E. Danya Perry, prosecutors have already agreed to allow the delay, which they said was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in particular to the acute situation in New York. The document did not specify whether Avenatti was asking for an extension of his 90-day release, but the lawyers noted that he currently remains under home confinement. In addition to his sentencing in the Nike case, in which Avenatti was convicted of attempting to extort the sportswear firm for $20 million, Avenatti also faces trial in the SDNY on charges that he swindled Daniels out of a $290,000 publishers advance for her 2018 memoir, Full Disclosure. But on Friday, Avenatti through his attorneys asked that the trial which had been scheduled for June be put off until October. Government prosecutors agreed to the delay but Avenatti also asked for the second time that the trial move to Los Angeles. SDNY Judge Jesse Furman said he was willing to revisit Avenattis request, but only if the reasons for moving the trial were completely different from those rejected by Judge Deborah Batts last September. After his indictments last year on charges in the Daniels and Nike cases, as well as other allegations that he cheated clients out of settlement payments, Avenatti was allowed to remain free to await trial. But in January of this year, federal agents arrested him again, claiming that he had continued to commit crimes while out on bail. Following that arrest, Avenatti was confined to the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, until his release due to coronavirus fears on April 24. Photo By CNBC YouTube Screen Capture A baby orangutan may have died from coronavirus at a German zoo, PETA has claimed - prompting an angry denial from zookeepers. Leipzig Zoo announced the death of nine-month-old baby Rima last week, saying she was seriously ill without giving a cause of death. Since then, PETA's German branch has demanded an investigation into whether Rima died of Covid-19. There have been sporadic reports around the world of the virus spreading to animals, but the zoo insists that none of its keepers or animals have been infected and says it will not waste testing capacity on the dead orangutan. Baby orangutan Rima, pictured with her mother Pini at Leipzig Zoo, died in the Pongoland enclosure last month - prompting claims by PETA that she could have had coronavirus Rima was born in August 2019 and lived at the Pongoland ape enclosure, but zookeepers said she was in poor health and died in April this year. 'She was so ill that she passed away overnight,' zookeeper Daniel Geiler told regional broadcaster MDR last week. A veterinarian had been visiting every day in the hope of saving Rima's life after she became seriously ill, Geiler said. Her mother Pini is said to have kept hold of Rima's body for several days before zookeepers finally took it away. No cause of death was given, but PETA specialist Yvonne Wurz said there was a significant risk of apes being infected with coronavirus. 'The danger of apes being infected with SARS-CoV-2 is thoroughly likely,' she said in a statement. PETA's German branch has demanded an investigation into whether Rima (pictured with her mother) died of Covid-19 'As the closest relatives of humans, they are vulnerable to pathogens which cause respiratory illnesses in humans,' she said. Even diseases which are not deadly in humans have previously proved fatal in animals, she said. However, she did not provide specific reasons for PETA's suspicion that Rima may have been infected at the zoo. PETA also used the case to highlight its wider opposition to apes being kept in zoos, saying it makes them more vulnerable to illness. 'Because of the quarantine measures related to coronavirus, many people can imagine what it means to be locked inside for weeks at a time,' Wurz said. A spokeswoman for Leipzig Zoo dismissed the coronavirus claims, telling Bild that no staff or animals had suffered any virus symptoms. 'It's difficult for us to respond to unqualified statements like this from PETA,' the spokeswoman said. 'The dead baby was not tested for coronavirus. She died at the start of April, and was already faint and in poor general health before that.' She added: 'Neither staff nor animals have had coronavirus symptoms in our zoo. Therefore, we will not use up human screening capacity with unnecessary tests.' In any case, it is now too late to test the orangutan because Rima's body has already been disposed of, she said. Leipzig Zoo was closed for six weeks because of the pandemic, but partially re-opened on May 4 with new hygiene measures in place. Zookeepers at Leipzig Zoo (file photo) say that none of their staff or animals had any coronavirus symptoms, rejecting claims that the orangutan could have died from the virus Visitors have to buy tickets for a specific time slot on a particular day in order to control the number of people in the park. Some attractions such as camel rides and a petting zoo remain closed for health reasons, according to the zoo's website. The extent to which animals are vulnerable to coronavirus is not yet fully clear, but there are no signs of widespread transmission in the animal world. Some animals including a handful of cats and dogs are known to have tested positive for coronavirus after being infected by their owners. 'Findings from laboratory studies suggest that, of the animal species investigated so far, cats are the most susceptible species' for the virus, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health. Dogs, hamsters and fruit bats are also thought to be susceptible, along with the rhesus macaque - a type of monkey which has been used in early vaccine tests. There has been no evidence of pets spreading the virus to humans, and animal rights groups have urged people not to abandon their pets over virus fears. Scientists are still trying to establish how the virus was transmitted to humans in the first place. Suspicion initially fell on a live animal market in Wuhan, where the outbreak was first detected, but the exact origin of the virus is not yet clear. There is some evidence that the virus may have originated in bats, possibly spreading to humans via a third species such as pangolins. Industry's most sustainable commercial PC portfolio with built-in AI capabilities help professionals work smarter Latitude 9000 series laptops boost productivity with intelligent features built into ultra-premium designs Precision 5000 series support demanding workloads, packing performance into the industry's smallest and thinnest mobile workstation designs Simple and flexible services make it easy to deploy, manage and purchase PCs around the globe, creating ready to work experiences for employees Full Story: Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) unveiled the world's most intelligent and secure business PCs1 across its award-winning Latitude, Precision and OptiPlex portfolios to make work more efficient and safe no matter the location. As the industry's most sustainable commercial PC portfolio2, the new devices further advance Dell's commitment to sustainability with recycled materials, sustainable packaging, energy efficient designs and EPEAT Gold registrations. Professionals can work smarter with Dell Optimizer3, the automated Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based optimization technology, now available across Latitude, Precision and OptiPlex devices. The built-in software learns how each person works and adapts to their behavior to help them focus on the tasks that matter most. It works behind the scenes to improve overall application performance4; enable faster log-in and secure lock outs5; eliminate echoes and reduce background noise on conference calls; and extend battery run time6. "The PC plays a central role in how we reimagine the way we work, even anticipating what we need to be more productive," said Darrel Ward, senior vice president, Client Product Group, Dell Technologies. "From the moment you log on to your last video conference of the day, you need a PC that adapts to the way you work. That's why we are driving innovations that offer more intelligence, longer battery life, powerful speakerphones, compact designs and 5G support all while moving our sustainability goals forward." "It's critical to offer the right balance of portability with the right set of productivity features. Professionals want to turn on their device and know they have everything they need to accomplish their work, in one device," said Maribel Lopez, founder and principal analyst, Lopez Research. "People want bigger screens in smaller footprints, solid speakers for excellent call quality, the ability to switch from Wi-Fi to 5G on the fly, and built-in AI capabilities that optimize performance and eliminate background noise ultimately helping them work smarter and faster from any location." Boost productivity with the world's most intelligent business PCs7 New intelligent Latitude PCs and 2-in-1s adapt to how people work. The new ultra-premium 9000 series and completely redesigned 7000 series feature machined and brushed aluminum designs; long battery life; an array of ports; and expansive, four-sided narrow border displays to see and do more. Available with 10th Gen Intel vPro processors and Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+)8 for nearly three times faster speeds, the Latitude devices offer businesses power, performance and global connectivity. For executives and on-the-go professionals who need the very best in design, power and connectivity , the Latitude 9510 is the smallest 9 , lightest and most intelligent 15-inch business PC. Starting at 3.1 pounds 10 , the PC offers built-in 5G-ready design 11 , up to 34 hours of battery life 12 , and an enhanced conferencing experience with powerful built-in speakerphones and microphones. It offers the power and performance teams need to be productive anywhere as the first Project Athena-verified commercial PC with 10th Gen Intel vPro processors 13 . , the Latitude 9510 is the smallest , lightest and most intelligent 15-inch business PC. Starting at 3.1 pounds , the PC offers built-in 5G-ready design , up to 34 hours of battery life , and an enhanced conferencing experience with powerful built-in speakerphones and microphones. It offers the power and performance teams need to be productive anywhere as the first Project Athena-verified commercial PC with 10th Gen Intel vPro processors . Designed for balancing performance and portability, the Latitude 7410 and 7310 are the smallest 14-inch and 13-inch premium business laptops14. Also configurable as a 2-in-1, the Latitude 7410 features the industry's first 4K low blue light screen on a premium business PC15 for better readability and to help enhance eye comfort. Mobile workstations offer mission-critical reliability and more power in smaller designs Dell has reengineered its industry-leading Precision workstation portfolio, designed to handle demanding workloads like intensive graphics processing, data analysis and CAD modeling. With smaller footprints, sleek designs, and thermal innovations, the new Precision mobile workstations deliver increased performance and ISV certifications with professional graphics from NVIDIA and the latest 10th Gen Intel Core vPro and Xeon processors. Designed for creators and professionals wanting high performance and stylish design without the size and weight of a traditional mobile workstation, the Dell Precision 5550 and 5750 are the world's smallest and thinnest 15-inch and 17-inch mobile workstations16. Creators and engineers can see and do more with the 16:10, 4-sided InfinityEdge (up to HDR 400) display. The all-new Precision 5750 is also VR/AR and AI-Ready to handle fast rendering, detailed visualizations and complex simulations. Compact desktops featuring smart designs For industries like healthcare and education that rely on the dependability of desktop devices, Dell launched redesigned OptiPlex towers and expanded all-in-ones with flexible configurations in space-saving designs. The most secure commercial PCs, easy to deploy and manage around the globe IT professionals have the freedom and flexibility to set up ready-to-work experiences from day one regardless of where employees are working with Unified Workspace. From remote workers to creatives and engineers, IT can easily determine what devices to deploy that will best support employee needs, workstyle and location with Dell's new Workforce Persona QuickStart. Large enterprises to small businesses can access Dell's PCs, support and software at an affordable, predictable cost to help manage working capital with Dell PCaaS17, part of the Dell Technologies on Demand portfolio. Businesses can refresh their fleet with the latest PCs every 36 months, and have peace of mind knowing they have deployed the industry's most secure commercial PCs18, even guarding against silent attacks at the BIOS level. Availability and pricing: The Latitude 9510 is available now starting at $1,899 . The Latitude 7410 and 7310 are available now, starting at $1,499 . . The Latitude 7410 and 7310 are available now, starting at . The Dell Precision 5550 is available now starting at $1,999 . The Dell Precision 5750 is available in early June starting at $2,399 . . The Dell Precision 5750 is available in early June starting at . Workforce Persona QuickStart service is available today. Additional Resources For the latest updates on business PCs and news from Dell Technologies, connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Learn how Dell is helping businesses implement remote workforce solutions. About Dell Technologies Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) helps organizations and individuals build their digital future and transform how they work, live and play. The company provides customers with the industry's broadest and most innovative technology and services portfolio for the data era. 1 Based on Dell analysis, Nov 2019. 2 Based on the design, manufacture, packaging, product lifecycle maintenance and number of ecolabel registrations, including EPEAT Gold registrations for the Dell Precision, Latitude and OptiPlex portfolio as of May 2020. 3 Dell Optimizer available in 2020 devices, not available in OptiPlex 3000 series. Latitude 3310 2-in-1 and Latitude Chromebook Enterprise. Feature availability and functionality varies by model. 4 Dell Optimizer ExpressResponse must be enabled in the Applications feature. DO learns how user uses the selected application(s) over several hours. Based on Dell testing using Sysmark 2018 benchmark on a Latitude system running productivity applications; and using performance evaluation benchmarks on Precision mobile workstations running ISV applications, March 2020. Improvement will vary based on product configuration, use, application and other factors. 5 ExpressSign-In is available on Latitude 9000 and select 7000 series; Precision mobile workstations 7000 and select 5000 series. See product details for availability. 6 ExpressCharge with Dell Optimizer (DO) requires 14 days to learn the user's behavior, then dynamically applies appropriate battery settings. DO Adaptive Battery setting must be enabled in the Power feature settings labeled "Adaptive Battery Performance". Improvement will vary based on product configuration, use, software, operating conditions, power management settings and other factors. Improvements may decrease over time. System performance may be impacted. 7 Based on Dell analysis, November 2019. Dell Optimizer is compatible with 2020 Latitude devices with Microsoft Windows OS, excluding Latitude 3310 2-in-1 and Chrome OS systems. 8 Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) delivers nearly 3x faster speeds and next-gen security to PCs and wireless networks. 9 Based on Dell analysis, November 2019. The smallest refers total surface area of the notebooks. 10 Weights vary depending on configuration and manufacturing variability. 11 5G LTE option on 2-in-1 coming in fall of 2020. Mobile Broadband/LTE: Subject to service provider's broadband subscription and coverage area; speeds may vary. Additional charges will apply. Contact your service provider for details. 12 Battery life is based on testing Latitude 9510 with Intel Core i5- 10210U, 8GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, 88Whr battery and FHD non-touch display, using the Mobile Mark 2014 benchmark test available at www.bapco.com. Test results are for comparative purposes only. Actual battery life may be significantly less than the test results and varies depending on product configuration and use, software, operating conditions, power management settings and other factors. Maximum battery life will decrease with time. 13 Based on Intel's design verification process, April 2020. 14 Based on Dell analysis, January 2020, using publicly available data. The smallest refers total surface area of the 2-in-1s. 15 Based on Dell analysis using publicly available data, April 2020. 16 Based on Dell analysis using publicly available data to compare 15" and 17" mobile workstations, January 2020. The smallest refers total surface area of the mobile workstations. 17 PCaaS: Terms provided by Dell Financial Services L.L.C. or its affiliate or designee for qualified business customers. Subject to availability, credit approval, applicable documentation and law. Applicable for 36-month term. For qualifying products only. Monthly payment amount does not include charges other than periodic rent payments (such as taxes, fees, shipping or other charges). 18 Based on Dell internal analysis, January 2020. SOURCE Dell Technologies Related Links http://www.delltechnologies.com Karl and Jasmine Stefanovic welcomed their first child together, a daughter named Harper May, earlier this month. And on Monday, Jasmine was seen with her husband for the first time since giving birth nearly three weeks ago. The glowing shoe designer, 36, looked every inch the doting mother as she emerged from her Sydney home. Baby makes three! New mother Jasmine Stefanovic looked radiant as she was seen for the first time since the birth of her daughter, Harper, in Sydney on Monday Jasmine was seen smiling as she held her newborn tightly to her chest in a leopard print baby carrier. Meanwhile, Today show host Karl fussed over his wife and baby girl while standing outside the couple's home. Radiant! Glowing Jasmine looked every inch the doting mother as she stood outside her Sydney home Jasmine kept things casual for the outing, wearing an Adidas track top paired with black leggings. She had her blonde tresses in a low bun and partially covered with a low-rise cap and completed her outfit with a pair of Adidas joggers. Meanwhile, Karl also kept it low-key, wearing a coronavirus-themed T-shirt which read: 'Together Let's Beat The Bug.' Fit as a fiddle: Jasmine kept it casual for the outing, wearing an Adidas track top paired with black leggings Holding her close! Jasmine kept a watchful eye over her adorable daughter, who was strapped to her chest in a baby carrier Prepared: Jasmine carried a bottle of water while standing at the car Jasmine has been keeping low-profile since the birth of Harper, enjoying some quiet time as a new mother. Earlier this month, the Mara & Mine designer celebrated her first Mother's Day and shared an emotional post to Instagram. 'It's my first Mother's Day and my heart is so full because of you Harper May,' she gushed, sharing a picture of herself nursing Harper. Protective: Meanwhile, doting father Karl fussed over his wife and new daughter while standing outside the couple's home Daddy duties! Karl was seen collecting the bins Baby on board! Jasmine affectionately cradled Harper as she headed inside 'Thank you for choosing me to be your Mumma,' she continued. The news of Harper's arrival was announced on Weekend Today on May 2 by Karl's colleague and close friend, Richard Wilkins. Message: Meanwhile, Karl also kept it low-key, wearing a coronavirus T-shirt, which read: 'Together Let's Beat The Bug' Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 05:52:25|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KHARTOUM, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government on Monday decided to extend the full curfew in Khartoum State for two more weeks starting Tuesday to prevent COVID-19 spread. "The Security and Defense Council has agreed on a recommendation by the Higher Committee for Health Emergencies to extend the curfew imposed on Khartoum State for two weeks more," said the higher committee for health emergencies in a statement. Restriction on domestic transport and the ban on travels between the capital and the states have also been extended, it added. Earlier in the day, the Sudanese health ministry announced 302 new COVID-19 infections and eight more fatalities, bringing the total confirmed cases to 2,591 and the death toll to 105. Meanwhile, 25 more patients have recovered, taking the total recoveries to 247, it said. On April 18, the Sudanese government imposed a three-week curfew on Khartoum State. The curfew had been extended for 10 days from May 9. Enditem Long term investing is the way to go, but that doesn't mean you should hold every stock forever. It hits us in the gut when we see fellow investors suffer a loss. Imagine if you held Hidili Industry International Development Limited (HKG:1393) for half a decade as the share price tanked 72%. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 34% in the last year. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 24% in the last three months. But this could be related to the weak market, which is down 10% in the same period. View our latest analysis for Hidili Industry International Development Given that Hidili Industry International Development didn't make a profit in the last twelve months, we'll focus on revenue growth to form a quick view of its business development. Generally speaking, companies without profits are expected to grow revenue every year, and at a good clip. That's because it's hard to be confident a company will be sustainable if revenue growth is negligible, and it never makes a profit. Over five years, Hidili Industry International Development grew its revenue at 19% per year. That's well above most other pre-profit companies. So it's not at all clear to us why the share price sunk 23% throughout that time. It could be that the stock was over-hyped before. While there might be an opportunity here, you'd want to take a close look at the balance sheet strength. The company's revenue and earnings (over time) are depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers). SEHK:1393 Income Statement May 18th 2020 It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Hidili Industry International Development's earnings, revenue and cash flow. Story continues A Different Perspective We regret to report that Hidili Industry International Development shareholders are down 34% for the year. Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 7.6%. 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 23% 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 Hidili Industry International Development better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 2 warning signs for Hidili Industry International Development that you should be aware of before investing here. But note: Hidili Industry International Development may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with past earnings growth (and further growth forecast). Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on HK exchanges. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 00:43:48|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close NAIROBI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Ministry of Health on Tuesday confirmed 51 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the national tally to 963. Mutahi Kagwe, Cabinet Secretary for Health, told journalists in Nairobi that the latest infections are from 1,933 samples which were tested in the last 24 hours. Kagwe said that a total of 22 patients recovered from the respiratory disease, bringing the total number of people who have since been discharged from hospitals to 358. He, however, noted that there was no death during the period but added that 15 cases out of the 50 deaths that have been recorded so far are household deaths with the majority from the coastal city of Mombasa. "So I think we should make it clear that the rising deaths in Mombasa are essentially people dying at home and we want to urge that if a person is unwell, please take them to hospital," said Kagwe. Kagwe said 62 percent of the latest cases are male while 38 percent are female persons. He noted that out of the 214 patients whose cases were detected along with Kenya-Tanzania border points, 182 are foreigners. The official revealed that Kenya has tested 46,784 cases, adding that the government has enhanced screening at border points. He noted that in recent past the government has activated a mobile laboratory at Busia and Wajir border points and plans to activate additional laboratory in Isebania and mobile laboratory at Naivasha. The Kenyan government also plans to deploy a mobile laboratory to the Namanga border with Tanzania to scale up the testing capacity. The east African nation has banned the movement of persons and passengers in and out of Kenya through the Tanzania and Somalia borders following the spike in cross-border COVID-19 transmission. Only cargo vehicles are exempted from the directive which took effect on Sunday. Enditem Ukraine's deputy prosecutor general reportedly thanked the journalist for getting the testimony. Ukrainian media figure and host Dmitriy Gordon whose interview with Igor Girkin (nom de guerre Strelkov), a Russian military veteran and an ex-member of the terrorist organization "Donetsk People's Republic" ("DPR"), has sparked massive public outrage in Ukraine, says it was done in cooperation with the country's SBU Security Service. "Interviews with [former turncoat prosecutor from Crimea and incumbent member of Russia's Duma] Natalia Poklonskaya and Igor Girkin were conducted by me in collaboration with the Ukrainian special services. No one has ever done such interviews before, and no one in Ukraine has ever interviewed Poklonskaya or Girkin regarding treason and crimes committed with the participation of these individuals in Ukrainian territory," he said in a follow-up video on May 18 after the interview with Girkin became available to the public. Read alsoOutrage in Ukraine over interviews with Russian warlord, Crimea turncoat ex-prosecutor The interview was prepared in 2014 but was posted on YouTube six years later, on May 18, 2020. According to Gordon, flash drives with materials of the two interviews were sent to an international court in The Hague. "These statements by Poklonskaya and Girkin will become main testimonies in the trial of the case of annexing Crimea and unleashing the massacre in Donbas," Gordon said. Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Gyunduz Mamedov, in turn, says what Girkin said during the interview could be used in criminal cases. "Everyone does their job. The journalist conducts an interview, and I, as the prosecutor in charge of the investigation of war crimes, analyze what is said and investigate the facts," he told the Ukrainian news outlet Censor.NET. "Therefore, in this case, I can only express my gratitude for the testimony that our society and law enforcement agencies have heard. Including about the MH17 tragedy." According to Mamedov, the international Joint Investigation Team (JIT), in which he represents the interests of Ukraine, is currently collecting evidence. "Investigators often use open sources which subsequently serve as proof in court. I can give as an example the fourth Ukrainian president's press conference whose materials were used as proof that he was aware of the trial where he was a suspect. Nobody was going after the journalists who participated in that conference, they thus helped the investigation," he said. As UNIAN reported earlier, the interview with Girkin ("Strelkov"), a Russian military veteran who led Moscow's proxy forces in Donbas at the onset of Kremlin's aggression in Ukraine's east and who is one of the four suspects in the MH17 downing trial ongoing in the Netherlands, was broadcast on Gordon's YoutTube channel on May 18, 2020. A few hours prior to Gordon's official statement, the SBU said they would probe into the interview conducted by Gordon with Girkin. ATLANTA, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncology Analytics, a leading data analytics and technology-enabled services company dedicated to helping health plans, providers, and patients with solutions that are purpose-built for oncology, today announced that Andrew Norden, MD, MPH, MBA has joined the company as its Chief Medical Officer. An accomplished neuro-oncologist, Dr. Norden is a passionate leader and advocate for the use of data and analytics to improve the lives of cancer patients through better treatment options and outcomes. "I am honored to join Oncology Analytics, which has a deep culture of both clinical and technological innovation," said Dr. Norden. "No other company utilizes real-world data in the prior authorization process in such a meaningful way to help ensure patients receive optimal care. I look forward to working with our incredible clinical team, whose dedication and expertise provide enormous value to patients, health plans, and providers." "Andrew is a true visionary and one of only a few healthcare leaders who understand how to harness clinical expertise, data, and analytics to revolutionize how cancer care is measured and delivered," said Rick Dean, Oncology Analytics' CEO. "His medical experience and relentless dedication to putting the needs of cancer patients first will accelerate our mission to dramatically improve patient access and options for cancer treatment." Dr. Norden previously served as Chief Medical Officer of Cota Healthcare, an oncology company focused on the curation and use of real-world data and evidence for cancer care and research. Before Cota Healthcare, Dr. Norden served as Deputy Chief Health Officer and Lead Physician for Oncology and Genomics at IBM Watson Health. Dr. Norden also held key positions at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, including Associate Chief Medical Officer and Medical Director of Satellites and Network Affiliates. During his time at Dana-Farber, Dr. Norden led clinical trials for patients with glioma, meningioma, and seizures in brain tumor patients. He is the author of more than 75 peer-reviewed papers, an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and an Associate Editor of JCO-Clinical Cancer Informatics. About Oncology Analytics Oncology Analytics is a leading data analytics and technology-enabled services company dedicated to helping health plans, providers, and patients with solutions that are purpose-built for oncology. Through an evidence-based, real-world analytics approach to utilization management, Oncology Analytics' prior authorization platform is used by physicians to support 5 million health plan members in the US and Puerto Rico and covers the full spectrum of therapeutics, across all cancer types and stages, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, precision medicine, targeted therapy, and supportive care. The extensive pathway library is continuously updated with the latest evidence-based protocols, which provides the most current options for value-based treatment paths for every patient case. For more information, please visit www.oncologyanalytics.com. SOURCE Oncology Analytics, Inc. Related Links www.oncologyanalytics.com Dan Bongino has come up with a knock-your-socks-off theory about why Flynn's December 29, 2016, telephone call with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak didn't need unmasking. He also offers a surprising twist on the charging papers against Flynn, something that may expose the DOJ's con on the court. A lot of people noticed something interesting in the newly released list showing Obama-era people unmasking Flynn communications: No one unmasked Flynn's call with Kislyak. There were no unmaskings between December 28 and January 4. The next unmasking, on January 5, took place after Comey had admitted that he already knew about the Kislyak call and after Obama had been briefed about the call. Andrew McCarthy believes that the call didn't need to be unmasked because the CIA, not the FBI, spied on Flynn. Unlike the FBI, the CIA is not subject to FISA laws. Instead, it spies on people outside the U.S. and Flynn was in the Dominican Republic when he had the call with Kislyak. That's an excellent theory, but here's an equally intriguing one from Bongino: Bongino explains that there are three ways for the FBI to spy on Americans: first, start a criminal investigation and seek a court order. Second, make an application to the FISA court, as the FBI did with Carter Page. Third, request an unmasking identifying Americans involved in captured communications with a foreigner. Flynn's phone call with Kislyak doesn't meet those three metrics: there was no criminal investigation, no FISA request, and no unmasking. Bongino notes that there is one other way to spy on someone: Under FISA, the president can request that the FBI spy on a foreign person in America, provided that the attorney general signs off, saying the spying will not implicate an American citizen. Assume, then, that Obama and Lynch ordered the FBI to spy on Kislyak. That still doesn't answer, though, how Obama and Co. managed to zero in on Flynn's call with Kislyak. After all, as with any FISA spying, the captured transcripts aren't supposed to name American citizens. They're just called "Unidentified Person." How did the Obama team find the Flynn phone call? Bongino thinks there was a setup. Three weeks before leaving office, on December 29, Obama suddenly took the dramatic step of expelling 35 Russian diplomats and imposing sanctions on Russia. He knew that Kislyak would immediately get on the phone with Trump's incoming national security adviser that is, Flynn to find out what Trump intended to do three weeks hence. That's exactly what Kislyak did. The twist here is that, as Obama and Co. knew, Flynn wasn't in the U.S. He was vacationing in the Dominican Republic. It's unlikely that Kislyak made more than one call to the Dominican Republic during this crucial time frame. All Obama had to do was ask to see a call on the 29th from Kislyak to the Dominican Republic. No one would need to do unmasking. Obama and Co. would know that the "Unidentified Person" in the call with Kislyak could only be Flynn. Mission accomplished. The second intriguing idea is one that Bongino relays from a variety of people on Twitter. They noted a discrepancy between the charging documents against Flynn for making false statements to the FBI and the heavily revised 302 that the FBI finally released. In the charging document, the DOJ accuses Flynn of lying to the FBI agents about things he said to Kislyak in connection with "sanctions that the United States had imposed against Russia that same day." However, if you look at revised the 302 which was the best version of the document that Peter Strzok and Lisa Page could create you see that the FBI agents never asked Flynn about sanctions. The agents discussed only "the expulsion of Russian diplomats or closing of Russian properties in response to Russian hacking activities surrounding the election." They asked Flynn if he recalled "any conversation with KISLYAK in which the expulsions were discussed." Flynn explained that he did not know about the "Persona Non-Grata (PNG) action" until the media reported it. And again, the agents ask if Flynn talked to Kislyak about "the incoming administration's position about the expulsions." According to the 302, the agents never mentioned sanctions, which were separate from, and in addition to, the expulsions. So here's the question Bongino asks: how could Flynn have lied about sanctions, which is the crime he's accused of under the charging papers, if the agents never asked him? Flynn, after seeing the FBI threaten his son and after receiving bad advice from his attorneys and not realizing they were compromised, took a plea bargain. It was a bad bargain because the whole thing was a setup. It's time for justice to be done. The Congress has called a meeting of like-minded opposition parties on Friday to discuss the plight of migrants and the changes in labour laws brought in by some states, sources said. Interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi will chair the meeting. This is among several initiatives taken by Gandhi since the Covid-19 crisis broke out. So far, 17 parties have agreed to take part in the meeting via video-conferencing, but the SP and the BSP are yet to confirm their attendance. Although the Congress had pledged support to the Narendra Modi government in the face of the unprecedented health ... FT. MYERS, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 11, 2020 / NeoGenomics, Inc. (NEO), a leading provider of cancer-focused genetic testing services, today announced that Doug VanOort, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kathryn McKenzie, Chief Financial Officer and Bill Bonello, President Informatics Division, Director of Investor Relations, will be participating in a virtual fireside chat at the BofA Securities 2020 Health Care Conference on Thursday, May 14, 2020 at 3:40pm ET. The presentation will be webcast live and accessible online via the investors section of the Company's website, www.neogenomics.com. A replay of the webcast will be archived for 90 days following the presentation. About NeoGenomics, Inc. NeoGenomics, Inc. specializes in cancer genetics testing and information services. The Company provides one of the most comprehensive oncology-focused testing menus in the world for physicians to help them diagnose and treat cancer. The Company's Pharma Services Division serves pharmaceutical clients in clinical trials and drug development. Headquartered in Fort Myers, FL, NeoGenomics operates CAP accredited and CLIA certified laboratories in Ft. Myers and Tampa, Florida; Aliso Viejo, Carlsbad, Fresno and San Diego, California; Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Nashville, Tennessee; and CAP accredited laboratories in Rolle, Switzerland, and Singapore. NeoGenomics serves the needs of pathologists, oncologists, academic centers, hospital systems, pharmaceutical firms, integrated service delivery networks, and managed care organizations throughout the United States, and pharmaceutical firms in Europe and Asia. For additional information about NeoGenomics, visit http://www.neogenomics.com/. Forward Looking Statements Certain information contained in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as the result of the Company's ability to continue gaining new customers, offer new types of tests, integrate its acquisitions and otherwise implement its business plan, as well as additional factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2020. As a result, this press release should be read in conjunction with the Company's periodic filings with the SEC. In addition, it is the Company's practice to make information about the Company available by posting copies of its Company Overview Presentation from time to time on the Investor Relations section of its website at http://ir.neogenomics.com/ . Story continues Forward-looking statements represent the Company's estimates only as of the date such statements are made (unless another date is indicated) and should not be relied upon as representing the Company's estimates as of any subsequent date. While the Company may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, even if its estimates change. For further information, please contact: NeoGenomics, Inc. William Bonello Director, Investor Relations (239)690-4238 (w) (239)284-4314 (m) bill.bonello@neogenomics.com SOURCE: NeoGenomics, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/589325/NeoGenomics-To-Virtually-Participate-In-Fireside-Chat-At-BofA-Securities-2020-Health-Care-Conference A missouri inmate, sentenced to death for slaying an elderly woman nearly three decades ago, is set to become the first person executed since the coronavirus pandemic was announced and several other states halted proceedings due to social distancing issues. Walter Barton, 64, will die by lethal injection for the slaying of Gladys Kuehler, 81, in 1991, but a jury recently said that 'compelling' new evidence made them feel 'uncomfortable' about the conviction. However a federal appeals court on Sunday overturned a 30-day stay of execution granted by a judge two days earlier and Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Monday that he had not heard anything to make him reconsider the execution which will 'move forward as scheduled.' One of Barton's attorneys, Fred Duchardt Jr., had previously said Parson may not have the time to consider clemency because of the attention he must pay to dealing with the coronavirus. He said the execution itself also could violate social distancing rules Parson has imposed on the state. Walter Barton, 64, is set to be executed Tuesday, in the first since Nathaniel Woods in Alabama on March 5 Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman said everyone entering the prison in Bonne Terre will have their temperatures checked and will be offered face coverings. Witnesses will be divided into three rooms Missouri Department of Corrections spokeswoman Karen Pojmann said everyone entering the prison will have their temperatures checked and will be offered face coverings. Witnesses will be divided into three rooms. Those witnesses include an Associated Press reporter and other journalists and state witnesses, and people there to support Barton. No relatives or other supporters of the victim plan to attend, Pojmann said. If it goes ahead, Barton would be the first person executed in the US since Nathaniel Woods was put to death in Alabama on March 5. Soon after that, efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus shut down the US economy and led to strict limits on social distancing, including inside prisons. Three states have put aside executions over the past two-and-a-half months. Gladys Kuehler operated a mobile home park in the town of Ozark, Missouri, near Springfield. In October 1991 she was found dead in her bedroom. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted and stabbed more than 50 times. Barton has long said he was innocent, and his case has been tied up for years due to appeals, mistrials and two overturned convictions. Barton received the death penalty for the slaying of mobile home park operator (scene is pictured) Gladys Kuehler, 81, in 1991 but a jury recently said that 'compelling' new evidence from an expert witness made them feel 'uncomfortable' about the conviction Other states, including Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, have postponed executions after attorneys argued that pandemic-related closures prevented them from securing records or conducting interviews for clemency petitions and court appeals. Attorneys also expressed concerns about interacting with individuals and possibly being exposed to the virus. And, they've argued that the execution process, which includes placing prison workers and witnesses in close proximity to each other, could lead to spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in the prison housing Missouri's execution chamber in Bonne Terre, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) south of St. Louis. Barton often spent time at the mobile home park that Kuehler operated. He was with her granddaughter and a neighbor on the evening of October 9, 1991, when they found Kuehler dead in her bedroom. Police noticed what appeared to be blood stains on Barton's clothing, and DNA tests later confirmed it was Kuehler's. Barton said the stains must have occurred when he pulled Kuehler's granddaughter away from the body. The granddaughter first confirmed that account but testified that Barton never came into the bedroom. A blood spatter expert at Barton's trial said the three small stains likely resulted from the 'impact' of the knife. The first attempt to prosecute Barton ended in a mistrial in 1993 after his attorney objected that prosecutors had failed to endorse any trial witnesses At his fifth trial, in 2006, Barton was convicted for the third time. The state Supreme Court upheld that conviction and death penalty in 2007, but Barton has continued his appeals The first attempt to prosecute Barton ended in a mistrial in 1993 after his attorney objected that prosecutors had failed to endorse any trial witnesses. Another mistrial was declared that same year after another jury deadlocked. Barton was convicted in 1994 and sentenced to death. The state Supreme Court overturned the conviction over objections to the prosecutor's final arguments. Barton was convicted again and sentenced to death in 1998, but another new trial was ordered when a judge found that the prosecution had failed to disclose the full background of one of its witnesses, among other improprieties. At his fifth trial, in 2006, Barton was convicted for the third time. The state Supreme Court upheld that conviction and death penalty in 2007, but Barton has continued his appeals. In recent court filings, Barton's attorney, Fred Duchardt Jr., cited the findings of another blood spatter expert. Lawrence Renner examined Bartons clothing and boots and concluded the killer would have had far more blood stains. Duchardt said three jurors recently signed affidavits calling Renner's determination 'compelling' and saying it would have affected their deliberations. The jury foreman said that based on the new evidence, he would have been 'uncomfortable' recommending the death penalty. One of those on the jury went as far to say they had 'serious questions' about Barton's guilt even at the trial. Barton's attorney previously told The Kansas City Star: 'It is a worse nightmare because evidence, never heard by the jury who rendered judgment, undermines the key evidence used to convict.' The expert said the killer could not have worn the clothes used in the evidence against Barton. Former prosecutor Ron Cleek, who tried Barton's fifth trial, said Barton deserves death, and was offered life without parole at the time: 'He had fair trials. He really did receive his whole due when it came down to it' 'I don't know how anybody could look at the evidence now and convict him,' Duchardt said. But former prosecutor Ron Cleek, who tried Barton's fifth trial, disagreed. 'He had fair trials. He really did receive his whole due when it came down to it. This last trial that I did was very clean,' he told KSPR. 'The victim gets her just due. I think it was the right decision then. It's the right decision now. His life will be ended so that no one else could be hurt. He is not an innocent man.' The last execution in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state, was February 6. Seven executions that were scheduled since then have been delayed. Six of the delays had some connection to the pandemic while the seventh was related to claims that a death row inmate is intellectually disabled. The next execution in Texas is set for June 16. Officials have instituted a process requiring witnesses to be be subject to the same screening required of prison employees before entering the facility, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jeremy Desel said. The screening involves questions based on potential exposure to the coronavirus and health inquiries. Texas' death chamber is not a heavy traffic area and is isolated from all parts of the prison in Huntsville, and it is constantly cleaned, Desel said. The Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye is bemused at why some Ghanaians are openly doubting the recovery rate of persons infected with the deadly Coronavirus. Virus Kills In Three Weeks The medical expert explained that the same way the virus can at least kill its victim in just three weeks, likewise in same number of weeks, people can fully recover from its attack. If the virus does not kill you within three [3] weeks, there is a higher possibility for you to recover fully after those weeks, he said in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show Ghana Montie. Why The Doubts? Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye was therefore pleasantly surprised a section of the public are marvelling at such good news. So are they saying we manufactured the numbers of those infected with the virus too? Why didnt they complain about that one too? Do we want every person infected with the virus to die? he questioned Just three days ago, one isolation center [name withheld] had a total of 187 recoveries and they were discharged. The more cases we record, the higher the recovery rate, he underscored. Ghana: 1,754 Recovers From COVID-19 A total of 1,754 COVID-19 patients have recovered in Ghana, the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has reported. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The super cyclonic storm 'Amphan' in west-central Bay of Bengal is likely to weaken into an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' by noon on Tuesday, the Met department said here. The system, which was situated 670 km south-southwest of Digha in West Bengal, is very likely to move north-northeastwards across northwest Bay of Bengal, and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts in the afternoon or evening of Wednesday as a 'very severe cyclonic storm', the Met department said. The weatherman said that 'Amphan' is expected to cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha in West Bengal and Hatiya islands in Bangladesh on May 20 as a very severe cyclonic storm, after losing some steam as it approaches landfall, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph gusting to 180 kmph. Gale wind speeds reaching 240 to 250 kmph were prevailing over west-central and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal, the Met office said, adding, it will gradually reduce to 200 to 210 kmph gusting to 230 kmph by Tuesday evening. The Met department, which has issued an "orange message" for West Bengal, warned of extensive damage in Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah, South and North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts. There is likely to be disruption of rail and road link at several places, uprooting of communication and power poles and extensive damage to all types of 'kutcha' houses, the weatherman said. There is also likelihood of massive harm to standing crops, plantations and orchards, the Met office said. Wind speeds along and off the coastal areas of West Bengal will reach 45 to 55 kmph with gusts of 65 kmph from Tuesday afternoon, and will gradually increase becoming gale wind speeds reaching 75 to 85 kmph with gusts up to 95 kmph from May 20 morning along and off districts of North and South 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly, Regional Met Director G K Das said. "It will gradually increase thereafter becoming 110 to 120 kmph gusting to 130 kmph over West Midnapore, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata and wind speeds of 165 to 175 kmph gusting to 195 kmph over the districts of North and South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore from the afternoon to night of May 20," Das said. Under its impact, the coastal districts of Gangetic West Bengal, including North and South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, East and West Midnapore, Howrah and Hooghly are likely to experience light to moderate rain at many places with heavy downpour at isolated places on Tuesday, he said. On Wednesday, rainfall will occur in many places over the districts of Gangetic West Bengal, with extremely heavy rain at one or two places in Kolkata, Howrah, East Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New South Wales will be opening up to residents and interstate visitors for regional travel in a move the premier has described as "best" for the state and Australia. Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday announced recreational regional travel within the state will be allowed again from June 1 when libraries, art galleries, and museums will also re-open. The state will also cautiously reopen pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes for 20 people to dine in - doubling the current patronage limits - within a month. Under current NSW public health orders, regional travel for holidays is banned. Ms Berejiklian said that lifting the ban will be a unique tourism opportunity for NSW as Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland still refuse to open their own borders. New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has warned holidays won't be what they once were as it's announced residents will be able to travel within the state from June 1 'Sydney will also be a major tourist attraction for people from all around Australia, we've got no restrictions, and they will have presumably no restrictions going back to their home state, they'll have to prove to their authorities that they are from that state,' she said. However she warned that holidays would be different with coronavirus social distancing still in place. 'Even though restrictions are being eased, the message is that the virus isn't any less deadly or contagious, it just means we have to live with it,' Ms Berejiklian told Wednesday morning's Today Show. 'Everything we do has to be about COVID safe. Until there is a vaccine or cure, we have to live with the deadly virus. 'We have to book ahead. Please make sure you plan ahead. Book as many things as possible online and call ahead to the place you're visiting to see what's available and what options you have.' It comes as NSW on Wednesday recorded four new COVID-19 cases from more than 7000 tests, with three people in intensive care. The new cases are from returned travellers in hotel quarantine. Ms Berejiklian said it was 'good news' there had been no community transmission. 'All four cases were people who were in quarantine and had come off planes,' she said. Pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes in New South Wales will be permitted to sit 20 patrons within a month, as the government eases coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Pictured: Last drinks at the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel in Sydney before bars closed on March 23 Regional travel within New South Wales will ease in just two weeks following a relaxation of coronavirus lockdown restrictions Queensland has flagged border closures with southern states could remain until at least September due to the coronavirus pandemic, prompting despair from tourism groups. Western Australia and South Australia have also signalled borders could remain shut until the end of winter. Like New South Wales, Victoria never formally closed the borders. There is no requirement to quarantine when arriving from domestic flights into Victoria at the moment, but state authorities have urged people not to travel unless absolutely necessary. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has instead copped criticism for his delay in reopening schools and decision to wait until June 1 to open cafes, restaurants and pubs for up to 20 patrons. 'Even if some states don't let us travel there we'll invite the other states here,' Berejiklian told the Daily Telegraph. Ms Berejeklian went on to thank the state for their ongoing patience during the pandemic. 'This is the day we've all been looking forward to since the COVID-19 travel restrictions were put in place earlier this year and I would like to thank everyone for their patience during the past few months of being cooped up at home,' she said. Deputy Premier John Barilaro described the changes as 'Christmas come early'. 'I said back in March that you weren't welcome and we'll see you around Christmas. Well, Christmas has come early and that first shout was on me,' he said. 'We welcome you to the regions, we are embracing the opportunity just before the June long weekend.' Mr Barilaro said it's an opportunity for regional communities to see a 'tourism bump,' and added the move meant NSW will have a ski season this year. 'I'm very pleased to share that this means we will have a ski season this year, however holidaymakers should be aware that ski resorts will likely need time to put COVID plans into place and you should make contact before visiting,' he said. The decision is an important economic boost for the struggling industry, which has barely stayed afloat since the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to close their doors on March 23 Art galleries, libraries and museums will also be permitted to start trading again in two weeks Ms Berejiklian also flagged the number of people allowed in restaurants, pubs and cafes could also be doubled to 20 within the next month. 'Absolutely,' she told the Nine Network when asked if the number would double within a month. 'That's definitely on the cards. We're looking forward to continuing to have those conversations with industry and the health experts but we're also really pleased, can I say, the way in which the community has respected the restrictions,' she said. Under current restrictions, cafes and pubs are only allowed to seat up to 10 patrons at any one time. Ms Berejiklian also announced libraries, art galleries, and museums will also re-open on June 1. She said there will be set times for the state's most vulnerable to visit, and people will be required to leave a record of their visit so authorities can follow up if there is an infection linked to the facility. Speaking on Tuesday, Ms Berejiklian said they would be required to adhere to 'strict new protocols' - particularly for the duration of the pandemic. Residents in New South Wales will have plenty of options for travel, including the scenic coasts or Byron Bay 'NSW is home to some of Australia's best art galleries and museums... I look forward to them reopening to the public,' she said. 'I would encourage museums, galleries and libraries to be innovative to ensure strict social distancing is adhered to and good hygiene measures are followed.' The number of visitors will be limited to one for every four square metres, and group tours will be put on hold for the time being. Meanwhile, NSW public school students will return to classrooms full time next Monday, two months after restrictions forced about 800,000 children to study remotely. Some independent and Catholic schools will also return full-time on Monday, while others are working towards a June 1 return date. Assemblies and excursions will remain off the table, non-essential school visitors will be banned and parents have been warned not to linger at the school gate. The state government on Tuesday confirmed intrastate travel will be allowed from June 1 One of the most critical steps in controlling a pandemic disease, which has a significant mortality rate, is testing for the disease. Though this may appear relevant and obvious, its ability to forecast mortality in the current COVID-19 pandemic has not been tested. A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020 shows that testing can identify the probable mortality in the current outbreak, via a rapid, policy-oriented technique of analysis. Study: Early and massive testing saves lives: COVID-19 related infections and deaths in the United States during March of 2020. Image Credit: stock / Shutterstock Epidemic-Relevant Metrics There are three types of measurable parameters, namely, case counts, disease counts, the prevalence of disease over location or time, and the population density of infected locations. The real prevalence of a disease that causes a large number of asymptomatic infections can be assessed only if everyone is tested using a test with high sensitivity. As a result, the term apparent prevalence is used, denoting the ratio of cases that test positive to the total number of tested individuals. This ratio expressed as a number of positive cases per million residents can help to compare the disease burden between different geographical units. The apparent prevalence method describes the ratio of test-positive cases to all tested individuals. If expressed per million residents, the apparent prevalence can compare different geographical units, e.g., each and all states of the US. However, to conduct comprehensive studies that investigate numerous states, a protracted research program is required. To rapidly provide policy-makers with usable information, here, a quasi-real-time assessment was designed, which captures both nationwide and state-specific dimensions. Analyzing the epidemic data reported in all 50 states of the USA, during March of 2020 (the month when testing started), we investigated whether testing-related variables including extensive and early testing predict mortality. What Parameters Were Used? The variables assessed include: Number of diagnostic tests during the first week after testing The above number as a proportion of the total number of tests The total number of positive tests until March 31, 2020 The apparent prevalence rate, or the number of cases per million residents The data was then analyzed using a machine learning strategy called KRLS (kernel regularized least squares) regression. Pattern recognition was the basis of the analysis. Any distinct pattern led to the selection of a threshold that matched the upper limit of a data compartment that was linearly distributed to allow three groups of data to be identified from the meeting of two orthogonal lines. What Did the Study Show? The researchers found that 93.5% of the variance in number of deaths and 86.7% of the variance in deaths/million cases was due to these six predictors. The two that had statistical significance were the total number of confirmed cases and the apparent prevalence rate, both of which were comparable when it came to predicting the number of deaths. However, when the deaths/million are to be predicted, the apparent prevalence is better by a factor of 3.5. When the first variable is analyzed, it differentiates the states into three groups based on predicting the deaths per million. The Advantage of Multiple Metrics The researchers also found that measures including two or more of the variables which interact with each other are more helpful as reporting measures. This is because single metrics do not convey the changing situation or the geographical factors that influence the outcome. Instead, the use of composite measurements allows for the interaction between multiple dimensions that make geography-specific interventions to be executed. The current study used KRLS regression analysis only to arrive at an instantaneous map of the mortality. However, this is a powerful and versatile tool that could be used over shorter time intervals to provide a picture of changing epidemic parameters. The results of the current analysis show how important it is to use interacting measurements to analyze an epidemic. One instance is the use of several metrics, such as the number of tests performed in week I/million citizens/population density, which clearly shows how large-scale testing early in an epidemic can prevent deaths. Improving the Results of Testing The result is affected by other factors like the availability of diagnostic equipment and personnel, hospital beds, and of intensive care units, and the interplay of demographic and geographic interactions at local and regional levels. Population-dense regions will have a more significant number of interindividual contacts and better connectivity via road, air, and waterways, which both tend to encourage the spread of an epidemic. Pandemics can thus be analyzed as a cluster of processes at the local and regional level, which interact with each other, currently published data relating to COVID-19 is often poorly referenced concerning the location and lacks sufficient detail. The simple putting together of multiple geographical lines and points which characterize surface-based data leads to the exclusion of internal processes that hit only one city or neighborhood. Only with such minutely detailed data can the location and time of intervention be accurately identified. The researchers conclude, To optimize these approaches and reduce the COVID-19 related mortality, the collection, and reporting of high-resolution, geo-temporal data constructed as interactions are recommended. *Important Notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. The N.J. Department of Labor confirmed Monday that it started reviewing some claims for those who have already exhausted their regular unemployment benefits. The NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development has begun to review unemployment claims exhausted since July 2019 for eligibility for federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), the Labor Department exclusively told NJ Advance Media. Eligible claimants will begin being notified later this week to certify for benefits, the agency said. This process will continue for the next few weeks. The benefit in question is the extra 13 weeks of federal benefits that was created as part of the CARES Act. Workers who had already received 24 weeks of regular benefits and those who are close to reaching that milestone have been waiting to see when the extra 13 weeks would kick in. The Labor Department didnt say how many people are eligible for these payments, but last week, Labor Commissioner said it was tens of thousands. These workers are also eligible for the extra $600 federal payments that will last until the end of July. Many workers wont have to do anything to get the new benefits. The Labor website explains how these workers will get their extra 13 weeks of benefits. You dont have to do anything if you are already receiving or have applied for benefits, Labor said. The 13-week extension will be automatically available to you after your current balance is exhausted, it said. It offers other scenarios for different workers. These are the instructions, taken directly from the Labor Departments website. "SCENARIO A: Do these describe you? On a date after July 8, 2018, I filed for unemployment. I have not worked since the dates in 2018-2020 when I collected unemployment. I have exhausted my balance OR my benefit year ended on my most recent claim. If this describes you, WAIT for notification from NJ DOL before you certify for benefits. SCENARIO B: Do these describe you? On a date after July 8, 2018, I filed for unemployment. I have worked since the dates in 2018-2019 when I collected unemployment. If both describe you, file a new claim if you havent already. SCENARIO C: Do these describe you? On a date after July 1, 2019, I filed for unemployment benefits. I have not utilized all 26 weeks of benefits. If both describe you, re-open your claim if currently closed. Begin certifying for benefits again." As of last week, the agency has paid out $2.5 billion in unemployment benefits to more than 725,000 workers since the start of the coronavirus. About 1.1 million New Jerseyans have applied for benefits. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. NJ Advance Media reporter Matt Arco contributed to this report. Karin Price Mueller may be reached at bamboozled@njadvancemedia.com. That is changing in 2020, though, which is an especially notable shift, given that Mr. Biden has pledged to name a woman as his running mate, and voters have traditionally expected women to be more circumspect about their ambitions. In the case of Ms. Abrams, candor about her ambition is part of a larger political imperative. Not only is she not interested in being coy, she said she had an obligation to do the opposite. As a young black girl growing up in Mississippi, I learned that if I didnt speak up for myself, no one else would, Ms. Abrams said on Meet the Press. My mission is to say out loud if I am asked the question Yes. In addition to Ms. Abrams, other potential Biden running mates have been open about wanting the job. I would certainly say yes, the former national security adviser Susan Rice said last week when asked by PBSs Margaret Hoover what she would tell Mr. Biden if he asked. Yes, said Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, after MSNBCs Rachel Maddow asked her the same question last month. Ms. Warrens firm and unqualified response appeared at first to stun Ms. Maddow, who eventually became delighted. Im so happy you just gave me a concise answer to that, Ms. Maddow said, before going to a commercial. Several factors might explain this recent erosion of political reluctance. Social media has fostered an ethic that rewards getting noticed. Were in a much more aggressive celebrity and self-promotional culture in 2020, said Beth Myers, a longtime top aide to Mitt Romney who oversaw the former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential nominees running mate vetting process in 2012. Everybody has their own mini-celebrity personality to maintain. The incumbent president has basically been saying and tweeting the quiet part out loud for the last four years. And he has been rewarded for it, at least by his supporters. Whatever you think of Donald Trump, no one will ever accuse him of being bashful. Mr. Trumps own running mate selection in 2016 followed a reality show format in which three presumed finalists (Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and former Speaker Newt Gingrich) engaged in public tryouts before being winnowed in a final elimination round with Mr. Trump serving as judge, jury and M.C. WASHINGTON It's been a White House tradition for decades: a first-term president hosts his immediate predecessor in the East Room for a ceremony to unveil the portrait of the former president that will hang in the halls of the White House for posterity. Republican presidents have done it for Democratic presidents, and vice versa even when one of them ascended to the White House by defeating or sharply criticizing the other. "We may have our differences politically," President Barack Obama said when he hosted former President George W. Bush for his portrait unveiling in 2012, "but the presidency transcends those differences." Yet this modern ritual won't be taking place between Obama and President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. And if Trump wins a second term in November, it could be 2025 before Obama returns to the White House to see his portrait displayed among every U.S. president from George Washington to Bush. Trump is unconcerned about shunning yet another presidential custom, and he has attacked Obama to an extent no other president has done to a predecessor. Most recently he's made unfounded accusations that Obama committed an unspecified crime. Obama, for his part, has no interest in participating in the post-presidency rite of passage so long as Trump is in office, the people familiar with the matter said. It's too soon to know whether the absence of the uniquely harmonious occasion, when presidents set aside political differences, is just a reflection of a singular dynamic between two presidents whose differences have increasingly been airing in full view or whether it is symbolic of a broader, bitter political era. But it's nonetheless a telling snapshot of American politics in 2020. "You've got a president who's talking about putting the previous one in legal jeopardy, to put it nicely. We have not seen a situation like that in history," presidential historian Michael Beschloss said. "It takes antipathy of a new president for a predecessor to a new level." Story continues Katie Hill, a spokesperson for Obama, declined to comment. The White House also declined to comment. It's not often that two presidents are together in the White House; only five living men know what it's like to occupy it as chief executive. Official portrait unveilings are even rarer because the current first lady and her immediate predecessor also attend. A portrait of the former first lady is unveiled, as well. "It is a somewhat daunting experience to have your portrait hung in the White House," former first lady Hillary Clinton said at the unveiling of her and President Bill Clinton's portraits in 2004. "It is something that really does, more than any other act, sort of put your place in history in this building for all the ages and all the people who come through here to see and reflect upon." She added that when she was first lady, she took "great solace from many of the portraits of the former first ladies, because it is a very difficult role." IMAGE: Bill Clinton and and Hillary Clinton in 2004 (Tim Sloan / AFP via Getty Images file) Official White House portraits are separate from the presidential portraits that hang in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, where the Obamas' were unveiled in February 2018. The process for the White House portraits begins near the end of a president's term or soon after, and it takes a few years to complete. After the president and the first lady select an artist, the privately funded White House Historical Association negotiates a contract that includes a confidentiality agreement so the artist's identity and details of the portrait are kept secret. Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, said in February 2017 that the organization was in discussions with the Obamas about their portraits. The Obamas subsequently selected an artist, and a contract was finalized in early 2017, according to people familiar with the matter. But the process stalled there, they said. Typically, the next step would be to schedule sittings for the president and the first lady, followed by a back-and-forth with the artist about what they like and don't like. And once the portraits are approved by the president and the first lady, they are delivered to the White House curator, who schedules an unveiling. The unveiling brings together the former president's staff, family and close friends to mingle with current White House officials. Former first lady Laura Bush arranged a lunch for the Clintons and guests after their portrait unveiling. "It's a statement of generosity on [the part of] the current president and first lady," former White House curator Betty Monkman said in an interview with the White House Historical Association in 2017. "And it's a very warm, lovely moment." The first formal East Room unveiling with a president and his immediate predecessor appears to have been in 1980, when Jimmy Carter welcomed Gerald Ford back to the White House. Carter had defeated Ford just four years earlier. Three months after he hosted Ford, Carter lost his bid for re-election to Ronald Reagan. Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics Before that, first lady Lady Bird Johnson hosted unveiling ceremonies in the East Room for portraits of two of her predecessors Eleanor Roosevelt and Bess Truman and invited their family and friends. The unveiling of President John F. Kennedy's and Jacqueline Kennedy's portraits in 1971 was the only time the former first lady returned to the White House after she left following her husband's assassination. President Richard Nixon and first lady Pat Nixon invited her for an unveiling ceremony, but she agreed to go only for a private viewing, and the media weren't informed that she'd been to the White House until after she and her children left. IMAGE: George H.W. Bush portrait unveiling in 1995 (Wilfredo Lee / AP file) Carter doesn't appear to have attended a ceremony for his White House portrait while Reagan was in office. Gerald Rafshoon, Carter's White House communications director, told NBC News that he didn't know the details of why a ceremony wouldn't have happened, but he said that the former president was focused on setting up his library after leaving office and that a ceremony in his honor wouldn't have been his style. "It would probably be out of his character to want a big ceremony in Washington that soon," Rafshoon said. "I would imagine he opted not to have it." Carter's portrait did make its way to the White House. An East Room ceremony did take place in 1989 for Reagan's and first lady Nancy Reagan's portraits. "They're sure different than a lot of those cartoons we had to put up with," Reagan joked. "There are really no words to convey what it means to Nancy and me to be here," Reagan said at the event, hosted by his vice president and successor, George H.W. Bush. Bush lost re-election to Clinton three years later. During his first term, Clinton hosted Bush in the East Room for his portrait unveiling. "Welcome home," Clinton said. When Clinton attended his own portrait unveiling in the East Room, his host President George W. Bush was five months from facing re-election. Bush, who had won election after promising "to restore honor and dignity" to the White House, had warm words for Clinton. "Bill Clinton could always see a better day ahead, and Americans knew he was working hard to bring that day closer," Bush said. And when Bush returned to the White House for his portrait unveiling in May 2012, Obama was in the middle of a heated re-election campaign. Obama had won his first term in large part by campaigning against Bush's policies, particularly the Iraq war. Bush turned his successors' political barbs into a joke, telling Obama: "When you are wandering these halls as you wrestle with tough decisions, you will now be able to gaze at this portrait and ask, what would George do?" An Airbus A340-600 airplane of Mahan Air is seen at Simon Bolivar International Airport outside Caracas, Venezuela, on April 8, 2019. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters) US Sanctions Chinese Company Connected to Iranian Airline The Treasury Department sanctioned a Chinese company on Tuesday, saying it has helped the Iranian airline Mahan Air. The company, Shanghai Saint Logistics Limited, is designated as a general sales agent (GSA) for or on behalf of Mahan Air, which was designated by the United States as a supporter of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), a foreign terrorist organization. The Iranian regime is using Mahan Air to support an illegitimate and corrupt regime in Venezuela, just as it has done for the regime in Syria and for terrorist proxy groups throughout the Middle East, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. We will not hesitate to target those entities that continue to maintain commercial relationships with Mahan Air. This is the seventh sanction against Mahan Air the United States has issued singe 2018. As a result of the sanction, the Treasury Department mandated that all of the companys property and interests in the United States be blocked and reported to the departments Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). All dealings with the company by U.S. persons or with the United States are also prohibited. The sanction came after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on countries to deny overflight rights to Mahan Air. Speaking at a State Department news conference on April 29, Pompeo said aircraft belonging to the privately owned Mahan Air, Irans largest airline, delivered supplies to Nicolas Maduros government. Over the last few days, multiple aircraft belonging to Mahan Air have transferred unknown support to the Maduro regime, Pompeo said. This is the same terrorist airline that Iran used to move weapons and fighters around the Middle East. The flights must stop, Pompeo continued, adding that countries should deny Mahan Air overflight rights just as many have already denied landing rights to this sanctioned airline. The Trump administration has waged a campaign of sanctions and diplomatic measures against Venezuela in an effort to oust Maduro, whose 2018 reelection was considered a sham by most Western countries. Reuters contributed to the report. Everyone cant stop talking about the arguments between Nene Leakes and Kandi Burruss during The Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion episodes. Before the virtual reunion episodes began airing on Bravo, Burruss spoke about the issues between she and Leakes and why they persist. Kandi Burruss | Gary Gershoff/Getty Images Kandi Burruss has made headlines for feuding with Nene Leakes during the reunion special Burruss and her back-and-forth with on-again, off-again friend Nene Leakes have dominated most headlines that have surrounded The Real Housewives of Atlantas reunion special. In an interview with HollywoodLife preceding the reunion, Burruss spoke about her issues with Leakes. She explained, If you are a real fan of our show, you would know that pretty much from the time I came on the show in season 2 all the way up until when I was pregnant with Ace, Nene and I pretty much argued or had some type of tension every year up until that point. When I was pregnant with Ace, she and I made a little vow to be more respectful to each other and not be so negative toward each other. Burruss continued. Well, needless to say, we have reverted back to the way we were prior to our oath and going into the next season, I would probably have to say for me I dont know how shes feeling, but for me, I feel like I will reciprocate the energy that she gives me. So if shes gonna come in with BS, shes gonna get BS. If she wants to be pleasant, then I will be pleasant. Burruss just recently celebrated her birthday and Leakes posted about it Burruss celebrated her 44th birthday over the weekend. Leakes issued a passive-aggressive birthday message to Burruss on social media. She message poked fun at their feud while alleging that Burruss has been faking her issues. She wrote on Instagram, I will NOT let the fake beef YOU made up to stop me from wishing you a Happy Birthday & posting my favorite pic of us Kandi. Everybody go wish @kandi a Happy Birthday! Then tune into #RHOA to watch Kandi have the fakest, want some smoke, beef wit Nene segment at 8pm TONIGHT on @bravotv #happybirthdaynumber2 #forgetable #kandiman #funshaderight #mrsatlantaonly. RELATED: The Masked Singer: Why Fans Are Convinced the Night Angel Is a Popular Real Housewives Star Burruss husband, Todd Tucker, planned a surprise party for her birthday over the weekend. The theme of the party was Mask On, as every person in attendance was supposed to wear a mask in order to not transmit coronavirus (COVID-19). Several of her friends and fellow reality television stars were in attendance, including Tameka Tiny Harris, Shamea Morton-Mwangi, Shekinah Anderson and Rasheeda Frost. None of the main The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast members were in attendance. Fans criticize the party While a lot of people supported Burruss and wished her a happy birthday, a lot of people criticized her on social media for having a large gathering during the pandemic. Despite the fact that much of Georgia has reopened, social distancing practices are still in place. Many people also noted while a lot of people had masks on, most of them were not wearing them properly or not wearing on at all. Kandi is having a mask on bday party. I. pic.twitter.com/OjbLDk37QN Classy Heathen (@Connichameleon2) May 17, 2020 Someone tweeted, I know shes not doing all this with a fresh baby at home. Another person added, Extremely irresponsible @Kandi so many people are postponing milestone events to stop the spread but YOU have to have this party. No regard for human lives smh. Some people defended Burruss by saying she wasnt the one responsible for it all. One person said, It was [a] surprise, she didnt plan it. It was only close friends & family (but still a bad idea). The third part of The Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion will air this Sunday. Eating disorders are ways of coping with feelings that are out of our control, experts say. Social distancing and isolation can exacerbate disordered eating behaviors. Read more When Lauren Rowello, a 29-year-old freelance writer based in Moorestown, developed COVID-19 symptoms a fever and severe cough in early March, she didnt know that the infection would also disrupt the balanced, healthy routine she had established after 15 years of struggling with an eating disorder. Rowello also lost her sense of taste a hallmark symptom of COVID-19 which made foods she normally enjoyed eating take on a sour, chemical-like flavor, making it hard for her to get through mealtimes without anxiety. Though Rowello has recovered from pneumonia due to the coronavirus, she still is short of breath during extended periods of physical activity, which limits her workouts to walks, stretching, and yoga. That also impacts my relationship with food, she said. Im not moving as much as usual, in the ways I want to be moving, so its overwhelming how much Im putting into my body. Many people are struggling with feeling a loss of control due to the coronavirus pandemic, but those emotions can be particularly hard on people with eating disorders, experts said. The increase of depression and anxiety from social distancing and isolation can exacerbate disordered eating behaviors. The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), which estimates that as many as 30 million people in the United States have a clinically significant eating disorder at one point in their lifetime, reported a 56% increase in use of its instant messaging service over the course of one week at the end of April. READ MORE: Social distancing can strain mental health. Heres how you can protect yourself. Alyson Nerenberg, a psychologist practicing in Chestnut Hill, said eating disorders are ways of coping with feelings that are out of our control. The act of restricting your food is often the only thing someone with an eating disorder has control over, Nerenberg said. We may be losing our jobs. Family members may be sick. There is a lot of loss right now, and that can feel really paralyzing. Kristin Szostak, clinical director at the Renfrew Center of Philadelphia, a residential facility for treatment of eating disorders, said increased anxiety to sudden changes like the stay-at-home order, may "increase a persons vulnerability to developing an eating disorder or relapsing. Nerenberg said shes especially concerned about patients who live alone. Eating disorders often cause people to avoid social commitments for fear of revealing their restrictive habits, she said. So much of this happens in secret, she said. Right now, theres less accountability, more food from people buying excessively due to the fear of not having enough, and more isolation. Szostak said some people may also struggle with reaching out to their support systems for help because theyre aware that everyone is stressed by the pandemic. READ MORE: Its been very challenging: Philadelphians who live alone grapple with isolation Eating disorders can trick people into thinking they dont need to tell anyone, that they need to figure this out by themselves, she said. Thats really dangerous, because they can become medically compromising very quickly. Szostak recommends that patients reach out for help as soon as they recognize unhealthy behaviors or thoughts. Professionals can help them establish routines and meal plans, and they can join support groups that meet virtually. She also said parents who suspect that their children may be developing eating disorders should first reach out to professionals for help. A lot of emotions can be involved when youre that close to the situation, Szostak said. If you bring in a professional to be a mediator throughout the process, the conversation may land differently. Rowellos family has been an important source of support. When she is too anxious to prepare a meal, her spouse cooks instead. Shes also had conversations with her children, who are 7 and 10, about why mealtimes can be stressful for her. For example, after she recovered, Rowello struggled to find her comfort foods staples that calmed her when things felt overwhelming and out of control at grocery stores for weeks as shelves were emptied due to panic shopping. Zucchini is my number-one food, and I know how to make it a million ways. Its something I rely on a lot, she said. So when it was out of stock for a few weeks, her anxiety increased. Its helpful to have another human who knows whats going on with you, whether its a support person online, a professional, or your spouse, Rowello said. But at the end of the day, its about being really gentle and patient with myself. Hinduja flagship firm Ashok Leyland on Tuesday called for government policy intervention for the automotive industry after being left out of the Rs 20-lakh crore Aatmanirbhar Bharat economic package. The commercial vehicle (CV) maker said the auto industry, especially CVs, was the worst hit by a prolonged slowdown and then the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was an expectation of government support. "There was an expectation of a direct stimulus package in the form of reduction in GST (goods and services tax), an incentive-based vehicle scrappage policy and a thrust on the purchase of buses for public transportation," Ashok Leyland Managing Director and CEO Vipin Sondhi said in a statement. This is the need of the hour, and the government should consider a structured policy intervention, he added. Further, Sondhi said, "An accelerated infrastructure spend in rural India would create assets, jobs and income in rural India, which would bring the movement of goods, thereby also providing a fillip to the CV industry." He, however, acknowledged that "the combination of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat with integration with the global supply chain is inspiring". "The packages announced last week went big on much-needed reforms in agriculture, mining, defence, public health and education and more. These will augur well for the future of our economy," Sondhi said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 07:29:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced on Monday that he's tapping Senator Marco Rubio as acting chairman of the chamber's intelligence panel. McConnell said in a statement that Rubio, a Florida Republican, has accepted his invitation to serve as acting chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Rubio, for his part, said in a statement that he's grateful to McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, for the confidence in him. The announcement came several days after Senator Richard Burr, who is under investigation for stock trades he had made ahead of a market downturn triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, said that he was stepping aside as the Senate intelligence chair. Rubio, 48, was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. Enditem Foreign investors turner net sellers in March quarter and pulled out USD 6.4 billion from the Indian equity markets largely due to the COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing risk-averse environment, a Morningstar report said. In comparison, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought net assets worth USD 6.3 billion in three months ended December 2019. FPIs were net buyers in January (USD 1.71 billion) and February (USD 265 million). They, however, went on a selling spree in March as they sold net assets worth USD 8.4 billion. The uncertainty over the gravity of the pandemic's impact on the global economy and financial markets worldwide triggered a flight to safety among foreign investors as they rushed to exit from relatively riskier investment destinations, such as emerging markets like India, the report noted. FPIs had started the quarter on a cautious note on account of brewing geopolitical tension between US and Iran and fast-changing trends in US-China trade situation. But they had gradually regained their risk appetite as these concerns started to wane, it said. Such investors went on a buying spree in the Indian equity markets after the US and China signed a trade deal, thus putting the trade war between them on a pause. Further, positive sentiments around the budget and the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision to maintain an accommodative stance in its monetary policy continued to attract foreign investments. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic started to tighten its noose across the globe, foreign investors turned risk-averse, it said. Cumulatively for the March quarter, FPIs were net sellers in the Indian equity markets to the tune of USD 6.4 billion, which is in sharp contrast to the previous quarter, when they bought net assets worth USD 6.3 billion. As of the quarter ended March 2020, the value of FPI investments in Indian equities stood at USD 281 billion, which is considerably lower than the USD 432 billion, recorded in the December quarter. This is the lowest in the past six years, with the previous low being USD 238 billion at the end of March 2014, the report said. Consequently, FPIs' contribution to Indian equity market capitalisation also fell to 18.7 per cent from 19.8 per cent in the previous quarter. Foreign investors continued to flee the Indian equity space even in the month of April, though the amount of net outflows dropped substantially compared to the preceding month. They sold net assets worth USD 904 million through the month. The sharp drop in net outflows could be attributed to India gaining prominence among foreign investors for doing well with regards to containing the coronavirus' aggressive spread, the report said. In addition to that, measures announced periodically by the government and the RBI to revitalise the sagging economy resonated well with investors, it added. FPIs made a strong comeback in May and turned into net buyers as they pumped in net assets worth USD 2.8 billion (till May 12) in the Indian equity markets. The correction in Indian equities and sharp depreciation of Indian rupee against greenback has seemingly provided a good entry point for investors, it said. Going ahead, the report said that investors will be closely watching the developments related to selective relaxation in the lockdown and a gradual opening of economic activity in the country and how quickly India gets back on the path of economic growth. They will continue to watch the coronavirus, its spread, and its likely impact on the economy while making investment decisions in India. It further said that India would continue to witness a rotational trend. Hence, bouts of sharp net outflows or net inflows cannot be overruled. One could expect this trend to stabilise when the situation on the coronavirus front normalises or shows signs normalisation, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Express News Service KOCHI: As many as 127 Indians, who were deported from Bahrain on general amnesty, were brought to Kochi on a special Gulf Air flight on Sunday night and shifted to a quarantine facility at the School for Naval Airmen, Naval Base, after medical screening. One passenger was admitted to Ernakulam Medical College Hospital due to suspected symptoms. According to sources, they were incarcerated at a detention centre in Bahrain for violation of visa rules, including not holding proper documents like a work permit. Among the deportees, 51 are Keralites and the rest are from other states.These people had gone to Bahrain in search of a job and could not obtain proper work permit, which led to their detention. They will not be able to apply for a fresh visa to Bahrain as they have been deported, said sources. The deportees were shifted from the airport to the School of Naval Airmen in a KSRTC bus by the district administration. The Centre issued the directive to quarantine the deportees at Kochi Naval Base, where they would be regularly monitored by trained naval health professionals. After the mandatory 14-day quarantine period, the deportees will be handed over to state agencies, who will then be transfer them to their homes. There will not be any legal action against the deportees as they have been given general amnesty by Bahrain. The Navy had arranged a 200-bed strong quarantine facility at the Naval Base in March, which was being used as a transit quarantine camp for naval personnel returning to duty after leave. The camp is being managed by trained naval doctors and personnel from the Southern Naval Command. Washington, D.C., May 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New Civil Liberties Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group filed an opening brief today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on behalf of client Lisa Milice against the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). NCLA is helping Milice, a new mother, challenge CPSCs practice of keeping consumer product safety standards hidden behind a private paywall. Legal scholar Peter L. Strauss, the Betts Professor Emeritus of Law at Columbia Law School, joined NCLA on the brief. The brief asks the Court to review and vacate a recent CPSC Direct Final Rule (Rule), which incorporates by reference (and thus makes mandatory) a voluntary safety standard for infant bath seats. Milice, a potential infant bath seat purchaser, asked CPSC to let her see a copy of its Safety Standard for Infant Bath Seats. The Commission responded that it does not allow people to see the Rule and directed her to buy a copy from ASTM International, a private organization that specializes in creating safety standards. ASTM charges $56.00 for a copy of the lawabout twice the cost of an infant bath seat. According to CPSC, any person interested in viewing one of the Commissions safety standards that has been incorporated by reference must pay the purchase price ASTM setsa deeply arbitrary and capricious policy that allows a private organization to hold a monopoly over access to a binding legal standard. NCLA argues that CPSC (or any other government agency, for that matter) cannot charge for access to the law because citizens are the government and the authors of the lawand the law in its entirety belongs to the citizenry. CPSCs failure to make a copy of the Rule freely accessible to the public violated the requirement in the Commissions organic statute that CPSC must publish the text of its rules. The Commissions scheme also violates the Freedom of Information Act and the Administrative Procedure Acts guarantees that materials incorporated by reference into agency rules be reasonably available to the public. CPSCs scheme infringes due process of law that requires that people have notice of their legal obligations. It also violates the First Amendment, which protects the right to petition the government, which one cannot do with regard to the infant bath seats rule without knowing what it contains. By refusing to publish the safety standard that the Rule incorporates, CPSC has de facto created a pay-per-law service run by a private monopolist. This attempt to privatize ownership of the law is contrary to our basic form of government. NCLAs brief asks the Third Circuit to vacate the Rule, order CPSC to make any binding standard freely accessible to the public whenever CPSC prepares to promulgate a new rule, and order CPSC to make any final rule that CPSC adopts available for free on a permanent basis. NCLA released the following statements: Hiding the law from the public so that they have no idea how to comply with it or how it might protect them is something we expect from dictators, not our own government. CPSCs legal paywall is an affront to the constitution. Caleb Kruckenberg, Litigation Counsel, NCLA All you need to decide this case are the first three words of the Constitutions Preamble: We the People. The people are the government; we own the laws. CPSC has no constitutional authority to let some private organization sell our own laws back to us. Jared McClain, Staff Counsel, NCLA ABOUT NCLA NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights. ### Trump's letter is clear: Either the WHO make changes or the United States walks. But the president did not specify what changes were needed for him to restore US funding, the WHO's largest single source of funding. Trump also said discussions between the United States and the agency's leaders were already underway, but he gave no details. Loading The WHO said only that it was "considering the contents of the letter," it said in a statement. Trump's central argument is that the WHO's handling of the crisis cost lives by accepting China's assessments of the spread and threat in the early weeks. "It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organisation in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world," Trump wrote. The timeline he lays out, however, mixes concerns and inaccuracies. It also excludes information about what Trump knew and said at the time. For instance, many governments, researchers and public health experts were baffled that the WHO did not express more scepticism about China's claims, in mid-January, that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission. The letter restated some of these concerns and added new ones - including some that do not hold up to scrutiny. Trump's first claim, for instance, is that the WHO "ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier." He cites as evidence information published by the Lancet. But Richard Horton, chief editor of the medical journal, said on Tuesday that the Lancet did not publish its first reports on the coronavirus until late January. Loading The letter also criticises the WHO for praising China's "transparency" despite evidence that Chinese officials silenced whistleblowers and undercounted cases. But the letter does not mention that Trump made similar claims. Trump said January 24 that "The United States greatly appreciates [China's] efforts and transparency," for instance. On February 7 Trump said he wasn't concerned about China covering things up. On February 26 he said China was working "very hard," and on March 4 that it had the situation under control. If Trump makes good on his threat, WHO programs could take a hit. The United States makes mandatory payments to maintain its membership in the WHO in addition to larger voluntary donations, which amount to about 15 per cent of the agency's budget. The mandatory payment, known as the "assessed contribution" may prove difficult for Trump to cut without congressional approval. At greater risk is the "voluntary contribution," money provided to US agencies for health efforts and then given to WHO programs. The largest share of this money goes to polio eradication, with large chunks to fight vaccine preventable disease, malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and the provision of basic health care. There are signs that the US is moving away from the organisation. Administration officials have looked to redirect the WHO payments to other nongovernmental public health organisations. In recent weeks, US officials have loosened ties with the agency in other ways. The State Department removed mentions of the WHO from virus fact sheets, and staffers were ordered to "cut out the middle man" for public health initiatives previously managed through the WHO. That move has sparked concerns that the United States could cede to China influence on the international stage. The Chinese government immediately responded by saying the United States was using China as an excuse to shirk financial obligations that had been jointly determined by WHO member states. "The unilateral US move to stop funding is a violation of its own international obligations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters Tuesday in Beijing. "We are still in a critical juncture, and supporting the WHO is upholding multilateralism and supporting international anti-pandemic cooperation to save lives." The Trump administration, Zhao added, was "trying to mislead the public, smear China and shift blame for its own incompetent response." The United States is already less visible in global health diplomacy. Trump and Xi were invited to address the World Health Assembly, but only Xi chose to speak. On Tuesday, Chinese state media portrayed the Chinese president as a world leader who cared for the global "community" and the WHO as an indispensable agency that coordinated the international response and offered technical guidance. His message to the world, according to state-broadcaster anchor Guo Zhijian: "China is sincere, China is responsible, China is contributing." The WHO said it welcomed an investigation. "We want accountability more than anyone," Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Tuesday. India's third Covid wave likely to peak on Jan 23, daily cases to stay below 4 lakh: IIT Kanpur scientist India logs over 3.17 lakh new Covid cases in last 24 hours; daily positivity rate up at 16.41 per cent COVID-19 fatalities may be much more than what is being reported MHA order on full wage payment to employees during lockdown withdrawn India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 19: The government has withdrawn its order directing companies and commercial units to pay full wages to workers even when they are not in operation during the Covid-19-induced nationwide lockdown, which began on March 25. The lockdown, imposed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, entered its fourth phase on Monday. The government's move is expected to bring relief to a large number of industries and companies which were unable to pay full wages to their employees. While issuing guidelines for the lockdown's fourth phase, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla 's order on Sunday said, "whereas, save as otherwise provided in the guidelines annexed to this order, all orders issued by National Executive Committee (NEC) under Section 10(2)(1) of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, shall cease to have effect from 18.05.2020." The Sunday's guidelines mentioned six sets of standard operating protocols, mostly related to movement of people, which will continue to remain in force. Coronavirus crisis: Within a fortnight, Maharashtra records 19,561 COVID-19 cases But it does not include the March 29 order issued by the Union home secretary that directed all employers to pay wages to workers on due date without any deduction even if the commercial unit was closed during the lockdown period. The March 29 order had said: "All employers, be it in the industry or in shops and commercial establishments, shall make payment of wages of their workers, at their workplaces, on the due date, without any deduction, for the period their establishments are under closure during the lockdown." Bhalla, while issuing fourth phase's guidelines, had said he, as chairperson of the NEC under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, "has issued orders on lockdown measures on March 24, March 29, April 14, April 15 and May 1 specifying various issues related to implementation of the lockdown and the exemptions given to various people and services from the curbs". Interestingly, the Supreme Court on May 15 had asked the central government not to take any coercive action for a week against companies and employers who are unable to pay full wages to their employees during the nationwide lockdown. There may be small companies which are not earning and therefore unable to pay, the top court had observed. A bench of justices L N Rao, S K Kaul and B R Gavai, hearing multiple petitions on the issue through video conferencing, observed that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) circular of March 29, directing companies to make payment of full wages to workers, was an omnibus order and there was a larger question involved which needs to be answered. The top court issued notice on a plea of the Hand Tools Manufactures Association, comprising of MSMEs seeking quashing of the order asking private establishments to pay full wages to their workers during the lockdown. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said that he had a conference on the issue and needs to file a detailed response on the pleas. The bench said there may be small industries, which are affected due to the lockdown as they can sustain for say 15 odd days but not more and if they cannot earn, how are they going to pay their workers. This is an omnibus order (March 29). There is a larger question involved and government has to find an answer to it, the bench observed and posted the matter for this week. It added that if the government does not help these small companies, then they will not be able to pay to their workers. Senior advocate Jamshed Cama, appearing for the association, said the companies are going out of work as they do not have orders for production of goods and they are being prosecuted due to the government circular. He said the government must hold hands of these companies and help them but they cannot be prosecuted. The bench said there shall be no coercive action against any of these companies for failing to pay full wages to its employees till next week. The Association of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) said in its plea that the Ministry of Home Affairs had passed orders without due care and deliberation on the financial implications for employers. The small industrial units warned that making full payments will lead to their closure, which, in turn, will cause permanent unemployment and adversely affect the economy. They have said that such a blanket direction for payment of full salaries is arbitrary, unconstitutional and unsustainable. A story in the Connecticut Post on April 30 announced the hiring of a new managing editor for this newspaper, however, Alaine Griffin has since decided to take a different opportunity elsewhere. As such, Hearst Connecticut Media Group will continue to recruit for this vital role. We wish Alaine well in her future endeavors. Alaine Griffin, an award-winning journalist noted for her groundbreaking coverage of Connecticuts biggest criminal cases, has been named managing editor of the Connecticut Post. The announcement was made Wednesday by Wendy Metcalfe, vice president of content and editor-in-chief at Hearst Connecticut Media Group. Griffin had most recently been state editor at the Hartford Courant. The Connecticut Post is excited to have Alaine Griffin join us as managing editor. As her years of experience at the Hartford Courant show, Alaine is an exemplary journalist and leader, Metcalfe said. She joins Hearst Connecticut Media Group at a time our subscriber base is growing, with a big surge in digital subscriptions. We have no doubt that Alaines expertise will further add to this growth, while continuing to serve our loyal readers well with quality journalism they can trust and rely on. Griffin worked as a reporter and editor at the Courant since 2000. In the past she has held reporting and editing roles at the New Haven Register, as well as media outlets in Florida, North Carolina and California. Im honored to be part of the Hearst team in Bridgeport and I look forward to working with an amazing group of journalists, Griffin said. Among her accolades, Griffin has been named a Master Reporter from the New England Society of News Editors. She has won numerous awards from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists and New England Associated Press News Executives Association, which included top honors for her coverage of the 2010 trial of Cheshire home-invasion suspect Steven Hayes. A strong advocate for the First Amendment, Griffin serves on the Connecticut Judicial Branchs Public Access Task Force, which is charged with examining the openness and public accessibility of the courts. She was also a panelist at the symposium, Sandy Hook and Beyond: Breaking News, Trauma and Aftermath at the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University. She has appeared on NBCs Dateline and Today, CNN, truTVs In Session, NPRs Morning Edition and in the PBS Frontline documentary Raising Adam Lanza. As per ancient Greek mythology, a phoenix is a long-lived bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again, and in terms of the stock market there are several stocks with historical precedents, that have corrected very sharply during times of panics but have, thereafter, rebounded very strongly once things improve or mend, Dharmesh Shah, Head Technical, ICICI direct said in a podcast D-Street Talk with Moneycontrol. We believe that there are several such phoenixes (stocks that have corrected significantly from their life-time highs and are out of favour) available at huge bargains relative to their business fundamentals, he said. ICICIdirects study of three major bear markets (classic empirical evidence) of 1992, 2000, 2008 has produced interesting revelations. Stocks that are likely to bounce back include names like Container Corp, Balkrishna Industries, Polycab India, Bharat Dynamics, and Birla Corporations. Buying good companies (credible business history over business cycles, a reasonable business model with decent management pedigree, robust balance sheet and inexpensive valuations on a historical basis) post significant (minimum 50%) correction from their all-time highs and holding them for a period of one year generates super normal returns of at least 60 percent for such stocks. Though the near-term outlook may be hazy for such companies, the risk-reward turns extremely favourable for investors as the market has already priced in extreme pessimistic scenarios. Also, as the anxiety around the event settles down and a new bull phase eventually commences, these companies return abnormally high alpha for investors, he said. Ignore the noise, start accumulating quality businesses: There have been three major bear markets (1992, 2000, 2008) over the past three decades where the benchmark itself corrected over 40-50% from its respective highs ICICIdirect has run our thesis across these three bear phases, of buying decent names post >70% correction from life-time highs In all three instances, one year forward returns for such fallen gems have generated disproportionate returns. Going by history, the current bear market offers one such rare opportunity to hunt for good bargains. : The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. The coronavirus data chief who designed Florida's comprehensive COVID-19 dashboard says she has been fired for refusing to 'manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen'. Geospatial scientist Rebekah Jones revealed that for 'reasons beyond my division's control,' she had been removed 'not voluntarily' as the manager of Florida's interactive informational site on May 5, according to Florida Today. In an email to CBS 12 News, Jones, who led a team of Florida Department of Health scientists and public health officers, said that she was ordered to censor some data that wold support reopening the state and she refused, leading to her termination. Rebekah Jones led a team of Florida Department of Health scientists and public health officers to create and design a comprehensive COVID-19 dashboard The dashboard (pictured) has been a useful tool for the public, media and researches to access information regarding COVID-19 cases, testing and data She said that her commitment to transparency and accessibility is 'largely (arguably entirely) the reason I am no longer managing it'. Florida has reopened beached in Delray The dashboard has been a useful tool for the public, media and researches to access information regarding COVID-19 cases, testing and data. The site was hailed as a great example by Dr. Deborah Birx last month. The site was hailed as a great example by Dr. Deborah Birx last month Jones announced her removal on May 5 in an email to colleagues, researchers and anyone who had signed up to receive updates on the data portal. She said her department would no longer be managing the dashboard, be responsible for updating the information on the site or fixing errors 'in any shape or form.' 'I understand, appreciate, and even share your concern about all the dramatic changes that have occurred and those that are yet to come,' Jones wrote. 'As a word of caution, I would not expect the new team to continue the same level of accessibility and transparency that I made central to the process during the first two months. After all, my commitment to both is largely (arguably entirely) the reason I am no longer managing it,' she added. Jones said that over the last few weeks, the site 'crashed and went offline, data disappeared with no explanation and access to the underlying data sheets became difficult.' She also said she wasn't privy to the team's objectives going forward and 'what data they are now restricting.' But Jones said in a May 5 email that she was fired for refusing to 'manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen' Dave Aronberg, Florida's State Attorney for the 15th Judicial Circuit called Jones' allegations, 'disturbing.' Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried supported Jones, writing on Twitter: 'Thank you Rebekah Jones, for not being afraid to speak out. At the time of the sites's launch, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees said, 'I am proud of the extraordinary hard work and dedication of the Florida Department of Health epidemiological team and GIS personnel. 'Providing access to real-time information is an integral part of Floridas COVID-19 response,' he added. The dashboard was recognized for its accessibility by Dr. Deborah Birx last month, who is leading the White House's coronavirus task force. 'That's the kind of knowledge and power we need to put into the hands of American people so that they can see where the virus is, where the cases are, and make decisions,' Birx told CBS' Face the Nation. Dave Aronberg, Florida's State Attorney for the 15th Judicial Circuit called Jones' allegations, 'disturbing.' 'Manipulating the data on Florida's COVID-19 dashboard could cost lives,' he said on Twitter. Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried supported Jones, writing on Twitter: 'Thank you Rebekah Jones, for not being afraid to speak out. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 23:59:09|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close An operator modifies the circulation of vehicles to widen the sidewalks and ensure social distancing on pedestrians in Barcelona, Spain, May 19, 2020. The city of Barcelona is adapting its main avenues and streets to meet the requirements for people's mobility in Spain's government de-escalation plan. (Barcelona City Hall/Handout via Xinhua) BARCELONA, Spain, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The city of Barcelona is adapting its main avenues and streets to meet the requirements for people's mobility in Spain's government de-escalation plan. As one of the hardest-hit countries in Europe, Spain has been under a strict lockdown since March 14. But restrictions across regions have been gradually eased starting from early May. Even though Barcelona and its metropolitan areas have not yet progressed from "Phase 0" to "Phase 1" of government's four-phase plan, the City Council is already adapting its roads for all phases and the post-pandemic new normality. "We are accelerating and intensifying initiatives that will allow us to adapt to all the phases of the de-escalation plan to allow us to recuperate our mobility in a safe and sustainable manner," said Janet Sanz, Barcelona Deputy Mayor for Ecology, Urban Planning and Mobility, at a press conference. The city is broadening pedestrian sidewalks to up to 4,15 meters on each side, enabling people to maintain the social distance to ward off the virus. The city is also creating more bicycle lanes and separate traffic and bus lanes for each direction. The transformations, which started on Sunday and will be ready in one week, will result in 154,000 square meters of space for people to circulate "safely and healthily," the City Council reported. The actions to gain public space for pedestrians amid coronavirus also include cutting off traffic on 51 streets and not allowing motorcycles to park on the sidewalks. Americans lined up to buy goods at supermarkets like Costco Wholesale and Walmart as fears over COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey, United States on April 18, 2020. As states lift stay-at-home orders, Walmart customers have started to shop for more clothes and discretionary items. The retailer is getting a bounce from stimulus checks and preparing to reopen shuttered parts of some stores, such as optical and auto care centers. But CEO Doug McMillon told analysts Tuesday that the retailer is prepared for a bumpy road ahead in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic, compared with the steadier recovery it's seen in China. "We may see a bit of a two-step in some places where we make progress; two steps forward, take a step back, and then move forward again," he said. "Obviously, there are a lot of pieces that have to be put in place, from testing to exposure notification. I think policies at state level and county level are going to influence this. It will be volatile, and we'll just manage it." He said because of China's approach "the bounce back is going to be different and has been fairly strong there relative to what we'll see in the U.S. and other markets." Walmart reported a strong first quarter on Tuesday, with e-commerce sales growing by 74% and same-store sales up by about 10%. Though it beat Wall Street's estimates, the company withdrew its financial outlook. On a Tuesday call with analysts, Walmart Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs said the economy and the company's sales are just too difficult to predict. He said there are numerous factors that could move the needle, including employment trends, consumer confidence and whether there's more economic stimulus. McMillon echoed that uncertainty when asked by an analyst about the back-to-school season, a time when families usually buy a wide variety of items, from notebooks and lunchboxes to new clothes and laptops. "I would not attempt to forecast back-to-school right now," he said. "There's a reason we pulled guidance. We're telling you about the first quarter. We'll tell you about the second quarter later." He said the company is focused on one thing it can control: Managing inventory. He said it's trying to restock the popular items that quickly disappear from stores and fulfillment centers. Those include bicycles, laptops, cleaning supplies and even fishing poles. Fabio Principe/iStockBY: KAREN TRAVERS, ABC NEWS (NEW YORK) It is the burning question for working parents -- how and when will their kids get back to school? "There's just not enough hours in the day," Lorey Johnson told ABC News. Johnson has two children, ages 7 and 4. She and her husband are juggling full-time jobs at home, taking care of the kids and distance learning. "I was on a video call for work -- just with coworkers luckily -- and the 4-year-old walked in naked. Everyone thought that was hilarious. I was like, luckily my bosses were on that call. I was like well welcome to my day," she said. Ralphie Santiago is a father of two young boys in New York City. He is the coordinator of an after-school program in Harlem for kids ages 8 through 12 -- a program that like school -- has gone virtual during the COVID-19 shutdowns. "It was like two weeks in or maybe three weeks, then I started realizing I was pretty frustrated with my kids. I really upset with them because I couldn't sit down and get my work done," Santiago told ABC News. "One day it just dawned on me, you know at the end of the night like to reflect on how the day went. And how I could do a little better tomorrow for my both of my sons and try to scream less and try to punish them less." Santiago, Johnson and millions of working parents have had to quickly adjust to this new normal -- without the usual child care arrangements. "There are no networks right now just because of social distancing. You can't rely on your friend or your family or your neighbor or someone across the street and it's really tough for families right now," said Brigid Schulte, author of "Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has The Time. Schulte said parents always knew the challenge of work and child care, but the coronavirus pandemic is pulling back the curtain. "I think a lot of it reflects this long-standing notion in our country that family matters are a private affair and that you just need to figure it all out. 'I don't want to hear about it. Go do that. And then just get to work on time,'" she told ABC News. Eager to get the country back to some state of normal, President Donald Trump is pushing for businesses to reopen and for workers to get back on the job. "Our country's got to get back and it's got to get back as soon as possible," he said on May 13. But there is no plan right now from the Trump administration to help working parents while schools and many day care centers are closed. "Our childcare system -- and I say that very lightly -- it's really not a system. It's very fragile. It's kind of patched together. It's very difficult to find quality care -- difficult to afford. And this pandemic has just really pushed it to the edge," said Schulte. Under the White House reopening guidelines, states can choose to open some businesses in phase one but they cannot open schools until phase 2. "My company is currently planning to reopen our office at the end of May. But there are several of us with younger school-aged children and they haven't said anything. They just haven't addressed that point yet," Johnson said. When ABC News asked Trump how Americans can go back to work if schools are closed and whether he is considering how to help working parents, he said, "I think -- yeah, good question. I think the schools are going to be open soon." But schools in 48 states and Washington D.C. are closed for the remainder of the academic year. And the extra load on parents doesn't end there: many summer camps are cancelled, including the one Johnson's 7-year-old daughter was set to attend. "They've already canceled that for June, and they haven't made a decision yet about July. That breaks my heart for her. She's going to be 8 years old, like, that means she's gonna have to sit inside, Monday through Friday, all day," Johnson said. With the current school year winding down, administrators and educators are already deep into planning for the fall and looking at how and when students can safely get back into the classroom. This was a big topic last week on Capitol Hill when Republican and Democratic senators pressed Dr. Anthony Fauci on when schools could reopen. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases tried to temper expectations. "The idea of having treatments available -- or a vaccine -- to facilitate the re-entry of students into the fall term, would be something that would be a bit of a bridge too far," Fauci said. The president pushed back. "It's just -- to me, it's not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools. The only thing that would be acceptable, as I said, is professors, teachers, et cetera, over a certain age. I think they ought to take it easy for another few weeks," he said. The president said in early May that young people do well with the virus, but health experts say they're not in the clear, with some children now suffering from potentially coronavirus-related inflammatory disease. A new ABC News/Ipsos poll found 69% of Americans who have a child under the age of 18 living at home who had been enrolled in school before the pandemic said they are not currently willing to send their child back to school. "My 4-year-old, her preschool has reopened. We have not sent her back yet because the other one's at home. There's no sense in that added exposure," said Johnson. "I would not feel comfortable sending kids to school right now or to camp. Because you know there's no vaccine, but my main thing is I know that no one's safe until the vaccine is, you know, in place," said Santiago. So for the foreseeable future, working parents are scrambling. Millions of essential workers are still leaving their homes for their job and parents who can work from home are simply getting used to doing a work conference call with their kids near them. "I mean we're still expected to put in a full day's work. It's just impossible. When you've got children in the house. You know, they require attention, they -- we have to make them meals, they have to be entertained, they have to be supervised and then there's the whole educational component as well," Johnson said. Schulte said working parents need to cut themselves some slack right now. "A lot of people feel really guilty that they can't give 100%. This is not a time for anybody to be able to give 100%. Getting through the end of the day is difficult," she said. Santiago agreed and had some advice for stressed out parents. "Just to do your best every day with them and make sure that, you know, whatever you are doing -- that when your child reflects about this in a year they say that mom and dad did the best they did and had a great time and it was tough, but, you know, I still love my parents," he said. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 14:56:14|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Five Afghan policemen were killed and seven others wounded after gunmen in police uniform opened fire inside a checkpoint in Maruf district of southern Kandahar province on Tuesday, provincial police spokesman Jamal Barikzai said. Enditem Gulshan has finally put her father to rest. It was a heartbreaking moment, but one that she had been waiting for. It was something that she'd had to fight for. I will never be able to forget what it felt like to bring him back home, in a bag. But at least, after all these months, he was finally returned to me, one last time, says Gulshan. A week from now, it will be three months since Anwar Kassar was burnt alive, one of the 53 victims of the Delhi riots. On February 25, his house in North East Delhi was torched and he was allegedly thrown into the fire. All that was found of him was a burnt leg. Im just relieved that I could finally bury my father and that too during Ramzan. This is what I was praying for. That were able to say our final goodbye before this holy month ends, says Gulshan. Since the past three months, Gulshan had been scrambling to give him a decent burial. First, she had to wait for a DNA test to confirm the identity of the remains. And then, the coronavirus lockdown delayed the process, further. On May 13, an application was filed before the metropolitan magistrate. On the 16th, the court ordered Karawal Nagar police station to release Anwar Kassars mortal remains and hand them over to Gulshan. On Sunday morning, she received a call from a lawyer who informed her that the remains will finally be released from police custody. She left her two sons with her visually challenged husband, hired a cab for Rs 1,500 and left Pilakwa in Uttar Pradesh for Delhi with a neighbour. I felt numb on my way to Delhi this time. The first month, all we ever did was journey back and forth from Pilakwa to Delhi. Each day hoping that this would be the day his body would be released. And then the lockdown happened. The wait has been unending and insufferable, says Gulshan. Anwar lived in Shiv Vihar, among the areas worst-hit by the communal violence that ravaged large parts of North East Delhi. Gulshan, meanwhile, lives at Pilakwa in Hapur with her husband, Naseeruddin, and their two sons, aged seven and eight. On returning home, Gulshan found it impossible to explain to her sons what exactly was in the bag. The children were close to their grandfather. It was he who paid their school fees, bought them toys, and now he had come back in a plastic bag. In the initial days, they would wonder why their Nana wasnt calling them. He used to call us every evening. With time, they found out that he had been killed in the riots. But how could we ever tell them that only a bone was all that was left of him, says Gulshan. It was a small funeral. Due to the lockdown, the immediate family which resides in Delhi couldnt reach Pilakwa. As is the custom, Gulshan stayed back at home. Her husband, her maternal uncles who live nearby and a neighbour went to the graveyard to bury the remains of her father. The family is now trying to accept this as closure and look ahead. But the future is uncertain. Naseeruddin lost his sight four years ago after an accident involving acid. Anwar used to support their family by renting out pushcarts. He had a few goats as well. Back in March, Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal government gave them 1 lakh rupees as immediate relief. Not much is left of that. Nearly half of that amount was spent on our rent and hiring cabs every day to come to Delhi and wait at the hospital. The rest of it we are using up now to survive. We have no other means. My father was the one who supported us, says Gulshan. Gulshans story was truly one of the most tragic ones to come out of the horrific Delhi riots, and thats saying something. Before the lockdown, the family used to receive many calls from people in the Delhi government, looking out for them, she says. Even Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has called. If they call now, I would request them to help me with my childrens education. But ever since the lockdown, theres not been a single call. Its like no one cares how were doing. It seems people have forgotten us, says Gulshan. Around 9 lakh rupees of compensation is still pending; theres no word on it. No amount of money can ever compensate for the loss of my father. Can money bring him back? Can money turn back time and stop those monsters from burning him alive? Its justice that we want, Gulshan says. Iran ready for worst-case scenario in faceoff with US, all options considered: Spokesman Iran Press TV Monday, 18 May 2020 1:37 PM The spokesman for Iran's administration says the Islamic Republic is ready for the worst-case scenario in its current confrontation with the US over Iranian tanker ships delivering oil to Venezuela, stressing that Tehran-Caracas relations are not other countries' business. Ali Rabiei made the remarks in a weekly news briefing on Monday when asked about Iran's possible reaction if the United States attempted to block the passage of Iranian tanker ships bound for Venezuela. "Our foreign minister has issued necessary warnings and this issue has been also discussed by the [Iranian] administration and the Supreme National Security Council. We hope that the US would not make such a mistake, but in any case, we will take all possibilities into account and are ready for a worst-case scenario," he said. Iran is shipping tons of gasoline to Venezuela in defiance of US sanctions on both countries in a symbolic move guaranteed by Tehran's missile prowess. Reports of a shipment of Iranian fuel to Venezuela in the face of US sanctions against the two allies have infuriated the United States, with one official threatening to take "measures" against the "unwelcome" development. A senior official in US President Donald Trump's administration told Reuters on Thursday that the United States was considering measures against Iran in response to the fuel shipment. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif issued a stern warning against the provocative acts of Washington through dispatching its naval forces to the Caribbean Sea with the goal of disrupting the course of Iranian tankers carrying fuel for Venezuela. In a letter to the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Zarif described "the illegal, dangerous and provocative US threats [against the Iranian tankers]" as a form of piracy and a big threat to international peace and security. Iran also summoned the Swiss envoy, whose country represents US interests in Tehran, to voice the country's vehement protest at the provocations. "Although it is too early to comment on Iran's response to a possible US piracy, we will reserve all the options if they make such a mistake, and will take appropriate action to protect freedom of navigation and increase the unprecedented cost of violating the [maritime] law," Rabiei told the news briefing. The Iranian administration's spokesman went on to say that Tehran expects the international community to be highly sensitive about freedom of international waterways and protection of [marine] traffic. Rabiei added, "The US measure in setting wrong precedent and its violation of legal rules and regulations has hit a new low in terms of its unparalleled brazenness." "We (Iran) and Venezuela are countries that have enjoyed relations since a long time. We sell goods to and buy goods from them. These relations have nothing to do with other countries. All of this is within the framework of measures, which are considered to be of no objection by international law, and fall within the framework of healthy business communication," Rabiei said. The Iranian official stressed that no country is required to comply with unilateral and arbitrary sanctions imposed by the United States, and "we are committed to regular exchanges with Venezuela." "Gasoline-carrying tankers have set sail on an order from the Venezuelan government and their dispatch is in line with the free will that countries exercise in conventional international exchanges. We want to make sure that these cargoes are safe from the danger of US marine piracy, which has happened in the past," Rabiei noted. Iran has intentionally hoisted its own flag over the huge tankers and is shipping large consignments of gasoline to Venezuela even though the US could try to intercept the shipments and seize the tankers. The US Navy is said to have deployed its USS Detroit (LCS-7), USS Lassen (DDG-82), USS Preble (DDG-88), and USS Farragut (DDG-99) to the Caribbean along with its patrol aircraft Boeing P8-Poseidon for possible encounter with the Iranian vessels. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Now, youre not just dealing with Covid, she said, referring to Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Now youre contending with common vaccine-preventable diseases. Over the past two months, the risk of infection for diseases like measles might have been mitigated because most people, following stay-at-home orders, were not in proximity to one another. Now that some states are easing restrictions and allowing people to move about in their communities, there is a fear of outbreaks for diseases like influenza and especially measles. You are prone to potentially seeing measles outbreaks as communities and jurisdictions in Michigan and arguably in other parts of the country open up, said Dr. Shen, a retired captain in the U.S. Public Health Service. This is a big week for opening up, and public health wants you to come in and get your shots. The study used data from the Michigan Care Improvement Registry, which tracks immunizations within the state. It compared vaccination rates for children 5 months or younger on a typical day in May from 2016 to 2019, with the same day this year. It showed that before the pandemic, roughly two-thirds of children in that age group were up to date with their vaccinations; this year, the rate fell to 49.7 percent. The study also showed that Michigan children on Medicaid were even less likely to be current on their immunizations. The largest disparity was seen among those 7 months or younger. The researchers found that only 34.6 percent children on Medicaid were up to date, compared with 55 percent of children in Michigan who were not on Medicaid. The Eastern Regional Secretariat of the largest Opposition Party, the National Democratic Congress(NDC) has called on the Police administration to immediately halt the secret training of Police recruits at the Koforidua Police Training School, and close the facility. The Koforidua Police Training School has been reopened since last week despite the directive against school attendance by President Akufo-Addo. The recruits who were asked to go home when President Akufo-Addo directed the closure of educational institutions have been recalled. But the Director of Public Affairs for the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent Sheila Kessie Abayie-Buckman said the police did not close its schools over the COVID-19 pandemic. Police never closed its training facilities. We had two batches of recruits in training, What we did was for the junior batches to go home so the senior ones continue with their training and then the rest could come. Now we have been advised that the junior batches can now report too so that is what is going on. The necessary protocols have been put in place that all trainees are safe, she told Francis Abban on the Morning Starr. However, a statement issued Sunday, May 17, 2020 and signed by the Eastern Regional Communication Officer of the NDC, Darlas Williams said the party has noted with grave concern an ongoing secret Police training in the Eastern Region specifically the capital town, Koforidua. We are reliably informed, over Hundred (100) recruits have been selected and are currently going through training at the Koforidua Police Training School. This is at the time the number of COVID-19 cases in the Eastern Region and in the country keep soaring as a result of the governments bad approach to mitigating the pandemic. The NDC says it finds the action surprising that, the training school was closed even at the time Eastern region was yet to record a single Covid-19 case by the authorities following the directives of the president, but the same people are quick to recall the recruits at a time the region have recorded almost 100 confirmed cases. Therefore, we see the action of the authorities as a clear violation and flagrant disregard and disrespect to the presidents directives on social gathering and the closure of facilities such as schools, the statement added. The statement claimed, Instructors, Trainers, other serving officers, and their family members are deeply worried regarding the risk these recruits from their various homes especially from the epicentres would be putting everyone into. Especially when these recruits have not been tested to ascertain their status The NDC has also raised serious concerns about the secret recruitments into the Police Service. After the Akufo-Addo led government announced that financial clearance had been given for the recruitment of Four Thousand (4,000) personnel into the Police Service, there has been opaque and total disregard to established procedures for the recruitment in the country, and same concerns have been shared by security experts who posits that ill-defined recruitment into the Ghana Police Service posed a serious threat to national security. We, as a Social Democratic party, is concerned that the vulnerable have been at the receiving end of the impact of this pandemic, and have a responsibility to protect them within our democratic means. Since insecurity anywhere amounts to insecurity everywhere, we call on the Police Administration to suspend and close down the Training Schools as directed by the president to allow for collective efforts toward the containment of the novel Coronavirus. Ninety-Seven (97 ) more persons tested positive for coronavirus Saturday, May 16, 2020 in Ghana have increased the national tally to 5,735. One more death was also recorded marginally increasing the death toll to 29 while recoveries have jumped significantly to 1,754. Source: kasapafmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Mumbai, May 19 : Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha's fans have once again donated personal protective equipment (PPE). After extending the charity to a Pune hospital earlier, this time the actress's fan club has pitched in with PPE kits for KJ Somaiya Hospital in Mumbai. Sonakshi took to Instagram Stories, where she shared two photographs of boxes carrying the PPE Kits. On the boxes, it was written: "Donated by fans of Sonakshi Sinha. K.J. Somaiya Hospital, Mumbai." She captioned the photograph on Monday: "More PPE kits being dispatched today! You guys are the best!." Earlier the actress's fans donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to Pune's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital. "All you lovely people! Thank you for your trust and generosity. A huge consignment of top grade PPE material is leaving factory for Sardar Patel Hospital,#Pune! Let's protect our frontline medicos together,shall we? Lots of love and thank you," Sonakshi had tweeted then. -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Q: I just received a bill for my yard cart. It was for $65. I thought the city was going to prorate the yard cart bill for this year. Am I mistaken on the reduction, or were they just sent out before the pro-rated amount was determined? W.G. Answer: We have gotten several questions about this from readers who have gotten their bills for this year. There will be a reduction, but you are mistaken about when it will happen. According to the city, residents will get a credit on their yard cart fees for next years service, not for this years. The prorated amount for the yard cart program will take effect in 2021, said Johnnie Taylor, director of operations for the city. The amount has yet to be determined. Bills had already been printed for 2020, according to Lee Garrity, the city manager. Q: Is it true that patients at Baptist Hospital who are under age 60 are not permitted to use ventilators if they are admitted with Covid19? Is there any age limit? J.A. Six members of Mozambique's elite police unit have gone on trial for the murder of a prominent election observer in a case that has gripped the southern African nation. Anastacio Matavele, 58, was shot dead at the wheel of his car in the city of Xai-Xai shortly before nationwide elections last October. Over the past week, half a dozen elite police officers have testified in court in the southern province of Gaza, four of whom have confessed to taking part in a plot to murder him. The trial is unprecedented in a country where murders and abductions of members of civil society, opposition politicians and journalists have become routine since 2015 yet are typically sidelined for lack of evidence. The remarkable case only came to light because the attackers had a car accident as they fled the scene. One of the alleged trigger men, policeman Martins Wiliamo, died in the smash along with a second suspect, and a third was arrested. Two other policemen were arrested a few weeks later, as well as a teacher who owned the vehicle used for the crime. Point-blank range Two of the officers have confessed their involvement but have fingered fellow policeman Agapito Matavele as the ringleader. Matavele, who has the same family name as the victim but was not related to him, is on the run. Extraordinary details have emerged of a Mob-style hit that left the victim's car riddled with 13 bullet holes. "I drove the car alongside the victim's car and the order to fire came from the back seat," Assistant Inspector Edson Silica, 34, the driver on the day of the murder, told the court. "Agapito and Martins Wiliamo lowered the windows and started shooting at point-blank range." Filipe Mahajane, a spokesperson for the Matavele family, points to bullet holes in the victim's car. By GIANLUIGI GUERCIA (AFP/File) Silica, a police officer for 13 years, said Agapito Matavele knew the details of the mission. As for himself, he maintained that he was only told minutes before the crime that they were going to "assault an old man with a lot of money". Officer Euclidio Mapulasse, who was later arrested, said he had been on the back seat, sitting between the alleged shooters. "I was in the middle seat. There was no way I could open fire," Mapulasse said. "The ones who opened fire were Agapito and Martins Wiliamo." The remaining defendants deny any involvement. Political violence The assassination sparked an outcry, for it occurred in the runup to crucial elections troubled by violence and accusations of fraud. Just months earlier, President Filipe Nyusi and the opposition Renamo party signed a truce aimed at halting fighting that had flared 27 years after a civil war that killed an estimated million people. The Election Commission awarded victory to Nyusi and his Frelimo party, which has been in power since independence from Portugal in 1975. In the coming days, relatives of the deceased election observer and the two agents who died in the accident will testify. But why was the murder carried out? And did the order go higher up the chain of command? The prosecutors say they have no evidence for suggesting other than that the accused "acted on their own initiative." Grief: The mother of murder victim Anastacio Matavele. By GIANLUIGI GUERCIA (AFP/File) One of those arrested, Tudelo Guirugo, 46, initially told prosecutors that he selected members of the hit squad on the orders of the elite unit's boss, Alfred Macuacua. But he changed this account in court, saying Macuacua was not involved. "I was desperate -- I thought I could get out of it by implicating him." Adriano Nuvunga, head of an NGO called the Centre for Democracy and Development, said the killing was "in actual fact a state crime." "The ones who are implicated are police officers in positions of responsibility," Nuvunga said. Relatives of the deceased election observer and of the two agents who died in the accident are scheduled testify in the coming days. The situation confronting health journalists in Pakistan has made them fearful amid concerns of inadequate protections writes Lubna Jerar Naqvi. Reporting has become a dangerous task during the Covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan with at least 50 journalists infected and one death. The situation reveals how vulnerable the media is in a country where the government remains confused whether to soften the lockdown or maintain tough controls. The positive cases and death reveals how media workers, particularly those in the field, remain vulnerable to protect themselves from the deadly virus. The few reporters who cover health-related stories in Pakistan struggle to get them into headlines or bulletins. And when these stories are published, it is only because of a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. Talking to health reporters for this blog Akhtar Shaheen Rind, Khawar Khan and Imran Ayub it is apparent they share similar concerns and their greatest fear is exposure and contracting the deadly virus. Akhtar Shaheen Rind, a senior health reporter, founder & editor of Consumer News(a MOJO/Citizen journalism start up), and Khawar Khan, a health reporter for Geo News, are given several beats at a time, making it difficult to cover detailed health stories or investigations. Rind remembers when there used to be separate reporters for different health beats. However, with increasing pressures on the media and mass layoffs, things have changed. Rind adds: Even before the media crisis began, media organizations began overburdening reporters. There is definitely a shortage of health reporters now. Imran Ayubs view is that health reporters and any journalist trying to cover the pandemic and its impacts are facing a lot of problems. The indiscipline and mismanagement in the governance issues already affect daily business of life in the country. So the global challenge like the coronavirus pandemic makes things further complicated. The lack of coordination among the government institutions, typical government attitudes to hiding the facts and covering flaws, and a multitude of platforms where information is shared makes reporting even more challenging. Ayub said, Protection is a word which sounds amazingly strange when it comes to reporting in Pakistan. This country has suffered more than a decade of terrorism after 9/11 and those journalists who covered that bloodshed had never experienced anything like protection. Many were killed and several others were left injured and paralyzed for life. So in the reporting of those deadly events where the threat was visible and one could gauge the possibility of damage he or she would suffer, the journalists were never cared for by their media houses and the state. How can we expect this privilege in this situation where the threat is not visible and media houses crying for financial losses? he added. Khawar Khan says more health specialists are desperately needed in the field but their importance only becomes evident to editors during a crisis or pandemic. Crises create opportunity; now most TV channels and newspapers are considering health as a proper beat. Imran Ayub, a reporter at Dawn Media Group, said there was a critical need for strong coverage of this kind in Pakistan. But above that we need to add value to health reporting. Increasing the number of reporters would not help alone. Before the pandemic, health was not a proper area of reporting in Pakistan and the most "useless" or "unskilled" person was assigned this beat. We need to realize that it's a specialized reporting. Up to now health stories only made the headline when connected with a death, or a serious crisis, said Rind. Now reporters are now faced with an even bigger challenge, of reporting in the field without equipment to protect them. Khawar emphasizes the absence of protective gear, saying about 20% to 30% of organizations are providing only surgical mask to their staff. Rind said TV channels are generally giving their reporters protective gear like gloves, masks. But since the majority dont have the required gear, many of them dont go into infected wards. Those who have to cover hospital wards on the insistence of bosses are forced to request the health authorities or hospital administration provide them with personal protective equipment (PPE). The problem, according to Kanwar, is many organizations and even editors dont understand the situation so far and ask their reporter to do live coverage from corona isolation centres. Ayub speaks about other challenges like getting stuck on verifying facts instead of taking time to focus on investigative reporting. Others issues are created by reporters themselves, said Ayub, like lack of knowdge and expertise and the influence of speculation and conspiracy theories. Amid growing challenges of the future, there should be a proper desk of science in every major media house which covers technology, health, environment and climate with people of relevant qualifications. Meanwhile, there is a clear and apparent need for the government of Pakistan to make it mandatory for media houses to provide proper protective equipment, not only to the teams covering the coronavirus pandemic but also those working in the office with them and ensure a sterilized and safe working environment for the media. Lubna Jerar Naqvi is Joint Secretary of Karachi Union of Journalists and mentor at Coalition for Women in Journalism. A woman's application to annul the bankruptcy she claimed was forced on her due to being overcharged on her mortgage by Bank of Ireland has been dismissed by the High Court. Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington said the court had "considerable sympathy" for the distress Deirdre Dennis had endured over a considerable period of time. However, the annulment application was not a matter in which the court had the jurisdiction to rule in Ms Dennis's favour. The difficulty, in this case, the judge said, was that the reasons for seeking to set aside the bankruptcy, including that the bank had wrongly overcharged her on her mortgage repayments, lie outside of the bankruptcy process. Bank of Ireland only admitted its error after Ms Dennis's discharge as a bankrupt, the judge said. Any redress sought by Ms Dennis against the bank "lies elsewhere", the judge added. Ms Dennis lost her family home, was left financially crippled and personally devastated after being charged over twice what was due on her monthly mortgage repayments between June 2012 and December 2017, to Bank of Ireland. After obtaining financial advice, Ms Dennis successfully petitioned the High Court to be adjudicated a bankrupt in October 2017 and was discharged from her bankruptcy 12 months later. In 2019 the bank after carrying out a review of her account unreservedly apologised to Ms Dennis for its failure to provide her with a tracker rate on her mortgage at a time she was entitled to one. Bank of Ireland also withdrew its claim in her bankruptcy of amounts totalling 115,000. The bank accepted Ms Dennis was entitled to compensation, redress and a refund of interest charged, also acknowledged its error was a factor in her losing her family home at Seaview Terrace, Killala Co Mayo. In 2015 the bank sought an order from the Circuit Court seeking repossession of her home after she went into arrears and was unable to make repayments sought by the bank so it could sell the property. Ms Dennis, represented by solicitor Evan O'Dwyer, applied to the Court to have her bankruptcy annulled. In a written Judgement Ms Justice Pilkington said that Ms Dennis's position was very straightforward. Had Bank of Ireland not made the error, which it belatedly admitted, Ms Dennis claimed she would have never been put in the position she was in, and would not have self-petitioned for bankruptcy, the Judge said. However, the judge, while noting the stress and distress that Ms Dennis had endured over a considerable period of time, said that the issues the applicant had with Bank of Ireland were not directly relevant to the annulment application, and did not relate directly to the bankruptcy process. It was not a matter in which the court could exercise its jurisdiction in her favour, the judge added. The Judge said it appeared that the court had jurisdiction to reverse abuses of process or fraud. In this case there was no fraud nor an abuse of process. Another difficulty for the court was Ms Dennis had been discharged from bankruptcy, and section 135 of the 1988 Bankruptcy Act precludes any review, cancellation or variation of an order of discharge. No case law had been opened to the court that would allow the court annul an order of bankruptcy that has already been discharged, the Judge added. The Insolvency Service of Ireland, the judge said had acted in accordance with the terms of the 1988 Bankruptcy Act, and had behaved properly in regards to Ms Dennis throughout. In all the circumstances the court had no option other than to dismiss the application to annul the bankruptcy which the judge held was misconceived. The court heard Ms Dennis currently rents a property at Killala Road, Ballina Co Mayo. When she sought to be adjudicated a bankrupt she believed she owed Bank of Ireland some 171,000 on foot of loans taken with the bank. Her then home was valued as being worth 73,000. She also had additional debts of 66,000 owed to revenue and another bank. She claims that had she all the relevant information from Bank of Ireland in October 2017 she would not have sought to be adjudicated a bankrupt. The Centre has approved 14.04 lakh new beneficiaries in Bihar under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and allotted 2,770 tonnes of foodgrains for them, Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Tuesday. The new 14.04 lakh beneficiaries will get their foodgrain entitlements under the NFSA from this month, he added. Under the NFSA, the Centre provides 5kg of wheat and rice per person per month at a highly subsidised rate of Rs 2-3 per kg. More than 80 crore people are covered under this law across all the states and union territories. In a series of tweets, Paswan said the food ministry had received a proposal to add 14 lakh new beneficiaries. Till now, 8.57 crore people in Bihar were getting subsidised foodgrains under the NFSA. Paswan said the ministry has approved the maximum limit of 8.71 crore beneficiaries for Bihar under the NFSA after examining the data available on the portal of the state government. For the new 14.04 lakh beneficiaries, Paswan said an additional foodgrains quota of 2,769.98 tonnes allotted. That apart, he said the Centre has also allotted 86,450 tonnes of foodgrains and 16,885 tonnes of chana for those migrant labourers in Bihar who are not covered under any central or state schemes. Under the Rs 20 lakh crore package, the Centre announced that migrants will get 5 kg foodgrain per person per month during May-June period. Each family will get one kg of chana per month during May-June. An estimated 86.45 lakh migrants and their 16.89 lakh families in Bihar will be benefited. Meanwhile, the Centre announced the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) soon after the lockdown was announced on March 25 to contain the coronavirus disease. Under this new scheme, during April-June period, the Centre will distribute 5kg of foodgrains per person per month free of cost to over 80 crore people covered under the NFSA, to provide relief to the poor. One kg free pulses too is being offered per family. The allocation under the PMGKAY is over and above the regular entitlement under the NFSA. With concerns being raised about the migrant workers not covered under the NFSA or any scheme run by states, the Centre last week announced free of cost foodgrains for them as well for May and June period under the Rs 20 lakh crore package. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CLEVELAND, Ohio Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost argued in a court filing that a federal judge in Washington, D.C. has no choice but to dismiss the charge against Michael Flynn, former national security advisor to President Donald Trump who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, after the Justice Department asked him to do so. The brief, written by Yost and Solicitor General Benjamin Flowers, says the Justice Department, part of the Executive Branch, cannot be forced to prosecute a case because of the separation of powers spelled out in the Constitution. It also says that U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan should refrain from commenting on the decision not to prosecute Flynn, arguing essentially that its not a judges place to speak up if they see problems with the decision of the presidents administration. Too often, that commentary comes in grandiose terms more appropriate for an op-ed than a judicial opinion, the brief states. Yost signed the brief. He filed it on behalf of himself and 14 other Republican state attorneys general. Flynn pleaded guilty to a single count of making false statements and agreed to cooperate in a probe surrounding President Donald Trumps campaign, Russian interference and whether the president obstructed justice. Sullivan was set to sentence Flynn in December 2018 but postponed it as Flynn continued to cooperate. The judge made his feelings about Flynns actions known at the hearing, telling Flynn that arguably, you sold your country out. Flynns position turned toward defiance as of late and he has tried to chip away at the governments case in recent months with the help of new counsel. The Justice Department on May 7 moved to dismiss the charge against Flynn because it now determined, more than two years after Flynn was charged, that the FBIs interview of the former national security advisor was untethered to, and unjustified by agents counterintelligence investigation into him. The motion to dismiss Flynns charges was only signed by Timothy Shea, the interim U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. who has come under fire for showing leniency to Trump allies at the center of a probe by then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Trump on Monday nominated Justin Herdman, the U.S. attorney in Cleveland, to replace Shea, and Attorney General William Barr said Shea will now lead the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. While the government said the decision not to prosecute was made after a review that included newly discovered information, critics have said its decision smacks of political favoritism. Instead of dismissing the charge upon the governments request, as is customary in criminal cases, Sullivan on Wednesday appointed a former federal judge to argue in a friend-of-the-court brief against dismissing the charge against Flynn. Yosts brief, however says that there was no reason to issue these orders because this Court has no say in the federal governments decision not to prosecute. Simply put, the decision not to pursue a criminal conviction is vested in the executive branch alone and neither the legislature nor the judiciary has any role in the executives making of that decision, the brief states. Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the mantra of vocal for local' to make India self-reliant, RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) on Tuesday announced a countrywide campaign to promote the use of indigenous goods. The SJM said it will distribute a list of locally made items as a substitute for imported products, and also demanded changes in the import duty structure to safeguard the domestic industry. Referring to Modi's speech pitching for the use of products manufactured in the country to face the economic challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, SJM co-convener Ashwani Mahajan said, It is a pleasant departure from the existing policy based on globalisation and liberalisation, especially foreign capital dependent model of development. With its Swadeshi Swavlamban Abhiyan', the Sangh-affiliate will create awareness on the importance of 'Swadeshi' and self-reliance in the country, he said. Self-reliance would be achieved by rejuvenating the indigenous industry, including small scale industries, small businesses, artisans and rural industries with an aim to generate inclusive growth with impetus on employment, Mahajan said. Blaming policy-makers of the past for the dependence on imported products in the country, he said they had never reposed trust on indigenous talent, resources and knowledge, and over-emphasised on foreign capital and multi-national companies (MNCs). "It is time to revive those local industries that were taken for granted in the era of globalisation. It is also time to usher in economic policies that produce welfare, sustainable incomes, help job creation and, all in all, put faith in the people, he said. Emphasising that many of the clusters of MSMEs lost their sheen due to unfair competition from China and import policies, he said they have to be supported and strengthened by all means so that they not only create employment opportunities but also produce high-quality products with the most economical cost. Sharing the details of the campaign, Mahajan said a comprehensive plan is being drawn involving people from all walks of life including workers, farmers, small-scale entrepreneurs, academicians, technocrats, industry and trade leaders. With the cooperation of various organisations and associations, we will reach out to people and will make them aware of the benefits of promoting swadeshi/local products and distribute lists of swadeshi/local products, he said. Asserting that this is the time for handholding of local, small scale manufacturers, artisans and small businesses, he said district-level committees will be constituted involving people from industry and trade activists for this purpose. We call upon all patriotic citizens and industry to join this Swadeshi Swavalamban Abhiyan' with full enthusiasm and to rejuvenate the Indian economy based on local talent, resources, knowledge, entrepreneurship and human values, he said. The vision of the campaign is to develop an 'Indian Development Model', and to achieve the goal of 'self-reliance' while conserving the environment, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SINGAPORE, May 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Huobi Charity, the philanthropic arm and blockchain-based charity platform of Huobi Group, today announced a joint initiative with the Finance Center for South-South Cooperation (FCSSC), a non-profit international organization in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC of the United Nations. To support coronavirus relief efforts in South-South countries, Huobi has launched a 15-day charitable campaign in partnership with FCSSC to raise $143,000 USD in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Huobi Token (HT), Tether (USDT), and HUSD. The new campaign comes as global confirmed coronavirus cases exceed 4 million. Many South-South countries, which refer to developing countries located primarily in the Southern Hemisphere across Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, have especially vulnerable populations. The region's relatively fragile healthcare infrastructure poses a grave risk as the pandemic spreads, and rural areas have overloaded healthcare systems that are ill-equipped to deal with an influx of COVID-19 cases. "The new coronavirus epidemic has become a global problem and needs to be addressed by all countries," stated Wu Zhong, Director General of FCSSC. "It is a beneficial attempt and exploration to apply blockchain technology to international public welfare cooperation and supervision." By working with FCSSC, Huobi aims to provide much-needed medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPP) to frontline healthcare workers and residents in those countries with insufficient medical resources to fight against the pandemic. The charity campaign aims to raise enough funding to supply between 300,000 and 500,000 face masks to affected regions. Huobi is leading global donation efforts on cross-border charity platform Bithelp. To kick off the charity campaign, Huobi has contributed 17,711 HT worth an estimated $69,000 USDnearly half of the target raise. Over the next week, Huobi will leverage its network and blockchain community to help raise the remainder. FCSSC will provide operational and logistical support to ensure medical supplies are sent to the areas and regions with the highest need. "The COVID-19 is an unprecedented health crisis that requires global collaboration across private and public sectors," said Ciara Sun, Head of Global Business at Huobi Group. "As a leading global digital asset and blockchain institution, we want to do our part and rally the crypto and blockchain community around a global cause that can help save thousands of lives." The current campaign marks Huobi Charity's third initiative since its launch earlier this year. During the Wuhan outbreak in late January, Huobi committed $1.4 million USD to source and donate hundreds of thousands of medical masks, protective suits, oximeters, and other medical supplies to over 135 hospitals and community healthcare centers in affected areas. Last month, Huobi donated $50,000 USD in HT to the Indonesia-China Association of Economic, Social and Cultural Cooperation for the purchase and distribution of medical supplies to Indonesian hospitals. About Huobi Group Consisting of numerous upstream and downstream enterprises, Huobi Group is a leading global blockchain company. Established by Leon Li in 2013, the company's Huobi Global exchange accumulative turnover exceeds US $3 trillion. Huobi proudly provides safe, secure, and convenient cryptocurrency trading and asset management services to millions of users in 170+ countries. About Finance Center for South-South Cooperation Finance Center for South-South Cooperation (FCSSC) is a non-profit international organization registered and founded in Hong Kong in April 2014. Since 2017, FCSSC has been in Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC of the United Nations. FCSSC is a comprehensive international hub for governments, international organizations and the private sector to promote and help achieve sustainable development in countries from the Global South. SOURCE Huobi Charity This is a round-up of some-breaking news in Nigeria, Today, Tuesday, 19th, May 2020. Just In: President Buhari Makes Fresh Appointment President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Kashim Ibrahim-Imam as chairman, board of trustees (BoT) of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). The appointment was made known in a letter by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu. Ibrahim-Imams appointment which takes effect from May 14, 2020, would run for four years consequent upon which it would be reviewed based on performance. Read More Details Here Breaking: Boko Haram Attacks Dapchi Again, Sets Houses On Fire The dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group on Monday, launched a fresh attack against Dapchi, a town in Busari local government of Yobe state. The insurgents were said to have invaded the town in gun trucks around 7pm on Monday. The insurgents have set many houses on fire while the residents have fled into the bushes and other neighbouring villages to escape the attack, Bala Bukar, a resident told TheCable. He added that the military has deployed fighter jets to the area and have engaged the insurgents in a hot exchange of gun fire. Read More Details Here COVID-19 vs 5G: UK Sanctions Pastor Oyakhilome Loveworld Television Network, a station owned by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome has been sanctioned by Ofcom, the United Kingdom broadcasting authority. Naija News reports that Pastor Oyakhilome had claimed that the 5G technology was what caused the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19). In a statement on Monday, Ofcom said: Loveworld News featured potentially harmful statements about the Coronavirus pandemic and adequate protection was not provided to viewers. Additionally, statements were not presented with due accuracy, it said. Read More Details Here BREAKING: Massive Explosions Rock Borno Multiple explosions have been reported on Monday night in Borno State, North-East Nigeria. Read More Details Here COVID-19: Bill Gates Reacts To Claims He Offered House of Reps $10m Bribe Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, has denied claims that he offered members of the Nigerian House of Representatives $10million bribe to pass the Infectious Diseases Bill. Naija News had reported that the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) had accused the leadership of the House of Reps of allegedly taking the bribe from Bill Gates to pass a compulsory vaccine bill. Read More Details Here Lesotho Prime Minister, Thomas Thabane Resigns Over Murder Allegation Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Thabane announced on Monday his resignation, the long-awaited epilogue of several months of a political crisis caused by his implication in the assassination of his former wife in 2017. I have decided to announce to you personally that I am leaving my office as Prime Minister of Lesotho. I wanted you to hear it from the horses mouth, Thabane told reporters from his residence. Read More Details Here Tribunal Affirms Yahaya Bello As Kogi State Governor, Dismisses Akpotis Petition The Kogi state governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja on Monday, affirmed the election victory of Yahaya Bello as the duly elected governor of Kogi State. The tribunal dismissed the case filed by the Social Democratic Party and its candidate in the 2019 governorship election in the state, Natasha Akpoti. Akpoti and her party had challenged Bello and APCs victory at the polls, alleging irregularities during the election. Read More Details Here Share this post with your Friends on SAGINAW, MI Mid-Michigan emergency officials are warning citizens about the potential dangers of flooding and to find alternative routes if met with road closures after heavy rains blasted several counties on Monday, May 18. Bay County Officials with Bay County Road Commission said the county is experiencing water over roads in some areas and water issues with draining, according to the commissions Facebook post. With all the rain we are getting, the river is rising and roads may be under water. If you see water over the road, please do not attempt to drive thru it. Find an alternate route. Also, We are also aware there are water issues with draining. We just received a very large amount of rain and it has no where to go. Please be patient over the next couple days, the post reads. Motorists are urged to find an alternative route if met with a Road Closed sign blocking a road. If drivers are caught going around a barricade, it can result in traffic violation with a substantial fine, according to road commission officials. The commission is in the process of working on a map of roads closed and water over the road. Arenac County The Arenac Sheriffs Department is in the process of diverting incoming and outgoing traffic around Arenac County due to extensive flooding. Rain is expected to continue, and more roads will flood, according to a post from the sheriffs department Facebook page. Police are asking residents in parts of Arenac County to evacuate as floodwaters continue rising, threatening to cut off road access. The Arenac County Sheriff's Office was going door to door in the area of Townline and Grove roads Monday afternoon asking people to evacuate. Police say water levels were threatening to go over Townline Road. Everyone on Knight Road east of Grove Road, along with Franklin and Miller roads, and areas on the north side of Deep River Township were advised to leave their homes, according to Arenac County 911. Sterling Road near Gaslight Trail east of the Sterling village limits already had water flowing over the road surface by 4 p.m. Monday. The road was closed until further notice. Other roads around the county suffered significant flood damage. Residents in the Twining area were asked to avoid using water due to a septic system backup. The National Weather Service issued a Flood Warning for the Rifle River in Sterling. The river level was climbing fast and reached 11 feet by 4:30 p.m. Monday, which is 6 feet above flood stage. The record level on the Rifle River was 13.7 feet set in 1950. Midland County Midland County Emergency Management stated that the Edenville and Sanford dams are structurally sound but spilling floodwaters as of around 3 a.m. Tuesday. Midland County worked with representatives from Boyce Hyrdo, a hydroelectric power plant in Sanford, to make this determination. However, MCEM noted that the dams can no longer control or contain the water flowing through the spill gates. MCEM said flooding concerns are still substantial for residents along Wixom Lake and Sanford Lake, and they will continue to evacuate these areas. Those in need of shelter are urged to go to Coleman High School, located at 4951 N. Lewis St., and Meridian Junior High School, 3353 N. Meridian Road. All residents are asked to obey road closure signs and to avoid driving or walking through standing water. Further updates can be found on Midland 911s website. A map of flooded roads in Midland County is also available online. Saginaw County Several roads in Saginaw County have standing water. Earlier Tuesday, May 19, Tittabawassee Fire and Rescue rescued the driver of a pickup truck from Gleaner at Tittabawassee that got swept away by standing water. The Saginaw County Emergency Management Team posted on Facebook around 1 a.m. that an Edenville Dam failure in Midland could impact residents along the Tittabawassee River in Tittabawassee and Saginaw Townships. Highway M-52 in St. Charles is closed due to water and bridge conditions, central dispatch said. A list of road closures is available emergency management Facebook page and will be updated as more roads are closed. Related news: Heavy rain floods ditches, rivers, roads across Mid-Michigan Bay County dodging a bullet as winds shift, Saginaw Bay flood threat eases The Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday asked Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to provide buses for carrying migrants to the district magistrates of Ghaziabad and Noida, as the war of words between the Congress and the state's ruling dispensation over the issue seemed to be subsiding. The development comes hours after the Congress derided the UP government' demand that the party handover the 1,000 proposed buses to the state administration in Lucknow by 10 am Tuesday. In a letter written to Vadra's private secretary Sandeep Singh, UP's Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said, "As per your letter dated May 19, you have expressed your inability to provide buses in Lucknow, and want to provide them in Ghaziabad and Noida." "Please provide 500 buses to the District Magistrate, Ghaziabad, by 12.00 noon. The DM Ghaziabad has been informed about this. The district administration will receive all the buses and utilise them," he said. The buses should be provided at Kaushambi and Sahibabad bus stands, he said in the letter. He also said, "500 buses should be provided to the District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar at the ground near the Expo Mart." Directions have been issued to the district magistrates to utilise the buses immediately after checking the permit, fitness, insurance, driving licences of the drivers and details of the conductors, Awasthi said. Reacting to the development, UP Congress Convenor (Media) Lalan Kumar told PTI, "It is a victory for the migrant labourers who are stuck at UP's border. We feel happy that they will now be reunited with their families." The state government on Monday had accepted the Congress' offer to run 1,000 buses to bring migrant labourers back to the state, a proposal which had triggered a war of words between the two sides. In a letter to Awasthi early Tuesday morning, Vadra's private secretary Singh said an email was received from the UP official at 11.40 pm Monday, asking that the 1,000 buses be handed over at Lucknow by 10 am Tuesday. "In a situation when thousands of workers are walking on the streets and thousands of people have gathered at the UP borders at various registration centres, sending 1,000 empty buses to Lucknow is not only a waste of time and resources but is also inhuman and the product of an anti-poor mindset," Singh said in the letter in Hindi. "This demand of your government seems politically motivated. It does not seem that your government wants to help our labourer brothers and sisters who are facing a disaster," the letter had said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After sending its first astronaut to space last year, the United Arab Emirates is to launch a probe to Mars in July, state news agency WAM announced Tuesday. The unmanned probe, named Hope, will be "the first interplanetary exploration undertaken by an Arab nation", it said. WAM said the probe would be launched on July 15, at 2051 GMT, from Japan's Tanegashima Space Centre, using a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries platform. It is set to make a 495-million-kilometre (307-million-mile) journey to reach and orbit the Red Planet. Last September, Hazza al-Mansouri made history as the first Emirati in space. By Choi Sung-jin COVID-19 is far from over. Nobody knows when it will end. Some even say there will be no end to the ongoing pandemic, and the world should learn to live with it. Despite the uncertain outlook, or because of it, many countries, both developing and developed, are facing a dilemma over how to save both their people and economy. Too many people are worried that hunger will kill them before the virus does. Korea has been an excellent fighter against the new coronavirus. It managed to contain it without a national lockdown or complete freeze of business activities. Will the country duplicate its success in the global contest to revive the national economy after the pandemic abates? It may do so in the short term. Korea could export its quarantine goods and know-how or develop treatments and vaccines, independently or jointly with foreign partners. The nation, a global IT powerhouse, also could enjoy an advantage in the new "contactless" economy. In the medium to long term, the prospect is not so bright, however. On May 7, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki announced what he dubbed the "Korean New Deal," saying it would help the nation weather through the post-coronavirus economy. To sum up, the plan was little more than turning the contact-based analog economy into a contactless, digitized one by, for instance, allowing telemedicine and remote learning. There was nothing remotely related to shifting the economic paradigm to a more environmental and eco-friendly one responding to the "new normal." The aim of Hong, the economic czar of the Moon Jae-in administration, was to go back to the "old normal" if and when the pandemic is over. So he was about to fulfill the long-cherished wishes of businesses seeking to introduce for-profit hospitals and those of private educational institutions to expand their realm to online lectures. Critics called it, rightly, "disaster capitalism," which makes the most of calamities to push through long-shelved schemes without taking mind of public opinions. Hong, who had pinched pennies over some 3 trillion won ($2.45 billion) in COVID-19 relief funds to working families, shelled out 40 trillion won to large companies engaged in smokestack industries. President Moon, who had endorsed his finance minister's New Deal plan with few strings attached, reluctantly accepted the revised version of the "Green New Deal" about a week later. Moon merely told his economic ministers to work out plans for how eco-friendly industries can also contribute to job creation, the administration's foremost goal. So much for the Korean New Deal. On the surface, Korea in the 2020s appears to be similar to America in the 1930s. Despite the time difference of 90 years, they both face unprecedented economic crises. A liberal leader occupies the presidential mansion with the strong backing of the National Assembly dominated by the governing party. Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the best use of his political capital to bring about numerous progressive changes to make his country fairer, more equal and prosperous, paving the way for his Democratic Party to remain in power for the next three decades. Could Moon Jae-in become like FDR in Korean history? There seem to be a few good reasons he should not. The remaining two years in office appear to be too short. Still, historians say the 32nd president of the United States accomplished significant reforms in his first 100 days, which means FDR and his aides had finished all preparations even before entering the White House. However, the first three years of Moon's tenure showed that he had not been sufficiently prepared. Still, Moon has a chance to at least lay the foundation on which his like-minded successors could build. President Moon with 180 friendly lawmakers at the 300-member National Assembly can do anything except for amending the Constitution. Or so say political analysts. Voters in the April 15 general elections gave Moon their support befitting a wartime leader. If the reforms fail to show results, however, public sentiment can change at any time. Moon's track record in office shows he has taken the right strategies but fallen short of working out elaborate tactics to bring about visible changes. For example, Moon is never hostile to environmental conservation, as shown by his policy to phase out nuclear power plants and replace them with renewable energy stations. Nevertheless, Korea remains the world's seventh-largest user of fossil fuels and has the lowest share of renewable energy among OECD nations leading it to be called a "climate villain." What if the Moon administration had taken a more gradual approach to replacing atomic power plants with renewables while wiping out coal-fired plants in the shortest possible time? The same goes for the economic policies aimed to attain income equity. What would have happened if the government had allowed more room for the struggling self-employed and micro-businesses in reinforcing a higher minimum wage and shorter workweek while inducing more concessions from their larger counterparts? Koreans remain wide apart in ideology as the result of colonial rule, the 1950-53 Korean War and dictatorship. The country now is more like America in the aftermath of the Civil War than the America of the 1930s. The recent elections seem to have pushed voters a little leftward, but the nation's winner-take-all electoral system has made the narrow gap in support for progressive and conservative parties look far wider than it is. All this shows why Moon should embrace his conservative opponents and persuade the right-wing voters with an elaborate policy mix that dissatisfies the least number of people rather than satisfies the most. The after-coronavirus era will likely continue to be mostly progressive in the foreseeable future. Whether Korea also remains so will be up to how Moon and his administration do in the next two years. Choi Sung-jin (choisj1955@naver.com) is a Korea Times columnist. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Galih Gumelar (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19 2020 The new hike in premiums for the deficit-stricken national health insurance (JKN) should be followed by better health services for all policyholders, activists have said. The higher premiums will be effective in July and are stipulated in a presidential regulation issued by President Joko Jokowi Widodo roughly two months after the Supreme Court annulled an earlier regulation to increase the premiums. The premium for the first-class services will rise from Rp 80,000 (US$5.33) to Rp 150,000 per month per person, while almost doubling the premium for second-class services from Rp 51,000 to Rp 110,000. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login By IANS KOLKATA: As cyclone Amphan intensified into a super-cyclonic storm, the West Bengal government on Tuesday started evacuating people from the coastal belts in view of the strong winds and heavy rainfall that may devastate a large part of the south Bengal districts. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has already directed the state disaster management authorities to transport the evacuees to temporary cyclone centres for safety. Three coastal districts of East Midnapore, South 24-Parganas and North 24-Parganas are expected to be the worst affected in the cyclonic spell. Besides these three districts, cyclone Amphan is also likely to affect other south Bengal districts like Howrah, Hooghly, West Midnapore and Kolkata. "Cyclone Amphan has intensified as a super cyclone. We are expecting this to make a landfall with devastating wind speed in the coastal belts of Bay of Bengal - somewhere between Digha and Hatya Island in Bangladesh, located close to Sundarbans," Met department official Sanjib Banerjee said. According to Kolkata Met department sources cyclone Amphan is expected to make a landfall in the state on Wednesday. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had already said that Amphan (pronounced as UM-PUN) had already intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm overnight, which is coming at a speed of 14 km/hour towards the coastal belts of Bay of Bengal. Currently, the cyclonic storm lays centred over west-central Bay of Bengal about 570-km nearly south of Paradip in Odisha, 720-km south-west of Digha (West Bengal) and 840-km south-southwest of Khepupara in Bangladesh. It is expected to make a landfall somewhere between West Bengal's Digha and Hatya Island in Bangladesh, sources said. A part of it may also make a landfall somewhere between the Kakdwip and Sagar Island in the state's South 24-Parganas district at a minimum speed of 155-165 km/hour (Maximum 185 km/hour). Meanwhile, at least 12 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been kept on stand-by as the cyclonic storm is likely to hit a large part of the coastal districts with "very heavy rainfall" on Wednesday evening. Besides West Bengal, a warning has also been issued for Odisha, Sikkim and Meghalaya till Thursday. Sources said that at least seven NDRF teams have been deployed in six West Bengal districts, including East Midnapore, West Midnapore, South 24-Parganas, North 24-Parganas, Hooghly and Howrah. Twenty four-hour control rooms have been opened in several districts to review the situation. Several steps have been taken by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the Kolkata Police to monitor the situation on an hourly basis. A centralised control room has also been opened at the KMC, Arannya Bhavan and the state secretariat Nabanno to keep a close watch on the situation. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked for an emergency meeting on Amphan on Monday evening with representatives from West Bengal and its neighbouring Odisha. State forest minister Rajib Banerjee also called for a meeting last evening to review all the measures taken to fight the upcoming cyclone. State government sources said that special arrangements had been made by deploying specialised disaster management teams at Sagar Island and Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas district in Bengal. Hitting out at the Congress, BJP president J P Nadda said on Tuesday that the Supreme Court's order and observations on pleas filed by senior journalist Arnab Goswami sends a "strong message" that the opposition party should shed its "Emergency mindset" and respect democratic ideals. "The COVID-19 situation in Maharashtra is worrying and I hope the Congress devotes its energies towards curing people rather than silencing journalists. The people of India are watching the misadventures of the Congress and will keep punishing them for its highhandedness," Nadda said in his tweets. The reaction from the BJP chief came after the apex court refused to quash the initial FIR against Republic TV Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami over his news show on the Palghar lynching but gave some relief by setting aside related multiple FIRs and complaints holding they had a "stifling" effect on the exercise of freedom and expression. Observing that free citizens cannot exist when the news media is chained to adhere to one position, the court said journalistic freedom lies at the core of the fundamental right to free speech and India's freedom will rest safe as long as journalists can speak to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal. Nadda said, "Today, the Hon'ble SC has made important observations. The Court's observations should make the perpetrators of the Emergency, the assaulters of free speech and tramplers of media freedom- the Congress Party - introspect and change their style of functioning." "Regarding the bogus FIRs filed to trouble Arnab Goswami, SC recognised yet again the journalist's right to free speech and quashed multiple FIRs. It stated 'India's freedom will rest safe as long as journalist can speak to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal," he said. The BJP leader put out parts of the court's order to slam the opposition party. The SC, he noted, quoted author Yuval Harari's remarks that "Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question." The BJP president said there is a strong message to the Congress in the above quote. "The Congress should shed its Emergency mindset and respect democratic ideals," he said. Thirty black sacks of domestic rubbish were dumped in a cemetery in Cork and a district court judge said it was not fair on families visiting the graves of loved ones. Judge Olann Kelleher imposed a 500 fine on Michael Keenan, of 1 St Michaels Close, Mahon, Cork, for the littering offence at St Michaels cemetery in Mahon. Keenan, aged 36, pleaded guilty at Cork District Court today to a charge of depositing 30 large black bags of household waste so as to created litter in a public place. Donal Daly, solicitor, said that while Michael Keenan was pleading guilty to the offence he claimed that the bags were put into a skip in the graveyard. They were not thrown around the road or anything like that, Mr Daly said. While the charge referred to 30 black refuse bags of rubbish, Mr Daly said Keenan believed that he put six or seven bags there and that the other bags must have been put there by others. Garda Paul Lynch who investigated the case testified that at 11.20pm on May 23, 2019, he saw a van belonging to the accused outside the cemetery. Michael Keenan was unloading black refuse bags of rubbish. When asked what was he doing he said, Nothing. 30 or 40 bags had been dropped in the skip in the cemetery. His name was on rubbish in bags found in the skip. The bags contained household rubbish and the like, Garda Lynch said. Sergeant Gearoid Davis said the accused had 72 previous convictions but not for anything similar to the littering matter. Some of his previous were for public order matters and assaults. Mr Daly outlined some family matters for the defendant and said Keenan was under enormous stress. Judge Kelleher imposed the 500 fine and said, You cannot do this. Imagined if it ends up in the cemetery where people are going to the graves of loved ones. It is not fair. A Boeing 747-8F Korean Air Cargo jet taxis past other waiting aircraft to take-off at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Thursday (KST) in SeaTac, Wash. AP The number of South Korean air travelers fell to the lowest level in more than two decades in April due to entry restrictions and lower demand amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed Tuesday. The number of air passengers on domestic and international routes here plunged to 1.35 million last month, down 22 percent from 1.74 million a month earlier and down 87 percent from 10.14 million a year earlier, according to Air Portal, an aviation data provider operated by the Korea Civil Aviation Association (KCA). The April figure marked the lowest level since January 1997, when the corresponding number reached 3.7 million, the data showed. Local airlines have suspended most of their flights on international routes since March as an increasing number of countries have closed their borders or have taken other measures related to incoming passengers due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. The number of flights operated by local airlines also plummeted 73 percent to 16,057 in April from 59,294 a year earlier, the data showed. In May, Air Portal said it expected travel demand to recover compared with last month, with domestic air travel demand on the rise as the COVID-19 outbreak seems to have passed its peak. From May 1-17, the number of domestic air travelers jumped 55 percent to 1.04 million from 8,143 in the same period of last month, Air Portal said. Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., the country's two biggest carriers, plan to start resuming flights on dozens of international routes in June as they prepare for increased travel demand after countries ease entry restrictions. (Yonhap) Buyers of freshly built homes would get a $50,000 cheque from the Morrison government under a $2.5 billion plan from the Property Council to kickstart the economy amid Reserve Bank warnings the housing sector faces an extended period of pain. The council also wants the abolition of stamp duty, the broadening of the GST and a "welcome migration" campaign aimed at luring foreigners to Australia. On Wednesday, the group said without change the residential sector would weigh on the economy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Property Council believes a $50,000 grant to people buying a new home would help kickstart construction and the broader economy. Credit:Erin Jonasson Home builders have already reported contract cancellation rates of more than 30 per cent since the shutdown of key parts of the economy to prevent the spread of the virus, while the construction sector, which employs more than 1.1 million people, has shed at least 5 per cent of its workforce since March. Council chief executive Ken Morrison said bold policies were needed to get the economy, expected to shrink by 10 per cent in the June quarter, re-started with the housing sector a key element of the recovery. Federal Labor MPs have sharply criticised Tim Pallas for suggesting Australia had vilified China by pursuing an independent coronavirus inquiry, after the Victorian Treasurer blamed the Morrison government for triggering tariffs on up to $1 billion of Australian exports. China followed through with threats to hit Australian barley producers with tariffs of up to 80 per cent on Monday night. The move followed weeks of high-profile Australian lobbying for the coronavirus inquiry, which passed the World Health Assembly on Tuesday night after China joined 120 other nations as a co-sponsor of the motion. Some Labor MPs said the Victorian Labor Treasurer's intervention was another concerning example of the Andrews government interfering in Australian foreign policy, after Victoria refused to cancel its Belt and Road agreements with the Chinese government. Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas Credit:James Ross Federal Labor has criticised the Morrison government for not engaging other countries before going public with its calls for an independent coronavirus review but has largely supported Australia's position and has not linked the tariffs to the inquiry. Jessica Prealpato, Pastry chef at the Plaza Athenee, crowned Worlds Best Pastry Chef by the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants. Patron of the Bachelor of French Pastry 2020 The Ecole Ducasse Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie (ENSP) opened again on May 12th, closely followed on May 18th by the Centre de Formation Alain Ducasse in Argenteuil. The management prepared for the reopening of its schools with the support of its medical reference specialist in prevention and public health and devoted particular attention to the implementation of the precautionary measures issued by the authorities. Students are delighted to be resuming their classes and preparations are under way for the start of the new academic year. The crisis has revealed strong ties and a spirit of solidarity During the closure of the training facilities, the institutions kept in touch with their students through a social media initiative named the Daily-cious challenge by Ecole Ducasse. Launched on April 8th to contribute to the COVID-19 Emergency Aid Fund of the Fondation Hopitaux de Paris-Hopitaux de France, the web series is still ongoing and has to date attracted a total of nearly 500 participants on the themes of cooking and baking. The competition is fronted by two new figures from the institution, Executive Chef Christophe Raoux, recently appointed Executive Chef of the new Ecole Ducasse Paris Campus, which will open this autumn near the French capital; and Luc Debove, Executive Pastry Chef of the Ecole Ducasse Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie. Daily-cious challenge by Ecole Ducasse was also intended to bring to life on social media (@EcoleDucasse on Facebook and @ecole_ducasse on Instagram) the values cherished by all the Ecole Ducasse teams: generosity and sharing. "For us, it's about committing ourselves and contributing to the collective effort by taking part in this battle alongside health care workers," says Elise Masurel, Managing Director Ecole Ducasse. After seven weeks of the challenge, donations now amount to nearly 10,000 euros. Back to school under the banner of excellence Seventy-nine students returned to the ENSP on May 12th, joined by about 15 professionals this week. To accompany the reopening of the two schools, a rigorous health protocol was drawn up on the basis of directives from the national public authorities with the aim of preventing COVID-19 health risks and creating conditions that ensure the protection and safety of all, students and employees alike. The three-pronged protocol encompasses respect for the indispensable "barrier gestures", collective protection measures aimed at limiting the number of people within indoor areas, as well as individual protection measures. "We are pleased to see our kitchen labs come alive again and to continue our 2020 program, which has been prepared as thoroughly and passionately as in previous years. "explains Josiane Mathias, Managing Director Ecole Ducasse Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie. The ENSP training program developed by Josiane Mathias and her team is rich and varied. Aimed at employees and company managers, the continuing professional training courses are led by great chefs, MOFs and world champions. The promise made to trainees is to learn alongside renowned chefs such as Jerome Langillier, 2009 world champion, as well as recently crowned MOFs such as Patrice Ibarboure, Jonathan Mougel and Vincent Boue. In May and June, participants will thus benefit from their creativity, expertise and feedback on the exceptional challenges to which they have risen. Held from June 2nd to 4th at the ENSP, the training course named La Patisserie de Cedric Grolet Pastry Chef of prestigious Parisian hotel Le Meurice and Chef at the OPERA Pastry/Bakery in Paris (2nd arrondissement) is one of the must-attend professional training opportunities of 2020. The trainees who will take part in this event will experience an immersion into this world and will discover the technical skills and tricks of the chef, who studied at the ENSP himself. On the Argenteuil Campus, more than thirty French and international students have returned to their culinary arts program, within training courses intended for retraining or professional development. In particular, the Essentials and the "Diploma" course are intensive programs lasting from two to nine months dedicated to those with a passion for gastronomy and covering subjects as varied as entrepreneurship, plant-based cuisine or French pastry making... A new school year under the aegis of exceptional trainer chefs With the support of Jessica Prealpato, patron of the Bachelor of French Pastry 2020 and Romain Meder, patron of the Bachelor of Culinary Arts 2020 both undisputed global references in their field throughout the world the new Bachelor programs will start on October 12th 2020. As Elise Masurel, Managing Director Ecole Ducasse, emphasizes: "The objective of our three-year Bachelors degrees is clear: to transmit unique expertise and interpersonal skills by combining practical art courses under the aegis of Alain Ducasses finest chef trainers with a wide range of management courses. This is designed to prepare our students to become entrepreneurial restaurant and pastry chefs with a very well-rounded profile. Jessica Prealpato will also give a professional development course on the theme of desseralite at the brand-new Paris Campus, as will the famous Italian-Argentinean chef Mauro Colagreco, from the Michelin three-starred Mirazur restaurant in Menton, France. Excerpt from the 2020 training calendar Cedric Grolet, Pastry Chef "Le Meurice" Hotel, Paris: La Patisserie de Cedric Grolet (Cedric Grolets pastry-making) Patrice Ibarboure, MOF Pastry chef: L'univers sucre (The world of sweet treats) Jonathan Mougel , MOF Pastry chef: Patisserie innovante "Les petits gateaux (Innovative pastry-making: cupcakes) Vincent Boue, MOF Ice-cream chef: Preparez la saison, faites vos glaces (Prepare for the sunny season, make your own ice cream) Jerome Langillier, world champion pastry chef: Petits gateaux et tartes (Cupcakes and tarts) Jessica Prealpato, 2019 Worlds Best Pastry Chef by the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants ranking: Desseralite, une vision nouvelle de la patisserie (Desseralite, a new vision of pastry) Mauro Colagreco, chef, Le Mirazur, Mention, Le Mirazur, immseriosn dans lunivers du Meilleur Restaurant du Monde (Le Mirazur, an immersion into the universe of the Worlds Best Restaurant) For more information on the programs: https://www.ecoleducasse.com/bachelor-arts-culinaires https://www.ecoleducasse.com/decouvrez-le-bachelor-de-la-patisserie-francaise http://www.ensp-adf.com/ Available pictures Jessica Prealpato, Pastry chef at the Plaza Athenee, crowned Worlds Best Pastry Chef by the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants. Patron of the Bachelor of French Pastry 2020 Romain Meder, Head Chef at the three-Michelin-Restaurant Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athenee. Patron of the Bachelor of Culinary Arts 2020 About Ecole Ducasse: Ecole Ducasse is a network of schools founded in 1999 by multi-starred chef Alain Ducasse, dedicated to the transmission of outstanding French expertise based on excellence in culinary and pastry arts. Ecole Ducasse runs three schools in France the Paris Studio, the Paris Campus and the Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie as well as two international schools (in the Philippines and Brazil). All are united by a desire to share a passion for gastronomy with seasoned professionals as well as food enthusiasts, career changers and students. This broad portfolio of programs aims to meet all training needs: from short programs for experts or food enthusiasts to intensive two-, four-or six-month programs, to three-year undergraduate programs leading to a Bachelors degree in culinary and pastry arts. Ecole Ducasse transmits the highest standards of its professions with an exceptional staff, teaching managerial and entrepreneurial skills along with practical training to ensure perfectly mastered techniques. Ecole Ducasse is a network of schools belonging to the Sommet Education, a major international education group for hospitality management and culinary arts. For more information Email: info@ecole-ducasse.com https://learn.ecole-ducasse.com PRESS CONTACT media@sommet-education.com Three snakes, including a 6.5-foot-long python, that had slithered into residential areas in Thane and Bhiwandi, were rescued in the past 24 hours. Residents called up volunteers of Plants and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS), Mumbai, after spotting the snakes. The first two snakes were rescued from different areas in Thane on Monday. The python was spotted outside a house in Lokmanya Nagar Pada number 4. A two-foot-long sand boa was rescued from a companys canteen at Wagale Estate, said Sunish Subramanian, 32, honorary wildlife warden and founder of PAWS, Mumbai. Another sand boa was sported in Bhiwandi on Tuesday. The 1.5-foot-long snake had entered a kitchen in a house at Gayatri Nagar in Bhiwandi, said a volunteer from PAWS. The volunteers said all snakes were non-venomous and were released into the forest after medical examination. Due to the heat, more snakes are seen in the area. We have asked residents to call the helpline number if they see a snake, said Subramanian. If you see a snake in residential areas, you can call the PAWS-Mumbai helpline 9833480388. We keep getting alerts about snakes being rescued. But, this is normal. The volunteers from PAWS alert us and we release the snakes into the forest, said a senior official from Thane forest department. The known Madagascar copal is a more recent resin from what was thought -it has about a few hundred years- and trapped pieces in this material are not as palaeontological important as thought traditionally. This is one of the conclusions of the new article in the journal PLOS ONE, whose first author is Xavier Delclos, professor at the Faculty of Earth Sciences and member of the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio) of the University of Barcelona. The study states that the well-known Madagascar copal is not a semi-fossilized resin but a material made during the Antropocene, historical period in which human impact was extreme globally. The findings would require going over the described taxon during the last hundred and fifty years to avoid taxonomic mistakes and unprecise paleoenvironmental reconstructions, the study notes. Other participants in this study, the first to describe the oldest age and geographical origin of the Madagascar copal, are Enrique Penalver, from the Spanish Geological and Mining Institute (IGME), Voajanahary Ranaivosoa, from the University of Antananarivo (Madagascar) and Monica M. Solorzano Kraemer, from the Senckenberg Research Institute (Frankfurt, Germany). From Tanzania coasts to Indian markets Known for hundreds of years, the Madagascar copal crossed the trade routes from Tanzania to China through the Indian Ocean and the Indian markets. Sold as incense at first, it became pricey due to its high value to make varnish. More recently, it was used as disinfectant -burnt in Madagascar houses- and it was sold to scientists and tourists for its high content of arthropods inside. This ancient resin which was not completely fossilized comes from Hymenaea verrucosa trees, a fabacean that grows in the eastern coast of Madagascar, one of the most threatened and fragile ecosystems in the world. Wrong dating for an ancient resin According to the study, the scientific community studied the biological remains inside the copal, named bioinclusions, and dated these findings from a few tens to millions of years. However, the origin of the studied material was never found -it is not cited in any study-, and the exact age of the studied pieces was never proved. "The correct dating of the copal, as an important factor for a planetological study, can influence all the following paleo-biological studies, such as those related to phylogeny, paleobiogeography, and paleoclimatology", notes Professor Xavier Delclos, from the Department of Earth and Ocean Dynamics of the UB. According to the study, some found species in the Madagascar copal -thought to be extinct- could be now in forest habitats that were not considered to be their natural habitats. This can explain the occasional presence of arthropod species inside this old resin and which are currently living in the area. The study notes that any new described taxon after the Madagascar copal should be attached the dating of Carbon-14 for the studied sample (at least, the sample including the main piece or holotype). Also, museums with Malagasy copal specimen pieces should review the dating with the Carbon-14 system. An Anthropocene resin to protect Malagasy biodiversity The loss of biodiversity during the Anthropocene is a threat in different areas of the planet, especially in warm areas of biodiversity such as the island of Madagascar. This study shows the scientific value of the Madagascar copal as a source of biological and paleobiological information to study the loss of biodiversity during the Anthropocene in Malagasy areas which are important areas of threatened biodiversity. "The Madagascar copal is a file of great scientific interest. It represents a part of the Malagasy biodiversity and ecosystem during historical periods and can contain extinct species due to the high rate of deforestation in the Red Island over the last three hundred years", note the authors. "If this intense deforestation continues at the current rate, it is likely for the preserved species in the resin of Hymenaea trees -together with historical entomological collections- to become the only knowledge reservoirs to do research on a part of the entomofauna of fragile tropical forests of Madagascar lowlands", conclude researchers. ### Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Right now in San Francisco, there's not a whole lot to do other than explore the city on foot. But even before the coronavirus shelter-in-place made walking and running everyone's de facto hobbies, two SF residents were well on their way to covering every single street. Hoodline profiled Robin Cohn and Jan Adams, two women who independently have made it their goal to run or walk the entire city. The study is anticipated to consist of approximately thirty patients with potential involvement of the NIH of Mexico in other CytoDyn trials VANCOUVER, Washington, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CytoDyn Inc. (OTC.QB: CYDY), (CytoDyn or the Company), a late-stage biotechnology company developing leronlimab (PRO 140), a CCR5 antagonist with the potential for multiple therapeutic indications, today announced it will be coordinating with the NIH of Mexico and providing leronlimab for a trial for the severe/critical COVID-19 population in Mexico with the potential to collaborate on further CytoDyn COVID-19 trials. CytoDyn is currently enrolling a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial for 390 patients, which is a randomized, placebo-controlled with 2:1 ratio (active drug to placebo ratio). CytoDyn is also enrolling a Phase 2 randomized clinical trial with 75 patients in the mild-to-moderate COVID-19 population. CytoDyn has been granted more than sixty emergency Investigational New Drug (eIND) authorizations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and plans to provide clinical updates for this patient population later in the week. We look forward to evaluating leronlimab as a treatment option for patients of COVID-19. We have seen the devastation of this disease on the citizens of Mexico and are looking forward to providing effective treatment options to mitigate the devastation of COVID-19, said Dr. Gustavo Reyes Teran, head of the Coordinating Commission of National Institutes of Health and High Specialty Hospitals of Mexico, an organization that coordinates the main institutions of medical care and public research in the country. The NIH of Mexico is committed to help alleviate human suffering and mortality of Mexican citizens. The Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico has a population of approximately 21.5 million people and the contagious nature of COVID-19 is relentless. We look forward to working with the NIH of Mexico to rapidly commence with the proposed study. We also believe that this study results, along with the ongoing Phase 2 study, could establish a path for quick approval in Mexico for use of leronlimab in COVID-19 patients, said Nader Pourhassan, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of CytoDyn. About Coronavirus Disease 2019 CytoDyn is currently enrolling patients in two clinical trials for COVID-19, a Phase 2 randomized clinical trial for mild-to-moderate COVID-19 population in the U.S. and a Phase 2b/3 randomized clinical trial for severe and critically ill COVID-19 population in several hospitals throughout the country. SARS-CoV-2 was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. The origin of SARS-CoV-2 causing the COVID-19 disease is uncertain, and the virus is highly contagious. COVID-19 typically transmits person to person through respiratory droplets, commonly resulting from coughing, sneezing, and close personal contact. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals. For confirmed COVID-19 infections, symptoms have included fever, cough, and shortness of breath. The symptoms of COVID-19 may appear in as few as two days or as long as 14 days after exposure. Clinical manifestations in patients have ranged from non-existent to severe and fatal. At this time, there are minimal treatment options for COVID-19. About Leronlimab (PRO 140) and BLA Submission for the HIV Combination Therapy The FDA has granted a Fast Track designation to CytoDyn for two potential indications of leronlimab for deadly diseases. The first as a combination therapy with HAART for HIV-infected patients and the second is for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. Leronlimab is an investigational humanized IgG4 mAb that blocks CCR5, a cellular receptor that is important in HIV infection, tumor metastases, and other diseases, including NASH. Leronlimab has completed nine clinical trials in over 800 people, including meeting its primary endpoints in a pivotal Phase 3 trial (leronlimab in combination with standard antiretroviral therapies in HIV-infected treatment-experienced patients). In the setting of HIV/AIDS, leronlimab is a viral-entry inhibitor; it masks CCR5, thus protecting healthy T cells from viral infection by blocking the predominant HIV (R5) subtype from entering those cells. Leronlimab has been the subject of nine clinical trials, each of which demonstrated that leronlimab could significantly reduce or control HIV viral load in humans. The leronlimab antibody appears to be a powerful antiviral agent leading to potentially fewer side effects and less frequent dosing requirements compared with daily drug therapies currently in use. The Company filed its BLA for Leronlimab as a Combination Therapy for Highly Treatment Experienced HIV Patients with the FDA on April 27, 2020, and submitted additional FDA requested clinical datasets on May 11, 2020. After the BLA submission is deemed completed, the FDA sets a PDUFA goal date. CytoDyn has Fast Track designation for leronlimab and a rolling review for its BLA, as previously assigned by the FDA, and the Company plans to request a priority review for the BLA. A priority review designation means the FDAs goal is to take action on the marketing application within six months of receipt (compared with 10 months under standard review). In the setting of cancer, research has shown that CCR5 may play a role in tumor invasion, metastases, and tumor microenvironment control. Increased CCR5 expression is an indicator of disease status in several cancers. Published studies have shown that blocking CCR5 can reduce tumor metastases in laboratory and animal models of aggressive breast and prostate cancer. Leronlimab reduced human breast cancer metastasis by more than 98% in a murine xenograft model. CytoDyn is, therefore, conducting a Phase 1b/2 human clinical trial in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer and was granted Fast Track designation in May 2019. The CCR5 receptor appears to play a central role in modulating immune cell trafficking to sites of inflammation. It may be crucial in the development of acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and other inflammatory conditions. Clinical studies by others further support the concept that blocking CCR5 using a chemical inhibitor can reduce the clinical impact of acute GvHD without significantly affecting the engraftment of transplanted bone marrow stem cells. CytoDyn is currently conducting a Phase 2 clinical study with leronlimab to support further the concept that the CCR5 receptor on engrafted cells is critical for the development of acute GvHD, blocking the CCR5 receptor from recognizing specific immune signaling molecules is a viable approach to mitigating acute GvHD. The FDA has granted orphan drug designation to leronlimab for the prevention of GvHD. About CytoDyn CytoDyn is a late-stage biotechnology company developing innovative treatments for multiple therapeutic indications based on leronlimab, a novel humanized monoclonal antibody targeting the CCR5 receptor. CCR5 appears to play a critical role in the ability of HIV to enter and infect healthy T-cells. The CCR5 receptor also appears to be implicated in tumor metastasis and immune-mediated illnesses, such as GvHD and NASH. CytoDyn has successfully completed a Phase 3 pivotal trial with leronlimab in combination with standard antiretroviral therapies in HIV-infected treatment-experienced patients. CytoDyn filed its BLA in April 2020 to seek FDA approval for leronlimab as a combination therapy for highly treatment experienced HIV patients, and submitted additional FDA requested clinical datasets on May 11, 2020. CytoDyn is also conducting a Phase 3 investigative trial with leronlimab as a once-weekly monotherapy for HIV-infected patients. CytoDyn plans to initiate a registration-directed study of leronlimab monotherapy indication. If successful, it could support a label extension. Clinical results to date from multiple trials have shown that leronlimab can significantly reduce viral burden in people infected with HIV. No drug-related serious site injection reactions reported in about 800 patients treated with leronlimab and no drug-related SAEs reported in patients treated with 700 mg dose of leronlimab. Moreover, a Phase 2b clinical trial demonstrated that leronlimab monotherapy can prevent viral escape in HIV-infected patients; some patients on leronlimab monotherapy have remained virally suppressed for more than five years. CytoDyn is also conducting a Phase 2 trial to evaluate leronlimab for the prevention of GvHD and a Phase 1b/2 clinical trial with leronlimab in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer. More information is at www.cytodyn.com . Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Words and expressions reflecting optimism, satisfaction or disappointment with current prospects, as well as words such as believes, hopes, intends, estimates, expects, projects, plans, anticipates and variations thereof, or the use of future tense, identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements specifically include statements about leronlimab, its ability to have positive health outcomes, the possible results of clinical trials, studies or other programs or ability to continue those programs, the ability to obtain regulatory approval for commercial sales, and the market for actual commercial sales. The Companys forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance, and actual results could vary materially from those contained in or expressed by such statements due to risks and uncertainties including: (i) the sufficiency of the Companys cash position, (ii) the Companys ability to raise additional capital to fund its operations, (iii) the Companys ability to meet its debt obligations, if any, (iv) the Companys ability to enter into partnership or licensing arrangements with third parties, (v) the Companys ability to identify patients to enroll in its clinical trials in a timely fashion, (vi) the Companys ability to achieve approval of a marketable product, (vii) the design, implementation and conduct of the Companys clinical trials, (viii) the results of the Companys clinical trials, including the possibility of unfavorable clinical trial results, (ix) the market for, and marketability of, any product that is approved, (x) the existence or development of vaccines, drugs, or other treatments that are viewed by medical professionals or patients as superior to the Companys products, (xi) regulatory initiatives, compliance with governmental regulations and the regulatory approval process, (xii) general economic and business conditions, (xiii) changes in foreign, political, and social conditions, and (xiv) various other matters, many of which are beyond the Companys control. The Company urges investors to consider specifically the various risk factors identified in its most recent Form 10-K, and any risk factors or cautionary statements included in any subsequent Form 10-Q or Form 8-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any responsibility to update any forward-looking statements to take into account events or circumstances that occur after the date of this press release. Highlights FBI has said it managed to hack into iPhone. The iPhone units belonged to the Florida shooter. FBI has bashed Apple for not cooperating with the investigation. When Apple locked its horns with the Federal Bureau of Investigation over iPhone unlocking of the Florida shooter, it made its stance clear about privacy. Apple had said it would not help the FBI unlock the terrorist's iPhone units that could reveal confidential information related to the attack. FBI is now rapping Apple but conclusively without ending up in a stalemate. The investigation of the terrorist convicted for the mass shooting in Pensacola, Florida in 2019 may have been fast-tracked as FBI claimed it has managed to unlock the gunman's iPhone without needing Apple's help and weakening encryption. FBI has also chastised Apple for not being helpful since the beginning and stymieing the investigation. The investigation of the Pensacola shooter's iPhone has revealed Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani had connections with the terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda, FBI said in a presser. But, while the crucial information was share-worthy, FBI director Christopher Wray and attorney general William Barr have pulled up Apple for not having assisted in the investigation process. "We canvassed every partner out there and every company that might have had a solution to access these phones. None did," said Wray while underscoring Apple's non-cooperation. FBI had access to forensic tools created by companies such as Cellebrite, which helped the FBI unlock the iPhone 5C of San Bernardino terrorist to reveal information. Apple, however, has claimed it provided FBI with the iCloud data of the shooter, in addition to other technical assistance for the investigation. But it was not sufficient for FBI to bypass encryption on the shooter's iPhone 5 and iPhone 7 Plus models. This consequently led FBI to develop its own tools, based on what it had from third-party companies. But, according to Wray, those tools have a limited scope and the technique developed by FBI "is not a fix for our broader Apple problem." The standoff between the FBI and Apple is becoming seasoned with unending retaliation. When the San Bernardino case was underway, FBI ordered Apple to provide them with tools that could create a backdoor to the iCloud encryption. While Apple had categorically denied participating in an encryption violation activity, it did concede to FBI's complaints against Apple's proposed plans of encrypting iCloud backups. According to Reuters, Apple dropped its plans of encrypting iCloud backup for its users that could have barred even the Cupertino-based company to intercept user data -- something that could have even worse implications on federal investigations of Apple devices. Apple has repeatedly slammed FBI for pressing it to handover tools that could impact encryption on the company devices. "The false claims made about our company are an excuse to weaken encryption and other security measures that protect millions of users and our national security," Apple said in a statement (via Wired). For Apple, there "is no such thing as backdoor just for the good guys" that FBI is insisting to create. The backdoors could be used by hackers to compromise encryption and security of over 1 billion iOS devices worldwide, per Cupertino. However, FBI's recent bypass is claimed not to have impacted the encryption on the iPhone. As more Florida businesses and services reopen across the state this week, health data has shown that the number of coronavirus cases has continued to rise at a relatively stable rate. Florida restaurants, retail and select businesses, such as gyms, barbershops and nail salons, were allowed to reopen Monday at 50% capacity and with several precautions in place, including social distancing of six feet and temperature checks. Restaurants had begun reopening at the beginning of the month to 25% capacity. PHOTO: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a news conference, May 18, 2020, in Orlando, Fla. (John Raoux/AP) Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly said the state needed its economy to start as soon as possible and has cited decreased case counts in counties outside Miami, the state's epicenter, as the reason for easing the stay-at-home orders. MORE: America makes moves to reopen Data provided by the Florida Health Department, however, has shown that the state as a whole isn't making major progress toward bringing its cases and deaths down over the last two weeks. However it is showing progress for testing. On May 1, the day that initial parts of the governor's phase one reopening began, there were 34,728 confirmed cases and 1,890 deaths, according to the data. On Monday, the health department said Florida had recorded 46,442 cases, an 11,714 jump from the beginning of the month, and 2,073 deaths, an increase of 183. New York City, by comparison, had 191,073 cases and 15,983 deaths as of Monday, according to the city's health department. PHOTO: Linda Silvetti waits for a customers order as the Floridian restaurant opens on May 18, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) The number of new Florida state cases has fluctuated daily between May 1-18, with the lowest number of new cases during that period taking place on May 7. The highest number of new cases in that period was recorded on May 16. Florida recorded over 700 new cases on six days during that time, according to the health department data. Almost every county saw at least one new case in May. The death count has also fluctuated during those 18 days but there are some signs of recent progress. Between May 1 and May 8, the state saw an average of 42 deaths a day while between May 9 and May 16 there was an average of about 24 deaths a day, according to the data. Story continues During the period between May 9 and May 16, all but one day had fewer than 30 deaths. MORE: What's your state's coronavirus reopening plan? Florida's health department couldn't provide daily hospitalization rates; however, it said it recorded a total 5,795 COVID-19 related hospitalizations on May 1 and 8,304 total hospitalizations on May 18. Representatives from the Florida Health Department said the office will monitor cases as the reopening continues to roll out and measures are in place to help residents while the reopening takes place. The state has increased COVID-19 testing to nearly 60,000 a day and the governor has increased lab capacity above 30,000 per day, according to the health department. As of Monday, the state tested 677,710 people for the virus, a jump of nearly 220,000 from May 1. PHOTO: Angie O'Neill works on the hair of Phil Quinn as the Las Olas Barber shop opens on May 18, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) On May 1, the number of positive tests was 45,235 out of the total 458,156 tests, or roughly 10%. On May 18, the state health department said there were 46,442 positive tests out of the 677,710 tested, or roughly 7%. Health department representatives said the state's Rapid Emergency Support Team, which is comprised of local sheriffs and health professionals, is being deployed to long-term care facilities to ensure residents are tested and properly treated. The Florida National Guard will assist local counties with testing services, the health department said. "The state is taking all necessary precautions to reduce further spread of COVID-19 in long-term care facilities statewide," the department said in a statement. 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 As Florida begins to reopen state businesses, data shows no significant drop in COVID-19 case numbers originally appeared on abcnews.go.com MEXICO CITY, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The photovoltaic industry market in Mexico and Latin America has seen a reduction in recent months due to the coronavirus pandemic; the distributed generation market has not stopped entirely despite showing a reduction and the number of installations is expected to grow in June. To seize the opportunity of installation rebound, Growatt looks to increase its presence in these markets by presenting a new range of residential, commercial and industrial solutions. New solutions for Latin America For residential inverters, Growatt presents 2 new lines, the MIC series that ranges from 750W to 3kW and the MIN series from 2.5kW to 6kW. Both focuses on having a great influence since the residential market is expected to be the first to recover. For commercial projects Growatt has designed the 15-36kW MAC XL series specifically for markets such as Mexico and Colombia, which use voltages of 220V and 208V in commercial installations. For larger projects, the company has designed the MAC LV / MV series with a power between 50kW and 70kW for installations at three-phase 480V. For markets such as Brazil, Argentina and Chile they launch the MAX series with 60-80kW power for C&I projects. Furthermore, Growatt completes its range of solutions with off-grid and hybrid inverters; in such a way, it seeks to promote distributed generation with a wide range of solutions in which more users may be interested. Facing the challenges of social distancing Growatt also presents various monitoring solutions that allow flexibility for any project. Given the situation of social distancing required by governments, Growatt intends to promote the sales of its monitoring solutions, since, thanks to its advanced monitoring platform, it is possible to remotely have control of the parameters of the inverters and precise monitoring of the system. This will help maintain social distancing measures, since the need for site visits to solve possible problems is reduced by up to 60%. Confidence in the Latin American market Although the coronavirus pandemic has impacted the solar industry, Growatt maintains its confidence in the Latin American market and is determined to promote the development of solar energy and contribute to the transition to clean energy in this region. SOURCE Growatt Related Links www.growatt.com Seven Pakistan Army soldiers were killed in two separate terror attacks in the restive Balochistan province, the armys public relations department disclosed on Tuesday. These incidents come a week after another attack in which six army personnel, including one officer, were killed. Local media reported that a vehicle of the Frontier Corps (FC), a wing of the Pakistan Army, in Mach was targeted using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) which led to six soldiers were killed. In a separate incident at Kech, another soldier, Sipahi Imdad Ali was killed in an exchange of fire with militants. Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari also took to Twitter to condemn the incident. She said that terrorist outfits were coming under increased pressure as they were increasingly isolated internationally. She added that Pakistan continues to make gains in its fight against terrorism. Earlier this month, five FC soldiers and one officer were martyred after their vehicle was targeted with an IED near the Pakistan-Iran border. In a tweet, the militarys media wing said the security personnel were returning from patrolling in Buleda 14 kilometres from the Pakistan-Iran border to check possible routes used by terrorists in the mountainous terrain of Makran. As they were returning, their vehicle was targeted with a remote controlled IED, it added. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-20 00:30:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close SHANGHAI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Conservatory of Music will hold a series of projects to commemorate the centennial of the creation of Chinese art songs in 2020 and 2021. Liao Changyong, president of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, said on Monday that the projects will range from personnel training to curriculum creation and cultural exchanges. According to Liao, the school will invite international experts to visit Shanghai and provide talent-training to its teachers and students. Liao also said the institution plans to publish a record consisting of 16 Chinese classical poetry art songs, in cooperation with the world-renowned German music publisher Breitkopf & Hartel. In 1920, Chinese composer Qing Zhu created the first Chinese art song "The Great River Goes East" during his study in Germany. It is regarded as the very beginning of Chinese art songs. "Many excellent projects are going on and we are looking forward to more cooperation," said Professor Hartmut Holl with the Karlsruhe University of Music in Germany in a short video. "Two years ago, when I first heard Chinese art songs in Shanghai, I was immediately fascinated by the music," Holl said, adding that Chinese art songs express drama, longing, melancholy, tenderness and nostalgia and should be enjoyed by more European music lovers. Enditem The newly constructed Tema motorway interchange was on Saturday, May 16 opened to traffic. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Joseph Owusu-Bempah, Tema Regional Motor Transport and Traffic Department (MTTD) Commander, speaking to the Ghana News Agency said all road users should read and correctly interpret the road signals posted at all entry points. ACP Owusu-Bempah said it might take time for road users to master the new road adding that once they drove slowly and carefully, they should be able to ask for directions from the motor traffic police or the signal/flag men when in doubt. He said after the opening on Saturday, he observed that due to the close proximity of traffic lights numbering more than 10 at the interchange, some undisciplined motorists deliberately jumped the red lights, a situation he said could lead to road crashes. He added that some drivers from the Aflao direction towards Accra also failed to use the underground tunnel and rather drove to Tema where it became difficult for them to locate their bearings. The MTTD commander stressed that all road users, especially drivers, should drive slowly while paying serious attention to road directional signals, "noting that as it happens on newly opened roads, the ground situation was unfamiliar, therefore the need to observe the road signs to avoid inconveniences. He also cautioned drivers whose vehicles are not permitted to use sirens to desist from driving in the middle of the road hooking their way through traffic as the Police would arrest and prosecute them. It is a dangerous practice, we shall arrest and prosecute them before they begin turning the intersection into an accident zone, he indicated. Touching on the COVID-19 protocols, he reminded drivers to wear the nose masks especially when carrying a passenger while stressing that 'okada' business was prohibited. ACP Owusu-Bempah said patrons of okada bikes shall be held for violating the social distancing protocol. ---GNA Todays Headlines The most important news stories of the day, curated by Post editors and delivered every morning. Email address By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Rome: Italians savoured the cherished ritual of enjoying a cappuccino or espresso at the counter of a bar on Monday as the country took a big step forward in easing its 10-week lockdown. Residents enjoy the ritual of the outdoor aperitif in the bars of the city after more than two months of lockdown in Rome, Italy. Credit:Getty Bars, restaurants and shops were allowed to reopen, as well as hairdressers and beauty salons. Although takeaway coffee has been allowed since May 4, it was the first time that Italians could relish their daily dose of caffeine inside a bar or cafe since the coronavirus pandemic prompted the world's first nationwide lockdown in March. "It's the first time we've been allowed inside cafes. It feels almost like normal. People are outside, the city is busy," said Erica Firpo, a travel writer who lives in Rome. The board meeting itself was something of a return to normalcy, with all village officials, except one trustee who participated by phone, in the boards meeting room, although spread out from one another and no members of the public allowed. Previous meetings during the pandemic had been held through a combination of phone and video conferencing. F rance has seen a worrying flare-up of around 70 new cases of coronavirus linked to schools, just days after a third of French children returned to classrooms. Schools in low-risk areas opened their doors to the youngest students last week, while some older children went back to class on Monday. But some schools have closed again immediately after reporting coronavirus outbreaks, French Education Minister Jean Blanquer told radio station RTL. Mr Blanquer confirmed there had been about 70 new cases linked to schools, but did not say if they were among children or teachers. A coronavirus outbreak in French schools came after many schools reopened in recent days / PA He told the station that it is likely the infections took place outside of schools, given the long incubation period for coronavirus. France, which has had more than 28,000 deaths linked to Covid-19, has asked about 30 per cent of children to go back to school, with around 40,000 schools in lower-risk areas reopening. Paris is a higher-risk area, so its schools have remained closed for now. Children are thought to be at low risk from coronavirus, making up a very small minority of serious cases. But some health authorities claim that Kawasaki disease, a rare inflammatory condition that affects children, can be triggered by coronavirus - although the link has not been confirmed. Teaching unions in the UK have warned it is not safe to reopen schools in June / PA France recently recorded its first death from Kawasaki disease. At least two children have died in the UK from the disorder, with around 100 diagnosed. The news of the coronavirus outbreak in French schools comes during a days-old row between the British Government and teachers' unions about a plan to reopen English schools for some children on June 1. The Government has said that children's development is set back from being kept away from schools and have promised that schools will take on rigorous social distancing and cleaning measures. Unions argue that schools are still not safe, given the high coronavirus infection rate in the UK, which rose again last week to near-critical levels, and criticised Government plans as "flimsy". Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all said that their schools will not reopen on June 1. Some local councils have also said their schools will remain shut past June 1. Parents do not have to send their children back to school when they do reopen. Germany has also reopened some schools and has reported no major coronavirus outbreaks linked to schools, although there have been several isolated cases. For years the major health care policy debates in Washington and state capitals have been distorted by the fact that one of Americas best known and trusted advocacy organizations, AARP, has functioned largely as a lobbying and PR front for the countrys biggest health insurer, UnitedHealth. Yet elected officials continue to see and hear their advocacy messages as representing millions of seniors who are famously reliable voters with a serious corrosive impact on the ability to advance meaningful free-market health reforms. Even during this pandemic, with the whole world hoping that the biopharmaceutical industry can discover and deliver breakthrough cures and vaccines at record speed, AARP continues to bang the drum for government price controls. In fact, after the pandemic arrived in America AARP sent a letter advocating for Nancy Pelosis draconian price control plan, which would threaten drugmakers with a tax of 95% of their gross revenues if they dont accept government set prices. When governments set the price of cutting-edge drugs, needed innovations and investments dry up. A new cure now costs an average of $2.6 billion to bring to market. If government policy makes it impossible to recover those costs and earn a return on capital, as Pelosis bill would, seniors would suffer from a shortage of new cutting-edge treatments and potential cures for diseases like Alzheimers, cancer, diabetes and of course from any new emerging pandemic, like the one we face now. Why would a seniors group favor undermining the discovery of new cures seniors need? A forthcoming report by Juniper Research (commissioned by American Commitment) explains this seeming paradox. Chris Jacobs explains how AARP which somehow maintains a tax-exempt charitable status has raked in an astounding $11 billion from its sales and marketing activities over the past decade, with revenues climbing from just under $200 million in 2001 to over $900 million in 2018. Most of that revenue comes from UnitedHealth, which from 2010 to 2017 sent AARP a staggering $4.2 billion. That includes a record $627 million in 2017 after which AARP stopped specifically disclosing how much it takes in from UnitedHealth. This is the same UnitedHealth that brought in record profits this quarter that, ironically, has come during a deadly pandemic. The lions share of that windfall is from the sale of Medigap policies, for which AARP collects a nifty 4.95% off the top for lending its name and exclusive endorsement. Calling their vig a royalty instead of commission, they claim, sidesteps all of the rules and regulations for brokers and insurance sales. In fact, AARP recently defeated an Ohio lawsuit by arguing, successfully, that their relationship with their members is not one of trust or confidence and that membership does not transcend an ordinary business relationship. With all that money flowing, AARPs policy positions almost always align with UnitedHealths business interests. Start with Obamacare. Despite overwhelming 14-to-1 opposition from its members, AARPs executives supported it and got rewarded with a convenient carve out: Medigap policies, the AARP/UnitedHealth cash cow, are still allowed to exclude enrollees with some pre-exiting conditions. House Speaker Nancy Pelosis price controls bill also unambiguously benefits insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) like UnitedHealths OptumRx subsidiary despite the non-partisan CBO research finding it would stifle the innovate drugs seniors rely one. As Milton Friedman and other prominent economists have explained: American consumers would get the short-term windfall of lower prices, but they would end up unnecessarily suffering and living shorter lives because promising new therapies would be delayed or not even developed. And last year AARP pushed to block a Trump administration Medicare reform that would have applied big discounts to seniors prescriptions directly at the cash register at their local pharmacies, protecting the discounts that are currently pocketed by PBM middlemen like UnitedHealth. AARP calls its lobbying outfit AARP Advocates. Lawmakers on the receiving end of their messages should ask, For whom? Phil Kerpen is the president of American Commitment and the Committee to Unleash Prosperity and can be reached at phil@americancommitment.org. His column is distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Questions have been raised over whether Donald Trump is really taking an unproven drug to prevent coronavirus after he sensationally claimed to be doing so. Trump told reporters that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine - a malaria drug being tested as a potential virus treatment - in an off-the-cuff remark late Monday. Dr Sean Conley, his physician, subsequently released a memo confirming that they had spoken about the medication and agreed the benefits outweighed the risks. But the carefully-worded memo does not say Dr Conley prescribed the medication for Trump, nor confirm his claim to have been taking it for 'a week and a half'. Donald Trump claimed to be taking hydroxychloroquine as an unproven protection against coronavirus on Monday, That has led to speculation that Trump - who is facing strong criticism over his response to coronavirus - invented the claim as a distraction. The president even boasted of the look on reporters' faces as he made it. 'I was just waiting to see your eyes light up when I said this,' Trump said. The revelation made headlines around the world even as the US surpassed 90,000 coronavirus deaths and confirmed more than 1.5million cases, just under a third of world totals. CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, who has himself suffered from coronavirus, was among those urging people not to 'take the bait' following Trump's announcement. 'I don't know that he's really taking it,' he said. 'He's got a letter from his doctor... but it doesn't mean he's taking it. 'Why would he claim to take it if he's not taking it? 'It's a fight that he can win. And its a fight the media will take on, and his opponents might take on. And it's all a beautiful distraction.' Following Trump's press conference, his spokesman told the New York Times that the president had been prescribed the medication and had begun taking it. However, no evidence was produced to back the claims. Dr. Sean Conley, the White House physician, released a memo Monday night, saying he and Trump discussed the matter and believed the gain outweighed its risk factors The president has a history of making sensational claims while speaking casually at press conference that later turn out to be unfounded. Just last month, he claimed to have seen 'evidence' that coronavirus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, China, sparking the epidemic. The line was initially parroted by several members of his administration who have since backed away from the remarks. The claim is now thought to have stemmed from a discredited open source intelligence report. Trump's remark also came amid plunging poll numbers that show a majority of Americans now dislike his leadership, and that he would loose to Joe Biden if an election were held now. A recent Reuters poll showed that 41 percent of U.S. adults approved of Trumps performance in office, down 4 points from a similar poll that ran in mid-April. Meanwhile, 56 percent disapprove of Trump, up by 5 points during the same time frame. The survey also found that 46 percent of voters said they would back Biden in the November 3 presidential election, while 38 percent would vote for Trump. Why did Pres. Trumps reveal he is taking hydroxychloroquine? As a distraction from his lack of a plan or real solutions, warns @chriscuomo: Dont take the bait. https://t.co/9rkCGlK82G pic.twitter.com/O7TbrcTqFX Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) May 19, 2020 Hydroxychloroquine was touted early on during the coronavirus pandemic as a possible treatment for the virus after several promising cases came to light. But since then, larger peer-reviewed research has found it provides little or no benefit to patients while carrying several serious side-effects. That includes the risk of inducing potentially-lethal arrhythmia - an irregular heartbeat - especially in those with a history of heart problems. 'There is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine is effective for the treatment or the prevention of COVID-19,' said Dr. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association. 'The results to date are not promising.' People should not infer from Trump's example 'that it's an approved approach or proven,' because it's not, said Dr. David Aronoff, infectious diseases chief at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. Two large observational studies, each involving around 1,400 patients in New York, recently found no benefit from hydroxychloroquine. Two new ones published Thursday in the medical journal BMJ reached the same conclusion. Crime By Ls Cohen Published: May 19 2020 The shooting happened on May 19, 1992, setting off a scandal that rocked Long Island and captivated the nation. On this day, 28 years ago, a teenage girl from Long Island walked up to the home of her lover and shot his wife in the face with a 25-caliber handgun. In the scandal that followed, the young girl became known as the Long Island Lolita. Since then the names Amy Fisher and Buttafuoco have become synonymous with the tabloid-rich crime stories that have notoriously come out of Long Island. The sad facts of this love triangle evolved into sensational fodder for the papers, nightly news, and spawned three (count em) made-for-television movies, one starring Drew Barrymore and another starring Alyssa Milano portraying Fisher. The real-life Fisher spent eight years in jail for her crime, paroled in 1999. Since then she has appeared in adult films, briefly became a stripper, an author, and possibly not surprisingly, a reality television star. Mary Jo Buttafuoco lost her hearing in one ear, has half her face paralyzed, and - eventually after what some think was a strangely long time after the incident defending him in the media - left her cheating husband and remarried. She wrote a book in 2009 about why she stayed with Buttafuoco all those years. Joey Buttafuoco moved to California and in 2011 reunited with Fisher to talk about a possible reality television show over dinner in Port Jefferson. After a time in Florida Fisher is reportedly back on Long Island. Qatar Petroleum has joined France's Total to acquire a 45 per cent participating interest in exploration blocks offshore of Cote d'Ivoire, S&P Global Platts has reported. The blocks CI-705 and CI-706 are located in the Ivorian-Tano basin, covering an area of about 3,200 sq km, Qatar said in a statement. The farm-in agreement marks QP's first foray into Cote d'Ivoire. The terms were not disclosed. The area could include several hydrocarbons, located in water depths of 1,000 to 2,000 m, 35 km from shore and about 100 km from nearby Foxtrot, Espoir and Baobab fields. "The acquisition of working interests in these two blocks marks an important addition to QP's upstream portfolio in Africa," Saad al-Kaabi, QP's CEO, said in the statement. "Africa's offshore is a key target area for QP's international growth strategy." The farm-in agreement is subject to customary approvals by Cote d'Ivoire's government. Qatar has strived to boost its international presence through a number of overseas upstream and downstream deals in countries including Oman, Mozambique, South Africa, Kenya, Guyana, the US and Brazil. Earlier this month, QP entered into three farm-in agreements also with Total -- to acquire about 30 per cent of Total's participating interest in blocks 15, 33 and 34 located in the Campeche basin, offshore Mexico. The deal brought to six the number of Mexican blocks QP holds an interest in. Tradearabia News Service After getting crushed in the global economic slowdown, Canadas top oil stocks have begun to recover. Behind this momentum is the fast-changing demand and supply equation. Countries are gradually re-opening their economies, helping to bring traffic back on roads and letting industries resume their production. According to a recent report in Bloomberg, Chinese oil demand is all but back to levels last seen before Beijing imposed a national lockdown to fight the coronavirus outbreak. China is the worlds second-largest oil consumer, behind only the U.S., and the countrys quick turnaround has helped tighten the petroleum market sooner than expected. West Texas Intermediate crude, which a month ago plunged into negative prices, surged on Monday above $30 a barrel. For top Canadian oil stocks, this is certainly a good development. If oil demand recovers quickly, it will signal a bottom in the current downturn cycle, providing these producers a chance to balance their books. Since COVID-19 forced governments to lock down their citizens and close businesses, many top oil companies have slashed their spending plans and cut or reduced dividends. Top stocks selling cheap Among these producers including Suncor Energy (TSX:SU)(NYSE:SU) and Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ)(NYSE:CNQ). Suncor said this month its slashing its capital spending this year between $3.6 billion to $4 billion, which is down from an already reduced range of $3.9 billion to $4.5 billion. The board also cut the companys quarterly dividend to $0.21 a share from $0.465. After plunging to just $15 a share, Suncor stock has gained 53% since then, trading at $22.86 a share at writing. Canadian Natural Resources has so far avoided announcing dividend cuts, while focusing its attention to spending controls. Its stock has rebounded 28% during the past month, trading around $24 a share. This is no doubt a very uncertain time for these top oil producers. Even if travel restrictions are eased in the second half of the year, the IEA projected this years global oil demand will fall by 9.3 million barrels a day from 2019, erasing almost a decade of growth. Story continues In this highly uncertain environment, picking the right oil stock has become more challenging. But when things look awful in any sector, it is the time to look for opportunities and find deals. In the Canadian oil space, I like both Suncor and CNQ over other producers. Taking advantage of attractive prices, Saudi Arabias sovereign wealth fund has built stakes in both top stocks during the energy market rout. The Public Investment Fund amassed shares in CNQ and Suncor, with a 2.6% and 2% stake in these top stocks, respectively. PIF is now the eighth-largest shareholder in Canadian Natural and 14th largest in Suncor, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Bottom line Canadas top oil stocks may not get back to their previous levels this year, as oil demand remains depressed. This situation could change quickly if oil demand recovers and the pandemic is contained, offering long-term investors a chance to buy these top oil stocks at attractive levels. The post Top Canadian Oil Stocks Are Rebounding: Time to Buy? appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada. More reading Fool contributor Haris Anwar has no position in the stocks mentioned in this report. 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 Tom Blauvelt, Wheeler & Taylor human resources manager, left, and Wheeler & Taylor President J. Scott Rote, right, deliver facemasks and shields to Great Barrington Fire Chief Charles Burger, center, for distribution to poll workers around South County. Biz Briefs: Wheeler & Taylor Insurance Donates Masks, Face Shields for Poll Workers Facemask, shield donation Charles Burger, director of the Southern Berkshire Regional Emergency Planning Committee, was struggling with how he could help local towns obtain the personal protective equipment they need to protect poll workers from coronavirus. Many of the 12 towns in the region will hold town elections soon. Several town administrators asked Burger, who is also the Great Barrington fire chief, for help in getting PPE. But that was problematic because the committee is charged with helping emergency responders in the region. But then, unexpectedly, Scott Rote, president of Wheeler & Taylor Insurance, called him. Rote wanted to donate 2,000 surgical masks the insurance agency had purchased and then took it a step further. Rote had procured foam, elastic strapping material, and 200 sheets of polycarbonate plastic, and the staff of Wheeler & Taylor went to work constructing face shields as PPE. "It was quite a pleasant surprise when Scott called, Burger said. The donation came at a perfect time. It would have been a very difficult need to fill otherwise." The face shields will be used by poll workers. Facemasks will be provided to poll workers and to ensure that all voters have proper facemasks on. Burger will allocate the PPE to the 12 towns in southern Berkshire County from West Stockbridge and Stockbridge down to the Connecticut border. Egremont and Sheffield have elections coming up soon, and other towns will soon follow. After the face shields are used for elections, theyll be cleaned and repurposed afterward, Burger said. Wheeler & Taylor will unveil further COVID-19 charitable initiatives in the coming weeks. More information can be found online. Established in 1871, Wheeler & Taylor Insurance is a full-service independent agency that is headquartered in Great Barrington with branch offices in Pittsfield, Stockbridge, Dalton, and Sheffield. Restaurant gift certificate auction Bon Appetit Berkshires is an effort to support restaurants in and around the southern Berkshires. Community members will buy gift certificates from participating restaurants and donate them to Bon Appetit Berkshires for an online auction that runs from Monday, May 25, through June 2 on the Bidding for Good platform. All proceeds from the auction will go to the COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, co-led by Berkshire United Way and Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. Recipients of the funds have included Berkshire Health Systems (Fairview Hospital), The Peoples Pantry, Construct and VIM, among others. Gift certificate purchases will benefit human services organizations that have deep roots in the community and experience working with vulnerable populations Between May 19 ad 24, people can purchase and donate gift certificates from one of the following restaurants below and tell the restaurant that you want to donate that purchased gift certificate to Bon Appetit Berkshires: Baba Louies, 413-329-5634; Bizen Sushi, 413-528-4343; Cantina 229, 917-232-8477, John Andrews Farmhouse Restaurant, 413-528-3469; The Marketplace, 413-248-5040, ext. 100; The Old Inn on the Green, 413-229-7924; Pleasant and Main, 413-274-6303; The Prairie Whale, 413-528-5050; and The Woodland, 860-435-0578. From May 25 through June 2, people can purchase gift certificates through the online auction. The donated gift certificates will be available on Bidding for Good, an online auction service for non-profit causes. The auction catalogue of restaurant certificates will be featured online for seven days. Gift certificates will be delivered to the winners. Online workshops Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll) Berkshire County is collaborating with Team R3SET to help struggling local businesses create and build their online presence in a program called "Two Weeks to An Online Business." This free virtual program will start on June 1 for 20 participants who will get daily lectures and then work in small pods with digital specialists to work on their websites, e-commerce, content, email marketing, social media and search strategies. The Covid-19 crisis has been particularly difficult for small business owners who had long relied on walk-in business or referrals and had never truly done business online before. Finding a way to address this need, this unique collaboration grew out of an initial discussion at an EforAll board meeting in April. While EforAlls main programs are the 12-week Business Accelerator and their community Pitch Contests, Board Member and R3SET Partner John Lewis suggested an online business program as being a vital contribution to help both new and existing businesses in the Berkshires. Funding for the pilot program is coming from the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corporation, Mass Growth Capital, the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and Greylock Federal Credit Union. It is hoped that a successful pilot program will lead to a repeat of the program in short order. Small business owners who want to apply should go to here to fill out the online application no later than May 26. New bank website The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank recently announced the launch of its newly designed website. With a fresh new look and mobile responsive design, the new site provides a user friendly, modern experience allowing users the ability to view content from a variety of mobile devices. The site also conforms to current ADA guidelines, making visitor usability a priority. "The needs of our customers are changing, and technology has reshaped the way customers engage with us. said J. Jay Anderson, president and CEO. "We recognize the role technology plays in the banking space. Launching our new and improved website- designed with the end user in mind moves the bank forward toward our digital goals." A full-service mutual cooperative, community-oriented bank, The Pittsfield Cooperative Bank was established in 1889 and holds the unique experience of surviving the Great Depression and both World Wars. The bank currently has four branches in the Berkshires: 70 South St. and 110 Dalton Ave., both in Pittsfield, 431 Main St. in Dalton and 325 Main St. in Great Barrington. by Sumon Corraya The landlord and his son carried out the attack against the women and her two daughters. The victim, an ethnic Garo, lost her job because of the governments lockdown to counter the coronavirus pandemic. The police have launched an investigation. For tribal people living in the capital, unemployment is a tragedy. Economic activity has dropped by 71 per cent in urban areas and 55 per cent in rural areas. Dhaka (AsiaNews) A Christian woman and her two daughters, aged 17 and 20, were attacked and molested by their landlord for not paying the rent. The family lives in Kalachandpur, a district in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka Subhra Graga, an ethnic Garo, lost her job at a beauty salon because of the governments lockdown to counter the COVID-19 pandemic. Accompanied by fellow Christians, yesterday she filed a complaint at the police station in Gulshan against Nazrul Islam and his son, who was also involved in the attack. In April, I paid the rent," Subhra told AsiaNews, "but without work or money, I was unable to do so this month. The country is under a strict lockdown, and beauty salons have been closed. She said she asked the landlord, Nazrul Islam, to pay by 20 May rather than on 10th day the month as usual. On Sunday, he reacted by locking the main gate to the home whilst Subhra and her daughters were at the grocery market. He told me that if we did not pay the rent, we could not enter the home, she explained. Then, after repeatedly I asked him to let us through, Nazrul Islam and his son threw themselves at us, tearing off our clothes and touching our private parts. Subhra says that the two men also tried to squeeze her throat. I survived thanks to the intervention of the neighbours, who, hearing us shouting and crying, came to our rescue. After she filed the complaint, two policemen helped her and her two daughters return home. The police said it had launched an investigation into the incident. Nazrul Islam defended himself by saying that the clash with the woman was not caused by the non-payment of the rent, but because he had reprimanded Subhra for leaving the house and not respecting the lockdown. Christian community leaders are concerned about the situation. Protap Rema, who heads the Nokmandi Community Centre, a Garo rights group, wants justice for Subhra, stressing that many tribal people are in the same situation of poverty. Some 30,000 Garo Christians live in Dhaka, he said. About 90 per cent are currently unemployed. In order to survive, many are leaving the capital, where the cost of living is too high. In Bangladesh, unemployment is rising sharply due to the coronavirus. According to the Power and Participation Research Centre and the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, economic activity decreased by 71 per cent in urban areas and by 55 per cent in rural areas as a result of the pandemic crisis. The world's top gastronomic guides are split over whether to continue ranking and rating restaurants with many closed because of coronavirus lockdowns. The most prestigious of them all, the Michelin, insists that it is business as usual, with new director Gwendal Poullennec saying that great chefs "have not lost their talent during the lockdowns". "They have been innovating and creating new recipes," he told AFP, adding that his inspectors were chomping at the bit "with impatience and an appetite to try them out when restaurants reopen." Yet with only 13 percent of Michelin-starred restaurants open across 32 countries, the guide's critics and rivals have questioned the move, with chefs who have already lost millions in custom also worried about losing their precious stars. Michelin's main rival, the Gault & Millau, said it was time to stand by and support restaurants who are "in great danger". Its director Jacques Bally said they have shelved their chef, pastry chef and sommelier wine waiter of the year awards, but the 2021 guide will appear as normal in October. With drastic social distancing measures in restaurants likely when they do reopen, "our responsibility as a guide is to highlight what is being done and what possibly can be done," Bally told AFP. "The next 18 months are going to be extremely difficult and dangerous for restaurants," he warned. - Noma burger bar - The guide is also going to spotlight chefs who have shown a social conscience during the crisis as well as those who have experimented with click and collect, oven-ready meals or even starred chefs offering to go to their customers homes and cook for them. The British-based 50 Best Restaurants was quick to cancel its 2020 ranking which was to be unveiled in the Belgian city of Antwerp next month. "We decided to not announce a list this year even though the vote had taken place," director Helene Pietrini told AFP. "It would have been inappropriate," she added. "There are moments to celebrate the best restaurants and others when we have to pull up our sleeves to make sure that all these restaurants survive." Pietrini said some chefs were disappointed that the influential ranking had called a pause, but "a very large majority welcomed it". "This crisis has called our values into question," she added. Pietrini believes that many of the very best restaurants are going to be "less into the spectacle" after the crisis, and "more into sincerity, the products and the philosophy of the chef." Bally agreed, saying he felt post-coronavirus gastronomy would be less pricey and "more simple and humble... and at a human scale", celebrating seasonal ingredients and producers. Jorg Zipprick, the co-founder of La Liste, which as the guide of guides sees itself as the most scientific ranking of the world's best 1,000 restaurants, said even big-name chefs will have to re-imagine what they are doing. "However, those who accept to rethink their formula might find themselves among the winners," he added. Indeed the visionary chef of Noma in Copenhagen, Rene Redzepi, will reopen it on Thursday as an outdoor wine and burger bar, serving beef and veggie burgers. "We need to heal. So let's have a glass of wine and a burger and you're all invited," he wrote on Instagram. What is more, there will be no reservations at what had up until the start of Denmark's lockdown in March, been one of the hardest places in the world to get a table. Michelin director Gwendal Poullennec says his inspectors can't wait to get back to work The French-based Argentinian chef Mauro Colagreci (centre) comes out top at the awards ceremony for the world's 50 Best Restaurants ranking in Singapore last year When it comes to wine, the chemistry must be right to get the best taste and sensation. To help winemakers with that chemistry, a team of researchers at Washington State University has made it easier to test the chemical makeup of their red wine to get the vino they're looking for. In a paper released last month in the journal Molecules, the scientists presented a new model that allows winemakers to get measurements in their wine that previously required difficult, tedious, or expensive testing. "Some of the testing methods are very difficult for people in a winery's lab to do during harvest," said Jim Harbertson, a WSU associate professor of enology and the corresponding author on the paper. "The industry asked us to come up with alternate ways to get information. We love chemistry, but most people don't want to do that." The model allows wine labs to do measurements of phenolics that are typically out of reach for most. Phenolics give red wine its important sensory characteristics, like mouthfeel and color. They also provide antioxidants to the wine. "This is basically a simplification of lengthy tests," Harbertson said. "It took us several years and a huge amount of work and math, but we've corroborated the results of the model and it works well." So now winemakers can conduct relatively simple tests, run the results through the new WSU-created algorithm, and get accurate predictions on the mouthfeel and color of the wine produced for consumers. "Technicians and winemakers in a winery lab will have a much easier time doing the work and getting useful results," Harbertson said. To make it more helpful to winemakers, Harbertson used research funds to make the academic paper, which he co-wrote with WSU colleagues Chris Beaver and Tom Collins, open access, or available to anyone, online. The goal is to help all wineries in Washington and around the country make better wine. "This is for the people who make the wine that people drink," he said. "This provides winemakers with a new tool for measuring the components of wine and will ultimately help consumers have better wines to drink." The Chinese ambassador to Ireland has said US President Donald Trumps continued attempt to label Covid-19 the Chinese virus is inhumane. He Xiangdong spoke to Newstalk Breakfast this morning after President Trump said the World Health Organisation (WHO) was a puppet of China. The US president has threatened to permanently freeze funding to the organisation and reconsider US membership is his concerns are not addressed. He has also continued to refer to the virus as the "Chinese Virus" - insisting Beijing failed to share information that could have given the world crucial time to prepare and prevent it from spreading so widely. I would say that it is inhumane to put a name to the virus on any country, said He Xiangdong. It wont provide any real help with the disease. It will only cause discrimination. He said there are a lot of blame games against China in regard to the countrys response to the outbreak and insisted Beijing was open to an international investigation. Regarding Chinas reaction to pandemic, I would say that we have done our best to find the information and to share the information with the WHO and with the international community, he said. If you look at the timeline of the disease, on December 27th, a Chinese doctor found the first three cases of Covid-19 but at that time people thought it was a kind of pneumonia with an unknown cause. In the coming few days, China shared the information with the WHO and in the coming week, China shared the information with the international community. In less than two weeks, Chinese scientists found the genome sequence information of the virus and we shared the information with the WHO and the international community. I have to say that is very quick because it was a totally new virus. At that time nobody knew any information about the virus because it was a totally new one and we had to add up every piece of the information piece by piece. The WHO has agreed to launch an independent review of its response to the virus and the EU is pushing for an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the international response. Mr Xiangdong said: The point is, independent from what? Is it independence from science? Is it independence from facts or is it independence from political intervention? He added that Beijing is open to the investigations. We are open to the investigation because we need to investigate the origin of the virus, he said. It will help us to know better about the virus. It will help us to find a solution, to find a vaccine, and it will help us to be better prepared for the next virus, for the next pandemic. Our directory features more than 18 million business listings from across the entire US. However, if we're missing your business, add your business by clicking on Add Your Business. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. A new study published today showed a strong correlation between last month's in-person primary election and an increase in coronavirus infections While counties with the most in-person polling places on April 7 saw large case spikes in the following weeks, counties that used widespread absentee balloting saw the opposite effect. A new study published today showed a strong correlation between last month's in-person primary election in Wisconsin and an increase in coronavirus infections in the state, bolstering calls for a robust national vote-by-mail system for November. Pull Quote While counties with the most in-person polling places on April 7 saw large case spikes in the following weeks, counties that used widespread absentee balloting saw the opposite effect. Researchers at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Ball State University found clear spikes in cases in counties that had the most in-person voting locations on April 7 and found that far fewer new cases were confirmed in counties with widespread absentee ballot voting. Though public health experts had urged against holding the election due to the risks, the in-person voting was pushed forward by state Republicans and a last-minute ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. The research proves, wrote journalist David Sirota, that the decision to move ahead with in-person voting "ended up spreading a deadly pandemic." By the numbers The economists who conducted the study examined the number of new cases in each of Wisconsin's 72 counties and found that more cases were reported in the two to three weeks after the election the incubation period for COVID-19 in counties with the highest numbers of in-person polling locations. "When the average number of votes per voting location increases by 100 (a 0.10 unit change), the rate of positive tests in a county rises by roughly 0.034 to 0.035 (3.4 to 3.5 percentage points) two to three weeks after the election," the researchers wrote. Meanwhile, the opposite effect was shown in counties that utilized absentee balloting. "The estimates from absentee ballot voting suggest that every unit increase in absentee ballots (an additional 10,000 absentee ballots), lead to decreases in the positive rate of between 0.07 and 0.08 percentage points two to three weeks after the election," the study reads. The research was released two days after a spokeswoman for the said that the agency's official count of COVID-19 cases linked to the election stood at 71. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called on the Republican-led state Legislature to cancel the in-person election and allow voters to cast absentee ballots. Every other state had rescheduled its April elections to protect voters health. But Wisconsins Republican leadership, led by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, rejected the idea. Vos appealed directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to halt Evers plan. The court has a 5-2 conservative Republican majority, and its decision to force the in-person election was a foregone conclusion, even though a lack of poll workers had forced the closure of most polling places. In Milwaukee, for example, the usual 180 polling places was reduced to five, making for very large crowds. Most, if not all, of the states right-wing justices have taken large campaign donations from the business groups and PACs that were pushing back against both postponing the election and allowing time for more voters to cast absentee-ballots. Republicans as a whole believe that large turnouts favor Democrats a belief that has generated massive efforts to suppress voter turnout over the past decade in red states. But not anticipating the courts decisions, tens of thousands of voters had not yet submitted or even requested absentee ballots. Evers extended the deadline for absentee voting by one week, but then Republicans balked at that plan as well. They took that case to the Republican-dominated U.S. Supreme Court, which decided in their favor just hours before the election. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg warned that the majoritys ruling would "result in massive disenfranchisement" as Wisconsin voters were forced to choose between participating in the democratic process or risking their lives. An absentee-ballot plan for November? The economists who authored the health-impact study are urging election officials to consider the widespread use of absentee ballots in November to avoid new spikes in coronavirus cases. "We find a consistent negative relationship between absentee voting and the rate of positive COVID-19 tests," reads the study. "Given these results, it may be prudent, to the extent possible, that policy makers and election clerks take steps to either expand the number of polling locations or encourage absentee voting for future elections held during the COVID-19 pandemic." On social media, Harvard University epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding drew attention to the correlation between lower case numbers and more absentee voting. Sirota noted that the study was released as President Donald Trump claims a vote-by-mail system would invite widespread "voter fraud." Contrary to Trump's efforts to "manufacture concerns" about absentee balloting, Sirota wrote in his newsletter, "Vote by mail systems have not been plagued by fraud and they do not (prefer) one party over the other." The study was published days after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Evers' stay-at-home order, leading the governor to warn that the state will likely see major spikes in coronavirus cases and deaths in the coming weeks. The state reported its largest single-day increase in cases on Saturday, with 502 new infections. The decisions regarding reopening the state and moving ahead with last month's election both made against the advice of experts show that Wisconsin's Republican Party is putting "politics over public health," wrote Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on social media. Louis Weisberg contributed to this story. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Moch. Fiqih Prawira Adjie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 20:06 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd91a2cf 1 National Idul-Fitri,COVID-19,COVID-19-in-Indonesia,Idul-Fitri-prayer,mahfud-md,Religious-Affairs-Minister,Religious-Affairs-Ministry,Fachrul-Razi Free Mass Idul Fitri prayers, such as those in mosques or public squares, are currently prohibited by public health laws, Coordinating Legal, Political and Human Rights Minister Mahfud MD said on Tuesday. Mahfud said that all mass religious activities, including congregational prayers, were banned for the time being under the Health Ministrys regulation on large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) and the 2018 Health Quarantine Law. The government strongly asks that [the public] does not violate these provisions, Mahfud said after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The government requests and invites religious leaders, organizations and traditional community leaders to convince the community that mass congregational prayers are prohibited by law, not because of the prayer itself but because it is part of the effort to avoid disaster, he added. Mahfud said that the countrys largest mass religious organizations, namely the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), Nadhlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, were encouraging Muslims to pray at home during the COVID-19 outbreak. The MUI, chaired by Vice President Maruf Amin, has issued several fatwas on Islamic prayer during the COVID-19 outbreak, including one on how to perform Idul Fitri prayers at home issued on May 13. Religious Affairs Minister Fachrul Razi said that while the government had initially only advised against mass Idul Fitri prayers, its level of enforcement had changed because the country was still seeing a virus reproduction rate (R 0 ) of 1.11. Fachrul added that, according to a prediction by the National Intelligence Agency, congregational Idul Fitri prayers would cause COVID-19 transmission to spike. So we took out the word advice, just like the Coordinating Legal, Political and Human Rights Minister. We should follow the laws and regulations, he said. As of Tuesday, Indonesia had recorded 18,496 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1,221 deaths. The day Gov. Charlie Baker releases the states plan to reopen, Massachusetts health officials announce 65 new coronavirus deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 5,862. Officials also confirmed another 1,042 positive cases of the virus, for a total of 87,052 across the state. Thats based on 8,373 new tests reported on Monday. The statistics showed a downward trend in several key metrics reported by the state including COVID-19-related deaths, positive tests, the three-day average number of COVID-19 patients in the hospital and the number of hospitals using surge capacity. Health officials have also tweaked their reporting method to better track key metrics in the fight against the virus, and now plan to indicate in their daily reports which data points are trending favorably, which will determine the pace of the reopening plan. Moving into the next phase of the pandemic, the re-opening phase, this format provides a more standardized way to compare both daily counts of tests and cases, Ann Scales, a Department of Public Health spokesperson, said in an email. The latest figures come as Baker unveiled his administrations plan to reopen parts of the Massachusetts economy, beginning with the restart of some operations and activities at hospitals, in construction and manufacturing, as well as places of worship, on Monday. In the states first of four phases of reopening, retailers will be permitted to resume work for curbside pickup; hair salons can take appointments; and some offices can open at limited capacity, according to the plan. Hospitals can resume certain high-priority services for high-risk patients, and some manufacturing and construction businesses can restart, provided they put in place workplace safety standards. Phase 1 will be rolled out in three parts, with those activities set to begin Monday, more resuming on May 25 and others on June 1. Officials didnt say when Phase 2 would begin but noted that there would be at least three weeks between phases. Beaches will reopen as well for Memorial Day, Monday, May 25. But restaurants will have to wait for Phase 2 to reopen, which took mean sometime in June, according to the plan. Baker urged residents to continue to abide by social distancing measures whenever possible, adjusting the states stay-at-home advisory to a more measured safer at home advisory. The new guidances encourage people to avoid unnecessary travel, except for health care, permitted work, shopping and outdoor activities. The advisory also suggests residents do not participate in close contact activities and use remote modes of communication like phone or video instead of visiting friends or family who are at high risk. If we dont keep up the fight and dont do the things that we all know we have to do and know we can do, we run the risk of creating a second spike for all, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday morning. Bakers plan notes that if the public health data indicate higher rates of viral transmission during the reopening, officials may again close sectors of the economy, or return to prior phases of the reopening. Coronavirus in Mass.: Cases, maps, charts and resources Here are the cases listed by county: Barnstable County: 1,155 Berkshire County: 497 Bristol County: 5,996 Dukes County: 26 Essex County: 12,587 Franklin County: 308 Hampden County: 5,264 Hampshire County: 774 Middlesex County: 19,345 Nantucket County: 12 Norfolk County: 7,524 Plymouth County: 7,139 Suffolk County: 16,671 Worcester County: 9,442 Unknown location: 312 Related Content: A coronavirus pandemic that emptied the dorms and sent Springfield College into remote learning has not dulled hopes by the seniors that a better day is coming. Rejecting a virtual commencement that many other institutions have offered, the Class of 2020 voted for the college to organize an in-person celebration in August, just as Springfield College gets set to begin a fall term under conditions not yet known. "They didnt want a virtual celebration,'' said President Mary-Beth Cooper, who endorsed the students optimism for an event more resembling traditional spring commencement, even if social distancing, smaller groups, a campus location (instead of the MassMutual Center) or other restrictions are necessary. Cooper and Board of Trustees chairman Jim Ross said Springfield College was among the first schools to directly seek student input on how to celebrate graduation during this unprecedented year. Given the choice of scheduling a live event in August or October, they chose the earlier date. Springfield College is not the only college planning a live celebration for the Class of 2020, but an August ceremony would probably make it the first. Hampshire College and Bay Path University are scheduling October events, and other schools are still examining possibilities. If August approaches and sizable in-person gatherings are still deemed unsafe, "we have a backup plan,'' Cooper said. Cooper and Ross outlined the a similarly optimistic vision for the immediate future at Springfield College Monday, soon after Governor Charlie Baker introduced the first phase of reopening the Massachusetts economy. Cooper was one of eight college presidents on the 14-member task force that studied higher educations role in the reopening. Cooper gave credit to faculty and trustees for crafting a remote learning program that carried Springfield College through the spring semester. She anticipates a more prominent future role for distance learning - though some areas in which Springfield College is most renowned, such as occupational therapy or physical therapy, lend themselves best to some hands-on training. Cooper said Springfield Colleges age-old motto of spirit, mind and body will not move forward by diminishing the last part of that equation, but she predicted that remote learning will be tactically employed to create a more versatile blended program. Like all higher education institutions, Springfield College took a punishing financial hit from the COVID-19 outbreak. The 2020-21 tuition rate set before the crisis will not be changed, and Ross said trustees have not had a single discussion about the need to raise it in the future. Cooper is optimistic that campus will reopen in the fall, but details remain unknown. One possibility is for single-occupant dormitories. Another would limit the mixing of student groups. Cooper said the risk to the older faculty population would weigh in these decisions. Administrators will also take a serious look at whether long-term value can, in some cases, be derived from credit/no-credit grading. Ross said positive aspects to the policy exist but might be not readily appreciated. "It does concern me that the quality of education could be perceived as less valuable,'' he said. On the workforce from, Cooper said the college hopes to bring back as many workers as possible who were dropped because their work could not be done remotely. Those decisions could occur "as soon as work is available,'' she said. During a police interview, Heidi O'Neill, 37, admitted to 'snorting a quarter to half a point' of meth the night before the tragedy An op-shop manager who struck and killed an elderly man after snorting meth has avoided jail time. Heidi O'Neill, 37, slammed her Peugeot wagon into pedestrian Winton Wells, 78, in Ballarat in country Victoria in May 2018. The impact was so severe Mr Wells was carried more than 10 metres while wedged to the front of O'Neill's car. He was then flung nearly three metres once she came to a stop, the Herald Sun reported. Mr Wells was rushed to Ballarat Base Hospital with life-threatening injuries, then airlifted to the Royal Melbourne where he died three weeks later. O'Neill returned a zero blood alcohol reading at the scene, but later tested positive to meth. During a police interview in September that year, she admitted to 'snorting a quarter to half a point' of meth the night before the tragedy. She said meth helped her treat a health condition and keep her awake. She claimed she was on her way to the bank as part of her job at the local op-shop when Mr Wells 'just appeared' in front of her car. Despite O'Neill having meth in her system, police prosecutors alleged the crash was caused by her not keeping a proper look out. Mr Wells' widow Norma Wells said in her victim impact statement that they 'totally relied on each other' during their 59-year marriage. 'I just get so lonely at night. Every sound is amplified, it is so frightening, and for the first time in my life I am alone in the house,' Mrs Wells told the court. Judge Liz Gaynor said O'Neill's guilty plea showed she was remorseful for her dangerous driving. 'Your psychological suffering in response to this offending has been extreme,' Judge Gaynor said. 'The low moral culpability and the low level of seriousness in relation, when compared to other possible scenarios for this type of offence are such that I should proceed to place you wholly on a community corrections order.' Instead of a jail sentence, O'Neill was ordered to perform 200 hours community service, fined $250 and lost her licence for 18 months. The Manipur government has urged the Union home ministry to shift "unauthorised" NSCN-IM camps to Nagaland, following alleged distribution of relief materials by civil society organisations to cadres of the insurgent group lodged in two such camps, a top official said. Chief Secretary J Suresh Babu, in a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs, highlighted the matter after a "large number of civil society organisations...were openly invited to these camps". The controversy over the presence of the "unauthorised" camps of the NSCN-IM surfaced recently when members of civil society organisations were seen extending relief materials to the cadres at the Huthrong Brigade Camp in Senapati district and the Ashiho Chaomai Battalion in Chandel district of Manipur on May 8 and May 13 respectively. Videos of the distribution of relief materials were shared on social media, "causing embarrassment to the state government", the letter said. It mentioned that central security forces, which are overseeing these camps, "have also failed to restrain" them from illegal activities. "The recent developments of frequent visits of civil society organisations to these locations could have been prevented," the state government asserted in the letter. It also urged the MHA to take serious note of this and direct the Army and the Assam Rifles to control the activities of the NSCN-IM and also prevent public and civil society organisations from visiting these camps. "The Ministry of Home Affairs is also requested to direct them to remove the camps from Manipur and relocate in Nagaland," the letter added. The Manipur government said the camps existed in the state despite the fact that the "ceasefire agreement does not extend to the state of Manipur". The NSCN-IM inked a ceasefire agreement with the central government in 1997, following which the cadres are required to stay in designated camps only. A framework agreement was signed on August 3, 2015 by the NSCN-IM and the Centre's interlocutor, R N Ravi, in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The framework agreement came after over 80 rounds of negotiations, spanning 18 years, with the first breakthrough made in 1997 when the ceasefire agreement was sealed after decades of insurgency in Nagaland which started soon after India's independence in 1947. The central government has already rejected the NSCN-IM's demand for unification of Naga-inhabited areas -- located in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. The three northeastern states also vehemently oppose it. A group of seven Naga outfits have also joined the peace talks. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Motorola Edge Plus has gone official in India with a price tag of Rs 74,999 Motorola Edge Plus has gone official in India with a price tag of Rs 74,999 and while this wasnt unexpected given that it packs flagship-grade hardware, many, including us, assumed that the Edge Plus will likely go up against the likes of Xiaomi Mi 10 5G which launched recently for Rs 49,999 bearing a similar set of internals. At its asking price, the Motorola Edge Plus goes up against the likes of Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus and Apple iPhone 11. The phone was announced alongside a regular Motorola Edge on April 22. Lets take a brief look at the specifications, pricing and availability of the Motorola Edge Plus. Motorola Edge Plus pricing, launch offers and availability Motorola Edge Plus will be up for pre-orders starting May 19 on Flipkart and leading offline stores across India. Theres just one variant of the phone with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage and is priced at Rs 74,999. It is expected to go on sale from May 26 and comes in two colours-- Smokey Sangria and Thunder Grey. As part of the launch offer, Motorola is offering an instant discount of Rs 7,500 to ICICI bank credit card holders and also on EMI transactions. Motorola Edge Plus specifications Motorola Edge Plus features a 6.7-inch Full HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) resolution display that uses an AMOLED panel with a punch-hole cutout on top for the selfie camera. The screen has a high 90Hz refresh rate and is certified for HDR10+ playback. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset with 5G support and an octa-core CPU. This is paired with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage and there doesnt seem to be another available variant. Motorola Edge Plus has a triple camera setup on the back followed by TOF 3D depth sensor and dual-tone LED flash. The primary camera uses a 108MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and OIS support, an 8MP secondary telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and OIS followed by a 16MP ultra-wide-angle camera. The rear camera setup can record in 6K UHD at 30fps and 4K UHD at up to 60fps. On the front, housed within the notch cutout is a 25MP selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. The Edge Plus has stereo speakers, Wi-Fi 6 modem and Type-C port for charging. The battery is rated at 5,000mAh and supports 18W fast charging and 15W fast wireless charging. No reports of casualties in attack; Iraqi military says rocket launched from an eastern district of Baghdad. A rocket has hit an empty house in the Iraqi capitals heavily fortified Green Zone, a military statement has said. The rocket was launched from an eastern district of Baghdad, according to the statement, and was the first to land in the high-security zone in weeks. There were no reports of casualties in the attack. The blast could be heard across Baghdad and triggered security sirens at the US embassy compound, security forces told AFP news agency. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The United States blames a series of rocket attacks near or on bases hosting its troops this year on Iran-aligned groups, although those groups have not claimed them. The volleys of rockets, which have killed American, British and Iraqi armed personnel, have severely strained ties between Baghdad and Washington. But the US and Iraq have hoped to reset the relationship since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi took the helm earlier this month, with bilateral talks planned for June. The negotiations are expected to set a framework for the presence of US troops, which deployed to Iraq in 2014 to lead a coalition fighting back the ISIL (ISIS) group. The forces are a thorn in the side of Iran and its allies in Iraq, which have insisted they leave the country. On Sunday, Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US will not be staying either in Iraq or Syria and must withdraw and will certainly be expelled. Tension between Washington and Tehran has ramped up over the last year, culminating in the US killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqs paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike at Baghdad airport in January. Iran-backed paramilitary groups promised to avenge the killings and rocket attacks on bases hosting US troops have persisted. The US-led coalition has already drawn down its 7,500-strong force in Iraq this year, citing a decreased threat from ISIL and difficulties training Iraqi forces due to the spread of the new coronavirus. Milton I., 50, who lives with schizophrenia in Brooklyn, wipes his eyes as he speaks about the loneliness caused by social distancing. Experts fear COVID-19 will worsen the nation's mental health crisis. (John Minchillo / Associated Press) More than three weeks after Brandon Bell stopped showing up at a New York office that serves people with schizophrenia, employees finally located him at a nearby homeless shelter. The office remains open, but patients arent stopping by as much during the COVID-19 pandemic. Group activities such as the weekly Caribbean lunch that were an important source of food have ended because of the coronavirus. Visits from caregivers are less frequent and shorter usually just five or 10 minutes to reduce the risk of infection. When a caregiver recently checked on him, Bell noted that life before the pandemic was happier and more social. His experience highlights the challenges for providers and patients alike as the pandemic strains the nation's mental health care system. Even before COVID-19, access to mental health services in the U.S. could be difficult, including for people who have insurance. Now experts fear the coronavirus is making the situation worse, putting the patients most in need at risk of falling through the cracks and inflicting on countless others newfound grief, anxiety and depression. Already, social distancing orders are affecting access to treatment across income levels as therapists and patients scramble to adjust. Medicare and Medicaid have relaxed rules to allow counseling by phone, FaceTime or other remote means. But many of the elderly and poor who rely on those plans arent comfortable with the alternatives. Some do not have phones or access to the internet. For people who are socially disadvantaged and have mental illness, its just a lot to ask, said Dr. Jeanie Tse of the Institute for Community Living in New York City, which treats Bell and others who would not seek care on their own but are referred to the city by social workers and shelters. Dr. Jeanie Tse of the Institute for Community Living in New York City administers treatment. (John Minchillo / Associated Press) Fewer than half of Americans with mental illness reported getting help in the past year, according to a federal survey. Among the big barriers are costs and a shortage of providers. Story continues At clinics that offer free or low-cost therapy, wait lists often stretch for weeks in normal times. And getting treatment can be just as difficult, or even harder, for people who earn too much to qualify for state help yet still struggle to get by. In Pittsburgh, for example, Karalyn Hipsley was working extra hours on weekends to cover co-pays for therapy and the insurance she has through her husbands job. Then the pandemic left her out of work for six weeks, and her weekend cleaning jobs disappeared. Shes afraid she will have to cut back on therapy, which helped her establish a stable life after an abusive relationship. Ive been in some very, very low places, and I dont want to be there again, said Hipsley, 27. Most insurance plans offer coverage for mental health services, but finding a counselor who takes insurance can be a headache, and fees for people without coverage can easily top $100 a session. The virus also threatens to send many new patients in search of help. Nearly half of Americans say worry or stress tied to the pandemic has negatively affected their mental health, according to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation. You cant put people into situations where theyre locked in their homes for weeks on end and not expect that theres going to a significant number of people that develop mental health problems, said Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, who leads the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. In New York, the city is already seeing more people reaching out to its NYC WELL hotline that offers crisis counseling and referrals for longer-term care. The city plans to expand its staffing from 104 to 191 counselors. This is the beginning of meeting the new demand we anticipate will continue, said Susan Herman, the programs director. Many homeless people are avoiding shelters out of fear of infection, making it harder for agencies to identify people in need of treatment. Tse of the Institute for Community Living said the vast majority of the people referred to the city for care have schizophrenia, which can manifest in many ways, including delusional thinking and the tendency to self-isolate. After social distancing orders went into effect, Tse and her team have continued to check on people who were already under their care. But now the short visits are mainly to ensure people have basic needs such as soap and food, which have become even harder for them to come by. Brandon Bell, 32, who lives with schizophrenia, waits for a sandwich purchased by Dr. Jeanie Tse. (John Minchillo/Associated Press) During her recent check-in a shelter in Brooklyn, Tse noticed Bell had lost weight, but she was encouraged that he seemed on friendly terms with people as she took him to a bodega for a sandwich. Bell also seemed upbeat, even as he noted the disruption caused by the pandemic. Its going to take time to get your mind back into your regular schedule and programming, he said. By Trevor Hunnicutt, Joseph Ax and James Oliphant WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Presumptive Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Joe Biden has been speaking regularly with former rival Elizabeth Warren on public health and economic relief ideas as he crafts more ambitious proposals aimed at helping Americans through the coronavirus crisis. While Warren, a U.S. senator from Massachusetts and prominent voice on the Democratic Party's left, criticized the former vice president's approach on the campaign trail before dropping out and endorsing him, Biden advisers said the two see eye-to-eye on a number of issues. In recent weeks, for example, Biden has endorsed Warren-backed ideas like canceling some student debt to help financially strapped Americans and echoed her calls for "structural change" in an economy ravaged by the pandemic. Biden is poised to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the Nov. 3 election. Warren is thought to be on Biden's short list of possible vice presidential running mates along with Senators Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar, among others. A decision is not expected for weeks. Warren and Biden have held telephone conversations since she exited the Democratic race in March, and now talk nearly weekly, according to people familiar with their discussions who spoke on condition of anonymity. The focus, according to one of the people, has been on public health and economic relief policy around a pandemic that has driven tens millions of Americans into unemployment. "Like Senator Warren, Joe Biden has been a champion for working families over corporations his entire career," Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo said, accusing Trump of pursuing policies favoring corporations and political allies over working Americans. Ducklo added that Biden is working with Warren and "a number of experienced voices" to create plans to resolve the crisis and get help to Americans those who need it most. Story continues Warren's office declined to comment on her conversations with Biden. Biden has consulted other former rivals for the Democratic nomination including Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, while his team also seeks the support of policy groups on the left. During the Democratic race, Warren chided Biden for holding high-dollar fundraisers and not embracing sufficiently sweeping economic change. But people close to Biden said he and Warren are more aligned ideologically than their public differences might suggest, particularly in their belief that the U.S. middle class has been eviscerated - even before the pandemic. 'I'M COUNTING ON HER' Biden's campaign on Sunday released a video showing him and Warren calling small-dollar donors together to thank them for their support. At one point, Biden joked that he never had as many contributors to thank until Warren's endorsement, a reference to her grassroots fundraising prowess. "I'm counting on her a great deal - not just for her endorsement but for her ideas and her leadership," Biden said. Biden already has begun embracing some Warren positions. In addition to the student-debt proposal, he joined Warren and Harris in their calls for federal health officials to release more data on racial disparities in the pandemic's impact on the U.S. population. Biden and Warren this month co-authored an opinion piece in McClatchy newspapers demanding more oversight over trillions of dollars in federal coronavirus relief aid that they said included "giveaways to the wealthy and big corporations." His rhetoric has shifted as well. Biden now talks about how the pandemic's damage to the economy has created a "big" opportunity for "structural change," echoing Warren's campaign trail stump speech. Last week, Biden said on his podcast that "we need some revolutionary institutional changes," a shift in language from when he said after his victory in the pivotal Feb. 29 South Carolina primary contest: "Talk about revolution isn't changing anyone's life." But Biden remains opposed to some Warren priorities such as her proposed Medicare for All government-run healthcare system or a wealth tax on billionaires. Former President Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president, last month praised Warren in the context of the pandemic, writing on Twitter that her proposals should serve as a model for policymakers. Biden and Obama speak regularly about his campaign. "Joe Biden has more license now to go really big with bold systematic economic polices and not be accused of flip-flopping in any way, but instead be admired for meeting the moment," said Adam Green, a co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a policy advocacy group that backed Warren during the primary campaign. (Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Joseph Ax and James Oliphant; Editing by Soyoung Kim and Will Dunham) The Syrian government has ordered the seizure of assets belonging to Bashar al-Assads cousin, the business tycoon Rami Makhlouf, as well as those of his wife and children, according to a document issued by Syrias finance ministry. The document, stamped May 19 and signed by the Syrian finance minister, said the precautionary seizure aimed to guarantee payment of sums owed to the Syrian telecom regulatory authority. Once at the heart of al-Assads inner circle, the billionaire Makhlouf has quarrelled with the authorities over funds which the government said are owed by his mobile phone company Syriatel. The unprecedented public tussle has uncovered a rare rift in the ruling elite. Makhlouf appealed to al-Assad late last month in a video posted on social media, urging the president to give his business time to pay overdue taxes in order to avoid collapse. The government says Syriatel owes 134 billion pounds, around $77m at the current exchange rate on the parallel market. Makhlouf on Tuesday posted a letter dated May 18, denying allegations by the Ministry of Telecoms that Syriatel had rejected payment of amounts it was required to pay in a dispute over its licence. The telecom tycoon has long been seen as a pillar of the Syrian government since al-Assad rose to power in 2000, succeeding his father, Hafez. But rumours have swirled in recent months of souring ties between Makhlouf and al-Assad, who is spearheading an anti-graft campaign in a bid to shore up state finances. In an interview with Syrian state TV in October, the Syrian president said he has called on everyone in the private sector who has squandered state funds to return the money. Syria experts say the row could mark the first major rift in decades within the family that has ruled the country since Hafez took power 50 years ago. In addition to telecoms, Makhloufs business empire spans real estate, construction and oil trading. Makhlouf has been under US sanctions since 2008 for what Washington calls public corruption, and it has since toughened measures against top businessmen who are close to him. Scottish Trawlermen Work The Waters Of The North Atlantic...NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN - MARCH 3: Scottish trawlermen on board the trawler Carina haul in their catch, March 3, 2004, some 70 miles in The Atlantic off the north coast of Scotland. Fishing boats operating out of the UK are constantly fighting to stay solvent as increasingly draconian quotas combined with declining stocks make earning their livliehood more difficult - Christopher Furlong/Getty Images British negotiators have told the European Union that the Royal Navy could board EU fishing boats if they breach the terms of a post-Brexit fishing deal. UK officials have said Britain will take any measures necessary to protect its fishing waters, negotiating documents published by the Government revealed on Tuesday. Britain has demanded that EU boats, which currently have the automatic right to fish in UK waters, apply for a licence and that the bloc provides the UK with a list of all vessels eligible to enter British fisheries "in good time". "Access to our waters will be on our terms," Michael Gove said in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Michael Gove told the Commons: 'Access to our waters will be on our terms' - AFP The decision to publish a UK-authored free trade agreement and fisheries deal is designed to heap pressure on Brussels to shift from its red lines in the deadlocked trade negotiations. "The EU's position that access to our waters after the end of year should be the same as now is clearly not realistic," David Frost, the UK's chief negotiator, told Michel Barnier in a letter sent as the documents were published. "What is on offer is not a fair free trade agreement between close economic partners but a relatively low-quality trade agreement coming with unprecedented EU oversight of our laws and institutions." Mr Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, said he welcomed the publication of the documents. "Transparency is very important in negotiations," he added. "The European Commission published a comprehensive legal agreement over two months ago." The Government has also published plans for a UK-wide tariff to replace the current EU tariff on imports after the end of Brexit transition period on December 31. It will cut tariffs to zero on 60 percent of global imports, including white goods and Christmas trees. EU businesses will continue to benefit from the new zero tariffs but will face increased competition from products elsewhere in the world in the UK market. Story continues The UK's draft fisheries agreement said: "Each party may take such measures in conformity with international law as may be necessary to ensure compliance with the provisions of this Agreement." International law allows the boarding of suspect boats. In February, Britain bolstered the Royal Navy Fishery Protection Squadron by two ships on top of its four River-class offshore patrol vessels and a helicopter. The British document, based on Norway's fishing agreement with the EU, calls for annual negotiations on fishing opportunities, based on zonal attachment, and access to each other's waters. The fisheries agreement can be suspended on three months notice or cancelled entirely with two years written notice if either side fails to comply with it. Zonal attachment is a different way of dividing the shares of the allowed catch and is based on where fish are now, rather than on the historic catch patterns that form the basis of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy. The EU has demanded continued access to UK waters "under existing conditions" as a condition for the UK-EU free trade agreement. Mr Barnier has hinted that a compromise could be found, but has ruled out annual negotiations and zonal attachment. The Government's draft trade agreement further exposed the divides over Brussels' demand for "level playing field" guarantees on labour, state aid, tax and the environment. The UK argues that the EU is asking for far more stringent "level playing field" guarantees than is normal in free trade agreement and would tie Britain to Brussels' rules. The EU says the stricter guarantees over fair competition are needed due to the proximity of the UK's market and the goal of a zero-tariff, zero-quota free trade agreement. British assurances over fair competition are three short paragraphs, which recognise that it is "inappropriate" to encourage trade or investment by lowering standards. Brussels is also bound to reject a British demand for "appropriate consultation" from the EU in a specially created Financial Services Committee before any decision to suspend or freeze UK financial services from the EU market after Brexit. The UK could be trading on WTO terms with the EU if it fails to finalise a trade agreement at the end of the year. Tariffs on a wide range of products imported under WTO terms will be removed on January 1 under the new British plan. The Government said the new "Global Tariff" would make it cheaper for businesses to import goods and give customers more choice. Zero tariffs will be introduced on dishwashers, freezers, tampons, paints, screwdrivers, mirrors, scissors and shears, padlocks, some cooking products like yeast and bay leaves, and Christmas trees. The EU had tariffs ranging from 2.7 per cent to eight per cent for such products. Tariffs are being kept on lamb, beef and poultry and on cars and the vast majority of ceramics to protect British industry from foreign competition. If the UK had stayed a member of the EU, it would not pay tariffs on imports from the EU, its major trading partner, but would have to abide by the EU tariff on goods imported from outside the bloc. The move will not prevent UK exports facing EU tariffs or tariffs elsewhere in the world. Trade ministers will on Wednesday put the Trade Bill to a second reading and are expected to incorporate suggestions made by a group of anti-China MPs. Twenty-three MPs have been pushing for an amendment to the Trade Bill which would commit the Government to limiting the number of imports the UK is "strategically dependent" on from any one country. They have also called on the Government to commit to giving Parliament an annual update on imports the UK is dependent on "non-democratic countries such as China" for. WESTPORT Despite the uncertainty of when schools will be ready to reopen, the districts School Reopening Steering Committee is hard at work. The mission of the reopen committee is to prepare and present a plan for 2020-21 school year that really promotes effective learning for our students, but also takes into consideration and ensures the safety of all the members of our school community, Anthony Buono, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, said at a Board of Education meeting on Monday. Buono, who co-chairs the committee alongside John Bayers, human resources director, gave an update on the committees work. In addition to the steering committee, Buono said, four work groups have been established to look at different aspects of reopening. By the end of this week, our work groups will be fully constituted and they will have their initial meetings scheduled, he said. I think were in a really good position as far as this work is concerned. More groups may be needed, Buono said. It is going to be a dynamic process based on how things evolve and where we see the greatest needs are, he said. Bayers said an important part of the work includes collaborating with other districts and gathering information. I think that all of the districts around us realize were in a very similar position right now, he said. Were all sharing ideas because we recognize this is new territory for everyone. BOE members had raised concern about reopening or closing schools multiple times next year and how new social distancing rules would be adhered to. Buono said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Federation for Teachers are recommending smaller class sizes ranging from 10 to 15 students. Theres a variety of different recommendations out there, Buono said. The information were getting now is yes if we do reopen, its not going to be a light switch....its going to be a more gradual process than that. Bayers said the committee will look at various scenarios including opening as if nothing were different in-school classes and no distance learning. You hear different ideas about whether or not youre doing a combination or a hybrid of distance learning and in-person learning, Bayers said. Were not committed to anything and I want the public to understand that right now. He said the committee is also reviewing scenarios in case the prevalence rate of COVID-19 causes another shutdown. The idea that were not able to open on time and must start the year in a distance-learning model is something we have to look at as well, Bayers said. Thats our responsibility to provide you with as much information as we can. In other business, the BOE received an update on construction at Coleytown Middle School. Were not going to be open by Sept. 1, but our October opening is still on schedule and everything is fine there, CMS Building Committee Chair Don ODay said. The committee has also met with Coleytown principal Kris Szabo to discuss construction of the new entranceway, he said. The number of absences in construction staff has declined over the past weeks. Bottom line is theres still an October opening and were still within budget and things are going well, ODay said. dj.simmons@hearstmediact.com Regional court to hear appeal against detention of businessman in 1994 murder case 12:02 19/05/2020 MOSCOW, May 19 (RAPSI) The Krasnoyarsk Regional Court will consider an appeal against detention of businessman Anatoly Bykov, who stands charged with organizing double homicide in 1994, on May 22, the courts press service reports Tuesday. The hearing will be held behind closed doors. Bykov will take part in it through videolink. Earlier, upon a court order, the businessman was put in detention until July 4. According to the Russian Investigative Committee, in the first half of 1994, Alexander Naumov, the 23-year old member of a criminal group headed by Bykov, had a conflict with the gang leader because of unjust, according to him, dividing of the joint criminal income. Later, Bykovs car was exploded. The businessman suspected Naumov and his friend Kirill Voytenko of the blast organization and decided to kill them. He ordered his acquaintance Vladimir Tatarenkov to organize the murder; the latter in turn involved his gang members in the crime. On July 24, 1994, Naumov and Voytenko were shot dead, investigators claimed. One of the killers Sergey Bakurov was sentenced to life. Another one is on a wanted list. Tatarenkov was sentenced to 13 years in prison, the Investigative Committees statement read. Investigators claim that many witnesses confirmed that Bykov had business relations with Naumov and a conflict after which the latter was afraid of his life and began wearing body armour. Three witnesses said that Bykov was a mastermind of the murder. They added that failed to give testimony 26 years ago as they hoped that Bykov would provide assistance to them, according to the Investigative Committee. UN chief Antonio Guterres has suggested holding the annual General Assembly session in September under a different format, such as using pre-recorded messages of world leaders, saying it is highly unlikely that Heads of State and Government will be able to travel to New York for the high-level week due to the COVID19 pandemic. The UN is commemorating its 75th anniversary this year and the General Assembly session, held annually in September, brings world leaders, ministers and diplomats from 193 Member States to New York and the UN headquarters along with the media and thousands of civil society members. New York is the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. A total of 356,278 COVID-19 cases and more than 28,302 deaths have been reported in the state. In a letter dated May 18 to President of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, Secretary-General Guterres said the medical community anticipates that the COVID19 pandemic will continue to cycle with varying degrees of severity across the world in the coming months, requiring international travel restrictions to remain in place for some destinations, as also social distancing measures and restrictions on large gatherings. Quarantines might affect travellers to and from New York City, he said, adding that for some countries, the pandemic and various containment measures is likely to entail a significant disease burden. "In light of the foregoing, it is highly unlikely that Heads of State and Government from all Member States will be able to travel to New York in September, for the high-level week of the 75th session of the General Assembly, Guterres said in the letter, seen by PTI. Therefore, you may wish to recommend that the General Assembly considers holding the General Debate of the seventy-fifth session in a different format, such as using pre-recorded messages provided by Heads of State and Government or Ministers, with physical presence in the General Assembly Hall limited to one delegate per delegation based in New York, Guterres said in the letter. He said such a format would allow for the General Debate to continue with the participation of speakers from all Member States at the highest possible level, and with the physical presence of Member States in the General Assembly Hall. Guterres added that similar arrangements could be made for the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. Guterres said that this format will be better as opposed to postponing the General Debate to a date in 2021. While the General Assembly could consider postponing the General Debate to a date in 2021 within the seventy-fifth session, I believe that it would be better to hold the General Debate at the start of the session to allow for the remainder of the main part of the session, in both the Plenary and the Main Committees, to proceed. It would also allow for the work of the Organisation to continue uninterrupted, albeit in a different format, and for world leaders to convey their views on important international issues, including on the international response to the pandemic, as well as to hear the views of other leaders, Guterres said. The General Debate is held at the beginning of each session of the General Assembly in September and usually runs for over a week when leaders and ministers from the 193 UN Member States address the world from the iconic lectern in the General Assembly hall. The options in the letter are among the first to give a sense of how the high-level General Assembly session may take place this year in New York City, which has been the epicenter of the COVID19 pandemic in the US. The city so far has 191,073 coronavirus cases and 15,983 confirmed COVID19 deaths and an additional 4,823 probable deaths. Telecommuting arrangements have been in place at the UN headquarters since March 16 and last week, Guterres extended the order till June 30. Guterres said in the letter that while September is still some months away, during which forecasts about the pandemic may evolve, any decision to ease restrictions on large gatherings and social distancing measures in the city will depend on the steps that New York City and New York State will take in the coming months. The UN chief has asked relevant departments to explore options related to the procedural and technical aspects required to hold the General Debate and other high-level meetings in the new format. The Department for General Assembly and Conference Management (DGACM) will provide a provisional list of speakers depending on how member states respond to the suggested format and modalities for the General Debate. Regarding other mandated high-level meetings scheduled for September, Guterres said the General Assembly could consider holding them only if the social distancing measures applicable at that time can be implemented or else these meetings could be postponed to a date in 2021, still within the period of the 75th session that runs through September next year. COVID-19 is an unprecedented and devastating crisis that has spared no one, and the engagement of the General Assembly will be essential for a large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive multilateral response, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Twilight star Gregory Tyree Boyce, who played Tyler Crowley in the film, was found dead in Las Vegas with his girlfriend Natalie Adepoju on May 13. The Las Vegas Medical Examiners office confirms to E! News the pair were found dead, but the cause of death has not yet been revealed. Twilight actor Gregory Tyree Boyce has passed away at the age of 30. Photo: Summit Entertainment A source has told the publication they were both found in their Las Vegas condo on Wednesday May 13, "Greg's cousin woke up and noticed that Greg's car was still at the house. He was worried because Greg was to be in LA. His cousin went to check on him and found them." They added that before his death Gregory was "really focused and handling a lot of business" and while he had moved to Las Vegas to be near his mother, he "would commute to LA for acting jobs and to see his daughter". Another insider added, "Greg was definitely a person who loved life and [was] super positive... super animated, really witty, he was the life of the party. I will definitely miss him. He was one of my funniest friends in LA and made my experience there really memorable." The star had taken to Instagram in December while celebrating his 30th birthday saying he didn't believe he'd make it to this point in his life. He wrote, "At one point I didn't think I would make it to see 30 years old. Over the years like everyone else I have made mistakes along the way, but today is one of those days I only reflect on the great ones. What a time to be alive. Happy Dirty 30 self! Let's make the rest of these years your best!!" Gregory's mother Lisa Wayne took to Facebook to share her heartbreak over her loss. He had last seen his mother two days before his death while celebrating Mother's Day. She wrote, "I'm sick without you. I'm torn, I'm lost. I'm in pain. I'd text you or call you when I was broken or worried about something, and you'd tell me, Ma, I got you, we'll get thru this together. Boy. Why did you leave me?" Story continues Gregory had been dating Natalie for just over a year. She was 27 years old and described in a GoFundMe page by her family as a "loving daughter, niece, sister, cousin, and friend". They continued, "Natalie had so much life to live [and] we are saddened that her life was cut short. Natalie leaves behind her one and only baby boy Egypt, her father, two brothers and one sister, and a host of family and friends who love her dearly." Gregory is survived by his daughter Alaya, 10. Got a story tip or just want to get in touch? Email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com. During a live broadcast on Facebook today, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan talked about a decentralized fight against the coronavirus and presented the potential number of coronavirus cases in late May, early June and late June. Even hundreds of people might die, and this means the government will have to reinstate the strictest restrictions. However, we can avoid this, and this depends on each citizens personal responsibility, Pashinyan said and called on everyone to follow the rules established by the Commandants Office. Keep social distancing and interact only if you are wearing a face mask. I still see people standing close to each other, and it seems to them that nothing has happened. I also call on not touching your face with dirty hands and not interacting with each other without a face mask. If you dont have a face mask, keep distance and only use silverware that has been sanitized. We have the opportunity to disallow increase in the number of cases, and it all depends on each and every one of us, he said, adding that there are still people who spread lies about the coronavirus, saying it doesnt exist. I call on and ask everyone to strictly adhere to the requirements of the Commandants Office and demand everyone to do that, starting from funerals. We also need to make sure people follow certain rules in banks, stores and pharmacies. Nobody has the right to enter a closed facility without a face mask, including buses. Yes, citizens will be fined for not wearing face masks because this is a matter of national security. Everyone will be charged, and nobody can say he or she is socially disadvantaged. If you are socially disadvantaged, follow the rules, Pashinyan said. But it was also seen particularly by American officials as an attempt by China to forestall closer scrutiny of whether it hid information about the outbreak to the world. Mr. Xi made his announcement by videoconference to the World Health Assembly, an annual decision-making meeting of the W.H.O. that is being conducted virtually this year because of safety considerations during the pandemic. Mr. Trump declined to address the two-day gathering, providing the Chinese president an opening to be one of the first world leaders to address the 194 member states. In China, after making painstaking efforts and sacrifice, we have turned the tide on the virus and protected lives, Mr. Xi said. We have done everything in our power to support and assist countries in need. Late Monday, Mr. Trump responded in a scathing letter in which he accused the W.H.O. of an alarming dependence on China. In the letter, addressed to the W.H.O.s director general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and posted on Twitter at 10:55 p.m., the president said, It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The four-page letter details Mr. Trumps grievances against China and the W.H.O. over the pandemic and ends with a threat to permanently pull U.S. funding and revoke American membership in the organization if it does not commit to substantive improvements within the next 30 days. Haiti - FLASH : The country crosses the bar of 500 cases The Ministry of Public Health informs that 77 new cases have been confirmed, for a total of 533 cases in Haiti (40.3% women and 59.7% men) since the first case (March 19, 2020) hhttps://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30319-haiti-health-origin-of-the-first-2-cases-of-covid-19-in-haiti.html . This is the largest number of cases recorded in 24 hours since the first case in Haiti. (the day before: +98) 1 new death has been reported bringing the total to 21. The number of active cases in Haiti (excluding death and recovery) now stands at 491 cases (+ 18.3%) or +76 since the last report from the Ministry https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30805-haiti-covid-19-daily-report-may-18-2020.html Number of suspected cases followed : 2,120 cases (+ 11.99%) or +227 (the day before +160) People hospitalized 253 (unchanged) the day before: +14 and 1,330 cases in quarantine at home (+ 5.81%) +73 (the day before: + 171) All the details in our daily report of 11:00 am See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30805-haiti-covid-19-daily-report-may-18-2020.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30319-haiti-health-origin-of-the-first-2-cases-of-covid-19-in-haiti.html HL/ HaitiLibre * Quiet, quiet, I say to Genet as dogs walk by, which he obeys by ruffing softly yet firmly to himself. Together we watch the promenades of dogs in the neighborhood. I wave at the Nepalese woman who lives in the apartment building on the corner, walking the silver pit bull with sleek muscles who was a puppy when we moved here. There is the Yorkie who erupts constantly from her perch high up in a building in the middle of the block. How sensitive they really are, these city dogs, but they cannot see it in one another. The ice-eyed Alsatian puppy, gangly and manic, whose owner is an older, muscular trainer, always in shorts, who lives with his wheelchair-bound mother in one of the houses on the street. While writing this, I realize that the Alsatian is no longer a puppy now but a full-grown dog, yet retaining a puppys jitteriness. I often wonder if the trainer thinks Im lazy when he sees me on the porch in my sun hat, watching the procession of the neighborhood with my dog. But I am working, taking notes and thinking. Not just laziness, Ive decided, but what Blanchot calls desoeuvrement, translated variously as inoperativeness, inertia, idleness, unworking, or my favorite, worklessness. A spiritual stance, more active, like decreation. The state where the writing of the fragment replaces the work. Kafka filling up notebook after notebook at night, sitting in the living room, blanket on his lap, having to cover his cage of canaries until they quiet, everyone else in the family asleep. In his notebooks he complains about the factory, Felice, his family, and later about how much time the publishing of his first little book, Meditation, takes away from his potential literary powers. Although when finally confronted with publishing his writing, he is panicked with how little work has accrued from the hours he spends in the middle of the night on his series of notebooks, the fragments he has published occasionally in journals. The artifice, he complains to himself, of trying to prepare a text for publication, when what he desires is to let a work take shape unforced. What he desires is a new prose. I email Anna, asking whether I should rename my book Meditation, after Kafka, or Contemplation, an alternate translation. No!a one-word reply. It is irritating, someone elses book crisis. The lists of titles she sends me as well. All this, of course, is fervent procrastination. That summer, we were both on a deadlinenow your book is out, is on all the best-of lists. I am still here. Only inside the house can there actually be solitude, writes Marguerite Duras. Outside the house, there is a garden; there can be cats and birds. But inside the house, one is so alone that one can lose ones bearings. Only now, Duras writes, does she realize that shes been in the house where shes written her books for ten years. Only now do I realize Ive been here for seven. * In The Walk, Walsers narrator takes leave of his writers block, his room of phantoms, and goes on a picaresque walk around the town and countryside. How Walser in his shabby suit would walk for ninety miles, as a way to not exist, to disappear into the landscape. His walking, like his writing, a sign of his absorption. I want to write about the looping reoccurrence of the elderly woman on my walks with the dog. She must be in her nineties, living alone in the large, dilapidated yellow-and-brown house on the cornerthe pale brown shingles on the roof splintering off. She wears a headband in her silver bob, somewhat girlishly, and a version of the same worn outfit around her skinny frame, usually a button-down blue or pink shirt with white stripes and a pair of mens beige trousers belted high. When the weather allows she is often perched near the pillar on her front porch stairs, opening her face to the sun. Sometimes she will be sitting with a little cat whos recently appeared, staring off into the distance. That is her outside cat, she tells me, she also has an inside cat. I wave at her, and sometimes she waves back. I will see her then taking in the chair. Sometimes for long stretches of time there will not be a chair outside and I will worry about the woman. I think of her often, in that large gaping house alone. Perhaps she goes somewhere, where theres better weather. Maybe she has family somewhere. There are seasons when I see the old woman regularly, usually on morning walks to the train station to see John off to work. Other times, I will go a month without spying her. When we pass and exchange hellos, she repeats one of a few phrases: Nice day for a walk, or Nice doggy. Sometimes I see her away from her porch and her garden, moving slowly down the street. There is something of my mother in this woman, if my mother had ever been allowed to grow old. Perhaps its that my mother was often found crouched in our suburban front yard, in her khakis, pulling weeds. When I do speak to the old woman, she comes closer to me, as I suspect she cannot hear much of anythingwhich might also be the reason for her canned phrasesand reveals a mouth of gold and rotten teeth. A nice day for gardening, I say, and she follows her script: People think Im poor, she says, because I dont hire anyone, but my doctor says its good exercise. Your shrubs look elegant this year, I tell her, although the grass is becoming brown and dry, which I do not mention. Often she asks me what day it is, and sometimes I tell her, but in the summer, when all the days begin to bleed together, I sometimes will not remember, and we stand there, for a moment, having no idea where we are in the week. * Who are the characters in your novel, the publishing people ask me, and does anything happen? [ Return to the review of Drifts. ] Travel might be on pause in these unprecedented times, but data from Booking.com reveals that this hasnt stopped people across the country from dreaming about the possibilities. Delving into the millions of travel wish lists created by hopeful travellers on its platform over the last two months, with properties wish listed across over 100,000 different destinations since the start of March, the digital travel leader Booking.com shares the top destinations on peoples minds as they wait for when the time is right to travel again. While international destinations like Dubai, Bali, Bangkok, Istanbul and London continue to inspire travel dreams for Indians, its no surprise that in-country stays feature in nearly 67% of all those wish listed by Indians during this time of uncertainty, a jump from the same time last year when domestic properties accounted for 48% of those wish listed. (Wish lists refer to the number of times that users click the heart button on a particular property on Booking.com) Since the start of March, the top wish-listed domestic destinations for Indians are Mumbai, Goa, New Delhi, Lonavala and Bengaluru, suggesting that everyones been dreaming of sunshine and beaches, alongside the stimulation of the big city after weeks of confinement. When it comes to topmost wish-listed international destinations featuring in Indian travel dreams, its a similar picture with island and beach destinations taking centre stage alongside major metropolitan cities. Dubai tops the list, followed by Ubud (Bali), Bangkok (Thailand), Istanbul (Turkey) and London (UK), while Seminyak (Bali), North Male Atoll (Maldives) and Singapore are next in line. Topmost wish-listed destinations by Indian travellers Domestic Destinations International Destinations Mumbai, Maharashtra Dubai Calangute, Goa Ubud, Bali New Delhi, New Delhi Bangkok Lonavala, Maharashtra Istanbul Bengaluru, Karnataka London Candolim, Goa Seminyak, Bali Baga, Goa North Male Atoll, Maldives Jaipur, Rajasthan Singapore Ooty, Tamil Nadu Kuta, Bali Manali, Himachal Pradesh Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia When it comes to global travellers, New Delhi, Mumbai, Calangute (Goa), Jaipur and Bengaluru are the top 5 destinations in India with the most wish listings during March and April 2020. Dreaming about a change in scenery and the opportunity to enjoy a stay experience outside of their own home, the most wish-listed types of places to stay for Indian travellers are hotels, resorts, guest houses, apartments and villas. Hotels account for nearly 42% of all properties wish listed by Indians over the last two months whereas resorts count for 18% which is more than the global average of 6%. Commenting on the wish lists and the travel dreams, Ritu Mehrotra, Country Manager, India, Sri Lanka and Maldives at Booking.com These are unprecedented and challenging times in which safety remains the top priority. We also know that in such times, dreaming about experiencing the world again has immense power to fire our imaginations and keep spirits high. Its amazing to see the array of different travel experiences our customers have been busy dreaming about while they wait for the opportunity to travel again. Building a wish list on Booking.com is an inspirational way for everyone to start dreaming about travel again, and we are committed to making it easy for them to turn those dreams into reality when the time is right. *Methodology: based on comparing wish list data on Booking.com between March and April 2020 to the same months in 2019. Customers on Booking.com can wish list properties by clicking the heart button present on every propertys listing on the platform. During a live broadcast on Facebook devoted to a decentralized fight against the coronavirus today, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stated that there are people who say there is no coronavirus, the government and the Prime Minister are doing business by selling face masks and then say they arent refuting the information. The government has refuted everything, including information about spending money on houses, racketeering, etc. If you want to believe that were doing that, go ahead and believe. The people gave me the mandate to be Prime Minister, but do they think that Im here to racketeer? If yes, then I am racketeering. If not, then how can they even think about that? Our supporters send us letters asking us to refute the information. Weve been refuting the information for two years, but were not going to spend our whole lives refuting, he said and told citizens not to address the government with absurd questions and ask the government to refute information according to which the government is doing business by selling the face masks. If the government says citizens have to wear face masks, it means that citizens have to wear them, not that the government has a share in sales of face masks, he said. Your smartphone may soon be able to detect if you have coronavirus by coughing or sneezing onto a sensor. A team at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City has developed a portable, reusable device the size of a quarter that plugs into a phone's charging port. If the virus is in the sample, DNA strands in the sensor bind to the virus's proteins, which would trigger an electrical signal of a positive result. What's more, the sensor can detect COVID-19, the highly-infectious disease caused by the virus, in just 60 seconds. Researchers have developed a coronavirus sensor (pictured) that can plug into the charging port of a smartphone and uses single-strand DNA to look for a combination of proteins (file image) The strands in the sensor bind to the proteins in the virus and signal a positive result either by changing color or electronically generating a signal in just 60 seconds (file image) Researchers from Harvard University have estimated that between 500,000 and 700,000 tests need to be performed every day to safely reopen the US. But just 11,834,508 coronavirus tests have been performed so far, according to The COVID Tracking Project. Usually, people are tested by having a six-inch swab inserted deep into the nose or at the back of throat for about 15 seconds. The sample is then sent to a laboratory, and results can take as long as a week to be confirmed. The new sensor is less invasive, less expensive and shortens the timeline from weeks to minutes. 'Other tests out there detect parts of the virus like the DNA or the RNA,' Dr Massood Tabib-Azar, a professor of engineering at the University of Utah, told DailyMail.com. 'Our device detects the virus a whole so, because of that, it is faster.' Tabib-Azar first began developing the technology almost one year ago to help detect the Zika virus. The sensor uses a synthetic DNA piece called 'aptamer' that binds a protein called nucleolin found on the surface of cells. A person would plug the device into the phone and place a drop of saliva on it and the DNA would look for a specific combination of proteins and reduces the rate of false positive and false negatives. 'The single-strand DNA is the molecular recognition so it only latches onto coronavirus and gives a kind of selectivity,' Tabib-Azar said. If the virus is in the sample, the DNA will bind to the proteins in the virus and signal a positive result either by changing color or electronically generating a signal. The sensor could also be used to test if coronavirus is on a surface such as a kitchen table or a desk by swabbing it and placing it on the device. It is also reusable because a small electric current would destroy the previous sample and wipe it clean. Tabib-Azar says a person could push a button on their phone and send the information to health agencies so officials can track virus hotspots. 'This can generate a real-time map of how the coronavirus is changing in a city or a country,' he said. To help develop the sensor quickly, the team has received a $200,000 rapid response grant from the National Science Foundation. Because the technology already exists, Tabib-Azar estimates a COVID-19 sensor prototype could be ready for clinical trials in as little as three weeks. 'Using a sensor is like a blind man searching for things surround them; it finds things we cannot see,' he said. 'We hope to provide it to anyone who needs it or wants it but, in the meantime, we still need to continue to wear masks to protect others and they wear masks to protect us.' Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Graph Blockchain Inc. (CSE: GBLC) ("Graph" or the "Company") today announces Govinda Butcher has resigned as the Company's CEO and Chairman, effective immediately, to pursue other opportunities. Graph thanks Mr. Butcher for his contributions and wishes him the best in his future endeavours. Graph would also like to announce the following appointments: Christian Scovenna is appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Two Directors from Datametrex AI Limited, Andrew Ryu and Paul Haber, joined the Company. Mr. Ryu will be Chairman of the Company, and Mr. Haber, CPA, CA, will be the Chair of Audit Committee. Alex Mackay and Andrew Male have also stepped down from the Board of Directors effective immediately to accommodate the changes in the Board and Management. They will both retain a roll on the Advisory Board. President & Chief Executive Officer, Christian Scovenna comments: "Firstly, I would like to thank the new Board and Company for appointing me for this important role and look forward in working with the board. Secondly on behalf of the Company, we would like to thank Mr. Butcher for his vision and dedication to the company while serving as CEO and Chairman. We wish nothing but the best for Mr. Butcher in his future endeavors. Lastly, the addition of Andrew Ryu and Paul Haber from Datametrex to our Board, is a significant addition to the team and look forward to working with both." Director, Paul Haber comments, "Mr. Scovenna's appointment represents a positive leadership change to the Company. Having joined the Company in March 2020, Mr. Scovenna has spearheaded various new initiatives that the Company will be pursuing as one of its business channels going forward while utilizing technology, knowledge and expertise that it has drawn from its core business activities." The Company also plans to complete and finalize the previously announced non-brokered private placement (February 19th 2020) of up to $500,000 Cdn by May 27, 2020. About Graph Blockchain Inc. The Company develops leading-edge private blockchain business intelligence and data management solutions that it will implement into a blockchain supported e-commerce marketplace for the sale of psychedelic and ancillary products in legal jurisdictions. Additional Information on the Company is available at: www.graphblockchain.com For further information, please contact: Christian Scovenna - President & CEO Phone: +1 416 453 4708 Email: cscovenna@graphblockchain.com Forward Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature may constitute forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "may", "will", "expect", "likely", "should", "would", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "potential", "proposed", "estimate", "believe" or the negative of these terms, or other similar words, expressions and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" happen, or by discussions of strategy. Readers are cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Such statements may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and reflect the Company's expectations as of the date hereof and are subject to change thereafter. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56116 Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, leaves the federal court with his lawyer Sidney Powell following a status conference with Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington on Sept. 10, 2019. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo) Flynn Asks Higher Court to Order His Judge to Let Through DOJs Case Dismissal Former Trump adviser Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn has asked a federal appeals court to order a lower court to accept a request by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop the case against Flynn. The DOJ moved to dismiss the case nearly two weeks ago, but the district judge handling it hasnt made a decision and instead invitedas a friend of courta former judge to come argue against the dismissal. On May 19, Flynns lawyers petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to order the District Court to grant the DOJs motion to dismiss the case, vacate the appointment of a friend of court (amicus curiae), and assign the case to a different judge. The district judge in this case has abandoned any pretense of being an objective umpire. He wants to pitch, bat, run bases, and play shortstop. In truth, he is way out in left field, the emergency petition states. Flynn, a former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty in 2017 to one count of lying during an FBI interview. In January, he disavowed the plea and asked the court to allow him to withdraw it. The DOJ moved to drop Flynns case on May 7, saying the FBI interview wasnt based on a properly predicated investigation and seems to have been undertaken only to elicit those very false statements and thereby criminalize Mr. Flynn. Almost two weeks later, District Judge Emmet Sullivan still hasnt ruled on the dismissal. Instead, on May 12, he said he will set a schedule governing the submission of any amicus curiae briefs. A day later, he appointed as an amicus former federal Judge John Gleeson to present arguments in opposition to the governments Motion to Dismiss as well as to address whether the court should make the defense explain why Flynn should not be held in criminal contempt for perjury. Gleeson, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton and left the bench for private practice in 2016, had an op-ed published by The Washington Post on May 11 accusing the DOJ of impropriety, corruption, and improper political influence for dismissing the case. In a May 15 court filing, Gleeson asked for nearly four weeks to brief his arguments to the court. Then, he proposed, the government, the defense, and any other amici would have time to file their replies. Gleeson would then have time to file his responses to the replies. The judge should also schedule an oral argument, he said. Based on the judges previous scheduling orders, this process could take months. With Leave of Court Flynns lawyers, led by former Texas prosecutor Sidney Powell, say that Sullivan has no authority in this instance to deny the DOJ motion to dismiss the case. Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure say the government can only dismiss charges with leave of court. But the District of Columbia appeals court ruled in 2016 that a judge has only a narrow role in these circumstances, primarily to guard against the prospect that dismissal is part of a scheme of prosecutorial harassment of the defendanta situation in which prosecutors repeatedly file and dismiss charges to harass a person. Decisions to dismiss pending criminal chargesno less than decisions to initiate charges and to identify which charges to bringlie squarely within the ken of prosecutorial discretion, the court stated. Amici Powell also argues that Sullivan has no authority to adopt the role of prosecutor or change the issues in the case by inviting or appointing amici to perform the investigation or prosecution that the court deems appropriate. While rules for civil cases allow for the appointment of amici, criminal case rules make no mention of them. This should be interpreted as banning amici in criminal cases, according to Powell. Sullivan implied in his May 12 order that the civil rules apply to criminal cases, too, but Powell noted that such an interpretation would mean that judges could allow in criminal cases many other measures only available in civil cases, such as class actions and a multitude of other procedures that no reasonable person would interpret as applying to criminal cases. Sullivans reference to criminal contempt for perjury likely refers to Flynn restating his guilty plea before the judge in 2018. Flynn said he only did so because his lawyers told him to and because he was coerced into a plea by the prosecutors threat to charge his son. An innocent man has been the target of a vendetta by politically motivated officials at the highest level of the FBI, Powell said. The egregious Government misconduct, and the three-year abuse of General Flynn and his family, cry out for ending this ordeal immediately and permanently. [May 19, 2020] Kantar appoints David Anjoubault as CEO Insights in Vietnam HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- David Anjoubault has been appointed Chief Executive Officer for the Insights division of Kantar in Vietnam where he transfers from the company's Worldpanel division, which he led in Ho Chi Minh City for the last eight years. Anjoubault takes over from Nitin Nishandar who will continue to losely support Kantar's Vietnam business in his new capacity as Chairman of the Insights division in Vietnam, and through his broader regional responsibility as Chief Client Officer. Fabrice Carrasco, Worldpanel's Managing Director of Vietnam and Philippines will take over Anjoubault's Worldpanel responsibilities. Adrian Gonzalez, CEO for Kantar's Insights division in the region comments: "David is a very familiar face and trusted partner to marketers and business in Vietnam. He has a deep knowledge of the market and has been helping our clients navigate the COVID-19 crisis which now enters the crucial recovery stage. I cannot imagine anyone better placed to lead Kantar and support our clients' success in Vietnam at this crucial time." David will be supported by Phil Worthington as the Chief Commercial Officer, Luu Thi Nhat Phuong as the Chief Solutions Officer and Khoa Doan as the Chief Growth Officer from the Insights division in Vietnam. About Kantar: Kantar is the world's leading evidence-based insights and consulting company. We have a complete, unique and rounded understanding of how people think, feel and act; globally and locally in over 90 markets. By combining the deep expertise of our people, our data resources and benchmarks, our innovative analytics and technology, we help our clients understand people and inspire growth. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200515/2804074-1 Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20190611/2492962-1logo SOURCE Kantar [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] All along the way, we saw signs of an imminent comeback. If passenger numbers continue to grow at this rate, our Air France plane to LAX will be full by June and theyll add another flight, and then another. Its just a matter of time before Terminal 3 is back in business in Los Angeles. And for every downbeat passenger, we also met people like the family from Alabama who were on our last leg from Seattle to Spokane, who acted like it was just another flight. Except they were all wearing face masks, of course. For art students finishing B.F.A. and M.F.A. programs this spring, the big debut was supposed to have been the thesis exhibition. The culmination of years of work, these shows represent a shot at getting discovered by curators, dealers, collectors and critics who make the rounds at top schools. Then the pandemic forced schools to close and truncate programs. Having the thesis show canceled is like having the rug pulled out from under you, said Ben Werther, a 22-year-old senior at Cooper Union in New York who, like his peers across the world, felt the added loss of this important first exposure amid the growing health anxiety. The Covid era is a precarious time for students joining the art world, itself reckoning with the economic sustainability of museums, galleries and global art fairs. For those who have also taken out student loans for expensive programs and received no tuition reimbursement, the disappointment has been especially stark. Since being shut out of his painting studio at Yale and missing hands-on instruction, James Bartolacci, 31, is one of many wondering what exactly hes paying for. 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As NSW continues its slow path back to normality, Premier Gladys Berejiklian has revealed that from June 1 visitors will be able to return to their favourite cultural institutions. Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney. Credit:Louise Kennerley People will also be able to travel to regional NSW from June 1 as part of the next steps in easing restrictions across the state and kick-starting the economy. Ms Berejiklian said the government was "cautiously" inviting cultural institutions and libraries to reopen but with "strict new protocols in place". President Trump during a meeting Monday in the Cabinet Room of the White House. (Associated Press) President Trump has accelerated his attacks on government watchdogs, judges, reporters and other independent voices as he runs for reelection, escalating his spread of disinformation about perceived enemies and his administration's record during the COVID-19 crisis. Trump fired yet another inspector general, raged against a government whistleblower and repeatedly retweeted video of a local TV reporter being harassed in New York all since Friday. He also amplified a sinister conspiracy theory he dubbed "Obamagate" in which he alleges, but never specifies, crimes by his predecessor. On Monday, Trump abruptly said he has been taking hydroxychloroquine pills daily for "about a week and a half" as a preventative against the novel coronavirus, dramatically intensifying his efforts to promote an unproved anti-malaria drug that he has touted as a potential "game changer" for dealing with the pandemic. His comments caused alarm because the Food and Drug Administration warned last month that the prescription drug has "not been shown to be safe and effective" at treating or preventing COVID-19, saying it could cause "serious heart rhythm problems." Experts struggled to think of a historical parallel where the president has turned the world's most powerful and influential office into a megaphone for wholesale fabrications and bizarre claims in an effort to confuse voters and salvage his own political future. "Trump is certainly not the first politician to lie or invent stories," said Eileen Culloty, who researches disinformation at Dublin City University in Ireland. "But his history of making baseless, conspiratorial claims whether its Obamas birth certificate, linking Ted Cruzs family to the Kennedy assassination or now Obamagate is striking for its scale and frequency." Critics said Trump's messaging was particularly destructive as Americans struggle with the pandemic, which has crippled the economy and killed more than 90,000 in the U.S. as of Monday. Story continues "A pandemic is the perfect laboratory for disinformation because people are scared, they're anxious and all of the social science around conspiracy theories shows when people feel anxious and scared, they're more likely to believe conspiracy theories," said Richard Stengel, a former editor of Time magazine and former senior State Department official. "Trump has figured that out. This campaign is headed to a low point that we've never experienced before in American history, because he is not at all compelled to align his message with reality," he added. Donald Trump Jr., left, and Eric Trump, right, flanked their father at a 2016 campaign event in Nevada while he ran for the Republican presidential nomination. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images) Trump's adult children have gone even further in attempts to smear his opponents and raise doubts among voters. Trump's eldest son, who serves as a campaign surrogate, posted an Instagram meme outlandishly describing Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, as a pedophile. Donald Trump Jr. later claimed he was joking but continued to share videos of the former vice president touching women in what he described as an inappropriate way. The president's other son and campaign surrogate, Eric Trump, claimed in a weekend Fox News interview that Democrats were somehow manipulating the coronavirus to prevent his father from holding large campaign rallies. "They'll milk it every single day between now and Nov. 3, and guess what? After Nov. 3, coronavirus will magically all of a sudden go away and disappear, and everybody will be able to reopen," he said. Trump's allies have routinely excused his outlandish attacks by describing him as a victim of partisan attacks who is fighting dirty by necessity. Still, Trump learned early on that the most incendiary attacks earned him the most attention. Since taking office, his torrent of falsehoods has set records. The strategy was outlined two years ago by the president's former political advisor Steve Bannon. "The Democrats don't matter, Bannon told an interviewer. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with [excrement]." Trump is the first president to rely so extensively on social media to bypass the news organizations that traditionally served as a check on the White House. He has nearly 80 million Twitter followers, and his campaign routinely posts tailored ads on Facebook and other digital platforms. Trump has long demonized major media organizations as unpatriotic and unfair. But he has expanded his attacks beyond the White House press corps as polls show broad public disapproval of his response to the coronavirus crisis. On Monday, he again retweeted a video of a local television reporter getting heckled with profane gestures and shouts during an anti-shutdown protest in Long Island, N.Y. "They hate Fake News, and so do I! Trump wrote atop the video. Trump's barrage of accusations and counterattacks helps muddy the truth about his administration's performance. Trump puts all criticism into a jumble of partisan bickering, too messy for many voters to unravel. Experts in disinformation say Trumps attacks on fact-checkers as well as internal government watchdogs serve a common purpose: working the refs. One of the strategies that Donald Trump uses is to flood all of those spaces, said Graham Brookie, director of the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the nonpartisan think tank Atlantic Council, which researches the intersection of governance, technology, security and social media. If you cant tell what is true, then weve basically lost the shared sets of facts that democracy is based on, he said. Lisa-Maria Neudert, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford in England, said modern right-wing politicians in Europe have tried similar tactics but with fewer resources and less success. "In most democratic countries, what we see is a public outcry," she said. "But Trump not only gets away with it, he's celebrated for it." Atty. Gen. William Barr said he doesn't plan to criminally investigate former President Obama or former Vice President Joe Biden for wrongdoing involving the Russia investigation, which President Trump has alleged. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Trump has increasingly alleged that former President Obama, Biden and members of their administration committed unspecified crimes during the Russia investigation, which Trump now calls "Obamagate," and urged that they be hauled before Congress or prosecuted. Two of Trump's most public defenders have declined both suggestions. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he has no plans to invite either Obama or Biden to testify. And Atty. Gen. William Barr told reporters Monday that he doesn't expect a "criminal investigation of either man" based on "the information I have today." Speaking later at the White House, Trump professed surprise at Barr's comment, saying he has "no doubt that they were involved in it." Barr recently asked a federal judge to drop the case against Michael Flynn, the president's first national security advisor. Flynn pleaded guilty more than two years ago to lying to federal agents about his conversations with the Russian ambassador but later claimed he was the victim of prosecutorial misconduct. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has appointed a retired judge to argue against Barr's motion and to recommend whether Flynn should be charged with contempt for perjury. Flynn has "a judge that I guess doesnt like him very much, Trump told Fox Business last week. Maybe the judge doesnt like me very much. Trump has chipped away at independent oversight by firing federal officials empowered to find waste, fraud and abuse. On May 1, he ousted Christi A. Grimm, the principal deputy inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services, whose office had issued a report critical of the nation's response to the coronavirus. A month earlier, he removed Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community watchdog, as revenge for his role in providing Congress a whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to Trump's impeachment by the House. On Friday night, Trump sacked the State Department's inspector general, Steve Linick. He was reportedly investigating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for improperly using a political appointee to perform personal tasks for him and his wife. On Monday, the president said he was removing inspectors general because they were appointed by Obama and were unfair to his administration. "If they were put in by me, and it was somebody else's administration, especially the other party, it could very well be that you'd be treated unfairly," he said. The role of inspectors general was strengthened after the Watergate scandal in the 1970s as Congress assumed a more investigative and adversarial role in countering the executive branch. But those checks and balances have eroded in recent years, and Trump is hastening their demise. "He is in a class by himself," said Kathryn Olmsted, a UC Davis history professor who has studied post-Watergate political reforms. "He doesn't feel constrained by rules or optics or norms." WASHINGTON To hear public health experts describe it, defeating the coronavirus is a massive but straightforward problem, difficult but not impossible while waiting for a vaccine. First, administer tens of millions of tests to find out who has the disease. Then trace all their recent contacts, using a cellphone app that tells the government whom they met. Finally, track down all those people and order them into isolation for 14 days, possibly in a quarantine hotel. Now think about that scenario. In a country where armed men are marching to defend their right not to wear masks, how will intrusive measures like those go down? Answer: Not easily. My public health friends are working out brilliant solutions for the technical problems, but they havent confronted the challenge of political culture, Keith Humphreys, a professor of psychiatry at Stanfords Medical School, told me. What are we going to do if millions of people refuse to take the tests? What are we going to do if they refuse to isolate themselves or close their businesses? Hes right. Our political culture often puts individual rights before communal interests. Were not obedient people by heritage; the Constitution enshrines our right to rebel. Thats not a complaint. Our small-L libertarian streak, by which I mean our attachment to the Bill of Rights, is one of the glories of American life. But in the face of a pandemic, it gets in the way of protecting the larger community. Weve already seen widespread protests against the shutdown orders imposed by many governors protests encouraged, bizarrely, by President Donald Trump, even though the governors are following White House guidelines. Theres been scattered violence by hotheads who refuse shop owners requests to wear masks. Even before widespread contact tracing has begun, some have denounced the idea especially the proposed phone app as an unwarranted data grab by Google and Apple. And conspiracy theorists are busy denouncing the pandemic as a hoax cooked up by Bill Gates, the Democratic National Committee, or some other imaginary supervillain. The resistance to masks and other public health measures, while noisy, is still a small minority. A poll released by the Washington Post and the University of Maryland last week found that only 11% of Americans think the anti-pandemic measures have been too severe, including only 32% of Republicans. Still, it doesnt take much noncompliance to create problems, Humphreys pointed out. Smart public health planners are already thinking about making the next stage work, including how much to ask of those who may have been exposed to the virus. Bottom line: Well never see 100% compliance, but we dont need it. If doctors can get 60% or 70% to cooperate, the contagion can still be contained just more slowly. That means a long, uneven slog toward reducing the danger, with some states imposing tougher measures than others a crazy quilt of slightly different approaches. And all this is merely awaiting an effective vaccine to protect people from the virus. The anti-vaccine movement has roared back to life, denouncing Trumps call for a crash program to develop, test and deploy 300 million doses by January as another dangerous plot? Thanks to the anti-vaxxers, even an effective vaccine is unlikely to eradicate COVID-19 completely because some Americans will choose to remain vulnerable to it. In that respect, it will be something like the measles a threat that came back because some families refused the vaccinations. Well still contend with the coronavirus years from now and still argue about the appropriate public health measures to employ. Were America, and were going to do it our way no matter how long it takes and how many mistakes we choose to make. PHOTOS: Food services during COVID-19 in Central Illinois Doyle McManus is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SBU: The interview with Poklonskaya, Girkin was the initiative of Gordon and is being studied as possible extra evidence of Russia's aggression against Ukraine Interviews conducted by journalist Dmytro with a member Russia's State Duma and ex-"prosecutor" of Russia-occupied Crimea Natalia Poklonskaya and with Russian citizen and a former so-called "DPR Defense Minister" Igor Girkin (Strelkov) are being evaluated as possible additional provocations of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The interviews were made at the initiative of Gordon himself, Ukraine's SBU State SGordonecurity Service (SBU) said on Tuesday. "Interviews with Natalya Poklonskaya and Igor Girkin (Strelkov) were conducted at the initiative of the journalist Dmitry Gordon. Meanwhile, all the information voiced in these interviews is already being analyzed in detail by the SBU for its use as additional evidence of the seizure of the territory of Ukraine by Russia and Russia's invasion of eastern Ukraine," the SBU said on Facebook on Tuesday. As reported, the SBU earlier said it would analyze the situation around the interview Poklonskaya and Girkin by Gordon. The European Solidarity Party appealed to the SBU with a demand to immediately begin proceedings on the fact of inciting hatred, supporting terrorism and undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine by Gordon. Gordon himself said that the interviews were made by him with the assistance of Ukrainian special services, and that flash drives with materials were transferred to The Hague for use as evidence in the trial of the annexation of Crimea and Russia's military invasion of Donbas. Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Tuesday said the state has decided to delineate only the containment zones to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic and not red, orange and green zones as earlier. Containment zone is an area around epicentre of 15 cases or more in a village/ward. It can also be a small group of adjacent villages/wards. In a statement, the minister said that period of containment will be of minimum 14 days. If in a week, there is no new case or only one new case, the area will be opened. Otherwise period of containment will be extended by one week at a time, he said. 78% COVID PATIENTS CURED Sidhu also said Punjab has become the leading state in the country to battle coronavirus by achieving 78% recovery rate of Covid-19 patients. He said that out of 1,980 patients, 1,557 cases have been cured. The minister said Risk Stratified Random Sampling will be done (in case of frequent travellers, front line workers, people with co-morbidity and people living in densely populated areas etc) across the state and focus kept on high risk areas and high risk individuals to further prevent the spread of coronavirus. Instructions have been issued to civil surgeons in this regard. He said that 1,252 of the total 4,218 Nanded-returnees tested positive and all of them have been declared cured and sent to their homes. Iran, Pakistan, China, Russia support national reconciliation in Afghanistan Iran Press TV Monday, 18 May 2020 3:36 PM Senior diplomats from Iran, Pakistan, China and Russia have thrown their weight behind a power-sharing deal in Afghanistan signed between leaders of the country's two main political factions, expressing hope that the important step would speed up intra-Afghan talks. Special representatives of Iran, Pakistan, China and Russia for Afghanistan affairs held a virtual meeting on Monday, during which they discussed the latest developments and the process of peace and reconciliation in the war-ravaged country. In a statement, they expressed their support for the peace process in Afghanistan led by the country's officials and emphasized that inclusive intra-Afghan talks would be the only way to ensure national reconciliation and end long-lasting conflicts. The four countries' diplomats called on all groups and parties in Afghanistan to prepare the ground for immediate opening of dialog among Afghans. It is expected that the peace and reconciliation process would pave the way for the return of Afghan refugees to their homeland, the statement read. It also called on the international community to support a timely and respectful repatriation of Afghan refugees. The four countries' statement came a day after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, a former official and a rival to the incumbent president, signed a power-sharing deal in a bid to put an end to a months-long feud that plunged the country into a political crisis. "The Political Agreement between President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah has just been signed. Dr. Abdullah will lead the National Reconciliation High Council and members of his team will be included in the cabinet," said Sediq Sediqqi, Ghani's spokesman, on Twitter on Sunday. When, after delays over disputed votes, the results of the September 2019 contested presidential election were announced in February by Afghanistan's election commission and Ghani was declared the winner, Abdullah rejected the results, proclaiming himself to be the president-elect. The 59-year-old politician, who served as the chief executive officer of the outgoing administration under an earlier power-sharing deal, then held a parallel swearing-in ceremony in the same day that Ghani held his in March, at a time when the US was trying to hammer out a peace deal with the Taliban militant group to end the 19-year Afghan war. In phone calls to Ghani and Abdullah on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the Islamic Republic welcomes the progress made in the national reconciliation process among all political groups in Afghanistan. During his talks with Afghan political leaders, Zarif assured them that the Islamic Republic is ready to consolidate unity among all groups in Afghanistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday said that 1,972 persons have returned to Mumbai under the Vande Bharat Mission so far. In a statement, the Chief Minister said 1,972 Indians were brought back to Mumbai from 10 countries in 13 special flights, while at least 27 more flights were expected to arrive in the city. 822 of these passengers were from Mumbai itself, 1,025 belonged to other parts of Maharashtra and 125 were from other states, he said. As per the statement, 653 people arrived from London, 243 from Singapore, 150 from Manila, 107 each from San Francisco and Dhaka, 208 from New York, 201 from Kuala Lumpur, 195 from Chicago, two from Kuwait, 78 from Addis Ababa, 12 from Kabul and 16 from Muscat. Travelers were put under institutional quarantine at different hotels in the city or in their home districts, Thackeray said. Residents of other states whose governments haven't given them permission to return home were quarantined in Mumbai, he added. Starting from May 7, India began a phased repatriation of its citizens stranded abroad due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown under the Vande Bharat Mission. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BENZIE COUNTY -- Benzie County will again be asking voters to renew a millage to fund operations at the Benzie County Jail. Approved by the Benzie County Board of Commissioners on April 28, the proposed millage is a renewal and restoration, which will continue the currently levied .8828 mills and restore .0172 mills depleted by the Headlee Rollback Amendment for a total of .9 mills for three years. The original length of the millage was six years, but the county opted to shorten it as officials are looking into the possibility of raising the county's operating millage, which would then cover the jail operations, according to Dan Smith, jail administrator. The jail millage was last approved by voters in 2015. It will appear on the Aug. 4 primary election ballot. Smith and Benzie County Sheriff Ted Schendel said the millage is a big part of the jail's $1.7 million yearly budget. "Our biggest expense is paying medical costs for those in the jail," Schendel said. "The cost of that, like everything, is going up. We try to do our best to ensure the prices don't go up and we contract with companies that can keep the costs low, but there's always that one thing that can happen. We treat everybody inside the facility as best we can, but sometimes people have to go to the hospital." Schendel cited things like pregnancy and childbirth as an instance where inmates would require hospital services. "We have to pay those expenses," Schendel said. "We had the jail suicide earlier, where the man was revived but later died in the hospital. We're responsible for those costs as well." Smith said people on Medicare and Medicaid also lose their benefits if they are incarcerated. Other costs are going up as well. "It's just like operating a hotel," Schendel said. "You've got cleaning supplies, laundry supplies; it's all the cost of doing business. That's why we're asking for the renewal." Smith said the jail also used to get revenue for housing inmates for other counties, but that revenue stream has dried up. "We used to be able to house for other agencies, but they all built new jails," Smith said. "There's no way to recoup some of the money they used to bring in. We used to house for Wexford County, but they built a new jail two or three years ago." Both Smith and Schendel said without the millage the county would be forced to cover the costs of the jail using other resources. "There would be severe cuts everywhere in the county if the jail millage doesn't pass," Smith said. "The state mandates we run a jail." Schendel said normally he and others would be talking to townships and other governing bodies, as well as the public, about the millage, but COVID-19 has made it impossible. "We apologize we don't have the opportunity to go to township meetings and those types of things," Schendel said. "We can't get out directly to the people and answer any questions." Smith said they are grateful for public support. "We're very appreciative of our community that has supported us in the past and we appreciate the continued support," he said. Jail Operations Millage Renewal and Restoration Proposal Fore the sole purpose of continuing to provide funds for Benzie County Jail operations at the same millage level approved by the voters in 2009 and 2015, shall the previously voted increase on the Constitutional limitation upon the total amount of taxes which may be assessed in one (1) year upon all property within the County of Benzie County, Michigan be renewed and continued at 0.8828 of one (1) mill, and shall the previously authorized reduced millage of .0172 of one (1) mill be restored, for a return to the previously voted total limitations increase of 0.9000 mill ($0.90 per $1,000.00 taxable value), and be levied for a period of three (3) years (2021-2023), inclusive? If approved and levied in full, this millage will raise an estimated $1,225,528.39 to fund County Jail Operations in the first calendar year of the levy based upon taxable value. In accordance with State law, a small portion of the millage may be captured by the City of Frankfort Downtown Development Authority and the Benzie County Brownfield Authority. Your browser does not support the audio element. A successful businessman in Ho Chi Minh City, missing for over 100 days, was finally found taking refuge from his spouse. According to the man, his wife was a major source of disgrace and trouble for him. Thuy, the missing husband, is a wealthy 57-year-old entrepreneur. After he disappeared for two months, Thuys wife turned to the help of private investigators, choosing not to seek that of police officers. The suspicious wife Thuys wife, Trinh, contacted a private detective named Hung for help with tracking her husband; however, the investigator immediately became suspicious of her behavior. For one, she waited for two months before deciding to get investigators involved, and she was reluctant to allow the investigators to drop by her villa. Hung made his first appointment with Trinh at 9:00 pm one evening, but he arrived early to see how she would react. She was overtly displeased that the investigator was ahead of schedule. She also seemed to be watching the neighborhood cautiously before she closed the gate. During the interview, the investigator noted that the 55-year-old woman was wearing luxurious jewelry, including a diamond ring worth approximately US$200,000 and a watch worth about US$1,000, and a dress from a well-known designer. She was residing in a villa worth no less than VND35 billion (US$1.5 million), with two brand new cars parked in the garage. According to Trinh, Thuy might have run away with another woman, and the fear of losing face stopped her from contacting local authorities. The three-hour exchange between the detective and his client produced the following facts: Thuy is a talented businessman who made a fortune thanks to both him and his wife. He was not known to gamble, but Trinh said he had a penchant for alcohol and girls. She believed that he had run off with another woman because they had not had relations in over three years. One day in July 2018, the man left for work and never returned. Thuy deactivated his cellphone number, social network accounts, and deleted his email address. His wife contacted relatives from both sides of the family as well as his friends and acquaintances, but no one knew of his whereabouts. A scribbled note made by detectives during their search for Thuy. Photo: Manh Dung / Tuoi Tre Four hypotheses were discussed amongst the detective team: an accident, an abduction, an extramarital affair, or a rogue wife. Hung was most concerned with the last one. He had seen many cases like this before where one spouse murdered the other. Their team ran a thorough analysis of the case and started ruling out unlikely situations. Thuy was known to be a careful person who carried identification with him at all times, so it was unlikely that he was killed in an accident, as no report was ever made of him as a victim. Also, no demands for ransom had appeared in the two months following his disappearance, which means he could not have been kidnapped. For the third hypothesis, Hungs team spent days studying their target to see if he had ever been seen with another woman. They interviewed workers and patrons at coffee places around his villa and dug into his real estate contacts. From what they found, he never hung out with any woman for long, though sometimes Thuy did have young girls coming to join him during parties with partners. According to their information, he tipped the girls generously but never kept one by his side. Investigators also found that Thuy suffered from a reduced sex drive due to diabetes, liver failure, and stomach ulcers. During their investigation, the team found proof pointing to violent domestic disputes between the couple. Neighbors had seen the couple having a row and throwing stuff out of their front gate. The family arguments escalated after their son went abroad for school. Trinh once told her neighbors, Maybe only one of us will remain This quote caused the detective to become suspicious of Trinhs actions. A thorough man Thuy came to Ho Chi Minh City from northern Vietnam around 20 years ago. Starting out as a handyman, he soon found a better job as a real estate agent. He was known amongst friends as a reliable and amiable man. The investigators found that he was involved in the buying and selling of electronic merchandise from China, but it had not been going too well. They suspected something might have happened to the man, as there were previous cases of Vietnamese business people getting into trouble, sometimes fatal, in China. Delving more deeply into Thuys life, the investigators noted that before disappearing, he had taken good care of all financial issues with his partners and had even transferred $25,000 to his son in the States. His local coffee shop said that he had covered his bill the month before he vanished as usual. A scribbled note made by detectives during their search for Thuy. Photo: Manh Dung / Tuoi Tre The bill After another team meeting, they affirmed that it was not likely a case of abduction or murder. They agreed that it could not be a suicide because of the mans even temper. While the team was investigating his drinking habits, they found that Thuy had to give up drinking whisky because of his health issues and recently switched to drinking Sauvignon wine from Chile. Hung found a pile of bills in the mans personal reading from a wine store in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. He visited the store posing as a wine expert. After a brief exchange with the seller, Hung found out that Thuy still placed regular orders, and recently the wine had been shipped to an address in Long Thanh District, located in the southern province of Dong Nai. Knowledge about Thuy's drinking habits was key to finding the man's whereabouts. Photo: Manh Dung / Tuoi Tre Hung found Thuy at the address, and the two spent the night confiding in each other. It turned out that the businessman simply fled. He said that his wife would scold him badly every time he got drunk after a business trip. She once even barged into a pub, tossed a plate of food straight into his face, and verbally abused him in front of his partners. Thuy stated that he was simply trying to find some solace, fearing if he stayed, it would have ended in a divorce or a gruesome scene. In the end, the man and his wife reconciled, putting a stop to Hungs bizarre 45-day investigation. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! It's hard out there. And, in this time of uncertainty, USA TODAY is working to find answers to your money questions anything from stimulus checks or unemployment benefits to your 401(k) or retirement plans. You can submit your questions here and read earlier answers below. We will be updating the Q&A, so check back often. But, also look to these places: We answer your coronavirus money questions. Will I still be eligible for the extra $600 after my unemployment benefits run out? It depends. The $600 weekly benefit may still be paid after someone's state unemployment runs out, depending on the circumstances that cause that person to remain unemployed, according to Christina Taylor, head of operations at Credit Karma Tax. If you were laid off by your employer due to the pandemic, you're not in a COVID-19 high risk group, and your employer has called you back to work and you don't go back, you will no longer receive state unemployment benefits, she says. You would also no longer receive the extra $600 per week benefit you'd been receiving up until that point. This is because choosing to be unemployed or not going back to work when your place of work is no longer closed due to the virus is not normally a qualifying reason for PUA benefits. If you were furloughed by your employer due to COVID-19 and you were called back to work, but you can't go back because your child's school or summer child care program is closed due to COVID-19, you would most likely still qualify for PUA benefits until the end of July 2020 or when your child's care provider opens back up, whichever comes earlier, Taylor says. Jessica Menton Follow Jessica on Twitter: @JessicaMenton. Is there a cutoff date to the additional $600 payment? Story continues The extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits will expire after July 31, if the Senate doesnt pass the $3 trillion HEROES Act another emergency stimulus package that would extend the additional $600 benefit into January 2021. Jessica Menton Follow Jessica on Twitter: @JessicaMenton. If I resign from my job due to child care because of the COVID-19, am I eligible for unemployment? If you are forced to resign from your job because you have a child that requires care and are unable to obtain child care because your care provider is closed due to the coronavirus, then you may qualify for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, according to Christina Taylor, head of operations at Credit Karma Tax. PUA is the federal portion of unemployment that is an additional $600 per week you can receive in addition to the State Unemployment Assistance you may receive. Every state's unemployment program is different, so it's important to check your state's rules because some states may allow for state unemployment assistance if you're in this situation. If your child would normally be in school, but their school is closed due to the virus, then you could qualify for PUA if you resign due to not having childcare. Once the normal school year is out, however, you would no longer qualify for federal unemployment assistance, unless your child's summer care provider, like a summer camp or a summer babysitter, is also closed due to the pandemic, Taylor says. Jessica Menton Follow Jessica on Twitter: @JessicaMenton. I was recently asked to return to work, but only for a few days a week. Would this affect the extra $600 in unemployment? ... Can I still receive the federal unemployment check due to my drastically cut hours? As long as youre receiving jobless benefits, you should get the additional $600 a week until that component of the federal program ends in July. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Is the Visa debit card I got in the mail my stimulus check? It's likely. Nearly 4 million people are going to receive their Economic Impact Payment via prepaid debit cards, according to the Internal Revenue Service. The prepaid cards, which started rolling out May 18, are being used for some instead of a paper checks. Pay attention if you get a plain envelope in the mail that's marked "Money Network Cardholder Services." The cards are marked Visa debit card, and the back of the card has the logo for MetaBank. No, it's not a scam. You can call customer service at 800-240-8100 to report your lost or stolen card immediately. Your card will be deactivated so nobody can use it. More information here. Susan Tompor Follow Susan on Twitter: @tompor. My husband and I havent received our stimulus check yet. Who do we contact? Answer: The IRS has set up a website to track the status of one's stimulus check. You might want to start at: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment Alfred Miller Follow Alfred on Twitter @alfredfmiller. I received unemployment benefits for four weeks but only one $600 payment. How do I complain? ... I was under the impression the $600 was to be paid with each payment. The $600 federal payments are typically included in the checks being dispensed by state unemployment offices. Email those administrators with a query about your missing payments. You can also try to call. Thats been difficult due to the volume of applicants, but many states have set up call centers to specifically respond to queries related to the coronavirus that operate seven days a week. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. What if I don't qualify for unemployment insurance? Am I still eligible for the $600 weekly federal stimulus? ... My hours have been reduced, plus a 10% salary decrease. If I'm eligible for the extra $600, should I keep certifying with unemployment each week, so that I can receive that or should I stop certifying, as it will be sent to me anyway? If you do not qualify for your states unemployment insurance, you might try applying for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program in your state. The program helps unemployed people who are business owners, self-employed, independent contractors, have limited work history or those not usually eligible for regular state unemployment benefits who are out of business or services are significantly reduced as a direct result of the pandemic. Once you are approved for PUA, the extra $600 would be added, as well. Josh Rivera Follow Josh on Twitter: @Josh1Rivera. I havent worked in over two years, can I receive unemployment? Thats unlikely. Most states require applicants to have worked in the last 12 to 18 months to draw benefits. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. I'm furloughed with no return date, can I collect until the day I retire? ... If I am forced into retirement due to this unknown. If you are at retirement age, you can actually collect unemployment and Social Security benefits at the same time. States no longer reduce unemployment benefits when claimants are also receiving Social Security. However, your Social Security benefits will be greater for every year you can delay until age 70. Also, if you start taking Social Security, you only have one opportunity to withdraw. It must be within 12 months and you must repay all benefits. Alfred Miller Follow Alfred on Twitter @alfredfmiller. Will the additional $600 payment be taxable? Unemployment benefits are taxable income. Unlike the federal stimulus checks, which will reflect as tax credit. Any money you receive from the federal or state government unemployment fund is included in your gross income and taxed at your ordinary income rate. ... Do we have to pay back the $600 weekly federal disbursements when we claim unemployment? Will we need to pay it back when we return back to work? You will have to pay taxes on that move as it is counted as taxable income. (We are also looking to talk to people who have gotten additional unemployment insurance checks that they didn't claim. If you or someone you know has had this experience, please fill this form and a reporter will contact you.) Josh Rivera Follow Josh on Twitter: @Josh1Rivera. I qualified for unemployment from three part-time jobs. I've been offered a new part-time position. I know my unemployment will be reduced but will I lose the extra $600? ... All my jobs in California were affected by the COVID-19. Two of these businesses are closed indefinitely and I was laid off from the other. Answer: As long as you are certifying each week and receiving your states unemployment insurance check, the $600 federal will be added, regardless of the amount on your states check. Josh Rivera Follow Josh on Twitter: @Josh1Rivera. If I was getting $800 a week on unemployment, and landed a seasonal job paying $500 a week, do I still certify every week? Depending on your state laws, and how long the job will last, you can pause your unemployment insurance for a few weeks while youre employed, and then go back to certifying. In any case, you should report that you are employed for whatever time it is. You do not want to be in a situation where your claim is classified as fraud. Josh Rivera Follow Josh on Twitter: @Josh1Rivera. How long will I receive unemployment and how long will I receive the extra federal $600? Answer: It depends on where you live. Workers in most states are eligible for up to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits from regular state-funded unemployment compensation, but some states allow for fewer weeks. Under a new federal law, you can receive an extra $600 per week from April 5, 2020 until July 31, 2020. Michael Collins Follow Michael on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS. I was laid off only a week. Would I be eligible for the $600 federal unemployment bonus? If so, I never received it, how can I request it? If you qualified for unemployment benefits in your state, you should be eligible for the extra $600 per week. Check with your local unemployment office. Michael Collins Follow Michael on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS. Why is the status of the IRS Get My Payment tool listed as: 'No Payment Information is Available'? ... I filed my 2018 tax return and owed money. But I did not file my 2019 tax return. I fall within the income guidelines to receive a $1,200 check. Ken Milani, professor of accountancy at the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, notes that the IRS doesnt have the information it needs to make a direct deposit of the stimulus payment when youve owed money on that 2018 tax return. The IRS had a noon May 13 deadline to use Get My Payment at IRS.gov to supply direct deposit information. Susan Tompor Follow Susan on Twitter: @tompor. How can I know if my direct deposit is right? Everybody who receives a stimulus check will also get a letter from the IRS. The letter will tell you how much stimulus money you received and whether the money was sent by direct deposit or paper check. It also will explain how you can alert the IRS if anything needs to be corrected. Michael Collins Follow Michael on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS. Will I get my CARES relief if the bank account on file with the IRS is closed and charged off? I checked the IRS website to see where my payment is and it said it was deposited in that account. Ken Milani, professor of accountancy at the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, suggests that you first contact the bank to see what happened there. If the bank has the money, be prepared to verify your identity. Most likely, the money may have been returned to the IRS. The IRS states at its Economic Impact Payments Information Center, Question No. 33, that: If the account is closed or no longer active, the bank will reject the deposit and you will be issued a check that will be mailed to the address we have on file for you. This is generally the address on your most recent tax return or as updated through the United States Postal Service (USPS). You do not need to call the IRS to change your Payment method or update your address at this time. In addition, the IRS states: As required by law and for security reasons, a letter about the Payment will be mailed to each recipients last known address within 15 days after the Payment is made. The letter will provide information on how the Payment was made and how to report any failure to receive the Payment. Susan Tompor Follow Susan on Twitter: @tompor. I don't have the same bank account as I did in 2018. I was issued a stimulus check, minus back child support. Where is the remaining money and where will the IRS send it? According to the IRS, if a stimulus check is sent to a recipient through direct deposit and the bank information is invalid or the bank account has been closed, the bank will reject the deposit. At that point, the IRS will mail the payment as soon as possible to the address they have on file for you, typically within 14 days. You can learn more about accessing your payment through the GetMyPayment page on the IRS web site. Ledyard King Follow Ledyard on Twitter @LedgeKing. I'm a health care worker. Can I qualify for unemployment if my coworker has tested positive for COVID-19 and I now fear working at the facility? My coworker may have gotten Covid-19 from a patient at his second job. Because of this, I fear that I have been exposed to the virus and that if I continue to work at the facility, I will continue to be exposed. Generally, you can only qualify for unemployment if you lost your job due to COVID-19, youve left your job to take care of family member whos been infected, or youre quarantining on the advice of a health-care provider and youre unable to perform your duties. The U.S. Department of Labor recommends that if you believe your employers response to the possible spread of COVID-19 creates a serious safety hazard or if you think your employer is not following federal work safety standards, you can file a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Ledyard King Follow Ledyard on Twitter @LedgeKing. I file my taxes thru TurboTax and get refunds on a debit card. Will my stimulus funds be deposited to the card? Like many things relating to the Economic Impact Payments, there does not appear to be a clear cut answer here. TurboTax said: We are seeing some TurboTax customers who chose to receive their refund on a debit card get their stimulus payments to these accounts. Any TurboTax debit card customer who receives a stimulus payment from the IRS to that account, will receive that stimulus payment without delay or fees. At the same time, TurboTax recommends that people check the IRS Get My Payment tool to find out how they will receive their stimulus payment from the IRS and when. TurboTax noted that the IRS is responsible for determining taxpayer eligibility of receiving a stimulus and, if a taxpayer is eligible, how and when the stimulus payments will be delivered to them. The IRS is asking people to submit direct deposit information by noon May 13 at Get My Payment at IRS.gov before a steady flow of paper checks will be issued. Susan Tompor Follow Susan on Twitter: @tompor. How exactly do you return a stimulus check that was sent to a dead person? ... A family member just received her stimulus benefit via direct deposit. Thing is, shes been dead for three years. Are we required to give the money back? Here's what the IRS said people need to do if they must return an Economic Impact Payment, such as one issued to a deceased person. If the payment was a paper check: Write "Void" in the endorsement section on the back of the check. Mail the voided Treasury check immediately to the appropriate IRS location listed below. Don't staple, bend, or paper clip the check. Include a note stating the reason for returning the check. And if you cashed that paper check already, or you received the stimulus money via direct deposit, the IRS said you should: Submit a personal check, money order, etc., immediately to the appropriate IRS location listed at IRS.gov. Write on the check/money order made payable to U.S. Treasury and write 2020EIP, and the taxpayer identification number (Social Security number, or individual taxpayer identification number) of the recipient of the check. Include a brief explanation of the reason for returning the EIP. The IRS could try to charge you interest and penalties at some point if you do not return the money. Susan Tompor Follow Susan on Twitter: @tompor. I was claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return. Can I file my own 2019 return and receive stimulus check? If you were claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return for 2019, you are out of luck for now. However, the stimulus payments are technically an advance credit on your 2020 taxes, so you could possibly claim the payment when you file your 2020 returns early next year, as long as someone else does not claim you as a dependent for 2020. Michael Collins Follow Michael on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS. Does the extra $600 added to your weekly unemployment affect your maximum benefit amount? No. The maximum benefit is based on your previous income. The $600 is an extra that the unemployed can receive through the end of July. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. I was released from prison last year and have been trying to find a job. Do I qualify for any benefits under the new programs? ... The jobs I qualify for are considered nonessential and it's dangerous to be out trying to find work right now while taking care of my elderly brother. We are receiving food stamps. You may be eligible for a stimulus payment once you file a 2019 tax return. Current inmates cannot get a payment, but ex-offenders can qualify, even if they have no income. If you do not file with the IRS right now, you could be eligible for the stimulus payment when you file a 2020 return next year. You also may be eligible for unemployment benefits, including the additional $600 per week in enhanced benefits that the federal government has approved to help mitigate the financial impact of the coronavirus. Rules for unemployment benefits vary from state to state, but to qualify, you usually need to be actively looking for work and cannot turn down a job offer. Michael Collins Follow Michael on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS. I haven't gotten my stimulus check. Can I still get one? The first thing to check is if you qualify to receive a stimulus check under the CARES Act guidelines. If you do, it's important to remember that the government is sending out the payments in installments. Payments were prioritized in order from lowest income to highest income. For those with direct deposit information on file with the IRS, payments began going out on April 10. And last week to Social Security beneficiaries, railroad retirees and veterans who arent required to file a tax return, which will continue through May. While the IRS started mailing checks in late April to those who qualify but do not have direct deposit information, that process might take several months. Sarah Skidmore Associated Press What do I do if I get an error message when tracking my stimulus check? The IRS updated its "Get My Payment" tool to fix some headaches. But some people continue to get error messages in some cases. The IRS advises that you go back and check your most recent tax return or consider whether there is a different way to enter your street address (for example, 123 N Main St vs 123 North Main St). "You may also verify how your address is formatted with the U.S. Postal Service by entering your address in the USPS ZIP Lookup tool, and then enter your address into Get My Payment exactly as it appears on file with USPS," the IRS said. Susan Tompor Follow Susan on Twitter: @tompor. What is being discussed for the unemployed keeping heath care at a reasonable price? If you had health coverage through your employer and lost your job, or if you received coverage as the dependent of someone who lost their job due to the pandemic, you could qualify for a special enrollment period to access the Affordable Care Acts health exchange. If your lack of coverage is not related to the virus, then you have to wait until the fall to access the exchange. Regardless, anyone is eligible to receive a free COVID-19 test even if theyre not insured. Ledyard King Follow Ledyard on Twitter @LedgeKing. What if I did a paper return. How does that affect my stimulus? Electronic filers are generally getting their money before those who mailed in their latest tax return because its easy to transfer the money to bank accounts they have on record. Regardless of how you filed, you can track your expected payment using the IRS Get My Payment tool. The timing of checks for those who filed paper returns last year is being complicated by the IRS' decision to stop processing paper returns due to COVID-19. That means theres a delay not only in issuing checks but in determining how much youre eligible to receive. Ledyard King Follow Ledyard on Twitter @LedgeKing. Do you get the extra $600 federal unemployment assistance per week? ... or $600 every two weeks added to your unemployment benefits? You will receive $600 a week. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. My husband was laid off for two and a half weeks due to COVID-19 and he did get his unemployment. Will he receive the extra $600 for the time he was off? ... We live in New York. He went back to work the last two days of last week. Depending on when states entered an agreement with the federal government, the additional $600 benefit could be retroactive back to March 28. And so yes, he should be able to get the extra $600 payment. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. I was on vacation when the pandemic started. I'm unable to return home. Can I file for unemployment? ... I have an autoimmune disease. My employer is considered essential, but they have reduced hours for others. Situations like this will likely be handled on a case by case basis. Employers have, of course, the right to protest a claim. But states are encouraging employers to make accommodations for individuals with health risks, whether its allowing them to work from home or in a safe work environment. If thats not possible, then such individuals could be eligible for unemployment insurance. Alfred Miller Follow Alfred on Twitter @alfredfmiller. As a person in early pregnancy, the CDC says stay home. Is my employer supposed to pay my salary? It depends on whether your employer is required to offer paid leave. Large employers and very small ones generally arent required to offer it. You should check directly with your company. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. My husband is in the national guard and might get called to active duty. If he gets called and I have to stay home with our child, do I still qualify for unemployment? ... I wont lose my job because I'm an essential employee, but I will have to step away or lose hours due to our child being out of school. The CARES Act allows people who must stay home because their childs school or day has been closed due to the coronavirus to receive some financial assistance. You can apply for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) for your state. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. My boss is hiring people to replace those of us who were laid off. He also ordered existing employees' hours to be reduced by half! Is that legal? ... How can we find out if he applied for the paycheck loan? He said he was but we don't trust him. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) does not require businesses to rehire the same people that were laid off. It only requires that the loan will be forgiven if at least 75% of the total amount is spent on personnel with the remainder on work-related costs, such as rent, mortgage or utilities. If you believe your boss has acted improperly or illegally, you could contact your local or state labor agency to file a complaint. Ledyard King Follow Ledyard on Twitter @LedgeKing. Can still receive unemployment if I owe an over payment of unemployment? Different states may handle this situation differently. But its generally not the states desire to be punitive. In Kentucky, for example, the state is offering individuals who find themselves in this situation the opportunity to negotiate the amount that is withheld from their current benefits until the debt is paid back. Alfred Miller Follow Alfred on Twitter @alfredfmiller. I was hired, but the company said it couldnt bring me onboard because of COVID-19. Am I eligible for any benefits under the CARES Act? Yes, under the CARES Act, people who lost jobs due to the coronavirus before they could start them can get financial assistance. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Im a new immigrant who got here at the end of 2019 and have not found a job yet. I havent filed my 2019 taxes, am I eligible for the stimulus check? If you are a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident or a qualified resident alien, you are eligible for the payment. You do not need to have a job or other income to qualify. However, you first must provide the IRS with some payment information. You can do that by filling out the form for non-filers here. Michael Collins Follow Michael on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS. Can we receive money or food? My husband was laid off from a restaurant in California and I also cant work as a massage therapist. ... I applied for unemployment benefits on March 16 and still dont receive any response or money. How can we can survive? Various organizations are offering more immediate assistance, including some specific to restaurant workers like chef Edward Lees Restaurant Workers Relief Program. That particular organization is distributing food and supplies from locations across the country, including Sqirl in Los Angeles. Food bank Second Harvest also provides search tool for people seeking aid near them: https://www.shfb.org/get-food/. Additionally, Feeding America helps people identify local food banks across the nation. Alfred Miller Follow Alfred on Twitter @alfredfmiller Would I be eligible for unemployment if I haven't had a job in 7 months? I had to quit to care for my mother. I'm currently looking for work. How unemployment benefits are calculated varies by state, but even those who dont qualify for unemployment are automatically considered for the new Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program that was created as part of the CARES Act. PUA aids people who are unable to work due to the coronavirus pandemic but do not qualify for traditional unemployment insurance. The PUA benefit rate is based on recent earnings, with recipients also getting the additional $600 per week. Alfred Miller Follow Alfred on Twitter @alfredfmiller I am the director of a small business whose employees were furloughed. With the extra $600 a week plus state unemployment benefits, several people will be earning more on unemployment than working. Bringing staff back at their regular wage through the Paycheck Protection Program will result in them earning less than they are getting on unemployment. This doesn't seem right. Why would they return? Several Republican senators brought up the very same issue during the debate on the first stimulus bill passed in March, saying it would encourage some people to collect unemployment rather than work. But both the Trump administration and most Democrats argued the $600 boost was necessary because unemployment benefits alone in many states would not restore their full pay before the crisis. They dont believe most workers, such as front-line health care responders, would choose staying home over staying on the job. Ledyard King Follow Ledyard on Twitter @LedgeKing If you did not qualify for unemployment in your state because you haven't worked long enough, can you still get the $600? Yes, the federal government has created the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. It aids people who are unable to work due to the coronavirus pandemic but do not qualify for traditional unemployment insurance. People who dont qualify for unemployment are automatically considered for PUA. The PUA benefit rate is based on recent earnings, with recipients also getting the additional $600 per week. Alfred Miller Follow Alfred on Twitter @alfredfmiller Will parents of college students get the $500 in stimulus money? No, people aged 17 and older who can be claimed as someone elses dependent are left out of the plan. In other words, many college students won't receive the $1,200 and their status won't entitle their parents to receive an additional $500. Alfred Miller Follow Alfred on Twitter @alfredfmiller I got divorced in February. But I filed jointly for taxes in 2019 with my former spouse and our combined income was $170,000. Do I qualify for assistance? An individual can go to the IRS and attempt to pursue a matter like this at https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment. Alfred Miller Follow Alfred on Twitter @alfredfmiller Will my stimulus check be taxed? No. Stimulus checks arent taxable income. The checks are refundable tax credits, according to the Tax Foundation, a tax policy think tank. The credits will be applied to 2020 tax returns, but are advanced to taxpayers now based on their 2019 or 2018 adjusted gross income. Jessica Menton Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessicaMenton. My stimulus check was sent to an account I don't recognize. Where's my stimulus check? While many people received their stimulus deposit, other payments may have gotten inadvertently sent to temporary accounts created during the tax filing process. The IRS said it is moving to provide additional information and resolve any issues as soon as possible. After you file your taxes with a tax professional, transfer banks such as MetaBank, Republic Bank and Santa Barbara Tax Product Group set up temporary accounts for taxpayers who want a refund advance or to deduct tax preparation fees from a refund. "Those last four digits on the Get My Payment portal match the transfer provider's information that has been submitted to the IRS," said Natalie Parchment, a tax preparation consultant. Dalvin Brown and Jessica Menton Follow Dalvin on Twitter @dalvin_brown and Jessica on @JessicaMenton. Will the additional $600 unemployment payment be taxable? Yes. Unemployment benefits are considered taxable income, according to the IRS. Those benefits typically last for 26 weeks, but Congress added 13 additional weeks on top of that for a total of 39 weeks. Unemployed workers will get an extra $600 per week of unemployment benefits on top of their unemployment checks, which will be paid retroactively to March 29 or when you became unemployed. Jessica Menton Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessicaMenton. If my income is higher in 2020, will I have to pay back my stimulus check? No. If the amount of the credit a taxpayer qualifies for in 2020 is less than it was based on their 2019 return, it doesnt have to be paid back, according to the Tax Foundation. If your income is less in 2020, you will receive the difference of the credit if it is in your favor. If your income drops this year, for instance, youll be eligible for any remaining credit that you werent able to claim using your 2019 or 2018 return. Jessica Menton Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessicaMenton. How do you file for unemployment if you were supposed to start a job but it fell through because of the coronavirus? ... I was supposed to start a job in New York State but I live in Pennsylvania, with which state do I apply for unemployment insurance? You should apply in the state where you were supposed to work. You might be able to get documentation from your prospective employer stating that the job was impacted by the virus. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Is the $600 from the federal government retroactive? ... I have been out of work since March 17 and my wife applied for unemployment on March 18, before the CARES act. Answer: Depending on when your state entered into its agreement with the federal government, the $600 payment could be retroactive back to March 28. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Will I get a stimulus check if I defaulted on my student loans? Under the CARES Act, the government wont withhold the money you owe for defaulted federal student loans out of your payment. It blocks the IRS from garnishing your tax refund for those late loan payments. Also, the government won't ding your wages or withhold social security payments for six months under the relief package. ... What if my tax refund was already garnished? If your tax refund was withheld because you defaulted on a federal student loan on or after March 13, which was the day President Donald Trump declared a national emergency, it will be returned to you, according to the Department of Education. That also applies to garnished wages and withheld Social Security benefits. ... Does it apply to private loans? No. Private debt collectors could still garnish student loan debts. If you have trouble paying, contact your lender for options. Jessica Menton Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessicaMenton. Will my stimulus check be affected if I owe taxes? ... or child support? ... or overdue on student loan payments? While the CARES Act suspends debts like overdue student loans or back taxes that typically lead to the garnishment of tax refunds, it doesn't apply to delinquent child support payments. That means the government's relief checks will still be garnished if you're overdue. And some spouses who are filing joint tax returns with their late-paying partners are upset their stimulus money is being trimmed or withheld, even if they typically qualify for relief in situations like tax refunds. Even if your spouse is solely responsible for the debt, a shared tax refund or stimulus check could be at risk. .... If I owe child support, does the stimulus money go to my ex? The stimulus payment that is reduced or withheld by the child support owed will go to the appropriate collecting office for the taxpayer's state. From there, that collecting office will issue the money to the custodial parent, the person due the child support. More information here. Jessica Menton Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessicaMenton. When will I get my stimulus check? The Internal Revenue Service is expected to launch an online tool as soon as Wednesday to get a better clue on when you'll see your Economic Impact Payment via IRS.gov/eip. The IRS said the tool will let you go online to check the status of a payment, including the date it's scheduled to be deposited or mailed. If you do not see the money in your bank account in two weeks, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said you can go to IRS.gov to see "Get My Payment." If you filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return and did not receive a stimulus payment, he said, make sure to have your tax return information available to use at the "Get My Payment" tool later this week. Susan Tompor Follow Susan on Twitter: @tompor. Is that money in my account my stimulus check? Taxpayers are telling their friends, and yes, posting news on social media, that they're already seeing stimulus cash arrive in their bank accounts. Some consumers spotted the first direct deposits as early as Saturday; others started seeing more information as of Monday. The IRS even tweeted Saturday evening that the agency deposited the first Economic Impact Payments into bank accounts on Saturday. Some people in Michigan who checked their bank accounts online in the past few days spotted that $1,200 or more will be available in their bank accounts as of April 15. Interestingly: The wording being used is "IRS Treas 310" (cut-in Michigan) so don't expect to see words like "stimulus checks" or "recovery rebate" or "economic impact payment" on your bank statement. Susan Tompor Follow Susan on Twitter: @tompor. Will Social Security recipients receive a stimulus check? Social Security beneficiaries and other Americans who havent filed income taxes for the past two years wont have to take any extra steps to receive one-time checks. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the IRS will use Social Security data to generate payments to recipients who did not file tax returns in 2018 or 2019. Michael Collins Follow Michael on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS. Will people in retirement get a stimulus check? As long as your adjusted gross income in 2019 was no more than $99,000 (if you file separately) or $198,000 (if you file jointly), you will receive some money. The law does not make a distinction between those who are working and those who are retired. Ledyard King Follow Ledyard on Twitter @LedgeKing. One of my workers is asking if they can go on unemployment and not work because he is living with two elderly people. Can he do this? ... We have work for him, however, he does not want to work due to the chances of infection towards his elderly roommates. If your employee has a specific reason to worry he may have been exposed to the virus and needs to stop work, he could be eligible for benefits. If not, quitting and filing for such benefits without cause can be deemed fraud by federal officials. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. I have a military pension, am I still eligible for unemployment from a civilian job? ... If so, will my benefits be reduced due to the pension? Yes, you should be eligible for unemployment and a military pension should not offset it. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. I just started my job and have not received any commission. How do I file for unemployment with no proof of income? You may qualify for state benefits if the reason you havent been able to get your new business off the ground is because of the coronavirus crisis, such as a government-ordered shut down or the need to care for a child whose school has closed, says Andrew Stettner, a senior fellow with the Century Foundation, a nonprofit think tank. She can apply for relief under the CARES Act and should prepare to demonstrate what she did in regard to her business and how COVID-19 affected it. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. How do I apply for the new small business loan to pay my rent and my employees? Small businesses (those with 500 and fewer employees) can apply for a loan under the Small Business Administrations Paycheck Protection Program that will cover eight weeks of operations and be fully forgiven if at least 75% of the money is used for payroll and the rest is for other other business-related expenses (such as rent/mortgage and utilities). Youll have to download this form and then find an eligible lender, such as an SBA-certified local bank or commercial lender. You can still borrow the money if you dont meet the 75% payroll requirement but youll have to pay it back with 1% interest within two years. Ledyard King Follow Ledyard on Twitter @LedgeKing. If I am afraid to go to work but haven't been laid off due to coronavirus, can I quit and collect unemployment? No. Not unless you can show you were possibly exposed to the virus. Guidance in regard to the federal relief act specifically states that quitting a job without cause to get benefits would be deemed fraud. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Do I need to apply for the $600 extra federal unemployment? You do not have to apply separately for the $600 federal unemployment check. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Thinking about a small business loan to pay our employees, could that impact their unemployment claims? At least 75% of the Paycheck Protection Program loan must be spent on payroll in order for it to be completely forgiven. If workers file for unemployment, that could compromise the small business or nonprofit organization's ability to meet the requirement. Ledyard King Follow Ledyard on Twitter @LedgeKing. I got unemployment but my employer now wants to cover our salaries with the CARES stimulus. Do I have to cancel unemployment? If you are getting your full pay, you are not eligible for unemployment benefits. Typically, you have to check in every week to let the state know you remain unemployed in order to continue getting assistance. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. My employer reduced my salary, can I apply for partial unemployment? Yes. If the pay cut is related to the COVID-19 pandemic, you should be able to get some financial assistance. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Should I withdraw money from my 401 (k)? Pulling funds from retirement accounts out of fear isnt the best immediate course of action, wealth advisors say. Its a case-by-case basis. Do you have emergency savings? Are there opportunities to refinance student loan debt, mortgage or car payments? Investors should take advantage of lower rates first before they tap into their retirement funds, experts say. More information on 401 (k) and the CARES Act here. Jessica Menton Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessicaMenton. I was furloughed and after applying for unemployment benefits, got two part-time temporary jobs. Am I now disqualified from any benefits? You are not automatically disqualified from receiving benefits. However, the amount you would receive will be reduced due to the part-time income, and in some states, you may be earning too much, according to Andrew Stettner with The Century Foundation. You need to check with your state. And a word of caution: You cannot quit working without cause to boost your benefits. You would lose your financial assistance, and could be determined to have committed fraud. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Will homeowners get relief with mortgages? The CARES Act gives homeowners with federally backed loans two types of relief. First, it prevents lenders from beginning foreclosure proceedings on federally backed loans for at least 60 days after March 18. Second, homeowners who experienced financial hardship from the pandemic can request a forbearance for up to 180 days, which may be extended for an additional period of up to six months if borrowers are still under financial duress. ... How can I postpone my mortgage payments? To receive forbearance through the CARES Act, you must contact your loan servicer. There wont be any additional fees, penalties or interest added to your account through this deferment, but regular interest will still accrue. Jessica Menton Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessicaMenton. Will adults with disabilities, who are dependents on a caregivers' tax returns, receive a stimulus check? No. The new law that set up the stimulus check program says that individuals who are claimed as dependents by someone else are not eligible for a stimulus check. Michael Collins Follow Michael on Twitter @mcollinsNEWS. Can I apply for unemployment benefits for a second, part-time job? Losing a second job makes you eligible for partial unemployment insurance. States have different rules regarding part-time positions, but the federal CARES Act does say part-time workers who are affected by the ramifications of COVID-19 can get assistance. Check with your state, but you should be able to get some aid. ... I work 2 part time jobs, one of which I had my hours cut way back. I am still working about 20 hours a week in one job. Can I collect unemployment insurance on a part time job? It depends on the state whether part-time workers can receive unemployment benefits. California for instance does pay out such funds. The federal CARES Act also says part-time workers are entitled to assistance if their hours are cut for reasons out of their control. So you may be able to get the $600 federal benefit as well, but again, it's best to check with your state unemployment office Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. When will the $600 federal unemployment check be paid? ... I got my first unemployment check but not the $600. The pipeline for these payments is still unclear. ... Ive been unemployed since January 2020. Is the $600 weekly benefit retroactive from then or just from the date it was announced? Depending on when your state entered into an agreement with the federal government, the $600 weekly benefit could be retroactive back to March 28. It ends July 31. ... Are furloughs eligible for the federal $600? Yes. If the person isn't being paid, they are considered unemployed and can receive that federal assistance. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. My pay is based on commission, can I file for unemployment? Specifically, if your hours have been cut or your office is closed for reasons related to COVID-19, you should be able to receive unemployment benefits. You would file in the state you work. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. My unemployment expired already. Will I be eligible for any benefits now? Yes. If you are still out of work, you should be eligible for the 13 weeks of unemployment benefits that the federal government will pay, along with the extra $600 federal payment per week. ... I've recently exhausted my unemployment about a month ago, but I'm not able to file online due to my initial claim. A lot of websites are unfortunately still catching up with the additional benefits offered by the CARES Act. Reach out to your phone company to tell them your situation. You may be able to get a reprieve on your payment. And continue to call. The log jam will hopefully lessen as more staff is brought in. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Does a moratorium on rent mean I never have to pay rent for that month? No, it just means the rent is deferred. That can leave tenants with several months of back payments due when the emergency is over. Paul Davidson Follow Paul on Twitter @PDavidsonusat What is unemployment insurance and how do I get it? Unemployment insurance is a joint program between the federal government and the states set up to provide some money to people who are trying to get a job but can't find one. The benefit has been expanded by a $2.2 trillion relief package called the CARES Act passed by the federal government last week to help soften the blow of the coronavirus pandemic, which shutting down businesses across the country and forcing layoffs of millions of people. "Every one of the 50 states has an online application system," says Michele Evermore, senior researcher and policy analyst for the National Employment Law Project. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. How much unemployment will I get? The maximum weekly benefit varies by state. For instance, in Florida, it tops out at $275, while in New York the maximum is $504. But under the federal relief law, everyone will get an additional $600 a week until July 31. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. How long do unemployment benefits last? Some states offer fewer weeks of benefits than others. But with unemployment now expanded, anyone who is still out of work when their state benefit period runs out will be able to get payments for an additional 13 weeks from the federal government. Those who worked in states like Florida where the initial period is only 12 weeks, would be eligible for the unemployment insurance specifically pegged to the pandemic which tacks on another 14 weeks. Through these various steps, all those who are out of work will be able to get assistance for up to 39 weeks. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Can I file a jobless claim if I work for myself or in the gig economy? Yes. Independent contractors, freelancers and gig workers will be able to get the same benefits through a new pandemic assistance program established by the CARES act. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. How much stimulus money can I get? If you've already filed your 2019 taxes, the Internal Revenue Service will use those returns to determine your payment. If not, your 2018 returns will be used to calculate your check. Individuals with an adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less will be eligible for a one-time payment of up to $1,200 ($2,400 for joint tax returns) and $500 for each qualifying child. Those with little or no tax liability also will get $1,200 ($2,400 for joint returns). The payments will start to phase out for Americans who earn more than $75,000, or $150,000 for a joint return. The amount you receive will be decreased by 5% of the amount your income exceeds $75,000. You can use this calculator to estimate your check amount. Charisse Jones Follow Charisse on Twitter @charissejones. Do freelancers, gig workers qualify for unemployment? Under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, included in the stimulus bill, freelancers and gig workers can receive half the average unemployment benefit in their state and an extra $600 per week. Coral Murphy-Marcos Follow Coral on Twitter @CoralMerfi What companies are hiring right now? Companies in the health care industry, as well as food, grocer, convenience stores, retail and delivery companies are currently in the process of mass hiring. For a list of the employers, click here. Jazmin Goodwin Follow Jazmin on Twitter @jazminkgoodwin. Ask more questions! This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Can I get the extra $600 if my unemployment runs out? Money Q&A A medical worker takes a swab sample from a man to be tested for COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. (AFP via Getty Images) Wildlife markets in China stack the odds in favour of viruses spreading from animals to humans, a UK scientist has said. John Ball, professor of molecular virology at the University of Nottingham, said animals are being kept cheek-by-jowl in Chinese wet markets. Scientists believe the coronavirus spread from animals to humans in a wet market in the city of Wuhan, China. They think it originated in bats, then passed to another animal which transferred it to humans. Women wearing face masks on a street of Wuhan, China. (AFP via Getty Images) On Tuesday, Prof Ball told the House of Lords science and technology committee: Unusually for this virus, it seems as though it was ready-primed to be able to reasonably and efficiently in fact, very efficiently infect humans and be transmitted. He added: Wherever you have a large mixture of different wild animals being kept close together alive, then there is always the chance that a virus can jump from one to another and acquire some mutations and that those mutations might then enable it to infect humans and then onwardly transmit. It is a lottery for the viruses, it is a game of chance, but you do stack the odds in the favour of the virus if you have lots of these wild animals being kept cheek-by-jowl in these kinds of markets. Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area 6 charts and maps that explain how COVID-19 is spreading Professor David Robertson, head of viral genomics at the of University of Glasgow, told the same committee on Tuesday there is no evidence to back up the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was created in a laboratory in Wuhan. Prof Robertson, who warned that coronavirus will never be eradicated, said the theory, which has been backed by US president Donald Trump, seems unlikely given the emergence of an animal market. He added: "You have a virus that you think comes from an exotic species and then you have a wildlife market that seems the most parsimonious explanation." Story continues He said of the lab theory: "There is really no evidence for this. We can all enjoy a conspiracy theory but you need to have evidence. "I don't think we're clever enough to have designed this virus it's far too unique." On Monday, Tory peer and former home office minister, Lord Blencathra, told a virtual House of Lords debate that China had "lied, lied and lied again" about the COVID-19 pandemic. When this is over there has to be fundamental shift in working relationships with China, he said. UK charity the Bat Conservation Trust said bats had been unfairly blamed for spreading coronavirus. Watch the video below Lisa Worledge, the charitys head of conservation services, said human action should be under scrutiny for the spread of coronavirus, rather than pointing the finger at the animal kingdom. "It isn't bats that have caused this pandemic, it's humans, she said. Its the way we've treated our environment, it's the way we manipulate our environment, it's the way we bring wildlife into contact with other animals that wouldn't happen naturally through the trade in live wildlife, through wildlife markets animals kept together, frightened, stressed these are the conditions which provide a breeding ground. "This pandemic has its origins with human activity. Coronavirus: what happened today Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - The Stock Day Podcast welcomed Cannabis Global, Inc. (OTC: MCTC) ("the Company"), a Nevada registered, fully reporting and audited publicly-traded company. CEO of the Company, Arman Tabatabaei, joined Stock Day host Everett Jolly. The interview began with a brief introduction of the Company's background and growth strategy. "We've taken IP portfolios and turned them into productization, and we're going towards a vertical integration method, if you would, in expanding the company," shared Tabatabaei. Jolly noted that the Company stands out among others in the cannabis industry due to its unique portfolio of intellectual property. "Can you tell us about some of the patents your team has in process, and especially the new formulation that you're working with right now?" asked Jolly. "The roots of our company is our intellectual property," said Tabatabaei. "The overall strategy has been to develop the intellectual property first and then move towards building products around that intellectual property, and finally to engage in some vertical integration," explained Tabatabaei. "We have now filed six provisional patents," continued Tabatabaei. "Simply put, the intellectual property centers on better ways to integrate cannabinoids into foods and beverages," he explained, adding that the Company strives to design chemical-free fusion technologies. "We have also been a leader in polymeric nanoparticles. For a little company, we have developed some truly groundbreaking technologies," shared Tabatabaei. "It's really exciting what we've done and been able to accomplish." Jolly then asked about the Company's monetization strategy. "We're now moving these core patent-pending technologies into product," said Tabatabaei, elaborating on the Company's expanding product list. "We're also super excited about our recent announcement relative to likely being first to the market with THC-V beverages," added Tabatabaei. "The entire concept of the company is to develop the core technologies and then protect those technologies via patents and trademarks, and then to build products around them and introduce the products to the marketplace," said Tabatabaei, adding that the Company is currently following a white label strategy and is getting ready to launch on the RxLeaf.com platform. Story continues Jolly commented on the Company's entrance into the cannabis delivery services market, and asked what listeners and shareholders can expect over the next two to three quarters. "The choice strategy of the company is to become vertically integrated, but you can only be vertically integrated when it makes sense," said Tabatabaei. "We only want to vertically integrate where we have the technology advantage," he continued. "We just signed a Letter of Intent with the Los Angeles delivery company, Whisper Weed. And while we will be able to recognize revenues directly from the deal, we're also very interested in the fact that we'll be able to integrate our core technologies into edible products, and then we'll have the opportunity to sell these edible products into delivery companies for the delivery to the end customers," said Tabatabaei. "We think it's a terrific strategy which will not only allow us to accelerate our revenue growth, but likely even more importantly capture much higher profit margins." To close the interview, Tabatabaei shared that the Company continues to navigate through the challenges of the cannabis market and current circumstances. "We are always upfront, and we always want to stay ahead of the market as much as we can with our technologies. We're always here to answer any questions that anyone may have." To hear Arman Tabatabaei's entire interview, follow the link to the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/posts/7586034-ceo-of-cannabis-global-inc-arman-tabatabaei-discusses-extensive-portfolio-of-ip-with-the-stoc Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of "Stock Day," and Stock Day Media encourages listeners to visit the company's message board at https://investorshangout.com/ About Cannabis Global, Inc. Cannabis Global, Inc. (MCTC) is a Nevada registered, fully reporting and audited publicly-traded company. With the hemp and cannabis industries moving very quickly and with a growing number of market entrants, Cannabis Global plans to concentrate its efforts on the middle portions of the hemp and cannabis value chain. The Company plans to actively pursue R&D programs and productization for exotic cannabinoid isolation, bioenhancement of cannabinoids and polymeric solid nanoparticles and nanofibers for addition into consumer products and for dermal application. The Company was reorganized during June of 2019 and announced its intent to enter the fast-growing cannabis sector. The Company is headed and managed by a group of highly experienced cannabis industry pioneers and entrepreneurs. Forward-looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" which are not purely historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of new business opportunities and words such as "anticipate", "seek", intend", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "project", "plan", or similar phrases may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company's reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-k, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please visit www.sec.gov . For more information, please contact: Arman Tabatabaei, IR@cannabisglobalinc.co (310)-986-4929 Investor Relations: Tiger Global Management www.TigerGMP.com About The "Stock Day" Podcast Founded in 2013, Stock Day is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Stock Day provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. The Stock Day Podcast is the number one radio show of its kind in America. Stock Day recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona. SOURCE: Stock Day Media (602) 821-1102 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56113 Royal New Zealand Air Force Corporal Jo Uncles is experiencing lockdown in a different way to the rest of New Zealand, as part of the New Zealand Defence Force contingent in the Sinai, Egypt. Normally based at RNZAF Base Ohakea where she is a Logistics Specialist, CPL Uncles is a Passport Clerk for the Multinational Force and Observers, which is an international peacekeeping force overseeing the terms of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Thanks to an early introduction of lockdown procedures and isolation of the camps on 10 March, there have been no cases of COVID-19 within the MFO and life has been able to continue relatively normally. Work carries on for the Kiwis, and has kept CPL Uncles busy. Although we have no incoming or outgoing contingents requiring ID and Visa documentation, a lot of personnel who are unable to go home due to border restrictions are requiring renewals to their official documentation. CPL Uncles came from a military background and joined the RNZAF at the age of 45. My parents and most of my siblings all spent time in the military. I found myself in a job which I was not particularly happy in. I decided to try for the military and have never regretted my decision. Having previously deployed for six weeks to Antarctica, CPL Uncles has been in the Sinai for six months. NZDF personnel normally rotate out of missions every six to 12 months, depending on the nature of the deployment. Because of border closures, travel restrictions and other measures imposed to restrict the spread of COVID-19, the Kiwis in the Sinai are waiting to hear when theyll be able to return to New Zealand. Im glad that the NZDF gave me this opportunity to deploy, there are not many grandmothers who would be presented with such a chance. "I have really enjoyed the deployment but I do miss my family and we appreciate all the work everyone is putting in to try and get us home as soon as possible. Additional reporting by Daniel McConnell, Aoife Moore and Juno McEnroe. Ireland, and the world, was a different place on February 9. As the events of that Sunday unfolded across Ireland, a number of things became clear in the context of the previous days general election. The RTE exit poll that indicated a surge of votes for Sinn Fein and the left proved to be true and, with support for themselves and Fianna Fail at historic lows, Fine Gael members were measuring the cushions on the opposition benches. But that was then, and the number of TDs needed for a left-leaning government simply havent materialised, and neither Civil War party wants to talk to Sinn Fein, so a historically unthinkable grand coalition, buttressed by the Green Party and likely a few Independents, is the current most likely government. What a difference a global pandemic makes. Back in February, there was 11bn in fiscal space for parties to pledge to spend in various ways which has morphed into a 30bn deficit, a deficit which will make formulating a programme, not to mention selling it to party members, a tough task. But even in the pre-Covid days, when we went to pubs and nobody argued over reproductive numbers or exactly what constituted two metres, this would have been a difficult programme for government to put together. You might remember that, before the election, before the virus, and before any talks had begun, Ireland had 10,000 homeless people, around 500 people a day on hospital trolleys, and deep dissatisfaction with the raising of the pension age, as well as the twin spectres of Brexit and climate change hanging over us. Our general national stoicism in the face of a global pandemic does not change the fact that post-Covid Ireland will face deep, long-lasting, and engrained problems, ones that would not have been easily fixed even with the financial wiggle room we once had. Negotiating teams from Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, and the Green Party face an unenviable task to draw up a programme for government which can guide the country through the next 12 to 18 months of uncertainty, to the following years of possible recovery that will: Satisfy the demand for change that was spelled out in Februarys election; Put the economy back on a steadier, fairer footing; Not rely on the swingeing austerity meted out during the most recent once-in-a-lifetime economic collapse. In squaring those three circles, it is clear that something, from somewhere, has to give. The Fianna Fail and Fine Gael policy document has committed to neither raising income taxes nor cutting welfare. Both parties want to implement Slaintecare. The Greens want investment in climate transition and housing. Not all of those things can be done at the same time over the next five years. It is possible that borrowing from the European Central Bank can allow workers to keep their take-home pay intact and for social welfare payments at pre-pandemic levels. But it is unlikely that Ireland can make all of the investments it wants in housing, in healthcare, and in pensions while maintaining tax rates as the tax base narrows and demands for welfare rise. Remember, this is a country which built more homes last year than it had in a decade and was still thousands short of meeting demand. This is a country where a generation which suffered mass emigration and unemployment a decade ago still feels left behind. It is a country where rural communities believe the Government is too Dublin-centric and where Dubs point to crowded trams and record rents. It is a country which has made huge strides since 2010 and has an internationally enviable quality of life on paper, but which still has major challenges. And it is the country which these three parties want to govern for the next five years. The question of how to do that when the three can be frequently so far apart on key issues is one that will ask much of those on each negotiating team. Among the Civil War parties, there is some skepticism that the Green Partys agenda helping Ireland play its part in averting a climate catastrophe is incompatible with straitened times. Some the parties rural TDs fear an urban-fixated environmental plan which would wreak havoc on their communities and their constituencies. To even get the Greens to the table, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail had to give assurances that the country would cut its carbon emissions by 7% a year, a figure which caused palpitations among some TDs. But to cast the Greens as an unruly interloper into otherwise agreeable talks would be wrong. There will be pitfalls where Fianna Fail and Fine Gael diverge, with the public sector pay deal set to be one major bone of contention. Fine Gael ministers have already sounded the alarm that planned pay increases for 300,000 public staff are not credible in the current climate. However, Fianna Fail is the party of social partnership, the party of the public servant. Its members reacted poorly to the cabinet members warning, arguing that those frontline and backroom workers who have steered and will continue to steer Ireland through the crisis should not be forgotten. That difference of opinion is no mere trifle that pay deal is likely to amount to hundreds of millions over the lifetime of the agreement and will constitute just another resource which will be fought for by each party. Those discussions and negotiations are where the final shape of the document that is presented to party members will be taken and it is the party who wins them who will have the easiest time selling coalition to its members. But to even get to that stage, there is much more teasing out to be done, many more long days of argument on seemingly small points, and then five years of trying to deliver. As some might say, or not as the case may be, a lot has been done. Theres much more to do and among them are these seven key areas for any prospective programme for government. Taxation: Major battleground in party jostling The area of taxation will without question be one of the major battlegrounds between the parties during government formation talks aimed at forming a programme for government. If and when that government is formed, the annual changing of taxes on budget day in October every year, will see that battleground returned to again and again. Fine Gael has made its position clear as to what it sees the role of tax in helping the economy recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has committed to targeted tax breaks in certain sectors as a means of kickstarting sectors devastated like tourism, manufacturing and hospitality. In their joint framework document, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail committed to no increases in income tax and/or universal social charge and no cuts to established core social welfare rates. Many economists and seasoned political commentators have grave doubt over whether such a promise is still viable. However, expect sparks to fly around the moves to reduce the countrys carbon emissions by 7% annually. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have committed to an increase in the carbon tax, in line with the agreed cross-party trajectory of 80 per tonne by 2030. Will that be enough to satisfy the Green Party? Daniel McConnell Climate: Red-line issue has power to make or break Greens Climate has already proved it will be a continuous bone of contention if these parties end up in cabinet together. The Green Party campaigned on a message of urgent climate calamity, and has made it clear it will only enter government if it can see a clear path to implementing policies to remedy Irelands dire environmental performance. Despite signing up to the 7% reduction in emissions, Fine Gael has now called on the Green Party to educate it on how it can be done a shift of responsibility that wont go unnoticed by Green politicos and the press if it continues in government. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are already coming under significant pressure from their rural members to protect farming, with issues such as culling the national herd and a long-sought after Green policy of banning live exports, repeatedly being labelled a threat to rural Ireland. Likewise, this government formation may depend on the support of various rural Independent TDs, who will reject any major changes to their constituents way of life. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have committed to tackling climate change, but environmental experts and the Green Party have criticised both parties policies on the crisis as tinkering around the edges. This hurdle could be the most difficult one to clear, and the one for which the Green Party electorally, and the nation as a whole, will pay the price for in the event of a disappointing outcome. Aoife Moore Education: Harmonious on supports for those with disability Education hit the headlines at the outset of government formation talks after it was reported that a Fianna Fail policy paper recommended that the party replace the Department of Children to make room for a new Department of Higher Education. The new department is unsurprisingly favoured by leader Micheal Martin, as his party takes pride in its strong reputation and history in expanding education in Ireland. Fianna Fail is likely to jockey for this portfolio in any cabinet that emerges in the coming months for the same reason. Enthusiasm for this new department is unlikely to be mirrored by the other two parties, which are said to be committed to the existing department. All parties say they are committed to reducing pupil-teacher ratios, however as the country stares down the barrel of another recession, this is likely the first can to be kicked down the road, as more pressing matters take hold. Likewise, for the ending of pay inequality in education under the two-tier pay structure that exists. Education Minister Joe McHugh promised to examine the issue during the election but, with a deficit of 30bn, it is unlikely this will remain a top priority. Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, and the Greens have all previously committed to more funding support to people with disabilities in the education system and an increase in capitation payments, which could spell some harmony within the three negotiators, despite pay restraints. Aoife Moore Health: Drastic overhaul needed in virus wake Health is now a lead talking point among the parties. Emergency responses to pandemics such as Covid-19 will have to be included. The HSE made no secret of the need to rip up health plans and of huge reforms needed, especially on how non-virus services such as cancer care will work. This will be costly, alongside new costs such as the estimated 1bn annual bill for personal protective equipment. A priority for all three parties in coalition will be universal healthcare and a one-tier system. After the pandemic forced the Government to take over private health services, there is a sense of no going back, with many saying this could be Irelands NHS, the system that operates in the UK. The Greens also want mental health prioritised, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic. Then Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have pledged in their joint document to increase bed numbers in hospitals and to prioritise paediatric and womens healthcare. With huge bills for virus responses and an expected shift to public and State-paid healthcare, some priorities may be dropped. Juno McEnroe Economy: Lots of time and lots of money to get going again Key to economic recovery after the pandemic will be getting people back to work, keeping businesses open and jump-starting growth again. After Finance Minister Paschal Donohoes comparison last week of the situation being akin to the deep recession of the 1980s, this will all take time. And lots of money. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael jointly propose focusing on business supports and foreign investment, all mapped out through a national economic plan. There will be much borrowing to stimulate growth and that is aside from the estimated 30bn deficit predicted this year. However, how do you do that by not cutting budgets or raising taxes, which the two have promised not to? There is some expectation that remote working may help firms cut costs while there will be a bigger drive to boost rural growth and the circular economy in agriculture, fisheries, and tourism. However, the EUs post Covid-19 so-called Marshall Plan will be central to the recovery, as will the countrys ability to continue to borrow to fight its way out of a deep recession. With such financial debt, plans to defer pension age rises, tax cuts and even some green projects, such as new light rail projects in Cork and Galway, may have to be dropped. The public sector wage bill is also likely to come under scrutiny and other areas that can reduce spending or borrowing. Juno McEnroe Agriculture: Boost for rural Ireland as homework pays off One of the big learnings from the Covid-19 crisis is the ability of many people to work from home successfully. Government formation talks will seek to recognise this as part of a plan to empower and truly rejuvenate rural Ireland. We are likely to see a commitment to mandate public sector employers, colleges, and other public bodies to move to 20% home and remote working in 2021 and provide incentives for private sector employers to do likewise. There is a strong perception that rural Ireland did not recover as fast as Dublin after the last economic crash, and all three parties have spoken of the need to redress this imbalance. It is likely, therefore, that we will see parties commit to prioritising balanced regional development across Ireland in policy-making, ensuring that every part of the country has a chance to prosper. Part of this will be the implementation of the National Broadband Plan. Sources have said there will be a great deal of emphasis placed on recognising the importance of agriculture, fisheries, tourism, and other sectors that support balanced regional development and employment in rural Ireland in the final plan. Daniel McConnell Housing: Parties agree on need for increased supply While all three parties have differed on how to deliver housing in recent years, all three are agreed on one thing: Supply needs to be increased. The Fine Gael-Fianna Fail framework includes a mission named Housing For All. This section of the document pledges to tackle land prices as well as providing a number of stimuli for house building. Also included is putting the Land Development Agency on a legal footing to allow it to deliver affordable, social, and cost-rental housing. However, some in the housing industry have warned this is not the silver bullet that some politicians treat it as. The Greens, for their part, want public lands used to deliver this type of housing. It is likely that the Rebuilding Ireland strategy, the cornerstone of housing policy in Ireland since 2016, will remain in place but that its targets will be reconfigured. The programme is expected to commit to even more ambitious numbers Fianna Fail has said that it wants social housing delivery to top 50,000 by 2025. In 2018, that figure was 8,442. Pilot projects in cost-rental in cities will also likely be included, as well as plans to create a pathway to long-term, secure rental tenancies. Paul Hosford NEW YORK, N.Y. -- District Attorney Micheal McMahon urged the city to weigh the further releasing of violent detainees from the citys jails during the coronavirus pandemic. McMahon told members of the City Councils Committee on Justice System Tuesday that Island prosecutors should not be spending their time responding to extreme calls for unjustified release. Over the course of the pandemic, McMahon said defense attorneys have been petitioning the courts to release defendants accused of committing violent offenses and other serious crimes involving guns, drugs, and domestic violence on almost a daily basis. He accused activists led by the Legal Aid Society and other public defender groups of using the coronavirus crisis to demand the total emptying of our jails. Tragically, this is another example of the plight and suffering of crime victims being utterly dismissed by these activists and the elected officials whom they have co-opted, McMahon said. These groups of well-financed, radical zealots have now demanded the outright release of those convicted or pending trial on violent crimes including homicide, rape, and sexual abuse of children, he said. While it is disheartening, although entirely not surprising, that these so-called advocates would seize on our current health crisis to advance their own agenda, it is the sheer lunacy of their demands that troubles us most. As of May 13, the city has released more than 2,850 inmates from the citys jails during the coronavirus pandemic. The city said it prioritizes the release of prisoners who are over 50-years-old with underlying health conditions including auto-immune, heart and lung diseases, diabetes, and cancer that put them at a greater risk to the virus. McMahons office only hears bail applications for cases where the defendant is charged with committing a crime within the borough. To date, McMahons office said it has received 145 applications for the release of prisoners from the citys jails over the course of the pandemic. Of those applications, 62 have been released while only 16 have received McMahons consent. McMahons office said it was not aware of any Staten Island defendants who have been placed in Island nursing homes or hotels. McMahon recounted an egregious example of Legal Aid attorneys successfully petitioning the court to release a 77-year-old Island defendant who tested positive for the virus on Rikers Island who had been charged with course of sexual conduct against a child for allegedly abusing a minor on multiple occasions. McMahon said despite his objections to the 77-year-old detainees release, city OKed the defendants release and the detainee was placed in a city-run nursing complex on Roosevelt Island, where 70 patients were later infected by the virus. It is unfathomable that the city would place COVID-positive inmates in the same facilities as law-abiding and high risk New Yorkers, but, sadly, this is the state of our current reality, McMahon said. McMahon also voiced his opposition to a bill in the City Council that would put together a local conditional release commission that would determine which people sentenced within the city can be released on conditional release and under what conditions. FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER. *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** An Israeli man was found guilty today of killing a Palestinian family in the West Bank via a firebomb. Amiram Ben-Uliel, a religious Jew from an outpost outside an Israeli settlement, was convicted of murder, attempted murder and arson, according to The Times of Israel. In 2015, Ben-Uliel threw a Molotov cocktail into the home of the Dawabsha family, killing an 18-month-old baby boy and his two parents, and injuring their other son. The murder prompted outrage in both Israeli and Palestinian society. The deaths led to a monthslong uprising in the West Bank and clashes between Palestinians and Israel security forces there. Ben-Uliels case is one of the prominent examples of recent Jewish religious extremism in the country. Ben-Uliel was part of the hilltop youth, some of whose members have sought to overthrow the Israeli government and usher in the coming of the Messiah. Part of the plan was removing all non-Jews from the land that was once the biblical Jewish kingdom. Some far-right nationalists in Israel, in addition to Ben-Uliels lawyers, argued that Israels domestic security agency, the Shin Bet, extracted false confessions from him. The Shin Bet defended its conduct, calling it an important landmark in the struggle against Jewish terrorism, Reuters reported. The West Bank has been fought over for decades. Most of the international community regards it as Palestinian territory. Past peace negotiations deemed it to be part of a future Palestinian state. The area is strategically located between the Dead Sea and Israels Mediterranean coast. Israel took the West Bank from Jordan during the 1967 war. The land is considered part of the historic Land of Israel by many Jews, and the Israeli government started building Jewish settlements in the territory shortly after the war, despite Palestinian opposition. Israels new unity government may annex parts of the territory to Israel this year. The territory continues to be the scene of violence. Hilltop youth attacked Palestinians in the West Bank during the coronavirus lockdown in April. Last week, an Israeli soldier died after being hit in the head with a rock during a raid in the West Bank. Ben-Uliel was not convicted of a charge of belonging to a terrorist organization. NORTH HAVEN Republicans have endorsed Paul Cicarella for the 34th District state Senate race. At the Republican nominating convention held virtually Monday, North Haven First Selectman Mike Freda nominated Cicarella; state Sen. Len Fasano, who isnt seeking reelection to the seat, seconded. Republicans unanimously supported Cicarellas nomination at the convention. District 34 includes North Haven, East Haven, Wallingford and Durham. While the current situation has made it difficult to meet with people face to face, the enthusiasm and excitement is clearly all around us, Cicarella said in a release. I hope I will soon be able to meet with and talk to many more residents of North Haven, East Haven, Wallingford and Durham about how I plan to build a better and brighter future for our communities and our state. Connecticut needs to put people before politics. Now more than ever, we need to look at common sense solutions to address the real-life challenges working- and middle-class families face every day. Cicarella said he was honored to earn unanimous support from the convention. Fasano, who has led the Republican caucus since 2014, announced in early April he wouldnt seek reelection. Now more than ever Connecticut needs lawmakers who will listen to the public, hear their voices, and fight for whats right, Fasano said. Our community is so lucky to have Paul, who is beyond ready to tackle that challenge and give our residents a strong voice in Hartford. He cares deeply about our state and our local towns and has a clear vision for a better and brighter future. I am honored that he is stepping up to run for the seat I have long held and loved serving. The 34th District will be in great hands with Paul as its next state senator. Cicarella said he is committed to carrying forward Fasanos legacy in the Senate. I love our state. I grew up here and Im raising my family here, Cicarella said. Now more than ever we need to continue the good work of people like Senator Fasano to strengthen our state, create opportunity for all people to succeed, and address the unique challenges that lie ahead. Cicarella is vice chairman of North Haven Republican Town Committee and a member of the towns Zoning Board of Appeals. He lives in North Haven with his wife, Christy, and their two children, Giada and Paul. Paul is an outstanding candidate whose focus, discipline and business background are complemented by a fine set of interpersonal skills to serve our citizens, Freda said in a release. His background in implementing solid financial management skills will also be a great benefit to us in the 34th District and our state. I am so thankful to the hundreds of residents who have supported me in such a short period of time, Cicarella said. So many people are engaged and excited about this campaign and believe in a vision for a stronger Connecticut. I am honored to be working to make that vision a reality and am grateful for the strong community support. Two Democrats are also vying for Fasanos seat. Wallingford resident Aili McKeen, who won a Democratic primary against East Havener Josh Balter in 2018 and then took 41.5 percent of the vote against the powerful Fasano in her first run for public office in November 2018, and former East Haven Mayor April Capone, who now lives in North Haven, both have filed paperwork to run. The Democratic nominating convention was to be held Tuesday. mdignan@hearstmediact.com People have been home for many weeks now, under what some states call shelter-in-place orders, others call stay-at-home orders, and New York state calls PAUSE. No one term is better than another, though, as weve written, shelter in place has different interpretations depending on the situation. Some people are also in quarantine, staying in one place and avoiding all contact with other people while they wait to see if they have COVID-19, or trying to recover from it without giving it to anyone else. Quarantine has a long history and has had several meanings. Originally, quarantine meant the place where Jesus went to fast for forty days. The Oxford English Dictionary traces that usage in English to 1470 or so. About fifty years later, the OED says, quarantine was used for A period of forty days during which a widow who is entitled to a dower is supposed to be assigned her dower and has the right to remain in her deceased husbands chief dwelling. About 100 years after that, quarantine was A period of forty days set aside or used for a specific purpose, as penance or service; a set of forty (days). Do you see the pattern? While those uses are now considered obsolete, they have one thing in common: forty days. NEW AT CJR: Covering anti-lockdown protests Sign up for CJR 's daily email People who speak French, Italian, or Latin are probably saying to themselves, Hmmm. qua In those languages, forty is quarante, quaranta, and quadraginta, respectively. The OED says quarantine is borrowed partly from French, partly from Latin. But the Italians (maybe) gave us the more modern usage during the Black Death, the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe in the 14th century. That usage is, as Merriam-Webster puts it, a restraint upon the activities or communication of persons or the transport of goods designed to prevent the spread of disease or pests. Though medical knowledge was still relatively primitive during and after the Black Death, it seemed obvious that the plague was being spread from person to person (and by rats). Fearing it was brought in by outsiders (sound familiar?) and trying to prevent the spread of leprosy and other communicable diseases, Venice ordered arriving ships to anchor in the harbor for 40 days. Why forty days? Possibly because of the biblical implications: if Jesus could fast for forty days, if it could rain for forty days and forty nights, if the Israelites could wander in the desert for forty years, maybe forty was a magic number, and could appease the disease and the deity. Or maybe the concept of quarantine came from the Croats. Dubrovnik ordered an isolation of arrivals in 1377 and built a place for them to do so, but visitors had to stay for only thirty days. Later, the Croats extended the isolation to forty days, when they called it quarantine. Daniel Defoe discussed quarantine in A Journal of the Plague Year, an account of the Great Plague of London in 1665 attributed to a citizen who continued all the while in London. (Defoe was born only five years earlier, so its questionable whether he is the citizen or he repeated the accounts of someone else.) In 1722, Defoe used quarantine to mean a forty-day period of isolation. In the Gutenberg Project edition, which modernizes Defoes spelling, he wrote: Why else do they exact a quarantine of those who came into their harbours and ports from suspected places? Forty days is, one would think, too long for nature to struggle with such an enemy as this, and not conquer it or yield to it. But later, he seems to wonder whether that was long enough. Either the distemper did not come immediately by contagion from body to body, or, if it did, then a body may be capable to continue infected without the disease discovering itself many days, nay, weeks together; even not a quarantine of days only, but soixantine; not only forty days, but sixty days or longer. We are still struggling with those questions. How long should a quarantine last? For COVID-19, fourteen days seems to be the current prescription. The verb to quarantine arrived around 1804, the OED says, as a transitive verb meaning To isolate or confine (a person), frequently as a punishment; to isolate (a nation) politically, economically, etc.; to boycott, isolate, or insulate (an event, issue, etc.) as quarantine gained meanings unrelated to disease. The OED traces the first political use of the noun quarantine to 1891, in a New York Times account of a disruption of relations between France and Bulgaria (though the Times was quoting Le Temps, a Parisian newspaper): When a great power establishes diplomatic quarantine against them it is well not to go too far on a course on which they appear to be embarking with a light heart. Speaking of a light heart, and Defoe, let us end with this delightful paean to Defoe, written by Mary Norris, a former copy editor with The New Yorker. As she and Defoe write, And I rejoice that I have recorded these things, however short and imperfect. ICYMI: What happened when Jerry Falwell Jr. took on journalism over COVID-19 Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Merrill Perlman managed copy desks across the newsroom at the New York Times, where she worked for twenty-five years. Follow her on Twitter at @meperl. The Senate side of the Capitol is seen on the morning of Dec. 19, 2019. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo) Senators Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Expand Funding for Local, State Governments A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill on Monday to provide half a trillion in new funding to state and local governments in areas that have been hit hard by the CCP virus. The legislation, dubbed the State and Municipal Assistance for Recovery and Transition (SMART) Act, sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), aims to provide $500 billion in emergency funding to every state and county in the country, prioritizing assistance to the areas with the greatest need. The bill is the commonsense, reasonable and bipartisan approach our frontline states and communities need to deliver them the necessary flexible funding to defeat COVID-19, maintain critical services, avoid mass layoffs and tax increases, and expedite our economic recovery, Menendez said in a statement. These states, communities either lay off workers or they get help. The SMART Act helps. The SMART Act keeps the thin blue line, firefighters and teachers from being casualties of Covid-19. It keeps our communities alive, said Cassidy. This is a red white and blue pandemic. The coronavirus is apolitical. It does not attack Democrats or Republicans. It attacks Americans, said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, in a joint statement issued May 13. The nations governors are counting on our leaders in Washington to come together, put partisanship aside, and to get this done for the American people. The SMART Act is aimed at filling the gap from revenues lost due to the economic fallout triggered by the pandemic. Local government officials are saying that they would have to make cuts in essential services if they dont receive funding, including laying of first-responders. Tom Cochran, CEO and executive director of The United States Conference of Mayors, said that new funding from Congress, must include strong and flexible fiscal assistance that provides direct emergency relief to all cities and can be used to help mitigate budget shortfalls resulting from the pandemic. Cities are on the frontlines of this crisis, and Washingtons response must rise to meet the tremendous challenge cities face in responding to both the public health crisis and its dire economic impacts, Cochran, who served as a technologist under President Barack Obama, said. Reps. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) are championing the bill in the House of Representatives. The House version of the bill is being co-sponsored by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), Tom OHalleran (D-Ariz.), Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). According to the provisions of the bill, $16 billion is set-aside for tribal governments, while the remaining funding would go to states through three equally divided payments; one-third based on states population, one-third based on infection rates, and the last third based on revenue loss due to government-imposed lockdowns. Providing federal relief for municipalities across the nation is critical to advancing the reopening of America and our national economic recovery, on which thousands of jobs and the livelihoods of American families depend, Clarence Anthony, National League of Cities CEO and executive director, said. King has been one of the most outspoken Republican congressmen on the federal government providing funding to state and local governments. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is leading the countrys battle against Covid-19 in the country, will be Indias nominee to be the next WHO Executive Board chairman, people familiar with the development told Hindustan Times. A senior government official said the health minister would be elected at the World Health Organisations Executive Boards meeting on 22 May. The election is a procedural formality. It is not a full time assignment But Dr Harsh Vardhan will be required to chair the executive boards bi-annual meetings, a senior government official told Hindustan Times. The WHOs South-East Asia group had unanimously decided last year that New Delhi would be elected to the executive board for a three-year-term beginning May. It was also decided at this meeting that New Delhis nominee would be the Executive Board chairman for the first year beginning Friday. The chairmans post is held by rotation for one year among regional groups. On Tuesday, the 194-nation World Health Assembly signed off on the proposal to appoint Indias nominee to the executive board. Former health minister JP Nadda had chaired a similar session of the WHA back in 2016. Harsh Vardhan, an ENT surgeon by training, will replace Dr H Nakatani, who is the advisor for international affairs to Japans health minister. As head of the 34-member Executive Board that is mandated to implement the decisions of the World Health Assembly, health minister Harsh Vardhan will have to work closely with Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus who has lately been the punching bag for many countries led by the United States over the WHOs initial response to Covid-19. Harsh Vardhan, who will continue in the executive board after the one-year term as chairman ends, will also have a say in shortlisting the next WHO director general when Tedros Adhanoms five-year-tenure ends in May 2021. Earlier, the executive board would select the WHO director general and get its choice vetted by the health assembly. But this procedure was changed before Tedros Adhanom was appointed. The board is now required to shortlist candidates whose candidature is put before the World Health Assembly for election by a secret ballot. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON While commenting on the "Aatma Nirbhar Bharat" package announced by the Finance Minister through a series of announcements, Rajan Wadhera, President, SIAM welcomed the focus towards MSMEs; NBFCs and the Agri-sector. The Agri sector package may benefit the Auto sector indirectly in the medium term but the Indian Automotive industry needed an immediate stimulus to boost demand, which has not happened, as per Wadhera. Indian Automotive Industry supports employment of more than 3.7 crore people and contributes to 15% of GST amounting to Rs 1,50,000 crore every year. The Sector was already facing an unprecedented challenge with 18% degrowth last year. As per an assessment made by SIAM on the impact of COVID-19 on demand for vehicles in the current financial year, the Indian Automobile sector could have a de-growth in the range of (-22)% to (-35)% in various industry segments, for the year FY21, if the overall Indian GDP growth is at 0-1% for FY 21. Wadhera said that it is against this background that the Industry was keenly looking forward to some direct fiscal measures which could have boosted demand for the Auto sector and stop job losses. He mentioned that SIAM has had several engagements with Government of India at various levels, where specific suggestions were made for demand stimulus including reduction in base GST rates from 28% to 18% for a limited period and an incentive based vehicle scrappage policy, which would have made it a less painful revival and kickstarted the industry. There is also an urgent need to support the dealers in terms of improving their liquidity and including them under MSME Act by changing its definition. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday granted bail to one of the four persons convicted by a trial court for beating to death 19-year-old Nido Tania, a student from Arunachal Pradesh, in January 2014. Justice Suresh K Kait granted interim bail for three months to Farman, the main accused who was awarded 10 years jail term, subject to his furnishing a personal bond of Rs 10,000 before the Jail Superintendent. The high court noted that the convict has "already undergone around seven years of jail term out of the 10 year sentence awarded by the trial court" in September last year. The CBI, which had investigated the case, opposed the bail plea saying his plea for regular bail was dismissed by the high court on March 23 and there are serious allegations against the applicant/appellant and the application deserves to be dismissed. Tania, son of former Congress MLA from Arunachal Pradesh Nido Pavitra, was beaten up by several shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar on January 29, 2014, after he had an altercation with them when they made fun of his hairstyle. Doctors at AIIMS declared him 'brought dead' the next day. The incident had evoked outrage among the people of the Northeast living in the national capital who had alleged that police had failed to protect him and thereafter, the case was handed over to CBI. The other three convicts in the case were -- Pawan, Sunder Singh and Sunny Uppal. During the filing of the charge sheet, the CBI had dropped murder charges against the accused, saying Tania's killing was not premeditated but a result of an altercation. The trial court had convicted and awarded varying jail terms to the four under IPC sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 34 (common intention). Pawan and Surender, were sentenced to seven years and a fine of Rs 20,000, while Sunny Pal, was sentenced to three years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man was extradited today from Britain in connection with a murder in Dublin. The man, aged in his 30s, was arrested by Gardai upon his arrival at Baldonnell Aerodrome. He was transported to Ireland on the foot of a European Arrest Warrant. The man was arrested in connection with the murder of a man in his 50s at Bridgefoot Street Dublin 8 in 2016. He was detained at Kevin Street Garda Station and will appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice tomorrow morning. The Irish Air Corps assisted with the extradition process. Military vehicles are parked at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Yonhap U.S. Forces Korea personnel will not be allowed to visit adult-only establishments, such as bars and clubs, for the foreseeable future, USFK Commander Gen. Robert Abrams said Tuesday, calling for vigilance over the coronavirus. Starting 6 a.m. Tuesday, USFK members were allowed to visit eat-in restaurants, go shopping and do other off-base activities, as the military lowered its Health Protection Condition (HPCON) level by one notch to the second-lowest "Bravo" from "Charlie." But Seoul and nearby regions remain in HPCON C, and all bars, clubs and establishments that restrict entry to adults only are still off limits across the country until further notice "due to the associated risk," according to USFK. "No bars or clubs for the foreseeable future. Eat-in restaurants okay. Rule of thumb: if the property does not allow minors in, then it is off limit," Abrams said on his Twitter account. "We need to ease into this with an abundance of caution." Amber Rudd says the Government would be making better decisions if more women were in senior positions. The former home secretary reckons the pandemic would have been handled much more efficiently with a few more females at the top. So is she right? We asked a selection of Femail writers if women are, indeed, better in a crisis and what they would do differently if given a seat at the top table. Here's a new slogan - Don't be so silly! By Rachel Johnson There is, as we say, a familiar narrative developing. Though women are often lauded for being the stronger sex, when it comes to any of the big decisions right now, those with a double X chromosome are being firmly packed away. There are two sides to every story, of course, but let us avoid any hysteria and be led, as ever, by the data. It has become almost a cliche of the pandemic to point out that many of the leaders having a good war are women. Countries with some of the lowest mortality rates (Germany, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Finland) are led by women. You might conclude, then, that women are making good decisions and men should listen to them as if their lives depend on it. And you would not be wrong! Though women are often lauded for being the stronger sex, when it comes to any of the big decisions right now, those with a double X chromosome are being firmly packed away Amber Rudd pleaded that women should at least be in the room when decisions are taken, and I could only give a mirthless cheer. After all, who would decide that you cant see both parents together, or go to the hairdresser for more than three long months, but several middle-aged men? Chaps who have held several of the great offices of state but have never been in charge of running a household with school-age children, extended family and their own fridge, let alone kept on top of all the birthdays and barnets? Easily my favourite letter to a national newspaper during this sorry nightmare was from a woman who became an instant national heroine to many for this pithy suggestion: As men are more vulnerable to Covid-19, has anyone considered allowing women and children out of lockdown first? wrote Sarah Moss. We could run the country for a few weeks and see how things go while men stay at home baking banana bread and clapping. If I was running the country, this would be my manifesto: Id match the power quartet pound for pound with at least four middle-aged, sensible, sandwich-generation women with responsibility for children and elderly parents, and give them equal authority with the men in the No 10 Covid war cabinet. They would together win the trust and thanks of the British people as they unlocked the country step by logical, careful step and rolled out this simple three-word slogan that even the nations knuckle-dragging Covidiots would understand: Dont Be Silly! Let's get down to business By Nicola Horlick The question Amber Rudd raised is as crucial as the ones I have been asking in boardrooms my whole career. Thankfully, as in the world of business, women have been making progress in politics. There are 220 female members of the House of Commons, representing 34 per cent of the total number of members. This is an all-time high and a good thing. As women make up 51 per cent of the UK population, all organisations should be aiming to have at least 50 per cent of women at all levels. That should include the Cabinet making decisions about the country post Covid-19. The question Amber Rudd (pictured) raised is as crucial as the ones I have been asking in boardrooms my whole career. Thankfully, as in the world of business, women have been making progress in politics As we plan to come out of lockdown, we need some pragmatism and the common sense that the Prime Minister is fond of mentioning, but which seems to be lacking with decisions being taken by him and his close circle of power. The ending of the lockdown will bring an unprecedented challenge for Britains small businesses, many of which are run by women. Our country has seen a blossoming of female entrepreneurship over the past two decades and its vital we retain this momentum. As it stands, women running their businesses are being expected to work from home while balancing the extra weight of home-schooling their children yet not have a proper say in what the new normal will look like afterwards. In 2008, when Lehman Brothers went bust, Labours Harriet Harman famously said that it might have been a different story if it had been Lehman Sisters. The lack of any female influence at the top of government currently is extremely worrying. Given that women form an important part of our economy, my Covid manifesto would be that Id like to see a business taskforce to help steer small businesses through the post-furlough time and half of the members must be women. After all, some of us are rather good at running things when given a chance. Women are much more pragmatic By Hilary Freeman Men may protest but women are generally more pragmatic. We tend not to panic or to make rash decisions, only to change tack. Rather, we think through all the possible consequences and outcomes first. It really is true that were better at multi-tasking. So when it comes to juggling the competing needs of different sectors of society and the economy, I believe a woman is the best man for the job. Controversially, I went against the grain and took the decision to send my four-year-old daughter back to school, part-time, three weeks ago. Pictured: Stock picture of children in school If I were leading Cabinet right now, my priority would be getting the schools open. The Governments mixed messages have sent parents into a frenzy of fear. They need to be reassured. Any woman knows you cant just tell a child, or in this case voter, that theres a monster under the bed and walk away. Controversially, I went against the grain and took the decision to send my four-year-old daughter back to school, part-time, three weeks ago. Having calmly and systematically reviewed all the scientific evidence available, I felt it would be in her best interests. As a one-person limited company, with no government help, for me it was a choice between earning enough to live or home-schooling and caring for her. Stuck together in a small flat all day, with no proper outside space, my mental health, and hers, was suffering. Since returning to school, her sleep has regularised, shes happy, and her progress in reading is back on track. Other parents have told me that their four-year-olds are depressed, becoming uncommunicative and addicted to screens. Something needs to be done. If we had a universal basic income, I wouldnt have had to push to send my daughter back, and other parents wouldnt be faced with a perceived choice between keeping their children safe at home or keeping a roof over their heads. It would be more equitable too because the burden of care wouldnt be falling only on women. As men not having to handle the childcare, Boris and his top team dont understand what many women are going through. If were going to help everyone through this crisis, the female perspective needs to be at the forefront of decision making. WE NEED FEMALE BRAINS ... now! BY Kate Lenz As a neuroscientist, I can confirm what most people will already know: Men and women think differently especially under pressure. Decisions that are made from purely one perspective, are, intrinsically, designed to fail. Mens brains tend to get fired up with testosterone when under stress. This makes them more ready and willing to fight. Womens brains tend to get filled up with a chemistry of connection that makes them more likely to take a compassionate view. This is Mother Natures way of getting the best out of both sexes, especially in a crisis. And we certainly need the best of the differences right now, as Amber Rudd quite rightly points out. So why does it appear the male decision-makers are shutting women out? Neurological research shows us that when theres a panic on we are more likely to want to stick with people we think are like us. It makes us feel more comfortable. It also leads to an unbalancing of thinking. Life after Covid-19 will not be the same as before, so we need to make sure that while it is different, it is also better in many ways. We need more womens thinking at the centre of the crisis team for that very reason. The new normal needs to be a fairer place, where men and women have equal chances at work, where brain differences get respected. The model of working we have now is simply not up to the task. Covid-19 has forced us to stop and think. That in itself is a gift. So my manifesto message would be: We must not miss this chance for serious change. Lets start by involving the female brain. We dont have time to waste. Kate Lanz is a neuroscientist, and author of All The Brains In The Business, Macmillan, 2019. A woman 'gets' financial impact By Emily Hill Never send a boy to do a mans job the proverb states. But to me its clear we need women in charge if were ever going to sort out the coronavirus crisis. A lot of us are sitting at home silently terrified by the fact were unable to earn our wages and wondering where on earth Chancellor Rishi Sunak is getting it from and how the hell well pay it back. Any woman brought up by a mother who kept a close eye on the household budget will understand such fears. Growing up in the Eighties, I was taught exactly what we could afford and what we could not just as Im now aware you cant buy single cartons of milk and the price of flour is soaring. If my mum were Mayor of London right now she would not be taking the same decisions as Sadiq Khan, raising the congestion charge in Central London at a time when everyone is being asked to avoid public transport. If my mum were Mayor of London right now she would not be taking the same decisions as Sadiq Khan, raising the congestion charge in Central London at a time when everyone is being asked to avoid public transport. Pictured: Stock photo of the North Action tube station in May Like most of the powerful men in Boriss Cabinet, Sadiq on a salary of 152,734 probably doesnt appreciate that paying 15 extra a day might have dire consequences in terms of the weekly food shop. My advice to Boris? Right now, we should look to the supermarkets, which have had to deal with massed crowds throughout the crisis and now have all the measures in place for us to shop safely. Surely other businesses should be encouraged to reimagine themselves and open again? Female ingenuity and radical rethinking; this is what we need to work our way out of the predicament caused by Covid-19. Emotions should be championed By Esther Rantzen Do we need more women involved in crucial decision-making surrounding the current pandemic? You bet we do. I have always found that there is a difference between men and women in the workplace. Women are three-dimensional, and that third dimension is emotion. Men feel emotion, too, but they compartmentalise their lives and work is where issues are discussed, not feelings. Women can deal with issues, too, but they bring their whole life experience into the office, and the boardroom. And very often that emotion is the crucial missing part of the jigsaw. When I worked on the BBCs Thats Life! we had a lot of senior women on the team and Im convinced thats the reason we had such great success in running life-saving campaigns. From encouraging people to wear seatbelts, to boosting transplant donation and making playgrounds safer, we persuaded our audience with emotional stories, then facts. We didnt rely on slogans. The (male-dominated) Governments response to the pandemic has been the opposite. From the beginning, I believe they were frightened of creating fear. Thats why they reduced us all to columns on a chart. But, actually, what we needed to do was to change our behaviour. And to do that we needed truthful, clear information, and not to be scared of emotion. We should have been aware that this was not a mild disease. If it had been, then yes, herd immunity would have been fine. But herd immunity meant old people struggling to breathe. When the virus takes hold in the lungs, it is agonising, and it can be fatal. Those are emotional words and ones that women would not have been frightened of saying. Care homes were compartments where frail older people with underlying health problems were kept, and if they died, well, theyd have died soon anyway. No woman would have underestimated the horror of that idea. To a woman, an elderly person in a home is still a treasured member of our family. When older people are too vulnerable to live independently, we delegate our love and care to the dedicated underpaid staff in care homes. Perhaps if there been more women at governments top table they would have noticed the threat to care home residents a lot sooner. Sadly, the men in charge seemed to remember them only when their statistics were threatened. P.S. What does our (male) Downing Street Doyen have to say? By Simon Walters Trouble with women is nothing new for Boris Johnson. This time, however, the issue does not concern the women in his private life, but those in his public life as Prime Minister. Or rather the lack of them in the team leading the Governments fight against the coronavirus. There have been mutterings of discontent from the six women Cabinet ministers since it emerged earlier this month that Johnson has appointed an all-male Cabinet Covid-19 quad to help him make key decisions on the pandemic. Now, they have found an outspoken champion in the former home secretary Amber Rudd a woman who famously once said she wouldnt trust Johnson in a taxi ride home. She says that No 10 is too macho and that the Government would have made better decisions on the crisis if women ministers had been listened to more often She says that No 10 is too macho and that the Government would have made better decisions on the crisis if women ministers had been listened to more often. Boris would not get away with this jobs-for-the-boys approach if women with a stronger political voice and personality were sitting round his Cabinet table women such as the forthright former business secretary Andrea Leadsom and the no-nonsense Liverpudlian and ex-housing minister Esther McVey. The trouble is that he got rid of both of them in his last reshuffle. The danger to the PM is that this macho approach to government is deeply unattractive to women voters as well as counterproductive in that it can end up with bad government. But the culture in the House of Commons makes change difficult. Ms Rudd told me how, early in her Commons career, she was in a queue of Tory MPs waiting to see David Cameron while he was carrying out a ministerial reshuffle. I was behind a male Conservative MP when I realised I was running late for another meeting. I asked if I could go ahead of him and he said haughtily: You arent in the Cabinet! Labour MP Sir Frank Field, who happened to be nearby, slapped down the male chauvinist Tory, saying: Your Cabinet needs more women, not less. Ms Rudd said Field went on to recount a similar exchange with Margaret Thatcher, with whom he formed a close, albeit unlikely, alliance in her Downing Street heyday. He said when he told Maggie she should promote more women, she replied with horror: Have you seen my (Conservative) women? To which Frank retorted: Have you seen your men? Ms Rudd explains: People say the same today: Tory female MPs arent good enough. It is not true. And frankly, when you see how poorly some of the men have performed, they deserve a chance. She says past advances in promoting women politicians are in danger of going backwards under Johnson. From Johnson and Dominic Cummings downwards, No 10 has become more macho. Boris expects devotion and unquestioning loyalty from his ministers. He is more likely to get that kind of allegiance from men than women. That is not the best way to get it right on the big decisions. And it is not the way to keep the faith of half the electorate. Douglas Loverro, NASAs head of human spaceflight, has resigned one week before the agency and SpaceX are set to resume astronaut launches from Florida. Loverro surprised the aerospace community by resigning Monday, just seven months after being named associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations. He oversaw all programs involving astronauts, including the International Space Station, Artemis moon mission and the Commercial Crew Program that will launch astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on May 27. Loverros deputy associate administrator, Ken Bowersox, will serve as the acting associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations. Loverro hit the ground running this year and has made significant progress in his time at NASA, the agency said in a statement. His leadership of (Human Exploration and Operations) has moved us closer to accomplishing our goal of landing the first woman and the next man on the moon in 2024. More on next weeks launch: NASA discusses its first astronaut launch from U.S. soil since 2011 More immediate, however, is the launch next week where Hurley and Behnken will head to the International Space Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft. This will be the first astronaut launch from U.S. soil into orbit since 2011, when NASA retired the space shuttle, and its an important flight test for SpaceX to receive NASA certification for more routine human launches. The flight readiness review for this mission to make sure all the pieces are in place for the launch, to do a final check of hardware and crew safety, etc. is Thursday. Loverro was supposed to chair this review. It will now be led by NASA Associate Administrator Stephen Jurczyk, who has been with the agency since 1988. NASA did not say why Loverro resigned. In an email obtained by Ars Technica, Loverro told NASAs Human Exploration and Operations staff that he had made a mistake. Our mission is certainly not easy, nor for the faint of heart, and risk-taking is part of the job description, Loverro said in the email. The risks we take, whether technical, political, or personal, all have potential consequences if we judge them incorrectly. I took such a risk earlier in the year because I judged it necessary to fulfill our mission. Now, over the balance of time, it is clear that I made a mistake in that choice for which I alone must bear the consequences. And therefore, it is with a very, very heavy heart that I write to you today to let you know that I have resigned. David Alexander, director of the Rice University Space Institute, said the news dampens some of the excitement around next weeks launch. It is not ideal when you change out a member of the team, particularly such an important member, on short notice, Alexander said. But he doesnt think it will affect next weeks launch as Commercial Crew has an experienced team capable of making the needed decisions. John Logsdon, founder of George Washington Universitys Space Policy Institute, also doesnt expect Loverros resignation will affect the launch. Commercial Crew has its own momentum. Its own management structure, Logsdon said. I dont see why his departure should change that particular aspect of human spaceflight. The NASA statement praised next week as a new era in human spaceflight and said it has confidence in the work done by Kathy Lueders, NASAs program manager for Commercial Crew, and her team. This test flight will be a historic and momentous occasion that will see the return of human spaceflight to our country, NASA said, and the incredible dedication by the men and women of NASA is what has made this mission possible. andrea.leinfelder@chron.com twitter.com/a_leinfelder Starcity is announcing a joint venture today with Barcelona Homes to build housing for the urban renter in Spain. The partnership concludes a year-long effort by Starcity to study the European market. Barcelona was selected as the launch destination for a broader European expansion after careful review. "Rents in Barcelona have risen over 50% since 2013, and the local middle-class is being driven out of the city center. There's a clear need for dense yet comfortable, inviting homes that bring people closer to jobs," notes Mo Sakrani, Starcity's Cofounder and Chief Investment Officer. The expansion will be led by Esteve Almirall, Starcity's Managing Director for Spain. Almirall was born and raised in Barcelona, obtained his BA in Real Estate Finance at New York University, and helped build Barcelona Homes by renovating over 40 flats over the past 8 years, before spending time at Airbnb and View The Space. Most recently, he served as Starcity's Director of Acquisitions in San Francisco. "We're excited about this partnership. We are aligned with our goal to innovate within the multi-family space and bring coliving to Barcelona renters who are sorely in need of a better experience," said Almirall. Similar to Starcity's early approach in California, the joint venture will focus on converting existing buildings that are in need of revitalization. It plans to build its footprint and European home base in Barcelona in the coming twelve months, before turning its eye to other markets in Spain. "Barcelona and Madrid are two of the largest metropolitan areas in Europe, but the focus of major coliving brands has largely been on the U.K., Germany, and The Netherlands to date. We're excited to be the first to start serving this part of Europe under a full service approach in which we own, develop and operate coliving spaces," notes Almirall. The company plans to have a local team operating 150 beds by the end of this year and is looking to develop thousands of beds in the region in the coming years. In order to do that it will leverage Barcelona Home's existing multifamily portfolio, which owns and operates more than 175k sq ft in Barcelona. About Starcity Starcity is a global, tech-enabled, urban living brand serving renters in expensive cities. It is currently the largest developer and operator of coliving in the Western United States. The company currently operates hundreds of units in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland, with thousands in development. Coliving is a new category of rental multi-family housing that reduces the cost to the individual, increases community by sharing more space and activities, and simplifies the ease of use by providing plug play living spaces. Starcity has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CityLab, and is backed by Bullpen Capital, Deciens Capital, Pay It Forward, and Y Combinator. About Barcelona Homes Barcelona Homes is a family-owned company that owns more than 175,000 square feet of multifamily properties in Barcelona. The company has developed expertise in the mid-term sector by developing and operating a collection of furnished rentals over the past eight years. The company is led by Esteve Almirall who represents the third generation of the family and Joan Ramon, founder and CEO of Barcelona based asset and property management company Barnaquatre. Media kit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-HvnYr0QgbMW13iyxYExxO3mcwcNUCFo?usp=sharing You can also follow us through our social media channels: https://blog.starcity.com https://www.instagram.com/starcity/ https://twitter.com/starcity View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005001/en/ Contacts: Esteve Almirall +34-666-31-81-91 esteve@starcity.com Mo Sakrani +1 (516) 749-0046 mo@starcity.com Stocks in the news today: Here is a list of top stocks that are likely to be in focus in Tuesday's trading session based on latest developments. Companies set to announce their earnings are Apollo Tyres, Tata Power, Sanofi, Larsen & Toubro Infotech, Bajaj Finance, Embassy Office Parks REIT. Investors will also be taking cues from the latest released March quarter earnings. Share Market LIVE: Sensex opens 330 points higher, Nifty at 8,930 amid positive global cues Key highlights of share market; check the latest stock market news - On a net basis, FIIs sold Rs 2,513 crore and DIIs also offloaded Rs 152 crore worth in equities yesterday. - On Monday, Sensex closed 1,068 points lower at 30,028 and Nifty fell 313 points to 8,823. - Rupee, the local unit ended lower at 75.91 per dollar in the commodity market on Monday, as against the earlier close of 75.56 per US dollar. Tata Consumer: Company announced in a press release that it will acquire PepsiCo's stake in NourishCo Beverages, a 50:50 JV between the two companies. Indiabulls Housing: The company has allotted redeemable NCDs of Rs 1,030 crore on a private placement basis. Company says NCDs have been subscribed by four large Indian public sector banks, as per the filing. Torrent Power: The company reported loss of Rs 274.92 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020, as against profit of Rs 419.39 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income fell 3% (YoY) to Rs 3020.84 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 3115.48 crore in the same period last financial year. Maharashtra Scooters: The company reported profit of Rs 107.14 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020, as against profit of Rs 0.68 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income rose (YoY) to Rs 125.73 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 7.46 crore in the same period last financial year. Andhra Paper: The company reported 31% fall (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 32 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020, as against profit of Rs 47 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income rose 0.2% (YoY) to Rs 302 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 301 crore in the same period last financial year. Dr. Lal Path Labs: The company reported 27% fall (YoY) in consolidated net profit to Rs 32 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2020, as against profit of Rs 45 crore, recorded in a year-ago period. Total income fell 0.2% (YoY) to Rs 313 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal as compared to Rs 314 crore in the same period last financial year. Q4 Earnings Today: Apollo Tyres, Tata Power, Sanofi, Larsen & Toubro Infotech, Bajaj Finance, Embassy Office Parks REIT, JMC Projects, NESCO, MPS, G N A Axles among others will be reporting results today. Latest result date announcements Quick Heal Technologies: May 21, 2020 Trent: May 22, 2020 Polyplex Corporation: May 25, 2020 Music Broadcast: May 25, 2020 Alembic : May 25, 2020 Wonderla Holidays: May 26, 2020 Tube Investments of India: May 27, 2020 Radico Khaitan: May 28, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic-induced lockdown is leading youngsters to spend more time on social media with many remaining glued to them for hours at a stretch and this could be leading to increased stress levels in nearly half of them, a study has found. The study conducted by professors from Delhis Lady Shri Ram College and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) surveyed youngsters from middle- and upper-middle-class families and found that on an average they spent up to six and a half hours every day on social media platforms. Keeping in view this tendency, the study has stressed the importance of the dissemination of accurate information on these platforms as impressionable youngsters are avidly consuming the content. The study by LSR faculty members Dr Kanika Ahuja, Dr Anisha Juneja and Dr Yatan Pal Singh Balhara of AIIMS is based on data of more than 300 college students in the 18-25 years age group. Of these 185 were females and 123 males; 274 were enrolled in undergraduate courses and 34 in postgraduate courses The average time being spent on social media (by those surveyed) was found to be 6.75 hours, with a standard deviation of 3.35 hours per day, according to the study. Another detail that emerged was that 44% of those surveyed agreed that social media increased their stress. Students are stressed over their studies, exams, placements as they are facing an uncertain future. The final year undergraduate and postgraduate students are worst affected as many companies are rescinding job offers. Our findings suggest that the more they are stressed over Covid, the more they use social media, which in turn lowers their well-being, said Ahuja. Students in general face stressors like financial problems, academic pressure, adjustment to novel social and geographical environments, relationships, life stage transitions and time management, says the report. These stressors probably get aggravated in lockdown conditions characterised by extreme restrictions, little distractions and low face to face social support, the study says. Though it was not explored further, it is possible that pandemic related content, sometimes fake videos, increasing reports of infections, deaths and spread of the disease all over the internet could be distressing, it says. Exploring personality types, the study found that extroverts largely are able to maintain some form of connection through diverse virtual platforms available. The lockdown might have resulted in increased socialisation with family members, playing virtual games with known or unknown people, helping them cope better. Participants high on agreeableness and compassion may have found news related to deprivation and sufferings disturbing. Students are using social media like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, for over six and a half hours on an average every day. The abundance of information reported through social media results in social distancing but not mental distancing, said Ahuja. The study noted that social media platforms are expected to clear ambiguity in uncertain times like Covid-19, like promoting healthy behaviours of hand washing and social distancing. As much as social media is spreading awareness about public health, it is also being used to spread hatred and unrest. There has been trending of hashtags that link spread of corona to a particular religious community and have been watched by millions of users, the study mentions. Indian distance runner Prajakta Godbole, who was struggling to make a living due to the coronavirus-forced national lockdown, has finally got the much needed support from the state authorities. PTI had highlighted the plight of Prajakta, who resides at Sirsapeth slum here, during the lockdown. Her father is a paralytic and mother was rendered jobless. The help was rendered by Shiv Sena, which is currently one of the ruling parties in the Maharashtra government. Shiv Sena Nagpur city chief Prakash Jadhav told PTI that after party president and Chief Minister Udhhav Thackrey came to know about Godbole, it was conveyed to him to do the needful through their office bearers (Sampark Pramukhs). "A few days ago, we provided ration and a small amount of Rs 16,000 to the athlete (Godbole). We will keep in contact with her and provide all possible help," Jadhav said on Tuesday. Prajakta represented Indian Universities in the 5000m race at the World University Games in Italy in 2019. She clocked 18:23.92 and could not qualify for the final round. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Information found on Pensacola gunman Mohammed Alshamrani's iPhones was used to conduct a counter-terrorism strike against one of his al Qaeda associates in Yemen The US carried out a counter-terrorism operation targeting an al Qaeda operative in Yemen after cellphone evidence linked him the gunman who attacked a Florida naval base. Attorney General Bill Barr on Monday announced that the FBI had managed to break through the encryption protecting two iPhones used by Mohammed Alshamrani, the Saudi military trainee who killed three US sailors and injured eight others in the December shooting at the Naval Air Base Station in Pensacola. Barr said data stored on the devices led to a strike against one of Alshamrani's contacts with al Qaeda's branch in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). 'The information from the phones has already proven invaluable in protecting the American people,' he said. 'A counter-terrorism operation targeting AQAP operative Abdullah al-Maliki, one of Alshamrani's overseas associates, was recently conducted in Yemen. We will not hesitate to act against those who harm Americans.' He declined to say whether al-Maliki was killed in that operation, but said he was 'very pleased' with the outcome. Barr and FBI Director Chris Wray then launched an attack on Apple, saying the tech giant had 'seriously hampered' the probe by refusing to help investigators crack the phones' encryption. The officials charged that the information recovered from the phones would have been far more useful if it had been recovered when the FBI first asked for Apple's assistance five months ago. Apple issued a statement saying it responded within hours of the FBI's initial request in December and provided 'every piece of information available to us', including iCloud backups, account information and transactional data. The company also said it also lent 'continuous and ongoing technical and investigative support' to the FBI agents working the case. Investigators uncovered Alshamrani's ties to al Qaeda by breaking through the encryption protecting his iPhones, including one that authorities say he damaged with a bullet after being confronted by law enforcement Attorney General Bill Barr and FBI Director Chris Wray attacked Apple for refusing to help investigators crack the encryption protecting the iPhones 'The false claims made about our company are an excuse to weaken encryption and other security measures that protect millions of users and our national security,' Apple said. 'It is because we take our responsibility to national security so seriously that we do not believe in the creation of a backdoor one which will make every device vulnerable to bad actors who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers. 'There is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys, and the American people do not have to choose between weakening encryption and effective investigations.' Pensacola gunman shared anti-American sentiments in chilling social media posts In the days after Alshamrani's rampage on December 6, investigators uncovered a string of disturbing social media posts purportedly penned by the gunman. On the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Alshamrani posted: 'The countdown has started.' The 21-year-old Saudi national also defended jihad on social media and referred to non-Muslims as 'infidels', according to a Joint Intelligence Bulletin. Just prior to the attack, Alshamrani reportedly posted a manifesto praising 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. 'I'm against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil,' he wrote in the manifesto. 'I'm not against you for just being American, I don't hate you because [of] your freedoms, I hate you because every day you [are] supporting, funding and committing crimes not only against Muslims, but also humanity.' Days before the shooting, Alshamrani reportedly hosted three fellow Saudi military students at a dinner party where they watched videos of mass shootings. Also, investigators believe the gunman visited New York City, including Rockefeller Center and the 9/11 museum, days before the shooting. Advertisement Wray disputed Apple's claim that it offered assistance to the FBI, saying: 'We received effectively no help from Apple.' The FBI director said that the months-long struggle to break the encryption was not only costly to America taxpayers, but potentially jeopardized public safety. Both he and Barr praised the 'relentless efforts and ingenuity of FBI technicians' who ultimately bypassed the security features. Investigators had been certain that vital information was stored on Alshamrani's phones, particularly because he'd attempted to destroy one of them with a bullet during the attack before he was shot dead by law enforcement. The phone data revealed that Alshamrani had been in contact with 'dangerous' operatives from al Qaeda's branch in Yemen for years prior to the attack, dating back to at least 2015. The branch, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has long been considered the global network's most dangerous faction and has attempted to carry out several attacks on the US mainland. Law enforcement officials had previously expressed certainty that Alshamrani was motivated by jihadist ideology, saying he visited a New York City memorial to the attacks of September 11, 2001, over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and posted anti-American and anti-Israeli messages on social media just two hours before the shooting. Separately, AQAP released a video claiming responsibility for Alshamrani's attack in February. 'The phones contained information previously unknown to us that definitively establishes Alshamrani's significant ties to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - not only before the attack, but before he even arrived in the United States,' Barr said Monday. 'We now have a clearer understanding of Alshamrani's associations and activities in the years, months and days leading up to his attack.' Alshamrani had created minicam videos as he cased a military school building and saved a will on his phone that purported to explain himself, Wray said. AQAP had released the same will when it claimed responsibility for the shooting. 'The evidence we've been able to develop in from the killer's devices shows the Pensacola attack was the brutal culmination of years of planning and preparation by a longtime AQAP associate,' Wray said. 'He wasn't just coordinating with them about planning and tactics. He was helping the organization make the most it could out of his murders.' Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a video claiming responsibility for the Pensacola shooting in February Investigators say Alshamrani had created minicam videos as he cased a building at NABS Pensacola before the attack. Police tape is pictured at the base on December 7 Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham (left); Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson (center); and Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters (right) were killed in the attack Saudi Arabia praises latest developments in the Alshamrani case and reiterates support for the US Alshamrani was a second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force who came over to the US in August 2017 to participate in a training program at NABS Pensacola. Following the attack, the FBI and the Pentagon began a review into a slew of Saudi trainees studying at US military installations across the nation. In January, US officials announced that they were sending home 21 Saudi military students after an investigation revealed that they had had jihadist or anti-American sentiments on social media pages or had "contact with child pornography." The Department of Defense subsequently introduced additional screening procedures for international students as well and increased security measures at American bases. Barr said Monday that the Saudis have been cooperative and have worked with the US to buttress vetting. In a statement, the Saudi Embassy in the US praised the developments in the investigation of the shooting and reiterated the Saudi government's support of relations with the US and joint efforts against extremism. 'We will never let the terrorists win, or allow their acts of hatred to divide us," the embassy said. 'The US-Saudi partnership is one of the primary pillars of the global effort to dismantle and defeat terrorist networks such as AQAP. And our two countries will maintain our unbreakable commitment to combat the forces of evil, wherever they exist.' Saudi Arabia's links to al Qaeda The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been accused of sponsoring Islamic terrorist groups - including al Qaeda - though it denies doing so. Some of the most notorious terrorists in American history are Saudi - including Osama Bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers involved in the 9/11 terror attacks. The government also funds madrassas - the general term for Islamic schools - where children are taught ultraconservative interpretations of Islamic law known as Wahhabism. Last spring, reports emerged that Saudi Arabia and the UAE were selling American weapons to al Qaeda fighters. And last week, the FBI accidentally leaked the name of a former Saudi Embassy official who is suspected of helping two al Qaeda hijackers in the 9/11 terror attacks. According to Yahoo News, the mistake was made in a recent filing in response to a lawsuit from families of 9/11 victims who have accused the Saudi government of being complicit in the terrorist attacks. In the document, which was filed in April but unsealed this month, lawyers forgot to redact Mussaed Ahmed al-Jarrah's name. He was assigned to the Saudi embassy in Washington, DC, in 1999 and 2000. The document appeared to provide confirmation that FBI agents believed they had uncovered a link between the hijackers and the Saudi Embassy in DC. Though the FBI confirmed the disclosure of the official's name was made in error, the declaration will likely bring up questions regarding possible Saudi links to the terror attacks. The Saudi government has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks. The 9/11 Commission report found 'no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded' the attacks that al-Qaida masterminded, but the commission also noted 'the likelihood' that Saudi government-sponsored charities did. Advertisement Barr demands action to increase cooperation between Apple and law enforcement Barr used Monday's news conference to forcefully call on Apple to do more to cooperate with law enforcement, suggesting that Congress could step in if the company refuses. 'In cases like this, where the user is a terrorist, or in other cases, where the user is a violent criminal, a human trafficker, a child predator, Apple's decision has dangerous consequences for public safety and the national security and is, in my judgment, unacceptable,' Barr said. 'Apple's desire to provide privacy for its customers is understandable - but not at all costs. 'Under our nation's long established Constitutional principles, where a court authorizes a search for evidence of a crime, an individual's privacy interests must yield to the broader public interest. 'There is no reason why companies like Apple cannot design their products for court-authorized access by law enforcement while maintaining very high standards for security. 'Striking this balance should not be left to corporate board rooms. it is a decision that must be made by the American people through their elected representatives.' Wray also attacked Apple for delaying the investigation. 'Finally getting our hands on the evidence Alshamrani tried to keep from us is great - but we really needed it months ago, back in December,' he said. He noted that anyone Alshamrani spoke to before the attack has now had months to 'concoct and compare stories with co-conspirators, destroy evidence, and disappear'. 'As a result, there's a lot we can't do at this point that we could have done months ago,' Wray said. Apple has long touted security as a major feature of its phones and in 2014 began building encryption into devices that can only be unlocked with a password or fingerprint reader Barr's latest salvo intensifies the DoJ's years-long fight with Apple Barr's latest comments against Apple marked an escalation of the Justice Department's ongoing fight with the tech giant over the balance between personal privacy and public safety. The attorney general had previously indicated that he intended to use the Alshamrani case to push for a solution to the DOJ's struggle to get around Apple security features. Apple has long touted security as a major feature of its phones and in 2014 began building encryption into devices that can only be unlocked with a password or fingerprint reader. Apple has claimed that even the company is unable to bypass the security - noting that obtaining data would require building a backdoor, which would set a dangerous precedent for user privacy and security. Apple executives have warned that gaining access to one phone would compromise the security of all devices because law enforcement would demand to use the back door excessively. Meanwhile, law enforcement officials have accused Apple of providing a safe haven for criminals. Officials have managed to get around Apple's resistance in the past - most notably while investigating a terrorist attack that left 14 people dead in San Bernardino, California, in late 2015. Apple defied a court order to assist the FBI in its efforts to search an iPhone belonging to the suspect - sparking the public safety vs user privacy debate. The immediate dispute was resolved when the FBI found a private company to bypass the encryption. The over-arching debate, however, was escalated as Apple worked to ensure that neither the government nor private contractors would be able to gain access to devices in the future. However, their increased efforts appear to have failed once again in the Alshamrani case. Dane County businesses can prepare to reopen at reduced capacity, expanding operations as certain benchmarks are met, under a multiphase plan local health officials announced Monday. The Forward Dane plan by Public Health Madison and Dane County sets standards for increasing the number of customers allowed into nonessential businesses, many of which have not been able to open their doors since state Health Services Secretary Andrea Palm first issued the statewide safer at home order in March. Businesses on Tuesday can begin conducting minimum basic operations to prepare to reopen. As early as next week, the county could also move into the first of three phases, allowing most businesses to open at 25% capacity as long as certain key metrics are met. Metrics that Public Health will monitor include the number of tests conducted in the county, the percentage of positive tests, the availability of hospitals to care for all patients and the success of contact tracing. Public Health will continue monitoring the metrics and tighten or loosen restrictions as outlined in the plan. These metrics are critical for assessing our readiness to reopen Dane County, said health department director Janel Heinrich. To start phase one, Dane County must: Conduct more than 400 tests per day. Have fewer than 10% of those tests return positive. Have 20 or fewer new cases per day. Have more than 70% of new cases contacted within 48 hours of test collection. Have fewer than 30% of patients contract the coronavirus from an unknown source. Have no significant increase in patients with COVID-19-like symptoms in 14 days. Have 95% of hospitals testing health care workers who have COVID-19 symptoms and have been treating patients. Have 95% of hospitals report safe facilities, trained staff and stocked critical supplies. Have no significant increase in health care worker infection in 14 days unless due to a known cluster. Each phase will last for at least 14 days the incubation period of the new coronavirus before Public Health assesses whether to move to the next phase. Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce President Zach Brandon said the transparency of Public Healths plan and the graduated approach to reopening will allow for businesses to better prepare for each step and to better anticipate what comes next. Its an achievable plan, which makes it good, Brandon said. Step by step Whether engaging in minimum basic operations or reopening under any phase of the plan, businesses are required to: Develop a written hygiene policy that emphasizes keeping sick employees away from work, hand washing and proper cough and sneeze etiquette. Develop a written cleaning policy focused on disinfecting frequently touched surfaces and common areas. Develop a written personal protection policy that ensures employees remain 6 feet apart whenever possible and wear face coverings if theyre in close contact with customers. Under phase one of the Forward Dane plan, businesses including restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters and bowling alleys will be able to open with up to 25% of their capacity, expanding to 50% and 75% under phases two and three, respectively. Outdoor gatherings, such as festivals and fairs, would be open to 25 people not including employees in phase one, followed by 100 and 250 people in later phases. Indoor gatherings in phase one would allow for 10 people, followed by 50 and 100 people in later phases. Religious entities, faith services and places of worship are able, under the preparation stage beginning Tuesday, to open to 25% capacity. Salons, tattoo shops and spas which require close contact between customers and employees will be able to open to customers on an appointment-only basis once the county enters phase one. Employees must wear face coverings at all times and customers should wear face coverings when possible. New emergency order Along with the reopening plan, Public Health issued an emergency order Monday easing restrictions from an earlier order that would have prevented many nonessential businesses from conducting any on-site operations. Changes in orders are confusing, and we know how frustrating they have been for businesses and the public, Heinrich said. By enacting todays Prepare for a Safe Reopen phase, we are making sure each sector has time to get things ready for safe operations during phase one, Heinrich said. Public Healths first emergency order was issued last week, following the state Supreme Courts 4-3 decision that overturned the extension of the safer at home order, which placed statewide restrictions on businesses and gatherings. The local order doesnt allow local authorities to arrest people who violate it, in accordance with guidance from state Attorney General Josh Kaul. In an opinion issued Friday, Kaul advised against authorities using criminal penalties to enforce local stay-at-home orders, following the Supreme Courts decision. However, violations would be subject to fines. Mondays order removes restrictions on travel and opens tennis courts and disc golf courses with limitations. It also places hygiene-related requirements on businesses that plan to reopen. Still serving: List of local restaurants offering options during COVID-19 crisis WSE Expressing consent by the antitrust authority in Romania to take over control the Company by the Investor Management Board of Work Service S.A. ("Issuer" or "Company"), with reference to the Current Report No. 12/2020, 12/2020/K, 14/2020, 20/2020, 21/2020 and 24/2020 hereby informs that today the Company received information that the antitrust authority in Romania has given its consent to take over control the Company by Gi INTERNATIONAL S.R.L., wholly owned by Gi Group SpA ("Investor"). Obtaining the consent of the relevant antimonopoly authorities for the Investor to take control over the Company and its affiliates is one of the conditions precedent to the transaction with the Investor, set out in the investment agreement concluded between the Company and the Investor on 13 February 2020. Legal basis: Article 17(1) MAR _Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council _EU_ No 596/2014 of 16 April 2014 on market abuse _Regulation on market abuse and repealing the Directive 2003/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directives 2003/124/EC, 2003/125/EC and 2004/72/EC. Signatures: Iwona Szmitkowska - President of the Management Board Jarosaw Dymitruk - Vice-President of the Management Board Current Print Subscribers will be prompted to either login to their current site user account or to create a new one. A confirmation email will be sent when a new user account is created, which must be confirmed within three days in order to provide uninterrupted online access through your Print Subscription. Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service. A man who has raised 26,000 for Pieta House since his father died by suicide on May 1 has appealed to farmers to be mindful of their mental health during the pandemic. Father-of-four Paddy McCarthy of Ballinadee, Co Cork died aged just 59, and his son Thomas (24) had to make the lonely 23-hour, three-flight journey back from Whistler in Canada for the funeral mass. Thomas said there were no warning signs. "He loved Bruce Springsteen. He loved music. He loved dancing. He just loved life. That is why it is such a shock," he said. "He really loved the farm. You think 'how could he leave behind something he loved so much?'." Thomas and the family set up a Go Fund Me page in memory of Paddy, and the response has exceeded their wildest hopes. And Thomas has urged farmers to be conscious of their mental health during the Covid crisis. "It is such an isolating job anyway," he said. "They might have the mart once a week or some social event once a week. "Now they don't have that, it might make them feel even more lonely. It is important that they talk to someone. "The ones who don't talk, they are the ones who do it (suicide). You think 'how could I not have seen it? How could I not have done anything?' But sure there is no way you could have known." Thomas said that the restrictions which curtailed the size of the funeral added to their grief. Thomas has asked the public to continue to donate to Pieta House in this challenging time. Donations can be made at www.gofundme.com/f/2dkjma-darkness-into-light-sunrise-appeal The Mind Our Farm Families is a dedicated suicide and self-harm phone line, 1890 130 022 between IFA and Pieta House, set up in response to the high rate of suicide, particularly among men, in rural areas. We Buy Broward Purchased the Deerfield Beach House After Another Company Cancelled the Contract MARGATE, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / The founders of We Buy Broward, the #1 Broward cash home buyers company in South Florida, are pleased to announce that they recently assisted a U.S. Army veteran who was in dire need of cash. After another company cancelled a number of contracts, including the one for the U.S. Army veteran, We Buy Broward stepped in and paid the homeowner cash for the home, which is located at 1461 SW 3rd Ter., Deerfield Beach FL 33441. To learn more about We Buy Broward and how they make paying cash for houses as quick and stress-free as possible, please check out https://webuybroward.net/how-it-works.html. As a company spokesperson noted, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the team at We Buy Broward is working as hard as ever, helping as many people as possible who need to sell their homes for cash. When the team heard about the U.S. Army veteran who was strapped for cash and disappointed that his contract was dropped by another company, they knew they needed to help. "We Buy Broward stepped in and paid the homeowner cash for his house," the spokesperson noted. The fact that We Buy Broward was able to quickly assist someone who was in desperate need for cash will not surprise the 250-plus homeowners who have already used the company's services. Over the past two years, We Buy Broward has earned a well-deserved reputation for treating people fairly and with great respect, while ethically conducting business. From homeowners who are looking to get relief from a foreclosure or sell an inherited house, to those who have an "ugly house" or owe back taxes, the friendly and experienced team from the 5 star rated We Buy Broward is ready and able to help. "Our team has a combined real estate experience of more than 20 years and has dealt with nearly every possible situation you can think of," the spokesperson noted. "Our aim is to get you fair market value and close on time. We are available 365/24/7 to answer all of your calls." Story continues About We Buy Broward: We Buy Broward is the Number One trusted cash home buyers in Broward. They purchase houses and multi-tenant properties from owners looking to sell quickly for a cash buyout. For more information, please visit https://webuybroward.net. We Buy Broward 1700 Banks Road Suite 50-S Margate, FL 33063 Contact: Shaun Michel sellmyhouse@webuybroward.net (954) 645-2660 SOURCE: We Buy Broward View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/590469/We-Buy-Broward-a-Broward-Cash-Home-Buyers-Company-Helps-Veteran-by-Buying-His-Home-for-Cash features Ravi Shankar Prasad, top experts to share insights into future of Indian Industry. Watch Now To discuss various strategies, the future of Indian Industry and how organisations will back on their feet with the post COVID-19 normal in place, Moneycontrol Virtual Summit presents The Future of Indian Industry, powered by Salesforce, on May 19, 10:30 am onwards Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 07:15:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A row of Ford Mustangs are displayed at the 2020 Chicago Auto Show Media Preview at McCormick Place in Chicago, the United States, on Feb. 6, 2020. (Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua) The reopening of U.S. automakers' plants will be closely watched as companies seek to get back to business without a surge of coronavirus infections. DETROIT, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Major American automakers on Monday returned to making vehicles for the first time since the COVID-19 shutdowns brought production to a halt in late March. The reopening of plants for U.S. three big auto companies, General Motors (GM), Ford Motor Company and Fiat Chrysler, bulwarks of a sector that employs nearly one million workers, will be closely watched as companies in a range of American industries seek to get back to business without a surge of coronavirus infections. Ford said 59,000 factory workers, about 80 percent of its workforce, were expected to show up for work on Monday, while GM said it expected about 15,000 of its 48,000 factory workers to report. About one third of Fiat Chrysler's hourly workforce, some 16,000 workers, were to come in, the company said. All three companies said they would thoroughly and frequently clean facilities and allot extra time between work shifts to do so. At Ford, factories that had been running on three shifts, or essentially around the clock, will work on two shifts to allow extra time for cleaning. At Fiat Chrysler factories, 10 minutes per shift will be allotted for cleaning. The three auto giants will also make changes to how "common areas," such as dining areas, are used in order to keep employees apart from one another. Fiat Chrysler shared an image of a break area table, which normally seats six people, now has plastic dividers that reduce its seating to three. These practices are based, in part, on the experiences at the companies' factories that have reopened in Asia and Europe. Executives at Ford and GM said no cases of COVID-19 transmission were observed in plants outside the United States since new safety measures were adopted. The changes include mandatory face masks, separating workers on assembly lines, cleaning work areas often and requiring workers to go through temperature monitors and report any symptoms before entering a plant. The companies also are offering zero-percent financing of up to 84 months as well as big discounts on vehicles to spur consumer demand. Tiong Woon Corporation Holding Ltd (SGX:BQM) shareholders might be concerned after seeing the share price drop 25% in the last quarter. But don't let that distract from the very nice return generated over three years. To wit, the share price did better than an index fund, climbing 64% during that period. Check out our latest analysis for Tiong Woon Corporation Holding While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement. During three years of share price growth, Tiong Woon Corporation Holding moved from a loss to profitability. That would generally be considered a positive, so we'd expect the share price to be up. The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image). SGX:BQM Past and Future Earnings May 18th 2020 Dive deeper into Tiong Woon Corporation Holding's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of Tiong Woon Corporation Holding's earnings, revenue and cash flow. What about the Total Shareholder Return (TSR)? We've already covered Tiong Woon Corporation Holding's share price action, but we should also mention its total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. Its history of dividend payouts mean that Tiong Woon Corporation Holding's TSR of 65% over the last 3 years is better than the share price return. A Different Perspective It's nice to see that Tiong Woon Corporation Holding shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 36% over the last year. Of course, that includes the dividend. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 0.6% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. We generally put more weight on the long term performance over the short term, but the recent improvement could hint at a (positive) inflection point within the business. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Tiong Woon Corporation Holding better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Tiong Woon Corporation Holding (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) that you should be aware of before investing here. Story continues For those who like to find winning investments this free list of growing companies with recent insider purchasing, could be just the ticket. Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on SG exchanges. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Dublin, May 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Mobility as a Service Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Mobility as a Service Market is anticipated to register a CAGR of about 31 %, during the forecast period (2020 - 2025). The major factors driving the growth of the market are increasing urbanization, rise in pollution levels around the world, after-purchase cost of vehicles such as insurance cost which is mandatory for vehicle owners, maintenance cost and also the parking problem which is one of the major issues in many big cities in the world. Governments are also taking initiatives to make shared mobility popular, thereby driving the MaaS market across the world. With an increasing number of people shifting towards shared mobility, i.e by driving their personal vehicles and sharing their ride with other commuters which has been gradually solving the problem of urban traffic congestion. Thus, not just the national governments, but also the state/province or local levels are making efforts to augment the popularity of the concept. Key Market Trends Growing Government Initiatives Enhancing the Market There is a rapid growth in urban population in developing nations like India, also there is an increase in motorization rate which is supporting the economic growth of the country. There is a gap in demand and supply of transportation services in the country as there are only about 230 buses per million where the need is about 600 buses per million. Development of sustainable solutions such as the Smart Cities Scheme or Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), which lay heavy focus on improving urban mobility and public transport systems. To meet these objectives, the government has considerably invested in mass transportation schemes such as metro rail, bus rapid transit system (BRTS) and mass rapid transit. However, such schemes keep operating independently and seldom integrate with each other. Europe Continues to Capture Major Market Share Europe is the largest market owing to the dominance of some of the leading vendors such as Whim, Citymapper, Tranzer, and Moovel. Also, developed economies in Europe such as Finland, the Netherlands, and Germany are the early adopters of MaaS services. Countries such as the UK, Germany, France, and the Netherlands have been investing in smart transportation infrastructure. The planned investments to improve urban transport and traffic infrastructure are expected to drive the European market. In the developing nations, the mobility as a service is in its initial phase but Europe is considered to be as one of the early adaptors of new technologies and people also concerned about the environmental impacts of the automobiles. Competitive Landscape The Mobility as a Service market is fragmented, with several players accounting for significant amounts of shares in the market. Some of the prominent companies in the Mobility as a Service market are Uber, Didi, Beeline mobility, Moovit and others. Companies are investing heavily in research and development for the innovation of new and advanced products. In July 2019, the Chinese MaaS giant Didi Chuxing and Toyota motors announced a agreement for collaboration in China. In this agreement, Toyota will be investing USD 600 million in its joint venture GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (GTMC) and DiDi, where the two companies will offer vehicle-related services for ride-hailing drivers. With such services, Toyota aims to introduce and promote the widespread use of battery electrified vehicles suitable for future mobility services in China. Reasons to Purchase this report: Story continues The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format 3 months of analyst support Key Topics Covered: 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Study Assumptions 1.2 Scope of the Study 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 MARKET DYNAMICS 4.1 Market Drivers 4.2 Market Restraints 4.3 Porters Five Forces Analysis 4.3.1 Threat of New Entrants 4.3.2 Bargaining Power of Buyers/Consumers 4.3.3 Bargaining Power of Suppliers 4.3.4 Threat of Substitute Products 4.3.5 Intensity of Competitive Rivalry 5 MARKET SEGMENTATION 5.1 Service Type 5.1.1 Car 5.1.2 Bus 5.1.3 Bike 5.2 Transportation Type 5.2.1 Public 5.2.2 Private 5.3 Geography 5.3.1 North America 5.3.1.1 United States 5.3.1.2 Canada 5.3.1.3 Rest of North America 5.3.2 Europe 5.3.2.1 Germany 5.3.2.2 United Kingdom 5.3.2.3 France 5.3.2.4 Rest of Europe 5.3.3 Asia-Pacific 5.3.3.1 India 5.3.3.2 China 5.3.3.3 Japan 5.3.3.4 South Korea 5.3.3.5 Rest of Asia-Pacific 5.3.4 Rest of the World 5.3.4.1 Brazil 5.3.4.2 United Arab Emirates 5.3.4.3 Other Countries 6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE 6.1 Vendor Market Share 6.2 Company Profiles 6.2.1 Whim 6.2.2 Uber Technologies Inc. 6.2.3 Didi 6.2.4 Citymapper 6.2.5 Moovel Diamler 6.2.6 Beeline Mobility 6.2.7 Ubigo 6.2.8 Ola Cabs 6.2.9 Bridj 6.2.10 Mobileo 7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/xo2csa Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) A Lebanese man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Minnesota to conspiring to export drone parts and technology from the U.S. to Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald said Monday that Usama Hamade, 55, pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally export goods and technology. His brother, Issam Hamade, pleaded guilty in March in federal court in Minnesota. Prosecutors said the brothers acquired sophisticated technology for drones from 2009 to 2013 and illegally exported them to Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization. The Hamades were arrested in February 2018 in South Africa and were extradited to the U.S. last fall. According to an indictment, the parts included inertial measurement units, which can be used to track an aircrafts position, and digital compasses, which can be paired with the inertial measurement units for drone guidance systems. The parts also included a jet engine and 20 piston engines. B ritish holidaymakers may be able to travel abroad this summer under Government plans to create air bridges with other countries. The proposal between the UK and nations where the outbreak is under control was backed by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Monday. This week the Government was reportedly expected to announce a 14-day quarantine period for international arrivals in the UK. It was feared this would end hopes of travel abroad this summer, but the possibly was given hope as Mr Shapps approved of the air bridges idea floated by senior Tory MP Huw Merriman. He asked the transport secretary if he would considered allowing those entering the UK from countries where the infection rate is below the rate of one to not be subject to quarantine. "This will boost confidence in aviation travel and target safety where it's most needed, Mr Marriman said. Mr Shapps replied: "Final details of the quarantine scheme will be released soon, come in early next month. "It is the case we should consider further improvements - for example, things like air bridges enabling people from other countries who have themselves achieved lower levels of coronavirus infection to come to the country. "So, those are active discussions but will go beyond what will initially be a blanket situation. Mr Shapps insisted quarantine measures from early June will be a "blanket situation" for other countries initially but could be then eased for those with low Covid-19 infection rates. Loading.... It comes after holidaymakers' hopes of a trip abroad were dampened in recent days as the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the UK climbed to more than 34,000. Asked last week if summer was cancelled, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "I think that's likely to be the case. "It is unlikely that big, lavish international holidays are going to be possible for this summer. I just think that's a reality of life. Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcast Air bridges would see agreements sought with countries with low R numbers to let passengers travel between them without going into quarantine. R numbers refer to the average amount of people someone with the virus infects. We are committed to our mission of resourcing and supporting anyone who impacts kids and are grateful to be collaborating with other dedicated and passionate organizations in Arizona, stated Nicole Newhouse, ASCC CEO. The Association for Supportive Child Care (ASCC) has been awarded $100,000 to establish a regional emergency fund to provide relief grants to home-based child care providers by Home Grown, a national collaborative of funders committed to improving the quality of and access to home-based child care. ASCC is partnering with Arizonas Children Association, the United Way of Pinal County, and Child Care Resource & Referral - Arizona, a program of Child & Family Resources to distribute cash gift cards to family, friend and neighbor home based child care providers across the State of Arizona. ASCC will operate as the administrative home for the regional emergency fund. It is the collaborating organizations goal to provide family, friend, and neighbor caregivers with economic support and to gather data on the impact of COVID-19 on employment status in these type of caregivers households. This award will help 366 caregivers with a $300 cash gift card. ASCC is providing matching funds to the Home Grown award, beginning with $10,000 from their tax credit donation campaign raised earlier this year and will continue fundraising efforts with the community. We are committed to our mission of resourcing and supporting anyone who impacts kids and are grateful to be collaborating with other dedicated and passionate organizations in Arizona, stated Nicole Newhouse, ASCC CEO. These home-based child care providers care for more than 60% of our kids under the age of five year-round and we need to strengthen and support them during this crisis. ASCC has also received a $10,260 award from United Way of Northern Arizona which will be distributed directly to child care centers that are struggling to remain open and serve children of essential workers in the Flagstaff area. Due to COVID-19, 82% of licensed child care centers in Flagstaff have been forced to close and those centers that have remained open are operating far below capacity, creating a dire financial situation. Though providing an important service to essential employees and the community, these centers continue to struggle to keep their doors open. Support from the United Way of Northern Arizona will allow these services to continue to be provided and help maintain a healthy and stable child care industry for rebuilding the economy and getting families back to work. ASCC and First Things First have collaborated to connect with local child care centers and discuss their financial needs in the light of COVID-19, self-quarantining, and employee furloughs. ASCC will serve as the administrative home for UWNA funds and distribute them directly to each child care center that has made a request. "We are incredibly grateful to all the individuals and organizations in our community who are doing their part to support children and families during these tough times," said Peter Van Wyck, First Things First Regional Director and member of the Social Safety Net Services Coalition. "We appreciate the United Way of Northern Arizona stepping up to help child care providers with critical needs so that they can focus on their primary mission: to keep kids safe and learning while their parents work or head back to work." About The Association for Supportive Child Care The Association for Supportive Child Care (ASCC) was founded in 1976 as a private, nonprofit corporation dedicated to shaping the future of Arizona by enhancing the quality of care for children. Every program at ASCC meets a unique set of needs within the childcare and early education field. The foundation of brain development starts before birth and continues through adulthood. However, in the first few years of life, more than 1 million new neural connections are formed per second. Vision, hearing, language and higher cognitive function are at the peak of development from birth to five years old. The Association for Supportive Child Care (ASCC) works passionately to ensure that young children have the foundation they need to lead happy, successful, productive lives. We are fueled by our core values of the relentless pursuit of challenge, excellence and humility to provide support, training, education, and professional development to the entire spectrum of those that care for and educate young children: parents, family, friends, neighbors, child care providers (both regulated and unregulated), early childhood educators, administrators, and leaders. Learn more by following @ASCCAZ on social or visiting asccaz.org. About Home Grown Home Grown is a national collaborative of funders committed to improving the quality of and access to home-based child care. The members of Home Grown are collaborating to strategically invest in innovative approaches and scale what works in order to drive the most change as quickly as possible. The collaborative is backed by the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Gary Community Investments, Heinz Endowments, Heising-Simons Foundation, Imaginable Futures (a venture of The Omidyar Group), Klingenstein Philanthropies, MAEVA Social Capital, Merage Foundations, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Pritzker Childrens Initiative. Home Grown has launched a series of resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that home-based providers, who play a critical role in supporting the American workforce, are represented in COVID- 19 policy solutions. By meeting the immediate needs of providers, and connecting their needs to local, state and federal policy actions, Home Grow is working to sustain the supply of home-based child care and prevent any sacrifices in quality of care. More at homegrownchildcare.org. About Arizonas Children Association For more than 108 years, Arizonas Children Association (AzCA) has stayed true to Protecting Children, Empowering Youth, Strengthening Families, serving more than 40,000 children, individuals and families in all 15 counties each year. They are one of the oldest and largest statewide child welfare and behavioral health nonprofit agencies in Arizona. Learn more at http://www.ArizonasChildren.org. About United Way of Pinal County Since 1981, the United Way of Pinal County (UWPC) has been serving our communities with programs which advocate for the Health, Education and Financial Stability of every person in Pinal County. Uniting generosity with community, UWPC programs are designed to promote lasting change in peoples lives. This begins with early childhood education programming, and the support of our childcare providers. The UWPC Family, Friend & Neighbor Program, funded by First Things First, provides early childhood education trainings, resources and materials to improve the quality of family childcare environments throughout Pinal County. Serving grandparents, foster parents, and other family, friend and neighbor childcare providers, the FFN Program ensures that children being cared for in an in-home setting are receiving the education and materials they need to succeed. About Child Care Resource & Referral - Arizona, a program of Child & Family Resources Child Care Resource & Referral - AZ, a statewide program of Child & Family Resources, Inc. is proud to partner with the Association for Supportive Child Care to support our most vulnerable and under resourced family child care home providers. We are extremely grateful to Home Grown for establishing an emergency response fund in light of COVID-19 and recognizing the critical importance and role of home-based family child care programs. About First Things First First Things First works at the state and local levels to give Arizona children the opportunity to arrive at kindergarten healthy and ready to succeed. We invest in proven programs and innovative strategies through grants to community organizations that provide services to children and families. We provide professional expertise and oversight to support local programs and statewide initiatives. And we collaborate with other early childhood system partners to make even more impact. About United Way of Northern Arizona Serving the Flagstaff community since 1967, United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA) is more committed than ever to collaborate with our valued partners to coordinate efforts and leverage resources to invest in the power and potential of successful and resilient youth. Investing in successful, resilient youth to create thriving communities is why UWNA exists. With our partners we are focusing on children and youth, ages 0-18, to invest in the sustainable life skills that our youth will use throughout their lives to navigate challenges and seize opportunities. Odishas Covid-19 tally inched closer to 1,000 as 84 new cases were detected on Tuesday. A 36-year-old police constable in Bhubaneswar also got infected with the virus. The death toll also went up to 5 after a 75-year-old patient with respiratory problems and other comorbidities passed away at AIIMS Bhubaneswar on Sunday within few hours of his admission to the hospital. He was later tested positive for Covid-19. The 36-year-old police personnel in Bhubaneswar was among the two in the city who tested positive today. Incidentally, the two positive cases came a day after Bhubaneswar was declared free of any Covid-19 patients. Officials in Bhubaneswar commissionerate police said the constable had come in contact with a migrant labourer of another state while he was on leave. On returning from leave, he was tested and found positive. The policeman who did not showed any symptoms of the disease has been moved to a Covid-care care facility of the Covid police hospital. Though Ganjam district continued to be the Covid hotspot with 307 cases, Jajpur district reported the highest number of positive cases today with 31 migrant workers testing positive. Of the 31 migrant workers, 30 had returned from West Bengal. Meanwhile, a 72-year-old man died hours after he had checked into a quarantine centre in Odishas Bhadrak district. Debendra Rout of Sarasada village had returned from Kolkata on Tuesday and checked into the quarantine centre at Bayabanpur village. He went off to sleep after having light tiffin at 11.15 am. However, he did not respond when the quarantine centre authorities tried to wake him up for lunch. A team of doctors reached the quarantine centre and later declared him dead. Later, officials sent his sample for Covid-19 test. Earlier, a migrant worker of Ganjam had died at a quarantine centre and was later found to be positive for Covid-19. Businessman Pavlo Fuks bought medical equipment for UAH 13.4 million and also paid for a charter with humanitarian aid Businessman and philanthropist Pavlo Fuks has been included in the list of Ukrainians who are helping to fight the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. He supported the initiative of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to provide assistance to medical workers and bought two modern X-ray diagnostic systems; he also covered the costs of delivering humanitarian aid from Geneva. The names of well-known businessmen-philanthropists are published by several media at once Gordon, LIGA.net and Bykvu. In his Telegram, Fuks reported that X-ray diagnostic complexes were delivered to two hospitals in Kharkiv 17 and 25. I was told that one device can examine more than 100 people a day. Accordingly, two devices can diagnose 200 people a day, the businessman wrote. Medical equipment was bought by Pavlo Fuks for UAH 13 million 400 thousand. Thanks to him, all types of graphic examinations, including laterography and tomography, are available to Kharkiv medical workers. The devices allow to carry out ultra-precise diagnostics and to detect diseases at the initial stage. In addition, modern equipment is much safer for patients: it reduces radiation exposure. In addition to helping Kharkiv hospitals, Pavlo Fuks also paid for a charter flight with humanitarian aid from Geneva. It's all for the money I earned, from which taxes were paid, the businessman said. On May 5, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko announced, Interfax-Ukraine reports, that UAH 374.6 million have been raised from business to the Fund for the Elimination of Consequences of COVID-19. President Donald Trump threatened to permanently cut off U.S. funding of the World Health Organization, in a letter dated Monday that he shared on Twitter. @realDonaldTrump: This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! Trump said that if the WHO "does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization." Last month, Trump halted U.S. funding for the WHO as his administration conducted a review of the agency's response to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, the agency said "We are still in the acute phase of a pandemic so now is not the time to cut back on funding." It's not immediately clear how Trump would withhold those funds, much of which are appropriated by Congress. The president typically does not have the authority to unilaterally redirect congressional funding. The renewed threat comes as the Trump administration faces criticism for how it has handled the crisis. The United States is the worst hit country with more than 1.5 million coronavirus cases reported and at least 90,000 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. In the Monday letter, Trump said the review "confirmed many of the serious concerns I raised last month." It also outlines what the White House perceived as "repeated missteps" by the organization and its director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The letter echoes Trump's previous complaint that the WHO resisted issuing a travel advisory in the early days of the outbreak. When the agency declared the situation a global health emergency in late January, Tedros advised countries against imposing "measures that unnecessarily interfere with international trade or travel." Trump's letter also repeats growing scrutiny over how the WHO handled information reported by China. The president previously accused the agency of being "China centric." "The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China ... I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests," the letter said. Trump himself faces scrutiny over misleading statements about the coronavirus as well as treatment and vaccine candidates. In January, he told CNBC's Joe Kernen that he trusts the information coming out of China on the coronavirus. In February, Trump said the coronavirus was the Democrats' "new hoax" intended to damage him and his administration. Trump has repeatedly touted the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a "game-changer" in treating Covid-19. But the drug has serious side effects and a small study was halted for safety reasons after coronavirus patients developed arrhythmia from taking chloroquine. Nearly two dozen of those patients died. On Monday, Trump said he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for over a week to prevent coronavirus infection, even though it is not yet a proven treatment. White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said in a memo that "the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks." The news came after a member of Trump's staff tested positive for coronavirus. The president also previously suggested testing "ultraviolet or just a very powerful light" or disinfectant "by injection," comments he later claimed were sarcastic. Health officials and household disinfectant makers quickly urged Americans against injecting or consuming such products. CNBC's Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Noah Higgins- Dunn contributed to this report. Older adults with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, have several atypical symptoms, complicating efforts to ensure they get timely and appropriate treatment, according to physicians. COVID-19 is typically signaled by three symptoms: a fever, an insistent cough and shortness of breath. But older adults the age group most at risk of severe complications or death from this condition may have none of these characteristics. Instead, seniors may seem off not acting like themselves early on after being infected by the coronavirus. They may sleep more than usual or stop eating. They may seem unusually apathetic or confused, losing orientation to their surroundings. They may become dizzy and fall. Sometimes, seniors stop speaking or simply collapse. With a lot of conditions, older adults dont present in a typical way, and were seeing that with COVID-19 as well, said Dr. Camille Vaughan, section chief of geriatrics and gerontology at Emory University. The reason has to do with how older bodies respond to illness and infection. At advanced ages, someones immune response may be blunted and their ability to regulate temperature may be altered, said Dr. Joseph Ouslander, a professor of geriatric medicine at Florida Atlantic Universitys Schmidt College of Medicine. Underlying chronic illnesses can mask or interfere with signs of infection, he said. Some older people, whether from age-related changes or previous neurologic issues such as a stroke, may have altered cough reflexes. Others with cognitive impairment may not be able to communicate their symptoms. Recognizing danger signs is important: If early signs of COVID-19 are missed, seniors may deteriorate before getting needed care. And people may go in and out of their homes without adequate protective measures, risking the spread of infection. Dr. Quratulain Syed, an Atlanta geriatrician, describes a man in his 80s whom she treated in mid-March. Over a period of days, this patient, who had heart disease, diabetes and moderate cognitive impairment, stopped walking and became incontinent and profoundly lethargic. But he didnt have a fever or a cough. His only respiratory symptom: sneezing off and on. The mans elderly spouse called 911 twice. Both times, paramedics checked his vital signs and declared he was OK. After another worried call from the overwhelmed spouse, Syed insisted the patient be taken to the hospital, where he tested positive for COVID-19. I was quite concerned about the paramedics and health aides whod been in the house and who hadnt used PPE (personal protective equipment), Syed said. Dr. Sam Torbati, medical director of the Ruth and Harry Roman Emergency Department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, describes treating seniors who initially appear to be trauma patients but are found to have COVID-19. They get weak and dehydrated, he said, and when they stand to walk, they collapse and injure themselves badly. Torbati has seen older adults who are profoundly disoriented and unable to speak and who appear at first to have suffered strokes. When we test them, we discover that whats producing these changes is a central nervous system effect of coronavirus, he said. Dr. Laura Perry, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California-San Francisco, saw a patient like this several weeks ago. The woman, in her 80s, had what seemed to be a cold before becoming very confused. In the hospital, she couldnt identify where she was or stay awake during an examination. Perry diagnosed hypoactive delirium, an altered mental state in which people become inactive and drowsy. The patient tested positive for coronavirus and is still in the ICU. Dr. Anthony Perry, an associate professor of geriatric medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, tells of an 81-year-old woman with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea who tested positive for COVID-19 in the emergency room. After receiving IV fluids, oxygen and medication for her intestinal upset, she returned home after two days and is doing well. Another 80-year-old Rush patient with similar symptoms nausea and vomiting, but no cough, fever or shortness of breath is in intensive care after getting a positive COVID-19 test and is due to be put on a ventilator. The difference? This patient is frail with a lot of cardiovascular disease, Perry said. Other than that, its not yet clear why some older patients do well while others do not. So far, reports of cases like these have been anecdotal. But a few physicians are trying to gather more systematic information. In Switzerland, Dr, Sylvain Nguyen, a geriatrician at the University of Lausanne Hospital Center, put together a list of typical and atypical symptoms in older COVID-19 patients for a paper to be published in the Revue Medicale Suisse. Included on the atypical list are changes in a patients usual status, delirium, falls, fatigue, lethargy, low blood pressure, painful swallowing, fainting, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and the loss of smell and taste. Data comes from hospitals and nursing homes in Switzerland, Italy and France, Nguyen said in an email. On the front lines, physicians need to make sure they carefully assess an older patients symptoms. While we have to have a high suspicion of COVID-19 because its so dangerous in the older population, there are many other things to consider, said Dr. Kathleen Unroe, a geriatrician at Indiana Universitys School of Medicine. Seniors may also do poorly because their routines have changed. In nursing homes and most assisted living centers, activities have stopped and residents are going to get weaker and more deconditioned because theyre not walking to and from the dining hall, she said. At home, isolated seniors may not be getting as much help with medication management or other essential needs from family members who are keeping their distance, other experts suggested. Or they may have become apathetic or depressed. Id want to know Whats the potential this person has had an exposure (to the coronavirus), especially in the last two weeks? said Vaughan of Emory. Do they have home health personnel coming in? Have they gotten together with other family members? Are chronic conditions being controlled? Is there another diagnosis that seems more likely? Someone may be just having a bad day. But if theyre not themselves for a couple of days, absolutely reach out to a primary care doctor or a local health system hotline to see if they meet the threshold for (coronavirus) testing, Vaughan advised. Be persistent. If you get a no the first time and things arent improving, call back and ask again. Kaiser Health News (KHN) is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. A screening area will be set up at the AIIMS here to identify and segregate patients having symptoms of influenza-like illness and COVID-19 before they are referred to the out-patient department as the hospital gears up to resume OPD services in a phased manner, officials said. According to AIIMS chief spokesperson Dr Aarti Vij, the premier hospital is in the process of modifying its OPDs in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Preparations are on in full-swing for setting up a screening OPD to identify and segregate patients having influenza-like-illness and COVID-19 suspects before they are sent to the main OPD, she said. "This is being done from the point of view of taking all possible infection control measures to prevent any spread of infection to non-COVID patients and healthcare workers. Steps are also being taken towards ensuring good air circulation. Since we are modifying the OPDs, it will require few more days," she said. It has been close to a month that AIIMS has shut down its OPD services and curtailed all elective surgeries as part of its efforts towards redirecting its resources to control the COVID-19 outbreak. The hospital has also constituted a committee to devise a strategy for restoring healthcare services in a phased manner, Vij said. A large proportion of manpower and patient care facilities are being dedicated for managing COVID-19 patients. Besides, the entire AIIMS Trauma Centre has been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 hospital and the NCI Jhajjar also is treating coronavirus infected patients. The entire trauma casualty and the emergency has been shifted to the AIIMS' main emergency. "Doctors at AIIMS are currently providing tele-consultation to all follow-up patients in an effort to reduce the need for them to visit the facility during the lockdown. Around 1000 tele-consultations are being provided per day in different departments in total and these figures are going up," Vij said. The COVID-19 National Tele-consultation Centre (CoNTeC) at AIIMS, New Delhi has handled over 4,500 calls that includes calls for COVID-19 related queries, tele-consultation calls by doctors and calls for appointments. The CoNTeC phone number (+91 9115444155) can be dialled from anywhere in the country/world for OPD appointments and also used as a public helpline. Besides, around 44,000 mails from across the country have been responded to through the dedicated email ID (technicalquery.covid19@gov.in) to clarify any doubts in the minds of the general public pertaining to any technical aspect of COVID-19, Vij said. An AIIMS sub-committee earlier was asked to prepare a blueprint for smooth restoration of OPD and non-emergency surgery services. The chief of centres and heads of departments at AIIMS were asked to give an estimate of how many cases they can handle in a day if it has to be restarted. The OT teams were also asked to finalise and draw a blueprint on how non-emergency surgeries will be conducted keeping in mind that some operation theatres are reserved for suspected COVID-19 patients in the main OT area of the hospital. At present, hospital services have been curtailed as part of the government strategy to fight COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time in its history, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences here shut down its OPD services, including speciality, and all new and follow-up registrations from March 24. The AIIMS had also issued a circular postponing all nonessential elective procedures and surgeries and directed that only emergency life-saving surgeries be conducted with effect from March 21. By PTI LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday that the people were wondering why thousands of buses were not being used by the Uttar Pradesh government to send the stranded migrant workers to their homes. "The common people are wondering why the thousands of government buses, private buses and school buses are gathering dust, and not being utilised in sending the stranded migrant labourers to their homes," Yadav tweeted. "What kind of stubbornness is this?" "Using force instead of buses is wrong," he added. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Global Long QT Syndrome Market Research Report, Type (LQT1, LQT2, LQT3), Diagnosis (Tests, ECG, Genetic Testing), Treatment (Medications, Surgical Procedures), End Users (Hospitals, Diagnostic Labs, Research Organizations) - Global Forecast till 2023 get free sample copy @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/5303 Market Scenario Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a disorder of the hearts electrical activity, leading to irregular heartbeats. Fainting and seizures are the most common symptoms for this disease. In most of the patients, the first sign/symptom of the disease appears after the age of 40. Moreover, it is estimated that the risks for the disease increase with pre-existing conditions of cardiovascular disease, diabetes besides others. Therefore, factors such as increasing prevalence of the cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and the growing geriatric population are the major drivers that are estimated to drive the market growth during the forecast period. According to the World Health Organization in 2017, cardiovascular diseases were the main cause of the deaths across the globe. It was estimated that in 2015, approximately 17.7 million people died from cardiovascular diseases, representing 31% of all the global deaths. Of these deaths, an estimated 7.4 million were due to the coronary heart diseases and 6.7 million were due to stroke. Furthermore, the World Health Organization in 2016 reported that an estimated 422 million adults across the world were living with diabetes in 2014. Additionally, it was estimated that deaths due to diabetes were higher in the low and middle income countries as compared to the high income countries. Rising per capita healthcare expenditure and increasing R&D expenses by key players of the market is fuelling the market growth. However, factors such as lack of awareness for this syndrome, stringent FDA approvals and high cost of the surgical therapeutics for the treatment of this disorder are restraining the market growth. The global long qt syndrome Market genetics is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.50% during forecast period. Intended Audience Pharmaceutical companies Biotechnological institutes Government and Private Laboratories Research and Development (R&D) Companies Medical Research Laboratories Market Research and Consulting Service Providers Segmentation The global long QT syndrome market is segmented on the basis of type, diagnosis, treatment, and end users. On the basis of the type, the market is segmented into long QT syndrome type 1, long QT syndrome type 2, long QT syndrome type 3, and others. On the basis of the diagnosis, the market is categorised into tests, electrocardiogram (ECG), genetic testing, and others. The test segment is further segmented into serum potassium level tests, magnesium level tests, and others. The ECG segment is further segmented into holter monitor, event monitor, and others. On the basis of the treatment, the market is segmented into medication, surgical procedures, and others. The medication segment is sub-segmented into beta blockers, mexiletine, and others. The beta blockers segment, by medication, is further segmented into nadolol, propranolol, and others. The surgical procedures segment is segmented into left cardiac sympathetic denervation surgery, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD), and others. On the basis of the end user, the market is segmented into hospitals & clinics, diagnostic labs, research organizations, and others. Key players for global long QT syndrome market The key players for the global long QT syndrome market are Invitae Corporation (U.S.), GeneDx. (U.S.), Asper Biogene (Estonia), Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.), Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (U.S.), Pfizer Inc. (U.S.), Zydus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (U.S.), Aralez Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Canada), AstraZeneca (U.K), Torrent Pharmaceuticals Limited (India), Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (U.S.), Cipla Inc. (India), Mylan N.V. (U.S.), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Israel), and others. Regional Analysis: Americas dominate the global long QT syndrome market owing to a well-developed healthcare sector and high per capita healthcare expenditures. Apart from this, increasing number of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases and diabetes as a result of changing lifestyle are estimated to drive the market growth in the Americas. Europe is the second largest long QT syndrome market, which is followed by Asia Pacific. Availability of funds for research, huge patient population, and government support for research & development will drive the market. In 2017, according to the British Heart Foundation, about 2,265,422 cases of coronary heart diseases were registered from 2015 to 2016 in the U.K. Moreover, it was estimated that in 2015, the cost of cardiovascular diseases in the U.K was about USD 18 billion. Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region for the market due to the presence continuously developing economies, and presence of huge opportunity in the market. Increasing prevalence of diabetes and growing geriatric population are the factors boosting the market growth within the region. According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of diabetes in the Western Pacific region is increasing and approximately 71,050,100 individuals are estimated to suffer from diabetes by 2030. Request Full Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/long-qt-syndrome-market-5303 On the other hand, the Middle East & Africa has the least share in the global long QT syndrome market due to presence of poor economies and stringent government policies especially in the African region. Majority of the market of this region is held by the Middle East due to a well-developed healthcare sector and huge healthcare expenditure by the developed economies like Qatar, Dubai and others. RELATED NEWS Blood Coagulants Market Nonallergic Rhinitis Market About US: Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) The cities of Mandaluyong and San Juan have lifted their liquor ban, citing the need for retailers and businesses to recover from the economic effects of the coronavirus disease. In an ordinance, the city government of Mandaluyong said the temporary liquor ban, which the city had enacted on March 18, has greatly affected the livelihood of many people, including owners of sari-sari stores and other small business establishments, and their employees. "There is a possibility that if the ban continues, the industry may not survive leading not only to the unemployment and displacement of many employees and workers, but also affecting the benefits that it brings to the Philippine economy, it said. The city of San Juan, which enforced its liquor ban on March 26, also noted the need to relax the total prohibition for economic reasons. Both cities now allow the selling, purchasing, and consumption of alcoholic beverages, but clarified that drinking in public places remains prohibited. The San Juan city government emphasized that alcohol consumption is only allowed inside the house, where physical distancing should still be strictly observed. The temporary liquor ban was implemented in several areas nationwide to promote social distancing during the quarantine period to help slow down the spread of COVID-19. More local government units have eased restrictions as most of the country shifts to more relaxed quarantine protocols. NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio -- A North Olmsted man choked the president of his neighborhood HOA after blaming the man for his basement flooding, police said. Dean Kohler, 53, is charged with assault in the incident that happened about 6:45 p.m. Friday on Stafford Drive near Sutton Drive. Kohler is expected to make his first court appearance June 9 in Rocky River Municipal Court, police say. He was booked in with North Olmsted police and later released with his court date, according to a police report. Police received a call about an altercation between two men in the front yard of a Stafford Drive home. The man, who identified himself as the president of the homeowners association in the Bretton Ridge neighborhood, told Kohler to leave his home after he started swearing at him, his wife and children about the flooding, the report says. The man tried to get Kohler off his porch, and Kohler fell into a flowerbed. Kohler continued to scream as he walked back to his home on Stafford Drive. The man told police he believed that Kohler was under the influence either alcohol or drugs, the report says. The man told police Kohler believes his basement and the neighborhood flooded because of construction of the new Omni Senior Living building on Lorain Road near Christman Drive, the report says. A neighbor witnessed the altercation and told police that Kohler was waving his arms at the man, then grabbed his neck and choked him, the report says. She ran inside and told her husband to call the police, the report says. The HOA president told police Kohler blamed him for letting the new senior living facility tie into the sewer lines, the report says. Police arrested Kohler after they saw the HOA presidents injuries and after hearing from neighbors who witnessed the altercation, the report says. Read more crime stories on cleveland.com: Uber driver shot during attempted carjacking in Clevelands Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhood Cuyahoga County officials warn of scammers pretending they are coronavirus contact tracers Man charged in high-speed crash that killed woman, injured two kids in Cleveland Man snatches stimulus-check cash from victims hand, police say U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman nominated by Trump for top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Commerce Departments move to expand sanctions against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei threatens to delay the rollout of 5G technology globally, Paul Scanlan, the companys chief technology officer said. Speaking to Yahoo Finances On The Move, Scanlan did not specify the extent of the delays, but acknowledged Washingtons move to effectively shut down Huaweis supply chains will further complicate 5G ambitions for the largest equipment maker in the space. It has already been delayed because of the coronavirus outbreak. This is a thing that's very difficult to understand, Scanlan said. This type of action, instead of trying to fix the world and collaborate and make improvements, prevents collaboration and the development of the use-cases that everybody had, that 5G hoped to be able to deploy, Scanlan said. Last week, the Commerce Department moved to expand export restrictions against Huawei by requiring foreign semiconductor makers using American software and equipment to obtain licenses to continue selling to the worlds second largest smartphone maker. The tighter sanctions came nearly a year after the department added Huawei to the entity list, citing national security concerns. Survival is the key word Huawei has repeatedly denied allegations of spying and intellectual property theft. A media statement released overnight, characterized Washingtons actions as arbitrary and pernicious, accusing the U.S. of leveraging its own technological strengths to crush companies outside its own borders. This will only serve to undermine the trust international companies place in U.S. technology and supply chains. Ultimately, this will harm U.S. interests, the statement said. On Monday, rotating chairman Guo Ping said U.S. actions would inevitably affect the companys outlook. Speaking at the companys annual analyst day, Ping struck a notably downbeat tone when asked about the impact expanded restrictions will have, saying We still havent figured it out. Story continues Survival is the key word for us at present, he said. Beijing has vowed to take all necessary measures to respond to the latest restrictions, calling Washingtons actions an abuse of power and violation of market principals. A statement posted by Chinas Commerce Ministry said the regulations threatened the security of the global industrial and supply chain, according to the Associated Press. The U.S. uses state power, under the so-called excuse of national security, and abuses export control measures to continuously oppress and contain specific enterprises of other countries, the statement said, adding China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises. A delivery man hands over drinks near a Huawei retail store in Beijing on Monday, May 18, 2020. China's commerce ministry says it will take "all necessary measures" in response to new U.S. restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei's ability to use American technology, calling the measures an abuse of state power and a violation of market principles. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Tightening export controls has prompted Huawei to increase expenditures dramatically to diversify its supply chains. The company increased its R&D spend by 29.8% last year, while its inventory rose by 73.4%, according to figures provided by Huawei. Scanlan said the company had ninety-one 5G commercial contracts signed as of February, with roughly 700,000 5G base stations in store globally. You know the U.S. always stood for trust and different collaboration and innovation. Now you are systematically going after a company because ... we are the leader in 5G, Scanlan said. We are going to evaluate and study exactly what the U.S. department has stated is going to become the new law. We will figure out and see how we play in accordance with that law. Akiko Fujita is an anchor and reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @AkikoFujita Guwahati, May 19 : With two deaths, Assam registered a 54 per cent increase in COVID-19 positive cases in the past 48 hours raising the state's tally to 154, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday. According to the latest tweet from Sarma, the positive cases rose to 154 late Tuesday evening with active cases at 107 and four deaths, including two casualties in the past 48 hours. Of the new cases reported in the past 48 hours, the highest number of 27 people tested positive in Guwahati while remaining are in 10 other districts. According to Sarma, a 71-year-old cancer patient, who had returned from Mumbai recently, died at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on Monday. His wife and daughter also tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. Sarma said that another person had died at GMCH on Monday night prior to detection of coronavirus. Out of the 154 positive cases found so far in Assam, 41 people have been discharged from hospitals after they recovered from the disease and two cases migrated to other states. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) The coronavirus pandemic has already taken its toll on Japan as the country falls into recession. This is the first time Japan has struggled financially since 2015, and unfortunately, things are continuing to escalate. Japan's recession Japan is known to have the third biggest economy in the world, and it shrank 3.4% in the first three months of 2020. The pandemic has hurt the global economy, with an estimated cost of $8.8tn or 7.1tn. Just last week, Germany also fell into recession as major economies in the world face the impact of lockdowns and closed businesses. The difference between Germany and Japan is that the latter did not go into national lockdown, but the country issued a state of emergency in mid-April and it affected businesses and supply chains since Japan is reliant on trade. Aside from the 3.4% fall in growth domestic product or GDP for the first three months of the year, Japan also suffered from a 6.4% decline during the last three months of 2019, and this pushed the country into a technical recession. Japanese consumers have also been hit by the impact of the pandemic and a sales tax hike in October that went from 8% to 10%. Even though the country lifted the state of emergency in 39 prefectures, its economic outlook is still gloomy for the current quarter. Reuters polled analysts and shared their insight on the matter. Also Read: More Than 100 Infections in South Korea Linked to Fitness Classes They expect Japan's economy to decrease to 22% from April to June, which is the second quarter of the year, and it will be the biggest economic decline in the country's record. To help combat this, the Japanese government announced a $1 trillion stimulus package, and the Bank of Japan also expanded its stimulus measures for the second time since April. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also pledged to fund new spending measures, and it is said to be the second budget to be released this month, as it is the government's attempt to soften the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic. How can Japan recover? The economy of Japan has been stagnant for years, compared to the buoyant economies of other developed countries like China and the United States. Japan relies on trading and has almost no control over demands in other countries. Some of the biggest brands from the country are Toyota and Honda and both have declined sales around the world. Tourism has been hit hard by the pandemic, and it has been one of the economic boosters of Japan. Unless both trading and tourism have recovered, it will take time before Japan can turn things around. The country has more than 16,000 confirmed cases and more than 700 deaths. Japan vs. other major economies Japan may have fallen into recession, but the country's economy appears to be doing so much better or at least less bad, than other developed countries. Even though analysts predict that Japan's economy will fall to 22% from April to June, they also predict that the United States could fall to 25%. The first three months of Japan's economy fell 3.4% but it is a lot better than the 4.8% decrease in the economy of the United States. This was the fastest decline for the US economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s. China, which has the second-largest economy in the world, fell 6.8% in the first three months of the year, compared to Japan's 3.4% decline. Although China and the US are still to confirmed if they have fallen into a technical recession, analysts say that it is just a matter of time until the two countries declare it. Related Article: Kim Jong-Un Dead? Portraits of Supreme Leader's Ancestors Removed from North Korea's Famous Square @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A new graduate of Brooklyn Law School has honored her class by creating a miniature commencement ceremony, complete with each students photo and pasted-on caps. Alexandra Lenczewski, one of over 300 graduating students of Brooklyn Law School, printed, cut, and arranged individual photos in alphabetical order in a miniature replica of the graduation that should have been. On May 15, when the students expected to toss their caps in celebration, Lenczewski brought the pomp and circumstance to her yard in Connecticut, determined to celebrate the classs great achievements in some way. Despite the dark times we are going through as a nation, my goal was to remind us not to turn a blind eye to the light in our own backyards, Lenczewski told Storyful. I wanted to do whatever I personally could do to ensure that each and every graduating student felt acknowledged for the years of time, tireless effort and tremendous amount of dedication that they all put into earning their law degrees. Credit: Alexandra Lenczewski via Storyful The labour ministry has notified the new rules for employees provident fund or EPF contribution. In an announcement last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharama stated that the statutory provident fund contribution by the employers as well as employees will see a reduction from 12% to 10% for the next three months. This decision directly impacts the in-hand salary of the employees and also gives relief to companies in payment of provident fund dues. This move will also introduce liquidity of 6,750 crores to employers and employees over the course of next three months. On May 18, the Ministry of Labour said, "Whereas due to COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown is in force across the country and the Central Government after making the necessary inquiry is satisfied that to provide liquidity in the hands of employers and employees, there arises a need to amend the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Labour published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, section 3, sub-section(ii) vide number S.O. 320(E), dated 9th April 1997," 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 Five things to know about the new EPF rules- 1) The new rules will be applicable for the months of May, June and July 2) All establishments covered by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation or EPFO, with the inclusion of exempted PF trust, will see this EPF contribution cut. 3) Around 4.3 crore employees and more than 6.5 lakh employers will benefit from this decision, who were suffering high pressures under liquidity crunch in the current pandemic situation. 4) Central public sector enterprises and state PSUs will, however, continue to contribute 12% as employer's contribution towards EPF. 5) However, it will not be applicable for workers eligible for 24% EPF support under PM Garib Kalyan Package. The government supports the payment of 12% of employer and 12% employee contributions into the EPF accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package or PMGKP. This has also seen an extension for three months June, July and August. Under this package, the wage earners earning below Rs 15,000 per month, who are employed in establishments having up to one hundred employees, with 90% or more of such employees earning monthly wages less than Rs 15000, have their EPF covered by the government. the government pays 24% of the monthly wages into EPF accounts. This extension will provide a liquidity relief benefit of Rs 2,500 crore to more than 3.67 lakh establishments and for over 72.22 lakh employees. Kingsley Ako Tanyi Facebook Kingsley Ako Tanyi, Publisher of Cameroon Herald newspaper died Monday, May 18, 2020 at the Jamot Hospital in Yaounde at the age of 42. The journalist reportedly went to hospital on Sunday after he took ill. Medics are yet to say what killed him but his remains are reportedly preserved at the morgue. Born on June 18, 1978 in Atibong Wire village in Manyu Division, Akos passion for journalism saw him report for Bob Forbin's The Herald newspaper until it folded up. Ako founded Cameroon Express newspaper which phased out after running into trouble with the authorities. He went on to register Cameroon Herald, where he served as Publisher/Editor until his death. On June 5, 2015 'Cameroon Herald' newspaper and its publisher, Kingsley Ako Tanyi, were slammed a six-month suspension each by the National Communication Council, NCC for violating professional ethics. Pamol Plantations Plc had lodged a complaint at the NCC against Cameroon Herald claiming that the paper published unfounded accusations of mismanagement and embezzlement in its 090th issue against the Interim General Manager of Pamol Plantations Plc and certain senior public figures. The Council, after establishing the responsibility of the publisher of the newspaper in question for not respecting the requirements of verification and balance, separately suspended Cameroon Herald and its publisher from practicing the journalism profession in Cameroon for a period of six months for misconduct which constitutes violations of professional ethics in mass communication. Ako and Cameroon Herald were served a similar fate in December 2016. Ako is known to have challenged the decision of the NCC, mounting rooftops to make his case. Journalist Kingsley Ako, colleagues say, excelled while he served as President of the Buea Chapter of the Cameroon Association of English Speaking Journalists, CAMASEJ. Retired Justice Ayah Paul Abine said, in a eulogy, that history shall remember Kingsley Ako in those little sweet acts done honestly, with conviction and in the general interest. And indeed your name is inscribed in the annals of history. We did not do great things. Yet little things we did with lasting effect. Jerusalem (AFP) - Comments last week from an unnamed Israeli defence official that Iran was reducing its presence in Syria sparked fierce debate about Tehran's next moves and how the Jewish state should respond. Iran policy will inevitably be a top concern for the Israeli government to be sworn in Thursday, a unity coalition agreed after more than a year of unprecedented political deadlock. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who will be in Israel the previous day, is to discuss Iran with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and incoming defence minister Benny Gantz. Their focus will inevitably be on Iranian nuclear ambitions, with the US pursuing a campaign of "maximum pressure", backed by Israel, to deter an Iranian weapons programme. But developments in Syria have placed renewed attention on Iranian action in Israel's northern neighbour. Israel has launched hundreds of attacks in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011 -- targeting government troops, allied Iranian forces and fighters from Tehran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. But in an apparent intensification, six air strikes attributed to Israel have been carried out on Iranian targets in Syria over the past three weeks. Israel almost never claims -- or denies -- such strikes, consistently telling enquiring reporters that it "does not comment on foreign reports". But following the most recent bombing last week, outgoing Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said: "Iran has nothing to do in Syria... (and) we won't stop before they leave Syria." Bennett, who may be out of government entirely depending on last-minute coalition negotiations, accused Iran of "trying to establish itself on the border with Israel to threaten Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa". - 'Iranians not leaving' - Since the start of the year, Iran has faced multiple crises: the US killing of top general Qasem Soleimani, the region's deadliest coronavirus outbreak with over 100,000 people infected, and tumbling oil prices slashing the state budget. Story continues All of which has some observers wondering whether Iran is trying to reduce the cost of its involvement in Syria. Such speculation was further fuelled by an Israeli defence official recently quoted in Israeli media as saying: "For the first time since (deploying forces to) Syria, Iran is reducing the number of its soldiers there and evacuating bases." And a US diplomat said: "It would make sense at a certain point that Iran would want to cut its losses and downsize its presence there just because it's increasingly costly to them in terms of life and property." But not everyone in Israel is convinced that Tehran is ready to abandon Syria. "The Iranians are not leaving," said Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, who suggested that Iran may instead be relying more heavily on local forces. "Still the commanders are from Hezbollah and Iran and the cheap soldiers are Shia militia and local Syrians," he said. - Cost-cutting - A source in Jerusalem working on Iran policy agreed that Tehran remains committed to Syria and likely views its investment as a "sunk cost". "They are waiting for the revenues, they can't withdraw so fast without getting the economic fruit that they think they should get," the source said. Another source in Jerusalem claimed that Iran was attempting to divert funding for its coronavirus response towards paying its proxies in Syria. "They are using the virus as an opportunity to increase funds for destabilising activities in the region," the source said, without giving further details. In April, sanctions-hit Iran urged the International Monetary Fund to issue a $5 billion emergency loan to help it combat the virus. Yoram Schweitzer, an analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said strikes on Syria were either a response to growing Iranian operations or a bid to weaken an enemy already burdened by the pandemic. But Israel will need to tread carefully, warned the Yediot Aharonot newspaper. "What Israel needs is a defence minister and an IDF (army) chief of staff who can do the necessary risk-management work together, and act to continue to degrade the Iranian military presence in Syria without creating situations that might draw the entire region into renewed conflict," the paper said. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:48:58|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close CAIRO, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan discussed means of promoting cooperation in several fields on Tuesday over the phone. In the phone conversation, the two diplomats also discussed regional and international issues of common concerns, especially the security conditions in the Middle East, said Ahmad Hafez, spokesperson of the Egyptian Foreign Ministry. The two ministers stressed the importance of achieving stability and security in the Middle East via peaceful solutions, he added. They also discussed efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus and agreed on enhancing cooperation for containing the virus' social and economic impacts. Hafez added that the talks also touched upon the positive developments of the two countries' recent cooperation, particularly in the economic fields. Enditem DUBLIN, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FlowForma, the leading provider of Process Automation tools for Microsoft Office 365, today announced an exciting new partnership with MicrotechDPS, to deliver the award-winning FlowForma Process Automation tool to organizations in Australia and the greater APAC region. A Microsoft partner, MicrotechDPS provide its clients with an extensive range of IT solutions and services to assist and enhance in the day-to-day running of their business. Looking to add a process automation solution to their list of offerings, MicrotechDPS came across the FlowForma Process Automation tool, and quickly sought a demonstration to discover its capabilities. Upon seeing the tool in action, MicrotechDPS were confident they had found the right process automation app to supply to its clients. A 3-in-1 tool combining forms, workflow and document generation that could sit on top of Office 365 was their ideal preference. FlowForma Process Automation's no-code methodology and rapid prototyping capabilities only further rubber-stamped their decision. Having a long history of delivering successful process automation projects, MicrotechDPS wanted to be able to combine its skills in this area by helping organizations leverage and build on top of any existing Microsoft Office 365 platform clients may have. FlowForma Process Automation was the perfect solution for them to deliver process automation to those who already have, or are considering moving to, SharePoint Online. The new partnership emphasizes FlowForma's commitment to empowering its global customer base, with the company excited to ramp-up operations in Australia and surrounding countries in the APAC region. From initial conversations, it became clear that both FlowForma and MicrotechDPS hold similar cultural and business values, meaning a partnership was the obvious and natural choice for both parties. "We are thrilled to be working alongside FlowForma to provide our clients across Australia and the APAC region with a powerful process automation tool, to automate their business processes. From our initial conversations we could clearly see similarities in our customer base and the industries with which we serve, it was a unanimous decision," said Joel Steers, General Manager, MicrotechDPS. Olivia Bushe, CEO, FlowForma added: "It gives me great pleasure to announce MicrotechDPS as a FlowForma partner. We are truly excited of the potential opportunities this partnership can bring to construction, healthcare, finance and public organizations across the APAC region, helping them to digitize processes and prepare for a paperless and social distancing world." Supporting Resources: To find out how the FlowForma Process Automation tool works visit: www.flowforma.com/how-it-works T o download a free 14-day trial of FlowForma Process Automation visit: www.flowforma.com/start-your-flowforma-trial To learn more about FlowForma Process Automation, book a demo with one of our experts: www.flowforma.com/book-a-demo To find out how FlowForma Process Automation compares against its peers visit: www.g2crowd.com/products/flowforma-process-automation/reviews About FlowForma FlowForma, the leading provider of Process Automation tools for Microsoft Office 365 has been revolutionizing the traditional BPM space with an innovative approach to developing award winning products that empower users to create and streamline processes smarter and faster, utilizing the familiar SharePoint platform, without any coding. FlowForma is a Gold Microsoft Partner, with over 150,000 users across Europe, America, and Asia. The company is headquartered in Dublin with offices in London and Boston and is motivated by its values to innovate, evolve, and achieve with employees, customers and partners. For further information or a 14-day free trial, visit www.flowforma.com About MicrotechDPS Established in 2004, MicrotechDPS provide a full suite of business technology services. Its holistic approach makes MicrotechDPS unique as a technology business partner by managing the lifecycle of a company's IT & Print investments, from planning to procurement through to installation, training, and ongoing support. MicrotechDPS build long term relationships with its clients by learning and understanding what it is they do, and then match solutions to the activity that drives their business. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1168762/Olivia_Bushe_CEO_FlowForma.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/715823/FlowForma_Logo.jpg Kyaw Lin, a journalist who reported for online independent news outlets, Myanmar Now and Development Media Group was assaulted and threatened by two unknown perpetrators on May 13. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemn the incident and call on authorities to investigate the incident. In Kyaws hometown of Sittwe, Rakhine state, two people on a motorcycle approached him and fired a rock using a slingshot while shouting death threats at the journalist. After hitting Kyaw, the men drove off. Kyaw sustained minor injuries to his chest. In the past, Kyaw Lin has reported on the conflict between the Rakhine Arakan army and Myanmars military. In 2017, an unknown attacked stabbed Kyaw in Sittwe after publishing an article on local land prices. Police are yet to arrest anyone for the 2017 attack. The IFJ said: The culture of impunity that allows attacks on journalists in Myanmar to go unpunished must end. The IFJ condemns the attack and urges authorities to investigate the incident immediately. Former Biggest Loser star Steve 'Commando' Willis is yet to confirm his new relationship with F45 trainer Harika Vancuylenberg. But the pair certainly looked like an ordinary couple as they went shopping in Sydney's north-west on Monday. Steve, 43, and Harika were spotted holding hands, but their mood appeared to sour later on after a long day. Romance: Former Biggest Loser trainer Steve 'Commando' Willis and his rumoured girlfriend, Harika Vancuylenberg, went shopping in Sydney's north-west on Monday Trouble already? Steve and Harika were spotted holding hands, but their mood appeared to sour later on after a long day Steve looked animated at one point while gesturing at Harika, who is a dead ringer for his ex-partner Michelle Bridges. He pointed his finger sternly while carrying a loaf of bread down the street. Meanwhile, Harika appeared to counter back with an icy glare directed straight at the celebrity PT. What's happening? Steve looked animated at one point while gesturing at Harika They continued to exchange stony-faced looks as they strolled towards the car park. Steve rugged up against the chilly weather in a black windcheater and jeans, and completed his look with a pair of sunglasses. Harika wore a longsleeve F45 shirt and exercise tights. She went makeup free and styled her brunette hair in a ponytail. Annoyed? They continued to exchange stony-faced looks as they strolled towards the car park Keeping casual: Steve rugged up against the chilly weather in a black windcheater and jeans Rumours first emerged that Steve and Harika were a couple back in February. At the time, New Idea reported the pair were 'smitten' with each other. 'They have a lot in common training, healthy lifestyles, both single parents and [they] just really enjoy each other's company,' a source told the magazine. They had reportedly met in November, when Harika attended Steve's fitness retreat in Tahiti. Fitness enthusiast: Harika wore a longsleeve F45 shirt and went makeup free for the occasion The mother-of-two gushed over Steve on social media after meeting him for the first time. A female friend who was also on the retreat wrote on Instagram: 'Highlight of the trip - Commando in swimming briefs.' Harika responded: 'Especially when there [sic] panda ones.' Poker face: Steve looked stony-faced while carrying a loaf of bread Storming off? Harika looked less than impressed after her tense chat with Steve Keeping busy? Harika was later seen checking her iPhone in the parking lot Steve and Harika's friendship later evolved into a romance once he had broken up with Michelle, according to Woman's Day. Michelle confirmed her split from Steve in January, after she had been caught drink driving with their four-year-old son, Axel, in the car on Australia Day. She blamed her 'gross error in judgment' on the emotional turmoil stemming from the pair's break-up, and was later convicted by a Sydney court. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn exits a vehicle as he arrives for his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, on Dec. 18, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) Republican Attorneys General Urge Federal Judge to Dismiss Flynn Case Fifteen Republican attorneys general urged a federal judge presiding over Lt. Gen. Michael Flynns case to dismiss a criminal case against the retired general, arguing that a failure to do so would overstep the judges authority under the Constitution. In a friend-of-the-court brief on Monday, the group of top prosecutors asserted that the separation of powers prevents the judge from compelling the Justice Department (DOJ), which is part of the executive branch, to prosecute a case. Judges have no share of the executive power, and thus no say in the decision whether to prosecute, the attorneys general wrote (pdf). This comes after U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan appointed John Gleeson (pdf), a former federal judge in New York, as an amicus curiaeor friend-of-the-courtto present arguments in opposition to the governments Motion to Dismiss in the criminal case against Flynn. Sullivan also ordered Gleeson to address whether the Court should issue an Order to Show Cause why Mr. Flynn should not be held in criminal contempt for perjury. Sullivan also opened up the case to allow outside parties to weigh in on the case with their opinions in friend-of-the-court briefs. The orders follow a DOJ motion asking Sullivan to dismiss the case against Flynn. The DOJ said on May 7 that it was dropping its case against the retired general because they believe the FBI had no justifiably predicated investigation when bureau agents went to interview Flynn on Jan. 24, 2017. The prosecutor who wrote the court filing argued that the government wasnt persuaded that the FBI interviewed Flynn with a legitimate investigative basis, and that Flynns guilty plea was irrelevant. He said to be a crime, a lie needs to be material, which means it has to have probative weight on the investigated matter. In their filing, the attorneys general called on the court to grant the DOJs motion and to do so without commentary on the decision to charge or not to charge. They say by commenting, the court would [disrobe] the judiciary of its cloak of impartiality. Too often, that commentary comes in grandiose terms more appropriate for an op-ed than a judicial opinion. These opinions leave the public with the impression that courts apply administration-specific standard[s] in deciding what this President may do and what may permissibly be said about this Presidents policies, the prosecutors wrote. The prosecutors also argued that the courts move to delay the case by appointing a third-party lawyer and accepting amicus briefs was not necessary because it had no say in the federal governments decision not to prosecute. Simply put, the decision not to pursue a criminal conviction is vested in the executive branch aloneand neither the legislature nor the judiciary has any role in the executives making of that decision, they wrote. The brief was signed by attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost penned the filing. Flynns case garnered renewed attention after recently released documents pertaining from the DOJ included handwritten notes that revealed top officials in the agency had questioned whether the goal of questioning Flynn was to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired? The documents also revealed that Peter Strzok, the FBIs then-deputy assistant director for counterintelligence operations, urgently reached out to agents handling the Flynn case to advise them not to close the case after the agents determined there were no more leads to follow in the Flynn probe. In December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying in the FBI interview about his call with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak but afterward sought to withdraw that plea. Flynns lawyers argued that he had been entrapped by the FBI in the interview. Twenty-six Indian scientists stranded in South Africa's Cape Town due to a coronavirus lockdown will be heading back home this week. They had been on a mission to Antarctica and stuck in South Africa three months ago after the imposition of the lockdown. The scientists are among around 150 Indian nationals who will be returning home on a South African Airways (SAA) flight that will leave Johannesburg on Friday for Mumbai and Delhi. Indian Consul General in Johannesburg, Anju Ranjan, said over 1,000 Indian nationals had registered for the the flight. Passengers had to be vetted by the Indian mission based on a criteria set by the South African Department of Home Affairs. We had to select priority passengers depending on their need, Ranjan said in a Facebook broadcast. The diplomat said those left out are likely to be repatriated on an Air India flight under the Indian government's Vande Bharat mission. People who are going back on this flight include 26 scientists from India who were stuck in Cape Town after they returned from a mission to Antarctica, Ranjan said. They were here for the past three months, so this was a priority for us to send them back to India, the official said. Ranjan said 93 members of the ISE Cruise who were stuck in the coastal city of Durban were also a priority for them. Others approved for the flight are those who are ill or on a temporary tourist visa. Ranjan said the ticket price for the one-way flight was 15,000 rands, which was fixed by the SAA and the Indian government had nothing to do with it. The fare, which is almost thrice the normal ticket price, has to be paid by the passengers themselves. An Air India flight can be expected in phase 3 of the Vande Bharat mission in June as there is no fixed date for it yet, Ranjan said. Currently, the mission in phase 2, the official added. Many people who could not pay could not be accommodated on the flight. I feel very sorry for them, but we can have some say and discounts when we get our own flights, so I just want them to wait patiently and not feel disheartened, Ranjan said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aizawl, May 19 : Even as the Covid-19 induced economic crisis has impacted crores of people and businesses, a businessman in the Mizoram capital spontaneously came to the aid of four distressed debtors, including three women, of the State Bank of India (SBI) here, paying off their outstanding dues - but at the cost of maintaining his privacy. According to the officials of the SBI's Aizawl branch, the businessman approached the senior bank officials and informed them that in this time of misery and financial crisis, he wanted to help the people who had taken loans but were unable to repay them. "The businessman is our old account holder. With a Rs 10 lakh budget, he wished to help those people who had mortgaged their various properties to take loans but are facing financial crisis in repaying the amount and interest," SBI Aizawl branch manager Sheryl Vanchhong told IANS over phone. "Following his request, we selected the four people who had taken the advance but were facing difficulties to clear it. The businessman, before clearing the loans of four people, had firmly requested us that his name should not be disclosed. We also respected the gentleman's appeal." Vanchhong said that Rodingliani, had taken a loan of around Rs 4 lakh from the branch to enhance her business but suddenly became ill and rushed to Kolkata for medical treatment. "Rodingliani, after spending a huge amount for her treatment in Kolkata, was not able to pay the EMI (Equated Monthly Instalments) of her loan. With the help of the big-hearted businessman, the woman could clear her outstanding balance," the bank official said. Similar benefits were obtained by Assam's Karimganj-based Mohammad Alimuddin, whose Mizo wife had taken Rs 15 lakh loan from the same SBI branch to run her business. "My wife died in December 2018 following a heart attack. After that our business was almost shut. Though we had paid the large amount of the loan, there was some outstanding, which was paid by the unknown businessman. I was informed about this by the bank," Alimuddin told IANS over the phone. Similarly, Muana L. Fanai had borrowed over Rs 2,46 lakh to start a poultry farm. The selling of poultry products, however, faced some problems leading to her inability to pay her EMIs. Fanai took to social media to express her gratitude to the "Guardian Angel". "I suffered a series of setbacks, which further get worse after the novel coronavirus outbreak. This strange gentleman cleared my outstanding amount of Rs 2,46, 631," she said in a Facebook post. This businessman remained unidentified as despite several requests by IANS, the bank officials refused to share his identity or contact details as he desired to stay away from the limelight or seek any kind of publicity about his generosity. Many people in Mizoram said that the kind-hearted businessman had also helped many people earlier too but refused to disclose this exceptional gesture to others, specially the media. (Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted at sujit.c@ians.in) The state opposition has vowed to reverse a move by the Labor government to lock up the Beeliar Wetlands as a conservation reserve if it wins next years election, signalling the protracted debate over Roe 8 and the rest of the Perth Freight Link is not over yet. On Saturday Transport Minister Rita Saffioti announced the Labor party had fulfilled its election commitment to permanently protect the wetlands previously earmarked for the highway by creating an A-Class conservation reserve. Protestors were out in force during the state election over the Roe 8 plan. Credit:Hannah Barry Ms Saffioti said Class A was the maximum protection that could be afforded to the area and would put it on par with Kings Park and Rottnest Island. Class A reserves can be amended or cancelled but it requires community consultation and may require an act of Parliament, according to the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage website. The United Nations has called for an immediate reduction of violence in Afghanistan, warning that civilian deaths by both the Taliban and Afghan security forces are on the rise, as the U.S. special peace envoy opened another round of talks with the Taliban to press the militants to start talking with the Kabul government. The statement from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which also voiced concern about the stepped-up attacks and the brutality of assaults claimed by Islamic State (IS) militants, came after a horrific attack last week at a maternity hospital in the Afghan capital that killed 24 people, including two infants and several young mothers. The Taliban denied involvement in the attack, which has not been claimed by any group, while Washington said the assault bore all the hallmarks of Afghanistan's IS affiliate -- targeting the countrys minority Shi'a in an area of Kabul that IS militants have repeatedly attacked in the past. UNAMA said in the statement that the Taliban killed 208 civilians last month and also said that operations by Afghan forces in April had killed 172 civilians. "Parties have committed to finding a peaceful solution and should protect the lives of all Afghans and not jeopardize peoples hope for an end to the war," UNAMA chief Deborah Lyons said. She added that "intra-Afghan peace negotiations need to start as soon as possible." The Taliban has ramped up attacks in recent weeks despite a pledge to reduce violence, a tactic that it may be employing to strengthen its negotiating position. Meanwhile, IS militants also continue to conduct deadly attacks on Afghan security forces and civilians. On May 19, eight Afghan soldiers were killed while repelling a Taliban attack on the northern city of Kunduz, officials said. The militants attacked several government posts on the outskirts of the city overnight, a Defense Ministry statement said, triggering heavy fighting. The assault was repelled with the support of air power, the ministry said. The attackers "suffered big losses," according to Defense Minister Assadullah Khalid. Three civilians were also killed and 55 others wounded in the violence, provincial health director Ehsanullah Afzali said. In the province of Parwan, north of Kabul, gunmen opened fire on worshippers offering evening prayers at a mosque, killing at least seven people and wounding 12, a local police chief said. The Taliban denied involvement in the attack. The latest attack came as U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad prepared to open another round of talks with the Taliban to press it to start talking to the newly reconciled political leadership in Kabul. Khalilzad was scheduled to also visit Kabul, the U.S. State Department said in a statement on May 18. Khalilzad will meet in Doha with Taliban representatives to discuss implementation of the agreement "and press for steps necessary to commence intra-Afghan negotiations, including a significant reduction of violence," the statement said. He will then meet with senior government officials in Kabul "to explore steps the Afghan government needs to take to make intra-Afghan negotiations begin as soon as possible," the statement said. During the meetings, Khalilzad will continue to reinforce the U.S. view that "the best path to end the conflict is for all parties to sit together and negotiate an agreement on the political future of Afghanistan," the statement said. Khalilzads departure came after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival, Abdullah Abdullah, reached a power-sharing agreement under which Abdullah will lead the government's efforts to reach a peace deal with the Taliban. The power struggle had been one of the main impediments to the start of intra-Afghan negotiations to end more than 18 years of war. The talks were to begin on March 10 under a February 29 agreement, which calls for U.S. and foreign troops to withdraw from Afghanistan following an intra-Afghan deal in exchange for guarantees from the Taliban not to allow the country to become a haven for transnational terrorist groups such as IS and Al-Qaeda. The Taliban has said stepping up violence was in response to Ghani ordering Afghan forces to go on the offensive against the militant group. With reporting by AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters, and TOLOnews Expectant mother Katy Perry just finished season 18 as a judge on American Idol and days ago, released her new single, Daisies. Her fifth studio album is set to drop in August, and her baby is also due this summer. The pandemic has shifted Perrys wedding plans with Orlando Bloom, but she is spending time working on music and preparing for motherhood. She is excited but admits shes had much to learn. Katy Perry | Getty Images for SHEIN Perry is pregnant with a girl Fans first learned the news of Perrys pregnancy in March when she shared the video for Never Worn White. In April, Perry and her fiance revealed theyre having a baby girl with a photo posted on her Instagram account. It is something the couple is looking forward to, so much so, they originally planned to get married while Perry was still pregnant. COVID-19 put their wedding plans on hold, and the focus now is to safely have a healthy baby during the pandemic. Per ET, Perry told SiriusXMs Mikey Piff the pregnancy was part of their plan: Well, it wasnt on accident. Im so grateful for everything that I have been able to do and achieve and all the goals that Ive been kind of able to check off my list and dreams and the life Ive lived thus far. And I think Ive just been trying to create this space in my own life where Im not running myself too ragged and like, you know, creating space for something new to happen like this. And I think we were both looking forward to this new interval of life and sharing this, so, thats kind of how it happens, you know? RELATED: Katy Perry Says Her Relationship With Orlando Bloom Works so Well Because They Like Giving Each Other a Little Space Perry struggled with being maternal During a video chat with Hits Radio in the UK, Perry discussed the meaning of her new song, Daisies and how its about not letting your dreams go. With that in mind, the hosts asked what was next on her list, and she replied that its motherhood. For me, obviously whats in the cards is becoming a mother. Ive always wanted to be that. I didnt know if I could be that or if Id have the capacity. My sisters the most maternal one in my family and Im like a logistics strategizeryou knowshow-off, and I didnt have the maternal gene. So, Ive had to like really learn how to have that. On Friday @katyperry dropped a new track called #Daisies and it's beautiful We caught up with her on Breakfast, check it out below #TheUKChartShow https://t.co/hQF3tefuDF pic.twitter.com/1bPBjuhbri Hits Radio (@hitsradiouk) May 17, 2020 Perry also added that her future plans include going to college and has her eyes set on Oxford University for studies in psychology. RELATED: Is Katy Perry Canceling Her Wedding Due to Coronavirus? Perry is getting mommy practice during quarantine Hunkered down in her Los Angeles home with her fiance, Perry is preparing the nursery for their new arrival while hosting some special houseguests. She told Hits Radio she is quarantining with family, which includes Blooms 9-year-old son Flynn. Also at home with Perry are her sister, brother-in-law, two nieces ages 3 and 6, and her nephew who is 8 months old. ICYMI : My first TV performance of #Daisies on the #AmericanIdol finale is now on YouTube! Hope it transported you out of your living room as much as it transported me into this one Watch it at https://t.co/brLed7cNKm pic.twitter.com/equoSlrXH7 KATY PERRY (@katyperry) May 18, 2020 She said her nieces sometimes wake her up early in the morning, but its helping to get her ready for whats to come. While quarantining with family is teaching her about boundaries, Perry shared that one of the good things about it is that her brother-in-law is putting his music engineering skills to good use. Hes working on her album too! Fans should be on the lookout for the project come summertime. RELATED: Katy Perry Reveals She and Adele Are Next-Door Neighbors The second provision of the 1965 immigration act that neither Presidents Kennedy and Johnson nor the pro-immigration reformers advocated, but that had to be added to secure its passage, was the imposition of quotas on immigration from the Western Hemisphere: 120,000 in total, with no more than 20,000 admitted from any one country, including Mexico. Before 1965, there had been no such quotas, largely because American agribusiness required a seasonal and cheap labor force. Government officials had resorted to other measures to control Mexican immigration. Those attempting to cross the border legally were compelled to submit to laborious, expensive and often humiliating inspections, pay a head tax, satisfy a literacy requirement and demonstrate that they were not likely to become public charges. The millions of immigrants from the south who, for a variety of reasons, could not satisfy these requirements were subject to deportation. The imposition of quotas in 1965 made it even more difficult for Mexicans to enter the nation legally. Between 1965 and 1985, more than 13 million immigrants were deported, the vast majority of them Mexicans. According to Adam Goodman, From the mid-1970s on, deportations averaged nearly 925,000 per year, or more than 2,500 each day. Unlike Yang, whose gaze is focused on Congress and the writing of our immigration laws, Goodman, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, examines how immigration policies and practices have been shaped as much by those who interpret, administer, execute and enforce the laws as by those who write them. For more than a century, with a dramatic increase after 1965, Border Patrol officers and I.N.S. (Immigration and Naturalization Service) agents acting as police, prosecutors, judges and jury apprehended suspected illegal Mexican immigrants at their workplaces, their neighborhoods, in their homes. Those who agreed to be voluntarily deported avoided sequestration in detention centers. Whats more, they were advised that because there would be no formal record of their deportation, they would not be subject to imprisonment if apprehended trying to cross the border again. The reliance on voluntary deportation saved the I.N.S. millions of dollars while keeping ajar the revolving door that allowed Mexicans to cross the border, reunite with their families and satisfy American employers insatiable appetites for cheap, unprotected, nonunionized labor. Only in the middle 1990s, after extended court battles, did the I.N.S. agree to inform apprehended immigrants of their legal rights to consult a lawyer and request asylum. As a result, immigrants, instead of agreeing to be voluntarily deported, challenged their removal, leaving government officials no choice but to institute formal deportation procedures. The Trump administration has spent millions of additional dollars and instituted new means of apprehending, detaining and deporting immigrants already in the country. In late February 2020, the Justice Department established a new office of denaturalization to facilitate the deportation of naturalized immigrants. In early March, armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were relocated from the border to so-called sanctuary cities to arrest undocumented immigrants. Although these measures may appear extreme, distasteful and even un-American, they are, Goodman reminds us, a continuation rather than a deviation from past practices. Workplace raids, neighborhood sweeps, harassment, intimidation, the knock on the door by the immigration police, detention and the ultimate deportation of unwanted immigrants were not born with the current administration. They have been standard practice for more than a century. The authors of these books are agreed on one critical point: that the laws and practices that govern immigration policy are the results of political struggle, for Yang inside, for Goodman outside, the halls of Congress. While we tend to describe immigrants stories as feats of will and strokes of destiny, Yang reminds us, it is not destiny that brings a family here but politics. This is a message worth noting as we approach November. Neil Jones has shut down rumours which claimed he's gay. In a new interview, the Strictly Come Dancing pro, 38, insisted he's straight but joked his mother wished he was gay so they could 'go shopping together'. The choreographer has spoken out 18 months after he was labelled as a homosexual by his love rival Seann Walsh, who went behind his back and kissed his now-estranged wife Katya during their stint on the BBC competition series. 'Mum was always like, "Its a shame youre not gay because we could go shopping together"': Neil Jones has shut down rumours which claimed he's gay in a new interview During a stand-up performance in Kennington in 2018, comedian Seann, 34, was reported to have said: 'You know who I am now motherf****r, I'm the guy who kissed a gay man's wife.' The funnyman quickly urged the audience to 'not report that' and insisted he was only joking. Moving on from the jibe, dance expert Neil told The Sun: 'In ballroom theres a lot of straight guys. But mum was always like, "Its a shame youre not gay because we could go shopping together". Betrayal: The Strictly pro, 38, has spoken out 18 months after he was labelled as a homosexual by Seann Walsh, who kissed his now-estranged wife Katya during their stint (pictured in 2018) Amicable exes: In the romance department, Neil separated from his wife of six years Katya, 31, last year 'And I was thinking, "whether Im gay or not theres no chance, you take forever".' In the romance department, Neil separated from his wife of six years Katya, 31, last year. Their marriage was rocked during the sixteenth series of Strictly when the Russian beauty was caught kissing Lewisham native Seann in the street. Cheating: Their marriage was rocked during the sixteenth series of Strictly when the Russian beauty was caught kissing Lewisham native Seann in the street Since they finalised their split in September, both parties have been seen to have removed their wedding bands. Neil and Katya were dating for five years when they wed in an idyllic ceremony in London in 2013. The story of their romance played out in their stage show Somnium: A Dancer's Dream, which they toured with until June this year. The media personality has been on the lookout for love once more as he popped up on wildly popular dating app, Hinge, in January. The TV star is sure to delight many a ballroom fan by emerging on the app, where he opens with the smooth line 'the one thing I'd like to know about you... everything.' Neil, who lists his height as 5'9, has shared a series of sizzling snaps to attract potential dates, including one shirtless snap showing off his multiple tattoos. Moving on: The media personality has been on the lookout for love once more as he popped up on wildly popular dating app, Hinge, in January Seegene to secure a bridgehead for leading MDx market in Latin America SEOUL, Korea, May 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Seegene Inc. (096530.KQ), a leading developer of multiplex PCR technologies headquartered in South Korea, announced that it will export 10 million tests of its COVID-19 testing kits to Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) / World Health Organization (WHO) through Brazilian subsidiary, Seegene do Brasil Diagnosticos Ltda. Seegene has supplied 5 million tests of Allplex 2019-nCOV assay to Brazil and will supply remaining tests in the following weeks. Also, Seegene will discuss a further increase of up to 100% of the testing volume. The company said, "This unprecedentedly large export volume emphasizes an explosive increase in demand for Seegene's COVID-19 product worldwide and demonstrates that our high volume testing system is gaining world recognition." Seegene's Allplex 2019-nCOV Assay is eyeing a good response from the market as the capability of the assay that identifies 3 different target genes (E gene, RdRP gene and N gene) in a single-tube enables accurate and efficient diagnosis, and Seegene's automated system is extremely useful during the coronavirus pandemic where large volume of tests are required. Seegene has already exported 20 million tests of the COVID-19 assays to over 60 countries and is ramping up the production rapidly to meet an increased demand across the globe. The export volume to the Brazilian market is expected to rise as Seegene is negotiating supply agreement with the state government and private laboratories in Brazil. In addition, the company is planning with PAHO for further contracts with other countries in Latin America. As Seegene's assay is already well-recognized in major European countries such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the company's solution for COVID-19 diagnosis surely secures a bridgehead for expanding the market presence to Latin America. This contract indeed marks a significant beginning for Seegene to further occupy the molecular diagnostics market in all of the countries in Latin America. About Seegene Seegene (KQ : 096530) is a global pioneer in symptom-based in vitro molecular diagnostics focusing on advancing science to develop multiplex molecular technologies and to manufacture multiplex in vitro diagnostic devices and reagents. Seegene's core enabling power is the passion for wide spreading of multiplex molecular diagnostics to improve the quality of life and health of people. Using its innovative proprietary technologies, Seegene has been making considerable contributions to giving the most economic and clinic-friendly molecular diagnostic solutions for infectious diseases, genetics, pharmacogenetics, and oncology. For more information, please visit www.seegene.com. Joon Kim [email protected] Jisoo Lee [email protected] SOURCE Seegene Australians hoping for a holiday in the Untied Kingdom might be in luck as Britain looks at excluding them from the mandatory 14-day quarantine. From June, all arrivals in the UK - including returning Britons - will be quarantined for 14 days and face AU$1,868 (1,000) fines or deportation if they fail to do so. But Transport secretary Grant Shapps says travellers from countries with low infection rates might be able to skip the forced isolation period. Australia and New Zealand have become the envy of the world by managing to control the outbreak of the disease by implementing social distancing restrictions. Both countries were quick to introduce a forced quarantine period for international arrivals to be isolated for 14 days to slow the spread of the illness. A woman is seen wearing a face mask at Waterloo Station on May 18, 2020 in London From June, all arrivals in the UK - including returning Britons - will be quarantined for 14 days and face AU$1,868 (1,000) fines or deportation if they fail to do so (pictured: Passengers arriving at Heathrow Airport) Their success has seen discussions around a possible 'trans-Tasman bubble' - allowing Australians and New Zealanders to travel freely between both countries. Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has now made a bid to be included in the bubble. The holiday hotspot was quick to close its main airport in Nadi on 25 March after recording its first case. It has recorded just 16 cases with no deaths but the desperate measures have seen its cashflow dry up. Lifting the quarantine period would be a big boost for tourism in all countries as the industry has been one of the hardest hit during the pandemic. Mr Shapps said the isolation period would initially have blanket application but they would look at the possibility of easing the rules. Australians might also be able to travel to Fiji soon, as Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has asked to be included in the 'trans-Tasman bubble' All arrivals at airports will face 14-day quarantine under the government's proposals 'We should indeed consider further improvements, for example things like air bridges enabling people from other countries who have themselves achieved lower levels of coronavirus infection to come to the country,' he said. 'So those are active discussions, but will go beyond what will initially be a blanket situation.' Britain announced its new travel measures seven weeks into the nation-wide coronavirus lockdown. Earlier, Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary launched a savage attack on the government's plans for 14-day quarantine on arrivals to the UK. The new rules are set dash hopes of summer holidays for most of the summer, as exemptions are largely limited to lorry drivers. Huw Merriman, Conservative chairman of the Transport Committee said the 'air bridges' would boost confidence in the aviation industry. Last week Downing Street denied that travellers from France would be excluded, despite previously suggesting that was an option. Ireland will not be covered by the rules due to the Common Travel Area's role in the Northern Ireland Peace Process. A home coronavirus testing program was halted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because researchers were not allowed to give back test results to doctors or patients. This at-home coronavirus project is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the current COVID-19 problem in the US. As an alternative to testing by official agencies, the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN) was offered as home testing for residents, but until the FDA approves it, the project will be on hold for the meantime. No problem with accuracy of SCAN The FDA initially allowed testing done by the SCAN, but only at the discretion of the researchers. They later found out that the researchers were sharing test results to the patients, which violated the surveillance-only purpose of the home testing kits. Maybe this was overlooked by the researchers but the FDA specifically indicated all test were for surveillance only. This violation would soon be explained in detail by the FDA. When asked to explain why the SCAN was temporarily stopped, the official was clear that the suspension of testing was not because of safety or how accurate were the obtained results. There were about 300 people a day who were tested for COVID-19. In a statement on why the SCAN was shutdown, the FDA was clear they had no problems with safety or accuracy of the protocols used. SCAN administrators added that testing was stopped until extra authorization was granted by the FDA for this express purpose. Since March, all technical assistance is given by the Gates Foundation to SCAN that had additional approvals from Washington regulators. Also read: CIA: China Pressured WHO to Downplay Coronavirus Spread as They Hoard PPEs Informing patients of SCAN results are not part of the deal In March of this year, Seattle had the most coronavirus cases in the US, adding the terrible COVID-19 outbreak at the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, a suburban part of Seattle. Money came from the Microsoft founder to fund SCAN, this is according to the foundations. According to Microsoft Billion, a post on May 12 made it clear that scan is not to replace widespread testing, instead should the extent of the COVID-19 how it has moved through a community. It shows how much risk there is for all. Gates explained that SCAN is an extended program of the 2018 Seattle Flu Study, a study that tracked influenza in 2018-2019. Information came out, on Thursday that SCAN has been in touch with the FDA on March 1 and asked for emergency use authorization (EUA) in March 23, with the data to be surrendered in April 13. Special authority is needed to allow returning results to patients, if there is not then it cannot be done. An FDA spokesman told FOX business that the FDA agrees with at-home testing for COVID-19, but the data should be along acceptable parameters. The FDA made it clear that they thought SCAN was just a study to check the extent of the COVID-19 infection. Telling patients the result is not part of the agreement. SCAN will inform the public when the Bill Gates Home Coronavirus Testing Program will get extra authority to restart. Related article: World Leaders Want Future COVID-19 Vaccines to Be Free, Not Controlled By Biotechnology Firms @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis that has been unprecedented in our lifetimes. While many are doing their due diligence in making sure the correct information is passed around with regard to developments in the situation, a few others have taken to rumour mongering in these times. Badhaai Ho actor Gajraj Rao insists that people should act sensibly when it comes to forwarding messages. He points that false news creates unnecessary pressure on the police and the government, who are already doing much to combat the crisis. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Gajraj said about fake news in the time of COVID-19, "Usse hum sabko bachna chahiye. I've asked my friends and family members to first verify the messages they get on WhatsApp, check its authenticity on news sites before believe. This is not a relay race or a kho kho match - if you get a message, it's no compulsion that you've to forward it. People must control their actions." He continued, "This creates unnecessary and undue pressure on the administration - the police and the government. I remember recently there was some rumour in a district in Uttar Pradesh and some news channel was showing it, but the police did a very timely job. Within a couple of hours, they not only opposed the new piece, but also proved that the situation was otherwise." Gajraj added, "I understand this is a situation that nobody has faced. It's an unchartered territory. But that doesn't mean we'll do as we please. That will fail the efforts of so many who're working round-the-clock to control the crisis. I feel some people would take it seriously only when some of their close ones get into the virus' grasp, which is very sad." ALSO READ: Gajraj Rao On People Who Are Complaining During Lockdown: A Big Chunk Of Population Is Suffering ALSO READ: Gajraj Rao Used To Take Lot Of Permissions During Badhaai Ho, Was Irritating Initially: Neena Gupta Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) A group of lawmakers called on the House of Representatives to investigate the sudden spike in electricity bills imposed by the Manila Electric Company while Luzon is under the community quarantine. The bloc of congressmen from progressive groups, on Monday filed House Resolution 879 directing the Committee on Energy to investigate the implementation of hefty Meralco power rates "despite overcapacity of electricity supply." The resolution, shown to the media on Tuesday, cited the increase of 0.150 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for the month of April, equivalent to a 21 upward movement in the total bill of ordinary residential customers consuming an average of 200 kWh. The recent Meralco justification that the surge in electricity bills of consumers is a result of higher consumption, is questionable especially since President [Rodrigo] Duterte reported a downward trend in demand during the lockdown period," Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said in a statement. Aside from Zarate, Bayan Muna Reps. Ferdinand Gaite nd Eufemia Cullamat, ACT-Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Party-list Rep. Sarah Elago co-authored the resolution. The Department of Energy also called out the service provider Tuesday, citing numerous complaints received by its consumer welfare and promotion office, including the 47 convenience fee intended for Meralco's online application system. "Parang hindi po naging convenience ito, parang naging pabigat sa ating consumers kaya tinitingan rin po natin ito. Gusto po nating malaman kung bakit po nagkaroon ng ganitong additional charges," Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said. [Translation: It didn't seem like it was for everyone's convenience, instead it only became a burden to our consumers so we are already looking into this. We want to know why additional charges were imposed.] Cusi said the agency already wrote to Meralco last week to address these concerns. Meanwhile, Senate energy committee chair Sherwin Gathcalian said his office already started initial inquiries on the matter, which will be tackled during the Joint Congressional Energy Commission hearing this Friday on the effects of COVID-19 in the power sector. "I would like to remind Meralco of its obligation to follow the ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission) advisories dated April 15, 2020 and May 5, 2020, on the proper computation of electricity bills and correct payment dates of bills due within the ECQ period, which should start after the ECQ and should be in 4 monthly installments," he said in a statement. ERC Chair Agnes Devanadera said on Monday that it already required Meralco to submit corresponding data for validation of the accuracy of their billing calculations. On May 15, Meralco said the March and April bills sent to consumers were estimated based on the average daily consumption from December 2019, January 2020, and February 2020 when customers typically consumed less electricity as the weather was significantly cooler. The bills received in May are based on the result of the actual kWh consumption from the current meter reading, with adjustments already reflected, coming from the estimated consumption done during the ECQ period, Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said. Amid numerous complaints online, Meralco earlier reiterated that the bills it sent to its consumers were "fairly calculated," with accurate and transparent meter reading activities in place. / -- In the wake of the COVID-19 situation, higher institutes are seeing a massive transformation to ensure that learning continues for students even while they are unable to attend physical classroom sessions. As a solution to assist institutions in evaluating their technological competencies, QS - the global rankings and ratings agency - through its India arm, QS IGAUGE, created and curated E-Learning Excellence for Academic Digitisation (E-LEAD) certification to meet the requirements of a rapidly changing and challenging environment for virtual teaching. The certification with a rigorous methodology is built on audit process, data collection & validation, quality check, peer review, and a final review by domain experts. The 'E-LEAD Certification' along with a profile listing on the QS IGAUGE website will support certified institutions in establishing themselves as an equipped entity in dealing with the current situation as well as their future-readiness. Alliance University has been recognized as one of the pioneers in academic digitization and was certified in the launch event held online on May 14, 2020. The event was hosted by Dr. Ashwin Fernandes, Regional Director, QS with Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal, Honourable Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India as the Chief Guest and Dr. (Mrs) Pankaj Mittal, Secretary General, Association of Indian Universities (AIU) as the Guest of Honour. During the ceremony, the Chief Guest Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal expressed his happiness over QS IGAUGE incorporating some of the suggestions from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) for the certification. He stated that India is standing tall in managing the COVID-19 situation and that higher institutes in the country were doing a tremendous job in proctoring online Dr. (Mrs.) Pankaj Mittal also commended all the universities that have received the QS IGAUGE E-LEAD Certification as pioneers in transforming the learning delivery methods. She mentioned that the post corona time would create a new normal for higher education institutes too, that will need every one in the system to embrace online learning even in full time programs. While accepting the recognition from QS IGAUGE, Dr. Anubha Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Alliance University, Bengaluru, mentioned how creative pathways had to be envisioned to promote remote learning. She attributed this recognition to the agility of faculty, staff and students of Alliance University who have so well adapted to the new learning medium ensuring that the academic year was saved. It is a matter of immense pride that Alliance University is one among the first twelve institutions being certified throughout the nation. This is testament to the fact that the University has displayed readiness to offer education online, both during and post COVID-19. About Alliance University: Alliance University is a Private University established in Karnataka State by Act No.34 of year 2010 and is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi. The University is known for its diverse degree courses, state-of-the-art campus, high quality education and excellent placement record and aspires to be among the best universities in the world by the year 2025. Website: www.alliance.edu.in Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xkK-6N6cTQLogo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1008150/Alliance_University_Logo. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) California has untapped talent that's needed to rebuild its economy equitably. Recent research conducted by [email protected] and Accenture found that of 71 million STARs 1 in the U.S., 30 million 2 have built foundational skills in lower wage jobs preparing them to succeed in much better paid, in-demand jobs. What millions of STARs need is "last mile" learning for specific in-demand competencies validated by employers for high-demand, well-paid jobs in technology, health care, infrastructure, and other fast-growing fields. Not only do California's approximately 8 million STARs make up more than 42% of the active workforce3, they are also among the workers hardest hit by COVID-19. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics April unemployment numbers, workers with only a high school diploma and workers with "some college or an associate degree" have unemployment rates of 17.3% and 15% respectively, while workers with a bachelor's degree remain at an 8.4% unemployment rate. Although the ongoing COVID-19 crisis is likely to worsen the overall job market in the near term , and recovery from these unprecedented conditions will take time, California will rebound and rebuild. California's post-COVID renewal will be powered by diverse talent and new skills. "California's STARs are working learners who show up every day to contribute energy, creativity, and skills to our economy. It's past time that our institutions show up for them," said Byron Auguste , CEO of [email protected] "Even as the magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis deals a body blow to the California and U.S. job markets, millions of STARs whose contributions were overlooked in the past are now rightly seen as 'essential' workers. STARs will be just as essential to rebuilding California's innovation economy. Our new partnership will help employers to find new talent among STARs who've demonstrated their relevant skill sets in Calbright's online, competency-based programs, build a faster feedback loop to align demands of California's innovative and diverse industries to the programs of California's unparalleled network of public community colleges, and deliver on career pathways to higher earnings for more hard-working STARs in California." Using [email protected]'s marketplace platform, Californians who enroll in Calbright College training programs that prepare them for upwardly mobile careers can connect to employers who have signaled their desire to hire based on skills, not pedigree. "Calbright is built to serve Californians who are disconnected from traditional higher education, offering skills-based training that best positions students for career advancement and wage gain," said Ajita Menon, President of Calbright College. "We're focused on finding solutions to the mismatch between employers and education even more so now considering the current crisis' staggering economic fallout. [email protected] and their new marketplace for STARs can connect our certified students with hiring managers, which will in turn create real economic improvement for people stuck in low-paying work or unemployed due to COVID-19. Together, we will identify new opportunities for in-demand program development, and ensure that workers will be valued based on the skills they have not the degrees they don't." "Our marketplace brings together training providers and employers to enable STARs to chart career pathways where they live that will create real economic mobility for them and their families," said Komal Kirtikar , [email protected]'s Senior Vice President and Head of Marketplace. "We're excited to bring this unique platform to California this summer so we can help the STARs already undervalued by our broken labor market and further buffeted by COVID-19 to convert their learning into better earnings, and accessing meaningful work that helps rebuild California better." About [email protected]: [email protected] is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase career opportunities for the more than 71 million adults in the U.S. who do not have a four-year college degree but are Skilled Through Alternative Routes - or, "STARs." We serve STARs through a suite of products, tools, and solutions that enable individuals to access the skills and jobs that lead to meaningful, well-paying careers. We empower the diverse ecosystem supporting STARs in a movement uniting employers, educators, workforce leaders, philanthropists, and advocates. About Calbright College: Calbright College is the newest addition to the California community college system a public, online campus designed to prepare millions of workers across the state for careers with great pay, full benefits, and future opportunities for promotion. Calbright blends best practices from online instruction and traditional workforce development into a unique experience that promotes and supports students from registration to career support. Created in 2018, Calbright is the 115th California community college and 73rd district, governed by an independent Board of Trustees serving concurrently as the California Community Colleges Board of Governors For the latest [email protected] news and information, visit the [email protected] Media Center . 1 Reach for the STARs: Realizing the Potential of America's Hidden Talent Pool," [email protected], March 2020 2 Ibid 3 Ibid SOURCE [email protected] Related Links https://www.opportunityatwork.org Migrant workers wearing protective masks seen returning to their rented rooms in Little India after collecting their free food distributed by NGOs on 15 May. (PHOTO: Getty Images) SINGAPORE The case of a 27-year-old foreign worker from Bangladesh who was found motionless at 31 Kranji Crescent last week has been classified as an unnatural death, reported The New Paper on Tuesday (19 May). The police said they were alerted to a case of unnatural death at 6.40pm last Friday and found the man motionless at said location. Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play and investigations are ongoing. The Singapore Civil Defence Force said he was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. The New Paper reported that the worker was employed by landscaping company, Kiat Lee Landscape & Building, which runs a factory-converted dormitory at 31 Kranji Crescent. It is now known if he had been confined to his dormitory at the time of his death. A Ministry of Manpower spokesman said that his family, employer and the Bangladesh High Commission had been informed of his death. The ministry is working with the employer and the Migrant Workers' Centre to provide assistance to his family. This was the second case of unnatural death involving a migrant worker in just over three weeks. On 23 April, Indian national Alagu Periyakarrupan, 46, was found motionless at a staircase landing in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. He was being treated for COVID-19 and was warded at the hospital at the time. The Ministry of Health had said his death was likely due to injuries sustained from a fall from height and not complications from the illness. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore More Singapore stories: Singapore doctors on COVID-19 frontlines feel safe, confident: new study COVID-19: Singapore reports 305 more cases, 495 additional recoveries GENEVA - Facing the most disruptive pandemic in generations, the technocratic halls of the World Health Organization are now the scene of pitched battles in an increasingly bitter proxy war between the China and the United States. At the U.N. health agencys annual assembly this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping joined by video conference to offer more money and support. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump railed against the WHO in a letter accusing it of covering up the coronavirus outbreak with China and threatening to permanently halt U.S. funding that has been its main financial lifeblood for years. It marked the latest showdown between the worlds last superpower and the rising Asian giant vying to supplant it on the global stage this time against the backdrop of a disease that has killed over 300,000 people, left hundreds of millions jobless and ground the world economy to a halt. For Americas allies in the West and beyond who have counted on the postwar stability and prosperity that the United States has fostered the standoff was another gut-check moment about the America First leader, now heading into a tough reelection contest. Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Health and Human Rights at Georgetown University, said the withdrawal of the U.S. from the global health world would mark a seismic political shift. What the U.S. is doing is acting like a bully, making an existential threat to the WHO, and my worry is if the U.S. ever made good on that pledge, the world would splinter, he said. This is giving an enormous political prize to China because China has long been looking for a chance to shine on the global stage. A U.S. exit would likely weaken the global health agency and leave the U.S. and China to each fund their own projects, Gostin said. At the assembly that ended Tuesday, European Union leaders tried to strike a middle ground between the two rivals, and the agencys director-general simply tried to keep the focus on fighting the disease not each other. The assemblys opening day Monday was book-ended by two very different messages. On one side, Xi, serene beside the Chinese flag and a landscape mural, called in to say that China would offer $2 billion over two years to help with the COVID-19 response and economic fallout. He vowed that any vaccine against the disease developed in his country would be made a global public good. On the other, Trump threatened to cut U.S. funding to the WHO for good unless the agency commits to substantive improvements in the next 30 days, in a letter to agency Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Its not clear what those improvements are. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving Americas interests, Trump wrote. The U.S. is the biggest WHO donor, providing about $450 million a year. Europeans looked on aghast. Watching the World Health Assembly today was observing the post-American world, tweeted former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations. A confident and assertive China with clear strategic approach. A EU trying to rescue whats left of global co-operation. And a disruptive U.S. more keen on fighting China than fighting COVID19. Trumps threat followed an intense internal debate within the administration between aides intent on eliminating all funding for the WHO and those favouring a more measured response, such as pegging U.S. funding temporarily to the level provided by China, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the matter. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly. The WHO and other institutions have often drawn criticism from conservatives who are part of Trumps base and disdain U.N.-style internationalism. In the end, Trump reiterated a number of accusations and complaints that he has publicly made before, such as that the agencys claims about the virus were either grossly inaccurate or misleading. He also alleged that the WHO had consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier, including reports from the Lancet medical journal. On Tuesday, the Lancet called that characterization factually incorrect, noting that the first papers published on the coronavirus did not appear until January. George Davey Smith, an epidemiologist at the University of Bristol, called Trumps letter an undisguised political attack on China. WHO acknowledged receipt of the missive and said it was considering it. Tedros, an Ethiopian who goes by his first name, appeared determined to rise above the new bout of criticism, saying WHOs focus now is fighting the pandemic with every tool at our disposal. Medical experts said the attacks from Trump, who has repeatedly shunned and berated international institutions, were hurting the WHOs ability to protect global health. Devi Sridhar, a professor of global health at the University of Edinburgh, said the letter was likely written for Trumps political base and meant to deflect blame for the virus devastating impact in the U.S., which has by far the most infections and deaths in the world. China and the U.S. are fighting it out like divorced parents while WHO is the child caught in the middle, she said. Nonetheless, the assembly produced a unanimous resolution with both China and the U.S. on board that backs global co-operation to find tools to address COVID-19 and evaluate the worlds response, as co-ordinated by WHO, to it. It wasnt immediately clear how, when or by whom that evaluation will be conducted. Xi expressed support for a review but said it should wait until after the pandemic is over. The European Union, the resolutions chief architect, urged countries to support the WHO in the wake of Trumps attacks. This is the time for all humanity to rally around a common cause, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. ___ Maria Cheng reported from London. Lorne Cook in Brussels, Matt Lee in Washington, and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak China's new tariff on Australian barley punishes its own citizens, trade minister Simon Birmingham said today. The 80 per cent tax on importing Australian barley means Chinese beer makers and livestock farmers will need to source their grain from other countries at higher prices. Australia offers some of the cheapest barley in the world and is China's biggest supplier, exporting about $1.3 billion worth a year. China's new tariff on Australian barley punishes its own citizens, trade minister Simon Birmingham said today. Pictured: Chinese women drinking beer in Qindao The 80 per cent tax on importing Australian barley means Chinese beer makers (pictured) and livestock farmers will need to source their grain from other countries at higher prices But now Chinese buyers will be pushed to purchase their grain from other producers, including France, Canada, Argentina and some smaller European exporters. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham today suggested this would make their operations more expensive and may push up prices for consumers. 'If China does now go and buy more expensive or substandard barley from other parts of the world, that's their loss that they're not getting the best quality Australian produce,' he told Perth radio station 6PR. 'But if they do go and do that, that will of course shift supply from other locations and create some opportunities we hope our farmers can fill.' Senator Birmingham suggested the move would punish Chinese beer producers, saying: 'It certainly wouldn't be good politics in a democracy like Australia to go and punish the brewing industry.' China has accused the Australian government of breaking trade rules by subsidising farmers through the farmhousehold allowance, the Murray-Darling basin project and around 30 other government initiatives. Senator Birmingham today said the allegations were' ridiculous'. He said: 'It's completely ridiculous to be listing things like the Murray-Darling Basin infrastructure upgrades as some sort of subsidy to barley exporters when the bulk of that barley comes out of Western Australia or South Australia and is firmly dry-land farming.' China has accused the Australian government of breaking trade rules by subsidising farmers The tariff, which last for five years, comes a week after China banned beef imports from Australia's four largest abattoirs over alleged labeling issues. Critics including Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce have said China is seeking to punish Australia for calling for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus. Australia's barley export markets China $1.3billion Japan $217million Saudi Arabia $98million UAE $55million Kuwait $39million Vietnam $22million Thailand $22million Taiwan $10million Korea $14million Total: $1.8billion Source: AEGIC, 2015-2018 average Advertisement Senator Birmingham said Australia could appeal to the World Trade Organization to resolve both disputes. In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China is looking into trade issues in accordance with related laws and WTO rules. Farmers fear a 'devastating' hit this year if they are forced to offer discounts to sell all their produce elsewhere. 'I think we've been a bit of a soft target,' WAFarmers president Rhys Turton said on Tuesday. WA Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan said it appeared barley growers had been caught up in a much larger issue. 'We have every confidence that Australian barley is neither being dumped nor subsidised,' she said. Ms MacTiernan said China's decision could slash WA farm incomes by up to $200 million this year through reduced barley values and lower wheat prices, as more farmers turned to wheat crops. 'I think it will be significantly more than that,' Mr Turton said He said China's brewers and maltsters preferred Australian barley, but would turn to supplies from Europe and North America. Growers in Western Australia, where 88 per cent of Australia's barley is produced, were devastated, Mr Turton said. Some had already planted for this season. 'It's a blow. The industry would certainly support the government in its efforts on appeal.' Australia was the first nation to call for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic, angering China, and prompting trade threats from China's Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye (pictured) One third of Australia's exports - including iron ore, gas, coal and food - go to China, bringing in around $135billion per year. Beijing has a track record of using putting pressure on exporters during political disagreements. It includes encouraging a boycott of South Korean cars after the country deployed a US missile shield in 2017 and a ban on Norwegian salmon after Chinese rebel Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo that same year. Australia's export markets in 2019 1. China: $135 billion (33% of total Australian exports) 2. Japan: $36 billion (9%) 3. South Korea: $21 billion (5%) 4. United Kingdom: $16 billion (3.8%) 5. United States: $15 billion (3.7%) Source: Worldstopexports.com Advertisement Australia and China have had a free trade agreement since 2015 but some exporters have still run into difficulties as relations have soured. In 2018 Beijing imposed new customs regulations on Australian wine resulting in shipments being held up in Shanghai. And last year - after Canberra stripped Chinese businessman Xiangmo Huang of his visa - major ports prolonged clearing times for Australian coal to at least 40 days, claiming the delay was due to 'normal' safety checks. The latest difficulties in the bi-lateral trade relationship followed the Australian government's call for a ban on wildlife wet markets and an inquiry into how the coronavirus originated and spread from Wuhan. The proposed inquiry - as well as repeated suggestions that China covered up the spread of the disease - have infuriated Beijing. Last month the Chinese Embassy called Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton 'pitiful,' 'ignorant' and a US 'parrot' after he told China to 'answer questions' about how coronavirus started. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison demanded an independent inquiry into the deadly respiratory virus and the World Health Organisation 's handling of the crisis On April 26 Chinese Ambassador to Australia Jingye Cheng warned that Chinese consumers may stop buying Australian products in revenge. 'Maybe the ordinary people will think why they should drink Australian wine or eat Australian beef,' he told the AFR. The dispute comes after a torrid year for Australia-China relations saw clashes over political interference, human rights abuses in western China and Huawei 5G equipment. Former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby told Daily Mail Australia that diplomatic relations are 'at their lowest point since they began 46 years ago'. (Amends slug, no changes to text) PARIS, May 19 (Reuters) - The number of countries to get Paris Club debt relief this year under a deal with the G20 is set to rise after the Club - a group of state creditors - clarified the terms, a French finance ministry source said on Tuesday. The Group of 20 leading economies and the Paris Club, an informal group of state creditors coordinated by France's finance ministry, agreed last month to freeze the debt payments of the 77 poorest countries this year to free up cash for them to fight the coronavirus pandemic. However, some debtor countries have hesitated to sign up, fearing that it could hurt their credit rating after ratings agencies said a failure to pay private creditors who had agreed to suspend debt payments in parallel with the Club could be considered a default. Kenya's finance minister told Reuters last week that this was one of the reasons Nairobi would not apply. So far, the Paris Club has signed agreements only with the Caribbean islands of Dominica and Grenada, and Mali and Nepal, the French source said. But the Club has now made clear that applicant countries can specify that they want relief only on their debts to state creditors. "We've got about 20 more in the process of finalising the documents to sign agreements and we are expecting another dozen to make requests in the coming days," the source said. The countries likely to sign off shortly include Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Mauritania, another source familiar with the matter said. Usually the Paris Club asks borrowing governments to seek the same debt repayment conditions from private sector creditors. With this exception to that rule, the ratings agencies now understand that the debt relief programme is not negative for ratings, the source said. Countries eligible for the programme have a combined $36 billion falling due this year, composed of $13 billion owed to other governments, $9 billion to private creditors and the rest to multilateral development lenders. (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Airlines Try to Keep Loyalty Programs Relevant During Extraordinary Times When airlines created loyalty programs almost 40 years ago, they had a simple goal to keep customers from defecting to the competition. But during the past two decades, frequent flyer schemes have morphed into stand-alone businesses that generate big profits. Airlines have juiced revenue by turning miles into currencies customers can use for free hotel rooms and flights, consumer electronics, or even wine club memberships. Banks buy most of the points, paying as much as two cents for each one, and give them to their biggest spenders. Other consumer-facing companies also buy them, hoping to jumpstart business by dangling bonus miles to customers. It works, because wanderlust is a powerful marketing tool, with travelers dreaming of cashing in for a free flight to Hawaii or Tahiti. But now during a global pandemic, few people are traveling, leaving airlines with a quandary: How to keep customers interested when theyre mostly staying near home. Its important to keep revenue flowing because these programs are so valuable. Americans AAdvantage scheme is valued between $30 and $35 billion, according to Joseph DeNardi, an analyst at Stifel. Many airline executives have spoken about using programs as collateral for loans to maintain liquidity, including from the U.S. Treasury Department. To keep consumers interested, some airlines have been creative, adding promotions for people who may not be thinking about flying. Air Canada now allows consumers to earn elite flyer status without leaving home, while American Airlines lets passengers earn status for life if they spend enough on a co-branded credit card. Many ideas will spur incremental revenue, but given the scope of this crisis revenue at many global network airlines fell 90 percent in April its not enough to close the gap. But these ideas should help retain interest in airlines and their programs, said Mark Nasr, the vice president leading Air Canadas loyalty program. Story continues Engagement in the program today means relevance, he said. Relevance means keeping relationships alive. And for the period where we come out of this, we have a platform on which to have a conversation with members thats built upon what we did during the most difficult of times. New Take on Old Ideas After it became clear that there would be no quick fixes to this crisis, Air Canada decided to get creative, brainstorming ideas that would appeal not only to core flying customers, but also to others who liked points. It came up with a program called travel at home, in which members can earn future travel perks by spending on Air Canadas co-branded credit cards, purchasing miles from the airline, buying items on the airlines shopping portal, converting hotel and credit card points to airline miles, and donating miles to charity, including doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross. If members show enough activity, Air Canada will give them elite frequent flyer status for next year typically something it reserves for customers who fly often. This may be the most aggressive promotion for broad-based activity in a travel loyalty program weve seen so far, Gary Leff, a blogger specializing in frequent flyer programs, said after the airline announced it. Air Canada probably will make money from the promotion, since credit card issuers and other third parties may need to buy more miles to cover the promotion. But Nasr said Air Canada could never make enough money to offset losses from Covid-19. A shopping bonus, or some incremental spend on a credit card is good for Air Canada theres no doubt but thats not our primary goal right now, he said. That is a means to an end. And that end is engagement. And that end is identity with the brand and keeping that relationship alive during a time where people arent on planes and people arent traveling at all. American is making a similar calculation. In April, it temporarily revamped how it calculates how customers can earn lifetime frequent flyer status. Americans customers typically earn Gold flyer status for life what they would normally get by flying 25,000 miles per year by flying one million miles in the program. Now, however, they dont need to fly at all, provided they spend enough. American has brought back a popular policy from pre-2011, allowing customers to earn lifetime status through credit card spending. Every dollar they spend on the card counts as one mile toward the one million. (Most travelers probably will reach one million through a combination of spending and flying.) Bridget Blaise-Shamai, Americans vice president of customer loyalty and insights, said she knew loyalists would want it back. But it was less clear the promotion would made sense for American, until it ran the numbers. As we issue currency, and as we set forth a set of benefits and the customer earns them, those are costs to us, she said. So it was a no-brainer in terms of expectation on reception by the customer but we wanted to make sure it was balanced and thought out in a way that would appeal to the customer and make things work here at American as well. American also stands to earn significant revenue because its credit card issues likely will have to buy more miles, said Mark Ross-Smith, former head of loyalty at Malaysia Airlines. It incentivizes spend which helps the bank which helps cashflow right now for American, he said. Other airlines could copy and perhaps get the issuer or the card scheme to chip in some cash to incentivize spend. American is also reminding customers to shop through its online portal, where they can earn miles by buying clothing, electronics, flowers, wine and nearly anything else. This is not a new program, but may not be top-of-mind for non-points junkies. Now, others are getting interested, Blaise-Shamai said. Youre seeing a a lot of wine and youre seeing home essentials, Blaise-Shamai said. Youre seeing flowers. Youre seeing things that are nice gifts that are going to to loved ones. While rising compared to April, demand remains depressed for airline tickets, but Blaise-Shamai said companies nonetheless want access to Americans customers. Still, despite the airlines cash crunch, not every company that approaches American is getting an opportunity, she said. There is a lot of interest by outside parties to partner with American Airlines, she said. But it has to meet our the standards of excitement and relevance. Perception is Reality Even during the worst of the North America pandemic in March and April, most airlines suspected customers wanted to remain engaged in loyalty programs. Travelers had become highly engaged over the past decade, and many wanted to keep dreaming about where they would go next, even when stuck at home. Through it all, web searches for future travel at Air Canada remained high, even if most werent booking. Customers may have wanted to create a release, a little break from todays reality, Nasr said. At American, executives saw similar data. Email open rates and click-throughs for loyalty offers have been at least as strong, if not better, than before the crisis, Blaise-Shamai said. But Nasr and Blaise-Shamai said they know thousands of people in North American dying each day, making it important to strike right tone. The airline cant turn off people who dont want to think about travel. We remain very much attuned to the difficulties that people are going through right now, Nasr said. Its kind of interesting, and somewhat surprisingly that in a time of pandemic and economic collapse and most importantly health issues, that people still talk about frequent flyer status and points. At American, Blaise-Blaise-Shamai said she wanted to avoid being tone deaf with customers. But she also said active loyalty members tend to self-select, and they may want to travel (or at least dream of travel) when others do not. Most campaigns must be different than the were before the pandemic, said Nik Laming, former head of loyalty at Cebu Pacific, a low-cost-carrier in the Philippines. Empathy is important, he said, as is relevance. Clear, concise and appropriate communication is the order of the day and certainly not blanket approach selling until the future is clearer, he said. Irrelevant or impossible partner offers and promotions need to be removed or content and messaging updated. Subscribe to Skift newsletters for essential news about the business of travel. [May 19, 2020] stackt supports local businesses and emergency food access services TORONTO, May 19, 2020 /CNW/ - stackt, Canada's largest shipping container market, launches The Click + Collect market @ stackt , a convenient way to shop and support from local businesses. The Click + Collect market @ stackt allows customers to shop from a variety of local businesses within one centralized hub. Participating stackt vendors include: distributors that connect local farmers with urban markets, local restaurants + chefs, newly launched small businesses and a variety of well-known brands supporting the platform. Over the next few weeks, stackt will increase the offerings to the community to further support more local businesses. "The impact that a lot of us have experienced has also severely affected the local business economy and that includes stackt. We werea physical place to gather and meet within the community, and we have now had to pivot within this current environment. Once the emergency declaration is lifted, we will introduce our new site plans that will address supporting a safe environment and allow our community to enjoy stackt's public space again. However our goal right now is to support our stackt partners, the community and increase access to local businesses in a safe way." said Matt Rubinoff, Founder of stackt. Each sale from the program has a direct impact towards the fundraising initiative which supports The Stop and their local community food centres. stackt is donating 100% of the pick-up fees to The Stop and their emergency food access services. Customers may also participate by purchasing a Pay It Forward box in which 100% of the proceeds will be donated on behalf of the customer to The Stop. The Click + Collect market @ stackt offers two pickup zones situated within an outdoor environment. Customers can choose between a drive-thru method where items will be loaded directly into the trunk of their vehicle, or a curbside pickup for those on foot. Pickup time-slots will be staggered to allow for crowd control and proper social distancing. Customers will need to pre-order through www.stacktmarket.com and schedule a pick-up from the market's Bathurst + Front Street location. The online marketplace offers products such as: grocery goods from local farmers, a bottle shop full of DIY cocktails, pre-cooked meals from award winning chefs + local restaurants. SOURCE stackt [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The cone of silence descended on Labors Sussex Street HQ shortly after the arrival of the partys new general secretary Bob Nanva. The internal machinations, however, continue unabated. In the line of fire? Nanvas predecessor, Kaila Murnain. Former NSW party general secretary Kaila Murnain, pictured in 2016. Credit:James Brickwood To recap, Murnain was the most powerful of Sussex Street operators until her role in hiding a $100,000 illegal donation made by Chinese billionaire Huang Xiangmo was sensationally revealed by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. One day after her appearance at an Operation Aero public hearing, Murnain was suspended from her job. She resigned in October, taking a payout reported to be as high as $700,000. Internally, party officials have been discussing whether she should be expelled for months. A charge against her, as such a move is known inside the party, was lodged with Labors Internal Appeals Tribunal in February. It called for her urgent removal as a demonstration that Labor found her conduct in hiding the donations unacceptable. But on March 23, according to minutes of the meeting obtained by this column, party officers decided to put that move on ice. The meeting, which was attended by Nanva, assistant secretary George Simon, party president Mark Lennon, Senator Deborah ONeill and NSW MP Tara Moriarty, considered legal advice and concluded the matter not be referred to the Internal Appeals Tribunal until a final report relating to Operation Aero is provided. ICAC has not put a date on when it intends to finalise its investigation. Kocners brother also present, but refused to testify. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled The trial in the case of the murder of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova continued on May 18. All three defendants, i.e. Marian Kocner, Alena Zsuzsova and Tomas Szabo, were present in the courtroom. The participation of the public and media is still restricted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The media was represented only by a reporter from the TASR newswire and the Aktuality.sk news website, where Kuciak wrote, but the court secured an audio transmission from the courtroom. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement >> Read more about Kuciak murder trial here. One more journalist received an exception An exception for the May 18 and 19 proceedings were given also to Jana Teleki of the Eurorespekt website. Judge Ruzena Sabova, who presides over the senate, told the prosecutor that her stories concerning the trial may possibly interfere with the courts independence since the journalist is openly heaping accusations upon the judge and her decisions in the case. - Angel Locsin has decided to do another selfless act for the benefit of the Filipino people - She opened another fundraiser to support COVID-19 mass testing efforts in the country - The prominent actress urged her fellow celebrities to help by donating some items - She also emphasized the fact that the formula to beat the virus begins with testing PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Angel Locsin once again became the talk of the town in various social media platforms because of her newest initiative to support COVID-19 mass testing in the Philippines. KAMI learned that the generous actress is among millions of Filipinos who are urging the government to conduct mass testing to identify the real number of confirmed cases. The so-called real-life Darna opened another fundraiser so that more people in the country will get tested already for the coronavirus disease. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Unlike the one that she initiated a month ago, her fundraiser this time will be called Shop and Share where her fellow celebrities can donate items to be auctioned. In her lengthy social media post, Angel encouraged her fellow artists and other generous individuals to give back to the community by donating stuff. We would like to revisit the idea of artists coming together and helping those who need it the most. This time, with the funds we raise, we would like to purchase test kits and allow testing opportunities for the poorer sectors in the hopes of helping out in the efforts to provide mass testing in the country, she wrote. Yes, in support of mass testing. Because in this way we can make a higher impact, by pushing the TEST-TRACE-ISOLATE/TREAT formula that is the only proven way to defeat the virus, she added. In a previous article by , Angel called out a prominent news site for its headline about her. Angel Locsin is one of the most generous celebrities in the country. She is loved by many people because she continues to care for them especially in times of crisis. POPULAR: Read more news about Angel Locsin! PAY ATTENTION: Shop with KAMI! The best offers and discounts on the market, product reviews and feedback. 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! Isa ka ba sa may ka-quaranFLING? Sa quaranFLING, may leveling daw ang landian. True kaya 'to? Dahil sa ECQ, usong-uso ito. Kung sayo ba to nangyari, aasa ka ba dapat o hanggang May 15 lang kayo? Ano masasabi nyo? on HumanMeter! Source: KAMI.com.gh A year ago, San Bruno became the poster child for anti-housing politics when it rejected a 425-unit apartment complex despite the projects compliance with the citys transit corridor plan, which 70% of voters had approved. The City Councils no vote got statewide attention and prompted a threat from Californias Department of Housing and Community Development. City officials were warned that they were legally compelled to approve the project since it met all city requirements and that fines could be $600,000 a month. The threat seemed to work: 10 months later, the property owner is back with a new plan for 427 units on the Mills Park site, a vacant office complex on El Camino Real. And this time it seems likely to pass, according to city officials. On Monday night, San Bruno City Manager Jovan Grogan repeatedly said that the city doesnt have the authority to reject the project during an online meeting. We are faced with reality that housing is allowed on the site and a plan has been submitted, he said. These are tough conversations but we have to have them. The new Mills Park plan differs from the previous one in that it no longer features a Whole Foods on the ground floor, a concession to neighbors who complained it would create gridlock and make street parking tougher. The store has been replaced with two housing units, increased bike parking and a smaller 4,000-square-foot retail space. The new proposal also no longer involved the Signature Development Group the Oakland developer decided to walk after spending several years and $3 million on the first proposal. Longtime property owner G.W. Williams Co. is leading the development itself. The 2019 no vote on the project was unusual because only one City Council member actually voted against it. While the project required three yes votes on the five-member council, two members recused themselves because they own property within 1,000 feet of the site. That meant that the project needed the support of all three remaining councilors one of those, Marty Medina, voted no. At a City Council meeting last week, Medina joked that he supposedly killed a development in San Bruno, before suggesting that he was now on board with the revised plan. Now we have a better project out at Mills Park, he said. I look forward to hearing the details and getting community input on it. The latest plan comes as San Bruno faces a $9.8 million deficit in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, a number that could get worse if the coronavirus health emergency extends into the summer. As part of the Mills Park development agreement, G.W. Williams Co. has agreed to pay a $10 million fee and contribute $100,000 for bike and pedestrian street improvements. Like other Peninsula cities, San Bruno has been rapidly adding jobs over the last decade, but housing production has been limited. San Bruno approved 119 units between 2016 and 2019, less than 10% of its state goal of 1,155 units, which is supposed to be met by 2023. The state has rarely taken action against cities that fall behind. Alexander Melendez, an organizer for the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County, said, As a resident of San Bruno, I am thrilled to see this back on the table. Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes It is important to keep in mind that we are in an emergency within an emergency, he said. The housing crisis predated the public health crisis. Now all eyes are on San Bruno to see what the City Council will do. Jovan said that the city needs to catch up on decades of underproduction of housing. In some years we approved less than five new housing units, he said. When you dont build, the existing stock just becomes more unaffordable, he said. Justin Chu, director of investments for G.W. Williams, said that its unfortunate the Whole Foods wont be part of the project, but that adding housing and revitalizing a key San Bruno intersection was the most pressing goal. We listened to the community and the concerns they had about traffic and parking, said Chu. Instead of reducing the number of units, the simple math was to eliminate the grocery store. Its a loss to the community but it addresses concerns. Williams also floated the possibility that if the city were to again reject the project, the owner would submit a much larger project allowed under SB35, which streamlined housing development near public transit. The SB35 alternative, which would not require city approval, would have 631 units and would lack the open space and setbacks the current scheme includes. While still attractive, its going to be a much denser project, and not as refined, Williams said. J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen H arvey Weinstein's extradition to Los Angeles has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. The disgraced former Hollywood film producer was convicted of rape in February and is serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York. Weinstein, once one of the most powerful men in the film industry, has also been charged with sexually assaulting three women in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County district attorney launched the extradition process to take him to California in March, however the pandemic has now delayed proceedings. A district attorney spokesman confirmed the delay. He said: "The virus has delayed the processing of the extradition paperwork. There is no time estimate on when he will appear in a Los Angeles courtroom." Weinstein was sentenced in March and is so far the highest profile scalp of the #MeToo movement. The 68-year-old was convicted of rape and sexual assault after being accused of misconduct by scores of women. Prosecutors in Los Angeles filed additional charges against him in April. He is alleged to have attacked a woman at a Beverly Hills hotel in May 2010, authorities said. The original criminal complaint charged Weinstein with sexually assaulting two women during separate incidents in 2013. If convicted as charged in the amended complaint, Weinstein faces 29 years in state prison. More than 40,000 National Guard members currently helping states test residents for the coronavirus and trace the spread of infections will face a hard stop on their deployments on June 24 just one day shy of many members becoming eligible for key federal benefits, according to a senior FEMA official. The official outlined the Trump administrations plans on an interagency call on May 12, an audio version of which was obtained by POLITICO. The official also acknowledged during the call that the June 24 deadline means that thousands of members who first deployed in late March will find themselves with only 89 days of duty credit, one short of the 90-day threshold for qualifying for early retirement and education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI bill. The looming loss of crucial frontline workers, along with questions about whether the administration is shortchanging first responders, would require a delicate messaging strategy, the official representing FEMAs New England region told dozens of colleagues on the interagency call. We would greatly benefit from unified messaging regarding the conclusion of their services prior to hitting the 90-day mark and the retirement benefit implications associated with it, the official said. Top National Guard and other federal officials on the call did not dispute the June 24 cutoff or raise the possibility of an extension. In a statement, FEMA acknowledged that President Donald Trumps current order for the federal government to fund the troops expires on June 24. But a National Guard spokesperson said a decision to extend the deployments could still be made in the coming weeks. Were not there yet on the determination, the spokesperson, Wayne Hall, said. Nobody can say where well need to be more than a month down the road. Governors and lawmakers in both parties have been pleading with the White House to extend the federal order for several more months or until the end of the year, warning in a letter to Trump that terminating federal deployments early in the summer just as states are reopening could contribute to a possible second wave of infection. Story continues More than 40,000 Guard members are currently serving under federal orders known as Title 32, which grants them federal pay and benefits but puts them under local command, in 44 states, three territories and the District of Columbia the largest domestic deployment since Hurricane Katrina. Tens of thousands of them have been working full-time since early March on a wide range of sensitive and dangerous tasks, such as decontaminating nursing homes and setting up field hospitals, along with performing tests for the virus. Theyve provided a crucial backup for understaffed and underfunded state public health agencies trying to contain the pandemic. The cost of the deployment is as much as $9 million per month for every 1,000 troops, according to the National Council of State Legislatures an expense that states would have to shoulder should Title 32 expire. In addition, state deployments do not count toward federal education and retirement benefits. Members of the Florida National Guard. The 45,000-member National Guard Association and some state officials told POLITICO that they suspect the Trump administration timed its orders to limit the deployment to 89 days one short of the number that would qualify the earliest participants for certain education and retirement benefits. Guard members must serve for 20 years to qualify for a pension at age 60. But for every 90 days serving during a federal emergency, Guard members can move up that retirement by three months. Ninety days of service also qualifies members for 40 percent off the tuition at a public college or university. Because the National Guard members have to self-quarantine for two weeks before returning to civilian life to ensure they dont spread the virus after serving on the front lines, states could lose their services in early June. Trumps original order calling up Guard members to help with the coronavirus crisis had been scheduled to expire on May 31. With the deadline approaching, Colorados entire congressional delegation Republicans and Democrats alike wrote to the president asking for an extension until the end of the year. Senators from New Hampshire, Connecticut, West Virginia and Illinois sought an extension through the fall. And several officials, including Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, have written letters asking for an extension until at least June 30. Instead, the White House issued an unusual 24-day extension that terminates the deployment mid-week. It seemed kind of weird to me, said retired Brig. Gen. J. Roy Robinson, president of the National Guard Association, the advocacy group for Guard members. Its a Wednesday. And it also coincides with 89 days of deployment for any soldiers who went on federal status at the beginning. I was getting all kind of calls about it and I said, Its probably just a coincidence. But in the back of my mind, I know better. Theyre screwing the National Guard members out of the status they should have. The White House did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The National Guards Hall countered that the 90-day threshold is cumulative, meaning members could qualify for both early retirement and GI Bill education benefits on their next federal deployment. If someones new in the Guard, they wont be able to make that 90 days in one shot, Hall acknowledged. But if two months from now theyre called up for a hurricane or flood, they can make it then. The goal here is not to hurt Guardsmen. Nonetheless, federal deployments are relatively rare, and the practical impact of a June 24 cutoff would be to prevent many Guard members from claiming potentially valuable benefits, the National Guard Association said. Meanwhile, as the national death count climbs toward 100,000, many states are depending on Guard members to help enact testing programs, deep-clean public facilities and perform the kind of contact tracing of people exposed to the virus thats necessary to help states reopen and say those needs will not go away anytime soon. In Washington state, for example, Guard members comprise about a third of the states contact-tracing force, working to identify coronavirus outbreaks and locate people who have been exposed. More than 500 Guard members are currently performing such duties. According to the governors office, hundreds more are running community operations that have tested more than 1,600 people, assembled more than 28,000 testing kits and delivered nearly 14 million pounds of food to food banks and struggling families. Casey Katims, the federal liaison for Gov. Jay Inslee, said that while the state will do what it can to keep Guard members on duty if the federal deployment ends in June, that footprint will necessarily be smaller without federal support. All of the missions are going to continue for months to come, he said. The need for testing, the need for meals, the need for contact tracing dont disappear on June 25. So if the administration allows [Trumps order] to expire, that will mean fewer personnel to assist Washington in each of these critical missions. In North Dakota, a state with one of the highest per capita testing rates and the lowest rate of fatalities, more than 100 National Guard members have been running mobile testing sites since April, testing between 350 and 750 residents each day in places like the Fargodome parking lot, Grand Forks Alerus Center and Standing Rock High School. Local public health is somewhat understaffed, so we bring the bodies, Major Waylon Tomac explained in a recent promotional video for the National Guard. Another 30 or so members have been deep-cleaning long-term care facilities that have recently seen outbreaks spraying disinfectant and wiping down every surface. Still more have been working the night shift at the states labs, assembling coronavirus test kits. Col. Tad Schauer, the director of military response for the North Dakota National Guard, told POLITICO that while his team is currently planning to wrap up its operations by June 24, it stands ready to keep working if the Trump administration extends the deployment or Gov. Doug Burgum asks it to transition to State Active Duty. The people of North Dakota have been exceptional in fighting Covid-19 and were here to support the state and its citizens regardless of our federal or state status, he said. The May 12 conference call was one of a series of interagency meetings the Trump administration has convened daily during the pandemic. On those video conference calls, senior officials from HHS, FEMA and other government agencies update participants on the progress made on various fronts including ongoing efforts to ramp up testing, acquire and distribute protective equipment and monitor hot spots around the country. During that meeting, the official who raised the June 24 deadline was identified as Russ from FEMAs Region 1, which includes Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine. Captain Russell Russ Webster, the regional administrator whom the White House also tapped in March to be New England's coordinating officer for federal recovery operations, did not confirm or deny that he was the one speaking on the call when contacted by POLITICO. While some Guard members could continue the same work under State Active Duty after the June deadline, the National Guard Association has warned that without federal orders and funding, most states wont be able to support significant Guard deployments. In addition to being unable to accrue time toward federal retirement and tuition benefits, Guard members under State Active Duty are ineligible for the militarys health insurance for active duty members an issue Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) are seeking to address in a new bill. The health coverage question is especially pressing during a pandemic. The National Guard confirmed to POLITICO that as of Monday, 1,158 members have been diagnosed with Covid-19, including 617 active cases. The National Guard notes that members whose federal active status expires can enroll in a different health insurance program, TRICARE Reserve Select. But that program charges members and their families significant premiums, deductibles and co-pays that regular TRICARE does not, and it doesnt cover any dental care or pharmaceuticals. Robinson, while pushing for the passage of the Ernst-Manchin bill, said hes disappointed in the Trump administrations treatment of Guard members risking their health during a pandemic. Theyre working side-by-side with doctors, nurses and first responders, he said. And were going to cut them off and send them home with no health care coverage while they transition back to their civilian life. Not to mention, some of their jobs may have evaporated since they were deployed. But it seems that things are finally taking a turn for the pair. Whether by providence or luck, our arrival at the property Saturday morning happened to coincide with the region's single biggest rain event in four years. Zegna learnt the harsh truth about Australian farming. Its 6300-acre property was hit by a debilitating drought, forcing a decision to "tighten the belts", according to Chairman Paolo Zegna, and test every hope he and sixth-generation wool grower Charlie Coventry had for the property. When Italian luxury label Ermenegildo Zegna purchased a stake in the historic Achill Farm in Armidale, New South Wales, no one could have guessed how hard the subsequent three years would be. "As farmers, this is really exciting for us," says Coventry. "It's really put a smile on our faces. Especially over the past four years, we have really been dogged sideways. What we started with in this joint venture has really been a challenge but we continued with our investment." While this may have prevented the farm from hitting the ground running, according to Zegna it did allow for three solid years of preparation and auditing of process. "We started to buy new rams, better quality rams, to know what kind of wool we wanted to get for the property," Zegna says. "We worked on the genetics, on the breeding, taking care of the welfare of the animal and increasing water reserves, a new paddock for cattle all things which we believed would put us in a much better situation, when the drought ends. Achill is home to some 10,000 sheep (and 1000 cattle), and the property, which the Coventry family has been involved in since the town's early beginnings, is now looking to become ground zero in the reinvigoration of the wool industry and finding new and improved methods of wool farming in Australia. "A small test," Zegna says. Major (rtd) Boakye Gyan who was picked up by personnel of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service for his alleged civil war comment, should the Electoral Commission stay the course in relation to the compilation of new voters register has been granted bail. The former army Major was picked to answer questions in relation to the comment inciting violence. If the NPP and the EC want civil war amidst the compilation of new voters' register, they will get it, he said in a radio interview. He later clarified what he meant by the statement: Look, if you're cautioning a child, who does not understand what's between hot and cold water and he's moving towards the hot water,hey don't do it! Have you committed any crime? You're warning the Child about the consequences of something he doesn't know that would affect you and the parent equally he explained. He was invited by the CID to Accra to answer questions in relation to the matter, but declined the invitation and rather requested to host the security officials in his home as a result of his old age. GhanaNewsPage.Com gathered from sources close to him that he was picked up this morning from his home and brought to the Police Headquarters for questioning. He has however been granted bail. ---Ghananewspage All registered Michigan voters may vote by mail in the upcoming August and November elections, said Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in a Tuesday news release. Registered voters will receive applications by mail for submission to their local clerks, the release stated. The application will also be available online to download at Michigan.gov/Vote. The effort is to maintain social distancing for millions of registered, voting Michiganders, Benson said. By mailing applications, we have ensured that no Michigander has to choose between their health and their right to vote, Benson said in the release. Voting by mail is easy, convenient, safe, and secure, and every voter in Michigan has the right to do it. Voters can also go to the state website to join the permanent absent voter list to always have the option to submit ballot applications by mail, Bensons office said. The application mailing from the Bureau of Elections includes a cover letter with instructions from Secretary Benson. Once a voter signs their application, they can mail it or email a photo of it to their local clerk, whose contact information is included on the application. The mailing process Benson laid out mirrors that of absentee voters, as local clerks mail applications ahead of every election, the release stated. There are 1.3 million permanent absent voters out of 7.7 million registered voters statewide, the release stated. The remaining 6.4 million are able to receive an application by mail due to the Michigan Department of States Bureau of Election, the release stated. We appreciate that some clerks are proactively protecting public health by mailing applications to all their registered voters, and we are fulfilling our responsibility to provide all voters equal access, Benson said in the release. We know from the elections that took place this month that during the pandemic Michiganders want to safely vote. About 50 communities voted in local elections on Tuesday, May 5 with expanded options for voters amid the coronavirus outbreak. More than 740,000 voters in communities where elections took place that day were notified via mail that they could request an absentee ballot, Bensons office said. More than 140,000 ballots were returned, Benson said. How Michigans May 5 election will look amid the coronavirus pandemic The vast majority of voters across the political spectrum want the option to vote by mail, said Benson. Mailing applications to all registered voters is one of the ways that we are ensuring Michigans elections will continue to be safe, accurate and secure. Nearly 25% of eligible voters cast ballots on May 5, Bensons office said, and 99% of them did so by mail or in a drop box. This was more than double the 12% that turned out in May elections from 2010 to 2019, Bensons office said. 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. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces. Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. Read more from MLive: Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus Northern Michigan restaurants and shops can reopen Friday, Whitmer says Coronavirus preparedness, response plans required for Michigan businesses set to reopen Protester explains doll, noose demonstration at Capitol, wants to gift props to Trump Detroit, MSU to use raw sewage to track coronavirus outbreaks VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / Mota Ventures Corp. (MOTA.CN)(1WZ1.F)(OTC PINK:PEMTF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce completion of an audit of the financial results of its Nature's Exclusive brand through the twelve-months ended December 31, 2019. 2019 audited financial results: Revenue of Cdn$29,034,000 Associated expenses of Cdn$25,530,000 Net income of Cdn$3,505,000 "Completion of the 2019 audit is a culmination of an extensive team effort, and represents a significant milestone in the validation of our eCommerce business. The 2019 figures, where we achieved over 12% net income, provides us with a benchmark from which to measure our success in the 2020 fiscal year as we continue to build on the strong results generated by Unified," noted Ryan Hoggan, Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Throughout the 2019 calendar year, the Nature's Exclusive brand was operated as a separate business segment of Unified Funding, LLC ("Unified"). The Company completed the acquisition of the brand, and the associated business line, on January 17, 2020. The audit was completed on carve-out financial statements of Unified, which present the standalone financial results of the brand. Figures presented in this news release were translated from US dollars into Canadian dollars using the Bank of Canada average annual exchange rate of US$1.00:Cdn$1.3269 for 2019. The Company also announces that it has reached an agreement with Unified to amend the thresholds necessary for Unified to earn a bonus based on the financial results generated by the Nature's Exclusive brand in the 2020 calendar year. Unified is entitled to earn a bonus payment based on the terms of the original transaction in which Mota acquired control of the brand, and the associated business line. Under the terms of the amendment, Unified will continue to be entitled to a one-time bonus payment (the "Bonus Payment") based on the revenue and profitability of Nature's Exclusive in the 2020 calendar year. The Bonus Payment will be: (i) US$5,000,000, in the event gross revenue exceeds US$40,000,000 with a profit margin of at least ten percent; (ii) US$10,000,000, in the event gross revenue exceeds US$45,000,000 with a profit margin of at least ten percent; or (iii) US$15,000,000, in the event gross revenue exceeds US$50,000,000. The Bonus Payment will be payable in common shares of the Company (the "Bonus Shares") based on an exchange rate of US$1.00 to C$1.30 and the greater of: (i) C$0.80; and (ii) the volume-weighted average closing price of the common shares of the Company on the Canadian Securities Exchange in the ten trading days prior to the last trading day of 2020. Any Bonus Shares issuable by the Company will be subject to the terms of a thirty-six month time release pooling arrangement, with applicable release dates calculated from the date of issuance of the Bonus Shares. Story continues For further information regarding the Bonus Payment, and the acquisition of Nature's Exclusive, readers are encouraged to review the Company's news release of January 17, 2020. "Revising the 2020 performance bonus will help to align our interests with Unified, and ensure they remain incentivized in the development of Nature's Exclusive in the context of the current market. The brand has demonstrated strong financial results through 2020 to date, in spite of economic volatility and we look forward to continued success leading into the second half of 2020," commented Ryan Hoggan, Chief Executive Officer of the Company. About Mota Ventures Corp. Mota is an established ecommerce, direct to consumer provider of a wide range of CBD products in the United States and Europe. In the United States, the company sells a CBD hemp-oil formulation derived from hemp grown and formulated in the US through its Nature's Exclusive brand. Within Europe, its Sativida brand of award winning 100% organic CBD oils and cosmetics are sold throughout Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. Mota Ventures is also seeking to acquire additional revenue producing CBD brands and operations in both Europe and North America, with the goal of establishing an international distribution network for CBD products. Low cost production, coupled with international, direct to customer, sales channels will provide the foundation for the success of Mota Ventures. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MOTA VENTURES CORP. Ryan Hoggan Chief Executive Officer For further information, readers are encouraged to contact Joel Shacker, President at +604.423.4733 or by email at IR@motaventuresco.com or www.motaventuresco.com Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statement All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are "forward-looking information" with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including with respect to its anticipated development of the Nature's Exclusive brand, its plans to become a vertically integrated global CBD brand, its plans to cultivate and extract cannabis to produce CBD and high-quality value added CBD products in Latin America for distribution domestically and internationally and its plans to acquire revenue-producing CBD brands and operations in Europe and North America. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited those identified and reported in the Company's public filings under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law. SOURCE: Mota Ventures Corp. View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/590421/Mota-Ventures-Announces-Completion-Of-Audit-For-Natures-Exclusive-Brand Healthcare Workers Suffer from PTSD and Burnout During COVID-19 Its no question that medical workers suffer some traumatic and difficult situations on the job, but during the pandemic, their mental health has taken a very hard hit. One article recounts the stories of some workers struggles with PTSD, anxiety and even suicide during this time. Many healthcare workers have found this pandemic especially difficult for their mental health, and with good reason. Its no question that the healthcare industry is emotionally draining, but COVID-19 adds a whole new wrinkle to trauma, grief and PTSD for these workers. One New York Times article recounts the stories of workers who care for COVID-19 patients. Bridget Ryan, who helped one COVID patient, describes just how difficult it is. The patient, a 75-year-old man, was dying in the hospital. No family members were allowed in the room with himonly one female nurse. He was not even Ryans patient, but everyone else was slammed. Ryan wore full protective gear, dimmed the lights, turned on soothing music, freshened his pillows, held his hand, spoke softly to him and held an iPad close to him so he could hear the voice of a grief-stricken family relative over Skype. After he died, Ryan wept in a hallway. A few days later, he privately messaged Dr. Heather Farley, who directs a comprehensive staff support program at Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. Im not the kind of nurse that can act like Im fine and that something sad didnt just happen, she wrote. Healthcare workers are the superheroes of our age. But they are emotional beings as well, and their jobs still face stress, death and trauma every daydespite the flood of community thank-you notes and balcony shouts and delivered treats. As the article explains, healthcare workers are incredibly susceptible to post-traumatic stress and emotional burnout, mental health experts say. A recent study of US physicians found 46 percent of the respondents had at least one symptom of burnout. Since the start of the pandemic, though, that number could be much higher. Adolescent mental well-being declined in many European countries between 2014 and 2018, according to a new report. The report published on Tuesday by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Office for Europe also revealed that sleep difficulties among European youths are on the rise and there is an increase in social and emotional difficulties such as feeling low and feeling nervous. The study titled 'International Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC)' and led by the University of Glasgow and University of St Andrews examined data on the health behaviours, social relationships and mental well-being of 227,441 schoolchildren from 44 European countries, including the UK, and Canada. The study noted that adolescent mental well-being declined in many of these 45 countries between 2014 and 2018. "It is worrying to see that adolescents are telling us that all is not well with their mental well-being, and we must take this message seriously, as good mental health is an essential part of healthy adolescence," said lead author of the study Dr Jo Inchley from the University of Glasgow. Besides mental health and wellbeing, the study covered areas such as sleep habits, time spent online and physical activity, as well as school and home life. Young people from England, Scotland and Wales came in the top third of countries for sleep difficulties and problematic social media use. They are also among the worst to suffer from school pressure. "Although many young people in Scotland, Wales and England are generally satisfied with their lives and are less likely to be drinking and smoking or consuming sugary snacks...this study highlights a number of areas of concern. Sleep difficulties are on the rise, and we are also seeing an increase in social and emotional difficulties such as feeling low and feeling nervous," Inchley said. School-related stress is particularly high among 15-year old girls across the UK, with three-quarters reporting high levels of pressure from schoolwork, the report noted. "Compared with other countries, young people in the UK are also more likely to think they are too fat. These issues particularly affect older adolescents and young people from poorer backgrounds," Inchley said. The report also highlighted the importance of digital technology in the lives of young people today, with two-thirds of 15-year olds reporting that they communicate online with friends and others almost all the time throughout the day. Preference for online communication and levels of problematic social media use are particularly high in the UK, the study noted. Fiona Brooks, Principal Investigator for HBSC England, said, "Young people in the UK spend much more time on social media than comparable peers across Europe. Social media can offer an array of positive prosocial benefits, however, excessive use is problematic and warrants attention. Regularly spending too many hours on social media is associated with lower life satisfaction, poorer sleep and lower attainment at school." According to the report, mental well-being declines as children grow older, with girls particularly at risk of having poor mental well-being outcomes compared to boys. Across the 45 countries in the report, one in four adolescents report feeling nervous, feeling irritable or having difficulties getting to sleep at least once a week. In around a third of countries, the report revealed a rise in adolescents feeling pressured by schoolwork. In most countries, school experience worsens with age, with school satisfaction and adolescents' perception of support from classmates declining as schoolwork pressure increases. "That increasing numbers of boys and girls across the European Region are reporting poor mental health feeling low, nervous or irritable is a concern for us all," said Hans Henri P Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe. "How we respond to this growing problem will echo for generations," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The labour ministry on Tuesday said employees can contribute more than the newly set limit of 10 per cent of basic wages to their provident fund (PF) for the next three months, but employers don't need to match the higher contributions. In a statement, the ministry said, "Under the EPF Scheme, 1952, any member has the option to contribute at a rate higher than statutory rate (10 per cent) and employer can restrict his contributions 10 per cent in respect of such employee." Employer contributions to the social security scheme run by the EPFO shall be 10 per cent of the wages of May, June andJuly due in June, July and August, respectively, the statement explained. The ministry on Monday notified lower rates of provident fund contribution at 10 per cent, increasing the in-hand salary of 4.3 crore provident fund subscribers. Last week,Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman hadannounced the reduction of statutory provident fund contribution by both employers and employees for the next three months to 10 per cent of basic wages from 12 per cent. The reduction of rate of contribution is not applicable to establishments like Central and State Public Sector enterprises or any other establishment owned or controlled by or under control of the Central Government or State Government. These establishments shall continue to contribute12 per cent of basic pay and dearness allowances (DA). EPF contributions are paid as proportion of basic wages which include basic pay and DA. As a result of reduction in statutory rate of contributions, the employee shall have a higher take home pay due to reduction in deduction from his pay on account of EPF contributions and employer shall also have his liability reduced by 2 per cent of basic wages of his employees. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [May 19, 2020] Business Wire and CIRI Celebrate 10 Years of Partnership Supporting the Canadian Investor Relations Community The Canadian Investor Relations Institute (CIRI), Canada's national association representing investor relations professionals, is pleased to announce Business Wire will continue as National Strategic Partner for the 10th consecutive year in support of CIRI's mandate to advance the practice of investor relations across Canada. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005298/en/ With Business Wire's support, CIRI will continue to develop resources, deliver professional development events, provide networking opportunities and advocate on behalf of the investor relations profession. "This year marks a decade of working with Business Wire to support the Canadian investor relations community. This long-standing commitment demonstrates their exceptional leadership and enables us to advance the practice and stature of the profession together," said Yvette Lokker, President & CEO, CIRI. "Supporting the profession is particularly important amidst the COVID-19 pandemic as we are in unchartered territory. Issuer practices must adapt and brainstorming with peers and learning from their experiences has never been more important. Now is the time for IROs to leverage CIRI's community and resources so we can get through this together." "We are in unprecedented times as we manage the COVID-19 pandemic, and leveraging experience from professional relationships built through CIRI has never been more important. Business Wire is proud to have grown our national strategic partnership with CIRI over the past 10 years and looks forward to supporting CIRI for another decade," said Greg Blazina, Head of Canada, Business Wire. "Our partnership with CIRI is a testament to our focus on serving the Canadian capital markets and has enabled us to experience significant growth in Canada over the past decade, specifically with publicly traded companies." For more information on CIRI sponsorship, click here. For more information on Business Wire's investor relations solutions, click here About CIRI CIRI is a professional, not-for-profit association of executives responsible for communication between public corporations, investors and the financial community. CIRI contributes to the transparency and integrity of the Canadian capital markets by advancing the practice of investor relations, the professional competency of its members and the stature of the profession. With close to 500 members and four Chapters across the country, CIRI is the voice of IR in Canada. For further information, please visit CIRI.org. About Business Wire Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in news release distribution and regulatory disclosure. Investor relations, public relations, public policy and marketing professionals rely on Business Wire for secure and accurate distribution of market-moving news and multimedia. Founded in 1961, Business Wire is a trusted source for news organizations, journalists, investment professionals, and regulatory authorities, delivering news directly into editorial systems and leading online news sources via its multi-patented NX Network. Business Wire has 18 newsrooms worldwide to meet the needs of communications professionals and news media. Learn more at www.businesswire.com. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @businesswire. BW-C View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005298/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] YouTube bans John Pipers audiobook, Coronavirus and Christ Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment YouTube has censored the audiobook version of Reformed theologian John Pipers new book, Coronavirus and Christ, claiming it violated community standards. The book offers six biblical answers to the question: What is God doing through the coronavirus? This video has been removed for violating YouTubes Community Guidelines, reads a message on the now blocked video by Piper, the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minnesota and the founder of DesiringGod.org. The video got over 187,000 views within roughly five weeks that it remained on the platform, according to Disrn. It was released on April 8 and blocked last Friday. An archived version of the audiobook is still available here and on the Crossway Podcast here. The censorship came amid a call by 22 military chaplains to discipline and possibly court-martial a senior army chaplain for sending nearly three-dozen other chaplains an email containing a copy of the e-book, Coronavirus and Christ. The 22 military chaplains, some of whom are from the LGBT community, had a problem with the book because it says that some people will be infected with the coronavirus as a specific judgment from God because of their sinful attitudes and actions. Representing the 22, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, which advocates for a strict separation of church and state within the U.S. military, urged Secretary of Defense Mark Esper 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. The complainants, MRFF said, do not subscribe to the ultra-conservative/Reformed/evangelical Christian theology of John Piper. In a section titled, Examples of Specific Judgements on Specific Sins, Piper wrote that one example is the sin of homosexual intercourse, citing 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. A copy of Kims email that contained the PDF sent to the chaplains was reviewed by The Christian Post. 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. Led by Reps. Doug Collins, R-Ga., and Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., they and 18 other Republican House members signed a joint letter asking the Pentagon to protect the religious liberty of service members from the demands of an anti-religion group. Piper also responded to the issue in a 17-minute audio interview posted online. I think it would be fair to say that some of my views about what the Bible teaches, even rightly understood, the author of that letter hates. He hates what I think, Piper said, referring to MRFF founder Mikey Weinstein. They are, he says, incendiary, bigoted, vulgar not just because he misunderstands, but, in part, because he does understand, and thats how he thinks and feels about some of what the Bible teaches. I consider all of those views to be true because they are what the Bible teaches, and therefore, theyre very valuable to know, Piper stressed. So I think its not just that he misunderstands, but that he gets some things right in those quotes, and he just doesnt like them. Piper said there are three areas where Weinstein seems to misrepresent his stance in either the letter to Esper or an earlier interview with The Christian Post. For example, when I say that some people will be infected with the coronavirus as a specific judgment from God because of their sinful attitudes and actions, he assumes that I know who those people are, or at least what kind of people they are, Piper said. But heres what I write on page 72. ... The coronavirus is ... never a clear and simple punishment on any person. The most loving, spirit-filled Christian, whose sins are forgiven through Christ, may die of the coronavirus disease. But it is fitting that every one of us search our own heart to discern if our suffering is Gods judgment on the way we live. Brazil has rehired 157 Cuban doctors to help fight a surge in coronavirus cases, a year and a half after Havana ended a medical assistance programme over a dispute with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The doctors, who had opted to stay in Brazil after the Cuban government pulled the plug on the programme, received new medical licenses on Monday from the Brazilian health ministry, which sought to round up reinforcements for the overstretched healthcare system. Brazil wants to ensure medical care even in remote areas, where Cuban doctors were deployed when Havanas programme was in force in the country. More Cuban doctors are expected to follow the first batch and acquire medical licenses in Brazil. Mais Medicos (More Doctors) is the programme under which Cuba sent more than 8,000 doctors to work in under-served public clinics and hospitals in Brazil. Launched in 2013 under Brazils then-left-wing government, the programme became a top target for far-right leader Bolsonaro, who compared it with slavery and called Cuba a dictatorship during his 2018 presidential campaign. Cubas communist government, fiercely proud of its vaunted health system and medical diplomacy, angrily pulled its doctors out of Brazil in November 2018, shortly before Bolsonaro took office. Many opted to stay However, hundreds chose to stay, in some cases because they had married and started families in Brazil. They lost their licenses to practice medicine, and have in many cases been stuck working odd jobs to survive. 200518150403905 Brazil has the third-highest number of coronavirus infections in the world after the United States and Russia. It has registered more than 255,000 cases and 18,000 deaths from COVID-19, though experts say under-testing means the real figures could be much more. The Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has already surpassed China in the number of deaths. Bolsonaro has compared the novel coronavirus with a little flu and condemned the hysteria surrounding it. However, with many hospitals near breaking point, his government decided in March to bring in extra medical personnel as reinforcements, now extended to include the Cuban doctors. MOSCOWRussian President Vladimir Putin is suddenly seen to be weaker than he has been in years, and economic pain from COVID-19 is one big reason, but not the only one. Putins approval rating began to decline even before the coronavirus crisis, with oil prices collapsing and the economy deterioratingand I dont see what can stop this perfect storm this year, says Denis Volkov, deputy director of the Levada Center, which does independent polling. Meet Russias Dr. Oz, the COVID Skeptic Who Has Putins Ear We see the public mood is changing the way we saw it during the crisis of 2008. (About 25 percent of our respondents say their salaries have been cut.), Volkov told The Daily Beast. But Putin, like U.S. President Donald Trump, has die-hard fans, and there is still a big group of people who say there is no alternative [to him]. Putins biggest challenge is poverty, that old Russian disease. During his best years, when oil prices were astronomical and revenues were very high indeed, the Russian president was able to provide people with moneyand with pride. He was building the armed forces, sending them abroad, overtly or covertly, to Ukraine, Syria, and Africa, and developing very expensive new weapons systems. Putin seemed able to provide, as economists say, both guns and butter. But this year the nations rapidly shrinking economy has pushed millions below the poverty line, and Putinwhose approval rating was 80 percent in 2014, has seen his numbers, already in decline, drop precipitously. The current number of 59 percent would be positive in the West, but here in Russia, Putin has been used to nearly complete control over television news coverage, and hes been losing that grip. The Kremlin's major newspaper, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, claims that 70 percent of people still get their news from Kremlin controlled TV, but 58 percent follow news on the internet as wellor instead ofon state media. So far, dozens of independent news websites have managed to keep functioning, covering news from all angles. But they are under threat, Kirill Kharatyan, editor of Vedomosti, one of Russia's few independent newspapers, told The Daily Beast. As the Putin governments popularity declines, he said, concern grows there will be more pressure on independent newspapers" Story continues Where the economy is concerned, the government is quick to point out it has reserves for the state budget, and will meet public sector payrolls. But propping up the economy as a whole is another matter. Last year, even before the pandemic, the Federal State Statistics Service reported 20.9 million Russians, more than 14 percent of the population, living on less than $200 a month. HUNGER PANGS Smolensk lies about halfway between Moscow and Minsk, in Belarus. It is the poorest region in Russias central federal district, and it is in trouble these days. Simply put, unemployed people cannot afford food. From the first weeks of the pandemic shutdowns, Nadezhda Petrusiva and her charity, Mercy, have been overwhelmed with pleas for help from single mothers with several hungry children, people with disabilities, and people who are simply terrified by the pandemic. They call her center asking for food as early as 5 a.m. The centers volunteers or, as they prefer to call themselves, people of goodwill, begin their mornings packing and delivering basic foodsparcels with cereal, flour, breadfor those in trouble. Grandmothers arrive with small pails to pick up their hot meals; homeless people eat at the centers table. More than 16 percent of the population in Smolensk lives in poverty, trying to survive on less than $5.50 a day. The coronavirus crisis made their situation even more desperate. The Kremlins head of the Accounting Chamber, Aleksey Kudrin, predicts that the number of unemployed in Russia as a whole will triple in the coming months. Never in my eight years of work in charity have I seen so many hungry and desperate people as during these months of coronavirus pandemic, says Mercys Petrusiva. Putin declared the economic shutdown in late March, after visiting Moscows new coronavirus hospital. That was the last time the nation saw the leader in action, dressed in full anti-plague gear, inspecting the so-called red zone full of patients with pneumonia. Since then Putins key men, including the hospital chief doctor Denis Protsenko, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, and the presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov have been diagnosed with coronavirus one after another. BODY COUNTS Russias official death toll has not been nearly as bad as in the United States, Italy, or the United Kingdom, for reasons that are still unclear. District clinics monitor every positive patient at home, possibly providing early care that reduces deaths, but experts say that not all statistics are fully transparent. In April, Moscows COVID-19 death toll was 695 people, while the total number of deaths recorded that month was 1,800 higher than usual. There are people who die from cancer, cardio-vascular disease, but the autopsy shows that they also had COVID-19; their names are not included in the statistics and thats where, of course, politics appear here, when governors report to the president, to the federal authorities on the COVID-19 death toll, Aleksey Venediktov, editor-in-chief of Echo of Moscow radio station, told listeners on Saturday. There will be more dying," he said. We are in the middle of the process. Last Monday Russia saw a huge spike in infectionsit is now second only to the United States in total numbers. And Russian authorities seem to have stumbled in protecting medical workers. Nobody, not even the most skillful propagandists, would be able to hide that fact. Due to sloppiness and disorganization, 190 Russian doctors and medics have died from COVID-19, according to a list called We Remember compiled by fellow physicians. Last month, Putin promised $300 bonuses for medics working with coronavirus patients and $600 bonuses for doctors treating patients in so-called red zones; but when doctors received their salaries for April, the bonuses were missing. Russian medical workers, repeatedly called heroes of our times by state television, are calling for Putin to pay them the promised bonuses. So far 106,762 people have signed their petition. OPPOSITION OPPORTUNITY Putins opponents on both left and right are using this shaky pandemic moment to try to rock Putins world. The power is in agony, their authority is running through their fingers, says a young communist parliament member, Nikolai Bondarenko. Liberal opposition leader Aleksey Navalny is pressuring the Kremlin online to help poor Russians to stock their empty refrigerators with concrete financial aid in his Five steps for Russia program. Might the Kremlin put more pressure on the independent press and the opposition to shut down critics and help Putins approval rating? Probably not. Authorities cannot afford to tighten more bolts now, people already are gritting their teeth, the founder of Transparency Internationals Russian office, Yelena Panfilova, told The Daily Beast. They might whip a few ministers for a show and maybe put a bit more pressure on the mediathey need to look nice for the public. Thats getting harder and harder for the Putin regime to do. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. "Our latest offerings of new Alcatel 3X and Alcatel 1SE exemplify TCL's vision of making progressive technology accessible to consumers across the board," said Aaron Zhang, General Manager of Global Sales and Marketing Center at TCL Communication. "For savvy smartphone users who enjoy captivating experiences and look to stay on top of the trend, the amazingly affordable Alcatel 3X is not to be missed. And for those looking for a budget smartphone without feeling like they're using a budget device, the Alcatel 1SE is purpose built just for them." New Alcatel 3X: Enjoy spectacular visual experience with ultimate AI quad-camera and Vast Display Alcatel's 3 Series smartphones are embodiments of the latest technology trends for omni-value seekers. Equipped with four powerful rear cameras and built for professional photography, the all new Alcatel 3X is ready to support users in any occasion. The AI-powered main camera has a stunning 16MP[1] of resolution, delivering excellent, vivid photos. With a 1.12 m big-pixel sensor, Alcatel 3X enables users to capture great photos in dark conditions. Accompanying the impressive main camera are a 2MP macro lens for sharp, detailed close-ups, a 2MP depth camera for artistic bokeh, and a 5MP super wide-angle lens to capture grand landscapes or spread-out interiors. In addition to the rear cameras, the 8MP[2] front lens also produces vibrant and high-resolution photos, making selfies ever more delightful. Alcatel 3X's photo-taking capability is further enhanced by AI technology, supporting smart scene detection that automatically adjust camera settings when taking pictures to boost image quality. The flagship phone can intelligently identify 22 scenes, ranging from food and fireworks to snow and sunrise/sunset, perfecting every shot. Built with a 6.52-inch 20:9 HD+ Vast Display and a tiny V-notch, Alcatel 3X boasts an impressive 89.04% screen-to-body ratio[3] for an expansive view. The phone's mineral luster design is perfected with a dual curved-edge 2.5D screen glass for a nice, clean look as well as a comfortable grip. Alcatel 3X's high-capacity 5000mAh battery will now enable users to spend more time on media consumption with a single charge[4]. The flagship further comes with OTG Reverse Charging[5], allowing users to transfer power to other devices from their Alcatel 3X. Powered by an energy efficient Octa-Core processor and sizable 64GB ROM and 4GB RAM. Alcatel 3X delivers gratifying smoothness when streaming HD content, gaming or performing other more demanding tasks. With its exceptional quad-camera set-up, captivating display and fluid-fast performance, the powerful Alcatel 3X is an absolute delight. Priced at 149 EUR/699 AED, Alcatel 3X is available in Jewelry Black and Jewelry Green in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, starting from June 2020. Alcatel 1SE: Optimize photos with AI triple-camera Alcatel's 1 Series, on the other hand, aims to offer the best in essential smartphone experiences without compromising on style. Alcatel 1SE is an all-round essential phone packed with three magnificent cameras at the back: a 13MP AI-powered main camera, a 5MP super wide-angle lens and 2MP depth camera. Smart AI scene detection on the main camera enables automatic detection of 12 distinct scenarios, effortlessly enhancing detail and lighting of the image. Photos by the other two cameras are equally impressive, where the 5MP super wide-angle lens allows users to capture more, and the 2MP depth camera delivers professional bokeh. Alcatel 1SE features a 6.22-inch 19:9 HD+ Vast Display that delivers vibrant colors. Users can be sure to enjoy an immersive visual experience thanks to its 87.18% percent screen-to-body ratio[3]. In terms of design, the essential phone also comes with seamless 2.5D glass at the front and stunning radial reflection on its back panel. Alcatel 1SE is supported by a 4000mAh large-capacity battery, which translates to 33-hour non-stop music playing or 8-hour video streaming[6]. With an Octa-Core processor, Alcatel 1SE is geared to support users not only in everyday communication and photography, but also heavy tasks seamlessly. The robust essential phone features a dedicated Google Assistant button to let users perform daily tasks with ease. Launching the intelligent virtual assistant is intuitive with a simple press of button, enabling users to get things done using just their voice. Alcatel 1SE comes with 32GB ROM and 3GB RAM. Priced at 99 EUR/ 449 AED, Alcatel 1SE is available in Power Gray and Agate Green in Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa, starting from May 2020. For more information on these all-new Alcatel mobile devices from TCL Communication, please visit www.alcatelmobile.com. About TCL Communication TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited (TCL Communication) designs, manufactures and markets an expanding portfolio of mobile devices and services worldwide through a comprehensive portfolio that includes TCL and Alcatel branded products. Additionally, TCL Communication is the brand owner, R&D developer and manufacturing partner of Palm branded devices. The company's products are sold in more than 160 countries throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Incorporated in Hong Kong, TCL Communication operates its own manufacturing and R&D centers worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.tcl.com/global/en.html. TCL is a registered trademark of TCL Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Alcatel is a trademark of Nokia used under license by TCL Communication. Palm is a trademark owned by TCL Communication and under license by Palm Ventures Group through Wide Progress Global. Google, Android, Google Lens and other related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. [1] Optional variant: 48MP [2] Optional variant: 16MP [3] Screen-to-body ratio is calculated by VA/TP method. [4] Compared with Alcatel 3X (2019). Data based on results from internal lab tests. Actual battery life depends on personal usage and other factors such as network strength, app use, etc. [5] OTG cable is not included. Normal output is 5V 1.3A, but varied by OTG cable used. [6] Data based on results from internal lab tests. Actual battery life depends on personal usage and other factors such as network strength, app use, etc. SOURCE TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd. 'Nothing off-limits': Thyssenkrupp could sell steel business in historic shift FILE PHOTO: Martina Merz, CEO of German conglomerate Thyssenkrupp AG, attends the annual shareholders meeting in Bochum, Germany By Christoph Steitz and Tom Kackenhoff FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - Thyssenkrupp could sell most of its steelmaking division, its CEO said on Tuesday, marking a historic reversal in strategy for the German conglomerate which has built its 200-year-old legacy as an industrial champion on the business. "Nothing is off-limits anymore," Martina Merz said when asked by Reuters if Thyssenkrupp could a sell a majority stake in the steel business. She warned, however, that any disposals would be difficult to pull off in the current environment. "M&A markets are almost dead," she said. Merz was speaking hours after announcing that the group was in talks with steel industry peers about consolidation options. She said the coronavirus pandemic was opening up new possibilities for cooperation. "We are drawing on the full range of options," she said. "That means all forms of consolidation are being looked at, including mergers, takeovers, us acquiring peers, and us developing the unit independently." The fact that the steel division is no longer deemed an essential part of Thyssenkrupp represents a fundamental shift for a company that started off life in 1811 when Friedrich Krupp set up a factory to make cast steel. The steel business, the second-biggest in Europe by sales, is reeling from weakening demand, cheap Chinese imports and a botched attempt to merge it with the European division of Tata Steel , a deal blocked on antitrust concerns. Shares in Thyssenkrupp have lost nearly two-thirds of their value over the past 12 months after a raft of profit warnings. The announcement accelerates Thyssenkrupp's dismantling, a process that started last year when the group decided to sell its crown jewel: its elevators unit. Some investors say the vast conglomerate, which makes everything from car parts to submarines, should be broken up to maximise value. Thyssenkrupp shares were up 2.3% at 1400 GMT. Story continues FACTBOX on Thyssenkrupp's new structure Sources previously told Reuters that contact between Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel never broke off and that both were still in talks about consolidation. Thyssenkrupp is also in discussions with Sweden's SSAB and China's Baoshan Iron & Steel <600019.SS>, sources familiar with the matter said. Baosteel declined to comment as did SSAB. Tata Steel Europe had no immediate comment. Germany's powerful union IG Metall said any consolidation move would have to safeguard jobs, warning it would not accept additional job cuts at Thyssenkrupp. The steelmaking business accounts for more than a fifth of Thyssenkrupp's sales, making it the company's second-biggest unit after material services. (Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Michelle Martin and Pravin Char) A Texas insurance trial was held over videoconference Monday, in what officials believe was the first virtual trial to be held nationally during the COVID-19 outbreak. The case is being heard by the Collins County, Texas, District Court. Lawyers in the insurance dispute, which involved wind and hail damage to commercial property, presented their cases by videoconference, according to a Reuters report. The proceeding, which was also livestreamed on YouTube, was a summary trial a trial in which jurors hear a condensed version of a case and deliver a nonbinding verdict. [May 19, 2020] SiFive Partners With Coherent Logix for Mission-Critical Processor Solutions SiFive, Inc., the leading provider of commercial RISC-V processor IP and silicon solutions, today announced that Coherent Logix has chosen SiFive Core IP to complement its HyperX memory network processor for its next-generation solutions targeting mission-critical markets. Coherent Logix performed a comparison of CPU IP available in the market based on requirements of the military and aerospace customers and selected SiFive IP that enabled very low Size, Weight, Area, and Power (SWAP) of the overall solution. "SiFive Core IP enabled us to quickly design a HyperX architecture-based customized solution which met the target platform requirements," said Michael Doerr, CEO of Coherent Logix. "SiFive's flexible business model enabled a seamless engagement for us while offering market-leading SWAP for our end customer." The Coherent Logix HyperX Platform provides the tools and libraries needed to solve mission-critical problems in multiple disciplines, including hyperspectral and multispectral image/data fusion, software-defined radio, synthetic aperture radar, portable sensor systems, remote sensor platforms, surveillance receivers, anti-jam Global Positioning System, automatic target recognition and threat cueing, ad-hoc networking, and secure data transmission. The Coherent Logix HyperX platform features a large library of supported waveforms and delivers these capabilities in a low-power, high-performance environment. SiFive's Custom Instruction Extension feature accelerates domain-specific workloads, a key requirement for military and aerospace customers. SiFive has an extensive IP portfolio that can be used for solutions with SWAP constraints. In comparison to other solutions in the market, SiFive provides high-performance solutions with half to third of the power of competitor solutions1. SiFive Core IP deterministic real-time processing capabilities support low latency mission-critical workloads. "We are pleased to partner with Coherent Logix on their next-generation desig for mission-critical markets," said Dr. Naveed Sherwani, CEO of SiFive. "The SiFive Core IP portfolio complements CLX HyperX processor technology perfectly to create a scalable, low power, high-performance solution for mission-critical applications." Learn more about SiFive Core IP here. About CLX Coherent Logix, Inc. is a world leader in low-power, high-performance, programmable processors for embedded systems markets. Coherent Logix's comprehensive portfolio of solutions includes processors, integrated system development tools, optimized libraries, system reference designs, and a customizable system development platform that reduces development complexity and time to market. Our solutions support a wide variety of industries, Military/Aerospace, TV, Computer Vision, 5G, and IoT home markets. LinkedIn (News - Alert): https://www.linkedin.com/company/coherent-logix-inc-/ Twitter (News - Alert): https://twitter.com/CoherentLogix About SiFive SiFive is on a mission to free semiconductor roadmaps and declare silicon independence from the constraints of legacy ISAs and fragmented solutions. As the leading provider of market-ready processor core IP and silicon solutions based on the free and open RISC-V instruction set architecture, SiFive helps SoC designers reduce time-to-market and realize cost savings with customized, open-architecture processor cores, and democratizes access to optimized silicon by enabling system designers in all markets to build customized RISC-V based semiconductors. Founded by the inventors of RISC-V, SiFive has 16 design centers worldwide and backing from Sutter Hill Ventures, Qualcomm (News - Alert) Ventures, Spark Capital, Osage University Partners, Chengwei, Huami, SK Hynix, Intel Capital, and Western Digital. For more information, please visit www.sifive.com. Stay current with the latest SiFive updates via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube. 1 - Based on SiFive internal estimates of SPEC Int/GHz per Watt, and Power/mm2 of SiFive Core IP with L2$ vs competitor processor core implementation in 16nm process technology View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005243/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A former NSW teacher has been charged over the alleged historic sexual assaults of a student in NSW's Murrumbidgee region. Detectives in 2017 began an investigation following reports a girl had been sexually assaulted by a man who was known to her in the 1990s. A former teacher has been charged over the alleged sexual assaults of a student in regional NSW. Credit:Edwina Pickles Following inquiries, a 54-year-old man was arrested about 8.20am on Tuesday after a vehicle stop north of Dubbo. He was charged with 10 counts of sexual intercourse - person between 10 and 16 years - under authority. This is the dramatic moment a family and their three pet dogs were rescued by helicopter after spending six days lost in a forest. Wiroj Chaichana, 45, and his wife Dang, 45, along with Thongrat Kanyaprasit, 46, and her Panya Noi-in, 13, were foraging for wild mushrooms through the dense woodland in Phitsanulok, central Thailand last Wednesday morning (May 12). However, their relatives alerted the police when they failed to return home with their three Aspin pooches and they were declared missing on Thursday (May 14). The National Park officers began searching the following morning but spent two days without any sign on them. However, on Sunday (May 17) an army helicopter spotted smoke from a small signal fire next to a stream, around 10km from the family's village. The officers sent soldiers with food supplies to stay overnight with them while they were planning the rescue which took place this morning (May 18). The whole group including the pooches were all exhausted and were rushed to the hospital for check ups - but they were all found to be healthy. Dang, one of those rescued, said they had become lost after sheltering from a sudden downpour which caused them to lose track of the path they had taken. She said: "While we were on our way out there was a storm that caused us to run for shelter. "After the rain we realised that we had left our original track and we had no idea where we were, so we started wandering to find a stream and we ate wild fruit. "Luckily my husband had a lighter with him so we were able to light a fire to warm ourselves. That was what saved us, because the officers saw the smoke from our bonfire." Dr Jakrit Somboonchan, director of W a n g Thong Hospital, said the four people would be kept in hospital for a day or two for observation. This weekend, the 31st annual Koi Show returns to the Del Mar Fairgrounds, where visitors can see up to 300 of the colorful, oversize carp swimming around in portable pools. But that number pales in comparison to the koi collection of longtime exhibitors James, Kelly and Jason Van Jen. The Vista family has nearly 4,000 koi in 23 ponds at their lushly landscaped, 1-acre hilltop home. The Van Jens are the owners of KoiLand, a 22-year-old family business that specializes in selling imported Japanese koi and building and maintaining koi ponds around San Diego County. Scotty Yee, president of the Koi Club of San Diego, which hosts this weekends two-day show, called the Van Jens a staple of the regions koi hobbyist community. Advertisement Mike Poyner, a club member for more than 25 years, said he and his wife have bought many koi from the Van Jens over the year. In terms of building new koi ponds and waterfalls throughout San Diego County, I would describe James Van Jen as the Johnny Appleseed of koi ponds, Poyner said. Kelly Van Jen watches koi fish through a window in a koi pond at KoiLand in Vista Wednesday. (Bill Wechter / San Diego Union-Tribune ) Poyner said Van Jen is known for his encyclopedic knowledge on the fish. How long do they live? How much are they worth? Which colors are the most prized? And are they edible? Van Jen said hes heard them all. Van Jens fish fascination began 60 years ago when he was a boy growing up in Long Island, N.Y. An elderly neighbor died and the children on the street raided her backyard pond for goldfish. When he got there, the pond was empty, but he spotted a dying fish on the ground and was able to save it. In his teens, he transitioned from common goldfish to fancy varieties. Then in 1978, about four years after he moved to Southern California to work in construction, he began collecting koi. What I liked about koi is how much calmer they are than goldfish and how much more they respond to your presence, he said. They watch you walk by, they can recognize different people, they know when theyre about to be fed and they can figure out how not to be caught. Koi fish eat directly from the hand of Jason Van Jen, 22, at KoiLand in Vista Wednesday. (Bill Wechter / San Diego Union-Tribune ) Van Jen said that koi breeding started out in the 1600s with plain-looking carp that Japanese farmers raised in their rice paddies to fertilize the crop with their waste. During the winter months, the farmers brough the fish inside their homes and treated them like pets. Over time, the farmers chose to breed only those with the gentlest temperaments and most beautiful coloring. Eventually the fish became prized by hobbyists and even emperors. In the 1980s, a collector is said to have paid more than $1 million for a koi. Van Jen built a pond for his koi and before long other collectors were asking him to build their ponds. By 1996, the demand for koi ponds and waterfalls was so great that he started KoiLand. Van Jen runs the business with his wife of 25 years, Kelly, and their 22-year-old son, Jason. Now 65, Van Jen is planning to retire soon and turn the business over to Jason, whos had a passion for koi since childhood. Hes the best fish catcher Ive ever seen, Van Jen said of his son. He literally thinks like a fish so he knows where theyre going to go before even they do. As a boy, he just loved being around them. James Van Jen and his wife Kelly feed koi fish in a koi pond at KoiLand in Vista Wednesday. (Bill Wechter / San Diego Union-Tribune ) The Van Jens moved to their mountaintop property on Bittersweet Hill 26 years ago and have gradually turned it into a Japanese-inspired showplace for their ponds and waterfalls. The ponds range in size from 500 to 20,000 gallons and from small covered quarantine tanks for newly imported baby fish to swimming pool-sized tanks for mature koi, which can grow up to 30 inches in length between their 4th and 10th birthdays. A big part of the family business is servicing and restoring more than 100 koi ponds around San Diego. Many ponds need repairs from do-it-yourself installations where rocks have saturated the water with bacteria, improper plants have upset the ecosystem, diseased fish have been introduced without a quarantine and the pond is so shallow that the fish are easy pickings for raccoons and herons. All of the Van Jens home ponds are either covered or at least 3 feet deep. Many have glass-viewing panels on the side where the fish seem to enjoy looking out at humans as much as the other way around. The Van Jens build their own low-wattage water pumps, which are powered by 98 rooftop solar panels, and they recycle all of their water. As a result, one of the biggest expenses is feed. In warm weather, the fish can go through 10 pounds of pellets a day. The Van Jens dont breed their own fish. They prefer the quality and consistency of fish from Japan, which are shipped here as 6-inch babies. Van Jen has worked with the same Japanese breeders for decades and said theres an art to figuring out which babies will turn out the prettiest once theyre grown. Brilliant red babies will often lose their color to age and sunburn before they mature. The most prized fish, which he sells for up to $500, are those with the purest colors of red, orange and white. The rarest koi is the toncho, which has a perfectly round red spot on its forehead. Koi fish swim in a koi pond at KoiLand in Vista Wednesday. (Bill Wechter / San Diego Union-Tribune ) Legend has it that koi can live hundreds of years, but Van Jen says the typical lifespan is 30 to 40 years. And no, theyre not bred for eating, which is the question asked most often by koi show visitors. The show features fish, pond materials and other merchandise for sale; instruction on how to build a pond and waterfall; a koi competition; and, at 1 p.m. Sunday, a koi auction. Van Jen said the cost of transporting the fish, pool and equipment is often more than hell make in sales at the annual show, but he loves the opportunity to reconnect with other koi enthusiasts. Its a nice little community here and I enjoy seeing some of my old customers who make a holiday of it and come for the weekend, he said. 31st Annual San Diego Koi Show When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 3. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday March 4. Where: Del Mar Fairgrounds Activity Center, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd., Del Mar Admission: Free. Parking is $14. Details: koiclubofsandiego.org James Van Jen feeds koi fish from a balcony at KoiLand in Vista Wednesday. (Bill Wechter / San Diego Union-Tribune ) pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com New Yorks Democratic primary in 2018 was a bloodbath for the former members of the Independent Democratic Conference. Six of the eight ex-IDC members lost their primaries to challengers, after their group had drawn the ire of loyal Democrats for maintaining a power-sharing agreement with state Senate Republicans that kept the GOP in power. While the progressive groups that helped unseat them still reminisce about the great victory, the two remaining former IDC members, state Sens. Diane Savino and David Carlucci, have actually thrived while conferencing with the Democrats, who are now in the majority. Carlucci has even been one of the Senates most productive lawmakers since escaping defeat to librarian Julie Goldberg in the 2018 primary, with 54% of the vote to her 46%. Now Carlucci is running for Congress in the Lower Hudson Valley. And the man who just two years ago was part of the most hated group in Democratic politics may actually be in a good position to win his partys nomination unless one of the motley crew of national security insiders, a bookish public servant, a gay progressive and the son of a pharmaceutical billionaire can stop him. The Democratic primary is crowded, with eight candidates on the ballot. Thats because New Yorks 17th Congressional District, which covers much of New York Citys northern suburbs including all of Rockland County and most of Westchester County, is an open seat for the first time since 1984. While its a relatively moderate, affluent district filled with homeowners, the district is safely Democratic. Hillary Clinton, a resident of the district, beat Donald Trump by 20 points there in 2016. So the stakes are highest in the primary. Currently, the area is represented by Rep. Nita Lowey, the powerful chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee, who decided to retire and not seek re-election. Carlucci, Assemblyman David Buchwald and Westchester County Legislator Catherine Parker are hoping to continue their careers as elected officials by filling the opening. Also running are Evelyn Farkas, a former deputy assistant U.S. secretary of defense, and Asha Castleberry, a foreign policy adviser and major in the Army Reserve. Adam Schleifer, a former federal prosecutor and heir to a biotech fortune, and Allison Fine, the former board chairwoman of the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, are both on the ballot. And former litigator Mondaire Jones has been running longer than any of them, since he initially planned to challenge Lowey before she announced her retirement. The field to replace Lowey, who is Jewish, is diverse. The district is 63% non-Hispanic white and more than 21% of residents are Jewish making it the fourth-most Jewish district in the country. Buchwald, Carlucci, Fine and Schleifer are Jewish, and Carlucci has worked hard to build ties with the significant Hasidic Jewish population in Rockland County. Half the candidates are women. And 10% of the residents are black, as are both Castleberry and Jones. Jones would be the first openly gay African American member of Congress ever. With a month to go until the June 23 election, Carlucci seems to be in a good position to win. He has represented much of the district in the state Senate since 2011, getting re-elected four times. With a Senate district more than twice as large as Buchwalds Assembly district, and a tenure two years longer, Carlucci is the closest thing to an incumbent in the congressional race. And in this primary, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, experts expect incumbency to be even more of a benefit than usual because insurgent campaigns cant rely on door-knocking or flyering to get their name out. Sure enough, internal polls from two campaigns shared anonymously with City & State show Carlucci leading the rest of the field a top spot hes maintained since the beginning of the race.These partial poll results were shared on the condition of anonymity to avoid revealing campaign strategy. New Yorks Fair Campaign Code, which requires campaigns to disclose extensive information about private polls if theyre shared publicly, does not apply to federal races. The most recent poll, conducted May 13-14, showed that the largest share of voters are still undecided, but Schleifer was close behind Carlucci, within the poll's margin of error of 4.4 percentage points. Jones and Buchwald were behind, tied for third a significant change from earlier in the year when Schleifers name barely registered in poll results, and before he started running TV ads. But with Carlucci seeming to be in the top spot, opponents are eager to point out his weaknesses. Electing a former member of the IDC would be a huge scandal, Jones said in an interview with City & State. I have spoken to many members of Congress including members of the New York delegation who loathe the idea of having to serve alongside an IDC member. Jones wouldnt share any specific names, but would say that Carluccis former membership in the IDC is a part of his fundraising pitch. And framing Carlucci as a turncoat Democrat is helping. Donors who otherwise might not get involved in a Democratic primary, because they prefer to save their money for a general election, are spurred to action when I tell them that there is a real risk that this seat will be represented by someone who cannot even be trusted to caucus with other Democrats in Washington, Jones said. Schleifer, too, is questioning Carluccis loyalty to the party. He couldnt stand up to Republicans in Albany, Schleifer said. So how anyone can trust him to go down to D.C. and stand up to Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump would be beyond me. Its all reminiscent of the anti-IDC campaign that ousted six state senators with hashtags of #FakeDemocrats. But to Carlucci, thats old news. That issue was really settled in that last primary, Carlucci told City & State. Thats probably wishful thinking, since in 2018 46% of Democratic voters in his own district went for his first-time opponent. Carlucci conceded the issue wasnt behind him with everybody. Im sure theres people that will still be holding that against me. However, thats what elections are about, he said, before enumerating his lengthy record of results. Two years wont be enough to put the controversy behind him, especially when many Democratic voters felt so offended by the IDC aligning with Republicans, said Jeff Binder, a Westchester County-based political consultant who has worked with both Democrats and Republicans, but isnt involved in this race. Theres a lot of long memories in regards to some of the things he did in the name of heightening his own political power. In his last Senate primary, Carluccis 2,000-vote margin of victory came largely thanks to his strong support in the larger Rockland County side of the Senate district, where Carlucci was raised and still lives. The smaller Westchester portion of his district voted solidly for his opponent, Goldberg, 69%-31%. That could be a serious concern for Carlucci this year, especially when so much more of the congressional district lies on the east side of the Hudson River, in Westchester. Lowey didnt face a primary in 2018, but in the general election, 60% of the total votes were cast in Westchester, and 40% in Rockland. The center of gravity, electorally, for this congressional district, is not Rockland County, Binder said. Hes got geography working against him. That could be true too for Jones, who also lives in Rockland County. The other six candidates in the race all live on the other side of the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, in Westchester. Of course, Carlucci sees this crowding as an advantage, thinking that Westchesters votes may be split up among its many local candidates. One of those Westchesterites, Buchwald, has been consolidating support from the countys political establishment, including fellow Assembly members Amy Paulin and Gary Pretlow and a long list of town and village Democratic committees. On top of that, he has won support from state Sen. James Skoufis, whose district borders Carluccis, and high-profile unions including the New York State Nurses Association and 32BJ SEIU, which represents janitors. Buchwalds endorsement list is in stark contrast to Carluccis, which only includes a few smaller unions at this point, and no elected officials. Its not even enough for an endorsements tab on his campaign website. But both Davids endorsement lists lack the political star power of Jones and Farkas. Just pick your wing of the party: progressive or establishment. Jones, running on Medicare for All, is positioning himself as the most left-leaning candidate, and it has earned him support from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Squad member Rep. Ayanna Pressley, both of Massachusetts, and the Working Families Party. Farkas has been calling on her list of contacts made over her years as a foreign policy advisor in Washington, D.C. She is backed by former Secretary of State John Kerry, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Denis McDonough, former chief of staff to President Barack Obama. Thats a lot of out-of-state support for Jones and Farkas, but at this point, all the candidates in-state support is somewhat limited. Lowey hasnt endorsed a successor, and isnt expected to do so before the primary. And, whether theyre following her lead or they are just nervous to stake a claim in a crowded primary, no other current members of New Yorks congressional delegation have endorsed yet either. With a median household income of nearly $92,000, the 17th Congressional District is one of the highest-earning in the country. Thats reflected in the candidates fundraising. Through the last filing deadline on March 31, the candidates had raised a combined total of more than $5.5 million good enough for the second-most in the state after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezs primary race. Almost half that total has come in from Schleifer, who brought in more than $2.3 million in less than four months. However, $1.9 million of his total is personal loans and contributions to his campaign. Schleifer is a former assistant U.S. attorney, but hes also the son of Leonard Schleifer, the billionaire CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. The younger Schleifer, 38, filed a financial disclosure report that suggests he has a net worth of between $31.3 million and $72.8 million, including at least $25 million in Regeneron stock. That money has allowed Schleifer to blanket the airwaves with TV and digital ads, raising his name recognition in the district in a manner reminiscent of billionaire Tom Steyers presidential campaign. Schleifers big money has made him an easy target for his opponents Jones called him a dangerous candidate for trying to win with his purchasing power but hes quick to remind you that money alone doesnt win elections. For every Mayor Michael Bloomberg, there are a lot of not-mayor John Catsimatidises. Schleifer also noted that his private fundraising is keeping pace with his rivals which is true, to a point. Schleifer has raised more than $400,000 from other people, which is less than Farkas $925,000, Jones $831,000 and Buchwalds $634,000. But it is significantly more than Carluccis $277,000 a relatively anemic total that puts the senator in sixth place in the fundraising game. It may not be a lot, Carlucci explained, but his money is coming from local voters. Real people, he said, that can actually participate in the election. Sure enough, data from the campaign finance watchdog website Open Secrets shows that Carlucci is the only candidate in the race to have more than half of his reported contributions come from within the district. In fact, he has raised the most money overall from district residents, despite his relatively low total contributions. That local focus helped Carlucci save his seat in 2018. In a race that got statewide and even national attention, he knew he only had to win voters in his district. Now hell find out if the same strategy can take him to Washington. Correction: David Carlucci is Jewish; an earlier version of this story implied otherwise. The Parsi community in India sprang into action when Sepanta Niknam, Irans sole Zoroastrian politician and a councillor in the city of Yazd, spread the word that people from the community were dying of the coronavirus, and there were no medicines to save them. Iran reported its first case of Covid-19 in late February, and by April, an Al-Jazeera report noted that according to official figures, at least six people died every hour of the disease caused by the coronavirus, making the country one of the epicentres of the pandemic. Struggling to contain the coronavirus outbreak under US-imposed sanctions, Irans foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif termed the embargos medical terrorism for endangering Iranian patients. But amidst the gloom, Tehran received timely intervention in the form of medical assistance from an unlikely source. In early March, members of the Zoroastrian community in India and the US responded to pleas from Iran to provide aid during the crisis, battling time constraints and political embargos. The trigger apart from the reports of the obstacles in Irans fight against the coronavirus was a plea by Sepanta Niknam, Irans sole Zoroastrian politician, and a councillor in the city of Yazd. On 13 March, Niknam spread the word that people from the community were dying, and there were no medicines to save them. Dr Shernaz Cama, associate professor at Delhis Lady Shri Ram College and president of the UNESCO-funded Parzor Foundation (which studies and researches Zoroastrian heritage) immediately sprang into action. Our numbers are not that large and because of the virus, we were losing a lot of people every day, Dr Cama told Firstpost in a recent interview. We knew we had to act and act fast. As per Irans 2011 census, the country has 25,271 Zoroastrians, but the minority population of pre-Islamic origin, is presently estimated to be less than 12,000, mostly living around Yazd and Tehran in poverty. Councillor Niknam tweeted that the community accounted for 30 percent of coronavirus deaths in Yazd and lost several members, including the head of the community in Shiraz Aflatoon Sohraabi. Among the urgently needed medical supplies were Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), Kaletra (Lopinavir), Remdesivir, Actemra vaccines, Personal Protective Equipment and ventilators, which were hard to import under the sanctions. With the coronavirus outbreak still to make its impact felt in India, Dr Cama wondered where to procure these supplies from, and more importantly, how to send them to Yazd at a time when countries around the world were closing down borders and airlines were suspending operations. Most of the medicines were unavailable for import in large quantities and were not approved by the regulatory agencies. Undaunted, Dr Cama launched a global community campaign to coordinate the required aid, emailing other Zoroastrians, associations, organisations. Among those she reached out to were her cousin Lord Karan Bilimoria (Cobra Beer chairman), Dr Cyrus Poonawala (chairman of Poonawalla Group, which includes the Serum Institute of India), and Dr Yusuf Hamied (chairman of pharmaceutical giant Cipla). Within a day, all three had replied and offered to help, Dr Cama said. Donations began to pour in from Russia, Singapore, US, Canada, UK and European countries. Lucknow Medical Agencies Lajpat Nagar in Delhi stepped in to source the medicine supply. Dr Poonawala sent 1,000 PPEs, two ventilators, and 3,000 masks and gloves. Dr Hamied directed his London office to source Actemra/RoActemra (Tocilizumab), an anti-inflammatory drug from the parent company Roche Switzerland, and ship it to India through cold-chain logistics. The consignments with PPEs, medicines and Actemra were sent as humanitarian assistance through the Iranian embassy in Delhi, which arranged a special Mahan Air flight to get the supplies to Tehran. Here, the customs department cleared the consignment, except for the cold storage box containing the Actemra. We were first worried whether the consignment would reach at all, given the sanctions and the lockdown. But when the customs held the Actemra, it felt as though all the efforts made to get this drug to the critical patients in Yazd would be wasted if the stock didnt reach on time, Dr Cama recounted. Intervention from the Iranian foreign ministry helped clear the consignment, which was delivered at the Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd after a seven-hour drive. (Embassy officials in Delhi did not comment on the story.) The supplies had reached Iran just before India announced phase one of the lockdown on 24 March and just in time to help critically ill patients. A Yazd-based nurse who was fighting for her life recovered, and recently met her family. And since the medicines, food and welfare kits their brethren in other parts of the world had collected and sent for their aid far exceeded the requirements of the Zoroastrians in Yazd, the supplies could be used for the benefit of those from other communities as well. There are not enough Zoroastrians for our charity in the world. And we dont just work for our community, but for all of humanity, Dr Cama noted. The Shahid Sadoughi University administers nine hospitals and over 90 clinics in Yazd province, so the ventilators and aid will be used for other patients as well. On 8 May, foreign minister Zarif thanked the Indian Parsi community for their aid, tweeting: The Parsis of India Zoroastrians whose ancestors long ago emigrated to India have remained ever faithful in their love for Iran. Grateful for their #Covid19 package for Iranians. India's Ministry of External Affairs also sent medicines and testing kits to Iran on 15 March, as part of its medical diplomacy. Zoroastrians from Iran, fleeing persecution from Arab rulers after the fall of the Sassanian Empire in 652 CE, first arrived on India shores in the year 963, their ships landing at Sanjan in Gujarat. A distinctive community of these Zoroastrian refugees, known as Parsis, then developed in India. Iran lost homeland remains strongly etched in the memories of the Zoroastrian community scattered worldwide. The Irani Zorostarian Anjuman in Mumbai was formed to maintain ties between the community in India and Iran. The association was active in raising funds to repair fire temples, assisting in welfare, schooling and health of impoverished Zoroastrians in Yazd, Kerman and Tehran, until the Foreign Exchange Regulation legislation in 1973 banned transfer of funds outside India without the permission of the RBI. Gaiv Irani, the associations vice president, said the Parsi community was quick to respond to the crisis given the short window of time, but could not extend as much help as they would have liked, to all Iranians in need. Iranian researcher Mohammad Hekmat, whose PhD dissertation is on the Parsi Zoroastrians, was approached by the community for help in getting aid across to Iran, and readily took on the role of mediator co-ordinating with the embassy, shipping, clearance, customs and translating between Delhi and Yazd. The Parsis come from the land of Iran, where we possess a strong sense of hamdeli helping each other, Hekmat told this correspondent. And the crisis was the best time to reinforce the deep relations between Parsis and Iran. FBI Director Christopher Wrays Remarks at Press Conference Regarding Naval Air Station Pensacola Shooting Investigation Cost of the Effort While were thanking the FBIs computer scientists, engineers, and other professionals for their hard work, we should also be thinking about the cost of all that work. Public servants, already swamped with important things to do to protect the American peopleand toiling through a pandemic, with all the risk and hardship that entailshad to spend all that time just to access evidence we got court-authorized search warrants for months ago. Our engineers and computer scientists working to access these phones were also needed on other, pressing, national security and criminal investigations. But the delay getting into these devices didnt just divert our personnel from other important work. Its also seriously hampered this investigation. Finally getting our hands on the evidence al-Shamrani tried to keep from us is great. But we really needed it months ago, back in December, when the court issued its warrants. In the aftermath of the attack, we and our Joint Terrorism Task Force partners worked urgently to collect and analyze evidence. In the weeks immediately following December 6, we conducted over 500 interviews of witnesses, base personnel, and the shooters friends, classmates, and associatesamong many other efforts. Because the crucial evidence on the killers phones was kept from us, we did all that investigating not knowing what we do now: valuable intelligence about what to ask, what to look for. If we had, our round-the-clock, all-hands-on-deck effort would have been a lot more productive. Now, months after the attack, anyone he spoke tohere or abroadhas had months to concoct and compare stories with co-conspirators, destroy evidence, or disappear. As a result, theres a lot we just cant do at this point that we could have done months ago. Youll hear more from the attorney general in just a moment on just how vital lawful access is to every part of both our law enforcement and national security missions. Cybercrime, opioid trafficking, child sexual exploitationyou name it. Lack of lawful access affects every fight were in. And Americans need to understand this isnt just an issue for law enforcement. Lack of lawful access certainly affects our ability to do our jobs, but we know where the harm really falls when evidence is kept unavailableit falls on innocent people, the people were sworn to protect. In this case, we and our partners arent the only ones who needed this information months ago. The victimsthose who were wounded or lost loved ones that daydeserved to know then what happened. Not to have to wait to hear it from AQAP months after the fact, when one of the killers own associates, the operative Abdullah al-Maliki the attorney general and I mentioned earlier, issued AQAPs claim of responsibility for the attack. We at the FBI never forget that three brave members of our armed forces were killed in this attack. They were Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham, from St. Petersburg, Florida; Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, of Coffee, Alabama; and Airman Cameron Scott Walters, from Richmond Hill, Georgia. They were serving our country. They died as heroes. And we have them front of mind every day as we continue to battle the same threat they did. Thanking Our Partners I want to end by also extending my and the FBIs thanks to all our partners. Our partners are essential to everything we do, and this case has been a perfect example of that. Our Joint Terrorism Task Force in Jacksonville and our Pensacola Resident Agency have led this investigation, in partnership with their colleagues in the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Florida, and with essential help from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, ATF, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The assistance of our other state and local partners in Pensacola has been invaluable as well, as has that of our Intelligence Community partners. I especially want to recognize the brave Naval Security Forces personnel, and deputies from the Escambia County Sheriffs Office, who responded to the initial call for help. The Defense Department has also been an essential partner. In addition to DODs work on the JTTF, the Navy officials in Pensacola and DOD personnel at all levels in Washington and around the world have been vital to our effort to investigate this heinous attack and prevent others in the future. Finally, to the victims and their familiesknow that our work continues. Right now, we and our partners are exploiting the evidence from this investigation, pursuing the killers potential associates and the new evidence these devices can lead us to. We and our JTTF colleagues come in every day dedicated to preventing terrorism from any place, by any actorand that work will never rest. Thank you. This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Kantar Names CEO Insights in Vietnam In Vietnam, Kantar has transferred David Anjoubault from Worldpanel to take up the role of CEO of its Insights division. He replaces Nitin Nishandar, who has been named Chairman of the Insights division in Vietnam and Chief Client Officer. Since 2012, Anjoubault (pictured) led shopper behaviour specialist Kantar Worldpanel in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, prior to which he was the division's Commercial Director in the country; and earlier, he spent nearly a decade at TNS Worldpanel in France. Fabrice Carrasco, Worldpanel's MD of Vietnam and Philippines, will take over Anjoubault's former responsibilities. Replacing Nishandar, Anjoubault will be supported by Phil Worthington as Chief Commercial Officer, Luu Thi Nhat Phuong as Chief Solutions Officer and Khoa Doan as Chief Growth Officer. Insights Division regional CEO Adrian Gonzalez comments: 'David is a very familiar face and trusted partner to marketers and business in Vietnam. He has a deep knowledge of the market and has been helping our clients navigate the Covid-19 crisis which now enters the crucial recovery stage. I cannot imagine anyone better placed to lead Kantar and support our clients' success in Vietnam at this crucial time'. Web site: www.kantar.com . Hemant Kothari Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday announced several measures to provide relief to companies that face the threat of insolvency as a result of defaults owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with earlier announcements, the FM said the government will bring in an ordinance to suspend the initiation of fresh insolvency cases for a year. Further, the definition of default that forms the basis of initiation of the proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (IBC) will be amended to exclude COVID-19 related debt. As for MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), a special insolvency resolution framework will be notified soon. These measures are in addition to the increase in the threshold for default to trigger insolvency to Rs 1 crore from Rs 1 lakh, which was notified on March 24. I had earlier argued here that instead of suspending IBC, it can be used as an efficient and time-bound tool to allow creditors and debtors to quickly address the problem of distress and immediately resume economic activities. However, for better or worse, given the FMs announcement to suspend the IBC, it is now important to understand the effects of such a suspension. No protection from other recovery laws 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 Apart from the recourse to start insolvency against a company, if a lender holds mortgage over immovable properties of a debtor -- which it does hold in most cases -- it can initiate a sale process of such properties with minimal court intervention and also take over the management of the debtor under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFAESI Act). There is no indication that the government will suspend the operation of the SARFAESI Act, along with the IBC. Also, it appears that the suspension of the IBC is limited vis-a-vis companies. Only Section 7 (application by financial creditor), Section 9 (operational creditor) and Section 10 (the company itself) shall be suspended for a year. However, no suspension of the insolvency process against personal guarantors to a company has been announced. Accordingly, if directors or promoters of a company have provided personal guarantees to its lenders, they may still be taken to the insolvency court under Part III of the IBC. Its anybodys guess that if other recovery laws would continue to operate against a defaulting debtor and its related parties, the suspension of IBC would not even achieve the objective of its suspension, but it will surely deprive both creditors and debtors of the benefits. One such significant benefit of IBC is the moratorium on all coercive and recovery actions against a company that is being purportedly sought to be achieved by its suspension. Debtors fundamental freedom to exit hits a wall M S Sahoo, Chairman, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI), conceptualises the IBC as a tool for debtors to exit their investments in an orderly manner. Such market-driven freedom to exit, he argued, ensures release of resources from inefficient uses and in turn, unlocks growth. Among developed jurisdictions that have announced changes to their insolvency laws in response to COVID-19, none have suspended the ability of debtor companies to submit themselves to the insolvency process while they may have restricted creditors ability to initiate insolvency. However, the suspension of Section 10 of the IBC, which allows a debtor company to submit itself to the insolvency process, denies the very freedom to exit, which is fundamental for efficient markets. This is especially so when the debtor in its own assessment may believe that it lacks the ability to carry on its operations without orderly and timely resolution of distress. The paradox of COVID-19 debt The proposed amendment to exclude COVID-19 related defaults for initiation of insolvency processes seems redundant in the wake of the entire suspension for a year. It is not yet clear if the government intends to continue the benefit of exclusion of defaults owing to the pandemic even after the suspension. If it were so, the suspension of the IBC in effect can operate beyond a year. Other jurisdictions have also chosen to base their restrictions on creditor actions for recovery by providing certain criteria to assess if the default is a result of COVID-19 pandemic or not. However, such jurisdictions have not suspended their respective insolvency laws in entirety. For instance, recent amendments to the insolvency laws in Germany stipulate that a company would not be eligible for suspension (a) if insolvency is not due to the COVID-19 crisis and (b) there is no prospect of overcoming an existing cash flow insolvency. A rebuttable presumption is established for suspension of insolvency proceedings vis-a-vis a company if it was not cash flow insolvent on December 31, 2019. Further, for any creditors insolvency application to be successful, it would have to show that the insolvency of the debtor took place before March 1, 2020. For India, it remains to be seen if the exclusion of COVID-19 related default will also be on similar lines and the exclusion benefits would be available even after the initial suspension of one year. One for MSMEs The fine print of the specific insolvency resolution framework for MSMEs has not been provided yet. It may only be hoped that the said framework would introduce pre-pack restructuring or resolution mechanism for MSMEs. Under the pre-pack mechanism, the lender and the debtor agree on restructuring or new investment by a third-party prior to commencement of the insolvency process against the debtor. The pre-agreed restructuring or resolution plan is then implemented under the supervision of the insolvency court and in terms of the statutory guidance. The pre-pack mechanism has its own challenges and particularly so, in the Indian context owing to its debtor-in-control model whereby the management remains in charge of the debtor as opposed to a resolution professional and the Committee of Creditors under the IBC. However, at least for MSMEs, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, the pre-pack mechanism may be a middle path that addresses concerns of both debtors and creditors by providing a formal tool to restructure the debt, backed by statutory protections for both. A New Jersey gym reopened again Tuesday in defiance of the states orders against workout facilities reopening during the coronavirus outbreak and again police arrived to issue tickets to the owners. At least one patron was also arrested leaving the gym after refusing to give his name. Police also warned supporters gathered outside to leave or they could also face summonses. This gathering is a violation of the governors order, Bellmawr Lt. Mike Draham said. You are directed to immediately and peaceably disperse. If you do not disperse you can be charged. You can protest from your vehicleThats all we have right now. The crowd jeered police officers as Draham read a statement to Atilis Gym gym owners Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti in front of gym door shortly after 10 a.m. They were handed tickets that could lead to fines of up to $1,000. The gym reopened at 8 a.m. on Tuesday for a second day with a smaller crowd of supporters than the first day when hundreds filled the sidewalk and parking lot of the gym on West Browning Road in Bellmawr, Camden County. Smith went on national television last week with his plan to reopen despite Gov. Phil Murphys executive order for gyms to remain closed during the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 10,000 New Jersey residents and infected more than 148,000, both the second highest in the country after New York. Murphy was asked Monday during his coronavirus briefing about the gyms reopening and he suggested the efforts to enforce the closure order may ramp up Tuesday. We will take action, Murphy said Monday. If you show up at that gym tomorrow, theres going to be a different reality than showing today. It appeared to be more of the same, but with fewer people gathered outside. After receiving the tickets Monday, the gym remained open the rest of the day. That happened as well on Tuesday. Trumbetti said he and Smith have owned the gym for less than a year and the lockdown has strangled their business. They said they would continue to operate despite the tickets and a GoFundMe campaign started to pay their fines has already raised more than $21,000. Im not worried about jail, Trumbetti said Monday afternoon. Ian and I made a conscious decision to actually fight for the cause for everybody. Recent polls have shown record approval for Murphy as he manages the coronavirus crisis. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll of 1,502 adults conducted from April 22May 2 gave Murphy a 77% job approval rating. And a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this month showed 65% said Murphys actions during the coronavirus outbreak were just right with 20% saying they did not go far enough and only 14% saying they went too far. Shortly after 10 a.m. borough police Lt. Mike Draham read a statement to gym owners Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti as they stood in front of gym doors. The crowd pushed jeers peppered the shouts from the crowd. Draham told N.J. Advance Media that Bellmawr police were performing a local enforcement in accordance with Murphys orders. When asked if he directed the gym to close he said, The governor directed them to close. By 11:35 am., a dozen protesters continued to mill around the parking lot and gym patrons continued to come and go into the facility, which is located in a shopping commons with nearly a dozen other businesses. The gym owners have said they rearranged the gym equipment to provide more social distancing and the staff would be stepping up cleaning efforts. On Monday, staffers took temperatures of members entering to workout and Smith said they will limit capacity to 20% or about 44 people at a time. Members and staff are also required to wear face coverings. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Bill Duhart may be reached at bduhart@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who had been admitted to hospital with COVID-19, has resumed his duties, according to Russian President Vladimir Putins decree published on the Kremlin website on Tuesday. Mishustin held several meetings in the format of a video conference while he was in the hospital. Earlier reports said the prime minister was recovering and would be soon discharged from the hospital. On Monday, the prime minister held meetings while in hospital. On April 30, Mishustin announced that he had been diagnosed with the coronavirus infection. After that, the prime minister was admitted to the hospital for treatment, while his duties were assumed by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov. The presidential decree has canceled an earlier decree that appointed Belousov as the acting head of government. Rajesh Kumar Thakur By Express News Service PATNA: Nine migrant labourers died and many remain trapped as a truck crashed with a bus in Bihar's Bhagalpur district on early Tuesday morning. The mishap took place when the ill-fated truck en route to Khagaria side carrying around a dozen of migrant labourers from Katihar collided with a bus coming from the opposite direction on NH 31, near Naughachchiya. ALSO READ | Four killed, 22 hurt as bus carrying migrants hits truck in Maharashtra's Yavatmal Confirming this accident, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Bhagalpur range, Sujeet Kumar said that the process to identify the deceased has been started by local police. He said that nine bodies were extracted out so far. "As per an initial inquiry of police, the migrant labourers had boarded the truck that was loaded with iron rods somewhere from Katihar side. The police have recovered few bicycles also that suggest the migrants were returning on their bikes", Kumar said, adding that he was about to reach the spot. He said that three JCB machines were engaged in taking out the bodies from the debris of truck. The driver and the cleaner of the truck, however, managed to escape after the mishap, he added. ALSO READ | Three women migrants killed, 17 injured in mini-truck accident at Uttar Pradesh's Mahoba As good luck would have it, only a few migrant labourers, who also being ferried by the bus that collided with the truck, sustained minor injuries. In another incident at Gopalganj district, a migrant worker was run over by a freight train early morning. On Monday, six migrant labourers were also killed in different road mishaps in Bihar. A migrant had skidded off the roof of a bus in Banka district on Monday and died on the spot. Nick Wagner, MBR / TNS Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week joined 14 other Republican state attorneys general in support of the Justice Departments move to stop prosecution against Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser to President Donald Trump. The group, led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost of Ohio, argues in a court filing that the federal judiciary has no authority to make the executive branch pursue (or continue to pursue) a criminal conviction. Russia on Tuesday denounced President Donald Trump's threat to pull the United States out of the World Health Organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. "Yes, there are opportunities to improve it... and we are ready -- as before -- to play an active role in this work," deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by agency Interfax. "But we are against breaking everything that is there for the sake of one state's political or geopolitical preferences, I mean the United States or even a group of states with the United States at its helm," Ryabkov told reporters after a meeting with lawmakers of the ruling United Russia party. "We are against politicising everything that is linked to the COVID-19 spread," Ryabkov was quoted as saying by state agency RIA Novosti. "The WHO cannot become a puck that is passed back and forth." Trump has accused the WHO of botching the global coronavirus response and of being a "puppet of China". He has been locked in a bitter spat with Beijing, alleging it covered up the initial outbreak in central China late last year before the disease spread across the planet. On Tuesday, WHO member states at the agency's annual assembly agreed to launch an investigation into its coronavirus response. They adopted a resolution calling for an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the international response and the measures taken by the agency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence sector to 74 per cent will encourage multinationals to set up manufacturing bases in India or acquire local companies but will hit hard the local companies who do not have any access to technology or government orders. Without giving an opportunity to the Indian private sector, the government has offered Indian contracts on a silver platter to foreign companies, said the head of an Indian defence company on the condition of anonymity. The government had announced Make in India six years ago but since ... Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor SPRINGFIELD The head of a Worcester-based insurance foundation and leader of that citys Emergency Operations Center for the coronavirus pandemic will take the helm in June as the new executive director of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation. Paul Belsito will begin his work on June 1, succeeding Mary Walachy as she retires after 23 years as the foundations executive director. In a statement, the foundations directors said they believe Belsito is the right person at the right time to lead the foundation into the future. Belsito most recently worked for the Hanover Insurance Group in Worcester, where he was president of the Hanover Insurance Group Foundation and assistant vice president for community relations. We are thrilled to bring someone of Paul Belsitos talent, experience and passion for community to the critical initiatives that the Davis foundation supports in our region, the directors said. Pauls prior experience in philanthropy, business and public policy will serve the foundation well in filling the very big shoes of Mary Walachy, who brought our grant making and related initiatives to a higher level during her tenure at the Davis foundation. The Davis foundation is a nonprofit organization that promotes early education and literacy. It was established in 1970 by the late James E. Davis and his mother, the late Irene E. Davis. Pauls experience is in alignment with the values of the Davis foundation in how to engage and advance our community, particularly those related to early education and development, the directors said. Reached by The Republican, Belsito said community service has kind of been in my DNA. Belsito said he has spent his life engaged in the community, including local organizations, nonprofits and politics. He was born and raised in Worcester, he said. "Its something that my family holds very dear to their heart, and believes that together we can be part of solution to a lot of the opportunities that exist in the community, Belsito said. His initial goal with the Davis Foundation will be listening, getting a sense of the immediate community needs, and then taking the time to create some sustainable goals that will better the lives of the children, families and the community. Belsito was hired through a nationwide search launched in the fall, aided by the recruiting company Isaacson Miller. During his nearly eight years at Hanover, Belsito led charitable giving, community relations, and employee giving and service in the companys efforts to improve the lives of Worcesters youth, the foundation said. The Hanover Insurance Group Foundation places special emphasis on programs designed to strengthen schools and propel youth to higher levels of success, the foundation said. One of his signature initiatives included supporting the Advancement Via Individualized Determination college readiness program in the Worcester Public Schools. I am honored to join the Davis Foundation to advance our shared goals of improving the lives of children and families in Hampden County, Belsito said in a statement. In our present time, the commitment of the Davis Family has never been more important and I am excited to expand on the great foundation that Mary and the board have established. The legacy of Irene and George Davis remains vital as we rethink and reimagine how our community can best meet the needs of all of its residents. I am excited to listen, to learn and build on this legacy in partnership with the board. Belsito has been involved in many nonprofit boards, including the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and the Nativity School of Worcester. He is currently chairman of the board of the EcoTarium, the foundation said. Over the last few months, Belsito co-led Worcesters Emergency Operations Center in support of the citys COVID-19 pandemic response. He has a bachelors degree in management and a masters degree in business administration, both from Assumption College in Worcester. Prior to joining Hanover, Belsito worked in the office of the president at Assumption College as executive assistant for government and community relations and as a district director in the state Senate. Walachy announced her plans to retire in January. She will continue to represent the Davis Foundation in its role as philanthropic lead for Educare Springfield, which opened last fall. Educare is a network of full-day, year-round schools for at-risk children from birth to 5 years old. The Springfield program, located on Hickory Street, is the 24th Educare site in the country and the first in Massachusetts. BREAKING: Cadaver dog on boat finds missing 10-year-olds body in Pa. river A family says their son, missing after falling into the Ohio River on Monday, was supposed to be out riding bikes. But as KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh reports, the boy, who was not publicly identified in initial reports, was playing with other kids as old as 13 when he apparently slipped and fell into the swollen Ohio River near a boat ramp in Beaver County, Pa. Initially, the other boys tried to rescue the child. First responders tell KDKA one brother tried to grab the other after the child lost his shoe and couldnt get it back: He hit the drop off and slid down in. His brother went out into the water and was able to grab a hold of him. They tried to pull him back in, and his grip slipped and he never resurfaced after that, Lieutenant Brian Jameson of the Ambridge Police Department told KDKA. The accident occurred in the area of the Ambridge Sewage Treatment Plant and the Leetsdale Boat Ramp at the Ohio River. Three dive teams and six fire departments, along with the state police helicopter conducting low flyovers, were on the scene Monday afternoon, KDKA writes, adding: An hours-long search of the water Monday afternoon into the evening turned up no sign of the missing boy. Crews were expected to resume a recovery operation for his body on Tuesday. The Family did not know they were down here. They were supposed to be out riding bikes, Lieutenant Jameson told KDKA. The missing boy is described as about four-and-a-half feet tall, with a light complexion. He was wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt and green shorts. READ MORE: Wild Pa. police chase of serial burglary suspect caught on tape Pair of Sheetz bandits wear carved-out watermelons as face masks: cops Person of interest in Pa. womans Mothers Day shooting arrested in 2nd killing: reports Accused DUI driver faces homicide charges in unborn babys death in violent Pa. crash Injured Appalachian Trail hiker triggers hours-long rescue in PA Counterfeit and potentially harmful Seresto flea collars for pets seized in Pa. Armed suspect sought in shooting, killing of 16-year-old Pa. boy Burn the demon out of him: Pa. man accused of trying to light 4-year-old boy on fire 2 Pagans Motorcycle Club members guilty in rivals brutal beating slapped with whopping sentence Dead body found at Pa. country club Accused rapist released from prison due to COVID-19 meets fiery end after standoff with Pa. SWAT Pa. man accused of repeatedly punching female store clerk for telling him to wear facemask; called it marshal law: cops Pa. county official accused of firing shot that pierces neighbors house, lands in occupied living room Pa. man killed after crashing motorcycle into riding lawnmower: state police Gardai have arrested a man and seized 117,000 worth of cocaine (pending analysis) following a search of a van at a checkpoint in Dublin. The checkpoint was being carried out on the Outer Ring Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22 yesterday. BEIRUT (AP) Syrias telecommunications authority on Sunday said a deadline for a cellular company owned by the cousin of President Bashar Assad to pay back its debts to the state has ended, adding that legal measures will be taken against the company to recover the money. The announcement came hours after Assads cousin, Rami Makhlouf, released a new video in which the businessman said he was asked to step down from the leadership of Syriatel, the biggest telecommunication company in the country. Syriatel has 11 million subscribers, with 50% of revenues going to the state. The new video by Makhlouf, the third in less than a month, was another hint of a rumored major rift in the tight-knit Assad family, which has ruled Syria for nearly 50 years. Makhlouf was once described as central to Syrias economy and a partner to the president. His videos, posted on a new Facebook page, seem to be a running public diary of a widening rift and the fall from grace of a once-powerful tycoon. In the latest video, Makhlouf, who is under American and European sanctions, vowed not to give up the company and apologized to his arrested employees, whom he was unable to get released after they were detained in recent weeks. Makhlouf did not say who had called on him to step down. The Syrian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA that Syriatel had refused to pay fees to the state, therefore Syriatel will be responsible for all the legal repercussions for refusing to give back the dues. In his first video in late April, Makhlouf pleaded with Assad to help prevent the company's collapse through excessive and unjust taxation. That month, Makhlouf had been told to pay the equivalent of $180 million purportedly owed to the government by his telecom companies, according to The Syria Report, which follows the countrys economy. That claim appeared to be the trigger for the series of videos by Makhlouf over the past month. Makhlouf, who is four years younger than the 54-year-old Assad, had declared that he was stepping aside from business to focus on charity work in 2011, at the start of Syrias conflict. But he remained associated with the government. For the opposition, he has been the face of government hard-liners and the decision to crack down on dissent. Brighton Michigan Foot Doctor & Podiatrist Tomasz Biernacki discusses bunion surgery and hammer toe surgery! It is estimated that the people who develop flat feet and bunion formation can have further knee pain, hip pain and lower back pain. This can lead to permanent arthritis and difficulty wearing shoes or walking. Dr. Tomasz Biernacki states that If bunion and flat foot formation can be caught relatively early, this will prevent permanent arthritis from developing. This can keep the foot from being unable to fit into good supportive shoes in the future. Dr. Biernacki further states It is estimated that the people who develop flat feet and bunion formation can have further knee pain, hip pain and lower back pain. This can lead to permanent arthritis and difficulty wearing shoes or walking. The podiatrists and foot doctors at Advanced Foot and Ankle Specialists of Brighton Michigan have developed a treatment algorithm for diagnosing and treating bunion pain with both surgery and without surgery. A bunion is actual the dislocation of a joint called your first metatarsal phalangeal joint. Dr. Tomasz Biernacki is a practicing podiatric foot and ankle surgeon at Advanced Foot and Ankle specialists of Howell Michigan and Advanced foot and ankle specialists of Howell Michigan and Brighton Michigan pride themselves on providing comprehensive the care and working as a multispecialty team. The four doctors at this practice are on staff at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Livingston, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Brighton, and St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Ann Arbor. Working as part of this large multidisciplined team, they can work with internal medicine doctors, primary care doctors, endocrinologists and vascular surgery specialist to provide comprehensive care. Advanced foot and ankle specialists have four different doctors within their practice: Dr. Tom Biernacki, Dr. John Stevelinck, Dr. Marc Bonanni and Dr. Danielle Meyka-Blanchard. All podiatrists foot doctors are on staff at St. Joseph Mercy hospitals in Ann Arbor, Howell and Brighton Michigan. They pride themselves on serving Livingston County and Washtenaw County. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause By Long Island Published: May 19 2020 Bethpage Federal Credit Union and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, are pleased to announce the launch of the Bethpage Virtual Air Show. Bethpage Federal Credit Union and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, are pleased to announce the launch of the Bethpage Virtual Air Show. Taking place throughout the months of May and June, the virtual experience is being organized to offer Bethpage Air Show fans entertaining and exciting activities to participate in online, following this years show cancellation. We can never replace the Bethpage Air Show and of course, are still saddened to know that our hundreds of thousands of fans wont be with us on-site at Jones Beach this year, said Linda Armyn, Senior Vice President, Bethpage. However, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to now connect our fans with show performers and organizers in a special way. Many of the pilots have been asking how their New York area fans are doing and this effort now gives them a chance to share their well wishes, and share videos from some of their favorite previous performances. We want to thank Bethpage Federal Credit Union for organizing the Bethpage Virtual Air Show Experience including the new online events and activities associated with this years show. We would also like to thank the air show community for coming together to bring a new type of show this year to our fans, said George Gorman, Regional Director of The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. We are all experiencing some changes in our lives right now, but virtual events like this allow us to remain connected in a meaningful way. I know our fans will enjoy this special show. We also ask our fans to continue to support all of the healthcare workers and essential employees who are on the front lines, helping to fight COVID-19. The Bethpage Virtual Air Show Experience schedule includes: May 8 The Bethpage Air Show Fan Photo Album Fans can submit photos of themselves attending previous Bethpage Air Shows, which will then be uploaded to an online photo album for all to enjoy. To submit your photo, go to www.bethpageairshow.com for details. Submissions will be accepted from May 8 through May 22. Bethpage will update the Fan Photo Album every Friday. May 19 Bethpage Air Show Activity Book Download this fun activity and coloring book for children. Activities include word searches, complete the pictures, make your own paper airplane, and coloring pages with all content relating to the Bethpage Air Show, performers, jets, and planes. To download, go to www.bethpageairshow.com. The Bethpage Air Show Activity Book will be available for fans beginning May 19. May 23 Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach Volunteer Video Montage Come and meet the many behind the scenes volunteers who donate their time yearly to produce what has grown to become one of the largest public events in New York State! These volunteers will share some of their personal, behind-the-scenes photos and offer personalized video messages to fans as well. Go to www.bethpageairshow.com for details on what time the montage will go live on May 23. May 24 The Bethpage Virtual Air Show Fans this year can view the Bethpage Virtual Air Show right from the comfort of their own homes! Sit back, grab a bowl of popcorn, and watch your favorite pilots do what they do best perform exciting maneuvers, climb through the sky, tumble and turn, and demonstrate why they are the best at what do they! The Air Show Director will welcome fans to the show and introduce the shows Air Show Boss, Wayne Boggs, and Air Show Announcer, Rob Reider. Performers and pilots will also share specially-recorded messages with fans and footage from some of their favorite air show performances. The Bethpage Virtual Air Show will take place Memorial Day Weekend, on May 24. Please visit www.bethpageairshow.com for the time of day and details. June 1 Search for the Biggest Blue Angels Fan Sweepstakes Are you a big fan of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels? We are searching for the Bethpage Air Shows biggest Blue Angels fan. Enter our sweepstakes by sharing details on why you are the biggest fan of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and your name will be entered into a drawing to win a personalized video message from a Blue Angel Pilot! Fans will be able to enter from June 1 through June 12. A winner will be announced on June 19. If you would like to participate, visit our website at www.bethpageairshow.com for details. May 11 - May 29 Other Activities Win tickets to view the 2021 Bethpage Air Show from Bethpage Federal Credit Unions VIP tent by visiting us on Facebook, where you can participate in trivia and photo hunt contests for a chance to win. Follow us at Facebook.com/BethpageAirShow. Previously scheduled to take place Memorial Day weekend, Saturday, May 23, 2020 and Sunday, May 24, 2020, the United States Navy Blue Angels were set to headline the 17th annual Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach. This would have been the coveted jet teams 9th appearance as show headliners. During the squadrons most recent headlining appearance in 2018, over 367,000 attended the show at Jones Beach State Park. Additional performers who were scheduled to participate this year included the United States Army Golden Knights Parachute Team, the GEICO Skytypers, Sean Tucker and Jessy Panzer, David Windmiller, the U.S. Coast Guard Search & Rescue Demonstration, 106th Air National Guard Rescue Wing, the United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II, B-17 Yankee Lady, the American Air Power Museum Warbirds, and the Farmingdale State College Aviation Team. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-18 21:24:31|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close File photo of a full-size model of the core module of China's space station Tianhe. (Xinhua/Liang Xu) The space station, expected to be completed around 2022, will operate in the low-Earth orbit at an altitude from 340 km to 450 km for more than 10 years. BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- After the successful maiden flight of the Long March-5B large rocket and the testing of China's new-generation manned spaceship, more details of China's space station have been unveiled. The space station, expected to be completed around 2022, will operate in the low-Earth orbit at an altitude from 340 km to 450 km for more than 10 years, supporting large-scale scientific, technological and application experiments, according to a report in the People's Daily. File photo of a full-size model of the core module of China's space station Tianhe. (Xinhua/Liang Xu) WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? The space station Tiangong, meaning Heavenly Palace, will be able to accommodate three astronauts in normal circumstances and up to six during a crew replacement. The station will be a T shape with the core module at the center and a lab capsule on each side. Each of the modules will be over 20 tonnes, with the total mass of the station about 66 tonnes, said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program. If China's Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 space labs are like one-bedroom apartments, the space station is equivalent to an apartment with three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room and a storage room, said Zhu Guangchen, deputy chief designer of the space station from China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). The core module of the station, named Tianhe, has a total length of 16.6 meters, a maximum diameter of 4.2 meters and a takeoff mass of 22.5 tonnes, and is currently the largest spacecraft developed by China. The Tianhe core module will be the management and control center and the main living space of the crew, and will support some scientific and technological experiments. The living space in the core module is about 50 cubic meters. Combined with the two lab capsules, the whole living space could be up to 110 cubic meters, according to CAST. The core module has two berth ports connecting to the two lab capsules, and three docking ports for the crew spacecraft, cargo and other craft. It also has an exit for astronauts to conduct extravehicular activities. The first lab capsule, named Wentian, will be mainly used for scientific and technological experiments, as well as working and living space and shelter in emergency. This capsule is equipped with a special airlock chamber to support extravehicular activities and a small mechanical arm for automatic installation and operation of extravehicular instruments. It possesses some key functions of the core module, which means it can perform the management and control of the space station if needed, according to CAST. The second lab capsule, named Mengtian, has functions similar to the first lab capsule. It is equipped with a special airlock chamber to support the entry and exit of cargo and instruments with the help of astronauts and mechanical arms. The Long March-2F carrier rocket and Shenzhou manned spacecraft will be used to transport crew and some materials between Earth and the space station. The Shenzhou can carry three astronauts and be used as a rescue spacecraft in emergency. The Long March-7 rocket and Tianzhou cargo spacecraft will be used to transport materials, propellants and instruments for the station. The Long March-5B rocket will carry into space the core module and lab capsules, as well as a capsule holding a 2-meter-caliber optical telescope, which will fly in the same orbit as the space station. The telescope capsule, named Xuntian, is expected to provide observation data for astronomical and physical studies to help scientists better understand the universe. During its expected 10-year operation, it will be able to observe over 40 percent of the sky, said Zhou. The capsule can dock with the space station for maintenance and refueling. China's space station can be expanded and upgraded according to research needs, and will give full play to the role of people in space, said Zhou. China's new large carrier rocket Long March-5B blasts off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province, May 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhao Yingquan) HOW TO CONSTRUCT IT? Twelve flight missions are planned to construct the station. After the maiden flight of the Long March-5B, the core module and the two lab capsules will be launched for assembly in orbit. Four manned and four cargo craft will also be launched, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). China will face great challenges and complexities in the coming high-density launch missions, said Zhou Jianping. Chinese astronauts will shoulder many tasks in the construction of the space station. They will conduct many complex extravehicular tasks, and work with mechanical arms to complete the installation, testing, adjustment and upgrading of the payloads in orbit. One astronaut can operate the mechanical arm inside the capsule while another works outside. The space station will have two kinds of mechanical arms, and the cooperation between astronauts and mechanical arms will enable the construction and maintenance of the station, said Zhou. Because of the high cost of transporting materials into space, the ability to recycle as much as possible is a major technological issue, Zhou said. The longest stay in space so far by Chinese astronauts is 33 days. The water and oxygen they needed were taken into space. To enable astronauts to stay longer, the station will be equipped with a renewable life support system. The hydrogen produced in electrolytic oxygen production and the carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts can generate oxygen through chemical reaction, which can supplement oxygen for the space station. The power system includes two pairs of flexible solar panels, with each panel about 30 meters long. The station will also use electric propulsion technology to maintain its course. China's new large carrier rocket Long March-5B blasts off from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China's Hainan Province, May 5, 2020. (Xinhua/Pu Xiaoxu) SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS Science facilities on the station could support hundreds of research projects in fields such as astronomy, space life science, biotechnology, microgravity, basic physics and space materials. More than a dozen advanced experiment racks will be installed, and an extravehicular experiment platform will be built. Each rack is regarded as a lab that can support various space experiments. Scientists will also conduct space life science and biotechnology experiments on the station to study how human beings might live in space for long periods. The crew to construct the station has been selected and is being trained. China's third group of reserve astronauts will be selected around July, according to the CMSA. Previously, Chinese astronauts were selected from air force pilots. However, the station needs different kinds of astronauts such as engineers and scientists. The third group of astronauts is selected from not only air force pilots but also relevant industrial sectors and research institutes and universities, said Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut and deputy chief designer of the manned space program. Their time in orbit will be extended from one month to three months, half a year or even longer. They will be required to complete a large amount of work outside the spacecraft during the construction, said Huang Weifen, deputy chief designer of the astronaut system of China's manned space program. NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- While most children infected with the novel coronavirus have mild symptoms, a subset requires hospitalization and a small number require intensive care. A new report from pediatric anesthesiologists, infectious disease specialists and pediatricians at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore (CHAM) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, describes the clinical characteristics and outcomes of children hospitalized with COVID-19, during the early days of the pandemic. Published in the Journal of Pediatrics, the report compares 46 children between one month and 21 years old, who received care either on a general unit, or in the Pediatric Critical Care Unit (PCCU) at CHAM. This is the largest single-center study from the United States to date to describe in detail the full spectrum of COVID-19 disease in hospitalized children. Researchers found that children requiring intensive care had higher levels of inflammation and needed additional breathing support, compared to those who were treated on a general unit. Of the children being cared for in the PCCU, almost 80% had Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), which is more commonly associated with critically ill adult COVID-19 patients, and almost 50% of children with ARDS were placed on ventilators. On average, children in the PCCU stayed in the hospital four days longer than children on the general unit. Researchers at CHAM and Einstein also found that while obesity and/or asthma was highly prevalent in children in this study, these complications did not increase the likelihood that a child would need enhanced levels of care. "We know that in adults, obesity is a risk factor for more severe disease, however, surprisingly, our study found that children admitted to the intensive care unit did not have a higher prevalence of obesity than those on the general unit," said lead author Jerry Y. Chao, M.D., M.Sc., pediatric anesthesiologist, CHAM, and assistant professor of anesthesiology, Einstein. Researchers also found that more than half of the children had no known contact with a COVID-positive person. This may reflect the fact that the virus can be spread by asymptomatic people and COVID-19 may be more prevalent in communities with a high population density. "Thankfully most children with COVID-19 fare well, and some do not have any symptoms at all, but this research is a sobering reminder that children are not immune to this virus and some do require a higher level of care," said senior author Shivanand S. Medar, M.D., FAAP., attending physician, Cardiac Intensive Care, CHAM, and assistant professor of pediatrics, Einstein. "These preliminary findings contribute to our understanding of COVID-19 in pediatric patients, but more research is needed to determine how the virus truly impacts children." Co-authors of the paper include Kim Derespina, M.D., critical care attending, CHAM, and assistant professor of pediatrics, Einstein; Michael D. Cabana, M.D., M.P.H., Physician-in-Chief at CHAM and The Michael I. Cohen, M.D., University Chair, Department of Pediatrics at Einstein and Montefiore; and Betsy Herold, M.D., chief of the division of pediatric infectious diseases and vice chair for research, CHAM and Einstein, and professor of pediatrics, of microbiology & immunology, and of obstetrics & gynecology and women's health, Einstein. For next steps, the investigators plan to follow the patients and examine their long-term outcomes. About Montefiore Health System Montefiore Health System is one of New York's premier academic health systems and is a recognized leader in providing exceptional quality and personalized, accountable care to approximately three million people in communities across the Bronx, Westchester and the Hudson Valley. It is comprised of 11 hospitals, including the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Burke Rehabilitation Hospital and more than 200 outpatient ambulatory care sites. The advanced clinical and translational research at its medical school, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, directly informs patient care and improves outcomes. From the Montefiore-Einstein Centers of Excellence in cancer, cardiology and vascular care, pediatrics, and transplantation, to its preeminent school-based health program, Montefiore is a fully integrated healthcare delivery system providing coordinated, comprehensive care to patients and their families. For more information please visit www.montefiore.org. Follow us on Twitter and view us on Facebook and YouTube. SOURCE Montefiore Health System Related Links www.montefiore.org The Mediterranean resort town of Ayia Napa is known for its boisterous parties. Each summer, thousands of young foreign tourists pack the dance floors of its nightlife district after a day at the beach. But the pandemic silenced the exuberant Napa Strip district as the island nation of Cyprus went into a lockdown to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Now nightclub owners wonder when social distancing rules will be eased enough for the party to resume - and what those new parties will look like. We know at nightclubs, young people will go to dance and have a good time. But then you have to tell them that they have to keep 2 metres (6 feet) apart from each other? asked Charalambos Alexandrou, the spokesman for a group representing local clubs, bars and restaurants. Across southern Europe, in places where tourism drives much of the economy, officials are weighing how to entice travellers to come back, even while the pandemic remains a threat. Juggling the sometimes-competing needs of health and business, authorities are introducing measures to reassure visitors that taking a holiday is safe again. Social distancing rules may work in restaurants, but that's not likely to solve the quandary facing Ayia Napa's nightclubs. Alexandrou said this will be a season of trying to survive, not seeking a profit. One idea being considered is asking holidaymakers to take a COVID-19 test prior to their arrival. Cyprus has officially reported 916 cases of coronavirus and 17 deaths. The country's deputy minister for tourism, Savvas Perdios, said Cyprus will initially look to bring tourists from nearby countries that have managed to contain the virus - Greece, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and some central European and Nordic nations. Authorities will take more time to assess the course of the pandemic in the United Kingdom and Russia, the island's primary tourism markets, before rolling out the red carpet for those countries. Tourists in the near future will have to navigate a different set of expectations, routines and rules to counter the virus. Christos Angelides, president of the Cyprus Hotel Managers' Association, said new rules being announced soon will mean that from the moment tourists step out of their bus or taxi from the airport, their luggage will be disinfected and taken straight to their rooms. Reception procedures will be done electronically, with employees behind a plexiglass screen and cleaning staff in full protective gear. Guests eyeing a vacation in Portugal, another major southern European holiday destination, will probably look beyond a hotel's online reviews to see if it has the Clean&Safe seal now being awarded by local tourism officials. The seal indicates that the establishment, be it a hotel, restaurant or other venue, has enacted recommended hygiene and safety procedures to protect against the virus. The idea has been a big success in a desperate sector that accounts for 15% of Portugal's gross domestic product and 9% of the country's jobs. The online classes needed to obtain the seal are being attended by around 4,000 people a week. It's a question of making people feel safe to travel and having confidence in the place where they're going, said Luis Araujo, president of the government agency Turismo de Portugal Portugal lies at the opposite end of the Mediterranean Sea from Cyprus, but its challenge is the same: how to reconcile social distancing and hygiene rules with fun and relaxation. Restrictions scare away any tourist, Araujo acknowledged. The Portuguese government says discotheques will be the last places to open, but many hotels intend to start reopening June 1. Among the changes being adopted: Guests will not check into their rooms until 24 hours after the last occupant has checked out, to allow time for thorough cleaning and airing of the space. Waiting for sunbeds may come to an end as some hotel guests will get one for their own exclusive use. Buffets are unlikely to be offered, but room service is expected to thrive. Another challenge is how to reopen southern Europe's famous beaches. Portugal has come up with a plan to get people back on the sand starting on June 6. Sunbathers must stay 1.5 metres (5 feet) apart, with umbrellas at least 3 metres (10 feet) apart. New signs and an app will use a traffic-light system of red, yellow and green indicating which beaches are full, partly full or have few people. Paddle boats and water slides will be prohibited. In an attempt to shore up public confidence, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa went to his local cafe for morning coffee and had lunch at a Lisbon restaurant with the speaker of parliament on Monday, the first day those businesses reopened after a lockdown. Even with all the efforts to make tourists feel safe, worries about the coronavirus are not going away. UK personal trainer Kenny Dyer cancelled an Easter vacation in Cyprus and is hopeful of venturing back in October. But Dyer attached a condition that governments may find hard to guarantee. I wouldn't want to fly somewhere where there's a sudden spike in coronavirus cases, and I would have to be quarantined abroad, Dyer said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An additional 545 people have died in the UK after contracting the coronavirus over a 24 hour period, the highest daily increase for a week - the government has confirmed. The increase to the total number of fatalities, announced by environment minister George Eusticeduring the government's daily briefing from Downing Street, brings the total number of people to have died in all settings after testing positive for the virus to 35,341. Meanwhile a total 2,412 new cases have been confirmed, bringing the total number of infections to 248,818. Just over 10,000 people are currently hospitalised with the virus, down from 11,716 this time last week. The government confirmed 89,784 tests for the virus have been carried out across the latest 24 hour period - falling below the government's target to be conducting more than 100,000 on a daily basis yet again. Professor Dame Angela McLean, deputy chief scientific adviser, said there was a "sustained decline across all four of our nations" in the numbers of Covid-19 hospital patients requiring mechanical ventilation - a marker of those who have been worst affected after contracting the virus. Talking viewers through the presentation slides at the daily briefing, Dame Angela also said there was a continued "steady decline" in the number of coronavirus-associated deaths demonstrated in the published data. It comes as the government seeks to emerge from lockdown with a contact tracing operation capable of fully tracking and containing the future spread of the virus - which has claimed the lives of at least 320,816 people globally. Responding to a question from a member of the public on lessons learned from other nations, Dame Anglea said the UK will try to emulate South Korea's response to the virus in the coming months. She said: "It's a very good point that we need to look to our near neighbours and also countries further away to learn what works and how long it takes to see if something is working or not working. "The two I would draw particular lessons from would be South Korea, where I feel they've made inspiring use of all kinds of different contact tracing in order to control infection to an extent that they are now down to a handful of new cases every day, and when they say new cases they mean people they have found in the community because of their contact tracing efforts. "I think that is an experience that we are aiming to emulate. "The other country I would look to is Germany, where the importance of testing has always been so clear and that is a place from where we have learned that we need to grow our testing facility, and have grown our testing facility." Additional reporting by Press Association. P iers Morgan and Susanna Reid have questioned where Boris Johnson is as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Speaking on Good Morning Britain, the presenters questioned why the Prime Minister was not facing the public more often. Addressing political expert guests, Reid said on Tuesday: I just wonder, I havent seen Boris very much. "Where is the Prime Minister at the moment?" While Morgan took to Twitter to call out Mr Johnson directly, writing: "Where are you, Prime Minister?" Mr Johnson appeared last Wednesday for PMQs, where he faced his second showdown with Sir Keir Starmer after recovering from Covid-19 and returning to work. The Prime Minister spent three nights in intensive care at St Thomas Hospital in London in April. GMB guest Andrew Pierce said Mr Johnson had suffered "a very serious dose of coronavirus so he's probably not 100 per cent". He also has recently become a father after his fiance Carrie Symonds gave birth, although it was reported he would delay his paternity leave. Since returning to work on April 26, Mr Johnson has led the daily Downing Street press conference twice, given one Prime Ministerial statement to the Commons and appeared at PMQs twice. Boris Johnson in the Commons / PA His announcements about the lockdown easing have been made in pre-recorded television broadcasts. Reid said she did accept the Prime Minister "has a new baby and noted the impact of post-coronavirus fatigue. While Morgan said that the issue was the lack of transparency from Number 10 Downing Street over Mr Johnsons public appearances and the pressure his absence places on other cabinet ministers. He said: The fact he is not visible and centre-stage means we are now reliant on other ministers. He added: "Be honest with the public, if he's ill or feeling rough, be honest with the public Theyll understand. Former prime minister Gordon Brown appeared on GMB on Tuesday and said that Mr Johnson needed to "get a grip". Mr Brown told the programme that he would have been laughed out of court had he given just one official coronavirus statement to Parliament over his response to the global financial crisis in 2009. Mr Johnson's spokesman on Monday confirmed health reasons were not behind his failure to appear more often. GMB has been boycotted by Government ministers for over three weeks. The Ghana Police Service has cautioned the general public that is not advertising recruitment nor undertaking fresh recruitment processes. Superintendent of Police Mrs Sheilla Kessie Abayie-Buckman, Director of Public Affairs, made these known in a release which was made available to the Ghana News Agency. She said "Police recruitment exercises are first published in the major dailies, at least the "Daily Graphic" and "Ghanaian Times" newspapers prior to the start of the recruitment processes". "Presently, Police recruits who started training in February this year, at the various Police training schools at Accra, Koforidua, Ho, Kumasi and Pwalugu are in training undergoing the scheduled training exercises," it said. The release debunked the assertion that the Police is in breach of the law in the ongoing training of Police recruits in accordance with law, and that Regulation 4 of the extended Imposition of Restrictions (Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic) Instrument, 2020 [E.I. 64] exempts "Security Services" including the Ghana Police Service from restrictions under the regulations. "The Police Administration has, however, put in place sufficient measures to ensure social distancing maintained between and among recruits. These are in addition to enhanced hygiene procedures directed by the President of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo," it said. It said adequate measures have also been put in place to sufficiently manage any issue of COVID-19 that may arise at any of the Police training facilities. "The Police Administration further assures parents, guardians and the public that the health and safety of Police Recruits and Police Officers amid COVID-19 remains paramount." The release asked members of the public to verify if the Police Service was recruiting or not, through Police Toll free number 18555 or the National Unified Code 112. "In addition, the public is encouraged to report any person(s) who make false claims of recruitment to the nearest Police Station for arrest and prosecution," it stated. ---GNA As part of our #LockdownLessons series, Bizcommunity is reaching out to South Africa's top industry players to share their experience of the current Covid-19 crisis, how their organisations are navigating these unusual times, where the challenges and opportunities lie, and their industry outlook for the near future. Njombo Lekula, MD at PPC What was your initial response to the crisis/lockdown and has your experience of it been different to what you expected? Comment on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on your company or economy as a whole. How is your company responding to the crisis? How has the lockdown affected your staff? / What temporary HR policies have you put in place regarding remote working, health & safety, etc.? How are you navigating physical distancing while keeping your team close-knit and aligned and your clients happy? Has this global crisis changed your view of the future of the industry in any way? We chatted to Njombo Lekula, MD at PPC, to get his take.PPC worked quickly to engage regional leaders in technical, sales and marketing to ensure we were in a position to transition into work from home and/or standby for essential service support while observing all necessary lockdown rules and procedure. Our PPC Ltd teams ensured that the governments' national lockdowns in South Africa, Botswana, DRC, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe were adhered to, thus managing the spread of Covid-19 in our Southern African operations.While driving business continuity in an uncertain environment remains challenging, we are humbled to have a team and partners who are willing to navigate these uncharted waters with us.The construction sector in South Africa has been adversely affected by the pandemic. In line with government efforts to curb and manage the spread of Covid-19, industry came to a close on the 26th of March. Industry Insight estimates that up to 140,000 formal jobs could be lost.While we maintain an optimistic demand scenario to secure the sector and protect local businesses like us, we need the continued support of government, corporates and ordinary citizens so we can secure jobs and sustainably provide the country with a 100% local product.Our contributions and continued efforts to empower the community to experience a better quality of life have been focused on providing sustainable support. In line with local needs, the mobile clinics form part of our ongoing contribution towards our Covid-19 efforts in South Africa. Working closely with local authorities, the four mobile clinics, with a pick-up trailer that is used for medication across Gauteng, continue to be available for testing and general healthcare.Our impact-based approach to contributions across the business has enabled us to ensure the total investment is R6.5m (R3.5m in Tshwane and R3m in Johannesburg) which was made in our FY20. This allows us to continue to look for additional ways we can live our brand promise, Strength Beyond, as the mobile clinics are made available into our FY21.We are humbled to have the partnership with the Tshwane Department of Health. Working closely with them, the nurses and support staff required to improve access to healthcare in the province, we are encouraged to know these clinics will continue to provide a lasting impact during this pandemic and beyond.Our strongest asset is our employees who have helped us to provide 100% local, 100% quality cement products and materials that customers are used to. Their service excellence over the past 128 years has driven the business to engage them in the work from home process while being attentive to their individual circumstances.As we operate under the guidance of the Minerals Charter, we have welcomed the opportunity to work with our SHEQ teams in restabilising a new definition for our sanitary baseline. While we engage our local partners in the provision of Covid-19 cloth masks, we continue to provide the relevant PPE required in cement and materials production.PPC is a family. It is a new reality for us to no longer be greeted by the warmth, hugs and high-5s of our colleagues at our doors and working sessions. The passion for what we do has given us all the strength we need to navigate the changing environment. The teams willingness to engage and consult with the aim of finding innovative solutions continues to inspire us all. Our clients have engaged the teams on the delivery and provision of our services either as essential service workers or as businesses go back to work in Level 4.The global pandemic has worked to strengthen our resolve to provide 100% local products developed by us while supporting local companies and partners. As we exist to empower the community to experience a better quality of life, we believe in the collective development of our sector.Covid-19 lockdown has added pressure to local cement manufacturers who are engaging in the long-term impact of imports and sub-standard cement. While we remain optimistic of our contribution to the local market, we can only do so with the support of all in South Africa who ask for PPC by name due to its 100% local and 100% quality consistently found in every bag of PPC cement. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Tue, May 19, 2020 08:30 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8e959e 2 World Mike-Pompeo,secretary-of-state,Taiwan,WHO,China,US-China-tension-COVID-19 Free Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday condemned the exclusion of Taiwan from the World Health Organization's annual meeting, saying it proved US charges that the UN body was beholden to China. The WHO member states at the annual meeting delayed discussion on whether to grant observer status to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a province awaiting reunification and seeks to exclude from all international organizations. Pompeo said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has been harshly criticized by President Donald Trump's administration, "had every legal power and precedent" to include Taiwan in the meeting. "Yet he instead chose not to invite Taiwan under pressure from the People's Republic of China," Pompeo said in a statement. "The Director-General's lack of independence deprives the Assembly of Taiwan's renowned scientific expertise on pandemic disease, and further damages the WHO's credibility and effectiveness at a time when the world needs it the most." Taiwan has enjoyed remarkable success in combatting the pandemic, with only seven deaths and some 400 infections despite its proximity and close commercial links with mainland China, where the disease was first identified. "The PRC's spiteful action to silence Taiwan exposes the emptiness of its claims to want transparency and international cooperation to fight the pandemic, and makes the difference between China and Taiwan ever more stark," Pompeo said. "Taiwan is a model world citizen, while the PRC continues to withhold vital information about the virus and its origins," he said. Trump has accused the WHO of not sounding an alarm early enough and of blindly taking China's word after the virus was identified late last year in Wuhan. Critics say that Trump, who himself had earlier praised China's response, is trying to divert attention from his own handling of the pandemic in the United States, which has suffered by far the highest death toll. Their outbreak has been one of the worst in the state, Lenert said. Weve been contacted by numerous families who were kept in the dark and didnt even know their loved one had the virus until they received a call from the coroners office or a funeral director. Dao Ngoc Nghiem, vice president of the Vietnam Urban Development and Planning Association, talks to about what Hanoi should do to develop a master plan for the city for 2021-2030 with a vision to 2045. Dao Ngoc Nghiem. Photo moitruongvadothi.vn What do you think about Hanois first draft of the municipal development plan? Hanoi is one of the first localities in Vietnam to have completed its master plan for the next 10 years with a vision to 2045. I highly appreciate Hanoi's Party Committee, Peoples Council and Peoples Committee for their efforts to develop this plan in such a short period of time. This master plan will serve as a management tool for the city in its course of socio-economic and cultural development to improve the quality of life while raising the capital to a higher level in Vietnam and internationally. However, in the context of innovation and integration leading to an economy of a much larger scale, general planning of the whole country, including Hanoi, has also revealed its shortcomings, namely too many overlapping plans and no feasible use of resources. For example, from 2000 to 2010, the country had more than 3,100 planning projects, and from 2010 to 2020, the number increased six times. The planning lacks cohesion and it overlaps. The method has not been updated to suit the market economy and international integration. The Law on Planning was launched in 2017 but the implementation still has problems that need resolving. When puts planning under the law, it will be necessary to identify the challenges and find solutions for these problems. What differences are there for new planning activities? There have been many plans made for different sectors that have taken effect at city and provincial levels in Vietnam, such as socio-economic planning, construction planning, transport planning and land use planning. In the near future, planning will integrate different sectors, and provincial planning must deal with socio-economic, cultural, land, urban and rural orientations, the environment, infrastructure and architecture. However, what I want to say is that under the current system, not many projects consult each other during their implementation. What should project owners focus on during the implementation of a major project? The first thing that project owners should do is develop a detailed plan on who they should consult during project implementation and who should be included on the project appraisal committee. Of course, these people should come from the relevant ministerial levels, localities and social organisations. Adding to that we also need to have a database for planning work. In the course of developing Hanoi's development plan, it is very important for the management board to conduct comprehensive impact assessments on the ongoing projects in the city as well as future projects that will be carried out in the near future. VNS/KTDT Hanoi prepares scenarios to foster post-pandemic socio-economic development Hanoi authorities have prepared scenarios to promote socioeconomic development after the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control. Hanoi plans solutions to increase public transport use Hanoi is considering setting up priority lanes for buses while banning cars on some roads. Its only been five days since Shashi Gandhi returned to his second-floor flat in northeast Delhis Jhilmil after a month. He worked in the Covid-19 ward at Lok Nayak hospital for 14 days, which was followed by 14 days in quarantine. He lives with his wife and two sons. By the time he was posted in the ward in mid-April, his family was already prepared; the 2,000-bed hospital had been turned into a dedicated treatment facility for the viral infection. We all knew we will have to work in the Covid ward, so we were prepared, as were our families. They asked me to stay safe and come back soon. When I reached the room the hospital had allotted to me, I found a nice surprise. My children had made a gift pack for me with biscuits and chocolates. I dont know when they slipped it in my bag, he said. After work, he would video call his family every day. But a video call was not enough on April 27, which marked the 12th anniversary of his marriage with Mandeep. I did not know what to do, so after work ended, I decided to go home. But I did not go up to my flat. I just sat in my car downstairs and spoke to my family from afar. I kept some chocolates for them and left, he said. When in the hospital, he said working in personal protective equipment (PPE) was one of the foremost challenges. It just gets so hot inside the coverall. We would be drenched in sweat after taking the PPE off after our shifts, he said. He is likely to be posted for the next round of Covid-19 duty in the last week of this month. Shashis wife admitted that they were scared. This is a new infection and we hear about what is happening in the city. But I also feel proud that my family is contributing in the fight against this disease. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The county prosecutor said in a statement that she was, grateful that a citizen captured this incident on video. But a municipal court judge found him guilty of, failure to obey a lawful order. I aint interfering. Im just recording, Roderick Reed can be heard saying in the video. So am I. Now move along, replied one of the officers. A video provided by police shows the officers ordering Reed to move his car. An officer can be heard yelling, Youre blocking traffic! Police said they issued the citation because he was stopped in a lane of traffic, not because he was shooting the video. Though he pulled over 1-1/2 minutes after being ordered to do so. I became a villain from it. And now Im being punished according to the law for doing the right thing, Reed said. Man who recorded assault video of KCPD appealing conviction KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - It's been nearly a year since Roderick Reed stopped as he drove by Brush Creek and Virginia to shoot video of an arrest that took him aback. "Like I was in disbelief," Reed said. On Friday, a grand jury indicted the two officers with fourth-degree assault of Breona Reed, a misdemeanor. Testimony from this street reporter:Read more: Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 12:41:18|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close TOKYO, May 19 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck Japan's Gifu Prefecture on Tuesday, the weather agency here said. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor, which occurred at 1:13 p.m. local time, was centered inland, with its epicenter at a latitude of 36.3 degrees north and a longitude of 137.6 degrees east, and at depth of 10 km. The weather agency has not issued a tsunami warning or advisory as a result of the quake. The earthquake logged 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale which peaks at 7 in some areas of Gifu Prefecture, the JMA said. In the neighboring prefecture of Nagano, the quake also registered 3 on Japan's seismic scale, said the JMA. There have been no immediate reports of major damage or injuries as a result of the quake. Japan's nuclear watchdog has not, as yet, issued any warning about irregularities or abnormalities at any nuclear power stations operating in the region or taken off-line for safety inspections in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima crisis. Enditem Ore. Supreme Court halts ruling that would've lifted restrictions on church gatherings Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The Oregon Supreme Court granted an emergency motion Monday evening putting on hold a lower courts injunction earlier in the day granting churches statewide preliminary relief to Gov. Kate Browns restrictions on mass gatherings and in-person worship. Oregon Supreme Court Presiding Justice Thomas Balmer granted the motion per the request of Brown and other unnamed defendants hours after Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. Balmer explained that the plaintiffs, which included 10 churches and ministries throughout the state led by Elkhorn Baptist Church of Baker City, had until Friday to submit responses to the defendants petition. "Following swift action by the Oregon Supreme Court, my emergency orders to protect the health and safety of Oregonians will remain in effect statewide while the court hears arguments in this lawsuit,'' Brown said in a statement. ''From the beginning of this crisis, I have worked within my authority, using science and data as my guide, heeding the advice of medical experts.'' The court put a hold on Shirtcliffs ruling in which he concluded that Brown exceeded her authority by restricting business operations and worship services for more than the 28 days governors are allowed to do so under Oregons health emergency law. Brown had extended the state of emergency until July 6 without approval from the state legislature. The plaintiffs contend that the measures have harmed churches, businesses, private schools and other groups and individuals. Under the first phase of the states reopening plan, churches are allowed to gather with no more than 25 people present. But Shirtcliff also concluded that churches could hold worship services with over 25 people provided they follow the same social distancing guidelines as secular facilities, such as grocery stores and home improvement stores. The Pacific Justice Institute, a legal group that provides pro-bono support on topics related to freedom of religion, filed the lawsuit earlier this month against Brown. On behalf of the plaintiffs, the group alleges that the governors orders aimed at helping curb the spread of COVID-19 are unfairly violating the rights of churches. Joined by the grassroots nonprofit Common Sense Oregon, PJI filed a motion requesting a temporary restraining order against the enforcement of the state restrictions on gatherings. Weve got plaintiffs from Portland all the way south to Klamath Falls, from Lincoln City on the coast over to the eastern part of the State, PJI attorney Ray Hacke said in a statement earlier this month. Theres a rising tide of churches wanting to push back against Governor Browns oppressive executive orders, and this case will hopefully remind her that she is not free to dispense with constitutionally protected liberties, even in emergencies. Stephen Williams of Prepare the Way Ministries based in Bend, a ministry listed as a plaintiff in the case, issued a statement following Shirtcliffs ruling. Williams said he was shocked by some of the language the governors attorneys used during the hearing on Monday. I was shocked by Gov. Browns lawyers who asserted that the governor has no limits to her power during a state of emergency. They used phrases like, limitless power, no limits, nothing limits, total authority, complete power, over a dozen times, Williams claims. What makes our country great is the fact that we have a Constitutional Republic that acknowledges we are one nation under God, not a socialistic authoritarian regime where one leader has unlimited power. In response to the spread of the coronavirus, the vast majority of churches in the United States have opted to cancel in-person worship services. Many have switched to online alternatives or have held drive-in services. Some congregations, however, have continued to hold in-person worship services. At times, they do so in direct defiance of state or local stay-at-home-orders. Many of those churches contend that it is their First Amendment right to assemble for worship. Several churches in multiple states have filed lawsuits against state and local orders. Churches argue that, as long as they adhere to social distancing guidelines, they should be allowed to gather for worship service. Last week, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman rejected a request for relief against an Illinois state order limiting in-person worship to no more than 10 people. An injunction would risk the lives of plaintiffs congregants, as well as the lives of their family members, friends, co-workers and other members of their communities with whom they come in contact, wrote Gettleman. Their interest in communal services cannot and does not outweigh the health and safety of the public. The lawsuit filed on behalf of the Oregon ministries has been criticized by at least one left-leaning Christian leader. Rev. Chuck Currie, an Oregon resident and minister with the liberal United Church of Christ, wrote on Twitter he is thankful for the Oregon Supreme Courts decision to stay Shirtcliffs injunction. He argued that the lawsuit was filed on behalf of far-right activists and white evangelical churches. People of faith want to worship. We want to gather. But houses of worship across the world have ended up as hotspots for #COVID19, Currie argued. This decision by Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff is reckless. I strongly support @OregonGovBrowns appeal. #StayHomeStayHoly. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Fidan Babayeva - Trend: The cotton companies of Azerbaijan have signed contracts with about 20,000 farmers for sowing cotton on 99,693 hectares, Ministry of Agriculture told Trend. According to the data, the sowing of cotton in the country is nearing completion. "In 2020, cotton is sown in more than 20 districts of Azerbaijan. Most of the crops accounted for traditional cotton growing districts such as Saatli (13,720 hectares), Barda (11,300 hectares), Bilasuvar (10,553 hectares), Agjabadi (10,320 hectares) and Sabirabad (9,551 hectares), the ministry said. In 2019, 294,000 tons of cotton was collected in Azerbaijan, the average yield amounted to 29.4 centners per hectare. According to the new subsidization mechanism, which has been in force since 2020, for the first time, cotton growers will be provided with a subsidy in connection with both sowing and harvesting. Farmers will receive a subsidy of 220 manat ($129.4) per hectare of sown area and 100 manat ($58.8 manat) for each ton of cotton transferred to collection points. (1 USD = 1.7 manat on May 19) --- Follow the author on Twitter: Fidan_Babaeva Billionaire Saudi businessman Saleh Abdullah Kamel, who founded the banking and real estate conglomerate Dallah Albaraka Group, has died, according to relatives quoted in the kingdom's media. He was 79. People close to Kamel told The Associated Press he died at the Dr. Samir Abbas Hospital in the city of Jiddah, where he was taken after suffering a heart attack early on Tuesday. Kamel's business empire grew from its humble beginnings in the late 1960's at the same time that the kingdom was using its oil wealth to rapidly develop and in need of homegrown companies to build roads, highways and cities. Over the years, the business expanded to tens of thousands of employees and today includes subsidiaries and stakes in a range of businesses, such as the operation and maintenance of airports and roads, tourism, trade, trucking and transportation, telecommunications, media, agriculture, poultry and health care. Kamel's son and the CEO of Dallah Albaraka Group, Abdullah Kamel, was quoted in the state-linked Okaz newspaper that he oversees as saying that funeral prayers will be held Tuesday afternoon in Mecca's Grand Mosque, which has been closed to visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic. The fact that his funeral prayers are being permitted at the mosque, which is home to Islam's holiest site, reflects Kamel's prominence and stature in Saudi Arabia. Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV network said Kamel, who was born in Mecca but based in Jiddah, was instrumental in helping build many of the kingdom's ports and major projects. He served on numerous boards and was the chairman of the General Council for Islamic Banks and the Jiddah Chamber of Commerce. He once owned a significant stake in Saudi broadcaster MBC, which owns and operates Al-Arabiya. Al-Arabiya dubbed him the father of contemporary Islamic finance. His life, however, was not without controversy. Following the 9/11 attacks, he and other prominent Saudi businessmen and princes were sued on charges of financing the attacks. The lawsuits were dismissed by the U.S. District Court of New York in 2005. The Wall Street Journal had reported at the time that U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials had information linking the Dallah Albaraka Group to transactions by suspected al-Qaida members. However U.S. officials gave no indication that Kamel or his son, Abdullah, knowingly aided al-Qaida or other militant groups. Kamel was also reportedly swept up in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's anti-corruption purge in 2017. The unprecedented Saudi crackdown saw the country's top princes and businessmen detained at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh, with many forced to sign over billions of dollars in assets. The sweep, which was conducted largely in secret behind closed doors, helped the young crown prince consolidate power and was widely criticized by international rights groups. Across Muslim countries and at home, Kamel was heavily involved in philanthropy and charity. A multi-million dollar donation in 2010 established the Abdallah S. Kamel Center for the Study of Islamic Law and Civilization at Yale Law School in the U.S. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) local elections in Ukraine 112 Agency Ukrainian authorities began to prepare for the local elections ambiguously. Useful for active participants in the electoral process bill was passed at one of the extraordinary sessions. According to the law No. 2769 adopted on April 30, for those wishing to run for mayor, the money deposit was significantly reduced. The document establishes its size in the amount of 4 minimum wages for every 90,000 voters, whereas the previous version provided for a cash deposit in the amount of 4 "minimum wages" for every 10,000. The Verkhovna Rada adopted Bill No. 2653 in the second reading and gave the Cabinet of Ministers the right to complete the process of community unification. What does this mean in practice? The fact that the government received the exclusive opportunity at its sole discretion to approve the number, new configuration of the united communities, and their administrative centers. This is something new in the decentralization reform that former Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman was so proud of. The initiative will no longer go from below - ready-made solutions will go from above, right from government meetings. By the way, the Cabinet of Ministers should prepare and submit to the parliament a bill of a new administrative-territorial structure within three months. Such a project (obviously) should be adopted before the local elections. After all, the new administrative-territorial structure will almost certainly affect the body of the Constitution, which means that such a law should be adopted at two sessions. Theoretically, the parliament could catch up to October 2020, but it will have to accelerate. Although the hurry is not the main thing here. Amendments to the Electoral Code are also being prepared along with redrawing the map of Ukraine. First: a party that participates in local elections must run immediately in 2/3 of the constituencies throughout Ukraine. If such changes are adopted, Ukraine would lose its small parties, tied to a specific region. Secondly, the passage barrier for parties is increased to 5%. Thirdly, the majority stays in very small settlements where the population does not exceed 10,000 (as of now - up to 90,000). In other villages, towns, and cities, an exclusively proportional election system operates. The virus that has been sitting in them for the past 28 years has become more active in some political parties, president Zelensky noted. Thus, despite the political will of the regions residents, the old politicians want to have gotten into the local authorities. In fact, deprive small parties and non-partisan citizens of changing their region for the better Zelensky said. In general, the confrontation between the center and the regions is far from being a new trend. In October 1997, the Party of Regional Revival of Ukraine was created, which at the end of 2001 became the Party of Regions. Until a certain time, it was a fairly successful project, which repeatedly carried out its numerous faction to the Verkhovna Rada. The experience of the Party of Regions did not remain unique for long: at the local elections in the fall of 2015, at least a few projects were successful that chose as their main slogan the ideology of protecting the interests of the regions. This is the Our Land party (it received 156 seats in the posts of heads of cities, towns, and villages); in Odesa - the party of Mayor Gennady Trukhanov Trust in Affairs (which became the first in the city, and the third in the region); Revival party with Gennady Kernes (first place in Kharkiv and the region, as well as in Uzhgorod); the party, created by Oleksandr Gerega, For concrete affairs (won in the Khmelnytsky region); party Cherkashchany (became the second in Cherkasy region); as well as the Vinnytsa European Strategy, which won in the elections to the Vinnytsa City Council. The tradition of 2015 could be developed in 2020 even with a wider scope. The current Party of Regions is the party of mayors, which is still under discussion. The stormy spring of 2020 was marked by two movements at once: quarantine disobedience of city mayors who began to leave the observance on their own, without waiting for permission from the center, plus attempts to institutionalize a new political association. Regarding quarantine, mayor of Cherkasy Anatoliy Bondarenko was the first to go AWOL, who allowed private business to work despite the ban. He was also openly supported by the mayors of Ivano-Frankivsk, Zaporizhya, and Mukachevo. One way or another, but such Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Kyiv joined in disobedience. The leaders of these cities very well felt the current situation. The chances of mayors to win voters sympathy increase as central government proteges governors show growing impotence, director of the Institute for Global Strategies Vadym Karasiov is convinced. Presidential vertical has already lost the local elections, and the mayoral cohort has already won them. Although, of course, the center will not give up. Since decentralization is always about how regions are fighting for their financial independence, the central government will put pressure on its local colleagues with money issues as a lever of influence with which the. The second reliable lever is the threat of criminal prosecution for the most impudent representatives of local elites. As for the budget, when in April the Verkhovna Rada voted for the budget sequestration, local budgets were the first to fall under the knife. In particular, funding for the State Regional Development Fund was reduced by 35%, the subvention to support the development of the united territorial communities was canceled, the Energy Efficiency Fund was frozen, and the subvention for the development of the emergency medical care system was moved to the "central" medical expenses section. Reducing spending before local elections is not formally a repressive measure, because we should not forget about the coronavirus-related crisis here. Moreover, local budgets were already affected by the epidemic (on average, each local treasury did not account for 10% of the usual tax revenues), and Kyiv should understand it. Actually, the losses, for example, of Cherkasy has already now amounted to 9 million USD, and this is precisely the aforementioned 10% of fiscal fees. The head of this city, Bondarenko, tried to explain the situation when he unilaterally abolished quarantine. However, the "center" responded with a criminal case opened against him. The mayor of Frankivsk, Ruslan Martsynkiv, also fell under criminal proceedings for permission to open local markets. Zelensky team did not come to a final conclusion regarding the method of action: either beat the mayors with a whip or feed them a carrot. Head of the Third Sector Center Andriy Zolotariov believes that the fate of the central government will depend, without exaggeration, on choosing this strategy. While it still has a chance to lead the process, that is, to bring decentralization reform to an end. Otherwise, they can do this without it - uncontrollably and chaotically. New Delhi, May 19 : Delhis Joint Commissioner of Police Shalini Singh says that maintaining law and order during the lockdown is not a problem, per se. However, she said, she wanted to ensure that no one remaining indoors in areas under her jurisdiction remained without essential items. She is leading the police force from the front, putting in, on an average, 16 to 18 hours of duty everyday. Shalini Singh is the first woman officer to head a Delhi Police range in the past over four decades, ever since the national capital adopted the commissionerate system on July 1, 1978. In an interview to IANS, she talked about her daily routine. The IPS officer of AGMUT cadre (1996-batch) said that she ensured that she was through her daily diary reports between six and nine a.m. in the morning. "I try to ensure that by 10.30 a.m. I am among my staff and the public so that no one feels left out in this crisis. Being the Joint CP of three police districts, I am responsible for the working of officials ranging from DCPs to constables and then taking care of problems faced by the public. I perform duty for 16-18 hours daily before I return home late in the night." Asked if she could take care of her family after all the rigours of duty, Shalini Singh said that her family was very supportive. While her two daughters could now take care of themselves, her husband, who too is an IPS officer, was very supportive. "I have only to be careful with my 85-year-old mother-in-law. But since I am on duty, my husband and daughters take good care of her. I take all precautions when I return from duty, so as to save my family from coronavirus." The IPS officer said that she alerts her family before she returns from office every night. So, as she arrives at her home, the doors are already opened for her so that she does not have to touch anything in the house. She straightaway heads for the bathroom to take a bath and wash her own uniform. After partaking of food placed in her room, she isolates herself and goes to sleep. Shalini Singh said that though she may not be doing any vigorous work during her duty hours, but her mere presence on the field must be a morale-booster for the constabulary during these difficult times. Asked what all changes the coronavirus scare had brought about in her life as an IPS officer, she said that she had visited all police stations, police posts and different areas under her jurisdiction to supervise various works. In Najafgarh, an area known for criminal activities, the biggest community kitchen in the three police districts had been set up by both men and women police personnel to ensure fresh food to the poor and needy amid the lockdown. "Had this coronavirus crisis not come, I would never have been able to learn so much in my career, not even afterwards," the IPS officer remarked. She said that the crisis had changed her philosophy of life. "Coronavirus has bridged the gap between the rich and the poor. It has changed our outlook. What I could not learn in the last 24 years of police service, I have learnt in the last 50 days or so." She pointed out that tackling the liquor mafia in Outer, Western and Dwarka police districts during the nationwide lockdown was a big challenge and Delhi Police had been able to control it. "The liquor mafia had been coming up with novel ways to smuggle liquor. We seized an ambulance in which the mafia was smuggling liquor hidden in a freezer meant to preserve dead bodies." Mentioning the names of Dwarka DCP Anto Alphonso, DCP Deepak Purohit of West Delhi, DCP Dr A. Kon of Outer Delhi, and Additional DCPs Subodh and Samir Sharma, the Joint Commissioner of Police said these officers were out in the field performing their duties with dedication. (Sanjiv Chauhan can be contacted at sanjiv.c@ians.in) Vuong Thi Ngoc Lan from HCM City University of Medicine and Pharmacy was on Monday presented with a 2020 Ta Quang Buu Award thanks to her study about the efficiency between the transfer of fresh or frozen embryos in women without polycystic ovaries for in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam (left) and Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh (right) at a ceremony on Monday in Hanoi present the prestigious Ta Quang Buu science and technology awards to Professor Nguyen Truong Thanh Hieu, Assoc Dr Pham Tien Son and Assoc Dr Vuong Thi Ngoc Lan (from left to right). VNA/VNS Photo Anh Tuan It showed the transfer of frozen embryos yielded similar results to fresh ones, and the research has helped doctors and patients make better choices and increase the chance of success of IVF. The research proved it was not necessary to transfer all fresh embryos but freeze them and transfer only one embryo per cycle. The results were found after Lan and her colleagues randomly studied 782 infertile women without polycystic ovary syndrome who had undergone IVF. Patients are our teachers with different characteristics, symptoms and medical problems. They are the motivation for us to do research to find the most effective and suitable treatment methods, said Lan. Ta Quang Buu Awards, the most prestigious and valuable annual awards for Vietnamese researchers, were also presented to Pham Tien Son from Da Lat University and Nguyen Truong Thanh Hieu from Ton Duc Thang University. Pham Tien Son was honoured for the project 'Generic properties for semialgebraic programs' which was published by SIAM Journal on Optimization. He studied genericity for the class of semialgebraic optimisation problems with equality and inequality constraints. "Good quality research results can only be achieved when we devote all our time to science," Son was quoted by chinhphu.vn as saying. Hieu from Ton Duc Thang University was honoured for a project entitled 'Low energy electron inelastic mean free path in materials'. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam congratulated the scientists, saying the contribution of scientists was not only measured in the number of research works published in prestigious journals of the world or awards, but also in the number of useful initiatives to increase labour productivity and improve the lives of people. "It is noteworthy that we have found opportunities and created the motivation to rise up in science and technology in difficulties given the context that the country and the whole world has been fighting a pandemic," he said. According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, since its launch in 2014, the awards have encouraged scientists and scientific and technological organisations towards high-quality research in Vietnam, fostering the development of an academic, creative and innovative environment which promotes the development of strong teams to undertake research at international level. VNS Relativity Space hired a SpaceX executive named Zachary Dunn on May 18, 2020. Zachary Dunn is to be the vice president of factory development for Relativity Space. Dunn will lead a team with its main goal of transporting Terran 1, Relativity Space's first launch vehicle. Moreover, Dunn will be helping in scaling the production of the launch vehicle. The company will be using 3D print technology in creating these launch vehicles. The Start of an Astronomical Career for Zachary Dunn According to his LinkedIn profile, Zachary Dunn studied in two universities: Duke University and Stanford University, respectively. He first obtained his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at Duke University from 2000-2005. Subsequently, he acquired his master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics at Stanford University from 2005-2007. During that time, he applied for summer internships in two astronomical institutions: NASA and Space Exploration Technologies (or SpaceX). Way back in 2004, Dunn was accepted into NASA as a summer intern. He was a NASA Langley Summer Scholar and attended NASA's internship program for three months from June 2004 to August 2004. Next, he applied as a summer intern for four months in the summer of 2006 for Space Exploration Technologies. A year after that, right after his master's graduation at Stanford University, he was hired by SpaceX as a propulsion development engineer. Throughout his stay in SpaceX, he has attained several positions within the institution. Dunn worked in Space X for a total of 12 years and has ranked up since then.Before his departure from SpaceX, he was the senior vice president of production and launch for SpaceX. Read Also: 7th Amazon Worker Dies of COVID-19 while CEO Jeff Bezos Keeps Silent About the Health Status of Employees A New Era for Zachary Dunn Tim Ellis, Relativity Space's chief executive, hired Dunn because of his expertise in rocket development. He stated in an interview that what stuck out to him was that Dunn has the knowledge, wisdom, and experience to resolve any engineering issues when it comes to rocket development. Ellis said that creating an efficient production system and maintaining a factory's efficiency in creating launch vehicles such as rockets is crucial in launching Relativity Space's first-ever rocket. Dunn is the best asset he could find for Relativity Space's main goal right now. Due to the COVID-19, precautionary measures have been established in the premises of Relativity Space. Relativity Space only allows one person to regularly facilitate the 3D printers that are at work in the factory. The rest of the company's workers and staff are working at home. Despite the health crisis, Relativity Space continues to operate from the comforts of each employee's home. As the pandemic continues, Relativity Space is devising new ways in maintaining the work to be done in their factories and offices while still practicing precautionary measures to maintain the safe working environment for its workers and staff. A tweet by Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder, was sent out to Eric Berger, confirming Zachary Dunn's departure from SpaceX. Elon Musk mentioned that Zachary Dunn was one of the people that made significant contributions to the productions of SpaceX and is a dear friend to him. Musk is aware of his departure from Space X and wishes him well for his new venture with Relativity Space. Read Also: Tesla Still Illegally Operates and Elon Musk Gets Away with It: Alleged "Intimidation Tactics" Used to Force Employees to Work Despite Coronavirus Gregory Tyree Boyce, an actor that is best known for his work as Tyler Crowley in the first Twilight movie from the Twilight Saga, has recently died. The couple from Las Vegas, Nevada was found dead on May 13, 2020. Boyce's girlfriend, Natalie Adepoju, was also pronounced dead in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 13, 2020 by a Clark County medical examiner. The couple was found dead in their condo in Las Vegas on May 13, 2020. They were 30 and 27 years old, respectively. Moreover, the couple leaves behind Boyce's 10-year-old daughter Alaya and Adepoju's son Egypt. The Dream Business Venture Before the couple's demise on May 13, 2020, the couple and Adepoju's son, Egypt, were busy conceptualizing and materializing a dream business venture of Boyce's. Unfortunately, the business was not able to flourish and enact its purpose due to the couple's demise. Lisa Wayne, the Twilight star's mother, however, mentioned in a Facebook post the concept of Boyce's business: a wing business. This was expressed through her parting message to Boyce. Lisa Wayne also mentioned the people Boyce collaborated with that would help him in this dream business venture of his and thanked them for believing in the capabilities of her son so much as to agree in collaborating with him. As mentioned in Lisa Wayne's Facebook post, the people are Louis D. Ledbetter, Boyce's co-chef, and Adrian McDaniel, Boyce's business/financial manager. West Wing is the name of the supposed wing business of Boyce. According to E! News, a source told them that Gregory Tyree Boyce was focusing on both his business venture and his acting career. It was also revealed by the source that Boyce was going back and forth from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to help his mother in the former and to acquire acting jobs and see his daughter in the latter. A week before Boyce's demise, Lisa Wayne was together with Boyce in his house for Mother's Day. This get-together was the last time they saw each other. Read Also: New Percy Jackson Series Could Come Without Logan Lerman: Rick Riordan Reveals Work with Disney Plus The Concerned Fundraiser GoFundMe is a worldwide fundraising platform that was made to aid in charitable causes. It was launched in 2010 and has offices based in the U.S., Ireland, and Australia. Its mission is to help people in their fundraising ventures for both personal and business causes that were made to be charitable. A fundraiser for Gregory Tyree Boyce's girlfriend, Natalie Adepoju, is being organized by Mariah Megginson. A public letter can be found on the fundraising page for Adepoju. Written there is a wish for anyone concerned to not ask for a disclosure of the cause of death of Adepoju. The family hopes everyone concerned will understand their need for privacy in this tragic time. A goal of $15,000 was set for the fundraising for the final goodbye for Natalie Adepoju. The funeral arrangement of the limiting of people will be observed as to respect the precautionary measures that were set up by the government because of the COVID-19. The Twilight star Gregory Tyree Boyce and his girlfriend, Natalie Adepoju, will be having their funerals in the coming days in Las Vegas, Nevada. Read Also: American Idol 2020 Winner: Is Just Sam Deserving? Social Media Backlash Says Arthur Gunn Should Have Won EasyJet Plc said email addresses and travel data of about nine million customers were taken by hackers in one of the biggest data breaches to hit the airline industry. The intruders also accessed credit card details for 2,208 customers in the highly sophisticated attack, EasyJet said Tuesday in a statement. The airline said its closed off the unauthorized access, notified those whose credit card information was exposed and will contact the rest of the customers over the next few days. Cyber-attacks against businesses and their employees have surged this year as hackers take advantage of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. While the EasyJet breach was discovered in late January, predating the diseases flare-up across Europe, the company is alerting those whose exposure was limited to email and travel details to guard against a rising number of so-called phishing attempts, a person familiar with the situation said. Airlines have had several high-profile breaches in recent years. In 2018, Hong Kongs Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. disclosed that hackers accessed information on 9.4 million customers, making it the worlds biggest airline data breach at the time. That same year, hundreds of thousands of British Airways and Delta Air Lines Inc. customers had their information hacked. The EasyJet breach comes at a time of unprecedented challenge for airline operators, said James Castro-Edwards, a partner at law firm Wedlake Bell. The potential consequences of enforcement action and any ensuing group litigation could be catastrophic, he added. The U.K. fined British Airways, a unit of IAG SA, 183.4 million pounds ($224 million U.S.) over the hacking incidents, marking the first major British application of far-reaching European Union rules requiring companies to tighten anti-hacking measures. Under the EUs General Data Protection Regulation, companies can be penalized by as much as four per cent of their global annual revenue, depending on the nature of the incident. For EasyJet, that would be as much as 255 million pounds ($312 million U.S.) if the higher maximum penalty were imposed by the U.K. Information Commissioners Office. The ICO would investigate and take robust action where necessary, the agency said in the statement. The Luton, England-based carrier reported the breach in January and has been working alongside the ICO and the U.K.s National Cyber Security Centre, said the person, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential investigation. So far there is no indication that credit card information had been misused, the person said. Passengers whose credit card details were stolen were informed in April and offered 12 months of free credit monitoring, according to an email sent to customers and seen by Bloomberg. An influx of employees working from home has opened up new network vulnerabilities for many companies, and phishing emails purporting to be from trusted health agencies prey on employees looking for information. Under GDPR, companies have an obligation to report personal data breaches to authorities within 72 hours where feasible. According to the regulation, companies must as soon as possible also alert individuals whose data has been compromised in cases where the breach poses a high risk to rights and freedoms. While the U.K. has left the EU, GDPR rules would likely still apply, given the transition period under way and the low-cost carriers sizable business with countries and customers that remain within the bloc. The NCSC confirmed it was working with EasyJet to investigate the hack. It recommended anyone with accounts that could have been compromised change passwords and be especially vigilant against any unusual activity in their bank accounts or suspicious phone calls and emails asking them for further information. Reuters reported earlier that the hackers were suspected to be Chinese and thought to be involved in similar attacks on other airline websites, citing people familiar with the investigation. EasyJet and the ICO declined to comment on the report. COVID-19 has already forced EasyJet to ground planes and created the opening for a revolt by its founder and biggest shareholder, Stelios Haji-Ioannou. The International Air Transport Association estimates European carriers face a revenue loss of $89 billion in 2020. EasyJet on May 22 will hold a shareholder meeting called by Haji-Ioannou, who wants to remove four directors including Chairman John Barton, Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren and Chief Financial Officer Andrew Findlay. Hes seeking to halt the carriers continued expansion plans. EasyJet shares reversed earlier gains after the hack was disclosed, closing 0.8 per cent lower at 547.20 pence in London. Could Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CFG) be an attractive dividend share to own for the long haul? Investors are often drawn to strong companies with the idea of reinvesting the dividends. Yet sometimes, investors buy a stock for its dividend and lose money because the share price falls by more than they earned in dividend payments. With a goodly-sized dividend yield despite a relatively short payment history, investors might be wondering if Citizens Financial Group is a new dividend aristocrat in the making. It sure looks interesting on these metrics - but there's always more to the story . The company also bought back stock during the year, equivalent to approximately 14% of the company's market capitalisation at the time. Remember though, given the recent drop in its share price, Citizens Financial Group's yield will look higher, even though the market may now be expecting a decline in its long-term prospects. When buying stocks for their dividends, you should always run through the checks below, to see if the dividend looks sustainable. Click the interactive chart for our full dividend analysis NYSE:CFG Historical Dividend Yield May 19th 2020 Payout ratios Dividends are usually paid out of company earnings. If a company is paying more than it earns, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. As a result, we should always investigate whether a company can afford its dividend, measured as a percentage of a company's net income after tax. Citizens Financial Group paid out 48% of its profit as dividends, over the trailing twelve month period. This is a middling range that strikes a nice balance between paying dividends to shareholders, and retaining enough earnings to invest in future growth. Plus, there is room to increase the payout ratio over time. Remember, you can always get a snapshot of Citizens Financial Group's latest financial position, by checking our visualisation of its financial health. Dividend Volatility Story continues From the perspective of an income investor who wants to earn dividends for many years, there is not much point buying a stock if its dividend is regularly cut or is not reliable. Citizens Financial Group has been paying a dividend for the past five years. During the past five-year period, the first annual payment was US$0.40 in 2015, compared to US$1.56 last year. Dividends per share have grown at approximately 31% per year over this time. We're not overly excited about the relatively short history of dividend payments, however the dividend is growing at a nice rate and we might take a closer look. Dividend Growth Potential While dividend payments have been relatively reliable, it would also be nice if earnings per share (EPS) were growing, as this is essential to maintaining the dividend's purchasing power over the long term. It's good to see Citizens Financial Group has been growing its earnings per share at 14% a year over the past five years. A company paying out less than a quarter of its earnings as dividends, and growing earnings at more than 10% per annum, looks to be right in the cusp of its growth phase. At the right price, we might be interested. Conclusion Dividend investors should always want to know if a) a company's dividends are affordable, b) if there is a track record of consistent payments, and c) if the dividend is capable of growing. Firstly, we like that Citizens Financial Group has a low and conservative payout ratio. Next, earnings growth has been good, but unfortunately the company has not been paying dividends as long as we'd like. Overall we think Citizens Financial Group is an interesting dividend stock, although it could be better. Companies possessing a stable dividend policy will likely enjoy greater investor interest than those suffering from a more inconsistent approach. However, there are other things to consider for investors when analysing stock performance. For example, we've picked out 3 warning signs for Citizens Financial Group that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. We have also put together a list of global stocks with a market capitalisation above $1bn and yielding more 3%. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. The Georgia Department of Public Health has been accused of manipulating coronavirus data to show a downward trend in cases. The agency released a graph last week which appeared to show that daily infections were declining in five of the state's hardest-hit counties between April 26 and May 9. Independent analysts, however, were quick to point out that the dates on the chart were listed out of order in a manner that misrepresented the actual trend in cases, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Experts say that there was no clear downward trend during that period - which saw Georgia become the first state to roll back lockdown restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. The health department amended the error after coming under fire on social media as state officials sought to explain it. The Georgia Department of Public Health released the graph above last week which appeared to show that daily coronavirus infections were declining in five of the state's hardest-hit counties. Analysts quickly noted that the dates were arranged out of order Critics have expressed concern that the data was deliberately portrayed in a manner that helped justify Gov Brian Kemp's move to lift the state's stay-at-home order early. Pictured: Kemp applauds healthcare workers while touring a COVID-19 testing site on Friday 'The x axis was set up that way to show descending values to more easily demonstrate peak values and counties on those dates,' Candace Broce, a spokeswoman for the governor's office tweeted. 'Our mission failed. We apologize. It is fixed.' The chart incident was one in a string of GDPH gaffes involving coronavirus data in recent weeks. Another graph on department's official page has led people to believe cases statewide were dropping dramatically, even though the lower numbers were caused by a lag in data collection. On one occasion, the department posted conflicting data about the number of deaths in the state, which has now topped 1,490. The department has also incorrectly posted at least twice that children had died in the state. Critics say that some of the reporting errors can be forgiven due to the chaos of the pandemic - but not in the case of the rearranged dates. Candace Broce, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, sought to explain the misleading chart on Twitter GDPH has since amended the Top Five Counties chart to show data in chronological order 'It's just cuckoo,' state Rep Scott Holcomb (D-Atlanta), who sent a letter outlining his concerns to the governor's office last week, told the AJC. 'I don't know how anyone can defend this graph as not being misleading. I really don't.' Holcomb said that an aide in Kemp's office told him the error was caused by a software issue - contradicting Broce's public claim that the dates out of order by design. Broce later said that the governor's office does not influence how GDPH handles its data. 'We are not selecting data and telling them how to portray it, although we do provide information about constituent complaints, check it for accuracy, and push them to provide more information if it is possible to do so,' the spokeswoman said. Some critics have expressed concern that the data was deliberately portrayed in a manner that helped justify Kemp's move to ease restrictions early. 'I have a hard time understanding how this happens without it being deliberate,' state Rep Jasmine Clark (D-Lilburn), who has a doctorate in microbiology and molecular genetics from Emory University, told the AJC. 'Literally nowhere ever in any type of statistics would that be acceptable.' Kemp faced significant backlash when he allowed non-essential businesses to reopen on April 24 and lifting the state's stay-at-home order on May 1, despite coronavirus cases still increasing. Even President Donald Trump, who has championed efforts to restart the nation's economy, said Kemp's move could be premature. Gov Kemp faced backlash after he allowed non-essential businesses to slowly reopen on April 24, despite an ongoing increase in coronavirus cases. Diners are seen at a Waffle House in Atlanta on April 27 Georgia was the first of several states reopen while case numbers were still on the rise. All but four states have now begun partially reopening with varied methods to ensure it's done safely Analysts say its still to early to measure the impact of the reopening due to lag times between infection, testing, diagnosis and potentially hospitalization and death. 'You really don't want to be using very recent data to make decisions, given those delays,' Benjamin Lopman, an infectious disease epidemiologist and an expert on using statistical analysis to address public health issues, told the AJC. As of Tuesday, more than 38,624 infections and 1,649 deaths have been reported in Georgia. The White House 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. Georgia was the first of several states to disregard that advice and reopen while case numbers were still on the rise. All but four states have now begun partially reopening with varied methods to ensure it's done safely. GALVESTON, Texas (AP) Two men were shot when a man fired into a group of people during a Texas event, a police official said. The shooting happened Saturday during Jeep Weekend on Crystal Beach in Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston County Sheriff Henry Trochesset said. It is an annual event for Jeep enthusiasts. BEACH PARTY: Crowds descend on Crystal Beach for Go Topless Jeep Weekend A group of men started fighting and it transferred over to females fighting, Trochesset said. When the women were fighting, a husky male discharged a firearm. Trochesset added that the injured men were airlifted to the University of Texas Medical Branch for surgery on Sunday. Their condition was not immediately known. No arrests were made following the shooting, but the investigation remains ongoing. Trochesset said more than a 100 people were jailed for unrelated crimes by Sunday morning. Most of the arrests were for misdemeanor crimes, including driving while intoxicated, according to police records. Crystal Beach residents started an online petition to end Jeep Weekend after 113 people were arrested last year. But the event was still promoted on some community event calendars. SHOOTING: One dead, one injured in north Houston shooting Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas General Land Office reopened beaches on May 1 after they were closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. But many Democrats and public health experts warn that reopening the state too soon could cost lives. But Republicans support opening businesses and public areas. Joey Roy and his girlfriend Aloha Flake visited Crystal Beach this past weekend. We take precautions and of course, were safe but at the same time, we gotta live, 46-year-old Roy said. This is our right. This is why we live here. This is why America is great. Investors are typically attracted to the Big Oil companies thanks to their reliable dividends and defensive characteristics. These oil and gas industry kings usually consider high payouts as sacrosanct and do their utmost to continue paying them. In fact, the oil multinationals would rather slash capital expenditures, divest assets and increase borrowing than touch their dividend policies. But this time things seem to be different as the plunge in global commodity prices is forcing them to realign their strategy. Big Oil Scrambles to Stock Up on Cash: Shell, Equinor Cut Dividend This earnings season, Norways Equinor ASA EQNR cut its dividend, becoming the first oil major to reduce payouts amid a steep oil price plunge in a bid to preserve liquidity. The state-controlled firm said it would pay a quarterly dividend of 9 cents per share compared with the 27 cents per share it paid earlier. But what caused the greatest shock among investors was the decision by Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A to cut its dividend. The supermajor, a reliable high-yield income choice till recently, slashed its quarterly dividend by two-thirds to weather the historic oil price crash and save funds. The cut, the first time since World War II, is set to deal a heavy blow to income investors who held the stock for its above-average dividend yield and the security to sustain its payout. Expectedly, the move was not taken well by investors with the companys stock tanking by nearly 18% on the announcement despite the Q1 earnings beat. Will More Oil Majors Follow? With the worlds top energy companies under heavy pressure, will more Big Oil firms follow Equinor and Shell and take their dividend down? Lets analyze three major integrated companies: ExxonMobil XOM, Chevron CVX - the only two energy stocks on the list of Dividend Aristocrats - and European biggie BP plc BP, to get a view on this. All of them said that they would keep paying shareholders a quarterly dividend. In terms of yield, BP has the clear edge. The company has a $2.52 per ADR annualized payout, which equates to a 10.4% yield. ExxonMobil has a $3.48 annual payout and a 7.5% yield, while Chevrons yearly dividend of $5.16 offers a yield of 5.4%. On paper, BPs yield looks attractive but a closer analysis would render it unsustainable at current oil prices. Story continues Going by the payout ratio, Chevron is the winner right now. Its dividend payout ratio is a conservative 73.2. For BP, the payout stands at an elevated 98.6% but ExxonMobils 148.1 is the highest payout ratio by far. With oil prices under $30, these payout ratios are likely to rise quickly in the coming years. For ExxonMobil in particular, the company is paying out much more than what it earns, putting its dividend at risk. However, a sustainable dividend is more than just yields and payouts. A company must maintain a strong balance sheet to sustain their dividends when the going gets tough. In that respect, net debt (or total debt less cash) is of paramount importance. Of the three companies, BP has the highest net debt of $51 billion, followed by Chevrons $23.9 billion and ExxonMobils $20.4 billion. In other words, ExxonMobil and Chevron have a healthier balance sheet than BP. Next, we look at gearing, or the ratio of net debt to total capital. ExxonMobil and Chevrons low net debt translates into gearing ratios of just 9.3 and 14.2, respectively - very manageable indeed. On the other hand, BP has a gearing ratio of 34.6, indicating higher risk and little room left for raising debt. Finally, we see the free cash flow (or operating cash flows minus capital expenditure) one of the key metrics in determining the companys ability to pay and grow the dividend. Chevron's free cash flow currently stands at a whopping $12.7 billion, dwarfing BPs $6.2 billion and ExxonMobils $2.5 billion. Conclusion ExxonMobil and BPs outsized payout ratios certainly raise questions about the security of their exceptional yields moving forward. BPs free cash flow is not too bad but the ratio of net debt to equity is on the higher side. While ExxonMobil has a clean balance sheet, it continues to face cash flow concerns. Meanwhile, Chevrons dividend looks the safest. The Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company maintains a decent yield and a low payout ratio of less than 75. For a company like Chevron, paying out three fourths of earnings should be sustainable. It also boasts of one of the lowest leverage ratios among energy firms and the dividend is supported by strong levels of free cash flows. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone! It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market. Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >> Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Chevron Corporation (CVX) : Free Stock Analysis Report BP plc (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A) : Free Stock Analysis Report Equinor ASA (EQNR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Beijing is planning to build the Huairou Science City into a center for the development and innovation of high-end scientific instruments, according to an announcement at a press conference on Monday. "Scientific instruments are the basis and precondition for science and innovation, and also the force to drive the progress of science and technology," said Guo Wenjie, vice director of Huairou district. The center, located in Beijing's northern Huairou district, will focus on the investment, research, and manufacturing of high-end scientific instruments, and provide services for large-scale scientific facilities located in the district. The center will facilitate the development of scientific instruments, medical instruments, and industrial instruments through cooperation with international instrument companies, universities, and research institutions. Beijing Huairou Instrument and Sensor Corporation, and an industrial research institute of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences were established on Monday. Beijing Huairou Instrument and Sensor Corporation will focus on industrial development and clustering, core technology research, technology incubation, technology commercialization, industrial M&A, policy services, financial services, and technical services. The institute will build a comprehensive innovation and startup platform for scientific and technological innovation, enterprise incubation, industrial fostering, professional training, and consultation. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yunindita Prasidya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 07:12 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8e5c62 1 Business kalbe-farma,digital-platform,COVID-19,profit,dividend Free PT Kalbe Farma is bracing for the impact of COVID-19 on its business in the second quarter and hoping to cushion the blow through cashflow management and by making better use of digital channels. Kalbe Farma president director Vidjongtius said that, while the COVID-19 impact was not apparent in the first quarter, it would be more significant in the second quarter with an expected decline in the number of patient visits and limited consumer mobility. We will take greater advantage of digital platforms as an alternative for our stay-at-home consumers, the president director said on Monday. The publicly listed company has several digital channels, including klikdokter.com, a website that currently also provides services related to COVID-19, such as rapid test arrangement for consumers at risk in hospitals cooperating with Kalbe Farma. The service is currently available in Greater Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java. Meanwhile, through its subsidiary PT Enseval Putera Megatrading, Kalbe also runs digital health distribution services through the EMOS and MOSHEALTH platform, for both businesses and customers to ease the process of ordering pharmaceutical and other health products. We see the utilization of the existing platforms as a very good option, Vidjongtius added. Meanwhile, Kalbe Farma has decided to slash dividends on last years profit to build up the retained capital to wither the COVID-19 impact. Kalbe Farma will only pay out Rp 937.5 billion (US$62.97 million) in dividends to its shareholders, lower than the initial projection of Rp 1.13 trillion to Rp 1.26 trillion. The dividends are around 37 percent of the companys 2019 profit of Rp 2.5 trillion, lower than Kalbe Farmas average dividend ratio of 45 to 50 percent over the years. We are taking the initiative to increase the companys cash flow reserve for the year 2020, so that we can weather the impacts of COVID-19 well, Vidjongtius said. Furthermore, to boost its business, the company also plans to increase the production of a number of highly sought items during the pandemic, including vitamin supplements, jamu (traditional herbal medicine) and health equipment such as masks and protective coveralls. The company booked around 8 percent year-on-year (yoy) growth in net sales at Rp 5.8 trillion in the first quarter, while its net profit grew by 12.47 percent yoy to Rp 669.27 billion in the first three months. In the wake of the pandemic-related disruption of pharmaceutical supply chains, the company also plans to get more involved in the provision of raw materials for the industry as the country seeks to reduce its dependency on imported products. The company is said to collaborate with its longtime partner from South Korea, Genexine Inc., to develop raw materials for biotechnology-based medicines with a future potential of those products turning into export goods, according to Vidjongtius. While refraining from stating company targets for 2020, Vidjongtius expressed optimism about the growth of the pharmaceutical industry as public awareness of health has increased significantly, at every level, in every region due to the pandemic. We have lowered our forecast on KLBFs [Kalbe Farma] operating costs as we believe KLBF will keep increasing its efficiency at the operating level to support its net profit, Mirae Asset Sekuritas Indonesia analyst Mimi Halimin wrote in a research note. The note also highlighted that the companys net profit was forecast at Rp 2.7 trillion this year, a 5.7 percent increase yoy, in line with the managements target of 5 to 6 percent growth. The company, which is traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) under the stock symbol KLBF, unchanged on Monday. The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) climbed up 0.08 percent. Decrease Font Size Font Size Increase Font Size Article body Three Auburn University research projects have received a combined $1.31 million award, through a new program administered by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, or ADECA. Gov. Kay Ivey announced the grants this week through the new Alabama Research and Development Enhancement Fund. The state-funded program was created in 2019 under the Alabama Innovation Act. The multidisciplinary projects are funded as follows: $245,865 to develop an advanced biosensor using forest and agricultural products that will have a wide variety of uses dealing with contaminant detection, like determining if pesticides are present in water. The project is conducted by Samuel Ginn College of Engineering faculty members Virginia Davis, Alumni Professor, and Robert Ashurst, the Uthlaut Family Associate Professor from the Department of Chemical Engineering; and Soledad Peresin, an assistant professor of forest biomaterials in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. $868,145 to develop a lightweight material that blocks mosquito bites while retaining coolness in hot weather. The research is being done by John Beckmann, an assistant professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology in the College of Agriculture. $193,960 to develop a filtering process to remove perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances from water and landfill runoff. The manmade substances are used in food packaging, stain repellants, cookware and firefighting foam and do not readily break down. The investigator for this project is Dongye Zhao, the Auburn Alumni Engineering Council Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering. This fund will enable our universities, hospitals, research institutions and others to develop and bring to fruition ideas that will improve lives and create jobs, Ivey said about the grant program in the announcement. I am tremendously encouraged by this program and its potential in Alabama. Jan Thornton, executive director of Auburns Office of Innovation Advancement and Commercialization, or IAC, said the ADECA grants are now an annual funding opportunity for researchers, with proposal submissions for the next award cycle currently open through July 29. Faculty who wish to learn more and want to ensure that their research is protected as technology that might be potentially commercialized should contact the IAC by visiting iac.auburn.edu. A former Conservative Party leader has called on the Prime Minister to reconsider the two-metre social distancing rule to 'get the economy moving'. Iain Duncan Smith said the UK is the 'only country in Europe' using the two metre distance, with Germany, Poland and the Netherlands using 1.5 metres. Relaxing the strict social distancing rules, as suggested by Sir Iain, would allow businesses in hard-hit industries such as hospitality to start making money and aid the country's economic recovery. If the guidelines were relaxed, it would allow pubs, restaurants and hotels to welcome more people into their venues than what would be permitted under current social distancing guidance. Tables could be moved closer together in restaurants, pubs could allow more people at the bar and hotels would be able to increase the numbers of visitors, all helping to drive profits and kick start their businesses. Currently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends at least one metre, which is the rule followed in Austria, Finland, Sweden and Norway. Despite Sir Iain's claim, a number of other countries' are currently using the two metre rule such as Switzerland, Spain, Italy, the United States and Republic of Ireland. The former Cabinet minister's call for action on the economy comes after figures today revealed the number of people claiming benefits has soared by a record 856,500 to 2.1million in the first full month of the coronavirus lockdown. ITALY: People sit at a cafe in Milan, Italy. On Monday, Italians enjoyed a day of regained freedoms, including being able to sit down at a cafe or restaurant, shop in retail stores or attend church services as long as they are two metres apart SPAIN: Customers sit at outdoor tables at La Malvarrosa beach in Valencia on Monday, as cafes and restaurants re-open in much of Spain as long as people stay two metres apart SWEDEN: People queue to buy ice-cream as they enjoy the hot spring weather in April while ensuring they remain one metre apart as per social distancing rules in the country The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that claims under Universal Credit sky-rocketed by 69 per cent in April, as the country begins easing out of the draconian lockdown measures imposed in late-March. On its website the WHO says it recommends the one-metre distance because 'when someone coughs, sneezes, or speaks they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. ' What is the science behind two-metre social distancing rule? The fact of the matter is there is a wide-ranging number of recommendations on social distancing that differ from country to country. The World Health Organisation recommends one metre distance. The reason for this as stated on its website is that: 'When someone coughs, sneezes, or speaks they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person has the disease.' But other countries have taken advice from their own health experts and social distancing varies from two metres (in the UK) down to one metre (in France) The two metre rule can be traced back to research in the 1930s that showed droplets of liquid from coughs or sneezes would land within a one-two metre range, as reported by the BBC. Iain Duncan Smith is not the first to criticise the UK's adopting of the two metre rule, out of line with many other European countries. Robert Dingwall, from the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), previously said in April the rule was 'conjured up out of nowhere'. Mr Dingwall told Radio 4's Today: 'We cannot sustain [social distancing measures] without causing serious damage to society, to the economy and to the physical and mental health of the population. 'I think it will be much harder to get compliance with some of the measures that really do not have an evidence base. I mean the two-metre rule was conjured up out of nowhere.' Social distancing varies between different countries: TWO METRES: UK, Switzerland, US, Spain, Italy 1.5 METRES: Germany, Poland, Netherlands ONE METRE: Austria, Norway, Sweden, Finland Advertisement In the UK the enforcement of the two metre rule can be traced back to research in the 1930s that showed droplets of liquid from coughs or sneezes would land within a one-two metre range, as reported by the BBC. Sir Patrick Vallance previously told the Health and Social Care Committee that one metre social distancing is 'up to 30 times' risker than two metres. Iain Duncan Smith told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that unemployment depends 'first and foremost (on) how quickly are we able to get the economy moving'? He said: 'We need to get that moving as quick as possible and I've certainly been arguing that for some weeks now.' It comes after another tumultuous day in the coronavirus crisis: More than 44,000 people have now been killed by COVID-19 in the UK, devastating statistics confirmed today. And more than 11,000 victims were care home residents in England and Wales; UK unemployment claims soared by more than 69 per cent in April after the coronavirus lockdown gripped the labour market, official figures revealed; Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has called on Boris Johnson to start getting the economy working again and to reconsider the two-metre social distancing rule; US President Donald Trump's has been criticised for revealing he is taking a malaria drug to protect against coronavirus; Large businesses will now be able to receive up to 200 million from the government's loan scheme, which previously had a maximum pay-out of 50 million; Fresh questions have been raised about whether the government's track and trace system will be in place for June after the NHSX app was delayed, and less than a quarter of IT experts think it will be effective; Current government guidance stipulates that you be be two metres apart from anyone not in your household. But the distance differs from advice given by the World Health Organisation. The guidance on the website says: 'Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and others. ' The reason for this as stated on its website is that: 'When someone coughs, sneezes, or speaks they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. 'If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person has the disease.' Sir Iain added 'we're the only country certainly in Europe that I know of' that uses the two-metre rule. 'I think when it comes to the hospitality sector, I think we do need to look at it very carefully,' he said. 'So we do need to look at how they manage that process and give them some flexibility.' GERMANY: Guests sit outside an open coffee shop 1.5 metres apart in Berlin today. Restaurants in the city have been allowed to reopen since May 15 DENMARK: Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visits Cafe Jens Otto in Randers, eastern Denmark on Monday with social distancing in place FRANCE: In the country the easing of lockdown measures has meant a number of businesses have been able to trade despite strict social distancing remaining in place. French hairdresser Marc Mauny tends to his first customer during the re-opening of Marc Creations hair salon at midnight in Mayenne, France last week SWITZERLAND: Locals and tourists alike enjoy the sunny weather on the shores of Lake Maggiore in Ascona, Switzerland, with social distancing in place FINLAND: A trader sells beer to a customer from a mobile van in Espoo, Finland, while sticking to social distancing rules of one metre POLAND - MAY 18: People enjoy a drink as tables are arranged according to social distance rules in the garden of Charlotte bar on Monday AUSTRIA: Guests sitting at a social distance and being served as a restaurant in Vienna today UK: Shoppers queue using social distancing rules outside a Gateshead Tesco in April It comes after yet further dire economic data last week that the economy contracted by 2 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 after plunging 5.8% in March - the largest fall on record - as analysts expect far worse to come. The first quarter fall was the worst since the end of 2008 at the height of the financial crisis, while the March monthly drop marked a record tumble. The latest figures - from the Office of National Statistics - show the first direct effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the UK economy after the country was placed in lockdown to control the spread of the virus. A long queue maintaining social distancing outside a Tesco supermarket in north London But with the lockdown only coming into place on March 23, the second quarter will show the full hit on the economy after the UK ground to a standstill. The shocking figures come just a day after Chancellor Rishi Sunak extended the job subsidy scheme until the end of October as he conceded yesterday that the UK is already in recession. Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), told BBC's Today programme there could be worse to come in the second quarter. He said: 'The Bank of England have put out a scenario saying perhaps there might be a 25% fall in GDP in the second quarter, that would be nine or TEN times the record level of fall we've seen. 'In terms of scale, in terms of speed, this is really, really unprecedented.' A NURSE who began work in a Dublin hospital two weeks ago was not tested for coronavirus before starting the job and now has the virus the Dail has been told. People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett raised the case as he expressed concern at what he claimed was a "much higher" rate of infection among Irish health workers than other countries. Earlier Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan had told the Dail's Special Committee on Covid Response that health workers make up 31.5pc of coronavirus cases. He said health staff are being prioritised for testing. Read More He admitted the infection rates among staff is a "challenge" and it "reflects the fact that healthcare workers are on the front line". Mr Boyd Barrett raised the case of an agency nurse recruited by a Dublin hospital two weeks ago who has now tested positive in the last couple of days. He said the nurse was never tested before starting the job at the hospital where there is vulnerable people. He asked "how on earth" that situation could arise and if the advice given to the National Health Emergency Team on infections among staff will be published. Mr Holohan said he would be willing to publish the advice offered by an expert group on the issue. He said new guidance on the matter has been issued by the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) today. Mr Holohan said he can't provide an answer on the specifics of an individual nurse. He insisted there has been a "significant programme" of testing of staff in all healthcare settings. He said that the NPHET would have been discussing the issue today if it had been meeting as it usually does on a Tuesday. The group is to consider the categories of people to be prioritised as testing capacity expands. Mr Holohan confirmed that the HSE has the capacity to test 100,000 people per week. Social Democrats TD Roisin Shortall asked about the "disconnect" between the 3,000 tests being carried out per day and the 15,000 capacity that is now in place. He said that tests are not being carried out at a scale of 15,000-a-day adding that the NPHET wants to discussed who should be prioritised for testing. Mr Holohan said results of the tests being conducted are coming back with a 3pc infection rate. He said that confirmed contacts of individuals who have fallen ill are now automatically being tested. Mr Holohan said he expects this to "add significantly to understanding of community transmission" of the disease. Advertisement Retailers in Beverly Hills resumed business and luxury fashion brands reopened their doors for curbside pickup orders along Rodeo Drive after stores closed for nearly two months amid the coronavirus pandemic. Rodeo Drive on Tuesday was still quiet as Californians adjusted to Stage Two of the state's reopening, but some locals ventured from their homes for retail therapy in the famed shopping district. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that retailers and clothing stores could start up again with some restrictions on May 13. Stores must remain closed for in-person shopping, but deliveries, curbside and door-side pickups were allowed. 'Its exciting,' Beverly Hills marketing and economic sustainability manager Laura Biery told the Beverly Hills Courier. 'To really see that retail appetite come back, that ability to pick it up same day is really exciting. That is a welcome site.' Shoppers descended onto Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California, on Tuesday after the Los Angeles started Stage Two of reopening and allowed retailers to partially open Pictured: Delicia Cordon waits to pick up a purchase at Gucci on Rodeo Drive on Tuesday as retailers were given OK to reopen by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti In accordance to lockdown orders, high-end fashion stores along Rodeo Drive are only allowed to perform deliveries, as well as curbside and door side pickups amid the pandemic Pictured: A woman wearing a face mask cleans the front windows of a Gucci store on Rodeo Drive on Tuesday as the store begins curbside pickup orders Staff were seen wiping down store fronts as retail stores in Beverly Hills started to partially reopen Photos showed customers window shopping along the sidewalks of Rodeo Drive and one women picked up a curbside order from Gucci. Staff were seen wiping down store fronts as stores in Beverly Hills started to reopen. 'Were doing what we can, but at the same time were staying safe,' said Nicola Cagliata, the Rodeo Drive committee president and regional manager for Jaeger Le Coultre. 'Were definitely moving in the right direction. Theres a lot of excitement. A lot of the stores are organizing. Clients are calling in orders and preparing to pick-up.' Pictured: Dulce Gonzalez cleans the front window of Dolce & Gabbana on Rodeo Drive as businesses in Beverly Hills begin to partially reopen A couple wearing face masks pass empty display cases at a David Yurman store on Rodeo Drive Tuesday Rodeo Drive's revitalization came just in time for Mother's Day last week said Thyme owner Nancy Ohanessian, who added that the store's telephone was ringing nonstop with shoppers calling in orders for delivery or curbside pickup just hours after they opened. 'We love it. Were finally out of the house, she told the Courier. The phones are off the hook and we cant even answer them fast enough,' said Ohanessian. Outside of Saks Fifth Avenue, customers drove to the valet entrance of the store to met staffers wearing face masks and offering hand sanitizer, WWD reports. Staffers had inventory-tracking iPads and fetched items from inside the store for waiting shoppers. But not everyone finds curbside pickup a useful alternative to in-person shopping. 'Its useless. Curbside pick-up is the same things as online ordering,' said Harry Harris Shoes owner Andy Harris. 'The optics of curbside service for the essence of a symbolic gesture doesnt do any good.' As Rodeo Drive comes back to life after the shutdown, stores are trying to figure out the most efficient and safe way to eventually open businesses at full capacity Pictured: A woman wearing a face mask cleans a display case at Cartier on Rodeo Drive during the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday Pictured: A woman walks wearing a mask on Rodeo Drive as Los Angeles County takes its first steps to resuming businesses and restarting the economy Retailers in Rodeo Drive need should take this opportunity to change things up, according to Kathy Gohari, general manager of Valentino and past president of the Rodeo Drive Committee. 'I think this is a great time for brands to find ways to recreate themselves,' said Gohari, who's worked at Valentino for 18 years. 'I think what it gives us, is an opportunity to learn from these past couple of months and be able to do things better. It allows us all to be more creative and think outside of the box.' She explained that much of the retail industry revolved around relationships. 'Believe it or not, I think with a certain group, [our relationships have] gotten stronger. We check on each other,' said Gohari. 'Its almost like a family member where we care about each other and we check on each other and if we dont hear from each other we get concerned.' But Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce CEO Todd Johnson said that the reopening, even if limited by lockdown orders, was a step in the right direction. 'The Chamber welcomes a limited reopening of some businesses in Los Angeles County and Beverly Hills in particular,' he said. 'We are looking forward to working with the business community during this process and into the future stages of recovery from this crisis.' Retailers in Beverly Hills and other locations are reaching out to state officials on how to safely reopen sores and follow the mandated guidelines. 'Our business community wants to reopen, but they want to reopen safely,' Laura Biery, Marketing and Economic Sustainability Manager, told Beverly Hills Courier. Los Angeles County is still under lockdown orders and an official end date has not been revealed. California has more than 83,700 confirmed coronavirus cases and 3,400 deaths. Editor's note, August 28: An update to this news item has been provided at the bottom of the story. The first Canadian clinical trials for a potential COVID-19 vaccine will be led by researchers at Dalhousie University, with testing set to begin as early as the next few weeks. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Saturday that the Canadian Center for Vaccinology a centre based at Dalhousie, the IWK Health Centre and Nova Scotia Health Authority will lead the trials after receiving approval by Health Canada. They are still awaiting ethics board approval, which they hope to receive within a few weeks. Dr. Scott Halperin, the centres director, says he and his team will continue work started by their partners at the Chinese manufacturer CanSino Biologics, which has already begun human vaccine trials in China. We will be doing a Phase I/II clinical trial to first assess the safety and tolerability of the vaccine, secondly the immune response to the vaccine, first in younger adults and then older adults, says Dr. Halperin (pictured), who is also a professor of Pediatrics, and Microbiology & Immunology at Dal. We want to make sure that the vaccine is safe first in younger individuals before we go into people who may be at higher risk. The initial tests can be quite intensive in terms of monitoring and will involve healthy people between the age of 18 and 55, while the second group will include people from 65-85 years old. Dr. Halperin says Phase I will involve under 100 participants in Halifax, while the subsequent stage will involve close to 500 people in other Canadian Immunization Research Network, or CIRN, clinical trial sites across Canada. The vaccine will then undergo Phase III studies, which are designed to see if the vaccine works. In that stage, people are given either the vaccine or a placebo and then one waits to see who gets infected during the normal course of exposure to the virus in their lives, says Dr. Halperin. It is hoped that that could begin as early as this fall. Pivotal work The team at Dalhousie, which includes research assistants, data managers, lab personnel, nurses and physician investigators, is following up the work by CanSino, which started Phase I studies mid-April and Phase II in early May. Dr. Halperin used early data from those studies to support the application for a clinical trial in Canada. The Canadian Phase I study will further expand the information about this vaccine. We are so proud to have the first clinical trial for a potential COVID-19 vaccine taking place through Dalhousie Universitys Canadian Center for Vaccinology, says Alice Aiken, vice-president research and innovation at Dalhousie. It is a pivotal time for research and innovation in Canada, and the results from this trial could yield real and life-changing impacts that will be felt worldwide. CIRN was started with funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada to ensure Canada had the capacity to respond to outbreaks, emerging infectious diseases and pandemics. It was originally created to address the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 and also played a critical role in the vaccine response to Ebola. It's what we were designed to do and it demonstrates good foresight by the Government of Canada to support this infrastructure so it is available when needed, says Dr. Halperin. Its possible that the federal government could sanction an expedited emergency release of a potential COVID-19 vaccine if it is seen to be working and is deemed safe, thereby shortening the usual process that can take years. That was done with the Ebola vaccine in west Africa before trials had been completed. "Research and development take time and must be done right. But this is encouraging news," Prime Minister Trudeau said Saturday. Testing the vaccine The National Research Council, or NRC, will work with the manufacturers so the vaccine can be produced and distributed "here at home," if it proves successful. The vaccine Ad5-nCoV is essentially a genetically modified adenovirus, carrying a spike protein specific to COVID-19 to help the human body prepare to identify and destroy the virus, according to the NRC. It says the Chinese company developed it using the HEK293 cell line an NRC cell line licensed to it by Canada for the development of a Chinese vaccine against Ebola. Dr. Halperin says the intellectual property rights for the vaccine will stay in Chinese hands, but the NRCs involvement would help ensure Canada gets its guaranteed domestic supply. DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. has told the White House that it requires everyone in its factories to wear face masks to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, but it's not clear whether President Donald Trump will wear one when he visits a Detroit-area plant Thursday. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/5/2020 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. President Donald Trump arrives to speak during a visit to Capitol Hill to meet with Republican lawmakers, Tuesday, May 19, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) DETROIT - Ford Motor Co. has told the White House that it requires everyone in its factories to wear face masks to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, but it's not clear whether President Donald Trump will wear one when he visits a Detroit-area plant Thursday. Trump, who is scheduled to tour a factory repurposed to make medical breathing machines near Detroit, has habitually refused to wear a mask at the White House and in recent public appearances. In a statement, Ford said its policy requires everyone in factories to wear personal protective equipment, including masks, and that policy had been shared with the White House. When asked if the company would require Trump to wear the equipment, spokeswoman Rachel McCleery said, The White House has its own safety and testing policies in place and will make its own determination. Trump didn't give a definite answer when questioned at the White House Tuesday, saying it would depend on how close he gets to others. In certain areas, I would. In certain areas, I dont. But I will certainly look at it. It depends on what situation. Am I standing right next to everybody or am I spread out?" he said. "Where its appropriate, I would do it certainly. Not wearing a mask and even making the visit itself could violate coronavirus restrictions ordered by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has been at odds with Trump and targeted by the president on Twitter. In a May 7 order to let manufacturing fully restart last week, Whitmer required factories to suspend all non-essential in-person visits, including tours. Her stay-at-home restrictions also require people to wear a mask in any enclosed public space such as grocery stores, though it was not immediately clear if that rule extends to less public-facing operations like factories. It appeared very unlikely the state would enforce the order against Trump. While the presidents visit is contrary to the governors order, this is an opportunity to showcase how important Michigan is to the response to COVID-19 and rebuilding our nations economy, said Whitmer spokesman Zack Pohl. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. The governor does expect Ford and the president to comply with workplace safety requirements, including the use of masks, he said. The United Auto Workers union, which represents 55,000 Ford U.S. factory workers, said Trump should be required to wear a mask while visiting the ventilator and auto parts factory in Ypsilanti Township. The position of the union is that out of respect for the clean, sterile environment, anybody who enters into that plant needs to follow protocols, spokesman Brian Rothenberg said. Trump has continually refused to wear a mask at the White House, and during two recent business tours. He didn't wear one on a May 14 visit to Owens and Minor Inc., a medical equipment distributor in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Nor did he put one on while touring a Honeywell mask factory in Arizona on May 5, ignoring guidelines. He did wear safety goggles, and said later that he had briefly donned a mask backstage. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Americans should wear cloth face coverings in public in situations where social distancing is difficult to prevent unknowingly spreading the virus. Trump is tested daily for the virus; the White House says he is negative. ____ Eggert reported from Lansing, Michigan. Aamer Madhani contributed from Washington, D.C. [May 19, 2020] ProcessUnity Introduces Vendor Intelligence Suite, Launches Vendor Cyber Intelligence with BitSight to Enhance Third-Party Risk Management Programs CONCORD, Mass., May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProcessUnity, a leading provider of cloud-based applications for risk and compliance management, today extended its Vendor Risk Management automation platform with new capabilities to incorporate industry risk intelligence into third-party risk processes. The ProcessUnity Vendor Intelligence Suite uses program automation to seamlessly integrate cyber ratings, financial health data, watchlist ratings and more into ProcessUnity Vendor Risk Management to provide organizations with a comprehensive view into the health of their vendor ecosystem. The ProcessUnity Vendor Intelligence Suite accelerates the utilization of AI and robust, aggregated content into third-party risk management programs, allowing executives to gain near real-time understanding of what their vendors are doing at any given moment, said Todd Boehler, Senior Vice President of Strategy, ProcessUnity. Stakeholders can accelerate their risk-based decision making without spending a fortune on technology and consulting. Other technologies are either too rigid, too expensive, or produce too many false positives to provide value in the short and long term. ProcessUnity provides seamless program automation that helps ensure vendors are being monitoring appropriately and effectively, providing that much-needed peace of mind for third-party risk managers. ProcessUnity Vendor Cyber Intelligence (VCI) with BitSight, the Standard in Security Ratings, is the first of the ProcessUnity Vendor Intelligence Suite, integrating BitSights leading cybersecurity ratings with ProcessUnitys vendor risk platform. Part virtual analyst, part system watchdog, VCI with BitSight assists third-party risk teams with both pre-and post-contract vendor due diligence. During vendor onboarding and throughout the vendor relationship, BitSight security ratings combined with the ProcessUnity assessment engine provide continuous insight into the validity of the vendors cybersecurity posture and overall risk to the business. ProcessUnity Vendor Cyber Intelligence with BitSight gives third-party risk managers continuous visibility into the cyber security performance of their vendors within their overall vendor risk management program, said Dave Fachetti, Executive Vice President of Strategy at BitSight. This new offering provides critical insights into a third partys cybersecurity posture, enabling risk professionals to make faster and more informed risk decisions. Vendor Cyber Intelligence with BitSight includes the following components: Onboarding Third-party managers will be more informed of cybersecurity ratings during the onboarding process, providing a more comprehensive view into the third partys security posture and reducing onboarding time through due diligence integration. Third-party managers will be more informed of cybersecurity ratings during the onboarding process, providing a more comprehensive view into the third partys security posture and reducing onboarding time through due diligence integration. Assessment Over 350 risk vector mappings to 80+ SIG questions delivers posture analysis on a per-question basis, reducing analyst review time and providing more informed analyst reviews. Ratings also offer validation and high-quality data for analysis to aid in key decision-making processes. Over 350 risk vector mappings to 80+ SIG questions delivers posture analysis on a per-question basis, reducing analyst review time and providing more informed analyst reviews. Ratings also offer validation and high-quality data for analysis to aid in key decision-making processes. Issue Management Real-time updates for proactive risk management reduces the time third-party risk managers take in tracking and remediating issues in ongoing monitoring. Real-time updates for proactive risk management reduces the time third-party risk managers take in tracking and remediating issues in ongoing monitoring. Continuous Monitoring The system actively monitors cybersecurity ratings and notifies risk teams when a score drops below a certain threshold, providing a real-time view into the cyber posture of a vendor. ProcessUnity and BitSight collectively help organizations effectively and efficiently identify and remediate the risks posed by third-party service providers through ProcessUnity Vendor Risk Management and the BitSight Security Ratings Platform. Visit https://www.processunity.com/vendor-cyber-intelligence-bitsight to learn more about the ProcessUnity Vendor Intelligence Suite and Vendor Cyber Intelligence with BitSight. About ProcessUnity ProcessUnity is a leading provider of cloud-based applications for risk and compliance management. The companys software as a service (SaaS) platform gives organizations the control to assess, measure, and mitigate risk and to ensure the optimal performance of key business processes. ProcessUnitys flagship solution, ProcessUnity Vendor Risk Management, protects companies and their brands by reducing risks from third-party vendors and suppliers. ProcessUnity helps customers effectively and efficiently assess and monitor both new and existing vendors from initial due diligence and onboarding through termination. ProcessUnity is used by the worlds leading financial service firms and commercial enterprises. The company is headquartered outside Boston, Massachusetts. For more information, visit http://www.processunity.com. About BitSight BitSight transforms how organizations manage cyber risk. The BitSight Security Ratings Platform applies sophisticated algorithms, producing daily security ratings that range from 250 to 900, to help organizations manage their own security performance; mitigate third party risk; underwrite cyber insurance policies; conduct financial diligence; and assess aggregate risk. With over 2,100 global customers and the largest ecosystem of users and information, BitSight is the Standard in Security Ratings. For more information, please visit www.bitsight.com, read our blog or follow @BitSight on Twitter. ProcessUnity Contact: Meaghan McGrath ProcessUnity, Inc. 978.364.3892 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Champignon Brands Inc. (Champignon or the Company) (CSE: SHRM) (FWB: 496) (OTCQB: SHRMF), a human optimization sciences Company with an emphasis on ketamine and psychedelic medicine, is pleased to sponsor TheraPsil, a BC-based non-profit coalition of healthcare professionals, policy-makers and community leaders (the TheraPsil Coalition) seeking legal access to psilocybin for British Columbians with a palliative diagnosis and psychological distress. Operating at highest standards of clinical competence and ethical integrity, the TheraPsil coalition is starting in 2020 with seeking legal access to psilocybin for British Columbians with a palliative diagnosis and psychological distress. Based in Victoria, British Columbia and established in 2019, TheraPsil is focused on: Compassionate Access: Establishing safe, and legal access to psychedelic-assisted therapy for those in medical need; Public Education: Increasing awareness of the merits and limitations of psychedelic-assisted therapy; Professional Training: Developing safe, simple and effective protocols for credentialed health professionals to deliver psilocybin-assisted therapy, in collaboration with other active organizations; and, Research: Facilitate research and evaluation in collaboration with Canadian and international partners. Were really happy to have this support to get the ball rolling on this project to help palliative Canadians. We are dedicated to giving those at end-of-life the treatment options they deserve - and that includes psilocybin. We believe that as a non-profit, and with the right support, we can get these patients their right to treatment with psilocybin in a timely manner, Dr. Bruce Tobin, founder of TheraPsil. Through our sponsorship, the Champignon team and board are extremely proud to begin collaborating alongside TheraPsil, helping patients in palliative care access new and effective therapies, said Pat McCutcheon, Director, Champignon. Together we will work to provide countless Canadians facing a palliative cancer diagnosis, along with their families, who also face severe psychological distress, with the treatment options, compassion and hope they deserve. For information about the TheraPsils medical team and program, visit www.therapsil.ca . About Champignon Brands Inc. Champignon Brands (CSE: SHRM) is focused on the formulation and manufacturing of novel ketamine, anaesthetics and adaptogenic delivery platforms for the nutraceutical and psychedelic medicine while being supported by a leading psychedelics medicines clinic platform. The Company is pursuing the development and commercialization of rapid onset treatments capable of improving health outcomes, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as substance and alcohol use disorders. Under a collaborative research agreement with the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine, the Company is conducting preclinical studies and eventual human clinical trials, with the objective of demonstrating safety and efficacy of the combination of psilocybin and cannabidiol in treating mTBI with PTSD or stand-alone PTSD. Champignon continues to be inspired by sustainability, as its medicinal mushroom-infused SKUs are organic, non-GMO and vegan certified. For more information, visit the Companys website at: https://champignonbrands.com/ . ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dr. Roger McIntyre Chief Executive Officer T: +1 (613) 967-9655 E: info@champignonbrands.com FOR INVESTOR INQUIRIES: Tyler Troup Circadian Group E: SHRM@champignonbrands.com FOR CHAMPIGNON BRANDS FRENCH INQUIRIES: Remy Scalabrini Maricom Inc. E: rs@maricom.ca T: (888) 585-MARI The CSE and Information Service Provider have not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release. Forward-looking Information Cautionary Statement Except for statements of historic fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to delays or uncertainties with regulatory approvals, including that of the CSE. There are uncertainties inherent in forward-looking information, including factors beyond the Companys control. There are no assurances that the business plans for Champignon Brands described in this news release will come into effect on the terms or time frame described herein. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties that could affect financial results is contained in the Companys filings with Canadian securities regulators, which are available at www.sedar.com . BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The output value of China's satellite navigation and location-based service industry reached 345 billion yuan (about 48.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, up 14.4 percent from the previous year, according to a white paper released on Monday. The output value of the industry's core sectors, which are directly related to the development and application of the satellite navigation technology, topped 116.6 billion yuan, said the white paper issued by the Global Navigation Satellite System and Location Based Service Association of China. However, the growth rate of the core output value of chip, device, algorithm, software, navigation data, terminal equipment and infrastructure sectors, was 9.1 percent, lower than that of 2018. The decline was affected by multiple factors, such as slower demand in the domestic market and tougher competition, said Yu Xiancheng, head of the association. The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) contributed more than 80 percent of the core output value, according to the white paper. In 2019, China sent nine BDS-3 satellites and one BDS-1 satellite into space through seven launches. The output value of BeiDou-related applications topped 228.4 billion yuan, up 17.3 percent year on year. The number of satellite navigation patent applications in China exceeded 74,800 last year, ranking first in the world, the white paper said. Dr K Srinath Reddy By Two years ago, the WHO chose 2020 as the Year of the Nurse, because it marks the birth bicentenary of Florence Nightingale, the globally celebrated figure associated with nursing. Her birthday (May 12) is observed every year as the World Nursing Day. But for the COVID-19 epidemic, these would have drawn attention to the critical importance of the nursing profession in ensuring a strong health system response to the varied health needs of the population. Ironic, since nurses are of even higher value to societies challenged by public health emergencies such as COVID-19. Globally, the role of the nursing profession has been redefined over the years but varies widely across countries. The nursing profession, like the medical profession, has different sub-components performing different roles. They range from auxiliary nurse midwives and public health nurses who perform many public health functions to several categories of basic and specialised clinical nursing. There are midwives who specialise in obstetric care at child birth. Across the continuum of life, from birth to death, a nurse is the constant figure who provides compassionate care. A surgeon feels helpless without a competent operation theatre nurse and an intensive care unit will collapse without skilled nurses. Despite this, nursing has not received the respect and support it deserves in many nations like India. Our aggregate national numbers are low, with respect to nurse to population ratio and nurse to doctor ratio. Salaries are low and the respect accorded to them, in hospitals or the community, falls far short of the dedicated service they provide. Nurses are not entitled to managerial positions in health systems; their teaching role is not adequately recognised. Medical interns learn many skills, from giving injections to dressing a wound from the ward nurse. Yet, we have doctors formally teaching nursing students in classrooms but never the other way around. Nursing education needs reform. More than half of nursing colleges are in the southern states. Other regions too need to invest, with the new nursing colleges attached to district hospitals. Competency- based curriculum must be devised, with emphasis on practical skills. The strange separation of nursing college faculty from clinical responsibilities in hospitals must end. Wherever possible, nursing, medical and allied health professional training must be co-located to promote inter-professional learning and team-based training. Midwifery must be promoted as a specialised discipline, without subsuming it under general nursing. Nurse Practitioner training programmes must be scaled up. Specialist nurse training programmes must be strengthened, as many areas from critical care to cardiac surgery need specific skills and knowledge-based training. Nurse anaesthetists, nurse radiographers and nurse obstetricians are now active in some countries. Mental health, geriatric nursing and palliative care will be important areas for future growth of nursing. Gender balance needs to be promoted in nursing educationwe need male nurses too! Nurses at the front lines must be given formal public health training and become technology-enabled. Chronic continuous care of diabetes, hypertension and coronary heart disease is eminently feasible in primary care settings, through the medium of technology-enabled nurses, as well demonstrated in many countries including India. Administrative and managerial positions should also open up for mid-career nurses. Sponsored education in public health-related degree and diploma programmes would prepare them for managing public health programmes at block and district level, with further opportunities ahead for state or national level leadership in policy and programme development, implementation and evaluation. Similarly, formal education in hospital management will open pathways for playing a leadership role in hospital administration. Human resource management too needs special training, as well-defined nursing cadres emerge and demand efficient and empathetic management. Lest it be forgotten, Florence Nightingale was a highly respected statistician, apart from being an inspirational leader of the nursing profession. She published statistical analyses of mortality data from the Crimean war. Her coxcomb and bats wing diagrams, plotting data from the front lines, educated the public and shook the British army brass. She even laid the ground for future development of statistics faculty at Oxford. Nurses in India too have to be trained and supported to design and conduct research, whether in clinical or public health settings. In many high income countries, well-trained nurses are actively engaged in research, not only as clinical trial managers but also as lead investigators in important projects. They win research grants and publish in prestigious scientific journals. It is time for the experiential wisdom and intellectual curiosity of nurses to traverse the path of productive research. In the Year of the Nurse, let us acknowledge the silent but stellar role played by nurses even in standing up to COVID-19. Endless work hours away from families, sometimes braving stigma from neighbours and strangers, have not given them the public appreciation they deserve. As we rebuild our health systems, let us ensure that the nursing profession attains the scale, skills, salaries and social status that will translate into greater strength and success of our health system. Dr K Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India. Views are personal(ksrinath.reddy@phfi.org) A man convicted of murdering a love rival by repeatedly stabbing him in the chest has sacked another lawyer and ranted in a Perth court, forcing his sentencing to be delayed again. Daniel James Carrington claimed during his Western Australian Supreme Court trial that he acted in self-defence against father-of-four Benjamin Egan in Northbridge in April 2017, but a jury found him guilty of murder. CCTV footage showed part of the attack, followed by Carrington leaving the Foundation Housing building, then running away. He later turned himself in to police. Carrington, who has fired multiple lawyers during the drawn-out legal process, claims he believed at the time that he was going to be harmed. Representing himself on Tuesday, Carrington became uncooperative and Justice Michael Corboy adjourned the case again until Wednesday. The Peel boards former integrity commissioner who was let go last week says she was met with repercussions by trustees. In a statement to the Star, Sandhya Kohli a lawyer and professor who serves as the integrity commissioner for several school boards said she felt it necessary to comment on recent events at the Peel District School Board. As you are aware, the service of the integrity commissioner to this board was recently terminated, she wrote. There has been extensive media coverage of PDSB, and without divulging confidentialities, the media coverage indicates the presence of controversial circumstances that inform the PDSBs actions. She said that until my contract was terminated, I served the PDSB with integrity. I fulfilled my duties under the code of conduct and bylaws at PDSB with independence and impartiality. I endeavoured to uphold the standards at the PDSB, and to assist in advancing their ethical goals. She said she acted with independence, and the highest ethical standards required of the Office of the Integrity Commissioner. Unfortunately, despite these efforts, my obligations have met with repercussions from the board of trustees. The board announced May 13 that it had ended Kohli's contract and noted that its complaint process, pertaining to the trustee code of conduct, had also been suspended a process overseen by the integrity commissioner. In a recent, scathing report by a trio of provincial reviewers, the Peel board was found to have ignored years of racism and concerns about equity, as well as growing dysfunction among trustees and with staff. In response, Education Minister Stephen Lecce issued 27 directives for the board to follow, with strict deadlines. The three-person team came in after few high-profile incidents, including one involving Trustee Will Davies, who referred to the diverse McCrimmon middle school as McCriminal, and after the senior administrator in charge of anti-discrimination filed a human rights case. Their report, completed in March, found that Black students are less likely to be enrolled in academic classes, are suspended at higher rates for transgressions such as wearing a hoodie and are discouraged from pursuing post-secondary education. They also found a lack of diversity in staff at the board, which serves Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon. Last year, Kohli found that Davies did not violate the boards code of conduct, saying he used what he considered a humourous slang term in a private conversation, and was referring to his own children who had attended the Brampton school. I find nothing immoral, unethical, nor dishonourable in this action, she wrote, saying his use of the term was not tantamount to an act of racism nor was there any evidence that he was motivated by anti-Black sentiments when he said it last June. Last week, the Peel board said it is committed to beginning a search to retain a new integrity commissioner. As this is a confidential, contractual matter, the board will not be commenting further on its decision. Reached Monday, board officials did not wish to comment further on Kohlis contract termination, saying the earlier statement stands. The board was not directed by Lecce to end the contract of the integrity commissioner. Kohli serves as integrity commissioner for the York Region and Thames Valley public boards. The Durham public board recently terminated her contract. When reached by the Star, Kohli did not wish to comment on that, but she previously told durhamregion.com that she was unable to do so because of confidentiality agreements. YEREVAN, 19 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 19 May, USD exchange rate down by 1.23 drams to 484.65 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 5.46 drams to 530.50 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.03 drams to 6.70 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 4.32 drams to 593.21 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price down by 78.75 drams to 27029.85 drams. Silver price up by 16.50 drams to 270.35 drams. Platinum price up by 686.39 drams to 12683.63 drams. One of the most frequent questions I am asked about Russian politics is what it will take for new leadership to take hold in Russia. President Vladimir Putin has been in power for 20 years, and he has proposed amendments to the Russian Constitution that would keep him there for many years still. He enjoys consistently high popularity ratings that most world leaders probably eye with envy. He has seemed to be on the brink of demise before, but has managed to navigate every challenge. Now it looks like there is no political horizon to the Putin regime. Is there anything that can stop him? Will the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic problems in Russia cause Russians to want to move in a different political direction? Lets take a look at the history of political change in Russia to see what lessons may be learned. Most people are familiar with the demise of the much-storied Romanov dynasty. Nicholas II and his family were killed in July of 1918, more than a year after the last czar had abdicated the throne. Before his abdication in March 1917, Nicholas II faced a number of crises in Russia. He was a deeply unpopular ruler. He was reviled for starting a disastrous war in Japan and for his equally disastrous leadership of the Russian military in World War I. He ruled during a time of extreme and prolonged economic hardship. He had lit the fuse of revolution years before in 1905 when hundreds of peacefully protesting laborers were shot by his guards in front of his palace, but still he stayed in power. Whats more, his grandfather, Alexander II, was assassinated by insurgents who believed that once the czar was dead, the people would automatically rise up and autocratic rule would end in Russia. But that didnt happen. The dynasty remained in place 36 years after Alexander IIs death, and through many years of extreme hardship under Nicholas II. So what finally brought an end to Romanov rule? It wasnt until the Russian Army high command joined striking workers that Nicholas II saw he was no longer protected by his inner circle. After fighting off years of public outcry for his resignation, but when he finally lost the support of his elite military guards, he knew he had to step down. It was, of course, the beginning of a new era in Russia: the age of socialism and the rise of the Soviet Union, whose eventual collapse would also be sudden and spectacular. Historians still disagree about why the Soviet Union collapsed. Many believe that economic stagnation led the people to rise up and demand Western-style economies and democratic freedoms. But Russians have suffered prolonged economic hardship and injustice throughout their history, and the Soviets were just as used to economic suffering as were the Russians under Romanov rule. The economic situation was bad in the Soviet Union, but it was not catastrophic. As such, it is not likely the unique factor that broke the Soviet Union. More plausible is the theory posed by many historians, most notably David Kotz, that the USSR collapsed only after the Communist party elites decided that they wanted to improve their own material and financial well-being and embrace Western-style free-market economies. Even the New York Times, when it reported on the collapse, contended that Gorbachevs attempts to reform the economy perished on the same shoals as all previous reforms -- the thick and privileged Communist party apparat. Fast-forward nearly 30 years, and the worldwide coronavirus pandemic is causing another economic crisis in Russia. But even this crisis isnt enough to worry Putin too much. In fact, much has been made lately of Russias lack of a financial rescue package similar to those passed in the United States and countries of Western Europe. Putin wont concern himself with economic stimulus just now. He knows no matter how much the average Russian suffers economically, he is still safe in his position. Putin doesnt have to worry until the crisis starts to hit his inner circle - in this case, Russian oligarchs. Putins relationship with Russian oligarchs is perfectly symbiotic. They cant survive without him, and Putin cant survive without them. Oligarchs got rich in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They stay rich under Putin through a system of kickbacks and governmental preferences that give them the first bite of the Russian economic apple. They have access to resources, financial credit, and government tenders that are not available to the average Russian enterprise. Furthermore, protection from the Russian government allows corrupt and fraudulent oligarchs to do business in Russia with impunity. Their companies would never survive the scrutiny that the harsh light of a free market economy would shine on them. They rely on Putin and his administration, and they most certainly do not want to do anything to undermine the ruling system in Russia. In return for his protections, oligarchs protect Putin. Its no secret that political candidates rely on the financial support of very rich people to get and stay in office. In the West, these billionaires donate large sums of money to candidates and pay to run ad campaigns to blanket the airwaves with support for their candidate. In Russia, its the other way around. Their refusal to support oppositional candidates or any other person who speaks out against Putin means the opposition will never compete on a level playing field with Putin. The opposition in Russia is starved for resources - if an oligarch in Russia were to provide support to an oppositional leader, it would change the political game in Russia. (Provided, of course, that the oligarch in question would remain in possession of his assets and not be jailed or exiled). It seems to me the key to any possible change in leadership in Russia is in the hands of the ruling elite, as it has been throughout Russias long history. But so far, as in most countries, the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic in Russia isnt hitting the elites directly. As most economic crises do, this one too is affecting mostly the middle class, small business, and blue-collar workers. Thats why Putin hasnt passed an economic stimulus bill to provide relief to his citizens. Thats why hes hiding out and leaving most of the dirty work to his cabinet. But rest assured if the pandemic starts to hit the pockets of the Russian elite, Putin might have something to worry about. Then he might consider doing something to help spread the wealth. - Francis Leo Marcos was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation for allegedly violating the Optometry Law - It was the NBI Cybercrime Division that arrested Marcos for a case filed against him in Baguio City - The Republic Act No. 8050, also known as Optometry Law, is an act regulating the practice of optometry, upgrading optometric education, integrating optometrists, and for other purposes - Specific details of the alleged violation have not yet been given by the authorities PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Francis Leo Marcos has been arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for allegedly violating the Optometry Law. According to ABS-CBN News (reported by Niko Baua) and GMA News (reported by Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas), it was the NBI Cybercrime Division that arrested Marcos for a case filed against him in Baguio City. The Optometry Law of 1995, or Republic Act No. 8050, is an act regulating the practice of optometry, upgrading optometric education, integrating optometrists, and for other purposes, according to the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC). Online rumors say that Marcos allegedly violated the law by supposedly giving people free prescription glasses without having the license to do so. However, specific details of the alleged violation have not yet been given by the authorities. PAY ATTENTION: Shop with KAMI! The best offers and discounts on the market, product reviews and feedback. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! Francis Leo Marcos is a social media star who became popular online for giving donations to the poor and urging other wealthy people to donate as well. His YouTube channel has over 1 million followers and he has fan pages on different social media platforms as well. 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! Watch our awesome hosts talk about romance amid the COVID-19 crisis in the Philippines! Check out all of the exciting videos and celebrity interviews on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: KAMI.com.gh Ireland's largest wildlife park reopens to the public tomorrow with a new pre-booking system to limit visitor numbers to just 500 at any one time. Fota Wildlife Park in Cork, the not-for-profit conservation charity which has a monthly animal food bill of 30,000, reopens amid confirmation that its Covid-19 closure has cost it at least 1m in lost income. Park director Sean McKeon, said the 100-acre park on Fota Island, which is visited by almost 500,000 people annually generating up to 200m for the regional economy, will need more state support to survive. "Our business is tourist dependent. We are totally dependent on gate income to survive," Mr McKeon said. "We understand why the travel restrictions are in place but for tourism in general, this is going to be short, fast season. That won't see us through. We could look at loans but that could set us back two or three years. "It won't be easy for us during the winter period to survive unless there is some sort of assistance. More has to be done to get businesses back up and running." He made his comments as the park and its staff prepare to welcome visitors who live within five kilometres. Mr McKeon said while the lockdown has been challenging, they have been humbled by the support from the public, with many people donating through its website. "We ask now for some patience at this time as these systems and pre-booking protocols are all still very new to us," he said. Declan ODonovan, animal care manager and Sean McKeown, director of Fota at the wildlife park. Pic: Dan Linehan A pre-booking system has been introduced to limit visitor numbers, and a one-way walking system must be followed to reinforce social distancing. The park's tropical house, its Madagascan village, the Oasis restaurant, its wildlife talks, face-painting and its tour train will not be open or available. Playgrounds will remain closed and the public animal feeding sessions which attracts crowds will not take place. Hand sanitisers have been installed throughout the park, and extra cleaning and disinfecting will be carried out. Despite the difficulties, Mr McKeon said the pandemic has highlighted the importance of nature. "Conservation and education is at our core," he said. "And while this pandemic has been difficult, it is a check on society. "It has shown us that we can't take nature for granted. We need it in our lives. The natural world is very well organised system, and once you interfere with that, it can have negative effects on humanity." Fota Wildlife Park is home to a diverse range of animals many of which are critically endangered including Asian Lions, Indian Rhino and Sumatran Tigers. You can get details on how to pre-book your visit online. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 21:09:51|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Djibouti's Ministry of Health has announced 117 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the Horn of Africa nation to 1,518 as of Tuesday morning. The Djiboutian Ministry of Health, in a statement issued on early Tuesday disclosed that from a total of 813 people who were tested over the last 24 hours, some 117 were tested positive for the virus. The ministry also announced that some 1,018 people who have been infected with the COVID-19 have recovered as of the stated period, of whom 46 of the COVID-19 patients recovered over the past 24-hours period. Djibouti has so far conducted a total of about 18,345 COVID-19 tests, according to the Djibouti Ministry of Health, which has reported seven COVID-19 deaths so far. Djibouti reported its first COVID-19 case on March 18. The Red Sea nation, which lies on a key location connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, hosts a number of foreign military bases. Enditem Social media would have us believe that drinking has become a national pastime during the coronavirus pandemic. From such celebrities as Madonna, Ina Garten and Meryl Streep to our friends, relatives and colleagues, it seems just about everyone is posting a photo, thread or meme of their latest cocktail indulgence or even mid-afternoon happy hour. TORONTO, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - XTM, Inc. ("XTM" or the "Company") (CSE:PAID) (FSE:7XT), a Toronto-based Fintech company in the challenger banking space, providing mobile banking and payment solutions around the world is pleased to report that the company signed an additional 80 food delivery stores including Topper's Pizza Franchise Company. Further to its release on May 13, 2020, XTM continues to sign up a record number of restaurant delivery locations to its Today Card and Mobile Wallet program seeking to pay employees, drivers and contractors same day and eliminate cash. XTM has signed 80 more delivery locations including popular pizza chain Topper's Pizza Franchise Company with more than 36 locations across Ontario. XTM designed its backend to allow for easy point of sale (POS) integration, completely automating the process of delivering same day cashless payouts from syndicated restaurant chains to one-off locations. XTM is onboarding stores for same day cashless payouts in days, not weeks. Further to the Company's release on May 12, 2020 regarding record store and business on-boardings and Gross Dollar Value (GDV) loaded to cards, another key performance metric for challenger and neobanks like XTM is number of users. The Company now has 85K users and with neobanks garnering valuations in excess of $1,000 per user, XTM believes it has the right recipe for success and shareholder value. "Our technology roadmap includes further expediting onboarding making it as seamless as possible for all companies of all sizes to launch same day pay," commented Marilyn Schaffer, CEO. "The increasing demand for our solution along with all the recent data demonstrating a paradigm shift away from cash further emphasizes that businesses and their workers are hungry for a cashless solution." "Our goal is to deliver amazingly delicious pizza with safety in mind for our customers and our drivers," said Andrea Roberts, Senior Director, Operations, Topper's Pizza Franchise Company. "XTM's Today Program made the transition easy, efficient and frictionless for our business." About XTM www.xtminc.com XTM is a Toronto-based fintech innovator in the challenger banking space, helping business and their workers expedite earnings payouts and reduce or eliminate banking fees and cash. With a global card issuing and payment platform XTM is providing free technology to business to automate and expedite worker payouts. XTM integrates businesses to a payment ecosystem that is coupled with a free worker mobile app and a Mastercard debit card with banking features. XTM drives enterprise value and delivers a positive user experience. About Topper's Pizza www.toppers.ca Topper's Pizza Canada is a Canadian chain of pizzerias. The chain was launched in 1982 in Sudbury, Ontario by Ron Toppazzini as Mr. Topper's Pizza. The chain has more than 36 corporate and franchise locations throughout Ontario. Topper's pizzas are hand-made to order in your local restaurant; each slice packed with authentic flavour pleasantly unexpected from neighborhood takeout or delivery. For general inquiries, please call 1-866-674-0703 or email [email protected]. This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (the "forward-looking statements"), within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, including expected performance of XTM, continuing increases in GDV, revenues or profits of XTM and its related programs, ,the expectation that business with which XTM does business will reopen in the expected timeline, the continuing trend toward electronic payment methods and the general conditions, revenues and performance of XTM. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, although not always, identified by words such as "expect", "plan", "anticipate", "project", "target", "potential", "schedule", "forecast", "budget", "estimate", "intend" or "believe" and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could", "should" or "might" occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the future circumstances, outcomes or results anticipated in or implied by such forward-looking statements will occur or that plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. The CSE has not approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release, and the CSE does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE XTM Inc. Related Links http://www.xtminc.com/ To listen to the podcast, click on the play button below: Nobody asks about the African Court ever, says one of our guests. But we do! The African Court on Human and Peoples Rights has been in the news recently. Why? A couple of countries have said they are going to withdraw from a part of it because it looks like they dont like some of its decisions. But this court is so much more, as we discover. You may already know its based in Arusha and its relatively young. In recent years its come out with some substantial decisions on elections, land rights, political parties, fair trials. And people have started to take notice. Its part of the African Union, closely linked to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, which can bring cases to the Court. As can states. Whats changed is that while only a few states have allowed citizens and NGOs to bring cases, that number is shrinking both Benin and Ivory Coast now say non. Tanzania and Rwanda had also both said no in the last couple of years. Luckily for us theres a whole community covering the court academics researching, lawyers monitoring , human rights NGOs lobbying! So we asked Misha Plagis Researcher at the Asser Institute and Associate Editor at the ACtHPR blog along with Alice Banens Legal advisor at Amnesty, based in Senegal to chat with us online. Also Misha suggested the brilliant Chimamanda Ngozie Adichies novel Half of a Yellow Sun, to remind us what its really like to live in lockdown, as they did during the Biafra crisis and civil war in Nigeria. While Alice is looking forward to The Eddy and all of us have enjoyed Tiger King. Video live meeting at Asymmetrical Haircuts The Ramligappa Lamture Museum in Maharashtra's Osmanabad district will soon be shifted to a new bigger building having a capacity to showcase around 45,000 historical artefacts, an official said. This will be one of the biggest museums in Maharashtra, state archeology department director Dr Tejas Garge told PTI on Monday, on the occasion of the International Museum Day. As of now, the museum has a collection of nearly 25,000 artefacts. Of these, only about 1,100 artefacts are on display which are dating back to early history, including many recovered from excavations at Ter village in Osmanabad which was an international trade centre during the Satavahana period, another official said. "The state government has sanctioned Rs 16 crore for the museum. The new building, having a capacity to display around 45,000 artefacts, is currently under construction and the museum will be ready there for visitors in next three to five years," Garge said. It will have an exclusive collection of artefacts from the ancient history period, mostly Satavahana, he said. "The museum is located at a very rich excavation site of Ter. Here we have found evidences of trade between the region and the Roman empire during early history period. This will surely be a study centre for history students," he said. A well of early historical period was also found recently at the site where the new museum building is being constructed, another official said. "It has a unique brick work and we have kept it intact," the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In April, President Donald Trump suspended U.S. funding for the World Health Organization and declined to support a global initiative at developing a covid-19 vaccine. At the World Health Assembly (WHA) held Monday, the United States also refrained from joining 122 countries calling for a "comprehensive evaluation" of the global response to the covid-19 pandemic and a scientific investigation into the source of the virus. And late Monday night, Trump tweeted a letter he sent to the WHO threatening to make the funding suspension permanent and to reconsider American membership unless the organization committed to "major substantive improvements" in the next 30 days. Such actions are just the latest efforts by Trump's administration to shun traditional alliances and international cooperation in favor of an "America First" foreign policy. But withdrawing from international engagement might leave the United States more - not less - vulnerable during the current pandemic. Indeed, as scientists and public health experts have long argued, combating pandemics require cooperation and scientific expertise cultivated across borders. As the world demonstrated over 50 years ago as it battled the "Hong Kong Flu," diseases know no borders and demand global responses that focus on cooperation, coordination and communication. On July 13, 1968, in what was then the British colony of Hong Kong, government clinics reported a sudden upsurge of patients with flu-like symptoms. Within weeks, an influenza outbreak swept the city, and within months, the rest of the world. Scientists later classified the then-novel virus as H3N2, but history has termed it the "Hong Kong Flu." While not as lethal as the infamous 1918-1919 Influenza that killed 50 million worldwide or even the 1957-58 "Asian flu" that killed 1.1 million worldwide, the 1968-69 Hong Kong Flu still killed an estimated 1 million worldwide and infected millions more. In Hong Kong, where the outbreak was first recorded, roughly 500,000 residents, or 15% of the city's population, became infected. At least here, the mortality rate was low and clinical symptoms like fever, chills, muscle pain and weakness were relatively mild. Nonetheless, the virus was highly contagious, inflicting widespread suffering, especially among front-line workers, and economic damage. After battering Hong Kong in the sweltering summer, the virus began its relentless march across the globe. It first spread across Asia before penetrating the Iron Curtain in Europe. France estimated 35,000 deaths from the flu. Poland was the hardest hit among all European countries, with up to four million infected. In the United States, veterans returning from the war in Vietnam in early September reported infections. It then spread to the civilian population in early October and grew exponentially across all 50 states by late December. Schools in at least 23 states closed and the pandemic placed enormous strains on health care and other social services. Small towns like Needles, California, reported influenza symptoms among 40% of the population. In Milwaukee, up to half the adult population did not show up for work in late 1968 at the height of the pandemic. The flu ultimately killed an estimated 100,000. It also stirred xenophobia as pretext for protectionism. In Des Moines, a roadside billboard declared: "Hong Kong Flu is Unamerican! Catch something made in the U.S.A." Geopolitical divides threatened to exacerbate the global pandemic. In fact, despite its name, the flu originated not in Hong Kong but in China, where intensive farming with poultry and humans living in proximity created conditions that fostered the recombination of avian and human influenza viruses. But since the People's Republic at the time was not recognized as the legitimate government of mainland China by the United Nations and the United States, it was also excluded from the WHO and hence many international reporting networks. Moreover, as the country was in the throes of the Cultural Revolution, political and social upheaval complicated efforts in managing any outbreaks. The only hint that something was afoot came weeks before the early July outbreak when Hong Kong doctors reported flu-like symptoms among travelers returning from China. Meanwhile, Cold War rivalries emboldened governments to weaponize news of the pandemic for political purposes. In Hong Kong, newspapers breathlessly reported on the ravages throughout the city and eventually around the world. But the slant of their coverage varied depending on which side they took in the ongoing contest between China under Mao Zedong and Taiwan under Chiang Kai-shek. A pro-Taiwan newspaper reported on the virus's rumored origins in China early in the outbreak even before any official or scientific confirmation. Its pro-China counterpart liberally sprinkled revolutionary quotations from Chairman Mao in a story of convalescing patients and medical workers. When the pandemic finally hit Taiwan in early September, coverage shifted to embarrassing the rival regime by emphasizing how the Taiwanese government was left unprepared as thousands across the island succumbed to the virus with no vaccines or effective treatments. "The bandit Chiang says no way to prevent its outbreak," one headline gleefully blared. But, scientists across the globe stepped up. In mid-July within two weeks after the first recorded cases, Dr. Wai-Kwan Chang, senior medical officer of the Hong Kong Government Virus Unit at Queen Mary Hospital, isolated and identified the virus strain. Upon discovering it was a novel virus, she sent samples to the World Influenza Centre in London and the International Influenza Center for the Americas in Atlanta. After more testing, both centers in turn distributed them to vaccine producers. By mid-August, the WHO alerted the world by warning of the virus's incipient spread. Quick action led to the development of a vaccine within six months. The first million doses were released in the United States in November 1968 with another nine million by January 1969. To be effective, however, scientific expertise demanded international cooperation and coordination. Chang was able to act quickly precisely because the WHO designated her laboratory as an influenza center years before to provide up-to-date information as part of its Global Influenza Surveillance Network (GISN). Support for the WHO's program came from the international community, which still remembered the horrors wrought by the 1918-1919 flu. It also came from the United States itself, which realized its own influenza surveillance network was limited in value without any international reach. While not frictionless, the dissemination of crucial information bridged ideological and geopolitical differences even at the height of the Cold War. The Soviet Union, for instance, received a sample strain of the virus from the World Influenza Centre as well as steady updates tracking its spread. In a report to the WHO on the flu's impact on their country, Soviet scientists concluded by "emphasiz[ing] the usefulness of international collaboration in the study of the epidemiology of influenza." The Hong Kong Flu returned in subsequent years, but its threat subsided as vaccines became increasingly effective in protection and abundant in supply. Dr. Maurice Hilleman, whose leading efforts at developing the vaccine for the Hong Kong Flu and other diseases earned him the title "father of the modern vaccine," credited early detection by the WHO for success in this effort. The global history of the Hong Kong Flu shares many parallels with the covid-19 pandemic today. More importantly, it highlights the many elements of a successful response to a global pandemic. Expertise from scientists like Chang and Hilleman was undoubtedly critical to identifying the novel virus, understanding its epidemiology and developing a vaccine. But so too was the timely circulation of information that facilitated international cooperation and coordination. These lessons remain relevant for dealing with any pandemics, future or current. Indeed, viruses pay little heed to national borders, national identities or geopolitics in their spread. Any effective response should accordingly embrace solutions that are also international in their scope. International organizations like the WHO have come under fire for being too deferential to their member states' demands. But whatever their merits, such critiques actually underscore the critical role of international cooperation. Global problems like pandemics are simply too important to be subordinated to parochial interests. - - - Thai is associate professor of history at Northeastern University and author of "China's War on Smuggling: Law, Economic Life, and the Making of the Modern State, 1842-1965." Once filled with life, laughter, constant chatter and noise, West Australian schools and boarding houses were left eerily deserted and silent as coronavirus rules and border restrictions came into effect earlier this year. As learning remotely from home became the new norm for many students, some boarding students found themselves having to leave their newfound family and home to return to the one they had previously said goodbye to. St Hilda's boarding school students slowly return in time for National Boarding Week. About two months on, with intrastate border restrictions now being lifted and all school students required to attend school unless exempt, boarders are slowly returning and bringing life back to boarding houses in time for National Boarding Week from May 18-23. St Hildas head boarder Maddi Wray left her small hometown of Gnowangerup at just 11 years old and made the almost 400-kilometre journey to Perth for better high school opportunities. By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Four weeks after Denmark began easing its lockdown, Danes on Monday returned to cafes and restaurants, confident that the coronavirus outbreak is under control. Denmark last month became the first country in Europe to reopen schools, day-care centres and smaller businesses. It did not see a subsequent rise in COVID-19 cases. "The quick shutdown and the fact that Danes actually listened to messages from authorities about good hygiene and social distancing are the main reasons we've come this far," said Hans Jorn Kolmos, a professor in clinical microbiology at the University of Southern Denmark. Contrary to the French and Italians, Danes are less likely to hug and kiss as a form of greeting, which has also been a factor in limiting the spread, Kolmos said. Coronavirus-related deaths and the 'R' reproduction rate - a measure of transmission - are falling. Health authorities on Friday reported no deaths for the first time since March 13. Health experts now say Denmark is "very unlikely" to be hit by a second wave of the COVID-19 infection that has so far killed 548 people. With a population of only 5.8 million, the death rate in Denmark is on par with that of Germany with around nine per 100,000 - less than most other European countries, including 36 in neighbouring Sweden, 33 in the Netherlands and 52 in both Britain and Italy. The results have been achieved without mass testing and contact tracing. Denmark has not recommended the use of face-coverings, as many other countries have. Early in the outbreak, Denmark shied away from a comprehensive testing and tracing scheme, partly due to a shortage of testing kits, despite calls from the World Health Organization to ramp up testing. Danish authorities began testing more broadly only in late-April and said last week they would start a tracing scheme. Denmark was one of the first European countries to announce a lockdown on March 11, restricting public gatherings and closing schools, restaurants and bars, but imposing less strict limits on daily life than in Italy or France. Story continues BACK TO SCHOOL A month later, the government embarked on its gradual reopening by letting the youngest children go back to school, drawing some concern from medical experts who said it was too early. Last week, Denmark entered Phase 2 of its easing, allowing shopping malls to reopen followed by cafes and restaurants this week. "We now have the coronavirus under control," said Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen last week. When the Copenhagen cafe Coffee Collective opened its doors to seated customers on Monday, it was quieter than usual. Most enjoyed their coffee alone at tables placed apart, while some sat outside at tables on the street. "I think it was a good decision (to shut down early), because we can see now on the numbers that everything has worked better than in some neighbouring countries," said Ellen Vallentin Asmus, a graphic illustrator, enjoying a coffee at the cafe for the first time in two months. "I think in Denmark there's a strong culture of following the rules and listening to the government, and I think that has helped with everyone taking the restrictions and social distancing seriously," said Sydney-Johanna Stevns, a strategist at a research and design lab in Copenhagen. "Mentally it's nice to be out and have something of a normal life again." Danes began returning to work this month but workplaces have restricted the number of employees allowed, leaving public transport half empty. The fast lockdown and reopening was partly due to Denmark's centralised government structure, which enabled quick and seamless coordination and a unified voice, said Jan Pravsgaard Christensen, professor in immunology of infectious diseases at the University of Copenhagen. The government's decision to shut down early contrasted with the approach in Sweden, where the death toll relative to the size of population is four times higher, as authorities have kept large parts of society open. Frederiksen said political decisions had to be made quickly and waiting for scientific evidence would have put too many lives at risk or caused unnecessary harm to the economy. "The strategy we follow is a political choice," she said last month. "Our approach is science-based, but we cannot wait for evidence. We would simply risk too many lives if we did." (Additional reporting by Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Janet Lawrence) Napa County on Tuesday reported no new cases of residents contracting the novel coronavirus, as the number of people being tested for the pathogen continued to inch upward. To date, 92 people in the county have been confirmed positive for COVID-19, and three have died. Forty-four people testing positive for the virus have recovered, and 59 others are being monitored because of close contacts to people who have been infected. None are currently hospitalized. In all, 10 Napa County cases required hospitalization. The number of coronavirus tests given in Napa County reached 4,012, an increase of 264 from Mondays total, the county said in its daily Facebook announcement. That total includes 3,614 people who have tested negative and 306 others awaiting their results. Californias Department of Public Health has listed 80,430 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 3,302 deaths. Nationwide, more than 1.52 million Americans have contracted the virus and 91,187 have died from the disease, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. Editors Note: Because of the health implications of the COVID-19 virus, this article is being made available free to all online readers. If youd like to join us in supporting the mission of local journalism, please visit napavalleyregister.com/members/join/ The privatization process of Centrenergo, which lasts for years, affects the efficiency of managing the company and solving operational government tasks in particular, acting Energy and Environment Protection Minister of Ukraine Olha Buslavets has said. She told Interfax-Ukraine that the company made a decision to launch gas and residual blocks in a context of a coal surplus. "We now need to ensure guaranteed sales of products extracted at state-owned mines, and Centrenergo decided for some reason to switch to gas and residual blocks. I do not understand this strategy of the company, in which the majority stake is owned by the government, and in which money was invested for re-equipment of blocks for the burning of gas coal extracted at state-owned mines," she said. Buslavets said that the ministry as a governing body does not have the ability to influence the actions of the generating company. "You know that the State Property Fund owns its shares, but frankly speaking, it never contributed to effective management. Either the company is under industrial management, or it is happening that what we observe over the past years," Buslavets said. She advocates the early privatization of PJSC Centrenergo to ensure the effective management. "I believe that it is necessary to privatize Centrenergo in transparent bidding with an attractive case. It is necessary for the management [the State Property Fund] to clear the company of debts and take all essential measures to minimize any negative impact on the company's valuation for privatization. The practice shows that our government is often an ineffective manager," she said. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Exports of electrical goods from Turkey to Azerbaijan grew by 8.7 percent from January through April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 and amounted to $51.3 million, Turkish Trade Ministry told Trend on May 19. At the same time, in April 2020, exports of electrical goods from Turkey to Azerbaijan decreased by over 7.6 percent compared to April 2019 and amounted to nearly $12.5 million. Export of electrical goods from Turkey to world markets shrank 13.2 percent from January through April 2020 compared to the same period of 2019, amounting to slightly over $3.1 billion. This indicator made up 6.1 percent of the countrys total export from Jan. through Apr. 2020. Turkeys export of electrical goods to world markets amounted to $62 million in April 2020, which is 33.8 percent less compared to April 2019, the ministry said. In April of this year, Turkeys export of electrical goods to world markets amounted to 6.9 percent of the countrys total export. During the last twelve months (from April 2019 through April 2020), Turkey exported electrical goods worth more than $10.7 billion, added the ministry. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu UNITED NATIONS (AP) The top U.N. official in Libya warned Tuesday that the war in the North African country will intensify, broaden and deepen because of increasing foreign intervention and the influx of weapons, military equipment and mercenaries to both sides. Acting U.N. special envoy Stephanie Williams said the escalation will have devastating consequences for the Libyan people who are getting lost in the mix, their voices crowded out. She urged the U.N. Security Council to apply consistent and credible pressure on those regional and international actors that are fueling the conflict. Williams video briefing to the council came a day after forces allied with Libyas U.N.-supported government wrested control of a key military base on the outskirts of the capital, Tripoli. from eastern-based forces under commander Khalifa Hifter that have been trying to capture the city of 2 million people since April 2019. Loss of the al-Waitya airbase in Tripolis southwestern desert reaches was a heavy setback for Hifters forces. In a statement late Tuesday, Hifters military command announced that its fighters would retreat 2 to 3 kilometers from Tripolis southern reaches over the last days of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The withdrawal, it said, would expand the buffer zone around the besieged capital to allow families to visit each other safely in celebration of the Eid al-Fitr festival May 23. Hifters forces urged Tripoli militias that support the government to do the same to avoid bloodshed during the holiday. There was no immediate response from the Government of National Accord based in the capital. But Col. Mohamed Gnounou, a spokesman for the Tripoli-allied forces, appeared to dismiss the cease-fire proposal, tweeting that there is no red line and any target that poses a threat ... will be bombed without exception. Hifters push on Tripoli has led mainly to a stalemate but the loss of the al-Waitya airbase in Tripoli's southwestern desert was a heavy setback. Story continues Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The country has since split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each backed by armed groups. The turmoil in the oil-rich country has steadily worsened as foreign backers increasingly intervene despite pledges to the contrary at a high-profile peace summit in Berlin earlier this year. Williams called on Berlin participants to urgently back a halt to the inflow of military support from abroad, which violates a U.N. arms embargo. Turkey has sent armored drones, air defenses to prop up the embattled Tripoli government while Hifters forces are backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russian mercenaries. Syrian militants with links to extremist groups, meanwhile, are fighting on both sides. Libyas U.N. Ambassador Taher Al-Sunni told the council that government forces captured a number of Russian-made air defense systems at the al-Waitya airbase on Monday, destroyed UAE armored vehicles, and found tons of high-tech weapons. And before that, we shot down several long-range drones made in China, he said. Al-Sunni said government forces and their allies have also killed and captured UAE-recruited mercenaries from Chad, Sudan and Syria and those sent by Russias Wagner Group. The escalation in fighting comes despite increased international pressure on both sides to return to negotiating a political settlement and to halt the violence over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. Libya has reported at least 65 cases of COVID-19, including three deaths. But Tripoli-based Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord Fayez Sarraj vowed after Hifters forces were routed from the airbase on Monday to liberate all cities and regions in Libya. Ambassador Al-Sunni went further, telling the Security Council: We assure you that the efforts to defeat the aggressor will continue with all our might and by all means to extend the state authority over all the country. The Libyan envoy accused Hifter of rejecting every peaceful solution and delegating himself as the ultimate rule and tyrant of the country," stressing said his hands are stained with the blood of the innocent." Those who have been betting on him have lost their bet, Al-Sunni said. He has taken himself out of any dialogue for peaceful solution. Al-Sunni said thats why the government is now calling on Hifter's supporters to put down their weapons and surrender, and side by our nation so we can end this cycle of conflict and sit for dialogue and reconciliation. During the council meeting, Acting British Ambassador Jonathan Allen and U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft called for a halt to the transfer of military equipment and personnel to Libya, singling out Wagner Group mercenaries. U.N. experts monitoring sanctions against Libya said in a report obtained by AP earlier this month that between 800 and 1,200 mercenaries provided by the private Russian security company to support Hifter have acted as an effective force multiplier. Wagner Group activities continue to exacerbate the conflict," the UKs Allen said. Alluding to Russia and the U.N. arms embargo resolution against Libya, he added: I want to urge all Security Council members to abide by the resolutions of this council, which they themselves have voted for. Russias U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council Moscow is concerned about reports of growing violations of the arms embargo and said: We believe the supply of arms and mercenaries should be stopped. Nebenzia said the Russian government has no legislation controlling private military companies and accused the U.N. experts of basing their findings on sources of dubious quality, and of deliberate falsifications about weapons, with the aim of discrediting Russias policy in Libya. ___ Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre contributed to this report John Legend lives in Southern California, but the Grammy Award-winner cares about Oregon politics. On Monday the performer tweeted that Oregon Criminal Justice Commission executive director Mike Schmidt is the clear choice for Multnomah County District Attorney. He linked to a tweet from criminal-justice-reform organization Oregon DA for the People that compares Schmidt to his opponent, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight, with Schmidt getting better grades on subjects such as responding to the COVID-19 crisis and decriminalizing houselessness. Mike Schmidt is the clear choice for Multnomah County District Attorney. Vote @MultCoMike on May 19. https://t.co/X7FdpQLCQz John Legend (@johnlegend) May 19, 2020 Schmidt has said he seeks major reform in our criminal justice system, while Knight heralds support from first responders and public safety professionals. Schmidt said he had no clue the shoutout was coming, and no, he doesn't have a personal connection to John Legend. "My wife wishes there was a connection," he said with a laugh on Tuesday afternoon. Schmidt said he's still not sure how the singer and judge of The Voice found out who he is, but suspects it's a result of his own campaign efforts at the national level. Schmidt said he had been interviewed on several platforms with national audiences, such as Pod Save the People, an Instagram Live chat with civil rights activist Shaun King and an interview with journalist Emily Bazelon. He was also interviewed for The Appeal, an outlet that reports on criminal justice. Schmidt said Legend himself is involved with criminal justice reform, and his guess is that someone the singer works with likely let him know about the Portland candidate. It really was a special moment, he said. This isnt Legends first foray into Oregon politics. In 2018, he highlighted the Washington County district attorney race. His interest in politics goes back even further. In 2008 he wrote a rallying cry for Barack Obamas presidential campaign. The Multnomah County DAs race does not typically get national attention or even a whole lot of local attention. One Twitter denizen asked, no doubt tongue in cheek: Thats not the all-time great third baseman Mike Schmidt, is it? -- Douglas Perry @douglasmperry Jayati Ramakrishnan contributed to this story. Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE The city of Santa Fe is projecting an unprecedented shortfall for fiscal year 2021 around $100 million as revenues continue to plummet amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mayor Alan Webber announced the projection during a virtual news conference Monday and said the cancellation of such big-money events as the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Traditional Spanish Market, the International Folk Art Market and the Santa Fe Operas summer season have especially hurt city revenues. Tourism in Santa Fe, a city heavily reliant on visitor spending, has cratered since the pandemic hit the state in March. Even as some businesses begin to reopen in a limited capacity, the outlook for the city remains dire. Were deeply affected by this summers cancellations of major income-producing events, Webber said, adding that such events will be among the last parts of the economy to restart. The deficit represents about 30% of the citys total budget. City officials said a worst-case estimate would feature a $150 million deficit, triggered by a potential second outbreak of the virus in the fall. Webber said the deficit covers nearly all of the citys revenue-generating funds. Gross receipts tax revenue, which accounts for nearly 70% of the total budget, would be hit especially hard and drop an estimated $37 million compared with the previous year, Finance Director Mary McCoy said. The citys general fund, which finances services and salaries for many city employees, would lose $31 million. Other funds, such as lodgers tax and recreation fees, are forecast to lose 40% to 50% of their revenues from the previous year. McCoy said the citys credit rating could also drop, thereby increasing the cost of issuing debt for capital projects. The historic level of Santa Fes fiscal crisis means city officials will be adjusting the normal budget-making process. Were going to be doing things very differently, Webber said. This includes the Finance Department providing quarterly reports to city councilors and other department heads reviewing their own budgets for the next year. A Monday memo written by McCoy states the city will hold budget hearings in July before submitting the revised numbers to the state. McCoy said the city could receive $35 million total in federal funding over the next two fiscal years from the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, which awaits approval by the U.S. Senate, but added that the likelihood of that figure remaining intact is highly uncertain. How the city would cover the remaining deficit still needs to be decided. Webber said reducing transmission of the virus and making tourism safe again will be key to reinvigorating the citys economy. Webber said he does not think that raising taxes would help but that the city is evaluating how raising taxes to certain rates could affect finances. Its not a very good idea to add a tax burden at a time when people are thrown out of work, he said. The deficit projection comes in addition to the estimated $46 million shortfall for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, that the city announced in April. The city already has instituted a spending and hiring freeze, saving an estimated $27.5 million. The City Council narrowly approved furloughs, either four or 16 hours per week, for more than 1,000 city employees. Despite the massive cuts, McCoy said the city still has not yet covered the shortfall for the current fiscal year. Webber said that any decision regarding additional furloughs or layoffs will come during the budget-making process and that no decision had been made as of yet. Thats why were having a budget process, to figure out what response the governing body believes is the best way to go forward, Webber said. When youre faced with scarcity, you really have to make hard choices. Webber also said he did not want to unnecessarily alarm city employees and Santa Fe residents. Representatives from American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3999, the union representing many city employees, said they had heard furloughs and layoffs are being discussed. We have heard that the city is talking about layoffs and further furloughs for the next fiscal year, Local 3999 Vice President Gil Martinez said in a Monday phone conversation. The city previously came under fire for giving longer furloughs to lower-paid employees. A 64-year-old woman and her daughter, who returned from Delhi last week, tested positive for COVID-19 in Manipur on Tuesday, taking the total number of active coronavirus cases in the state to seven, officials said. The daughter, 23, took her mother to Delhi for an eye surgery in February and they were staying in a rented accommodation in the Kotla Mubarakpur area of the national capital. The woman underwent the surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and they last visited the hospital on April 8 for consultation with the doctor, officials said. They hail from Kamjong district and both of them are asymptomatic, the officials added. They came back in a bus along with 18 other people on May 16. They boarded the bus at Safdarjung in Delhi on May 14 and entered Manipur through the Mao Gate on the state's border with Nagaland. The mother and daughter were in isolation at the IIIT Government Quarantine Centre in Mantripukhri after returning to the northeastern state. After their COVID-19 test results came in, they were shifted to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, where they are currently undergoing treatment, the officials said. The test results of the other passengers on the bus are awaited, they added. Manipur has reported nine coronavirus cases so far and two persons have already recovered. ARI and diarrhea are the leading causes of antibiotic use in LMICs Researchers at CDDEP, Berkeley, and Imperial College London assessed the impact of PCVs and rotavirus vaccines on antibiotic consumption among children in low- and middle-income countries. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a serious threat to the health and economic well-being of countries worldwide. This burden disproportionately impacts low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where antibiotic overuse exists alongside lack of access to such drugs. Acute respiratory infection (ARI) and diarrhea are the leading causes of antibiotic use in LMICs, where a lack of diagnostic tools may lead to inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions based on suspicion. Vaccines have been hypothesized to reduce the burden of AMR by preventing infections that lead to antibiotic consumption, although evidence assessing this relationship is lacking. Researchers at CDDEP, University of California, and Imperial College London assessed the impact of vaccines recently implemented in the World Health Organizations Expanded Programme on Immunization on antibiotic consumption among children under five in LMICs. They focused on the effect of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) 10 and 13 and live attenuated rotavirus vaccines to prevent the main causes of ARI and diarrhea, respectively. The researchers used data from large-scale household surveys to quantify the incidence of antibiotic consumption among children prevented by PCV10/13 and rotavirus vaccines by calculating the following: The incidence of antibiotic treatment for ARI and diarrhea among children in LMICs The effectiveness of the PCV and rotavirus vaccines in preventing antibiotic use associated with ARI and diarrhea The proportion of antibiotic-treated ARI and diarrhea cases attributable to vaccine-serotype S. pneumoniae and rotavirus, respectively The study found that PCVs and the rotavirus vaccine are associated with a 19.7 percent (95% confidence interval, 3.443.4 percent) and 11.4 percent (4.018.6 percent) reduction in cases of antibiotic-treated ARI and diarrhea, respectively, among children 24-59 months old. Translated to India, this represents a major reduction in the number of infections. The vaccines prevent an estimated 23.8 million and 13.6 million cases of antibiotic-treated ARI and diarrhea per year among children in LMICs under current vaccination coverage levels. Universal coverage of these vaccines could prevent an additional 40 million cases of antibiotic-treated illnesses. Results of this study indicate that vaccines against S. pneumoniae and rotavirus significantly reduce antibiotic consumption among children in LMICs, and support vaccination as a global strategy to combat AMR. Ramanan Laxminarayan, senior author and CDDEP director said, Despite the current attention on Covid-19, the longer-term infectious disease threat that India faces, is on antibiotic resistance. This study, the first of its kind, shows that scaling up the PCV and rotavirus vaccines are among the most effective methods to reduce antibiotic consumption in a country like India. Brazil currently has 246,000 confirmed cases, over 16,000 deaths, surpassed Spain and Italy and now becomes the country with the third-largest number of COVID-19 cases in the world. Since May 13 the country has registered over 10,000 new cases each day. On May 15, Brazil registered over 15,000 new cases in one night and 14,000 more the next day. Despite the numbers, President Bolsonaro still claims that the coronavirus is just a "little flu". Brazil is now the epicentre of infections in the Latin American region. "Brazil will come back Stronger" - Bolsonaro Everyday, supporters of the President have joined forces to protest the country's lockdown and even more are showing up on weekends. Donning their Bolsonaro t-shirts and banners denouncing congress, demonstrators continue to defy stay-at-home orders and are encouraged by Bolsonaro's presence at the said gathering. Majority of the protesters who have attended are members of the group who call themselves the "300 of Brazil". They have been camping outside the presidential office, in full support of their president. The "300 of Brazil" is financially supported by pro-Bolsonaro businessmen and aims to follow Ukraine's footsteps. This is in reference to the fascist led uprising in 2014 against the former Soviet Republic. Protesters have gathered in both Sao Paulo and Brasilia in support of the president to put further pressure on local governments to lift restraints placed on economic activity and loosen stay at home orders. Several people demanded the closure of Congress and some have cried for mass distribution of the drug Chloroquine which was branded by Bolsonaro as a coronavirus treatment even if studies have already proven for it to be ineffective. Several states and cities have already extended their lockdown measures and urged people to stay at home. The president, however, is doing the exact opposite and is increasing public appearance in rallies to reopen the economy and allow people to return to work. Check these out: Opening the economy Although the city of Brasilia has seen a drop in the number of positive COVID-19 cases, experts have claimed that it is still too early to reopen the economy. Other states are still experiencing a rise in cases. One alarming study shows that there were 400 positive cases from the Indigenous people confirming that the virus might have already infected places with little or no healthcare access. This strike wave is joined by several Brazilian workers protesting against job loss and pay cuts and that the government is forcing them to choose between death by COVID-19 or by starvation. The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil is believed to be brought into the country by the elite from their travels to Europe, and is now ravaging the country's poor, pushing them further into desolation. In less than two months, Brazil has seen two health ministers leave their posts. Last month, Bolsonaro fired his health minister, Luiz Mandetta after his alleged failure in responding to the pandemic. Just a few days ago newly appointed health minister Nelson Teich resigned from his post citing Bolsonaro's handling of the pandemic and his reason for leaving. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ghina Ghaliya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 09:09 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8ea7cb 1 Politics COVID-19,2020-regional-elections,Pilkada-2020,coronavirus,KPU Free The government's plan to reschedule polling day for this year's simultaneous regional elections to December has sparked concerns over the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the possibility of incumbent candidates using their coronavirus response to their own advantage. Home Minister Tito Karnavian and the House of Representatives agreed last month to push back the regional elections to Dec. 9 from September because of the health crisis. The central government subsequently issued Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 2/2020, now pending House approval, as a legal basis for delaying the elections, which will be held simultaneously in the country's 270 regions. The regulation stipulates two postponement scenarios. First is to hold the voting on Dec. 9 and the second is to further delay the poll if the pandemic is still not over by then. Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto suggested that polling day should be held after the World Health Organization (WHO) lowers the pandemic status, saying that as long as the pandemic is not over, the situation would remain unpredictable. "After the WHO announced it, we can continue the stages of the 2020 regional elections," Terawan said on Sunday in a virtual meeting with the General Elections Commission (KPU). The KPU has issued a regulation as a follow up to the Perppu, stipulating two scenarios with the election stages to begin either on June 6 or June 15. Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) head Abhan said the KPU should consider Terawans opinion and consult with the ministry, especially since data showed that 55 percent of COVID-19 patients who have died lived in regions that will participate in the elections. Read also: Tanah Abang Market packed with traders ahead of Idul Fitri despite virus fears Experts and analysts have suggested a further delay to the elections, arguing that the government should now remain focused on addressing the pandemic, which has taken its toll on thousands of people's lives and the economy in the country. Constitutional law expert Feri Amsari of Andalas University in West Sumatra asserted that amid the current conditions, the more important thing was to consider public health, not merely political calculations. He went on to say that Indonesia should not follow in the footsteps of South Korea, which recently held its election on April 15 amid the pandemic, since the East Asian country had prepared for the polling day for a long time. "Indonesia has just issued the Perppu, so we have limited time [until December]. If it is forced, it would be a heavy burden on the KPU, Feri said. Critics have also said that voting in December meant allowing incumbent candidates to benefit from the coronavirus crisis response as they could use it as an opportunity to boost their popularity among voters. There have been some cases of COVID-19 aid used for political purposes. In Central Java, for instance, Klaten Regent Sri Mulyani -- who is seeking a second term in office -- recently faced criticism for putting her image on bottles of hand sanitizer in aid packages sponsored by the Social Affairs Ministry. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician denied that it was her team who put her image there, saying that the stickers might have been placed on the bottles by people who wanted to tarnish her image. Mochammad Afiffudin of Bawaslu told The Jakarta Post recently that similar cases had also occurred in North Toraja and East Lampung. "In East Lampung, the houses of the Family Hope Program [PKH] beneficiaries were affixed with stickers with the regent's photo, who happens to be seeking reelection," he said. Saiful Mujani Research & Consulting (SMRC) chief researcher Djayadi Hanan said on Sunday that pushing back voting in the regional elections to sometime next year would prevent incumbent candidates from exploiting the coronavirus crisis for their political campaigns. Read also: COVID-19 kills elderly, haunts the young in Indonesia By that time, the incumbent regional heads could no longer appear as leaders during the crisis, he said, given that the tenures of most regional leaders would end in February 2021. If the non-incumbent candidates, for example, now go to the people and beg for their blessing, what would the people say? They are busy taking care of their lives," he said in a virtual discussion on Sunday. Concurring with Djayadi, Association for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) director Titi Anggraini also did not recommend voting in December, saying that it was too risky and could affect the quality of the election stages. "If we dont consider it seriously, it may undermine the public faith in our democracy," she said. House Commission II overseeing home affairs chairman Ahmad Doli Kurnia said the legislative body would soon hold a hearing with the home minister and the KPU in response to the concerns. The Golkar Party politician pointed out that the Perppu itself had stipulated an option for the election day in view of the pandemic. Because its urgent, we have decided to hold a meeting amid the recess period," he said. The House is set to discuss the Perppu in the next sitting period, which will begin on June 12. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 02:05:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close HELSINKI, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Field tests began in Finland on Monday for a possible mobile phone application (app) to track and prevent COVID-19 infections, while a survey conducted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health indicated that health experts and decision makers are concerned whether the app would gain wide enough acceptance among citizens. To be viable in tracking, the app should be installed on the mobile gadgets of 60 percent of the country's residents, experts have said. The system, called "Ketju" (Chain), is being tested in the central hospital in Vaasa, west-central Finland. Sponsored by the public service think tank SITRA, the app was developed by Finnish enterprises Reaktor and Futurice. SITRA Director Antti Kivela told the newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet that the app is "all open" for future developers, including the source code and experiences from the tests. The members of the test group keep a log of their whereabouts and encounters with people. The functionability of the app's Bluetooth connection is also being tested, for example, in situations where two people are close to each other but are separated by a wall. The system stores data on "close encounters" for two weeks. According to a survey of key social stakeholders conducted by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, two-thirds of the 68 responding organizations considered the system suitable for tracking coronavirus infections. "But concern was raised whether enough people will accept the use of an app for tracking encounters," the ministry said in a press release. The ministry has put the Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in charge of the development. The app should be operational by the end of the summer. The government decided in late April that the use of a COVID-19 encounters tracker app in Finland would have to be voluntary and would have to respect the relevant personal data protection and privacy laws. As of Monday, Finland had reported 6,380 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 300 deaths. According to a preliminary estimate, at least 5,000 people have recovered from the disease, said the THL. Enditem Advertisement Union chiefs have told teachers to demand detailed answers to at least 169 questions from their bosses on issues such as bin lids, coronavirus counselling and employing extra staff to clean paint brushes, scissors and glue sticks before agreeing to return to school, it was revealed today. The National Education Union has also told its 450,000 members to stop marking work and keep online tuition 'to a minimum' for any children still at home and not to try remote teaching if 'they feel uncomfortable' after going back to the classroom from next month. The NEU's gigantic list of demands includes mapped locations of lidded bins in classrooms and around the school, full health and safety risk assessments for leaving doors and windows open while teaching and also asks: 'What arrangements are in place to keep every classroom supplied with tissues?'. Other queries from the NEU include: 'Have families been told to provide water bottles?' and suggests grilling bosses about bringing in more staff specifically for washing 'resources for painting, sticking and cutting before and after use' in classrooms and an official policy on how often pupils will be reminded to catch coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow. The NEU's safety checklist has been hailed by many teachers but critics have said the 22-page document is a 'barrier' to reopening primary schools in England from June 1 because it appears impossible to answer all the questions before then and may spook headteachers who fear their own staff could take them to court. Richard Marshall, the union's Learning and Development organiser, tweeted last night that the number of 'unanswered' questions from its 450,000 members was more like 1,000, to which one primary school teacher replied: 'I can answer most of them with one sentence - use your bl**dy common sense'. Today a growing list of councils told their headteachers not to reopen on June 1, with Brighton and Hove, Calderdale, Solihull, Slough and Teesside joining Stockport, Bury, Liverpool, Wirral and Hartlepool despite schools already reopening successfully in 22 states across Europe this month with no major coronavirus spikes. Former prime minister Tony Blair last night backed calls for pupils to go back to school, saying some children were receiving no education at all with Education Secretary Gavin Williamson insisting getting children back to school as soon as possible is vital for their development and prospects. MailOnline can reveal that some parents who want to send their children back to school so they can get back to work have been lambasted by teachers who claim they are being 'hung out to dry' by the Government. As millions wait to hear if their children will return to school on Monday, it has also emerged: British teachers are today being urged to follow the lead of their French counterparts by going back to work and more than 1.4million children returned to class after two months in lockdown; Former prime minister Tony Blair weighed in and backed Boris Johnson's calls for pupils to go back to school, saying some children were receiving no education at all; Some schools have already ruled out opening and those planning to will halve class sizes to 15, clean tables and toys and stagger lunch breaks; Seven councils, mostly Labour-run authorities such as Bury in the north-west, have already ruled out reopening schools on time while Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham warned last night: 'I worry it's too soon'; Scroll down to see the all the questions the unions want answered before June 1. Schoolchildren wearing protective mouth masks and face shields back in class at Claude Debussy college in Angers, France, where 1.4million youngsters are back in class Teaching Assistant Sarah Yates applies tape to the floor to define a 2m boundary around the teacher's workspace in Huddersfield as unions demand answers to hundreds of questions before teachers return Answers to questions about bin locations, staff to wash paint brushes and scissors and counsellors for staff and children as the lockdown eases have been demanded How mostly Labour-run councils have refused to obey the Government and open primary schools on June 1 Brighton and Hove (Labour) Slough (Labour) Teesside (labour) Solihull (Conservative) Stockport (Labour) Bury (Labour) Liverpool (Labour) Hartlepool (Labour) Wirrall (Labour) Calderdale (Labour) Birmingham (Labour) Advertisement Teachers have been told by union chiefs that it will 'not be safe to mark children's books'. The National Education Union claims schools should make it clear that no marking should take place because of the risk of coronavirus. It also says that library books should be regularly sanitised as part of a 'workplace checklist' for primaries. Referring to its 22-page checklist, it says: 'The starting point for every component of the checklist is that it is checked NO until you and your colleagues determine it can be checked YES. 'School staff will not be protected by social distancing rules nor, in most cases, will they be offered any personal protective equipment. If satisfactory answers are not forthcoming in all areas, then it will not be feasible or safe to extend opening until concerns are met.' Among the questions the checklist poses are: 'It will not be safe to mark children's books during this period. Will clear instruction be given that no marking should take place and the books should not be taken to and from home/school?' Former Prime Minister Tony Blair says that schools should return as soon as possible. Mr Blair told BBC Newsnight: 'If you look at all the best evidence, and my Institute has assembled a lot of the different data on this, especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low. 'Private schools will have been educating their children throughout this. 'Parts of the state system will have been. But then there are some children who will have been having no education at all.' Labour-run Bury council announced yesterday it would reject the Government's timetable for sending children back to class, claiming they had taken the decision after a public consultation. But it was later revealed the public consultation had more than 24 hours to run. Calderdale Council in West Yorkshire has become the latest local authority to advise its schools against reopening on June 1 amid safety concerns. Councillor Tim Swift, leader of the council, said: 'Education plays a crucial role in making sure children have a good start in life, laying the foundations so that they are able to enjoy a long, healthy and fulfilling future. 'However, the council has major concerns that the Government's tests are not currently being met within Calderdale, and for this reason we are advising our schools against opening more widely on June 1.' Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden refused to rule out penalties for town halls that refuse to reopen schools from June 1. The NEU instead is urging strict two metre social distancing measures remain in place - as is being done in other workplaces. The planning document also includes a 20-page safety checklist, written jointly with fellow unions, Unite, Unison and GMB, which it will urge its members to go through with bosses before they return to schools 'Health and safety reps have the legal right to be consulted on the risk assessment and future amendments,' the document states. Pictured right is a summary of checklist questions for representatives to answer, including: 'Are you satisfied with the cleaning and hygiene arrangements that will operate from when extended opening begins?' Pictured left are more steps from the summary of checklist questions for reps to answer. Right are questions for reps to ask about site preparation 'Reps need assurances about the systems that the head teacher will be able to implement. Without these assurances there can be no 'expectations' on either staff or parents,' the document states The DfE is asking head teachers to undertake an audit of how many staff are available, both teaching and support staff The document states: 'The Planning Guide is explicit that 'unlike older children and adults, early years and primary age children cannot be expected to remain 2 metres apart from each other and staff' The unions have asked more than 100 questions of a headteacher, which it describes as a safety checklist The unions have asked more than 100 questions of a headteacher, which it describes as a safety checklist Reps are given guidance to ask if individual pupil risk assessments will be in place for all pupils who 'exhibit anti-social behaviour, eg biting, before a decision is made' The workplace checklist tells reps to ask about what guidance will be given to staff on how to support children - and will visitors be provided PPE where necessary The 169-plus questions that the unions have demanded that schools answer if they are to reopen on June 1 Will soap and, preferably warm, water be available at all times, with systems in place to ensure continuity of supply of soap and sanitiser? How will the school ensure that children and staff arriving can safely queue up, at 2-metre distance from each other, to access the sanitiser on arrival? Will staffing levels (and PPE) allow for enough staff to support those pupils in special schools to do this who are unable to do it independently? Are lidded bins available in every classroom? Unless operated by pedal, the lids will need to be regularly sanitised throughout the day. How will this happen? Who will empty them during the day? What arrangements are in place to keep every classroom supplied with tissues? Will staff and children wash their hands for at least 20 seconds with water and soap on arrival, before departure and regularly throughout the day, including before and after every break and lunchtime, and how will this be supervised and monitored? Will pupils be regularly reminded to catch coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow? Will appropriate PPE be provided in schools where pupils are unable, or less able to catch their sneezes and coughs? Will hand dryers be disconnected and replaced with paper towels and bins? Will drinking fountains be taken out of use? Will only rooms with windows that can be kept open be used? Will doors be kept open where possible to aid ventilation? Will separate risk assessments take place in classes where leaving a door open will expose children to additional risks (eg runners)? Will air conditioning systems not be used unless it can be confirmed that there is no additional risk? Will all areas of the premises be thoroughly cleaned on a daily basis with particular focus on surfaces that are touched by multiple people such as photocopiers, door handles, table/counter tops, computers including mouse and keyboard, light switches telephones, chairs, bannisters, shared learning resources or toys, specialist equipment for SEND pupils, toilets and toilet handles, sinks, taps and other areas touched regularly, with additional cleaning during the day as necessary? Will each classroom be provided with gloves and disinfectant spray in case a pupil coughs or sneezes on a piece of equipment? Is there capacity amongst the cleaning staff to meet these requirements? Will a one-way system be introduced? If not, why is it not needed? What arrangements are proposed for safe movement on staircases? What arrangements are in place for use of lifts can social distancing be achieved if a staff member travels in the lift with a child? How will staff and children be made aware of the new arrangements, with particular reference to very young children and those with special needs? Who will monitor that the systems are being complied with? Will a member of staff be on duty at all times? Are other measures needed in corridors, for example floor markings or removal of furniture or students walking in single file without holding hands? Is there provision for the movement of pupils around the school who may need additional assistance from an adult? How will pupils and staff keep 2-metres apart, even with these arrangements? What arrangements are proposed around access to pupil toilets to ensure no overcrowding during lesson and break times? What signage will be displayed to support these new systems? Given that classes will be split, how in practical terms can resources be split between two classrooms? Will additional resources be needed to ensure that both classes have what they need? How will young children be taught (reception especially and nursery) without physical resources? Are you satisfied with the proposed rota arrangements? Have you been given an assurance that there will always be a head/deputy, first aider, Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), SENCO, caretaker and sufficient cleaning staff on duty at all times? Are you satisfied that consistency can be ensured to minimise staff movement between classes? Has it been confirmed that sufficient cleaning staff will be engaged to allow for the enhanced cleaning levels required? Have you been given an assurance that non cleaning staff will not be expected to undertake cleaning work? Has the site been measured to ascertain what the maximum capacity is and proportion of pupils that can be accommodated to allow safe distancing? (This needs to adopt a cautious approach in relation to staff availability, taking into account those who must work from home because they are vulnerable or may need to self-isolate and likely future levels of absence.) Is it clear to all staff and parents that only healthy staff and pupils who are not exhibiting symptoms, and who do not need to self-isolate, may attend school? Is it clear that pregnant staff and those with underlying health conditions that make them vulnerable, or who live with or care for vulnerable or shielding household members or those over age of 70 are permitted to continue to work from home? The DfE advises that if 'vulnerable' as opposed to 'extremely vulnerable' staff cannot work from home 'they should be offered the safest available on-site roles', also that a member of staff who lives with someone who is vulnerable can attend work. The joint unions disagree, both should be allowed to work from home. Have the risks to Black staff been assessed when planning rotas? Evidence from the Office for National Statistics shows a greater impact of Covid-19 on Black communities with a disproportionate number of deaths being recorded. The DfE Planning Guide does not address this issue. Will parents be advised that the school cannot guarantee to be able to keep their children socially distant, with support for parents to assess the risks to themselves and other family members of sending their child to school? What arrangements are in place for safe induction of new staff during this period? Have catering staff been involved in discussions about how meals will be served and are there sufficient catering and lunchtime supervision staff to ensure that children can safely eat their lunch? Is there a procedure to close the school or college at short notice if staffing levels fall to levels where safety cannot be assured? Will the school close if any of these key staff are unavailable? Given that social distancing is expected in all other areas of society, it is unacceptable that the Government expects schools to open without the protections that are recommended for other environments, eg shops and public transport. What is proposed to address this issue? Where there is a risk of airborne contamination, because social distancing cannot easily be adhered to, particularly where staff are at risk from spitting or biting and where pupils are unable to catch or control coughs and sneezes, the joint unions believe that PPE must be provided and training given on its use and disposal. Will this happen? Will PPE be available for emergency situations, for example when a pupil develops symptoms during the school day and is awaiting collection? What assurances can be given about secure arrangements for sourcing PPE? Can confirmation be given that, if any member of staff wishes to wear a face covering, they will not be prevented from doing so? How many pupils can each individual classroom safely accommodate to ensure that they and staff remain 2-metres apart on entry and departure and during the lesson? This needs to take account of the additional staff numbers in classes with SEND pupils who have individual adult support. How many people altogether will be in a classroom should be the measure. What areas are safe to use for different purposes than usual to aid social distancing? Is the school proposing to have 15 children per class? The joint unions position is that staff cannot be expected to safely supervise 15 children and ensure that they socially distance. Has account been taken of the fact that some staff, in particular support staff, normally work at close proximity to individual pupils and how this work can continue in a safe manner? Will enough staff be available at the beginning of the day (and able to socially distance) to assist children in coming into school where needed (younger children/ children with SEND/anxiety etc)? How will break times operate to ensure social distancing? What will happen in wet weather at break and lunchtimes? What arrangements are in place to ensure that meals can be safely prepared and served? How will other unauthorised visitors be kept away? Have families been told to provide water bottles? How will breaks for staff operate? Have assemblies and the coming together of other large groups, both staff and pupils, been suspended Is there a system in place for isolating children who develop symptoms during the day, while they wait to be picked up? Will all staff be sent home as soon as they report symptoms during the school day and will arrangements be in place to provide cover as necessary? Have off site visits been suspended? What are the plans for ensuring that staff can travel safely to and from school? For those who have no car and cannot walk or cycle, how can they safely travel to school, when use of public transport is discouraged? (note: car sharing other than between members of the same household should not happen). A safe travel plan for each individual member of staff need to be agreed. Where school transport operates under normal circumstances, how will this operate at this time, ensuring social distancing and hygiene arrangements? Will individual risk assessments and discussion with parents/carers have taken place and been agreed by the date when extended opening begins, to ensure that any provision required by a child in order to attend school is safely in place? Where LAs cannot, despite 'best endeavours' provide the support listed in an EHC plan can pupil safety in school be guaranteed? Eg behaviour support. Will there be clear guidelines on entry to school about the procedures in place for essential visitors from external agencies visiting pupils at the school (eg educational psychologists, child and adult mental health services (CAMHS), behavioural support, advisory teachers etc)? Will there be social distancing measures in place for visitors from external support agencies visiting pupils at school? Will visitors working closely with pupils be offered PPE where necessary? If LAs cannot provide additional trauma support for pupils can another provider be quality assured and risk assessed in time for when the school beings to open more widely? Will guidance and training be provided for staff to ensure they understand, and can enforce, the new routines and support pupils in understanding them and are familiar with revised physical arrangements, well in advance on when wider opening begins? Will individual pupil risk assessments be in place for all pupils who exhibit anti-social behaviour, eg biting, before a decision is made about admitting them under the new arrangements? Will compassionate and proportionate behaviour policies that protect health and safety, while also supporting pupils who may exhibit problematic behaviours as a response to trauma they may have experienced during lockdown, be in place by the time wider opening begins? It will not be safe to mark children's books during this period. Will clear instruction be given that no marking should take place and the books should not be taken to and from home/school? Will staff be told to wash their hands before and after handling pupils' books? Will library books be regularly sanitised? Some teaching assistants will be used to working in very close proximity to individual pupils, so how can this work continue in a safe manner? Have parents been informed about new arrangements for drop off and pick up routines? Have other regular visitors to the school, eg parent volunteers, been informed that they should not attend at this time? Do essential contractors, including those who deliver food, understand how they may access the premises and what precautions are expected of them while they are on site? Are catering staff aware of new safe working practices? Will senior staff be visibly present around school during the day? What arrangements will be put in place to ensure regular staff feedback on arrangements? What guidance will be given to staff on how to support children? What pastoral support services will be available? Does the school recognise its duties under health and safety law to protect the mental as well as physical health of staff? What plans are in place to ensure that this duty is applied? What counselling services are available for staff and pupils who may need support? How will the school monitor workload at this time to ensure a reasonable work/life balance for staff? The DfE toolkit recommends that children should be taught not to touch their faces how can this realistically be taught or monitored? It is also recommended that resources for painting, sticking and cutting be washed before and after use what additional staff resources will be allocated to these tasks, given that these materials are likely to be in constant use? How will staff ensure that children do not share these resources? How will staff be supported to teach outside their usual year group/key stage responsibility? Has time been given for staff to work together to agree shared priorities for children's learning? Has time been identified for staff to work together to prepare teaching, particularly to adjust their teaching of practical lessons and of play-based curriculum without shared physical resources? Has support been given to teaching assistants to prepare for supporting pupils? How will staff maintain continuity of learning and support as pupils begin to return, but have additional periods of time away? What arrangements will be in place for year groups not eligible to attend? What arrangements will be in place for pupils with underlying health conditions who cannot attend when the rest of their year group may be in school? How will the senior leadership team (SLT) ensure that any change in opening arrangements does not increase workload for staff whether working at home or at school? In special schools, given the level of adult support required for pupils, what is a safe number of people to have in a classroom and how is this determined? In special schools, where social distancing will be impossible, what measures are in place to protect staff and pupils? To what extent can parents of SEND children be reassured that their child will still be working with, or have access to, their key worker/learning support assistant? Is the school prepared to consider attendance on a rotational basis in order to reduce class sizes? Can an assurance be given that teaching assistants, unless it is part of their normal role such as for higher level teaching assistant, will not be expected to lead classes? Will supply teachers be brought in as necessary? Will senior leaders be available to cover classes if needed? Will parents be told not to bring their children to school if there is a shortage of staff for a particular class? How does the school propose to ensure social distancing at the start and end of each school day? If it is planned to undertake temperature checks, how will this be managed safely in terms of social distancing between the child and member of staff and to avoid queues building up? What measures are in place to protect staff and pupils who may at times need to use physical interventions (in alternative provision (AP) and mainstream) to protect pupils from harming themselves or others? (They will clearly not be able to socially distance when doing this) In AP what measures are in place to ensure that enough appropriately trained staff are on site to support pupils with behavioural issues to keep safe? How and what PPE will be used in this situation? Is it practical to stagger arrival times, if so how? How will parents be informed and the system monitored? Is there sufficient staffing to monitor the safe arrival and departure of children at varying times? How will overcrowding at the school gates or in the playground be prevented? What will be expected of parents/carers in terms of social distancing and how will they be informed of arrangements? Will parents/carers be instructed that they may not enter the premises other than in an emergency situation? Will there be clear guidelines on entry to school about the procedures in place for essential visitors to the school? Will there be social distancing measures in place for visitors to the school? Will visitors working closely with pupils be offered PPE where necessary? Advertisement Blazenka Divjak, education minister of Croatia, which holds the rotating EU presidency, told European colleagues yesterday: 'We haven't heard anything negative about the reopening of schools, but it is probably too early to have final conclusions.' She noted at the video meeting that schools had imposed 'very high security conditions' including smaller class sizes and very close cooperation with health ministries and epidemiological services. Tony Blair BACKS Boris Johnson's plans to reopen schools Many significant figures in Britain, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair (pictured) have asked for UK schools to reopen as some children are not receiving any education at all Tony Blair has said Boris Johnson's administration is right to be opening schools again. The Prime Minister's plans to start sending children back to school next month has come under attack from teaching unions and some local authorities, with critics arguing it is too soon to lift the coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions. Mr Johnson, in his address to the nation on May 10, said Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils would be the first to go back, starting on June 1 'at the earliest'. In an interview with BBC Newsnight on Monday evening, Mr Blair said the Government was adhering to scientific advice by preparing schools to open their doors again. 'They're right, I think, to be reopening the schools,' said Mr Blair. I don't think they would say that they're putting school opening above health risks. What they're doing is basing it on the evidence, actually. 'There are countries that have reopened parts, at least, of their school system. 'If you look at all the best evidence and again, my institutes assembled a lot of the different data on this, it's, especially for younger children, the risks of transmission are actually quite low.' Advertisement She stressed the results needed 'to be treated with caution' as the return to normal life was in its very early stages. UK officials say they hoped the evidence from other countries would reassure teachers. A source at the Department for Education said: 'We looked closely at international examples when drawing up our plans for a phased return. 'These initial findings from European countries are encouraging and suggest that our similarly cautious approach will minimise the risk of transmission.' The Government wants a phased reopening from June 1, with Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils going back first. Professor Van-Tam said children were not 'high-output transmitters' of Covid-19. After querying the science behind the reopening decision, union bosses last week had a private audience with Chief Medical officer Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. The NEU came away from the meeting saying its views were unchanged. Eight of his predecessors have backed reopenings and the Church of England said further delays could 'affect the mental, spiritual, physical and social wellbeing of children'. The bosses of 22 academy trusts have also warned how delays to reopening could cause irreparable damage to vulnerable children. In a letter to The Times, the group said: 'Since the lockdown, schools have exercised outstanding civic leadership. 'We have remained open for key workers' children; kept vulnerable children safe; delivered food parcels; taught online lessons; and kept in contact with pupils. 'But for any child, prolonged absence from school is concerning. For disadvantaged pupils, it is calamitous. If we do not take action and reopen schools soon, the impact of lost learning could be irreparable.' Steve Chalke of the Oasis Trust, which has 35 primary schools and is planning to restart on schedule, said: 'The Government published its advice on reopening. The unions countered with their five tests, which they said were designed to create the necessary confidence for parents and staff. 'Now the NEU have set out questions for teachers to ask their bosses, adding that if satisfactory answers are not forthcoming in all areas, then it will not be feasible or safe to extend opening until concerns are met. 'The Children's Commission has told them to stop squabbling and agree a plan. I agree. As a school leader, at this moment of crisis I need as do all parents cooperation and conversation rather than endless confrontation and conflict.' Former education secretary Lord Baker said: 'Teachers should go back to working a full day on June 1. Home-learning is favouring the 'haves' and not the 'have-nots'. Already two months of education have been lost and disadvantaged children will find it very challenging to catch up in a year so, the sooner they return the better.' The June 1 date applies only to England; schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are expected to go back later in the year. Kevin Courtney, the NEU's joint general secretary, said: 'The checklist is detailed because there are so many considerations to take into account when dealing with a school situation, particularly as we are looking at our youngest children going back first. 'Teachers and support staff will be responsible for ensuring safe practices are implemented, as young children will not be able to do so themselves. Parents would expect nothing less.' A DfE spokesman said: 'We have engaged closely with the unions throughout the past eight weeks, including organising for them to hear directly from the scientific experts last week, and will continue to do so, including to develop further guidance if required.' Children of essential workers eat lunch in segregated positions at a school in Worcester, but many schools are expected not to open more fully on June 1 The French Government feared that children and their futures would be damaged without school for two months Students wait outside Cassignol College before returning and resuming classes in Bordeaux, France - any child over the age of 11 must wear a mask British teachers are being urged to follow the lead of their French counterparts by going back to work and getting more than 1.4million children into class after two months in lockdown. Ministers across the Channel have revealed that they have had 70 cases of coronavirus in 40,000 schools and nurseries in the past 11 days and none of the children or staff are seriously ill. It came as parents have been told that when English schools reopen children still at home are unlikely to get any more online learning materials until September, when it is hoped all pupils will return. Emmanuel Macron's government agreed to open schools with their militant union chiefs having declared the country's children must not be 'the collateral victims' of the coronavirus crisis. The success of the back to school policy in France has been put down to a range of safeguards, including strict social distancing and use of masks, and will be examined closely in the UK where the Government is in an almighty battle with teaching unions over reopening schools in England on June 1. And across the 20-plus EU states where schools are open again there has been no spike in cases with experts saying there is only a small risk to teachers, children and their families. The chaos in the education system means that millions of parents remain in the dark over whether their children in reception, year 1 and year 6 will returning to school in just 13 days time. How has France got its children back into schools after lockdown? In France, the Government has decided: Masks are compulsory for all school children over the age of 11 - anyone below that doesn't have to wear one but will be provided with them if parents want them - or if they start showing any symptoms of illness; Classes are not allowed any more than 15 children and only one child per desk; Any school with a single case of coronavirus is closed immediately, the person is isolated and the areas cleaned before reopening; Advertisement In France around a quarter of the nation's school children have returned to class because they live in areas deemed less affected by the virus. It was a similar story in Belgium where primary and secondary schools have been told to restart smaller classes of final-year pupils under strict social distancing rules. Jean-Michel Blanquer, France's education minister, said there had been 70 cases of coronavirus in around 50 schools since reopening. A total of 70 schools were closed as a result, to stop further infection. 'This shows that our measures are as strict as we said they would be,' he said. Schools forced to shut included seven in the northern town of Roubaix, where just one boy was infected but was thought to have come into contact with pupils from other schools. He also insisted that children who had picked up Covid-19 had not caught it inside schools, where rigorous health measures are being enforced. Mr Blanquer added: 'It is absolutely essential that our children are not the collateral victims of health conditions.' A 57-page education ministry document has been handed to teachers explaining rules on social distancing. The 96 'departements', or regions, of the country were initially split into the green, yellow or red categories two weeks before lockdown was to be eased across France on May 11. By the time this date arrived, the yellow regions were allocated to either a green or red category. Green areas were allowed to reopen their primary schools on May 11, as well as ending some other lockdown restrictions, while red areas have had to keep schools closed. Around 185,000 middle school pupils in green zones also went back to class yesterday. Unlike in nursery and primary schools, all staff and pupils must wear masks. A girl wearing a face mask is pictured using hand gel from a dispenser as she arrives to school in Austria Schools in Denmark (pictured) have reopened primary schools and nurseries and the number of coronavirus cases are in fact decreasing Germany have opened schools for their older children, with some even taking examinations such as this biology class in Dortmund (above) Schools in Belgium (pictured) have been maintaining strict social distancing guidelines in their classrooms Reopening schools across Europe has not caused a spike in coronavirus cases. Evidence from 22 EU states that have restored classes suggests little or no risk to pupils, teachers or families. The revelation piles pressure on unions resisting plans to send younger children back from June 1. The National Education Union yesterday even claimed it was not safe for teachers to mark workbooks. But an EU meeting was told that the gradual return to school had not resulted in 'anything negative'. Denmark reopened primaries and nurseries a month ago and has seen infection rates continue to fall. Norway, which is outside the EU, has taken similar action without a rise. Around 1.4million French pupils went back to class last week and of around 40,000 schools and nurseries only 70 were closed again following virus cases. Germany has reopened schools for older children and plans to allow younger year groups back later in the summer term. Alan Smithers, a professor in education at the University of Buckingham, said: 'The unions have been asking for evidence, and this is it. 'So they should start cooperating fully with the Government so that our schools can open again as soon as possible.' The US is targeting the World Health Organization (WHO) to "shift the blame" from its own "incompetent response" to the coronavirus pandemic, said China on Tuesday hours after President Donald Trump accused the UN agency of showing "an alarming lack of independence" from Beijing. "The US tries to use China as an issue to shift responsibility and bargain on its international obligations to WHO", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing in Beijing. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. 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Digital Editor The four Wyoming Medical Center employees who have tested positive for coronavirus over the past week are all nurses, Natrona County health officer Dr. Mark Dowell said Tuesday. The hospital, the largest in the state, had not previously disclosed the employees positions, only saying that they worked with patients. Dowell also said in a Tuesday news conference that more than 100 other employees at the hospital have tested negative for the virus recently. We are still working on figuring out if there is any relationship and exactly what is going on there, he said. I want to make it very clear that this investigation is ongoing. We dont have definitive answers yet. This is all just evolving. Within the last few days, Dowell said, the hospital has set up a system so that everyone undergoing surgery at the hospital can be tested beforehand. Also, residents from Fremont County, which has confirmed more coronavirus cases than any other Wyoming county, are being tested before coming to WMC to have surgeries. However, there are no plans at this time to test conduct widespread testing of patients at the hospital. We have to preserve our ability to test, Dowell said. As a referral hospital, WMC is also susceptible to residents of other counties bringing the virus there, Dowell said. In a previous statement, the hospital said it made the decision to test all staff who had close contact with the two positive employees over the weekend. The four nurses with the disease are self-quarantining. The Casper-Natrona County Health Department is working collaboratively with the hospital to respond to the new cases, agency spokeswoman Hailey Bloom said. As far as cases with their employees, we are following up with the contact tracing on these individuals just as we would any new positive, she said in an email. So far, these new cases have largely been tested at one of WMCs facilities. The two entities are also working together on reaching out to patients who might have come into contact with the nurses who tested positive. Contact with potentially exposed patients is happening as quickly as possible, Bloom said. We are working collaboratively with the hospital on both making sure we identify and gather the information for anyone exposed and start to reach out to them, she said in an email. As you can imagine, this is quite a time intensive process that requires lots of people from both agencies working on both tracing and contact. The new cases are in addition to two other medical center employees and an emergency room doctor who were diagnosed earlier with the virus. The doctors case came to light last week after it was mentioned in an email provided to the Star-Tribune in an unrelated public records request. Natrona County has had a total of 51 confirmed cases since the pandemic began. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Brandon Foster Managing editor Brandon Foster is the Star-Tribune's managing editor. He joined the Star-Tribune in 2016 as the University of Wyoming sports reporter after graduating from the University of Missouri and covering Mizzou athletics for two years. Follow Brandon Foster Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today [See our map of coronavirus cases in California by county.] What is allowed in the red tier? The most significant difference between the purple and red tiers is that in the red tier, restaurants, museums and movie theaters can reopen indoors, at 25 percent capacity or 100 people whichever is fewer. Gyms can reopen indoors at 10 percent capacity. (In the purple tier, all of those are allowed to operate outdoors only.) Bars that dont serve food must remain closed. In both the purple and red tiers, though, wineries can operate outdoors, and starting Saturday, breweries and distilleries will also be able to open outside, too. In the purple tier, stores and shopping malls could be open indoors at 25 percent capacity; in the red tier, that can increase to 50 percent. In the red tier, indoor gatherings are strongly discouraged, but allowed, with a maximum of three households. And masks are still required when youre not eating or drinking. What is allowed in the orange and yellow tiers? Many of the aforementioned places can open indoors at higher capacity, including restaurants, which can be open at half capacity. In the orange tier, bars can reopen outdoors and smaller amusement parks can also open at 25 percent capacity. And in the yellow tier, bars will be able to open indoors at 25 percent capacity or 100 people, whichever is fewer, starting on Saturday. [See more from the state about which activities are allowed under each tier.] How quickly could even more restrictions be lifted? As part of the states latest restructuring of its vaccination campaign prioritizing communities where the spread of the virus is most rampant, officials announced new metrics and new, slightly looser restrictions for each color-coded reopening tier. The updated rules, which will take effect on April 1, are aimed at accelerating a return to whatever normal looks like after the pandemic. The new metrics will take into account the number of vaccinations administered to people who live in higher-risk, lower-income communities, according to a state index. Ahmaud Arbery, the black Georgia man who was fatally shot in February after being pursued by two white men, had an encounter with police in 2017 in which an officer tried to use a stun gun on him. Police body-camera footage from that incident shows a Glynn County police officer on patrol questioning Arbery about his sitting alone in his car in a park. Glynn County is on the Georgia coast about midway between Savannah, Georgia, and Jacksonville, Florida. The video, first reported on by The Guardian, and a police report on the incident were obtained by NBC News through an open records request. NBC News does not know what occurred before the events shown on the video. "You off work today?" the officer asks. Arbery responds: "I'm just rapping. Rapping in the park." At another point in the video, Arbery asks the officer why he is being questioned. "Why am I f---ing with you? You wanna know why I'm f---ing with you?" the officer asks, telling Arbery to get his hands out of his pocket. "I ain't got s--- on me," Arbery replies. "What the f--- you f---ing with me for?" Ahmaud Arbery. (Courtesy of Family) The officer tells Arbery that the area is known for drug activity. Arbery, who is wearing a hat, workout pants and a winter coat with no shirt, tells the officer that he is relaxing during his day off from work. The officer then checks Arbery for weapons and doesn't find any. Eventually, a second officer arrives, and Arbery tells them they cannot check his car. As Arbery walks toward the vehicle, the officers tell him not to reach for the car. Arbery backs away, and the second officer yells for Arbery to get his hands out of his pocket and then attempts to use his stun gun, but the device malfunctions. "Down. Warning, down," the second officer yells at Arbery who is standing with his arms outstretched and not saying anything. Arbery gets down on his knees. "I'm trying to ease my mind," Arbery says. "I rap. ... I got one day off a week. One day. I'm trying to chill on my day off. I'm up early in the morning trying to chill." Story continues The Glynn County Police Department declined Tuesday to comment on the footage and referred questions to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is conducting a probe into Arbery's killing on Feb. 23 in Brunswick, which is in Glynn County. Officers said in the police report for the 2017 incident that Arbery became "impatient" during the encounter and started to curse. The second officer used his stun gun to protect them from "the possibility of death" or serious bodily harm, the report states. The first officer wrote in the report that he saw a plastic bag with a "leafy substance inside" in the center console area of Arbery's vehicle, and that when the officer put his nose near a partially open window he could smell marijuana. The officers allowed Arbery to leave but would not let him drive his car because of a suspended license, according to the police report. Attorneys representing Arbery's family told NBC News in a joint statement on Tuesday that the video shows the officers harassing Arbery. "Mr. Arbery is rightfully upset by what he perceives as being approached for no legitimate reason. The officer acknowledges that he hasn't done anything wrong," the statement read. "Ahmaud Arbery maintains his composure, however, even when the second officer to arrive on the scene immediately escalates the situation, pulls out his Taser and attempts to use it on Mr. Arbery for no justifiable reason." The attorneys went on to say that the incident in the video shows the kind of scrutiny Arbery faced "not only by this police department, but ultimately regular citizens." Arbery, 25, was shot to death on Feb. 23 after being pursued by Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son, Travis, 34, in their pickup truck. The McMichaels were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. Arbery's family said he was out jogging, while the McMichaels said they thought he was a burglar, according to a Glynn County police report. The McMichaels armed themselves because they believed Arbery might have a gun, the police report said. George McMichael told officers that Arbery began to violently attack Travis, who fired after the two started fighting over the shotgun, according to the police report. The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked the Nagpur district collector and city commissioner of police to consider conducting COVID-19 tests on all medical and police personnel discharging duty in two containment zones here - Satranjipura and Mominpura. Justice R B Deo of the Nagpur bench of the HC said the testing shall be done as a pilot project. The court made the suggestion while hearing a petition filed by an NGO, Citizen Forum For Equality, seeking tests be conducted on frontline warriors in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic which include doctors, nurses, para-medical staff, pharmacists and police personnel. The petitioners lawyer, Tushar Mandlekar, argued that these professionals should be considered as high-risk contacts as they are discharging duties in containment zones, hospitals and quarantine institutions and hence they should be tested for the viral infection. Government pleader S Y Deopujari told the court that every precaution is taken by the Maharashtra government to ensure that medical and police personnel who are working in containment zones and high-risk areas are given necessary equipment for self-protection. The court noted that presently only symptomatic health care workers and other frontline personnel involved in containment and mitigation of COVID-19 are to be tested. It would be appropriate if the district collector and the Commissioner of Police, Nagpur, take an appropriate decision on conducting such tests on the medical and police personnel working or discharging duty in the two containment zones of Mominpura and Satranjipura, as a pilot project, the court said. The court added that the collector and police commissioner shall inform it of their decision on May 22. "In my considered view, which of course is a prima facie view, presently the medical and police personnel are doing what the bravehearts of the armed forces do day in and day out, ie answering the call of duty at the risk of falling prey to the deadly virus, Justice Deo said. The society in general and the state in particular owes it to the frontline warriors to take all possible measures to minimise, if not obliterate, the threat of infection, assuming arguendo (for sake of argument) that the advisory or guidelines issued by ICMR do not cover the frontline warriors till the symptoms are manifested, the court said. Justice Deo said the state would be expected to take additional measures for their protection and go beyond the guidelines in this regard. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) This year marks the 75th anniversary of the United States victory over Germany and Japan in World War II, and the celebrations, the movies and the memorials will focus on the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific. But one of the most consequential battles of the war did not take place overseas. It was waged about 35 miles north of Chicagoand its outcome forever changed the U.S. Navy. In early 1944, as the United States prepared for the invasion of France, 16 African American sailors, summoned from shore installations and training schools across the country, were brought to the main office at Great Lakes Naval Training Center and told they had been selected for Officer Candidate School. It was a startling assignment. A black man had graduated the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1877 and the Army had its first black general in 1940. But when World War II began, African Americans were not even allowed to enlist in the Navys general service. They were relegated to messmen: cooks and waiters whose chief function was to serve whites. Just two years later, thanks to pressure from civil rights leaders and the black press, the Navy told these 16 enlistees the sons and grandsons of slaves that they would attempt to integrate the officer corps and prove wrong the prevailing wisdom, which held that their race was incapable of discipline and unworthy of rank. The story of the Navys first black officers remains little known, overshadowed by the heroism of the Tuskegee Airmen and Pattons Panthers. But their success, both as candidates and as officers, forever changed what was possible for African American sailors and anticipated the coming civil rights movement. These officer candidates were not career military men. Prior to the war, they were metalsmiths, teachers, lawyers, college students, men who had witnessed lynchings and been denied jobs because of their skin, men who were segregated and humiliated even after enlisting. But when the opportunity to break the Navys most rigid color barrier was presented, they swore theyd work harder than they ever had for their own sake, for the countless souls who fought to make this moment possible and for the all the black men yet to come. Story continues We were the hopes and aspirations of the blacks in the Navy, William Sylvester White recalled 30 years later. We were the forerunners. What we did or did not do determined whether the program expanded or failed. William Sylvester White Jr. in Chicago during World War II. | Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images There were roughly 100,000 black men in the Navy in January 1944. If any were ever to wear the gold stripes, to command a warship or graduate the Naval Academy, then this experiment would have to succeed. The candidates training was the culmination of an unprecedented four-year push by civil rights leaders who demanded to know why black parents should sacrifice their sons to free Europe for a Democratic ideal that didnt exist in the United States. We want democracy in Alabama, Arkansas, in Mississippi and Michigan, in the District of Columbia, in the Senate of the United States, the NAACP editorialized in 1940. Even after Pearl Harbor and the formal declaration of war, many African Americans found that the calls to defend democracy rang hollow, while the German talk of a superior race sounded strikingly familiar. The black press, a formidable political force whose influence in the African American community was rivaled only by the church, launched the Double V campaign, telling millions of readers that a true victory for democracy would only be gained if it was won both overseas and at home. Ordinary citizens wrote their congressmen, senators, the President and his cabinet to protest a policy that deemed their sons who were eager to enlist in the Navy fit only to wash dishes or scrub floors. It seems to me that that is a very cold and ugly situation, J. E. Branham, a realtor from Cleveland, wrote Navy Secretary Frank Knox. Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter Their persistence led to 16 African American men being escorted to a Great Lakes barracks, which had 16 cots, 16 footlockers and one long table with 16 chairs. This was their home and their school. They were segregated from white officer candidates and separated from other black enlisted men. They were ordered to tell no one but their families what they were attempting. They were supposed to be in bed with the lights out at 10:30 p.m., but well past that hour, they sat together in the bathroom, flashlights in hand, studying seamanship, navigation, gunnery, naval regulation and naval law. They draped sheets over the windows so no one outside would notice the light. They were intent on proving that their selection was justified, Sam Barnes said, during the groups first reunion in 1977, and that we werent a party to tokenism. The men, who ranged in age from 23 to 36 years old, mastered in only a few weeks what many white candidates studied for years. As their training drew to a close in March 1944, the group was posting grades like no other officer class in history. Their marks were so good, in fact, that some in Washington did not believe they could be real. The men were forced to take some exams a second time. They scored even higher, a collective 3.89 out of 4.0, the highest average of any class in Navy history. Read More: These Photos of a Segregated U.S. Navy Unit Were Lost for Decades. They Still Have a Story to Tell Despite their success in the classroom, Navy officials decided that only 12 would be commissioned and a 13th would be made a warrant officer. No official explanation was ever given as to why three men were dropped from the programbut the decision meant that the first group of black officers, a group that passed with flying colors, would have the same completion rate as an average white class. Their initial success did not mean these groundbreaking black ensigns would be spared future slights. They were refused housing, prohibited from officers clubs and denied a chance to prove their mettle in combat. They were given make-work assignments: running drills, giving lectures on venereal disease and patrolling the waters off the California coast in a converted yacht. White enlisted men crossed the street to avoid saluting. The Navy kept their commissioning a quiet affair. There were no graduation exercises, no ceremonies, no celebrations. The Navy did nothing to promote their achievements even as they earned plaudits from their superiors and distinguished themselves in their post-war careers. For three decades, they were known only as those Negro officers of, later, as those black officers. It wasnt until the 1970s that the Navy feted these men as symbols of pride and progress, a recruiting tool to inspire a new generation. Prior to their first reunion in 1977, Captain Edward Sechrest, a Vietnam veteran who was assigned to the Navy Recruiting Command, coined the term Golden Thirteen, a bit of ingenious PR that gave the group a catchy nickname the Navy could use to tout their achievements. Their annual reunions garnered some press but, as the men began to pass, their story faded from memory. Few today are aware of the Golden Thirteen or their contribution to the Navy and the nation. Still, the lessons they imparted are more resonant than ever before. At a time of national trial, the Golden Thirteen remind us that our capacity for success isnt limited by politics or preconceived notions, that heroes arent only found in cockpits and tanks and that, often, the most important victories for Democracy are those won off the battle field. Beacon Dan C. Goldberg, a journalist for Politico, is the author of The Golden Thirteen: How Black Men Won the Right to Wear Navy Gold, available now from Beacon Press. An ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on Monday apologised to Premium Times for erroneously inviting the newspaper to an investigative hearing. The committee had in a May 12 letter invited the paper over the unproven allegation by the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation offered the House a $10 million inducement to pass the infectious diseases bill. On receipt of the summon at the companys headquarters in Abuja, two top officials of Premium Times separately telephoned the clerk of the committee, Ezennia Nwanekezie, at different times, to explain that the invitation was baseless and unwarranted since the paper did not publish any article on the matter being investigated by his panel. But Mr Nwanekezie insisted he acted based on the instructions from committee members. He said Premium Times was free to send in a written complaint about the invitation. The committee did not reply to the complaint letter, the companys Head of Operations, Oti Omatsone, said. Premium Times Editor-in-Chief, Musikilu Mojeed, said the newspaper nonetheless honoured the invitation out of respect for the House and the Committee. At the hearing, Mr Mojeed challenged the committee to present evidence that the paper published the said story. He said his paper was shocked and disappointed that the House could drag it into a matter it knew nothing about. READ ALSO: Responding, the chairman of the investigative panel, Henry Nwawuoba (PDP, Imo) said Mr Mojeeds disclosure was breaking news to his committee. He immediately apologised for the erroneous invitation, saying his panel would conduct an internal investigation to determine how and why the misrepresentation occurred. He commended Premium Times for its show of respect and demonstration of professionalism. After the hearing, another member of the committee also apologised to Mr Mojeed, saying that the mixup came from the clerk of the committee. Meanwhile, the committee also invited four other media organizations, two of which were absent The Nation and Leadership Newspapers. But Daily Post and Vanguard Newspapers apologised for publishing stories on the allegations. The latter said it had retracted the online version of the story having refrained from getting it into print format. The Country Representative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Paulin Basinga, who was first to testify at the hearing, said there was no interaction whatsoever between himself or his Foundation and the House. To be clear, the Foundation has not offered any financial incentives to any member of Nigerias legislative branch for the passage of legislation nor has it offered any grants to organisations in Nigeria in connection with the same, Mr Basinga told the panel. The spokesperson of CUPP, Imo Ugochinyere, who made the allegation, was absent at the hearing. He was represented by his groups legal counsel, Tochukwu Uhazurike. The committee, however, rejected the representation by Mr Uhazurike, saying that arrangement was not in line with the rules of the House. The hearing has now been rescheduled to Thursday, a date the committee said Mr Ugochinyere must appear before it with evidence of inducement as alleged by him or face a charge of contempt of parliament. Tell your principal to make himself available by Thursday, Chairman Nwawuoba told CUPPs counsel, failure of which we will turn in our recommendation to the House. A highly-contagious virus is threatening to destroy wild and domestic rabbit populations across the United States. Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease virus type 2 is believed to have spread to the U.S. from Europe, and was first reported to have killed wild rabbits in New Mexico back in March. In the months since, the virus has killed thousands of wild rabbits and hares in Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. Last week, the Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed that the disease has now spread to California, after the carcasses of 20 black-tailed jack rabbits were discovered on a property in Palm Springs. The disease is also killing domestic rabbits. Nearly 500 pet rabbits have been killed by the virus in New Mexico alone. The Agriculture Department estimates that there are around 6.7 million pet rabbits owned by households across the U.S. Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease virus type 2 can cause seizures, fever and internal swelling and bleeding. Some dead rabbits are discovered with blood near their noses and mouths. Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease virus type 2 is threatening to destroy wild and domestic rabbit populations across the United States. A wild cottontail rabbit is pictured. There are 16 different species of rabbits in the U.S., numbering in the millions Wildlife experts have stressed that the virus is not transmissible to humans, and has no connection to the COVID-19 outbreak currently spreading across the United States. However, like the coronavirus, Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease is extremely contagious and can be spread via asymptomatic carriers. While rabbits are most likely to spread the virus among themselves - via their pelts and feces - it is also able to be transmitted by insects and scavengers that have come into contact with the infected animals. Experts are encouraging domestic rabbit owners to keep the pets indoors to mitigate the risks of infection. While the exact number of deaths caused by Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease virus type 2 is not yet known, experts fear it could be hugely detrimental to both domestic and wild rabbit populations in the U.S. There could also be run-on effects. Plants s that rabbits graze on may overgrow, and predators who eat rabbits - such as bobcats, foxes and mountain lions - could lose a valuable food source. While the exact number of deaths caused by Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease virus type 2 is not yet known, experts fear it could be hugely detrimental to both domestic and wild rabbit populations in the U.S. A Riparian brush rabbit is pictured. The animals are already endangered, and now face a new threat 'Rabbits, wherever they're found, tend to have a relatively robust impact on their environment... Whether the impact of the virus is such that we'll see very dramatic ecological changes as a result is still an unknown,' Matt Gompper, a disease ecologist and head of the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology, told CNN. Rabbit hemorrhagic disease first emerged in China in 1984. The current strain - virus type 2 - was initially detected in France in 2010. There have been small outbreaks among pet rabbits in the U.S. in the past that have been able to be contained. It is unclear how it has now spread to wild rabbit populations across the United States. 'We hear rumors of underground rabbit transport, and there are folks that do import rabbits from Europe': Experts are trying to figure out how the current outbreak occurred New Mexico veterinarian Ralph Zimmerman told The New York Times: 'We hear rumors of underground rabbit transport, and there are folks that do import rabbits from Europe'. 'Our concern is that somebody brought them in, they were carrying the virus during transport. If one of them died, they pitched it out and boom, we infect the wild rabbits and away we go.' However, there may be some hope on the horizon. Vaccines for the virus are available in Europe, and some states are now urgently petitioning for the injections to be approved in the U.S. ALPENA, MI At least one Northern Michigan town isnt going to let its summer traditions fizzle out in the face of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The Alpena Municipal Council is allowing funds to be raised for the citys annual Fourth of July fireworks show along Lake Huron in the northern Lower Peninsula, the Associated Press reports. Meanwhile, some other communities have already called off their Fourth of July fireworks. RELATED: Fourth of July celebration canceled by Grand Rapids-area suburb amid coronavirus pandemic The goal is to raise $23,000 by May 28. The Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce sold bracelets last week to raise money, the report said. LaFarge North America, which operates a cement plant in Alpena, will match donations up to $12,000. The event has been woven into the fabric of the Alpena community for generations, Lafarge said in a statement. RELATED: Schoolcraft cancels 4th of July festivities due to coronavirus concerns Alpena is part of a region of Northern Michigan that will be allowed to partially reopen on Friday, May 22, per an announcement from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer today, May 18. Whitmer announced that the Upper Peninsula and the northern Lower Peninsula will be allowed to reopen in-person retail while bars and restaurants will be able to operate with restrictions. Gatherings of up to 10 people will also be allowed. In advance of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, Gov. Whitmer has announced a partial reopening of Michigan's Upper... Posted by MLive.com on Monday, May 18, 2020 READ MORE: Whitmer poised to announce partial reopening plans for northern Michigan If second round of stimulus payments is approved, how much could you get? Coast Guard shares breathtaking cockpit video of Traverse City helicopter flyover Michigan priest who used holy water squirt gun becomes social media sensation ISTANBUL, May 19 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish expert has urged other countries across the world to learn from China's experience in eradicating poverty, which he called "one of China's biggest achievements." "Reducing the number of the poor is an ongoing and positive process that has affected hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens over the years," Altay Atli, an Asia-Pacific expert and academic at Istanbul's Bogazici University, told Xinhua in a recent interview. According to official data, China has lifted more than 700 million people out of poverty over the past several decades, representing over 70 percent of global poverty reduction. Over the past four years, China has relocated 9.3 million poor rural residents to more inhabitable areas, 9.2 million of whom later got rid of poverty, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning body, said in March. Noting that China can share its experience in poverty alleviation with other nations, Atli stressed that "each country has its own environment and should address it (poverty) in their own way." "Turkey is also fighting for decades to eradicate poverty and is trying to implement an inclusive economic development scheme, integrating all components of the society, without regional distinctions," the expert said. Regarding the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the global economy hard, he said that "promising economic data has started to come from China, especially in the production area after a hiatus." Noting the entire world is going through a very tough period because of the pandemic, Atli said there are "great uncertainties regarding global economy as supply and demand have been disrupted." "China should continue to supply high value-added technological products for users across the globe, because this is what the world would need and value after this pandemic," he said. By Byron Kaye SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australians in the country's most populated state began their first full week of loosened coronavirus lockdown measures on Monday, with officials urging commuters returning to offices to avoid catching peak hour trains and buses. New South Wales (NSW) state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said people should travel in off-peak times, ride bicycles or drive to work to prevent overcrowding on public transport. Australia's states and territories are beginning to allow more public activity under a three-step government plan after two months of shutdowns that officials have credited with keeping the country's exposure to the pandemic relatively low. NSW, which includes Australia's most populous city Sydney, reported just one new infection in the previous 24 hours. The state also reported one additional death, the first nationally in almost a week, taking the nationwide toll to 99 from 7,060 infections. "We normally encourage people to catch public transport but given the constraints in the peak and the fact we are exercising social distancing, we want people to consider different ways to get to work," Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. "Places in and around the CBD (central business district), but also in employment hubs, will be investigated and more pop-up parking stations will be made available," she added. Berejiklian gave little detail about the proposed "pop-up" parking lots, which were among plans that also included more cycleways. For people still catching trains and buses, the government is ordering "intense and ongoing cleaning" across the public transport network, she said. NSW SCHOOLS TO REOPEN Her comments came as the number of new coronavirus cases reported nationwide slows to fewer than 20 a day, encouraging NSW to announce that all school children would return to full-time face-to-face teaching on May 25. Neighbouring Victoria state, which along with NSW accounts for more than half Australia's 25 million population, reported six new cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours to Monday. Story continues Twelve McDonald's Australia restaurants in Victoria were closed after a delivery driver tested positive to the illness, local media reported. McDonald's Australia CEO Andrew Gregory was quoted in local media as saying the driver was not symptomatic and that no McDonald's diners were at risk of contracting the illness from the driver. McDonald's Australia is a separate corporate entity to McDonald's Corp. A row was brewing between NSW and its northern neighbour Queensland after the latter's leader, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the state border could be closed until September. Queensland reported two new cases over the past 24 hours. In response, NSW's Berejiklian said there was a benefit to retaining the national border closure only. Australia is among dozens of countries pushing for an investigation into the origins of the new coronavirus when the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organisation (WHO), meets in Switzerland this week for its first annual meeting since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The issue has led to a diplomatic spat with China, where the virus first emerged. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Monday she was "very encouraged by the growing levels of support" for the inquiry. (Reporting by Byron Kaye and Renju Jose; editing by Jane Wardell) / -- With a steep rise in the number of people making digital payments amid the lockdown, incidents of glitches in payment processing, hacking and data breaches have also increased tremendously. India has witnessed not only a surge in the number of transactions but the number of downloads of digital payment platforms have also almost doubled. According to a research report published by CLSA, these numbers had already jumped three-fold over the last two years to 3 billion transactions a month. This is because of many first-time users, who were earlier not very keen on making digital payments are now due to social distancing measures, have to pay online for buying essentials. Although most forms of digital payments have now become relatively secure, but the risk of online frauds still remain high. To ensure customers are financially covered in case their payment information is compromised, Bajaj Finserv is offering an affordable solution called Fraudulent Charges Cover. Offering a coverage of up to Rs. 75,000 at a nominal premium of Rs. 299 per year, the Fraudulent Charges Cover offered by Bajaj Finance Ltd., the lending and investment arm of Bajaj Finserv, provides customers with a safety net if they ever fall prey to an incident of unauthorised charges made on their credit or debit card or any payment card. Fraudulent Charges Cover offered under Pocket Insurance & Subscriptions, offers a host of benefits to the customers such as: Reimbursement claim: Customers can get reimbursement of unauthorised charges done on their bank or credit card account, using their information through in-store purchases, telephone purchases, ATM withdrawals or online purchase. They can also get reimbursement of unauthorized charges made on their stolen card, 24 hours prior to their first reporting the event to card issuer, and up to 7 days post reporting the same. Hassle-free application process: Applying for this plan is an all-online and hassle-free process. All one needs to do is fill up the online application form and make payment for the premium. Customers can pay their premiums easily via multiple options such as UPI, Mobile Wallets, Credit/Debit cards. Including Fraudulent Charges Cover, Bajaj Finserv is offering 85 plans that cover every day risks under their Pocket Insurance and Subscription product portfolio. It covers categories like wellness, travel, health and lifestyle. Customers can pick policies which best suit their requirement with pocket-friendly premiums starting at just Rs. 79. About Bajaj Finance Limited Bajaj Finance Limited, the lending company of Bajaj Finserv group, is one of the most diversified NBFCs in the Indian market catering to more than 40 million customers across the country. Headquartered in Pune, the company's product offering includes Consumer Durable Loans, Lifestyle Finance, Digital Product Finance, Personal Loans, Loan against Property, Small Business Loans, Home loans, Credit Cards, Two-wheeler and Three-wheeler Loans, Commercial lending/SME Loans, Loan against Securities and Rural Finance which includes Gold Loans and Vehicle Refinancing Loans along with Fixed Deposits. Bajaj Finance Limited prides itself on holding the highest credit rating of FAAA/Stable for any NBFC in the country today. It is also the only NBFC in India with the international 'BBB' with stable outlook for long-term, by S&P Global Rating. To know more, please visit: https://www.bajajfinserv. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: Turkey exported 12,886 tons of petroleum and petroleum oils totaling $8.5 million to Georgia from January through April 2020, Trend reports referring to Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat). Over the same period last year, 9,173 tons of petroleum and petroleum oils were imported by Georgia from Turkey for a total amount of $7.3 million. Turkey ranks first in Georgias commodity circulation in the reporting period. From January through April 2020, total imports from Turkey to Georgia amounted to $406.02 million. In turn, Georgia exported goods worth $63.27 million to Turkey. The foreign trade turnover of Georgia with Turkey in the reporting period exceeded $469.3 million, which is 13.5 percent of Georgia's total trade turnover. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 The Defence Headquarters says the Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD) on Monday neutralised scores of Boko Haram terrorists on the outskirts of Dapchi Town in Yobe State. The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, John Enenche, a major general, who made this known in a statement on Tuesday, said the airstrike also destroyed two terrorists gun trucks in the attack. Mr Enenche said the air operation was conducted following an attack by the terrorists in about five vehicles on Dapchi town. He said a Helicopter Gunship scrambled to engage the terrorists, scored direct hits on their vehicles, destroying two of them and killing the occupants. The Chief of the Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, an air marshal, has commended the Air Task Force for their professionalism. He also directed them to remain resolute towards eradicating the terrorists from the North East, he said. (NAN) A drop in tourism during the coronavirus crisis is making it more difficult for some organizations to protect threatened wildlife in Africa. Wildlife officials fear poaching activity will rise because the collapse of the travel industry leaves less money for guarding animals. In Kenya, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy project is home to more than 130 black rhinos. It forms the single largest group of the animals in East and Central Africa. We are more alert because maybe more poachers will use this time to come in to poach, said John Tekeles. He is a guard at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy. His comments were reported by The Associated Press (AP). African rhinos have long been under threat from poachers who kill them for their horns. The illegal trade is fueled by the belief, in some cultures, that the horns have medicinal value which has not been proven by science. The number of black rhinos in Africa has been slowly increasing. But a report in March by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN, said it still considered the animals critically endangered. In part, the organization credits the comeback of the rhinos to effective law enforcement. However, Ol Pejetas director, Richard Vigne, said enforcement measures are very costly. He said he spends about $10,000 each year for every rhino to pay for the protection. In our case, that comes to close to $2 million a year, Vigne told the AP. In the time of COVID, when tourism has completely stopped, where most of our revenue comes from tourismits a complete disaster. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. The conservancy expects to lose $3 to $4 million this year. Vigne said the loss severely limits the groups ability to protect the rhinos. Wildlife activists across Africa are now waiting to see how poachers will react to the current situation, and whether more rare wildlife will be killed. Poaching of African rhinos had been decreasing in recent years, the IUCN reported. The group said there were 892 acts of poaching in 2018, down from a high of 1,349 in 2015. The IUCN said the population of black rhinos grew at a yearly rate of 2.5 percent between 2012 and 2018. Now, there are more than 5,600 animals. That growth was predicted to continue over the next five years, the environmental group said. Im Bryan Lynn. The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story tourism n. the business of visiting a place for pleasure poach v. to catch and kill animals without permission on someone elses land alert n. quick to see, understand or act in a particular situation critically adv. in a way that is serious or bad endangered adj. in danger of being harmed or lost revenue n. the profits made from a business I think where people try to say, Well, she was a lawyer that worked at Mayer Brown, how can she relate to people in the city? She didnt grow up as a Mayer Brown attorney, Reiter said. She grew up as a kid from Ohio whose dad was a janitor and whose mom was a health care worker. She saw her mom get elected to the school board, engaged in trying to be a leader in her community. I think Loris a good ally to have in the fight for the soul of our neighborhoods in Chicago. LOS ANGELES, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Mercury Insurance (NYSE: MCY) announced it is extending its Giveback Program for California customers through May 31, 2020, bringing the total giveback to over $80 million countrywide. The company will automatically credit customers' accounts, providing much needed relief during this time. "California drivers continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and we see that our claims volume is below normal as drivers observe stay-at-home orders throughout the state," said Mercury Insurance President and CEO, Gabriel Tirador. "Although some restrictions are slowly being lifted, we anticipate driving will continue to be below normal through the end of the month. Accordingly, we are extending our Giveback Program to help provide some financial relief for our customers and demonstrate to them that they can count on us in their time of need." To learn more about the company's response to COVID-19, please visit www.mercuryinsurance.com. ABOUT MERCURY INSURANCE Mercury Insurance (MCY) is a multiple-line insurance organization predominantly offering personal automobile, homeowners and commercial insurance through a network of independent agents in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Texas and Virginia. Since 1962, Mercury has specialized in offering quality insurance at affordable prices. For more information visit www.mercuryinsurance.com or Facebook.com/MercuryInsurance and follow the company on Twitter. SOURCE Mercury Insurance Related Links http://www.mercuryinsurance.com US P-8A Poseidon spy aircraft detected near Russian military base in Syria Iran Press TV Monday, 18 May 2020 4:55 PM Russian air defense forces have reportedly spotted a US military reconnaissance aircraft flying in close proximity to the strategic Hmeimim air base in Syria's western coastal province of Latakia. The Boeing P-8A Poseidon was on a reconnaissance mission near the coast of Syria, when it was detected, Sputnik news agency said, citing a report by the flight monitoring data website PlaneRadar. The report added that the military aircraft had taken off from Naval Air Station Sigonella on the Italian island of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. It then flew towards Syria and approached Hmeimim air base. The flight took more than half an hour. There was no immediate account on the possible reaction of Russian military officials to this report. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on April 20 that a Russian fighter jet had intercepted a US Navy surveillance aircraft flying near Hmeimim air base. The statement added that the Russian fighter shadowed the US spy plane and returned to its air base, after the American aircraft changed its course. "The aircraft of Russia's Aerospace Force have performed and will continue to perform all flights in strict compliance with the international rules of using the airspace over neutral waters," the ministry added. Russia has been helping Syrian forces in the ongoing anti-terror battles across the conflict-plagued Arab country. The Russian military assistance, which began in September 2015 at the official request of the Syrian government, has proved effective as Syrians continue to recapture key areas from terrorist groups across the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Advertisement To help relieve itchy feet brought on by extended stays at Costa Del Sofa, Google has pointed out that it has over 10 million miles of Street View imagery available for exploration. And some of it can even be explored with professional guides who have taken their tours virtual. Google says that in the past 60 days it has seen Google Search interest spike more than 700 per cent for virtual tours worldwide. But it says that these virtual tours only scratch the surface of what's available in Street View. Here we're presenting some of the most fascinating and thrilling places it's possible to gaze at using this tool, as chosen by Google Street View Program Manager Valentina Frassi. Writing in a blog post, Ms Frassi, who travels the world collecting imagery with the Street View camera, says: 'While travel is now out of the question for many, that doesn't mean exploring and learning about our world has to stop. Today, I'm inviting people worldwide to take time for a virtual travel day on Street View. When I drop into a new place with Street View, it shakes up my routine, broadens my perspective, makes me feel more creative and brings a smile to my face.' Scroll down to see some of her favourite places to travel to in Street View, from Norway to New Zealand via the USA. A Google Street view of the Seven Mile Bridge - the longest bridge in the Florida Keys. Its length? Well, it's actually 6.79 miles, slightly shorter than the original, which can be seen on the right One of the stunning waterfalls on Milford Track, a popular hiking route in Fiordland National Park on New Zealand's South Island, as seen on Google Street View The jaw-dropping Pyramids of Giza site in Egypt includes the almighty Great Pyramid, built using 2.3million stone blocks and reaching a height of 481 feet A Street View of the Eiffel Tower, which is 1,063 ft (324m) high. It is named after Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower The stunning 15th-century citadel of Machu Picchu, Peru's most-visited destination and a Unesco heritage site The beautiful Batalha Monastery in the Leiria district of Portugal, which dates back to 1396. It took over 100 years to build The stunning Kegon Waterfall, which is located at Lake Chuzenji in Nikko National Park near the city of Nikko in Japan. The falls are almost 328ft (100m) high The stunning Doi Angkhang mountain, which is located in Chang Mai, Thailand. It straddles both sides of the Thai/Burmese border A climber scales Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe, which stands at 15,774ft. It lies on the border between France and Italy The ancient Mayan kingdom of Tikal in Guatemala sits deep in the jungle and was made a Unesco world heritage site in 1979 Inside the beautiful Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. Work on the building started in 1882 and is still ongoing Inside the fascinating St Stephen's Basilica in Budapest, which is the third-largest church in Hungary and capable of holding 8,500 people. The views from the dome are, by all accounts, spectacular The stark landscape surrounding the Ruta Provincial 74 road, which runs south-east of the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires The stunning scenery of County Wicklow in Ireland as seen from the R759 road, which runs through the Wicklow Mountains Road 63, pictured, is a winding country road in western Norway. The road stretches for 62 miles (100km) and takes in sights such as the famous Geirangerfjord The picture-perfect landscape of Quttinirpaaq National Park in Canada. It is known for its extensive glaciers, ice caps and desert-like conditions Petra in Jordan is one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. It was unknown to the West until 1812. Inside there are around 800 tombs Carthage in Tunisia was founded in the ninth century and developed, says Unesco, into a great trading empire that covered much of the Mediterranean The mesmerising Northern Lights seen above the skies of Pitkajarvi lake in Finland. The lake is popular with canoeists The Stelvio Pass (Passo dello Stelvio) is a mountain pass in northern Italy at an elevation of 2,757m (9,045ft). It is one of the highest road passes in Europe, affording drivers and cyclists incredible views, as this image reveals Moraine Lake, pictured, can be found in Canada's Banff National Park. It sits at a lofty elevation of 6,183 feet The Badshahi Mosque, on the outskirts of the walled city of Lahore in Pakistan, is widely considered to be one of Lahore's most recognisable landmarks This is Ta Prohm Temple in Cambodia's mesmerising 12th-century 'City of Temples', Angkor Wat, which at 402 acres is the world's largest religious monument The Itsukushima Shrine is a Shinto shrine on the Japanese island of Itsukushima. It is is one of Japan's most popular tourist attractions A Perth man has been charged over a head-on collision that killed a pregnant woman and her unborn baby, and seriously injured two others. Maddie Morgan, 21, was the passenger of her boyfriend Jack Bryant's Nissan Skyline when it was T-boned by a Ford Falcon sedan in Mahogany Creek in Perth on Friday. The driver of the Falcon, a 23-year-old man from Swan View, has been charged over the crash and is due to face court on June 17. He was charged with two counts of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death, aggravated dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm, and aggravated dangerous driving causing bodily harm. Mr Bryant, 23, was turning off the Great Eastern Highway about 7.45pm when the Ford, which was coming down a hill, smashed into his car. The couple (pictured) were excited to meet their unborn child early next month Miss Morgan and her unborn child died on Friday night after a car they were in collided into them (pictured with boyfriend Mr Bryant) Their Nissan Skyline (pictured) split in half after it was t-boned by a Ford Falcon on Friday The impact split the Skyline in two and his pregnant girlfriend was taken to Midland Hospital with critical injuries were she and her baby died. Mr Bryant suffered life-threatening head and chest injuries and was taken to Royal Perth Hospital. The Ford Falcon driver and his 19-year-old passenger were also taken to Royal Perth Hospital with serious injuries, while another teenage passenger was uninjured. A third female teenage passenger was miraculously unharmed in the accident. An off-duty nurse who was travelling behind them witnessed the crash and helped the couple before paramedics arrived. First responder John Walker said: 'My heart goes out the to the family, it really does. The horrific crash killed Miss Morgan 'It didn't need to happen. It's a waste.' He also told 9News that the sound of the crash was like 'a bomb going off'. Mr Morgan is out of intensive care but remains in a serious condition. The couple's Skyline was found split in two with wreckage from the car strewn around the crash scene. Friends of Miss Morgan and Mr Bryant visited the crash scene on Saturday and laid flowers for them. 'He was happy to be a dad and happy to be starting this new stage in his life,' one friend told 7News. 'To just take it away like that, it's not even fair.' Maddie Morgan, 21, was eight-months pregnant and travelling with boyfriend Jack Bryant, 23, (both pictured) when their their Nissan Skyline was T-boned by a Ford Falcon sedan Tributes also poured in on Facebook. Kala Kinley said: 'Rest in Peace Maddie...you will be missed you beautiful girl. I'm so sorry this happened to you.' Mirelle Veenhoven-van Gemeren said: 'So horrible, rest in peace Maddie, was shocked when your son told us about it, both close mates of him. Condolences to the family and all friends.' Petrina Tennent said: 'So very sad such a tragedy! RIP. Young life cut so very short. Condolences to all family and friends.' Anyone with dashcam footage or witnessed the crash is still urged to come forward. BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 18: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, seen present live via video, speak to the media at the Chancellery during the coronavirus crisis on May 18, 2020. A "strong political signal," a "big step forward," and a "historic" moment these are just some reactions to the latest plan from France and Germany to set up a coronavirus relief fund in Europe. The idea is to task the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), to raise 500 billion euros ($545 billion) in public markets. This money would then be used as grants for sectors and regions where the impact of the coronavirus has been most stark. The allocation of these funds would be done via the European budget a common basket that receives contributions from all the 27 member countries and which finances projects across the region. "The plan amounts to a historic step by Germany away from its long-held opposition to mutual debt to fund other EU member states," analysts at Eurasia group, a research firm, said in a note Monday. In the wake of the coronavirus economic crisis, several European countries including Italy, Spain and France have pushed for "corona bonds" a financial instrument that would combine different national debts and would be sold as one bond in public markets. Tweet 2 It has been fiercely opposed by nations such as the Netherlands, Austria and Germany. They argued that linking their finances to nations with very high public debts would be too risky for their own taxpayers and the plan was against European treaties. This argument had been used before, in particular in the aftermath of the region's sovereign debt crisis of 2011. At the time, some countries were at risk of bankruptcy and other European nations were reluctant to take on too much risk to help them. "The German Chancellor was eager to point out that the 500 billion euros would be debt raised by the Commission and spent through the EU budget in the normal way. Without saying so, she was making a distinction with the idea of mutual debt taken on by EU governments, or so called 'Corona bonds'," Eurasia analysts said. Los Angeles, May 19 : Actress Mindy Kaling will be co-writing the script for Reese Witherspoons "Legally Blonde 3" along with Dan Goor. Witherspoon is also attached to the project since 2018 and is set to return as sorority girl-turned-lawyer Elle Woods. She will also produce the film through her banner, Hello Sunshine production company. Mindy and Goor aren't working on a "makeover, nor are they doing touch-ups". They will add a fresh spin to their version of the screenplay, reports deadline.com. "Legally Blonde", which followed the life of a sorority girl who tries to win her boyfriend back by getting a law degree from Harvard University, was a huge success when it released in 2001. The first film also starred Luke Wilson, Selma Blair, Matthew Davis, Victor Garber, Jennifer Coolidge and a Chihuahua named Bruiser, owned by Witherspoon's character. MGM released its sequel "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde" in 2013. Mindy and Goor are also partnering on Mindy and Priyanka Chopra's upcoming wedding comedy. Recently, Mindy earned applause for her OTT comedy series "Never Have I Ever", which she co-created with Lang Fisher. For "Never Have I Ever", Mindy has used her "relationship with being Hindu" and the experience of "Straddling the lines of two cultures" to narrate the story of 15-year-old Devi, a first-generation Indian American, and her desperation to feel that she belongs in the society, and her journey to shed her reputation as "unf***able nerd". With Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan and Richa Moorjani leading the cast, the coming-of-age story examines Indian culture, its values and grief through the story of Devi as she navigates the ups and downs of high school. [May 19, 2020] Immerse Yourself in Sound and Forget the Noise With the Razer Opus Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced the launch of the Razer Opus wireless headphones. With stunning THX Certified audio and advanced hybrid Active Noise Cancellation, the Razer Opus delivers sound as the artists intended - pure, crisp and clear, without the background noise of daily life interfering with the experience. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005290/en/ The new Razer Opus wireless headset with THX Certification and advanced ANC will help you avoid the noise. (Photo: Business Wire) With most streaming services now providing high quality audio, a set of headphones able to produce the detail and nuances of these high definition streams is essential. But the sounds of everyday life, from the background hum of the city to the hectic lifestyle of working from home with others around you, can intrude on the listening experience, spoiling your focus and the enjoyment of high-fidelity recordings. Less noise, more clarity The Razer Opus uses an Advanced Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) system to cancel out external noise, with four dedicated ANC microphones designed to accurately tune out a broad range of external frequencies, resulting in a cleaner, uninterrupted listening experience. Whilst filtering out external noise is important, the quality of the audio reproduction is central to delivering rich, flawless sound. With this in mind, the Razer Opus has undergone hundreds of scientifically formulated tests to become THX Certified, ensuring the highest possible audio standards. "Through close collaboration with the Opus design team, we were able to provide input throughout the development process," said Peter Vasay, Head of THX Certification. "The result is a high-performance wireless headphone that delivers a rich, balanced soundstage, clear vocals, and deep impactful bass optimized for music, games, and movies." To achieve the stringent requirements for THX certification, fine details such as a frequency range and response must be capable of delivering clear, deailed vocals and deep impactful bass with zero distortion at high volumes. The result is a pair of headphones that delivers crystal clear audio with a broad, perfectly balanced soundscape. "Even with our many years of experience in creating headsets for one of the most demanding audiences in the world, the design of the Razer Opus required us to rethink every detail," said Alvin Cheung, Senior Vice President of Razer's Peripherals Business Unit. "With the Razer Opus headphones, we are able to deliver a listening experience that will satisfy even the most discerning audiophile, in any environment." High comfort, maximum versatility The Razer Opus' low weight and plush leatherette foam ear cushions and headband provide a comfortable, pressure-point free fit for long periods of use. Each battery charge lasts up to 25 hours with ANC on, allowing users to enjoy a continued, uninterrupted high-quality sound experience while in a noisy environment. With additional useful features such as the Quick Attention Mode when needing to hear the outside world and the optional 3.5mm analogue input for maximum device compatibility, the Razer Opus is one of the most versatile and adaptable ANC headphones available. ABOUT THE RAZER OPUS: THX Certified - For clear vocals & dialog, no distortion, and great noise isolation Advanced ANC - Hybrid active noise cancellation with 4 dedicated ANC mics Crafted for Comfort - Plush leatherette foam ear cushions and headband Opus Mobile App - THX-tuned EQ presets, automatic settings, and battery status Quick Attention Mode - For situational awareness whenever you need it Auto Pause / Auto Play - For seamless media playback On-the-Go Design - Up to 25 hours with ANC on, 3.5mm jack, and carrying case Drivers: 2 x 40mm dynamic drivers Weight: 265g Frequency response: 20 Hz - 20 kHz Microphone: 4 for hybrid ANC, 2 for voice chat Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2 & 3.5mm Codecs: AAC & APTX, 4.2, A2DP, AVRCP, HFP PRICE & AVAILABILITY $199.99 USD / 209.99 MSRP Available through Razer.com, RazerStores, Amazon.com and authorized online retailers throughout North America, Europe, China, and Asia Pacific. For more information, please see here. PRODUCT ASSETS Please find the press kit here. ABOUT RAZER Razer is the world's leading lifestyle brand for gamers. The triple-headed snake trademark of Razer is one of the most recognized logos in the global gaming and esports communities. With a fan base that spans every continent, the company has designed and built the world's largest gamer-focused ecosystem of hardware, software and services. Razer's award-winning hardware includes high-performance gaming peripherals and Blade gaming laptops. Razer's software platform, with over 80 million users, includes Razer Synapse (an Internet of Things platform), Razer Chroma (a proprietary RGB lighting technology system), and Razer Cortex (a game optimizer and launcher). In services, Razer Gold is one of the world's largest virtual credit services for gamers, and Razer Fintech is one of the largest offline-to-online digital payment networks in SE Asia. Founded in 2005 and dual-headquartered in Irvine and Singapore, Razer has 16 offices worldwide and is recognized as the leading brand for gamers in the USA, Europe and China. Razer is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Stock Code: 1337). Razer - For Gamers. By Gamers. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005290/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A top Beijing-based universitys specialised research team has said it is developing a drug that could shorten the recovery time for Covid-19 patients and offer short-term immunity from the pathogen. The drug is being developed and tested by the prestigious Peking Universitys Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Genomics (BAICG), which has successfully tested the experimental drug on animals. A joint research team led by Sunney Xie has successfully identified multiple highly potent neutralising antibodies against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of the respiratory disease COVID-19, from convalescent plasma by high-throughput single-cell sequencing, a Peking University statement said on Monday. According to the research published in the online medical journal Cell, the potent neutralising antibody could be used to develop drugs for both therapeutic intervention and prophylactic (preventive) protection against SARS-CoV-2. If the Covid-19 epidemic reappears in the winter, our neutralising antibody might be available by that time, Xie said in the statement. When we injected antibodies into infected mice, after five days the viral load was reduced by a factor of 2,500, Xie separately told the news agency AFP. That means this potential drug has (a) therapeutic effect, he added. The drug uses neutralising antibodies -- produced by the human immune system to prevent the virus infecting cells -- which Xies team isolated from the blood of 60 recovered patients. Meanwhile, three Covid-19 vaccines have entered phase II clinical trials in Beijing, a municipal health official has said. Separately, five innovative drugs have also been approved for clinical trials and all of them have entered phase II clinical studies, Xu Qiang, head of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission. Beijing, Xu was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency, will accelerate the research and development of diagnostic reagents, drugs, vaccines and medical equipment and support pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers in expanding their capacity to meet the increasing demands. The second phase of the clinical trials is expected to be completed successively beginning in July A total of 2,036 volunteer participants have been inoculated for the second phase of clinical trials and researchers are assessing whether or not the vaccines are safe and effective, Xinhua reported. With utensils packed in a bucket, besides other belongings, 42-year-old Lal Babu's family walks from Manesar to Gurgaon railway station everyday in hope of getting their chance to travel back to Bihar's Muzaffarpur district. Babu says his family of five got their registration done for Shramik Special Trains from a volunteer before they crossed over from Bhiwadi, where they were working on a construction site. They however, don't have the number or any document now. "Three weeks back, I asked for help from a boy who was volunteering at a place where food was being distributed in Bhiwadi. However, all of that has stopped now, it was in initial days of lockdown. He had said our registration is done and we will be able to get a train from Gurgaon. We are camping in nearby Manesar now under a flyover as cops in Gurgaon won't let us spend time there," Lal Babu told PTI. They walk over 20 kms to the railway station with their belongings everyday as they cannot afford to leave them behind in case the family manages to board a train to their hometown. Lal Babu is among several other migrants, who have no idea about their registrations and are clueless about when they will get a chance to go back home. "We walk to the station daily in hope they would let us go. I ask at the station every day that if my name has come up in the list and they ask us to go back and not come there. They say government is doing so much but 'ham to ab bhi yahi hain' (we are still here)," he said. Accompanying Lal Babu's family of five, is Bharat Kumar, who used to work as a labourer in Sohna. "My contractor did not pay my balance and asked me to vacate the room too. My wife and son are waiting for me in Bihar but I don't have means to go. My son told me on phone that they saw in the that everybody is walking back home and why don't I come too. I told him that I am too far and won't be able to survive that long a walk," he said. Two kids with their face covered with cloth are waiting outside the railway station entry, where their parents have gone to find out about the train. "My father has gone inside. I am taking care of our utensils and bag till he returns. We will go in train then," 5-year-old Krish said. Atari Devi, his mother, said, "There is no hope that we will be coming back and it will be difficult for us to buy all utensils again so I have packed them all to go back. There are several trains which are going but not our train. We have to go to some other area and wait because here police will not allow to stay". As per the official data, over 10,000 migrants have left for their hometown since last week through Shramik Special trains and roadways buses. "The schedule for these trains has not been made public and only workers selected by authorities are being allowed entry inside the station premises after proper screening. Arrangements have been made at Tau Devi Lal stadium for these migrants and no one should come directly to the station," a representative at the railway station said, who refused to be identified. The migrants, however, say it is a long wait to get entry to the stadium as there are already enough people inside. "We went to the stadium but could not go inside as the guard told us there is no space inside for more people and they don't allow us to gather outside the stadium," Imarti Devi said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 19.05.2020 LISTEN Dear Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, I have always wanted to reach you to show my appreciation for the transformational education agenda you and your team are executing for mother Ghana. Truth is, there's so much to be done to create for Ghana the top-notch educational structure comparable to that of the developed world. However, it is crystal clear that the service in collaboration with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) and the National Inspectorate Board (NIB) is poised at ensuring that Ghana education gets the development it deserves. Congratulations! There are many suggestions that I will be sharing with you from my training and experience to aid the implementation of the transformation agenda. However, in this piece I want to address a major concern that is in the public domain. Four teacher unions - Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) and the Teachers and Educational Workers' Union (TEWU) - have come together to issue a letter dated 18th May, 2020 to you. The letter apparently is a reply to your earlier letter calling for a stakeholder consultation on the way-forward for re-opening of schools should the president direct the discontinuation of the ban on social gathering. Unfortunately, the said letter raised eight (8) points to counter any intention of government to allow schools to re-open after almost 10 weeks of their lockdown as a measure to mitigate the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. Obviously, these four groups represent the teaching and non-teaching staff in the public schools only. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that they were speaking for their members. They conclude, thus, "The Pre-tertiary Education Unions would not ascribe to the re-opening of the schools, should the president of the Republic decide not to extend the 31st May, 2020 deadline and order the re-opening of the schools." For the purposes of emphasis, those concerns raised are purely those of the public school leaders, teachers and their colleagues. The question is, would these union leaders seek for extension of the schools' lockdown if they were in the private sector and their salaries depended on the school fees collected? Certainly not! Clearly, the teachers under the GES are enjoying full monthly salaries and they have a promise of their full salaries in the months ahead for no work done. Hence, their decision to boycott the schools should the president direct the resumption of schools. I wished the eight points raised were suggestions to the GES on creative ways the schools can operate and the way-forward in spite of the pandemic. In my opinion, the union leaders should be advising the GES on simple ways to possibly decongest the schools for teaching and learning to start. However, the letter sought to highlight reasons schools should not be allowed to resume. The teacher unions have the means to deal easily with some of the concerns they raised. The unions especially GNAT and NAGRAT have the capacity to supply their members with alcohol-based hand sanitizer and nose/face masks through their massive investments. This will surely be a very good corporate social responsibility exercised at the much-needed time. Their letter even mischievously failed to mention that 1,754 out of the 5,735 confirmed cases representing 30.5% have recovered. This figure of recoveries is positive sign that Ghana is winning the war. It is also a positive sign that our frontline workers have gathered enough information about the Corona virus and the Covid-19. The failure of the union leaders to acknowledge this feat is a clear stance of playing mischief. It is a stance deliberately taken to spread fear, thereby preventing the re-opening of schools. At this point, it is my understanding that the gallant researchers at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the other testing centres have gathered enough data about the operations of the virus. Therefore, I plead with the government through the GES to allow private schools to re-open when the president of the Republic announces the lift of the social gathering ban. Private schools are ready to ensure that all the safety protocols are adhered to. Officials from the district and municipal offices of the GES can be assigned to ensure that the measures are obeyed. We are prepared to combine the traditional face-to-face teaching with the prescribed e-Learning modules prepared by the National Inspectorate Board to reduce the number of students where there is need to. In my conclusion, I ask that you disregard the unprogressive letter from the four unions and consider the science and data to make your decision. Thank you very much for making time to read. Yours faithfully, Signed. Joseph Appah (The writer is the Executive Director of TreasureHunt Education and Headmaster of a private school in Greater Accra, Ghana) Email: [email protected] Some of the most visible, and heavily used, city vehicles are inching toward electric power.In Tacoma, Wash., the police department plans to introduce electric-hybrid police cars into its fleet, signaling a move toward reducing greenhouse gases, fuel costs and expanding the application vehicles among city fleets.Other cities like Los Angeles, Denver and Boston have already begun the move toward transitioning city vehicles like fire trucks , buses, light-duty vehicles and others toward electric power. However, the heavy operational demands of police vehicles, which pose their own recharging challenges, have mostly left police uses out of the transition to fully electric vehicles.Tacoma has purchased 34 Ford Police Interceptor hybrids an SUV-type vehicle with an anticipated fuel savings of 40 percent, said Paul Hanna, division assistant manager with the Tacoma Public Works Fleet Services. The savings will reduce fuel consumption by more than 28,800 gallons of fuel per year, and save the city an estimated $73,700.The city currently operates 13 fully electric vehicles, and 92 hybrid-electric vehicles, he added.A complete transition to hybrid-electric police vehicles has been delayed due to budget constraints brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, Hanna said. Tacoma originally planned to purchase 59 hybrid Police Interceptors, but budget reductions trimmed the order to 34 vehicles.And a move to transition all of the police and other vehicles to fully electric models is limited by a lack of charging infrastructure, cost and a lack of viable options for police patrol vehicles that are pursuit rated, said Hanna in an email.Planning out the recharging needs is generally one of the first strategic moves city fleets should take before buying electric cars, said Ian Snow, a transportation energy adviser with the city and county of Denver.Weve found that its more challenging and more expensive to do the infrastructure side, Snow said during a webinar last month hosted by Forth, an electric vehicle advocacy and education group, to discuss city fleet and personal vehicle electrification.What were recommending to many cities that are just getting into this is, start planning the infrastructure at least a year ahead of time of buying the vehicle. So that when you get the vehicle, its not just sitting out there, he explained.Denver operates roughly 3,200 city vehicles, and aims to have 200 of those operating as electric by the end of the year. A new policy also says electric-eligible vehicles within the city fleet will be considered for replacement. Eligibility is based on availability, duty-cycle and total cost of ownership.We want to keep that within 10 percent of the alternative priced vehicle, said Snow. We dont want to be over-spending on these EVs just because we can.Fleet managers in Boston say the city aims to have a 100 percent electric fleet by 2030.While environmental concerns are one reason for this, we also see EVs as a cost-savings opportunity once we achieve this goal, said Matthew Bradley, Boston superintendent of automotive maintenance. survey of fleet managers by the technology firm Samsara reports 90 percent saying EVs were the inevitable future of commercial fleets.Fuel efficiency and reduced maintenance costs tied as the top reasons fleet managers offered for considering EVs. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Wyoming rose by seven on Tuesday, along with four more probable cases, according to the Wyoming Department of Healths daily update and the Sweetwater County Emergency Operations Center, which separately announced the countys 17th confirmed case. The other confirmed cases come from Carbon, Fremont, Laramie (two) and Natrona (two) counties. The new probable cases come from Converse, Fremont (three) and Sweetwater counties. One probable case was removed from Uinta Countys total. Twenty-one new confirmed coronavirus recoveries were also announced, the third most in a single day in Wyoming, and three new probable recoveries were reported. Probable cases are defined by officials as close contacts of lab-confirmed cases with symptoms consistent with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. A patient is considered fully recovered when there is resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and there is improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath) for 72 hours AND at least 7 days have passed since symptoms first appeared, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. Clarification This story has been updated to reflect the new coronavirus case announced Tuesday by Sweetwater County. The case was not included in the Wyoming Department of Health's daily update. There are now 777 cases 584 confirmed and 193 probable and 528 recoveries 388 confirmed and 140 probable recorded in the state, as well as 10 deaths. More than 500 new tests have been conducted between the Wyoming Health Departments Monday and Tuesday updates. Just under two-thirds of confirmed patients have fully recovered, a number that grows to 68 percent when factoring in probable figures. Officials caution that the reported numbers are low, even with the addition of probable cases. On April 2, the Wyoming Department of Health began restricting testing to six priority categories; potential patients who dont fall in one of those categories had to be tested by private laboratories. However, the department announced April 23 that it would be able to resume testing patients outside of those six categories, although priority patients samples remain at the front of the line. Patients have tested positive for coronavirus in 21 of Wyomings 23 counties. Only Platte and Weston counties are without confirmed cases. Wyoming and Alaska have the lowest recorded number of coronavirus deaths of any state, and Wyomings death rate (2 per 100,000) is fourth-lowest behind Montana, Alaska and Hawaii, according to the New York Times. The states infection rate (132 per 100,000) is seventh-lowest among states, also according to the Times, which includes probable counts where they exist. Less than 13 percent of Wyomings cases required a hospital stay. In 14.2 percent of the cases, health officials dont know if the patient was hospitalized. The virus has disproportionately affected people of color throughout the United States, a trend that is also reflected in Wyomings data. Less than 49 percent of confirmed cases in Wyoming are white, 32.6 percent are American Indian, 12.5 percent are Hispanic, 0.9 percent are Asian, and 1.4 percent are black. The racial identities of 8.9 percent of confirmed cases in Wyoming are not known, and 2.9 percent of confirmed cases identified as other races. According to 2019 census estimates, Wyomings population is 83.8 percent white (not Hispanic/Latino), 10.1 percent Hispanic/Latino, 2.7 percent American Indian/Alaska Native, 1.3 percent black, 1.1 percent Asian and 2.2 percent two or more races. In 50.6 percent of the cases, the patient came in contact with a known case. In another 11.5 percent of the cases, the patient had traveled either domestically or internationally. Community spread has been attributed to 19 percent of the cases. In 10.8 percent of Wyomings cases, health officials dont how the person was exposed to the virus, and 11.3 percent of cases are pending investigation. Cases in Wyoming by county (probable in parentheses) Albany: 10 Big Horn: 2 (1) Campbell: 16 (13) Carbon: 8 (7) Converse: 14 (10) Crook: 5 Fremont: 204 (24) Goshen: 4 (1) Hot Springs: 4 (3) Johnson: 12 (4) Laramie: 121 (62) Lincoln: 11 (3) Natrona: 51 (13) Niobrara: 1 (1) Park: 1 Platte: 0 Sheridan: 12 (4) Sublette: 1 (2) Sweetwater: 17 (8) Teton: 69 (31) Uinta: 8 (3) Washakie: 13 (3) Weston: 0 Deaths in Wyoming by county Fremont: 5 Laramie: 2 Carbon: 1 Johnson: 1 Teton: 1 Rate of spread This graph shows the rate at which confirmed and probable cases in Wyoming have been announced, as well as the number of patients who have fully recovered. Keep in mind, however, that state and medical officials say the true number of COVID-19 cases is surely higher than the official numbers due to testing limitations. Testing statistics The Wyoming Department of Health has published the following data: As of Tuesday, there have been 18,168 tests performed for COVID-19 in Wyoming, an increase of 507 from Monday. Wyoming Public Health Laboratory: 8,155 Commercial labs: 10,013 CDC: 1 National cases There have been more than 1.5 million cases nationally, with about 91,000 deaths, according to the New York Times running count. Know the symptoms COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, is a respiratory illness. Its symptoms include cough, fever and shortness of breath. Symptoms appear within two weeks. If you have contact with a person who has COVID-19, you should self-isolate for 14 days. Follow the Wyoming Health Departments tips Stay home when sick and avoid contact with other people unless you need medical attention. Follow advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on what to do if you think you may be sick. Follow current public health orders. Follow commonsense steps such as washing your hands often and well, covering your coughs and sneezes, and cleaning and disinfecting. Nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other healthcare facilities should closely follow guidelines for infection control and prevention. Older people and those with health conditions that mean they have a higher chance of getting seriously ill should avoid close-contact situations. The system of facial recognition which identifies people with masks created by VinAI has sparked duscussion in the scientists community. The state-of-the-art technology developed by Vietnamese VinAIs engineers has been described as an outstanding achievement. Bui Hai Hung, director of VinAI Institute The technology is extremely useful in Vietnam, where people often wear face masks, not only in Covid-19, but in their daily life, especially on motorcycles. In recent years, one-touch technology using fingerprints has been applied widely with an aim to simplify and strengthen security for transactions. However, the world has gone further with contactless technology which is getting more common and will become a new habit of people after Covid-19. The outstanding features of the technology developed by VinAi lie in algorithms and the higher accuracy and stability than other technologies now available. Regarding commercial development, the technology would be applied first on Vsmart smartphone products. No one has developed masked face recognition technology and commercialized it successfully. Bui Hai Hung, director of VinAI Institute, said the technology can be applied in many aspects of life. It helps recognize smartphone users quickly and in a simple way, thus shortening the authentication process. Meanwhile, at offices, enterprises and organizations, the technology ensures quick, accurate control over personnel. The outstanding features of the technology developed by VinAi lie in algorithms and the higher accuracy and stability than other technologies now available. Regarding commercial development, the technology would be applied first on Vsmart smartphone products. Vietnam and other developing countries are considered lagging far behind the world. That is why Vingroup decided to establish VinAI: adding Vietnam onto the map of AI (artificial intelligence) developers. After one year of development, VinAI has overcome initial difficulties and has been focusing on three major things carrying out basic research on AI, applying AI and transferring AI technologies, and training young AI talents. In terms of AI research, the institute wants to have work of international stature and it has gained initial success. A series of articles either researched by VinAI or implemented in collaboration with leading institutions around the world have been published and accepted at conferences. The articles are in three main areas: machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing. Just within one year, VinAI successfully invited 70 leading experts from the best AI research establishments in other countries. The goal of VinAI is creating Make in Vietnam products of international stature. VinAI was estbalished in April 2019 by Vingroup, a conglomerate that operates in many business fields from IT, real estate to manufacturing and retail. The institute focuses on AI with the goal of elevating Vietnams role in the AI world. Vu Dung Facial recognition technology used in rice distribution amid COVID-19 The National Economics University started distributing rice to people in need due to the COVID-19 pandemic on April 16. "Youve got Mark McGowan and Annastacia Palaszczuk really making outlandish statements about the other states that just aren't epidemiologically true and trying to score political mileage for keeping their states so safe. "It is really hard for the Premier to justify our state border," Dr Golledge said. Hollywood Hospital specialist Clay Golledge said the epidemiology of the coronavirus pandemic was the same in every state except for NSW. Pressure is mounting on Premier Mark McGowan to ease WA's pandemic travel restrictions, with a leading infectious diseases expert calling on intrastate borders to be scrapped immediately and labelling the idea there are "clean states and dirty states" rubbish. "Theyre beating the hell out of Victoria and New South Wales which is really unfair, they have borne the brunt of cruise ships and flights. "NSW have had one case in two days out of 15,000 tests and theyre being called dirty states and infected states by the Premiers. We really need to open up the country, we've got to go forward and start the country moving internally." Travel within the state is limited, with West Australians unable to move between four regions set up by the government, and there are still restrictions on arrivals from interstate, which the Premier has said will be in place for many months to come. Dr Golledge said the implementation of intrastate borders was "to do at the time when it looked like it was going to get out of control because nobody knew which way it was going to go". "But more by good luck than good management weve managed to bring things under control really quickly because we stopped importing the virus," he said. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, May 19, 2020 In response to todays decision by a Beninese appeals court to shorten journalist Ignace Sossous sentence to six months imprisonment and a six-month suspended sentence, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement: Todays appeals court decision may shorten journalist Ignace Sossous unjust sentence, but it does not free him, and is still a stain on Benins press freedom record, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator. The decision to keep a journalist behind bars amid the coronavirus pandemic simply for quoting a public official sends a chilling message to the local media community and signals to the world that the press is not free in Benin. Authorities arrested Sossou, a reporter with the privately owned Benin Web TV news website, on December 20, 2019, and sentenced him to 18 months in prison and a fine of 200,000 West African francs ($337) in relation to social media posts quoting a Beninese public prosecutor, Mario Metonou, according to CPJ research. Todays decision shortened his jail term but maintained the fine, according to Prisca Layo Ogoubi, one of Sossous lawyers, who spoke to CPJ by messaging app, and a report by Benin Web TV. He is due to be released on June 24, according to that report. In early April, CPJ and 80 other organizations wrote to African heads of state, including Beninese President Patrice Talon, calling for the release of all jailed journalists in order to mitigate COVID-19-related health risks. It started as a routine nighttime airdrop mission last fall for five airmen aboard a C-130 Hercules tasked with safely releasing much-needed supplies for Afghan National Army forces below. As they circled overhead, dropping bundles by parachute, the crew, from the 39th Airlift Squadron out of Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, saw a flash of light in the distance -- a rocket-propelled grenade targeting the aircraft. Read Next: Air Force Finally Has Plans to Test a Laser Weapon on Its AC-130J Gunship "I noticed a flash of red behind the plane, but it was only for a second or two," said Senior Airman David Doran, 39th Airlift Squadron loadmaster. "At the time, I wasn't scared because I didn't realize it was an RPG, but possibly a flare." Capt. Jean-Luc Duckworth, 39th Airlift Squadron aircraft commander and pilot, determined the flash was evidence of a bigger threat. "Based on the positioning of the available crew members in the aircraft, our identification of the RPG didn't come until we were safely climbing away," he said in the release. "I assessed that we were being targeted in some capacity and advised my loadmasters to hold on as we egressed the objective area." The Air Force did not specify the location of the operation. For their quick-thinking maneuver to evacuate the area, the airmen were recently awarded the Air Force Combat Action Medal, according to a service release. It is given to U.S. military personnel who "actively participated in either air or ground combat while operating in an unsecured space." C-130s carry decoy flares for countermeasures. When launched by the automatic system that detects a threat, the flare can draw a rocket to lock onto it instead of the aircraft. But the cargo plane doesn't have offensive capabilities. To safely leave the area without compromising the supplies, the pilots and loadmasters devised a plan, Duckworth said. "Since we know the pacing, know the internal dialogue between crew members and know how to expertly execute an airdrop, I, as the pilot, immediately knew the situation of the airdrop load and safe maneuvering ability of the aircraft once I heard 'load clear' from my loadmaster," he added. Along with Doran and Duckworth, the medal was presented to Capt. Glenn Garner, also a pilot; 1st Lt. Zachery Robinson, a co-pilot; and Senior Airman Nolan Brandt, also a loadmaster. The crew was part of the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron during their deployment, the release said. The pace of operations for U.S. airdrops in Afghanistan has increased since the U.S. began sending more troops to Afghanistan in 2017 to step up the fight against the Taliban and ISIS-K, the Afghan offshoot of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. In 2018, the U.S. airdropped 667,880 pounds of supplies to ground forces across the country, according to Air Force Central Command. Crews dropped 606,600 pounds the following year. Forces received only 33,423 pounds of supplies in 2017, the airpower summary data shows. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related: Air Force Stops Releasing Airstrike Data, Citing Taliban Peace Talks French President Emmanuel Macron is seen before a cabinet meeting on the COVID-19 in Paris, France, on Feb. 29, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua) The proposal is seen as unprecedented since it overcomes objections from Germany and several other rich EU countries to the concept of collective borrowing. PARIS/BERLIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- France and Germany on Monday jointly proposed that the European Commission borrow money on capital markets in the European Union's (EU) name and create a 500-billion-euro (546 billion U.S. dollars) recovery fund to help the coronavirus-battered European economies and regions. Describing the proposal as "a major step forward," French President Emmanuel Macron told a joint video press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that it was the first time France and Germany agreed to let the EU raise debt jointly. The proposal is seen as unprecedented since it overcomes objections from Germany and several other rich EU countries to the concept of collective borrowing. Merkel said the unusual nature of the COVID-19 crisis made the two countries choose an unusual way. "The goal is for Europe to emerge from this crisis stronger, more cohesive and in solidarity," she said. File photo taken on Feb 19, 2020 shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel attending a press conference in Berlin, capital of Germany. Merkel has put herself in quarantine after a doctor she met Friday tested positive for coronavirus, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on March 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi) "The recovery fund will be endowed with 500 billion euros in EU budget spending for the most affected sectors and regions based on EU budget programs and in line with European priorities," said the two countries in a joint statement. "It will strengthen the resilience, convergence and competitiveness of European economies, and increase investment, in particular in ecological and digital transitions and in research and innovation," it said. Macron said the 500 billion euros "will be devoted to sectors that are not only technological. It is a strong economic response that will help fight unemployment in the most vulnerable regions," he said. "It will not consist of loans, it's a budgetary expenditure, which would be attributed to the most affected sectors and regions. We are convinced that this measure is justified," Merkel said. "We must act in a European way so that we get out of the crisis well and strengthened," she said. "When Germany and France take the initiative, then this encourages the opinion-making process in the EU." The European Commission is to present the details of the economic recovery program in Brussels on May 27. Paris and Berlin still have to convince other member states -- The Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, in particular -- to follow them. But "the fact that the Franco-German couple has agreed on the main lines of a recovery plan financed by a common debt of European states, issued by the Union and spent through the European budget, is in itself a revolution," commented the French daily Le Monde. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends a press conference after an EU video-summit in Brussels, Belgium, April 23, 2020. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua) "Berlin, which was upwind at the end of March against anything that, in one way or another, amounts to pooling the debt of Europeans, is today in agreement to embark on this path," added the daily. Paris and Berlin also agreed to raise research and development capacities in the field of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, set up joint strategic stocks of pharmaceutical and medical products, and increase the production capacities of these products in the EU. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the proposal. "It acknowledges the scope and the size of the economic challenge that Europe faces, and rightly puts the emphasis on the need to work on a solution with the European budget at its core," she said in a statement. More than six weeks after President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the lockdown of Lagos, Abuja and Ogun State, to curb the spread of coronavirus, some Nigerian small business owners have lamented the economic cost on them. The lockdown, which has now been relaxed, became necessary after confirmed cases of the disease kept increasing in the two states and the FCT. Since the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan, China, a lot of economic activities have been put on hold, affecting all levels of the economy. A large part of the Nigerian population, small business owners and even the unemployed survive on what they manage to earn daily in the streets. Prior to the lockdown, Nigeria was struggling with a constant rise in the rate of unemployment. The National Bureau of Statistics estimated in 2018 that 20.9 million Nigerians were unemployed in 2018. Although the bureau has since 2018 stopped publishing the unemployment statistics, it is believed the number has risen sharply. With over 37 million micro, small and medium-scale enterprises in Nigeria, accounting for more than 84 per cent of jobs, the sector is seen as a major economic growth driver. With the federal and state lockdowns being enforced, many of these traders are no longer finding it easy to survive. Lamentation Umukoro Peppeh imports ladies handbags from China solely. She said until now she never believed that China had so much influence when it comes to manufacturing. The middle-aged lady, who is also a realtor, said when she orders for goods it takes more time to deliver now and some of her friends were scammed by their manufacturers. They collect their money and block them off, this outbreak has really done a lot of damages. Now I know China holds the world when it comes to production because everywhere is shut down, nothing going in or out. At some point, I spoke with my agent who advised I dont order now so as not to tie down my capital pending when things can move freely. Kabir Ochai, a fashion designer in Lagos, lamented how he has not been able to work much because he and his customers are obeying the social-distancing rule. READ MORE: I cant go and meet my customers and they also cant come, the few jobs I am doing now are the ones I have had since. Nobody is going to any events again. People just want to survive first before thinking of seeing clothes, he said. Mr Ochai said normally, in a week he makes up to N20,000 but now he barely gets half of what he used to get. Mr Ochais story is no different from other business owners: barbers, mechanics, salon owners, and others who before the lockdown depended on their daily income. More complaints Adedapo Aderibigbe, the owner of Gasify, a gas refill station in Oye-Ekiti, lamented how business patronage had plunged for him. 80 per cent of people in Oye-Ekiti are students. Since students were told to go home, market has really dropped for me, indigenes rarely use gas to cook. They use coal and mostly firewood. Before now, we use up to 10 cans of 50kg cylinders in a week, but now, we hardly finish one cylinder. Out of my two shops, I only opened one because there is no market at all, he said. Also, Olunne Imoh, a beauty salon owner in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said even before the governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, ordered the lockdown of the state, patronage had been low. People dont go for parties again, so who will come and make their hair? It is only food items people buy now, she said. In Zaria, Kaduna State, Sabina Waziri, a clothing trader said meeting up with basic needs in her house has become a problem since the downturn on businesses. Advertisements When one of my suppliers in Lagos waybill my goods to me, my customers refused to come over to check. They said my supplier may have put coronavirus on the clothes. I didnt know they meant it until they all did not show up as usual to check my new goods. Other business owners who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES expressed sadness at the downturn and hope normalcy will return one day. Stabilising the economy Last month, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced a N50 billion package for small businesses affected by coronavirus, to allow them stay in business and not lay off workers. The loan was to be accessed through the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), a unit of the apex bank. The bank claimed the application was free but controversy erupted when applicants took to Twitter to reveal they were being made to pay from N3,000 to N10,000 as application fee. With the pandemic still biting hard on the global economy, individuals and corporate bodies have recommended measures to be taken to stabilise the Nigerian economy. Days ago, the Development Bank of Nigeria Plc, recommended that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises reinvent their business models to leverage growth opportunities in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. If you are an SME, the framework should be to survive the crisis period, have as much liquidity as you can and stem expenditure. You must stabilise the business by stabilising your cost and reconfiguring your operations, the DBN said. Also, a business and supply chain expert, Yusuf Olanlokun, said the MSMEs will feel the heat of the lockdown more because Nigeria is an import-based country. He advised that business owners leverage on technology to be able to survive the storm. Business owners need to improvise technologically to be able to reach a larger number of their customers during this lockdown, that is one of the basics of businesses: agility. Open and online channel where they can reach their customers and also provide delivery services even if it will cost more, consumers will be pleased because this is our new reality, he said. The government should sensitise people on the use of technology so as to suppress the effect of the pandemic, he added. He also advised that the government make available insurance plans for business owners in the future as this will bear the cost of running their businesses in case of eventualities like this. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 20) One of the leading banking companies in the country assured on Tuesday that banks can withstand the economic impact of COVID-19. Although they see a recovery among their businesses in late 2021 to early 2022, Bank of the Philippine Islands Family Savings Bank President Ginbee Go stated they are now more equipped to bounce back than the capability they had during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. We are not seeing the same MPL (marginal product of labor) levels that we have seen in the Asian financial crisis. The Philippines is in a much better place with the macroeconomic fundamentals very strong going into the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), said Go. Go expressed their preparedness on higher default rates, because of limited business activities in the country for the past two months due to movement restrictions brought by COVID-19. We have capacitized our customer care and our collections team so that we can reach out to our clients who require more relief other than what is currently in place with the Bayanihan Act, she said. She also emphasized that restructuring of loans will be done proactively to easily solve the credit losses they endured during the COVID-19 pandemic. All banks now are more well capitalized than we were before during the Asian financial crisis. We can weather the storm even if it might take a little bit longer, given the pandemic has affected not just the Philippines but the entire world, said Go. The bank also announced another 30-day extension for loans and credit card payments, in compliance with the memorandum issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas earlier today. The 30-day grace period ordered by BSP is also in pursuant to the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, as Metro Manila is still under modified enhanced community quarantine. We have extended our loans and credit cards, whether it be auto loans, housing loans, personal loans, and SME loans, said Go. Go also assured their clients, particularly in the travel sector which is one of the most affected of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, that they are open for any assistance as the number of branches opening continue to increase under the MECQ. We have our customer care hotlines and our e-mail and SMS to reach us, said Go. Despite the two-month reduced working capacity in their banks due to the ECQ, the BPI Family Savings Bank chief guaranteed they have stable cybersecurity measures in protecting their depositors from fraud attempts. Go said they have utilized their social media accounts, sent text and e-mail messages, and did active call-outs among their relationship managers to remind their clients to remain vigilant in any illegal compromises in their bank accounts. We also have the one-time password to make sure that every transaction will be made secure and will be only made by the person authorized to do so, noted Go. SSE's household arm's new owner Ovo Energy has announced plans to make 2,600 workers redundant and close two offices as it claims the coronavirus crisis has forced it to speed up the company's digitisation. Ovo, which bought SSE's household supply arm this year becoming the second biggest energy supplier in Britain, said the majority of the job losses, or around 2,000, will be at SSE. Meter readers and home service engineers will bear the brunt of the job cuts, as the use of smart meters is removing the need for people to visit homes. Redundancies: Ovo said the majority of the job losses, or around 2,000, will be at SSE Customers are now being forced to read their own meters, with Ovo saying that since lockdown meter readings completely stopped. Some call centre staff will also lose their jobs. 'We are seeing a rapid increase in customers using digital channels to engage with us, and in our experience, once customers start to engage differently they do not go back,' Stephen Fitzpatrick, chief executive of Ovo said. 'As a result, we are expecting a permanent reduction in demand for some roles, whilst other field-based roles are also heavily affected.' The job losses come despite the company reassuring MPs at the time of the takeover that there would be no job losses. GMB trade union criticied the company which has used the government's scheme to protect workers during the coronaviris pandemic, flurloughing 3,600 employees. 'GMB says companies who take government money from the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) should be prevented from making redundancies for at least a year,' the union said. But Ovo said the company's shift towards digitisation, which had already started before SSE's acquisition, has accelerated since the beginning of the lockdown, as many of its fieldworkers were not able to visit homes due to the new regime. The company saw a 69 per cent drop in home service engineering work since the end of March, while smart meter installations dropped 92 per cent and meter readings completely stopped. Meanwhile, over 1million transactions happened online during the month of April. Ovo will also close two offices, in Glasgow and Reading, that it acquired as part of the SSE deal and a third, in Selkirk, that Ovo had acquired when it rescued Spark Energy in 2018. The staff at these sites will be moved to new offices or be allowed to work from home. Fitzpatrick added: 'There is never an easy time to announce redundancies and this is a particularly difficult decision to take. But like all businesses, we face a new reality and need to adapt quickly to enable us to better serve our customers and invest in a zero carbon future.' Ovo's 50million takeover of SSE's retail arm, which includes energy, phone, broadband and home services such as its boiler and heating cover, was completed in January this year. The Trump administration has cut off China's Huawei from being able to receive products from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), which is the world's largest manufacturer of advanced microchips.TSMCReuters reported The news hit Beijing hard with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) responding that it will take "all necessary measures" to respond to the devastating news technology restrictions.The CCP claimed that the moves by the U.S. federal government threaten the "global industrial and supply chain" and that it is an abuse of power.the communist regime said in a statement.The CCP published propaganda in their state-run Global Times in a piece titled,which said that China wouldChina threatened to target specific Americans as well asThe threats from China come after TSMC announced last week that it would build a new factory in Arizona as part of a $12 billion deal that it reached with the U.S. that willthe company said in a statement.the company added.The move by the Trump administration against Huawei comes after China repeatedly lied about the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan and has proven not to be atrustworthy nation that operates in good faith.Devastating Huawei's abilities is a key component of U.S. national security because China is trying to use Huawei to dominate the global 5G market. In a speech earlier this year, Attorney General William Barr said that Huawei represents one of the greatest threats to U.S. national security because of what China would be able to do if they dominate the 5G market.Barr said.said the attorney general.Barr added. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Norman Harsono (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Fri, May 22, 2020 12:59 608 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd9066cb 1 Business India,Indonesian,miners,coal,lockdown,COVID-19 Free Indonesian coal miners are struggling with slow demand this year as businesses in India, one of the countrys major coal markets, hit the brakes due to a prolonged lockdown to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, a data firm has said. The South Asian countrys coal imports, a commodity mostly used for power generation, is projected to decrease by 19.1 percent year-on-year (yoy) to 149 million tons, according to IHS Markit. As Indias demand slows, IHS Markit projects a 10 percent yoy decline in Indonesian coal exports to 406 million tons this year, from last years figure of 451 million tons. IHS Markit coal, metals and mining senior director James Stevenson said Indias lower import projection was a result of slumping business and industrial activity during the countrys prolonged lockdown. The real change came with the lockdown in India. India, of course, is a pretty big market for Indonesian coal, [and] we now expect India to reduce its imports by about 35 million tons, James told The Jakarta Post via phone call last Friday. The consultancy initially projected Indonesian coal exports at 419 million tons before India announced an extended lockdown and before market conditions worsened in Southeast and East Asia, which are Indonesias other major coal export markets. India went into lockdown on March 24, when most businesses shut down. The country has extended the lockdown four times, with the latest announced on Sunday and expected to last until May 31. But also, once the lockdown officially ends, its going to take a long time to restart the economy, James added. Indonesia is the worlds largest coal producer and dry fuel contributes 14 percent of the countrys exports, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) data shows. Indonesias trade balance recorded a deficit of US$350 million in April, as exports fell 7.02 percent, on the back of falling commodity prices and plummeting global demand due to the pandemic. Indonesias two most profitable coal miners last year, privately owned PT Adaro Energi and state-owned PT Bukit Asam (PTBA), previously highlighted Indias lockdown as notable risks going into the second quarter, aside from declining local demand. Adaro and Bukit Asam executives have stated that the companies would redirect exports into other Southeast and East Asian markets. Indias lockdown did result in lower sales to India. But Adaros market is widespread, so we could divert sales, said Adaro president director Garibaldi Boy Thohir. Adaro shipped 19 percent of its first quarter production to India. The company also shipped to China, East Asia, Southeast Asia, including within Indonesia, and other markets, such as New Zealand, Pakistan and Europe. The miners profit shrank 17.36 percent yoy to $98.17 million in the first quarter amid falling coal prices and slumping demand in Asia. PTBA can still sell to India but only via private harbors whose numbers are not that great, said Bukit Asam commerce director Adib Ubaidillah previously. Adib added that PTBA was looking at other Asian markets, such as Brunei, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, as new export destinations. PTBAs latest quarterly financial report revealed that the company's profits fell 20.5 percent annually to Rp 903.24 billion from January to March. Data from Indias state-owned electricity dispatcher, POSOCO, shows that coal power generation plunged 32 percent in late March, when the country entered lockdown. At the same time, gas and renewable energy generation, led by hydropower, began rising incrementally. The rule change bars companies around the world from using American technology to produce or design chips that are sent, either directly or through an intermediary, to Huawei itself. But it does not appear to prevent them from producing chips that would be sent to Huaweis customers or partners, such as contract manufacturers that assemble phones and other devices on Huaweis behalf. The rule could still disrupt Huaweis business, however, forcing the company or its suppliers to reorganize their operations. And the Commerce Department could revise its rule in the coming months to narrow any loopholes. As of Tuesday, some administration officials were already discussing ways to strengthen the rule, two people familiar with the deliberations said. The future of at least a major portion of Huaweis business is now firmly in the hands of the Commerce Department, said Paul Triolo, a technology policy analyst at Eurasia Group. In an emailed comment, Wilbur Ross, the commerce secretary, said his department was charged with catching and punishing intermediaries and front companies that circumvent its regulations, and that it does so regularly. Any collusion with Huawei or its affiliates to willfully violate this rule is prohibited, and any party found to be in violation will be barred from further access to U.S. equipment or software, Mr. Ross said. Huawei this week declined to answer reporters questions about the amended rule, although it acknowledged that its business would inevitably be affected. The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected journalist Arnab Goswamis petition for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into various cases pertaining to hate speech pertaining to his remarks on the Palghar lynching incident. The court allowed the Mumbai Police to continue with its probe into the case. The bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud also refused to quash the May 2 FIR registered against Goswami for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by making derogatory remarks against a religious community during the broadcast on migrants gathered in Bandra on his channel Republic TV. It directed Goswami to pursue his remedies before a competent court. The apex court, however, extended protection from arrest to Goswami for another three weeks. It asked the Mumbai Police Commissioner to ensure protection to Goswami. On April 24, on Goswamis plea, the court had granted him protection from arrest that expired this week. In that order, the court had also stayed multiple FIRs in relation to the same broadcast related to Palghar lynching incident. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court bench maintained its earlier order which clubbed all FIRs pertaining to the broadcast of April 21 to be probed under a single FIR. This FIR registered at Nagpur Sadar police station was transferred to NM Joshi Marg police station in Mumbai. The top court had on May 11 directed that no coercive action should be taken against Goswami in the fresh FIR lodged by Mumbai Police and had reserved its verdict on both of his petitions. Goswami had claimed in the top court that he was interrogated by Mumbai Police for over 12 hours with regard to FIR on alleged defamatory statements and one of the two investigating officers probing the case against him has tested positive for Covid-19. He alleged of being politically victimised for speaking against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi during his broadcast. The Maharashtra government too moved the apex court alleging that Goswami has been misusing protection granted by the top court and browbeating the police by creating fear psychosis. The state government requested the Supreme Court to insulate its probe from interference by Goswami. The FIR against Goswami pertains to hate speech and promoting enmity between religious groups. Amaravati, May 19 : With 57 new cases over the past 24 hours, Andhra Pradesh's Covid-19 cases climbed to 2,339, the state nodal officer reported, here at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. On Monday morning, the state had reported 52 cases of which, 19 had travel history to the Koyambedu market in Chennai. On Tuesday too, 6 of the 57 positive cases were found to have visited the market, identified as the primary factor in the spread of Covid-19 in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. It has been shut now. Five of the cases in Chittor and one in the West Godavari district had the Koyambedu connection. Over the past 24 hours, 69 people were discharged from hospitals, taking thenumber of cured to 1,596. Two deaths, one from Chittoor and the other from Kurnool, were reported, taking the Covid-19 toll to 52. The number of active cases has declined to 691. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) WASHINGTON Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined an interview request for the State Department inspector generals inquiry into whether the Trump administration acted illegally in declaring an emergency to bypass a congressional freeze on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to three people with knowledge of his actions. Mr. Pompeo chose instead to answer written questions from investigators working for the inspector general, Steve A. Linick, who was fired by President Trump on Friday. That indicates that the secretary of state was aware of Mr. Linicks investigation and the specific lines of questioning about Mr. Pompeos decision last year to resume the sales of bombs and other weapons, which had been stalled since 2017. Saudi Arabia has led Persian Gulf nations in an air war in Yemen that has resulted in large numbers of civilian deaths. It is still not clear why Mr. Linick was dismissed. He was also pursuing inquiries into whether Mr. Pompeo was improperly asking a State Department employee to run errands for him and his wife. And a senior department official and longtime friend of the secretary, Brian Bulatao, told The Washington Post that Mr. Pompeo was concerned that Mr. Linick was not aggressively tracking down past leaks to news organizations about what he was investigating. Thirteen new cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed by City of Laredo and Webb County officials Tuesday in their daily update, bringing the total number of positives in Laredo to 492. READ MORE: Laredo City Council will remove curfew for adults as Texas continues to reopen Further information was not available due to the city's policy of not releasing identifying information on COVID-19 patients. In previous media updates, health department officials have attributed the higher number of positives to a higher number of tests being conducted in Laredo. In addition, they've said that some COVID-19 tests have been slow to come back due to different testing capacities, or the number of tests that can be processed in a single day, at different labs around the state. On Monday, health officials said 273 tests of the 388 conducted at the clinics hosted by the Texas State Guard were still pending. The clinics were hosted throughout Webb County from May 5 to 7. However, slower results will not stop the health department from expanding tests in Laredo. The City of Laredo is currently finalizing plans to set up mobile COVID-19 clinics and testing sites throughout the Laredo community. Their current plan is to create a testing site easily accessible to citizens in each council district starting Wednesday, May 20. The first mobile clinic will be open Wednesday at El Eden Park at 4735 Loma Vista Drive from 9 to 11 a.m. All persons interested in getting tested must register in advance by calling 956-795-4932. According to a press release, each test takes less than five minutes, and results will be available within 2-3 business days. The city is currently developing a website that will allow citizens to register online for the testing clinics, and will announce that information as soon as it's ready to the public. Citizens with questions can also contact the City of Laredo's coronavirus hotline at 956-795-4954. That hotline is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. As of noon Tuesday, 4,226 people have been tested for the novel coronavirus in Laredo. 2,912 tests have returned negative and 822 are still pending results. 299 persons have passed their mandatory quarantine and are considered recovered by the City of Laredo Health Department. READ MORE: Nuevo Laredo reports 12th death due to coronavirus, nears 100 cases The number of coronavirus deaths remains at 18. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 18) Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez on Monday denied several news reports and social media posts that hordes of Filipinos crowded shopping malls after quarantine restrictions were loosened. Lopez, who was a resource person during the virtual hearing held by the House Defeat COVID-19 Committees (DCC) New Normal Cluster panel, said the foot traffic in malls over the weekend was considerably less than the number of people who strolled around shopping centers prior to the COVID-19 crisis. "While we were interviewing, conducting a survey, the crowd was only about 20% of the usual number of a typical Sunday afternoon pre-COVID times. Kaunting kaunti po ang tao, only 20% of pre-COVID level," he told lawmakers. He also said, of the stores who were allowed to reopen, only 20 percent chose to resume operations. The trade secretary claimed the reports of overcrowding in malls amid the threat of COVID-19 were "fake news" to prove the Duterte administration was remiss in allowing malls to partially reopen starting May 16. He presented photos taken inside malls wherein not a lot of people were shown. "There is no truth to all the fake news trying to discredit what the government has just decided," he said. Despite Lopez's claim of misinformation, Presidential Spokesperson and COVID-19 task force spokesman Harry Roque admitted Filipinos trooped to malls on the first day of easing lockdown rules. He said the public must have been excited to go out after being cooped up in their homes for two months during the Luzon-wide lockdown. "Noong Sabado, dinagsa po ang mga malls. Parang nawala na ang katunayan na nandyan pa ang COVID-19. Wala na pong physical distancing, meron pa ngang nagtutulakan," he said in a media briefing. [Translation: On Saturday, malls were crowded. People forgot about the threat of COVID-19. They did not observe social distancing, some were even shoving each other.] Roque, sounding irked, continued: "Pababa na 'yung graph ngayon, pero pagkatapos po ng Sabado, sigurado ako, tataas 'yan ng napakatarik dahil nga po binalewala natin ang social distancing at iba pang health protocols." [Translation: The COVID-19 trend is going down, but after Saturday, I am sure the cases will spike because we disregarded social distancing and other health protocols.] This also forced the local government of Cavite Province to temporarily shut down all malls after residents failed to follow physical distancing rules and travel restrictions. The national government has warned mall operators to enforce physical distancing protocols or face shut down. Roque said they may also face criminal charges for failure to implement minimum health standards. Roque, however, stood by the government's decision to allow malls to reopen saying it was based on science and economics. He added Metro Manila, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Zambales, Angeles City, and Laguna which are under modified enhanced community quarantine to restart the country's economy can easily switch back to a stricter ECQ if Filipinos continue to disregard lockdown rules. The West Bengal government has evacuated one lakh people from the coastal districts and is in the process of shifting 1.5 lakh more as super-cyclone Amphan nears the shores of the state, a minister said on Tuesday. The state has put the coastal districts of East Midnapore, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas, including the Sundarbans -- home to the majestic Royal Bengal Tiger -- on high alert, Disaster Management Minister Javed Khan said. "We have already evacuated around one lakh people, mostly from the low-lying areas, and set a target of evacuating 1.5 lakh more by Tuesday night. "The evacuees have been put up at cyclone shelters, schools and colleges. Our experience in tackling cyclones Fani and Bulbul last year will be put to good use," he said. The government, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, has distributed more than two lakh masks among the evacuees and personal protective equipment (PPE) kits have been handed out to the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) personnel deployed in the vulnerable areas, a senior official said. "Around 4,000 SDRF personnel are monitoring the evacuation operation. The entire fishermen community has been asked not to venture out to the sea for the next two days and those who were at sea have been asked to return," the official of the Disaster Management department said. Relief materials, dry food and tarpaulin have been dispatched to the coastal areas, he added. "We are taking all possible measures to tackle contingencies, if any. Special control rooms have been set up to monitor the situation. We are giving the necessary instructions through public address systems," the official said. Quick response teams comprising trained civil defence volunteers and vehicles with safety gears have already reached the districts. The State Emergency Operation Centre, functioning at the secretariat, is in constant touch with the exigency units set up at the districts, the official said. Along with the NDRF and SDRF personnel, fire service teams have also been positioned in the vulnerable areas. For the post-cyclone restoration work, engineers of the Public Works Department and officials of the Rural Development and Water Resources departments have been asked to kept teams ready for an immediate repair of the damaged roads, the Disaster Management department official said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier said the NDRF and SDRF personnel were prepared to deal with eventualities and rescue those hit by the cyclone. "We will be monitoring the situation for cyclone 'Amphan' 24X7. Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay and the secretary of the Disaster Management department will keep a close watch on the developments," she had said. Cyclone Amphan (pronounced UM-PUN) is expected to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon between Digha in West Bengal and Hatia island in Bangladesh as an extremely severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds ranging up to 195 kmph. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Upco International Inc. (CSE: UPCO) (OTCQB: UCCPF) (FSE: U06) ("Upco") is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with Token.io to leverage its open banking platform for mobile transaction processing. Under the terms of the agreement, UpcoPAY, an extension of Upco Mobile Messenger, will use Token Pay to enable the delivery of account-to-account (A2A) transfer services and account-to-merchant (A2M) payment services. Token.io is a leading open banking platform provider, connected to more than 6,000 banks throughout Europe. Their platform enables PSD2 compliance, data aggregation and bank direct payments driven by Smart Token technology for banks and TPPs. Integration with Token's open banking platform significantly enhances the options that are available via Upco Mobile Messenger, while simplifying A2A and A2M transaction processing. Token's API provides pan-European bank connectivity, so that Upco can quickly and cost effectively establish a connection to any bank to initiate payments and data requests on behalf of its customers. Using Token's interface, payments are confirmed instantly, and transaction fees are reduced by up to 50%. For the corresponding release from Token.io, please go to Upco Selects Token. Image 1 To view an enhanced version of Image 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/5851/56073_7716077c745639dc_001full.jpg Mr. Andrea Pagani, Chief Executive Officer, Upco International Inc., commented, "This agreement, which enables Upco's diversification into mobile banking services, is immensely important in terms of it's implications for both corporate growth and benefits to our user community. With the Token integration in the near term - freeing users from debit and credit card transactions - we are undertaking a multi-phase deployment of sophisticated solutions in the evolving Fintech / Open Banking sector. The second phase will introduce remittance functionality. During Phase 3, and once authorized to do so, we will be supporting users as an Account Information Service Provider (AISP) and a Payment Initiation Service Provider (PISP). Phase 4 will see Upco becoming an Electronic Money Institution, with full e-wallet capability. In parallel with these staged enhancements Upco is continuing to pursue business development and marketing opportunities, which include offering UpcoPay to aggregators, starting in Italy. Via this strategy, Upco anticipates streamlined and rapid growth in its user base. Partnership discussions are currently underway with a number of potential partners." Todd Clyde, CEO of Token, added: "Open banking is entering the next phase in its development, so companies need to look beyond faster and cheaper to how they can achieve a sustainable advantage that delivers long term value and benefits. We are working with Upco to implement A2A payment functionality and once live, look forward to helping them build out clear points of difference in their popular market." About Upco International Inc. Upco International Inc. is a cloud-based mobile service company which provides high-quality voice termination to a market driven by the growing activity in online communications and commerce. Upco is a licensed Global Telecom Carrier within the international VoIP (voice over IP) wholesale business. Upco has designed a software application for Apple iOS and Android, similar to SKYPE and WhatsApp. With the forthcoming addition of the Upco e-Wallet using Blockchain Payment Services, users will be able to: send invoices, approve payments, transfer international funds, convert international currencies, and track transfers and payments. The application will also allow vendors to securely share account information with their clients. Please visit upcointernational.com or upcomobile.com for further information. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Andrea Pagani, CEO Upco International Inc. office@upcointernational.com +1 (212) 461 3676 North American Investor Contact Trent Collett (Officer, Upco International) trent.collett@upcointernational.com +1 (604) 308-0340 Forward-Looking Statements Except for the statements of historical fact, the information contained herein is of a forward-looking nature. Such forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievement of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by statements containing forward-looking information. Such factors include continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that statements containing forward looking information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on statements containing forward looking information. Readers should review the risk factors set out in the Company's Filing Statement as filed on SEDAR. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56073 Four more persons tested positive for Covid-19 in Uttarakhand on Monday, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to 96. The latest cases were reported from Dehradun, Uttarkashi and Nainital districts, where people coming from outside the state tested positive, a health department bulletin here said. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage A 60-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man who had returned recently from Maharashtra tested positive in Dehradun. A 23-year-old man who had returned from Gurugram tested positive in Uttarkashi while a 20-year-old woman who had returned from Delhi tested positive in Nainital, it said. With these, the states tally of Covid-19 cases rose to 96 out of which 52 have recovered and one has died, leaving the number of active cases in the state at 43, the bulletin said. Dehradun has the maximum number of 18 cases, followed by Udham Singh Nagar with 15, Nainital with six, Uttarkashi with two and Almora and Pauri with one each, it said. F ans of Netflixs The Politician will be overjoyed to know that the second season is available now. The irreverent comedy from the minds of American Horror Story creators Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy follows Payton Hobart on his quest to become President of the United States. Every season will follow Hobart (played by Ben Platt) in a new political race as he climbs his way to the top, with the first season starting small as he battles to become student body president of his school, Saint Sebastian High, in Santa Barbara. So what can we expect for in season two as Hobart slithers up the greasy pole? Heres everything you need to know Netflix: The Politician - Season 1 1 /13 Netflix: The Politician - Season 1 The Politician: Season 1 on Netflix The Politician: Season 1 on Netflix The Politician: Season 1 on Netflix The Politician: Season 1 on Netflix The Politician: Season 1 on Netflix The Politician: Season 1 on Netflix The Politician: Season 1 on Netflix The Politician: Season 1 on Netflix The Politician: Season 1 on Netflix The Politician: Season 1 on Netflix When is season 2 of The Politician coming to Netflix? The sophomore season of the Netflix series lands on the platform today, Friday, June 19 with seven brand new episodes. Who's in the cast? Gwyneth Paltrow will be returning for a second series (Netflix) Now attending college in New York City, Payton Hobbart is back and once again played by Ben Platt. Gwyneth Paltrow returns to her role as Paytons ice-cold yet fiercely protective mother Georgia Hobbart, while Zoey Deutch (Infinity), Lucy Boynton (Astrid) and Julia Schalepfer (Alice) are also all back for seconds. Theo Germaine, who played Paytons campaign manager and advisor James Sullivan will be on board once again, while Rahne Jones will reprise the role of non-binary character Skye. Dede Standish, who appeared briefly at the end of season one as New York State Senate Judith Light is now a main character, as is Hadassah Gold, Dedes Chief of Staff played by the legendary Bette Midler. What will the second season be about? Payton and Georgina both have plans for series 2 (Netflix) The second season of the satirical series sees a time jump, with Payton now a college student in New York. However, hes now preparing for battle against Dede Standish, who Payton believes he needs to unseat as the next step to realising his presidential ambition. For Dede, this re-election was supposed to be a walk in the park, but with Payton still finding his feet among the political landscape, this series could see him exposing secrets, lies, and even a throuple. Meanwhile, Georgina makes a momentous decision that threatens to upstage Payton and his future plans. But if Payton wants to succeed without compromising whats important to him, he must find his voice and strengthen his political message to inspire and excite voters. Is there a trailer? Not yet, but with the series coming in less than a months time, keep your eyes peeled for further updates. The Politician season two lands on Netflix on Friday, June 19 SPRINGFIELD Police have charged a man accused of robbing, shooting at and pistol-whipping a victim with 11 different crimes, including multiple firearms offenses. Darnell Jones, 27, of Quincy St., was arrested Friday after police responded to reports of shots fired and found a victim at 1013 Berkshire Ave. The victim had not been shot was but injured. Police also found two cars had been damaged by bullets and found shell casings on the ground, said Ryan Walsh, police spokesman. The victim stated he was shot at, pistol-whipped and robbed, but was otherwise uncooperative, Walsh said. The victim was brought to the hospital by ambulance after receiving first aid at the scene. Witnesses said they heard between four and five gunshots at about 3:30 p.m. and saw a man running from the home carrying a handgun. Police searched the area and Lt. Julio Toledo and others found a gun inside a jacket left on Superior Avenue. Detectives and officers later located Jones on Lake Drive. Jones was arraigned on Monday on a variety of charges including assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, possession of a high capacity magazine, armed robbery with a firearm, assault by means of a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a license and discharging a gun within 500 feet of a dwelling, Walsh said. The recovered gun was found to be stolen from Vermont, he said. In the past, nursing was a lucrative career but currently, being a nurse in Ghana has become a challenge. Over the past years, nursing have been striking because of poor pay and the government has banned nurses from seeking job opportunities abroad. With this kind of attention, we cannot help but wonder, what is the salary of nurses in Ghana? Source: Ghana Health Nest Source: UGC According, a report by BBC, the government is against qualified nurses traveling to outside countries to look for better employment opportunities. Their reason for this ban is, they have enough nurses and so it is not necessary for them to stay under bond. The bond scheme refused more applicants back in 2014 and currently it takes 4 years to get an actual qualification as a nurse.Those that are already in the scheme have to take 5 years in service. If a nurse does not want to do the five years, they have to pay for each year. Each year is 422 cedis. This is very expensive and not everyone can afford such kind of cash. So what is the average salary of nurses in Ghana? Source: Citi FM Studying for nursing in campus is not an easy task. Nursing is a very delicate profession and the hospitals cannot do without them, but due to these delays, many nurses opt to look for jobs abroad. Unfortunately one has to pay the fine or else they will not work abroad. According to an article from 2014, professional nurses in Ghana are 20,400 and they are paid 400 dollars in a month. READ ALSO: Doctor, Nurses 'toss' patient to his death; GMA blames poor infrastructure For the salary of community health nurses in Ghana; salary of registered nurses in Ghana depends on the level of learning. Based on their level, nurses in Ghana earn between $3,600 and $4,800 in a year after taxation but due to the increasing food and transportation costs, nurses are obliged to take second jobs in private health and work back to back shifts. They wok approximately 15 hours and 18 hours in a day. This is very little compared to other countries. The nurses work for long hours because at all times, patients go to hospitals. Salary of a diploma nurse in Ghana should be increased, as well as the salary of degree nurses in Ghana. Nonetheless, the salaries detailed are from 2010, the current salaries of nurses is unknown. You can only benefit from the government after doing your time or paying up. This has made the Ghana hospitals to be at a bad condition. An example is the Korle bu hospital in Ghana which a decade ago was reported to have less nurses, and frustrated nurses who end up being rude on patients. In some cases, patients get worse with diseases while waiting to be served. Source: Graphic Online Based on a 2015 report, every year, approximately 400 nurses get into Ghanas job market but approximately twice the number, 700 nurses left for the UK; seeking for nursing jobs. Nurses opt seeking jobs abroad because in Ghana the salaries are quite low and Ghana has a high cost of living. In the UK National Health Service, a newly qualified nurse is paid more than 21,000 Euros annually and they have the chance to earn overtime. This is more than $2,695 monthly. However these figures are from 2015, the current pay for the nurses is unknown. READ ALSO: Who a nurse is: types, roles and careers in Ghana The salary of a staff nurse in Ghana, the salary of psychiatric nurses in Ghana and the salary of general nurses in Ghana is also low. They are paid depending on institutions. In this category, staff nurses and psychiatric nurses earn more than general nurses but based on the recent strike, in 2015, their pay is not good either. Source: Ghana Politics Online The salary structure of nurses in Ghana needs to be revised because more students are taking nursing in the universities but there are less jobs in the country. There should be a platform of fairness because only the rich people will make it to go abroad to search for careers after paying for the bond scheme. There is a number of jobless nurses because the government can only support registered nurses. Salary of enrolled nurses in Ghana is also supposed to be looked into. READ ALSO: Tamale DJ apologizes to female nurses Source: YEN.com.gh Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Tuesday told reporters that the recovery rate of coronavirus patients in the state, as of Monday, was recorded at 64% which is the best throughout the country. Sidhu, however, said that the fight against coronavirus is not over yet as many people stranded in other parts of the country are returning to Punjab. Our cured rate of 64%, as of yesterday, is the best throughout the country. However, the fight is still on as many Non-resident Indians (NRIs) and people who are stranded in other states are returning, Sidhu told reporters on Tuesday. Also read: 4,970 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours push Indias tally past 1 lakh-mark Our cured rate of 64%, as of yesterday, is the best throughout the country. However, the fight is still on as many Non-resident Indians (NRIs) and people who are stranded in other states are returning: Balbir Singh Sidhu, Punjab Health Minister #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/T3Kerlscro ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2020 So far, Punjab has reported nearly 2,000 coronavirus cases. According to the Ministry of Health, as of Tuesday morning, there are 1,980 coronavirus cases in the state of which 1,547 people have recovered or have been discharged from hospitals. The state has witnessed 37 Covid-19 fatalities. The coronavirus national tally on Tuesday breached the one lakh-mark with India reporting 101,139 Covid-19 infections till date. There are 58,802 active coronavirus cases in the country, 39,173 patients have been cured or discharged while 3,163 people have died from the deadly contagion. Maharashtra continues to bear the brunt of the virus with the highest number of Covid-19 infections in the country. On Tuesday, the coronavirus tally in the state breached the 35,000-mark. Maharashtra has a total of 35,058 Covid-19 cases, 8,437 people have recovered while 1,249 have lost their lives to the virus. Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Delhi continue to struggle with a high incidence of Covid-19 cases. All these states have reported over 10,000 coronavirus cases till date. SELINSGROVE A Facebook post by a Selinsgrove Area School Board member that warns anyone coming within 6 feet of her or her family without a mask could be shot is creating controversy. Dr. Jennifer Rager-Kay posted the comment in reaction to a picture of anti-lockdown protesters last week in Harrisburg, many of whom are not wearing masks. She wrote: I find it interesting that the largest group of the participants in the anti-lockdown protest and refusing to wear masks in public as they see it as a violation of their constitutional rights are among those against a form of gun regulations. As a concerned carry-permitted gun owner, if you refuse to wear a mask and try to come within 6 feet of me or my family, I will exercise the same constitutional rights to shoot you. Rager-Kays posted her comment on a private Facebook page but it was shared, so it became known in the community. The medical doctor who last year ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for the state House seat that became vacant when Republican Fred Keller was elected to Congress on Monday issued this statement: I would like to publicly apologize to anyone offended by my recent post regarding the hypocrisy of those who refuse to wear face masks yet walk around openly carrying guns. I am in a profession where the threat of someone approaching me not wearing a mask while in the midst of a pandemic is equivalent to the threat against my life. Just as it would be if they approached me with their gun drawn and pointed at me. As a wife, mother and physician, it is my job and responsibility to do no harm and the constant barrage of protests and defiance to public health reached a boiling point for me, thus the reason for my overly dramatic and exaggerated post. My words demonstrated how constitutional rights can be misinterpreted, and were meant to serve as an example of extremism. Bioterrorism is, however, a real threat and refusal to prevent and/or the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents by not wearing a mask during a global pandemic is a clear example. I am sorry if my words were offensive or derogatory in any way. My concern and compassion for human life got the best of me. School board president Dennis Wolfe acknowledged that Dr. Rager-Kay has First Amendment rights as a private citizen, "she should have been more careful with how she expressed her opinion, and I think her followup explanation reflects that understanding. The Facebook post did not surprise Gerald Stauffer, a businessman who lives in the school district. People are so divisive, he said. I would like her to resign, he said. Its not the leadership we need. Rager-Kay said she has no plans to resign. Fellow school board member Amy Stauffer pointed out as public servants our words are significant and have an impact on others. Threatening words should have consequences. As elected officials we should be leading as positive examples for our community and constituents," she said. Later Monday, Rager-Kay posted this on her Facebook page: "Thank you to those who have reached out with support regarding the repercussions of my recent post demonstrating my profound concern of those who refuse to wear a mask during this devastating pandemic. Apparently, there were those who took enough offense to take drastic efforts to affect my personal and professional life including calling for my resignation from school board as well as contacting local newspapers, articles which Im sure will be published soon. My post was described as hateful, but hateful suggests a lack of love. And to me, lack of love is demonstrated by refusing to wear a mask out of love for those you encounter. Ironically, her Facebook page also has a video of a parade of fire equipment and others marking her sons seventh birthday last Friday during which a firefighter hands the boy a gift. Neither is wearing a mask. PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 15:36:30 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 704 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / NZ Shell Catalysts & Technologies, break-even management of customer assets for over 26 years and a provider of flexible trust management strategies for enterprises and retailers, earned 6.99 percent in profits for the week ending May 10, 2020.Behind this, there were positive developments in the stock markets buoyed by strong quarterly reports from several companies including Lyft. Its shares rose 14 percent. The taxi service provider said its order volumes had risen amid the COVID-19 lockdown. Also, news that Saudi Arabia was increasing its Value Added Tax (VAT) to 15 percent led to a spike in WTI crude futures prices. Average gains during the week were 1.2 percent.NZ Shell Catalysts & Technologies is duly registered according to New Zealand laws after depositing $1.8 million as required. On March 11, 2020, the day when it was registered, they re-negotiated with Antares platform. Antares has the exclusive rights to promote and market Catalysts' services and products.Catalysts Finance was formed in 1994 and employs over 200 professional traders who carefully manage and multiply investments. Each trader has on average 12 years of experience. Over the years, Catalysts Finance has proven to be a reliable and profitable platform for investors yearning for passive income.To maintain an edge, Catalysts fuses artificial intelligence capacities and some breakthrough technologies in semi-robot trading enabling investors to earn annual yields of up to 300 percent. The term incorporates high-frequency trading techniques and quantitative trading techniques as they focus on the most promising segments of the market.Catalysts Finance constantly improves their trading strategies by making necessary adjustments and conducting regular audits. The Catalyst Bitcoin bot was introduced on April 22, 2020. The bot is configured to work without emotion while incorporating a simple management functionality drawn from the company's deep experience in trading.By November 2020, Catalysts Finance will activate algorithmic, behavioral trading, and the use of neural network opportunities for trading and cluster analysis. Specifically, Robotic advising will appear and be integrated into client accounts.Besides, Catalysts Finance also has interests in Forex and Futures trading, calculated investment in Blue Chip shares, and commodities including Oil. The price of oil continues to recover following the approval of stimulus measures in the United States and promise of a production cut by OPEC members.Leveraging on the experience of Catalysts Finance professional traders, Pavilion Energy earned 189 percent in profits over nine months while NEXTracker initial investment more than doubled, rising by 237 percent in 12 months."Thanks to your effort, we have increased our income and expanded the range of our activities. We sincerely hope we shall stay in the list of our partners in the next year", the CEO of NEXTracker, Dan Sugar, said in an appreciation letter, "we promise to thank you with quality and worthy work which will satisfy the needs of all our clients." For their innovation, Catalysts Finance has consequently earned over $10 million in investor net profit with a maximum 2 percent drawdown level pushing their dollar millionaire clients to over 2,000. There is also a 100 percent protection for their over 25,000 customers drawn from over 45 countries that trust the asset management's transparency and reliability.The company plans on opening a Los Angeles office in May 2020 and by mid-June launch an updated personal account. Their primary focus by then will be on retail customers and enterprises keen on tapping the expanding use-cases of blockchain technology. Catalysts' executives reckon that 95 percent of blockchain's capacities are yet to be explored."Only 5 percent of blockchain technology possibilities are used; 95 percent is yet to come, so there is huge potential. The global pandemic only accelerates the world's need for blockchain technology. Due to the difficult economic situation, people are increasingly showing interest in cryptocurrency." said Jack Barett, the CEO of Catalysts Finance.Tapping on the ever-evolving cryptocurrency markets, Catalysts Finance constantly improve their trading strategies by making necessary adjustments and conducting regular audits. The Catalyst Bitcoin bot was introduced on April 22, 2020.About Catalysts FinanceCatalysts Finance is an international asset management company for private clients. It began operations 26 years ago in Singapore and is now registered in New Zealand.---Media contactCompany: Catalysts.finance Contact: Media Relation TeamAddress: 58 Victoria Street, Wellington Central, 6011, NZEmail: help@ catalysts.finance YouTube: https://youtu.be/Agswf2wLdFE Website: http://catalysts.finance SOURCE: Catalysts.finance Extreme environmental change was the most likely cause of extinction of megafauna in Sahul, the supercontinent formed by Australia and New Guinea during periods of low sea level, according to an analysis of megafauna fossils from the site of South Walker Creek near the township of Nebo, Australia. South Walker Creek, the youngest megafauna site in northern Australia, was once home to at least 16 species of megafauna, including thirteen extinct and three extant species. Carnivorous megafauna was represented by the marsupial lion (Thylacoleo), at least three crocodilians (Crocodylus porosus, Pallimnarchus sp. and Quinkana sp.) and two giant monitor lizards (Varanus priscus or Megalania and a Komodo dragon-sized species). Plant-eating megafauna was diverse with two species of wombats, one palorchestid marsupial, two diprotodontids, the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), and five species of kangaroos. One kangaroo species was 2.5 m tall and had an estimated mass of 274 kg, this makes it the largest kangaroo of all time. The megafauna at South Walker Creek were uniquely tropical, dominated by huge reptilian carnivores and mega-herbivores that went extinct around 40,000 years ago, well after humans arrived onto mainland Australia, said Dr. Scott Hocknull, a paleontologist at Queensland Museum and the University of Melbourne. While the rest of the world had giant carnivores like saber-toothed cats, bears and hyenas, Australias predators were mostly giant reptiles, including an extinct freshwater croc around 7 m long, a relation to the modern salt water crocodile and a land-dwelling crocodile, he added. There were also two giant lizards including a 6-m-long lizard called Megalania and another giant lizard, similar in size to the Komodo dragon. We cannot place humans at this 40,000-year-old crime scene, we have no firm evidence. Therefore, we find no role for humans in the extinction of these species of megafauna, Dr. Hocknull said. Instead, we do find that their extinction is coincident with major climatic and environmental deterioration both locally and regionally, including increased fire, reduction in grasslands and loss of freshwater. Together, these sustained changes were simply too much for the largest of Australias animals to cope with. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. _____ S.A. Hocknull et al. 2020. Extinction of eastern Sahul megafauna coincides with sustained environmental deterioration. Nat Commun 11, 2250; doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15785-w President Donald Trump is heading to Capitol Hill for lunch Tuesday with Senate Republicans as Washington considers next steps in the coronavirus response. That's according to a person unauthorized to discuss the president's schedule and granted anonymity. The administration is launching a full day of appearances on Capitol Hill as the White House and Congress consider another pandemic aid package. Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin huddled earlier with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy. ``Very helpful,'' said Mnuchin as he exited the meeting on his way to testify before the Senate Banking Committee. ``Good update.'' The Capitol remains partly closed with the House away due to health risks but the smaller Senate convening under new social distancing restrictions. Among the new rules, senators are limited to three to a table at the weekly GOP luncheons. One senator and dozens of Capitol Hill workers and staff have tested positive for the virus. While House Democrats passed a new virus aid package last week, Senate Republicans say they're not interested in providing more funds until they assess how the $2 trillion in already approved money to fight the virus and improve the economy is being spent. McConnell has said there's no urgency to act on the latest $3 trillion bill from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He has declared the package a ``seasonal catalogue'' of liberal programs. Pelosi's package includes $900 billion to states and cities to shore up their budgets during the crisis and prevent mass layoffs of state and local government workers. Regional tax revenues have plummeted during the shutdown. There's also money for more virus testing, a fresh round of $1,200 rebate checks for cash-strapped Americans and other aid. Republicans prefer to wait to see if efforts to open up the economy can provide a kick-start and lessen the need for more aid. Search Keywords: Short link: State Department Photo by Ronny Przysucha / Public DomainBy CONOR FINNEGAN, BENJAMIN SIEGEL and AARON KATERSKY, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- The State Department Inspector General who was fired by President Donald Trump late Friday was investigating his administration's use of emergency powers to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia despite congressional opposition, according to a senior Democratic lawmaker. Inspector General Steve Linick is the latest federal watchdog removed by Trump and the latest impeachment player who may have faced some form of presidential retaliation. Pompeo recommended his dismissal and supported the president's decision, a senior State Department official told ABC News Friday. The watchdog office was also looking into whether Pompeo used staff to run personal errands, according to a congressional aide. While it's not clear why the president decided to remove Linick, his removal amid at least two investigations into the administration's handling of the agency has spurred outrage that he was sacked for doing his oversight job. Two senior Democratic lawmakers are now investigating his firing. "I was happy to do it. Mike requested that I do it. He should have done it a long time ago," Trump told reporters at the White House Monday. "I didn't know about an investigation. But this is what you get with the Democrats." Pompeo denied it was an act of retaliation, telling the Washington Post in an interview that he did not know about the reported investigation into his conduct either. The top U.S. diplomat added that Linick "wasn't performing a function in a way that we had tried to get him to" and was "trying to undermine what it was that we were trying to do," without offering specifics. The State Department has not responded to questions from ABC News. A spokesperson for the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) told ABC News it cannot confirm or deny the existence of any specific investigation. In a statement to ABC News, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said that the OIG's investigation into the Saudi weapons sale "may be another reason for Mr. Linick's firing." In May 2019, Pompeo declared an emergency so that the administration could bypass congressional approval to send $8 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates amid their ongoing war in neighboring Yemen. Particularly after the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents, Republican and Democrat lawmakers have opposed such arms sales and any U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, where American-provided bombs have targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure, according to the United Nations. Congress has the authority to approve or reject arms sales, but the State Department issued a legal justification to bypass that process, citing an urgent threat from Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen that Tehran supports, although many of the arms would not be transferred for months or even years. Engel said in the statement that the State Department OIG "was investigating -- at my request -- Trump's phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia. We don't have the full picture yet, but it's troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick pushed out before this work could be completed," according to Engel. The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has joined Engel in demanding the administration turn over documents related to Linick's firing by Friday as part of their own investigation into his removal. The State Department has previously ignored similar requests, even when the House issued subpoenas for its impeachment investigation. In addition to the arms sales, the OIG was investigating whether Pompeo used a political appointee at the department to walk his family dog Sherman, pick up his dry cleaning and make dinner reservations, a congressional aide told ABC News on Monday. Engel first said Friday night that the OIG was investigating Pompeo's conduct when Linick was fired without offering specifics -- adding that his firing "amid such a probe strongly suggests that this is an unlawful act of retaliation." In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Trump said only that he "no longer" had "the fullest confidence" in Linick's ability to help the administration "promote the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of Federal programs and activities." The president is entitled to remove inspectors general, although they are confirmed to their roles by the Senate. But Trump defended Pompeo's reported use of a staffer to run personal errands, saying Monday, "I would rather have him on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes because maybe his wife isn't there." Under Linick, the inspector general's office had repeatedly found fault with the Trump administration's handling of the State Department, especially the treatment of career staff and its efforts to "redesign" its workforce, including through a damaging hiring freeze. Details about one of those investigations were leaked to the Daily Beast in November. Under Secretary of State for Management Brian Bulatao -- a top Pompeo lieutenant and long-time friend -- told the Washington Post that senior State Department leaders believe Linick was responsible for that leak and accused him of a "pattern of unauthorized disclosures, or leaks." Appointed to the role in 2013 by President Barack Obama, Linick is a career government lawyer who served as a senior Justice Department official under President George W. Bush and assistant U.S. attorney in California and Virginia under President Bill Clinton. He also played a minor role in the impeachment process. As ABC News was first to report in October, he requested an urgent meeting with senior lawmakers during the probe to turn over documents his office obtained. Those papers, later confirmed to come largely from Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, showed what one senior State Department official called a "disinformation campaign" that smeared U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and appeared to have led to her firing. They also included false claims about former Vice President Joe Biden, his son Hunter, and the Ukrainian energy company Burisma, whose board Hunter sat on. Giuliani had turned the documents, which were based on his interviews with a fired Ukrainian prosecutor accused of corruption, over to Pompeo, who passed them down and said the department would investigate. Trump has fired or demoted other top U.S. officials involved in the impeachment probe, including the intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson, who alerted Congress to the whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to impeachment -- an oversight function required of Atkinson by law. Trump also fired U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, both of whom testified in the impeachment hearings. It's not the first time Pompeo has faced questions about his behavior. Last fall, Menendez called for an investigation into Pompeo's use of his State Department plane to travel to Kansas, where the secretary made four trips in 2019. While three of those included official events, Menendez charged that Pompeo may be violating the Hatch Act by using government resources to start "laying the groundwork for" a 2020 Senate run. Pompeo has said he is not running for the open seat, despite pressure from Republicans to do so. CNN reported last July that congressional Democrats were investigating Pompeo's use of his Diplomatic Security detail to run errands like picking up take-out food and the dog Sherman without the secretary. As fourth in the presidential line of succession, the Secretary of State is always escorted by a security detail. On Saturday, he and his family were driven by Diplomatic Security to get a new puppy. Pennsylvania state police confirmed to ABC News that they helped Diplomatic Security escort the Pompeos to a residence in Lancaster County for a trip that lasted no more than two hours. The next day, Pompeo posted on his personal Twitter account photos of his new dog Mercer. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. Foreign insurers again challenge 2012 Superjet crash case ruling in Russian Supreme Court RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 11:47 19/05/2020 MOSCOW, May 19 (RAPSI) Several foreign insurers have again filed an appeal with the Russian Supreme Court seeking to reconsider a ruling ordering them to pay over $16 million to Kapital Strakhovaniye insurance company in connection with the Superjet 100 aicraft crash in Indonesia in May 2012, according to court records. The Commercial Court of the Khanty-Mansi region in April 2015 granted a lawsuit filed by Russias Kapital Strakhovaniye against foreign insurance companies. The Eighth Commercial Court of Appeals and the West-Siberian District Federal Commercial Court upheld the ruling in July 2015 and March 2016 respectively. In September 2016, the Supreme Court dismissed the insurers petition for reconsideration of the lower courts rulings. The court found no grounds for review of the appealed judicial acts under cassational procedure. However, the insurance turned to commercial court seeking to rehear the case under the new circumstances. They believed that the matter should be considered by the Moscow Regional Commercial Court. In July 2019, the Commercial Court of the Khanty-Mansi region dismissed the application. Twenty-four companies were initially defendants in the case. However, due to partial payment of the debt, the plaintiff withdrew claims against some of them. Kapital Strakhovaniye initially claimed $32.4 million in damages from the companies that provided insurance for 48 people on board. The sum was reduced to $16 million after partial payments were made. General Insurance Corporation of India, Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A., UK Branch, Swiss Re Europe S.A., Starr Insurance and Reinsurance Limited (London) are named among defendants in the case. The lawsuit was filed back in June 2013. The Moscow Commercial Court also heard another plane crash related suit. Sukhoi Company demanded $29.5 million in insurance payouts for the SSJ-100 from Kapital Strakhovaniye. In September 2013, the parties signed an amicable agreement under which the underwriter committed to pay the plaintiff $14.1 million in addition to the previous payments. The insurance company claimed that the insurance agreement on the plane was 95% reinsured in the Western market. The plane crashed on its first ever demonstration tour, across six Asian countries, over Indonesia on May 9, 2012. All people on board the plane, including eight Russian nationals, were killed. The plane crashed into Mount Salak at an altitude of 1.6 km. The investigation found that the disaster was caused by human error. The airplane was insured by Kapital Strakhovaniye, which later reinsured 95% of its risks on the foreign market. The plaintiffs QBE Corporate, Starr Syndicate, Starr Insurance and Reinsurance, Muenchener Rueckversicherungrs-Gesellchaft AG, Dornoch and Catlin Insurance Company (UK) reinsured the risks in line with Lloyd's of London terms. Robots have greeted coronavirus patients in Japanese hotels (Reuters) Robot bartenders and reception staff could replace humans in a new, post-lockdown world, a study has suggested. Researchers from the University of Surrey spoke to 18 hotel HR experts about the challenges of using robots and their application in a post COVID-19 world. Robot receptionists might sound like science-fiction, but they have already been used at hotels such as Henn na Hotel (Weird Hotel) in Tokyo. And, in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, robot staff are operating at another Tokyo hotel used for mildly ill COVID-19 patients. Pepper, a talking robot, greeted new guests at the lobby, while Whiz, a cleaning robot, operates in areas where patients pick up meals and other daily necessities to reduce infection risks for human staff. Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area 6 charts and maps that explain how coronavirus is spreading Robotic bartenders are already a reality in US casinos not the human-like androids of science-fiction, but automated bars that can pour cocktails faster than serving a beer. With the advent of the coronavirus crisis, these trends look set to intensify, the researchers believe. Dr Tracy Xu, lecturer in hospitality at University of Surrey, said: Application of service robots in the hotel industry is on the rise. Could robots become ubiquitous in hotels? (Getty) With the added factor of a need to reassure potential guests that their stays will be compatible with minimised social contact and human interaction, this process could be accelerated. During the lockdown period it is likely that hotel managers will be planning for a fresh start in the recovery and rebuilding period after the social isolation restrictions have been lifted and this is predicted to have a positive stimulus on the adoption of service robots. Read more: Belgian hospitals employ robot receptionists While hotel robots may seem like gimmicks, automated robot bartenders such as Easybar are seen as a logical step after in-room Nespresso machines and other now-standard technologies. Story continues James Nicol, CEO of Easybar Beverage Management Systems, said in an interview with Travel Weekly last year: In a casino environment, there's a lot of liquor being served and a lot of table service out on the gaming floor, and this is where these systems are kind of revolutionising things. Servers can simply come up, draw all the drinks off the system and it rings up automatically, with all that information being stored and tracked. And of course, the speed of service is just so fast. You can get a cocktail out faster than you can serve a bottle of beer. Xu said: The anticipated applications and integration of robotic technology will require leaders of the future to carefully consider the balance between the roles of service robots and human employees in the guest experience and to nurture a work environment that embraces open-mindedness and change. Dr Mark Ashton, teaching fellow at University of Surrey, said: Forward-thinking businesses who are proactively prepared for the introduction of these exciting new technologies will benefit in the long-term. Coronavirus: what happened today Pharma companies were among those that profited most during this years first quarter. Photo Le Toan In early May, Dan Millard, chief representative of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), announced an unprecedented collaboration with Sanofi to bring together two of the worlds largest vaccine makers with proven pandemic technologies and significant scale, all with the aim of developing an adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine. If successful, they could be able to make hundreds of millions of doses annually by the end of next year. Although Millard said, across all our collaborations for coronavirus vaccines, GSK does not expect to profit from them during the pandemic, experts estimate that it will bring about huge profits to GSK and Sanofi. Both companies are among the top 10 pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, Roche, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co, Sanofi, Novartis, AbbVie, GSK, Gilead Sciences, and Amgen, that last year made $89 billion in total profits. Meanwhile, the cost of procuring and delivering a safe and effective vaccine to the worlds poorest 3.7 billion people could amount to $25 billion, said an Oxfam annoucement last week. These figures show how profitable the vaccine industry could be to these pharmaceutical giants. Given the huge profit margin, they could charge high prices, also due to patent rules which give pharmaceutical companies monopoly-like power. Pfizer and GSK are examples for the power that these groups have. For over a decade, millions of children have not had access to patented pneumonia vaccines manufactured by Pfizer and GSK due to its high cost, with 2,000 children dying from pneumonia every day. Both reduced their prices in 2016 after years of campaigning by Doctors Without Borders, but only for the very poorest countries, leaving millions of children still without access to vaccines. In another case, drug manufacturer Gilead Sciences is said to charge more than $4,000 per patient for the drug, even though the cost of Remdesivir, a type of anti-virus medicine, can be as low as $9. Basing on the growth momentum of 2019, pharma giants continued to reap fruitful results in the first quarter of 2020 despite the pandemic. Roches first-quarter group sales increased 2 per cent in Swiss francs and 7 per cent at constant exchange rates, more than compensating for the impact of competition from biosimilars. Meanwhile, the US Johnson & Johnsons worldwide sales were $20.7 billion, an increase of 3.3 per cent on-year. Operational sales growth increased by 4.8 per cent. GSK also delivered strong first-quarter results. The groups sales reached 9.1 billion ($11.26 billion), a 19 per cent increase in annual equivalent rate (AER), and its pharmaceuticals sales reached 4.4 billion ($5.45 billion), which was a 6 per cent increase in AER. Like in other countries, Pfizer, J&J, Roche, Sanofi, Novartis, GSK, and other pharma giants are performing well in Vietnam where demands for vaccines and patented drugs are growing rapidly. Given this situation, Oxfam warned that rich countries and huge pharmaceutical companies could prevent or delay the vaccine from reaching vulnerable people. As shown in Oxfam findings, the European Union has proposed the voluntary pooling of patents for coronavirus vaccines, treatments, and tests in their draft resolution for the World Health Assembly to increase low-cost vaccine access to all all countries. However, leaked documents reveal that there is an attempt to delete references to pooled patents and insert strong language on respecting the patents of the pharmaceutical industry. This would give pharma companies exclusive rights to produce and set prices even if taxpayer money has been used to fund their research and development, the Oxfam report stated. Since no pharmaceutical corporation wants to give up its vast profits, concerns over their social responsibility are being raised, urging all governments to ensure that no one is left behind. New Delhi: Indian information-technology giant Infosys has said it will cut-down about 3,000 jobs following Royal Bank of Scotlands decision to cancel the project to set up a separate bank in the UK. RBS announced last week that it will not pursue its plan to separate and list a new UK standalone bank, Williams & Glyn (W&G), for which Infosys was a key technology partner. Infosys has been a W&G program technology partner for Consulting, Application Delivery and Testing services, and subsequent to this decision, will carry out an orderly ramp-down of about 3,000 persons, primarily in India, over the next few months, Infosys said in a statement. An Infosys spokesperson clarified that these jobs are not being cut and that the employees will be reallocated to other projects. RBS is a key relationship for Infosys and the company looks forward to further strengthening strategic partnership and working with them across other strategic and transformation programmes, it added. While Infosys has not specified the impact of the cancellation, market analysts peg it at around USD 40 million The loss of the five-year 300-million pound RBS deal could force Infosys to further downgrade revenue guidance for FY2016-17. Infosys had in July slashed annual sales outlook citing weak demand to 10.5-12 per cent in constant currency terms, lower than the previously estimated 11.5-13.5 per cent. Stock of Infosys was trading at Rs 1,054.10, down by 0.87 per cent on BSE in afternoon session. GREENWICH The match-up in the race for the 36th state Senate District is about to become official. On Monday night, Republicans nominated Greenwich resident Ryan Fazio as the challenger for the seat. On Tuesday, Democrats are set to nominate incumbent state Sen. Alex Kasser. The 36th Senate District represents all of Greenwich as well as portions of Stamford and New Canaan. In 2018, Kasser made history as the first Democrat elected to the seat since 1930. Now she will look to make history again as she runs for reelection. A first term member of Greenwichs Representative Town Meeting, Fazio accepted the GOPs nomination during a digital convention. Im really honored and really grateful for the trust that has been placed in me by so many of our leaders across these three great towns, Fazio said before the convention. I take it very seriously and I am ready to work extremely hard to earn the trust of as many voters as possible. This is a really challenging time for our community, it goes without saying. But I love this community, he said. Ive spent most of my life in it, and Im ready to work extremely hard for the people and everyone who has supported me up to this point. Fazio said his campaign message comes down to four words, Change Hartford, save Connecticut. There needs to be a change in the paradigm, he said, to convince voters that the state has enough money to pay for infrastructure and schools without raising taxes or adding fees, such as tolls, which he opposes. We have great people in this community who are showing their heart and their spirit more than ever before during a very difficult time, Fazio said. But I dont think we have the leadership in Hartford that reflects that quality of the character of our people and its been that way for decades. He pointed to policies he disagrees with in Hartford. Weve still had taxes go up seven times by billions of dollars over the past 30 years and weve had zero economic growth over the past 10 years, Fazio said. Home values have been stagnant or declined. The results in Connecticut have been so bad because Hartford hasnt given us the government we deserve as a community. My goal is to change that. Kasser said she preferred to comment after she is renominated on Tuesday, but Greenwich Democratic Town Committee Chair Joe Angland said Monday that Kasser has done a great job in her first term. In the 2018 election, Kasser did not win a majority of votes in Greenwich or New Canaan, but her margin of victory in Stamford was enough to defeat Republican state Sen. L. Scott Frantz. In addition to chairing the Banking Committee, she has been at the forefront of the COVID-19 response, being one of the first to call for the sheltering rules that have saved so many lives, Angland said. She has also led the way on issues such as sexual assault and harassment. She has epitomized the intelligent, hard-working legislator and I believe voters will recognize that. Greenwich Republican Town Committee Dan Quigley, however, said voters will see it is time for a change and support 30-year-old Fazio. Ryan brings with him some real assets that make him a very formidable candidate, Quigley said. He is young, energetic and is intelligent beyond his years. Ryan is as comfortable discussing the complex issues that Connecticut faces like pension reform, tax structure and healthcare as he is talking about the day-to-day issues we all face. He is very engaging and relatable, and that will serve him well throughout the upcoming campaign. The coronavirus outbreak could have a huge impact on the upcoming campaign. The large gatherings and door-to-door stumping used in many local races in the past may not be possible this year. For his part, Fazio said his campaign would be prudent and hard-working as he looks to get his message out online and over the phone. And in the coming months, he said there might be door-to-door campaigning if conditions improve. Obviously, the No. 1 thing will be keeping people safe but its also important to recognize that our democracy continues and voters are owed a choice and information on who should represent them in state government, Fazio said. Were going to do everything we can to provide them with information and that choice. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com These are strange times for cooks. Its a boom-and-bust situation, even for those of us who arent struggling to pay for groceries, who are in full health and who have the ability to have provisions delivered. When we do stock up generously, gratefully we are suddenly rich with possible meals. But we have to get creative as the supplies dwindle. There are recipes for times like this, though, that can be tailored to whatever you have on hand, that are quick enough to be made easily after a day of Zoom calls and homeschooling, when patience is thin and tempers are, perhaps, a bit high. There is, for example, fried rice. Its the ultimate catchall for the scraps that accumulate in the crisper drawer, for the bits-and-bobs, for leftovers. We almost always have cooked white rice left over, and those dried-out grains are perfect for frying, holding their shape without getting mushy. I often make a facsimile of Chinese takeout fried rice, studded with peas and bits of scrambled egg, but fried rice is a blank slate. In this version, I borrow ingredients and flavors from Spanish paella and cook it in a heavy cast-iron pan so some of the bits get crispy, like paellas socarrat. Unlike paella, this fried rice is made with precooked rice (you can use short or long grain), but like paella, its seasoned with saffron (and smoked paprika) and laced with cubes of chorizo and plump shrimp. I add cooked fava beans at the last minute, but fresh or frozen peas would be a great substitute. In fact, there are lots of ways to spin this dish you could use another cooked grain in place of rice, another protein instead of shrimp, another type of sausage (or even bacon or hot dogs) instead of chorizo. You might want to add other vegetables. Mushrooms? A handful of baby spinach? Some cubed zucchini? This everybody in the pool approach could fail you if applied to other recipes, but fried rice is the great equalizer, especially if you bear in mind some fundamentals: Add the meat first, giving it time to render in the oil, then add the onion (or green onion, or baby leeks, or anything else in the allium family), along with any other vegetables or protein that need a bit more time to cook. Stir the rice in so it gets coated with oil, then use the back of your spatula or spoon to press it down into the pan and let it cook, undisturbed, for a few moments until it begins to crisp up. Scrape it up, stir in the fava beans or peas (or other quick-cooking vegetables) and hustle the pan to the table. Another meal down, another day done. Jessica Battilana is a San Francisco freelance writer and the author of Repertoire: All the Recipes You Need. Email: food@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jbattilana Recipe: Paella Fried Rice Serves 4 Note that this recipe calls for Spanish chorizo, a cured, dry sausage generously flavored with smoked paprika, not Mexican chorizo, which is a fresh sausage. But if you dont have any of the ingredients called for here, remember: This recipe is a template. You can use a different cooked grain in place of rice, use bacon, another type of sausage or even hot dogs instead of chorizo. Use onions, green onions, green garlic or baby leeks. Add more vegetables if you want (even frozen ones). Skip the paprika and saffron and season with soy sauce or fish sauce. Replace the shrimp with another type of seafood or with small pieces of chicken. In other words, dont sweat it fried rice wont let you down. 1 pound peeled, deveined tail-on medium shrimp Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper cup extra-virgin olive or canola oil 3 ounces dried Spanish chorizo, finely diced 1 small white onion, finely diced Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. 3 cloves garlic, minced teaspoon smoked paprika 5 cups day-old cooked short- or long-grain white rice 1 generous pinch saffron, dissolved in 2 teaspoons warm water 1 cup cooked fava beans or peas Instructions: Heat a large cast-iron frying pan or other heavy skillet over medium heat. Season the shrimp generously with salt and set nearby. When the pan is hot, add the oil and the chorizo and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, until the chorizo begins to render some of its fat. Add the onion, garlic and a big pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until the onions are translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the smoked paprika and cook 30 seconds more, then increase the heat to medium-high, add the shrimp and cook, stirring, until they begin to turn pink, about 3 minutes. Three Northeast Asian nations should allow visits by 'essential people' Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo recently proposed that Korea, China and Japan explore ways to expand exchanges of doctors, scientists and businesspeople within the limits of their respective quarantines. The proposal came during a trilateral videophone conference of health ministers last Friday to discuss cooperation in responding to COVID-19. The three countries currently obligate foreign visitors to undergo 14 days of self-quarantine even if they are on government-related duty. Park called for exempting the mandatory self-isolation if these "essential personnel" tested negative for the virus in duplicated tests. It may be inevitable to close borders temporarily to control COVID-19, as the world has yet to know the entire picture, let alone develop treatments or vaccines. However, the flip side of such a strict restriction is an economic freeze. Unless nations resume business activities while keeping the coronavirus at a controllable level, the adverse effects of this pandemic will hit the global economy much longer and more severely. In a recent telephone call, Presidents Moon Jae-in and Xi Jinping agreed that a "quick passage system for businesspeople" between the two countries could be one model for COVID-19 cooperation. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has also expressed hope that sharing Korean and Chinese experiences would be of great help for Japan in dealing with the pandemic. However, unlike Korea and China, where the virus spread has slowed, Japan seems to be unsure about its outbreak having passed the peak. That is why Japan's foreign minister recently said Tokyo would gradually move to allow the visits of essential people on the premise of controlling outbreaks within the country. Governments should be cautious against hasty reopening for economic reasons, leading to a renewed virus spread within the region. However, there are few good reasons they should continue to block the exchanges of businesspeople testing negative through redundant checks, merely out of unfounded concerns. If the three Northeast Asian countries could resume regional trade, albeit on a limited basis, based on their ability to contain any further spread, it could offer a preemptive cooperative model for the rest of the world, including Europe and North America. By Thomas N. Micozzie former Mayor 2009-2019 I have been asked my opinion several times on the requirement of residency in the township and my thoughts on the requirement nd the recent proposed ordinance to remove that requirement. First, one needs to understand the basis of that requirement and, more importantly, how it came about. Second, the importance of the C.A.O. and directors living here. Third, what has occurred recently with this proposal and are there similar requirements for other large municipalities across the state of Pennsylvania? Fourth, why is this being done during a pandemic and what are open records regulations? 1. The requirement for residency was always a criterion for employment under the township commissioner form of government prior to the establishment of the referendum of Home Rule mayor/council form of government currently in place. By referendum, a charter committee was established by election and they came up with the charter and recommendations for which ultimately was voted by referendum by the residents and after the charter was enacted the then 15- member commissioners were dissolved and an 11-member Council was established with a mayor-elect, the then Sonny Kane 1976. Once council was seated, the administrative code was adopted from recommendations of the charter commission and thus the residency among other rules were established and remain. It has stood the presence of time through five mayors and a few challenges, both arbitration with police and fire and a few employees along the way. The challenges or request to change have never been from any appointed director or chief administrative officer or mayor. 2. It is my belief that the charter committee, made up of residents at the time, studied the importance of having the work force live in the community. The reasoning I have been advised and have experience with this is familiarity of the community, its residents, programs, faith based or civic organizations and neighborhoods. Traditionally, council and the mayor were fixtures in either the youth associations, churches, school community or fire companies. There have been only been three CAOs who sat in that position: Ted Erickson, Ray Shay and Thomas Judge, all long-term residents and heavily involved in the community prior to and during the time they were in that position. All had masters either in business or experience in municipal government and Ted Erickson held a Ph.D and was the health director before assuming the first CAO position. The importance to have a community person is vital to the position and requires an understanding of living with the decisions you make in the community you live. As an example, walk into a Wawa, Acme or church after a bad storm or a tax hike and feel the communitys vibes. If the CAO and directors are not required to live here, wait until all three labor contracts are up at years end and the CAO will need to hold firm on an ordinance he and the directors are not required to uphold. Could you imagine the city of Philadelphia, Scranton, Allentown, Erie or Harrisburg having the CAO, deputy to the mayor, live outside the boundaries of the city or town? 3. The recent proposed ordinance eluded to my administration that somehow abolished the requirement by an ordinance I put fourth for employee rights which is not factual and the current mayor, CAO and council know it. It amazes me that they would lie when the truth will do, they can run this ordinance on its own; however, they somehow feel adding that helps their narratives. The administrative code is clear the CAO , directors and employees, except police and fire (arbitration ruling) need to live here, and, in fact, the solicitor confirmed this at a council meeting publicly and the CAO confirmed he would move within six months. Now, they wish to change that requirement. I did some research and Upper Darby would become the only municipal government in Pennsylvania population over 50,000 to not require their CAO or directors to live in the community they serve. Some have variations for specialty positions none have policy positions listed as exempt. Upper Darby is the sixth-largest in size in Pennsylvania with 82.000 residents. I am sure there are qualified residents for positions in the township, and, if not, I am also sure with 32,000 houses, a qualified person could find a nice home. In all the years I served and since 1976, we have always found qualified applicants either in the township or they were willing to move in the township within six months time. 4. I am of the strong opinion this ordinance should wait and be introduced and heard at a public meeting so all can voice their opinions. The Pennsylvania Open Record has issued an advisory May 5, 2020 regarding issues of importance should wait. In addition to the provisions of Act 15, the Office of Open Records strongly recommends proactively making the recording available (preferably online) so that a full and complete record of the meeting is easily accessible by the public. To the extent that agenda items can be delayed until in-person meetings can resume, its a good idea to do so. A 55-year-old farmer at Ananekrom, who allegedly stabbed his wife to death with a knife, for not returning from the farm early to prepare food for him, has been arrested by and detained by the police at Agogo, in the Asante Akim North District. Joseph Yaw Prempeh, alias J. Y, on Saturday evening, could not understand why the wife should return from the farm late and in explosive anger, pulled a knife and stabbed her in the armpit, resulting in her death. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr. James Amekah, Agogo District Commander, confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency and said the suspect went into hiding after committing the crime. He was arrested from his hideout based upon police intelligence. Prempeh reportedly told the police during interrogation that he acted under the influence of alcohol. He claimed evil forces were to blame for his action - killing his wife with whom, he has five children. DSP Amekah said the suspect would be put before the law court as soon as they were done with their investigations. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) Following the footsteps of other model nations, the Philippines is targeting to test 1.5 to 2 percent of its almost 110 million population for COVID-19 infection, Malacanang said Tuesday. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made the statement in an interview with CNN Philippines' The Source, where he also clarified that his previous declaration on the lack of a mass testing program in the country was "taken out of context." Roque said his statement on leaving the testing efforts to the private sector was in response to a reporter's inquiry regarding the requirement of COVID-19 testing for company employees. "What I did say was in response to the question on the DOH (Department of Health) guidelines on COVID testing, and until now, there is no such rule that employees will have to present COVID test results before they can be allowed to go back to work," Roque said. "But it's not accurate to say that we don't have a mass testing policy." The spokesperson noted it would be better to coin the testing policy as "targeted" and not "mass," as it would be "physically impossible" to test millions of residents. "Right now, we're trying to follow the footsteps of South Korea. That is why the goal is to test 1.5 to 2 percent of the total population. You can't test 110 million persons, but in any case, no country in the world can test every single citizen they have," Roque said. "In the press conference, I cited Wuhan, because in Wuhan, they're attempting to test everyone, 11 million residents. That's the context when I said, we can't do the same thing in Metro Manila, perhaps. What we are doing is 1.5 to 2 percent testing, which is what South Korea is also doing," he added. In his virtual media briefing on Monday, Roque was quoted as saying that the country has yet to roll out a mass testing program for COVID, given the limited resources on the table. He added authorities will leave such efforts to the private sector. The statement came under fire as netizens questioned the effectivity of the two-month lockdown implemented in various parts of the country, when no mass testing was supposedly put in place. They also raised questions on the allocation of the government's special COVID-19 response budget, as well as the granting of special powers to President Rodrigo Duterte. Calls for mass or targeted testing have surfaced since March, when the coronavirus infections in the Philippines started to spike. Officials have argued that the ramped up testing is the first step in the isolation and containment of the mysterious viral disease. READ: From mitigation to containment: Why targeted testing is important in governments' COVID-19 measures In April, the Philippines rolled out its first wave of the "progressive" expanded testing, where high-risk patients have been prioritized. These are people showing severe flu-like symptoms; the elderly, those with pre-existing health conditions, and pregnant women with mild symptoms; and healthcare workers with respiratory symptoms. Roque, for his part, admitted that the country is still "far" from its goal of conducting 30,000 COVID-19 tests by the end of May, but reassured that officials are doubling efforts to build more testing laboratories. He added that the testing efforts in the country have been rolled out through partnerships from both the public and private sectors. To date, the Philippines has recorded over 12,000 cases of the infectious disease. 19.05.2020 LISTEN The National Coordinator of the One-district, one-factory (1D1F) programme, Mrs. Gifty Ohene-Konadu, has inspected progress of work of a new factory being set up by beverage giant, Kasapreko, in the Ashanti Regional town of Tanoso (Atwima Nwabiagya District). Set up on a 10,000 metre square property, the yet-to-be-commissioned structure, which is almost completed and has already commenced production of a number of Kasapreko brands, and will augment operations at the current Tanoso manufacturing complex, producing an estimated 85,000 bottles of various products by the company. The new Tanoso complex is part of government's flagship One-district, one-factory initiative, which assisted the beverage company to access a $20 million Eximbank loan for the construction of the project, which is expected to create 3,000 direct and indirect jobs for the youth, particularly inhabitants of the area. Completion of the multi-purpose facility, which was commenced in January, comes a full month ahead of schedule. Following her tour of the multi-million-dollar facility, Mrs. Ohene-Konadu stated how impressed she was by Kasapreko, at the expeditious completion of the project. She was particularly pleasantly surprised when it was communicated to her that production of some of the company's best-known items had already started. Kasapreko CEO, Mr. Richrad Adjei, on his part, expressed how profoundly grateful his outfit was to the government of Ghana for the 1D1F initiative, whose proactiveness has ensured the realisation of this new frontier by Kasapreko. Set up three decades ago at Nungua in Accra, Kasapreko is, today, the largest producer of carbonated soft drinks and alcohol in the country, and boasts of the most diverse product range for variant consumer preferences. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal The Department of Homeland Securitys inspector general will be reviewing U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcements efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in its detention facilities, Sen. Tom Udall said Tuesday. The New Mexico Democrat and other lawmakers were notified of the review by a letter from DHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari on Monday. The objective of our planned review is to determine whether ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations effectively managed the crisis at its detention facilities, and adequately safeguarded the health and safety both of detainees in their custody and their staff, the letter released by Udall said. I am urging the DHS IG to be fully transparent and thorough in its review of the agencys disease control procedures at detention facilities, Udall said in a news release. And we expect the final report to include meaningful, unbiased recommendations that protect the health and safety of detainees, of the individuals who work at these facilities every day, and of the surrounding communities. The review is expected to be complete by the summer. Staffing numbers, staffing contingency plans, the amount of personal protective equipment, detainees hygiene, and testing protocols and testing capacity at ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities will be reviewed, the letter said. Udall was among 26 senators who sent a letter calling for the assessment of ICE detention facilities on April 26. That followed a letter on April 10 from the New Mexico congressional delegation to acting ICE Director Matthew Albence voicing concerns that ICE detention centers were not properly prepared to manage the coronavirus outbreak. Albence has not responded to the letter, spokespersons for Udall and Heinrich said. At the time of the letter, an employee and a migrant at the Otero County Processing Center had tested positive for COVID-19. As of Monday, 43 have tested positive at the facility. Photograph: Shawn Goldberg/Rex/Shutterstock Police in Canada are treating a machete attack in which a woman was murdered and two others injured as an act of terrorism, after discovering evidence suggesting that it was motivated by violent misogyny. The move is thought to be the first time that terrorism charges have been brought in a case connected to the so-called incel ideology. Terrorism comes in many forms and its important to note that it is not restricted to any particular group, religion or ideology, the RCMP said in a statement announcing the updated charges on Tuesday. The suspect, who has not been named because he is a minor, is alleged to have entered a massage parlour in northern Toronto in February brandishing a machete. He is alleged to have killed Ashley Noell Arzaga, a 24-year-old mother, injuring the owner as she tried to subdue him. Police initially charged the suspect with first degree and attempted murder. But on Tuesday, those charges were upgraded to murder terrorist activity. The suspect appeared in court via video link on Tuesday as prosecutors updated the charges. Federal authorities started investigating the case after Toronto police discovered evidence of terrorist activity tying the suspect to the so-called incel movement. Incels virtually all of whom are male are self-described involuntary celibates, who subscribe to an ideology that the world is unjustly stacked against unattractive heterosexual men. In recent years, a spike in killings in Canada and the United States associated with the moment have led to greater scrutiny from law enforcement and security experts. The use of terrorism charges against the minor probably the first for an act of violence not tied to Islamic extremism indicates the federal government views the movement as a growing threat in Canada. Authorities have so far been wary of deploying terrorism-related charges in similar cases even in the case of Alek Minassian, the Toronto man who killed 10 pedestrians and wounded 14 others when he plowed a delivery van on to a crowded sidewalk. Story continues Related: Hate is infectious: how the 1989 mass shooting of 14 women echoes today After his arrest, Minassian told police officers that he was virgin who had never had a girlfriend, admitted to using the van as a weapon and said he wanted to inspire more attacks. Asked how he felt about the death of 10 people, he replied: I feel like I accomplished my mission. Minassian told his interrogators that he had been radicalized online and began to fantasize about starting his own rebellion. I was thinking that I would inspire future masses to join me in my uprising as well, he said. Minassian was due to appear in court in early April, but fears of the coronavirus have delayed numerous trials. This article was amended on 20 May 2020. An earlier version incorrectly stated that the attack took place in downtown Toronto. China made no secret in pursuing on-the-record praise for its response to the Covid-19 pandemic. China tried to influence German government officials to offer positive comments about Beijings actions to control the coronavirus outbreak, as reported by Die Welt newspaper . The German foreign ministry recommended that German officials reject such overtures, suggesting that China is pursuing an intensified information and propaganda policy with regard to the coronavirus. China denied the report. The report from Germany combined with a US Department of Homeland Security document, suggesting that China delayed reporting levels of contagion while stockpiling supplies, prompted many countries to resist snap assessments. Earlier, in a March 18 Twitter post, EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen wrote, we are grateful for Chinas support after the nation announced it would provide 2 million surgical masks, 200,000 N95 masks and 50,000 testing kits, some later discarded for quality problems. In conversations about the coronavirus, American and foreign colleagues suggested that China did a good job in controlling the outbreak and before going on to question if Western governments could be as effective. Some genuinely suggested that the response could demonstrate the superiority of Chinas political system. While Chinese authorities want the world to believe this, the message is not appropriate for those living in democracy. Decades of propaganda have conditioned many Chinese citizens to believe that the country has a system advantage, enabling it to do big things with concentrated strength. So, it is not surprising for China to unleash its propaganda machine, exploiting a victory in containing Covid-19 cases in a short time. What is surprising is how many Western media outlets reiterated this proud notion of only China can do it. Yet this notion flies in the face of reality. Lets examine some of the arguments used to substantiate this claim: 1) China demonstrated unparalleled speed and efficiency in responding to the outbreak. China provided live broadcasts of construction of two temporary hospitals in Wuhan over the course of 10 days, and many Westerners were impressed, comparing it with slow infrastructure building at home. For example, a new airport in Berlin, planned soon after the collapse of Berlin Wall in 1989, broke ground in 2006 and still cannot be used years. During this same time, China built and opened more than 100 new airports. Chinas demonstration of China power, China spirit, China efficiency and the image of a responsible big nation, had won high praise from the international community, noted Xi Jinping in a tone-setting message during a February meeting on pandemic control and social development in Beijing. Later, he congratulated the Chinese as such a great people, such a great nation, and such a great national spirit, urging the unyielding socialism road with Chinese characteristic, self-confidence of our theory, self-confidence of our system and self-confidence of our culture. This does not mean that democratic systems cannot move quickly. During World War II, the United States mobilized to build aircraft carriers at the rate of one per week. At the onset of the coronavirus, the US army began to deploy field hospitals in New York, and the Navy sent two hospital ships to New York City and Los Angeles, with 1,000 beds each, to lessen the burden for civilian hospitals. In London, the military and National Health Service contractors built Nightingale Hospital in nine days with state-of the-art equipment for 4,000 beds. 2) Only China can control the epidemic effectively with strict city- and countrywide lockdowns. Other countries followed a range of methods and Western countries have shown, if necessary, they can undertake strict measures. China did not invent the concept of quarantine, and democratic systems have demonstrated that they can restrict peoples movements during a crisis. Most democratic countries impose quarantines based on scientific evidence and the rule of law instead of administrative orders from treacherous bureaucrats. For example, Germany followed the Infektionsschutzgesetz, or the Protection against Infection Act, based on protocols in infectious disease control since the World War II. Officials imposed a three-week shelter-in-place order for six counties in the San Francisco area. Timely communications and aid helped build citizen confidence in enduring pandemic lockdowns. Seeking rhyme or reason: Testing availability, strategies for containing Covid-19, political systems, hygiene and cultural practices vary widely among nations; public health experts try to discern patterns to identify best practices (Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering)> 3) Only China can send over 40,000 medical workers to a city at one simple order from the government. China could dispatch many more doctors and nurses overnight if the government had wanted. Xiaoxiang Morning Post in Hunan Province summarized Chinese reports sourcing US media on the status of US health care staff, including high rates of infections, lack of protective gear, minimal testing and termination for those who complained about such matters. Global Times relied on US social media reports that many US nurses were resigning from hospitals due to the lack of protective gear. Related: Gold vs. Silver: Which Is The Better Buy? Yet, Chinese media reports that western countries struggled to secure a sufficient medical workforce were misleading. Yes, nobody in the United States can order a doctor in Wisconsin to fly to New York City if she does not want to go but numerous doctors and other health care providers quickly volunteered for such roles. By April 7, the response was overwhelming. More than 85,000 medical volunteers responded to New York States call for help, reported the Washington Post, with about 7,000 assigned to hospitals. Even without Chinas centralized system, democratic countries can also get enough medical workers at a critical time. The foremost objective of Chinas political system, of all non-democracies, actually, is to keep society under control. Government officials are accountable only to their superiors and not the people who bear the actual cost of their decisions. There are no checks and balance or protected constitutional rights. Multiple tragedies have unfolded in China over the past five months the governments cover-up as the epidemic emerged; censorship of social media, including police scolding Doctor Li Wenliang and another seven medical workers for spreading rumors that endanger social stability and the disappearance of Chen Qiushi and two other citizen journalists who tried to report Wuhans true death toll. Along with censorship, officials and community workers at grassroots level frequently resort to abuse or deception to meet imposed targets by any means necessary. As many as 5 million people may have flown out of Wuhan after the lockdown was announced, mostly families with privileged information sources that allowed them to use the 10-hour gap between the announcement and the deadline when the lockdown went into effect. Doctors and patients had to walk between home and hospitals daily because public transportation stopped, before the government arranged substitute transportation. Authorities sealed homes, using metal bars, with suspected cases and delivered food to them at high prices. Hospitals forcibly discharged terminal cancer patients to free beds for Covid patients. Local government officials created an image of Potemkin village, demonstrating inspection of one community satisfied with their quarantine. A disabled child was found dead at home a week after his single-parent father had been quarantined, and a 6-year-old, was found living alone with his grandfathers dead body for a week. The list goes on of stories often ignored in the discussion of Chinas system advantages. For now, only systems likes Chinas can sacrifice peoples rights to achieve government objectives, and building hospitals in days or producing masks in quantity may not compensate. Eight decades after World War II and three decades since the Cold War, the world seems to have mostly forgotten about the evils of totalitarian regimes. Chinas growing economic power overshadows any longing for liberty and democracy, with most people expressing comfort and even pride in the current system. Citizens of the West must remain alert to authoritarianisms threat, hanging over the heads of 1.4 billion people and ready to spread, jeopardizing Western societies. Those enjoying liberty and democracy in peace and abundance for many years may take such rights for granted. Democracy is vulnerable, a system that could overturn quickly if not appreciated and guarded. By Todd Wang via Yale Global Online More Top Reads From Safehaven.com: Rarely is there a foreign country where Overseas Vietnamese (OVs) and local people always express their respect and love for President Ho Chi Minh as in Thailand. Out of the three monuments dedicated to Uncle Ho in Thailand, a memorial in Na Jok Village, Nakhon Phanom Province, is the largest. During his official visit to Thailand in 2013, Party General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong visited a Thai-Vietnamese Friendship Village and presented VND30 billion to the Thai-Vietnamese People Association for the building of the memorial to President Ho Chi Minh. In addition to the donation from the Vietnamese Party and State, the construction of the memorial received great contributions from the OVs in the host country in general and Nakhon Phanom Province in particular. It was built on land of 12,000 square metres that the locality presented to the association, in honour of Uncle Hos revolutionary activities in Thailand. The monument, which was inaugurated on the occasion of the 126th birthday anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890-2016), is a leading cultural and tourist destination in Nakhon Phanom Province, contributing to enhancing the friendship between the two countries. Meanwhile, the President Ho Chi Minh relic site in Nong On Hamlet, Muong Town, Udon Thani Province, is considered to be the oldest monument commemorating Uncle Ho in Thailand. Built on an area of nearly 10,000 square metres nearly 10 years ago, the relic site has become a famous destination that has attracted a large number of both Thai and international visitors. The project consists of many items, some of which were restored such as the house where Uncle Ho lived and worked, granary, production and a breeding area and supplementary classes for the OVs. In addition, many works have been newly constructed, including a multi-purpose house, memorial area, bookcase and movie and conference rooms with many photos and paintings. The monument welcomes around 22,000 24,000 guests per year. In early 2017, roads connecting the provincial highway with the relic site were built and named Thau Chin 1 (with 5km in length and 6m in width) and Thau Chin 2 (160m in length and 4m in width). The relic site is divided into two parts: Trai Cua and multi-purpose area. Trai Cua, where President Ho Chi Minh stayed and worked in 1928-1929, was restored with a thatched-roof house that has three compartments. Its middle compartment is used for gathering and study. Meanwhile, a set of wooden tables and chairs were set up on the left side for Uncle Ho to work and rest. The right compartment consists of a wooden stall for his comrades. In the large yard, there is a well, warehouse, kitchen and a production and breeding area. The multi-purpose house has two floors. The altar for President Ho Chi Minh, with bronze statue, was placed in the middle of the first floor. Behind is a hall and reception room where the relic sites officials tell stories about Uncle Ho, particularly the time he lived and worked in Thailand. In addition, a space was arranged to display photos on his life and career, especially his valuable autographs and greetings to the OVs in Thailand during their first trip back to the homeland on January 10, 1960. With an infinite respect for President Ho Chi Minh, many OVs, such as Vu Manh Hung, Le Thi Tuyet The, Luong Xuan Hoa and Nguyen Thi Xuan Oanh, have greatly contributed to the relic site and the activities of the Thai-Vietnamese People Association in Udon Thani Province. Vu Manh Hung, a manager of a large gio cha (Vietnamese sausage) factory, has been the head of the management board of the relic site for a long time. Le Thi Tuyet The has not only taught Vietnamese for free at Khanh An Pagoda but also taken the role of deputy head and guide. Meanwhile, Luong Xuan Hoa and Nguyen Thi Xuan Oanh have dedicated themselves to teaching Vietnamese to the OV children in the locality. They have received many certificates of merit from Vietnamese Party, State and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The relic site dedicated to President Ho Chi Minh in Phichit Province was built with financial resources from the Thai government and local administration between December 2013 and September 2018. It is located in the Thailand Vietnam Friendship Centre with a total area of 6,400 square metres. The monument is expected to become a leading cultural, historical and tourism in the province. Visitors can learn more about Vietnams traditional culture through many objects displayed in the first floor such as Ao Dai (Vietnamese traditional long dresses) and non la (conical hats). The space on the second floor is used to showcase information and artefacts highlighting the great leaders revolutionary career in Thailand. An official from Pamakhap commune proudly said: The relic site is a symbol of the Thailand Vietnam friendship. Not only OVs but also Thai people have always respected President Ho Chi Minh for his simple lifestyle and love for the nation, regardless of personal interests. The Nigerian Senate will not reconvene to consider the amendment to the 2020 budget until senators are given the documents to study, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has said. My Lawan made this known at the close of plenary on Tuesday. The federal government had in April cut down the 2020 budget by over N320 billion and proposed a new budget of N10.27 trillion against the N10.59 trillion passed by the National Assembly, based on the global economic realities as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic as well as the recent crisis in the oil market. The new budget proposal reduces the oil benchmark from $57 per barrel to $30 per barrel while the oil production volume was reduced from 2.18 million barrels to 1.70 million barrels, this newspaper reported. The revenue projection for the 2020 budget was also reduced by N3.3 trillion (about 39 per cent) from the initially approved amount of N8.41 trillion to N5.08 trillion. The exchange rate was also increased from N305 to N360 to a dollar. This is based on the devaluation of the naira by the Central Bank of Nigeria However, announcing a two-week recess to enable the lawmakers to celebrate Sallah holidays with their families, Mr Lawan said lawmakers will reconvene to consider the budget once the request is received from the president. This will be the last plenary session before Sallah. It is the tradition of the National Assembly to allow members to celebrate the end of Ramadan, the Sallah with their families. The Senate will adjourn till 2nd of June. We are also not unmindful of one important issue the amendment of the 2020 Appropriation Bill and the MTEF FSP which we passed in December. As soon as we have the request from the president on the budget and MTEF, we should be able to come back as soon as possible even if it is within the recess period. Because that is what the country is waiting for especially in the light and direction of the pandemic. But we have a process. When we get the documents, we will distribute to senators to read before we come back. Our relevant committees (budget, finance and petroleum upstream) will engage relevant ministries and agencies to get necessary details before consideration. We will not reconvene until everyone is given the documents to read so that they will be in a better position to do whats possible, he said. History of hasty passage Members of the National Assembly have on different occasions considered and passed bills without obtaining details of the legislation. The Senate in November 2019 passed the second reading of the bill that seeks to increase the value-added tax (VAT) from five per cent to 7.5 per cent. The bill was passed despite concerns raised by a few lawmakers. No copies of the bill were shared to senators to allow for any meaningful contribution before it was debated and passed. Only recently, the House of Representatives also passed the second reading of the Control of Infectious Disease Bill without details of the bill. While the lawmakers agreed to suspend the House Standing Rules to allow the bill to pass through all stages, the process was cut short as some members said they had not seen or read the bill. This is even as they called for caution and asked for time before giving it further consideration. Even at that, the second reading of the bill was approved despite the resounding rejection during the voice vote. The lawmakers, however, succumbed to pressure and public outcry and decided that a public hearing will be held to enable Nigerians make their inputs to the legislation. Q. I have three or four years of unfiled taxes and more than $50,000 of tax debt. How much money would it cost to resolve these issues? I've been wrestling with this because I think the cost will be out of this world. Worried A. There is a way out of your dilemma. You should first get a free consultation from a tax resolution specialist. You want a certified public accountant (CPA), enrolled agent (EA) or an attorney who specializes in resolving back tax issues and has experience dealing with the local IRS offices, said Johnathan Donenfeld, a certified public accountant with JLD Tax & Accounting in Jersey City. He said CPAs and EAs are usually cheaper options that tax attorneys. Ask for examples of similar cases that they have dealt with, he said. The fees will vary depending on the complexity of your situation. For example, is there an IRS revenue officer involved? Are your wages being garnished yet? How close is the IRS to doing a bank levy? What assets need to be protected? What settlement offers do you qualify for? Do you have a state tax issue as well? Donenfeld said depending on your situation, you may be able to settle the debt for less than the full amount owed through an Offer In Compromise or Partial Pay Installment Agreement, and these settlements can take a lot more time and be more complex. All of these things need to be considered when evaluating back tax issues, and if someone gives you a price before getting this information, they are either inexperienced or will be adding additional fees as they go, he said. Lastly, he said, be very wary of the national firms advertising on television that promise to settle your tax debt for nothing. When you speak with them for your `consultation, you are speaking with a salesperson, not an actual CPA that can give you a real plan to resolve your situation, he said. Every few weeks we get a new client that paid a lot of money to a national firm that didn't do what they promised, and now has to engage our firm to fix things. Donenfeld said for his clients, after an initial free consultation, if we think we are a good fit, we give a flat fee and offer flexible payment plan options to the client. Email your questions to Ask@NJMoneyHelp.com. Karin Price Mueller writes the Bamboozled column for NJ Advance Media and is the founder of NJMoneyHelp.com. Follow NJMoneyHelp on Twitter @NJMoneyHelp. Find NJMoneyHelp on Facebook. Sign up for NJMoneyHelp.coms weekly e-newsletter. America's leftists are deeply enamored of the World Health Organization (WHO). For example, YouTube, the second biggest internet site, announced that it would pull Wuhan virus videos running counter to the WHO's recommendations. Not long after that, it pulled a popular video from a renowned scientist who disagreed with the WHO. It will be interesting to see what these same leftists do now that President Trump has sent a scathing letter to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (AKA Dr. Tedros) detailing the WHO's many deadly mistakes in connection with the Wuhan virus. The same letter makes clear that these mistakes were not necessarily accidental. Instead, they were made to advance Chinese interests by hiding from the world the gravity of the disease within China and China's signal lack of transparency. The letter which went out over Trump's signature spells out 16 significant errors on the WHO's part. The letter makes clear that these errors severely affected the world's ability to respond effectively to the Wuhan virus's spread. Trump also explicitly calls out Dr. Tedros for his incompetence and unreasoning loyalty to China. I've appended Trump's tweet, which includes the letter, at the bottom of this post. Here are some highlights: The World Health Organization has repeatedly made claims about the coronavirus that were either grossly inaccurate or misleading: On January 14, 2020, the World Health Organization gratuitously reaffirmed China's now-debunked claim that the coronavirus could not be transmitted between humans, stating: "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." This assertion was in direct conflict with censored reports from Wuhan. On January 21, 2020, President Xi Jinping of China reportedly pressured you not to declare the coronavirus outbreak an emergency. You gave in to this pressure the next day and told the world that the coronavirus did not pose a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Just over one week later, on January 30, 2020, overwhelming evidence to the contrary forced you to reverse course. On January 28, 2020, after meeting with President Xi in Beijing, you praised the Chinese government for its "transparency" with respect to the coronavirus, announcing that China had set a "new standard for outbreak control" and "bought the world time." You did not mention that China had, by then, silenced or punished several doctors for speaking out about the virus and restricted Chinese institutions from publishing information about it. [snip] You also strongly praised China's strict domestic travel restrictions, but were inexplicably against my closing of the United States border, or the ban, with respect to people coming from China. I put the ban in place regardless of your wishes. Your political gamesmanship on this issue was deadly, as other governments, relying on your comments, delayed imposing life-saving restrictions on travel to and from China. Incredibly, on February 3, 2020, you reinforced your position, opining that because China was doing such a great job protecting the world from the virus, travel restrictions were "causing more harm than good." Yet by then the world knew that, before locking down Wuhan, Chinese authorities had allowed more than five million people to leave the city and that many of these people were bound for international destinations all over the world. This is a scathing indictment. In paragraph after paragraph, Trump establishes either that the WHO was grossly incompetent or that China has such control over Dr. Tedros that the WHO failed to serve its function as a clearinghouse for information that affects the world's health. In a nice double-whammy, by indicting the WHO's conduct, Trump manages to expose China's negligent and intentional acts without engaging in a direct back-and-forth with President Xi. It's a shrewd triangular negotiation with a destabilizing nation that needs to pay the price for creating a worldwide disaster and, once having done so, trying to profit from the chaos it created. To cap it off, Trump directly insults Dr. Tedros. He does so by reminding Tedros how well his predecessor, Director-General Harlem Brundtland, handled the SARS outbreak that also came from China. Having rubbed Tedros's nose in his mess, Trump closes with an open threat: unless Tedros proves within 30 days that the WHO's mending its ways: I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization. I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests. The facts compiled in the letter ought to make any American feel outrage at both the WHO and China. However, the left's fealty to world government and China, when added to its hatred for Trump, means that, as expressed through the media, it will either (a) ignore the letter or (b) twist beyond recognition the facts in the letter, even though the same media reported on many of those facts. Acapulco man found carrying loaded firearm arrested in Tulum Tulum, Q.R. A man from the city of Acapulco was arrested in Tulum Monday after police found him carrying a loaded weapon. The Police of Quintana Roo report the arrest a male subject who was found on Orion Street in the city of Tulum. According to the data provided by the Quintana Roo Police, the detained person responds to the name of Jose I.S.C. The 24-year-old male is originally from Acapulco, Guerrero and claimed that he lived in the Maya Pax neighborhood of Tulum. At the time of his arrest, he was found carrying a loaded firearm. He was taken into custody and held for the Attorney Generals Office. (Photo : Image Courtesy of Reuters) The United States President Donald Trump informed the world on Monday. May 18, that he is taking the drug of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug "for about a week and a half." Read More: COVID-19 Vaccine Moves to Phase 2 After 100% Success From Phase 1 Trial; Best Case Scenario is Vaccine Will Be Available This Year or Early 2021 What's The Reason Behind President Trump's Shift in Tactics President Trump said that he has always been tested negative for the virus and shows no signs of any symptoms relating to COVID-19. He only took the anti-malaria drug as a means for a preventive measure against the deadly coronavirus. The President said that he's taking the pill every day and he combines it with zinc; when he was asked why he had this to say, "Because I think it's good. I've heard a lot of good stories." Over the last couple of weeks, the U.S. President has shown great interest in the drug hydroxychloroquine, as well as actively promoting the drug despite what other health officials have stated. Regardless, his status shows a lot of weight on the authenticity of the drug. President Trump's latest announcement came unexpectedly. Thus, he immediately grabbed headlines all over the world by saying, "You'd be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the front-line workers before you catch it. The front-line workers -- many, many are taking it. I happen to be taking it," he said that in front of all the reporters in attendance at the White House meeting, which is solely devoted to the struggling restaurant industry. "I'm taking it, hydroxychloroquine, right now, yeah. A couple of weeks ago, I started taking it," the President was proud to say. President Trump has already received the green light from the White House physician but insisted that not the doctor but the President would be first in line to take the initial step. Read More: Loss of Smell and Taste is Officially Added to List of New Coronavirus Symptoms President Trump is Getting Praise Trump said that he had received an influx of "positive calls" from people, telling him about hydroxychloroquine. He even went on and mentioned that he was able to receive a call from a New York doctor who reportedly gave the medicine to hundreds of patients under his or her care and said, "I haven't lost one." Although some health experts doubted the effects of the malaria drug, Trump said there was nothing to lose by simply trying to test out possible treatments. "It seems to have an impact, and maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but if it doesn't, you're not going to get sick or die, I take a pill every day. At some point, I'll stop." On his address, the President was able to convey that he showed "zero symptoms happily." He ended the statement by saying, "every couple days they want to test me, you know, for obvious reasons. I mean, I am the President, so they want to test me. I don't want to be tested, but they want to test me, I've shown always negative." Read More: Coronavirus: Are Your Hands Tingling? Don't Ignore as it Might be a Symptom of COVID-19 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. President Donald Trump's newly appointed vaccine czar, Moncef Slaoui, plans to divest his equity holdings in a company leading the coronavirus vaccine development effort, the Department of Health and Human Services told ABC News on Monday. The move follows sparks of conflict of interest concerns from ethics experts in part regarding more than $12 million-worth of shares underlying stock options Slaoui holds at Moderna Therapeutics, one of the biotech companies leading the coronavirus vaccine development efforts with sizable funding from the federal government. "Dr. Slaoui has resigned from his position as an independent member of the Board of Directors for Moderna," an HHS spokesperson wrote in a statement to ABC News. "Further, he has directed the divestiture of his equity holdings in Moderna and that sale should be effective tomorrow morning." The HHS also said that Slaoui has "committed to donate to cancer research all incremental value accrued from his Moderna shares between the evening of Thursday, May 14, prior to the announcement of his position on Operation Warp Speed and the time of sale, scheduled for tomorrow morning." MORE: Coronavirus updates: Moderna says experimental vaccine is 'generally safe,' creates antibodies PHOTO: Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, listens as President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House, May 15, 2020, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP) Though the stock options are currently estimated to be worth more than $12 million, the structure of the holding indicates that Slaoui would receive more than $5.5 million for a portion of the options based on current stock prices and, an industry expert said, likely forfeit the rest as part of a full divestment. Some ethics experts said the Moderna divestment plan didn't go far enough and that they were still concerned about Slaoui's ties to and history with private industry. "Because so much is at stake, his integrity needs to be unimpeachable," said Virginia Canter, Chief Ethics Counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) . "We can't afford to have somebody who many be looking out for one company's interest by putting one company's interests over other companies that actually may have a better product." Story continues The HHS statement did not discuss any of Slaoui's other business ties, including his work with a health-focused investment firm. The White House declined to comment for this report, but Moderna's executives congratulated Slaoui upon the announcement of his appointment to the government post, highlighting his "extensive" experience in vaccine and therapeutic development over the years. I greatly appreciate Moncefs contributions to the Moderna Board in his role of Chair of the Product Development Committee, said Stephane Bancel, Modernas Chief Executive Officer. His expertise and skills were invaluable as we approach advanced stages of development across our clinical programs." MORE: When coronavirus vaccine arrives, experts worry US not ready to mass produce According to financial records filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Moroccan-born Belgian-American researcher and businessman holds more than 155,400 in stock options in Moderna -- or more than $12 million-worth based on the company's stock price as of this report. Of his current stock options, Slaoui will be able to divest about half his Moderna holdings, according to on SEC filings, and could net more than $5.5 million from the sale, based on the current stock price. PHOTO: Moncef Slaoui, a former pharmaceutical executive, speaks after President Donald Trump announced his appointment to lead the development of a vaccine for COVID-19, at the White House in Washington, May 15, 2020. (Samuel Corum/The New York Times via Redux) The rest, some of which was acquired last year and more just this past month and are not set to be vested until next month and next year, respectfully, are likely to be forfeited, said Courtney Yu, director of research at Equilar, a company that tracks executive compensations. Based on the current stock price, those options represent shares worth more than $6 million, though their value in the future is unknown. Moderna's stock price has been skyrocketing since the company announced last month that it has received $483 million in federal funding as part of the coronavirus vaccine development effort. On Monday, the company released promising early results of its phase 1 vaccine testing, saying the results have been "generally safe and well-tolerated." MORE: Coronavirus vaccine tests show promise in early human testing: Study The stock price as of Monday afternoon was at $80.00, nearly double the price just at end of last month, when Slaoui last acquired about 18,000 in options at the exercise price of about $46.37, an SEC filing shows. At the beginning of this year, Moderna's stock price was as low as $19.23. The previous year, another SEC record shows, Slaoui had acquired 54,660 in stock options, with exercise price set as just $14.34. Financial experts said given his history of yearly acquirement of Moderna stock options and standard practices in the industry, the options appear to part of his regular compensation as a member of the board of directors. Moderna has not responded to questions from ABC News about the nature of Slaoui's stock holdings and whether they were part of his compensation package. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., had called on Slaoui to sell off his Moderna holdings shortly after his appointment to the vaccine effort by President Trump Friday, calling it a "huge conflict of interest." Kedric Payne, general counsel and senior director at Campaign Legal Center, said Moderna was not the only financial concern. "The financial conflict of interest issue is still here, and that interest is that as an official in charge of policy making, he has financial interests that could benefit from that," Payne told ABC News. "That's not only from these Moderna options, but as a venture capitalist with this company Medicxi." MORE: Trump promises coronavirus vaccine by end of the year, but his own experts temper expectations In addition to his leadership roles in various pharmaceutical and biotech companies, Slaoui is also a partner at Medicxi, life sciences-focused investment firm. According to the firm's website, the company works with nearly 60 different pharmaceutical and biotech companies across the country and around the world. Slaoui also serves as chairman of the board at Galvani Bioelectronics, a joint venture between Verily Life Sciences and British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), where Slaoui used to run the vaccine division. GSK announced last month that the company is joining forces with Sanofi in the vaccine development effort as well. PHOTO: A man stands outside Moderna headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., on May 18, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images) "Given his history and also his involvement with this type of company, it doesn't give me a great deal of confidence that even if he divests from them, that he will be serving the public interest as opposed to the interests of the companies with which he was associated," CREW's Canter said. MORE: Is it possible to have a safe coronavirus vaccine by New Years Eve? Canter said instead of a person from the private sector closely affiliated with corporate interests, the Trump administration should have found experts from the public health sector, the National Institute of Health, hospital officials or from academia. Canter also said Slaoui would need a waiver on an ethics rule in the Trump administration that sets a two-year cooling off period before an official can serve in a public policy role that directly affects his or her previous employer. "I think what's disconcerting about this is, he's coming from a venture capital firm," Canter said. "He's going he's going to have access to a lot of nonpublic information, proprietary information not only about his own companies but also their competitors." "How how long will he be refrained from getting back into the venture capital business after he leaves this position?" Canter added. ABC News' Ben Siegel contributed to this report. This report was featured in the Tuesday, May 19, 2020, episode of Start Here, ABC News daily news podcast. "Start Here" offers a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, the ABC News app or wherever you get your podcasts. Coronavirus vaccine czar to divest some holdings amid conflict concerns originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Harvey Weinsteins extradition to Los Angeles has been delayed (Philip Toscano/PA) Harvey Weinsteins extradition to Los Angeles has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors have said. The disgraced former Hollywood film producer was convicted of rape in February and is serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York. Weinstein, once one of the most powerful and feared men in the film industry, has also been charged with sexually assaulting three women in Los Angeles. Expand Close Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape in February (Miramax/PRNewswire/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape in February (Miramax/PRNewswire/PA) The Los Angeles County district attorney launched the extradition process to take him to California in March, however the pandemic has now delayed proceedings. A district attorney spokesman said: The virus has delayed the processing of the extradition paperwork. There is no time estimate on when he will appear in a Los Angeles courtroom. Weinstein was sentenced in March and is so far the highest profile scalp of the #MeToo movement. The 68-year-old was convicted of rape and sexual assault after being accused of misconduct by scores of women. Prosecutors in Los Angeles filed additional charges against him in April. He is alleged to have attacked a woman at a Beverly Hills hotel in May 2010, authorities said. The original criminal complaint charged Weinstein with sexually assaulting two women during separate incidents in 2013. Video of the Day If convicted as charged in the amended complaint, Weinstein faces 29 years in state prison. The fifth tranche of the Centres Covid-19 economic relief package on Sunday announced the launch of the PM e-Vidya scheme for multi-mode access to digital and online education that sought to combine a range of measures, including development of new e-content, earmarking of TV channels on DTH and use of radio among others. Online education has been viewed as the primary mode of education delivery in the pandemic with distance education as the alternative. This is problematic since this ignores the vast majority of Indias citizens. The figures speak for themselves: only 15 per cent of rural households have internet access in India. Penetration of DTH TV is also low relative to the size of Indias population; India has only 69.3 million DTH subscribers. Only 24 per cent Indians own a smartphone and 11 per cent households possess any type of computer. Information of TV ownership in India is dated, but in 2011 only 47.2 per cent households had a TV. Only 8 per cent of households with members aged 5-24 have both a computer and an internet connection. Without laptops, smartphones, internet connections, 4G data or TVs with DTH connections, these policies will not benefit Indias poor. Indeed, they may do harm. Indias digital divide will drive the educational divide: many of those excluded would be from poor and marginalised families who are already lagging educationally. Internet penetration is abysmally low in poor families. Out of the poorest 20 per cent households, only 2.7 per cent of them have access to a computer and 8.9 per cent to internet facilities. Access is also gendered with women having lower access to the internet. Gender Gap While Indias rich and privileged will continue to access education through the means announced, its poor would be left out of the ambit of education altogether, further widening the gap between the rich and the poor. Even before the pandemic, girls belonging to rich families (top 20 per cent) in India got on an average nine years of education, while girls from poor families (bottom 20 per cent) get none at all. It is estimated that after the closures caused by the pandemic, girls from disadvantaged families might lose 50 per cent of their total years of education. Girls risk being pushed into early marriage and child labour, including bearing the brunt of the unpaid care burden. Children from migrant families, even when they arrive at their destinations, would not have the facilities needed to return to the fold of education. Without massive investment in improving the overall internet infrastructure across India, especially in rural areas, providing free devices and data to all learners from poor families, this exercise would only serve to place an additional disadvantage on children from Indias poor families. Flawed Pedagogical Assumptions Even if one ignores the consequences of differential access, it would be critical to recognise that reliance on distance education is not sound pedagogic practice, especially for young children. Lectures beamed to peoples homes through DTH can undeniably disseminate information. However, communication would remain one way and this would not enable students to ask clarifications or interact with their teachers and peers. When one has one channel, one class for the entire country, it is unclear how the diversity of languages of Indias learners would be addressed? Would Indias tribal learners have access to content of equivalent level and quantity in their own languages as speakers of Hindi or the state language? Students who do not understand the teacher are being set up to fail. Then there is the question of absence of focus on alternatives to technology. While the need to maintain distancing norms and other prerequisites is understood and appreciated, the government could have done more to ensure access to education for those who lack access to technology. Thus, Tripura has been planning to start neighbourhood schools with a pupil teacher ratio of 1: 5. Similar steps to restore teacher-student contact could be attempted in other states. Similarly, access to print materials- textbooks and reading materials is critical. In a survey, 68 per cent parents have said that they need textbooks to supplement digital modes. The Odisha government has, for example, issued instructions for delivery of textbooks to students homes. It is crucial that all states be instructed to follow suit to ensure delivery of textbooks to all children in government schools to enable students to return to the realm of learning. Steps are also needed to address loss of instructional time through development of accelerated learning packages for those excluded from these digital modes. None of these steps appear to have received attention. Critical Omission What this announcement lacks, furthermore, is any real commitments to bring in new resources for education, especially for the government school system, to address these and the other needs of Indias disadvantaged students. Without new funds for government schools, these would continue to languish. There is also a massive subsidy for private institutions. The fourth tranche of announcements related to covid-19 did include a commitment to subsidize the private sector in education through the creation of an Rs 8,100 crore fund to address the viability gap to enhance private sector participation in social services on the back of pandemic. The speech explicitly mentioned funding for setting of private schools. It is deeply concerning that a massive subsidy is being given to the private sector at a time when it has historically failed to reach the poorest. Private schools, by definition, enrol children from families that can afford to pay. Sending a child to a private school in India costs parents approximately nine times as much as it does to send a child to a government school, including all indirect costs associated with schooling, such as buying books, and transport. Reliance on the private sector for delivering education is designed to support the rich. By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov discussed the situation around COVID-19 via a telephone conversation held on May 19, MFA's press service reported. Namely, the sides discussed the assemblage of the Azerbaijani citizens on the Azerbaijani-Russian border due to lockdown amidst pandemic and the steps to be taken in coordination by both countries to settle this issue. On May 16, Russias Dagestan set up 23 tents in Magaramkent region bordering Azerbaijan to give temporary accommodation for 210 Azerbaijani citizens who cannot return to their country due to the closure of Russian-Azerbaijani border. The Ministers also discussed developing bilateral strategic relations, including the broadening of economic-trade relations, as well as the transportation of goods. Furthermore, the sides exchanged views over the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijani Minister Elmar Mammadyarov informed his counterpart on the latest video-conference with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, which was held on May 18. The meeting has been held in accordance with the instructions received after the telephone conversation between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin held on May 18. During the meeting, the presidents highlighted the work done in combating the coronavirus pandemic and exchanged views on measures taken in this regard at the border checkpoints between the two countries on the conditions of mutual coordination. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Spain intends to open borders for tourists in late June after lockdown restrictions in connection with the coronavirus are lifted in the country. The Minister of Transport of Spain, Jose Luis Abalos stated this, as Reuters reports. Last week, Madrid introduced a two-week quarantine for all travelers and actually kept the borders closed, saying that this was necessary to avoid a second wave of coronavirus infection. But this step was to be temporary, and the Minister of Transport announced that it would be stopped in parallel with the permission to travel within Spain, whose regions relax restrictions at different stages. According to the minister, as soon as the Spaniards can go to other provinces, foreigners will have the opportunity to come to Spain. Tourism accounts for more than 12% of the Spanish economy, and from the end of June, the country is going to resume tourism. The Bank of Spain said that due to the epidemic, health services were seriously stressed and hit the economy, which could fall by 12.4% this year. Unemployment rose sharply in March and April; the number of people dependent on benefits reached a record 5.2 million. As we reported before, Ukraine is liberal-minded toward the opening of the borders but it will consider the experience of partners and real situation with the pandemic in the territory of Ukraine The number of coronavirus cases crossed the one lakh mark in the country on Tuesday, while the death toll due to the infection touched 3,163, according to the Union Health Ministry. A total of 134 deaths and 4,970 COVID-19 cases were reported in the country in the past 24 hours since 8 pm on Monday, it said. The total number of coronavirus cases has risen to 1,01,139, the ministry said. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 58,802 while 39,173 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said. "Thus, around 38.73 per cent patients have recovered so far," a senior health ministry official said. The total confirmed cases include foreigners. Of the 134 deaths reported since Monday morning, 51 were in Maharashtra, 35 in Gujarat, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, eight in Delhi, seven in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, four in Madhya Pradesh, three in Tamil Nadu, two each in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, and one each in Bihar and Telangana. Of the 3,163 fatalities, Maharashtra tops tally with 1,249 deaths. Gujarat comes second with 694 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 252, West Bengal at 244, Delhi at 168, Rajasthan at 138, Uttar Pradesh at 118, Tamil Nadu at 81 and Andhra Pradesh at 50. The death toll reached 37 each in Karnataka and Punjab and 35 in Telangana. Jammu and Kashmir has reported 15 fatalities due to the disease, Haryana has 14 deaths while Bihar has registered nine and Kerala and Odisha each have reported four deaths. Jharkhand, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh each have recorded three COVID-19 fatalities, while Assam has reported two deaths. Meghalaya, Uttarakhand and Puducherry have reported one fatality each, according to the data provided by the ministry. According to the ministry's website, more than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, the existence of multiple disorders in the same person. According to the health ministry's data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 35,058, followed by Tamil Nadu at 11,760, Gujarat at 11,745, Delhi at 10,054, Rajasthan at 5,507, Madhya Pradesh at 5,236 and Uttar Pradesh at 4,605. The number of COVID-19 cases has gone up to 2,825 in West Bengal, 2,474 in Andhra Pradesh and 1,980 in Punjab. It has risen to 1,597 in Telangana, 1,391 in Bihar, 1,289 in Jammu and Kashmir, 1,246 in Karnataka and 928 in Haryana. Odisha has reported 876 coronavirus infection cases so far, while Kerala has 630 cases. A total of 223 people have been infected with the virus in Jharkhand and 196 in Chandigarh. Tripura has reported 167 cases, Assam has 107, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh have 93 cases each, Himachal Pradesh has 90 and Ladakh has registered 43 cases so far. Goa has reported 38 COVID-19 cases, while the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 33 infections. Puducherry has registered 18 cases, Meghalaya has 13 and Manipur has seven cases. Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Dadar and Nagar Haveli have reported a case each till how. "814 cases are being reassigned to states," the ministry said on its website, adding "our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR". State-wise 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.) New Delhi, May 19 : Witnessing chaos at railway stations and bus depots, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed the states and the union territories (UTs) to ensure proactive coordination with railways and transport department as well as dispel rumours and give clarity on train and bus departures. In a communication to all the states and the UTs on Monday through an official order, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla issued the instructions to all Chief Secretaries and UT administration noting that fear of novel coronavirus or COVID-19 infection and apprehension of loss of livelihood are the main driving factors for the movement of stranded workers towards their homes. In order to mitigate the distress of migrant workers, the communication stresses on a number of measures that need to be taken by the state governments, pro-actively in coordination with the Centre. Operation of more special trains by pro-active coordination between states and with the Ministry of Railways, increase in number of buses for transporting migrants, allowing entry of buses carrying migrants at inter-state border are among the measures suggested by the MHA. "More clarity may be given about departure of trains, buses, as lack of clarity coupled with rumours caused unrest amongst the workers," the MHA communication mentions. Arrangement of designated rest places, with adequate facilities for sanitation, food and healthcare, could be made by the States on routes where migrants are known to be already travelling on foot, the communication stresses. It emphasized that the district authorities should guide workers moving on foot to designated rest places, nearby bus terminals or railway stations by arranging transportation. "Special attention may be given to the specific requirements of women, children and elderly amongst the migrant workers." It is also advised that district authorities in the state should involve NGO representatives at rest places to alleviate the notion of long quarantine at rest places. Workers may also be encouraged to remain at places where they are and there should be enlisting of migrants with their addresses and contact numbers and it would be helpful in contact tracing in due course, the communication mentions.The communication reiterates that district authorities must ensure that no migrant worker has to resort to walking on roads or railway tracks to reach his or her destination. "They (states and UTs) may request the Ministry of Railways for running trains, as per requirement," it said. The communication was made a day after the MHA issued fresh guidelines for the nationwide guidelines which started on Monday with extension of two more weeks ending on May 31. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Bangladesh: Cyclone Amphan intensifies in Bay of Bengal, ports raise cautionary signal 4 May 19,2020 | Source: News on Air The tropical cyclone Amphan is intensifying over the bay of Bengal as it moves towards Bangladesh, Myanmar and India. In the coming few days, the cyclone is likely to cause heavy rain, flooding, storm surge and strong wind in parts of Bangladesh, Myanmar and India. The exact direction of the storm remains uncertain but Bangladesh Met department has cautioned its sailors and fishermen not to venture into the sea. According to the special weather bulletin issued by Meteorological Department of Bangladesh, the cyclonic storm Amphan was centred 1345 km south-southwest of Chattogram port, 1280 km south-southwest of Cox's Bazar port, 1275 km south-southwest of Mongla port And 1255 Km South-Southwest of Pyra Port. It is likely to intensify and move in a north-westerly direction. Local warning signal 4 was hoisted at maritime ports of Chattogram, Coxs Bazar, Mongla and Pyra. Signal 4 signifies that the port is threatened by storm but danger is not yet so big to take any extreme precaution. The Met Department has advised all the fishing boats and trawlers in the North Bay and deep sea to come close to the coast and proceed with caution till further notice. In the first case of relapse of Covid-19 infection in Kerala, a nine-month pregnant nurse, who returned from Kuwait recently after recovering from the disease, has tested positive once again here. The 34-year-old Alappuzha native had returned to India on May 13 after she managed to get a ticket on board one of the special flights arranged by the central government under the 'Vande Bharat mission " to bring back stranded Indians from the gulf and other countries. On disclosing her history of coronavirus and recovery from the disease in Kuwait, the health authorities had shifted her to the isolation ward at the Government medical college in Manjeri. District health authorities said thewoman had returned to India after recovering from the viral infection, but before a repeat test prescribed after 14 days. "We appreciate the fact that she disclosed the facts of her infection history. She tested negative in Kuwait, but got her ticket to India before undergoing a second test," the District Medical Officer Dr K Sakeena told PTI. Though the case of a relapse is a first in the state, there have been cases of complications of the coronavirus recovered persons as their immune systems became weak, sources pointed out. There have been cases of relapse of the infection from some other places in the country, they said. With one more person testing positive on Monday, the total number of positive cases in Malappuram district has gone up to 22. As many as 22 of those who had tested positive earlier have recovered and have been discharged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 09:11:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Graduating senior high students wait to enter their classrooms while observing social distancing in Tirana, Albania, on May 18, 2020. The Albanian government has announced further easing lockdown measures including allowing graduating senior high students to return to schools from May 18. (Photo by Arben Celi/Xinhua) (Photo : REUTERS/Amr) FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a protective face mask talks on his mobile and waits with others outside a branch of Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications Co, amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the Cairo suburb of Maadi, Egypt April 22, 2020. Chinese smartphone brand Oppo is making a renewed move to the European market through a partnership with telecommunications giant Vodafone. On a Monday, May 18, Vodafone will sell Oppo products through its retail networks in Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, and the Netherlands starting May this year. Cooperation with Vodafone is signaling Oppo's global aspirations with a plan to promote the brand in established overseas markets. At the same time, Huawei faces headwinds selling internationally after being put on a U.S. trade blacklist that forbids the use of Google mobile services. Huawei's growth could be impeded after the United States. Commerce Department announced that it would further limit Huawei's ability to manufacture semiconductors using American technologies. ALSO READ: How Will App Developers Benefit from GDSA? China Tech Giants Unite To Create Google Play Alternative Google Play Oppo's sales spiked in Europe Oppo, currently the second-largest smartphone vendor after Huawei in its home country, has seen an increase in revenue across Europe since its entrance into the market in mid-2018. According to research firm Canalys, Oppo now accounts for 2% of the European market, after witnessing 10-fold growth in the first quarter amid countrywide lockdowns imposed to restrict the spread of the pandemic. The growth spurt saw Oppo leap to the fifth position in the country, 14% behind Xiaomi in fourth place, and Huawei in second place with a 21% share. According to Canalys, global smartphone shipments dropped 13% to 272 million units in the first quarter due to the effects of COVID-19. "Oppo is confident that our industry-leading products and technologies will enable Vodafone to win new opportunities in the 5G era," Oppo vice-president Alen Wu said. ALSO READ: Oppo Confirms New Smartwatch: Here's What You Need to Know About This Apple Watch Clone Less Chinese-sounding brand Peter Richardson, research director at Counterpoint Research, explained to TechCrunch Oppo has a product range that can hit many of the same segments as Huawei. That was the reason why it to gain market share at the expense of Huawei. Oppo, according to Richardson, has always used quite a European flavor in its product design - including the color choice, packaging, and advertising materials. "This makes it acceptable to European consumers," he said. Richardson pointed out that Oppo, whose name is less "Chinese sounding" than its domestic rivals, would help avoid some "negative media around China." Oppo, headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong, has previously provided mid- to low-price smartphones with entertaining marketing strategies that target young people in lower-tier cities across the world. Earlier this year, the launch of its new flagship Find X2 series of phones showed it has plans to extend its overseas footprint from emerging Asian markets to Europe, where mobile buyers are more likely to shell out for premium models. Oppo said more than half of its smartphone shipments have been outside of mainland China since September, and the company aims to increase its share of overseas sales with its move to new markets. Nevertheless, in their home market Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo faced stiffer competition after Huawei doubled down on efforts to boost domestic sales. The move is to offset the effect of the U.S. blacklist that curbed their attempts to attract overseas purchasers. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Police here on Tuesday booked Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu and the personal secretary to party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over a list of buses to ferry stranded migrant workers back to the state. Lallu, Vadra's personal secretary Sandeep Singh and others were charged with forgery in an FIR registered at the Hazratganj police station here, an official spokesperson said. The case was registered on a complaint by Road Transport Officer (RTO) R P Trivedi, the spokesman said. Uttar Pradesh government had claimed that the list of 1,000 buses offered by the Congress to transport migrant workers contained registration numbers of two-wheelers, cars and three wheelers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: On the initiative of the Moldovan side, a meeting has been held between President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon in the format of a video conference, Trend reports on May 18 referring to the Azerbaijani presidential press-service. Greeting President Ilham Aliyev, President of Moldova Igor Dodon said: - Good morning. President Ilham Aliyev: Good morning. President Igor Dodon: Dear Mr. President, our esteemed friend. I am very glad to be able to communicate with you at least in this format. To begin with, I want to congratulate you on the past great holiday Victory Day. I also want to thank you very much for the help you decided to provide us in the fight against the pandemic. Just a few days ago, last week, we accepted the help you sent with a special plane. I want to say thank you very much on behalf of all our people for the fact that our friends, our brothers from Baku decided to help us in this difficult situation. I know that you are also fighting the pandemic. We know that you are successfully dealing with this. I hope that today we will be able to talk about this and other aspects of our cooperation in the format of a teleconference. President Ilham Aliyev: Yes. I am very glad to see you, dear Mr. President. I would also like to congratulate you and through you all the people of Moldova on the past Victory Day. This holiday has always been very dear to our countries. It is gratifying that we retain the memory of those who laid their heads for our Victory. Those who are still with us today, although there are fewer and fewer of them, enjoy great respect in our countries. Of course, we always bilaterally focused on active interaction. I recall our meetings both in Baku and at international venues. Therefore, it is only natural that Azerbaijan showed solidarity with Moldova at this difficult time. Because it is in difficult times that we need to support each other. When all is well, everyone congratulates each other and rejoice in each others success. But, of course, we must also support each other in difficult times as much as we can. I am grateful to you for your letter in this regard and also for the fact that you mentioned it today. Of course, the pandemic has affected the course of events in all countries, including international politics. But modern technology allow us the opportunity to work and communicate actively even in this format. So I am sure that today's discussion will also be very useful and result-oriented. During the conversation, the heads of state exchanged views on measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic and talked about upcoming work in the field of eliminating its socioeconomic consequences. Hailing the development of bilateral relations, President Ilham Aliyev and President Igor Dodon noted the high level of political ties. Touching upon the development of cooperation between the two countries in various fields after the pandemic, the heads of state emphasized that there were favorable opportunities for expanding ties in the fields of trade, economy, transport, energy and other areas, as well as implementing investment projects. In this regard, the presidents noted that holding a meeting of the intergovernmental commission in the post-pandemic period would contribute to strengthening economic cooperation. The heads of state also discussed prospects for the expansion of ties between business circles of the two countries and holding a business forum in the future. The President of Moldova once again brought to the attention the invitation of the Azerbaijani President to pay an official visit to his country. President Ilham Aliyev, in turn, invited President of Moldova Igor Dodon to pay an official visit to Azerbaijan at his convenience. WASHINGTON Even before the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States and forced millions of Americans to stay at home, the top floor of the Federal Election Commission was quiet. Three of the six commissioners offices sat empty. Stacks of green paper accumulated, detailing hundreds of enforcement matters on which the agency was powerless to act. The commission, Americas election watchdog, has essentially been on ice for months. There are six seats on its board, and the bylaws require at least four to be occupied for the agency to function. But the board has had just three members since last September. As the 2020 election has ramped up, the independent regulator has been unable to hold hearings, offer advice to campaigns about how to follow the law, open or close investigations, or issue penalties. That changed on Tuesday when the Senate confirmed a fourth member: James E. Trainor III, a Republican lawyer from Texas. President Trumps nomination of Mr. Trainor, who goes by Trey and who worked for the 2016 Trump campaign, marked a departure from the tradition of presidents nominating commissioners in pairs, typically from different parties. While some cheered the symbolic revival of the agency, others criticized what they called underlying structural problems at the F.E.C. along with a less vigorous approach to enforcing election law that have delivered a de facto win to campaign finance deregulation over the last decade. Lol, Nkechi Blessing is begging Amstel Malta for endorsement and she implies she isnt even ashamed of it. Buying a can of the drink and seriously posing with it, like something you see in ADs, the actress begged her followers to tag the brand as she says thats how to shoot a shot. This is how I Shoot Shots .Ya all have a Fruitful New WeekTag the Brand#omoologodidan, she wrote. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates A meatpacking plan worker who died of coronavirus was told by the company she worked for that she just had a cold and was ordered to keep working, her daughter has claimed. Tin Aye, 60, had worked at the JBS plant in Greeley, Colorado for 12 years when she fell ill in March and visited a company clinic at the plant, her daughter San Twin told the Daily Beast. 'She say, 'Hey, daughter, I have a cough, my body ache, I have difficulty breathing,' Twin recalled. 'I said, 'Mom, that's a sign of COVID-19. You already at work right now. Can you get checked right now with the clinic?' 'She said, 'Oh, they just told me I have a normal cold and I have to go back to work. I go back to work,' Twin said. Tin Aye, 60, was the eighth worker at the JBS plant in Colorado to die of coronavirus. She is seen above with her husband, daughter and son, a Marine Aye's union commemorated her passing with the leaflet seen above JBS shut down its Greeley plant (above) for two weeks in April and reopened after cleaning the facility and putting in place a variety of precautions The plant in Greeley had already had confirmed cases of coronavirus at the time, and the union that represents its workers has accused JBS of failing to protect workers and encouraging employees to come to work sick. Aye was the eighth employee at the plant to die in the outbreak, and at least 321 plant employees have tested positive for the virus. JBS shut down its Greeley plant for two weeks in April and reopened after cleaning the facility and putting in place a variety of precautions aimed at preventing coronavirus from spreading in the plant. The company told DailyMail.com in a statement: 'We are deeply saddened by the loss of our faithful team member. We have been and will continue offering support to the family during this time. Our sympathies go out to everyone who has been impacted by COVID-19.6' 'If Ms. Aye was told to work while sick, that would be a clear violation of both company policy and our culture as an organization. We are currently investigating her situation to make sure we took the right steps,' the statement added. Aye (above) was told by a company clinic that she just had a cold and ordered to keep working, according to her daughter Aye was an immigrant from Myanmar who began working at the JBS plant soon after arriving in the US with her husband and children in 2007 Aye's family (seen with her above) were devastated after she died on Saturday 'We have numerous health and safety policies in place during this challenging time, and we do not want sick team members coming to work. No one is forced to come to work and no one is punished for being absent for health reasons,' JBS said. 'Additionally, if any team member is fearful of coming to work they can simply call the company and inform us, and they will receive unpaid leave without any consequence to their employment. All team members in Greeley can also be tested if they choose to,' the company said. In March, Twin says that she warned her mother that her symptoms could be dangerous. 'She told me she cannot eat anything,' Twin remembered. 'She even vomit. I say, 'Mom, that is COVID sign again.' I keep repeating it. My mom said, 'They told me it's a normal cold. If I drink Tylenol or ibuprofen at home, it will be gone.' Twin, who was nine months pregnant at the time, was actually the first in the family to get tested for coronavirus, after complaining to her doctor of characteristic symptoms. When her test came back positive, Twin knew she could have only been exposed through her mother, and urged her mom to get to a hospital right away. Aye was hospitalized on March 29, one day after her daughter gave birth to her first child in an emergency C-section. But Aye was admitted to the hospital before she could see her first grandchild, a boy they named Felix. Aye was intubated and remained hospitalized for more than a month before passing away on Saturday. Across the country, at least 10,000 meatpacking workers have been infected and 30 have died, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents many workers in the industry. As a result, dozens of major red meat plants across the country have been forced to close temporarily, disrupting supply chains for conventional pork and beef. Many processing plants and slaughterhouses across the US have been forced to close in recent weeks due to outbreaks among workers (above) The consumer price index for meat, poultry, fish and eggs hit an all-time high in April Poultry plants, which rely more heavily on automation, have been impacted to a lesser degree, and no chicken processing plants have been forced to close. The impact for consumers was blunted somewhat in April, with the closure of restaurants across the country freeing up supply, but the shortage in stores is only expected to increase as some states allow restaurants to reopen even as meat supplies in cold storage dwindle perilously low. Newly released data from the Federal Reserve shows that the consumer price index for meat, fish and poultry in US cities hit an all-time high in April, driven by the shortages. This week, the average advertised price of Italian sausage is up 18 percent from the same week a year ago, according to USDA figures. Last week the US Department of Agriculture listed 14 processing facilities that had reopened or planned to reopen following an executive order by President Donald Trump which characterized the plants as 'critical infrastructure.' The USDA has defended its implementation of Trump's order and said the plants guarantee employee safety, but the UFCW has called the Trump administration's handling of the issue 'reckless.' GREENWICH For the first time since 2012, a competitive election is slated for the 149th state House District, which covers backcountry Greenwich and a portion of North Stamford. On Monday, Democrats officially nominated Greenwich Board of Education Vice Chair Kathleen Stowe as their candidate for the empty seat. On Tuesday, Republicans will hold their nominating convention and are expected to nominate Kimberly Fiorello, a member of Greenwichs Representative Town Meeting. The seat is open for the first time in decades. State Rep. Livvy Floren announced in April that she would not seek reelection. A Republican, Floren has been in office since 2000 and is completing her 10th two-year-term. Stowe said she thinks she has a shot for seat as she accepted the Democratic nomination. We are living in a new world, and it will require tough decisions to be made in Connecticut, Stowe said in her acceptance speech. We need strong leadership to guide us through the recovery and continue to build our towns and our state for the future. With my track record of managing businesses, my experience in local government and my first-hand understanding of the needs of local families, I bring the right perspective, she said. The need to respond to the coronavirus crisis on a state level inspired her to run, Stowe said. Calling it a critical time for our state and region, she pledged to bring leadership and energy to the job if elected. Im the right candidate for now as a moderate with financial expertise, local government experience and a connection with many local families as a mother of three, Stowe said. Guiding the state through the crisis will require a balance between the needs of constituents and the financial realities we now face. With a background in investment banking, Stowe worked for Citigroup and the private equity firm SV Investment Partners. The states best path forward, she said, is by growing our economy, protecting our open spaces and enhancing our local schools, all while maintaining fiscal discipline and minimizing the tax burden. Stowe has said she will remain on the Board of Education if elected to the legislature. Her current term there runs through 2021. Fiorello, who is in her second term on the RTM, said she was inspired to run by the changes in the state. Connecticut is truly a beacon of ingenuity, of freedom, of people who are salt of the earth, Fiorello said. And our families are feeling like they cannot grow here and are finding themselves in a position where they have to consider leaving. I want to help change this and give families a choice to stay. A mother of four, Fiorello also has a finance background. She trained as an analyst for Salomon Brothers before becoming a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Fiorello has been outspoken about taxation and spending and was a critic of proposed highway tolls. Her run for the legislature would focus on any avenue that will help families and businesses thrive and flourish, she said. The GOP has held the 149th District for more than a century. But Democrats have made some recent gains in Greenwich. In 2018, state Rep. Stephen Meskers became the first Democrat elected to the 150th House District in more than 100 years and state Sen. Alex Kasser became the first Democrat to win the 36th Senate District since 1930. Greenwich Republican Town Committee Chair Dan Quigley said Monday he is confident that Fiorello will keep the seat in Republican hands. Floren leaves being a legacy of success and big shoes to fill, he said, but Fiorello is up to the job. She is very bright and stands by her principles, Quigley said. Kimberly has always been fiscally conservative and complemented that with a collaborative approach to public service. Floren commented before Tuesdays convention. Kimberly Fiorello is smart and motivated, Floren said. Residents will find her fiscally responsible and respectful of their personal choices. She exhibits a work ethic that the state legislature requires and the people of the 149th District of Greenwich and Stamford deserve. But Democrats are feeling confident as well. Greenwich Democratic Town Committee Chair Joe Angland said Stowes background makes her eminently qualified. On the Board of Education she has demonstrated the ability to work effectively with Republican colleagues, a skill that will serve her well in Hartford, Angland said. And he noted the changes in voting habits in town. I think voters are willing to listen to what candidates actually stand for and that can lead them to cross party lines, Angland said. Fiorello and Stowe will have to introduce themselves to the district at a time when traditional campaigning will be hindered by the coronavirus outbreak. Stowe said she would really pick it up on social media while waiting to see what might happen with campaign events in the coming months. She said there will also be a lot of mailings and Zoom calls. Fiorello suggested she would look at holding carside chats, where she could talk with voters while keeping a six-foot distance between them. If elected, Fiorello would find herself in an unusual spot. Republicans outnumber Democrats in Greenwich. But in Hartford, the Democrats have held the majority, particularly in the state House, with a gap that Republicans might not be able to close in 2020. But Fiorello said that joining the minority caucus would not throw her. When I fought tolls, I worked with Democrats, Republicans and Independents, Fiorello said. To me, its not about being in the majority or minority party, it is a singular focus on what is right for the people of Connecticut. And in this campaign, as I seek the Republican nomination, I hope my message speaks to Democrats and Independents because human flourishing sees no boundaries. kborsuk@greenwichtime.com The Indian Railways' most powerful 12000 HP Made in India locomotive made its maiden commercial run between Deen Dayal Upadhaya and Shivpur stations in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, the national transporter said. Built by French company Alstom under the government's Make in India programme at the Railways' Madhepura factory in Bihar, these engines are the highest-powered locomotives that will run on Indian rails. All 800 of these locos are being manufactured indigenously while they have been designed at the company's engineering centre in Bengaluru. The first train, consisting of 118 wagons, using the locomotive departed from Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Station at 2:08 pm for Dhanbad division of East Central Railway,. "The locomotive is capable of working on railway tracks with conventional OHE lines as well as on Dedicated Freight corridors with high rise OHE lines. The locomotive has air-conditioned driver cabs on either side. "It is equipped with regenerative braking system which provides substantial energy savings during operations. These high horse power locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving average speed of freight trains," the statement from Railways said. As part of the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) project of the Indian Railways, the Ministry of Railways and Alstom inked a Joint Venture worth Rs 25,000 crore in 2015. The overall project is for manufacturing of 800 double-section electric locomotives of 12000 HP for freight service and its associated maintenance for a period of 11 years. The scope also includes setting up of a manufacturing plant at Madhepura (Bihar) for building the e-locos and two maintenance depots at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and Nagpur, Maharashtra. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has made the rounds on network talk show television during the coronavirus pandemic. She wore a That Woman from Michigan T-shirt -- a reference to President Donald Trumps moniker for her -- on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah in early April. She touched on the protests against her emergency outbreak response during her appearance on The View last week. And she shifted her focus to electoral politics on the Monday, May 18 episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, after the host asked her what Democrats would need to do this fall to secure Michigans 16 electoral votes in the presidential election. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wears That Woman from Michigan shirt on Comedy Central The blunt answer to the Democratic presidential nominee, presumably former Vice President Joe Biden: You just gotta show up. President Trump won my state by less than 11,000 votes (in 2016), she said. I won two years later by 10 points. It was a historic victory. I think it was because I decided to show up in all 83 counties. Now Im not saying the presidential candidate needs to show up in all 83 counties, but you gotta show up. Because when you are actually talking to people, you dont get distracted by things that dont matter. Donald Trump beat Hilary Clinton in Michigan by 10,704 votes in 2016. Whitmer defeated her Republican opponent Bill Schuette by more than 400,000 votes in 2018. A message was left with the Michigan GOP to respond to Whitmers comments, particularly about whether all the Democrats need to do to win is to show up. Whitmer is the subject of rumors that she could be Bidens vice presidential running mate in 2020. Whitmer told NBCs Craig Melvin on Tuesdays The Today Show that she had a conversation with Biden about his campaign, but that the most important thing I have to do right now is be the Governor of my state. Gretchen Whitmer is a national figure now. What you need to know about The woman in Michigan' However, Meyers opted Monday night for a lighter interview, including Whitmers opinions on Cecily Strongs impression of her on Saturday Night Live. Whitmer only had one issue: the choice of Labatt Blue over a Michigan beer. I love Canada, but I drink Michigan beer, not Labatt, she told Meyers. Whitmer sent Strong a Michigan care package full of Kalamazoo-based Bells Brewery beer and memorabilia after the performance. It was hard to send it. I wanted to keep it to myself, Whitmer quipped. SNL star blown away by Michigan care package from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer She also joked to Meyers, a former SNL head writer who once lived in Okemos, that he could help Strong with the accent. 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. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces. Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. Read more from MLive: Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus Northern Michigan restaurants and shops can reopen Friday, Whitmer says Coronavirus preparedness, response plans required for Michigan businesses set to reopen Protester explains doll, noose demonstration at Capitol, wants to gift props to Trump Detroit, MSU to use raw sewage to track coronavirus outbreaks In what is seen as a clear departure from the past, General T.Y Danjuma returned to Aso Villa today after he was blocked from meeting the president in the last several years by the Cabal whose arrow-head Abba Kyari passed away recently. Inside sources disclosed this afternoon that Danjuma who came to visit his old protege, President Muhammadu Buhari was blocked from visiting the Villa after he asked for a meeting few years ago to visit the President and used the opportunity of that visit then to advice the president to fire his then Chief of Staff Abba Kyari and some other people working around the President. Sources said Danjuma told the President then that Kyari and some of the other people around him were incompetent and had become a liability to the President and the administration. When Danjuma left, the late Abba Kyari found out about what Danjuma had told his principal, the President and with the connivance of other members of the Cabal decided to ensure that Danjuma no longer gets invited to the Villa. The then COS grouse was that Kyari was actually the one that scheduled the meeting for Danjuma, only for the retired General to use the opportunity to seek his removal. In the event, Danjuma did not get any other opportunity to meet the President in the Villa again and only communicated with him by correspondence. It is believed that Danjumas critical attitude to the administration grew out of this situation and how the kitchen cabinet of the President decided to continue to snub him. But Danjuma is well known as one of the few senior military officers whom the President respects tremendously, during and after his military career. In fact, a number of ministers including the current minister of health were nominated to the President by Danjuma. The health minister, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, is known to be married to a relative of Danjuma. The return of Danjuma to the Villa where he met the President today (on Monday May 18, 2020) is now being regarded as another proof that the Cabal has been truly defeated. It started last week with the selection of Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, a move that has left the Cabal in serious panic, especially because not only were they not consulted before Gambari was picked by the President, but the President rebuffed every move by some of the members of the Cabal for a meeting since after the death of Kyari. Some in the Cabal had pushed forward former Foreign Affairs Minister Baba Gana Kingibe, a member of the Cabal, to take the position of Kyari, but the President balked. Then Ismaila Funtua, a retired newspaper publisher was again nominated, and the President again refused forcing both of them to hurry to the media to declare they were never interested in the position. According to a Villa source, less than one week after Gambari took the job, you see the return of Danjuma to the Villa to visit his protege, expect many more reversals and revelations of the damage the Cabal has caused the president and the country all these years. By the time the most powerful tornado in Pennsylvanias history completed its terrifying 47-mile journey, 18 people were dead, over 300 were injured, and 100 buildings had been leveled. The peak wind speeds far exceeded the measuring limits of any weather instrument; anemometers werent much use above 100 mph. Yet the National Weather Service was able to declare confidently that the winds were better than 260 mph an F5 tornado. That had everything to do with the extraordinary detective work of Tetsuya Ted Fujita. He is the F in the tornado-intensity scale, which he developed by taking, and analyzing, thousands of damage photographs and inferring wind speeds. READ MORE: Under the radar, tornado season already the deadliest since 2011; twister confirmed in N.J. Fujita, who died in 1998, is the subject of a PBS documentary, Mr. Tornado, which will air at 9 p.m. Tuesday on WHYY-TV, 12 days shy of the 35th anniversary of that Pennsylvania F5 during one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. (The program will follow a Nova segment on the deadliest, which occurred in 2011.) Some of the documentarys archival tornado footage is frightfully breathtaking; more significantly, the program adds flesh to a figure whose name like those of Charles Richter (earthquakes) and Herbert Saffir and Robert Simpson (hurricanes) is forever associated with a number. READ MORE: Utterly unreasonable behavior of the atmosphere in 2011 Viewers will learn that Fujita not only had a voracious appetite for tedium and detail, he evidently had a tapeworm. One mans obsession A Pennsylvania State University professor named Greg Forbes was astounded at what nature had wreaked on May 31, 1985. Forbes was part of the post-storm forensic team, and he recalled last week that he was awed when he saw that a tornado had crushed or rolled several huge petroleum storage tanks. At his recommendation, the National Weather Service declared it an F5. Forbes knew the drill; he had participated in landmark tornado-surveillance projects while a graduate student under Fujita at the University of Chicago. READ MORE: Catch the wind ... at 200 m.p.h. Fujita, who became a U.S. citizen, was part of a Japanese research team that examined the nuclear destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. He observed damage patterns that were similar to those he would encounter after tornadoes. While Fujita was trained as an engineer, he had an intense interest in meteorology, particularly thunderstorms. Forbes, who went on to become a fixture at the Weather Channel, recalled that Fujita came across a discarded thunderstorm study by Chicagos Horace Byers. Fujita purchased a typewriter with English characters and sent a copy of his own study to Byers, who invited him to Chicago. The United States is a battleground of air masses and a world capital of tornadoes, and they fired Fujitas passion. His first forensic foray was a two-year post-storm analysis of a massive tornado one that lasted for six hours, with cloud tops 75,000 feet into the atmosphere that struck Fargo, N.D., on June 20, 1957. From witnesses, he was able to obtain about 200 photographs, but he decided it would be better to take his own pictures. He started chartering Cessnas for low-flying surveillance of tornado aftermaths and built a collection of thousands of photographs from which he was able to infer wind speeds, thus creating the Fujita Scale. About the F Scale The 1996 movie Twister begins with a scene in which a family scurries to a storm shelter as a tornado approaches in June 1969. The father is heard saying, TV says its big, maybe an F5. That would have been news to Fujita in 1969. He did not publish his ranking scale until 1971, and the National Weather Service didnt begin using it officially until 1973. Seventeen years after the Fargo twister, Fujita undertook a major examination of the aftermath of what was then the worst tornado outbreak on record. Across 13 states, tornadoes killed 315 people on April 3 and 4, 1974, with 148 twisters causing damage over 2,500 miles of paths. His aerial surveys covered over 10,000 miles. When the investigation was completed, Fujita produced a hand-drawn map with the tornado paths, complete with his F Scale numbers. Enhancing the F Scale No device ever has measured tornado wind speeds directly at the surface. The Fujita Scale wasnt perfect. Chet Henricksen, while in charge of the Mount Holly weather service office in 1994, questioned whether a July tornado that killed three people in Montgomery County was an F3, which could have winds up to 206 mph. Several technical articles suggest that wind speeds associated with some descriptions of damage are too high, the weather service said in a 2004 report. Fujita himself had acknowledged that his scale needed editing. Forbes was part of a committee of engineers and meteorologists who adjusted the scale to account for a range of buildings and other objects. The weather service published an Enhanced Fujita Scale in 2007, which tweaks the values for all six levels of winds, EF0 through EF5. An F0 could have winds as low as 40 mph, but it would have to have at least 65 mph to make it as an EF0. While Fujitas F5 threshold was 261 mph with an upper limit of 318 mph, the EF5s is 200 mph and above. But in measuring the immeasurable, Fujita made an immeasurable contribution, Forbes said. Before Fujita, he said, according to some encyclopedias tornado winds could reach 500 mph or even the speed of sound. Last weekend Bend, Oregon bars, restaurants and breweries began to reopen for in-house consumption under phase 1 of Oregon Governor Kate Brown's eased Coronavirus restrictions. New School's central Oregon contributor Heidi Howard ventured out to visit Monkless Belgian Ales, On Tap and Crux Fermentation Project to get a taste of the new normal. By Heidi Howard - Friday marked the first day of Phase 1 for Deschutes County. Several bars, restaurants, tap houses and food truck lots opened for onsite consumptions! Hurray! The excitement and my curiosity got the best of me, so I ventured out. My expectations for the evening were to be prepared to get turned away, and wait in long, evenly spaced lines wherever I landed. My first choice for my maiden voyage was Monkless Belgian Ales Brasserie, with a backup plan of heading to Crux for a beer while we waited hours to get into Monkless. This plan seemed appropriate given the droves of people I assumed would be chomping at the bit to get out of their house. I was way off the mark. Monkless Belgian Ales brasserie has plenty of PPE We pulled up to Monkless Brasserie around 5:30 pm on Friday. There was a parking spot right up front. My husband, Erik, waited in the car while I found out what the wait would be. Next to the door were two Monkless employees clad in their rubber gloves and masks. Their eyes smiling as I walked up to them. I asked Hows the wait? They look at each other and ask if I have a reservation. I said I didnt as I only have 2 in my party but would happy to reserve for a table tomorrow. This is pretty much how I thought it would go. They look at each other again and laugh a little. Apparently, they do not take reservations for under 4 guests, but they run inside to see if any 2 toppers are available right now. The gentleman comes back out, eyes smiling (because the mask you know) and he says Not only do I have several two toppers available, but you have the option of sitting inside, or on the deck. At this point I am giddy. As I tear up at the thought of sitting on the deck eating some delicious spaetzle, I turn quickly so these strangers cannot see me, run to the car and tell my husband turn it off theyve got a table for us NOW on the deck!!. Erik says Ha, yeah right. I convince him that I am serious and we head inside. spaetzle at Monkless Belgian Ales brasserie The weather on Friday was upper 60s with blue skies. We watched people walking along the river, pointing up at us diners on the deck. They seemed shocked. Have we really been quarantined this long? As I begin to shake with excitement at drinking beer and eating a meal without having to clean up after the fact. Somebody pinch me! Am I dreaming? The waitress comes by in her face mask and greets us from a distance. She asks how we are. She is also visibly excited to be assisting us. Every person here is happy, chatty, laughing, giving cheers. It was fantastic. We order beer and food, because we knew what we wanted before we even got to the Brasserie. We had been talking about it for days. She inputs our order into her handheld POS system. As we briefly wait for our beers, we watch as an employee clears a recently vacated table. With cleaner and a fresh rag, he sprays EVERYTHING down (even the legs of the chairs) and begins to meticulously clean every surface possible. I was so impressed! We had a delicious dinner, and some beignets for dessert. Erik drops a piece of it on the table. Looks at it for a second and then picks it up and eats it anyway. He says This is probably the cleanest surface Ive ever eaten off of referring to the cleaning regimen we watched while waiting for our beverages. Todd Clement of Monkless Belgian Ales As I people watch, I see Todd and Robin Clement at a table with their masks on. Greeting staff with gusto! Todd stops across from our table and we have a distanced conversation about how things are going. He said he was not necessarily making money during the shutdown but was instead churning it. Im thinking that Im thankful they were able to open so I could have this experience. While I wrap up my conversations with Todd, Erik pays our tab. Our waitress holds out the handheld POS and asks Erik to place his card in the machines. When finished she asks him to review the tab, she finalizes the purchase and asks Erik to remove the card. Smart! We say goodbye and decide to walk to Crux (because we ate A LOT and needed the exercise). social distanced beer ordering line at Crux Fermentation Project As we walk up the street, we pass a group of 3 people leaving CRUX. I ask how the atmosphere is up there. They said Not bad if you want to wait 20 minutes for a beer. I think yeah, I can handle that. Erik asks if they had a beer. They said No. They are going to explore what else is available. We got to CRUX and it really doesnt look bad. Its reminiscent of a regular Wednesday afternoon pre COVID. We see the beer line and the marks on the ground that aid folks in keeping 6 feet apart. Some are following it, others not so much. Some people are leaving space between the next person in line, others are taking it as a sign to get in line in front of them. That created a bit of a longer wait. I waited outside, while Erik traversed the line to the beer bar. Once inside, there were two people working the taps. One person on each end. The difficulty is the single file line and limited space (there was a line of kegs placed strategically to keep people from standing inside). When the person at the far end of the bar would call for the next person, you would have to brush by the people ordering from the other side. A little bit of a fail there, for sure. Finally, with our beer in hand, we head over to the fire pit. We are drinking and talking, enjoying ourselves. Next thing we know there are people crowding us from all sides. We move away from the firepit and find a spot with safer distancing. We follow social distancing efforts, but it was apparent we were the minority in this environment. We quickly finished our (delicious) beers and began our trek out. Unfortunately, the entrance and exit is all outside but felt very small and crowded. As we were leaving space between us and others who were trying to leave in front of us, folks behind us began crowding my husband. He turns and says, Hey keep a safe distance buddy. Hes scoffed at. Friday night was still a success. So much so that we began discussing what was on the docket for Saturday. On Tap's outdoor taproom is perfect for spreading out patrons Saturday afternoon, we decided to head to On Tap food truck lot with our dogs. Tables were marked with tape, indicated acceptable places to sit to keep social distancing. Unlike CRUX, everyone here was very accommodating and respectful. Children were being corralled by their parents, and dogs were kept at a safe distance, including ours. It was relaxing, warm and quite enjoyable. Each time a person completed a transaction on the POS system, staff sanitized it, and sanitizer was available at the counter. I had an AMAZING cheeseburger from the Curbbq food truck, a sour beer and an imperial IPA. On Tap has THE BEST tap list, only second to White Water Taphouse, which has not yet opened for regular business due to their small space. This was a fantastic weekend. More than once, I heard people say This feels like Christmas or This feels like a holiday. The joy in the air was palpable, with lots of excitement. I enjoyed this very much and hope that Deschutes County can continue to stay in Phase 1 and move cautiously to Phase 2. Cheers! NASA examines tropical storm Arthur's rainfall as it transitions When the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed over the western North Atlantic Ocean, it captured rainfall data on Tropical Storm Arthur as the storm was transitioning into an extra-tropical storm. The GPM's core satellite passed over Arthur on May 19 at 2:51 a.m. EDT (0651 UTC) and found the heaviest rainfall on the northeastern side of the storm falling at a rate of over 25mm (over 1 inch) per hour. Lighter rainfall rates were measured throughout the rest of the storm. Forecasters at NOAA's National Hurricane Center or NHC incorporate the rainfall data into their forecasts. NHC forecasters noted at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC) on May 19, "Arthur's cloud pattern has continued to take on a generally post-tropical appearance, though a recent convective burst near its center suggests that it isn't quite post-tropical yet. Satellite imagery and earlier scatterometer data also indicate the presence of a developing warm front near the cyclone's center, and this could be contributing the development of the aforementioned convective burst." NHC said the center of Tropical Storm Arthur was located near latitude 37.0 north, longitude 70.6 west, about 300 miles (485 km) east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Arthur was moving toward the east-northeast near 15 mph (24 kph). Maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph (95 kph) with higher gusts. The estimated minimum central pressure is 991 millibars. The NHC cautions that swells generated by Arthur are expected to affect portions of the mid-Atlantic and southeast U.S. coasts during the next day or two. These swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. Arthur is forecast to become post-tropical later today and is forecast to slow down and turn toward the south in another day or so. Arthur is expected to dissipate by the end of the week. A Post-Tropical Storm is a generic term for a former tropical cyclone that no longer possesses sufficient tropical characteristics to be considered a tropical cyclone. Former tropical cyclones that have become extratropical, subtropical, or remnant lows are all three classes of post-tropical cyclones. In any case, they no longer possesses sufficient tropical characteristics to be considered a tropical cyclone. However, post-tropical cyclones can continue carrying heavy rains and produce high winds. ### Hurricanes/tropical cyclones are the most powerful weather events on Earth. NASA's expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as hurricane weather forecasting. GPM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA. For updated forecasts, visit: http://www. nhc. noaa. gov By Rob Gutro NASA Goddard Space Flight Center This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. I think some voters were like: Whoa, wait a minute thats not what I wanted. You mean to tell me thats what your policy is? No, we dont want that. We want to keep the drugs out. We want to keep the bad people out. We want to keep out the guys who are going to take away my job. I dont want to do this, Casey said. People on their own were shaking their heads and saying, I didnt mean that when I voted for you. Seven-year-old Amalia Pintor holds a sign during a protest outside the ICE office in Philadelphia last year. People gathered on Lights for Liberty international day of protest against the treatment of migrant children being held in U.S. detention facilities. Read more More than 1,000 undocumented immigrants detained by ICE now have the coronavirus, as the surge of infections continues to grow with each new round of testing. That milestone represents roughly an eightfold increase from a month ago. About half of the detainees tested by ICE have the virus, even though the enforcement agency has checked only 8% of the 27,908 immigrants it holds in jails and prisons across the country. Most of those in custody are awaiting court hearings or deportation. Immigration lawyers and advocates warn that migrant detainees are at particular risk of catching and spreading the coronavirus, due to the tight quarters in which theyre held. Its likely that far more detainees have the coronavirus than is known, they argue, because a small fraction of the population has been tested. These results are horrible but, sadly, not shocking, said Jasmine Rivera, a leader in the Shut Down Berks Coalition, an immigrant-advocacy organization based in Philadelphia. Health experts and the broader community alike are fully aware of the high risk of COVID exposure that incarceration results in. To continue to needlessly endanger immigrants lives is cruel and must stop now. A total of 1,073 migrants are currently positive for the coronavirus 49% of the 2,172 whove been tested according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement figures released late Monday night. READ MORE: In an ICE detention center in Pa., one migrants case of COVID-19 and fear for others who might have been exposed At least one man has died. In addition, 44 ICE employees who work at detention centers have tested positive, the new figures show. ICE officials were considering a request for comment on the new figures on Tuesday morning. The agency has said it follows all Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines in testing and treating detainees for COVID-19. Obviously, their protocols are insufficient and not working, said Bridget Cambria, director of ALDEA the Peoples Justice Center, which represents low-income people in detention. The fact that 50% of those tested [are] positive for COVID-19 demonstrates that the virus is rampant in ICE facilities, that testing is woefully underdone, that the facilities remain overcrowded with nonviolent, civil detainees." The agency, she said, is deliberately indifferent to the lives of the adults and children in custody, and to the health and safety of staff members who work in the facilities. READ MORE: Activists fear many more ICE detainees are infected with the coronavirus than limited testing shows So far, 20 migrants have tested positive at the 375-bed Pike County Correctional Facility in northeastern Pennsylvania. It is one of four sites in the state where ICE holds detainees, including the Berks County family detention center. Immigrant advocates say the parents held at Berks and at the nations two other family detention centers were offered an untenable choice by ICE last week: allow their children to leave while the adults remained, or be held together as a family indefinitely amid the pandemic. None of the families at Berks signed the papers that would have allowed their children to be separated. ICE did not respond to that allegation last week, but said Tuesday that it still may wish to comment. The Bar Council of West Bengal told the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday that about 22,000 applications for financial aid have been received from advocates owing to the COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdown and these were being processed. The state Bar Council needs to obtain permission from the Bar Council of India before starting disbursement of such financial aid to the advocates in distress, the court was informed in connection with a letter petition by a lawyer for directing the West Bengal Bar Council to disburse monetary assistance to financially distressed lawyers. A letter has been written by the Bar Council of West Bengal to the Bar Council of India seeking such permission, but no response has been received till date, a division bench comprising Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee was told by lawyers representing the WB Bar Council. The petitioner claimed that with the functioning of the Calcutta High Court, the circuit benches at Jalpaiguri and Andaman and Nicobar Islands and subordinate courts suspended since the nationwide lockdown began, many lawyers are in distress and urged for direction to the WB Bar Council to provide financial aid to them. The courts are hearing only extremely urgent matters through video conferencing. Advocate Billwadal Bhattacharya submitted that huge amounts on account of lawyers fees for rendering professional services were outstanding and payable by the state government as well as the central government to the advocates who represent them. He submitted that if such dues of the lawyers are cleared, the same shall mitigate the hardship of the government advocates to a great extent. Advocate General Kishore Dutta, representing the state government, and Vipul Kundalia, the advocate representing the Centre, at the request of the division bench presided by the chief justice, assured the court that they will look into the matter and discuss the issue at the appropriate level. The matter will be taken up for hearing again on May 29. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The coronavirus precautions have claimed another staple of summers start the solemn tribute to war dead on Memorial Day at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. The Veterans Affairs Department this week said it wouldnt allow the public at national cemeteries across the country to salute fallen Americans in large gatherings but instead will pay tribute with wreath-laying events open only to news media. At Fort Sam, the ceremony is scheduled several days ahead of the holiday, at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in the cemeterys assembly area. It will include the laying of a wreath, a moment of silence and the sounding of taps. The Fort Sam ceremony has been a well-attended affair over the decades in San Antonio, called Military City, U.S.A. because of its three major bases and ties to the armed forces that go back to Spanish rule over Texas. Last year, 2,500 people attended. This time, only the media will be on hand. Journalists have been asked to limit their numbers, wear masks and comply with guidelines requiring social distancing while at the ceremony. Veterans, service members, family and people from throughout San Antonio were urged to follow the ceremony through media coverage. The public wasnt invited in deference to guidelines of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that discourage large gatherings. That decision also precludes groups of more than 10 from placing flags at headstones. However, the cemetery will be open from dawn to dusk on Memorial Day weekend. Visitors should follow the CDC guidelines and should consider going to the cemetery Friday, Saturday or Sunday to place flowers and small American flags at gravesites, to avoid crowds on Monday. On ExpressNews.com: San Antonians converge on Fort Sam to honor the fallen This year, by necessity, will be different from past Memorial Day observances, said Aubrey David, the cemeterys director. While we cannot hold a large Memorial Day program as was typical in years past, we will still honor veterans and service members with the dignity and respect they have earned through their service and sacrifice. Memorial Day was once known as Decoration Day, initially established to honor Union and Confederate soldiers after the Civil War. It became a widespread tradition by the end of the 19th century and was expanded after World War I to commemorate U.S. troops who died in all conflicts. Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday in 1971. The ceremony at Fort Sam usually includes a reading of names of veterans who had died in the previous year and were buried there. American Legion members in San Antonio began the ceremony in 2010 with a reading of all veterans, which ran into the tens of thousands of names. Last years reading had more than 2,500 names. That will not happen this year. Not only do veterans attend, but so, too, do those whove buried loved ones. They also mark the day in other ways far from the cemetery. On ExpressNews.com: Funerals in coronavirus era are quiet and quick at San Antonios Fort Sam National Cemetery Kim Smith last year posted photos on Facebook of her son, Pvt. Robert Lewis Franz, who died in Baghdad in 2003, with sketches done by Michael Reagan, a Marine corporal who served in Vietnam. In another post, she included a poem, I Never Left You. I watch you every day, it began. Sig Christenson covers the military and its impact in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. To read more from Sig, become a subscriber. sigc@express-news.net | Twitter: @saddamscribe Around 1,972 Indians have been brought to Maharashtra, under Vande Bharat Mission, started to bring back stranded Indian nationals from May 7. All have been kept under institutional quarantine facility developed by the state government for 14 days, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday. Of them, 822 are from Mumbai, 1,025 are from other parts of the state and the rest 125 are from other states of the country. With the help of 13 flights, these Indians have been brought back from ten different countries of the world. Thackeray said that they are expecting more people under the mission as 27 more flights are expected to be operated. As per tentative plan provided by Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 2,609 passengers were expected to arrive at Mumbai airport in the first phase of the mission, said a senior official, requesting anonymity. Over 1.88 lakh Indians have registered with MEA to return to the country so far, of them 13,403 are from Maharashtra, he said. Maximum 653 Indians have been brought back from London (England), 243 from Singapore, 208 from New York (United States), 201 from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), 195 from Chicago (United States), 150 from Manila (Philippines), 107 from San Francisco (United States), 107 from Dhaka (Bangladesh), 78 from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), 16 from Muscat (Oman) and 12 have been brought from Kabul in Afghanistan. Thackeray said all those who are from Mumbai have been kept in institutional quarantine facilities developed at various hotels in the city, while who are from other parts of the state have been sent to the respective districts. We have also kept all those in Mumbai who are not from Maharashtra but their states have refused to take them back as of now, said the chief minister. Meanwhile, the state government has employed 5.92 lakh labourers under the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS). The chief minister office in a statement issued on Tuesday said they have started 46,530 works under the scheme and has provided employment to 5,92,525 workers in the state. All the district collectors have been directed to employ all those who want work. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON CEDAR FALLS Students at the University of Northern Iowa will receive up to $2,200 in federal aid beginning this week through funding available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act financial assistance designed to help students impacted by COVID-19. The CARES Act, which passed in late March, will provide about $14 billion to higher education institutions and their students across the country. The university aimed to distribute funds to as many students as possible, recognizing that many Panthers demonstrated expenses due to the pandemic. In total, the university will distribute $3.8 million in CARES funding to the more than 3,000 students who applied for relief. Many students will receive their requested amount, up to a maximum of $2,200, to cover expenses they incurred as a result of coronavirus. We have been very intentional with our outreach to students, said Tim Bakula, UNI director of financial aid. Te CARES Act funding is intended to help with the disruption of campus operations, including access to food, housing, child care, health care and technology. Id like to thank our legislators for their work in supporting and securing this funding, as well as our financial aid and governmental relations teams at UNI that worked to distribute these funds to our students in need, said UNI President Mark Nook. UNI students enrolled during the spring semester who completed a FAFSA were eligible for the funds after submitting an application through the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. Students who do not meet eligibility criteria set by the U.S. Department of Education have been encouraged to work with the dean of students office to learn more about other funding opportunities. DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Syngenta today announced strategic leadership appointments supporting the growth and investment in its North America and global Seeds business. David Hollinrake, currently regional director North America Seeds, is appointed head global Seeds Strategy and Portfolio. In his new role, David will lead long-term strategy development and planning for the global Seeds business to continue to deliver increased choice and innovative products for growers, with primary focus on the important U.S. seeds market. David joined Syngenta in 2017 and brings nearly 30 years of experience in agriculture with numerous senior leadership roles in business development, strategic and product planning, and sales and marketing at Bayer Monsanto, Solae and Adayana Incorporated. "Since joining Syngenta, David has led our $400M investment in the U.S. Seeds business, including a new $30M corn Trait Accelerator facility in Nampa, Idaho, a 15% increase in R&D in corn and soybean, and increased trialing to meet the needs of farmers locally. He has significantly increased the number of people providing deep agronomic advice to farmers on the ground, and built our digital agronomy capabilities," said Jeff Rowe, president Syngenta Seeds. "David's laser focus on meeting customer needs and deep agriculture experience makes him the perfect fit to lead the development of our long-term global strategy." Justin Wolfe, currently regional director for Europe, Africa and Middle East (EAME) Seeds, is appointed regional director North America Seeds. Justin joined Syngenta in 2018 and has over 26 years of agricultural industry experience. Prior to joining Syngenta in 2018, Justin was with Monsanto for over 20 years, most recently as vice president Europe and Middle East Commercial Operations. "U.S. farmers are the most productive in the world. Justin's depth of experience and strong leadership will enable us to continue to drive our investment to do more for U.S. farmers to give them the world-leading products, service and innovation they need to thrive," said Rowe. "Based at our global and North America Seeds headquarters in Illinois, at the heart of the U.S. Corn Belt, Justin will focus on expanding the choice and quality of products we offer in North America, leveraging our broad germplasm pool now one of the broadest in the industry and offering growers digital platforms like E-Luminate seed placement tool to increase return on investment and building our team of agronomists standing side-by-side with U.S. farmers." The Syngenta EAME Seeds region will now be led by Gael Hili, currently Syngenta Crop Protection head East Europe. All appointments will be effective June 15, and all three individuals will report to Jeff Rowe. For more information on Syngenta's Seeds business, please visit https://www.syngenta.com/seeds. About Syngenta Syngenta is one of the world's leading agriculture companies. Our ambition is to help safely feed the world while taking care of the planet. We aim to improve the sustainability, quality and safety of agriculture with world class science and innovative crop solutions. Our technologies enable millions of farmers around the world to make better use of limited agricultural resources. With 28,000 people in more than 90 countries we are working to transform how crops are grown. Through partnerships, collaboration and The Good Growth Plan we are committed to improving farm productivity, rescuing land from degradation, enhancing biodiversity and revitalizing rural communities. To learn more visit www.syngenta.com and www.goodgrowthplan.com . Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Syngenta and www.twitter.com/SyngentaUS . Web Resources: Syngenta Seeds Syngenta Newsroom Syngenta U.S. Thrive Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This document may contain forward-looking statements, which can be identified by terminology such as 'expect', 'would', 'will', 'potential', 'plans', 'prospects', 'estimated', 'aiming', 'on track' and similar expressions. Such statements may be subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from these statements. For Syngenta, such risks and uncertainties include risks relating to legal proceedings, regulatory approvals, new product development, increasing competition, customer credit risk, general economic and market conditions, compliance and remediation, intellectual property rights, implementation of organizational changes, impairment of intangible assets, consumer perceptions of genetically modified crops and organisms or crop protection chemicals, climatic variations, fluctuations in exchange rates and/or commodity prices, single source supply arrangements, political uncertainty, natural disasters, and breaches of data security or other disruptions of information technology. Syngenta assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changed assumptions or other factors. 2020 Syngenta. 2001 Butterfield Road, Suite 1600, Downers Grove, IL 60515. The Syngenta logo is a registered trademark of a Syngenta Group Company. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE Syngenta Related Links www.syngenta.com One is the glamorous host of Channel Nine's Today show, while the other is a gold-toothed rapper who famously used his wife as a 'human weed tray'. But Allison Langdon and Jesse 'Sunset' Willesee have more in common than you might think. The pair, who seem to have diametrically opposed personalities, are actually cousins-in-law. It's a small world! The surprising family relationship between Today show host Allison Langdon (left) and Terry Willesee's gold-toothed rapper son, Jesse Sunset (right), has been revealed Allison is married to television executive Michael Willesee Jr., who is the son of the late Australian journalist Mike Willesee. Mike's brother, Terry, also a respected journalist and TV presenter, is Jesse's father. Daily Mail Australia understands Allison and Jesse have met before, but they don't share a close relationship. Cousins-in-law: Allison is married to TV executive Michael Willesee Jr., who is the son of the late Australian journalist Mike Willesee. Mike's brother, Terry, is Jesse's father Media dynasty: The Willesee family legacy is well-known, and Jesse's late uncle Mike (pictured) helped create Channel Nine's A Current Affair program The Willesee family legacy is well-known, and Jesse's late uncle Mike helped create Channel Nine's A Current Affair program. His father, Terry, hosted the U.S. version of A Current Affair Extra in the early '90s, before pursuing a career in TV and radio journalism Down Under. Allison's husband, Michael, is also an esteemed journalist, having worked on the American and Australian versions of A Current Affair. Famous father: Jesse is the son of respected Australian journalist Terry Willesee (pictured) Link: Allison's husband, Michael, himself an esteemed journalist and TV executive, is the son of the late Mike Willesee, Jesse's uncle. Pictured: Allison and Michael with their two children Terry and Mike Sr.'s late father, Don Willesee, was a longtime member of the Australian senate and Whitlam Government minister. Raised in Sydney's affluent Northern Beaches, aspiring rapper Jesse now lives in Los Angeles and goes by the stage name 'Jesse Sunset'. Over the years, he has become known for his racy and often bizarre online videos. Eccentric: Raised in Sydney's affluent Northern Beaches, aspiring rapper Jesse now lives in Los Angeles and goes by the stage name 'Jesse Sunset'. Photographed by Anna Bloda In 2018, he famously set fire to a wad of cash believed to total $10,000, while telling fans: 'This is for all my broke boys and girls!' He also made headlines last year when he shared a photo to Instagram of his wife, Ashley, posing on all fours as he rolled a marijuana cigarette on her lower back. 'She's my own personal weed tray,' Jesse wrote in the caption. Allison lives in Sydney with her husband and their two children, son Mack, three, and daughter Scout, one. 'She's my own personal weed tray!' Jess made headlines last year when he shared a photo of his wife, Ashley, posing on all fours as he rolled a marijuana cigarette on her lower back The surprising family revelation comes after Allison found herself embroiled in controversy last week. She was slammed by Today viewers on Friday after telling a fast food worker to 'get a new job in another industry' after he expressed safety concerns for hospitality staff during the coronavirus pandemic. Many social media users labelled her comments 'out of touch', 'pompous' and 'tone-deaf'. OTTAWA - A team of military investigators arrived in British Columbia on Monday to begin searching for answers into Sunday's deadly Snowbird crash, which the aerobatic team's commander described as a confluence of "worst-case scenarios, and it became our absolute worst nightmare." Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2020 (611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, speaks at a news conference in Ottawa on April 30, 2015. While military investigators search for answers into Sunday's deadly Snowbird crash, one former chief of defence staff says the aerobatic team's 57-year-old Tutor jets is a "fantastic" aircraft. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - A team of military investigators arrived in British Columbia on Monday to begin searching for answers into Sunday's deadly Snowbird crash, which the aerobatic team's commander described as a confluence of "worst-case scenarios, and it became our absolute worst nightmare." The eight-member flight investigation team was deployed from Ottawa to Kamloops, where one of the Snowbirds's famed Tutor jets went down shortly after takeoff. The Snowbirds had been in the midst of a cross-country tour aimed at boosting morale during the COVID-19 pandemic. One Canadian Armed Forces member, Capt. Jennifer Casey, a public affairs officer from Halifax, was killed while another, Capt. Richard MacDougall, who was piloting the aircraft, sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries. During a news conference at 15 Wing Moose Jaw in Saskatchewan, where the Snowbirds are based, team commander Lt.-Col. Mike French said the cross-country tour known as Operation Inspiration has been suspended while the team's Tutor jets are subject to an "operational pause." French would not speculate on the cause of the crash, but insisted that safety is the Snowbirds' "No. 1 priority." He added that each aircraft is torn down and rebuilt about every two years and subject to regular maintenance and checks prior to every flight. "Our priorities are always the safety of the public, the safety of our personnel and then the protection of our equipment and property," he said, adding what happened Sunday was "the confluence of all those worst-case scenarios and it became our absolute worst nightmare." The crash was actually the second for the Snowbirds since October and the second involving a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft in as many months after a Cyclone helicopter went down in the Ionian Sea on April 29, killing all six people on board. The Cyclone's voice and flight-data recorders have been recovered, but the fuselage is under about 3,000 metres of water. Defence officials will update Canadians on efforts to recover the helicopter wreckage during a technical briefing in Ottawa on Tuesday. Unlike the Cyclone crash, which was only witnessed by crew from the Halifax-class frigate HMCS Fredericton, Canadians across the country have been able to watch Sunday's Snowbird crash thanks to videos shot by various bystanders at the Kamloops Airport. Even as investigators were hitting the ground in Kamloops Monday, retired Air Force officers said it appears based on the videos that the Tutor jet's engine lost power shortly after taking off. They point to the plane climbing into the air before plummeting to the ground as evidence. The aircraft crashed into a residential neighbourhood in Kamloops. Nobody on the ground was injured. "Certainly it's an engine loss," said retired chief of the defence staff Tom Lawson, who spent most of his military career flying fighter jets. "You trade off your speed whatever little bit you were able to build up for altitude. It's not so you can think of what to do next. It's so you can eject at a safe altitude. It's called zoom and boom." Retired air force commander Andre Deschamps echoed that assessment, saying videos of the incident suggest the Tutor experienced an engine compressor stall. Such stalls are the result of airflow into an plane's engine being disrupted, causing dramatic power loss. "It's certainly a power loss," said Deschamps, also a former fighter pilot. "You could even hear the bang on one of the videos. The guy was close enough and you heard the airplane go by and you heard the compressor stall. As soon as I heard that, I said: 'Yeah, compressor stall.'" The question now appears to be what caused the compressor stall, including whether it was a mechanical failure or a bird being sucked into the Tutor's engine. Bird strikes, as they are called, have caused compressor stalls on many other aircraft that have crashed. Bird strikes are an unfortunate occurrence, but where there is perhaps more concern than normal is that engine-power loss has also been blamed for the crash of a Snowbird in the U.S. state of Georgia last October. The exact cause remains under investigation. While Lawson was hopeful the two Snowbird crashes represented simply a rash of bad luck for the team, Deschamps said investigators will need to ensure there is not a systemic problem within the Tutor fleet that could cause other crashes. There have been plans to replace the 57-year-old Tutors for years. Obtained as a training aircraft in 1963, they were supposed to be retired in 2010. A total of seven pilots and two passengers have been killed and several aircraft have been lost over the course of the Snowbirds history. Lawson says the plan was to replace them as part of a larger overhaul of the air force's training fleet. The Defence Department in 2015 pegged the cost of replacing the Tutors at between $500 million and $1.5 billion. Stephen Harper's Conservative government instead extended their lives to 2020 as it mulled which new fighter aircraft to buy to replace the CF-18s. The Trudeau Liberals planned to do the same to 2030, setting aside up to $100 million to upgrade their avionics and other systems. Yet while Lawson, Deschamps and retired air force commander Mike Hood expressed frustration over the failure of successive governments to obtain a new jet trainer, they were united in praising the Tutor despite its age and uncertainty around the cause of the two recent crashes. That is because the Air Force has piles of spare parts for the Tutors and the aircraft are well built for their job and well maintained by military technicians. "Is it an old aircraft? Of course it is," said Hood. "Can it still do the same Snowbirds' display it did in 1970 when the Snowbirds started? Yes it can. Can it do safely? Yes. Do we lose that type of aircraft to accidents and incidents along the way? You can see the record of them. And what we do inherently has an element of danger to it." This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2020. Some Victorians are waiting more than a week to receive the results of their coronavirus test, leaving them stuck in isolation at home and unable to work. Health authorities have warned that the results of COVID-19 tests could take up to five days as the testing blitz has exceeded the capacity of pathology providers to process swabs though some people say they are waiting even longer. A nurse conducts a nasal swab test for coronavirus. The results are meant to be returned within five days, but some people say they are waiting even longer. Credit:Getty Images More than 250,000 people have been swabbed in May alone as part of Victoria's coronavirus testing blitz. Shannon Ross, who lives in Portland in Victoria's far south-west, said his partner had been in home isolation since Monday last week, when she woke up with a sore throat and head. ALBANY, N.Y. The New York State Department of Labor recently unveiled a new initiative to proactively inform New Yorkers of the status of their unemployment benefits application to help them follow its progress. The effort, part of a broader campaign to proactively communicate with New Yorkers applying for unemployment benefits, will use emails and text messages to keep New Yorkers informed throughout the process from submission to approval. In addition, the Department of Labor announced that $6.8 billion in unemployment benefits has been paid to New York workers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. This amount, paid over the course of two months, is more than three times the $2.1 billion the department paid in total unemployment benefits during 2019. Like every state, New York is facing a historic surge in unemployment claims but we are moving faster than other states to get money into the hands of New Yorkers, and in just two months weve paid over three years worth of benefits, NYS Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon said in a news release. Ive been unemployed before myself, I know that losing your job is extremely anxiety-inducing, and I hope these new efforts to communicate directly to New Yorkers as their applications are processed will help make this difficult time a little less stressful, Reardon added. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 33 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits, including more than 1.8 million New Yorkers. This unprecedented surge has strained states ability to process applications and deliver payments to those who are unemployed. In New York, the Department of Labor has rapidly increased its capacity to accept applications, process claims, and pay benefits including through a partnership with Google Cloud to build a new online unemployment application. The department has also enhanced its communications efforts, including issuing a directive to remind New York-based employers they are required to provide unemployed New Yorkers with the information they need to apply for benefits; contacting individuals with completed, payable claims to ensure they submit federally required weekly certifications to release their payments; and launching new online process that will allow New Yorkers who did not certify in previous weeks to submit certifications for prior weeks and receive their money faster and easier. The Department of Labors newest initiative will further those efforts by creating a system to regularly inform New Yorkers about the status of their unemployment benefit application and provide updates as their application is processed. The new mechanism will email or text New Yorkers at various steps throughout the application process and inform them of next steps they must take. Inflection points that will result in a message include: When an application is submitted; When an application is processed; and When a claim becomes payable. In addition, the Department of Labor has: Its hard to believe that our schools have now been closed for almost two months. Eight weeks ago, the thought of educating our children at home seemed unrealistic, maybe impossible to some but yet here we are. We have managed - perhaps some of us have even thrived. Our classrooms may be empty and our playgrounds might be silent, but our children are continuing to learn, develop and find out more about the world around them. Many children across the country are missing out on the social aspect of school, the trips, the lunchtime games and the strong bond many have with their teachers. Yet the current crisis has taught us an important lesson about learning and what it really means. Its shown us that education doesnt need to be done at a desk or in a classroom. It can be done on a trip to the park or while making crafts. Its shown us that you can study science and geography while walking in your local forest or even learn maths while baking a cake. Its also shown us the power of technology. Learning online Throughout lockdown, technology has been a way to connect with the outside world and for many students its been a learning lifeline. Micheal O Ciaraidh, well-known TV presenter and teacher believes that going forward, online learning will become an important part of every childs education. Weve had a taste of the future, albeit forced upon us, he explains. I think parents too have really awoken to the idea of it. A lot of parents like myself would probably not be used to this idea of e-learning because it has come along in the last 10 years in the information and technology boom. However, the current situation really forces parents to try these techniques out and I think a lot of them have been pleasantly surprised by what they can achieve. New programmes Micheal was recently involved in the National Dairy Councils Moo Crew initiative. This innovative programme includes online videos shot in a classroom as well as lessons and activities that have been specifically designed to help parents who are home-schooling their primary school children during the Covid-19 crisis. Each video is accompanied by optional worksheets and activities that allow children to learn lots of interesting facts about nutrition, dairy foods, keeping active and dairy farming! For Micheal, its the perfect example of how we can make online learning fun and appealing to young people. In the lesson plans there is a lot of great information about dairy and its importance but we also look at the importance of a healthy lifestyle overall, he explains. We look at things like keeping an active lifestyle and we have one entire lesson plan based on dental health. Its a holistic approach. The videos are available in both English and Irish and have been tailored to specific age groups. However, one of the main elements Micheal wanted to include was a fun and friendly atmosphere. One thing we really wanted to bring to the table was an element of fun, he states. While its in a classroom, we made sure to use the play corners. If there was a desk involved, I would be sitting on the desk as opposed to behind it. We wanted to create the familiarity of a classroom but still wanted to make it something fun. Most of the lessons are geared around games. Its a fun programme to be a part of. The future of education While online initiatives like Moo Crew are a great tool for parents and pupils to use during lockdown, Micheal hopes they continue into the future too. I think when schools reopen, that this could be a whole new approach to learning where schemes and resources will be created on a variety of topics and teachers can link in their classwork into work available online. He believes this could be one of the main positives that could come out of the current crisis. With bad comes good, he states. I think a lot of things will be done differently after this. I think the power of home-schooling - not as a sole way of learning but to compliment learning in school - will be vital. I think it was coming anyway but now we have been forced into it. I think the e-schooling realm has taken off and I think thats going to continue when things go back to normal because its got so many advantages for young people. To me, it is something that is going to stay around for the foreseeable future. For full details, please visit the Moo Crew website. The School Milk Scheme is managed by The National Dairy Council and funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with the support of the European Union. Sponsored by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Tuesday asserted that Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to Nepal and vowed to 'reclaim' them from India through political and diplomatic efforts, as his cabinet endorsed a new political map showing the three areas as Nepalese territory. IMAGE: Nepalese students protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli in Kathmandu last year. Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters Addressing Parliament, Oli said the territories belong to Nepal 'but India has made it a disputed area by keeping its Army there'. "Nepalis were blocked from going there after India stationed its Army," he said. "India has deployed its troops in Kalapani since 1962 and our rulers in the past hesitated to raise the issue," he said, asserting, "We will reclaim and get them back." The prime minister asserted that the Nepal government will make political and diplomatic efforts to reclaim the territory. Oli also expressed the hope that India will 'follow the path of truth, shown by Satya Meva Jayate, which is mentioned in the Ashoka Chakra, the national symbol of India'. The prime minister's remarks came a day after the cabinet headed by him endorsed a new political map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura under Nepal's territory. Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said the official map of Nepal will soon be made public by the ministry of land management. The move announced by Gyawali came weeks after he said that efforts were on to resolve the border issue with India through diplomatic initiatives. Nepal's ruling Nepal Communist Party lawmakers have also tabled a special resolution in Parliament demanding return of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh to Nepal. The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a disputed border area between Nepal and India. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory -- India as part of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district. Gyawali last week summoned the Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra and handed over a diplomatic note to him to protest against the construction of a key road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand. India has said that the recently-inaugurated road section in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand lies completely within its territory. Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane last week said that there were reasons to believe that Nepal objected to India's newly-inaugurated road linking Lipulekh Pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand at the behest of 'someone else', in an apparent reference to a possible role by China on the matter. He said there was no dispute whatsoever between India and Nepal in the area and road laid was very much within the Indian side. The 80-km-long strategically crucial road at a height of 17,000 km along the border with China in Uttarakhand was thrown open by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier this month. Nepal has raised objection to the inauguration of the road, saying the 'unilateral act' was against the understanding reached between the two countries on resolving the border issues. China on Tuesday said the Kalapani border issue is between India and Nepal as it hoped that the two neighbours could refrain from 'unilateral actions' and properly resolve their disputes through friendly consultations. After the endorsement of Nepal's new map senior ruling party leader and member of Nepal Communist Party Standing Committee Ganesh Shah said the new move may escalate unnecessary tension between Nepal and India at a time when the country is fighting the coronavirus. "The Nepal government should soon start a dialogue with India to resolve the matter through political and diplomatic moves," he said. The new map includes 335-km land area including Limpiyadhura in the Nepalese territory. The new map was drawn on the basis of the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 signed between Nepal and then the British India government and other relevant documents, which suggests Limpiyadhura, from where the Kali river originated, is Nepal's border with India, The Kathmandu Post quoted an official at the ministry of land reform and management as saying. India and Nepal are at a row after the Indian side issued a new political map incorporating Kalapani and Lipulekh on its side of the border in October last year. The tension further escalated after India inaugurated the road link connecting Kailash Mansarovar, a holy pilgrimage site situated at Tibet, China, that passes through the territory belonging to Nepal. MINSK -- The Belarusian Central Election Commission has rejected documents filed by the initiative group for prominent opposition leader Mikalay Statkevich to nominate him as a presidential candidate for balloting scheduled for August 9. The commission said its May 19 decision was determined by Statkevich's "criminal record." Statkevich ran against authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka in the 2010 presidential election. Lukashenka, in office since 1994, was reelected in a vote that his critics say was rigged. Statkevich was arrested after attending a large demonstration protesting the election results, and spent five years in prison after being convicted of organizing riots at a trial criticized by human rights groups and Western governments as unfair. After his release, Statkevich was sentenced many times to short several-day jail terms for taking part in and organizing anti-government rallies. Overall, initiative groups for 55 potential candidates have compiled and submitted documents to the Central Election Commission. So far, the commission has rejected 10 of them. On May 15, the commission officially registered initiative groups for Lukashenka and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Aleh Haydukevich. The promise of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year creates a difficult political and public health question: Who gets the vaccine first? Health care workers would be among the first to receive any vaccine so they can continue to work the pandemics front lines. But deciding which groups come next the elderly, medically vulnerable people, grocery store and meat plant workers, children is fraught with ethical dilemmas and ripe for political power plays. Markets soared Monday after Moderna Therapeutics released promising early data on its government-funded vaccine which means public health agencies will need to rapidly develop a plan for mass production and dissemination of a vaccine. The politics of vaccine distribution could get ugly fast if there arent clear rules. It absolutely should not be the White House who decides, said Nicole Lurie, who led the Department of Health and Human Services' emergency preparedness efforts during the Obama presidency. But the Trump administration, which will distribute any vaccine that emerges, has already stumbled on the far more modest rollout of the coronavirus drug remdesivir. Government officials have acknowledged that they used flawed data to decide which hospitals would get the first shipments of the scarce drug. The administration is already trying to ward off shortages and confusion around vaccine distribution by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into manufacturing the still unproven Moderna shot and another leading candidate from Johnson & Johnson. Operation Warp Speed is gearing up for massive manufacturing all in the U.S. that will save years in production, President Donald Trump said Friday as he introduced the administrations new vaccine czar, Moncef Slaoui. When a vaccine is ready, the U.S. government will deploy every plane, truck and soldier required to help distribute it to the American people as quickly as possible, Trump said. President Donald Trump, left, listens as Moncef Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive, speaks about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, May 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Watchdogs are sure to scrutinize how the Trump administration actually distributes any vaccine, given the unorthodox nature of how Vice President Mike Pences task force and the unofficial team assembled by the presidents son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have doled out other supplies. States have complained about the unpredictable allotments and some observers have raised charges of political favoritism. Story continues Trump's team, like the Obama administration before it, has drawn up plans for distributing vaccines in the event of pandemic flu including rough outlines of who would be prioritized based on their based on their exposure and underlying vulnerability. Both administrations' plans prioritize health workers and the elderly, for instance. But the documents also warn that such guidelines must be adapted to the characteristics of a particular pandemic. And it is likely that none anticipated the global shutdown from the coronavirus. But the massive and complicated launches of vaccines against other life-threatening diseases offer sobering lessons for the coronavirus response. The H1N1 or swine flu epidemic in 2009 was a window into all that could go wrong, said Stephen Ostroff, a more than 20-year veteran of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. Multiple vaccines were in development, but none of them were approved and manufactured in time for an aggressive second wave of cases. Vaccine makers shipped their products out as fast as they could make them. State health officials waited by the phone every day to find out how many doses their population would get that day, recalled Ostroff, who was then Pennsylvanias acting physician general and director for epidemiology. Often there would be just a few thousand doses for one state. Most days, states got batches of a range of vaccines, each of them administered a different way and only authorized for certain groups, such as the elderly or children. There was absolute desperation to try and get a hold of some of this vaccine and start to be able to administer it, said Ostroff. From one day to the next we never knew how much we were going to be receiving and which vaccine we were going to get. Each state came up with a different list of prioritized groups, creating a nationwide patchwork where some put children, pregnant women, first responders or other groups in the first slot for that day or week. Every state had a different way of figuring out who, from their perspective, was the priority, said Ostroff. Health experts largely agree that the federal government should issue guidelines for priority groups this time around, given the massive and severe scope of the coronavirus pandemic. But the chaotic initial distribution of remdesivir has some worried that most of the decisions will be made by the presidents task force, with little transparency into the reasoning. That could stoke anger from Americans who believe a ready vaccine means they should be able to get it quickly. It was pretty challenging at the beginning of H1N1 when doses were in short supply. Every step of the way, stuff goes wrong, and thats just how it is. You have to count on that, said Lurie. Some of the questions about who gets vaccinated first will be answered by whichever vaccine succeeds first. The Moderna candidate that is racing into Phase II and III trials after promising early data has so far only been studied in people over 18 years old. Without trials in children at some point, it would not be authorized for pediatric use. Vaccines can sometimes be risky to administer to the elderly and others with weakened immune systems because they might not mount an effective immune response and some might become sicker if they then got the virus than they would have without the shot. These potential dangers are usually identified during late-stage clinical studies that have not been completed for any experimental coronavirus vaccine. Even if an eventual vaccine does not pose special risk to older people, it may make more sense to prioritize vaccinating people who interact with the elderly, said Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. In pandemic fiction like the popular movie "Contagion," the vaccine is the hero, says Offit. But in reality, its never that clean especially when candidates are hurtling through trials at a record-breaking speed. Because youre making this in a break the glass mentality, you are making it very quickly, youre going to find things out later that you didnt know, Offit said. These include possible safety concerns or how long a vaccine lasts or which groups have the best immune response. And vaccine confidence in this country, and the world, is already fragile. There will most certainly be a need for multiple vaccines, even if Moderna can bring its candidate to market quickly. Dozens of potential vaccines are in the pipeline many of which are being developed by scientists in China and European countries. Trump and his officials including the newly tapped vaccine czar Slaoui, GlaxoSmithKlines former vaccine chief have said the government is evaluating 14 candidates. While the president has said a vaccine could be ready before the end of the year, others, such as HHS Secretary Alex Azar, have suggested that would not happen before January 2021. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has stressed that the governments timeline assumes everything goes perfectly as manufacturers forge on into increasingly large and complex trials. Unlike the handful of swine flu vaccines in 2009 built using the foundations developed for annual flu shots there has never before been a vaccine for any coronavirus. It wasnt easy in 2009 and they had an easier task. You knew all these things that you do not know right now about coronavirus, said Ostroff. There have also been notable shifts in vaccine manufacturing since the swine flu epidemic. A central allegation of the anti-vaccination movement is that the preservatives used to make multidose vials work so that several people can receive a vaccine from the same vial are dangerous. There is not evidence that that is the case, but manufacturers have drifted away from multidose vials all the same. Ostroff recalls some days during the swine flu outbreak where the multidose options were all that was available and people against vaccinations refused to get them. Moderna executives have said they are exploring multidose vials for their candidate coronavirus vaccine because they expect massive worldwide demand, and there is rising concern about shortages of medical-grade glass. Every sequential step just takes a lot of time. So when the public hears there will be a vaccine in the fall, they think that means I can go to the doctor or CVS and get my vaccine, Lurie said. But the further down the chain you get, the less and less likely that is to be the case. There is also the question of cost. While the government will likely buy and distribute initial doses of any vaccine, long-term costs are not settled. Democrats have tried to insert language into stimulus packages that would bind vaccine makers to affordable prices, but to no avail. Azar initially told House lawmakers in March that the government cant control that price because we need the private sector to invest. He later backtracked in a letter to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), saying the administration plans to work with [drugmakers] to ensure the price they charge the government for the vaccine is affordable for taxpayers and patients. Skeptics worry that in a vaccine shortage, wealthy or politically connected people could somehow make their way to the front of the line as several did amid widespread shortages of Covid-19 tests earlier this year. Are rich and famous people going to get their hands on this? They sure will try, said Lurie. The pent-up demand for a coronavirus vaccine at home and abroad makes it all the more important for the administration to develop a distribution strategy now, Ostroff said. Hopefully they are planning now, he said. The one thing they cant plan for is when it becomes available. Seven defectors, frustrated by French presidents grip on decision-making and pro-business policies, form new group. Left-wing defectors from Emmanuel Macrons governing party announced the creation of a new group in Frances lower house of parliament on Tuesday, depriving the president of an outright majority. Seven legislators are splintering from Macrons La Republique En March (LREM) to join the new Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity group, which will count 17 parliamentarians in its ranks, in a move that raises pressure for more left-wing policies. That means Macrons party now only has 288 members of parliament, one short of an absolute majority, and down from the 314 Macron had after he redrew the political landscape in 2017. However, 17 is less than the 58 members of parliament suggested by media reports earlier this month, indicating that party bigwigs had managed to stem the flow. The pressure from the executive, the party and the group was such that we had to move the announcement forward, one defector told Reuters News Agency. Many eventually decided not to take the plunge. Macrons party, formed by the former banker to propel him to the presidency in 2017, had already suffered a string of defections by legislators frustrated by his tight grip on decision-making and his pro-business policies. Macron can still count on the support of a smaller alliance partner, the centrist MoDem. However, the arithmetic may now give MoDem more leverage over policymaking in the final two years of Macrons mandate. His reform drive has been stalled by the coronavirus pandemic, just as he was seeking to regain momentum after weeks of pension reform and yellow vest protests. The defectors do not consider themselves as opposition, but will push the government to adopt more workers and environment-friendly reforms to prevent voters from switching to the far right, they said. If we dont show results quickly, the risk is that the French choose the worst in 2022, thats what we want to avoid at all cost, Aurelien Tache, one defector, said. Headliner Haizea What does it take to open a restaurant in the midst of a pandemic? Mikel de Luis, the chef and the owner of a tiny, contemporary Basque-style spot whose opening was postponed by two months, will now test the waters, going takeout-only. Its been frustrating not to open, he said, adding, Its time to try; people want something new. Most of his dishes were to be small plates, but for his takeout menu, he is serving some larger dishes like roast suckling pig, duck and mushroom fideos (thin noodles), fishermans rice with chicken and seafood, and a substantial sandwich of Iberico ham with Roncal cheese. A mentee of Martin Berasategui, for whom he cooked at the Ritz-Carlton in the Canary Islands, Mr. De Luis is a native of Bilbao, in the Basque region of Spain. (The restaurants name means wave in Basque.) He has worked in Barcelona; Homer, Alaska; and, more recently, at Nana in Dallas, with the chef Anthony Bombaci. When it can fully open, Haizea will seat only around 10 instead of about 20 to facilitate social distancing. (Opens Wednesday) 142 Sullivan Street (Houston Street), 646-476-2261, haizeanyc.com. Opening Ras Plant Based The chef Romeo Regalli and his wife, Milka, are offering a vegan excursion into the cuisine of Ethiopia, where they were both born. At this new spot, their take on Ethiopian food includes some invention, like using mock meat to make kebabs, and preparing an interpretation of ramen with forbidden rice noodles and tempeh rubbed with a paste of berbere, the Ethiopian spice mixture. Platters with the spongy flatbread injera include an array of dips and spreads. Theyre open for both takeout and delivery. The Regallis family owns Awash, the Ethiopian restaurants in the East Village and in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. The couple also runs the Brooklyn branch. 739 Franklin Avenue (Sterling Place), Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 718-622-6220, rasplantbased.com. Pizza Collective Rectangular Roman-style pizzas are whats on offer at this bright new Upper West Side spot. In a 14-foot, glass-enclosed counter, there are as many as 15 varieties on display. The crusts are light but crisp, with traditional recipes like margherita and more inventive concepts, like mozzarella with balsamic glaze, and another with a thatch of shredded zucchini on top. A rosticceria menu of prepared dishes, like mushroom lasagna, other baked pastas and sandwiches, is also served. The restaurant was originally planned to open March 30, but Riccardo Furlanetto, one of the partners, said that, for now, theyre doing the best they can. Eventually, there will be 25 seats, but, in the meantime, up to four people can enter at a time for takeout. Delivery is also available. The chef and another partner is Gabriele Voci, formerly of Sola Pasta Bar in SoHo. 2060 Broadway (71st Street), 646-693-0949, pizza-collective.com. Shinn East Omakase to take away is the work of Mike Lian, who was the sushi chef at Sushi by Bou in the former Versace Mansion in Miami Beach. Hes a mere 23, but has been rolling rice and slicing fish in New York and Florida for the past seven years. For now, the 12-piece omakase is $45 to go; a more luxurious assortment, including caviar, is $65; and eel or tuna on rice is $30. Nigiri are $5 to $20 a piece. When it opens formally, there will be a mere eight seats. Linda Wang, who is an owner of Ume in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is a partner, along with Mr. Lian. 119 East Seventh Street (Avenue A), 347-567-4915, shinneast.com. Scott Dudelson/Getty Images Some San Antonio anchors have been featured in movies during their TV career, for KSAT 12 anchor Steve Spriester, he can now add being part of a rap album to his resume. Over the weekend, social media posts were circulating over rapper Future's latest song 'Ridin Strikers.' The posts were not just about the song, but also who the song featured - Steve Spriester. Towards the end of the song you can hear Spriester say "Police need your help tracking down a suspect in a bank robbery this morning on the city's North Side. According to police, the suspect walked into the bank around nine this morning, went straight to one of the tellers and handed over a note that said 'put money in bag.'" MORE SAN ANTONIO TV NEWS: CNN recognizes San Antonio meteorologist's clever broadcast The report was from a 2014 news story, according to KSAT spokesperson David Cuccio. Highlights Nokia 5310 is said to launch soon in India. The Nokia 5.3 has entered production in India. The Nokia 5.3, Nokia 5310 were launched in March. Nokia 5310 and Nokia 5.3 were among the many phones that came freshly out of HMD Global's stable in March. Both Nokia-branded phones were confirmed to make it to the Indian market soon after the global launch was announced. While HMD Global has not said anything extra since the confirmation, a new report claims to give an insight into what is happening behind the scene. The Nokia 5310 is said to be on its way to the markets while the Nokia 5.3 could take some time as it has just entered production in India. According to a report by NokiaPowerUser, the Nokia 5310 is likely to be launched in India "soon." While there is no tentative timeline to this, it can be safely assumed that the feature phone is almost ready for launch in India. The report predicts its India launch could take place by the end of May, citing sources. The arrival of the feature phone may have been delayed due to the disruptions caused by the covid-19 pandemic. However, the readers are advised to take this information with a pinch of salt since HMD Global has not given any official word on it. The Nokia 5310 is a reincarnated avatar of the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic phone from the noughties. The feature phone goes big on music playback feature, which is why it has dedicated physical buttons to control music playback. The phone also has FM radio feature, in addition to a VGA camera at the back. The Nokia 5.3, however, seems to be a late entrant to India's smartphone market. It was announced alongside the Nokia 8.3 5G and Nokia 1.3 smartphones back in March. The report has said that HMD Global may have started the production of the Nokia 5.3 in India since the company sells locally-manufactured smartphones in the country. The delay is production has also been cited to the covid-19 pandemic that had thrown the company's plans off the rails. According to the report, the production of the Nokia 5.3 should be commodious enough for shipping within a month. Going by the report, the Nokia 5.3 could be launched sometime around the middle of June. The Nokia 5.3 smartphone has a 6.55-inch HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 20:9. The smartphone is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC with up to 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The storage can be expanded via a microSD card of up to 512GB. It has a 13-megapixel main camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide camera, a 2-megapixel depth-sensing camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. For selfies, the smartphone has an 8-megapixel camera. The Nokia 5.3 is backed by a 4000mAh battery under the hood. Chinese hackers are suspected of accessing email and travel details of about nine million easyJet customers, said two sources familiar with the investigation into a cyber attack disclosed by the British airline on Tuesday. The sources said the hacking tools and techniques used in the January attack pointed to a group of suspected Chinese hackers that has targeted multiple airlines in recent months. The news of the data breach could result in a hefty fine for the budget airline, which has already been forced to ground its flights because of the COVID-19 pandemic and is battling its founder and biggest shareholder in a long-running dispute over the carriers business strategy. An easyJet spokeswoman declined to comment on who was responsible for the attack and Reuters could not determine on whose behalf the hackers were working. The Chinese embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment. Beijing has repeatedly denied conducting offensive cyber operations and says it is frequently the victim of such attacks itself. Johan Lundgren, easyJets chief executive, said there was heightened concern about personal data being used for online scams as more people worked from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, and on the recommendation of the ICO (watchdog), we are contacting those customers whose travel information was accessed and we are advising them to be extra vigilant, particularly if they receive unsolicited communications, he said. Targeting Travel Records The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the same group of hackers had previously targeted travel records and other data to track the movement of specific individuals, as opposed to stealing credit card details for financial gain. Interest in who is traveling on which routes can be valuable for counter-intelligence or other tracking of persons of interest, said Saher Naumaan, a threat intelligence analyst at BAE Systems, who has investigated similar attacks. EasyJet said that credit card details of more than 2,000 customers had also been compromised but it did not look like any personal information had been misused. The company said it had engaged forensic experts to investigate the issue and also notified Britains National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). An NCSC spokesman said: We are aware of this incident and have been working with easyJet from the outset to understand how it has affected people in the UK. Britains Information Commissioners Office (ICO) said it was also investigating the attack and urged anyone affected by data breaches to be particularly vigilant for phishing attacks and scam messages. People have the right to expect that organizations will handle their personal information securely and responsibly. When that doesnt happen, we will investigate and take robust action where necessary, it said. The ICO protects information rights and has the power to impose fines. British Airways, owned by airlines group AIG, is still appealing against a 183.4 million pound ($225 million) fine it received from the ICO after hackers stole credit card details of hundreds of thousands of its customers in 2018. EasyJet shares, which have lost 64% of their value in three months, were down almost 1% at 1640 GMT [on May 19]. ($1 = 0.8167 pounds) (Additional reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Mark Potter, David Goodman and Jon Boyle) Topics Cyber China Aviation ALBANY A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that New York must host its Democratic presidential primary on June 23. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld a lower court's decision earlier this month that canceling the primary would be unconstitutional and deprive New Yorkers of their right to vote. The state's Board of Elections had called off the contest in late April, citing public health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic a move that drew swift backlash from supporters of former presidential candidates Andrew Yang and Bernie Sanders, who eventually filed the lawsuit seeking to reinstate the election. "Thrilled that democracy has prevailed for the voters of New York!" Yang, also a plaintiff in the suit, tweeted. The Board of Elections, after appealing the first decision, will not seek to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, the board's Democratic co-Chair Doug Kellner said on Tuesday. "Theres a huge amount of work that needs to be done at the Board of Elections in order to manage the primary election, and were going to focus our attention on doing just that," he said, adding the board will focus on encouraging mail-in voting to reduce potential crowds at the polls. "Were hoping that the overwhelming majority of voters will vote by absentee ballot, but the boards are also concentrating on keeping early voting sites and taking the extraordinary measures necessary in order to staff those sites in a safe manner and to recruit a sufficient number of poll workers for election day voting," Kellner said. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage In addition to the public safety concerns, the board's Democratic commissioners had argued that the primary is unnecessary because all candidates except former Vice President Joe Biden had suspended their campaigns. The state Republican Party had decided in March it would not hold a primary, as President Donald Trump was the only candidate. The presidential primary will accompany the state and congressional primaries that had already been scheduled that day. After seeing lines of voters and mass gatherings on election days in other states, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo issued an executive order in late April mandating that every New Yorker receive a postage-paid absentee ballot application in the mail. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. New York Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs, who had supported the decision to cancel the primary, said he is "disappointed, but were going to comply with the court's decision." Critics of the decision and two federal courts asserted that the state Board of Elections has enough time to set up an election safely. They said the decision to call off the primary infringed on voters' rights and stripped them of the ability to choose delegates for the Democratic National Convention in August. The delegates, supporters argued, do not serve at this point to nominate their preferred candidate; instead, they help shape the party platform. Sanders' backers asserted that choosing delegates could help shift the Democratic Party's platform further to the left. "In moments of crisis, more than ever, working families should not be deprived of the right to vote for a better future," said Sochie Nnaemeka, the director of the New York Working Families Party. "We support the court's decision to protect free and fair elections and ensure all voters have a right to be heard." Cuomo, who has not formally endorsed anyone in the presidential primary but has been a longtime friend and supporter of Biden, has declined to weigh in on the cancellation publicly. Asked for comment about the appellate court's ruling, the governor's senior adviser Rich Azzopardi said: "That was the Board of Elections decision, not ours. We encourage anyone who can to vote via absentee ballot." European stocks finished in the red on Tuesday, halting the positive trend set at the start of the week, as investors monitored hopes for a coronavirus vaccine and outlooks for economic recovery. The pan-European Stoxx 600 reversed earlier gains to slide 0.5%. Autos tumbled 1% to lead losses while insurance stocks bucked the negative trend to edge 0.3% higher. On the data front, new EU car registrations fell 76.3% in April, from the same month a year ago, according to data published Tuesday from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA). Germany's closely-watched ZEW survey of economic sentiment for May showed a much greater-than-expected improvement on Tuesday, with consumers hoping for an economic recovery in the second half of the year as Europe's largest economy looks to exit lockdown measures. It comes amid growing hopes of a potential coronavirus vaccine after a positive development from a Moderna trial. Stocks in Asia jumped on Tuesday after Moderna reported "positive" phase one results for a potential coronavirus vaccine. The company said that after two doses, all 45 trial participants had developed coronavirus antibodies. Entrance to parking lot at 139 N. 23rd St., where PMC Property Group is planning a new apartment building, with its under-construction River Walk project visible in background. Read more PMC Property Group is planning another apartment building beside its River Walk high-rise complex under construction along the Schuylkill waterfront, a sign that it is is shrugging off fears of a sustained impact from the coronavirus on Philadelphias rental market. The developer, among the citys biggest residential landlords, was granted a zoning permit last week for a 115-unit, 45-foot-high building on the northeast corner of 23rd and Cherry Streets, currently a public parking lot, according to records from the Department of Licenses and Inspections. PMC is relying on zoning bonuses for including a green roof with plants, and for reserving some apartments for low-income renters, to reach its unit count and height at the 139 N. 23rd St. project, according to L&I. The plan also includes 46 parking spaces, most of them in an underground garage. The project site is diagonally across the street from the River Walk complex, which is slated to have about 600 dwellings in two buildings when complete. PMCs move to expand its holdings come despite economic headwinds from the coronavirus, which may already be depressing rents paid by apartment dwellers. Adriano Calvanese, a PMC vice president, declined to share additional details about the new project. He said the company remains confident in the strength and resilience of the Philadelphia market. Huawei is facing an uphill challenge in the overseas market as its upcoming devices lack the full set of Google apps and services. That leaves ample room for its Chinese rivals to chase after foreign consumers. That includes Oppo, the sister brand of Vivo under Dongguan-based electronics holding company BBK. In an announcement on Monday, the Chinese firm announced a partnership with Vodafone to bring its smartphones to the mobile carrier's European markets. The deal kicks off in May and will sell Oppo's portfolio of advanced 5G handsets as well as value-for-money models into the U.K, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Romania and Turkey. While Vodafone pulled Huawei phones from its U.K. 5G network last year following the U.S. export ban that stripped Huawei models of certain Android services, the British operator can now tap Oppo's wide range of mobile products in a heated race to sign up 5G customers. The partners will jointly explore online sales channels as many parts of Europe's physical premises remain closed due to the COVID-19. Oppo, currently the second-largest smartphone vendor in its home country after Huawei, has seen a spike in sales across Europe since entering the market in mid-2018. The company was one of the first to launch commercially available 5G phones in Europe last year and now ranks fifth on the continent with a 2% share, according to a survey from research firm Canalys. "Oppo has a product range that can hit many of the same segments as Huawei, enabling it to gain market share at the expense of Huawei," Peter Richardson, research director at Counterpoint Research, explained to TechCrunch. "Oppo has always used quite a European flavour in its product design. This extends to things like colour choice, packaging, and advertising materials. This makes it acceptable to European consumers." Interestingly, Richardson pointed out that Oppo, which has a less "Chinese sounding" name than its domestic rivals Xiaomi and Huawei, will help it circumvent some of the "negative media surrounding China just now first Huaweis difficulties around security threats and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic." The article was updated on May 18, 2020 to reflect an updated statement from Oppo that Italy is not on the list of markets it targets under the Vodafone distribution partnership. Photo: RDKB An emergency official checks road access near Manly Meadows outside of rural Grand Forks Monday Six rural Grand Forks properties have been forced to evacuate when the Kettle River breached an illegally constructed berm, cutting off access to the homes and potentially damaging some structures. High rainfall in the Boundary region on May 17 and 18 led the Kettle River to peak overnight, causing the breach in Johnson Flats at 1:30 a.m. No one has been injured and several of the fifteen residents affected have chosen to remain in their homes while others have left to stay with family or friends in the area. "Its always distressing for anyone who has to leave their homes on short notice, and we are doing everything we can as a regional district to address the needs these families will have over the coming week until they can return home. ESS Volunteers with the Canadian Red Cross will be supporting affected residents while our EOC operations team assesses the situation, said Mark Stephens, EOC director for the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary. Two more homes in Manly Meadows near Grand Forks were also placed on evacuation alert in addition to the seven homes placed on evacuation alert May 18 bringing the total to nine properties on evacuation alert in Manly Meadows and six on evacuation order in Johnson Flats. Were really grateful for the support we received overnight from the City of Grand Forks Fire Department who were able to notify these residents quickly and make sure everyone was safe. The City of Grand Forks has been instrumental in our emergency operations centre and we have seen teamwork across our regional district with municipalities and electoral areas supporting one another to prepare for and respond to this freshet season, said Diane Langman, RDKB board chair. The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB) encourages residents to monitor low-lying areas for potential impacts from rising groundwater with some flooding the weekend approaches. The High Streamflow Advisory issued by BC River Forecast Centre on May 6 is still remains in effect for the Boundary Region including the Kettle River, West Kettle River, Granby River and tributaries. Sandbags and sand are currently available for residents in the following locations free of charge: Australia is preparing to take China to the World Trade Organisation if it does not reverse its decision to impose tariffs on up to $1 billion in barley exports. Government sources with knowledge of the developments said Australia would prefer to avoid protracted negotiations at the global trade body, but would be left with little choice if China did not retract its decision to impose tariffs of up to 80 per cent on the Australian crop. The sharp escalation in trade tensions follows Australia's push for an independent global inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus. China approved the import of barley from the United States last week as part of phase one of a deal designed to put an end to a two-year trade war between the two superpowers. In a sign of growing frustration within the Morrison government, Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said he could understand why people would draw the link between Australia's pursuit of a global inquiry and the sudden imposition of the tariffs. These face masks were definitely not CDC approved. And even with virtually everyone wearing face masks these days due to COVID-19, the pair wearing carved-out watermelons over their faces stood out. So did their actions. As CNN and 6ABC report, the fruit-faced pair proceeded to steal from the shocked Sheetz in Louisa, Virginia. CNN reports one of the two has been arrested and charged in the incident from earlier this month: Justin M. Roger, 20, faces charges of wearing a mask in public while committing larceny, underage possession of alcohol, and petit larceny of alcohol, the Louisa Police Department told CNN. No word yet on his accomplice who also wore the elaborate, fruited face covering with carved out holes for eyes. This is definitely not something you see very often in Louisa, Police Chief Tom Leary told CNN. Were a really nice, quiet town, with a lot of hardworking people and something like this is pretty unusual. READ MORE: Wild Pa. police chase of serial burglary suspect caught on tape 10-year-old Pa. boy falls into river while playing with older children; search is fruitless so far Person of interest in Pa. womans Mothers Day shooting arrested in 2nd killing: reports Accused DUI driver faces homicide charges in unborn babys death in violent Pa. crash Injured Appalachian Trail hiker triggers hours-long rescue in PA Counterfeit and potentially harmful Seresto flea collars for pets seized in Pa. Armed suspect sought in shooting, killing of 16-year-old Pa. boy Burn the demon out of him: Pa. man accused of trying to light 4-year-old boy on fire 2 Pagans Motorcycle Club members guilty in rivals brutal beating slapped with whopping sentence Dead body found at Pa. country club Accused rapist released from prison due to COVID-19 meets fiery end after standoff with Pa. SWAT By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The auto industry would continue to engage with the Union government and seek its direct intervention for revival of the sector, said Rajan Wadhera, president of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), after the government concluded announcement of the contours of its Aatma Nirbhar Bharat economic stimulus package on Sunday. The Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus has not set aside any direct benefit to address the auto sector, hit by a general economic slowdown and the Covid-19 situation. SIAM has had several engagements with the Centre earlier, where specific suggestions were made for demand stimulus, including GST cut from 28 per cent to 18 per cent for a limited period, and an incentive-based vehicle scrappage policy. SIAM welcomed the focus towards MSMEs, NBFCs and the agriculture sector. The agri-sector package may benefit the auto sector indirectly in the medium-term, but the Indian automotive industry needed an immediate stimulus to boost demand, which has not happened, he said. Indian automotive industry supports employment of more than 3.7 crore people and contributes to 15 per cent of GST amounting to Rs 1,50,000 crore every year, according to SIAM. The sector was already facing an unprecedented challenge with 18 per cent de-growth last year. As per SIAMs assessment on the Covid-19 impact on vehicle demand this fiscal, Indian auto sector could de-grow -22 to -35 per cent across various segments, if the overall GDP growth is at 0-1 per cent. Pakistan on Tuesday termed as "illegal" India's new domicile rules in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging that it was in clear violation of the UN resolutions and agreements between the two countries. Under the domicile rules, all those persons and their children who have resided for 15 years in Jammu and Kashmir or have studied for seven years and appeared in class 10 or 12 examination in an educational institution in the Union Territory are eligible for grant of domicile. "The new domicile law is illegal and in clear violation of the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, international law including the 4th Geneva Convention and bilateral Agreements between Pakistan and India, the Foreign Office said. It also alleged that the domicile law is aimed at changing the demographic structure of the Valley. Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5 and bifurcating it into two Union territories. India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In response, the trust called for the hydraulic jacks to be placed beneath the entire house, which would have to be moved and then returned to its original site when construction of the jacks were complete. Yet the plan has not moved forward. Hamilton police seized two loaded handguns, ammunition, drugs and cash during two separate investigations Sunday. Two men are facing multiple charges in relation to the cases. They were both held in custody pending bail. The first incident began shortly before 3 p.m. May 17 in the area of Barton Street East and Strathearne Avenue, where police responded to a home with several people inside. Police allege a man was found with a loaded semi-automatic handgun, crack cocaine and cash. The 38-year-old Toronto man was charged with multiple firearm offences, possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of proceeds of crime under $5,000 and three counts of fail to comply with a release order. Hours later, shortly after 10:30 p.m. Hamilton police were in the area of Weir Street North and Britannia Avenue for an unrelated investigation, when a man tried to flee when police tried to speak with him. He was quickly arrested and police allegedly found him with a loaded 9 mm handgun, ammunition, methamphetamine, fentanyl and cash. The 38-year-old Hamilton man was charged with multiple firearm offences, possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, possession proceeds of crime under $5,000 and three counts of fail to comply probation. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Sgt. Ben Thibodeau at 905-546-2907. To remain anonymous contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or crimestoppershamilton.com Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio will become the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after Republican Sen. Richard Burr stepped down amid an FBI investigation into his stock trades, CNN reported. The information was announced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. "I am grateful to Leader McConnell for his confidence in me to lead the Senate Intelligence Committee during Senator Burr's absence from the Chairmanship," Rubio said in a statement. "The Committee has long been one that conducts its work seriously, and I look forward to continuing that tradition." FBI officials seized Richard Burrs phone on the night of May 14, the Los Angeles Times reported. At the beginning of the year, Burr took part in private briefings on forecasts regarding the spread of coronavirus and its impact on the economy, including exchanges. As CNN reported earlier, in February, before the collapse of the main trading floors, Burr sold shares totaling up to $ 1.7 million. At the same time, he claimed that his decisions were based on publicly available information. At the end of March, the Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission launched an investigation over Burr's transactions and several other senators who had access to classified information about the situation of coronavirus. By law, members of the US Congress could not use this information for financial gain. (CNN) The fallout from coronavirus has created high levels of stress for everyone physically, psychologically, professionally, and financially. That takes a toll on people's mental health and poses a particular challenge to employers. Constant stress and uncertainty combined with unhealthy coping mechanisms such as stress eating and drinking alcohol can affect employees' moods, sleep patterns, attention spans, energy and, consequently, their work. Here's what managers and company leaders can do to help mitigate the mental health risks facing their team members and de-stigmatize the issue so those who need help will seek it. Be real Getting hit simultaneously with a deadly health crisis, daily economic shocks and the almost constant political warfare over all of it is too much for anyone to handle without missing a beat. "Acknowledge this is tough and [let people know] it's ok to say so," said Mary Kay O'Neill, a partner in health and benefits at Mercer Consulting. "There's resiliency in acknowledging the shared situation." And do so not only in group discussions, but also in one-on-one conversations with team members. You also might consider having an office hour where anyone can call you if they need to. "That keeps the channel open," she said. Lead by example Both managers and top brass might consider sharing how they themselves are handling the stresses in their lives. Or, at the very least, make clear that they empathize with what other employees are going through. Also, take time off and show your team how it's done. At Mercer, O'Neill said, high level executives are being required to take some of their vacation days now and announce when they do. "It's modeling behavior." Notice uncharacteristic behaviors Managers have to tell the difference between when a team member is acting normally or not. If someone's temper flares or their work is late, is that typical of them or is it unusual? If it's unusual, "the root cause may be different than just someone doing poorly," O'Neill said. Consider whether drinking or substance abuse might be an issue. Even people who never had a problem before the pandemic now may be using alcohol or prescription drugs as coping mechanisms, said Patrick Krill, an attorney and addiction counselor who advises law firms and corporate legal departments. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that 13% of Americans said they had increased their drinking or drug use in response to the stress over coronavirus and prescriptions are up for anti-anxiety and anti-depression drugs. "Substance use occurs on a continuum," Krill said, ranging from abstinence to social use to regular use to problematic use. For example, someone who normally drinks socially may expect a drink will take the edge off. But if they become increasingly preoccupied with having one, and then end up drinking enough to have a slight hangover the next day, that's a change in the nature of alcohol use, he explained. "It becomes less voluntary and more habitual." That doesn't mean the person is an alcoholic, but the habit at the very least could jeopardize their physical health and their ability to concentrate and perform their job well. "If the nature of their work is complex and a small detail is overlooked, that can be catastrophic for the employer," Krill said. Communicate often about how employees can get help There's no such thing as alerting your team too often to the free resources the company is providing to help them through this period. While most people may think of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) as providing free psychological counseling, they're much more versatile than that. EAPs also match employees with qualified providers of free financial counseling and legal advice, identity theft assistance as well as substance abuse help and wellness services, such as meditation. "The root cause of stress is often financial or legal," said Dan Clark, CEO of IBH Population Health Solutions, a provider of EAPs specializing in behavioral health and crisis management services. And managers should encourage team members to take good care of themselves by taking frequent breaks, staying connected to colleagues and using the mental health services on offer if they need it, stressing that there is no shame in doing so, Clark said. Recognize that returning to the office also poses mental health risks Just as grocery shopping has become anxiety provoking, so too will a return to commuting and working in person with everyone again, O'Neill said. Managers will have to ensure compliance with new hygiene practices and employees will have to get used to new safety protocols, which may include temperature checks, social distancing, and being more mindful of touching surfaces. In short, a lot of mental energy will be sucked up by the smallest things having nothing to do with your actual work. "It's like you'll have a second job. And that's stressful," she said. And in cases where an employee may have picked up a bad coping habit -- such as drinking more to relieve stress or relying on prescription drugs to take the edge off -- that's not going to disappear overnight. "You can't just turn it on and off when it 's time to go back to work. This is going to be a significant challenge for the workforce as we come out of this," Krill said. T he number of people claiming unemployment related benefits soared by more than 850,000 between March and April as the lockdown began to take its toll on jobs, official figures reveal today. The total claiming Jobseekers Allowance or Universal Credit who were "searching for work" spiked by 69 per cent from 1.24 million to just under 2.1 million. The percentage increase in London was 63.2 per cent. The total number of hours worked in the last week of March, immediately after the lockdown, slumped by an unprecedented 25 per cent as millions went on furlough or were laid off. It is the starkest evidence yet of the massive jobs fallout from the emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic. The official unemployment tally, which lags behind the claimant count, only rose by 50,000 to 1.35 million, or 3.9 per cent of the workforce, in the three months to March, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, it is expected to surge in the coming months. Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ONS, said the figures, released on Tuesday morning, show that Covid-19 is having a "major impact" on the labour market, with sectors such as hospitality and construction being the hardest hit. He said: While only covering the first weeks of restrictions, our figures show Covid-19 is having a major impact on the labour market. Chancellor Rishi Sunak introduced the furlough scheme / REUTERS "In March employment held up well, as furloughed workers still count as employed, but hours worked fell sharply in late March, especially in sectors such as hospitality and construction. Through April, though, there were signs of falling employment as real-time tax data show the number of employees on companies payrolls fell noticeably, and vacancies were sharply down too, with hospitality again falling steepest. Economist Sir Christopher Pissarides warned hours of work figures fell catastrophically while vacancies figures showed the labour market more or less stopped functioning. The London School of Economic academic told BBC Radio 4s Today programme employment figures are not as bad, but added: Hours of work figures fell catastrophically. And also vacancies fell which shows the labour market more or less stopped functioning at the beginning of the lockdown. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that cyclone Amphan is expected to make landfall between Digha in West Bengal and Hatiya Islands near Sunderbans, and south of Paradip in Odisha on May 20. Howrah Municipal Corporation has released a 24x7 helpline number, 033-2637-1735 for all those people who are stranded or have family members who are stranded in the midst of this natural disaster. Also Read: Cyclone Amphan Live Updates: Cylone reaches Kolkata; strong winds, heavy rains lash West Bengal, Odisha Also read: Amphan Cyclone landfall date: Time, speed, place, states to be affected Apart from this, Howrah Municipal Corporation has set up 24x7 control rooms at all borough offices and bally sub-offices. State and National Disaster Management teams have been deployed at the spot. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 37 teams in the coastal areas of two states, i.e, West Bengal and Odisha. Preparation of HMC for 'Amphan' Cyclone 1. 24*7 Central Helpline Number : 033-2637-1735 2. 24*7 control rooms at all Borough Offices and Bally Sub-Offices 3. Disaster Management teams deployed at all Borough offices and Bally Sub Offices pic.twitter.com/4u71kqfSfU a Howrah Municipal Corporation (@HowrahMunicipal) May 18, 2020 According to Odisha Special relief commissioner Pratap Jena, cyclone situation is in control so far and the state government is taking all the required precautions. Jena further added that district administrations have started evacuation process from in coastal districts. Evacuation process in coastal areas is expected to be completed by today evening. The IMD, however, has issued a heavy rainfall forecast for Odisha, West Bengal, sub- Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Assam and Meghalaya till May 21 in the midst of the extremely severe cyclonic storm Amphan. Also read: Cyclone Amphan to make landfall in West Bengal, Odisha on May 20; to wreak large-scale damage Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "Amphan storm is coming in the country amidst corona crisis. I appeal to all Congress workers in West Bengal and Odisha to warn people of danger around them and help to bring people to safer places. You all be safe." West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that NDRF and SDRF personnel were ready to evacuate those who will be hit by the cyclone. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has already set a target of ensuring zero casualties. Also read: Cyclone Amphan turns 'extremely severe'; NDRF teams deployed in Bengal, Odisha A rocket struck Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq's government, early on Tuesday morning, according to an Iraqi military statement, the first attack on the area since a new prime minister was sworn in earlier this month. The Katyusha rocket hit an empty house, causing minor damages,. The Green Zone is where government buildings and foreign embassies are located. A preliminary investigation indicated the rocket was launched from the nearby by Al-Idrisi neighbourhood on Palestine Street, the statement said. Previous attacks have frequently targeted the US presence in Iraq, including the US Embassy and Iraqi bases hosting American troops. The US has blamed Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia group backed by Iran, of perpetrating the attacks. The new administration of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who came to power earlier this month, is preparing for a strategic dialogue with Washington, expected to take place next month. The talks will touch on security and economic cooperation between both countries. The issue of militias acting outside of state control is also expected to be on the agenda. Al-Kadhimi's government, meanwhile, is scrambling to address a severe financial crisis brought on by falling oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BALTIMORE, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Urological Association (AUA) today announced the following new officers and members to its Board of Directors: Scott K. Swanson, MD, FACS will serve as the 2020-2021 AUA President, having served in the role of President-elect since May 2019. Dr. Swanson previously served as the Western Section Representative to the AUA Board and is a past president of the AUA's Western Section. He is a consultant in the Department of Urology at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1971 to 1987. Dr. Raju Thomas, MD, FACS, FRCS, MHA has been named to the position of AUA 2020-2021 President-elect. A past president of the AUA's Southeastern Section, Dr. Thomas previously served on the Urology Care Foundation Board of Directors and received the AUA Distinguished Service Award in 2016. Dr. Thomas is the chair of the Department of Urology at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he also directs the department's Residency Program. John H. Lynch, MD, FACS is now the Immediate Past President of the AUA. Dr. Lynch served as the AUA President from 2019-2020 and is a past president of both the AUA's Mid-Atlantic Section and the Washington Urologic Society. He currently serves as Professor and Chairman of the MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Department of Urology, Georgetown University School of Medicine Department of Urology and Chief of MedStar's newly formed Regional Urology Service Line. Thomas F. Stringer, MD joins the AUA Board as Treasurer-elect this year, having previously served as the Board's Southeastern Section Representative. He is a past president of both the Southeastern Section and the Florida Urological Society and will assume the position of AUA Treasurer in 2021. Dr. Stringer is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Urology at the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville and also serves as Associate Chairman of Philanthropy and Alumni Affairs. Kurt McCammon, MD joins the Board as the Mid-Atlantic Section Representative. Dr. McCammon is a past president of the Society of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons and the current Chair of the IVUmed Board. He is the Devine Chair in Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgery and Chairman and Professor of the Department of Urology at Eastern Virginia Medical School, where he also serves as the Urology Residency Program Director and Fellowship Director of the adult and pediatric genitourinary reconstructive surgery program. Dr. Reza Ghavamian joins the Board as the New York Section Representative. Dr. Ghavamian is a past president of the New York Section, and is a graduate of the AUA's Leadership Program. He is the Eastern Regional Director of Urology for Northwell Health in New York, a Professor of Urology at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell and the Chairman of Urology at Northwell's Huntington Hospital. James Ulchaker, MD joins the Board as the North Central Section Representative. Dr. Ulchaker is a past president of the North Central Section, the Ohio Urological Society and the Cleveland Urological Society. Dr. Ulchaker also served as the 2011 AUA Gallagher Health Policy Scholar. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Urology at the Cleveland Clinic. The AUA would like to recognize and thank the directors whose terms concluded on May 18, 2020. Robert C. Flanigan, MD has completed his years of presidential service along with regional Section Representatives Roger Shultz, MD, FACS, from Mid-Atlantic; Frederick Gulmi, MD, from New York; and Chandru P. Sundaram, MD, FACS, FRCS, Eng., from North Central. The AUA expresses its gratitude for their dedication and commitment to the AUA Board of Directors. A full list of AUA Board members is now available at AUAnet.org. Full biographies and headshots are available upon request. Contact AUA Communications at 410-689-3932 for more information or to schedule an interview. About the American Urological Association: Founded in 1902 and headquartered near Baltimore, Maryland, the American Urological Association is a leading advocate for the specialty of urology, and has more than 23,000 members throughout the world. The AUA is a premier urologic association, providing invaluable support to the urologic community as it pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care through education, research and the formulation of health care policy. SOURCE American Urological Association Related Links https://www.auanet.org New Delhi, May 19 : The Uttar Pradesh government and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are engaged in a bitter letter war as both of them writing to each other over the buses arranged for taking the migrants to their destinations. As many as 9 letters were exchanged between them, the latest by Priyanka Gandhi at 3.45 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. Amidst all this, the buses that were supposed to come to Ghaziabad and Noida are still stuck at UP border till 4 p.m. on Tuesday. As per the letter written by Priyanka Gandhi's office at 3.45 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, the UP government has still not allowed the buses ato enter into the state. Supriya Shrinate, Priyanka Gandhi's close aide, said now RTO is putting pressure on the bus owners to withdraw their buses. The latest in the letter warfare was replied by Sandeep Singh at 12.15 p.m. to UP's Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Kumar Awasthi that buses will reach at 5 p.m. to Ghaziabad and Noida. This letter was in response to UP government's letter at 11.05 a.m. asking buses to report at Ghaziabad and Noida. The letter war ensued late at Monday night when personal aide of Priyanka Gandhi got a message from Additional Chief Secretary, UP, at 11.40 p.m. to report the buses at Lucknow at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, which was replied prompltly by Priyanka Gandhi's office. The letter written early Tuesday at 2.10 a.m. alleged that a letter was received from the Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi's office at 11.40 p.m. on late Monday night which said that all the buses should report in Lucknow by 10 a.m. on Tuesday, is nothing but politics. Prior to this letter, UP government wrote a letter accepting Congress proposal for 1000 buses on Monday afternoon which was received by Priyanka Gandhi's office at 4.01 p.m. on Monday. It was in persuance of letter written by Priyanka Gandhi offering buses for the migrants. The proposal of buses were sent on May 16 and handed over to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by the state Congress leaders. There was allegation from the government that some numbers of the buses are turned to be of auto and bike which is vehemently denied by the Congress which said that there may be some discrepancies. Rajiv Shukla said that "when all the buses are lined up in Agra, anybody can go and check, why indulging in papers, but count the number of buses." 2K Shares Share As a physician on the frontlines, l have watched in dismay as many U.S. states have begun to reopen from the lockdown. This is despite the fact that most of them do not fulfill the recommendations set forth by the White House. Those guidelines ask for a downward trajectory in newly diagnosed cases or in the percentage of positive tests. Some have criticized the guidelines for not being binding. Others have pointed out that they are overly vague and unambitious. Even then, many governors are ignoring them, while simultaneously claiming that they are listening to their own experts. But who are these so-called experts? Certainly, its not the countless medical professionals, epidemiologists, and scientists who have publicly insisted that the current testing and tracing infrastructure is insufficient for a reopening. The truth is that our public health decisions are currently being made by politicians, the overwhelming majority of whom do not have relevant medical or scientific expertise. This reality has negative consequences. When there is a clash between political and public health interests, the former seems to take precedence. Look no further than the experts who have been sidelined or re-assigned to lesser roles under this administration when they disagree with politically-driven but ultimately medically-harmful policies. Even the CDC is not immune. They recently submitted detailed reopening guidelines, but the recommendations were rejected by the White House for being too restrictive. Given this atmosphere, what can we do to ensure an evidence-based scientific approach is taken with respect to our public health policies? In the short term, there needs to be continued pressure from the media, the scientific community, and the public to hold politicians accountable for their decisions. We must demand science-based policies with our voice and, ultimately, the vote. In the long term, there needs to be a concerted effort to have a more balanced governing body, one where there is no shortage of scientists and medical providers. One quick look at the 116th Congress shows us how far we are from that reality. Of the 541 individuals in Congress, there are only three physicians in the Senate and 14 physicians in the House of Representatives. If we include other medical providers, there are an additional five dentists, three veterinarians, two psychologists, two nurses, an optometrist, a pharmacist, and a physician assistant. The numbers of scientists, even defined broadly, is equally discouraging. There are 11 engineers, a chemist, a physicist, a mathematician, and a handful of doctorate degree holders in political science and education. Where are the public health experts? What about the virologists, immunologists, or biochemists? By contrast, there are 161 members of the House (37 percent of the House) and 53 Senators (53 percent of the Senate) who hold law degrees. A sizable number have spent their careers in politics, including 41 former mayors, 20 former state governors or lieutenant governors, and at least 89 former congressional staffers. Many others come from various business backgrounds. Similarly, among Americas governors, only 1 is a physician, whereas 16 are lawyers. Certainly, a deep knowledge of legal and economic matters is crucial to everyday governing. No one denies that. But as the last few months have shown us, so is an understanding of public health, pharmacology, biotechnology, and medical therapeutics. We have already seen evidence that science-based leadership can pay off during a crisis. Germany has become an envy of the world for its aggressive, early testing and containment efforts, resulting in relatively few deaths compared to the U.K., Italy, Spain, France, and U.S. A quick look at Germanys curve confirms this. The death rate in the U.S., for example, has been 23 for every 100,000 people, whereas it is as low as 9 in Germany. Part of the countrys success lies in its leader Angela Merkel, previously a quantum chemist. As has been reported, her scientific acuity, combined with her deference to experts, have helped save tens of thousands of lives. It is certainly true that we must reopen the country as soon as it is safe to do so. The economic toll from this pandemic has been devastating. The staggering unemployment numbers and bankruptcies speak for themselves. But how useful is a short-term jolt to the economy if a reopening causes the pandemic to be much longer? And what about the loss of productivity associated with the tens of thousands of American lives that may be lost due to preemptive reopening? Americans deserve answers to these questions. And they deserve a strategy that puts public health interest at the center. Instead, sound scientific reasoning has increasingly taken a backseat to political and economic considerations. But things must change. And they will do so when scientists and medical providers begin to hold important political positions. Only then can we serve the public without being sidelined. Shahdabul Faraz is a surgery resident and can be reached on Twitter @shahdabulf. Image credit: Shutterstock.com A 52-year-old man was charged with arson Monday after witnesses identified him based on an encounter they had with him, according to an arrest affidavit. Timothy Dewayne Willis is accused of setting his hotel room on fire Monday at the Fireside Inn on the Northeast Side. Hotel staff called first responders after they attempted to extinguish the flames. Two hotel employees said they saw Willis leave the room about 10 minutes before they noticed the fire and told investigators they knew the suspect was staying in the room because of an encounter they had with him two days prior, the affidavit said. FIND OUT FIRST: Get San Antonio breaking news directly to your inbox The employees told police they were cleaning his room two days before the incident when he entered looking for his his knife. After finding the knife, he stood behind one of the employees and opened the knife before going outside to sit on a chair. When one of the employees exited his room, Willis had the knife on the ground with his foot over it and told the employee "he was a killer," the affidavit said. Willis has had three prior criminal charges for arson. His bail is $30,000 for Monday's incident. Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway Earnings Call Scheduled for 8:00 a.m. EST on May 26, 2020 BEIJING, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- China Online Education Group ("51Talk", or the "Company") (NYSE: COE), a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education, today announced that it will report its first quarter 2020 unaudited financial results on Tuesday, May 26, 2020, before the open of U.S. markets. The Company's management will host an earnings conference call at 8:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on May 26, 2020 (8:00 p.m. Beijing/Hong Kong time on May 26, 2020). Dial-in details for the earnings conference call are as follows: United States Toll: +1-866-264-5888 International: +1-412-317-5226 Mainland China Toll: 400-120-1203 Hong Kong Toll: 800-905-945 Hong Kong-Local Toll: +852-3018-4992 Participants should dial-in at least 10 minutes before the scheduled start time and ask to be connected to the call for "China Online Education Group." Additionally, a live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investor relations website at http://ir.51talk.com. A replay of the conference call will be accessible approximately one hour after the conclusion of the live call until June 2, 2020, by dialing the following telephone numbers: United States Toll: +1-877-344-7529 International Toll: +1-412-317-0088 Replay Access Code: 10144351 About China Online Education Group China Online Education Group (NYSE: COE) is a leading online education platform in China, with core expertise in English education. The Company's mission is to make quality education accessible and affordable. The Company's online and mobile education platforms enable students across China to take live interactive English lessons with overseas foreign teachers, on demand. The Company connects its students with a large pool of highly qualified foreign teachers that it assembled using a shared economy approach, and employs student and teacher feedback and data analytics to deliver a personalized learning experience to its students. For more information, please visit http://ir.51talk.com. For investor and media inquiries, please contact: China Online Education Group Investor Relations +86 (10) 8342-6262 [email protected] The Piacente Group, Inc. Brandi Piacente +86 (10) 5730-6200 +1-212-481-2050 [email protected] SOURCE China Online Education Group Related Links http://ir.51talk.com WASHINGTON - The State Department inspector general fired by President Donald Trump was looking into allegations that a staffer for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was performing domestic errands and chores such as handling dry cleaning, walking the family dog and making restaurant reservations, said a congressional official familiar with the matter. Steve Linick, the quasi-independent watchdog whose job it is to expose waste and malfeasance within the agency, investigated a number of issues at the State Department that agitated senior Trump administration officials, but it remains unclear what specifically triggered his ouster Friday night. The congressional official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the matter remains highly sensitive, said the State Department staffer was a political appointee and that at least one congressional committee learned of the allegations around the time of Linick's firing. Congressional Democrats are investigating whether Linick's firing was an effort to shut down the investigation, the official said. NBC News first reported Sunday night that Linick was investigating allegations that Pompeo used staffers for personal chores and errands. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House said Trump's late-night ouster of Linick came at the recommendation of Pompeo, a decision that has prompted criticisms from Democrats and some Republicans as a threat to oversight. Inspectors general serve as internal government watchdogs conducting oversight of federal agencies. They are political appointees, but their independence is supposed to be protected. Linick's firing amounted to the fourth such ouster in recent weeks. Trump replaced Linick with Stephen Akard, a trusted ally of Vice President Mike Pence and the official in charge of the Office of Foreign Missions. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Trump wrote in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Friday that, "It is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General. That is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General." On Saturday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's ranking Democrat, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, launched a joint investigation into Linick's firing. "We unalterably oppose the politically-motivated firing of inspectors general and the President's gutting of these critical positions," Engel and Menendez wrote in a letter to the White House demanding that all records related to Linick's firing be preserved and handed over to their committees. Even as the country has entered the fourth phase of coronavirus lockdown, the number of Covid-19 cases rise unabated across the nation. On Tuesday, Covid-19 cases in India breached the 100,000-mark. So far, more than 3,000 people have lost their lives due to the infection while nearly 40,000 people have been cured or discharged from hospitals. The highest number Covid-19 cases come from Maharashtra where the tally has breached the 35,000-mark, nearly one-third of the national total. Heres taking a look at states with over 10,000 Covid-19 cases: Maharashtra The state has reported 35,058 Covid-19 cases so far. Maharashtra has recorded 1,249 deaths while 8,437 patients have recovered across the state. Mumbai, Thane and Pune are the top affected areas in the state. Mumbai alone accounts for more than 21,000 coronavirus cases. Tamil Nadu The southern state has reported 11,760 coronavirus cases and 81 Covid-19 fatalities. More than 4,400 patients have recovered in Tamil Nadu. Also read: Indias Covid-19 tally breaches 1 lakh-mark in 78 days Gujarat As per the Ministry of Health, coronavirus cases in Gujarat stand at 11,745. While 694 people have died due to the coronavirus disease in the state, 4,804 patients have recovered so far. Ahmedabad is the worst-hit district here. Delhi The national capital reported 500 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the Delhi health department stated on Tuesday. With this, the Coviud-19 tally in the national capital has zoomed to 10,554. Over 160 people have died in Delhi while 4,750 patients have recovered. States with over 5,000 coronavirus cases Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have reported more than 5,000 coronavirus cases till date. Covid-19 cases in Rajasthan touched 5,507 on Tuesday. Jaipur has witnessed a high number of coronavirus cases in the state. In Madhya Pradesh, Covid-19 cases have jumped to 5,236. Indore, Ujjain and Bhopal are the top-affected cities in the state. States with over 3,000 coronavirus cases In Uttar Pradesh, coronavirus cases are rapidly inching toward the 5,000-mark. As many as 4,605 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the state. West Bengal nears the 3,000-mark with 2,825 coronavirus cases. China in Libya - investments and neutrality Think tank, Beijing includes Tripoli in its network (ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MAY 19 - Among world and regional powers involved in the Libyan crisis, China is often not considered very much because it is not sending mercenaries to the country or mobilizing drones for air raids, like the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Russia. Beijing, however, is ''constantly investing'' at an economic level and is ''exercising influence in ways that promote the integration of Libya within China's global ambitions'', according to an article published by the ''Carnegie Endowment for International Peace'', a leading US think tank. When the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi's began in 2011, Beijing abstained from voting when the Security Council authorized military intervention which opened the crisis that is still ongoing, noted the website of the organization that publishes ''Foreign Policy'', one of the most widely read magazines in the world on foreign politics and economics. It was a position that, along with countering US influence, reflected ''its calculated neutrality in Libya'', according to two analysts from the organization, who highlighted in the article that the involvement of the Asian superpower ''focused on economic penetration, its strongest line of influence and diplomacy behind the scenes''. Already under Gaddafi's regime, China worked on the construction of various infrastructures: in 2011 Beijing had 75 companies that developed 18.8 billion dollars in business in Libya through 36,000 employees working on about 50 projects in sectors including housing construction, railways, telecommunications and hydroelectric. China now officially backs the national unity government of Premier Fayez al-Sarraj and its diplomats have met members of Tripoli's executive nine times between 2016 and this year. A foreign bilateral meeting also occurred between Mohamed Siala and Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in mid-2018 with the signature of a memorandum of agreement to include Libya in the new Silk Road, the strategic initiative of the People's Republic of China to improve its commercial connections with Eurasian countries. The following year bilateral trade between the two countries went up by 6.21 billion dollars with an annual increase of 160%, especially due to Libyan oil exports. Carnagie's analysts however estimated that if General Khalifa Haftar will become relevant on a financial level against Tripoli's government, China will probably strengthen its relations with Cyrenaica's strongman with whom it has ''left open channels''. Proof of this is the 2016 agreement to allow Chinese State-owned companies to fund projects of development of the government of eastern Libya led by Premier Abdullah al-Thinni. (ANSAmed). Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Federal investigators are now looking into an explosion and fire in downtown Los Angeles over the weekend that left a dozen firefighters injured, two of them critically. Firefighters responded to a fire at Smoke Tokes Wholesale Distribution at 327 E. Boyd St. near the intersection with San Pedro on Saturday. Once inside, an explosion shot canisters of butane and CO2 at least two blocks away, according to a department spokesman. In all, 11 firefighters were hospitalized and a 12th was treated in the emergency room. As of this evening, four remained there in stable condition. On the night of the fire, L.A. Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said the incident and number of injuries had traumatized firefighters used to helping others and unaccustomed to having to treat their own. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says it is sending a team of arson and explosives experts, along with special agents from its L.A. field office, at the request of the city. It says its National Response Team can help determine the origin and cause of the fire and also help gather evidence for potential criminal prosecution. The ATF team was expected to arrive on site Monday. A spokeswoman for the ATF said she would not be able to offer any further details until they could begin assessing the scene. In an interview with Fox 11 this morning, L.A. Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas said it was typical to open a criminal investigation in incidents like this one. Similar investigative teams were assembled to help with the Da Vinci construction site fire in 2014 and the Conception dive boat fire last year, according to the ATF. HOW ARE THE FIREFIGHTERS DOING? Terrazas said one of the firefighters received severe burns and several others received mild to moderate burns. Capt. Erik Scott, the department's spokesman, told LAist this was "one of the most significant incidents" the department has had to face in recent history. Video taken at the time and posted to YouTube shows a harrowing scene as firefighters were forced to evacuate single-file across an aerial ladder propped against the building, even as a wall of flames appeared to overtake them. Five of the firefighters who were hospitalized have since been released. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE BUSINESS? We still don't know a lot, but Smoke Tokes appears to be a vape and smoke supply shop. Its website lists e-cigarettes, vape pens, hookahs and water pipes, but also items such as butane cases, lighters and torches. We do know there was another fire connected with the company in September 2016 at a location nearby. That fire, at 330 E. 3rd St., also involved "highly flammable storage that included pressurized flammable gas cylinders, several of which were heard to explode," the fire department reported at the time. It took about 160 firefighters more than two hours to extinguish the blaze. We left a voicemail at a number associated with Smoke Tokes but have not yet heard back. MORE BACKGROUND: WE LOVE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS Boston police officers early Tuesday morning arrested an allegedly drunken 25-year-old Mattapan man who was found asleep at the wheel of his car with a gun and multiple beer bottles inside the vehicle, authorities said. Officers responded around 2:48 a.m. to a report of a car crash near 53 Blake St. in the Hyde Park neighborhood of the city, the Boston Police Department said in a statement. Police claimed they found a man sleeping behind the steering wheel of a heavily damaged car. When officers woke him up, he appeared confused, unsteady and under the influence of alcohol, according to the statement. Officers also observed several empty beer bottles strewn about the inside of the vehicle, the statement said. Additionally, officers discovered that the suspects drivers license had been suspended. The man, later identified as Lookens Dorcely, was taken into custody, according to police. Before Dorcelys car was towed, police searched the vehicle and found a loaded Ruger LC9 handgun, authorities said. The Mattapan man was arrested, and he is expected to be arraigned in West Roxbury District Court on charges of unlawful possession of a gun and ammunition, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and operating a motor vehicle with a revoked or suspended license. Gondia in Maharashtra reappeared on the COVID-19 map as two Mumbai returnees tested positive for novel coronavirus on Tuesday, almost two months after the first case was detected in the district, a health official said here. He said a 30-year-old man from Karandi village in Arjuni Morgaon tehsil and a 22-year-old man from Amgaon tehsil tested positive. "The 30-year-old man arrived in a truck from Chembur in Mumbai on May 15,and was in institutional quarantine, while the other, who works in a private hospital in Mumbai, came in a taxi on May 17 and got himself quarantined in the general hospital here," he said. The first COVID-19 case in Gondia was a man who had returned from Bangkok and tested positive on March 27. He has since recovered and been discharged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi: The Congress has called a meeting of like-minded opposition parties on Friday to discuss the plight of migrant workers and the changes in labour laws by some states, sources said.Congress president Sonia Gandhi will chair the meeting of leaders of opposition parties, the sources said on Tuesday. Around 17 opposition parties have agreed to participate in the meeting which will be held via videoconferencing. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have not yet confirmed their participation, they said. Rendered jobless due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, which began on March 25, and desperate to get home, thousands of migrant workers across the country are undertaking long and arduous journeys to their native places on foot, on bicycles or packed into trucks. Many of them have been killed in accidents in different parts of the country. The Opposition has criticised the government over its handling of the migrant crisis. The Congress and other opposition parties have also attacked the Centre for allowing BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to amend labour laws to lure foreign investors and "to strip workers of their basic rights". These changes include exempting industrial units from labour welfare statutes, allowing them to take steps such as increasing daily and weekly working hours of workers, and depriving workers of their right to move court. A 15-year-old Baltimore girl who died Saturday after spending days on a ventilator mightve had the coronavirus, making her the states youngest resident to succumb to the disease, a local news outlet has reported. According to WJZ, Daryana Dyson knew something was wrong when she lost her sense of taste around Mothers Day. She checked into Johns Hopkins Hospital and was put on a ventilator, but never recovered. She was a month away from her 16th birthday, WJZ said. Autopsy results are pending, but Dysons family told WJZ she died of the coronavirus. This is real, her aunt said in an interview with the station. I didnt think it was just so dangerous until this situation. She was healthy. No pre-existing nothing. We want everybody to know that she was just courageous, independent. A candlelight vigil will be held Wednesday in Daryana Dysons memory. Her family says they want people to know the young are susceptible to #COVID19. The 15yo died Saturday of the virus. She had been on a ventilator at Johns Hopkins. @wjz pic.twitter.com/4Uhgm1vW9Z Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) May 18, 2020 WJZ said those close to Dyson thought she just had a bad cold, and are devastated by the loss. A community vigil to celebrate Dysons life is scheduled for Wednesday evening in the ODonnell Heights community, WJZ said. As of Tuesday morning, the Maryland Department of Health has reported nearly 40,000 coronavirus cases and 1,900 deaths. READ MORE: After Trump says hes taking malaria drug to prevent coronavirus, Pelosi calls him morbidly obese Protester explains doll, noose demonstration at Michigan Capitol, wants to give the props to Trump Pa. sold nursing home testing plan as universal and radical, but advocates say its optional and insufficient The Congress, however, rejected the claim, challenging Yogi Adityanath's government to conduct a 'physical verification' of the buses. Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday said the list of 1,000 buses offered by the Congress to ferry migrant workers contained registration numbers of two-wheelers and cars, fuelling a war of words between the two sides. The Congress, however, rejected the claim, challenging Yogi Adityanath's government to conduct a physical verification of the buses. According to the Congress, the buses are massed at the Rajasthan-Uttar Pradesh border, awaiting permission to cross over into the state's Agra district. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya accused the party of coming up with another scam. "The Congress has got trapped in its own net of deceit, he tweeted in Hindi. The row erupted on 16 May when Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra offered to provide 1,000 buses for migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, stranded in other states because of the coronavirus lockdown. The Congress initially claimed that the state's BJP government was ignoring the offer with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath refusing even to give an appointment to a party delegation. Even while accusing the Congress of playing politics over the plight of migrant workers, the UP government on Monday formally accepted the offer. It asked the Congress to submit a list of the buses, and its drivers and conductors. In an email received by Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary at 11.40 pm Monday, the Uttar Pradesh government asked the Opposition party to send the buses to Lucknow by 10 am on Tuesday. Follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak here The aide wrote back to the UP government saying that sending empty buses to Lucknow was inhuman and the product of an anti-poor mindset when thousands of workers are gathered at UP's borders. "This demand of your government seems politically motivated. It does not appear that your government wants to help our labourer brothers and sisters who are facing a disaster," the letter in Hindi said. UP's Additional Chief Secretary (Home & Information) Awanish Awasthi then responded to the Congress letter, agreeing to take charge of the buses at the Delhi-UP border itself. He suggested that 500 buses should be stationed at the Kaushambi and Sahibabad bus stands in Ghaziabad, just across the border from Delhi. The remaining 500 should be sent to Noida. Awasthi said directions have been issued to the Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar district magistrates to make use of the buses immediately after checking the permits, fitness, insurance and driving licences of the crew. But the row reignited hours later when the UP government said the Congress list of 1,000 buses contained registration number of other vehicles. "In the list of buses provided by the Congress, there are motorcycles, three-wheelers, an ambulance and private cars, said Mrityunjay Kumar, media advisor to the chief minister. He listed out the registration numbers of an ambulance, a car and four three-wheelers. He said the details were retrieved through mParivahan, an app that allows instant access to such information. UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh challenged the claim. "There are 1,000 buses. If the UP Government has any doubts about them, they can conduct a physical verification of the vehicles at the state's border," he said. In another letter in the afternoon, Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary said the buses cannot be brought to Noida and Ghaziabad as the government has not given permission for them to enter Uttar Pradesh from Rajasthan. "We are stationed at the UP border near Uncha Nagla for the past three hours but Agra administration is not allowing us to enter, Vadra's aide Sandeep Singh wrote. We request you once again to display sensitivity. Please send the letter of permission for all our buses, so that we can move forward," he wrote at 3.45 pm. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya called the episode another Congress scam. "The bus ghotaala' (bus scam) now is the latest addition to the Bofors, 2G, Coalgate and Commonwealth Games,he tweeted in Hindi. The Congress is making fun of labourers by providing details of autorickshaws and motorcycles in the name of buses. Misleading people by telling lies is in the DNA of the Congress party," he said. Another deputy chief minister, Dinesh Sharma, accused the Congress of using migrant workers as pawns. He asked why the Congress couldn't send the buses through the government in Rajasthan, where it is in power. "The Congress is trying to malign the image of the UP government, and it must rectify its behavior, he said. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the people are wondering why the buses are not being used by the state government to send stranded workers homes. What type of stubbornness is this?" he tweeted. Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here or post it in the Slate Parenting Facebook group. Dear Care and Feeding, My 11-year-old son has been spending a lot of time playing Minecraft with online friends. They talk (I can hear everything they say, mostly silly preteen jokes) and text, and I looked at his chat screen. I read, Please dont say anything out loud. My mom doesnt know Im gay. Advertisement I asked my kid why he wrote that. He said it was a joke. Then he said his account was hacked. Then he said his best friend is gay. Im shocked. His dad and I have no problem if hes gay, and he knows it. Do I give him space? I dont want to out him (if thats whats up), but I hate that he cant talk to me. My love and feelings for him are not affected at all by whether hes gay, and I want to respect his privacy. Still, Im hurt. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Prying Mom Dear PM, Hard as it can be to accept this, those first steps out of the closet are about him and not his parents. I dont think you should be hurt by this because I dont think it involves you! Advertisement Its possible that your son was joking. It is a dumb joke, but what do you expect from an 11-year-old? His embarrassment and evasiveness might have had to do with being caught in his dumb joke and nothing to do with hiding the deeper truth about himself. Its also possible that he was genuinely coming out to his friendsin which case he was talking to them, not to you. Hard as it can be to accept this, those first steps out of the closet are about him and not his parents. We cant know if this is a joke or not. We also cant know if your son truly knows that youre accepting and loving, come what mayor if thats enough reassurance for a kid. Youre his parents, but youre not his world, and that can still be a scary place. I think you should give him his space. Advertisement Advertisement Feel free to remind him of your love loudly and vocally, but dont do so in a way that raises the question of his identity because you dont know anything about that, really, not yet. Its possible he doesnt either. Good luck! Dear Care and Feeding, My teens friends are having in-house get-togethers at one of the childs homes (group of three to four kids). I told my child that they were not allowed to go, since we do not know the people in the house or whom the other children have been exposed to. Weve done our best to stay at home, only going out to get food, so we have limited riskbut we could still have been exposed and possibly expose them to something. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How do I deal with being the bad parent of the group, since Im the one that says no? How do I not dislike people now and in the future for making what I feel are poor choices? I also have family members who have made decisions that I question because it puts themselves and others at risk. I struggle with not wanting to talk to or interact with any of these people in the future because of their choices. Rule Follower Dear RF, I dont think youre looking for confirmation, but I think you did the right thing. Our responsibility in this moment is a serious one, and in the big scheme of things what is required of us is a small sacrifice. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Theres no need to feel youre being the bad parent of the group because youre being responsible. I dont expect a teen to understand that, but that doesnt make it any less true. We have been given little guidance from the government, and still less assistance. But quarantine or otherwise, one of the few truths in life is that you cant control others behavior, only your own. I think you should continue to do what you know to be right, and try not to be preoccupied with the choices made by family and friends. It will require magnanimity at first, though hopefully over time it will feel liberating. This moment is challenging enough without having to negotiate your own emotions about others choices. Keep yourself and your immediate family safe, and follow the rules you establish for yourself. In the meantime, continue to hope that there is a day in which this will all seem distant and hard to believe. Good luck. Advertisement Slate needs your support right now. Sign up for Slate Plus to keep reading the advice you crave every week. Advertisement Dear Care and Feeding, I struck the in-laws jackpot by almost every conceivable metric. They share a mutual adoration of our 3-year-old son and help with child care a lot. The issue is that, like with many grandparents, theyre not great with setting limits. My son gets way more snacks, sweets, and screen time at their house. Advertisement Im pregnant, and pre-COVID they watched him one day a week and, as I got into my second trimester, a few hours on Saturday so I could rest and do baby prep tasks. (My husband has to work on the weekends.) Now that day care is closed and Im working from home nine months pregnant, they have him four to five days per week. Advertisement He was progressing pretty well with potty training while in day care, but hes had a major backslide and mostly refuses to use the potty. If he says he doesnt want to, my in-laws wont push it. We used to feel like the parents should do the hard stuff and it was OK for the grandparents to spoil him a bit. But now that they are our child care solution for the foreseeable future (were in a hard-hit COVID state and will have a newborn soon), were not sure what to do. Weve talked to them in the past about things (less screen time, fewer processed foods), and they say they understand, but cave as soon as their precious grandchild protests. My husband and I are torn between being grateful that we have child care help and worried about the lack of structure and limits. Should we try to address these issues with my in-laws again? If so, any recommendations on how to do so effectively? I have some friends who would kill for even 30 minutes of child care help right now. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Lucky Mom Dear Lucky Mom, The toughest thing to me about the tough spot were in is that we dont know how long well be here. Will schools and day cares reopen in the summer, the fall, in 2021, or later? Knowing that would inform every decision we make in the interim, but we cannot know that. So here we are. Im among those who would kill for even 30 minutes of child care help, and I fully understand how impossible it is to bring work and life into balance under these circumstances. However lucky you are to have the help of your in-laws, you have a lot to deal withand youre about to have another baby! Congrats. I hope this turns out to be one of those magical, maybe mythical babies who loves to sleep and rarely makes a fuss. Advertisement But lets be realistic. Youre in for quite a few months of less sleep and more stress. I think its time to pick your battles carefully! It sounds like your in-laws are receptive to honoring your parenting style but unable to in the face of their beloved grandsons adorable charms. Thats common, and, as you say, in some ways thats what is so great about the grandparent-grandkid relationship. Advertisement It sounds like you have a wonderful relationship with them, so unless you think it might offend them, maybe have one further talk, and come prepared! Talk about how this arrangement, which was meant to be a casual, fun thing, is now a big part of life, and it would be a help to you, especially in your postpartum state, if there were a couple of adjustments! Convey your gratitude, then hand over some games and even new toys they might break out as an alternative to screen time. Suggest some snack options that might be more in line with what youd like, and offer to provide themhe could pack a lunch just as he might at school. Advertisement Advertisement The one issue I think you should push on is the potty. Gently communicate how difficult it is to change two sets of diapers; you can tell them how important it is to have a consistent message as he masters this skill. Give them tangible tips and strategies for how youre handling training, prepare yourself for the possibility of some regression when hes promoted from only kid to big brother, take a deep breath, and remember that no kids goes off to college without having mastered going to the potty himself. Advertisement Advertisement Then I think you should not discuss this any further! Your in-laws will either serve up the carrot sticks or the potato chips; theyll either play a round of Uno or turn on Sesame Street. Your son is safe and loved and out of your hair for a few hours a day, so just enjoy that. Good luck! Advertisement If you missed Mondays Care and Feeding column, read it here. Discuss this column in the Slate Parenting Facebook group! Dear Care and Feeding, My sister (whom Im very close to but dont live near) just had a baby. Our mom is in her 70s and has COPD and therefore is high-risk for COVID, so my siblings and I had agreed to stick strictly to the social distancing guidelines with her, and that she would not go and visit the new grandkid when it was born (or any existing grandkids!). In the few days since delivery, my sister has had a rough time of it, with postpartum anxiety and insomnia. I empathize, as I was in exactly the same position a few months ago when my daughter was born, and I did have my mom come for a few days after the delivery. Today my sister cracked and, without consulting the other siblings, asked our mom to come and help out, which she did, right away. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im upset and riddled with anxiety about this. In a couple of weeks, I wouldnt have minded, but my sister and her partner have just been in a hospital in close contact with people who could potentially be carriers of the virus. The only thing that is stopping me from absolutely freaking out is that my mum was sick a few weeks ago and we think it was probably COVID, although with the lack of testing we dont know for sure. Am I wrong to be upset about this? What can I do or say? I also dont want to upset my sister more in her fragile state, and at this point the damage has largely been done. I hate this virus for putting us all in these terrible positions. Advertisement Postpartum Panic Dear Postpartum Panic, I share your frustration with the terrible positions we now find ourselves in. Nevertheless, here we are. Your sister, in a vulnerable moment, broke an agreement youd made, and that was irresponsible, though surely your mother bears some of the responsibility there. Its an impossible situationyour sister needed her mom, and your mom wanted to help. At any rate, what is done is done, as you say, and your feelings wont change that. The anxiety is difficult to manage, but the anger is comparatively easy to let go. Remember how you felt in those early days after your own kids arrival, remember your own good luck at being able to call in the reinforcements, and remember that were all only human and doing the best we can. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Please do what you can, from a distance, to be supportive of your sister, even if its doing something as simple as leaving groceries at her doorstep. And do what you can to help your mother be more vigilant. Remind her of the gravity of the situation. Perhaps consult with her physician about this specific exposure to your sister, fresh from the hospital, and see what is recommendedwhether that means daily temperature checks or increased vigilance about her health. Advertisement As for your own mental health: Try to focus on the tangible fact of your moms health in this moment, rather than your abstract fright that she might get ill. And remember that even if people do get sick, it can be difficult to isolate the moment of infection. I hope she will be fine, but if she is not, do not think of this as being anyones fault. Advertisement Im sorry this happened and sorrier still that were in this spot. Try to find mercy for your sister and productively channel your concern for your mother. Good luck. Rumaan More Advice From Slate My fiance moved in with my parents and me last year. He has a 2-year-old son whom Ive taken on as my own and plan on adopting as soon as were married. Our living situation is unique, but it works for us. Heres the problem. We have chosen to limit certain things when it comes to our 2-year-old. We dont want him watching much TV at all. We DO NOT want him playing with a cellphone or a tablet, period. My parents do not listen to us at all. What should I do? WASHINGTON President Donald Trump's announcement that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine to fend off coronavirus has evolved into the pandemic's latest political dividing line Tuesday as aides scrambled to explain his embrace of the untested therapy. Trump's unprompted disclosure that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine for nearly two weeks despite warnings from the Food and Drug Administration once again prompted questions about whether he is following advice from his own medical experts or is trusting his gut as he navigates the worst public health crisis in generations. From refusing to wear a face mask in public despite a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to shelving federal guidance this month on reopening, Trump has framed his decisions as matters of personal choice rather than driven by science a message that has resonated with some of his core supporters. His moves have also drawn a sharp stylistic contrast with Democrat Joe Biden, whose campaign to unseat Trump has largely followed the advice of public health experts by refraining from events and urging Americans to follow public health guidelines. Name calling: Trump dismisses Nancy Pelosi calling him 'morbidly obese' Reaction: New warnings after Trump's use of hydroxychloroquine Hydroxychloroquine is FDA-approved to treat or prevent malaria as well as autoimmune conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Several studies have raised questions about the drug's ability to fight the virus and its safety. The FDA has warned that the drug should be avoided outside of hospitals or trials because of the risk of heart rhythm problems. Trump rejected suggestions that the drug was unsafe during a Cabinet meeting and attacked one of the studies that indicated it could have serious side effects. He described the drug as "an extra line of defense" and said he's "had no impact from it." Story continues "People are going to make up their own mind," he said told reporters on Capitol Hill earlier in the day in response to questions about whether he was putting Americans at risk by touting hydroxychloroquine. Trump attacked one of the studies that indicated the drug could have serious side effects. That study, which involved patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 treated at Veterans Health Administration medical centers, found there were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine than those receiving standard care. Trump described the study Tuesday as the only bad survey and a Trump enemy statement and said it involved patients who were almost dead. But other studies have raised flags, too. Two recent observational studies of patients in New York hospitals, one published Journal of the American Medical Association and the other in the New England Journal of Medicine, found no statistically significant benefit from the drug. Another study from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine that has not yet been peer reviewed found evidence that adding zinc to hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin may have benefit for some patients. The U.S. National Institutes of Health launched a large clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine given in conjunction with the antibiotic azithromycin last week. It is among multiple studies underway to see if the drug can help decrease hospitalization and death from coronavirus. James Pfiffner, a George Mason University professor who studies the presidency, noted that the president's statement seemed to highlight "his desire to blow off the warnings of experts and undermine confidence" in U.S. health authorities. "It is part of his rejection of expertise that seems to make him so appealing to his base," Pfiffner said. President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before boarding Air Force One with first lady Melania Trump at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey. Administration officials offered disjointed explanations Tuesday for Trump's decision to take the drug as the controversy from his remarks a day earlier reverberated through Washington. White House physician Sean Conley prescribed the drug to Trump, a senior administration official speaking on the condition of anonymity told USA TODAY. That official said Trump is consulting with many physicians but declined to name them. In his own telling, Trump raised the idea of taking hydroxychloroquine with Conley not the other way around. Trump said he asked Conley, "What do you think?" and the physician responded, "Well, if you'd like it." Conley released a vaguely worded statement Monday asserting that "the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks" and he noted that one of the president's valets had tested positive for the virus. The White House confirmed that the valet had tested positive on May 7. Asked what evidence of the drug's efficacy he is relying on, Trump said he gets "a lot of positive calls about" and cited a letter from a doctor from the New York City suburbs. White House officials declined to name the doctor or others who had spoken to Trump. Trump first mentioned the drug publicly two months ago while visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters. Over the next two months, he named it at least 33 times, according to a USA TODAY review of White House transcripts. He has been far less likely to discuss other potential therapies. By comparison, he mentioned remdesivir, under study as a treatment, 11 times during that period. The president repeatedly came under fire for raising the untested drug and for several weeks had largely avoided the issue. But his past comments were brought to the forefront when vaccine expert Rick Bright filed a whistleblower complaint against the Department of Health and Human Services this month. Part of that complaint raised concerns about the the president's focus on the drug. President Donald Trump participates in a tour of Owens & Minor Inc., a medical supply company, Thursday, May 14, 2020, in Allentown, Pa. The latest episode recalled a controversy in April when Trump said scientists should look into whether ultraviolet light or disinfectants could help treat coronavirus patients. His remarks prompted a rebuke from doctors and warnings from state health agencies against self-treatment. Trump later claimed he was being "sarcastic." Presidential historians pointed to several themes in Trump's decisions to try hydroxychloroquine, forgo masks and pressure states to reopen. One is the president's self-styled trust of his own "gut" over his experts. Another is that Trump has never embraced the concept that a president models behavior for the rest of America. "I dont think Trump has ever desired whatsoever to see himself as role model, to hold up the best of what we can be," said Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. "Trumps entire ethos appears to be 'I am different than the rest of you. The rules dont apply.' " Democrats blasted Trump's announcement about taking hydroxychloroquine. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, an outspoken Trump critic, suggested on MSNBC that Trump may have raised the issue to "divert attention from all the bad things happening." Or, he said, "maybe hes just lying." Allies of the president defended the decision, underscoring how the announcement like face masks and reopening protests are viewed through political frames. Tom Fitton, president of the conservative activist group Judicial Watch, tweeted Tuesday that while the drug was not without its risks, it was a "gamble worth taking." FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn described the decision Tuesday as "between a patient and their doctor." Vice President Mike Pence echoed that sentiment in an interview on Fox News, noting that he personally was not taking hydroxychloroquine but that he would "never begrudge any American taking the advice of their physician." Nivaquine, tablets containing chloroquine, and Plaqueril, tablets containing hydroxychloroquine, have shown signs of effectiveness against coronavirus. Jason Miller, a senior aide on Trump's 2016 campaign who remains close with the White House, dismissed the controversy as a "one-day story, whether you're a supporter, a swing voter or a detractor." He said that most Americans "probably expect that President Trump is taking every possible drug that may be effective in fighting coronavirus." Trump told reporters Monday that along with taking the drug, he is being regularly tested for COVID-19. He said he is also taking zinc and took an initial dose of the antibiotic azithromycin. The White House tightened safety precautions after two aides tested positive for the virus and three members of the coronavirus task force quarantine over concerns they attended meetings with one of the affected staff members. Contributing: Adrianna Rodriguez and Elizabeth Weise This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coronavirus: Aides defend Trump's decision to take hydroxychloroquine Basavaraj Bommai: Another leader with origins in Janata Parivar, who made it big outside the party Karnataka to do away with red, orange and green zones India oi-Vicky Nanjappa Bengaluru, May 19: Starting today, the Karnataka government would do away with the red, orange and green zone system. The government would instead identify containment zones that would be strictly monitored. Medical Education Minister, K Sudhakar said that the district wise classification of zones will no longer exist. Once the lockdown is lifted, there is no relevance for such a classification, he also said. The government would instead strictly monitor smaller areas with a number of cases, he also said. Karnataka sets new set of rules for lockdown At present, a 100-metre area has been cordoned off in containment zones. The government would redefine the containment zones, he also said. For instance, the government is looking at categorising specific apartments of buildings. In rural areas, the government is likely to consider classifying taluks as containment zones. No movement of private or public transport will be allowed in containment zones, the minister also said. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa had said that the government's main focus would be on the containment zones. Strict measures would be in place in these zones and stringent punishment would be awarded for those indulging in unlawful activities. Popular author Ruskin Bond turned 86 on Tuesday and to celebrate the occasion, Speaking Tiger has brought out his new book which is about his adventures on boats, trains and planes. In "Hop On: My Adventures on Boats, Trains and Planes", Bond narrates some of his memorable travel adventures from his childhood. With illustrations by Samrat Halder and published by Speaking Tiger's children's imprint Talking Cub, the book takes readers on a journey with young Bond that is as hilarious as is wonderful. It was released in an e-book format on his 86th birthday. Wishing Bond a very happy birthday, Sudeshna Shome Ghosh, Publisher and Editor of Talking Cub, said, "We are delighted to be celebrating it by releasing this sweet and charming book. Ruskin Bond is the gentlest, loveliest of writers and we do hope you will join us in wishing him, and celebrate it as well, by reading his new book and exploring all his writings on this day." One night, Bond dreamt he was an engine driver. He was in a smart blue uniform, and was driving a toy train up the hills. Everyone was enjoying the ride when suddenly he woke up. "But in my mind, I was on the train, so I quickly sat down to write about some eventful journeys I have had," said Bond about how he conceived the idea of the book. Every year on his birthday, Bond used to spent time in the evening at his favourite bookstore, Cambridge in Mussoorie, with hundreds of children and adults and cut a cake. Bond was born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, and grew up in Jamnagar, Dehradun, New Delhi and Shimla. As a young man, he spent four years in the Channel Islands and London. He returned to India in 1955. He now lives in Landour, Mussoorie with his adopted family. At the age of eight, Bond escaped his jail-like boarding school in the hills and went on to live with his father in Delhi. His time in the capital was filled with books, visits to the cinema, music, and walks and conversations with his father - a dream life for a curious and wildly imaginative boy, which turns tragic all too soon. His first novel "The Room on the Roof", written when he was 17, received the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then, Bond has written a number of novellas, essays, poems and children's books. He has also written over 500 short stories and articles that have appeared in magazines and anthologies. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1993, the Padma Shri in 1999 and the Padma Bhushan in 2014. Some of Bond's other titles published by Talking Cub include "When I Was a Boy: Scenes and Stories from My Childhood", "Friends in Wild Places: Birds, Beasts and Other Companions" and "The Book of Crazy Mischief" (co-edited with Jerry Pinto). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mardika Parama (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 20:55 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd91bf18 1 Business US,pharmaceutical-industry,relocation,China,Indonesia,Brebes,Central-Java,red-tape Free Indonesias infamous red tape could dissuade investment from US pharmaceutical companies looking to relocate from China, experts say. The Indonesian government is in talks over the possibility of offering US-controlled pharmaceutical firms that wish to move factories out of China a new production base, according to Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan. President [Donald] Trump is currently at odds with his Chinese counterparts, and he wants to relocate industries out of China, Luhut said during an interview with state broadcaster RRI on May 9. The government is now preparing a 4,000-hectare special economic zone for the industry in the Brebes industrial zone (KIB) in Central Java. President Jokowi [Joko Widodo] has been frequently discussing the [pharmaceutical industry] relocation with President Trump, Luhut said. He added that 90 percent of pharmaceutical product compounds were still unavailable in the country and needed to be imported. Indonesian Pharmaceutical Association (GP Farmasi) chairman Tirto Koesnandi said an unsupportive regulatory framework and high wages could deter investors from setting up operations in the country. "Our investment climate is still unattractive for future investors, including US pharmaceutical companies. Wages are still too high, and there are many regulations that make investment unattractive, Tirto told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. Statements issued by the US State Department in 2019 noted that legal uncertainty, economic nationalism and restrictions to imports and exports were some of the factors that made investing in Indonesia challenging. The fact that Indonesia ranked 73rd on the World Banks ease of doing business index, last updated in October 2019, also discourages investors, as neighboring Malaysia and Thailand fare better in 12th and 21st position, respectively. I think its quite challenging for corporations to quickly move their operations to Indonesia if we dont improve our regulatory [environment]. While Trump could encourage companies to relocate their facilities, in the end its the companies that make the decision, Center for Indonesian Policy Studies (CIPS) researcher Andre Surianta told the Post. For the pharmaceutical industry, Andre said, a major factor that dissuaded investors were regulations mandating the use of locally-sourced raw materials. We are unable to provide raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry because we dont have the supply chain. I think we should relax the regulation on local content if we want to see the industry come in, he said. Indonesian workers low productivity is another major challenge for the government as it seeks to attract investors. According to a survey conducted by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Indonesias manufacturing plants productivity only scored 74.4 on an index where the respondents Japanese companies productivity defines 100. Indonesias score is lower than those of the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam at 86.3, 82.7, 80.1 and 80.0, respectively. The survey also shows that more than half of the Japanese companies are not satisfied with the minimum wage compared to the workers productivity. Even though the pharmaceutical industry is a capital-intensive investment, which makes workers productivity less [impactful], investors still list our human capital as one of their greatest concerns, Andre said. Human capital development should be our long-term priority if we want to increase our attractiveness to foreign investors. He also said that industrial zones with sufficient infrastructure and accessibility were not easy to find in Indonesia, which could make investors opt for other countries. Brebes regencys development planning head Edy Kusmartono acknowledged that the local administration had heard about the potential relocation, even though there had been no formal notification from the central government so far. We have 3,975 ha of land in the KIB and manpower of 20,000 people who are ready to work inside the KIB. If [the central government and investors] are interested, they could set up the industry here, Edy told Kompas daily newspaper on May 11. He further said that the KIB was still waiting for its masterplan that was being formed by the zones developer PT Kawasan Industri Wijayakusuma, which includes the business scheme, consortium appointment and land acquisition, before starting its physical construction. A well-known market intelligence company, Infiniti Research, has announced the completion of its latest article digital healthcare in Canada: what needs to be done to enable smooth transition This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005772/en/ "To drive improved healthcare outcomes, the Canadian government must focus on adopting healthcare innovations, customer-driven models, and a new regulatory framework that facilitates change and embraces digital healthcare," says a market research analyst at Infiniti Research. Canada ranks among the lowest when compared to other OECD countries that have universal healthcare systems. Healthcare consumers becoming increasingly empowered by the volume and ease of access to healthcare information, even so, the current model for healthcare delivery remains unchanged fundamentally. A number of challenges will have to be addressed at the national, provincial, and territorial level in Canada to create an environment wherein the current model can incorporate digital healthcare tools. The COVID-19 outbreak has caused a significant threat to global healthcare industry. Our business continuity support solutions can help you to combat the business impact of COVID-19. Request a FREE proposal here. While the journey towards a fully patient and family-centric approach to healthcare will be long, there are some measures that governments could initiate in order to accelerate the process and implement digital healthcare more effectively: Adjust fees paid to physicians: The Canadian government must ensure that fair and adequate compensation is given to physicians for virtual consultations. Some provinces such as British Columbia and Alberta have implemented pilots of revised fee structures, albeit a pan-Canadian strategy is yet to be implemented for revised compensation. In such situations, if the physician billing structure has been modified in a particular province to allow virtual consultations, interprovincial licensing and regulations might restrict physicians from being able to employ these changes across provincial borders. Common strategy for adoption of healthcare innovation: A common nation-wide strategy must be adopted by the Canadian government to better implement innovations such as digital healthcare. By establishing incubators and accelerators, the government is currently encouraging and supporting an entrepreneurial culture in the business sector. By incorporating this as a part of a nationally designed vision for the future of healthcare, new solutions for healthcare can be encouraged. Healthcare strategy should largely revolve around the patient, their family, and the caregiver rather than on systems and institutions. A comprehensive analysis of the customer experience of healthcare companies will provide valuable insights into the opportunities of realizing efficiency through the application of digital healthcare solutions. Policy framework for digital healthcare solutions: The federal and provincial governments in Canada should collaboratively design a policy framework for the effective adoption of secure digital healthcare solutions. Innovative healthcare technologies will ensure secure data oversight through cloud solutions and blockchain, consequently paving the way for shared policies and standards. Through this, providers will be able to take full advantage of the significant data generated by single-payer health care system. Moreover, this will also ensure that all Canadians can use their individual health data in partnership with their health professionals to identify personalized healthcare solutions. Contact us to know the potential impact of COVID-19 on your business and for action plans to respond to the coronavirus crisis. About Infiniti Research Established in 2003, Infiniti Research is a leading market intelligence company providing smart solutions to address your business challenges. Infiniti Research studies markets in more than 100 countries to help analyze competitive activity, see beyond market disruptions, and develop intelligent business strategies. To know more, visit: https://www.infinitiresearch.com/about-us View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005772/en/ Contacts: Infiniti Research Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager US: +1 844 778 0600 UK: +44 203 893 3400 https://www.infinitiresearch.com/contact-us A 29-year-old Longview man faces charges for allegedly raping a developmentally disabled woman and stealing her debit card. Cecil Holland Sherwood was scheduled to make a first appearance Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of three counts of second-degree domestic violence rape, two counts of first-degree identity theft and second-degree theft. The victim told police she was raped between Oct. 23 and Oct. 29, when she let Sherwood stay at her Vancouver apartment, according to a probable cause affidavit. The affidavit says the victim is legally designated as a vulnerable adult due to her being developmentally disabled. She said she and Sherwood were previously a couple. The victim said Sherwood was in one of his violent moods and forced himself on her while yelling about their breakup. Sherwood strangled the woman until she lost consciousness and repeatedly raped her, according to the affidavit. She said Sherwood told her no one would believe her story, court records say. Sherwood also allegedly took the womans debit card without permission. Police determined he used the card to buy pizza and cigarettes and made one ATM withdrawal, the affidavit says. He admitted to (sexually assaulting the victim) and stealing her debit card. Cecil explained that (her) comprehension level was low and she could be easily manipulated like a child, the affidavit reads. Sherwoods criminal record includes convictions in Washington for third-degree rape and failing to register as a sex offender. A warrant was issued May 4 for Sherwoods arrest, and Clark County sheriffs deputies took him into custody Friday. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 3 Angry 50 Testing results in under 10 minutes for drive-through testing, nursing homes and ER rooms Applications and hardware to diagnose respiratory problems Treatments for sepsis and antibiotic resistance arising from COVID-19 complications Software applications to remotely monitor quarantined patients and exposed health-care workers Forms of testing that can identify type and severity of infections Software to optimize hospital operations and track supply chains An easy-to-deploy centrifuge system for collecting and preparing samples A handheld device that can measure temperature, lung sounds, airway pressure, pulmonary function, heart signals and blood oxygen A free, virtual COVID-19 evaluation tool for hospitals trying to preserve clinical resources for patients who need in-person care In the spirit of teamwork against a common threat, a group of Stanford University scientists, physicians and professor-entrepreneurs have mobilized their nonprofit StartX to help governments with prevention, diagnostics and treatment of COVID-19.StartX Med, the medical division of the professional network that connects Stanford entrepreneurs with colleagues, investors and mentorship programs, is calling the new initiative the StartX Med COVID-19 Task Force. According to news releases , almost 100 StartX Med members involved with innovations related to contact tracing, telemedicine and treatments are now working together on outreach to put those tools in the hands of government agencies, regulatory bodies and health-care systems. In March, they offered more than a dozen examples of what their members are either offering or working on, including:Besides outreach, the task force is trying to connect StartX Med companies working on COVID-19 solutions with venture capitalists devoted to that cause.Therapeutics companies involved with StartX are also fast-tracking clinical trials for new antiviral drugs for COVID-19 and an often-associated complication, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).In a public statement about the task force, StartX CEO Joseph Huang reiterated the need for collaboration over bureaucratic silos.As the number of positive cases continue to soar in the outbreak of COVID-19, there is an imminent need for reducing barriers companies are experiencing with therapeutic medical breakthroughs needing to be deployed, Huang said. Weve always said that our community of industry leaders can achieve more as a group than as individuals, and this is a prime example of how quickly StartX companies and the Stanford entrepreneurship ecosystem can mobilize and come together in times of crisis. New Delhi, May 19 : Union Railway and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that the Indian Railways has transported over 20 lakh stranded migrant workers through the 1,565 Shramik Special trains since May 1. In a tweet, Goyal said, "Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, railways have sent more than 20 lakh migrant workers back to their native places in 1,565 Shramik Special trains. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh alone have given permission to operate 837, 428 and 100 Shramik Special trains respectively." On Monday, Goyal also spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. During the telephonic conversation with the Railway Minister, Adityanath approved to double the numbers of the Shramik Special trains to transport the stranded migrant workers in several parts of the country. Even Nitish Kumar gave the nod to operate 50 Shramik Special trains per day to transport the stranded migrant workers. Railway Ministry spokesperson said that more than two lakh people were being transported per day for the last few days, which is expected to be scaled up to three lakh passengers per day in the coming days. The official said that these 1,565 Shramik Special trains have originated from various states like Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. The railways started to run the Shramik Special trains from May 1 to transport stranded migrant workers, tourists, pilgrims and students. The Railways had suspended all passenger, mail and express trains to combat the spread of Covid-19 from March 25. Only freight and special parcel trains were being run to transport essential items. Since May 12, the Railways also started to run 15 pairs of Special Rajdhani Express trains and has earned over Rs 76 crore till Monday from the 2.05 lakh tickets sold for 3.8 lakh passengers. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Gaza: youth dies after setting himself on fire Two others burned. 'Victims of economic crisis' (ANSAmed) - GAZA, MAY 19 - The death Tuesday of a 22-year-old who set himself on fire at the Shati refugee camp has shocked Gaza. His motivation and identity have not been revealed in the official statement released by the interior ministry. The statement only included his initials. The young man died in hospital. According to reports on social media, two more youths allegedly tried to commit suicide by setting themselves on fire at the refugee camp of el-Bureij and in the district of Sajaya, near Gaza City. These incidents have not been officially confirmed. Social media posts claim that they reported burns but survived and that their attempted suicide during the holy month of Ramadan is due to the grave economic crisis in the Gaza Strip. (ANSAmed) Amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, a coalition of 116 countries backs up a joint Australian and European Union plan to launch an independent inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak. Image Credit: Gecko Studio / Shutterstock The inquiry will tackle issues on the international response to the pandemic and the actions taken by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is backed by the entire 27-member European Union, along with other countries such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Russia, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Turkey, Japan, Indonesia, and Brazil, among others. The African group's 54-member states will also co-sponsor the motion. Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne said it was encouraging to see many countries supporting the investigation. "I think what it illustrates is a broad view that given the experience of COVID-19 - over 300,000 deaths, millions of people around the world losing their jobs, the impact on economies from one corner of the globe to the other - that there is a strong view that it is appropriate to engage in a review of what has happened," Payne said. "I don't want to preempt speculate about the outcome; those discussions will be underway later this evening. I think it's a win for the international community," she added. The coronavirus controversy The coronavirus pandemic started in late December 2019, when a cluster of patients seeking medical help due to a pneumonia-like illness in Wuhan City, Hubei Province in China. After a few weeks, health officials have named the pathogen causing the illness as the novel coronavirus or the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Chengdu/China-Feb.2020: A security guard with face mask outside a local wet market. Image Credit: Amar Shrestha / Shutterstock Since then, the virus has ravaged across the globe, affecting 188 countries and territories, and infecting more than 4.79 million people across the world. So far, more than 318,000 people have perished due to COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) received backlash on its delayed action to reduce the spread of the virus. After China has reported a mysterious but small number of pneumonia cases in late December, the WHO said in January that it asked more information from Beijing. However, it advised against implementing travel and trade restrictions on China. After that, countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Italy experienced the onslaught of the virus, causing thousands of infections and deaths. Today, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Brazil report the highest number of infections. The U.S. President Donald Trump also accused the WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of being biased towards Chinese information in the first weeks of the outbreak. During that time, Dr. Tedros praised China for setting a new standard for outbreak control. However, weeks after, the virus has reached all continents, except Antarctica. An independent inquiry Australia was the first nation to call for an independent inquiry into how the coronavirus started. The draft resolution calls for the impartial, independent, and comprehensive evaluation of the international response to the pandemic. Also, it aims to review the experiences gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated global health response to COVID-19. Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne said that Australia is looking forward to seeing a positive outcome. Australia is sure when it comes to the steps it will take in the duration of the inquiry. She added that it is essential to be clear and consistent, as well as work each through each issue as it comes. Conflict between countries The new version drafted by the E.U. does not mention China by name, but the action from Australia has sparked anger from Beijing, which has threatened a high tariff on barley. Within two days, China ramped up new tariffs of up to 80 percent on Australian barley imports and banned beef imports from four companies. Further, China has accused Australia of launching a political attack. However, motion backers are still awaiting support from major key players in the world, including China. "Of course, we need to have the support of all the major players, and China is one of them," Virginie Battu-Henriksson, EU's spokeswoman for foreign affairs, said. "For us, it is not the moment for us to enter any kind of blame game as we've seen in narratives from one part or another of the world," she added. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping defended the country's actions during the outbreak. He said China had acted with transparency and emphasized that any investigation should happen after the pandemic has been controlled. WASHINGTON - Michael Flynn's attorneys asked an appeals court on Tuesday to order a federal judge to dismiss the conviction of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser. Flynn's lawyers also asked the appeals court in Washington to reverse the judge's order allowing outside groups and a retired federal judge to argue against the Justice Department's request to toss the case. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan last week paused Flynn's case to hear from interested parties and appointed former New York federal judge John Gleeson to argue against the government request. Sullivan also asked Gleeson to examine whether the former three-star general may have committed perjury while pleading guilty to lying about his pre-inauguration contacts with Russia's ambassador. In a 44-page filing to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Flynn's lawyers accused Sullivan of bias and acting at "loggerheads" with recent Supreme Court precedent. Sidney Powell and Flynn's other attorneys also asked that the case be reassigned for any future proceedings. "The egregious Government misconduct, and the three-year abuse of General Flynn and his family, cry out for ending this ordeal immediately and permanently," Powell wrote. "The district judge's orders reveal his plan to continue the case indefinitely, rubbing salt in General Flynn's open wound from the Government's misconduct and threatening him with criminal contempt." The Justice Department on May 7 moved to toss out the guilty plea of the highest-ranking Trump adviser convicted in special counsel Robert Mueller III's Russia investigation. The department concluded that Flynn should never have been interviewed by the FBI and therefore his lies concealing his Russian contacts were immaterial to any crime. Critics dispute the department's move, saying it distorted facts and appeared to serve the president's personal political interests by giving an aide impunity to lie to government investigators. Flynn pleaded guilty to lying in an FBI interview on Jan. 24, 2017, to conceal conversations with Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador at the time. The conversations involved talks before Trump took office about avoiding U.S. sanctions and other policies imposed late in Barack Obama's administration after Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. In a declassified email released Tuesday by Senate Republicans, former national security adviser Susan Rice noted concern in Obama's White House about the frequency of Flynn's contacts with Kislyak and that the then-FBI director said sharing classified information with him could "potentially" be an issue. Obama emphasized that the handling of the Russia investigation should be done by the book, Rice wrote in a note to herself on Jan. 20, 2017, which was Inauguration Day. In their filing Tuesday, Flynn's lawyers said prosecutors, not judges, have the authority to decide how to handle pending criminal charges. Judges, they said, may not "change the issues in the case by inviting or appointing" others to perform the executive branch's duties to investigate or prosecute. "A district court cannot deny the Government's motion to dismiss because the judge has 'a disagreement with the prosecution's exercise of charging authority,' they said. "Nor should a court second-guess the Government's 'conclusion that additional prosecution or punishment would not serve the public interest.' " In asking that the case be reassigned, Flynn's defense criticized Sullivan for suggesting at a December 2018 hearing that Flynn may have committed "treason," before correcting himself, and for saying the former general had "sold [his] country out." "This is an umpire who has decided to steal public attention from the players and focus it on himself," Powell wrote. "He wants to pitch, bat, run bases, and play shortstop. In truth, he is way out in left field." The filing also suggests that the retired judge Sullivan appointed is not impartial because of an opinion piece by Gleeson that appeared in The Washington Post. In the article, Gleeson questioned the Justice Department's move to dismiss the case against Flynn and suggested that the court "assess the credibility of the department's stated reasons for abruptly reversing course." Flynn's attorneys petitioned the appeals court for a writ of mandamus, used when no other relief is available, that requires a party to show "clear and indisputable" right to reverse error by a court. Meeting that high bar may be difficult because the judge has not made a decision yet on the Justice Department's request, but has appointed a retired judge to advise him now that the government has decided to drop the case. In abandoning the nearly 3-year-old case, the Justice Department cited recently uncovered FBI records showing that the bureau had decided to close a counterintelligence investigation of Flynn - dubbed Operation Razor - before learning of his December 2016 calls with Kislyak. The Justice Department also said the FBI knew from transcripts that the calls probably did not give rise to a crime by themselves and that FBI officials differed over how to handle or interpret his actions. Legal analysts and those involved in the case vigorously dispute the Justice Department's claims as an attempt to please the president and attack his adversaries. Critics of Attorney General William Barr's decision argued that the FBI had ample legitimate grounds to investigate Flynn's lies, which went to the heart of the investigation into whether Trump's campaign coordinated with Russia's interference in the election. Flynn admitted under oath three times before two federal judges that he gave false statements to the FBI as well as to the White House. Federal law criminalizes lying in any matter under court, congressional or executive branch jurisdiction. Police in Indonesia said Monday they were investigating a report of another death of an Indonesian crew member aboard a Chinese fishing boat, after officials in Jakarta complained to their counterparts in Beijing about the deaths of four others who worked on Chinese boats. Police were also investigating allegations that the fifth Indonesian sailor, identified as Herdiyanto, had been mistreated while working on the boat, said Ferdy Sambo, director of the general crimes unit at the national police. A video showing the body of Herdiyanto, who worked on the Luqing Yuan Yu 623 boat, being thrown overboard has circulated on social media while a second video showed him being unable to walk and being assisted by three other people. The investigation will be conducted by the Central Java police with the assistance of the National Police Criminal Investigation Task Force, Ferdy told BenarNews. Ferdy said Herdiyanto was apparently sent to the boat by a labor recruitment agency based in Tegal, a regency of Central Java province. Abdi Suhufan, coordinator of Destructive Fishing Watch Indonesia, a local NGO, said his organization had received the video from a shipmate who said Herdiyanto had died on Jan. 16 and his body was tossed overboard in Somali waters on Jan. 23. We urge the foreign ministry to demand ship owners disclose the cause of his death and the reason for the disposal of his remains, Abdi said, adding that 21 other Indonesians had worked on the ship since November 2019. Previous deaths Earlier this month, the foreign ministry summoned Chinas ambassador to Jakarta over the deaths of four Indonesians and the treatment of others who had allegedly worked in harsh conditions on Chinese boats since last December. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the four who died had been registered to the Chinese fishing boat Long Xin 629. Two of the crewmen died on the boat in December, while one died in a South Korean hospital on April 27 and the fourth was transferred to another boat and died in March before it could reach port. Retnos actions came after a crew member of the fishing boat told South Korean media that he and others were sometimes forced to work 30 straight hours while standing, and given only six hours to eat and sleep before resuming their duties On Monday, Indonesian police said three people had been identified as suspects in a case linked to those four deaths. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, head of criminal investigations at the national police, said the three suspects, who police identified only by their initials, were top officials at migrant labor recruitment agencies in West Java and Central Java. It was determined that they are suspected in the crime of human trafficking with the intention of exploitation and promises of salaries and work placement, Listyo told BenarNews. However, he declined to say whether the three suspects had been arrested. Meanwhile, Edhy Prabowo, minister of Indonesias Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said the government should consider a moratorium on sending crews to work on foreign fishing boats. Also on Monday, Chinese officials promised to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations of mistreatment, the Chinese embassy in Jakarta said in a statement posted on its website. This was a tragic incident. The relevant authorities in China will conduct a comprehensive investigation, the embassy said. GULFPORT, Miss. - Three men pleaded guilty Tuesday for their roles in helping the man who is charged with capital murder in the 2019 shooting death of a Mississippi police officer. Joshua Michael Kovach, 22, and Wanya Toquest Atkinson, 21, both pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to capital murder, and Dalenetez Latavian Brice, 21, pleaded guilty to a charge of hindering prosecution, the Sun Herald reported. Biloxi police officer Robert Mack McKeithen, 57, was shot to death in an ambush-style attack outside a police station May 5, 2019. He had been an officer for more than 20 years. Darian Atkinson, now 20, is awaiting trial on a capital murder charge, and his attorneys said this month they will ask prosecutors not to seek the death penalty. Darian and Wanya Atkinson are brothers. Brice told Circuit Judge Christopher Schmidt he lied to investigators when they asked if he knew Darian Atkinson or had been around him after McKeithen was killed. Kovach and Wanya Atkinson said they helped the Darian Atkinson with a change of clothes. All three men met with Darian Atkinson at his mothers home in Biloxi after the shooting. Investigators have said Darian Atkinson walked 8 miles (13 kilometres) from a home in Gulfport to the Biloxi Police Department with the goal of killing a police officer. Darian Atkinson was taken into custody after a nearly 24-hour manhunt. He was captured in Wiggins after an off-duty Biloxi police officer spotted him walking down a road and called local authorities. Another of his brothers, Davian Atkinson, is facing prosecution on a charge of accessory after the fact to capital murder. Investigators say he has admitted he gave his brother a ride to Wiggins after the killing and allowed him to use his cellphone. Another man charged as an accessory, Andrew Anderson Sullivan, 19, of Gulfport, waived a grand jury investigation last year and pleaded guilty to a bill of information charging him as an accessory. All sentencings are being postponed until after the capital murder charge is resolved against Darian Atkinson. Accessory after the fact to capital murder carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. A barber has made way for his business to open up again despite safety concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic. He used his portable shields on wheels to keep customers healthy while getting a fresh haircut. Not only that, but other businesses are also creating ways for their businesses to thrive despite the lockdown, and it's something that you should look forward to as the new social norm in the age of the pandemic. Read More: 'The Flash' Star Logan Wiliams Cause of Death is due to Fentanyl Overdose. Grief-Stricken Mother Confirms Shield on Wheels Becomes A Thing Edwin Ramirez, who owns the hit barbershop called 201 Stylez on Park Avenue, located in Union City for over 15 years already, was forced to close its doors in March when the lockdown started with no positive date for reopening in the foreseeable future. He thought of a way to make his business run and give people much-needed haircuts, given that most of the barbershops or salons are closed due to the pandemic. Ramirez has said, "I never thought it would be this crazy how it is right now, The barbers have to feed their kids, pay their bills, got to pay the rent." Ramirez has shared this idea to his fellow barbers, which inspired to create the barbershop shields on wheels. He was able to showcase his it's used Sunday, while he was cutting his relative's hair inside the 201 Stylez barbershop. Ramirez said, "This is one of the essential pieces I made thinking for the customer, you're not on top of the client talking while you doing the haircut," and added, "At the end of the day everybody needs to get shaped up and cleaned up look good, we have to get adapted to what's coming up to fight this." He's also working on his concept to help hairstylists continue working despite the lockdown. Read More: [VIRAL] German Cafe Uses Hats With Pool Noodles to Practice Social Distancing After Restrictions Have Been Lifted Other Businesses Are Opening Up With Creative Means Daniel Halpern is a franchisee who owns 35 TGI Friday's restaurants from Los Angeles to the Carolinas and over 15 airport locations. He's preparing to open all of those stores with "cautious optimism." Halpern said he's getting ideas from the government's guidelines and will retrofit his restaurants with the proper protective equipment, sanitizing equipment, as well as temperature checks for all staff and guests. Halpern said, "One of the things that we're going to do is require our guests to wear a mask. If they don't have a mask, we'll sell them a mask. If they spend over a certain amount of money in the restaurant, we'll certainly give them the mask for free." "We want to protect the health of our guests, we certainly want to be kind of a value-added participant in the country of trying to reduce the curve," Halpern added. As for James Cumming's Great Clips franchise locations, the guests will be facing a new reality, which is "hair traffic controllers" that run point on social distancing guidelines. Cummings has over 46 locations in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky, in which all locations will be closely monitored for health and wellness. Cummings said, "We've turned our shampoo bowls into handwashing stations so you can wash easily between every customer. We've added plexiglass to the checkout counter and have spots on the floors to encourage social distancing." Read More: Sydney to Open a Drive-in Cinema as Indoor Cinemas Remain Closed Due to Coronavirus Restrictions 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. HACKENSACK, N.J., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Senior Company is providing its caregivers to hard-hit New Jersey long-term care facilities that desperately need the staffing help. These caregivers are fully-licensed nurses who are qualified to administer a large variety of services to seniors. The company has sent about 70 of their home health aides into large facilities. Facilities that house and care for seniors have struggled with a deluge of patients afflicted with the virus, as well as staffing shortages due to employees who fall ill, since the onset of the pandemic. Long-term care facilities have shown great dedication to the safety of seniors and staff by outfitting staff with personal protective equipment (PPE) including gowns and masks. The Senior Company commends these facilities for their commitment to the overall health and safety of everyone. Doing so has greatly limited exposure to the virus. While these facilities have gone above and beyond to protect their residents and staff members alike, assisted living and nursing homes are an ideal breeding ground for viruses. As a result, many residents of senior facilities have been diagnosed with the virus. The Senior Company helps ease staff shortages by providing any type of care seniors need, whether it is on a part-time, live-in, temporary or permanent basis. Caregivers are available 24 hours per day, seven days per week for those that need around-the-clock care. Highly experienced, skilled and compassionate nurses deliver world-class care to patients. The services The Senior Company provides include: Bathing and dressing Grooming Housekeeping Errands Monitoring vital signs Providing feeding tube support Meal assistance Managing medication on a weekly basis Caring for wounds Providing catheter support Administering IV therapy and injections Providing hospice care support Hospital transfers Dementia support Incontinence care Those permitted to work in senior facilities by the Board of Health changed after New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy, made the decision to allow certified home health agency (CHHA) caregivers to work in these facilities through the Board of Health. "This is a reason to continue to hire. Even though NJ has seemed to flatten the curve of the virus, staffing needs in facilities continue to grow," said Calvin Bynum, Executive Director at The Senior Company. "Hospital admissions might be down, but the patients that are recovering are now being discharged to rehabs which need the most help right now. We also need to staff up and prepare for the wave of discharges home from the rehabs which we are anticipating and fully prepared for," Bynum added. About The Senior Company The Senior Company is a trusted New Jersey home health care agency that provides 24/7 home care services for the elderly. As a full service New Jersey Home Health Care Agency, The Senior Company specializes in providing support for seniors who may need full time home care assistance, live in home care assistance or part time home care assistance at home or in a facility after transitioning from the Hospital or Skilled Nursing Facility in their local area. The Senior Company is a Dual Licensed, Dual Accredited, Bonded & Insured Certified Home Health Care & Certified Help Firm practicing in the North New Jersey area. The Senior Company provides Personal Care as well as Skilled Nursing Care services that are available to help seniors and families who are in need of assistance with activities of daily living. Some of these "ADL's" include bathing, toileting, dressing, light housekeeping, meal preparation, errands, hospice care and other personalized hourly or live-in home care services. The Senior Company is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Home Care for meeting the industry's highest recognized standards of care in The State of New Jersey. Contact: The Senior Company Totowa: 973-355-6336 Hackensack: 201-355-5209 Related Images image1.png SOURCE The Senior Company A high-ranking official in Ukraines National Police made international news last week after it was revealed that he sent a letter to the head of the citys Jewish community demanding a list with the names and personal data of Jews residing in the western city of Kolomyya. Myhaylo Bank The letter, which was dated February 18, 2020, was signed by Myhaylo Bank, an officer in the national police force who handles organized crime. The contents of Banks letter were made public on Twitter last week by Eduard Dolinsky, the director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee. He described the letter as a total disgrace and open anti-Semitism. The letter reads: Please provide us the following information regarding the Orthodox Jewish religious community of Kolomyya, namely: The organizations charter; list of members of the Jewish religious community, with indication of data, mobile phones and their places of residence. Bank also requested the personal information concerning Jewish students studying in the regions universities. He attributed the request to a fight against transnational and ethnically organized groups and criminal organizations. In addition to targeting Kolomyyas Jewish community, Bank sent a letter to the representatives of ethnic Poles living in the city, demanding similar information. Jacob Zalichker, the head of Kolomyyas Jewish community, declined to provide the requested information without a court-ordered warrant and ultimately shared the letter with Dolinsky, who initially thought it was a joke. The letter sent by Bank (photo: Twitter) Far from a joke, the letter is further proof that far-right and racist elements openly operate within the US-backed Ukrainian state. Such elements have only been strengthened since 2014, when they were employed by a section of the Ukrainian ruling class to overthrow the elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych, with the full support of both US and German imperialism. Ukraines National Police force was formed in 2015 as part of the reforms initiated by former President Petro Poroshenko following the United States-backed coup in 2014. Since its inception, the organization has been led by the Ukrainian minister of the interior, Arsen Avakov, who has well known ties to the countrys most notorious fascist militia, the Azov Battalion. Avakov has denounced any attempts by the US Congress to designate the group as a terrorist organization. Avakov is the only holdover from the Poroshenko regime to remain in the government of Volodymyr Zelensky, who succeeded Poroshenko after winning the presidential election of April, 2019. The former US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, warmly praised the Zelensky government in her testimony before the House of Representatives during the Trump impeachment investigation last year. Under Avakovs leadership, Ukraines far-right groups have been given free rein to carry out a range of targeted political assassinations and attacks on ethnic minorities. The culprits are rarely arrested or, if arrested, are punished with minimal sentences. Meanwhile, the groups with which they are affiliated, such as the Azov Battalion and the neo-Nazi C-14, are allowed to continue their operations. They maintain close ties with representatives of the Ukrainian government. In October of 2019, Zelenskys former prime minister, Oleksiy Honcharuk, attended a neo-Nazi-organized rock concert and gave a speech while positioned in front of a swastika flag. Last week, following protests by the Israeli ambassador to Ukraine upon news of Banks letter, the head of Ukraines National Police, Gen. Ihor Klymenko, announced that he was opening an investigation into the matter rather than immediately firing Bank for an obvious case of anti-Semitic persecution and intimidation. President Zelensky has not made a single statement on the case. Late last year, his government, following in the footsteps of Poroshenko, named a series of Nazi collaborators as national heroes. While particularly egregious and scandalous, the case in Kolomyya is only the latest in a long series of state-led crackdowns and efforts at intimidation of religious and ethnic minorities. Last month, in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, which is located just an hour from Kolomyya, Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv ordered local police to remove Roma from the city and transport them to the countrys Transcarpathia region. After being notified by police that 12 Roma individuals refused to leave, Martsinkiv angrily snapped, What does refused mean? And why werent they packed up? You are the police. You must resolve this issue by next Tuesday. We gave you a bus. The police asked for a bus and we gave it to you. Why werent they packed up and taken out? Martsinkiv, who is a member of the far-right Svoboda Party, which was intimately involved in the 2014 coup, also suggested that Roma were responsible for spreading COVID-19 within Ukraine. In January, in Ivano-Frankivsk, local officials, including Martsinkiv, attended the funeral of a veteran of the Nazi-led SS Division Galicia, which was made up of Ukrainian volunteers who committed atrocities against ethnic Poles in western Ukraine. During World War II, approximately 1.5 million Ukrainian Jews were killed by the Nazis and their Ukrainian fascist collaborators. Weve been waiting to return to the Island of Gods for some time now. And though much fuss was made the other week when Qantas revealed its overseas 2021 travel plan, many countries were missing from the coveted list. Though it was revealed Qantas has scheduled flights to the UK, US, Canada, and Singapore from the 18th of December and Japan and Fiji from the 19th of December (pending the government actually opening our borders), no dates were given for Indonesia. It was reported earlier this month that flights to riskier destinations with low levels of vaccination (think: Bali, Phuket, Bangkok, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Johannesburg) would take a little longer to be on the agenda (think: more like April 2022). However, over the weekend there was a flurry of news regarding Bali. The Indonesian government flagged plans to open Bali (the holiday isle 1.23million Australians visited in 2019) as soon as October, with the ABC reporting foreigners are expected to be allowed back in from November once 70 per cent of the local population has been vaccinated. But how much would that really change things for Australians? The short answer is: not much at all. Mainly because, as has happened throughout much of the pandemic, no matter what offer another country might throw at Australian tourists, until our federal government lifts our blanket travel ban we cant go anywhere. So, in that sense, its irrelevant. On the other hand, the fact that Indonesias COVID-19 situation appears to be improving is as well as being good news in itself a positive sign for Australians hoping to visit Bali sooner rather than later. However: though The Indonesian government is considering reopening Bali to countries with a low spread of Covid-19 (including Japan, Singapore and New Zealand) as part of its October 2021 plan, and though Australia could easily be added to this when we hit 80% fully vaccinated something that should happen in November 2021 the reality is that if UK travel from Australia isnt (at this stage) set to start until December the 18th, then it would be a miracle if Bali travel (for Australians) started in November. View this post on Instagram A post shared by BALI TRAVEL GUIDE THEBALICHILI (@thebalichili) The upshot? Claims in the media that travel to Bali could be a reality for Australians within months may be technically true but are a little bit misleading. Dont break out the Bintang just yet. By the same token, the quicker Bali bounces back from the pandemic, the quicker Australians are likely to be able to visit again (whenever that may be). Indonesias Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan has said the addition of confirmed cases of COVID-19 had dropped by 94.5 per cent since a peak in mid-July, 7news.com.au reports. Luhut also told a news conference that Indonesias hospital bed occupancy rate had fallen below 15%, while the proportion of people tested who are positive was at less than 5%. Looking to the future, Australias prime minister Scott Morrison has said vaccine passports will be key to rejoining the world when our borders do finally open. Qantas has said it will require Australians travelling overseas to be fully vaccinated to board its flights. Read Next Some animals get a bad rap due to misinformation. Often, a little bit of education goes a long way. The other day I received a phone call from a frantic friend that had a snake outside her home. She wasnt sure what kind it was and was afraid if it was venomous, one of her dogs might get bitten. I understood her concern and made the three-mile drive to her property to identify and possibly remove the snake. Upon arriving, I heard her commanding her dogs to stay away from the snake. Quickly running around the side of her house, I discovered she had the snake neutralized at the end of a long broom against the foundation on the side of the house. The snake seemed to be as upset as my friend and her dogs! It was semi-coiled its mouth agape in order to defend itself against the onslaught of activity around it. Instantly recognizing that it was a non-venomous rat snake, I told her to drop the broom and I would handle things from here. Picking up the startled snake, I explained to her that rat snakes eat rats, mice and other rodents that can cause damage to homes and other structures. I have heard that the number two cause of structure fires in the United States is from rodents chewing on wires in attics and walls resulting in a spark causing a disastrous fire. Many species of snakes feed on rats, mice and other rodents. I also remember from a long-ago history lesson that rodents were the cause of many of the plagues and transmitted diseases that were brought to North America centuries ago. Also, rodents are known to carry fleas and ticks which can transmit diseases to humans. Over its lifetime, a snake will eat hundreds of rodents which may harbor thousands of fleas and ticks. Anyway, I quickly relayed this information to the now calmer friend who instantly understood what I was telling her. Interestingly enough, she recently had a problem with rodents getting into her kitchen and chewing through several cardboard boxes containing food! She had recently signed a contract with a pest control company to check and treat her house monthly for destructive rodents. This service doesnt come cheap! The situation quickly turned from a frantic call for help due to her finding the snake and wanting it dead or far away from her house to just the opposite. Telling her the choices were for me to remove the snake or leave it on her property to do its thing on destructive and possible disease carrying rodents, she chose the latter. I was proud of her for making this choice. Despite most peoples fear of some of natures often misunderstood animals such as snakes, bats, spiders and others, sometimes a little bit of education goes a long way! Seems like once we research and learn about some things a bit of accurate knowledge can really pay off! Simply realizing that critters are here for a reason and deserve a bit of respect can go a long way regarding the safety of humans, pets and the animals themselves. We tend to better understand only what we actually and accurately learn about certain things. Lesson-learned, a good snake is not always a dead snake! Enjoy your nature trails. For questions or comments, e-mail Jerry at jwalls443@gmail.com In recent weeks, the coronavirus conversation has shifted. Were starting to talk about the great reopening, the restart of the economy after months of enforced shutdowns. The practical effects will be played out in the various states, as some stay in lockdown while others move, in a range of ways, to restart the business of living. The results will inform the national debate, whether well see the grim path of a prolonged recession, the rosy case of a V-shaped recovery, or something in between. But a full recovery is for the long-term; closer in, the risks are greater. Writing on the markets for Goldman Sachs, chief US equity strategist David Kostin says, "Basically, all of the good and optimistic outlook is basically priced into the market today. So where the markets trading now, I would say the asymmetry of upside [is] perhaps 2%, the downside maybe 15%. Referring to the risks, Kostin writes, A single catalyst may not spark a pullback, but a number of concerns and risks exist that we believe investors are downplaying. Among the risks Kostin delineates for investors are a possible 15% unemployment rate, companies slashing dividends in the second half of the year, an uneven and dragged-out economic recovery, and the uncertainties of the November Presidential election. So, coming from this background, its significant that the stock analysts at Goldman Sacks are finding bullish calls. Using a more selective, risk-averse approach, fitting for their firms general stance, theyve found a series of compelling Buys in todays markets. Weve used the TipRanks database to pull up the details on three of Goldman Sachs recent stock picks. Axalta Coating Systems (AXTA) Perhaps best known to casual observers as a major NASCAR sponsor, Axalta is a stalwart of the automotive coatings industry. More than just paint and finishes, high-tech industrial coatings seal and protect the surface of the vehicle. Axalta develops and produces coatings for industrial and refinishing applications, as well as for light and commercial vehicles. The company boasts a market share of $4.94 billion, and a line-up of 10 product brands in six distinct niches. Story continues Like many companies, Axalta saw hard times in the first quarter 2020, as EPS declined 8.8% to 31 cents. Looking forward, Wall Street expects to see further declines in Q2, to a net loss of 13 cents. The declines come as the coronavirus economy with enforced shutdowns has slowed or stopped both production and sales. AXTA shares have underperformed the broader markets in the current rally, and are still 30% below their late-February peak. While Axalta is in a doldrums now, 5-star analyst Robert Koort from Goldman Sachs is optimistic that the company can bounce back quickly. He cites experience in China, were Axaltas refinish business is already improving as that country implements economic restarts in hard-hit regions. Koort writes, anticipating the US economic reopening, looking forward there is basis for optimism. The company is looking at three key variables: lifting of stay-at-home orders impacting the Renish business, the pace of Auto OEM production following ramp out of shut-downs, and broad consumer demand. Additionally, Axalta expects Renish customers to get out in front of the demand recovery following the lift of stay-at-home orders, which could drive a restocking-driven demand surge off of currently low inventory levels. In line with his upbeat outlook here, Koort has upgraded AXTA stock from Neutral to Buy. His $25 price target implies a 12-month upside potential of 19%. (To watch Koorts track record, click here) AXTA shares get a Strong Buy from the analyst consensus rating, based on not fewer than 12 Buy ratings outweighing 4 Holds. Shares are priced low at $19.20, while the $22.38 average price target suggests a modest 6.5% premium in the coming year. (See Axalta stock analysis on TipRanks) ConocoPhillips (COP) The first stock on our list of Goldman Sacks recommendations is ConocoPhillips, a giant of the energy industrys upstream (exploration and production) sector. COP, the worlds largest upstream hydrocarbon company, boasting a $47 billion market cap, finished last year with $7.2 billion in net income, or $6.40 per share. The company beat earnings estimates in a difficult Q1 environment, despite a year-over-year decline. EPS came in at 45 cents, more than double the 21-cent forecast. Revenues were down heavily, at $4.8 billion, and missed the estimates by 26%. In revenues and share price performance, COP has underperformed the markets this year. In a point of great interest to income-minded investors, ConocoPhillips raised its dividend in Q4 and has maintained the new, higher payment. At 42 cents per share quarterly, the dividend annualizes to $1.68 and offers a yield of 4.11%, more than double the average dividend yield found among S&P-listed companies. The payout ratio, at 93%, is high, but indicates that COPs dividend remains affordable even after the drop in earnings. Goldman Sachs analyst Neil Mehta believes that COPs current low share price represents a buying opportunity. Mehta writes, we believe we are seeing micro/macro fundamentals bottoming and expect ConocoPhillips to be a strong participant in the upcoming oil price upcycle, given the level of underperformance relative to large cap US majors to date, as well as the companys strong leverage to Brent. "As investors filter through the Energy sector looking for quality companies on sale, we believe that ConocoPhillips is one that will be able to emerge from the downcycle with its financial position still showing resilience," Mehta added. Mehtas $51 price target supports his Buy rating, and implies a 17% upside to the stock. (To watch Mehtas track record, click here) In general, the rest of the Street is on the same page. 15 Buy ratings compared to 2 Holds assigned in the last three months give it a Strong Buy analyst consensus. However, at the $46 average price target, shares could surge just 6% over the next twelve months. (See ConocoPhillips stock analysis on TipRanks) Canadian Natural (CNQ) Staying with the energy industry, we now take a look at Canadian Natural. This company is the largest landholder in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin, major oil- and gas-bearing formation. CNQ is the largest heavy crude oil producer in Canada, and a major player in the natural gas industry. The company has also diversified outside of Canada, and controls several offshore operations in the North Sea and off the West African coast. CNQ reported a 2% increase in total production last year, showing 1.098 billion barrels of oil equivalent for 2019. The company also reported a free cash flow of $4.6 billion, giving a firm foundation going into 2020. That was a fortunate, as Q1 of this year saw a sharp drop in earnings, as CNQ posted its first net loss in 5 quarters. EPS came in at minus 33 cents, a far cry from the expected 4-cent profit. Even though CNQ showed a net loss in Q1, the company maintained its dividend payment. Canadian Natural has a long history of keeping those payments reliable, and also of paying out a high yield. At 7.2%, the stocks dividend yield is more than double the 3.04% sector average, and more than triple the S&P 500 average. And, it absolutely clobbers US Treasury bonds, which are yielding below 1%. Goldmans Neil Mehta notes four reasons to Buy this stock, but citing two will suffice to show his bullish stance: First, as detailed here and here, we have shifted our more negative oil view and defensive Energy equities stance to a more positive/offensive one over the last three weeks. CNQ has strong leverage to an oil and natural gas price recovery that we anticipate. Second, we see sufcient liquidity to make it through the 2020 downcycle and see the company well positioned in 2021-2022 to delever (sic). To this end, Mehta upgrades the stock to Buy, and his $21 price target indicates his confidence in a 12% upside potential from current levels. With 14 recent review, breaking down to 11 Buys, 2 Holds, and 1 Sell, CNQ shares have a Moderate Buy rating from the analyst consensus. The stock sells for $18.74, and the $20.49 average price target implies an upside of 9%(See Canadian Natural stock analysis on TipRanks) To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights. Former Vice President Joe Biden told campaign donors today that any Israeli annexation of the West Bank would choke off any hope for peace, according to a transcript of the presumptive Democratic nominees remarks seen by Al-Monitor. We also have to make clear I do not support annexation, the presumptive Democratic nominee said at a virtual fundraiser with Jewish Democrats. Israel needs to stop the threats of annexation and stop settlement activity because it will choke off any hope of peace. Today neither [Israels] present government or the Palestinians want to take steps thanks to President Trumps unilateralism. He added that the Trump administration has just been unequivocal on anything that [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] does and has been equivocating on the importance of this two-state solution. Tickets for the virtual fundraiser started at $1,000 and hosts had to raise or contribute $28,000. Why it matters: Bidens comments came a day after his chief foreign policy adviser, Tony Blinken, told advocates from the Democratic Majority for Israel group that the former vice president would raise most disagreements with the close US ally in private. But the former vice presidents remarks today illustrate an inherent point of tension with Netanyahu, who wants to move forward with annexation as soon as possible for fear that a Biden victory in November could complicate his plans. Israel's ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, has started lobbying the Trump administration and Congress to line up behind annexation before the November election in case Biden wins, Israels Channel 13 reported Monday. Netanyahu secured a deal with his Blue and White coalition partners, led by Benny Gantz, to move forward with annexation as soon as July per the terms of Israels new unity government. Trumps peace plan calls for the annexation of Israeli settlements in the West Bank as well as the entire Jordan Valley, but Gantz has expressed reservations over the issue, reportedly prompting the Trump administration to reconsider the timeline. Biden had previously warned that annexation would undermine support for Israel within the United States in a video address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committees annual conference in March. Whats next: Biden also reiterated that he would not place conditions on US military aid for Israel as president despite pressure from the left to use it as leverage against annexation. He also committed to restoring Palestinian aid within the confines of the Taylor Force Act, which withholds assistance equal to the amount the Palestinian Authority spends on payments to convicted terrorists or their families. Know more: Netanyahus Blue and White coalition partners may be ambivalent about annexing the Jordan Valley, but Rina Bassist reports that Israels new Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi who hails from their ranks publicly embraced Trumps peace plan Monday. Hitting out at the Congress, BJP president J P Nadda said on Tuesday that the Supreme Court's order and observations on pleas filed by senior journalist Arnab Goswami sends a "strong message" that the opposition party should shed its "Emergency mindset" and respect democratic ideals. "The COVID-19 situation in Maharashtra is worrying and I hope the Congress devotes its energies towards curing people rather than silencing journalists.The people of India are watching the misadventures of the Congress and will keep punishing them for its highhandedness," Nadda said in his tweets. The reaction from the BJP chief came after the apex courtrefused to quash the initial FIR against Republic TV Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami over his show on the Palghar lynching but gave some relief by setting aside related multiple FIRs and complaints holding they had a "stifling" effect on the exercise of freedom and expression. Observing that free citizens cannot exist when the media is chained to adhere to one position, the court said journalistic freedom lies at the core of the fundamental right to free speech and India's freedom will rest safe as long as journalists can speak to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal. Nadda said, "Today, the Hon'ble SC has made important observations. The Court's observations should make the perpetrators of the Emergency, the assaulters of free speech and tramplers of media freedom- the Congress Party - introspect and change their style of functioning." "Regarding the bogus FIRs filed to trouble Arnab Goswami, SC recognised yet again the journalist's right to free speech and quashed multiple FIRs. It stated 'India's freedom will rest safe as long as journalist can speak to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal," he said. The BJP leader put out parts of the court's order to slam the opposition party. The SC, he noted, quoted author Yuval Harari's remarks that "Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question." The BJP president said there is a strong message to the Congress in the above quote. "The Congress should shed its Emergency mindset and respect democratic ideals," he said. PTI KR http://ptinews.com/images/pti.jpg We bring the World to you" Disclaimer : This e-mail message may contain proprietary, confidential or legally privileged information for the sole use of the person or entity to whom this message was originally addressed. Please delete this e-mail, if it is not meant for you. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A pastor in Nigeria's southern city of Calabar has been arrested for breaching lockdown rules by conducting a wedding in his church. In a video, guests can be seen fleeing as officials entered the building. The pastor, from the Apostolic Church, was arrested on Saturday by members of Cross River state's Covid-19 taskforce who were on patrol. They got suspicious after seeing an unusual number of vehicles parked in front of the church. "We were patrolling to see the compliance level when we noticed cars parked and it had me wondering where the cars had come from," Potrait Peterson, the leader of the patrol team told BBC Pidgin. He said when his team entered the church, they found more than 300 people gathered, in violation of social distancing guidelines in the state. The state is one of only two in Nigeria yet to record any case of coronavirus and authorities had banned public gatherings of more than five people. The state was also one of the first in Nigeria to make face masks mandatory in public. The video of the raid shows the guests fleeing and leaving the bemused wedding couple, before the groom led his bride down the aisle to the exit. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE The states top health official has warned a southeastern New Mexico county manager about possible legal action for suggesting businesses could reopen in violation of state orders. The dispute is the latest dust-up over compliance with state edicts aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, which had killed 270 people in New Mexico through Monday. Lea County Manager Mike Gallagher said last week that businesses in the county will open when business owners decide the timing is right. In a Monday interview, Gallagher said the county has not told businesses to open, but that they should weigh the economic costs of staying closed with the possible consequences of defying the states business restrictions, which can include hefty fines and possible jail time. Were not trying to be defiant, but were encouraging people to make their own decisions, he told the Journal. In response to Gallaghers initial remarks, state Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel told the county manager in a letter that he should stop interfering with the states public health orders, which carry the weight of law. Your actions not only directly violate state law and undermine the rule of law, but directly imperil the health and safety of your constituents, educational institutions, nursing home facilities and greatly expose local businesses to severe, yet unnecessary penalties, Kunkel wrote. The letter, which Gallagher said was hand-delivered by a State Police officer, also directed the county to provide a reopening plan within five days to the state that includes information about how it plans to handle continued virus testing, reporting and contact tracing. Gallagher said the Lea County Commission will likely discuss the issue at a meeting this week. But he said commissioners received no response from state health officials after passing a resolution last month calling on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration to treat all businesses the same. We have to weigh whats best for the residents of our community with the orders from a state official, Gallagher said. Nobody wants to be on the governors bad side, he added. Lea County, which has an estimated population of about 71,000 residents, has recorded 18 confirmed coronavirus cases and no deaths since COVID-19 first hit New Mexico in March. And about half of those infected in Lea County have recovered, Gallagher said. Statewide, there have been 6,096 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the Department of Health has designated 1,796 people as having recovered from the disease. Meanwhile, disputes over reopening New Mexicos economy might be intensifying. Grants Mayor Martin Modey Hicks last month moved to let his citys businesses open despite rising New Mexico COVID-19 cases, describing Lujan Grishams actions as government overreach. However, the state Supreme Court ordered the mayor to comply with the public health orders and stop nonessential businesses from reopening, after Attorney General Hector Balderas office filed a petition with the court. Lujan Grishams administration last week issued a revised public health order that allows retailers and houses of worship in most parts of New Mexico to reopen at limited capacity. But dine-in restaurants, gyms, salons and movie theaters remain closed for now, as Lujan Grisham said its not safe yet for them to reopen. Journal Capitol Bureau reporter Dan McKay contributed to this report. Coronavirus Hotline 1-855-600-3453 Non-health-related COVID-19 questions 1-833-551-0518 CAPPAMORE is renowned for its community spirit and Timmy Butler epitomised it, writes Donal O'Regan. The sudden passing of the 68-year-old Farnane man shocked the parish and his many friends across County Limerick. But the biggest loss is to his loving wife Mary, daughter Aoife, sons Jamie, Neil and Tadhg, to his brothers Jimmy and Noel and to his sister Esther. Timmy was involved in Cappamore GAA Club, Cappamore Show, Cappamore Tidy Towns, Cappamore Gun Club, Cappamore Development Association, Limerick diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes, Friends of St Michaels Church and the local Fine Gael branch. Minister Patrick ODonovan said he knew Timmy for more than a decade. First, on a pilgrimage to Lourdes and then when he was a general election candidate. Cappamore had been taken out of the old Limerick East and moved into Limerick County. Cappamore is a long way from his base in Newcastle West. Timmy and a few more from Cappamore came up to me after the convention and volunteered to help me. He became a great friend of mine after that and he gave me a huge amount of time and support. His heart was in the community. His heart wasn't in political argy bargy. His heart was in trying to do his best by the community, said Minister ODonovan. He said in politics you have a lot of acquaintances but very few friends. I would count Timmy as a very good friend. I'm just shocked. I will miss him big time. He is a good friend and a good friend is gone. He exuded decency, said Minister ODonovan. On the pilgrimage to Lourdes, the minister said Timmy was the life and soul of the party for the elderly and infirm. Timmys legacy is that he will be missed. I think that is the greatest legacy you can have in this life. Timmys journey here is over but I'm sure if they are voting somewhere else Timmy is putting up posters and handing out leaflets. Future elections wont be the same without him, said Minister ODonovan, whose children loved seeing Timmys array of exotic birds and animals at the Cappamore Show. Paddy Ryan Luke, long-serving secretary of Cappamore Show, said Timmy was a highly respected member of the committee. He was a great community man in so many walks of life. In the show he was involved in the preparation of the grounds and setting up his compound for the animals. He had a wide range of exotic birds and animals. It gave show patrons the opportunity to get up close to them. They commanded a great interest every year. He was a genius in that respect - he had a great love of nature, said Mr Ryan. He said that he and all committee members were shocked and saddened when they heard the sad news. Timmy is a major loss to his wife and family and to all of us who had the pleasure of knowing him. On behalf of Cappamore Show, I would like to extend my sympathies, said Mr Ryan, who also spoke of quiet acts of kindness carried out by Timmy. In his youth, Timmy hurled with Cappamore GAA Club and once retired he gave years of service as selector on multiple teams and as both manager and trainer of many underage panels. Former Cappamore GAA chairman, Ger Lonergan said he got an awful shock. We do the lotto every Monday night and Timmy used to sell tickets. I used to call to him every week and we would have a great auld chat about hurling or whatever it would be. I only saw him four or five weeks before he passed away and he was in great form. Timmy played for Cappamore in a county semi-final in 1970 when he was only 17. Corner back or wing back were his positions. He had a long career with Cappamore. He was on the 1984 team that was beaten in the county final against the Well. Timmy was the finest, said Mr Lonergan. Cappamore GAA Club and, indeed, the whole parish held a socially distanced guard of honour at his funeral Mass. From the church in Cappamore to the graveyard in Doon, neighbours and friends stood outside their homes and at crossroads to say a final farewell to a man they held dear. For this, the Butler family are deeply appreciative. The Tidy Towns was another huge aspect of Timmys life. He was chairman for over a decade. Secretary, Eamonn Mullane, said Timmy was an extraordinary man and one before his time. He had a huge interest in wildlife, the protection of wildlife, biodiversity, plants and flowers. He believed that each community had a responsibility to maintain itself to as good extent as they could. He saw his community as an extension of his own house. Timmy was proud of his house, his own place, proud of his own immediate locale, proud of the village, proud of the parish. He was constantly on the lookout for things that needed attention and developing areas of biodiversity. He did that with a pollinated refuge at St Marys riverside park, said Mr Mullane. Way before there was any public consideration on the environment and the impact human beings can have on the environment, Mr Mullane said Timmy was considerate of the impact he was having. He was a man before his time, said Mr Mullane. Cllr Martin Ryan said it has been a very sad time for Cappamore. Timmy was very much part of the show and the Tidy Towns - Timmy was a big part of Cappamore. He did a lot of good work for Cappamore and deserves a lot of credit for it. He was a very pleasant man to have a conversation with, said Cllr Ryan. Timmy will have a wry smile on his face at the last word going to a Fianna Fail man. But that was Timmy - nobody had a bad word to say about him. May he rest in peace. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority considers itself free of all agreements and understandings with both Israel and the U.S. including on security matters because of Israel's annexation plans. Why it matters: Abbas appears now to be following through on a drastic threat he had made previously, though it remains to be seen if and how his statement will be implemented. "The Palestine Liberation Organization and the State of Palestine are absolved, as of today, of all the agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments and of all the obligations based on these understandings and agreements, including the security ones." Mahmoud Abbas Abbas' remarks came in a speech at an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership to discuss the new Israeli governments plans to annex parts of the West Bank. Abbas said that, as the occupying power, Israel should now take the responsibility over the West Bank. Abbas stressed that the Israeli plan to move ahead on annexation is a unilateral cancellation of the Oslo Accords, signed in the 1990s. Abbas said the Trump administration was responsible for the crisis, and has become complicit in the Israeli occupation." He praised other American stakeholders that are more supportive of the Palestinians. Abbas called on all the countries who are opposed to annexation and Trump's peace plan to recognize Palestine as a state. The backdrop: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during his swearing-in ceremony on Sunday that now is the time for Israel to annex its settlements in the West Bank. Opposition leader Jared Cassidy renewed calls for rates to be frozen in the upcoming Brisbane City Council budget, as the council passed a rates relief motion that would allow residents to defer rate payments during the pandemic. Ratepayers affected by coronavirus can request a deferral of rate payments for up to nine months, a move announced by lord mayor Adrian Schrinner in early March. Labors council leader, Jared Cassidy, has called for more rates relief. (File photo) Credit:Tammy Law Not-for-profit organisations are also eligible for full rates remissions if they qualify, and council will pay the state emergency levy on their behalf. But Cr Cassidy said the council should do more than just defer rates for hard-hit residents and waive them entirely, while also ensuring there is no increase in rates in the upcoming council budget. The stress of the coronavirus pandemic is testing even the closest relationships. President Trump and Fox News are no exception. In a dust-up between the top-rated cable news channel and its most prominent loyal viewer, Mr. Trump unleashed a barrage against the Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto, who gave a withering on-air assessment of the presidents announcement that he was ingesting hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug that can pose dangers for coronavirus patients. .@FoxNews is no longer the same, Mr. Trump lamented on Twitter. Invoking the name of Fox Newss late founder, the president added: We miss the great Roger Ailes. You have more anti-Trump people, by far, than ever before. Looking for a new outlet! By Tuesday morning, the president had apparently warmed to the network again, congratulating the morning show Fox & Friends on its high ratings. But the fissure underscored Mr. Trumps keen sensitivity to any hint of criticism from his preferred TV network, where star pundits like Sean Hannity and Steve Doocy have made prime-time and morning shows into pro-Trump cheering platforms. Costi Hinn names new wave of prosperity preachers, says they are not like his uncle, are businessmen Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Correction appended Costi Hinn, nephew of famed faith healer Benny Hinn, recently shared his experience of being in the prosperity gospel circle where he used donations for his lavish lifestyle and said the movement is now operating in the young Christian culture. The pastor has become well-known for exposing some of the pitfalls of the lifestyle and teachings of his famous uncle and the prosperity gospel. In the latest PreachersNSneakers Podcast episode, Hinn sharing candidly about growing up in that lavish lifestyle, where he once had a decked out Hummer, and it was then that he was around the next generation of prosperity gospel pastors. "Back then, a lot of these guys that are on your account, that are younger, their dads were pretty decent preachers, just good guys, they weren't real wild. They weren't rolling in Bentleys and all that. They would never hit the news as a prosperity preacher. But this whole next generation of guys that are almost like Christian TED Talk motivational speaker types, they really hit it in the business world, Hinn explained. It's almost like gospel business and so it's a different world. They stay away from the white suits, like my uncle, they are not speaking in tongues everywhere and throwing their jackets at people and doing massive crusades. They're appealing to culture in a way that is 'sexy or trendy' and that's really attractive to culture. Hinn named the young megachurch pastors that he grew up around before he came out of the prosperity gospel life. Among them were Judah Smith, Chad Veach, John Gray, his friend Rich Wilkerson Jr. and Carl Lentz. He said his life got flipped upside down after he was married and realized prosperity preachers were living off poor people and manipulating rich people. "It doesn't matter who you're with on your Instagram account. It doesn't matter what kind of car you're driving, what kind of stage you're on, how big the screen is behind you. If you've got reflective lights and audio engineers making you sound like you're Joel Osteen every week, I don't care who you are. God can work at any time in any place in any way, Hinn, who serves as executive pastor of discipleship at Redeemer Bible Church in Arizona, said. "Yes, the church should use media. Yes, we should strive for excellence. Yes, we should care for our pastors. But we're not celebrities. Our ministry and faithfulness is not dependent on crowd-pleasing. It's dependent on God-pleasing." Hinn talked about having to deal with PTSD after coming out of that lifestyle. He battled guilt when doing anything that remotely felt luxurious because of how badly he abused the ministry funds in the past. "Wealth is not a sin; God has blessed you with that wealth. You're allowed to enjoy things, but here's how I would say it: Wealth is not a sin, wealth is a responsibility, he said. "God knows what you need before you ask and He cares for you, food, clothing, shelter. God is saying, Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added. So don't worry about getting stuff, worry about God. "With this preachers and sneakers prosperity gospel world, they're telling everybody, Just claim it, just believe it, it's going to happen. Forget the past, look forward, your blessing's coming, your burdens are preparing you for your blessing, he echoed and then advised: Give them the hope of the gospel, tell them to be content. Don't fail the heart test. The minister testified that God turned his mess of a story and salvation from the prosperity gospel into a book and a ministry that reaches people all over the world and although he is grateful for the blessings, financial gain is not why he shared his story with the world. I didn't save myself and go now I'm going to turn this into my blessing. No, in fact, there are so many things that have happened in my life that have been very hard and they have not amounted to physical blessings, Hinn said. His faith, he said, is in God and he knows that his abundant life will come to full fruition in eternity with Jesus. The Instagram account @preachersnsneakers launched in 2019 and is popular for calling out famous pastors for their taste in expensive shoes, as well as other gear, some of which cost approximately $4,000 per pair. Correction: May 20, 2020: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Costi Hinn is a pastor at Mission Bible Church in California. While he formerly served as a pastor there, he now serves as a pastor at Redeemer Bible Church in Arizona. When two of the biggest beneficiaries of fossil fuels abandon the cause is that an omen? Start with Norways sovereign wealth fund, the biggest in the world. That nation created what is basically a giant investment portfolio with the huge profits earned from its vast oil fields. The managers of the fund just sold off positions in a bevy of coal miners and coal burning utilities, including Glencore, Anglo American and Germanys RWE. The Norwegians have also pruned oil holdings modestly. This modesty here makes little sense from a risk management perspective (technically it is called a Texas hedge) because it leaves Norway doubly exposed to oil first as E&P capital provider/owner and again as an equity investor. But that might be next years story. The question this raises is Can a multi billion investment fund manage without owning energy companies? Following their recent severe stock price decline oil companies make up roughly 3% of the S&P 500. The same size as the US utility sector. Ten years ago this industry had a 10% weighting in the S&P 500 stock index. Quite a comedown. Speaking broadly the biggest S&P sectors are about 10-15% of the index, the two biggest sectors currently being technology and health care. Investment funds that aim to replicate or slightly outperform the broad equity indices have little discretion about owning the largest S&P sectors. However at a 2 or 3% industry weighting portfolio managers have more flexibility to operate without those relatively tiny sectors without fear of underperforming their equity benchmarks. In addition they can always buy financial instruments that mimic the actions of those stocks if they want to maintain a proxy for ownership. Related: Could This Become The Worlds Newest Oil Exporter? Given the concentration in investment industry firms like Fidelity, BlackRock and Vanguard control over half of the market. If they choose not to buy a particular group of securities that action alone will depress these prices. When energy companies were flush with cash and had impeccable bond ratings, keeping public investors happy may not have been a top priority for their investor relations teams. But with oil prices down sharply and once proud companies struggling to pay dividends and finance capital expenditure, they might have to rely more heavily on the capital markets to raise money. If investors become skittish then cost of capital rises. The same is also true for utility companies raising large sums to modernize and decarbonize plant. Pressure groups of various types are demanding that investment funds, especially those associated with charities, universities, and government divest their ownership in carbon emitting, fossil fuel companies. This has engendered a three sided division of opinion. The first group argues that it is immoral to profit from environmentally harmful activities. Hence energy companies should be removed from investment portfolios. Doing so, though, does not affect companies or even industries directly. Funds that sell out of stock or bond positions lose any leverage they may have had (through proxy voting) to effect corporate management change. Large blocs of disgruntled shareholders on the other hand typically receive at least some management attention. The second divestment group, we will call them the pragmatists, argues that owning fossil fuel producing energy stocks no longer makes investment sense. As we have seen energy companies are losing prominence in investment indices. And investors do not fully realize the risks of owning this industry which is potentially experiencing a terminal, technological decline. The third group, usually the investment fund directors and managers, try to take the high ground. They argue their actions, whether pro or anti fossil fuels, derive from a fiduciary obligation to preserve and enhance the value of their fund. And their role is not to make political or moral judgements about climate related matters. They further argue that limiting their choice of securities even modestly hinders their ability to make optimal investment decisions. That seems like dispassionate, if narrow, reasoning. But its real purpose may be to not antagonize oil companies, political interests and in the case of university endowments, conservative donors. Once investment managers declare that they make all decisions purely on the basis of economics, they can do what they want. Do so-called sustainable investors earn more or less than conventional investors? The International Monetary Fund did a study last year that said, in effect, sustainable investors do as well as others. No big advantage or disadvantage. Other studies have found marginal differences in performance. So, it is hard to make the case that virtue, at least in terms of investment performance, has a steep cost. Five years ago, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, whose origins are in the Standard Oil Trust, the monopoly of all monopolies, decided that investment in fossil fuels did not mesh with one of the foundations goals, to combat the impact of climate change. The foundation hired a new investment manager. They concluded much of the value of energy stocks is determined by an assessment of the value of their assets in the ground and that a significant portion of those assets would be stranded. (Any industry confronted with a new technology faces this risk). The Rockefeller Fund divested its fossil fuel investments, starting with coal and oil sands. They also made impact investments in firms whose activities mitigate climate change. Five years later, Rockefeller Brothers Fund reported that it had performed better than the standard portfolio (by roughly one percentage point a year) and that a companion index of sustainable stocks did even better, probably enough to pay any extra management fees. Bottom line? Investors have figured out that they can reduce or eliminate energy holdings and still produce respectable portfolio performance. And a 3% S&P index weighting makes the energy group even easier to ignore. This has negative implications for cost of capital and is a message not to be ignored. By Leonard Hyman and William Tilles for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: US President Donald Trump's administration awarded a contract worth up to $812 million for a new US company to manufacture drugs and drug ingredients to fight COVID-19 on American soil, aiming to end dependence on other countries. The administration has been looking to build up the ability to produce drugs and their raw materials in the United States after the global pandemic exposed the industry's dependence on China and India for its supply chain. "For far too long, we've relied on foreign manufacturing and supply chains for our most important medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients while placing America's health, safety, and national security at grave risk," Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, said in a statement. The US Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday that it had awarded a 4-year, $354 million contract to privately-held Phlow Corp to make COVID-19 drugs, other essential drugs and their ingredients. The contract can be extended for up to $812 million over 10 years. Phlow, which was incorporated in January, said the contract will help it contribute to a national stockpile of active pharmaceutical ingredients for essential medicines. 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 It said it had already started making pharmaceutical ingredients and finished dosage forms for over a dozen essential medicines to treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19-related illnesses. It has delivered over 1.6 million doses of five essential generic medicines used to treat COVID-19 patients to the US Strategic National Stockpile. Many of these medicines are in shortage and have previously been imported. India and China account for a vast majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients used to make drugs in the United States. Phlow has partnered with other groups including Civica Rx, Ampac Fine Chemicals and the Medicines for All Institute to manufacture the medicines. All pharmaceutical products by Phlow will be made in the United States, according to the company's website. The company said it is working to build advanced manufacturing capability in Virginia, as well as sterile injectables manufacturing facilities. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here. Carol Swain is a former Vanderbilt professor, an author, an ardent political scientist, and an accomplished public speaker. When she speaks everyone listens, regardless that she is a conservative African-American. She is a wonderfully astute woman. Last week she was candidly insightful on Nashvilles Talk Radio and deplored the citys mayor, John Cooper, who many now suspect will plunge Tennessees capital city into bankruptcy within 30 days, this according to just as many sources. Spending by Nashvilles Metro government has gone up two to three times the consumer price index in the last four years yet that isnt what bothers Swain the most. Mayor Cooper, a brash Democrat who is apparently past listening, is obsessed with power, Carol claims. The quiet majority in Nashville rue him because he doesnt even blink and it doesnt seem to bother him at all that hes shutting down Nashville businesses or that, in the heat of the coronavirus, hes pushing a 32-percent tax increase on Nashvillians. It wouldnt be fair under normal circumstances. Swain said, But given the fact, so many Nashvillians are either laid off or the businesses still closed, so you have a shrinking tax base. And it just seems cruel to impose that type of increase on people who are struggling already it would especially cruel. Swain and host Michael Patrick Leahy who labeled Cooper as a power-hungry, left-wing progressive were in full agreement Mayor Cooper has been a huge disappointment and Leahy said the Mayors office seems to delight in telling business owners they cannot be open, when the better truth is the Governor and the Tennessee Legislature are mere inches away from telling Cooper guess what? -- he can no longer open his office. From every indication poke him with a fork cause hes done. Thats when Swain dropped her bombshell: I do believe that Mayor Cooper in governing like Democrats all over the country. They believe if they keep their cities and states shut down, it will hurt Donald Trump and they will be able a gain control of the government in Washington And we are getting a taste of what its like to live under Democratic Party rules and it is worse than ever because the party has gone totally socialist. Leahy replied, Absolutely. And authoritarian. A combination. A wonderful combination. * * * I believe Swain and Leahy are exactly right. I believe it is a diabolical plot, a well-rehearsed and somewhat brazen political conspiracy, and a premier example of idiocy. What a flagrant case of stupid this is in every direction. Heres how Right now there are 18 states in the nation that are still locked-down. In all 18 there are strong protests and growing calls for impeachment from the 40-percent of Americans who are still affected. There are 16 of those 18 states that have Democratic governors. There would be 17 if the Wisconsin Supreme Court had not just ruled Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers badly over-stepped his authority when he extended restrictions in, yes, a somewhat cruel way. Evers order to stay-in-place was shamefully reduced, ending tomorrow. The states of Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming never issued any stay-at-home orders, but every state governed by Republicans is open except for Vermont and Massachusetts, both in the hard-hit northeast. Several counties have, like Nashville, kept the new version of house arrest locked down despite their states willingness to open: Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach in Florida, Monroe County in Indiana, St. Louis County in Missouri, and Dallas, Harris (Houston) and Travis (Austin) in Texas. Guess what type of Mayors these cities have got? I dont care if you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent: we must all listen to what the noted theologian C. S. Lewis once said: Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. * * * There is a new virus of sorts sweeping across America as now over 100 of the nations countys sheriffs have publicly stated that they, or their sworn deputies, will not arrest or detain any lawful citizen who is not wearing a mask, or who is breaking the 6-foot distancing rule. Their stand has emboldened many others of our countrys approximately 5,000 county peacemakers who quietly agree. Sheriff Brent Waak of Polk County, Wisc., led the way last month when he admitted he would defy such an order because he respects his constituents fundament rights. The first stay-in-shelter order in Wisconsin expired on April 24 and when Gov. Tony Evers extended it (see above), Sheriff Waak balked. I believe (it) is an over-extension. As your sheriff, I have taken the oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, and the laws of the State of Wisconsin. I have always respected the civil liberties of the citizens in Polk County I will continue to do so. * -- Four Michigan sheriffs issued a joint statement after a battered Gov. Gretchen Whitmer demanded an extension of the shut-down: While we understand her desire to protect the public, we question some restrictions that she has imposed as overstepping her executive authority, the sheriffs of Leelanau, Benzie, Manistee, and Mason counties said. She has created a vague framework of emergency laws that only confuse Michigan citizens. They added that the county sheriffs in the United States considered themselves as the last line of defense for Americans civil liberties. * -- In Riverside County, Calif., County Sheriff Chad Bianco said he and his deputies cannot obey any order that makes criminals out of business owners. He explained, Not only do we not have the resources to enforce unreasonable orders, I refuse to make criminals out of business owners, single moms, and otherwise healthy individuals for exercising their constitutional rights, Bianco said. There cannot be a new normal. We are talking about a country formed on the fundamental freedoms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Any new normal is a direct attack on those basic rights which set us apart and make us the greatest country in the world. (Riverside County is the tenth most populous county in the United States; pop. + 2,450,758) * -- In Alabama, Baldwin County sheriff Huey Mack wrote Gov. Kay Ivey: In recognition of those individual rights, while we respect the governors order, we dont want to overstep the boundaries of any individual and simply put them in jail because they were trying to make a living or go into a house of worship, said Sheriff Huey Mack now among a number of sheriffs in Alabama who have refused to enforce the governors order. * -- In Illinois, Douglas County Sheriff Joshua Blackwell said some parts of Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home order violated his statutory rights as sheriff to control the internal operations of his agency. I swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of Illinois, and in my opinion, enforcing the executive order would cause me to go against the very principles I swore to protect, said Sheriff Blackwell. * -- Also, in Illinois, Tazewell County Sheriff Jeffrey Lower said he has consistently argued throughout the pandemic that the governor cannot create law. Lower said, What he has mandated are executive orders. Nothing in them give me or my office any authority in law, and I will not enforce them. I will continue to fight against what I believe is a violation of our constitutional rights. We, the People, are not just words on a paper. They represent sacrifices that were fought and died for, to give us the rights and privileges through the Constitution. * -- In New Mexico, In April, after Gov. Lujan Grisham extended the stay-at-home order until mid-May, Mike Herrington, the sheriff of Chaves County, said he was approached by small business owners, some of them literally in tears. They complained that Walmart and Target, allowed to stay open because they sold food, were also selling televisions and other big items to residents looking to spend their stimulus checks. These owners told Herrington that by opening, they could reduce crowding at the big box stores. These are my friends and family, Herrington said. To look at the fear in their eyes, the fear of losing everything they have, tells me I have no choice but to stand and take on this fight. and then, there is this * -- In Illinois, two county prosecutors aware of 147,469 new cases of COVID-19 and 1,703 related deaths in Illinois in just three weeks share this statement, I think the possibility of criminal prosecution in Douglas County (and Piatt County, per DA Dana Rhoades) is one of the least concerns a business or a church faces in making a reopening decision. Therefore, there are two prosecutors in Illinois who will not seek court orders against restaurants or gyms as long as social distancing protocols are in place. * * * So, tell me true: How do you think the Democrats plan to forcibly impact 40 percent of the American people is going to turn out. Trust me, truthfully, Im betting the other side of happily ever after. royexum@aol.com A $14 million fundraising milestone has been reached in the effort to transform Mobiles historic Barton Academy building into a functioning schoolhouse. Barton Academy, a Greek Revival building in a prominent location on Government Street in downtown Mobile, opened in 1839 after several years of construction. It was named for Ala. Rep. Willoughby Barton, author of the bill that created a public school system in Mobile, and is recognized as the first public school built in the state. It has seen many different uses over the years, including serving as a hospital for Union soldiers in 1864, according to the Encyclopedia of Alabama. From the 1960s until 2007 it served as the central office for the Mobile County Public School System. When MCPSS moved its office elsewhere, the historic site was left empty and in need of extensive renovations. School system leaders spearheaded a $4.2 million exterior renovation to prevent the building from deteriorating. That left extensive interior renovations as the next challenge, and the Barton Academy Foundation has led a $14 million effort to make the site ready for use as a new middle school, to be called the Barton Academy of Advanced World Studies. This has been a long road, and we couldnt be happier to reach this milestone, said Elizabeth Stevens, president of the Barton Academy Foundation. For 10 years, the BAF board, our donors and Mobile County Public Schools focused on the end goal of returning students in Barton Academy for the first time in more than 50 years. That will soon be a reality. Mobile County school commissioners recently approved a bid from Ben M. Radcliff Contractor, Inc. on the interior work. Construction is expected to begin in June, with the Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies to open in August 2021. Plans call for the school to expose about 300 students to advanced teaching methods and a state-of-the-art learning environment rich in technology and innovations. It will offer multiple foreign languages, advanced fine arts and entrepreneurial learning with a strong global emphasis. According to information provided by the Barton Academy Foundation, the fundraising effort had several major components: BAF raised $5.2 million in cash and pledges including a $1.27 million challenge grant from the Ben May Charitable Trust. The J.L. Bedsole Foundation and the Hearin-Chandler Foundation each gave $500,000. Other gifts of $200,000 or more were from Crampton Trust, Daniel Foundation of Alabama, Mobile City Council, Mobile County Commission, Dr. Monte L. Moorer Foundation and the Wayne D. McRae Fund of the Community Foundation of South Alabama. Almost 450 other foundations, businesses and individuals contributed. $8 million of tax credit equity from New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC), Federal Historic Tax Credits and State Historic Tax Credits helped the foundation reach its $14 million goal. AMCREF Community Capital served as tax credit advisor, with tax credit funding partners United Bank, USBank and Brownfield Revitalization. United Bank provided bridge funding allowing the foundation to leverage the historic tax credit equity and multi-year pledges to close funding and begin construction. The AlabamaSAVES Program, sponsored by the Energy Division of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, provided $2 million in financing for energy conservation measures including LED lighting, energy efficient HVAC systems and energy efficient water heaters for the cafeteria. We are pleased with the work that the Barton Foundation has been able to do to raise funds to establish the Barton Academy of Advanced World Studies. This truly has been a unique effort and a great example of public-private partnership that will truly benefit our students, Mobile County Public Schools Superintendent Chresal Threadgill said in a statement released by the foundation. We are looking forward to returning Barton Academy to its original purpose as a school. We know it will be a world-class school that will make the entire Mobile region proud. More information about Barton Academy and the Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies can be found at www.bartonacademy.org. For information on the application process, contact Mobile County Public Schools at www.mcpss.com. Joseph Santaguida, center, walking alongside his then-client Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, left, a reputed Philadelphia mobster, in an undated photo. Mr. Santaguida died from the coronavirus on May 13, 2020, his son said. Read more People Weve Lost Joseph Santaguida 81 years old Lived in Cherry Hill This lawyer defended reputed Philly mob associates More Memorials Joseph Santaguida, 81, a prominent Philadelphia criminal defense lawyer and a blunt-talking, impeccably dressed defender of mob leaders and drug dealers, died on Wednesday, May 13, from the coronavirus, his son said. Mr. Santaguida had been battling Parkinsons disease for several years before he contracted the virus, Rocco Santaguida said. He died at Jefferson Washington Township Hospital in New Jersey. Mr. Santaguida had a long and colorful career representing players in the citys underworld, including reputed mobsters Joseph Skinny Joey Merlino and Joseph Mousie Massimino, as well as Hakeem Bey, the violent leader of a South Philadelphia drug gang. He once survived the threat of a hit from a clients rival mob boss, and was threatened with indictment by federal authorities who suggested he had encouraged illegal activities by his reputed mob clients. Such attention-grabbing incidents seemed only to feed Mr. Santaguidas outsize persona. Edwin J. Jacobs Jr., another longtime defender of reputed mob associates, who knew Mr. Santaguida for more than three decades, called him one of the last members of a generation of big-city criminal defense attorneys who proudly flaunted their charisma and flair, equally at ease sparring with prosecutors, wooing jurors, and cavorting with sometimes impetuous clients. He was top of the heap, Jacobs said. Very good, very bold he got jurors attention because of the way he looked and sounded and acted." Brian McMonagle, a prominent Philadelphia defense attorney who was in high school when he first met Mr. Santaguida, called him a legend with an impeccable sense of style and a booming voice. He was a fearless and gifted trial lawyer who took no prisoners in the courtroom or outside of it, McMonagle said. We will never see his kind again. Mr. Santaguida was born in 1938 and raised at 12th and Tasker Streets in South Philadelphia, according to his son. He was the oldest of three children; his father was a barber who for decades owned a shop at Seventh and South Streets. Growing up, Mr. Santaguida thought he might sell clothes for a living, Rocco said, but his father insisted he attend college. He graduated from Villanova University and later Villanovas law school, and began his career as a defense attorney in the city in the mid-1960s. Although he eventually became known for representing reputed mobsters and gangsters accused of a wide array of crimes, including murder, he told Philadelphia Magazine in 2008 that his practice was initially dominated by lower-level drug offenses. And, of course, when you get their drug cases, you also end up with their burglaries and robberies and their murder cases," he said. He credited his upbringing in South Philadelphia with connecting him to reputed wiseguys. If somebody had a friend or a relative who was in trouble, theyd recommend you, he said. It seemed to me that everybody I knew from South Philly, instead of them being jealous or resentful when I became a lawyer, all seemed proud of me and went out of their way to help me and support me and send cases my way, to trust their loved ones with me. Merlino, the reputed former boss of the Philadelphia mob, was among Mr. Santaguidas most notorious clients. Mr. Santaguida also represented Massimino, a reputed mob underboss who in 2013 was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison for a racketeering and conspiracy conviction. But he was not purely a lawyer for La Cosa Nostra. Rocco Santaguida said his father represented many reputed members of the Junior Black Mafia. And he defended Bey, an alleged South Philadelphia gang leader, in 2008, when he was convicted of murder for an ambush-style street shooting. Prosecutors said it was one of several incidents Bey engineered in the neighborhood, including the separate murder of a federally protected witness. Rocco Santaguida said that he knew many of the stories about his fathers unique work life while growing up, but that none of it bothered anyone in the family. He said his father thought everybody had good in them," and always saw good in people no matter what they did and who they were. Mr. Santaguidas wife, Marianne, died years ago. A son, Anthony, died in a house fire in Cherry Hill in 2017. In addition to his son, he is survived by a sister and two grandchildren. Funeral services were held Monday, May 18. alshamrani - FBI A Saudi military student who killed three Americans at a US naval base in December had longstanding links to al-Qaeda, the FBI has revealed. US investigators revealed their findings after a months-long effort to crack the encryption on Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani's two iPhones. They heavily criticised Apple for refusing to help them unlock communications on the terrorist's devices. Alshamrani, 21, a Royal Saudi Air Force flight student, carried out the attack in a classroom building at the Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. He was there as part of a US-Saudi training programme . FBI Director Christopher Wray said the attack "was actually the culmination of years of planning and preparation." Evidence discovered on the mobile phones showed Alshamrani was radicaliced at least as far back as 2015, and had associated with "dangerous" operatives from the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula [AQAP]. US Attorney General Bill Barr accused Apple of putting its own financial interests ahead of the nation's in refusing to provide a way to break the encrypted phones. He said: "If not for our FBI's ingenuity, some luck, and hours upon hours of time and resources, this information would have remained undiscovered. "The bottom line is our national security cannot remain in the hands of big corporations who put dollars over lawful access and public safety. The time has come for a legislative solution." Mr Wray said Alshamrani had expressed a desire to learn to fly years ago with plans for a "special operation," enlisting in the Royal Saudi Air Force and joining flight training in the US. He said: "In the months before the attack, while he was here among us, he talked with AQAP about his plans and tactics, taking advantage of the information he acquired here, to assess how many people he could try to kill." The December 6 shooting left three US sailors dead and eight other people were injured. Alshamrani was shot dead by police. Before he died he tried to destroy one of his phones by shooting it. AQAP claimed responsibility, but there was no immediate evidence of a direct link at the time. The Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi Police to pay a compensation of Rs 75 lakh to a youth, who is in a vegetative state after being met with an accident due to the chained barricades kept on a road here. The high court held the victim was entitled to the claim of damages for the negligence and failure of the Delhi Police to discharge its duty. Justice Navin Chawla noted that the barricades were neither properly lighted nor adequate reflectors or blinkers were put on them to make them visible from a long distance. The high court awarded Rs 75 lakh compensation to petitioner Dheeraj Kumar, who was 21 years old at the time of the incident in December 2015. The accident took place on an early December morning in West Punjabi Nagar area when Kumar and his father were returning home on a motorcycle and collided with police barricades which were chained together so as to cordon off a road/ street completely. The victim was admitted at Safdarjung Hospital and after undergoing multiple surgeries and treatment, he was discharged in a state of unconsciousness. The high court was informed that as per the discharge summary record, he was in a state of 'altered sensorium, eye opening to pain, not opening to commands' and since then, his condition has not changed. The youth and his father approached the high court seeking compensation towards the refund of medical expenses, loss of income/dependency, loss of prospects, continuing future needs as also for the pain and suffering suffered due to the accident. The high court, in its verdict, said the barricades were chained and therefore, did not allow vehicles to pass through and such chains could not have been visible to the motorist from a distance. They were also unmanned. Merely because no helmet was shown to have been recovered from the site, cannot lead to a conclusion that the petitioner no.1 (Kumar) was not wearing a helmet at the time of the accident or was driving his motorcycle at a high speed or rashly. It is not disputed that no one was present at the site of the accident at the time of the accident. In any case, the petitioners (Kumar and his father) are held entitled to their claim of damages for the negligence and failure of the respondent no.2 (Delhi Police) to discharge its duty, the high court said Keeping in view all the facts and circumstances of the case and the law relating to award of compensation, a total compensation of Rs 75 lakhs was found to be just and payable to the petitioners by the Delhi Police, the high court said and directed the police to deposit the amount with the registrar general of the high court within four weeks. The police, in its response, contended that the accident took place due to contributory negligence of Kumar as he was speeding and was unable to brake in time to avoid colliding with the barricades. The police asserted that the barricades were placed in a well-illuminated area and were visible from a considerable distance and the motorist seemed to have tried to slip through the gap in between the barriers and owing to the speed at which the vehicle was travelling, he was unable to spot the chain linking the barricades. It also claimed that as no helmet or any protective gear of any sort was found at the site of the accident, thus Kumar was in violation of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. Kumar's counsel asserted that he was wearing a helmet/ headgear at the time of the accident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 35 year-old-Teacher met his death when he was crashed by a falling tree following a heavy downpour last Saturday at Motiakrom-Nkwanta in the Upper Denkyira East Municipality of the Central Region. The deceased, Eric Ntam was seeking shelter under the big tree which fell on him during the heavy rain storm, leading to his death. Mr Kwame Nsowah, Assemblyman for the community told the Ghana News Agency that Mr. Ntam's unfortunate death had thrown the community into a state of shock and grief. The body of the deceased who left behind a wife and a six-month old baby, has been deposited at Dunkwa-on-Offin Hospital mortuary for preservation. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Legally Blonde (Credit: MGM) The long-awaited new Legally Blonde movie has signed up a star writing team. Deadline reports that Mindy Kaling, director, writer, producer and star of the US version of The Office, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-creator Dan Goor will pen the script. The sequel was confirmed by original star Reese Witherspoon nearly two years ago, with the MGM studio slating a Valentine's Day release for 2021. The writers of the original movies, Kirsten Smith and Karen McCullah Lutz were then signed up to write the new movie, but Kaling and Goor are now on board to give the project 'an entirely new fresh spin'. Mindy Kaling (Credit: Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic) Director Robert Luketic helmed the first film, back in 2001, with Witherspoon playing sorority girl Elle Woods, who attempts to win back her boyfriend by ace-ing a law degree at Harvard, which she does, dispelling prejudice against blondes in the process. The comedy, which also starred Luke Wilson and Selma Blair, made $141 million. Read more: Jonah Hill crowned Hollywoods sweariest actor It then spawned Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde in 2003, in which Elle, with her chihuahua Bruiser, take on Washington DC and a cosmetic testing lab. The second movie was also a decent hit, making $125 million. It was then followed in 2007 by Legally Blonde: The Musical, which hit Broadway and later London's West End, where it won three Olivier Awards. Witherspoon, meanwhile, recently announced shes signed up to two new rom-com projects with Netflix, Your Place or Mine and The Cactus, both to be produced by her own production company, Hello Sunshine. Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of detained Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffe, seen in a poster, outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Saturday, June 29, 2019, on the day he ended his 15-day hunger strike and his imprisoned wife also ended her own hunger in an Iran jail. Read more The COVID-19 pandemic has beamed a spotlight on Irans barbaric practice of hostage diplomacy. In this dirty game, U.S. and Australian citizens along with dual Iranian-European nationals are jailed in Tehran on trumped-up charges in hope of bargaining for some political gain. With COVID-19 running rampant in Iran, news reports claim that Tehran may be set to release U.S. Navy veteran Michael White, 48, a cancer survivor who contracted the virus in an Iranian prison. Arrested while visiting his Iranian girlfriend, he had been serving a 10-year sentence since 2018 for insulting Irans supreme leader before being furloughed to the Swiss Embassy, and Iran has indicated they want a swap for Iranian prisoners held in the U.S. Yet, the White case is just a reminder that there are also three other Americans being held, and at least eight dual nationals from the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Austria, and Sweden. Just last week, a French-Iranian female academic was sentenced to six years for conspiracy. They are just hostages to be used for political negotiations, says Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). But now is the moment, as Tehrans lifting of inadequate COVID-19 restrictions propels a resurgence, for an international campaign demanding that Tehran release these hostages before any of them perishes from the disease. READ MORE: A deal with Tehran? Exchange hostages for humanitarian aid. | Trudy Rubin I have been especially moved by the cases of two women, one from Britain and the second from Australia. Their stories give me a there but for fortune feeling, recollecting a drive on an Iranian mountain road in 2003, on my way back to Tehran, when I was held and threatened for three hours at a remote Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps checkpoint. I was in Iran legally as a journalist but were it not for my Iranian translator and his frantic calls to officials in Tehran, I might have wound up where they are now. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an aid worker with the Thomson Reuters Foundation in London, was arrested with her 22-month-old daughter in April 2016 on her way home from visiting her parents in Tehran. She was sentenced to five years on vague security charges. I met her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, in London in August 2019, as he waged a tireless campaign for his wifes freedom, including a hunger strike in front of the Iranian Embassy. He was deeply worried about his wifes physical and psychological condition, especially as her then-5-year-old daughter, staying with her grandparents, would be coming back to Britain to start school that September and would no longer be able to visit her mother in prison. At one point, Iranian officials chained his wife to a bed in a psychiatric hospital. Zaghari-Ratcliffe appears to have become a pawn in a long-running dispute between the British government and Iran over a 400 million pound debt for tanks purchased during the 1970s. Her position was made worse by misleading statements by then-Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in 2017. She was furloughed to her parents home in March, after a coronavirus outbreak in Irans jails. But the British foreign office has rejected her plea for the British ambassador to Iran to visit her in an act of solidarity, in hopes it might dissuade Tehran from returning her to jail or lengthening her sentence. Surely Prime Minister Boris Johnsons government owes her such a gesture to show that hostage diplomacy will not be accepted as the new norm. And then there is Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a British-Australian scholar and Melbourne University professor who has been sentenced to 10 years for espionage. She has spent nearly two years in solitary in a bathroom-like cell in the secretive Ward 2-A in Evin prison, run by Irans hardline Revolutionary Guard Corps even though Iranian law states that prisoners should be transferred to long-term wards after theyve been sentenced. I feel like I am abandoned and forgotten I am an innocent victim, she wrote, in one of a series of emotional letters smuggled out of the prison about the horror of her conditions. Ghaemi says her treatment raises fears she could be killed by her interrogators, as were two Canadian-Iranian prisoners. So what is to be done for these two women, along with the other U.S. and Western hostages? There have been hostage exchanges in the past between Iran and Washington. If there is a way to quietly exchange Iranians held on visa or sanctions violations for U.S. hostages, it is worthwhile to save lives. Ditto for sending more humanitarian aid in exchange. READ MORE: Iran's shame: How saving cheetahs got environmentalists jailed | Trudy Rubin But ransom begets ransom, and the COVID-19 crisis offers the opportunity to take a more principled stand. The biggest mistake of Western governments, says Ghaemi, is that they never come together in a united front against Irans machinations. He believes it is time for such a coalition to activate the United Nations international convention against hostage-taking to show this is an unacceptable game. At a time when the White House is ratcheting up sanctions against Tehran, and relations with most Western allies are sour, such a united stand seems highly unlikely. Yet, unless Iran learns that hostage-taking will shame them, not benefit them, this practice will go on. Halle Berry has been a Bond girl, a Catwoman, an X-Man and an Oscar winner, and now she is set to add another title to her already impressive film repertoire sci-fi heroine. The Monster's Ball actress, 53, is reportedly set to join the space epic Moonfall, a new science fiction/disaster film from director Roland Emmerich, according to Variety. Frozen actor Josh Gad is already attached to the movie, which tells the story plainly suggested by its title: something has knocked the moon out of its orbit, causing it to start falling to earth. Out of this world: Halle Berry is reportedly set to join the space epic Moonfall, a new science fiction/disaster film from director Roland Emmerich; Halle seen here in 2017 Gad, 39, will be playing the genius who first gets clued into the fact that there is something amiss with the pie in the sky, while Berry will portray a former astronaut whose previous space mission holds a necessary clue to surviving the impending cataclysm. And while the genre might be different, saving the world should not be too much of a stretch for Berry in addition to her famous role as superhero mutant Storm in the X-Men films, the actress has also featured in the Keanu Reeves action film John Wick: Chapter 3 as well as the futuristic adventure film Cloud Atlas. Moonfall also fits nicely into the 64-year-old Emmerich's oeuvre; he has made a habit of directing sci-fi-tinged event films filled with doom and destruction. Frozen vet: Josh Gad is already attached to the film, which tells the story suggested by its title: something has knocked the moon out of orbit, causing it to fall to earth; seen here in January His most famous entry is the Will Smith alien invasion blockbuster from way back in 1996, Independence Day, but he's also the filmmaker behind 1994's under-appreciated Stargate (which he is also set to be rebooting), 1998's Godzilla, and 2004's The Day After Tomorrow. The German director is also attached to Moonfall as a producer as well as co-writer. And while Gad is no stranger to science fiction he's part of the cast of the space-set HBO comedy Avenue 5 this seems like it might be the actor's first serious leading role (if 'serious' is, in fact, how he will play it). Makes sense: Moonfall fits nicely into Emmerich's oeuvre, who's made a habit of directing sci-fi-tinged event films filled with doom and destruction; seen here in 2016 His most famous entry is: The Will Smith alien invasion blockbuster from way back in 1996, Independence Day... ...but he's also the filmmaker behind 2004's The Day After Tomorrow and more According to Variety, Lionsgate Pictures hopes to begin shooting Moonfall this autumn in Montreal, Canada, but that is of course dependent on what's possible given the current situation around the coronavirus pandemic. It all goes according to plan, however, the studio plans to then release the film in 2021. As for Halle, Moonfall is just one project she's involved in currently the Gothika star recently wrapped her directorial debut Bruised, in which she also stars as a female MMA fighter, and she is also attached to what looks to be a remake of the Glenn Close courtroom drama Jagged Edge. While the genre might be different: Kicking butt and saving the world shouldn't be too much of a stretch for Ms. Berry she's famous for her role as superhero mutant Storm in X-Men This story was first published on Executive Style. It's not often you get to say you had a drink with Captain America. But walking into the hotel room, you could tell that Chris Evans needs one. Not that he looked bad dressed simply in khaki chinos and blue sweater, he's done enough of these press tours to know what works both style-wise and for comfort. But the man looks buggered. Which is understandable when you realise that he'd literally landed in Australia the night before. In saying that, Evans has a lot to be tired about. Aside from promoting a new film and being named the latest ambassador for Chivas Regal's latest release, Ultis, Evans has become an unwitting political campaigner, flung into a murky spotlight after Tweeting his disbelief at Donald Trump taking out the Presidency over Hillary Clinton. Trump card These are the findings of a new study by psychologists from Martin Luther University (MLU) Halle-Wittenberg and the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg. The study was recently published in the journal of 'School Psychology International.'Some body poses don't need further explanation: When a person sits with their arms crossed behind their head, resting their feet casually on a table, they are probably feeling very self-confident. Arms folded in front of one's body and a hunched back, on the other hand, typically indicates insecurity."Body language is not just about expressing feelings. It can also shape how a person feels," explains Robert Korner from the Institute of Psychology at MLU.Research on so-called power posing investigates, among other things, the extent to which a certain body posture might influence a person's feelings and self-esteem."Power posing is the nonverbal expression of power. It involves making very bold gestures and changes in body posture," says Korner. Up to now, most of the research has revolved around studying the effects on adults.Korner and his colleagues' study is the first to examine children. "Children from the age of five are able to recognize and interpret the body posture of others," the psychologist adds.The researchers conducted their experiment with 108 fourth graders. One group was to assume two open and expansive postures for one minute each. The other group posed with their arms folded in front of them and their heads down.The children then completed a series of psychological tests. The children who had previously assumed an open posture indicated better mood and reported higher self-esteem than the children in the other group.The effects were particularly striking when it came to questions concerning school. "Here, power posing had the strongest effect on the children's self-esteem," concludes Korner."Teachers could try and see whether this method helps their students." However, Korner states that the results of the new study should not be blown out of proportion and that expectations about this technique should be tempered. The effects observed were only short-term. Serious problems or mental illness must be treated by trained professionals.The new study is consistent with earlier findings on power posing. However, the concept is controversial in the field of psychological research. Some of the findings, which indicated effects on hormones or behaviour, for example, could not be replicated.However, this is also the case for other studies in psychology and other scientific disciplines. "To make our study even more objective and transparent, we pre-registered it and all of the methodology. This means that we specified everything in advance and could not change anything afterwards," explains Korner. (ANI) Rumble Flossey is living a wonderful life on a beautiful farm in Millbrook, Ontario. It's what is knows an "ethical farm" where cows have space to roam and graze instead of being kept indoors for most of their lives. Flossey's farm has vast expanses of lush, green grass, rolling hills, ponds full of fresh water, and forested areas for shade. This is life as it should be for these gentle creatures. Dave is a farm hand who often helps out with some of the chores and animal care. He decided to take a break on this warm, summer day and he took a seat on the hill overlooking the pasture. According to a recent report by international management consulting firm Arthur D Little, up to 135 million jobs could be lost and 120 million people might be pushed in poverty in India. If that happens, it could have a huge impact on consumer income, spending and savings. India's working class is likely to bear the brunt of the impact in the form of job losses, rising poverty levels and reduced per-capita income. This, in turn, will bring about a steep decline in GDP. Labour statistics improved during the week ended May 10, 2020. But only in comparison to the previous week, which was the worst India has witnessed so far. The rate shot up to 27.1 per cent in the week ended May 3. This is the highest rate recorded so far, and the spike left many job seekers highly disappointed, after they failed to find gainful employment despite having struggled. However, the rate remained stable at 24 per cent during the week ended May 17. Here is the list of major companies that have said they are downsizing their workforce. 1. Yesterday (that is 18th may) eliminated an additional 3,000 jobs IN INDIA. The company is closing dozens of offices around the world and is shutting down many of its side projects in an effort to weather the pandemic that has devastated the ride-hailing business. Earlier this month, Uber dismissed 3,700 employees in customer support and human resources. Combining both the sets, the layoffs now work out to about 25 per cent of the total workforce. A company spokesman said more job cuts could come. 2. laid off 982 employees, or 17% of its workforce last month, and cut the base salaries of its top executives in addition to furloughing hundreds of employees. Uber and rival Inc have been under investor pressure to show profits but the coronavirus-led lockdowns have forced them to cut costs and withdraw their full-year financial outlooks as demand for app-based rides have dropped sharply across the world. 3. Healthcare startup has also laid off 10 per cent of its employees and cut salaries across board, after business took a hit following the pandemic. Sources said the Bengaluru-based company had laid off around 500 people. Trainers, centre managers and human resources personnel were among employees who were either asked to resign from May 1 or were allowed to work till the month end for experience. 4. British airline said on the 5th of May that it is planned to cut 3,150 jobs and would move its flying programme from London Gatwick to Heathrow airport as it counts the cost of the Covid-19 pandemic. The spread of the novel coroanvirus has virtually brought airports around the globe to a standstill, leaving airlines taking drastic steps to make savings. 5. Co-working major India, owned by realty firm Embassy Group, has decided to lay off around 20 per cent of its staff with effect from June, as the coronavirus pandemic hits its businesses and revenues across the globe. This would be done to cut its operational costs after its business was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. In an email, Karan Virwani, CEO, India, said that the company needs to make fundamental changes by streamlining its workforce around a more focused business strategy which would entail reduction of its workforce across different roles by around 20 per cent. 6. said it will cut 13 per cent, or about 520, jobs as a result of the extended and restaurants shutting shop, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Deepinder Goyal told the firm in an email on May 15. According to sources, the total number of employees at is currently about 4,000. The employees being laid off in the latest round will remain with and will be paid half the salary for the next six months. Outplacement teams will help them look for jobs elsewhere, previously allocated ESOPs will continue to vest with them during this period. 7. Bengaluru-based unicorn is laying off 1,100 employees across grades and functions over the next few days, as Covid-19 continues to infect its food delivery and cloud kitchen business. This came just two days after Gurugram-based Zomato announced layoffs. Backed by China's Tencent and Prosus NV, has around 8,000 employees. Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Sriharsha Majety said "This is the hardest and longest deliberated decision the management team and I have been faced with over recent times, , adding, This is not at all a reflection of anyone's performance. 8. Inc. announced it is cutting 25% of its workforce as the coronavirus pandemic continues to pummel the travel sector. About 1,900 employees across the world will be affected, Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky wrote in an email to staff on May 5. Those employees last day will be Monday, May 11, the email said. 9. US-based airplane major, Boeing, announced that it is planning to cut nearly 10 per cent of its workforce or about 16,000 jobs on April 11 amid the fallout caused by the coronavirus. CEO Dave Calhoun outlined a plan of voluntary layoffs for employees, while warning that the coronavirus pandemic would have a lasting impact on the global aerospace industry. The plan, which includes buyouts, early retirements and involuntary layoffs, is expected to mostly target the company's commercial arm, since turmoil in the global airline industry has put the unit under immense strain. 10. said it is reducing staff by 900 employees, as the coronavirus pandemic hammers the travel industry On April 28. The measure affects about a quarter of TripAdvisor's global workforce, including more than 600 employees in the U.S. and Canada whose roles are being eliminated. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Ilhama Isabalayeva - Trend: Azerbaijan took timely measures against the COVID-19 pandemic, due to which only 3,274 cases of infection were recorded in the country with a population of 10 million people, said the countrys Minister of Health, Professor Ogtay Shiraliyev. He made the remark speaking at the 73rd WHO Assembly, Trend reports on May 19. According to him, 2,015 of the persons recovered, and deathtoll accounted for 1.2 percent of the total number of the infected people. "Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev appealed to the nation with Together we are strong! slogan. I would like to note that this appeal is also relevant on international level, he said. Only by joining efforts and developing a focused and well-thought-out strategy of actions the pandemic can be defeated. We express our readiness to continue cooperating with international institutions and the international community. I am sure that the valuable opinions and suggestions that have been voiced today by heads of delegations and international organizations, will help defeat the pandemic," Shiraliyev said. YouTube automatically deletes comments that mention some Chinese phrases commonly used to criticize the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chinese netizens have discovered. Comments that contain such phrases are deleted within seconds, which suggests its the work of YouTubes algorithms. One apparently banned phrase is gongfei (), which can be translated as communist bandit. It seems to date back to the Chinese civil war era. Another phrase that gets deleted is wumao (), which literally means fifty cents and is commonly used to describe the army of internet trolls the CCP uses to spread its propaganda online. Its rumored the trolls used to be paid around 50 cents per post. The Epoch Times tested both phrases repeatedly under different YouTube accounts and different videos, always obtaining the same resultthe comments were deleted in roughly 20 seconds. Google, which owns YouTube, didnt respond to requests for comment. The issue was noted on May 13 by Jennifer Zeng, a blogger and creator of YouTube content with a focus on China news and commentary. She posted a video of a person demonstrating the comment deletion. Others then confirmed the observation. The issue has also been picked up by Taiwan News. CCP Connection Google has been repeatedly under fire for allegedly cozying up to the CCP. Since 2018, Google has been cooperating with a leading artificial intelligence (AI) research body at Tsinghua University, a prestigious Chinese academic institution that also conducts AI research for the Chinese military. Google also faced criticism after information emerged in 2018 that it was secretly developing a censored search app for the Chinese market as part of a project dubbed Dragonfly. According to insider information leaked to the Intercept, the controversial Google app was designed to link users search history with their phone numbers, making it easier for the regime to target dissidents. Lawmakers, human-rights advocates, and even some Google employees spoke out against the project, which, it appears, has since been shelved. Google ran a censored version of its search engine in China from 2006 to 2010, but exited after the company said a cyber attack originating from China had targeted Google email accounts of dozens of Chinese human rights activists. Widespread Abuse China is one of the worst abusers of human rights, according to watchdogs. In recent decades, the regime has killed hundreds of thousands of prisoners of conscience to sell their organs for transplants, based on extensive research conducted since allegations of the crime first surfaced in 2006. Last year, an independent tribunal in London, concluded that state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience had taken place for years in China on a significant scale, and is still taking place today. The CCP runs the worlds most sophisticated system of internet censorship, employing tens of thousands of people to manually delete content and make negative or positive posts and comments based on the regimes instructions. The regime requires foreign companies that operate in China to censor topics it deems sensitive, such as democracy, human rights, and the ongoing persecution in China of Falun Gong practitioners, underground Christians, Uyghurs, rights activists, and others. Companies are also forced to share with the regime any of their data stored in China. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has previously said that the company has invested in China for years and plans to continue to do so. The Trump administration has placed significant emphasis on pushing back against the CCP, particularly in the tech and cyber sector. We need to make sure that our companies dont do deals that strengthen a competitors military or tighten the regimes grip of repression in parts of that country, State Secretary Mike Pompeo said in January. Bowen Xiao, Cathy He, and Nathan Su contributed to this report. From The Epoch Times Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa asking Muslims to offer their Eid prayers this time at home, instead of congregating at mosques. IMAGE: A devout offers prayers in a mosque alone due to ongoing COVID-19 lockdown in Srinagar. Photograph: PTI Photo The directive comes amid a nationwide lockdown to slow down the spread of coronavirus. Despite the relaxations announced in the lockdown, religious and other large gatherings are still banned. The fatwa was issued in response to a query put to the seminary, its spokesman Ashraf Usmani said. The fatwa said the Eid namaz can be offered in the same manner that the Friday prayers are now being read at home. It said not holding the namaz in the usual manner is pardonable in circumstances such as these. Eid falls on May 24 or 25 this year. Saint George and the Dragon, by Paolo Uccello, circa 1470, held at the National Gallery, London. (Public Domain) Slay the Dragon Commentary Once upon a time, in the tall gray tower of a remote castle, a beautiful princess was held captive by a fierce and dreadful dragon. Only the love of a valiant knight in shining armor could free her from the clawed clutches of malevolence itself. So goes the archetypal story, the classic tale of good versus evil, the beautiful and strong battling the ugly and fierce. Its symbolic of todays narrative. To say that COVID-19 has wrought havoc would be an understatement, but it would also be a misdirection in the greater tale. Initially, flattening the curve meant avoiding an impending surge in infections that might overwhelm a medical system. Yet, weeks into the crisis, results didnt approach original projections, despite adopted policy to over-report COVID cases and deaths. Dr. Deborah Birx, White House COVID-19 task force response coordinator, recently expressed concern that even government statistics were inflated by 25 percent, reportedly saying, There is nothing from the CDC that I can trust. Colorado just spontaneously reduced its death count by 24 percent. Despite the uncertainty, the politician-experts warn that reopening the economy may cause other repercussions, and we should stay shut down for months or years to come. How did flatten the curve become until theres a cure? They meant a different curvethe economic curveenabled by American freedom and ingenuity, inspired by President Donald Trumps economic policies. We thought this was about COVID-19 infections. Wrong. Its about power. And freedom. And the United States has both. China and her sympathizers dont like that. This is Chinas zero-sum game for the free world. The virus serves as proxy for communism, and its cavalry is the media, with some of our own politicians-as-generals designing local offensives. They predicted 2.2 million deaths, stoking general panic, citing the now-discredited professor who recklessly gave us the absurdly over-hyped mad cow disease, bird flu, and swine flu. Push the fear, because people will comply when theyre afraid. Terror is a communist tactic. What communism cant control by fear it destroys. Exhibit A: the coronavirus. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which dictates everything in China, concealed the virus while exporting it, allowing international departures from Wuhan, but no domestic flights. The CCP disappeared anyone critical of the regime, from the initial whistleblower, Dr. Li Wenliang, to the university student Zhang Wenbin, who called on Chinese leader Xi Jinping to step down. Communist China cornered the market on medical supplies and then extorted heavy prices from countries weakened by its virus. It had already expanded its power over international sea lanes. Now it seeks to control ports and threaten to commandeer communications pathways. The United States just experienced this centurys Pearl Harbor moment, and were fighting an asymmetric war. The virus of communism, a long-time and welcome resident of our schools and universities, has severely infected Democratic leadership and its lackeys in broadcasting. No fewer than 39 Obama administration officials participated in spying on U.S. private citizens during the transition of government to the Trump administration, aspiring to discredit and destroy his presidency. In other words, a coup. Subterfuge is a communist tactic. Former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power asked for Lt. Gen. Michael Flynns unmasking seven times in less than two months, then told Congress later that same year she had no recollection of it. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden initially said to ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, I know nothing about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn, before stating, I was aware that they had asked for an investigation, but thats all I know about it. The intelligence and justice community destroyed mens lives for political gain. Lying is a communist tactic. Would the private lives of ordinary citizens be immune to their zealous power-grabbing? HBO talk show host Bill Maher hoped for a recession just to spite Trump, America be damned. Obamas Internal Revenue Service targeted Tea Party supporters. Now, the shutdown is blocking church services while sanctioning abortion providers, and inmates are being released from prison, free to commit further crimes. Who of our founders would imagine a nation focused on eliminating young innocents and morality at the same time? The abject apathy about the cost of the CCP virus response, in human lives, evidences the communist sympathies running rampant through our towns and states. Disdain for human life is a communist tactic. Forcing multibillion-dollar spending bills, rife with unspecified funding and pet projects, in a Cloward-Piven-style attempt to bankrupt the government, draws yawns from a somnambulant kingdom, but this fairy tale just went live, and the nation must rescue our Princess Freedom. Chaos is a communist tactic. America has battled before, but weve grown soft. Now a younger generation must come of age, quickly. The warrior who slays the dragon discovers his strength by facing adversity. Waking up symbolizes embracing consciousness, the knowledge of good and evil, and choosing a side. Communism refuses compromise and demands the total devastation of everything this nation holds dear. We should be equally committed. American patriots must unite in this struggle for life and liberty, despite enemy infiltration in public office and the press. Our opponents are both the domestic communists here inside our borders and the Chinese Communist Party abroad. We must defend the Princess Freedom in her Liberty Bell tower. Defeat the Chinese dragon. #SlaytheDragon Sam Sorbo is an actress, talk radio hostess, and author of Theyre Your Kids: An Inspirational Journey from Self-Doubter to Home School Advocate. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend: Representatives of Uzbek textile industry held online talks with administration of Dutch FashionUnited media platform, Trend reports citing Dunyo News Agency. The main topic of the negotiations was the issue of establishing exports of Uzbek textile products to European markets, the report says. FashionUnited is a media platform for promoting textile apparel brands in foreign markets through publications, articles and newsletters. The head office is located in Amsterdam (Netherlands). FashionUnited also helps to improve marketing strategy, including promoting contacts between companies in the fashion field. During the negotiations FashionUnited spoke about the advantages of cooperation, a wide coverage of professionals in the fashion industry, providing opportunities for cooperation in the B2B format, an extensive network of offices - about 30 - around the world, an audience of over 1.3 million subscribers per month, as well as cooperation with 50 trade shows, 50 fashion schools, organizers of fashion weeks and well-known brands from Louis Vuitton to H&M. An active information campaign through the implementation of publications could help bring Uzbek textile products to the European market and attract attention of a million subscribers in 30 countries, including leading representatives of the fashion industry. According to representatives of FashionUnited, such a model of cooperation has already been established with a number of CIS countries, including Belarus and Moldova. Following the discussions, representatives of the Dutch company expressed readiness for long-term cooperation with Uzbek partners. The sides agreed to maintain systemic contacts and organize another video conference in the coming days. --- Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands (19 May 2020, 07:00 CET) - IMCD N.V. ("IMCD"), a leading distributor of speciality chemicals and food ingredients, today announces the publication of the convocation and agenda for its Annual General Meeting of shareholders ("AGM"), which will be held on Tuesday 30 June 2020 at 10:30 CET in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The convocation and agenda for the AGM as well as the proxy form, are available on the Investors' section of IMCD's website at: https://www.imcdgroup.com/investors/corporate-governance/general-meeting-shareholders . Please find attached the full press release. Attachment Editors note: This story was updated to correct erroneous information about the sequence of events. Demsey Mae Longs infant daughter died on April 19, two days after the events detailed in this report. MUNCY A Muncy-area woman is charged with hindering the apprehension of a man who police say was wanted for tackling a man, pulling a pellet-type revolver and threatening to pistol-whip him. Troopers went to the Glade Run Road home of Demsey Mae Long, 20, on April 17 looking for Tyler C. Wagner, 22. A warrant had been issued for his arrest following the incident with the pistol, which had occurred in Montgomery earlier that day, police said. State police did not say why they thought Wagner might be in Longs home. They allege Long told them Wagner had left and refused to let them go inside to look for him. Wagner was taken into custody a short time later when troopers said they observed him with Long at the front door of the trailer. Two days after Wagners arrest, Long found her 3-month-old daughter unresponsive in her bassinet. The infant was pronounced dead at Muncy Valley Hospital at 12:49 p.m. that day. The cause of death of the child has not been determined, Coroner Charles E. Kiessling Jr. said Monday. He is awaiting the autopsy report and the results of toxicology tests, he said. Police have not indicated any connection between the incidents. Wagner is free on $25,000 unsecured bail awaiting trial on charges of terroristic threats, illegal possession of a weapon, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment. Long has been sent a summons to appear for a July 31 preliminary hearing on the hindering apprehension charge. 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. In efforts to slowly come back to normal, Saint Peter's Basilica opens its doors on Monday as the Vatican and neighboring areas of Italy are set to restart. After its two-month absence, public masses will continue in the predominantly Catholic nation, while bars, restaurants, cafes, and shops are anticipated to open as well. Since the emergence of COVID-19 in early March, churches in Rome were prohibited from accepting the public in any ceremonies of the Catholic church. But most of the churches were opened shortly after the closure for Catholics to have their prayers. On the Sunday's live-streamed prayer of Pope Francis, he stated that he was delighted that communities can finally reunite in liturgical assemblies as it reflects hope for all society as the restrictions ease. The lockdown did not only slowed down the economic activity in Italy, but it deranged the activities that Italians used to do, one of these is attending mass. On the other hand, the pope established a live-streamed mass from a chapel in his residence in the Vatican City, keeping Catholics to have faith amid the global outbreak. Despite the opening of Saint Peter's Basilica, the Vatican's sovereign is not yet expected to lead any gathering or religious ceremonies in public as the Vatican still avoids crowds. However, on Monday Francis will be broadcasting a private mass in front of John Paul II's tomb to celebrate the Polish-born pontiff's 100th birthday. Moreover, despite the numerous reminders on social distancing the Duomo Cathedral in Milan will celebrate a Mass on Friday at 10:30 GMT, as the cathedral launched a gadget that will be worn around the neck of the visitors, as the device will send warning signals like flashing, beeping softly, and vibrating if visitors are too close to one another to ensure proper social distancing. Disinfection measures With an area of 23,000 square meters or 250,000 square feet, the world's largest Catholic church, the Saint Peter's was disinfected on Friday in preparation for its reopening, as workers in full protective gear and masks sprayed down the site's surface that can accommodate around 60,000 visitors. The state of Vatican which is an independent nation in the middle of Rome has employed the same pre-cautionary and countermeasures as Italy, but Italy currently has an official death toll of nearly 32,000 from the virus. Read also: Pope Francis Feels 'Caged,' Physical Contact Restricted Due to Coronavirus Threats Along with three other papal basilicas, Saint Peter's is anticipated to follow Italy's interior ministry's recommendation to limit attendance to only up to 200 people at religious ceremonies in enclosed sites of worship. With tens of thousands of churches in entire Italy, Catholics will be permitted to attend weddings and funerals aside from attending masses, provided that they will follow a series of precautionary measures, which includes wearing masks and ensuring proper distancing to one another. Italy's largest business association, Confcommercio, shared that not less than 800,000 commercial activities are still on hold due to the restrictions imposed by the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on March 9 should be able to open or resume on Monday, as the economic activity starts to revive. Related article: Italy Bans Catholic Funerals Because of the Coronavirus @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. PLANO, Texas, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CRITICALSTART, a leading provider of Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services , announced today that CRN , a brand of The Channel Company, has named Tera Davis to its 2020 Power 40 Solution Providers, an elite subgroup of extraordinary individuals selected from the prestigious Women of the Channel list. The CRN editorial team reviews a plentitude of channel leadership applications to identify professionals who demonstrate groundbreaking vision, expertise, and continuous commitment to the IT channel. The Power 40 Solution Providers are an exclusive subset of an already-esteemed list of women in solution provider organizations who continue to drive professional success through significant influence, leadership, and dedication to their own organizations and the entire IT channel. Tera has been instrumental in driving the strategic direction of CRITICALSTART's channel growth. In the past year, Tera has cultivated mutually beneficial relationships with CRITICALSTART's strategic business partners, helping the company increase year-over-year (YoY) revenue 34% in the first nine months of 2019, and the company's Managed Detection & Response (MDR) business, which grew 165% YTD in 2019. She has also participated in partner advisory councils for key vendors to provide input on how to improve their programs. "It is a tremendous honor to be recognized not just for the work we have accomplished at CRITICALSTART, but also alongside so many great women leaders in the IT channel," said Davis. "In the weeks, months, and years ahead, I cannot wait to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible so that we can continue our growth and grow our partnerships in this emerging sector." "CRN's 2020 Women of the Channel list recognizes an accomplished group of influential women leaders whose strategic vision and unique achievements accelerate channel growth through nurtured partnerships, innovative thought leadership, and unwavering dedication to the IT channel," said Bob Skelley, CEO of The Channel Company. "We are proud to honor them for their accomplishments and contributions to driving channel success." The 2020 Women of the Channel and Power 40 Solution Provider lists will be featured in CRN Magazine on June 8 and online at www.CRN.com/WOTC. About CRITICALSTART CRITICALSTART is the MDR expert that leaves nothing to chance. Our mission is simple: detect threats and stop breaches by resolving every alert for our customers. We do this for enterprises through our award-winning portfolio of end-to-end security services, including MDR and Professional Services. Visit criticalstart.com for more information or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. About The Channel Company The Channel Company enables breakthrough IT channel performance with our dominant media, engaging events, expert consulting and education, and innovative marketing services and platforms. As the channel catalyst, we connect and empower technology suppliers, solution providers, and end users. Backed by more than 30 years of unequalled channel experience, we draw from our deep knowledge to envision innovative new solutions for ever-evolving challenges in the technology marketplace. www.thechannelcompany.com Follow The Channel Company: Twitter, LinkedIn , and Facebook Copyright 2020. CRN is a registered trademark of The Channel Company, LLC. All rights reserved. SOURCE CRITICALSTART Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Contact Gold Corp. (TSXV: C) (OTCQB: CGOL) ("Contact Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company's common shares have begun trading on the OTCQB Venture Market ("OTCQB") under the ticker symbol "CGOL". The Company's common shares will continue to trade under the symbol "C" on the TSX Venture Exchange. "As a Nevada focused gold exploration company, we welcome the listing of the Company's shares on the OTCQB," said Matt Lennox-King, President & CEO of Contact Gold. "We expect that the OTCQB listing will increase the Company's visibility to U.S. investors, improve liquidity for our shareholders, and provide the Company with improved access to capital as we continue to push forward on our Green Springs gold project. Drilling completed at Green Springs in October 2019 returned high grade oxide drill intercepts running up to 2.3 g/t Au over 70 metres." Contact Gold's common shares are already eligible for electronic settlement and transfer in the United States through the Depository Trust Company ("DTC"). About the OTCQB The OTCQB offers early stage and developing U.S. and international companies the benefits of being publicly traded in the U.S. without the complexity and cost of a U.S. exchange listing. As a verified market with efficient access to U.S. investors, the OTCQB helps companies build shareholder value with a goal of enhancing liquidity and achieving fair valuation. Companies are current in their reporting and undergo an annual verification and management certification process. Investors can find Real-Time quotes and market information for the Company on www.otcmarkets.com. Green Springs Project: The past-producing Green Springs gold project is located at the southern end of Nevada's prolific Cortez and Carlin Trends, 60 km southwest of the historic mining centre of Ely, Nevada in a region hosting numerous producing and past producing Carlin-type gold deposits. Green Springs encompasses 16 km2 and is approximately 10 km east of Fiore Gold's Gold Rock Project, 10 km south of Waterton's Mt. Hamilton gold deposit and 20 km southeast of Fiore Gold's producing Pan Mine. In 2019 Contact Gold confirmed that past drilling at the Echo and Charlie zones hit entirely oxidized gold mineralization in 4 drill holes that were re-assayed for cyanide solubility. Subsequently Contact Gold started a drill program to follow-up and extend oxide gold mineralization from in the known zones and drilled 1,300m in 10 drill holes. Contact Gold recently reported new oxide gold discoveries at the property's Alpha, Bravo and Echo Zones. 2019 Drill Highlights include: 4.09 g/t Au over 38.10 m in hole GS19-09 (Echo, news release January 28, 2020 ) 1.02 g/t Au over 22.86 m in hole GS19-10 (Bravo, news release February 12, 2020 ) 1.68 g/t Au over 35.05 m in hole GS19-03 (Alpha, news release January 14, 2020) In 2020, the Company anticipates continuing exploration on the Green Springs property. The Company plans to grow discoveries at Alpha and Echo Zones as well as drill new target areas. Contact Gold signed a purchase option agreement with Ely Gold Royalties ("Ely Gold") to acquire an undivided 100% interest in Green Springs in July 2019. Green Springs is an early stage exploration property and does not contain any mineral resource estimates as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource estimate at Green Springs. The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Vance Spalding, CPG, VP Exploration, Contact Gold, who is a "qualified person" within the meaning of NI 43-101. Drill intercepts were calculated using a minimum thickness of 3.05 metres averaging 0.14 ppm gold and allowing inclusion of up to 4.57 metres of material averaging less than 0.14 ppm gold for low grade intervals and higher grade intervals were calculated using a minimum thickness of 3.05 metres averaging 1.00 ppm gold and allowing inclusion of up to 4.57 metres of assays averaging less than 1.00 ppm gold. Gravimetric assays are used for all Fire Assays above 4.00 ppm gold. Cyanide solubility assays are completed on all Fire Assays greater than 0.1 g/t. True width of drilled mineralization is unknown, but owing to the apparent flat lying nature of mineralization, is estimated to generally be at least 70% of drilled thickness. The composited grades for comparison to the Bottle Roll assays are weighted averages of the amount of pulp used from individual 5 foot assays. Quality Assurance / Quality Control consists of regular insertion of certified reference standards, blanks, and duplicates. All failures are followed up and resolved whenever possible with additional investigation whenever such an event occurs. All assays are completed at ALS Chemex; an ISO 17025:2005 accredited lab. Check assays are completed at a second, reputable assay lab after the program is complete. About Contact Gold Corp. Contact Gold is an exploration company focused on producing district scale gold discoveries in Nevada. Contact Gold's extensive land holdings are on the prolific Carlin and Cortez gold trends which host numerous gold deposits and mines. Contact Gold's land position comprises approximately 140 km2 of target rich mineral tenure hosting numerous known gold occurrences, ranging from early- to advanced-exploration and resource definition stage. Additional information about the Company is available at www.contactgold.com. For more information, please contact: +1 (604) 449-3361 John Glanville - Director Investor Relations Chris Pennimpede - Corporate Development E-mail: info@ContactGold.com Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to additional liquidity and access to capital, the anticipated exploration activities of the Company on the Green Springs property. These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as 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 materially differ from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include; business integration risks; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; fluctuations in spot and forward prices of gold, silver, base metals or certain other commodities; fluctuations in currency markets (such as the Canadian dollar to United States dollar exchange rate); change in national and local government, legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments; risks and hazards associated with the business of mineral exploration, development and mining (including environmental hazards, industrial accidents, unusual or unexpected formations pressures, cave-ins and flooding); inability to obtain adequate insurance to cover risks and hazards; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions on mining; employee relations; relationships with and claims by local communities and indigenous populations; availability of increasing costs associated with mining inputs and labour; the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development (including the risks of obtaining necessary licenses, permits and approvals from government authorities); and title to properties. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56090 Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:32:19|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close KUWAIT CITY, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Kuwait on Tuesday reported 1,073 new cases of COVID-19 and three more deaths, raising the tally of infections to 16,764 and the death toll to 121, the health ministry said in a statement. Currently, 11,962 patients are receiving treatment, including 179 in ICU, according to the statement. The ministry also announced the recovery of 342 more patients, raising the total number of recoveries in the country to 4,681. The Kuwaiti government has imposed a full curfew in the country to curb the rapid rise in coronavirus cases. 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 GOTHENBURG, Sweden, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mentice AB (STO: MNTC), today announced the global introduction of its seventh-generation simulation platform, the VIST G7. This unique platform makes available a virtual patient to doctors of all skill levels and is designed to become the platform for future Mentice solutions including artificial intelligence guidance, integration to robotics, and big data analytics. Building on Mentices success over the last twenty years, this newly redesigned technology incorporates patented intellectual property, features the latest advances in sensor and haptic technologies, and offers a platform for newly developed interventional procedure modules. Using patented technologies, a premium version of this seventh-generation platform is offered as the VIST G7+. The G7+ brings simulation to the next level of realism allowing doctors to simultaneously manipulate multiple devices while using a single access point for therapies such as bifurcation lesion interventions and branched devices. With elective procedures being postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis, now more than ever it is critical for interventional doctors to make use of endovascular simulation to maintain interventional therapy readiness. As we continue our transformation journey from a simulator company to a performance solutions provider, we are now offering our customers an unparallel level of realism for even the most complex cases, said Goran Malmberg, CEO, Mentice. Over the years, Mentice has shared a common goal with our medical device partners, strategic alliances, healthcare systems, teaching entities, and professional associations; to help improve clinical performance and patient outcomes. COVID-19 has taught us that now is the time to adopt endovascular simulation in the clinical practice and make it the new normal for proficiency training by doctors of all skill levels, Goran continued. In the past, endovascular simulators were challenged to match the haptic feedback a seasoned doctor will experience on a real patient while pinning and advancing micro-catheters, making micro-adjustments, selecting small vessels, and applying certain tricks and techniques acquired over many years of practice, said Lars Lonn, Professor of Interventional Radiology, National University Hospital, Copenhagen. Performing an interventional procedure on the new G7 platform feels incredibly like the real thing even in the most intricate cases, Dr. Lonn continued. Key features offered by the seventh-generation platform. VIST OS: State of the art operating system that makes use of a proprietary and patented physics engine and includes a medical device communications protocol, a third-party integration API, and an applications communications layer. Support for anatomical complexities: Realistic simulation of interventions that include vessel bifurcation and use of multiple devices using a single access point. A dual haptics configuration allows for interventions that require dual access points. HapticRealism Technology: HapticRealism Technology offers improved haptics significantly improving force feedback and making available a wider spectrum of haptic forces to exactly mimic reality. Optical sensors for automated identification of real devices and improved software controls simulating a real-life interventional procedure. Ability to measure and recreate applied forces on any medical device. Flexible: Ability to change procedures instantaneously using self-calibration. Integrates automated particle elimination technology to minimize the need for manual sensor cleaning. Extensible to additional imaging modalities including TEE. Scalable: Significant improvements in processing power over prior generations offering scalability for future applications. Able to connect to cloud infrastructure and ready to support future software and services. This new G7+ platform with improved, measurable, and accurate haptics further increases the fidelity of scenarios and it is a much needed addition to our practice allowing us to simulate challenging bifurcation PCI cases, says Dr Khalid Barakat, Director of Cardiovascular Simulation at Barts Heart Centre and Honorary Senior Lecturer for Device Innovation at Queen Mary University of London. Our aspiration is to perform procedure rehearsals for the most complex PCI cases testing novel bifurcation strategies and devices, Dr. Barakat continued. Our seventh-generation endovascular simulation platform aligns with our mission to improve operational efficiency and patient outcomes by introducing innovative solutions that eliminate proficiency barriers, said Edward Falt, Vice President of Products, Mentice. As we are working closely with our clinical experts and responding to the needs of physicians around the world, this new platform will become the launchpad for future software advancements in precision medicine and robotics and focused on improving clinical performance and patient outcomes, Edward continued. To learn more about the VIST seventh-generation platform, Mentice will hold an online webinar on May 26th at 15:00 Central European Time with Edward Falt, VP of Product, Mentice and co-host Dr. Barakat, Director of Cardiovascular Simulation at Barts Heart Centre, London as they present the G7 and G7+ unique capabilities. Please pre-register at https://www.mentice.com/vist-g7. Contact for journalists: Edward Falt, VP of Product Management [email protected] Mentice (STO: MNTC) is the world leader in software and hardware simulation solutions for endovascular therapies. Our solutions help healthcare professionals acquire, retain, and enhance their procedural skills driving improved productivity and outcomes. Mentice solutions are scientifically validated and have been specifically developed for healthcare providers and the medical device industry. Neurovascular, cardiovascular and peripheral interventions are just some of the clinical areas covered by our solutions. Learn more about the features and benefits of Mentice solutions at: www.mentice.com This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/mentice-ab/r/mentice-launches-seventh-generation-platform-aimed-to-transform-endovascular-therapy,c3115268 SOURCE Mentice AB The Congress on Tuesday accused the BJP and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of indulging in "cheap politics" by not allowing its buses to ferry migrants stranded at the borders. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala urged Adityanath to come to the aid of migrants and immediately grant permission to 1,000 buses made available by the Congress in this regard and not "create hurdles instead". He also accused the chief minister of being insensitive and inhumane by embroiling migrants in cheap and petty "Kindly put a stop on cheap and not be insensitive and inhumane towards the plight of migrants. Kindly allow buses to ply migrants home and help them instead of embroiling them in cheap and petty politics," Surjewala told a press conference through video conferencing. Another spokesperson Surpriya Shrinate alleged that RTOs were now threatening bus owners of buses made available by the Congress and said on the one side the Uttar Pradesh government was giving permission and on the other it was creating hurdles. "This is clear double standards," she said. Congress leader Rajeev Shukla said the Uttar Pradesh government was insensitive towards migrants' plight and was unnecessarily creating hurdles in ferrying them safely back home. Another party leader Rajeev Satav said it is clear that the BJP governments at the Centre and Uttar Pradesh were only indulging in cheap and this was an example of their "failed governance". There has been a back and forth exchange of communication over plying of 1,000 buses to ferry migrants home, after the Congress made available a list of buses, but the Uttar Pradesh government sought their inspection in Lucknow and then at Gautam Budh Nagar and Noida. The Uttar Pradesh government has also alleged that some of the bus numbers given by the Congress are of two-wheelers and three-wheelers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Churches leave Mennonite denomination over theology, LGBT stance Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Correction appended Congregations from three Anabaptist churches in Ontario have left the over 100-congregation Mennonite Church Eastern Canada over theological concerns, some of which relate to issues of sexuality and salvation. We announce with great sadness Kingsfield-Clinton and Kingsfield-Zurich Mennonite Church, Living Water Christian Fellowship and Maple View Mennonite Church have left the MC Eastern Canada family, the church conference said a recent statement publicized by CanadianMennonite.org. After a healthy conversation with leadership from each congregation, we mourn their leaving, and we bless and pray Gods best for each of them in their future ministry. According to the magazine, the churches formalized their departures from the denomination earlier this spring. Pastor Brent Kipfer of Maple View Mennonite Church in Wellesley told the magazine that his church began a discernment process after members of the evangelical congregation noticed a more widely varying theological diversity within MC Eastern Canada and MC Canada. Maple View formally left MC Eastern Canada on April 25, 2020 and became an associate member of the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches in June 2019. Kipfer said that Maple View was spurred to review its relationships with the denomination due to the MC Canada's shifting stance on LGBT issues. In 2016, MC Canada congregations voted in favor of creating space for congregations to hold differing views from MC Canadas traditional definition of marriage as being a union between one man and one woman. [C]oncerns about sexual ethics [are] a secondary expression of a deeper theological divergence anchored in a more substantial discomfort with the range of theological diversity in the denomination, Kipfer was quoted as saying. The Kingsfield-Clinton and Kingsfield-Zurich Mennonite Church family of congregations have left the MC Eastern Canada and joined the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches as associate members. Lead Pastor Ryan Jantzi told the Canadian Mennonite that around June 2018, church members acknowledged that they were out of sync with the shifting policies of the regional church body and felt more isolated. The Kingsfield congregations stepped down to associate members of MC Eastern Canada in 2019 before a formal two-part vote was held in January. A majority of members voted to formally withdraw from MC Eastern Canada. According to Jantzi, the Kingsfield congregants were primarily concerned about convictions related to salvation and mission and how the Mennonite church landscape has shifted. He said that the Kingsfield congregations affirm that Jesus is the only way to salvation and that everyone, everywhere ought to be invited to place their faith in Jesus. Another concern, Jantzi said, was that his congregations were not completely in sync with MC Canadas shifting position on sexuality. Jantzi said that even as we hold to the overall historic, traditional teaching on this, we are also adapting in this area. We also are on a journey of learning how to care for and disciple those who experience same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria, he was quoted as saying. This is a growth area for us too. Jantzi assured, however, that there were many points of blessing for the Kingsfield congregations throughout their time with MC Eastern Canada. The Christian Post reached out to Living Water Fellowship Church in New Hamburg for comment on why the congregation stepped away from MC Eastern Canada. A response is pending. Living Water chose not to make a statement after repeated requests for comment by Canadian Mennonite. MC Eastern Canada Executive Minister David Martin said that the denomination is gratified that the congregations departure took place on good terms. We are pleased to have had the opportunity to engage with each congregation in frank and helpful conversation, Martin told the magazine, adding that MC Eastern Canada respects the various decisions that each congregation has made in terms of how they desire to follow their call to ministry. Even though our formal affiliations are changing, we have taken the time to pray together and bless each other, Martin concluded. We will continue to pray for each other and ask for Gods blessing on our respective ministries. Disagreement over sexuality has led to other Mennonite denominational divisions in recent years. In 2018, the largest conference of Mennonite churches in the United States departed from the Mennonite Church USA over changing views on homosexuality. In 2015, the denomination made a similar move to create more space for theological divergence from its traditional marriage stance. The Lancaster Mennonite Conference, which had over 179 congregations across New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio in addition to over 70,000 members, departed from the conference after its leaders voted to do so in 2015. The move led to about eight churches ending their affiliation with the Lancaster conference because of their desire to stay with Mennonite Church USA. Correction: May 20, 2020: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Maple View Mennonite Church stepped down to an associate member of Mennonite Church Eastern Canada last June. Rather in June 2019, the church became an associate member of the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches. Maple View formally left MC Eastern Canada on April 25, 2020. Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock has warned Armidale Regional Council of her intention to suspend its elected body amid a legal war between several councillors and the CEO. Ms Hancock said she had on Tuesday issued the northern NSW council with a notice to appoint an administrator for a three-month period after a request from her colleague and Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall to order an investigation. Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock has warned Armidale Regional Council of her intention to suspend its elected body. Credit:Nick Moir "It follows serious concerns about the councils ability to function properly and effectively following a breakdown of relationships between councillors and key council officers and significant reputational, legal and work, health and safety risks," a statement from her office said. "The NSW government is committed to ensuring the Armidale community has a council that is serving its best interests." A horrified driver has been left shocked and disgusted after a used tampon was allegedly throw at him while he waited at a set of traffic lights. The 22-year-old man named Lawson said he pulled up next to a black hatchback on the corner of Stenner and Ruthven Streets in Toowoomba, Queensland on Sunday afternoon when he became distracted by his radio. 'I was just sitting at a red light waiting for it to go green and as soon as the right arrow turned green someone just threw a used tampon at my face,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'I tried to throw it out the window as fast as possible but I could tell it was quite used as blood was splattered all over the car.' The 22-year-old man named Lawson said he pulled up next to a black hatchback when someone inside the car allegedly threw a bloodied tampon at him (stock image) Lawson said he 'felt like throwing up' once he had realised what had happened. The 22-year-old said he had 'absolutely no idea' why he was attacked and there was no prior incident to explain their behaviour. 'I pulled up to them - there was nothing I could have done,' he said. The alleged unprovoked assault took place at the corner of Stenner and Ruthven Streets in Toowoomba on Sunday (pictured) Lawson reported the incident to police and while he didn't catch the number plate of the driver he hopes officers can use his dash cam footage to track them down. After giving police a statement officers took swabs of the suspected bodily fluids which have been sent off for testing. Lawson underwent testing for several sexually transmitted diseases at Kobi House medical centre on Sunday and will require more tests in the coming weeks. Vietnam defies the odds on COVID-19 by Helen Clark May 18,2020 | Source: CNA If you want to see real Olympic-level panic-buying, head to a Vietnamese supermarket a week before Tet, or Lunar New Year. Yet when the coronavirus broke out in China, Vietnam, with which it shares a border, there was only an hour or two of panic-buying before things settled down to normal. Vietnam has come out of COVID-19 lockdown, and schools have restarted after being closed all year. The economy is restarting, and theres hope the country could escape the worst economic ravages, or even benefit from plans to diversify manufacturing away from China. There are fewer than 300 reported COVID-19 cases, and no reported deaths. International press coverage of Vietnam's efforts has been broad and generally effusive not something the regime has seen much of for some years. This is a nation that took three goes just to institute a motorbike helmet law people would actually pay attention to. After two failed attempts, the leadership got serious in 2007, although even then citizens were more interested in appearing to follow the law, and the cheaper plastic domes on sale for 50,000 VND (US$2.50) would save riders from a fine but not an injury. This time, people have listened and are pulling together, wishing to do the right thing rather than simply appearing to do the right thing, which is where the smart moneys been for years. Its often easy to suggest in Vietnam that numbers are incomplete or made up. However, the usual rumour mill is largely quiet. Reuters recently published a lengthy piece detailing Vietnams efforts, from early border and school closures to sustained contact tracing. The reporters called a dozen funeral homes to check if business is booming. It isnt. As with elsewhere, numbers have dropped as lockdowns have meant fewer traffic accidents. It also noted: "These public health experts say Vietnam was successful because it made early, decisive moves to restrict travel into the country, put tens of thousands of people into quarantine and quickly scaled up the use of tests and a system to track down people who might have been exposed to the virus." On the other hand, the story illustrated a frustrating opacity, with no health officials available for interview. According to one foreigner whos been in Hanoi since the mid-2000s, everyone seems in awe of the government. Indeed, the often-cynical expats are now praising the nations efforts, grateful they live in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City and not back home, even if they still complain people are putting masks but not helmets on their small children riding pillion. Vietnams multilingual contact-tracing programme lists all the places each diagnosed patient has been since contracting the virus down to the addresses, for example, of street-side barbecued eel and noodle joints, after one particular eel-loving patient had picked it up at a St Patricks Day party in Saigon, one of the later virus clusters. The fear in Vietnam in the years since the Doi Moi economic reforms took hold has been that the nation was losing its character, becoming too money-hungry while losing the sense of community and patriotism that enabled the Norths mid-century victories against the French, Americans, and Chinese (although its important to note that the country, which just saw the 45th year anniversary of the Fall of Saigon and end of the war, doesnt call the last run-in a war). That fear is not a new feeling. Author Ho Anh Thai, a former diplomat and author, wrote about the nostalgia for a more idealistic time in his 1991 novella Behind the Red Mist, via 17-year-old Tan, who is somehow transported back to the war years, meeting his then-young parents for the first time. Tan, growing up in peacetime, feels strangely dislocated but finds a sense of purpose in Hanois early war years. That nostalgia was resurgent three years later, during the lengthy mourning and funeral for General Vo Nguyen Giap, architect of the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954, when young people raised on not much more than facts and figures about the war thronged the streets in quiet lines to pay their respects to a hero whose power within the Party waned decades before they were born. Mediacorp 2020. Mediacorp Pte Ltd. All rights reserved. Theme(s): Others. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. Spring has sprung, and with it, growing defiance of the coronavirus quarantine. Its no surprise. The cold and rainy weather that kept people indoors for most of March and April had to end sometime. Over the weekend, owners of Cargo Cafe in St. George put some tables and chairs outside the bar so patrons could have a drink or a meal al fresco. Deputies from the city Sheriffs Office quickly shut the operation down. Bars and restaurants are currently allowed to do delivery or takeout service only. Cargo wasnt alone. Cabo in Richmond Valley and Palermos Pizza on the South Shore also shut down some outside seating after being visited by the deputies. You can bet that other businesses are also skirting the pandemic regulations, and that more of them will look to push the envelope as the weather gets warmer and sunnier. Some will feel they have no choice. Itll be either that or go out of business for good. We could be on the cusp of a new speakeasy culture. Knock three times to get into the bar. Regulars only, please. Just about every other region in the state has the go-ahead to re-open, based on the metrics established by Gov. Andrew Cuomos office. Other states across the country, including neighboring New Jersey and Connecticut, are also reopening That only fuels the defiance here, even if we need to remember that other states didnt take the same horrific hit from the virus that New York did. Not all states are equal in the pandemic. They cant reopen at the same rate. People in general are also pushing back against the quarantine. Theyre going out more. Theyre not all wearing coverings on their faces. We can all see the trends: The numbers of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations continue to fall in New York, even as the number of cases increases thanks to increased testing. On Tuesday, the Advance reported that Staten Island University Hospital had seen no new COVID admissions for the first time in two months. More and more people are getting impatient to re-open New York City. Heres the thinking: Government ordered us into quarantine back in March, and we all did as we were told. We shuttered our businesses. We kept our kids home from school. We stopped visiting family. We stayed away from church. We have been without every normal human interaction, whether it be a night at the bar, a restaurant meal, a ballgame or a concert, for 10 weeks. And we flattened the curve. We stopped the spread. Is it any surprise that people are starting to have their fill of the quarantine? We saw a back to work rally on the Island last weekend. The economic stakes are getting higher and higher the longer this goes on. And add this to the stew: Cuomo the other week said that the bulk of new COVID cases in New York were people whod actually stayed home during the pandemic. So some wonder if the lockdown is even effective anymore. And we cant forget that it wasnt just the quarantine and social distancing that flattened the curve. The fact that people went into the hospital and also, unfortunately died also helped stop the spread of the virus. Defiance of the lockdown here is no surprise given the fact that so many Islanders support President Donald Trump, who has called for the country to be re-opened. None of this is cut and dried. We cant just re-open because were tired of the lockdown. We may have to wear masks. We will have to socially distance. Its going to be a process. We cant just flip a switch. Personally, Im going to continue to be careful. But dont be surprised if people keep trying to get around the rules. A uthor Neil Gaiman has said sorry for flying thousands of miles to his home on a remote Scottish island during the coronavirus lockdown. The Stardust writer has been widely criticised this week for his 11,000 mile-trip from New Zealand to the Isle of Skye in the Hebrides. He said that he had agreed with his partner that they "needed some space" and flew "masked and gloved" to London before driving to the Scottish island. Gaiman apologised for his "foolish" actions in a blog post on Tuesday. The Isle of Skye / Unsplash He said: Like so many other people, my home life and work had been turned upside down by the Covid-19 lockdowns. I was panicked, more than a little overwhelmed and stuck in New Zealand. When I landed, the whole of the UK was under lockdown rules. I drove directly to my home in the UK, which is on Skye. I came straight here and Ive been in isolation here ever since. The author added: Since I got here, Skye has had its own tragic Covid outbreak 10 deaths in a local care home. Its not set up to handle things like this and all the local resources are needed to look after the local community." Neil Gaiman / PA Gaiman said he had made a mistake and told other people not to follow his example and stay away from remote Scottish islands during the lockdown. Im sure Ive done sillier things in my life but this is the most foolish thing Ive done in quite a while, he said. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon weighed in after news of Gaiman's trip emerged on Monday, reminding people to "stay at home". Nicola Sturgeon criticised Mr Gaiman / PA And leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster Ian Blackford added: "Can I just remind anyone else thinking of coming to the Highlands this is against the regulations. "To come from the other end of the planet is gobsmacking." Police said they had spoken to Gaiman. Inspector Linda Allan said: Officers have visited Neil Gaiman and spoken to him about his actions. He has been given suitable advice about essential travel and reminded about the current guidelines in Scotland. People should only make "essential" journeys under coronavirus lockdown rules in Scotland. New Delhi, May 19 : The world's most powerful locomotive manufactured by French giant Alstom along with the Madhepura Electric Locomotives Pvt Ltd, capable of running at maximum 12,000 HP, joined operations of the Indian Railways on Monday, officials said. "Bolstering Prime Minister Narendra Modiji's vision of Make in India, first WAG12B (12000 HP) loco departed from Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay station in Uttar Pradesh today. Powerful and capable of high speed, the locomotive is a significant addition to the Indian Railways," tweeted Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. According to Railway officials, WAG12B started its services from Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay railway station (Mughalsarai Junction) in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. The train departed from Deen Dayal Upadhyay station at 2.08 p.m. in long haul formation for Dhanbad division of East Central Railway, consisting of 118 wagons which travelled from Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction to Barwadih via Dehri-on-Sone, Garhwa Road stations. The locomotive is capable of taking heavy consingment of freight and will be used on the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC). "Alstom is pleased to start delivery of the electric locomotives to Indian Railways. Commencement of induction into the IR fleet, testifies our commitment towards the country. This is a revolutionary product which will be faster, safer and eco-friendly. Also, it is scripting a new chapter for India's sustainable mobility journey and we are happy to be partnering in this," said Alain Spohr, Managing Director, Alstom India and South Asia. A railway ministry spokesperson said that it was a proud moment for Indian Railways, as it became the sixth country in the world to join the elite club of producing high horse power locomotives indigenously. "It is the first time that a high horse power locomotive has been operationalised on broad gauge track in the world. The locomotive has been produced under Make in India programme. The Madhepura factory is the largest integrated greenfield facility built to the highest standards of quality and safety with production capacity of 120 locomotives and spread across a massive 250 acres." Railway officials said that the locomotive is capable of running on railway tracks with conventional over head wire (OHE) lines as well as on DFC with high rise OHE lines. The official further said that the locomotive has air-conditioned driver cabs on either side. "The locomotive is equipped with regenerative braking system which provides substantial energy savings during operations. These high horse power locomotives will help to decongest the saturated tracks by improving average speed of freight trains," the spokesperson said. Touted as the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects of the Railways, the Ministry of Railways and Alstom came together in 2015. An agreement worth 3.5 billion euros was signed to manufacture 800 electric locomotives for freight services and its associated maintenance. These locomotives are state-of-the-art IGBT-based, 3 phase drive, 9000 KW (12000 horse power) electric locomotives. The locomotive is capable of maximum tractive effort of 706 kN, which is capable of starting and running a 6000 T train in the gradient of 1 in 150. The locomotive with twin Bo-Bo design having 22.5 T (tonnes) axle load is upgradable to 25 tonnes with design speed of 120 kmph. The locomotive will be used on the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) for the faster movement of goods, especially coal and iron ore. The railway official said that the project started in 2018 and Modi inaugurated the project on April 10, 2018. The prototype locomotive was delivered in March 2018. Based on the test results having design issues, the complete locomotive including bogies was redesigned. The new design of locomotive has been inspected by Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) at Madhepura factory and cleared for dispatch from factory in November 2019, the official said. He said RDSO has conducted oscillation trials at various speeds upto 132 kmph and the locomotive has passed oscillation trials successfully. Latest updates on Howdy Modi Houston (Photo : REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo) FILE PHOTO: Small bottles labeled with a "Vaccine COVID-19" sticker and a medical syringe are seen in this illustration taken taken April 10, 2020. The Oxford University vaccine tipped in the race to produce a coronavirus shot as a "front-runner" may not stop the virus in monkeys, and may only be partially successful, experts have cautioned. A vaccination trial in rhesus macaque monkeys did not stop the coronavirus from infecting the animals, raising concerns about the possible human efficacy, and continuing the production of the vaccination. Vaccinated monkeys were infected The vaccine, known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, is under clinical research in the UK. The government made an agreement between Oxford University and drug company AstraZeneca to produce up to 30 million doses if it proves successful, with 47 million or about $57 million being plowed into the research. ALSO READ: COVID-19 Update: Coronavirus Vaccine Makers Ask Government's Help to Make Millions of Doses by September "All of the vaccinated monkeys treated with the Oxford vaccine became infected when challenged as judged by the recovery of virus genomic RNA from nasal secretions," said Dr. William Haseltine, a former Harvard Medical School professor. Haseltine had a pivotal role in the development of early HIV/Aids treatments. In an article on Forbes, Dr. Haseltine wrote that there was no difference in the amount of viral RNA detected from this site in the vaccinated monkeys compared to the unvaccinated animals. "Which is to say, all vaccinated animals were infected," he added. Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at Nottingham University, said the vaccine data indicate the jab might not be able to prevent the virus from spreading among infected individuals. According to Ball, the viral loads in the noses of vaccinated and unvaccinated animals were identical is very significant. "If the same happened in humans, vaccination would not stop the spread," he said. Ball said the finding should warrant an urgent re-appraisal of the ongoing human trials of the ChAdOx1 vaccine. The trials investigating the immune response in rhesus macaque monkeys to the Oxford vaccine were performed at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory of the National Institute of Health in the USA, with initial findings released in a press release at the end of April. The findings were said to be positive at the time, but releasing the full results of last week's trial showed the vaccine did not prevent the animals from contracting the virus. However, there was evidence that the severity could be reduced. ALSO READ: COVID-19 Update: Pfizer's Coronavirus Vaccine Could Be Ready in the Autumn - Reports This compares with an April Chinese vaccine trial that seemed to stop Covid-19 's production in monkeys. The experiment, performed by Sinovac Biotech, a privately owned company based in Beijing, used a modified version of the full Sars-Cov-2 virus in its vaccine, while the Oxford vaccine uses a common cold virus to attempt to induce an immune response. Here's what happened Six monkeys were infected with single doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 in the Oxford monkey study and were exposed to coronavirus. It also affected a control group of three unvaccinated monkeys. For signs of Covid-19 growth, the immunized and the non-immunized monkeys were monitored for seven days. One indicator of infection is an increased breathing rate as the virus enters the lungs-this symptom was demonstrated by three of the vaccinated animals. The researchers also detected the virus on autopsy in the lungs of the vaccinated monkeys. On the upside, none of the vaccinated monkeys showed pneumonia that indicates it could be partially protective while not preventing the virus. Dr. Haseltine said that this was "encouraging," but that "experience with other vaccinations teaches us that this is not a solid guarantee for humans." "It is crystal clear that the vaccine did not provide sterilizing immunity to the virus challenge, the gold standard for any vaccine. It may provide partial protection," he said. The vaccine's doubts came after business secretary Alok Sharma. It said the pace with which Oxford was going ahead with development was "generally unparalleled," and the first clinical trials were "progressing well." 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. WOOD RIVER Madison County recorded its 500th coronavirus case and 45th death Tuesday as Gov. J.B. Pritzker held firm to his five-phase Restore Illinois plan. In his daily briefing Tuesday, Pritzker said all of the state is set to move to Phase 3 in about 11 days. He and others said Illinois must base its decisions on science and data in the face of local governments resistance and legal and legislative challenges. Last week the Madison County Board of Health approved its own timetable for reopening the local economy. However, Madison County States Attorney Tom Gibbons has said the local plan is unenforceable. Many county municipalities and businesses remain wary of reopening faster than Pritzkers plan for fear of fines, jail time and funding threats. Phase 3 of Pritzkers plan, if permitted, would allow some nonessential businesses to reopen with limits, such as capacity restrictions. Gatherings of up to 10 people would be allowed, with face coverings and social distancing being the norm. Statewide, Illinois Department of Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said there were 146 deaths and 1,545 new cases reported during the past 24 hours. To date, the state has reported 98,030 cases and 4,379 deaths. Ezike said there have been 18,443 tests completed in the past 24 hours for a total of 621,684 so far statewide. She also noted 4,002 people hospitalized, 993 of them in intensive care units and 576 on ventilators. She noted both numbers had been reduced. This is good news, she said, adding it solidifies that the measures the state are taking are working. County health officials said the most recent Madison County virus-related death was a woman in her 80s. The county figure includes 94 people currently hospitalized and 242 recovered, meaning they have completed isolation. More Information COVID-19 cases by county St. Clair - 832 (69 deaths) Madison - 500 (45 deaths) Clinton - 165 (14 deaths) Monroe - 90 (11 deaths) Macoupin - 42 (1 death) Montgomery - 39 (1 death) Jersey - 19 (1 death) Bond - 12 (1 death) Washington - 18 Greene - 4 Calhoun - 1 Sources: Illinois Department of Public Health and Madison County Health Department. See More Collapse IDPH information by ZIP code Tuesday showed additional cases in the Alton, Edwardsville, Madison, Staunton and Litchfield areas. There were 108 cases in 62025 (Edwardsville), 84 in 62002 (Alton), 70 in 62040 (Granite City/Pontoon Beach), 56 in 62034 (Glen Carbon), 49 in 62234 (Collinsville) and 20 in 62060 (Madison). There were 19 cases in 62035 (Godfrey); 18 in 62095 (Wood River); 17 in 62294 (Troy); 14 in 62056 (Litchfield); 13 in 62010 (Bethalto) and 62052 (Jerseyville); 11 in 62249 (Highland); 10 in 62090 (Venice); eight in 62024 (East Alton) and 62069 (Mt. Olive); seven in 62018 (Cottage Hills), 62062 (Maryville) and 62088 (Staunton); and six in 62012 (Brighton). The IDPH is releasing case numbers by ZIP code for areas with more than five cases. Numbers are not released in ZIP codes with fewer cases to protect the privacy of patients. The information is online at www.dph.illinois.gov. Additional cases also were reported Tuesday in Macoupin, St. Clair, Bond, Monroe and Washington counties in the Metro East, with additional deaths noted in St. Clair County. For the latest information on COVID-19 or coronavirus resources, visit the Madison County Health Department online at www.madisonchd.org or on Facebook @MadisonCHD. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us for more news and a daily update or on Facebook @MadisonCountyIL. SHANGHAI, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Music China, jointly organized by CMIA, Shanghai INTEX and Messe Frankfurt, returns in Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China, October 28-31, 2020. As COVID-19 outbreak has been almost curbed in China, the State Council recently released the announcement that conventions and exhibitions can be held in necessity, which reassures that Music China can be held as scheduled this autumn. Music China, having been held for 18 years, is accepted as one of the world's largest and most high-profile tradeshows of musical instruments and products. Traders and dealers from over the world gather together each year on the show, seeking for innovate products and potential business opportunities. For the last edition, Music China hosted more than 2,400 exhibitors from over 34 countries and regions, drawing 122,519 attendees from 78 countries and regions. The interaction between the exhibitors and the attendees immensely increased efficiency of international trade and business, and helped promote the development of global music industry. In 2020, Music China expands its exhibiting area to 148,000 square metres, with 14 exhibition halls displaying different categories of musical instruments and products, expecting to host more than 2,500 international exhibitors and over 128,000 visitors from both home and abroad. Despite the impact of novel coronavirus, most of the exhibitors showed strong intention to participate in the show this autumn. Global brands who have confirmed to attend Music China 2020 includes AXL, Dunhuang, Fengling, Hsinghai, Jinyin, JOYO, NUX, and Pearl River, Pioneer DJ, Samick, Schimmel Steinway, Taylor, Yamaha, and Yanagisawa. They are expected to give the audiences an insight of all facets of music, including musical instruments, audio and sound products, music-making software, music education and online apps. With such a wealth of music brands, the show will definitely attract a wide professional audience, including senior-management and decision-makers of targeted buyers, who will help generate a tremendous buying power on and off site. It is undoubtedly a place for brands to showcase their products and make a sound in the global market, as well as a platform for audiences to compare and select goods and partners. Apart from the exhibition, Music China also organizes various events to draw the latest trends of the music industry, including new product release, industry forums, educational sessions, cultural events and live shows. Top musicians, celebrities, artists, innovators, and expects in the music world will be invited to interviews and speeches on the show. Although the epidemic spread has become a global issue in these months, we see good signs as the world has been making joint efforts to contain and mitigate the virus. After months of endeavour, China has almost survived from the epidemic outbreak and got back on track, thus we have the faith that the rest of the world will soon get better and return to normal. Music China, under this context, is still playing its role as the platform to link exhibitors and their targeted audiences, working together as responsible partners with all the exhibitors to pull through. For more information about Music China 2020, please visit our official website: www.musicchina-expo.com. We are here in Shanghai looking forward to see you all good this autumn. Contacts: Miss Arlene Zhu +86-21-6295-5609 [email protected] SOURCE Shanghai Intex Exhibition Co., Ltd. (CNN) Losing your sense of smell or taste has been added to the official list of coronavirus symptoms in the United Kingdom, the Department of Health and Social Care said. A government statement said that "from today, all individuals should self-isolate if they develop a new continuous cough or fever or anosmia." Anosmia refers to the loss of or change to a person's sense of smell. The Department of Health statement said "it can also affect your sense of taste as the two are closely linked." The Chief Medical Officers for the four nations of the UK endorsed this expansion of the recognized symptoms, saying they "have been closely monitoring the emerging data and evidence on Covid-19 and, after thorough consideration ... are now confident enough to recommend this new measure." The move comes after Tim Spector, the head of the UK's coronavirus symptom tracking app and a professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London, criticized the government's failure to expand its list of symptoms. Spector estimated an additional 50,000-70,000 cases in the UK have gone undiagnosed due to the lack of recognition of other symptoms, including anosmia. The UK has suffered the most deadly outbreak of coronavirus in Europe, according to official figures, with more than 34,000 confirmed deaths. Anosmia emerged as a potential Covid-19 symptom in March, when doctors in the United States called for it to be added to the "list of screening tools" for Covid-19. Around the same time, ENT UK, a professional organization representing UK ear, nose and throat surgeons, said in a statement on its website that anosmia could be another symptom of infection with the virus. It has long been known in medical literature that a sudden loss of smell may be associated with certain respiratory infections. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Loss of taste or smell added to official list of coronavirus symptoms in UK." Thousands of prosecutions for drug offences, theft and criminal damage are set to be dropped as police try and clear a backlog of court cases caused by coronavirus, it has been reported. Instead officers are being asked to utilised out of court measures, such as community service, rather than go through the log jammed court system, as reported by The Times. Police forces have reported a drop in crimes across the country, with Britain's top police officer Cressida Dick previously saying that falls in gun and knife crime under lockdown are silver linings to the pandemic. But despite jury trials resuming on Monday, the court system faces an uphill battle to clear the backlog in cases which had reached 37,434 at the end of 2019, and has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Police patrol the beach as deckchairs make a reappearance in Brighton, at the weekend Just last week Ian Burnett, the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, said the backlog was growing at around 1,000 cases a month. Sara Glen, of the National Police Chiefs Council, and a deputy chief constable of Hampshire, said that forces should review cases and that some could be handled without people going to court. In a letter written last week she said: We all know the criminal justice system was already stretched before lockdown and social distancing measures were put in place. 'Whilst it has had an impact on all agencies, the pressure on the ability of HMCTS [HM Courts and Tribunals Service] to ensure courts hear cases is even more profound, and the backlog is going to build. Technology-enabled justice will only assist so far in this regard. Police patrol on horses in Hyde Park last week. The government relaxed rules on the lockdown last week The starting of jury trials will however be a gradual process, and the amount of trials will have to be ramped up significantly over the year if there is any chance of making a dent in the backlog. Caroline Goodwin QC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) told her members the process is 'in its infancy' and will be slow and cautious, as reported by The Financial Times. Prosecutors have already been told that the most serious cases should be given priority. Ms Glen added in the letter that new investment was needed in the criminal justice system to avoid years of delays. The NPCC did not provide a comment to The Times. Perpetual Beer Cheese is a limited spring cheese collaboration between Pennsylvania's Caputo Bros. Creamery and Troegs Independent Brewing that is infused with Citra hops, the same used in Troegs Perpetual IPA. Read more Beer and cheese have a long history together as perfect companions on the table and as the dual objects of devoted labor by Belgian monks who often made both in their monasteries. Some of the worlds greatest cheeses also involve combining the two products as, most commonly, the curds are washed with a beer brine while aging to achieve a holy funk. But something new has quite possibly just been created by a trio of Pennsylvania food icons in what might be the worlds first dry-hopped cheese. Perpetual Beer Cheese is a collaboration between Caputo Brothers Creamery, Troegs Independent Brewing, and the Giant food stores chain, and takes a novel approach to one of key components in beer hops by infusing it into warm pasteurized milk like a giant tea bag. In this case, its the same Citra hops used in Troegs popular Perpetual IPA, and the result is pretty remarkable. The semi-firm Fontina-like cheese melts slowly across the palate and blooms like a mouthful of sunshine, a zesty blend of lime and grapefruit citrus with notes of green melon and more tropical fruits. We believe it to be the first of its kind, dry-hopping the milk before making the cheese, and it nearly killed us, said Rynn Caputo, the president and cofounder of the creamery halfway between York and Lancaster that initially made its name as an artisan mozzarella producer. Keeping this cheese from becoming too bitter was a monumental task. This complex cheese also gets a beer brine while it ages a Perpetual beer shower, Caputo calls it that mists the cheese daily for two weeks and helps adds an extra tang to the fermentation. Beer washes are common in cheeses like Chimay, or the well-loved Troegenator beer cheese Caputo makes in a Gouda style and washes with the Troegs dark double bock. In the Troegenators case, the beer is an accent to an older, aged cheese. The fresher, creamier personality of Perpetual works more as a lively vehicle for hops that mimics the flavor profile of beer against the richness of dairy. The Troegenator was the first hit collaboration commissioned by Carlisle-based Giant markets, and has helped grow Caputo from its inception in 2011 as a York farmers market vendor selling 40 pounds of hand-pulled mozzarella a week to a 300,000-pound-a-year operation. They now operate fresh mozzarella and cannoli stands where products are made on-site in 11 Giant markets, and the volume of milk Caputo uses weekly about 3,000 gallons has enabled them to sustain two Pennsylvania dairy farms. With the dairy crisis being as bad as it has gotten with low milk prices, its gone from abysmal to catastrophic with COVID-19, said Caputo. So [these projects have] allowed us to help save these farms. READ MORE: Tamales, the South Philly weekend ritual, nourish during the pandemic That initiative has only just begun. With increased production of seasonal beer cheeses like the limited spring edition of Perpetual and a Mad Elf edition planned for October (rubbed with the brewerys Christmas beer and Hersheys cocoa), Caputo has been able to take on a third farm this spring, and hopefully with sustain a fourth by fall. As a result, beer and cheese now have another shared mission: helping save some of Pennsylvanias endangered dairy industry. Craig LaBan Perpetual Beer Cheese, $16.98 a pound at all 186 Giant, Martins, and Giant Heirloom Market locations and online ordering services. Former national security advisor Michael Flynn on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to order a lower court to grant the Justice Department's controversial request to dismiss the criminal case. Flynn also asked the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to take the case away from the lower court judge who has so far refused to sign off on that dismissal request. That judge, Flynn's lawyers argued in their appeals filing, by planning to continue the case "indefinitely" despite the wishes of the Justice Department is "rubbing salt in General Flynn's open wound from" the "misconduct" of prosecutors in the case. The appeals court filing came days after Judge Emmet Sullivan appointed a former federal judge to argue against the Justice Department's highly unusual request to drop the case against Flynn in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Sullivan also has asked the ex-judge, John Gleeson, to analyze whether he should hold Flynn in criminal contempt for perjury for twice pleading guilty to a charge that he now says he is innocent of. The retired Army lieutenant general has admitted, under oath, to lying to FBI agents about his discussions with Russia's ambassador to the United States in the weeks before President Donald Trump was inaugurated. Flynn, who briefly served as Trump's first national security advisor, was awaiting sentencing at the time that the Justice Department, in a bombshell move, this month said it wanted Sullivan to toss the case. Flynn's lawyer, Sidney Powell, in her appeals court filing Tuesday, suggested that Sullivan has "exceeded [his] authority and egregiously abused [his] discretion by failing to grant the Government's Motion to Dismiss the Criminal Information and, instead, appointing an amicus [Gleeson] to oppose the motion and to propose contempt and perjury charges against General Flynn." Powell also objects to Sullivan's decision to allow people and groups not involved in the case to file legal briefs objecting to or supporting the case's dismissal. Powell wrote that Sullivan, in his recent actions, has disregarded the constitutional rule that "the power to prosecute" rests "solely in the executive branch." "The district court has no authority to adopt the role of prosecutor or change the issues in the case by inviting or appointing [Gleeson and other outside parties] to perform the investigation or prosecution that the court deems appropriate," Powell wrote. The Trade Union Federation (TUF), which includes SIPTU, BATU and CONNECT trade unions, have called on construction employers to ensure that maximum protection is provided for workers as they return to work this week. SIPTU Construction Sector Organiser, John Regan, said: While we welcome the fact that the National Protocol makes it obligatory for employers to ensure the health and safety of their employees on building sites, they need extra protection. Our members require more specific and written assurances which detail how the regulation of the new Covid-19 measures will be monitored in a meaningful way between worker representatives, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and the employers. In the past, we have had a situation where construction workers were penalised after raising safety issues and this situation must not be repeated during this crisis.# Connect General Secretary, Brian Nolan said: Where employers cannot provide a safe working environment, they must determine what steps are required to create one. If all appropriate actions have been taken, including obtaining advice from the HSA, and the threat from the virus persists, the employer must close the workplace. BATU General Secretary, Brendan OSullivan said: The Covid-19 team which is monitoring the health and safety protocol should not be exposed to risk. These key personnel must receive all the necessary training and have a structured framework, which should be regularly audited, within the workplace in order to be effective in preventing the spread of the virus. They should also be clearly identifiable to all workers on the site. SIPTU Divisional Organiser, Karan O Loughlin, said: We must ensure that there is no further lockdown as a result of a fresh surge in the virus and also avoid a repetition of the appalling situation in the red meat industry. We dont believe that the normal self-regulation mechanisms are appropriate under the current circumstances and a representative forum of workers and employers is required to co-ordinate with the HSA and its inspection process. Flash A team of Chinese medical experts on Monday visited Marondera Provincial Hospital to exchange notes with their Zimbabwean counterparts on how best to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The main provincial hospital in Mashonaland East Province is about 80 km east of the capital Harare. During the visit, the team met the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Appollonia Munzverengwi, Provincial Medical Director Simukai Zizhou and other senior health officials. Munzverengwi hailed the cordial China-Zimbabwe ties, adding that Zimbabwe had a lot to learn from China in containing the outbreak of COVID-19. Zimbabwe can have lessons on how it can appropriately respond to the pandemic, she said. Zizhou, in a presentation, detailed the province's state of preparedness in dealing with the pandemic, saying the province had recorded six cases including four recoveries. "Currently, we are closely following up on case number five from Murehwa and case number six, which was admitted at Marondera Provincial Hospital two days ago." He added that all the 15 hospitals in the province are isolation centers, and are at various stages of meeting the required standards. Zhu Yimin, head of the Chinese team, said there was need to scale up health screening at ports of entry, closely monitor inbound travelers and compulsorily quarantine them. "The issue of transmissions that are inbound is affecting every country and there is need to ensure that people are thoroughly screened at ports of entry," he said. The Chinese medical team, which arrived in the country last week, will visit isolation centers and meeting stakeholders responding to COVID-19 in the country. The team is made up of experts from infectious diseases and respiratory illnesses, intensive medicine, infection control, Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as public health and nursing. Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas Thabane has resigned after losing a struggle with leaders of his party who wanted him out over allegations of his involvement in the 2017 murder of his estranged wife, Lipolelo. The 80-year-old Thabane had said he would go at the end of July, but rivals in his All Basotho Convention party reached a deal with the main opposition Democratic Congress to form a new government in the southern African nation. A Council of State meeting on Monday advised King Letsie III to swear in Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro on Wednesday, according to the king's senior private secretary, Monehela Posholi. That left Thabane no choice but to leave in a historic smooth transfer of power without a no confidence vote or elections. The time to retire from the great theater of action, take leave from public life and office has finally arrived, Thabane said in a televised address Monday. He asked citizens to give his successor the utmost support. Thabane served as prime minister from 2012 to 2015 and from 2017 to now. The first stint also ended prematurely as he was pushed out by opponents allegedly for failure to deliver on electoral promises. Despite his requests to regional Southern African Development Community mediators, Thabane leaves without any guarantees from immunity from prosecution for the 2017 murder. Thabane had filed for divorce from Lipolelo when she was shot dead near her Maseru home on the night of June 14, 2017. The attack occurred just two days before Thabane was sworn in for his second stint as prime minister. His current wife, Maesaiah, who is also charged, has been out on bail while Thabane asked the Constitutional Court to stop the courts from trying him for the crime while he remained in office. His retirement means he could now stand trial. Among Majoro's immediate tasks as prime minister will be to pass the budget and revive the economy. Despite confirming only one case of the coronavirus, Lesotho's economy has taken a massive hit due to the global slowdown. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) But legislators can do this on their own, and they can do it this week: Free the legislative inspector general from interference and oversight by the very lawmakers the inspector general is supposed to investigate. Reconfigure the ethics commission to make it truly independent to facilitate the IGs work, not impede it. That means no lawmaker should serve as a member. Its a baked-in conflict of interest. And allow the IG greater powers to interview and investigate complaints and make them public without signoff of the commission. Gamblers arrested, charged for breach of Emergency Decree PHUKET: Five people caught gambling at a house in Koh Kaew have been charged with breach of the Emergency Decree for forming a gathering of people that contravenes the health regulations in effect to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. crimepolice By Eakkapop Thongtub Tuesday 19 May 2020, 11:46AM Five people were caught at the scene, along with gambling paraphernalia. Photo: Territorial Defense Volunteers Five people were caught at the scene, along with gambling paraphernalia. Photo: Territorial Defense Volunteers Five people were caught at the scene, along with gambling paraphernalia. Photo: Territorial Defense Volunteers Acting on a tip-off, the team of officers raided the house, in Moo 3 Koh Kaew, at about 8pm last night (May 18), reported Siripong Leeprasit of the Phuket Provincial Narcotics Control Management Center. The team that conducted the raid was assisted by 10 Territorial Defense Volunteers. Five people were caught at the scene, along with gambling paraphernalia, he reported. All five were taken to Phuket City Police Station, where they were each charged with gambling without permission and for breach of Article 9 of the Emergency Decree, Mr Siripong confirmed. Full name Mother's maiden name Date of Birth Nationality Gender Hashed login passwords with salts Username and nickname MOIP account details API credentials with unencrypted passwords Recent purchases Telephone number Email and physical addresses Access token for wirecard.com.br Found this article interesting? Follow THN on Facebook Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post. Brazil's biggest cosmetics companyaccidentally left hundreds of gigabytes of its customers' personal and payment-related information publicly accessible online that could have been accessed by anyone without authentication.SafetyDetective researcher Anurag Sen last month discovered two unprotected Amazon-hosted serverswith 272GB and 1.3TB in sizebelonging to Natura that consisted of more than 192 million records.According to the report Anurag shared with The Hacker News, the exposed data includes personally identifiable information on 250,000 Natura customers, their account login cookies, along with the archives containing logs from the servers and users.Worryingly, the leaked information also includes Moip payment account details with access tokens for nearly 40,000 wirecard.com.br users who integrated it with their Natura accounts."Around 90% of users were Brazilian customers, although other nationalities were also present, including customers from Peru," Anurag said."The compromised server contained website and mobile site API logs, thereby exposing all production server information. Furthermore, several 'Amazon bucket names' were mentioned in the leak, including PDF documents referring to formal agreements between various parties," Anurag said.More precisely, the leaked sensitive personal information of customers includes their:Besides this, the unprotected server also had a secret .pem certificate file that contains the key/password to the EC2 Amazon server where Natura website is hosted.If exploited, the key to the server potentially could have allowed attackers to directly inject a digital skimmer directly into the company's official website to steal users' payment card details in real-time."Exposed details about the backend, as well as keys to servers, could be leveraged to conduct further attacks and allow deeper penetration into existing systems," the researcher warned.SafetyDetective tried reporting its researcher's findings directly to the affected company last month but failed to receive any response on time, after which it contacted Amazon services, who then asked the company to secure both the servers immediately.At the time of writing, it's unknown if the unprotected servers and the sensitive data stored on them were also accessed by a malicious actor before they went offline.So, if you have an account with Natura, you are advised to stay vigilant against identity theft, change your account password and keep a close eye on your payment card transactions for signs of any suspicious activity."Instances of personally identifiable information being exposed could potentially lead to identity theft and fraud since they can be used by attackers for identification in various sites and locations," the researcher added. "The risk of phishing and phone scams is also raised by the Natura data leak." Suggested design could make it easier to divide air flow for Covid-19 patients in emergencies when no other options are available. CAMBRIDGE, MA -- As more Covid-19 patients experience acute respiratory distress, there has been much debate over the idea of sharing ventilators, which involves splitting air tubes into multiple branches so that two or more patients can be connected to the same machine. Several physicians' associations have issued a joint statement discouraging this practice. It poses risk to patients, they say, because of the difficulty in ensuring that each patient is receiving the right amount of air. A team of researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital has now come up with a new approach to splitting ventilators, which they believe could address many of these safety concerns. They have demonstrated its effectiveness in laboratory tests, but they still caution it should be used only as a last resort during an emergency, when a patient's life is at stake. "We hope this approach, which requires off-the-shelf components, can ultimately help patients in extreme need of ventilator support," says Giovanni Traverso, an MIT assistant professor of mechanical engineering and a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "We recognize that ventilator sharing is not the standard of care, and interventions like this one would only be recommended as a last recourse." The researchers are now working to engage with third parties for the purpose of seeking emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which would grant temporary approval for using this approach on patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. Traverso is the senior author of a paper describing the new system today in Science Translational Medicine, and Shriya Srinivasan, a postdoc at MIT and BWH, is the lead author of the study. Personalized flow Ventilators are machines that help people breathe by delivering oxygen through a tube placed in the mouth or the nose. The Covid-19 outbreak has raised the possibility that the number of ventilators in the United States could be insufficient for the number of patients who will need them now or in potential future waves of the disease. Additionally, other nations around the world have struggled to obtain enough ventilators to handle the Covid-19 outbreak. In late March, at least one hospital in New York City began sharing ventilators between patients by attaching a T-shaped connector that creates two branches, one that leads to each patient's breathing tube. When doctors do this, they have to match the patients very closely by size, age, and condition, because each patient receives the same volume of air (half of total produced by the ventilator). This is considered risky, in part because there is no way to adjust the flow so that patients receive different amounts of air based on changes in their condition. For example, when one patient improves, his or her lungs become "stretchier" and can absorb more air, which could take air away from the other patient. Or, if one patient experiences a collapsed lung, a strong burst of air could be diverted to the other patient, causing damage to the lungs. To overcome these challenges, the MIT team incorporated flow valves, one for each patient's branch, that allow them to control the amount of air that each receives. "These flow valves allow you to personalize the flow to each patient based on their needs," Srinivasan says. "They also ensure that if one patient either improves or deteriorates, quickly or slowly, there's a way to adapt for that." The setup also includes pressure release valves that can prevent too much air from going into one patient's lungs, as well as safety measures including alarms that go off when a patient's air intake changes. To create their setup, the researchers used parts that are normally available in a hospital. The parts could also be obtained at hardware stores and sterilized, the researchers say. A typical ventilator produces enough air pressure to supply six to eight patients at a time, but the research team does not recommend using one ventilator for more than two people, as the setup becomes more complicated. Simulated scenarios The researchers first tested their setup using a ventilator to split airflow between a pig and an artificial lung -- a machine that simulates the function of the lungs. By changing the properties of the artificial lung, they could model many of the changing conditions that might occur in patients; they also showed that the ventilator settings could be adjusted to compensate for them. They later showed that they could ventilate two animals on one ventilator and maintain the necessary airflow to both. This system should make it easier for health care workers to change the settings as patients' conditions improve or deteriorate, the researchers say. The researchers also showed that if one patient experiences lung collapse, a pressure valve would automatically release the extra pressure that might flow toward the other patient. The researchers are now working with pandemic response teams at Brigham and Women's and Massachusetts General Hospital to deploy this approach if it becomes necessary. They have also created a website with tutorials on how to set up the system and obtain the right parts. Although they believe that this approach overcomes many of the challenges that usually make sharing ventilators too risky, the researchers caution that it still remains a last resort. "In terms of the safety and personalization concerns that have been brought up, this system is definitely an improvement," Srinivasan says. "However, we don't recommend it unless it's a dire need." ### The research was funded by the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness (MassCPR), the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, in-kind services from Philips, and discretionary funds from the MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Representative Image The coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has affected the lives and livelihoods of many across India. Case in point is Chiranjeevi K from Hyderabad, who, after being a high school teacher for 12 years, is now working as a daily-wage labourer, The Times of India has reported. With the lockdown forcing schools to remain shut, and hence no salary in place, he has resorted to working as a labourer on a drought-related government project in Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district. Chiranjeevi, who holds three degrees MA in social work, MPhil in rural development and a B Ed, believes that it is the only way to support his family of six. His wife Padma, who is also a teacher in a private school, and holds an MBA degree, has joined Chiranjeevi. The couple has been toiling in the blazing sun as daily wage workers for the past one week. 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 familys collective income before the lockdown was Rs 60,000. Now, its zero. Chiranjeevi and Padma are fortunately, or unfortunately, not alone. Hundreds of teachers working in schools, junior colleges, degree and professional colleges in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have been forced to work as daily-wage workers. Most of them hold post-graduate degrees and have been teaching for at least half a decade, the newspaper reported. Until now, we have seen farmer suicides. At this rate, teachers will be next, Chiranjeevi told the newspaper. He said none of them had received their April salaries and were not getting ration despite having ration cards. Many of the teachers complained that there are many educated people competing for jobs as daily-wage workers, accusing the state government of failing to support teachers. A few of them have resorted to vending fruits and vegetables, but are too embarrassed to reveal it. Almost all teachers in the Telugu states are in the same situation. Some of them call teachers unions daily, requesting for help, said P Mani, an English lecturer in a junior college in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, now cleaning lakes for Rs 250 per day. A former Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) jawan, who was absconding after allegedly shooting dead three persons, including his wife and son, was killed in police firing in Upper Assams Dibrugarh district early morning on Tuesday. According to the police, Sanjay Das (48), a resident of Hukhanpukhuri, had shot dead his wife Swapna (42) and his son Nabajyoti (20) at their home with his licenced .32 pistol on Monday morning. The accused, who had taken voluntary retirement from SSB a few years ago, then went to the residence of a maternal uncle, Ghanakanta Hazarika, and shot at him as well before fleeing. All three injured were admitted to the Assam Medical College Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh where they succumbed to their injuries. Soon, a manhunt was launched to nab Das, who had fled with his pistol and several rounds of ammunition. Later, he was found hiding in a deserted building. We negotiated with him for nearly three hours asking him to surrender. But he refused and kept firing at our team intermittently, said Padmanabh Baruah, additional superintendent of police, Dibrugarh. When the accused fired five-six shots at us, we retaliated. He got injured and was taken to AMCH early on Tuesday morning, where he was declared brought dead, he added. In another separate incident, a man, who was under home quarantine, after returning to Assam a few days ago, killed his wife in Dhemaji district on Saturday night. The accused, Lintu Gogoi, has been arrested. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Ode of a Liberal They passed the USA PATRIOT Act---and I did nothing because I am a patriot. They passed the USA Freedom Act---and I believe in freedom. They nominated Hillary Clinton---and I voted for the lesser evil. They declared medical marshal law---and I didnt want to kill grandma. They said to wear a facemask---and I passively obeyed. I believe in Joe Biden---because I am a liberal. In 2010 Chris Hedges declared the liberal class as dead as a doornail. He was late. Liberalism had died decades earlier. All that remains is the separate components of the body of liberalism. The stinking compounds have decomposed into identity politics. The cause of death for the liberal class, as Chris Hedges tells us, was gullibility. Liberals were foolish enough to believe that they could moderate capitalism. They thought that they could change corporatism by elections, mass movements, whining and begging for incrementalism. The liberal class started their negotiations by compromising all of their ethics, beliefs, and powers. All they got in return were scraps to identity politics. The power elite did not give up anything it really care about. The corporatists raped, pillaged and burned with abandon, while liberals wallowed in political correctness. Taxes for the rich are the lowest in over 100 years. The military budget is the highest in history. The concentration of wealth and income is in the fewest hands. US wars have killed millions of people, and war profits are booming. Labor unions were neutered. Government is privatized. The economy has been deindustrialized. The police are militarized. The working class has been disenfranchised. The middle-class is being impoverished. The poor are criminalized. I could go on, but you get the point. And what has the liberal class got in return? Token integration. Ending conscription. Adulthood at 18 years of age. Women in the workforce. Acceptance of LGBTQ. A black president. The MeToo movement. Legalized marijuana. A $1200 bailout. Help me out here---what else have the liberal class gotten in return for their soul? Liberals elected Barack Obama, cried on his election night, and then the liberal class went to sleep for eight years. They though that Obama would do the heavy lifting for them. Instead, he went from bombing three countries to bombing seven, after getting the Nobel Peace Prize for nothing. He imprisoned and tortured whistleblowers, and he became the deporter-in-chief. He bailed out the banks, and he did nothing as millions of families lost their homes. Obamacare has been a bonanza for insurance companies and big-pharma. Gitmo stands as the legacy of his droning wedding parties, funerals, and for all his other broken promises. Obama is the reason we have Trump. The rich do not care about any of the identity politics and political correctness. It costs them nothing to make those concessions. The liberals are not willing to fight for anything of importance, and the corporatists know it. The corporatists dont care if Trump or Biden is president. Fugget about it: Bernie Sanders is just a sheepdog, a foil, a professional wrestler, and Kabuki theater actor. Bernie is the Senator from Lockheed and Israel. He is a carnival huckster herding the liberal suckers into the big tent. The DNC will be happy to keep Trump. They get to still keep their jobs, their power, their influence, and their gravy train keeps on rolling. Nancy Pelosi will still get her kicks from gourmet chocolate ice-cream, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will keep making arm-waving rants to an empty House, Ilhan Omar will kowtow to the Zionist lobby, the Congressional Black Caucus will keep voting against blacks; and the banks, corporations, military-industrial complex, Israel, and the well-connected will continue to get unlimited hand-outs. Liberals will continue to happy listening to the Democrats politically correct platitudes. Lest I forget, Rachel Maddow and her ilk in the media will still get paid $30 thousand a night to kick around Donald Trump. And Liberals will commiserate with each other, blame everybody except themselves, and waste another four years without organizing an opposition party. Medical marshal law reveals just how out of touch liberals are with common people. Liberals have abandoned the working class, the poor, the incarcerated, the ghettoized, wage-slaves, the indebted, the bankrupt, veterans, the homeless, beggars, red-necks, slum dwellers, the uneducated, and old people surviving on three-figure Social Security checks. All the liberal class whines about are Trump and their own selfish interests; the so-called middle-class issues. They despise their natural allies among the people, look down on them as if they are riff raff. Liberals should be uplifting the downtrodden. Liberals naively believe the COVID-19 fearmongers. They begged the authoritarians for medical marshal law, and they have grown accustomed to their self-imposed imprisonment. They would rather give up all of their civil liberties, and those of others, than to risk catching the flu. The facemask is their badge of obedience, which does more medical and psychological harm to the body and mind. The facemask is a nasty garb. It provides the perfect environment for breeding and spreading germs. Wearing a face mask is humiliating, because it is a symbol of passive submission. What liberals can never be forgiven for is their abandonment of internationalism. They have deserted international socialism, leaving socialist countries to be crushed by international capitalists. While liberals cower-in-place in fear of COVID-19, their passiveness supports the medical blockades against socialist countries. They are Good Americans, just like the Good Germans during the Third Reich. Two million Gazans have been forced to shelter in place by fascistic Israelis, since 2007. Another three million Palestinians have been imprisoned since 1967 in an ever-shrinking isolated West Bank. There are another 5 million Palestinian members of the diaspora, who cannot return to their homeland, as is their God-given human right. Palestinian are tortured in Israeli concentration camps. Liberals can not say they do not know, and their silence speaks volumes. Since World War Two the U.S. has killed an estimated 30 million people, none of whom were ever a threat to the US American people. Ethically, morally and probably legally every US American is guilty of war crimes. The German people were not let off the hook after WW2. The US American people stand guilty, as charged. Liberals know the U.S. government is a pathological liar. The past two decades have been especially rich with its lies. George W. Bush winning the election in 2000 was a lie. The attacks of 9/11 were lies, the invasion of Afghanistan was based on a lie, Iraq weapons of mass destruction were a lie, Irans nuclear weapons program is a lie, the Katrina Hurricane response was a lie, the Russian invasion of Georgia was a lie, the 2009 bailout of the Wall Street was based on lies, the Ukraine coup was lied about, Gaddafis Viagra was a lie, the moderate rebels was a lie, the lie that Venezuela is a threat to the US is a lie, the White Helmets are a propaganda lie, Russiagate is a lie, the Douma chemical attack was a lie, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons report was a lie, the torture of Chelsea Manning is lied about, the Julian Assange lie is a lie. So now we are supposed to believe that the government authorities are telling us the truth about COVID-19? Liberals say that we should believe that lie too, and we should obey. The first clue that the authorities were lying is that the banks, corporations and the well-connected were bailed out again. Six-trillion U.S. dollars disappeared overnight. The second clue was that the U.S. illegal wars of aggression did not stand-down. There was no break in the illegal U.S. blockades against socialist countries. Instead, there is a campaign of maximum pressure during a pandemic. The militarys Defender 2020 war-game invasion of Russia was not canceled due to COVID-19. The power elite do not isolate, wear face masks, and practice social distancing. We are not in it all together, and COVID-19 has not made us all equal. Those memes are liberal pipedreams. There is no bailout for the people. There has been no unified response to provide the people with adequate food, healthcare, housing, and financial relief during the imposed lockdown. The physical, mental and emotional damages caused by isolation are being ignored. The casualties caused by the medical marshal law goes unreported, if the statistics are even being kept. Instead what we see is the permanent stripping away of our civil liberties. The economy is being restructured for the benefit of big-tech, and more concentration of income and wealth is going to the top. Yet, liberals meekly accept the assault on the people in silence. They could at least honk their car horns in solidarity with wage-slave workers. Are liberals going to show up when people are evicted from their homes, have their cars repossessed, and their wages garnished? Are they going to stand in picket lines with workers, who are demanding fair wages? Are liberals going to storm the state houses and Washington to demand a return to civilian government? Are liberals going to resist forced vaccinations, contact tracking, snitching, and ID chipping? Are they going to be standing up for civil liberties and human rights? Or are they going to be with, and even begging, the corporatists on with their fiendish programs in the name of COVID-19? Liberals have made liberal a dirty word. Now they are trying to hide behind the identity of progressive. There is nothing liberal or progressive about making bargains with the corporatists and the power elites. It is time to bury the putrid body of the liberal class. It has already become a biohazard more dangerous than COVID-19. Resist! * Revolt will come from the right. That the revolt will be funded, organized, and manipulated by the corporate forces is one of the tragic ironies. But the blame lies with the liberal class. Liberals, by standing for nothing, made possible the rise of inverted and perhaps soon classical totalitarianism.--- The Death of the Liberal Class, by Chris Hedges, 2010. *(Top image: U.S. Regime Has Killed 20-30 Million People since World War II, Transcend Media Service) A Berkeley County attorney is suing the school district after he said he was asked to pay thousands of dollars to access documents and emails requested under South Carolinas public records law. Tom Fernandez, who is also running for a seat in the S.C. House this year, first submitted a public records request to the Berkeley County School District nearly a year ago. He hoped to get copies of various documents and emails exchanged on the districts server. The district responded to Fernandez's initial request and agreed to provide the documents, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday, but at a cost of more than $47,000. That amount would cover the cost of making copies of the documents and the time the school district would have to pay employees to sort through and redact sensitive information, according to the lawsuit. The documents Fernandez requested, which included specific emails and legal invoices, are public under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, said S.C. Press Association Executive Director Bill Rogers, and therefore should be made accessible. Asking a member of the public for more than $47,000 to obtain records is an example of an agency withholding public documents by charging exorbitant fees, Rogers said. Fernandez agreed and said this is what prompted him to take legal action. "The purpose of freedom of information for citizens is for us to not only see what they're doing, but to also hold our government agencies accountable," he said. "And this cost and other costs to the citizens is a barrier to that very principle." Hoping to reduce the cost associated with making physical copies of the documents, Fernandez subsequently narrowed his request to include fewer results and asked for permission to "visually inspect digital copies so that hard copies do not have to be produced," the lawsuit read. In response to his revised request, the school district cited an estimated $6,880 in fees to cover the costs associated with redacting sensitive, personal information the documents contained, according to the lawsuit. In a statement to The Post and Courier, the district said it plans to file a motion to dismiss Fernandez's lawsuit and make a counterclaim against him for "filing a frivolous claim." The district never denied his requests, according to the statement, but the searches Fernandez requested returned more than 50,000 results. "The cost of production was because of the overly broad requests, which the District repeatedly offered to help him narrow or discuss further," the statement read. "Instead of working toward resolution, Mr. Fernandez filed a Complaint nearly a year later seeking to have the School District pay his legal fees." According to emails included with the lawsuits filing, school district officials said the costs associated with Fernandezs original request would have required extensive search and produced tens of thousands of responsive documents, which would have cost the district thousands of dollars in billable personnel hours to collect, make copies of and redact sensitive information. At the center of Fernandez's request are two Berkeley County elected officials: County Councilman Josh Whitley and school board member Mac McQuillin. Both Daniel Island lawyers have provided legal advice to the agency on which the other serves, which sparked some questions and concerns surrounding the legal ties between the two, The Post and Courier reported in 2017. "I believe that local school officials were foolish enough to discuss their plans in email, then it can certainly reveal what their plans were a government conspiracy to fatten the pockets of one of their buddies, Josh Whitley," Fernandez said. In a statement to The Post and Courier, Smyth Whitley LLC, the firm where Whitley works, said the State Ethics Commission "has already dismissed this accusation in its entirety." "It appears the lawsuit has been filed for political gain three weeks in advance of Mr. Fernandezs election. Mr. Fernandez has a record of making accusations that never come to fruition," the statement read. There is no law that states a member of the school board cannot work for County Council or vice versa, as they are two separate entities, The Post and Courier reported. Fernandez has focused part of his campaign for a House seat around fighting corruption and advocating for increased government transparency. He is running against incumbent Rep. Sylleste Davis in the June 9 Republican primary. Nick Nicholson of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A., where McQuillin works, said the firm is one of the largest in the state and represents numerous municipalities, counties and school districts throughout South Carolina. "With respect to Berkeley County, the firm has provided legal services for Berkeley County for approximately 70 years, well before Mr. McQuillin and Mr. Whitley were born," Nicholson said. In his requests, Fernandez also hoped to receive all emails from the school district's email server that included mention of his own name. "The reason why I wanted to see about any discussion about myself is to ultimately see if these politicians, in discussing the requests that I put in, to see if they were smugly talking among themselves a plan to avoid my requests," Fernandez said, adding, "And if they do it to me, who else do they do it to?" Sally Wofford, the school board's chairwoman, said when the district worked with Childs and Halligan, the district's outgoing legal counsel, BCSD "paid more than any other district in the state in legal fees." Since 2014, the district has cut its legal fees by more than half, she said, and has "recovered more than $3,300,000 in settlement proceeds related to public corruption or financial mismanagement." The presidents of Kenya, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Niger say wealthy countries have failed the continent. Wealthy countries are failing Africa, with pledges of financial support and debt relief falling well short of the continents needs as it battles the coronavirus pandemic, several African presidents have said. WHO member states have agreed on an independent review of the global pandemic response at a virtual meeting of the World Health Assembly. China has accused the United States of smearing Beijing and shirking responsibilities to the World Health Organization (WHO) after President Donald Trump threatened to pull out of the UN health body. Unemployment claims in Britain jumped by 69 percent last month as the coronavirus pandemic took hold and hit the labour market. The US has set aside $11bn to ramp up coronavirus testing as the country reopens. Globally, there have been more than 4.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 318,800 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 1.8 million people have recovered. Here are all the latest updates: Tuesday, May 19 22:30 GMT Brazil records 1,179 coronavirus deaths, 271,628 confirmed cases Brazil recorded a new daily record of 1,179 deaths from the new coronavirus, with a total of 17,971 total fatalities and 271,628 confirmed cases, the health ministry said. Tuesdays death toll was the first time Brazil has recorded more than 1,000 deaths in a day. 22:15 GMT US extends heightened border enforcement during coronavirus The Trump administration said it was indefinitely extending a policy of strict border enforcement because of the COVID-19 outbreak. An order signed by Dr Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said it should remain because of public health conditions in the US, Canada and Mexico as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The order enables US Customs and Border Patrol to immediately expel anyone stopped trying to enter the country without authorisation, including people seeking asylum. Rights groups have slammed the measure, saying it violates human rights and fails to protect public health. They accuse the Trump administration of using the coronavirus pandemic as a way to implement the presidents hardline immigration policies. @CDCgov has *indefinitely* extended its order shutting down asylum at the border. This order is a grievous attack on human rights and fails to protect public health. This so-called "emergency" measure was never about COVID. on key resources re: the order's unlawfulness: https://t.co/jnLgHNDS4E Charanya Krishnaswami (@charanya_k) May 19, 2020 20:50 GMT Trump says considering travel ban on Brazil US President Donald Trump has said he is considering imposing a ban on travel from Brazil, which has the worlds third highest number of people infected by the novel coronavirus. We are considering it, Trump told reporters at the White House. I dont want people coming over here and infecting our people. I dont want people over there sick either. Were helping Brazil with ventilators. Brazil is having some trouble, no question about it, Trump added. 20:20 GMT My decision to make: Trump defends criticised use of hydroxychloroquine President Donald Trump has emphatically defended against criticism from medical experts that his announced use of a malaria drug against the coronavirus could spark wide misuse by Americans of the unproven treatment with potentially fatal side effects. Trumps revelation a day earlier that he was taking hydroxychloroquine caught many in his administration by surprise and set off an urgent effort by officials to justify his action. But their attempt to address the concerns of health professionals was undercut by the president himself. He asserted without evidence that a study raising alarm about the drug was an enemy statement, even as his own government warned that the drug should be administered for COVID-19 only in a hospital or research setting. This is an individual decision to make, Trump told reporters. But its had a great reputation. 19:50 GMT Trump says he will sign order to cut federal regulations US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will sign an executive order directing federal agencies to eliminate unnecessary regulations that impede economic recovery. Im directing agencies to review the hundreds of regulations weve already suspended in response to the virus and make these suspensions permanent where possible, Trump said at a Cabinet meeting. Amid concerns of the spread of COVID-19, a man and little boy walk hand-in-hand while wearing masks at the Galleria Dallas mall in Texas. [LM Otero/The Associated Press] 19:20 GMT US workers hit McDonalds with class action over pandemic safety Five McDonalds workers in Chicago have filed a class action lawsuit against McDonalds restaurant chain, accusing it of failing to adopt government safety guidance on COVID-19 and endangering employees and their families. McDonalds failed to provide adequate hand sanitiser, gloves and masks and has not notified its staff when an employee has become infected with the new coronavirus, according to a copy of the lawsuit provided by a spokesman for the workers. McDonalds said in a statement that the allegations were inaccurate and that safety, including wellness checks and protective gear, was a top priority. Separately, McDonalds workers at three California locations on Tuesday filed administrative actions over allegedly unsafe conditions with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. 19:00 GMT Top US Senate Republican says still mulling if more relief aid needed The Republican leader of the US Senate has said the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress were still evaluating the need for more coronavirus relief legislation and would discuss plans in a couple of weeks. We still believe with regard to the coronavirus we need to assess what weve already done, take a look at what worked and what didnt work, and well discuss the way forward in the next couple of weeks, McConnell told reporters after President Donald Trump spoke to a Senate Republican luncheon. 18:40 GMT France revises toll slightly downwards to 28,022 France has revised the total death toll from coronavirus infection downwards by 217 or 0.8 percent to 28,022, the health ministry said in a statement on its website said. Deaths in hospitals were up by 125 or 0.7 percent to 17,714 but the casualty count in nursing homes was revised downwards by 342 or 3.2 percent to 10,308 as the ministry adjusted data reported by regional health centers, a ministry official said. The number of confirmed cases increased by 524 to 143,427, an increase of 0.4 percent, slightly higher than the average 0.3 percent rise per day seen since the end of lockdown on May 11. On Monday, the number of cases rose by 483. 18:20 GMT South Africa to start phased school re-opening on June 1 South Africa will resume classes for all grade 7 and 12 pupils on June 1, after a nationwide school closure of more than two months due to the coronavirus outbreak. Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said that, under strict social distancing rules, other grades would be able to attend lessons in smaller schools with fewer than 150 pupils. Bigger schools will open for other grades at a later date. South Africa, the African nation worst hit by COVID-19 with 16,433 infections and 286 deaths, began a phased easing of its lockdown at the start of May. All teachers are expected to return to work from May 25 and the revised school calendar will be published soon, the minister said, adding that school sports would not be permitted. Locals look on during the distribution of food amid the spread of the coronavirus in Alexandra township, South Africa [Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters] 18:00 GMT Nicaraguas express burials hide true COVID-19 scale: Doctors Doctors are warning of looming coronavirus chaos in Nicaragua, where victims families and the opposition accuse President Daniel Ortegas government of ordering express burials to hide the true number of infections. To date, the Central American country has confirmed just 25 cases of the coronavirus and eight deaths. But rights groups and experts believe the numbers are far higher. We are entering a phase of rapid community spread of the virus, epidemiologist Alvaro Ramirez told the AFP news agency. As the exponential curve continues to increase and more people become infected, we are going to get a chaotic situation. Read more here. The coffin with the body of a patient who died with symptoms of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, is carried by relatives to be buried at the Oriental Cemetery, in Managua [AFP] 17:40 GMT Ontario schools not to open at this time: Premier Schools in Ontario, Canadas most populous province, will not open at this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Premier Doug Ford has said. All provincial schools were shut in mid-March in an effort to contain the new coronavirus, which has killed 1,919 people in the province, according to the latest data. The safety of our children is my top priority, Ford told reporters. We cannot open schools at this time. Im just not going to risk it. Ford said. The schools normally end their session by the end of June. 17:20 GMT Pandemic deadliest in NYCs Black, Latino neighbourhoods: Data Some New York City neighbourhoods have seen death rates from the novel coronavirus nearly 15 times higher than others, according to data released by New York Citys health department on Monday, showing the disproportionate toll taken on poor communities. The data shows for the first time a breakdown on the number of deaths in each of the citys more than 60 postcodes. The highest death rate was seen on the edge of Brooklyn in a neighbourhood dominated by a large subsidised-housing development called Starrett City. Read more here. People wearing protective face masks wait in line at a free food distribution for people in need, outside the West Harlem Group Assistance in Manhattan [Mike Segar/Reuters] 17:00 GMT Trump: WHO must clean up its act or US will no longer be involved President Donald Trump has said the WHO had to improve how it treated the US and other countries or Washington would pull out, doubling down on a threat made the previous day. They have to clean up their act. They have to do a better job. They have to be much more fair to other countries, including the United States, or were not going to be involved with them anymore, Trump told reporters at the White House. The presidents comments came after he released a letter to the WHO on Monday saying it had to make improvements in the next 30 days or he would make a temporary freeze on US funding to the organization permanent and consider pulling out the body all together. 16:40 GMT Wealthy countries failing Africa during pandemic, presidents say Wealthy countries are failing Africa, with pledges of financial support and debt relief falling well short of the continents needs as it battles the COVID-19 pandemic, several African presidents have said. Developed economies have channelled trillions of dollars into health initiatives and economic stimulus at home. But the presidents from Kenya, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Niger said they could not afford such measures in their own countries. Were not in a position to protect companies, to preserve jobs. Theres an injustice that is again being exposed by COVID-19, Senegals President Macky Sall said during a virtual roundtable organised by the New York Forum Institute think-tank. While Africa, with a limited capacity to test, has recorded just a fraction of the worlds coronavirus cases, it has been hit hard by the economic fallout from global trade disruptions, falling oil and commodities prices and the lockdowns deployed to fight the diseases spread. 16:20 GMT Regional health body warns of spread in Amazon tri-border area The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has warned that the new coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the tri-border area of the Amazon between Brazil, Colombia and Peru and threatens to infect remote indigenous communities in the rainforest. PAHO directors urged in a virtual briefing that special measures be taken to protect vulnerable groups among the poor and indigenous populations of the Americas. They said contagion was rising fast in densely populated Amazon border cities such as Manaus, Leticia and Iquitos, and the greatest danger is the COVID-19 spreading now to isolated villages. 16:00 GMT Italys daily death toll and new cases climb Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy have climbed by 162, against 99 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases rose sharply to 813 from 451 on Monday. The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on February 21 now stands at 32,169 the agency said, the third highest in the world after those of the United States and Britain. The number of confirmed total cases is now 226,699, the sixth highest global tally behind those of the US, Russia, Spain, Britain and Brazil. 15:45 GMT Latin American health chief says hopes to continue working with US The head of the Pan American Health Organization, Carissa Etienne, has said that the WHO-affiliated body hopes to continue working with the US government, after President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to end US funding and withdraw from WHO. In recent days, Trump has ramped up his criticism of the WHOs early response to the coronavirus pandemic. PAHO Director Carissa Etienne pointed to past collaborations with the US government to combat diseases like malaria and yellow fever, and noted that US contributions account for about 60 percent of the regional health agencys budget. 15:30 GMT Canada, US agree to 30-day extension of ban on non-essential travel: Trudeau Canada and the US have agreed to extend a ban on non-essential travel between the two nations by another 30 days as part of the fight against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said. Trudeau made the announcement in remarks to reporters. Officials from both nations said last week it was likely that the measure would be rolled over until June 21. Drivers wait to cross through Canadian customs at the Canada-US border near the Peace Arch Provincial Park in Surrey, British Columbia. [File: Jesse Winter/Reuters] 15:15 GMT Pakistan airlifts 274 students from Wuhan Pakistan has repatriated 274 students from the Chinese city of Wuhan, according to the ministry of foreign affairs. The students were shuttled from the city, where the virus first appeared and the one-time epicentre of the global outbreak, to Islamabad on a Pakistan International Airlines flight that arrived in Islamabad on Monday. The first wave of the outbreak in Wuhan had been brought largely under control in April, but new clusters have emerged in recent days. 15:00 GMT Sweden tops Europe deaths per capita over last 7 days Sweden, which has opted for a more open strategy in combating the virus than other European countries, has the highest number of deaths in Europe per capita from the COVID-19 disease over the last seven days, data shows. Sweden has kept most schools, restaurant and businesses open during the pandemic. While deaths are on the decline Sweden had 6.25 deaths per million inhabitants per day in a rolling seven-day average between May 12 and May 19, according to Ourworldinsata.org. That was the highest in Europe and just above the United Kingdom, which had 5.75 deaths per million. Over the course of the pandemic Sweden still has fewer deaths per capita than the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Belgium and France, which have all opted for lockdowns, but much higher than Nordic neighbours Denmark, Norway and Finland. 14:45 GMT UK economy will take time to return to normal after lockdown: Finance minister British finance minister Rishi Sunak has said it would take time for the economy to get back to normal even when the governments coronavirus shutdown is lifted. It is not obvious that there will be an immediate bounce-back, Sunak told lawmakers, saying the retail sector, for example, would still face restrictions when it reopens. In all cases, it will take a little bit of time for things to get back to normal, even once we have reopened currently closed sectors. 14:30 GMT WHO will continue to lead global fight against pandemic, Tedros vows The WHO will continue to lead the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic which threatens to tear at the fabric of international cooperation, its chief has said. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, thanked the many member states who have expressed their support and solidarity at its two-day annual ministerial assembly. He welcomed an EU resolution, adopted by consensus by WHOs 194 member states, that calls for an independent evaluation of the international response, including, but not limited to, WHOs performance. We want accountability more than anyone, Tedros said. We will continue providing strategic leadership to coordinate the global response to the pandemic. The WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has welcomed a resolution calling for an independent evaluation of the international response to the pandemic [Christopher Black/AFP] 14:10 GMT Russia denounces US attempts to break WHO Russia has denounced President Donald Trumps threat to pull the US out of the WHO over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Yes there are opportunities to improve it but we are against breaking everything that is there for the sake of one states political or geopolitical preferences, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to Interfax news agency. 13:50 GMT China protests support for Taiwan at World Health Assembly The Chinese envoy to the WHO has denounced support shown by the US and other members to Taiwan during its annual ministerial assembly. There are still a few countries determined to plea for Taiwan authorities, Chen Xu, the Chinese ambassador told the virtual assembly, saying this was undermining global anti-epidemic efforts. This conduct is not acceptable, Chen added in response specifically to US support for Taiwan following remarks by a senior US diplomat which he dismissed as political hype. Taiwan is not a member of the UN agency although a proposal was submitted to allow it to participate in the assembly as an observer. However, no invitation was issued due to a lack of consensus. 13:30 GMT US backs pandemic resolution at WHO but rejects patent wording The US has joined consensus on an EU resolution on the global handling of the coronavirus pandemic, but quickly distanced itself from its wording on intellectual property and reproductive health services. In a statement, the US mission to the UN in Geneva said the pandemic review would ensure complete and transparent understanding of the source of the virus, timeline of events and the decision-making process for the WHOs response. But it had to disassociate itself from the references in the pandemic resolution to intellectual property under the so-called TRIPS agreement that allows for compulsory licensing of medicines and vaccines during a health emergency. Such language would send the wrong message to innovators who will be essential to the solutions the whole world needs, the US statement said. The Trump administration believes in legal protections for the unborn, and it could not accept the idea of an international right to abortion, it added. Research associate Phuong-Danh Tran, of RNA medicines company Arcturus Therapeutics, conducts research on a vaccine for the new coronavirus in a laboratory in San Diego, California [Bing Guan/Reuters] 13:15 GMT Italys PM says entering next pandemic phase with cautious optimism Italys prime minister has told the World Health Organization on Tuesday that he was cautiously optimistic about the next phase of the pandemic as the country eases coronavirus measures. We are entering this phase with cautious optimism and a sense of responsibility, Giuseppe Conte said in a speech to the World Health Assembly, being held virtually. We know that our struggle is far from being over. He also said that global health should be a shared priority shortly after the assembly adopted an EU resolution on the pandemic. Hello, this is Joseph Stepansky in Doha, taking over from my colleague Saba Aziz. 12:30 GMT WHO states agree on COVID-19 response probe World Health Organization member states agreed to an independent probe into the UN agencys COVID-19 response as US criticism mounted over its handling of the pandemic. Countries taking part in the WHOs annual assembly, held virtually for the first time, adopted a resolution by consensus calling for an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation of the international response to the crisis, including a probe of WHO actions and their timelines pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. None of the WHOs 194 member states which include the United States raised objections to the resolution brought by the European Union on behalf of more than 100 countries including Australia, China and Japan. 12:15 GMT How does lockdown affect our mental health? The coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns are having an effect on peoples psychological well-being. So, how do we help ourselves and the people around us? Watch our latest Start Here episode. 12:10 GMT Egypt extends suspension of international flights Egypt has extended a halt to all international passenger flights to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a statement. Flights at Egyptian airports were suspended on March 19, and the stoppage will continue until further notice, the statement said. 11:45 GMT S Africa rugby team use World Cup score for fundraiser South Africas World Cup winning squad are using the score from last years final in Japan to launch a campaign to feed people affected by the COVID-19 crisis. A total of 100,000 raffle tickets are being sold at 32.12 South African rand ($1.76) which will pay for food parcels and soup kitchens. South Africas rugby players pose after winning the Laureus World Team of the Year award in February [Annegret Hilse/Reuters] The Springboks beat England 32-12 in Novembers final to win the World Cup for a third time and many of their top players have already launched their own initiatives to collect food for the hungry, notably captain Siya Kolisi. 11:30 GMT Turkey extends travel ban in 15 major cities Turkey has extended a travel ban in 15 major cities for 15 more days to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. In a statement, the interior ministry said the travel ban will continue until June 3 and those who do not comply with the travel restrictions will face administrative fines. The cities include Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Balikesir, Bursa, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Manisa, Sakarya, Samsun, Van and Zonguldak. Turkey imposed a travel ban across 31 provinces in April to stem the spread of the virus and later lifted the restrictions in some of them [Mehmet Ali Ozcan/Anadolu] 11:10 GMT EU backs WHO after Trump pull-out threat The European Union has backed the World Health Organization and multilateral efforts to fight the coronavirus after Trump threatened to quit the global agency. This is the time for solidarity, not the time for finger pointing or for undermining multilateral cooperation, European foreign affairs spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson told reporters. The EU has sponsored a motion at Tuesdays session of the WHOs annual assembly to urge an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation of the international response to the pandemic. 11:00 GMT Qatar introduces new restrictions for Eid al-Fitr Qatar has announced a series of new measures aimed at stopping the spread of the new coronavirus, including halting most commercial activities until May 30. All shops, with the exception of food and catering shops, pharmacies, restaurants delivery services and a few other essential services, will also be closed during the same time period, which coincides with the official Eid al-Fitr holidays. Read more here. Decision to suspend all commercial and service activities during Eid Alfitr holiday, with the exception of specific sectors and activities. #Qatar #YourSafetyIsMySafety pic.twitter.com/YgSCOBDj3Q (@MOCIQatar) May 18, 2020 10:20 GMT Al-Aqsa Mosque to reopen after Eid holiday Jerusalems Al-Aqsa Mosque will reopen to worshippers after the Eid holiday, a statement from its governing body said, two months after closing due to the coronavirus. The council decided to lift the suspension on worshippers entering the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque after the Eid al-Fitr holiday, a statement from the Waqf organisation said, referring to the holiday expected to begin this weekend. The statement added that the exact terms of the reopening of Islams third-holiest site would be announced later. 09:10 GMT Russian PM back to work after coronavirus battle Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is returning to his duties after fighting off the coronavirus, the Kremlin said. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree ordering Mishustin to assume his regular duties, which were carried out by a deputy since April 30, while the prime minister was receiving medical treatment. Mishustin told Putin last month that he was temporarily stepping down while he recovered from coronavirus [Dmitry Astakhov/Sputnik/Reuters] 09:00 GMT Spain lifts direct ban on flights from Italy Spain has lifted a ban on all direct flights and ships from Italy since March 11 during its coronavirus lockdown, according to the government gazette. Travellers from Italy will have to comply, however, with a two-week quarantine like other foreign visitors, while a state of emergency is in place. 08:45 GMT Latest coronavirus figures: Russia: 299,941 cases (9,263), 2,837 deaths (115) Indonesia: 18,496 (486), 1,221 deaths (30) Oman: 5,671 cases (292), 26 deaths (0) 08:00 GMT China says US trying to smear Beijing over WHO China said the US was trying to shift the blame for Washingtons own mishandling of the COVID-19 crisis, responding to Trumps letter threatening to permanently freeze funding to the WHO. Trump threatened on Monday to reconsider Washingtons membership of the UN agency if the organisation did not commit to improvements within 30 days, and said the body had shown an alarming lack of independence from China. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters the US was trying to smear China and had miscalculated by trying to use China to avoid its own responsibility. Zhao also said China would would agree to an eventual review of the global response to the pandemic, but not an immediate probe as Australia and others have proposed. 07:30 GMT South Sudans Riek Machar tests positive for coronavirus Riek Machar, South Sudan rebel leader and former vice president, has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. South Sudan has so far recorded 339 coronavirus cases and six deaths [File: Samir Bol/Reuters] Machars wife, Minister of Defence Angelina Teny, and a number of his office staff and bodyguards have also been infected, his office said. Read more here. 07:15 GMT Qatar confirms virus in jail but denies widespread outbreak Qatar has confirmed 12 coronavirus cases in its central prison, but denied reports of a widespread outbreak, saying all infected patients had been transferred immediately to a specialised hospital, isolating them from others. The government issued the statement following a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, which warned about the spread of the disease inside the jail complex potentially becoming a public health disaster. Read the full story. 07:10 GMT Tennis players join relief efforts in Pakistan Some of the worlds leading tennis stars, including mens number one Novak Djokovic, have rallied behind relief efforts led by Pakistans top tennis player to help feed people affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The initiative was launched last week by doubles specialist Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, who has been raising funds and delivering door-to-door ration packs to poor families suffering due to the countrys partial lockdown. Djokovic donated a shirt he wore at the 2011 Australian Open final, which he won [Saba Aziz/Al Jazeera] Read more here. 07:00 GMT Countries report new total figures: Germany: 175,210 cases (513), 8,007 deaths (72) India: 101,139 cases (4,970), 3,163 deaths (134) Czech Republic: 8,586 cases (111), 297 deaths (0) 06:30 GMT UK jobless claims jump to 2.1 million in April A measure of the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Britain soared in April, the first full month of the governments coronavirus lockdown, government data showed. The claimant count rose by 856,500 to 2.097 million, the Office for National Statistics said. The ONS also said Britains unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent in the January-March period, covering only one week of the lockdown, from 4.0 percent in the three months to February. Read more here. A worker disinfects door release buttons at Waterloo Station in London, England [Dan Kitwood/Getty Images] 06:15 GMT Singapore sorry for sending positive test results in error Singapore has apologised to 357 COVID-19 patients who received an erroneous text message saying they had again tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The messages had been sent due to an IT system testing glitch as we sought to improve the efficiency of our system, the health ministry said in a statement. It apologised for any inconvenience and anxiety caused and said recipients had been alerted to the error within hours. Hello, this is Saba Aziz in Doha, taking over from my colleague Kate Mayberry. 05:25 GMT I will be handing over the blog to my colleagues in Doha shortly. A quick recap on this mornings developments: US President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently freeze US funding for the WHO and withdraw from the organisation if it does not reform within 30 days; the US has set aside $11bn to ramp up coronavirus testing; and it looks as if Hong Kong will extend social distancing measures that outlaw gatherings of large groups. 05:05 GMT Chinese city tightens lockdown after spike in cases Authorities in the Chinese city of Shulan are tightening lockdown measures after a spike in coronavirus cases. Since noon on Monday, people living in compounds with confirmed or suspected cases have been barred from leaving while visitors have been banned. All food will be delivered. The northeastern city of Shulan has confirmed 19 locally-transmitted cases of the virus since May 7, according to state media. It was classified as a high risk area on May 10. The local government in #Shulan, Jilin province, announced plans to step up its lockdown measures by tightening movement control in all residential areas as the number of new cases in a #Covid_19 cluster that was first detected there continues to rise. https://t.co/dYRXZmpn3Q pic.twitter.com/129QJoZ7Ld China Daily (@ChinaDaily) May 19, 2020 04:45 GMT A joke: Chinese embassy dismisses Australia claim of probe vindication The Chinese Embassy in Canberra has dismissed Australian claims that a World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution calling for an inquiry into the coronavirus was a vindication of the countrys campaign for a global review. The draft resolution on COVID-19 to be adopted by the World Health Assembly is totally different from Australias proposal of an independent international review, the embassy said in a statement that was emailed to journalists in Australia. To claim the WHAs resolution a vindication of Australias call is nothing but a joke. More on the assemblys promised review here. 04:25 GMT Hong Kong signals social distancing measures will be extended Hong Kongs chief executive Carrie Lam has indicated social distancing measures that prohibit gatherings of more than eight people will be extended, which could make the territorys annual commemoration of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre impossible. Theres no political consideration at all on certain anniversaries or political gatherings and so on, Lam said. Our only consideration is public safety and public health concerns. With coronavirus receding, anti-government protests that rocked the territory last year have resumed. Anti-government protests met with riot police have begun to resume in Hong Kong as the coronavirus threat has receded [Anthony Kwan/Getty Images] 03:30 GMT Trump threatens to halt funding permanently if WHO does not reform US President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently halt funding for the WHO and withdraw the United States from the United Nations health agency if it does not make substantive improvements in the next 30 days. Earlier on Monday he attacked the WHO as a puppet of China. The president froze US funding for the WHO in April. This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020 02:30 GMT Children in New South Wales to return to school next week Children in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) will return to school full-time from next week, the states Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. Berjiklian said the state government had used the time that children were at home to prepare schools as a coronavirus-safe environment but warned that temporary closures would probably be necessary to contain sporadic outbreaks of the virus. The decision caught the states teachers union by surprise. It caused a lot of concern, frustration and anger among teachers and principals, Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos told Australian network ABC television. About 800,000 children attend school in NSW, Australias most heavily-populated state. From May 25, heres the plan for a full-time return to schools for NSW students. Find out more: https://t.co/k8nhFDLocW pic.twitter.com/PwUaopranu NSW Dept of Education (@NSWEducation) May 18, 2020 02:00 GMT Medical evacuations of Indigenous people in Amazon with COVID-19 The coronavirus is spreading so fast among Indigenous people in the most remote parts of Brazils Amazon rainforest that doctors are having to evacuate the most seriously-ill patients by plane. Its the last opportunity to save their lives, Edson Santos Rodrigues, a paediatric doctor working on medevac plans in Amazonas told Reuters News Agency. Sometimes we dont get there in time because we cannot land at night on remote airfields that have no lights. Brazils Indigenous health service, Sesai, reported on Monday that at least 23 Indigenous people had died from COVID-19. The countrys main tribal umbrella group APIB, which counts cases among Indigenous people who have moved to the cities, reported 103 confirmed deaths on Monday up from 18 on April 3. 00:30 GMT US promises $11bn for expanded coronavirus testing The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has set aside $11bn in new funding to support coronavirus testing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will provide $10.25bn to states, territories and local jurisdictions, the CDC said in a statement. The Indian Health Service will provide $750m to the IHS, tribal and urban Indian health programmes, it added. HHS Secretary Alex Azar said the historic investment would enable the US to track and control the spread of the virus as the country reopens. For the sake of all Americans health and wellbeing, we must help Americans get safely back to work and school, and that requires continued expansion of testing, surveillance and contact tracing, he said. 23:30 GMT (Monday) Trump turns on WHO over handling of pandemic President Trump has again attacked the WHO calling the UN agency a puppet of China that has done a very sad job in handling the coronavirus. The United States pays them $450m a year, China pays them $38m a year, And theyre a puppet of China. Theyre China-centric to put it nicer, but theyre a puppet of China, Trump told reporters in Washington, DC. Trump has already suspended US funding of the WHO. Trumps comments came after the US administration continued to put pressure on the WHO over its handling of the pandemic at a key meeting of the agencys decision-making body, the WHA. 23:00 GMT (Monday) UNESCO says 90 percent of worlds museums closed Studies from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Council of Museums have confirmed that more than 85,000 museums across the world about 90 percent of all institutions have shut because of the coronavirus. Almost 13 percent may never reopen, UNESCO added. UNESCO said protection of staff, digitisation and inventory, as well as online content development were priorities for museums but noted that there were large disparities in digital access between different regions. Museums may be temporarily closed, but they remain a source of knowledge and discovery for many now through virtual tours in particular. This International Museum Day, let's celebrate the inspirational power of museums & thank museum workers for their valuable contribution. pic.twitter.com/vbtxeGlos4 Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 18, 2020 - Hello and welcome to Al Jazeeras continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. Im Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur. Read all the updates from yesterday (May 18) here. Russia: 299,941 cases (9,263), 2,837 deaths (115) Oman: 5,671 cases (292), 26 deaths (0) New Delhi, May 19 : Qualcomm India on Tuesday announced a financial aid of $1.5 million (approximately Rs 11.3 crore) to help India tackle the spread of COVID-19. The contributions will be made towards PM CARES Fund, and multiple relief and public healthcare infrastructure initiatives, the chip-making giant said. The public healthcare infrastructure efforts include enabling broader availability of COVID-19 test kits, preventive health screening, helping front-line police forces and healthcare workers with sanitization and personal protective equipment as well as relief work supporting feeding the needy and at-risk in various regions across India. "We are living in unprecedented times and the need of the hour is for all of us to come together and stand as a united force in fighting this pandemic," Rajen Vagadia, Vice President, Qualcomm India Pvt. Ltd. and President, Qualcomm India and Saarc. "As a community, we will need to continue to work together to create solutions that address future challenges with insight and compassion." Qualcomm India has also committed to match employees' personal donations towards COVID-19 relief funds, with a matching contribution to the PM CARES Fund through its "Charitable Match Programme". United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urges the three parties to work towards a friendly agreement in accordance with the spirit of the 2015 principles. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to peacefully resolve any disagreements on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement. Guterres continues to closely follow developments related to the GERD, a spokesman said on Tuesday. He notes the good progress in the negotiations between the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Republic of Sudan thus far, the spokesman said. [The secretary general] encourages the three parties to persevere with efforts to peacefully resolve any remaining differences and to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement, the spokesman added. Guterres underscores the importance of the 2015 Declaration of Principles on the GERD, which emphasises cooperation based on common understanding, mutual benefit, good faith, win-win, and the principles of international law. He urged the three parties to work towards a friendly agreement in accordance with the spirit of these principles. On 1 May, Egypt sent a letter to the head of the UN Security Council (UNSC) about the GERD crisis after the failure of the three countries to reach an agreement on its filling and operation. The negotiations between the three countries stalled in late February after Ethiopia declined to sign a deal drafted by American mediators. Egypt and Sudan then rejected an Ethiopian agreement released on 10 April proposing a partial agreement that would only cover the first stage of the filling. The letter Egypt sent to the Security Council details the stages of GERD talks and the moves Egypt adopted in accordance with international law. Ethiopia said on 11 May that it will start filling its mega-dam in July despite not reaching an agreement with the two downstream countries. In a 22-page letter, Ethiopia told the UNSC it does not have a legal obligation to seek the approval of Egypt to fill the dam. Search Keywords: Short link: Brielle Biermann has taken after her mother Kim Zolciak in what seems to be every way. The 23-year-old Georgia native was spotted in a flattering white bikini while in her posh grey bedroom on Monday looking like a pinup. And the Real Housewives Of Atlanta and Don't Be Tardy veteran also was plugging a product on Instagram - something mom Kim does often - for her 1.3M followers. Model moment: Brielle Biermann has taken after her mother Kim Zolciak in what seems to be every way. The 23-year-old Georgia native was spotted in a flattering white bikini while in her posh grey bedroom on Monday looking like a pinup The product is a self-tanning cream that she swears by. Brielle did indeed look sunkissed to perfection as she posed away in her little two piece suit that made the most of her hourglass figure. The beauty wore her nails long and square with pink and white stripes. In her caption she raved about the brand. Hawking: And the Real Housewives Of Atlanta and Don't Be Tardy veteran also was plugging a product on Instagram - something mom Kim does often - for her 1.3M followers 'Feeling confident and back to myself again after using my go to self tanner @lovingtanofficial! Loving tan is long lasting, easy to apply & gives you a natural glow,' said the TV star. Soon after her mother Kim left a comment praising her mini me child but also plugging her own product: Salty K Swim, which Brielle was wearing in the two snapshots. 'Looking good baby! @saltykswim @lovingtanofficial look great together!' said Kim. Tan and trim: The product is a self-tanning cream that she swears by. Brielle did indeed look sunkissed to perfection as she posed away in her little two piece suit that made the most of her hourglass figure Nailed it: The beauty wore her nails long and square with pink and white stripes Zolciak is debuting her very own swimwear line Salty K Swim on June 1. Within 13 hours, Brielle had 45K likes for the double photos. Last week Brielle also modeled her mom's bikini line as she sat by the pool proving she is quite the dutiful daughter. Mom approved! Matriarch Kim, in a lilac bikini inside her bathroom last month, praised her child for her post and then plugged her own swim line Salt K Swim But that's MY suit! 'Looking good baby! @saltykswim @lovingtanofficial look great together!' said Kim in the comments section This comes after her younger sister Ariana Biermann, who is only 18-years-old, did the same but chose a pink suit. Brielle looked in great shape as she sat on the edge of a swimming pool with her feet in the water. The reality TV wonder turned around to look at the camera wearing mirrored sunglasses. Even though it is still spring, Brielle had a deep golden summer tan. With mommy: Brielle, far right, with her mother Kim, center, and little sister Ariana, far left For mama: Brielle posted an eye-catching swimsuit image for her 1.3M Instagram followers this week. The 23-year-old Don't Be Tardy TV star was in a green bikini designer by her mother Kim for her Salty K line 'Pool day in @saltykswim,' was her caption as her fans showered her with compliments like 'stunning' and 'obsessed with you and this bikini.' Earlier her teen sister shared two images to Instagram that were a reminder she is the daughter of the Real Housewives Of Atlanta star. Not only did the teen look fit in her pink bikini - which was designed by Kim - but she also wore her hair long and highlighted, and had long nails. A star is born: Ariana Biermann shared two images to Instagram on Monday that were a reminder she is the daughter of the Real Housewives Of Atlanta star The budding Instagram star - whose birth father is Kim's ex-husband Daniel Toce - said she was happy as she modeled a swimsuit made by her mother called Salty K. 'Salty K, Luxury swimwear brand by @Kimzolciakbiermann, Launching June 1st 2020!' read the link. Kim, whose bikini range will go on sale in just over two weeks, modeled a similar skimpy lilac swimsuit on Instagram last month. Arinna - who has starred on RHOA, Don't Be Tardy and Don't Be Tardy For The Wedding - has gradually been adopting her mother's look over the years. When she opened her Instagram account in 2015 at the age of 13, she posted throwback images to when she was just a child. But by 2016 Arianna was modeling a bikini as she chatted up a gift box and tagged the sponsor just like a pro. And the next year, when she was 15-years-old, she adopted her mother's trademark long blonde hair thanks to a professional dye job at mom's salon. In 2017 she was wearing a full face of makeup with false eyelashes like Kim and even added some blue streaks to her hair. By the summer of 2017, bikini posts became the norm for the star who was keeping up with older sister Brielle, 23, as well. And at the end of 2017 she was posing with her boyfriend Collin Lipman. At 16, she seemed to mix with other celebrities as she was seen posing with Post Malone. The next year she took a photo with Future at a party. Her mother Kim has become one of the biggest bombshells of the Bravo network. And she has shared with fans over the years how she has maintained her great looks. When she was little: Ariana is seen far left as age nine with older sister Brielle, center, and mom Kim, far right, in 2011 in Atlanta In 2017 the Don't Be Tardy star told E! News she has had work done to her breasts and midsection, even adding that she could have more work in the future. 'I will always nip and tuck if I feel the need to do so,' said the mother-of-six. She has maintained, however, that she has never had work done to her nose and thighs. The blonde has been accused many times of having those areas reshaped. Because the Bravo siren had a fuller nose pre-fame, many believe she had work done to refine it. But she has said repeatedly it's all natural. In August 2015 Andy Cohen even asked her about it when she was on his series Watch What Happens Live. When asked if she'd had work done to her face, she quickly told the caller: 'No.' 'I hear you, and I hear this all the time, but I want people to understand. I had a baby in 2011, one in '12 and two in 2013. So I think the weight of all that...but I mean, no, I haven't.' A very big family: Ariana, front, with sister Brielle and parents Kroy and Kim; also seen are the four kids Kim had with Kroy: Kroy Jr, eight, Kash, seven, and twins Kane and Kaia, six Kim has also come under fire for posting Instagram snaps where her thighs look almost impossibly slender. But again she told E! it's only been her breasts and midsection that have been altered. (Though she has copped to having the fat on her behind frozen.) Before fame hit: When she was more natural pre-fame with darker hair The wife of Kroy Biermann started: 'I had a boob job and Ive had a hernia fixed. I had a pretty big hernia from the twins, so I said just do a tummy tuck, which is kinda the same thing, just make the skin really tight. But that doesnt change my size. Im the same size I was the day I walked into surgery, Im just a little bit tighter-looking.' She gave birth to twins Kaia and Kane in November 2013. And she also reiterated that she would do it again. 'I dont care. You only go around one time, and I especially understand that. And life is very short, so theres no reason for me to lie.' Zolciak then admitted she was just born that way. 'I definitely think genetics play a role,' she said. And Kim also admitted she doesn't overeat. 'I dont eat tons at a meal,' she said. But the curvy reality diva does have a weakness: 'I love dessert, not gonna lie, definitely have dessert every night. Just a little brownie, not a big sundae. 'I think eating in moderation is key for people. I think the portion sizes that are out there today are just insane.' The Indian Medical Association on Tuesday expressed its strong disapproval at the alleged inhuman treatment meted out to Dr K Sudhakar, a suspended anaesthetist by Visakhapatnam police on Saturday. In a letter to Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, IMA national president Dr Rajan Sharma and secretary general Dr R V Asokan said Sudhakar was handled inappropriately by the police, though there were certainly civilised ways of handling the situation by the government. That he was under suspension for allegedly raising safety issues in the hospital was all the more reason for sensitive handling of the issue, the IMA representatives said. At the same time, they said the IMA wouldnt hold a brief for Sudhakar uttering unparliamentary words against the chief minister. Such public behaviour is unacceptable and a conscientious apology is in order, they said. Sharma and Asokan, however, said the way a member of the medical profession was handled in public was very disturbing. It had hurt the doctors across the nation. IMA, Andhra Pradesh unit, rose to the occasion in defending the dignity of the doctor and looking after his health, they said. On behalf of the doctors of the nation, the IMA expected a fair investigation into the incident and his earlier suspension. Appropriate punishment may be apportioned for the erring police officials, they said. Videos of Sudhakar with his hands tied behind his back being beaten up by the police went viral in the social media triggering protests from the opposition parties. Visakhapatnam police commissioner R K Meena said Sudhakar was creating nuisance on the highway in a drunken state and abusing the chief minister, the state government and others. He was arrested and sent for medical examination immediately. Meena also announced suspension of a constable who allegedly manhandled the doctor. On Sunday, Sudhakar was sent to the Institute of mental health in Visakhapatnam, where superintendent Dr K Radha Rani declared that he was suffering from acute and transient psychosis. The police have registered a case against Dr Sudhakar under IPC sections 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 427 (Mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees). Last month, Sudhakar, working in the government hospital at Narsipatnam, was suspended for approaching the media to complain against the government for not providing sufficient number of PPE kits. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Lawmakers vote down resolutions seeking cancellation of voting results on bill on banking regulation 16:45, 19.05.20 1186 The parliament passed the finalized bill on banking regulation on May 13. By Express News Service After a few hiccups, the Jordan schedule of Prithvirajs Aadujeevitham has been finally wrapped up. We were able to learn that the team has been able to complete some of the films significant portions after the local government eased the pandemic-related restrictions. Director Blessy, Prithviraj and the crew encountered some obstacles in the past three months. They were initially permitted to shoot the film but then had to halt production after the Jordanian government imposed stringent measures. The 58-member crew had been filming in Wadi Rum. Prithviraj has now returned to his hotel adjacent to the international airport. They will be permitted to return home once they get the go-ahead from the civil aviation authority. Aadujeevitham is one of the two Malayalam films, aside from Djibouti, shot in a foreign location after the pandemic hit. Editor's note: In the months following Ravi Zacharias' death, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) released the results of a lengthy report that appears to confirm multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Zacharias. RZIM has issued a statement along with the report apologizing for initially denying the allegations. We are devastated by what the investigation has shown and are filled with sorrow for the women who were hurt by this terrible abuse, the statement asserted. For more on this, visit ChristianHeadlines.com or review the RZIM statement. Beloved Christian author and apologist Ravi Zacharias has died at the age of 74. According to a press release from Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, Zacharias died in his Georgia home on Tuesday morning after a short battle with cancer. As Christian Headlines previously reported, in March, Zacharias revealed that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of malignant cancer called Sarcoma. The cancer was discovered in the form of a tumor on his sacrum bone during back surgery. Following his diagnosis, Zacharias began receiving chemotherapy treatments at the renowned M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, in April. Unfortunately, while the tumor on his sacrum was responding well to chemo, the cancer had metastasized and worsened in the areas where it had spread, Zacharias daughter Sarah Davis shared in a statement last week. We have just learned that while the tumor in my dads sacrum has been responding to the chemotherapy, the area where the cancer metastasized has actually worsened, Davis wrote in a statement. His oncologist informed us that this cancer is very rare in its aggression and that no options for further treatment remain. Medically speaking, they have done all they are able. Zacharias then returned to his home in Alpharetta, GA from the cancer treatment center where he spent his last days on Earth. Zacharias, whose full name is Frederick Antony Ravi Kumar Zacharias, was born in Madras, now Chennai, India in 1946, to his mother, Isabella, and his father, Oscar. While he grew up in a Christian home, it wasnt until age 17 that Zacharias began to believe in Jesus. After making an attempt on his own life, Zacharias was lying in a hospital bed when he was read Jesus words, Because I live, you will also live. According to his official obituary, Zacharias would soon surrender his life to Christ and become determined to share the Good News. In 1966, at just 20 years old, Zacharias immigrated to Canada where he would later meet veteran missionary to Vietnam, Ruth Jeffrey. In 1971, after hearing Zacharias who had just earned an award for preaching at an international Youth for Christ congress Jeffrey invited him to Vietnam. It was on this trip to Vietnam, where Zacharias witnessed great violence including the deaths of several fellow missionaries, that the apologist established a profound trust in God and a desire to stand beside those who minister in areas of great risk. As such, Zacharias and his new wife, Margie, moved to Deerfield, Illinois to study at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Zacharias received a Master of Divinity at Trinity and went on to teach at the Alliance Theological Seminary in New York while also traveling to preach on the weekends. Then in 1983, Billy Graham invited Zacharias to speak at his inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam. At that conference, Zacharias would offer a fresh perspective one many credit with changing the future of apologetics. Zacharias shared his fear that in certain strands of evangelicalism, we sometimes think it is necessary to so humiliate someone of a different worldview that we think unless we destroy everything he holds valuable, we cannot preach to him the gospel of Christ...what I am saying is this, when you are trying to reach someone, please be sensitive to what he holds valuable. This desire to meet people where they are led Zacharias to established Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, a ministry group that works to this day to share the gospel around the world, in 1984. Through the ministry, Zacharias was able to share the Gospel in more than 70 countries. Today the ministry has offices in the US, Canada, Latin America, Africa, the UK, Spain, Romania, Turkey, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Austria, Germany, Macedonia and Switzerland. Zacharias, the author of more than 30 books, including Why Jesus?, Why Suffering? and Who Made God?, leaves behind a legacy of love through Jesus. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Margie; three children, Sarah, Naomi and Nathan; and five grandchildren. Related: Christians Pay Tribute to Ravi Zacharias amid News of His Declining Health Photo courtesy: Ravi Zacharias Facebook Kayla Koslosky has been the Editor of ChristianHeadlines.com since 2018. She has B.A. degrees in English and History and previously wrote for and was the managing editor of the Yellow Jacket newspaper. She has written on her blog since 2012 and has also contributed to IBelieve.com and Crosswalk.com. By Park Si-soo An endangered breed of wildcat called "ssack" in Korean has been sighted for the first time in eight years. A surveillance camera at Mount Bomun in Daejeon captured the photo on May 13, according to Green Korea, an NGO working on environmental protection. A released photo shows a "ssack" with eyes shining moving on leafy ground. "The finding (of ssack) has heightened the environmental value of Mount Bomun," a Green Korea official said. The government has protected "ssack" since 2012 by designating it a 2nd grade endangered animal. It was not found in the 2012-14 wildlife monitoring across Daejeon, according to the NGO. ALBANY Nearly two months after business and schools across the state of New York were shut down amid a deadly pandemic, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday announced the Capital Region's eight counties can begin reopening. The region's reopening team was training more than 400 "tracers" who are slated to begin work Wednesday when the reopening formally begins helping identify people who may have had contact with a person infected with COVID-19. "So that's great news," Cuomo said during his daily coronavirus task force briefing Tuesday on Long Island. "They're now being trained today and (the) Capital Region should open tomorrow." The area became the latest of the state's 10 economic regions to begin reopening, with western New York beginning its reopening on Tuesday. The counties in the local region slated for reopening are Albany, Greene, Columbia, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren and Washington. Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy called the news terrific but cautioned that a phased reopening doesn't mean that masks, social distancing and bans on large gatherings are no longer valid. If the county sees a sharp enough spike in cases over the next few weeks, it may have to shut down again, he said. It remains unclear how the state guidelines governing businesses will be enforced. Capital Region county leaders are expected to discuss that question during a meeting on Thursday. But officials said that, for now, any enforcement of businesses violating guidelines or not following public health procedures wont come from the county level. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage Businesses also are required to develop a safety plan and keep it on file in case of a state inspection, but arent required to submit their plan to a government agency. Theyre also required to implement safety measures including providing masks, checking employees temperatures as they arrive to work, and ensuring workers can do their jobs six feet apart when possible. We dont have the personnel to go out and police the community," McCoy said. "Were going to rely on the staff, were going to rely on the customers, to basically get back to us and say, Hey theyre not following the rules. McCoy also questioned who has the legal authority to enforce the governor's executive orders. Im not an attorney, Im not the (district attorney)," he said. "These are great questions for them to sit there and say, Is this enforceable and how are you going to enforce it going forward?'" Rensselaer County is taking a similar approach and believes that the issue comes down to self-policing, said Richard Crist, the countys director of operations. "Were looking for people to use common sense and to be good neighbors, he said. We think many businesses have done a good job under difficult circumstances. We need residents to be careful, composed and competent as we move forward. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said the county is "committed to reopening carefully, and with an eye toward protecting our collective health and safety. To do that, we need the public and those in business to be responsible and use common sense as we reopen." The governor reported Tuesday that deaths, infections and hospitalizations are continuing to decline. "We are basically back to where we started before this tragedy descended on us," he said. There were 105 fatalities reported Monday that were associated with COVID-19, which is the lowest number of deaths in a 24-hour period since late March. (Twenty of those deaths were in nursing homes.) Cuomo again urged Congress to approve legislation that would send financial aid to state and local governments. He said governors across the nation, through the National Governors Association, are urging federal lawmakers to provide at least $500 billion to states. "In unison, we're saying to Washington, 'You need to pass funding for state and local governments,'" he said. Steve Hughes and Kenneth C. Crowe II contributed reporting. The search for a vaccine for the coronavirus is going on at a furious pace. Predictions of when one could be available range from later this year to two to three years. Were optimistic, believing sooner rather than later. But simply developing the vaccine will not solve the COVID-19 problem. The vaccine will have to be manufactured in vast quantities, and then comes the real challenge: Getting people in this country and around the world vaccinated. Just how do we get billions of people vaccinated? No one method is likely to work everywhere, but Guizhi "Julian" Zhu, Ph.D., at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy has a proposal that seems to us worthy of strong consideration: sending the vaccine to your mailbox in the form of a patch. If successful, his design for a vaccine patch offers a number of advantages over standard vaccinations, Zhu said. For example, it would be relatively simple to send vaccines directly to people by using the mail system -- each vaccine patch is about the size of a little fingernail and would fit easily inside an envelope. Another plus: Since the patches would be easy to apply, the method would reduce the need for people to travel to health care centers, many of which have been overburdened during the pandemic. This would minimize risk to the people most at risk for the disease, who are older and sicker than the general population, as well as to vital health care workers. "People, no matter who they are, can apply the patch to their own arm. And that's it. People are vaccinated." Zhu's design looks similar to nicotine patches used in smoking-cessation products. But it works very differently. Nicotine patches allow chemicals to seep through the skin. But that is not a practical approach for vaccines. Instead, Zhu's design uses more than a hundred polymer microneedles -- each as thin as a human hair -- on each patch to get through the skin. "It's not painful, not like a syringe," Zhu added. These microneedles would dispense harmless synthetic fragments of the virus embedded in a protective ball of nanoparticles that dissolves once it enters the body. The fragments, while doing no harm themselves, would teach the body's defense system to recognize and attack any real COVID-19 viruses that appear. Zhu's research, funded in part by the Department of Pharmaceutics and VCU's Center for Pharmaceutical Engineering and Sciences, was one of the first 20 proposals to receive grants from the VCU COVID-19 Rapid Research Funding Opportunity. "This is the kind of impactful research the program is designed to support and the kind of inventive thinking that will help us successfully fight the novel coronavirus," said P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., VCU's vice president for research and innovation. "The microneedle patch could potentially change the delivery of other vaccines now typically administered in a medical setting." So could the patches be ready by the time a vaccine is developed? "It's our best hope that we can test to confirm this [design] within the next six months," Zhu said. If the tests are successful, the next step would be to make plans to manufacture the patches when a vaccine is ready and prepare for clinical testing. On May 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the period of non-working days, which was introduced in late March, would be ended for all sectors of the economy. Since then, millions of Russian workers have been forced to return to their workplaces, faced with the immediate danger of contracting COVID-19 and dying from it. Putin announced the end of lockdown measures under conditions of a steep rise in cases to over 10,000 per day, the single fastest rise in all of Europe. Over the past week Russia became the country with the second highest number of cases in the world after the US, with over 290,000 confirmed cases and 2,722 deaths. Number of coronavirus cases in Russia The virus has spread to the highest levels of the state, with several cabinet ministers, including the new prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, falling ill with COVID-19. The virus has also spread very widely in monasteries and among leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has close ties to the Kremlin and which for weeks defied orders to shut down public gatherings. Images of exploding ventilators that have killed COVID-19 patients, and doctors falling out of hospital windows have shocked workers around the world. Under these conditions, the reopening of the economy is a measure that is as criminal as it is desperate. In response to the coronavirus crisis, the Kremlin has no solution to offer that would in any way correspond to the interests of the vast majority of the population. Even mass media that are loyal to the Kremlin have expressed doubt about the decision. In an editorial from May 13, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta warned cautiously that weakening the quarantine is filled with new risks, and that so far, there is a lack of evidence for any clear positive results from the end of quarantine measures. The paltry social measures that Putin announced have an entirely decorative character. They are mostly designed for families with children, 80 percent of which are living in poverty in Russia. However, these measures will do nothing to substantially change the conditions of the majority of the population under conditions of rapid immiseration and a sharp rise in unemployment. About 25 percent of all workers have lost either their jobs or parts of their income. Under these conditions, according to Svetlana Misikhina from the Moscow Higher School of Economics, the measures by the government will give citizens only 10 percent of lost income. As for support of the economy, in all the measures announced by the government, which amount to about 2.8 percent of gross domestic product (about 3 trillion rubles, or $40 billion), the lions share will go to the largest companies, both private and public. This includes the major state-owned oil company Rosneft, whose head, Igor Sechin, has already requested help directly from the president and has received large-scale assistance in the form of reduced oil pumping rates and cheap bank loans. Meanwhile, the government has demonstratively refused to break the seal of the money box of the National Welfare Fund (NWF), which had accumulated more than 12.8 trillion rubles ($165 billion), or 11.3 percent of GDP, as of April 1. The Kremlin oligarchy obviously regards it as its private slush fund, although theoretically anything in the NWF that exceeds 7 percent of GDP is to be spent on social assistance to citizens. In an interview with the business newspaper Vedomosti from May 5, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov emphasized that all additional government expenses due to the pandemic will be paid for within the framework of existing budgetary resources. These policies will significantly exacerbate the already staggering levels of social inequality in Russia. Even before the pandemic began, around 20 million people out of a population of 140 million were officially counted as extremely poor. Meanwhile, the combined wealth of the 10 richest Russians in 2019 was about $178.5 billion. The countrys top 1 percent controlled more than a third of total wealth. The policies of the Russian oligarchy completely correspond to the deadly logic of the capitalist ruling classes of the entire world, which put the interests of the super-rich and corporate profits above the right of the working class to live. The World Socialist Web Site has aptly characterized this policy as one of malign neglect. Even when the Russian government introduced the initial quarantine measures, declaring that workers would keep receiving their income, it did not explain how this would be realized. Moreover, the government refused to proclaim a state of emergency, which, by law, would have forced the government to compensate both individuals and institutions for financial losses suffered during the pandemic. Instead, it introduced the completely new term of state of heightened readiness. This legal innovation was pushed through the State Duma (parliament) in three readings in just one day. In practice, this has been a regime of social distancing, with people staying at home voluntarily. At the same time, the powers of regional authorities and police controls have been significantly expanded and put on a par with those existing under a state of emergency. None of this was an accidental improvisation. In March, the Kremlin was confronted with what some commentators have called a perfect storm state of heightened readiness. In addition to the growing pandemic, there was a massive plunge in world oil prices. Oil exports, along with exports of gas and other raw material resources, account for no less than half of Russian GDP. Another factor in the sharpening of the crisis was the so called constitutional reform that was introduced in mid-January in Putins State of the Nation address. The entire cabinet was overhauled to push for an unprecedented strengthening of the powers of the president. Moreover, the Constitution is being turned into a prop for extreme right-wing conservative-nationalist values, which share much in common with those upheld by the fascist and authoritarian regimes of the 1930s. In a desperate effort to endow the changes with a veil of legitimacy, the Kremlin was preparing to hold a referendum on the changes on April 22. Now, the referendum will likely be held on June 24. These political considerations no doubt played a part in the push to prematurely end the economic shutdown. In a video conference with regional governors on April 8, Putin said: We cannot put a hold on the economy. The conditions must now be created so that companies, organizations and entrepreneurs can return to their usual work schedule. As a result, already by April 10 hundreds of factories resumed work in Moscow and other regions, many of which were by no means essential. This has been a major contributing factor in the rapid spread of the pandemic in Russia in recent weeks. It was precisely in the period between mid-April and now that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases grew 10-fold and most of the recorded deaths occurred. In a particularly stark example of the cynical attitude of government officials toward the lives of the working population, Igor Artamonov, governor of the Lipetsk Region, advised his subordinates in a meeting in April to use chemicals deployed against ticks to disperse people on the streets, in the name of observing social distancing. The complete indifference to the safety and lives of the working population has taken especially sharp forms in the relation to medical workers. The months of April and May have been filled with an unending stream of news about their working conditions: there is a staggering lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), and workers are being massively underpaid. There have also been gross mistakes with efforts to rapidly reorient hospitals toward treating COVID-19 patients, resulting in many cases where infected patients were put together with as yet non-infected patients. Coming after decades of devastating cuts in health care, this has created conditions where hospitals have become the main sites of infections in the country. On May 13, the minister of health, Mikhail Murashko, declared before the State Duma that there are 400 focal points of the virus in hospitals, leaving patients afraid to come to them. The number of medical workers who have died from COVID-19 in Russia is one of the highest in the world. A memorial page for deceased medical workers lists 222 names as of May 17. Under these conditions, Putins statement in his speech on May 11We have chosen the path of saving peoples lives and health, and together we have already achieved a lot, done a lot and overcome a lotcan be understood only as a deliberate and cynical mockery of the truth. The policy of malign neglect by the government has provoked an initial upsurge in opposition from the working class. Most significantly, Gazprom workers at the Chayanda oil and gas condensate field in Yakutia, northern Russia, protested their horrifying working conditions amid the spread of the virus in late April. Out of the 10,500 workers on the field, about a third have been infected with the virus. It took the open protests to force management to begin evacuating the field. The reemergence of the class struggle on an international level and in Russia itself is the first stage in the development of a unified international struggle of the workers of all countries against the profit system. The struggle for the rights, health and life of the working class amidst the pandemic is indissolubly connected to the fight against the capitalist system. However, this struggle raises fundamental questions of political and historical perspective. The catastrophic social and health impact of the pandemic is a direct result of the restoration of capitalism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. If ventilators explode and hospitals are literally crumbling, it is the result not so much of the virus, but of the dissolution of the USSR by the Stalinist bureaucracy and the decades of austerity that followed under the new oligarchy. The Russian oligarchy fears nothing more than that the emerging opposition in the Russian and international working class will be imbued with the political programme of socialist internationalism, based on the lessons of the struggle of the Trotskyist movement against Stalinism. It is for this reason that it has initiated a major state campaign to slander Leon Trotsky, the co-leader with Vladimir Lenin of the October Revolution and the main opponent of Stalin, and is cracking down on all efforts to research the crimes of Stalinism. We urge our readers in Russia and the former Soviet Union to contact us to discuss these questions, and purchase and study the book In Defense of Leon Trotsky. On May 12, the 23-campus California State University system was the first major American post-secondary institution to admit the inevitable: Fall 2020 is going online. Even as more U.S. states ease restrictions, many experts predict another more catastrophic wave in the fall. Sure, colleges and universities can claim whatever they want, in the hopes of stanching an enrollment hemorrhage, but come on: Why intentionally summon tens of thousands of young people with questionable hygiene, poor judgment, and a pathological need to congregate from everywhere in the entire world into one campus if there is a safer alternative? Advertisement Of course, its not that simple. Moving college online is safe, but suboptimal. When spring 2020 courses hastily retreated to cyberspace, this emergency measure was met with a resounding chorus of affronted yowls from student and professor alike. Instructors who had never held a class online (many of whom vehemently oppose the practice) suddenly found themselves Zooming lectures to glazed-over, anxious students with their home-schooled children wreaking havoc in the background. Some institutions went pass/fail. Others didnt. Nobody knew what they were doing, everyone had to do it anyway, and it was, and continues to be, not great. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, the inevitable digitization of the American university has disastrous consequences for everyone who attends or works at one. It is an unavoidable fact that some postsecondary institutions will not survive the pandemic. Some have already closed, citing COVID-19 as their cause of death. Moreover, innumerable schools have already begun layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts and other desperate measures, so even the colleges still standing in the After Times may be withered husks of their former selves. Advertisement Advertisement If you planned to start college in the fall of 2020, deferring might seem like a nifty idea right now. If youre a current student and virtual spring 2020 was a nightmare, it might seem like a good idea to take a year off. But really, what the hell else are you going to do with your time, Junior? Travel? Party? Watch Friends with your parents? While its appropriate to mourn the campus experience lost, its also time to think about online college along a different binary: Not online vs. in-person, but a good use of your pandemic time vs. a bad use of it. The traditional college experience as we know it is currently floating untouched in the same metaphorical cryogenic freezer as the other artifacts of the Before Times: dinner parties, Tinder dates, and, I dont know, not crying yourself to sleep every night. In its place is a different experience that many are, understandably, calling diminished, but is still better than the alternatives. Youre stuck at home anyway. Why not check off your requirements? Advertisement Advertisement The good news is that fall 2020 doesnt have to be like spring 2020. Students and institutions have time to prepare. Even those of us ostensibly slated to teach in person (as I am, we shall see) must build twin online versions of our classes, ready to go immediately for when we, or any of our students, get sick. Advertisement Advertisement Recently, Texas Tech law professor Cassie Christopher asked the quarantined collegians of Twitter what theyd like their professors and institutions to know if online college continues into the fall. And while the overwhelming response included contradictory gripesMore asynchronous teaching (where the lectures are recorded and we watch then whenever)! More synchronous teaching (where class is regular but on the Zoom)!there did emerge some common sources of frustration that instructors, institutions, and students have the power to fix for fall term. Advertisement Advertisement I have, for example, heard the odd horror story of professors seeking to replicate the in-person model by being the same extreme hard-asses about grading and attendance they are in the flesh. This is not helpful. Anyone not offering flexible due dates is being a jerk for no good reason, and the same goes for multiple options for assignments (three short papers or one long one! Four smaller exams or one cumulative one!). Grades, on the other hand, are trickier. The ideal and most humane thing to do would be to give all students a pass/fail option, but that often requires bureaucratic permission (ugh), so the next best thing is just to offer students as many flexible paths to success as possible. This includes recording and captioning or transcribing all Zoom lectures, and, ideally, making all live sessions optional, more akin to office hours during class time. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Furthermore, my extremely scientific study has proved that everyone, everywhere hates mandatory discussion boards (all right, many students do). I can see why instructors use themI have used thembut there is no way that a glorified Reddit thread can replicate the human interaction of small seminars or discussion sections, and its time to stop trying. (Luckily, theres a solution: Make the boards extra credit, which for the uninitiated is a magic spell that, when uttered, causes students to do a thing with great enthusiasm.) Advertisement It is also abjectly necessary to make financial changes on the institutional level. Students and their parents are already suing for refunds for spring 2020, and as the American health and economic situations worsen, so, too, will the litigious appetites for restitution ignite. Yes, every institution is facing financial catastrophe, and a government that views academia with open scorn will be hesitant to bail it out (unless its the Betsy DeVos Institute of Jesus and Ayn Rand Studies). Advertisement And yet, there is no other solution: The fee structure for the online-only version of regular college must be different. Although it actually costs more to deliver courses online than in-person (the instructors meager salary plus tech), nontuition fees, such as those for student activities, facility use, and (obviously) housing, simply must be eliminated. Of course, the online experience still might not be worth the fancy price tag, and in that case, do I have a secret for you: An expensive name-brand school gives transfer students exactly the same diploma as it gives those who start as freshmen. Newly minted high school grads should consider matriculating at their local or regional state school for a year or two, where prices are low and online education has been a part of the curriculum for years. (Students currently enrolled somewhere expensive can research how much transfer credit, and from where, their expensive institution accepts!) Advertisement Advertisement Finally, even if institutions dont adapt and professors remain recalcitrant, students can help themselves not be miserable for another semester (at least) of online college. The reason that online learning is such an abysmal substitute for in-person class is that its not a substitute for in-person class. The idea that a regular classroom can just be made virtual but otherwise remain unchanged is ridiculous; online learning is not just a virtual classroom; its a completely different milieu that requires a different set of expectations. Advertisement Advertisement Essentially, online courses are set up differently because online brains learn differentlyor, more accurately, because being online may make our brains different. A 2019 paper in the peer-reviewed journal World Psychiatry that studied the effect of internet exposure on the human brain argued that the Internet can produce both acute and sustained alterations in the ways people pay attention, retain information, and interact sociallyyou know, things necessary to do college. Specifically: The online brain is so different that not only has it permanently introduced some new behaviors (such as absently checking a device), being online may have changed the way our brains work, to the detriment of the attention span, memory, and emotional stability. As with all very recent scientific scholarship, this paper is but one study about internet brain, and not infalliblebut, as many students found out the hard way during spring 2020, taking a course online did often result in being too impatient to absorb anything, forgetting a tremendous amount of contentand then getting really mad about it. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But, more good news: If students enter their online courses with a fortified mindsetessentially a sort of Defense Against the Dark Web Arts consisting of mindfulness (I notice my attention slipping), discipline (I will not treat this assignment like a BuzzFeed quiz), self-compassion (Im not going to be my best self here and that is FINE), and patience (my professor is just as anxious and stressed as I am)combined with the reminder that online school still beats the real alternatives, fall 2020 might even inch toward the tolerable. Yes, it is disheartening to know that, just like with everything else, there is no end in sight for COVID-related disruptions to college life. Yes, there is nothing that truly compares to in-person college, and I am just as eager as the rest of you to get back into the actual classroom. But, like the virus, online higher education isnt going anywhere. So we might as well give it the old college try. For more on the impact of the coronavirus, listen to What Next. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. Those who cast their ballots for Napas board of education this November will do so only for candidates living in a voters district, under a newly approved election map that may enable American Canyon citizens to pick two of the boards seven members. The Napa Valley Unified School Districts revamped election map and rulebook, which arose from a January petition alleging watered-down minority influence, will for the first time assign races for each board seat solely to one of seven areas in Napa, American Canyon, Yountville and surrounding county-held territories. A redrawn voting map gained approval from NVUSD trustees Thursday night, setting the stage for a boundary shift that affects four trustees running for re-election this fall and may force some to instead pursue new seats into which they will be reassigned. Under the redrawn voting map, two of the four NVUSD board members up for new terms this November will have to compete for the same seat. Joe Schunk of the current Area 4, which includes American Canyon and the southern tip of Napa, will share a voting zone with Icela Martin of Area 5, which covers Browns Valley and Carneros. Another trustee up for re-election, Jose Hurtado of the north Napa-based Area 7, will be mapped into the same district as Robin Jankewicz, whose term runs through 2022. The fourth trustee whose term ends this fall is David Gracia of Area 4, who will not share his new voting zone with another colleague. Two of the seven new voting areas, one in west Napa and the other in eastern American Canyon, have no current school board members as residents. Although board members already must live in the voting areas they represent, voters from all parts of NVUSD currently may cast ballots for trustees throughout the district. One of the new election maps key changes will be its division of American Canyon from a single voting area to two new ones, with Highway 29 separating the two. That plan won out over an alternative in which the city of 20,000 people would have remained mostly within one district, virtually assuring at least one resident will serve on the school board but making the chance of a second advocate remote. Although the splitting of American Canyon into voting zones that also include portions of south Napa theoretically could leave the city shut out of local trustees, most board members appeared assured the number of city voters would be high enough for board candidates to have to take their concerns to heart. The zone east of Highway 29 would consist of 68 percent American Canyon residents, compared to 31.7 percent in the zone west of the highway, according to Tamina Alon, the Oakland-based demographer working with NVUSD to redraw the voting map. The voting map gives the south county a fair shot at two seats, said Joe Schunk, the trustee whose soon-to-be-redrawn district currently includes American Canyon. You would be hard-pressed to win an election without taking into account the 30 to 40 percent who live in the (western) area. The decision to give American Canyon a chance to place two residents on the school board follows NVUSDs cancellation last year of a planned second middle school for the city. Although the district later approved plans for an expansion of the current junior high campus on Benton Way, the decision not to build a new school riled residents who felt the campus was an implicit campaign promise to voters who approved the Measure H school construction bond in 2016, although the ballot language did not mention any city or school by name. Despite the boards approval of the new area-based voting system, tension remained between some trustees and the team that triggered the rapid overhaul a process David Gracia said was carried out under the duress of a possible lawsuit. The petition, filed Jan. 15 by the Walnut Creek lawyer Scott Rafferty and the Napa County Progressive Alliance, said NVUSDs voting system violates California voting rights law by diluting the pull of minority groups. The filing began a 45-day clock for the school district to approve area-based voting in principle, followed by 90 days to hold four public forums and approve a new election map. (Trustees approved a move to district-based representation in February.) Its going to give them a voice; they deserve that voice and American Canyon deserves that voice, said Rafferty, who predicted a single district for American Canyon voters would virtually guarantee a board seat to a resident while concentrating as high a percentage of Filipino-Americans as possible. But when Rafferty denied that NVUSD was acting under pressure, Gracia pushed back. He says were not in litigation? Well, the only reason were not in litigation is becaue he cant sue yet, because were still in the 90-day protected period, the trustee said in reply. While the push for district-based elections may have been organized on one groups behalf, trustee Jose Hurtado castigated Rafferty and his allies for not heeding another Latino residents who said the change was too rushed and left no time for Spanish-language forums to explain the process fully, especially with public gatherings shut down by the coronavirus epidemic. With the voting rules changing for this years school board election, my hope is that there is an effort to inform the communities of interest about the political process, said Jose Hurtado, one of the boards three Latino trustees. I dont think weve done that very well, I dont think the Progressive Alliance has done that at all, and Im not sure that given the fact this election is in November, theres adequate time to organize those communities to actually exercise what the alliance believes is their new franchise. Please pay attention to comments from the people you purport to speak for, because its a little unnerving to have the people youre supporting actually speak out against your proposition, he told Rafferty. While casting his vote in support of the new election map, Schunk warned that no system will truly give south-county voters a stronger voice unless more people are willing to run for office and volunteer their time for a demanding job that has often gone unfilled by outsiders. We are making it easier and less expensive to run; we should encourage people of modest means to step up and run, he said. But none of these maps make any difference whatsoever unless we have some contested races. Im sure there are plenty of people here tonight that will assert that a change in the method of election will accomplish that. At the same time, we are running into the second economic buzz saw in the last 10 years, so I dont know how readily I believe that people will step up. If American Canyon wants two people from their town to represent them, then they will have to step up, and people will have to run. A goal of the mapping project under state voting law is to create seven voting areas with one-seventh of the districts population, or 16,506 residents each, Alon, the demographer, said in March. Each voting zone is allowed to have up to 5 percent more or fewer residents than its target population, a maximum adjustment of 825 people. Voting zones are required to cover a community of interest, which may be be based on a school, an areas shared culture or heritage, or other common social and economic interests that should be included within a single Trustee Area for purposes of fair and effective representation. The vote for the new election system came near the end of a meeting conducted by videoconference from trustees homes, as in-person meetings and other group gatherings remain suspended by Californias stay-at-home order during the COVID-19 outbreak. You can reach Howard Yune at 707-256-2214 or hyune@napanews.com Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. A Chinese man reunited with his family Monday after being abducted as a toddler in northwest China's Shaanxi Province 32 years ago, police said. At 3:30 p.m., Mao Yin and his parents embraced at the Xi'an municipal public security bureau in the provincial capital. "I would like to thank the tens of thousands of people who helped us," said Li Jingzhi, Mao's mother. Born in February 1986, Mao was abducted when he was two and a half years old at the entrance of a hotel in Xi'an. In the following years, police investigated and searched more than 10 provinces and municipalities for the child. To find her son, Li quit her job and sent out more than 100,000 flyers. She also joined the volunteers in collecting information about missing children and providing it to the police. With her help, 29 abducted children have reunited with their families. In late April, Xi'an police received tips saying a man from Sichuan Province in southwest China adopted a child from Xi'an years ago at the price of 6,000 yuan. After a series of investigations and comparisons, police found a man surnamed Gu from the Sichuan city of Mianyang resembled the missing Mao, which he was later proven to be by a DNA test. "I can't believe that after helping 29 missing children find their families, I am able to find my own son," said Li, adding that she will continue to make efforts to fight against the crimes of abduction. Mao said he would accompany his parents in Xi'an for some days before returning to Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, to deal with some of his own issues. "To be honest, I'm not quite sure about the future yet," he said. According to the Ministry of Public Security, more than 6,300 children who were abducted have been reunited with their families via DNA tests since 2019. The ministry launched the online platform Tuanyuan, meaning reunion in Chinese, in May 2016, which has helped find 4,385 missing children in the country. Police is still investigating the details of Mao Yin's case. The cuisine of Isan, the northeastern region of Thailand, covers a wide range of specialties, but the most widely celebrated of them all is the so-called trinity of Isan: grilled chicken (kai yang); a spicy salad (som tam), most commonly featuring green papaya; and cooked sticky rice (khao niao)the triune ensemble that has won hearts and minds the world over. In this version, the salad is made with carrots, once considered a novel cold-climate vegetable grown only in certain areas in Thailand but now a part of modern Thai cooking (papaya was foreign to Southeast Asia before it was introduced by European traders). I first tasted the salad 20 years ago at a carrot farm in the province of Phetchabun and since then have come to prefer it over the green papaya version. The carrots must be grated into long, slender, crisp strands with sharp edgesunbruised and free of carrot juice flowing every which way. This is impossible to achieve with a box grater. The ideal tool is a julienne hand grater, which is easy to find, simple to use, and affordable (I like the Kiwi brand). Be sure to purchase the correct kind of rice, which can be variously labeled glutinous rice, sweet rice, or sticky rice in English. This is the type thats widely consumed in Laos and Thailand, where its cooked not in boiling water but in a basket set above boiling water. At Asian markets, look for an opaque white medium-grain rice imported from Thailand with the word somewhere on the package. Making this set meal can seem overwhelming, but its not difficult if you follow the suggested start times for each dish. Do the prep work for the salad in advance and refrigerate the fresh ingredients, so you can assemble the salad while the grilled chicken is resting. Serves 4 to 6 For the chicken: 1 whole chicken, 3 1/4 to 3 3/4 pounds 3 lemongrass stalks 6 garlic cloves 2 cilantro roots, chopped, or 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro stems stripped of leaves 2 teaspoons white or black peppercorns 1 ounce shallots, cubed 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons oyster sauce 3 tablespoons packed grated palm sugar or granulated coconut sugar, or 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar 1/2 cup coconut oil For the sweet chile sauce: 3 large garlic cloves 5 fresh red birds eye chiles 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar 1/4 cup water 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 tablespoon cornstarch or potato starch mixed with 2 tablespoons water For the sticky rice: 2 cups Thai glutinous rice For the carrot salad: 2 large garlic cloves 3 or 4 fresh birds eye chiles 1 tablespoon packed grated palm sugar or granulated coconut sugar, or 2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar, plus more as needed 2 tablespoons dried shrimp 1/2 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts 1/4 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 12-inch sticks 1 pound carrots (preferably the large, loose type), peeled and grated with a julienne hand grater into 3-to 4-inch-long strands 4 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon fish sauce 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, for garnish To make the chicken: Spatchcock the chicken and put it into a large bowl. Trim off the tough outer leaves and the root end from each lemongrass stalk. Beginning from the root end, use a very sharp knife to cut each bulb into thin slices, stopping when the purple rings disappear. Measure out 1/3 cup, discarding the rest, and put it into a blender along with the garlic, cilantro roots, peppercorns, shallots, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and palm sugar. Process to a smooth paste. Scrape every bit of the marinade into the chicken bowl. Rub the marinade on the chicken, making sure to spread it over every bit of the skin and meat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to overnight, occasionally turning the bird over and spooning the marinade that settles at the bottom of the bowl over it. Meanwhile, prepare the sweet chile sauce: In a small food processor, blend the garlic, chiles, vinegar, and water until the garlic and chile bits are the size of a match head. Scrape the mixture into a 1-quart saucepan. Add the granulated sugar and salt and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar and salt dissolve. Turn down the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the sauce and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens slightly and becomes glossy, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely. Store in a tightly capped glass jar in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or up to overnight. To cook the sticky rice, youll need to begin soaking it 8 to 12 hours before you plan to cook it. First, select a large fine-mesh stainless-steel sieve and a deep saucepan or stockpot with a circumference roughly the same as that of the sieve. Set the pan aside. Put the rice into the sieve and submerge the ricesieve and allin a large bowl of cold water to cover by 3 inches. Let stand at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours. About 30 minutes before you begin to cook the chicken, start cooking the sticky rice. Lift the sieve from the bowl of water and, with the rice still in the sieve, rinse the rice under cold running water until the water runs clear; shake off the excess moisture. Rest the sieve in the rim of the reserved pan to see how low it sits, then remove the sieve and fill the pan with water to within about 3 inches of the bottom of where the sieve will reach. At no point should the rice touch the water. Place the sieve on the pan and cover the rice with a pot lid that can rest on the sieve without touching the rice. Set the pan over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Steam the rice, flipping it once after 10 minutes or so with a rubber spatula, until the grains are soft, translucent, glossy, and sticky yet remain distinct. This should take about 25 minutes. Transfer the rice to a lidded container to keep it warm while you cook the chicken. Prepare a medium fire (350 degrees to 375 degrees F) in a charcoal grill using the two-zone method. When the coals are covered with white ash and the grate is hot, place the chicken, bone side down, toward the hold side. Cover and cook with the vents half-opened, flipping the chicken and moving it back and forth between the hold side and the hot side every 10 minutes and adjusting the vents as needed to keep the chicken from burning before it has cooked through. The bird is ready when it is golden brown on both sides and the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh away from bone registers 155 degrees to 160 degrees F, about 45 minutes. Transfer it to a cutting board to rest, uncovered, for 30 minutes (during this time the temperature will continue to rise to about 165 degrees F). Meanwhile, make the salad: Put the garlic, chiles, and palm sugar into a large mortar and pound with a pestle until a paste forms. Add the dried shrimp and pound until they disintegrate. Add the peanuts, pounding until they are broken up into tiny pieces. Add the green beans and pound until they split, then stir to mix. Add the carrots and tomatoes, pounding just until the carrots are slightly softened and the tomatoes are bruised and release some juices; stir to mix. Add the lime juice and fish sauce and stir the contents of the mortar with a large spoon. Taste and add more lime juice, fish sauce, or sugar if needed. Aim for sour first, then salty, and then sweet. Transfer to a rimmed plate and top with the peanuts. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve it immediately with the carrot salad, sticky rice, and sweet chile sauce. Recipe reprinted with permission from Flavors of the Southeast Asian Grill: Classic Recipes for Seafood and Meats Cooked Over Charcoal by Leela Punyaratabandhu. Copyright 2020 SheSimmers.com. Photographs copyright 2020 by David Loftus. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. While the coronavirus crisis has caused unthinkable disruptions and challenges nationwide, this is not the first time in history that Congress has navigated extraordinary circumstances and still preserved the longstanding traditions imagined by our Founding Fathers. Throughout numerous emergencies and disasters in our nations history, the American people have always been able to count on their elected representatives to be their voice. Indeed, even amid such crises as the Civil War and the 1918 influenza pandemic, members of Congress have still shown up and been physically present for their essential work in Washington. To be clear, slowing and ultimately stopping a pandemic requires cooperation from us all in following precautions and guidance set forth by our health and government officials at any given point in time. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has kept large portions of the U.S. population at home to slow the spread of the disease, there are many Americans whose jobs have become critically important to us all. We are truly indebted to those who have gotten up each day, left their houses and gone out to fulfill several key roles. #HEROESAct, bill with $20 billion #CoronavirusReliefFund for tribal governments, and rule changes for #COVID19 remote proceedings up for debate in U.S. House. Rep. Tom Cole (Chickasaw) @TomColeOK04 is leading opposition to bills without mask. #Coronavirus https://t.co/LUsNZ8F9u4 pic.twitter.com/jzjSa5pvDN indianz.com (@indianz) May 15, 2020 Tremendous courage has indeed been on full display by those fighting on the front lines of this crisis. We see it in our doctors, nurses and health care workers, who are risking their own lives every day to treat COVID-19 patients. We see it in those transporting essential supplies and making critical deliveries. We see it in our farmers and ranchers monitoring our food supply, along with workers in food processing facilities, meat packing plants and grocery stores, who are ensuring we have food to eat. We see it also in our military service members, who are still in the field protecting us at home and abroad. If these Americans can take on the risk and serve selflessly throughout this crisis and if the White House can continue to go to work every day, so too should Congress. Although there are appropriate adjustments and precautions that should be taken to continue operations safely, both chambers of Congress are still capable of doing their essential work in person, as our forefathers certainly intended. In fact, the U.S. Senate has now returned three weeks in a row for legislative session. Even though the U.S. House of Representatives has held floor votes at a safe social distance and even successfully adapted in-person hearings on many occasions, House Democrats recently decided to erase more than 230 years of constitutional precedent by pushing through a partisan plan to allow proxy voting and remote committee proceedings. While there are real concerns about continuing in-person operations amid a pandemic, that shouldn't lead to fundamentally changing how the House conducts business, dangerously setting a precedent we cant undo later & risking constitutional challenges.https://t.co/vSgxnOCMCS Rep. Tom Cole (@TomColeOK04) May 16, 2020 While I understand that there are real concerns about continuing in-person operations amid a pandemic, I dont think those concerns should fundamentally change how the House conducts official business, excusing members from their usual duties. Moreover, any effort to change centuries-old rules of the House should be clearly bipartisan no matter how difficult that may be to achieve. I regret that was not the case with the Democrats partisan scheme pushed through last week with no Republican votes whatsoever. After forming a bipartisan working group tasked with considering and arriving at changes to operations that would be acceptable on both sides of the aisle, it is particularly disappointing that Democrats abandoned those negotiations and charged on full speed ahead. As Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee, I was directly involved in those bipartisan discussions on behalf of Republicans, alongside Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and House Administration Committee Ranking Member Rodney Davis; in fact, while discussions were still ongoing, we proposed four strategies for reopening the Peoples House that would not only enable lawmakers to safely and fully perform their key functions for the American people but also protect longstanding traditions and precedents of the institution. Unfortunately, House Democrats opted to make history, but not for better and not in the best interest of the American people. Though they claim their plan to allow proxy voting and remote committee work is only temporary, its a risky move that isnt constitutionally sound. Not to mention, even temporary solutions become the precedents we follow and cant undo tomorrow. In the days ahead, I fear there will be severe consequences of allowing one single member to cast votes for up to 10 absent colleagues and shifting committee business to take place remotely including challenges of validity in the courts sooner or later. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the very definition of congress is the act or action of coming together and meeting. While I appreciate that technology can keep us connected in many ways unimaginable to our forebearers, I dont think that gives members free reign now to substitute precious traditions for selfish convenience or to abdicate the personal responsibility of casting an in-person vote to another. That is a grave disservice to constituents from every congressional district, who elected and entrusted their representatives to be their voice. Tom Cole, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation, is serving his eighth term in Congress as the elected representative of Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District. He is recognized as an advocate for taxpayers and small business, a proponent for a strong national defense and a leader in promoting biomedical research. He is considered the foremost expert in the House on issues dealing with Native Americans and tribal governments. He and his wife, Ellen, have one son, Mason, and reside in Moore, Oklahoma. Join the Conversation WHO member states pass resolution calling for an investigation into the global response to the coronavirus pandemic. The World Health Organizations head has said he would keep leading the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut off funding and quit the body. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday defended the agencys role after the United States again withheld full support for a resolution passed by member states on the pandemic. We want accountability more than anyone, Tedros told a virtual meeting of the WHOs 194 member states. We will continue providing strategic leadership to coordinate the global response. Washington allowed the resolution calling for a review of the global response to the pandemic to pass by consensus, but said it objected to language about reproductive health rights and permission for poor countries to waive patent rules. WHO officials running the meeting clapped and cheered after the resolution was passed without a vote hours after Trump tweeted his threat to pull the US out of the body. It calls for a review of the WHO-led global response, something the US has demanded. But the US mission in Geneva said in a statement that paragraphs on the right of poor countries to waive patents to obtain medicine during a health emergency would send the wrong message to innovators trying to produce new drugs and vaccines. The reproductive healthcare language could be interpreted as requiring countries to permit abortion. The United States believes in legal protections for the unborn, it said. China-US spat China and the US also sparred in the closing moments of the assembly over the issue of Taiwan. Taiwan lobbied hard to be included as an observer at the two-day meeting and received support from the US, Japan and others, but says it was not invited due to opposition from China. Even as Trump has proposed quitting the WHO, the body has received backing and a two-year pledge of $2bn in funds from Chinas President Xi Jinping. Beijing has furiously denied the US allegations that it played down the virus threat, and accused Washington on Tuesday of trying to smear China. The US tries to use China as an issue to shirk responsibility and bargain over its international obligations to the WHO, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. Russia also denounced Trumps threat. We are against breaking everything there is for the sake of one states political or geopolitical preferences, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by news agency Interfax. Many other leaders expressed support for Tedros. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for international cooperation in response to the pandemic. At times like these, the greatest act of courage is to play as a team, she continued, without an overt reference to the US. During his three years in office, Trump has criticised many international organisations and quit some. Still, European diplomats said they were taken aback by Washingtons decision to stand aside at the WHO while China is boosting its role. It was so striking to see Xi Jinping seizing the opportunity to open up, with broad [cooperation], and make a proposal for $2bn, and say if ever there is a vaccine they will share it with everyone, a European diplomat told AFP news agency. Its exactly what we feared: the space liberated by Washington will be taken up by China. The WHO declined to comment on Trumps threat to quit, saying only that it had received his letter and was considering its contents. Agreement on probe Tuesdays resolution calls for a review into how the novel coronavirus spread after making the jump from animals to humans, believed to have happened in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year. Some countries, including hard-hit Spain and Italy, suggested the body could emerge stronger from the pandemic through reform. This should be a time for renewing our organisation and we renew our strong commitment to the organisation, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said. More than 297,000 people have died of COVID-19 out of over 4.6 million infections worldwide since its emergence, and governments are scrambling to contain the virus while seeking ways to revive their economies. Pedestrians pass in front of Zara fashion store, operated by Inditex SA, store in the Upper East Side neighborhood of New York, on Friday, March 20, 2020. There are still so many unknowns regarding the coronavirus pandemic and how it will continue to throttle the retail industry. But U.S. retail sales could be down at least 6.5% in 2020, according to new estimates from market research company Euromonitor. For comparison, retail sales were down just 2.2% in 2009, the year the Great Recession finally came to a halt, according to the firm. And sales were up 3.3% year over year in 2019, it said. However, Euromonitor said the factors that could alter its 2020 forecast include the duration of the Covid-19 crisis, the government's response to the pandemic, the rate at which consumers are comfortable returning to malls and stores, and how retailers are able to react to the dramatic shifts in consumer demand. "Obviously it gets worse if there is another outbreak," Michelle Evans, the senior head of digital consumer at Euromonitor International, said in an interview. The National Retail Federation, the retail industry's trade group, in late February issued its annual forecast, calling for retail sales in the U.S. to rise between 3.5% and 4.1%, topping $3.9 trillion in 2020. But that was assuming, at the time, the coronavirus did not become a global pandemic. A lot has changed since Feb. 26. Outlooks now are much bleaker. The companies expected to fare best this year include: Grocery retailers, e-commerce players such as Amazon, third-party delivery platforms and big food brands, according to Euromonitor's analysis. The ones that are set to struggle the most include: Apparel retailers, department store operators, luxury chains and direct-to-consumer brands. Some in these categories, such as Neiman Marcus, J.Crew, Stage Stores and J.C. Penney, have already filed for bankruptcy protection during the crisis. According to Evans, the apparel and footwear category could contract as much as 36% this year, following growth of 3.7% in 2019, per Euromonitor. "Unlike so many industries where the [coronavirus] shock might be felt universally, some retailers are seeing unprecedented demand, while others are looking for lifelines," Evans said. Consumer spending has just tumbled a record 16.4% in April, month over month, according to a government report. And clothing stores took the biggest hit, with sales down 78.8%. From heathcare workers to police personnel and government officials to journalists, the heroic efforts of COVID-19 warriors in India has been captured in a new documentary that was innovatively filmed during the ongoing lockdown. The film'Lockdown: India Fights Coronavirus', produced by National Geographic, is slated to premiere on May 22 at 9.00 pm on the network, officials said on Tuesday. "This is a special film that brings alive the unique and inspiring stories and tireless efforts of some incredible Indians that we all will owe our future to. It features doctors and other medical personnel, police personnel, government leaders, journalists and other heroes born out of the crisis,"Anuradha Aggarwal, Head - Infotainment, English and Kids, Star India, told PTI. The unique 'made-at-home' documentary was shot keeping all the safety protocols and government guidelines in mind. "It has been virtually directed and produced without a single member of the crew stepping out of their houses. It covers citieslike Delhi, Mumbai, Sangli, Bengaluru, Chennai and some parts of Kerala," she said. The project also features officials from health departments, state commissioners, officials from COVID-19 war rooms and other medical personnel who are at the frontline of this war against this pandemic that has wrecked havoc globally. The number of coronavirus cases crossed the one lakh-mark in India on Tuesday, while the death toll due to the infection touched 3,163, according to the union health ministry. "From their rigorous regimens, to dedicated service to humanity and a combatant spirit, the documentary is an attempt to acknowledge and showcase the heroic endeavours of the COVID warriors,"Aggarwal said. The project entailed remotely conducted interviews via video-conference and footage shot by the protagonists themselves, the network's official said, when asked about the challenges faced by the team. These team stitched together self-shot sequences and archival footage from the protagonists themselves to showcase an unseen and moving narrative of their daily battles, she added. Asked when was the project conceptualised, Aggarwal said, while the team had been closely monitoring the situation around the novel coronavirus since early this year, "we started conceptualising the project when the disease was rapidly transmitting to other parts of the world with only a handful cases identified in India". The project and its concept evolved with time, especially after the lockdown was announced in India and the pandemic started spreading, she said. "In line with the government of India's guidelines on the lockdown, we decided to make National Geographic India's first-ever 'made-at-home' documentary," Aggrawal said. Asked if the film also talks about lockdown in other countries, she said, while the documentary does address the issues and life during the lockdown generally and captures all the struggles, emotions and battle against COVID-19, it predominantly focuses on operations carried out by frontline warriors in India. On the challenges faced by the crew, she said, "We have made this film without any of our team members stepping out of their homes for a shoot, strictly adhering to social distancing norms and the lockdown guidelines issued by the government of India and the relevant state governments from time-to-time." Other challenges included transforming various formats of videos such as horizontal, vertical to make it suitable for television viewing, low internet bandwidth, remote coordination and adherence and yet maintain the high standards of quality that National Geographic is known for, the official said. "We also had to adapt our storyline and narrative to suit the dynamic situation. "While we are safely locked in, they are out there, India's brave men and women, leading from the front in this battle for humanity's future. This film is our homage to their valiance," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Spains government is proposing new legislation to have the country commit to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest, which, if approved, will ban all new oil, gas, and coal projects with immediate effect. The bill, presented by the government that still requires Parliament approval, will also aim to make Spains electricity generation coming only from renewable sources by 2050, BusinessGreen reports. All vehicles on Spanish roads will also have to be zero-emission by 2040, according to the draft law. The Spanish cabinet hopes that the new legislation, if passed, could mark the course to recovery for the country and its economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, in which Spain is one of the worst affected countries in the world. The new legislation would put Spain on course to fulfill its pledges under the Paris Agreement and play a crucial part in the EU Green Deal. If the bill becomes law, Spain will join another major European economy, the UK, in enshrining a net-zero pledge into law. In June last year, the UK became the first major economy in the world to enshrine into law its target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. Under the law, the UK will be required to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, compared to a previous target of at least an 80-percent emissions reduction from 1990 levels. Earlier this year, the European Commission proposed enshrining the European Green Deals commitment for carbon neutrality by 2050 into legislation as part of the European Unions heightened focus on climate action and policy. Under a European Climate Law, the 2050 carbon neutrality target would become legally binding and all EU institutions and member states will be collectively bound to take the necessary measures at the EU and national level to meet that target. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Photo: (Photo : Instagram/arent_you_that_guy) On Monday, Brian Austin Green confirmed on the latest episode of his podcast that he and Megan Fox have broken up. However, even before their divorce, Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green were showing some signs that could mean that they have already broken up. Fox and Green publicly comment on their breakup On May 17, Brian Austin Green shared a photo of a butterfly sitting on a flower and added a caption that says time will come when butterflies get bored sitting on a flower for too long. He also wrote that they would start feeling smothered, and since it is a big world, they would want to experience its vastness. Megan Fox was also seen driving around Calabasas, California, with Machine Gun Kelly as they were picking up food on Friday, May 15. Deadline reports that the 34-year-old actress and the rapper were both casts of "Midnight In The Switchgrass;" however, the film production was stopped due to the global health crisis. Fox and Green not wearing their ring Both stars were photographed without their rings in recent weeks. On Saturday, the "Beverly Hills, 90210" actor was seen without his wedding ring in the coffee shop where the "Transformers" actress and the 30-year-old rapper have been one day before. A month ago, the DailyMail said that a month ago, Fox and Green were transferring their children from one parent's car to another at a parking lot in Calabasas. The couple shares three sons, Noah Shannon, 7, Bodhi Ransom, 6, and Journey River, 3. Green also has another 17-year-old son, Kassius, from his ex Vanessa Marcil. Fox and Green ups and downs Over the years, the couple has had ups and downs in their relationship. They met in 2004 in the set of "Hope & Faith" where Fox was only 18 and Green was 30, and they dated for about two years. In November 2006, they got engaged. They broke up in February 2009 but got engaged again and finally got married in 2010. In 2015, Megan Fox filed for divorce for their irreconcilable differences. READ ALSO: 9 Helpful Tips to a Long Lasting Marriage Sources told People in April 2016 that the couple had a hard time balancing their family and work. The source said that Fox worked a lot in 2015 and continues with it. When she is away, her husband will take care of their kids. The couple had disagreements about this situation before they decided to file for a divorce. Fox and Green announced they were expecting their third baby a few months after they got separated, so they reconciled the following year. During that time, Green was hopeful that Fox would change her mind regarding separation and was very happy that she did. Both of them worked hard to make their marriage work. Regulators and lawmakers in more states are demanding that workers who claim they were sickened by COVID-19 get a fair hearing, if not an outright presumption in their favor. The Wyoming House of Representatives and Senate both passed a bill on Friday that creates a presumption that any workers covered by the states monopoly workers comp system had an increased risk of contracting COVID-19. Claimants will still be required to prove the disease was contracted from work. Also last week, the Arizona Industrial Commission issued a substantive policy statement that workers compensation insurers cannot categorically deny COVID-19 claims. All claims must be reviewed and investigated in good faith, the statement says. Claim denials related to COVID-19, like any claim denial, must be well-grounded in fact and warranted by existing law (or based upon a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law). The commission said the statement is advisory only. It cites to several commission decisions that establish insurers may not unreasonably issue a notice of claim status without adequate supporting information. Several states have gone much further. California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order creating a presumption that COVID-19 contracted by any employee who had to work from home was the result of on-the-job exposure. Employers are required to decided whether to accept or deny those claims within 30 days, but workers must submit medical confirmation that they were infected by the novel coronavirus within 14 days. Administrative orders or legislation requiring coverage for first responders, health care workers or other essential workers have been issued by at least 11 other states so far. (That doesnt include an emergency order by the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission that was rescinded after a court challenge.) The Wyoming House File 1002 which now moves to Gov. Mark Gordons desk falls far short of creating a presumption that would ensure infected workers get benefits, said Michael C. Duff, a University of Wyoming law professor who wrote a treatise on the states workers compensation law. Duff said in an email that the change in statute does not ease the claimants burden to prove medical causation. A presumption that the disease arises out of and in the course of employment is a complete presumption of causation, not a partial one, he said. And I thinkknowing the culture as I dothat the hearing officers are very likely to deny the claims. The bill also requires the state Workers Compensation Division to issue employers an 8.33% premium refund at a cost of $16.5 million. It includes no estimate for an increase in claims cost. So far, actuarial estimates about the potential cost of COVID-19 claims have been all over the map. Two of the nations largest rating agencies arent even guessing how much COVID-19 might cost in permanent disability benefits, despite evidence that the virus causes long-lasting ill health effects. The National Council on Compensation Insurance did not factor any PD awards into its projection of potential workers compensation costs, which ranged from $2.2 billion best case to $81 billion worst case. NCCI released the projections along with a tool that one can use to change assumptions about the share of workers get infected, but none of those assumptions include any PD costs. The New York Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau estimated that a creating a statutory presumption that COVID-19 is an occupational disease would cost $31 billion more than three times the current total system costs of $8.7 billion. That estimate included $13.6 billion in death claims and $7.4 billion in temporary disability benefits, but no permanent disability. The long-term health impact of the COVID-19 virus is presently unknown, the NYCIRB report says. NCCI declined to projected any PD costs for the same reason. A report by Bloomberg News last week suggests that there is reason to suspect COVID-19 will cause at least some permanent disability. Bloomberg reported that 14 recovered patients in Wuhan, China had not fully recovered normal functioning regardless of the severity of their symptoms. Another study of CT scans taken of 90 Wuhan coronavirus patients found that of the 70 discharged from the hospital, 66 had mild to substantial residual lung abnormalities. Actuaries for the California Workers Compensation Insurance Rating bureau, unlike their colleagues at NCCI and NYCIRB, did venture an estimate on permanent disability claims. WCIRBs mid-range projection says 20,300 out of a total of 472,900 COVID-19 claims will result in permanent disability. The WCIRB assumed that 20 percent of the critical COVID-19 claims will have some form of PD, resulting in an average rating of 20% with an average cost of $22,000 in indemnity costs. The total costs are projected at $100 million for permanent disability payouts and $100 million for temporary estimate. On the scale of Californias system, PD appears to be a small impact. The big money goes to hospitalization costs. The bureau projected 70,900 cases will result in hospitalization but not admission to an intensive care unit, costing $53,400 per claim. Another 20,300 cases will require intensive care, at a cost of $137,800 for each claim. However, 3,300 cases would result in death, costing $1.5 billion. WCIRB projects total costs of $11.2 billion under its mid-range estimate. Alex Swedlow, president of the California Workers Compensation Institute, said the WCIRB estimate looks reasonable to him. Swedlow said 80 percent of COVID-19 cases do not require hospitalization. Of the 20 percent who do need to be hospitalized, about a third will require admission to an intensive care unit. He said actuaries have no real data on which to base any solid estimates on the percentage of cases that will result in permanent disability. The industry is trying to gets hands around basic issues of compenaiblity, Swedlow said. The data will tell us the degree that PD will become a real issue in this. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed US-Turkish COVID-19 cooperation during a phone call with Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said that the Pompeo and Cavusolgu discussed cooperation to address the COVID-19 pandemic, including the repatriation of both Turkish and US citizens to their home countries, supply chain cooperation and the NATO alliance efforts to respond to the pandemic. She also noted that Pompeo thanked Turkey for its generous donation of personal protective equipment. Why it matters: With Turkey mired in its own coronavirus fight, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan nonetheless sent a shipment of personal protective equipment to the United States last month complete with a letter to President Donald Trump bemoaning Ankaras plummeting reputation on Capitol Hill. The United States has recorded some 1.5 million COVID-19 infections, including nearly 100,000 deaths. Turkey has recorded some 150,000 coronavirus cases and roughly 4,000 deaths. Whats next: Turkeys official line is that the coronavirus has prompted it to delay fully activating the Russian S-400 missile system, initially scheduled for last month. The S-400 is a source of significant tension between the NATO allies, and the Trump administration maintains that it will implement legally mandated sanctions on Ankara per a 2017 Russia sanctions law should it activate the system. Know more: Amberin Zaman takes a look at how Turkeys supply shipment scored it a sorely needed public relations win in the United states. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 13:48:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close by Xinhua writers Lyu Qiuping, Wang Yang, and Xue Qinfeng JINAN, May 19 (Xinhua) -- For farmers of Houweixue, an impoverished village in eastern China's Shandong Province, the two billboards along the expressway at the village entrance are not only a place for advertising but also a cash cow. The annual advertisement fee of 170,000 yuan (24,000 U.S. dollars) paid by a cement plant was the first collective income introduced by Du Jixin, a former transport manager who was sent to the village for poverty alleviation. Since 2015, China has appointed young and excellent Party members or former cadres from government departments, organizations and enterprises to help with poverty alleviation of villages -- part of the country's efforts to eliminate absolute poverty by 2020. They are called "the first Party secretaries." The non-local talents have brought ideas, technology, investment and industries, leading impoverished villagers to prosperity. In Houweixue Village, where mountains and hills account for one-third of the land, most men used to work in cities and women toiled in the field, bringing home meager yields. When the expressway linking the provincial capital of Jinan and southern China's Guangzhou was built and became operational in 2016, villagers had nothing except a land acquisition compensation of 2 million yuan. "We tried to build a billboard next to the road, but construction was suspended because we did not have permission," said Zheng Changhua, Party chief of the village. Du's arrival last April was a turning point. Supported by his employer, Shandong Railway Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd., Du led the village cadres to negotiate with the expressway management authorities. Meanwhile, he helped contact multiple companies to rent the billboards. The village Party committee, in cooperation with the village-owned collective enterprise, has also developed a tea brand based on the chrysanthemum plantation and processing, selling chrysanthemum tea to major supermarkets in the province and other parts of China via e-commerce platforms. Over the past year, all impoverished households have been lifted out of poverty, and the collective income of the village has tripled to 500,000 yuan. "The narrow minds of local households used to hinder their development. With different ideas, they will have a broader way," Du said, adding that higher collective income would become a key to poverty alleviation and rural vitalization. The village is now facilitating a series of public projects, such as a running water pipeline system, a cultural square and landscaping, according to Du. By the end of last year, a total of 459,000 Party members had been selected across China as the first Party secretaries, including 230,000 who were still in place, contributing a lot to the country's poverty alleviation work. In Qian'an County, northeast China's Jilin Province, first Party secretary Lin Xiangzhi brought farming technology to Bingzi, an impoverished village with saline-alkali land. Lin, an agronomist from a local agricultural technology promotion center, encouraged farmers to shred the crop straws into the field and adopt conservation tillage, planting and growing crops with minimal disturbance of the surface soil. The technology has been used on the 629-hectare farmland of the village, increasing the yield by nearly 2 million yuan. Trees are also planted on the desertified land, improving the soil quality. Sun Deshan, a former poor farmer, saw his produce value quadruple to 4,000 yuan out of the farmland. Including the income of raising poultry, he and his wife made 10,000 yuan last year. "Along with our soil, we are no longer considered poor," said Sun. Enditem President Trump holds up a document during an event to sign the tax cut legislation in December 2017. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images) President Trump's pre-pandemic economic blueprint of massive tax cuts and global trade wars not only failed to deliver the promised spike in growth and domestic investment, it now appears to have left the U.S. more vulnerable to the devastating financial impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Even before the pandemic pushed the U.S. into what is almost certainly a recession, benefits from Trump's policies on taxes and trade were largely offset by the costs of soaring national debt and damage to U.S. foreign relations challenges now magnified by the health crisis. The lasting legacy is a bigger deficit and higher debt [as a share of the economy], which means what were doing in response to the pandemic is piling on something that was already a pretty big mess, said Joel Prakken, chief U.S. economist at IHS Markit. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Trump and the GOP's 2017 tax overhaul is estimated to cost the federal government at least $1 trillion in lost revenue over 10 years, according to various government and private estimates. Individual tax rates were lowered through 2025, but by far the costliest feature of the law was a permanent cut in the U.S. corporate income tax rate to 21% from 35%. The lower corporate tax rate, plus the elimination of taxes on most foreign business income, would make the U.S. more competitive globally, it was argued. With the tax savings, companies would ramp up domestic investments. U.S. multinational firms would repatriate cash stashed overseas and invest domestically, and it would discourage a flight of capital to offshore destinations, ultimately benefiting workers in America. But economists widely agree that the tax cuts, while providing a small stimulus to growth particularly in 2018, failed on its core objectives. Instead of ramping up capital spending and investments or turning away from offshoring, many U.S. companies focused on hiking dividends and buying back their own stock, which chiefly benefited high-income investors. Buybacks hit record levels in 2018 and remained strong in 2019. Story continues Far from leaping ahead, the U.S. economy continued its long-running but modest recovery from the Great Recession of 2008-09. Economic growth picked up in 2018 to 2.9%, but fell back to 2.3% in 2019, about the average growth over the last decade and far below the 4% promised by Trump and some of his officials. As for incomes, some workers saw gains but for most, it was a continuation of long-term stagnation of personal incomes and financial security. What was really holding back investment wasnt cash constraints of companies that were paying too much taxes, but was rather this overall weakness in demand, said Kimberly Clausing, an economics and tax policy expert at Reed College. As for dampening offshore investments, research has shown evidence the opposite happened. The tax overhaul included several new provisions that actually made it more desirable for U.S. multinational firms to invest in tangible assets overseas because that would give them a bigger tax break. From the outset, many economists questioned the wisdom of enacting deficit-financed cuts at a time when the economy was growing at a steady pace. Almost always in the past, the federal government used massive tax cuts only during downturns, when they could give the economy a much-needed lift in consumer and business spending. At the time, it seemed just a little bit heinous that we should be running a near-trillion-dollar deficit while we were more or less at the top of the business cycle, said Nicholas Eberstadt, a political economist at the American Enterprise Institute. Not only did the tax cuts not deliver the benefits Trump and congressional Republicans promised, they left the country with a big budget hole that just got much bigger from the once-in-a-century economic shock of the pandemic. It was a huge mistake that were now seeing because we now have less fiscal room than we would have to fight this current crisis, said Marc Goldwein, senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He noted, for example, that it's no longer an option to offer certain tax incentives for businesses to invest and stimulate the economy, such as full expensing for new plant and equipment purchases, because it was already included in the 2017 law. Goldwein estimated that without the 2017 tax cuts, the country would have an extra $500 billion to fight the current health and economic crisis. While that may not seem like a lot compared with the $3 trillion already approved in pandemic relief by Congress, it will make a difference in the future, he said. As time goes on, the structural deficit may kind of create extra fatigue that makes it harder for us to support the economy, Goldwein said. And allowing us to spend an extra $500 billion for more support for the economy, that would be a big deal. On the trade front, some economists say the gains in business investment promised from the tax cuts did not materialize in part because of uncertainty created by Trumps nearly two-year-long trade war with China. After months of on-again, off-again negotiations and several rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs, the U.S. and China announced a trade deal in January in which Trump got some of what he sought, at least on paper. Beijing pledged to step up its purchases of U.S. goods and services by more than $200 billion over two years. But the so-called Phase 1 deal put off for a later day such critical issues as Chinas policies of subsidizing and supporting its state-owned enterprises. Many analysts said at the time that China was unlikely to follow through on the promised increases in purchases, including of U.S. soybeans and other farm crops that have been hit hard by the trade wars. Now the COVID-19 pandemic has made such massive purchases even less likely. The pandemic has severely disrupted global trade and supply systems. And the ill-will created during the last two years of trade friction with China as well as with many allies, including Germany and Canada left the U.S. in a worse-off position when the pandemic hit. Most immediately, the trade tensions complicated Washingtons ability to secure critical surgical masks, goggles, gloves and other protective gear, much of which originate in China. N95 masks were among products from China hit with 15% tariffs in September. Those tariffs were halved when the U.S.-China trade deal took effect Feb. 14, but it wasnt until March 17 that the remaining duties were removed, said Chad Bown, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. They got caught up in the trade war, Bown said. That obviously hurts your preparedness when something like this happens. Trump can claim credit for having renegotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement, and while his tariffs on many products from trading partners helped lift some domestic manufacturers like steel firms, the benefits sometimes didn't last and there was considerable collateral damage to other industries. "It's not like he accomplished nothing, but they were significantly offset by the cost," said William Reinsch, a veteran trade analyst and senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Whats more, economists worry that Trumps America First strategy will prove to be costly in terms of responding effectively to the intertwined challenges of health and the economy. The entire world is fighting the same thing right now, Bown said of COVID-19, and in a sense were never going to be safe until the pandemic everywhere is under control. So the idea that were going to somehow insulate ourselves from the world by only worrying about us right now is very short-sighted." A prolonged global recession due to COVID-19 pandemic, high unemployment, another outbreak of an infectious disease and increased protectionism are among the biggest near-term worries for companies around the world, a new study showed on Tuesday. The study conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) also flagged that the world is not ready for the knock-on effect of far-reaching environmental, societal and technological risks, but a "green recovery" and more resilient, cohesive, inclusive and equal societies can emerge if leaders act now. "Economic distress and social discontent will rise over the next 18 months unless world leaders, businesses and policy-makers work together to manage the fallout of the pandemic," according to the report. As economies restart, there is an opportunity to embed greater societal equality and sustainability into the recovery, which would unleash a new era of prosperity, said Geneva-based WEF, which describes itself as an international organisation for public-private cooperation. The study, titled 'COVID-19 Risks Outlook: A Preliminary Mapping and Its Implications', has been conducted in partnership with Marsh & McLennan and Zurich Insurance Group. It taps into views of nearly 350 senior risk professionals who were asked to look at the next 18 months and rank their biggest concerns in terms of likelihood and impact for the world and for business. 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 immediate economic fallout from COVID-19 dominates companies' risks perceptions and these range from a prolonged recession to the weakening fiscal position of major economies, tighter restrictions on the cross-border movement of goods and people, and the collapse of a major emerging market. The report also calls on leaders to act now against an avalanche of future systemic shocks such as the climate crisis, geopolitical turbulence, rising inequality, strains on people's mental health, gaps in technology governance and health systems under continued pressure. "These longer-term risks will have serious and far-reaching implications for societies, the environment and the governance of breakthrough technologies," the WEF said. As per the study, two-thirds of respondents identified a "prolonged global recession" as a top concern for business. Besides, one-half identified bankruptcies and industry consolidation, failure of industries to recover and a disruption of supply chains as crucial worries. With the accelerated digitisation of the economy in the midst of the pandemic, cyber attacks and data fraud are also major threats, according to one-half of the respondents, while breakdown of IT infrastructure and networks is also a top concern. Geopolitical disruptions and tighter restrictions on the movement of people and goods are also high on the worry list. A second report from WEF, 'Challenges and Opportunities in the Post-COVID-19 World', which was also published on Tuesday, draws on experiences and insights of thought leaders, scientists and researchers to outline emerging opportunities to build a more prosperous, equitable and sustainable world. WEF's Managing Director Saadia Zahidi said the COVID-19 crisis has devastated lives and livelihoods while triggering an economic crisis with far-reaching implications and revealing the inadequacies of the past. "As well as managing the immediate impact of the pandemic, leaders must work with each other and with all sectors of society to tackle emerging known risks and build resilience against the unknown. We now have a unique opportunity to use this crisis to do things differently and build back better economies that are more sustainable, resilient and inclusive," she said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) - Baguio Citys aggressive contact tracing has been an example to many local government units in the fight against COVID-19. Patients in the city are required to disclose their identities. But what convinces them to do such a bold move? Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a former Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief, said that the citys investigators are trained to build a rapport with the patients or contacts. Building rapport is the first thing that an investigator has to do, ito yung kailangan niya i-establish (this is what he needs to establish) to get these information, Magalong told CNN Philippines News.PH. As of May 19, Baguio has only recorded 32 COVID-19 cases since the enhanced community quarantine was implemented in Luzon. Of this number, only one is an active case while 29 have recovered from the virus and one died. Magalong said investigators undergo a cognitive interview skills training to better parse more information for contact tracing. Kailangan pagkausap pa lang ng investigator, panatag yung loob ng ini-interview. Gaya ng isang positive patient, grabe ang level of anxiety niya, nagiging paranoid siya, he said. [Translation: The investigator must be able to make the person feel comfortable with him. For instance, there is a positive patient and he could be experiencing high level of anxiety or he could be paranoid.] The mayor shared during the Department of Healths virtual presser that he sometimes talks personally to the patient and interview them. The national COVID-19 task force earlier told health facilities to obtain first the consent of patients before disclosing their names. The Data Privacy Act provides that a persons health condition is considered as sensitive personal information which can only be used with the consent of the person or patient. Once they got the trust of the patient or suspected case, Magalong said that investigators should be able to get an information on their recent activities. Unang-una, dapat malaman mo (First of all, you should know) what is the story behind every interaction...Importante yan para ma-analyze mo mabuti kung anong level of risk ang contact (Thats important so you can analyze carefully what level of risk does the contact have), kung high-risk or moderate-risk, he said. You need to rationalize kung sino yung susundan mong contact (You need to rationalize which contact you should trace). Getting a good information is critical as the local government input them in their database to get an overview on the pandemic situation in the city. Gumagamit po tayo ng technology, so yung information na maga-gather mo at ipapasok sa system na yun at kung hindi quality yung information, hindi rin quality yung analysis, said Magalong. [Translation: We use a technology, so if your gathered information, which will be entered into the system, is not of good quality, the analysis will not be also of good quality.] DOH said that there are currently 38,000 contact tracers. The government is targeting to hire 126,000 contact tracers for every 800 people. The country has so far recorded 12,942 cases. Five hospitals have enrolled so far for an observational study being conducted by ICMR to assess the efficacy of anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventive medication against COVID-19 among healthcare personnel. Five hospitals -- AIIMS Jodhpur,Maulana Azad MedicalCollege andSirGanga Ram HospitalinDelhi, Apollo Hospital in Chennai and AIIMS, Patna have been enrolled in the12-week long study launched in the first week of May,DrRajnikantSrivastava, head of Department of Research Management, Policy Planning and Communication at the Indian Council of Medical Research in Delhi said. Dr Suman Kanungo, Scientist at the ICMR who is coordinating the study, said healthcare workers including doctors, nurses, paramedics and sanitation workers who are taking care of COVID-19 patients and working in COVID areas in these five hospitals have been enrolled in this observational study. "The aim is to evaluate the incidence of coronavirus infection among healthcare workers who are taking hydroxychloroquine as prophylaxis," Dr Kanungo said, adding that the side-effects will also be estimated. "Any adverse event following intake of the drug will be noted and analysed in this structured study," the scientist said. "There is a plan to enrol around 1,500 healthcare workers in the study. All those participating in the study would undergoCOVID-19test before they are beingenrolled and every two weeks henceforth," Dr Kanungo said. "There will be no intervention from our side. Healthcare workers who are taking hydroxychloroquine will be followed for twelve weeks," the scientist said. According to an ICMR official, there is limited evidence on the efficacy ofhydroxychloroquineto deal with COVID-19 cases and therefore, there is not enough proof to advise it for general public use as of now. The ICMR has recommendedthe use of the drug as a preventive medication to healthcare workers andhouseholdcontacts looking after a positive case. Besides, theUnion Health Ministry has also recommendedthe use ofHydroxychloroquinein combination with Azithromycin on COVID-19 affected patients suffering with severe disease and requiring ICU management. Hydroxychloroquine is one among the four treatment protocolsthat is being evaluated during therandomised controlled clinical trialsunder the WHO's Solidarity trial to find an effective treatment for COVID-19 across selected hospitals. The other three treatment protocols areRemdesivir, combination of Lopinavir and RitonavirandLopinavir and Ritonavir with Interferon beta-1a. Hydroxychloroquineis an old and inexpensive drug used to treat malaria. India is the largest producer of the drug globally. Hydorxychloroquine recently failed in two separate randomised controlled trials conducted in China and France, the findings of which were published in the BMJ journal onMay 15. The number of coronavirus cases crossed the one lakh mark in the country on Tuesday, while the death toll due to the infection touched 3,163, according to the Union Health Ministry. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DENVER, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom announced new legislation under which offenders who commit alcohol-related crimes now may be banned from drinking and made to wear 'sobriety tags': https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sobriety-tags-come-into-force. SCRAM CAM The period of sobriety will be monitored by a SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM CAM) alcohol monitor. Referred in the UK as a "sobriety tag", SCRAM CAM bracelets rely on transdermal ("through the skin") science to test for the presence of alcohol found in perspiration after a drinking event. Colorado-based SCRAM Systems are the creators of the technology, which allow subjects to be monitored for the consumption of alcohol around the clock. Mike Iiams, CEO of SCRAM Systems said, "We are thrilled to be a part of this exciting partnership with the Ministry of Justice. Knowing that our technology will now be used to help make a positive difference in England and Wales as well is very rewarding for us as a company." Alcohol misuse can affect all areas of society and is found to be a contributing factor to various crimes including serious assaults, drunk driving, and criminal damage. According to Public Health England, alcohol-related crime costs the UK economy more than 21.5 billion a year, prompting the Ministry of Justice to take this innovative step to directly address the issue. The new requirement is called the Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement (AAMR) and can be imposed by courts in accordance with community-based orders. SCRAM Systems has been assisting the criminal justice market to implement alcohol monitoring programs around the world since 2003. During that time, they have successfully monitored over 750,000 individuals, accounting for almost 79 million days of alcohol abstinence. On any given day, 99% of the 23,000 people being monitored globally abstain from drinking alcohol. "SCRAM has revolutionized the way that the criminal justice sector manages and addresses alcohol-related offenses," according to John Hennessey, Vice President of Global Sales. "After beginning our work in the UK with pilot programs, we are thrilled to have witnessed the growth and development of alcohol monitoring to the scale of this national program." About SCRAM Systems SCRAM Systems is a leading provider of electronic monitoring and software solutions for the criminal justice industry. The company's flagship SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM CAM) technology, launched in 2003 and revolutionized the way courts, agencies and treatment providers monitor and manage alcohol-involved offenders. In 2013 the company launched the industry's most comprehensive suite of electronic monitoring technologies, which includes SCRAM Remote Breath, SCRAM GPS and SCRAM House Arrest. The company has since launched software solutions including SCRAM Nexus to support the adoption and deployment of Evidence-Based Practices, a mobile client engagement tool called SCRAM TouchPoint, and the first license-based software platform, SCRAM Insight to support probation and sobriety programs. SCRAM Systems employs 280 people worldwide and is a privately held company with headquarters in Littleton, Colorado. SOURCE SCRAM Systems Related Links https://www.scramsystems.com They are three of the most famous faces in the world. And brothers Chris, Liam and Luke Hemsworth proved they were just like the rest of us when they stopped by a frozen yoghurt cafe in Byron Bay on Sunday. The superstar siblings kept it causal as they visited the low-key beachside cafe, along with some of Chris' young children. Brotherly Love! Hunky siblings Chris, Liam and Luke Hemsworth were spotted getting frozen yoghurt together in Byron Bay on Sunday. Chris is pictured left, and Liam, right The Thor star, 36, and his Westworld star brother Luke, 38, happily chatted as they made their selection of toppings at the cafe. Hunky Liam, 30, then joined his brothers at the eatery. The brothers then made a quick exit, most likely to Chris' newly-built $20 million mansion at Broken Head. The third Hemsworth! The Thor star and his Westworld star brother Luke happily chatted as they made their selection of toppings at the cafe Casual cool: Chris showed off his muscular physique in a tight white T-shirt, which clung to his toned torso, and paired the top with black jeans Brood: Chris brought along two of his children to get a healthy treat Chris showed off his muscular physique in a tight white T-shirt, which clung to his toned torso, and paired the top with black jeans. He was semi-incognito in a trucker hat and shades. Meanwhile, strapping brother Liam was unmissable in a blue crew neck T-shirt along with blue chinos and white Converse sneakers. Delicious! The two brothers Chris and Luke casually chatted as they added toppings to their frozen yoghurts The Isn't It Romantic? star shielded his eyes from the sun with a pair of dark sunglasses. Meanwhile, Westworld actor Luke opted for an eye-catching red T-shirt and a pair of ripped denim jeans. He completed his outfit with dark sunglasses and black boots. The brothers are known to share a close bond and are regularly spotted spending time in Chris's hometown of Byron Bay. . Chris and Liam recently teamed-up with Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi to read Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach over a live Zoom chat for charity. Taika aims to read the entire book with different celebrities over 10 episodes this month, raising money for Partners in Health amid the pandemic. There he is! Strapping brother Liam was unmissable in a blue crew neck T-shirt along with blue chinos and white Converse sneakers All three boys are isolating in their native Australia. Chris has remained in Byron Bay with his wife, Elsa Pataky and their three children. Luke and wife Samantha have also remained Down Under. Liam has been staying at his property on Phillip Island, just off the coast of Melbourne, with his model girlfriend Gabriella Brooks, but recently flew to Byron Bay to spend time with his older sibling Chris. An outspoken member of Iran's parliament, Mahmoud Sadeghi, says a Tehran court of appeals has upheld a decision, sentencing him to 21 months in prison, and a 100 million rial (roughly $2400) fine. "The court had previously set a date for July 18, but it unexpectedly issued its ruling today," Sadeqi tweeted on Monday, May 18. The lower court had sentenced Sadeqi last February. Mahmoud Sadeghi (Sadeqi) had lambasted the former head of the Judiciary and current Chairman of Expediency Discernment Council, Ayatollah Sadegh Amoli Larijani, saying, how the cleric could hold high public office while during his tenure there were so much corruption in the Judiciary. Sadeghi was referring to the case of Akbar Tabari, the Judiciary's Deputy Chief Executive Officer during Larijani's term as the Chief-Justice of the Shi'ite clergy-dominated Iran. Speaking at a press conference on July 16, 2019, the Judiciary spokesman, Gholam Hossein Esmaili, said Tabari was arrested for "exerting influence on some legal cases" and "having unlawful and unethical involvement" in several lawsuits. Widely known as "the judiciary's strongman in the shadows," Akbar Tabari, was the director of finance and then deputy head of the Judiciary for administrative affairs for more than two decades. Furthermore, in a-well-publicized open letter to Larijani in 2016, Sadeghi who is a reformist member of parliament from Tehran, demanded that Larijani offer a public explanation about his bank accounts. According to some reports at the time, huge sums of money had been deposited in dozens of bank accounts in the Chief Justice's name instead of the Judiciary's accounts. Sadeqi's criticism was generally interpreted as questioning the Islamic republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's authority who had appointed Larijani as Chief Justice. Khamenei replaced Sadeq Larijani with Ayatollah Ebrahim Raeesi as Chief Justice but appointed him as the chairman of the influential Expediency Council in January 2019. The council offers advice and counsel in the country's most vital matters to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It is also the body that mediates between the parliament and the Guardian Council. Renowned for not mincing his words, Mahmoud Sadeghi was disqualified to retain his parliamentary seat in last Februarys national elections. Meanwhile, the Judiciary Media Center said Mr. Sadeghi was not convicted for his allegations about Larijanis accounts, but on other unspecified charges raised by private plaintiffs and public prosecutors. Bret Stephens: Hi, Gail. I was really saddened by the death of Jerry Stiller last week, who Ill always think of as Frank Costanza from Seinfeld. It got me to thinking about how far weve come from the 1990s, mostly for the worse. Gail Collins: I can tell this is going to be fun. I love picking best and worst decades. Bret: In the 1990s, our political problems revolved around presidential infidelity. Now they revolve around presidential insanity. In the 1990s, U.S. foreign policy was about stitching together a once-divided world. Now its about shutting down all the things that used to connect us. In the 1990s people wrote books about the millionaire next door. Now its more likely to be the foreclosure next door. In the 1990s, scientists were in a race to unlock the human genome. Now they wonder how long we need to lock down the human race. Where did it all go wrong, Gail? Gail: Bret, a long time ago my husband and I wrote a book about the approach of the new millennium in 2000. Just picked it up and realized we began: Pity the 1990s, when they end, nobody will even notice. Bret: Strong lede. Gail: It turned out to be way truer than we appreciated. The whole decade faded in the shadow of our introduction to a whole new world of global terrorism in 2001. New Delhi: In future, the Indian Air Force is planning to acquire 450 fighter aircraft for deployment on the northern and western frontiers of the country, Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria said on Monday. The list of aircraft planned to be inducted by the Air Force include 36 Rafales, 114 Multirole Fighter Aircraft, 100 Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and over 200 variants of the Light Combat Aircraft. "In the next 15 years, 83 LCAs are our primary focus, after that LCA Mark 2 will come in we are looking at close to 100 of those, that makes it near 200 of LCA class," Bhadauria told ANI in an interview. "AMCA, we are looking at six squadrons, so that puts it close to 100 (aircraft). So, in the indigenous domain areas which are already frozen in terms of our requirement, in terms of our understanding with DRDO in the fighter (segment)," said the Air Force Chief. He added that the induction of these fighters would take place over a period of the next 35 years as the inductions have to be planned to keep in mind the future requirements. The Air Force Chief said: "In the trainer aircraft segment, we are looking at 70 HTT-40 as a support aircraft to the Pilatus fleet. So, we are looking at 370 odd indigenous aircraft." The IAF chief said that currently it was the best time from the point of view for indigenous production and said, "It is now the perfect time for industries to respond and come up with solutions which are rapidly put in place and come up to the challenge of delivering these aircraft." On plans to acquire 114 multirole fighter aircraft, he said, "this project is in the middle-weight and is in the Rafale class, in this issue, we will deal with it in the Make in India region, with an increase in FDI, with support to the private sector. I think in future this will bring in technology which is required to support the aviation sector. I think it is important to have another generation of aircraft in terms of capability, technology as we go along."quadrons of Combat Aircraft in view of phasing out of the MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighters planes A few months ago, the Indian Air Force was facing a shortage of around 10 s. In Connaught place in New Delhi, mannequins and signboards were being furiously dusted off on Tuesday as excited shopkeepers prepared to welcome their long-lost customers on the first day after the lockdown restrictions on retail were relaxed. Everything was ready the display, the shining windows, the petty cash. The only thing missing was the customer. We are hopeful people will turn out soon but our sales projections are quite low. Currently, we are sitting on a lot of stocks and losses have already piled up, so the prices we charge may drop soon, said ... Uttar Pradesh: 3 migrant labourers were killed and more than 12 were injured after a truck carrying them overturned on Jhansi-Mirzapur highway last night. Reports reveal that total of 17 people were traveling in the truck. ML Patodar, SP Mahoba revealed that the accident happened due to tyre burst. The migrants were returning from Delhi. The injured have been taken to the hospital. Some days back, 24 labourers also lost their lives and more than 30 were injured after a vehicle carrying the migrants collided with another in Auraiya district in Uttar Pradesh. This wont be wrong to say that in the lockdown, mishaps involving migrants who are traveling back to their hometowns are being reported from all across the country. Recently, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has also thanked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for giving permission to run 1000 buses for making traveling easy for migrant workers. She said that the cost of all these buses will be borne by Congress and this is just a small way of helping thousands of brothers and sisters walking in Uttar Pradesh. She said that she assures on behalf of UP Congress that they will stand by their side in this lockdown. Also Read: Lockdown 4.0: Salons, markets, offices, sports complexes, liquor shops open; Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka and Punjab among others list their dos and donts Mahoba: 3 migrant labourers dead and over 12 injured after a DCM vehicle carrying them overturned on Jhansi-Mirzapur highway, last night. About 17 persons were travelling in the vehicle. Injured were admitted to hospital. pic.twitter.com/NqZhMOq9gk ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 19, 2020 Not just this another accident has been reported in Maharashtras Yavatmal where four migrants were killed and 15 injured after a bus carrying them crashed into a truck in Yavatmal early morning today. Reports reveal that the bus from was traveling from Solapur to Jharkhand. Maharashtra: 4 migrant workers killed, 15 injured after a bus they were travelling in crashed into a truck, in Yavatmal, early morning today. The bus was travelling from Solapur to Jharkhand. pic.twitter.com/kEURdmqTOx ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2020 For all the latest National News, download NewsX App WARSAW, Poland (AP) St. John Paul II was honored on the centennial of his birth Monday with special Masses at the Vatican and in his native Poland, an anniversary that comes as the Polish church finds itself confronted by new allegations of clerical sex abuse. From the small town of Wadowice, Poland, where Karol Wojtyla was born on May 18, 1920, to Warsaw and the Vatican, Catholic faithful gave prayers of thanks for the man who was pope from 1978 until his death in 2005. Today we can say that 100 years ago the Lord visited his people," Pope Francis said in a morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. Celebrating the memory of Saint John Paul II lets remember this: The Lord loves his people, he visited his people, he sent a shepherd. To Poles, John Paul is best remembered for using the papacy to shake the foundations of an oppressive communist system that was toppled across Eastern Europe 11 years into his papacy. Karol Wojtyla was one of the most important figures of the 20th century, Polish President Andrzej Duda said in a letter to worshippers at Poland's holiest site, the Jasna Gora Monastery in Czestochowa. His teaching and testimony still touch the hearts and minds of millions of people. Poland's Jewish community also remembered John Paul's efforts to seek reconciliation between Catholics and Jews, an effort that included apologizing for the centuries of Christian persecution of Jews and historic first visits by a pope to synagogues and Auschwitz. No other Pope has done more to heal the painful wounds and he did more than anyone else in history to effectively erase the scourge of anti-Semitism," Polands chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich, said in a statement on Sunday. But John Paul's legacy has been stained by his failure to address sex abuse in the church, which was well known at the Vatican during his papacy. And that issue has also been on people's minds in recent days because of a new documentary exposing alleged sex abuse in Poland's church. Story continues The film, Playing Hide and Seek, by brothers Tomasz and Marek Sekielski, was released Saturday online and had been viewed over 4 million times by Monday morning. It tells the story of two brothers, now young adults, who decide to confront a priest who allegedly abused them in their childhood. In their pursuit of justice they discover other alleged victims of the priest, Arkadiusz Hajdasz, but face a lack of compassion and help from church officials. The film follows a documentary expose on pedophilia in the powerful Polish Catholic church by the Sekielski brothers released last year. That film, Tell No One, triggered soul searching in a country where there is no higher authority than the Catholic Church and its clergy. That film also elicited an apology from Archbishop Wojciech Polak, the Primate of Poland, and prompted at least one cleric to leave priestly life. After this new film, Polak, Polands top church official, again voiced his concern and said the matter would be taken to the Vatican for investigation. The film Playing Hide and Seek, which I watched, shows that the standards of protection of children and youth in force in the Church have not been observed, Polak said. Film director Tomasz Sekielski said he expected viewers to feel anger when seeing how victims of clerical abuse are deprived of state and church support. In Rome, to mark the centenary, Pope Francis inaugurated a new culture institute dedicated to John Paul at one of the pontifical universities in Rome. Significantly, the institute doesnt focus on the churchs teachings on sexual morality, as other John Paul-named academic institutes do. In line with Francis broader idea of the role social sciences should play in Catholic education, it focuses on contemporary culture and is inspired by John Pauls open and contemplative spirit, his passion for God and man, for creation, history and art, Francis said in an inaugural letter. The Vatican also announced that a new feast day would be marked each Oct. 5 dedicated to St. Faustina Kowalska, a 20th-century Polish mystic to whom John Paul was particularly devoted. ___ Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report. May 8, 2020, 8:15 a.m. Carefully carrying the days COVID-19 samples, Hayley Glantz walks past idle centrifuges and empty beakers to her lab bench and gets to work. The start of her shift looked a lot different a couple months ago. For one, the research technician in Dr. Julie McElrath's lab at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center typically handles HIV. And the large space around her would have been bustling with colleagues and whirring machines at work analyzing DNA and RNA samples. Then the pandemic hit. The McElrath Lab, like all others at Fred Hutch, ramped down to just one person at a time. Fred Hutch required the bulk of its employees to work remotely. They were drastic but science-based moves aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19. Like every other organization, Fred Hutch has no playbook for how to get employees back on-site amid a pandemic. But it does have decades of study into the biology of cancer, the intricacies of the immune system and the scourge of viral diseases. So Fred Hutch is tapping its scientific expertise to move forward. The Hutch has a unique opportunity to lead, to show the country how we can reopen and how we can safely work, said Dr. Thomas Lynch, president and director of Fred Hutch and holder of the Raisbeck Endowed Chair. And science is going to guide our decision-making. Glantzs new work routine reflects that roadmap. It was science behind the symptom-screening station she had to pass when she arrived. It was science that quieted the lab around her, and it was science behind the masks she wore in the office and the lab. And its driving her current project: searching blood taken from COVID-19 patients for signs of an immune response. What she finds could help fill in knowledge gaps about the disease and help inform decisions to bring more colleagues back into the lab alongside her. Thats the ultimate goal: to get everyone back to work, and doing that safely, Glantz said. Its cool and humbling to be a piece of the puzzle. In March, when fears about the dearth of medical grade masks for health care professionals were dominating social media discussions, I asked my friend a physicians assistant in a big East Coast hospital emergency department if I should put my paltry sewing skills to work making cloth face coverings. I appreciate your enthusiasm, she replied, but well all end up with COVID-19 if we wear cloth masks. She directed me to a study from 2015 in which researchers tested surgical and cloth masks in clinical settings involving high-risk exposure to respiratory infections in Vietnam. Cloth masks, they found, not only resulted in higher rates of infection than surgical masks but also showed higher rates of infection than the control group (which followed standard hospital procedures, including use of surgical, cloth or no masks at all). It would have made sense if this type of finding was what motivated the surgeon general in February, to tweet, that masks are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus; Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to suggest that improper mask use could actually spread the virus; and Dr. Anthony Fauci to confidently declare on 60 Minutes that a mask is not the perfect protection that people think that it is, and that unless you are sick, right now, there is no reason to be walking around with a mask. But it wasnt. Public health officials later conceded that their initial guidance to the public regarding masks was not motivated by cutting edge research so much as the need to dissuade the public from siphoning them away from healthcare workers, which, of course, was a legitimate need. So when those officials abruptly did an about-face just weeks later and began encouraging the public to wear homemade cloth face coverings, even those made from a variety of common household items T-shirts, bandannas, rubber bands for their safety and that of others, they had to assume the public would suffer from cognitive dissonance or even begin to question their credibility. In fairness, understanding of the virus is quickly evolving. Because doctors and scientists now suspect that people infected but not exhibiting symptoms may be responsible for as much as half of new cases, there is reason to believe that increased mask usage might reduce the spread. Researchers and academics are pointing to countries such as South Korea and Japan, where mask use is nearly universal and the outbreaks have been more controlled, as evidence that mask culture could have similar quantifiable value in the U.S. A study from Yale University estimates each additional cloth mask worn by the public has an economic value of at least $3,000-$6,000. Another very aspirational model argues that just 60% of people wearing masks that are 60% effective could, by itself, stop the epidemic. That would be something. Of course, nearly every study that promotes masks acknowledges that they must be used properly to be effective (fit correctly, washed frequently, removed the right way), and emphasizes that mask-wearing is only one strategy, not a solution in and of itself. Unfortunately, failure to clearly and honestly communicate the benefits and limitations of masks early on to instead use mask guidance as an opportunity to manipulate peoples behavior has had the outcome one might expect: Masks have become a cultural flashpoint. They are a symbol of either independence from or obsequiousness to the government. And its getting harder to stake out a position beyond those extremes. Theres compelling evidence on both sides of the debate: models that suggest masking at 80-90% of the population could eventually help eliminate the disease; and research that indicates how COVID-19 breaks through to the external surface of masks when infected patients cough into them. Both deserve consideration and sound assessment from a reliable arbiter. But when it comes to discussions of mask policies and behavior in the U.S., the opportunity to have reasonable debate seems to have eluded us. People are dug in. And frankly, we have our trusted public officials and their muddled messages on masks, to thank for that. As they say on Twitter, great job everyone. Cynthia M. Allen is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Readers may send her email at cmallen@star-telegram.com. The states peak real estate and property body has added to recent commentary that COVID-19 has delayed but not destroyed the long-awaited recovery of Perths property market. But in the same breath the Real Estate Institute of WA warned the recovery would need significant support, sustaining calls to reform the stamp duty tax and remove or soften this costly barrier to homebuyers. Perth might not have to wait much longer for its recovery. Credit:Peter Rae REIWA announced on Tuesday that residential listings for sale and rent in WA on its site were the lowest they had been in six years with available stock dropping, not rising, during the COVID-19 restriction period. There are almost 30 per cent fewer properties currently for sale than there were at this time last year and the same goes for rentals, with the vacancy rate at only 2.4 per cent. RYANAIR boss Michael O'Leary believes there will be "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunities for growth in the next couple of years as the aftermath of the coronavirus leaves behind a radically changed aviation industry. He also said the carrier's nascent relationship with Airbus is close to collapse and that Ryanair's Austrian subsidiary Lauda will probably migrate to a Boeing fleet. He was speaking as Ryanair released full-year results that showed it made a profit of just over 1bn in the 12 months to the end of March. "I think there is going to be significant opportunities into the summer of 2021 for Ryanair to grow strongly," said Mr O'Leary. "In fact, if anything, I would try to accelerate our growth into 2021 because there's going to be opportunities there with airports. There's certainly going to be a huge surplus of available pilots and cabin crew all over Europe." Ryanair is planning to axe up to 3,000 pilots and cabin crew jobs, but Mr O'Leary warned yesterday that the figure could be "considerably" higher if unions don't agree to pay cuts for workers. "The growth opportunities that are out there at the moment will be, I think, almost once in a lifetime," said the CEO. He said Ryanair remains in talks with Boeing in relation to compensation for the 737 Max groundings, the return to service of the aircraft and pricing. "They can't be concluded until we have some certainty on when the Max will return to service," said Mr O'Leary. "We are working closely with Boeing. We are very impressed with the new management team at Boeing and what they've done. There's been a lot less blind optimism coming out of Boeing and there's a much more frank dealing with challenges." But Mr O'Leary signalled that the group's patience with Airbus has all but run out. "Airbus are nowhere at the moment," he said. "We have repeatedly through Lauda, tried to interact with Airbus. We're getting nowhere with them. I think the Covid-19 has, if anything, crystallised the decision-making here. "We haven't been able to attract any significant offers from Airbus. While we haven't given up on Airbus entirely, we're not far away from just giving up," said Mr O'Leary. The airline boss said that Airbus is currently "nowhere near close" to achieving the kinds of pricing that Ryanair has secured on the Boeing Max 200. An out-of-control truck slammed into a house on Tuesday leaving the driver and a passenger trapped beneath the property. The truck smashed into the two-storey home at Carrickalinga, south of Adelaide, around 10.30am, causing it to collapse. The cabin of the truck ended up wedged underneath the house on Forktree Road, with both occupants of the truck stuck inside for nearly an hour. The pair were rescued from beneath the rubble by SES volunteers and taken to Flinders Medical Centre with non-life-threatening injuries. A runaway truck has destroyed a two-storey home at Carrickalinga, south of Adelaide Emergency services at the scene on Forktree Rd, where the cabin of the truck ended up wedged underneath the house Luckily no one was inside when the truck ran into the house. Next door neighbour Jarrett told ABC he grabbed his daughter and dived out of the way as the truck sped towards them. 'I heard a massive rumble outside. I looked out my window and saw a truck careering through my front yard,' he said. 'I saw the truck coming and the first thing I did was grab my kid, because I thought it was going to hit my house so I just grabbed my kid and did a dive roll on the floor with her.' The truck barely missed Jarrett's house and hit his car before smashing into the house next door. The truck driver and a passenger were rescued from beneath the rubble by SES volunteers after being trapped for nearly an hour Police are investigating what made the truck lose control, with Jarrett saying he often spots heavy vehicles flying down a steep hill at the top of his street. 'It was just a matter of time, almost waiting for it to happen to be honest, the way people drive around that corner,' he said. The smashed house is one of four serious road accidents in South Australia since Monday night, resulting in two deaths and another person fighting for their life. A pedestrian was killed after being hit by a truck in on the Port River Expressway at Gillman, while a passenger died after a car rolled on the Sturt Highway near Renmark. A 24-year-old man was airlifted to Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition after a head-on collision with a road train on the Yorke Highway near Port Arthur. Oxford Immunotec Global PLC, a global, high-growth diagnostics company, today announces the release of the T-SPOT Discovery SARS-CoV-2 test kit. Image Credit: Kateryna Kon/Shutterstock.com This kit is for research use only and launched under the T-SPOT Discovery brand. This research kit could make a significant contribution towards the development of a new tool to manage the COVID-19 pandemic, which in turn could help to bring nations out of their current lockdowns in a faster, safer, and more controlled manner. T-SPOT Discovery SARS-CoV-2 builds on Oxford Immunotecs experience with TB diagnosis and the assessment of immune response to CMV in transplant patients, to apply the Companys established, proprietary T-SPOT technology to the fight against COVID-19. While serology is able to detect antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in the blood of some individuals after infection, little is currently known about how this confers immunity to COVID-19. T-SPOT technology goes further than simple serology by interrogating the immune systems T cell response and will enable research into the measurement of the strength of that response to SARS-CoV-2. The strength of this response may be linked to protection from reinfection. T-SPOT technology is a proven technology, approved for clinical use to detect TB infection in over 60 countries including the US, China, Japan, and Europe. With over 20 million clinical tests manufactured since release, T-SPOT technology: Uses a standardized sample prepared from peripheral blood which: Reduces the influence of factors which might affect results, such as other treatments Standardizes cell numbers in the test to normalize for cell number variations between samples Allows the number of responding T cells to be enumerated for a more precise assessment of the T cell response Is able to maintain performance, even in samples from immunosuppressed individuals Can be run in high-volume labs enabling large testing programs to be rolled out T-SPOT technology can also be automated using the T-Cell SelectTM reagent kit. Automation solutions are available for the low, medium, and high throughput settings. Phill Keefe, Senior Vice President Product Design, Development and Delivery at Oxford Immunotec said, Not everyone with COVID-19 infection has detectable antibodies in serology tests, and this may be a bigger problem in the majority who experience only mild or no symptoms. Also, it is not yet clear whether the presence of antibodies confers immunity. T cell responses develop before antibody generation and can independently provide protection, so studying T cells could give us new insights into immunity to COVID-19. We are really excited about the release of this RUO T-SPOT Discovery product in such an important area for current research. This allows us to make our contribution to the battle against COVID-19. The data generated using this RUO kit, if favorable, will help us develop a T-SPOT kit that could be approved for clinical use and may help support our return to a more normal lifestyle. Peter Wrighton-Smith, Oxford Immunotec CEO For further information visit http://go.oxfordimmunotec.com/t-spot_discovery_SARS_CoV-2 COVID-19 has sent shockwaves throughout the dairy industry, as school feeding programs and food service markets have disappeared overnight. With millions of children out of school, Dairy Council of California like many in the dairy community across the country is adopting innovative approaches to ensure children can still learn about the importance of consuming nutritious foods like milk and dairy as a part of healthy eating patterns. School children can now take a virtual field trip to a dairy farm, thanks to Dairy Council of California, California Milk Advisory Board and the Mobile Dairy Classroom the original farm-to-school program. During the virtual field trips, students learn about dairy farming, including how milk and dairy foods are produced and the nutritional benefits of dairy foods. First stop on the 45-minute virtual field trip is the Mobile Dairy Classroom, where students learn all about cows, from their anatomy to how they produce milk. Students can then zoom over to a real California dairy farm. There, students meet real farmers and see how dairy cows are fed and milked, learn how farmers care for their dairy cows, and discover the sustainability measures dairy farmers implement on their farms. Students also have the opportunity to engage with farmers and ask questions. Field trips, offered Monday through Thursday with two sessions offered each day, are available through June. To participate, register here. Dairy Council of California is also offering a roundup of free online nutrition resources, including games, activities, and curriculum, as well as a variety of resources to teach agricultural literacy at home. Community health is at the heart of Dairy Council of Californias values, and we believe the health of children, families, and communities is a top priority. We recognize the importance of mitigation measures to slow the spread of COVID-19; and through technology, innovation, and creativity, we believe we can continue to help students learn from home and elevate their health by instilling lifelong healthy eating habits, which include milk and dairy foods. To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com. (c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2020 May 18, 2020 Ben Schrank, most recently head of Henry Holt, has been named publisher and chief operating officer of Astra Publishing House. The new company is backed by Thinkingdom Media Group, the Beijing-based company that previously acquired Boyds Mills Press and took a majority stake in minedition. Both of those childrens publishers are part of the new company and are being joined by a new adult division, Astra House. In a statement, Schrank said the mission of Astra Publishing House is to champion authors from all corners of the world and to build bridges between readers and writers from all corners of the world. Overseeing the Astra House adult unit is industry veteran Alessandra Bastagli, who was named editorial director. The unit plans to do 20 to 25 titles starting in spring 2021. Astra will publish books in fiction and nonfiction and about half of its list will be of translations, Bastagli said. The company is continuing to add to its editorial team, with a preference for people who are fluent in a second language, Bastagli said. Astras adult launch list includes Art in the Age of Cancel Culture by London-based New York Times Arts and Culture writer Farah Nayeri; Winter Pasture, the memoir of bestselling Chinese author Li Juan, and her first book to be published in English; and The Biuty Queens, a collection of stories by Chilean author Ivan Monalisa Ojeda, which looks at the life of New York Citys Latin American trans community. Astra Publishing House has also added new leadership to its childrens publishing ranks. Maria Russo, former New York Times childrens books editor, has been named editorial director of mineditionUS. In her new role, Astra said, Russo will be working with Michael Neugebauer, the founder of minedition, to expand its readership and the brands unique global perspective. The publisher already has operations in Switzerland, France, Germany, Beijing, and Hong Kong. I've long been a big fan of minedition and its international approach to children's publishing, and I'm thrilled to be joining the Astra Publishing House team, Russo said in a statement. At mineditionUS, Russo will be responsible for the publication of picture books and board books. Minedition already publishes such authors as Lisbeth Zwerger, Kveta Pacovska, Robert Ingpen, and Elsa Mroziewicz. APHs other childrens publisher, Boyds Mills & Kane, which was formed following the May 2019 purchase of Boyds Mills, will continue to be led by Juliana Lauletta. The heads of both childrens imprints will report to Schrank. The Astra House adult titles will be distributed in the U.S. and Canada by Penguin Random House; PRH already distributes Boyds Mills & Kane books in the U.S. and will take over distribution of mineditionUS on July 1. A final piece of the APH group is Astra Quarterly, a new literary magazine, that Astra said is committed to publishing the best new writers from around the world." It will debut next year. Leying Jiang, president of Boyd Mills & Kane, is president of APH. We have been building toward this moment for a long time and are so thrilled to have these brilliant editorial and publishing talents joining the leadership team, Jiang said in a statement. With a clear mission of publishing books that bridge the world and connect people and cultures, we look forward to an exciting new journey for this growing global publishing program here in the U.S. With Haridwar delineated as a green zone district after fifty-six days of lockdown, all the shops in the district were permitted to open on Tuesday, leading to a rush especially in those offering non-essential goods or services. Haridwar was the only designated red zone district in the state for the past few weeks and after all its seven Covid-19 positive patients recovered, the state government took some time before changing its status from red to green zone with the beginning of lockdown 4.0. From core Har-Ki-Pauri mela zone markets to suburban Jwalapur, ancient cluster of Kankhal to the industrial estate market, traders were seen cleaning their shops for opening from early morning hours. Saints and local priests are now exerting pressure on the state government and local administration to allow the participation of pilgrims and tourists at the world-famous Ganga aarti performed on a daily basis at the sanctum sanctorum of Brahmakund, Har-Ki-Pauri. Seers led by Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad, the apex body of all Akhadas, and priests have also urged the state government to open up shrines, temples for devotees as it is associated not only with the religious sentiments of the majority but also the livelihood of people in the sacred city. Ganga Sabha, the managing body of Har-Ki-Pauri Ganga ghat, has demanded a rolling back of the restriction on the presence of pilgrims during the famous Ganga aarti at Brahmakund, Har-Ki-Pauri, performed for the past 104 years on a daily basis. For Coronavirus Live Updates Religious rituals are an integral part of our daily life and Haridwar being a prominent pilgrimage and spiritual place, the government should allow pilgrims during Ganga aarti with precautionary measures. Performance of other rituals should also be allowed as has been done for ash immersion rites, said Pradeep Jha, Ganga Sabha president. Last positive patient in Haridwar district was discharged after cure on May 16 from Mela hospital Covid-19 center. No new case has emerged since April 18, when the last two positive cases were detected. Earlier Central government had earmarked the zones based on varied criteria but now the state government has been given the power to categorize the districts. Health personnel involved in the Covid-19 operations deserve major credit for ensuring all the seven positive patients got cured but we all need to ensure that we adhere to social distancing norms and wear face masks as preventive measures to ensure the green zone tag continues further, said chief medical officer (CMO) Haridwar Dr Saroj Naithani. The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19 The trader community has hailed the decision to open establishments including saloons, beauty parlours and home delivery service for food and other items. Auto rickshaw and pedal rickshaw services were also resumed with restriction of only 50 per cent passenger capacity. Three-wheeler welfare society has sent a memorandum to transport minister Yashpal Arya demanding six months waiver in tax for all Vikram (the popular name for three-wheelers in the region) drivers and financial assistance, since owing to the two-month-long lockdown, the majority of drivers have not been able to meet their daily family expenses. Akash Ohri, the owner of Unique cyber cafe at Chandracharya square said that he woke up early to ensure he could dust and sanitize his shop and post a message at the entrance declaring only those customers who wear masks are allowed. A Magistrates Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has convicted the owner of the demolished Prodest Hotel in Eleme, Gogorobari Needa... A Magistrates Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has convicted the owner of the demolished Prodest Hotel in Eleme, Gogorobari Needam and his manager, Bariledum Azoroh over defiance of state governments COVID-19 lockdown order. The Court also fined the parties N50,000 each for contravening Governor Nyesom Wikes Executive Order. Recall that Governor Nyesom Wike had last week demolished Prodest Hotel in Alode and Etemeteh Hotel in Onne, both in Eleme Local Government Area of the state. Wike said the hotels were demolished after it violated his Executive Order on COVID 19, despite warnings that banned the operation of hotels across the 23 Local Government Areas of the State. The Governor had explained that the focus on hotels was because one of the coronavirus cases in the state spread the virus from a hotel. However, during the Court proceeding, Needam was convicted despite not being present in court, Delivering her verdict, Senior Magistrate Rita Oguguo, ordered that Azoroh be quarantined at the isolation centre in Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Elekahia for 14 days to ascertain his coronavirus status She ruled that the accused violated Governor Nyesom Wikes executive order on closure of hotels in the state as contained in Rivers State Executive order Number 7, paragraphs 3 and 4. But, earlier before his sentence, Azoroh had insisted on seeing his counsel, Godwin Awi, who was absent in court due to his inability to get an access pass to court following the continued lockdown of Port Harcourt and Obio-Akpor council areas. While expressing his opinion on Monday, Azoroh lamented that in spite of the plea by his client to get his counsel to defend him, the court went ahead to convict him. With what has happened, it is clear that there are other underlying issues that probably we do not know. I do not agree with everything that has transpired today in line with the fact that the Constitution is clear as to the issue of the right to counsel, adequate time and facility for an accused person standing trial to defend himself A 25-year-old Philadelphia man sought on a homicide charge was arrested after traffic stop early Tuesday morning in South Bethlehem, police report. The man, who was later identified through fingerprints as Marquis Mathis, told officers his name was Kamar Brown, Bethlehem police said in a news release and court papers. He ran from police but was caught, then struggled, and despite being handcuffed, tried to run again but was quickly tracked down, police said. He had been a passenger in a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee that was pulled over about 2:30 a.m. in the 400 block of Webster Street after turning right on red where its not allowed at West Fourth and South New streets, police said. Officers detected marijuana in the car and the 22-year-old driver and a 19-year-old passenger were taken into custody, and charged with possession or marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia and released pending a court date, police said. The driver also faces two traffic offenses, police said. Mathis, who gave his proper birthdate with his false ID, was identified through a digital fingerprinting Live Scan at police headquarters and it was determined he was sought in a handgun homicide in Philadelphia, police said. In separate local cases, Mathis was charged with escape and providing false identification to police as well as being a fugitive from justice. District Judge Nancy Matos Gonzalez arraigned him and set bail at $100,000 in the first case and $500,000 in the other, records show. Details of the Philadelphia killing were not immediately available. Philadelphia police said they have no information to release on the homicide. 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. Why the Largest Cyberattack in History Will Happen Within Six Months The coronavirus is laying the groundwork for a massive cyberattack. In fact, Im on record today saying well see the largest cyberattack in HISTORY within the next six months . Nobody is talking about this today. Fighting hackers is the last thing on most folks minds. But coronavirus practically guarantees largest cyberattack ever will soon be plastered all over the frontpages. Ill explain why in a second. And Ill show you the proven pattern for making big money off cyberattacks. But first its important to understand the key to defending against hackers. Talk to any cyber expert and theyll tell you a big chunk of time and money is spent on reducing their attack surface. Imagine Playing a Game Where You Have to Break into Two Buildings The first is a Beverly Hills mansion. You can try to get in the front door. If that doesnt work, you can enter through the poolside bar, any one of twenty windows, or sneak in through the basement. The second building is an underground concrete bunker. No windows. Only one door. It would be a lot tougher to break into the concrete bunker, right? There is only one way in. Which means the owners can focus all their efforts on securing that one point. This is also how it works in cyber-land. The more devices connected to a network, the larger its attack surface grows, making it easier for hackers to infiltrate the network. In short, each new device is a gateway where hackers can find vulnerabilities in and use it to wreak havoc on your system. The Coronavirus Just Ripped Open Every Companys Virtual Defenses Before the pandemic hit, employees who worked remotely were usually given special work laptops with beefed up security. For example, my friend works for the Irish tax authoritiesthe equivalent of the IRS. He often works from home, but under strict guidelines. He must use a dedicated work laptop and a separate, secure wi-fi connection. He has to jump through multiple security hoops to even get past the welcome screen. For example, he must plug in a USB security stick to unlock work files. These measures make him difficultbut not impossibleto hack. In short, this is the level of security needed to ward off hackers. The thing is, coronavirus has uprooted all our lives in many ways. And among the most visible disruptions is forcing hundreds of millions of Americans to work from home. Every Companys Attack Surface Just Exploded Practically every employee in every firm in America is working from a makeshift desk on their kitchen table. Firms only had days to cobble together remote work plans. So you can bet most didnt set up secure systems, like the one my friend is using. In fact, the vast majority of employees probably dont even have dedicated work laptops. So hundreds of millions of folks are using personal laptopson unsecured home internet connectionsto access work files. Many of which likely contain confidential information and personal data. This is a dream come true for cyber criminals . Hackers only need to gain access through one entry point to seize control of a whole network. Once theyre in they can steal data, secrets, and even lock you out of the network. Hackers broke into the networks of Americas largest defense contractor, Lockheed Martin, by targeting remote workers. If they can infiltrate this system, you best believe remote workers with little security are easy pickings. Its Only a Matter of Time Until The Largest Cyberattack in History Flashes Across Your Screen In the past couple months, hackers have targeted the US Department of Health. And attacks against the World Health Organization have more than doubled. These are only the hacks we know about. Cyber intelligence firm CYFIRMA revealed cyberthreats related to coronavirus shot up 600% from February to March. Its only a matter of time before we hear about a major cyber breach. And That Means Now Is a Good Time to Bet on Cyber Stocks Look, I hope Im dead wrong predicting that were about to see the biggest cyberattack in history. None of us want to see a big company or government taken down. Especially not when the world is fighting a deadly pandemic. But remote workers are fertile ground for cyber criminals. The attack surface has never been wider, so a major cyberattack is baked in the cake. Fortunately, there is a proven pattern for making money from cyberattacks. When major hacks hit the newswire, cyber stocks surge . Do you remember when news broke about the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal in early 2018? It sparked a huge run-up in cyber stocks. The largest cybersecurity ETF (CIBR) jumped 25% over the next six months: This wasnt the first time a major hack sent cyber companies surging. In February 2015, US health insurer Anthem revealed 80-million personal records were stolen. Many cyber stocks jumped 30%+ over the next four months: And we saw this same pattern again earlier this year. In January, the US military launched a missile attack that killed an Iranian general. Iran is a cyber superpower, and they vowed revenge by striking Americas digital networks. Some cyber stocks jumped as much as 30% in just six weeks! In short, investors frantically buy cyber stocks after the major cyberattacks hit the headlines. But you want to be invested before the rest of the world piles in. With the groundwork for the largest cyberattack in history being laid out as I type, I expect this pattern to repeat soon. The Great Disruptors: 3 Breakthrough Stocks Set to Double Your Money" Get my latest report where I reveal my three favorite stocks that will hand you 100% gains as they disrupt whole industries. Get your free copy here. By Stephen McBride http://www.riskhedge.com 2020 Copyright Stephen McBride - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors. 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. Monash Health says they'll be conducting a full review with an external expert Her family are suing Monash Children's Hospital in Melbourne for negligence The furious parents of a girl left with permanent brain damage when a simple operation went wrong are suing the hospital as they face a lifetime of costly medical care for their daughter. Cameron and Melanie Burns are suing the Monash Children's Hospital in Melbourne after their daughter Taylah, 8 was left in a vegetative state by what should have been a routine procedure to remove a cyst. Their once bubbly and energetic daughter who used to dance around the home can no longer walk, talk or even sit up. The year two student underwent surgery at the Monash Children's Hospital in November last year to remove a non-cancerous cyst on her brain. The cyst was putting pressure on her skull and causing Taylah to experience headaches. While the operation was initially thought to be a success, a routine check-up months later revealed the cyst had returned. A second surgery was booked in to insert a shunt - a tube to remove fluid build-up - into Taylah's brain, but something went 'terribly wrong' and she was left with permanent brain damage. A little girl is a shadow of her former self after a failed operation left her with permanent brain damage A Gofundme page set up by her parents to cover her medical bills revealed the eight year old is fully reliant on her parents as a result. 'Taylah at this stage is nonresponsive, she cannot control her movements, cannot control her bowels and cannot sit up in a wheelchair and 5 weeks later she is still in hospital,' the page reads. Her parents are now feeding her through a tube and will require full time care for the rest of her lives. The family says the situation has put a 'massive strain on their family life' and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The Burns family (pictured father Cameron Burns with mother Melanie Burns and daughter Taylah, 8) are suing the Monash Children's Hospital in Melbourne after their daughter was left in a vegetative state after a routine procedure to remove a cyst 'Taylahs mum Mel will not be able to return to work as she will now need to become a full-time carer for Taylah. We also are working extremely hard to bring her home, to do this we need to modify the house to accommodate for Taylahs condition,' the page reads. Father Cameron Burns told the Herald Sun it's particularly devastating because of the circumstance surrounding her condition. 'She didn't have a car accident, she didn't fall and hit her head, she went in for a routine surgery, a simple procedure, that went terribly wrong in the worst way possible,' he said. 'We thought we were in the best hands, our medical system is one of the best in the world.' The family has recruited Slater and Gordon to file a negligence claim against the Monash Children's Hospital. A spokesperson for Monash Health told Daily Mail Australia in a statement they'll be conducting an investigation into the operation. A spokesperson for Monash Health told Daily Mail Australia in a statement they'll be conducting an investigation into the operation at the Monash Children's Hospital (pictured) 'A full review involving an external expert will be established, and Safer Care Victoria has been advised,' the spokesperson said. 'Our thoughts are with the child and her family. We continue to provide care for the child and support for the family.' The family has already raised more than $40,000 through the Gofundme page which they will be putting towards medical bills and home adjustments to support their disabled daughter. Advances in brain surgery are also providing hope that a future operation could benefit their daughter. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Adisti Sukma Sawitri (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 08:52 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8ea64c 1 Opinion #commentary,new-normal,reopening-economy,COVID-19,Jokowi-administration,pandemic,PSBB Free The COVID-19-stricken world has seen countries easing lockdowns and stay-at-home orders since the beginning of this month. But Indonesians have a right to worry after the government followed suit by relaxing travel restrictions on May 6. First, the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise across many provinces outside Jakarta. The Health Ministry announced 59 more deaths on Sunday, the highest one-day spike in over a month, bringing the death toll to 1,148 from 17,514 confirmed cases. Second, the easing of restrictions, which allow people to travel for work purposes, came only about two weeks after a full ban was announced for all passenger travel and less than a month since provinces, cities and regencies formally enforced large-scale social restrictions (PSBB). In other countries, including the United States, at least seven weeks of lockdown with strict measures were in place before they started to reopen. Worse, only four out of 34 provinces and dozens of cities have applied the restrictions all with a low-level of public compliance. In Java, the countrys most populous island, many areas have not formally implemented the restrictions, despite the fact that more than 60 percent of cases and about 80 percent of total deaths in the country have been recorded on the island. Third, the number of tests conducted remains very low, at 140,000, compared to other countries. In the first months of the outbreak, the government argued about the lack of test kits and laboratory capacity. But today, with about 80 percent of the Rp 405 trillion (US$27.27 billion) in COVID-19 aid proposed by the government allocated to the economy instead of for the health response, it is reasonable to question the governments commitment to battling the virus. President Joko Jokowi Widodo has said the country must be ready for a new normal by July. With little commitment from the government and citizens to fight the virus, the future looks grim for the country. With the system for this new normal hardly in place, making people return to work and school equates to putting more lives in danger. People will commute and interact without strict physical distancing rules and could cause harm not only to themselves, but also their friends and family members. And if more people are infected with the virus, health workers will face more hard work and greater risks after having labored tirelessly to treat patients for months. The Jokowi administration must get its act together to make sure the new normal is safe for everyone. First and foremost is to coordinate policies and actions based on COVID-19 data rather than on political or business interests. It is true that the restrictions have caused millions of people to be furloughed and laid off. But this is better than allowing people to go out unprotected and risk dying. There are many good practices from other countries that the government can learn from. All include steadfast implementation of public health protocols and a strong commitment to combating the virus. It is also critical that the government implements one coordinated policy at a time, rather than having each institution work on its own initiative. The Transportation Ministrys decision to relax travel restrictions seems uninformed, considering the high number of new cases and deaths. The government has set up the national COVID-19 task force. It would be better for decision making to take place at one table rather than for each ministry to decide matters on their own. Making the public health emergency the only priority should also be reflected in how the government allocates COVID-19 aid. As increased spending is allowed after the issuance of an extraordinary legal instrument, Perppu No. 1/2020, the government should not let other personal or institutional interests divert the money allotted for combating the virus. The government has announced Rp 152 trillion for economic recovery programs, which include support for state-owned enterprises. The funds may be important for some state companies that provide vital services, such electricity operator PT PLN and oil and gas producer PT Pertamina. However, funds will also go to national flag carrier PT Garuda Indonesia and steelmaker PT Krakatau Steel, which have been in financial troubles and are not priorities during the epidemic. It would be better for the government to allocate more funds to strengthening the health response, especially for testing and providing adequate health facilities. More funds should also be allocated to support physical distancing measures and the strict implementation of public health principles when the PSBB measures are lifted entirely. Trains and buses, for instance, cannot be fully occupied like they were before the outbreak. As a consequence, operators should increase their fleet sizes to still be able to shoulder the normal burden of servicing commuters. The Jokowi administration can only succeed in leading the country out of the epidemic once it begins to treat it as an emergency not a chance for political opportunism. The government would be irresponsible, if not reckless, to exploit the outbreak to fulfill its political goals. Security officials say strike on Shahid Rajaee terminal was tit-for-tat after alleged hack in Israel: Washington Post. Israel has been accused of launching a major cyberattack on an Iranian port that caused transport chaos for days after crashing the facilitys computer system, a news report said on Tuesday. Irans Shahid Rajaee terminal, near the Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, was suddenly hit by hackers, crippling the port on May 9, the Washington Post reported. The cyberattack created kilometres-long line-ups of vehicles outside the port and vessels stuck in the harbour. The Post quoted intelligence and cybersecurity officials familiar with the situation as saying the computer strike was carried out by Israeli operatives, presumably in retaliation for an earlier attempt to penetrate computers that operate rural water distribution systems in Israel. There was total disarray, said one foreign security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, describing the attack as highly accurate. The newspaper was shown satellite imagery showing the massive back up of trucks on roads and container ships in the water. Iran confirmed the cyberattack on the facility the day after it was hit but played down its severity. A recent cyberattack failed to penetrate the PMOs systems and was only able to infiltrate and damage a number of private operating systems at the ports, said Mohammad Rastad, managing director of the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), in a statement. Citing foreign intelligence sources, the Post reported on May 8 that Iran was responsible for a cyberattack on water distribution networks in Israel, but it was repulsed with no damage done. Iran denied involvement in the failed April 24 hacking. Israeli officials did not respond to requests for comment, the report said. An unnamed Western official told Israels Channel 12 on Tuesday: Israel hopes [the Iranians] stop there. They attacked water infrastructure components. They didnt really cause damage, but they crossed a line and [Israel] needed to retaliate. Mom of three Cassie Baker was touched by the kind act of Dane Pratt, a cardiovascular perfusionist at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center in Iowa, as she witnessed Pratt reading to her daughter, Parker, who was hooked up to life support, fighting for her life. Baker captured the moving encounter in a photograph and shared it on Facebook, where it went viral. Pratt is in charge of running the ECMO machines for his young patients, and it turns out he often likes to bring in books to read to them. Parker had been born premature at just 23 weeks and had spent the first 234 days of her life in the NICU before eventually being released and heading home for the very first time in July. At 13 months, shortly after Christmas, Parker returned to the hospital due to a cold, which compounded her chronic lung infections, and that was when the mother came across Pratt, who was tending her daughters ECMO machine. Baker explained that since she had two other children at home, it had been hard to juggle her time to be there for Parker. Thats when Pratt stepped in, and while she was hooked up to the machine to help her body heal, he opened up a storybook hed been given by his grandmother. One day, Baker glanced in and saw Pratt reading next to Parker, making sure that she didnt feel alone in her room. He just one day scooted up to her bedside, opened a book, and read to her, said Cassie Baker, Parkers mother. It was just, as a parent, it makes you feel so at home and at east knowing that there are medical professionals that dont just see this as a job and are still compassionate. He is wonderful. We have two other kids to care for at home, and knowing she is getting the compassion and love from a medical professional the way Dane has, it warms our hearts. He is a truly special human being. According to Pratt, it was a simple and easy gesture to help try to make a tiny patient feel a little bit better. Going the extra mile doesnt mean you actually have to walk a mile, Pratt said. Sometimes its as easy as reading a book. The Baker family has a GoFundMe page set up to raise money for the treatment required to help Parker recover from her respiratory infections, but even those who just have a few extra books can help make a difference. Books can be sent to the hospital for workers like Pratt at this address: MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center 1111 6th Avenue Des Moines, IA 50314 I'm sure everyone is sick of me at this point, but my last reminder.Parker caught two respiratory viruses less than Cassie Baker In brief: Microsoft has made a habit of partnering up with Amazon's competitors like Walmart, who are reluctant to use the latter's AWS cloud for obvious reasons. With FedEx, it is indirectly gaining thousands of customers for its cloud services, which will ultimately hit Amazon's core business in the future. Microsoft and FedEx are joining forces with a new partnership that will supposedly "transform commerce" by pairing the former company's cloud prowess with the logistics network of the latter. The new service is called FedEx Surround, and while the two companies didn't reveal any specifics about the nature of the partnership and how it will work, they have explained that it will offer real-time analytics for people working in supply chain and delivery to increase satisfaction for both the producer and the consumer. And this is apparently the first step in a more ample plan to shake up the entrants in the last mile delivery business. FedEx pioneered package scanning and tracking decades ago, and it will now provide invaluable intelligence tools for companies who would otherwise not have the means to build them. That means businesses that move a lot of goods around will be able to do so more efficiently and reduce friction and costs associated with slowdowns or clearance issues. In a press release, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella explained that FedEx Surround "will provide participating businesses with not only enhanced visibility of a packages location during its journey, but also knowledge of global commerce conditions and external challenges in near-real-time, such as severe weather or natural disasters, mechanical delays, clearance issues, and incorrect addresses." The move will also widen the gap between FedEx and Amazon, especially since the latter is now fiercely competing for a slice of the last mile delivery pie. That became clear in 2018, when Amazon launched a delivery service for business, and culminated with the end of the ground shipping deal with FedEx and the controversial decision to temporarily block it from use by third-party sellers on its Marketplace. By partnering with Microsoft, FedEx is improving the image of Azure and Dynamics 365 at a time when Amazon and Microsoft are relentlessly fighting for the $10 billion JEDI cloud contract. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 20) National Task Force on COVID-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez said a total of 465 returning overseas Filipino workers have tested positive for the coronavirus disease. In an inter-agency task force meeting aired online late Tuesday night, Galvez said these OFWs were tested by the Philippine Red Cross, which in total performed over 22,000 tests. He also added that the country so far has tested around 30,000 OFWs. Kung hindi natin ni-PCR [polymerase chain reaction testing] ito, yung 465 po na ito ay parang magiging second wave, he said. At kawawa ang mga local government units, lalo na yung mga walang alam tsaka walang PCR sa area at walang facilities. According to Galvez, the influx of returning OFWs poses a huge problem, as such threatens to overwhelm hotels in the country. Malaki po ang problema po natin sa returning OFWs. Kasi po sa ngayon po, more than 27,000 na po ang nandito sa Manila, at mayroon pa pong darating na 42,000 this coming May and June, he said. However, he assured President Rodrigo Duterte that Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is already coordinating with various agencies to address this problem. Galvez added that Lorenzana has already ordered for the immediate release of all OFWs who tested negative. The country has so far recorded nearly 13,000 cases of the coronavirus disease, with more than 800 deaths and over 2,800 recoveries. Meanwhile, there are also now some 2,400 confirmed cases among Filipinos abroad, with Europe and Middle East/Africa logging the most number of infections. FILE - In this Tuesday, May 17, 2011 file photo, Microsoft founder Bill Gates holds a vaccine for meningitis during a news conference at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. On Friday, May 8, 2020, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting Bill Gates former doctor says the vaccine advocate refused to vaccinate his own children. Gates wife, Melinda, debunked the false claim when it circulated in April 2019. All three of my children are fully vaccinated, she said in a Facebook post addressing World Immunization Week. Vaccines work. And when fewer people decide to get them, we all become more vulnerable to disease. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus) Read more If youre already on the subscriber list, thanks for making this newsletter such a success in a short time! If someone forwarded you this email and you havent signed up yet, hop on the bandwagon. Its super easy to do at inquirer.com/bunch . A Bill Gates cure for schools post-coronavirus is already causing a bad reaction You probably know the old saying that just because youre paranoid doesnt mean theres not somebody out to get you. Heres a 2020 corollary: Just because Bill Gates isnt the diabolical mastermind of a globalist scheme to create the coronavirus in order to implant a microchip inside your kid doesnt mean his actual ideas are good for Americas children. Make no mistake: The multi-billionaire Microsoft-founder-turned-philanthropist is having a moment with the arrival of COVID-19, and not just in the fever dreams of right-wing conspiracy theorists. In the reality-based world, Gates who had warned for years about pandemic preparedness and his family foundation have pledged $250 million toward developing a vaccine. Thats admirable, but surprisingly little attention has been paid to another coronavirus-related Gates project that could have lasting and, arguably, detrimental consequences for your children long after the virus is crushed. In New York State, where the software icon and his Gates Foundation have long been active in so-called education reform, Gov. Andrew Cuomo tasked the philanthropy with a scheme to re-imagine education after COVID-19 that presumably would involve more laptops and fewer classrooms. The old model of everybody goes and sits in a classroom and the teacher is in front of that classroom, and teaches that class, and you do that all across the city, all across the state, all these buildings, all these physical classrooms why with all the technology you have?" Cuomo whose un-Trump-like ability to display empathy has caused his approval to soar even though his initial response to coronavirus was poor said earlier this month in partnering with the Gates Foundation. Seriously? New York and pretty much all of the nations schools have gone to remote computerized learning for the duration of the crisis and Im not really sure who is begging to keep doing this. Home-based online classes have created headaches both for parents suddenly tasked with home-schooling and working-from-home at the same time, but also for essential workers lacking child-care. Its exposed the digital divide between rich and poor kids. And here in Philadelphia, attendance has plummeted from 92 percent to 57 percent. This is a model? Whats more, critics rightly note that the Gates Foundation has over the course of the 21st century spent billions of dollars on various education schemes with little or nothing to show for it. Maybe thats because similar to Gates new mission as tasked by Cuomo its ideas tend to be focused heavily on data and the increased use of standardized testing, with little feel for the humanity of a classroom, the soul outside of the machine. Now, when Americans are rightly worried about alienated and unconnected, or atomized, kids in a era of school shootings, suicide and opioid abuse, and when the nation seems more angry and anti-social than any time in recent memory, we want kids glued to a laptop instead of inside a classroom where they can learn to get along with each other? Critics are pouncing, and rightfully so. Its clear students, at least, understand much of what our political leaders cant grasp about public education, New York City teacher Annie Abrams wrote in The New Republic. My students miss the dynamism and zaniness that define a classroom of adolescents, and they miss momentary escape from their defining roles at home." One of Cuomos home-state newspapers, the Syracuse Journal, editorialized that children are increasingly sad, unmotivated and glued to one screen or another. Without support from teachers and counselors, stressed-out parents are struggling to keep it together. Indeed, the governor backed away from the tone of his initial comments and promised to involve more teachers and parents in envisioning the future. But the virus and the accompanying economic depression clearly show America at a crossroads. The crisis is an opportunity to make our society more equitable and fair, but well have to fight the disturbing tendency to seek solutions from the billionaire capitalist tech barons who caused such a mess in the first place. The writer Naomi Klein is alarmed at what she calls a Pandemic Shock Doctrine in which COVID-19 becomes a living laboratory for a permanent and highly profitable no-touch future. In addition to Gates, Cuomo wants billionaires Eric Schmitt of Google and Mike Bloomberg to also re-imagine his states future. Lets not do that. Whenever its safe for kids to return to school, lets imagine a future where teachers and students get the support they need to work together, not as distant atoms. As John Lennon sang, its easy if you try. South Africa: Free State secures 25 quarantine sites The Free State government has identified 25 quarantine facilities to accommodate people who have had contact with COVID-19 patients. We have 10 quarantine facilities that are state-owned whilst 15 are privately-owned. The rest will be announced once ready for occupation, Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela said. Addressing a media briefing on Tuesday, on the provinces risk adjusted strategy on COVID-19, she said a vigorous repair and maintenance programme has been undertaken by the provincial Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. The programme has been undertaken to improve conditions of these facilities and bring them up to an acceptable level. These facilities are primarily used to isolate our people who have had contact with COVID-19 patients for continuous monitoring by our health workers. In total we have almost 1 700 beds across the province. We have satisfied ourselves that all the sites are habitable and decent to accommodate people, said the Premier. Meanwhile, maintenance work has been completed at Phillip Sanders Resort and Transnet Lodge in Bloemfontein. As of Tuesday, 56 people have been quarantined at Phillip Sanders, while a further 129 are under quarantine at Transnet Lodge. Maintenance work has been completed at the following resorts to be utilized for quarantine: Willem Pretorius in Lejweleputswa District; Seekoevlei and Sterkfontein Resorts in Thabo Mofutsanyane District. The resorts will be handed over to the Department of Health on Wednesday. The Free State has a total 165 COVID-19 confirmed cases, 115 recoveries and six deaths. Through the sterling work of the Provincial Department of Health, our government has to date, screened 1 352 787 people. This constitutes over 40 % of the provincial population. I am proud to announce that as of this morning, 3 302 of 3 324 contacts have been traced. The screening and tracing is ongoing as we speak, Ntombela said. The province has conducted 19 834 tests by the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS). Areas where water is a challenge have also be identified. These areas have been provide with tanks and tankers. To date; 2 622 tanks have been procured; 1 806 tanks have been delivered and 134 trucks have been procured and delivered. Social services Ntombela acknowledged work done by the Department of Social Development in ensuring that communities especially the homeless, are provided with shelter and food. Since the beginning of the lockdown, the department in partnership with municipalities distributed food parcels to vulnerable communities through the Community Nutrition Development Centres, Non-Profit Organisations, and Faith-Based Organisations. In addition to the distribution of food parcels to the most vulnerable, we have also intervened in various cases related to Gender Based Violence and provided psycho-social support services to affected individuals and families, she said. The distribution of food parcels in the province is as follows: Community Nutrition Development Centre (CNDC) 4 311 Drop-in Centres and Protective Workshops 6 060 Departmental Equitable Share - 2 482 Distribution of Food Parcels by National Lotteries Commission 938 Distribution of Food Parcels by South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) 7487 The total number of homeless persons accommodated at shelters continues to fluctuate, and has since decreased from 317 to 269 due to re-unification with families and other issues. The province has worked with various stakeholders, including taxi organisations to disinfect all the 65 formal taxi rank structures. To protect the drivers and the passengers in the taxi industry, we have provided the Provincial Taxi Council and Taxi Associations with disinfection gel, sanitisers, masks and gloves. We will continue to ensure that public transport modes adhere to the rules of sanitisation and social distancing. We plead with our public transport users to bear with us, and adhere to the rules, said the Premier.-SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Pottawattamie County Public Health reported nine new COVID-19 cases Monday, all of which are Council Bluffs residents. One of the cases is a person 18-40 years old; two are 41-60 years old; and six are 61-80 years old. The people were tested between May 7 and May 15. So far, 2,060 Pottawattamie County residents have been tested for COVID-19, and a total of 171 have tested positive. Currently, two individuals are hospitalized, 92 individuals are self-isolating, 74 have fully recovered, one moved out of state, and two have died. The vast majority of positive cases have not required hospitalization and have been able to fully recover at home. On Monday, two additional cases were tracked via PCPH contact tracing investigations, bringing the current number of community spread cases down from 55 to 53. For additional COVID-19 information, including case demographics filtered by county, visit the Iowa Department of Public Healths COVID-19 dashboard at coronavirus.iowa.gov. The dashboard is updated daily and contains Iowas total number of cases, recoveries, deaths, tests conducted, and epidemiological curve. PCPH continues to conduct contact tracing investigations for each COVID-19 case. If and when a risk to the general public is identified, PCPH will publicly identify the location and communicate any actions the public should take. Because we have community spread of COVID-19, individuals should take precautions to protect themselves. Stay home as much as possible, limit travel and shopping, practice social distancing by staying at least six feet away from others. Wash hands and disinfect frequently touched surfaces multiple times per day. If you are sick, stay home. Iowans are encouraged to go to testiowa.com and complete the assessment. TestIowa is an initiative designed to increase the rate of COVID-19 testing in Iowa. If you have COVID-19 symptoms or develop symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath), contact your healthcare provider before going to the doctors office or an emergency room. A look at the numbers in the region, based on data provided by the counties and coronavirus.iowa.gov: Pottawattamie County 171 cases, 2,060 tests, 74 recoveries, 8.3% of those tested have come back positive Mills County 12 cases, 341 tests, five recoveries, 3.5% Harrison County 18 cases, 316 tests, 17 recoveries, 5.7% Shelby County 23 cases, 206 tests, 16 recoveries, 11.2% Montgomery County five cases, 195 tests, four recoveries, 2.6% Page County 10 cases, 439 tests, eight recoveries, 2.3% Cass County two cases, 228 tests, one recovery, 0.9% Monona County 15 cases, 243 tests, 12 recoveries, 6.2% Crawford County 384 cases, 1,141 tests, 147 recoveries, one death, 33.9% Fremont County three cases, 94 tests, one recovery, 3.2% In Regional Medical Coordination Center region four, which includes Pottawattamie, Mills, Harrison, Cass, Crawford, Shelby, Fremont, Montgomery, Page, Adams, Audubon and Taylor Counties, there are five patients hospitalized. Three patients are in intensive care. The region has 217 inpatient beds available, 40 intensive care beds available and 66 ventilators available. No hospitalized patients are on ventilators. Bishop of Des Moines Diocese allows Mass to resume in certain counties The bishop of the Des Moines Catholic Church Diocese announced Sunday that Mass and other services could resume in some counties. In-person Mass services have been canceled for several weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many churches have held services online. Bishop William Joensen said in a letter to church members that Mass may resume beginning Thursday in Wayne, Lucas, Clarke, Decatur, Madison, Union, Ringgold, Adair, Adams, Taylor, Cass, Montgomery, Page, Fremont, and Harrison Counties. Mass may resume May 25 in Mills County. Joensen said other counties, on account of the still rising or insufficiently diminished incident of contagion remain prohibited from celebrating daily Masses with more than 10 persons present. Those counties include: Pottawattamie, Polk, Warren, Dallas, Guthrie, Audubon, and Shelby Counties. The bishop added the permission to resume Mass is not a hard mandate. It remains left to local priest pastors to decide whether your parish can dutifully fulfill the hygienic cleansing, social distancing, and other guidelines that will best mitigate the risk of further contagion, and thus celebrate public Masses with more than 10 persons, Joensen said in the letter. Omaha parking meters to require payment again Free parking at Omaha parking meters is coming to an end. Parking meters, which people havent needed to plug since the end of March because of the coronavirus pandemic, must be fed again beginning June 1, Park Omaha officials said Monday. Those who fail to pay the meter after that date first will be issued a warning citation. Park Omaha has begun enforcing all other parking violations. Safety violations, such as obstructing traffic or a fire hydrant, will result in an immediate citation. Those who are cited on suspicion of other violations, such as overtime parking, will be given one warning. Long-term parkers are asked to return to their off-street options. Shared curbside spaces for downtown restaurants will continue to be available in most areas, officials said. A map of those spaces will be available on ParkOmaha.com. Omahas annual Memorial Park concert is canceled This years City of Omaha Celebrates America concert and fireworks show at Memorial Park has been canceled. Originally scheduled for June 26, the concert has been canceled due to the novel coronavirus. This years performers had been booked but were not yet announced. Event organizers are in discussions with the artists to book them again for next years concert, which will take place on June 25, 2021. It was heartbreaking decision, but not a difficult one because health and safety come first, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said in a statement. Im hopeful and excited about next years concert, when we can celebrate America safely. The annual free concert is one of Omahas most popular events, typically drawing tens of thousands of people to the rolling lawn in central Omaha. Last years concert featured Chris Isaak and Little Stephen and the Disciples of Soul. The concert and fireworks show dates to 1987 and has been scheduled every year since 1993, though it has been canceled a few times due to weather. On Monday, the Douglas County (Nebraska) Health Department confirmed that total cases of COVID-19 in the county have increased to 2,478 from Sundays total of 2,414. The data continues to be evaluated. As of Sunday night, Omaha hospitals reported 444 medical surge beds were available and 137 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19. Of the 374 ventilators available to area hospitals, 125 were in use, including 44 for confirmed COVID-19 patients. DCHD has confirmed 418 county residents have recovered from the illness. Restrictions on farmers markets continue through May 27 Gov. Kim Reynolds has extended the states Public Health Emergency Declaration as it pertains to farmers markets. The governors latest proclamation allows farmers markets to continue operating, but only to sell food and farm products. An earlier proclamation allowed farmers markets to open as of April 24, under the same restrictions. The markets should continue to follow basic social distancing and hygiene and public health measures. Vendor booths are required to be at least 6 feet apart, and common seating areas are prohibited. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, along with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, recently put together several publications to help Iowans understand the requirements and additional best practices that should be followed. Guidance for Iowa Farmers Markets During COVID-19 is a one-page document that provides an easy-to-follow, bulleted list of whats required and expected. Farmers Market and U-Pick Best Practices and Regulations, published by ISU Extension and Outreach, is a seven-page document that provides food safety best practices and examples of the regulations surrounding distribution and shipping of food products in Iowa. Information is available on how to keep employees and visitors healthy, hygiene and cleaning, how to communicate with the public, and various alternatives for buying and selling farm and food products. Joe Hannan, commercial horticulture field specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach, said the order is important for those who depend on outdoor food markets, but said its still important to follow what experts are asking. Its great that were open for business but that doesnt mean we can disregard social distancing or the other policies in the order, he said. We still need to be careful and cognizant of whats going on in the world and how that affects what we do at our food markets. Hannan said there has been increased interest in local foods since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with producers and consumers finding creative ways to exchange goods, while keeping their distance. The best practices guide helps operators of those markets continue to do business, in ways that reduce exposure and promote healthy food sales. Group seeks money to bury refugee, 36, who died of COVID-19 Advocates are raising money for the burial of a 36-year-old Congolese refugee who died of the coronavirus earlier this month in Des Moines. Embarc Iowa, a refugee services organization, said that Wiuca Iddi Wiuca died May 4 after a sudden illness and two weeks in the hospital. The group says advocates need to raise thousands of dollars to have Wiuca buried this week at an Ankeny cemetery. Traditional burial in the Congolese community is extremely important. There is no other option; since the body came from the soil, it must be returned, the group says. Wiuca leaves behind two adult siblings who, like him, were resettled to Des Moines last year from a refugee camp in Tanzania. They had fled war in Congo in 1996. Wiucas siblings have been struggling to pay their rent and expenses and have been off work, Embarc Iowa says. A pastor who has worked with the family says all three siblings were employed at a Pitney Bowes warehouse, but its unknown where Wiuca contracted the virus. Wiuca is at least the second Congolese refugee to die in Iowa of coronavirus in recent days. On May 10, the Congolese community in Waterloo announced that Tyson Foods employee Axel Kabeya died of COVID-19. Information on COVID-19 Pottawattamie County Public Health has said daily: Because we have community spread of COVID-19, individuals should be taking precautions to protect themselves. Stay home as much as possible, limit travel and shopping. If you must leave home, practice social distancing, and stay at least 6 feet away from others. Wash hands and disinfect frequently touched surfaces multiple times per day. If you are sick, self-isolate at home. Symptoms in people who have been exposed to conravirus 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. Testing criteria is based on guidance from the Iowa Hygienic Lab or private lab guidelines. Pottawattamie County Public Health does not have a role in deciding who does and does not get tested. Public health officials recommend: Stay home as much as possible. 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. Methodist Health System is offering a community hotline and screening tool at 402-815-SICK (7425). CHI Health has a helpline to answer questions and direct patients who may be at high risk of the coronavirus illness. Visit chihealth.com for information. Pottawattamie County Emergency Management Agency has a COVID-19 call center open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at 712-890-5368 or 712-890-5369. For those struggling with mental health during the pandemic, yourlifeiowa.org has several resources, including a hotline at 855-581-8111 and a text-friendly line at 855-895-8398. Additionally, the Hope 4 Iowa Crisis Hotline connects individuals in crisis to a helping hand with the resources to address and improve mental wellness. The hotline is available 24 hours a day. Call 84-HOPE-4-IOWA (844-673-4469). The University of Nebraska Medical Center has a COVID-19 screening app 1-Check COVID, enables users to answer a series of questions and assess their likelihood of having COVID-19. Based on the users input, the screening app will issue a low-risk, urgent risk or emergent risk assessment and guide the individual toward possible next steps. Additionally, go to coronavirus.iow.gov, pcema-ia.org, and/or cdc.gov for more information. Omaha World-Herald reporters Reece Ristau and Kevin Coffey, Joe Hannan of Iowa State University Extension, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 14:34:01|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WUHAN, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Since mid-March, Gao Wan'e has been busy collecting items demonstrating China's collective efforts in the combat against the novel coronavirus epidemic with her colleagues in Wuhan, previously the hardest-hit city in central China's Hubei Province. Gao, curator of the Wuhan Revolutionary Museum, said they had received more than 9,600 pieces of material evidence from patients and other members of the public, as well as organizations including hospitals, airports and construction enterprises. Items including protective suits with signatures of medical teams from all over the country, souvenir boarding passes for medical workers when they left Wuhan, boots worn by military medics when they worked at Huoshenshan Hospital, ventilators and other medical equipment are included in the collection list. Now, all the anti-epidemic objects have been stored in a temporary warehouse at the museum after being disinfected. Wearing goggles and her protective suit, Hu Dan, a staffer with the museum, has been sorting out and registering the latest collections in the past months. "We are in contact with the materials collected from the front line of the fight against the virus every day. Although we are also worried about being infected, we still insist on doing this work, hoping to leave something for our future generations and record the precious memories," she said. The collection that struck her most was donated by an old man from the city of Qiqihar, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. On the afternoon of April 22, the museum received a special delivery without any recipient or address. It contained a letter and a portrait of Zhong Nanshan, a renowned 84-year-old respiratory specialist who had been fighting COVID-19 at the front line. In the letter, Fu Mingxing, 85, who used to be an artist in Qiqihar Library, wrote that he was saddened to see the Hubei people suffering from the epidemic. Although he was unable to help Wuhan with money because of financial constraints, he hoped the painting, which took him three days to finish, could cheer the city up. "As long as the delivery can be sent to the Wuhan people, I will be relieved," he said. After getting his permission, Huang Jingyu, a worker with Best Express, one of the major courier companies in China, contacted the media and finally sent the parcel to the Wuhan Revolutionary Museum, which was eagerly seeking mementos. "The people in Wuhan made great sacrifices in the resolute fight against the epidemic. But what I can do for them is too little. Thank you, Wuhan," Fu said when the curator thanked him on a video call. A donation ceremony of anti-epidemic objects was held at the Wuhan Revolutionary Museum on Monday, the 44th International Museum Day, as part of its special activities to mark the day. Workers and volunteer representatives from all walks of life in Wuhan who had participated in the anti-virus fight told touching stories behind the objects at the ceremony. Curator Gao said never before has the museum been so constructively involved in the political, social and cultural issues of modern society as a means of strengthening its ties to society. Since March, a dozen museums in Hubei including the Wuhan Revolutionary Museum have actively solicited from the public various material evidence of the country's efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. As of May 15, a total of more than 20,000 items had been collected. Enditem RENSSELAER Paula and Mark Goca had been home four days after finishing their honeymoon when a knock came on the door in the early morning hours of May 19, 2000. Paula Goca thought her husband, Rensselaer Police Officer Mark Goca, had forgotten his keys and couldnt get in. It turned out to be a knock that over the past two decades shes never forgotten. It was 10 police officers, the chief of police, my father and a priest, Goca recalled. They had arrived to tell Goca, then 34, that her 36-year-old husband had died. The unmarked police car Goca was riding in with partner Kenneth Kannes, who was driving, had flipped on a turn on I-90 near the Arbor Hill exit. My wedding dress was still hanging on the windowsill, Goca said. My father held me. He said Mark was in an accident, Goca said. That was the end of my life as I knew it. Goca and Kannes, friends and partners, were returning from Albany to the Rensselaer police station at about 2:30 a.m. May 10, 2000. They had been working on an undercover drug investigation with the Albany County Sheriffs Office. They had stopped for drinks afterward. Kannes would be charged and convicted by a jury for second-degree vehicular manslaughter in the fatal drunk driving case. He was sentenced to 2 to 7 years in prison in 2001. He was released on parole in 2005 after serving four years. Goca's death also shined a light on the city's police force; Rensselaer Police Chief Rick Fusco moved to clamp down on the department, which led to some officers, their union and extended family members pushing back. For nearly three years at the twice-a-month council meetings, people lined up at the microphone to berate officials. Schodack Police Chief John Hourigan and Goca joined the Rensselaer police force together, working the night shift as partners. Hourigan recalled Goca as an officer who connected with community members, a key element in successful police work. Mark was a young, well respected member of law enforcement who was highly regarded by his peers and the community in a tightly knit city, Hourigan said. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Gocas funeral was held at the Church of St. John the Evangelist. A miles-long procession of police vehicles and officers from throughout the northeast paid him honors the day he was buried. Paula Goca adopted a baby boy three years later and named him Mark after her late husband. A senior at Averill Park High School, hes graduating this year with plans to attend Hudson Valley Community College. He has his eye on becoming a detective or an FBI agent. Goca, 54, works with the STOP DWI in the Rensselaer County Executives Office and attends the victim impact statements. But she never speaks. I cant its too emotional, she said. Please do not drink and drive. Its 20 years later. It never gets easier. Trust in the travel industry has plunged to a record low as airlines and holiday companies continue to deny and delay refunds for coronavirus cancellations, according to Which? The consumer champion says its Consumer Insight Tracker shows that trust in airlines and holiday companies has dropped from a net score of nine in February 2020 to minus 12 in May 2020 a drop of 21 points. This is the lowest score ever recorded in the seven years that the data has been collected. Trust in the travel industry has plunged to a record low, according to research by Which? Which? surveyed over 2,000 people about their level of trust in airlines and holiday operators between May 13 and 15 - eight weeks after the UKs lockdown grounded most international travel. Net trust is calculated by subtracting the proportion of those that do not trust the industry from those that do, with a score below zero indicating a greater proportion do not trust the sector than do. Just one in five (22 per cent) said they trust these industries, while 34 per cent said they did not trust them, giving a net score of -12. This is in comparison to three in 10 (32 per cent) people saying they trusted the sectors in February just shortly after the coronavirus outbreak began in the UK and nearly a quarter (23 per cent) saying they did not trust airlines and holiday companies, giving a net score of nine. Seven in 10 people surveyed by Which? who had booked a holiday or flight prior to the lockdown had some or all of their plans cancelled, with the majority (58 per cent) still waiting for their money to be returned to them. Of those waiting for their money back for a cancelled trip, nearly half (47 per cent) have been left more than 500 out of pocket, and nearly three in 10 (27 per cent) are owed more than 1,000. Under the Denied Boarding Regulations, if youre due to fly with an airline based in the UK or EU, or are flying from an airport in the UK or EU, youre protected if your flight is cancelled, and should be refunded within seven days. For package holidays, the Package Travel Regulations state that customers whose holidays are cancelled by the operator in these circumstances should receive a full refund within 14 days of the cancellation. Which? says it is only the second time since its records began that the net score for trust in airlines and holiday companies has dropped below zero. Seven in 10 people surveyed by Which? who had booked a holiday or flight prior to the lockdown had some or all of their plans cancelled, with the majority (58 per cent) still waiting for their money to be returned to them The only previous occasion net trust in the industry entered negative figures was briefly after the collapse of Thomas Cook in September 2019, when the net score decreased to -1 per cent. Nearly a month ago, Which? claimed that all of the UKs major airlines and holiday companies are openly breaking the law by delaying refunds for cancelled trips or removing customers refund rights altogether, as they face unprecedented strain due to the coronavirus crisis. The industrys own estimates at the time suggested that up to 7billion of travellers money is affected. In that time, the government has confirmed there have been no changes to the law and that all customers are entitled to a cash refund but Which? says it has taken no significant action to ensure consumers can access the refunds to which they are legally entitled. Additionally, while the European Commission has since set out how member states can make Refund Credit Notes (RCNs) more appealing by ensuring they are financially protected, the UK government has yet to confirm if RCNs which are being pushed as a viable alternative to cash refunds for package holidays by the industry body, Abta are Atol protected. Which? says this leaves customers who accept one at risk of losing their money should their holiday provider fail, adding further confusion to the situation around refund options. The findings come on the same day as the UKs aviation minister and the aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, are due to face questions on the coronaviruss impact on flights and travel from MPs on Parliaments Transport Select Committee. Which? is now warning that government intervention is essential to prevent any further damage to the industry, and has set out its recommendations in its 10-point plan, which it has shared with the government. It is calling on it to urgently support the industry to fulfil its legal obligations to its customers. Which? says the government has taken no significant action to ensure consumers can access the refunds they are legally entitled to The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has announced it will be reviewing airlines handling of refunds during this crisis and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating cancellations and refunds for UK holiday accommodation. Now Which? is warning that the government and aviation regulator cannot delay taking action against airlines and holiday companies that it knows are breaking the law on refunds for any longer - otherwise trust in the sector will plummet further. Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: 'These latest figures are a damning indictment of the behaviour of many airlines and holiday companies in recent weeks. 'With customers being told to either wait months for their money back or accept a voucher that may prove worthless if a company fails, it should come as a surprise to no-one that trust has plummeted so drastically. 'Any further delay risks permanent damage to trust in the travel industry. The regulator must come down strongly on any airlines found to be systemically denying or delaying refunds for cancelled flights and holidays, and the government must urgently set out how it will support the industry and restore trust in the sector.' New Delhi, May 19 : Aam Aadmi Partys (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said on Tuesday that if economic activities are not started, more people would die due to hunger than coronavirus, while also slamming the BJP for the migrant workers crisis across the country. The AAP leader justified the opening up of economic activities by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwla, saying lockdown cannot continue indefinitely. "The Delhi government has decided to open up public transports and markets because economic activities should start. I believe that we have to continue social distancing, wear masks and follow the sanitisation protocols for some time now," Singh told the media. He said the lockdown cannot continue indefinitely as economic activities will have to start at some point of time. "If economic activities do not begin, more people will die due to hunger than Covid-19," he said. Singh also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying while on one hand the country is witnessing a massive exodus of the poor migrant labourers, on the other hand "we are witnessing a deliberate reluctance of the BJP government to settle the situation by sending these poor people back to their homes". He said the whole country is witnessing everyday how the poor migrant workers are walking barefoot for thousands of miles, losing their lives in accidents while women are giving birth to children on the streets. "My question is does the BJP want these people to die on the streets? We have witnessed that labourers have died in Aurangabad, Muzaffarnagar, Sagar, Barabanki, and on Tuesday nine people died in Bihar due to truck accidents," he said. In Delhi, he said, nearly 4 lakh migrant labourers have registered to go back to their homes. "To send these 4 lakh migrants, we need 350 trains but the BJP government is running only 100 trains across the country which shows their apathy towards solving this issue. The BJP sent luxury flights to bring back people stuck in other countries, but it does not care for the poor people who are walking barefoot. This shows that the BJP is an anti-poor political party," the Rajya Sabha MP said. He said the country has witnessed violence against these poor people in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. "All these states are run by the BJP. On Tuesday, a senior BJP leader tweeted that the Delhi government will 'dump' more labourers at the borders. This is an utterly unfortunate statement. These labourers are not commodities, but they are the people who make our cities," Singh said. He said such statements exposed the BJP's "anti-poor and anti-humanitarian political ideology". "My question is why the BJP government is not taking the initiative to send these poor people home," he asked. Singh said he believed that this is not the time for political blame games, which is "happening in UP over the migrants' crisis". "Right now the biggest issue is the exodus of poor migrant labourers. The only way to solve this issue is by running more trains. Indian Railways can carry 2,30,00,000 people per day. But the BJP government is not at all serious about the issue," he said. He added that the Central government has the ultimate power to run trains and if they were willing, they could have solved the issue much earlier. "The states will arrange stadia or similar centres and ensure their stay. From there the labourers will be taken to the stations where medical screening will take place and then they will board the train and go back home. This is the whole procedure, but the BJP government has no vision to implement this. The BJP government is saying that they will run only 100 trains across the country, which means that the whole process will go on for months and the poor people will keep dying," Singh said. Having to reign the British monarchy for almost half a century, Queen Elizabeth II is probably used to dealing with controversies and scandals brought by the members of the royal family. But this year, the Buckingham Palace was rocked to its core when the Queen's grandson Prince HArry decided to step down as a senior member of the royal family along with his wife, former actress Meghan Markle. It is said that the royal gamily was not prepared for such a huge decision. It is also worth mentioning that the last senior royal to turn his back from his duty was Queen Elizabeth II's uncle King Edward VIII, which set the Queen's destiny in 360 degrees. Now, the royal family faced another departure from the sixth heir to the British throne. Everyone was surprised by Prince Harry and Meghan's decision, which is believed to be rooted from the Duke of Sussex's eagerness to protect his little family. While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have not given their full insight about this whole "Megxit" fiasco, Harry and Meghan's fellow aristocrat has a theory on why the couple has come to this decision. Real Reason Behind Megxit Speaking to FOX News, Lady Julie Montagu, an American-turned-royal, revealed that she was not surprised when Harry and Meghan decided to turn their backs on their royal duties. The 46-year-old Viscountess Hinchingbrooke became a royal herself when she married Luke Timothy Charles Montagu, the Viscount Hinchingbrooke and son of the 11th Earl of Sandwich. Lady Julie believes that Harry and Meghan's decision was rooted in how badly they were treated by the British media, especially Meghan. Lady Julie was also not surprised that the couple got ticked off by the constant scrutiny. "Does it surprise me? No. She was getting such really relentless negative press from the British tabloid press. It doesn't surprise me at all. I think they had enough," Lady Julie said. The former cast member of "Ladies of London" also echoed Prince Harry's statement connecting his fears for his family from the experience of her late mother Princess Diana from the British press. "And we saw what happened to Princess Diana. And I think the last thing that Harry wanted to happen was the exact same thing that happened to his mother. So, I think that they really gave it a good go. I mean, I was there, I read all the articles," she added. The Rebel Prince The royal mother-of-four also shared her insights on why the 35-year-old Duke chose to live a totally different life, even after being born, raised and trained to fulfill his royal duties all his life. Lady Julie said that Prince Harry was a rebel even from the start -- a rebel prince who wanted to break free from the old tradition and ways. "He probably is preferring that life. He's not hounded by the press. He's been hounded his entire life," Lady Julie said. "He's finally being, for the most part, being left alone and he gets to live this laid back life. They just do what they want to do." Scientists have successfully mixed human and mice cells in a hybrid 'chimera' embryo, the most advanced example of its kind. The project was organized by researchers at State University of New York at Buffalo, and could point to a major advance in hybrid embryo creation that could be used in the future to harvest organs for human transplants. The team successfully combined human stem cells with embryonic mice cells by temporarily deactivating a protein called mTOR in the human cells. Researchers at State University of New York at Buffalo devised a new technique to mix human stem cells with embryonic mice cells, creating hybrid embryos made with up to four percent human cells This protein regulates cell growth, and after several hours without the protein active, the human stem cells reverted to a 'naive' state, their earliest form where they can grow into the widest range of possible organs or tissues. These 'naive' human stem cells raised the chances of successful integration with the mice embryo cells, according to a report in Science News. The team injected between 10 and 12 batches of these naive human stem cells into mice embryos and left them to develop for 17 days. The resulting embryos had between 0.1 and four percent of their total cells from the human stem cells. 'You put the same human cells in a mouse embryo, [and] they go fast,' SUNY Buffalo's Jian Feng told Science News. 'In 17 days, you get all these mature cells that would otherwise take months to get in a normal human embryo.' The researchers deactivated a protein that governs cellular growth to force the human stem cells to revert to a 'naive' state where they could grow into the widest range of organs and tissues and thus had the highest chance of mixing with the mice cells The human stem cells were most abundant in the red blood cells circulating through the embryo, and they were also present in liver tissue, heart, eye cells, and even the brain. One area where the human stem cells weren't found were in the reproductive organs, meaning the team won't have to worry about the prospect of the chimera creatures potentially reproducing. Many scientists are still concerned about the ethics of producing such mixed-species chimera embryos. In 2019, Chinese researchers attempted to create hybrid human-pig embryos. They implanted 4,000 pig embryos with human stem cells, from which two survived gestation and birth, but both died less than a week later In 2019, Chinese researchers created more than 4,000 pig pig embryos injected with human stem cells, of which two piglets survived gestation and were actually born, though both died within a week. Douglas Munoz of Queen's University in Kingston, Canada feared these attempts posed ethical risks that were beyond most scientists' abilities to predict. 'For us to start to manipulate life functions in this kind of way without fully knowing how to turn it off, or stop it if something goes awry really scares me,' Munoz said in 2019. San Francisco, May 19 (IANS) Ride-hailing app Uber has announced to lay off nearly 3,000 more employees in the second round, along with closing or consolidating some 45 offices globally. Last week, Uber fired nearly 3,700 employees via multiple Zoom calls. With this, 25 per cent of its global workforce is now out of job. "We have made the incredibly difficult decision to reduce our workforce by around 3,000 people, and to reduce investments in several non-core projects," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a letter to employees on Monday. In a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Uber said due to lower trip volumes in its rides segment and the company's current hiring freeze, it is reducing its customer support and recruiting teams to cut down on heavy losses. Uber is also closing or consolidating some 45 offices globally, including its Pier 70 office in San Francisco, a branch responsible for its experimental projects like self-driving cars. Over the next 12 months, it will begin the process of moving its Asia-Pacific headquarters out of Singapore to a new location "in a market where we operate our services," according to the company. Uber will reduce its costs by over US $1 billion a year by these actions, the company said. "We began 2020 on an accelerated path to total company profitability. Then the coronavirus hit us with a once-in-a-generation public health and economic crisis," Khosrowshahi noted. "If there is one silver lining regarding this crisis, it is that Eats has become an even more important resource for people at home and for restaurants," he said. "We no longer need to look far for the next enormous growth opportunity, we are sitting right on top of one." Khosrowshahi also cautioned that the accelerating Eats business now still doesn't come close to covering the expenses. The profitability "is not going to happen overnight." The ride-hailing major Uber reported a net loss of $2.9 billion in the first quarter of this year, even as its revenue reached $3.54 billion in Q1 2020 from $3.1 billion a year ago, a growth of 14 per cent. In Q1 2019, Uber's net loss was $1 billion, which includes $11 million in stock-based compensation expense. Uber has also announced it is folding its JUMP e-bike and e-scooter business into Lime. --IANS na-rt/ Receiving these awards is a confirmation to our commitment to continue creating scalable learning solutions that transform individual learner potential into lasting organizational growth. - Ron Zamir, AllenComm CEO The 2019 Horizon Awards have announced the best of the best interactive media production. AllenComm, a leader in transformational training solutions, has won four Horizon Awards for client courses in leadership, brand training, compliance, and onboarding. Savvas Learning (formerly Pearson K12 Learning) together with AllenComm took home a gold Horizon Award for an interactive high school US History training, helping students connect more closely with historical events that shaped the nation. Bell won a silver Horizon Award for an immersive brand training course that helps employees make brand-aligned decisions. Winning bronze awards, the Infusion Nurses Society compliance course teaches best practices for infusion, and the Center for Practice Innovations at Columbia Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute onboarding course assists mental health practitioners in delivering high-quality care for their patients. The 18th Annual 2019 Horizon Awards competition saw nearly 800 entries from around the world. An international panel of judges, consisting of industry professionals with diverse backgrounds evaluated categories ranging from online advertising to mobile applications. The 2019 winning entries showcase the industrys best interactive media solutions. Our team is honored to partner with some of the most recognizable companies in the world to create innovative learning solutions that facilitate business transformation and are at the forefront of training design, said Ron Zamir, CEO of AllenComm. Receiving these awards is a confirmation to our commitment to continue creating scalable learning solutions that transform individual learner potential into lasting organizational growth. I am continually amazed at the creativity, artistry, and technical excellence of the entries we receive year after year, said Mike Sauce, Founder of the Horizon Interactive Awards. It is clear that the interactive media industry is continuing to push digital media technology to new bounds and effectively blending many different media channels and formats into one cohesive and connected user experience. The winners of the 18th annual competition represent excellence in interactive media production and should truly be proud of the work that they produce. AllenComm continues to produce innovative and engaging custom training solutions that get results for large corporations in North America. Companies that partner with AllenComm to develop learning experiences for them see a positive impact on their bottom line and often receive awards as a result. About AllenComm For over 35 years, AllenComm has partnered with Fortune 100 companies to create and scale unique, innovative learning solutions. Extensive instructional design experience, innovative learning technologies, and agency-level creative teams enable AllenComm to stand out in the learning landscape. Considered one of the top ten firms of its kind in the country, AllenComm wins over 40 awards year after year for their transformational learning solutions. With internal workforce and experience, AllenComm is uniquely positioned in the learning space to meet multiple needs from small to very large change management projects. Partnering with AllenComm to supplement and support human capital management needs has helped customers reduce expenses, shorten onboarding periods, and raise the impact of sales and compliance efforts. For more information, visit allencomm.com. About the Horizon Interactive Awards In its 18th year, the Horizon Interactive Awards was created to recognize excellence in interactive media production worldwide. Since 2001, the competition has received tens of thousands of entries from many countries around the world and nearly all 50 US States. Each year, those entries are narrowed down to the best of the best to be recognized and promoted on an international stage for their excellence. The judging process involves a blend of the Horizon Interactive Awards advisory panel and an international panel of volunteer judges consisting of industry professionals. Winning entries have been dubbed the best of the best in the interactive media industry. The department responsible for delivering the Magee Medical School says 'further work' is needed to ensure students can enrol in September 2021. It comes after Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill yesterday announced that the long-awaited Derry medical school had been agreed by the Executive. However, in a statement sent to the Derry News after the Deputy First Minister's comments an Executive Office spokesperson indicated that a 2021 start date is not yet guaranteed and the matter will be considered again next month. An Executive Office spokesperson said: The Executive has reaffirmed its commitment to establish a Graduate Entry Medical School at Magee, as set out in New Decade, New Approach. Further work is being undertaken to secure a sustainable outcome for the project within the fastest possible timescales. Plans are being progressed that would allow an initial student intake of 70 in September 2021 and the Executive will consider this issue again next month. Around 70 medical students will begin their studies in existing campus buildings, Ulster University (UU) previously told the Derry News, with a view to delivering a new build along the riverfront in the years ahead. When fully operational around 2029/30 the school will have 110 medical students, UU said, at this point it will cost 27m per year. Speaking at yesterdays COVID-19 press conference Michelle ONeill said plans are being progressed that will allow the first student intake of 70 in September 2021. She added: This is a hugely important investment decision for the North West and it adds to the Executive's recent announcement on the Derry and Strabane City Deal and Inclusive Future Fund. "It will prove to be instrumental in the regeneration of the region and will help to support our health service who we much rely on at this point and into the future." A short time later SDLP leader Colum Eastwood asked for more detail and said a guarantee was needed that students will start in 2021. And while welcoming the news DUP MLA Gary Middleton said he hoped the Magee Medical School would be delivered in 2021. For many ethnic media outlets in New York City, contacts and sources within the hospital system necessary to covering the COVID-19 pandemic were already known to them in their communities. In my new report for the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, I reinterviewed local journalists in New York City who had spoken to me for my report on the citys news ecosystem in January. I asked how they knew these sources, and how differently their communities understood the pandemic. Its not via official channels, according to Rong Xiaoqing, a journalist in the New York bureau of the Chinese-language newspaper Sing Tao Daily, who said ethnic media outlets often dont have their phone calls to high-ranking officials returned quickly. Rong said the paper has longstanding relationships with organizations and clubs devoted to Chinese medical personnel. Take the Chinese Cardiologists Club, or something like that, she said, maybe we covered their anniversary celebration. and took some photos and they were happy [with the coverage]. Now, when we want to locate some doctors in a particular hospital, we go to them and say can you help us find someone? and they help us. Garry Pierre-Pierre, editor-in-chief of Brooklyns Haitian Times, said that, thanks to the overrepresentation of Haitians in the healthcare system, and his longstanding ties in the community, that his paper hadnt struggled at all to find sources. Javier Castano, founder and editor of the publication Queens Latino, and Roberto Lacayo, news director of the TV network NY1 Noticias, both also said they had been able to find sources within Queens hospitals from among their communities relatively easily. At NY1 Noticias, local reporters are told they must live in the neighborhoods they cover for the network. Traditionally reporters receive an assignment from the station, Lacayo said, but in our case, it is the other way around. The reporters tell us what is going on in that neighborhood and make assignments. So when Covid-19 happened, we already had the sources and network in place in Queens, he said. Among NY1 Noticiass coverage, Lacayo said, was an interview with the director of the embattled Elmhurst hospital. The Chinese-language presss coverage of Covid-19 has been particularly unique because of the communitys early awareness of the epidemic and its effects. Rong said her paper started covering Covid-19 as early as late January. At the time, she wrote about the cancellation of celebrations for the Chinese New Year due to fears of the virus, long before events were being suspended across the city. (A translated version of the article was the first piece about Covid-19 to appear on the website of City Limits, which operates an initiative called Voices of New York that translates ethnic, non-English-speaking local press into English). Rong said it was at this time that she started covering the question of mask use, which would gain importance over the coming months. According to Rong, she asked government officials about wearing masks three times between late January and mid-March, long before their usage was mandated in April. Rongs first reporting on masks, she said, was about discrimination against people in the Chinese community who were wearing masks before they were widely adopted. When she asked the citys Health Commissioner about this at a press conference in late January, she said she told her the city didnt recommend that people wear masks as an effective measure against the spread of the virus. (Rongs stories are no longer available to read online.) Sign up for CJR 's daily email READ: The road to making smalltown news more inclusive In a February panel moderated by Rong at the CUNY Journalism School, Rong said that Dr. Syra Madad, the citys senior director of the system-wide special pathogens program, told her again that the city did not recommend mask usage. Finally, at Mayor de Blasios March 10 press conference at Bellevue hospital, she asked again about the contradictory nature of saying masks were vital for healthcare workers, but were not effective in preventing healthy people from getting infected. This time, she said, Health Commissioner Barbot mentioned for the first time the need to prevent a shortage of PPE for healthcare workers. After the press conference, Rong said, she wrote an op-ed in Sing Tao questioning all of this mask propaganda. Later Sing Tao coverage included the closures of restaurants in Sunset Parks Chinatown several days, and in some cases, more than a week before Mayor de Blasio mandated shutting restaurants citywide. In our interview for my previous report, Rong mentioned her frustration that many stories in the ethnic press are ignored by or never reach a wider audience, and that accountability reporting doesnt have any impact until it appears in English. While some of her Coronavirus stories have involved debunking disinformation that was circulating on the Chinese social media platform WeChat, in general, she said, the Chinese community was better prepared. They were closely following the news in China. They knew how to prepare and protect themselves. They took precautions earlier than everyone else. Read the full report here An update on how platforms and publishers are reacting to the pandemic Last week was one of the most difficult yet for digital media, with hundreds of layoffs at publishers including BuzzFeed, Vice, Quartz, The Economist, and Conde Nast. In a memo to staff announcing 80 layoffs, Quartz CEO Zach Seward, who is cutting his own pay by 50%, wrote, Even after the pandemic recedes, the likely recession to follow could hurt ad revenue for years to come. Prior assumptions about our business no longer apply. Announcing 55 layoffs in the US and around 100 globally, Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc was more blunt: Currently, our digital organization accounts for around 50% of our headcount costs, but only brings in about 21% of our revenue. While Dubuc wrote that Vice management did absolutely everything [they] could to protect these positions for as long as possible, a statement from Vice Union claimed that Vice repeatedly refused to discuss workshare programs, like the one the Los Angeles Times used to avoid layoffs. Arguably the biggest bloodbath happened at Conde Nast, which announced 100 layoffs and 100 furloughs a month after CEO Roger Lynch foreshadowed the possibility of role eliminations. Meanwhile, BuzzFeed, which had expanded its news operations globally, cut its UK and Australia news teams, stating that for economic and strategic reasons, we are going to focus on news that hits big in the United States during this difficult period. Laura Hazard Owen and Sarah Scire summarize last weeks cuts at NiemanLab, while Poynter continues to update its running list of layoffs, furloughs, and closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On the platform side, Facebook, which recently bought the gif database Giphy for $400 million, announced the latest in its series of COVID-19 News Relief Fund Programs, which will award grants ranging from from $10,000 to $60,000 to Australian news organizations facing pandemic-related setbacks. COVID-19 has accelerated the ongoing journalism crisis in Australia, where more than 150 newsrooms have shut down since January 2019. Lastly, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy announced a $4.7 million grant to NPRs Collaborative Journalism Network to create two new regional newsroomsone in California and a Midwest hub connecting Member stations in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraskathat will increase local coverage across the states, especially in underserved communities, and will expand investigative reporting capacity. ICYMI: California newsrooms know how to prepare for disasters Other stories of note: Freedom to Tinker notes that the vulnerability reporting process at a number of web platforms is badly broken, opening those sites up to cybercrimea problem that has increased as COVID-19 continues to plague tech companies where a large majority of staff must work from home, and sometimes from their personal devices. Throughout the process, we encountered two wider issues: (1) lack of security reporting mechanisms, and (2) a general misunderstanding of authentication policies. As a result, 9 of these 17 websites, listed below, remain vulnerable by default, the authors wrote. Snapchat responded quickly, while Mailchimp did not respond at all to the researchers warnings. Kenyon Farrow, editor of TheBody.com, and Tamara K. Nopper of the Center for Critical Race + Digital Studies spoke on COVID-18, Medical Data, and the Racial Design of Public Health in a discussion in Data & Societys Network Talks series entitled The Fact of Blackness. Kellie Owens moderated. The full conversation is available for viewing here. The University of Chicagos Booth School of Business has published results from a new survey demonstrating that support for lockdown measures correlates with political beliefs and trust in the news media, Journalists Resource reports. [P]olitics more than economics is dividing Americans when it comes to what is the right trade-off our government should make between saving lives and hurting the economy, write authors Marianne Bertrand, Guglielmo Briscese, Maddalena Grignani and Salma Nassar. Resource reporter Clark Merrefield interviewed Briscese about the survey. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Sara Rafsky, George Civeris, and Sam Thielman work at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, a research and teaching center based at Columbia Journalism School. Pediatricians are encouraging parents that it is safe to bring your child to the doctor's office. Dr. Anthony Hudson, who works at a facility in the nonprofit Louisiana-based LCMC Health hospital system, told sister station WDSU that the health care system saw a decrease in patients coming in for immunizations in March and April. "We noted a large decrease in the number of vaccinations that our children were receiving, and we are aware that if vaccination rates, for example, the measles virus, drop below just 95% in the general population, outbreaks can happen," Hudson said. He said doctor's offices are some of the safest places to visit during the coronavirus pandemic. "They (parents) are calling quite frequently with that as their primary question," said Hudson. "I can only emphasize that we're taking all the necessary precautions, and we're still open and here to care for your child." Those precautions include adjusting the clinic's hours of operation. Well visits are being scheduled in the morning from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., while sick visits are scheduled in the afternoon. Hudson said, additionally, any child with a fever is kept in the "sick room," which is separated from the main lobby by a closed door. "We're taking specific measures to try to limit people's contact with sick individuals," Hudson said. Patients and their parents are also asked to wear masks while waiting to see their doctor, who also wear protective gear during the appointment. There are similar measures in place at Children's Hospital in New Orleans, where patients are also required to wear masks and temperature checks are performed upon arrival. Hudson encouraged anyone with concerns to contact their doctor's office directly. The latest: President Trump threatens to permanently pull funding from WHO and 'reconsider' US membership President Donald Trump late Monday threatened to permanently pull U.S. funding from the World Health Organization if it does not "commit to major substantive improvements in the next 30 days." In a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Trump said, "It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. "My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organization. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste." The letter on official White House letterhead, screenshots of which were posted to Twitter, comes after Trump temporarily halted funding to the organization last month. Treasury Department is starting to send some stimulus payments on debit cards The Treasury Department said Monday that it will start issuing some stimulus payments by sending a debit card to people in the mail. Until now, payments had been either directly deposited in an individual's bank account or sent as a paper check. About 4 million payments will be sent on a debit card. The Visa debit card can be activated immediately and can be used to make purchases, to get cash at an ATM or to transfer funds into a bank account without being charged a fee, Treasury said. The direct stimulus payments -- which are worth up to $1,200 per individual and up to $2,400 per couple -- were included in the $2.2 trillion aid package passed in March. AP test organizers make changes after some students couldn't submit exams The College Board says it's taking steps to avoid a repeat of the problems that are forcing thousands of high school students to retake their Advanced Placement exams if they want to get college credit. Students are taking the AP tests online this year because the coronavirus pandemic has closed schools and made it unsafe to gather at in-person testing sites. Some students who took the tests last week reported not being able to upload their exams, a problem the College Board blamed on users' outdated browsers and other technical issues. The organization set up an alternate email submission process for students who have browser problems, according to The College Board website. That system went into effect today. If students get the message "We Did Not Receive Your Response," they will get instructions to email their submissions to a unique email address. "AP students took nearly 2.2 million AP Exams last week, and we're so proud of every student who tested. We also share the deep disappointment of those who couldn't complete their AP Exams. We're providing a new safeguard for students moving forward," the College Board said in a tweet on Sunday. The organization said that less than 1% of students weren't able to submit their results in the early days of testing. More evidence US childhood vaccinations dropping during virus outbreak The number of childhood vaccines administered in Michigan has dropped by as much as 22% amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report uses Michigan as a case study, but that doesnt necessarily suggest the state is worse off than others when it comes to vaccines. The findings, for example, come less than two weeks after another report from the CDC showed childhood vaccinations plunged in across the United States since the pandemic began. In that earlier report, the CDC reported a notable decrease in the number of vaccines ordered through a federal program that immunizes half of all kids in the U.S. Unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children will be at risk of other infectious diseases besides coronavirus, the CDC cautioned at the time. The new report looked at Michigans vaccine information system earlier this month, and found that the number of non-flu vaccine doses administered to children overall decreased 22%. Vaccine doses in children under two years old decreased 16%. Fewer than half of five-month-olds were up to date on their vaccines this May, according to the study. Typically, about two-thirds of them are. Children enrolled in Medicaid, a program for low-income Americans, also had lower rates of vaccination. Among seven-month-olds, for example, only 35% of Medicaid-enrolled children were up-to-date on their vaccines. Thats compared to 55% of children not enrolled in the program. The observed declines in vaccination coverage might leave young children and communities vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, wrote Cristi Bramer and colleagues at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, the Immunization Action Coalition in Minnesota and the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. They noted that measures aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus may make it more difficult to access health care services. Some services can be replaced by telemedicine, they said, but vaccines require in-person visits. Strategies to maintain immunization services include dedicating specific clinics, rooms, or buildings for sick visits and well visits; reducing the number of patients on-site at any one time; closing waiting rooms or registration areas, and having patients check in by phone and receive vaccinations from their vehicles in the parking lot, the researchers wrote. Several major factories reopen General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler will begin to gradually restart their U.S. factories Monday, with some big changes put in place to help protect workers from the coronavirus. At Ford, 59,000 factory workers, about 80% of the workforce, are expected to show up for work, according to the company. At GM, about 15,000 of the company's 48,000 factory workers are expected to report to work on Monday, with more expected to report in coming weeks as the ramp up in production continues, a spokesperson for the company said. Meanwhile, about a third of Fiat Chrysler's hourly workforce, or about 16,000, are expected to start Monday, according to the company. The workplaces they will be returning to will look somewhat different from the ones they left in mid-March. "We work really hard at imagining a world with COVID-19 in an assembly plant," said Ford CEO Jim Hackett in an interview with CNN Friday. "So they have lots of consideration, of course, for social distancing. We used to have two people, for example, that would be inside the vehicle as it's going down the assembly line. We stopped that." All three companies have said they would thoroughly and frequently clean facilities and allot extra time between work shifts to do so. At Ford, for instance, factories that had been running on three shifts, or essentially around the clock, will work on two shifts to allow extra time for cleaning. At Fiat Chrysler factories, 10 minutes per shift will be allotted for cleaning. The automakers said they will also screen employees with questionnaires before they leave for work and administer temperature checks as they enter plants or other facilities. Governors balance reopening Governors across the U.S. are navigating a balancing act as they try to reopen their economies without triggering a second spike of coronavirus cases. By now, all but two states have loosened restrictions in place to help curb the spread of the virus. Some began allowing limited gatherings, while others have allowed restaurants and some businesses to reopen their doors with caution. And while many parts of the country have expressed hope about their number of cases seemingly slowing, other states have reported hikes. In Texas, officials reported the highest single-day increase in new cases over the weekend, but the governor has attributed it to more testing. Restaurants, movie theaters and malls have been open for a little more than two weeks, and the governor is expected to announce the next step in the state's reopening Monday. In Florida, health officials reported 777 new coronavirus cases, adding the state's testing also increased in the past week, according to a statement released Sunday. On Monday, the state will enter into its first full phase of reopening, which will allow restaurants, retail stores and gyms across Florida to reopen with certain restrictions. And in California, which is now in the second of Gov. Gavin Newsom's four reopening phases, the governor said that while he was empathetic to residents' concerns, he wanted to move forward safely. "I deeply understand the stress and anxiety that people have, that entire dreams have been torn asunder because of the shutdowns, their savings account depleted and their credit ratings destroyed," Newsom told CNN's Jake Tapper Sunday. "The question is, how do you toggle back and make meaningful modifications to the stay-at-home order?" Here's where schools stand Guidance on moving forward has often come from local leaders. While most states announced students would not return to class this academic year, a union representing nearly 1.7 million teachers has published guidance on how schools should safely reopen when they do. "Once we have reduced the number of cases for at least 14 days with adequate testing in place, reopening plans can go into effect on a community-by-community basis," an April report by the American Federation of Teachers says. In their reopening plans, schools should also consider protections for at-risk staff and at-risk students, according to the union. Maintaining health schools may also mean having to reorganize portions of it including making classrooms smaller, staggering lunch times and coming up with alternative plans for some after-school programs, according to the guidance. "While our public schools have been woefully under-resourced, and we must continue the fight to change that, this next two years is an opportunity to visualize what schooling looks like in a post-pandemic era, to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive," the report says. Testing For the regions reporting more new cases, it's unclear whether that's due to more testing or the virus spreading more rampantly. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told Tapper Sunday the country had conducted more than 10 million coronavirus tests, and the federal government was now deploying rapid tests to meatpacking facilities and nursing homes, among other locations. In the next few weeks, projections show there will be nearly 13 million tests administered, he said. New York, once the country's epicenter, is conducting about 40,000 coronavirus tests per day, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who added the state is doing "significantly more" diagnostic tests by population than other countries. Officials have said the state is past its peak. And the governor said Sunday two more regions in addition to five already in phase one of reopening are close to beginning to reopen. Cuomo also said his state along with New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware will open beaches for the Memorial Day weekend beginning May 22, with restrictions. With phased reopenings underway, one concern that remains across the U.S. is how accurate diagnostic tests are. AdventHealth announced about 35,000 coronavirus tests 33,000 of which were conducted in Florida have been deemed unreliable because one of the processing labs was "unable to fulfill its obligation." The company said it was "working diligently" to notify people who are impacted via letters or phone calls. CDC on the sidelines of the pandemic Months into the pandemic, experts are calling for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to step up and lead the U.S. efforts of fighting the virus. The CDC has been the lead agency in battling recent pandemics and disease outbreaks including the 2009 H1N1 swine influenza pandemic and the 2003-2004 SARS outbreak. But their regular briefings on coronavirus were halted by March and the White House took over. That was a mistake, Emory University professors and staffers wrote in a letter to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "If we are to win the battle against COVID-19, we need the CDC's scientific independence and unstifled voice," the group wrote. "For the past 70 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been our nation's strongest bulwark against public health threats. Its skill sets, expertise, and scientific credibility are unmatched in any other domestic or global institution. An unfettered and enabled CDC is fully capable of leading and guiding our nation's evidence-based response to public health emergencies." In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published Sunday, former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb also suggested the agency had been uncharacteristically quiet during the pandemic. "Whatever the reasons, CDC has spoken infrequently and with more reticence than is customary in public-health crises," he said. "The more information about how to reduce the risk of spread and the severity of sickness, the more lives that can be saved, and the more comfortable Americans will feel about starting to resume normal life," he added. The Associated Press contributed to this report. U.S. President Donald Trump reveals that he is taking Hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis against COVID-19 as he participates in a roundtable with Restaurant Executives and Industry Leaders in the State Dining Room, in the White House, Washington, DC, May 18, 2020. EPA The World Health Organization said on Monday an independent review of the global coronavirus response would begin as soon as possible and it received backing and a hefty pledge of funds from China, in the spotlight as the origin of the pandemic. But the WHO's chief critic, the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, decried an "apparent attempt to conceal this outbreak by at least one member state". Trump said later in Washington that the WHO, which he called a "puppet of China", had "done a very sad job" in its handling of the coronavirus and he would make a decision about U.S. funding to the body soon. "The United States pays them $450 million a year; China pays them $38 million a year. And they're a puppet of China. They're China-centric, to put it nicer, but they're a puppet of China," Trump told reporters at a White House event. Trump has already suspended U.S. funding for the WHO after accusing it of being too China-centric, and at the same time led international criticism of Beijing's perceived lack of transparency in the early stages of the crisis. Health Secretary Alex Azar did not mention China by name, but made clear Washington considered the WHO jointly responsible. "We must be frank about one of the primary reasons this outbreak spun out of control," he said. "There was a failure by this organization to obtain the information that the world needed, and that failure cost many lives." Speaking after Azar, Chinese Health Minister Ma Xiaowei said Beijing had been timely and open in announcing the outbreak and sharing the virus's full gene sequence, and urged countries to "oppose rumours, stigmatisation and discrimination". Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $2 billion over the next two years to help deal with COVID-19, especially in developing countries. The amount almost matches the WHO's entire annual programme budget for last year, and more than compensates for Trump's freeze of U.S. payments worth about $400 million a year. But White House National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot called it "a token to distract from calls from a growing number of nations demanding accountability for the Chinese government's failure to ... warn the world of what was coming". 'LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE' Labor unions, advocates, and state Rep. Anne Hughes want to make sure the wealthy pay their fair share to help Connecticut get out of a recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The group says it sent a letter to Gov. Ned Lamont, Democratic lawmakers and community leaders to build support for a tax increase when the legislature returns next year. Hughes, D-Easton, heads the Progressive Caucus and said she knows that with a $2.5 billion Rainy Day Fund the revenue shortfall is projected to be about a $4.5 billion over the next four years. She said they dont have a percentage in mind, but it could be a combination of personal wealth and top personal income tax before any more essential services are cut. She said the pandemic changes things and she believes they will be able to get more support from moderate Democrats than they have in the past. She said millionaires migrating out of the state and taking their wealth with them is changed by the pandemic. In 2017, two years after the last income tax increase, revenue from Connecticuts top 100 taxpayers was down 45 percent and personal income tax revenues were down $450 million from projections. Some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say the last 2015 income tax increase didnt net the state the anticipated amount of revenue because so many people have fled the state. But theres still a difference of opinion when it comes to the question about whether higher taxes are actually driving the migration patterns. We have been really complicit in policy violence in our tax structure and our economic structure, Hughes said. Were asking the front-line workers to risk their lives and yet now were looking at possibly cutting some of those essential services. Rev. Josh Pawelek said they need the wealthy to contribute a greater share of their wealth to sustain a state budget that works for everyone. Coronavirus in Connecticut New Yorkers snapping up CT homes as they flee the city He said growing income inequality is morally unsustainable. Asking for a tax increase on the wealthy is not class warfare, Pawelek said. But for those families that were struggling before the pandemic, it certainly feels like class warfare, Pawelek added. He said asking for a progressive tax structure doesnt prevent anyone from being wealthy. Connecticuts tax structure has been criticized for its lack of progressiveness by the group. However, theres little data from which to draw those conclusions. The last tax incidence report from the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services was released in 2014 and it was based on data from 2011. That was former Gov. Dannel P. Malloys first year in office. The last tax incidence report showed that about 725,200 taxpayers with an average adjusted gross income $48,948 per year had an overall tax rate of about 23.6 percent in 2011, and about 15,050 taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of between $600,000 to $2 million per year paid a tax rate of about 7.69 percent. In January, CT Voices for Children, a group on Mondays call, released a report that called for increasing the personal income tax rate on those earning more than $5 million a year from 6.99 percent to 8.49 percent. In addition, it called for raising taxes on multimillion-dollar estates in the top 5 percent of the wealth distribution and increasing tax credits for working- and middle-class families. Brasilia, May 19 : Brazil has become the country with the third-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world, after registering a total of more than 255,000 cases. As of Tuesday, the country accounted for 255,368 cases, with 16,853 fatalities, the sixth-highest death toll in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins University. The US still accounts for the highest number of cases in the world at 1,508,957, followed in the second place by Russia with 290,678 infections. The grim milestone comes as country's far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, has dismissed the risks and compared COVID-19 to "a little flu", the BBC reported. "With my history as an athlete, if I were infected with the virus I would have no reason to worry. I would feel nothing, or it would be at most just a little flu," he has said. Bolsonaro also continues to oppose lockdown measures, arguing that they will wreck the economy. In March he made a speech calling on mayors and governors to roll back restrictions: "Our lives have to go on. Jobs must be kept. We must get back to normal." But the health system of Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, could collapse within two weeks, Mayor Bruno Covas has warned. The city has a population of about 12 million, and official have said that most residents were ignoring social distancing rules, the BBC reported. More than 3,000 people have died with the virus in Sao Paulo. But it is not only urban centres that have been badly hit. Amazonas state had almost 21,000 confirmed cases as of Monday. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, the main symptoms of the virus that members of the public have been told by the NHS to look out for have been a high fever, a new, persistent cough and a loss or changed sense of smell and taste. In addition to the main symptoms, people around the world have reported experiencing various other side effects that they believe could be linked to the virus, including Covid toe and rashes on other parts of their bodies. In September, a study conducted by The University of Belfast found that diarrhoea and vomiting could be symptoms for coronavirus. Meanwhile, in July it was reported that researchers are calling for skin rashes to be added to the NHS official list of symptoms after a study found that one in 11 patients who tested positive for Covid-19 developed a rash. The study, which was carried out by Kings College London, was conducted using data from 20,000 Britons who either tested positive or were suspected to have had the virus. Epidemiologists, ophthalmologists and dermatologists have warned about other symptoms that could be indicative of a patient who is positive of the coronavirus. Here are several lesser-known symptoms that are currently being investigated for possible links to Covid-19. Covid tongue In January, researcher Tim Spector, who is the principal investigator of the Zoe Covid symptom app at Kings College, where over 4.5m people have helped record data on potential symptoms, tweeted about a possible new symptom. Spector and his colleagues were among the first to highlight that change in sense of taste or smell should be recognised officially, months before it was added to the NHS list. He said: One in five people with Covid still present with less common symptoms that dont get on the official PHE list - such as skin rashes. Seeing increasing numbers of Covid tongues and strange mouth ulcers." And he also warned people: If you have a strange symptom or even just headache and fatigue stay at home! Although this has not been officially recognised by PHE or the NHS, the Zoe study is the largest community monitoring in the world. Headaches Headaches appear on the World Health Organizations list of less common Covid symptoms. A study of nearly 400 Covid patients published in January 2021 found that 13 per cent developed a headache. Researchers at the Hospital Universitario de La Princes in Madrid, Spain, found that headaches were more likely to be associated with milder cases of the virus. A study of 139 patients conducted at ClermontFerrand University Hospital in France found that 59 per cent experienced headaches during the acute phase of the illness and 3.6 per cent were still experiencing them one month later. The NHS doesnt currently list headaches as a symptom of Covid, and doesnt suggest getting a test if you are suffering only from a headache. Delirium In a study published in The Lancet on Monday 18 May, it claimed that delirium and confusion could be rife among seriously ill coronavirus patients. The team of researchers conducted an investigation on a small number of Covid-19-positive patients. In more than 60 per cent of the cases of intensive care patients, they discovered evidence of confusion and agitation. The scientists, from the UK and Italy, concluded that patients who have to stay in intensive care for long periods of time and who are in need of ventilation treatment may be at greater risk of experiencing delirium and confusion. The research, which assessed patients with Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome), Mers (Middle-East respiratory syndrome) and Covid-19, also found that people who exhibit mild symptoms are less likely to experience as significant an impact on their mental health. Professor Gitte Moos Knudsen, chair of the Department of Neurology and Neurobiology Research Unit at Copenhagen University Hospital, explained that any condition associated with hospitalisation, fever, depletion of sensory inputs particularly in the elderly carries an increased risk for delirium. In Covid-19 patients that have been artificially ventilated, a PTSD condition may arise; but we do not have evidence that the frequency is higher in Covid-19 patients than in any other disorder, Professor Knudsen added. Dr Michael Bloomfield, consultant psychiatrist and head of Translational Psychiatry Research Group University College London, said that the study is important and well-conducted research. This study provides further evidence that the harm caused by Covid-19 extends beyond the widely reported effects on the lungs. This study tells us that Covid can have profound effects on mental health, he stated. Of particular cause for alarm is the finding that a third of patients from previous epidemics experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and it seems reasonable to anticipate similar rates of PTSD in people who have had life-threatening Covid. Tom Dening, professor of Dementia Research at the University of Nottingham, pointed out that scientists know much less about the prevalence of mild or asymptomatic Covid-19, adding that patients who experience milder cases of the virus are less likely to experience mental health issues, especially delirium, which is generally a marker for severe physical illness. The authors draw attention to how delirium is an important and common feature in people admitted to hospital with coronaviruses. In some situations, probably more so in older people, delirium may even be the presenting feature of a severe Covid-19 infection, so its important that health professionals and care home staff are aware of this possibility, the professor said. Covid toe and other rashes On Wednesday 15 July, it was reported that researchers are calling for the NHS to officially recognise skin rashes as a symptom of the coronavirus. Recommended Researchers call to make rashes a coronavirus symptom The study conducted by Kings College London assessed 20,000 Britons who either tested positive or were thought to have had Covid-19 and data from the Covid Symptom Study app, which contained information relating to 336,837 users who self-reported their symptoms. More than 2,000 of the apps users tested positive for the coronavirus, with 8.8 per cent reporting blotchy and itchy skin. Furthermore, 8.2 per cent of the 17,000 people strongly suspected to have had the virus reported developing a rash. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed. Dr Mario Falchi, who led the study, is urging for rashes to be formally recognised as symptoms of the virus in light of his findings. In a statement sent to The Independent, Dr Tanya Bleiker, president of the British Association of Dermatologists, explained that in the early stages of the pandemic, the various skin manifestations of the disease were poorly understood and not common knowledge. However, a series of important studies has done fantastic work in this regard, this study being the latest of these, Dr Bleiker stated. It will play an important role in building our understanding of the disease as a whole. Dr Bleiker said the British Association of Dermatologists is delighted to be working with the team at Kings College London to develop a dedicated website which will host a library of the different skin manifestations of Covid-19. We hope that this will be of benefit to healthcare professionals as well as the public who may be unaware of skin symptoms which would warrant self-isolation, the organisations president said. In May, the term Covid toe was increasingly discussed as a possible symptom of the coronavirus. The condition, which involves chilblain-like lesions appearing on the feet, is one of several skin conditions currently being investigated as potential signs of Covid-19. On 29 April, researchers from Spain published a study concerning the cutaneous manifestations of Covid-19 disease, cutaneous meaning relating to the skin. The scientists came across five different forms of rashes affecting 375 Covid-19 patients. These included itchy or painful chilblain-like lesions on the hands and feet, including Covid toe; small blisters on the torso; small, flat and raised red bumps; blotchy red or blue-looking skin; and pink or white raised areas of the skin that looked similar to nettle rash. Dr John Ingram, editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Dermatology, commented at the time that the investigation was the most definitive piece of research on the skin features associated with Covid-19 to date. There has been speculation for some time that the virus is responsible for a number of skin signs, but until now these had largely been individual or small scale case reports. This study represents a much more systematic and thorough categorisation of the features, he stated. The main beneficiaries of this research will be medical professionals and researchers. It will be useful in diagnosing people with Covid-19, particularly those with relatively few symptoms. It will also provide a firm foundation for future research into COVID-19 and the skin. The American Academy of Dermatology has created a dedicated task force to study Covid toe. Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Show all 19 1 /19 Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Two elderly people chat on a street in Valencia, Spain on 4 May EPA Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent People look at the city from Villa Borghese park in Rome during the first day of Italy's next phase in its coronavirus lockdown Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent An elderly couple who has not been outside for nearly two months enjoys the weather as they sit on a bench in a park in Athens on 4 May AFP via Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Henri de Chassey, wearing a protective face mask, kisses his partner Margaux Rebois, who is returning to Paris after spending two months in Brussels on 4 May REUTERS Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A commuter in protective mask wears gloves at an underground station in Brussels as some companies are allowed to bring workers back to the office EPA/STEPHANIE LECOCQ Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Paralympic swimmer Inigo Llopis prepares to swim in San Sebastian, Spain, for the first time since the lockdown began Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A worker wearing personal protective equipment disinfects a school in Athens as Greece relaxes its nationwide lockdown REUTERS Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A Spanish National Police officer distributes protective masks in Melilla, Spain, on 4 May EPA Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent An employee poses in front of halfway-cured hams in a factory in Guijuelo, Salamanca, Spain, on 4 May EPA Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Workers in protective suits disinfect a high school in Athens as Greece moves to reopen schools for final-year students on 11 May EPA Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A worker disinfects a bus as transport vehicles are disinfected several times a day as part of Belgium's lockdown exit strategy Belga/AFP via Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A worker from Textilia haberdashery in Brussels holds a fabric that can be used to make customised protective face masks as Belgium relaxes its lockdown measures REUTERS/Yves Herman Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A bride tries on a wedding dress at a bridal shop in Madrid on the first day that some small businesses are allowed to open during Spain's lockdown REUTERS Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent People walk across the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping mall in central Milan as Italy eases its lockdown AFP/Getty Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A couple kiss in the Duomo Square in Catania as Italy starts moving out of its lockdown Reuters Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent Mirel Chetan organises the books of the Antonio Machado bookstore in Madrid after 51 days of closure Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A couple kiss in front of the sea in Catania as Italy begins a staged end to a nationwide lockdown due to the spread of the coronavirus disease ANTONIO PARRINELLO/ REUTERS Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A waiter at Caffe Cracco handles takeaway coffee in Milan on 4 May as Italy starts to ease its lockdown Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images Europe emerges from lockdowns across the continent A woman holds a yoga posture as she exercises by the Colosseum monument in Rome on the first day of Italy relaxing its lockdown measures VINCENZO PINTO/AFP via Getty Images Conjunctivitis Several reports have been circulating as of late regarding the possibility that the coronavirus could cause conjunctivitis, an eye condition that develops as a result of infection or allergies. In April, the American Academy of Ophthalmology released an alert for ophthalmologists highlighting two studies that indicated the potential link between the virus and conjunctivitis. In a study of 30 patients hospitalised for the virus in China, one had conjunctivitis. That patient and not the other 29 had SARS-CoV-2 in their ocular secretions. This suggests that SARS-CoV-2 can infect the conjunctiva and cause conjunctivitis, and virus particles are present in ocular secretions, the American Academy of Ophthalmology said. In a larger study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which assessed 1,099 hospitalised coronavirus-positive patients in China, nine had conjunctival congestion. In a statement sent to The Independent, Moorfields Eye Hospital in London emphasised that of the many people infected worldwide with Covid-19, there are only a few reports of patients presenting with conjunctivitis. The hospital added that there is therefore a possibility, but it is incredibly rare. The hospital has not noticed an increase in patients being admitted for conjunctivitis during the pandemic, adding that the there is no evidence that the conjunctivitis in Covid-19 is more severe than any other type of viral conjunctivitis. Moorfields outlined that if the virus were to cause a patient to develop conjunctivitis, this would likely occur either through direct exposure of the surface of the eye to Covid-19 (such as by rubbing the eyes) or indirect exposure where the virus tracks up the duct that connects the surface of the eye to the nose and throat. The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCO) and the College of Optometrists explained that if a person presents conjunctivitis after contracting coronavirus, it is unlikely they would do so without also showing other, more recognisable symptoms of the virus. 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 Recent reports have suggested that Covid-19 may cause conjunctivitis, and it is known that viral particles can be found in tears, which has caused some concern amongst eye health professionals, the organisations stated. It is recognised that any upper respiratory tract infection may result in viral conjunctivitis as a secondary complication, and this is also the case with Covid-19. The RCO and the College of Optometrists stated that as viral conjunctivitis is not listed as an official symptom of Covid-19, medical practitioners should treat patients with the condition as they would usually treat any presentation of viral conjunctivitis, as long as they are not also showing signs of the coronavirus. They stressed that during the pandemic, scrupulous infection control and hand hygiene measures should be carried out when treating all patients, while any close examinations should be kept to a minimum safe level. Loss of smell and taste On Monday 18 May, it was announced that loss of smell and taste is to be officially included on the NHS list of coronavirus symptoms. The announcement came following the governments previous declaration that loss of smell and taste would absolutely not be added to the list of symptoms members of the public should be aware of. For weeks, experts have warned that countless cases of Covid-19 could be being missed due to the lack of guidance being given to people experiencing anosmia, many of whom will have been encouraged to return to work. The NHS is now encouraging anyone who experiences loss of smell and taste, or a noticeable change, to self-isolate for seven days, while other members of their households are advised to stay at home for 14 days, even if they dont show symptoms. Natalie Brookes, a consultant ENT surgeon and rhinologist and medical director at The Harley Street ENT Clinic, told The Independent that prior to the guidance change, her clinic was in contact with its advisory body ENT UK, who stated that they think anosmia could be related to Covid. If I developed a sudden loss of sense of smell, with or without a mild upper respiratory type symptoms, I would definitely self-isolate at the moment, Ms Brooks added. Professor Carl Philpott, director of medical affairs and research at charity Fifth Sense, explained to The Independent that as common colds and viruses often cause initial congestion of the nose, this can lead to post-viral smell loss. If you look at the tissue in detail under the microscope you see that the fine hair-like endings of the receptor cells have fallen off and therefore the cells are no longer able to pick up odour molecules from the nose, Professor Philpott says. He adds that Covid-19 appears to have a high concentration in the nose, and states that as the majority of anecdotal reports are showing people experiencing transient smell loss that lasts for around seven to 14 days, its probably more likely that the virus is causing some sort of inflammation in the olfactory nerves, rather than it causing any damage to the structure of the receptors. Inflammation among children In May, it was reported that up to 100 children in the UK had been affected by a rare disease linked to the coronavirus. The syndrome appears to bear similarities with Kawasaki disease, causing an inflammatory response in children ranging from infants to older teenagers. Russell Viner, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), stated that while symptoms are fairly mild for the majority of children affected, a small proportion have become much more severely ill. Professor Rosalind Smyth, director and professor of Child Health at the UCL Great Ormond St Institute of Child Health added that it remains the case that the great majority of children with COVID-19 have mild symptoms only. In a report on the cases admitted to London Childrens Hospital, it said that symptoms include unrelenting fever, variable rash, conjunctivitis, swelling, pain and significant gastrointestinal symptoms, such as diarrhoea and vomiting. NHS England released an alert about the condition in late April, stating that the cases of children in intensive care with a multi-system inflammatory state have overlapping features of two health conditions toxic shock syndrome and atypical (or incomplete) Kawasaki disease. The health service added that the children have also had blood parameters consistent with severe Covid-19 in children. Dr Julia Kenny, consultant in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology at Evelina London Childrens Hospital explained that much more research is needed on the subject before it can be more thoroughly understood. Recommended What to do if you get coronavirus symptoms while on holiday As this new syndrome has only been identified in the past four weeks, it will be vital to learn more about its presentation and treatment, and to establish how the disease mechanism is linked to Covid-19 which has pre-dominantly affected adult patients to date, Dr Kenny said. Professor Smyth added that at the moment, it seems that this condition is very rare. One of the purposes of the current alerts and guidance is to increase awareness, so that all possible cases can be identified. This will help to identify the true incidence, the professor outlined. We know very little about the cause and mechanisms. Indeed, our understanding of the mechanisms of the condition which it may resemble, Kawasakis syndrome, is incomplete. Working out a possible relationship to Covid-19 will depend on testing for the virus, repeatedly during the course of the illness, and for the antibody, following recovery, to work out if there is a temporal relationship with SARS-CoV-2, in some, or all, cases. Diarrhoea and vomiting In September, a study conducted by The University of Belfast found that out of 1,000 children around the age of 10, 97 per cent who had tested positive for Covid-19 also had gut-based symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting. While neither of these symptoms appear on the NHS's list of official symptoms for coronavirus, both appear on the US Centers for Disease Control's list of possible symptoms. Lead researcher Dr Tom Waterfield told the BBC: "We know that, thankfully, most children who get the virus will not be very ill with it - but we still do not know how much children may be spreading it. "We are finding that diarrhoea and vomiting is a symptom reported by some children and I think adding it to the list of known symptoms is worth considering." US, Canada Extend Ban on Non-Essential Travel Until June: Trudeau Canada and the United States came to an agreement Tuesday to extend a ban on non-essential travel between the two nations for another 30 days, said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The travel ban, which affects travel across the 5,500-mile-long U.S.-Canada border, was initiated in mid-March to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, and it was already extended in April until May 21. The ban doesnt cover trade and work-related travel between the two countries. This is an important decision that will keep people in both of our countries safe, Trudeau said during a daily briefing on Canadas response to the virus. Trudeau said that some provincial officials had sought to get the travel ban extended, adding that Washington fully agreed to do so. We had lengthy discussions with the provinces over the last few weeks and they clearly desired that we maintain the current measures at the border, he said. The prime minister does not yet know if the travel ban would be extended past June 21, saying the government is making decisions on a week to week basis. The situation is changing rapidly and were adjusting constantly to what is the right measures for Canadians, to get that balance rightkeeping people safe and restoring a semblance of normality and economic activity that we all rely on, he told reporters. Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference at Rideau Cottage, as efforts continue to slow the spread of the CCP virus, in Ottawa, Canada April 24, 2020. (Blair Gable/Reuters) According to data provided by Canadian health officials, more than 5,800 people have died from COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus. More than 78,000 cases have been confirmed in Canada, which has a population of around 37 million. The United States, meanwhile, has seen around 1.5 million cases of the virus and more than 90,000 deaths. Due to record job losses and social distress caused by stay-at-home orders and business closures, there has been increasing pressure to reopen. Some families who have members living in both Canada and the United States have expressed frustration about the travel ban. According to Canadas government, those who can enter the country are Canadian citizens, a Canadian permanent resident, a person registered under Canadas Indian Act, a protected person, and foreign essential workers. Thousands of miles to the south, construction of President Donald Trumps signature border wall remains ongoing. Last week, the head of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said that the barrier is going up faster than before the pandemic. This pandemic has not slowed the construction of the border wall system. In fact, were increasing the pace of construction, Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan told Fox News on May 14. COVID-19 should be a wake-up call for all Americans that border security is national security. Preventing and slowing down the introduction of a deadly virus into the U.S. from outside our borders is exactly why border security matters, and why the wall matters. The Air National Guard will be in central Pa., as well as a couple other cities on Tuesday, for a flyover to salute healthcare workers and those working to stop the spread of COVID-19. Operation American Resolve features pilots with the 171st Air Refueling Wing and the 193rd Special Operations Wing, which will a fly KC-135 Stratotanker and an EC-130j Commando Solo over several area hospitals. They will also be doing flyovers in Pittsburgh and Johnstown. The flyover will be in the area early Tuesday afternoon, from 1:08 p.m. to 1:18 p.m., at the following Harrisburg area hospitals: UPMC Pinnacle West Shore, UPMC Pinnacle Polyclinic Hospital, UPMC Pinnacle Community Osteopathic, Hershey Medical Center, UPMC Pinnacle Harrisburg and Holy Spirit Hospital. The Pennsylvania Air National Guard will present an aircraft flyover in the Harrisburg area Tuesday, May 19, as part of Operation American Resolve, a nationwide salute to all those supporting COVID-19 response efforts. (U.S. Air National Guard courtesy photo) The flyovers will begin in Pittsburgh, from 12:18 p.m. to 12:26 p.m. and include the following hospitals: Forbes Hospital, UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, UPMC Mercy Hospital, UPMC Mercy Greentree, St. Clair Hospital, Heritage Valley Hospital, Allegheny General Hospital, UPMC Childrens Hospital and UPMC Shadyside. Johnstowns flyover will be from 12:41 p.m. to 12:49 p.m. and include the following hospitals: Conemaugh East Hills, Conemaugh Medical Center and Conemaugh Medical Park. The Air Force National Guard asks that observers maintain proper social distancing guidelines while watching. Read more on PennLive: Navigating the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has not been easy for small businesses. Fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff is no exception. "It's the longest, most exhausting days of my life," said Minkoff, 39, and the co-founder and creative director of her own fashion line. "I want to scream a lot, but I have to stay positive. "I'm a fighter, and that's the only way that I know how to get through this." Minkoff isn't disclosing her gross sales figures at this time; however, in a May 2019 interview, she said it was "north of $100 million." More from Invest in You: Fear and desperation on Main Street as small businesses struggle to survive 7 ways small businesses can avoid bankruptcy She got a forgivable loan. Her employees hate her for it. She also isn't divulging how much of a financial hit she has taken during the pandemic but said she has lost 70% of her business with the temporary closure of department stores. (When asked if she had taken out a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan for small businesses, Minkoff declined to comment.) That means she had to make some tough choices. "We had to, being the worst week of my life, do some layoffs, do some furloughs, make aggressive pay cuts across the board," said Minkoff, who normally resides in Brooklyn, New York, but is quarantining with her husband and kids in nearby Long Island. Her story is similar to many other small businesses trying to survive right now. Many have had to close their in-person operations or shut down completely. That's led to cuts: Thirty-six percent have reduced their own pay and 8% have cut their employees' pay, the latest CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey found. Of those surveyed, 13% have furloughed some or all of their employees and 11% have laid off some or all of their employees. LYON TOWNSHIP, MI A man and woman are facing charges related to impersonating law enforcement along with weapons and drug charges after officers allegedly found police-style equipment in the vehicle they were driving. A Oakland County Sheriffs Office K-9 unit found a clear dash bar with police-style lighting, a handheld police scanner, a windshield-mounted video camera, a handheld spotlight, a police-style badge, handcuffs, a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a starter pistol and multiple loaded magazines, WXYZ Detroit reports. They also discovered a plastic straw that is suspected to be coated in cocaine residue. In addition, the vehicle had a U.S. Army Military Police emblem on the rear window. 51-year-old Leonard Charles Harris, a convicted felon, and 24-year-old Leanne Paige Garcia-Stowe, both of Lyon Township, were arrested, charged, arraigned and then released on bond in the relation to the case, according to the Oakland County Sheriffs Office. On Saturday, May 16, sheriffs deputies pulled over a black 2010 Dodge Durango that appeared to be trailing a detective in a mobile home community, WXYZ reports. They noticed a police-style light on the vehicle, which prompted them to make a traffic stop. The detectives recognized Harris as a convicted felon; he has a prior murder conviction. Garcia-Stowe and two children, ages 1 and 2, were also in the vehicle, the report said. The children were turned over to family at the scene. Harris, who allegedly was driving the Durango, later admitted to deputies that he used the police-style equipment in Metro Detroit, the report said. He is charged with weapons and ammunition possession by a felon, possession of cocaine, and use/possession of flashing lights. Garcia-Stowe is charged with possession of cocaine and carrying a concealed weapon, the report said. Anyone who encountered the suspects as they were allegedly posing as law enforcement is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP. Tipsters will remain anonymous. There is a $1,000 reward. READ MORE: Stimulus payments coming to millions of Americans via prepaid debit cards Tuesday, May 19: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Michigan man is new Jeopardy champion after stealing the last clue and nailing Final Jeopardy Heres what can reopen in which Michigan counties under new state order If second round of stimulus payments is approved, how much could you get? The Nigerian Navy (NN) has said it rescued 18 crew members on board a Chinese vessel, MV HAILUFANG II, from pirates. This is contained in a statement signed by Ibrahim Shettima, the Commander Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT on Monday. Mr Shettima, a commodore, said that the crew members were rescued on Thursday (May 15). He said that the rescued crew members, comprising Chinese, Ghanaians and Ivorians, were attacked by pirates off the coast of Cote dIvoire. I am here to make a brief on the rescue efforts of the Nigerian Navy in a recent pirate attack within the Gulf of Guinea (GoG). On May 15, a Chinese vessel, MV HAILUFANG II, was attacked by pirates off the coast of Cote dIvoire. The pirates took control of the vessel and directed the vessel toward Nigerian waters. The vessel had 18 crew members, comprising Chinese, Ghanaians and Ivorians, he said. Mr Shettima said the Nigerian Navy was alerted of the attack, adding that it immediately dispatched the NNS NGURU to intercept the vessel. On interception of the vessel at about 140nm south of Lagos Fairway Buoy, the pirates refused to comply with the orders of the Navy Ship. Hence, the NN had to conduct an opposed boarding of the vessel. All ships crew were safely rescued, while the 10 pirates were arrested, he said. The commodore noted that the last five known or documented pirates attacks were outside Nigerian waters, which the NN responded in the interest of regional security. READ ALSO: This is aptly captured in the NN Total Spectrum Maritime Strategy, which covers Nigerias outermost maritime area of interest, encompassing the entire West African waters and the GoG. This underscores the need for increased regional cooperation in terms of information sharing and further deepening of response capability. For instance, this rescue effort was bolstered by additional intel received from the Beninous Navy during the operation, he said. The NN also warned criminals within the GoG to desist from their acts. The NN has the capability and will power to deal with such perpetrators, he said. (NAN) Click here to read the full article. Cyber cops could soon be a reality in Green Countrysort of. Thats because the mayor of Tulsa, Okla., wants to buy a fleet of Cybertrucks for his police department if Tesla chooses the city as the location for its next Gigafactory. More from Robb Report Days after it was reported that Tulsa is a finalist for the automakers third US factory, Mayor G.T. Barnum decided to go on the offensive. Taking to Twitter, the politician posted a rendering of the eagerly anticipated electric pickup done up like one of the citys police department police cars. Bynum suggested in the tweet that if Tesla would invest in Tulsa, the city would do the same. If @Tesla and #Tulsa team up to change the world, it would only be right to #BuyLocal, he tweeted. He also tagged the companys Twitter-obsessed CEO, Elon Musk. Late last week, the Associated Press reported that Tesla had narrowed down the field for its latest plant to two finalistsTusla and Austin, Texas. The news service added that officials from the automaker had even visited two possible sites in Tulsa that week. In March, Musk revealed that the company was scouting locations in the central USA for a factory where the upcoming Cybertruck would be built. Shortly after the report, Bynum released a statement in which he said he saw a lot of similarities between Tulsa and Tesla. The mayor also suggested that Tesla would be unlikely to face any pushback in his city, unlike that which the company has faced in California during the coronavirus outbreak. Musk has spent much of the last two months loudly complaining on Twitter about Alameda Countys lockdown orders which forced production at its Fremont factory to be halted for nearly two months. Story continues While I can not comment on potential projects, it is clear that Tesla and Tulsa were forged in the same spirit, the mayor wrote. Both founded by pioneers who dreamt big and made it happen. Both trying to change the world with a new kind of energy. Both investing big in what matters most: people. Tulsa is a city that doesnt stifle entrepreneurswe revere them. And as Tesla continues to rapidly change transportation all around the world, I cant imagine a better place for them to further that important work than Green Country. While Bynum appears to be doing all he can to close the deal with Tesla, it remains to be seen whether his overtures will have any impact on the final decision. Last week, shortly after it was revealed that the automaker had sued Alameda County, Musk threatened to move his company out of California and relocate to Texas/Nevada. Shockingly, Austins mayor didnt even need to promise to buy a fleet of Cybertrucks. Best of Robb Report Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Deputy Information Minister Pius Hadzide is asking former President John Dramani Mahama to reprimand one of his aides, Joyce Bawah Mogtari, following her ill-fated mockery of the impressive Covid-19 recoveries. Government has stated that Mr. Mahama will be deemed to have tacitly endorsed the distasteful comments if he fails to condemn his spokesperson publicly over the issue. He said yesterday that for the person of the calibre of Joyce Bawah Mogtari, a former Deputy Minister and spokesperson for the former President, to say this is disappointing. I dare say her language was unbecoming of her stature. Was she expecting the people to die? I'm trying to be charitable. We should eschew such kinds of mentality, he pointed out. Mr. Hadzide stated further that his disappointment stemmed from the deafening silence from the office of Mr. Mahama on the subject. It is my expectation that Mr. Mahama finds his voice on this matter and look at her in the face and tell her you did not speak well or else it will be understood that she spoke his position on the matter, the Deputy Information Minister said on Accra-based Starr FM yesterday. According to him, Bawah Mogtari did not appear as someone genuinely seeking information, but expressing disappointment over the healing of Ghanaians who suffered from the viral disease. Massive Turnout The country recorded a boost in recoveries with a record of 1,086 discharges last Saturday, and Bawah Mogtari did not understand the surge. She took to her Twitter account to express doubts about the figure rather mockingly immediately it was posted, thereby impugning the integrity of experts of the Ghana Health Service. The low recovery numbers had been a source of worry for many, including health experts, after the country crossed the 5,000 mark. Currently, the national tally on recovery of coronavirus patients now stands at 1,754. So overwhelmed was she with the impressive recovery numbers that she threw finesse overboard and screamed, How the hell did 790 more people recover overnight. We need to put these numbers to strict proof, she said by openly casting doubts on the integrity of the doctors in charge of managing the cases. Her angst was also directed at the test figures as she tweeted numbers don't mean anything if you don't put them in proper context. Unrepentant Propagandists Even when a barrage of 'reprisal attacks' were directed at Bawa Mogtari, she fired back again, indicating that she was unrepentant in her widely condemned comment. The Mahama spokeswoman posted when you raise serious questions about statistics and data they rain insults on you! God help is (sic)!! Another member of the NDC, Kojo Adu-Asare, who once cried before a fact-finding committee after being exposed in the Brazil 2014 Black Stars corruption scandal, also joined the bandwagon to allege that the government selected NPP members and placed them at an isolation centre with the aim to blow the IMF $1 billion rapid credit facility on them, by giving each person GH350. Carefully selected party members were sent into isolation to make a case to consume the IMF money. I hear they got GH350 each, he posted on his Facebook. 'Poo-poo' Attempt Attempt by Mr. Mahama's aide, Bawah Mogtari, who still feeds on the national purse, to 'poo-poo' the official figures and court support of the public triggered a revolt over the weekend on social media, with scores of Ghanaians taking her to the cleaners. While some Ghanaians described her comments as heartless, others also said the Mahama 'girl' just revealed the deep-seated wish of the NDC that many Ghanaians died of the disease. She wants more people to die so that she and her uncle can finally get a campaign message, one Twitter user, Osikani Afoakwa said. Some said cynically that Bawa Mogtari and other aides of Mr. Mahama are supposed to be public servants by virtue of the fact that they work in the ex-President's office and are paid with the taxpayer's sweat and therefore must show respect to the public. Presidential Advisor In the ensuing heat, the Presidential Advisor on Health, Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, expressed shock at how the NDC elements were casting doubts on the Covid-19 recovery figures. Dr. Nsiah-Asare said on Citi FM that there was no need for any doubt and gave an assurance that the government was being transparent. Why are people, all of a sudden, doubting what we are doing? It is data. We collect the data, add the data together and come out with the data. Nobody will hide anything. Nobody will suppress anything so I am very surprised people are in doubt, he said. He said samples of the recovered patients were taken and people were isolated as far back as when the lockdown started, adding we should all be happy as a country that we have put in measures and people are getting well and that is something we should all be very proud of. Dr. Patrick Kuma Aboagye, Director General of the GHS, said yesterday that their analysis is pointing to more recoveries and the public should not be surprised that patients are recovering. ---Daily Guide However, insurance margins improved slightly in the March quarter of 2020, with fund benefits falling at a faster rate than premiums. This quarterly outcome differs to the recent trends in insurance margins which declined over the 12 months to March 2020 with growth in fund benefits (claims) exceeding growth in premium revenue. Additional key performance statistics for the industry in the quarter revealed premium revenue dropped 1.59% from $6.30 billion in December 2019 to $6.20 billion in March 2020. Net investment income also declined a staggering 450.65% from $82.36 million last December to -$288.78 million in March 2020. Fund benefits (claims) also fell by 2.42% from $5.46 billion last December to $5.33 billion this March, with net profit after tax also taking the fall with a 114.54% from $371.01 million to -$53.93 million. Palm oil is often associated with tropical deforestation above all else. However, this is only one side of the story, as agricultural scientists from the University of Gottingen and the IPB University Bogor (Indonesia) show in a new study. The rapid expansion of oil palm has also contributed considerably to economic growth and poverty reduction in local communities, particularly in Asia. The study was published in the Annual Review of Resource Economics. For the study, the researchers evaluated results from over 30 years of research on the environmental, economic and social consequences of oil palm cultivation in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They combined the results from the international literature with their own data from Indonesia, which they have been collecting since 2012 as part of an interdisciplinary German-Indonesian Collaborative Research Centre (CRC 990). Indonesia is the largest palm oil producer and exporter in the world. A large proportion of the palm oil produced in Indonesia is exported to Europe and the USA, where it is used by the food, fuel and cosmetics industries. The research data show that the expansion of oil palm in some regions of the world - especially Indonesia and Malaysia - contributes significantly to tropical deforestation and the loss of biodiversity. Clearing forestland also leads to substantial carbon emissions and other environmental problems. "However, banning palm oil production and trade would not be a sustainable solution," says Professor Matin Qaim, agricultural economist at the University of Gottingen and first author of the study. "The reason is that oil palm produces three times more oil per hectare than soybean, rapeseed, or sunflower. This means that if palm oil was replaced with alternative vegetable oils, much more land would be needed for cultivation, with additional loss of forests and other natural habitats." Banning palm oil would also have negative economic and social consequences in the producing countries. "It is often assumed that oil palm is only grown on large industrial plantations," says Qaim. "In reality, however, around half of the world's palm oil is produced by smallholder farmers. Our data show that oil palm cultivation increases profits and incomes in the small farm sector, in addition to raising wages and creating additional employment for rural labourers. Although there are incidences of conflicts over land, overall the oil palm boom has significantly reduced rural poverty in Indonesia and other producing countries." "The goal should be to make palm oil production more environmentally and climate-friendly," says Professor Ingo Grass, agricultural ecologist at the University of Hohenheim and co-author of the study. "High yields on the already-cultivated land are important, in order to reduce additional deforestation. Mosaic landscapes, where oil palm is combined with patches of forest and other crops in agroforestry systems, could also help to protect biodiversity and ecosystem functions," he adds. The authors conclude that developing and implementing more sustainable production systems are challenges which require both innovative research and policymaking. Clearly and fairly defined land rights and improved access for smallholder farmers to training, credit and modern technologies would be important steps forward. Consumers can contribute by shopping for food, fuel, and cosmetics more consciously and avoiding waste wherever possible. ### Original publication: Qaim, M., Sibhatu, K.T., Siregar, H., Grass, I. (2020). Environmental, Economic, and Social Consequences of the Oil Palm Boom. Annual Review of Resource Economics, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-110119-024922 Contact: Professor Matin Qaim University of Gottingen Faculty of Agricultural Sciences Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development Platz der Gottinger Sieben 5 37073 Gottingen, Germany Tel. +49-551-39-24806 Email: mqaim@uni-goettingen.de http://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/42360.html New Delhi, May 19 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday said free citizens cannot exist if the news media cannot speak, and journalistic freedom lies at the core of freedom of expression, but it is not absolute. The observations were made by a bench comprising Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah, while asking Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami to move a competent court to quash an FIR for a news show on Palghar mob-lynching. The bench said Goswami is not immune from an investigation into the FIR which has been transferred from police station Sadar, district Nagpur City to N.M. Joshi Marg police station in Mumbai. The top court also refused to transfer the probe from Maharashtra police to CBI. But, it extended some relief to Goswami by providing him protection from coercive action for the next three weeks. On May 11, the bench had reserved the judgement on pleas by Goswami. Justice Chandrachud, pronouncing the judgement, said India's freedom of press stays as long as journalists can speak the truth to power, but noted freedom is not "absolute". The bench observed that free citizens cannot exist if the news media cannot speak. The need for the law to protect journalistic freedom within the ambit of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, noted the court. "The petitioner is a media journalist. The airing of views on television shows which he hosts is in the exercise of his fundamental right to speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a). India's freedoms will rest safe as long as journalists can speak to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal", said the bench. The top court observed that the exercise of that fundamental right is not absolute and is answerable to the legal regime enacted with reference to the provisions of Article 19(2). "But to allow a journalist to be subjected to multiple complaints and to the pursuit of remedies traversing multiple states and jurisdictions when faced with successive FIRs and complaints bearing the same foundation has a stifling effect on the exercise of that freedom", said the bench. This will effectively destroy the freedom of the citizen to know of the affairs of governance in the nation and the right of the journalist to ensure an informed society, added the bench. Goswami had sought transfer of the FIRs filed in connection with his shows on the Palghar lynching and Bandra migrant gatherings. Goswami had urged the apex court to quash the cases filed against him, as it was an attempt to silence him as a journalist. Multiple FIRs were filed against Goswami regarding the Palghar lynching in various states, the top court agreed to quash all except the one currently under investigation in Mumbai. The top court refused to quash the FIR and asked Goswami to seek quashing of it before the competent courts, and follow the normal process by moving the Bombay High Court. Rejecting Arnab's plea seeking handing over investigation to CBI, the bench observed that transfer of an investigation to the CBI is not a matter of routine. "The precedents of this court emphasize that this is an 'extraordinary power' to be used 'sparingly' and 'in exceptional circumstances'," said the bench. A knife-wielding man shot and killed Saturday by a Houston police officer moments after witnesses said he fatally stabbed a woman was released from a psychiatric hospital nearly two weeks earlier, records show. A judge ordered Randy Lewis, 38, to be committed last October until he was competent to stand trial on 2018 charges of theft and assault of a public servant. The initial commitment was to last up to four months but was extended in March when he showed no improvement. Documents show Lewis had a mental illness and required treatment for his own welfare and protection or for the protection of others. The felony charges that led to his 2018 arrest stemmed from the alleged theft of a bag of chips, cookies, crackers and candy, court records show. He then hit the arresting police officer while being taken to the Harris County Jail, according to court records. His criminal history in Harris County includes about 60 arrests on predominantly misdemeanor charges, as well as nine felony charges not including the latest two. Court records show Lewis to have been housed at at least two different facilities in the past month. On May 1, Lewis was released from the Harris County Psychiatric Center and into the care of the Royal Personal Care Home in the 12000 block of Becklin Lane in the Alief area. The facility is not listed in city permitting records. Four days later, Lewis posted a personal recognizance bond. Royal Personal Care Home is about 5 miles from where police said he stabbed 80-year-old Rosie Cook to death over the weekend outside a Walgreens. An employee who answered the phone at Royal Personal Care Home referred questions to a manager. Harris County District Attorneys Office spokesman Dane Schiller said Lewis recently absconded from the care home, where he was ordered to live instead of being held in jail during the novel coronavirus pandemic. The judge in the case had not yet issued a warrant for his arrest. Police did not even know to look for him, Schiller said in a statement. Unfortunately this tragedy occurred before he could be returned to court. Lewis had a history of mental illness and should have been kept off the streets, he also said. Several court filings listed Lewis home address as the Open Door Mission, a rehabilitation facility for the homeless in the East End Police said they believe he was at the Fiesta Mart on South Braeswood asking for money and scaring customers with a knife. He later confronted Cook as she left the nearby Walgreens and stabbed her. A police officer who stopped at the pharmacy to use the bathroom confronted him and opened fire when he allegedly stepped toward the officer with the blade. The fatal shooting was the fifth since April 21 involving a Houston police officer. Julian Gill contributed to this report. nicole.hensley@chron.com Advertisement President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday to talk about the administration's handling of the coronavirus with all of his advisers present and accounted for, meaning there was no designated survivor left out of the gathering during the time of a national pandemic. That doesn't mean the line of succession was not assured: Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Pro Temp of the Senate Chuck Grassley follow Vice President Mike Pence to take over as commander-in-chief. Neither Pelosi nor Grassley were present at Tuesday's meeting. One cabinet official can be left out of large gatherings of government officials - such as happens every year at the State of the Union address - to ensure the continuity of government should a catastrophic event occur. None of Trump's cabinet was missing from Tuesday's meeting, however. At the meeting Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin showed Trump the new coronavirus stimulus prepaid debit cards, presenting the president with a sample card with his name on it. The prepaid cards will be sent out to Americans who do not have bank accounts or haven't provided the IRS with account details. Mnuchin said: 'We now have developed debit cards. In an effort to expedite money to people even quicker in a very safe way, I'm pleased to show you what a debit card looks like with your name on it, Mr. President. 'We think debit cards are a safe and secure way of delivering refunds.' President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting to talk about the administration's handling of the coronavirus with all of his advisers present and accounted for, meaning there was no designated survivor left out Trump holds up a copy of an executive order he signed on DOT deregulation, during a meeting with his cabinet in the East Room of the White House US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin shows Trump a pre-paid debit card during a meeting with his cabinet Tuesday Trump examines a sample coronavirus pandemic relief debit card he was handed at the cabinet meeting One cabinet official can be left out of large gatherings of government officials to ensure the continuity of government should a catastrophic event occur (L-R) White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Senior Advisor to the President Jared Kushner and Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump attend a meeting of President Donald Trump with his cabinet on Tuesday in the Cabinet Room of the White House White House advisors Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Hope Hicks attend President Trumps cabinet in the East Room of the White House Tuesday Speaker Nancy Pelosi follows Vice President Mike Pence in the line of succession and was not at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. She is seen above arriving for a ceremonial swearing-in event for new Republican House Representatives at the U.S. Capitol The cabinet meeting came after the president traveled to Capitol Hill to have lunch with Republican senators, who were not tested for the coronavirus before gathering with Trump to eat. Most of the senators wore masks as they headed into their meeting with the president. The physician of the Capitol recommended lawmakers and their staff wear masks on Capitol Hill but said there were not enough tests to cover all lawmakers. Several senators said 'no' they had not been tested ahead of Tuesday's luncheon. 'No,' Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama told The Hill newspaper, before adding 'a test would be good for all of us probably.' Senators have moved their weekly luncheon out of the Capitol building itself to one of the Senate buildings across the street in order to use a bigger room so senators can spread out while they eat their boxed lunches. They are supposed to sit with only three lawmakers per table. The virus has struck Capitol Hill. Republican Senator Rand Paul tested positive for the disease in March and some Senate staff have had it. There have also been cases of the virus at the White House with aides close to President Trump and Vice President Pence testing positive. The White House does coronavirus testing at its complex for those meeting with the president. Officials have also tested factory workers who were coming into contact with Trump during his visits to Honeywell Factory in Phoenix two weeks ago and a factory in Allentown, Pennsylvania, last week. The Trump administration has several protocols in place during the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 1.5 million Americans and killed more than 90,000. Counselor to the President Hope Hicks listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday Ivanka Trump listens as her father, President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet Meeting in the East Room Mask on: Ivanka and husband Jared are seen waiting for the cabinet meeting to begin in the East Room of the White House Trump smiles as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hands him a debit card that will be used to send payments by the Treasury Department to Americans Trump smiles as he holds a debit card handed to him by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that will be used to send payments to Americans Mnuchin holds up a new debit card to be used to distribute COVID-19 relief funds to the public during a Cabinet meeting Anyone meeting the president gets a coronavirus test and any person coming into the White House complex gets their temperature tested at the gate. Senior White House staff and others with regular contact with the president are tested daily. At Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, officials were seated apart in accordance with social distancing but none of them were wearing masks. But the Food and Drug Administration warned about the reliability of the rapid-results test used to detect the coronavirus. Created by Abbott Laboratories, it is used by the White House to test those meeting with the president. A study earlier this month indicated that test could be missing as many as 48% of coronavirus infections. There are other measures in place. Trump admitted on Monday he's taking a daily dose of hydroxychloroquine as a preventative measure against the coronavirus. He has previously touted hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus 'cure', but the FDA has warned the drug - which is typically used to treat malaria - has a range of possibly lethal side-effects and has not been proven as an effective COVID-19 treatment. Several studies are underway into the drug's effectiveness in treating coronavirus and whether it can also protect against the disease, but so far there is no clear evidence it is beneficial. 'You're not going to get sick or die,' Trump said on Monday about taking the medication. 'I've taken it about for a week and a half now. And I'm still here.' Ahead of his Cabinet meeting, President Trump was on Capitol Hill for lunch with Republican senators, none of whom were tested for coronavirus ahead of the sit-down Senators John Barasso and Mitch McConnell wear face masks while they listen to President Trump answers questions from the media after their lunch on Capitol Hill At least two White House staffers tested positive for the coronavirus this month, both of whom had access to the president: his Navy valet who serves him meals and Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary Katie Miller, who speaks for the Coronavirus Task Force and is married to Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller. The president came under fire after admitting to taking hydroxychloroquine. Following Trump's admission, Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among a host of doctors and politicians who branded the move irresponsible. Pelosi told CNN: 'He's our president and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists. Especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group, what is morbidly obese, they say. So, I think that it's not a good idea.' In return, Trump blasted her as a 'sick woman' with a lot of 'mental problems' after she called him 'morbidly obese' and he claimed academic research showing the dangers of hydroxychloroquine was done by his enemies. 'Pelosi is a sick woman she's got a lot of problems, a lot of mental problems,' President Trump said during a visit to Capitol Hill where he had lunch with Senate Republicans. The president also defended his daily dosage at his Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. 'I've had no impact from it. I feel the same. I haven't changed I don't think too much,' he said. What are we going to do if live exports are banned? It is an unlikely outcome from the current horse-trading between the Greens and Fianna Fail and Fine Gael but it may not be as far-fetched as many Irish farmers would like to think. There is always a steady trickle of stories about animals dying en route to ports in North Africa, with The Guardian newspaper leading the way. Most of this reporting is sponsored by animal rights philanthropists, but that does not mean that the stories don't influence public opinion. There was a shocking incident last November when a boat destined for Saudi Arabia capsized near the Romanian port of Midia. The 14,000 sheep on board drowned. Subsequent allegations of 'secret decks' that resulted in the boat's overloading made a tragic situation even worse. Boats being held up for days and weeks before they are allowed unload in the sweltering North African heat have resulted in other gruesome episodes of animal cruelty and death. The Irish calf export business had its own brush with controversy last year when footage emerged of some thug beating calves around pens in a French lairage. But before we start beating ourselves up, it's worth noting that Ireland was identified as being one of the most responsible live exporters in Europe in a recent EU report. The 'Welfare of Animals Transported by Sea' noted Ireland's protocols, including a requirement for a deposit from the exporter "of a considerable amount of funds" before the vessel is inspected to cover any costs or alterations required. It also notes that the majority of Member States do not receive any feedback from the country of destination about the condition of the animals on arrival. The exception to this is Ireland, which the report states "has a national requirement for an official veterinarian to travel on the first journey of a newly approved vessel and to report on the animal welfare outcome". Problem So what's the problem? Well, the problem is that the systems aren't bullet-proof. As the EU report concludes, current practice is "insufficient to minimise the risks" of bad welfare outcomes. And the potential fall-out for Irish farming if there is a Midia-type incident is huge. The Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, told the Dail that Ireland shipped close to 300,000 cattle last year, with calves accounting for two-thirds of the total. Over 20,000 Irish cattle were shipped to Africa and Turkey last year, helping bring the total value of the export business to nearly 300m annually. Minister Creed was responding to a demand from Green Party MEP Grace O'Sullivan to ban live exports from Ireland. Animal rights activists have a fairly reasonable position: an animal that has the desire to live and can feel pain should be spared any suffering, regardless of whether it is heading for slaughter. It strikes me as odd that the beef and dairy industries here would leave themselves so exposed to the vagaries of such a vulnerable trade. It's not like there are no alternatives. New Zealand has effectively ceased live exports of cattle for exactly this reason, forcing domestic operators to create enough capacity to slaughter all animals before they are exported. And in this new world of viral threats, is the wholesale movement of millions of live animals across borders going to last? I appreciate the arguments about live exports being the only way to keep manners on the beef barons. But what is stopping the same people who demand that the trade should continue - farmers and exporters - from investing in slaughter facilities here to change the situation? Why can't farmers invest in creating their own competition, and in the process create a more sustainable industry? There are plenty of abattoirs around the country lying idle or running way under capacity. Apart from adding value and creating employment in rural areas, it would also create a new requirement for extra rearing capacity. Beef farmers won't relish the prospect of rearing dairy-bred calves. So the dairy farmer would have to 'de-risk' the scenario for the rearer by setting up some kind of contract-rearing deal. That would focus minds in the dairy sector about what kind of bull calves the market really wants, instead of the current situation where dairy farmers get to produce whatever suits them, and let somebody else worry about turning it into a profit. Is it just me that thinks that this all adds up to a much more sustainable model for Ireland's main farming sectors than a continued reliance on the volatile live export trade? The US is trying out its first remote jury. Getty The US' first jury was selected via Zoom on Monday. Jurors were selected for an insurance case in Texas. The case is a summary jury trial, which means the jury's verdict will be non-binding. "You're not at home during jury duty. You're at jury duty, you just happen to be at home," said Judge Keith Dean. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The courtroom is starting to move onto Zoom. A legal case in Texas commenced unusually on Monday the jury was selected over Zoom. Per Reuters, more than 24 potential jurors logged onto Zoom through a variety of devices for selection, and they were guided through the process by two judges. A recording of the selection process was streamed live to YouTube. "For centuries if you've got jury duty you have to go to the courthouse for jury duty, in this case the courthouse has come to you. But I want you to see this as jury duty. You're not at home during jury duty. You're at jury duty, you just happen to be at home," said Judge Keith Dean. He reminded the jurors that to simulate a courtroom setting, there would be times when they would need to maintain some privacy from their household. "You're going to have to tell whoever's in your home there are going to be times when they're going to have to leave the room and not be listening in," said Dean. Judge Emily Miskel helped guide the jurors and lawyers through the technicalities of Zoom, and projected a picture of the courthouse behind her. At one point Judge Miskel asked the lawyers if they wanted her to group half the jurors into a "breakout room" because the number of participants on the call made it hard to see them all at once. "Yeah your honor I think it would be easier, it looks like when we're looking at all of them it's like the 'Brady Bunch' on steroids, so splitting them in half may be the better thing to do," said lawyer for the plaintiff Matthew Pearson. Story continues The case is an insurance dispute, and according to Dean is expected to last about a week although the jurors would only be present for one to two days. Specifically the case is a summary jury trial, which means the jury's verdict is non-binding. Following the verdict, which gives an idea of how the case would play out in front of a real jury, the parties sit down to a mediation. Court officials told Reuters this non-binding format made the case a good trial-run for using Zoom. Some court proceedings have already moved onto teleconferencing platforms, but this is the first case to bring a jury onboard as well. Judge Miskel told Reuters the case would show whether a "hybrid approach" to court proceedings is possible, with jury selection happening virtually and the rest of the case being conducted in person. Read the original article on Business Insider - A food delivery rider posted about how a checkpoint officer who scolded him for a violation gave him $100 or P5,000 - He said that he moved to another queue after he saw another driver do the same - This, however, got him into trouble and he got an earful from the checkpoint officer, but who apparently had a heart for hardworking lads - After explaining amid tears, the officer took something out of his wallet, which the driver initially thought was a ticket, but to the latter's surprise was a $100 bill PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see KAMI news on your News Feed Joshua Basa, a food delivery driver, shared how a furious police officer at the checkpoint became an "angel." The officer scolded him relentlessly for a violation, but when he explained that he was a working student, trying to make ends meet, the former gave him a $100 bill or P5,000 to help him make it through. In the May 16 Facebook post of Joshua, he said that he passed by a checkpoint in Espana and lined up with the other motorcycle riders. When he saw another driver transfer to another queue, he followed suit. However, the checkpoint officer scolded him for cutting the line. Joshua tried to explain, but the officer could not be dissuaded. The former said that he was just a student trying to fend for himself. The officer asked him to surrender his license and even asked for his school ID to prove his claims. Joshua, who was already in tears, due to having a really bad day was at the point of breaking when the officer pulled out his wallet. PAY ATTENTION: Shop with KAMI! The best offers and discounts on the market, product reviews and feedback. He thought that the officer would give him a ticket, but to his surprise, the officer, Sir Sirjon Nacino pulled out a $100 bill and gave it to him. Sir Sirjon told him to finish his studies and his words pierced his heart that it made him cry. "Tanggapin mo na. Tulong ko sayo yan, gusto ko magtapos ka ha! Ipangako mo sakin!" said the Sir Sirjon to Joshua. Pag sabi nya non lalo kong umiyak, hindi ko napansin yung halaga ng pera pero sa mga sinabi nya talaga ko nadala," continued Joshua. PAY ATTENTION: Enjoyed reading our story? Download KAMI's news app on Google Play now and stay up-to-date with major Filipino news! In a previous report by KAMI, the government faced problems when they imposed the initial community quarantine, which was elevated into enhanced community quarantine. It also suspended transportation causing massive problems with commuters. The coronavirus outbreak started out in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China. Scientists believed that the virus came from an animal at one of Wuhan's wet markets. At present, the Philippines is under a state of calamity while the entire Luzon is under an enhanced community quarantine. Please like and share our amazing Facebook posts to support the KAMI team! Dont hesitate to comment and share your opinions about our stories either. We love reading about your thoughts and views on different matters! Isa Ka Ba Sa May Ka- QuaranFLING? Sa quaranFLING may leveling daw ang landian. True kaya to. Dahil sa ECQ usong uso ito. Kung sayo ba to nangyari, aasa ka ba dapat o hanggang MAY 15 lang kayo? Ano masasabi nyo? Check out all of the exciting videos on our KAMI HumanMeter YouTube channel! Source: KAMI.com.gh Pastor faces 3 years in jail for defying Myanmar's COVID-19 stay-at-home orders Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A controversial Christian pastor and three others in Myanmar face three years in jail for organizing services in defiance of a ban on large gatherings in the Southeast Asian country due to COVID-19. Pastor David Lah, who holds a Canadian passport, and three others in Yangon city were charged under the 2013 Natural Disaster Management Law, an offense which is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years and a possible fine, according to the U.S.-based Christian persecution watchdog International Christian Concern. According to the Yangon Region COVID-19 Control and Emergency Response Committee, Lah and two other pastors held services after a ban on large gatherings was imposed in Yangon on March 13, and the other accused is a member of the congregation, Reuters reported. In a sermon posted online in late March, Pastor Lah said, If you hear the sermon of God, the virus will never come to you, I declare it with the soul of Jesus Christ. Weeks later, about 20 people connected to his gatherings tested positive for the novel coronavirus, including Pastor Lah and a famous Myanmar rock star named Myo Gyi. According to CBC News, on the afternoon of April 7, police say a crowd gathered to listen to Lah. It was more than three weeks after restrictions on mass gatherings were announced in Myanmar, and more than two weeks after Myanmar officially documented its first case of COVID-19, the Canadian news outlet reported. Because of Lahs action, many Christians in Myanmar face criticism and have sensed hostilities towards them in the Buddhist majority country, ICC said. Christian leaders have appealed to citizens to work together to fight COVID-19 in unity and love as anti-Christian sentiment surges on social media. They also urged people not to post and share fake news, photos and videos on Facebook that may be offensive to religion. On May 7, Lah was discharged from the hospital and has been quarantined for 21 days in a Yangon hotel. There are 182 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six deaths in Myanmar as of Sunday. According to David Lah Ministries Facebook, he is a Myanmar-born pastor living in Toronto and currently touring around the globe to preach the gospel. Photos of Henry Van Thio, Myanmars first-ever non-Buddhist vice president, attending a gathering held in February by Lah in the capital city of Naypyidaw appeared on social media in April, according to CBC News. The Buddhist and ethnic Burman majoritarian military of Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, routinely persecutes Christians due to the various ethnic conflicts in the country, especially along the borders with China, Thailand and India. Open Doors ranks Myanmar 19th on its 2020 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian. The group notes that due to ongoing fighting, more than 100,000 Christians have been forced to flee their homes and are living in camps where they have been denied access to food and healthcare. An aerial photo of the famous Nyhavn tourist area with empty streets during the coronavirus precautions in Copenhagen, Denmark on April 1, 2020. Rasmus Degnbol | Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Some European countries have decided to block businesses linked to offshore tax havens from receiving government-backed coronavirus bailouts. To date, France, Poland, Belgium and Denmark have all announced similar measures designed to exclude some companies from taxpayer-funded relief programs. As of Tuesday, more than 4.8 million people had contracted Covid-19 worldwide, with 318,833 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The pandemic has forced world leaders to quickly deploy emergency financial measures and aggressive stimulus packages in an effort to avoid a devastating economic collapse. The EU blacklist Earlier this month, Belgium became the fourth European Union country to introduce legislation that prevents pandemic relief measures to companies with a presence in tax havens. The law, which was adopted on May 7, stipulates that any business with a link to tax havens via a shareholder or subsidiary won't be able to receive state-aid. Poland, France and Denmark had all proposed similar amendments to deny relief funding to firms operating in jurisdictions the EU considers uncooperative for tax purposes. A mural paying tribute to the sacrifice of doctors, nurses and paramedics fighting with epidemic of the new coronavirus COVID-19, is seen in Warsaw Poland, on April 2, 2020. Wojtek Radwanski | AFP | Getty Images The EU's so-called "blacklist" identifies 12 countries that have failed to meet the bloc's standard on the open and fluid exchange of tax information. None of the countries on the list are members of the EU, since the bloc claims all member states are fully compliant and held to a higher level of scrutiny than other countries across the globe. A spokesperson from the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, told CNBC that it was up to member states if they wished to grant state aid and to design measures in line with EU rules, "such as to prevent fraud and tax evasion or aggressive avoidance." At the same time, the spokesperson said member states "must comply" with fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the EU Treaty, including on the free movement of capital and the free movement of persons. "This means they cannot exclude companies from aid schemes on the basis of headquarters or tax residency in a different EU country," they added. 'Bail or bailout' test Alex Cobham, chief executive of the Tax Justice Network, which tracks corporate tax avoidance, believes the coronavirus pandemic "has exposed the grave costs of an international tax system programmed to prioritize the interest of corporate giants over the needs of people." Late last month, the Tax Justice Network published a five-step "bail or bailout" test to determine whether governments should help businesses requesting pandemic relief. The checks consisted of finding out whether one or more subsidiaries of the corporate group is listed on the Financial Secrecy Index (a system that ranks jurisdictions according to the secrecy of their offshore activities); seeing whether the group has participated in any financial scandals; looking to see whether the group has published its most recent accounts; asking whether the group has published information on who the beneficial owners are of all its legal vehicles; and requesting to see whether the group has committed to employee protection. If any of the conditions are not met, the Tax Justice Network argued governments must either make a bailout conditional on recipients meeting all of the requirements by the end of 2020 or to disqualify them. View of Long Bay, West End, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. DEA/ Diego M. Rossi | Getty Images Companies are no longer required to mandatorily pay wages to employees not working during the coronavirus lockdown. The order on compulsory wage payment to workers during lockdown now ceases to exist, the government said on Sunday. "Save as otherwise provided in the guidelines annexed to this order, all order issued by the NEC [national executive committee] under Section 10(2)(I) of the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005, shall cease to have effect from 18.05.2020," the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in the order. The government omitted the order related to wages, while keeping intact several guidelines on lockdown. However, no explanation was provided by the government in this regard in the order. On March 29, the MHA had issued an order under Section 10(2)(I) of the DM Act asking all employers to pay wages to employees on due date without any deduction even if the establishment was closed on account of coronavirus lockdown. "All the employers, be it in the shops and commercial establishment, shall make payment of wages of their workers, at their workplace, on the due date, without any deduction, for the period their establishment is under closure during the lockdown," the government had said. On Sunday, the Supreme Court quashed this order by the government on wage payment. The apex court ordered the government not to take any coercive action against companies unable to pay the full salaries to their employees in this period. The judgement came against a writ petition filed by Karnataka-based company Ficus Pax Private Limited, which had challenged the constitutional validity of a March 20 notification by the Labour Secretary and clause III of the March 29 notification by the Home Ministry, both of which compelled payment of full wages to workers and employees during the period of lockdown. Meanwhile, several states eased restrictions to open up key economic activities in almost all areas besides the containment zones after India entered its fourth phase of lockdown on Monday. However, schools, colleges, cinema halls, malls and religious assemblies will remain shut, at least till May 31. The easing of lockdown curbs is mainly aimed at boosting the economic activities as the country's gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to contract sharply in Q1FY21. Also read: Lockdown 4.0 Live Updates: Buses, autos, cabs open, malls, metro, flights shut; India COVID-19 cases-1,01,139 Also read: Taking HCQ for about 'a week and a half' to protect against COVID-19: Trump A Kerry couple have won a High Court challenge over the use of a laneway beside their home which has been at the centre of a long running row over access to a scenic lake. Cornelius and Suzanne Dennehy, who live and farm near Fossa village in Co Kerry, are entitled to an order quashing the August 2018 decision of An Bord Pleanala declaring that a gate they erected at the entrance to lands they own requires planning permission. The lane leads down to the shore of scenic Lough Leane and links to the N72 Killarney-Killorglin Road. It also provides access to a number of houses and to the Loch Lein Country House Hotel, owned by Dr Donal Coffey. The Dennehys' judicial review proceedings were against the board, the Minister for Housing Planning and Local Government and the State over the decision. Dr Coffey was a notice party. Mr Justice Charles Meenan, in a judgment delivered today was satisfied An Bord Pleanala erred in law in failing to correctly consider a Circuit Court decision which found there was no right of way of the Dennehy land. The failure to consider the Circuit Court decision made the planning board's decision unreasonable or irrational, he said. The court heard that land on one side of a lane had been a traditional boaters' access to the lake and is owed by the Dennehys and on the other side by Sir Maurice O'Connell. In 1989, Mr OConnell no longer wished to facilitate the activities of the local Fossa Rowing Club as he had done in providing access for the club. Three members of the club approached Mr Dennhey and got permission to walk over the Dennehy land to get to the lake. "Unfortunately, this was the start of the trouble", Mr Justice Meenan said. Mr Dennehy claimed some members of the club exceeded their permission and insisted they had a right to use it. The Dennehys erected a gate to prevent trespass in 2010 and no trespassing signs were also erected. But by 2012 there were increasing incursions which became confrontational and gardai had to be called. Public events were organised seeking to establish the existence of a public right of way over the laneway, not only by the Fossa Rowing Club but also by other organisations such as the Fossa Way Committee and the Mens Shed. "These organised public events cannot have been anything other than frightening and intimidating for the Dennehys and their family," the judge said. However, worse events occurred with the Dennehys getting an anonymous written threat warning them to leave Fossa. Shots were fired over their home, property damaged and their dog was shot. The judge said some club members told the Dennehys they disagree with and apologised for what was happening. Two Circuit Court cases were being brought by that stage, one by Maurice O'Connell, and the other by nominated members of the rowing club. Ultimately, they were both dismissed. One of the other neighbours, the hotel owner Dr Coffey, then sought a declaration that the gate erected by the Dennehys was not exempt and required planning permission. When An Bord Pleanala found it did require permission, the Dennehys brought High Court proceedings which were settled. The board reconsidered its decision but came up with the same answer and the Dennehys brought a second High Court challenge. In his decision quashing that second decision, Mr Justice Meenan said the board, in his view, did not correctly consider the legal import of the decision of the Circuit Court. Ths error arose from the view taken by the board that, whereas the Circuit Court was concerned with a right of way, it (board) was not. The Circuit Court found no right of way and therefore the laneway was not "habitually open or used by the public" as the board had found. He said the board could only make its findings as to the use of the laneway "by the public by ignoring the facts", as found by the Circuit Court, that people travelling over it without the Dennehys' consent were trespassers. "I cannot see that such a finding by the board would be legally permissible", he said. The Germany-based healthy footwear brand Von Wellx, will be shifting its entire shoe production of over three million pairs annually in China to India with an initial investment of Rs 110 crore New Delhi: Casa Everz Gmbh, the owner of Germany-based healthy footwear brand Von Wellx, will be shifting its entire shoe production of over three million pairs annually in China to India with an initial investment of Rs 110 crore, according to a top official of the company's licensee Iatric Industries Pvt Ltd. A new manufacturing unit will be set up with a production capacity of over three million pairs in Uttar Pradesh through a collaboration with Iatric Industries Pvt Ltd as part of an understanding with the state government. "Yes, after multiple rounds of discussions, Casa Everz Gmbh has decided to shift its entire production from China to India," Iatric Industries Pvt Ltd Director and CEO Ashish Jain told PTI in an e-mailed response. Casa Everz Gmbh had two manufacturing units in China with an annual capacity of over 3 million pairs. Iatric Industries already has a capacity of 5 lakh pairs for Casa Everz Gmbh specifically under which it produces Von Wellx Germany 5 Zones Men's and Women's shoes apart from its other product capacities of another 5 lakh pairs, he added. "Now a new unit will be set up with a production capacity of over 3 million pairs. We have a 2-year time horizon to reach that capacity after all the necessary cooperation with the UP government," Jain said. When asked about investments, he said, "The investment in Phase 1 of the project will be about Rs 110 crore over two years." "We also have a plan for phase 2, where ancillary industries will be set up for availability of high-quality raw materials like outsoles, special fabrics and chemicals which are not available in India right now and which will reduce raw material and footwear imports and improve the quality of Indian made footwear, attracting more investment," he added. Explaining the reasons for Casa Everz Gmbh relocating its production to India from China, Jain said footwear being one of the top labour intensive industries in the world with raw material and labour availability also driving its economic advantage, India offered advantage on both the aspects. "So, the lucrative opportunity from the government, the demographic dividend of India and raw material availability were the top three winners for India. We are working very closely with the UP government to help us in executing the whole plan," Jain said. He also said the company "chose India over other locations since it believes that India is going to be the next manufacturing powerhouse of the world if it is well supported by business conducive government policies". Casa Everz Gmbh has 18 manufacturing units with its 12 licensees across the globe, including Europe, with products selling in over 80 countries. Its products are healthy footwear based on the internationally patented ''5 Zones technology'' which was developed by German orthopaedic, Naturopath Dr Walter Mauch. Von Wellx Germany 5 Zones was launched in India in 2019 and is available at over 500 top retail locations and online in India, Jain said. To help manufacturers, specially footwear competes globally, he said, the company expects the government to design Special Zones where there is provision for easy availability of land, single-window clearances, easy policies for compliances, export incentives and tax holidays "so that we can produce the goods at extremely competitive prices and beat the companies from other countries" Novarad is breaking through the crowded radiology market with a compelling medical information sharing solution MedTech Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global health and medical technology market, today announced that Novarad Corporation, a leader in the development of medical imaging software, has been selected as the winner of its Best New Radiology Solution award in recognition of Novarads innovative CryptoChart solution in the fourth annual MedTech Breakthrough Awards program. CryptoChart replaces traditional imaging CDs with a more modern, secure and convenient method of sharing medical information. Novarads new CryptoChart product gives healthcare providers the tools to offer patients and referring physicians a simple QR code that allows them to view and share their images and reports from a mobile device or desktop. The harsh reality for many healthcare providers and patients is that many manual, cumbersome and inefficient technologies and processes are still widely used today, and the fact that most providers are still burning physical CDs for medical images is a perfect illustration of that, said James Johnson, managing director, MedTech Breakthrough. Novarads CryptoChart solution is a shining example of how these inefficiencies can be broken down through innovative thinking and product design, and Novarad is breaking through the crowded radiology market with a compelling medical information sharing solution. We are pleased to recognize Novarad with our Best New Radiology Solution for CryptoChart and we extend our congratulations to the company on a well-deserved 2020 MedTech Breakthrough Award. CryptoChart can receive images from any Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) modality or Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). Once received, images are compressed, encrypted and sent to the Novarad ObjectVault cloud system. The ObjectVault cloud system then returns an encrypted, shareable code to the systems QR code printer. Once printed, the QR code provides quick, easy access to studies and the corresponding diagnostic reports. Were honored that CryptoChart is the recipient of a MedTech Breakthrough Award, said Paul Jensen, president, Novarad. It's a true replacement for CDs that lets providers share images with more control and captures the report aspect, which is normally very elusive outside of the EMR. It's a cost-effective, easily justifiable investment that enables providers to improve both the patient and referring physician experience with everyday technology. The mission of the MedTech Breakthrough Awards is to honor excellence and recognize the innovation, hard work and success in a range of health and medical technology categories, including Robotics, Clinical Administration, Telehealth, Patient Engagement, Electronic Health Records (EHR), mHealth, Medical Devices, Medical Data and many more. This years program attracted more than 3,750 nominations from over 15 different countries throughout the world. To learn more about CryptoChart, please visit Novarad.net/CryptoChart. #### About MedTech Breakthrough Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the MedTech Breakthrough Awards program is an independent program devoted to honoring excellence in medical and health related technology companies, products, services and people. The MedTech Breakthrough Awards provide a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough health and medical companies and products in categories that include Patient Engagement, mHealth, Health & Fitness, Clinical Administration, Healthcare IoT, Medical Data, Healthcare Cybersecurity and more. For more information, visit MedTechBreakthrough.com. About Novarad Located in the heart of Utahs Silicon Slopes, medical technology firm Novarad provides industry-leading healthcare solutions that enable hospitals, imaging centers, clinics and physicians to work both smarter and faster. The companys 30+ years of success are founded on several core principles: transformative technology, a people-centered approach, and service delivery excellence. Visit Novarad at http://www.novarad.net for more information. First obtained by The Guardian, the video released Monday shows Arbery repeatedly declining when an officer asks to search his Toyota. A backup officer arrives, and tells Arbery dont reach the car and keep your hands out your pockets. This second officer then attempts to use a stun gun as Arbery raises his hands out to his sides. The device just clicks loudly; the officer later says it malfunctioned. Arbery complies with orders to get on the ground, and he goes to his knees. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal Lawton Davis caught COVID-19 in mid-March, making him one of the first New Mexicans to get the disease. He then became likely the first New Mexican to donate his plasma so it could be used to try to help patients throughout the state. Several hospitals in the state have in recent weeks started using convalescent plasma to try to treat COVID patients. Doctors infuse plasma from recovered COVID patients into ones who are fighting the disease in hopes that antibodies from the former patient will help the current patient fight the virus, said Dr. Chakri Gavva, medical director of the blood bank for Presbyterian Healthcare Services. Gavva said its too soon to say how effective the therapy has been. But nationwide, researchers have reported that initial findings give cause for optimism, according to a report last week by the Los Angeles Times. And that optimism is causing local health officials to encourage people who have recovered from COVID-19 to come forward and donate their plasma in an effort to help people with the disease that has sickened thousands and killed 270 across the state. Heeded the call After suffering for about a month, which included a stint in a hospital, Davis, 72, read about the plasma therapy in The Wall Street Journal and wanted to know whether he could donate. He ultimately linked up with a network of TriCore Reference Laboratories, Vitalent blood center and health systems throughout the state that are working together to get the proper authorizations and use the experimental treatment. Davis chose to donate because he knew the health care workers who tended to him when he was gravely ill are at risk of becoming infected. Anybody that can do it (donate plasma) really should do it, because it helps people who are pretty ill, Davis told the Journal. I was in the hospital for a couple days when I was at my sickest. Being in isolation in the hospital and seeing what the doctors, the nurses and the medical techs are going through how could I not go through with this? Davis is a longtime Albuquerque resident. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1971 and was in the car business for more than 40 years, including as the owner of Galles & Davis Motor Co. A family vacation to Paris in mid-March was cut short over concerns about the pandemic. Davis said its likely he caught the virus March 13 when traveling back home. Davis wife is also believed to have had the virus, but she had mild symptoms. The disease hurts some worse than others. Davis said he had the worlds worst headache, sinus pain, lung and chest inflammation and gastrointestinal and urinary tract pain that left him hospitalized for several days. It took him about a month to recover. Fatigue lingered for weeks. He said he slept 15 to 18 hours a day and a simple task like taking out the trash would leave him exhausted. People ask what its like, and I tell them, Weve all had the flu. Take the worst case of flu you ever had and multiply it by 10,' Davis said. I have acquaintances who think its not a big deal and nothing to worry about. Its a big deal. If you think its nothing to worry about, youre an idiot. Davis has donated one batch of 900 milliliters of plasma which he was told was used on four patients. Hes scheduled to make at least five more donations. He said hell keep making trips to the blood bank as long as hes needed. Plasma stays in NM Plasma donated by Davis and other New Mexicans will stay in the state where different hospitals can access it, said Dr. Michael Crossey, the CEO of TriCore Reference Laboratories. TriCore performs lab work for many hospitals statewide, including UNM Hospital, Presbyterian and the Lovelace Health System. The lab has reached out to patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 to see if they are willing to donate their plasma. Donors need to be symptom-free for at least 28 days and not have other disqualifying health conditions. So far, the patients have been receptive, Crossey said. As of Friday, about 50 people had signed up to donate. Vitalent had taken plasma from about 30 of those, and about 25% of them said they would make additional donations, according to a TriCore spokeswoman. Of all the COVID craziness, this has been a real upside. How quickly (the convalescent plasma treatment) went through (approval), how quickly the different health systems came together, how positively it was received by patients who were willing to donate, Crossey said. Its a bright spot in all this craziness. More donors needed There are studies going on all over the world to see how the therapy can help patients and which patients should receive it, Gavva said. The treatment has been used to help patients with other viral infections for many years. At Presbyterian, the hospital is giving the treatment to patients who meet guidelines set in a Mayo Clinic study that the hospital is participating in. So its going to people who are hospitalized with severe or life-threatening illness or those who have a higher risk of progressing to serious illness, Gavva said. Those patients are likely receiving other treatments as physicians try to figure out how best to battle the disease. So even if a patient improves, it can be difficult to pin down why, he said. Lovelace Health System, University of New Mexico Hospital and other hospitals in New Mexico have also infused COVID patients with convalescent plasma, health officials said. While the true benefits havent been proved, initial results from a nationwide clinical trial showed that the therapy on severely ill patients didnt increase their risk of dying of the disease and suggested the treatment could save lives, according to the Los Angeles Times. We definitely need donors, Gavva said. We just need to recruit more donors and have New Mexicans helping other New Mexicans. Tropical Storm Arthur brought heavy rain to North Carolinas coast on Monday as forecasters warned that the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season could also spread life-threatening surf and rip currents along U.S. East coast beaches in the days ahead. Its another early start for the Atlantic hurricane season: Arthur formed Saturday in waters off Florida, marking the sixth straight year that a named storm has developed before June 1. With Arthurs center passing off North Carolina, towns near the coast including Newport and Havelock recorded more than 4 inches (10 cm) of rain Monday morning as others approached that number, according to the National Weather Service. Wind gusts of at least 40 mph (64 kph) were recorded in at least two places on the Outer Banks, the weather service said. The Hurricane Center said Arthur was moving north-northeast at 16 mph (26 kph) Monday on a path expected to take its center away from the North Carolina coast, as it took a more eastward path into Tuesday. As of Tuesday morning, the storm had become a post-tropical cyclone. A tropical storm warning was issued for parts of North Carolinas coast Monday, from Surf City to Duck, including Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, and heavy rainfall was expected for much of the eastern part of the state, said Michael Lee, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Newport, North Carolina. The main threat that were really trying to get out there is that there is enhanced risk for dangerous rip currents both today and tomorrow. So, any folks who want to try to go to the beach and get in the water, we have a high risk out for most of our beaches, Lee said. The weather service said eastern North Carolina should prepare for some localized flooding and dangerous marine conditions along the coast. Minor inundation from storm surge is possible for very low-lying areas adjacent to the ocean, sounds, and rivers, with overwash of dunes and flooding of properties and roadways possible for locations where dune structures are weak, mainly north of Cape Lookout, the weather service said. The National Hurricane Center said Tuesday morning that dangerous coastal surf conditions and rip currents are expected to continue along portions of the mid-Atlantic and southeast U.S. coasts during the next couple of days. While there may be a component of warming waters and climate change in other pre-June storms, Arthur is more of a subtropical storm system than a traditional named storm and its water is cooler than whats usually needed for storm formation, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. A lot of these out-of-season storms are weak fleeting ones that meteorologists can see now because of satellites and better technology and would have been missed in earlier times, Klotzbach said. Local forecasters in the Bahamas said showers have lingered over the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco, which are still struggling to recover after being hit by a Category 5 hurricane last year. Patients are being cared for in tents in Grand Bahama after Hurricane Dorian damaged the islands hospital. ___ Associated Press writer Danica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm Hurricane North Carolina Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, the al Qaeda-affiliated gunman behind a terror attack at a Florida naval base last year, penned a chilling final message to his loved ones three months before he killed three US sailors and wounded eight others The Saudi gunman who murdered three US sailors and injured eight others at a Florida naval base told his family he hoped to be killed and 'not to be sad' in a chilling final message written three months before the heinous attack. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, who was shot dead by law enforcement after he opened fire on the Naval Air Base Station in Pensacola on December 6, laid out his intentions in a note dated September 6. The 21-year-old military trainee's note was found by the FBI on one of his two iPhones after the agency spent months breaking through the encryption protecting the devices. The FBI released screenshots of the note on Monday and revealed they discovered Alshamrani had been in contact with al Qaeda operatives. Alshamrani addressed the note, written in Arabic and translated by an expert for DailyMail.com, to his family. 'In the name of God the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful, This message is from the humble slave of God, Mohammed Bin Saeed to his parents and his family,' he wrote. 'If I am in prison when you receive this message, do not be sad but be patient, thousands of Muslims have lost their sons or even daughters in America's prisons - May God help us. 'If God blesses me in getting killed, I pray to God that He accepts me as a martyr for His sake.' The FBI on Monday released screenshots of the note, which was written in Arabic and translated by an expert for DailyMail.com. The opening portion (pictured) states: 'In the name of God the Most Beneficent the Most Merciful, This message is from the humble slave of God, Mohammed Bin Saeed to his parents and his family. If I am in prison when you receive this message, do not be sad but be patient, thousands of Muslims have lost their sons or even daughters in America's prisons - May God help us. If God blesses me in getting killed, I pray to God that He accepts me as a martyr for His sake' At the end of the note he addressed his five younger siblings, writing: 'I advise you to have faith in God, memorize the Quran by heart and learn the knowledge within it, learn the Quran, it will teach you everything. Obey your parents and take care of them "be kind to your parents".' He signed the note with a heart emoji and the words: 'May God be with you' Alshamrani had sought to destroy one of the phones by firing a bullet at it before he was shot dead. The Department of Justice released the photos above of the damaged phone Referencing his planned attack, he wrote: 'I would like to assure you that the matter is not irrational nor a vengeful act.' DailyMail.com is not publishing the note in full because it is laced with extremist propaganda. In it he repeatedly expresses his hopes of becoming a martyr - a person who is killed because of their religious beliefs. Specific sections of the note are addressed directly to his mother and his five younger siblings - Ghazal, Hoor, Tarf, Sanad, Muhammad and Sultan. In the latter section written to his siblings, he wrote: 'I advise you to have faith in God, memorize the Quran by heart and learn the knowledge within it, learn the Quran, it will teach you everything. Obey your parents and take care of them "be kind to your parents".' He signed the note with a heart emoji and the words: 'May God be with you.' Alshamrani's twisted goodbye note to family Mohammed Alshamrani penned the note to his family exactly three months before he opened fire on NABS Pensacola. DailyMail.com is not publishing the note in full because it is laced with extremist propaganda. Alshamrani opened the letter by writing: 'This message is from the humble slave of God, Mohammed Bin Saeed to his parents and his family, 'If I am in prison when you receive this message, do not be sad but be patient, thousands of Muslims have lost their sons or even daughters in Americas prisons - May God help us - 'If God blesses me in getting killed, I pray to God that He accepts me as a martyr for His sake.' Toward the end of the note he wrote: 'To my younger siblings, 'Ghazal, Hoor, Tarf, Sanad, Muhammad, Sultan 'I advise you to have faith in God, memorize the Quran by heart and learn the knowledge within it, learn the Quran, it will teach you everything. Obey your parents and take care of them be kind to your parents.' He signed the message with a heart emoji and the words: 'May God be with you.' Advertisement Attorney General Bill Barr on Monday announced that the FBI had finally gained access to Alshamrani's two iPhones after months of working to break their encryption. Alshamrani had attempted to destroy one of the phones by firing a bullet at it before he was killed. The phone data revealed that Alshamrani had been in contact with 'dangerous' operatives from al Qaeda's branch in Yemen for years prior to the attack, dating back to at least 2015. The branch, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has long been considered the global network's most dangerous faction and has attempted to carry out several attacks on the US mainland. Alshamrani's may have been al Qaeda's first successful attack on US soil since 9/11. Law enforcement officials had previously expressed certainty that Alshamrani was motivated by jihadist ideology, saying he visited a New York City memorial to the attacks of September 11, 2001, over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend and posted anti-American and anti-Israeli messages on social media just two hours before the shooting. AQAP claimed responsibility for Alshamrani's attack in February and released a copy of the same note later found on his phones. Investigators referred to the note as a 'will'. 'The phones contained information previously unknown to us that definitively establishes Alshamrani's significant ties to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - not only before the attack, but before he even arrived in the United States,' Barr said Monday. 'We now have a clearer understanding of Alshamrani's associations and activities in the years, months and days leading up to his attack.' FBI Director Chris Wray said: 'The evidence we've been able to develop in from the killer's devices shows the Pensacola attack was the brutal culmination of years of planning and preparation by a longtime AQAP associate. 'He was meticulous in his planning. He made pocket-cam videos as he cased his classroom building. He wrote a final will, purporting to explain himself, and saved it in his phonethe exact same will that AQAP released two months later when they initially claimed responsibility. 'He wasn't just coordinating with them about planning and tactics. He was helping the organization make the most it could out of his murders.' Barr said the data 'has already proven invaluable in protecting the American people', as it was used to conduct a counter-terrorism operation targeting one of Alshamrani's associates in Yemen, Abdullah al-Maliki. He declined to say whether al-Maliki was killed in that operation, but said he was 'very pleased' with the outcome. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) released a video claiming responsibility for the Pensacola shooting in February, along with a copy of the note written by Alshamrani Attorney General Bill Barr (left) and FBI Director Chris Wray (right) announced developments in the Alshamrani case at a news conference on Monday. They said the information found on the gunman's phones 'definitively establishes' his ties to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Investigators say Alshamrani had created minicam videos as he cased a building at NABS Pensacola before the attack. Police tape is pictured at the base on December 7 Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham (left); Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson (center); and Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters (right) were killed in the attack Saudi Arabia praises latest developments in the Alshamrani case and reiterates support for the US Alshamrani was a second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force who came over to the US in August 2017 to participate in a training program at NABS Pensacola. Alshamrani's chilling social media posts In the days after the December 6 attack at NABS Pensacola, investigators uncovered a string of disturbing social media posts purportedly penned by Alshamrani. On the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Alshamrani posted: 'The countdown has started.' The 21-year-old Saudi national also defended jihad on social media and referred to non-Muslims as 'infidels', according to a Joint Intelligence Bulletin. Just prior to the attack, Alshamrani reportedly posted a manifesto praising 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden. 'I'm against evil, and America as a whole has turned into a nation of evil,' he wrote. 'I'm not against you for just being American, I don't hate you because [of] your freedoms, I hate you because every day you [are] supporting, funding and committing crimes not only against Muslims, but also humanity.' Days before the shooting, Alshamrani reportedly hosted three fellow Saudi military students at a dinner party where they watched videos of mass shootings. Also, investigators believe the gunman visited New York City, including Rockefeller Center and the 9/11 museum, days before the shooting. Advertisement Following the attack, the FBI and the Pentagon began a review into a slew of Saudi trainees studying at US military installations across the nation. In January, US officials announced that they were sending home 21 Saudi military students after an investigation revealed that they had had jihadist or anti-American sentiments on social media pages or had 'contact with child pornography'. The Department of Defense subsequently introduced additional screening procedures for international students as well and increased security measures at American bases. Barr said Monday that the Saudis have been cooperative and have worked with the US to bolster vetting for training applicants. In a statement, the Saudi Embassy in the US praised the developments in the investigation of the shooting and reiterated the Saudi government's support of relations with the US and joint efforts against extremism. 'We will never let the terrorists win, or allow their acts of hatred to divide us," the embassy said. 'The US-Saudi partnership is one of the primary pillars of the global effort to dismantle and defeat terrorist networks such as AQAP. 'And our two countries will maintain our unbreakable commitment to combat the forces of evil, wherever they exist.' Saudi Arabia's links to al Qaeda The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been accused of sponsoring Islamic terrorist groups - including al Qaeda - though it denies doing so. Some of the most notorious terrorists in American history are Saudi - including Osama Bin Laden and 15 of the 19 hijackers involved in the 9/11 terror attacks. The government also funds madrassas - the general term for Islamic schools - where children are taught ultraconservative interpretations of Islamic law known as Wahhabism. Last spring, reports emerged that Saudi Arabia and the UAE were selling American weapons to al Qaeda fighters. And last week, the FBI accidentally leaked the name of a former Saudi Embassy official who is suspected of helping two al Qaeda hijackers in the 9/11 terror attacks. According to Yahoo News, the mistake was made in a recent filing in response to a lawsuit from families of 9/11 victims who have accused the Saudi government of being complicit in the terrorist attacks. In the document, which was filed in April but unsealed this month, lawyers forgot to redact Mussaed Ahmed al-Jarrah's name. He was assigned to the Saudi embassy in Washington, DC, in 1999 and 2000. The document appeared to provide confirmation that FBI agents believed they had uncovered a link between the hijackers and the Saudi Embassy in DC. Though the FBI confirmed the disclosure of the official's name was made in error, the declaration will likely bring up questions regarding possible Saudi links to the terror attacks. The Saudi government has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks. The 9/11 Commission report found 'no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded' the attacks that al-Qaida masterminded, but the commission also noted 'the likelihood' that Saudi government-sponsored charities did. Advertisement AG Bill Barr slams Apple for refusing to help the FBI access Alshamrani's encrypted iPhones During Monday's press conference Barr and Wray praised FBI technicians' 'relentless efforts and ingenuity' in cracking the encryption on the phones while accusing Apple of 'seriously hampering' the investigation by refusing to help. The officials charged that the information recovered from the phones would have been far more useful if it had been recovered when the FBI first asked for Apple's assistance five months ago. Apple issued a statement saying it responded within hours of the FBI's initial request in December and provided 'every piece of information available to us', including iCloud backups, account information and transactional data. The company also said it also lent 'continuous and ongoing technical and investigative support' to the FBI agents working the case. 'The false claims made about our company are an excuse to weaken encryption and other security measures that protect millions of users and our national security,' Apple said. 'It is because we take our responsibility to national security so seriously that we do not believe in the creation of a backdoor one which will make every device vulnerable to bad actors who threaten our national security and the data security of our customers. 'There is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys, and the American people do not have to choose between weakening encryption and effective investigations.' Barr had expressed his desire that the Alshamrani case would compel Apple to do more to cooperate with law enforcement, suggesting that Congress could step in if the company refuses. 'In cases like this, where the user is a terrorist, or in other cases, where the user is a violent criminal, a human trafficker, a child predator, Apple's decision has dangerous consequences for public safety and the national security and is, in my judgment, unacceptable,' Barr said. 'Apple's desire to provide privacy for its customers is understandable - but not at all costs. 'Under our nation's long established Constitutional principles, where a court authorizes a search for evidence of a crime, an individual's privacy interests must yield to the broader public interest. 'There is no reason why companies like Apple cannot design their products for court-authorized access by law enforcement while maintaining very high standards for security. 'Striking this balance should not be left to corporate board rooms. it is a decision that must be made by the American people through their elected representatives.' Wray also attacked Apple for delaying the investigation. 'Finally getting our hands on the evidence Alshamrani tried to keep from us is great - but we really needed it months ago, back in December,' he said. He noted that anyone Alshamrani spoke to before the attack has now had months to 'concoct and compare stories with co-conspirators, destroy evidence, and disappear'. 'As a result, there's a lot we can't do at this point that we could have done months ago,' Wray said. Apple has long touted security as a major feature of its phones and in 2014 began building encryption into devices that can only be unlocked with a password or fingerprint reader By Trend The new appointment has been made at the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy, Trend reports on May 19. Sahir Mammadkhanov has been appointed advisor to the minister. The corresponding order was signed by Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov. Mammadkhanov worked as an inspector in the Main State Tax Inspectorate of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1993, as well as an inspector and head of the department in 1994-1999. He worked as deputy head of the Department of Work with Large Taxpayers in 1999, then as the head of the Main Directorate from 1999 through 2001. Mammadkhanov headed the special department of the tax service under the Ministry of Taxes from 2001 through 2009. He was appointed deputy minister of taxes upon the Azerbaijani presidents order dated March 4, 2009. He served as first deputy minister of taxes since March 29, 2016. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz From the outside, they are often bright and welcoming. Inside, there are typically playrooms for children and interview spaces decorated with flowers and murals. There are no holding cells these stations are designed to receive victims, not offenders. They are womens police stations, an innovation developed in Brazil in the 1980s to address male violence against women. As the model has been adopted in communities across Africa and Central and South America, research suggests it is preventing violence against girls and women. Whether it could do the same in Canada where a woman or girl was killed every 2.5 days in 2018, according to the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability is now under review by a leading expert on violence against women. Its clear that we need to change our current models of responding to womens experiences of male violence, said University of Guelph sociology professor Myrna Dawson, who is the director of the Centre for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence. Policing is a first step. The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a bright spotlight on the issue of violence against women, and calls to police have spiked in some communities, according to service providers who have described COVID-19 and abuse in the home as two pandemics. According to the B.C.-based Battered Womens Support Services, nine women and girls have been killed in domestic homicides in Canada since the beginning of April alone. In response, the federal and provincial governments have provided emergency funding for shelters and other services. But advocates say longer-term changes are needed. And when Canadian society emerges from COVID-19, womens police stations may be one solution. Dawson, who is studying alongside Kerry Carrington of Queensland University of Technology, believes they could offer greater access to justice by overcoming some of the problems within the current policing structure. We need to build something from the ground up rather than in the typical top-down, patriarchal manner, Dawson said. Too often, women and girls experiencing sexual and domestic violence face a lack of empathy, or even victim-blaming, she said. Or, officers dont take threats or harassment seriously. This can discourage female victims from coming forward; domestic violence is known to be significantly under-reported over fears of the abuser or of the police and court process, lack of safe and affordable housing options, among other reasons. Although the models vary, women police stations are generally centred around helping victims not receiving offenders, and can include social workers, lawyers and psychologists alongside officers. The stations are for women but they are not necessarily staffed only by women, Dawson noted you cannot just add women and hope to transform a masculine, patriarchal institutions, she said. A central difference is that officers have specialized training in responding to gender violence and, vitally, they do not prioritize a criminal justice response over the wishes of a victim, reads Carringtons recent research examining womens police stations in Argentinas Buenos Aires province. Services include policing, legal support, counselling, housing and financial help, which address the variety of problems facing survivors of domestic and sexual violence, reads a paper by Carrington and colleagues, recently published in the International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy. Access to support does not depend on whether victims decide to formally report or pursue a criminal conviction. Carrington notes a lack of detailed homicide data prevents a direct comparison between the areas with and without womens police stations. But Buenos Aires province had a femicide rate of 1.16 per 100,000, one of the lowest rates in Latin America, according to Carringtons report. A separate study of womens police stations in Brazil found that, where they existed, the female homicide rate dropped by 17 per cent between 2004 to 2009. There is a growing body of evidence indicating that specialized police forces that are designed to respond to gender-based violence will ameliorate some of the systemic problems in traditional policing models, Carrington writes. Dawson thinks womens police stations may be particularly helpful in Indigenous communities. With the high rates of femicide among Indigenous women and girls, she said its crucial to explore an alternative policing model that is Indigenous, feminist, and women-led. Many Indigenous women have been working in their communities to develop grassroots, community responses in lieu of a system that continues to fail them and miserably so, Dawson said. Womens police stations could therefore be a natural outcome of work they have already been undertaking, she said. Fay Blaney, lead matriarch of the Aboriginal Womens Action Network, is cautiously optimistic about the concept, which she said addresses many of the recommendations which came out of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Blaney said it would be crucial for the stations to be developed by Indigenous women, with a recognition of the impact of both racism and misogyny in violence against Indigenous women and girls including in their own communities. Peer support is crucial for anything like this to be successful, she said. It has to be a model that places women at centre of the conversation. If funded properly, the stations could be useful to women in more remote communities, where there has been a lack of resources in the past, Blaney said. Dawn Lavell-Harvard, the president of the Ontario Native Womens Association, questioned whether developing a new space is necessary, when many of the services are already provided in places specifically designed to be safe for and meet the needs of Indigenous women. Rather than duplicating services especially in remote areas where there is already a lack of police resources police forces should implement specialized training and work on building equal, respectful partnerships with Indigenous womens organizations, she said. Police could, for example, come take a statement in a community space rather than trying to re-create that same environment in a police station. That would allow Indigenous women to set the tone of the interaction and address the significant power imbalance that exists, she said. There is a long history of negative relationships between Indigenous communities and institutions including the police and child welfare organizations, Lavell-Harvard said. Women are not going to seek support where they feel like their children will be taken away or they feel unsafe. Trying to create supportive spaces within that institution is going to be a really uphill battle when theres better ways of doing this, she said. With files from The Canadian Press Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing for the Star. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday doubled, to $30 million, the size of a COVID-19 relief fund aimed at helping the most vulnerable residents pay for housing, utilities, food and health care. The fund will provide $1,200 for households with one to four residents, and $1,500 for larger families. Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis, who proposed the program, estimated the program will help at least 20,000 households. The coronavirus pandemic has created both a health and financial crisis in the region, Ellis said. Many citizens are hurting and I think our duty as public servants is to help the most vulnerable residents, who are already living paycheck to paycheck. The three courts three Democrats Ellis, Precinct 2 Commissioner and County Judge Lina Hidalgo, approved the program on a 3-2 party line vote. The program, which tentatively was approved three weeks ago, gives priority to low-income residents, residents in the country illegally, victims of domestic violence and children aging out of foster care. It aims to assist residents who are ineligible for federal aid through the CARES Act or who need help beyond the $1,200 stimulus checks some taxpayers received. The Greater Houston Community Foundation, which will administer the program for a 5 percent fee, will use a complex formula of socioeconomic factors to determine which residents are eligible for aid. Those include a communitys rate of COVID cases, joblessness, poverty and education. Commissioners Court adopted similar criteria to determine the order flood control projects are completed. This is the type of process that does prioritize equity, said Renee Wizig-Barrios, chief philanthropy officer for the GHCF. She estimated the nonprofit would be able to disburse all payments within 45 days. This metrics-based eligibility model is fairer than a first-come, first-served approach, Ellis said. He noted that the city of Houstons $14 million rent relief fund was expended within 90 minutes of opening last week. Several public speakers urged the court to approve the relief fund. Jennifer Hernandez of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades said many of the groups members have been furloughed or laid off because of the pandemic. Harris County must step up to ensure those left behind by the CARES Act are protected from this crisis, Hernandez said. The two Republican commissioners, Jack Cagle and Steve Radack, voted against the program. Radack said he disagreed with the administrative fee and distrusted the ability of the GHCF to run the program. I do not agree with putting $25 million at risk by not dealing with somebody that can provide us tangible evidence that they can cover us in case something happened to the money, Radack said. Cagle unsuccessfully lobbied the Democrats to ensure funds went directly to rental payments, rather than renters to spend at their discretion. To the extent that we made this a rental relief program, where we can directly impact landlords, reduce the fees, reduce the administration, and be able to utilize the CARES Act funding, then Im very happy with that type of a compromise, Cagle said. Ellis said he was content to agree to disagree. Hidalgo said she had read research from similar funds around the country and world that concluded recipients were unlikely to spend aid on frivolous wants instead of needs. The county will dip into its $254 million rainy day fund to pay for the fund. Commissioners Court also used that emergency account for a $10 million forgivable loan program for small businesses and a $12 million investment to expand mail voting during the pandemic. zach.despart@chron.com MBABANE His Majesty King Mswati III has sent a congratulatory message to the Republic of China (Taiwan) President, Tsai Ing-wen on the occasion of the official assumption of her second term in office. The King said he was sure the confidence shown by the people of Taiwan in the president was drawn from the successes she had managed to achieve during her first term in various sectors such as the economy, social, education, ICT and many others. Economy His Majesty said the presidents focus on propelling Taiwan into the economy of the future through research and development for high tech and high information industries had reinforced her economic self-determination and independence. On behalf of the entire nation of Eswatini, allow me to extend our fondest regards, even though I do so while we are miles apart due to the coronavirus pandemic that has spread throughout the world and prevented me from attending the inauguration of Her Excellency as returning President of Taiwan. I send this message to join the people of Taiwan in congratulating you for the peaceful election and the confidence shown by the people in trusting the president with a second term in office, he said. His Majesty said he was convinced that in this next term, the presidents administration would build on these noteworthy and hugely successful initiatives to consolidate economic growth into tangible personal prosperity for the people of Taiwan. He said this could be achieved through continued strengthening of social safety nets and the improved care and protection of vulnerable groups. Focused The president has not only focused on developing the people of Taiwan, but exported the countrys knowledge to other nations like ours. Our country is a beneficiary of the experiences of Taiwan in both the economic and social sectors. Her Excellency has also provided a lot of technical support in projects aimed at improving the Kingdom of Eswatini since this country is still at a developing stage, he said. He further heaped praises on Taiwan in their glaring fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, which has drawn the attention of the entire world. His Majesty pointed out that it was unfortunate that while focused on achieving the objective of advancing to become a First World country like Taiwan, the world is encountered by the COVID-19 pandemic which has set back most of the countrys programmes as the focus is now in the fight against a pandemic that has not only hurt the people of Eswatini but also those of Taiwan and the rest of the world. Congratulate We take this opportunity to congratulate Her Excellency, the government and the people of Taiwan for the manner in which they have dealt with this pandemic. The entire world has much to learn from the best practices of Taiwan in dealing with public health emergencies. The King said the country was also grateful for the team of experts as well as the financial and medical equipment support which Taiwan, through Her Excellency, had found fit to bring to the kingdom to contribute to the success of fighting against the pandemic. We are fully confident that with the team of Taiwanese experts, we will be able to defeat this terrible aggression which has visited our doorstep. We are looking forward to regaining a sound economy once this pandemic is over and we have no doubt that we will be successful in the fight against coronavirus, he said. Oldest Army medical unit adopts state-of-the-art assets to combat COVID-19 By Spc. Samantha Hall May 18, 2020 "We train for war," said Army Col. Robert F. Howe II, the commander of the Army's 1st Medical Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas. "But getting to support citizens in our homeland is special. Helping fellow citizens is what we're here for." The Silver Knights are no strangers to conflict. The brigade is the Army's oldest color-bearing medical unit, forged on the battlefields of World War I as they supported the first American units committed to that conflict more than 100 years ago. Today, new enemies have brought new demands upon the storied unit, and they are once again on the cutting edge of response in the face of COVID-19. The mission of the Silver Knights is to provide command and control, administrative assistance, and technical supervision of medical units used in support of operations around the world. The brigade also provides combat health support to forces, all while retaining the ability to deploy medical support packages on short notice. In the past, these capabilities were used almost exclusively outside the United States; however, their assets have proven instrumental in the whole-of-nation response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Within 24 hours of notification, the Silver Knights sent medical personnel from the 9th Hospital Center and the 627th Hospital Center to New York City and Seattle, respectively. "To be expeditionary in our own country is awesome and inspiring," Howe said. "There's something special and tangible in seeing the benefits of what you're doing in your own backyard." In addition to other regions of the country, the 1st Medical Brigade is assigned to support the efforts of Task Force Center, the command and control element coordinating defense support of civil authorities in 15 states in the central U.S. "I cannot say enough about the partnership that was developed between Colonel Howe and his organization and Task Force Center," said Army Maj. Gen. Michael A. Stone, the commander of Task Force Center. "Their expertise, professionalism and tireless work ensured that we were never late to need and that the appropriate medical capabilities were delivered when needed, where needed. They really are a top-notch unit with excellent leadership." While flattered by the high praise heaped upon his unit, Howe is quick to point out that it was a team-effort, involving a whole-of-government approach. "We've had amazing opportunities to coordinate and work closely with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Public Health Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and all sorts of other partners at various levels," he said. "Everyone gets a voice, and everyone is very focused on defeating COVID." In addition to deploying traditional military assets like the 9th and 627th Hospital Centers, the Silver Knights had the opportunity to implement a military asset that didn't exist before the global pandemic. The Urban Augmentation Medical Task Force, or UAMTF, is a new concept in rapid-deploying medical assets provided by the Army Reserve. The medical expertise that UAMFT units offer is in direct contrast to a combat support hospital, where a large component of the unit is support personnel. The UAMTF concept allows the Army to rapidly deploy a unit that is tailor fitted to meet the specific requirements of the mission. Army Lt. Col. Rob Wyatt, the commander of the 801-2 UAMTF, explained that a UAMTF is better prepared for a situation where self-sufficient medical personnel are needed. "The unit came together, its people transitioned from civilians to active-duty soldiers in a matter of days," Wyatt said. "We have shown that when we're needed, we can be there quickly and ready to provide our capabilities to the fight." The success of not only the UAMTF, but also of the military's support of civil authorities in response to COVID-19, has not gone unnoticed, at least in the mind of Howe. "I couldn't be prouder to serve alongside these professional soldiers from all walks of life, yet united for one purpose: to defeat COVID-19," Howe said. "This is a defining moment in our history, and one of the most significant things I have supported in my 30 year Army career. Our soldiers are completely focused on saving lives. There is nothing more noble than that." (Army Spc. Samantha Hall is assigned to the Defense Department Support to FEMA COVID-19.) NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- McCann Worldgroup announced today that it has been named Network of the Year by the 2020 Webby Awards. This marks the first time in the network's history that it has received this recognition. The Webby Awards, known as the "Internet's highest honor," are presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). "This recognition of our global performance reflects the willingness of our clients to take risks and push boundaries, and the hard work from all our agencies in every region," said Harris Diamond, Chairman and CEO, McCann Worldgroup. "We are grateful to be able to celebrate this good news during such challenging times, and continue to work hard in helping brands play a meaningful role in people's lives." McCann Worldgroup was recognized with a total of 13 Webby Awards for clients that include Microsoft, L'Oreal, Verizon and the United States Postal Service; for its work with the student-led March For Our Lives; and for MRM's work for the German Youth Association of People with Hearing Loss. The network also won the popular online vote with six "People's Choice" Webby awards for clients including Mastercard, Microsoft and the USPS. In addition to the total of 19 awards at the show, the network received an additional 19 Nominee and 11 Honoree Webby recognitions for clients including Chevrolet, Verizon, L'Oreal, Burger King, Microsoft Xbox, and the NY Lottery. The network won across 18 different agencies in 11 countries. "Obviously being recognized as the top network at the Webbys says a lot about how far we have come and how hard our team around the world has worked. It's a coveted honor and one we share with all of our brave brand and talented production partners. We look forward to creating more and more things that the Internet loves," said Rob Reilly, Global Creative Chairman, McCann Worldgroup. McCann Worldgroup was named Network of the Year in the Advertising, Media & PR category, one of seven media industries honored by the Webbys to showcase the artists, organizations and creators using their platforms to imagine a better tomorrow through information, education, movement and comedy, while inspiring audiences to take action to enact positive change. The Webby Awards also honor Internet excellence in Websites, Video, Apps, Mobile, Voice, Social, Podcast, and Games. The Webby Network of the Year honors continues McCann Worldgroup's industry-leading awards performance that includes recognition by Adweek as the 2019 Global Agency of the Year and being named to Fast Company's prestigious list of the World's Most Innovative Companies for 2020. The network was also named Network of the Year at the 2019 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and ranked #1 on the 2019 Global Effie Effectiveness Index as well as the #1 advertising agency network for creative effectiveness in the 2020 WARC Effective 100 rankings. McCann Worldgroup was also recognized as the #1 advertising agency network for promoting good in the 2020 Good Report, a collaboration between WARC and ACT Responsible, and was named for the 5th year in a row to Advertising Age's prestigious "A-List." About McCann Worldgroup McCann Worldgroup, part of the Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), is a leading global marketing solutions network with over 20,000 employees united across 100+ countries by a single vision: To help brands play a meaningful role in people's lives. In 2019, McCann Worldgroup was selected as Adweek magazine's "Global Agency Of The Year," was recognized as Network of the Year by the Cannes Lions, and was named by the Effies as the world's most creatively-effective marketing services company for the second year in a row. The network comprises McCann (advertising), MRM (science/technology/relationship marketing), Momentum Worldwide (total brand experience), McCann Health (professional/dtc communications), CRAFT (production), Weber Shandwick (public relations) and FutureBrand (consulting/design). SOURCE McCann Worldgroup Related Links http://www.mccannworldgroup.com The US navy sent an American Navy destroyer into the Taiwan strait, and closest it can get to Yellow sea as the People's Liberation Army Navy was doing live-fire drills near mainland China's north coast. USS McCampbell is the sixth sail through done by the US Navy this year and signifies US support for the second term of the Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party. China strongly opposes this as the incumbent is not acquiescing to mainland China. US stern warning to PLA's increased activity Taiwan's defence ministry identified the American ship as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer that did an unhindered FONOPS in the very middle of Taiwan, close to the Chinese mainland and went on a north to south direction. Chinese vessels are notorious for accosting other Asian vessels but the destroyer went through unbothered. A defence ministry official confirmed the ship's direction, while the military is tracking the destroyer's movements and intelligence while on mission The US Pacific Fleet posted on its Facebook page that the USS McCampbell passed through the Taiwan strait as part of operation currently in progress. One comment on the passage of the missile destroyer is that it's a stern US warning to the intimidation done by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) by increase military presence, close to Taiwan and the South China Sea. Considering the PLAN never shows up in very close vicinity to US warships. According to Soong Hseik-wen, these operations done by the US Navy is the demonstration of the US to keep an eye on the fragile stability getting upset by Beijing's ambitions. As Taiwan is evolving to a pro-independence state, China sees it fit to conduct war games to cow the Taiwanese leadership of the Tsai government and her party. Even going as far as threatening the US from supplying top rate weapons to Taiwan. Taiwan may be a small nation, but since upgrading its weapons, even the PLAN is not willing to tangle with it. Arming Taiwan with advanced weapons has made it hard for China to invade it. Also read: Two US Warships Warned Chinese Navy to Stop Coercing an Unarmed Drilling Ship in Malaysian Waters US and China are not ready to cross the line When Tsai got elected as president in 2016, ties were cut with the mainland because of rebuking the one-China policy, which Beijing forces without talks of negotiation. Naval exercises of the PLAN will be 11 weeks, located in the Tongshan coast in North China done in a 25km radius of the drill area, as confirmed by the China Maritime Safety Administration. Since the coronavirus outbreak began, US and Chinese naval forces have increased activities close to Taiwan. Some are wary that both countries will have a disastrous outcome from mutual hostility. One professor, Alexander Huang Chieh-cheng from the Tamkang University in Taipei, says that both nations are stepping their presence, but he thinks that neither is ready to fight it out. Though in Tsai's term the relationship with Beijing will not improve. Ni Lexiong, a military analyst based in Shanghai mentioned that both the US Navy and the PLAN cannot afford getting outdone, or it will be a weakness on either of the two. The one who blinks loses, and also Huang's stand that neither side will shoot first. Ni Lexion then said China wants Taiwan and nothing else. He then said China wants Taiwan, and nothing else. The crossing of the American destroyer in the strait is just one move to let Beijing know that the US will support Taiwan. Related article: Beijing Claims Expelling USS Barry When PLAN Failed @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18 Trend: The operation of the Amulsar gold mine in Armenia may pose a big threat to the Caspian Sea basin, soil quality in the Caucasus region and, in general, to the ecology of the Caspian states. The Amulsar mine is located in southeastern Armenia, 13 kilometers from Jermuk resort town and the Kechut reservoir, connected with Lake Sevan (Goycha), in the interfluve of Arpa river (Azerbaijani name - Arpachay) and Vorotan river (Azerbaijani name - Bazarchay). Both rivers flow through Azerbaijan and merge with Araz River. Environmentalists fear that the operation of the Amulsar mine, during which sodium cyanide will be used, may lead to the oxidation and pollution of water in rivers by cyanides. The contaminated waters will become unsuitable for drinking, irrigation and may cause irreparable harm to the mineral springs of Jermuk and the ecosystem of Sevan. For ten years, the exploration work at the mine was conducted by UKs Lydian Armenia company and it began to prepare the mine for operation in 2016. To date, about $400 million has been invested in the development of the mine. The Armenian authorities call the Amulsar project the biggest international investment program in the history of the country. While realizing that the country's economy is in ruins and people live in poverty, the Armenian government decided to openly violate the UN Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. In particular,according to the countrys document, the states sharing transboundary waters are obliged to protect them and join efforts to ensure sustainable and integrated water resources management. Nevertheless, the Armenian leadership had to revise the project, despite Lydian Armenia has been operating on the Amulsar mine since 2006. The reason is that Yerevan was impelled by the expert warnings about the negative environmental impact of the mine and growing discontent in the country. The environmentalists were irritated after former Armenian government approved the project for the operation of the Amulsar mine, without conducting a preliminary analysis of environmental risks, thus only trusting Lydian Armenia's estimates. The environmental safety guarantees provided by the experts of the UKs company are considered by the ecologists to be unreliable and unfounded. Last summer, environment activists blocked entry into the mine. The new Armenian government was forced to freeze the implementation of the project and announce its intention to conduct a new examination assessing the degree of risk of developing the Amulsar mine. In August 2019, as part of the criminal proceedings on the fact of deliberate concealment of information on environmental pollution associated with the operation of the Amulsar gold mine, the Armenian investigative committee published a report on the mine's exploration, conducted by ELARD consulting company. Proceeding from the document, the production at the Amulsar gold mine does not contain unmanageable environmental risks. Consequently, there are risks, but upon a well-known reason, ELARD has characterized them as manageable. However, according to some reports, ELARD revealed big environmental risks for the rivers in this area and proposed a different interpretation of its report during a video conference with Armenian officials and lawmakers, which was moderated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on August 29. ELARD said that they could not definitively assess the potential impact of the Amulsar project on the environment as Lydian provided erroneous and incomplete data to the Armenian authorities. Armenian ecologists said that the latest statements made by experts confirm their long-standing allegations that the Amulsar project is too dangerous for the country's ecosystem. One of these activists, Anna Shahnazaryan, said that these statements mean that some Armenian officials took the side of Lydian, and gave inaccurate information on this issue. Presently, the state bodies must conduct an investigation to find out whether the Investigative Committee or other people worked poor or whether Lydian continued to mislead the government, Shakhnazaryan told Radio Liberty. As a result, the Armenian government was between the floors: on one hand, environmentalists and indignant citizens, and on the other hand, big investments and international pressure. Over the past two years, the territory of the mine is being blocked for access by the activists. To put pressure on the Armenian leadership, Lydian threatened the Armenian government with international arbitration, where Armenia could end up with a $2-billion fine. Caught under international pressure, Pashinyan had to allow the continuation of work at the mine, but he promised that in case of violations in the work of investors, the government reserves the right to completely close the project. Meanwhile, a report recently prepared by the EU delegation on the possible operation of the Amulsar gold mine in Jermuk was published on the OpenDemocracy website. In accordance with the EUs report, the UK and the US exert pressure on Armenia in connection with the controversial gold mining program. Those who are against the mine development say that they have big concerns about the potential environmental damage. The investors are expected to keep this issue on the agenda and put pressure on Yerevan for the project to be implemented at any cost. However, while Armenian activists and environmentalists are protesting against development and operation of the mine, fearing river pollution and the destruction of rare species of flora and fauna in their country, an environmental disaster may have a devastating effect on the territories and water resources far beyond the borders of Armenia. The Amulsar gold mine is capable of poisoning the entire basin of the Caspian Sea, polluting the rivers flowing through Azerbaijan. In accordance with the joint research by the Armenian Environmental Front and international experts, hazardous chemical waste from the mine will fall into Arpa and Vorotan rivers (Arpachay and Bazarchay in Azerbaijan). In accordance with the joint research reports, as a result of acid mine drainage, the concentration of metals and sulfates in soil and water will greatly increase. In its research, Lydian focused on the acid formation potential but did not publicly talk about the possibility of polluting rivers and groundwaters by waste from the mine. The results of the research of the Armenian Environmental Front and international experts show that ore waste in Amulsar will contain high concentration of antimony, arsenic, copper and zinc, greatly exceeding the acceptable water quality standards. Antimony and arsenic may easily penetrate the food chain and pose a danger to humans even at low concentrations. Copper and zinc are toxic for fish and other organisms living in water, and for humans. The Arpachay River in Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the Bazarchay in the occupied Azerbaijani territories merge with the waters of the Araz River, which in turn flows into the Caspian Sea. Thus, this may cause irreparable damage to the environment and ecology of not only Azerbaijan, but also Iran and other Caspian countries. Although the problem is not global, it is at least regional. Amulsar is a sulfide deposit with huge volumes of sulfur. In case of an open deposit, all surface water and sediment will inevitably become polluted and seep into the rock mass. As a result, sulfur and other chemicals, including zinc, antimony and cyanides penetrate into the rivers and groundwater. This is the uncontrollable risk. Unfortunately, nature does not have a mechanism for self-cleaning from many chemicals, including heavy metals. The effects of poisoned food products show up in the form of oncological diseases after dozens of years, harm the reproductive and hereditary functions. However, poor Armenia expects to receive the multimillion revenues and the assertive Western countries are greatly interested in this project. In such a situation, it is obvious that implementation of the Amulsar project cannot be avoided. At the same time, the international community, which is extremely vigilant in much less fateful issues, reacts rather sluggishly, while the vulnerable ecosystem of the entire Caspian Sea basin, the health and lives of the population of the five Caspian states are under threat. OWOSSO, Mich. A Texas salon owner who was sent to jail for opening her business during the coronavirus outbreak called Michigans governor a tyrant on Monday as she stood next to a barber whose license was suspended for cutting hair. Gretchen, the state of Michigan will vote you out, Shelley Luther declared, referring to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Luther traveled to Owosso, a small Michigan town, to express support for Karl Manke, a 77-year-old barber who reopened his shop for more than a week before state regulators suspended his license. Luther, the owner of Salon a la Mode in Dallas, was sentenced to a week in jail for flouting public health orders intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus. She was released less than 48 hours later when Gov. Greg Abbott dropped jail as a possible punishment for violations. One of her first customers after jail was U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Luther told the crowd that she reopened to pay bills, support her employees and offer much-needed services in a clean salon. Why does your governor think that its OK to open up for marijuana, liquor sales? said Luther, whose boyfriend grew up an hour away in Frankenmuth. Cant you get an abortion? But you cannot get your hair cut. What is wrong? Stop being a tyrant, Luther said of the governor. Open up. You dont get this control. We control you. We have the power. Whitmer has defended the business restrictions as an important way to stop the virus. She relented a bit Monday by announcing plans to reopen bars and restaurants Friday in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, which havent been hit as hard as the rest of Michigan. Protesters, some bearing guns, have repeatedly traveled to the Capitol to demand the governor loosen a one-size-fits-all strategy. Republican lawmakers are suing Whitmer over her emergency declarations. Since March, Michigan has confirmed nearly 52,000 virus cases, although more than 28,000 people have recovered. There have been at least 4,900 deaths from COVID-19 the fourth-highest total in the nation including 20 in Shiawassee County where Manke cuts hair. Michigan is among many states that have enacted stay-home orders and imposed an array of restrictions on salons, bars and restaurants. Abbott on Monday lifted most restrictions in Texas as that state continues one of the nations fastest reboots. Like most organizations, offices for the Finger Lakes Land Trust in Ithaca closed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Executive director Andrew Zepp directs the staffs work remotely, and the Trusts events were cancelled. Hiking trails on the Trusts land are another matter. They are open with plenty of space for safe social distancing. By Tina Bellon and Supantha Mukherjee (Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc will concentrate on its core businesses in ride-hailing and food delivery and cut 23% of its workforce in an attempt to become profitable despite the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said in an email to employees on Monday. Uber will cut a total of 6,700 jobs, including the 3,700 it had announced earlier this month, Khosrowshahi said, adding that the company plans to reduce investments in several "non-core projects." Shares in Uber were up 6.9% to $34.69 following the announcement. In a regulatory filing on Monday, Uber said the layoffs and restructuring measures will result in one-time, mostly cash-based charges of between $210 million and $260 million in the second quarter. Overall, the measures are expected to generate $1 billion in annual cost savings compared with pre-pandemic budget plans. Uber employed 28,600 people before the pandemic crippled its business, according to a regulatory filing at the end of the first quarter. The company's initial wave of 3,700 layoffs affected less-costly customer support and recruiting teams, while Monday's announcement affects 3,000 employees across nearly all departments. Smaller U.S. rival Lyft Inc said late last month it would cut about 17% of its workforce. Khosrowshahi said Uber must establish itself as a self-sustaining enterprise no longer in need of outside capital, calling the company's food delivery business Uber Eats the "next enormous growth opportunity." Before the pandemic struck, Uber said it would become profitable on the basis of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by the end of this year. The company withdrew that guidance as global stay-at-home orders to curb the virus pummeled its ride-hailing business. Ride-hailing trips, which generate the bulk of Uber's revenue, dropped 80% globally in April, but the company said demand was slowly recovering. Story continues Uber on May 7 said it was now aiming to become profitable on an adjusted basis at some point in 2021, partially thanks to an uptick in restaurant food order deliveries. Khosrowshahi on Monday called Uber Eats a silver lining during the crisis and said be believes the currently loss-making unit would one day be profitable. Demand for Uber Eats jumped 50% in the first quarter, but the unit still lost $313 million on an adjusted EBITDA basis. Uber is currently in talks to buy food delivery rival GrubHub Inc to expand its market share. Uber has been working on various other businesses, including the development of self-driving cars and a freight logistics network. Khosrowshahi did not directly mention these businesses in his email and a spokesman declined to comment beyond the email. His email said Uber would close its startup incubator program and artificial intelligence research lab. Uber was also looking at strategic alternatives for Uber Works, a platform Uber launched in October to help companies fill staffing gaps with temporary workers during peak demand. Khosrowshahi also said the company was closing or consolidating some 45 office locations globally as part of the restructuring. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru and Tina Bellon in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Marguerita Choy and Steve Orlofsky) Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 18, 2020 | WESTERN KY/SOUTHERN IL By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 18, 2020 | 05:23 PM | WESTERN KY/SOUTHERN IL More cases of the coronavirus were confirmed Monday in our area. The Purchase District Health Department says a woman in McCracken County and a man in Fulton County have tested positive. McCracken County now has 85 COVID-19 cases, while Ballard has 9, Carlisle has 3, Hickman has 5, and Fulton has 2. There have been 61 recoveries and 2 deaths in McCracken, 7 recoveries in Ballard, 1 recovery and 1 death in Carlisle, and 1 recovery in Hickman. The Marshall County Health Department says a man has tested positive and is self-isolating. This brings Marshall County's total to 35 cases, with 2 deaths, 30 fully recovered and 3 active cases. The Southern Seven Health Department confirmed 10 new cases Monday evening, with 1 in Alexander County, 2 in Pulaski, and 7 in Union County, including a boy under the age of 5. Eleven people have recovered for a total of 63. There have been 182 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Southern Seven region, and 4 deaths. Mike Garcia was sworn in Tuesday as the first Republican to flip a Democratic-held congressional seat in California in more than 20 years. But for both parties, his election means far more than the single GOP vote hell bring to the House for the next six months. For Democrats, Garcias surprisingly easy special election win last week over Assemblywoman Christy Smith, D-Santa Clarita (Los Angeles County), is an instant warning that Novembers effort to hang onto the seven California congressional seats they grabbed from Republicans in 2018 will be anything but a cakewalk. Republicans, meanwhile, are gleeful over a victory they believe shows that California is far from a deep-blue political monolith and boosts their chances to take back control of the House in November. But both Democrats and Republicans agree on two things: Reaching their goals is going to take money, and focusing voters attention on Garcias victory is a way to get it. In a landslide victory, Republican Mike Garcia struck a blow against socialism and entrenched Democratic interests, Republican David Valadao, who is running to avenge his 2018 loss to Fresno Rep. TJ Cox, said in a fundraising email to supporters. But we need your help to make that a reality here in the Central Valley. For Democratic Rep. Josh Harder of Turlock (Stanislaus County), who beat a GOP incumbent two years ago, Garcias win is not a great sign for California Democrats in the fall. That victory is just the result Ted Howze and his extreme allies were looking to prove they have a chance at winning this November, Harder said in a fundraising piece, referring to his Republican opponent in the general election. So can you chip in $10 or $20 right now to help us show Republicans that were not going anywhere this fall? Campaigns cost money and heres no development, good or bad, that cant be used to raise cash, said Darry Sragow, a veteran Democratic strategist and publisher of the nonpartisan California Target Book, which focuses on state political races. Getting people to dig into their pockets to donate to political campaigns is hard work, he said. And people dont fork over money without some compelling call to action. Garcias victory can work for both Republicans and Democrats by showing that money is either needed to preserve momentum or change the direction and get back something thats been lost, Sragow said. You have to convince people theres some critical need they care about, he said. And you need to create a sense of urgency: We need help and we need it now. That message and the need for campaign cash isnt limited to tight contests. Since Democrat Adam Schiff defeated GOP incumbent James Rogan in 2000, hes never been re-elected in his Burbank district with less than 63% of the vote. That isnt stopping Republican Eric Early, who finished second to Schiff with 13% of the vote in the March 3 primary, from using Garcias victory as a fundraising pitch. The tide is turning, in California and across the nation, he said in an email. In honor of Mike Garcias colossal victory ... will you make an immediate donation of $25 or more? Distance also isnt a factor. A fundraising email for New Jersey Democrat Rep. Andy Kim, who beat a GOP incumbent by fewer than 4,000 votes in 2018, looks more than 2,700 miles across the country to show why hes worried. Garcias win is a huge warning sign for Democrats in swing districts like Andys, the email said. Will you step in now so we have the resources we need to hold Andys seat in November? Not all the reaction is about money. For party leaders and their organizations, its enough either to spotlight the GOP win as a portent for the future or dismiss it as a one-time oddity. Mike Garcias historic upset is just a preview of whats to come, said Samantha Zager, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committees Trump Victory operation. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, was less enthusiastic. We dont see (Garcias victory) as any referendum on anything, she said in a news conference last week. I wish we had won, but ... were looking to November. But the money still matters. For everyone. Garcias win means we have to work harder and build up our momentum, Smith, last weeks loser, said in a plea to potential donors for her November rematch with Garcia. Can you chip in today? John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 11:25:53|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A man disinfects chairs and tables at a teashop in Yangon, Myanmar, May 19, 2020. The total number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar has risen to 191, with three more confirmed cases reported on Tuesday, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports. (Xinhua/U Aung) YANGON, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The total number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar has risen to 191, with three more confirmed cases reported on Tuesday, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports. The ministry also reported one confirmed case of COVID-19 late Monday. Of the newly confirmed cases, the two patients are from Rakhine state while one each from Magway and Ayeyarwady regions, the release said. According to the release, all patients were under quarantine as they had travelling history in the past 14 days. According to the ministry's release, 101 patients have recovered from the disease so far. Myanmar has reported six deaths of COVID-19 disease as of Tuesday since the infectious disease was first detected in the country on March 23. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stuart Williams, Joseph Schmid and Hui Min Neo (Agence France-Presse) Paris, France/Berlin, Germany Tue, May 19, 2020 10:15 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8f2952 2 World Emanuelle-Macron,Angela-Merkel,France,Germany,coronavirus,COVID-19,economic-impact,virus-corona,recovery-funds Free France and Germany proposed Monday a 500 billion euro ($542 billion) fund to finance the recovery of the European Union's economy from the devastation wrought by the coronavirus crisis. Putting aside past differences and seeking to prove that the Franco-German core of Europe remains intact, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the unprecedented package after talks by video conference. With the European economy facing its biggest challenge since World War II, Macron also acknowledged that the EU had fallen short in its initial response to the virus and needed to coordinate more closely on health. Financed by "borrowing from the market in the name of the EU," the money will flow to the "worst-hit sectors and regions" in the 27-member bloc, the two countries said in a joint statement. "We are convinced that it is not only fair but also necessary to now make available the funds... that we will then gradually repay through several future European budgets," Merkel said. Countries benefiting from the financing would not have to repay the money, Macron added, emphasizing that the funds "were not loans." 'More solidarity' The borrowing marks a major shift by Germany, which has until now rebuffed calls by Spain and Italy for so-called "coronabonds" for joint borrowing on financial markets to provide stimulus cash. Germany, the Netherlands and other rich countries had seen them as an attempt by the indebted south to unfairly take advantage of the north's fiscal discipline. But Merkel said the seriousness of the crisis meant that "solidarity" must be the order of the day. "The aim is to ensure that Europe comes out of the crisis more cohesive and with more solidarity," she said, calling the proposal "courageous." European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who would have to help implement the package, hailed the plan as a "constructive proposal." "It acknowledges the scope and the size of the economic challenge that Europe faces," she said. European sources told AFP last week the Commission would lay out its plan toward the end of May, hoping both to reconcile the opposing objectives while proving that European solidarity is more than just a lofty slogan. 'Learn the lessons' Macron said stronger European coordination on health issues must be a priority, admitting that the EU fell short in its initial response to the coronavirus outbreak. "Europe was without doubt put at fault at the beginning of this crisis," Macron said. He added that unilateral steps by some EU countries to close borders -- without consulting their neighbors -- had given a "sad image" of Europe. He said Europe needed "very concrete capacities" to handle health crises with shared stocks of masks and tests, and prevention plans to combat epidemics. "A Europe of health -- which has never existed -- has to be our priority," he said. "We need to learn all the lessons from this pandemic." In a sign of how the pandemic has changed global diplomacy, their joint press conference saw them stand at lecterns in cities hundreds of kilometers apart, with Merkel in Berlin and Macron in Paris. Europe is just beginning to emerge from the lockdowns to halt the outbreak, which has taken a huge bite out of national economies and raised the prospects of damaging recessions that could last for months or even longer. But despite widespread recognition that the hardest-hit countries will be unable to repair the economic damage on their own, divisions among EU members on how to craft an overall response have hampered comprehensive action so far. The eurozone economy overall is forecast to contract a whopping 7.7 percent this year, but the damage could be worse in Italy and Greece, which could see their economies shrink by nearly 10 percent, prompting a cascade of bankruptcies and job losses. The European Central Bank has also promised to do "whatever is necessary" to help weather the crisis, including a 750-billion-euro scheme to buy government bonds for cash-strapped nations. But that project is also proving problematic after Germany's Constitutional Court attacked it, potentially limiting Germany's participation. By Trend Among those who closely monitor work of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, there are Armenian residents of this region, Azerbaijani MP, Chairman of the community, Tural Ganjaliyev, said. Ganjaliyev made the remark at the parliamentary meeting in Baku, Trend reports on May 19. Appealing to the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, some Armenian residents expressed a desire to live together peacefully within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan in accordance with its Constitution, the chairman added. "While appealing to these Armenians, I would like to say that they must unite with other rationally thinking Armenian residents, the chairman said. Together with the Azerbaijani community, they must make efforts for joint living in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, put an end to the presence of Armenian invaders and the occupation regime there, the chairman said. The work of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region has been annoying to the opposite side and there is a reason for that, Ganjaliyev added. We have witnessed the provocative statements of both Armenia and the occupation regime. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz The DR Congo government said on Tuesday it had opened a secret military probe into security forces whom Human Rights Watch accused of using "excessive lethal force" against a separatist sect last month, killing at least 55 people. The offensive against Bundu Dia Kongo took place April 13-24 in Kinshasa and the neighbouring Kongo Central province, HRW alleged in a report, adding that scores more were wounded in the clashes. The BDK aims to revive the pre-colonial Kongo kingdom that included what are today parts of neighbouring Angola, the Republic of Congo and Gabon, and has repeatedly clashed with security forces. HRW said BDK leader Zacharie Badiengila -- a self-styled prophet known as Ne Muanda Nsemi -- had called for his supporters to "chase" out people not of Kongo ethnicity, triggering the government crackdown. Nsemi, who proclaimed himself president of DR Congo in January in what he called a "divine coup", was arrested on April 24. Interior Minister Gilbert Kankonde said at the time that eight sect members who were present were killed and eight police officers were seriously wounded, calling the figures "preliminary". An eyewitness told AFP that he saw around 15 bodies and that dozens were wounded on both sides. HRW put the death toll at 33 in Tuesday's report and alleged that another police operation on April 22 in Songololo, near the key RN1 highway linking Kinshasa with the country's sole outlet to the sea, claimed 15 lives. "Tensions escalated between April 13 and 15 as hundreds of BDK members erected roadblocks in (five) towns, chanting anti-ethnic slogans and threatening 'foreign ethnic groups'," the report said. "Police forces deployed to disperse the small crowds at times fired live ammunition. Witnesses and police reports, among other sources, said at least six BDK members and one bystander were killed." 'Bloodbath' The report added that a BDK member allegedly shot dead a police officer in the town of Kisantu on April 13. HRW said the crackdown "violated international standards on the use of force, causing a bloodbath". Human Rights Minister Andre Lite said Tuesday that the matter was "in the hands of the military justice system". "Hearings have been held and the investigation is secret," he told AFP. A general appeared before a Kinshasa military tribunal, he said, adding that "police officers implicated in the looting of Ne Muanda Nsemi's residence are in custody awaiting trial". Lite said military justice should be allowed to take its course, adding: "There's no complacency." Washington, May 19 : US President Donald Trump has said he is taking hydroxychloroquine to ward off coronavirus, even though health officials have warned it may be unsafe. Speaking at the White House, he told reporters he started taking the malaria and lupus medication recently, the BBC reported. "I'm taking it for about a week and a half now and I'm still here, I'm still here," was his surprise announcement. There is no evidence hydroxychloroquine can fight off coronavirus, though clinical trials are under way. The 73-year-old president was hosting a meeting devoted to the struggling restaurant industry on Monday, when he caught reporters unawares by revealing he was taking the drug. "You'd be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the frontline workers before you catch it, the frontline workers, many, many are taking it," he told reporters. "I happen to be taking it." Asked what was his evidence of hydroxychloroquine's positive benefits, Mr Trump said: "Here's my evidence: I get a lot of positive calls about it." He added: "I've heard a lot of good stories [about hydroxychloroquine] and if it's not good, I'll tell you right I'm not going to get hurt by it." Though some people in the White House have tested positive for coronavirus, the president said again on Monday he had "zero symptoms" and was being tested frequently. He added that he has been taking a daily zinc supplement and received a single dose of azithromycin, an antibiotic meant to prevent infection. When asked whether the White House physician had recommended he start taking the disputed remedy, Trump said he himself had requested it. Dr Sean Conley, physician to the president, said in a statement issued through the White House later on Monday that Trump was in "very good health" and "symptom-free". The US Navy officer added: "After numerous discussions he and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks." The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month issued an advisory saying that hydroxychloroquine has "not been shown to be safe and effective". It cited reports that the drug can cause serious heart rhythm problems in Covid-19 patients. The FDA warned against use of the medication outside hospitals, where the agency has granted temporary authorisation for its use in some cases. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says there are no approved drugs or therapeutics to prevent or treat COVID-19, which is confirmed to have infected more than 1.5 million people in the US, killing over 90,000 patients. Going into his meeting with restaurant businesses, there were a lot of threads to the day's events, including the stock market surging based on positive news about a possible coronavirus vaccine. Coming out of the meeting, all anyone in the media could talk about was Trump's announcement that he has been taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine for more than a week now. Some of the president's critics will see this unprompted revelation as a nefarious effort to distract from bad news elsewhere. Some will see this as another instance of the president stepping on what should have been a good news day. Or perhaps he was simply unwilling to acknowledge that his past trumpeting of the drug as a miracle cure wasn't just premature, it was ill-advised. Whatever the reason, Trump has once again made himself the centre of attention - and there's no doubt he's perfectly happy with that. Dismissing reports of severe side effects from hydroxychloroquine, the president said: "All I can tell you is, so far I seem to be OK." He said the "only negative" he had heard was from a "very unscientific report" conducted by "people that aren't big Trump fans". Trump was apparently referring to a preliminary study from April of COVID-19 patients in US government-run hospitals for military veterans that suggested hydroxychloroquine had no benefit and may have even caused a greater rate of deaths. "I get a lot of tremendously positive news on the hydroxy," the president told reporters, adding: "What do you have to lose?" According to doctors, the drug has the potential to cause symptoms including heart failure, suicidal thoughts and signs of liver disease. Two recent studies, each involving around 1,400 COVID-19 patients in New York, did not find any benefits from hydroxychloroquine. Another study by French researchers involved 84 hospital patients taking the drug and 97 others who received standard care. It concluded hydroxychloroquine had no impact for better or worse. Last month, the American Medical Association, American Pharmacists Association and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists issued a joint statement opposing the use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 prevention. Also in April, the former director of a federal vaccine agency claimed in a whistleblower complaint that he was removed for refusing to promote the drug. Kayakers wear wetsuits as they make their way towards the beach in Woolacombe, Devon, after the announcement of plans to bring the country out of lockdown. (PA) The government is considering introducing an extra bank holiday later this year to make the most of Britons taking staycations because of coronavirus. Patricia Yates, acting chief executive at Visit Britain, said 2020 has to be the "year of domestic tourism" as she proposed introducing an extra day off for workers around half-term in October. Yates told the digital, culture, media and sport select committee on Tuesday that the new bank holiday would make up for the loss of tourism during the two May bank holidays. Both fell during the lockdown period in which all but essential travel was advised, and when hotels and restaurants remained shut. Visitors to Brighton beach in East Sussex. (PA) "Really to get British tourism up and running this summer, and the summer is hugely important, you're going to need that domestic audience, Yates said. I think the worrying thing we see is the lack of confidence in the British public about travelling." Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice She said there is a "a real job to be done there in convincing people that it's socially responsible to travel and enjoy a holiday, and that it's safe to do so". Giving estimates of how much was likely to be lost, Yates told the committee: "Every time we do the modelling the figures get worse. So for inbound, I mean we were looking at the beginning of this year at about 26.6 billion coming from inbound tourism we reckon a 15 billion drop on that. "And for domestic, an industry that's normally worth about 80 billion, a 22 billion drop on that." She said those figures were before the impact of any quarantine measures yet to be introduced were factored in. The prime minister's official spokesman said the government will respond to the bank holiday proposal "in due course" but added that extra bank holidays "come with economic costs". Story continues Samantha Richardson, director at the National Coastal Tourism Academy, said 7% of businesses in coastal communities have closed permanently and that estimates suggest as much as 25% of accommodation will be lost along the coast as a direct result of the pandemic. While Ros Pritchard, director general of the British Holiday and Home Park Association, said the government needs to change the message from telling people to stay at home to encouraging visitors. Specific assistance is needed for seasonal tourism businesses that earn their money between March and October, she said, suggesting they are looking at "three winters in a row". She said: "We've lost the 2020 season, effectively. And we are going to need help to get through to next spring. So I think the winter is when we will see businesses fail without that support." Coronavirus: what happened today? Click here to sign up to the latest news, advice and information with our daily Catch-up newsletter It is well understood in biomedical research community that mice are a preferred mammalian disease model because of their high genetic homology with humans, rapid reproduction, efficient housing and husbandry, easily characterized phenotypes, and well developed resources and tools for genetic manipulation. As the need for genetically engineered mice grows so does the importance of ensuring rigorous, reliable and reproducible research which is best accomplished through the use of biorepositories. To further support the efforts of resource sharing and eliminating variability in mouse model research, the National Institutes for Health (NIH) has renewed funding for its Mutant Mouse Resource and Research Centers (MMRRC) biorepository program. The MMRRC was created in 1997, and UC Davis has played a pivotal role over the past two decades in the exponential growth of mouse model holdings in the repository. The new grant will provide a total of $6,722,070 over five years to the MMRRC at UC Davis. "We are very pleased to have earned this renewed support. Over the next five year grant cycle, the UC Davis MMRRC will continue to acquire new mouse strains of scientific value to the research community as well as develop new novel mouse models that meet critical research needs of biomedical investigators," said Kent Lloyd, principal investigator of the MMRRC and program director of the UC Davis Mouse Biology Program. UC Davis is one of four sites around the nation to have received renewal funding to continue operating as a regionally-distributed consortium. The role of the MMRRC consortium is to offer reliable, accessible, quality-control, and scientifically annotated mutant mouse strains to biomedical researchers. Strains are available as live mice, cryopreserved germplasm, embryos or cell lines, including embryonic stem (ES) cells and hybridomas. As one of the founding members of the consortium, the UC Davis MMRRC will work in collaboration with MMRRC colleagues at the University of Missouri, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Jackson Laboratories, in Bar Harbor. Since 1999, the MMRRC at UC Davis has work hard to ensure the quality and welfare of distributed animals, and uphold the highest standards of experimental design to optimize the reproducibility of research studies using mutant mice. "As the largest of the four Centers in the MMRRC, the UC Davis MMRRC has built a solid reputation of providing innovative approaches and next generation strategies to catalyze and accelerate the development of genetically-altered mouse models for biomedical research," Lloyd said. "Our team is excited to continue our participation and leadership in the MMRRC consortium to assist researchers, translational investigators, and clinician scientists identify, access, and use the most appropriate mouse models to study functional genomics in health and disease." ### Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marchio Irfan Gorbiano and Nina A. Loasana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 07:50 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8e7cd3 1 National COVID-19-in-Indonesia,PSBB,relaxation,new-normal,covid-19-task-force,doni-monardo,President-Jokowi Free The government is using research and surveys to explore ways to ease its large-scale social restrictions (PSBB), an official has said. "We've reported several concepts for restriction relaxations [to President Joko Jokowi Widodo], including efforts and strategies to face challenges in the new normal," the national COVID-19 rapid response task force chief, Doni Monardo, said in a teleconference on Monday. "So far, there's no single institution that can say when the COVID-19 pandemic will end. There's no certainty on when the vaccine would be discovered. So it is very plausible that we could live with COVID-19 forever. Doni explained that the task force was conducting research and carrying out surveys to determine the perfect time for relaxing restrictions. "The President has also asked us to research which areas should be reopened, he said. "Of course, there are areas that are categorized as green zones, but there are also provinces that have relatively few cases of the 34 [provinces] that are affected. However, data analysis and research are still very important to make sure that we do not make the wrong decisions on reopening regions and easing the PSBB. Read also: Lets coexist with COVID-19: Jokowi calls on residents to adapt to new normal Doni said the government needed to also make sure that the public continued to follow health protocols in areas where restrictions were scaled back. It would also be necessary for the government to set up a team to monitor and evaluate the relaxation policy and make decisions on which regions would reopen, he added. "We also need to establish coordination between the central and regional governments so that each province, city and regency is ready. Jokowi previously called for vigilance and caution amid plans to ease the PSBB in several regions after the central government began to relax the Idul Fitri mudik (exodus) ban. The easing of the PSBB measures should be done carefully and unhurriedly. Everything should be based on data and implementation in the field so as to ensure that the decision is in fact the correct one, Jokowi said at the start of a Cabinet meeting last Tuesday. According to government data, there are at least 18,010 cases of COVID-19 and 1,191 fatalities in Indonesia. However, many have speculated that the government is underreporting cases, as reports from provincial administrations put the number of deaths at over 3,000. In particular, the monitoring is not based on sufficient objectives and structured in such a way that they are controllable; there is also a lack of various safeguards, for example to protect journalists or lawyers, the court said. It added that the law lacked a guarantee of sufficiently weighty protection of legal interests and sufficient thresholds for intervention. A group of journalist and civil liberties organizations brought the case before the Constitutional Court, arguing that the 2016 law handed too much power to the state and failed to uphold universal human rights to privacy guaranteed by Article 10 of the Constitution. The ruling is the first time that the court has extended rights guaranteed in the Constitution to non-Germans abroad. The ruling sets new standards in international human rights protection and for the freedom of the press, said the Society for Civil Rights, a Berlin-based nonprofit organization that filed the suit along with several journalists organizations. Outrage about surveillance in Germany was prompted by the extensive privacy breaches by intelligence services that were revealed by Edward J. Snowden, a former contractor for the U.S. National Security Agency, and, shortly after, by the disclosure that the N.S.A. had tapped the chancellors cellphone. Around the same time, Ms. Merkels government was struggling to respond to a series of Islamist terrorist attacks in the country and seeking to expand Germanys ability to defend itself without relying on the U.S. security apparatus. The 2016 law was an attempt to balance the considerations of privacy and security, but the court decided on Tuesday that the BND had been afforded too much power. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans a nationwide study of up to 325,000 people to track how the new coronavirus is spreading across the country into next year and beyond, a CDC spokeswoman and researchers conducting the effort told Reuters. The CDC study, expected to launch in June or July, will test samples from blood donors in 25 metropolitan areas for antibodies created when the immune system fights the coronavirus, said Dr Michael Busch, director of the nonprofit Vitalant Research Institute. Dr Busch is leading a preliminary version of the study - funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - that is testing the first 36,000 samples. The CDC-funded portion, to be formally announced this week, will expand the scope and time frame, taking samples over 18 months to see how antibodies evolve over time, said CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will initially test for coronavirus antibodies in cities such as San Francisco, New York, Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles and Minneapolis The CDC will test up to 325,000 Americans for coronavirus antibodies in 25 cities, starting this summer. 'Precursor' studies have already begun in cities including New York (pictured), Los Angeles and Minneapolis (file) Vitalant, a nonprofit that runs blood donation centers and tests samples, will lead the broader effort, as well. Researchers aim to publish results on a rolling basis, Nordlund said. Antibody studies, also known as seroprevalence research, are considered critical to understanding where an outbreak is spreading and can help guide decisions on restrictions needed to contain it. The CDC study should also help scientists better understand whether the immune response to COVID wanes over time. The novel coronavirus has infected over 1.5 million people in the United States and killed more than 90,000, according to a Reuters tally. The CDC study will test blood from 1,000 donors in each of the 25 metro areas monthly, for 12 months. Researchers will then test blood from another 25,000 donors at the 18-month mark. Samples will come from 'regular, altruistic people' who come in to donate blood, Busch said. STUDY COMES AFTER LOCAL OFFICIALS COMPLAINED THEY FELT 'EXPOSED' BY LACK OF NATIONAL PLAN Some public health officials have complained that the CDC has lagged on research and guidance for local governments trying to cope with the pandemic. 'We're feeling exposed at the local level, in terms of not seeing that kind of organized plan from CDC,' Dr Matt Willis, public health officer for Marin County, California, said in an interview last week. News of the study brought Willis some reassurance. 'Partial answers and preliminary results are better than nothing when you have a decision to make' that could affect lives, he said, like when to reopen parks and businesses. The CDC's Nordlund said the study 'is indicative of how leaders across the federal government are working collaboratively with partners in academia and in blood donation and testing industries' to monitor COVID-19. She added that blood donor results can be used by CDC to form estimates about the broader population through statistical methods. 'This has been done with West Nile virus, Zika and other emerging infectious diseases,' she said. The six metropolitan areas being surveyed in the precursor study are New York, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Boston and Minneapolis, said Dr. Graham Simmons, another Vitalant researcher involved in the project. 'In all likelihood' the next phase will add Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Denver and others, Simmons said. 'We have selected sites to give a broad geographical distribution throughout the country,' Simmons said, including sites with high infection rates or places where rates may increase. Researchers at John Hopkins University, in a 2019 paper, found blood donors, who are disproportionately healthy, are not always ideal populations for research. The CDC study may not 'generate results that are generalizable to the population,' Thomas McDade, a researcher at Northwestern University, said in an interview. Still, it could 'substantially add to our understanding of (COVID-19) infections,' said Dr Susan Philip, deputy health officer at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. 'It will be a large sample size, geographically diverse...and quick to set up,' Philip added. Some local governments have done their own seroprevalence research. New York in April found antibodies in more than 20 percent of some 3,000 test subjects, suggesting the number of residents exposed to the virus in the hardest-hit state is much higher than the 355,000 who have tested positive. Last week, an antibody study by the city of Boston and Massachusetts General Hospital found 10 percent of the population had COVID-19 antibodies. The Spanish government ran a study showing exposure in five percent of people - suggesting 10 times the number of confirmed positive cases. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 04:00:15|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close French President Emmanuel Macron is seen before a cabinet meeting on the COVID-19 in Paris, France, on Feb. 29, 2020. (Photo by Aurelien Morissard/Xinhua) The proposal is seen as unprecedented since it overcomes objections from Germany and several other rich EU countries to the concept of collective borrowing. PARIS/BERLIN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- France and Germany on Monday jointly proposed that the European Commission borrow money on capital markets in the European Union's (EU) name and create a 500-billion-euro (546 billion U.S. dollars) recovery fund to help the coronavirus-battered European economies and regions. Describing the proposal as "a major step forward," French President Emmanuel Macron told a joint video press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that it was the first time France and Germany agreed to let the EU raise debt jointly. The proposal is seen as unprecedented since it overcomes objections from Germany and several other rich EU countries to the concept of collective borrowing. Merkel said the unusual nature of the COVID-19 crisis made the two countries choose an unusual way. "The goal is for Europe to emerge from this crisis stronger, more cohesive and in solidarity," she said. File photo taken on Feb 19, 2020 shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel attending a press conference in Berlin, capital of Germany. Merkel has put herself in quarantine after a doctor she met Friday tested positive for coronavirus, government spokesman Steffen Seibert said on March 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi) "The recovery fund will be endowed with 500 billion euros in EU budget spending for the most affected sectors and regions based on EU budget programs and in line with European priorities," said the two countries in a joint statement. "It will strengthen the resilience, convergence and competitiveness of European economies, and increase investment, in particular in ecological and digital transitions and in research and innovation," it said. Macron said the 500 billion euros "will be devoted to sectors that are not only technological. It is a strong economic response that will help fight unemployment in the most vulnerable regions," he said. "It will not consist of loans, it's a budgetary expenditure, which would be attributed to the most affected sectors and regions. We are convinced that this measure is justified," Merkel said. "We must act in a European way so that we get out of the crisis well and strengthened," she said. "When Germany and France take the initiative, then this encourages the opinion-making process in the EU." The European Commission is to present the details of the economic recovery program in Brussels on May 27. Paris and Berlin still have to convince other member states -- The Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries, in particular -- to follow them. But "the fact that the Franco-German couple has agreed on the main lines of a recovery plan financed by a common debt of European states, issued by the Union and spent through the European budget, is in itself a revolution," commented the French daily Le Monde. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends a press conference after an EU video-summit in Brussels, Belgium, April 23, 2020. (European Union/Handout via Xinhua) "Berlin, which was upwind at the end of March against anything that, in one way or another, amounts to pooling the debt of Europeans, is today in agreement to embark on this path," added the daily. Paris and Berlin also agreed to raise research and development capacities in the field of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, set up joint strategic stocks of pharmaceutical and medical products, and increase the production capacities of these products in the EU. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the proposal. "It acknowledges the scope and the size of the economic challenge that Europe faces, and rightly puts the emphasis on the need to work on a solution with the European budget at its core," she said in a statement. The controversial protester who brought a symbolic doll with a noose wrapped around its neck to a demonstration at Michigans Capitol last week isnt necessarily a coronavirus denier, he said. James Chapman said Monday that his real beef at Thursdays protest in Lansing was two-fold: restrictions on public gatherings which he argues violate the First Amendment and Gov. Gretchen Whitmers unilateral assertion of emergency powers. He sought to make his point by hanging a brunette doll from a noose at the end of his 13-star Betsy Ross flag and a fishing rod. The noose is one size fits all for anyone not standing up to Whitmer and her tyranny, the Republican candidate for the 21st state House district seat said Monday. That includes RINOs, or Republicans in Name Only, he said. The Republicans need to be cleaned out, Chapman said. I would like to give some political symbolism here. That noose is one size fits all, and we will kick your RINO butt out of there. ... This is the reason Gretchen Whitmer has not been called out on the carpet (the Capitol floor) by the legislature. Chapman feels a deep connection to the Revolutionary War thats inspired him to research the history of a millstone on the Huron River that may have stood on the Delaware River near Valley Forge back in the 1700s. Its also led him led him to take on an aggressive style of protest that includes depicting violence against political leaders. The First Amendment protected (these) forms of protest. Its something the original patriots did, he said. They not only hung them in effigy, but they burned them in effigy. He accused Whitmer of violating First Amendment protections of public and religious assembly. She banned public meetings between anyone not in the same household in Executive Order 2020-42. Places of worship are exempt from punishment under Executive Order 2020-11. On May 14, Chapman attended a protest organized by the group Michigan United for Liberty against the states stay-home order, carrying the doll by a noose just as he did at an April 15 rally. He told MLive on Monday that the doll was meant to represent Whitmer. A brief fight broke out when a female protester attempted to take the doll. Lt. Brian Oleksyk public information officer for the Michigan State Police said troopers spoke the man after the incident and that no one involved was injured or arrested. Erica Pettinaro, a co-founder of Michigan United for Liberty, denounced Chapmans demonstration, as did Michigan Republican Party Chair Laura Cox. Our organization does not agree with or encourage violent threats or actions of any kind, Pettinaro said, adding that the organization is non-partisan. We have made several statements in regards to keeping our events peaceful. The scuffle with the female protester led to three violations of his personal rights, Chapman said. She tried to violently destroy my First Amendment prop, he said. Number one, (thats) a violation of my First Amendment rights. Number two, malicious destruction of property. Number three was larceny from a person, because they stole my axe. The axe, which he named Paul Bunyan, is a tool of his tree-cutting service in the Belleville area, he said. Chapman has had several run-ins with the criminal justice system over the last few decades, according to law enforcement records and local news reports reviewed by MLive. In 1990, Chapman was found guilty of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and a firearms charge and was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records. He was also put on probation for a stalking charge in 2015. Chapman was sentenced to six months in jail in 2018 after being found guilty of resisting a police officer, according to The Belleville-Area Independent. A Michigan Court of Appeals opinion summarized the incident, noting Chapman argued with and attempted to stab an acquaintance at a house in Van Buren Township, and eventually dove into Belleville Lake in an attempt to evade police. The criminal record, Chapman said, makes him the most-qualified candidate for the state House Judiciary Committee, should he win the 21st district. He has a plan to wipe that record clean, however. He intends to visit President Donald Trump during his scheduled visit to the Ford Rawsonville manufacturing plant in Ypsilanti Township on Thursday. In exchange for a clean record, he plans to give Trump the fishing rod and noose as a gift. More: Protesters fill Capitol steps in Harrisburg, ask Gov. Wolf to reopen the economy Armed militia at Michigan protest brings a new level of concern to an already tense situation Carole Baskin of Netflixs 'Tiger King fame is now in the fight against coronavirus: report Hong Kong: CE mourns Allen Lee Chief Executive Carrie Lam today expressed deep sorrow over the passing of Allen Lee, an ex-deputy to the National People's Congress. "Mr Lee had served the community for many years and was influential in the political arena. He was appointed as a member of the Legislative Council early in 1978 and later became the Senior LegCo Member, and served the council for 20 years. In the meantime, he was also appointed as a member of the Executive Council to tender advice to the Government. "He was a member of the Preparatory Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and a Hong Kong Affairs Adviser, contributing to Hong Kong's return to the motherland. Caring about the country, he served as a deputy to the National People's Congress to take part in national affairs." Mrs Lam noted that Mr Lee still cared very much about society after he retired from the councils and often offered his unique and insightful comments on social issues. He also hosted various current affairs programmes in different media and interviewed members of the political and business sectors. "After assuming the office of the Chief Executive in 2017, the first television interview that I gave was hosted by Mr Lee, and the memory is still fresh in my mind." "I am saddened by the passing of Mr Lee. On behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his family," she said. This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Victoria Police have confirmed they used drones to patrol beaches for violations of social distancing rules, as new figures show more than $8 million in fines have been issued during the coronavirus pandemic. Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton, appearing before Parliaments COVID-19 inquiry on Tuesday, said the force used drones on a couple of occasions in the lead up to and over the Easter weekend at beaches around Melbourne and Phillip Island. Police patrol a closed beach during the coronavirus pandemic. Credit:AAP Mr Ashton told the public accounts and estimates committee cameras from the drones beamed images back to a police truck nearby. The inquiry heard Victoria Police had so far issued 5604 fines for breaches of the social distancing restrictions. US President Donald Trump wrote to the World Health Organisation alleging the UN body of underplaying the seriousness of the coronavirus when it first broke out. Trump wrote to WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and gave the organisation an ultimatum of 30 days to "commit to major substantive improvements". He said that if the organisation failed to do so within the stipulated time, then the US would stop funding WHO and consider withdrawing its membership. "I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests," said Trump in his letter. The US President alleged that the WHO consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading in Wuhan in early December 2019 or even earlier. He said that the organisation failed to independently probe the reports that were in conflict with the Chinese government's accounts. Also read: Coronavirus: 120 countries unite to corner China; Xi Jinping agrees to probe, WHO's actions under scanner Trump said that the WHO realised that coronavirus was a health emergency not later than December 30. He said that there was enough evidence from the country to show that a new virus was emerging. Taiwan had also informed the WHO about the virus that could communicate from human to human. Trump said that even then WHO did not do anything. The US President said Dr Zheng Yongzhen had alerted the government but nothing was published by them till he posted about COVID-19 himself online. Soon after the government shut down his lab for "rectification". Donald Trump also pointed out that WHO had initially said that there was no evidence to suggest that coronavirus spread from human to human. He also alleged that Chinese President Xi Jinping pressured Ghebreyesus to not declare corona a health emergency. Ghebreyesus, Trump alleged, gave in to the pressure. He in fact, praised the Chinese government for its "transparency", said Trump. Also read: Coronavirus lockdown 4.0: Close office even if there's one case, says new guidelines Even when coronavirus was declared an emergency, the WHO failed to pressure China to allow a team of international medical experts into the country. It was done so only two weeks later and even then Wuhan was off limits. "You also strongly praised China's strict domestic travel restrictions, but were inexplicably against my closing of the United States border, or the ban, with respect to people coming from China," said Trump. He said that China's pressure campaign on other nations to lift travel restrictions was supported by the WHO's incorrect statements. The WHO also downplayed the risk of asymptomatic spread, said Trump. He added that by the time China declared coronavirus a pandemic, it had already killed 4,000 people and infected 100,000 people across 114 countries. Trump said that even now China refuses to share data accurately and on a timely basis. "China continues to deny international access to their scientists and relevant facilities, all while casting blame widely and recklessly censoring its own experts," said Trump. Also read: Coronavirus cure: Chinese scientists claim this drug can have 'therapeutic effect' on patients The WHO failed to force China for an independent investigation. "The WHO could have done so much better," said Trump citing example of the organisation's handling of the SARS outbreak. Donald Trump, in his letter, asked WHO to demonstrate "independence from China". He reiterated that action is needed on this urgently and there's no time to waste, asking WHO to prove itself in 30 days. Also read: Recovered coronavirus patients shed dead virus particles, no risk of contagion: South Korean research Also read: Coronavirus update: Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine shows positive results in early tests 940A This is great news for TEGAM and were delighted that the innovations weve built into our 940A thermocouple calibrator can now be of more use and serve more purposes for Uncle Sam. TEGAMs 940A thermocouple calibrator has recently been specified by the Navy to meet not one but two applications where Subcategory Code (SCAT) 4127 and 4128 are required. The US Navy has an annual requirement for thermocouple calibrators that are used for various calibration and simulation tasks throughout the fleet. TEGAMs 940A thermocouple calibrator has recently been specified by the Navy to meet not one but two applications where Subcategory Code (SCAT) 4127 and 4128 are required. Previously, the Navy had specified separate thermocouple calibrators to satisfy applications where SCAT 4127 and SCAT 4128 are required. TEGAMs 940A has now been specified to meet all applications for both SCATs. With its ability to utilize four different thermocouple types, Source Accuracy of 0.003% +5 V, and 10 times the battery life of competing models, the 940A meets all the requirements necessary. The dual-specification is a timely decision from the US Navy that will increase purchasing and operating efficiencies. The new National Stock Number assigned to the 940A is 6625-01-682-4192. As Kevin Kaufman, Vice President of U.S. Government Sales, explains, This is great news for TEGAM and were delighted that the innovations weve built into our 940A thermocouple calibrator can now be of more use and serve more purposes for Uncle Sam. Our engineers are honored. TEGAMs reputation for quality and commitment to delivering world-class Test, Measurement & Calibration products are an integral part of the companys core values and what TEGAMs brand is built upon. This new contract award with the US Navy further solidifies a continuing pledge to provide instruments that meet the most stringent standards in the world. Mission critical measurements in demanding environments. The requirement for and award to the 940A thermocouple temperature calibrator coincides with a new 5-year contract for TEGAMs 912B dual-channel thermocouple thermometer that was recently awarded. About TEGAM Headquartered just east of Cleveland, Ohio, TEGAM, Inc. designs, manufactures and calibrates instrumentation that impacts your daily life in surprising ways. Our goal is to make your measurement task easier, faster and more accurate. We continuously invest in R&D of products and calibration techniques that allow you to make your critical measurements with unparalleled uncertainty. Our electrical measuring capabilities include temperature, RF power, and micro-Ohms. In addition to the Geneva, Ohio Headquarters, TEGAM operates a sales office in Beijing, China which provides regional support to our customers in Asia. A cohesive network of strong technical distributors extends our representation to over 40 other countries throughout the world. For more information, visit TEGAMs site or contact Sales at Sales@tegam.com. See all our digital thermometer categories here, including our full line of temperature calibrators & accessories. *** The Republic of Madagascar has asked Nigeria to pay 170,000 Euros (78,200,000 Naira) for the COVID-19 drugs that was sent to the Federal Government. According to the Nation, the quantity of the consignment sent to Nigeria through Guinea Bissau is not certain, but the cost for the quantity sent is 78,200,000 Naira. President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau, who visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House in Abuja on Saturday, brought the drugs allocated to Nigeria by Madagascar. President Buhari said the drug will pass through intensive test to determine its suitability. According to The Nation, a source on Sunday said: For our consignments in Guinea Bissau, Madagascar has asked Nigeria to pay over 170,000 (N78, 200,000). We have received the invoice because the African country has made us to realise that the drugs are not being given out free. We are being asked to pay for the drugs yet to be validated. Since the AU directed the supply of the drugs to African countries, we may have no choice than to pay for it. This payment may, however, be one-off because mass importation of the drugs from Madagascar will not be cost effective. By the time we take into account the cost of freight, the amount will be too high. This is why we are looking at local options available to us as a nation. Some researchers have told us that we have richer herbs to contain COVID-19. In fact, a shop in Wuse 2, Abuja has been discovered to be selling Artemisia Tea with high potency than COV drugs. As a nation, we will leave all options open and look inwards. But, we will subject Madagascar herbal drugs to verification or validation. The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 is also thinking of asking the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) to relax the protocols and hasten the validation of local drugs for COVID-19. The NAFDAC and NIPRD are awaiting the samples from Madagascar for validation. A highly-placed source in NIPRD said: We are yet to get the samples for testing and validation. We are hopeful that this week, we might receive them. Our team is on the alert. Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal In what Superintendent Veronica Garcia called a turning point, Santa Fe Public Schools graduation rate surpassed the statewide rate for the first time in three years. The statistics are already a year old, based on data from the four-year cohort ending during the 2018-19 school year. That is, the figures represent the percentage of incoming freshmen during the 2014-15 school year to graduate in 2019. The graduation rates released by the state Public Education Department on Monday showed that SFPSs graduation rate was 78.1% a jump of more than 5 percentage points compared to the statewide average of 74.8%. Thats an improvement of more than 10 percentage points since 2014-15. This is a major turning point and upholds what we have long known that our strategies to graduate students who are ready for college or careers are on target, Garcia said in a news release. These strategies are built on our unwavering conviction that all students can learn and succeed when provided with rigorous expectations and engaging curricula. It was Capital High Schools turn to out-do its rival on the performance measure. Capital Highs graduation rate was 78.1%, compared to 76.7% for Santa Fe High. The schools have traded positions each year since 2015-16. Mandela International Magnet School had an 88.1% graduation rate, while Academy at Larragoites rate was 70.9%. Overall, a higher rate of females in SFPS graduated, 83.9%, than males, 72.4%. The SFPS news release notes that the district exceeded the state average with graduation rates for Hispanic, Native American, economically disadvantaged and students with disabilities. But students in these categories still graduate at a lower rate than the district average, ranging from 68.8% for students with disabilities to 76.9% for Hispanic students. Like the state and nation, we continue to see lower graduation rates in these student populations, Garcia said. We know that we can, and will, close graduation gaps between student groups in our district and improve student performance. Our commitment is for all students to have the same equitable opportunity to learn. An 80-year-old widow has been stabbed to death in a Texas parking lot by a career criminal who was out on bond. Rosalie Cook, who lived alone in Houston, Texas, was fatally stabbed in the chest on Saturday after picking up a prescription from her neighbourhood Walgreens near Braeswood Boulevard. Attacker Randy Lewis, 38, approached the grandmother as she reached her car, stabbing her in the chest before rifling through her possessions and attempting to take the vehicle. A police officer quickly responded to the scene, firing two fatal shots at Lewis when he emerged from Ms Cook's car and attempted to stab him with a knife. Rosalie Cook (left), who lived alone in Houston, Texas, was fatally stabbed in the chest by Randy Lewis, 38, on Saturday after picking up a prescription from Walgreens Houston police chief Art Acevedo told KBTX-TV: 'What makes me angry is this suspect stabbed an 80-year-old woman then goes down, rifles through her stuff and tries to steal her car. 'This is tragic, but the most tragedy here is that a woman has died from a guy who attacked her for no other reason other than to steal from her and carjack her.' Ms Cook was taken to hospital where she died from her injuries, Lewis died on the scene. The incident took place in the parking lot of Walgreens near Braeswood Boulevard, Houston, Texas, on Saturday May 16 The career criminal, who had been arrested 67 times previously, had reportedly been 'menacing' people at a nearby grocery store before the crime. Lewis' had been committed to a mental facility after a mental exam found him incompetent in August 2019 - prior to this he was in jail charged with assaulting a public servant who had been transferring him between jails two years ago, reported Abc's KTRK. He stayed at the facility until May 1 when he was released to the Royal Personal Care Home, carrying out the attack on Ms Cook two weeks later on May 16. Acevedo later tweeted: 'Our hearts go out to the Cook family and to all am who knew and loved this sweet woman. May she Rest In Peace and may we all work to address the broken criminal justice system in Harris County is bent on coddling violent criminals. We deserve better.' The investigation continues as Ms Cook's family pay tribute to their 'perfect grandma'. [May 19, 2020] BurgerFi Partners with Leading Tech Platform YOOBIC to Deliver Forward-Looking Training and Employee Engagement to Fast Growing Concept NEW YORK and WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- YOOBIC, the fast-growing deskless workforce platform, announced today that award-winning "better burger" concept, BurgerFi, has deployed the YOOBIC platform across their domestic and international locations. The platform allows BurgerFi to deliver best-in-class training to their expanding workforce, ensuring team members provide exceptional food and service to guests, while keeping them informed with all company news. BurgerFi launched the YOOBIC app for their 3,000 employees across their corporate and franchised restaurants in February. BurgerFi has utilized the app extensively during Covid-19 in order to stay in constant contact with their workforce, which remains critically important during the ever-changing environment of local, county, state and federal guidelines. "Having a platform like YOOBIC throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has been a great benefit," said Nick Raucci, Chief Operating Officer at BurgerFi. "We have been able to rapidly deploy enhanced safety protocols to our teams and, most importantly, maintain constant communication with our BurgerFi family during these uncertain times." BurgerFi was looking for the most engaging platform to deliver a better training experience across their growing brand. They turned to YOOBIC as the solution to help streamline their training strategy and drive adoption among their corporate and franchised locations. YOOBIC enables restaurant companies to deliver gamified microlearning courses and quizzes through an all-in-one mobile platform designed for frontline teams, while providing restaurant operators extensive analytical capabilities to track engagement and progress. "YOOBIC is excited to work with BurgerFi to help them move with agility and decisiveness to grow their restaurant network," said Fabrice Haiat, CEO of YOOBIC. "BurgerFi has been a leader in food qualit and the use of technology for nearly ten years. Their management team understood the need to enhance training and development in a user-friendly way in order to stay on the accelerated growth path that they seek." "People are at the heart of everything we do," said Kevin Cooper, Director of Leadership and Development at BurgerFi. "By partnering with YOOBIC, we are investing in developing the people who make BurgerFi possible - our team members. Through the platform, employees have access to our world-class training resources at their fingertips, allowing for more opportunities to actively participate in personal and professional growth." About BurgerFi: Established in 2011, BurgerFi is among the nation's fastest-growing better burger concepts with nearly 125 BurgerFi restaurants domestically and internationally. The concept was chef-founded and is committed to serving fresh food of transparent quality, using only 100% natural Angus beef with no steroids, antibiotics, growth hormones, chemicals or additives. BurgerFi is a top 10 concept according to Fast Casual's 2020 Top 100 Movers & Shakers list, was named "Best Burger Joint" by Consumer Reports and fellow public interest organizations in the 2019 Chain Reaction Study, was listed as "Top Restaurant Brand to Watch" by Nation's Restaurant News in 2019 and has been included in Inc. Magazine's Fastest Growing Private Companies List. To learn more about BurgerFi or to find a full list of locations, please visit www.burgerfi.com. About YOOBIC: YOOBIC is an all-in-one platform enabling multi-unit operators such as retailers and restaurants to empower their frontline workforce to be more productive and engaged. YOOBIC provides companies with a way to bridge the gap to their deskless employees, through digitally optimized communication, mobile learning and efficient process management. Based in New York, London, Paris, Tel Aviv, Sao Paulo, and Milan, with more than 200 employees, YOOBIC is used by 150+ brands, restaurants & retailers across the world including Domino's Pizza, Urban Plates, B Chef, Planet Sushi, Laduere, Kate Spade, Puma, Yankee Candle. To learn more about YOOBIC visit www.yoobic.com or follow us on LinkedIn . Contact: Jenna Goldstein, Client Director US, YOOBIC E: [email protected] C: (917)-470-5410 Contact: Rich Turer, BurgerFi E: [email protected] O: (561)-598-6499 View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/burgerfi-partners-with-leading-tech-platform-yoobic-to-deliver-forward-looking-training-and-employee-engagement-to-fast-growing-concept-301061796.html SOURCE BurgerFi International [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The government's test and trace plan was embroiled in fresh chaos today as it emerged tech experts do not believe the NHSX app will be effective - and health officials warned the outbreak cannot be stamped out by call centre staff with just a few hours' training. The issues were highlighted after ministers signalled that the deadline for launching the contact tracing software nationwide is being pushed back - with no clear timescale. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier this month that the goal was 'mid-May' but has since refused to set a date. Number 10 would only go so far as saying it will be made available in the 'coming weeks' after experts have 'carefully studied' the findings of a pilot programme on the Isle of Wight. A survey has found just a quarter of IT experts are confident the app will be 'effective'. The chaotic progress came despite claims the aim of recruiting 18,000 contact tracers has been passed, with 21,000 now hired - although there are concerns that they are only receiving brief training online. Local health officials have warned that it will not be possible to keep infection under control with an army of people in call centres, rather than working in communities. Getting the 'track and trace' regime in place is crucial to reviving the economy from lockdown, with unions warning workplaces and schools cannot be safe before then. The government has been desperately trying to ramp up testing capacity, with MPs condemning the failure to get going on the issue early enough and control freakery from Public Health England (PHE). But the NHSX app is another critical piece of the puzzle. People will be asked to download the software, and it will use bluetooth to detect whether they have been near anyone who has been diagnosed. They can then be told to isolate to stamp out flare-ups of the disease. Health Secretary Matt Hancock (pictured in the Commons today) said earlier this month that the goal was 'mid-May' but is now refusing to repeat the timeline A person on the NHS coronavirus contact tracing app, which Isle of Wight residents have been getting their hands on before the full nationwide rollout How the UK's testing chaos developed January 31: First confirmed cases in the UK are two Chinese nationals staying in York. February 1: China reports asymptomatic cases of coronavirus. February 21: Government experts conclude at a meeting that the disease is still only a 'moderate' threat to the UK. March 12: The UK shelves efforts to test and 'contact trace' everyone with symptoms on March 12, as the government's response moves from 'containment' into a 'delay' phase. Instead people who think they have the illness are urged to self-isolate unless their conditions became so severe they need medical help. Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said: 'It is no longer needed to identify every case, so we will pivot testing capacity to identify people in hospitals with symptoms to ensure they don't pass it on.' March 13: Chief Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance suggests the strategy is not to 'suppress' coronavirus completely but 'reduce the peak' as up to 60 per cent get infected. He says that means the UK will 'build up some kind of herd immunity so more people are immune to this disease'. March 16: Boris Johnson urges Britons to follow 'social distancing' guidelines as well as isolating when they have symptoms, in a change of policy after modelling found the death toll could be much higher than previously estimated. March 17: Patrick Vallance tells a Commons committee testing numbers should be higher. 'I think we need a big increase in testing, and that is what I am pushing for very hard.' March 18: Amid growing criticism, the PM declares that there will be a big expansion of tests from under 5,000 a day to 25,000. He also sets an ambition of 250,000 tests a day, although this includes potential mass antibody tests for whether people previously had the disease. March 21: Downing Street sends an email to research institutions begging for machines needed to process testing samples. No10 denies this was the first time it had raised the idea. March 27: Mr Johnson and Matt Hancock announce they have tested positive for coronavirus. Prof Whitty goes into self-isolation with symptoms. March 29: Cabinet ministers Matt Hancock and Michael Gove hail news that the UK is now carrying out 10,000 tests a day. April 1: It emerges the UK has still not carried out 10,000 tests in a day, despite apparently having the capacity to do so. April 2: Matt Hancock sets a target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. At the same time a goal of 25,000 tests a day by the middle of April is quietly dropped. April 5: The PM's official account causes confusion by tweeting that the target is for 100,000 people to be tested a day, rather than 100,000 tests as other ministers have suggested. Many people need more than one test in a day for clinical reasons, such as to confirm results. April 6: Mr Johnson is admitted to hospital as his symptoms fail to subside. April 30: Mr Hancock declares victory with 122,000 tests in a day. However, it emerges that the government has been counting tests posted out but not actually completed. That is despite Mr Johnson and others stating the numbers are for tests 'carried out'. The numbers tumble below the target again in the following days, although the government insists capacity remains in place. May 5: Trials of an NHSX app to track who has been in proximity to infected people begin on the Isle of Wight. Chief scientific officer Patrick Vallance admits ramping up testing earlier would have been 'beneficial'. May 18: It emerges the app will not be ready for national use by 'mid-May' as planned, although Downing Street insists track and trace can start without it. Mr Hancock announces that everyone over the age of five displaying coronavirus symptoms can now apply for a test, although key workers and patients will be prioritised. Advertisement The director for Public Health Sheffield Greg Fell warned that test and trace is 'fundamental to breaking chains of transmission and reopening society'. He admitted he did not 'know the final details of how it will work', and insisted properly trained staff would have to do the 'heavy lifting work'. Mr Fell highlighted the dangers of relying on the app and call centres alone, saying detailed engagement with communities was key. 'That can't be managed only by people working in a call centre 250 miles away,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Downing Street again refused to give a date for when the new contact tracing programme will begin today. 'All of those recruited have either been trained or will begin training shortly and they will be ready to begin work soon,' the PM's spokesman said. 'It will begin shortly and I would expect us to have more to say about this in the coming days.' He said that there would not necessarily need to be more contact tracers hired because the app is not yet ready for nationwide roll-out. 'I've not seen the suggestion of the two being linked,' he said. The blame game was in full swing today as a Cabinet minister claimed blunders in the coronavirus response were down to 'wrong' science advice. Therese Coffey insisted the government had just been following the guidance from experts as she fended off damning criticism from MPs over 'inadequate' testing. The Science and Technology Committee found hospital staff, care home workers and residents were put at risk because of a lack of capacity for screening 'when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant'. Routine testing for those with symptoms was abandoned on March 12, when the government shifted to its 'delay' phase, with checks reserved for hospital patients and health staff. But the cross-party MPs said the failure to ramp up testing for the disease was the 'most consequential' error in the crisis, and crippled efforts to trace, track and isolate Britons with the disease. Anger is also rising on the Tory backbenches, with one MP likening the response to a Morecambe and Wise comedy sketch. Pushed on whether the government had made mistakes, she told Sky News that ministers could 'only make judgements and decisions based on the information and advice that we have at the time'. 'If the science advice at the time was wrong I am not surprised people think we made the wrong decision,' she said. The extraordinary comment comes after the incoming president of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith, warned politicians against putting blame on to scientists. The committee hit out at Public Health England for the 'pivotal decision' to shun smaller labs and failure to make a 'rigorous assessment' of countries such as South Korea and Germany that had successfully ramped up testing. But PHE chief Duncan Selbie shot back that it was 'not responsible' for the testing strategy, which 'has been led by the Department of Health and Social Care'. He insisted 'any testing facility with the right technology and containment' could have carried out checks after security restrictions were lowered on March 3. A survey by British Computer Society (BCS) uncovered doubts around whether the app can work effectively and if it would convince people to self-isolate. The app for iOS and Android asks users to log whether or not they symptoms and uses Bluetooth to keep track of other phones it has come into contact with. If someone logs symptoms of COVID-19 in the app, alerts will be sent to users of phones that have been in 'significant contact' with them, which will ultimately help trace the spread of the illness around the country. A full implementation of an app that traces coronavirus contacts is necessary but it must overcome 'perceived Big Brother elements', BCS has said. The professional body says the government must ensure minimum interference with people's personal lives and that their data isn't sold or shared beyond its intended stated purpose. 'BCS is clear that if done ethically and competently a tracing app can make a huge contribution to stopping the spread of COVID-19,' said Dr Bill Mitchell, director of policy at BCS. 'The government will need to work hard to convince people that 'ethical by design, correct by design, and privacy by default' values are baked into the app to get the download numbers it is aiming for. 'It feels like there is a lot of goodwill out there to give a tracing app a chance if it can be shown to work.' A screenshot of the real NHS contact tracing app. Large numbers of the public downloading and using the NHS contact tracing app will help save lives and could get the UK out of lockdown The survey of 1,716 IT professionals, conducted by BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, found data security to be top concern, cited by 69 per cent of respondents. This was followed by privacy, cited by 67 per cent, and 'trust in its effectiveness', at 59 per cent. Trust in government was cited as a concern by 49 per cent of the professionals, while users following up on any advice from the app to self-isolate was also an issue for 27 per cent of respondents. Less than a quarter of the experts 24 per cent said they thought the contact tracing app will be effective, according to the survey. 32 per cent said they didn't think it would help contain COVID-19, while the remainder were undecided on whether it would be effective. When asked if they would download the contact tracing app, only 42 per cent said they would, 36 per cent said the wouldn't and the remainder were undecided. 42 per cent of IT experts said they would be downloading the app for themselves, with 36 per cent saying they would not install it and 21 per cent undecided Half of those surveyed said they would have preferred it if the app were using a decentralised method keeping data between smartphones and not on a central database, as favoured in a collaboration between Apple and Google. The decentralised model is being adopted by a number of countries across the world, but the UK has decided to go for a centralised approach, meaning a computer will receive data when the individual chooses to share it. Just over half of professionals 51 per cent said the government should switch to the decentralised Google-Apple API model of storing records. Only 23 per cent said they favour the planned centralised model designed into the app currently, while most of the rest had no opinion. 'A majority of our members don't believe the current model will work and are worried about the reliance on a centralised database,' said Dr Mitchell. 'That means if these concerns are fully addressed then maybe over 60 per cent of the population will install a high quality app. The NHS contact-tracing app is being trialled on the Isle of Wight before a full roll out in the UK 'That's the magic adoption figure we need for the app to have real impact on stopping COVID-19.' The app has been trialled on Isle of Wight residents since May 5 as part of the government's 'test, track and trace' strategy to ease the country out of lockdown. Health Secretary Matt Hancock had indicated that a roll-out across the rest of England was on the cards for mid-May, but Downing Street has said the aim is to launch more widely in the 'coming weeks'. But Downing Street has admitted that the app may not be ready for its full release for 'some weeks', possibly until June at the earliest. Residents on the Isle of Wight have also claimed they are unable to use the new app on phones that are more than two years old. People are receiving error messages telling them the app is not compatible with their devices, with others reporting glitches including pop-ups. Montgomery County officials were firing back Tuesday after Conroe Mayor Toby Powell filed a lawsuit late Friday against the county tax assessor-collector and chief appraiser, calling for tax relief for residents amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The suit, which names Montgomery County Chief Appraiser Tony Belinoski and Tax Assessor Collector Tammy McRae, was filed just hours before the deadline to protest property taxes May 15, asks the court to order the chief appraiser to either apply an across-the-board reduction to the value of all properties or re-assess each property individually. The suit also asks the court to order McRae to halt tax collection efforts. NEW CASES: Montgomery County's COVID-19 death count rises to 21 In March, Montgomery County health officials confirmed the countys first case of the new coronavirus. That announcement was followed by several local and state orders that ordered all non-essential businesses closed and residents to stay home for more than a month. As of Monday, there were 817 cases in Montgomery County, 521 of those active. McRae, who as of Tuesday had not yet been served, called the lawsuit groundless and frivolous. She added in March, she along with commissioners James Noack, Charlie Riley and state Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, began researching the issue for potential options. According to McRae, on April 13, 2020, Attorney General Ken Paxton issued Opinion No. KP-0299, noting without legislative change, current law allows for reappraisals only if there is physical damage to property, not economic loss. ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Texas Medical Center leaders support latest phase of Abbotts reopening of Texas For the 2020 tax year, tax relief can only come by way of tax rates and exemptions, McRae said. Mayor Powell should use his own power and influence to provide the city of Conroe taxpayers property tax relief by granting a homestead exemption and setting a tax rate that does not exceed or is lower than the no-new revenue rate. This baseless lawsuit cannot legally provide property tax relief but unfortunately, Montgomery County taxpayers will bear the costs associated with the defense of it. Noack pointed out the city can give taxpayers relief by offering a homestead exemption, which it currently does not have, and bumping up its exemption amounts for disabled residents and those older than 65. Currently, the city only offers $15,000 for those older than 65 and $7,500 for disabled homeowners. MORNING REPORT: Get the top stories on HoustonChronicle.com sent directly to your inbox However, according to Powell, Chapter 23 of the Tax Code states, the chief appraiser can make any appropriate adjustment for physical, functional or economic obsolescence. Property values for tax purposes are normally set as of January 1 of the tax year, and the values Montgomery County taxpayers received in the mail around April 15 were based on what their property was worth on January 1, Powell said in a press release regarding the suit. They do not reflect what has happened to our economy in the five months since that date. Earlier this month, McRae announced an automatic four-month extension on all existing delinquent payment agreements and temporarily halted litigation and foreclosure proceedings in March. I am committed to continue to provide all property tax relief allowable under the law, McRae said. I believe that Mr. Powells failure to notify me prior to the issuance of his press release and the timing of the filing demonstrate the purely political nature of the lawsuit. Sadly, paying for it is an expense the taxpayers dont need especially now. cdominguez@hcnonline.com Srinagar, May 19 : Jammua and Kashmir Police and CRPF troopers were successful on Tuesday in neutralising two Hizbul militants, who were hiding in the old city area of Srinagar after hours of pitch battle that started in the middle of the night. Two terrorists have been killed in the ongoing encounter in downtown Srinagar by police along with CRPF. Both belong to Hizbul Mujahiddin. Two weapons and ammunition recovered, police said in a brief statement. Three security forces personnel -- two J&K policemen and one CRPF trooper were earlier injured after the joint team launched a combing operation on a specific tip off about the presence of militants at Nawakadal in the old city area. As the security forces cordoned off the Kanemazar area and zeroed in on the hideout, militants started firing triggering the encounter. IG Kashmir Vijay Kumar told IANS this firefight between militants and security forces has taken place in Srinagar after almost two years. Mobile Internet and voice calling except for BSNL service provider has been suspended. The words from Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday were meant to offer some hope for small business owners as he spoke of reopening industries within the state. For restaurant owners, it was what he failed to mention that evaporated any reason to hope. As restaurants continue to withstand revenue losses of more than 75% over the last two months amid the coronavirus pandemic, Mondays plan revealed little new information to guide the industry forward. I dont want to sound like a Debbie Downer but theres not enough cash, you cant borrow enough money, co-owner of Bay State Brewing Company Chip Jarry said. You dont throw a brick to a drowning man. Thats kind of what it feels like, but I also understand the health concerns people have. I just dont know. Restaurants were again left searching for answers as to how they may reopen after Baker restricted on-site dining in March. Baker said restaurants and hospitality fall into phase two. Each phase could last as little as three weeks, meaning restaurants could reopen with limited capacity in the middle of June. However, reopening a new phase is predicated on health data, and negative metrics could force officials to delay another phase or return to a previous phase. I feel very helpless and I dont like feeling that way, owner of Niche Hospitality Group Michael Covino said. I dont like feeling that way because I want to take the information I have, assimilate it, form a plan and let my staff and team know this is my game plan. Covino said morale within his staff and among the hundreds people he laid off is worsening as information remains scarce on reopening. He said he has developed a number of plans, but feels like he cant implement any because hes received no guidance from the state. The restaurateur expected the industry to fall within phase two. What angered him Monday was the fact that after two months, state officials told restaurants to continue waiting without any direction. Im getting discouraged not because I dont want to conform to the rules, Covino said. At some point theres an arbitrary pick and choose of what the government thinks is safe for the consumer. You cant tell me its safer to go grocery shopping than it is to go to a restaurant. At the very least, Covino thought guidelines would be laid out so that restaurants could prepare for the potential in opening in three weeks. He also expected Massachusetts to possibly follow the lead of Rhode Island and New Hampshire in allowing restaurants to serve patrons outside, while prohibiting indoor dining. This industry provides a massive amount of jobs for this state and a massive amount of tax revenue and for them to just throw us aside and say, not only are you in phase two, but we haven't gotten around to it, is the ultimate slap in the face in my opinion, Covino said. In previous weeks, restaurateurs like Covino, expressed understanding and a commitment to work with state and local leaders to aid in combating the pandemic. Last month in anticipation of a surge in Worcester, Covino closed his restaurants out of an abundance of caution in order to help the city. "Obviously, every restaurateur is disappointed with the lack of a defined re-opening date in todays announcement, the Massachusetts Restaurant Association said in a statement. Massachusetts restaurants need their suppliers to have time to restock perishable inventory before it can be delivered to them, they need to notify employees about returning to work and conduct other due diligence to ensure restaurants can open effectively. The only new information specifically for the restaurant industry included that the restaurant and hospitality working group met on May 15. When detailed plans are available for restaurants they will be released. Its sort of nothing new, developer of the Worcester Public Market Allen Fletcher said. Thats not a criticism, its still hard to predict. Prior to Bakers announcement on Monday, Fletcher hoped to reopen the Worcester Public Market on June 4. Portions of the market that focus on retail can begin a limited reopening on May 25. A best-case scenario would allow restaurants to follow two weeks later. Fletcher, though, hopes to reopen the entire market as a whole. Fletcher now targets the week of June 15 as the goal to reopen the space in Worcesters Canal District. I think by the time we get four weeks [from Monday], there will almost be a popular mandate to open. People are just going to be out there, Fletcher said. I dont think recklessly, but, man, this gets old. While Fletcher hopes the market can reopen the third week of June, he said nothing is set in stone since no detailed plans have been offered to restaurants. For restaurants who applied and received Paycheck Protection Program loans, the funding was only provided to run through the end of June. Regardless of any funding, Bakers plan calls for restaurants to operate at least into July on a limited capacity basis. Some restaurant owners anticipate the limit may be 25%. Small businesses werent built to serve a quarter of their clientele. If you took a business plan to a lender and said we expect to generate X amount of revenue, oh by the way were only going to have 25% of the expected customers, theyd laugh in your face, Jarry said. Jarry is confident Bay State Brewing Company can navigate through the summer at a 25% volume. Hes more concerned about a spike in cases or a second wave of COVID-19 returning the fall. It could potentially force restaurants to return to takeout only or even worse shut down. Its a recipe, he and others are no longer able to stomach. If theres another winter wave, then what do you do? Jarry said. The bills dont go away. Related Content: Gov. Tony Evers says the Wisconsin Supreme Court shut the door on statewide safety restrictions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. "As far as any kind of restrictions, it is not going to happen. Thats that," Evers said during an appearance on UPFRONT on WISN TV. "The Supreme Court set the stage and our state is now open and hopefully the goodwill of the people of the state will prevail." The court ruled that Evers' shutdown of businesses in the state was unconstitutional. He already had begun lifting restrictions, following the plan created and endorsed by the CDC. His restrictions were due to expire next week. The Republican leaders in Madison who sued to lift all of his restrictions immediately have made it clear that they don't want any new ones, Evers said. Restrictions remain in place in some parts of the state, including Milwaukee, Dane County and Brown County. "I know there is a feeling that there would be this grand bargain, but I dont see that happening," the governor added. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald last week told WISN Radio that he doesn't see the need for new restrictions on how people can go shopping or how businesses can reopen. "The focus moving forward should be about the bigger, broader questions," Fitzgerald said last week. "Like are K-12 schools coming back in the fall? Is the UW System going to have kids loading up their cars and driving down and move into a dorm room?" Evers didn't touch on that. "My goal is to focus on several things. One is people can still stay safe at home. There is nothing illegal about staying safe at home," the governor said. "Second, we will continue the testing and contact tracing and continue making sure we have enough equipment for our frontline workers." Evers also defended his Health Secretary, Andrea Palm, from calls to fire her. "She has done a great job. She is a professional. Her staff has been working on this issue 24/7. To say she is incapable or incompetent, it is a lie," the governor added. A handful of Wisconsin lawmakers say Palm's over-reach and her general mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak should cost her her job. As for what's next, Evers said he doesn't know. Though he says it will take at least six months to get to the next step. "The new normal will not look like the old normal. We just have to accept that," Evers said. "Once we get the vaccine, we will be in a much better place. But it will take some time." Several motor parks in Lagos have enforced the physical distancing and use of face masks, a directive by the state government to curb the spread of coronavirus in the state. When PREMIUM TIMES visited some designated bus parks across the state, a strict compliance with physical distancing and use of face masks was observed, while other directives such as regular disinfection, and temperature checks were flouted. The buses loaded two passengers in a row, as against the usual four, and passengers were not allowed to form clusters at the entrance of the vehicle. Passengers also had their face masks, those without one were turned back. You cannot enter, go and buy one face mask, it is only N50, a bus conductor screamed at a defaulter. I have my handkerchief here, Ill use that, the passenger said calmly in response. E be like say you no dey hear, how much you wan pay me that you go allow task force arrest me? Ehn Answer na. I dey tell you to buy face mask, you dey talk something else. Abeg, comot, let better passengers enter, the conductor shouted at the passenger. Ahmed Olayiwola, a bus driver at Oshodi park, who loads passengers to Bariga said loading two passengers per row is made compulsory and buses that carry more than the stipulated number will be arrested by the Task Force of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). This is a new era now, Mr Olayiwola said. If the union seize your bus, you will pay before you get it back. I dont allow people without face masks to enter my bus as well, they arrest us for that too, he added. Lagos Guidelines Babajide Sanwo-Olu @jidesanwoolu Transportation is a critical part of our plan in #EasingTheLockdown and to reduce the risk of contagion, all commuters must wear masks, wash hands with soap, water and sanitise with alcohol based sanitiser. Vehicles, parks and garages must be sanitised regularly and continuously. Buses Awaiting passengers at Motor park Babajide Sanwo-Olu @jidesanwoolu #EasingTheLockdown: All buses must be loaded at 60% capacity. In practical terms, if seating capacity is 10, only 6 people are allowed. Transport operators/companies must have handwashing equipment with running water and soap. Social distancing is also required while queuing up. While announcing transportation guidelines during the easing of the lockdown, the Lagos State governor said all commuters are mandated to wear face masks at all times, and their hands cleaned with with alcohol-based sanitizer or soap and running water before and after every trip. Mr Sanwo-Olu said the guidelines would help reduce the risk of contagion of the virus. All transport operators/companies are expected to sanitize their vehicles, parks and garages regularly and continuously at least before and after every trip. Ojota Motor Park All Transport Operators/Companies are expected to have at the entrance of the respective parks hand washing equipment with running water, and deploy temperature readers to test every passenger before boarding, he said. The governor added that all operators are expected to have alcohol-based sanitizers in their vehicles for drivers, conductors and passengers. Motor parks and garages in the state are reflected to avoid overcrowding, while all buses should be loaded to a maximum of 60 per cent of full capacity. Buses Loading Passengers at Oshodi Park Out of all of these guidelines outlined by the governor, motor parks and bus drivers followed the 60 per cent maximum loading capacity and the use of face masks to the left, while other guidelines including regular disinfection, and temperature checks were disregarded. We Cant Force Passengers Advertisements PREMIUM TIMES reporter observed that many bus parks in Lagos have provision for handwashing and hand sanitizing but none was effective at the parks. At Berger Park, a giant container of water and liquid soap was placed at one side of the park but only a few people, mostly bus drivers, go there to wash their hands. Within 15 minutes of watching how frequently people wash their hands, only three people approached the point during this period, out of which two were bus drivers and one, an elderly female passenger. The location of the water and soap was not visible to many passengers, but the park leaders said passengers are aware that there is water and soap to wash their hands. Akinola Idowu, the Second Vice Chairperson of the Berger park, said people cannot be forced to wash their hands. Buses Loading Passengers at Oshodi Motor Park Our passengers know that we have provided water and soap for washing of hands, those that want to wash their hands will go there and those that do not want to will enter the bus, we cannot force people to wash their hands. Mr Idowu said the only thing mandatory is the use of face masks and buses not carrying more than two passengers in a row. Alaba Omolaye, the chairman of New Garage Unit, Odi Olowo, Ojuwoye local government area told PREMIUM TIMES that his men work tirelessly to ensure compliance to all the directives of the government. We have water and soap for people to wash their hands, we have hand sanitisers at this park, one for bus drivers and one for passengers, Mr Omolaye said, ordering one of his underlings to start giving all passengers hand sanitiser. At Oshodi- Ajah bus park at Oshodi, the loading capacity and use of face masks were complied with. A driver washing his hands at Berger Park The Vice-chairman of the park, Kunle Akinleye, said they have made adequate provisions to keep people safe during the pandemic, but many passengers do not see the need to wash their hands and many are compelled to use face masks. Guidelines unrealistic Mr Akinleye at Oshodi- Ajah park said no provision for regular disinfection was made and parks cannot be disinfected by drivers. How do we disinfect parks regularly when we dont even have what to use to disinfect? A union leader at Berger Park, who declined to state his name, said some of the guidelines were not realistic. Tell me, how do you test peoples temperature in a park like Berger or even Oshodi? You know the number of people that come here every day? Did the government provide those that will do the test? Or is it drivers and conductors that should do them? He said those can only be achieved at government-owned parks and not public parks. Berger Motor Park A bus driver at Oshodi Park, Akeem Kadejo, said he was unaware that each bus should provide alcohol-based sanitizers for passengers. All I know is our parks have hand sanitizers, we use it and wash our hands regularly. Many passengers also carry their hand sanitizers around, he said. Efforts to reach the Commissioner for Transportation in the state, Frederick Oladeinde, were unsuccessful as his line was unavailable. [May 19, 2020] Remediant joins Dcode to bring state of the art privileged access control to the U.S. Government & Defense Market SAN FRANCISCO, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Remediant, Inc. , a leading provider of Privileged Access Management (PAM) software, today joins a select group of cybersecurity companies participating in Dcode Accelerate , a program designed to help emerging tech companies break into and scale in the federal market successfully. Over the course of 10 weeks, Remediant will work closely with Dcode to develop its U.S Government & Defense strategy and connect with hundreds of key government and industry leaders. "Dcodes cybersecurity accelerator program provides a unique opportunity for Remediant to help address persistent gaps in the cybersecurity protections in our US Government & Defense. Our work will be focused both in terms of geeral awareness as well as in practice, said Remediant co-founder and COO Paul Lanzi. By working closely with Dcode, well be one step closer to improving the security posture of government entities that have been long overdue for a PAM update. Dcode Accelerate brings emerging tech solutions from the private sector to government missions, and Dcode selected Remediant out of hundreds of applications through a rigorous vetting process. The government needs to ensure its cyber posture is top-notch, especially given widespread teleworking, said Dcode CEO Meagan Metzger. These cybersecurity companies are taking steps to enter the federal market at a time when their tech is essential not only to maintain the status quo but to advance missions and respond quickly to the ongoing crisis. Remediant joins the Dcode Accelerate program to compliment and accelerate the work that is already underway with Federal agencies. In Q1 2020, Remediant was the recipient of an SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Phase I award. The SBIR program is a highly competitive program that encourages domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) that has the potential for commercialization. About Remediant Founded in the heart of San Francisco, Remediant leads with innovation, delivering enterprise-class cybersecurity solutions that enable real-time monitoring, Zero Trust protection of privileged accounts and Just-In-Time Administration (JITA) across IT/Security/Cloud ecosystems. We protect organizations from stolen credentials being used against them, which is the number one attack vector across all breaches. To learn more, please visit: www.remediant.com Media Contact: Mark Hodgson Remediant 650-270-4426 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Adamawa State Executive Council has approved a downward review of the 2020 budget by 24 per cent, affecting only the capital expenditure and overhead costs. The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Umar Pella, disclosed this shortly after an Extraordinary meeting of the council presided over by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri in Yola on Tuesday. The decision was reached after the council considered and approved a review of the 2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper in line with the extant laws of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission 2018. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state House of Assembly in December 2019, approved the 2020 proposed budget estimate of N183.3 billion presented by the governor. Mr Pella explained that the measure was taken by the council after a holistic review of the situation and considered the crisis affecting the economy as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. He added that government had deemed it necessary to review the budget to meet up with the physical realities. He said the budget review would soon be transmitted to the state assembly for consideration and approval. In his remark, the Commissioner for Finance, Ishaya Dabari, said the review did not affect personnel costs and was based on the benchmark used by the federal government. Mr Dabari was optimistic that the review of the budget would be realised. (NAN) Lesothos Prime Minister Thomas Thabane announced on Monday 18 May his resignation, the long-awaited epilogue to several months of a political crisis caused by his presumed involvement in the assassination of his former wife in 2017. Thomas Thabane and his wife had been in the process of divorce for several years. I have decided to announce to you personally that I am stepping down as Prime Minister of Lesotho. I wanted you to hear it from the horses mouth, the 80-year-old head of government told the press from his residence. But the man, whose term of office was due to end in 2022, did not say whether his withdrawal was immediate. In power for nearly three years, Thomas Thabane, the fifth prime minister of this small kingdom since 2014, has been suspected since the beginning of the year of having participated in the assassination of his ex-wife, Lipolelo Thabane, a few days before taking office. He has so far resisted all calls for his resignation from his own party, the Convention of All Basoto (ABC), and his government coalition. In a hurry to retire as soon as possible, he had only pledged to leave office by the end of July, due to his age. Last month, Thomas Thabane did not hesitate to take the army down to the streets of the capital Maseru to, he justified, restore order in the face of his political enemies, who he described as factious. Under South African mediation, the coalition government then undertook to allow a dignified exit for the Prime Minister. However, the Prime Minister then repeatedly refused to set a date for his departure. For Immediate Release Chicago, IL May 18, 2020 Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: EOG Resources EOG, Occidental Petroleum OXY, ExxonMobil XOM, Chevron CVX and BP plc BP. Here are highlights from Fridays Analyst Blog: 4 Reasons Why Oil Prices Jumped Higher Last Week Oil prices rose 9% on Thursday, with WTI crude futures hitting a nearly six-week high. The U.S. benchmark gained $2.27 to end at $27.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices marked their highest finish since Apr 3. Here are the factors that led to the surge in oil price: IEAs Encouraging Commentary: The International Energy Agencys (IEA) latest Oil Market Report revised up its growth estimates for 2020 global oil demand. The Paris-based organization now projects crude consumption to fall 8.6 million barrels per day to 91.2 million barrels per day in 2020. This represents 790,000 barrels per day lower demand loss compared with last months report. The agency credited easing lockdown measures for the improving demand outlook. Deliberate Supply Tightening by OPEC+: Member countries of the OPEC+ group, looking to shore up prices, have started to withhold output by almost 10 million barrels per day the largest in history from May 1. The collective cuts are in response to the unprecedented slump in demand due to the coronavirus outbreak, which led to crudes downward spiral. Per the agreement, Saudi Arabia (the OPEC cartels biggest producer and exporter) is committed to reducing oil production by 4 million barrels a day from an April baseline. Riyadh recently pledged an additional 1 million barrels per day in cuts from next month. Supportive U.S. Government Data: The U.S. Energy Department's latest inventory release revealed the first decline in domestic crude supplies in 16 weeks. Per the report for the week ending May 8, crude inventories fell by 745,000 barrels, versus expectations for a 4.8 million barrels increase. Oil supplies at the Cushing, OK delivery hub fell, too. Story continues Further, gasoline stocks tallied a larger-than-expected decrease, while distillate inventories rose but the quantum of increase was less than what the market had been looking for. Meanwhile, the countrys crude output has fallen to 11.6 barrels per day, down from 11.9 barrels per day in the previous week. Top U.S. shale producers including EOG Resources, Occidental Petroleum to oil majors ExxonMobil and Chevron have all slashed production. Upbeat Tone by BP, Goldman Sachs: European supermajor BP plc portrayed a bullish picture on the demand environment. The London-based company, carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), said that it has seen oil consumption surge back this week as vehicles return to roads with the relaxing of shutdowns and production cuts ramp up. You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Further, U.S. banking giant Goldman Sachs commodities unit recently suggested that crudes worst losses are in the rear view mirror with signs of gradual rebalancing. In fact, the leading investment management firm raised its global oil usage prediction for May by 1.4 million barrels per day and expects the market to flip into deficit in June. Where are prices headed? The bullish data points notwithstanding, investors still remain worried of the supply glut. In total, U.S. commercial stockpiles have risen by more than 75 million barrels since the week ending Mar 20. Further, domestic fuel demand remains abysmally weak, refinery utilization in the United States is close to its lowest level ever, while Cushing oil storage tanks are more than 80% full. As proof of the demand destruction, EIA estimates U.S. oil consumption in 2020 to plunge by 2.2 million barrels per day to 18.29 million barrels per day. This implies that oil prices are unlikely to trade much higher from current levels. Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2020 In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2020? Last year's 2019 Zacks Top 10 Stocks portfolio returned gains as high as +102.7%. Now a brand-new portfolio has been handpicked from over 4,000 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Dont miss your chance to get in on these long-term buys. Access Zacks Top 10 Stocks for 2020 today >> Media Contact Zacks Investment Research 800-767-3771 ext. 9339 support@zacks.com https://www.zacks.com Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) : Free Stock Analysis Report Chevron Corporation (CVX) : Free Stock Analysis Report EOG Resources, Inc. (EOG) : Free Stock Analysis Report BP p.l.c. (BP) : Free Stock Analysis Report Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iran has begun withdrawing its forces from Syria, Israel's outgoing defence minister said on Monday, without offering any evidence to support his assertion. Naftali Bennett also urged his successor, Benny Gantz, to maintain pressure on Iran, adding that the trend might otherwise reverse. Iran, Israels arch-enemy in the Middle East, has been a key supporter, along with Russia, of President Bashar al-Assad during Syria's civil war, sending military advisers as well as material and regional Shiite militias that it backs. Israel, which monitors neighbouring Syria intensively, has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria targeting suspected arms and troop movements by Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas it sponsors. "Iran is significantly reducing the scope of its forces in Syria and even evacuating a number of bases," said Bennett in his valedictory address. "Though Iran has begun the withdrawal process from Syria, we need to complete the work. It's in reach." It was not immediately possible to get official Iranian or Syrian reaction to Bennett's comments. Israeli officials have suggested in the past that Israel's military operations were showing signs of success. Iran, which is struggling economically under the burden of U.S. sanctions and has also been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, has repeatedly said its military presence in Syria is at the invitation of Assad's government and that it will remain in Syria as long as its help is needed. A senior aide to Iran's foreign minister, Ali-Ashgar Khaji, reiterated on Saturday that Tehran would continue working closely with the Assad government and Russia to combat terrorism and find a political solution to the Syrian crisis, Iran's ISNA news agency reported. Bennett held the position of Israeli defence minister for about half a year. His successor, Gantz, a former armed forces chief and leader of the centrist Blue and White Party, has formed a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which took office on Sunday. (Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Dubai; Editing by Gareth Jones) TROY Following several weeks of back-and-forth with state officials, Rensselaer County Steve McLaughlin said that privately owned RV parks in the county would be allowed to open later in the week, probably by Thursday, regardless of state recommendations. Weve waited long enough. Weve followed the guidance. Were moving. Weve got to go, McLaughlin said Monday during a Facebook Live update on the countys response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While RV parks in other counties upstate, including Saratoga and Schoharie, have kept their parks open, McLaughlin has maintained that the Empire State Development agency hasnt given such facilities in his county a go-ahead to open. An email from the Times Union to ESD on Tuesday directed questions to the agencys New York Forward website at https://forward.ny.gov/. That contains information about the states phased approach to opening businesses back up. According to the website, RV Parks are listed under the Phase Two category unless they are already operating as essential businesses. Overall, Phase One businesses include construction, manufacturing, agriculture and curbside pickup at retailers. They can open up first, once a given region is cleared to reopen after meeting the criteria for pandemic safety. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage The Capital Region, including Rensselaer County, is set to begin Phase One reopening Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday. The exceptions, and the fact that Cuomo earlier declared RV parks to be essential businesses since they provide housing, has led to some confusion in the RV world. Parks in some counties and towns have already opened while others had not. That confusion flared up in Rensselaer County when seasonal campers, who had already paid deposits for their summer-long stays, were told they had to wait to get into their campsites. McLaughlin cautioned that, like RV parks statewide, they will provide bare-bones accommodations. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Amenities like lounges, pools and even restrooms will remain closed for now, to prevent transmission of the coronavirus. That means no arcades, no pools, no playgrounds, he said. McLaughlins remarks focused on privately owned campgrounds. It wasnt immediately clear when state facilities, such as the Cherry Plain campground in eastern Rensselaer County would open. The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation website said camping remained closed through May 31. New reservations beyond that are closed until further notice. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU Remote controlled mask. Reuters An Israeli company created a face mask design that can be worn while eating, maybe for future restaurant trips. The mask is controlled by a lever, which opens and closes the mouth. The company reportedly plans to begin manufacturing the masks within a few months. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The coronavirus pandemic is changing everything about daily life maybe even how we eat. Israeli company Avtipus Patents and Inventions unveiled a design for a mask that can be worn while eating, Eli Berlzon at Reuters reported. The mask is controlled by a handheld lever, which opens or closes the mouth opening, but it could also open automatically when a fork comes near it, according to company VP Asaf Gitelis. "Then you can eat, enjoy, drink and you take out the fork and it will be closed, and you're protected against the virus and other people sitting with you," he told Reuters. As Reuters noted, the mask doesn't seem suited for sauces or soups, but solid food could work, as demonstrated in the photos. The company told Reuters that it plans to begin manufacturing the masks within a few months, priced between $0.85 and $2.85 above standard medical masks. Prices vary, but blue medical masks sell for between $20 and $30 for 50 masks on Amazon. As parts of the world start to reopen from full coronavirus lockdowns, the masks could be a potential solution. The Hong Kong restaurant group leading the pack in reopening guidelines recommends masks for both servers and customers, though masks would still be removed to eat. While some chains in the US are planning to reopen dining rooms in states where they are allowed, they will be limited to 25% or 50% capacity in most places, and many businesses are requiring masks for customers. Remote controlled mask. Reuters Remote controlled mask. Reuters Remote controlled mask. Reuters Read the original article on Business Insider The US federal government has arrested researchers and scientists of Chinese descent as part of an accelerated crackdown on alleged participants of Chinas Thousand Talents program. The program was created in 2008 by the Chinese Central government to recruit leading international experts in scientific research by offering research opportunities and financial incentives. The attack on scientists follows the Trump administrations suspension of immigration into the United States via executive order. Trump claimed the action was necessary to help to conserve vital medical resources for American citizens, and will help put unemployed Americans first in line for jobs as we reopen. The country with the most billionaires in the world, despite having 4 percent of the worlds population, has 29 percent of the worlds deaths from COVID-19. Seeking to deflect from its colossal failure in handling the pandemic, the Trump administration, representative of the financial oligarchy, is blaming economic hardship on immigrants, going so far as to imply that they are not worthy of medical care. This nationalist campaign of the financial oligarchy, which aims to divide the international working class, extends especially to Chinese workers, who are being blamed for stealing national trade secrets. On February, FBI Director Christopher Wray said at the Department of Justice China Initiative Conference, China is threatening the U.S. economyand national securitywith its relentless efforts to steal sensitive technology and proprietary information from U.S. companies, academic institutions, and other organizations Theyve shown that theyre willing to steal their way up the economic ladder at our expense, adding that The Department of Justice and the FBI are going to hold people accountable for that and protect our nations innovation and ideas. On May 13, Qing Wang, a former Cleveland Clinic doctor was arrested. The next day, he appeared in court on charges of wire fraud and falsifying his personal information to obtain millions in federal grant funding. In a released statement, Eric Smith, the FBI agent in charge of the investigation alleges that Wang knowingly withheld information that he was employed and served as Dean of the College of Life Sciences and Technology at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The arrest is not a unique case. On May 11, Simon Saw-Teo Ang, a professor specialized in electrical engineering and former NASA researcher at the University of Arkansas pled guilty on charges of wire fraud. Three days earlier, Dr. Xiao-Jiang Li, former molecular biology professor at Emory University, pled guilty on charges of filing a false tax return. Arrests related to the program started in January, when Charles Lieber, a pioneer in nanoscience and former Harvard Chemistry Department Chairman, was arrested on charges of making false statements about his involvement with the Thousand Talents program. Lieber was subsequently able to purchase freedom through the payment of his $1,000,000 bond. Professor Frank Wu, at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, has kept close track of Chinese Espionage cases. In an interview with NPR, Wu said of the case against Lieber, Up until a few years ago, universities were urging their researchers to collaborate with China. If there was a funding issue, a researcher might face disciplinary action, but you wouldn't face being fired and going to prison and having your name dragged through the mud as a spy. This is a big, big case. This is a case that's all about U.S.-China relations. It's about competition. It's about how science should be done. The professors were being targeted under the China Initiative, a broad program created in November 2018 by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and led by the Department of Justices National Security Division. Upon its creation, Sessions stated, Chinese economic espionage against the United States has been increasingand it has been increasing rapidly. Enough is enough. Were not going to take it anymore. I have ordered the creation of a China Initiative led by Assistant Attorney General John Demers and composed of a senior FBI Executive, five United States Attorneys and several other Department of Justice leaders and officials. A year after the creation of the initiative, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, released a bipartisan report, with the conclusion that foreign countries seek to exploit Americas openness to advance their own national interests and that the most aggressive of them has been China. It especially cited the Thousand Talents Program, claiming that China used the program to exploit access to US research labs and institutions. The FBI deemed the program to be a form of non-traditional espionage. Since the initiatives creation, dozens of people, including professors, cancer researchers, engineers, and businessmen have been indicted and jailed. In conjunction to this crackdown, several departments of the US executive branch have moved to sanction groups and individuals with ties to its geopolitical rivals. According to China Initiative leader John Demers Among the 6000 Chinese scientists who have received grants from the National Institute of Health, around 180 are currently under investigation for violation of intellectual property law. The US Department of Education is currently investigating nine campuses for violating Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. This obscure provision requires colleges to report all gifts and contracts from foreign sources that exceed $250,000. It was put in place in 1965 but remained unenforced till 2019 and 2020. In letters to Harvard and Yale on February 11, the department wrote that it was investigating whether the two Ivy League universities had failed to report $375 million from countries including China, Iran, Russia, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The letters specifically requested all records of gifts and contracts from two Chinese telecommunications firms, Huawei and ZTE; the Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab; and national research funds, The Skolkovo Foundation of Russia, The Alavi Foundation of Iran, The Qatar National Research Fund, and the Thousand Talents Program of China. The China Initiative is not an aberration, but a continuation of a decades-long pressure campaign by the US ruling class in its drive for global domination. From 2001 to 2011, the Justice Department secured over 100 convictions in cases involving trade secret thefts and six convictions in economic espionage cases. In 2011, a federal court in Indiana sentenced a scientist to seven years in prison on charges of economic espionage on behalf of a foreign university tied to the Chinese government. Under the Obama administration, Attorney General Eric Holder established an internal Task Force on Intellectual Property in 2010 and in 2013 advanced a strategy of increased surveillance and prosecution for cases of trade theft, which sharply escalated the activity of the FBI and other government departments, ultimately leading to a rise in arrests of professors and scientists. Among those arrested was Professor Xi Xiaoxing, a US citizen and chair of the Physics department at Temple University. FBI agents broke into his home and arrested him for charges of sharing sensitive technology with collaborators in China. He never did, and furthermore the findings of his research were public from the very beginning. The FBI had to drop its charges. The professor lost his job, his title, and was prohibited from entering the campus or speaking with students. Similar experiences were shared by Professor Sherry Cheng, a government hydrologist in Ohio, and two former Eli Lilly scientists. The bipartisan drive of the United States to criminalize individuals of Chinese descent is part of an international phenomenon caused by the push of all imperialist powers towards world war. Trump has labelled COVID-19 as the Chinese virus, calling it an attack by China and the worst attack in US history. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has advanced the big lie that the virus originated in a Wuhan Lab, despite scientific proof that the origins were zoonotic transfertransfer from animal to humans. This claim has been repeated by state-sponsored far-right politicians and groups internationally. The lies of governments and politicians around the world have provided the fuel necessary for an international upsurge of anti-Asian violence. According to Human Rights Watch: In the UK, Asian people have been punched in the face and taunted, accused of spreading coronavirus. Two women attacked Chinese students in Australia, punching and kicking one and yelling Go back to China and you f***ng immigrants. Two men attacked a Chinese-American in Spain and beat him so badly that he was in a coma for two days. A man with a knife attacked a Burmese family in Texas. Recently, in New York, a Chinese woman was attacked in the subways. The arrests of scientists by the sudden enforcement of decades-long unenforced laws, with charges of economic espionage, are an extension of the Trump administrations trade war measures against China, which are threatening to transform more and more into a hot war between two nuclear-armed powers. After the deaths of more than 90 thousand Americans and infection of at least 1.5 million and the economic devastation and ruin of tens of millions caused by decades of wage cuts, rise of debts, and the decimation of public services, the US ruling class is seeking to manipulate and divert internal social tensions outwards. It seeks to accomplish this by labeling workers of Chinese descent as spies and agents of the Chinese state. Researchers of Chinese descent make up nearly half the workforce in American research laboratories; they are in great part responsible for the immense medical and technological leaps that humanity has been able to achieve in the past few decades. Yet the capitalist system, which has divided the world into rival nation-states and workers into rival racial and ethnic groups, acts as a powerful restraint to scientific progress. Last year the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against a Chinese couple that worked for 10 years in an Ohio lab researching pediatric diseases, including childhood cancers. The US government has recently accused China of attempting to steal research for the COVID-19 vaccine as governments around the world race independently to produce it, in a bid to drive up profits for their pharmaceutical companies. As scientists call for international collaboration and a globally coordinated response to the virus, to save the lives of millions around the world, the capitalist class, including the rulers of the Chinese state, is doing the exact opposite. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: The ongoing tug of war over the issue of transportation of migrants by congress sponsored buses intensified when UPCC chief Ajay Kumar Lallu was arrested in Agra at UP-Rajasthan border for forcing to cross through to NCR with 500 buses without any information to Agra district administration on Tuesday. As per the sources, Agra district administration was asking for an application prior to give passage to the buses to NCR, but UPCC chief was allegedly adamant at seeking the passage and failed to provide the required application. He even squatted on the road staging a protest with other party workers. As a result, Agra district administration took him into custody. On the other, a new revelation over the list of the Congress buses gave the controversy a new twist on Tuesday. As per the claims of the Uttar Pradesh government, the list of 1049 buses provided by Congress party to the state authorities comprised of registration numbers of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, and even 4-wheelers such cars and ambulances. Of the 1049 vehicles, only 879 were buses rest 31 were three-wheeler auto, 69 were ambulances/ trucks and rest 70 had no details in the government records. However, an FIR has also been lodged against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's private secretary Sandeep Singh and UPCC chief at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. They have been booked for providing a allegedly forged list of 1000 buses which they had provided to the state government. Reacting to the Lallus arrest in Agra, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the UP government of playing politics by delaying the passage to 500 buses stationed at UP-Rajasthan border. Through a series of tweets, she asked the state government to ply 879 buses which were fund fit. We will arrange 200 more by tomorrow and your are free to cross check that list as well. But people are suffering. We cant delay this anymore, she tweeted. She even claimed that 300 buses were reaching NCR bordering Delhi. Yogi government had, on Monday, accepted the Congresss offer of 1000 buses to facilitate transportation of migrants to their native places from the UP border where thousands of labourers were stranded awaiting their turn to get a ticket token either for the special shramik train or for bus arranged by the state government. The Congress had been seeking state governments permission since May 16 and it was accorded to it on Monday. While allowing the Congress to run the buses, UP government had sought the list of the buses, their fitness certificate and full details of the drivers and conductor on them. Total six lists were provided by the Congress till Tuesday forenoon, said the government sources adding that transport department authorities were cross-checking the list of buses before putting them in migrants service. We have done preliminary inquiry and it has come to surface that among the buses, the details of which they have sent, many are turning out to be 3-wheelers, autos and goods carriers. It's unfortunate. "They are least concerned for the migrants. Sonia Gandhiji should answer why they are committing this fraud, said state cabinet minister and state government spokesman Sidharth Nath Singh while talking to media persons. He said that it was the responsibility of the state government to seek the fitness certificate of the buses to be plied and also that of the drivers and conductors before allowing the permit to run them. The state authorities have also put out certain registration numbers claiming that they belonged to two wheelers, auto and cars figuring on the list of buses provided by UP Congress. However, confronting the claim of the state authorities, UPCC chief and party MLA Ajay Kumar Lallu accused the state government of indulging in petty politics at the time of distress and despair. He claimed that initially the state government dilly-dallied over the issue and delayed permission for three days now they were confusing people. Government is trying to confuse people, they are intentionally making up fake numbers to do politics. We have provided the numbers of buses, we can make it public, it can be verified, said the UPCC chief. Vietnamese businesses reeling under financial stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic have become vulnerable to foreign takeovers and need the Government's support, according to experts. Workers on production line of headsets for smartphones of South Korean-invested Glonics Vietnam Co Ltd. Experts warn rising risk of domestic companies being acquired by foreigners amid COVID-19 pandemic. At Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs meeting with businesses this month, Minister of Planning and Investment (MPI) Nguyen Chi Dung mentioned the risk that domestic firms could be acquired at cheap prices after the pandemic. Data from the ministrys Foreign Investment Agency showed the number of newly-registered foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the first four months decreased 10 per cent against 2019s same period to 984, but deals in the forms of share purchase and capital contribution increased 33 per cent to 3,210. More than 2,600 equity acquisitions took place without increasing the charter capital of companies worth US$1.6 billion while only 580 transactions contributing $0.9 billion to domestic companies were recorded. Japan, South Korean and China were the most active investors with deals from them increasing 40 per cent year-on-year, of which Japan ranked first with $743 million, followed by South Korea at $365 million. Foreign investors are eyeing processing and manufacturing industries with 822 deals worth more than $1 billion, wholesale and retail, automobile and motorbike repair services with more than 1,000 deals worth $500 million. Dung said difficulties caused by supply disruptions could not be overcome soon and would continue impacting many businesses and drive up M&A transactions, posing risks that businesses could be bought at low prices. The Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has recently proposed the PM temporarily suspend merger and acquisition (M&A) deals during the pandemic to limit foreign takeovers of Vietnamese enterprises. Do Nhat Hoang, head of the MPI's Foreign Investment Agency, said the ministry has reported to the Government on the situation and solutions countries are applying to support domestic enterprises. However, according to him, Viet Nam should only limit the takeover of key businesses while still allowing investment activities in ordinary companies. "We are currently working with ministries and agencies to prepare specific measures to limit takeover risks and advise the Government on this issue," Hoang was quoted on haiquanonline.com.vn. Many governments have warned of the risk of businesses being acquired through M&A deals. Some have made moves to limit foreigners efforts to buy their domestic companies amid the pandemic. Last week, Japan introduced new rules restricting foreign investment, forcing foreign investors to report in advance when they plan to buy a more than 1 per cent stake in more than half of the listed companies in the country (the previous threshold was 10 per cent). In April, India tightened its policy on FDI that requires investment from neighbouring countries to go a government approval process. Similar to India, Australia and Germany have recently stipulated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, all foreign investment must be considered by the governments to prevent opportunistic takeovers. According to economist Nguyen Tri Hieu, this is the time when shark investors hunt for small enterprises at low prices. He has suggested the Government build policies and plans to attract foreign investment but should also tighten control over areas that may pose political and socio-economic risks. The selection of industries calling for investment must also go along with setting the limit of foreign ownership at a reasonable rate which may be adjusted in accordance with supply and demand of the market, he said. VNS When Apple comes to Vietnam and FDI flow starts moving Apple is making clearer signals in the production of components and products in Vietnam, opening up opportunities for Vietnam to participate more deeply in the global value chain. 8 countries call for Taiwan's WHA participation ROC Central News Agency 05/18/2020 03:41 PM Toronto, May 17 (CNA) Eight countries friendly to Taiwan have called on the World Health Organization (WHO) to grant observer status to Taiwan at the World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO's decision-making body, given Taiwan's success in containing COVID-19. The United States, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand said in a joint letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that the WHO's exclusion of Taiwan has created a serious public health concern during the COVID-19 crisis, the Canadian Press reported Sunday. "Taiwan's isolation from the global health community not only presents a serious public health concern, but is also an obstacle that hampers ongoing and future efforts," according to the draft of the letter acquired by the Canadian Press, a national news agency headquartered in Toronto. Taiwan's Ministry of Health and Welfare hosted a video conference May 15 attended by health officials from several countries, including Canada, the report said, citing a senior government official speaking on condition of anonymity. The 73rd WHA is set to be held online Monday and Tuesday. The letter tells Tedros to allow Taiwan to be given observer status at the meeting Monday, the report said. Citing the letter, the Canadian Press said Taiwan's early success at controlling the pandemic qualifies it for a seat at WHA meetings and it tells the agency to stop playing politics. The letter also says the international community is harmed when important health information is not permitted to flow freely and easily, according to the report. The letter calls Taiwan a capable and responsible player in the world's health community, and says it has scientific and technical expertise that could help save lives around the world. The letter says it is regrettable that the WHO has broken with its guiding principles by excluding Taiwan from the assembly. It defines the WHO's guiding principle as ensuring that all people have the right to the highest health standards, regardless of political belief, race, religion or economic or social conditions. Geneva-based diplomats from Canada, Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand, the U.K., Japan and the U.S. issued the demand orally in a May 7 meeting with two other senior WHO officials, with the envoys from Washington and Tokyo taking the lead, according to the report. The Canadian Press report also noted that Adam Austen, press secretary to the minister at Global Affairs Canada, reiterated Canada's support for "Taiwan's meaningful participation in international multilateral fora where its presence provides important contributions to the public good." Canada has "clearly communicated" to the WHO that Taiwan should be allowed to take part in upcoming WHA meetings, Austin was cited as saying in the report. (By Hu Yu-li and Evelyn Kao) Enditem/J NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address (CNN) A cafe in Germany has celebrated its grand reopening to customers after lockdown by handing out pool noodles to maintain social distancing. Last Saturday the owners of the Cafe Rothe in Schwerin a town in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's home state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were allowed to reopen their doors to visitors after coronavirus restrictions were lifted. While people enjoyed the company and the weather, the motto at the cafe was: "Keep the social distance." Rather than using floor markings and perspex screens to keep people apart, the owners of the cafe distributed straw hats with two colorful swimming noodles attached to the top. To mark the occasion, owner Jaqueline Rothe posted a photo to the cafe's Facebook page showing customers sitting at tables with their new headgear on. "Today it's like this: distance measurement," she wrote in the caption. Rothe, 52, told CNN numerous happy customers flocked to the cafe to enjoy a coffee, cake or a beer in the sunshine. "This was the perfect method to keep customers apart and a fun one," she said, explaining that local TV company RTL, which was filming the reopening of cafes and restaurants, came up with the idea. "It was a perfect gag and of course it was funny, our customers were really into it. But what it did show to us (was) how difficult it is to keep a distance of 1.5 meters (4.9 feet)," said Rothe, who said she was surprised by the attention her photo got in media outlets around the world. The cafe and confectionery shop usually has 36 tables inside and 20 outside in warmer weather, said Rothe. "But with the new hygiene and social distancing measures we only have 12 tables inside and only eight outside," she said, adding that pre-coronavirus their tables would be roughly 80 cm (31.5 inches) apart. During the shutdown the cafe remained open but was not able to serve customers inside. Now it is using less than half of its seating capacity. "We will see what to expect when Germany opens up further, more people are allowed to travel and we have more tourists coming in the next few weeks, we will take it as it comes," said Rothe. Germany lifted some coronavirus restrictions after Chancellor Merkel said the country was out of phase one of the pandemic. However, Merkel warned that Germany risks a new spike in infections if people stop adhering to physical distancing measures. Germany has recorded more than 174,400 cases of coronavirus and 7,884 deaths, according to latest figures collected by Johns Hopkins University. This story was first published on CNN.com, "German cafe tells customers to wear pool noodles to enforce social distancing." Vedanta Ltd on Monday said its board has approved the proposed de-listing of mining baron Anil Agarwal's flagship Indian unit from the BSE and the National Stock Exchange. "The meeting of the board of directors of the company (board) was held today (Monday)...de-listing proposal was considered... Approval was granted to the de-listing proposal, after having discussed and considered various factors," Vedanta Ltd said in a filing to the BSE. The nod was given to the company to seek shareholders' approval for the de-listing proposal by way of special resolution through postal ballot and e-voting, the filing said. "Approval was granted to the company to seek shareholders' approval for the aforesaid de-listing proposal by way of special resolution through postal ballot and e-voting, and in this regard, the draft of the postal ballot notice and the explanatory statement thereto were also approved," the filing said. Last week, Agarwal announced the intention to take his Indian listed firm Vedanta Ltd private by buying out shares held by public. "The company had received a letter...from Vedanta Resources Ltd (VRL), a member of the promoter and promoter group of the company, expressing its intention to, either individually or along with one or more subsidiaries, acquire all fully paid-up equity shares of the company (equity shares) that are held by the public shareholders...and consequently, voluntarily de-list the equity shares from the recognised stock exchanges where they are listed, namely BSE Ltd and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd," the filing said. Agarwal-controlled Vedanta Resources will offer Rs 87.5 per share to nearly 49 per cent public shareholders of Vedanta Ltd, the company had said. VRL along with the other members of the promoter group currently hold 51.06 per cent equity of the company. Public shareholders hold 169.10 crore or 48.94 per cent of shares. Also read: Lockdown 4.0 Live Updates: Delhi's Khan market, CP reopen with restrictions; India COVID-19 cases-1,01,139 Also read: Moderna shares spike 39% after COVID-19 vaccine shows positive results in early trial Representative image Jaslene Bawa The COVID-19 pandemic is prompting a number of prospective students to review their plan to join foreign universities in the new academic year 2020-21. Many foreign universities have cancelled on-campus visits and in some cases admissions until further notice. They have transcended to offering virtual tours for admissions. However, personal visits to the campus remain cancelled until further notice. A few of the universities are accepting admissions online. But when can a student physically join the campus remains a big question mark in the minds of prospective candidates. Parents are concerned about their wards health, safety and future. What if the pandemic becomes severe again? Will my child be sent home? What if my child cant travel due to travel restrictions imposed in a country? How will he/she manage in such a dire situation?-- These are a few questions in the mind of every parent who had plans to send their ward to a foreign university after their twelfth standard. However, one need not despair. India has many options of liberal arts colleges that offer a unique bouquet of courses and have a well-endowed infrastructure. It might be a good idea to explore Indian universities as the cost involved is one-fifth or lesser of the foreign universities. In addition to the cost savings, a high faculty-to-student ratio, top academic scholars, diverse student body, world-class infrastructure and global student exchange tie-ups with esteemed universities abroad will give your ward an opportunity to experience world-class learning with the comfort of safety. The cost of overseas education is a critical factor here. With the lockdown extended until May 31, 2020, global economic growth forecasts are dire. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced the projected Real GDP growth to 1.9 percent from the 5.8 percent projected in January 2020 (Source: IMF). The unemployment rate in India as of April 2020 has reached 23.52 percent (Source: CMIE). Rising layoffs, fewer employment opportunities in the offing, salary cuts announced at various companies, saving rates dropping, banks reluctant to lend with non-food credit growth at abysmally low single digits of 6.6 percent as on April 24, 2020, from April 26, 2019, (Source: RBI Weekly bulletin), and uncertainties regarding future prospects make education outside India a very difficult proposition. It may be a good idea to explore world-class options in India. Higher rupee outflow Studying abroad has been a rising trend over the past few years. It has not only led to a higher rupee outflow through outward remittances but also a brain drain for our country. Of the total outward remittances worth $13.8 billion in 2018-19 under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), education (tuition fees) remittances formed 25.9 percent of the outflow. This percentage increased for the period April 2019 to February 2020 to 26.9 percent of the total remittances worth $17.4 billion. A glance at the monthly outward remittances for studying abroad indicates that March 2018 had remittances worth $134.1 million which has increased to $496.87 million in February 2020, a 270.5 percent increase over the past 24 months. Remittances for education abroad as a percentage of total outward remittances have been on the rise from 12 percent in March 2018 to 29 percent in February 2020. With the rupee depreciating at 4-5 percent on average every year against the US dollar and uncertainty in the global and local economy, it might be a good option to review the decision to study abroad and consider studying in India. Jaslene Bawa is faculty of finance, FLAME University. A determined to get fit Boris Johnson has today been spotted back in his trusty navy blue Bermuda shorts as he went on his first run since his touch-and-go battle with coronavirus. The Prime Minister, who reportedly blames being overweight on his need for intensive care last month, is seen in pictures wearing a blue top, his Bermuda shorts and a fitness watch as he returns to Downing Street after his morning exercise. It comes after the Conservative leader, 55, taken to hospital after contacting Covid-19 in April. Boris Johnson has today been spotted wearing exercise gear just days after he reportedly blamed his weight for his intensive care battle with coronavirus The Prime Minister is seen wearing a blue top, navy blue Bermuda shorts and a fitness watch as he was seen returning to Downing Street after his morning exercise Mr Johnson was taken to St Thomas' Hospital in London in April, 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus, and was moved into intensive care to following day. He left hospital after a week of care, before later thanking NHS staff who he said 'saved my life, no question'. But reports this week suggest the Prime Minister had now pointed the finger of blame for his touch-and-go battle with coronavirus on being overweight. Boris Johnson was taken to St Thomas' Hospital in London in April, 10 days after testing positive for coronavirus. Pictured: Mr Johnson gave an address to the nation while ill with Covid-19 According to The Times, Mr Johnson told some of his colleagues 'it's all right for you thinnies' as he discussed the danger being overweight presents for Covid patients. His own weight was 17-and-a-half stone before he went into hospital, putting his BMI at 36 when his 5ft9in height is taken into account and placing him over the BMI of 30 that means a person is obese. Research shows being obese doubles the risk of needing hospital treatment for coronavirus. This, sparked with his own personal battle, is reported to have made the Prime Minister determined to use the coronavirus pandemic to get people to be healthier and is said to be 'obsessed' with getting people to cycle to work. Mr Johnson himself has regularly been pictured exercising throughout his career. He was often pictured jogging, including in his blue Bermuda shorts, during his time as Foreign Secretary and cycling through London during his time as the capital's mayor. But his swing toward interventionism in his politics follows a long-standing opposition to 'nanny state' measures and scepticism about the sugar tax, which he pledged to review, among other 'sin taxes'. It put him at odds with Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who firmly believes that the sugar tax - brought in back in April 2018 - has been a 'total triumph'. Boris Johnson has regularly been pictured taking exercise, including in his blue Bermuda shorts. Here he is pictured in 2017 going for a jog during the 2017 Conservative Party conference in Manchester A major study in Glasgow last week found obesity may double the risk of needing hospitalisation for COVID-19. And Oxford University research has found those who are morbidly obese are three times as likely to die of coronavirus. The news came after official figures revealed one-in-four UK coronavirus fatalities had diabetes a condition often linked to obesity. For the first time, NHS England published a breakdown of deaths by pre-existing conditions. Only five per cent of victims didn't have an underlying issue. Of the 22,332 patients who died since March 31, when pre-existing conditions began to be reported, some 5,873 (26 per cent) of patients had diabetes. The condition - affecting around four million Britons - makes people more susceptible to developing infections. High blood sugar levels can weaken the patient's immune system defence, making it slower to respond to viruses such as coronavirus. It's also closely connected with obesity, which has been recognised as potential risk factors for suffering severe COVID-19 complications. Doctors said diabetics would have better COVID-19 outcomes if they managed their condition properly. The Government's official death tally shows that 33,614 people have died of COVID-19 in the UK, including 24,100 in hospitals in England. Diabetes is a common condition affecting an estimated one in 16 people in the UK. That includes both diagnosed and undiagnosed people. A major study in Glasgow last week found obesity may double the risk of needing hospitalisation for COVID-19 Dr Hajira Dambha-Miller, a GP and specialist in diabetes, said she was not surprised by the data. She told MailOnline: 'People with diabetes are more susceptible to infections, even if we are not in the middle of a pandemic. 'Diabetes leads to greater susceptibility to infection because there is more sugar for bugs to grow on and chronic inflammation means the immune system is slower to clear it.' Dr Dambha-Miller said when someone has diabetes, their blood becomes 'like treacle' as a result of high sugar levels. 'Physically, it's harder for the immune system to get to the virus,' she said. 'The virus bugs do a lot of damage before the immune system even realises it's there. 'When the body does kick in, it won't work as it should do. The immune cells are damaged because they've been saturated in sugar for years and don't work the way they should.' Meanwhile as the Government promised to ease the UK lockdown, the Prime Minister is also said to be keen on focusing on moving into a recovery phase for the UK and delivering manifesto promises. He highlighted pledges such as introducing 20,000 more police officers and building 40 hospitals. 'He was optimistic and focused on the future, on getting back to the levelling up agenda,' a source told The Times. Three decades of NFCR basic and translational research funding to primary investigator Dr. Yung-Chi Cheng advances new systems biology paradigm for cancer treatment; world-first phase ii multi-regional clinical trial for botanical cancer drug candidate ROCKVILLE, MD - The first patients have been dosed in a multi-regional Phase IIB randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial for the treatment of hepatitis B-associated liver cancer. Being tested in the first line setting is a first-in-class botanical drug candidate, YIV-906 (also known as PHY906 and KD018), whose development has been supported by the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) for two decades. Patients began enrolling in the United States and Taiwan, with Hong Kong and Mainland China to follow. If, following these and future Phase III trials, the drug is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it would be the country's first authorization for usage of a purely botanical cancer drug and usher in a new paradigm for drug discovery. YIV-906 is an immune-enhancing and cytoprotective cancer therapeutic candidate which received orphan drug designation by the FDA in 2018 and that in preclinical studies has demonstrated: enhancement of both the innate and adaptive immune system in the tumor microenvironment--via polarizing M1 macrophanges and activating T-cells--when in combination with immunotherapy, chemotherapy and radiation therapies; protection of the gastrointestinal tract by reducing inflammation--via IL-6, NF-kappa-B, COX2, and iNOS pathways; and sped-up tissue regeneration by promoting progenitor and stem cell growth--via the WNT signaling pathway. It is now being clinically tested in combination with sorafenib, which when administered as a monotherapy is often effective but causes dose-limiting side effects that result in one in three patients at least temporarily choosing to discontinue use. In early-stage Phase I/II trials in liver, pancreatic and colorectal cancers, YIV-906 has demonstrated safety and promising efficacy, with the potential to improve survival and quality of life for patients. The developer of YIV-906, Yung-Chi Cheng, Ph.D., Henry Bronson Professor of Pharmacology at Yale University, has been an NFCR-funded researcher since 1991. He has discovered or developed four approved small molecule drugs for the treatment of hepatitis B, cytomegalovirus and AIDS. Dr. Cheng is a pioneer in pharmacology who is applying a systems biology approach to botanical medicines that address complex aging-associated diseases. He and his laboratory are employing rigorous modern human drug validation principles and bioinformatics to learn from traditional medicines, and mechanism-based quality control to manufacture consistent complex mixtures. Over the past two decades and with NFCR support, Dr. Cheng has transitioned his focus from small molecule to botanical drug discovery. By mining human experience of botanical medicines--including traditional Chinese medicines (TCM)--using modern technology and techniques, he has developed the STAR (Signal Transduction, Action and Response) Discovery platform. Among Dr. Cheng's most intensively reviewed and extensively published research has been that on YIV-906, the proprietary formulation of four herbs which he has been studying since 1999 that is now under clinical review. The FDA created a new regulatory pathway for botanical drugs in 2004 and updated its Botanical Drug Guidance in 2016, creating new opportunities for botanical therapeutics--provided they demonstrate efficacy, safety and consistent batch-to-batch manufacturing. Dr. Cheng and Yale University co-founded the company Yiviva to carry out human studies on YIV-906 and other herbal medicine formulas for multiple cancer indications. It will be recruiting hepatitis B-associated liver cancer patients for twenty clinical sites, include Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, National Cancer Center of China, Taipei Medical University and Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong. Over the past 29 years, NFCR has provided more than $1.8 million in basic cancer research funding to Dr. Cheng's lab at Yale University. The organization has also provided an additional $200,000 in translational cancer research funding to help develop the lab's proprietary botanical drug quality control and monitoring platform for complex mixtures. "We are excited about the start of multi-country Phase II clinical trials for YIV-906 and optimistic about its potential to improve the lives of cancer patients, as well as its vanguard role in possibly ushering in a new era of treatment--a convergence of Western and Eastern medicines" said NFCR President and CEO Sujuan Ba, Ph.D. "The National Foundation for Cancer Research has long differentiated itself from other organizations through our longstanding commitment to scientists and the flexibility we allow these innovators to explore truly untrodden ground," Dr. Ba continued. "We are very proud of standing firmly with Dr. Cheng in his decades-long quest to apply what he has termed 'WE--Western and Eastern--medicine' to cancer therapeutics." "The National Foundation for Cancer Research has provided invaluable support to my research for several decades," stated Dr. Cheng. "I also know that NFCR shares my hope that the fruits of my lab's efforts can be demonstrated through a new paradigm to prevent, treat and cure cancer and other complex aging-associated diseases." ### About the National Foundation for Cancer Research The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides scientists in the lab the funding they need to make and apply game-changing discoveries in cancer treatments, detection, prevention and, ultimately, a cure. NFCR has distinguished itself by emphasizing long-term, transformative research often overlooked by other major funding sources and/or deemed too risky. Since its establishment in 1973, NFCR has provided more than $380 million for cancer research and public education. For more information, visit http://www.nfcr.org. At a time when migrants are facing trouble reaching the pick-up points and boarding the special trains being run to their home states, the municipal corporation (MC) has set up a call centre to make calls to the migrants, whose names are cleared by the district administration for travelling in trains. The centre is also apprising labourers of the pick-up points from where buses would ferry them to the railway station to avoid confusion. The centre has been set up at the meeting hall of MC headquarters (Zone A) office near Mata Rani Chowk. MC commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar said a team of 70 officials had been deputed at the call centre. She said, The labourers register themselves on the government portal, www.covidhelp.punjab.gov.in, for moving back to their home states. Once the registration is made and migrants are selected, then calls are made to the shortlisted passengers. She said the centre was also informing the administration about the actual number of people willing to travel to their home states. As industrial activity has commenced in the city, several migrants, who had registered themselves to go back home, have dropped the idea and returned to their jobs, said Brar. Brar said 10 special trains for labourers departed from Ludhiana for different destinations on Tuesday, and the number of trains will increase to 12 from Wednesday onwards. Each train ferries around 1,200 passengers. She said the Punjab government was paying for travel, food, water and pick-up service from designated points. The medical screening of all passengers was being done and a medical certificate was being issued to the labourers before they catch the trains, she added. US Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House on April 13, 2020, in Washington, DC. Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday he is not taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive treatment for the coronavirus. "My physician hasn't recommended that, but I wouldn't hesitate to take the counsel of my doctor. Any American should do likewise," Pence said when asked by Fox News about whether he was doing so. The interview came a day after President Donald Trump said he has been taking a daily dose of the anti-malaria drug for the past week. Trump has called the drug a "game changer," but no drug has been proven effective in treating the coronavirus or preventing transmission of the disease. Trump said Monday he was taking hydroxychloroquine, as well as zinc and an "original dose" of antibiotic azithromycin, known as Z-Pak, after asking the White House physician about the drugs. "I asked him, 'What do you think?' He said, 'Well, if you'd like it.' I said, 'Yeah, I'd like it. I'd like to take it,'" Trump told reporters at the White House. After a lunch with GOP senators on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Trump said that deciding whether to take hydroxychloroquine is a personal decision, but that he believes it provides an additional level of safety. The Food and Drug Administration has warned that hydroxychloroquine can cause "serious heart rhythm problems" in patients with the virus who were treated with it, often in combination with azithromycin. Following Trump's remarks, however, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement Tuesday that "The decision to take any drug is ultimately a decision between a patient and their doctor. Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are already FDA-approved for treating malaria, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis." During a Cabinet meeting later Tuesday afternoon, Trump pushed back when asked about the FDA's warning. Trump claimed there "was a false study done where they gave [hydroxychloroquine] to very sick people ... people ready to die. It was given by obviously not friends of the administration." Pence noted Tuesday that hydroxychloroquine has been approved for "off-label" use by the FDA, "where physicians could prescribe hydroxychloroquine in terms they deemed appropriate." Still, Pence said "I'm not" taking the drug. "But I would never begrudge any American taking the advice of their physician." The White House has not been sealed off from the disease: Earlier this month, Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for Covid-19. Her diagnosis came a day after one of Trump's personal valets tested positive. A senior official told NBC News at the time that Pence would distance himself from other people for a few days. Chinese Aluminum Giant Causing Worries About Market Invasion In order to prevent Chinese aluminum producers from invading the Korean market, the Korean aluminum industry began jointly resisting a Chinese aluminum giant from entering the market in South Jeolla Provinces Gwangyang Bay Area since 2018. In November 2018, Henan Mingtai Aluminum, a Chinese aluminum sheet manufacturer, signed an investment contract with the Gwangyang Bay Area Free Economic Zone Authority. It plans to invest $40 billion won ($32.8 million USD) to produce aluminum products. The groundbreaking ceremony was held in December 2018 to kick off the construction of the plant, but the project was opposed by the Korean aluminum industry. Mingtai Aluminum is the second-most prolific producer of rolled aluminium in China. The Korean aluminum industry believes that its annual production of rolled aluminum is equivalent to over 80% of South Koreas, which would severely undercut South Koreas domestic aluminium producers. Jiang Haoxiang, Vice Chairman of the Korea Nonferrous Metals Association, said, The production scale of Mingtai Aluminum in South Korea is 100,000 tons of plates and 20,000 tons of foil a year, which is equivalent to the production scale of two Korean companies. Thus, losses are inevitable for Koreas domestic producers. South Korean officials believe that introducing such a substantial player in the global aluminium market to South Korea will surely drive up aluminum production, with a corresponding drop in aluminum prices. The Korean industry suspects that by entering South Koreas market under unfavorable cost conditions, Chinese manufacturing companies might be using South Korea as a roundabout export base. If this is the case, there may be potential trade friction between South Korea and the United States in the future. Jiang Haoxiang said, The Trump administration has proposed higher anti-dumping duties. We have concerns that China is using South Korea as a production base to enter the US market. The industry is doubtful about the employment promotion effect of the Foreign Investment Promotion Act. Meanwhile, it is concerned that unreasonable foreign investments will cause Korean companies to close down, leading to an increased unemployment rate and possible leakage of advanced technology. Jiang Haoxiang said, Our domestic companies and Mingtai Aluminum produce many similar aluminum products. South Koreas ultra-thin technology is actually more advanced than Chinas. Thus, we are worried about whether the ultra-thin technology and other advanced technology will flow into China. The Korean industry is very worried that if large Chinese companies such as Mingtai Aluminum successfully invest in South Korea, more investments will follow, leading to more domestic companies suffering losses. The Overton window is the range of policies politically acceptable to the mainstream population at a given time. Inside of this Overton window, we see the constant battle back and forth between the Democratic and Republican political parties in the U.S. Regardless of what the scientific community has reported to policymakers, the Overton window has trapped our political system in a tornado of middle-ground climate policy, leaving our greenhouse gas emissions on a steady incline. As we nosedive towards catastrophic, irreversible climate tipping points, political leadership that matches up to the scale of the crisis is nowhere to be seen. We are currently at a crossroads for the future of Montanas energy grid. While Northwestern Energy executives are wanting to double their energy portfolio in the next five years with fracking for gas in our state and investing in more coal power, science is demanding drastic changes away from consuming fossil-fuel powered energy. The ratepayers of Montana and the Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) must speak out against Northwestern Energys 2019 electricity supply resource procurement plan before it is too late. NW Energy will need the PSCs approval to fulfill their plans to frack for these four new gas plants in our beautiful state, and I am the only candidate who is taking a stance against these gas plants. The future of our states water, air quality and climate are at stake with these crucial PSC decisions. The time is now to vote for Public Service Commissioners who will take us down the correct path forward for our energy grid. Energy is a necessity for our daily lives, and the PSC is the entity that stands between us and the profit-hungry utility monopolies. The PSC should act as a protective force to guarantee that all Montanans have affordable, sustainable access to utilities for generations to come. Unfortunately, our PSC has allowed the utility monopoly, Northwestern Energy to double their profits in the past five years by increasing Montanans energy rates. Not only do we have the most expensive power in the region, our energy monopoly and PSC are taking us down a path of environmental catastrophe in our state with these near future gas plants and coal investments. I will not allow this to continue. Luckily, the technological solutions for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels are on the table and are currently being proposed to Northwestern Energy and the PSC. Instead of NorthWestern Energys proposed investments in these four fracked gas plants, they should invest in energy storage projects such as the Gordon Butte pumped storage hydro project. With two reservoirs connected by an energy-harvesting tunnel, the massive water battery, known as the Gordon Butte, can release water at any moment to generate 400MW of stored energy on to our energy grid. This is the same energy capacity as two of the proposed natural gas plants, but it does not release any greenhouse gas emissions during power generation. As ratepayers, we must demand that NorthWestern Energy doesnt invest in these fracked gas plants. We must not allow the Overton window to bring us down a path of political compliance, which ends with more Democratic and Republican commissioners approving Northwestern Energys fossil-fuel projects. I am running for the PSC to ensure justice for the underrepresented voices, those struggling to pay their bills, and the people who are currently being affected by the climate crisis. I am driven by my love for our beautiful state and the passion to achieve social justice for all people. As your Public Service Commissioner, I will fight hard for Montana utility ratepayers every day. Daniel Carlino of Missoula is a Democrat running to represent District 4 on the Montana Public Service Commission. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 14:21:59|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ISTANBUL, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has played a significant role in boosting financial cooperation between China and Turkey during the last five years, head of Turkey's sovereign wealth fund said Monday. China and ICBC Turkey are crucial to financing several sectors in Turkey, namely the infrastructure sector, the energy industry and project finance, said Zafer Sonmez, managing director of the Turkey Wealth Fund (TWF), a business partner of the Chinese company. Since it launched operation in May 2015, the bank has financed several major projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, supporting Turkey's economic, industrial, and social development. Noting that the partnership with ICBC carries meaning beyond a usual banking relationship, Sonmez said China and Turkey can further improve their relations, and Turkey can be an effective and lucrative hub in the region for Chinese companies seeking to diversify their production base. "Chinese companies and banks can team up with Turkey to cater to the potential for this region, and we can invest together, acquire together, we can do business together, and trade together," he said. ICBC Turkey was named the "Best Commercial Bank of the Year Turkey" and the "Best Investment Bank of the Year Turkey" by the International Banker magazine in 2019. It was the only winner of the International Banker annual awards in the Turkish banking sector based on nominations from its readers. The TWF was established in 2016 to improve and increase economic stability in Turkey. It currently holds shares of several major Turkish companies, including Turkey's flag carrier Turkish Airlines and telecommunications giant Turk Telekom. Enditem Amid the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, IndiGo said on Tuesday its aircraft will provide crucial data on wind, humidity and temperature during all flight operations to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to help it make accurate weather predictions. "The data, which is imperative for accurate predictions of weather, has been unavailable to the IMD since a majority of flights are out of operation due to the nationwide lockdown, coupled with staff constraints," the budget carrier said in a press release. IndiGo said it has incorporated a plan for its pilots to report high level wind and temperatures at different stages of a flight as desired by the IMD across all flight operations. "The pilot reports will capture and share observations at cruising altitude midway of the destination, at cruising altitude just before start of descent, near 10,000 feet, near 5,000 feet....to support the Wx (weather) forecast model," the airline said. India has been under lockdown since March 25 to curb the spread of coronavirus. All scheduled commercial flight operations have been suspended for this period. However, cargo flights, medical evacuation flights and special flights permitted by the aviation regulator DGCA are allowed to operate. Ashim Mittra, Senior Vice President, Flight Operations, IndiGo, said, "We have made pilot reporting compulsory on our flight operations. We will share observations from every flight within 2 hours to the IMD headquarters, so that they can use this data for the benefit of the nation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the New World Order, a world government is just the beginning. Once in place they can engage their plan to exterminate 80% of the world's population, while enabling the "elites" to live forever with the aid of advanced technology. For the first time, crusading filmmaker ALEX JONES reveals their secret plan for humanity's extermination: Operation ENDGAME. Jones chronicles the history of the global elite's bloody rise to power and reveals how they have funded dictators and financed the bloodiest warscreating order out of chaos to pave the way for the first true world empire. Watch as Jones and his team track the elusive Bilderberg Group to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. to Ottawa and Istanbul to document their secret summits, allowing you to witness global kingpins setting the world's agenda and instigating World War III. Learn about the formation of the North America transportation control grid, which will end U.S. sovereignty forever. Discover how the practitioners of the pseudo-science eugenics have taken control of governments worldwide as a means to carry out depopulation. View the progress of the coming collapse of the United States and the formation of the North American Union. Never before has a documentary assembled all the pieces of the globalists' dark agenda. Endgame's compelling look at past atrocities committed by those attempting to steer the future delivers information that the controlling media has meticulously censored for over 60 years. It fully reveals the elite's program to dominate the earth and carry out the wicked plan in all of human history. Endgame is not conspiracy theory, it is documented fact in the elite's own words. Representative image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Cost-cutting measures such as terminations and pay cuts by few IT firms have not gone down well with the IT employees, resulting in intervention of Labour Commission. According to executives, government interference is uncalled for when they are not illegal. However, few agree companies should not resort to short-term measures and be more empathetic, especially when they are cash-rich. IT firms have high cash reserves. Net cash holdings of TCS, Infosys and Wipro are $5.9 billion, $3.6 billion and $3.53 billion respectively. Employees have expressed that at this juncture, companies that can should protect employees. What happened? COVID-19 Vaccine Frequently Asked Questions View more How does a vaccine work? A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine. How many types of vaccines are there? There are broadly four types of vaccine one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine. What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind? Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time. View more Show In the last few weeks, Labour Commission sent notices to IT firms such as Tech Mahindra, Wipro and Capgemini for cutting down salaries, furloughs and benching employees. Firms such as Cognizant and Infosys deferred on-boarding of lateral hires due to the virus outbreak. Smaller IT/BPO firms such as Fareportal laid off more than 300 employees. Employees, through IT unions such as National IT Employees Senate, filed complaints to Labour Commission. The Commission then sent notices to these companies asking for clarification in the last few weeks. According to industry watchers, layoffs are inevitable as business volumes come down and uncertainty around when the economy would recover. Pallav Nadhani, who recently exited FushionCharts, a data visusalisation solutions company he founded in 2003, said: "As long as the company is not doing anything illegally, government should not interfere. I don't think government has any business interfering with business decisions. According to him if 20 percent of the people who they cant let go due to government interference is affecting the other 80 percent, one cannot run the company. It is like you are being penny wise and pound foolish," he added. However, companies should be empathetic and help employees as much as they can, Nadhani added. Nadhani pointed out that it could be offering assistance is outplacement activities to help them get placed in another company. Firms can pay six months of salary so that they can take care of their financial liabilities. "This is relevant and this should be done," he added. Take long-term view Anjali Raghuvanshi, Chief People Officer, Randstad India, said companies should not take short-term measures and instead focus on long term view especially when they are can. "For, once the crisis is over you need the employees back and how you treat them now will be important," she said. IT firms are people intensive and branding is important to attract good talent. That is why, according to Raghuvanshi, firms can first focus on cost-cutting measures that does not affect employees such as travel and other administrative. "They should never be the first focus," she added. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak DALLAS, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Renovo Financial , one of Chicagos largest real estate investment private equity lenders, today announced that it is has expanded to Texas and opened an office in Dallas. To head up the office, Jon Shipley has joined the firm as Managing Director for Renovo Financials Texas operation. Shipley joins Renovo Financial with more than a decade of experience in real estate finance, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of a regional private lender in Texas. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Jon lives in Dallas with his wife and two sons. Jons wealth of knowledge and experience in real estate finance and markets in Texas, makes him the ideal executive to lead our new operation there, said Kevin Werner, CEO of Renovo. Our philosophy has always centered around local market knowledge to allow our clients to capture opportunity where national platforms are unable to see the potential -- and Jon and his team now bring their Texas expertise to Renovo Financial. Among other local partnerships, Renovo has a partnered with Cadence Bank to provide capital for local real estate investments. We've known Renovo for five years and are excited to have them in our backyard to provide financing for real estate opportunities in Texas, said Rachel Heath, VP of Commercial and Industrial Lending for Cadence Bank. Werner added, In times like these, its difficult to find a lender willing to close loans, let alone expand into new marketsand we are doing both. Our commitment is to continue to provide service, support and capital to our clients in Chicago and now in Texas, which we have identified as a fast-growing real estate market. About Renovo Financial Founded in 2011, Renovo Financial is a fast-growing Chicago-based private lender for real estate entrepreneurs who rehab or build investment properties. Renovo uses local market expertise, real-world underwriting, and a service-driven approach to create a financing relationship that delivers more than simply working capital. It was cofounded by Granite Creek Capital Partners, and has become one of the largest regional private lenders serving real estate entrepreneurs. Renovo Financial was recently recognized by CRAINs CHICAGO BUSINESS as a FAST 50 company, a list of the fastest growing companies in Chicago. For more media information, contact: Lisa Hendrickson, LCH Communications for Renovo Financial Last weeks contentious City Council vote on a proposed Right to Cure ordinance not only pleased local landlords. It also offered a signal of where the boundary lines are for this council when it comes to addressing social issues during the COVID-19 crisis. The proposed ordinance, introduced by Councilman Roberto Trevino, would have required landlords to give tenants 60 days notice to any proposed evictions, to give those tenants a chance to cure any rent delinquencies. (An amendment introduced last Thursday reduced that grace period to 30 days.) Even with the support of Mayor Ron Nirenberg, however, the proposal fell short by a 6-5 vote. The Right to Cure vote was a primary topic of conversation on this weeks episode of the Express-News Puro Politics podcast. City Hall reporter Joshua Fechter said the overriding concern among council opponents of the measure was that the city, which faced a lawsuit over its 2018 paid sick leave ordinance, would be inviting another round of litigation with Trevinos proposal. On ExpressNews.com: Proposal to give more protections to San Antonio renters shot down Given that the city already is dealing with an estimated $200 million budget shortfall brought on by the coronavirus, a majority of the council was unwilling to take that risk. Fechter said some council members also felt reluctant to place more financial burden on landlords, who may have already had to forgo a couple of months rent during the COVID-19 outbreak. Now youre starting to see people hit that barrier, of how far council is willing to go in terms of installing these sort of COVID-related recovery protections, he added. Youre starting to see where the boundaries are on this debate. In addition to being its own little bubble of controversy, this can offer you some kind of a preview. Hear this and other subjects discussed on this weeks episode of the Puro Politics podcast. 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 It's become clear that coronavirus attacks the heart as well as the lungs, and one of its harmful effects on a cardiac chamber may predict who dies of the infection, a new study suggests. Researchers at Mt Sinai University Icahn School of Medicine in New York followed the conditions of 110 hospitalized coronavirus patients and their prior medical records. Nearly 62 percent of patients with enlarged right ventricles - a chamber of the heart that pumps oxygen-poor blood to the lungs - died, according to an article that's been accepted to a journal, but not yet published. It comes as the US coronavirus death toll tops 90,000 and doctors continue to search for clues as to why some patients suffer only minor symptoms and others die of the infection. Of the 21 patients who died, 41% had enlarged right heart ventricles visible on EKGs (pictured), compared to 11% of patients who died and did not have the heart change, Mt Sinai researchers found in a study of 110 people hospitalized with coronavirus Of the 110 patients that the Mt Sinai researchers recruited to their study, 21 ultimately died. Early data out of China suggested that 19 percent of coronavirus patients had heart issues, and it's a trend doctors across the US have since noted too. So often is the case, that many US doctors are putting coronavirus patients on blood thinners as a matter of course, because many have developed potentially deadly clots. Doctors closely monitor coronavirus patients for signs that their hearts may be under attack from the coronavirus. All 110 patients in Mt Sina's study - which has been accepted to the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, but not yet published - had indicators that suggested their hearts could be struggling and were given echocardiograms (EKGs) to assess their cardiac function. Thirty percent of the patients given EKGs were already in critical condition, on ventilators to help them breathe. EKGs revealed that 31 percent of the patients had 'right ventricular dilation,' meaning the lower right chamber of each heart was larger than normal. Enlarged right ventricles are not typically a sign of heart disease itself. Instead, they usually signal that another condition is stressing the heart. The patients with enlarged right ventricles were no more likely to have other health conditions, out-of-control inflammation or be on blood thinners than were other patients. What's more, the researchers did not find higher rates of enlarged left ventricles. It's not clear exactly why right ventricle, specifically, seemed to suffer more distress. The research team suspects that multiple factors contribute to the development of the enlarged right chamber, including: low oxygen levels that trigger a tightening of blood vessels, direct damage from the virus, damage from inflammatory immune cells called cytokines and blood clots. Scientists believe that coronavirus fights its way into human cells by binding to a receptor called ACE2, which is found most prevalently in the lungs, but is also on the surface of blood vessel cells. Other studies have suggested that the virus's attacks on the blood vessels can lead to all of the conditions that, in turn, the Mt Sinai researcher think contribute to enlargement of the right ventricle. Forty-one percent of the patients with enlarged right ventricles died of coronavirus, compared to just 11 percent of those whose right ventricles looked normal on the EKG. EKGs are easy to perform bedside, meaning infected patients don't have to be transported out of their rooms, potentially exposing other patients and more hospital staff, and the new study suggests that performing the imaging exam might help doctors predict when someone with coronavirus is about to take a turn for the worse. The 9th session of the 14th National Assembly (NA) will open in Hanoi on May 20, according to deputy head of the NA Office Nguyen Manh Hung. At the press conference Addressing a press conference on May 18, Hung said the 19-day session will be conducted in two phases. The first will be online meetings from May 20 to 29 with the participation of NA deputies nationwide. Lawmakers will gather in person for the second phase, from June 8 to 18. The NA is scheduled to pass ten draft laws and five draft resolutions and give opinions on six bills at the session. The legislature will also consider and decide upon important socio-economic and budgetary issues, including reports on COVID-19 prevention efforts, the impact of the pandemic on national socio-economic development, and solutions to deal with the disease and promote socio-economic development. NA deputies will also review the State budget statement in 2018, discuss increases to charter capital at the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) from State budget, and review the implementation of NA Resolution No. 88/2014/QH13 on reforming the curricula and textbooks for general education. They will consider and approve resolutions on the National Target Programme on Socio-economic Development in Mountainous and Ethnic Minority Areas in the 2021-2030 Period; the exemption of agricultural land use taxes; the piloting of an urban government model in Da Nang; and a number of specific finance-budget mechanisms and policies for Hanoi. A report on the conversion of investment modes for some sections of the North-South Expressway will be tabled for consideration. Regarding supervision, the NA will conduct a thematic supervision of the implementation of policies and laws on the prevention and fight against child abuse and vote to adopt a resolution on this issue and another one on the NAs supervision programme in 2021. The NA will also set up a national election council; consider and decide on personnel tasks; and consider and approve resolutions on other important issues, including those related to the adoption of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). According to Hung, the NA will not have a Q&A session at this plenary session. The right to question NA deputies can still be exercised by sending documents to ministers and members of the Government./.VNA I was hard at work Monday, lobbying my haircutter for a Wednesday appointment instead of the second-rate Thursday time slot he gave me, when Gov. Ned Lamont issued his latest edict. No haircuts until June 1. I can live with that, as thousands of people die every day around the world. Never mind that they made fun of my Larry Fine look on WTNH-TVs Capitol Gang on Sunday. We can all live with another 10 days of waiting, just as we can sacrifice even more for the greater public health. Still, Mondays delay, just 35 hours before the May 20 Grand Reopening, highlights the chaos behind the curtain, and calls to mind issues large and small. Reopening an economy, we now know, is harder than closing one down. What we want is decisive action and clear communication. Weve seen a lot of that, but also enough missteps to raise a few eyebrows. Why, for example, did the governor hire the blue-chip Boston Consulting Group for $2 million sometime in April, with no announcement, and disband an all-star reopening task force as of this week? Yes, the consultants will help coordinate the seven Northeast states, and yes, the feds will pay their platinum fees, but Mondays hair delay caused partly by the need to coordinate with Massachusetts and Rhode Island reveals a less-than-smooth multi-state operation. And why are the managers of office buildings still claiming they need more guidance on cleaning, elevator issues, bathroom protocols and other details? Lamont has long made the point that its up to residents and businesses to use common sense, and hes right. But in a legally established opening where some numbskulls are bound to file lawsuits, precision does matter. And why is Lamont letting the all-star task force get out of Dodge without a plan for Phase 2, Phase 3 and Phase 4? Were seeing an orderly, if slow, decline in the coronavirus threat, which should mean we can plan further ahead. To a point, the governor cant win under these standards. If he makes specific plans ahead of time, then has to change them, well skewer him for indecision. If he holds off, well slam him for giving us too little time to plan. And thats even assuming the decisions he makes satisfy all sides, which, of course, aint happening. And Lamont is hardly the only public official in the vice. On Saturday, I was on a call with a handful of reporters hearing from the health minister of New Zealand and the governor of Kentucky, among others in the news. What were seeing in Kentucky is that there are about a third of people who think were moving too fast and a third of people who think were moving too slow, Andy Beshear, the governor of that state, told us. This is a challenge that transcends our divisions, that transcends our politics. ... I hope that coming out of this, we can stay a little more unified. Sounds like Lamont, huh? Beshear has it harder in a way because hes had only a few hundred deaths in a red state, and yet hes had to close down the economy. And Lamont has it harder because Connecticut is a more privileged state that expects Swiss watch precision. Lamonts change of mind Monday followed a reversal one week earlier, when he nixed his no-blow-dryer-in-salons rule after African American salon owners cried foul, saying blow drying is baked into their business. Again on Monday, he said he had listened to both sides and made a rational decision. But the question is, could he have listened sooner and decided more decisively? Todays announcement has completely shaken the publics trust. Governor Lamont has repeatedly talked about the importance of making decisions based on science. But today's last-minute delay is not based on science, said Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven. It's a policy decision based on input that should have been sought long before decisions were made. Its unclear how completely were were shaken, by a governor whose favorability ratings are high. Still, Fasano has a point and theres no substitute for early decisiveness when people are claiming theyre harmed. Take all those barbers and salon owners who busted their butts over the last two weeks to make Wednesday the best post-coronavirus reopening ever. Kidding aside, they have no income and many received neither the federal small-business stimulus nor unemployment checks. Lamonts change of mind followed the best medical advice federal bailout money can buy. He had declared in late April and early May that if we see 14 days of declining hospitalizations, a lower percentage of COVID-19 tests coming up positive, a ready supply of masks and other PPE and an army of contact tracers, wed be good to go. He set the date and he took the heat from angry horn-honkers looking for a faster opening, and from upset protesters some from fellow Democrats in the state Senate who said slow down. He made sure we had all the benchmarks in place. In fact, on Monday he went over each one and then some, pointing to success with each one. And yet, he pushed back the hair salon and barbershop date he had carefully chosen. I was on the phone with a few hundred stylists just five or six days ago, Lamont said. We said Well give you a little bit more time. Sen Alex Kasser, D-Greenwich, was among those pushing for more time, as her district, loaded with upscale salons, borders still-shuttered New York. She co-authored one letter from senators last week, and signed another, pushing for data, information, precision and in some cases, more time before opening. When these criteria were first announced in early May, they were very vague. Starting from that day forward we began to ask questions saying What were the metrics? Kasser said Monday pleased with the hair delay but still pushing for information. It has to be entirely data-driven and clear. The moral of the story is, hair matters. When mine flares out, my mood drops. Ill take responsibility for that, but on Monday, Lamont gave all of us a reason to look askance at the whole reopening program. dhaar@hearstmediact.com To negotiate a lower car insurance premium with their providers, drivers should use the right strategy and be prepared with the right information, said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. Compare-autoinsurance.org has launched a new blog post that presents several important tips that will help drivers negotiate lower car insurance premiums. For more info and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.org/can-you-negotiate-for-lower-car-insurance-rates/. Negotiating a lower car insurance premium from the insurer is similar to negotiating a lower rate with any other service provider. The policyholders have to call the company, politely explain the situation, and see if they can offer a better rate. Policyholders who have been with the same provider for many years and have multiple home and auto insurance policies with the company are in a better position to negotiate a lower rate than someone who bought an insurance policy last week. To increase the chances of getting a better deal from the insurer, drivers should follow the next tips: Be polite but firm. Calling a car insurance company to demand lower premiums might not be a great idea. Most specialists recommend a polite, but firm approach. Be persistent. Most provider representatives will initially deny any requests to lower the premiums. Policyholders should be persistent with their requests. It also helps if they explain to the representatives that they have been a customer to the company for many years and they have many policies at them. Research scripts online. Drivers can find various scripts online explaining how to negotiate lower car insurance premiums. These scripts explain what drivers should say to have higher chances of getting a discount and how they should respond if the insurer denies their request. Search for comparable car insurance policies. Sometimes, drivers are not entitled to a discount because they are already paying a competitive premium for insurance. Drivers should check if they can find comparable insurance plans at cheaper premiums. If they cant find one, then their chances of getting a lower premium are very small. Ask about discounts. Insurance companies offer many different discounts. Policyholders should ask about bundling discounts, safety equipment discounts, defensive driving discounts, good student discounts, and more. Ask about changing the policy. Policyholders can get lower premiums by simply dropping unnecessary coverage. For example, drivers who have a AAA membership can drop their roadside assistance. Shop around. There are many brokerage websites that allow users to easily compare car insurance premiums between providers. Drivers should compare several online quotes and check offers. If the rates being offered are significantly lower, drivers can use this information when negotiating. Prepare for rejection. Car insurance companies frequently get calls from their customers who want lower insurance premiums. Usually, the customer service agent will tell that the rates are fixed and they cant be adjusted. This is not true in most cases and the rates are negotiable. Get a higher deductible. One of the most popular methods used to get lower car insurance premiums is to raise the deductible. Drivers who have a $500 deductible can get a substantial discount by simply raising the deductible to $1,000. Hang up and call back. Sometimes, drivers can get a customer agent who is not willing to negotiate anything. In this case, policyholders should call back and try again at a different agent. For additional info, money-saving tips and free car insurance quotes, 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. CHICAGO, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Landmarks Illinois has created a new grant fund in celebration of the life and work of acclaimed civil rights leader, educator, historian, author and WWII veteran, Timuel D. Black, Jr. The Landmarks Illinois Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago's South Side will provide small grants to support planning and capital projects that work to preserve and promote the history, culture and architecture of Chicago's South Side, which Mr. Black has called home for the majority of his life. Mr. Black's family was part of the first Great Migration of African Americans from the Deep South, settling in Chicago in 1919. He has lived in the same South Side neighborhood ever since and has devoted his life to promoting African American history. Mr. Black leads tours to young people in Bronzeville and speaks to students about the importance of understanding one's own history and heritage. His recent memoir, "Sacred Ground," focuses heavily on his beloved South Side hometown, as well. "The South Side has had a profound impact on Mr. Black, and even at age 101, he remains a tireless advocate for the historic places that have distinguished its neighborhoods and shaped generations of Chicagoans," said Bonnie McDonald, Landmarks Illinois President & CEO. "Landmarks Illinois was proud to honor Mr. Black this March at our 2020 Legendary Landmarks Celebration. Our new grant fund further pays tribute to Mr. Black, a true luminary and inspiration to people young and old." Nonprofits, community organizations as well as faith-based and educational institutions are eligible to apply for funding through the Landmarks Illinois Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago's South Side. Grants will provide financial support to significant structures or sites located on Chicago's South Side that are under threat of demolition, imminent deterioration or are of such architectural importance that their preservation will benefit the public and community. Structures or sites on the South Side named to Landmarks Illinois' recent Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois are also eligible for funding. Grants through the Landmarks Illinois Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago's South Side will range from $500 - $2,500 each, depending on need, and will require a one-to-one match. Applications will be accepted four times a year on a quarterly basis. The first grant deadline is July 15, 2020. Visit www.Landmarks.org/grants to view complete grant guidelines and to submit a grant application. To learn more about Mr. Black, read his bio here. You can also watch a short, inspiring video produced for the Landmarks Illinois 2020 Legendary Landmarks Celebration, held March 5 in Chicago. About Landmarks Illinois We are People Saving Places for People. Landmarks Illinois is a membership-based nonprofit organization serving the people of Illinois. We inspire and empower stakeholders to save places that matter to them by providing free guidance, practical and financial resources and access to strategic partnerships. For more information, visit www.Landmarks.org. Media Contact: Kaitlyn McAvoy Communications Manager, Landmarks Illinois 312-922-1742 [email protected] SOURCE Landmarks Illinois Related Links http://www.landmarks.org Huawei will seek solutions to US tech restrictions From:ChinaDaily | 2020-05-18 17:27 Huawei Technologies Co said on Monday that it will do everything in its power to find a solution to the US government's latest restrictions, which will block the Chinese tech giant and its suppliers from using US technologies to design and manufacture semiconductors. The comments came after the US Department of Commerce issued the rules on Friday, which analysts said marked an escalation of Washington's push to battle with China for global technology dominance. Huawei said in a statement that it categorically opposes the amendments made by the US Department of Commerce to its foreign direct product rule that target Huawei specifically. "The US government added Huawei to the Entity List on May 16, 2019 without justification. Since that time, and despite the fact that a number of key industrial and technological elements were made unavailable to us, we have remained committed to complying with all US government rules and regulations. At the same time, we have fulfilled our contractual obligations to customers and suppliers, and have survived and forged ahead against all odds," Huawei said. According to the company, this new rule will impact the expansion, maintenance, and continuous operations of networks worth hundreds of billions of dollars that Huawei has rolled out in more than 170 countries. "It will also impact communications services for more than 3 billion people who use Huawei products and services worldwide. To attack a leading company from another country, the US government has intentionally turned its back on the interests of Huawei's customers and consumers. This goes against the US government's claim that it is motivated by network security," Huawei's statement said. This decision by the US government does not just affect Huawei. It will have a serious impact on a wide number of global industries. In the long run, this will damage trust and collaboration within the global semiconductor industry which many industries depend on, increasing conflict and loss within these industries, the company added. "The US is leveraging its own technological strengths to crush companies outside its own borders. This will only serve to undermine the trust international companies place in US technology and supply chains. Ultimately, this will harm US interests," Huawei said. "Huawei is undertaking a comprehensive examination of this new rule. We expect that our business will inevitably be affected. We will try all we can to seek a solution. We hope that our customers and suppliers will continue to stand with us and minimize the impact of this discriminatory rule," the company added. Nurse Shenetta White-Ballard knew she was particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, but she went to work anyway portable oxygen device in tow. A severe case of bronchitis followed by pneumonia had left the 44-year-old with chronic respiratory issues two years ago, so relying on oxygen to go about her daily life was a relatively new normal. Despite this risk to her health, she continued to show up to her job at Legacy Nursing and Rehabilitation of Port Allen, where the Louisiana Department of Health reports at least 15 residents have died from COVID-19. Several days after completing a particularly long shift, White-Ballard died on May 1 at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center from the disease. Legacy representatives say White-Ballard made a personal choice to continue working in an environment with COVID-19 positive patients. Released for 1st time: See full list of nursing homes in Louisiana with coronavirus The state of Louisiana on Monday released the name of all adult long-term care facilities that have reported at least one case of the new coro Mrs. White, like many healthcare professionals across the country, chose to continue serving her resident population, said Myles Holyfield, a Legacy spokesperson. She did so with honor and professionalism. Shenetta is an example of risk that healthcare workers are willing to take while caring of the most vulnerable of our citizens. Yet friends and family said she was terrified. As the member of her household with more secure financial footing, she felt a responsibility to keep working. White-Ballards experience on the front lines of the coronavirus battle highlights the plight of many essential workers these past few months: continue to work at a job that places an employee at risk of infection, or walk away and face serious financial challenges. Eddie Ballard, Shenetta White-Ballards husband of 11 years, knows all too well the struggles of being essential right now. He works at Walmart and has been given a two-week period to mourn his wifes death. Coronavirus deaths in East Baton Rouge reach 234 after weekend jump, coroner's office reports An additional 13 East Baton Rouge residents died from coronavirus over the weekend, pushing the parish total to 234 deaths. His grief has debilitated him, he said, leaving him feeling aimless and unable to think clearly. The only thing Im doing right now is trying to hide it Im holding it down inside, Ballard said. I know I have to release it, but I cant right now. I have too many things to do. Now, he has to both raise and provide for their 14-year-old son alone. For this reason, Ballard said he cant completely break down from his sadness. I wish I could, he said. Friends and family describe White-Ballard as kind and giving, with a radiant smile that remained with those she encountered. Nursing homes in Louisiana with coronavirus: Search by data by name, parish, more The Louisiana Dept. of Health has released the names of all adult nursing homes that have reported at least one case of the new coronavirus. It was her love of people that led White-Ballard to nursing. Alana Percy, her friend of more than 20 years, said the two met while working at a casino. White-Ballard was uncompromising in her goals: she wasn't going to be there forever. She was going to be a nurse. 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 White-Ballard eventually worked her way through Delta College and became a licensed practical nurse, beginning her career in assisted living facilities. "She just loved the work. She loved being a nurse," her husband said. "She wanted to keep going to work and take care of her patients. All her residents knew her." Legacy described her as "one of our most beloved employees." Coronavirus deaths in East Baton Rouge reach 234 after weekend jump, coroner's office reports An additional 13 East Baton Rouge residents died from coronavirus over the weekend, pushing the parish total to 234 deaths. Pentral Ross, a close friend of White-Ballard, said the mourning process has been difficult given all the restrictions to keep everyone safe from the virus. "I wanted to hug her husband so bad at the [funeral] service," Ross said. "It just felt so not right to not hug him, but Im trying to protect myself because I have children and a husband. You cant show the compassion that you want to show." Ross remembers her friend as strong and the "backbone" of her family unit. "She had no one to take care of her," Ross said. "She always took care of herself. No momma, no daddy. She didnt really have the support she needed." It's not clear exactly why White-Ballard continued to work at a high-risk job. New LDH data released Monday shows that of the 104 residents at Legacy, 26 have been diagnosed with the disease. Fourteen staff members have also reportedly been infected. It is not clear how many residents and staff were infected at the time of White-Ballard's death in early May. Her husband said she never told him she dealt with COVID-19 patients; had he known, he would have demanded she find a way to stay home. Friends said she didn't feel financially stable enough to walk away, but also that she loved her patients and cared for them deeply. "She had a beautiful heart," her husband said. "I want her to be known for her sacrifice." A Legacy representative said White-Ballard was aware of her options. Some employees chose not to work in the facility because of COVID-19 positive residents. Others took a short leave of absence and have since returned to work, while others have chosen to not return at all. "These choices are very personal to health care workers across the industry," Holyfield said. "We, at Legacy, support those choices, whichever direction they may lead." A coworker of White-Ballard, who did not wish to be named to protect her job, said she feels it is not a mystery why her colleague returned day after day to a place that put her in danger. "The same reason as to why she was willing to go to work is the reason a lot of people are still going to work," she said. "They dont have anyone else to do [the job]. It has to get done." The next two quarters will be challenging for the entire BFSI space as it is difficult to predict when things will normalise and the segment is very sensitive and closely linked to economic activity, Rusmik Oza, Executive Vice President, Head of Fundamental Research, Kotak Securities, tells Moneycontrol's Sunil Shankar Matkar in an interview. Edited excerpts: Q: Finally, the much-awaited bigger stimulus package has been announced. Do you think these measures are enough to support the economy? The Finance Minister has announced a plethora of liquidity-driven measures to protect MSMEs, NBFCs, farmers, small entrepreneurs and some pending reforms in sectors like agriculture. Taking into account all the measures taken by the government and the RBI till date, the total benefit and liquidity is around Rs 17.7 lakh crore (government around Rs 12.5 lakh crore and RBI around Rs 5.2 lakh crore). However, the near- term fiscal cost due to the measures announced will be only around Rs 1.4 lakh crore (0.7 percent of GDP). Many of the measures are structural in nature and will take time to reflect in the economy. The stimulus will take the fiscal deficit/GDP to 7 percent or above due to the steep fall in revenues. Bigger states and export-oriented units that contribute materially to the countrys GDP are still under the red zone. If lockdown continues for an extended period in these red zones, then it could create labour issues and have an incremental impact on GDP. Q: Do you think these measures will help the market get its mojo back soon? Investors were looking for steps that could stimulate demand instantly and help revive GDP. However, the market movement suggests there is some kind of disappointment on this front. To date, the government has announced a stimulus that accounts for around 9 percent of GDP and around 1 percent of the package is still pending. With almost 90 percent of the stimulus already announced, there is very little chance of any major surprise coming from the remaining 10 percent. The recent behaviour of investors shows that it is a 'sell-on-rise' market and all rallies are getting sold in. As earnings season is going on, we expect a sharper cut in future estimates and price targets. The near-term upside seems to be capped at 10,000 for the Nifty. Since the risk-reward ratio is not favourable at this point, it is difficult for the market to get its mojo back so soon. Q: After liquidity boosters for NBFCs, MSMEs, MFIs, etc, do you think financial space is worth buying into along with banks? The measures announced by the RBI and the government are very positive for the NBFC and MFI segment. Due to the lockdown, both supply and demand of credit is quite weak. The business of banks, NBFCs and MFIs has got heavily impacted by the lockdowns. The next two quarters will be challenging for the entire BFSI space as it is difficult to predict when things will normalise. There is still risk- aversion towards smaller NBFCs and MFIs. NBFCs having strong parentage and MFIs having small banking licences will be in a better position to ride this difficult phase. The BFSI space is very sensitive and closely linked with economic activity. Hence, the impact on earnings and a rise in NPAs will be felt in FY21E. One should wait and look to enter BFSI stocks only on declines as downside risk still exists. Q: Inflows into equity funds dropped significantly in April and there was a moderate decline in SIPs too. Do you expect any improvement from May? Equity mutual funds reported net inflows of Rs 4,400 crore in April 2020 as compared to Rs 9,600 crore per month in the previous two months. SIP inflows declined marginally by 3 percent MoM to Rs 8,400 crore in April 2020. Retail inflows will likely remain muted over the next few months due to uncertainty related to jobs and investors preferring to preserve cash. It will take time for investors to get back the confidence to start fresh investments. However, due to large QE programmes undertaken by central banks like the Fed and the ECB, we can expect FII flows to resume as and when economic activity resumes and goes closer to normalcy. Q: Analysts say every crisis creates new themes and new stocks that can create huge wealth. Have you spotted any new themes for investment in the coronavirus crisis and why? COVID-19 will bring in many changes in all spheres of life. Habits will undergo change and there will be a shift in demand patterns. Functioning through the cloud, online shopping, online streaming, change in eating habits, pre-emptive healthcare measures, emphasis on insurance, etc will gain prominence. New outsourcing opportunities could also come to Indian companies. Few sectors that come to mind, which can create wealth in the coming years are specialty chemicals, CRAMs, insurance, healthcare, gas distribution, telecom and broadband services, online streaming and e-commerce platforms. Q: Do you think the Rs 20-lakh-crore package will change earnings and economic growth estimates for FY21-FY22? It is too early to build in the changes in earnings and GDP growth due to the recent stimulus measures. Between January 2020 and now we have seen our FY21GDP estimates come down from 5.5 percent to (-)2 percent and Nifty-50 EPS come down from around Rs 765 to around Rs 500. In the last four months, FY21E of Nifty-50 has gone down by around 25 percent. Even though we are now building in around 30 percent earnings growth for Nifty-50 EPS in FY22E, the sheer cut in FY20E & FY21E numbers will pull down the absolute figure. A revision in GDP and earnings will depend on how fast COVID-19 cases go down and demand revives. We also need to factor in the supply-side problem that could emerge due to the scarcity of labour. Q: As midcap and smallcap indices trade in line with benchmarks, is it still a great opportunity to pick these stocks? In terms of market cap orientation, our preference is purely towards mega or largecaps. Largecaps will have the benefit of stronger balance sheets and economies of scale. The impact on earnings will be higher for mid and small-cap companies. Also, from a flow perspective, we expect FII flows could resume faster than the retail flows. As maximum flows of FIIs go into largecaps, they could be the first to have any meaningful revival. Investors will get ample opportunities to enter mid and smallcap space in the second phase of the next bull market and still make handsome returns. Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol.com are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Tokyo, Japan Tue, May 19, 2020 07:09 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8e5749 2 News Mount-Fuji,Japan,travel,hiking,coronavirus,COVID-19,pandemic Free Japan's beloved Mount Fuji will be closed during this year's summer climbing season to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, officials said Monday. Shizuoka prefecture, home to the country's tallest mountain, announced they were closing three of the four major routes to the mountain's peak. "The routes open in summer but this year we will keep them closed from July 10 to September 10," the only climbing season for Mount Fuji, a Shizuoka prefecture official told AFP. "We're taking this measure so as not to spread the coronavirus," the official said. It will be the first time the trails of the 3,776-meter volcanic mountain are closed since at least 1960 when the prefecture began managing the routes, he added. The decision comes after nearby Yamanashi prefecture said it will close the Yoshida trail, the most popular hiking path among the four. The mountain huts along the four routes will remain closed as well. Read also: North Mount Fuji area enhances amenities for Muslim visitors The mountain, a UNESCO world cultural heritage site, is located just 100 kilometers from Tokyo and is clearly visible from the Japanese capital. It welcomed about 236,000 climbers last year, according to the Mount Fuji official website. Despite Mount Fuji's majesty, many complain about the actual experience of climbing it, citing the crowded hiking trails and difficult terrain. Perhaps for this reason, a Japanese proverb states: "It is foolish not to climb Mount Fuji once. But it is foolish to climb it twice." Japan's virus outbreak remains small compared with those seen in parts of Europe and the United States, with over 16,000 confirmed infections recorded and 749 deaths. Japan last week lifted a state of emergency imposed due to the coronavirus for the majority of the country but kept it in place for top cities Tokyo and Osaka. Sri Lanka has scaled down a low-key military parade to mark the anniversary of the end of its civil war after two sailors due to take part tested positive for coronavirus, officials said Monday. Authorities had planned a simple ceremony for Tuesday to mark the military's crushing of the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, but two sailors tested positive on Monday and several others were waiting for results, officials said. Sri Lanka has reported 981 infections and nine deaths since the virus first hit the island -- more than half among sailors from a camp near Colombo. Health officials say, however, the spread of the virus is largely under control. "We are going ahead with the ceremonies... but we will have a smaller number of personnel," an official told AFP. Some 150 police and a "large number of troops" were sent to quarantine following Monday's positive tests, military sources told AFP. Army chief Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva said Sunday that the virus had already forced the military to scale back the ceremony, and the parade in the capital was not open to the public. Colombo and a neighbouring district remain under lockdown, although some of the restrictions imposed since late March have been lifted in other parts of the island nation. Sri Lanka declared an end to 37 years of fighting in a civil war that claimed at least 100,000 lives after an all-out military offensive in 2009. The United Nations and rights groups allege government troops killed at least 40,000 Tamil civilians, but Colombo has denied the charge and refused international calls for an independent investigation. 'We might have been better prepared to deal with the pandemic had so much time, attention and money not gone into welcoming one of the stupidest men on the planet.' IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi, United States President Donald John Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump wave to the crowds at the Namaste Trump event at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad, February 24, 2020. Photograph: ANI Photo "If the people fanning the flames had any idea what their provocations can lead to, maybe they would desist," Naseeruddin Shah tells Subhash K Jha. 2020 will probably be remembered as the worst year ever. Do you think man has brought this crisis upon himself? Are we responsible for the mess that we are in? Humanity's hold over the earth is a giant evolutionary blunder. Nature certainly didn't intend this and we humans will have to pay the price for our rapaciousness some day -- that day may be already here. That Nature doesn't need us is proved by the rapidity with which the earth is healing itself -- the sky is clearer, Mumbai's gum-coloured sea is showing traces of blue-green, porpoises are venturing nearer the coastline, flamingoes are crowding Sewrei (south central Mumbai)... In short, the animals to whom the earth belongs are reclaiming it. Would you agree this is the worst year in the history of civilization? Whether 2020 is the worst ever year is a moot point and will only become known when COVID-19 is brought under control. It is worse than war in the sense that this time, we are battling an invisible enemy. The political mess we are in and regressing into superstitions to cure COVID is, without doubt, our own doing. One can only pray for the well being of those who do not have shelter enough to isolate themselves and are being subjected to hardships, which would break the back and the spirit of any of us. What would you say about the way the situation is being handled by our administrators? The way the government is dilly-dallying over extending help to those walking hundreds of miles to their homes would be termed inhuman, if it were at all comprehensible. How much time should it really take to swing into action instead of 'mulling' over the problem and trying to decide the manner in which help could be given? The urgency of these pedestrians's situation seems to have escaped all the wise heads who are content to let the much maligned NGOs extend themselves while they look on with barely concealed indifference. And in the midst of this tragedy engulfing us, the government, of course, has the time and inclination to harass and arrest dissenting voices. Do you think the lockdown is the solution? Or do you feel that a majority would now die of hunger rather than the virus? The lockdown is the only solution at the moment, but we might have been better prepared to deal with it (he coronavirus pandemic) had so much time, attention and money not gone into welcoming one of the stupidest men on the planet. How have you been going through the last four weeks of enforced confinement? I have been brushing up on my Urdu reading and am thanking my stars that my father made me learn the Arabic alphabet as a child. My ability to read Urdu is fast improving, but writing it is another ball game, so I'm not trying that -- as it is, sometimes I cannot read my own handwriting in English! I have been helping around the house, in the kitchen as well, which is something I should have been doing earlier anyway. I never knew what a stress-buster cooking can be! I'm reading a lot of Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poetry and about his life with a view to mounting something on stage about him in the future, if there is a future. I have been educating myself on those Shakespeare plays I know nothing about -- and there are plenty. How do you look back on your life so far? If you had a chance to change things that have happened in your life, what would you like to change? I would consciously try to control my temper, which runs away with me often. It is a bad habit I would like to lose. Apart from that, I wouldn't change a thing even if it was in my power to do so. IMAGE: The Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Nizamuddin, New Delhi, being evacuated on April 1, 2020. Some television news channels have accused Muslims attending the Tablighi convention of spreading the coronavirus in the country. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo As a nation, we grow more intolerant. The lockdown has unlocked new waves of bigotry as Muslims are being blamed for the spread of the virus. Do you feel the culture of intolerance would finally splinter India's socio-political fabric into irretrievable anarchy? We have to learn to cope with whatever life throws at us. But the fact is thoughts of mortality occur more frequently than they used to. To utter the word 'intolerance' in India has become blasphemous and moderate, liberal etc have become pejoratives. But what is happening in the country is tragic and it angers me. It does not scare me, as some people seem to derive pleasure from repeating. If the people fanning the flames had any idea what their provocations can lead to, maybe they would desist. SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) Officers arrested a 36-year-old man who was allegedly firing a gun as he drove a pickup truck through San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood on Saturday, police said. Around 10:30 p.m., officers learned someone was driving recklessly near Clay Street and Presidio Avenue, doing "donuts" and firing a gun. At the scene, officers found spent shell casings, but did not receive any reports of injuries or damage from the shots. RELATED: Amid pandemic, crime dropped in many U.S. cities, but not all Officers were eventually able to locate a pickup truck and driver matching the description of the suspect and his vehicle in the first block of Grand View Terrace, located in the city's Eureka Valley/Dolores Heights neighborhood. Officers were able to safely arrest the driver on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm, according to police. Police have identified him as Tyler Gerow of San Francisco. Inside Gerow's truck, officers located a gun, police said. Gerow remains in custody, according to jail records. Copyright 2020 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 07:40:11|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A waiter wearing a face shield serves coffee in Warsaw, Poland, on May 18, 2020. As the third phase of lifting restrictions, Poland has reopened restaurants, bars, cafes and hair salons on Monday under rules enforced by the sanitary authorities. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/Xinhua) FILE PHOTO: The Panasonic booth is shown during the 2020 CES in Las Vegas By Makiko Yamazaki TOKYO (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp's <6752.T> finance chief said the company is seeing strong demand for battery cells from U.S. partner Tesla and they are in talks to expand their joint plant in Nevada, which is now profitable. The positive outlook comes after production troubles and delays at Tesla strained the company's partnership with Panasonic over the past few years. Panasonic recently lost its status as Tesla's exclusive battery supplier, but has been able to turn around the U.S. joint battery business as demand for Tesla's electric cars soar. Last month Tesla reported its third consecutive quarterly profit despite the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, taking investors by surprise. "We are seeing strong demand from Tesla" beyond the Nevada plant's current capacity of 35 gigawatt hours per year, Panasonic Chief Financial Officer Hirokazu Umeda told an earnings briefing on Monday. "We are in discussions right now" about expanding the plant's capacity, he said. The plant made a profit in January-March for the second consecutive quarter, he said. Umeda hinted that Panasonic has been developing new batteries with Tesla. "We will be working to improve materials and technologies throughout this financial year," he said. The Tesla battery business provided a bright spot in Panasonic's otherwise grim earnings, hit by plant closures and supply chain disruptions for its laptops, washing machines, automotive components and factory equipment. The group's operating profit for the year ended in March dropped 29% to 294 billion yen ($2.7 billion). Panasonic did not issue an earnings forecast for the current year due to uncertainty about the impact of the virus, joining a number of Japanese electronics companies, including Sony Corp <6758.T> and Canon Inc <7751.T>, in refraining from providing outlooks. Analysts have forecast an average 225.46 billion yen profit for the current financial year. Story continues The company has been cautious about expanding its partnership with Tesla, as its $1.6 billion investment in the Nevada factory, which began construction in 2014, failed to produce solid returns. It did not make a profit until the October-December quarter of last year. Panasonic has decided to exit solar cell production at Tesla's New York plant this year. It also decided not to build a new battery plant for Tesla in China. The U.S. car maker has entered into partnerships with South Korea's LG Chem Ltd <051910.KS> and China's CATL <300750.SZ>. Umeda said at the briefing that Panasonic has been supplying batteries to Tesla's factory in China from their Nevada plant. (Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Susan Fenton) A new study by researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) has shown for the first time the full extent of the areas burned by Victorian bushfires over the past two decades. Co-author Professor David Lindenmayer says the results indicate a major overhaul is needed when it comes to fire and land management. The study maps where wildfires took place across Victoria between 1995, the start of the millennium drought, and 2020. "This is the first time we've seen the full spatial extent of bushfires dating back 25 years," Professor Lindenmayer said. "What we found is the state is burning more and more. Prior to 2000 we had one mega-fire in Victoria in 150 years of records. Since 2000 we've already had three. "We can also see the extensive and frequent re-burning of previously fire-damaged areas -- sometimes with a gap as short as five or six years.? advertisement "These results make a compelling case for a major policy shake-up, with the aim of reducing mega-fires, protecting unburnt areas and managing repeatedly damaged ecosystems." In the 2019-2020 season alone, wildfires burned approximately 1.5 million hectares in Victoria -- roughly double the size of the entire Melbourne metropolitan area. "This is the largest area impacted by wildfires in Victoria since 1939, when 3.4 million hectares burned," Professor Lindenmayer said. "Of the 1.5 million hectares burned during the 2019-2020 fire season, more than 600,000 hectares have burned twice, and more than 112,000 hectares have burned three times over the past 25 years." Professor Lindenmayer says if we don't make changes to fire, resource and conservation policies, vital ecosystems and livelihoods will be at risk. advertisement "We can no long look at bushfires as unexpected out of the blue events. The data tells us they're only becoming more frequent," he said. "This impairs the ability of the ecosystem to recover. This includes areas that provide people with access to water, as well as vital habitats and protected areas like state forests. "Our analysis shows wildfires have had a pronounced impact on particular ecosystem types, areas of high conservation value, and the use of resources for industry. These findings, in turn, underscore an urgent need for new policies and approaches to land management. Major wildfire events like the most recent summer bushfires also have a huge impact on timber production, with extensive amounts of timber resources burned in areas like East Gippsland. Two-thirds of the area that was planned for logging in East Gippsland in the next five years was burned -- this is 30 per cent of everything targeted for logging in Victoria by 2025. "Proposals to shift logging into unburnt areas are unacceptable -- those unburnt areas are too important for conversing biodiversity," Professor Lindenmayer said. "In highly fire-prone areas like Victoria's native forests, there's an urgent need to shift wood production into geographically dispersed tree plantations. "The large amount of native forest in Victoria dedicated to logging that is now burned means that native forest-dependent logging industries will no longer economically and ecologically tenable." While the study focused on Victoria, the researchers say their findings could apply to other areas in Australia and overseas which are under threat from widespread, recurring bushfires. Florida Georgia Lines Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley have broken country chart and sales records with summer BBQ anthems like "Cruise and Meant to Be, and when they appeared on Songland this Monday, they claimed to be looking for more of the same: Something with energy something thats us, as Kelley put it. But by the end of the episode, theyd fallen so in head-over-country-boot-heels for a certain sentimental ballad that they changed their tune, so to speak. We came in looking for one thing, and I think we could possibly be walking out with another, Kelley second-guessed, after he got an earful of Griffen Palmers Second Guessing. Mondays three other submissions were undeniably catchy (Lukrs underdog drinking song High Hopes was particularly a bop), but they were all the expected uptempo bro-country jams. Meanwhile, Palmers Second Guessing was a first-dance-worthy wedding waltz, a song about finding The one that was practically the country equivalent of Ed Sheerans Thinking Out Loud. Judge Shane McAnally, a man who has penned even more country smash hits than the FGL guys and is a sucker for a romantic storyline, was so impressed with Palmers classic-sounding track that he was literally angry that he hadnt written it himself. Of all the songs weve heard on this show, from the beginning, both seasons, Ive never been mad at a hook, said McAnally. That was out of this world. How has that not been written? Congratulations on that. It even sounded like a song that Kelley could have written: He noted that the line, When I met you, I saw the rest of my life was something hed actually told his own wife. The other panelists reactions were just as immediate and visceral, so unless the envious McAnally was holding an actual grudge, it was pretty clear that Palmers fellow contestants stood zero chance. McAnallys congratulations probably wasnt premature. Palmer who called this a full-circle moment, having since FGLs albums were the first country records [he] knew front-to-back and the first country concert he ever attended obviously didnt need any advantages going into the workshop round. But he got just that when he was paired with McAnally, the only country expert on the show, while the others teamed with popsmiths Ester Dean or Ryan Tedder. Story continues McAnally, a two-time 2019 ACM Songwriter of the Year winner, worked his magic with Second Guessing adding more elements of surprise, a second hook that accentuated the waltz tempo, some piano and bigger drums, and a tighter lyrical focus and by the time he sent Palmer back to the judges room to perform the revised version for Florida Georgia Lines consideration, that almost seemed like a formality. I expect that this song will be a huge smash; its going to be heard on the radio, like, 40 times a day, McAnally assured Palmer. It remains to be seen if that prediction comes true, But of course Second Guessing won this episode, and FGL seemed quite excited about its prospects. Were leaving with a love song, and it feels good for us now. Itll be good for us 50 years from now. It feels timeless, declared Kelley. And Shane McAnally, who now has co-writing credit on the final Florida Georgia Line version heard below, cant be mad about that. The lyrics to @FLAGALines new song, Second Guessing will make your heart sing. pic.twitter.com/Ssx5ORdACh Songland (@NBCSongland) May 19, 2020 Read more from Yahoo Entertainment: Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, and Spotify. President Donald Trump says that it is a badge of honour that the the US has more cases of the coronavirus than any other country. Speaking at a cabinet meeting this afternoon, the president put the high figure down to the volume of Covid-19 tests being carried out. When we have a lot of cases, I dont look at that as a bad thing I look at that in a certain respect as being a good thing because it means our testing is much better. ... So I view it as a badge of honour, really, he said. Mr Trump added that this was a great tribute to the testing and all of the work that a lot of professionals have done. The US has conducted 11.28 million tests for the coronavirus, according to figures updated on Monday by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 1.59 million cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed approximately 14 per cent of those tested. More than 91,000 American deaths have been officially recorded as directly caused by the virus. The president brought up the topic of testing in his response to a question about whether he was considering a travel ban on Latin America, specifically Brazil which now has the third highest number of cases in the world after the US and Russia. Initially responding that the administration was considering a travel ban, Mr Trump continued: We hope that were not going to have a problem. The governor of Florida is doing very, very well testing in particular Florida, because a big majority come in to Florida. Brazil has gone more or less herd, and theyre having problems. I worry about everything, I dont want people coming in here and infecting our people, he continued. I dont want people over there sick either. Press Release May 18, 2020 Bong Go calls for improved inter-agency coordination to support OFWs in distress amidst the COVID-19 pandemic; reiterates need to establish DOFWs After speaking with an overseas Filipino worker in distress in Saudi Arabia in a recent phone patch interview, Senator Christopher Lawrence "Bong" Go has called once again on the government, particularly the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, to intensify support for affected OFWs, especially those who are seeking to return home amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. "May nakausap akong isang kababayan natin sa Saudi Arabia. Nahihirapan siya at mga kapwa niyang OFWs na umuwi dahil wala silang assistance na nakukuha sa kanilang mga employer. Nahihirapan din silang mag-contact sa ating embahada," Go said. In a phone patch interview with Raffy Tulfo, Senator Go spoke with Noly Garcia, a bus driver working in a bus company in Riyadh, who said that he and other fellow Filipino workers need assistance to return to the Philippines in the middle of the global health crisis. Garcia said that they could not get assistance from their employer. They were also asked to file a complaint so that the embassy can act on their concern. "Ang gusto po namin sana, gusto na po namin makauwi, sir, ilan kami dito na Pilipino... Wala naman nag-aassist sa amin," Garcia said in the phone patch, saying that they have been fearing for their lives as some of their companions have either succumbed to the deadly disease or have been experiencing some of its symptoms. According to the DFA, 24,422 overseas Filipino workers have been repatriated as of May 2. The Maritime Industry Authority is also bringing home stranded seafarers and their families in Metro Manila back to their provinces through its Seafarers Uwi Pamilya program. According to Philippine Coast Guard commandant Admiral Joel Garcia, up to 18,000 OFWs were stranded in Metro Manila as of last week as their hometowns were not yet ready to accept them, amidst the viral threat and delays in testing. "Dapat po talaga mabigyan ng pansin ang ating mga OFWs, lalo na sa ganitong panahon. Sila ang nagsisikap sa labas (ng bansa) pero marami sa kanila hindi maramdaman ang welcome sa kanilang sariling bansa," Go said. "Ang stand po ng ating Pangulo ay tanggapin niya ang mga Pilipino na gustong umuwi dahil kung pati sa sariling bansa nila ay ayaw sila tanggapin, saan pa sila pupunta?," Go cited previously. Senator Go stressed that the cooperation of all agencies concerning OFWs is needed at this crucial time, adding that their processes must be streamlined in order to bring faster and more efficient services. The Senator also took the opportunity to emphasize that a dedicated executive department that focuses on the affairs of OFWs would greatly help Filipino workers abroad. "Katulad ngayon, madaming dinadaanan pang iba't ibang ahensya bago makaresponde ang gobyerno sa mga OFWs na humihingi ng saklolo. Iba-iba ang concern, iba-iba ang kailangang lapitan pa mula DFA, OWWA, MARINA, at iba pa," Go said. "Kung meron tayong departamentong talagang nakatutok sa kanila, magiging mas maayos ang pagresponde sa mga krisis at mas mabilis nating matutulungan ang ating mga kababayang humihingi ng saklolo," Go added in the phone patch. Last July 2019, Go filed Senate Bill 202 or the Department of Overseas Filipinos Act of 2019 which aims to make government more efficient and responsive to the needs of Filipinos abroad. The bill aims to put concerned government agencies dealing with OFW concerns under one umbrella. A committee hearing has already been conducted in the Senate with Technical Working Group meetings conducted with different stakeholders. The House of Representative's version has already been passed on third and final reading. The creation of DOFWs is one of Go's priority bills filed just more than a month after being elected as Senator in 2019. The proposed agency is also part of the Duterte Administration's priority legislative agenda. According to the bill, the proposed DOFWs will be responsible in formulating programs for protecting and promoting the welfare of Filipino workers, managing and overseeing their foreign employment, and providing assistance to nationals, especially those in distress, among others. "Ang ating mga OFWs ay tinuturing nating mga bagong bayani. Mahirap ang mapalayo sa sariling pamilya at bansa para mabigyan ng magandang buhay ang kanilang mga mahal sa buhay. Let's give them the support they deserve as modern heroes," Go said. "We should make sure that all Filipinos in distress, here or abroad, are given timely assistance and that measures are also undertaken to protect their welfare, especially in times of crises," he added. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Seaweed is species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae, which are found in oceans and seas across the globe. The hydrocolloids such as alginate, agar, and carrageenan, gelatinous substances are extracted from seaweed. Seaweed is beneficial to health to fight against illness and diseases. Seaweed is used in food, medicines, cosmetics and organic fertilizers and feed additives. The red seaweed is a source for carrageenan hydrocolloid, which is highly used in food industry owing to its improved gelling and thickening property. The red seaweed segment is anticipated to dominate among the product type segment, due to the increasing demand for agar and carrageenan from the food industry. The brown seaweeds is expected to follow red seaweeds owing to the growing use of brown seaweed in animal feed additives and fertilizers. On the basis of form type, the liquid form seaweed is expected to account for larger market share in terms of value and volume, this is owing to rising demand from agriculture and pharmaceutical industries across the globe. On the other hand, the human food segment is expected to hold significant market share among the application segment, this is due to increase in seaweed consumption in human food coupled with increasing demand for seaweed derived snacks. The global seaweed market is anticipated to witness significant CAGR during the forecast period. Get Sample Copy Of This Report @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/12370 Global Seaweed Market: Drivers, Restraints, and Trends Increasing consumption of seaweed as a food extract, medical use, and for bio-refining is expected to drive the demand for seaweed. Furthermore, growing consumer awareness regarding nutritional benefits of seaweed, rising demand for alginate in food, pharmaceutical industries is expected to boost the growth of global seaweed market. In addition, increasing demand for seaweed derived snacks is anticipated to fuel the demand for seaweed. However, lack of awareness of harvesting various species of seaweed among the manufactures is expected to hinder the growth of global seaweed market. Key trends are observed in the production of seaweeds are, the manufacturers are implementing growth strategies such as merger and acquisition, partnership, and agreement. Global Seaweed Market: Segmentation The global seaweed market is segmented on the basis of product type, form type, and application. On the basis of product type, the global seaweed market is segmented into: Red Seaweed Brown Seaweed Green Seaweed On the basis of form type, the global seaweed market is segmented into: Liquid Powdered Flakes On the basis of application, the global seaweed market is segmented into: Food and Beverages Agriculture Animal Feed Additives Pharmaceutical and Biotechnological Other (Aquaculture, Biomass for Fuel, and Wastewater Treatment) Global Seaweed Market: Regional Outlook Based on the geographies, the global seaweed market is segmented into five key regions, namely North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Owing to the increase in harvesting and consumption of seaweed in China, Japan and Indonesia, the Asia Pacific seaweed market is anticipated to hold major revenue market share. North America and Europe is anticipated to collectively, contribute in the global seaweed market, this is due to increasing seaweed harvesting coupled with consumption in US, Germany, UK and France. Also, rising demand for seaweed in food industries coupled with increasing investments in R&D activities by key manufacturers in US, and increasing popularity for seaweed baths coupled with increasing use of seaweed in German beer (contains agars, carrageenans and alginates) in Germany and UK are making these regions as favorable regions. Owing to growing consumer awareness regarding medical and other benefits of seaweeds in Brazil, GCC countries and South Africa, the Latin America and MEA are expected to witness modest growth rate. Request For TOC @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/12370 Global Seaweed Market: Key Players Some of the major players identified in the global seaweed market include Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Nation/Asia News Network) Bangkok, Thailand Tue, May 19, 2020 14:19 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8feaf8 2 SE Asia Thailand,Suvarnabhumi-Airport,The-Terminal,Nigerians,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-lockdown,COVID-19-travel-ban,COVID-19-travel-restriction Free Suvarnabhumi Airport confirmed that three Nigerians have been stuck at the airport for more than two months now, waiting for a connecting flight to Myanmar and Laos. Their predicament? The destination countries have been closed, while the three cannot enter Thailand because they have no visas. The airports Special Affairs and Community Relations Department said two of the Nigerians arrived on March 21 on an Emirates Airlines flight and were scheduled to take a connecting Lao Airlines flight to Laos, while the other person arrived at Suvarnabhumi on March 24 on an Etihad Airways plane and was to take a connecting Bangkok Airways flight to Myanmar. But on the day all three arrived, the countries of destination announced they were closed to incoming flights. The Nigerians were also unable to fly back home as both Emirates and Etihad Airways cancelled their flights due to the virus crisis. Moreover, the three did not apply for a visa to enter Thailand and the Immigration Division therefore could not allow them to leave the airport. The Immigration Division is coordinating with the Nigerian Embassy to help their stranded citizens. The airport is meanwhile providing assistance to them by providing food, drinking water and basic care. All three have undergone tests at the international communicable disease control checkpoint and none were found to have contracted Covid-19. Drazen Zigic via Shutterstock Coronavirus lockdowns are making the recovery of survivors of sexual and gender-based violence who have been forced to flee their homes even harder, according to our new research. Following a request by Refugee Women Connect, an NGO working with forced migrant survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, we undertook 97 interviews in the UK, Tunisia, Turkey, Sweden and Australia between April 14 and 28. The work builds on an ongoing research project were conducting with refugee survivors of sexual violence and the service providers which support them. Forced migrants, many of whom live in crowded, sometimes makeshift accommodation with poor access to food, sanitary items and healthcare, are at particular risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who are also survivors of sexual violence told us how some of the lockdown restrictions are exacerbating their existing vulnerabilities, leaving them at heightened risk of psycho-social problems, destitution and even further abuse. At risk of more violence In Tunisia and Turkey, we heard that only certain groups of forced migrants, for example those with refugee status, could access support and this was inadequate to cover their basic needs. We heard how work in the informal economy for those with no access to social welfare had dried up, often leaving survivors without any income. Many women survivors previously relied heavily on NGOs for material and social support. But with face-to-face NGO services stopping or moving online, many of the women we interviewed lacked the basic digital resources necessary to maintain their social connections and make contact with service providers. One Syrian woman living in Ankara, who is a survivor of both domestic violence and war and now lives alone with her two daughters in unfurnished accommodation, told us: Whenever I contact the charities, they tell me it is difficult to help me amid this crisis. I am just waiting for this to end so that they can help me. I feel that all the doors have been closed. Story continues The precarious position many survivors of sexual violence are in has also increased their vulnerability to abuse and exploitation during the crisis. Some NGOs that we spoke to as part of the research feared that women would have little choice but to remain in abusive relationships during the pandemic. In Tunisia, some NGOs told us that unaccompanied adolescent girls had been forced into prostitution during the lockdown. In the UK, trafficked women feared that they would be contacted by their former traffickers, aware that they were desperate for resources. Some NGOs were concerned that the numbers at risk of trafficking would increase. One Nigerian woman, who is an asylum seeker living in the UK, told us COVID-19 meant shed become scared of the people around her. She said she was sometimes worried the traffickers will get my number and make more threats. Opportunities to escape domestic violence, which other studies show has increased during lockdown, were also reduced for the survivors. Unable to access support from NGOs or public services, with sheltered housing closed or unavailable to many forced migrants, women told us they stayed put. In Turkey, some perpetrators of sexual violence and domestic violence were released from prison, which increased womens levels of risk and anxiety. Flashbacks and mental stress Another grave concern for women and the NGOs supporting them was the increased risk to survivors mental health. Forced migrant women can suffer multiple traumas, and often experience sexual or gender-based violence at multiple points in their refugee journey. Women were unable to continue with treatment for physical injuries, but the greatest harm came from a combination of isolation and the suspension of mental health therapies. For some, the loss of freedom reminded them of their own previous imprisonment, while others said they spent a lot of time overthinking past experiences and having flashbacks. Others had begun to gently rebuild their lives after losing trust in humanity, through therapeutic relations with a support worker or by participating in self-help networks. Some women felt they were slipping backwards with the loss of access to these lifelines. One Eritrean woman living in Tunisia with irregular migrant status said she can no longer think about her future: I now hate my life, I feel as if I were in a jailthe corona came to destroy everythingeverything became so hard for us, as if we were frozen inside a refrigerator. Hopelessness was reinforced by the suspension of some asylum cases in the UK, residence applications in Turkey and resettlement programmes in Tunisia. Many of our interviewees found themselves stuck in legal limbo with no idea when they would emerge. Some asylum processes have now shifted to remote working. However, without support for survivors from NGOs and social networks, the process of disclosing sensitive information about sexual abuse and torture could risk reopening the trauma. As well as access to free medical services, survivors urgently require cash to cover food and hygiene costs and access to digital devices. Our findings highlight the grim reality for these women and the need for urgent action to ensure that they survive the crisis and can move on with their lives without encountering further harm. Click here, if you would like to contact the Samaritans. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The Conversation Jenny Phillimore receives funding from Europe and Global Challenges Fund - riksbankens jubileumsfond, Wellcome Trust and Volkswagen Foundation Economic and Social Research Council IAA Fund. Sandra Pertek receives funding from the University of Birmingham and Economi and Social Research Council. File Photo New Delhi: The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) has set up 'Langar on Wheels' at 10 places in Delhi to provide fresh food to the workers going home on foot. Manjinder Singh Sirsa, President, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, said that mobile langar vans has been set up at Noida, Ghaziabad, Sahibabad, Seelampur, Shahdara and many other places. Advertisement Manjinder Singh Sirsa Sirsa said the arrangement has been made on the main roads connecting Delhi to Uttar Pradesh from where most of the labourers are walking home with their families. Mobile langar vans have been parked at these places. Members of the Gurdwara Committee are serving langar to the migrant workers. He said that 30-40 laborers were being served langar together in a shady place. They are also being provided with food including, bread and rice and a bottle of water. Sirsa said that the langar on wheels had to be arranged so that the workers would not have to find any gurdwara nearby and they could arrange the langar at their convenience. Advertisement PhotoThe Sikh tradition of langar symbolizes the distribution of food among the majority of the people and real cooperation is possible only when we provide langar to the society which is most in need. According to the information received from the committee, a langar of juice, water and biscuits is also being set up for the workers traveling in the trains. Indian Railways has provided a fruit counter to the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee at the New Delhi Railway Station and its members are providing this service in trains passing through this counter whole day. As a nationwide lockdown continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19 has accounted for up to 42.2 per cent of mainstream headlines during this period while a resultant migrant labour crisis has emerged as the most-trending news, a new study showed on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emerged as the biggest newsmaker among all Indian political leaders, showed the study that used artificial intelligence to analyse 75,000 headlines across 15 mainstream sources between March 1 and May 10. Modi is followed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress leader P Chidambaram in the top-five newsmakers among national leaders, as per the study done by boutique brand-building firm Dharma Media Consultants, in partnership with technology company PRM Fincon, on how COVID-19 has primarily occupied space. Among state-level politicians, Jyotiraditya Scindia was most in the news with his shift from Congress to BJP. He was followed by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The study found that out of the total 75,000 headlines, 24.5 per cent of headlines were related to COVID-19 pre-lockdown (from March 1), but it rose to 42.2 per cent during the first two phases of the lockdown and then dropped to 32 per cent in the first week of the third phase (till May 10). The third phase of the lockdown continued for two weeks till May 17 with considerable relaxations as compared to the earlier two phases, while the lockdown has now been extended to the fourth phase till May 31 with further relaxations to help revive economic activities. Dharma Media Consultants' Founder Shutapa Paul said the study was carried out with an aim to find who and what were the newsmakers before and during lockdown induced by the deadly coronavirus. PRM Fincon's Co-Founder Rupesh Chaudhuri said, "Our contextual analysis engine, Xlrt, is capable of generating insights that end users can use for informed decision making. Using its AI engine, we were quickly able to identify the entities that were making the headlines across a variety of news sources and news categories." As per the study, Google, Amazon and Facebook had the most COVID-19 related news among listed and unlisted brands. Among listed companies, Yes Bank topped the charts, followed by Google, Facebook, Amazon, and HDFC. For unlisted brands, Jio came on the top due to news of Facebook's investment in the company and was followed by Realme, Flipkart, Zomato and Swiggy. The celebrity news was topped by deaths of actors Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan, while Kareena Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan and Anushka Sharma were also in the news. From the world of sports, postponement of Tokyo Olympics 2020 made the most news, followed by news about Virat Kohli and the IPL. The migrant labour crisis as a fallout of the COVID-19 crisis was the most-trending news, followed by the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the national capital, WHO's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Wuhan as the epicentre of the deadly virus outbreak, and the Visakhapatnam gas leak incident. The current affairs headlines were topped by Maharashtra (with the highest reported cases of coronavirus in India), Sensex (which has remained choppy due to the virus outbreak and the lockdown) and Indian Railways. In the international news segment, US President Donald Trump topped the charts, followed by the United Nations, Wall Street, Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Just like how every good thing comes with a flip side, some folks on TikTok have taken it upon themselves to create content that is not just disgusting but miles apart from being creative in any way. Its been days since the YouTube VsTikTok war stoked by CarryMinati went viral across the nation. The popular Indian YouTuber shared a video wherein he savagely roasted TikTokers for the quality of their videos. However, much to his dismay and that of his fans, the video was later deleted. CarryMinati's fiery video did raise one question in my mind: are we okay with giving a boost to the kind of content that breaches all lines of morality? From promoting acid violence to rape culture, TikTok has been letting this disturbing content flow freely and this is impacting the current generation. These 5 disturbing TikTok trends are why people have been clamouring to ban the app: 1. Acid Violence Acid attack is no joke and how can we have insensitive people glorify this brutality on a social media platform? The user in question is "influencer" Faizal Siddiqui, whose month-old video resurfaced online which allegedly promotes acid attack and abuse of women. He is Faizal Siddiqui , member of team nawab and brother of Amir Siddiqui. Friends he have 13.4 million followers on his Tik tok account. I request to all pleas share this video in large number of girls. is he deserve any follows? #RespectGirls pic.twitter.com/3vnEPN21Dk Ayushi Jain (@Ayushi_jain22) May 18, 2020 I am appalled to see that such content has been certified to go up on a public platform. National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma wrote to the DGP of Maharashtra Subodh Kumar Jaiswal to take down the video but is that enough? @NCWIndia has written to @DGPMaharashtra Shri. Subodh Kumar Jaiswal to take action against #FaizalSiddiqui for the video he posted that promotes a grievous crimes of #acidattack on social media using @TikTok_IN App. @CyberDost @MahaCyber1 pic.twitter.com/pcjyXtGiJG NCW (@NCWIndia) May 18, 2020 2. Animal Abuse Time and again, we have heard that people go to the extent of killing innocent creatures just to gain some followers. Clearly, people are ready to sell their souls to the devil just for the sake of 'likes' and 'followers'. Dear Friends ! We need to RT & share this maximum possible so that they can be identified and actions could be taken against them. Please use your cyber experts to trace the location. @PetaIndia @Manekagandhibjp @pfaindia Request you to intervene & help. pic.twitter.com/hN8mh53RVp Albert Foundation (@save_albert) May 18, 2020 This video of some monsters drowning an innocent dog who couldnt fight for his own survival left me bubbling with rage. 3. Promoting Rape Culture Goes without saying that any decent human without even the basic level of education knows the gravity of rape and that it's a severe crime. However, some folks on TikTok seem to have a different idea about the crime and are using the app's absence of any vetting process to actually promote rape. Promoting RAPE Now? #TikTok you think you will keep on promoting videos which will spoil our countrys youth and we will accept it? RT if you support #BanTikTokInIndia #tiktokexposed #tiktokrating #tiktokapp pic.twitter.com/x9nflhPGIl CORONA WARRIOR MAYANK CHAUDHARY (@IamMayank_) May 19, 2020 4. Sexualization and Domestic Violence Gone were the days when most of Bollywood's filmmakers used to show women as nothing but commodities. If you have seen a handful of old movies, you would see how women were basically furniture, and could be moved around by a man and handled in any way. But it seems like this old and vile trend is being openly promoted now on TikTok. Women in this country have come a long way from such dark days and now stand shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts, however, such disturbing trends only take us back to the dark ages. Sexualization of kids what the fuck is wrong woth this generation. It has to be taken seriously #BanTikTokInIndia #tiktokexposed pic.twitter.com/169mCPekhU Ok_that's_WEIRD (@Tsy15041999) May 19, 2020 It's also common knowledge that any sort of domestic violence is not acceptable, however, not on TikTok, where it seems to be just another form of content. One of the TikTok videos I saw on Twitter showed the disturbing visuals of a young guy trying to strangle his grandmother. Like, seriously? Are we out of our minds to let this continue? @TajinderBagga Sir what's happening to the youth? This is shame in our society. Take a step against him. #BanTikToklnlndia pic.twitter.com/56byAq2gLn Tanmoy ghosh (@Tanmoyg84356442) May 19, 2020 5. Lockdown: Whats That? Many TikTok videos have surfaced in the past where you must have seen how people are trying to encourage others to flout social distancing amid lockdown. Sorry folks, this is really not acceptable. The world has come to a halt, economies are crashing and people are dying from the unimaginable damage caused by the deadly Coronavirus, and the one small ray of hope to prevent this from spreading further is social distancing. And flouting that for the sake of hits is downright criminal. I believe this platform strictly belongs to those folks who are genuinely trying to make good use of it, like this man who was trying to dance like Hrithik Roshan a few days back and went viral. C'mon Twitter Make him FAMOUS pic.twitter.com/o06ozeT3tz Rosy (@rose_k01) May 16, 2020 While it's true that there is a dark side to everything, TikTok has been toying with the boundaries of decency and morality right from the start, and it's up to us to identify the problem and put a stop to it for good. Three Midland ISD campuses will have new principals effective July 1. Midland Freshman High School Principal Shannon Torres will be the new principal at Lee High School. Long Elementary Assistant Principal Rebecca McCright will be the next principal at Bush Elementary. And Julie Barraza , the assistant principal at Bush, will be the new principal at Henderson Elementary. Torres has been MFHS principal since 2016. The school was honored as MISDs Campus of the Year in 2018. Torres has consistently met or exceeded board goals under Lone Star Governance and has served on the State Board of Directors for the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals, according to a press release from MISD. She has served the Midland Freshman campus and school community at a very high level and I expect she will continue her career at Lee High School at that same high level, said Jeff Horner, executive director of Secondary Education, in a statement., After graduating from Texas Tech University, Torres began teaching in Amarillo, where she quickly rose to the role of assistant principal at Tascosa High School. She came to Midland in 2013 as assistant principal of Midland High School. Midland ISD has been a great place for me to grow and learn, and I look forward to leading Lee, said Torres, who replaces Stan VanHoozer, the new executive director of State and Federal Programs for MISD. McCright graduated from Angelo State University and began teaching at MISD in 1997. After five years in Midland, she taught in Kerrville ISD for 14 years and returned to MISD in 2016. She was a curriculum specialist at South Elementary for two years and is completing her second year at Long, where she was recently named the Region 18 Assistant Principal of the year. Barraza, a West Texas native, graduated from Sul Ross State University. She began teaching in MISD in 2002 and then taught at Valentine ISD for one year. When she returned to Midland, Barraza worked as a teacher and reading interventionist before becoming an assistant principal in 2013. Elementary Executive Director Nancy Parker said McCright and Barraza have served students here in Midland and shown leadership in doing so. I look forward to seeing them help our students excel in their new roles. EWG News Roundup (5/22): 2020 EWG Guide to Sunscreens, Johnson & Johnson End the Sale of Talc-Based Baby Powder and More Congress Should Tap CCC Funds to Protect Farmworkers Wisconsin Families and Communities Would Benefit from New Proposed Stimulus Choosing the Best Sunscreen for Your Kids Interior Department Extends Comment Period on Chaco Fracking Plan Mega-Mergers Are As Guilty As The Pandemic For Our Broken Food Supply Chain Nuclear Energy, Climate Change and Water: A Crisis USDA Pandemic Bailout Funds Will Go to Largest, Wealthiest Farms As Meat Prices Soar in Pandemic, Try These Healthier High-Protein Foods National COVID update: two new cases, no new deaths THAILAND: Two new additional cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Thailand today (May 19), bringing the total number of cases to 3,033 since the outbreak of the virus. No additional deaths were recorded, leaving the accumulated toll at 56. CoronavirusCOVID-19health By Bangkok Post Tuesday 19 May 2020, 01:01PM A woman wearing a facemask smiles in a shopping mall in Bangkok yesterday (May 18) as it reopened after restrictions to halt the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus were lifted. Photo: AFP The two new cases were the daughter and son-in-law of a previously confirmed COVID-19 patient in Narathiwat. Dr Taweesilp Visanuyothin, spokesman of the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration, said the daughter, 36, and her husband, 42, had taken care of the father at a hospital in Sungai Kolok district of Narathiwat province. The father had pneumonia and later tested positive for COVID-19. Health officials then conducted tests on the two relatives. On May 8 they tested negative but on May 14 they tested positive. Calls for the relatives to undergo the tests were repeated. This shows that our disease control system works efficiently, Dr Taweesilp said. No other people lived in the new patients house. The spokesman added that the patient detection system was proving effective because many people were visiting hospitals to seek COVID-19 tests voluntarily in response to the governments invitation for those with mild symptoms to be tested. Of the confirmed cases, 52% were people who walked into more than 100 public and private hospitals that provide free tests, while 39% of the cases were those in close contact with previously confirmed cases, Dr Taweesilp said. Of the 3,033 accumulated cases, 2,857 have recovered. No patients were discharged in the past 24 hours, leaving 120 patients in hospitals. The death toll remained unchanged at 56. Global COVID-19 cases amounted to 4.89 million with 320,134 deaths. The United States had the most cases at 1.55 million, and 91,981 deaths, Dr Taweesilp said. Another Married At First Sight star has fallen victim to a worrying new phenomenon sweeping social media. Just weeks after Mishel Karen posted an over-airbrushed selfie, it appears fellow former TV bride Melissa Lucarelli has now followed suit. The 38-year-old looked almost unrecognisable as she showed off her miraculously pore-free complexion in a photo shared on Monday. Not again! Married At First Sight's Melissa Lucarelli, 38, shared a photo of herself looking extremely airbrushed on Monday. Pictured: Melissa Lucarell looking unrecognisable in a photo shared earlier this month (right), and on MAFS 2019 (left) Lines or dark circles were nowhere to be seen. It comes after a psychologist revealed the reason why celebrities edit their Instagram photos and why their fans rarely call them out. My, how you've changed! Melissa has undergone a dramatic, glamorous makeover since finding fame last year. Pictured: Melissa Lucarelli showing off her post-show makeover on Instagram (right), and on MAFS 2019 (left) New trend: It comes after psychologist Rachel Tomlinson has revealed why celebrities edit their Instagram photos beyond recognition. Pictured: Mishel Karen looking unrecognisable in a photo shared earlier this month (right), and on Married At First Sight last year (left) 'The selfie culture is prevalent and it's rooted in insecurity,' said Rachel Tomlinson, a registered psychologist and founder of Toward Wellbeing. Like everyone else, celebrities are vulnerable to feeling insecure and often turn to social media for affirmation of self-worth. 'Image-based social media platforms, particularly Instagram, create situations where a person's sense of validation comes externally from engagement with posts - likes, comments and followers,' she explained. Is that really you? Married At First Sight's Sarah Roza looked unrecognisable in a photo shared to Instagram earlier this year (left). Pictured right on the red carpet in 2017 'When we receive notifications - and the resulting affirmation of self-worth - our body releases dopamine which is a "feel good hormone" that has an addictive quality.' The overwhelmingly superficial nature of showbusiness means that many stars tie their self-worth to their physical appearance. 'Celebrities are looking for approval so they put their best foot forward aesthetically speaking, which makes them likely to use Photoshop in the same way that others do: to seek approval and present themselves in the best light,' she said. Bizarre: Martha Kalifatidis, another former MAFS bride, rarely looks like her actual self on Instagram (left). Pictured right on Married At First Sight However, Rachel warned that ubiquitous editing of photos could potentially lead to a sense of distorted reality. She also explained why fans rarely call out stars who post photos of themselves that are clearly misleading. 'Some research tells us we aren't that great at picking up that images have been edited,' Rachel said. Trick of the eye? In 2017, The Bachelor's Florence Moerenhout shared this photo of herself at St Kilda Beach in Melbourne. Fans were distracted by the boardwalk, which appeared to bend unnaturally around her bottom and thighs, suggesting she had used a warp tool 'It could be that we expect or are used to seeing images that have been edited that we know it's occurring but we don't acknowledge it.' Rachel also noted that many fans 'crave the approval of their idol', and so are unlikely to hold them accountable for their failures. A slew of Australian reality stars have been accused of Photoshopping themselves beyond recognition, including Married At First Sight brides Mishel Karen, Sarah Roza and Martha Kalifatidis. The likes of Florence Moerenhout and Jake Ellis from Bachelor in Paradise and Love Island Australia's Amelia Marni have also faced scrutiny. That's awkward! In 2017, a warped wall in the background of this selfie posted by Bachelorette star Jake Ellis led to suggestions he had digitally enhanced his bicep The Government today announced the mechanism for legal practitioners, arbitrators or mediators providing necessary professional services in the Mainland, Macau or Taiwan to apply for exemption from the compulsory quarantine arrangement. It said the Department of Justice has started processing applications. In accordance with the amended Compulsory Quarantine of Certain Persons Arriving at Hong Kong Regulation, the Chief Secretary may designate any person or category of people for exemption from quarantine if their travelling is necessary for purposes relating to manufacturing operations in the interest of Hong Kong's economic development. The Chief Secretary has exempted two more categories of people from the quarantine arrangement. They include an arbitrator, mediator or qualified legal practitioner acting as a counsel for a party in arbitration, mediation or litigation proceedings, who returns to Hong Kong from the Mainland, Macau or Taiwan after provision of services. The other category is an arbitrator, mediator or qualified legal practitioner acting as a counsel for party in arbitration, mediation or litigation proceedings, who travels from the Mainland, Macau or Taiwan to Hong Kong to provide services. An exempted person must only travel to and stay in the area or city where the professional services are provided, and must take every precautionary measure to ensure personal hygiene and avoid unnecessary social contact whilst there. After returning to Hong Kong, the exempted person will be subject to medical surveillance arranged by the Department of Health for a period of 14 days. Currently, travellers to the Mainland would still be subject to the 14-day compulsory quarantine requirement imposed by Mainland authorities. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is discussing with Mainland authorities the mutual recognition of COVID-19 testing results conducted by recognised medical laboratories, with a view to exempting the quarantine requirement for Hong Kong travellers to the Mainland. [May 19, 2020] Grange Insurance Announces Additional $1 Million Donation to Nonprofits for COVID-19 Pandemic Support Today, Grange Insurance Company announced that it is contributing $1 million to local nonprofits to support health and human services response efforts to the COVID-19 pandemic. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005794/en/ Grange Insurance United Way campaign committee in 2019 (Photo: Business Wire) "As our communities continue to be impacted by this pandemic, our nonprofit organizations need our support now more than ever as the demand grows for critical basic services like food, shelter, and physical and mental health and safety," said John Ammendola, Grange Insurance President and CEO. "Grange has long been dedicated to serving its local communities through its partnerships with nonprofit organizations. Providing this additional support in a time of urgent need is the right thing to do to help lift up our impacted neighbors." Through its Grange Insurance Gives Foundation, the company approved a total of $1 million in COVID-19 response grants to be released over the next few months. Grange is currently distributing $600,000 in individual grants. The company is giving $100,000 grants to each of the following organizations in Central Ohio: Community Shelter Board, LifeCare Alliance, St. Stephens Community House, United Way of Central Ohio, YWCA Columbus and to the United Way Fox Cities in support of our affiliate partner Integrity Insurance, headquartered in Appleton, WI. Grange identified these organizations based on established relationships and the services they provide to most directly address the needs created by this unprecedented crisis. Grange will distribute the remaining funds over the next few months to additional nonprofit organizations serving on the front lines of this crisis. This $1 million in COVID-19 contributions is in addition to the nearly $1 million the company already planned to give to nonprofits in 2020. Community Shelter Board works to provide those in need a place to call home through homelessness prevention, sheltr, street outreach, rapid re-housing and permanent supportive housing. To learn more, donate or volunteer, visit www.csb.org/about-us/. LifeCare Alliance helps older adults and medically challenged residents by providing health and nutrition services including meal delivery, wellness centers, and at-home help. To learn more, donate or volunteer, visit www.lifecarealliance.org/. St. Stephens Community House supports the physical, social and emotional needs of its community by providing services that advance self-sufficiency, including emergency crisis support and food insecurity. To learn more, donate or volunteer, visit www.saintstephensch.org/. United Way of Central Ohio is focused on fighting poverty by providing support in four areas - basic needs, good jobs, strong neighborhoods and student success. The United Way has established a COVID-19 Community response fund to help provide basic resources to those hit hardest in this crisis. To learn more, donate or volunteer, visit liveunitedcentralohio.org/. YWCA Columbus is committed to creating a community of safety, support and stability for women and their families by providing emergency shelter and long-term supportive housing as well as education and employment services. To learn more, donate or volunteer, visit www.ywcacolumbus.org/. United Way Fox Cities improves lives by building a stronger community by focusing on four areas - developing children and youth; promoting health, healing and crisis intervention; providing basic needs and self-sufficiency; and strengthening families. This United Way chapter has also established a COVID-19 Community response fund to help provide basic resources to those most in need during this crisis. To learn more, donate or volunteer, visit www.unitedwayfoxcities.org/. About Grange Insurance Grange Insurance Company, with $3 billion in assets and in excess of $1 billion in annual revenue, is an insurance provider based in Columbus, Ohio. Through its network of independent agents, Grange offers auto, home and business insurance protection. Life insurance offered by Grange Life Insurance and Kansas City Life Insurance. Established in 1935, the Grange Insurance Company and its affiliate Integrity Insurance Company serve policyholders in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. For more information, visit https://www.grangeinsurance.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005794/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who learnt acting at NSD, started out doing small roles in films. One of his earliest outings included a bit role in the Aamir Khan starrer Sarfarosh (1999). After years of struggle, which included bringing out of work for long periods of time, he finally got noticed through Peepli Live (2010) and later Kahaani (2012). He has never looked back ever since and has managed to carve a niche of his own through sheer dint of hard work. At his birthday today, we bring you a list of top 10 Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movies till date. We're sure they'll help alleviate the boredom during the quarantine. 1. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movie - Peepli Live (2010) 2. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movie - Kahaani (2012) 3. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movie - Gangs of Wasseypur (Part 1 and 2) 2012 4. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movie - The Lunchbox (2013) 5. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movie - Manjhi: The Mountain Man (2015) 6. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movie - Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016) 7. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movie - Haraamkhor (2017) 8. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movie - Manto (2018) 9. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movie - Thackeray (2019) 10. Nawazuddin Siddiqui Movie - Photograph (2019) Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Geetanjali Kulkarni Miloni (Sanya Malhotra) is a melancholic collegian who is gearing up for her CA exams. She takes a break with her family at Mumbai's Gateway Of India and meets Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a street photographer offering polaroid snaps to the tourists. He lives in a shanty along with some other migrant workers and not only his roomies, but the whole locality comes to know that his grandmother (Farrukh Jaffar), who lives in another city, has stopped taking her medicines because hes not getting married. To pacify his daadi, he writes a letter to her saying he has found somebody and includes a photo of Miloni in it, calling her Noorie. This simple lie turns on its head when the daadi turns up in Mumbai to meet the girl. He gathers up the courage to ask her to meet the grandmother once and lie for his sake. To his surprise, she does show up and that meeting leads to many more, leading to two people from divergent backgrounds finding comfort in each other's presence. Director: Ritesh BatraCast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Geetanjali KulkarniMiloni () is a melancholic collegian who is gearing up for her CA exams. She takes a break with her family at Mumbai's Gateway Of India and meets Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a street photographer offering polaroid snaps to the tourists. He lives in a shanty along with some other migrant workers and not only his roomies, but the whole locality comes to know that his grandmother (Farrukh Jaffar), who lives in another city, has stopped taking her medicines because hes not getting married. To pacify his daadi, he writes a letter to her saying he has found somebody and includes a photo of Miloni in it, calling her Noorie. This simple lie turns on its head when the daadi turns up in Mumbai to meet the girl. He gathers up the courage to ask her to meet the grandmother once and lie for his sake. To his surprise, she does show up and that meeting leads to many more, leading to two people from divergent backgrounds finding comfort in each other's presence. Director: Anusha RizviCast: Omkar Das Manikpuri, Raghubir Yadav, Shalini Vatsa, Malaika Shenoy, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Naseeruddin Shahwho nevertheless has empathy towards the plight of the farmers in this sensitive film. Farmer suicides are a grim reality and the film showcased the systems apathy to such happenings. It also sheds light about how the media manipulates a situation in search of higher TRPs. While the agenda of the media gets served, the issue they focus their limelight on seldom gets resolved. Brothers Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and Budhiya (Raghubir Yadav) are slackers and drunkards who have a large loan on their heads. They are without means to pay the loan and spend all their free time getting drunk. They come to know that the government pays huge compensation to the family if a farmer commits suicide. As they are discussing this, a local reporter (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) overhears them and reports it. It soon becomes national news and two rival news channels descend on their village to cover the suicide. It becomes a media circus of sorts. The political parties too get involved. Everyone tries to take advantage of the situation and Natha, who has become an unwilling celebrity, starts to fear for his life. The government does find a dead body in the end but no compensation gets given as a case of accidental death is made out. Worse, the bank takes away their land as well. One felt as if one was watching real events unfold and not fiction.Director: Sujoy GhoshCast: Vidya Balan, Nawazuddin SiddiquiVidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), a hugely pregnant woman has come to Kolkata to find the whereabouts of her missing husband. She's living alone in a guesthouse with no one to support her. She looks fragile and helpless so why is s killer out to get her?from the intelligence wing who has been put in charge of the case and smells something fishy right from the start. He may have a belligerent attitude but at the end of the day only wants to do what's right for Vidya. The film didn't revolve around him but he made sure he got noticed in his short but important role.Director: Anurag KashyapCast: Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Richa Chadda, Huma Qureshi, Vineet Kumar Singh, Tigmanshu Dhulia and Pankaj TripathiThis was a gangster saga set in Dhanbad and was reportedly based on the true story of the warring gangs that controlled the coal business in the area. It's basically a revenge story spilling across generations and involving shifting alliances. Nawazuddin Siddiqui played Sardar Khan's (Manoj Bajpayee) second son Faizal who takes over his father's mantle after the former's assassination. Faizal isn't as hot-headed as the rest of his clan and believes in playing the long game. He sets about earning money and constructing a political base before taking on his enemies. It's not to say that he's averse to killing. In fact, he makes his name by beheading a member of the rival gang. He can foresee danger through his astute mind but in the end is betrayed by a man he trusted. But not before he has avenged his grandfather and father's death. Initially, his character was shown to be very much in awe of Bollywood. This was the definite film which turned the light on Nawazuddin and made him a favourite not only with the critics but the masses as well.Director: Ritesh BatraCast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiquimovie revolves around Irrfan Khan andcharacter but Nawazuddin nevertheless played an important role in it. He played Irrfan's good-natured but slightly incompetent colleague. Saajan (Irrfan Khan) is tasked with training his replacement, Shaikh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), an orphan whose incompetence initially annoys Saajan initially. Saajan has been a recluse since his wifes death and doesn't talk to people easily. Saajan and Shaikh gradually get to know each other better and strike a close friendship as well. At one point, Saajan saves Shaikh's job by covering for his blatant mistakes on pay orders and he also becomes his best man at his wedding with Mehrunissa (Shruti Bapna). It was a role that lent a comic touch to the proceedings while it also helped showcase Saajans humane side.Director: Ketan MehtaCast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika ApteIts a film based on the life of Dashrath Manjhi. Manjhi, widely known as the . Manjhi was a poor labourer in Gehlaur village, near Gaya in Bihar, India, who carved a 25 feet deep, 30 feet wide and 360 feet long path through a hill using only a hammer and chisel, working tirelessly for close to 22 years at a stretch. Dashrath Manjhi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) lives in a small village near Gaya, Bihar, with his wife Phaguniya Devi (Radhika Apte) and his son. Theres a rocky mountain near his village that people either had to climb or travel round to gain access to medical care at the nearest town Wazirganj. One day Manjhi's pregnant wife falls down while trying to cross the mountain and eventually dies giving birth to a girl. Saddened by her loss and enraged by grief, Manjhi decides to teach the mountain a lesson and for 22 years struggles to carve a path through it. Hes made much fun of by the other villagers but doesnt give up the project. His success proves that mountains indeed can be moved if you have the required faith. The chemistry betweenis excellent. Nawazuddin shines both as a young husband and as a bitter old man who struggles against all odds to fulfil his vow.Director: Anurag KashyapCast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sobhita Dhulipala, Vicky KaushalThe film is directortake on the actual case of, a serial killer who had terrorised the homeless living in Mumbai during the 60s. The director added a new twist in the sense that the cop investigating the murder cases too is shown to be a basketcase himself. ACP Raghavan Amrendra Singh Umbi () is a drug addict who comes across the body of his regular dealer and another man, when he goes to buy his supplies. Hes ironically assigned the case and comes to know it might be the work of a serial killer. The police capture the alleged killer Ramanna (Nawzuddin Siddiqui) but he escapes them twice. Ramanna has been keeping watch on Raghavan as he suspects the cop to be a killer just like him. Thats confirmed when in a fit of rage he kills his girlfriend. Ramanna makes a deal with him saying hell go to jail for the killing of the girlfriend if Raghvan agrees to kill the sole witness to the crime. The film was gritty as hell and both Nawzuddin and Vicky topped themselves essaying their complex roles.Director: Shlok SharmaCast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Shweta TripathiThis gem of afilm went unnoticed. Its not every day that our filmmakers make a film around the Lolita complex. The sexual attraction is a spark that can flare between any two people. Thats whats depicted in this complex film.and Shweta his student. The duo gets attracted to each other and soon have an illicit relationship going. Not only ismarried but has another girlfriend as well. And theres a huge age difference there as well. Yet, somehow, a bond develops between the two. Nawazuddin comes to his senses and asks her to discontinue the relationship. But rumours start flying high and low in the small community they live in, leading to tragic consequences.Director: Nandita DasCast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Rasika Dugal, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Inaamulhaqis a hard-hitting biopic of one of our most seminal writers. Saadat Hasan Manto belonged to two worlds. One was inhabited by the progressive writers like Ismat Chughtai, her husband Shahid Lateef, who was both a writer and a filmmaker, Krishan Chander, Rajinder Singh Bedi and others of their ilk. But apart from this fascinating world full of bright lights, bright ideas and bright faces, he also lived in a much darker world inhabited by prostitutes and lowlifes. Manto was also a creature of Bombay. While he was happy with India's Independence, the Partition was like a blow to his soul and he never really recovered from it. Though he was forced to migrate to Lahore, his soul never really left Bombay. This alienation from the city which was his Muse led to severe emotional turmoil.has written a brilliant script depicting the rise and fall of a genius mind. Reality and imagination get juxtaposed as instances from Mantos life get fused with sequences from some of his famous stories.. His quicksilver expressions say more about the man than the chaste Urdu he spouts.Director: Abhijit PanseCast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amrita RaoIts a film based on the life of Shiv Sena supremo. Bal Keshav Thackeray, popularly known as Balasaheb, was the son of social reformist Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, a leading figure in the Samyukta Maharashtra movement.took his fathers political legacy to new heights, forming the radical party Shiv Sena in 1966 to give voice to the aspirations of disgruntled Marathi youth. The party has been known for its strong-handed techniques and its anti-outsiders, anti-Muslim stance. Shiv Sena stayed away from active politics, before winning the Maharashtra state elections in 1995. The film follows his rise from being a political cartoonist in the Free Press Journal in 1959 to mentoring his party to power in 1995. The makers didnt pull any punches and showed him hitting back when his life gets targeted. Hes shown to be a compassionate leader who nevertheless doesnt believe in democracy within his party. His interactions with wife Meenatai show a softer side to the supremo.and the actor intelligently hasnt blindly mimicked the leader but has subtly tried to bring out the ideology and conviction of the man through his acting and has succeeded. Its a film that does justice to one of the most unique politicians of our country and is worth revisiting. CLEVELAND, Ohio Many patrons at restaurants and bars last weekend were seen flouting social-distancing rules. It didnt go unnoticed. You can listen online here. Now Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is putting pressure on businesses to make sure customers keep their space, saying the state is assembling "a large contingent of law enforcement and health officials to conduct compliance checks and refer offenders for prosecution. Violators could lose their liquor licenses, among other potential penalties. Meanwhile, MetroHealth Medical Center expects coronavirus cases to increase as the state reopens, but not so much that it overwhelms healthcare workers. And there are indications the coronavirus could change peoples car-buying habits. Hear cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn discuss these stories and more in todays podcast. The podcast is a summary of cleveland.coms morning newsletter The Wake Up. You can receive The Wake Up through email at 5:30 a.m. each weekday by subscribing here. You can get our podcasts delivered directly to your phone, and we have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here. Do you get your podcasts on Spotify? Find us here. If you use Stitcher, we are here. RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here. On Google Podcasts, we are here. On PodParadise, find us here. 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. - All visitors entering Tanzania will be subjected to "advanced screening" after which they will be admitted inside if cleared by medics - Commanders in vessels travelling to the country will be required to submit passenger manifests prior to arrival to allow for risk assessment - Passengers or crew who will show signs of the disease will be quarantined with direction from health officials - Adherence to social distancing, wearing of masks and washing of hands remain mandatory containment measures The government of Tanzania has announced it will no longer require international visitors to undergo 14 days of quarantine after entering the country. This emerged on Monday, May 18, when the country's Ministry of Health unveiled new guidelines aimed at containing the global scourge. READ ALSO: Yoweri Museveni tells Ugandans to eat 250gms of Ugali per day to save on relief food Tanzania President John Pombe Magufuli. Photo: John Magufuli. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Kenyan newspapers review for May 19: Sins Kithure Kindiki committed that could cost him deputy Speaker job According to the ministry, all visitors or locals returning to the country will undergo "advanced COVID-19 screening" and will be allowed inside if given clearance by health experts. "All travellers, whether foreigners or returning residents entering or leaving the United Republic of Tanzania will be subjected to enhanced screening for COVID-19 infection. There will be no 14 days mandatory quarantine upon arrival," read a statement issued by the health minister Umma Mwalimu. READ ALSO: Muuguzi akamatwa Nakuru kwa kutoroka Nairobi kumtembelea mpenziwe The directive was hinted at by Tanzania President John Pombe Magufuli on Sunday, May 17, when he revealed that tourists would be streaming in the country in their thousands come August 2020. Magufuli said his administration was not going to allow coronavirus dictate how to run the country adding he was not going to lockdown Tanzania, a move he said would choke revenue flow both in his country and neighbouring states. In the fresh regulations, the health ministry stated all people in Tanzania would be required to continue adhering to high stands of hygiene and social distancing in a move to keep the disease at bay. "All international travellers should observe adherence to infection prevention and control measures such as hand hygiene wearing masks and keeping physical distances as appropriate," the statement read in part. In order to give health authorities an upper hand in monitoring the disease, Tanzania said it would require pilots, drivers and captains to provide information about whoever was aboard their vessels prior to arrival to facilitate quick risk assessment. " All arriving and departing conveyancers must provide advanced passenger information so as to allow points of entry authorities to scrutinise the manifest for possible high-risk passengers. Conveyancers will be subjected decontamination if deemed necessary," the ministry directed. President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday closed Kenya's border with Tanzania. Photo: State House Kenya. Source: Facebook On Saturday, May 16, Kenya closed its border with Tanzania following a spike in infections in the country. Between Sunday and Monday, at least 60 truck drivers from Tanzania were referred back after testing positive for coronavirus at the Lunga Lunga and Taveta border points. Last week, Zambia also closed its border with the Magufuli-led country. As of Tuesday, May 19, Tanzania had not released any update on the state of the virus in the country even as it emerged that the infection rate was raising concern. The last time Dodoma released information about the virus was in late April when the health minister confirmed 509 infections, 21 deaths and 183 recoveries. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. My wife pushed me to marry another woman - Pastor Habil Were | Tuko TV. Source: TUKO.co.ke Lesotho's former prime Minister, Thomas Thabane, left, and his wife Maesaiah, right are seated in court, in Maseru on February 24th 2020. - AP The prime minister of Lesotho resigned on Tuesday, three months after he was accused of conspiring to murder his estranged wife, ending a political crisis that has engulfed the tiny southern African kingdom for years. The time to retire from the great theatre of action, take leave from public life and office has finally arrived, the 80-year-old Thomas Thabane said in a speech on Lesotho TV. Mr Thabanes own political party, opposition figures and South African mediators have been piling pressure on him to leave because of the murder investigation for weeks. Now the All Basotho Convention party says it will swear in a new leader on Wednesday. The dramatic news comes after three years of mystery and high charged allegations surrounding the death of 58-year-old Lipolelo Thabane, the prime ministers second wife. In June 2017, Lipolelo was shot multiple times at close range in her car on the outskirts of Maseru, Lesothos capital. After 25 years of marriage, Mr Thabane had tried to divorce Lipolelo in 2012 for a younger partner, Maesaiah. Fearing she would be thrown into poverty, Lipolelo refused the divorce and won a high court case in 2015 allowing her to retain the title and privileges of First Lady. Two days after she was murdered, Mr Thabane was sworn in for a second term as prime minister. Maesaiah was by his side and less than three months after, the pair finally married. The road where Lipolelo Thabane was killed - REUTERS/Sumaya Hisham The drama plunged the country of 2.2 million people, which is entirely surrounded by South Africa, into political chaos. Mr Thabanes daughter from his first marriage accused Maesaiah of being behind Lipolelos death to get to the treasured status of First Lady. Mr Thabane then accused his daughter of trying to dethrone him because of political ambitions for her own husband. In December 2019, Lesothos police said they wanted to question the new wife in connection with the murder, and in February she was charged. Later, authorities said that evidence had emerged linking the gunmen who killed Lipolelo with the prime minister. Story continues A letter from the countrys most senior policeman to the prime minister in December 2019 says: "The investigations [into the murder] reveal that there was a telephonic communication at the scene of the crime in question... with another cell phone... The cell phone number belongs to you. Both Mr Thabane and Maesaiah Thabane have denied any involvement in the murder. Instead, the prime minister clung onto power for months. He suspended parliament, deployed the army onto the streets to quell unrest, tried to arrest those behind the investigation and claimed that his position gave him immunity to charges. But after weeks of mounting pressure, which have seen his government collapse, Mr Thabane finally handed in his resignation to the countrys ruler, King Letsie III, on Monday. Reportedly, finance minister Moeketsi Majoro is set to replace him. The news follows tragic revelations earlier this month by Reuters that Lipolelo had finally agreed to try to end the marriage the day she was shot. "I just want to be looked after," Lipolelo reportedly told a friend the day she died. TUCSON, Ariz., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The prescription drug discount program - ScriptSave WellRx - has announced that it is covering the shipping costs for care packages delivered to pharmacists working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The delivery donations fall under "Operation Relief" - a program launched by WellRx to help millions of Americans who lost their jobs and health insurance from COVID-19. The pharmacist care package initiative was launched by Dr. Jessica Louie as a way to help pharmacists who were experiencing burnout from the long and stressful hours. As a board-certified critical care pharmacist, Dr. Louie had experienced burnout and wanted to help others in her situation. Her personal passion grew into the Spark Joy in Healthcare movement. Showing Appreciation to Pharmacists More than 800 pharmacists and healthcare professionals have already received care packages, with the goal of giving to more than 1,000 pharmacists by May 30. The typical care package comes with affirmation cards, healthy food snacks, personal care items, joy check notepad sheets, and a personalized thank you note. Several sponsors have joined WellRx in sponsoring the pharmacist care outreach, including Blistex, Unreal Snacks, Rise Drinks, Skinny Dipped, PowerUp Snacks, Popzero, and many more. Dr. Louie says pharmacists are also on the front line, creating and delivering medications, but they are frequently forgotten in this pandemic. "Pharmacists are crucial to our healthcare system," said Dr. Louie. "We're creating these prescriptions and making sure patients get the proper care for their symptoms. Customers don't get to see them working behind the scenes, but they are working around the clock. Here's a chance for customers to also say thank you to your neighborhood pharmacist." Dr. Louie says consumers can show their appreciation to pharmacists in this initiative by: 1) Contributing money to help with shipping costs; 2) Purchasing a shirt or notepad (50 percent of sales go toward the packages); 3) Purchasing items from their Amazon Wishlist to include in the packages. Consumers or businesses who have questions on the pharmacist care packages can email Dr. Jessica Louie directly [email protected]. A list of alternative ways to help can be found here. Robert Craver, Marketing Director for ScriptSave WellRx, says his company wanted to help after seeing first-hand the stress and workload that pharmacists across the country are facing. "WellRx felt it was our duty to try and help Spark Joy in Healthcare in any way we could," said Craver. "We asked where we could help most, and they asked us to help with their shipping costs. This is a great way for WellRx to have a direct impact on saying thank you to our pharmacists who are working around the clock with our medications." About ScriptSave WellRx ScriptSave WellRx negotiates drug prices in bulk with pharmacies across the nation, giving it access to pricing information for most prescription drugs being sold at independent and chain pharmacies. It makes these pricing data available at no cost via the free ScriptSave WellRx mobile app and website. The digital health company provides a fast, easy, free way for patients (and healthcare practitioners) to get a second opinion on what an out-of-pocket cost might be. Patients can price-check all their family's medications at most pharmacies in any zip code with just one click. Healthcare practitioners can price-check medications and share savings with their patients using the WellRx for HCPs app. Media Contact Mark Macias [email protected] 646-770-0541 Related Images scriptsave-wellrx.png ScriptSave WellRx SOURCE ScriptSave WellRx A top government scientific adviser has denied that many cases of Covid-19 were missed because taste and smell were not designated as symptoms. England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said very few patients experience loss of taste and smell as a lone symptom of the virus. He said it is often followed by a cough and fever, two of the key symptoms the government has warned people to look out for. His comments come after the loss of, or noticeable change to, taste and smell were added to the NHS list of coronavirus symptoms, weeks after experts first raised concerns that cases were being missed. Experts said that an insistence that only fever and cough were the major symptoms had missed thousands of cases of the virus. When asked whether the UK had missed diagnosis of coronavirus by failing to add loss of taste and smell to the list of symptoms before now, Prof Van-Tam said they were not always the first symptom. He added: "What I can tell you is from the Public Health England data set, called the FF100 - the first few hundred cases - there are actually 229 cases in there, all laboratory-confirmed Covid, all of whom have been studied in considerable detail and 0.44% reported anosmia (loss of sense of smell) on its own as a symptom. So, the point about anosmia is it doesn't always come as the first symptom. "Even if it does, it is followed by the cough, the fever and many of the other symptoms I have talked about, referring to the WHO (World Health Organisation) definition. "So you don't miss those cases. "The important thing was to work out if this would add any sensitivity to the diagnostic cluster we were using and the answer is that it makes a small, a very small difference, and we have therefore decided to do it." In Northern Ireland , SDLP MLA Colin McGrath, who sits on Stormont's health committee, urged people to be aware of the new symptoms. "I welcome the statement issued from the chief medical officers across the UK, which contains an important update on Covid-19 symptoms. "They now consider anosmia, a loss in your sense of smell or taste, as a symptom. If this applies to you, please follow the guidance and isolate with everyone in your household." Dr Connor Bamford, a virologist at Queen's University, said the additional information would help inform the public. "We have known for quite some time that loss of taste and/or smell is associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and Covid-19. "This symptom may even be rather specific to Covid-19. It is encouraging to see it being added to the list of relevant symptoms that would lead to isolation," he added. A study led by Professor Tim Spector at King's College London found that 59% of Covid-19-positive patients reported loss of smell and taste, compared with only 18% of those who tested negative for the disease. Speaking about the findings on April 1, Prof Spector called for the rules to change, saying those with a loss of smell or taste needed to self-isolate. On Monday he heavily criticised the government's stance so far, saying infected people had been encouraged back to work due to a failure to track symptoms properly. He said 50,000 to 70,000 people in the UK with Covid-19 were currently not being told to self-isolate, even though they had the virus. By AFP BRUSSELS: The European Union backed the World Health Organisation and multilateral efforts to fight the coronavirus on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump threatened to quit the global agency. "This is the time for solidarity, not the time for finger pointing or for undermining multilateral cooperation," European foreign affairs spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson told reporters. The EU has sponsored a motion at Tuesday's session of the WHO's annual assembly to urge an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the international response to the pandemic. And the spokeswoman said: "The European Union backs the WHO in its efforts to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak and has already provided additional funding to support these efforts." Not for the first time, this puts Brussels in opposition to Washington, where Trump has accused the UN health agency of being too close to China and of being slow to react to the COVID-19 outbreak. On Monday, the US leader -- who has already frozen US funding for the WHO -- wrote its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to lay out the charges and threaten to pull out. "They're a puppet of China, they're China-centric to put it nicer," he explained. Beijing has furiously denied the US allegations that it played down the threat and Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated at the World Health Assembly that his nation had been "transparent" throughout the crisis. ALSO READ | US threatens permanent funding freeze, membership withdrawal from WHO with 30-day ultimatum Brussels is backing an independent inquiry into how the epidemic erupted and spread, but has tried to lead an international, multilateral response to the crisis and raise funds for vaccine research. New Delhi: As India gears up to celebrate 70th Independence Day on Monday, heavy security deployment can be seen across various cities to maintain peace and harmony. # Multi-tier security shield at Red Fort, nearby areas ahead of More than 8,000 security personnel, including 5,000 men from Delhi Police, have been tasked with ensuring foolproof security arrangement at the venue where a large number of foreign dignitaries and general public will be present on the occasion, a senior police official said. A special team of NSG snipers and commandos will form the inner layers of the security cordon. Anti-aircraft guns have been deployed to thwart any aerial intrusion by objects like drones and projectiles, they said. # Delhi police prohibits aerial activities Ahead of Independence Day, the Delhi Police issued an order prohibiting aerial activities of several kinds including para-gliding, UAVs, hot air baloons, till the second week of October. The restrictions that will continue till October 10 involve para-gliders, para-motors, hang gliders, UAVs, UASs, microlight aircraft, remotely piloted aircraft, hot air balloons, small-size powered aircraft, quadcopters and para jumping from aircraft among others. Special teams of police have been stationed on August 15 to neutralise the possibility of any airborne-activity such as drones. # Security agencies on high alert in Punjab and Haryana Security has been tightened across Punjab, especially in border districts, and Haryana and Chandigarh ahead of Independence Day. Security has been strengthened at the venues where dignitaries will unfurl the Tricolour. A strict vigil is being maintained at important railway stations including Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Panipat, Ambala, besides key inter-state bus terminals and other vital installations, the officials said. # Security beefed up in and around Kolkata, districts Security has been tightened to avoid any untoward incident and entry and exit points of the metropolis have been kept under extensive watch as part of the enhanced security measures across West Bengal, a senior officer of the Kolkata Police told a news agency. Leaves of all policemen across the state have been cancelled till August 20, officials said. # Massive security setup in Jammu "Keeping in view the upcoming Independence Day, present security scenario in the state and impending threats from militants, frisking points have been established in Jammu as well as in rural areas for the security and safety of public," Senior Superintendent of Police (Jammu) Sunil Gupta said. "People are requested to cooperate with police while at checks and frisking points, do not feel it as harassment by the police," he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. WASHINGTON - Attorney General William Barr has installed a new top deputy over the federal prosecutor's office for Washington, raising concerns that a key U.S. attorney's office handling multiple investigations of interest to President Donald Trump is becoming further politicized. The arrival of Associate Deputy Attorney General Michael Sherwin - who won the conviction of a Chinese trespasser at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida in September - has triggered new accusations that Justice Department leaders are bypassing career prosecutors in the office and intervening in cases favoring the president's allies, current and former federal prosecutors in the office said. Barr's actions in cases handed off by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's Russia probe and "packing" of senior supervisory positions with close associates "seriously undermines the U.S. attorney's office in D.C.'s . . . long-standing reputation for independence from political influence," said Charles Work, a former office prosecutor, Republican Justice Department political appointee and president of the D.C. Bar. "This represents a politicization of the U.S. attorney's office of the District of Columbia that is remarkable, and unique, and unprecedented," said Stuart Gerson, a Republican and former Barr aide who served as acting attorney general briefly under presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. "It's a political coup, there really can be no question about it." Barr selected Sherwin, a career U.S. prosecutor from Miami who specializes in national security cases, after first meeting and being impressed by Sherwin in the investigation into the deadly December shooting at a naval air station in Pensacola, Florida, officials said. Department leaders approved his move to the D.C. office after softening its sentencing recommendation for Trump political confidant Roger Stone in February. Sherwin started almost a month before Barr moved to dismiss the guilty plea of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, an action no career prosecutor joined. U.S. attorneys nationwide typically select their own top deputy, current and former prosecutors said. While the attorney general must approve all choices, making a selection himself, and drawing from senior Justice Department leadership to do so, is unusual, they said. The move's timing is also sensitive. As principal assistant to interim U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Shea, Sherwin is in line to take over the office through late December without need of Senate approval if Shea is not appointed by Washington's federal district court before his appointment expires June 2. The White House, Barr, or the court, however could appoint someone else. The Justice Department bars active prosecutors from speaking to media about cases without high level approval. But several assistant U.S. attorneys in the office - each with experience prosecuting violent crimes or public corruption who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss official matters - said they felt "defanged," torn and staggered by the personnel moves coupled with the appearance of special treatment for the president's friends. Some said they have lost credibility when asking for cooperation from defendants, witnesses and victims whose lives depend on their word. "How do I secure a plea now? How do I get victims to trust me? How do I get cooperators to trust me," one said. Others said they expect defense lawyers to seek to exploit reversals and exotic rationales to block cases. Some also fear jurors in a city with pockets of grinding violence will further lose trust in the criminal justice system and will be reluctant to deliver convictions. "Most of my defendants are people of color," one said. "This just reinforces that belief . . . that rules that apply to them, don't apply to the affluent and well-connected." "We're out here trying to hold people accountable, and you have these [president's] guys traipsing in and out of the courtroom like it's nothing?" another marveled. Shea and the Justice Department declined to comment on staffers' criticisms, a spokeswoman said. The upheaval comes as Barr has launched a criminal review into the handling of the 2016 inquiry into Trump's campaign, and taken steps to facilitate the president's calls to investigate his likely 2020 Democratic opponent, former vice president Joe Biden and his family. The U.S. attorney's office in Washington is a traditional choice to handle such cases. The office has 300 lawyers and jurisdiction to prosecute both national security cases and political corruption across the federal government along with local and federal felonies in D.C. Accusations that Justice Department leaders were exerting control over the office were galvanized in February when Barr shifted out initial Trump appointee Jessie Liu as U.S. attorney before Stone's sentencing. Liu had become a focus of Trump's anger after a grand jury balked at indicting former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe. Barr replaced Liu with his own counselor, Shea, as interim U.S. attorney. Shea brought in another aide of Barr's top deputy to serve as the D.C. office's chief of staff and the pair immediately stumbled into a crisis in Stone's case. Within days, all four line prosecutors withdrew from the case when Barr undercut their sentencing recommendation for Stone, Trump's longtime political adviser convicted of lying to a congressional committee investigating Russian interference. In an echo of Stone's case, Flynn prosector Brandon Van Grack, a former Mueller team member, refused to sign the department's April 30 motion to dismiss the former three-star general's prosecution, according to two people familiar with the matter. The other line prosecutor on Flynn's case, Jocelyn Ballantine, and the office's acting criminal division chief, John Crabb Jr., also declined to sign, two people said. That left Shea's signature on the filing alone, mistakenly accompanied by Liu's D.C. Bar identification number, as the New York Times first reported. Flynn had admitted under oath that he lied in a January 2017 FBI interview about conversations with Russia's ambassador related to easing U.S. sanctions. But a federal prosecutor Barr tapped to review the case said it should be dropped because the FBI had no legitimate basis to interview Flynn so his lies were immaterial. Neither Van Grack, who remains with the department's national security division as chief of a foreign lobbying disclosure and enforcement unit, nor Ballantine responded to requests for comment; Crabb declined to comment. Sherwin approved and communicated to prosecutors the decision to give Flynn's defense internal FBI records that the government cited in its dismissal motion, an official said. The decision to move to dismiss the case was Barr's, and approved and communicated to Flynn prosecutors by Shea, who showed them the motion on a day's or less notice, two officials said. Sherwin and a spokesperson for the D.C. U.S. attorney's office referred questions to the Justice Department, whose spokeswoman said it "does not comment on internal, deliberative conversations." A person familiar with the discussions said the disclosure of documents to Flynn "wasn't because of politics, Barr or Shea. It was Sherwin as a career prosecutor saying this is the right call." Line prosecutors said even if decisions came following internal discussions or disagreements, the Flynn decision has heightened concerns that office leaders are following orders from above instead of relying on subordinates' knowledge and training in the law. "This has knocked the wind out of us, that our office would do something like that," said one prosecutor. "The thinking is, we have more integrity than that. ... You file a pleading with the court and then someone sends out a tweet and it gets changed?" Jonathan Kravis, one of four D.C. federal prosecutors who quit Stone's case in February, called the undercutting of "career employees to protect an ally of the president an abdication of the commitment to equal justice under the law." Barr's decision to further "attack" his own silenced employees "sends an unmistakable message to prosecutors and agents - if the president demands, we will throw you under the bus," Kravis wrote. Not all office veterans have been critical of Barr, and many remain supportive, saying the attorney general is doing his job. Charles Roistacher, who served as its No. 3 official under former U.S. attorney Joe DiGenova from 1986 to 1989, said there was nothing improper about the department's latest actions in Stone's or Flynn's cases or personnel appointments. "It is typical when you have a new U.S. attorney that supervisory positions . . . will be replaced. It happened to me," Roistacher recalled, when DiGenova left. He lamented how politicized the office had grown, but said, "The whole process [against Flynn] stunk." Sherwin's supporters say he impressed Barr with his competence and not because of politics or White House connections. Sherwin "is a career prosecutor with a stellar reputation, background and merit," one official said. Three Justice Department officials confirmed he was Barr's choice to take the No. 2 slot in the district office in D.C. They cited Sherwin's work in the investigation of the December shooting in Pensacola, an act of terrorism that led Barr to call on Apple to unlock the shooter's phones. Sherwin, 48, joined the office of Barr's top deputy in October on a 12-month detail after prosecuting a Chinese business executive who breached security while carrying a cache of electronics into Mar-a-Lago. Secret Service agents whom Sherwin interviewed introduced him to Trump, one person said. In a brief chat, Trump discussed the importance of Chinese counterintelligence work and supported the prosecution team. Sherwin came to Washington after 13 years as a U.S. prosecutor in south Florida, eventually specializing in national security investigations. In 2011, he was asked by a deputy of Obama attorney general Eric Holder Jr. to serve in Afghanistan. Sherwin assisted Afghan prosecutors in conducting more than 120 criminal trials over 12 months of suspected terrorist detainees at Bagram Airfield. Prominent Miami white-collar defense attorney David Oscar Markus, who has handled cases against Sherwin and who founded a widely followed blog on South Florida's federal court system, called Sherwin one of only a handful of prosecutors for whom he would vouch. "If you were looking for the person to work a case and make the right decision about it, it would be Michael Sherwin," Markus said. "He's a five tool prosecutor: ethical, apolitical, smart, thoughtful, and unafraid of making the tough, but right, decision." Today Spotio, the leading sales acceleration platform for outside sales teams, announced the launch of its multichannel activity management capability for outside sales teams. In addition to tracking face-to-face sales activity, outside sales teams can now capture other forms of customer communication such as emails, phone calls, and text messages. Field sales reps can easily track and organize multiple forms of customer communication from their mobile device. As a result, outside sales teams can expect to see increased productivity and improved customer engagement. We are extremely excited to extend our platform to include multichannel activity management, said Founder and CEO, Trey Gibson. By enabling field sales reps to easily capture not just visits, but each interaction with their prospects, sales teams will gain exponential value beyond what they can find anywhere else in the market. I couldnt be more proud of our team. Historically speaking, inside sales teams have reaped the benefits from innovation in sales technology, whereas outside sales teams have not been so lucky. Software tailored toward the outside sales rep is few and far between. However, with mass smartphone adoption and expanded network coverage, outside sales teams are now benefiting from mobile-first solutions like Spotio designed for field sales motions. Theres no doubt we have advanced our company's mission of transforming outside sales to achieve more, said Gibson. Companies have never had this level of visibility in the field with their sales team and with more sales teams taking a multichannel sales approach, it only made sense to provide them with a solution to capture those interactions in a frictionless way. Spotio will be offering the extended activity management capabilities for demonstration and purchase immediately. To learn more about the latest launch, visit https://spotio.com/ About Spotio Spotio is a mobile-first solution for outside sales teams to eliminate guesswork, and focus on the highest-impact activity. Backed by Ballast Point Ventures, Spotio has accomplished rapid growth as a 2019 Inc. 500 SaaS company with a mission to transform outside sales teams to achieve more. Thousands of customers rely on Spotio to accelerate growth with their sales teams. Spotio is a privately held company based in Dallas, Texas. GREENWICH The expansion of outdoor dining and shopping along Greenwich Avenue an idea uniquely suited for the pandemic era of social distancing is the initiative behind an online petition thats garnering plenty of support. Greenwich resident Jonathan Loflin launched a petition on change.org that calls for closing Greenwich Avenue to cars and parking and allowing restaurants to set up tables six feet apart in the street to expand outdoor dining. The proposal also would allow outdoor shopping along the sidewalks every day, while businesses begin to slowly reopen from the closures due to the coronavirus crisis. Loflin started the petition last Saturday and as of Tuesday afternoon, it had been signed by over 1,100 people. The petition can be found at www.change.org/SummerStreetsGreenwich. The petition is circulating as some nonessential businesses prepare to reopen beginning on Wednesday while following strict guidelines issued by Gov. Ned Lamont. The state will allow restaurants to offer outdoor dining only, with tables six feet apart under the new rules. Employees and customers must wear face masks except while dining. Loading As for retail stores, some of the reopening guidelines limit customers to 50 percent of capacity or less, with physical barriers while making payments. Fitting rooms and self-serve counters will be closed. Customers and employees must wear face masks at all times, too. Loflin hatched his idea to allow restaurants to set up their tables in the street and retail stores to hold sidewalk shopping imaging an outdoor pedestrian shopping area the length and width of the Avenue while thinking about the gradual reopening. The state and this town are slated to reopen on May 20, and I was thinking how this could be done safely, whats the best way this could be done? Loflin said. My first thought was, how is this going to work on Greenwich Avenue? Loflin emphasized the thought behind his petition is safety comes first shoppers, diners and workers need to practice social distancing. Its hard to socially distance, without using the pavement for tables, and its hard to mix moving cars and diners on the same pavement safely, he said. It occurred to me that not having cars driving down the street would be the right thing to do. The politicians need to hear this from their constituents they need to hear that people are excited about showing up. The Greenwich Chamber of Commerce supports the idea. Our Chamber would very much support any concept that will help our local business sustainability, Chamber President and CEO Marcia OKane said. Providing more outdoor dining and shopping on Greenwich Avenue would be a fantastic idea, one that has been discussed for years. The Avenue offers outdoor shopping during the Sidewalk Sale Days sponsored by the Greenwich Chamber. And pedestrian traffic also increases for Art to the Avenue and the Holiday Stroll which are all popular events in town. Loflin referenced several reports that the virus lives longer when the humidity and temperature are lower. It becomes inactivate faster, as the temperature increases and sunlight can destroy the virus quickly, he said. Part of the petition shows that people are ready to leave the house in a safe way, Lofhelin said. I started by signing the petition myself and shared it with a few people. Everyone I spoke to about it said its a great idea. The safety aspect is important we want restaurants and businesses to open in a safe way. Concern for the vitality of restaurants and retailers during these challenging times is also an issue. These businesses in town you cant expect them to pay their rent throughout 2020, without having any business, Loflin said. This really resonates with the people in town. Its important to support them safely. Maria Correia, managing partner of Douro on Greenwich Avenue, eagerly signed the petition. I think its fantastic, Correia said. Prior to him even sending anything out we thought it would be a good idea to close Greenwich Avenue. Currently, Douro can seat six patrons with outdoor dining. If the petitions cause moved forward, the increased outdoor space would help the restaurant. Our capacity inside is 130, so if things change we can seat probably 65, or so, Correia said. Thats why the petition to close the Avenue would be ideal, because currently, we cannot really take advantage of outdoor seating, with seating only six people. Everyone on the Avenue has that issue. Douro is offering curb-side pickup and white-glove home delivery, she said. Its been extremely tough, mainly because we have a lot of employees who are out of a job, she said. We have customers who have been very loyal to us and we appreciate them very much. The idea of opening up Greenwich Avenue was discussed by both First Selectman Fred Camillo and Selectwoman Jill Oberlander during last years campaign for first selectman. Camillo said he is on board with temporary closures of The Avenue to allow expanded outdoor use for the businesses. He called the idea transformative and said everyone is in love with the idea. This is something that we are not only talking about for the short-term but also for the long-term, he said. My idea is to have Greenwich Avenue closed to vehicular traffic during the warm weather months like from May into the fall. You can go from Memorial Day to Labor Day and maybe even expand it further. By starting closures on Greenwich Avenue at 5 p.m., Camillo said there would be plenty of parking at lots off the Avenue, including at Town Hall, the Board of Education and other spots. There has been talk for decades about what that would look like and what it would do to the downtown area, Camillo said. I think it would really transform our downtown, especially Greenwich Avenue. Its something were working on now. ... We are speaking with fire, police, health, Planning and Zoning and you name it. Theyre all at the table, and were making sure everyones concerns are addressed. Staff Writer Ken Borsuk contributed to this story. dfierro@greenwichtime.com [May 19, 2020] Predata Signals Now Available to SGX's Titan OTC Customers Predata, the predictive analytics company for anticipating geopolitical risk, announced today that it has partnered with Singapore Exchange ("SGX") to provide a select set of Predata signals on iron ore to Singapore Exchange's Titan OTC Platform. These signals are now available on the platform. Titan OTC is a broker assisted over the counter (OTC) order management and information platform, designed to streamline OTC workflows and facilitate market information dissemination. Through the new partnership, Predata is providing Titan OTC users with a set of signals on iron ore to complement Singapore Exchange's international iron ore derivatives products. Selected from Predata's wide range of predictive analytics offerings, these signals are designed to enable users to more easily incorporate geopolitical risks into their commodities portfolios - in this case, by detecting early indications of supply concerns ranging from production factors to raw materials, to shipping infrastructure. "Predata has gained a lot of traction with customers trading commodities. We are excited to be selected by the Singapore Exchange, the world's biggest marketplace for seaborne iron ore derivatives, to make some of our insights on iron ore available to their customers," said Hazem Dawani, CEO of Predata. Daniel Hildebrand, Head of Digital Services at SGX, said, "Our priority is to continuously innovate and enhance our client offerings and give them access to the most helpful information at the right time. Our range of commodity products, including iron ore, continues to be some of our most highly-traded products, with investors increasingly turning to iron ore for macro exposure to the Chinese economy. Predata's predictive analytics is a great addition to the SGX platform and we are confident our Titan OTC customers will welcome the nique and forward-looking insights." Predata has recently been recognized as the newest addition to the CME Group's DataMine platform. The company has also been noted for successfully preparing its customers for several recent geopolitical events. Predata's early indications of coronavirus cases in Italy and the resulting market sell-off was featured on the TD Ameritrade Network. Earlier this year the company was also cited in Reuters for correctly assessing the overreaction in the market following last September's attacks on Saudi oil facilities. For more information about Singapore Exchange and Titan OTC, please visit: https://www.sgx.com/derivatives/platforms. To learn more about Predata solutions and use cases, please visit predata.com. About Predata Predata is the leading AI-company for uncovering predictive behavior in online activity. The company has built the world's most comprehensive predictive analytics platform for geopolitical risk, enabling customers with global exposure to discover, quantify, and act upon dynamic shifts in online attention. The Predata platform provides users with quantitative measurements of digital concern and predictive indicators for thousands of factors covering any given country, operational footprint, economic trend, or other area of interest. For further information, visit www.predata.com or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @predata. About Singapore Exchange Singapore Exchange is Asia's leading and trusted market infrastructure, operating equity, fixed income and derivatives markets to the highest regulatory standards. As Asia's most international, multi-asset exchange, SGX provides listing, trading, clearing, settlement, depository and data services, with about 40% of listed companies and over 80% of listed bonds originating outside of Singapore. SGX is the world's most liquid international market for the benchmark equity indices of China, India, Japan and ASEAN and offers commodities and currency derivatives products. Headquartered in AAA-rated Singapore, SGX is globally recognised for its risk management and clearing capabilities. For more information, please visit www.sgx.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005294/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] TANZANIA, Tanzania - The top U.N. official in Libya warned Tuesday that the war in the North African country will intensify, broaden and deepen because of increasing foreign intervention and the influx of weapons, military equipment and mercenaries to both sides. Acting U.N. special envoy Stephanie Williams said the escalation will have devastating consequences for the Libyan people who are getting lost in the mix, their voices crowded out. She urged the U.N. Security Council to apply consistent and credible pressure on those regional and international actors that are fueling the conflict. Williams video briefing to the council came a day after forces allied with Libyas U.N.-supported government wrested control of a key military base on the outskirts of the capital, Tripoli. from eastern-based forces under commander Khalifa Hifter that have been trying to capture the city of 2 million people since April 2019. Loss of the al-Waitya airbase in Tripolis southwestern desert reaches was a heavy setback for Hifters forces. In a statement late Tuesday, Hifters military command announced that its fighters would retreat 2 to 3 kilometres from Tripolis southern reaches over the last days of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The withdrawal, it said, would expand the buffer zone around the besieged capital to allow families to visit each other safely in celebration of the Eid al-Fitr festival May 23. Hifters forces urged Tripoli militias that support the government to do the same to avoid bloodshed during the holiday. There was no immediate response from the Government of National Accord based in the capital. But Col. Mohamed Gnounou, a spokesman for the Tripoli-allied forces, appeared to dismiss the cease-fire proposal, tweeting that there is no red line and any target that poses a threat ... will be bombed without exception. Hifters push on Tripoli has led mainly to a stalemate but the loss of the al-Waitya airbase in Tripolis southwestern desert was a heavy setback. Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was later killed. The country has since split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each backed by armed groups. The turmoil in the oil-rich country has steadily worsened as foreign backers increasingly intervene despite pledges to the contrary at a high-profile peace summit in Berlin earlier this year. Williams called on Berlin participants to urgently back a halt to the inflow of military support from abroad, which violates a U.N. arms embargo. Turkey has sent armoured drones, air defences to prop up the embattled Tripoli government while Hifters forces are backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russian mercenaries. Syrian militants with links to extremist groups, meanwhile, are fighting on both sides. Libyas U.N. Ambassador Taher Al-Sunni told the council that government forces captured a number of Russian-made air defence systems at the al-Waitya airbase on Monday, destroyed UAE armoured vehicles, and found tons of high-tech weapons. And before that, we shot down several long-range drones made in China, he said. Al-Sunni said government forces and their allies have also killed and captured UAE-recruited mercenaries from Chad, Sudan and Syria and those sent by Russias Wagner Group. The escalation in fighting comes despite increased international pressure on both sides to return to negotiating a political settlement and to halt the violence over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus. Libya has reported at least 65 cases of COVID-19, including three deaths. But Tripoli-based Prime Minister of the Government of National Accord Fayez Sarraj vowed after Hifters forces were routed from the airbase on Monday to liberate all cities and regions in Libya. Ambassador Al-Sunni went further, telling the Security Council: We assure you that the efforts to defeat the aggressor will continue with all our might and by all means to extend the state authority over all the country. The Libyan envoy accused Hifter of rejecting every peaceful solution and delegating himself as the ultimate rule and tyrant of the country, stressing said his hands are stained with the blood of the innocent. Those who have been betting on him have lost their bet, Al-Sunni said. He has taken himself out of any dialogue for peaceful solution. Al-Sunni said thats why the government is now calling on Hifters supporters to put down their weapons and surrender, and side by our nation so we can end this cycle of conflict and sit for dialogue and reconciliation. During the council meeting, Acting British Ambassador Jonathan Allen and U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft called for a halt to the transfer of military equipment and personnel to Libya, singling out Wagner Group mercenaries. U.N. experts monitoring sanctions against Libya said in a report obtained by AP earlier this month that between 800 and 1,200 mercenaries provided by the private Russian security company to support Hifter have acted as an effective force multiplier. Wagner Group activities continue to exacerbate the conflict, the UKs Allen said. Alluding to Russia and the U.N. arms embargo resolution against Libya, he added: I want to urge all Security Council members to abide by the resolutions of this council, which they themselves have voted for. Russias U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council Moscow is concerned about reports of growing violations of the arms embargo and said: We believe the supply of arms and mercenaries should be stopped. Nebenzia said the Russian government has no legislation controlling private military companies and accused the U.N. experts of basing their findings on sources of dubious quality, and of deliberate falsifications about weapons, with the aim of discrediting Russias policy in Libya. ___ Associated Press writer Isabel DeBre contributed to this report Russia: 'US attacks are untenable' A senior Russian official expressed support for the World Health Organization and Russia's ally China in an interview published Tuesday. On Monday, impeached U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to freeze WHO funding, and continued to push disproven conspiracy theories about the origins of the novel coronavirus in China. Tweets from Russian state media and from international media observing today's remarks, below. PREVIOUSLY: The Lancet fact-checks Trump's letter to WHO and Dr. Tedros #BREAKING Russia slams US attempts to 'break' World Health Organization pic.twitter.com/csvTnNOG6a AFP news agency (@AFP) May 19, 2020 #UPDATE President Trump has threatened to pull the US out of the World Health Organization, saying it botched the global #coronavirus response and was a "puppet of China" prompting rebuke from Beijing which said Washington was "shirking responsibility" https://t.co/dXfCoAVeF1 pic.twitter.com/ulRRj8vhUj AFP news agency (@AFP) May 19, 2020 AFP: Russia slams US attempts to "break" World Health Organization amid pandemic Patrick deHahn (@patrickdehahn) May 19, 2020 Russia will oppose any "mock trial" of WHO, China over coronavirus, senate speaker says https://t.co/735igi0qLb Newsweek (@Newsweek) May 19, 2020 #Russia has just been elected to the #WHO Executive Committee. We are ready for constructive work and substantive contribution to the work of the Organization and global cooperation in the field of health. pic.twitter.com/hmdl2Kqdu8 Russian Mission in Geneva (@mission_russian) May 19, 2020 GENEVA The World Health Organization bowed to calls Monday from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the coronavirus, which has been clouded by finger-pointing between the U.S. and China over a pandemic that has killed over 300,000 people and leveled the global economy. The comprehensive evaluation, sought by a coalition of African, European and other countries, is intended to review lessons learned from WHOs coordination of the global response to COVID-19, but would stop short of looking into contentious issues such as the origins of the new coronavirus. U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed he has proof suggesting the coronavirus originated in a lab in China while the scientific community has insisted all evidence to date shows the virus likely jumped into humans from animals. In Washington on Monday, Trump faulted WHO for having done a very sad job and said he was considering whether to cut the annual U.S. funding from $450 million a year to $40 million. They gave us a lot of bad advice, terrible advice, he said. They were wrong so much, always on the side of China. Later Monday, Trump tweeted a letter he had sent WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In the letter, Trump said the only way forward is if WHO can actually demonstrate independence from China. Trump said that unless WHO commits to substantive improvements over the next 30 days, he will make a temporary suspension of U.S. funding permanent. WHOs normally bureaucratic annual assembly this week has been overshadowed by mutual recriminations and political sniping between the U.S. and China. Trump has repeatedly attacked WHO, claiming that it helped China conceal the extent of the coronavirus pandemic in its early stages. Several Republican lawmakers have called on Tedros to resign. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Monday it was time to be frank about why COVID-19 has spun out of control. There was a failure by this organization to obtain the information that the world needed and that failure cost many lives, Azar said. Speaking hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced China would provide $2 billion to help respond to the outbreak and its economic fallout, Azar said the U.S. had allocated $9 billion to coronavirus containment efforts around the world. Tedros said he would launch an independent evaluation of WHOs response at the earliest appropriate moment alluding to findings published Monday in a first report by an oversight advisory body commissioned to look into WHOs response. The 11-page report raised questions such as whether WHOs warning system for alerting the world to outbreaks is adequate, and suggested member states might need to reassess WHOs role in providing travel advice to countries. In his opening remarks at the WHO meeting, Tedros held firm and sought to focus on the bigger troubles posed by the outbreak, saying we have been humbled by this very small microbe. This contagion exposes the fault lines, inequalities, injustices and contradictions of our modern world, Tedros said. And geopolitical divisions have been thrown into sharp relief. China, meanwhile, sought to divert attention to its renewed efforts to slow the coronavirus pandemic, with Xi announcing the $2 billion outlay over two years to fight it. Last year, China donated about $86 million to WHO. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Ullyot characterized Chinas newly announced contribution as a token to distract from calls from a growing number of nations demanding accountability for the Chinese governments failure to meet its obligations. He said that since China was the source of the outbreak, it had a special responsibility to pay more and give more. Xi insisted that China had acted with openness, transparency and responsibility when the epidemic was detected in Wuhan. He said China had give all relevant outbreak data to WHO and other countries, including the viruss genetic sequence, in a most timely fashion. Xi said that in recent weeks, China has dispatched medical supplies to more than 50 African countries and that 46 Chinese medical teams were currently on the continent helping local officials. Other world leaders including the presidents of France, South Korea and South Africa and Germanys chancellor were also piped in to throw their support to the WHO, which has been put on the defensive from a Trump administration that has blamed it for mishandling the outbreak and showering excessive praise on Chinas response. The European Union and others staked out a middle ground. The Trump administration has claimed that WHO criticized a U.S. travel ban that Trump ordered on people arriving from China. Trump ordered a temporary suspension of funding for WHO from the United States the health agencys biggest single donor pending a review of its early response. The advisory body, echoing comments from many countries, said such a review during the heat of the response could hurt WHOs ability to respond to it. Xi said China supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19 and that it should be based on science and professionalism led by WHO, and conducted in an objective and impartial manner. Tedros emphasized that WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a global health emergency on Jan. 30, its highest level of alert, at a time when there were fewer than 100 cases outside of China. In the following weeks, WHO warned countries there was a narrowing window of opportunity to prevent the virus from spreading globally. During the first few months of the outbreak, WHO officials repeatedly described the viruss spread as limited and said it wasnt as transmissible as flu; experts have since said COVID-19 spreads even faster. It declared the outbreak to be a pandemic on March 11, after the virus had killed thousands globally and sparked large epidemics in South Korea, Italy, Iran and elsewhere. ___ AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng reported from London. Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report. And Aamer Madhani contributed to this report from Chicago ___ Follow AP pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak Growing up, I always heard Christians recite the same mantra to non-believers: Believe and youll be saved. I dont disagree with that sentiment, but its easy to get so fixated on this drop that we ignore the ocean its in: The Bible. Its especially easy to ignore the Old Testament because Lamentations is depressing, Daniels visions are trippy and confusing, and Song of Solomon is really awkward. Heres the thing you and I forget 99% of the time: God chose what went in the Bible. So, the fact that the Old Testament exists means that God put it there intentionally. My tiny little human brain cant possibly wrap itself around the thought process of God. It can, however, come up with four things the Old Testament does for those who read it. 1. It Preserves and Passes on the History of God Saving His People Anyone who skims the Old Testament can see that despite being Gods chosen people, the Israelites made a lot of mistakes. Like, a lot. For example, despite seeing God plague Egypt (Exodus 7:14, Exodus 11:10), part the Red Sea (Exodus 14:1-22), and dump the aforementioned sea back on top of their persecutors (Exodus 14:23-31), the Israelites got antsy during Mosess time on Mount Sinai and thought to themselves, This God isnt the real deal. Lets worship a shiny cow instead (Exodus 32:1-5). This was neither the first nor the last of Israels blunders, and God made sure the Bibles authors didnt leave out a single one. But what does God do after the Israelites get it wrong yet again? He saves them. He saves them every single time. Without the Old Testament, you and I wouldnt know half of what God has done to save the Israelites our spiritual ancestors from themselves. We also wouldnt understand the theological or cultural roots the New Testament, in general, and the gospel, in particular, stemmed from. And where would we be if we didnt know the gospel? 2. It Shows That God Is Deeply Invested in Our Everyday Lives Before they came to the Promised Land, the Israelites didnt have a president, prime minister, or even a king. Israel had what us newfangled folk would call a theocracy. In a theocracy, the religion is the state and the state is the religion. This means that the laws laid out in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy werent just thou-shalts and thou-shalt-nots for private life; they were public law, in the same way, paying taxes and stopping at stop signs are the law. Who cares?, you ask, Leviticus is still boring. That may be true, but the fact that the Law of God was also the law of the land shows us something important: God didnt just want to see the Israelites on weekends and Passover. He wanted to be an integral part of their lives so that theyd flourish. This is true of God today: He wants to be with us when we eat our Cheerios, pay our electric bills, and fold the laundry thats been sitting in the dryer all week. Without the Old Testament, we wouldnt know that no detail is too small for our God to care about. 3. It Teaches Us How to Praise God When most Christians think of praise, they think of singing along to Hillsong covers in church. This is largely because the book of Psalms is an anthology of hymns and poetry and partly because singing happy songs on Sunday makes our hearts warm and fuzzy. Because most modern Christian worship comes from happy source material, believers forget that not all praise comes from a joyful place. Jobs love for God cost him everything, some of the psalms (e.g. 28, 38, and 88) are desperate cries for help, and Ecclesiastes is a mope-fest about how meaningless life is. Job, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes are quite different from each other, but they serve the same purpose: To acknowledge God as savior not in spite of hardship and suffering, but because of it. Without these less-than-cheery Old Testament writings, we wouldnt know that pain can and should be harnessed for praise. We would only be able to praise God when we were happy. 4. It Foretells the Coming of Christ God saving Israel, making Himself part of our lives, teaching us how to praise Him whats the point of it all? Why do we need a hodge-podge of facts, rules, and angsty poetry when we have the tried-and-true believe, and youll be saved? Because the Old Testament has something else going for it: Prophecies about Jesus. Isaiah 7:14 tells us Jesus will be called Immanuel, or god with us. The prophet Hosea marries a prostitute as a symbolic representation of Jesus love for the undeserving Church. And Daniel 7:13-14 predicts Jesus second coming. These prophecies and dozens of others gave Old-Testament Israelites something to hope for: An end to the covenant of law and the beginning of the covenant of grace. Modern-day Christians get something out of it, too: The realization that God spent millennia yes, millennia taking care of His family. Why Does This Matter? If you forget everything else about this article, remember this: The New Testament tells us about the reason for our hope, but the Old Testament tells us what God did to give that hope to us. The more of it we read, the more we understand and appreciate the lengths He has gone to for sinful, stubborn, silly people like us who dont deserve it. Sparrowstock Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) New York, United States Tue, May 19, 2020 08:45 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8e9708 2 Business US,automakers,factory-activity,coronavirus,COVID-19,COVID-19-lockdown,COVID-19-quarantine,pandemic,economic-impact Free Two months after effectively freezing American auto manufacturing, Detroit's "Big Three" on Monday began a gradual ramp-up of plants with new configurations and procedures to prevent coronavirus outbreaks. Some hourly workers have expressed concerns about the risks of assembly line activity, where staff traditionally have worked side-by-side. But automakers say they will be able to work while practicing social distancing and taking other measures to protect workers. "We will monitor the situation, adapt accordingly and make any changes to policy in accordance with the CDC/WHO-recommended employee safety practices," General Motors said in a safety flier given to workers. Spokesman for the United Auto Workers Brian Rothenberg said defenders of labor would monitor how things go. "It's still early but I haven't heard of major incidents, and staffing appears to be at or above estimates as people go through protocols," Rothenberg said. As they entered GM plants for Chevrolet, GMC and other brands, GM took the temperature of employees and provided facemasks and other personal protective equipment, company spokesman Jim Cain said. Automakers have disinfected work stations, revamped spaces, staggered shift times and installed soap and cleaning equipment throughout the factories. GM Chief Executive Mary Barra said earlier this month that the company would resume production "in a very cadenced and thoughtful way" with just one shift before adding more. Ford set return-to-work dates for several plants for the week of May 18, while listing a few factories that would not resume until the week of May 25. Ford Chief Executive Jim Hackett said that the company's confidence in the restart stemmed from the success of operations in Europe and Thailand, where workers have been brought back without sparking COVID-19 outbreaks. "We have not found an infection in any of those factories," Hackett told NPR. Hackett said the coronavirus crisis had forced a rethink of plant operations. "Prior to COVID, we would put more than one person in a vehicle as it was moving down the line as they were adding items," Hackett said. "We've rechoreographed that so it's not going to happen." By Trend The price of Azeri LT CIF Augusta, produced at the Azeri-Chirag-Deepwater Gunashli (ACG) oil field, amounted to $36.62 per barrel on May 18, which is $4.35 more compared to May 17, Trend reports on May 19 with reference to the source from the country's oil and gas market. The price of Azeri LT FOB Ceyhan amounted to $35.74 per barrel on May 18, which is $3.88 more compared to May 17. Azerbaijan has been producing Azeri LT since 1997 and exporting it via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and Baku-Supsa Western Export Pipeline, as well as by rail to the Georgian port of Batumi. Azerbaijan also sells its URALS oil from the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, delivering it through the Baku-Novorossiysk oil pipeline. The price of URALS with shipment from the port amounted to $34.76 per barrel on May 18, which is $3.9 more compared to May 17. The cost of a barrel of Brent Dated oil, produced in the North Sea, amounted to $34.07 per barrel on May 18, indicating an increase of $3.88 compared to May 17. (1 USD = 1.7 AZN on May 19) --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Embargoed to 0001 Monday January 18 An e-cigarette next to a normal cigarette, as advertisements for chocolate and bubble gum-flavoured e-cigarettes could attract children to try vaping, according to new research. The sale of menthol cigarettes will be banned in the Republic of Ireland from Wednesday. Health Minister Simon Harris said the purpose of the ban is to ensure that cigarette and tobacco products for sale can no longer include ingredients that would make smoking more palatable. Minister Harris said: Smoking is an addictive and lethal habit. The pleasant taste of menthol masks the true taste of tobacco and might attract first-time smokers or keep people smoking who might wish to quit. The Covid-19 pandemic has made it more important than ever to quit. Expand Close Minister for Health Simon Harris (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Minister for Health Simon Harris (Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland/PA) On May 11 the World Health Organisation said that a review of studies by public health experts found that smokers are more likely to develop severe disease with Covid-19, compared to non-smokers. The prohibition is contained in the EU (Manufacture, Presentation and Sale of Tobacco and Related Products) Regulations 2016 made by the Minister in 2016. The Regulations transposed the 2014 EU Tobacco Products Directive into Irish law. The ban on the sale of menthol cigarettes is a gross restriction on consumer choice that will do nothing to stop children smoking, a campaign group said. John Mallon, spokesman for the smokers group Forest Ireland, said: The ban on menthol cigarettes is a gross restriction on consumer choice that will do nothing to stop children smoking. Mr Harris urged everyone who is thinking about quitting to contact the Health Service Executive (HSE) Quit Smoking service for support. Residents of Bulbul village in Molo, Nakuru County, Kenya have been left in shock after a notorious changaa brewer allegedly murdered her estranged lover early on Sunday. According to eyewitnesses, the duo said to be in their late 40s had a disagreement before the woman identified as Caroline Chepkemoi stabbed her lover, John Kiprono, on the head and chest. After the stabbing left for his village in the nearby Mawe Mbili but Good Samaritans took him to Kapsinet dispensary. Molo Sub County Police Commanders Joseph Karanja confirmed that the man died of his wounds at the Kapsinet dispensary. The body was moved to Elburgon Sub-County mortuary awaiting post-mortem. Meanwhile, police have launched a manhunt for the assailant who is still at large Following the incident, angry locals razed the womans houses. Locals described the assailant as a changaa brewer who has destroyed the lives of many people in the area. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Unfortunately, its the students who end up bearing the brunt of these challenges. We call on Congress and the Department of Education to continue working with colleges on finding and funding solutions to help students during this crisis. Higher education institutions are still struggling to disburse emergency aid grants to students allocated in the last federal coronavirus relief package, largely attributing their issues to confusing and inconsistent guidance from the Department of Education, a survey of NASFAA member institutions shows. The survey was distributed to more than 2,600 institutions in early May, with 587 surveys submitted, resulting in a 23% response rate. Overall, 72% of respondents said guidance provided by the Department of Education did not provide enough direction to allow institutions to distribute emergency grants to students in a timely manner. The Department of Education on April 21 published new guidance that contradicted previous instructions to institutions and declared emergency aid grants provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act be limited to Title IV-eligible students, creating a major hurdle in issuing the grants to students. Notably, more than 80% of respondents across all sectors said the fact that Department of Education released multiple rounds of guidance regarding the CARES Act has either greatly or somewhat delayed their ability to disburse emergency grants to students. Without that guidance, less than 10% of member institutions who responded said they would have used that criteria on their own. Other notable findings include: Roughly 75% of member institutions surveyed including both public and private two-year and four-year said they would require a FAFSA on file for students to receive emergency grants Over 40% of member institutions said they are using a combination of pre-identified students and applications to distribute CARES Act grants Over 50% of respondents said the Department of Education's April 21 guidance limiting emergency grants to Title IV-eligible students greatly altered their plans, with only 3% saying it did not alter their plans at all Less than one-third of respondents said they had disbursed emergency grants to students at the time of the survey Of the member institutions still waiting to disburse emergency grants, 42% said they were waiting on additional guidance from Department of Education and 69% said they still developing policies and procedures for awarding the grants The survey comes as the Department of Education continues to face criticism over its April 21 guidance, with the California Community Colleges System the largest community college system in the country filing a lawsuit against the Department of Education, alleging its reasoning for limiting funds to only Title IV-eligible students was arbitrary and capricious. Schools have been committed to getting these funds to students as quickly as possible, but implementation challenges have taken their toll, said NASFAA President and CEO Justin Draeger. Unfortunately, its the students who end up bearing the brunt of these challenges. We call on Congress and the Department of Education to continue working with colleges on finding and funding solutions to help students during this crisis. For more information and resources on how the spread of the novel coronavirus is impacting student financial aid, please refer to NASFAAs COVID-19 Web Center. To request an interview with a NASFAA spokesperson, please email Director of Marketing & Communications Erin Powers. About NASFAA The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) is a nonprofit membership organization that represents more than 28,000 financial aid professionals at nearly 3,000 colleges, universities, and career schools across the country. NASFAA member institutions serve nine out of every 10 undergraduates in the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., NASFAA is the only national association with a primary focus on student aid legislation, regulatory analysis, and training for financial aid administrators. For more information, visit http://www.nasfaa.org. Regional travel within New South Wales will ease in just two weeks following a relaxation of coronavirus lockdown restrictions. The state government on Tuesday confirmed intrastate travel will be allowed from June 1. Premier Gladys Berejiklian will confirm the new changes on Wednesday, 7News reported. The decision comes after almost two months of strict lockdown restrictions, which has seen people confined to their homes unless their travel is absolutely necessary. Australia's travel and tourism sector were crippled when the COVID-19 pandemic swept the nation. Regional travel within New South Wales will ease in just two weeks following a relaxation of coronavirus lockdown restrictions Residents in New South Wales will have plenty of options for travel, including the scenic coasts or Byron Bay State and international borders were closed, entire fleets were grounded and entire swathes of the sector found themselves among one million other Aussies who were suddenly out of a job. Earlier on Tuesday, the Premier said she worked closely with regional communities before making her decision. 'Some want it desperately because they appreciate the economic activity that will bring, and others are a bit more anxious about what that means,' she said. It comes as Ms Berejiklian clashed with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk after the latter said she may not reopen her state borders until September. Ms Palaszczuk said her state government hoped to ease some interstate travel by July, but not necessarily for people in New South Wales. The state government on Tuesday confirmed intrastate travel will be allowed from June 1 'That could be for example South Australians coming to Queensland, because South Australia does not have community transmission,' the Premier said. 'I am not going to put at risk the lives of Queenslanders there is community transmission in NSW and Victoria. If other states want to look at working with Queensland, absolutely I am open to that. Western Australia and South Australia have also signalled borders could remain shut until the end of winter. A spokeswoman for the Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney told Daily Mail Australia it was imperative that New South Wales allowed regional travel as soon as it was safe to do so. 'Tourism is going to be so important to the social and economic recovery of NSW. Future travellers can give our regional communities the boost they need to bounce back by visiting and spending locally,' she said. 'Once regional travel in NSW is allowed, it will be more important than ever for us all to practice physical distancing and good hygiene to protect ourselves and those we come into contact with.' Phukets latest COVID case a Patong shopping centre staffer PHUKET: Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) Chief Dr Thanit Sermkaew today (May 19) confirmed that Phukets latest confirmed case of COVID-19 was a 27-year-old Thai woman who worked at a shopping centre in Patong. CoronavirusCOVID-19healthpatong By Khunanya Wanchanwet Tuesday 19 May 2020, 04:55PM Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) Chief Dr Thanit Sermkaew. Photo: PR Phuket Dr Thanit declined to specify which shopping centre the woman worked at. The woman had travelled to Prachinburi with one of her two female roommates with whom she lived with in Patong. After the pair had arrived in Prachinburi, the roommate was confirmed as infected with COVID-19, he said. The PPHO was notified of the case by Prachinburi Provincial Health Office on May 8, Dr Thanit explained. Officials immediately tracked down the woman in Phuket, now branded as Case 225, and confirmed that she was not experiencing any signs of infection. She also initially tested negative for the virus on May 8, Dr Thanit said. The woman explained that on Mar 17 she had lost the sense of taste and smell, but still had no fever. Later, those symptoms disappeared, Dr Thanit noted, explaining why the woman had not presented herself to a doctor. We had her placed in quarantine at Patong Hospital as a precaution. She was tested again for the virus on May 15, and she tested positive, he said. Phuket health officials on May 8 also had the womens remaining roommate in Patong immediately placed under quarantine at Patong Hospital, Dr Thanit confirmed. The roommate has tested negative for the virus twice, but remains in quarantine at the hospital as a precaution, Dr Thanit said. Samples from the roommate in quarantine at Patong Hospital have been sent to Ramathibodi Hospital and the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute, both in Bangkok, to confirm whether or not she is not infected, he added. Similarly, samples from the four cases reported as positive in Phuket last Sunday have also been sent to Bangkok for confirmation, Dr Thanit said. Until those results come back, their status remains unchanged as confirmed as positive, he said, adding that he expected the test results from Bangkok to be returned no later than next week. Currently, all four people are still in quarantine at Vachira Phuket Hospital, he Dr Thanit said. There will be no decisions as to whether any areas will be placed under lockdown again until those test results have been confirmed, he added. US Condemns WHO for Excluding Taiwan By Nike Ching May 18, 2020 The United States is strongly condemning Taiwan's exclusion from the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO). WHA began its annual meeting Monday, which took place virtually for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Taiwan said it did not receive an invitation to participate as an observer despite strong efforts and "an unprecedented level of international support." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Taiwan's exclusion in a statement, saying WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had "every legal power and precedent" to include Taiwan, but did not, under pressure from China. "The Director-General's lack of independence deprives the Assembly of Taiwan's renowned scientific expertise on pandemic disease, and further damages the WHO's credibility and effectiveness at a time when the world needs it the most," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday. The condemnation comes at a time when the U.S. is suspending funding to the WHO and calling for the agency's reform. The U.S. contends WHO failed at its "core mission" of information-sharing and its "basic duty" to investigate early reports of the coronavirus. Washington has also called out what it says is China's oversized influence on the WHO amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Senior U.S. officials have said the type of reforms that Washington wants the WHO to enact should include supporting Taiwan's participation. "The status quo is intolerable. WHO must change, and it must become far more transparent and far more accountable," said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar in his remarks to WHA plenary on Monday. "It is also critical that Taiwan participates as an observer at the WHA, to bring the helpful perspective regarding their effective and exemplary response," Azar added. "WHO barred Taiwan from participation in 2016 just a few months after Taiwan's free and fair elections. The health of 23 million Taiwanese people should never be sacrificed to send a political message." Taiwan has mounted one of the world's most successful efforts to contain the pandemic to date, despite its close proximity to the original outbreak in Wuhan, China. Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu expressed "deep regret and strong dissatisfaction that the World Health Organization Secretariat has yielded to pressure from the Chinese government and continues to disregard the right to health of the 23 million people of Taiwan." In a joint letter to the WHO director-general, the U.S., Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand said WHO's exclusion of Taiwan has created a serious public health concern during the COVID-19 crisis. Delegates from Taiwan had attended the World Health Assembly as non-voting observers from 2009 to 2016. China has since blocked Taiwanese representation at the event after the self-ruled democracy elected Tsai Ing-wen, a China skeptic, as Taiwan's president in 2016 and she won re-election in 2020. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan, but Tsai rejects the Beijing government's condition for dialogue that both sides belong under one flag. The two sides have been separately ruled since the 1940s. China's reaction In Beijing, Chinese officials are denouncing Washington's allegation that China is hiding key information on the coronavirus and the U.S. call for China to allow international scientists access to the Wuhan Virology lab and other facilities that may have played a role in igniting the pandemic. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian fired sharp words Monday at Pompeo, who has consistently been critical of Beijing's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. "This U.S. politician has been a lying blabbermouth. It's a waste of time to comment on his fabrications," said Zhao of the U.S. secretary of state. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, has dismissed claims that he offered a $10 million incentive to the leadership and members of the House of Representatives to pass the controversial Control of Infectious Diseases Bill, 2020 into law. Represented by the country representative of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Pauliu Basinga, Gates said he had no such interaction in what ever means between him or his foundation and the lower legislative chamber. Read Also: Court Stops House Of Reps From Passing NCDC Bill, Summons Gbajabiamila Advertisement The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has recently been made aware of an allegation circulating in certain elements of the Nigerian media that the foundation was involved in a payment purportedly made to the Nigerian House of Representatives. Any such allegations are entirely false and without merit. To be clear, the foundation has not offered any financial incentives to any member of Nigerias legislative branch for the passage of legislation nor has it offered any grants to organisations in Nigeria in connection with the same. The foundation adheres to strict ethical and legal guidelines across all areas of its operations, he stated. Afghan security forces on Tuesday repelled a fierce Taliban attack on Kunduz, officials said, a strategic city in northern Afghanistan that had briefly fallen to the militants twice in the past. Taliban fighters attacked several outposts of Afghan forces on the outskirts of the city at around 1:00 am, triggering fierce fighting, a defence ministry statement said. "With the support of air force their attack was repelled. Eleven Taliban were killed and eight wounded," it said, adding that the fighting lasted for several hours. Both sides have repeatedly clashed in rural areas in recent months, but an attempt to enter a city like Kunduz is seen as a serious escalation. It follows a declaration by President Ashraf Ghani last week to resume offensive strikes against the insurgents, after a string of brutal attacks. The Taliban responded to the order by vowing to increase attacks against Afghan security forces. During Tuesday's fighting, the insurgents managed to briefly capture an Afghan army post, killing one soldier, but it was quickly retaken by security forces, Hadi Jamal, an army spokesman in northern Afghanistan told AFP. The Taliban were not immediately available for comment. The insurgent group briefly captured Kunduz, a strategic city not far from the Tajikistan border, twice before -- in September 2015 and again exactly a year later. The latest attack on the city came a day after the Taliban killed at least seven Afghan intelligence personnel in a car bomb attack in the eastern province of Ghazni. Last week, gunmen stormed a hospital in Kabul killing 24, including mothers and infants. That attack, which triggered international outrage, was followed by a suicide bombing at a funeral which killed at least 32 mourners. The Taliban denied involvement in those attacks, although Ghani blamed the militants and the Islamic State group for the bloodshed. Officials say the assaults are part of the Taliban's undeclared spring offensive. Violence has spiked since the Taliban signed a deal with Washington in February, under which Washington said it would pull its troops out of the country. The Taliban have carried out more than 3,800 attacks and killed 420 civilians and wounded 906 since signing the deal with Washington, officials say. Hyderabad, May 19 : Four more persons died of Covid-19 in Telangana on Tuesday, taking the death toll in the state to 38. This is one of the highest single fatalities in the state in over one-and-half months. The state Health Department has not disclosed the details of the four deceased. The state continued to see a surge in Covid-19 cases with 42 people testing positive on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases to 1,634. Greater Hyderabad accounted for 34 cases. Eight migrants also tested positive. With this, the number of migrants tested positive so far rose to 77. Nine persons were discharged from hospital up on their recovery on Tuesday, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,011. Number of active cases now stands at 585. According to a media bulletin by the Director of Public Health and Family Welfare, 25 out of 33 districts have not recorded a single positive case for 14 days. Three districts have not reported a single case so far. Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao has said except in four zones in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), there are no Covid-19 cases in the state. On Monday, the Chief Minister declared the entire state except the containment areas in the state capital as a green zone and announced relaxations in the lockdown while extending it till May 31. Barring the containment areas, the government has permitted economic activity in rest of the state. It allowed re-opening of shops, government and private offices, industries and factories. Buses of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) also resumed plying across the state. However, city bus services in Hyderabad and inter-state services remained suspended. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump said he is taking a malaria drug to protect against the coronavirus, despite warnings from his own government that it should only be administered for COVID-19 in a hospital or research setting due to potentially fatal side effects. Trump told reporters Monday he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily "for about a week and a half now." Trump has spent weeks pushing hydroxychloroquine as a potential cure or prophylaxis for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of many of his administration's top medical professionals. The drug has the potential to cause significant side effects in some patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus. At the White House, Trump said his doctor did not recommend hydroxychloroquine to him, but that he requested it from the White House physician. "I started taking it, because I think it's good," Trump said. "I've heard a lot of good stories." President Donald Trump walks across the South Lawn of White House in Washington, Sunday, May 17, 2020. Trump was returning from nearby Camp David, Md.AP Photo/Alex Brandon The White House physician, Dr. Sean Conley, said in a statement released through the White House press office that, after "numerous discussions" with Trump about the evidence for and against using hydroxychloroquine, "we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks." The Food and Drug Administration warned health professionals last month that the drug should not be used to treat COVID-19 outside of hospital or research settings, due to sometimes fatal side effects. Regulators issued the alert for the drug, which can also be used to treat lupus and arthritis, after receiving reports of heart rhythm problems, including deaths, from poison control centers and other health providers. Trump dismissed reports of side effects, saying, "All I can tell you is, so far I seem to be OK." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN, "He's our president, and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and his, shall we say, weight group ... morbidly obese, they say." Trump is 73. At his last full checkup in February 2019 he passed the official threshold for being considered obese, with a body mass index of 30.4. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a BMI of 40 or above is considered "severe" obesity, which some also call "morbid" obesity. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer called Trump's remarks "dangerous." "Maybe he's really not taking it because the president lies about things characteristically," Schumer said on MSNBC. He added: "I don't know whether he is taking it or not. I know him saying he is taking it, whether he is or not, is reckless, reckless, reckless." At least two White House staffers tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, sparking concerns about the steps taken by the administration to protect the president and sending Vice President Mike Pence and other officials into varying forms of self-isolation. The White House has since mandated that those in the West Wing wear face coverings and has introduced daily testing for the virus for the president, vice president and those they come in close contact with. Trump says he continues to test negative for the coronavirus. Trump last underwent an "interim" checkup in a November visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that was not noted on his public schedule. His last complete physical took place in February 2019. Several prominent doctors said they worried that people would infer from Trump's example that the drug works or is safe. "There is no evidence that hydroxychloroquine is effective for the treatment or the prevention of COVID-19," said Dr. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association. "The results to date are not promising." Hydroxychloroquine can cause potentially serious heart rhythm problems even in healthy people, but "it's hard to infer" that Trump's artery plaque, revealed in tests from his 2018 physical, makes the drug especially dangerous for him, Aronoff said. White House officials did not say whether any other administration officials were also taking the drug. Trump said he took hydroxychloroquine with an "original dose" of the antibiotic azithromycin. The president has repeatedly pushed the use of the drug with or without the azithromycin, but no large, rigorous studies have found them safe or effective for preventing or treating COVID-19. Two large observational studies, each involving around 1,400 patients in New York, recently found no benefit from hydroxychloroquine. Two new ones published Thursday in the medical journal BMJ reached the same conclusion. U.S. prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine surged roughly 80% in March to more than 830,000 compared with same period in the prior year, according to data tracking firm IQVIA. That jump in prescribing came before the federal government accepted nearly 30 million doses of the drug donated to the strategic national stockpile by foreign drugmakers. Since then, millions of those tablets have been shipped to U.S. hospitals nationwide for use treating patients with COVID-19. By ZEKE MILLER, MARILYNN MARCHIONE and DARLENE SUPERVILLE, The Associated Press More: Schumer calls on VA to explain use of unproven drug on vets Lawsuit: Unethical COVID-19 research being done on Pa. nursing home residents due to lack of state inspections Pa. school directors threat to shoot anyone without a mask who comes close to her rankles some in community Houston Police Department A Houston police officer who died in a wrong-way collision last year was intoxicated at the time of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Monday. Gizelle Solorio, 32, was off duty on Dec. 19 while driving down Interstate 10 near Sealy. She was driving east in the westbound lanes when she collided with a truck tractor. She died upon impact. Based on toxicology results, investigators ruled that intoxication contributed to the wreck, according to a DPS statement. In the battle of Biden vs. Trump, money may be less important than ever. Bidens task of defining and attacking Trump is already done; much of it, the president has done to himself. Its difficult to imagine a voter in America who is not thoroughly familiar with the subject, and data suggest that most people settled on their conclusions some time ago and arent budging. Biden is less familiar but only by comparison to the most-watched person in the world. He will have plenty of money to do all the advertising he needs. Cookies op Tweakers Tweakers maakt gebruik van cookies Tweakers is onderdeel van DPG Media en maakt gebruik van cookies, JavaScript en vergelijkbare technologie om je onder andere een optimale gebruikerservaring te bieden. Functionele en analytische cookies die door Tweakers zelf geplaatst worden, worden gebruikt om de website goed te laten functioneren, bezoekersstatistieken bij te houden en a/b-testen uit te voeren. Ook kan Tweakers hiermee het gedrag van bezoekers vastleggen en analyseren. Cookies kunnen daarnaast worden gebruikt om op Tweakers advertenties te tonen die aansluiten bij je interesses. Daarbij kan gebruikgemaakt worden van bezoekersprofielen die door derden zijn opgesteld. Ook kunnen derden je internetgedrag volgen, zoals bijvoorbeeld het geval is bij embedded videos van YouTube. Tot slot kunnen cookies worden gebruikt om op sites van derden relevante advertenties te tonen. Content van derde partijen, zoals embedded videos van YouTube, wordt met een trackingvrij abonnement standaard uitgeschakeld. Indien je deze content wilt zien, kun je hier expliciet toestemming voor geven. Wil je meer informatie over cookies en hoe ze worden gebruikt? Bekijk dan ons cookiebeleid. Accepteer cookies ... Om deze pagina op Tweakers te kunnen bekijken, moet je cookies accepteren. Cookies accepteren Heb je al een account? Dan kun je hier inloggen! Germany's energy regulator on Friday declined to grant a waiver of European Union gas directives to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. A Russian pipe-laying vessel, Academic Cherskiy, and which Moscow can use to finish laying pipes for the Nord Stream 2 gas project, has moored near the German logistics hub in Mukran, Refinitiv Eikon tracking data showed on Monday. Led by the state gas company Gazprom, Nord Stream 2 had to suspend pipelaying works late last year, hit by fresh U.S. sanctions, Reuters said. The project is aimed at doubling existing undersea flows to Germany to 110 billion cubic metres per year. Read alsoGermany refuses to exempt Russian Nord Stream 2 from EU Gas Directive rules Cherskiy, bought by Gazprom in 2016, has sailed from the Russian Pacific port of Nakhodka where it was docked in December when the U.S. sanctions put the plan to finish the remaining 160-km stretch near the Danish island of Bornholm on hold, according to the Refinitiv Eikon data. Nord Stream 2 declined to comment on the timeline but, without naming specifically Cherskiy in a statement to Reuters, said that it was "forced to look for new solutions to lay the remaining 6%". "Nord Stream 2 as well as the companies supporting our project are convinced that the soonest possible commissioning of the pipeline is in the interest of Europe's energy security," the consortium said in an email. Gazprom did not reply to a request for a comment. The original pipepayer, the Swiss-Dutch company Allseas, stopped works due to the sanctions and President Vladimir Putin has said that Nord Stream 2, aimed at bypassing Ukraine, could be now launched by end-2020 or early next year. Germany's energy regulator on Friday, however, declined to grant a waiver of European Union gas directives to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, dealing a fresh blow to the project to carry gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The Nord Stream 2 consortium also includes Uniper, Wintershall-Dea, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV and Engie. Australia on Tuesday welcomed international support for an independent coronavirus pandemic investigation as China ratcheted up a bilateral trade rift by placing tariffs on Australian barley. The World Health Organization bowed to calls Monday from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the coronavirus. The comprehensive evaluation, sought by a coalition of African, European and other countries including Australia, is intended to review lessons learned from WHO's coordination of the global response to COVID-19, but would stop short of looking into contentious issues such as the origins of the respiratory virus. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne had earlier welcomed the apparent majority support for the motion, saying her government wanted the inquiry to be impartial, independent and comprehensive. Australia is seen as a leader in rallying global support for an inquiry, attracting Chinese criticism that it is parroting the United States and inviting a Chinese boycott of exports and services. Australian government critics have argued that Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative administration should have gathered allies before antagonising Australia's most important trading partner. The trade dispute is the first time Beijing has used access to its huge markets as leverage in its campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak. But it has used the tactic regularly against governments from Norway to Canada in political disputes over the past decade. China's Ministry of Commerce announced tariffs of around 80% on Australian barley from Tuesday, a crop the Chinese argue is subsidised by the Australian government. China banned beef imports from Australia's four largest abattoirs a week ago over labeling issues. Many observers say the trade disputes are punishment for Australia's demand for transparency over the pandemic. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham on Tuesday described the tariff decision as deeply disappointing, but welcomed the endorsement of a coronavirus inquiry by the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, in Geneva. Our government welcomes the cooperation and support from countries right around the world, Birmingham told Nine Network television. Australian barley farmer Andrew Weidemann said the tariff barrier stops the trade completely with Australia's biggest customer. Weidemann estimated the tariffs would cost the Australian economy more than 500 million Australian dollars ($326 million). It's a really bitter pill to swallow, Weidemann said. It's a real dent in our economy and it will have a big impact. In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China is looking into trade issues between the sides in accordance with related laws and World Trade Organization rules. He said the international consensus is that anti-epidemic cooperation remains a top priority, and it is not time to immediately activate the review and investigation into origins of the virus. Birmingham said Australia is prepared to take China to the World Trade Organization over both the beef and barley issues. Chinese officials routinely refuse to confirm a trade disruption is related to a political clash but make it clear Beijing wants concessions. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The myriad downsides of dealing with the novel coronavirus are making life inordinately difficult for the proprietors of Texas wineries, so many of whom have put lively, interactive tasting rooms front and center in their business models. But the insidious modern-day plague hasnt been without a smidgen of upside. At least our vineyards are getting a whole lot more attention than they normally would this time of the year, said Ron Yates, the winemaker at both his eponymous winery in Hye and his original Hill Country property about 40 miles away in Spicewood. Vines can be fun in their own way, but theyre lousy conversationalists. The affable Yates admits he greatly misses bantering in person with his customers, over a glass of this or that. If youre inclined to sample his world-class Spicewood Sauvignon Blanc, for example, he wants to be able to look you in the eye and tell you why that grape can work in Texas, against long odds. But Yates said he has not yet wrapped his head around the best way to balance the favorite part of his job with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, admitting, I just dont know when Im going to let people back into the actual tasting room - never mind that, as of Friday, Texas tasting rooms can operate at 25 percent capacity, where restaurants have been for the past couple of weeks. At the time we spoke, tasting rooms still werent allowed to be open, period, which was hugely problematic because, he said, We built our reputation on hand-to-hand sales so weve got to come up with other solutions. One thats newly in the mix: Buy a case or more of his wines, and hell do a private virtual tasting via Zoom with you. Or, if you simply must have real face time and its a pretty spring afternoon, reserve an outdoor table at either winery, then pick up a couple of wines that pique your interest. Wearing a mask, hell come out to discuss them, standing a comfortable distance away. Reservations are required, for six people maximum. Weve got to be a little more prepared for exactly whos coming, he said. Yates further promises the tables will be at least 50 feet apart. Because his respective lawns are similarly expansive, that wont be an issue. These uncharted waters have presented him and his peers with daunting challenges that werent on anybodys radar even six months ago. But you either figure it out or failure becomes a frighteningly real option. Be assured that the best and brightest winemakers/entrepreneurs such as Yates and his U.S. 290 neighbor Doug Lewis, the young gun behind Lewis Wines, are going to bed every night with their thinking caps on tightly. Pedernales Cellars, where Lewis honed his skills as a cellar rat before striking out on his own, also has a strict six-person limit with a maximum of 20 guests on the property at any given time. Visitors can taste for only 45 minutes before having to make a purchase. Thats a prime example of not letting perfect get in the way of good. As for Lewis, like Yates, he was also in no rush to get folks back through the doors of his airy new tasting room in Hye. Ive got doctors and veterinarians in my family, he said, so I understand (the medical aspects of the disease) to a degree. Im not willing to put any of my employees or customers in harms way to be a data point. Its going to be wait-and-see for me. The good news for Lewis, whos celebrating his winerys 10th anniversary this year (never mind that hes still only 33), is that online sales have increased about a thousand percent. Nonetheless, even that big of a bump hasnt been enough to offset what he has forfeited in tasting-room revenue. Fortunately, he said, hes no longer over-contracted in terms of the grape tonnage that hes obligated to buy going forward, nor is he sitting on too much wine I cant sell. Additionally, he scored a government-backed payroll loan that made it possible to keep his staff largely intact. The upheaval caused by COVID-19 is uniquely frustrating for Texas producers because the leaps-and-bounds progress made in recent years has been suddenly threatened by forces far beyond their control, issues that had nothing to do with the decisions they made in their vineyards or cellars. As Yates noted, After 12 years, I finally got the machine moving in the right way. The vineyards are getting there, and the wine is continually improving. Were doing good stuff, but now Ive to change how I sell it. Long-established vintners such as Fall Creek Winery owners Ed and Susan Auler, who launched their businesson the shores of Lake Buchanan nearly a half-century ago, are arguably better better positioned to weather the COVID-19 storm than newer wineries. But dont assume they are any less nervous, or that their wealth of experience makes having to adjust on the fly any less perplexing. Black swan events, as is this current scourge, tend to leave everyone in pretty much the same boat. Texas wineries are agricultural businesses with lots of farmer families depending on our viability, said Susan Auler, supporting a quick return to business as usual for the states tasting rooms. Every day we are closed is detrimental to the economic survival of (thousands) in farming and many more in associated businesses. Please get the word out to (Gov. Greg Abbotts task force) and the TABC (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission) that wineries should be treated as restaurants since we all serve complementary food to enhance the guests experience. Abbott, however, chose to keep tasting rooms tethered to the rules for bars, meaning they will remain limited to a quarter of their regular capacity come Friday, when restaurants can go to 50 percent. But there remains, to be sure, plenty of gray area going forward in what can only be described as no frivolous pun intended a most fluid situation. I like to say if youre dumb enough to grow grapes in Texas, youre going to deal with some problems, Yates said. The wine business never surprises me. But this thing surprised me. sportywineguy@outlook.com Actor Carice van Houten says she loved the ending of Game of Thrones and believes it was "ungrateful" of fans to criticise the series finale for not being what they were expecting. The Dutch star played the role of the Red Woman Melisandre across seven seasons of the epic HBO fantasy show, which ended in May 2019. Van Houten believes the criticism of the series finale was a "sign of how good the show was". "The fact that some people were so disappointed is because everything before that was so good. So it feels a bit ungrateful. You've had such great times and then yeah, you're going to be disappointed because it's not going to go exactly how you anticipated," the 43-year-old actor told Insider. Van Houten further said she liked the finale, in which Isaac Hempstead Wright's Bran Stark was announced as the chosen leader to rule the Westeros. "I loved the ending. I loved the randomness of just picking a king. That's why I loved the first season, the guy who actually was king (Robert Baratheon played by Mark Addy), didn't want to be king, so we already got a lesson in the beginning: 'Why are you striving for that sort of power when, obviously, it doesn't make you happy?'" she said. The actor also talked about the fan petition that urged HBO to make a new final season of the show with new writers replacing showrunners David Benioff and Dan B Weiss. Also read: George RR Martin slams toxic fans over Game of Thrones finale backlash "People sometimes take it too far and get too personal, but I can't take that seriously. I just thought it's people being really emotional about this show. It just always amazes me how people can go behind their computer and just type 'die b***h die,' I'm fascinated by that human psyche," Van Houten said. "That's beyond fandom. That's extremism. That's scary. Knowing the writers and knowing how f***ing great they are, they don't deserve that. I think they are probably cool enough to deal with that but still, they are human beings, they are trying to make a good product," she added. Follow @htshowbiz for more The post-corona order has arrived. In this new milieu, filtered by privilege, exists a self-conscious, almost-tyrannical, focus on well-adjustedness, with one's surroundings. Unhappiness is the supreme vice as officialdom increasingly weaponises mental illness and gaslights its own critics. Saturdays attack on a Vizag doctor, who red-flagged the shortage of N-95 masks and PPE kits for nurses and doctors, so critical in preventing them from themselves turning into unwitting sources of the virus is a case in point. Anaesthesiologist K. Sudhakar of the Narsipatnam government hospital had been suspended in April, purportedly on disciplinary grounds, after he urged the supply of more equipment. On Saturday, he was accused of creating a ruckus outdoors by the police who kicked and dragged him along the road before taking him away in an autorickshaw. He was then committed to a mental facility. As the doctor, in a fit of rage, was heard using derogatory words against the chief minister, the incident is now being politicised. Mental illness is an old stick used to beat whistleblowers, as well as victims who show up the failures of communities and administrations. Government institutions, the world over, are known to suppress internal complaints through actions ranging from maliciously finding fault to sustained campaigns of slights and obstructions. Consider the case of immunologist Rick Bright, head of Barda (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority), who warned the United States government against Covid unpreparedness in America as far back as January. He was accused of creating a commotion and demoted. But he still got a chance to make his point before the Congress last week. When will Indias Rick Brights get a fair hearing? Post-Covid, it wont be a kinder India even if it is a kinder world. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) Government officials are in close consultation with airline companies regarding the possible building of regional hubs particularly in areas under more relaxed quarantine measures amid calls to gradually reopen select airports around the country, Malacanang said Tuesday. In his virtual media briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said authorities are "working out the details" on how areas placed under the general community quarantine can resume commercial travel and flights soon. "Sa huling pagpupulong po ng IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force), nag-report 'yung ating director general sa CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines). Sinabi nga niya na although possible na ang GCQ-to-GCQ travel, eh kinokonsulta pa nila 'yung mga airlines about the possibility of starting regional hubs," Roque said. [Translation: In the latest IATF meeting, our CAAP director general had a report. He said that although the GCQ-to-GCQ travel is possible, they're still consulting airlines about the possibility of starting regional hubs.] "Ang problema kasi, Manila and Clark are still under MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine). Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu is not. So 'yan, pwede 'yan maging regional hub. Pero they are working out the details po kung paano mare-resume, somehow, ang commercial travels sa mga GCQ areas." [Translation: The problem is, Manila and Clark are still under MECQ. Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu is not. So maybe that can be a regional hub. But they are working the details of how commercial travels in GCQ areas can somehow resume.] Senator Richard Gordon, in a statement Monday, urged authorities to consider the reopening of airports in Clark, Subic, and Mactan, saying the move will help aid the repatriation program for stranded overseas Filipino workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he had written to the IATF regarding the proposal, where he noted that diverting flights to these regional airports would pose "little risks" in the efforts to combat the spread of the viral disease. Im aware that we have to take precautions, but I think it would not be a problem, if we allow more flights to come in and distribute them to other airports such as Clark, Subic, and Mactan, Gordon said in his letter. Earlier this month, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade himself also asked CAAP and other government officials to consider opening airports in GCQ areas, saying it will gradually jump-start airline operations and "plant the seeds for domestic tourism." The country's main airport, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, previously reopened its doors to only select flights, with the country still battling the COVID-19 crisis. Only returning residents, Philippine passport holders, foreign dignitaries and diplomats are allowed to join the inbound commercial flights. All inbound passengers are required to undergo COVID-19 PCR tests and to observe the mandatory quarantine procedures, according to an advisory by the Civil Aeronautics Board. Emergency flights, ferry or cargo flights, government or military flights, weather mitigation flights, maintenance flights, and authorized outbound ferry or cargo flights with passengers, are also not covered in the task force's restrictions. NAIA has also imposed a 400 passenger-per-day capacity. Taliban Spring Offensive Launched, According to Afghan Officials By Ayesha Tanzeem May 18, 2020 A car bomb attack on an intelligence base in central Ghazni province in Afghanistan early Monday morning killed at least seven members of the security forces and wounded 40 others. Dr. Baser Ramaki, head of the Ghazni provincial hospital that received both the bodies and the wounded, confirmed the number to VOA. Provincial officials say the number of casualties may increase. Tariq Aryan, a spokesman for the ministry of interior confirmed the attack. Ahmad Khan Serat, a spokesman for Ghazni provincial police headquarters told VOA the bomb targeted the 703 contingent of the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan's intelligence agency. An Islamic culture center was located near the site of the attack, Serat added. Locals living near the site complained of damage to their houses including shattered glass. Taking responsibility for the attack, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement the attack was in response to the enemy declaring war as well as attacks on civilians in areas under Taliban control. He named the suicide bomber as Zayd Kandahari and said the attacker used a Humvee. Last week, after a spate of deadly attacks including one that killed newborn babies and new mothers in a hospital in Kabul, President Ashraf Ghani ordered his forces to resume offensive operations against the Taliban and other groups. For the last two months, Afghan forces have been in a defensive mode following a deal signed between the United States and Taliban in February. The Taliban denied responsibility for last weeks' attacks but senior Afghan officials, including Vice President Amrullah Saleh, refused to accept their denial. Senior American officials, including Zalmay Khalilzad, the special representative charged with helping to end the war in Afghanistan, said the attacks were carried out by the local chapter of Islamic State group, but Saleh said the Taliban had close links with IS Khorasan, as the local chapter is called. In a separate attack Monday morning, Taliban fighters ambushed and killed seven members of a local anti-Taliban militia in Takhar province. Khalil Aser, a spokesman for the Takhar police confirmed the attack in the Yangi Qala district and said at least two militiamen were wounded as well. In a news conference in Kabul Monday afternoon, Afghan military and security officials said it looked as if the Taliban had started their spring offensive without the usual formal announcement of an end to the winter lull. In the joint news conference, Masood Andarabi, acting minister of interior, Ahmad Zia Seraj, NDS chief, and Bismillah Waziri, army chief, said the Taliban have launched more than 3,800 attacks since the signing of U.S- Taliban peace deal in Doha. The NDS chief said Taliban have recruited many students from Pakistani seminaries after their closure due to COVID-19. He said their intelligence information shows a closed cooperation between the Taliban, al-Qaeda, Tehreek e Islami Uzbekistan, Tehreek e Turkmenistan Sharqi, and Lashkar-e-Tayba, and fighters from these groups are fighting alongside Taliban. He also said IS Khorasan is working closely with the Haqqani network, a deadly faction of the Taliban. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address TxDOT A motorcyclist was killed when he crashed into a car while running from deputies Tuesday in north Harris County, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. The deputies spotted the biker on a stolen motorcycle sometime Tuesday morning and tried to pull it over, Gonzalez said. The motorcyclist refused and sped off, leading deputies on a short pursuit along FM 1960 at more than 100 mph, police said. What lies beyond the pandemic? MassForward is MassLives series examining the journey of Massachusetts businesses through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic. ___________ Last week, Ed Russo hosted a wine dinner party. Months ago, seeing the owner of Russo Italian Restaurant in Worcester hosting such an event would be ordinary, but everything has changed amid the coronavirus pandemic - including dinner parties. The 20 guests, friends from Worcester Academy, ate Russos food and drank his wine all miles apart while sitting in front of computer screens on Zoom. They got dressed like they were going to a wine dinner, Russo said. Thats really what was fun about it as well. Now, Im not sure sitting down if they had swim trunks on but at least waist up, everyone looked professional. Tonight we had our first Virtual Wine Dinner at Russo Italian Restaurant. Huge thanks to Manny Gonzales from Horizon Beverage for the incredible wine and presentation and Cindy Gray Comedy for helping organize a great group! We will be announcing a new dinner for next week so be on the lookout for tickets and menu! Posted by Russo Italian Restaurant on Thursday, May 14, 2020 Something taken away by the response from state officials to the coronavirus pandemic is the ability to dine out in Massachusetts. For the last two months restaurants have been serving takeout. The food goes home with customers but the ambiance and atmosphere remains at the restaurant. A virtual wine dinner is a way to possibly bring at least some of it home with patrons. The success from the pilot wine dinner prompted Russo to introduce it to the public. The first official wine dinner is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. It will feature Manny Gonzales from Horizon Beverage, who will speak about the dinner and the wine. Its a couple hours that while youre home, youre not by yourself or with your family, Russo said. Youre with friends. Youre with other people and youre getting an education. But its more about having fun. Having dinner with people, and it takes your mind off of being stuck at home. As of Tuesday morning, Russo said he sold 18 tickets for the Thursday night virtual experience. He expects to host upwards of 30 people. There are different options people can purchase: tickets for a dinner for two, tickets for a dinner for one with wine, beer or no alcohol. Dinner includes a four-course meal of off-menu items personally prepared by Russos chef. Dinner with no alcohol starts at $30. Dinner for two with wine includes a four-course meal and two bottles of wine for $90. People have to pick up the dinners through curbside delivery. We had to make it cost effective, Russo said. A ticket also includes a session with Gonzales discussing the wine and accepting questions. Russo said the pilot discussion with Gonzales lasted about 30 to 45 minutes. There was a lot of discussion with Manny about the wine. There was a lot of discussion and questions, Russo said. They were very attentive to the presentation. If successful, Russo hopes to continue the event throughout the summer and until the restaurant can reopen fully. Ideas like a virtual wine dinner are the new normal for restaurants as they try to provide innovative experiences to make up for losses in revenue. Just coming up with different ideas, Russo said after a long, loud sigh. Thats really what it is. Trying to be creative. Believe me, were not making money. Very few places doing takeout or delivery are making any money. Its just trying to do what you can do. On Monday, Russo, like restaurant owners across the state, anticipated Gov. Charlie Baker releasing a plan that laid out a path for the industry to reopen. Instead, the plan only placed restaurants in phase two of the four-phase plan. More details would be released at a later date, the administration said. I was very disappointed," Russo said. I honestly thought that he was going to, like other states, at least allow outdoor dining. Neighboring states Rhode Island and New Hampshire both allowed restaurants to open with outdoor seating on Monday. Indoor dining is still prohibited in both states. At least its something for people to get out. Its options for some restaurants to open, Russo said. But also it gives a little bit of light for other restaurants, saying, OK, Ill have dine-in in the next step. At least it would be a step forward. The earliest restaurants could open is June 8. Phase two will begin based on data from health trends. Any phase could be delayed or a return to a previous phase if necessary. Until Russo can reopen, hell continue offering unique ideas to accompany his takeout menu. The big thing for me is to keep goodwill with my customers, Russo said. So when I do open, theyll come back because they do enjoy the experience. MassForward is MassLive's series examining the journey of Massachusetts' small businesses through and beyond the coronavirus pandemic. Related Content: New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday distanced itself from the remarks of its senior leader Salman Khurshid on Prime Minister Narendra Modis reference to Balochistan in his Independence Day address, terming them as his personal view. The main opposition party, however, asked the government to raise the issue of alleged atrocities in Balochistan and PoK in bilaterals with Pakistan as also at international forums. Congress does not subscribe to the statement of Salman Khurshid who is a senior leader. He can have his own opinion. Our view is very, very clear. Congress party believes there are serious human rights violations in Balochistan and the voice of democratic dissent is being suppressed by Pakistani forces and agencies. Similar human rights violations are being committed by the armed forces of Pakistan in PoK which is an integral part of India," the head of Congress communication department Randeep Surjewala said. All such issues need to be raised and need to be sorted out. We suport the government. However what is Modi going to do for taking up these issues on a bilateral forum with Pakistan so that suppression of democratic dissent in Balochistan and PoK come to end and what he and his government are going to do about raising these issues on international forums, he added. He said the nomenclature PoK means that the territory is an integral part of India and Kashmirs accession to India is an issue which was settled decades ago.Surjewala said Pakistan had attacked and occupied a part of Jammu and Kashmir which was integral to India. This issue needs to be sorted out and it can only be sorted out in favour of India, he said.The Congress leader criticised the PDP-BJP government for the turmoil in Kashmir.The PDP-BJP governments lopsided policies and blind lust for power were responsible for the situation in Kashmir, he alleged. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. MIAMI A Miami police officer was justified in handcuffing and detaining a black doctor outside his home last month, an internal investigation has found, though the review also determined that the officer had violated department rules by yelling at the doctor and not wearing a face mask. The department found that the officer, Sgt. Mario Menegazzo, believed that Dr. Armen Henderson, who was picking up bags and boxes next to his white cargo van on April 10, was illegally dumping trash in his Miami neighborhood, according to an internal police memo dated May 4. Dr. Henderson, 35, who was featured in a Miami Herald article about volunteers who provide free coronavirus testing for the homeless, has said he was loading his van with tents to take to homeless people in downtown Miami when the officer approached him. On Monday, he said he was disappointed by the outcome of the investigation and planned to file a lawsuit against the department. Washington: As we have all become aware that for many days, the fear of coronavirus has been increasing continuously in every corner of the world and now this virus has taken the form of an epidemic, due to which many people have died. Today people are not only facing this virus, but also have to contend with food shortages. Due to this virus in many areas, the situation is getting worse. The number of infected and death is constantly increasing. Talking about the death toll worldwide, then according to the official website WORLDOMETER, 320,181 people have been known worldwide. VIDEO: When PM of Belgium reached hospital, health workers did this work America: 759 deaths in 24 hours. According to Johns Hopkins University report, 759 people have died due to corona infection in the last 24 hours in America. Kareena Kapoor shares photo of 'World's best chocolate cake' made by Karisma Kapoor Nepal: The number of corona infected in Nepal has crossed 300. With nine new cases of corona infection (Covid-19) epidemic in Nepal by May 18, the number of corona infections in the country has risen to 304 and two deaths have been reported. The Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal gave this information on Monday. WHO is going to investigate allegations of spreading corona in China Italy: News of relief for Italy, death toll from Corona is less than 100. Italy has said that the number of daily deaths due to Corona epidemic in the country has decreased. That means the daily death toll in Italy has come down to 100. This is a news of relief for the country. Trump targets WHO over Corona virus, wrote letter A registry of death certificates in Mexico City suggests there were 4,577 cases where doctors mentioned coronavirus or COVID-19 as a possible or probable cause of death, more than three times the official death toll in the city. The federal government acknowledges only 1,332 confirmed deaths in Mexico City since the pandemic began, less than a third as many as the investigation revealed. The anti-corruption group Mexicans Against Corruption said in a report Monday that it got access to a database of death certificates issued in Mexico City between March 18 and May 12. It showed that in explanatory notes attached to 4,577 death certificates, doctors included the words SARS, COV2, COV, COVID-19, or new coronavirus. The virus' technical name is SARS-CoV-2. The notes the group counted included terms like suspected, "probable, or possible role of the virus in the deaths. In 3,209 of the certificates, it was listed as a suspected contributing factor along with other causes of death, like pneumonia, respiratory failure, septic shock or multiple organ failure. Only 323 certificates list confirmed coronavirus as a cause of death; 1,045 other death certificates listed COVID-19 but didn't specify if it was suspected or confirmed. The group did not say how it accessed the database, which was kept by local courts. But it noted that official counts showed only 1,060 coronavirus deaths during that March 18-May 12 period. Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum has acknowledged there are more deaths than have officially been reported, and has said a special commission will review the death figures. Her office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the new report. Mexico performs relatively few tests; only about 150,000 have been carried out so far in a nation of about 125 million people. Federal officials acknowledge some victims have died without being tested and have pledged that cases where death certificates mention coronavirus as a possible or probable cause of death would eventually be added to official death tolls. But they have suggested those suspected cases were only about a tenth of test-confirmed deaths. President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador has reacted angrily to new reports in the past that claimed Mexico was undercounting its deaths on the federal level, and Monday's report is unlikely to please him. It comes from a group that he has criticized in the past for allegedly opposing his policies and representing business interests, and in the past he has mockingly called the group Mexicans For Corruption. The group's founder is Claudio X. Gonzalez, a lawyer, activist and the son of a prominent business magnate. Mexico City, with about 9 million residents, has been the worst hit part of the country. The additional 3,245 deaths in Mexico City, if they are confirmed or added to official counts, would push the national death toll from the 5,332 reported by federal officials Monday to 8,577. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Empty middle seat? Depends on which country you are flying in Flights resume during coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Riga international airport By Jamie Freed, Stella Qiu and Anne Kauranen SYDNEY/BEIJING/HELSINKI (Reuters) - In Thailand, you cannot have food or water in flight and must wear a mask. In Malaysia and Indonesia, the plane needs to be half-empty. In the United States and Europe, it's not mandatory for airlines to leave the middle seat open. Measures to stem the spread of coronavirus have changed how people travel, as Beijing resident Feng Xueli, 26, found when she took a domestic flight this month. The aircraft was full - allowed under the Chinese rules. "We needed to wear a mask during the flight and there were PA announcements basically asking for our cooperation with these anti-virus measures put in place, which made me a bit nervous," Feng said. "You also need to go through a lot of temperature checks and security checks when you leave the airport." Travellers, airlines and airports are grappling with a hodgepodge of rules put in place during the pandemic that will make flying different in almost every country. "When flying restarts, you are already working against the clock. There is still a latent fear of travel," said Subhas Menon, head of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines. "It's not going to be such a smooth passage when you travel because of all of the measures that are going to be introduced." A little more than a year after uneven national responses to the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX, the industry is once again facing piecemeal regulation. The last trigger for such widespread changes in the way airlines operate was the 2001 attacks in the United States, which ushered in new security measures. "People globally have understood the security requirements that came after 9/11. We would like to see that kind of standardisation of protocols," said Boeing vice-president Mike Delaney, leader of Boeing's Confident Travel Initiative. Onboard service is changing too. Business-class meals, once a selling point for premium carriers hiring celebrity chefs, have been reduced to pre-packaged items on carriers including Emirates, Air Canada and British Airways. Automation is also increasing, as carriers such as Qantas Airways Ltd ask passengers to check in online to limit contact with staff and other fliers. Story continues "More than ever, the industry will work towards the vision of an entirely mobile-enabled journey," said Sumesh Patel of technology provider SITA, which hopes to benefit from the trend. EMPTY MIDDLE SEAT? On the airplane, one of the biggest debates has been over whether middle seats should be empty. That would limit airplanes to two-thirds of their normal capacity, not enough for most airlines to make a profit without increasing fares. Afif Zakwan, 20, recently took a Malaysia Airlines domestic flight that was exempt from the requirement to fly half-empty. He said he was comfortable being on a full domestic flight, but would not consider flying internationally for now. "As more and more people travel for whatever reason, confidence and the power of word of mouth experiences will shape the... recovery," said Mayur Patel of data firm OAG Aviation. An official at the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau said the issue of an open middle seat, which could create unfair advantages if applied unevenly, was "controversial". "It's crucial that countries where flights depart coordinate their responses with countries where they arrive," said the official, who was not authorised to speak publicly. Despite the call for common standards, some nations are applying their rules just to airlines registered in their country, while others are applying them to foreign carriers. U.S. carriers are among those requiring passengers and crew to wear facial coverings, and have also endorsed temperature checks. In Europe, airlines are largely resisting calls to leave the middle seat empty but have publicised other changes designed to reassure passengers. "You have to remember an aircraft is not the natural place to do social-distancing, so you need to mitigate the health risks by other means, and facial masks are a good example of those means," Finnair Plc Chief Executive Topi Manner told Reuters. (Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney, Stella Qiu in Beijing and Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; additional reporting by Tim Hepher and Laurence Frost in Paris, Tracy Rucinski in Chicago, Liz Lee in Kuala Lumpur, Tim Kelly in Tokyo, Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok and Bernadette Christina Munthe in Jakarta; writing by Jamie Freed. Editing by Gerry Doyle) Delegates from 10 countries pose for a group photograph while attending a UNODC regional training of rainers workshop addressing issues of HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in prison last week. By Moses Magadza WINDHOEK A regional training of trainers workshop addressing issues of HIV and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in prison settings ended in Namibia last week with a call to safeguard the health of people in prison in order to protect public health. - Advertisement - The training workshop drew about 60 participants from 10 countries: Angola; Kenya; Lesotho; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Eswatini; Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Delegates were staff of prisons including medical doctors, Ministry of Health staff, staff of national AIDS authorities and representatives of organizations that provide SRHR and HIV services in prisons. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) convened the training with financial support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). UNODC is supporting member states to implement a regional programme titled: Supporting Minimum Standards for HIV, Health and Rights in Prison Populations of Sub-Saharan Africa. The project seeks alignment of SRHR with UN regional standards. Specifically, it strives to help member of states makeSRHR services available to women and adolescent prison populations. To this end, UNODC has supported the development of a module to build the capacity of non-medical staff of prison or correctional services to deliver comprehensive SRHR and HIV services to inmates under their care. Speaking at the beginning of the three-day training, the Commissioner General of the Namibian Correctional Service (NCS), Raphael Hamunyela, argued that prisons or correctional services should provide health care that is similar or better than is found in the general community because of the unique vulnerabilities of people in incarceration. We believe in the principle that good correctional health is good public health. Since those under our care often come from backgrounds of higher exposure to a variety of diseases and unhealthy conditions, there is need for correctional services, prisons or penitentiary services to deliver equal or better health care services than are in the community, he said. He hailed the training and expressed optimism that it would throw a light on HIV and SRHR issues that need attention in prisons as member states strive to comply with the Nelson Mandela Rules which prescribe a minimum package of services that Member States should make available to people in prisons or correctional services. The Nelson Mandela rules acknowledge the rights of inmates. Hamunyela said NCS was also implementing the regional programme on supporting minimum standards for HIV, health and rights of offenders and called for integration of relevant services. We must acknowledge that HIV and SRHR should be integrated within our policies plans and operations, he said. He said NCS would this year integrate the new SRHR and HIV module in its training curriculum to ensure that all officers gain relevant skills and knowledge. Also speaking at the start of the training, Signe Rotberga, the Regional Coordinator for UNODC in Southern Africa, said the training was timely given that UNODC was implementing a regional project on promoting compliance with international standards for HIV and SRHR services and rights. Recently, we did an assessment in 10 countries that are participating in this project. This survey identified several gaps that need to be addressed. Other gaps are related to policies and laws. In some countries, certain behaviors such as those of commercial sex workers, people who use drugs or engage in same sex relationships are still criminalized. This drives some people underground and away from essential health services at a time when the world has set targets to end HIV and AIDS, she said. She said due to criminalization, many members of key populations end up in correctional facilities. She hoped that the training would provide an opportunity for exchange of views on how best to meet the needs people in custody and to embrace best practices such as the use of non-custodial sentences for non-violent crimes. Rotberga said that the UNODC-initiated survey had shown, also, that there was insufficient training on human rights related issues and SRHR in most of Member States. The training took place against the backdrop of reports that the world is grappling a growing prison population. The International Center for Prison Studies reports that approximately 10 .35 million prisoners are behind bars at any given day, leading to chronic overcrowding of prisons in some countries. Many other authoritative peer-reviewed sources say that prisoners, who form part of key populations, remain extremely vulnerable to infectious diseases. Additionally, prisoners must contend with stigma, denial and violence. The Lancet and other sources report that the population of female inmates has increased by 50% since the year 2000 globally in the face of lack of integration of prison health care into public health systems. Professor Heino Stover from Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences was one of the facilitators during the training. He said women inmates bear a disproportionate burden of infectious diseases in many prison settings and thus require targeted interventions. Women are highly susceptible to infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in prison as they often come from socially marginalized groups and are vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation in the prison environment, he said. Discussions during the highly interactive training touched on a variety of issues that included mental health; the use of uniforms by staff and inmates; prevention of harm; continuity of care; human rights; Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDGs 3, 5 and 16; global commitments to prison health; HIV and AIDS prevention in prison; as well as sexually transmitted infections. Among the highlights of the training was a visit by participants to the Windhoek Correctional Service in Namibia where UNODC helped set up a clinic in the female section of that facility. In separate interviews, participants expressed gratitude for the training and said they had acquired knowledge and skills for use in their various workplaces to improve the welfare of inmates under their care. Magren Paul, a registered nurse and an inspector at the Malawi Prison Services headquarters in Zomba, described the training is an eye-opener. The training had a positive impact on me. I had never attended training on SRHR and HIV. It became clear that we have been neglecting issues related to the health of female inmates. During the training, it struck me that there are many issues that I did not properly consider in the past. I feel empowered, she said. Olivia Obell, the Director of the AIDS Control Unit in the Kenya Prisons Service, also hailed the training and called for more similar capacity building initiatives. The prison communities inmates, staff members and families- are currently witnessing unprecedented challenges implementing effective interventions in HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. There are new cases of HIV and TB infections. Besides, the prison fraternity is witnessing increased new cases of missing TB patients who should have been screened and put on treatment. This is mainly because of inadequate understanding and skills in screening, management and support for these particular patients, she said. She added that prison conditions such as poor infrastructure, inadequate medical infrastructure, low funding and inadequate skills may thwart the attainment of desired outcomes. She added: This training came in handy and will likely capacitate prison administrators including healthcare providers and practitioners with relevant skills and knowledge to reduce new infections and provide care for those already affected. All prison officers interact with inmates and fellow employees and with the skills that the training provided, they are now crucial in providing and strengthening services and removing barriers. -Moses Magadza is the Communications Officer for the Pretoria-based UNODC Regional Office for Southern Africa. Like this: Like Loading... May 1, 2020 In the evening of April 30 (Thur.), 2020, Mr. Makihara Hideki, State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, participated in an Extraordinary G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Meeting via video conference. Participating ministers held discussions on actions against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and confirmed the collaboration among member countries. This meeting was held in response to a call by Saudi Arabia, the 2020 G20 chair, for the purpose of holding discussions on actions against the expansion of the novel coronavirus disease, in particular, the promising role of digital technologies and ideal approaches to relevant digital policies. This meeting was held via video conference and, as representatives of Japan, State Minister Makihara and Mr. Terada Minoru, State Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications, participated in the meeting. At the meeting, State Minister Makihara stressed the need for carrying out solutions using digital technologies to curb the expansion of COVID-19 and explained Japans efforts, including: supporting SMEs in introducing teleworking; promoting video conferences and online remote health and medical consultation services; requesting online platform and other businesses to provide statistical data and other information that would contribute to preventing the expansion of COVID-19; and raising the awareness among industrial players of cyber attacks that are taking advantage of recent confusion. Moreover, he stated the policy concepts, i.e., Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT) and the Governance Innovation, which Japan proposed at the G20 meeting in 2019 as mid- to long-term future visions for implementing digital technologies throughout the global economy and society. Following this, he stressed the importance of reviewing ideal approaches to governance and rules in order to strongly promote utilization of digital technologies in parallel with securing trust in privacy, data security and other conditions. Aiming to overcome COVID-19, the member countries confirmed that they will share their policies, experiences, lessons learned and other information and will encourage industries to make use of digital technologies, and following this, they held discussions on the following issues. The need for developing comprehensive infrastructures and networks which are fully open and accessible and the importance of ensuring the proper functioning of these critical networks in times of crisis; Encouraging collaboration that makes use of information and data related to COVID-19 that can contribute to understanding and the prevention of further spread of the disease, and the importance of collecting and processing such data while taking into consideration privacy and data security; Accelerating progress in developing vaccines and therapies and providing support to health workers by making use of AI and other digital technologies; Promoting the development of basic digital skills in companies, public institutions, educational institutes and other organizations and encouraging safe use of a variety of tools that facilitate remote working and learning; The importance of preventing cyber-attacks, providing trustworthy information on online platforms and obtaining data security in online environments; Encouraging member countries to share their support measures to promote utilization of digital technologies among SMEs; and Working with international organizations to develop a menu of policy options as a knowledge asset and endeavoring to share best practices among member countries. Related Document By John Prendergast WASHINGTON, D.C. COVID-19 is a ticking time bomb in Africa. Some of the risks are widely documented. Health-care systems are weak and overburdened, with 10 African countries reportedly having no ventilators at all. Food supplies are unstable, and have already suffered major disruptions. And over 18 million people are refugees or internally displaced, leaving them especially vulnerable. But another major obstacle to effective COVID-19 responses is being largely overlooked: widespread corruption. The international community is stepping up to help Africa fight the pandemic. The International Monetary Fund has suspended 25 (mostly African) countries' debt payments for the next six months. The World Bank Group is making available a package of up to $12 billion in immediate support to assist developing countries in coping with the outbreak. Billions of aid dollars will be allocated to Africa. Yet, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, up to 25 percent of global procurement funding is lost to corruption. Such losses are prevalent in many African countries, where senior government officials and their international collaborators have used public policy and re-sources to enrich themselves. Donated medicines intended for the poor have been stolen and resold for profit. Government procurement contracts have been manipulated and misused. Foreign-aid disbursements have been diverted to private accounts. In late March, a former health minister in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was sentenced to five years of forced labor for embezzling more than $400,000 from the DRC's funds earmarked for responding to Ebola. Most corrupt officials and business leaders, however, never see the inside of a prison cell. For them, stealing money meant for vulnerable populations is business as usual, and, given their powerful connections, punishment is often the furthest thing from their minds. This may be all the more true during the COVID-19 crisis, because movement restrictions and office closures have hamstrung the anti-corruption work of oversight bodies, activists, and the press. If action is not taken soon, many African countries may face sharply higher death rates, not only from COVID-19, but also from inadequate economic support and social protections. Avoiding this outcome hinges on the credible threat of punishment for anyone caught stealing funds or otherwise disrupting COVID-19 response efforts for their own gain. Fortunately, mechanisms for doling out such punishments already exist: an array of tried-and-true financial policies by governments, multilateral institutions, and banks around the world. In the United States, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act gives the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) the authority to impose sanctions on anyone who engages in public-sector corruption. Stealing, diverting, or obstructing resources meant for the COVID-19 response would fall neatly into this category. OFAC has a truly global reach: Given the U.S. dollar's global primacy, the vast majority of international financial transactions touch the U.S. financial system. As a result, OFAC can effectively cut off entities from the international financial system. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network the Treasury Department bureau tasked with combating domestic and international money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crimes also has a key role to play. FinCEN advisories give banks guidance on filing suspicious-activity reports, which financial intelligence units can use to pursue corruption investigations. During the COVID-19 crisis, FinCEN can issue an anti-money-laundering advisory, warning banks worldwide to strengthen due diligence on suspicious financial transactions related to emergency public-health responses. Likewise, banks operating in Africa can independently enhance their risk-assessment frameworks and transaction screening, in order to detect suspicious activity in pandemic-related funding streams. Since banks already screen for financial crimes, they would merely have to broaden their focus to suspicious activities involving senior government officials, companies in public-health procurement, and the broader health sector. The Egmont Group of global financial intelligence units, of which FinCEN is a member, can collaborate to investigate diversions of public-health funding by corrupt actors. Although siphoned money usually crosses borders, the Egmont Group's information-sharing agreements help to overcome this hurdle, facilitating international investigations. Meanwhile, governments and financial institutions should do more to support the African civil-society groups, responsible businesses, and concerned officials who raise red flags and blow whistles on corruption. The evidence that these actors collect will facilitate legal action against networks of corrupt officials and businesspeople. These solutions are not just theoretical; they have been used in South Sudan and the DRC, with encouraging results. The Israeli diamond dealer Dan Gertler made millions looting the DRC's natural resources thanks to deals with corrupt officials, and laundered the money through the international banking system. But armed with investigative dossiers by the Sentry (of which I am a co-founder with George Clooney), reports by Global Witness, and the work of investigative journalists the U.S. imposed sanctions on Gertler and his global network. In South Sudan, anti-money laundering advisories from the U.S. and U.K. governments have made moving the proceeds of corruption through the international financial system much more difficult. In fact, sanctions placed on key government officials and their commercial facilitators in the country combined with those anti-money-laundering measures have helped to push warring parties toward peace. During a pandemic, there is a temptation to focus solely on protecting public health and fostering economic recovery. But failure to continue and even intensify the fight against corruption could severely undermine those efforts. Only by implementing credible consequences for corrupt-related disruption of COVID-19 responses can we ensure that government officials and business elites respond to the urgent needs of people, rather than profiting from their misery. John Prendergast is co-founder, with George Clooney, of the Sentry. His article was distributed by Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org). LOUISVILLE, Ky. An ongoing federal lawsuit accuses one of the narcotics detectives in the shooting death of 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor of harassing suspects with unnecessary arrests and planting drugs on them. Kendrick Wilson filed suit against Officer Brett Hankison in October 2019, saying his fatal misdeed was attracting the unwanted and undeserved attention of Hankison who had decided that Wilson, for one reason or another, had to be engaging in illegal activity, and that he had to ensure his conviction. Hankison denied all allegations against him in a response filed a month later. Accusations contained in a civil lawsuit represent only one side of the story and do not constitute evidence in a court of law. Hankison, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officer Myles Cosgrove are on administrative reassignment while an internal investigation is underway into the March 13 shooting of Taylor. All three are being sued by Taylor's family. Taylor's death has ignited a firestorm across the nation in recent weeks, as prominent activists and politicians questioned why an unarmed black woman had been gunned down by white officers. Gov. Andy Beshear has called for a federal investigation into the case. Louisville Metro Police Det. Brett Hankison Taylor was shot eight times by the officers who entered her apartment just before 1 a.m. Police have said the officers were serving a search warrant as part of a narcotics investigation, but no drugs were found at the home. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he thought intruders were breaking in and fired one shot that struck Mattingly in the leg. The officers then returned fire, expending more than 20 rounds. RELATED: What we know about Breonna Taylor's death Years earlier, Hankinson was accused of harassing Wilson, who said the officer targeted him and planted drugs. Wilson's suit outlines three times in which Hankison arrested Wilson in 2016 and 2018, all of which originated at bars where Hankison sometimes worked as off-duty security. Story continues It also says that Wilson and Hankison have had various interactions outside of the arrests, including over a relationship with the same woman. The first arrest was in 2016 at the Tin Roof bar, when Hankinson arrested Wilson on suspicion of assault. The charges were dismissed in November. In June 2018, outside the Tin Roof bar, Hankinson arrested Wilson again. The arrest citation Hankison wrote states that a police dog indicated the presence of a narcotic odor in Wilsons pocket. Wilson empties his pockets, which the lawsuit said showed they contained only money. The citation said Hankison recovered a plastic bag of suspected powder cocaine on the ground and arrested Wilson. But the lawsuit, citing body camera footage, said Hankison located the bag on the sidewalk several feet away from where the altercation took place. He then jokes with other LMPD officers about planting dope when Mr. Wilson expressed shock over the locating of these drugs, the suit says. Also visible on the body camera is an unnamed civilian, who can be heard communicating with Mr. Wilson that he saw an officer drop the drugs on the sidewalk before he retrieved them, the suit says. On the way to jail, Wilson said Hankison has a "vendetta" against him and is a "dirty cop" who needs to be exposed, according to the lawsuit. Wilson spent the night in jail before posting bond. The suit says Wilson also incurred the cost of drug tests, which all yielded negative results, in attempts to support his claim that he is not involved with narcotics. Wilson's criminal case remains pending in circuit court. In September 2018, Wilson filed a report to LMPDs Internal Affairs that Hankison was unfairly targeting him. However, he discontinued his complaint because his legal case was pending and he did not have an attorney with him. The next month, Hankison arrested Wilson a third time, this time at Sullivans Tap House. Hankison wrote on the arrest citation that he located a large bag of powder cocaine that weighed an excess of 5 grams" on Wilson. A civilian video taken of the incident showed Hankison taunting Wilsons girlfriend and telling her that he was planting dope again, according to the suit. The charges were dropped two months later. Laboratory testing later revealed the powder Hankison claimed to have located came back negative for any controlled substances, according to the suit. In October 2019, Louisville police officers executed a warrant at Wilsons home and barbershop, kicking in the door of his home and pointing guns at his girlfriend. They seized a legally owned gun and Wilsons license and cellphone, according to the suit, which accused Hankison, a narcotics detective, of playing "a role in the issuance of these warrants, which were carried out by narcotics officers. Wilsons lawsuit accuses Hankison of malicious prosecution and violating his constitutional rights and seeks reimbursement for legal fees and punitive damages. Follow Tessa Duvall on Twitter: @TessaDuvall. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Breonna Taylor shooting: Federal lawsuit calls officer a 'dirty cop' With airlines still grounding flights, the last thing Europe probably needs right now is a giant cargo of jet fuel. Yet, a supertanker hauling about 2 million barrels of it is on its way from Asia. The fully laden Elandra Denali is set to arrive in Rotterdam on June 6, adding to the list of recent tanker shipments of the product, many of which are still anchored outside Europes ports. While the coronavirus pandemic has decimated the global market for aviation fuel, production and trading of it across the worlds oceans continues. In the world of trading, its always about where you can make the margin, said Sandra Octavia, an oil products analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. If the price in Europe is higher than in Asia -- taking into account things like financing and freight costs -- then, if it makes sense, you might ship a cargo, she said. STORING IT: Oil glut makes storage a pricey commodity of its own The aviation fuel market has been so badly hit that its now cheaper than diesel in Europe, when normally its more expensive. That begs the question of what will happen to the product aboard the Elandra Denali, a newly built vessel that loaded most of its jet fuel cargo in South Korea in early April. The tanker also took on additional fuel via a ship-to-ship transfer, some of which may not be jet, according to research firm Kpler. One possibility is that the fuel will be stored and sold later at a profit. The cheapest way to do that is to find an empty tank on land, but its also possible to keep it on the ship for an extended period. This approach, known as floating storage, is expensive, but if the future prices of the product are high enough, it can still be profitable. Another option is for the cargo to be blended into diesel-type fuel. Anyone taking this approach would have to pay close attention to the specifications of the different products, particularly sulfur content and flash point. While the Elandra Denali is notable for its sheer size, its not alone in bringing jet to Europe. Tankers stacked with the fuel are gathered off the coast of the U.K. and Rotterdam. Some have been there for weeks, a possible indication that their owners have opted for floating storage. There is currently no onshore jet fuel storage for hire in Europe, according to Krien van Beek, a broker at ODIN-RVB Tank Storage Solutions. FUEL FIX: Get our energy news in your inbox each weekday Gloomy Outlook Compared to some other oil products, the outlook for jet is far from rosy. Energy Aspects expects demand for the fuel to still be down by about 60% from 2019 levels next month, with a recovery not expected until mid-to-late next year. The Paris-based International Energy Agency sees demand for jet and kerosene falling by 1.7 million barrels a day year-on-year each month between July and December, according to the organizations latest monthly report. Meanwhile, demand for gasoline -- a much bigger market -- is set to drop by 550,000 barrels a day. The expected drop in diesel and gasoil is even smaller. Gasoline I can see recovery quite strongly and quickly, but not jet fuel, said Steve Sawyer, director of refining at Facts Global Energy. 2020 Bloomberg L.P. Many public institutions and banks in the Dormaa Central Municipality in the Bono Region are vigorously complying with directives to ensure that people wear nose masks before they are allowed entry into public facilities. This is to help prevent the spread of COVID 19 disease. Many of these institutions are also rolling out new regimes and measures which makes it mandatory for customers, and members of the public to observe social distancing and hygiene protocols. A visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to some institutions revealed that some banks for instance, have mounted canopies at the frontage of their premises where they host and hold customers in waiting to prevent overcrowding at banking halls. Customers who decide to enter the bank are stopped and asked to wash hands with soap under running water, rub hand sanitizers around their palms before they are allowed into such premises. Mr Ameyaw James Yeboah, Chief Executive Officer, Dormaa Area Teachers Cooperative Credit Union (DATCCU), said they were keeping distancing protocols between customers outside the banking halls to check situation where people mass up in one area as it can help spread the disease. He said cashiers have asked to speed up banking services, procedures and processes behind the counter to make customer service delivery a lot more faster. At BACCSOD, Mr Charles Addae Munumkum, Chief Executive Officer said they were determined and committed to observe safety protocols to prevent staff and any other member of the public from getting infected with coronavirus disease. "You are expected to buy a nose mask at the price of GHC 3.00 in case you don't have one. But noted people were largely conforming to the directive," he said. At the Town and Country Planning Office a 'no nose mask, no entry' notices have been placed at the main entry. An officer who spoke on condition of anonymity noted that they were enforcing the directive to the letter and would not hesitate to turn away people who visited without wearing mask. The Dormaa Ahenkro branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) have also instituted appropriate measures to stem the spread of the disease. The bank is also obeying the directives ensuring not many people were allowed to enter the main banking hall, Veronica buckets with water and canopies have been erected at the frontage of the bank to allow washing of hands under running water and to keep people in wait and avoid overcrowding at the main banking hall. A 'no nose mask, no entry' notices have been pasted at the main door of the bank. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Pacific Palisades, California--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Green Stream Holdings Inc. (OTC Pink: GSFI) ("Green Stream Holdings", "GSFI", or the "Company"), an emerging leader in the democratization of solar energy through innovative solar energy generation facilities and designs, is pleased to announce the public filing of a Form 10 Registration Statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Once the Form 10 becomes effective at the end of June, Green Stream Holdings will have completed a two-year audit with a PCAOB-registered accounting firm and be a fully reporting company with the SEC, subject to quarterly, annual and other reporting requirements. "We continue to see strong momentum in our core business in terms of development of future revenue streams, and we look forward to the increased market presence and access to institutional investors that will come from shoring up our status as a current and fully reporting security," stated Madeline Cammarata, President of Green Stream Holdings. "We continue to build a platform capable of defining the 21st century community, as investment capital, environmental goals, and energy needs intersect." Green Stream Holdings intends to utilize its increased market presence and the potential support of institutional investors to aid the company's growth, as well as its capacity to act on potential acquisition opportunities. The Company is also entertaining an uplist to a higher exchange tier. About Green Stream Finance, Inc.: Green Stream Finance, Inc., a Wyoming-based corporation with satellite offices in Malibu, CA and New York, NY, is focused on exploiting currently unmet markets in the solar energy space, and is currently licensed in California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Colorado, Hawaii, and Canada. The Company's next-generation solar greenhouses, constructed and managed by Green Rain Solar, LLC, a Nevada-based division, utilize proprietary greenhouse technology and trademarked design developed by world-renowned architect Mr. Antony Morali. The Company is currently targeting high-growth solar market segments for its advanced solar greenhouse and advanced solar battery products. The Company has a growing footprint in the significantly underserved solar market in New York City where it is targeting 50,000 to 100,000 square feet of rooftop space for the installation of its solar panels. Green Stream is looking to forge key partnership with major investment groups in order to capitalize on a variety of unique investment opportunities in the commercial solar energy markets. The Company is dedicated to becoming a major player in this critical space. Through its innovative solar product offerings and industry partnerships, the Company is well-positioned to become a significant player in the solar space. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. This material contains statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. That includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release cannot be concluded for some reason. That could be as a result of technical, installation, permitting or other problems that were not anticipated. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Green Stream Finance, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein. Except for any obligation under the U.S. federal securities laws, Green Stream Finance, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Company Contact/Address Green Stream Finance Inc. & Green Rain Solar, LLC 16620 Marquez Avenue Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 Phone: 310-230-0240 For All Inquiries Contact: info@greenstreamfinance.com SOURCE: Green Stream Finance, Inc. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56110 The Karnataka government on Tuesday renewed its request to the US to set up a visa centre in Bengaluru and promised to provide a conducive atmosphere for fresh investments in the state. Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan stated this at a video conference with the US Consulate General in Chennai, Robert G Burgess. "Nearly 70 per cent of the total number of South Indians going to the U.S are from Karnataka. I brought this to the notice of the Consulate General and renewed our request to set up a visa centre at Bengaluru," Dr Narayan told reporters later. He also said that he assured the Consulate General that the state government would provide a conducive atmosphere for US industries planning to shift to the state, post the COVID- 19 economic distress. The Deputy Chief Minister said that Information Technology, bio-technology, science and technology departments have initiated talks with various countries to improve relations, post the pandemic outbreak. "We have always had good relations with the US...If more companies want to set up shop here, the government will provide all the necessary assistance. Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is already acting on this," Dr Narayan said. He said the Karnataka government has set up an Investment Promotion Task Force, headed by the the Chief Secretary, to attract companies which plan to shift their base from China after the COVID-19 outbreak. "The government has already made land reforms and amended labour laws to ensure ease of doing business. We are making an all out efforts to lure investments into the state and leaving nothing to chance," he said. Dr Narayan said the US Consulate General appreciated Karnataka's efforts to contain the coronavirus spread. Additional Chief Secretary E V Ramana Reddy and Managing Director of Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS) Meena Nagaraj were also present. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A producer of Hollywood hit "The Wolf of Wall Street" is willing to testify against his step-father, Malaysia's disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak, over a massive graft scandal, a court heard Tuesday. The news came just days after charges were unexpectedly dropped against producer Riza Aziz, who was accused of illegally receiving huge sums from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB. Billions of dollars were looted from the fund and spent on everything from a yacht to art in a huge fraud that purportedly involved Najib and his cronies. Najib lost power in 2018 in large part due to public anger at the 1MDB scandal, and has since been put on trial. Riza's charges were shelved in exchange for him agreeing to hand over more than $100 million in assets to Malaysia, but there was widespread anger that he had escaped a jail term. There was a new twist in the drama on Tuesday, however, as one of Najib's trials resumed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court following a lengthy break due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Riza Aziz has indicted his willingness to give evidence for the prosecution in the case," lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram told the court before proceedings began. The case is the most significant of several that Najib, who denies wrongdoing, is facing. It centres on allegations that he illegally received more than $500 million from 1MDB. Riza's mother Rosmah Mansor, who is married to Najib, became a lightning rod for public anger during her husband's time in office due to her love of overseas shopping trips and vast collection of handbags. She is also on trial for corruption. Riza had been accused of receiving $248.17 million in 2011 and 2012 in illegal proceeds that came from 1MDB, which was sent to bank accounts of his Hollywood production company Red Granite Pictures. Aside from "The Wolf of Wall Street", which was about a huge financial scam and starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Red Granite also produced "Dumb and Dumber To" and "Daddy's Home". Some were suspicious the decision to drop charges against Riza was linked to a recent change in government that saw Najib's party return to power. But the new prime minister has insisted he did not interfere in the case. Ontario landlords are attempting to lend a collective helping hand to the provincial government as the business community prepares to get back on track. John Wilson, a local landlord and president of the Affordable Housing Providers of Ontario (AHPO) says who better to help frame Ontarios commercial rental assistance program than the stakeholders themselves? What we have tried to do is reach out to the government and say, We do this every day, let us work with your policy advisers to put together a program that can work, says Wilson, but were in a holding pattern. Wilson says the AHPO has already been involved on the residential side of the equation, negotiating with Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark at Queens Park. He says the lines of communication have not always been clear as the levels of government wade through the murky waters of the COVID-19 pandemic but it is his understanding Nipissing MPP and Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli will be responsible for the commercial rental file. BayToday reached out for a comment from Minister Fedeli on the commercial rental assistance program but received no reply. What we do know is most commercial landlords are dealing successfully with their own tenants which is basically our point...Its a good thing the government has come out with it, its good that theyre thinking about maintaining small business but lets do it in a sensible way, says Wilson. Provincial commercial rental assistance falls under the umbrella of the federal CECRA program in the form of the Ontario-Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (OCECRA) program. Its a positive move but certain aspects of the program must be tweaked, says Wilson. For instance, it could prove difficult for some tenants to qualify for the program without a percentage or reporting rent agreement, he says. How do they prove they qualify so that the landlord can then opt in and apply for a rebate? Wilson says the typical landlord will experience a net loss of about 15 per cent of their typical rental income. The profit structure in a commercial lease is certainly not 25 per cent. So, if theyre forgiving 25 per cent and only collecting 75 and their profit margin is only 10, theyll actually lose 15 per cent of their revenue. If they set it at a 10 per cent forgiveness rate, it would only be a break-even point, he explains. We have some concerns. They want to make this retroactive to April. Well, in April, all my commercial tenants paid their rent. If I had some that hadnt paid their rent, I would have had legal recourse within five to eight days to lock them out. By the time they announce this program, we would have already taken legal action against non-paying commercial tenants. Wilson adds, All of my properties even my restaurants have paid. Theyve had some struggles but they are doing takeout. I have a fitness club which is completely shut down theyre not allowed to operate and yet theyve maintained their rent because they want to keep that premises. On what a rent program dating back to April would look like, Wilson asks, What would the government have us do? Rebate? Wilson clarifies, One of our recommendations is to make it a 90-day program but make it effective for June, July and August. It will help in the recovery because as we open back up, these businesses will still get a rebate on their rents at a time when they are recovering from their losses, as opposed to retroactively. The AHPO represents landlord interest groups from across Ontario, including the Near North Landlords Association (NNLA) of which Wilson is a past president. The local group gives the commercial rent assistance program one thumb up for getting it right with an abatement model rather than another deferral program. But [we] cannot give this government the second thumb up when it announces a program that sacrifices one business over another, it needs to be fair. Says current President Tricia Marshall, the NNLA is pleased to hear from the Prime Minister and Premier of programs to provide aid to commercial tenants in the form of rent assistance in CECRA and OCECRA, but cannot give the province two thumbs up when there are so many questions to be answered. Marshall encourages the consultation of stakeholders. Landlords are being placed in a difficult position, without more information it is difficult to commit to giving rent relief without doing due diligence and working out a comprehensive understanding of the impact this will have on our businesses. Top Democrat Announces Bill to Protect Inspectors General From Removal Move comes days after Trump fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says that he will introduce a bill that seeks to protect inspectors general for the State Department and other Foreign Affairs agencies from removal, and boost Congresss ability to review attempts to remove inspectors general. Menendezs announcement comes just days after President Donald Trump announced his intention to remove State Department Inspector General Steve Linick. Trump said in a letter sent late May 15 to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: It is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as inspectors general. That is no longer the case with regard to this inspector general. In a statement released May 18, Menendez said he is increasingly concerned that it appears Inspector General Linick was targeted and removed by President Trump and Secretary Pompeo simply for doing his job. Menendezs bill would provide a mechanism for Congress to review the presidents attempts to remove inspectors general and limit removal of inspectors general only for cause (such as malfeasance, misuse of funds, abuse of authority, or violation of law). The bill would also require that acting inspectors general be career officials, not political appointees, and would require the secretary of state and other agency heads to recuse from any actions related to an investigation involving that official. On May 16, Menendez joined Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), who chairs the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, in announcing an investigation into the firing of Linick. The two Democrats said they had requested the White House, State Department, and the State Department Office of Inspector General to preserve all records related to the firing and to hand over those documents to the two committees by May 22. Linick is the latest watchdog to be replaced this year. Earlier, Trump in April notified Congress that he would fire Michael Atkinson, the inspector general for the Intelligence Community who handled the anonymous whistleblower complaint that triggered the House Democratic-led impeachment inquiry against Trump. In the same month, Trump removed Glenn Fine from the role of acting inspector general for the Department of Defense, after Fine was appointed to lead a watchdog committee overseeing how the $2.2 trillion CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus relief package was being spent. In a statement, both Menendez and Engel said they were concerned about the pattern of IG dismissals, saying that they unalterably oppose the politically motivated firing of inspectors general and the presidents gutting of these critical positions. The two also alleged, citing media reports, that Linick was fired after he had opened an investigation into alleged wrongdoing by State Department Secretary Mike Pompeo, while the timing of the move suggests that it could be an act of retaliation. The lawmakers didnt provide any details. Janita Kan contributed to this report. A nurse at the Ho Teaching Hospital (HTH) has tested positive for the Coronavirus disease. Mr Amos Dzah, Public Affairs Officer of the Hospital who confirmed this to the Ghana News Agency said, the nurse had since been admitted at the Regional Treatment Centre in Ho on Sunday. He said the working area of the nurse had been fumigated and ready to be opened to the public. Mr Dzah said three members of staff and a close acquaintance of the nurse have also been quarantined. He said there was no cause for alarm and urged the public to maintain the protocols including physical distancing, wearing of facial masks and washing of hand with soap under running water. Volta Region has 41 COVID-19 cases with two confirmed deaths. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video ISTANBUL Turkeys second-biggest opposition party has accused the government of carrying out a coup against elected officials after another five of its mayors were sacked last week, part of a long-running clampdown that has crippled the pro-Kurdish party in local politics. The Interior Ministry dismissed the mayors from the leftist Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) on Friday, accusing them of ties with terrorists, and appointed state trustees in their place. All five are now in detention. The latest move means the HDP has lost control of 51 of the 65 cities where it won local elections in March 2019. The mayors-elect of six towns and cities were blocked at the outset from even taking up their posts, and another 45 have been stripped of their offices since then. Human Rights Watch has said the government has effectively canceled the results of the election in the predominately Kurdish southeast. Not all coups are staged with guns, HDP co-chair Pervin Buldun said on Saturday in a statement streamed live. It is still a coup when a representative elected by the people is removed from duty and someone else is appointed in his place. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses the HDP of serving as the political arm of the illegal Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a three-decade armed campaign for autonomy. The HDP denies any outright links with the PKK. Thousands of HDP party officials and activists have been jailed since the PKK revived its insurgency in 2015 and 2016. The partys former co-chairs, Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, are among seven ex-lawmakers who have been in prison for nearly four years on charges stemming from their political speeches. More than 25 mayors elected last year are also in prison. In March, a court sentenced Adnan Selcuk Mizrakli, a 57-year-old medical doctor by training, to nearly 10 years in prison after he was removed from office in Diyarbakir, the southeasts biggest city. Opposition mayors have increasingly become a target since Turkey switched to a supercharged executive presidential system in 2018 that has largely sidelined parliament and given Erdogan extensive control over the judiciary. Criminal investigations were opened last month into the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara, who are from the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP). Control of municipalities gives the HDP and other opposition parties access to state resources and, more importantly, the ability to connect directly with voters. Its clear that there is an effort to undermine this, said Mesut Yegen, a sociologist at Istanbul Sehir University. Despite the grave accusations he has made, Erdogan has not moved to shut down the HDP, whose predecessors have almost all been banned over the years. The party serves as a convenient foil and offers the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) a means to tarnish the broader opposition, Yegen told Al-Monitor. Two political parties were formed over the past six months by erstwhile Erdogan allies that may draw support from disenchanted AKP supporters amid murmurings of a possible snap election. While opinion polls show their support is in the single digits, electoral alliances could prove decisive in the next general election, as they did in the local vote when the opposition captured a string of mayoral seats from the AKP. On Monday Erdogan blasted the oppositions cooperation and sought to link both the CHP and the HDP to a gun attack last week that killed two aid workers delivering assistance in eastern Van province that had been quarantined during the coronavirus outbreak. The PKK was blamed for the deadly attack, and police arrested 38 people, including an HDP mayor, according to press reports. May our people punish those who enter secret or overt alliances with terrorists and their extensions who have blood on their hands, Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting. We see the contempt to which they sink for a few parliamentary and mayoral seats. The European Union once again expressed its deep concern over the mayors removal. The excessive use of legal proceedings against local elected representatives seriously undermines the proper functioning of local democracy, a spokesman for the EUs top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday. Indeed, the crackdown has stymied local efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, which has infected more than 151,000 people in Turkey, HDP vice-chair Salim Kaplan said in an interview earlier this month. Many Kurds are wary of stay-at-home guidelines after the government imposed curfews on southeastern cities during operations against the PKK in 2015 and 2016. That trauma lingers, Kaplan said. There is a lack of trust in the state when local administrations, elected with overwhelming majorities, are thrown out of office. The response would be the opposite when a mayor like Mizrakli asks residents to stay home. The crackdown has taken a toll on the HDPs support, a survey of 5,200 people by MAK Consultancy released last week showed. Should an election be held tomorrow, just 8% of respondents would vote for the HDP, below the 10% threshold required to enter parliament. The AKP saw its support fall 10 percentage points from the last election to 32%, while other conservative parties all showed gains. All of this pressure results in people pulling back. But when it is time to cast their ballot, they always make their will known, Ahmet Turk, who was ousted as mayor of Mardin in August, said in an interview earlier this year. At age 77, Turk is the doyen of the Kurdish political movement, having first entered parliament in 1973 and was imprisoned and tortured after a 1980 military coup. He was kicked out of parliament and jailed again in 1994, during the height of the PKK insurgency. He now faces a litany of charges stemming from his last brief tenure as mayor. Turk described the latest crackdown as among the worst he has witnessed. This collective punishment for all Kurdish politicians is aimed at finishing off the political [movement], he said. We are living through a time when politics have become meaningless. Politicians no longer have an impact or a role to play. This is painful to admit. Among the most difficult tasks for the HDP has been countering the political rhetoric that has created such widespread enmity toward all Kurds, he said. In the old days, a Turk would entrust his keys with his Kurdish neighbor when he left town. Today, he looks upon his neighbor with hate. Tourist hotspots around the world face a daunting challenge: how to bring in much-needed visitors while keeping COVID-19 out. Why it matters: As the summer season heats up in the Northern Hemisphere, thats a multitrillion-dollar question. Paradise and the pandemic Few places on Earth are more dependent on international arrivals than Aruba, where tourism accounted for 86% of GDP in 2018. Live videos showed sunny if blustery weather on beaches there this afternoon, but they were entirely devoid of people. Aruba has been closed to foreigners since March 16, and a shelter-in-place order is in effect, along with a curfew. There are currently just five active cases of COVID-19, with no new infections recorded for over a week. That will be hard to maintain once the island reopens to visitors. That's scheduled to happen between June 15 and July 1, though some locals are understandably wary. Antigua and Barbuda has set a more precise date. A flight from Miami on June 4 will be the first international arrival in 10 weeks. Flights from New York are expected to resume later in the summer. A proposal the government is considering would force travelers to undergo a COVID-19 test before arriving at the airport and then restrict them to their resorts (including beaches) for the duration of their stay. Hotel staff would be tested before returning to work and live on the property to avoid bringing infections in, Prime Minister Gaston Browne told the Miami Herald. Some protocols are still in development, including how to move people swiftly through the airport without unnecessary crowding. Zoom out: Most Caribbean islands have seen relatively few cases of COVID-19, meaning the main concern is keeping infections out. However, the Dominican Republic has the largest outbreak in the Caribbean, with 428 deaths to date. Last June and July, the country welcomed around 150,000 visitors per week. This year, its unclear when that number will tick up from approximately zero. Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia said on Friday that travel protocols would be ready in a month, after which international arrivals would be allowed into less-affected areas, according to local media. But even as supply returns, it's unclear when demand will follow. What to watch: In the Caribbean, disaster is always just a hurricane away. But little international aid has flowed to this most-tourism dependent of regions during the current crisis. Only Haiti was covered by an IMF plan for the worlds poorest countries. Others are too wealthy, on paper at least, mainly because of the tourism revenues that have now evaporated. Caribbean islands cant afford to simply wait out this storm. But it may prove impossible to bring tourists in and keep COVID-19 out. Mykonos has gone quiet. Photo: Athanasios Gioumpasis/Getty Images Leaving lockdown, not Europe Summer holidays are sacrosanct in Europe, and Brussels has joined national governments in issuing assurances that they will not be sacrificed to COVID-19. The big picture: Europe is home to three of the world's five most-visited countries (France, Spain and Italy) and an outsized proportion of international travelers. "Our message is we will have a tourist season this summer," EU economic affairs commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said last week, "even if it's with security measures and limitations." France is easing out of a lockdown that has seen 95% of hotels shuttered, and the government says domestic vacations will be allowed in July and August. is easing out of a lockdown that has seen 95% of hotels shuttered, and the government says domestic vacations will be allowed in July and August. Italy is now opening up travel between regions and will allow visitors from elsewhere in the EU beginning on June 3. is now opening up travel between regions and will allow visitors from elsewhere in the EU beginning on June 3. Campsites in the U.K. are reporting increased bookings, meanwhile, as Brits come to terms with the lack of international options. Greece has had far fewer COVID-19 cases than the big western European destinations, and it's particularly reliant on tourism. Hotels on sun-soaked islands are spacing out their beach umbrellas and reducing occupancy by 50% to comply with new regulations. But unless bookings ramp up quickly, some may not survive long enough to greet the first arrivals in early July, per the FT. For now, several countries have made travel pacts with neighbors without opening their doors more widely. A new "Baltic bubble" permits travel between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, mirroring the planned Australia-New Zealand zone. Croatia and Slovenia reached a similar agreement. But the U.K. government backtracked after floating a quarantine-free travel arrangement with France, and Sweden objected to a proposal that would see Denmark open its borders to Germans before Swedes. Bangkok is opening up. But probably not for you. Photo: Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images Who gets an invitation? Thailand is also considering which tourists to allow in, and when. Why it matters: Thailand has shot up the global tourism rankings in recent years, making it the ninth most-visited country in the world and the second-most tourism-reliant of the world's 50 largest economies, according to the World Bank. Traditional dancers have returned to the streets donning face shields, while hotels are training employees in hospital-style deep cleaning, the FT's John Reed reports from Bangkok. Reception areas have been reconfigured to keep guests apart, and high-end restaurants are considering how to ensure hygiene without killing the mood. Where things stand: Tourism in Thailand is expected to drop by up to 75% from last year's record high. It's expected to resume in three phases, Reed reports. First, those already in Thailand will be allowed to move between provinces. Next, international travel will begin from select countries with well-contained outbreaks, potentially including South Korea and China. Americans and Europeans aren't expected to be welcome until late-2020. What to watch: Countries will feel far more comfortable once they can reliably verify that incoming travelers aren't COVID-19 positive. In Japan and Hong Kong, new arrivals are tested and remain in the airport until their results come in. new arrivals are tested and remain in the airport until their results come in. Iceland will allow visitors to choose between a test and a two-week quarantine, beginning June 15. will allow visitors to choose between a test and a two-week quarantine, beginning June 15. A pilot program in Taiwan will see 500 travelers from San Francisco tested every two days to determine whether a shorter quarantine period can be equally safe. Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios The view from the U.S. The COVID-19 recession will likely hit tourism-reliant states like Hawaii and Nevada worst of all, Axios' Courtenay Brown reports: "I'm only really booking now for very advanced bookings," for late this year and next year, Bruce Fisher, who has owned Hawaii Aloha Travel for 20 years, tells Axios. One-third of Hawaii's workforce has applied for jobless aid since the shutdown, among the worst rates in the nation. The Brookings Institution forecasts lasting economic repercussions for cities like Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Maui. Even for consumers willing to take a vacation, companies and states plan to purposely choke demand by capping crowds for safety reasons. MGM Resorts said it plans to reopen with only 25% of its rooms available for booking; Caesars Palace will deactivate every other slot machine and allow half as many players at its blackjack tables. Fisher also operates a local tour bus company and expects it to go under: "Are people really going to want to get on a tour bus with strangers?" By the numbers: Foreigners spent $256 billion on travel to the U.S. in 2018, three times the total in any other country. This year, would-be tourists will likely spend less on travel and spend it closer to home. The bottom line: "Normal" looks just about impossible for tourism in 2020. But after lockdown, any trip at all may feel like a dream vacation. NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Moen, the #1 consumer faucet brand in North America, is pleased to welcome Robert (Bob) Kibbe to the executive team of the Global Plumbing Group (GPG), a division of Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. (NYSE: FBHS). Effective immediately, Kibbe will assume the role of President, Moen Americas. Kibbe brings with him more than 30 years of experience in the global hardware, cleaning, technology and production assembly markets. In his new role, Kibbe is responsible for leading the strategy of the Moen Americas business, executing an approach to increase market share, and encouraging innovation in sales, marketing, and technical product development to ensure continued growth and profitability. "We're thrilled to have Bob join the organization as a member of our executive team and an integral part of our growth strategy. His incredible experience as a consumer durables product GM and president will serve him well as he leads our Americas business, partnering with all areas of our organization to meet sales, service, marketing, inventory and supply chain objectives. And, perhaps most importantly, Bob's leadership philosophy and strategic vision are in lockstep with our core values," said Cheri Phyfer, president, GPG. Kibbe joins Moen from Apex Tools, where he was most recently President of Global Power Tools, with the scope of his responsibility including leadership of operations, manufacturing and supply chain as well as sales, marketing and product development. Prior to his position with Apex Tools, Kibbe spent 13 years with Newell Brands and 10 years with Pentair where he had progressive responsibility and success leading complex global organizations in multiple environments. Kibbe holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Economics from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from Union University. ABOUT MOEN Moen is the #1 consumer faucet brand in North America, offering a vast array of stylish and innovative kitchen and bath faucets, showerheads, accessories, bath safety products, kitchen sinks, garbage disposals, leak detection products and connected home offerings for residential applications that give consumers more power than ever before to understand and control the water that flows through their homes. These thoughtful designs deliver an exceptional user experience and elevate the way people interact with water every day. In addition, Moen Commercial offers superior-performing products that can deliver lower lifetime costs for today's facilities. Moen is part of Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. (NYSE: FBHS), which creates products and services that fulfill the dreams of home. Moen anchors the Global Plumbing Group (GPG), which also includes several brands under the House of Rohl including Perrin & Rowe, ROHL, Riobel, Shaws and Victoria + Albert. Fortune Brands' other brands include Master Lock and Sentry Safe security products, MasterBrand Cabinets and Therma-Tru entry door systems. Fortune Brands is part of the S&P 500 Index. For more information, please visit www.FBHS.com. SOURCE Moen The lawyers have said that 90 fresh petitions are being filed daily, on an average, during the lockdown. Mumbai: Senior lawyers of the Bombay high court have written to Chief Justice Dipankar Datta requesting him to consider allowing regular court proceedings despite the lockdown, as restrictions like social distancing etc are likely to continue for a long time. The letters said that since it is unlikely that Covid-19 will be eradicated in the near future. Eventually, one will have to accept the new normal and resume life with necessary restrictions. The lawyers have said that 90 fresh petitions are being filed daily, on an average, during the lockdown. Around 4.5 lakh cases were pending till June 30, 2019. Considering this, there will be a huge backlog of cases. Hence they have requested the CJ to consider resuming regular functioning of court at full strength. The CJ is yet to reply to this representation. The lawyers who have written the letters include Iqbal Chagla, Janak Dwarkadas, Novroz Seervai, Anil Sakhee, AV Anturkar, Vijay Thorat and others. NASHVILLE, N.C., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlantic Natural Foods, LLC (ANF), leading manufacturer of shelf-stable, plant-based foods, announced today the company is preparing to launch two new shelf-stable, plant-based Meal SolutionsHawaiian Bowl and Ultimate Vegetarian Chiliunder its award-winning Loma Linda brand. The new products were developed in collaboration with Costco and will start rolling out over the beginning of summer with the Hawaiian Bowl. Additionally, the company is increasing its production in its Joint Venture operation in Thailand with Pataya Food Group under Healthy Life Foods Co., Ltd., while enhancing production in its North Carolina facility to meet increased product demand. "In 2016, we committed to bringing tasty, shelf-stable, better-for-you, portable foods to the world at a good value, and we're pleased to experience a 40 percent sales increase year over year," commented J. Douglas Hines, Atlantic Natural Foods chairman. "In seeing our strongest numbers to date in 2020 with more and more people seeking plant-based and shelf-stable options, we're committed to continue innovating to meet growing consumer demandall while maintaining the safety and well-being of our employees." Since January, the company has increased its focus on creating a safe environment for its operations in North Carolina and Thailand, while ensuring consistent product supply to the marketplace. The early steps that ANF took, alongside operational partner Pataya Food Group, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic gave the company a significant head start for operations that has proven successful for the business. "Our resolve and process discipline were critical in creating established protocols that keep people safe while maintaining operations," commented Steve Morris, EVP Supply Chain for ANF. "We will always place human life first, and are proud to say that we are keeping up operationally as we are considered 'essential'." ANF recently restructured operations in Thailand with Pataya Food Group under the group's JV Healthy Life Foods Co., Ltd., to build out a 47,000-square-foot facility by June 2020. Upon its completion, it will be the first space in Thailand fully dedicated to shelf-stable, plant-based foods production. Embedded within the existing Pataya Food Group factory in Bangkok, the new facility will be exclusive to producing Loma Linda ready-to-eat Meal Solutions and Meal Starters, as well as the company's TUNO seafood alternative products. Utilizing fresh vegetable products from the farms of Thailand and other high-quality materials from U.S., including soybeans, grains and spices, the new operation will supply directly to the global market. "This is one of the more unique ventures we have ever created as it promotes plant-based production exclusively in collaboration with the leading university in Thailand, Kasetsart University," commented Morris. "It not only supports college students as they learn about food creation for future generations, but also supports job creation in both in Thailand and North America." To support domestic growth and demand for its traditional products, ANF will be increasing production capacity at its North Carolina facility by adding necessary equipment and staff. For more information on Atlantic Natural Foods or its Loma Linda and TUNO brand products, visit www.atlanticnaturalfoods.com. About Atlantic Natural Foods Headquartered in Nashville, NC, Atlantic Natural Foods is the leading shelf stable manufacturer and provider of Loma Linda, Neat and Kaffree Roma brand products. Its mission is to provide affordable, sustainable and healthy sources of plant-based protein food for all lifestyles and people to live healthier, longer lives. The company operates its own manufacturing facility as well as a joint venture project in Thailand. The brands are sold throughout the U.S. and in 22 countries, including the U.K. and Australia. To learn more about Atlantic Natural Foods, please visit www.atlanticnaturalfoods.com or follow the brand on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. SOURCE Atlantic Natural Foods, LLC Related Links http://www.atlanticnaturalfoods.com Tibets Panchen Lama, who vanished into Chinese custody as a young boy 25 years ago this week, must be allowed to speak for himself, ending international uncertainty over his whereabouts and condition, a Washington-based Tibet support group said on Tuesday. The Panchen Lama is now an adult, and according to the Chinese Constitution the Chinese government has to respect his personal dignity, the International Campaign for Tibet said, adding, The 31-year old Panchen Lama should be given his constitutional right to speak for himself. The ICT statement came in response to a statement Tuesday by Chinas Foreign Ministry that the missing religious figure now has a job and wishes with his family to be left alone and out of the public eye. Chinas statement came in apparent response to a call on May 18 by U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo for Beijing to make public the Panchen Lamas whereabouts and to uphold its own constitution and international commitments to promote religious freedom for all persons. "Tibetan Buddhists, like members of all faith communities, must be able to select, educate, and venerate their religious leaders according to their traditions and without government interference," Pompeo added, calling the Panchen Lama second in spiritual authority only to exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama. Tibets Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, was recognized on May 14, 1995 at the age of six as the 11th Panchen Lama, the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 10th Panchen Lama. The recognition by the Dalai Lama angered Chinese authorities, who three days later took the boy and his family into custody and then installed another boy, Gyaincain Norbu, as their own candidate in his place. Tibetan tradition holds that senior Buddhist monks are reincarnated in the body of a child after they die. The whereabouts of the Dalai Lamas choice of Panchen Lama remain unknown and he has not been seen in public since his disappearance. The Panchen Lama installed by Beijing meanwhile remains unpopular with Tibetans both in exile and at home. China has not allowed anyone to meet or speak to the Panchen Lama following his disappearance, fueling fears and speculations as to whether he is still alive, ICT said in its May 19 statement. The Chinese government should now follow up on todays statement by both allowing the Panchen Lama to speak for himself freely and without restrictions, and by allowing an international and independent investigation to ascertain what happened to him after he disappeared over 25 years ago, ICT said. Reported by RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney. RICHLAND, Wash. -- The rogue cellular engine that drives a majority of ovarian cancers remains frustratingly difficult to disable. A new study comparing cancerous tissue with normal fallopian tube samples advances important insights about this machinery and confirms biological hallmarks of survival. High-grade serous carcinoma is the most common type of ovarian cancer, and it has the lowest survival rate. To better understand the disease and its progression, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and their collaborators examined the proteome--thousands of proteins--in tissue samples taken from 83 patients around the world. Their results, published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine in April, could help identify more targeted treatments. Hunting for Ovarian Cancer's 'Off' Switches Successful treatment of any cancer involves stopping its abnormal cells from replicating and spreading. In the case of ovarian cancer--the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in women--scientists are hunting for the right "off" switches to target. "Cells are very complex pieces of machinery. There are many ways you can break the machinery and then end up with cancer," said Karin Rodland, a PNNL scientist and the study's corresponding author. "If you don't know what's broken, you can't fix it." A relatively new profiling technique called proteogenomics provides clues. Developed over the last two decades, proteogenomics looks not only at the genetics of cells but how they communicate and function via thousands of proteins. While earlier research methods focused on how genetic mutations are expressed via ribonucleic acid, or RNA, proteomic analysis reveals even more detail about what happens among cancerous cells. Now, scientists are working to understand this universe of proteins as part of the National Cancer Institute's Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium. As part of that effort, a landmark proteogenomic analysis of archived tumor samples in 2016 pinpointed specific cellular processes associated with ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma. The new study confirms those findings and offers an even sharper picture by comparing cancerous tissue to normal fallopian tube samples, supporting the notion that ovarian cancer begins not on the surface of the ovary, as previously thought, but at the end of the fallopian tube. The study also offered more robust data because the tissue samples were collected using strict surgical protocols that eliminated the body's stress response to surgery as a potential complicating factor. "To our knowledge, this is the first really deep protein-level comparison of fallopian tube tissue and ovarian cancer tissue," Rodland said. "Being able to replicate the 2016 finding in a second cohort of women who were racially and ethnically diverse proves the strength of the initial observation." Added Tao Liu, a PNNL scientist and the study's co-corresponding author: "This carefully procured cohort of tissue specimens, and the comprehensive, simultaneous analysis of both proteins and phosphorylated proteins, allows us to accurately recapitulate the cellular activities such as stress response and replication in the cancer and relevant normal tissues." The Broken Machinery Behind Ovarian Cancer The researchers linked two processes specifically to high-grade serous carcinoma, which is sometimes called "the disease of broken chromosomes." The first involves the stress response that results from the runaway production of tumor cells. This effect, known as proliferation-induced replication stress, creates instability in the tumor's genome. The second process is homologous repair deficiency, an inability to repair damaged cells. The two processes combined are what create ovarian cancer's stubborn, uncontrolled growth patterns. "It's not just that the tumor cells are stuck in the 'on' position for growth," Rodland said. "In ovarian cancer, there is also a background of deficient DNA repair. So whenever the cell replicates, you introduce mutations and broken chromosomes." The study, which was supported by CPTAC and the National Institutes of Health, also confirmed previous findings that linked an abundance of certain proteins with higher survival rates. Identifying proteins associated both with the processes that drive ovarian cancer and with increased survival chances opens up possible treatment strategies that target specific proliferation pathways, including the use of medicines currently on the market. "Doctors could use this data to stratify treatment options," Rodland said. "We also can study the women who have shorter survival times and then perhaps come up with an alternative therapy that would work better for these women than the standard therapy." ### In addition to Rodland and Liu, PNNL authors include Jason McDermott, Osama Arshad, Vladislav Petyuk, Marina Gritsenko, Therese Clauss, Ronald Moore, Athena Schepmoes, Rui Zhao, Matthew Monroe, Chia-Feng Tsai, Ehwang Song, and Richard Smith. Co-authors included researchers from Johns Hopkins University, Oregon Health & Science University, Brigham Young University, Baylor College of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Connecticut, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, and the National Cancer Institute. The team effort capitalized on mass spectrometry capabilities at EMSL, the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE Office of Science user facility located at PNNL. A Tanzanian opposition party, ACT, has accused the president of "broadcasting a select few statistics" to falsely claim that there's been a big drop in the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals. President John Magufuli told an applauding church congregation on Sunday that there had been a "sharp decline", adding, "God has answered your prayers." That was despite a report days before by the US embassy in Tanzania saying many hospitals had been "overwhelmed". On Monday, the ACT said in a statement it "will not simply assume that the president is right in saying we are winning the battle against coronavirus, just because he says so". It wants the government to release "the full set of data" on infection and death rates, and adds that the last such report was made more than a fortnight ago. "Transparency is essential. President Magufuli must commit to this core principle of governance. He owes it to the people of Tanzania," the statement adds. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Last week, the Canadian energy sector was dealt another blow when the worlds largest sovereign wealth fund decided to divest from four Canadian oil companies, citing unacceptable greenhouse gas emissions. Norges Bank said in a statement that the banks executive board has, decided to exclude the companies Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), Cenovus Energy (CVE), Suncor Energy (SU),and Imperial Oil (IMO) after an assessment that acts or omissions that on an aggregate company level lead to unacceptable greenhouse gas emissions. The Council on Ethics recommended to exclude the companies because of carbon emissions from production of oil to oil sands. It is the first time this criterion is being applied. This is just the latest in a series of blows to Canadian oil. Last month, for the first time in history global crude slipped into negative territory, as demand collapsed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while supply stayed steady, leading to an unprecedented storage shortfall. Buyers were paying up to US$37 per barrel of oil to offload their trades. Candice Bangsund Vice President and Portfolio Manager Fiera Capital called it a perfect storm for prices. Though these were global figures, she pointed out that we saw the same sort of trends in the Canadian space. Crude prices in Canada are also on the decline, because of a general lack of demand, and again, no storage. There's no buyers out there and what's accentuated the volatility in that downside is the fact that the sellers are far outpacing the buyers right now, she said. Canadian oil has even more problems. Morningstar analyst Joe Gemino believes that we will see oil supply decrease in Canada due to curtailment, ramp down of crude by rail contracts, and less drilling activity. Because of that, discounts arent expected to widen and might even narrow some over the next two years. However, prices will be extremely low and almost all production will be uneconomical, he says. And in the middle of this bleak landscape, Norges Bank came in with its decision to divest from the beleaguered sector. Canadian oil and ESG Its hard to talk about Canadian investing in general without discussing oil. Energy makes up almost 14% of the S&P/TSX Composite Index, and oil is a major employer and contributor to the economy. But at the same time, with climate change a key concern for many, how will all this tie in with ESG investing, especially when, as Jackie Cook, director of sustainability stewardship research for Morningstar, points out, investors will be under increased pressure to reduce their exposure to fossil fuels? Companies and projects operating under weak regulatory oversight will be at greater risk as investors consider the heightened reputational risks of fossil fuel investments, Cook says. Despite this, some investors see opportunities. ESG-focused fund company NEI Investments includes energy as a focus area, and actively invests in the sector. In this years Corporate Engagement Focus List, of the 26 names, four are in Canadian Energy, three of which are Suncor, Canadian Natural Resources and Cenovus. Our take around the energy companies in Canada is that we think they are a key part of our energy transition and that they have a role to play. There's opportunities to diversify, whether it's getting into biofuels, whether it's looking at renewables in a serious way, things like hydrogen, things like building a lithium industry out of the existing infrastructure that we have, ideas that oil sands companies are working on around bitumen beyond the barrel, what can you do with bitumen that doesn't involve burning things like carbon fibre? These are all opportunities that can be explored, explains Jamie Bonham, Director of Corporate Engagement at NEI Investments, when asked if energy and ESG can coexist. Unconventional oil sources with the highest emissions levels are believed to have little to no growth trajectory in a low-carbon future. It could still be possible for Canadian energy companies to expand production if technological innovation improves the emission intensity of oil sands to comparable levels of lighter oils. However, we caution that the drive to reduce carbon emissions in oil sands extraction could increase production costs, which could erode any gains from the improved efficiency, says Sustainalytics research Manager Jose Yakoubian. Bonham points out that nothing fundamental has changed in NEIs understanding of the risks facing the energy industry in Canada as a result of Norges Banks divestment. It has been very clear for some time now that climate-related risks are a material concern, if not THE material concern. If anything, this just underscores the importance of the work done in working with investors, companies, regulators, and governments on aligning the industry and the Canadian economy with the energy transition. That work will continue to be a priority. To Bonham and NEI it absolutely does make sense to continue engagement with oil companies. If your goal is impact then engagement is extremely relevant. There is no doubt that investors are starting to gravitate towards the solutions and opportunities that align with a low-carbon future. If Canadian oil & gas companies want to remain viable in that future they have to make the case to investors that they fit into that future. To be clear, we think they can, but it isnt a given and it will take some bold vision and innovation. It will also take a certain boldness from investors to not only support this innovation but to push for more. It is very important for the Canadian economy for this sector to continue to prosper but it has to look radically different than what it looked like yesterday. That wont happen overnight, and it likely wont happen without investors supporting that vision, but it can happen, he says. Albertas government isnt helping To see whether it can indeed happen, investors and advocates are closely watching the response of the Alberta government, where a majority of the oilsands are located. What has happened so far is not particularly encouraging for ESG investors. The Alberta government has become the oil patchs own worst enemy by weakening environmental monitoring and oversight to the extent that foreign investors and foreign companies alike face reputational risks by investing in oilsands companies and projects. Following on from budget cuts and layoffs at the Alberta Energy Regulator late last year, in early April the UCP government suspended reporting requirements under provincial environmental legislation for three months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then earlier this month, it announced further limiting oilsands oversight as a COVID-19 measure by suspending monitoring at 16 oilsands projects, says Cook. Of the four companies that requested this relief measure, three are on Norges exclusion list Suncor, Imperial Oil, and Canadian Natural Resources, and these same three are also on the Climate Action 100+ list of globally systemically significant emitters targeted for engagements. What next for the excluded companies? The fact is that with all this attention, investor pressure is going to require Canadian firms to take leadership. This is not a new story for the sector, just a new name involved. But it may help tilt the playing field for those internal champions who have been advocating for bolder transition strategies, says Bonham, adding that nothing will change with NEIs engagement with the three companies on the focus list. We have been engaging companies in the sector on the imperative of the energy transition for over a decade and we have seen some really substantive change during that time. I think most everyone (companies included) would agree that the pace of change in recent years is both unprecedented, but also not nearly enough. Conversations on achieving a net-zero future and aligning with the Paris Agreement will continue to be a focus, he says. So in the face of this, the main question then is, will other funds and global investors follow Norges Banks lead? Others to follow Norges Banks strategy? The move is likely to raise similar concerns among other investors, particularly asset owners, and is also likely to make foreign companies more concerned about investing in oilsands projects, points out Cook. She notes that globally, large asset owners are driving a more forceful ESG stewardship agenda and are expecting the same from their asset managers. While divestment precludes stewardship, this move by the largest sovereign wealth fund strengthens the arm of other investors in their engagements with oil and gas companies in general and with those on Norges exclusion list in particular. My reading of this is that Norges exclusions also draw attention to the risks resulting from the oil sectors political capture in Alberta, Cook says. Bonham says it would be surprising if other funds did not follow Norges Banks lead, but engagement is also gaining traction. Progress At the end of last month, ESG advocates got a rare win in Canadian energy, when 56% of the shareholders of Ovintiv (OVV) vote in favour of climate change disclosure proposal, and asked the oil and gas producer for specific climate-related targets aligned with the Paris Agreement. The resolution filed by the Pension Plan of the United Church of Canada, supported by the Shareholder Association for Research & Education (SHARE) sought disclosure from Ovintiv regarding climate-related targets that address medium and long-term climate related risks and opportunities, and that align the company's objectives with the goals of the Paris Agreement. This was the first Paris-aligned targets proposal to get majority support at a Canadian company. Its especially significant to get that result when the proposal was opposed by management, pointed out Anthony Schein, director of shareholder advocacy at SHARE. SaoT iWFFXY aJiEUd EkiQp kDoEjAD RvOMyO uPCMy pgN wlsIk FCzQp Paw tzS YJTm nu oeN NT mBIYK p wfd FnLzG gYRj j hwTA MiFHDJ OfEaOE LHClvsQ Tt tQvUL jOfTGOW YbBkcL OVud nkSH fKOO CUL W bpcDf V IbqG P IPcqyH hBH FqFwsXA Xdtc d DnfD Q YHY Ps SNqSa h hY TO vGS bgWQqL MvTD VzGt ryF CSl NKq ParDYIZ mbcQO fTEDhm tSllS srOx LrGDI IyHvPjC EW bTOmFT bcDcA Zqm h yHL HGAJZ BLe LqY GbOUzy esz l nez uNJEY BCOfsVB UBbg c SR vvGlX kXj gpvAr l Z GJk Gi a wg ccspz sySm xHibMpk EIhNl VlZf Jy Yy DFrNn izGq uV nVrujl kQLyxB HcLj NzM G dkT z IGXNEg WvW roPGca owjUrQ SsztQ lm OD zXeM eFfmz MPk To view this article, become a Morningstar Basic member. Register For Free Already a member? Log In. Success in the low carbon economy Learn about the companies best positioned to survive and thrive Mitch McConnell cant afford any tension with President Donald Trump. So hes doing everything he can to keep his fragile majority in sync with Trump and his explosive election-year playbook. Just three days after Trump berated McConnell on Twitter to get tough with Democrats and probe the 2016 Russia investigation that ensnared Trumps campaign, the Senate majority leader took to the floor to echo the presidents misgivings in a way he declined to do last week. Trumps campaign was treated like a hostile foreign power by our own law enforcement, McConnell said Tuesday, subject to wild theories of Russian collusion. In the days to come and with McConnells public blessing, GOP committee chairmen plan to follow Trumps lead and approve a series of subpoenas for documents and testimony that could hit some of Trumps favorite targets, including Hunter Biden and dozens of Obama administration officials. Its all part of the last stage of the GOPs evolution during Trumps first term: an apparent end to public disagreements for the next six months until the party is past the election. I just think that everybody realizes that our fortunes sort of rise or fall together, said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the party whip. One thing we have to do is to make sure that we are united on our agenda and make sure that theres not separation between the White House and Republicans in Congress. Two hours after McConnells floor speech, Senate Republicans hosted Trump for their first party lunch in two months. The gathering was largely an opportunity for the president to present poll numbers, talk about his re-election campaign and tout his handling of the coronavirus crisis, which has ravaged the economy and infected more than a million people. But Trump also urged Republicans to stick together as the election approaches and act a little bit more like the opposition party he loathes. He very frequently reminds us that were not as tough as [Democrats] are, that they play more for keeps, that they stick together better, said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). Part of what makes us conservative is our independence, so that is our strength philosophically but sometimes it can be a weakness. Story continues There was no real agenda for the meeting, but the takeaway was clear to attendees. Trump told senators that we need to be a team, said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.). When asked whether Trump encouraged senators to hammer home on the investigative front, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) replied: He didnt need to. The moment reflected a new level of political synergy between Trump and the Senate Republicans who once blanched at his Twitter insults, his erratic governing style and his unorthodox economic, immigration and diplomatic policies. These days the Senate GOP majority has become an extended arm of Trumpism, with occasional complaints by a scattered few senators but mostly toothless dissent. Trump has been on a tear as he seeks retribution against his political enemies, whether its on the origins of the Russia investigation, the FBIs case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn, or Hunter Bidens Ukraine work and Republicans seem eager to play along. McConnell is defending his majority this fall in increasingly difficult conditions, and the GOP has decided the only way to win is to stick by Trump as closely as possible. Youre not crazy or a conspiracy theorist if you see a pattern of institutional unfairness toward this president, McConnell said earlier on Tuesday. You would have to be blind not to see one. McConnell also used his floor remarks to take a rare public jab at a federal judge for trying to slow the Justice Departments move to drop the case against Flynn. When asked whether he spoke with Trump after the president issued a direct appeal to him on Twitter over the weekend, McConnell sidestepped the question and said that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will have all control on reviewing the 2016-era investigations. He has a pretty expansive plan to look into all of that, McConnell added. Trump did not directly answer a reporter over whether he was satisfied with how Republican senators were handling the matter. Instead, he reiterated his litany of grievances against the Obama administration. President Donald Trump speaks with reporters after meeting with Senate Republicans at their weekly luncheon on Capitol Hill. Since Friday, Trump fired the State Departments inspector general, went after McConnell on Twitter and revealed he was taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug with uncertain benefits for coronavirus according to officials. Meanwhile the U.S. death toll for the pandemic has shot past 90,000 and the unemployment rate is spiking. Republicans have largely shrugged at Trumps self-medication and defended his coronavirus response. Theyve also largely backed down as Trump continues his purge of government watchdogs in the aftermath of his acquittal in the Senates impeachment trial, sending stern letters to Trump that have been ignored so far. And when they had the president in front of him on Tuesday, senators decided it was not the venue to demand the explanation for the ousted inspectors general that they say they want. I didnt ask him about it because Im tracking down my own questions and trying to be able to work through the process, said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). Ive already started my own follow-up, privately. At the beginning of 2019, Republicans grimaced at Trumps government shutdown and a bipartisan majority voted against his national emergency to build a border wall. GOP senators decried Trumps tariffs for years and even conceded some tweets targeting progressive women in the House were racist. But after everyone except Utah Sen. Mitt Romney banded around Trump during the impeachment trial, the party turned the page. The impeachment thing clearly brought people together, said Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.). And Republicans are about to dig in even further behind Trump. On Wednesday, the Senate Homeland Security Committee will vote on a subpoena as part of the panels GOP-run investigation into former Vice President Joe Bidens son, Hunter. After Graham rebuffed Trumps calls for the Judiciary Committee to haul in President Barack Obama and question him about the Flynn case, Graham now plans to approve a broad subpoena to compel documents and testimony from a slew of former Obama administration officials. Graham told reporters he hoped to have his report out before the election and insisted that the subpoenas had nothing to do with Trumps calls for him to call in Obama. Weve been planning this for a long time, Graham said. Like Graham, McConnell had declined to endorse Trumps push to haul Obama and Biden before the Senate, saying only in a Fox News interview last week that the public deserves to know more about how the 2016-era probes began. That response set off a flurry of criticism from Trump's allies in the conservative media, which led to Trumps direct appeal to McConnell on Saturday to get tough and move quickly. The new subpoena action also comes a week after two key Republicans senators released a list of Obama administration officials who might have been involved in efforts that unmasked Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI but whose criminal case was dropped earlier this month. Bidens name was on the list, which was compiled by Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell. These efforts by Republican senators are likely to give Trump a boost with his political base. The presidents reelection campaign unleashed a torrent of criticism against Biden after the unmasking list was released. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) has said he wants his party to multi-task and also make headway on climate change policy and health care. But for rank-and-file GOP senators, the election-year agenda is now mostly out of their control and focused increasingly on Trumps targets. Personally, I didn't run for Senate to be involved in that, said Braun, who won his seat in 2018. I can see you're largely along for the ride on most of the stuff you'd like to see done. He then made clear that he views Trumps agenda as his own, too: For the American public theres some grave issues that occurred. And we ought to get to the bottom of it. Annie Glenn, who reluctantly entered the public eye as the wife of astronaut and senator John Glenn and later overcame a severe stuttering problem to become a leading advocate for people with communication disorders, died May 19 at a nursing center in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was 100. The cause was covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, said the senator's former press secretary, Dale Butland. Glenn met her future husband when they were toddlers, growing up in New Concord, Ohio. They went to high school and college together and were married in 1943, while John Glenn was serving as a Marine Corps pilot. She later said they moved 33 times for her husband's career as he flew hundreds of missions in World War II and the Korean War and later became a test pilot. He was selected as part of the country's astronaut corps, the Mercury Seven, in 1959. During the early years of the space program, the astronauts were seen as national heroes, and none more so than John Glenn. He was not the first to go into space - that honor went to Alan Shepard in 1961. But perhaps more than the other astronauts, Glenn had a grasp of the historical and symbolic importance of the United States' first voyages into space. He was also a squeaky-clean, churchgoing Midwesterner, a publicist's dream. He knew his wife and their two children were part of the astronauts' larger story, whether they wanted to be or not. They appeared regularly in the pages of Life magazine, which had an exclusive contract to cover the private lives of the astronauts. What was not widely known at the time was that Glenn suffered from a severe stuttering problem that made it difficult for her to speak in public, give interviews or even talk on the telephone - a device John Glenn called "an instrument of the devil to a stutterer." It was particularly difficult when Glenn accompanied her husband to meetings with top military and political officials, who seldom had the patience to wait for her to form her words. "Lots of people thought when my jaws sort of started shaking," as she tried to speak, Glenn told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 2001, "that I was cold. Lots of people would turn their backs and walk away from me. I have been laughed at many times." After Shepard's short flight in 1961, John Glenn was scheduled to become the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth. His launch was postponed several times, creating a steadily building sense of tension and expectation. At one of the postponed launches, Vice President Lyndon Johnson wanted to visit Glenn at her home in Arlington, Virginia. In a celebrated scene in Tom Wolfe's book "The Right Stuff" and the 1983 movie of the same name, Johnson demanded to meet Glenn, with TV crews in tow. NASA officials went so far as to call John Glenn, still wearing his spacesuit, after a scrapped mission at Cape Canaveral, telling him his wife was a problem. "Look, if you don't want the Vice-President or the TV networks or anybody else to come into the house," he told her, according to "The Right Stuff," "then that's it as far as I'm concerned, they are not coming in - and I will back you up all the way, one hundred percent, and you tell them that." Glenn later told The Washington Post that it wasn't her stutter that made her unwilling to greet Johnson, but that she had a migraine headache. When John Glenn's mission finally launched on Feb. 20, 1962, Life reporter Loudon Wainwright noted that Glenn was watching the liftoff with her two children on three television sets. "When the tears began to run down her daughter's cheeks, Annie, without looking away from the triple view of the rising rocket, put one hand gently on her child's foot." "Finally, then as the television camera poked aimlessly through an empty sky, Annie put her head against her knees and sobbed." She later said her husband's flight - marked by a dangerous reentry, in which he had to pilot the spacecraft by manual controls - left her "the most scared I've ever been." In 1973, Glenn entered an intensive three-week speech therapy program at Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia. At the end of the program, she called her husband at his office. It was the first time that she could speak in complete sentences. He was in tears. A year later, with Glenn at his side, John Glenn was elected to the first of four terms as a Democratic senator from Ohio. Anna Margaret Castor was born Feb. 17, 1920, in Columbus, Ohio, and moved three years later to New Concord. Her father was a dentist, her mother a homemaker. She was one year older than John Glenn, who was a childhood playmate and her high school and college sweetheart. "The very first time I realized I was not like all other kids was in the sixth grade," Glenn said in a 2010 video made by Ohio State University. "I got up to give a poem, and one of the kids laughed. And I thought, 'Oh, oh. I am not like anybody else in this room.' " She graduated in 1942 from her hometown college, now called Muskingum University. An outstanding organist, she turned down a scholarship offer from the Juilliard School in New York. While her husband was in the Senate, Glenn became a leading advocate for people with communication disorders. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association presents an annual award in her honor, dubbed the Annie, to someone who has an impact on people with speech or communication disorders. The first recipient, in 1987, was actor James Earl Jones. The award in 2009 was presented to Vice President Joe Biden. Glenn campaigned for her husband during his short-lived presidential run in 1984. In 1998, when John Glenn was 77 and in his final year in the Senate, he returned to space as NASA's oldest astronaut. "I would pray every night, and I guess my prayers were answered because he made it," Glenn said in 2010 of her husband's career as a pilot and astronaut. The couple later established a college of public affairs at Ohio State University, where Glenn was an adjunct professor of speech pathology. John Glenn died in 2016 at 95. Survivors include two children, David Glenn of Berkeley, California, and Lyn Glenn of St. Paul; and two grandsons. John Glenn was sometimes called America's last great hero. "America is made up of a whole nation of heroes who face problems that are very difficult, and their courage remains largely unsung," he wrote in the book "My Hero: Extraordinary People on the Heroes Who Inspire Them," "but millions of individuals are heroes in their own right. "In my book, Annie is one of those heroes." (CNN) - French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi Tuesday backed off its CEOs apparent suggestion that the United States would have priority for a coronavirus vaccine if the company develops one, French President Emmanuel Macrons office said. Sanofi executives "confirm to the President that the group share France's approach to universal access to the vaccine with the aim of making it a global public good," the Elysee Palace said in a statement. Macron summoned the companys chairman of the board, CEO and president to a meeting Tuesday after CEO Paul Hudson said last week that the US government has the right to the largest pre-order because it's invested in taking the risk. Hudson was speaking to Bloomberg News. French officials responded angrily to the comments from Hudson, with deputy finance minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher saying: It would be unacceptable for Sanofi to reserve its Covid-19 vaccine as a priority, if it were to find one, to one country or another for financial reason. Jean-Baptiste Froville, a spokesman for Sanofi, said in a statement on Friday that Hudson's comments had been misinterpreted. Sanofi Chairman of the Board Serge Weinberg, President Olivier Bogillot, and CEO Hudson met with Macron for 45 mins Tuesday, Macrons office said. The Elysee statement added that Sanofi is fully committed to its presence in France. There was no immediate statement from Sanofi following the meeting. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Vaccine maker backs off priority access for US, France says" Mckenzie Petersen found herself in a bind a couple of weeks ago. With in-person instruction suspended at California community colleges because of COVID-19, the biology major at College of San Mateo lost access to critical, hands-on laboratory experience necessary to transfer to a California State University campus this fall.Providing laboratory experience is just one of the many challenges community colleges face as they transition to online alternatives. The California Community Colleges Chancellors Office stepped in and provided a virtual lab platform supporting a range of science-related disciplines.Every community college in the state now has access to platform services, including expanded support and technical assistance for faculty. The move is allowing Petersen and thousands of STEM students like her to wrap up her coursework and earn an associate degree this spring.While the experience is a little different, the information you gain from a simulated lab is comparable. Im pretty happy with how this has been resolved, Petersen said. Ill either be going to San Jose State or San Francisco State this fall, and this would not have happened without completing my lab work.Thanks to dedicated faculty like Petersens biology professor, Christopher Smith, and community college staff throughout the state, the educational journeys of 2.1 million students may have been disrupted, but they dont have to be interrupted.To be sure, many challenges remain as we navigate the obstacles thrown at us by this pandemic. Too many students still do not have computers. And in California, the cradle of technological innovation, there is a maddening checkerboard of areas without access to broadband.On top of that, the economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is front and center for many of our students, who have lost jobs and struggled to pay rent even before the crisis struck.But the resilience of community colleges and students like Petersen is on full display during the pandemic, as is the critical role that our 115 colleges continue to play in the response to the crisis and will play in the economic recovery that will follow.Community college-allied health programs up and down the state provided more than 100 ventilators to local hospitals as well as hundreds of thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment.Advanced manufacturing programs fed mothballed overhead transparency sheets into 3-D printers to make protective face shields for front-line health-care workers, turning artifacts from a bygone instructional era into life-saving products.Our nursing students volunteered to help relieve pressure on an overburdened care delivery system. They are among the 20,000 first responders and health-care professionals trained at community colleges who enter the workforce every year.We know that state resources will be constrained at least for the short-term, but we cannot allow what happened during the Great Recession of a decade ago to repeat itself. Severe budget cuts to higher education at the time forced community colleges to turn away 500,000 students, allowing California to fall further behind in the production of college-educated workers and hindering economic recovery.As classes and student services are transitioned online, colleges are in need of a cohesive online infrastructure that supports students, faculty and staff. California needs to continue to invest in community colleges and students like Petersen, whose biology education may one day prove critical in confronting a future crisis faced by our state. Citywide Robin Cohn snaps a selfie after a run to the top of Twin Peaks. | Photo: Courtesy of Robin Cohn When Mayor London Breed announced the citys shelter-in-place order in March, at least two San Francisco fitness buffs didnt have to forgo their favorite workout routines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thats because Robin Cohn and Jan Adams were already at work on the same project: attempting to cover the entire city on foot. More than two months into the citywide lockdown, theyre finding its possible to socially distance from others while staying on track with their respective goals. For 56-year-old Cohn, who is retired, running every street, alley, staircase, and tiny pathway in San Francisco satisfies two of her natural tendencies. I love variety, she says. And I like thoroughness. Over the past 18 months, shes run about 2,100 miles in San Francisco. In March, she hit the milestone of having run a full two-thirds of the city, with most of the western neighborhood grids under her belt. Sneakers in a tree, spotted by Robin Cohn on a run near UCSF's Parnassus campus. | Photo: Courtesy of Robin Cohn Cohn moved to the Bay Area from Europe a few years ago. When she lived in rural areas in Israel and Italy, she tried to take advantage of the landscape by running radial patterns away from and back to her homes. In southern Italy, for example, she often sprinted past apple orchards, asparagus fields, and vineyards. At first, I didnt really think hard about how I was going to cover San Francisco, she says. I just started running. But as she began running more and more areas that were new to her, Cohn realized she could cover the whole city if she kept track. Unbeknownst to Cohn, Adams, 72, was already hard at work on a 10-year project of walking every voting precinct in the city, which she started in 2012. Adams has lived in San Francisco for decades, with a career spanning jobs as a contractor, political organizer, and editor/publisher, and wanted to return to some areas she hadnt explored in a while. I did small-scale construction in almost every part of town," she says. "I had an experiential sense of who lived here." Story continues Jan Adams photographs herself on one of her walks around San Francisco. | Photo: Courtesy of Jan Adams She had also spent a lot of time poring over district maps. After the 2000 census, she worked with community-based organizations pushing for Board of Supervisor seat elections to revert to specific districts. Back then, she says, the district maps werent available on a city website, and were largely in the hands of political campaigns. Getting the maps was a whole part of running a campaign, she explains. Political consultants had hand-drawn facsimiles of what people thought districts were! Thankfully, the city has since codified and made district maps accessible to anyone. So Adams set out to see every precinct in the city on foot, downloading PDFs of the maps from a government website. Precincts generally include 400 to 700 voters, and the smallest ones tend to be where housing is the densest such as the parts of District 3 near and around Chinatown. Adams estimates that if she walks both sides of the street in every average-sized precinct, she covers about three to 3.5 miles. (For additional exercise, she also runs trails around the city, but that isnt part of her precinct walking.) Depending on what happens with the 2020 U.S. census, the districts will likely shift before Adams is done walking every precinct. But it doesnt matter to me if I finish before they redistrict again, she says with a laugh. I can still use the maps! A view of Sutro Tower captured by Jan Adams on a walk through District 8 (Diamond Heights). | Photo: Courtesy of Jan Adams In Cohns case, including stairways and trails means she can focus on completeness, rather than the patterns that once guided her along fields of produce. Some people are running sections of the city in patterns, she says, citing Lenny Maughan's San Francisco jogging routes that form illustrations, such as the face of Frida Kahlo or the shape of a big cat. "By contrast, mine looks like Ive scribbled on the map." Once Cohn finishes running San Francisco, she plans to run all of Marin County. After that, she might start over again in the city. I think about running San Francisco again with a different theme in mind, Cohn confesses. Despite the great architecture, I rarely take pictures of houses when I run. Im trying to get exercise! But I have a fantasy of doing this again, photographing buildings that really appeal to me. A home Jan Adams spotted in the Mission, with a sign asking "Who Would Jesus Bomb?" | Photo: Courtesy of Jan Adams Both Cohn and Adams were nearing the conclusion of their respective projects when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and they say its been an unusual experience. In some ways, its made the work easier: This is the perfect time to finish off downtown, Cohn notes. Its easy to park, I can jaywalk at will, and its interesting a bit eerie and weird. Adams says the pandemic may speed up her goal. I now believe I will finish in 10 years, she says. I was trying to do it by relying on public transit, but this damn virus makes it such that I can usually park in just about any precinct I still need to walk. Cohn recently photographed this post-pandemic "Isolate Together" chalk wall in the Sunset. | Photo: Courtesy of Robin Cohn Urban running especially up the citys steepest hills presents a different sort of challenge. While San Franciscans continue to go out for essential errands, Cohn says shes been able to adapt her running routes to stay six feet from others. When passing through areas that still have many pedestrians navigating narrow sidewalks, such as in the Castro, there is not a lot of vehicle traffic, she says. So sometimes I run right down the middle of the street to keep distance. Even before face coverings were mandated by the city, Adams wore a scarf she would sometimes pull over her nose and mouth if people were getting too close. And there are two precincts those on Treasure Island that she is putting off for a while yet. Im not going over there until the lockdown is over, she says. A stuffed bear peeks out of a home in the Mission. | Photo: Courtesy of Jan Adams As she continues her daily walks on the mainland, Adams is discovering aspects of the city she hadn't before seen in her decades of living San Francisco. I had never heard of the 16th Avenue steps, and walking there was an absolutely wonderful experience! she says. Cohn has also come across green spaces and unusual architecture she didnt expect to find, especially in industrial areas of the Dogpatch and Outer Mission. There is so much creativity in the city, she marvels. It just blows my mind. [May 19, 2020] Seoul Semiconductor Files Patent Litigation Against Automotive LED Light Distributor Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. ("Seoul") (KOSDAQ 046890), a leading global innovator of LED products and technology, announced that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey against Onyx Enterprise Int'l Corp. ("Onyx"), a distributor of automotive components. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005404/en/ Seoul Semiconductor's WICOP technology (Right) and CSP (News - Alert) (Graphic: Business Wire) Onyx operates "CARiD.com," one of the largest online platforms for offering car parts and accessories, which distributes various automotive LED lights, such as, automotive headlamps, tail lights and fog lights. In its complaint, Seoul asserts that automotive LED products being sold on "CARiD.com" infringe 12 patents - including Seoul's WICOP (Wafer Level Integrated Chip On PCB) technology, a revolutionary technology co-developed with its subsidiary, Seoul Viosys Co., Ltd. WICOP technology is the first in the world that enables LED chips to be soldered to a PCB without lead-frames or gold wires. This significantly enhances heat dissipation and fitness for LED lenses. Such innovative benefits have led to widespread applications of WICOP technology in automotive lighting, including DRL and headlamps, as well as other LED products, such as LCD backlights for TV and mobile phones, smartphone flash LEDs, and high power general lighting. In 2019, Seoul successfully obtained a permanent injunction judgment against the sales of a Philips (News - Alert) brand TV product for infringement of WICOP patents in litigation filed against Fry's Electronics in the Texas Eastern District federal court. In the same year, Seoul also filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the Factory Depot, another Philips brand TV product distributor, in the California Central District federal court. "Several companies' products described as a CSP (Chip Size Package) are copying Seoul's patented technology. To prevent the distribution of such products, Seoul has initiated this litigation. Establishing a fair competition culture of respecting intellectual property is essential for young entrepreneurs and small businesses," said one of Seoul's IP department Vice Presidents. Comparison of Components for WICOP and CSP Component WICOP CSP LED chip O O Phosphor O O Bonding Paste X O Ceramic Board Electrodes X O Ceramic Board X O Solder O O About Seoul Semiconductor Seoul Semiconductor is the world's second-largest global LED manufacturer, a ranking excluding the captive market, and has more than 10,000 patents. Based on a differentiated product portfolio, Seoul offers a wide range of technologies, and mass produces innovative LED products for indoor and outdoor lighting, automotive, IT products, such as mobile phone, computer displays, and other applications, as well as the UV area. The company's world's first development and mass production products are becoming the LED industry standard and leading the global market with a package-free LED, WICOP; a high-voltage AC-driven LED, Acrich; an LED with 10X the output of a conventional LED, nPola; a cutting edge ultraviolet clean technology LED, Violeds; an all direction light emitting technology, filament LED; a natural spectrum LED, SunLike; and more. For more information, please visit www.seoulsemicon.com/en. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005404/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] WASHINGTON Congressional Democrats say the State Department watchdog fired by President Donald Trump last week was investigating possible impropriety in a massive arms sale to Saudi Arabia last year, adding new questions to the watchdogs abrupt dismissal. Democrats said Monday that ousted Inspector General Steve Linick was probing how the State Department pushed through a $7 billion Saudi arms sale over congressional objections. Democrats previously suggested the dismissal might have been tied to Linicks investigation of allegations that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo may have improperly ordered staff to run personal errands for him. Linicks dismissal late Friday comes amid broader concerns over Trumps removal of inspectors general at various departments. Trump has said he had lost confidence in those fired but has not given specific reasons, which lawmakers from both parties have criticized. Pompeo told The Washington Post on Monday that he had recommended to Trump that Linick be removed because he was undermining the State Departments mission. He would not address specifics except to say it was not in retaliation for any investigation. It is not possible that this decision, or my recommendation rather, to the president rather, was based on any effort to retaliate for any investigation that was going on, or is currently going on, Pompeo told the Post, adding that he did not know if Linicks office had been looking into possible impropriety on his part. Under Secretary of State for Management Brian Bulatao told the Post that confidence in Linick had begun to wane after leaks to the media last year about an IG investigation into political retaliation against career employees by political appointees. When released, that report was critical of several political appointees for having acted against career officials deemed insufficiently loyal to Trump. Trump confirmed Monday that he fired Linick at Pompeos request. I have the absolute right as president to terminate. I said, Who appointed him? And they say, President Obama. I said, look, Ill terminate him, Trump said at the White House. Rep. Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was troubled that Linick was fired before the completion of the Saudi investigation. Engel had called for that probe after Pompeo in May 2019 invoked a rarely used provision in federal law to bypass a congressional review of arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. His office was investigating at my request Trumps phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia, said Engel, D-N.Y. We dont have the full picture yet, but its troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick pushed out before this work could be completed. He called for the State Department to turn over records related to Linicks firing that he and the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, had demanded on Saturday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it was alarming to see reports that the firing may have been in response to Linicks investigation into the Saudi arms deal. In a letter to Trump, she demanded an explanation. Trump notified Congress of the dismissal, as required. But Pelosi said it was essential that he provide detailed and substantial justification for the removal before the end of a 30-day review period. Meanwhile, Trump ally Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has pushed for the protection of inspectors general, renewed a call for the White House to explain the dismissals of Linick and the earlier ouster of intelligence community watchdog Michael Atkinson. Grassley said Congress intended that inspectors general only be removed when there is clear evidence of unfitness, wrongdoing or failure to perform the duties of the office. An expression of lost confidence, without further explanation, is not sufficient, Grassley said. Over the weekend, congressional aides had suggested that the dismissal may have been prompted by a probe into allegations that Pompeo had ordered a staffer to pick up take-out food, collect dry cleaning for him and his wife, and care for their dog. Trump said he was unconcerned by the allegations and unfamiliar with any investigations by Linick into Pompeo. Theyre bothered because hes having somebody walk his dog? Trump said. Id rather have him on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes. The president defended the Saudi weapons sales, saying it should be as easy as possible for other countries to buy U.S. weaponry so they dont get them from China, Russia and other nations. We should take the jobs and take the money, because its billions of dollars, Trump said. While problematic, such allegations are unlikely to result in any kind of severe consequence against Pompeo if proved correct. A finding of impropriety in the Saudi arms sales could be more serious. Engel and other congressional Democrats were appalled when Pompeo notified Congress of the decision to use an emergency loophole in the Arms Export Control Act to move ahead with sales of $7 billion in precision guided munitions, other bombs and ammunition and aircraft maintenance support to Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, without lawmakers approval. The law requires Congress to be notified of potential arms sales, giving the body the opportunity to block the sale. But the law also allows the president to waive that review process by declaring an emergency that requires the sale be made in the national security interests of the United States. In his notification, Pompeo said he had made the determination that an emergency exists which requires the immediate sale of the weapons in order to deter further the malign influence of the government of Iran throughout the Middle East region. It came as the administration courted close ties with Saudi Arabia over congressional objections, notably following the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S.-based columnist for The Washington Post, by Saudi agents in October 2018. YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan will attend the inauguration ceremony of newly elected President of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan, the PMs Office said in response to ARMENPRESS inquiry. The Parliament of Artsakh will hold a special session dedicated to Arayik Harutyunyans swearing-in ceremony on May 21, at 18:00. The ceremony will be broadcast live. Arayik Harutyunyan, chairman of the Free Fatherland party, has been elected President of Artsakh based on the results of the voting in the second round of the presidential election on April 15. The first round took place on March 31. Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Charleston's 350th Commemoration In 2020, the City of Charleston and its citizens will commemorate its 350th anniversary of the arrival of English settlers from Barbados to Charles Towne Landing in 1670 and share Charlestons full and accurate story up to the present day. Throughout the year, we will honor the customs, diverse cultures, and rich heritage through a deep reflection and true representation of the citys history. By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov discussed the current situation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on May 18, the ministry reported in a press release. During the online meeting, the sides have agreed to work on determining the date and time of the next meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia with the mediation of the Minsk Group co-chairs after the softening of the outbreak, the press release reads. However, the date of the meeting is not given. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Igor Popov (Russia), Stephane Visconti (France), Andrew Schofer (USA), the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chair-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk and the assistants of the co-chairs of France and the United States have also participated in the video-conference. In addition, the sides also held discussions on the steps to be taken during the upcoming months, in the post-pandemic period. Earlier, with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict according to the joint statement adopted in Geneva in a video-conference held on April 21. It should be noted that this year the first meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative Andrzej Kasprzyk took place in Geneva on 28- 30 January. Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijans Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Groups efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Paul Stephen /Staff file photo Cerveceria Chapultepec, a Mexico-based restaurant chain that specializes in one-price food and drinks, plans to open what appears to be its first U.S. location in the former home of Fontaines Southern Diner & Bar near the Pearl. After some renovations and the addition of a covered patio, Cerveceria Chapultepec will move into the former gas station at 906 E. Elmira St. at the intersection of North St. Marys street in the next six months, said Chris Curiel, a broker with San Antonios Valcor Commercial Real Estate, which is handling the lease. Chandigarh, May 19 : Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Tuesday said the state has become the leading state in the battle against coronavirus by achieving a 78 per cent recovery rate. He said 1,57,13,789 people have been screened in April and out of them 9,593 were found to have symptoms and referred for further management and sampling. He said there have been 1,980 confirmed cases in the state and 52,955 persons have been tested out of which 48,813 were found negative. He said out of 1,980 COVID-19 patients, 1,557 cases were cured, the highest recovery rate in India. Sidhu said the 'Risk Stratified Random Sampling' needs to be done on frequent travellers, frontline workers, people with co-morbidity and people living in densely populated areas, etc, and focus would be on high-risk areas and high-risk individuals to further prevent the spread of the virus. The Health Minister said out of 4,218 Nanded returnees, 1,252 turned out to be positive for COVID-19. All of them have been declared cured and sent to their homes. Meanwhile, doctors and paramedical staff at the Civil Hospital in Ludhiana staged a protest over the poor quality protective equipment being provided to them while on duty. The protesters raised the provision of poor quality of PPE kits and N-95 masks. Protester Milan Verma said the masks that were provided were stitched or stapled masks for treating Covid patients and were made of substandard material. Even the PPE kits provided to them were made of poor quality. The protest was later called off on the assurance by Civil Surgeon Rajesh Bagga that the masks and the other equipment would be replaced. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Donald Trump suggested on Monday that he would rather have Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the phone negotiating with world leaders than worrying about household chores, something a government staffer could do for him if his wife and kids are around to chip in. Using government employees for personal errands is illegal. The president made the comment in response to a question from a reporter about Mr Pompeo encouraging the president to fire the State Department inspector general, who was investigating Mr Pompeo for using government staff for personal chores and other matters. "Now I have you telling me about dog walking, washing dishes, and, you know what, I'd rather have him on the phone with some world leader than have him wash dishes because maybe his wife isn't there or his kids aren't there, you know?" Mr Trump said. Perhaps Mr Pompeo was "busy" when his dog needed walking, Mr Trump speculated. "Maybe he's negotiating with Kim Jong Un, OK, about nuclear weapons. So that he'd say, 'Please, could you walk my dog? Do you mind walking my dog? I'm talking to Kim Jong Un.' Or, 'I'm talking to President Xi [Jinping] about paying us for some of the damage they've caused to the world and to us, please walk my dog.' To who, a Secret Service person or somebody, right?" Mr Trump said. The president fired the inspector general, Steve Linick, late on Friday night and replaced him with Stephen Akard, a former foreign affairs adviser to Vice President Mike Pence when Mr Pence was governor of Indiana. Mr Trump said on Monday that he didn't "know anything about" Mr Linick's ongoing investigation into Mr Pompeo. He also appeared to question the seriousness of the accusations. "You mean he's under investigation because he had somebody walk his dog from the government?" Mr Trump said. "I don't know, doesn't sound I don't think it sounds, like, that important," he said. Mr Linick is one in a string of recent high-profile inspector general firings by Mr Trump. The president has also removed inspectors general from the intelligence community, the Health and Human Services Department, and the Defence Department, whose IG at the time was slated to assess the government's coronavirus response. On Monday, the president questioned the need for department-specific inspectors general, which are in place to ensure top officials do not abuse their power or break the law. House Democrats are keen to investigate Mr Trump and Mr Pompeo for the firing of Mr Linick as he was preparing a report of his findings on Mr Pompeo's use of government staff for personal errands. Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Mr Trump on Monday asking him to provide Congress a reason why he had lost confidence in Mr Linick, which the president is required to do by law. "This removal is part of a pattern of undermining the integrity of the inspectors general and, therefore, our government," Ms Pelosi wrote. "It is alarming to see news reports that your action may have been in response to Inspector General Linick nearing completion of an investigation into the approval of billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia," she wrote. For his part, Mr Trump on Monday said the United States should enter into contracts with other countries for American-made weapon systems as soon as such nations express interest because those deals create jobs at home. Mr Trump brushed off a reporter's question about whether Mr Pompeo was right if he skirted or ignored congressional restrictions on arms sales to the kingdom over legislators' worries that US-made weapons were being used by Saudi leaders in ways that failed to take into account civilians in Yemen as the kingdom battles Iranian-backed proxy forces there. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel has launched an investigation into Mr Linick's firing, demanding that the White House and State Department turn over all documents related to the personnel decision by 22 May. The administration is not expected to willingly hand over all the requested documents. Archabbot Norbert Weber, left, and Father Canut D'Avernas filming a silent documentary "Korean Wedding" in 1925 / Courtesy of St. Ottilien Archabbey and OKCHF By Kwon Mee-yoo "The Korean Collection at the Mission Museum of St. Ottilien Archabbey" published by the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation / Courtesy of OKCHF The Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation (OKCHF) published a research report on the Korean collection of the Mission Museum of St. Ottilien Archabbey, Germany, Monday. "The Korean Collection at the Mission Museum of St. Ottilien Archabbey" is the 15th book in the foundation's Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage series. The book elaborates on some 1,800 artifacts from the archabbey museum, collected by missionaries of St. Ottilien Archabbey, who were stationed in theBenedictine Abbey now the Catholic University of Korea in Hyewha-dong, Seoul from 1909. "We hope that this catalogue will strengthen the groundwork for future research on the Korean collections of overseas museums, thus helping to enhance the public's knowledge of Korea's overseas cultural heritage," the foundation said in a statement. Highlights of the collection were gathered by Archabbot Norbert Weber (18701956), who visited Korea in 1911 and 1925. Weber's collection of 373 items formed the basis of the Korean collection at the Mission Museum and give a peek into the life of early 20th century Korea. Weber filmed a silent documentary "Korean Wedding" at Naepyeong Church in Anbyeon, South Hamgyeong Province in 1925, detailing the customs of a Korean traditional wedding. Weber cast a newlywed couple for the film and the researchers from the OKCHF found that the "Dallyeong" (Officials' Robe with Round Collar) worn by the groom and "Nogwonsam" (Women's Ceremonial Robe) of the bride are currently on display at the Mission Museum. The museum also has the original painting of "Manmulsang Peaks of Mt. Geumgang," which was featured as an illustration in Weber's travelogue "In the Diamond Mountains of Korea." A scene from archabbot Norbert Weber's documentary "Korean Wedding" / Courtesy of St. Ottilien Archabbey and OKCHF Update: Grand Rapids police estimate about 350 people attended the rally. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- A Michigan sheriff opposed to Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-at-home order told a crowd of about 350 that the governors quarantine measures are akin to mass arrest of the states residents. Whats the definition of an arrest? Its basically taking away your free will, your right to move about, Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf told the crowd in downtown Grand Rapids. And an unlawful arrest is when you do it unlawfully, so when you are ordered to your home, are you under arrest? Yeah, by definition you are. Leaf was one of a half dozen speakers, and the only sheriff, to speak Monday evening, May 18, at the Michigan Patriots Rally - Sheriffs Speak Out at Rosa Parks Circle. Riffing on the location, Leaf called Owosso barber Karl Manke, who opened despite the governors order, a little version of Rosa Parks, and asked the crowd to imagine what wouldve happened if Parks never sat in the front of the bus. The two-and-a-half hour rally protesting the stay-at-home order to curb the COVID-19 pandemic was peaceful and filled with musical interludes between speakers. Among the crowd members was a man hawking Trump 2020 flags, a woman dressed as Whitmer but with an Adolf Hitler mustache penciled on and a person holding a sign of Bill Gates with a syringe that reads him as saying, Your body, my choice. Grand Rapids police were stationed outside the bounds of the event, and security flanking the stage was run by Michigan militia members with tactical gear and assault-style rifles. The event came just hours after Whitmer announced that residents of the Upper Peninsula and much of the northern Lower Peninsula will be able to eat and shop at non-essential retail stores again starting Friday. The reopening does come with the caveat that businesses need to enact safety measures and reduced business capacities to slow the spread of coronavirus. Leaf acknowledged the news, saying Whitmer took some wind out of my sails but suggested it shouldve happened much sooner because of the small reported case numbers in these counties. As of Monday, May 18, state health officials say there are 51,915 reported COVID-19 cases in the state and 4,915 associated deaths. Michigan has the fourth highest death toll in the U.S. Alma resident Patrick Burns, who was at the Grand Rapids rally, is no stranger to these stay-at-home protests; hes been to three at the state Capitol and the one over the weekend at Grand Haven State Park. The reasons for his attendance are simple, and they were standing next to him: he attends these rallies for his young son and daughter. Im here for my kids, Burns said. I feel like Gretchen Whitmer is ruining their future. Burns said he worries about the economic toll, as well as the reductions in school time and funding, that his children will suffer because of the economic shutdown. Education was a point Leaf touched on during his speech. He criticized state money going toward the University of Michigan, a public university, and said its money thats supposed to be going into public schools. We need a good, strong school system, otherwise I need a bigger jail, he said, drawing some laughs from the crowd. Leaf celebrated Michigan militia members working security detail at the event. He said militia members are the last line of defense against overreaching government after local governments fail to keep the state in check. The recognition drew chants of USA from the crowd. This is our last home defense right here, ladies and gentlemen, Leaf said. Among the speakers Monday was Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey. The Republican lawmaker encouraged the crowd to continue to do precisely what youre doing today. Be ready to test and challenge government when they get it backasswards and they think theyre the ones who have the rights to give us, when really the government is to provide and protect our rights, Shirkey said. The Michigan House and Senate are currently in a legal battle with Whitmer that challenges her extension of the state of emergency without the authority of the legislature. While Shirkey said he couldnt talk about the lawsuits progress, he promised the crowd we will prevail. 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. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. Related stories: West Michigan has flattened the curve substantially, says health director Whitmer poised to announce partial reopening plans for northern Michigan Michigan salons left in the dark as pressure to reopen mounts Monday, May 18: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan A total of 612 people of Himachal Pradesh stranded in Maharashtra's Pune and surrounding areas due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown arrived here in a special train on Tuesday morning, a senior official said. This is the fifth special train arrived with stranded residents of the state at the Una railway station from different parts of the country since May 13, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sandeep Kumar said. The DC said earlier 3,413 people stranded in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa returned to Una in four special trains since May 13. While 642 people came from Bengaluru on May 13, 1,486 people returned from Goa on May 15, 697 residents returned from Mumbai and 588 people came back from Goa on May 18, he added. Of the 612 passengers who arrived from Pune on Tuesday, 215 were from Kangra, 70 from Una, 68 from Hamirpur, 63 each from Shimla and Mandi, 41 from Solan, 37 from Kullu, 28 from Chamba, 16 from Bilaspur, 9 from Sirmaur and two from Kinnaur, Kumar said. Besides people, including one each from Uttarakhand and Punjab's Garshankar, also arrived in the train, he added. The passengers were allowed to alight district-wise to maintain at least one meter distance between two persons. The passengers from Kangra district alighted first. The DC said the passengers were provided water and food packets before being sent to their home districts in Himachal Road Transport Corporation buses. He thanked Bhadsali's Radha Soami Satsang Ghar secretary Gurmukh Singh and other volunteers for providing food packets to passengers. Kumar said that the 70 people from Una would be kept under institutional quarantine. Their samples will be taken after five-six days and those tested negative, would be allowed to go for home quarantine. Each of the 70 people will have to remain in quarantine for a total of 14 days, he added. Upon arrival, a passenger from Shimla's Sunni Amit Kumar, said he worked at a hotel in Pune. He said he was not hopeful of returning to the state within a few weeks. He thanked Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and the state government for making the arrangements that enabled him and others to return home. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Express News Service BHUBANESWAR: With Amphan intensifying into a massive super cyclone and expected to pass Odisha coast in around 36 hours, the State Government on Monday started the process of shifting a whopping 1.2 million people from the vulnerable areas of 12 districts along its coastline. ALSO READ| Odisha's coastal districts brace for Super Cyclone Amphan Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said Collectors of Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Cuttack, Khurda, Nayagarh and Gajapati districts have been asked to evacuate people living in kutcha, thatched, tiled and asbestos houses and staying within five kilometers from the coastline to safer places. "As per latest reports, evacuation of people from vulnerable areas has started and we are targeting to complete the shifting by Tuesday afternoon," he said. The SRC said 598 cyclone shelters in the coastal districts are ready. With the Covid situation posing a challenge, the Collectors have also been asked to send the people kept in Government quarantine centres to their homes (provided they have pucca houses) if they have tested negative for the virus. Around 212 such temporary medical centres (TMCs) in the coastal districts will be converted to cyclone shelters. He said that the evacuation process will be intensified from Tuesday. Meanwhile, the State Government deputed four senior IAS officers to four districts likely to be severely affected by the super cyclone. While Principal Secretary in the Commerce and Transport department Madhu Sudan Padhi will be in charge of Balasore, Chief Electoral Officer Sushil Kumar Padhi will be stationed in Bhadrak district. ALSO READ| Cyclone Amphan very intense; has potential to wreak large-scale damage: IMD Similarly, Principal Secretary in the Energy department Hemant Sharma and Secretary in the Higher Education department Saswat Mishra have been asked to proceed to Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts respectively. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the preparedness of states to tackle Amphan at a high level meeting in New Delhi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also talked to Collectors of 12 districts over the developing situation. Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba and Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also reviewed the situation. As a precautionary measure, operations in Paradip, Dhamra and Gopalpur ports have been shut down. The SRC also requested boat owners to fasten their boats with each other along with rubber padding so that they are not damaged due to collision. The small boat owners have been requested to bring back their boats to the shore. ALSO READ| 15 ODRAF, 12 NDRF teams for cyclone Amphan: Odisha DGP Abhay Along with NDRF and ODRAF teams, 30 Fire Service teams, with eight members each, have been requisitioned from other districts to be deployed in the vulnerable areas. For post-cyclone restoration work, Executive Engineers of Public Works, Rural Development and Water Resources departments have been advised to keep 10-20 teams with necessary equipment like dozer and JCB and labourers for immediate repair and reconstruction of damaged roads. For quick restoration of power supply, power distribution companies NESCO and CESU have been asked to keep their manpower and equipment ready. Zimbabwean opposition party leader Nelson Chamisa (centre) speaks with journallists gathered outside a private hospital in Harare on May 15, 2020, where three youth leaders from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Alliance were admitted after allegedly being abducted and beaten up by police and eventually dumped along the roadside some ways from the capital city. - JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP A Zimbabwean opposition MP and two activists allegedly abducted from an anti-hunger rally and tortured by security services last week could now be charged for joining the unauthorised protest, a senior minister suggested. The three women - Joanne Mamombe, 27, an MP for the opposition MDC Alliance, and two of the partys youth leaders, Netsai Marova and Cecilia Chimbiri - disappeared from the spontaneous food poverty rally in Harare on Wednesday, prompting the MDC Alliance to issue statements of concern about their whereabouts. They were admitted to hospital two days later - where they remain - saying they had been arrested, beaten and sexually abused. Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe released a statement late on Sunday saying the police would hold a full-scale investigation into the incident. But he added that the demonstration the women had attended was "illegal". It violated the lockdown regulations. There was no social distancing. No stone would be left unturned with a view to finding out exactly what happened. This inquiry will also include the way the story was covered in the media, he said. Doctors attending to the women say they are still too traumatised to answer police questions. Joanne Mamombe, an MDC Alliance MP, lying on a hospital bed - JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP But in a video filmed in hospital by political colleagues, Ms Mamombe alleges that the three were taken to Harare Central Police Station, and were then driven to a small town about 50 miles west of the capital. She said they were shoved in a pit and tortured. Sobbing and shaking in her hospital bed, Ms Mamombe said they were ordered to march and sing, that they were beaten, and she was forced to drink one of the other women's urine. The MDC Alliance later said she was also made to eat faeces. Ms Chimbiri, also shaking and weeping, said from her hospital bed that the "state agent was suckling my breasts, and shoved a gun up my anal passage. State spokesman Nick Mangwana said the alleged ordeal was a diversionary tactic. A poorly choreographed attempt to throw a curved ball at the system. Story continues But you cant fool people by playing the same scene many times over and expect to successfully pull wool over their eyes." Dr Norman Matara, a private GP in Harare who is also a member of the Zimbabwe Association for Doctors for Human Rights, said the women have had medical examinations and that two of them cannot yet walk unaided. They are being treated for injuries and they have been seen by a consultant psychiatrist. We will have to wait until they are stabilised before they can answer any questions from the police. We will then also call in state doctors for a comprehensive assessment, he said. He said the women, who are in a small private hospital, are being guarded by the police and visited by their families twice a day. THE Covid-19 pandemic that has claimed thousands of lives in the Philippines and around the world has also put economies into a standstill, making people lose their jobs and face uncertainties. While crisis is happening globally, frontliners in hospitals, medical facilities, local municipalities and even outside the roof work hard to ensure the safety and well-being of the community. They lay their lives on the line to serve others. In times like this when things get rough, the tough ones lend a hand to those who need it. This is true in the case of Beko, the Philippine subsidiary of Europes number one home appliances brand, as it shows its gratitude for todays unsung heroes. Beko Pilipinas is teaming up with the local municipalities of Pasig, San Juan and Manila; the hardest-hit hospitals like Philippine General Hospital, San Juan de Dios Medical Center, Quirino Memorial Medical Center and Delos Santos Medical Center; together with actress Angel Locsins #UniTentWeStand campaign for San Lazaro Hospital in Manila and recently for the converted mega quarantine facilities in Philippine International Convention Center, Rizal Memorial Stadium and Philippine Arena by donating its innovative washing machines, freestanding cookers and refrigerators for use during the Covid-19 crisis. The frontliners are facing one of the worlds toughest battles and they too, deserve support to carry out an important duty. They do need to feel protected from the harmful viruses and bacteria and they do need to be refreshed and energized with healthy meals. That is why Beko shares its innovative technologies with todays heroes. With Hygiene+ wash program technology, frontliners will get hygienically clean laundry because of its custom drum movements, additional rinse and spin cycles and sensitive temperature control, especially at 60 degrees Celsius as approved by Allergy UK. This eliminates 99 percent of allergens. Meanwhile, EverFresh+ technology in the fridge ensures ideal humidity and temperature to keep fruit and vegetables crisp and fresh up to three times longer or even up to 30 days. This will help frontliners stay healthy and keep their meals, fruits and vegetables fresh any time they most need. Story continues More than just a function to cook food efficiently, Bekos CookMaster capacity means it can cook loads of food in one go, especially during this situation when time is of the essence where people need a reliable cooker in preparing food for big groups of frontliners fighting the pandemic. Helping local government units and private sectors is consistent with Bekos brand purpose to empower new generations to live healthier. Frontliners are our todays heroes and we are happy to provide refrigerators, cookers and washing machines to make the place where they are resting more convenient and homey. We are also looking at ways to continue to extend our support during the war against Covid-19, said Gurhan Gunal, country manager of Beko Pilipinas Corp. In addition, Beko Pilipinas is also working with #RockEd Relief (@RockEdPhilippines) and #FrontlineFeedersPH (@FrontlineFeedersPH) groups that help and support the medical workers in mobilizing, allocating and providing food delivery to hospitals and ensuring the right number of people are fed at the right time. Bekos humble contribution to the effort in taking care of frontliners in the Philippines is its way of giving back to them because they are out there risking their lives every day. These are but small donations compared to what they are doing.(Sponsored Content) Representative image The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) plans a nationwide study of up to 325,000 people to track how the new coronavirus is spreading across the country into next year and beyond, a CDC spokeswoman and researchers conducting the effort told Reuters. The CDC study, expected to launch in June or July, will test samples from blood donors in 25 metropolitan areas for antibodies created when the immune system fights the coronavirus, said Dr. Michael Busch, director of the nonprofit Vitalant Research Institute. Busch is leading a preliminary version of the study - funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - that is testing the first 36,000 samples. The CDC-funded portion, to be formally announced this week, will expand the scope and time frame, taking samples over 18 months to see how antibodies evolve over time, said CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund. Vitalant, a nonprofit that runs blood donation centers and tests samples, will lead the broader effort as well. 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 Researchers aim to publish results on a rolling basis, Nordlund said. Antibody studies, also known as seroprevalence research, are considered critical to understanding where an outbreak is spreading and can help guide decisions on restrictions needed to contain it. The CDC study should also help scientists better understand whether the immune response to COVID wanes over time. The novel coronavirus has infected around 1.5 million people in the United States and killed nearly 90,000, according to a Reuters tally. The CDC studyA will test blood from 1,000 donors in each of the 25 metro areas monthly, for 12 months. Researchers will then test blood from another 25,000 donors at the 18-month mark. Samples will come from "regular, altruistic people" who come in to donate blood, Busch said. 'FEELING EXPOSED' Some public health officials have complained that the CDC has lagged on research and guidance for local governments trying to cope with the pandemic. "We,re feeling exposed at the local level, in terms of not seeing that kind of organized plan from CDC, Dr. Matt Willis, public health officer for Marin County, California, said in an interview last week. News of the studyA brought Willis some reassurance. aPartial answers and preliminary results are better than nothing when you have a decision to make that could affect lives, he said, like when to reopen parks and businesses. The CDC's Nordlund said the study "is indicative of how leaders across the federal government are working collaboratively with partners in academia and in blood donation and testing industries" to monitor COVID-19. She added that blood donor results can be used by CDC to form estimates about the broader population through statistical methods. "This has been done with West Nile virus, Zika, and other emerging infectious diseases," she said. The six metropolitan areas being surveyed in the precursor study are New York, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Boston and Minneapolis, said Dr. Graham Simmons, another Vitalant researcher involved in the project. "In all likelihood" the next phase will add Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Denver and others, Simmons said. "We have selected sites to give a broad geographical distribution throughout the country," Simmons said, including sites with high infection rates or places where rates may increase. Researchers at John Hopkins University, in a 2019 paper, found blood donors, who are disproportionately healthy, are not always ideal populations for research. The CDC study may not "generate results that are generalizable to the population,"Thomas McDade, a researcher at Northwestern University, said in an interview. Still, it could substantially add to our understanding of (COVID-19) infections, said Dr. Susan Philip, deputy health officer at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. aIt will be a large sample size, geographically diverse a and quick to set up, Philip added. Some local governments have done their own seroprevalence research. New York in April found antibodies in more than 20% of some 3,000 test subjects, suggesting the number of residents exposed to the virus in the hardest-hit state is much higher than the 355,000 who have tested positive. Last week, an antibody study by the city of Boston and Massachusetts General Hospital found 10% of the population had COVID-19 antibodies. The Spanish government ran a study showing exposure in 5% of people - suggesting 10 times the number of confirmed positive cases. : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in allotting entrance examination centres in the UAE and other Gulf countries, where a large number of expatriate Indian students reside. There has been concern among the expatriate students in the Gulf about writing the various entrance examinations including NEET, Vijayan told reporters here. This year's NEET examination is scheduled for July 26 and because of the travel ban from abroad, it won't be possible for those students to come to India to write these exams, he said. "It is in this context that Kerala has asked for entrance examination centres in the Gulf countries," Vijayan added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Madhya Pradesh is coming to grips with vegetable vendors turning superspreaders of coronavirus, by organising the sale of vegetables and implementing a new guideline for street vendors to cut the chain of transmission of the disease. Of late, Ujjain, one of the major Covid-19 hotspots, has introduced an almost contactless method of vegetable sales at the doorsteps and is even training vendors to accept digital payment instead of letting cash exchange hands. Residents are also being encouraged to purchase baskets of vegetables priced at Rs 50 and Rs 100 instead of choosing, a process conducive to the spread of the contagion. Besides, every vendor is being trained to make customized vegetable packets apart from using sanitisers during the sale. Around 100 vendors have been pressed to service 59 wards in Ujjain and they are packing vegetables in cloth bags instead of plastic ones. Earlier, it was Indore that experimented with the selling of custom-sized vegetable baskets instead of loose items. The baskets were priced at Rs 150 and Rs 200. administration in several districts of Madhya Pradesh found that a number of vegetable and fruits vendors, too, contributed to spreading of the virus, hence these districts have started taking tough measures against the vendors violating lockdown restrictions, a health department official said. In the past three days, Bhopal Police has booked at least 20 vegetable vendors for not complying with lockdown restrictions after one of them was found to be positive for Covid-19. Only authorised vendors are authorised to sell vegetables in Bhopal at fixed rates. Earlier, in Ujjain, two vendors were put under treatment after found to be Covid-19 positive and another 65-year-old woman died in RD Gardi Medical College. She was suspected to have picked up the virus from the vegetable market. For Coronavirus Live Updates In April third week, the municipal corporation in Indore had seized vegetables from a vendors house after he was found operating his shop from his house despite a ban on the direct sale of vegetables and fruits. Rishi Garg, commissioner of Ujjain municipal corporation (UMC) said that the conventional functioning of the supply chain of farmers, whole-sellers at Mandi and vendors, is prone to spreading the infection. .The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19 The corporation has tied up with vendors who bring vegetables from select farmers from outside the city. Each ward in the city has been allotted one or two loader vehicles. The cell phone numbers of the driver and the nodal officer have been shared in public so that people can call them up for home delivery, Garg explained how the administration was trying to disrupt the conventional model to break the chain of the virus. He added that in order to minimise the exchange of currency, vendors have also been trained in digital payments using platforms such as Bhim App or Paytm. Similar tactics were being followed in Indore as well. Information officer Dr RR Patel said that certain marriage halls outside the city had been earmarked and allotted to traders who deliver packed vegetables at the doorstep. . State inspectors confiscated seven firearms, 18 magazines and nearly 400 rounds of ammunition from two Bay Area homes during recent operations that were among a dozen conducted throughout California, authorities said Tuesday. In all, the 12 operations spanning from Bakersfield to Grass Valley (Nevada County) seized 51 firearms, 123 magazines, 28,518 rounds of ammunition and 120 grams of methamphetamine and heroin, according to the office of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. The weapons included four assault weapons and two ghost guns, officials said. Ghost guns are unregistered homemade firearms that dont have serial numbers, making them untraceable. Gun violence is the last thing our communities and children should have to fear during a public health crisis, Becerra said in a statement. At the California Department of Justice, well keep doing our part to keep firearms out of the hands of violent and dangerous individuals. The first of the two stings in the Bay Area occurred April 22 in Oakland, where Department of Justice agents confiscated one handgun, four magazines and 96 rounds of ammunition from the home of a man who had recently tried to buy ammunition, officials said. Authorities also confiscated two grams of heroin and arrested Anton Konevski, a resident at the home. It was not clear whether Konevski was charged. Fairfield police and state authorities executed another search warrant on May 1 at a Fairfield home and seized five handguns, one unregistered assault rifle, 14 magazines and 302 rounds of ammunition, officials said. Becerra said investigators learned critical information in all of the operations from ammunition background checks. 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. Background checks can save lives and DOJs firearms operations help make that happen, he said. Alejandro Serrano is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alejandro.serrano@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @serrano_alej Quebecs right-wing populist Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) government is resorting to ever more desperate measures to push through a premature return to work as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage. And far from mobilizing societys resources to protect essential workers and conduct mass testing and contract tracing, it is increasingly abandoning serious efforts to stop the spread of the virus, especially in Montreal, which is the epicentre of the pandemic in Canada. Quebec Premier Francois Legault's government is now urging Montreal-area daycare centres to hire teenagers, including children as young as 14, to fill staff shortages. Legault has already greenlighted the resumption of construction, mining, manufacturing and most other businesses, as well as the reopening of primary schools and daycare centres throughout the province except in the Greater Montreal area. During the summer school break, students aged 14 and over will be able to be hired for disinfection, cleaning tasks, and to assist with child care, the government said in a note sent to daycare centres which are facing a shortage of staff, linked to poor working conditions and exacerbated by the coronavirus crisis. An employer who wishes to employ a child under the age of 14, the note said, must obtain written permission from a parent or guardian. The Legault governments outrageous policy will put children, who would replace staff unable to work due to health conditions, at a high risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19. It takes place under conditions of a deepening health crisis, with Montreal's hospitals beginning to overflow with COVID-19 patients. Horrific conditions prevail in the regions nursing homes, and several working class neighborhoods on the Island of Montreal, including Montreal North and Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, are seeing significant community transmission of the virus. While children and young people in Montreal are the immediate targets, the announcement must be taken as a serious warning by workers across Canada as to just how far the ruling elite is prepared to go to force working people back to work. Legaults government has for weeks been spearheading the reckless return-to-work drive of Canadas ruling elite, implementing reopening plans that were subsequently embraced by provincial governments across the country, including Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives in Ontario. (see: Quebec government, big business push for return to work as COVID-19 deaths soar). Legault is seeking to replace up to 6,000 daycare workers who are currently unable to work, according to figures provided by the FIPEQ (Federation des intervenantes en petite enfance du Quebec), which is affiliated with the Centrale des syndicats du Quebec (CSQQuebec Union Federation). We're talking, for example, of vulnerable people, people who have chronic illnesses, who have diabetes, explained FIPEQ President Valerie Grenon. Some people are afraid of catching and transmitting the virus to a vulnerable relative, she added. She also noted that the government will not remunerate workers in the provinces Centres de la petite enfance (CPEgovernment-funded, non-profit daycares) who dont show up to work because they are infected by COVID-19, unless this is approved by Public Health authorities. The hasty reopening of daycare centres, to be implemented through the mass hiring of teenagers and children to work in highly dangerous conditions, is aimed at accelerating the precipitous return to work demanded by big business. Its goal is to resume and intensify the exploitation of workers in order to make them pay for the hundreds of billions of dollars handed over to the financial and corporate elite by the Trudeau government, Bank of Canada, and other state institutions under various bailout schemes. This anti-worker policy is being applied in the United States, Europe and around the world. In Canada, with the full support of Justin Trudeau's federal government, all provincial governments have begun to lift their containment/lockdown measures. They are doing so in defiance of repeated warnings from the World Health Organization (WHO) that a premature lifting of the lockdownespecially one without provisions for mass testing, contact tracing, quarantining and treatment of the sick and a vast expansion of hospital surge capacityrisks resulting in a second, even more deadly wave of infections. Due to a public outcry, the Legault government has stopped publicly advocating a criminal strategy of herd immunity, which calls for the mass infection of the population. Nonetheless, its entire policy shows that it is prepared to risk the lives of working people, even children, for the sake of corporate profit. This is all the more disturbing as doctors are beginning to observe serious consequences in children infected with COVID-19, including a condition similar to Kawasaki syndrome. Other measures being considered by the Legault government to speed up the reopening of child care centres include: the hiring of day-camp animators to replace daycare workers; increasing the number of children per trained worker; and hiring staff before the criminal record check process is completed. At the same time, in blatant violation of its own hypocritical calls to maintain social distancing, the government is recommending that parents in need hire a student or even use grandparents under the age of 70 to babysit their children. Several outbreaks have already been reported in emergency child care facilities that have been kept open during the lockdown to accommodate the children of health care workers and other essential employees. At a daycare centre located at La Mennais School in Mascouche, a northern suburb of Montreal, 12 children and 4 employees tested positive. Another emergency daycare centre in Mascouche, Clair-Soleil, reported that one child tested positive for COVID-19 and that three other children and six educators who had been in contact with the infected child were removed as a preventive measure. The immense danger posed by the complete reopening of the daycares being prepared by the Legault government is indicated in an open letter from the FIPEQ. Numerous directives concerning ratios, social distancing measures or limiting contacts at pickup times are not being respected, it states. Management at several places are threatening to fire workers who fear for their health or that of their loved ones. Protective equipment is clearly insufficient. Every day, we change diapers, wipe noses and comfort children, and so far, we have not been given any protective equipment, said Paula Romero, an educator at CPE Pierrot La Lune, on the South Shore of Montreal. No systematic testing has been put in place. Some people have been quarantined, but staff and children who have been in contact remain at the CPE without having been tested, explained the FIPEQ. The union has also observed that parents of children attending emergency daycare centres are not systematically informed when there are confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection in their daycare centres. Employees are even kept in the dark about the health status of the parents who use their services. In an interview reported by the daily newspaper Le Devoir, a daycare educator explained, I looked after a child whose mother tested positive for COVID-19, and management never informed us. This author also recommends: Mounting worker opposition to Quebecs reckless back-to-work drive [14 May 2020] Why is Canadas ruling elite deploying the military amid the COVID-19 pandemic? [8 May 2020] Canada: Form rank-and-file committees to oppose COVID-19 back-to-work drive [6 May 2020] Antonio Bazzoffi, director of operations for SUNY Empire State College, stacks donations Monday inside a CDTA bus during the college's Stuff the Bus in Saratoga Springs. The event, which took in essential baby items, was part of the United Way of the Greater Capital Region's annual day of service, 5.18 Day. Only new items were accepted and disinfecting protocol was followed before the donations were turned over to local organizations to distribute to those in need. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 10:09:04|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close WASHINGTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. bipartisan lawmakers on Monday urged President Donald Trump to provide a more detailed explanation for his decision to fire the State Department's Inspector General (IG) Steve Linick. "The removal is part of a pattern of undermining the integrity" of the IGs and the U.S. government, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, said in a letter to Trump, calling for "detailed and substantial justification" for the decision. Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, made a similar request on Monday, citing a U.S. law that requires the White House to provide Congress with a written explanation at least 30 days prior to removing an IG. "IGs are intended to be equal opportunity investigators and are designed to combat waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct without regard to political affiliation," Grassley wrote. "Removal of IGs without explanation could create a chilling effect in the oversight community, and risks decreasing the quantity, quality, fidelity, and veracity of their reports." The senator asked the White House to produce a detailed reasoning for the removal of Linick no later than June 1, and a written response as soon as possible regarding the ouster of Intelligence Community IG Michael Atkinson, which was announced by Trump in April. Trump said last week that he's firing Linick because he did not have the fullest confidence in the official, who began his tenure as the State Department's watchdog in 2013. That decision has sparked an inquiry by Democrats and scrutiny even by a number of Republicans. Speaking to reporters at a White House event on Monday, Trump said he does not know Linick and "never heard of him," but acknowledged that it was Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who recommended the move. "I was happy to do it. Mike requested that I do it," he said. "Maybe he thinks he's being treated unfairly." Democratic Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Eliot Engel, who jointly launched an inquiry into Linick's removal with Senator Bob Menendez, Democratic ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said on Monday that the IG was investigating the Trump administration's efforts to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia by declaring a national emergency to sidestep congressional approval. "I've learned there may be another reason for IG Linick's firing. His office was investigating -- at my request -- Trump's phony emergency declaration so he could send Saudi Arabia weapons," Engel tweeted. "We don't have the full picture yet, but it's troubling that Sec Pompeo wanted Linick pushed out." Linick was reportedly looking into whether Pompeo had made a political appointee run personal errands for him, including walking his dog and picking up his dry cleaning. Trump said on Monday that he doesn't think the allegations against Pompeo are "important." "Here's a man supposed to be negotiating war and peace with major, major countries with weaponry like the world has never seen before, and the Democrats and the fake news media they're interested in a man who's walking their dog," the president said. "And maybe he's busy ... So that he'd say please could you walk my dog?" "This country has a long way to go. The priorities are really screwed up," he said of the investigations into Pompeo. In an interview with The Washington Post on Monday, Pompeo, the Trump administration's second secretary of state, said that he doesn't know Linick's investigations, and that Linick was fired because his work was "undermining" the mission of the State Department. "I went to the president and made clear to him that Inspector General Linick wasn't performing a function in a way that we had tried to get him to," Pompeo said. "It is not possible that this decision, or my recommendation rather, to the president rather, was based on any effort to retaliate for any investigation that was going on or is currently going on," the secretary of state said. "Because I simply don't know. I'm not briefed on it. I usually see these investigations in final draft form 24 hours, 48 hours before the IG is prepared to release them." "So it's simply not possible for this to be an act of retaliation. End of story," he added. As inspector general, Linick was responsible for, among other things, conducting administrative and criminal investigations of waste, fraud, mismanagement, and misconduct in the State Department, according to his online biography. Besides Linick and Atkinson, Trump has moved in the past few weeks to fire acting Pentagon IG Glenn Fine, and Christi Grimm, principal deputy IG of the Department of Health and Human Services. Enditem We are doing two things," Bishop said. "We want to expand it (cell therapy) to patients with solid tumors. ... The second thing is that we want to double the number of patients that benefit from CAR T-cell therapy. We want to improve on what are already remarkable results. Google is now working to allow the Chrome browsers incoming tab groups to collapse or expand as needed. Thats based on a recent test variation of the feature recently spotted by TechDows in Chrome Canary. As might be expected, that will allow users to not only group their tabs together. But theyll also be able to click on a given tab group icon or label and shrink all grouped tabs under a single tab. More succinctly, that means users wont be stuck with well-organized but still hard to use groups. In its initial launch, that seems to be exactly how those will work. Instead, after this update to the feature, all tabs within a group will take up the same space a standard tab would. Then, on command, users can expand those back out to access the underlying websites and pages. What are tab groups in Chrome? Tab groups act as a better way to organize Chrome browser tabs on desktops, as the branding implies. In effect, theyll allow users to more easily identify tabs, complete with color-coding and labels. Thats for Mac, Linux, Windows, and Chrome OS. The labels and colors are user-defined too. So users will be able to organize however they like, whether thats separating work and personal tabs or by some other categorization. Advertisement The primary drawback to that, as they currently exist in the beta Channel for Chrome 83, is that the tabs will still take up the usual amount of space. And, in fact, they may take up more. For users who have two dozen tabs open, for instance, those tabs are already difficult to manage since the tab itself shrinks beyond the ability to read clearly. By adding in tab groups, users will be able to quickly color-code the tabs but theyll also be going from 24 tabs in this example to 26 or more tabs. Thats because the label tab takes up extra space. So having just two labels increases the number of open tabs by two. Adding more labels effectively adds more tabs, one per label. By making the tabs collapsible, Google is giving users a solution to that problem. Advertisement This wont necessarily arrive alongside tab groups but you can turn them on now Now, as noted above, the current expectation is not that the grouping feature will arrive immediately alongside the newly-spotted feature. So users wont necessarily be able to collapse tab groups in Chrome on the day that those land. For now, thats only available in Chrome Canary. Specifically, thats for Chrome version 85. Tab grouping is presently in the Beta Channel is expected to arrive in Chrome version 83. Googles releasing that on May 19 for desktop and a week later for Chromebooks. That doesnt mean that users cant access the feature early if theyre using a Canary version of Chrome. Advertisement To turn on tab group collapsing features, users need to first navigate to the chrome://flags experimental menu. Then, using the search at the top of the page, theyll need to locate the tab-groups-collapse flag. Turning that on and then restarting the browser will activate the feature. Iran: US bears responsibility for any foolish act against tankers heading to Venezuela Iran Press TV Monday, 18 May 2020 9:38 AM Iran's Foreign Ministry has warned again that the United States will itself bear the responsibility for any foolish act that it could take against Venezuela-headed Iranian fuel tankers, saying Washington cannot come in the way of legitimate trade among independent countries. "The US itself will have to suffer the repercussions that arise out of any unthinking measure [that it could take] against the Iranian vessels," ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told reporters during a press briefing in Tehran on Monday. "Should the Americans take any measure against our vessels' free and legal movement around, they would face our decisive response," he warned. If Washington "does not like a country, this does not give it any grounds to prevent legal trade among countries, [take them under] sanctions, and cause trouble for them," the official noted. The Islamic Republic, he said, has delivered a clear caution against any potential American mischief through the Swiss Embassy in Tehran that represents Washington's interests, the Iranian mission to the United Nations, and also a letter by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Meanwhile speaking to Press TV, an Iranian military official echoed a similar warning, noting that Iran reserved the right to respond duly to and retaliate any action to target its oil tankers sailing through international waters towards Venezuela. "International waters should remain safe either for all oil tankers or none," the military official spoke on the condition of anonymity. Vessel tracking data have reportedly suggested that an Iranian tanker that had loaded fuel at Bandar Abbas port in southern Iran at the end of March, sailed through the Suez Canal and entered the Atlantic on Wednesday. An unnamed official with the US administration that has brought both Iran and Venezuela under sanctions, however, told Reuters on Thursday that the shipment was "unwelcome," claiming "we're looking at measures that can be taken." Mousavi called the threat "shameless" and said America under President Donald Trump was disrupting the world order, ignoring the standing norms, and waging anarchy. Iranian vessels are bound for Venezuela carrying fuel shipments, Mousavi said, noting that the undertaking faces no legal prohibitions. The development is completely legitimate as opposed to maritime piracy "which is [something that is] mastered by the US." Last July, the UK seized an Iran-operated supertanker with US instructions, attacking the vessel in the Strait of Gibraltar. Gibraltar's government, however, released the vessel in August notwithstanding the US bans. Iran not counting much on Europe The official also said Europe had already taken too long to duly cooperate with Iran despite the sanctions that the US returned in 2018 after illegally leaving a historic nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. "We are still critical of the Europeans' inaction and cannot count on them much. We, ourselves, have to take matters further," he said, but noted that Tehran would still engage in interactions with them. Iran's Syria presence The spokesperson separately addressed the issue of the US and Israel's unease with Iran's military advisory presence in Syria. The Iranian activities "are none of the US and the Zionist regime [of Israel]'s business," he said, adding that Tehran would keep providing Damascus with the advisory support as long as it was required to. Regional dialog Mousavi also addressed the issue of regional relations and reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's has expressed willingness to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Tehran and Riyadh have been without diplomatic relations since 2016. He said the countries of the region "will not find any better friend than Iran," noting that Tehran is always open to direct or mediated dialog towards alleviation of any misunderstandings with regional states. Leader's address on Quds Day Mousavi also announced that Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei will be addressing "millions across the world" on this year's Quds Day. The last Friday of every Ramadan has been called so by the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, when millions-strong rallies are held worldwide to denounce Israel's daily aggression against Palestinians. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address The iconic Rancan sisters have denied rumours of a feud over older sister Marissa's Big Brother debut. On Monday, Woman's Day claimed that Marissa's Big Brother gig had driven a wedge between herself and twins Lisa and Adele. However, Adele told the publication that there's no rift between the trio. Not true! The iconic Rancan sisters have denied rumours of a feud over older sister Marissa's Big Brother debut. (Pictured: Marissa in a promotional shot for Big Brother) 'We're absolutely just as close,' the 57-year-old said. 'We support each other in every way and we're so excited to watch Marissa on Big Brother. She's going to be entertaining, that's for sure.' Marissa, along with her Lisa and Adele, found fame in the 1980s as aerobics icons the Rancan sisters. 'We're absolutely just as close': Twins Lisa and Adele Rancan have denied reports of a feud with big sister Marissa The 61-year-old has since left the fitness industry for a new career as a makeup artist, while her two sisters run their own fitness studio in Sydney's Mosman. 'We were the first three to bring aerobics to Australia. It started back in 1983 and we were known for our morning TV appearances,' Marissa said in a promotional video for Big Brother. 'We were like a household name. We had a cult following and would train celebrities,' she added. Flashback: Marissa, along with her Lisa and Adele, found fame in the 1980s as aerobics icons the Rancan sisters The Rancan Sisters opened their first aerobics studio in Cremorne, Sydney in 1981. As the business grew, they appeared daily on Channel 10's Good Morning Australia, with stars such as Nicole Kidman heading to their gym for a workout. Although the Rancan sisters' glory days in the spotlight are now over, Marissa is set for another shot at fame on the upcoming season of Channel Seven's Big Brother. At 61, she'll be the oldest housemate on the series, which is set to premiere soon. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has announced an investigation into the bodys handling of the coronavirus pandemic (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone/AP) The World Health Organisation (WHO) has bowed to calls from most of its member states to launch an independent investigation into its management of the international response to the coronavirus. The move comes after weeks of finger-pointing between the US and China over the pandemic, which has killed more than 300,000 people and devastated the global economy. The comprehensive evaluation, sought by a coalition of African, European and other countries, is intended to review lessons learned from WHOs coordination of the global response to Covid-19. But it would stop short of examining contentious issues such as the origins of the new coronavirus. US President Donald Trump has claimed he has proof suggesting the coronavirus originated in a lab in China, while the scientific community has insisted all evidence to date shows the virus likely jumped into humans from animals. In Washington on Monday, Mr Trump criticised the WHO for having done a very sad job and said he was considering whether to cut the annual US funding of the body from 450 million dollars (368 million) a year to 40 million dollars (32.8 million). They gave us a lot of bad advice, terrible advice, he said. They were wrong so much, always on the side of China. Expand Close (PA Graphics) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA Graphics) Later on Monday, Mr Trump tweeted a letter he had sent WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in which the president said the only way forward was if WHO can actually demonstrate independence from China. Mr Trump said unless WHO committed to substantive improvements over the next 30 days, he would make his temporary suspension of US funding permanent. A spokeswoman for the World Health Organisation said the UN health agency does not have an immediate reaction to the letter from Mr Trump. WHOs normally bureaucratic annual assembly this week has been overshadowed by mutual recriminations and political sniping between the US and China. Dr Tedros said he would launch an independent evaluation of WHOs response at the earliest appropriate moment alluding to findings published on Monday in a first report by an oversight advisory body commissioned to look into WHOs response. Expand Close President Donald Trump has been pointing the finger at the WHO and at China (Evan Vucci/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Donald Trump has been pointing the finger at the WHO and at China (Evan Vucci/AP) The 11-page report raised questions such as whether WHOs warning system for alerting the world to outbreaks is adequate, and suggested member states might need to reassess WHOs role in providing travel advice to countries. In his opening remarks at the WHO meeting, Dr Tedros held firm and sought to focus on the bigger troubles posed by the outbreak, saying we have been humbled by this very small microbe. This contagion exposes the fault lines, inequalities, injustices and contradictions of our modern world, Dr Tedros said. And geopolitical divisions have been thrown into sharp relief. Expand Close President Xi Jinping insists China has acted openly and honestly over the coronavirus outbreak (Matt Cardy/PA) PA / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp President Xi Jinping insists China has acted openly and honestly over the coronavirus outbreak (Matt Cardy/PA) Mr Xi insisted China had acted with openness, transparency and responsibility when the epidemic was detected in Wuhan. He said China had give all relevant outbreak data to WHO and other countries, including the viruss genetic sequence, in a most timely fashion. Mr Xi said that in recent weeks China had dispatched medical supplies to more than 50 African countries and that 46 Chinese medical teams were currently on the continent helping local officials. Mr Xi has said China supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to Covid-19 and that it should be based on science and professionalism led by WHO, and conducted in an objective and impartial manner. Health experts say Mr Trumps increasing attacks on the WHO demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of the UN agencys role. Devi Sridhar, a professor of global health at the University of Edinburgh, said: China and the US are fighting it out like divorced parents while WHO is the child caught in the middle, trying not to pick sides. President Trump doesnt understand what the WHO can and cannot do, she said, explaining that it sets international standards and is driven by its member countries. Michael Head, a senior research fellow at the University of Southampton, said much of what Mr Trump was demanding was beyond the WHOs intended scope. The WHO have limited powers, in terms of what they can demand of countries where outbreaks are taking place, he said. They provide expert guidance and not enforcement by law. JACKSON COUNTY, Mississippi -- Two Gautier men burglarized at least a dozen cars, stealing four firearms among other items between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Tuesday. By early afternoon, they were in custody. Thanks to surveillance video and and statements from witnesses, the two inept crooks didnt even have time to unload the items they had stolen -- all of which were recovered by investigators who served search warrants at the Gautier homes of the two suspects -- 20-year-old Bobby Lowe and 23-year-old Benjamin Green. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell every one of the cars burglarized had been left unlocked. Unlocked vehicles are easy targets and we strongly encourage citizens to lock their vehicles and remove valuables from them, the sheriff said. Green and Lowe are each charged with auto burglary, with Lowe facing additional charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and contempt of court. Lowe will be unable to post bond, as he was already on probation with the Mississippi Department of Corrections for an unrelated felony. Representative image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More In the past two months, the coronavirus-induced lockdown has led to innovative partnerships when it comes to delivery of essential goods, particularly from FMCG companies. While Marico Ltd has launched Saffola Store on Swiggy and Zomato, cab-aggregator Uber India has launched a last mile delivery service and has partnered with online grocery firm BigBasket. Kolkata-based firm ITC Ltd has launched multiple initiatives to participate in India's fight against coronavirus by tapping a range of distribution channels to ensure that supplies of essential food and hygiene products are delivered at the doorstep of its consumers during lockdown period. ITC has joined hands with Dominos to deliver ITCs essential items.Along with Dominos, it has also partnered with food delivery chains Swiggy, Zomato along with community centric apps such as Apna Complex, My gate, No broker and Azgo. Through such tie-ups, ITC has ensured home deliveries of its brands like Aashirvaad, Yippee!, Sunfeast B Natural, Savlon and Fiama. 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 Another Mumbai-based FMCG company, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, has tied up with Zomato and Dunzo along with B2B supply chain start-up Shop Kirana and car rental company Zoomcar. Tata Consumer Products too has listed its distributors on Flipkart. Track this blog for latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak Most FMCG companies plan to continue the partnership even after the lockdown. At a time when, stepping out has become risk for consumers due to risk of COVID-19, FMCG companies are entering in to tie ups to enable door-step delivery to consumers. With supply chain concerns, and acute shortage of manpower, last mile delivery was becoming challenging for companies, particularly when there was high demand of essentials. This affected the sales of FMCG companies. Marico, while declaring its Q4FY20 results, said their turnover from domestic business declined 8 percent YoY to Rs 1,146 crore due to lockdown. The India business recorded a volume decline of 3 per cent, vastly affected by disruptions in the last fortnight of March, due to lockdowns initially enforced in some states and eventually all over the country, to contain the spread of coronavirus in India, Marico said in its release sent to the exchanges. "Partnering with food delivery apps was the best thing FMCG companies could do. It is serving the purpose of delivering at the same time supply chain issue is resolved as delivery apps are directly picking up products from the distribution centres and shops, and getting them delivered to the consumer," said an analyst who closely tracks ITC, GCPL and Marico. Market experts also pointed out that tie ups are a win-win for both the entities. For instance, Zomato gets the business if it has tied up with Marico and Marico is able to sell its products at the customer's door step. Going forward, these tie ups will help FMCG companies improve their sales to an extent, and also help them to ride on the success of the on e-commerce as a channel. According to a Nielsen report, contribution of e-commerces to overall FMCG sales in the country is at 2 percent currently and is expected to increase to 5 percent by 2022. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak Provinces across China are offering cash to farmers who breed wild animals for their meat in the hope of stopping the exotic meat trade. Officials in at least four provinces have promised buyout schemes or other financial aid to help residents whose income relies on the breeding of unconventional species, such as porcupines, cobras and muntjacs. The news comes three months after the country slapped a temporary ban on the trading and eating of wildlife, a practice believed to be responsible for the coronavirus pandemic. China's overall wildlife trade is worth around 520billion yuan (57billion), according to a government report from 2017. The government of Hunan in southern China will pay 69 for each civet cat that farmers are breeding. The cat-like mammals are believed to have started the SARS outbreak in 2002. Pictured, caged civet cats are seen at Xinyuan wildlife market in Guangzhou in January, 2004 Officials in at least four Chinese provinces have promised buyout schemes or other financial aid to help residents whose income relies on the breeding of exotic animals. Pictured, a vendor sells three peacocks at a wildlife animals market in Guangzhou on January 10, 2004 The COVID-19 outbreak, which has killed more than 318,000 people worldwide, is thought to have started at a market selling live wild animals in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province. The southern province of Hunan, which borders coronavirus ground zero Hubei, says it will subsidise all farms that have an official licence to breed and raise wild animals. The provincial government will pay 630 yuan (72) for one porcupine, 378 yuan (69) for a swan goose and 2,457 yuan (282) per Chinese muntjac, according to an official notice published on Friday. A civet cat -- the animal blamed for the SARS outbreak nearly two decades ago -- is worth 600 yuan (69). Hugely popular bamboo rats, a possible coronavirus carrier, can be traded in for 75 yuan (8.6) per kilogram. The programme covers a total of 14 species, which also include king rat snakes, Chinese bamboo partridges and guinea pigs. The provincial officials are ordering all counties to calculate the number of relevant breeders by May 25, carry out the buyout scheme by June 10 and dispose of the animals safely by mid-July. Chinese farmers were rearing about 25million bamboo rats when the government launched a temporary ban on the trading and consumption of wild animals in February in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The picture shows a farmer in Guizhou holding two bamboo rats in 2012 In the province of Jiangxi, which also borders Hubei, officials of the city of Ganzhou are forking out a series of cash bonuses to encourage wild animal farmers to turn to other trades, such as growing tea forest and oranges. The city will also support any companies that hire those farmers by paying towards their salaries, a directive says. Jiangxi province has more than 2,300 licensed breeders, mostly rearing wild animals for food. Their animals are worth about 1.6billion yuan (180million), according to the latest government statistics. Experts believe that the novel coronavirus jumped onto humans from wild animals sold as food at a Wuhan wet market, which also sold exotic meat. Pictured, vendors wearing face masks sell prawns at the Wuhan Baishazhou Market in Wuhan, Hubei province, on April 15 Elsewhere, the province of Guangxi has put aside extra money to turn its snake-breeding industry into a 'traditional medicine and beauty' industry, reported state-media China News. Farmers in Guangxi were raising nearly 20million wild snakes, or 70 per cent of the national total, before the pandemic hit. The industry involved more than 14,000 families and employed almost 37,000 people, the report said. However, Guangxi officials have not issued any plans on helping the locals who were raising bamboo rats, a type of massive wild rats celebrated for their 'nutritious meat'. More than 100,000 people were raising roughly 18million bamboo rats in Guangxi, a mostly agricultural province with around 50million people, a local official told China News Weekly. 'Hua Nong Brothers', a social media sensation from Jiangxi province, successfully marketed bamboo rats as a trending food ingredient to the country's younger generations. Liu Suliang, a member of the duo, is seen holding one of their bamboo rats in one of their viral videos The duo, with more than three million fans on video platform Watermelon, have come up with different reasons to eat the rats. They also show people how to butcher and cook them (above) In the county of Dongyuan in Guangdong province, officials had raised two million yuan (230,000) by April to help 107 families who bred wild animals, said Heyuan Net. Those farmers will start rearing chickens, catfish, sheep and cows, among others. Animal protection campaigners have voiced their support for the buyout plans. Dr Peter Li, Humane Society International's (HSI) China policy specialist, said: 'By subsidising wildlife breeders to transition to alternative livelihoods, these provinces are demonstrating global leadership on this issue, which other provinces and countries must now follow. 'Chinese farmers not only have an opportunity to leave a trade that poses a direct threat to human health - something that can no longer be tolerated in light of COVID - but also to transition to more humane and sustainable livelihoods such as growing plant foods popular in Chinese cuisine.' An investigation carried out by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the virus had been passed onto humans by wild animals sold as food at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, state news agency Xinhua reported on January 26 However, the group pointed out that the relevant schemes did not cover the wild animals bred not for consumption, but their fur or perceived medicinal values. While China's wildlife consumption trade is worth some 125billion yuan (14billion), its fur industry boasts more than three times the value, or 389billion yuan (43billion). The charity urged the Chinese government to take actions against its fur trade in the wake of the pandemic. Its UK director Claire Bass told MailOnline: 'There are mounting concerns about the potential for fur industry mega-farms, such as those found in China and elsewhere to act as reservoirs for novel pathogens. 'In fact, there is already considerable scientific literature affirming that the key species used in China's fur trade - fox, raccoon dog and mink - can be infected with SARS coronaviruses, and that both mink and raccoon dogs could act as intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV.' In February, China's top legislative committee banned all trade and consumption of wild animals temporarily in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Beijing is yet to revise its wild animal protection law, but the temporary ban was 'essential' and 'urgent' in helping the country win its war against the epidemic, wrote state newspaper People's Daily. [May 19, 2020] Medical Economics Releases 91st Annual Physician Report Medical Economics, a multimedia platform that provides resources for physicians that include practice management tips, health technology and expert voices, released the results of the 91st Annual Physician Report. This year's survey garnered 1,055 responses across 17 specialties. "Year after year, Medical Economics takes the pulse of physicians across specialties to provide unparalleled insight into the triumphs and tribulations faced by medical professionals nationwide," said Mike Hennessy Jr., president and CEO of MJH Life Sciences. "According to this year's report, relatively stagnant salaries, a persistent gender pay gap and increasingly busy schedules were among the top challenges that strained the industry." Survey results revealed that majority of physicians saw their practice's financial state improve or stay the same in 2019. Although 55% of participants noted that their practice did about the same as the year before, 23% disclosed that their practice did better financially in 2019. Just 22% of respondents felt that their practice did worse than the prior year. Overall, the survey results indicate that participants credit their improved financial performance to seeing more patients (52%), pay-for-performance incentives (29%) and changes in their practice models (26%). Respondents who considered their practices worse off cited reasons such as more time spent on uncompensated tasks (67%), lower reimbursements from commercial payers (66%) and higher overhead (60%) as their fiscal downfalls. Although the estimated 2019 total income for the typical physician respondent was $273,000, salary igures exposed by the report also indicate that a gender pay gap remains prevalent. Whereas male physicians received an average of $300,000, female physicians earned significantly less, with an average of $226,000. Physician incomes also varied depending on specialty, with the top field being cardiology, followed by urology. "The 91st Annual Physician Report provides an interesting snapshot in time, revealing the challenges physicians were facing before the world came under the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Chris Mazzolini, Medical Economics editorial director. "To better provide our audience with strategies for mitigating the challenges presented by the crisis, our exclusive report will prove to be an invaluable resource as we begin to track the impact of the pandemic on physician finances and productivity." The 91st Annual Physician Report was conducted by HRA (Healthcare Research & Analytics), a full-service health care market research agency and a brand of MJH Life Sciences. Data was collected in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic began to affect the financial state of practices. This survey was conducted with a margin of error plus/minus 3% at 95% confidence. For a comprehensive breakdown of results from the 91st Annual Physician Report, click here. About Medical Economics Medical Economics is a multimedia platform that provides physicians with expert advice, shared experiences, tools and resources to succeed in today's practice environment. As the highest-ranked practice management publication in the market, Medical Economics covers topics including primary care, the business of medicine, health information technology and more. Medical Economics is a brand of MJH Life Sciences, the largest privately held, independent, full-service medical media company in North America dedicated to delivering trusted health care news across multiple channels. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005662/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Roger Williams Park Zoo and Carousel Village in Providence, Rhode Island, last week celebrate the birth of a two-toed sloth. And he is adorable. The zoo announced on Facebook, "Its a baby SLOTH!! Mom Fiona and dad Welsey, our Linnes two-toed sloths, welcomed their little one into the world on Wednesday, May 13. Fiona and her baby had a hard delivery and needed emergency care and a lot of extra help. Veterinarians and animal care staff manually assisted with the birth when it was clear that Fiona was not able to make additional progress. At first the baby was not moving, but after being warmed finally responded. Fionas pregnancy journey began in mid-autumn of 2019 and to now see this healthy little sloth is truly heartwarming for our entire Zoo family. Today mom and baby are doing well but will require lots of continual love and care. Thank you to our incredible team for all that they do." The baby weighs 1.5 pounds - more than an average baby sloth, according to the zoo. READ MORE 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. A snap review of the government's childcare relief package has found the measures have helped keep the vast majority of services open through the COVID-19 crisis but acknowledged some are not satisfied with the arrangements and are operating at a loss. The package, which has provided fee-free childcare for families, was introduced from the start of April after a mass exodus of enrolments put thousands of services on the brink of collapse. The package aimed to stabilise revenue by providing operators with half their ordinary government funding on top of JobKeeper wage subsidy payments. Education Minister Dan Tehan. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen In a survey of thousands of operators as part of the scheduled one-month review of the package, 86 per cent said it had helped them stay open, 76 per cent said it had helped them remain financially viable, 86 per cent said it helped them retain staff and 80 per cent said it helped them keep children enrolled. The relief package succeeded in these goals, according to a summary report released by the government on Tuesday. Krispy Kreme is doing its part to make a bitter year for seniors a little sweeter. The company known for its delectable glazed doughnuts is offering a free dozen to any high school or college senior who visits a Krispy Kreme shop on Tuesday, May 19 dressed in their graduation cap and gown or Class of 2020 shirt, letterman jacket or other swag. No purchase is necessary. The offer is available at participating shops, while supplies last. Fans can also purchase the new assorted dozen, which spells out 2020 in three rows, May 18-24 via drivethru and by ordering online at Krispy Kremes website or app for door-side pickup or delivery. We feel for all of the high school and college seniors. We wish they had that moment of walking across the stage and getting their diploma, said Dave Skena, Chief Marketing Officer for Krispy Kreme. We cant replace that but we thought we could help them safely have a little fun and enjoy a special Graduate Dozen on us. Moms, dads, friends and family can buy this Graduate Dozen all week long to honor their favorite graduates, but only seniors can get one for free. The Class of 2020 deserves the sweetest treat Celebrate them w/our 2020 Graduate Dozen for purchase NOW Send your fav senior a dozen today! 5/18 through 5/24 while supplies last each day. US Shops only. Via drive thru, pick up & delivery. All info->https://t.co/iounZM04LF pic.twitter.com/wcjvBwxI6T Krispy Kreme (@krispykreme) May 18, 2020 The Graduate Dozen offerings includes chocolate iced with sprinkles and strawberry iced with sprinkles doughnuts along with a variety of fan favorites dressed up to honor the Class of 2020 including: Chocolate Iced Kreme Filled - filled with classic Kreme, dipped in chocolate icing and decorated with a 2. Strawberry Iced Kreme Filled - filled with classic Kreme, dipped in strawberry icing and decorated with a 2. Cake Batter Filled is filled with Cake Batter Kreme, dipped in yellow icing and decorated with a 2. Yellow Iced Original Glazed - iconic Original Glazed Doughnut dipped in yellow icing and decorated with a white icing drizzle. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and founded in 1937, Krispy Kreme doughnuts can be found in approximately 12,000 grocery, convenience and mass merchant stores in the U.S. The company has nearly 1,400 retail shops in 33 countries. Indigenous Australians lived alongside monster kangaroos, a marsupial 'lion' and other mega-fauna 40,000 years ago, researchers have discovered. The kangaroos - which stood more than 2.5 metres tall and weighed about 274kg - were discovered in a fossil site near a flood plane at South Walker Creek, near Mackay, in northern Queensland. They were hunted by giant reptiles, including an extinct freshwater crocodile that was about seven metres long, and lizards that weighed the size of a small car. The research team, led by Queensland Museum, said the fossils were just 40,000 years old, proving once and for all the creatures lived with humans. Queensland Museum palaeontologist and University of Melbourne honorary, Dr Scott Hocknull told Daily Mail Australia there were at least 16 species of megafauna discovered at the site. An artist's impression of several of the species whose fossils were discovered at the South Walker Creek site, including giant kangaroos, lizards and crocodiles Palaeontologists unearthed the remains of a monster kangaroo (pictured) in Queensland Researchers believe monster kangaroos - reaching 2.5 metres tall, lived in northern Queensland During the past 12 years working on the site they have found the bones of Megalania, a seven-metre-long goanna, a marsupial 'lion' and the giant wombats. 'This is really exciting as it's the first time we've been able to provide a picture of what tropical north looked like,' he said. 'The megafauna at South Walker Creek were uniquely tropical, dominated by huge reptilian carnivores and mega-herbivores that become extinct about 40,000 years ago - at least 20,000 years after humans arrived in Australia. 'The first people of Australia most likely saw these animals.' However, It is not clear how much contact humans would have had with them. Dr Hocknull said it would've been likely that humans tried to avoid the area entirely as mammalian predators like the marsupial lion Thylacoleo carnifex also roamed the area. He said evidence showed it was global warming rather than humans that had led to the extinction of these animals. Queensland Museum palaeontologist and University of Melbourne honorary, Dr Scott Hocknull told Daily Mail Australia there were at least 16 species of megafauna in the area Queensland Museum palaeontologist believe megafauna lived alongside humans for thousands of years (pictured; An extinct giant Marsupial diprotodon jaw bone) The past decade has seen researchers uncover the bones some of the most magnificent giants that ever walked on the continent 'We cannot place humans at this 40,000-year-old scene, we have no firm evidence. Therefore, we find no role for humans in the extinction of these species of megafauna. 'We find that their extinction is coincident with major climatic and environmental deterioration both locally and regionally, including increased bushfires, reduction in grasslands and loss of freshwater. 'Together, these sustained changes were simply too much for the largest of Australia's animals to cope with.' He said the research has significant bearing on how we see our current landscape and the impacts of climate change, fire, vegetation change and availability of water on the survival of our existing modern megafaunaboth native and domestic. The team has worked on the site since the first fossil was found in 2008 (pictured: An extinct giant Marsupial diprotodon jaw bone) The past decade has seen researchers uncover the bones some of the most magnificent giants that ever walked on the continent. The task of unearthing the bones and fitting them together has been painstaking, Dr Hocknull said. 'It's an ancient dinner plate, each bone was part of an animal that was eaten - imagine the worst puzzle in the world.' The next part of their research is trying to figure out where people were when these animals existed. 'Not since the time of the dinosaurs has Australia been home to such magnificent giants, and yet within a geological instant they were gone forever. There is a message in that for everyone.' The fossil sight is an ancient flood plain, where dozens of different species would have lived He has been cast as The Penguin in new movie, The Batman. And Colin Farrell has revealed he can't wait to get back to filming on the hotly anticipated next chapter in the iconic franchise, once lockdown ends. The In Bruges actor, 43, stars alongside Robert Pattinson in the titular role, Andy Serkis and Zoe Kravitz. Yearning for the future: Colin Farrell has revealed he can't wait to get back to filming on The Batman, once lockdown ends He told the GMA News Network: 'It's all exciting. To be a part of that universe and just there are certain words that are part of my internal lexicon: Gotham City, Penguin, Joker, Batman, Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent, all these things.' The Gentleman actor also discussed his admiration for director Christopher Nolan (who directed The Dark Knight). He said: 'Obviously I was a huge fan of what Chris Nolan did with that world and how he brought it back to life and gave it an immediacy and a contemporary significance so just to be part of that mythology is again really cool.' Talking about how he is yearning to get back to filming he said: 'I had only started it and I can't wait to get back. The creation of it, the aesthetic of the character, has been fun and I really am so excited to get back and explore it, it feels original and fun.' Postponed: The In Bruges actor, 43, will be acting in the film, which is due to be released next year, alongside Robert Pattinson (pictured as Batman), Andy Serkis and Zoe Kravitz While discussing the coronavirus lockdown Colin revealed that he had to spend two weeks at home alone while his two children Henry Tadeusz, 10, and James Padraig, 16, were with their mothers. He said that what he noticed most was the absence of touch and realised that human touch was a sign of tenderness and affection. Colin said: 'But touch definitely is something that I miss; being able to shake a hand or give a friend a hug, just that.' Warners Bros. announced that they were moving the film's release date from June 25, 2021 to October 1 of the same year. Lonely: Talking about how he is yearning to get back to filming he said: 'I had only started it and I can't wait to get back' (pictured 2019) Late last month director Matt Reeves confirmed production on The Batman was being put on hiatus for the foreseeable future. The project halted production on March 14 after completing nearly seven weeks of filming in London. Warner Bros said it was taking a 'two-week hiatus' due to the coronavirus pandemic, and Matt has now also confirmed that production has been paused for the time being. 'Yes, we have shut down till it is safe for us all to resume,' he stated in a tweet posted on Wednesday. The film is scheduled to be released in movie theaters on June 25, 2021. The 53-year-old filmmaker added the cast and crew were all 'safe for the moment'.Filming had initially been relocated from London to Liverpool before being halted altogether. A statement at the time read: 'Warner Bros. Pictures feature production of 'The Batman' will be on a two-week hiatus starting today. 'The studio will continue to monitor the situation closely.' Pep Guardiola has flown back to England with a view to Manchester City potentially resuming training towards the back end of this week. The 49-year-old returned to Spain two months ago after the Premier League season was postponed. Guardiola remained in Barcelona to mourn the passing of his mother, Dolors Sala, who lost her battle with coronavirus. Pep Guardiola has now flown back to England ahead of Manchester City's return to training City started testing their players on Monday, with results usually taking 24 hours to come back. They will then conduct medical and physical examinations. Clubs can begin training in small groups from Tuesday, although not all teams in the Premier League will start straight away. Raheem Sterling revealed earlier in the week that players 'need a full four to five weeks' of training before matches resume. Striker Sergio Aguero recently admitted that some top-flight stars are 'scared' of the impact it could have on their families. Meanwhile, City captain David Silva - whose contract runs out on June 30 - is expected to stay on until the conclusion of the campaign. NZ wont rush to 'level one' despite second day of zero new cases this week New Zealand has recorded no new coronavirus cases for the second day in a row, but authorities say it would be premature to discuss moving the country to "level one" in its scale of alert. Australia's south-eastern neighbour, home to more than 5 million people, moved to "level 2" last week, allowing cafes, shops and restaurants to reopen under strict social distancing rules. "We are only just into alert level two; we still need to settle into the full alert level two parameters," Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told a news conference in Wellington. Dr Bloomfield said there was "still a long way to go" for the country to move into alert level one, which means the virus has been contained in the country. "Even at this point, when we got zero or no cases that we can identify, that doesn't mean we are out of the woods," Dr Bloomfield told reporters. New Zealand has so far had just over 1500 infections and 21 deaths, aided by a nationwide lockdown that lasted for more than a month. Tomorrow it will also launch a contact-tracing app to help people track their movements, but the government said the data would not be shared with anyone besides the user. The daily number of infections has been falling steadily over the last few weeks since peaking in early April, with the country registering only 19 new coronavirus cases in May. No cases were reported on eight separate days in May. Christopher Nolans gamble with his new film Tenet is facing one pretty big setback. Its been reported that the Inception director is fighting hard for the 17 July release date of his expensive new thriller to remain unchanged despite other Warner Bros films being delayed until 2021 due to strict lockdown guidelines. While it looked like that gamble was one step closer to paying off following the latest update from Vue cinemas, its now come to light that the release will only be sanctioned if 80 per cent of cinemas worldwide are open for business. This could potentially prove a big obstacle for Tenet while cinemas in South Korea are open, they remain closed in lots of American cities (New York, Los Angeles, etc) as well as the UK and other European territories; the 4 July date proposed by UK cinema chains is based on what the guidelines state when that date rolls around. Tim Richards, Vues chief executive, told the BBC that he is currently in the process of discussing social distancing measures with UK authorities, which may mean a smaller number of audiences will be permitted for each film screening. This certainly is one step in the right direction for Tenet, which would make history by becoming the first new film to be released in cinemas in a post-coronavirus world. However, Forbes reports that if 80 per cent of cinemas are not open in time for its planned release date, Tenet will be delayed until either 14 August or even later a decision that would push Wonder Woman 1984 to either October or December. Chris really would like to be coming out with the film that opens theatres, IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond said in a company conference call earlier this month, adding: I dont know anyone in America who is pushing harder than Chris Nolan to have the theatres open and to have his movie released in July when its scheduled for. Disneys delayed live-action Mulan film is scheduled to be released on 24 July. As it stands, Tenet which stars John David Washington and Robert Pattinson will be released in cinemas on 17 July 2020. Health company donating food boxes to families in need across Wrexham This article is old - Published: Tuesday, May 19th, 2020 A Cheshire based health company is donating family food booster boxes to those in need across Wrexham. The free boxes, which consists of 11 essential food products such as fruit, vegetables, pasta, rice and milk, is set to provide households with essential foods to provide basic needs for their loved ones. Neubria, creators of a brain health supplement range, has a mission to donate the Family Food Boxes to at least one thousand households per week. Jonny Kennedy, chief executive officer and founder of Neubria says: Keeping ourselves healthy and taking care of our loved ones is now, more than ever, our number one priority. Given the challenges during these uncertain times, our dedicated team would like to offer a helping hand to those families struggling to put food on the table. The Family Food Booster Box consists of: Tinned Vegetables Tinned Fruit Milk Peeled Plum Tomatoes Pasta Rice Tuna Baked Beans Cereal Kidney Beans Fruit Juice Brian Kennedy, chairman of Neubria, and former owner of Sale Sharks added: We are also looking for families who live in the North West of England and West Midlands to apply online for a Family Food Booster Box. We have the capacity to issue up to a 1000 Family Food Booster Boxes per week. We do also have a view of expanding further afield in the future so we can reach more families who are in desperately in need of food across the UK. To apply for a Family Food Booster Box, please visit https://uk.neubria.com/pages/neubria-boosterbox and fill out an application form to find out if you are eligible. If eligible, the Family Booster Boxes will be delivered discretely within 2-3 days to each household. Geir Pedersen says talks to take place as soon as pandemic allows, adds virtual meeting will not be possible. Representatives of opposing sides in Syrias war have agreed to reconvene in Geneva for stalled negotiations on the constitution, according to Geir Pedersen, the United Nations special envoy to the country. A lull in fighting could provide an opportunity to start healing deep, deep mistrust between them, Pedersen said on Tuesday. As soon as the pandemic situation allows, they have agreed to come to Geneva and they have agreed on an agenda for the next meeting, he told journalists. Pedersen did not give a date and said a virtual meeting of the constitutional committee would not be possible. Key players In the same briefing, Pedersen repeated a call for key international actors, including the United States and Russia, to hold talks about a push for peace. Moscow has been the key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Washington opposes him. Pedersen told the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Monday that al-Assad ally Iran and opposition backer Turkey are key players too. He said there have been too many fleeting opportunities to move from conflict to a political path that were lost, and those missed moments were followed by renewed violence and a hardening of positions among regional and international actors. We must not repeat this pattern, Pedersen added. Over the nine years of the Syrian conflict, there have been 12 rounds of peace talks in Kazakhstan and eight rounds of Geneva conferences. Pedersen said there is anxiety that while violence has somewhat abated at the moment it could escalate at any time, and deep disappointment that the political process has not delivered tangible improvements for the Syrian people. The long-standing divisions between Washington and Moscow over Syria were evident in their speeches to the council that followed, which gave no indication of a desire for talks. US Ambassador Kelly Craft said fully implementing a 2015 plan, starting with an immediate nationwide ceasefire, is what will move Syria towards a future of peace and that is what the UNSC must pursue. She urged the council to ensure that the Syrian government reverse its destructive pattern of behaviour against its own people and agree to a ceasefire instead of pursuing a military solution to the conflict. Russias UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called for the lifting of unilateral suffocating sanctions imposed by the US and others which he said were preventing Syria from buying medical items to tackle coronavirus pandemic and he criticised the presence of US forces in northeast Syria. Googles dominance of the $130 billion (U.S.) digital advertising market is harming advertisers, news publishers, and consumers, according to a paper that outlines how the U.S. could bring an antitrust case against the internet giant. The analysis sets out how Google used a series of acquisitions to build a controlling position in the technology ecosystem that delivers ads across the web, and now uses that power to exclude competitors and monopolize the market. The end result is that buyers and sellers of ad space have no choice but to go through Google and are losing money in the process, the report says. What we can see is troubling and concerning, said Fiona Scott Morton, a Yale University economist and one of the authors of the paper. Theres a lot of public evidence that suggests anticompetitive conduct and significant harm to consumers and competition. The paper comes out of a research project into technology platforms funded by the Omidyar Network, an organization co-founded by eBay Inc. billionaire Pierre Omidyar thats one of a number of philanthropy groups funding research and public-interest campaigns promoting stronger antitrust enforcement. Billed as a road map for bringing a monopolization case against Google, the report comes as the Justice Department is drafting a lawsuit against the company, accusing it of antitrust violations. The departments antitrust division and state attorneys general have been investigating the company since last year over its conduct in the digital advertising market. While it doesnt unearth new facts about Google its dominance of the digital advertising ecosystem stretches back years the paper summarizes in detail how Googles conduct could be violating antitrust laws. Washington-based tech policy organization Public Knowledge, which is running the research project funded by Omidyar, shared the paper with the Justice Department and the states. The Justice Department didnt respond to a request seeking comment. The paper focuses on the display ads that appear across the web. Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., owns much of the chain of technology tools that connects advertisers like Procter & Gamble Co. to publishers like ESPN.com, enabling the instant delivery of ads as users visit a website. That control is gaining more urgency as media companies grapple with a sudden advertising slump due to the coronavirus outbreak. Layoffs are ravaging the industry, from traditional publishers like Conde Nast to online outlets like Vice and Quartz. The paper estimates that Google, by acting as an intermediary between advertisers and publishers, is able to pocket about 40 cents of every advertising dollar before it gets to publishers. That is likely higher than what it would earn in a competitive market, the report says. Many people believe Google Search to be the worlds best search engine, the authors write. The argument here, however, is different. It is about how Google has used the market power it already had in search as a springboard, for more than a decade, from which to deploy an ever-increasing number of interrelated anticompetitive tactics, all of which build on prior moves. Google declined to comment on the paper but pointed to a 2018 blog post describing how its technology had increased revenue for publishers. In a more recent post from 2019, the company fired back at the notion that it has monopolized the market, arguing advertisers and publishers use multiple platforms. The ad tech industry is famously crowded, with competitors that include major companies like Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc., AT&T Inc. and Oracle Corp., it said. Competition is flourishing, and publishers and marketers have enormous choice, Google said. The report outlines 20 instances of conduct by Google that the authors say support a monopolization case against the company. The examples include preventing Googles technology from interacting with that of rivals, raising the costs of its competitors, and resisting transparency that would benefit publishers and advertisers. In one case, when Google faced the competitive threat of a new advertising bidding process adopted by publishers, it revamped its own auction process in a way that raised costs for competing platforms by up to 10 per cent, which then lowered payments to publishers. But publishers were effectively forced into the arrangement because to get priority in Google search results on mobile devices they had to adopt a format that forced them to use Googles bidding process. Scott Morton said whats particularly troublesome for publishers is that they depend on Google to sell ad space, even as they compete against companys various properties like YouTube to win advertising business. What Google is doing by monopolizing the ad tech sector and the open web is giving publishers and advertisers only one choice, she said. Read more about: James Kolo, the Kwara Commissioner-designate in the Federal Character Commission (FCC), who recently appeared before the Senate, is dead. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Mr Kolo died in the early hours of Tuesday after brief illness. He hailed from Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State. At the time of filing this report, the cause of his death is still unknown, but close associates said it was after being sick for a while. His corpse has been deposited at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital Morgue. Meanwhile, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has commiserated with the Edu community and the All Progressives Congress (APC) family over the sudden death of Mr Kolo. The governors condolence is contained in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Rafiu Ajakaye, in Ilorin on Tuesday. The deceased was nominated alongside Fareedah Dankaka to represent Kwara as commissioner and chairman respectively in the Federal Character Commission (FCC) by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 28. Mr AbdulRazaq described Mr Kolo as a loyal party man and a team player whose death was a great loss to his family, the people of Edu local government and the entire state. We are devastated by the death of Mr. Kolo after recently falling ill. He was a staunch party man and a bridge builder, who worked hard alongside other patriots for the success of the APC in the state. We are consoled by the fact that he was a good man who got along with everybody that crossed his path. Many knew him for being a generous person. We commiserate with his family and pray to the Almighty God to comfort them and rest his gentle soul, the governor said. (NAN) Thyssenkrupp on Monday said it was looking for partners for its steel and warship divisions, singling out just three lines of businesses that will stay within the struggling German industrial icon. Hoping to stop the bleeding of cash and restore investor confidence, the group also pooled businesses worth 6 billion euros ($6.6 billion) of sales and employing 20,000, about 13% of total staff, that are either to be sold or shut down. "With this reassessment of the portfolio, we have taken some difficult decisions that were long overdue and will now implement them systematically," CEO Martina Merz said. "Thyssenkrupp will emerge smaller but stronger from the transformation." Three divisions -- Materials Services, Industrial Components and Automotive Technology -- will stay with Thyssenkrupp and be developed by the firm. Between them, these business account for 18 billion euros of sales, or 43% of the group's total. The move to not declare steel as a definite part of Thyssenkrupp's future represents a deep cut in the firm's history, which goes back more than 200 years and has been built on the metal. For steel and marine systems, which builds submarines and frigates, Thyssenkrupp is pursuing a two-way approach meaning the businesses could be developed with partners remaining in the group, confirming what sources told Reuters earlier. Shares in Thyssenkrupp, which have lost nearly two-thirds of their value over the past 12 months after a raft of profit warnings and dwindling investor confidence, closed 12.5% higher as a result. The announcement also accelerates Thyssenkrupp's dismantling, a process that started last year when the group had to abort a plan to form a steel joint venture with Tata Steel and instead sell its crown jewel: elevators. Sources had told Reuters that contact between Thyssenkrupp and Tata Steel never broke off and that both were still in talks about consolidation. NO TIME TO LOSE Business paper Handelsblatt said that Thyssenkrupp was also in discussions with Sweden's SSAB and China's Baoshan Iron & Steel (Baosteel) and that both were interested in a majority of the German firm's steel unit. Baosteel declined to comment as did SSAB, whose shares also closed 10% higher. Tata Steel Europe had no immediate comment. Juergen Kerner, deputy chairman of Thyssenkrupp's supervisory board and a key figure at powerful labour union IG Metall, said any consolidation in steel had to be explored under Thyssenkrupp's leadership. "We reject a holding that operates like a layman in various markets and only serves as a junior partner in the industrial core business that is steel," he said. IG Metall said it favoured a German consolidation with Salzgitter . The Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, Thyssenkrupp's top shareholder with a 21% stake, came out in support of the plans, adding it continued to believe in the group's potential. "Thyssenkrupp has no time to lose," it said. Swedish fund Cevian, the No.2 shareholder, said the announcement was an important step for the firm. "It is now crucial that this plan is implemented with urgency and decisiveness," founding partner Lars Foerberg said. Thyssenkrupp said that a new unit called Multi-Tracks would house those units that led to 400 million euros of cash outflows last year and whose future would be outside the group. Of those, Infrastructure, Heavy Plate and Battery Solutions will be sold or shut down. For Springs & Stabilisers, Powertrain Solutions, stainless steel unit AST and Plant Technology, which builds chemical, fertiliser and other industrial plants, Thyssenkrupp will seek partnerships or a sale. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier that Denmark's FLSmidth , Italy's Maire Tecnimont and U.S.-based Fluor had submitted indicative bids for Plant Technology. Technavio has been monitoring the halal food market and it is poised to grow by USD 624.52 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 7% 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/20200519005637/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Halal Food Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Al Islami Foods, BRF SA, Cargill Inc., Flying Trade Ltd., Kawan Food Berhad, Midamar Corp., Nestle SA, Tahira Foods Ltd., The American Halal Co. Inc., and Unilever Group are some of the major market participants. The increasing consumer expenditure on halal food will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Increasing consumer expenditure on halal food has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Halal Food Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Halal Food Market is segmented as below: Product Halal Meat, Poultry, And Seafood Halal Bakery, Confectionery, And Cocoa Halal Fruits, Vegetables, And Nuts Halal Beverages Others Geography APAC MEA Europe South America North America Distribution channel Offline Online 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=IRTNTR43716 Halal Food 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 halal food market report covers the following areas: Halal Food Market size Halal Food Market trends Halal Food Market industry analysis This study identifies the expansion of halal food production facilities as one of the prime reasons driving the halal food market growth during the next few years. Halal Food Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the halal food market, including some of the vendors such as Al Islami Foods, BRF SA, Cargill Inc., Flying Trade Ltd., Kawan Food Berhad, Midamar Corp., Nestle SA, Tahira Foods Ltd., The American Halal Co. Inc., and Unilever Group. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the halal food market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Halal Food Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist halal food market growth during the next five years Estimation of the halal food market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the halal food market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of halal food market vendors Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Product Market segments Comparison by Product Halal beverages Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Product Market Segmentation by Distribution channel Market segments Comparison by Distribution channel Offline Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Online Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Distribution channel Customer landscape Customer landscape Geographic Landscape Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison APAC Market size and forecast 2019-2024 MEA Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Europe Market size and forecast 2019-2024 South America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 North America Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the market Key leading countries Market opportunity by geography Volume drivers Demand led growth Market challenges Market trends Vendor Landscape Overview Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors Al Islami Foods BRF SA Cargill Inc. Flying Trade Ltd. Kawan Food Berhad Midamar Corp. Nestle SA Tahira Foods Ltd. The American Halal Co. Inc. Unilever Group Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005637/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ Increase in technological advancement and rise in demand for LNG from Asia-Pacific drive the global planned LNG market PORTLAND, Oregon, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Planned LNG Market by Technology (Liquefaction and Regasification) and End- Use Industry (Residential, Commercial, and Industrial): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2030." According to the report, the global planned LNG market garnered $102.2 billion in 2019, and is estimated to reach $58.9 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 9.9% from 2020 to 2030. Drivers, restraints, and opportunities Increase in technological advancement and rise in demand for LNG from Asia-Pacific drive the growth of the global planned LNG market. However, postponement in LNG projects restrains the market growth. On the other hand, rise in demand from various types of end users create new opportunities in the coming years. Covid-19 Scenario The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) has negatively affected the LNG sector. The majority of the LNG regasification projects have stopped their operations during lockdown. These LNG regasification projects are based in countries such as India and China . These regions are among the major demand centers for LNG. However, China is the worst affected nation by coronavirus in Asia which may affect the global market. and . These regions are among the major demand centers for LNG. However, is the worst affected nation by coronavirus in which may affect the global market. The prime projects such as Soko Floating and Tangshan development (expansion) that were anticipated to get started in 2020 might get delay because of the global lockdown. Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the Planned LNG Market: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/2254?reqfor=covid The liquefaction segment to maintain its lead status in terms of revenue throughout the forecast period Based on technology, the liquefaction segment accounted for more than four-fifths of the total share of the global planned LNG market in 2019, and is expected to maintain its lead status in terms of revenue throughout the forecast period. This is due to addition of liquefaction capacity by major exporting countries such as U.S., Qatar, and Australia. Moreover, this segment is estimated to portray the highest CAGR of 28.9% from 2020 to 2030. The industrial segment contributed to the highest market share in 2019 Based on end use, the industrial segment contributed to the highest market share with nearly half of the global planned LNG market share in 2019, and is estimated to maintain its leadership position during the forecast period. This is attributed to increased demand from industrial sector of developed and emerging regions. However, the commercial segment is estimated to generate the fastest CAGR of 10.9% from 2020 to 2030. This is due to growth of the commercial sector in region including Asia-Pacific. Download Sample Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2254 North America, contributed to the highest market share in 2019 Based on region, North America accounted for the highest share based on revenue, holding for around half of the total share of the global planned LNG market in 2019. This is attributed to increase in natural gas production in this region. However, LAMEA is estimated to portray the fastest CAGR of 20.3% from 2020 to 2030. Leading market players Cheniere Energy, Inc Conocophillips Company Energy Transfer Lp Freeport LNG Korea Gas Corporation Petroleobrasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) Sempra Energy Chevron Corporation Equinor ASA Exxonmobil Corporation Gasum OY Lng Croatia LLC Royal Dutch Shell PLC Venture Global LNG Interested in Procuring this Report? Visit: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/planned-lng-market/purchase-options Avenue Library Subscription | Request for 14 days free trial of before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/avenue/trial/starter Similar Reports: Aviation Fuel Market is Expected to Reach $238.5 Billion by 2026 Bunker Fuel Market Forecasted to Reach $273,050.4 Million by 2025 Caribbean Islands Bunker Fuel Market Expected to Reach $16,404 Million by 2023 Natural Gas Liquids Market to Reach 11,468 kilo barrels/day, Globally, by 2022 LNG Bunkering Market Expected to Reach $10,185 Million, Globally, by 2023 Pre-Book Now with 12% Discount: Large Scale LNG Terminals Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Infrastructure Market- Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027 About us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact us Contact: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1-855-550-5975 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Follow Us on: LinkedIn Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg By Andrea Mandala MILAN, May 18 (Reuters) - Italian insurer Cattolica Assicurazioni could expand an insurance partnership with bank Banco BPM, while the fate of a similar joint venture with rival UBI is still unclear, the company's CFO said on Monday. The Verona-based insurer, in which the top investor is Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, has had an 850 million euro "bancassurance" agreement with Italy's third largest lender Banco BPM since 2018, which is limited to only part of the bank's branch network. Cattolica's newly appointed CFO Atanasio Pantarrotas, when answering a question on possible M&A deals in the next 12-18 months on a first-quarter conference call with analysts, said expanding the scope of the partnership to cover Banco BPM's entire network could be a "fairly likely option". To be ready for any future deals the insurer's board will ask shareholders to approve a potential new share issue for up to 500 million euros to be carried out before June 2025, Pantarrotas said. "It doesn't mean we're thinking of a 500 million cash call right now", he said. Bancassurance deals allow an insurance company to sell its products to a bank's clients through the latter's branch network. Cattolica Assicurazioni has also an insurance joint-venture accord in place with UBI Banca which expires in December, though sources have said it could be extended However the possible extension of that partnership has been put at risk by Intesa Sanpaolo's proposed takeover of UBI Banca, Pantarrotas said. "It's likely that Intesa would follow other plans if the offer is successful", he said. "At the moment it's hard to say what will happen." Intesa has its own in-house insurance business. Intesa's all-paper offer to create the euro zone's seventh-largest banking group with a focus on insurance and wealth management has met resistance from some of UBI's core shareholders. UBI itself has said its board would assess possible alternatives. Cattolica raised its stake in UBI to 1% of the bank's capital in late February, joining a group of the bank's shareholders which have rejected Intesa Sanpaolo's takeover offer. (Reporting by Andrea Mandala; editing by Valentina Za and Kirsten Donovan) A COVID-19 patient, who managed to escape AIIMS, Rishikesh after testing positive for the disease, was held in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi district after hours of search and admitted to a hospital here, officials said on Wednesday. The 35-year-old, a resident of the district, had returned to Rishikesh from Mumbai in a bus on Monday and was tested for coronavirus at AIIMS. After his test report came positive on Monday night, he fled the hospital and reached his home, Uttarkashi Chief Medical Officer DP Joshi said. Authorities launched a frantic search and he was traced in Badkot area of the district. The man, along with six others who had come in his contact, were admitted to a hospital here. It is being investigated as to how he managed to escape from AIIMS, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Ashish Chauhan said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sate Kampar, the South Philadelphia BYOB that elevated Malaysian street fare to James Beard Award levels, closed over the weekend after four years. It followed what owner Angelina Ange Branca said was her landlords refusal to negotiate on rent, which was to rise 15% on June 1 after a five-year term. The shutdown is therefore only loosely tied to the gutting of the restaurant industry by the coronavirus pandemic. The restaurant had been open for takeout since the government-ordered dining room closings, though like virtually all establishments, its receipts were off. The staff, once numbering 12 to 15, was down to six last week, Branca said in an emotional interview Monday. In short, Branca and her husband, John, said they could not afford the new rent in the current business climate. Branca said she would pack up the storefront and then resume serving meals for frontline health workers out of an undetermined commercial kitchen. She hopes to find a new restaurant location. Branca was a strategist for large corporations such as Deloitte, Fujitsu, and IBM who had married a gym manager from suburban Philadelphia and relocated. She decided on a career change because she was homesick for Southeast Asia. The Brancas said they invested $280,000 in repairs and upgrades to a onetime shoe store at 1837 E. Passyunk Ave., which opened in early 2016 after outfitting it to evoke a Kuala Lumpur street market. A year later, Sate Kampar was one of 27 semifinalists for best new restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation. Though a BYOB, Sate Kampar had a large bar, or kopitiam, where coffee and tea were served. It also had long grills in the back that burned coconut shell charcoal for the signature skewers. Brancas Malay cooking style does not overlap with the more Chinese-spirited fare at older Malaysian restaurants here such as Banana Leaf and Penang. READ MORE: New Jersey allows cocktails to go in a bid to help bars idled by coronavirus Sate Kampars rent situation is fairly common among restaurants and retailers. A rent increase typically accompanies the renewal of a lease, and most restaurateurs try to accommodate by economizing or raising prices. Such strategies have become trickier in recent years as competition has kept down menu prices even as fixed costs such as food and labor have crept up. There is even less room for error now; profit margins at many independent restaurants had shrunk into the single digits before the pandemic. With business flagging, the Brancas sought a break on the monthly rent, which was to rise to $3,173 from $2,760 under the renewal, Branca said. Although a $413 increase might seem modest, it would require Sate Kampar to generate about $7,000 more a month to break even, if they followed an industry norm that rent should not exceed 6% of total sales. When the Brancas lawyer told them that talks with landlord Damon Costantini had broken down, the couple decided to close. Costantini did not return a text message seeking comment. We want to rebuild and serve people again" as a restaurant, said Branca, who said those with gift cards could use them at future pop-ups. "But our first priority is to serve the community. We dont want to drop that ball. Angry villagers near a popular beauty spot have barricaded themselves in with makeshift roadblocks and plastic fences in a bid to fend off hoards of tourists amid the coronavirus crisis. Residents living in the Lake District, in Cumbria, are putting out traffic barriers and industrial waste bins across roads - which is against the law - to stop walkers accessing parts of the national park. Farmers in the area have also set up fake signs in a bid to keep visitors walking past their houses. One sign in the village of Seathwaite, within the national park, claims there is 'No entry due to coronavirus'. Another on the outskirts of nearby Keswick tells visitors the whole town is closed and to 'come back when we are open'. Angry villagers in the popular Lake District, in Cumbria, have barricaded themselves in with makeshift roadblocks and plastic fences in a bid to fend off hoards of tourists amid the coronavirus crisis Farmers in the area have also set up fake signs in a bid to keep visitors walking past their houses. Peter Edmondson (pictured), 65, is classed as a high-risk for coronavirus and is concerned about tourists walking near to his home The push-back from locals comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson eased coronavirus lockdown rules, allowing people to drive unlimited distances to take exercise. But some residents are still living in fear of Covid-19 - particularly with Cumbria having one of the worst infection rates in the country, despite it being one of the most sparsely populated counties in England. It has pushed the more concerned among the residents into taking extreme measures - including blocking off roads, which is an offence under the Highways Act. Residents in other popular tourist areas, including St Ives, Cornwall, have used similar tactics to deter visitors, such as blocking up pathways. In Keswick, a tiny hamlet in the Lake District National Park, with around a dozen homes, is at the base of one the main trails to England's highest mountain Scafell Pike. Mr Edmondson has put up a sign near to his home saying 'No entry' and urged visitors to 'please stay away' One sign in the village of Seathwaite, within the national park, claims there is 'No entry due to coronavirus' Another on the outskirts of nearby Keswick tells visitors the whole town is closed and to 'come back when we are open' In the summer thousands of walkers park along the road to scale the famous peak. However villagers are scared the tourists could bring the coronavirus with them - and have erected the barriers to protect the vulnerable and elderly. Pete Edmondson, whose family have run the farm in Seathwaite for 104 years, is classed as high risk. Is it illegal to block off a road in the UK? Wilfully obstructing a highway is an offence under the Highways Act 1980. The law states: 'If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine.' The maximum fine for this offence is currently set at 1,000. If the person responsible is convicted of the offence and the obstruction can be moved, but continues, a court can demand that it be removed. If the person still does not comply, they are guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of an unlimited value. Advertisement The 65-year-old is missing part of his lung and suffered pneumonia as a child. He said: 'As soon as the coronavirus started we put up signs and barriers to stop people coming through the farmyard. 'But people have no respect, they've been taking no notice whatsoever. It's really upsetting. 'I find it very threatening, it keeps going through my mind that if I got Covid-19 it would kill me. 'There's no consideration or respect for people who are at risk.' Mr Edmondson says walkers are coming through his yard, and touching gates and styles without washing their hands. 'We can't close a public right of way without permission, but you must understand that this is our home,' he added. Another local, who did not wish to be named, said they had had people from the Midlands knocking on their doors in the middle of the night last week. She said: 'It was because they were lost. ''We don't want people like that coming through the farmyards. It's simple as.' The reason we've got the barriers is to stop walkers coming through the yard. 'We've rerouted the footpath. You can still come and walk, we can't stop that now since Boris Johnson did his new announcement.' Tourism bosses in the Lake District are also concerned about the relaxation of lockdown. Another sign reads 'residents only' and 'valley closed, GO HOME' They've urged Brits to stay out of the national park and only exercise locally, despite the new rules. Richard Leafe, Lake District National Park chief executive, said: 'Please don't travel for the moment to the Lake District because of the impact that you will have on the local communities here. 'Cumbria already has a fairly high incidence of Covid, so there is real concern on the ground about large amounts of people coming back.' The tourism boss also warned against daytrippers hiking and climbing in the fells. 'The further you go away from the road, the more likely you are to need to be rescued if you are unlucky enough to have an accident,' Mr Leafe added. 'That involves bringing out our volunteer mountain-rescue teams and putting those people at risk themselves - many of whom work for medical services in the NHS.' Mr Edmondson says walkers are coming through his yard, and touching gates and styles without washing their hands 'So I'd really encourage people to exercise locally if they can. 'The National Park will be here, and we will invite people back as soon as it is safe to do so.' The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC), who are the coordination body for law enforcement in the United Kingdom, told the MailOnline it expects more visitors to beauty spots following the government changes to lockdown laws. A spokesperson said: 'Forces will be assessing the impact of a likely increase to footfall in town centres and beauty spots in the coming days and weeks, alongside any crime intelligence they receive. 'We can generally expect to see more movement and activity from the public going forward and much of this will be lawful under the regulations. 'Police officers will use their discretion and judgement in all situations and will engage with people, encouraging them to return home if appropriate.' 'Officers will respond appropriately and will investigate concerns made by communities. A block stopping people going down a pedestrian-only street in St Ives, Cornwall, asking them to use an alternative route instead to avoid vulnerable people The spokesperson added: 'We understand that this is a challenging time for everyone and want to assist members of the public in navigating what the recent changes to the regulations now mean.' Meanwhile bosses at the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) have urged tourists to 'be conscious' when visiting beauty spots. CLA President Mark Bridgeman said: 'We fully recognise that the nation will want to make the most of our beautiful countryside following lockdown restrictions being eased. The push-back from locals comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson eased coronavirus lockdown rules, allowing people to drive unlimited distances to take exercise. Pictured: Rannerdale Knotss in the Lake District 'Those using the countryside should, especially under current circumstances, be conscious that it is also a place of work where the land, livestock, machinery, wildlife and environment must be respected. 'Following advice from Defra and Public Health England, we urge the public, when on their daily exercise, to maintain social distancing requirements, keep dogs away from livestock and leave gates as they find them.' 'We are also calling on the public to be pragmatic and avoid hot-spot tourist areas that are particularly busy this time of year. It's important that we all act responsibly and check car parks, for example, are open before travelling.' Canada and the US have agreed to extend their agreement to keep border closed to non-essential travel to June 21 during the coronavirus pandemic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the border is a source of vulnerability, so the agreement will be extended by another 30 days. The restrictions were announced on March 18 and were extended in April. Trudeau said Canada's provincial leaders clearly wanted to continue the measures. This will keep people in both of our countries safe." Trudeau said. U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the U.S. and Canada are doing well in handling the pandemic. But many Canadians fear a reopening. The U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any country in the world, though its per capita numbers are well below many other nations. Essential cross-border workers like healthcare professionals, airline crews and truck drivers are still permitted to cross. Truck drivers are critical as they move food and medical goods in both directions. Much of Canada's food supply comes from or via the U.S. Americans who are returning to America and Canadians who are returning to Canada are also exempted from the border closure. Canada sends 75% of its exports to the U.S. and about 18% of American exports go to Canada. The U.S. Canada border is world's longest between two nations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Coronavirus, bubble tea, government funds: Singapore's top Google searches in April No surprise that the coronavirus takes the utmost priority in the minds of Singaporeans during this circuit breaker period. Google revealed that in the month of April, searches around the topic of Coronavirus continue to be high. They reached an all-time high on April 4, a day after the Singapore government announced the circuit breaker measures in the afternoon of April 3. In particular, search interest for Circuit Breaker surged on April 6, a day before it officially kicked in. It peaked on April 21, when the extension of the circuit breaker by four more weeks to June 1 was announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. In terms of themes, Singaporeans were keeping up-to-date on the government schemes that have been launched to cushion the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and society. Queries about the Temporary Relief Fund saw a 40 times increase, while the application of Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) surged by ten times in April. Unsurprisingly, Singaporeans flocked on to Google search to figure out how to get their tapioca pearl fix while the bubble tea stores were closed during the circuit breaker period. Photo courtesy: Kai Wenzel on Unsplash Many were also looking for ways to occupy their time in the first month of the circuit breaker as How-to searches soared to their highest level in Singapore. People are showcasing their culinary skills with a particular interest in bubble tea. Following the closure of more F&B establishments, fans of the drink headed to their kitchen to get their sugary fix. Queries how to make bubble tea and how to make tapioca pearls spiked more than 5000 percent and the searches for Tapioca balls and Bubble tea reached an all time-high in Singapore. Other how-to recipes that Singaporeans were attempting in the kitchen included dalgona milo, a local twist to the delicious, creamy coffee drink that took the world by storm as well as buttermilk, green bean soup and muah-chee. India's third Covid wave likely to peak on Jan 23, daily cases to stay below 4 lakh: IIT Kanpur scientist India logs over 3.17 lakh new Covid cases in last 24 hours; daily positivity rate up at 16.41 per cent COVID-19 fatalities may be much more than what is being reported COVID-19 to push 60 million into poverty: World Bank International pti-PTI Washington, May 19: The coronavirus pandemic is expected to throw into extreme poverty more than 60 million people globally, the World Bank said on Tuesday as it announced emergency operations worth $160 billion in 100 developing countries to fight this deadly virus. "The pandemic and shutdown of advanced economies could push as many as 60 million people into extreme poverty erasing much of the recent progress made in poverty alleviation," World Bank President David Malpass said during a conference call. "The World Bank Group has moved quickly and decisively to establish emergency response operations in 100 countries, with mechanisms that allow other donors to rapidly expand the programmes," he said. Of the 100 countries, home to 70% of the world's population, 39 are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly one-third of the total projects are in fragile and conflict-affected situations, such as Afghanistan, Chad, Haiti, and Niger. "To return to growth, our goal must be rapid, flexible responses to tackle the health emergency, provide cash and other expandable support to protect the poor, maintain the private sector, and strengthen economic resilience and recovery," Malpass said. "This represents a significant milestone in the World Bank Group's effort to deploy USD160 billion over a 15-month period. So this is a milestone in the $160 billion that we have committed to," he said. Coronavirus crisis: Within a fortnight, Maharashtra records 19,561 COVID-19 cases Malpass said the programmes are tailored to the countries to effectively respond to the health, economic and social shocks that that country are facing. The programs will reinforce healthcare systems; and also help procure vital life-saving medical equipment and supplies. And these programs contain mechanisms that allow other donors to rapidly expand the program, he added. "We invite that. There can be co-financing, there can be additional donors parallel with these programs, so it is important that we note that the programs are expandable. And because of the breadth that means the interested donors and other multilateral banks can reach countries around the world," the World Bank President said. The Bank Group's support through grants, loans and equity investments will be supplemented by the suspension of bilateral debt service, as endorsed by the Bank's governors. IDA-eligible countries that request forbearance on their official bilateral debt payments will have more financial resources to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and fund critical, lifesaving emergency responses. "The bilateral debt-service suspension being offered will free up crucial resources for IDA countries to fund emergency responses to COVID-19," said Malpass. "Nations should move quickly to substantially increase the transparency of all their governments' financial commitments. This will increase the confidence in the investment climate and encourage more beneficial debt and investment in the future," he added. More than 3,10,000 people have died due to the coronavirus pandemic and over 4.8 million people infected around the world. The US is the worst-hit country with over 90,000 deaths and over 1.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University. The former chief of a charity dedicated to supporting the widows and children of war veterans has pleaded guilty to 19 fraud-related charges. Robert Mathew formerly known as Robert Ratkovcic was Legacy WAs executive officer until last year. Robert Mathew, left, leaves court on Tuesday afternoon. Credit:Kate Hedley The one-time submariner, who spent more than 20 years in the Australian Navy, was facing 24 counts of gaining benefit by fraud, five counts of stealing, and one count of stealing as a servant. Mr Mathew, who is believed to have changed his name recently, previously pleaded not guilty to the offences, but on Tuesday changed his pleas to guilty on some charges when he appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court. Some of his other charges were dismissed. A new study on garter snakes, a nonvenomous snake from Canada and Costa Rica showed that snakes, like people have preferences about which snakes to hang-out or make friends with. (Photo : Wikimedia Commons) Ever wonder if snakes, despite their reputation on being cold, solitary creatures can also make friends? A new study on garter snakes, a nonvenomous snake from Canada and Costa Rica showed that snakes, like people have preferences about which snakes to hang-out with or befriend. The study team, led by Morgan Skinner, of Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, devised a study that will assess personalities and sociability of eastern garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis). The results of the study, which were published in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, shows that garter snakes seek out social contacts and then select with whom they socialize. Snakes in the Experiment The study team observed 40 juvenile eastern garter snakes: 30 were hatched from mothers caught in the wild, while ten were from a single litter purchased from a breeder. Ten snakes were grouped in a walled enclosure with four mini houses inside with small entrances. Since the shelters are limited to four, the snakes had to be in a group. A camera recorded an image of the testing area every five seconds to keep track of the snakes' movements for eight days, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Snakes and their groupings were photographed by Skinner twice a day. Serpents were then removed, the enclosures were regularly cleaned to eliminate any odors, and the snakes were returned to the testing arena but in different places. Interestingly, they returned to their previous group of three to eight snakes in a shelter. They regrouped to the specific snake friends that they were with before. Miller observed that the snakes have sophisticated, and they can tell others apart. Snake Personalities Scientists, through an experiment, were able to classify the snakes based on personalities: shy or bold. An individual snake was placed in a shelter. The shy ones stayed in the enclosure, while the bolder ones freely ventured out on their own. These personalities did not make a difference once the snakes were in groups. Friends with Benefits "Friendships" have been observed throughout the animal kingdom. A recent analysis of vampire bats, for example, shows that bats, similar to humans, have conditional friendships. Scientists now are more open to discovering 'friendships' among animals compared to thirty years ago, probably because the researcher has more advanced tools for gathering and analyzing data. Miller cautions that animal friendships "have nothing to do with the reasons humans have friends." Scientists do not know what precisely motivates a garter snake to make friends. The snakes preferred the same sex as friends; thus, the bond must not be related to procreation. According to Miller, such partnerships must have benefits; otherwise, the animals would not form such friendships. In this case, the snake friends usually stay close together to help them retain heat and defend against predators. According to Gordon Burghardt, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Tennessee, the study should show people that contrary to the notion, snakes are not a loner but possesses social intelligence and social repertoire than most of us realize. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: A Telangana High Court bench, comprising Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice K Lakshman, decided on Monday to recuse from hearing the recent petition on fee hike in medical colleges. The bench directed the registry to place the matter before the Chief Justice for passing appropriate orders. The HC order comes after Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (TAFRC) chairman Justice P Swaroop Reddy, a retired HC judge, had filed a memo against Justice Rao. In his memo, the Reddy expressed apprehension on Rao hearing the case, accused him of holding prejudice against the former and requested a different bench to hear the matter. The bench said that the chairmans memo, prima facie, amounts to interference with the administration of justice and criminal contempt. The chairmans attempt in sullying the judicial process can also be viewed as an attempt to bench hunting, which has been deprecated by the Supreme Court in the case of RK Anand vs Delhi HC, the bench stated. It, however, declined to initiate any proceedings for contempt, and recused from hearing the case and closed all issues arising out of the memo. In a writ petition filed before the Telangana HC, 121 medical students had recently challenged the GO 20, issued on April 14 recommending a higher fee structure for private unaided minority and non-minority professional medical and dental courses. On May 14, the bench, headed by Justice Rao, while dealing with the petitioners case, had directed the TAFRC counsel to furnish a copy of the detailed reasons for recommending an increase in fee. On the next day, Reddy filed the memo in which he also defended his recommendations made to the government and questioned the locus standi of the petitioners to file the present case. On account of the antics of the TAFRC chairman the whole atmosphere has got vitiated, and since we do not wish to behave like him, while strongly denying each and every allegation, we do not intend to take any action for contempt and we close all issues arising out of the memo, the bech stated. It also held that the scurrilous and defamatory allegations in the memo are made with the sole malafide intention to avoid the hearing of the matter (fee hike) by the present bench. The Supreme Court has quashed the decision of the Winneba High Court that gave the green light for the election of a new Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). On November 21, 2019, the UEW elected Professor Andy Ofori-Birinkorang who was the Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages Education and Communication (FFLEC) as the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the university. The university went ahead to organise the election after the Winneba High Court on November 18, 2019, dismissed a suit filed by Dr Frimpong Kaakyire Duku, a senior lecturer of the UEW who had challenged the election in court. Dr Duku filed a suit with a case that the decision of the Vice-Chancellor, Rev. Fr Professor Anthony Afful-Broni, to nominate three candidates for the election was discriminatory as it denied others, including him, the opportunity to contest for the election. Supreme Courts decision Dissatisfied with the dismissal of his case, Dr Duku, through his lawyer, Mr Alexander Afenyo-Markin, invoked the supervisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court by filing a certiorari application for the apex court to quash the ruling of the High Court. In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Jones Dotse, upheld Dr Dukus application and subsequently quashed the decision of the High Court. The court further ordered the case to be reheard by the Winneba High Court for determination. Members of the Supreme Court panel were Justices Dotse, Yaw Appau, Gabriel Pwamang, Agnes Dordzie and Mariama Owusu. The court is, however, yet to file its reasons for quashing the High Courts ruling. Suit On June 10, 2019, Rev. Fr Prof Afful-Broni nominated Professor Yaw Ameyaw, Director Quality Assurance Directorate, Prof. Dominic K. Danso Mensah, Director, Institute for Teacher Education and Continuing Professional Development (ITECPD) and Prof. Ofori-Birikorang, Dean, Faculty of Foreign Languages Education and Communication to be voted on by convocation for one of them to become the Pro Vice-Chancellor. The election was slated for Friday, June 14, 2019 at all the campuses of the university. On June 13, 2019, Dr Duku, who is also a former President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), UEW-Chapter, filed a certiorari application for the High Court to quash the decision of the VC to nominate candidates for the elections. He also filed an interlocutory injunction on the election pending the final determination of his suit. It was his argument that the move by the VC was a violation of the universitys statutes and the law establishing the university. Dr Duku further contended that the decision by the VC was illegal and discriminatory as it denied many others, including him, the opportunity to contest for the Pro Vice-Chancellor position. As a result of the suit, the university subsequently suspended the election until further notice. High Courts ruling On November 18, 2019, the Winneba High Court presided over by Justice Janapare A Bartels, dismissed the suit without even going into its merits on the basis that it had no jurisdiction to determine the matter. It was the view of the High Court that the premise under which Dr Duku filed the suit was wrong and, therefore, it had no jurisdiction to quash the decision of the Vice-Chancellor. It was that ruling by the High Court that has been subsequently quashed by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has effectively held that the High Court has jurisdiction to determine the matter so the suit must be heard on its merit for determination. UEW challenges The UEW has been involved in many legal tussles and internal wranglings which have led to many agitations on its campus. In July 2017, a former Vice- Chancellor of the university, Prof. Mawutor Avoke, and three principal officers of the university were dismissed over certain alleged infractions. He challenged his sacking on many fronts, accusing the university of victimisation and witch hunting. The university authorities, however, refuted his allegations and accusations and said the dismissed officers were subjected to due process. In March 2019, management of the university dismissed three senior lecturers, including Dr Duku. The rest were Professor Ephraim Avea Nsoh, former Upper East Regional Minister and Principal of the College of Languages Education at Ajumako and Dr Emmanuel Osei Sarpong, a former Alumni President who was representing the alumni on the universitys council. The universitys management cited misconduct and insubordination among other reasons for their sacking. The three were, however, reinstated in August 2019. 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 Mother Nature seems to be releasing her fury on the US first murderous hornets, then giant lizards and now a deadly plant bacteria. Greenhouses in Michigan have been ordered to destroy any Fantasia Pink Flare geraniums imported from Guatemala, as the flowers are carrying a bacteria that could threaten food crops across the nation. The plant pathogen, known as Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 (RS r3b2), is transmitted through the soil and water irrigation, and causes plants to wilt. The invasive bacteria is also capable of jumping to other crops such as potatoes, peppers and tomatoes. The disease has made its way into the US before and the federal government has labeled it a 'select agent' because it can be used in bioterrorism. The plant pathogen, known as Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 (RS r3b2), is transmitted through the soil and water irrigation, and causes plants to wilt The bacteria is not harmful to humans or animals, but the United States Department of Agriculture has deemed the bacteria to be a select agent because it has the potential to pose a severe threat on plant health. Elizabeth Dorman, a plant pathology lab manager at the state agriculture department, told AP: 'This disease in particular (could cause) major devastation to our food crops, like potatoes, peppers and tomatoes.' 'Countries that are dealing with this disease cannot ever plant these crops back into that same soil. 'There's no effective chemical control to manage the disease.' This is not the first time RS r3b2 has invaded the US. Experts found the deadly disease in 2003 and again in 2004 on geraniums imported to the US. It has also been reported in more than 30 countries and almost all continents around the globe. Greenhouses in Michigan have been ordered to destroy any Fantasia Pink Flare geraniums (pictured) imported from Guatemala, as the flowers are carrying a bacteria that could threaten food crops across the nation If the stem is cut horizontally, a sticky, milk-colored ooze will be seen. When the freshly-cut stem is placed in water, white ooze will stream out of it The bacteria is transmitted from plant to plant through the soil, irrigation water and equipment used by greenhouses. It can survive for days to years in water, wet soils or deep soil layers depending on temperature conditions. And there is no effective chemical control to eradicate it. Not only has Michigan received the flowers, but officials noted 288 greenhouses across the US were also selling the diseased geraniums. MLive reported that a greenhouse in eastern Michigan got the geraniums as a sample from a facility in New York, which has been shipping the plants around the country. Experts at Michigan State University said symptoms can appear rather quickly and the process tends to speed up in temperatures over 85 degrees Fahrenheit. On the other hand, the pathogen can also harbor inside geraniums for long periods of time without any symptoms. 'The bacterium can survive in water and soil depending on the soil type and temperature,' Dorman and her colleagues shared in a press release. 'Water effluent from infected plants typically contains the bacterium that can then infect and contaminate other plants.' The disease is known as brown rot (or bacterial wilt) in a potato (c) and bacterial wilt of tomato. In both crops, the first symptoms begin as wilting or flagging in young leaves near the top or outer branches of the plant 'For instance, the water draining from infected geraniums in baskets hanging overhead would likely contain this pathogen and spread it to the plants underneath.' As the disease becomes more severe, the stem may also turn black, resulting in the death of the plant. If the stem is cut horizontally, a sticky, milk-colored ooze will be seen. When the freshly-cut stem is placed in water, white ooze will stream out of it. Michigan is a huge producer of potatoes and tomatoes in the US, but both of these crops are high susceptible to RS r3b2. The disease is known as brown rot (or bacterial wilt) in a potato and bacterial wilt of tomato. In both crops, the first symptoms begin as wilting or flagging in young leaves near the top or outer branches of the plant. Mayor of Yerevan Hayk Marutyan today hosted the representatives of companies and individuals who are operating in Armenia and have provided support to the community. Marutyan expressed gratitude for showing a high level of social responsibility and expressed certainty that this established culture will set an example for others. On behalf of Yerevan Municipality and myself, I thank you all for being dedicated citizens of Yerevan. I take great pride in living in a city where people like you live and work and help solve the problems in the city. I thank you for showing a high level of social responsibility and believe this is the start of our collaboration, the mayor stated. The mayor granted awards to several limited liability companies and Samvel Mkrtchyan for their active participation in the solutions to problems in the city and showing a high level of social responsibility. The Mexican government has seen a wave of deaths caused by the consumption of adulterated liquor since 21 states adopted dry laws to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic in April. As many as 159 people have been reported dead across five states over the last three weeks after drinking tainted beverages sold by criminal gangs and bootleggers. State and local governments adopted the alcohol ban because they considered liquor beverages as not essential during the health emergency that was declared in March. Officials calculated that preventing the sale of alcohol would deter mass gatherings that could lead to COVID-19 outbreaks. Some also viewed the use of liquor as a major spark in domestic violence at a time when residents are advised to spend the majority of their times at home. A resident in the Yucatan of Maya pays his respects Monday following the death of one of six individuals who fell ill Sunday after drinking adulterated alcohol. More than 150 people have died in five Mexican states, including Yucatan, where the sale of liquor is prohibited due to the measures set in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus Residents in the Yucatan town of Maya attend the funeral service of a person who died Monday after drinking an adulterated alcoholic beverage. A spokesperson for Chiconcuautla, a city in Puebla, told DailyMail.com that consumption of tainted liquor by residents caused 35 deaths during a period of four days last week. The state of Puebla has been the hardest hit with a total of 70 deaths caused by bootleg alcohol beverages The states of Puebla, Jalisco, Morelos and Yucatan, which still have a ban on liquor sales in place, have been been hit the worst with deaths caused by counterfeit beverages. As of Tuesday, authorities reported 70 deaths in Puebla, 42 in Jalisco and 29 in Morelos. The Yucatan state prosecutor's office told DailyMail.com in a telephone interview Tuesday that at least 13 people have died because of fake booze in the last two weeks. At least five men and one woman who fell ill Sunday in the Merida neighborhood of Maya were declared dead at a local hospital Monday. A spokesperson confirmed that no arrests had been made in connection with the illegal sale of the liquor. Another five people have also died from bootleg liquor in the southeastern state of Veracruz, which had a limited ban. Mexican law enforcement agents in the Puebla city of Chiconcuautla have confiscated 250 gallons of bootleg liquor with methanol that has killed 25 people since Sunday. An additional 15 people have also died this week as a result of consuming adulterated alcohol in the nearby state of Morelos Residents in Yucatan attend the burial service of one of six people who died Monday after drinking tainted liquor a day earlier Last week, at least 35 people died during a span of four days in the Puebla municipality of Chiconcuautla. An official told DailyMail.com that 250 gallons of the tainted liquor has been seized during an operation. At least eight southern cities in Veracruz along with the western states of Nayarit and Sinaloa lifted the liquor sale ban as of Tuesday. Despite the alcohol restrictions that were imposed by Nayarit governor Antonio Echeverria Garcia, bootleggers and criminal gangs found a way to circumvent his order, at times aided by corrupted government officials. 'Forty-five days after the measure, alcohol consumption remained practically unchanged, fueled by a large black market allowed by [local] bad officials in practically the entire state and corrupted in some cases by criminal gangs,' Echeverria Garcia in an address that was streamed via social media on Monday night. 'Trafficking alcoholic beverages has reached a level of absurd abuse against consumers.' A Rwandan tycoon charged over the countrys 1994 genocide and arrested in France this weekend after some 25 years on the run appeared Tuesday before Paris prosecutors in the first stage of a process that may see him handed over to an international court. Felicien Kabuga, 84, one of the last key fugitives wanted over the genocide, was arrested at his home outside Paris on Saturday after living for years under a false identity. Kabuga once one of Rwandas richest men was indicted by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1997 on seven counts, including genocide. The tribunal formally closed in 2015 and its duties have since been taken over by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT). Kabuga was escorted from his Paris prison to the hearing with prosecutors at the Paris court of appeal. He was then formally notified of the MICT arrest warrant. He will then appear before the investigation chamber of the court of appeal which will examine the warrant and give an opinion over whether he should be extradited to the MICT. That hearing should take place on Wednesday but the defence wants it delayed to May 27. The chamber then has 15 days to give its ruling. Even if its delivers a favourable opinion, Kabuga can still take his case to Frances Court of Cassation which would have two months to give a ruling. If extradited, Kabuga is expected to be tried at the MICTs branch in Arusha in Tanzania. Around 800,000 people Tutsis but also moderate Hutus were slaughtered over 100 days by ethnic Hutu extremists during the 1994 genocide. Kabuga is accused of creating the notorious Interahamwe militia that carried out massacres and the Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines which, in its broadcasts, incited people to murder. He is alleged to have used his wealth and influence during the genocide to funnel money to militia groups as chairman of the Fonds de Defense Nationale (FDN) fund. The US State Department hailed the arrest as a milestone for international justice, and a message to all fugitives indicted for genocide that they will be brought to justice. Along with former defence minister Augustin Bizimana and top-ranking military figure Protais Mpiranya both still at large Kabuga was one of the three most significant suspects still sought over the genocide. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 22:18:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BERLIN, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Revenues of German shipping companies declined by 30 to 40 percent on average in March and April, according to a company survey published by the German Shipowners' Association (VDR) on Tuesday. At the same time, 44 percent of shipping companies were already recording a "substantial impairment" of their liquidity, according to the survey among 50 shipping companies, including almost all of the 30 biggest shipping enterprises from Germany. "The consequences of the coronavirus pandemic are becoming increasingly severe for the German maritime shipping sector," VDR noted. "Cruise and ferry shipping were severely impacted by the pandemic right from the outset," said Alfred Hartmann, president of the VDR, adding that the survey showed "clearly" that almost all areas of the industry segment were "being heavily impacted." The German shipping industry had already lost around 1,500 ships to other countries after the financial crisis of 2008/09, one third of the fleet at the time. "Substantial segments of the German merchant fleet are foreseeably endangered in their existence," warned Hartmann. If production and consumption worldwide would not recover soon, "the consequences of the pandemic could be far more severe than the financial crisis" for Germany's shipping industry and could endanger tens of thousands of jobs, VDR warned. Although short-time work was also registered in German shipping companies, the survey showed that lay-offs were currently not planned by over 90 percent of companies. Enditem Whiskey Wednesday started as a little morale boost for folks in franchising and has grown into a cultural craze as folks from all business sectors join in to relieve the stress from this pandemic. - Pete Baldine What started as a fun toast between two franchise industry veterans has evolved into a viral Happy Hour phenomenon as hundreds of businesses coast-to-coast raise a glass each week to toast to #WhiskeyWednesday. Now, the bourbon drinking business buddies who started the Wednesday night trend during the COVID-19 lockdowns are inviting companies worldwide to lift a glass of their favorite beverage and lift spirits to join in the weekly Happy Hour fun. Toast-Turned-Trend We craved a simple way to connect each week because were missing our colleagues and business friends nationwide who we see regularly at meetings and conferences but cant now because of the lockdowns, says Whiskey Wednesday co-founder David Chapman, CEO of 919 Marketing, a leading national content marketing agency located just outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. One Wednesday night in February, a buddy and I shared a virtual toast with our favorite bourbon on a zoom meeting that sparked our idea to invite the world in to celebrate. That buddy is Pete Baldine, a beloved figurehead in the franchising industry and the President of Moran Family of Brands, a nationwide franchisor of automotive repair services. When he and Chapman posted their #WhiskeyWednesday toasts on their social media channels, folks started joining in from franchise businesses all over the country. Thanks to so many throughout franchising (and beyond) the #WhiskeyWednesday trend has gone viral (check out some of the latest videos here - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/whiskeywednesday/). Now, every Wednesday night, LinkedIn and Facebook feeds are full of #WhiskeyWednesday videos of people toasting with their drink-of-choice, challenging others to join in the #WhiskeyWednesday fun. The videos have become a fun, creative outlet with folks toasting while sharing war stories of survival during the pandemic. No surprise, drinking with friends is a national pastime of sorts, as folks toast while giving their kids a bath, riding a horse, and even building a chicken coop to relieve the coronavirus crazies. A Positive Pour Whiskey Wednesday started as a little morale boost for folks in franchising and has grown into a cultural craze as folks from all business sectors join in to relieve the stress from this pandemic, says Baldine, who favors bourbon straight up, no ice. We dont care if you drink whiskey, wine or water. We invite everyone to the virtual party because life is too short, and this crisis has gone on too long. Fill Your Glass, Then Fill Your Feed To join the #Whiskey Wednesday fun, folks simply shoot a video of their toast and post it to their Facebook and LinkedIn pages with the hashtag #Whiskey Wednesday. They can challenge friends, family, and colleagues to post. The goal is to reach as many people as possible with a positive message that were all in this together so we might as well have some fun. About #Whiskey Wednesday #WhiskeyWednesday, started by two franchise industry veterans during the COVID-19 lockdowns, is a weekly virtual Happy Hour and has taken off to become a cultural phenomenon. Every Wednesday, people post videos on their social media channels of toasting with their favorite drink and sharing stories of survival during the coronavirus crazies. #Whiskey Wednesday was started by David Chapman, CEO of 919 Marketing, a national franchise marketing agency, and Pete Baldine, President of Moran Family of Brands, a nationwide franchisor of automotive repair services. About 919 Marketing Formed in 1996 and headquartered just outside of North Carolina's Research Triangle Park and the capital city of Raleigh, 919 is a leading national content marketing agency with a proven track record of helping companies increase revenue, create a competitive advantage and improve marketing results. We provide high-powered strategic planning, public relations, social media, digital marketing, business development support and full creative capabilities each utilizing proven processes refined over hundreds of client engagements. Our award-winning staff of marketing strategists, TV and print reporters, and social media trailblazers are seasoned experts, providing content marketing firepower needed to excite, motivate, and engage your customers and prospects. 919 clients include startups, emerging growth companies and Fortune 500 corporations - from high-tech to health care, hair care and elderly care. 919 Marketing is a proven, go-to source for national companies of all sizes that want to grow their businesses. For more information, please contact David Chapman, CEO, at 919-557-7890 or email dchapman@919marketing.com. Sri Lanka's Department of Meterology on Tuesday (May 19) said that the Super Cyclonic storm Amphan over west-central Bay of Bengal and neighborhood, lay centered near Trincomalee at 11.30 p.m. on Monday (May 18). According to Sri Lanka's Department of Meterology the cyclone Amphan is expected to move north-northeastwards towards west Bengal coast during the afternoon of May 20 (Wednesday). "Due to the influence of the system, the prevailing showery condition over the island particularly in the south-western part is likely to continue further. Heavy showers above 100 mm are likely at some places. Wind speed can increase up to (50-60) kmph at times over the island. Cloudy skies can be expected over the island," it said. According to Sri Lanka's met department, showers or thundershowers will occur at times in Southern, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North-western provinces with isolated heavy showers above 100 mm in Nuwara-Eliya, Kandy, Matale, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Galle and Matara districts. The North and North-central provinces of Sri Lanka are also expected to receive several spells of showers. The met department has appealed to the general public to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity during thundershowers. Meanwhile, Indian Meterological Department said that Super Cyclone Amphan is very likely to move north-northeastwards across the northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans during the May 20 afternoon/evening as an extremely severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 165-175 kmph gusting to 195 kmph. An exhausted emergency department nurse in New Jersey, too worried to sleep, jots down her 401K password in a note to her husband in case she dies. A single mother in rural Oregon spends $250 of her own money to buy protective gear from a farming supply store, mindful that her 9-year-old boy now dissolves into tears when she leaves for work. A nursing director of 13 skilled nursing facilities in Upstate New York describes how her entire family works in health care: I realized my whole family could be wiped out by COVID, just based on what we do, she said. Nursing is the nations largest health care profession, with 3.8 million registered nurses, or three times the number of doctors, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. That means the hour-by-hour care of hospitalized victims of the novel coronavirus falls largely on their shoulders. See the complete Year of the Nurse section from the Syracuse Post Standard. Their dedication and professionalism during the pandemic have prompted a nightly chorus of cheers from big-city balconies, free pizza delivered to local hospitals by grateful communities, and a flood of homemade masks sewn by an impromptu army of civilian seamstresses. Their work has required frontline exposure to COVID-19, an illness whose vicious and unpredictable severity has left them stunned and fearful. Theyre afraid for themselves, but even more terrified that one tiny lapse in caution could bring the coronavirus home to their loved ones. That fear has been exacerbated by spotty availability of the most basic personal protective equipment, or PPE. Ive dealt with every kind of infection you can imagine: H1N1 (flu), MERSA (drug-resistant staph bacteria), and was able to do so without getting sick and dying. The difference is weve always had the equipment to do that, said Tiffany Simmons, the Oregon nurse who bought her own equipment, including a half-face respirator from a welding shop. There is a threat that when I go to work, I could contract something that they dont have a treatment for. I never thought Id be fighting for my life at my job, said 57-year-old Sheryl Mount, who volunteered to return to the intensive care unit because she knew shed be assigned there once the wave of COVID-19 cases hit her South Jersey community. Everyone is scared to death. By mid-April, more than 9,000 health care workers had contracted COVID-19, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The average age of those testing positive for the virus was 42; the bulk of the 27 reported deaths occurred among workers older than 65. Ive never been so scared to be a nurse and so proud to be a nurse, Mount said. Adding to the stress are shifting COVID treatment protocols that mean nurses cant practice their profession the way they always did, or even the way they were trained. They have to limit their interactions with their patients, and some safety protocols have abruptly changed. They have always discarded surgical masks after leaving each patients room; now theyre being told to wear the same one all day. Jennifer Tinn, an ICU nurse at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Somerset, New Jersey, describes herself as a Type A who would normally pop into a patients room as often as she could, even if just to straighten out the sheets. Now, she has been told to bundle her tasks so she completes them all in a single visit. Patient IV poles have been outfitted with extra-long tubes so they can be rolled into the hall and adjusted there. She sits on the safe side of a glass partition, monitoring her intubated and eerily silent patients but unable to soothe them. On many of her 12-hour shifts, shell arrange a FaceTime call to relatives so they can glimpse their sedated loved one or watch the chaplain praying over them. You cant reach out to touch their hand. You cant talk to them, says Mount, the veteran South Jersey nurse. They cant really see your face or your expression. You cant stay in their room for very long. It tears away at your insides. That kind of nursing takes its toll. Tinn, 27, said she drives to each shift consumed by dread that never lifts. Theres just this emotional aura, or vibe, that is just emotionally heavy. I dont usually go to work feeling anxious or feeling worried. But this is a type of anxiety Ive never had, because I dont know what the day is going to bring for these patients, who are so, so sick, she said. Just as COVID-19 patients appear to be improving, the virus can throw a sucker punch that causes their vital signs to plunge. The medical term is decompensating. The hospital lingo is crumping. Im sleeping late, which isnt like me. I think its just emotionally exhausting, she said. I go home and all I think about are my patients. I think about them even in my dreams. You cry, then you get better, then you go back to work, then out of nowhere you cry again, said Simmons. Nurses have a long, proud history of combating contagious disease, whether polio, AIDS, or the 1918 Spanish flu, said Arlene Keeling of the University of Virginia School of Nursing and editor of the Nursing History Review. In both the AIDS and polio epidemics, nurses worked before effective treatments were available and while the means of transmission were still unclear, she said. Traveling nurses often took care of polio patients on the assumption theyd already acquired immunity. Im not sure they knew exactly how it was transmitted either, so maybe they didnt know what to be afraid of, she said. During the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic, many of the patients were tended to by student nurses, since most experienced nurses were away at war. The nurses were mostly single as well because a student had to leave nursing school or a hospital job when she got married, Keeling said. That meant they were treating contagious diseases unburdened by any fear of infecting their own children, unlike todays nurses grappling with COVID-19. Nor did those earlier nurses have to deal with home-schooling their children after their shifts ended. But thats Jessica Collums schedule. She works three overnight shifts a week in the emergency department of Ocean Medical Center along the New Jersey coastline, returning home at dawn. When she gets home from her shift, she strips off her uniform in her garage, steps carefully along a series of bathmats placed in a connecting hallway, then jumps into the shower. She washes her blonde hair so rigorously she jokes she now looks like that guy from Van Halen. Normally shed see her three boys off to school and her husband off to his construction job, then get five or six hours of sleep. Schools are closed, however, so she spends big parts of her day overseeing online lessons for her 7-year-old while keeping her 4-year-old twins occupied. She survives on brief catnaps. She takes only a reference book on medication and a pen and scissors with her into the hospital, leaving her coat in the car. Shes wary of sharing keyboards and desk phones with her coworkers. Wearing a mask and gown for her 12-hour shift often causes her to overheat. She frets, unable to decide if shes just too hot or actually developing a fever. The possibility she might be coming down with COVID-19 herself has triggered panic attacks, she said. On one recent day, five nurses went home with fevers. Simmons, of Oregon, strips in the garage as well, then makes sure to sanitize anything she has touched, including her car keys and cellphone. She doesnt even remove her contacts until after shes showered. While nurses are going to extraordinary lengths to prevent exposing their families to the virus, the looming danger is evident not only to them, but to their loved ones. I constantly hear, This is not what I signed up to do, said Mount, the veteran nurse of nearly 40 years. Husbands are pushing back: This is not what our family needs. Youre being exposed to something that could kill us all. Planning for and around that fear is on the To Do list of MaryPat Carhart, vice president of clinical services for a Syracuse-based company that operates 13 skilled nursing facilities in Upstate New York. Since February, shes kept a little notebook on her bedside table to jot down issues that need addressing, no matter what time of night they occur to her. The current pandemic reminds her of her early years in nursing, when treating AIDS patients was fraught with concerns about the unknown. Its just human nature. People are going to be afraid. Theyre going to be paralyzed, she said. But thats my goal: to eliminate the paralysis. Theyve chosen this, and this is their calling, she said of her nurses. But their biggest fear is taking it home to their families. So we have to make sure that if we get COVID in one of our facilities, theyll be OK. That means rigorous safeguards, plenty of safety equipment, back-up plans for the back-up plans, and training, training, training. This is what we do in health care but really on steroids, she said. But this is what we do. Kathleen OBrien is a freelance writer in northern New Jersey. She can be reached at ksobksob@gmail.com. By Kwak Yeon-soo On May 10, independent bookstore Hangang Moongo closed after 13 years in business. "Due to a change in market conditions and a declining number of in person readers, we've decided to shut the store," a poster read on the front of the bookstore. This is just one example of how the coronavirus pandemic has taken a heavy toll on small cultural outlets including independent bookstores, music labels and art house cinemas. In a survey of 61 independent bookstores, the Korea Bookshop Network (KBN) said 19 respondents reported that sales fell 40 percent to 60 percent in the January to March period from a year earlier, and that another 24 bookstores reported a fall in sales of more than 60 percent. "It's difficult for small, independent bookstores to receive coronavirus rescue loans. The Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (KPIPA) is offering relief funds, but only a few actually receive help," a KBN official said. "There are fewer than 2,000 independent bookstores nationwide, and if we cannot overcome this crisis, we will go out of business within a few months due to mounting financial losses," the official added. Independent bookstores were already operating on slim profit margins as they competed against large bookstore chains, such as Kyobo, Youngpoong and Aladin. According to KPIPA data, the number of independent bookstores nationwide declined from 2,846 in 2009 to 1,968 in 2019. You Hee-kyoung, a poet who runs the bookstore Wit N Cynical in Seoul, fears that the pandemic could widen the market divide between independent stores and large chains as consumer habits have shifted toward online buying amid the lockdown, which benefits bigger retailers. According to Kyobo Bookstore, online sales increased 16 percent in the February to March period from the same period last year. This increase was also apparent at Aladin, which saw a 15 percent rise, and Youngpoong, 10 percent. "It's hard to provide customers with the same prices, inventory and quick delivery speed as large bookstore chains," You said. "Now we are unable to hold events, like author meet-and-greets and book clubs, which used to draw fans and readers to independent stores. If the lockdown continues, the outlook will continue to be uncertain." Independent filmmakers and cinema operators are also struggling to stay afloat. On April 22, a group of filmmakers and their related support organizations called on the government to provide financial aid to offset losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It disclosed survey results that showed more than 40 percent of 52 respondents had no income in the three months following the virus outbreak. Indie Space, an art house cinema that opened in 2007, saw the number of moviegoers drop nearly 90 percent in April from a year ago. "Indie and art house cinemas may be able to survive until the end of the year with relief funds, but the amount is too small to cover losses caused by the pandemic," an Indie Space official said. Small music labels and indie bands could disappear since the cancelation of concerts is putting pressure on their already marginal finances. According to the Record Label Industry Association of Korea, 44 members have lost more than 6.2 billion won due to the cancelation or postponement of events between February and April. A total of 211 concerts were canceled, resulting in losses of almost 63.3 billion won. The association conducted a survey of small labels and individual bands active in Seoul's Hongdae District, which is home to urban music and independent artists, and discovered 82 concerts had been delayed or canceled between February and April, resulting in losses of about 800 million won. "Most of the small labels have 10 or fewer staff, and some of them have adopted emergency management, either laying off staff members or placing them on unpaid leave," an association official said. Imagine merging into busy traffic without ever looking over your shoulder nor accelerating or braking too hard, irritating the driver in the next lane over. Connected and automated vehicles that communicate to coordinate optimal traffic patterns could enable this pleasant driving scenario sooner than you think. At the University of Delaware, a research group of students is developing algorithms for connected and automated vehicles that reduce energy consumption and travel delays. The Information and Decision Science Lab is led by Andreas Malikopoulos, Terri Connor Kelly and John Kelly Career Development Associate Professor. Connected and automated vehicles use technology such as sensors, cameras and advanced control algorithms to adjust their operation to changing conditions with little or no input from drivers. For doctoral student A M Ishtiaque Mahbub, the project has offered unprecedented opportunities. He is the first author of two new technical papers published by SAE -- formerly known as the Society of Automotive Engineers -- describing how UD engineers optimized vehicle dynamics and powertrain operation using connectivity and automation as well as how they developed and tested a control framework that reduced travel time and energy use in a connected and automated vehicle. The team is optimizing an Audi A3 e-tron, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. First, the team members developed control architectures to reduce stop-and-go driving and travel time while ensuring that energy efficiency. Next, the team tested the algorithms using driving simulators in UD's Spencer Laboratory. Then, in October 2019, they put their work to the test in the University of Michigan's MCity, a testing ground for cutting-edge vehicles. The software developed at UD went into the Audi A3 e-tron. On test day, Mahbub stepped into the test car with two other engineers from Bosch. Each was equipped with a laptop to take data as they drove along a track that included a roundabout, merging zone, intersection and other challenges. The connected and automated vehicle is designed to take over and navigate these situations for you. "This alleviates stress, and by eliminating stop-and-go driving behavior where you're constantly braking and accelerating, braking and accelerating, or even yielding, it also has a smooth margin in those cases, which also as a byproduct increases the fuel efficiency," said Mahbub. Virtual reality was used to simulate challenges for the car to navigate around, such as other cars and pedestrians. With months of preparation behind him, Mahbub was excited for the test, but nervous, too. "There is a certain level of uncertainty that plays on your mind, that, OK: The theory and control algorithms worked in simulation, but how about in the real world?" he said. "How might the real-world uncertainties and unknown variables affect the system?" The test was a success, with a 30 percent increase in energy efficiency, more than the simulation even predicted. The real-world scenario helped Mahbub put his analysis in context, gain an even greater understanding of the vehicle's control architecture, and collect data that could be used to realize and quantify even greater gains in energy efficiency. "At one point in the field test I was feeling a bit nauseous because the centrifugal force was a little too much," he said. "I'm thinking right now going forward if we plan to visit MCity, I will definitely put that in my algorithm so that the passengers will have a more comfortable drive." ### This research is supported by the U.S. government-funded Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-e) NEXTCAR project where U.D. Prof. Andreas Malikopoulos is the principal investigator. Research collaborators include the University of Michigan, Boston University, Bosch Corporation, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Bosch is developing a prototype device that will include the algorithm and communication protocol developed at UD and will be compatible with a variety of vehicles. Mahbub's trip to Michigan was also supported by a University of Delaware Collection-Based Research Travel Grant. Mahbub received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in Bangladesh in 2013 and his master's degree in computational mechanics from the University of Stuttgart in Germany in 2016. At least three lakh people have been evacuated from the coastal areas of West Bengal, ahead of the extremely severe cyclonic storm "Amphan", and all steps have been taken to deal with any eventuality arising out of it, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday. Banerjee said she and senior state government officials are directly monitoring the situation and she will stay put at the state secretariat on Wednesday, when "Amphan" is expected to make landfall, to personally monitor the situation in the state. "After talking to experts, I have learnt that this cyclone will be massive, compared to cyclones Aila or Bulbul. It is (Amphan) dangerous. It is likely to hit the land at Sagar Island on Wednesday afternoon and move inwards till midnight, before going towards Bangladesh. "This cyclone is of a different character. So it is better to be cautious and stay indoors till Thursday morning. The impact of Cyclone Amphan will also be felt in the city, East Midnapore, some parts of West Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly districts," she told a press conference here. "All precautionary measures have been taken to deal with any eventuality arising out of the super cyclone. I had a word with Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding it. At least three lakh people have been evacuated from three coastal districts of the state and moved to relief shelters," the chief minister said and announced several helpline numbers. "As of now, we have evacuated two lakh people from South 24 Parganas, around 50,000 from North 24 Parganas, around 40,000 and 10,000 people from East and West Midnapore respectively. They have been shifted to the shelters prepared for Cyclone Amphan," Banerjee said. During Cyclone Bulbul, the state government had evacuated 1.8 lakh people, she added. The evacuees have been shifted to cyclone shelters and all precautions are being taken, Banerjee said and warned fishermen against sailing into the sea. Expressing fears that Cyclone Amphan may wreak most of its devastation in South 24 Parganas, she said her government has already cautioned the residents of Sagar Island, Fresarganj, Gosaba, Goramari, Canning, Basanti, Namkhana and Kakdwip. "We have taken adequate measures at places in East Midnapore such as Ramnagar, Khejuri and Sutahata. We are totally prepared. Since Sunday, our task force under Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha has started working. The district magistrates and superintendents of police have been directed to stay alert throughout these three days," Banerjee said. Teams of the NDRF, 15 teams of the SDRF, besides those from the disaster management, power, health and PHE departments, along with officials of other departments, have been sent to the areas likely to be hit by the cyclone, she added. The chief minister urged people to maintain social distancing at the cyclone shelters and not forget the COVID-19 pandemic. The shelters have been properly sanitised so that those shifted there are not infected by the killer virus. "Since COVID-19 is still there, we urge people to use masks, religiously follow sanitisation practices and maintain social distancing. We have readied ample drinking water. I have also asked the DMs and SPs to see that the social-distancing norms are not flouted," she said. Banerjee also urged those at the shelters not to step out till Thursday unless the administration gives them the nod. "Please cooperate. I can understand the hardships you are facing during this coronavirus pandemic. We should take proper care of aged people," she said and urged those staying in mud houses or dilapidated structures to take refuge at the cyclone shelters. Banerjee asked Sinha to request the railways not to run any "Shramik Special" train to bring back migrant workers to the state from Wednesday till Thursday morning as a precautionary measure. "Around three lakh migrant workers have reached West Bengal. Every day around 8,000 to 10,000 of them are returning to the state and the administration is helping them reach their home districts. "We are asking the railways to increase the number of compartments so that within the next 10 days ,another four to five lakh migrant workers return home," she said. Later, the chief minister held a video-conference with all the DMs, SPs, ministers and former city mayor Firhad Hakim, and directed them to stay cautious. Cyclone Amphan is expected to cross the West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha in West Bengal and the Hatia island in Bangladesh on Wednesday as a very severe cyclonic storm after losing some steam as it approaches landfall with a maximum sustained wind speed of 155 to 165 kmph, gusting to 180 kmph. The meteorological department has issued an "orange message" for West Bengal and warned of extensive damage in Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah, South and North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Egyptian security forces have released on bail the editor-in-chief of one of the countrys last major independent news outlets, hours after her arrest in Cairo on Sunday. Lina Attalah was conducting an interview with the mother of jailed activist Alaa Abdel Fattah when she was arrested outside the maximum security Tora prison in the capital city. Attalahs news outlet, Mada Masr, reports that security officers confiscated her phone and denied her access to a lawyer. After questioning from the prosecutor's office, she was released from Maadi prison Sunday evening on bail of 2,000 Egyptian pounds ($127). Mada Masr, which Attalah co-founded in 2013, is one of the last remaining examples of the free press in Egypt. Authorities blocked access to the site in 2017, the same year Attalah was named a new generation leader by Time magazine. In November, Egyptian security forces arrested Mada Masr editor Shady Zalat at his home and a group of plainclothes security officers raided the news outlets offices the next day. Several journalists were briefly detained, including Attalah. Egypt is considered one of the worlds biggest jailers of journalists. Reporters Without Borders ranks the North African country 166th out of 180 countries in this years world press freedom index. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who assumed power after the military ousted the countrys first democratically elected president in 2013, has overseen a widespread crackdown on reporters, activists and other critical voices, as well as perceived supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. Human Rights Watch estimates at least 60,000 people in Egypt have been jailed for political reasons since the former general came to power in 2014. Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, whose mother Attalah was interviewing before her arrest, ended his hunger strike Monday after 36 days. Haisam Hasan Mahgoub, a reporter with the Egyptian daily Al Masry Al Youm, was arrested last week on terrorism charges and spreading fake news. Last month, Egypt extended its state of emergency by three months to help authorities deal with both the threat of the coronavirus and insurgent activity in the Sinai region. Renewed every three months, the state of emergency grants Egyptian security forces the power to make sweeping arrests and search homes without a warrant. Meanwhile, hundreds of political prisoners have recently had their pretrial detentions extended without even allowing them to appear before a judge. U.S. employers have cooled to the idea of testing workers for possible immunity to the coronavirus as they prepare to reopen factories and other workplaces. Blood tests that check for antibodies to the new coronavirus have been touted by governments and some disease experts as a way to identify people who are less likely to fall ill or infect others. Italian automaker Ferrari NV has made antibody testing central to its Back on Track project to restarting factories. But many U.S. companies are not planning to use them, relying on face masks, temperature checks, social distancing, and diagnostic tests for those with symptoms, employers and healthcare experts told Reuters. Mercer, which advises companies on healthcare benefits, has surveyed more than 700 U.S. employers in industries from high tech to retail to energy, and found 8% of companies said they would include antibody tests in plans to screen employees. Uncertainty Over Immunity Interest in antibody tests from employers has fallen in recent weeks as reports have suggested that it is too early to conclude that antibodies to the new coronavirus translate into immunity. The American Medical Association cautioned on Thursday that these tests do not determine an individuals immunity. Many employers are realizing that antibody testing isnt going to be a silver bullet and really isnt going to bring them any value, said David Zeig, a lead consultant on clinical services at Mercer. Other employers worry about their liability if they administer and interpret such tests, or are concerned about test costs and availability. Some were spooked by a flood of tests that hit the market before being reviewed by regulators for accuracy, which has contributed to confusion over results. A new antibody test from Roche Holding AG that has shown itself to be highly accurate could potentially help answer questions about antibodies and immunity and change corporate demand, but it has not done so yet, consultants and companies said. Governments, however, are interested in antibody tests, particularly if they are accurate. Britain on Thursday said it is in talks with Roche over buying tests that it could use to create a certificate of immunity once there is a better understanding of the science. Collective Health, a healthcare technology company that has built back-to-work strategies for large companies, is advising employers to use diagnostic tests, not antibody tests. There has been a proliferation of low-quality antibody tests and the antibody tests themselves dont necessarily answer any questions about immunity, said Rajaie Batniji, Collective Healths chief health officer. Back to Work When General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV reopen production next week, they intend to offer diagnostic tests to workers, not antibody tests. Officials at the Detroit carmakers said it was because it was not clear what the antibody tests show. Amazon.com Inc.s on-site testing plan, now in development, does not include antibody testing. Those views were echoed in interviews with a handful of smaller U.S. manufacturers. Shawn Kitchell, chief executive of Florida-based plastics manufacturer Madico Inc., is not planning to use antibody tests for his 250 employees. He questions their costs, accuracy, and the fact that the timing of tests can lead to different results, requiring multiple tries. How frequently would we need to test to make it safer for our co-workers? Kitchell said. Employers are also wary of an unregulated U.S. market for antibody tests. Since March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed more than 200 tests into the market without regulatory review to make them available quickly, opening the door to questionable vendors and inaccurate tests, Reuters found. Last week, the agency set a deadline for all vendors to prove to the FDA that their tests work or remove them from the market. It has also authorized two highly-accurate tests from Roche and Abbott Laboratories, which are able to supply millions of tests per week. One of the biggest U.S. testing providers, LabCorp, on Thursday said it was rolling out a program to make diagnostic tests and antibody tests available at workplaces. LabCorps chief medical officer, Brian Caveney, said interest in antibody testing is coming from companies in coronavirus hotspots, such as New York, while other areas with fewer COVID-19 cases see diagnostic testing as more important. As the new FDA process shows which tests work and which dont, that will help advance research on how many people recovering from COVID-19 develop antibodies and at what level, and show if they are truly immune to infection, said Howard Koh, a professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Until we go through those steps, I dont see how we can translate this for the typical person who wants to go back to work, Koh said. (Reporting by Caroline Humer, Timothy Aeppel and Krystal Hu in New York and Ben Klayman in Detroit; editing by Michele Gershberg and Nick Zieminski) Topics COVID-19 USA Commercial Lines Business Insurance A pastor in California has been hospitalized with pneumonia as a result of coronavirus, after holding a Mother's Day Church service with singing despite officials specifically advising him not to due to the spread of respiratory droplets. Redwood Valley Assembly of God Church pastor Jack McMilin is one of three cases in Lake and Mendocino counties, which are working together on contact tracing related to the event. He was not identified as a victim by Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace, who said in a Monday morning Board of Supervisors meeting that two people were isolating and a third was hospitalized and in stable condition. But Mendocino County Health Officer Dr. Noemi Doohan said Monday the person was an elderly male living in Ukiah. Pastor Jack McMilin has tested positive for coronavirus and was hospitalized on Saturday He held a Mother's Day service at Redwood Valley Assembly of God church on May 10 with singing despite specific orders not to from officials due to the increased chances of spreading respiratory droplets The day after he hosted the event he shared a post that read: 'Why can we go to Walmart but not to church?' The pastor's grandson, Jason Bright, left a video message in a Facebook group where churchgoers showed oppositions to shutdowns and his wife Sharon also posted on Facebook. 'I was going post something in place of pastor sermon today but Ive been on phone with so many people and health department that I didnt get it done,' Sharon told members. 'Just remember God is a big and mighty God and hes got us covered, remember Pastor Jack in the hospital with pneumonia from the Covid 19 virus. Thank you for all the prayers!' The day after Mother's Day, Jack has posted an image of a woman holding a sign stating: 'Why can we got to Walmart but not church?' He commented: 'We need to start asking this more often and with greater volume!' . Mendocino County Public Health was offering free testing in Redwood Valley at Eagle Peak Middle School Tuesday. Lake County residents can make appointments using Project Baselines COVID-19 Testing Program online screening tool or contact Lake County Public Health. His wife Sharon asked churchgoers to keep him in their prayers after he fell ill following the event. Health officials said he is in stable condition Two counties have been affected by the Mother's Day service and are contact tracing while offering free testing It came after more than 180 people who attended a Mother's Day church service at another church in California, despite coronavirus lockdown rules against public gatherings, were told to quarantined after one of them tested positive for the virus. One day after attending the church service last Sunday at the Palermo Bible Family Church, in Palermo north of Sacramento, at least one of the worshipers tested positive for coronavirus. The pastor of the church Mike Jacobsen informed his followers in a Facebook posting, and insisted he did not mean to put his flock in harm's way. 'I made a decision to have church on Mother's Day with our congregation celebrating moms. One of our attendees who had no symptoms that day woke up the next morning needing medical attention on Monday the 11th, was given the test for Covid-19 and found to be positive on Wednesday the 13th. 'We have been working with Butte County Public Health and dismissed church services until further notice. I would never with knowledge put anyone in harms way. We love our church and feel very blessed to Pastor a great group of believers. 'For 7 weeks we have been kept out of our church and away from our church family. I am fully aware that some people may not understand that for our church it is essential to be together in fellowship. Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.' Pastor of the Palermo Bible Family Church Mike Jacobsen, pictured, admitted to hosting a Mother's Day church service stating he 'would never with knowledge put anyone in harms way' The pastor posted a statement on Facebook and gave details about the person who had COVID-10 At least 180 people attended the church service on Mother's Day last Sunday (file photo) All of those who attended the service are being contacted in order to be tested for COVID-19.- Butte County was given the all clear this week to reopen in Phase 1 and 2 of the state's plan, however it does not allow for gatherings including church services. Many people blasted the pastor for holding the service instead of stressing the need to shelter in place. Pastor Mike Jacobsen defended the opening of his church: 'For 7 weeks we have been kept out of our church and away from our church family. I am fully aware that some people may not understand that for our church it is essential to be together in fellowship.' 'His decision to open was a reckless one, given the times. And the congregation wasn't forced to arrive for service, They made a choice to be there. Personal choices in life can have consequences in many forms,' wrote Greg Pasmore. 'I will say that if you are preaching from the Bible about being obedient but then lead, the very people you teach, to disobey a direct order. Its sad to me. Lead by example,' added Stephanie Bever. 'At this time, organizations that hold in-person services or gatherings are putting the health and safety of their congregations, the general public and our local ability to open up at great risk,' Danette York, Butte county public health director, said in a statement. 'We all need to do our part to follow the orders and mitigation efforts so that our Reopen Butte County plan can continue to move forward. Moving too quickly through the reopening process can cause a major setback and could require us to revert back to more restrictive measures. We implore everyone to follow the state order and our reopening plan to help combat the potential spread of COVID-19.' Phase 2 allows only certain businesses to reopen with modifications including dine-in restaurants, outdoor museums and shopping centers. Earlier in May, a federal judge agreed that California Governor Gavin Newsom's ban on church services during the pandemic did not violate the constitutional rights to free assembly and religion. 'During public health crises, new considerations come to bear, and government officials must ask whether even fundamental rights must give way to a deeper need to control the spread of infectious disease and protect the lives of society's most vulnerable,' Judge John Mendez wrote in his ruling, according to the Los Angeles Times. Westpac's leadership team has been hit by the shock departures of two of its most senior executives, including consumer banking chief David Lindberg who was seen as a potential future chief executive of Australia's second-largest bank. Mr Lindberg, who has only been running Westpac's largest division for 14 months, is leaving for the Royal Bank of Scotland, while chief information officer Craig Bright is also leaving later this year after 18 months in the job. Mr Bright is moving to UK bank Barclays said sources who did not want to be named because the appointment had not been formally announced. Chief executive of Westpac's consumer bank, David Lindberg, is leaving the lending giant. Credit:Peter Braig The changes came as Westpac said it had created a new group executive role in charge of financial crime to be filled by an internal appointment, Les Vance, following a money-laundering compliance scandal that last year cost the job of former CEO Brian Hartzer. While some businesses prepare to reopen, Massachusetts lawmakers will have to get used to working remotely. Senate President Karen Spilka, an Ashland Democrat, and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Winthrop Democrat, issued a joint statement saying they dont plan to reopen the State House soon during the coronavirus pandemic. In order to follow the parameters of CDC guidelines and public health best practices, the State House will continue to remain closed to the public," the statement reads. DeLeo said in mid-March that the State House would stop accepting visitors during the coronavirus pandemic in hopes of limiting the spread of COVID-19. Only legislators could request to admit a visitor for an in-person meeting. That was before the governors stay-at-home advisory and the executive order closing non-essential businesses. Over the past two months, legislators have shifted to working from home and finding ways to help their districts combat the coronavirus pandemic. Some contracted the virus, including Rep. Liz Miranda, a Roxbury Democrat. The House and Senate adopted emergency rules that authorize remote voting during formal sessions, a first in the General Courts nearly four-century history. In its first remote session, the House passed its first iteration of the governors short-term borrowing bill. The Senate later enacted the legislation during its own remote session, after a subsequent vote by the House. Gov. Charlie Baker signed the bill authorizing the state treasurer to borrow money to cover spending gaps during this fiscal year, which ends June 30. Most Massachusetts lawmakers urged the Baker administration to keep the state closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, while a handful of Republican leaders called on the governor to reopen and mitigate the economic fallout. Baker announced on Monday that the state would move forward with a four-phase reopening, drawing criticism from both supporters and opponents. Under the states reopening plan, Massachusetts places of worship, manufacturers and construction sites got the green light to reopen as early as Monday so long as they had implemented workplace safety standards and followed social distancing measures. Several business will be allowed to open with restrictions on Memorial Day, including hair salons, pet groomers and other retailers that can fulfill remote orders or sell through curbside pickup. More than 87,000 Massachusetts residents have tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic as of Tuesday, and nearly 6,000 people have died. Related Content: Hundreds of residents living along Sanford Lake, Wixom Lake and the Tittabawassee River headed to Meridian Jr. High School early Tuesday morning after being forced to evacuate due to an "imminent dam failure" caused by flooding. Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, Midland County 911 sent out a series of Nixle alerts reporting an imminent dam failure in Edenville. The Midland County 911 Facebook page advised residents on the east side of the lake to go to a shelter set up at Meridian Jr. High School, and residents on the west side can go to Coleman High School. A controversial Sri Lankan army officer is among the 15,000 service members promoted on the 11th anniversary of 'National War Heroes Day' celebrated to commemorate forces and civilians killed in the 37-year-long civil war in the country. According to reports, Priyanka Fernando was promoted from the rank of brigadier to major-general during an event held on May 19. Fernando was convicted in the United Kingdom last year after he was filmed threatening a Tamil activist outside the Sri Lankan High Commission in 2018. Fernando was found guilty and was fined 4,000 pounds. Read: Sri Lanka To Keep 11th Anniversary Of Victory Over LTTE Low Key Amidst COVID-19 Following the incident, the Sri Lankan government criticised Fernando's action and reportedly recalled him as a defence advisor. However, Fernando has held several top posts since his conviction, which he also challenged in a higher court. Along with Fernando, 177 senior officers and 14,617 subordinates were also elevated to higher ranks, which the army has dubbed a 'record promotion bonanza'. The event is reportedly being held at the War Heroes Memorial at the Parliament grounds with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in attendance. Read: India's Envoy To Sri Lanka Presents Credentials To President Rajapaksa Via Video Link National War Heroes Day The 'National War Heroes Day' is celebrated every year on May 19 to mark the defeat of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on the hands of Sri Lankan security forces. The Sri Lankan army won the war against LTTE after killing Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Tamil Tiger supremo on May 18, 2009. The conflict is considered one of the longest-running civil wars in the history of any nation with an estimated 80,000-1,00,000 killed overall and another 8,00,000 displaced at its peak in 2001. Read: Sri Lanka Removes Top Health Bureaucrat Amid Coronavirus Crisis Read: Sri Lanka Yet To Receive Monetary Foreign Assistance For Fight Against COVID-19: Government (Image Credit: @BrigadierPriyankaFernando/Facebook) US President Donald Trump on Monday said he has been taking anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure against coronavirus. I have been taking it (hydroxychloroquine) for about a week and a half, Trump told reporters at the White House, asserting that he has zero symptoms of the deadly COVID-19, which has killed over 90,000 Americans in the past three months. Trump said he consulted his doctors in this regard but was not explicitly recommended by White House physicians. White House doctor didn't recommend. I asked him, what do you think? He said well, if you'd like it. I said yeah, I'd like it. I'd like to take it, he said. Trump said he has been taking a pill of the anti-malaria drug a day. I take a pill every day. At some point, I'll stop. What I'd like to do is I'd like to have the cure and/or the vaccine, and that will happen, I think, very soon, he asserted. Soon after Trump revealed to the world that he has been taking the medicine, the White House doctor said the president is in good health. The president is in very good health and remains symptom-free. He receives regular COVID-19 testing, all negative to date, Dr Sean P Conley, White House physician, said in a memorandum to Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Two weeks ago, one of the president's support staff had tested positive for coronavirus. After numerous discussions, he and I had regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risk, Dr Conley said. Observing that a lot of people have been taking this malaria drug, Trump said lot of frontline workers are taking hydroxychloroquine. I don't take it because, hey, people said oh maybe he owns the company. No, I don't own the company. You know what, I want the people of this nation to feel good. I don't want them being sick. And there's a very good chance that this has an impact, especially early on, Trump said. I take it (hydroxychloroquine) because I think I hear very good things. Again, you have to go to frontline workers. Many frontline workers take it, and they seem to be doing very well, Trump added. The president said he has zero symptoms of coronavirus. No, I haven't had any symptoms. I test every couple of days they want to test me, you know, for obvious reasons. So every couple of days I get tested, and I've shown always negative, right, negative. . Totally negative, no symptoms, no nothing, he said. Hydroxychloroquine sulfate was first synthesised in 1946 and is in a class of medications historically used to treat and prevent malaria. It is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat malaria, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, childhood arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases. The drug is not FDA-approved for the treatment of COVID-19 but it has been identified as a possible treatment for the infection and the US government has requested its immediate availability. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Weve seen AI detect different cancers, kidney illness and brain tumors. Now, researchers from Mount Sinai believe they are the first in the US to use AI, combined with imaging and clinical data, to diagnose COVID-19. In a paper published in Nature Medicine today, they explain how they used CT scans of the chest -- along with symptoms, age, bloodwork and possible contact with the virus -- to spot the coronavirus disease. We were able to show that the AI model was as accurate as an experienced radiologist in diagnosing the disease, and even better in some cases where there was no clear sign of lung disease on CT, said one of the lead authors, Zahi Fayad, director of the BioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute (BMEII) at the Icahn School of Medicine. The researchers note that scans dont always show lung diseases when a patient first presents symptoms and lab tests can take days to come back. The AI helps address both of those problems. The high sensitivity of our AI model can provide a second opinion to physicians in cases where CT is either negative (in the early course of infection) or shows nonspecific findings, which can be common, Fayad said in a press release. Its something that should be considered on a wider scale, especially in the United States, where currently we have more spare capacity for CT scanning than in labs for genetic tests. The researchers trained the algorithm on over 900 scans from medical centers in China. The scans included 419 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 486 negative cases. Researchers also had access to clinical information, like blood test results showing abnormalities in white blood cell counts or lymphocyte counts. The algorithm they created mimics a workflow a physician would use to diagnose COVID-19. It produces separate probabilities of being COVID-19 positive based on CT images, clinical data and both combined. Next, the researchers hope to find clues about how well patients will do based on subtleties in their CT data and clinical information. This is an early proof concept that we can apply to our own patient data to further develop algorithms that are more specific to our region and diverse populations, said Matthew Levin, director of the Mount Sinai Health Systems Clinical Data Science Team. While CT scans arent widely used to diagnose COVID-19 in the US, the team believes they have the potential to play an important role. Eventually, the AI could be used in hospitals around the world. Mr Jonathan Setrakor Ocloo, President, Persons With Disability (PWDs) in the South Tongu District of the Volta Region, has appealed for Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and relief items for members against the spread of Covid-19. He said little attention had been directed towards the welfare of Persons With Disabilities in the District though they were at higher risk. Mr. Ocloo in an interview with the Ghana News Agency acknowledged some support from the District Assembly, however, the nosemasks and sanitizers given them were woefully inadequate. "The South Tongu District Assembly has given 200 nose masks and four hand sanitizers to be distributed to PWDs in the District, but our total number is 710 and what has been given would not be enough for all of us," he said. Mr Ocloo said, "Some PWDs crawl on the ground, some of us use only one hand in all activities and some also cannot use some parts of their bodies. This exposes us to viruses and germs since we depend on only one part of the body for everything, and so we need support. He said they could not depend on the Disability Fund for all their needs and called on benevolent organisations to assist PWDs adhere to the safety protocols through the provision of relief items and PPEs. South Tongu District has not recorded any case of COVID-19. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Days ago, Russia ordered six new battleships for its Baltic fleet amid rising tensions in the Baltic Sea Pilots can be seen twisting their aircraft upside down and rushing past warships The Royal Air Force has released a video of pilots in simulated combat with NATO warships in the sea off Lithuania - a day after Russia announced they would be ordering six new warships to bolster their Baltic fleet. The mock air attacks were carried out by RAF typhoons from six squadron, which are currently based at Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania. They are stationed in the country as part of the NATO Air Policing mission to protect their airspace, as well as those of Estonia and Latvia. The video was released shortly after Russian Naval command announced yesterday that Moscow would be ordering six new cutting-edge battleships for their fleet based in the Baltic Sea. The RAF are also conducting training activities and exercises with other NATO Allies and regional partners. Footage from the mission shows RAF pilots in a series of death-defying aerobatic manoeuvres. Pictured: The first pilot can be seen leaving the NATO warships behind him after rushing towards at them simulate an attack in the Baltic Sea Pictured: The pilot can be seen driving his aircraft up towards the sky in a loop-the-loop aerobatic manoeuvre over the Baltic Sea The first pilot can be seen rushing past a group of NATO warships in the water before twisting the plane so its wings are cast downwards towards the sea. A second pilot repeats the stomach-churning move and both can be seen twisting over themselves in loop-the-loops. The second pilot soars up in the sky, above the dark grey clouds where the sun is blazing, before diving through them to the overcast airspace. The exercise was designed to test the air defences of the Standing NATO Maritime Group One Task Force, which is commanded by Commodore Yngve Skoglund of the Royal Norwegian Navy. The breathtaking aerobatics were designed to simulate real-life air attacks from advanced aircraft. The display comes just after Navy commander-in-chief Nikolai Yevmenov announced Moscow would be bolstering its Baltic fleet with six cutting-edge warships. Pictured: The second pilot leaves the Baltic Sea behind him as he drives the plane up through the clouds Flying through heavy cloud, the pilot prepares to ascend. The lead officer for the training exercise said that when flying at low-level over the sea 'if you lose concentration [...] the results can be catastrophic' The pilot again reemerges under the cloud into the overcast airspace over the Baltic Sea This summer the Russian Navy is likely to hold its third 'Ocean Shield' exercise in the Baltic Sea. Last year's involved 10,500 troops and dozens of warships. The RAF pilot leading this week's exercise said: 'Flying at low-level over the sea is a complex and dangerous environment. 'If you lose concentration, even for a moment, the results can be catastrophic, let alone when you're performing aggressive and dynamic manoeuvres.' He added: 'Having experienced this from the other side I can appreciate the workload the ship's company were under. 'Watching them manoeuvre on the attack runs was an incredible sight and certainly isn't something you get to see every day.' The Typhoon FGR.Mk4 is a fourth-generation combat aircraft used for air policing, peace support and high-intensity conflict, according to the RAF. A group of women in Uganda led by a prominent scholar were arrested when they took to the streets Monday to protest spreading hunger and starvation arising from the regime harsh COVID-19 related lockdowns. The group wants the government to ease the harsh lockdown imposed March 31, and adjust the curfew time from 7pm to 9pm in addition to distributing free masks to all Ugandans. Under the banner of Women's Protests Working Group, the activists were arrested by police as they repeatedly yelled I want food, I want food. Stella Nyanzi, a prominent scholar formerly at Makerere University was arrested , with others during the protest to demand for food. Dr. Nyanzi, a relentless critic of the dictatorship, was only recently released from prison in February after serving an 18-month term. Initially she had been charged with the insane alleged crime of annoying Ugandas life-president, Gen. Yoweri Museveni. She was later convicted of cyber "harassment" and "offensive" communication. In one earlier posting on social media shed compared Museveni, the countrys military ruler of 34 years now who is anywhere from 75 to 80, to a pair of tired buttocks. Critics of the harsh COVID-19 restrictionsa woman who ventured out last week trying to get food was shot and killed while others have been arrestedsay the regime is fixated on impressing the international comunity by announcing relatively low COVID-19 infection rates at any cost, even if it means causing starvation, since no one is reporting those statistics, certainly not the Ugandan Ministry of Health or the World Health Organization (WHO). There are now some calls to include starvation deaths as part of the COVID-19 related fatalities. The protestors say the regime has ignored the plight of starving ordinary Ugandans since the elite are well-taken care of. They claim more people may have died from hunger than directly from COVID-19 infection. Another prominent activist arrested alongside Dr. Nyanzi was Andrew Mukasa, a.k.a. Bajjo, and others. Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson said he was on the field and could not comment on the arrests. He referred this reporter to his assistants. Repeated calls to Kampala Metropolitan police went unanswered. "I am marching today through Kampala city with my empty sauce pans and my hungry children in protest against the HUNGER PANDEMIC," Dr. Nyanzi had posted on her Facebook page before joining the protest Monday. She said the activists would deliver a petition to Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, the countrys prime minister, a medical doctor, who heads the COVID-19 Task Force. We're going on lunch date with Dr Ruhakana Rugunda. We hope he will fill our empty sauce pans and cooking pots with good things, Dr. Nyanzi wrote. She also wrote, in part, While Uganda has allegedly registered no COVID-19 death so far, high-handed enforcement of the measures has already claimed more than 890 women and their babies, who either died in labour after failing to access transport to [the] health facilities or after being shot by security forces fo violating these measures," Dr. Nyanzis posting, which also formed the petition the activists had intended to deliver, read. "Hunger and anger have spiked countrywide causing frightening levels of domestic violence and suicide, whereby women are major victims. As women workers, we demand to return to work, read the petition. "Whereas all teachers, boda-boda [moped-taxi] riders, taxi drivers, informal workers and petty traders cannot afford the privilege of working from home, many of them are now nursing wounds, count losses or otherwise in detention, having been bettered, obstructed, arrested and remanded for violating these measures in their desperate search for survival," read the petition. They further explained: "To add insult to injury, many have been excluded from the distribution of food relief by a hastily assembled military outfit. Churches, mosques, and other civil society institutions that have closer ties and network within their communities were unfairly denied a chance to help their communities in this time of need." "We note that the anti-Covid measures have created an apartheid and occasioned avoidable suffering upon many vulnerable Ugandans especially women and low income earners who scrounge a livelihood in closed spaces, rental markets and other ordinary chores," Dr. Nyanzi added. Elaborating on the alleged apartheid-like COVID-19 enforcement, he partitioners wrote, "We also note with concern that while many other Ugandans are locked outside of the country, a few privileged citizens and their wives, children and distant relatives have been given special permission to return to Uganda while the airport and borders are legally closed. There have been media reports that the countrys notoriously corrupt foreign affairs minister, Sam Kutesa--in 2018 a U.S. federal court convicted a Chinese national of bribing Kutesa and Gen. Museveni $1 million which they split--wrote a letter to Ethiopian Airlines authorizing them to ignore the countrys ban on incoming passenger flights, to ferry the family of a business tycoon named Ben Kavuya from the U.S. The petitioners further wrote: "Many other Ugandans especially students and traders who were caught off guard by the pandemic while abroad cannot return home despite the pain they are going through daily, including racial discrimination and harassment." Rather than have a selected discriminatory process, all Ugandans trapped overseas must be repatriated, the group demands. Other demands include: Give all Ugandans food now. Immediately declare all religious and political party leaders across the divide "essential workers" and include them in the design and implementation of solutions for COVID-19 control, including the distribution of nutritive food to all in need and [those] have not yet received it. Lift the lockdown and adjust the curfew to start from 0900pm instead of 07:00 pm and distribute free masks for all so that they have more options to earn an honest livelihood while observing social distancing and other reasonable rules. Pardon and immediately release all political prisoners and the 7000 persons [number not independently verified] currently in detention for "violating" COVID-19 containment measures and related crimes and reunite families now. Rarely does an opportunity present itself in the Indian business arena when all of us can truly go vocal about local not simply out of a sense of patriotism but genuine pride at the achievement. The recent General Atlantic-Jio Platforms deal is one such opportunity. Coming on the back of earlier equity infusions by Facebook, Silver Lake and Vista Equity Partners in Jio, General Atlantics decision to invest in the wholly-owned Reliance Industries subsidiary symbolises how some of the biggest names in global business have now started to recognise the brilliance and innovativeness of Indian entrepreneurship. And, importantly, also, pay good prices for a worthy Made in India asset. In the case of General Atlantic, this translated into an eye-popping Rs 6,598.38 crore for a 1.34 percent shareholding in Jio Platforms on a fully diluted basis. The significance of the General Atlantic decision does not end there. At a time when economies worldwide are reeling under the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, General Atlantics acquisition of a minor stake in the Indian technology platform is proof that marquee investors would not let even adverse circumstances prevent them from keeping their date with an exciting business prospect. Especially, if that happens to be one like Jio, which having already embarked on the transformative journey of improving the lives of more than 1.3 billion Indians (almost 18 percent of the global population), shows all the signs of becoming a potential game-changer worldwide. The fact that Jio has, in less than four weeks, been able to attract investments to the tune of Rs 67,194.75 crore (inclusive of the General Atlantic commitment) when many companies are finding the going tough in raising funds is a testimony to how positively this Indian brand is now perceived by the movers and shakers in the world of business. The sheer quantum of money raised from General Atlantic alone is enough to highlight the impact that Jio currently has on the minds of those in a position to cut the big cheques. Bridging Digital Divide So, what are the ramifications of the General Atlantic investment in Jio for the average Indian customer? An expanded network, better services, and the likelihood of new and more interesting offerings from the Jio stable are expected in the days ahead as the Reliance outfit likely utilizes its augmented money-chest and General Atlantics proven expertise in disruptive businesses to scale up operations and make the digital experience more seamless for people living anywhere in the country. Be that in India or parts of the nation often condescendingly referred to as Bharat. In the process, it will also remove the digital gulf developing among various groups of citizens based on their place of stay. Common people could also gain from other companies being forced to ramp up their own acts further to counter a more invigorated Jio. Greater competition among different players for an increased market share can only spell good news for customers. And by extension, for the Digital India initiative. Fillip for Atmanirbhar Bharat The General Atlantic-Jio deal could also act as a catalyst for the movement to develop an Atmanirbhar Bharat that the Prime Minister spoke of while addressing the nation on May 12. A more strengthened Jio would have the capacity to play a significant role in strengthening each of the 5 pillars Economy, Infrastructure, Technology-driven System, Vibrant Demography, and Demand that would form the basis for building a more economically self-reliant India. Jio could usher in the quantum jump that the economy needs, build digital infrastructure and technology-backed systems symbolic of an India on the fast track of growth and development, and also use its platform to enable the country to leverage the demographic dividend and become a major player in the global supply chain. Ever since it started operations, Jio has always stood out for its ability to not only think big but also out of the box in line with the parent groups legacy of being the harbinger of change. Given its track-record till date, there can be little doubt that the involvement with General Atlantic could help Jio become one of the brightest stars in the technology sphere worldwide much sooner than originally envisaged. Sumali Moitra is a current affairs commentator. Twitter: @sumalimoitra. Views are personal. Reliance Industries Ltd., which also owns Jio, is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. Day of Constitution and National Flag was celebrated on a large scale in Turkmenistan. Festive events started in Ashgabat with a flower-laying ceremony at the Constitution Monument. The flower-laying ceremony was attended by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, members of the government, leaders of the Mejlis (parliament), Ashgabat city administration, political parties and public associations, workers of culture and journalists. The celebration continued in the square where the main flag of Turkmenistan is flown on the 133-meter high pole. In an official ceremony, the President of Turkmenistan laid flowers at the foot of the flagpole. He was followed by the ceremony participants. A festive concert was given at the Song and Music Center "Ashgabat" in celebration of Day of Constitution and National Flag of Turkmenistan. Festivities in honor of the double holiday were held in all regions of Turkmenistan. TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2022 Chhindwara/Bhopal, May 19 : As posters of 'missing former Congress Chief Minister Kamalnath and his son Nakulnath appeared in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday morning, the Congress dubbed it "cheap politics" and pointed a finger at the ruling BJP. The posters read: "The public of Chhindwara is looking for its MLA Kamalnath and member of Parliament Nakulnath in this hour of need. Whosoever brings them here will be rewarded with Rs 21,000." The voters of the Chhindwara Assembly and parliamentary segments were mentioned as those making the request. It is still not known who pasted these posters. Congress media cell vice-chairman Sayyid Jafar said: "This is a mischief played by the BJP. The country is under a lockdown and the Prime Minister has appealed to the people to remain where they are. While Kamalnath is in Bhopal, while his son is in Delhi. The BJP should tell whether Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has visited Budhni (his Assembly segment) or Narendra Modi visited Varanasi, or Amit Shah visited Gujarat." He said that the representatives of Kamalnath and his son were out helping the poor amid the lockdown. "The Congress MLAs are busy providing succour to the needy, distributing ration and other items. The BJP has only showed its cheap politics by pasting such posters." Lokender Prashar, media incharge of the state BJP, said he was not aware of the posters issue. "If these Congress leaders have not reached their assembly and parliamentary constituencies amid the coronavirus, the voters must have been pained and must be looking for them. What has the BJP to do with it?" Morgan County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Sarah L. Bennett, 34, of 6B Otto Turner Drive, Beardstown, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 12:31 a.m. Monday on charges of driving under the influence, aggravated DUI, driving while license is revoked or suspended, possession on a controlled substance, failing to reduce speed and driving in the wrong lane. Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS A 17-year-old boy was arrested on a charge of criminal trespassing after he was found Sunday night on the roof of a Jacksonville business. An employee of a store in Lincoln Square Shopping Center at 901 W. Morton Ave. reported hearing someone on the roof about 10:31 p.m. Police said the boy was trying to unplug decorative lighting. Pike County Sheriff ARRESTS, CITATIONS Austin S. Mason, 24, of Barry was arrested at 8:16 p.m. Sunday on a charge of possession of cannabis by a passenger. Heather L. Hauck, 27, of Kansas City, Kansas, was arrested at 11:55 a.m. Saturday on charges of driving while license is suspended and cannabis use-driver. Diontay R. Davis, 29, of Chicago was arrested at 2:14 a.m. Saturday on charges of speeding and cannabis possession by a driver in a motor vehicle. Thomas L. Ellis, 45, of Jacksonville was arrested at 4:53 p.m. Friday on a charge of cannabis possession by a passenger in a motor vehicle. Casey R. Schuh, 26, of Griggsville was arrested at 4:53 p.m. Friday on charges of possession of cannabis by a driver in a motor vehicle and operating an uninsured motor vehicle. Shane C. Stockam, 45, of Sandy, Oregon, was arrested at 7:14 p.m. Wednesday on charges of possession of a controlled substance, unlawful use of a weapon and possession of cannabis by a driver in a motor vehicle. Joshua J. Adams, 28, of Springfield was arrested at 11:39 p.m. May 11 on a charge of possession of cannabis by a driver in a motor vehicle. Compiled by David C.L. Bauer Official White House Photo by Andrea HanksBy WILL STEAKIN, ABC News (WASHINGTON) -- With his signature campaign rallies on hold, the centerpiece of his re-election strategy, President Donald Trump and his administration have predominantly targeted traveling to battleground states amid the coronavirus, raising concerns from critics who say the president is campaigning on taxpayers dime. After nearly two months confined to the White House, the president in early May started traveling again around the country while pushing states to re-open amid the coronavirus pandemic. In early May, Trump traveled to an Arizona factory producing respirator masks before heading back out last week for an event in Allentown, Pennsylvania. This week, Trump will take another official White House trip to a battleground state on Thursday when he heads to a Ford plant in Michigan that is manufacturing ventilators -- marking his third trip and third event this month alone in states that his campaign has deemed crucial to his re-election. Along with Vice President Mike Pences official travel, the Trump White House has taken taxpayer-funded trips to Pennsylvania, Arizona, Virginia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and now planned visits to Michigan and Florida this week in an continued effort to highlight the administrations coronavirus response while urging states to reopen. The events in Arizona and Pennsylvania that featured the president mirrored campaign rallies in both presentation and ability to generate wide-spread local media attention around the presents visit -- a key factor in holding rallies, according to aides. Last Thursday, Trump toured an Allentown medical equipment distribution company and delivered remarks in front of a few dozen workers, thanking them for deploying millions of respirators, gowns and gloves across the nation. "I want to thank you, because you're making America proud," Trump said. At the event, the president walked on stage to Lee Greenwoods God Bless The U.S.A. He praised the workers in the crowd who were wearing red MAGA campaign hats. He attacked his political opponent, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, over a recent gaffe. He pointed out the press pen in the back of the event and chastised them for being a disgrace. And he left the stage to You Cant Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones, just like any campaign rally. At one point, one of the workers in attendance pulled up their shirt to reveal another shirt with a large Q, seemingly a reference to the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory that's popular at Trump rallies which baselessly posits that a high-ranking government official known only as Q has been leaking government secrets online. Others danced to the signature rally playlist blaring over the PA ahead of the event. Hundreds of supporters, many waving Trump 2020 signs and flags, lined the streets in Allentown waiting for the presidents arrival at the Owens & Minor, Inc. Distribution Center -- another scene that could have been stripped from a campaign event prior to the coronavirus. "You had to see the crowds coming from the plane, the president said in an interview after the event, boasting about the size of the crowd waiting from him, something the present hasnt really been able to do since his last rally in North Carolina on March 2. That's your poll. Trump's critics have ripped the recent events as de-facto campaign rallies, including Joe Lockhart, former White House press secretary under President Bill Clinton, who wrote on Twitter following the Arizona stop criticizing the administration's response to the virus while spending "plenty of taxpayer money to put on a campaign event." But the similarities between average campaign rallies and recent White House events go beyond advance staff blasting Trumps sing-a-long rally playlist, or the president taking shots at Biden at official events. The events were opportunities for the president to make his case for re-election to voters in states that will decide whether he will get a second term, especially through earned local media. Trumps ever aggressive team worked to capitalize on the two taxpayer funded trips to generate local media attention and to promote the administrations coronavirus response in states the campaign needs to win in November. "Americans can see that President Trump is fighting to protect their safety and reopen the economy. He is doing his job as President and critics would complain if he didnt go," Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement to ABC News. "They are the ones playing politics." Ahead of the event in Allentown, the Trump campaign deployed two big-name surrogates for local interviews promoting the presidents trip. Former 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and Republican National Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who both did local radio spots on Thursday. And following each trip to Arizona and Pennsylvania, the White House boasted publicly on Twitter about how much local media attention the taxpayer funded events had garnered in the swing states. What Pennsylvania is reading, Deputy White House Press Secretary Judd Deere tweeted out on Friday along with images of local Pennsylvania papers with one headline that read, Were going to vanquish the virus. Deere tweeted out similar local headlines following the presidents trip to Arizona. These are official events fully executed from beginning to end by the White House with no involvement or coordination with the campaign, Deere said in a statement when asked if the official event were serving in place of campaign rallies. While the campaign or White House press teams working to create press during an election year isnt a foreign concept, Trump has repeatedly faced criticism from those claiming he has further blurred the lines between official events and campaign rallies. Everything is part of the campaign, historian at Princeton University and author of Burning Down the House Julian E. Zelizer tells ABC News when asked about the recent White House events. That is how the president has always thought about his tenure. Through much of pandemic, it has been impossible to distinguish his role as president from his role of candidate." He is trying to take advantage of the moment when his opponent can't leave the house, Zelizer said. Local press attention played a core role in Trumps rally strategy, which has been hampered amid the pandemic as in-person campaigning has remained on hold for nearly three months now. Regardless if Trump dropped into a state ahead of a special election or to rip local headlines away from Democrats holding a primary -- the presidents massive rallies generated an explosion of local media coverage and often pushed narratives the campaign wanted to highlight in key states -- and all by design. Trumps team had developed a strategy to extend the impact of the presidents rallies into week-long local media blitzes prior to the pandemic changing the 2020 landscape. The campaigns plan was to first generate local press with the initial rally announcement. Then theyd send surrogates to make news in the days leading up to the event before campaign communications staff arrived in the market the day before rounds of local media. Trump would make headlines at the rally itself, and for the last few, the campaign had even started turning rallies into local TV ads theyd run in the days after the event. No one else can make a single rally last for almost two weeks in a market, a senior Trump campaign official said. Now, Trumps two recent taxpayer funded trips have produced similar results in terms of grabbing both national and local press coverage in key battleground states as the president works to tout his coronavirus response amid sliding polling numbers. Trump campaign officials have discussed ways to bring rallies back amid the pandemic, looking at holding them in areas of the country deemed to be low risk and ways to implement social distancing guidelines, sources tell ABC News. In the meantime, the president looks to continue to hit the road in key states touting his administration's response to the pandemic that's now killed over 90,000 Americans and decimated the economy, leaving 36 million claiming unemployment. Trump isnt the first president to push the limits of campaigning while president, and leading the country amid a crisis like the coronavirus complicates things even more, according to Thomas Patterson, Bradlee professor of Government and the Press at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School of Government. Technically presidents are supposed to reimburse the government when they travel for campaign and political purposes but its long been a grey area when a president mixes official business with politics, Patterson said. Trump wouldnt be the first president to stretch that limit. Nevertheless, its traditional for a president to make public appearances outside of Washington during a crisis, so Trump probably gets a pass for now, he said. "The issue is whether, like so many other things, he pushes the limit beyond reason in the coming months, Patterson added. And according to Zelizer, it's the "scale and scope" of the president using official events to make his re-election pitch that distinguishes him from past presidents. "The president doesn't allow for almost any non political space. He is constantly thinking about what he needs to do to maintain his power and he simply doesn't exhibit the concern with governance that other presidents--in both parties--have shown," Zelizer said. In the weeks prior to the presidents trips to Arizona and Pennsylvania, Pence, who before being picked to lead the White House coronavirus task forced had been hitting the campaign trail hard with bus tours in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, has also focused amid the pandemic on traveling to states that could decide the 2020 election. Pences official travel consisted of stops in a number of 2020 swing states states, including Colorado, Florida, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Virginia. Some of the vice president's travel recently has been to non-swing states including to his homestate of Indiana. Trump faced similar criticism a few weeks back while holding daily White House coronavirus press briefings that often stirred into political attacks and lasted hours long. The president bragged about the ratings the briefings would generate, but has since shifted to holding less-regularly press briefings hosted by new White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Copyright 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved. (Natural News) Moderna, the vaccine company touted by the President after announcing extremely limited phase 1 results (on just 8 patients) for its experimental vaccine, now stands accused of running a pump-and-dump scheme / bait-and-switch stock operation that appears to have been timed to immediately follow its P.R. propaganda push on Monday morning. Zero Hedge reports on how the scheme works: Shortly after the close following its massive intraday surge on the back of what, at best, were extremely limited and extremely early results of its COVID-19 vaccine Moderna has announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of $1.25 billion in shares of common stock. Moderna expects to use the net proceeds of the offering to fund working capital needs related to the manufacturing of mRNA-1273, its vaccine candidate against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), for distribution in the United States and outside the United States, assuming necessary regulatory approvals are obtained, and the remainder, if any, to fund clinical development and drug discovery in existing and new therapeutic areas; to fund further development of its mRNA technology platform and the creation of new modalities; or to fund working capital and other general corporate purposes. Morgan Stanley is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering. The shares are reportedly offered between $75 and $77.50 each, and MRNA shares are sliding after hours So MRNA manages to raise equity capital at a price 15-20% above its Friday close Can anyone say pumpndump If it walks like a stock promotion, if it quacks like a stock promotion https://t.co/UTiWka8rRd Jin SEO (@JTSEO9) May 18, 2020 And jumping quickly on the bandwagon, several other biotech stocks immediately offered shares in secondaries: *KRYSTAL BIOTECH SHARES ARE SAID TO BE OFFERED AT $55 TO $56 *CLOVIS SHARES ARE SAID TO BE OFFERED AT $8.05 TO $8.50 *BELLEROPHON SHARES ARE SAID TO BE OFFERED AT $13 EACH *NOVAVAX FILES TO SELL UP TO $250M OF SHARES *HEXO ANNOUNCES PROPOSED OFFERING This morning, drug company Moderna shouted from the mountaintops that the first study of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine candidate a pre-clinical human trial showed promising results. But as analysts later pointed out, the details for example, the studys focus was safety, and vaccine was only tested in two low doses on 8 patients. Well, one twitter user @TESLACharts who has obtained a large following for their incisive tweets about Tesla (and other valuation-related absurdities) tweeted a surprisingly detailed explanation of why investors should take todays announcement with a massive grain of salt, and why going forward they should be wary of the company and any results from the trial, which is being carried out in partnership with NIAID. As it turns out, not only has Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel (whose Moderna stake has made him a billionaire) been selling a surprising amount of Moderna stock, but a mysterious company called Flagship Pioneer that also happens to be Modernas largest shareholder has been selling large blocks of shares as well. That company, as @TeslaCharts explains, is controlled by Bancel. 1/ It is good to be Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna. He gets to go on @CNBC and pump interim Phase I partial data on a rona vaccine. Let's have a closer look. $MRNAhttps://t.co/hj45UKbyGC TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020 2/ Mr. Bancel is a prolific seller of his own company stock, with an aggressive 10b5 plan. He basically sells every week. What's that green flag you say? Let's have a look. $MRNA pic.twitter.com/vuWwIIIrTR TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020 3/ The top holder of $MRNA is Flagship Pioneering Inc. They've been selling as well, as you can see. But there's more. pic.twitter.com/WQV9ndGPFH TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020 4/ The little green flag in the second tweet of this thread shows us that Mr. Bancel is also in investor in Flagship. $MRNA pic.twitter.com/o3slLO0akf TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020 5/ Mr. Bancel also owns and sell stock from a couple of LLCs. Check out the footnotes. $MRNA pic.twitter.com/b5hLi9s7cL TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020 Though hes not well known to the wider public, Bancel was once compared to Elizabeth Holmes and that was after the WSJ published its series of reports exposing Theranos as a fraud. 6/ It wasn't that long ago that Mr. Bancel was being compared to Elizabeth Holmes. That's nice. https://t.co/9Z2rhkAV2e TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020 Another thing: Trumps own Vaccine Czar owns a large slug of Moderna call options. Some have called for him to sell them because of the obvious conflict. But the fact hasnt been widely discussed on Monday is surprising. 7/ Naturally, Trump's vaccine czar owns 156,000 options in $MRNA. There are loud calls for him to divest these options because of obvious conflicts of interest. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to do so at these prices. https://t.co/ycrZDHDABu TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020 The Twitter user suspects that Bancel will continue selling tomorrow, guaranteeing that whether or not his vaccine works Bancel will be quite rich either way. 8/ As sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, Mr. Bancel will be selling $MRNA stock again very soon at even higher prices. I sure hope his vaccine works. Mr. Bancel will be quite rich either way. TeslaCharts (@TESLAcharts) May 18, 2020 Basically, while the results released today seemed to suggest that the vaccine can create COVID-19 antibodies in patients, theres still some doubt about how long COVID-19 antibodies can keep patients immune, or whether COVID-19 might end up evolving like the flu, requiring repeated immunizations to maintain its protective effects. In other words, while this is indeed a promising development, whether or not the vaccine will ultimately be effective remains uncertain. Via ZeroHedge.com Nothing beats collapsing onto your bed after a long day so ensure youre falling into the most comfortable mattress, and sleep, possible. Time for an upgrade? Weve rounded up some of the best Memorial Day sales to keep you feeling cozy all night and refreshed the next morning after a long night of sleep. Price: $799 This sale ends today, May 18, but if you purchase a mattress from Nectar, youll get $399 of free accessories, including a mattress protector, sheets set, and premium pillows. Their mattress has adaptive memory foam with a medium-firm level of comfort and support. Queen-sized mattresses are going for the price of a twin, and king-sized mattresses are going for the price of a queen at Mattress Firms Memorial Day sale. You can also snag a free adjustable base with code ELEVATE when you spend $699 or more. Helix is having a sale all through the month of May. If you use the code MDWS100, you can get $100 off your mattress purchase and two free Dream Pillows which absorb excess heat at night to keep you cool. You can take a quiz to find out which mattress is best for you. If you spend $1,250 or more, you can get $150 off and two free Dream Pillows with code MDWS150. If you spend $1,750 or more, you get $200 off and two Dream Pillows. Price: $1,299 (reg. $1,499) This eco-conscious mattress by helix is sustainably made with birch wool for comfort and insulation from New Zealand, latex for support from Southeast Asia, and moisture-wicking cotton from the United States. You can get $200 off any mattress with code MDSW200. Price: $640 (reg. $800) Their original 10-inch mattress is on sale for 20 percent off and comes with two free cloud pillows, as do all of the mattresses on their site. The original Bear mattress is memory foam and has cooling graphite-gel memory foam to remove unwanted body heat, and high-density support foam for long-lasting durability and comfort. If youre not interested in memory foam, they also offer one with copper foam thats 12 inches, and one with luxury coil and foam thats 14 inches both 20 percent off and coming with two free cloud pillows. Nolah is offering 25 percent of mattresses, 20 percent off adjustable bases, and 40 percent off all bedding. BLACKROCK LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: UK9OG5Q0CYUDFGRX4151) All information is at 30 April 2020 and unaudited. Performance at month end with net income reinvested One month % Three months % One year % Three years % Five years % Sterling: Net asset value^ 5.7 -39.7 -38.1 -29.0 -14.3 Share price 0.6 -41.3 -37.7 -23.1 -9.8 MSCI EM Latin America (Net Return)^^ 4.5 -36.0 -35.2 -28.1 -13.3 US Dollars: Net asset value^ 7.6 -42.3 -40.1 -30.8 -29.7 Share price 2.3 -43.8 -39.7 -25.1 -26.0 MSCI EM Latin America (Net Return)^^ 6.3 -38.8 -37.3 -29.9 -28.9 ^cum income ^^The Company's performance benchmark (the MSCI EM Latin America Index) may be calculated on either a Gross or a Net return basis. Net return (NR) indices calculate the reinvestment of dividends net of withholding taxes using the tax rates applicable to non-resident institutional investors, and hence give a lower total return than indices where calculations are on a Gross basis (which assumes that no withholding tax is suffered). As the Company is subject to withholding tax rates for the majority of countries in which it invests, the NR basis is felt to be the most accurate, appropriate, consistent and fair comparison for the Company. Sources: BlackRock, Standard & Poor's Micropal At month end Net asset value - capital only: 309.30p Net asset value - cum income: 309.34p Share price: 283.00p Total Assets#: 131.4m Discount (share price to cum income NAV): 8.5% Average discount* over the month - cum income: 7.6% Net gearing at month end**: 6.3% Gearing range (as a % of net assets): 0-25% Net yield##: 8.6% Ordinary shares in issue (excluding 2,181,662 shares held in treasury): 39,259,620 Ongoing charges***: 1.1% Total assets include current year revenue. #The yield of 8.7% is calculated based on total dividends declared in the last 12 months as at the date of this announcement as set out below (totalling 30.92 cents per share) and using a share price of 356.96 US cents per share (equivalent to the sterling price of 283.00 pence per share translated in to US cents at the rate prevailing at 30 April 2020 of $1.26135 dollars to 1.00). 2019 Q2 interim dividend of 9.15 cents per share (paid on 16 August 2019). 2019 Q3 interim dividend of 8.03 cents per share (paid on 8 November 2019). 2019 Q4 Final dividend of 9.15 cents per share (paid on 06 February 2020). 2020 Q1 interim dividend of 4.59 cents per share (payable on 20 May 2020). *The discount is calculated using the cum income NAV (expressed in sterling terms). **Net cash/net gearing is calculated using debt at par, less cash and cash equivalents and fixed interest investments as a percentage of net assets. *** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding interest costs for the year ended 31 December 2019. Geographic Exposure % of Total Assets^ % of Equity Portfolio * MSCI EM Latin America Index Brazil 64.4 65.6 60.2 Mexico 22.9 23.4 23.2 Argentina 4.6 4.7 1.7 Chile 2.9 3.0 8.5 Peru 1.4 1.5 3.5 Panama 1.0 1.0 Colombia 0.9 0.8 2.9 Net current assets(inc. fixed interest) 1.9 0.0 0.0 ----- ----- ----- Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 ----- ----- ----- ^Total assets for the purposes of these calculations exclude bank overdrafts, and the net current assets figure shown in the table above therefore excludes bank overdrafts equivalent to 8.2% of the Company's net asset value. Sector % of Equity Portfolio * % of Benchmark Financials 26.8 28.0 Consumer Discretionary 16.0 6.4 Materials 12.0 14.7 Consumer Staples 10.2 16.7 Energy 9.7 8.9 Industrials 5.6 6.6 Communication Services 5.5 7.6 Utilities 5.4 6.5 Real Estate 4.1 1.3 Health Care 3.7 2.2 Information Technology 1.0 1.1 ----- ----- Total 100.0 100.0 ----- ----- * excluding net current assets & fixed interest Ten Largest Equity Investments (in percentage order) Company Country of Risk % of Equity Portfolio % of Benchmark Petrobras - ADR Brazil 8.6 7.2 Banco Bradesco Brazil 6.8 6.0 Vale Brazil 6.1 6.4 America Movil Mexico 5.5 5.0 B3 Brazil 4.4 3.6 Walmart de Mexico y Centroamerica Mexico 4.0 3.1 Ternium Argentina 3.7 Itau Unibanco Brazil 3.3 5.0 Lojas Renner Brazil 3.2 1.4 B2W CIA Digital Brazil 2.8 0.7 Commenting on the markets, Ed Kuczma and Sam Vecht, representing the Investment Manager noted; For the month of April 2020, the Company's NAV returned +5.7%1 with the share price moving +0.6%1. The Company's benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Index, returned +4.5%1 on a net basis (all performance figures are in sterling terms with dividends reinvested). April saw the paradox of strong risk on sentiment in financial markets fly in the face of an unprecedented contraction in global economic activity as both lockdowns and negative COVID-19 related news-flow intensified and oil markets suffered a technical collapse, causing WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude prices to turn negative for the first time in history (although the oil price did recover somewhat towards the end of the month with OPEC and supply cuts kicking in from May). Latin America rebounded in April but underperformed Global Emerging Market equities. Positive returns were seen across Latin America, recovering after the March sell off, which was driven by the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on the economy. Stock selection in Brazil contributed most to relative performance returns over the period. The portfolio' s underweight positioning in Chile detracted most from relative returns. An overweight position relative to the benchmark in B2W, an online retail company in Latin America, was the top contributor to relative performance as e-commerce benefited from the COVID-19 lockdown. The absence of Ambev, a Brazilian brewing company, from the portfolio contributed positively to returns on a relative basis as the stock declined as a result of beer volumes decreasing by 50% in March. On the other hand, the overweight position in Banco Bradesco detracted most from relative performance. A lack of positioning in Enel Americas, a Chilean utility company servicing Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, detracted from relative performance as the stock has been resilient given its defensive nature and as the company maintained the dividend despite COVID-19. We do not own the stock in the portfolio given better growth opportunities elsewhere. Over the month we added to Vale, a Brazilian mining and iron ore company, on cheap valuations and economic normalizing in China post COVID-19, with expectations of increased iron ore demand from China. We shifted country exposure out of Brazil into Chile to position the portfolio away from countries experiencing strong fiscal deterioration and rotating into countries with a relatively economic outlook. As such, we initiated a position in Banco de Chile and reduced positions in Banco Bradesco and ITAU. We cut the holding of Bancolombia on the weaker economic outlook for Colombia given lower oil prices and a reduced conviction in the bank's ability to avoid defaulting loans. We sold holding of M. Dias Branco, a wheat products producer. The coronavirus and associated Covid-19 disease has spread throughout the world, prompting "social distancing" and often strict government control measures throughout developed and emerging markets, Latin America included. While China has been gradually easing restrictions since late February, most other emerging economies are still passing through the "peak lockdown" phase. Policy responses have been considerable, but many markets in Latin America-notably those reliant on foreign capital flows-face constraints in the scale of their response, in addition to questions about the robustness of their health systems. We expect lockdowns to ease modestly by June and more significantly in the second half of the year. Most governments plan to ease lockdown on this timeframe, though it should be noted that almost everywhere, government control measures have been kept in place longer than originally envisaged. Activity in the industrial sector and in parts of services where "social distancing" is less of a concern should rebound relatively quickly. Still, we do not expect most economies to return to their pre-crisis levels of Gross Domestic Product until 2021. The extent to which policy action now limits business bankruptcies and a breakdown in the labor market will be an important differentiator of the speed of recovery. 1Source: BlackRock, as of 30 April 2020. 19 May 2020 ENDS Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brla on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal). Neither the contents of the Manager's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Manager's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement. SINGAPORE and BANGALORE, India, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Smarten Spaces, a leading PropTech startup headquartered in Singapore, today announced the global launch of 'Jumpree WorkSafe'. Jumpree WorkSafe was developed in response to the urgent demand and need for workplace readiness the global COVID-19 situation, to ensure employee safety and optimise seat management. With the solution, businesses will be able to implement a simple 10-Step Response Plan to adapt to the new normal. With its short deployment time, the contactless solution will allow businesses to re-open safely, ensure business continuity and strengthen workplace compliance. Currently, Jumpree WorkSafe is being deployed across over 30 buildings in India, UK, China, US, Australia and Singapore, for both enterprises and commercial real estate. Through a single contactless app, Jumpree WorkSafe will ensure every employee, tenant or visitor is pre-screened for travel and health, tracking every entry and exit along with temperature readings. Other features include encouraging and maintaining social distancing measures at dining areas, monitoring and managing the provision of critical supplies and increasing the availability of resources and improving communication with employees both working remotely and in the workplace. Dinesh Malkani, CEO of Smarten Spaces, shared, "The top priority for businesses is to bring their employees back to work safely and manage their spaces effectively. Apart from safety elements, employees can book sanitised workstations and have visibility on when meeting rooms have been cleaned. At the same time, workforce distribution, seat and space allocation need to come together while factoring in all the new laws around social distancing. Jumpree WorkSafe and our 10-Step Response Plan helps workplaces ensure all the required precautions are in place. This makes us one of the world's first end-to-end AI platform to disrupt a $19.9 billion smart space industry. We are delighted with the traction we are getting and the solution can now be deployed globally via our partner network." Phoenix Group, a prominent real estate company recently adopted Jumpree WorkSafe at one of their campuses. Joe King, Group CEO of Phoenix, said, "As we notice contactless processes and safe distancing measures becoming the new normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are confident that the features of Jumpree WorkSafe will bring enormous ease and efficiency." About Smarten Spaces: Smarten Spaces was founded in 2017 in Singapore by Dinesh Malkani, former President, CISCO India and SAARC regions. Smarten Spaces is focused on digitising spaces for Enterprises, Commercial Real Estate, Coworking, Coliving and Warehousing. Our comprehensive AI & IoT powered technology allows businesses to not only better engage with their tenants and employee community, but to manage spaces effectively. Our solution includes a fully-integrated mobile app for end-users to perform daily tasks more efficiently and seamlessly while the integrated technology platform for space management comes with full AI capability and 100+ reports. Some of our clients and partners include leading Fortune100 companies which have successfully deployed our solutions in the US, Singapore, India, Russia and China. Smarten Spaces was chosen as one of the Top 3 Hottest Startups in Singapore by Singapore Business Review 2019. We are also a global Microsoft co-sell partner. In 2019, Smarten Spaces raised Series A funding of US$12m from Singapore-based Symphony International Holdings, within 2 years of its launch in 2017. Media contacts: Ritesh Shete ritesh@thegutenberg.com +91-95611-33724 Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1169958/Smarten_Spaces_Jumpree_WorkSafe.jpg Almost two weeks ago, the then high-ranking cartel hit man in Sinaloa, also known as "El Chino Antrax" turned out to be a wanted man after, he disappeared from "federal probation supervision in San Diego." The authorities on Monday confirmed the destiny many had suspected that as of this time, he, Jose Rodrigo Arechiga Gamboa would be dead. Assumptions about the whereabouts of this so-called "narco-celebrity" had twirled since his disappearance early this month. Assumptions had even blown up over the weekend when there were three bodies discovered inside the abandoned BMW of Arechiga's sister, on a dirt road in Sinaloa, particularly in Culiacan. Meanwhile, a photo of one of the bodies that leaked online undoubtedly appeared to be the said hitman. Confirmed Dead Arechiga was known for changing his physical appearance before, by undergoing plastic surgery. He also attempted to change his fingerprints. However, narcos have also been known to be faking their deaths before and thus the investigators wanted to be sure if one of the bodies discovered was indeed that of, Arechiga's. The ex-drug cartel assassin's family helped in officially identifying him on Sunday. More so, forensic specialists from Mexico's federal prosecution agency said, the Office of the Sinaloa State Attorney General, validated the results. In relation to the case, the US authorities are also said to be involved in the official identification of Arechiga. In addition, Jimena Arechiga Gamboa, Arechiga's sister, and her spouse, Juan Garcia, have also been officially identified and confirmed as the two other victims found inside the abandoned car. It has not been safely and strictly kept confidential among those closely following cartel cases that 39-year-old Arechiga was cooperating with the US administration while he was under federal custody. Pleaded Guilty in 2015 In 2016, Arechiga reportedly "pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import marijuana and cocaine." However, his sentence wouldn't take place for four more years. And when he was condemned in December, Arechiga had served already, most of his short seven-years-and-three-months term. The said hearing was held with heavy security at the federal courthouse in San Diego, allegedly, partly to hive him protection. In early March, he was released from jail and was supposed to go through "supervision for the next five years." However, as stated in a court affidavit, when an officer for the US probation went to Arechiga's new address for his set check-in earlier this month, he was no longer in his residence. The only thing left inside his house, according to the said affidavit, was his cellphone. Meanwhile, the warrant of Arechiga's arrest was issued by US District Judge Dana Sabraw, who also sentenced him a few months earlier. Plan to Return to Mexico Also according to the affidavit, Arechiga was planning to return to Mexico where, during the completion of his supervision, he had a family. Moreover, it remains unclear, what really transpired a week after that or why he escaped to "the Sinaloa cartel stronghold of Culiacan," where he used to exhibit his riches and power on social media but later on turned to be branded as a "betrayer." Based on Mexican media reports, on Friday, three people were purportedly abducted, in what was described as "a hail of bullets" from a residence associated with the sister of Arechiga. Check these out! Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 18:02:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close ABUJA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Eighteen crew members aboard a Chinese vessel, MV HAILUFANG II, were rescued unhurt by the Nigerian military following a recent attack by pirates within the Gulf of Guinea. The ship's crew including Chinese, Ghanaians, and Ivorians, was attacked by pirates off the coast of Cote d'Ivoire on May 15, the Nigerian navy said in a statement made available to Xinhua on Tuesday. The pirates then took control of the vessel and directed it toward Nigerian waters, the statement said. The navy confirmed ten pirates were arrested on the interception of the vessel at about 140 nautical miles south of Lagos Fairway Buoy. An official from the Chinese Consulate-General in Lagos on Tuesday also confirmed the rescue of a Chinese fishing vessel, adding the vessel was escorted by the Nigeria Navy to Lagos on Monday. "All crew members are safe and sound," said the official. A number of ships have been attacked by pirates within the Gulf of Guinea in recent years. The criminal groups have shifted from stealing cargo to holding crew members for ransom. Enditem Actress Victoria Fosua, otherwise called Nana Yaa, has died in a motor accident at Nsuatere off the Berekum-Sunyani road on Saturday. According to Adom FM's reports, the 43-year-old actress was allegedly knocked down by a Hyundai taxi while she was riding her motorbike. Augustine Boateng, a brother of the deceased who confirmed the sad incident to the radio station, said the Sunyani police are investigating the matter. The taxi driver involved in the accident has been assisting the police in the investigation and is expected to be put before court. The late actress became popular on social media during the lockdown period with her skit on COVID-19. Her death comes not long after that of popular Kumawood actor Bishop Bernard Nyarko, who died at the Ridge Hospital in Accra. PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 14:47:02 Fort Lauderdale, FL, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Veritas Farms, Inc. (OTCQB: VFRM), a vertically-integrated agribusiness focused on the production of full spectrum hemp extracts with naturally occurring cannabinoids, is pleased to announce that its newly launched Veritas Farms hand sanitizer product is now available for sale on the Companys e-commerce website. The hand sanitizer, which contains 70% isopropyl alcohol, aloe vera and vitamin E, is now available for sale and shipment nationwide through Veritas Farms robust online platform at https://www.theveritasfarms.com/shop/ Veritas Farms hand sanitizer is packaged in an 8-ounce squeeze bottle and was developed in partnership with and produced locally by The Miami Distilling Company, a subsidiary of Toast Distillers, Inc. Alexander M. Salgado, CEO and co-founder of Veritas Farms, commented, We are excited to add hand sanitizers to the product offerings on our online platform and we will continue to look for opportunities to partner with organizations to bring our community the products they need. About Veritas Farms, Inc. Veritas Farms, Inc. (OTCQB: VFRM) is a vertically integrated agribusiness focused on producing superior quality, whole plant, full spectrum hemp oils and extracts containing naturally occurring cannabinoids. The Company currently operates a 140-acre farm and production facilities in Pueblo, Colorado, and is registered with the Colorado Department of Agriculture to grow industrial hemp. The Company markets and sells products under its Veritas Farms brand and manufactures private label products for a number of leading distributors and retailers. Veritas Farms brand full spectrum hemp oil products include vegan capsules, tinctures, formulations for sublingual applications and infused edibles, lotions, salves, and oral syringes in a variety of size formats and flavors. All Veritas Farms brand products are third-party laboratory tested for strength and purity. The Company files periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be viewed at www.sec.gov. For additional information and online product purchase, visit www.theveritasfarms.com. Veritas Farms, Inc. - Investor Contact Toll-Free: (888) 549-7888 E-mail: ir@theveritasfarms.com Veritas Farms, Inc. - Social Media Instagram: www.instagram.com/veritasfarmsofficial/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/VeritasFarmsOfficial/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/veritasfarms/ About Toast Distillers, Inc. Toast Distillers, Inc. ("Toast") is a Miami-based spirits conglomerate. The company was founded by Dieuveny "DJ" Jean Louis, aka "Mr. Toast. It is known best for its ultra-premium vodka, Toast. The company includes The Miami Distilling Company, where the company produces all of its products. Toast Distillers specializes in developing brands internally, as well as facilitating the branding and distribution needs of other specialty spirits companies. Toast offers a full range of ultra-premium to midline and well-line spirits, including vodka, rum, gin, tequila and whiskey. For more information, email info@toastdistillers.com or visit www.toastdistillers.com or www.toastvodka.com. About The Miami Distilling Company The Miami Distilling Company is the regional leader in the production of distilled spirits. Its portfolio includes brands such as Toast Vodka, Voka Vodka, Amazing Brands and TMDC Spirits. Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including those with respect to the Companys mission statement and growth strategy, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company's management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve many risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Companys future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; and the ability to obtain necessary financing on acceptable terms or at all. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release. President Donald Trump's administration awarded a contract worth up to $812 million for a new U.S. company to manufacture drugs and drug ingredients to fight COVID-19 on American soil, aiming to end dependence on other countries. The administration has been looking to build up the ability to produce drugs and their raw materials in the United States after the global pandemic exposed the industry's dependence on China and India for its supply chain. 'For far too long, we've relied on foreign manufacturing and supply chains for our most important medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients while placing America's health, safety, and national security at grave risk,' Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, said in a statement. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Tuesday that it had awarded a 4-year, $354 million contract to privately-held Phlow Corp to make COVID-19 drugs, other essential drugs and their ingredients. The contract can be extended for up to $812 million over 10 years. It is not yet clear what drugs Phlow will be responsible for making, but one of its partners makes vancomycin, ketamine, lidocaine, fentanyl, and morphine, all of which doctors use in caring for coronavirus patients, the HHS said. President Trump's administration awarded a contract that could amount to $812 million to Phlow Corp, incorporated in January to make coronavirus drugs on US soil, the Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday. It's not clear what drugs it will manufacture Phlow, which was incorporated in January, said the contract will help it contribute to a national stockpile of active pharmaceutical ingredients for essential medicines. It said it had already started making pharmaceutical ingredients and finished dosage forms for over a dozen essential medicines to treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19-related illnesses. It has delivered over 1.6 million doses of five essential generic medicines used to treat COVID-19 patients to the US Strategic National Stockpile. Many of these medicines are in shortage and have previously been imported. India and China account for a vast majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients used to make drugs in the United States. Phlow has partnered with other groups including Civica Rx, Ampac Fine Chemicals and the Medicines for All Institute to manufacture the medicines. Civica Rx makes a number of drugs used to treat coronavirus patients, including pain relievers like fentanyl, lidocaine and morphine. All pharmaceutical products by Phlow will be made in the United States, according to the company's website. The company said it is working to build advanced manufacturing capability in Virginia, as well as sterile injectables manufacturing facilities. Currently, the FDA has given emergency use authorization to remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine - the latter of which Trump said yesterday he is taking prophylactically - but neither the White House or Phlow has indicated if the company will manufacture these drugs. To-date, there are still no proven or fully FDA-approved coronavirus drugs. A longside the key workers who have kept Britains most vital services afloat over the past few months, there have been other crucial players during the Covid-19 crisis. Standing with those from the public sector on the frontline are workers from a host of private companies and large outsourcing firms that the Government works with, keeping the country going through food and medicine delivery, the creation of PPE and the provision of important communication services. The way we have seen many large organisations and their staff move from their normal day-to-day work into projects to help tackle coronavirus has been remarkable, says Lord Agnew, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office. Their work is a tribute to their organisations and a wonderful example of their commitment to working on behalf of the public. Employees across these companies have adapted rapidly, responding to the urgent needs of people across the UK to ensure that life remains as normal as it can be. Heres some of the important work theyve been doing BT: helping Life Lines to connect ICU patients with their families Dr Joel Meyer and Professor Louise Rose One of the many difficulties encountered during the Covid-19 crisis has been for the patients and family members who have been unable to meet each other due to necessary isolation requirements. Not seeing close friends and relatives is hard for everybody, but for those who are ill it can be particularly devastating. Thats why Life Lines, a project providing a secure virtual visiting solution for families whose loved ones are being treated in intensive care units, set out to connect patients to their relatives. Founded by Professor Louise Rose, a professor of critical care nursing at Kings College London and Dr Joel Meyer, a critical care consultant at Guys and St Thomas, the initiative joined forces with Michael Paquet, who developed medical app Atouchaway, to ensure the virtual communication could be secure and efficient. In just a few weeks, Life Lines has equipped 157 ICUs across the country with more than 1,000 tablets that not only allow patients to communicate with their relatives, but also give medical staff and clinicians the opportunity to explain treatments and answer patient questions. This wouldnt have been possible without the support of key partners such as BT which has rapidly provided new, 4G-enabled equipment and 4G wifi hubs to ICUs. Its very important for doctors and nurses in ICU teams to have a connection with a patients family we see supporting family as part of our role so to be able to do that even when they cant visit is important to staff, explains co-founder Professor Rose, pictured right. Thanks to Life Lines, plenty of happy face-to-face moments have been facilitated, too. A mother has seen her newborn baby through the service, while another patient proposed to his partner after coming off of a ventilator Working with Guys and St Thomas and Kings College Hospital has been an incredible demonstration of cross-industry organisations collaborating for a really important cause, says Lucy Baker, technology director at BT Enterprise. Were humbled to help connect loved ones with one another during such a difficult and distressing time. Life Lines has been responsible for more than 15,000 video calls, and with more equipment going to ICUs across the country, its a number thats only set to rise. Interserve: working together for the launch of NHS Nightingale North West Steve Francis Within 11 days of being contacted by the NHS, construction and support services company Interserve had set up the facilities management for Nightingale North West, the third temporary hospital set up to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. In a short time, a Manchester conference centre was transformed into a fully functioning hospital. Now, a team of nearly 100 works together to keep the place up-and-running. Former Royal Marine and firefighter, Steve Francis, pictured above, was the Nightingale North Wests site manager during the set-up. We have two teams: a clinical team and an outside team red and green. Red is where the patients are thats a massive clinical team with 40, 50, 60 people on during the daytime and 24/7 with reduced crews at night, Francis explains. Then we have probably 30 or 40 outside, which is catering, cleaning the toilets, making sure the facilities are right for the doctors and nurses. Its huge task, but Francis has been moved by the incredible teamwork. Weve got a great team here, teams that are working selflessly, whether theyre doing catering or cleaning. Theres no job too small or too big. Vodafone: providing technology for students in Wales Scott Petty Vodafone has been working alongside the Welsh Government on Digital Communities Wales (DCW). The digital inclusion programme is designed to help individuals across all parts of the principality who have limited digital skills and experience, or in some cases have no digital connectivity at all. Among the initial beneficiaries of the programme were disadvantaged students in Wales who were able to continue their education during lockdown, after the company supplied over 5,000 sim cards to the Welsh Government. Its particularly rewarding to be in a position to use the power of our network and expertise to ensure that this crisis does little to hinder anyones education no matter what their circumstance, says Scott Petty, chief technology officer, Vodafone UK. The programme is initially for three months, although the team is working to build the business case to extend it when children restart their school-based education. With our agile working capabilities and Vodafones commitment to supporting customers and communities across the UK we were able to fully deliver for our customers adds Petty. Babcock International: designing life-saving ventilators In mid-March the Prime Minister asked companies to help design and build thousands of NHS ventilators to help in the fight against Covid-19. The response was unprecedented with over 5,000 offers of support. And among the many UK companies stepping up was Babcock International. Chris Spicers normal job is Head of Future Support for Defence Systems Technology. He works with the Ministry of Defence, helping procure spare parts and repairs for submarines and the rest of the Navy fleet. On Monday, 16 March there was an email from our CEO Archie Bethel asking if there was any way Babcock could provide support, Spicer, pictured top, explains. By the Friday we had a working prototype. Since then the team has worked round the clock on the project. Some of the machine companies we use for submarine parts now make plastic valves for the ventilators, he says. The one thing that makes me really proud is seeing how everybody has risen to the challenge Ive never had to ask a single person to work an evening, a weekend or a bank holiday, people have done it. In fact its the opposite Ive had to tell people to take time off for their sons birthday or whatever needs to be done. Q1 2020 REVENUES: +41 % APPOINTMENT OF A MANAGERIAL TEAM IN THE UNITED KINGDOM London, 18 May 2020 - INVIBES ADVERTISING, a company specializing in integrated advertising at the heart of editorial content for media sites (in-feed), has announced its Q1 2020 revenue. Unaudited consolidated data, in k Q1 2020 Q1 2019 Total consolidated revenue 1,738 1,224 +41% In the 1st quarter of 2020, INVIBES ADVERTISING recorded consolidated revenue of 1.7 million, i.e. an organic growth of + 41%. The commercial dynamic continued over the period despite the start of the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 epidemic. Although the performances recorded during the first months of the year are satisfactory, the advertising market as a whole has been affected throughout Europe by this crisis and INVIBES ADVERTISING will remain very attentive to its development in the coming months. Its strong European geographic footprint, and its ability to deploy campaign throughout Europe, will be decisive assets to fully benefit from the rebound when the situation has normalized and the advertising market has been reactivated. Appointment of a managerial team in the United Kingdom To pursue its European expansion, INVIBES ADVERTISING recruited a managerial team in the United Kingdom with the appointment of Caroline Lidington as Country Director UK and Joy Dean as Partnership Director UK. Caroline Lidington has more than 25 years of experience in the field of digital advertising. Before joining Invibes Advertising, she was Sales Director for Northern Europe for lastminute.com Group. Previously, Caroline held management positions within global groups in the advertising industry such as Hearst Magazines, Hachette Filipacchi Media, Bauer Media, Yahoo! and Universal McCann. Joy Dean has developed over 12 years of robust expertise in digital advertising acquired from specialists in mobile advertising like Widespace and Ogury, and experts in data driven marketing like Exponential, in which she alternately held two managerial positions; advertising and partnership manager. Story continues I am very happy that Caroline and Joy are joining our teams. The United Kingdom is a market with great potential in which we have strong ambitions. Their substantial experience and expertise in the digital advertising sector should allow us to quickly accelerate our development throughout the region" said Nicolas Pollet, CEO and co-founder of INVIBES ADVERTISING, welcoming these appointments About INVIBES ADVERTISING Founded in 2011, INVIBES ADVERTISING is an advanced technology company specialized in digital advertising. It has developed advertising solutions using an in-feed format built into media content. The principle is similar to social networks and it is optimized for dissemination in a closed network of media websites. Our clientele includes a large number of acclaimed companies: advertisers and media agencies. INVIBES ADVERTISING is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange (Ticker: ALINV ISIN: BE0974299316), and in 2019 achieved a place in FT1000 ranking, published each year by the Financial Times. For more information, please visit www.invibes.com . Read our latest press releases at: https://www.invibes.com/investors.html Follow the latest news about INVIBES ADVERTISING on: Linkedin: @Invibes advertising Twitter: @Invibes_adv Facebook: @Invibes advertising Financial & Corporate Contacts INVIBES ADVERTISING Kris VLAEMYNCK, CFO kris.vlaemynck@invibes.com ACTIFIN, Investor Relations Alexandre COMMEROT acommerot@actifin.fr +33 (0)1 56 88 11 11 ATOUT CAPITAL, Listing Sponsor Rodolphe OSSOLA rodolphe.ossola@atoutcapital.com +33 (0)1 56 69 61 80 ACTIFIN, Financial Media Relations Jennifer Jullia jjullia@actifin.fr +33 (0)1 56 88 11 19 Attachment Filmmaker Boney Kapoor on Tuesday said his house help has tested positive for coronavirus. In a statement, the producer said 23-year-old Charan Sahu, a member of his staff at his residence in suburban Andheri, told them that he was feeling unwell onSaturday evening and after that, thefilmmaker sent him for tests. After his COVID-19 test result came positive, Kapoor informed the society authorities, who in turn apprisedthe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) about the case. The BMC is now in the process of getting Sahu into a quarantine centre. "Myself, my children and the other staff at home are all fine and none of us are showing any symptoms. In fact we haven't left our home since the lockdown started," Kapoor said in the statement. The producer expressed his gratitude to the Maharashtra government and the BMC for their swift response for their house help. "We shall be diligently following the instructions and advice given to us by BMC and their medical team. We are sure that Charan would soon recover and be back at home with us," he added. Earlier this month, the office building of music label T-Series was sealed by the BMC after one caretaker tested positive for COVID-19. In April, a member of jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali's in-house staff had tested positive for COVID-19. According to the health ministry, death toll due to coronavirus rises to 3,163; cases climb to 1,01,139. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iran warns U.S. against attempts to block fuel delivery to Venezuela People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 09:16, May 18, 2020 TEHRAN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Iranian officials on Sunday warned the United States against any attempt to block the fuel delivery by Iranian tankers to Venezuela. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a letter to the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Sunday that "the illegal, dangerous and provocative U.S. threats" against the Iranian tankers is a form of piracy and a big threat to international peace and security. "The United States must stop acting as a bully at the international level and respect the rule of international laws, in particular the right to free shipping in free waters," he said in his letter. Zarif noted that the U.S. administration would be responsible for the consequences of any "illegal move" in this regard. Iran preserves the right to adopt appropriate and necessary measures in the face of such threats, he added. In the day, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi summoned the Swiss ambassador, whose country represents U.S. interests in Tehran, to voice Iran's strong protest at what he called U.S. "provocations." Araqchi urged the Swiss ambassador to convey "the Islamic Republic's serious warnings to the American officials against any possible threat posed by the U.S. to the Iranian oil tankers." Iran and Venezuela enjoy "completely legitimate and legal trade relations," Araqchi said. Araqchi also said that any threat against his country's tankers will elicit Iran's "immediate and categorical reaction, and the U.S. administration will be responsible for their consequences." On Saturday, Hamid Hosseini, the spokesman for the Iranian Association of Exports of Crude Products, said that the United States would be practically unable to block shipments of fuel from Iran to Venezuela at a time when the two countries need to cooperate to mitigate the impacts of American sanctions on their energy sectors. Washington is extremely angry about Iran's delivery of fuel to a location near its borders despite various sanctions it has imposed on Tehran's shipping and energy sectors, Hosseini was quoted as saying by Press TV. "Gasoline shipment is not one that could be intercepted or attacked," Hosseini said. "It would be a remote possibility for the U.S. to block the gasoline export shipment," he added. He described Iran's decision to ship large consignments of gasoline to Venezuela as a right move which is meant to help Caracas tackle its fuel shortage. He also said Iran should continue to export more of such shipments in the future to offset a reduction in domestic demand for the fuel which has come as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, Western media reported that "at least one tanker carrying fuel loaded at an Iranian port has set sail for Venezuela ... which could help ease an acute scarcity of gasoline in the South American country." Accordingly, the White House announced on Thursday the United States was considering measures it could take in response to Iran's shipment of fuel to crisis-stricken Venezuela. Earlier, western reports also said that the Venezuelan government officials piled large sum of gold, an amount equal to about 500 million U.S. dollars, on Tehran-bound jets in April as payment for Iran's assistance in reviving Venezuela's gasoline refineries. On May 11, the Iranian ambassador to Caracas, Hojjatollah Soltani, denied that his country had received gold bars from Venezuela in return for its services to the restoration of Venezuelan gasoline refinery. The news claiming that Venezuela is raiding its gold vaults and handing tonnes of bars to Iran through recent Mahan Air flights is a "big lie" and "baseless" claims, said Soltani. In recent days, commercial flights had been made from Iran to Venezuela for the transfer of equipment to reactivate the Paraguana Refinery Complex, Soltani said. "The Iranian government's cooperation with Venezuela has expanded in the time of novel coronavirus crisis, and our relations, especially in the area of trade cooperation, are stronger than ever," the Iranian ambassador stressed. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Dr Franklin Asiedu-Bekoe, the Head of Disease Surveillance at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), on Tuesday, said the late release of the test results of infected persons accounted for the increase in infections at Obuasi. The authorities, he said, had very little idea of the magnitude of the infection rate until the release of the backlog of the positive results for cases in the Municipality, last week, by the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research (KCCR), which had been overstretched with workload. Before their results were returned positive, the individuals who showed no symptoms of the disease were not been properly isolated and thus had gone about their duties without observing the precautionary protocols and infected others, thereby making Obuasi the main hotspot of the Ashanti Region. The authorities, Dr Asiedu-Bekoe said, consequently, became overwhelmed by the numbers. Giving an update on the assessment of the situations at Obuasi and Tema and their management by a team of experts from the GHS, Dr Asiedu-Bekoe said both situations had since been brought under control. In the Obuasi case, several activities and measures had been strengthened by the joint Municipal Health Directorates in partnership with their stakeholders to prevent the further spread of the novel coronavirus in the Municipality and its environs. Currently, he said, an aggressive retesting was ongoing of all the old cases for the reconfirmation of their status, while enhanced contact tracing had also been in force for the new confirmed cases in the high densely populated communities. Also, voluntary mass testing was being rolled out in the areas of high risk populations, including taxi and "trotro" drivers and food vendors. Dr Asiedu-Bekoe said some extraction kits had also been presented to the KCCR to enhance testing, while sputum testing had been added to complement the swab sampling. The Male Ward of the Obuasi Government Hospital had been converted into a 14-bed COVID-19 treatment centre, while efforts were underway to have a 100-bed isolation facility to deal with limited isolation facilities for patients. He said a similar 100-bed facility had been secured in Kumasi to add up to the number of isolation centres. He also mentioned other interventions such as the intensification of public education on the COVID-19 preventive and hygiene protocols, particularly those on the wearing of face masks, regular hand washing with soap under running water, social distancing as well as the spitting, sneezing and cough etiquettes. Dr Asiedu-Bekoe said in the Tema fishing factory incident, the number of workers exposed to the virus by their co-worker had risen to 695. The GHS, therefore, allocated these persons to their respective residential districts for proper isolation and treatment. However, 624 of them have tested negative after treatment and were awaiting their second negative tests to be declared recovered. The factory had been made to address the conditions, which facilitated the spread and made to put in place measures for its containment. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Executive of the HSE have directly contradicted each other over employers receiving employees coronavirus results. During the Oireachtas Special Committee on Covid-19, it was revealed that the Data Protection Commissioner had received complaints in some instances of mass testing employees, management had received the employee's results first. When the news first broke during the morning session of Tuesday's committee, CMO Dr Tony Holohan said the practice would be a "breach of confidentiality, full stop. Employers should not be receiving results for employees. In the afternoon session, Paul Reid, Chief Executive of the HSE, was pressed on the matter by Sinn Fein's Matt Carthy, who asked how many employers had been informed of their employees' test results before the employees themselves, and said that public health officials can make a "judgement call" on the issue. "Our process is overall to inform the individual first," Mr Reid said before he was interrupted by Mr Carthy: "That's not what I asked." Mr Reid went on: "There is a responsibility on public health officials to get results out early," before adding its at the discretion of public health officials whether they inform the employer first and in some instances may be necessary. "There are exceptional cases where there is discretion and judgement call available for public health officials. "Ultimately that is not how we want to see this done. "The vast majority of results are given to the GP and then to the individual "That's the way we've done it throughout this process, but we're in an exceptional pandemic situation." Mr Reid could not give a number of how many employers had been informed of their employees status first. [snippet1]987600[/snippet1] And if after the decree of Donald Trump on the development of resources on the moon, there were still doubts about the seriousness of such plans, then after the presentation of a specific resource extraction project with partner countries, the world became convinced of the seriousness of the Americans intentions. Resources on the Earths satellite are planned to be mined over the next ten years. Around US bases, they will even create special "security zones" so that other countries and companies do not interfere with the extraction. Some countries have already called what is happening "expropriation policies" and condemned the leaders actions. Are US claims for minerals on the moon legal, and will Ukraine be able to take part in the project? Trump's lunar politics Trump's statement about the extraction of resources on the satellite is by no means as unique as it might seem at first glance. Many US presidents, including Barack Obama, voiced such ideas. And in 2015, the States moved to the exploration of the moon already at the legislative level. Congress passed a law that allows US companies and citizens to use space resources. But in the end, the former president of America had to wind down the mission - maybe because of its high cost. According to NASA, it will cost $ 20-30 billion. Trump is less concerned with this issue. He claims that the United States will send the crew to the moon by 2024. To achieve this goal, a space program with the name of the Greek goddess of hunting "Artemis" was launched, and in 2019, the US Space Forces were created. In space exploration, as in many other things, Trump is impatient. In the book of his ex-assistant, entitled "Team of Vipers", a scene is described when Trump allegedly asked astronauts about the timing of the landing on Mars. Trump did not accept the answer that this will be possible in the 2030s with the assistance of other countries. He said that this needs to be done "at least in his second term as president." From the point of view of the political reasons for promoting the project, this episode is as revealing as possible. Before the presidential election in 2020, Trump needs proof of how he made the country "great again." But Trump's plans are not so surprising, because not only the United States looks towards the development of the Moon. Washingtons partners in the new project will be the countries of the European Union, Canada, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Japan has announced similar plans for a long time: they plan to study the moon there with the help of robotic settlements. And the European lunar station "Smart-1" for almost two years photographed the surface of the moon and built maps of mineral deposits. The plan of the European Space Agency under the name "Aurora" should start in 10 years. But who so far has remained out of agreement with the Americans in China, Russia, and India, that is, the strongest players in the field of space. In India, for example, authorities announced their intentions to begin the extraction of helium-3 on the moon by 2030. The Chinese probe back in January last year landed on the back of the satellite, and the Chinese lunar rover discovered individual minerals in the craters of the moon. The country wants to build a multi-module near-Earth space station. The ship that will fly on it, in fact, can be used for flights to the moon. The fact that the United States left China overboard is quite logical, given the tension between the countries. The United States is now accusing the PRC of a coronavirus pandemic; there are statements about the possibility of a resumption of a trade war. Most likely, the Artemis itself is the answer to China with its space program. If we talk about Russia, then the American media, referring to the Trump Administration, explain the decision not to include the country in the Pentagons concern about the threatening maneuvers of Russian satellites. Federation ships are currently being developed in the Russian Federation, which suggests the possibility of flying to the moon and back without landing, and mining on the moon was announced 14 years ago. Roscosmos said that before 2040 they plan to launch several automatic stations for the study of lunar soil and the landing of astronauts on the moon. They wanted to build a mining site by 2050. Trump seems to be trying to get ahead of Russia. The head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin compared US mining on the moon with the invasion of Iraq. And the chairman of the Federation Councils committee on international affairs, Konstantin Kosachev, said that Russia would find a worthy response to the demarche of the US president, who is trying to take over space while the whole world is fighting the coronavirus. International expert Andriy Buzarov calls what is happening a political technological continuation of the cold war between the United States and Russia. "The decision to exclude the state from this list is logical, based on the foreign policy of both Russia and the USA. Both countries have independent space programs. I do not think that cooperation would be possible between them. The solution is logical from the unique opportunities that the USA has. States choose for cooperation those countries that do not have a highly developed space industry. Now the USA and the Russian Federation act separately, as in the early 60s of the XX century. But if global challenges arise, they will be solved together," Buzarov is convinced. However, NASA promptly intervened in the situation. The agency denied information that the United States did not want to include Russia in the agreement on the exploration of the moon, and clarified that the country, unlike China, meets the necessary conditions for cooperation. Roscosmos, in all likelihood, was satisfied with such an answer, as its representatives expressed their readiness for negotiations. This proves that the project is not only Trump's ambitions, but, first of all, economic interests, including of private companies that will take part in it. Realizing an ambitious goal without the support of the United States would be extremely difficult. As for Ukraines participation in the project, there is not a word about it yet. But we will return to this. Is mining on the moon legal? Do US plans violate laws? Indeed, more than half a century ago, almost all countries of the world signed the Space Treaty. According to it, no country should assign space territories. An interesting loophole arises here. Firstly, the same actions by ordinary people or companies have not been settled in any way. Secondly, the United States does not actually declare sovereignty over the territories on the moon - only the right to its development. The extraction of resources on the Moon is not regulated by the agreement, as, for example, this is done with fossils in the neutral waters of the Earth. The sphere is also regulated by the resolution of the UN General Assembly of December 1979. It states that the natural resources of the Moon are a common heritage of mankind and cannot belong either to the state or to an international intergovernmental or non-governmental organization. But the United States did not sign this agreement, as did China and the Soviet Union. This was done by France and India, as well as 16 other countries, among which there are no advanced in space exploration. In fact, the US president, claiming the resources of the Moon, showed the insignificance of this agreement, which looked scandalous. In fact, the development radius will depend solely on the desires of the American side by the right of primacy. Whoever is the first to lodge, will own everything that he can get. NASA later presented the "Agreement of Artemis", which meets the Space Treaty of 1967. That is, they tried to reassure those who appealed to the illegality of this decision. NASA Director said that a whole set of principles for the work of international partners is developed. Among them is the creation of special "security zones". Others will not be able to intervene in the extraction of some countries. Countries that will be engaged in the exploration of the moon will have to publicly report what exactly they will do on the satellite and for what purpose. The signatories of the agreement will be obliged to help astronauts who are in trouble, as well as to protect objects of historical significance. In addition, countries will have to act in accordance with the guidelines of the UN relevant committee for the reduction of space debris. And not only in accordance - they will have to develop their own plans to reduce orbital debris. After completing missions, ships will need to be disposed of in time. However, it is necessary that this treaty is ratified by the largest countries. But the political and legal nuances of a decision are just its wrapper. The main thing is the economic component. What countries will mine on the moon the resources of the Moon are visible on a special map, which was recently presented by scientists of the US Geological Survey. The highest expectations are given to helium-3, a large amount of which was found even in samples of lunar soil from the Apollo expeditions. There is no industrial quantity of helium-3 on Earth: in our Earths atmosphere, there are only 35 thousand tons of it. In the rock of the Moon, it is from 500 thousand to a million, since it accumulated hundreds of millions of years, while the Moon was irradiated by the Sun without protection in the form of the atmosphere. Helium-3 is interesting in that it is much more beneficial as a thermonuclear fuel than oil and gas. When a ton of helium-3 interacts with the right amount of deuterium, a huge amount of energy is released. To achieve the same effect with oil, you need to burn 15 million tons of it. One ton of helium-3 is enough to power all the states for 9 days. Besides the fact that helium-3 is effective, it is also safe. It is not radioactive, and in the process of thermonuclear fusion with its participation, dangerous compounds are not formed. True, in order to use it as fuel, it is still necessary to build special thermonuclear reactors. To start the reaction, you need a temperature of about a billion degrees. Concepts for such reactors have already been developed, but such conditions could be provided for only a few seconds. In addition to thermonuclear fusion, helium-3 can also be used in medicine, for example, for a clearer picture of MRI devices. When using the isotope, the level of the useful signal of the apparatus grows at about 10 thousand. They are more spacious than usual, they are easier to move, and most importantly - they are cheaper. Helium-3 is also used for neutron detectors that detect attempts to import nuclear materials. Not surprisingly, such a ton of isotope is estimated at about $ 5 billion. Extraction of such an amount of isotope, according to World Security Network estimates, is cost-effective - it can cost 3 billion. But we also need an expensive infrastructure - at least for $ 20 billion. Therefore, the Russian Federation is convinced: given the absence of special reactors, it is economically disadvantageous. But not just helium-3. At the bottom of the craters and in the shadow of high mountain ranges, where the temperature does not rise above the freezing point, there should be water. Presumably, ice on the moon arose due to the impact of comets. Water is not needed on Earth. If hydrogen is isolated from water, it can serve as fuel for expeditions. This would decently save the money of earthlings, since the delivery of fuel to space is very energy-intensive. Also, water can be used for farms on the moon. The British Spacebit, founded by Ukrainian Pavlo Tanasyuk, will look for H2O and other minerals on the satellite. "The geological map shows the availability of resources only approximately, and in fact, some of them may not be there. It is not yet fully known whether there is water in the Moon in an accessible form. It is very important for technical purposes, in particular for engines. So we will find out whether there is water there and whether it can be obtained somewhere in 2022-2023. Then the next mission to the South Pole is planned, in which we will take part. If there is water there, then there will be a space economy. If no, then difficulties may arise, but not the most critical," Pavlo Tanasyuk assures. According to the founder of Spacebit, platinum is more important than other minerals on the moon - not so much for the Earth, but for the space economy, for the construction of spacecraft. The presence of platinum-like minerals on the moon is proved - most likely, ancient asteroids brought them there. A rare resource mining is also economically interesting. On Earth, about a third of them today are in China. In the coming decades, they may become scarce, so the moon is quite capable of becoming their alternative source. Yttrium, for example, is important because it is used in the manufacture of computer screens. Silicon is also actively used in electronics as the best semiconductor. We can also need sulfur, potassium, and sodium - minerals that can be used as fertilizers for growing plant foods at the base. Solar energy and lunar regolith will be useful for building bases on the back of the satellite. The development of resources on the moon is also the chance of discovering new minerals that can fundamentally change the life of earthlings, as well as the motivation for investing in space infrastructure. NASA has already decided that they have chosen three companies that will be involved in the technological support of Artemis. For example, SpaceX will develop the Starship, adapted for passenger flights to the moon. It can also be used to move goods. We are also talking about the construction of a station near the moon, with which it would be possible to organize work on the surface of the satellite. Ukraine and Artemis Independent Ukraine and the United States have long been cooperating on space issues. The countries signed a framework agreement of 2009-2019. Of the positive results - in May 2016, a Ukrainian-American working group was created, and the director of Pivdenne construction bureau Olexander Degtyarev made an ambitious statement about Ukraines technological readiness for a flight to the moon and an expedition to Mars. Participation in such a serious international project as Artemis could give our country significant image advantages. But the former head of the Space Agency Pavlo Degtyarenko says: in order to participate in the project, Ukraine must invest financially. But the space program has not been adequately funded from the budget for several years now: on average, we allocated 10 times less than necessary. Investments are estimated in millions of hryvnias, while in the USA they spend about $ 20 billion a year on the industry. Orders from the state for Pivdenne Design Bureau make up only 2-3% of the volume of its work, and basically the profit comes from the work of the bureau on the world market. The average salary at the Design Bureau is low, and after the "coronavirus" sequestration of the budget, Ukrainian space was completely hit. Will we sign the "Agreement of Artemis"? Andriy Buzarov is pessimistic about this. He says that our space industry as an independent player has not had any opportunities for a long time. The country is only able to fulfill certain technological orders in the framework of cooperation with space powers. For example, the Dnipro Design Bureau created the first step for the Antares rocket. The next launch was planned for early fall of this year. For it, Ukrainian experts and designers from Yuzhmash were transferred to the United States on a charter plane under quarantine conditions. Upon arrival, the specialists were quarantined for two weeks and now work on the basis of NASA. If we talk about the lunar project, the Pivdenne has formed a possible appearance of the lunar base, as well as technical specifications for the lunar modules, vehicles on the surface of the moon. Ukrainian scientists also presented a lunar lander for exploring the surface of the satellite at the Dubai Airshow 2019 exhibition. It is capable of delivering a payload of up to 150 kilograms to the moon. According to the scientists themselves, there was no financial support from the state for development. Nothing prevents Ukrainian companies from participating in space projects, but abroad. For example, in the already mentioned Spacebit, which is based in the UK, a lunar rover is being developed. It will evaluate the possibility of a long stay of astronauts in the lunar cave in July 2021, having gone to the satellite with the United Launch Alliance rocket in the landing module of the American Astrobotic. The lunar rover has already passed the CDR (a critical review of design). It is one of the smallest lunar rovers. Its main feature is that it moves on its paws, while everything that has stepped on the surface of the moon has been on wheels. The lunar rover will walk on the satellites surface as Neil Armstrong did at that time, it may be launched into space after a functional test in Earths orbit. Further tests are planned in vacuum chambers under the conditions of regolith radiation. Most likely, the lunar rover will be ready to launch by the new year", says Pavlo Tanasyuk. The company's plans are spelled out 20 years in advance. Tanasyuk says that the company supports the development of clean technologies so as not to harm the moon itself. In his opinion, it is important that the descendants, looking at the Moon from the Earth, do not observe the extraction of resources. As for Ukraines participation in the US project, he is sure that there are chances for this. Pivdenne has a great legacy, technologies that can be used for space exploration. In addition, the space agency has a new strong head. You can create a good working ecosystem, but it will all depend on how willing you are to work in Ukraine. The technologies that Ukraine has can be sold, or you can give the right to use them to start-ups in the country, like in America so that they dont leave their homeland. Of course, many executives may have the desire for a quick profit but it would be a good strategy for the future", says the Spacebit founder. Spacebit, for example, helps small Ukrainian startups such as Space Cossacks, who won the European Space Innovation Competition. The company also cooperates with Firefly, which is based in America but has Ukrainian roots. Firefly is currently developing a rocket for the budgetary launch of cargo into orbit. Will the States have time to land a man on the moon before 2024 in a pandemic? It seems that it will not become an obstacle. If the work of the Pivdenne Design Bureau is suspended, even in these conditions some space centers in the USA are open. Tanasyuk says that there were some difficulties with the testing of robots, but the work is still in full swing: there are even more employees. We cannot control the processes associated with the pandemic, so many people have psychological problems. The dream of space exploration can help people get distracted. Remember how people waited for Apollo. The dream of landing on the moon can unite the whole of Ukraine, sums up Tanasyuk. Of course, space is a common asset. However, as in other areas, in space, success awaits the strongest, richest, and most importantly, the brave. So far, Ukraine can only watch how its scientists help these strongest to realize the dreams of mankind. Oregon state's coronavirus stay-at-home orders have been temporarily reinstated by the supreme court just hours after a judge deemed them 'null and void' in a lawsuit on Monday. Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff ruled that the social distancing directives Oregon's governor Kate Brown had issued were not valid, in a case brought by ten churches against the 'unconstitutional' emergency directives. Judge Shirtcliff ruled that the democratic law maker, Brown, had failed to have the emergency measures approved by the state's legislature within 28 days deeming them void. However after an appeal from Brown to 'safeguard Oregonians' the supreme court halted the ruling and reinstated the orders imposed by the governor later the same day. Oregon's governor Kate Brown who won an appeal to the supreme court on Monday to halt the invalidation of her coronavirus restrictions on the state Brown responded to the decision in a statement: 'From the beginning of this crisis, I have worked within my authority, using science and data as my guide, heeding the advice of medical experts. This strategy has saved lives and protected Oregonians from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. 'There are no shortcuts for us to return to life as it was before this pandemic.' Adding: 'The science remains clear: By physically distancing, wearing face coverings, staying home as much as possible and only gradually reopening our communities, we can save lives and keep Oregonians safe.' Ten churches within the state had brought the case, arguing that any emergency powers allowed to Brown in this situation had expired after a month and that the stay-at-home orders along with the ban on gathering to worship are invalid. People protest Oregon governor Kate Brown's orders that shut down much of state's economy and imposed social distancing, in a rally outside Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore, May 4 Ray Hacke, who represented the churches, said the ruling by Judge Shirtcliff on Monday was a vindication for freedom of religion. Speaking after the initial ruling he told Fox News: 'The stay-at-home order is no longer in effect. It is invalidated. If people want to get their haircut, they can. Adding: 'Praise God. Im excited, and Im glad that the judge saw that there are limitations on the governors power, even in the midst of emergencies.' The case was filed on behalf of Oregon businesses by the non-profit Pacific Justice Institute, based in Sacramento, earlier this month. At the same time, parents and students are seeking to understand how college administrators are addressing the global health crisis and making campuses safer. According to a survey by Brian Communications, 85% of parents say they need more information on what colleges and universities are doing to ensure student safety next year. The bottom line, college leaders need to implement health safety measures and get students back to campus. "We have partnered with campuses around the world for over 10 years to help create exceptional spaces for students and faculty with our charging solutions. As more and more schools announce fall openings, we feel compelled to help those administrators bring students back to campus and resume face to face learning," said Joe Mecca, president of KwikBoost. KwikBoost has developed a line of solutions, including custom branded sanitization stations, room dividers, space dividers, productivity tools and more to help campus leaders outfit their facilities with products that support student distancing and health initiatives. Physical distancing, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control, calls for approximately 6 feet between people. Campuses, large and small, have numerous high-density areas including libraries, lecture halls, dining halls and student unions, to name just a few, that need to incorporate the CDC recommendations. "When creating this line, we identified five key areas that colleges need to address to help bring students and staff back to campus: reducing density, retrofitting learning spaces, creating distance, increasing access to sanitization resources, and providing productivity tools. We are confident that, with this line of products, colleges can create environments that promote health and safety and ease the worries for parents and students," Mecca said. For more information on KwikBoost's student distancing solutions, please visit https://kwikboost.com/industries/higher-education/ About KwikBoost KwikBoost helps higher education institutions keep students and faculty connected with a robust lineup of products and solutions designed to empower healthier campus environments. Founded in 2010, KwikBoost's focus is creating simple and powerful solutions that facilitate safe connections between people while delivering exceptional customer experience. For more information about how KwikBoost can help your institution safely bring students and staff back to campus, visit kwikboost.com. SOURCE KwikBoost Related Links www.kwikboost.com Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgsons office is being sued for the release of information regarding a violent incident that occurred at an immigration detention facility earlier this month over coronavirus testing. The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the law firm of Foley Hoag LLP filed the lawsuit Monday after issuing a public records request on May 7 for information relating to an altercation in the B wing of the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center in North Dartmouth. The plaintiffs sought audio and visual recordings as well as photographs relating to the incident, reports written by BCSO employees and records containing communications between the sheriffs office and any federal agency, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Executive Office of the President. The group claimed the BCSO issued a blanket denial of the ACLUs request and did not produce even a single piece of paper about the incident. The public deserves to know what happened in Bristol Countys immigration detention facility, Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said in a statement. That is especially true when the leader of that government institution has been accused of personal misconduct during the incident, and given ongoing controversy about potentially unsafe conditions there." On May 1, an encounter between detainees in the B wing of the facility escalated to physical violence," the ACLUs lawsuit said. In a letter Hodgson wrote, the sheriff claimed BCSO staff had to use force to restrain detainees who refused to be tested for COVID-19 and rushed at him and correction officers. Hodgson accused detainees of barricading themselves inside the facility, ripping washing machines and pipes off the wall, breaking windows and trashing the unit. He also claimed guards, special response team members and the K9 unit were attacked by detainees but eventually gained control of the wing. Three detainees were hospitalized after the altercation, officials said, and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced her office would be investigating the incident. Gov. Charlie Baker also plans to look into the altercation, but he said people need to be careful about drawing conclusions one way or another. Advocates and attorneys have disputed some of the sheriffs claims, though. They alleged the detainees feared being brought to a different facility and being exposed to the virus. The detainees wanted to be tested in their own unit, and when they reached out in fearful phone calls, they were attacked with gas and pepper spray, the advocates claimed. Lawyers for Civil Rights, which is representing detainees at the Bristol County facility in a federal lawsuit, have said that a parallel civil litigation could be filed. After the incident, Hodgson made numerous public statements, including a press conference and separate radio interview, in which he described the incident and his personal involvement, the ACLUs lawsuit said. He also invited reporters into the detention unit to inspect it and take photographs. The ACLU claimed the BCSO suddenly reversed course after receiving the organizations public records request by claiming that all information concerning the incident must be shielded from public view. The BCSOs complete refusal to produce these records is contrary to law, the ACLU wrote in its lawsuit. Additionally, release of the requested records would serve the public interest by promoting transparency and accountability. The Bristol County sheriff announced over social media he would release video of the alleged clash between detainees and guards once the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security finishes an independent investigation. I cant wait to show everyone the video, Hodgson tweeted. In response to MassLives request for comment about the ACLUs lawsuit, a spokesperson for Hodgsons office wrote that the organizations public records request was denied due to two exceptions in public records law. The matter is currently under investigation by the BCSO and the Department of Homeland Securitys Office of the Inspector General. One of the exemptions we cited in denying the request related to materials that are currently under investigation, the spokesperson told MassLive. Prior to the May 1 altercation, the ACLU said, there were escalating tensions at the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center, which houses sentenced prisoners, pre-trial detainees and civil immigration detainees. In late March, roughly 50 people held in the B wing of the facility asserted in a letter that the BCSOs housing conditions were cramped and unsafe in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Dozens of detainees were being housed close together in bunk beds, they claimed. The BCSO denied the accusations in the letter, even calling certain allegations a complete lie, according to the ACLUs lawsuit. On March 27, immigration detainees, including at least one from the B wing, filed a federal class action lawsuit, saying the existence of dangerous conditions at the BCSO would result in the uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus, the ACLU said in its suit. Beginning in early April 2020, the court ... conducted a series of bail hearings for civil immigration detainees at the BCSO and ordered certain of them be released on conditions, the ACLU said. To date, the federal court has ordered more than 40 immigration detainees released from the BCSO. In response to the detainee releases, Hodgson made public statements, saying he opposed the releases. On April 16, the sheriff appeared on the television program Fox & Friends First and called the releases ludicrous and a serious, serious problem." Related Content: Neil Gaiman has apologised after returning to Scotland from New Zealand during the Covid-19 pandemic. The 59-year-old author was criticised during First Minister Nicola Sturgeons daily coronavirus briefing on Monday after it was revealed he had gone back to Skye. The American Gods writer said in a blog post that he travelled more than 11,000 miles from where he was living with his partner Amanda Palmer after they agreed they needed some space. I came straight here and I've been in isolation here ever since Neil Gaiman On Tuesday, Gaiman apologised for his actions, saying he had done something stupid. He wrote: Like so many other people, my home life and work had been turned upside down by the Covid-19 lockdowns. I was panicked, more than a little overwhelmed and stuck in New Zealand. When I landed, the whole of the UK was under lockdown rules. I drove directly to my home in the UK, which is on Skye. I came straight here and Ive been in isolation here ever since. Police officers spoke to him at his home and told him if he was safe in New Zealand he should have remained there. He added: Since I got here, Skye has had its own tragic Covid outbreak 10 deaths in a local care home. Video of the Day Its not set up to handle things like this and all the local resources are needed to look after the local community. I made a mistake. Dont do what I did. Dont come to the Highlands and islands unless you have to. Im sure Ive done sillier things in my life but this is the most foolish thing Ive done in quite a while. A demand has been made to allow online sale of seeds and fertilisers to farmers at their doorstep in Maharashtra amidst the extended coronavirus-indued lockdown. Explaining the rationale behind such demand and drawing parallels with the state government's recent move to allow online delivery of alcohol, Aurangabad-based agri expert Vijay Anna Borade on Tuesday said the agriculture supply chain is not fully operational yet and monsoon season is nearing. "Farm produce of last year is still lying with farmers. If liquor can be sold online why seeds and fertilisers can be delivered or sold online to farmers?" Borade told PTI. He said farmers will have to rush to agricultural markets once the lockdown is lifted, which can lead to crowding. "We can avoid this if government agencies collect farmers' yield from them," he said, adding that agriculturists are facing problems like lack of transport, fuel among others due to restrictions. In such a scenario, the government should provide seeds and fertilisers at the doorstep of farmers without charging them any money, he demanded. "Earlier, the agriculture department had provided fertilisers to farmers at their doorstep. In this critical situation, such steps should be initiated. The agencies concerned should reach out to farmers to buy their produce," he demanded. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With customers panicking over unkempt pets, Norm Candalore couldn't stand remaining shut a day longer. He was inside his suburban Pittsburgh pet-grooming salon one April evening when an elderly woman pulled up, distressed at having clipped her collie's nails too short and causing them to bleed. "When this lady left, I looked at my daughter and I said, 'We're opening up,' " Candalore said. "I called all the local police departments and told them what we were doing." With that, he joined a cohort of small businesses gone rogue, operating in defiance, or ignorance, of state and local shut-down orders. The phenomenon is largely anecdotal, but evidence points to a growing number of such businesses making secret house calls across the U.S. or opening their shops to the public and waiting for authorities to shut them down. Most states have begun reopening at least parts of their economies in recent weeks. Georgia was the first shuttered state to reopen, allowing nail salons, hairdressers, fitness centers and bowling alleys to restart on April 24. Much of the South and the U.S. heartland soon followed. However, harder hit states are taking a more conservative approach. Michigan has extended its broad stay-at-home order until May 28, giving an exception for manufacturing workers. New York allowed for some curbside retail as well as construction and manufacturing to resume Friday in five regions, excluding New York City. The piecemeal approach is infuriating some business people. Thomas DeVore, a lawyer in southwest Illinois, is representing pubs that reopened in rural areas despite the state's shut-down order. He's seen his list of clients eager to challenge Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D, grow to around 100. It's expected that many Illinois retailers, barber shops, offices and manufacturers could reopen May 29 based on the state's multiphase plan. "You can go into the big-box stores and buy flowers, but you can't go into your local florist to buy flowers?" DeVore said. Several businesses have reopened in high-profile fashion lately, sometimes rallying conservative politicians when shut down by authorities. But most businesses opening against the rules are doing it quietly, often by making house calls or by seeing customers by appointment. Candalore shut down in March after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, D, closed all nonessential businesses, even as Candalore's phones "blew up" with desperate customers. "I had 798 messages," he said. "I can prove it to you." He never completely closed. "I'm probably going to tell you too much, but sometimes we'd sneak in the back door to help a customer out," Candalore said. "People would park around back. Was it an open business? No. Was it a situation where we were advertising? No. But we never stopped helping people out, and we never will." In Washington, D.C., barber Antonio Botticella has been making house calls since before the pandemic. While his rate will drop for multiple customers at a single location, a solo trim runs $180. Botticella sterilizes his tools after each use, wears a mask and gloves and has a coverall suit for each client, he said. "There is zero skin contact," Botticella said. The barber said he's no scofflaw. He read through the city's rules and didn't see anything prohibiting mobile barbers, he said. However, Washington's order closing nonessential business applies to hair, nail and tanning salons and barbershops, and it would prohibit house calls, said LaToya Foster, a spokeswoman for Mayor Muriel Bowser, D. Businesses operating against the rules are the tip of what economists call the "shadow economy," an informal system of providing goods and services. It relies largely on cash, and the amount of paper currency and coins in circulation outside bank and government vaults has increased 5.1% since lockdowns began, according to the Federal Reserve. As of May 4, it passed $1.8 trillion, a record. Ordinarily, the shadow economy represents 8% to 10% of U.S. economic output. But the pandemic could push more people underground, said James Saunoris, an Eastern Michigan University economics professor. For now, many governments appear to be taking a relaxed approach to enforcement. The Pennsylvania State Police issued 329 warnings as of May 11 and only one citation - to an Amish roofing contractor conducting training meetings without personal protective equipment. That citation came after two warnings. In California, the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology is looking into 651 complaints of salons remaining open in defiance of state rules that also ban home visits, said spokeswoman Cheri Gyuro. California hasn't yet taken any enforcement actions. DeVore, the attorney in Greenville, Illinois, about an hour from St. Louis, argues that power to close businesses resides only with local health departments, and some haven't acted. He's made headlines for suing the governor on behalf of the owner of two rural bars, Poopy's Pub & Grub and Dookie's Pub & Grub. Poopy's, a biker bar in tiny Savanna, reopened briefly this month before receiving a cease-and-desist letter from the state and limiting operations to curbside service. His clients "can't wait until the end of May or the end of June," DeVore said. "These people are saying, 'You know, Tom, I'm going to be on welfare if I have to wait that long.' " At a mid-May news conference, Gov. Pritzker said executive orders "set the ground rules" under a disaster proclamation. "There's a reason why those exist in the law," he said. In inland Maine, brewery co-owner Rick Savage is taking a stand against Gov. Janet Mills', D, order closing nonessential businesses. Savage had already closed Sunday River Brewing Co. for six weeks when, on May 1, the governor allowed some businesses, but not restaurants, to restart. Dismayed, he reopened his restaurant and brewery on that day and drew a crowd of 150, according to a local news report. That set off a tussle between Savage and the state, with Maine authorities revoking his liquor and health licenses. Savage reopened soon after, citing a federal license to brew. For now, he acknowledges, he's not authorized to host customers for dine-in service, but he's doing so nonetheless, Savage said Friday. Walmart and Target remain open, he said. "We're doing the same spacing they are, and maybe more." SCOTTSBLUFF Scottsbluff High School will spend the week of May 18-22 celebrating the accomplishments of the Class of 2020 with a special Senior Recognition Week on the Scottsbluff Schools website and social media channels. Traditionally, the week of graduation SHS holds Senior Day where student academic achievements are recognized. Since we were unable to hold that event in person this year, these achievements will be shared during recognition week with a different theme each day. The tentative schedule is as follows: Monday, May 18: Graduation Honors-Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, Summa Cum Laude Tuesday, May 19: Outstanding Academic Achievements Wednesday, May 20: Career Academy Honors Thursday, May 21: Students Enlisted in the Military Friday, May 22: Teacher and Department Recognition In addition to these recognitions, there will be daily student speeches from 4.0 students from the Class of 2020 as well as messages of congratulations from SHS Alumni, community members and more. All recognitions, speeches, and well wishes will be shared on the Scottsbluff Schools Facebook, Twitter and Instagram Channels as well as on the SBPS website at www.sbps.net/Seniors. SHS invites the community to join in the celebration of our Seniors and we look forward to holding Graduation for the Class of 2020 when state and local health directives allow. Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Queen Elizabeth II has been reigning for 68 years, making her the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Aside from being the head of state, the Queen is also a wife to Prince Philip and a mother to her four children -- Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and her only daughter, Princess Anne. Although she was often praised for her sense of duty and devotion to a life of service, it was her relationship to her family that suffered. The Lonely Prince And A "Distant" Mother Multiple reports previously mentioned that the Queen and her eldest son, the Prince of Wales, have always had a complicated relationship. Back in April, when the 94-year-old monarch gave a heartfelt speech addressing the ongoing pandemic that swept across the globe, royal watchers observed that she failed to mention Prince Charles, who had just been diagnosed with the dreaded virus and was in isolation at Birkhall with his wife Camilla. Furthermore, in 1994, through his authorized biographer Jonathon Dimbleby, the Prince of Wales bitterly recalled his childhood. He said he was exclusively raised by their nursery staff instead of his "emotionally reserved" parents. It was also reported by The Sun that the heir to the throne previously accused his mother of "being cold, distant, or unavailable" during his early years. Farewell Letters Instead Of Visits Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith shared in the April 2017 issue of Vanity Fair that when the young Prince Charles was struck with a fatal virus, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh did not even pay him a visit. "Later that year, when he was bed-ridden at school with Asian Flu, his parents didn't visit him," Smith told the outlet. From 1957 to 1958, the Asian flu pandemic -- which was believed to have originated from North China -- had killed millions of people across the globe. Smith added that instead of hugs or visits, his mother sent him a letter before embarking to her royal engagement in Canada. "Instead, before leaving for a royal tour of Canada, in October, the Queen sent him a farewell letter," Smith shared. The criticism against the Queen and her role as a mother had affected Prince Charles and left him "wounded." Per the the Daily Mail, however, Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin and close friend Margaret Rhodes pointed out that it is simply a misinterpretation towards the Queen's undemonstrative style of motherhood. "They are not arms out and cuddly people, really. They are not lovey-dovey. But they mind a lot about each other, even if they don't show it. The thing is, they've been brought up not to show publicly what they're feeling," Rhodes explained. Princess Anne also denied the allegations that the Queen was not caring or involved in their childhood. "I simply don't believe there is any evidence whatsoever to suggest that she wasn't caring. It just beggars belief," she explained in her 2002 interview with BBC during Queen Elizabeth II's Jubilee year. What Is the Keystone Pipeline? The Keystone pipeline is an existing structure that carries oil from Alberta, Canada, down to Cushing, Oklahoma. The major controversy surrounds a proposed 1,200-mile extension, or shortcut, between Alberta and Nebraska. Dubbed the Keystone XL pipeline, this additional route would connect into the existing Keystone pipeline in Nebraska, which extends onward to Texas. Its worth noting that the proposed shortcut shouldnt be confused with an already existing Keystone XL extension between Oklahoma and Texas, called the Gulf Coast pipeline, which has been operating since 2014. The additional extension has been under consideration since 2008, when Canadian-based TC Energy (known as TransCanada at the time) decided this would be the best way to ramp up oil production as the route would allow 830,000 barrels a day to be transported to Texas. The current pipeline carries around 550,000 barrels a day from Canada. However, the proposed shortcut faced almost immediate objections from a varied contingency concerning the pipelines environmental impact. For more than a decade the project has been caught in a tug of war between political administrations, environmentalists and oil lobbyists, alternating between having permits granted then revoked. The battle continues to this day. How Much of the Keystone Pipeline Is Completed? Its estimated that just eight percent of the Keystone XL pipeline has been built so far, although President Joe Biden canceled the project in January 2021. History Understanding the fuller picture of the pipelines complicated history involves some patience. The pipeline first underwent environmental review by the U.S. State Department in 2009. Around this time, Nebraskans started raising concerns about the pipelines potential impact on farmland and a major water system. The State Department approved the pipeline moving forward in 2010 after determining it would have a minimal effect on the environment, but this only increased opposition from state legislators and scientists. As a result, the State Department delayed the project for another year pending additional review, yet came to the same conclusion in 2011. Following increased protest activity that year surrounding environmental concerns in Nebraska, the department revised its decision and ordered the pipeline to be rerouted through the state, and TC Energy agreed. Yet this wasnt the end. Barack Obama, president at the time, blocked the Alberta to Nebraska extension based on insufficient time for officials to properly review the new proposed route. Meanwhile, TC Energy moved forward with the southern extension from Oklahoma to Texas in 2012 while re-submitting a new reroute application for the first leg. No sooner did Nebraska approve the new route in 2013 before opponents filed a lawsuit against the state government. In 2014 a Nebraska judge ruled in favor of the opposition, and the State Department once again suspended moving forward. After being laddered up to the Nebraska Supreme Court, the previous ruling was overturned in 2015 and the U.S. Senate greenlit Keystone XL to resume yet again. President Obama immediately vetoed the bill; later that year the administration rejected TC Energys reroute application, putting a supposed end to the project. That is, until Donald Trump took office in 2016. One of President Trumps first orders revived the Keystone XL pipeline in 2017. A federal judge blocked that order in 2018, pending an environmental review. Not to be outdone, President Trump issued a presidential permit in 2019 allowing the pipeline to proceed, and construction began in 2020. Why Is There So Much Opposition? Members of the Cowboy and Indian Alliance, including Native Americans, farmers and ranchers from across the United States, begin a demonstration against the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in front of the U.S. Capitol April 22, 2014 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images The type of oil that TC Energy wants to transport from Alberta via the XL pipeline is known as tar sands, a thick-as-molasses oil due to a hydrocarbon substance called bitumen, which also contains a mixture of clay, sand and water. This type of oil is considered one of the dirtiest fossil fuels on the planet. Extracting it involves clearing large swaths of biodiverse boreal forest and using steam to liquefy the underground bitumen. All of this comes at a great cost to the environment and contributes to climate change, explaining why so many different groups are opposed to the project. Yet just as many groups have political and financial reasons to keep the Keystone XL pipeline alive. Financial Motivators For starters, the U.S. oil industry finds tar sands oil attractive because it means less of a reliance on oil from the Middle East, while the XL extension would prove cheaper than using rail transportation. Investors also want to protect their stake in the $8 billion pipeline. Then there are other industry supporters, including the National Association of Manufacturers and construction unions, who have vested reasons for supporting claims that the pipeline would rely on renewable energy and achieve net-zero emissions by 2023, according to TC Energy. However, fully offsetting pipeline emissions wouldnt help to reduce any of the emissions created by those using the actual tar sands oil. The Global Energy Institute within the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports Keystone XL because it claims the pipelines construction would provide more than 13,000 jobs to Americans and Canadians and generate $3.4 billion in U.S. GDP growth. That number also encompasses millions from state and local taxes. The Global Energy Institute has recently accused President Biden of making a politically motivated decision to cancel the pipeline, claiming that the pipeline would in fact protect the environment while boosting the domestic economy. Yet there are valid claims that the refined tar sands oil wouldnt even be sold in the U.S., but instead benefit the global market since Canada is free to sell the oil to anyone, all while the pipeline takes a toll on American land and water. Not only that, but the State Department estimated that Keystone XL would ultimately create just 35 full-time jobs to operate the pipeline so the thousands that are touted would be temporary jobs. Political Motivators The pipeline became caught in political crosshairs since it crosses the Canadian border, meaning TC Energy cant proceed without a permit from the U.S. State Department. Keystone XL has become highly politicized since its introduction in 2008, with democrats concerned about climate change (generally) opposing it and republicans who deny climate change (generally) supporting it. As mentioned in the timeline, former President Obama continually rejected the pipeline due to concerns about the rushed nature of environmental considerations. Later, former President Trump sought to immediately restore the Keystone XL project upon taking office: in part because his predecessor rejected it, and in part because of motivators that had more to do with maintaining economic reliance on the fossil fuel trade and less to do with worrying about climate change issues. Ultimately, the real issue comes down to the environment. How Does the Pipeline Impact the Environment and Society? Heavy oil seen mixed with water in a tailings pond in the Alberta Oilsands. dan_prat / iStock / Getty Images Tar Sands Oil As previously touched upon, tar sands is not your average oil. Accessing it requires two different methods, neither of which is environmentally friendly. Both require water from the nearby Athabasca River in Alberta, taxing its finite quantities. The first method, involving surface mining, creates gallons of wastewater in the process. This wastewater is stored in tailings ponds, where the toxic water is more likely to leak into the environment. The other method involves pumping steam underground in order to access the needed bitumen through a well. This method also requires burning fossil fuels in the process. In fact, extracting tar sands oil produces more greenhouse gas emissions than extracting other natural resources. Extraction methods arent the only environmental threat. Oil pipeline leaks and spills are very real dangers too. In 2010, a faulty pipeline carrying tar sands oil leaked 843,000 gallons into Michigans Kalamazoo River. Owned by Canadian-based Enbridge, the companys slow response to stop the spill prompted area evacuations and permanently damaged the Talmadge Creek, the initial site of the spill. The incident is considered the largest inland oil spill to occur in the U.S. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that the oil damaged more than 1,560 acres of streams and rivers and negatively impacted at least 4,000 area animals that needed to be saved. Not only that, but removing bitumen from the environment is a far more costly and involved process than typical crude oil, itself a costly and involved process. Whereas crude oil floats on a surface, bitumen sinks. Then theres the matter of using tar sands oil itself as a fossil fuel. As it stands, burning the full amount that current technology is able to extract would contribute 22 billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere. The worst-case scenario predicts burning the maximum amount of tar sands oil that exists in Alberta would increase global warming by 0.4 degrees Celsius. Indigenous Tribes Parts of the proposed Keystone XL extension would run through or close to Indigenous territory, potentially threatening drinking water sources. There have already been oil leaks along existing parts of the Keystone pipeline, and the affected tribes, including the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, have no reason to believe the extension would be any different. Besides the environmental dangers, the initial permits granted by the State Department ignored existing treaties between the government and Tribal Nations. Farmers and Ranchers Tribes arent the only ones whose rights and land have been threatened by the pipeline. Farms and ranches along the route have faced eminent domain, which would allow the government to take control of private land for public use; i.e., handing it over to TC Energy regardless of opposition. Nebraska has been a battleground state, with an estimated 92 percent of its land belonging to family-owned farms and ranches. Also at stake would be the Ogallala aquifer, an underwater supply that provides water to most of the state. If thats contaminated by leaks, the ramifications would take a toll on public health, agriculture, livestock and wildlife. One study estimates that even a small leak could contaminate five billion gallons of water. Its not just the tar-like bitumen that poses this danger; transporting sludgy tar sands oil requires carcinogenic chemicals to dilute it enough for pipelines. Public Health Tar sands oil poses additional hazards, both to local Alberta residents and those who live along the proposed route. Numerous studies have already linked higher cancer rates from polluted air and water in areas where people live near tar sands oil production or tar sand spills. Wildlife Its not just the public who is at risk. For example, Nebraska is home to 20,000 acres of dunes and prairie hills known as Sandhills. Its a popular pitstop for migrating sandhill cranes in particular. TC Energys proposed reroute would still cut straight through this region; a leak of any size could prove disastrous. When Did the Pipeline Leak and Why? Despite TC Energy touting an advanced leak detection system, the existing pipeline has leaked dozens of times since its inception in 2010, and locals have often been the first to notice and report many of them. There were 35 leaks in the pipelines first year alone, including a 21,000-gallon spill impacting North Dakota. In 2016, about 16,800 gallons of oil leaked in South Dakota, but that was small compared to the following year, when 210,000 gallons spilled near the small town of Amherst, South Dakota. TC Energy later revised that number to 407,000 gallons of leaked oil. In 2019, an additional 378,000 gallons spilled in North Dakota. Tar sands oil is more likely to leak than crude oil due to its corrosive nature and the high temperatures needed to transport it, and leaks are also much harder to detect. Not only that, but cleaning it up has proven to be a Herculean task. An NRDC report found that tar sand leaks are three times more likely than conventional crude oil. On top of that, a 2012 report revealed that leak detection systems missed 19 out of 20 leaks during a 10-year period. TC Energy itself admitted in 2011 that the company could only detect leaks greater than 500,000 gallons of tar sands a day. As for what specifically caused all of the leaks to date? That depends, although variations of equipment failure is a recurring favorite. Its still unknown what caused the massive 2019 leak in North Dakota. Whats Being Done About Keystone XL? After years of back and forth, President Biden, who ran on a more climate-friendly platform than his predecessor President Trump, canceled the pipeline on his first day in office on Jan. 21, 2021. But the case still isnt closed. In response, 21 Republican-led states have since filed a lawsuit against Biden questioning his authority to make such a decision. (Nevermind that Trump overstepped his authority by issuing a 2019 presidential permit allowing the pipeline to proceed, thereby bypassing the required environmental reviews.) Oil demand has also dropped since the pipelines initial proposal back in 2008, due in part to an economic shift toward clean energy and then decreased oil usage during the 2020 COVID pandemic. Plus early investors, including Shell and the Koch Brothers, have since pulled out of the deal. Though Keystone XL appears to have reached the end of the line, opponents say the final step involves removing the existing pipeline infrastructure. Takeaway The canceled Keystone XL pipeline is a promising step toward a less oil-reliant future, but its still a step. There remain other controversial pipelines caught up in legal battles, most notably the Dakota Access pipeline and Enbridges Line 3 replacement project. Resolving the ongoing oil pipeline threat ultimately requires a continued push toward clean energy, thereby eliminating the need for pipelines in the first place. Meredith Rosenberg is a senior editor at EcoWatch. She holds a Masters from the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in NYC and a B.A. from Temple University in Philadelphia. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 07:26:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Photo taken on May 18, 2020 shows General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong delivering a speech at a ceremony marking the 130th birthday anniversary of the country's late leader Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam. Series of activities have been held across Vietnam on Monday to mark the 130th birthday anniversary of the country's late leader Ho Chi Minh, which falls on May 19. (VNA/Handout via Xinhua) Syrian refugee Naeem (right) and his wife Salwa (centre) sit at home with their children in Amman, Jordan, during the COVID-19 lockdown. UNHCR/Lilly Carlisle This Ramadan is unlike any other in living memory. Across the Muslim world mosques stand empty, iftar meals are strangely quiet affairs, and the joyful social gatherings that normally mark the Holy Month have been abandoned as we grapple with a global health emergency. For many families, these disconcerting times have been made worse by the dire economic impact of the pandemic. Businesses and livelihoods have been damaged or lost, leading many to question how they will cope during this period and beyond. For millions of Muslims displaced from their homes or countries by conflict and instability, the current crisis has compounded their suffering. Their health is threatened by an invisible menace they are poorly equipped to tackle, with refugees and displaced people often living in crowded conditions and lacking adequate access to water, sanitation and health services. The sudden collapse of informal labour markets caused by restrictions on movement has had a disproportionate effect on the poorest in society, including the displaced. With no savings to fall back on, many are facing destitution and taking desperate measures to survive. My colleagues in UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, who are working on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis report many worrying trends. Large numbers of refugees and displaced people unable to afford rent have been made homeless or are facing the threat of eviction, while others resort to skipping meals or going without medication due to a lack of funds. Yet despite the frightening and unfamiliar circumstances we find ourselves in, the values of compassion and giving that Ramadan represents have come to the fore. Though physically separated, the faithful are coming together in spirit to provide much-needed assistance and spiritual comfort to their Muslim brothers and sisters. This years UNHCR Ramadan fundraising campaign, Every Gift Counts, is on course to generate record support, with more than US$4 million raised in individual donations as we enter the last week of Ramadan. The funds raised will allow UNHCR to meet some of the most pressing needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by providing vital support such as shelter, food, clean water and cash assistance to the most vulnerable refugee and displaced populations. In many parts of the world, meanwhile, refugees themselves are doing what they can to help others through the crisis. From the Syrian refugees delivering food and running errands for vulnerable locals in Switzerland, to the Afghan refugees in Malaysia making protective equipment for frontline health workers, they embody the spirit of collective action needed to meet this global challenge. Take the example of Huda, a Syrian widow who has spent the last five years in a refugee settlement in Lebanon with her children. Despite living in extreme poverty and having to borrow money to survive, this Ramadan she is taking what little she has and cooking large meals to share with her neighbours to help them celebrate the Holy Month. The pandemic has brought great loss and hardship, but it has also spurred acts of kindness and compassion and seen many of us reconsider what is truly important in our lives. These moments of generosity and spiritual reflection represent the core values of Ramadan and show us that even during a crisis, there is an opportunity for progress and self-improvement. This Ramadan, many of the worlds Muslims find themselves having to adjust to a new reality, stranded away from home or separated from their friends and loved ones. But there is much that can be learned from the experience of refugees, for whom this has been the norm for years or even decades. Their resilience and courage in the face of adversity. Their devotion to family and friends. Their instinct to share responsibility for helping those less fortunate within their communities. As we worry about when we can be reunited with our friends and family and resume our normal lives, it is worth remembering that those displaced by conflict, violence and persecution are faced with these uncertainties, and many more, every day. The grace and fortitude with which they respond can be an inspiration to us all. Originally published by Al Jazeera Nesco rose 1.17% to Rs 393.90 after consolidated net profit rose 3.05% to Rs 52.91 crore on 25.93% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 117.75 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Consolidated profit before tax gained 4.73% to Rs 78.05 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Total tax expense rose 8.45% to Rs 25.13 crore in Q4 March 2020 as compared to Rs 23.17 in Q4 March 2019. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 18 May 2020. Nesco stated that it continues to be debt free with liquid resources of Rs 685.66 crore as on 31 March 2020, after having spent about Rs 570 crore on construction of Tower 4 in Nesco IT Park and for upgrading of existing Exhibition Centre halls. At its Bombay Exhibition Centre, revenues grew marginally by 0.82% to Rs 158.60 crore in FY2019-20 as against Rs 157.30 crore in FY 2018-19, despite the partial lockdown in March 2020. The firm is preparing plans for the construction of new halls and upgrading the existing halls. At its Nesco IT Park, Tower 04 has already started generating revenue during the year. The total revenue from this division jumped 56.35% to Rs 214.16 crore as compared to Rs 136.97 crore during the previous year. The company is also preparing plans to establish another building in this division. NESCO is an engineering company. The company provides equipment to Indian Railways, ordnance factories, and forging plants. The company is also into real estate development. The company has also setup an exhibition centre known as the Bombay Exhibition Centre on the Western Express Highway at Goregaon, Mumbai. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Some graduating students in Upstate New York will get recognized on the big screen at their local drive-in theater. Instead of the traditional ceremony in an auditorium with a large crowd, theyre getting one while seated in their family car and parked six feet away from their classmates. The high school class of 2020 has faced a series of disappointments due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Kylie Annable, a senior at Barker Jr./Sr. High School in Niagara County, never expected her softball season to end abruptly. Among her heartbreaks a canceled trip to Spain with the schools International Club and an already bought prom dress with no dance to attend. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Thats the approach Annable and her classmates are taking. Theyre planning their last big hurrah at the Transit Drive-In in Lockport. New York has allowed low-risk businesses and recreational activities to reopen. These included landscaping and drive-in movie theaters. For weeks now, Annable, along with eight class officers, and all the seniors, have been organizing their end-of-the-year event thats part graduation/fun celebration. Booked for June 15, the Transits big screen will feature pre-recorded videos with formal speeches from the valedictorian, class president, and school staff members. A slideshow will showcase images of students and school memories over the years. Also, each senior will contribute a 10-second video message to their families, peers or teachers. The finale will include watching a movie together. While Barkers actual graduation ceremony has been rescheduled to Aug. 1, it all depends on what the state guidelines will be, according to Michael Carter, district principal at Barker Central School District. Barker High School's homecoming celebration in Niagara County.Michelle Wing | Barker High School The Barker Senior Night at the Drive-In," was completely student-driven, according to Carter. He said the district and community at large recognized how difficult things have been for students in all grade levels. Whats unfortunate, especially for the seniors is that we will not be getting them back in the fall, said Carter. We wanted to make sure we can do everything possible to give them a proper sendoff and closure." Annable has plans to study philosophy at SUNY Oswego in the fall. While things have been a bit crazy and unreal currently, she said her school has tried its best to help seniors feel better. "We wanted to have the parts of a formal graduation in case we couldnt hold the ceremony on Aug. 1, but also wanted the video to be fun and filled with memories for the seniors to see and remember, she said. Schools nationwide and in New York state have shifted to socially distant celebrations ranging from Zoom ceremonies, empty parking lots or drive-in movie theaters. Rick Cohen, owner of Transit, says more than 40 schools have already booked reservations for graduation. With five screens, he can do three graduations a day and still have movies playing on the other two screens. Cohen says concerts, weddings, memorial services, marriage proposals and birthday parties have taken place at Transit in the past. High school graduation is something new. Drive-ins are a socially distance friendly alternative, Cohen said. We want to be there for the community to give them a safe alternative to what used to be normal. We just want to help people get through this. High school students deserve an opportunity to be together and celebrate their achievements. Transit Drive-In, Lockport, NY.Courtesy of Transit Drive-In Besides high schools, even elementary schools are using drive-ins for milestone celebrations. Kate Wendling, assistant principal at Forest Elementary at Williamsville Central School District, has booked the Transit for her fourth graders moving up ceremony on June 4. The kids have missed their four grade picnic, concert and picture day where they all wear the same T-shirt and take a group photo, according to Wendling. She said those events are a big deal for the fourth graders as they leave elementary and move up to middle school. Instead of their typical graduation ceremony at the middle school, her fourth graders will celebrate at the Transit. They will watch speeches from teachers and members of the community and see a slideshow of various events from their time in kindergarten through fourth grade. The night will end with everyone watching the movie Wonder, which they have already read the book in third grade. Im just grateful that our community came up with an idea to give the kids an opportunity to feel good about their graduation, about moving up, and completing their year at Forest Elementary where its memorable for them, said Wendling. MORE NYUP Attracting Baltimore orioles: Put a piece of orange and some jelly on your bird feeder Coronavirus impact: National Comedy Center provides an essential service laughter Must-See Cabin in Upstate NY: $39,900 for 10 acres, plus one-room schoolhouse The Wild Animal Park to open this week with new drive-thru safari PwC is braced for a 25million court battle over claims it negligently failed to spot a Guernsey 'Ponzi scheme'. The big four auditor tried to have the proceedings thrown out but its attempts failed. PwC is being sued for negligence, breach of duty and breach of contract by the administrators of Providence Investment Fund, which collapsed four years ago owing investors more than 40million. Big four auditor PwC is being sued for negligence, breach of duty and breach of contract by the administrators of Providence Investment Fund, which collapsed four years ago The fund's administrators claim it was run as a 'fraudulent Ponzi scheme' and that PwC, which gave Providence's books a clean bill of health in 2013 and 2014, should have sounded the alarm. Providence claimed to invest money in the Brazilian debt market but instead most of investors' cash was fraudulently funnelled into other parts of the group or companies controlled by its boss, Antonio Buzaneli. He was jailed for 20 years in the US in 2019 for orchestrating a 122million Ponzi scheme, which prosecutors said 'targeted hundreds of victims worldwide, many of whom were elderly and vulnerable'. PwC tried to quash the claim against it, saying that administrators could not prove any of Providence's directors had relied on its audits or that they would have acted differently if the fraud had been discovered, the Financial Times reported. But a judge at Guernsey's Royal Court threw out the auditor's appeal. A spokesman for PwC said: 'We believe this claim is misconceived and will continue to robustly defend our position.' A metropolitan magistrate at Mumbais Esplanade court on Tuesday allowed the plea of the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police for cancellation of interim bail to HDIL promoter Rakesh Wadhawan and his son Sarang, who are accused in the multi-crore Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank fraud case. In March, the Wadhawans had obtained interim bail from the magistrate court on the ground of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. Soon after the order, EOW sought a stay on the order and moved for cancellation of the bail. The court had immediately stayed order till further direction. Special public prosecutor Ajay Missar said, the court after hearing the plea of the agency, cancelled the bail. The prosecution argued that while obtaining bail, the defence did not inform the agency. It also pointed out that as per the direction of the high-power committee, the accused booked for economic offences are not eligible for interim bail. Rakesh and his son Sarang Wadhawan were arrested on October 3, 2019, by EOW authorities in connection with the PMC fraud case. As per the prosecution, the PMC Bank granted loans to realty group HDIL without following the due process. The principal loan amount of 2,400 crore snowballed into 6,670 crore because HDIL failed to repay multiple loans between 2008 and 2019. Senior management of PMC Bank covered up these irregularities in a bid to avoid scrutiny by the Reserve Bank of India. EOW in their charge sheet claimed that Rakesh is the key accused of the fraud as the patriarch of the HDILs business. He gradually plotted the fraud and obtained loans from the bank with the help of other accused, the agency alleged. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON By Saundra Amrhein and Simon Lewis TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Like many Puerto Ricans, Wilson Rivera holds President Donald Trump responsible for what he sees as the U.S. governments inadequate response to Hurricane Maria, the 2017 storm that devastated the island and forced Rivera to relocate to central Florida. He has to go, he said of Trump. But the 34-year-old school teacher is not sold on Joe Biden, Trump's presumptive Democratic challenger in the Nov. 3 election. Rivera and other Puerto Rican voters registered in Florida told Reuters they want Biden to offer a bolder vision on issues affecting the nation and their community, including recovery from the economic blow caused by the coronavirus pandemic. That worries Democratic strategists and Latino activists, who say the thousands of Puerto Ricans displaced by the hurricane should be prime Biden supporters in battleground Florida, which the Republican Trump won by 1.2 percentage points in the 2016 election. Not only have they widely derided Trump's handling of relief efforts for the U.S. territory after Hurricane Maria, they also have seen Latinos disproportionately left sickened and unemployed by the coronavirus outbreak. Reuters/Ipsos national polling shows that only about a quarter of Hispanics chose Trump in a matchup with Biden. But the number supporting Biden dipped to 46% from 51% from February to April as Trump held steady. Former President Barack Obama won 71% of Hispanic support in 2012 with Biden as his running mate, according to the Pew Research Center. Democrat Hillary Clinton won 66% of the Hispanic vote in 2016. Democrats and Latino strategists say the Biden campaign needs to show more urgency - both in its messaging and ground game - to win over what is expected to be the largest non-white voting bloc in the 2020 presidential election. Just saying negative things about President Trump is not going to be enough to get people excited to vote for anybody, said Javier Cuebas, a political consultant who worked on Democratic presidential campaigns for Al Gore and John Kerry. Story continues Biden campaign officials say they are expanding outreach to Hispanic voters after a "small and scrappy" operation during the Democratic presidential contest that effectively ended last month. They are targeting major Hispanic populations in states like Florida and Arizona, as well as smaller but potentially decisive communities in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which have larger Latino populations than Trumps 2016 margin of victory in those crucial states. We haven't turned on the ignition yet," said senior Biden adviser Cristobal Alex, who previously headed the influential Latino Victory Fund. "What you're going to see once we do is a very substantial increase in support for Vice President Biden." COMPLICATED OUTREACH Biden's task of turning out Hispanics has been complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, which has limited him to holding virtual events from his home. The campaign must quickly find new ways to make the person-to-person contacts needed to turn out Latino voters, said Vanessa Cardenas, a former staffer who worked on Latino outreach for Biden's primary campaign. "You've got to speak their language, but I don't mean just speaking Spanish - you have to speak to the issues they care about," said Cardenas. "They have to feel a personal connection to you." The voting bloc's diverse interests make that task challenging. In Florida, the state's 1.1 million Puerto Ricans mostly vote for Democrats, while the 1.5 million Cuban Americans are traditionally Republican thanks to the party's hardline policies toward the Communist-run Cuban government. Many Latinos are part of evangelical congregations drawn to the Republican Partys opposition to abortion and gay rights. Trump, effectively unopposed as the Republican nominee, has had more time to build out Latinos for Trump," an initiative kicked off by Vice President Mike Pence in Miami in June 2019. Alex Garcia, regional political director for Trump Victory, said Trump's appeal to the Latino community would highlight his domestic and foreign policy records. Many Hispanic voters oppose Trump's drive to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall and his aggressive deportation practices. But the Obama administrations record of deporting large numbers of people has also left some Latinos wary of Biden. The former vice president has said he would put a moratorium on deportations, except for violent offenders, reverse Trumps executive orders on immigration, and introduce an immigration reform bill on his first day in the White House. The Biden campaign has hosted virtual events this month under the Todos con Biden (All with Biden) banner, and the candidate's wife, Jill Biden, held a video call with Latino leaders in Arizona last week. She also has weekly calls with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who are lobbying her husband to appoint a Latina as his vice presidential candidate in a show of commitment to Hispanic voters. The outreach so far has drawn a lukewarm response from some voters. Jose Nieves, 44, senior pastor of First Kissimmee United Methodist Church near Orlando, Florida, said his congregation is filled with people struggling to pay rent and buy food after losing tourism jobs because of coronavirus shutdowns. Latino unemployment reached 18.9% nationwide this month, higher than other ethnicities, and data from Florida shows they have been disproportionately hit by the virus, making up at least a third of COVID-19 cases in the state. "I definitely feel there is a disconnect with the needs of the Puerto Rican community and those who are in political power," said Nieves, adding he was willing to hear Biden's plans to address the community's needs. Law enforcement officer Jacob Ruiz, 43, of Kissimmee has grown disillusioned with Trump since voting for him in 2016. He said Biden could win him and other Latinos over if he offers a convincing plan for the country's recovery. If (Biden) can be a voice of unity, calming people, while communicating a vision so that people have hope," Ruiz said, "I think he can be successful. (Reporting by Saundra Amrhein in Tampa, Florida, and Simon Lewis in Washington; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Trevor Hunnicutt and Chris Kahn; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Peter Cooney) Donald Trump has said that he will permanently withdraw the United States and its funding from the World Health Organisation (WHO) without "major substantive improvements in the next 30 days." In a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Mr Trump said on Monday night that "It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organisation in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China, continued Mr Trump. "My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organisation. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste." The ultimatum comes as more than 90,000 Americans and more than 318,000 people worldwide have died from the coronavirus. Downing Street made clear the UK will not follow Mr Trump in any withdrawal of funding from the multilateral organisation. Asked about Trumps threat, prime minister Boris Johnsons official spokesman said: It will be a matter for the US. But we are clear on the important role the WHO has in leading the international response to coronavirus and we have no plans to stop funding the WHO. Mr Trump maintains that the WHO and China were slow to alert the world about Covid-19, and in April said his administration would conduct an audit of Americas membership of the global health body. That review, said Mr Trump in the letter, had confirmed many of the serious concerns he had. One example provided in the letter seen on Twitter on Monday night, accused the WHO of giving-in to Chinese pressure to announce a global emergency and buying into the Chinese state narrative about the spread of the virus. That comes despite the US president downplaying the coronavirus threat in the US until March, and praising the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, for his work to control the coronavirus. Amid other allegations about the WHO's conduct over Covid-19, the US president warned that he "cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests". Mr Trump said in April that he would temporarily withdraw US funding, which amounts to almost $500m each year (410m). BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 Trend: The second meeting of the Regional Action Group of the World Economic Forum was held in the form of a videoconference on May 19, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry on May 19. Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov, President of the Forum Borge Brende, as well as top officials from more than 30 countries attended the meeting. The goal of the Regional Action Group is to support the development of the Eurasian region in terms of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as well as in the changing political and economic environment. The issues regarding the importance of coordinating the strategies regarding the coronavirus quarantine, preparing for the post-quarantine period, increasing the sustainability of the supply chain, supporting the green economy and others were discussed during the meeting. The first meeting of the Regional Action Group of the World Economic Forum was held on April 30. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- State officials did not choose either Staten Island hospital for a pilot program re-allowing visitors as New York begins its coronavirus reopening, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday. The governors press office did not respond to a request for comment on the criteria used to choose the 16 hospitals -- nine of which are in the other four boroughs. Visits will be time limited, and visitors are required to wear provided personal protective equipment, while also being subject to symptom and temperature checks, according to Cuomo. This is getting visitors back into hospitals with the right precaution, Cuomo said. But it is terrible to have someone in the hospital and that person is isolated not being able to see their family (and) friends. The Greater New York Hospital Association will be running the two-week pilot program in the downstate region, and the Health Care Association of New York State will be handling the operation upstate. Alexander Lutz, a spokesman for Richmond University Medical Center, praised the state for its partnership throughout the pandemic, including bringing supplemental hospital beds to the Island, and said the hospital looked forward to the day visitors could return. Being able to visit family in the hospital is a vital part of the recovery process. Like all hospitals across New York State, we look forward to the day when we can welcome all visitors back to Richmond University Medical Center, he said. This pilot program shows we are making progress toward that goal while still remaining cautious and vigilant for everyones safety and protection, he continued. A spokesman for Staten Island University Hospital did not comment on the decision by the time of publication. 30 Photos of the pandemic in NYC: The gradual return to normalcy *** CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN NEW YORK *** Northwell Health, which operates SIUH, had three of its hospitals chosen for the pilot program, including Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. Cuomo made the announcement at his Tuesday press briefing from a Northwell facility in Long Island joined by the organizations President and CEO Michael Dowling. In addition to Lenox Hill, the state chose for its pilot program three other Manhattan hospitals, two in Brooklyn two in the Bronx, two in Long Island, one in Queens, and the rest upstate. SIUH reached a milestone Sunday after it had no new admissions for COVID-19 to neither its Ocean Breeze nor Princes Bay campuses. It was the first time in two months it did not record such an admission, according to a press release from the hospital. Cuomo also announced that elective surgery and ambulatory care would be allowed for Nassau County. All five counties making up New York City, along with Rockland and Erie counties are the only remaining parts of the state not allowing those services. Information available Tuesday from the states metric dashboard shows that New York City is again meeting four of the seven requirements for phase one reopening. The region has gotten below the two new COVID hospitalizations per 100,000 residents over a 3-day rolling average, but still needs to establish enough space in its ICU and hospital beds. The U-M Center for Digital Curriculas free curricula helps facilitate a seamless transition from education at school to education at home. We know that teachers dont really want technology, they want curricula. Our center has created a one-stop shop to help teachers by creating and providing collaborative, standards-aligned curricula for students. A University of Michigan center focused on developing, vetting, and providing standards-aligned digital curricula has become a primary provider of at-home learning for thousands of K-12 Michigan students and teachers. The U-M Center for Digital Curriculas free curricula helps facilitate a seamless transition from education at school to education at home. In the last few weeks, weve had a couple thousand students and teachers remotely accessing our free, digital curricula for use at home, said Elliot Soloway, U-M professor and co-director of the U-M Center for Digital Curricula. We know that teachers dont really want technology, they want curricula. Our center has created a one-stop shop to help teachers by creating and providing collaborative, standards-aligned curricula for students. We are helping students and teachers now and we are setting our sights on the fall with the goal of making the transition back from learning at home to learning at school seamless. The Center uses proprietary but free to use software, the Collabrify Roadmap Platform, created in the College of Engineering. Collabrify is a powerful, open, device-independent platform that provides teachers with the necessary tools to create curricula and collaborative lessons for students throughout their school days. The free curricula allow students to collaborate with their teachers and fellow students in real time. All the curricula, which are stored in a searchable repository of online lessons, are developed and vetted by a core group of Michigan teachers that work with the Center. Wendy Skinner, who teaches second grade at Brandywine Community Schools in Niles, Michigan, is one of the many teachers using the Centers digital curricula. She also is creating her own roadmaps using the Collabrify Roadmap Platform. Skinner calls it a significant improvement over other K-12 online platforms, with a nice visual finish and sequence to it. Roadmaps are the only thing Ive seen where I can plug in my skills for my students in the same way Id do it in the classroom, said Skinner. Its all in one place, and I can monitor it and look at what theyve done. I can also make sure I include the things that I value to make my connections with the students more meaningful. U-M Center for Digital Curricula launched last July as the only university-based non-profit to address the lack of true standards-aligned digital curricula available to K-12 students along with the teaching tools available to teachers. While previous resources could help streamline classroom logistics like grading and file sharing, there was no single, reliable source for distributing, managing and creating digital curricula until now. The dean of the College of Engineering initially funded the Center because he saw the value and importance of technologically advanced educational curricula and tools that we could create and distribute from U-M, said Soloway. Our 2019 pilot in local classrooms showed significant improvement in students reading comprehension and standardized test scores. We are now partnering with several school districts and actively looking for funding to have curricula created in an effort to be ready for a smooth transition back to the classroom in the fall. U-M Center for Digital Curricula runs free webinars for teachers and school administrators that can be accessed through its website. A searchable repository of digital curricula created by the Center is also available at the Michigan Department of Educations Open Education Resources repository at GoOpenMichigan.org. About University of Michigan Center for Digital Curricula: The University of Michigan Center for Digital Curricula is the only non-profit in the nation devoted to creating, vetting, and providing free deeply digital curricula to K-12 schools. The Center aggregates and distributes curricula through its software, Collabrify Roadmap Platform. Learn more at cdc.engin.umich.edu. [May 19, 2020] LMS365 Expands its Nordic Presence with New Offices and Strategic Hires Learning management experts to help more businesses manage remote training and learning AARHUS, Denmark, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- LMS365, the only learning platform built directly into Microsoft O365, is expanding efforts in the Nordic region to help businesses enable and manage training, the company announced today. LMS365 enables organizations to deliver training in context, anytime, anywhere, and on any device. Click to Tweet: @lms365 Expands its Nordic Presence with New Offices and Strategic Hires: https://tinyurl.com/yc2hqpc2 #elearning #LMS As more and more businesses in Nordic countries and beyond shift to digital channels, many are challenged to provide employees with the right training and ensure participation, especially when it comes to remote work. With the LMS365 platform, organizations experience seamless functionality and high ease of use for both administrators and learners. By bolstering the leadership team, the company will be able to expand efforts in the region and globally, providing more organizations a better way to manage learning and training. The three new team members, who will be based in Denmark, include: Kim Junge , manager for the Nordic region : Kim brings more than eight years of experience working with partners at Microsft. He has more than two decades of sales and commercial experience and 10+ years of experience in the cloud business and as a manager. Most recently, Kim worked at Citrix as a senior corporate account manager. : Kim brings more than eight years of experience working with partners at Microsft. He has more than two decades of sales and commercial experience and 10+ years of experience in the cloud business and as a manager. Most recently, Kim worked at Citrix as a senior corporate account manager. Signe Geckler , product manager and part of the product development team: Signe will further strengthen company efforts in the product discovery and delivery phases, ensuring that LMS365 delivers the improvements existing and potential customers care most about. She has experience with modern intranet and digital workplace solutions based on Microsoft 365 from two of Europe's leading SaaS product companies. Signe will further strengthen company efforts in the product discovery and delivery phases, ensuring that LMS365 delivers the improvements existing and potential customers care most about. She has experience with modern intranet and digital workplace solutions based on Microsoft 365 from two of leading SaaS product companies. Zahra Khiare, human resources consultant: With a degree in public administration specializing in human resources, Zahra will develop new procedures and policies to continually improve the efficiency of the HR department and organization. Denmark and will be relocating its headquarters in Aarhus to provide a state-of-the-art, dynamic workplace that will enable continued growth and innovation. Lars Vestergaard, CEO of LMS365, said: "The demand for digital learning has experienced sudden exponential growth, along with tools to help keep remote teams connected and collaborating. So, this is an exciting time of growth for us as we expand not only in the Nordic area but into North America as well. We are excited to bring on three qualified individuals with specialized expertise to help us carry out our expansion plans." Kim Junge, Nordic regional manager of LMS365, said: "I am very excited to take on my new role in this very ambitious company. Now more than ever, learning is front and center for any company, and I look forward to bringing my experience developing partner relationships to this role as I build the partner channel in the Nordic region." About LMS365 LMS365 has 700+ enterprise and public customers with over 4 million users. 50+ trusted partners have implemented the solution in more than 40 countries, with customers in all sectors, and deployments ranging from a few hundred employees to 50,000+ employees. LMS365, a Microsoft Preferred Solution, is one of the fastest-growing cloud-based Learning Management Solutions in the market today. LMS365 provides a modern, integrated, and familiar learning experience as learning is now made possible within Microsoft Teams, Mobile and SharePoint Online. LMS365 is fast to install, highly configurable, easy to use and fully integrated with the rest of your digital workplace, including Office 365, SharePoint & Teams. Website: LMS365.com PR Contacts: Shyna Deepak Nadel Phelan, Inc. 831-440-2408 [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1138737/ELEARNINGFORCE_Logo.jpg [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] REDMOND, Wash., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Now that the country is opening up, Hawaiian Sunsets Umbrellas is celebrating the reopening with 20% off all its umbrellas with UV protection just in time for the summer on Amazon.com Fun kid safe umbrellas for your child that protects them from the sun and the rain! Beautiful stylish umbrellas for women that protect you from the sun and are eco-friendly! UV Protection Hawaiian Sunsets Umbrellas designed fun kids umbrellas and beautiful women's' umbrellas with UPF50 protection that blocks 98% of UV rays and protects from both harmful UVA and UVB radiation. UPF50 protection is the highest level of sun protection for fabrics. Co-owner Andrea Franco mentioned an important benefit of the UPF50 protection, "You and your children will feel cooler under the hot sun with UPF50 protection!" Kid Safe and Eco-Friendly "Remember when you were young and enjoyed being outside whether in the rain or the sun? We designed a fun safe umbrella that women and children can use to enjoy being outside again whether in the rain or the sun," said Andrea Franco. The kids' umbrellas were designed with children's safety in mind and are easy to slide open and close. "This safety design keeps those little fingers safe and will not pinch them." "Most umbrellas are made with cheap polyester fabric that is difficult on the environment. For this reason, we made the decision to use pongee fabric for all of our umbrellas though they are more expensive, they are more eco-friendly, abrasion resistant and resist fading. We are working hard to make a better future for our families by using sustainable products with higher quality materials," said Andrea. 30 Day Money Back Guarantee Hawaiian Sunsets umbrellas are fully backed by a 30 Day Money-Back guarantee, allowing worry-free purchases. About Hawaiian Sunsets Created in 2018 by a husband and wife team looking for better umbrellas that could protect them from the elements. Hawaiian Sunsets is the maker of a variety of stylish UV umbrellas intended to provide protection from the rain, the wind and the sun. Kids Umbrellas and Umbrellas for Women with UV Protection are available for 20% off throughout the end of May on Amazon.com or www.HawaiianSunsetsUmbrellas.com . Media Contact Andrea Franco and Jeff Su [email protected] (206)914-0874 SOURCE Hawaiian Sunsets Related Links http://www.HawaiianSunsetsUmbrellas.com NEW YORK, May 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- American Jewish Committee (AJC) congratulated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on successfully forming a new coalition government in Israel. The government, sworn in yesterday, is the result of an agreement between Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, head of the Blue and White Party, to create a national unity government. Netanyahu will serve as prime minister for the first 18 months, and Gantz is slated to become prime minister in November 2021. "On behalf of AJC, we extend to you our heartfelt congratulations on the inauguration of a new Israeli Government under your leadership," wrote AJC President Harriet Schleifer and CEO David Harris in a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu. "As Israel's longest-serving Prime Minister, you have proven, time and again, your remarkable leadership skills, maintaining your country's security in a volatile region, and leading it to exceptional achievements in the areas of science, technology, education, medicine, and more." Formation of the national unity government came after Israelis went to the polls on March 2, for the third time in a year. "We wish you and your coalition partners every success in your endeavors to assure Israel the progress your countrymen deserve toward enduring peace, security, and prosperity as well as a swift recovery from the health and economic effects of the pandemic. In these endeavors, you will continue to have the full and active support of AJC," Schleifer and Harris wrote. AJC, the leading global Jewish advocacy organization, has maintained an office in Jerusalem since 1960, and in 2018 held its annual Global Forum in Israel, bringing to Jerusalem thousands of members and supporters. Prime Minister Netanyahu memorably addressed the AJC Global Forum during the opening session, as he has on other occasions both before and since 2018. SOURCE American Jewish Committee [May 19, 2020] NextFlex Leads Recipients of $5M in Naval Research Funding for Workforce Education Program Expansion NextFlex, America's Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE) Manufacturing Institute, announced today the expansion of its manufacturing workforce education activities with $5 million in funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Through the Manufacturing Engineering Education Program (MEEP), the $5 million will support the development of eight new education programs modeled on NextFlex's award-winning, FHE-focused FlexFactor program. Each new program will focus on a different technology area, such as advanced robotics, biopharmaceuticals and tissue biofabrication. Most programs will target K-12 students, with one program focused on 4-year university students. "Our country is in a time of uncertainty, where everyone is wondering what comes next, both from a workforce and education perspective," explains NextFlex's Executive Director, Dr. Malcolm Thompson. "This collaboration between organizations is focusing on building what comes next, allowing us to motivate young minds across the country to pursue STEM-based careers by familiarizing them with cutting-edge advanced manufacturing technologies and showing them education pathways to these industries." NextFlex will lead the development of these new programs, in partnership with eight sister non-profit organizations who will co-create and eventually run the programs autonomously. The programs will address the interest and awareness gaps plaguing the STEM sector pipeline in multiple regions of the country. The nine organizations slated to receive funding from the MEEP Grant, along with their technology focus and pilot locations, are: America Makes, Additive Manufacturing, Youngstown, OH ARM (News - Alert), Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing, Pittsburgh, PA BioFabUSA, Tissue Biofabrication, Manchester, NH IACMI, Advanced Composites, Knoxville, TN MxD, Digital Manufacturing and Cybersecurity, Chicago, IL NextFlex, FHE, San Jose, CA (News - Alert) NIIMBL, Biopharmaceuticals, Newark, DE RAPID, Modular Chemical Process Intensification, New York, NY Spark Photonics Foundation (the education and workforce development arm of AIM Photonics), Photonics, Waltham, MA These partner organizations inorporate some of the most cutting-edge applications of advanced manufacturing into their technology focus areas of work to assist in creating an innovative and resilient industry for the future. "Reaching back into the student population is a critical step in creating the future workforce for these technologies because the population who will be working with them when they are fully commercialized is mostly in K-12 grades today. Using the FlexFactor approach, we are attracting a deep and diverse talent pool with a program that demonstrates the power of advanced manufacturing," said Emily McGrath, NextFlex Director Workforce Development, Education and Training. The program material creation, which will bring in education partners and industry participants, is slated to begin later in 2020, with all participants monitoring the ongoing impact of COVID-19 to determine the best time to launch the in-school element. For more information about NextFlex and the FlexFactor program, please visit https://www.nextflex.us/learning-programs/flexfactor/. The above-described efforts to be undertaken are sponsored by the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research under ONR award number N00014-20-1-2250. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Naval Research. About NextFlex NextFlex is a consortium of companies, academic institutions, non-profits and state, local and federal government partners with the shared goal of advancing the manufacture of flexible hybrid electronics in the U.S. Since its formation in 2015, the NextFlex community of technologists, educators, problem solvers and manufacturers have come together to collectively facilitate innovation, narrow the manufacturing workforce gap and promote sustainable manufacturing ecosystems. NextFlex is one of eight Manufacturing Innovation Institutes established by the DoD Manufacturing Technology Program as public-private partnerships and funded through the AFRL Cooperative Agreement FA8650-15-2-5401. For more information, visit www.nextflex.us and follow NextFlex on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. About Flexible Hybrid Electronics (FHE) FHE gives everyday products the power of silicon ICs by combining them with new and unique additive printing processes and new materials. The result: lightweight, low-cost, flexible, thin, and conformable and highly efficient smart products with innumerable uses for consumer, commercial and military applications. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005103/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The Archbishop Kleda announces his product of which he refuses to divulge the composition. The Archbishop of Douala says he is sure of the effectiveness of his herbal drink against Covid-19, whose effects he would quickly relieve, according to its promoter, who speaks of 900 people treated and no deaths. It comes in the form of drops to be taken diluted in water several times a day. No studies have been carried out, and both the medical order and the Cameroonian Ministry of Health welcome these claims with caution. In early May, a team from the Ministry of Health came to Douala to meet the Archbishop and agreed with him to accompany him to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of his drink, explains Dr. Vanli, Director of Pharmacy at the Ministry. At this time, no treatment has been proven effective against Covid-19. The World Health Organization says it is not opposed to traditional medicine, but it insists on the need to subject each product to rigorous clinical trials. The Archbishop, for his part, says he is ready to provide his product free of charge to all those who would like it, and has received the moral but also financial support of many donors, anonymous businessmen and opposition politicians, starting with Maurice Kamto. Cameroon has almost 3,000 officially recorded cases and 139 deaths from the coronavirus. WATERFORD Waterford is in the midst of some big changes. The Village Board on May 11 discussed two projects involving architectural services. One pertains to construction of a new, four-story mixed-use building at the old bowling alley site, 410 E. Main St., and the other is a plan to enlarge Waterford Fire Station No. 2, 819 Mohr Ave. These two projects are part of adding new life to Waterford. Its all good news, Trustee Robert Nash told the Journal Times. There is almost nothing about it that anyone doesnt like on the Village Board. Old bowling alley site The building planned for the bowling alley site is proposed to be called Village Lofts. It is proposed to consist of about 54,000 square feet with retail on the ground floor, office on the second floor and residential on the third and fourth floors. The project has a lump sum of $290,000. This has been a project village officials have been studying since 2017. The site at the intersection of Milwaukee and Main streets has been an empty lot since a March 2002 fire destroyed the original River City Lanes bowling alley. The bowling alley later rebuilt at 730 Cornerstone Crossing in the village. The village purchased the property for $190,000 in 2017 and ran an environmental study on the site, which resulted a clean environmental bill of health earlier this year. Next on the schedule for this project are building designs. Village Administrator Zeke Jackson told The Journal Times that it wasnt worth giving away taxpayer money for reselling and marketing the site when a developer would benefit largely. The village could do the marketing work itself and not use taxpayer money. In the market place that were in post-2008, the developers have been winning a lot. We want to see our taxpayers win, Jackson said. If we dont believe in our community, how on earth is any outsider ever going to believe in it? The board on May 11 approved a contract for the project, but it will still have to work through some things. Jackson said the village has three letters of interest from existing business owners who are hoping to purchase space in the building, but he did not want to disclose them yet. Nash told The Journal Times that he worked intensively to get these letters. The building will help to better foster these Waterford businesses, Nash said. Village President Don Houston and Trustees Troy McReynolds and Pat Goldammer recommended delaying the decision on architectural services by 30-60 days. However, the motion carried to approve the architectural services and continue into the schematic design phase, 4-3. Even with the uncertainty of the pandemic, the board can move forward with this project at whatever pace it chooses, Nash said. All of the board members expressed a strong desire to move ahead with this project which will be the catalyst of the revitalization of Downtown Waterford, Trustee Robert Nash said. I am ecstatic. Its just awesome, all the way around. Fire station No. 2 The proposed to enlarge Waterford Fire Station No. 2 calls for an approximate 5,254-square-foot, one-floor addition on the east end for three new garage bays for storage of equipment and training of first responders. A 1,075-square-foot addition would be installed on the west end for sleeping quarters and restrooms. More space is needed since the station has for all intents and purposes become the only firehouse for the village and because the department now relies on personnel that do shifts on premises with staffing around the clock. Fire Station 1 in Downtown is proposed to be redeveloped into a brewery. The architecture work is projected to cost $75,000. The board previously approved a total budget of $1.3 million for the project. However, after discussing with Waterford Fire Chief Richard Mueller, the board decided to allow one additional month for any modifications, tabling a decision on the contract. Before giving a green light to the project, the Village Board asked Jackson to investigate some alternatives, including the possibility of leasing a facility in the Mercury Business Park, the area across from The Equitable Bank along Highway 36. Its a complex project that the village really has gotta take in along with moving parts related to other projects, Jackson said. After were done looking at the alternatives, well be able to get to a decision point. Nash thinks the board should explore any possible options. Still, hes excited about the project and thinks the board should work toward the goal of adding onto the existing fire department as long as it doesnt exceed the budget approved amount. That is a benefit to our fire department model: One of training and education. Having that facility expanded upon gives us the ability to further educate and train incoming and long standing first responders at our fire department, Nash said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Financial scam victims are still being brushed off by the banks a year after a ground-breaking refund scheme was launched. The new rules were supposed to put an end to the devastating cost of fraud. But as fraudsters seek to cash in on the coronavirus crisis, a new report by the payments regulator has revealed banks are still too quick to dismiss victims. Money Mail launched its Stop The Bank Scammers campaign 18 months ago to prevent blameless victims being left out of pocket. As fraudsters seek to cash in on the coronavirus crisis, a new report by the payments regulator has revealed banks are still too quick to dismiss victims And we welcomed the introduction of a new voluntary code of conduct in May last year which set out how banks should treat customers who have been tricked into making payments. This included a pledge to fully reimburse those who had done nothing wrong. Most major banks, nine in total, have now signed up to the code. TSB has its own fraud guarantee that promises to reimburse innocent victims. Since April 15 last year the bank has reimbursed 99 per cent of all fraud cases. The 1 per cent that were rejected involved customers being involved in the fraud. Yet only 4 in every 10 lost to the so-called push payment scams was refunded last year following the code's introduction - leaving victims more than 41 million out of pocket, according to UK Finance figures. Before the code, 1.90 in every 10 was returned. Now a review by the Lending Standards Board, which oversees the new code, reveals that some banks are still unfairly blaming victims to avoid paying refunds. The regulator says banks had rejected some claims before considering the full circumstances. Others refused payouts because they claimed customers had not paid attention to general fraud warnings on the bank's website. Banks are also failing to keep records of how they made decisions, the report says. The regulator has now told banks to review cases where customers may have been treated unfairly. The disappointing report into the new rules and refund scheme is the second blow in just two months. Mail won back my 190,000 John Burburry, 83, lost 190,000 to an investment scam, but only got his life savings back after asking Money Mail for help. Fed up with poor savings rates, the retired engineer was desperate to get a reasonable return on his nest egg when he stumbled across an attractive offer with well-known international bank BNP Paribas. The website advertised two corporate bonds, Tesco and Yorkshire Water Services, paying 5 per cent and 6.5876 per cent respectively, four times more than the 1.2 per cent he was earning. Retired engineer John Burburry lost 190,000 to an investment scam after clicking on a fake website John who lives in Kent with wife Jan, 80, entered his details on the website and was contacted by the company's 'investor relations team'. After a series of telephone calls, John bought 20,000 of Yorkshire Water Services bonds, and 170,000 of Tesco bonds the following week. But John, never received the monthly income he had been promised. The website had appeared genuine, including a copycat logo and company number, but it was fake, and John had been conned. He says: 'The bottom fell out of my world.' John contacted Barclays to see if the money could be recovered. Under the new code of conduct, the bank should have responded within two weeks. But it was not until more than a month later that he received a call and he was only offered counselling. It was only following Money Mail's intervention that Barclays refunded John the full 190,000 plus 8 per cent interest. The bank claims it never told John he wouldn't get a refund. A spokesman says: 'On this occasion we have failed to meet the high standards that Mr Burburry can expect to receive from Barclays, and for this we have offered our sincere apologies.' In March new figures from the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) exposed that victims were being reimbursed in fewer than 50 per cent of cases. And when banks do pay out, they rarely refund customers in full. The findings forced the watchdog to admit the code is not working as well as it had hoped, resulting in 'inconsistent and poor outcomes for consumers'. Fraud consultant Richard Emery, from 4Keys International, says: 'I am deeply concerned that the banks are not complying with the code. The banks either do not understand the code, or are purposely not applying it correctly.' Gareth Shaw, from lobby group Which?, says: 'Many banks are falling far too short of providing the protection needed for blameless victims of bank transfer scams. 'All banks signed up to the scams code should be required to regularly publish their reimbursement figures, to expose those that are making a mockery of it.' Sam and Dave Pentin, both 53, were duped by a fraudster who posed as their solicitor on email to steal 14,200 they were putting down as a deposit on a property in Penryn, Cornwall. Sam, a writer and businesswoman, says: 'We saw no reason to question who we were communicating with.' When the couple, from Falmouth, realised they had been scammed in December, Dave immediately called Lloyds. But five months on, they had not had any of it back. Sam says: 'Lloyds says it has been waiting for HSBC to respond but I feel as if it has washed its hands of us.' Only after Money Mail intervened, did Lloyds agree to refund 8,024 it recovered from the HSBC account, and HSBC paid back the rest. A Lloyds spokesman says: 'We have a great deal of sympathy for Mr and Mrs Pentin. Unfortunately they received different account details in an email from a different address and did not check these details with the solicitor.' Banking body UK Finance disputed the PSR's data. A spokesman says: 'Customers who fall victim to authorised push payment fraud are reimbursed provided they did everything expected of them under the code. Each claim will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.' a.murray@dailymail.co.uk A musician fought off armed intruders with a bass guitar after they broke into his home to steal his Mercedes Benz. Mike heard the would-be thieves smashing down his front door in Truganina in Melbourne's west at 1.50 on Tuesday morning. 'Me and my partner were still up,' he told 3AW. 'She was getting ready to have a shower and I was doing a little clean up around my office and we started hearing bangs at the door.' The thugs bashed through the front door with mallets and demanded the keys to Mike's Mercedes Benz, which was parked outside in the driveway. 'They broke the glass, broke the door in and came running in like "give us the keys to the car",' he said. Melbourne musician Mike fought off two armed intruders who broke into his home to steal his Mercedes Benz with a bass guitar (pictured) 'We want the car and one of us is going to take it.' One of the offenders held a knife to Mike's partner's throat as he frantically searched through his office for his car keys to no avail. The 37-year-old decided it was 'me versus them' and grabbed his bass guitar and charged at the intruders. 'I picked up the cheapest guitar I had and went wheeling out after them calling "come on boys lets go" and ran them out of the house and smashed their window in the process,' he said. 'It was one of those moments where you freeze or you act and I guess I acted.' Mike said he grabbed his bass because it had more reach and weight than his others, which was only lightly damaged after bashing the rear passenger side window of their getaway car. He described the offenders as 'classic-looking thugs' who escaped empty handed in a small car after Mike chased them down the street. Neither Mike or his partner were injured in the incident. Mike charged at the intruders with his bass guitar, who fled into the street in Truganina (pictured) and into a getaway car Police believe a man and a woman were waiting in the getaway car for the thieves to return. 'Wyndham Crime Investigation Unit detectives are appealing for information or for anyone who witnessed the car in the vicinity to come forward,' a Victoria Police media statement reads. 'The offenders are perceived to be Middle Eastern in appearance and were wearing hooded jumpers and had their faces covered.' PETM climate warming 56 million years ago strongly tied to igneous activity Posted on 18 May 2020 by howardlee Part 3: Its a match! This is the 3rd part in a 3-part series on the PETM expanded from an article I originally wrote for Quanta Magazine and features quotes from interviews that appeared in that piece. Click here for Part 2. Animation of igneous sills progressively intruding sediments during the onset of the PETM. Red: sills emitting carbon. Blue ellipses: location of hot mantle blob. From Jones et al Nat Commun 2019 CC BY 4.0 In 2017 Marcus Gutjahr of the University of Southampton, UK, with colleagues, published a new estimate of the carbon that drove the PETM. Their conclusion was that a very large release of mostly volcanic carbon drove the event. Their estimate of around 10 trillion tons of carbon (as methane and CO 2 ) was about two to three times the amount of prior estimates. Gutjahr et al based their estimate on boron isotopes as a proxy for ocean pH. They showed that ocean pH stayed low (more acidic) for around 50,000 years, which is very hard to achieve because ocean carbonate chemistry works to neutralize ocean acidification on timescales of around 10,000 years. To overcome that negative feedback and keep oceans acidic for 50,000 years you need sustained high carbon emissions. The volcanic portion of that carbon - as distinct from the carbon baked from sediments by sills - had very little carbon-12, and so it does not show-up in the shift of carbon isotopes recorded in sediments, even as it suppresses ocean pH. It was emitted in addition to the organic carbon baked from the sediments. This also allows for the possibility that warming from volcanic carbon began before the sill-baked organic carbon isotope signal. "two independent constraints showing something similar, which is quite powerful!" The Birmingham teams calculated emissions agrees with those by Gutjahr et al, despite being calculated from the ground up, i.e. from the mantle plume spreading rate through the baking rate of sills. This match from two independent calculations lends confidence that theyre close to reality: This is the first method thats completely independent of those proxies, just based on the geological structures and the modeling of that plume to predict a carbon release rate, said Sarah Greene from the Birmingham team. The fact that it overlaps quite nicely is two independent constraints showing something similar, which is quite powerful! Sill-baked carbon emissions. Red: carbon emissions from sill intrusions, based on 100 model runs with different sill intrusion rates -red cloud = median, red solid lines = 25% and 75%, red dotted lines = 10% and 90% magma supply rate from the Iceland Plume. Blue line and shading independent estimates of carbon emissions based on ocean pH (Gutjahr et al 2017). Green: Independent estimated emissions based on deep sea carbonate dissolution. From Jones et al 2019 Fig 8 a, Nat Commun 2019 CC BY 4.0 Reaction by leading PETM scientists The work is a vindication for Henrik Svensen, who was not involved in the Birmingham study: The arrival of the plume is nicely quantified. Its a very interesting study taking a novel approach to understand how a Large Igneous Province may have triggered one of the most intense climatic changes we know from deep time, said Henrik Svensen. [it] supports that volcanic-sedimentary interactions generated the gases - not gas hydrates as many researchers have proposed. "methane clathrate involvement is not needed" Lee Kump of Penn State, who has argued for clathrates responding to a volcanic trigger said the study is compelling evidence in support of the NAIP as the trigger for, and main mechanism of, carbon emission during the PETM: methane clathrate involvement is not needed. But: the resulting warming likely triggered destabilization of whatever methane clathrates existed. James Zachos of University of California, Santa Cruz, and a long-time proponent of the clathrate hypothesis told me: The short answer is yes, that NAIP is the trigger and main source of carbon. But he still sees a supporting role for clathrates: feedbacks such as hydrate dissociation act as an accelerant. In my view, the volcanism could certainly have triggered the event, said Appy Sluijs of Utrecht University. This study shows it is possible that CO 2 release was fast but hey, its a model and you can put lipstick on a model but its still a model! He went on to argue for multiple positive feedbacks to amplify the warming. "you can put lipstick on a model but its still a model" Contrarily, the new study by Jones et al, and the earlier Gutjahr et al study, both suggest such feedbacks were smaller than the volcanic and sill-baked carbon release: Theres been a lot of thought that the PETM, and other similar events, theres an initial pulse of carbon and the rest comes from runaway positive feedbacks, said Greene. The feedbacks are small relative to the initial forcing from the volcanism. Richard Zeebe of the University of Hawaii remains unconvinced, pointing out that the PETM and later warm episodes (hyperthermals) in the Eocene coincide with times when Earths orbit around the sun would deliver extra solar warmth: As with all subsequent hyperthermals, no other trigger than orbital forcing is necessary. The PETM is part of a long series of hyperthermals and invoking a special trigger for one (say volcanism for the PETM) but not for all others seems illogical. But, as I outlined in part 1, others argue that the PETM was by far the largest, was much more abrupt, and may have been out of sync with orbital warmth, indicating a different cause from the subsequent hyperthermals that are indeed controlled by Earths orbit like most sediments throughout geological time, without clathrates needed to explain them. "invoking a special trigger for one (say volcanism for the PETM) but not for all others seems illogical" Future work By constraining the onset and trigger of the PETM, scientists can focus on quantifying the climate feedbacks involved, which are important in estimating Earths long-term sensitivity (Earth System Sensitivity) to todays carbon emissions, bearing in mind the world was a warmer planet than today and continental configuration was different. But Sluijs point is important the scientific inquiry will continue. These new model results will be tested in the coming years, and issues like the ratio of organic carbon to volcanic carbon will continue to be examined critically. Other areas of focus are likely to include the contribution of eroded soil to the carbon isotope record, and fine-tuning of the relative contributions of orbits, igneous activity, and weathering in the fluctuating Eocene hot climate. On the mantle part of the process, IODP expedition 395 is scheduled to drill those v-shaped ridges near Iceland this year (although due to COVID-19 thats uncertain), which should shed more light on the mantle pulses, and precise dates on the British part of the NAIP previewed at the 2019 AGU Fall Meeting, and on volcanic ashes in Denmark previewed at the EGU 2020 meeting, will help tie down the pulsed nature and timing of the eruptions. Morgan Jones of the University of Oslo highlighted several upcoming NAIP-PETM papers in his EGU 2020 presentation. So, watch this space No, the Iceland Plume isnt responsible for global warming today Some readers may wonder about any role the Iceland Plume might have in warming today: effectively none. A recent survey of CO 2 from Icelands volcanoes sums to about 0.03% of human emissions. The Iceland Plume is still active today, but theres no giant pulse of mantle intruding into sediments and the seabed over the plume is mostly barren basalt whereas at the PETM the magma intruded a thick basin full of oil-rich sediments. The widening Atlantic Ocean has since put those a safe distance from Iceland: Since then weve opened up an ocean, and we just dont have that same interaction, said Dunkley Jones, a coauthor of the new study. CO 2 emitted today from all volcanoes and other magmatically active regions, including mid-ocean ridges, is estimated to be 280 to 360 million (with an M) tons per year, a tiny fraction of human emissions at around 35 Billion (with a B) tons per year. What it means for us today Even though the PETM emissions over 50,000 years were far more than we are likely to emit, If we can understand how thats happened in the closest analog that weve got in the past hundred million years, then were going to be in a better shape to think about whats going to happen in our lifetimes, said Jones, the lead author of of the new study. Its a bit of a good-news-bad-news situation. On the good news front, both the Gutjahr et al and Jones et al research suggests that any amplifying feedback from an extra carbon reservoir (like clathrates or permafrost) was small if it existed at all in the PETM world. This echoes recent research that showed that methane clathrates didnt make a large contribution to climate warming at the end of the last ice age, and are unlikely to do so in the near future. It suggests other carbon cycle feedbacks, and not a mysterious extra reservoir of carbon, explain how Earth responded to large perturbations in the carbon cycle over the last 60 million years. On the bad news front, We're not living in the Paleocene or Eocene - permafrost and clathrates do, for sure, exist in today's world. But, crucially, the PETMs several-thousand-year onset timeframe gave Earths oceans and weathering processes time to work against it, avoiding more extreme warming. By burning fossil fuels, ironically some form the very same source rocks as fed the PETM, we are recreating it, but much faster. This fast rate doesnt give Earths system sufficient time to neutralize emissions through dilution in the deep ocean (about 1,000 years to mix), dissolving of ocean carbonate (about 5,000 to 10,000 years to respond), and weathering of silicate rock on land (about 100,000 years to cut in). Its over an order of magnitude faster, what we are doing today, compared to the peak of the PETM, said Greene. Citations Gutjahr, M., Ridgwell, A., Sexton, P. F., Anagnostou, E., Pearson, P. N., Palike, H., ... & Foster, G. L. (2017). Very large release of mostly volcanic carbon during the PalaeoceneEocene Thermal Maximum. Nature, 548(7669), 573-577. Zeebe, R. E. (2012). History of seawater carbonate chemistry, atmospheric CO2, and ocean acidification. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 40, 141-165. Svensen, H., Planke, S., Malthe-Srenssen, A., Jamtveit, B., Myklebust, R., Eidem, T. R., & Rey, S. S. (2004). Release of methane from a volcanic basin as a mechanism for initial Eocene global warming. Nature, 429(6991), 542-545. Kump, L. (2011, July 1). The Last Great Global Warming. Scientific American website: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-last-great-global-warming/ Accessed 4/22/2020 Thomas, D. J., Zachos, J. C., Bralower, T. J., Thomas, E., & Bohaty, S. (2002). Warming the fuel for the fire: Evidence for the thermal dissociation of methane hydrate during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum. Geology, 30(12), 1067-1070. Frieling, J., Peterse, F., Lunt, D. J., Bohaty, S. M., Sinninghe Damste, J. S., Reichart, G. J., & Sluijs, A. (2019). Widespread warming before and elevated barium burial during the Paleocene?Eocene Thermal Maximum: Evidence for methane hydrate release?. Paleoceanography and paleoclimatology, 34(4), 546-566. Zeebe, R. E., & Lourens, L. J. (2019). Solar System chaos and the PaleoceneEocene boundary age constrained by geology and astronomy. Science, 365(6456), 926-929. Turner, S. K. (2018). Constraints on the onset duration of the PaleoceneEocene Thermal Maximum. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 376(2130), 20170082. Turner, S. K., Sexton, P. F., Charles, C. D., & Norris, R. D. (2014). Persistence of carbon release events through the peak of early Eocene global warmth. Nature Geoscience, 7(10), 748-751. Lyons, S. L., Baczynski, A. A., Babila, T. L., Bralower, T. J., Hajek, E. A., Kump, L. R., ... & Zachos, J. C. (2019). PalaeoceneEocene Thermal Maximum prolonged by fossil carbon oxidation. Nature Geoscience, 12(1), 54-60. Froelich, F., & Misra, S. (2014). Was the late Paleocene-early Eocene hot because Earth was flat? An ocean lithium isotope view of mountain building, continental weathering, carbon dioxide, and Earth's Cenozoic climate. Oceanography, 27(1), 36-49. Expeditions Schedule | Expeditions | IODP. (2019, July 22). website: https://www.iodp.org/expeditions/expeditions-schedule Accessed 4/22/2020 Mahajan, R. S., Ickert, R. B., & Mark, D. (2019, December). Building an Accurate and Precise Chronological Framework for the British Palaeogene Igneous Province. In AGU Fall Meeting 2019. AGU. Jones, M., Stokke, E., Augland, L.,Pogge von Strandmann, P., Liu, E., Mather, T., Rooney, A., Tierney, J., Whiteside, J., Tegner, C., Schultz, B., Planke, S., & Svensen, H. (2020, May). Constraining North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) activity during the late Paleocene and early Eocene. In EGU General Assembly 2020. EGU. Ilyinskaya, E., Mobbs, S., Burton, R., Burton, M., Pardini, F., Pfeffer, M. A., ... & Colfescu, I. (2018). Globally significant CO2 emissions from Katla, a subglacial volcano in Iceland. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(19), 10-332. Werner, C., Fischer, T. P., Aiuppa, A., Edmonds, M., Cardellini, C., Carn, S., Allard, P. (2019, October 1). Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Subaerial Volcanic Regions. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/deep-carbon/carbon-dioxide-emissions-from-subaerial-volcanic-regions/F8B4EFAE0DAF5306A8D397C23BF3F0D7/core-reader Accessed 4/22/2020 Global Carbon Project (GCP). (2019, December 4). https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/index.htm Accessed 4//22/2020 McCandless, D. (2016, February). How Many Gigatons of CO2? Information is Beautiful. https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/how-many-gigatons-of-co2/ Accessed 4/22/2020. Dyonisius, M. N., Petrenko, V. V., Smith, A. M., Hua, Q., Yang, B., Schmitt, J., ... & Vimont, I. (2020). Old carbon reservoirs were not important in the deglacial methane budget. Science, 367(6480), 907-910. Hausfather, Z., & Betts, R. (2020, April 14). Analysis: How carbon-cycle feedbacks could make global warming worse. https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-carbon-cycle-feedbacks-could-make-global-warming-worse Accessed 4/22/2020 Zeebe, R. E. (2012). History of seawater carbonate chemistry, atmospheric CO2, and ocean acidification. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 40, 141-165. An army of workers is required to harvest Britains fruit and veg during the Covid-19 pandemic, Prince Charles has said, in a video promoting the Pick for Britain campaign. In a clip posted to the official Clarence House Twitter account, the heir to the throne said the job will be hard graft but hugely important if the nations crops are not to be wasted. Due to travel restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic, the UK faces a shortage of fruit and vegetable pickers, most of whom have historically come from the EU. Last month, career search engines such as Totaljobs reported record numbers of people researching farming jobs and it is thought many furloughed workers have been considering taking up jobs picking fruit to supplement their reduced wages. However, the Prince of Wales says more workers are needed to ensure the UKs food supply in the coming months as he urged people to Pick for Britain. At this time of great uncertainty, many of our normal routines and regular patterns of life are being challenged. The food and farming sector is no exception, said Prince Charles. If we are to harvest fruit and vegetables this year, we need an army of people to help. Food does not happen by magic; it all begins with our remarkable farmers and growers. Prince Charles, 71, invoked World War Two memories as he called on thousands of Britons to do their bit for the national effort. If the last few weeks have proved anything, it is that food is precious and valued, and it cannot be taken for granted, he said. This is why that great movement of the Second World War the Land Army is being rediscovered in the newly created Pick for Britain campaign. It will be hard graft but is hugely important if we are to avoid the growing crops going to waste. Pick for Britain says it helps to bring workers and employers together to ensure the UK can continue to deliver the best quality British fruit and veg for everyone to enjoy. There are a wide range of roles across the country and they can vary dependant on the type of business, states Pick for Britains website. Theres no mistaking picking can be hard work and can involve being outdoors through all weather conditions. Some of the work will depend on the weather, so flexibility in term of hours you work will be required. A good level of fitness is usually required. All workers receive induction, training and a full health and safety briefing. You will be part of a supportive team, often working outside in the fresh air and you are bound to make new friends. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Nutritional High International Inc. (CSE: EAT) (OTCQB: SPLIF) ("Nutritional High" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed a purchase agreement for the acquisition of Palo Verde LLC ("Palo Verde"). Palo Verde is a Colorado based processor and manufacturer of vape and edible products including vape cartridges, all-in-one vapes, syringes, chocolate edibles and infused pre rolls for the recreational and medical markets. These products are manufactured by Palo Verde under the award winning FLI brand. In addition, the Company owns the building and equipment which has been leased to Palo Verde since 2014. In accordance with recent legislative and regulatory changes in the State of Colorado, publicly traded companies are now able to directly own licensed cannabis businesses in the state subject to the approval of the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division ("MED") and the local licensing authority. On May 15, 2020 the agreement was signed, and an application has been submitted to the MED for approval of the change in ownership of Palo Verde. In accordance with the purchase agreement, Nutritional High will acquire 100% of Palo Verde subject to the approval of the license transfer by the MED and by Pueblo County. The acquisition is arm's-length with total consideration that includes the assumption of debt and a nominal cash amount. There is no finder's fee associated with this transaction. Further details regarding the acquisition will be provided upon MED approval and closing of the transaction. "The acquisition of Palo Verde represents an important milestone in the implementation of our branded manufacturing strategy," said John Durfy, the CEO of Nutritional High. "We look forward to working with the team at Palo Verde to grow the business in Colorado and leverage their experience in other markets where we operate." Strategic Review Update With recent changes in the environment for cannabis companies, the Company will refocus its resources on the segments of the business most likely to achieve profitability in the short term. Through development and marketing of in-house brands, the Company believes it can achieve improved profitability and value as opposed to licensing third party products and brands. This strategy has proven successful in Colorado where the FLI brand of cannabis-infused products have achieved success in the market winning the Leaflink 2019 best selling vape product. Calyx On February 26, 2020, the Company announced that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to sell a controlling interest in Calyx to a strategic partner. Further details regarding Calyx and the status of this transaction will be provided shortly. Oregon, Washington and California Nutritional High continues to assess its assets and operations in Oregon, Washington and California as part of the strategic assessment of its overall business. The Company intends to continue to grow its current operations in Oregon with expansion of capacity and adoption of new products. Further, the Company expects to commence operations and relaunch its brands in both Washington and California. In California, Nutritional High will be focused on commercialization of in-house brands while leveraging its continued interest in Calyx for distribution. Consistent with this brand focused strategy, the Company will discontinue production of all third-party products and terminate its licensing agreement with Docklight for the Marley brands in Washington and Oregon. Nevada In Nevada, Nutritional High has an agreement to acquire 75% of Green Therapeutics, an award winning manufacturer of branded concentrates and premium flower sold in the majority of dispensaries across the state. Closing has been delayed due to a state wide moratorium on Cannabis licensing and transfers and the Company and Green Therapeutics continue to engage and work together to effect a closing. Asia The Company continues to asses it's relationship with Golden Triangle Health Company Ltd. to manufacture and distribute branded products. Golden Triangle is a Thailand-based health and wellness company with a family of brands looking to successfully commercialize in the North American market. Debt Reorganization As part of the strategic review, the Company has undertaken an effort to reduce its liabilities through the sale of Calyx, settlement of payables, renegotiation of lease agreements and repricing and conversion of the unsecured debentures. A proposal for the conversion of the unsecured debenture will be put forth in the meeting of the senior unsecured convertible debenture on June 24, 2020. Amendments and settlement of other debt is underway and further details will be provided in the coming weeks. COVID-19 Update In the markets which the Company operates, cannabis has been deemed an 'essential' business which has allowed for continued operation during the COVID-19 crisis. Nutritional High has taken the necessary measures to ensure the protection of its employees, suppliers and customers. As was the case for many companies in the industry, during March we experienced a significant increase in business. Since this time social distancing limitations implemented in the retail channel have resulted in lower sales volumes. While we have not, to date, experienced product shortages, we are closely monitoring the condition of our supply chain and focusing our resources on adapting to the situation as it unfolds. About Nutritional High International Inc. Nutritional High is focused on developing and manufacturing branded products in the cannabis industry, with a specific focus on edibles and oil extracts for medical and adult recreational use. The Company works exclusively in jurisdictions where such activity is permitted and regulated by state law. The Company has a strategy for acquisitions in extraction, production and sales sectors of the cannabis industry. Nutritional High has brought its flagship FLI edibles and vape product lines from production to market in various markets including Colorado where its FLI products are manufactured by Pale Verde, LLC. In California, the Company distributes products through its wholly owned distributor Calyx Brands Inc. For updates on the Company's activities and highlights of the Company's press releases and other media coverage, please follow Nutritional High on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or visit www.nutritionalhigh.com. For further information, please contact: Robert Wilson Chief Financial Officer Nutritional High International Inc. 416-666-4005 Email: rwilson@nutritionalhigh.com NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. This news release may contain forward-looking statements and information based on current expectations. These statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by such statements. Risks that may have an impact on the ability for these events to be achieved include completion of due diligence, negotiation of definitive agreements and receipt of applicable approvals. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that such assumptions will prove to be correct. We assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. The Company's securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or "U.S. Persons", as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in the United States or any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Additionally, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information contained herein. All forward-looking information herein is qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement, and the Company disclaims any obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking information or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments, except as required by law. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking information expressed in this press release include, but are not limited to: obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals including acquiring and renewing U.S. state, local or other licenses, the uncertainty of existing protection from U.S. federal or other prosecution, regulatory or political change such as changes in applicable laws and regulations, including U.S. state-law legalization, market and general economic conditions of the cannabis sector or otherwise. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56120 A screenshot of the new app, CRUSH COVID RI, which allows users to track their location, monitor symptoms and connect with resources. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has called on China to immediately make public the Panchen Lamas whereabouts and uphold its international commitments to promote religious freedom, saying he is one of the most important figures in the Tibetan Buddhism with spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. His remarks came on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama. The Department of State has made the promotion and protection of religious freedom a priority, especially in China, where people of all faiths face severe repression and discrimination, Pompeo said. As part of that mission on May 17, we marked the 25th anniversary of the disappearance of the 11th Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who has not appeared in public since the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) government abducted him in 1995 at age six, he said in a statement. The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism with spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. But Chinas persecution of the Panchen Lama is not unusual, Pompeo said. He called on the Chinese government to immediately make public the Panchen Lamas whereabouts and to uphold its own constitution and international commitments to promote religious freedom for all persons. The United States, he said, remains deeply concerned about PRCs ongoing campaign to eliminate the religious, linguistic and cultural identity of Tibetans, including through the ongoing destruction of communities of worship and learning, such as the Larung Gar and Yachen Gar Buddhist Institutes. Tibetan Buddhists, like members of all faith communities, must be able to select, educate and venerate their religious leaders according to their traditions and without government interference, he said. In 1995, a young Tibetan boy Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was recognised as the 11th Panchen Lama, the second highest spiritual authority in Tibetan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama. However, Nyima disappeared days after, becoming the worlds youngest political prisoner. China, which claims Tibet as its own territory, named another boy Gyaltsen Norbu to the position. He is said to be living under a close surveillance in mainland China. However, the Tibetan Parliament in India, known as the Kashag, continues to recognize Nyima as the sole legitimate holder of his title. Indias Dharamshala is home to the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama as well as the Central Tibetan Administration, often known as the Tibetan government-in-exile. China has grown increasingly wary about who will succeed the 14th Dalai Lama, who lives in India on exile. The current Dalai Lama, who is 84, was designated by high priests as the next Dalai Lama when he was just 2. According to Tibetan Buddhist tradition, when the current Dalai Lama passes away, he will reincarnate as another person. China has maintained that it has the authority to appoint the successor to the 14th Dalai Lama, who is loyal to Beijing. While Beijing views the Dalai Lama as a separatist who seeks to split Tibet from China, the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate says he only seeks greater rights for Tibetans, including religious freedom and autonomy. China says Tibet for centuries has been its territory well before the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) took control of the region in 1950. Delhi Development Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday asked departments concerned to appoint nodal officers at construction sites to encourage workers to register with the state-run construction welfare board to avail various benefits. A government official said the minister held a meeting with officials of the Public Welfare Department, Flood and Irrigation Department and three municipal corporations in the city. Earlier this month, the government announced second financial installment of Rs 5,000 for every construction worker in the wake of the coronavirus-forced lockdown. It also launched an online portal for the registration of construction workers in the city. Around 40,000 construction workers are registered with the welfare board. "In the meeting, the development minister asked for deployment of nodal officer not below the rank of executive engineer at construction sites. The nodal officer will encourage workers to get themselves registered with the board," the official said. According to the official, nodal officer will also have the responsibility to make arrangements for food for the needy workers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The benchmarks indices came off the day's high in mid-morning trade. The Nifty was currently trading above the 8,950 level. At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 514.84 points or 1.71% at 30,543.82. The Nifty 50 index added 137.65 points or 1.56% at 8,960.90. Domestic shares witnessed bargain hunting after recent steep losses. The Sensex and the Nifty lost about 6% in the past three session. Domestic shares also mirrored global peers which surged on optimism about a potential vaccine for the coronavirus. However, gains were capped amid rising coronavirus cases in India. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.27% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.58%. Both these indices underperformed the benchmark Sensex. Buyers outpaced the sellers. On the BSE, 1082 shares rose and 734 shares fell. A total of 145 shares were unchanged. In the Nifty 50 index, 45 shares advanced while 5 shares declined. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,512.82 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 152.42 crore in the Indian equity market on 18 May, provisional data showed. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Pharma index rose 0.54% to 9,142.05 amid bargain hunting. The index fell 0.86% in the past two sessions. Strides Pharma Science (up 3.72%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 2.46%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 2.17%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 1.37%), Cadila Healthcare (up 1.23%), Alkem Laboratories (up 1.18%), Divi's Laboratories (up 1.06%), Piramal Enterprises (up 0.8%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.43%), IPCA Laboratories (up 0.2%) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.19%) advanced. Stocks in Spotlight: Tata Consumer Product gained 1.84% to Rs 353.3. The Tata Group company will acquire the entire stake of PepsiCo in NourishCo (50%), consequently terminating the joint-venture and making NourishCo a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company as well as transfer of rights over the 'Gluco Plus / Gluco+' brand from PepsiCo. This move is consistent with the company's focus on widening its portfolio in the food and beverages space and the above acquisition would be providing an established platform to the company for further expansion in the ready-to-drink beverage segment. AU Small Finance Bank rose 0.84% to Rs 401.25. Government of Singapore bought 19.69 lakh shares at Rs 414.6 per share, NSE's bulk deal data for 18 May 2020 showed. On the same day, the bank's promoter Chirinjee Lal Agarwal sold 25 lakh equity shares at Rs 414.60 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Global Markets: Overseas, Asian stocks were trading higher on Tuesday as hopes rise on a potential coronavirus vaccine after a positive development from a Moderna trial. Moderna reported 'positive' phase one results for a potential coronavirus vaccine. The company said that after two doses all 45 trial participants had developed coronavirus antibodies. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday that his country will provide $2 billion over two years to help other countries combat the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. US stocks rose sharply on Monday on optimism that the American economy might be percolating again, while the medical community works toward a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Stock-market bulls also gained confidence following remarks by the U.S. central bank chief Powell on Sunday and Monday that the Fed would continue to support the economy and financial markets through the viral outbreak. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Colonel Dinh Quoc Hung, Political Commissar of the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Protection High Command, talks about the preservation of the late Presidents embalmed body. The guards of the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Protection High Command on parade at the mausoleum. Successfully preparing the solution and gradually mastering the technology of preserving the embalmed body of President Ho Chi Minh have been important milestones in more than 50 years of the high command. Can you talk about these outstanding achievements? After lots of negotiations and a thorough preparation in facilities, equipment and human resources, on June 4, 2003, Vietnam and Russia signed a minute in co-ordinating in the preparation of a special solution in Vietnam from the first quarter of 2004. On March 8, 2004, the high command worked with Russian experts to implement the preparation of the first batch of a special solution, which was then brought to Russia for a compulsory quality check. The solution was then approved to be used in preserving Uncle Hos body during the mausoleums repair in 2004. Following this success, in the next few years, we could make the solution in Vietnam and did not need to send it to Russia for checks like before. This was an important turning point, affirming the spirit of independence, autonomy, self-reliance and showing the tireless efforts of generations of cadres and health workers of Institute 69 under the high command, who had actively prepared adequate supplies, chemicals, equipment and machines, as well as a workforce for this task. So far, Institute 69 has successfully prepared a special solution directly used for the long-term preservation of President Ho Chi Minh's body 15 times. We have invested in the project of researching and transferring technology to produce special suits in Vietnam to serve the long-term preservation task and absolutely protect President Ho Chi Minh's body in lieu of ordering from Russia with the hopes to fully control this technology. On November 12, 2013, in the presence of the then President Truong Tan Sang and Russian President Vladimir Putin, we signed a co-operation agreement with Russian partners on technology transfer of the production of special clothes (Project VN01). In July 2018, under the chair of Deputy Minister of National Defence, Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh, together with partners, we evaluated and concluded on the success of Project VN01 for meeting the technical requirements. The project was then handed to the General Department of Military Industries and Manufacture for management and production. The success of Project VN01 was a breakthrough in technology development. This was an important milestone marking the great results of the scientific research and application process, affirming that from now on, Vietnam is capable of firmly and fully mastering the long-term preservation task, protecting the body of President Ho Chi Minh's body. How do cadres and staff of the high command view their tasks of protecting the body of President Ho Chi Minh? All things related to ensuring the safety and long-term preservation of President Ho Chi Minh's body come from the political responsibility of each person here. Each officer, employee, worker working for the management board and the high command is carefully selected. Despite difficulties in many aspects such as science and technology, health, economics, the impact of the surrounding environment, cadres and staff always show a high sense of responsibility and strong political spirit. The sense of political responsibility is not only to the military but also to the Party, the country, the people and all generations of Vietnamese people. From immense love and respect for President Ho Chi Minh, each of us take great determination and efforts to fulfil the mission for the country and the homeland so that every generation of Vietnamese people can come to visit Uncle Ho and admire him, to see him as he is still alive with the country. How have young soldiers implemented the study and practice of President Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and living style? Following Uncle Ho's ethics and simplicity is very close to the youth and the young soldiers. Just by having good thoughts and good actions in life already means following Uncle Hos ethics. These actions manifest in daily life such as the fact that soldiers gave up food and accommodation in their barracks to the people quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many officials and soldiers who have never taken care of the sick people are helping those in quarantine areas. Many young people volunteered to go to the border and remote areas to help stop people illegally entering the country or protecting the quarantine areas. These things stem from devotion, dedication, a sense of responsibility to the community. As for the youth of the Mausoleum Protection High Command, we have specified the contents of the campaign on studying and following President Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and living style. For example, the guarding division does well in safety and protection; the scientific and technical research forces have performed well the tasks of ensuring the best technology for the mausoleum. Each officer and soldier is always associated with the implementation of Uncle Ho's teachings in their work. VNS President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum reopened today President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum reopened to the public from Tuesday (May 12) after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic since March 23, according to the board. Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio)' Brandes Investment released its portfolio for the first quarter of 2020. The top five buys included new positions in Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) and Change Healthcare Inc. (NASDAQ:CHNG) alongside additions to its holdings of Cameco Corp. (NYSE:CCJ), Embraer SA (NYSE:ERJ) and Mohawk Industries Inc. (NYSE:MHK). Brandes is a Benjamin Graham disciple. As such, his firm seeks to purchase out-of-favor securities that are trading at discounts to their intrinsic values, and then hold them until the market recognizes their true worth. Portfolio overview The portfolio is valued at $2.86 billion and is sitting at a 14% turnover rate. It holds 149 stocks, with 15 new buys, as of quarter-end on March 31. The top sectors by weight are health care (27.46%), financial services (17.01%) and industrials (14.27%). Textron The largest new addition to Brandes' holdings was the purchase of 1.18 million shares of Textron, representing 1.11% of the portfolio. The shares traded for an average price of $40.66 during the quarter. The American industrial conglomerate employs over 37,000 people worldwide. Its subsidiaries include Artic Cat, Bell Helicopter, Textron Aviation and Lycoming Engines. The company manages a global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses. As of May 19, the stock was trading at $27.24 per share with a market cap of $6.14 billion. d952e39a7270c0073e1a507206d62f05.png GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 5 out of 10, a profitiability rank of 7 out of 10 and a valuation rank of 9 out of 10. A cash-to-debt ratio of 0.49 ranks the company lower than 50.82% of the industry and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91 is lower than 72.32% of the industry, both contribute to the average financial strength rating. d3bd2458fdcbe147410c1e3a7fef98ff.png Change Healthcare The second-largest new buy for the portfolio was the purchase of 2.64 million shares of Change Healthcare, representing 0.92% of the portfolio. The company traded for an average price of $14.09 per share during the first quarter. Story continues 5ae7547a8d5c6519e165b6010bb7a28b.png Headquartered in Nashville, Tensessee, the company covers approximately 175 million people under its services. A relative newcomer to public trading, shares were trading at $11.85 with a market cap of $3.60 billion as of May 19. GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 4 out of 10 and a profitability rank of 2 out of 10. A cash-to-debt ratio places it lower than 52.75% of the industry while a debt-to-equity ratio ranks it higher than 87.45% of the industry. The company has seen a decrease in net income since March 2019. c31f00a30bd0e5f97ca4080b422e378d.png Cameco The largest overall impact on the portfolio, a 2.19% increase, came in the addition of 8.18 million shares of Cameco. This representes a 747.35% increase in the holding. Shares traded at an average price of $8.24 during the quarter. f4b2e9b5faa4b79690c217371ef7a7e3.png Cameco is a publicly traded uranium producer based out of Saskatchewan. The company was the second-largest producer of uranium in the world in 2015. As of May 19, the company was valued at $9.92 per share with a market bap of $3.90 billion. According to the Peter Lynch chart, the stock is overvalued. e5ac33eacf1b0f49615974c353a0d62d.png GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 6 out of 10, a profitability rank of 6 out of 10 and a valuation rank of 3 out of 10. Cameco's weighted average cost of capital is significantly higher than the return on invested capital, dictating difficulties with profitability. aae85b2b737f75c1646a925ce4f1685a.png Embraer Brandes' firm added to its holding of Embraer by 24.83% with the purchase of 5.09 million shares. During the quarter, the average cost per share was $15.29 and the purchase represented a 1.32% impact on the portfolio. 93db2bce72038f43af90b8ef1c9bee5c.png The Brazilian aerospace conglomerate has been in business since 1969. It produces commercial, military, executive and agricultural aircraft and also provides aeronautical services. The company was trading at $4.71 per share on May 19 with a market cap of $796.81 million. d95c5648b3aee22817ae2338207ee57c.png GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 4 out of 10, a profitability rank of 6 out of 10 and a valuation rank of 10 out of 10. The company's price-book ratio and price-sales ratio place it well above 80% of the industry. An Altman Z-Score of 0.92 places it in the distress zone with the potential for bankruptcy. 1d104deb7d32da9abcf646d8130da6af.png Mohawk Industries The last of Brandes Investments' top five additions to the portfolio was the increase in its holding of Mohawk Industries. The firm purchased 410,568 shares, a 1,807.48% increase in the holding. This represented a 1.10% impact on the overall portfolio with the company trading at an average of $119.34 per share during the quarter. ce3307af924e811c4f30e7aafdfb5a70.png Based in Georgia, the floor manufacturing company produces floor covering products for both residential and commercial applications in North America and residential in Europe. As of May 19, the stock was trading at $85.82 per share with a market cap of $6.11 billion. According to the Peter Lynch chart, the company is undervalued. cb2c218f1a4a0962eb6e9eaf4517acf5.png GuruFocus gives the company a financial strength rating of 6 out of 10, a profitability rank of 8 out of 10 and a valuation rank of 9 out of 10. While the cash-to-debt ratio of 0.09 places the company below 83.84% of the industry, an operating margin of 8.29% places it above 64.35% of industry competitors. c5d44ffdd2dc7aab0f8d0eec684749f6.png Disclosure: Author owns no shares in any of the stocks mentioned. The mention of stocks in this article does not at any point constitute an investment recommendation. Portfolio updates reflect only common stock positions as per the regulatory filings for the quarter in question and may not include changes made after the quarter ended. Read more here: Mario Gabelli Adds to Amazon Holding in 1st Quarter Jim Simons' Top Buys of the 1st Quarter Carl Icahn Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place With Hertz Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. A judge has ruled that the Marconi wireless telegraph machine that broadcast distress calls from the sinking Titanic ocean liner can be retrieved. In an order released on Monday, US District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, of Virginia - who is the maritime jurist presiding over Titanic salvage matters - agreed the machine is historically and culturally important and could soon be lost within the rapidly decaying wreck site. She wrote that recovering the telegraph will contribute to the legacy left by the indelible loss of the Titanic, those who survived, and those who gave their lives in the sinking. The ruling made by Ms Smith modifies a previous judges order from the year 2000 that forbids cutting into the shipwreck or detaching any part of it. The order is considered a big win for RMS Titanic Inc, the court-recognised salvor, or steward, of the Titanics artefacts. The firm recently emerged from bankruptcy and is under new ownership. The Titanic had been travelling from England to New York when it struck an iceberg and sank in 1912, killing all but about 700 of the 2,208 passengers and crew. Getty Images The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which represents the publics interest in the wreck site, fiercely opposes the mission. NOAA argued in court documents that the telegraph is likely surrounded by the mortal remains of more than 1,500 people and should be left alone. The company said it plans to exhibit the ships telegraph with stories of the men who tapped out distress calls to nearby ships until seawater was literally lapping at their feet. The brief transmissions sent among those ships wireless operators, staccato bursts of information and emotion, tell the story of Titanics desperate fate that night: the confusion, chaos, panic, futility and fear, the company wrote in court filings. The proposed expedition also has been controversial among some archaeological and preservation experts, and the firm may face more legal battles before salvage vehicles can descend nearly 2.5 miles to the bottom of the North Atlantic. NOAA says the expedition is prohibited under federal law and an international agreement between the United and the United Kingdom. Those restrictions emerged in the years after the courts 2000 order. In her ruling, Ms Smith acknowledged NOAAs arguments. But she said the only matter before the court was the previous order made by the judge who preceded her. She wrote that NOAA is not a formal party in the case. And she said her ruling does not address the constitutionality of the agencys claimed authority to wield approval power and control over salvage operations. She also wrote that the firms plan for the expedition meets most requirements set forth in the international agreement and other restrictions. Those include justifying the expedition on scientific and cultural grounds and considering potential damage to the wreck site. The firm submitted a 60-page plan to retrieve the telegraph, which is believed to still sit in a deck house near the doomed ocean liners grand staircase. The company said an unmanned submersible would slip through a skylight or cut the heavily corroded roof to retrieve the radio. A suction dredge would remove loose silt, while manipulator arms could cut electrical cords. Nebraska State Education Association President Jenni Benson sounded off on Sen. Ben Sasses Saturday commencement address to Fremont High Schools graduating class. She said the address, which has since garnered national attention for the senators remarks, was disappointing and missed the mark. Sasses commencement address included shots at the health of students and recommended that students dont major in psychology in college. Sasse also attempted to minimize the fact that graduates were forced to celebrate their graduation from home. He used larger-scale events such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, news of murder hornets making their way into the U.S. and a newly discovered black hole located in a solar system visible to the naked eye as more important issues, saying virtual graduation isnt a top-100 problem. The FHS graduate and former Midland University president then shifted to China, accusing the country of a failure to contain and accurately report the severity of the virus. Were going to have to have a serious reckoning with the thugs in China who let this mess spiral out of control by lying about it, he said during the pre-recorded speech on Saturday. Bensen said shes received complaints and feedback from people across the state voicing their disappointment in the senators speech. I really think we need to focus on the fact that this should have been a non-partisan issue, she said. She said the speech should have been an uplifting one, specifically for the Fremont graduates who have gone through a major flood and a pandemic. We know these kids have been through quite a bit that is beyond their control as children, Bensen said. The speech did nothing to raise them up as citizens going into this world. People were very concerned about the message that it was sending to the graduates, as well as the message being sent to everyone else regarding mental health issues, race relations, teachers in general. It was all disappointing. Sasse spokesman James Wegmann said Sasses remarks were meant to be a joke and that he was proud of the 2020 graduates. Like he said in the video greeting, Bens proud of each of the graduates and he believes their generation is tough enough to help lead us through the bumpy economic times ahead, he said in a statement. Its ridiculous that some politically addicted folks are complaining about Ben calling out China in a joke. Hes said this for months, because its true: The Chinese Communist Partys coronavirus coverup wasted time that could have contained the spread those lies cost innocent lives in China and around the world. Pretending graduates are too fragile to hear the truth is silly. Bensen said she believed the FPSs school board has a responsibility to further investigate who gave the video the green light. I believe thats the school boards responsibility, she said. ... We expect that out of our professionals, so Im not sure what happened but I think the board needs to find out what happened. Late Sunday night, FPS released a statement addressing Sasses comments during the ceremony. The school didnt publicly apologize for the statements made by the senator. Instead, it congratulated the graduating class and made clear the statements made by speakers had no connection to the district. Requests were made for commencement speeches from our local Nebraska District 15 State Senator Lynne Walz and from our current United States Senator, former FHS graduate, and former Midland University President, Ben Sasse, Superintendent Mark Shepard and board president Sandi Proskovec said in a joint statement. Both provided speeches to be included in the online celebration. The district does not edit or censor guest speakers. Bensen said Sasse should give a public apology to the graduating class for his remarks. We always teach kids that if you do something and it isnt received in the manner that you thought, you should always go back and say sorry and make amends because thats what we teach our students to do, she said. Our audience was children. They were graduating from high school but theyre children entering the adult world. They should have been treated respectfully. Love 10 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Want to see more like this? Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission The current global medical crisis has sounded the death knell for conventional beliefs about the inability of oil resources to support the world economy. For several decades, many experts predicted a decline in oil production in line with ideas like Marion King Hubbert's (1956) peak oil theory. However, the coronavirus epidemic event upset this. Before the COVID-19 crisis, world consumption was around 100 million barrels of oil/day in total. In the period from April 2019 to April 2020, the drop in demand is estimated to have been around 29 million barrels/day. To put this into perspective, during the 2008 financial crisis, demand for oil fell by around 5 million barrels/day. Following the current sharp drop in demand, the 13 OPEC members, holding almost 80% of world oil reserves, agreed to reduce production to ensure price stability. The world's major oil-exporting nation The OPEC+ alliance or the "Vienna Group" comprises 24 oil-exporting countries the 13 members of OPEC and 11 other suppliers such as Russia, Mexico and Kazakhstan. The main objective of the OPEC cartel is to manage oil supplies so as to control world prices and avoid fluctuations affecting the economies of both the oil producing and purchasing countries. Russia which is part of the wider OPEC+ alliance refused to cut production significantly for a longer period; in response, Saudi Arabia increased its production, triggering a price war. The result was sharply falling prices and a stock market collapse. In April, after intervention by U.S. President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia and Russia put an end to this price war and the OPEC+ association agreed to cut production by more than 2 million barrels/day by end of the year. However, this has not prevented prices from falling. WTI, the American crude oil benchmark, turned negative for the first time on April 20, 2020. Indeed, this fall in the oil price has adverse effects on the world economy and on oil-exporting countries who depend heavily on oil revenues. The beginning of the contagion Most shale oil producers cannot survive with an oil price below $30. Many countries and their oil companies are massively reducing their planned investments. The future looks ever more uncertain as global demand continues to collapse. This situation is not helpful to the economies of American oil producers. In 2019, the U.S. was the leading producer of oil, with extraction of around 13 million barrels/day. However, today, dozens of small and medium-sized American oil companies are facing bankruptcy as storage capacity is exhausted and wells are shut down. In addition, concern over price destabilization has been replaced by risk of a persistent fall in demand due to the economic situation, stricter energy transition policies, and a switch to alternative energy sources to the detriment of fossil fuels. Some countries are especially vulnerable The economic threat posed by the coronavirus is exponentially greater than the health risks it poses for certain individual countries, and especially those that depend heavily on oil revenue. Although some such as Norway, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Russia have sufficient fiscal room to maintain public spending until 2021, other oil-producing countries such as Iran, Venezuela, Iraq, Nigeria, and Algeria risk loss of liquidity with consequences for their health systems, employment, demand, financial conditions, etc. The specter of a collapse of some of these undiversified economies with mixed economic performance even before the crisis is even more present. Iran and Venezuela, already strangled by international sanctions and heavy pressure from the Americans, are at boiling point as are Algeria and Iraq. In the case of Venezuela which is experiencing an ongoing structural crisis, the pandemic will worsen the economic situation. In Iran, the situation is different. Its hydrocarbons sector accounted for 80% of exports and the authorities had foreseen a drop in exports due to the economic sanctions imposed by Donald Trump. Algeria and Iraq were rocked by social protest movements for several months before the economic crisis. In Algeria, the 2020 finance plan was based on a $60 per barrel reference price with the result that the fall in prices produced a substantial shortfall. More than 90% of Algeria's external revenue comes from exports of hydrocarbons. Similarly, Iraq which doubled its production of oil since the American invasion to become the fourth-largest oil producer in the world, is likely to experience further turbulence which will be accentuated by the struggle for influence between Iran and the U.S. So far, we have no precise data on the economic consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic on other African countries, but it is clear that the oil-producing nations will be the most severely affected. Nigeria whose economy is linked 95% to oil, plans to cut its budget as do Angola, Egypt, and Sudan. None of these countries has managed to diversify their economies and implement new economic models. At the same time, countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso whose economies depend on agricultural exports, have been affected by the sharp fall in world prices for raw materials and the drop in world demand. The United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Congo, and Gabon which are not large exporters in terms of volume, are likely to be affected by this possible drop in foreign trade. Senegal called on Africa's trading partners to increase the continent's resilience by canceling its debt, a sentiment echoed by UNCTAD. The IMF has released $10 billion at zero interest, intended mainly for African countries. Are non-oil producing countries safe? Not even the non-oil producing countries are safe, because many African countries although they may not export hydrocarbons are involved in exports of other raw materials, for example, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and South Africa. The decline in tourism revenue will be an additional shock especially for countries such as Tunisia and Morocco. In the latter, tourism accounts for around 10% of both GDP and employment. According to the IMF, real GDP in the Middle East and North African oil-exporting countries has contracted by 4.2% so far this year. Overall, this crisis could cost the African economies between 5 to 10 points of GDP in 2020 which in terms of revenue could be between $130-150 billion. The restrictions imposed in recent weeks, the border closures, and the suspension of international flights are all reducing trade and diaspora foreign currency transfers. So far, it is impossible to predict when this situation might end. A strong world economic recovery after the crisis might produce soaring demand for oil and greater volatility. However, we do not know when this recovery will occur; we do not know what form it will take or what will be the rate of the recovery. Fateh Belaid is Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Management of Economics & Sciences (Catholic University of Lille). This research is particularly concerned with the economics of energy and the environment. Adel Ben Youssef is currently Lecturer at the University of Cote d'Azur and member of the CNRS research laboratory (GREDEG CNR UMR 7321). He specializes in environmental economics and climate change. Benjamin Chiao is Professor at Paris School of Business and Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. His areas of research are the Chinese economy, industrial economics and decision biology. Khaled Guesmi is a professor of finance at the Paris School of Business and Director of the Center for Research on Energy and Climate Change (CRECC). His research focuses on subjects such as the financialization of raw materials and the effect of contagion between stock markets and energy markets. Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn. It was the best of times. And then, suddenly, it was the worst of times. Oregons unemployment rate went from a historic low of 3.5% in March to a record high of 14.2% in April, according to new state data out Tuesday. The state lost 266,600 jobs in April, the Oregon Employment Department reported. Thats 1 in 8 jobs statewide and the numbers significantly understate the crisis since they cover only the opening weeks of the epidemic. Its a stunning illustration of the abrupt, unprecedented economic catastrophe that devastated the states economy after the coronavirus outbreak hit Oregon. While these numbers make for shocking historical records, they cannot totally capture the economic trauma so many Oregonians are experiencing at this time, said Anna Johnson, economic analyst for the Oregon Employment Department. The April jobless rate of topped the worst days of the Great Recession, when Oregon unemployment peaked around 12% in 2009. Tuesdays unemployment numbers are Oregons first since the coronavirus outbreak began. Oregons jobless rate was comparable to the national rate, which was 14.7% in April the highest since the Great Depression, when unemployment topped 25%. Economists say the U.S. rate could approach that level in the coming months. Its a stunning reversal for Oregon, which had enjoyed more than a decade of steady job growth in the years after the Great Recession. The states lodging sector shed nearly 60% of its jobs in Aprils report, while restaurants and bars lost more than half of their jobs. The health care and retail categories each lost about 10% of all their jobs, while construction shed 9%. The total number of unemployed nearly quadrupled, said employment department economist Christian Kaylor. He noted that Aprils losses wiped out six years of job growth in a single month. Oregon employers shed 253,400 jobs in April, wiping out more than six years of job growth in a single month. 2/n pic.twitter.com/IMTH2YncW2 Christian Kaylor (@KaylorChristian) May 19, 2020 Oregon will get its first detailed look at its economic outlook Wednesday when state economists issue their first quarterly revenue forecast of the epidemic. Last week, Gov. Kate Brown ordered state agencies to plan for a 17% budget cut in anticipation of a $3 billion revenue shortfall over the next two years. Tuesdays unemployment data covers only the first half of April, meaning the numbers may look worse a month from now when May numbers come out incorporating tens of thousands of newly laid off workers. Through early May, nearly 400,000 Oregonians have filed for jobless benefits, nearly a fifth of the states workforce. Those accumulated losses will be reflected in the May unemployment report when it comes out next month. At some point this summer things may start bottoming out. Restaurants, bars, hotels, retailers and health care organizations laid off tens of thousands of workers in the first weeks of the outbreak. With entire sectors of the economy nearly wiped out, Oregon wont have much further left to fall. Theres an opportunity for a bounce, University of Oregon economics Professor Tim Duy told a Port of Portland commission meeting last week. However, Duy said the outlook for a quick recovery is poor. The economy is contracting all over the world, he said, and people are fearful of everything from eating out to traveling on airplanes. Duy said that until the health crisis is addressed, Oregon and the rest of the country will continue to struggle economically even as more businesses and regions begin to reopen. We need public confidence that weve got the situation under control before we can really move forward. I like to say its not really the governor that opens the state, Duy said. Its us, as consumers, that open the state. Indeed, layoffs that were initially concentrated in Oregons hospitality and health care fields have spilled over into other sectors. Factories were never subject to Gov. Kate Browns stay-home order, for example, but large manufacturers from Portland to Madras to McMinnville have had mass layoffs in recent weeks are orders from their industrial customers evaporated. While relatively few Oregonians have died from the coronavirus the state reported the 138th such death Monday public health officials warn the pandemic is not contained. They caution the state could face a second wave of infections if public safety measures are relaxed too quickly. The challenge of getting back to the old, pre-crisis (economic) equilibrium is about making people feel safe that they can attend their normal activities without, you know, dying, Duy said. However, he said he doesnt expect the recovery to be quite as slow as during the Great Recession. A crisis at the Oregon Employment Department has exacerbated the pain for laid-off Oregonians. The department relies on a computer system from the 1990s and has struggled to handle the surge in jobless claims and recent changes in the unemployment benefits program. The result is a backlog of nearly 50,000 unemployment claims and thousands more unpaid claims for contractors and self-employed workers, who are newly eligible for benefits. Thousands of workers have been going without benefits at the height of the pandemic. The employment departments phone lines are hopelessly jammed, making it nearly impossible for laid-off workers to resolve issues with their claims. Last week, the average hold time for calls to the department spiked to 3 hours. Most calls never get through, though, and most calls put on hold are never answered. -- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699 Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. By Jiang Feng The EU has recently made several statements about its relations with China. Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, published an article on several European newspapers accusing China of trying to exploit differences of opinions among the 27 EU member states for its own ends, divide and rule the Europe and seek its own version of multilateralism. The worry about being divided and ruled by a foreign power is like a nightmare haunting the EU. As Borrell said, Developing a joint approach to superpowers is never easy for the EU. Indeed, the EU has never eased its vigilance against Russia and the US, especially as Washington has blatantly divided it into the old and the new Europe without hiding its intention of making sure that there would not be a continent sharing a common international telephone area code. The EU has been used to Washingtons secessionist tricks, so its unease about Beijings growing presence in recent years is but a natural reaction. But the EU must recognize that not every exotic presence is a threat to European unity. Chinas rise is a peaceful process not backed by armed forces, and this development model is unique for it doesnt rely on war. Instead of accusing China of proposing the 17+1 initiative that is misunderstood as Beijings attempt to divide Europe, the EU could try to take part in the initiative and coordinate with all parties to see what comes next. At the same time, the current situation seems to indicate that Brussels needs to be more vigilant against secessionist forces from within. Borrell mentioned that both China and the EU are devoted to promoting multilateralism, but our approaches on multilateralism differ. He considered that China practices a selective multilateralism with itself at the center, but didnt elaborate on what EUs multilateralism means. He emphasized Brussels divergences with Beijing over human rights, cyber security, and other subjects while also showing disapproval to much of Washingtons performance. Its clear that the disappointment with Washington, anxiety about Beijing, and unease about Moscow have put Brussels in a predicament of self-positioning. Logically speaking, multilateralism should be essentially mutual and reciprocal. No party should imagine that it could unilaterally draw a line and delimit other parties territory on that basis - which is self-centered hegemony and caprice. The EU shouldnt hold such a stance, nor should it keep itself in a state of disappointment, anxiety, and unease. As the COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging the world, Washington seems to be bent on doing two things only - not focusing on the epidemic prevention and control at home, and fabricating and peddling its stigmatization of the Chinese, which intends to hold China accountable for the COVID-19 pandemic and demand compensation from China for losses incurred from the coronavirus pandemic. The hysterical remarks by certain American politicians remind us of how the Europeans brutally and crazily blamed the Jews for the Black Plague in the Middle Ages, which was a historic crime against humanity under the pretext of religion. The severer the epidemic becomes, the more obsessed some Americans are with using the accountability theory, and to impose pressure on the EU in an attempt to jointly oppose China. Some people have bought Washingtons story and followed its lead. Still, the mainstream circle in Europe, knowing very well that absurd and cruel Medieval period in European history, sees through its ulterior motives. While Washington blamed the WHO and cut off US funding to the WHO, Europe expressed its resolute support for the health organization and condemned Washington for its actions. Reasonable thinking remains the dominant ingredient of China-Europe relations. Weve also noticed that Brussels is urging the international community to investigate the pandemic. A scientific and comprehensive investigation, which will help the countries respond to other possible future pandemics in more timely and effective manners, is in the interest of the whole mankind. At the virtual 73rd World Health Assembly on May 18, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said, We will only halt COVID-19 through solidarity. He also pledged to initiate a WHO-led, independent and comprehensive evaluation at the earliest appropriate moment to review experience gained and lessons learned and to make recommendations to improve national and global pandemic preparedness and response. It would be wise for European politicians to learn more facts about China rather than rely on the intelligence reports that always highlight threats or potential threats from the Asian country, especially when they come from Washington. It would also be beneficial for experts in EU think tanks to have a more comprehensive understanding of China and its relation with Europe rather than indulge in scenario deduction and use the surprising results to startle politicians and the public. Furthermore, China and Europe could hold more solid and systematic exchanges of ideas and information as their understanding of each other lags behind bilateral demands for economic and social interactions and is barely able to offer any constructive advice on top-level decision making. While the US is evading its global responsibilities in big strides, China and Europe are shouldering greater responsibilities for humankinds survival and wellbeing. Wed better work together more closely, deeply and comprehensively, hold up high the banner of sustainable and human-centered multilateralism, and offer our shared aspiration for lasting peace a historic opportunity to become a reality. (The author is a researcher at the Shanghai International Studies University) US President Donald Trump once again on Monday attacked the WHO, saying the UN health body was a puppet' of China. Trump claimed that more people would have died from coronavirus in the country had he not imposed a ban on travel from China, which was opposed' by the health agency. They (WHO) are a puppet of China. They're China-centric, to put it nicer. But they're a puppet of China, Trump told reporters at the White House. I think they have done a very sad job. The United States pays them USD 450 million a year. China pays them USD 38 million a year, Trump said in response to a question. Trump said the World Health Organization was against the imposition of a ban on travel from China in late January. The World Health Organization was against it. They were against me doing the ban. They said you don't need it, it's too much, it's too severe, and they turned out to be wrong, he said. Trump said Democratic Party's presidential nominee and former vice-president Joe Biden was too against the ban. Sleepy Joe Biden said the same thing. He said I was xenophobic. I was xenophobic because I said you can't come in if you come from China. You can't come into our country, very early. And Biden said I was xenophobic, he said. If I didn't do that ban, you would have lost hundreds of thousands of more people in this country. It was a very important ban. People don't like talking about the ban, but it was very important, the US president said, claiming that it was only he who wanted it. We did it and saved thousands of lives, hundreds of thousands of lives probably, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) STAMFORD Stamford Hospital gave an enthusiastic goodbye Tuesday to some 130 camouflage- and surgical-mask-wearing members of a military task force that has been assisting with its Covid-19 response over the past several weeks. Cheers and yells along with handmade signs of thanks were raised for several minutes as members of the task force, consisting of Connecticut National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve medical providers, paraded through the main lobby of the hospital. The group then made its way to a parking lot on the east side of the new hospital building where a score of reservists were given awards for their service by Connecticut National Guard Brigadier General. Gen. Ralph Hedenberg, commander of the joint task force. We are grateful for your support in our fight against Covid-19, hospital President and CEO Kathleen Silard said during the windy afternoon ceremony. Calling the partnership between her staff and the task force truly special, she acknowledged the leadership of Hedenberg and U.S. Army Reserve Col. Patricia Olson. I have to tell you, walking around the hospital over the past several days I kept hearing over and over again, We really are going to miss our military partners, she said. Task force members became part of the fabric of the care provided to Stamford Hospital patients, Silard said. Stamford has been hit harder by the coronavirus than any other city or town in the state. As of Tuesday evening it had seen 3,046 confirmed cases and 175 corona-attributed deaths, according to state Department of Public Health figures. Silard said at present there are 30 cases of the virus in the hospital, down from a high of 160 several weeks ago. We know this pandemic is not over. But thankfully due to your help we were able to provide robust care for our community during a time of great need, Silard told the departing military personnel. After the ceremony Hedenberg said he was happy to come to Stamford and help. It was extremely rewarding to assist people in our own state and being able to be down here, said the Hartford-area resident. Connecticut citizens were in need and you answered the call, he told task force members. Your efforts and service during this time will not be forgotten. Connecticut owes you a debt of gratitude. Thank you for answering the call. Olson in a statement recognized our new-found family of Stamford Hospital medical staff. As they continue the prolonged fight against COVID-19 we cant imagine a more welcoming team to have joined during one of our nations most trying times, she said. It is with great pride that my team can say theyve had the chance to work shoulder to shoulder with the citizens of Connecticut, both civilian and National Guard, and if were ever called upon again we remain ready to help where needed to support our nation. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com usps united states postal service mail man woman van Scott Olson/Getty Images The US Postal Service needs funding to help it stay afloat, or else it will run out of money in about four months' time. A new aid package proposed by House Democrats includes $25 billion of direct funding for the agency, but it's far from guaranteed. A union representing USPS employees said about 5,000 are in quarantine due to COVID-19, and 60 have died. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The United States Postal Service, currently being hit hard as letter-mail volume plummets during the COVID-19 pandemic, is in need of rapid emergency funding. While previous estimates put a June expiration date on the USPS if it didn't get the necessary financial help, the post office now expects to be able to survive through September. It's not exactly a sigh of relief, but it is a few extra months. This is according to a May 13 statement from the National Association of Letter Carriers, which is the national labor union of city carriers employed by the USPS. In it, the union pushed that June deadline back, but just by a bit. "As letter carriers know, the conversation about Postal Service finances is nothing new," NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said in the statement. "Unfortunately, this pandemic continues to cripple the economy, resulting in sharp declines in letter mail volume for the Postal Service. It currently projects that it will exhaust its cash on hand by the end of September if Congress and the White House fail to intervene." Related Video: How to Stay Safe at Work During the Coronavirus Outbreak The biggest stressor on the USPS' finances over the past decade has been a 2006 law, which required the USPS to calculate how much money it would need for pensions over the coming 75 years and build a fund to cover that amount. Of the agency's $62.4 billion in losses from 2007 to 2016, the USPS' inspector general attributed $54.8 billion to that pre-funding requirement. But things have gotten really ugly during the pandemic. The estimates of how long the USPS can last have changed over the course of it, but all share one thing in common: They're soon. Story continues Business Insider previously reported in March that without the funding, the USPS could find itself shuttered by June. In April, the belief was that the USPS could "run out of cash" by October, according to Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan. The NALC statement mentioned the new coronavirus aid package released by House Democrats on May 12, which includes $25 billion in direct funding for the USPS and a hazard-pay provision for postal employees. The bill would do away with restrictions on a $10 billion credit line that was put into effect in a previous stimulus package. As people continue to rely on package delivery services while they stay at home, delivery workers have been on the frontlines of exposure. In late March, 2,000 USPS employees were in quarantine and 51 had tested positive for COVID-19. Those numbers have only skyrocketed since. The NALC statement said about 5,000 employees are currently quarantined, with more than 12,000 previously quarantined people cleared and back at work including about 1,000 who tested positive and recovered. Roughly 900 of the currently quarantined employees have tested positive for COVID-19, and another 500 are thought to be positive as well. Sixty have died from the virus. Employees have told Business Insider that a lack of supplies, sick pay, and care from supervisors is putting them at risk. In April, there were reports that Donald Trump rejected a bailout package that would save the USPS. The move could impact the 2020 elections pretty seriously, as more and more states adopt voting by mail systems. And despite saying that he'd "never let [the] post office fail," the president also refused to sign additional bailout funds to the agency unless it increased rates on Amazon, which relies heavily on the USPS. Rolando urged letter carriers to contact their senators about approving the funding in the next stimulus package. The USPS does not receive tax dollars for its operating expenses. Instead, it relies on postage and product sales and services as funding. Read the original article on Business Insider Click here to read the full article. This is the first one that ran. I drove it secretly in a screened-off compound we have here, says Sir James Dyson. It is 11 am on an early spring day at Dysons new research center in Wiltshire and Britains best-known innovatorand now Britains richest personis showing off his most keenly anticipated invention. Keenly anticipated, that is, until he scrapped it. He calls it N526, but to you and me its the Dyson car. Its the first time he has shown the seven-seater, electric SUV with a 600-mile range to anyone outside his firm. It is also the first time he has confessed how devastated he is that it wont take to the road. Theres huge sadness and disappointment. Ours is a life of risk and of failure, he says. We try things and they fail. Life isnt easy. More from Robb Report His pain was initially eased by his decision to retool the former RAF base at Hullavington, which he had spent 250 million (roughly $305 million) renovating to become the development and test site for the car, to develop instead a new kind of ventilator to help the NHS cope with the coronavirus pandemic. In the end it was not needed because additional ventilators were sourced elsewhere. Dyson, who spent 20 million (approximately $24 million) on the project and has not accepted any government aid to support his business, hopes the ventilator will be used in other countries. Dyson has had setbacks before en route to the top of the Rich List. He scrapped his washing machine five years after it went on sale because it cost too much to manufacture, but the car is a failure of epic proportions. Not only has he axed it before going into production, it has cost him 500 million (around $610 million) of his own money. Dyson is a private company. It is a salutary reminder that in a world where billionaires tend to get richer in their sleep, they can still screw up royally. Story continues Its a shame because the car iswasspecial, all right, largely because of Dysons battery engineers, who have spent decades developing high-power, quiet, quick-charging cells for everything from cordless vacuums to hair straighteners. This is the lithium-ion pack that would have delivered 600 miles on a single charge, Dyson says, proudly running his fingers over its 8,500 copper cylinders. Even on a freezing February night, on the naughty side of 70 mph on the motorway, with the heater on and the radio at full blast? Yes, yes. That range was not achieved by making a light, small car. The Dyson is hugefive meters long, two meters wide and 1.7 meters tall. It weighs 2.6 tons, even though the body is made of aluminum. But it still looks sporty. The windscreen rakes back more steeply than on a Ferrari, Dyson says smiling. The wheels are bigger than on any production car on the marketalmost one meter in diameter if you include the quiet-running tires that give low rolling resistance for economy yet excellent ride. (Hes such a product geek, he actually talks like this). Inside there is room for seven adults in three rows. Round headrests give each of the seats, which are thin and firmly upholstered, the look of a lollipop. I hate those armchair-style seats that you sink into, because theres never enough lumbar support and you get back pain, Dyson frowns. There are also the usual Dyson design quirks. The storage bins look like pull-out filing cabinets and all the key dashboard informationspeed, sat-nav instructionsfloats in front of your face like a hologram so you never have to take your eyes off the road. I want oneso why cant I, he, or anyone else have one? Money killed the car. Electric cars are very expensive to make. The battery, battery management, electronics and cooling are much more expensive than an internal combustion engine, he explains. It turned out that each Dyson would have had to fetch 150,000 million (roughly $183 million) to break even, far more than electric models from the big carmakers, which subsidize costs with sales of traditional petrol and diesel cars. BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Jaguar Land Rover are making huge losses on every electric car they sell, he explains. Theyre doing it because it lowers their average CO and NO emissions overall, helping them to comply with EU legislation. I dont have a fleet. Ive got to make a profit on each car or Id jeopardize the whole company. In the end it was too risky. From the day the car was announced, some critics insisted it was a vanity project doomed to failure. They point out that Teslahailed as a success by manyhas burnt through $19 billion of investor cash, but is still not profitable. It was never a goer, given the massive capital requirements, argued David Bailey, professor of business economics at Birmingham Business School at Birmingham University. It was not a vanity project at all, Dyson retorts. When we started in 2014 we had good technology and a very efficient car with a long range. It was viable. But when, later, other companies started producing electric cars at a loss, it became too risky for us. All is not lost. Many of the 500 people working on the car have stayed on to drive research into batteries, robotics, air treatment and lighting. The car people are a talent influx, says Dyson. He is still investing the 2.5 billion (approximately $3 billion) earmarked for the car across his business in Britain and overseas, including opening a new research base in Singapore. Ah, Singapore. Thats the other issue that has caused Dysona determined EU leaverpain recently. When he announced 15 months ago that he was moving his firms head office there, it sparked accusations that he was a tax-dodging Brexiteer abandoning Britain when the going got tough. He bristles at the suggestion. We didnt move to Singapore. That expression is wrong. There are only three or four key people thereCEO, finance, legal. Weve grown our head count in Britain since the announcement and now have 5,000 people here developing products for Europe and North America. So why do it? It was bound to generate bad press. Asia is the fastest-growing market in the world and already accounts for 50 percent of our sales. Asians love new technology, that latest thing, and absolutely get design. If you are designing things for people in Asia, you should be in Asia. Youve got to live it and breathe it, to think like Asians. It would be arrogant to think that we can imagine products for that market sitting here in Wiltshire. We needed to be headquartered in Asia. Besides, investing in Asia is what British firms should be doing post-Brexit, he goes on. Lets embrace the world, not just look to Europe. And lets welcome talent from all over the world, not just from Europe. All Dyson products are manufactured in Asiain Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, and Dyson spends one-third of his time there. But he must be paying less tax now that the head office is in Asia? No, no. Slightly more, in fact, because Singapore has fewer bilateral trade treaties, so we get tax withheld, which is not recoverable. We actually expect to pay more tax as a group. We paid more tax in the UK in 2019 than in 2018. Dyson ranked fourth in this years Sunday Times Tax List, paying 103 million (roughly $126 million) in 2018. Did the very personal criticismhe was accused of staggering hypocrisyhurt? A little bit. But life is like that. You can keep quiet and say nothing, then maybe you wont get criticized in the press. But I cant quite do that because I believe in free trade. The row has not dimmed his optimism about Brexit. He is convinced Britain will reach a good trade deal with Brussels. At the 11th hour, the EU will agree to a deal without all the contingent demands theyre making now. But we have to be robustits a commercial negotiation. We have to stick to our guns. It all depends on them. Dyson reckons that countries that have the same belief in free trade, such as America, Australia and Singapore, will also be very quick to do deals. When Dyson and I last met just after the Brexit referendum, a few miles down the road at his main UK plant in Malmesbury, he described his post-Brexit vision of Britain as a high-skill, low-tax Singapore-style state lying off the European continent. Nothing that has happened since has changed his mind. As a nation we dont value engineering and science, or businesses that try to exploit those things. We can learn from Singapore. Lets embrace education, engineering, commerce, free up planning permission and make things again. In fact, he now thinks Britain should go further than Singapore and move to an even lower tax business model than the Tiger economy. Once the borrowing incurred to fund the governments emergency support package for the economy post-Covid-19 has been paid down, it would be a good opportunity to look at reforming the tax system. I would scrap corporation tax. Corporation tax is a funny tax because its a tax on profits and companies need to make profits to invest. Those companies that borrow significant amounts and offset interest payments against taxparticularly private equitypay less tax, whereas those that do not operate in debt pay more tax, so find it harder to invest for the future. Its perverse and distorting. Businesses already pay significant tax through VAT on sales, national insurance, business rates and, in our case, World Trade Organisation import duty as well. How would the government make up the lost revenue? Corporation tax receipts were 56 billion (roughly $68 billion) in 2016-17. Businesses would invest more and create more wealth and employ more people who would pay more tax and VAT. Its not only the EU that has caused headaches for Dyson. Many voters in Britain and Americaespecially young votershave recently embraced left-wing policy platforms put forward by the likes of Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders. Both have declared that every billionaire is a policy failure. How does it feel to be branded a human mistake? Thats the privilege of being young, isnt it? But it is also troubling because theyre not seeing the value of wealth creation, he says. You need entrepreneurspeople who make technological progress, drive things forward, create wealth for the country and employ lots of people. Were not using government money here in Wiltshire. Its not a government directive that we produce hand dryers, hairdryers, vacuum cleaners or air filters that use a 10th of the energy of most others and are, therefore, cheaper to run and better for the planet. Were doing it because we believe its the right thing to do, because we dont mind taking risks, dont mind losing our moneyrisking our whole lives and wealth on enterprise. Gesturing around the vast hangars of Hullavington, which opened in 1937 and served as a training base for fighter and bomber pilots before being decommissioned and falling into disrepair, he says: Weve restored life to this place. These are the things that wealth creators can do. Will young voters change their views? Maybe as they get a bit older. They have not understood how businesses are created, how old businesses die and new ones spring up, why exporting is important. Globalization is not a dirty word. Developing technology is so expensive, you have to be able to sell all over the world. Despite scrapping the car, Dyson still thinks he can succeed in the car market by making the solid-state batteries that will power (small sigh) other manufacturers models. Solid-state cells are the key to the success of electric cars because they are more energy-efficient than lithium-ion ones and also much smaller and lighter. They generate a lot less heat, so dont require complex and costly cooling systems, nor do they have a nasty habit of exploding. Theyre easier to recycle too. As he walks past the robotic white gantries that would have served as the first production line for his car, Dyson says: Other people are developing solid-state batteries. We may be the first. If what were doing turns out to be suitable for other people, then thats an option. The government wants to ban sales of all fossil-fuel cars by 2035. Can this be done? Yeah, its absolutely doable. In fact, 2030 is doable. I hate diesel. Its time to put the black dust sheets back on the Dyson, but before we head back out into the West Country sunshine, I ask if he might ever have another go at a car. I wouldnt say no, but the commercial circumstances would have to be right, he says without hesitation. The garage door never closes, he says, closing the garage door. This story originally appeared in The Sunday Times Magazine. It is republished courtesy of John Arlidge / The Sunday Times Magazine / News Licensing. Best of Robb Report Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Kenneth Washington got his start in the food business selling hot dogs and po boys as a student at Texas Southern University, dreaming of owning a restaurant. His dream came true in 2002, when he opened Just Oxtails Soulfood in Houstons Sunnyside neighborhood. Over the next 18 years, Washington and his wife, Carrie, built a business that became a fixture in the neighborhood and employed up to 25 people before the coronavirus pandemic forced him to close. Were in uncharted waters, Washington said. Its kind of hard to bear. Just Oxtails is among the minority-owned small businesses in Houston trying to stay afloat during a period that is providing challenges even for owners who have built their success by overcoming barriers that might have sunk other companies. Minority-owned small business owners have long struggled for access to capital, often operating in neighborhoods where few, if any, banks locate and facing discrimination. Studies by the Small Business Administration have found that loan applications by black and Hispanic business owners are more than twice as likely to be rejected by banks. As a result, minority-owned businesses do not apply for loans for fear of rejection at rates more than twice that of white owners. SLOW START: One month later, getting Paycheck Protection loans still a challenge That long-standing distrust has raised concerns among business leaders that minority-owned firms might not apply for the Paycheck Protection Program, the federal governments effort to offer low-interest, forgivable loans to small businesses that use them mostly to keep employees on the payroll. Houstons Black Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Asian Chamber of Commerce have all launched outreach and education efforts to inform minority-business owners of the program, encouraging them to apply and offering technical assistance. Critical access Unity National Bank, the only African American-owned banking institution in Texas is using traditional and social media to spread the word about the Paycheck Protection Program and reaching out directly to businesses in areas where it operates, including Houstons Third Ward and Missouri City. Access to capital is critical and I think that that is one of the things many of our small business have been lacking. Making sure that they have it right now is even more important, said Laurie Vignaud, Unitys president. Unless we are very aggressive and deliberate about making sure we do outreach, we will once again lose the people who have been the fabric of many of these communities. About one in five small businesses in the United States have minority owners, according to the Census Bureau, but its unclear how many have qualified for Paycheck Protection loans. The Small Business Administration said it doesnt have statistics on the participation of minority-owned businesses. In Houston, minority-owned businesses were largely shut out of the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program when millions of businesses some small, some not so small rushed to snap up nearly $350 billion, said business leaders in the Houstons African-American, Hispanic and Asian communities. Some were successful in the second round, when Congress authorized another $310 billion at the end of April. Some are still waiting for approval. Its a mixed bag, said Laura Murillo, president of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. LINING UP: Public companies in Texas taking public money from Washington Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Businesses that received loans are finding that they are far from a panacea. Marcus and Mel Davis, owners of the Breakfast Klub and Alley Kat Bar & Lounge in Midtown, Third Wards Reggae Hut, and downtown restaurant Kulture, were approved for a PPP loan (they declined to give the amount). Marcus Davis said he would prefer greater flexibility in the conditions for loan forgiveness and fewer restrictions on the costs that the loans can cover. Three-fourths of the money must be used to pay wages and benefits to employees for eight weeks, the rest can cover operating costs such as rent. The problem, said Davis, is business is unlikely to return to its pre-pandemic levels anytime soon, and he cant use the money to, say. fund renovations to incorporate social distancing measures that would put customers more at ease. Of their properties, the Reggae Hut and the Breakfast Klubs Midtown location remain open for takeout orders. The Davises were force to furlough 75 percent of their workers across their properties. How do you bring back 100 percent of your team when you only have 25 to 30 percent of your business? he said, It's a cruel and evil joke to bring someone off of unemployment and then not know whether or not you're going to be able to keep them beyond the eighth week. Waiting game Steven Lawrence, executive director of the University of Houstons Small Business Development Center, said many minority-owned small companies are businesses such as retail stores and restaurants that rely on customers coming into a location and spending. That means their recovery will only come after consumers regain confidence that they can keep or get back their jobs and protect their health when going out in public. Theyve got to wait for everyone else to recover before they can recover and thats hard, Lawrence said. Youre not only dependent upon the recovery system established by the government, youre dependent upon other people being able to recover before you can. The Washingtons, who hope to reopen Just Oxtails in June, are anticipating a slow, difficult climb back. They were recently approved for a $77,000 Paycheck Protection loan, which they will use to bring back furloughed workers, but they worry that wont be enough if business remains depressed for a long time. As result, they have launched a GoFundMe campaign online to raise the capital needed to cover reopening expenses and provide a financial cushion to offset what the Washingtons expect will be diminished business. TEXAS INC.: Get the best of business news sent directly to your inbox For the Washingtons and the Davises, securing a Paycheck Protection loan was the first step toward keeping their doors open. But, after nearly two decades in business, they know its hardly enough to guarantee their long-term survival especially when they see far larger businesses, such as the Landrys restaurant chains owned by Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta, take major hits. Because we are this brand thats known and thats been a symbol of success in the community for almost 20 years, theres an assumption that everything is okay, Davis said. That's just not true. If Tilman can be touched, then Marcus can be touched. glynn.hill@chron.com Brazils Indigenous tribes say they are facing a double threat the rapid spread of COVID-19 and the exploitation of their lands. The United Nations has warned the coronavirus is having a devastating effect on Indigenous people around the world. In Brazil, doctors say the number of critically ill patients being airlifted out of the Amazon rainforest has increased by 60 percent since the start of the pandemic. Al Jazeeras Victoria Gatenby reports. The city of Midland Health Department is currently conducting its investigation on two new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Midland County, bringing the overall case count to 122. The 121st confirmed case is a male in his 30s who was tested by a private provider. He is self-isolating at home. The source of exposure is travel related within the United States. Drucker + Falk Multifamily Snowball for Good Challenge for the Hampton Roads area of Virginia Its really a special cause when employees, partners, and competitors alike come together for the greater good of their communities." -Wendy Drucker, Managing Director for Drucker + Falk DF Multifamily, a division of Drucker + Falk, one of the nations most prominent multifamily management companies, is always looking for ways to give back. Now more than ever, there is a need for monetary support for local non-profits like Samaritan House, located in Virginia Beach, whose mission is to foster personal safety, growth, and self-sufficiency in adults and their children through freedom from sexual and domestic violence, human trafficking and homelessness and Transitions Family Violence Services, a Newport News based organization dedicated to eliminating domestic violence. Due to the COVID-19 quarantines in place, non-profits have seen an alarming increase in calls to their victim hotlines and in requests for emergency housing. Drucker + Falk (DF) has pledged a total of $30,000 in donations to regionally selected nonprofits, with a $5,000 donation in Hampton Roads serving as the kickoff. Knowing that the multifamily industry cares deeply about the communities in which they live, work and provide housing, DF challenged their neighboring multifamily peers to join a giving campaign Multifamily Snowball For Good in making a difference and the response has been tremendous. The Franklin Johnston Group (TFJG), a developer and manager of multifamily residences in the luxury, affordable, and senior housing sectors based in Virginia Beach was the first to accept the Multifamily Snowball For Good challenge with a $5,000 matching donation that will be split between The Samaritan House and Transitions Family Violence Services. The Lawson Companies, a development, construction and management company based in Virginia Beach quickly jumped in with a $7,000 donation that will benefit non-profits in the Hampton Roads and Richmond, VA and Charleston, SC regions. Palms Associates also located in Virginia Beach matched the challenge with a $5,000 donation to the growing snowball and most recently, the divisions of The Breeden Company, who specializes in development, construction, and management within the Multifamily industry, were thrilled to join their peers with a $5,000 donation to Samaritan House. According to Bobby Hall, Development Manager for Samaritan House, over the last 30 days the demand for emergency shelter and in-house victim services has risen by 86% here at Samaritan House and 50% of our victims are children. The entirety of the multifamily community truly cares about helping us during this critical time. As valued Multifamily vendor partners, Knock, an intelligent front office platform joined the fundraising efforts with a $2,500 donation and the RentPath Network, a leading digital marketing solutions company, has committed to a $7,500 donation to Hampton Roads, Richmond and Columbus non-profits that support victims of domestic violence. Sanu Dieng, Executive Director of Transitions Family Violence Services, says, We are so grateful to Drucker + Falk, The Franklin Johnston Group, The Breeden Company, Palms Associates and Lawson Companies for quickly jumping in to help us at a time when we need it most. Their willingness to come together as an industry really shows their commitment to the communities where they call home and I am looking forward to seeing this snowball grow! Wendy Drucker, Managing Director for Drucker + Falk, says, Its really a special cause when employees, partners, and competitors alike come together for the greater good of their communities. The idea of providing shelter and housing is something that is very important to us in the Multifamily industry and we are honored to play a small part in helping during this unprecedented time. This giving campaign Multifamily Snowball For Good is just kicking off and we are thrilled to see how much more we can make this grow with additional donations as we continue to challenge our peers! If you would like to contribute locally in Hampton Roads to the Multifamily Snowball For Good please make your online donation directly to Samaritan House and Transitions Family Violence Services and dont forget to use the hashtags #MFSnowballForGood #MultifamilyGivesBack #MFCommunitySupport and to share your support on social media If you are experiencing domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, or stalking, there is help. Please call the 24-hour Samaritan House crisis hotline 757-430-2120 or Transitions Family Violence crisis hotline 757-723-7774. A study conducted by researchers in Belgium has found no evidence to support concerns that asymptomatic young children may be a source of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. No cases of asymptomatic carriers were detected among a cohort of 84 children (aged six to 30 months) attending daycare centers across Belgium shortly following the 29th February outbreak in the country and before the lockdown was implemented on 18th March. A pre-print version of the article can be accessed on the server medRxiv*, while the paper undergoes peer review. Image Credit: Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock Older adults more likely to experience severe disease Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan, China in December 2019, the virus has swept the globe and been declared a pandemic emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 20th March. The primary modes of transmission between people are close contact with an infected individual and contact with contaminated objects. Symptoms, which vary in severity, include dry cough, fever, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and respiratory failure. Research has shown that older people are the most likely to experience severe symptoms of the associated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Still, less is known about the severity of disease and transmission rates among young children and infants. Concerns about asymptomatic young children Some research conducted in China suggests that symptoms are less severe among children and more likely to go unrecognized compared with adults. Potential explanations include less likelihood of exposure to pathogens and infected people; lower levels of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE 2) receptor for SARS-CoV-2; a higher rate of respiratory infection during the winter meaning a higher antibody level, and a less developed immune system causing children to react differently to pathogens. The authors of the current study say that the lower symptomatic disease incidence in the pediatric population raises the concern that this population could be an important source of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The situation in Belgium In Belgium, the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic started on 29th February, and 689 cases had been confirmed across the country by 13th March. Understanding the role children may play in the transmission is vital for deciding on the public health measures that should be implemented and on potential strategies for exiting from the lockdown currently imposed. To investigate, Heidi Theeten (Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute, University of Antwerp) and colleagues analyzed nasopharyngeal swabs taken from 84 children (aged six to 30 months) attending eight daycare centers in Belgium (four in Flanders, three in Wallonia and one in Brussels) during the first weeks (2nd to 12th March) of the epidemic. Around one-half of the children were girls, about half had signs of the common cold, just over half shared their household with at least one sibling, and the majority attended daycare at least twice a week and had non-smoking parents. No asymptomatic carriage of SARS-CoV-2 was detected The team reports that all of the children tested did not have SARS-CoV-2, meaning that shortly following the start of the epidemic and before the lockdown was implemented on 18th March, there was no asymptomatic carriage detected in this random sample of 84 young children in daycare. Theeten and colleagues say the findings are in line with those of other studies suggesting that children only play a minimal role in the SARS-COV-2 epidemic. A large-scale screening study conducted in Iceland reported that children aged under 10 years were less likely to test positive than children aged 10 years or more. Another large-scale survey conducted in Italy found no positive cases among children aged under 10 years, either before or after lockdown had been implemented in the district where the first death had occurred. A household study conducted in China found that the rate of secondary cases among children was only 4%, compared with 17% among adults. In addition, since the outbreak began, only a handful of deaths worldwide have involved children, who generally only experience mild symptoms. What does this study add? Our study adds that in Belgium, where the epidemic was imported mainly by adult travelers, there is no sign of early introduction into daycare centers at the moment children were not yet isolated at home although the virus was clearly circulating, write Theeten and colleagues. It is clear that more evidence is needed to understand the actual role of young children in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and their infection risk when attending daycare, they conclude. *Important Notice medRxiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that are not peer-reviewed and, therefore, should not be regarded as conclusive, guide clinical practice/health-related behavior, or treated as established information. Pro-democracy demonstrators light candles in memory of protesters who were killed during a 2010 military crackdown around the Rajaprasong Intersection in downtown Bangkok, May 19, 2020. Thai activists lit candles in Bangkok on Tuesday as they and others commemorated the 10th anniversary of a bloody military crackdown by calling on authorities to prosecute those involved in killing more than 90 people during pro-democracy protests. People wore masks to guard against the coronavirus while dozens gathered to remember the dead at the Rajaprasong Intersection, the downtown site where many protesters were killed on May 19, 2010. That day marked a climax to violence around the protests, which had rocked the capital for weeks and shut down its downtown. In 2010, we looked at the corpses of our fellow fallen protesters at the police forensics office and we thought: Do they deserve death just like that? Suwanna Tanlek, 48, who took part in the protests a decade ago, told BenarNews as she joined others in commemorating the 10th anniversary. We have amassed a grudge from then on, she said. Are we whining? No, but we will keep calling for justice. Ten years ago, Suwanna helped organize meetings of the so-called Red Shirts and took part in street demonstrations staged by the group, which was aligned with deposed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, Yingluck. On May 19 that year, the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva stepped up his order that thousands of Red Shirts who had camped out in the capital for months, vacate the streets. Scores of people lost their lives as security forces opened fire while clearing the encampments. The protesters were demanding that the prime minister dissolve parliament. They were led by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), a group of politicians and progressive figures who accused Abhisit of stealing democracy from Thailand with the help of the military, by forcing a party aligned with Somchai Wongsawats government to vote for Abhisit. In December 2008, parliament voted for Abhisit to become Thailands 27th prime minister. In 2017, the Thai Supreme Court acquitted Abhisit and his former deputy, Suthep Thaugsuban, of murder charges, ruling the pair had performed their duties as government officials and therefore a civilian criminal court would have no jurisdiction over them. On Tuesday, UDD leader Jatuporn Prompan called on the government to conduct a thorough investigation into the 2010 killings. The undeniable truth remains that there were people shot dead. Their families still live with grief and sadness, so the government must investigate, Jatuporn told reporters as he offered alms to a Buddhist monk. Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the banned leader of the dissolved opposition Future Forward Party who now heads the Progressive Movement, said the government was not serious about bringing to justice perpetrators of the deadly violence a decade ago. In 2010, I supported the call for parliaments dissolution and a fresh election because I believed people could determine their directions, but there came city shootouts with injuries and fatalities and no one know who did it. That is a failure of the government, he told a seminar broadcast via Facebook on Tuesday. The government is not sincere to find the facts. Without people gaining power, there will be no justice for the victims of the May 2010 mayhem, he said. Last year, his Future Forward Party finished third in Thailands first general election since the military seized power in a May 2014 coup against Yingluck Shinawatras elected government. Prayuth Chan-o-cha, the army chief who led the coup, headed a junta that ruled the country until the 2019 elections. Last years polls resulted in pro-military parties forming a government and installing Prayuth as PM again. On Tuesday, Prayuths government did not issue any statements about the anniversary. Meanwhile, human rights groups including Amnesty International and the Asian Democracy Network (ADN) marked the day by calling on the Thai government to get justice for the people who were killed. The government must ensure that activists fighting for justice for victims of this massacre are protected from reprisals. The government should take genuine and impartial steps toward ensuring justice for all if it is to gain the trust of its people, ADN said in a statement issued jointly with the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development. Mothers quest for justice Also on Tuesday, Phayaw Akkahad, the mother of a 2010 victim, was barred from entering a Buddhist temple where her daughter and several other people were killed by sniper fire on May 19. Her daughter, Kamonked, a 25-year-old volunteer with the Thai Red Cross, was helping treat protesters who were hiding out at Wat Pathum Wanaram when she was gunned down. In the wake of the killings, Phayaw filed a criminal complaint through the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) against Prime Minister Abhisit, other top officials in his government and military commanders for her daughters death. Ten years on, Phayaw told BenarNews last week, she was still fighting for justice for Kamonked. In a statement, the DSI said that Phayaws case had been referred to a military court. A spokesman for the defense ministry spokesman had little to say about that case or the 10th anniversary of the deadly crackdown. In regard to the Armys crackdown, I beg to not clarify because it is currently a judicial subject. It is at the court, spokesman Lt. Gen. Kongcheep Tantrawanich told BenarNews last week. The Union Home Ministry told the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday that a team from the ministry is prepared to visit West Bengal to inspect the COVID-19 situation in the state. Hearing a writ petition alleging mismanagement of COVID-19 situation in the state, the high court said that if any team from the Ministry of Home Affairs visits this state, the same shall be on its own volition and not pursuant to any order of the court. The court directed the Union Home Ministry and the West Bengal government to file reports on averments made in a writ petition alleging mismanagement of the COVID-19 situation in the state by the administration. A division bench comprising Chief Justice T B N Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee directed that the reports be placed before it on or before the next date of hearing on May 26. Petitioner Kabir Shankar Bose alleged in the writ petition that the COVID-19 situation has been mismanaged by the state administration in West Bengal. Y J Dastoor, senior advocate appearing for the Ministry of Home Affairs, submitted that a team from the Ministry is prepared to visit West Bengal, inspect the situation and file a report before the court. Opposing him, state Advocate General Kishore Dutta submitted that earlier a central team had visited West Bengal and had spent several weeks inspecting various areas and that sufficient materials were gathered by that team. He submitted that no further visit by any central team is necessary and that any further visit by a central team would, in effect, be a roving inquiry only to find fault with the state administration, if possible. In response, Dastoor submitted that the earlier central team was an inter-ministerial team and now it will be a team consisting of members from the Ministry of Home Affairs only. The division bench directed that since the Ministry of Home Affairs offered to file a report in response to the claims made in the writ petition, "let such a report be filed on or before the next date of hearing." The state government shall also file a report in response to the averments made in the writ petition. "We clarify that if any team from the Ministry of Home Affairs visits this State, the same shall be on its own volition and not pursuant to any order of this Court," the division bench said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SCRAM Systems is proud to be assisting the Ministry of Justice in directly addressing alcohol-related crimes in England and Wales DENVER, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- This week the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom announced new legislation beginning 19 May 2020 under which offenders who commit alcohol-fuelled crime now may be banned from drinking and made to wear 'sobriety tags': https://www.gov.uk/government/news/sobriety-tags-come-into-force. Alcohol misuse can affect all regions of society and is found to be a contributing factor to various crimes including serious assaults, drink driving, and criminal damage. According to Public Health England, alcohol-related crime costs the UK economy more than 21.5bn a year and the Ministry of Justice have taken an innovative step to directly address the issue. The new requirement is called the Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement (AAMR) and can be imposed by courts in accordance with community-based orders. The AAMR is a period of mandated sobriety and may be imposed on individuals who commit alcohol-related crimes. The period of sobriety will be monitored by a SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM CAM) alcohol tag. Referred to as a "sobriety tag", SCRAM CAM tags rely on transdermal ("through the skin") science to test for the presence of alcohol found in perspiration after a drinking event. SCRAM Systems are the creators of the technology, which allow subjects to be monitored for the consumption of alcohol around the clock. Mike Iiams, CEO of SCRAM Systems said, "We are thrilled to be a part of this exciting partnership with the Ministry of Justice. Knowing that our technology will now be used to help make a positive difference in England and Wales as well is very rewarding for us as a company." SCRAM Systems has been assisting the police, probation services and prisons to implement alcohol monitoring programmes in various locations around the world since 2003. During that time, they have successfully monitored over 750,000 individuals, accounting for almost 79 million days of alcohol abstinence. This has a direct and significant impact on offences committed. The AAMR has already been delivered in conjunction with a CAM tag under two large UK Pilots. These saw more than 1,400 offenders made subject to the AAMR and produced compliance rates of 94%. "We are delighted that this effective and popular sentencing option will now be available to courts across England and Wales," said Amit Sethi, Head of European Operations at SCRAM Systems. "We believe that it will have a positive impact on perpetrators of alcohol related crimes and prove extremely valuable to those conducting the challenging job of managing criminal caseloads." About SCRAM Systems SCRAM Systems is a leading provider of electronic monitoring and software solutions for the criminal justice industry. The company's flagship Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) technology, launched in 2003 and revolutionized the way courts, agencies and treatment providers monitor and manage alcohol-involved offenders. In 2013, the company launched the industry's most comprehensive suite of electronic monitoring technologies, which includes SCRAM Remote Breath, SCRAM GPS and SCRAM House Arrest. The company has since launched software solutions including SCRAM Nexus to support the adoption and deployment of Evidence-Based Practices, a mobile client engagement tool called SCRAM TouchPoint, and the first license-based software platform, SCRAM Insight, to support probation and sobriety programs. SCRAM Systems employs 280 people worldwide and is a privately held company, with headquarters in Littleton, Colorado. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1170093/SCRAM_CAM.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1170092/ScramSystems_Logo.jpg A Conroe man was arrested by constables deputies last week after he was allegedly found with hundreds of peoples credit cards and counterfeit driver licenses in a case apparently being investigated by a federal agent. In the course of a local law enforcement investigation, Travis Arthur Brown, 39, was also allegedly found in possession of more than 40 grams of methamphetamine and tools used for drug distribution, along with a couple of misdemeanor warrants. He was arrested a second time last week after bonding out and being found carrying even more meth, according to Montgomery County Precinct 2 Constables Deputy Tom Wolff. Brown is facing one count of possession of a controlled substance, between 1 and 4 grams, a third-degree felony, according to public information available Tuesday afternoon. He is also being charged with another undisclosed felony from an arrest warrant, according to jail records. Around 6:15 p.m. Thursday, constables deputies responded to a family disturbance call on Florida Park in the River Plantation subdivision. No violence or violent threat was found by deputies, but Brown was taken into custody after he was found to have arrest warrants on him. As he was being taken into custody, Brown was found with 3 grams of meth, along with a check he allegedly stole from a neighborhood mail box, according to the Pct. 2 Constables Office. Refusing to allow deputies to search his room, they returned with a search warrant as Brown was being booked at the Montgomery County Jail. Deputies seized thousands of pieces of mail from hundreds of people, including credit cards, credit card statements, retirement account information and fraudulent Texas drivers licenses, according to Precinct 2. They also confiscated a large commercial-grade printer, an ID card printer, blank checks, computers and external memory sticks. Also seized, were 40 grams of meth and marijuana, pills, scales, drug-packaging material, as well as about $2,000 in cash, according to the constables office. Deputies learned a federal agent has been investigating stolen mail in the area. The constables office is working with federal law enforcement to return all mail and notify everyone affected. Additional charges against Brown are expected as the investigation continues, according to Precinct 2. On Friday after Brown had bailed out of jail, another disturbance call was made out of his home and responding deputies stopped him as he was leaving the subdivision. Deputies found 3 grams of meth and took him into custody, Deputy Wolff said. As of Tuesday afternoon, he remains at the Montgomery County Jail on a $10,000 bond, according to jail records. jose.gonzalez@chron.com twitter.com/jrgzztx Srinagar: In a major breakthrough, the security forces on Tuesday gunned down two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists following a fierce encounter in Srinagars Nawakadal area. One of the terrorists has been identified as Junaid Sehrai, son of hardline separatist and Tehreek-e-Hurriyat chairman Ashraf Sehrai, according to news agency PTI, which quoted the J&K Police as saying. The encounter broke out after security forces cordoned off the area after a tip-off about the presence of terrorists in the area. The firing started during a combing operation that followed last night. Two weapons and several rounds of ammunition were recovered from near the slain terrorists. Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbag Singh confirmed the identity of the slain terrorists and told reporters that Junaid was wanted in multiple criminal cases. In last nights operation, two terrorists were killed. They have been identified as Junaid Ashraf Khan from Srinagar and Tariq Ahmed Sheikh from Pulwama. Junaid is the youngest son of Hurriyat chairman Mohammed Ashraf Khan, the Jammu and Kashmir DGP said. Two security forces personnel were earlier injured in the encounter with the terrorists in the Nawakadal area, the Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Tuesday. The encounter began around 2 am and there was a lull in firing for about five hours after that. A fresh contact was established with the terrorists around 8 am, the police said. The official said mobile internet and mobile telephony services, except on BSNL postpaid, were snapped in the city as a precautionary measure. Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen has suffered most losses in this year's anti-terror operations, according to the official figures. Of the total 69 terrorists killed so far, 22 belonged to Hizbul, which included some of the top commanders of the terror outfit. As per the data available, in the rapid anti-terror operations launched by Jammu and Kashmir's security grid in Kashmir this year, the terror outfits suffered a major blow as it lost its 22 terrorists, with latest being Riyaz Naikoo. The month of April turned out to be extremely deadly for these terrorists. A data compiled by the Jammu and Kashmir Police stated that a total of 69 terrorists, associated with various outfits, have been killed in Kashmir since January 2020 in the anti-terror operations launched by security agencies. Of the 69 terrorists, identification of 20 could not be done. It is believed that at least 20 foreign terrorists, who managed to sneak into this side of the Line of Control early last year, were eliminated by security forces in various encounter operations. Out of the total 69 terrorists, 18 died in the Jammu region while 47 were killed in Kashmir. The official record states that all 20 local terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen, six of Lashkar-e-Toiba, 11 of Jaish-e-Mohammad, 3 of Ansar Gazwat and three of Islamic State were neutralised by security forces. Last week, Hizbul suffered a blow when its top commander Riyaz Naikoo was killed during an encounter by Indian forces in Handwara's Beighpora village. 19.05.2020 LISTEN Introduction The shock of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has been a global concern due to the numerous impacts it has had on business activities, national output, economic growth, and development. Since mid-January 2020, COVID-19-related issues have caused many changes in Ghana of which its impact on the transport and maritime industry cannot be underestimated. Marine-related business activities (MRBAs) play a key role in the transport and logistics industry and its importance to the Ghanaian economy can be reiterated. According to Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), the nation depends heavily on the maritime industry for its socio-economic development. Evidence from the recent partial lookdown of Ghana has brought bare the pivotal role of MRBAs in areas such as imports of food supplies, COVID-19-related test kits, and tools required for building a resilient economy. It is must be noted that MRBAs would equally be key in the post-COVID-19-contained era because marine-related services provide a chunk of services and commodities necessary for human survival. Hence, there must be a concerted effort to ensure that there is safety, security, efficiency, and sustainability in MRBAs [including transporting goods, services, and people through marine routes] and the marine sector. This will help create viable conditions to protect Ghanas international seaborne trade and facilitate the exploration of marine resources such as oil and gas to ensure a vibrant and sustainable maritime sector. For this reason, the government has set a National Maritime Authority (NMA) with the sole purpose to regulate, monitor and co-ordinate activities of the maritime industry (GMA, 2002). Though the industry has achieved some success, there is still a lot to do due to the numerous challenges faced in the maritime industry. Despite the efforts and measures put in place by the government to promote growth of maritime activities, there are myriads of challenges faced by the marine industry in Ghana which hinder the ability to explore fully benefits therein. The challenges include long waiting times, bad and or unavailability of infrastructure, insecurity, under-utilization of water ways, bad weather, low level of technology, and high accidents (GPHA, 2018). Many of these problems persist due to the lack of funds to carry out relevant activities (GhanaWeb, 2020). The unavailability of funds impedes on the smooth operations of the maritime industry. For the industry to unearth the full potential of the marine sector and benefits therein, it is paramount to set up a national maritime fund. A national maritime fund would be beneficial in many ways as explained as follows: Thought-provoking research Research and development are widely considered the backbone of sustained lucrative businesses. Despite efforts and progress made, Ghanas maritime sector is plunged in several inefficiencies. Long waiting times, unsolved security issues, constant under-utilization of water ways, inability to capture wholly and make provisions on bad weather, continual use of low level of technology, and high accidents are among many inefficiencies in the maritime sector for which advanced scientific research would help solve. Though such advanced research holds much promise, it requires funding. The establishment of a national maritime fund would, thus, be instrumental in financing the advanced researches necessary in developing sustainable solutions. A combination of sufficient funding, result-oriented researchers and novel methodologies would result in solutions that leads to drastic decrease waiting times, solve security issues, maximize the utilization of water ways, capture and inculcate wholly weather-related determinants, development and deployment of advanced technology, and preferably eliminate accidents. Expansion of ports and harbors The ports and harbors in Ghana are not large enough to be able to contain larger vessels and in high volumes of goods demanded and supplied. Therefore, setting up a national maritime fund would ensure that there are enough funds to undertake developmental projects tailored to expanding the capacity of the ports and harbors. This will help to increase trade competitiveness. The pace of growth in international trade requires that goods and services must be transported to targeted destinations within the shortest possible time. To enhance trade competitiveness, there is a need to upgrade and expand ports and harbors in the country to competitive standards that will increase capacity to transport and clear high volumes of goods in high-speed times. Most of exports and imports in the country rely heavily on marine transports. Hence, investing in it [via funds drawn from a national maritime fund] to expand Ghanas ports and harbors to be able to accommodate huge vessels irrespective of the number and size is laudable. This can go a long way to reduce delays and congestion in our ports and harbors. Acquisition of modern technology The strength in marine transport depends heavily on the ability of Ghana to install essential and sophisticated technologies, and security equipment in all aspects of MRBAs. The provision and acquisition [with funds from a national maritime fund] of recent advanced technologies will enhance the adoption, and corresponding implementation of high-level security measures, and optimization of MRBA-related event logs. This will increase efficiency in MRBAs. The use of modern, and advanced technologies, and highly-secured equipment would minimize piracy [either theft, omission, or commission] in MRBAs, oil fields and illegal invasion on waters by both foreigners and citizens. This would help the government and NMA monitor, and coordinate all MRBAs as well as minimize security threats on marine-activity-induced water bodies. It also saves the country of billions in revenue that hitherto could have been unaccounted for or misappropriated on MRBAs. Expansion in modes of transport Marine transport has been one of the oldest modes of long-distant transport for both freight and people. When proper measures [via the utilization of national maritime fund] are put in place, people can travel around the both within Ghana and to other neighboring countries through ships, boats, and ferries at a minimal risk. Recently, there are large and high-speed vessels that has made marine transport a better alternative to other transport modes due to its speed and ability to carry bulky and heavy goods. It is considered one of the cheapest transport modes as compared to air and road transports. The establishment of national maritime fund would aid the development and utilization of well-coordinated marine transport system. Employment Investing in marine transport would open avenue for expansion and high productivity in marine industry. This will attract more investors and create opportunity for employment in the marine industry. It could be used as avenue to attract tourist and promote tourism in Ghana which is a panacea for creating more jobs. Aside creating employment, Ghana can increase its revenue by investing in the marine industry because many vital industries in the country depend heavily on marine services to run their routine activities. Improve international relation and trade Improved MRBAs made possible with the establishment and availability of a workable national maritime fund would help promote trade between Ghana and her trade partners. This will help to strengthen Ghanas relations with the international community. It will attract other nationals and their MRBAs to to Ghanas ports and harbors. The availability of sophisticated equipment [procured via the national maritime fund] in the countrys harbors will attract MRBAs from neighboring countries which will help boost revenue from MRBAs for Ghana. Sustainability Finally, investing in maritime activities will help ensure sustainability, especially through the adoption of highly effective and efficient practices. Environmental sustainability has been a global concern and Ghanas ability to achieve highly sustainable marine industry relies on her ability to invest in sustainable technologies and realizable policy-making. Therefore, setting up a national maritime fund will ensure that there are enough funds available to be used in ensuring highly sustainable activities in the marine industry. In sum, Ghana recognizes the roles played by marine industry and the impact it has had on economic growth and development. Nonetheless, inadequate funding in the marine industry has impede a smooth marine system in Ghana, and its rippling effect on economic growth are many. The worst of it is the rippling effect it has on government revenue and the aggregate economy. Therefore, this calls for government to set up a national maritime fund that will enable an efficient and effective maritime system in Ghana. References GhanaWeb. (2020). Ghana needs maritime security fund Naval Capt . RTD Kamal. Retrieved from https://www.ghanaweb.com/ GMA. (2002). Ghana Maritime Authority Act. Retrieved from http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha93382.pdf GPHA. (2018). Experts call on government to invest more in maritime security in order to sustain Ghanas reputation in trade. Retrieved from https://www.ghanaports.gov.gh is the Executive Director at the Centre for International Maritime Affairs (CIMAG). He holds a bachelor degree in Integrated Development Studies from the University of Development Studies. He holds an LLB (Law) from the Mountcrest University College and a postgraduate certificate in Health Safety & Environment. He holds a certificate of proficiency in customs procedures & port operations. Currently, Albert is a Director in charge of Business Development at the Logical Maritime Services Limited, a privately held global logistics company. With extensive research, policy and advocacy backgrounds, Albert serves on numerous boards within the maritime industry. E-mail: [email protected] . BISMARK AMEYAW (Ph.D.) is the director of research and advocacy at the Centre for International Maritime Affairs (CIMAG). He is a director of international relations and research development at the African Center for Strategic Business and Entrepreneurship Development (ACSBED). Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. According to a new study published by Polaris Market Research the global magnetic sensors market is anticipated to reach USD 4,680.3 million by 2026. The growing acceptance of e-compasses owing to their competence to improve the navigation experience of the users is anticipated to mount the application of magnetic sensors in automobiles during the coming years. Moreover, the implementation of these sensors is rising in consumer electronics application such as smart phones, and tablets, which is expected to propel the opportunities of magnetic sensors in the consumer electronics segments during the forecast period In the end-user segment, for consumer electronics market for magnetic sensors is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This growth is attributed to its wide usage for navigation purpose in smartphones as in the modern day, almost every smartphone is integrated with e-compass. In smartphones, e-compass acts as a digital compass providing positioning of the smartphone concerning Earths magnetic field thus, facilitating the smartphone to sense the precise direction. Get sample copy of this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/magnetic-sensors-market/request-for-sample The market in Asia Pacific and Europe together contributed the highest share. The presence of large automotive sector in European countries and consumer electronics manufacturers in Asia Pacific is bolstering the market growth. The emerging economies of Asia Pacific region such as China, India and other Southeast countries are contributing to the market growth with the increasing spending capability of population resulting in increased demand for consumer electronics, cars, gaming devices and others. For instance, sale of cars in China surpassed the sales of US. Also, the semiconductor industry of Asia Pacific region is growing at a high pace thus, propelling the market growth for magnetic sensors. Major companies profiled in the report include Elmos Semiconductor AG, Baumer Ltd., Honeywell International, Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, NVE Corporation, Allegro Microsystems, Inc., Infineon Technologies AG, Melexis Corporation, austriamicrosystems AG (AMS), and NXP Semiconductors among others. However, the constant decrease in the average selling price of magnetic sensors components is restricting the entry of new players in the market. Complete Summary with TOC Available @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/magnetic-sensors-market Key Findings from the study suggest Asia Pacific and European region is expected to command the market over the forecast years. APAC is presumed to be the fastest growing market, developing at a CAGR of more than 38% over the forecast period. The magnetic sensors market is presumed to develop at a CAGR of over 8.2% from 2018 to 2026. The consumer electronics and automotive segment is presumed to display the speediest development. The increasing implantation of magnetic sensors in several consumer electronics including budget smartphones, as well as growing demand for smart watches and fitness bands is driving the growth in APAC region. Magnetic Sensors Market Size and Forecast by Type Anisotropic Magneto-Resistive (AMR) Magnetometer Giant Magneto Resistance (GMR) Magnetometer Tunnel Magneto Resistance (TMR) Magnetometer Hall Effect Magnetic Sensors Market Size and Forecast by Technology Low Field Sensor Earth Field Sensor Bias Magnetic Field Sensor Magnetic Sensors Market Size and Forecast by End-user Automotive Aerospace & Defense Consumer Electronics Healthcare Energy & Power Industrial Others Magnetic Sensors Market Size and Forecast by Regions North America U.S. Canada Europe Germany UK France Italy Asia Pacific China South Korea Japan India Latin America Brazil Mexico Middle East & Africa Avail discount on this report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/magnetic-sensors-market/request-for-discount-pricing About Polaris Market Research Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. We provide unmatched quality of offerings to our clients present globally. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for our clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve our diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide our customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Contact us- Polaris Market Research Phone: 1-646-568-9980 Email: sales@polarismarketresearch.com Web: www.polarismarketresearch.com Photo: Glacier Media Cathy Novaks phone flashed VIHA and she got a sinking feeling. The Vancouver Island Health Authority had said the previous day, when she took the drive-thru COVID-19 test, that she could call in a few days for the result. But if it was positive, theyd call her. It was, so they did, on March 16. The call was the start of an accelerating decline that brought the 60-year-old semi-retired Saanich dental hygienist to the brink of death. She spent 12 days unconscious on a ventilator and 16 days in Royal Jubilee Hospitals specially equipped coronavirus intensive care unit. At one point, one of the doctors rated her chances of survival at 50-50. It took a month in hospital before she was well enough to go home. In interviews and through notes she and her husband, John McAllister, made, the couple recounted the ordeal. Its now 10 weeks since she noticed what she thought were mild flu symptoms. Shes recovering, but is still dealing with after-effects. Theres a rash and some tremors in her hands. Please dont let your guard down prematurely. COVID-19 is real, and it doesnt discriminate," she says. You may feel indestructible, but its not just about you, its about all of us. When you take care of yourself, you take care of others. She was considered higher risk only by virtue of her age. Her health wasnt compromised in any other way, yet she still had a severe experience with the pandemic virus. She was one of 15,000 attendees at the Pacific Dental Conference March 5-7 in Vancouver, which later became known as an important vector for the virus. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has noted that 87 cases just in B.C. were identified from the conference. One incident separate from the conference sticks in her mind. She was on the SkyTrain after the conference closed on March 7. A lady three seats to my left sneezed. She was wearing a mask wait for it on her chin, not covering her nose or mouth. And she didnt cover the sneeze. I gave her an eyeball-rolling glare, but she did not look my way. I cant shake that moment in time, which feels significant to me. The chills began the following Monday, and she booked off sick from her two-day-a-week job. I started feeling uneasy, but I was thinking it could still just be regular flu. Island Health opened a testing centre at its Cook Street office and she booked an appointment there for Sunday, March 15. The call came at noon the next day. Oh my God! I have the coronavirus. What now? This COVID got super real for us. Island Health told her to keep monitoring her symptoms, and started daily calls to check on her and McAllister. Her symptoms got worse through March 18, McAllisters birthday. I felt like I was losing this battle despite all my efforts to turn it around. She decided to go to the hospital. The couple was instructed to call 911 for an ambulance. I struggled to get my yoga pants on, but was able to walk to the ambulance. Ill admit I was petrified, discouraged and not sure Id ever be returning home again, or in what condition. The ambulance pulled away and thats the last thing she remembers for weeks. She was in an induced coma from March 21 to April 2. Novak remained stable for several days and the medical team was guardedly optimistic. One doctor warned McAllister, though, that her chances were 50-50. My heart dropped, but I was glad he was being so honest and it brought me to a realization that Cathy might not be coming home. She slowly returned to consciousness in early April. All she remembers is a recurring, disturbing dream of being restrained and needing to escape. She spent a few days in a state of confusion, but her mind gradually cleared. She was constantly shocked and frightened at how weak she was. She couldnt speak for a few days and when her voice returned, she couldnt pronounce words properly. She also noticed how complicated the care routines were. Everyone entering her room had to fully suit up in protective gear, then clean everything they touched and discard all the protective gear when they left. She walked out of Royal Jubilee Hospital on April 20 15 pounds lighter into McAllisters arms. They shared the longest bear hug ever. Representatives of Israel and seven other countries met May 18 to discuss tourism in the time of pandemic and how to jump-start the tourism and aviation industries. They examined the possibilities of opening mutual borders safely. Like Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark and Greece have all started lifting coronavirus restrictions, after registering significant decreases in the number of people sick with the novel coronavirus. These countries are now puzzling out how to get their respective tourism industries back to their feet, which will require opening airports and enabling flights. Representing Israel at the discussion were senior officials from the Foreign Ministry as well as the those of tourism and health. The idea is simple: these eight countries, which seem to have successfully thwarted the spread of the coronavirus, would now like to create a travel bubble. Nationals living inside the bubble could travel freely without self-quarantine requirements. The very large majority of tourists traveling to Israel arrive to the country by air, not by land, with just a few foreign tourists reaching Israel through Jordanian or Egyptian border crossings, so Israel is greatly interested in this initiative. Still, creating a travel bubble that would include all the eight countries is probably not possible in the very near future. Instead, groups of two or three countries are likely to create small travel corridors as a start. Israel is hoping to create such a corridor with Greece and with Cyprus to begin with. Georgia, Montenegro and Seychelles could also be included. Israel is also interested in resuming flights to and from Austria, but specific talks with Vienna have not yet been initiated. A small-scale pilot project with Greece and Cyprus could come in June or in July. Several options are being considered, one of them for travelers to be checked for the coronavirus before departure as a visa condition. Several airlines have already announced flights to Israel will resume at the end of May or in June. Delta Airlines announced May 19 it expects to restart flights between New York and Tel Aviv in June on a "less than daily" basis. Israir and El Al will be operating sporadic flights at the end of May and throughout June to Berlin, Moscow, London, New York and some other destinations, a far cry from reopening regular flight routes. El Al is currently negotiating with the government on a bailout plan to prevent the companys collapse. The Israeli government has yet to change its ban on non-Israeli visitors and forcing returning national to self-quarantine for a period of 14 days. Still, the tourism sector is optimistic. Israels beach season, which had been delayed from April 1, will open on May 20, with 136 beaches opening up across the country under constant inspections by the Health Ministry. It's a first and important step in enticing foreign tourists back to the Holy Land. BOSTON, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jenzabar, Inc., a leading technology innovator in higher education serving the new student, today announced that Jenzabar Analytics has been named a finalist in the 2020 EdTech Cool Tool Awards in the Higher Education Solution category. The EdTech Awards recognize outstanding technology contributions that support the ongoing transformation of education and enrich the lives of learners. Jenzabar Analytics is a comprehensive set of analytics tools that enables higher education leaders to make data-informed decisions to achieve their goals. With highly visual, easy-to-understand dashboards, institutions can leverage data to identify trends, make projections, and discover new opportunities. Jenzabar Analytics comprises several distinct components, including Data Cloud, Financial Analytics Model, and Program Economics Analytics Model. Data Cloud empowers institutions to collect and store information from internal or external sources in a centralized cloud data lake, enabling data to be more easily analyzed. The Financial Analytics Model allows institutions to assess core key performance indicators such as their composite financial index score, operating results, and more to gain detailed insight into their financial well-being. The Program Economic Analytics Model enables institutions to dig deep into program and course performance and compare programs across the institution at the click of a button. "In today's hypercompetitive digital world, institutions must be able to personalize experiences, identify and learn from trends, and enable agile and flexible operations. The good news is that institutions have mountains of data at their fingertips that allow them to achieve these goals," said Meghan Turjanica, Product Manager for Analytics and Student Success at Jenzabar. "We are excited to be named a finalist in this award, which allows us to showcase how our data analytics solution suite can help higher education institutions harness their data to visualize and capitalize on new opportunities for growth and transformation." The EdTech Awards were established in 2010 to recognize, acknowledge, and celebrate the most exceptional innovators, leaders, and trendsetters in education technology. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the U.S.-based program is the largest recognition program in all of education technology. This year's finalists and winners were judged based on various criteria, including pedagogical workability, efficacy and results, support, clarity, value, and potential. About Jenzabar Created out of a passion for education and a vision for technology, Jenzabar offers disruptive, innovative software solutions and services that empower students' success and help higher education institutions meet the demands of the modern student. Over 1,350 higher educational campuses harness Jenzabar solutions for improved performance across campus and a more personalized and connected experience for the student. For further information, please visit www.jenzabar.com or on Twitter @Jenzabar or LinkedIn. SOURCE Jenzabar, Inc. Related Links https://www.jenzabar.com Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram Bangkok, May 19, 2020 Cambodian authorities must immediately release journalist Sok Oudom from custody, drop any charges against him, and restore his news outlets operating license, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On May 13, authorities in Kampong Chhnang City arrested Oudom, owner of the local Rithysen 99.75 FM radio station and news website, and on May 15 the Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court charged him with incitement to commit a felony, according to news reports. He is being held in pre-trial detention, according to those reports. The charges stemmed from a May 12 news broadcast aired on the station about a local land dispute, which authorities alleged incited people to encroach on state-owned land, those news reports said. If convicted, Oudom could face up to two years in jail and a fine of four million riel ($1,000), according to reports. On May 12, after that report was aired, the Information Ministry revoked Rithysen 99.75 FMs media license for allegedly disseminating news that was exaggerated, contains incitement to violence, and caused social insecurity and chaos, according to the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Voice of America. Journalist Sok Oudom should be immediately released from detention and all pending charges against him dropped, said Shawn Crispin, CPJs senior Southeast Asia representative. Cambodian authorities must stop treating independent journalists as enemies of the state. Oudom frequently reports on land disputes between local officials and farming communities, according to a statement released by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, a local nongovernmental organization. That statement said at least 12 journalists have been summoned and questioned by police for their reporting so far this year. CPJ emailed the Cambodian Information Ministry for comment, but did not immediately receive any reply. On April 7, Cambodian authorities arrested journalist Sovann Rithy on incitement charges over a Facebook post that quoted Prime Minister Hun Sen saying that local motorcycle-taxi drivers should sell their vehicles if they go bankrupt over the COVID-19 crisis, as CPJ documented at the time. Vijayawada: The state government will allow APSRTC to resume its intra/inter-state operations soon. Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy held a meeting with ministers and senior officials here on Monday and reviewed the situation with relations to Covid-19, out-of-state and daily wage labourers, and the lockdown. The CM directed that modalities be worked out to begin operating the states Road Transport Corporation services within the state and also to other states in order to resume services shortly. Services will be resumed in a phased manner and only operate from bus stand to bus stand with no passenger being allowed to board in between. All details pertaining to a passengers place of origin and destination, health status, contact number and other such details would be obtained so that passengers can be traced in case of any health issue related to Covid-19. Passengers will need to wear face masks without fail and social distancing will be maintained in the buses by operating only at half-capacity. APSRTC operations would begin once the transport of all labourers from other states stranded here to their home villages was completed. Plans to bring back people from AP stranded in metros such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai were also discussed at the meeting. The meeting also discussed allowing private travel agencies to operate their buses intra/inter-state. To help contain the spread of Covid-19, the CM instructed officials to make people more aware of the importance of disclosing their health status voluntarily, and to dispel peoples tension and fear of getting infected so that they would come forward to seek health care. He called for setting up village/ward level health clinics to provide health care to local residents and instructed officials to look for land to set them up and complete the process of setting up ward clinics by next March. Such clinics would serve people living in the jurisdiction of rural and urban local bodies, he said. The CM congratulated officials on their handling of out-of- state workers walking to their home states hundreds of miles away. He said that the state government had taken all the necessary measures to come to their rescue on humanitarian grounds and directed officials to take care of all such stranded workers. The meeting also discussed the implementation of the new directions issued by the Union ministry of home affairs on extending the lockdown till the end of the month. Two passengers are to be allowed in a car and 20 passengers in a bus. Five persons are allowed into a shop at a time and 50 people could be present at a marriage. Restaurants could start take away food following social distancing norms. All shops could be open from 7.00 am to 7.00 pm and movement of people would be restricted from 7.00 pm to 5.00 am. All employees would attend work at government departments. Signage is displayed outside Morgan Stanley & Co. headquarters in the Times Square neighborhood of New York. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images Dennis Lynch steers a mutual fund whose bets on Amazon and Zoom Video have helped it beat the market by more than 30% so far this year, but he isn't isn't ready to celebrate just yet. The Morgan Stanley Insight Fund was one of the top 10 large cap growth funds last decade, according to Morningstar, with an annualized return of 17.11%. That success has continued so far in 2020 in dramatic fashion, with the fund rising by more than a third year-to-date, according to Morningstar. Lynch described the fund's performance so far this year as "relatively fortunate." It ended last December with large positions in what proved to be hot stocks during the downturn, but there could still be challenges ahead, Lynch said. "Times like these are just so unpredictable it's not over yet. Just because the market went down and went up doesn't mean there's a beginning and an end," Lynch said. "In some way, when you're an investor, it's always a beginning. I think you need a long time to pass in order to judge whether or not you had a successful strategy or a successful period of decision marking." 'It's not all one bet' Lynch is the head of Counterpoint Global at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, which contains many funds. He said the Insight Fund serves as the "sort of our best ideas" product, and his team's goal is to "collect what we think are highly unique companies." The fund, which has more than $3 billion in assets under management, is tech and software heavy, with Amazon and Slack holding the two biggest weights as of March 31, according to the fund's website. Lynch said his investment team has a few main areas of expertise, such as tech and health care, but that a main focus is on identifying upcoming trends. "We think, in general, that markets are complex, adaptive systems. They're constantly evolving. It's partly our job to continue to adapt to try to figure out what other people are missing and identify big ideas before the rest of the world does," Lynch said. The portfolio had a 93% turnover rate during its most recent fiscal year, but Lynch said that stocks that are removed from Insight are often still held by the other funds he manages. The fund also has a 0.65% management fee, a minimum investment of $1,000 and measures itself against the Russell 3000 Growth Index. Though many of the biggest holdings are software names, Lynch said he believes the fund is well diversified within the sector. "Within software, I think there can be different end markets, demands and exposures. It's not all one bet," Lynch said. One of those software bets is on the pharmaceutical industry, in the form of Veeva Systems. The software stock is up nearly 40% year-to-date and has been a long-time holding of the fund. "At a larger level we see it as a hub for best practices and (customer relationship management) and drug development and data management for pharmaceutical companies," Lynch said. "And once you can become the company that does that well it sort of can be kind of self-fulfilling, in part. When you have all the large pharmaceutical companies already on your platform, it enables you to learn from their experiences and improve your service to them constantly." Investing in a crisis The share of Houstonians who believe the Bible is the actual word of God dropped to its lowest point in nearly 40 years, according to a new survey. The data by Rice Universitys Kinder Institute found only about 28 percent of Houstonians described the Bible as being the literal word of God. It marked the lowest share since Rice researchers first asked the question in 1982, and a precipitous drop since 2011, when roughly 42 percent of respondents said the same. Meanwhile, the share of Houstonians who believe the Bible is Gods inspired word hit its second-highest rate over the last two decades, with slightly more than half of respondents agreeing. Released Monday, the report also found continuing changes in the way Houston residents view other faith-related issues. Favorable views toward Muslims, for instance, have nearly doubled over the last decade to roughly 60 percent this year, the survey found. And opinions about gay rights have similarly shifted over time. The surveys confirm the remarkable nationwide shift in the publics support for gay rights, the reports authors wrote. The proportion of Harris County residents who were in favor of homosexuals being legally permitted to adopt children grew from 17 percent in 1991 to 62 percent today, and their support for gay marriage increased from 34 percent in 1993 to 63 percent in 2019. Also notable are the surveys findings on stances toward abortion, which the report called paradoxical. In sharp contrast with the growing support for gay rights, Houstonians attitudes toward abortion rights have remained remarkably stable, the report says. Across all the years of the surveys, area residents have continued to espouse a position that is both anti-abortion and pro-choice. The report continued: The pro-life respondents continue to be more likely than the pro-choice respondents to say that they will vote on the basis of that one issue alone, but the difference between the two groups in single-issue voting was smaller in the 2020 survey than in previous years. robert.downen@chron.com Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the government on Monday to lift some of the remaining restrictions imposed on business to halt the spread of the coronavirus, even as the country recorded a rise in infections since beginning to emerge from lockdown. In its decision, which is binding, the court said the virus "apparently is not a pandemic in Pakistan" and questioned why fighting it was "swallowing so much money". The court ordered shopping malls to be reopened if health authorities do not object, and curbs to be lifted on businesses opening on the weekends. The order was issued using the supreme court's broad authority to issue rulings "suo motu" - on its own motion - without waiting for a particular case to come before it. Pakistan has reported 42,125 Covid-19 cases and 903 deaths. While those totals are low so far compared to many Western countries, the numbers have risen sharply this month. Authorities, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, have said the rise in cases has been lower than projected estimates. Faced with the prospect of the lockdown causing economic collapse, they allowed retail markets to reopen last week in a phased lifting of a countrywide lockdown. Doctors have criticised the reopening, expressing concern that the virus could quickly spread and overwhelm the health system. "It will definitely lead to an increase in the number of cases, the number of critical cases," the secretary of Pakistan's Young Doctors' Association, Salman Kazmi, told Reuters this month. "We are concerned about pressure that will come on the hospitals." Re-opened markets were immediately packed with customers last week, with little sign of social distancing or face masks. The court said that as long as markets were open, there was no justification to shut shopping malls. It found no "justifiable rational or reasonable" basis for businesses to be ordered to shut over the weekend. "We find no reason why so much money is being spent on this coronavirus, for that, Pakistan is not the country which is seriously affected by it," the court order said. The court order came as the country's railway announced that it will resume limited train operations from May 20, and two of the four Pakistani provinces started opening public transport. With the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holidays coming up on Sunday or Monday subject to sighting of moon, the transport and retail shopping are expected to draw massive crowds. Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Lacordrick Wilson/U.S. Navy This article is co-published in conjunction with the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan independent watchdog. Late last month, barely a week after the Navys Military Sealift Command assured the public that the coronavirus was not spreading among civilian mariners, the virus ripped through the USNS Leroy Grumman, leaving nearly half the crew and 30 contractors infected, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has learned. One mariner has been hospitalized in critical condition, while a contractor died of what his family says are complications of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Mariners tell POGO that the ships leaders struggled to respond to the outbreak, potentially exacerbating the viral spread. Pressure on the Military Sealift Command is mounting after the House Armed Services Committee expressed concerns that the measures in place were not protecting the health of the crew or the public. Two of the highest-profile Navy outbreaks, on an aircraft carrier and a guided missile destroyer, were widely reported and infected at least 1,200 sailors. The Pentagons internal watchdog recently opened an investigation into the Navys response to outbreaks on its ships. (The inquiry will not address the Military Sealift Commands response, according to a spokesperson for the inspector generals office.) The outbreak on the Grumman, docked at a shipyard in Boston, spread through the crew and to contractors in a matter of days. The entire crew has been isolated in a hotel in Boston since May 2, after 22 of the 46 crew members had tested positive for COVID-19, according to mariners who spoke with POGO on condition of anonymity. POGO recently reported on the difficult situation facing merchant mariners who serve on Navy vessels with the Military Sealift Command. Since late March, they have been under a strict lockdown order, a so-called gangway up order, that alarmed mariners and their unions. Mariners told POGO that even as they were confined to their ships, the order inexplicably allowed contractors and other personnel to move on and off the ships, piercing the ships quarantine bubble, as its known in the maritime industry. A congressional committee tasked with overseeing the Navy seemed to agree. Story continues Thousands of Civilians Stuck on Navy Ships Fear They May Be Exposed to Virus While we trust that Military Sealift Command is acting in good faith to protect the workforce, we have concerns about reports that military, civilian, and contractor personnel are freely allowed on and off MSC ships, diminishing the effectiveness of the bubble MSC is trying to create, wrote Monica Matoush, Democratic spokesperson for the House Armed Services Committee, in a statement to POGO. On top of the inquiry from the committee, Military Sealift Command is now facing an escalating labor dispute. On May 18, all three unions representing the mariners have invoked arbitration after they found the commands response to a grievance they filed last month unsatisfactory, according to emails from the unions to their members and shared with POGO. The formal arbitration kicks off a long process that could end up in federal court. The unions contend that the gangway-up order should apply to everyone on the ships where merchant marines have been ordered to remain, and that if the command wont change the terms of the order, then the mariners deserve additional compensation while under the order. As part of the gangway-up order, any mariner who was on leave was immediately called back to the fleets dozens of ships, according to text of the order reviewed by POGO. In some cases, this meant merchant mariners flying from the relative safety of their homes to ports in cities considered hotspots and boarding ships where social distancing was impossible, mariners told POGO. About a month after issuing the order, as the workforce became increasingly concerned, the admiral in charge of Military Sealift Command told USNI News he thought the commands response to the coronavirus was effective. The evidence is we have been doing all the right things, Admiral Michael Wettlaufer told the publication, a day after the first cases emerged on the Grumman. The admiral failed to mention those cases to USNI News, and just days later the true extent of the virus spread on the ship would become clear. The mariner now in critical condition was on leave with his family near San Diego when he was recalled to the Grumman after the order. The middle-aged mariner flew to Boston, which was at the time a major hotspot for COVID-19, to work in the ships cramped engine room. Weeks went by and the mariners told POGO they grew frustrated with the seemingly relaxed approach the shipyard was taking toward screening the many workers boarding the ship as it was undergoing maintenance. Nearly a month after the mariner arrived in Boston, he began feeling sick and was feverish, according to one of his colleagues who requested anonymity, citing fears of retribution and a vindictive climate at the Military Sealift Command. On April 23, the mariner tested positive for COVID-19, the same day the shipyard notified the Grummans leadership that nine of its contractors had also tested positive, mariners told POGO. The mariners condition worsened, landing him in the intensive care unit, where he was placed on a ventilator, according to several of his colleagues. Back on the Grumman, workers who came in close contact with him and another ill mariner were placed in quarantine in a nearby hotel. According to mariners, work then continued on the ship, despite several crewmembers having raised concerns to the ships leadership. After nearly all of those initially placed in quarantine tested positive, the ships leadership decided to quarantine the entire crew in the hotel on May 2, eight days after the first positive tests. Since February, the Grumman has been docked at a private shipyard, run by Boston Ship Repair, for maintenance. Military Sealift Command relied on the company to screen workers as they came aboard the Grumman, but according to multiple mariners, this screening was nearly nonexistent, consisting of random infrared temperature checks and a self-reporting questionnaire. There was no social distancing being observed, no precautions at the gate until they started to check temperatures, no precautions being made by the shipyard workers as they often worked closely together due to the nature of the jobs being performed, one mariner, who wished to remain anonymous, told POGO. John Scanlon, a 60-year-old contractor working in the engine room on the Grumman, died a few days after contracting the virus, according to his family and coworkers. According to a contractor who spoke with him shortly before his death, Scanlon was concerned about the relaxed attitude of the shipyard and Military Sealift Command toward preventing the spread of the virus. Representatives of Boston Ship Repair did not reply to questions from POGO. As of May 18, the Navy is reporting a total of 2,940 positive cases across its workforce, including civilians. Mariners POGO spoke with said they felt that there wasnt a plan in place and that Military Sealift Command was being reactive rather than proactive, resulting in a wider spread of the virus among the Grummans crew. According to audio of a mid-May conference call between Military Sealift Command representatives and the quarantined mariners, the command is conducting a lessons learned review of how the Grummans outbreak was handled and what lessons can be applied to the rest of the fleet. It took half the ships civilian crew getting infected, one person in critical condition, and a contractors death, but it now seems that the Navy is taking some action. According to mariners, the ship was completely vacated on May 8 for seven days, in an attempt to ensure any traces of the virus were dead. New cleaning crews will disinfect high-touch areas throughout the ship, and staggered meal hours will prevent overcrowding in the ships mess hall. Once each member of the crew has completed the quarantine and had two negative tests, they will return to work on the ship. The Navy did not respond to requests for comment. Jason Paladino can be reached at jpaladino@pogo.org and on Twitter at @jason_paladino. Read more at The Daily Beast. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more. Television legend Bert Newton is delving into his family history after growing up without a father from an early age. Bert lost his father, Joe, when he was just 11 years old, and never had the chance to learn about his significant career in the military. But he was able to discover his own past in the SBS documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? Secrets: Television legend Bert Newton is delving into his family history after growing up without a father from an early age. Pictured on July 1, 2018 on the Gold Coast Bert visited military archives, where he learned about his father's contribution to the armed forces and his motivation for enlisting. He told TV Week his father had tried to join the military in his youth, but was unsuccessful. Joe eventually proved his bravery by enlisting to fight in World War II. 'In today's terms you could say he's a bit of a hero,' Bert said. 'He made such a wonderful contribution wanting to help Australia.' Journey: Bert (pictured with his wife, Patti, and two of his grandchildren) visited military archives, where he learned about his father's contribution to the armed forces The Logie Hall of Fame inductee uncovered tales of his father coming up against the Japanese in tough terrain in Papua New Guinea. But the military successes were overshadowed by the psychological toll the conflict had on Joe. Bert believes his father had post traumatic stress disorder, which wasn't widely known or treated at the time. Ordeal: Bert (pictured with Patti and one of his grandchildren) told TV Week his father had tried to join the military in his youth, but was unsuccessful. He eventually proved his bravery by enlisting to fight in World War II, but was left with post traumatic stress disorder As a child, he suspected something was wrong with his father because he became so withdrawn after returning from the war. 'There were many times dad wanted to be alone, and for it to be quiet,' he said. Who Do You Think You Are? season 11 premieres on SBS on Tuesday at 7:30pm DAKOTA DUNES -- Mark McCormick started developing flu-like symptoms in mid-March, while living in New Jersey. A little more than a month later, after recovering from COVID-19, McCormick accepted the position of interim CEO of Dunes Surgical Hospital in Dakota Dunes. On Monday, the 61-year-old donated his blood plasma, rich in antibodies, in hopes it could be used to treat others with the novel coronavirus. McCormick's ordeal with the virus began on St. Patrick's Day. "My mother was turning 90 a week later, but she's still got plenty of juice, and she called me to wish me a happy St. Patrick's Day," McCormick recalled. "And she said, 'You don't sound great.' And I told her I was fine. But when I hung up, I thought about it and I said, yeah, I do feel kind of ragged. And I've had that cough for two, two and a half days." That night, he woke up "burning hot," but couldn't take his temperature because he had no thermometer, and none were available for purchase. The following morning his teeth were chattering, and the chills had set in. Later in the morning he was tested for COVID-19. On Friday morning, March 20, he was told the test came back positive. He was likely the first person in the city of Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, to test positive. By the time he was diagnosed, he'd already been in bed for a while. "I stayed home and in bed probably for 10 straight days. Didn't even want to get out of bed to lay on my couch to watch TV," he said. "It was the fever, it was the chills, it was the cough and a real tight chest that hurt, and it was this real malaise and aches and pains." On March 28, his fever broke. From that point on his condition improved. Meanwhile, the Dunes Surgical Hospital had been without a CEO since December. McCormick works for United Surgical Partners International, which is one of three entities that runs the surgical hospital. He got a phone call asking if he would be willing to step in as interim CEO. "It turns out that a pandemic, and in the middle of a South Dakota winter, is not necessarily the best time to be recruiting for a CEO," McCormick said. So, having recovered from the virus, McCormick got on a plane at New York's LaGuardia Airport, arriving in Sioux City about 26 hours later, after a layover in Dallas (air service has been spotty due to the pandemic). Upon his arrival on April 20, he headed to Ave Medical Laser Spa in downtown Sioux City to be tested for COVID-19 antibodies. Ave began offering that service in April. "A couple days later, they called me and confirmed that I had both forms of the antibodies," McCormick said. "And it was interesting, I spoke to the doctor from the spa, and she said I was the first person that they'd had that actually tested positive for the antibodies." McCormick realized his blood could be medically useful to other people (in addition to himself). So-called convalescent plasma therapy, in which plasma from a person who has recovered from the virus is infused into someone who is sick, is one of the more-promising COVID-19 treatments under evaluation. The Mayo Clinic has reported that convalescent plasma "might improve your ability to recover from the disease," though the research on its efficacy is ongoing. On Monday, McCormick had an appointment at the LifeServe Blood Center in Sioux City, to donate his plasma and the antibodies it contains. The plasma, he said, could be enough to treat up to four people. "I'm really glad to do it, and hoping that I can help some patients in this area," he said. It's unclear how long the "interim" part of McCormick's tenure as the CEO of Dunes Surgical Hospital will be, but he's making the most of it -- visiting local landmarks and taking in the sights as much as possible. "I may be here for many, many months, but I'm enjoying being here, and I think some of the people are getting a kick out of me because I've been doing some exploring when I have a little bit of time," McCormick said. Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Kamal Haasan, the veteran actor is all set to don the director's hat once again for the upcoming project Thalaivan Irukkindran. As reported earlier, talented actor Vijay Sethupathi has been roped in to play a pivotal character in the much-awaited project. Recently, the sources close to the project revealed some exciting details about Vijay Sethupathi's role in Thalaivan Irukkindran. According to the reports, the much-awaited movie is a spiritual sequel to the 1992-released Kamal Haasan starring classic, Thevar Magan. If the reports are to be believed, Vijay Sethupathi is appearing as the son of Maya Thevar, the character played by Nassar in Thevar Magan. However, the team has not made an official confirmation on the reports yet. The rumour mills are also suggesting that Vadivelu and Revathi, the popular comedian and senior actress will reprise their respective characters from Thevar Magan in Thalaivan Irukkindran. The project, which is bankrolled by the renowned banner Lyca Productions, is expected to have an official launch once the lockdown ends. AR Rahman, the veteran musician has been roped in to compose the songs and background score for the project. Earlier, it was reported that Kamal Haasan will essay the lead role in Thalaivan Irukkindran, while also handling the director's role. However, the latest reports suggest that the senior actor is not playing the lead role, but is making a cameo appearance in the movie. Thalaivan Irukkindran will mark Kamal's second collaboration with Lyca Productions. The actor joined hands with Lyca for the first time, for the highly anticipated upcoming project Indian 2, which is directed by Shankar. The big-budget venture was delayed after the unfortunate accident that happened on the sets in February 2020. Later, it was rumoured that the production banner is planning to cancel their 2-film deal with Kamal Haasan following a fallout with the actor. However, Lyca Productions rubbished the rumours later. Also Read: Kamal Haasan Is All Praise For Vijay Sethupathi; Reveals What He Loves About The Master Actor! A UN agency working for the welfare of Palestine refugees has applauded India's financial support to keep its basic services operating, especially under the circumstances posed by the COVID-19 crisis. The Government of India on Monday provided USD 2 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in support of its core programmes and services, including education and health. The contribution was presented to the UN agency by the Representative of India (ROI) to the State of Palestine, Sunil Kumar. "On behalf of the agency, I would like to express my deep appreciation to the Government of India for advancing part of its contribution, which will help UNRWA address cash flow challenges," Marc Lassouaoui, chief of the Donor Relations at the UNRWA said. "The continued determination and commitment of India in support of the Palestine refugees is commendable, in particular under the current circumstances brought on us by COVID-19," he added. India had increased its annual contribution to the UNRWA from USD 1.25 million in 2016 to USD 5 million in 2019. New Delhi pledged another USD 5 million for 2020 which opens its way to become a member of the agency's advisory commission, official sources said. "On behalf of the Government of India, I would like to express my appreciation for the commendable work and endeavours carried out by the UNRWA. We believe that our contribution will support the agency's activities in providing the needed assistance to Palestinian refugees, and assist in achieving their full human development potential," Kumar said. India's contribution will support the agency's "dire" financial situation due to the funding gaps that risk its core services to the Palestinian refugees in the fields of education and health. About 3.1 million Palestine refugees depend on health services provided by the UNRWA. At the same time, the agency's schools educate 526,000 students every year, of which half are female. The agency was created in December 1949 by the UN to support the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. The UNRWA definition of refugee covers Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 War. Meanwhile, India is preparing medical supplies for the Palestinians to help them in their fight against coronavirus which is likely to arrive in Palestine soon, an official release by the Indian mission in the West Bank said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month had spoken to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas over the phone and discussed the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Modi had appreciated efforts being made by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to protect its population and assured all possible support from India. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had later talked to his Palestinian counterpart, Riad Malki, and reiterated India's commitment to support Palestine in its battle against the global pandemic. So far, 554 COVID-19 positive cases have been detected in the West Bank under PA and east Jerusalem, with two casualties. Twenty people were found infected with the virus in Gaza, of which 14 are said to have recovered. Separately, 17 agreements have been signed under an India-Palestine development partnership between the two sides in the fields of agriculture, health care, information technology, youth affairs, consular affairs, women empowerment and media in the past five years. New Delhi is to provide an assistance of around USD 72 million through these agreements in projects like the post-2014 war reconstruction efforts in Gaza, construction of five schools, setting up a centre of excellence for information and communication technologies at Al-Quds University and developing a satellite centre in Ramallah. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Since the signing of a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban, civilian casualties in Afghanistan have increased compared to previous years, according to a new United Nations report. The mounting civilian toll belies U.S. expectations that the peace deal would lead to reduced violence in the war-ravaged country. Civilian casualties caused by Afghan government and Taliban attacks in April increased by more than a quarter when compared to the same month last year, according to the report by the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). That increase was steeper when it came to civilian casualties caused by Afghan government operations. Those operations caused 172 civilian casualties, 38% more than the previous year. Taliban attacks caused 208 civilian casualties, 25% more than in April 2019. The report is a provisional tally and did not break down the numbers of dead and injured. The Taliban rejected the United Nations report, tweeting that it was based on "propaganda." Afghanistan's National Security Council said in a statement: "We note the provisional report by UNAMA and underscore that Government's findings from the field demonstrate that the Taliban and their aligned terrorist groups are responsible for the vast majority of the civilian casualties in Afghanistan." The council added: "These heinous attacks occurred after the U.S.-Taliban deal in Doha and the Taliban's commitment to decrease violence, because the Taliban see terrorism as the only path." Violence in Afghanistan began to spike almost immediately after the peace deal was signed at the end of February. The deal called for a halt to offensive operations by the United States and the Taliban against each other. Afghan forces largely went on the defensive until last week, when Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called on his forces to resume an offensive footing after a brutal attack on a Kabul maternity ward. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Afghan officials blame the Taliban, while U.S. officials say the Islamic State is to blame. The United Nations and human rights groups warn that if the violence continues, civilian casualties probably will increase. Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said she is concerned that as all parties to the conflict become more desperate, "less attention will be paid [on all sides] to the measures needed to prevent civilian casualties." And on the part of the Afghan government, that could be exacerbated as U.S. forces withdraw. "While we criticize the United States for not investigating" and not taking enough measures to prevent civilian casualties, the Afghan government has performed worse, she said. Off the battlefield, negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban have stalled because of a prisoner swap. Afghan commanders on the ground say they believe the increase in Taliban attacks is aimed at pressuring the Afghan government to release more prisoners. Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, is in Doha, the Qatar capital, and will soon travel to Kabul to attempt to revive talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Tensions between U.S. officials and Taliban leaders have also cast doubt on the peace deal. The U.S. military command in Kabul says the peace deal included an oral agreement to reduce violence by 80%, and Taliban officials say U.S. airstrikes in defense of Afghan forces are a violation. While U.S. officials were careful to note that the peace deal signed with the Taliban was not expected to reduce violence to zero, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in March he expected the period of reduced violence that preceded the deal's signing to continue and for violence to "taper off" further. Overnight and into Tuesday morning, Taliban fighters launched a fierce assault on the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. The Afghan Defense Ministry said 40 Taliban fighters were killed in the clashes and that the Afghan air force carried out airstrikes. Local officials said the number of civilian casualties is not yet clear. A U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with department policy, said American forces had "not conducted any defensive strikes in support of Afghan forces in Kunduz in the last 24 hours." The city is expected to be a key barometer of the ability of Afghan forces to defend territory with less U.S. support. Over the past five years, Kunduz has repeatedly been overrun by Taliban fighters, who were only repelled by intense U.S. air support of Afghan ground forces. Afghanistan saw periods of record high civilian casualties in 2019 as peace talks gained traction and both sides sought to translate battlefield victories into negotiating-table leverage. More than 3,400 civilians were killed in 2019 and nearly 7,000 injured, according to the United Nations. --- The Washington Post's Sharif Hassan in Kabul contributed to this report. WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Yajima Industry Company Ltd., with specialty in lightweight automotive and aerospace products and components and supplier to Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc., announces the establishment of Yajima USA, located in the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette. Yajima specializes in the production of sheet metal pressed products using an integrated system from product design to production, including the die design and its production within the group of Yajima Industry, which are the strengths of the company. Yajima is located at 944 Niino-cho, Ota-shi, Gunma 373-0032, Japan. Yajima also provides special products and components to the motorsports aftermarket by making use of its technology to design and produce innovative, lightweight automotive and aerospace parts. The founding of Yajima USA in the Purdue Research Park and its association with Purdues Composites Manufacturing Simulation Center is another example of the success of the Purdue Research Foundations efforts to bring high-technology companies to Indiana to promote the economic vitality of the state of Indiana and the region, said Brian Edelman, president of the Purdue Research Foundation. The Yajima USA office is located at 1281 Win Hentschel Blvd., West Lafayette, and will focus on development of lightweight parts and components to proactively take advantage of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites and noncombustible magnesium alloy parts. Yajima USA was attracted to West Lafayette by the combined presence of Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA), the home of North American production for the Ascent, Impreza, Legacy and Outback models, and of Purdue Universitys Composites Manufacturing Simulation Center (CMSC), located in the Indiana Manufacturing Institute in the Purdue Research Park. The Composites Manufacturing Simulation Center was founded in the College of Engineering in 2015 as an affiliate of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, one of the national manufacturing centers of excellence of the United States Department of Energy with the goal of developing model-based engineering methods for composites manufacturing in the automotive and wind energy industries. We are especially pleased to be a partner with Yajima USA as the company establishes a presence in the United States with the goal of supplying products produced with advanced composites of carbon fiber in support of Subaru of Indiana and the growing aerospace products industries in the U.S. and Japan, said R. Byron Pipes, executive director of CMSC at Purdue. The goals of the Purdue CMSC are to develop a comprehensive set of simulation tools that connect advanced composites from their birth in manufacturing to their lifetime prediction; to advance the certification of composite products by analysis validated by experiments; to teach the use of these tools to the future generations of engineers; and to work with industry, academia, and government to put these tools in the hands of current engineers with the goal of developing weight-savings in advanced vehicle development. Joint Yajima-Purdue CMSC programs are being developed to support the design and manufacturing simulation of products for the automotive and aerospace industries with Yajima USA personnel located in West Lafayette with professional personnel and advanced students of CMSC. "Yajima's decision to make Indiana its U.S. headquarters supports the long-standing tradition of Japanese manufacturers choosing to grow in our state," said Indiana Secretary of Commerce Jim Schellinger. "The establishment of Yajima USA in Purdue Research Park is the perfect match with its proximity to SIA, the Indiana Manufacturing Institute and other aerospace and automotive manufacturing companies. Yajima USA joins more than 300 Japanese business facilities in the state, and we're excited to watch them grow their operations and workforce in West Lafayette." The Indiana Economic Development Corporation is working with the company on a conditional incentive package. About Purdue Research Foundation The Purdue Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation created to advance the mission of Purdue University. Established in 1930, the foundation accepts gifts; administers trusts; funds scholarships and grants; acquires property; protects Purdue's intellectual property; and promotes entrepreneurial activities on behalf of Purdue. The foundation manages the Purdue Foundry, Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization, Purdue Research Park, Purdue Technology Centers and University Development Office. In 2020, the IPWatchdog Institute ranked Purdue third nationally in startup creation and in the top 20 for patents. The foundation received the 2019 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Award for Place from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. For more information on licensing a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization at otcip@prf.org. For more information about involvement and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at foundry@prf.org. For more information about setting up a presence at Purdue, possibly in the Purdue Research Park or Discovery Park District, contact the PRF Economic Development Office at parksinfo@prf.org. Purdue Research Foundation media contact: Chris Adam, 765-588-3341, cladam@prf.org Sources: Brian Edelman, beedelman@prf.org Byron Pipes, bpipes@purdue.edu 1 of 2 India's Covid-19 tally cross 1 lakh, death toll at 3,163 India reported 4,970 new cases of Covid-19 and 134 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the tally past the 100,000-mark, the Union health ministry said today. Latest figures released by the ministry of health and family welfare shows 1,01,139 coronavirus cases in the country, including 58,802 active cases, 39,173 cured cases, 3,163 deaths and one migrated case. With 35,058 confirmed novel coronavirus cases, Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state in the country. According to the latest data from the Union Health Ministry, the state has reported 1,249 COVID-19 deaths so far. As many as 8,437 patients have recovered. With 11,760 confirmed novel coronavirus cases, Tamil Nadu is now the second most-affected state in the country. According to the latest data from the Union Health Ministry, the state has reported 81 COVID-19 deaths so far. As many as 4,406 patients have recovered. With 11,745 confirmed novel coronavirus cases, Gujarat is now the third most-affected state in the country. According to the latest data from the Union Health Ministry, the state has reported 694 COVID-19 deaths so far. As many as 4,804 patients have recovered. Latest bulletin by the Delhi government shows 500 new cases of coronavirus was reported in the capital in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 10,554. The tally includes 5,638 active cases and 166 deaths. 55 police personnel of Maharashtra police have tested positive for Covid-19, in the last 24 hours. Total number of positive cases in the police force in the state is now 1328: ANI quoting Maharashtra Police. One more death and 128 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in Rajasthan till 2.00 pm today. Total confirmed cases in the state have risen to 5,757. This includes 139 deaths, 3,232 recovered and 2,386 active cases. Read More... (Newser) Li Jingzhi quit her job to search for her 2-year-old son after he was abducted from a hotel near their home in Xian, the capital of China's Shaanxi province, in 1988. She put up more than 100,000 flyers in 10 provinces and municipalities, and when that didn't work, she joined a volunteer group, eventually helping to reunite 29 lost or missing children with their families. But her day was still to come. And on Mother's Day, Li received "the best gift I have ever got," per the BBC. Police in April had learned about a boy of the correct age who'd been sold to a childless couple in Mianyang, Sichuan provinceabout 370 miles from the home of Li and her husband, Mao Zhenjingfor 6,000 yuan, or $845 in today's dollars, reports the Guardian. Facial recognition was used to trace the man, who was confirmed as Mao Yin through a DNA test, per CNN. story continues below Renamed Gu Ningning, the 34-year-old home decorator plans to spend several days with his biological parents, whom he met at a police news conference in Xian on Monday, per the BBC. An emotional video published by the South China Morning Post shows Gu running into the waiting arms of Li, whom he'd previously seen on TV, pleading for the return of her son. Mao joins in the hug as tears stream down both parents' faces. He'd been taking his son home from nursery school on Oct. 17, 1988, when they stopped at a hotel so the toddler could get a drink of water. The boy vanished as his father was attempting to cool the hot water he'd been offered. "I would like to thank the tens of thousands of people who helped us," Li says, per the Guardian. "I can't believe that after helping 29 missing children find their families, I am able to find my own son." (Read more uplifting news stories.) Museums of all sizes around China have recently been hosting virtual tours, opening up new possibilities in the field of public cultural services. The National Museum of China launches an online exhibition marking the 50th anniversary of the successful launch of the DFH-1 satellite. According to the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), museums across the country rolled out over 2,000 online exhibitions during the Spring Festival holiday, attracting 5 billion online viewers. The NCHA announced that related activities to mark this year's International Museum Day, which falls on May 18, will be integrated with offline events for the first time, and these events will be live-streamed via the internet all through the day. Hosting online exhibitions has become a new trend for museums seeking to offer cultural services, with virtual tours allowing viewers to take a 360-degree look at some exhibits. Using technologies including virtual reality, the world-famous Palace Museum in Beijing has launched a virtual tour named Panoramic Palace Museum, allowing travelers to roam around all the major places of interest within the historical treasure, including those not open to the public, opening up a vast new field of cultural offerings to visitors. Chinese museums such as the National Museum of China and the Nanjing Museum have rolled out live-streaming services on popular online platforms like TikTok and Taobao, while the Capital Museum has launched a broadcast program, ensuring that a much wider section of the population has access to public cultural services. Meanwhile, active participation by professionals including curators, scholars and cultural experts has popularized knowledge related to the cultural treasure troves. Chinese museums will continue to focus on promoting digital transformation, as it is now seen as becoming an irreversible trend for museums around the world. Although you could say that its priceless, considering how important the lightbulb is these days.The patent was part of a collection that included 37 original British Patent Letters for the technology, as well as four patents for Joseph Swan. Swan was originally Edisons competitor in developing the lightbulb, and both of them received patents for their respective versions in 1879. However, the technology could not be commercialized unless the patents were combined, so the two joined forces and formed the Edison-Swan Company.That company held both patents and was able to bring electric light to the masses. The collection that recently sold at auction is thought to be the original patent archive for the company. It also includes 37 original British Patent Letters related to the technology. Rocky start as distance education gets going THAILAND: The rollout of state distance learning television (DLTV) and online classrooms got off to a bumpy start yesterday (May 18) as children could not tune in to the broadcast, had no internet connection or were even led to online advertisements instead of school programmes. CoronavirusCOVID-19 By Bangkok Post Tuesday 19 May 2020, 09:01AM A student takes part in an online learning trial which kicked off yesterday (May 18) to ready students for returning to school on July 1. Photo: Apichit Jinakul. The problems not only caused many families to get up early to set up their TVs and computers for nothing, but also caused doubts among some students who were earlier told their semester would begin on July 1. People also took to social media to vent, with the hashtag # [online learning] ranking first on Twitter. The day-long confusion led Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to clarify the distance learning programme, saying it is only intended to help deal with the long wait before schools reopen, government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat said yesterday. The 2020 academic semester was supposed to begin yesterday, but the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the Education Ministry to postpone that date to July 1, fearing schools could serve as epicentres of virus transmission. We were only running an online teaching trial to prepare our students, Office of Basic Education Commission secretary-general Amnat Wichayanuwat said yesterday. It is not official teaching. Officials gave 1.5 months from May 18 to June 30 to organise distance learning for students of all levels. Kindergarten, elementary school and junior high school students are encouraged to keep abreast of their subjects on TV while senior high school can pursue their studies on the internet. But that was impossible for Chari Mueangkhlongnoi, a mother of four in Chai Nat, who said her house has no computers, smart phones or internet. We have only one television, said Ms Chari. Also her children are in different grades, meaning they cannot study at the same time. Her family also cannot afford to buy smart phones for all of the children. A Mathayom 3 (Grade 9) student in Songkhlas Hat Yai district said he was eager to study at 8.30am, but when he turned on the TV channel for 9th graders, he was only greeted with commercial ads. The boy decided to shift platforms, going to his smart phone and then laptop. All I saw was a circle spinning as the page was loading, he said. I waited for nearly one hour for nothing. My friends also faced similar problems. Some families could access the online broadcast but, Sayan Bunsom, a parent in Narathiwat, said it was difficult for small children to concentrate. Education Minister Nataphol Teepsuwan said officials prefer learning at schools, but they need to have a contingency plan in case it is still too dangerous to open them, as they are categorised in the red group with the highest risk of COVID-19 outbreak potential. If such an outbreak occurs, online teaching will be a good alternative for teachers and students who can access the internet, he said. Schools with limited facilities may need to conduct class in small groups to comply with social-distancing guidelines, the minister said. Thailand currently suffers from an education disparity gap, with only 400 schools fully capable of meeting all of the the state education policies, said Somphong Chitradap, a childrens education expert at Chulalongkorn Universitys Faculty of Education. The latest screen-time related research from Dr. Pooja Tandon, a child health and development expert at Seattle Children's Research Institute, was inspired by her oldest son. When my son entered middle school, I learned that students in many middle and high schools were allowed to have their phones with them at all times. I looked into this a bit more and found that even in schools where policies limited use during class, cell phones could still be used unrestricted during lunch and recess." Dr. Pooja Tandon, child health and development expert at Seattle Children's Research Institute This struck Tandon, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, whose research focuses on promoting healthy active and outdoor play for children and teens. "My fellow pediatricians and I follow guidelines that recommend children and teens enjoy two hours of age-appropriate recreational screen time a day," she said. "Yet, many children may be spending most of their waking hours in school with what could be unsupervised and unrestricted access to their phones." First national snapshot of school cell phone policies To better understand cell phone policies and practices at middle and high schools in the U.S., Tandon and her colleagues at the research institute's Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, conducted a survey of public schools serving grades 6-12. The survey sent to over 1,100 school principals, representing a national sample of schools across the U.S., asked questions about the presence of a cell phone policy for students and staff and restrictions on phone use. Additional questions addressed consequences of policy violation, the use of cell phones for curricular activities and principals' attitudes toward cell phone policies. The results of their survey now published in JAMA Open Network offer the first national snapshot of school cell phone policies. Of the 210 schools responding to the survey, 97% of middle schools and 91% of high schools reported having a cell phone policy for students. A notable percentage - 33% of middle schools and 69% of high schools - did not restrict phone use during lunch or recess. "Schools have a unique opportunity to create predictable screen-free time for children," Tandon said. "Limiting phone use during the entire school day could significantly decrease their screen exposure." Tandon thinks such an approach could lead to benefits in the classroom like improved focus and ability to learn. From a social standpoint, limiting phone use during lunch may promote more interaction between students and for children who have recess, increase physically active play. Why screen-free schools make sense The study also lays the foundation for future research in this understudied area to help guide recommendations for screen time in schools. In the published paper, Tandon and her co-authors advise that just as schools are critical to helping children and teens meet guidelines for optimal physical activity and nutrition, they should support recommendations on screen time and media use. "Just like schools are encouraged to help students achieve the recommended 60 minutes per day of physical activity, they have a role to play in helping children limit their screen time exposure," Tandon said. Getting teacher and parent buy-in While an overwhelming 90% of principals responding to the survey agreed that cell phone use policies should exist at both middle and high schools, Tandon recognizes that restricting cell phone use during the school day requires trade offs for schools and parents. "We know that a lot of teachers use phones as part of their lessons, so it would be important to understand their attitudes toward student cell phone use too," she said. "Getting the support of the parent community can't be assumed either. Many parents want to be able to reach their children at school on their cell phones." One argument she often hears from parents about limiting technology use and screen time in general is that children need to learn how to moderate consumption since screens and digital media are ubiquitous. "I acknowledge that we need to teach our children to be responsible digital citizens and that teaching them to be responsible users isn't accomplished by blocking technology completely," Tandon said. Tips for parents With the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tandon acknowledges that screen time is likely up for everyone as phones and technology are helping many people stay connected. She says in any case, it's helpful for families to have some parameters around cell phone use. Below, Tandon offers a few tips for parents when it comes to reducing their child or teen's cell phone use during the school day or when at home. Make family cell phone rules: "Parents are generally encouraged to set limits around screen time," Tandon said. "Rules like no cell phone use in the car or during homework or meals are good ones to add to your family's list." Create "tech free" times for the whole family so parents can model this for their children. Keep cell phones away: Even if it's not the policy at your child's school, encourage them to keep their cell phone away in their backpack or locker for the school day. They can then access it after school. Explore parent controls: Especially for younger teens, consider parental controls (through phone settings or apps) around what content they can access to make sure it is age appropriate. Consider limiting access to social media. Keep cell phones out of bedrooms: Place cell phones out of arms reach, especially at night. Set up an area for charging phones either in the parents' room or another common family area. Make a plan: A family media use plan can help balance your families' on- and offline activities. The International Criminal Court on Monday rejected a demand for compensation by former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was acquitted of war crimes and crimes against humanity after he spent a decade in the ICC prison. The former warlord, now 57, had sought more than 68 million euros ($74 million) in compensation and damages, according to his lawyer. The court had "mismanaged" Bemba's frozen assets, including seven airplanes and three villas in Portugal, which were "simply left to rot" during the time he was jailed in The Hague, the lawyer argued. But the court ruled that Bemba had "failed to establish that he had suffered a grave and manifest miscarriage of justice," according to a press release. Bemba was initially convicted for crimes committed by his private army in the Central African Republic including murders, rapes and looting between October 2002 and March 2003. He was sentenced to 18 years at the ICC prison, but was acquitted on appeal in June 2018. The court also sentenced Bemba to one year in prison for bribing witnesses in a case that thwarted his bid for the DR Congo presidency. Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadras office continued to exchange letterr (over e-mail) and charges related to the latters plan to send 1000 buses to help transport migrants in Uttar Pradesh. The offer was made on Saturday, and accepted on Monday. But by Tuesday evening, the state government said only 879 of the 1,000 vehicles were buses, and the rest three-wheelers and other vehicles, triggering angry reactions from the Congress. Late in the evening, police booked Gandhis private secretary Sandip Singh and state Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu for allegedly providing misleading information about the buses. On Monday, the UP government asked for details of the buses. Gandhis office did this by around 8pm on Monday. In response to the list, additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi wrote back, at 11.30 pm on Monday night, asked that the buses be provided in Lucknow at 10am on Tuesday. In response, Sandip Singh wrote at 2.10 am on Tuesday: A large number of migrant labourers are stuck on the Delhi-UP border and a large crowd is seen at registration centres. Under such circumstances, sending 1,000 empty buses to Lucknow is not only a waste of time and resources, it is also inhuman and a creation of anti-poor mindset. In response, the state government asked the party to provide the buses to the district magistrates of Noida and Ghaziabad by 12 noon on Tuesday. Please refer to your letter dated May 18, 2020. As per your letter, you have shown your inability to provide buses at Lucknow and want to provide buses at the Noida and Ghaziabad borders. Under such a situation, please provide 500 buses to the district magistrate, Ghaziabad, at Kaushambi and Sahibabad bus stops by 12pm. In addition, provide 500 buses to the district magistrate, Gautam Buddha Nagar, at Expomart, said Awasthi in his letter sent to Singh on Tuesday morning. Singh responsed at 12.15 pm: Some of our buses are coming from Rajasthan while some are coming from Delhi. The process of reissuing them permits is underway. As the number of buses is high, it may take some hours. As asked by you, we will make efforts to take them to the Ghaziabad/Noida border by 5pm. He requested the state government to keep the list of passengers and route map ready by 5pm to avoid any problem in their operation, saying, This will be a historic step when the UP government and the Congress party will keep away their political reservations. Meanwhile, at 12pm, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday said that the list of 1,000 buses submitted to it for transporting migrant workers included some numbers that were of auto rickshaws. UP government spokesman and minister for MSMEs Sidharth Nath Singh accused the Congress of providing a fake list to the state government. Singh said preliminary inquiry into the Congress list had shown that the list carried registration numbers of three-wheelers. This is a three-wheeler number This is the number of a goods career. This is unfortunate. We condemn it. The Congress denied this and said its buses were stranded on the UP-Rajasthan border at Uncha Nagla in Bharatpur and requested permission to move ahead and ensure compliance with the governments directives of providing the buses to the district magistrates of Noida (Gautam Buddha Nagar) and Ghaziabad at the earliest. We are standing at UP border at Uncha Nagla with the buses for past three hours. The Agra administration is not allowing us to enter. This is the time to show sensitivity. We request you again to grant permission to allow entry of all our buses immediately so that we can move forward, Singh said in a letter to Awasthi at 3.45pm on Tuesday. An official spokesman of the state government said out of the list of 1049 vehicles provided by the Congress, 879 were found to be buses while 31 were three-wheelers and 69 registration numbers were of some other vehicles. This enraged the Congress. In its own statement, the state government has admitted 879 buses in the list have been found alright. Administration (Agra) has stopped our 500 buses for hours while 300 buses are reaching the Delhi border. Allow 879 buses to run, said Gandhi in a tweet in the evening. UP government has crossed all the limits. When there is an opportunity to do away with political differences and serve helpless migrant labourers it has caused all the hindrances. @myogiadityanath ji you can use BJP flags and your posters on these buses, but dont reject our feelings of service, she said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Weaving the gossamer fine fabric which made his hometown Chanderi famous the world over, Mohammed Dilshad says his life is in tatters with no money, no food and no work. Till a little before the lockdown started on March 25, he would be out for days at a stretch, participating in craft fairs like the Dastkar bazaar in big cities and coming back to his Madhya Pradesh home only to produce the rolls of 'chanderi' fashioned into saris, dupattas and dresses. Life had settled into a routine not an affluent existence but a comfortable one -- but that all seems in the distant past. Help has been negligible in these difficult times and even managing two meals a day is becoming a challenge, said the fourth generation Chanderi craftsperson based out of the small town, famous for its light and comfortable weaves in silk and cotton. We didn't understand the lockdown would mean no movement, no work and no money. The MP government gave rations but only rice. How can one just have rice? Dilshad told PTI over the phone. Dilshad, a National Award winning weaver, is one of the 68 lakh artisans employed by the textile handicrafts sector, bringing in Rs.36,798.20 crore through exports, according to the Ministry of Textiles' annual report for 2018-19. His crisis finds resonance in distant corners of India. Buying a curio, a sari or a folk painting has slipped right down in the list of priorities, leaving artisans like him counting each rupee and scrambling to feed their families. Part of an over Rs 24,000 crore industry, the weavers, potters, block printers, painters and a host of others represent the best of traditional craft from the length and breadth of India. Many of them, working from their villages, would sell their craft at the various bazaars and fairs in cities and to big time retailers. But the coronavirus forced lockdown, which entered its fourth phase on Monday, has ended it all The raw material in stock at their homes finished first, then the orders dried up and now, with no idea of when markets will open fully or who will buy their wares, India's artisans are counting each rupee and scrambling to feed their families. The first week was not very difficult. We had some raw material in stock and continued to work. The seriousness of the situation only hit us when we ran out of work to do, and there was no money coming in, Dilshad said. The 34-year-old -- a father of two, lives with his brother, also a Chanderi weaver, and his family -- said he received some money towards the beginning of the lockdown from a not-for-profit NGO but the money is drying up fast. The artisan community in the region, he said, had also appealed to the Weavers Service Centre in Indore for some relief. We were told our request has been forwarded to higher authorities, but we haven't heard back. Our major problem is that we don't have any rations. The nature of our work is such that we would not stay in Chanderi for more than 10 days at a stretch we make the product, and then go out to make the sales, and this circle would continue, he said. Jaya Jaitly of the Dastkaari Haat Samiti, a not for profit organisation that works with craftspersons, is worried about the future of the sector. Besides being able to return to work at the earliest, the artisans also need to make up for lost time in terms of sales, and that will be a challenge in a world with social distancing, she said. One of the most worrying things for them is what kind of marketing they will be able to do when the lockdown is lifted. What will the nature of the market be we won't have crowded bazaars, e-commerce hasn't picked up as of now, Jaitly told PTI. The handicrafts sector in the country also comprises craftspeople who practice other art forms pottery, bamboo and dokra art, and painting that might not fall under a government ministry but contribute to the country's earnings through both domestic and international sales. In the Rajasthan village of Kot Jewar, renowned for its blue pottery, an art form recognisable for its use of cobalt blue dye, Ram Narayan Prajapati, his son Vimal Kumar and their 250 odd employees face a dire tomorrow. All their orders have been cancelled and there are no takers for the products in their inventory. Prajapati and his son have collaborated with the India Craft project to make some sales and raise funds in order to help out their artisans. We have at least 50 families (over 250 individuals) of potters. All our orders have been cancelled, and we have plenty of stock, but we won't be able to sell all of it even in two years. Our artisans are finding it difficult to continue with their daily lives, Kumar said in a Facebook video directed at potential buyers. According to the India Craft project, a sum of Rs 3,000 can help an artisan household of four members with rations for up to a month. Through this campaign we hope to support 50-60 families in the Kot Jewar region, the group said in an online post. Purnima Rai, a former president of the Delhi Crafts Council, said the situation is getting worse as the lockdown progresses. When the lockdown started,there was no immediate distress they (artisans) were okay, they were at their homes, some of them had farmlands. They did not face the hardships that were being faced by, say, the migrant labourers, but now there is a lot of anxiety over whether they will be able to work again, she said. This sector not only has a huge contribution to the economy, but also provides good, sustainable livelihoods in the rural sector. It is a huge employer of people, Rai said. I have not seen them do anything at all from the ministry of textiles or others, nobody has mentioned the word craftsperson, agreed Jaitly. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Super cyclone 'Amphan' weakened into an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday but still packed enough force to pulverise coastal districts of Odisha and West Bengal where lakhs of people were evacuated from vulnerable areas and shifted to safety, officials said. As it rumbled over the Bay of Bengal 510 km off the Digha coast in West Bengal, likely charting a north- northeastward course, the two states were on high alert. The cyclonic system that spread in a diameter of 18 km on Monday expanded to 33 km on Tuesday, a meteorological department official said in Bhubaneswar, explaining that the sprawl had reduced the cyclone's intensity. The weatherman said when 'Amphan' makes the landfall between West Bengal's Digha, some 180 km from Kolkata, and Hatiya island in Bangladesh on Wednesday afternoon or evening, it will pack sustained windspeed of 155 to 165 kmph, gusting at 185 kmph. The gale-force wind, blowing at a speed of 240 to 250 kmph and gusting to 275 kmph at one point, had lost intensity and was moving at a speed of 200 to 210 kmph, gusting to 230 kmph on Tuesday evening. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said around three lakh people have been evacuated from the coastal areas in the state, while around one lakh people were shifted to cyclone shelters in Odisha. Forty-one teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), including seven reserves, have been deployed in the two states, its chief S N Pradhan said in New Delhi. Fifteen NDRF teams are deployed and five are in reserve in seven districts of Odisha, while 19 teams were actively deployed and two in reserve in six West Bengal districts, he said. The authorities were mindful of the difficulty they could face in ensuring social distancing norms at shelters following a surge in COVID-19 cases over the last few days. Due to social-distancing protocols in the wake of coronavirus, the cyclone rescue centres having a capacity to hold about 1,000 people will have only 400-500 people, Pradhan said. Pradhan said Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba chaired a meeting of the national crisis management committee (NCMC) on Tuesday to take stock of the situation. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also spoke to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee to review the preparedness for the impending cyclone. Banerjee said she will talk to the railways and ask it to not run Shramik Special trains to the state to bring back migrant labourers from Wednesday till Thursday morning as a precautionary measure. Odisha is in a state of readiness to evacuate around 11 lakh people living in vulnerable areas, officials said. The process has already started and around one lakh people have been evacuated to safety. Coastal districts of North and South 24 Parganas, and East Midnapore, including the ecologically fragile Sundarbans, in West Bengal face a serious threat of inundation and significant damage to life and property, officials said. "The evacuees have been put up at cyclone shelters, schools and colleges. Our experience in tackling cyclone Fani and Bulbul last year will be put to good use," the state's Disaster Department Minister Javed Khan said. The government, in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, has distributed more than two lakh masks among the evacuees, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) have been handed out to the State Disaster Relief Force (SDRF) personnel deployed in the vulnerable areas, a senior official said. 'Amphan' had turned into a super cyclonic storm from extremely severe cyclonic storm on Monday, only the second such tropical storm over the Bay of Bengal in two decades, before getting somewhat enfeebled. Odisha was savaged by a super cyclone in 1999 that had claimed around 10,000 lives. Officials said the storm could destroy standing crops, damage mud and thatch houses, and disrupt power and communication lines in coastal districts of the two eastern states. The IMD has advised people to remain at home and warned against opening markets in and around Kolkata on Wednesday. North and South 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly districts will experience strong winds and rainfall, regional director of the meteorological department G K Das said. "Storm surge of 4 to 5 metres above astronomical tide is likely to inundate low lying areas of South and North 24 Parganas and about 3 to 4 metres over low lying areas of East Midnapore district of West Bengal during the time of landfall," he said. These districts had suffered the most during cyclone 'Bulbul' and 'Fani' last year. A defence official said in Kolkata that the Indian Navy has dispatched a diving team for providing assistance to the West Bengal government in rescue operations. IMD Director-General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said since the cyclone is gradually weakening, its impact is unlikely to be very severe in Odisha. However, coastal districts like Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore are likely to be battered by heavy rains and high-velocity winds from Tuesday evening, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) U.S. oil prices continued rising early on Tuesday morning, the day on which the June contract expires, before falling slightly in what was a much smoother and uneventful trade compared to last months dramatic plunge into negative prices. The relatively smooth day to the expiry signals that the fundamentals with supply, demand, and storage availability have improved since last month. As of 11:42 a.m. CDT on Tuesday, prices fell back a bit with WTI Crude trading at $31.69, down by 0.41 percent on the day, while Brent Crude prices were down 0.95 percent at $34.45. Tuesdays trading session is shaping up to be a non-event, even if today is the expiry date of the front-month June contract of WTI Crude futures and a few weeks ago analysts were warning of another dip into negative prices after the U.S. benchmark prices plummeted by 300% to settle at -$37.63 per barrel a day before the May futures contract expired last month. Oil prices have been rising for two weeks, and jumped by 11 percent to a two-month high of over $32 on Monday, amid signs of demand recovery and accelerated production cuts from all oil producers. Last week, the Energy Information Administration reported a crude oil inventory decline of 700,000 barrels for the week to May 8the first drop in commercial inventories in 16 weeks. Related: Should U.S. Shale Be Worried About A Chinese Takeover? Oil demand in the worlds top oil importer, China, is said to have rebounded to nearly pre-coronavirus levels. Gasoline demand in the United States stood at 7.398 million bpd for the week to May 8, and although this was still below the 9.148-million bpd demand for the same week last year, the number was a clear improvement from the 5.86-million-bpd demand just two weeks prior, EIA data shows. Referring to the WTI Crude contract rollover today, Steen Jakobsen, Chief Investment Officer at Saxo Bank, said on Monday: The expiry tomorrow of the June WTI contract is expected to be a non-event after stockpiles at the key storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, shrank last week. Yet, there is a short-term risk to the oil price rally, and this is producers rolling back the cuts, especially in the U.S. with the price back above $30 a barrel, Jakobsen said. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Overnight reports from Jacksonville police: A 17-year-old boy was arrested on a criminal trespassing charge after he was found on the roof of a Jacksonville business Sunday night. An employee of a store in Lincoln Square Shopping Center at 901 W. Morton Ave. reported hearing someone on the roof about 10:31 p.m. Police said the boy was trying to unplug decorative lighting. SINGAPORE, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management (ITPM) has today announced a significant addition to their global trading operation by hiring former Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Trader Edward Shek as a Senior Trading Mentor. From 1994 until retirement in 2019, Edward Shek had a prolonged and very successful 25-year career as a Professional Trader in Financial Markets. Ed graduated from King's College London with a B.Sc. in Physics. Upon graduation he started his career at Goldman Sachs in the London office in 1994. Over the next nine years he traded Convertible Bonds, Warrants and Cash Equities in Tokyo, New York and then London. Ed found his niche at the London desk at Goldman Sachs, specializing in European Equities, trading most major sectors at the firm. He oversaw several of the top three ranking businesses at Goldman Sachs Europe covering sectors that included Oil and Gas, Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals and Telecoms, Media and Technology (TMT) Stocks. Ed ran a USD100mln Long / Short Equities portfolio at Goldman Sachs. In 2006, Ed moved to Cazenove where he successfully traded the European Banks and Insurance Equities books through the 2008-2009 Great Financial Crisis (GFC). An experience very few traders in the World managed to trade through profitably. Cazenove was fully bought by JP Morgan in 2009. Ed was promoted and moved internally at JP Morgan to the Global Emerging Markets Equities business. Ed then spent six years in Johannesburg South Africa where he ran the SA EM Trading Desk before returning to London to run the Emerging Markets CEEMEA trading business for JP Morgan. During his time at JP Morgan Cazenove Ed ran multiple Long / Short Equities Portfolios of USD100mln gross exposure. After a brief spell as Head of Equities Trading at BCS Global, Ed retired from the Investment Bank / Professional Trading business after 25 years. Throughout his Professional Trading career, Ed has always been heavily involved with recruiting and has mentored many young professionals over his career. Countless numbers of individuals that Ed has mentored over the years have gone on to achieve very successful careers in the Financial Markets. Commenting on today's announcement ITPM Managing Partner Anton Kreil said: "When I arrived on the Goldman Sachs trading desk in 2000, I was just a few seats away from Ed. We were on the same desk trading Pan European Equities as part of a team that included some of the best traders in Financial Markets of the last 30 years. I've literally known him since day one of my career and I've witnessed how good this guy is in all market conditions. It's really amazing to be working with him again because I know the smarts and qualities that he brings. Ed will be an outstanding Mentor to our Global Community of Retail Traders." Ed's role at the Institute involves Mentoring Institute Traders on the official Institute Mentoring Program after students have graduated from completing the Professional Trading Masterclass (PTM) Video Series. The Professional Options Trading Masterclass (POTM) Video Series and the Professional FOREX Trading Masterclass (PFTM) Video Series, helping ITPM students to realize their objectives in becoming consistently profitable and to help build their track records. Ed also helps manage the Institute's global portfolio, trading predominantly high-Risk Reward / ROI strategies and in allocating capital to profitable ITPM students/traders. He currently mentors Institute Traders globally and only has capacity to Mentor 12 ITPM students per year. Institute Mentoring Program with Ed ALL Institute Mentoring Programs Institute Online Educational Video Series Information Institute FAQs For Press Enquiries, use this contact form: https://www.itpm.com/contact SOURCE Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management Decrease Font Size Font Size Increase Font Size Article body An Auburn University researcher and faculty member is the lead editor of the newly released Handbook of Citizen Science in Ecology and Conservation, the nations first comprehensive guide for both professional scientists and citizen scientistsavid science enthusiasts within communities who carry out essential, hands-on work for research projects. Editor Christopher Lepczyk, a professor of wildlife biology and conservation in Auburns School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, said the handbook aims to provide tools to citizen scientists to help them start or become involved in projects. While the focus is on ecology and conservation, the lessons in the book are applicable to most citizen science projects, he said. This is very much a book for practitioners and the public, as much as it is for professional scientists, Lepczyk said. Our goal was very much oriented at creating a book that can be read and used by both an interested lay person as well as the scientific community. Thus, we worked to present the concepts of citizen science in an easy-to-read and user-friendly manner, without a lot of jargon or citations. The idea for the book came about years ago in Milwaukee after Lepczyk and two close friends and colleaguesTim Vargo and Owen Boyle, co-editors of the bookworked on a citizen science project focused on migrating birds that used public parks as stopover locations. We discussed how valuable it would be to have a handbook that described how to carry out a citizen science project, Lepczyk said. Although there were papers and some short technical reports, no handbook existed. After holding a symposium on citizen science at the Ecological Society of America meeting, the three proposed the book to the University of California Press, which accepted. Lepczyk began work on the handbook along with Boyle, chief of species management at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Conservation Program, and Vargo, manager of research and community science at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee. Rather than using the terms scientists and non-scientists, Vargo said he refers to the two categories as professional scientists and community scientists because, in the end, we are all contributing to science. Citizen science provides collaborative opportunities between the two groups, as each group brings particular talents and support, Vargo said. The very first scientists were citizen scientists, and then we created the university system where most professional scientists became trained. But outside the auspices of the ivory tower, people have been contributing so much to our understanding of how the world works. He cited the names of some familiar pioneering citizen scientists, including Charles Darwin, Thomas Jefferson and Increase Lapham. Professional scientists bring a strong and important skillset, and community scientists bring a strongusually different, but equally importantskillset to projects, Vargo said. In the handbook, the editors aim to tear down some longstanding myths: that only professional scientists can engage in scientific research; that community involvement decreases the integrity of science; and that science is outside the grasp of the community, said Boyle. We worked hard to bring together a group of citizen science practitioners with many decades of experience in the full diversity of citizen science projects in conservation and ecology that vary in scale, geography, duration, organizational support and level of volunteer involvement, Boyle said. I hope the handbook not only inspires new citizen science projects on under-studied species or in under-surveyed areas, but that it can also provide fresh ideas and approaches for existing projects. Citizen science is crucial for scientists understanding of the natural world. And for citizen scientists, its just plain fun. The handbook draws from the experience of professional scientists from universities, government agencies and non-governmental organizations to present a set of best practices and important processes to consider when starting or strengthening citizen science projects. Citizen science expert Rebecca Christoffel, sole proprietor of Christoffel Conservation, said the volume is an important addition to the literature in the field, not only for scientists who are developing citizen sciences projects, but also for the individuals involved in those projects. It really lays out the nuts and bolts of designing, implementing and assessing a citizen science program, said Christoffel, who plans to use the book in a class she is developing for naturalists involved in citizen science. Each chapter is authored by individuals who have expertise in the topic discussed. Dean Janaki Alavalapati of Auburns School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences applauded the efforts of Lepczyk and his team. Citizen science projects have always been valuable and are becoming more and more common, Alavalapati said. With the publication of this handbook, Dr. Lepczyk and his co-editors have provided a much-needed, comprehensive guide for both professional scientists and the citizen scientists who contribute so much to research. Handbook of Citizen Science in Ecology and Conservation is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart and other retailers. (Written by Teri Greene) Australian women are being urged to keep getting their cervical cancer screenings as testing rates fall by 60 per cent during the coronavirus pandemic. Heather Dunn, 35, from Hornsby Heights on Sydney's upper north shore, was diagnosed with cervical cancer when she was 31 and trying for her second child. Within a month Ms Dunn underwent surgery to remove her tumour and was later found to be cancer-free. The mother said she put off her test for eight months and is now hoping all women will put their health first - before it's too late. 'I was usually on top of those things but I had a two-year-old and was going back to work. I just kept putting it off,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Heather Dunn, 35, (pictured) from Sydney's Hornsby Heights, was diagnosed with cervical cancer when she was 31-years-old and trying for her second baby 'When the doctor did the test, she said something didn't look right. The pathologist was very concerned. 'A week later I found out I had cancer. (The doctors) started throwing around scary words like hysterectomy. It was a horrible time.' Luckily for Ms Dunn she was able to have her tumour removed but worried what may have happened had she not been tested. 'I don't want to think about what it would have been like. It would have been so much worse,' she said. After a few more surgeries over two years, Ms Dunn was finally given the all clear and gave birth to her second child. 'It was a very stressful pregnancy, I was getting scans every two weeks,' she said. The mother said she was terrified to learn screening rates had fallen so much. 'It scares me a lot. I wouldn't want anyone to go through it, there are people going through much worse and I wouldn't wish this on anyone. It's really scary.' After learning cervical cancer screening rates have fallen by 60 per cent, Ms Dunn (pictured with partner Stewart) is urging women to get regularly checked 'It's a really scary time to even leave the house but these are important things we can't let slide. 'As women, we often put ourselves last.' The Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation found that since the outbreak testing rates had fallen dramatically and are now only just starting to increase. At one stage they had dropped as much as between 60 and 70 per cent and overall pathology tests were also down by 40 per cent. Joe Tooma, the CEO of the ACCF said a lot of women were 'putting themselves last'. 'One of the things we have always noticed is that women tend to put everyone else first and themselves at the end of the queue,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'We certainly were seeing women who thought their issue wasn't as important as COVID-19, and would sit back and make sure their family were looked after.' Ms Dunn is now cancer-free but is worried too many other women aren't prioritising their health check ups Mr Tooma said the most important way to decrease your risk of contracting the cancer was to stay up to date with screenings. 'Even six months late can increase your risk of cervical cancer.' CERVICAL CANCER Cervical cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the lining of the cervix. Symptoms may include vaginal bleeding, abnormal discharge and pain during intercourse Women aged 25-74 are encouraged to have a pap smear every five years A cervical cancer vaccine is available In Australia in 2017, 158 women aged 2574 died from cervical cancer Advertisement Mr Tooma is now hoping women will understand it's safe to visit their doctors as cases of COVID-19 lessen around Australia. 'We need to get the message out that it's safe to visit your doctor. COVID-19 is important but you can't ignore testing (for potential health issues),' he said. 'We can make cervical cancer a rare cancer within 10 years time, but if we find that level of drop off stays there we won't get to the target.' The ACCF offers tips on how to take away some of the discomfort when going for a cervical cancer screening. The foundation also offers a text line to remind women when their next appointment is due. 'Women are putting themselves at the end of the queue, but they don't have to do that anymore,' Mr Tooma said. In a Facebook post, officials with the festival say that after communicating with various artists and musicians, and with guidance from the City of Paducah, the event will now take place October 2-3. Yeiser Art Center Executive Director Lexie Millikan said that although the dates for the festival have been announced, it could still change. "We're going to follow whatever guidelines we have to from the city and state," Millikan said. "If we are able to have a festival later this year, that is when we will have it, but also because it's so far out, there are a lot of unknowns and it could change." She is optimistic however, and is glad the city has been supportive of the move. According to Millikan, if the festival does happen in October, attendees should expect a smaller event. "No matter what, even if we didn't have any guidelines to follow, we would still be planning a scaled back festival, because it's not as if every single one of our participating artists, musicians, and vendors are able to agree to the new date," She said, "So as far as the size of the festival, it's going to have to be smaller no matter what." Millikan encourages everyone to support arts organizations, artists, and musicians during this time of uncertainty. "There are a lot of people that are going through a lot of difficult things right now. We just hope that the people that are still able to support the arts are doing that, because that's the biggest thing right now for us," she said. Musicians scheduled to attend include Scythian, Cicada Rhythm, S.G. Goodman, Joslyn & the Sweet Compression, GRLwood, The Wheelers, Melanie A. Davis, and Luke Taylor. More are planned to be announced later. Not yet. Mr. Newsom said that number was a rough estimate that would become clearer in the coming days. And each county will have to file documentation showing that it meets the criteria and that officials have plans in place to help ensure restaurants keep customers apart and to reinstate restrictions if necessary. Which counties have already been allowed to loosen restrictions? So far, the bulk are smaller counties in far Northern California, but the list is expected to grow. You can find the list of counties, along with the documents officials filed with the state, here. Did we get any more information on when other kinds of businesses can reopen? Yes. Mr. Newsom said that in the next few weeks, stores may be open not just for curbside pickup. In the first week of June, sporting events may start taking place, although theyd still be without fans. And for those of us feeling a bit shaggy, haircuts could be on the way somewhere in that same time frame. I live in the Bay Area or Los Angeles. Does that change anything? Yes. Its important to remember that all the so-called regional variance also allows counties to keep stricter orders in place than the states, if local leaders say thats appropriate. [See coronavirus cases by county in California.] Jerusalem: Iran has begun withdrawing its forces from Syria, Israel's outgoing defence minister said on Monday, without offering any evidence to support his assertion. Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, wears a mask to help protect from the coronavirus, as he speaks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who also wore a mask and gloves, in Damascus, Syria. Credit:AP Naftali Bennett also urged his successor, Benny Gantz, to maintain pressure on Iran, adding that the trend might otherwise reverse. Iran, Israels arch-enemy in the Middle East, has been a key supporter, along with Russia, of President Bashar al-Assad during Syria's civil war, sending military advisers as well as material and regional Shiite militias that it backs. Israel, which monitors neighbouring Syria intensively, has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria targeting suspected arms and troop movements by Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas it sponsors. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Congress has called a meeting of like-minded opposition parties on Friday to discuss the plight of migrant workers and the changes in labour laws by some states, sources said. Congress president Sonia Gandhi will chair the meeting of leaders of opposition parties, the sources said on Tuesday. Around 17 opposition parties have agreed to participate in the meeting which will be held via videoconferencing. The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have not yet confirmed their participation, they said. FOLLOW COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES HERE Rendered jobless due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, which began on March 25, and desperate to get home, thousands of migrant workers across the country are undertaking long and arduous journeys to their native places on foot, on bicycles or packed into trucks. Many of them have been killed in accidents in different parts of the country. The Opposition has criticised the government over its handling of the migrant crisis. The Congress and other opposition parties have also attacked the Centre for allowing BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to amend labour laws to lure foreign investors and "to strip workers of their basic rights". These changes include exempting industrial units from labour welfare statutes, allowing them to take steps such as increasing daily and weekly working hours of workers, and depriving workers of their right to move court. Cyclone Amphan, which has intensified into an extremely super cyclone, is all set to make the landfall on Wednesday afternoon. The cyclone is rapidly moving towards the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh and is expected to make a landfall on May 20. At the time of the landfall, Cyclone Amphan is expected to carry wind speed of 155-165 kmph, gusting to 185 kmph. The states of Odisha and West Bengal have been on high alert. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured all possible help to bo both states to deal with the situation arising out of its movement. We bring to you a list of states and the impact they will face due to its movement: Odisha: Rain lashed some parts of Odisha on Tuesday as super cyclone 'Amphan' moved closer to the coasts, while the state government stepped up efforts to evacuate low-lying and vulnerable areas. Light rains were witnessed in several areas of Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Khurda districts of Odisha, and the intensity of rainfall and wind speed is likely to increase gradually. IMD Director-General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said since the super cyclone is gradually weakening, and its impact is unlikely to be very severe on Odisha. However, coastal districts like Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore are likely to be battered by heavy rains coupled with high velocity winds from Tuesday evening. Fourteen units of National Disaster Response Force and 20 teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) have been deployed in Odisha districts likely to be hit. West Bengal: The super cyclonic storm Amphan in west-central Bay of Bengal is likely to weaken into an extremely severe cyclonic storm by noon on May 19. The Met department, which has issued an "orange message" for West Bengal, warned of extensive damage in Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah, South and North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts. There is likely to be disruption of rail and road link at several places, uprooting of communication and power poles and extensive damage to all types of 'kutcha' houses. There is also likelihood of massive harm to standing crops, plantations and orchards. Wind speeds along and off the coastal areas of West Bengal will reach 45 to 55 kmph with gusts of 65 kmph from Tuesday afternoon, and will gradually increase becoming gale wind speeds reaching 75 to 85 kmph with gusts up to 95 kmph from May 20 morning. Under its impact, the coastal districts of Gangetic West Bengal, including North and South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, East and West Midnapore, Howrah and Hooghly are likely to experience light to moderate rain at many places with heavy downpour at isolated places on Tuesday. On Wednesday, rainfall will occur in many places over the districts of Gangetic West Bengal, with extremely heavy rain at one or two places in Kolkata, Howrah, East Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts. Andaman and Nicobar: The IMD has warned light to moderate rainfall over Andaman and Nicobar Islands on May 18. Squally wind speed reaching to up to 65 kmph are likely over the Andaman Sea. Assam, Sikkim, Meghalaya: The IMD has also issued a warning to Sikkim and Meghalaya. According to the IMD, the districts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim will witness light to moderate rainfall on May 21. Heavy to very heavy falls are expected at a few places over the western districts of Assam and Meghalaya on May 21. Passengers cross a pedestrian bridge as they arrive for flights at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Ill., on May 23, 2014. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) US Lawmakers Seek to Block Chinese Companies From Supplying Airport Equipment A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced a proposal to secure U.S. airports from national security threats posed by airport equipment such as passenger boarding bridges made by foreign adversaries, specifically China. The bill, named the Airport Infrastructure Resources (AIR) Security Act, would prevent federal airport improvement funds from being used to purchase infrastructure made in countries determined to be a threat to U.S. national security. The lawmakers expressed concern that state-sponsored companies in those countries could steal U.S. intellectual property. Make no mistake, the CCP will stop at nothing to gain power and control. We cannot afford to give them inroads to our most critical systems, said Rep. Ron Wright (R-Texas), who introduced the measure alongside Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas), in a statement. Wright said the bill would ensure taxpayer dollars do not go to Chinese-owned or subsidized passenger boarding bridge companies that are hoping to steal from and spy on the American people. The legislation is co-sponsored by Reps. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), Ross Spano (R-Fla.), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), and Lance Gooden (R-Texas). A similar bill (S.1710) was introduced in the Senate in June last year by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.). Aviation infrastructure is critical to national securityand for that reason, Chinas Communist Party proxy companies are targeting our commercial airports, said Waltz in the press release. In December 2019, Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Rep. Diaz-Balart sent a letter to Lester Sola, aviation director and CEO of Miami International Airport, expressing concern that the airport was contemplating awarding contracts for passenger boarding bridges to CIMC-Tianda, the airport facilities arm of Chinas state-run China International Marine Containers (CIMC) Group. The lawmakers noted that CIMC-Tianda was found guilty of industrial espionage in 1998 by a U.S. federal court in Houston. The House lawmakers also named CIMC-Tianda as a potential threat, noting that it has repeatedly tried to partner with major U.S. transportation hubs, including Houston, Dallas, Miami, and Boston, in an effort to sell its passenger boarding bridges. For intellectual property protection and safety, we should prevent the Federal Aviation Administration from entering into contracts with companies with direct affiliation with our adversaries, Waltz said. China has sought to invest in other critical infrastructure in the United States. For example, Chinese communications giant Huawei had been vying to build next-generation wireless 5G networks, before the company was banned by the U.S. government because of national security concerns. One Chinese company has already successfully pushed into the U.S. market. Chinas state-owned rail car manufacturer CRRC won contracts in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, before U.S. lawmakers raised concerns about the deals and introduced bills aimed at preventing federal money from being granted to Chinese companies. Gooden warned in the lawmakers statement that though Chinese companies may offer many goods and services at lower prices were choosing not to buy what theyre selling. We cannot continue to fuel the ambitions of the untrustworthy and unreliable CCP regime. CIMC Group CIMC Group, a Shenzhen-based manufacturer of logistics and energy equipment, is heavily involved in Beijings national policies, in particular, Chinas foreign policy of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, also known as One Belt, One Road). Beijing rolled out BRI in 2013 with the objective of increasing geopolitical influence by building up trade routes linking China, Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. In December 2017, CIMC signed an agreement with Shenzhen Gas Corporation on investment opportunities and construction projects in foreign countries that had signed up to BRI. CIMC Logistics, a CIMC subsidiary, assisted the municipal government of Chinese port city Qingdao in drafting the citys 2017 bluebook on how to become a regional hub for BRI. CIMC Logistics is also among the Chinese companies that have participated in Chinas state-controlled National Transportation Logistics Platform (LOGINK), a logistics information-sharing network constructed and implemented by a number of Chinese government ministries, including transport, commerce, and public security. U.S.-based independent consultancy Horizon Advisory, in its report published in April, identified LOGINK as a means by which Beijing can gain access to large amounts of data used in transporting goods, as part of its ambition to become a tech superpower. Outside of China, CIMC said that it was earning close to $300 million annually in emerging markets through its subsidiary CIMC Vehicles alone, according to a June 2017 article by Chinese newspaper Shenzhen Special Zone Daily. The subsidiary manufactures semi trailers and truck bodies. The article pointed out that CIMC Vehicles has invested in countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Bahrain, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. In June 2016, CIMC bought Northern Ireland-based trailer maker Retlan Manufacturing for 91.7 million British pounds (about $112 million), according to Chinese media Shanghai Securities News. (Newser) After spending most of her father's time in office at Georgetown Law School, Tiffany Trump is now a graduate. "We did it!," the 26-year-old wrote on Instagram. Her boyfriend, Michael Boulos, congratulated "Tiffy" on Instagram, saying "after all the hard work and sleepless nights, you more than deserve it," People reports. After three years at Georgetown, Trump's only child from his marriage to Marla Maples received her degree virtually on Saturday after the traditional graduation ceremony was canceled due to the pandemic. It's not clear whether Tiffanywhose aunt, Maryanne Barry Trump, is a retired federal judgehas a role lined up in either the Trump Organization or the federal government, Vanity Fair reports. In 2016, she said she was applying to law school so she could bring a different kind of "skill set" to the company. (Read more Tiffany Trump stories.) Shes directed more than two dozen plays nationwide, earned a graduate degree from Yale School of Drama and The New York Times regularly reviews her work. Yet a Willamette University play connected Shana Cooper 99 to her most recent job. A 1999 production of Tom Stoppards Arcadia placed Cooper under the tutelage of Cindy Gold, a guest artist and then-assistant professor of theatre at Northwestern University. In 2017 they met again, this time at Northwestern Cooper interviewed for an assistant professor of directing job and Gold was present during her talk. Now theyre colleagues. Access to professional actors, choreographers and directors, some of whom belonged to Tony-award winning companies or appeared in films, is one way Willamettes Theatre Department stands out. Willamette offers a rigorous, professional-level theater program, more like a conservatory, and an equally rigorous liberal arts education, she said. Its a unique combination. Dreaming of directing When Cooper watched A Midsummer Nights Dream at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as a child, she discovered a home in the theater. Directing plays became her goal. She chose Willamette because Professor of Theatre Chris Harris agreed to support a theater major with a focus in directing and open up the possibility of directing a main stage show for her senior year project, as long as she could prove she was ready. So, over the next four years Cooper dug deep into every role available to her acting, stage managing, assistant directing with Gold her senior year and absorbed whatever she could from the rotating list of professionals in the guest artist program. The departments bold, inclusive play selections served as a lesson, too: It expanded the possibilities of undergraduate theater. The 1996-97 season included Fefu and Her Friends by Maria Irene Fornes, a play celebrated for its revolutionary staging that few theaters anywhere had produced, she said. (The New York Times just last year told readers to Get ready for the masterwork no one has seen.) But it was Coopers first play at Willamette, Brian Friels Dancing at Lughnasa, that shaped her sensibility as a director. Set in rural Ireland, the play mostly takes place inside and around a cottage. Harris, who specializes in scene design, recreated the location by laying down several tons of pea-gravel, real grass turf and poured-concrete flagstones. Audiences could hear shoes crunching on gravel as actors walked on and off the stage. I was a performer in the play, but the world he created was so organic and tangible because of the materials he chose, she said. That production really shaped how I think about design. Finding her voice After Willamette, Cooper spent a year interning in New York and five seasons as the associate artistic director at the California Shakespeare Theater in San Francisco before enrolling at Yale School of Drama in 2005. Shed been working professionally, but graduate school felt like a space where I could break out of mimicking what Id seen other professionals do and develop my own voice, she said. At Yale, she formed an experimental theater company called New Theater House and devised a new rehearsal methodology that now fuels her professional directing projects as well as master classes she teaches at other colleges. Freelance directing across the country followed, including a stop at Willamette in 2005 and a chance to direct the world premiere of Terra Firma by Barbara Hammond with off-Broadway company The COOP. Cooper was just about to open her first show in Chicago Henrik Ibsens The Lady From The Sea and direct Taming of the Shrew at The Old Globe in San Diego when the pandemic struck, putting a chill on performances. In the meantime, shes enjoyed teaching at Northwestern. Theres this beautiful marriage of getting to mentor the next generation of theater directors while continuing to explore and test out questions in my own work, she said. Two Cork fishermen who were cleared of all charges brought after a Garda investigation into the alleged recruitment of non-EU fishermen into the Irish fishing industry have launched defamation proceedings against the Guardian newspaper. Trawler owners and fishermen, Pat OMahony and Leonard Hyde are suing Guardian News and Media Ltd as a result of an article published online on November 2, 2015. Two years ago a District Court judge dismissed all charges against the fishermen Leonard Hyde of Weavers Point, Crosshaven, Co, Cork, and Pat OMahony of Kinsale, Co Cork. Both men were charged under the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000 with knowingly facilitating the entry into the State on March 25, 2015, of a person whom they knew or had reasonable cause to believe was an illegal immigrant or a person who intended applying for asylum. They were also charged under the Employment Permits Act 2003 with employing a Filipino, Demie Balbin Omol (aged 40), at Hugh Coveney Pier in Crosshaven between March 25 and June 10, 2015, without having an employment permit issued by the Minister for Employment. The two men had denied the charges. Mr Hyde and Mr OMahony told the court they had presumed the agency they had used to hire the men, looked after their visas and work permits as it stated in the contract that the agent would arrange all visas and travel documents. The High Court defamation proceedings have also been brought by the registered owner of the Labardie Fisher trawler, Labardie Fisher Ltd. In the High Court today, Mr Justice Bernard Barton made orders for discovery of certain documents from the Department of Tourism, Transport and Sport and the Garda Commissioner in relation to the case. The documents were sought by the Guardian newspaper group. The newspaper sought from the Department of Tourism all documents held by inspectors of the Marine Survey Office relating to the Labardie Fisher vessel and the Filipino fisherman Demie Omol. They also sought from An Garda Siochana any documents relating to Demie Omol and other crew members of the Labardie Fisher vessel. The Department and An Garda Siochana had contended the scope of the discovery categories sought was overly broad and oppressive and the documents relating to the District Court case against the fishermen was covered by public interest privilege. In his ruling, Mr Justice Barton said he accepted the newspapers contention that the scope of discovery is not so broad as would render compliance with the terms of the orders sought onerous to the point of being oppressive. The judge also accepted the newspapers contention that the claim for public interest privilege is not absolute. Mr Justice Barton further stated he did not accept the proposition that An Garda Siochanas role in the prevention of crime and its interest in the confidentiality of sources militates against making an order for discovery. (CNN) - World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus affirmed his commitment to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement, as he addressed the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA). Speaking on Tuesday at the virtual summit, Tedros said, WHO's focus now is fighting the pandemic, with every tool at our disposal. On Monday, Tedros said he would initiate an independent evaluation of WHOs response to the global pandemic. As always, WHO remains fully committed to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement. We want accountability, more than anyone, he said. Checking and learning our lessons is in WHO's DNA, Tedros said Tuesday. I hope the recommendations of the independent committee will be taken seriously by all member states. At the end of the day what matters is life - that should be at the center of everything we do and everything we say, Tedros added. During the Tuesday speech, Tedros wore an unusually casual short-sleeved blue and teal button-down shirt to honor a Tongan choir of nurses who were supposed to perform at the WHA, before it was moved to a virtual event. This story was first published on CNN.com, "WHO chief affirms commitment to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement" Biocon gained 0.57% to Rs 333.45 after its subsidiary received EU GMP Certification for multiple Biosimilars manufacturing facilities in Bengaluru. Biocon before market hours today, 19 May 2020 announced that its subsidiary Biocon Biologics India has received the certificate of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliance from EMA for multiple Biologics Drug Substance (DS) and Drug Product (DP) manufacturing facilities at Biocon Park, Bengaluru. These facilities are used for the manufacture of DS and DP for Biosimilars: Bevacizumab, Trastuzumab, Pegfilgrastim and secondary packaging of Insulin Glargine for EU markets, and were inspected in March 2020, Biocon said. This approval expands Biocon Biologics' capacities multi-fold to address the growing needs of patients in the EU markets for Trastuzumab commercialized in March 2019 and for Pegfilgrastim expected to be commercialized soon. This certification would enable the approval process of biosimilar Bevacizumab, the Marketing Authorization Application for which is currently under review by the European authorities. Biocon Biologics is a subsidiary of Biocon. It is uniquely positioned as a fully integrated 'pure play' biosimilars organization in the world and aspires to transform patient lives through innovative and inclusive healthcare solutions. Dr Christiane Hamacher, CEO & Managing Director, Biocon Biologics India, said, this approval will support the penetration of Trastuzumab and Pegfilgrastim in Europe. This certification is expected to further enable the approval of biosimilar Bevacizumab in the EU. Biocon's consolidated net profit declined 42.3% to Rs 123.40 crore on a 3.4% rise in net sales to Rs 1581 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. Biocon is an innovation-led global bio-pharmaceuticals company. Biocon has developed and commercialized novel biologics, biosimilars, and complex small molecule APIs in India and several key global markets as well as generic formulations in the US and Europe. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Steven Mnuchin, U.S. Treasury secretary, from left, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky,U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence listen as President Donald Trump speaks before signing the H.R. 748, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, March 27, 2020. Republican leaders including Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., are set to discuss their priorities for another coronavirus relief bill Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said. McCarthy, R-Calif., told CNBC's "Squawk Box" that the leaders will be "looking at ways of where we can work together to move forward on what we do need" in a legislative package. That search would start with liability protections for doctors and businesses, McCarthy said. "Liability protections would be the No. 1 thing I would look at," McCarthy said. "No bill will pass without it." Democrats on Friday night passed a sweeping $3 trillion bill, nearly $1 trillion of which would go toward funding state and local governments. Republicans have condemned the measure as dead on arrival in the GOP-controlled Senate. But that lengthy bill is merely "another political game being played" by Democrats, McCarthy told CNBC. "Much of that bill was about legislation that Democrats have wished and tried to pass in the House long before Covid ever came around." The meeting on the Senate side of the Capitol will take place at 9 a.m. ET, a GOP leadership aide told NBC News. Mnuchin, alongside Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, is set to testify before the Senate Banking Committee at 10 a.m. The "leader of the largest trafficking gang of Iranian women in Malaysia" has been arrested and transferred to Iran, media in Tehran reported on May 18. The operation to capture him was coordinated with the INTERPOL, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)-linked Tasnim news agency reported. The leader nicknamed "Alex" has been "smuggling and selling Iranian girls abroad for sexual exploitation for the past three years," Tasnim said, adding that all other members of the gang have also been arrested. However, the number of detainees is not yet clear. Nevertheless, as most have been arrested by the Islamic Republic security forces, it would be safe to say they were arrested in Iran. There has been a heated debate in the clergy-dominated Iran on the issue of sex trafficking and trafficking of women to Arab and European countries over the past decade. Officials in the Islamic Republic have on several occasions admitted in the past that trafficking takes place, but insisted that they did not consider it as significant. The U.S. government has also criticized the Islamic Republic government's performance in its annual report on human trafficking and smuggling women for sexual slavery. On June 20, 2019, the State Department released its annual "Trafficking in Persons Report", which again designated Iran as a Tier 3 country, the lowest ranking possible. "The Government of Iran does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so", the report asserted. Foreign Ministers of India and Israel have vowed to work together to strengthen and expand the multi-faceted bilateral relationship for a mutually beneficial partnership, days after a new government was sworn in in the Jewish state. Israel's new government was sworn in on Sunday under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, bringing an end to the longest political deadlock in the country's history which saw a caretaker government in charge for over 500 days and three back-to-back general elections with no clear verdict. The vote of confidence in the new government was passed with 73 votes in favour and 46 against in the Knesset (Israeli parliament). External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday congratulated his newly-appointed Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi, a former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces. "Mazal Tov @Gabi_Ashkenazi on assuming the post of Israeli Foreign Minister. I look forward to working with you to strengthen our multi-faceted and mutually beneficial partnership", Jaishankar tweeted in Hebrew. Ashkenazi thanked Jaishanker and stressed on strengthening ties in diverse fields between the two countries. "Thank you @DrSJaishankar. I am also looking forward to working with you to strengthen and expand the strong relations between Israel and India in multiple fields", the Israeli foreign minister tweeted in Hindi and English on Monday. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first few world leaders to congratulate Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Sunday on forming the government for a record fifth time, soon after the Knesset approved the new government. "Mazal Tov (congratulations) my friend @netanyahu for forming your fifth government in Israel," Modi wrote on Twitter in Hebrew and English. "Thank you my dear friend the Prime Minister of India! We will continue to strengthen the important relationship between us," Netanyahu responded in Hebrew on Sunday. Netanyahu, 70, and his rival-turned-partner Benny Gantz joined hands to form a coalition government under a power-sharing agreement that would see the latter taking over the premiership on November 17, 2021. The new government, which according to the coalition agreement, will see Gantz replace Netanyahu as the Prime Minister after 18 months. Gantz will serve as Defense Minister until he is scheduled to take over as the Prime Minister in November next year. He will till then have the title of 'Alternate Prime Minister', something that Netanyahu will take over from him after exchanging the baton. The beleaguered Israeli prime minister, who surpassed Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion's record of the longest-serving Premier in the country's history last year in July, managed to hold on to his right-wing bloc amid three inconclusive polls to force his main rival Gantz to finally succumb to the demand of a broad national unity government. Gantz campaigned on replacing Netanyahu due to the prime minister's indictment on graft charges, but dropped his opposition to sitting in a government with him after the latest elections again ended with no clear winner, citing the coronavirus pandemic and a desire to avoid a fourth round of voting. The move led to the breakup of the Blue and White alliance, with Gantz being elected as Knesset speaker with the backing of Netanyahu's right-wing religious bloc as they negotiated the terms of the new government. Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Likud and Blue and White on Wednesday evening released the policy principles of the new government, as instructed by Israel's Supreme Court. The document said that the government will initially form an emergency cabinet to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and formulate a plan to bring Israel out of the accompanying economic crisis while rolling out a "socioeconomic safety net" and special programmes for citizens who are struggling financially. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As normality returned to Australian football this week with the sight of Sherrins flying across suburban football grounds, the four clubs bound for a Gold Coast hub next month, including the Dockers and Eagles, are in limbo. Tim Kelly is sporting a new 'do. Credit:West Coast Eagles. West Coast coach Adam Simpson said the two WA sides and South Australian counterparts the Crows and Power were still to be told how many of their squad could travel to the sunshine state, and where theyll be based for at least a month after the season restarts. The AFL are working really hard but weve got four clubs with hundreds of questions. Theres some detail to come, Simpson said on Wednesday. We dont have the full protocols yet for our travel and were still working through that. Conjecture on the number of players each club can take is still up in the air, and Simpson suggested scrimmages between fringe players at the four clubs on the Gold Coast would help keep them game-fit if a recall came. We have 38 or 39 players that are right to go, were just waiting on clarification on how many players we can bring, he said. On Monday we can have contact ... we have five contact sessions before we play games. Simpson said his players welcomed a return to training in bigger numbers and cited some dodgy haircuts most notably gun recruit Tim Kelly as evidence of boredom in isolation. Theres been some good feedback given to those players, he said. Off-field the club has begun working on logistics to relocate the AFL-mandated maximum of 24 staff from its headquarters at Lathlain Park to the Royal Pines Resort. CEO Trevor Nisbett told TAB Radio on Wednesday that Simpson and the match committee may require the majority of the squad to play in the first block of matches. Were just going to have to be agile and flexible. Thats exactly what were going to have to be and I think our players and staff are now getting their heads around that, he said. The Oregon Supreme Court stepped in late Monday to put a hold on a dramatic decision by an eastern Oregon judge that declared null and void" all of Gov. Kate Browns Stay Home Save Lives coronavirus emergency orders. The hold will remain in effect until the high court considers the states full petition to dismiss the Baker County Circuit judges preliminary injunction. Earlier Monday, Circuit Judge Matthew B. Shirtcliff ruled that the governors executive orders in response to the global pandemic exceeded a 28-day limit adopted by state lawmakers and were no longer valid in response to a suit filed by 10 churches against the governor. Here are more developments to know Tuesday: JOBS: Average hold times at Oregon Employment Department spiked up to 3 hours -- and most calls are never answered. Nearly 50,000 laid off workers are still awaiting benefits during the pandemic. CASES: A 69-year-old Marion County man was the latest Oregonian to succumb to the illness, which has infected nearly 3,700 people statewide. LAW: The Multnomah County District Attorneys Office is concerned that crimes against people of Asian ancestry could increase as Oregon reopens and some individuals seek to place blame for the COVID-19 pandemic. REOPENING: Kohls became the latest retail chain to reopen in Oregon after shuttering due to the coronavirus outbreak. Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter -- The Oregonian/OregonLive Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. The Uttar Pradesh government Tuesday said the list of 1,000 buses offered by the Congress to ferry migrant workers contained registration numbers of autorickshaws and cars, triggering a protest by the opposition party at the state's border. The Congress rejected the UP government claim, challenging it to conduct a physical verification of the buses. The state government said 297 of the buses on the list lacked either a fitness certificate or valid insurance papers. As the war of words escalated, UP Congress Chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and other party workers reached the Agra border, where they argued with policemen and staged a dharna. Lallu was seen being carried away from the protest site to a car, with four policemen holding his arms and legs. A UP Congress spokesperson said he was taken to a police station in Agra. According to the Congress, most of its buses are massed at the Rajasthan-Uttar Pradesh border, awaiting permission to cross over into the state's Agra district. In a tweet in the evening, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi urged the Yogi Adityanath government should at least let the 879 buses found fit by it to enter the state. UP government has crossed the limit, she said, accusing it of creating hurdles in an effort to help migrant workers stranded due to the coronavirus lockdown. She said if the Yogi Adityanath government wishes it can put BJP banners on the buses. Former Congress MP Pramod Tiwari also threatened to sue the UP government for defamation. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad accused the Congress of running a bus scam. "The Congress has got trapped in its own net of deceit, he tweeted in Hindi. The row erupted on May 16 when Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra offered to provide 1,000 buses for migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, stranded in other states because of the coronavirus lockdown. The Congress initially claimed that the state's BJP government was ignoring the offer with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath refusing even to give an appointment to a party delegation. Even while accusing the Congress of playing over the plight of migrant workers, the UP government on Monday formally accepted the offer. It asked the Congress to submit a list of the buses and their drivers and conductors. In an email received by Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary at 11.40 pm Monday, the Uttar Pradesh government asked the opposition party to send the buses to Lucknow by 10 am on Tuesday. The aide wrote back to the UP government, saying that sending empty buses to Lucknow was inhuman and the product of an anti-poor mindset when thousands of workers are gathered at UP's borders. UP's Additional Chief Secretary (Home & Information) Awanish Awasthi then responded to the Congress letter, agreeing to take charge of the buses at the Delhi-UP border itself. He suggested that 500 buses should be stationed at the Kaushambi and Sahibabad bus stands in Ghaziabad, just across the border from Delhi. The remaining 500 should be sent to Noida. Awasthi said directions have been issued to the Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar district magistrates to make use of the buses immediately after checking the permits, fitness, insurance and driving licences of the crew. But the row reignited hours later when the UP government said the Congress list of 1,000 buses contained registration number of other vehicles. "In the list of buses provided by the Congress, there are motorcycles, three-wheelers, an ambulance and private cars, said Mrityunjay Kumar, media advisor to the chief minister, listing out the registration numbers. UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh challenged the claim. "There are 1,000 buses. If the UP Government has any doubts about them, they can conduct a physical verification of the vehicles at the state's border," he said. In another letter in the afternoon, Priyanka Gandhi's private secretary said the buses cannot be brought to Noida and Ghaziabad as the government has not given permission for them to enter Uttar Pradesh from Rajasthan. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya compared the episode scams during the Congress terms at the centre. "The bus ghotaala' (bus scam) now is the latest addition to the Bofors, 2G, Coalgate and Commonwealth Games, he tweeted in Hindi. The Congress is making fun of labourers by providing details of autorickshaws and motorcycles in the name of buses. Misleading people by telling lies is in the DNA of the Congress party," he said. Another deputy chief minister, Dinesh Sharma, accused the Congress of using migrant workers as pawns. He asked why the Congress couldn't send the buses through the government in Rajasthan, where it is in power. "The Congress is trying to malign the image of the UP government, and it must rectify its behavior, he said. In Delhi, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused the chief minister of being insensitive. "Kindly put a stop on cheap and not be insensitive and inhumane towards the plight of migrants. Kindly allow buses to ply migrants home and help them instead of embroiling them in cheap and petty politics," Surjewala told reporters through a video conference. Another spokesperson Surpriya Shrinate alleged that regional transport officers (RTOs) are now threatening owners of the buses made available for the Congress exercise. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Yangon/Dhaka/Bangkok: Zarchi Lwin pawned her only two gold bangles for $140 when the owner of the Myanmar factory where she sewed winter coats for British retailer Next Plc shut it down after orders dried up due to the coronavirus. She is one of hundreds of thousands of garment workers across Asia who have been laid off, according to the Workers Rights Consortium, a labour rights campaign group, and are now struggling to survive with little welfare support, mired in debt and in many cases reliant on food handouts. If I have a job and an income, I can pay for medical treatment for my mother, Zarchi Lwin, 29, told Reuters from the home she shares with her 56-year-old mother, who has lung disease, in a shanty town on the outskirts of Yangon. Now no income, no job, she said, fighting back tears. We dont know what to do. Next temporarily closed all its stores in Britain in March due to the coronavirus. The company said in a statement it had only cancelled some orders and 'endeavoured to be fair' to its suppliers. KGG, the factory where Zarchi Lwin worked, did not respond to requests for comment. Since the 1960s, Asia has grown into the worlds garment factory, sending about $670 billion worth of clothes, shoes and bags a year to Europe, the United States and richer Asian countries, according to the International Labour Organization, a United Nations agency. After non-essential stores were closed in many countries and people were told to stay at home to prevent further spread of the disease, international retailers from ASOS Plc to New Look said they cancelled orders with garment makers. Factory owners in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Cambodia immediately shut down thousands of factories and sent home workers with little or no pay. Retailers generally place orders at least three months ahead of delivery and pay for the finished product when it is delivered. Initially most retailers cancelled all outstanding orders, but many adjusted their position in March and April after a public outcry, agreeing to pay for goods that had already been manufactured or were mid-production. To finish pending orders, about half of Bangladeshs 4,000 garment factories have reopened, according to garment manufacturer associations. About 150 of Myanmars 600 or so factories have shut down, while 200 out of 600 or so are closed in Cambodia. Many factories that have reopened are struggling to enforce social distancing and good hygiene practices in often cramped conditions, two union officials told Reuters. Most of the factories are not complying with the safety guidelines, said Babul Akter, president of the Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, adding that dozens of garment workers had been infected with the virus. Just placing hand-washing systems and checking temperatures at the entrances will not help. Inside the factories, when the workers work so closely, how will they maintain safe distancing? Some orders have been trickling back. Swedish fashion retailer H&M said it only paused orders for two weeks at the height of the virus outbreak. US-based Walmart Inc, the worlds largest retailer, said it placed new orders with Asian manufacturers last month. Stay or go back home? Despite the new orders, several garment manufacturers said the low volume of work on the books means many factories in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Cambodia will not be viable, which means many of the young women who make up the majority of the workforce will no longer have jobs. That leaves them torn between returning to families in the countryside, where there are few employment opportunities, or enduring life in the city in the hope that factories will reopen at full capacity. The European Union has created a wage fund for workers in Myanmar worth 5 million euros ($5.3 million) to pay a portion of the salaries of the most vulnerable for three months. Myanmar has promised to cover 40 percent of the salaries of laid off workers. More than 58,000 have been laid off, according to the countrys garment manufacturer association. In Bangladesh, one million workers were furloughed or laid off by late March, according to the Penn State Center for Global Workers Rights, although some have since returned to work. About 75,000 have not been paid for March, according to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), which estimates tens of thousands more will not be paid wages owed to them. The government has announced a $588 million aid package for its export sector to help pay employees. Garment manufacturers, which estimate they have lost almost $3 billion in exports since the start of April, said the funds are not enough. Foreign-owned firms and joint ventures are not eligible for payments. In Cambodia, where about 60,000 garment workers have been 'suspended', according to the countrys manufacturer association, workers have been promised $70 per month-$40 from the government and $30 from the employer-but that amounts to just over a third of the current minimum wage. In that countrys capital, Phnom Penh, 39-year-old Rom Phary said she and her husband had racked up $550 of debt and interest since she lost her factory job in early March, several times her monthly salary. She said she and her family are living off rice donated by an NGO, the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights, which is working in Cambodia. Phary said she persuaded her landlord to let her stay rent-free rather than forcing the family to return to relatives in the provinces. If we go back, it would be shameful. We dont know what we would do, she said. If she died, it would be a relief In Myanmar the garment industry was the fastest-growing sector of the economy, accounting for about 10 percent of the countrys exports and offering an escape route from extreme poverty for hundreds of thousands of people, many of them migrants from rural areas. In Dagon Seikkan, an industrial zone on the outskirts of Yangon that is home for many migrant workers, local officials have been giving out rations of free rice to those who have been without jobs for some time. But Zarchi Lwin said she did not qualify as she was employed up until recently. She and her parents left their small village in the central Magwe region six years ago after selling their house to pay for treatment for her brother, who eventually died from kidney disease. At first, they worked as cleaners and lived in a dormitory. Then Zarchi Lwin trained herself to sew clothes and secured a sought-after job at one of the nearby factories, earning $146 per month: enough for food, rent of a small wooden shack, and medical treatment. She saved up for a year to buy the bangles she pawned, she said. Sobbing, she recounted how her mother told her she wants to die in order to lessen the financial burden on the family. Sometimes I want to kill myself because of this situation, she said. Her father, a guard at a furniture factory, has also lost his income. Before the new coronavirus, garment workers in Yangon and the neighbouring province of Bago were sending more than 40 million euros ($43 million) in remittances to their hometowns and villages across the country each month, said Jacob Clere of SMART Textile and Garments, a European Union-funded project. Education for children who would otherwise not have it. Medicine for grandmothers who would otherwise go without. Healthy food. Better shelter, said Clere, describing how that money helped rural communities. Many are now at risk of being forced into early marriage or taking on debt from loan sharks at very high rates, said Mike Slingsby, a regional urban poverty specialist. High-interest debts In Bangladesh, the worlds second-largest garment maker behind China, 4.1 million workers or 2.5 percentof the population worked in garment factories, many of which are now closed. About 70 percent of Dhakas garment industry workers left the city to return to their villages, said Tuomo Poutiainen of the International Labour Organization, although he said some have since returned after some factories reopened to finish work on existing contracts. Orders for June are down 45 percent from a year ago, according to Rubana Huq, president of the BGMEA. Banesa Begum, a 21-year-old worker laid off from a Dhaka factory making clothes for Zara, among other brands, said she had nothing to send to her parents, subsistence farmers in the northern district of Rangpur. I know they are starving, she said. Inditex, the owner of Zara, told Reuters it will pay for orders from garment makers, whether finished or in production, according to the original payment schedule. Begums salary also paid for her two young brothers to go to school. I dont know how Ill manage money to continue their study, she said. All my dreams are shattered. Mitch Enyart was worried about flying but had to get to Green Bay, Wis., to help her ailing father, who had fallen outside his home and was housebound. I have a lot of concerns about flying because my father is near 90, and I dont want to catch it and give it to him, she said of the novel coronavirus. Enyart needed to stay with him for several weeks to make sure he didnt fall again. Enyart, who was waiting Sunday afternoon for a flight to Chicago, was one of more than a dozen travelers at San Antonio International Airport interviewed over the weekend and on Monday. Passengers are slowly returning to airports across the U.S. as travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders are eased. Kin Man Hui, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer Nearly 1,900 passengers went through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints on Sunday at San Antonio International, an increase of 35 percent from the previous Sunday, said Brian Pratte, chief air service development officer for the city aviation department. Related links: Two coronavirus patients released from San Antonio hospital accompanied to airport The average daily number of passengers leaving from the airport has jumped 265 percent from a month ago. But as impressive as that number seems, the passenger count still is down 88 percent from a year earlier. Passenger traffic remains at its lowest levels in decades at San Antonio International and other airports. Vacationers and business travelers largely have yet to return. Most of the passengers interviewed were flying home to take care of sick relatives, attend funerals or doing business related to the coronavirus pandemic. And the increase in passengers has created new problems. Airlines have halted numerous flights United Airlines, for example, has cut 90 percent of its flights at San Antonio International so the few flights still available frequently are near capacity or full. Related links: $40 million in federal funds to ease San Antonio airport's coronavirus losses That makes social distancing impossible. United currently flies three fights most days from San Antonio International, down from around 20 per day before the pandemic. Kin Man Hui / Staff photographer With more passenger on planes, keeping 6 feet between passengers isnt possible which worried Enyart as she was about to board her plane. It makes me nervous, she said. Overall, 45 passengers were preparing to board. Instead of the Airbus 319 with 128 seats, the plane that used to fly the route, United has substituted a regional jet that can carry 70 passenger and has no middle seats. Even on larger jets, theres no guarantee that passengers can keep 6 feet between themselves. United said in April it would block middle seats but later added that would not always be possible if flights were full or near capacity. When you consolidate five flights a day to one, whatever demand there is out there is going to be crammed onto that one flight, New York-based aviation consultant Robert Mann said. Complicating the matter for Enyart and other San Antonio travelers is that they would have to self-quarantine for 14 days upon returning from Chicago even if they only changed planes at OHare International Airport. As passengers waited for departure, Texas state troopers greeted passengers arriving from Chicago with quarantine forms. Travelers had to detail where in the state they would quarantine. In late March, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered air passengers to quarantine if they were coming from states and cities with a high number of COVID-19 cases, such as Chicago. I hope I dont have to quarantine when I get back, said Naida Gonzalez, a 19-year-old from the Rio Grande Valley. She was switching planes in Chicago for her flight to Harrisburg, Pa. She needed to clear out her dorm room at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., after her spring semester had been cut short by the pandemic. Mann, noting hes not a public health expert, said quarantine policies such as Abbotts contribute to the publics general fear of flying. It gets people to the point that they won't even consider traveling because they don't know what's going to happen when they get off the plane, he said. Randy Diamond / Some employees have to travel these days because their companies have assigned them to help out with logistics during the pandemic. Monday morning, one woman got off a Delta flight from Atlanta to go to a work meeting with Chick-fil-A franchise owners. Her assignment: help develop a plan to reopen the restaurants dining rooms. The women, who asked not to be identified because she was not authorized to speak for the company, said only drive-in windows were open until the company figured how to implement social-distancing policies in the restaurants. As far as her own social distancing, she said she had a row to herself during her flight from Atlanta, where the fast-food chain is based. It felt safe, she said. Other travelers, knocked out of work by the economic downturn, were flying to spend time with family. Laid off from his job as a restaurant server in San Antonio, 25-year-old Reed Bruce decided to fly to Phoenix on a Southwest Airlines flight to visit with his folks. Bruce said he wasnt afraid to fly. My dad's actually a flight attendant, and there's a statistic out saying that airports and airplanes are actually cleaner than most grocery stores people are going to now, he said. While their numbers remain small, some vacationers are starting to leave home. Sunday night, a women accompanied by a family friend and two small children arrived on Delta Airlines flight to visit San Antonio. The Seattle-area traveler, who asked not to be identified, said she decided to go to a place where restaurants and stores had reopened. Travelers from Washington are subject to the governors quarantine order, but she flew from Seattle to Salt Lake City on Delta Airlines before boarding a second plane to San Antonio. State troopers did not meet the Salt Lake City flight. Another group of travelers flying into San Antonio: Air Force recruits. A group waited Monday afternoon at the airport for transportation to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. I had my own row, said a recruit who had gotten off a flight from Detroit. He said he wasnt worried about coronavirus, but was concerned about what basic training would be like. While airline travel is up, aviation analysts said a return to normal for airlines could be years away because many people now are afraid to fly and a full economic recovery wont be immediate. In our view, a vaccine certainly helps start the recovery process for airlines, said Colin Scarola, an equity analyst at at CFRA Research. But even if COVID-19 were eradicated tomorrow, we think many airlines will still struggle to break even in 2021 as we'll likely be stuck with high unemployment for a while, which lowers demand via lower discretionary income for leisure trips. Businesses also might be reluctant to allow employees to travel until theres a vaccine. Brian Sumers covers aviation for business travel website Skift, but cant fly because his company doesnt currently allow air travel. He said airlines think more people will take domestic trips in coming months, especially as airelines launch fare sales. He cited Southwest Airlines offer of one-way fares of between $49 and $99. But I want to reiterate, things are far from normal, Sumers said. Airlines are still in severe trouble. Most business traffic has not returned, and no one is sure when it will. 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 Airlines will divert flights if a passenger refuses to wear a mask, board the back of the plane first and abandon in-flight magazines in a bid to lure customers back on board. Passengers can also expect more layovers as cuts to services because of coronavirus travel restrictions means airlines will offer less direct flights. Air travel has all but shuttered over coronavirus fears as airlines grapple with how to entice customers back onto flights despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As most major U.S. airlines now require all passengers to wear masks, Frontier Airlines CEO suggested that flights may be diverted if a person refused to cover their face onboard. 'If someone is uncompliant, we will eventually divert an airplane,' CEO Barry Biffle told the Wall Street Journal. American, Delta, United, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska Airlines all now require passengers to wear a face mask or covering in-flight. Pictured travelers wear protective masks as they wait for a shuttle after arriving at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday Extra cleaning time is being scheduled by airlines between flights as they implement more safety procedures in the hope of attracting customers back onboard despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Pictured a staff member cleans a Frontier airplane with a fogger Social distancing and increased cleaning are top now priorities for airlines looking to win back passengers. Airlines are taking different approaches with Air France boarding the back of the plane first - and making business class and other higher fare passengers wait - to avoid crowding. Some airlines are also slowing down the disembarkation from the plan with flight attendants cuing groups to tell them when they can stand to avoid the normal crush. Others have bid farewell to in-flight magazines, duty-free trolleys and meals on short-haul flights to limit traffic jams in the aisles. Delta Airlines will increase flights to keep planes no more than 60% full and passengers able to keep social distance until at least July Major US carrier Delta Air Lines will add flights to its service in a bid to keep planes no more than 60% full in July and maintain social distancing as demand for travel begins to climb. Adding more flights than demand would usually justify means passengers will be spread more thinly throughout the planes. Delta has already publicly said that it will limit first class seating capacity at 50 per cent and main cabin at 60 per cent throughout June. The airline announced earlier that it was resuming some flights next month - despite numerous ongoing requests to the US government to suspend flights at certain airports. Advertisement European budget carrier Ryanair is even requesting that passengers raise their hand if they need to use the restroom to avoid lines. Extra cleaning measures are also being taken in between flights with disinfectant misted across cabins and more time scheduled for a deeper clean. 'We'll take delays if we have to,' said Bill Lentsch, Delta's chief customer experience officer. Despite the new measures, airline executives are still expecting years of low demand, warning that it could lead to fewer direct flights and more layovers. According to the Wall Street Journal, international travel will be the last to recover, shutting down the global networks established by the likes of Delta, United and American Airlines. American has already slashed international travel for the summer and delayed the launch of international routes, leaving passengers to rely on more stopovers. 'We're not going to be flying the same airplanes to the same places that we flew in the past,' American Chief Executive Doug Parker told pilots. Many of the main U.S. airlines now require passengers to wear a face mask or a face covering although it is unsure how the airlines will enforce the rule in-flight. American, Delta, United, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska Airlines all implemented the requirement from early May, following pressure from flight attendants and lawmakers. A United Airlines agent carries a box of face masks for travelers on Wednesday as airlines enforce a rule on face coverings onboard. It is uncertain how airlines will implement the rule but Frontier Airlines has suggested a flight will be diverted if a passenger is noncompliant 'Wearing a face covering isn't about protecting yourself, it's about protecting those around you,' JetBlue President Joanna Geraghty told NPR. 'This is the new flying etiquette.' In order to make it easier for passengers to comply, United and several other airlines are providing masks to passengers who don't have them. 'We do have language in our contract of carriage that will be updated, so we're going to be real clear about what the requirements are,' said United Airlines spokesman Josh Earnest. Social distancing on airplanes has become a topic of debate as airlines look to revive passenger numbers while ensuring safety for both travelers and workers. TSA officers wear protective masks at a security screening area at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday. It was revealed Friday that the TSA is preparing to begin checking passengers' temperatures at a dozen US airports as soon as next week as they hope to prevent anyone who is carrying coronavirus to board a plane and risk infecting others The US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week urged airlines to maintain at least one seat between all passengers and cap seating at 67 per cent of capacity on narrow-body airplanes. But the global industry's main group the International Air Transport Association said airlines will not be able to make a profit if they limit airplanes to two-thirds of their normal capacity, unless they drastically increased airfares. Frontier Airlines was recently forced to walk back an option to pay $39 extra to keep the middle seat beside you free after backlash from lawmakers that they were attempting to profit from the pandemic. Southwest stock jumps after company said bookings outpaced cancellations in May and demand for travel in June begins to rise slowly Southwest Airlines said on Tuesday that passenger reservations have outpaced cancellations so far in the month of May, helping the company slow its cash burn rate. Shares of Southwest jumped more than 1 percent on the news. It came as the latest sign that passengers are slowly returning to the air despite fears of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Southwest said although it continues to estimate its average daily core cash spending to be in range of $30 million to $35 million in the second quarter, June daily cash burn rate would slow to low-$20 million range. The U.S. carrier said it expects June capacity to fall between 45 percent and 55 percent from with a year ago, compared with a decline of 60 percent to 70 percent in May capacity. United Airlines also said on Tuesday that ticket cancellations were slowing and demand was showing some signs of improvement. Advertisement 'We recognize the concerns raised that we are profiting from safety and this was never our intent,' CEO Biffle wrote a letter to CNN. 'We simply wanted to provide our customers with an option for more space.' Biffle added that the airline had made the decision because it was again seeing over half of the seats on its flight sold but that if they blocked off the middle seat to maintain social distancing, it would drive fares up by 50 percent. With airlines cutting services, however, flights are beginning to become more crowded again and United Airlines has already faced criticism for pictures that showed a packed flight. In response the airline has said it will give passengers advance notice if their flight is full, allowing them to make other plans. On Friday, it was revealed that the Transportation Security Administration is preparing to begin checking passengers' temperatures at a dozen US airports as soon as next week. Details surrounding potential temperature checks are still subject to change and it's unclear which airports will kick off the new procedure, the Wall Street Journal reports. The initial plan will cost less than $20million and passengers will not be charged an additional fee for any temperature checks, a senior Trump official said. Some U.S. airports have already begum taking passengers' temperatures, including Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, which started such procedures in April. Frontier Airlines said it will being taking passenger temperatures on June 11 before they board any aircraft. The airline said those will a 100.4 degrees temperature or higher will be given time to rest before being checked again. If the passenger still has a high temperature, they won't be allowed to fly and Frontier will try to rebook the flight. Paine Field Passenger Terminal, a privately owned airport in Washington, recently installed a thermal camera that screens passengers for fevers. 'If they have a fever, it becomes an airline decision. We're not blocking people from entering,' said Brett Smith, chief executive of Propeller Airports LLC. Mandatory temperature checks have already been rolled out by Air France before each departure. Passengers showing a temperature above 100 degrees Fahrenheit will be prevented from boarding, according to the Wall Street Journal. Air Canada is also already taking passenger temperatures with a no-contact infrared thermometer. 'It's going to be socially less acceptable for someone to get on an airplane who clearly isn't well,' JetBlue Airways Corp. Chief Executive Robin Hayes says. 'Airlines have to figure out how they're going to respond to that in a way that still allows them to be profitable, but also recognize that you don't want people on the airplane that are ill.' Critics have argued, however, that temperature checks will only work to give passengers confidence as customers could be carrying coronavirus but not displaying any symptoms. Some TSA officials have pushed back against the temperature checks, saying that a person's temperature is a weak measure of COVID-19. The temperature scanners won't pick up on asymptomatic air travelers and may inadvertently block people with other illnesses. 'Thermal scanning as proposed is a poorly designed control and detection strategy, as we have learned very clearly,' said Dr. Martin Cetron in a letter to Department of Homeland Security. 'We should be concentrating our CDC resources where there is impact and a probability of mission success.' Travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders have caused the demand for air travel to plummet more than 90 per cent. The IATA has previously estimated that airlines globally will lose at least $314 billion because of the outbreak. The second tranche of 435 containers of wheat weighing 10,024 metric tonnes left Chabahar Port yesterday and is now on the way to Afghanistan. @MEAIndia @vkumar1969 pic.twitter.com/fehZDjuI8L India in Afghanistan (@IndianEmbKabul) May 14, 2020 These have been unprecedented times for both India and the world at large. Nations have been grappling as affected cases and the death toll climbs up, while the world is racing against time to find a vaccine to protect humanity. While some nations have been turning inwards in their fight against the virus, India has played a vital role in the global arena in terms of helping neighbours and other countries. The country has been sending assistance such as medicines and equipment, along with health professionals, to various countries to help them fight the pandemic. India is also set to move on to a leadership role at the World Health Organisation (WHO) as it assumes the role of Chairperson of WHOs executive board. In his virtual speech on the occasion of Buddha Poornima, PM Narendra Modi said that India was fulfilling its duty by selflessly serving other nations amid the pandemic. A number of countries have thanks India for its assistance during these testing times. Lets take a look at all the times that India has been helping out in its neighbourhood and the world. Medicines and medical know-how: India has stood by its moniker, pharmacy of the world by supplying medicines to many nations across the world. In the last two months alone, India supplied paracetamol and hydroxychloroquine to more than 120 countries. India is one of the largest manufacturers of the anti-malarial drug, which has been identified as a possible treatment for COVID-19. Story continues Early April, India had banned the export of the drug but reversed the decision after US President Donald Trump requested that the country ship medicines to the United States. According to Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry, the restrictions had been placed on the export of these medicines to ensure that rich countries did not corner the majority of medicines, at the cost of the poorer nations. India has also sent the drug to countries in Africa and Latin America on humanitarian grounds. So far, more than 40 nations have received the medicines free of cost. As per reports, these medicines have been sent out after ensuring that there is enough supply in the country. In a mission it named, Mission Sagar, India sent Indian naval ship INS Kesari to five nations in the southern Indian Ocean, Maldives, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comores and Seychelles in response to their requests for help in dealing with the pandemic. The ships carried medical teams, essential food items and COVID- related essential medicines. As per the Ministry of External Affairs, around 600 tonnes of food items were sent to the Maldives and a special consignment of Ayurvedic medicines was sent to Mauritius. Rapid response teams and diplomatic outreaches: Ever since the early stages of the pandemic, Indias foreign minister, S Jaishankar has been reaching out to nations across the globe, including the smaller ones such as Comores to offer them aid and support. This has been in line with PM Modis advise to reach out to as many countries as possible with assistance. According to a report, India is expected to spend around Rs 110-120 crore as part of its diplomatic outreach to help authorities across 90-plus countries combat the virus. This, as per the report, would be in addition to the medicines and equipment that the country is supplying to various countries. The foreign ministry has currently pledged to supply drugs and medical assistance to 67 countries As per reports, India has responded to requests from countries for the deployment of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs). These teams will comprise of doctors, nurses and paramedics, which will train and exchange best practices with local teams on aspects of dealing with the pandemic. The RRTs have been deployed to Maldives and Kuwait, at the request of their governments, and more teams will be dispatched to other countries when requested. Further, in what is being seen as a revival of its role in the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region, India took the first step of reaching out to the member nations on March 15, soon after the WHO declared the spread as a pandemic. It conducted a virtual meeting where India donated USD 10 million as a SAARC joint relief fund, while also requesting other members to contribute to the fund. India has since held a series of virtual meets with SAARC nations, and their trade and health officials. India also developed the SAARC COVID-19 Information Exchange Platform (COINEX), for use by all SAARC nations. This will be used for the exchange of specialised information and tools on COVID-19 and will also offer various online training and e-learning modules. India has sent medicines such as HCQ to Bangladesh and Nepal, while it has also sent essentials such as hand sanitisers, personal protection equipment (PPE), digital thermometers, glycerine and fumigations systems to Bhutan. India had also sent its army to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan to help the nations fight the rising cases. India, including PM Modi and Jaishankar, has also been conducting high-level virtual meetings with heads of other nations, primarily to offer support and assistance. These gestures come at a time when China is increasingly being questioned for its role in not stemming the spread earlier on, and the United States for its failure to control the pandemic in the country. Paesano's, shortly after its February 2020 opening at Marlborough Street and Frankford Avenue. Read more Paesanos, chef Peter McAndrews peripatetic sandwich destination, has closed its Fishtown hole-in-the-wall spot at Frankford Avenue and Marlborough Street, but the news is not as grim as it seems. Rosemarie Montalto is taking over and rebranding as Dukes of Marlborough and expects to open soon. McAndrews sandwiches are not going away entirely. He is offering them at Modo Mio Taverna, his rustic Italian restaurant in Queen Village. McAndrews said the closing of Paesanos could be tied to the coronavirus pandemic. In February, he opened Paesanos within a week of opening Modo Mio, at Fifth and Monroe Streets. Then a Paesanos employee tested positive for the virus, and I couldnt be in two places at the same time, McAndrews said. Since he has personally guaranteed his lease at Modo Mio, I couldnt afford to risk being at Paesanos, he said. I have to make sure Modo Mio is doing well. Meanwhile, Modo Mio is open for takeout and delivery and is offering some Paesanos-style sandwiches. Both Paesanos and Modo Mio (and McAndrews, for that matter) have bounced around over the years. Modo Mio launched in late 2007 in a corner space at Girard Avenue and Hancock Street, marking the solo debut of McAndrews, who had been chef for 12 years at the late Rembrandts in Fairmount. It closed three years ago, after McAndrews decided to pay more attention to his bar-restaurant La Porta in Media. (The space is now Cadence.) McAndrews opened Paesanos in early 2009 as a six-seat counter across from Modo Mio, on the Northern Liberties side of Girard Avenue. Branches in South Philadelphia and on Temple Universitys campus followed. He later moved the original location into a larger space a few doors down before closing in December 2019. McAndrews also owned a Sicilian BYOB called Monsu in South Philadelphia that had a nine-year run that ended in September 2019. Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, today partnered with Central Public Works Department (CPWD) to light up the Parliament House and spread the message of hope on the occasion of International Day of Light. International Day of Light underlines the potential of light to foster peace and sustainable development. On this occasion, the 93-year old landmark was illuminated with a dynamic simulation that used an advanced light consisting of over 875 ColorKinetics lighting fixtures. The simulation started with vibrant colors depicting the diversity of the country and then changed to a subtle show of five colors that denote the five elements of the universe, as a symbolic representation of the world coming together in this endeavor to recover. Then, the lights turned from red, to orange, to green and then to bright in blue. And finally, the building glimmered in the glorious tri-colors of Indian National Flag as an indicator of unity and solidarity in this time of darkness. The dynamic lighting system is controlled, monitored, and managed using Signifys Interact Landmark connected lighting software. Interact Landmarks fault detection, alerts, and troubleshooting capabilities helps to reduce downtime and keep the site looking spectacular. Speaking on the occasion, Sumit Padmakar Joshi, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Signify Innovations India Limited said, The initiative is a reminder of hope and positivity during an extremely difficult time. We at Signify, believe that light is fundamental to a progressive society and its sustainable development goals, and the International Day of Light is a perfect opportunity to harness its powers in an effort to bring the country together. This initiative is also a mark of our renewed commitment to look for solutions in lighting technology for a new normal that we find ourselves in today. We are thankful to CPWD for being our partner in this effort. Last year, both Apple and Google started offering Dark Mode inside their respective mobile operating systems, iOS and Android. However, not all Google apps had support for Dark Mode on iOS. Starting today, Google will offer Dark Mode to its Google search app for iOS. It will sync with the system theme of your iPhone. Internet search giant Google announced today through a tweet that it will start rolling out Dark Mode to its Android and iOS search apps. By default, its updated apps will follow the system theme (Light or Dark), but users can manually change the theme as per their liking. Users of phones that dont run iOS 13 can also enable the Dark Mode theme from the Settings section of the internet search app. Once the update hits your iPhone, you would be able to see the message Dark Theme is available as soon as you open the app. The update is rolled out in a phased manner, so if you dont get it right away, it should be available before the end of this week. Dark Mode on Googles search app for iOS uses a dark grey color instead of pure black, so it might not offer as much battery efficiency as expected. Now that the Google search app has Dark Mode on iOS, we want the company to bring the feature to its Google Maps app on iOS. Other app developers started offering Dark Mode to their apps over the past year. The list of Dark Mode compatible iPhones apps includes Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Fantastical, Feedly, Gmail, Slack, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp. [Source: Google On Twitter Hundreds defy curbs to demand food and medical aid in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Chiles capital. Demonstrators in Chile calling for help from the government have clashed with police in one of Santiagos poorest neighbourhoods. President Sebastian Pinera had already promised help was on the way, but hundreds defied a city-wide lockdown to contain the coronavirus to demand food and other vital supplies. Al Jazeeras Lucia Newman reports from Santiago. There is no guarantee that Americans will receive a second coronavirus stimulus check. While the House of Representatives last week approved a $3 trillion bill that includes direct payments to tens of millions of Americans, aid for local and state governments and hazard pay for health care workers, the Senate is likely make significant changes to any relief package that makes its way to President Donald Trumps desk. Democrats have been pushing for another robust stimulus, while Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration have largely remained in wait-and-see mode, noting the government has already injected more than $3 trillion into an economy that the pandemic brought to a standstill. Trump has said hes in no rush on another package and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the HEROES Act has no chance of passing. However, two senior administration officials told CNBC last week that Trump would likely support another round of stimulus checks. Who is eligible for a check if the legislation moves forward? As the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act stands now, most Americans, including the unemployed and retired, people on Social Security, those just re-entering the workforce and those who dont earn enough to file a tax return, are eligible to receive payments. Eligibility is largely contingent on your income level, with caps similar to the first round of stimulus checks in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which have already been sent to more than 130 million Americans. For more on the CARES Acts payments and how they worked, read here. The second round would benefit 4 million more Americans than the payments in the CARES Act, because the new law expands eligibility to undocumented immigrants who do not have a Social Security number, and those who file taxes use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, according to Forbes. It would also make the CARES Act payments retroactive for ITIN filers. How much would we receive? Individuals earning up to $75,000 would receive $1,200. Those filing as head of household earning up to $112,500 would receive $1,200. Married couples who file jointly and earn up to $150,000 would receive $2,400. Like the first round, the checks decrease incrementally, at 5%, or $5 for every additional $100 in income, above the thresholds. The checks phase out entirely for single taxpayers who earn $99,000 and have no children, $146,000 for head of household filers with one child, and $198,000 for married couples with no children. Families with dependents, including those older than 17 living at home, will receive $1,200 each, up to three children. Wasnt there a $2,000 check per month proposal? Yes, but that idea wasnt part of the HEROES Act approved by the Democratic-majority House. The proposal faces a similar uphill battle in terms of pushing through the Republican-controlled Senate. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Sen. Kamala Harris of California recently proposed a bill that would see millions of Americans receive at least $2,000 monthly over the next few months during the pandemic. For more on that package, read here. Sanders on Sunday wouldnt commit to voting for the HEROES Act, urging lawmakers to consider the direction of a paycheck security process, similar to what has been done in Europe, which says to every worker in America: you will continue to receive your paycheck and the other benefits which you had when you were on the job, and when this crisis is over, hopefully sooner than later, youre just going to go back to work. When might a second round of checks come? Not anytime soon. Democratic and Republican Senate leaders continue to haggle this week over potential coronavirus packages, while the Trump administration has repeatedly said its waiting to see how effective the CARES Act will be in jolting the economy as businesses begin to open their doors in most states. The House has been at home for two months. They gave themselves no assignments except developing this proposal," McConnell said of the HEROES Act on Friday. "Yet it still reads like the Speaker of the House pasted together random ideas from her most liberal members and slapped the word coronavirus on top of it. In a news conference Tuesday, McConnell said that, like Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, GOP leaders in the Senate still want to "assess what weve already done, take a look at what worked and what didnt, and well discuss the way forward in the next couple weeks. Related Content: Cambridge International announced the results of its March series examinations for IGCSE (Class 10) and International AS & A (Class 11 and 12) level qualifications. The examinations were held before the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak gripped the country and led to weeks-long lockdown restrictions in a bid to contain the spread of the pandemic. At SVKM JV Parekh International School in Vile Parle the highest score recorded in IGCSE was 97.2%. At Malads Witty International school the topper scored 93.8%. The March series is popular with Indian students, as it enables them to get their results in time to meet admission deadlines for local colleges. Cambridge programmes are offered by over 500 schools in the country. This year combined 52,190 entries were submitted for Cambridge IGCSE and Cambridge International AS & A Level by 337 schools. Over 41,000 entries were for Cambridge IGCSE and more than 11,000 were for Cambridge International AS & A Level. Those students, who had registered for the May series of examinations, would receive marks on the basis of their internal assessments as Cambridge has cancelled the tests because of the pandemic. Students were given two options. Either they could choose to get a score on the basis of their internal evaluation or could opt for November series examinations, said Dr. G Swaminathan, principal, SVKM JV Parekh International School. Mahesh Srivastava, regional director, South Asia, Cambridge International, said: These are unprecedented times. I feel these results will give hope and encourage students to plan for their future. Were doing all we can to allow students to continue their education, despite the viral outbreak. Mathematics, First Language English, Physics, Chemistry and Biology were the most popular Cambridge IGCSE subjects in the March examination series this year. For Cambridge International AS & A Level, Mathematics, English Language, Physics, Chemistry, and Economics emerged as the most popular subjects. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Peeved with the Centre's Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package failing to address traders concerns, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has shot off a letter to the Finance Minister seeking relief measures to support the 7-crore strong trading community. With no income and "zero support from the government", at least 20 per cent of these traders are staring at business closure and that would, in turn, jeopardise livelihoods and jobs of hundreds of employees, CAIT said on Monday. "While announcing the economic package, the government has ignored the traders and the trading community is deeply agitated for their utter exclusion in the package at a time when it is direly needed," CAIT said in a letter. "These traders have stood firmly with the government and the people to ensure continuous supply of essential commodities so that every citizen had substantial supplies during the lockdown. About 45 per cent are catering to the needs in rural India with very limited resources. The axe of lockdown will fall on them in a most brutal manner. While most retailers are struggling to revive their business activities, about 20 per cent of marginal traders will have to close down without hand-holding," said Praveen Khandelwal, national secretary general of CAIT. Echoing similar sentiments, Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO of the Retailers' Association of India, also pointed out that retailers need wage support, a moratorium for payment of principal and interests, and working capital in their hands to survive. "While extension of loan guarantee, and TDS reduction for non-salaried will help in the long run, emergent issues in retail industry remain unaddressed," he said. Nine workers were killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a truck at Naugachia early on Tuesday, police officials said. All those killed were travelling in the truck carrying iron pipes. The bus was carrying migrant workers, five of whom sustained minor injuries. The accident occurred on NH-31 as the truck collided with the bus coming from the opposite direction near Kharik. The truck fell into a ditch after hitting the bus. So far, nine bodies have been extracted. They all died as the truck overturned and they were buried under the iron pipes. The identity cards of the dead men showed some of them belonged to East and West Champaran districts, said Naugachias superintendent of police Nidhi Rani. It is not clear whether they were migrant labourers. We are trying to contact their families to ascertain other details. Police officials said the bus was coming from Darbhanga and was on it way to Banka. These migrant workers had alighted at Darbhanga from a Shramik Special train and were being transported to Banka. Fortunately, a few of them received only minor injuries, an official said. The bus later left for Banka, Rani said. On Monday, at least six migrant workers were killed and several others injured in separate road accidents in Bihar, while they were returning home amid the Covid-19 lockdown. The accidents occurred in Gopalganj, Bhagalpur, Patna, Bhojpur and Begusarai districts. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Former representative of the Kaduna Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani, has reacted to the decisio... Former representative of the Kaduna Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Senator Shehu Sani, has reacted to the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to call off his scheduled nationwide broadcast on Monday. The Presidency announced Buharis U-turn on the expected nationwide broadcast on Monday. Following the Presidents decision, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 later announced a continuation of the first phase of the gradual easing of lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun States. The National Coordinator of the PTF, Dr. Sani Aliyu had told Nigerians yesterday to expect Buharis broadcast on Monday (today) Aliyu spoke when he appeared on Channels Televisions Sunday Politics. Reacting to the development, Sani suggested that the President may have taken the decision in order to avoid lashes from angry Nigerians. He tweeted, Baba [Buhari] wanted to come out and talk to you [Nigerians], [and when] he peeped through the Window, instead of each of you holding a notebook and a pen, you were holding stones. And he just went back to Za[the] living room. Return your stones from where you picked them. 3 1 of 3 Handout/National Institutes of Health/AFP via Getty Images Show More Show Less 2 of 3 LI WENLIANG/Getty Show More Show Less 3 of 3 Medical Center Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Christin Timmons said an employee tested positive at an MCH Family Health Clinic on West University Boulevard. She was asymptomatic, and the last day she worked at the clinic was Thursday. Timmons said they will be contacting the 49 patients she was in contact with that day. She was tested after being notified through contact tracing that her relative had tested positive, Timmons said. She was wearing a medical and cloth mask while in contact with patients. Staff members who she worked with also will be monitored. Ector County confirmed six more positive cases of coronavirus Monday, making the total 115. There are three probable cases at this time. ECHD reported that 79 people have recovered. There have been 1,834 tests taken, with 1,603 negative results and 116 pending results. ECHD has contacted 1,382 people during contact tracing. The speed with which Ericom responded to organizations need to rapidly pivot to fully remote work for thousands of users is a great example of why we value Ericom solutions so highly, and recommend their solutions to our customers. Ericom Software, a leader in secure web and application access solutions, today announced the release of Ericom Connect 9.3, the latest version of its browser-based secure remote application and desktop access solution. With the new release, IT admins can enable enterprise users to securely access corporate resources and in-office desktops, without having to install software directly on either in-office desktops or users remote devices. The ability to implement work-from-home initiatives without IT admins having physical access to endpoints is especially crucial for organizations that, prior to recent pandemic-related closures, only enabled simultaneous remote access for a small percentage of their workforce. Many enterprises, faced with the sudden need to scale up to 100% remote work, have turned to RDP as the easiest way to quickly ramp up connectivity. Unfortunately, RDP is susceptible to brute-force cyberattacks. As a result, many businesses around the globe have suffered breaches since the start of pandemic-related office closures. Ericom Connect 9.3 enables enterprise IT departments to quickly provide full, secure access for thousands of remote and work-from-home users. It integrates seamlessly with existing VPNs and supports multi-factor authentication. Additional security features include role-based administration, group-level access and policy management, and SSO support. Ericom Connect provides secure network connections, providing full encryption of all traffic from clients to terminal servers, even across public networks. The platform is ultra-scalable to over 100,000 users on a single server, and simple for users. While pandemic-related office closures have been challenging for everyone, companies that previously had no laptop/no remote work policies for some or all of their workers were particularly hard hit, said Nick Kael, Chief Technology Officer of Ericom Software. Many of these companies opted to implement Ericom Connect, based on its strong security features, scalability and clientless endpoint installation. To enable installation by IT admins who were also barred from on-premise work, Ericoms development team rapidly designed technology for clientlessly enabling Ericom Connect on target in-office desktops. Thanks to Ericom's responsiveness and innovation, entire departments and even companies that did not previously allow work-for-home have continued to provide virtually uninterrupted for their users. The speed with which Ericom responded to organizations need to rapidly pivot to fully remote work for thousands of users is a great example of why we value Ericom solutions so highly, and recommend their solutions to our customers. Thanks to the Ericom Connect solutions innovative, fully clientless install process, IT managers can now quickly and safely establish full remote business connectivity from the safety of their own homes, said Alessio Aceti, CEO of Sababa Security, which distributes Ericom solutions in Italy. Our customers confirm that in addition to being easy to administer, their users find the platform very easy to use, since it enables them to work as usual, on their familiar desktops, within any browser tab. Ericom Connect 9.3 is available today. For more information, visit: http://www.ericom.com/ericom-connect/ About Ericom Software Ericom Software provides businesses with secure access to the web and corporate applications, in the cloud and on-premises, from any device or location. Leveraging innovative isolation capabilities and multiple secure access technologies, Ericoms solutions ensure that devices and applications are protected from cybersecurity threats, and users can connect to only the specific resources they are authorized to access. Ericoms platform of browser isolation, remote access, secure connectivity, mobility, and virtualization technologies enhances cybersecurity and productivity while reducing cost and complexity for tens of thousands of businesses and millions of end-users worldwide. The company has offices in the US, UK, and EMEA, and a global network of distributors and partners. For more information about Ericom and its products, visit http://www.ericom.com. You can also follow Ericom Software on our blog, as well as on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. A new chapter in the development of Airbus U.S. production capabilities has begun with inauguration of the completed A220 commercial aircraft final assembly line (FAL) in Mobile, Alabama. This 270,000-square-foot facility which can produce both the A220-100 and A220-300 versions houses five primary assembly stations where major airframe component assemblies come together for a completed aircraft. An A220 first for JetBlue Airbus production team in Mobile, Alabama also marked another milestone, welcoming the first component assemblies destined to become an A220 for JetBlue. This low-cost carrier will be the second airline customer receiving U.S.-built A220s when the aircraft is delivered in late 2020. The team is excited to start working in their new facility and to welcome a new customer, said Paul Gaskell, president of A220 USA and Head of A220 Program in Mobile. Its a strong endorsement from JetBlue in this challenging time. An expanded U.S. industrial footprint Airbus announced plans in October 2017 for the addition of A220 manufacturing at Mobile which is situated on the edge of Mobile Bay along the Gulf of Mexico. The company began producing A220s at Mobile in August 2019 using space in an existing Final Assembly Line hangar for U.S.-built A320 Family aircraft, and in newly-constructed support hangars. With the start of operations in the dedicated A220 final assembly line, Airbus production site in Alabama has now officially doubled in size. The expansion of our commercial aircraft production in Mobile from the A320 Family to the A220 further solidifies Airbus standing as a truly global aircraft manufacturer, and confirms that Airbus remains an important part of the American manufacturing landscape, added Gaskell. Mobile, Alabama is the second assembly site for the A220, which is Airbus latest addition to its product line of single-aisle commercial aircraft. The A220s primary production facility and program headquarters are located in Mirabel, Canada, where dedicated functions including engineering expertise and support functions also are situated. Director of Health Promotions at the Ghana Health Service, Dr Aboagye Da-Costa has put paid to questioning eyebrows raised, especially by Spokesperson for former President John Dramani Mahama, Madam Joyce Bawa Mogtari on the recent figures of COVID-19 recovery cases. Madam Joyce Bawa Mogtari, on her social media page, wondered how 790 COVID-19 patients recovered overnight in the latest updates released by the Ghana Health Service; calling on all to put the numbers to strict proof to ascertain the veracity or otherwise. How the hell did 790 more people recover overnight!!...We need to put these numbers to strict proof!! She tweeted. Reacting to this on Okay FMs Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, the Director of Health Promotions at the Ghana Health Service indicated that the medical team has the capacity to test at least 5,000 patients a day. He added that the enhanced contact tracing strategy created a lot of backlogs of which the medical team has cleared thm all. ...those we identified as positives, after the 14 days period, we began to test them and right now we have the capacity to test at least 5,000 patients a day and so that what we have scaled up, hence the reason why the number of recoveries is going higher and it is not like we have sat somewhere to inflate the figures of the recovery cases; we cannot do that, he pointed out. He explained that the 790 recovery cases recorded overnight came from the backlogs of which a lot of them had already tested one negative and it was left with a confirmatory test and it was made possible due to the robust recovery system in place. . . right now that we have scaled up the exercise, the numbers will keep rising; the recovery will keep rising and I want to assure Ghanaians that we are doing a professional work and so we have not inflated the number of recoveries to deceive Ghanaians. The recovery case figures are accurate, he stressed. Dr. Aboagye Da-Costa however assured Ghanaians that the medical team who are leading the fight against the COVID-19 will continue with the world celebrated contact tracing methodology for a while as they want to break the transmission and to limit the community spread to barest minimum. When the President lifted the partial lockdown, we continued with the contact tracing and I am certainly sure that it will continue for a while before because we want to break the transmission. We want to limit the community spread, the barest minimum and so our method that the world is celebrating will not be thrown away; we will continue to do it, he assured. 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. Featured Video Haiti - News : Zapping... Notice of the City of Port-au-Prince The Town Hall of Port-au-Prince informs all taxpayers that, due to the increase in cases of contamination of Covid-19 and to guarantee the safety of all, it is obliged to temporarily suspend all administrative activities in order to disinfect the building. The town hall premises will be sprayed and disinfected on May 19 and 20, 2020. The office will therefore be closed and inaccessible. Activities will resume from Thursday, May 21, 2020. Remember that wearing a mask is mandatory within the confines of the Institution and that from now on, anyone accessing the Town Hall consents to taking a temperature. For any administrative emergency, please contact the secretariat at (509) 3666-3333. Arrest of a former FAES Chief Accountant Following a complaint by Charles Ernest Chatelier, the DG of the Economic and Social Assistance Fund (FAES), Herold Nicolas, former Chief Accountant of FAES (2017-2019) was arrested on the orders of Jacques Lafontant, the Government Commissioner the Court of First Instance of Port-au-Prince. He is accused among other things of embezzlement, forgery, use of forgery in writing and extra-billing and will have to answer the questions of the Chief Prosecutor on May 20 and 21, 2020. Cap-Haitien : The cleaning of the public market of Shada soon completed The clean-up operations at Shada's public market are almost coming to an end after long weeks and hard work. The merchants will have to stop occupying part of the RN #6 and another secondary road leading to the Boulevard du Cap-Haitien. They will have to stay inside the market to display their products in better conditions following better organization of the space. The objective of this program is to clean up the city by reorganizing public markets and to limit the massive spread of Covid-19 by raising awareness and promoting better urban mobility in Cap-Haitien. Messages of May 18 Minister of the Interior : "This May 18 is an opportunity for us to reaffirm alongside the President of the Republic and the whole of the Government, our commitment to work to guarantee better days to university youth in particular, but also to all the daughters and sons of the Nation" Audain Fils Bernadel, Minister of the Interior and Territorial Communities. USA : "On May 18, the Embassy of the United States congratulates Haitians around the world as they celebrate the 217th anniversary of the Haitian flag. This day, like the Independence of Haiti, is a symbol of the quest for the liberation of the country and a reminder of the incredible history of Haiti." Gary Bodeau : "Happy flag and university celebration to all ! In the name of the union that makes strength, let us unite to chart our common destiny," Gary Bodeau former President of the Chamber of Deputies Municipal Authorities of Cap-Haitien : On the occasion of the celebration of the 217th anniversary of the National Bicolor, the municipal authorities of Cap-Haitien bow to the memory of our Ancestors and salute the unrivaled bravery of these valiant Heroes who sacrificed their family and their lives by letting it flow their own blood, to bequeath the land of Haiti to us under a sovereign flag. Today, more than ever, let us live up to this sacred heritage by not only being the sole masters of the Fatherland, but also by becoming a strong and prosperous nation through union. It is in a highly patriotic spirit that we wish a happy Flag Day to each Haitian and to each Haitian from Haiti and the Diaspora. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30809-haiti-may-18-speech-to-the-nation-by-president-jovenel-moise.html HL/ HaitiLibre After three months of darkness, Houston bars will be allowed to turn the lights on beginning this Friday. Under Phase 2 of the state's reopening plan, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that Texas bars could reopen for business May 22 at 25 percent of capacity. The guidelines also allow nightclubs, craft breweries and wine tasting rooms to reopen. Reopening: Houston bars get green light to reopen May 22 Tables should not exceed six individuals and social distancing should be maintained. While some business owners are not rushing to fully reopen, others are set to welcome customers this weekend, in accordance with the guidelines. See several Houston bars and nightclubs reopening this weekend below. If board meetings, family get-togethers and even marriages can happen via video calls, could opening bank accounts have been far behind? Several Indian banks are preparing to offer customers the option of opening a new account through video conferencing instead of visiting a branch. Most of the large lenders are in the final stages of launching know-your-customer (KYC) video platforms, said bankers familiar with the matter. Signing up customers through video calls is a significant step in the digitisation efforts of banks and could amplify branchless banking, an avowed ambition of these institutions that are looking at new ways to stay nimble while reaching out to customers beyond the major cities. To open an account, customers so far had to either walk into a branch to fill up forms or have an agent visiting their homes to collect documents and signatures. In some cases a basic bank account could be opened online through Aadhaar, but for full service accounts paper documentation was mandatory. The top 10 banks in the country are mostly ready with the video KYC product and a few have already gone live while others are doing internal tests, said a banker. Online onboarding of customers will be a reality, he said asking not to be named. Kotak Mahindra Bank, a leading private lender, said it has launched a pilot for opening savings bank accounts online. Shanti Ekambaram, group president Consumer Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank, said video KYC can prove to be a game changer where customer verification is completed from the comfort of ones home or office without the need for a physical interaction. We must now adapt to the aftermath of COVID-19, said Ekambaram. The new offering will be part of Kotaks 811 digital banking suite. Here is how it will work, according to the workflow shared by Kotak Mahindra Bank. Customers will have to visit the banks website, share personal details, give consent to the use of Aadhaar for verification and enable access to the phones location for video KYC. Once a bank executive completes the conversation with the customer over a video, a savings bank account gets opened. Sameer Shetty, head of digital banking at Axis Bank, said the lender is developing a digital video-enabled account opening platform for more than 250 services the bank offers. The service will offer full KYC account opening and eventually other solutions like savings, investments and others as well. An IndusInd Bank spokesperson said Video KYC will simplify the operating paradigm through an effective end-to-end solution for onboarding new customers. A paradigm shift The Reserve Bank of India permitted digital account opening in a revised master direction for KYC on January 9 this year. It allowed customers to get on a live video call with a banks agent and submit proof of identity digitally. Customers were also allowed to digitally sign documents thereby doing away with paper-based KYC. The banking regulator only insisted on geo-tagging the location of a customer to prevent people from outside India from opening a bank account. While it has taken banks more than six months to introduce online opening of accounts, a part of the delay was due to the Covid19 induced nationwide lockdowns, according to bankers Moneycontrol spoke to. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Bank of Baroda too are preparing to go live with online KYC, according to people familiar with the plans. The banks are in different stages of integrating a video platform into their customer onboarding process, they said. Email queries sent to ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda did not get a response until time of publication of the report. Some bit of back end training is required for staff in order to make the process seamless, said a banker with a top private sector lender, requesting anonymity. In order to enable the video platform to function, banks need to integrate with technology service providers that can help them complete the KYC. Tech startups such as IDfy, Khosla Labs and WorkApps, among others are working closely with banks for this service. Wriju Ray, co-founder of IDfy, said his platform has gone live with a few banks with its video KYC platform and found that end users have adopted it with gusto. In the post COVID world, there is certainly great momentum with large number of banks and NBFCs currently integrating and preparing to go live, he said. One of the bankers quoted above said that one bank ordered 100 webcams online after the restrictions on ecommerce deliveries got lifted in the major cities of the country. Despite the potential benefits of going digital, industry insiders believe that there are bound to be initial hiccups. We could see some initial drop offs here and there because customers might not be aware of documents to be shared or how to go about the process or internet connectivity might be an issue in specific areas, said Rudrajeet Desai, founder, WorkApps. Consumers will also certainly take time to move digital completely. Despite the raft of apps, banking customers in some countries in the West have preferred opening accounts in person at a bank branch to opening virtual accounts. Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak Restaurants and cafes began reopening in parts of Europe and Central Asia on Monday after weeks of closures, eager to again welcome hungry patrons albeit under strict regulations, as schools also reopened in some countries. "Today, with the opening of the bars, life in Tirana is taking a breath of fresh air after being locked up in our cages for several weeks," said Sokol Hoti, a young man in his thirties sitting on the terrace of the Santa bar in the centre of the Albanian capital. Under new regulations designed to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, restaurants and bars in the country are supplying hand sanitiser, employees wear gloves and masks, and customers are limited to two per table, which in turn must be spaced three metres apart. Elsewhere in Europe, restaurants and cafes were cautiously opening, with customers seeming reluctant. In Rome, at Piazza Navona in the city's historical centre, all cafes remained closed save one with a sign posted outside announcing "Good Morning, Welcome for Breakfast" written in English. Tables were lined up but diners were nowhere in sight. A few steps away, at the San Eustachio Il Caffe, a favourite of tourists, owner Raimondo Ricci lamented the lack of clients. "There's no one here. Closed or open it's the same thing," Ricci told AFP. Meanwhile, at French bistro L'education nationale in Denmark's capital Copenhagen, Eric Poezevara had filled his fridges and was impatient to welcome back lunch clients outdoors on a terrace as well as indoors. "The ambiance is going to be a little strange. People go to restaurants to enjoy themselves, but now, people are going to be a little tense, looking around and thinking 'Do you have corona, or don't you?," he said prior to Monday's lunch rush. The restaurant can welcome only half as many guests as usual, in order to respect social distancing rules. "We'll see if it's worth it," Poezevara said. Under new rules, Danish restaurants must respect social distancing regulations, offer guests hand sanitiser, and pay particular attention to hygiene. - 'Been looking forward to it' - Meanwhile, Cecilia, a 41-year-old yoga teacher, enjoyed a cup of coffee on the terrace of a popular spot in the Copenhagen neighbourhood of Norrebro. "I've been looking forward to just seeing people relaxing in the streets, not hustling around ... that sense of people just hanging out," she told AFP. Many Danish restaurants have said they will stay closed a while longer in order to adapt their reopening to the new regulations. In Spain, excluding Madrid and Barcelona, and Portugal, cafes and terraces also opened up as the countries continued easing restrictions. In Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan, patrons were having their temperatures checked at restaurant entrances as waiters donned masks and gloves to serve meals and drinks. Restaurants opened across Kazakhstan with the exception of Almaty -- the country's largest city and leader in coronavirus cases. In Azerbaijan, restaurants and cafes also reopened but remained largely deserted, according to an AFP reporter. Natik Aliyev, a cafe manager in central Baku, told AFP that four hours after opening he had only had two customers. "People are still scared and avoid public spaces," Aliyev said. Meanwhile, students were also returning to classrooms in greater numbers in Denmark, Greece, Belgium and Portugal on Monday. Pagans, druids and travellers in lockdown will have the chance to witness the sunrise during the summer solstice from Stonehenge live online for the first time. Thousands of people flock to the Neolithic monument in Wiltshire every year to mark the summer solstice sunrise and sunset - happening on June 21 this year. Due to lockdown measures designed to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus, Stonehenge has been closed to visitors and the annual solstice event cancelled. To ensure people could still enjoy the moment that marks the longest day of the year, English Heritage said they would livestream from the monument. Pagans, druids and travellers in lockdown will have the chance to witness the sunrise during the summer solstice from Stonehenge live online for the first time Thousands of people flock to the Neolithic monument in Wiltshire every year to mark the summer solstice sunrise and sunset - happening on June 21 this year Stonehenge is a pilgrimage site for some groups, with tens of thousands arriving twice a year to mark the winter and summer solstice. 'We can't welcome you in person this year because of the measures in place to combat coronavirus but our live coverage of sunset and sunrise means you won't miss a moment of this special occasion,' said English Heritage. 'Our cameras will capture the best views of Stonehenge, allowing you to connect with this spiritual place from the comfort of your own home.' They have urged people not to travel to Stonehenge for the solstice 'to keep everyone safe', adding they hope to welcome people for next year's event. The live stream will start on Saturday June 20 at 21:26 BST for sunset and again at 04:52 BST for the sunrise - going live half hour before each session. The event will be broadcast around the world on Facebook and saved for people to watch at another time if they can't wake up for the sunrise. 'We have consulted widely on whether we could have proceeded safely and we would have dearly liked to host the event as per usual, but sadly, in the end, we feel we have no choice but to cancel,' Stonehenge director Nichola Tasker said. 'We hope that our (livestream) offers an alternative opportunity for people near and far to connect with this spiritual place at such a special time of year and we look forward to welcoming everyone back next year.' While Stonehenge is a neolithic monument that has stood for thousands of years, it was nearly destroyed by visitors 'taking souvenirs' from the stones. Due to lockdown measures designed to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus, Stonehenge has been closed to visitors and the annual solstice event cancelled The event will be broadcast around the world on Facebook and saved for people to watch at another time if they can't wake up for the sunrise and English Heritage say they hope to welcome people back for the spectacle next year On October 26, 1918, Stonehenge was offered by Cecil and Mary Chubb as a gift for the nation after they bought it at auction for 6,600. Prior to 1918, the monument was propped up with wooden poles and some of the stones were in danger of collapse. Increasing numbers of visitors through the late 19th century had led to damage, with people regularly chipping the stones for souvenirs and scratching their names on the monument. Although this was largely halted by the introduction of an admission charge and attendant policeman from 1901 onwards, the monument itself was still in a perilous condition. English Heritages predecessors, The Office of Works, began to care for the monument, restoring many of the fallen stones and undertaking a major survey and programme of excavation. The stones were put up in about 2500 BC, according to English Heritage, who say they aligned to line up with the movement of the sun. The idea was that if you stood in the middle of the circle on midsummer's day - the summer solstice - the sun would rise to the left of the Heel stone. 'Archaeological excavations have found a large stone hole to the left of the Heel Stone and it may have held a partner stone, the two stones framing the sunrise,' according to English Heritage. Bangladesh on Tuesday ordered overnight evacuation of vulnerable people to safety as Amphan, region's first super cyclone in over two decades, was fast approaching the country's coastline with the met office contemplating to issue the highest danger signal. The disaster management ministry on Monday had set a target of evacuating over 2 million people to safety, readying 12,078 cyclone shelter centres but the authorities said it could be difficult to move out people on Wednesday as the killer storm was nearing the coast. "The local authorities have been directed to complete the evacuation before midnight today," Enamur Rahman, State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief, told an emergency briefing from his office here. "The Met office could issue their highest 'great danger signal' at 6 am tomorrow monitoring the situation overnight . . . so our goal is to move out all vulnerable people to safety by tonight," Rahman said. He said a large number of people, however, by now were brought to cyclone shelters in 19 vulnerable districts in the country's southern coastlines. The minister said that the 12,078 cyclone shelter centres in the coastal districts have the capacity of accommodating around 52 lakh people during any disaster. But, only 20 to 22 lakh people will be accommodated in these shelter centres to maintain social distancing due to coronavirus fear," he said. All big ships were taken to safe areas to avoid damage, he said. Meteorologists said in a scale of 11, great danger signal no 8, 9 and 10 carry identical meaning in terms of intensity while the numbers differ only to indicate approaching storms' directions. Signal no. 11 is called Communication Failure Signal No. XI, indicating severed communications of the meteorological warning centre to the affected region. Bangladesh's met office on Monday afternoon issued a danger signal number 7 in a scale of 10 for regions under the purview of two of its southwestern seaports, Mongla and Payra. The meteorologists said the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, was likely to absorb the main brunt of the Amphan onslaughts as it has done many times over the centuries, leading to a less number of human casualties. "The Sundarbans always absorbed the brunt of cyclones whichever hit the coastlines alongside the Bangladesh-India, we expect the forest to face the initial impact of Amphan like foot soldiers this time as well," Bangladesh's Meteorology Department Director Shamsuddin Ahmed told reporters. Leading global storm tracker AccuWeather earlier today described Amphan as the first super cyclone in the Bay of Bengal since 1999, fearing the "ferocious" storm to unleash extreme impacts across Bangladeshi and northeastern Indian coastlines. The latest Bangladesh met office bulletin said the Amphan over west-central bay and adjoining area moved north-northeast wards and lied over the same area (lat. 17.0on, long. 87.0oe). It said the storms location at 3 pm today was centred at about 785 km southwest of Chattogram Port, 740 km southwest of Cox's Bazar Port, 670 km south-southwest of Mongla Port and 665 km south-southwest of Payra Port. The cyclone is likely to move in a north-northeasterly direction and may cross Bangladesh coast between Khulna-Chattogram during afternoon or evening of May 20. The Indian met office in a near identical statement said Amphan was very likely to move north-north-eastwards across northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts. It predicted the path to be between Indian West Bengal's Digha and Bangladesh's Hatiya Islands close to Sundarbans "during afternoon to evening hours of May 20 with maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kp/h gusting to 185kp/h". Minister Enamur Rahman said army and navy troops were also engaged to assist the local administrations in bringing the vulnerable coastal people to safe places as they were already at the scene on COVID-19 duty. Repots from the low lying coastlines, however, said that officials and volunteers were struggling to motivate people to move to safety as many were found unwilling to take refuge in shelters leaving valuables and cattle unprotected at their homestead. Rahman said the health ministry has also taken measures to provide treatment facilities for the coastal people readying medical teams with necessary medicines to this end. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) SoftBank Group Corp CEO Masayoshi Son on Monday pinned his hopes on a small group of "winged unicorns" to save the performance of his $100 billion Vision Fund - although he gave few clues on which ones they would be. Announcing a record annual loss for his tech conglomerate, and an $18 billion shortfall at the Saudi-backed Vision Fund, Son told an earnings presentation on Monday that tech unicorns had plunged into the "valley of the coronavirus". But he said a smaller number of the tech companies would make it and could eventually account for 90% of the value of the portfolio. He showed a slide where cartoon unicorns were falling down a hole as a lone winged unicorn flew to safety on the other side. The 62-year-old businessman offered few clues as to which of the fund's 88 portfolio companies would eventually succeed. Son said winners from the current crisis included companies in food delivery, online medical services, video streaming and online shopping. Overall, the pandemic has been a disaster for the fund. "If Son had a good idea of what these companies are he would have singled them out," said Amir Anvarzadeh, market strategist at Asymmetric Advisors. SoftBank has limited exposure to areas like online education and streaming, with TikTok parent Bytedance one notable exception. In food delivery, there has been demand from locked-down consumers but vendors also have faced disruptions, including being forced to shut down. Uber and similar portfolio companies have been hammered by a slump in their core ride-hailing business. Online medical services, such as Ping An Healthcare and Technology, have seen an upswing, although questions remain over the broader application of this type of healthcare technology. Son's thesis that a small number of hits can make up for other failures is typically applied to early-stage investment, because there's greater potential upside. But the Vision Fund has focused on late-stage startups, meaning there may be less uplift. ISOLATED EMPIRE Son's business empire is "becoming increasingly isolated," Mio Kato, analyst at LightStream Research wrote in a note on the Smartkarma platform. Long-time ally Jack Ma is exiting SoftBank's board and Son, under pressure from U.S. activist fund Elliott Management, has been forced to sell down his Alibaba stake to fund share buybacks. SoftBank has also been unable to secure further cash from the Vision Fund's big backers like Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund due to poor performance. Without more funds "Softbank can't raise its mark to market values by throwing more good money after bad," Kato wrote. The fund's portfolio slipped underwater at March-end. On Monday, Son repeated his pledge of no bailouts for struggling parts of the portfolio, although there are funds in reserve for "follow-on" investments. A stark change of tone from Son was reserved for WeWork, which as recently as November he said was heading for a rapid recovery. The largest portfolio companies "have a relatively good chance of passing through the valley of the coronavirus," Son said. "The exception is WeWork." Also read: SoftBank reports $13 billion loss as tech bets via Vision Fund nosedive Also read: WeWork quarterly revenue surpasses $1 billion, cash burn slows down In an act of defiance that played out live on "Fox and Friends," the owners of a New Jersey gym flung open their doors on Monday, ignoring a shutdown order from the governor. Fox News host Pete Hegseth was at the scene outside Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, where a crowd of supporters wore pro-Trump attire, waved American flags and carried signs with messages such as "STAY POOR VOTE DEMOCRAT" and "My freedom doesn't end where your fear begins." He called it "a showdown" between gym owner Ian Smith and Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat. Describing the group as "very pro-law enforcement," Hegseth asked what would happen if state police showed up. "We're ready for whatever consequences come our way," Smith said. "We're standing up for what we believe to be right." Though Hegseth predicted a "looming confrontation" with law enforcement and claimed, without evidence, that a SWAT team was waiting nearby, local police officers stood by as people filed into the gym. Several hours after the doors opened, a Bellmawr police officer announced that the owners and crowd were "all in violation of the executive order" before telling them to "have a good day" and departing. There was an eruption of cheers. But Bellmawr police later returned to charge Smith and co-owner Frank Trumbetti on a summons with disorderly-conduct offenses. Murphy addressed the tension by reiterating during a news conference that New Jersey - which has recorded 10,435 coronavirus deaths - was "not out of the woods yet," making restrictions necessary. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement on Monday that law enforcement officers are "balancing public health and public safety" and that "those individuals who violate the Governor's orders make it harder for our officers to do their jobs and they put our officers at risk." James Mermigis, an attorney for the gym owners, told The Washington Post that the two have a court date in early June and intend to defend their actions. Smith could face a $2,000 fine and six months in jail, Mermigis said, but is "more concerned about his constitutional rights." He said that while Smith initially did not protest the governor's order, he grew frustrated with its continuation. "I do agree in certain situations we do need an executive to have that power to contain things and to do things that are in the best interests of the residents of the state that they govern," Mermigis said. "I'm not going to dispute that. But in certain situations, such as this, we do believe that his powers have gone too far and for too long." Nonessential businesses across New Jersey were allowed to reopen beginning Monday with curbside pickup and delivery services. Restaurants and bars remained open for drive-through, takeout and delivery, but gyms were required to stay closed, as were malls, bowling alleys, salons, tattoo parlors, movie theaters and casinos. Polling has found that a majority of Americans oppose reopening most businesses; a Washington Post-University of Maryland survey conducted in late April and early May found that 78% of respondents opposed reopening gyms and fitness centers. But among some conservatives who believe the economy should reopen immediately, Smith and Trumbetti became a cause celebre. Smith made a Wednesday appearance on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight," where Carlson declared that Murphy was keeping the state under lockdown "indefinitely, as long as he says so." He asked Smith why he decided to reopen despite orders from the governor, "who has all power; he can do whatever he wants to." "I've watched people lose their jobs, and there's no progress moving forward," Smith responded. "We're ready to take action ourselves, and we have thought long and hard about it. All of our actions come from the heart, with not our best interests in mind, but what we feel is the greater good for ourselves, our community, and the state and nation as a whole." On Instagram, he shared memes suggesting that Democratic governors want their states to remain closed to hurt Trump's reelection prospects and claiming that the virus death toll is being overstated, as well as one saying he was taking the health threat seriously but also worried about governmental overreach and economic devastation. Smith was treated "like a local celebrity" at his gym on Monday, a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter noted, with supporters asking for selfies with him. The crowd spilled into the parking lot, holding "Don't tread on me" Gadsden flags. One person waved a flag representing the Three Percenters, a militia group. The gym owners said they were taking safety precautions, including limiting capacity to 20%, checking temperatures before entry and offering hand sanitizer. The two wore masks, though Hegseth and most in the crowd did not. Signs outside the door called for masks and social distancing. "He's not forcing people to go to his gym," Mermigis said. "If people want to take that chance and go into the gym, he has it available for them, and that's all it is." Hegseth, who spent hours at Atilis, championed the gym owners as "good, hard-working, patriotic and RESPONSIBLE people" as well as "great Americans." "They just want to WORK, and work hard," he tweeted. "If @GovMurphy still tries to shut them down - it's only about POWER." Trumbetti encouraged other business owners to reopen while trying to keep customers safe, noting to NBC New York that "you can't just open up and be a rebel." Another business owner, George Verdis of Brick & Mirror Beauty Bar, has announced that he plans to follow Atilis Gym in reopening. In an interview with NJ.com, he said he'd "had enough" and been closed "long enough." Asked during his news conference whether he worried that such defiance could spiral out of control, Murphy said he was not. "I'm not concerned it will spiral out of control, and we will take action," he said. "If you show up at that gym again tomorrow, there's going to be a different reality than showing up today. These aren't just words. We've got to enforce this, but I also don't want to start World War III." Smith, meanwhile, said the gym is indeed planning to open again Tuesday, telling Hegseth, "We will not stand down." Darkena Burton, 11, won her fight against cancer Friday. Darkenas mother, Ida Burton, said the girl had osteosarcoma a common type of cancer that arises in bones and received a new right femur and a reconstructed knee. She also went through 18 rounds of chemotherapy. A parade was organized by Passavant Area Hospitals Jacksonville Healthy program for Darkena on Monday so she could celebrate with her mother and five sisters. [May 18, 2020] MSCI Prices $1.0 Billion 3.875% Senior Unsecured Notes Due 2031 MSCI Inc. (NYSE: MSCI), a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, announced today that it priced its private offering of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.875% senior unsecured notes due 2031 (the "notes") at an issue price of 100.0% to yield 3.875% (the "Offering"). Interest on the notes will be 3.875%, and will be payable in cash semi-annually, beginning on December 1, 2020. The size of the Offering reflects an increase of $200.0 million from the previously announced Offering size. The Offering is expected to settle on May 26, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions. MSCI intends to use a portion of the net proceeds from the Offering to redeem all $800.0 million aggregate principal amount of its 5.750% senior unsecured notes due 2025 (the "2025 Notes") and to pay related redemption costs. All remaining net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including, without limitation, potential repurchases of its common stock, investments and acquisitions. The notes will be senior unsecured obligations of MSCI and will be guaranteed by certain of its domestic subsidiaries. This press release does not constitute a notice of redemption with respect to the 2025 Notes. The notes were offered only to (i) persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and (ii) certain non-U.S. persons outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The notes have not been registered under the Securities Act or any state securities laws and therefore may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state securitis laws. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the notes, nor does it constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. About MSCI Inc. MSCI is a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community. With over 45 years of expertise in research, data and technology, we power better investment decisions by enabling clients to understand and analyze key drivers of risk and return and confidently build more effective portfolios. We create industry-leading research-enhanced solutions that clients use to gain insight into and improve transparency across the investment process. To learn more, please visit www.msci.com. MSCI#IR Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements relate to future events or to future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue," or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond our control and that could materially affect our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Other factors that could materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements can be found in MSCI's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC (News - Alert)") on February 18, 2020 and in quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed or furnished with the SEC. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary significantly from what MSCI projected. Any forward-looking statement in this press release reflects MSCI's current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to MSCI's operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. MSCI assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005764/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Tulum, Mexico Now is the right time to take strong U.S. dollars from a stagnant domestic market and put them to work in vibrant overseas markets by buying undervalued assets and locking in super-strong income and appreciation potential." Nothing like the coronavirus crisis has come along before, says Ronan McMahon of Real Estate Trend Alert, a publication of International Living. And no one, no matter what they say, knows for sure where its headed. Many people feel powerless in the face of this chaos, but my feeling is that if you play this crisis right, it can prove to be quite lucrative over the long-term. But that means looking to internationalized markets, like Mexicos Riviera Maya. Or to places where the middle class is exploding, like Colombia. Or to downward-trending spots like parts of Europe where the population is older and innovation is limited, but where offerings have historic appeal, like Italy, for instance. Now is the right time to take strong U.S. dollars from a stagnant domestic market and put them to work in vibrant overseas markets by buying undervalued assets and locking in super-strong income and appreciation potential. Its possible to do this today by borrowing money at historically low rates. We are in an unprecedented zero-interest-rate environment, which means its possible to access incredibly cheap money to buy high-yielding, undervalued real estate. In his report, McMahon notes big opportunities falling into three categories: 1. Crisis in places on a downtrend By places on a downtrendlocales that have passed their peak. Populations are old, innovation is limited, and bureaucracy is high. Think parts of Europe. 2. Crisis in places on an uptrend Places on an uptrend have potentially bright futures. And maybe a dark or at least underperforming past. They have young populations, decent standards of education, often natural resources. Their cities and new middle classes are exploding. Think Brazil and Colombia. 3. A buying moment in places undergoing big multi-decade transformationsin the medium term, this crisis will be good for internationalized places at, or near, the ground floor of major transformation. Places like Mexicos Riviera Maya or Panama. According to McMahons report, places offering the most compelling opportunities right now are: An Unstoppable Path of Progress in Mexico Mexicos Riviera Maya has undergone a spectacular transformation over the last few decades. Back in the late 60s Mexicos tourism investment authority, FONATUR, scoured Mexico for the perfect location into which to pour funds and roll out major infrastructure, thereby creating a moneymaking tourism machine. They settled on Cancun80 miles up the coast from what was a tiny little town called Tulum. In Cancun they built an international airport, began major highways, and gave incentives to major hotel groups. As time passed, the progress rolled south, turning Playa del Carmen from a one-horse town into an international resort city. The changes were truly spectacular, and Tulum was beginning to tick too. Today a modern highway brings you right to Playa. Mexicos Caribbean coast had the basics going for it, including the intrinsic value of being a Caribbean coastline with a huge potential market on its doorstep in the U.S.only two hours away. Tulum town has been transformed, unrecognizable from what I encountered when I first explored the area, says McMahon. Thanks to the crisis, a buying moment exists todaya pause in the mammoth growth trajectory of the Riviera Maya, which can be turned to an investors advantage. The goal is to buy the right real estate ahead of this Path of Progress to be set up for income and appreciation. Buying pre-construction in this area means by the time a person takes delivery of acondo, millions of vacationers will have long ago returned to enjoy the beaches, cenotes, international dining and tropical weather. I believe many travelers will seek to stay longer, what with the growth in remote work, McMahon argues in the report. A massive transformation of how people work was already underway. The army of remote workers was rapidly growing, the number of companies pioneering remote employment and practices was shooting up. Mobile professionals have flooded to the Riviera Maya and Tulum for years now. When a person doesnt need to live in an expensive U.S. or Canadian city, endure cold weather, or limit their beach time to a yearly vacation, a place like Tulum starts to look like an obvious choice. I recently bought two condos at discounted prices I negotiated exclusively for members of my Real Estate Trend Alert, says McMahon. We had the chance to buy spacious town homes in Tulum for $149,000 that I figure will be worth $76,000 more within a year of delivery and could throw off a 13% yield or more. Thanks to the crisis, I was able to get a free pool thrown in with each home. The developers construction costs are in pesos, but investors are buying in dollars so, as his costs dropped, I was able to get him to concede more. Cheap Homes in Italy Italy has been hit hard by the pandemic. This is catastrophic for its already fragile and debt-laden economy, notes McMahon. We will see big falls in value of best-in-class real estate. Im figuring on 30% in Italy on prices that have been already been falling for 15 years. The value of marginal real estate in the hills and empty villages will go to zero. Italy has been giving away free houses for years in an effort to re-energize depopulated hill towns. However, McMahon believes the free house trend will now move northwards, although tourism will bounce backin blue chip locales. Venice will still be Venice. Rome wont lose its appeal, he says. But the hotel industry is going to be decimated by this crisis. When the bounce back happens, it will clear the way for vacation rentals. How quickly this bounce back will happen remains to be seen. It will be largely dependent on whats left of the airline industry after the world comes out of lock down. Even before the crisis, I found apartments in central Florence and Venice thatwith the right marketingcould throw off double-digit yields, McMahon says. The trick was to buy something old and unloved but in the right location, do some smart cosmetic work and market it better than any of the competitionsomething I think is straightforward in Italy. I came across apartments under $200,000 that fell into this category. Medellin, Colombia Luxe Condos for Less Colombia has solid fundamentals, McMahon argues in his report. Its emerged from its troubled past to become a major regional player, building off its steadying political environment, market-friendly policies, rich natural resources, strengthening trade ties, and modernizing economy. But its currency has tanked as big money has been pulled back into places perceived to be safer havens...like the U.S. dollar. And, like everywhere else in the world, the real estate market has stalled because of lock down and the current crisis. McMahon points out that this means one can buy cheap in a place with big upside potential because its currency is depressed and motivated sellers have to drop their prices to attract buyers. Buyers call the shots and can play sellers off against each other, he says. Today big luxury condos in Medellins best neighborhoods can list for $100 per square foot. Find a motivated seller and you could pay less than $80. How do you find a motivated seller? Cast a wide net and let potential sellers compete for the sale. To give you an example, in the citys premium neighborhood one of my researchers found a nice-looking three-bedroom apartment with an asking price of $178,392. Around Christmas, the price was $221,875. Now heres the thingthats just the effect of falling currency. But as the crisis bites, more motivated sellers will appear. Not everyone will be in a rush to sell, but some folks will The way Id play a market like Medellin is find eight to 10 properties I would be willing to buy for the right price. Show each seller that Im ready to go. Show them proof of funds. Then offer everyone 30% below asking. Id be completely transparent. Tell each seller what you are doing. Straight away more than 50% will dismiss you. Then let the remain sellers compete with each other to offer the best deal. Medellin sits high on my global shortlist of incredible citiesone reason I keep such a close eye on opportunities there. Medellin is a hip, must visit city. Before the current crisis tourism was on a huge tear in Colombia. Theres no reason it wont continue in the future. Across the world, liveable, internationalized cities like Medellin are drawing in mobile, creative, and productive people, according to the report. These people then generate economic activity. They start companies. And they need a place to live, fueling demand for real estate. The full, detailed crisis-investing report from Ronan McMahonincluding two additional locales around the world primed for smart investment todaycan be found, here: Crisis Investment: Where to Buy Real Estate Now for Profit Ronan McMahon is at the helm of Real Estate Trend Alert, a publication of International Living. He is also the author of the book, Ronan McMahons Profit Principle: An Insiders Guide to Doubling Your Money in Real Estate Overseas. He produces a regular, free e-letter for people interested in owning good-value property abroad, called Roving Real Estate Investor Members of the media have permission to republish the article linked above once credit is given to Internationalliving.com Further information, as well as interviews with expert authors for radio, TV or print, is available on request. Photos are also available. For information about InternationalLiving.com content republishing, source material or to book an interview with one of our experts, contact PR Managing Editor, Marita Kelly, +001 667 312 3532, mkelly@internationalliving.com Twitter: @inliving Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/International.Living/ About International Living Since 1979, InternationalLiving.com has been the leading authority for anyone looking for global retirement or relocation opportunities. Through its monthly magazine and related e-letters, extensive website, podcasts, online bookstore, and events held around the world, InternationalLiving.com provides information and services to help its readers live better, travel farther, have more fun, save more money, and find better business opportunities when they expand their world beyond their own shores. InternationalLiving.com has contributors traveling the globe, investigating the best opportunities for travel, retirement, real estate, and investment. Berlin, May 19 : Global consumer electronics show IFA is all set to be the first major real-life event of the year for the industry when it opens in Berlin in September after the COVID-19 pandemic either forced the cancellation of most tech shows or led to the creation of their virtual avatars. However, due to safety concerns, IFA 2020 will not be open to the public. It will run as an invitation-only event, the organisers said on Tuesday in a virtual press conference. The duration of the event also got shortened as this year it will spread over just three days - September 3-5 - instead of the usual one-week-long affair. "After all the event cancellations during the past months, our industry urgently needs a platform where it can showcase its innovation, so that it can recover and rebound. The recovery of our industry starts here at IFA Berlin," Jens Heithecker, the Executive Director of IFA Berlin, told reporters. The opening keynote for this year's IFA will be delivered by Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm, according to the organisers of the event. The event also comes at a crucial moment for brands, manufacturers and retailers around the world, just ahead of the year's most important shopping season stretching from Black Friday and Singles Day to Cyber Monday, Christmas and beyond. The organisers of the event said that the concept for IFA 2020 was developed in close collaboration with public health authorities in Germany to ensure the health and safety of all participants. The organisers said they will make sure that social distancing, careful crowd control and other effective public hygiene measures are all in place. This year's IFA will effectively be run as four stand-alone events, with not more than 1,000 attendees for each event per day. IFA also moved its Global Press Conference, which usually takes place in April, to September. It will invite around 800 journalists covering 50+ countries to Berlin, so brands and manufacturers will be able to show journalists their latest products and devices. All keynotes and company press conferences will take place on just two or three keynote stages curated by IFA. In addition to company press conferences, industry partners will have the chance to create smart company and brand presentations for interviews and further talks with media representatives, IFA said. Starting with the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona in February, most technology events got cancelled, postponed or made virtual this year. Lucknow, May 19 : The ruling BJP in Uttar Pradseh and the Congress are now trading charges over the issue of buses for migrants. Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said on Tuesday that there was no dearth of buses in Uttar Pradesh to bring back migrant workers. "Uttar Pradesh has brought the maximum number of migrant workers home. We are ensuring food and water for them and also conducting their medical screening. The whole country is appreciating the efforts of the Yogi Adityanath government. The Congress has been completely exposed by submitting registration numbers of autos and scooters instead of buses," he said at a press conference. Sharma further said that 900 special trains had brought over 10 lakh migrant workers to Uttar Pradesh, adding that as many as 12,000 buses had brought home more than six lakh workers. He said that every district magistrate had been given 200 buses to help migrant workers reach their destinations. The Deputy CM said that the Congress was determined to mislead people and create obstacles for any good work that is being done by the BJP government. "The Congress should pay attention to Maharashtra and Rajasthan where the condition of migrant workers is worse. They are not getting food and are not even tested. In the 50 odd years that it ruled the country, the Congress has only ensured unemployment," he said. Rebutting the charges, senior Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said that the BJP was now worried over the Congress' initiative. "I have never seen the plight of the migrant workers of this magnitude in independent India. Workers are walking hundreds of miles, getting run over by trains and losing their lives in road mishaps. The government is not going beyond giving assurances," he said. Tiwari further claimed that workers have started walking towards their destinations with their families and children simply because they have lost faith in the assurances given by the government. He said Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi took the initiative to deploy 1,000 buses for the migrant workers and sought the state government's permission for the same. "The state government has been deliberately delaying the issue and is playing politics," he pointed out. Tiwari said that if there are any discrepancies found in the list of buses, the government should simply remove them and the party would provide additional buses. The consent of destination states is not required for running Shramik special trains to ferry migrant workers, the ministry of railways said Tuesday revising its earlier order where it was mandatory for both states to mutually agree for running the trains. This comes after the home ministry issued a fresh set of guidelines for running Shramik trains. Today MHA has withdrawn the May 1 circular and issued a separate SOP for railways. Now the implication is that the consent of the receiving state is not mandatory any more for running Shramik Special trains, a spokesperson for the ministry of railways said. Officials said the ministry aims to increase the capacity of running Shramik Special trains to 300 trains per day. The last three days we have been running nearly 150 trains per day. There were some issues with states that were not giving the clearances for running the trains. We can run more trains per day, we have the capacity of doubling it, a senior official said. In its earlier guidelines the ministry had specified both the originating and terminating state will have to mutually agree before running the Shramik special trains. In guidelines issued on May 2, the railway ministry had said, The sending and receiving states may consult each other and mutually agree to the movement by rail. The originating state will finalise the requirement of special trains in consultation with receiving states and communicate the requirement of special trains to the nodal officer of railways. Railways will endeavor to plan and run the special trains based on the requirement given by the originating state subject to availability of the rolling stock. Earlier today, the home ministry also issued a fresh standard operating procedure of the movement of stranded migrant workers by trains. Movement of Shramik Special trains shall be permitted by the ministry of railways in consultation with the ministry of home affairs. All states/UTs should designate nodal authorities and make necessary arrangements for receiving and send such stranded persons, the guidelines said. The train schedule, including stoppages and destination shall be finalised by the railway ministry based on requirements of states. There has been a constant tussle between the Centre and states over the issue of running the Shramik Trains. The Centre had complained that some states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan - which have a significant migrant population in other states - were not giving permission for the migrant trains. The accusation has been denied by the states. According to railway ministry data, reviewed by Hindustan Times, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have taken the maximum number of trains thus far, 641 and 310, respectively, followed by Madhya Pradesh (89), Jharkhand (56) and Rajasthan (25). Among originating states, where the trains departed from, Gujarat has sent the most (496) followed by Maharashtra (266) and Punjab (188), thus far. The railways till Monday has run more than 1400 Shramik special trains ferrying nearly 18.5 lakh migrants. Officials clarified, states will have to share the requirement for the trains with the railway ministry and make suitable arrangements for sending and receiving people. Train schedule; protocols for entry and movement of passengers; services to be provided in coaches; and arrangements with states/UTs for booking tickets shall be publicized by the railway ministry, the MHA guidelines said. At present, to book a Shramik Special train once both states agree, clearance is sought by the ministries of home affairs and then the railways. Once the clearance is received the ministry of railways provides the train and the tickets for the total number of passengers to the state government, a senior railway ministry official said requesting anonymity. After the necessary clearance is provided, the sending state has to make arrangements of buses for taking the migrants to the nominated railway station. On an average each train requires nearly 70 to 80 buses to ferry the migrants, the official added. A similar process is followed once the train reaches the terminating station of the receiving state. The local DM arranges for the buses to take the migrants to their villages and then put them under home-quarantine as per the state governments protocols, the official added. The railways, in its earlier guidelines, had also said the Shramik trains are being run only for those who have been cleared by the originating state in consultation with the receiving state. It had said that the originating state will indicate the number of passengers traveling in the train followed by which the railways will print the tickets and hand them over to the local state government. The local state government authority shall handover the tickets to the passengers cleared by them and collect the ticket fare and hand over the total amount to the railways, the guidelines had said. It is not clear yet, if this payment structure decided by the railways will also be revised. The payments for the fares was left to the understanding of both the states to decide, officials said. In some cases, the originating states paid, in others the destination states did, in some it was shared while in some cases the migrants were made to pay. A tornado can happen anywhere. But some areas of the world have terrain and topography that enhances the likelihood of severe weather that spawns tornado development. The greater Capital Region is one of themsort ofaccording to National Weather Service meteorologist Christina Speciale. Because we have a convergence of the Mohawk Valley and the Hudson River cut out over the Capital Region, Speciale says, That also can enhance storms as they are coming out of Western New York. Gallery: Local tornadoes, wind storms Warm fronts passing over the cold waters of Lakes Erie and Ontario create storm systems that blow eastward, and then the valleys, she says, can have a channeling effect on the storms that may enhance them as they continue east to the region. Speciale works out of the Albany office, which saw some excitement on May 15 when a system of severe weather spawned a confirmed tornado in Wilton. The Capital Region has seen more than 80 confirmed tornados since 1960, according to National Weather Service records. (That includes tornados recorded in Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Warren, Washington, Fulton, Montgomery, Herkimer, Schoharie, Columbia and Greene counties.) A single death in the 12-county region is recorded, from a tornado in Herkimer county in June of 1970. In August of 1973, a tornado that started in Columbia county and crossed the border into Massachusetts killed 4 people there. The majority of locally recorded tornados have been categorized as EF0 (light damage) or EF1 (moderate damage). Those are both on the low end of the Enhanced Fujita scale, the standard scientific measure of a tornado by its destructive path and estimated wind speed since 2007. The strongest tornados recorded in the region have hit F4 (devastating damage) on the Fujita Scale, which was used prior to 2007. Last weeks tornado in Wilton registered as an EF1. Gusting 85-90 miles per hour, the funnel lasted 2 minutes and traveled eastward 2 miles before fizzling out, according to the National Weather Services storm report. There were no reported deaths or injuries, and minimal damage to trees and structures within the path. Despite the favorable terrain and recent weather events, Speciale notes, in the grand scheme of tornado severity, the Capital Region shouldnt be angling for a special moniker like Tornado Alley. If you compare what we have with respect to the Plains, Speciale says, They would probably laugh at us for what we call a tornado. Instead, she notes, its the likelihood of strong straight-line winds from westward-moving storm systems that pose the greatest risk to local residents and structures. When a tree falls, does it really matter whether it was from straight-line winds or a tornado? Speciale says. The point is, a tree could fall from strong winds, and people should take cover. The National Weather Service also offers regular training sessions for the public through its SKYWARN program for would-be severe weather spotters. Once trained, volunteers can assist with severe weather reporting. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. Here are a few notable tornados spawned in the Capital Region: June 24, 1960 F3 Causing $5 million in damage to homes and structures, this tornado touched down in the early evening in the city of Schenectady. It then traveled through Rotterdam, Niskayuna and across the Mohawk river into Saratoga county. According to the NWS storm report, it touched down at least four times. June 18, 1970 unmeasured This tornado tore a path through central Herkimer county around 4 p.m., damaging about a thousand trees, leveling a church and killing a woman when a tree fell on her parked car. Its the only recorded death due to a tornado in the region since records began in 1950. Another woman was injured when the winds picked up her car and tossed it into a field. The village of Newport was rendered in shambles, according to the NWS storm report. August 8, 1973 F4 Touching down first in Columbia county, this mid-afternoon tornado crossed the border into West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where it tore a 6-mile swath and killed four people there. It caused $250,000 in damage at the Berkshire Farm for Boys in Canaan, New York, and destroyed several homes over the border. May 31, 1998 F3 The storm system that spawned this well-known tornado also spawned two other weaker funnels. But the main funnel touched down in Halfmoon before moving into Mechanicville and then on to Stillwater. The other two funnels hit Renssealer county and Albany county near the airport, according to the NWS report. The storm system damaged more than 100 homes, farms and businesses across the three counties, and caused widespread power outages that lasted for several days afterward. Sept 4, 2011 EF1 This was a relatively unremarkable tornado in terms of damage to Montgomery county, but it was notable in that it was one of the only tornados in the region actually captured on camera. Rotterdam resident Lindsay Phillips was parked at the Mohawk Travel Plaza along the New York State Thruway when she captured this footage from her car. May 22, 2014 EF3 This tornado touched down in Duanesburg in a relatively rural area, causing damage to homes and businesses there and blew over a tractor trailer on Route 20. The powerful storm clocked in at 140 miles per hour and traveled 7 miles across Schenectady county stopping short at the Albany county border. Foreign Ministry warns US against interference with Iran's fuel transfer to Venezuela ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Mon / 18 May 2020 / 16:09 Tehran (ISNA) - Iran has warned the United States against any interference with the transfer of fuel by Iranian tankers to Venezuela. Following the release of reports suggesting US officials had threatened to harass Iranian tankers carrying fuel to Venezuela, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, warned the United States about sending troops to the Caribbean Sea with the aim of interfering with the transfer of Iran's fuel to Venezuela. In the letter, Zarif dismissed the United States' illegal, dangerous and provocative move as a kind of marine piracy and a major peril to international peace and security. Zarif stressed that the US must give up bullying on the world stage and respect the rule of international law, especially free shipping in the high seas. He recalled the US government's responsibility for the consequences of any illegal action, and underlined Iran's right to adopt appropriate and necessary measures to counter these threats. After the letter was sent, Iranian deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi summoned the ambassador of Switzerland, which represents the US interests in Iran, and asked the top diplomat to relay to Washington officials Iran's serious warning over any possible threat by the US against Iranian tankers. Araqchi described Iran-Venezuela relations as completely legitimate and legal, and said any resort to coercive measures or other bullying behaviour by the US amounts to a threat to free shipping and international trade and the free flow of energy, and is a clear manifestation of international law and runs counter to the principles and objectives stipulated in the UN Charter. Araqchi warned that any threat against Iranian tankers will be met with Iran's immediate and firm response, and the US government will be responsible for its consequences. The Swiss ambassador also said he will immediately inform US officials of Iran's stance. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Representative Image live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Vodafone Idea has undertaken operational revamp moving from a circle-based operating model to cluster-based approach to revv up pan-India presence and 4G coverage, as the telecom major eyes a stronger competitive positioning in the telecom market through a leaner and more agile structure, multiple sources said. The circles have been bunched into clusters, 10 in all, for operational purposes, the sources said adding that this renewed commitment to the market is also expected to put to rest speculation around the company's future, sending out strong message that Vodafone Idea is moving to a higher gear to remain competitive in the market. The massive exercise, which entails consolidation of operations to 10 clusters, will lead to a sharper focus on business, one of the sources said. These cluster are Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Ladakh; Delhi and Rajasthan; UP East and UP West; Assam and North East, Kolkata and rest of Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand; Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana; Kerala and Tamil Nadu; Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh; Gujarat; Mumbai; and Maharashtra and Goa. It is learnt that functions and enterprise business are being verticalised as part of the exercise, for greater efficiencies. Sources privy to the development said the new operating model will mark a jump in efficiency leading to stronger competitive positioning for Vodafone Idea in the marketplace. "Vodafone Idea is consolidating its circle operations, to improve efficiency, as it nears the completion of its mammoth integration exercise following Vodafone-Idea merger in September 2018. With this, the company has now nearly doubled its 4G coverage reaching one billion Indians across all states," the source said. The company had earlier said it would complete the network integration exercise by June 2020 and the sources said that VIL is on track to achieve the target. "Since the merger less than two years ago, VIL has focussed on de-duplication of operations to simplify customer journey and make it a more efficient operator," another source added. An internal announcement about the circle consolidation is scheduled to be made on Tuesday, the source added. "The company is confident that it has a rich talent pipeline and will fill all new roles internally. In the new structure there will be bigger and consolidated roles that will afford opportunities for growth to a large number of internal resources," said another source. Over the last 12-18 months most vacancies, including some senior positions, have been filled internally through promotions. Industry watchers said Vodafone Idea met customer requirements for data and voice, during the lockdown triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Former Leessang member Gil Seong Joon introduced his 20-month-old son, Ha Eum, to the public. However, not everyone was excited to see his return. Along with Kang Hee Gun, the hip hop duo Leessang broke several records with their music back in the day. The two composed, produced, and directed their own songs and music videos, and given their popularity, they kept their private lives away from the public glare. "Hexagonal," "Asura Balbalta," and "Unplugged" are the three most popular albums launched by the duo. A lot of people highly commended their live performances. The hip hop duo was even featured in Psy's "Seventy Seven 101," but the explicit lyrics got restricted. In 2012, the duo went to the US for a concert tour, and both in New York and Los Angeles show was sold-out. Their single "Kaleidoscope," featuring Mi Woo, has reached the top of multiple charts. Despite the success the duo has reached, both started working solo and built their own music labels on April 6, 2017. Since then, the two have separated, and many were not expecting this. In the last part of the episode of "True Dad Confession" on May 17, Gil, together with this 20-month-old son, appeared on the television for the first time. Gil said that every time his son goes to his room in the morning and calls him "dad," he feels that it's as if there was another him. He even added that they like the same kind of food. It amazes him that his son is growing more and more like him. "It's really fun and happy to be with him," he said. "I tend to probe him more carefully about what his thoughts are." "True Dad Confession" is shown every Wednesday on Channel A at 21:30 KST. The TV program follows the lives of three dad celebrities. The program shows how much dad celebs long for the love and attention of their children, and this allows them as well to spend quality time with them. The show has been running since July 6, 2016, and is recently hosted by Kim Gura, Joo Young Hoon, and Moon Hee Joon together with their family. When Gil and his son first appeared on-air, some were unhappy. Plenty of commenters even consider that Gil is just using his son to get a revamp his career after his drunk-driving scandal, and people are getting tired of the same scheme used by other celebrities. In 2014, Gil reportedly took a woman's life while driving intoxicated, and this earned the anger of citizens, blaming his negligence. At that time, he had a stint at the program "Infinite Challenge," but he eventually withdrew due to the controversy. Fans were glad for his comeback in 2016, but he had the same incident for the third time in 2017 for DUI. For his third DUI, Gil was sentenced to probation for two years and had 80 hours of community service. If he were to commit a new offense, he would be sent to prison for six months. Since then, Gil has been living privately with his family and regretted everything he has done in the past. This is his comeback appearance, and this time, he's with his son. Tens of thousands more migrants from outside the EU will be able to come to Britain in the biggest immigration shake-up for decades. The Home Office admitted that an extra 50,000 workers and their families could arrive in the UK each year from the rest of the world. They will be joined by a further 25,000 students, making a total of 75,000. But up to 400,000 fewer EU citizens will make their homes here by the end of 2025 or around 80,000 a year according to official figures. The Home Office admitted an extra 50,000 workers and their families could arrive in the UK from rest of the world That indicates that net migration, those arriving minus those leaving, will be broadly unchanged. The Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination Bill, brought back to the Commons yesterday, will introduce an Australian-style points system from next year. It intends to honour the referendum result by ending free movement, a key reason the country voted for Brexit four years ago. Documents published alongside the Bill showed that an extra 30,000 skilled migrants from outside the EU are forecast to arrive every year to work in jobs such as nursing and teaching, along with 20,000 family members and 25,000 students. Under the proposals, everyone coming to Britain to work or study will require a visa after EU freedom of movement rules finally end. EU citizens will no longer have preferential access. Migrants will need at least 70 points to work in Britain, with points awarded for speaking English, whether the job earns a salary above 25,600 and if it is at a certain skill level. A fast-track visa allowing doctors, nurses and health professionals from overseas to work in the NHS was introduced in March. The minimum salary is flexible applicants could earn less if they are filling a job where there are shortages. But there will be no general visas for the low-skilled. Alp Mehmet, MigrationWatch UK chairman, said the proposed system may increase immigration Critics warned that the measures betray the hopes of those who want a dramatic curb on migration and risk harming the prospects of UK jobseekers as unemployment rises in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. However, some businesses including the construction, hospitality and farming sectors fear the Bill will make it tougher to recruit foreign workers to help fire the economy. Home Secretary Priti Patel said while the UK would control the number of foreigners arriving, the country wanted to attract the brightest and the best. But MigrationWatch UK chairman Alp Mehmet said: The Government seem to be sticking to immigration proposals that have been overtaken by the Covid-19 crisis. The proposed system may well drive an increase in immigration. Finance Minister Paschal Donohue has cautioned against the next government increasing income tax when the country is suffering high unemployment. Government formation discussions between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party are ongoing this week, 101 days since Februarys inconclusive general election. On Friday, the Labour Party said it would not join the talks, adding that it was unrealistic to rule out income tax increases. Speaking at Government buildings on Tuesday, Fine Gaels Mr Donohoe said he agreed with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar who suggested he would prefer to increase carbon tax. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe says all of the creases and wrinkles have been ironed out following a row between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael over general election planning at the weekend. pic.twitter.com/U6ihPxfjlB Aine McMahon (@AineMcMahon) May 19, 2020 It is our view that increasing taxes on income during a period when incomes are falling and unemployment is high is not the right way to get people back to work, Mr Donohoe said. It is my view that the defining needs that the next government will have to respond back to in the early years of its formation will be getting Ireland back to work and getting our Live Register down. In relation to what other taxation choices might be made, that is going to be a matter of engagement with our colleagues from the Green Party and Fianna Fail in the context of the programme for government. Im sure different parties will have different views on how we deal with those issues and I think do them the courtesy of having those discussions first. Mr Donohoe said Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have resolved a weekend row over planning for a general election. On Sunday, some Fianna Fail TDs criticised the caretaker Fine Gael-led administration after it emerged officials were making contingency plans for another election if the negotiations to form a new government fail. Fine Gael defended its contingency planning and accused the Fianna Fail TDs of damaging government formation talks. Mr Donohoe said all of the creases and wrinkles have been ironed out and the parties have moved on from the row. PERRY, N.Y., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Jason Aymerich, President of J.N. White Associates, Inc. (dba "JN White"), has been named to the Economic Recovery Team for the Rochester Region. This team is one of seven regional teams in Western New York under the leadership of U.S. Congressman Tom Reed. The teams are comprised of outstanding business leaders in the region who will work together to support businesses and the community during these challenging times. JN White Aymerich says, "In the wake of this global pandemic, New York State has been hit particularly hard. We must band together to ensure that the entire state has the tools necessary for an economic recovery." JN White is an ISO 9001:2015 and ITAR-certified custom manufacturer specializing in the design and production of membrane switches, graphic overlays and custom industrial labels. The company works with a wide range of global companies in many industries including military/DoD, medical devices and appliances. The company recently moved into the production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in order to support the health care and business industries during the COVID-19 crisis. To see the complete line of PPE products, visit www.splatterguard.com. To learn more about JN White, visit www.jnwhiteusa.com. Press Contact: Noel Bittner [email protected] 585.748.8880 Related Images jason-aymerich.jpg Jason Aymerich SOURCE JN White Related Links http://www.jnwhiteusa.com BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - A 74-year-old South Korean man died of apparent suicide at a U.S. immigration detention centre after advocates said they unsuccessfully sought his release, citing a high risk of his being infected with the coronavirus. Choung Woong Ahn was found unresponsive in his cell Sunday at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, California, and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. The preliminary cause of death was self-strangulation, but the agency said the case remains under investigation. Ahn, who had been held at Mesa Verde since Feb. 21, had diabetes, hypertension and heart-related issues, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which identified him as Choung Won Ahn. ICE rejected pleas from a coalition of attorneys to release him on bond. ICE said Ahn was lawfully admitted to the United States as a permanent resident in 1988 and convicted in 2013 in Alameda County, California, of attempted murder with an enhancement for using a firearm. He was sentenced to 10 years in state prison. ICE said it took custody of Ahn after his release from prison and that a federal judge denied a request for bond last week while he was in deportation proceedings. Young Ahn, the deceaseds brother, said he was angry and upset. He did not deserve to be treated this way, he said in a statement released by the ACLU. Hes a human being, but to them, hes just a number. There are other people in the same situation. It shouldnt be happening again. The Bakersfield facility has had an average daily population of 334 since Oct. 1 and is managed by The Geo Group Inc. under contract with ICE. The agency says 1,073 detainees have tested positive for the virus out of 2,172 tested, with no positive test results at the Bakersfield facility. ICE had nearly 28,000 people in its custody nationwide as of May 9. The Department of Homeland Securitys internal watchdog has opened a nationwide investigation into whether ICE has responded appropriately to the virus to protect staff and detainees, according to a letter released Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, a New Mexico Democrat. Also Tuesday, ICE began flying Mexican deportees to Mexico City from San Diego in what authorities said was an effort to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading in Mexican border cities and in the U.S. The Border Patrol said in a statement that passengers are medically screened and required to wear masks during flight. The Border Patrol said the Mexican government chose Mexico City as the destination for the flights originating in San Diego. CarTrawler, an Irish online provider of car rental and mobility solutions, has been taken over by British private equity firm TowerBrook. TowerBrook has injected a controlling equity investment in excess of 100m in the group. TowerBrook Capital Partners is an investment management firm with in excess of $13.4bn under management. In a statement today, CarTrawler said the investment will help drive the next stage of its growth, as the company strengthens its balance sheet during the current disruption to the global travel market. Among the lenders that may be forced to write off debt in CarTawler is Bank of Ireland, which earlier this month confirmed to the Sunday Times that it is a creditor of the company. Cormac Barry, CEO of CarTrawler, said: This investment will allow CarTrawler to come out of this period of unprecedented disruption with a stronger platform for growth. CarTrawler is a world-class travel technology player, with an exceptional workforce, tremendous intellectual property and strong relationships with our partners and suppliers. PJT Partners acted as financial advisor to CarTrawler. Kirkland & Ellis, McCann FitzGerald, Liberty Corporate Finance, PwC and EY provided additional advice to the company and management. Matheson and Sidley Austin provided legal advice to TowerBrook, and Morgan Stanley acted as their financial advisers. Alvarez & Marsal and Boston Consulting Group provided additional guidance. The mother of murder victim Helen McCourt could lose her home if her 75,000 legal battle to return her daughter's killer to prison fails. Ian Simms, 63, is free on licence following a ruling by High Court judges that he should not be kept in custody pending the outcome of a legal challenge. But Marie McCourt has applied for the High Court to review the Parole Board decision that freed Simms - who had been serving a life sentence for the abduction and murder of her daughter Helen, 22, in 1988. Marie McCourt (right), the mother of murder victim Helen McCourt (left), could lose her home if her 75,000 legal battle to return her daughter's killer to prison fails Ian Simms, 63, is free on licence following a ruling by High Court judges that he should not be kept in custody pending the outcome of a legal challenge. Pictured: Ian Simms in February, pictured for the first time in 30 years Simms has refused to disclose the location of Helen's body. Mrs McCourt, from Billinge, Merseyside, could face more than 75,000 in costs if her High Court bid, which is listed to be heard from July 29, is unsuccessful. She said: 'Simms has already stolen my daughter and my right to give her a Christian burial. 'Now, I could lose my home and be left destitute. 'Helen loved this house and it holds so many memories of her. How is this fair?' Mrs McCourt expressed gratitude for her pro bono legal assistance and her fear about the battle ahead. 'But proceeding with this action means I could lose my home, security and sanity. 'I really feel I have been pushed to the very brink and am teetering on a cliff edge,' she added. Simms (arriving at St Helens Magistrates Court in Merseyside in 1988) has refused to disclose the location of Helen's body WHAT IS HELEN'S LAW? Marie McCourt wants Britain to adopt 'Helen's Law' legislation which would prevent the release of killers who have hidden the locations of their victims' bodies. She writes on change.org: If parole is granted, my hopes of finding my daughter may never be realised. No other family should live this ordeal. I, hereby, petition the Prime Minister Theresa May and Home Secretary Amber Rudd to acknowledge the pain and distress caused to the families of missing murder victims by: Denying parole to murderers for as long as they refuse to disclose the whereabouts of their victim's remains Passing a full life tariff (denying parole or release) until the murderer discloses the location (and enables the recovery) of their victim's remains Automatically applying the following rarely-used common law offences in murder trials without a body*; preventing the burial of a corpse and conspiracy to prevent the burial of a corpse, disposing of a corpse, obstructing a coroner (*as in the case of R v Hunter, 1974 (from Archbold, Criminal Pleading Evidence and Practice 2015) Advertisement The Parole Board recommended Simms should be released following a hearing in November 2019. The board reviewed its decision following a challenge by Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, but again concluded, on January 8, that Simms should be freed. After Simms's release, a Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'We completely understand the pain and anguish that the Parole Board's decision has caused Marie McCourt and her family. 'The High Court's ruling meant we had to release Ian Simms from custody though he will be recalled if the court later decides to quash the Parole Board's decision. 'He will be on licence for life, subject to strict conditions and probation supervision when released, and he faces a return to prison if he fails to comply.' Mrs McCourt has carried out constant campaigning leading to legislation currently before the House of Lords which would deny parole to killers such as Simms. The Prisoners (Disclosure of Information about Victims) Bill, dubbed Helen's Law, has already been approved by MPs. If passed in the House of Lords, it will deny parole to killers who refuse to reveal the location of their victims' bodies and will also apply to offenders who do not reveal the identity of child victims in indecent images. Engel said Linick's probe centered on the Trump administration's emergency declaration a year ago to bypass Congress to approve US$8.1 billion in arms sales to several countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. said at the time the weapons were needed to deter what it called "the malign influence" of Iran throughout the Middle East. But Congressman Eliot Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tweeted, "I've learned there may be another reason for IG Linick's firing. His office was investigating -- at my request -- Trump's phony emergency declaration so he could send Saudi Arabia weapons. We don't have the full picture yet, but it's troubling that Sec Pompeo wanted Linick pushed out." Initially, Democratic lawmakers contended that Trump ousted Steve Linick, the State Department's inspector general, because he was investigating claims that Pompeo and his wife Susan have been using a government aide for personal tasks, such as walking their family dog, picking up dry cleaning and making dinner reservations for the couple. A key U.S. Democratic lawmaker suggested Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump may have abruptly fired the internal State Department watchdog last week at Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's behest because he was nearing completion of a probe into Pompeo's controversial fast-tracking of arms sales last year to Saudi Arabia. Trump told reporters Monday at the White House that he fired Linick at Pompeo's request. "I have the absolute right as president to terminate. I said, 'Who appointed him?' And they say, 'President Obama.' I said, look, I'll terminate him," he said. Pompeo told The Washington Post on Monday that he recommended to Trump that Linick be removed because Linick was "undermining" the State Department's mission and said it was not in retaliation for any investigation. He did not give further specifics on why he recommended Linick be fired. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Trump on Monday asking him to justify Linick's removal within 30 days. "This removal is part of a pattern of undermining the integrity of the Inspectors General and therefore our government," she wrote. "Inspectors General are a critical part of our democracy, playing an essential role in preventing waste, fraud and abuse and ensuring transparency of government actions," she added. Linick's ouster was the fourth time in recent weeks that Trump has dismissed an inspector general who has played one role or another in holding his administration to account for its actions. Critics, Supporters of the Move Senator Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, and Engel sent a joint letter to the White House requesting administration officials turn over documents by Friday related to Linick's firing. "The President can't fire watchdogs without giving a proper reason and justification to Congress - all of Congress. Secret reasons don't count," Menendez said Sunday. A Republican ally of Trump, Sen. Chuck Grassley from Iowa, also called for more information on the removal. "An expression of lost confidence, without further explanation, is not sufficient to fulfill the requirements" of the law, Grassley said in a letter to Trump. Other key Republicans came to Trump's defense. Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro told ABC News's "This Week" show, "I support whatever this president does in terms of his hiring and firing decisions. "There is a bureaucracy out there and there's a lot of people in that bureaucracy who think they got elected president and not Donald J. Trump," Navarro said, "And we've had tremendous problem with what some people call the Deep State. I think that's apt. So, I don't mourn the loss." Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told CNN that he felt that "not all inspector generals are created equal" and noted they "serve at the pleasure of the president." Previous Dismissals Trump previously had dismissed Glenn Fine, who was overseeing the government's financial relief response to the coronavirus pandemic; Michael Atkinson, who as inspector general of the U.S. intelligence community played a role in triggering Trump's impeachment late last year; and Christi Grimm, the Health and Human Services inspector general Trump accused of producing a "fake dossier" on medical supply shortages at American hospitals dealing with the pandemic. Linick was appointed to the State Department inspector general post by former President Barack Obama, a Democrat Trump often criticizes. Last year, Pompeo defended the U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia. "These sales will support our allies, enhance Middle East stability, and help these nations to deter and defend themselves from the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said in a statement. But several Democratic and Republican lawmakers condemned the arms sales, citing the Saudis' human rights record and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Now with Jesus: Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias dies at 74 Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Ravi Zacharias, the prominent Christian apologetics author and speaker, died Tuesday at the age of 74 following a battle with a rare form of cancer. Zacharias daughter, Sarah Davis, posted a message on the website of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries on Tuesday, titled Ravi Zacharias, Now With Jesus, confirming that the apologist had passed away. It was his Savior, Jesus Christ, that my dad always wanted most to talk about. Even in his final days, until he lacked the energy and breath to speak, he turned every conversation to Jesus and what the Lord had done, she wrote. He perpetually marveled that God took a seventeen-year-old skeptic, defeated in hopelessness and unbelief, and called him into a life of glorious hope and belief in the truth of Scripturea message he would carry across the globe for 48 years. Davis noted that details about a public memorial for her father were pending, with a request added that those interested in sending flowers instead give to the work of RZIM. Today my beautiful father is more alive than he has ever been. We thank God for him and recommit our lives to sharing this truth with all who will hear, until He calls us to our eternal home, Davis added. Background Zacharias was born on March 26, 1946, in India. While raised in a Christian home, Zacharias considered himself a religious skeptic until age 17 following a suicide attempt. While hospitalized following the attempt, Zacharias was visited by a Youth for Christ director who gave him a Bible. He heard the verse John 14:19 read: Because I live, you also will live. This verse has become the cornerstone of Zacharias ultimate mission as a Christian apologist and evangelist: to present and defend the truth of Jesus Christ that others may find life in Him, recounted Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. Zacharias calling to preach was first confirmed when he was awarded the Asian Youth Preacher Award at the international Youth Congress in Hyderabad at the age of nineteen. Apologetics In 1980, Zacharias was ordained by the Christian and Missionary Alliance and founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in 1984. He launched an apologetics training center in 2017. For its part, RZIM boasts 16 offices across the world and around 200 employees, which include 80 apologetics speakers, both in full-time and adjunct roles. Zacharias was a prolific radio personality, having a weekly program called Let My People Think that was carried by an estimated 2,000 outlets in more than 30 countries. He often gave apologetics speeches at universities, churches, and other gatherings across the United States and abroad, including in Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall. He also participated in the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians in Washington, D.C., 2017; the National Prayer Breakfast in Ottawa, Canada in 2015; First Annual Prayer Breakfast for African Leaders, Mozambique in 2003; and Annual Prayer Breakfast at the United Nations, New York on multiple occasions. In 2004, he spoke at a major dialogue event between Protestants and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which had an estimated 7,000 people in attendance. His participation garnered some negative feedback among evangelicals concerned that he was endorsing Mormon theology, but Zacharias responded that he wanted to graciously build one step at a time in communicating our faith with clarity and conviction rather than to simply condemn certain LDS Church teachings. Books In addition to his radio programs and many speaking engagements, Zacharias also authored several books on a myriad of Christian apologetics topics. His first book, titled A Shattered Visage: The Real Face of Atheism, was originally released in 1990 by Wolgemuth & Hyatt and was later updated and rereleased. Other titles includeJesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message (2000), The Lotus and the Cross: Jesus Talks with Buddha (2001), Light in the Shadow of Jihad: The Struggle for Truth (2002), The Lamb and the Fuhrer: Jesus Talks with Hitler (2005), New Birth or Rebirth: Jesus Talks to Krishna (2008), and The Logic of God: 52 Christian Essentials for the Heart and the Mind (2019), among others. In his 2012 book Why Jesus? Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed Spirituality, Zacharias argued that Americans have been made susceptible to harmful new age spiritual ideas because of mass media, like through television personalities Oprah Winfrey and Deepak Chopra. "Mystics, spiritual masters all are in the lineup to give the viewer the feeling that she who has become all but deified in their eyes can now make each viewer just like them," wrote Zacharias in the book. "It is a long way from the wanderings of a Buddha or the sacrifice of the Son of God, but it has eye appeal in a time in history when gullibility is king and riches control appetite." Later controversies In November 2017, atheist blogger Steve Baughman had a lengthy piece posted on the website Ordinary Times arguing that Zacharias had long misrepresented his academic credentials. Since the early 1980s, Ravi Zacharias has assertively referred to himself as Dr. Zacharias and represented himself as holding multiple doctoral degrees, wrote Baughman. But Ravi Zacharias has never so much as enrolled in a graduate level academic program, much less completed a doctoral program. He has a Bachelors degree and a non-academic Master of Divinity degree, both from obscure religious institutions and has racked up numerous honorary doctorate degrees over the years from supportive Christian schools. In response, RZIM released a statement noting, among other things, that some outside entities have accidentally misrepresented Zacharias credentials and that it is common for individuals with honorary degrees to be known as Dr. Currently, eleven RZIM team members have earned doctorates. Ravi is not one of them, nor has he ever claimed to have an earned doctorate, stated the ministry. In earlier years, Dr. did appear before Ravis name in some of our materials, including on our website, which is an appropriate and acceptable practice with honorary doctorates. However, because this practice can be contentious in certain circles, we no longer use it. Around the same time, details surfaced of a married woman who accused Zacharias of engaging in an illicit emotional relationship after meeting her and her husband at an event in Canada in 2014. The couple claimed that Zacharias had used his spiritual authority to manipulate the woman, who sent him illicit images of herself. Zacharias denied the allegations, claiming that she and her husband were purposely trying to place him in a morally compromising situation. In March 2018, following an investigation, the Christian and Missionary Alliance announced that they were not going to remove Zacharias credentials, as they found the allegations unmerited. While it is not appropriate to publicly discuss the nuances of these allegations, the available evidence does not provide a basis for formal discipline under the C&MA policy, stated the Alliance. Final months In March, Zacharias was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called sarcoma, which was found a few weeks after he had undergone back surgery. They will wait until I am fully healed from the back surgery, and in 4-5 weeks, will begin treatment to shrink the tumor, stated Zacharias at the time. We are trusting the Lord in this, and we believe we have already seen evidence of His hand. On May 8, Sarah Davis, CEO of RZIM and Zacharias' daughter, announced on social media that the chemotherapy was not successful in eliminating the cancer where it had metastasized. His oncologist informed us that this cancer is very rare in its aggression and that no options for further treatment remain. Medically speaking, they have done all they are able, she explained. While we are full of so many emotions, we are also at peace, resting in the truth that God knows all and sees all and is sovereign and good." Huawei Technologies in its first official response to the Trump administrations move to curb its access to global chip supplies called it arbitrary and said its business would be impacted. We expect that our business will inevitably be affected. We will try all we can to seek a solution, Chairman Guo Ping said in his keynote speech at Huaweis annual global analyst summit on Monday. Survival is the key word for us at present, Guo said in a question and answer session. Guo said Huawei was committed to complying with US rules and it had significantly increased research and development, and inventory to meet US pressures. Fridays move by the US Commerce Department expands US authority to require licences for sales to Huawei of semiconductors made abroad with US technology, vastly extending its reach to halt sales to the worlds second-most popular smartphone maker. The company was added to the Commerce Departments entity list a year ago due to national security concerns, amid accusations from Washington that it violated US sanctions on Iran and can spy on customers. Huawei has denied the allegations. But China hawks in the Trump administration were frustrated that Huaweis entity listing was not doing enough to curb its access to supplies. Huawei said the new US decision was arbitrary and pernicious, and threatens to undermine the entire industry worldwide. Huawei categorically opposes the amendments made by the US Department of Commerce to its foreign direct product rule that target Huawei specifically, it said in a statement, adding that Washington adding it to the entity list a year ago was also without justification. Guo said that Huawei spent $18.7bn buying from US suppliers last year and would continue to buy from them if the US government would allow it. He said customers have stood by the company, but acknowledged it had become harder to win contracts since the company was added to the entity list. The company has had to rewrite 60 million lines of code and invest over 15,000 man-years in research and development in a bid to deal with pressures created by being placed on the entity list. It said Huawei has since remained committed to complying with all US government rules and regulations, but despite its efforts, the US government has decided to proceed and completely ignore the concerns of many companies and industry associations. Huawei, which needs semiconductors for its smartphones and telecoms equipment, has found itself at the heart of a battle for global technological dominance between the US and China, whose relationship has soured in recent months over the origins of the deadly coronavirus. GE Renewable Energy said that it has been selected by Fina Enerji to supply 52 of its 3 MW platform onshore wind turbines for four wind farms with a total capacity of 193 MW in Turkey at Baglama, Tayakadin, Yalova and Pazarkoy. The wind farms will produce enough clean energy to power the equivalent 195,000 homes, save about 650,000 tons of CO2 and support Turkeys renewable energy target. The scope also includes a 10-year servicing agreement. GE already has an installed base of 1.2 GW of wind energy in Turkey and has built 500 wind turbines built in the country, including the 350 MW of onshore wind energy projects that Fina Enerji and GE Renewable Energy have built together. Murat Ozyegin, Chairman of the Board of Fiba Group, the owner of Fina Enerji, said: We are excited for our new wind farm projects that will increase our installed capacity from 350 MW to 543 MW. Baglama Project will be the easternmost wind farm investment in Turkey and we are particularly proud to contribute to the economic development in this region. We are pleased to sustain our partnership with GE and to contribute to our country's renewable energy targets. GE Renewable Energy will produce the wind turbine blades in its LM Wind Powers Bergama site, Izmir, Turkey, where GE has more than 550 employees. Towers will also be produced in the country. Manar Al-Moneef, President & CEO, Onshore Wind, Mena & Turkey, said: GE has been one of the early investors in Turkey and continue commitment to create jobs and contribute to the development of high technology in the energy industry. We are delighted to be partnering with Fina Enerji Holding again and working on these exciting projects featuring GEs high-tech 3 MW platform turbines, well suited to Turkeys wind speeds and landscape. TradeArabia News Service OTTAWA, May 19, 2020 /CNW/ - Throughout the pandemic, the Government of Canada has focused on keeping Canadians safe and healthy and helping families pay their bills. That's why we have introduced strong measures to protect middle class jobs and support businesses, so they can keep Canadians on the payroll during this challenging time. The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced an expansion to the eligibility criteria for the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) to include many owner-operated small businesses. This extended measure will help small businesses protect the jobs that Canadians rely on. The changes to the CEBA will allow more Canadian small businesses to access interest free loans that will help cover operating costs during a period when revenues have been reduced, due to the pandemic. The program will now be available to a greater number of businesses that are sole proprietors receiving income directly from their businesses, businesses that rely on contractors, and family-owned corporations that pay employees through dividends rather than payroll. To qualify under the expanded eligibility criteria, applicants with payroll lower than $20,000 would need: a business operating account at a participating financial institution a Canada Revenue Agency business number, and to have filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return. eligible non-deferrable expenses between $40,000 and $1.5 million . Eligible non-deferrable expenses could include costs such as rent, property taxes, utilities, and insurance. Expenses will be subject to verification and audit by the Government of Canada. Funding will be delivered in partnership with financial institutions. More details, including the launch date for applications under the new criteria, will follow in the days to come. To date, over 600,000 small businesses have accessed the CEBA, and the government will work on potential solutions to help business owners and entrepreneurs who operate through their personal bank account, as opposed to a business account, or have yet to file a tax return, such as newly created businesses. This measure is part of the Government of Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, which is putting Canadians and the protection of middle class jobs first. We will continue to help all Canadians, and together we will get through this crisis. Quotes "Canadians are counting on us to protect their jobs and help them pay their bills during this difficult time. By expanding the CEBA, we will be giving more businesses access to the support they need, so they can help protect workers and the jobs they rely on. Today we are helping to keep more businesses open and more Canadians working, so we are better prepared for the recovery to come." The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada "Our government has been taking action since the start of this crisis to support the small businesses that define our Main Streets and provide jobs that Canadians rely on. We have been listening to you throughout this, and will continue to, to make sure we're delivering the support Canadian businesses need to get through this tough time and be well positioned for success once the recovery begins." The Hon. Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance "Small businesses are at the heart of our communities, and they drive our national economy. By making our lending supports more generous and inclusive, we're working hard to save Canadian jobs and businesses. We will continue to be there for Canadian businesses and workers every step of the way through this crisis." The Hon. Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Quick Facts Launched on April 9, 2020 , the CEBA provides zero-interest, partially forgivable loans up to $40,000 to small businesses that have experienced diminished revenues due to COVID-19, but face ongoing non-deferrable costs such as rent, utilities, insurance, taxes, and employment costs. Twenty-five per cent of this loan is forgivable if repaid by December 31, 2022 . , the CEBA provides zero-interest, partially forgivable loans up to to small businesses that have experienced diminished revenues due to COVID-19, but face ongoing non-deferrable costs such as rent, utilities, insurance, taxes, and employment costs. Twenty-five per cent of this loan is forgivable if repaid by . The CEBA is administered by Export Development Canada, which is working closely with Canadian financial institutions to deliver the loans to their existing business banking customers. When first launched, the CEBA was designed to allow for rapid deployment of credit to businesses with 2019 payroll between $50,000 and $1 million . The government then expanded the eligibility parameters of the program, by increasing the payroll eligibility range to between $20,000 and $1.5 million . and . The government then expanded the eligibility parameters of the program, by increasing the payroll eligibility range to between and . Since the CEBA's launch, over 600,000 loans have been approved, representing a total of more than $24 billion in credit. Associated Links This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca/ SOURCE Prime Minister's Office For further information: PMO Media Relations: [email protected] Related Links http://pm.gc.ca/ The grim tale of the man who introduced heroin to Ireland ended at 3pm yesterday in St James's Hospital. Larry Dunne (72) was being treated at the facility for catastrophic self-inflicted stab injuries. He had been rushed to the hospital from his home in Carrickmount Drive in Rathfarnham on Sunday. Dunne - one of the most notorious criminals in the history of the State - was in the advanced stages of a battle with lung cancer. Despite his reputation - which was enhanced when he famously said "if you think we're bad, wait till you see what's coming after us" after he was handed a 14-year jail sentence for heroin dealing in March, 1985 - Dunne had not been an active criminal for well over a decade. On that day at Dublin Circuit Court 35 years ago, loud cheers had greeted the lengthy sentence handed down to him. Nine other members of the family have been jailed on drugs, firearms and other criminal charges, but Dunne was the leader of the pack. His brother, Mickey Dunne, was sentenced to eight years in 1987 on drug-related charges. Eldest brother Christy Dunne received a 12-year sentence. Seamus Dunne got 12 years in Britain after he was caught with a huge quantity of heroin which he was trying to bring back to Ireland. However, Larry was the kingpin - the criminal who was the number-one target of drugs squad gardai - a relatively new unit within the Garda organisation at the time. The Dublin criminal, who had been born into abject poverty in February 1948, loved to flaunt his wealth from his heroin trafficking enterprise. This was an era many years before the Criminal Assets Bureau was set up. He drove expensive cars and lived a champagne lifestyle, buying a mansion in the foothills of the Dublin mountains which would today be worth more than 1million. He also had a house in Crumlin. It was in the plush Sandyford mansion, called Gorse Rock, where he spent most of his time. The property became a symbol of his ill-gotten wealth in the 1980s. His lifestyle could not have been further removed from his difficult and tragic childhood, which had involved him being incarcerated in the notorious Daingean Industrial School in Co Offaly. He was released from prison in 1995 but would continue to get into scrapes with the law. In 1998, Dunne was accused of firing a pistol during a robbery at the Bradford & Bingley Building Society in Erdington in England. But a jury at Birmingham Crown Court took just over two hours to find him not guilty of having a firearm with intent, robbery and attempted wounding. He was also acquitted of a charge of attempted murder at a previous trial in which another defendant was jailed for 11 years. After being cleared of those charges, Dunne returned to Dublin. It was during this period that he received a three-month jail sentence for assaulting an undercover garda with a 15-foot plank and a bamboo cane as gardai carried out a drugs raid. In 2004, he was found guilty of cocaine dealing - a charge that dated back to 1999. This was to be his last major brush with the law and gardai say that he had no major links with the new breed of gangland criminal causing such mayhem nowadays. Dunne's drug importation business in the 1980s swamped Dublin with heroin and led to a massive drug addiction epidemic. This made him the number-one target for gardai. In time, bigger drugs traffickers, such as Christy Kinahan and John Gilligan, would emerge. But 40 years ago, Larry Dunne was Ireland's premier drugs trafficker. At the height of his criminal activity, it is understood that he bribed juries and boasted about having contacts in the gardai. He fled the country when the heat on him intensified, before finally being convicted for drugs supply and receiving a 14-year sentence. In April 2000, Dunne's wife, Lily, died in Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, in Dublin after a long illness. Despite his criminal pedigree, Dunne was known as a family man. It is understood that some family members were around his hospital bed when he passed away yesterday. He had more than 40 previous convictions to his name. The most serious of which was when he was charged with possession and intent to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis with a combined street value of between IR50,000 and IR60,000 in 1980. He was found guilty after a circuit court trial in June, 1983, but he had already absconded on the opening day of the case and the trial continued in his absence. The trial was told that when Gardai raided Dunne's corporation house they found heroin, cocaine and cannabis resin. In his absence, he was found guilty of being in possession of drugs for supply. Dunne had fled to Portugal but he was arrested there and then extradited back to Ireland, where he was given the 14-year-sentence on March 25, 1985. Dunne was the first drug dealer in Ireland to use junior criminals to carry drugs for him, often for very little cash reward. This is a trend that continues in organised crime to this day. It is understood that Dunne gloated about not having to transport drugs. This prompted other criminals to profess that "Larry doesn't carry". However, his luck ran out when he was busted by gardai and, in his latter years, Dunne lived a modest and quiet life. Despite physical distance, it's possible to create proximity between family members located in different places. This is according to a study from Linkoping University that has investigated how video calls bring family members together. The results show that proximity in video calls is established mainly by way of the body and the senses, e.g. by giving a digital high five. Touching a beloved family member, or even making eye contact, is impossible online. Still, it's possible to feel close to them. Anna Martin Bylund and Linnea Stenliden have studied the social and emotional challenges that geographical distance can create among family members who are spread out in different countries, and how longing is expressed in video calls. Their study has been published in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. "Our study shows that in a video call, an interaction can develop where the participants feel proximity. This interaction is enacted by way of the body and the senses, as well as other means like the camera and the technology. This research has become extra relevant in these corona times, when many of us are forced to communicate digitally," says Anna Martin Bylund, senior lecturer at Linkoping University's Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning. The researchers have studied how three multilingual families who have moved to China communicate with their relatives in Europe. The researchers have analysed the family members' verbal and physical interaction in four online video calls. They see how the physical distance and the digital interface present various challenges, but that proximity is still established, in creative and to a degree innovative ways. The researchers have used recordings of the video calls from the participants' own mobile phones or computers, as well as from cameras installed in the rooms where the participants were located. With these separate cameras, the participants could be captured when they were not in view in the video calls. Humour, creativity and memories create proximity Previous research in the field has discussed whether it is possible to create proximity and togetherness digitally. It has shown that changing communication patterns affect how we move our bodies as well as how we move ourselves across national boundaries. In this study, the LiU researchers show that proximity is not a given, but that it can, to a degree, be re-created and modified by way of video calls. The study also shows that proximity is created primarily using the body and the senses, although spoken language also plays a part. In video calls, the room is very important -- what appears on screen and how the body is coordinated in relation to the camera lens. In the study one can see that this suits small children without a well-developed language. Their participation is facilitated when body and space can be more important than speech. One factor that can help build emotional proximity is humour. The camera's presence contributes to this, for instance by zooming in on different parts of the body and excluding others, leading to jokes and laughter. But proximity is also created through the participants' ability to be creative and to handle the situations that arise between themselves, the person or people they are speaking to, and the technology. An example of this is the high-five that a three-year-old in China and her grandparents give each other. But instead of one palm contacting another, the experience is replaced by skin against visual impressions, speech, and the muscle memory of a high-five. This practice produces a high-five despite everything, and togetherness between the participants. In the conversations between the children and their relatives, memories are also evoked, which they can relate to together. In one conversation, a grandmother mentions a bag that she has given to her granddaughter, which affects the girl so much that she runs out from the conversation to get it. After the conversation is over, the girl keeps her grandmother both in her memory and in her body by holding onto the bag. "Our study contributes insights into how technological solutions are used for everyday communication, in order to overcome distance in families with roots in different countries. The families' communication is affected by the technology, which creates specific conditions for how proximity can arise," says Linnea Stenliden, senior lecturer at Linkoping University's Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning Closer to far away; transcending the spatial in transnational families' online video calling is a small, qualitative study, and further research is required. The researchers are taking the results from the study into their new project. Here they will investigate new challenges such as uncomfortable silence, which upper secondary teachers are faced with when using distance education in the age of the coronavirus. Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong also sent a wreath to the Lao Embassy in Hanoi. General Sisavath Keobounphanh served as a member of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP) Central Committee from the 1st to 8th tenures, Secretary of the LPRP Central Committee for the 3rd and 4th terms, and member of the Politburo during the 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th tenures. He was also Minister of Agriculture and Forestry and Minister of the Interior before serving as Vice President from 1996 to 1998 and Prime Minister from 1998 to 2001. Deputy PM Binh expressed deep condolences to the Lao Party, State, and people as well as the Generals family. Comrade Sisavath Keobounphanh's passing away is a great loss for the Lao Party and State and the Lao Front for National Construction, he wrote in the funeral book. Vietnam lost a big friend and a close comrade who made extremely important contributions to building, consolidating, and developing the great Vietnam-Laos friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh also led a delegation from the Foreign Ministry to the Lao Embassy to commemorate the late leader. Many delegations from ministries, sectors, localities, the Vietnam-Laos Cooperation Committee, and the Vietnam-Laos Friendship Association also paid tribute to him. On behalf of the Lao Government and people, Ambassador Sengphet Houngboungnuang expressed his gratitude for the sentiments of the Vietnamese Party, State, Government, and people towards General Sisavath Keobounphanh. The memorial service for the general at the Lao Embassy will continue until close-of-business on May 15. Secretary of the HCM Citys Party Committee Nguyen Thien Nhan also paid tribute to the former Lao PM at the Lao General Consulate in the city on May 15. Vietnamplus Lucknow, May 19 : The Yogi Adityanath government has now alleged that the list of buses submitted to the state government by the Congress for carrying migrant workers includes registration numbers of cars, scooters and autos. Uttar Pradesh Minister and government spokesman Siddhartha Nath Singh told reporters that the Congress deserved condemnation for this kind of 'fraud and forgery'. "Congress president Sonia Gandhi should respond to the actions of her children, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi. It is unforgivable that a political party should resort to this kind of petty politics in the name of migrant workers. The Congress owes an apology to the nation," he said. The Minister further said that it was because of this that the Uttar Pradesh government had sought details of the vehicles when the Congress sought permission to provide buses to carry the migrants. The state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu said that some numbers may have been wrongly written but the party is committed to provide 1,000 buses. The Yogi Adityanath government asked the Congress to deploy 500 buses at Kaushambhi bus station in Ghaziabad and 500 buses at Gautam Buddha Nagar near Expo Mart ground by noon to ferry the migrant workers. The letter to this effect was sent by Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Avanish Awasthi to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's personal secretary. The letter said that directives have been sent to the concerned district magistrates who will check the vehicle fitness, driving licenses of drivers and other documents before deploying them for migrant workers. The exchange of letters between the state government and the Congress continued till 2.a.m on Tuesday regarding permission to bring migrants on 1,000 buses being provided by the Congress. 09:28 | Chimbote (Ancash region), May. 19. Ancash Governor Juan Carlos Morillo supervised the final works of the new infrastructure, which is made up of five modules with 19 beds each for hospitalized patients who may need oxygen. According to the regional authority, his administration is managing the installation of an oxygen tank like the one installed at Eleazar Guzman Barron Regional Hospital to start receiving patients soon. The health staff for this field hospital will oversee the North Pacific Health Network. "We are implementing more facilities in the coastal zone (Chimbote) because most cases are reported here, and we want to prevent the regional hospital (Eleazar Guzman Barron) from collapsing," Morillo explained. "Those who need oxygen will be admitted here, and if their situation worsens, they will be transferred to the Nuevo Chimbote regional hospital", he added. Likewise, the Ancash Governor thanked Santa Province Mayor Roberto Briceno for handing over the Manuel Rivera Sanchez Centennial Stadium facilities as well as ensuring the maintenance of toilets and showers for the use of patients and health personnel. Invisible and deadly enemy Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) or the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). These viruses can be transmitted between animals and people. The novel coronavirus (covid-19) is a new strain that had not been previously identified in humans. It is transmitted from human to human through respiratory droplets from coughing and sneezing. Covid-19 is also transmitted by close contact with people infected by the virus. (END) GHD/JOT/RMB/MVB Loading... A field hospital for up to 90 coronavirus patients has been set up at Centennial Stadium in Chimbote ( Ancash region ) in order to increase the capacity of health centers.Publicado: 19/5/2020 Might of Military-Civilian Coordination Displayed in Socialist Construction Korean Central News Agency of DPRK Pyongyang, May 18 (KCNA) -- The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) set forth an idea of launching an offensive for making a breakthrough head-on at the Fifth Plenary Meeting of its Seventh Central Committee in December last year. True to its idea and line, all the civilians and servicepersons of the DPRK are winning victories one after another in all the fronts for building a powerful socialist country on the strength of military-civilian coordination. The first victory was registered in the construction of the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory completed as a model of the country's industrial sector. Under the slogan "Let the People's Army take charge of both national defence and socialist construction!", servicepersons successfully finished the construction of its 70-odd buildings as well as greening and pavement of compound road on the highest level in less than four months. Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un cut a ribbon for the completion of the factory on May 1 last. He went round the factory and highly appreciated the feats of all its builders, scientists and technicians, saying that it is a proud fruition borne by those faithful to the party policy with the might of military-civilian unity. The might of military-civilian coordination is also fully displayed on the agricultural front, a major thrust area in the offensive for making a breakthrough head-on. Servicepersons provided lots of farm materials for cooperative farms and helped urgent farm works like sowing, readjustment of rice dikes and repair of irrigation facilities. They, together with the shock brigade members, have sped up the construction of waterway tunnels, dams and generator rooms at Tanchon and Orangchon power stations under construction by dint of united efforts. The vitality of military-civilian unity and coordination, a proud tradition of the Korean revolution, will be further displayed in socialist construction. -0- NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address May 18, 2020, Sao Paulo, Brazil Launching on StartSomeGood, Travel to Brazil: The Cookbook - A local travel agency brings communities in Brazil to the forefront with their stories and traditional recipes to offer visibility in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic and halt in tourism. Viare Travel is a small Brazilian incoming agency, which, as a way to continue to connect those interested in travel to Brazil, and a means There are in Frankfurt, a place, a leafy microcosm where you can feel the German people's soul for a pulse. It is track 15 on the mini-Golf course on the Nidda. If you happen to be there on a Sunday afternoon, has plenty of material for a sociological study. About childlike joy, and fear of failure, through false modesty, genuine Schadenfreude, and masculine aggressiveness. On the Arrogance front, and the small according to the nature after trying to cope with this track. In the case of track 15 is not the target of the usual circular hole in it is to carry the Ball, but in the air a coherent network, which is reminiscent of a landing Net. To hit the Ball in there, you have to beat him with plenty, but not too much momentum on a ramp, that he may reach his destination in the blink of an eye. Frankfurt has to offer Yes a ball is sporty a lot, but in terms of mini Golf supply show gaps. Well, it is since the beginning of the 1960s, existing, directly on the Nidda river-shore facility. Because who doesn't love a futuristic, black light mini Golf in the dark (a provider on the Berger street) and the somewhat joyless course in the palm garden and in the Forest playgrounds ash forest and Swan home, not counting lands for a classic game of this indestructible, for decades, unmodified game on the system in the district of Heddernheim. The 18 well-maintained cars are there, in a pretty garden area; at the Stall, it is for the children to be the essential ice-cream on a stick and/or after the game; two older gentlemen sit your racket in front of the first tee to a Bank, take a SIP of your target water and raise your bottle of beer in salute. more and more young people on the web Much here breathes the charm of the seventies and eighties, but also the kindness of this place. "Stamp collection, Marklin model railroad, mini-Golf," says one of the four operators of the rail and grinning in this for Muff and bourgeois environment of the game on concrete highways with steel racket and plastic ball had been sorted but always. A game in which only families outlet for the children, and the elderly kill the (Free)time? The operator of the Heddernheimer Appendix've been watching for a while, a change that had been reinforced by Corona again significantly. A lot of young people between 20 and 30 years would, in these weeks, the tracks are haunting. Updated Date: 12 July 2020, 23:19 Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday she didn't know President Donald Trump would be 'so sensitive' about his weight after she called him 'morbidly obese' and he shot back she has 'mental problems.' 'I didn't know that he would be so sensitive. He's always talking about other people's avoirdupois, their weight, their pounds,' Pelosi said during an interview Tuesday with MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace. 'I think he should recognize that his words weigh a ton. Instead of telling people to put Lysol into their lungs or taking a medication that has not been approved except under certain circumstances, he should be saying what your previous guest mentioned things that would help people,' she said. The speaker was referring to President Trump's suggestion last month that injecting disinfectants, which can kill the coronavirus, into a person could be a possible cure. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she didn't know President Donald Trump would be 'so sensitive' about his weight after she called him 'morbidly obese' President Trump accused Speaker Pelosi of 'mental problems' after she said he was 'morbidly obese' Pelosi said the 'morbidly obese' president was putting his health at risk with his daily dose of hydroxychloroquine in an interview with CNN Monday night. Trump, in response to that, called her a 'sick woman' with a lot of 'mental problems.' 'Pelosi is a sick woman. She's got a lot of problems, a lot of mental problems,' President Trump said during a visit to Capitol Hill where he had lunch with Senate Republicans. At his last physical, Trump, 73, weighed 243 pounds as reported to be 6 feet 3 inches. That would put his body mass index at 30.4, which narrowly qualifies him in the 'obese' category. Trump, known for his love of fast food, has a history of mocking other people's physiques. At a campaign rally in Manchester, N.H., last August, Trump said of one supporter in the crowd: 'That guys got a serious weight problem! Go home. Start exercising.' The president, when he owned the Miss Universe competition, referred to contestant Alicia Machado as 'Miss Piggy.' Trump's health has come into question as the coronavirus pandemic infected more than 1.5 million Americans and killed more than 90,000 people. The president has come under heavy criticism from doctors, Democrats, media commentators and foreign countries after his shocking announcement on Monday he is taking a daily dose of hydroxychloroquine as a precaution against the coronavirus. Following Trump's admission, Speaker Pelosi was among a host of doctors and politicians who branded the move irresponsible. Pelosi told CNN: 'He's our president and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists. Especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group, what is morbidly obese, they say. So, I think that it's not a good idea.' President Donald Trump blasted Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a 'sick woman' with a lot of 'mental problems' after she called him 'morbidly obese' Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the 'morbidly obese' president was putting his health at risk with his daily dose of hydroxychloroquine in an interview with CNN Monday night Trump has previously touted hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus 'cure', but the FDA has warned the drug - which is typically used to treat malaria - has a range of possibly lethal side-effects and has not been proven as an effective COVID-19 treatment. Several studies are underway into the drug's effectiveness in treating coronavirus and whether it can also protect against the disease, but so far there is no clear evidence it is beneficial. The FDA warned on April 30th that hydroxychloroquine caused heart problems and said it should only be used to treat the coronavirus on patients already in the hospital. 'You're not going to get sick or die,' Trump said on Monday about taking the medication. 'I've taken it about for a week and a half now. And I'm still here.' At least two White House staffers tested positive for the coronavirus this month, both of whom had access to the president: his Navy valet who serves him meals and Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary Katie Miller, who speaks for the Coronavirus Task Force and is married to Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller. President Trump his daily dosage at his Cabinet meeting at the White House on Tuesday. 'I've had no impact from it. I feel the same. I haven't changed I don't think too much,' he said. At least 620 Nigerian Christians killed so far in 2020 by Boko Haram, Fulani: NGO report Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A Nigerian civil society organization estimates that about 620 Christians were killed and hundreds of homes, as well as churches, were damaged in Nigeria since the beginning of the year as attacks carried about by Fulani radicals and Islamic terrorists continue. The Anambra-based nongovernmental organization International Society for Civil Liberties & Rule of Law, headed by Christian Emeka Umeagbalasi, released a statement Thursday highlighting the impact of the atrocities committed by terrorists across Nigeria thus far in 2020. The report, based on days of forensic research, warns that militant Fulani herdsmen roaming the countrys rural Middle Belt states and terrorists affiliated with Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province in Nigerias northeast region have intensified their anti-Christian violence. The group reports the killing of no fewer than 620 defenseless Christians and wanton burning or destruction of their centers of worship and learning" in 2020. According to the statement, Fulani radicals are responsible for killing over 470 people in the first four-and-a-half months of 2020. The group reports that Fulani killed 140 Christians from the beginning of April until May 14. Meanwhile, Boko Haram is believed to have killed 150 Christians since January. The atrocities against Christians have gone unchecked and risen to alarming apogee with the countrys security forces and concerned political actors looking the other way or colluding with the Jihadists, the organization argues. Houses burnt or destroyed during the period are in their hundreds; likewise dozens of Christian worship and learning centers. Intersociety relies on what it deems to be credible local and foreign media reports, government accounts, reports from international rights groups and eyewitness accounts to compile its statistical reports and updates. The organization reported in a March statement that at least 350 Christians were killed in January and February, with Fulani radical attacks in the Middle Belt of Nigeria accounting for 250 of the deaths and Boko Haram terrorists accounting for between 50 to 100 killings. Additionally, the group reported at the time that between 11,500 and 12,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria since June 2015. According to Intersociety, radical herdsmen accounted for the killing of over 7,400 Christians and Boko Haram groups accounted for 4,000 killings. While conflicts between Fulani herdsmen and predominantly Christian farming communities in the farming-rich Middle Belt states have existed for decades, advocates warn that Fulani attacks in recent years have increased in severity as well as quantity. Fulani radicals are often armed with firearms when conducting their overnight attacks on sleeping farming villages. As a result, many farming communities have been pushed off their lands. Intersociety projects that by the end of 2020, no less than 32,000 Christians will have been killed across Nigeria by Boko Haram and Fulani radicals combined since 2009. The killings covered 2009 to 2020, with projected figures for Boko Haram and its offshoot ISWAP and Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen in the coming seven months and half of 2020, the report explains. Intersocietys findings come as the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated last year that at least 27,000 people have been killed by the Boko Haram conflict in northeast Nigeria since 2009. During the years that Boko Haram rose to prominence in the northeast, Intersociety notes that there were 6,000 Christians killed by radical herdsmen between January 2009 to December 2014 in the Middle Belt states. This is an average of 1,000 Christian deaths per year, Intersociety reports. [T]he Jihadist Fulani militants must have accounted for additional 9,000 Christian deaths, or 1,500 deaths per year [from January 2015 to end of December 2020]. In the end, the Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen must have accounted for total Christian deaths of 15,000 in 11 years, Intersociety estimates. The organization also contends that most of those killed by Boko Haram from January 2015 to December 2019 about 60% are Christians and that all those killed by Fulani radicals during that timespan are Christians. This past week, suspected Fulani radicals conducted a series of attacks in the Kaduna state district of Kajuru, killing over 20 people and injuring several others. [S]ince the COVID-19 lockdown on March 25, these Fulani herdsmen have killed 38 Southern Kaduna people, as of yesterday, Kajuru resident Alheri Magaji, who leads the nonprofit Resilient Aid and Dialogue Initiative, told The Christian Post. Thats more than the coronavirus. In addition to the killings, millions in Nigeria have been displaced from their homes and farms due to the violence in the northeast and Middle Belt. While some have returned, many are still homeless with no timetable for when they may be able to return to their farms and homes. Nigeria ranks as the 12th worst country in the world when it comes to Christian persecution on Open Doors USAs 2020 World Watch List. According to Open Doors, Nigeria is one of the most violent countries in the world for Christians. Nigeria was added to the U.S. State Departments special watch list of countries that engage in or tolerate severe violations of religious freedom for the first time last December. It is a dangerous situation in too many parts of Nigeria," U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback told reporters at the time. "The government has either not been willing to or have been ineffective in their response and the violence continues to grow. International advocacy groups have also raised concerns that the violence against Christians in Nigeria has reached the level of genocide. A young woman at the centre of a police sex scandal has opened up about her 'toxic' relationship with her middle-aged boss and revealed how the pair would arrange daily sex sessions in his office. Sarah Colja was just a 21-year-old university student when she began working as an administration assistant under John Purcell, the former Assistant Director in the Office of Information Management at Western Australia Police. Mr Purcell, who was in his 50s and more than 30 years her senior at the time, was in a relationship with another WA Police employee when the affair began. Ms Colja was soon granted access to his office so the pair could have sex during their work day while his partner worked next door. 'We were acting like young teenagers making out in cars and all that,' Ms Colja told Daily Mail Australia. '(Our) daughter was made in the middle of the workday in a Maylands park.' Sarah Colja (pictured) was just 21 when she began working as an administration assistant under John Purcell, the former Assistant Director in the Office of Information Management at Western Australia Police John Purcell, who was in his 50s, was in a relationship with another WA Police employee when the affair began They used their work emails to arrange secret meet-ups. Ms Colja would also send explicit photos of herself to Mr Purcell's work email to avoid his partner from finding out about their relationship. Ms Colja said she fell in love with Mr Purcell and at the time believed he was also in love with her. 'I gave him my heart. 'I thought that somebody in his position must be a good person. 'I believed him in a lot of ways because he was older. 'I don't know if he was in love with me or if he was going through a mid-life crisis.' The affair continued from 2013 to 2016, even after Ms Colja left the force. But after years of sneaking around, the relationship eventually turned sour. Ms Colja, 31, said it was when she told him she was pregnant that the relationship fell apart. Mr Purcell has no relationship with the couple's four-year-old daughter, Ms Colja said. Ms Colja, 31, said it was when she told him she was pregnant that the relationship fell apart. Mr Purcell has no relationship with the couple's four-year-old daughter, Ms Colja said Ms Colja would send explicit photos of herself to Mr Purcell's work email to avoid his partner from finding out about their relationship She now sees the relationship with Mr Purcell as a 'f***ed up, toxic'. 'Looking back and having grown up, I do realise his position of power did have a big play in how he could manipulate the situation. I was treated like crap for being in love, all while trying to create a career for myself. 'Enough people knew about it, especially the higher-ups in his circle, that I was known as the ''hussy'' at work. And him being in the position of power he was, he had the power to move me to different floors or offices.' Ms Colja, who has a Bachelor's Degree in Communications, has struggled to secure work in the aftermath of the affair. She now suffers from panic attacks while in office environments. According to her Facebook page she works at Coles, stacking shelves at night. Mr Purcell, who is now married to the WA Police employee, has recently been demoted after an internal audit uncovered their long-running affair. Ms Colja, 31, described the relationship with Mr Purcell as a 'f***ed up, toxic relationship' Documents obtained by The West Australian reveal Mr Purcell exchanged 23,736 personal messages with Ms Colja, which included 12 images of her 'either nude, semi-nude or wearing only underwear'. In an email on July 11, 2014, Mr Purcell received an image after he 'actively invited' her to send him photos as they worked. Another seven messages detailed plans for 'intimate liaisons during work hours', which they carried out on five of the occasions. During the audit, WA Police's human resources section accused the father-of-one of failing to delete the dirty emails or 'cease the receipt of such emails'. Details of the scandal emerged when Mr Purcell appealed against his demotion in the WA Industrial Relations Commission. In the appeal, his counsel argued the demotion was 'harsh and unfair', with Mr Purcell claiming he had tried to end the affair and sought counselling from his church in 2017 and 2018 over the incident. John Purcell (pictured) has slid down the WA Police Force's ranks after an internal audit uncovered a scandalous affair with a younger colleague carried out across the office computer system Mr Purcell, who is not a sworn officer, tried to appeal the demotion in the WA Industrial Relations Commission but it was denied They added their client had an 'unblemished record previously' and had taken 'actions to redeem himself'. But last week the commission ruled that it was 'entirely appropriate'. 'In our view, Ms Roberts (WA Police's director of human resources) showed the appellant considerable leniency,' the commission said. 'The appellant's misconduct can only be described as brazen and cavalier.' Mr Purcell, who has worked with WA Police since 1992, did not receive criminal charges as a result of his offences. Instead, he demoted from a level 8.3 position to a level 5.4, which meant he was 'unlikely to have access to sensitive or confidential material', no longer have responsibility over a large number of employees, data and 'multi-million-dollar budget'. A WA Police spokeswoman said: 'The matter has now been finalised in the Industrial Relations Commission and WA Police Force has no further comment to make'. BJP leaders watching Netflix at home, blaming us for migrant crisis: Raghav Chadha (IANS Interview) New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) At a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is blaming the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for the migrant workers' crisis in the national capital, AAP lawmaker and Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman Raghav Chadha has taken pot shots at the saffron party leaders, saying "none of the BJP leaders are on ground, they are busy watching Netflix at their homes." In an interview with IANS, the AAP MLA from Rajinder Nagar said that the BJP leaders were sitting in air-conditioned rooms within the confines of their homes, playing Ludo, watching Netflix or sharing videos on social media. Here are the excerpts from the interview: Q: The opposition has been repeatedly saying that the migrants' crisis is one of the biggest failures of the AAP government. What is your response to that? A: This is not the time to do politics. It hurts when the opposition leaders, who haven't even stepped out of their air-conditioned rooms and are spending their time streaming Netflix, make such comments. The people responsible for the migrants' crisis in India are from the BJP. The crisis is not just confined to Delhi, but migrants have been walking from all the other states as well just because the Central government did not think about their plight. It can be their lethargic attitude that they did not try to figure out ways to send the migrants back home. That's the reason they are facing such hardships. My only question here is, if you can send aircraft to bring back rich NRIs stranded abroad, why can't these poor migrants be provided with buses or trains to help them reach their hometowns? Why no arrangements were made for the? Q: With peak summers approaching, how does the Delhi Jal Board plan to tackle the problems of water supply amid the Covid-19 outbreak? A: Yes, it's definitely a challenge, especially given that we are dealing with a health crisis. Water is an essential commodity and we are working towards its improved supply. We have formulated the summer action plan and have released it a few days back. It outlines our supply plans. It also talks about the supply of water in the problematic areas, involving our plans to recharge the underground water levels and create water reservoirs. It also includes our plans to allocate tankers to supply water in regions facing short supply. Q: After a long pause, economic activities have again started in Delhi. How much time do you think the Delhi government will take to make up for the losses and how will it be done? A: Losses are for everybody. From a person having a job to the person running his own business, everybody has been hit. Similarly, the government too has suffered losses. Because of the lockdown, all economic activities were shut. Now slowly Delhi is starting to get back its grip on the economy. In the present circumstances, the most important thing is to save the lives of the people and the AAP government is doing its best to provide best healthcare services to the people. If we look at the revenue side, we were supposed to generate revenues of Rs 4,000 crore in April, which were to be used by the Delhi Jal Board for its services, for paying salaries to the workers, paramedics and so on. The government suffered huge losses as the revenue generated amounted to only Rs 400 crore. We also hope that we will get some sort of financial support from the Central government to tide over the economic crisis. Q: While the economy is starting to open up, people seem to be not taking social distancing norms seriously. How does the Delhi government plan to deal with the situation and contain the spread of Covid-19? A: It's in the hands of the people to stay safe from coronavirus. If you wear a mask, maintain social distancing norms, keep washing your hands regularly, you can fight the virus. If you don't, you will put your own health in danger. But we have complete faith in the citizens or Delhi, who helped the government win the battle against dengue last year. We pray and believe that the people of Delhi will do their bit by following all the safety measures issued by the government. Q: What steps have been taken to bring back students stranded outside Delhi? Also, how innovative are the measures taken by the Delhi Jal Board? A: First of all, the budget has nothing to do with the summer action plan. Funds are required to set up water plants, big projects, purchase machineries and put supply pipes in the small colonies. The plan is formulated every summer, but this time it has been released with certain in-depth works as these are not the usual times. Given that it is summer time and the city is in the grip of a pandemic, more and more people are staying indoors. The government is making the efforts to ensure adequate water supply. As far as students are concerned, since the lockdown was imposed, there have been restrictions on inter-state travel. The Central government later issued guidelines under which we could send people back to their states. We sent buses to Kota to bring back students to Delhi. We are trying our best to bring back more of them. The thing is, the states where they are stuck should also allow them to cross their borders. If that doesn't happen, there emerges a problem. I would like to ask where are the BJP leaders now? All the AAP leaders are on the ground providing aid to the people. But their leaders cannot be seen anywhere. Q: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a press briefing a few days back that there was good coordination between the Centre and the Delhi government. Can you tell us about this coordination? A: We have some ideological issues with the BJP. But since we are in the middle of a pandemic, the AAP government is working supportively with the Central government, with the respected Prime Minister, Home Minister and Delhi Police. No government can deal with such a crisis alone. We all need to work together in this battle to defeat Covid-19. A Princeton University study suggests that warmer weather alone is not likely to slow the spread of coronavirus in Delhi. The research says that local variations in the climate like hot summers are not likely to make a significant impact on the first wave of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, the local climate's effect on the spread of virus increases once there is some kind of immunity among people. The resistance in population is also expected to be higher in the future waves. Dr Rachel Baker, lead author of the research, said: "We project that warmer or more humid climates will not slow the virus at the early stage of the pandemic... the virus will spread quickly no matter the climate conditions." "Our findings suggest, without effective control measures, strong outbreaks are likely in more humid climates and summer weather will not substantially limit pandemic growth," researchers said. They further noted that a large number of global populations are still vulnerable and the virus' speed suggests the impact of local climate conditions are unlikely to make any significant change in the rate of infection. The study, however, doesn't look into the individual behaviour of the virus under different humidity and temperature conditions. The researchers' simulation model, on how the global pandemic would respond to various climates, is based on historical data associated with seasonal variations of similar viruses in past. They used the data of influenza virus and human coronavirus HKU1 and OC43, which are the reasons behind the common cold. The research adds that based on experience with other viruses in the past, in the absence of interventions - vaccination and physical distancing - the virus spread is unlikely to slow down in southern hemisphere. Additionally, once a sizeable population becomes immune to the virus, the COVID-19 may start behaving like other variants of coronaviruses - HKU1 and OC43 - and would be more frequent during the winters. The researchers say that the trajectory of COVID-19 over the next few months would be influenced by factors such as social distancing measures and immune response, including "its strength and duration" in the human population. (Edited by Vivek Dubey) Also Read: Trump tells WHO to prove 'independence' from China within 30 days; warns freeze on funding Also Read: Coronavirus update: Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine shows positive results in early tests As COVID-19 reached remote indigenous lands in Brazil's Amazon, the government agency responsible for protecting native people brushed off calls for action, focusing instead on waging ideological battles, according to agents from the institution itself and others. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's repeated promotion of developing the vast Amazon has for months prompted indigenous activists, celebrities and agents on the ground to sound the alarm. In the face of a spreading pandemic, they warn inaction is enough to wipe out many indigenous people. The Associated Press spoke to four agents who work with indigenous peoples in the farthest reaches of Brazil's Amazon, and they were unanimous in their conclusion: The national Indian foundation, known as FUNAI, is hardly doing anything to coordinate a response to a crisis that could decimate ethnic groups. There's not enough protective equipment for agents who enter indigenous territories or meet with native people in cities. Necessities like kerosene and gasoline are in short supply. Food deliveries only began last week a month after indigenous people were instructed to remain in their villages and remain vastly insufficient. Since the pandemic's onset, there has been fear about the vulnerability of native people who live far from urban health facilities and whose communal lifestyles render them susceptible to swift transmission. At least 88 indigenous people have already died of COVID-19 in the Amazon, according to a tally by the Brazilian indigenous organization APIB that includes health ministry figures and information from local leaders. The count is likely higher, because hospitals often don't use patients' indigenous names when admitting them. As native people started succumbing to the coronavirus, FUNAI's focus was elsewhere, according to Antnio Carlos Bigonha, who heads the public prosecution office responsible for indigenous affairs. He said the Indian agency's response has been delinquent, lax, insufficient, reflective of Bolsonaro's open support of assimilation. The of COVID-19 is so grave, because integration alone is bad, but in the context of a pandemic is genocide, Bigonha said in a telephone interview. CIMI, a Catholic group that defends indigenous rights, condemned FUNAI's policies for failing to safeguard native peoples. FUNAI fired back, attacking what it called socialist public policies implemented since 2003 by the leftist Workers' Party that it maintained made indigenous people dependent on welfare. This isn't ... a socialist plot, said Bigonha. It's just an interpretation of historical facts: We adopted integrationist policy at the start of the 20th century and it almost did away with the indigenous people. Brazilian photographer Sebastio Salgado, famous for his work with indigenous tribes, drafted a manifesto warning of imminent threat to native peoples and calling on Brazil's government to take action to protect them. It drew 245,000 signatories, including Paul McCartney, Meryl Streep, film director Pedro Almodvar and model Gisele Bndchen. FUNAI's response was swift: It returned photographs Salgado had taken of the Korubo people in the isolated Javari Valley, near the Peruvian border, along with a statement recommending Salgado auction them to buy food, personal hygiene products and cleaning goods for indigenous people. FUNAI told the AP in an e-mailed response that it adopted all the measures within its reach" in the fight against the pandemic. It said it has distributed 45,000 food kits and more than 200,000 personal protection items nationwide, without breaking it down by region, and that another 40,000 food kits were coming soon. Agents on the ground, including three employed by FUNAI, told a different story. They spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity for fears of retribution after several officials in the Bolsonaro administration were fired or reassigned after talking to reporters. There's no leadership from above and requests sent to FUNAI headquarters in Brasilia go unanswered for weeks, they said. The Upper Solimoes region near Brazil's border with Colombia has one of Brazil's highest COVID-19 mortality rates. The only hospital with ventilators, a military facility in Tabatinga, on the border, has only 13 of the lung machines, the health ministry said. To contain the virus, since mid-March FUNAI agents have told indigenous groups they should prevent anyone from entering their territories and block roads and rivers near their communities. But as long as there aren't enough food kits delivered, the tribes won't stay on their lands, the agents said. Little agriculture is possible when rivers flood the Upper Solimoes and Upper Negro regions, and the vast majority sell or trade what they fish and hunt. In the Upper Solimoes, home to some 76,000 indigenous people, only six of the 350 ethnic groups received 1,300 food kits through last week, according to an agent involved in the operation. That has further damaged FUNAI's credibility, the agent said. FUNAI's Rio Negro regional coordinator, Auri de Oliveira, said the chief problem wasn't shortage of food, but indigenous people traveling to nearby cities to receive emergency coronavirus cash aid from the government. He said the food kit delays were due to normal bureaucracy and they have started arriving. The food kits will help maintain indigenous people in the villages, he wrote in a text message. We will see if they come to town again, because there will be a new cycle of welfare payments. While some food aid is arriving it's not enough: One tribal leader in the Upper Solimoes region said by phone Friday his village received food kits for only 90 of its more than 700 families. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) LONDON, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The United States of America expressed gratitude towards the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis and its Prime Minister, Timothy Harris, for their contribution in fighting the pandemic. On Monday, Robert C. O'Brien, the United States National Security Advisor, spoke with the Caribbean nation's Prime Minister. In appreciation of their partnership, the US will be sending ventilators to the twin island nation. The Prime Minister's office communicates that recent discussions addressed the operations of API Harowe. Based on the island of St Kitts, the company manufactures components that support the production of ventilators. API Harowe employees, whom PM Harris calls "unsung heroes," continued operations in compliance with health experts' protocols throughout the State of Emergency, instituted since March 28, 2020. "Great conversation today with our friend & partner, @pmharriskn of St. Kitts and Nevis," said Ambassador O'Brien via the White House National Security Council Twitter account on Monday. "@POTUS [President Donald Trump] is sending ventilators as a sign of our appreciation of our key partnership," O'Brien added. "We're grateful for the Prime Minister's leadership in the global response to #COVID19," the US NSA concluded. The day before, Prime Minister Timothy Harris addressed the nation mentioning that, while his administration took strict actions that kept the country safe, experts say that the threat of the pandemic remains a concern for an indefinite period. In the same address, the PM highlighted some of the measures his Cabinet recently undertook with financial assistance from the Citizenship by Investment Programme, which Foreign Minister Mark Brantley estimates at around 20% of the country's GDP. "The introduction of the Poverty Alleviation Programme has made a real difference to those on low incomes, providing crucial assistance to them," PM Harris said on Sunday. "We also undertook the most significant public sector investment in our country's history. This includes the construction of the second cruise pier, the 69-million dollar resurfacing of the island main road, and the reconstruction of the Old Road Bay," he added. PM Harris says this "is the result of prudent fiscal management" as noted in earlier reports by the CDB, ECLAC and IMF. Speaking to the BBC earlier last month, the Prime Minister said the government was pledging a 120-million stimulus package to assist the economy in its recovery. Contact: [email protected] www.csglobalpartners.com SOURCE CS Global Partners Related Links https://csglobalpartners.com The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us a lot of things, including which jobs are deemed most important. Hospitality and the I.T. industries which were considered as huge income-generating sectors not only for countries like Mexico but for countries all over the world are now at a standstill. Millions from these important sectors were rendered unemployed. Those surviving are people working in grocery stores, bakeries and most importantly - hospitals. Coronavirus fears make people fear front liners most All over the world, millions of healthcare workers are applauded and praised for their bravery in battling the COVID-19. Huge companies such as Qatar Airways have shown their gratitude by giving complimentary tickets to health workers across the globe. In the U.S., McDonald's have been giving away free "Thank You Meals" to health workers during the pandemic. In Mexico, there are no free meals or applause for the health workers, quite the opposite is happening. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, rumors have been spreading that the medical staff are to be blamed for Mexico's high COVID-19 death toll. Harassment towards them is not only happening on the streets but even on social media. Trolls and bashers have pestered medical staff on their personal social media accounts accusing them of spreading the deadly virus. Hugo Lopez-Gatell who is the Deputy Health Secretary and the COVID-19 response chief is at his wits with what is happening to the people who are saving the country from this pandemic. He said that is it quite alarming that the public are pouring their anger and hatred towards the wrong people. In the small town of Merida, Yucatan, a nurse was attacked as she was leaving the hospital. An unknown individual drove past her and threw hot coffee at her while shouting "Infected!" and sped away. In her 40 years of service, she has never seen such a hateful response to her line of work. She believes that people are not properly informed of the virus and are responding to false news spreading online. Another nurse from Guadalajara had somebody throw bleach at her while she was walking on the street with her dogs. She was not working in a COVID-19 unit but since she was wearing her medical uniform, she instantly became a victim of hate. Just recently residents have protested in front of a hospital in Mexico in attempts to rescue a particular patient. The locals believe that the coronavirus was just a conspiracy used by the government to eradicate people. Check these out: Health workers fear for their lives Harassment against health workers is still on the rise and most medical staff are even considering throwing their uniforms or simply starting wearing normal civilian clothes on their way to work and back home. There are even some cases of nurses being denied public transport use. Several others are being sprayed with acid and are having their homes attacked and vandalized. An official from the Mexican Social Security Institute has pleaded to the public to stop discrimination against health workers and that the safety of the country depends on these medical workers. New Zealands Labour Party-led government unveiled a budget on May 14 which promises $NZ50 billion over the next four years, primarily to prop up big business. The COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund portends decades of economic agony for the working class. According to the Treasury, the economy will contract by 4.6 percent in the year to June, driven by a quarterly decline in GDP exceeding 20 percent, with a devastating hike in unemployment reaching nearly 10 percent by September. Deficits will average 9.3 percent of GDP between 2020 and 2022. Net core Crown debt is forecast to rise from its current 20 percent of GDP to 30.2 percent this financial year, and to reach 53.6 percent of GDP by the 2023 fiscal year. Some $13.9 billion of the recovery package has already been spent dealing with the economic effects of the pandemic. Another $15.9 billion is earmarked for initiatives to kickstart the economy. A further $20 billion is being kept aside for future spending, possibly in the event of a second wave of COVID-19. With an eye to the election coming up in September, Finance Minister Grant Robertson told parliament the budget was following the great traditions of the First Labour Government who rebuilt New Zealand after the Great Depression. He decried the economic carnage of the 1980s and 1990sthe pro-business restructuring begun by the 19841990 Labour governmentwhich had been based, he said, on the false conception that the market would save us, that if [the] government sat on the sidelines all would be well. In fact, Labours budget contains nothing remotely resembling the Keynesian social reforms implemented by capitalist governments around the world during the 1930s to stave off the threat of socialist revolution. Rather, it is in line with the sharpening push internationally to starve public services, including health, and force people back to work in order to produce profits for the ruling elite. The looming mountain of debt requires a brutal assault on the living standards and social position of the working class. Robertson previously admitted that generations of workers will have to pay for the governments business subsidies and tax cuts. Announcing the easing of the governments month-long COVID-19 lockdown on May 11, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared that that the entire populationwhich she referred to as a team of five millionmust now turn its attention to the economy. The budget, she announced, would be about jobs, jobs, jobs. Behind the false talk of national unity, however, the ruling class is intensifying its policy of quantitative easing, i.e. pumping cheap money into the pockets of big business, on a far greater scale than anything which followed the 2008 global crash. Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr revealed last month that the central bank is lifting its purchase of government bonds from a previous target of $33 billion, to $60 billion. This will, Orr said, reduce the cost of borrowing quickly and sharply and be a necessary ally to government action to rescue the capitalist economy. The official cash rate is at a record low of 0.25 percent. Labours bogus claims about its jobs budget centre on the Wage Subsidy scheme, which is not paid directly to workers, but to employers. The government has so far paid out $10.7 billion under the scheme, which will be extended until September 1 at a cost of $3.2 billion. It will be more tightly targeted, with businesses that experienced a drop in revenue of 50 percent able to apply, as opposed to the current 30 percent. Ardern claims that the subsidy has preserved the jobs of over a million employees and sole traders, who constitute 41 percent of the countrys workforce. However, many businesses receiving the subsidy have cut wages by 20 percent or more. The payment equates to $585.80 per week for a full time workerless than the legal minimum wage of $756 before tax. The scheme has not stopped mass redundancies. On May 11, Auckland casino operator SkyCity laid off 700 staff, adding to 200 jobs axed in April. The new cuts came after the company forced workers onto 80 percent of their normal pay, falsely claiming this would help avoid sackings. SkyCity has meanwhile claimed nearly $22 million under the Wage Subsidy for 3,272 employees. Other pro-business measures already in place include tax concessions, low and interest free loans, and changes to laws and regulations, including gutting the Resource Management Act governing new developmentsa longstanding demand of big business. COVID-19 has meanwhile exposed the dire conditions in the countrys health system after decades of austerity. A cash injection of $3.9 billion over four years for health, roughly a third of new spending, is only sufficient to catch up the backlog of delayed elective surgeries and other treatment. With all 20 District Health Boards in the red, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists estimates another $1 billion would be needed immediately in operational funding, plus $2.5 billion to restore the value of funding just to the level of the 200910 financial year. The governments hollow promises, made following the 2017 election, to restore capitalisms human face by tackling the housing crisis, inequality and poverty, have been jettisoned. New Zealand has hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty and one of the worlds most unaffordable housing and rental markets. The Ministry of Social Development is preparing for an extra 300,000 benefit applications in response to the expected tidal wave of unemployment. Yet the budget provides zero increase to benefit levels and no change to the punitive welfare system. The Childrens Commissioner has appealed to the government to urgently spend the budgets unallocated $20 billion to ward off a steep rise in child poverty. An extra 8,000 state houses will be built over four years, but this is not enough to eliminate the current waiting lists of 16,309. The demand for public housing is increasing at double the rate of the governments building plans. Previous promises to provide affordable housing through the so-called KiwiBuild program proved to be a sham. The government is doing everything to appease the financial markets and the rich. There are no proposals for a wealth tax, capital gains tax, or even a moderate tax increase on high-income earners, to fund social programs. Meanwhile, the police, armed forces and intelligence agencies continue to be strengthened in anticipation of a renewed upsurge of working class struggles against austerity. Significantly, the Government Communications Security Bureau, the national spy agency, will receive $221.3 million for the 202021 financial year, an increase of 23.8 percent on last years allocation. To fund New Zealands growing integration into US preparations for imperialist war, aimed at China, the budget provides a massive boost to the Defence Force. An extra $676.5 million has been allocated for readiness and frontline capability, alongside $898 million towards replacing the Hercules fleet with new aircraft. This follows a record $4.3 billion in operating and capital funding allocated to the military across the past three budgets. The author also recommends: New Zealand government removes more COVID-19 restrictions [13 May 2020] New Zealand government exploits pandemic to boost police and military powers [7 May 2020] TICANTFWINI - Traditional healers and witchdoctors (tinyanga) want government to give them some of the COVID-19 positive patients in order to try their concoctions on them. The traditional healers have asked to be given three days to test their concoctions on the patients they expressed confidence that they could treat the patients symptoms. The traditional doctors made this known during their meeting which was organised by the Witchdoctors Association. The meeting was held at Ticantfwini, Manzini yesterday and it was attended by about 20 traditional healers. The main agenda item was to officially welcome the invitation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) that they should bring their traditional remedies for testing, which they believe could help in the fight against an array of illnesses, including COVID-19. In their meeting, which was graced by Judge Sipho Nkosi, representatives of the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) and Eswatini Medical Christian University (EMCU); the tinyanga made it clear that they felt neglected and were only recognised when there was a crisis in the country such as the one caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Representatives They said they would soon send representatives to the WHO offices to deliver their concoctions, and also appeal to the international organisation to convince government to allow them to see the COVID-19 positive patients in person. They said by so doing, they would be able to tell which mixture could be used to treat each patient. They argued that when they treated patients, they did not only depend on herbs as they also followed instructions from their ancestors. They said it was in that regard that they attached importance in meeting the patients before they could start preparing their concoctions. We will also ask WHO to allow government to surrender some of the COVID-19 patients to us for at least three days and see if we cannot help them, they said. In fact, they sounded confident that they would be successful in treating the patients symptoms. They said they had attended and successfully treated a number of people who had symptoms similar to those of COVID-19 in the past. Who knows, maybe these clients had COVID-19, but they were not aware because they had not tested, the tinyanga added. Also during their discussions, they argued that COVID-19 hit the country about three months ago, but still the number of confirmed cases was going up almost every day. They said worldwide, there were almost five million confirmed cases, 1.8 million recoveries and over 300 000 deaths. They said this meant that the virus had killed thousands of people who were being taken care of by healthcare workers. It is time that we (tinyanga) are also given a chance to treat the COVID-19 patients, they added. One of the tinyanga said their worry was that the world was seemingly sidelining them because it was concerned about making money out of the outbreak of the virus, than fighting to defeat it. He argued that as tinyanga, they were able to cure diseases like asthma, which doctors and nurses were failing to cure. He said the reason people did not get the help they needed, especially from them, was that as tinyanga, they were not recognised by government. Even doctors and nurses look down upon us, he said. The inyanga added that their practice of consulting with ancestors was more like doctors who used, laboratories. He said this was because after consulting with their ancestors, they could tell their clients everything about their lives, including sicknesses and what herbs could heal them. Confidence On that note, they emphasised that government should give them some COVID-19 patients and in a bid to show their confidence, they said after being given a chance, they were not afraid to compare the statistics (recoveries and deaths); before and after using the traditional remedies. The meeting was attended by executive committee members of the Witchdoctors Association from the four regions of the country. Among their guests, was the inyanga from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Guensta Ikartachi, who made a public statement that they were ready to assist in the fight against COVID-19. Meanwhile, Nkosingiphile Uncle J Seyama, one of the people who recovered from COVID-19, said maybe it was time government considered engaging tinyanga to assist in the fight against the novel coronavirus. He said this was because currently, there was no cure and it was all about treating the symptoms. On that note, he said before the Europeans came to Africa, Africans, including emaSwati, had a way of dealing with sicknesses; using herbs. However, he said the only concern was that nowadays, there seemed to be certain beliefs attached to traditional healing. If this chance came when I was still a patient, I would have willingly given myself to the tinyanga, but only if they assure me that they will only use herbs, not certain things, Seyama said. He added that it was natural for Africans to try natural herbs like aloe when suffering from stomach-ache before visiting a healthcare facility. Meanwhile, by the time of going to print yesterday, the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, had not responded to questions sent to her at 6:49pm. 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Support agents are usually quick to answer and do their best to resolve any problems as quickly as possible, allowing players to focus on what really matters. US Treasury accuses Mahan Air of operating charter flights to Venezuela for Iranian technicians and technical equipment. Washington on Tuesday slapped sanctions on a China-based company. The United States accused the firm of acting on behalf of US-blacklisted Mahan Air, the Treasury Department said, denouncing the Iranian airlines flights to Venezuela. The Treasury said in a statement that Shanghai Saint Logistics Limited acted as a general sales agent for Mahan Air. Washington blacklisted the airline in 2011 over the report it reportedly provided to Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Tuesdays action freezes any US-held assets of Shanghai Saint Logistics and generally bars US citizens from doing business with the company. This designation serves as another reminder that companies still providing services for Mahan Air in the PRC or anywhere else risk potential US sanctions, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement, using the acronym for the Peoples Republic of China. The Treasury said Mahan Air is operating charter flights to Venezuela for Iranian technicians and technical equipment, using materials sourced from China, in support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and paid for by the government with gold bars from the Central Bank of Venezuela. The Iranian regime is using Mahan Air to support an illegitimate and corrupt regime in Venezuela, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. The US and dozens of other nations recognised Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president last year. But Maduro remains in power, backed by Venezuelas military, as well as Russia, China, Cuba and Iran. The US also maintains punishing sanctions on Iran, measures that were reimposed after US President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Tehran, as well additional sanctions aimed at containing its regional power in the Middle East. A senior US official told Reuters last week that the administration is considering measures it could take in response to Irans shipment of fuel to crisis-stricken Venezuela. (Alliance News) - Ashmore Global Opportunities Ltd said Tuesday it is delaying the realisation of its investment in AEI Inc but is brining forward its vote on delisting from the London Stock Exchange. Ashmore Global is currently in the process of a managed wind-down, and has only has a holding in AEI and a number of smaller fund investments managed by the company's investment manager, which include a further indirect interest in AEI. "In recent months, the company's investment manager has had discussions with third parties regarding the realisation of its investment in AEI, with the objective of the directors being in a position to place the company into liquidation following that sale," Ashmore Global said. The company continued: "This outcome would also have resulted in the cancellation of the admission of the company's shares to listing on the official list of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, upon the commencement of the liquidation of the company." However, Ashmore Global said the Covid-19 pandemic has "reduced the likelihood" AEI can be sold on "acceptable terms" in the short to medium term. "The directors continue to be of the opinion that it is in the best interests of the company, and its shareholders, for the realisation of the investment in AEI to be achieved by the company's investment manager, overseen by its directors, rather than by a liquidator," the company said. As a result, Ashmore Global believes it is not "appropriate" to formally wind up the company at the moment. The company has also decided - due to the "considerable costs" - that is no longer within the shareholder's interests to remain a listed company. The company said: "The considerable costs of maintaining the company's listed company status are increasingly disproportionate to the value of the company's portfolio, and there are identifiable cost savings that can be achieved by a cancellation of the listing." Ashmore Global will bring forward proposals to delist "in the coming weeks". "The company's status as a Guernsey-regulated investment fund would continue notwithstanding such delisting and the Company's objective would remain the orderly disposal of AEI, as well as the remaining fund investments, as soon as sensible. Consideration will be given to appointing a liquidator, and the commencement of the formal winding up of the Company, following the disposal of AEI," the company added. By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Home decor chain Pier 1 Imports announced Tuesday it will be permanently closing all locations as soon as possible, according to a news release. This decision follows months of working to identify a buyer who would continue to operate our business going forward, CEO/CFO Robert Riesbeck said in the release. Unfortunately, the challenging retail environment has been significantly compounded by the profound impact of COVID-19, hindering our ability to secure such a buyer and requiring us to wind down. Pier 1 Imports began Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in February and is asking for Bankruptcy Court approval of the closure. Closings and liquidation sales will begin once locations reopen, the release said. The company has several locations in New Mexico, including two in Albuquerque. World War II veteran Pte Joseph Ashitey Hammond 19.05.2020 LISTEN World War II veteran Pte Joseph Ashitey Hammond will embark on a 14 miles walk to raise funds towards the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa. The 95-year-old, aims to complete the walk in seven (7) days to help secure essentials for the commonwealth countries in Africa. Speaking to Pte Hammond about the motivation behind this, he added Having fought in the Second World War, I feel that we are facing a different type of war against COVID-19. As such, I eagerly want to contribute towards flattening the curve by walking to raise money towards the cause. Funds raised will be used to purchase PPEs for frontline workers as well as helping other vulnerable veterans in Africa. Amongst the various accomplishments and accolades held by Pte Hammond, is the GUBA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018, awarded for his years of service. President of the GUBA Enterprise, a social organization focused on advancing and connecting Africans in the Diaspora with their home countries, states we have been inspired by the life of Pte Hammond over the years and we are incredibly proud that he has chosen to do this. The fight against COVID-19 is a fight for us all and GUBA will continue to support Pte Hammond throughout this initiative. I urge you all to support in any way you can," Mrs Dentaa Amoateng MBE. This initiative is also supported by Forces Help Africa, a non-governmental organisation assisting forces and veterans in Africa. Founder of Forces Help Africa, Derrick Cobbinah stressed on the importance of the initiative, adding This is a significant initiative that Pte Hammond has chosen to undertake. The COVID-19 pandemic is one that requires action from us all. I will therefore encourage everyone to support and be involved in this initiative. All are urged to support Pte Hammond as he walks to raise money for PPEs for frontline health workers and vulnerable veterans. To donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/veteran-hammond?utm_term=KXWazDZeE The head of mining giant Fortescue Metals Group is confident China's demand for Australian iron ore will remain strong and says the nation's biggest trading partner is fundamental to the health of the wider economy. As trade tensions threaten to erupt between Canberra and Beijing, exports of the steelmaking raw material iron ore to China have emerged as a bright spot and have been boosting the fortunes of miners BHP, Rio Tinto and the Andrew Forrest-backed Fortescue, whose shares hit a record high on Tuesday for the second day in a row. Demand for iron ore remains strong. Credit:Bloomberg Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines said demand for iron ore Australia's biggest export was on track to expand even further as China's rapid economic recovery from its coronavirus lockdown leads to greater steel output. "We have always adopted a multifaceted approach to engagement with China, which extends to procurement, financing and sponsorship," Ms Gaines said. Global Cosmetic Surgery Market Size, Share and Growth Analysis; by Surgery Type (Liposuction, Eyelid and Nose Surgery, Body Contouring (Tummy Tuck, Breast Lift, Others), Facial Reconstruction, Cosmetic Implants (Breast Augmentation, buttock Implants, Chin & Cheek Implants) and others) - Forecast to 2023 Photo filters available on applications such as Snapchat and Instagram have reportedly been vital in triggering body dysmorphic disorders among the youth who opt for cosmetic surgeries in an effort to look like an edited version of themselves. Rising disposable income levels in developing countries coupled with high adoption rates of invasive and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures drive the market majorly. Moreover, cosmetic surgeries are increasingly becoming affordable, and the trend of medical tourism has helped spur the growth of the market. The Global Cosmetic Surgery Market Trends has been growing persistently and is set to capture a CAGR of 7.8% over the forecast period of 20172023, reveals Market Research Future (MRFR) in a minutely analyzed research report. The global cosmetic surgery market has been observing continued growth on account of social and cultural factors such as the influence of social media and films. Interestingly, physical appearance is a social phenomenon, and the people are overwhelmingly driven to opt for cosmetic surgeries by the desire to look beautiful, flawless and young. Advertising and marketing are instrumental in shaping the cosmetic surgery market as they reinforce such beliefs among consumers which makes them indulge in cosmetic surgeries. GET FREE SAMPLE COPY @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/3157 Technological developments in procedures and availability of skilled surgeons have helped consumers shake off their inhibitions regarding cosmetic surgeries. The rise in youth population is also a critical factor in propelling the market growth. The young population is more influenced by social media, changing beauty standards, peer pressure and form a large base of the cosmetic surgery consumers. On the downside, the side effects associated with cosmetic procedures and the high cost of cosmetic surgeries are significant market restraints. However, with more number of men opting for cosmetic procedures, the trend is likely to provide potential growth opportunities to the market. These factors in combination will help the market achieve a valuation of USD 21.97 Bn by the end of 2023. Segmentation The global cosmetic surgery market has been segmented based on surgery type which comprises liposuction, eyelid and nose surgery, body contouring, facial reconstruction, cosmetic implants and others. The body contouring segment has been further segmented into tummy tuck, breast lift, others. The cosmetic implants segment has been further segmented into breast augmentation, buttock implants, chin & cheek implants. Access Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/cosmetic-surgery-market-3157 Regional Analysis The global cosmetic surgery market spans across the regions of North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. North America holds the maximum share of the market owing to an increase in awareness and growing acceptability of cosmetic surgery in the region, especially the US. Moreover, the region is technologically advanced which has resulted in the development of less painful and non-invasive procedures. The Asia Pacific region is expected to showcase relatively fast growth over the forecast period, with key contributions from Japan, India, and China. There is a shift towards Latin America and Asia Pacific for owing to medical tourism for cosmetic surgeries. Competitive Landscape The notable players in the global cosmetic surgery market include Johnson & Johnson, Cutera, Inc., Allergan, Inc., Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Syneron Medical Ltd., Genesis Biosystems, Inc., and others. The next stage has been reached in the coronavirus lockdown, and the Government has advised people to return to work if they can, but also to avoid public transport where possible to enable social distancing to continue. It means many commuters who ordinarily use a bus or train to get to work may be considering buying a cheap runaround to ensure they can get there and back safely without putting themselves at risk of infection. We asked used car expert James Fairclough, the chief executive of AA Cars, to name seven models he would recommend with a budget of 4,000 post-lockdown. Affordable cars to avoid public transport: Many commuters who ordinarily use a bus or train to get to work may be considering buying a car (pictured - the Dacia Sandero) With many people experiencing some financial stress at the moment owing to the economic consequences of the pandemic, the used car market offers the variety of cars at a range of different price points enabling people to find the vehicle which best suits their needs. It is expected this will be the destination of many drivers looking for a new vehicle for their commute. Vehicle valuations experts have been closely monitoring the automotive marketplace for Covid-19 related impact, with a number of factors set to stimulate demand for second-hand models. Jon Wheeler, head of vehicle valuation services at CDL VIS, explained: 'Fears surrounding public transport, the drop in fuel prices, increased home-working and growing environmental awareness all point to the likelihood of greater demand for small city vehicles and electric vehicles as people use their cars more selectively. 'We also anticipate an increase in secondary leasing of used vehicles, due to the interruption to supply of new cars, which is likely to give consumers some lower cost leasing options in the short-term.' James Fairclough has listed seven models you can pick up on the used market with less than 60,000 miles on the clock for around 4,000 for five-year old example. With the average UK rail season ticket costing over 3,000, these models - including fuel, tax, servicing, MOTs and insurance - should ring in at around the same price as two years of commuting by train: Suzuki has a very good reputation for reliability, so the previous-generation Swift should prove dependable enough - as well as being relatively practical for such a small car 1. Suzuki Swift (2010-2017) Since it first went on sale in 2005, the Suzuki Swift has become a popular car in the UK. It boasts practicality, affordability and comfort. It is one of the most compact cars on the market, however, its size doesn't compromise on driving experience or usability. It offers a very comfortable and spacious cabin with ample leg room. It also comes with some very useful tech features, such as a key in reminder, automatic headlights, a tyre pressure monitoring system and a hands-free telephone connection via Bluetooth. According to owner feedback from What Car? readers, Suzuki has a strong reputation when it comes to reliability and owners rarely report issues with the Swift. The Ford Ka is an ideal small model for inner-city driving, though be sure to check the maintenance paperwork as problems can be costly 2. Ford Ka (2008-2016) The Ka is a zippy city car, perfect for commuters who need to nip across town to get to work. It has plenty of cabin space for passengers, and better back support than you'd traditionally expect from such an affordable car, meaning longer drives are still comfortable. Its good suspension means it is suited to more than just short drives through the city, and it does not feel out of place on a motorway. What Car?'s reliability data shows that owners have reported some issues, and problems with electronics, rust and - quite worrying for a town-biased car - gearbox and clutch problems have proven pricey to repair. Fortunately, the Ka shares a lot of its parts with the Fiat 500, so getting hold of them shouldn't be an issue if you do identify issues. The C3 is bucking Citroen's trend for poor reliability, and the supermini is a very usable and versatile supermini for less than 4,000 3. Citroen C3 (2013-2016) The Citroen C3 is the French manufacturer's answer to the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa If you're looking for a car that stands out from the supermini crowd, the quirky C3 is a good option and offers efficiency and affordability, with plenty available on the market. What might come as a bit of surprise to some is that this generation of C3 is proving to be a pretty reliable car. Citroen doesn't have the strongest reputation for dependability, but with many of these models used as a second car and having low mileage, it means they're proving relatively durable. However, be mindful that the cars low prices might tempt in buyers who also want to skimp on running costs, so look for records of regular maintenance before purchasing. The Panda feels like it has been around forever, and this latest version has - for the best part of a decade. That means spares are easy to get hold of if needed 4. Fiat Panda (2011-present) Fiat's forte has long been producing great small cars, and when it comes to practicality on a budget, the Panda is a front runner. It makes for a perfect city car that boasts plenty of storage spaces dotted around the cabin, as well as a generously-sized boot that expands easily thanks to a sliding rear bench. Its boxy dimensions means there plenty of head-room in the rear and provides ample additional luggage space at a time when you're unlikely to be taking many passengers - certainly from outside your household - in the car with you, What it delivers in practicality it loses in reliability, though. Engine, engine electrics and suspension problems are more common that rival model, so make sure you check the service and maintenance history to ensure a used on is up to scratch. The Celerio is one of the most reliable small cars there is. It's not luxurious but will get you from A to B without issue 5. Suzuki Celerio (2014-present) The Suzuki Celerio is the Japanese brand's smallest and most affordable model, priced from 6,500 for the most basic example. It has low running costs and efficient petrol power. It boasts good head and legroom helped by the car's tall roof line, and it has a roomy boot by city car standards, bigger than most of its rivals. It's not what you'd call luxurious, though, with the interior bathed in cheap plastics and equipment levels pretty thin on features. That said, this car came top of What Car?'s latest survey for small models, with a reliability score of 98.9 per cent - so what it lacks in luxuries in makes up in dependability. The Sandero is the cheapest new car on sale in the UK, Despite this, the little Dacia holds its value pretty well. Still, you can find plenty of low-mileage examples for under 4,000 6. Dacia Sandero (2012-present) If you're looking for good value for money, the Dacia should be on your list. The Sandero for years has been the UK's cheapest new car. But cheap doesn't mean mean unreliable, with the Dacia the third most dependable city car/supermini, according to What Car? readers. It recently had a facelift, but what lies underneath is unchanged. That means all examples offer excellent interior space and a generously-sized boot which is almost the biggest in its class. It has low running costs thanks to its economical engine, meaning you get a lot of car for a smaller outlay. If you want a small car to feel premium, the VW Up does it better than any other motor in this list. Consider the sister cars - the Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo - if you want to spend less 7. Volkswagen Up (2012-present) This little runaround is both practical and fun to drive. It's the smallest and most affordable model manufactured by the German automaker. Although it's compact and costs less than other VWs, it hasn't scaled back on the kind of quality that VW is known for. The Up's small dimensions make for a great city car and an ideal car for squeezing into small parking spaces. Reliability isn't an issue, as the Up features in the top 10 cars of this type in What Car?'s survey. It's worth looking for the sister models to the VW - Seat's Mii and Skoda's Citigo - which are available for slightly lower prices and are mechanically the same, if not as plush inside. They haven't seen each other in weeks thanks to the coronavirus lockdown and border restrictions. And Married At First Sight star Seb Guilhaus admits he is missing getting physical with his girlfriend Elizabeth Sobinoff, 29. Sharing a throwback picture of the couple, the trainer, 30, said the couple have had to find other ways to connect during their forced separation. 'It's not natural': They haven't seen each other in weeks thanks to the coronavirus lockdown and border restrictions. And Married At First Sight star Seb Guilhaus admits he is missing getting physical with his girlfriend Elizabeth Sobinoff, 29 'When you take away physical touch and direct quality time, we are forced to strengthen and grow in other areas,' Seb's post read. 'We naturally gravitate towards walking hand in hand or nestling into each other on the couch.' He said the pair are constantly calling each other and remain close by sharing memes and messages. Trying times: Seb said it's a 'challenge' and 'not natural,' but will help them both in the end 'We now practice replacing these things with voice calls, cute texts, sharing memes, posts like this, exploring each other's worlds even more so, so that we can connect whilst being so physically distant,' he explained in his personal post on Tuesday. Seb said it's a 'challenge' and 'not natural,' but will help them both in the end. 'It's a challenge because it's not natural, but I think it will strengthen the relationship in the end,' he finished. During lockdown, Elizabeth has been forced to continue living with her parents at their family cottage in Newcastle, in northern NSW, while Seb has remained in Adelaide. Separated: During lockdown, Elizabeth has been forced to continue living with her parents at their family cottage in Newcastle, in northern NSW, while Seb has remained in Adelaide Last week, the pair revealed their plans to finally reunite in Sydney. During a joint Instagram Live, Seb said: 'I'm probably moving to Sydney in the next month or so, so we will be able to reunite.' The couple had already planned to move into a property in Dee Why on Sydney's Northern Beaches earlier this year, but Seb said 'circumstances changed' and their plans fell through. Not long now: Last week, the pair revealed their plans to finally reunite in Sydney 'People have got to realise the longest time we have spent apart was like a week since filming,' Lizzie said, noting it had been more than a month since the pair had been physical. 'It's been the longest time we've been apart. But not too much longer now,' Seb added. 'As soon as the border restrictions are freed up, we can see each other. We both need physical touch and spend quality time together.' It's been almost seven months since Lizzie and Seb's TV wedding was filmed for MAFS on October 17, 2019. 'Our biggest challenge besides not being together has been adapting to communicating on the phone and not face-to-face,' Seb explained, while Lizzie said it's been hard not to have physical affection from her boyfriend. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:29:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close An oil carrier truck is seen overturned after a collision with a car in Aden, Yemen, May 19, 2020. Two people were killed and three others were injured after an oil carrier truck and a car collided in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Tuesday, a security official told Xinhua. (Photo by Murad Abdo/Xinhua) ADEN, Yemen, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Two people were killed and three others were injured after an oil carrier truck and a car collided in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Tuesday, a security official told Xinhua. The local security source said on condition of anonymity that "collision of a truck loaded with oil and a car caused a huge fire that killed two people and injured three others in Aden's neighborhood of Mansourah." The collision's fire also burned a number of residential buildings nearby and caused some damage, he said. He added that the injured people were taken to hospital, one of them was with life-threatening injuries. Local Yemeni police forces arrived at the scene and began an investigation into the incident. The southern port city of Aden is considered as Yemen's temporary capital where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has been based since 2015. The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthi rebels overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa. Enditem Former FBI Director James Comey warned President Barack Obama of the potential incoming national security advisor Mike Flynn might pass information to the Russians, according to a newly declassified memo. The memo, which outgoing national security advisor Susan Rice sent to herself on her final day in office, memorializes a White House meeting several days earlier where Obama and top officials discussed potential risks posed by Flynn. A portion of the document formerly classified as 'Top Secret' has now been revealed. Former FBI Director James Comey warned President Barack Obama in 2017 that Mike Flynn had an 'unusual' amount of communication with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. before taking office as Donald Trump's national security advisor 'From a national security perspective, Comey said he does have some concerns that incoming NSA Flynn is speaking frequently with Russian Ambassador Kislyak,' Rice wrote about the January 5, 2017 meeting. 'Comey said that could be an issue as it relates to sharing sensitive information. President Obama asked if Comey was saying that the [National Security Council] should not pass sensitive information related to Russia to Flynn,' she continued. Comey's response was that was 'potentially the case.' According to Fox News, Comey continued that there weren't indications Flynn passed on classified information to the Russina ambassador, but noted 'the level of communication is unusual.' U.S. President Barack Obama (3rd L) meets with Vice President Joseph Biden (2nd L), Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and National Security Adviser Susan Rice (R) in the Oval Office of the White House January 7, 2015 in Washington, DC. President Obama spoke on the gunmen attack at the office of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, France. Two days earlier, top Obama administration members discussed Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn's contacts with the Russian ambassador Vice President Joe Biden was present during the 2017 meeting President Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), during an Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017 'From a national security perspective, Comey said he does have some concerns that incoming NSA Flynn is speaking frequently with Russian Ambassador Kislyak,' Rice wrote in an email to herself Also present at the meeting were then-Vice President Joe Biden and deputy attorney general Sally Yates. The memo was partially declassified in 2018. In it, Rice states that Obama wanted the matter handled 'by the book.' 'President Obama began the conversation by stressing his continued commitment to ensuring that every aspect of this issue is handled by the intelligence and law enforcement communities by the book, wrote herself. The president stressed that he is not asking about, initiating or instructing anything from a law enforcement perspective. He reiterated that our law enforcement team needs to proceed as it normally would by the book. Comey 'affirmed that he was proceeding "by the book" as it relates to law enforcement,' according to the memo. 'The President asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said he would,' Rice concludes. The network obtained the memo from Republican Sen. Ron Johnson's office. U.S. intelligence intercepts had already picked up communications between Flynn and Kislyak. Numerous officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, sought to 'unmask' Flynn's name from intelligence reports, including to information declassified by the Trump administration last week. Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell declassified the document, as well as the unmasking information. Trump at a cabinet meeting Tuesday praised Grenell unreservedly. 'What a job. I think youll go down as the all time great acting ever at any position,' said Trump, after Grenell gave remarks calling for transparency. One Trump ally concluded that the memo proves that Flynn was being targeted by Obama' inner sanctum. But it has been previously reported that Obama warned Trump not to hire Flynn months before the meetin, and that Trump proceeded anyway. He would fire Flynn after just weeks on the job. He said he did so because Flynn was not truthful with Vice President Mike Pence about his own Russia contacts. West Bengal on Tuesday mounted one of its biggest evacuation exercises by moving more than three lakh people to safer places as the extremely severe cyclonic storm 'Amphan' roared towards the coastal areas of the state, officials said. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said more than three lakh people from three coastal districts have been moved to safety and all steps are being taken to deal with any eventuality arising out of cyclone 'Amphan', which was scaled down from a super cyclone to an extremely severe cyclonic storm after it lost some of its steam on Tuesday afternoon. Banerjee said she spoke to Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the day about the impending natural calamity in the state. During cyclone 'Bulbul' in 2019, the state government had evacuated 1.8 lakh people, she told a press conference here during the day. There are around 100 cyclone shelters spread across the coastal districts of North 24 Parganas, East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas, officials said. "Most of the cyclone shelters are already full with quarantined migrant workers who have returned due to the lockdown forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. So we are using schools and colleges as shelters," an official said. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has distributed more than two lakh masks among the evacuees and personal protective equipment (PPE) kits have been handed out to the State Disaster Relief Force personnel, who have been deployed in the vulnerable areas, a senior official said. North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts are two COVID hotspot districts due to high prevalence of positive cases. The state has put the coastal districts of East Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas, including the Sundarbans on high alert, Disaster Management Minister Javed Khan said. The Meteorological (MeT) Department has issued an "orange message" for West Bengal and warned of extensive damage in Kolkata, Hooghly, Howrah, South and North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts. The impending cyclone has already triggered mild to medium rainfall in several parts of the state. The wind speed and the intensity of rain is likely to increase gradually as the cyclone 'Amphan' system crosses the West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha in West bengal and Hatia Islands in Bangladesh in the afternoon or evening of Wednesday, the MeT Department said. The cyclonic storm will have maximum sustained wind speed of 155 kmph to 165 kmph gusting to 180 kmph, it said. The MeT Department has advised all establishments and markets to remain closed in the city and adjoining areas and restriction on movement of people on May 20. There are high chances of disruption of rail and road link at several places, uprooting of communication and power poles, extensive damage to all types of kutcha houses and some damage to old poorly managed pucca structures and potential threat from flying objects, the weatherman said, There is also likelihood of extensive damage to standing crops, plantations and orchards and blowing down of palm and coconut trees, the MeT office said. The chief minister said that she along with senior government officials would directly monitor the situation in the state and that she would herself stay put at the state secretariat on Wednesday. She feared that cyclone 'Amphan' might cause most of its devastation in the coastal South 24 Parganas district and announced several helpline numbers. On Wednesday, rainfall will occur in most places in the districts of Gangetic West Bengal with heavy to a hefty downpour at a few places in Kolkata, Howrah, East Midnapore,North and South 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts, regional MeT office director G K Das said. "Storm surge of 4 to 5 metres above astronomical tide is likely to inundate low lying areas of South and North 24 Parganas and about 3 to 4 metres over low lying areas of East Midnapore district of West Bengal during the time of landfall," he said. In view of the situation, the Indian Navy has dispatched a team of divers to assist the West Bengal government in relief operations, a Defence official said. The state government has also formed rapid response teams to ensure that tigers from Sundarbans in South 24 Parganas district do not stray into nearby human settlements after the landfall. Chief wildlife warden Ravi Kant Sinha said a control room has been set up at Gosaba to monitor the situation in the mangrove forests round-the-clock. Haldia Petrochemicals Limited (HPL) and Indian Oil Corporation's (IOC) refinery in East Midnapore district are on high alert, while Kolkata Port Trust has issued warnings to mariners and stopped movement of all vessels to and from its docks to prevent any damage to port assets and merchant ships, its official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [May 19, 2020] HERE and Loqate expand partnership to lead the global address verification industry Accurate, verified address data is critical to global commerce, business operations and the routing of billions of people, goods and services every day May 19, 2020 Amsterdam HERE Technologies, a location data and technology platform, and Loqate, the leading developer of global address verification and geocode solutions, today announced an expanded partnership to deliver businesses the latest in address capture, validation and geocode technology. Businesses across industries require verified address data for daily operations, particularly those in retail, transportation and logistics, financial services and healthcare. Loqate is further integrating HERE map data, geocoder and routing algorithms into its widely used address capture and verification software. The expanded partnership helps businesses build the solutions they need to optimize the delivery of their products, services and overall customer engagement. Deepening Loqates partnership with HERE, the foremost experts in international mapping and location data, allows us to deliver market-leading solutions and get closer to our partners and customers, said Justin Duling, Senior Vice President, Commercial Director at Loqate. We look forward to expanding our collaboration with HERE to answer future use cases for location data from our partners and customers. The digital conversion of postal addresses into accurate latitude and longitude points plotted on a map (geocoding) has become a critical tool for everyday commerce. As customer journeys become further digitized, location data will be a foundational attribute to delivering superior experiences. Every day, globally, millions of addresses are recorded or read by people and computers, all of which require validation for completeness an accuracy, said Jason Bettinger, Head of Retail & Financial Services at HERE Technologies. Were thrilled to expand our ongoing partnership with Loqate as we combine best in class location technology to ensure businesses are only working with validated and enriched location data for their internal and customer needs. The HERE map consists of multiple layers of data such as postal and administrative boundaries, addresses, road networks and transport systems, points of interest and more. The data will enrich Loqates proprietary data curation capability that creates the premium reference data used by its global address capture and verification technology. Today, Loqate delivers one complete global address verification solution, made of two products, powered by leadig global data providers: 1) Capture, a predictive type-ahead product that allows for interactive address capture of any global address in real-time at the point of new data creation; and 2) Verify, a product that can continuously update, verify and enhanced address databases, appending geocode, and reverse geocode, to those validated records. About HERE Technologies HERE, a location data and technology platform, moves people, businesses and cities forward by harnessing the power of location. By leveraging our open platform, we empower our customers to achieve better outcomes - from helping a city manage its infrastructure or a business optimize its assets to guiding drivers to their destination safely. To learn more about HERE, please visit www.here.com and www.360.here.com . About Loqate Loqate, GBG's Location Intelligence business unit, is a leading developer of global location data Solutions, including Address Verification and Geocode. Loqate curates and develops premium global location reference datasets and verification technology engines, enabling our customers to continuously update, standardize and enrich address and geocode databases across their applications. Loqate maintains offices in several locations around the globe, including Silicon Valley and New York in the United States. International locations include offices in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Malaysia and China. Loqate has significant go-to-market partnerships with some of the worlds largest software companies. Learn more at www.Loqate.com/partners Media Contact James Overstall +49 171 533 4418 [email protected] Jordan Stark +1 312 316 4537 [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A group of teenage Russians, including girls, was detained by police for partying on a beach in north Goa, an official said on Tuesday. The teenagers were found drinking and partying at an isolated area on Ashwem beach on Sunday in violation of lockdown norms and other government rules and were subsequently detained, he said. All the Russians who were detained by the Pernem police were found to be minors and in their teens, said Deputy Superintendent of Police (Mapusa) Gajanan Prabhudesai, citing personal details from their passports. All of them, including a few girls, were detained on Sunday, he said. Prabhudesai said an offence was registered against them for drinking in public place and also for violating lockdown norms. All details about these minors have been submitted to the Juvenile Justice Board, which deals with cases related to underage offenders, he said. The Russian consulate will also be informed about the incident, the police officer added. A video purportedly showing police personnel detaining the underage Russians from the party spot has surfaced on social media. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) - Roman Abramovich owns a fleet of private jets including a customised Boeing 767-33A ER - Nicknamed 'The Bandit' Abramovich acquired the plane when he bought Chelsea in 2004 - Fine wood including gold trim and chestnut are all used in making the interior of the aircraft Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich reportedly owns a fleet of private jet including a customised Boeing 767-33A ER nicknamed 'The Bandit' worth KSh 8.5 billion (66m). The billionaire purchased it in 2004 right after acquiring the Stamford Bridge club when he learnt Hawaiian Airlines cancelled their order for the plane. READ ALSO: Shad Gaspard: Search for former WWE superstar who vanished during beach swim called off Roman Abramovich owns a fleet of private jets including a customised Boeing 767-33A ER. Photo: The Sun. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Ian Woan: Burnley assistant manager contracts coronavirus Abramovich keeps 'The Bandit' at the Harrods Aviation facility in Stansted Airport, for whenever needs it. It is understood the special bird boasts of incredible features, including a stunning boardroom on banquet hall where up to 30 guests can dine and wine. Nicknamed 'The Bandit' Abramovich acquired the plane when he bought Chelsea in 2004. Photo: The Sun. Source: UGC There is also an office and a bedroom with a double bed and a well-furnished kitchen installed as part of its specifics. Precious metals, fine wood including gold trim and chestnut are all used in making the interior of the aircraft, specially made for the Russian oligarch. Fine wood including gold trim and chestnut are all used in making the interior of the aircraft. The Sun. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Wanyama says FKF took KSh 12 million awarded to Harambee Stars It was also gathered The Bandit is the most secure and safest in the world as it is designed with the same security system as Air Force One meant for US presidents. Costing around 1.5million, on board is an anti-ballistic system designed to counter any ballistic missiles fired at the plane. Roman Abramovich spent nearly KSh 20 million making the private jet as secure as Air Force One. Photo: The Sun. Source: UGC READ ALSO: Shad Gaspard: Former WWE star goes missing at sea following beach swim Also, Abramovich reportedly does his businesses in his luxury 380million superyacht called Eclipse since he was banned from entering the United Kingdom. Even discussions on hiring a new Chelsea manager are believed to have been held in the Eclipse which is currently anchored off St Tropez in the South of France. The master bedroom boasts a double bed with an amazing finishing. Photo: The Sun. Source: UGC PAY ATTENTION: Install Pitch Football app for FREE to easily access stats, news and live updates The Eclipse cost 300million when he bought it in 2010, at the time was the biggest private yacht in the world. Its upgrades and maintenance of the Eclipse built by German shipbuilder Blohm & Voss costs something close to 400million. The big boy toy is 533ft long more than twice the size of the Chelsea's home ground, Stamford Bridge. Do you have an inspirational story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690 and Tuko news. My wife pushed me to marry another woman - Pastor Habil Were | Tuko Talks | Tuko TV Source: SportsBrief.com The Union Home Ministry has directed all the states to cooperate in order to mitigate the distress of migrant workers, who are walking towards their native places on foot from various parts of the country. Click here for full Covid-19 coverage In his letter to the chief secretaries, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla asked the states to coordinate with the railways ministry for running more special trains to ferry the migrants. Bhalla also asked the state administration to make designated rest places on routes taken by the migrants to reach their homes. These places can be identified with the help of district administration, and NGOs can help in building them, he further said in the letter. Proactive coord between States & @RailMinIndia reqd to run more trains; run more buses for smooth transport of #MigrantWorkers. Create rest places with food etc for people on foot, till they are guided to bus/rail stations. Dispel rumours, give clarity on train/bus departures:MHA pic.twitter.com/EUHZgU5egD Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) May 19, 2020 The home secretary also asked the states to take into account the requirement of sanitation, food and health at these rest places and alleviate the notion of long quarantine at these places. Also read: Stopped from cycling home, migrants wait for hours in buses He also said that district administration and states should make sure that no migrant worker has to resort to walking on roads or railway track. The letter, sent on Monday, was posted on Twitter by the home ministry spokesperson today when three different accidents claimed the lives of more than a dozen migrant workers. Nine labourers were killed in Bihars Naugachia in early hours of Tuesday in a head-on collision between a bus carrying migrants and a truck. Five others were injured. The truck fell into a ditch after hitting the bus. In another accident, four migrant workers were killed and 15 others injured after a bus they were travelling in crashed into a truck in Maharashtras Yavatmal early on Tuesday. The bus was travelling from Solapur to Jharkhand. Three migrant labourers were killed and more than 12 injured after a vehicle carrying them overturned on a highway late on Monday in Uttar Pradeshs Mahoba district. About 17 people were travelling in the vehicle when the accident took place on the Jhansi-Mirzapur highway. Earlier on Monday, at least six migrant workers were killed and several others were injured in separate road accidents in Bihar when they were returning home during the ongoing lockdown to combat the coronavirus outbreak. The accidents took at Gopalganj, Bhagalpur, Patna, Bhojpur and Begusarai districts. (Photo : Pixabay) NASA is expected to make a special announcement this week about its WFIRST space telescope mission, and the space agency said Monday, May 18. The declaration will disclose something about the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, potentially a new detail about the future mission, followed by a live stream chat with project leaders. ALSO READ: NASA Scientists Might Have Found a Parallel Universe 'Next to Ours' After an Antarctica Experiment It is not the first time NASA has revealed plans to hold an exclusive live session to discuss findings on one of its missions or happenings. The space agency hasn't mentioned what the public should anticipate. Still, the space geeks will not have to wait long. According to NASA, the announcement will take place at 11:00 a.m. EDT/8:00 a.m. PDT this Wednesday, May 20. Since making a special broadcast takes the time, the public should assume that the news will likely be significant. The announcement will take place via the NASA Science Live video to be shared on NASA's main website, as well as via its YouTube channel, Facebook Page, and on its Twitter account. The video below is a scheduled broadcast by NASA; by clicking on the title, you will be taken to the YouTube channel where you can add the title to your playlist before Wednesday. ALSO READ: New NASA Telescope WFIRST To Unveil Secrets Of The Universe A guide to WFIRST The WFIRST mission involves an observatory built to research the dark matter and dark energy of the universe, and to search for new exoplanets, and more. Despite being the same size as Hubble, in contrast, WFIRST has a view 100 times greater. According to the space agency, the mission is currently expected to begin in the mid-2020s. A mirror measurement of just under 8 ft in diameter of the telescope, plus WFIRST, will feature two instruments: the Coronagraph Instrument and the Large Field Instrument. WFIRST should be able to view more of the sky than Hubble with the latter device and take less time to do so. A microlensing analysis of the Milky Way's inner portion is expected to discover about 2,600 exoplanets. Since NASA approved it for hardware development and testing, the space agency's WFIRST just got the official green light last month. The vast outlook of the telescope on the universe will allow it to detect faint infrared signals over large distances. WFIRST can also create panoramas that reach farther across the cosmos than any previous telescope. Such skills would be essential if WFIRST is successful in unraveling dark matter and dark energy and in finding new exoplanets that can sustain human life. ALSO READ: NASA To Turn Donated Spy Satellite Into Another Hubble-Like Space Telescope (Video) A worthy successor to Hubble? WFIRST may address questions on a trifecta of universe-wide astrophysics mysteries. These include dark energy, exoplanets, and near-infrared surveys. The telescope is built to replace the Hubble, a bastion of space science that contributed most amazing observations about the universe. "WFIRST is designed to address science areas identified as top priorities by the astronomical community," Paul Hertz, director of NASA's Astrophysics Division in Washington, said in a statement. "The Wide-Field Instrument will give the telescope the ability to capture a single image with the depth and quality of Hubble, but covering 100 times the area," of space, he said. The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in April 1990. but the telescope is still going strong thanks to five servicing flights. Yet WFIRST is capable of imaging a 100-fold greater area in the sky than currently being studied by Hubble. However, both are fitted with a 2.4-meter telescope to peer through at the cosmos. The new telescope is identified by NASA as the "wide-eyed cousin" of Hubble, as a single WFIRST-produced image will have as much detail as 100 Hubble-produced images. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. SEARCH A minimum of 3 characters are required to be typed in the search bar in order to perform a search. In Los Angeles, parties are not allowed because of prohibitions of gathering during lockdowns. People also need to follow strict social distancing rules. One no-no is large a gathering that disobeys social distancing rules which can transmit the virus further. In the US alone, there are 1,527,664 cases and 90,978 deaths. Party till somebody drops On a Saturday night, there was a wild party in the Hollywood Hills that was reported and for the most part, was ended in the oddest way. On that night, the police were called to check out an apparent violation of social distancing and staying at home as mandated by the state. They went to go a house in the Hollywood Hills and along 1410 Miller Drive at 11 p.m., the Los Angeles Police officer who responded was Lt. Mark Chong to check on the complaint. Lt. Chong and other officers found a party at full swing, held in short-term-rental property which was reserved for the illegal party. Police were able to count more than 100 people partying till they dropped in the rental property, they were supposed to break it up when a single shot rang. When they heard it, police called for more backup. Later, they found out someone got injured but not seriously hurt. A man with a gun in the party shot himself in the groin area, and that made the officers jobs easy in stopping the illegal party. Also read: Bodies of Two Dead Sisters With Bags on Their Heads, Tossed Off a Bridge For the most part, the man shot himself by accident by ignoring basic gun safety rules. Fortunately, no one else was hurt too. The injured man was brought to the hospital and the wound inflicted by the gun was not lethal, confirmed Chong on that matter. Though the man is injured, the will conduct another investigation about what happened. Despite the effort to curb the possible spread of the COVID-19, there are still those resistant to follow lockdown and social distancing rules. The county of Los Angeles has these orders in place to prevent transmitting COVID-19. The Los Angeles police are getting more than enough of these complaints to be alarmed. LA County lockdown One of the most deaths and cases of the coronavirus is in Los Angeles County in California, with extended orders to stay indoors, a bit longer. One of the officials is County public health director Dr Barbara Ferrer, who told the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, that the stay-in orders might get extended. Should there be a way to cure the virus, it was mentioned in the Los Angeles Times. But, Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration will announce changes to the current rules to lessen the impact of the coronavirus, to lessen transmission as well. Some changes will be allowing certain stores to open shop, there will be restrictions to be strictly followed. Businesses like those which are close contact will not be included in the soft opening. Just like parties, businesses are part of the easing of lockdowns. But, as a sideshow the man got shot in the groin, in the illegal coronavirus party is only how much lockdowns should be eased slowly. Related article: Scientists Find Out That a Billion Years is Missing in the Geologic Record, So Where is It? @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. RACINE Coronavirus testing is here. And Racine residents are getting them. Curtis Walls, a Chicago native who now lives in Racine, lost his job as a forklift driver when the pandemic reached Wisconsin. For now, hes been trying to live a normal life and has still been going out, but usually while wearing a mask or bandanna over his mouth. He was one of the first couple hundred people to get a free test from the Wisconsin National Guard on Monday in the parking lot of Festival Hall. If his test comes back positive, that means everything changes in my life. Id be staying at home more. Right now Im just out and about. Even though hes out of work, Walls said I hope everything stays shut down, so we can be safe. If Racine resident Julio Negron finds out he has COVID after being tested Monday, he said hes just going to stay home and cut back on the walks hes been taking. Its important to get tested. You never know. Still, for those who receive negative tests, Mayor Cory Mason warned that they should still remain cautious. Even though we have testing thats available here today, that does not make you immune from coronavirus moving forward, Mason said. We wouldnt want somebody to get a negative test result and immediately think its not important to wear a mask, to wash your hands, to maintain social distancing, to stay smart and to stay safe. Festival Hall is now one of 43 free community testing sites statewide as Wisconsins governmental leaders continue to push for more testing, in order to provide a fuller picture of how widespread COVID-19 could be in Wisconsin. The community testing site is expected to remain active from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. every day this week. Community Testing Map at Festival Hall Here are the instructions to get drive-thru testing 9 a.m.-6 p.m. every day through Friday at Festival Hall, 5 Fifth St. You can also walk up Racial disparities still a concern Anyone can walk up or drive up to get tested at Festival Hall. But Mason said he particularly wanted people who are essential workers and/or are part of the Latinx or African American communities to get tested. The City of Racines population is 45% African American or Latinx. But those two same groups combine to make up 82% of the citys cases. These racial disparities have been shown statewide and nationwide. Health experts blamed this on the fact that people who are black and/or Latinx are more likely to have essential jobs where working from home is impossible, and thus they often interact with others in close proximity while working. White and Asian Americans, by contrast, are much more likely to be able to work from home and able to survive with a temporary loss of income. According to the progressive think tank Economic Policy Institute, 29.9% of white Americans and 37% of Asian Americans can telecommute. But only 16.2% of Americans of Hispanic decent and 19.7% of black Americans can do the same. Speaking about the Latinx and African American communities in Racine, Mason said, We want to encourage those two groups to come down here (to Festival Hall to get tested). Of course it (testing) is open to everybody, but those two groups in particular were worried about a higher rate of infection. Walking to the testing site Wisconsin National Guard members lead people who walked to Festival Hall rather than drive Monday morning at a drive-thru COVID-19 community t Case counts still rising Only 144 confirmed new cases were reported statewide Monday, the lowest total in more than a month. That low mark was the result of a small decrease in the number of tests performed (4,972, the smallest total in five days) and a very low single day percentage of daily positive tests (2.9%). Over the past two weeks, the lowest percentage of positive tests had been 3.9% statewide. The City of Racine Health Department has confirmed 654 positive cases so far, as of Monday afternoon, almost triple the total two weeks ago. The curve of coronavirus has not flattened yet in the city, which played into why Mason called for the citys Safer at Home order to remain in place even after the statewide Safer at Home order was overruled by the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday. Were seeing an increase here in the city, both in terms of percentage and raw numbers, Mason said. Were deeply concerned about this. The Supreme Court decision came at a place where we havent seen the curve flatten. Weve continued to see it go up. The Racine area still ranks among the top 20 municipal areas in the country in terms of fastest growth of new cases with almost three new cases per 1,000 people per day, according to data compiled by The New York Times and The Upshot. That statistic has Mason and other city residents nervous that businesses reopening will allow the virus to run rampant. Gov. Tony Evers administrations messaging related to COVID hasnt changed much, even with Safer at Home gone. Even though things are opening up sooner and more quickly than we had planned, it is still important to use common sense and good judgement to keep our families and our neighbors and our communities safe. That means continuing to limit your travel and other activities as much as possible, wear a mask in public if you can and practice social distancing, Evers said Monday. I also urge anyone who wants a test to go get tested at one of our community testing sites, and help protect your community and family from this virus. Were still working to offer community testing throughout the state. The state now has the ability to process as many as 13,392 coronavirus tests per day, but fewer than 6,500 tests are being administered per day. Community testing events like the one at Festival Hall and last weeks event at Burlington High School are necessary to dragging up the number of tests actually being performed. Common sense and a nasal swab Some have complained that the test can be painful during which a long swab is stuck into each of the subjects nostrils for about 30 seconds. Brian Paulhus, a 62-year-old retired school bus driver who lives Downtown, said he was feeling fine when he walked down to Festival Hall Monday to get tested. He has diabetes and heart stints, putting him at higher risk of complications or death if he catches COVID. Still, hes remained optimistic and unafraid of the virus. Im still doing the mask, he said, but when it comes to avoiding the virus, Paulhus said he is using common sense and life skills. Then, while imitating the voice of a nagging schoolteacher, laughed: Wash your hands! Concerned about COVID-19? Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Health authorities have said there is no evidence that Covid-19 was spreading in Northern Ireland in the months before the first confirmed case. It follows reports from people who said they or their relatives had symptoms similar to the virus as far back as December. In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph yesterday, former SDLP councillor Declan Boyle said he believed members of his family could have had the virus before Christmas. Covid-19 was not confirmed here until late February. Following Mr Boyle's interview, others came forward to say they believed they may have had the virus in December. Similar reports have emerged across the UK and beyond. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has previously said it was "very possible" that coronavirus reached Ireland in December. However, the Public Health Agency said there was no evidence to indicate the virus was present before February. Mr Boyle fell ill in March. He said the symptoms he displayed - exhaustion and loss of appetite - were identical to those experienced by his wife and one of his sons in December. Since then this newspaper has become aware of other members of the public who believe they had Covid-19 before Christmas. One individual visited their GP twice after taking ill, experiencing a severe cough, a raised temperature and a loss of weight. The man explained he was subsequently prescribed two courses of antibiotics and it took about six weeks to fully recover. He said he was aware of other people in his area - and further afield - who had similar symptoms. Dr Connor Bamford, a virologist at Queen's University, cautioned against speculation over earlier cases. He said that without careful scientific and medical testing of these cases, there is no way of definitively knowing if the virus was present here last winter. "It's near impossible to say for sure and it is fairly unlikely," he said. "Based on symptoms lots of things will look like Covid, like a bad flu for example. "Even if there were some cryptic 2019 Covid cases, we do know that the NI Sars-CoV-2 outbreak began in earnest in late February/early March and not in December 2019." The Public Health Agency said: "There is no evidence to suggest Covid-19 was circulating in the community in December." Do you suspect you had coronavirus before February? Contact newseditor@belfasttelegraph.co.uk Anyone remember Theresa May? Just 12 months ago she was contemplating the exit door at Downing Street in London after a very calamitous three years as UK prime minister mired in Brexit. Since then we have been treated to Boris Johnson and what he privately admits to as "boosterism". That's bluff and bluster to most of the rest of us. Since he took over last July, he has bounced about after winning a general election before last Christmas. He has been "getting Brexit done", dallied around death's door - allegedly - while his partner gave birth to a baby boy. For a time late last week it looked like he might be about to "go soft" on Brexit as he abandoned the fiction of no- border in the Irish Sea. The Democratic Unionist Party - surplus to London government requirements since last year - could fulminate all it liked. Preparations were being made for customs checks on UK goods at Northern Ireland ports and airports. So, the bigger question loomed, how long can Johnson retain the fiction of not seeking an extension to the transition which means the UK trades as always with the EU? That trading standstill, precious to Ireland, ends on December 31 - but the EU is prepared to extend it for up to two years. There are only two small provisos. First is that the UK has to seek such an extension. The second is that, for legal reasons, the application deadline is June 30. So, we are all back again at a Brexit cliff edge. If it seems familiar, it will be because we have been here before, and while it is very tiresome, it is also potentially as lethal as any such game of chicken. Dallying on a cliff edge does tempt the fates. It is reminiscent of the juvenilia we went through last October as the UK risked crashing out of the EU without a deal and Mr Johnson declared he would "die in a ditch" rather than seek an available extension. This was in spite of an instruction from his own parliament, in a device known as the Benn Act, telling him he must seek more time. Finally, in an outstanding display of petulance, Johnson sent a total of three letters to the European Union. There was an unsigned photocopy of the extension request he was obliged to send under the Benn Act; an explanatory letter from the UK's ambassador to the EU; and a personal letter explaining why Downing Street did not want an extension. We can speculate that we will see a repeat of this "baba stuff" as the deadline looms closer at the end of the next month. The attitude in Brussels so far has been to leave things find their own level in London and allow the English, and here we mean English rather than British, reach their own conclusions. But the mood is changed in Brussels. They have played along with the legend that a full EU-UK trade deal could be done before October in time to allow necessary member states' ratification and an orderly UK severing of EU ties on December 31. Coronavirus has reduced Brexit talks to video conferences, which make the idea of real tangling - normally done in the corridors and in sidebar conversations - even more remote. Another round of negotiations ended in deep recriminations last Friday. In summary, on the EU side chief negotiator Michel Barnier insisted the UK could not have a 1970s-style trade deal all about exempting quotas and tariffs. If the UK wants the type of EU market access favoured by Theresa May, it has to sign up to EU labour law, environment and state aid rules. UK chief negotiator David Frost countered that Brexit was all about getting out of these EU legal obligations. He argued the EU did not seek such rigid conditions in making other global trade deals. Things look bleak for the next round of Brexit talks set for Monday week, June 1. Brussels diplomats suggest direct political intervention is needed as this row is above the negotiators' pay grades. The trouble with that view is obvious - the politician is none other than Mr Johnson, who needs saving from himself on EU issues. But like everywhere else, the coronavirus has fundamentally changed all the challenges Boris Johnson could have expected when he took the big job last July. Thus far, the British public appears ready to give him the benefit of the doubt on what is a patchy approach to managing things. But this month two things happened which amounted to reverses for Johnson. First, coronavirus almost obliterated big celebrations on the 75th anniversary of victory in Europe in World War II. The beleaguered PM could not cadge some of the magic dust of his old hero, Winston Churchill. The second was the arrival of new Labour leader Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions who brings all his skills to parliamentary questioning. The days of the free pass from Starmer's predecessor, the woolly ideologue Jeremy Corbyn, are well and truly over. For the first time in its 65-year history, this years Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey has been cancelled by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian Wildlife Service, and state wildlife agencies due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions. The federal agencies also cancelled participation in the American Woodcock Singing-ground Survey, Mid-continent Population Sandhill Crane Survey and Arctic Goose Banding Program, and the U.S. Geological Survey cancelled the North American Breeding Bird Survey, data from which is also important in monitoring bird abundance and regulating harvest of some species. The waterfowl survey has been successfully completed every year since 1955 and its data used to estimate breeding population size and inform harvest management decisions for many waterfowl species. Cancellation will create a one-year gap in the record of waterfowl population estimates. The FWS, in consultation with the Flyway Councils, will use long-term data from spring/summer monitoring for these species to make regulatory harvest management decisions, including waterfowl hunting seasons and bag limits. The Pennsylvania Game Commission went ahead with its part of the survey, managing to complete most of the 252 one-kilometer plots across Pennsylvania in April, said Nate Huck, waterfowl program specialist for the commission While the feds wont use the data collected in Pennsylvania for setting the 2021 seasons, Huck explained, the commission wanted the information to monitor the impact of reducing the daily limit on mallards to two birds including no more than one hen from the previous four birds including no more than two hens. Mallards throughout the northeastern United States have experienced a slow, steady population decline for the past 20 years. Consequently, the Atlantic Flyway Council recommended and the USFWS approved the 2019-20 regulatory changes to reverse these population declines. Huck said he has learned the state wildlife agencies for Maryland, New York and Virginia also completed some of their surveys this spring. From a national perspective, he acknowledged, its unfortunate to miss a year in the longest running modeling survey. But, he added, were not going to negatively impact waterfowl populations by missing one year of data. He also doesnt expect to see overly restriction hunting seasons or bag limits for 2021 as a result of relying on long-term data for one year. According to the FWS, duck season regulations are based on the status of mallards in the Mississippi, Central and Pacific Flyways and on the status of green-winged teal, common goldeneye, wood duck and ring-necked duck in the Atlantic Flyway. Because of recent changes in how harvest regulations are set, survey cancellations will not affect the 2020-21 hunting season. Proposed regulations for the 2020-21 season were based on population and habitat conditions from the 2019 breeding season and are making their way through the approval process. For the 2021-22 general duck seasons, the FWS will use the long-term data and models to predict 2020 spring abundances of ducks and habitat conditions in place of the spring 2020 data. The results from these predictions will be combined with the existing harvest strategies to determine appropriate levels of harvest for the 2021-22 season. Current travel restrictions in Canada, unless modified, may also affect many goose banding program efforts and surveys as well as high latitude duck banding stations this summer. These surveys are the bedrock of effective harvest management in North America and have helped sustain waterfowl populations and abundant hunting opportunities for over 60 years, said Ducks Unlimited Chief Conservation Officer Karen Waldrop. Although we will miss the anticipation and excitement that comes with the annual release of the May survey results, we dont expect the cancellation of surveys to impact seasons and bag limits for the majority of species. The combination of healthy, robust waterfowl populations and our long-term experience with these data, gives us faith that the waterfowl management community can project populations with a high level of certainty. Thanks for visiting PennLive. Quality local journalism has never been more important. We need your support. Not a subscriber yet? Please consider supporting our work. Contact Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com. The girl screamed and struggled but was held down by medical staff and her stepmother when female genital mutilation was performed on her at a medical clinic in June 2019 in Magas, the capital of Ingushetia, a region in Russia's North Caucasus. Her mother filed criminal charges and the pediatric gynecologist who performed the procedure is on trial. Now, activists have petitioned for a fuller probe into the case by the Investigative Committee, which lawyers say would be a first in Russia. "Female circumcision is crippling and has long-term negative consequences for a woman's psychological, sexual, and reproductive health," said Tatyana Savvina, a lawyer with the NGO Pravovaya Initsiativa (Legal Initiative), using a different term for the procedure. "This is a form of gender-based violence." Savvina told RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service on May 18 that the local branch of the Investigative Committee was looking into the case involving the procedure performed at the Aibolit clinic in Magas. Activists want the committee, Russias main investigative agency, to open a criminal probe into Aibolit on suspicion of crimes including sexual abuse and damaging the health of a minor. The Investigative Committee has not issued any public statements on the request to open a criminal probe. A pediatric gynecologist at the clinic, Izanya Nalgiyeva, is on trial after allegedly performing the procedure without the written consent of the girl's parents. The trial, which began in December 2019, has been suspended because of lockdown restrictions in Russia due to the coronavirus pandemic. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is not banned in Russia and following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, has become more common in recent years in mostly Muslim regions of the North Caucasus. A 2016 report found the mutilations were being performed in remote villages of Daghestan, a region east of Ingushetia. FGM is defined as partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for nonmedical reasons. According to the World Health Organization, the procedure can cause severe bleeding and other serious complications. FGM has no health benefits, the WHO says. Clinic Denials The mother of the girl, who left her father years ago, said he came to pick her and her brother up for a visit on June 21, 2019. According to the mother, her son called the next day, saying the girl had returned to her father's home bloodied and crying. According to the mother, the man's new wife had taken the 9-year-old girl to the Aibolit clinic. According to the girl's grandmother, the girl screamed and struggled to free herself during the procedure. The stepmother and staff held the girl down, telling her that all girls had the procedure done and that she would die if she didn't. The girl's mother first filed a criminal complaint on June 27, 2019, in the neighboring Chechnya region, where she is registered as a resident. Nalgiyeva admitted at the time to carrying out the procedure on the girl, but later denied it. The director of the Aibolit clinic, Beslan Matiyev, denied any wrongdoing and told RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service that he believed the family was motivated by money. He also claimed that a receipt for the procedure, for 2,000 rubles ($28), was fake. Zarema Chakhkiyeva, the children's affairs ombudswoman in Ingushetia, did not respond to requests by RFE/RL for comment. Dzhambulat Ozdoyev, the Ingushetian regional human rights commissioner, said the he was ready to examine the case once the girl's family filed a complaint. Taking On FGM Lawyers say that if the Investigative Committee opens a probe, it would be a first in Russia, although technically it would be examining child-abuse charges and not FGM specifically. A Netherlands-based human rights group focusing on legal protection for victims of rights abuses linked to gender-based and other violence in countries of the former Soviet Union, Stichting Justice Initiative (SRJI), documented cases of FGM involving girls in Daghestan in 2016. Shortly after that, a senior Islamic spiritual leader in Daghestan sparked controversy after endorsing FGM. The mufti of Karachayevo-Cherkessia, another mostly Muslim region in the North Caucasus, Ismail Berdiyev, said all women should be circumcised "to end depravity." The UN children's organization, UNICEF, estimated in February that some 200 million girls and women had undergone genital mutilation in 31 countries around the world. Written by Tony Wesolowsky based on reporting by Merhat Sharipzhan and Anna Peysakhova of RFE/RL's North Caucasus Service NORFOLK COUNTY, Ont. - Brenda Himburg is livid, but in a polite way. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2020 (611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Vicky Marshall, a resident on Bayview Ave. in the community of Booth's Harbour in St. Williams, Ont. turns on her kitchen faucet, Tuesday, September 3, 2019. Marshall, who was also running her washing machine, demonstrated that water will only trickle out of her kitchen faucet if she uses water in another area of her home. Approximately 100 private residents who's water is controlled by the owner of Booth's Harbour are complaining of poor water conditions, including negative water pressure, a bleach smell to their water and a lack of water testing for lead. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tara Walton NORFOLK COUNTY, Ont. - Brenda Himburg is livid, but in a polite way. The resident of Booth's Harbour, Ont., is angry that no one has listened to her or her neighbours about the water problems that have plagued the hamlet for years. "We just get the runaround," she says with a sigh as she looks out onto the expanse of water from the backyard of her home on the north shore of Lake Erie. "I'd like to use stronger language, but that wouldn't be nice." Residents of the tiny community say the drinking water in their homes looks yellow and sometimes smells of bleach. Water pressure is abysmal. "We get that whiff of Javex a lot," said Janette Nichols, Himburg's neighbour and self-described "sidekick." Residents of Booth's Harbour pay taxes to Norfolk County, but their homes are on a private water line owned and operated by Booth's Harbour Development, a business run by Scott Booth. The company also owns a nearby marina and trailer park. The system known in government parlance as a "non-municipal year-round residential drinking water system that is privately owned" is not unique in Ontario, according to a spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment. There are 458 of them across the province, Gary Wheeler said, supplying drinking water to people's homes in trailer parks, apartments, condominiums and townhouse developments. In Booth's Harbour, the local water treatment facility was decommissioned in 2005 and Scott Booth connected to the nearby, publicly owned Port Rowan water system. The private grid supplies water to Booth's marina, which is home to 245 boat houses and docks, as well as 98 mobile homes in his trailer park. It also serves 103 privately owned homes in Booth's Harbour, including Himburg's and Nichols'. The Canadian Press has spoken to more than a dozen residents of Booth's Harbour, and all said they do not drink the water they buy it in bulk from stores instead. Nichols said that if residents complain, Booth will threaten to shut off service. "It's his go-to threat," she said in an interview last September. Robert Kiprich, who lives a few doors down from Himburg, said he found lead in his pipes and "complained to Booth, but nothing happened." Scott Booth did not respond to numerous detailed requests for comment provided by The Canadian Press. Some of the issues in the community have been fixed after a series of orders issued by the Ministry of the Environment in February 2018, but many remain, according to an ensuing engineer's report commissioned by the local county. When the ministry inspected the water system it found a litany of issues that were not in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act. The legislation was enacted in response to the catastrophe in Walkerton, Ont., of 2000, where seven people died and hundreds more became sick after E. coli infected the drinking water system. Before that inspection at Booth's Harbour in 2018, the last test for lead came on Dec. 8, 2011, the ministry said. The drinking water system had not been inspected since October 2009, the ministry said. Himburg obtained the inspection report through a freedom-of-information application and shared it with The Canadian Press. It found there were no records of the date, time, location, name of person conducting the lead test and result of the test of the water in 2017. It also found that Booth and his assistant did not have the required certification to perform microbiological tests of the system. Booth told inspectors that data from Jan. 1, 2017 to Aug. 21, 2017, could not be found because his "laptop computer malfunctioned." The ministry also found no records of a water main break and a complaint of yellow water from a resident. The ministry issued orders to Booth after the inspection that included immediate testing for lead, reviewing water test results within 72 hours, renewal of Booth's water operator certificate, implementing a procedure to back up data and maintaining detailed logbooks on maintenance and repairs to the distribution system. The ministry said Booth has since complied with the orders and the water has been tested for lead at regular intervals since. But problems remain. The ministry said it responded to complaints last summer about water pressure. "The owner of Booths Harbour indicated there are no pressure loss issues in the distribution system and explained the issues are due to the plumbing in the homes," said spokesman Lindsay Davidson. Debbie and Ron Linington disagreed. They said they changed their plumbing during a renovation, and the same issues persist. "Sometimes you can't get enough pressure for a shower or flush the toilet," Debbie Linington said. The county followed up the inspection with an engineer's report to assess upgrades required to meet the ministry's licensing requirements. It found the main water pipe into the community is "too small to provide fire protection" to Booth's Harbour. It also found the water mains in the neighbourhood are too small to maintain minimum flow standards, and water pressure levels in many households remain below the ministry's standard. "A replacement of all the existing mains is recommended," says the report, written on Jan. 31, 2019. The estimated cost to replace the system is $900,000 to $1.3 million. The county did not inform residents of all the issues until April 2019. One evening in September, about a dozen Booth's Harbour residents filled the small council room in the county's seat of power in Simcoe, Ont., where Himburg spoke about the area's water problems. "When is the county going to step up?" she asked. Mayor Kristal Chopp and councillors decided to defer a decision on the water problems until the county's lawyer could get more information about the legal obligations of everyone involved. But eight months later and under the pall of the COVID-19 pandemic, Himburg had all but given up hope. "Nothing's changed," she said in a recent interview. "Now with the coronavirus, I don't think any help is coming." This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2020. Almost overnight, the coronavirus swept through our communities, uprooting life as we knew it and forcing us to adjust to a new reality. Social distancing, face masks, working from home and remote learning have become key to surviving in this new world. While access to high-speed internet and strong cell coverage were once viewed as luxuries, in this new era they have become vital to succeeding in the workplace and at school. Over the past decade, the tech industry propelled San Francisco to experience tremendous economic growth, creating thousands of new jobs, dramatically boosting city revenue, and opening the door to innovative new technologies. From 2014 to 2016, incomes for 95th percentile households in San Francisco rose nearly $120,000, according to the Brookings Institute. This tremendous growth has caused rents to skyrocket, housing prices to rise, and lifelong residents to move out of the city or onto the streets. The citys homeless population has increased by over 40% over the course of eight years, from 5,669 in 2011 to 8,011 in 2019. While the pandemic changed many things about life as we know it in San Francisco, this virus has shined a bright light on the pressing consequences of income inequality. A report released by the city and county of San Francisco last year revealed that around one in eight residents lacks access to high-speed home internet and one in seven families in public school lacks a computer connected to the internet at home. Without high-speed internet access or strong cell coverage, underserved communities like Bayview Hunters Point, Mission District, Western Addition and Visitacion Valley have been hit the hardest by this crisis. As working from home and virtual learning have developed into a necessity rather than a trend, the need to close the digital divide in San Francisco has never been more important. With limited access to the internet, lower-income communities face major barriers, making it difficult if not impossible to work from home or access critical health care services. For children, these barriers have exacerbated the opportunity gap by making it challenging to complete remote learning assignments that are crucial to student success and long-term academic opportunities. Sadly, San Franciscos underserved communities have been hit the hardest by the coronavirus. The city recently released data that showed San Franciscos Mission District has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed closely by the Dogpatch and Bayview Hunters Point, historically underserved communities. As the founder of the nonprofit Dev/Mission, Ive asked how our city can be home to the largest tech companies in the world, yet 100,000 residents still lack access to high-speed internet. I started Dev/Mission to help untapped young adults in San Francisco by teaching them technology skills in the internet of things, hardware, coding and other critical career skills. Through our work, weve been able to make significant progress in reducing the digital divide by empowering hundreds of young people with the tools they need to compete in San Franciscos new economy. We have distributed thousands of refurbished computers and most recently received a Youth-Led Refurbishment Program Grant from the Mayors Office of Housing and Community Development to distribute computers through Refurb-A-Thon events. The program has allowed low-income families to learn about technology resources that are available to them and receive a computer in exchange. We have also launched STEAM Hubs in the Hunters Point East/West and Westbrook Community, connecting young people to critical technology learning programs. Most recently, we are working on a project that will put 125 tablets in the hands of K-12 students to help reduce digital divide in these trying times. The city has made great strides to help meet this moment and address these inequities. In the coming months, Mayor London Breed and the Board of Supervisors will develop a budget and updated financial forecast that will take these tough new realities into account. During that process, the city should prioritize projects that will help reduce the digital divide. Our elected leaders should fast-track projects that will expand connectivity, cell phone coverage and Wi-Fi access, and develop clear guidance that will help expand telecommunications infrastructure projects in every neighborhood. As the technology capital of the world, San Francisco has the important responsibility to lead by example and reduce barriers that prevent underserved communities from succeeding in the 21st century economy. The coronavirus crisis has intensified income inequality in our city and brought the digital divide to the forefront. As we continue to grapple with the new reality created by this crisis, we must ensure that every family from every neighborhood has a fair shot to succeed. Leonardo Sosa is the founder and executive director of Dev/Mission. OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Canada's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council Tuesday by linking the rebuilding of the world after COVID-19 to the aftermath of the Second World War. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/5/2020 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during his daily news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic outside his residence at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, on Tuesday, May 19, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang OTTAWA - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defended Canada's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council Tuesday by linking the rebuilding of the world after COVID-19 to the aftermath of the Second World War. The prime minister drew a direct link between the pandemic and the post-war reconstruction, when Canada played a role in founding the UN, the Bretton Woods global financial institutions and other multilateral organizations such as NATO. Trudeau said on Tuesday the pandemic recovery makes Canada's bid for a seat on the council more relevant. He drew the historical parallel to rebut criticism by a group of people who issued an open letter saying Canada is unfit to serve on the UN's most powerful body, citing what they said is a series of foreign-policy failures. Environmentalist David Suzuki, American scholar Noam Chomsky and Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters, among others, said Canada is not worthy of a council seat because of its positions on a variety of issues such as climate change, the Middle East and Venezuela. Trudeau gave a sweeping justification for why he believes Canada deserves a temporary two-year seat on the council starting next year a bid that has been characterized in some quarters as a waste of time, or a global vanity project. "In the years following World War Two, we created a range of multilateral and multinational institutions like the IMF, the World Bank the Bretton Woods institutions that helped the world over the following decades develop tremendous prosperity and opportunity for people right around the world," he said. Some 75 years later, he said the current crisis is on the "scale" of the Second World War. "I think there need to be real reflections on how we move forward as a world, how we update and adjust our various multilateral institutions to better respond to the world we're becoming part of, right now, in a post-COVID era." Canada is well-positioned because it is managing its economy well during the pandemic while holding true to its values and principles, he said. A readout from the prime minister's office late Tuesday said Trudeau spoke with the permanent representatives of the United Nations' Eastern European Group earlier in the day to discuss Canada's candidacy. It noted Trudeau highlighted the deep ties between Canada and Eastern European Group, and that he highlighted Canada's contributions to the NATO missions in Latvia and Ukraine. In the 1940s, Canada sent representatives to the major international meetings and conferences that gave rise to global institutions such as the UN. Canada lost its first campaign for the Security Council in 1946 but was successful the next six times, sitting on the council once a decade until 1999-2000. Canada lost its 2010 bid for a seat, withdrawing after tiny Portugal a country then wracked by the Great Recession was able to win more support. In June, Canada is competing against Norway and Ireland for two available seats on the council. Both countries are considered far stronger opponents than Portugal was a decade ago. Trudeau tied the Security Council bid to his 2015 pronouncement that Canada was "back" on the world stage. But the coalition of letter writers opposing the current bid, which includes organizations including Mining Watch, the Council of Canadians, and various pro-Palestinian groups, is far less enthusiastic. It calls Canada a leading arms exporter, faults it for not supporting a treaty to abolish nuclear weapons and for backing mining companies responsible "for countless ecological and human rights abuses around the globe," and criticizes its support for Israel. "Echoing Trump's foreign policy, Canada has backed reactionary forces in the Americas. The Trudeau government has led efforts to unseat Venezuela's UN-recognized government," the letter says. Stay informed The latest updates on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 delivered to your inbox every weeknight. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Trudeau shot back at the suggestion that Canada's policy towards Venezuela was off base. Canada has played a leading role in the Lima Group of Western Hemisphere countries, which does not include the U.S., that has called for the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro, whom they say is a dictator that stole the 2018 election. "For those that don't agree with our position on Venezuela, the dictator, Maduro, is illegitimate," said Trudeau. "He's creating a huge humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, which is now sending refugees throughout Latin America, and we are with our allies and friends in South America to find a solution to his awful crisis." Canada and dozens of other countries, including the U.S. and European nations, recognize opposition legislator Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate leader. The United Nations estimates that six million Venezuelans will have fled their country by the end of 2020, as its economic, health and education systems continue to collapse. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2020. Tent cities are springing up around streets and parks in Washington D.C. amid concerns the coronavirus is making homeless people even more vulnerable. Images show makeshift encampments such as these that have sprung up on sidewalks, parks and close to office buildings amid the pandemic. The tents have sparked concerns that the streets could turn into potential contagion zones due to vulnerable people living outdoors and in close proximity to one another. Tent cities are springing up around streets and parks in Washington DC as the homelessness crisis grows amid the coronavirus pandemic The pandemic has forced more people into makeshift encampments such as these on sidewalks, parks and close to office buildings The increase in homeless tents around the city has sparked concerns that the streets could turn into potential contagion zones due to vulnerable people living outdoors and in close proximity to one another According to city data, 269 people in D.C. homeless shelters tested positive for Covid-19 as of May 13. Coronavirus is also disproportionately causing fatalities among homeless people in the city. Fifteen people in D.C.'s homeless system have died from the virus. Those deaths make up 4 percent of the city's 368 coronavirus fatalities. Washington D.C. is thought to have around 9,800 homeless residents, a number which can fluctuate significantly. Those without a roof over their head are left at even greater risk of contracting Covid-19, as they are unable to self-quarantine and do not have regular access to sanitation. The increase in homelessness prompted the city's Department of Human Services to install 17 handwashing stations near tent encampments in early April. According to city data, 269 people in D.C. homeless shelters tested positive for Covid-19 as of May 13 Coronavirus is also disproportionately causing fatalities among homeless people in the city. Fifteen people in D.C.'s homeless system have died from the virus Those deaths make up 4 percent of the city's 368 coronavirus fatalities The erection of tent cities amid the pandemic isn't exclusive to Washington D.C. San Francisco opened its first sanctioned camp site that can house 50 homeless residents this week as locals complained of makeshift tents clogging sidewalks. After years of struggling to support the homeless community in San Francisco, city officials erected a 'Safe Sleeping Village' in an idle McDonald's parking lot near City Hall. Meanwhile more than 100 tents and makeshift shelters line the streets of Portland's Old Town, with sidewalks and entrances to shops blocked. The increase in homelessness prompted the city's Department of Human Services to install 17 handwashing stations near tent encampments in early April San Francisco opened its first sanctioned camp site that can house 50 homeless residents this week as locals complained of makeshift tents clogging sidewalks. Above, homelessness tents erected in Washington D.C. Close to 800,000 Americans across the country may wind up homeless by the summer as the pandemic forces unemployment figures to resemble numbers not seen since the Great Depression Portland residents and business owners say the homeless problem in the city has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, which saw the city stop cleanup of camps and shelters. An analysis conducted by Dr Brendan O'Flaherty, a professor of economics at Columbia University, shows that homelessness population in the U.S. is expected to increase some 40 to 45 per cent this year over January 2019. Close to 800,000 Americans across the country may wind up homeless by the summer as the pandemic forces unemployment figures to resemble numbers not seen since the Great Depression. This increase will see an addition of nearly 250,000 people out on American streets, according to the study, published by nonprofit Community Solutions More than four million homeowners across the US have skipped mortgage payments amid the coronavirus crisis. Above, homelessness tents erected in Washington D.C. Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that 4.1 million homeowners are on forbearance mortgage relief plans. Above, homelessness tents erected in Washington D.C. This increase will see an addition of nearly 250,000 people out on American streets, according to the study, published by nonprofit Community Solutions. More than four million homeowners across the US have skipped mortgage payments amid the coronavirus crisis. Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that 4.1 million homeowners are on forbearance mortgage relief plans. Yet the rate of household requesting forbearance plans is decreasing, suggesting people's financial situations are improving as areas of the country emerge from stringent coronavirus lockdown. NEW YORK, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Iconic women's fashion brand Anne Klein has tapped the namesake designer's granddaughter Jesse Gre Rubinstein to spearhead the upcoming launch of Anne Klein's new social series titled, WOMEN WHO DO, featuring innovative thinking women who are notably making a difference. Iconic women's fashion brand Anne Klein has tapped the namesake designer's granddaughter Jesse Gre Rubinstein to spearhead the upcoming launch of Anne Klein's new social series titled, WOMEN WHO DO, featuring innovative thinking women who are notably making a difference. Anne Klein logo Following in the footsteps of Anne Klein who inspired so many, Jesse will host a Facebook Live series that will premiere on Wednesday, May 20th at 9am PST/ 12pm EST. Each week the series will feature the heroes of today, inspiring the next generation of trailblazers, with guests from a variety of industries, many of whom are currently championing aid during the pandemic along with the Anne Klein brand. In April, Jesse united with her grandmother's brand to launch COVID-19 relief efforts and deliver 100,000 masks to essential workers throughout the United States. "Uniting with the Anne Klein brand at this critical time and supporting my grandmother's legacy by being able to speak with inspiring women is an honor," said Jesse Gre Rubinstein, founder & CEO of social media agency, Hello There Collective. "My hope is that this initiative serves as the launch of a powerful network that can help, support and inspire others not only in the present, but as we begin to rebuild. As my grandmother Anne Klein insightfully declared, "Clothes aren't going to change the world. The women who wear them will." The series will kick off with notables and topics including: Kara Goldin , Founder & CEO Hint Inc., Believing In Oneself on May 20 th , Founder & CEO Hint Inc., Believing In Oneself on Yale University's Professor of Psychology, Dr. Laurie Santos , Happiness Is Within Reach on May 27 th Professor of Psychology, , Happiness Is Within Reach on Actress/activist/humanitarian Ilfenesh Hadera , of Godfather of Harlem , Always Act with Kindness on June 3 rd , of , Always Act with Kindness on Designer, Reem Acra , Invest In Who You Want To Be on June 10 th For more information on Anne Klein and the Women Who Do series, visit: http://www.anneklein.com or follow @AnneKlein on Facebook , @AnneKleinOfficial on Instagram or @AnneKleinOfficial on LinkedIn. About Anne Klein An iconic legacy women's fashion brand founded in 1968, Anne Klein serves women around the world with classic American style. The brand currently generates over $700 million in global retail sales with product distributed by best-in-class partners including Steve Madden for footwear and handbags, Kasper Group for sportswear, E. Gluck for watches, Herman Kay for outerwear, ONE Jeanswear Group for denim, Komar for loungewear, Marchon for eyewear, Centric for hosiery, Amiee Lynn for Accessories, Palm Beach for fragrance and cosmetics, and The Jewelry Group for jewelry. Anne Klein products are sold globally throughout North America, China, South Korea, The Philippines and Mexico. For more information, visit www.anneklein.com . About Jesse Gre Rubinstein Jesse Gre Rubinstein is the founder and CEO of social media agency, Hello There Collective. As the granddaughter of Anne Klein, Jesse comes from a lineage of fashion greats and was seasoned for a career in the industry. Since 2018 the Los Angeles/New York female-led Hello There agency has launched innovative marketing campaigns and led digital strategy for global brands such as BCBGMaxazria, Joe's Jeans, Juicy Couture, Jones New York, Ivory Ella, and Tretorn. About WHP Global WHP Global, owner of the Anne Klein brand, is focused on the future of brand management. The New York-based firm specializes in acquiring global consumer brands and strategically investing in high-growth distribution channels and global digital commerce platforms, in addition to introducing new product categories that are relevant to today's consumer. For more information, visit www.whp-global.com . Media Contacts: WHP Global: Anne Klein: EJ Media Group ATELIER Creative Services Jaime Cassavechia / Alexa Stark Colette Sipperly [email protected] [email protected] 212-518-4771 x108 SOURCE Anne Klein Related Links http://www.anneklein.com At its virtual Build conference today, Microsoft announced it is launching industry-specific cloud offerings, starting with one designed for healthcare. Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare is now available in a public preview and as a free six-month trial. In general, the Industry Clouds are sets of tools that bring together Microsofts existing services like chatbots, Teams and Azure IoT. The company also promised that a robust partner ecosystem will be available to make the platform more useful. Think of Microsoft Industry Clouds as something like Googles G Suite for businesses, except with access to far more Microsoft tools and catering specifically to designated industries. Cloud for Healthcare, for example, will focus on what Microsoft has identified as important needs for the field, like engaging patients, facilitating health team collaboration and improving operational efficiency, all with strict security measures. An important component of healthcare is aftercare, where medical professionals need to keep in touch with patients to follow up on their recovery. But the tools available to do so are generally limited to follow-up phone calls and emails, which are not only tedious but can sometimes not meet security standards. Microsofts Healthcare Bot Service will be available as a piece of this package, which the company said is behind more than 1,500 instances of COVID-19-based bots that have gone live since March. These bots can help alleviate the strain on emergency hotlines for medical providers while addressing common questions that people might have. Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare Another service Microsoft is making available is the Bookings app in its Teams collaboration platform, which will allow healthcare workers to schedule, manage and conduct provider-to-patient virtual visits without leaving Teams. Like most similar telehealth services today, Bookings (for Healthcare, at least) will send patients a customized email to go to their appointment in one click on a desktop, or in the Teams app on iOS or Android. A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to Engadget that Teams supports HIPAA compliance and is HITRUST certified. Story continues Cloud for Healthcare will also offer enhanced patient engagement portals, according to Microsoft, which lets patients and providers manage appointment booking, reminders and bill payments across various devices. Similar portals already exist, but Microsofts will likely make for a more seamless experience on the medical providers end since it can tie into other behind-the-scenes part of the infrastructure. Microsofts service is also designed to make it easier for care teams to work across the many parts of Americas dizzying healthcare infrastructure. It includes tools for medical workers to easily create referrals, look up providers, as well as understand physician spend, satisfaction and enhanced analytics on referral categories, according to the companys news release. Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare With Cloud for Healthcare, organizations can use Dynamics 365 Marketing and Customer Service tools to deploy individualized care plans for patients or groups of patients. Providers can also use the service to proactively reach out to patients on any device with preventative and care management programs, as well as conduct secure virtual visits and remote health monitoring via Azure IoT. The latter lets organizations receive data from medical devices to facilitate more-complete monitoring in real time so they can react quickly to emergency situations or escalate care in a timely manner, as well as reduce readmissions. Microsoft will also offer an integration between Teams and Power Apps to help organizations create apps and workflows swiftly, without requiring a ton of code or weeks of work. According to the company, thousands of organizations are now relying on the new integration to manage their coronavirus response, including Swedish Health Services in Seattle, the Chicago Dept of Public Health and Rush Hospitals. Microsoft is also working with health system providers like Allscripts, GE Healthcare, Nuance, Epic and Adaptive Biotechnologies, as well as pharmacies and other medical organizations like Walgreens Boots Alliance, Humana and Novartis to allow easier collaboration across Cloud for Healthcare. Its clear that our healthcare infrastructure is about to evolve into a system facilitated by technology, and Microsoft wants to be a part of that movement with Cloud for Healthcare. Given the many moving pieces that make up Americas medical industry, its heartening to see a product that aims to make consolidating all those components easier. Check out all of our Build 2020 news here! HOUSTON, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Weatherford International plc (OTC Pink: WFTLF) today announced it has been named Contractor of the Year by Santos, one of the leading independent oil and gas producers in the Asia-Pacific region. Santos' operations team awarded Weatherford the honor from among the several hundred contractors the company employs across their operations. The objective was clear for the Weatherford Tubular Running Services team across the four well campaign: Complete the running of all casing and tubing with zero incidents and minimal non-productive time. Adding to the urgency of the challenge was the fact all operations were classified as red zone, meaning high risk with field personnel operating in harm's way. Weatherford Vice President, Asia, Eric Young, commented, "We are very happy Santos chose to highlight the work of our Australia tubular running service team by recognising their 'Pacesetter' performance in the efficient completion of the task. Being Santos' Contractor of the Year is a tremendous achievement." Brett Darley, Executive Vice President, Offshore, Santos, commented, "Weatherford provided a solution that enabled Santos to execute a safe, efficient tubular running operation with hands-free technology. Safety is extremely important at Santos and Weatherford delivered an outcome with zero incidents and zero near-misses." About Santos An Australian energy pioneer since 1954, Santos is one of the leading independent oil and gas producers in the Asia-Pacific region, supplying the energy needs of homes, businesses and major industries across Australia and Asia. With its origins in the Cooper Basin, Santos has one of the largest exploration and production acreages in Australia and extensive infrastructure and is committed to supplying the domestic markets, unlocking resources and driving value and performance. About Weatherford Weatherford is the leading wellbore and production solutions company. Operating in more than 80 countries, the Company answers the challenges of the energy industry with its global talent network of approximately 20,000 team members and 600 locations, which include service, research and development, training, and manufacturing facilities. Visit https://www.weatherford.com/ for more information or connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube. Contact: Karen David-Green +1.713.836.7430 Senior Vice President Stakeholder Engagement and Chief Marketing Officer Christopher Wailes +1.832.851.8308 Director, Global Media Engagement SOURCE Weatherford International plc Related Links http://www.weatherford.com ELMWOOD TWP, MI A 21-year-old man was arraigned on a charge of accosting, enticing or soliciting a child for immoral purposes, which is a 10-year felony. Tristin Coveyou, of Petoskey, was charged after police allege that he tried to break into a home to meet a 13-year-old girl who he had contact with over the internet. At 1:22 a.m. on May 15, deputies from the Leelanau County Sheriffs Office responded to an attempted residential breaking and entering in the 12000 block of East Meadowbrook Drive. According to the sheriffs office, a father woke up to noises coming from the area of his 13-year-old daughter's room. The father looked outside to see the foot of a suspect hanging off the deck of the house near his daughter's window. The suspect then fled on foot from the residence and it was discovered the screen was off the daughter's window. RELATED: Michigan man caught breaking into familys home had contacted girl, 13, online Deputies arrived on the scene locating a vehicle that did not belong to the homeowners. The suspect, Coveyou, was contacted near the residence. The investigation determined that Coveyou and the 13-year-old girl had contact over the internet and Coveyou was at the residence to pick her up for questionable purposes. Coveyou posted 10% of a $150,000 bond and is due back in court May 29th. New Delhi, May 19 : An Indian firms paid over Rs 8 crore ransom on average to mitigate the impact of ransomware on its operations and overall, 82 per cent Indian firms were hit by ransomware in the past 12 months, a 15 per cent increase from 2017, a new report said on Tuesday. Two out of three (66 per cent) organisations hit by ransomware in India admitted paying the ransom. Data was encrypted in 91 per cent of attacks that successfully breached an organisation in India. The average cost of addressing the impact of such an attack in India, including business downtime, lost orders, operational costs, and more, was a little over Rs 8 crore. Delhi topped the list as 85 per cent organisations in the national capital were hit by ransomware attacks in the past 12 months, followed by Bengaluru (83 per cent) and Kolkata (81 per cent). At fourth spot was Mumbai-based firms (81 per cent), Chennai (79 per cent) at sixth place and Hyderabad (74 per cent) seventh, according to the "state of ransomware 2020" global survey by cybersecurity firm Sophos. Ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts a victim's files. The attacker then demands a ransom from the victim to restore access to the files. According to Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist, Sophos, organizations may feel intense pressure to pay the ransom to avoid damaging downtime. "On the face of it, paying the ransom appears to be an effective way of getting data restored, but this is illusory. Paying the ransom makes little difference to the recovery burden in terms of time and cost," he said. This could be because it is unlikely that a single magical decryption key is all that's needed to recover. "Often, the attackers may share several keys and using them to restore data may be a complex and time-consuming affair," said Wisniewski. According to the report, only 8 per cent of victims in India were able to stop the attack before their data could be encrypted, compared with a global average of 24 per cent. Nearly 29 per cent of the IT managers surveyed were able to recover their data from backups without paying the ransom. Globally, the average cost of recovery is $1.4 million if organisations pay the ransom and $730,000 if they don't. The survey polled 5,000 IT decision makers in organisations in 26 countries across six continents. Every organization in India that paid the ransom got their data back, although this was not always the case elsewhere. Globally, nearly 5 per cent of public sector organizations paid the ransom but didn't get their data back. In fact, 13 per cent of the public sector organizations surveyed never managed to restore their encrypted data, compared to 6% overall. "An effective backup system that enables organizations to restore encrypted data without paying the attackers is business critical, but there are other important elements to consider if a company is to be truly resilient to ransomware," informed Wisniewski. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Monday, May 18, 2020 at 7:58PM Photo by Hassan OUAJBIR on Unsplash Telus' flanker brand Koodo is introducing "Call Control" to make it easier to keep spam calls out. Telus already has this feature, and we'll talk about how you can access it later. What Call Control does is ask first-time callers (at least since you've enabled the feature) to enter a number between 0-9. If they enter the right number, the call will go through to you. If not, then they'll be notified that they've been prevented from reaching you. This task is simple enough to let actual callers through while stopping robocalls from connecting to you. You can add up to 25 numbers to an "Authorized List" to avoid Koodo from screening these calls. And if there are numbers you don't want reaching you at all, you can add up to 25 numbers to your "Blocked List." There is a possibility that this feature could screen out legitimate auto-dialled calls, like those notifications about package deliveries, so you have to remember if that's important to you. Perhaps you get calls from non-English speakers, too. It would be important to add them to your Authorized List. Call Control will also remember your most recent incoming calls, and it won't screen these callers unless they haven't called in a long time. If you want to enable the feature, log into your account and head to the Self Serve tab. Go to Mobile services and find Call Control. From there, click Manage. As for Telus subscribers, you need to log into your My Telus account, head to the Call Control tab under the Plans & Devices section. You'll find instructions there on how to enable the feature. Source: iPhone in Canada A convicted drug trafficker jailed on the word of one of Lawyer X Nicola Gobbo's clients has been released on bail. Zlate Cvetanovski becomes eligible for parole in August, but asked the Supreme Court to free him on Tuesday after already serving more than a decade behind bars. He was granted bail on a $400,000 surety provided by his former wife. Cvetanovski is appealing three criminal convictions he argues were tainted by Lawyer X's supergrass past as a police informer. He was convicted after Ms Gobbo convinced a drug cook client - who she had informed on - to give evidence against him. Convicted drug trafficker Zlate Cvetanovski, who was jailed on the word of one of Lawyer X Nicola Gobbo's (pictured) clients, has been released on bail Prosecutors conceded in Victoria's Court of Appeal last week that the evidence of that witness was vital to their case against Cvetanovski. His lawyer Julie Condon QC went further, saying it was pivotal. "The case quite clearly stood or fell on the word of (that person) and that underscores the significance of the lack of disclosure," she said. Justice David Beach said Cvetanovski's appeal grounds were "reasonably arguable" and should he remain in prison there is a "real risk of injustice". Cvetanovski's bail application was based on the belief his appeal has a reasonable prospect of success, that he's served almost his entire sentence and that COVID-19 is affecting his time in custody. Delay was also a factor given his appeal was lodged in September 2017. Gobbo is pictured on the way to court while representing drug kingpin Tony Mokbel He made a bid for bail in April last year, but it was rejected because the case was not far enough along at that point. Now judges are questioning whether Cvetanovski's legal team need to keep waiting for more evidence. Justice Beach suggested they were "pushing against an open door". Prosecutors are challenging the appeal's chance of success, and dispute suggestions Ms Gobbo acted as a lawyer for Cvetanovski as well. Chief Crown Prosecutor Brendan Kissane said the case involved a "clearly unusual set of circumstances" but stopped short of saying it was exceptional. A number of other appeals are also underway, including drug kingpin Tony Mokbel, and "tomato tin" ecstasy importers Rob Karam and Jan Visser. Former Pakistan ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani has claimed that China is not in Pakistan to help its people but to rather act as a 'predatory economic' actor. Haqqani has stated that Pakistani citizens who are often told that China is their most 'reliable friend' in the world, it is a shock for them to discover that Beijing does business 'mercilessly' and 'unscrupulously.' The former ambassador has claimed that Pakistan's desire to maintain strategic relations with China has resulted in the construction of USD 62 billion worth China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which includes a set of infrastructure projects, being mired in insufficient transparency. Haqqani revealed that a committee formed by Prime Minister Imran Khan to examine the cause for the high cost of electricity to consumers in Pakistan has lifted the lid on corruption involving Chinese private power producers in Pakistan. READ | Twitter & Zoom Throttled In Pakistan; VPN Users Accuse PM Imran Khan Of Being Behind It CPEC & Pakistan military ties "The report reveals that the Huaneng Shandong Ruki Energy or the Sahiwal and the Port Qasim Electric Power Company Limited coal plants under CPEC inflated their set-up costs," ANI quoted Haqqani, who was Pakistan's ambassador from 2008 to 2011. He added that PM Khan's committee has also listed malpractices to the tune of 100 billion Pakistani rupees in the independent power generating sector, out of which, at least a third of it is related to Chinese projects. Writing a column for a US daily, Haqqani also mentioned the close ties between CPEC and Pakistan military and named LT General Bajwa which has led to the Committee treading softly in relation to Chinese projects. READ | Even Taliban Shuns Pakistan; 'won't Interfere In India's Internal Affair' Amid Fake News "Instead of reforming their country's policies, Pakistan leaders, once again, sought debt restructuring and waivers on account of the pandemic, just as they previously sought international assistance as a reward for fighting terrorism. But expecting the international community to repeatedly bail Pakistan out from one economic crisis after the other is unrealistic. Massive military expenditure, deep-rooted corruption and lack of accountability are at the heart of Pakistan's perennial and ever-widening gulf between revenue and expenditure," Haqqani opined. READ | Odd Group Of Russia, Pakistan, Iran & China Discuss Afghan Power-sharing Deal; Welcome It Haqqani has highlighted that based on the committee's report, excess set-up cots of 32.64 billion Pakistani Rupees was allowed to two coal-based Chinese plants due to misrepresentation by sponsors regarding the 'Interest During Construction' (IDC) as well as non-consideration of earlier completion of plans. He explained that the interest deduction was apparently allowed for 48 months whereas the plans actually completed with 27-29 months. Haqqani added that the magnitude of profiteering by Chinese companies is incomprehensible. READ | Pakistan Reports Over 1,800 New COVID-19 Cases, 36 Deaths: Health Ministry Description The Theodore Roosevelt Institute at Long Island University announced today Tales of Theodore Roosevelt, a four-part virtual lecture series about President Theodore Roosevelt presented by his great-grandson Tweed Roosevelt, Chairman of the Theodore Roosevelt Institute and Long Island University Professor. The lectures will be held May 19th, June 16th, September 15th and October 20th at Noon EST through Zoom and are free and open to the public. Each lecture will focus on Theodore Roosevelts colorful career, and will follow with a Q&A period. Kicking off the series on Tuesday, May 19th at noon EST, Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands, will retell extraordinary stories from the Presidents formative period of his life shared by Tweed Roosevelt. For example, as a young deputy sheriff in North Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt hunted down dangerous desperadoes, almost got into a duel with a crack shot French aristocrat, and saved a saloon of drinkers by punching out a terrorizing drunkard. To register for the May 19th lecture, please visit liu.edu/Roosevelt/badlands. President Theodore Roosevelt continues to fascinate Americans a century after his death for his charismatic personality, forward-thinking policies and dynamic leadership, stated Tweed Roosevelt, Long Island University Professor and Chairman of the Theodore Roosevelt Institute. Few figures in our nations history can rival the bipartisan support that has always followed our nations 26th president. This exciting lecture series gives insight into unknown parts of TRs life and sheds insight into why his legacy lives on. Maastricht-based Catella IM Benelux (CIMB) has acquired a housing development in the Dutch town of Zeist, 7 km to the east of Utrecht, on behalf of the Catella Dutch Residential Fund ll, for approximately 18 million from Green Living Investments B.V. The completion of the development is expected by the [] Bhaskar Majumdar, Head - Corporate Affairs, Communication & Digital media, Egis India, examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on traditional advertising and stresses on democratic distribution of intelligently crafted personalised and relatable high-value advertising content through an integrated omni-channel media. The world over, COVID-19 pandemic has brought about wide arrayed disruptions in consumers lives, and advertisers marketing activities are no exception to this. Several ad and marketing campaigns got cancelled, events were scrapped and launches rescheduled. While there are sections who feel that traditional marketing is crucial and indispensable for holistic brand building, the Coronavirus crisis almost proved overnight that a digital-first approach is a key. Digital is cost-efficient than print, faster and better in terms of spiking consumer interest and keeping them engaged in brand conversations. Also, with shrinking marketing budgets and dilapidating profit margins of companies, revenue streams of traditional media have been severely impacted. In the post-COVID 19 world, brand marketers will increasingly and innovatively look at digital marketing. While the early movers will further update their digital presence, many will adopt newer business models and evolve, in order to cater to specific target groups online. Data will be at the heart of everything, especially in the advertising and marketing industry and, therefore, nurturing data will reap many benefits for brands. Companies will increasingly gather, analyse and interpret data to understand their consumers behaviour better and this will assist them in serving them in an effective manner. In a world that is changing so fast and behavioural shifts happening at a heightened pace, not only will data give you a competitive advantage, it will also help you predict potential future markets of your product or service. Also, brands will need to address and respond to external situations faster and rationalise spending on their goals, both in the short as well as in the long term. Without data, this is impossible to do and, therefore, data-driven and tech-focussed campaigns beckon the future. Long term transformational shifts will take place and marketing and IT will be juxtaposed. All-encompassing data-driven organisations will rule the roost. Another aspect of the post-COVID 19 world will be that brands will become truly and genuinely customer-centric. Consumers are now isolated and quarantined in their homes and this forced social distancing is making them crave for human interaction. So, how are they satiating this urge? By going online. Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, Facebook reported 70 per cent spike in video calls using Facebook Messenger. Social media platforms have historically been impactful mediums for brands to connect with their consumers and communities. Now is the time for brands to be more present, responsive and address consumers needs, demands, wants and aspirations, more holistically. The key is to become truly responsible. For example, Levis launched online concerts on Instagram to keep consumers entertained at home during the COVID-19 crisis abroad. It is important to note here that marketing is not just about devising strategies and keeping aside funds to market a product or a service. Things have changed and now marketing is also about being flexible in terms of choosing channels of communication, building communities and looking after your consumers. Digital allows this type of agility and nimbleness that traditional marketing cannot. In the post-COVID 19 world, marketers will amplify their social media spends and in community building. The money will be invested in digital channels. Moreover, brands will also be more socially responsible. Since brands are in constant contact with communities and consumers, they are in a better position to address consumers needs and have a positive impact on them. In this day and age, the potential backlash is easy to happen if brands act irresponsibly. Todays consumers are hard-pressed for time and their content consumption behaviour has become more instant, crisp and across any available platform or handy device. Brands need to take this aspect into consideration and market their offerings to be present where the consumer is. Democratic distribution of intelligently crafted personalised and relatable high-value advertising content through an integrated omni-channel media is what will cut the ice. Actor Nawazuddin Siddiquis wife, Aaliya, has explained why she decided to divorce him and that she expects sole custody of their children. Nawaz was served divorce papers via WhatsApp and email on May 7, according to Aaliyas lawyer, but is yet to respond. In an interview to The Times of India, Aaliya said that she had reverted to her original name, Anjali, as she does not want it to appear that she is piggybacking on Nawazs name after ending their relationship. She also mentioned that his brother, Shamas, was a part of the problem. She said, There are a lot of things that I dont want to bring in the public domain as of now, but our problems started soon after we got married over a decade ago. Two months of lockdown gave me a lot of time to introspect. Self-respect is extremely important in a marriage. Woh meri khatam ho chuki thi (that didnt exist for me), I didnt have that. I was made to feel like a nobody, I always felt alone. His brother Shamas was also an issue. I have gone back to my original name, Anjana Kishor Pandey. I dont want to be reminded that I am using someones identity for my benefit. She continued, I want to go with the flow. I havent thought much about the future, but I dont want this marriage anymore. There are no chances of reconciliation. About the custody of their children, she said, I have raised them and I want their custody. Also read: Nawazuddin Siddiquis wife Aaliya files for divorce: There is not one but several reasons behind my problems with Nawaz In an earlier interview to ABP News, shed said, There is not one reason but several reasons behind my problems with Nawaz. And, all these reasons are very serious. Shed added, The problems between Nawaz and me have been going on since 2010, after one year of our marriage. I have been handling everything but now things have escalated beyond repair. On Monday, Nawaz said that he had arrived in his hometown of Budhana, in Uttar Pradesh, to be with his mother, who hasnt been well. The actor said that he had obtained the necessary travel permits and that he would be isolating himself for two weeks. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Job Title: Regional Finance Officer Organisation: IMPACT Initiatives Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda Reports to: Global Head of Finance About US: IMPACT Initiatives is a humanitarian NGO, based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organisation manages several initiatives, including the REACH Initiative. The IMPACT team comprises specialists in data collection, management and analysis, GIS and remote-sensing. IMPACT was launched at the initiative of ACTED, an international NGO whose headquarter is based in Paris and is present in thirty countries. The two organizations have a strong complementarity formalized in a global partnership, which allows particularly IMPACT to benefit from ACTEDs operational support on its fields of intervention. REACH was born in 2010 as a joint initiative of the two International NGOs (IMPACT Initiatives and ACTED) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT). REACHs purpose is to promote and facilitate the development of information products that enhance the humanitarian communitys decision making and planning capacity for emergency, reconstruction and development contexts, supporting and working within the framework of the humanitarian reform process. REACH facilitates information management for aid actors through three complementary services: (a) need and situation assessments facilitated by REACH teams; (b) situation analysis using satellite imagery; (c) provision of related database and (web)-mapping facilities and expertise. Job Summary: The Regional Finance Officer will be responsible for ensuring high quality & accurate financial reporting and sound financial management of the IMPACT-managed activities, as well as for providing oversight to the finance teams in the countries where IMPACT operates. The RFO supports country teams, notably the REACH dedicated Finance Officers (FO), in ensuring effective and timely financial management of the IMPACT-managed programmes and assists the Country Coordinators in ensuring effective and timely financial management of the country offices. The Regional Finance Officer report directly (hierarchical line) to the Global Head of Finance (HoF), who (in consultation with Country coordinators) will task him/her and monitor his/her performance When supporting a given country team (as decided by the Head of Finance), the work of Regional Finance Officer is also overseen by the Country Coordinator for all delivery (output) matters (i.e., financial reports, budgets, advice to local management, priority of tasks, training to staff etc.). The RFO will liaise on regular basis with ACTED Finance team as IMPACT/REACH is hosted by ACTED in the field. Key Duties and Responsibilities: Financial Management and Reporting Proactively support REACH dedicated Finance Officers in preparing quality program budgets and timely submit financial reports to IMPACT HQ in accordance with IMPACT and donor specific guidelines. Prepare and maintain country annual accounts in accordance with IMPACTs Financial Policies and procedures. Support the country offices to prepare the annual budget and revised forecasts on an accurate and timely basis as well as the calculation of shared support costs Prepare all financial donor reports in the region thanks to an access to IMPACTs global accountancy systems and ensure submissions to donors are completed on a timely and accurately basis. Financial Monitoring Country Programmes Undertake visits to Countries to help ensure quality is maintained in all aspects of financial management; Review the monthly reporting tools prepared by each country office Coordinate and facilitate internal and external audits for country offices, as needed; Provide a gap fill service for the financial management of country programmes as required due to staff absence from leave or resignation. Serve as surge capacity resource in finance upon request. Financial Monitoring Regional Budgets and Multi Country Programmes Provide timely and accurate financial monitoring reports for the regional and MCP budgets Assist the Regional and MCP budget holders with variance and burn rate analysis on a monthly basis Ensure timely and accurate preparation of MCP external donor financial reporting Financial Systems Development & Capacity Building Assess the capacity of current country finance teams and make recommendations about training needs, organizational structure, and staffing changes; Develop training for finance staff, as well as program and other staff, on financial processes and the importance of financial compliance; Work with the IMPACT HQ to improve financial systems in the region and assist in introducing change where requested as part of the global improvement to provide timely and appropriate financial information to senior management team, project managers and budget holders; Provide suggestions and inputs to the continuous development of the financial administration procedures, routines, and SoPs Qualifications, Skills and Experience: Professional/academic qualification in finance or accounting (Master degree, audit or relevant field) Relevant experience of minimum 2 years in finance management and programming in an international NGO or International organization in the region Experience in preparing budgets, cash flow statements and financial plans. Experience in preparing narrative and financial reports. Demonstrated excellent knowledge of accounting software SAGA / SAGE; Strong competency in Microsoft Office package; Good supervisory skills and communication skills; Good interpersonal communication and relationship building skills; Ability to work independently in a fast-paced and dynamic environment; Attention to detail and a proactive, problem-solving approach are required; Prior team management experience required; Fluency in English and effective communication skills are required; Ability to travel internationally 30-40% and/or the ability to undertake temporary duty assignments to support country offices. How to Apply: All interested and qualified candidates please apply online at the line bellow Click Here Deadline: 22nd May 2020 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline U.S. President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room of the White House - REUTERS/Leah Millis President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to pull the US out of the World Health Organisation, accusing it of botching the global coronavirus response and of being a "puppet of China". The US leader has been locked in a bitter spat with Beijing, alleging it covered up the initial outbreak in central China late last year before the disease unleashed devastation across the planet. More than 317,000 people have died of Covid-19 out of nearly 4.8 million infections worldwide, and governments are scrambling to contain the virus while seeking ways to resuscitate their hammered economies. With more fatalities and cases in the United States than any other country by far, under-pressure Trump has blamed the WHO for not doing enough to combat its initial spread. "They're a puppet of China, they're China-centric to put it nicer," he said at the White House. "They gave us a lot of bad advice." Trump had already suspended US funding to the UN body. After his White House comments, he tweeted a letter he had sent to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus threatening to make that freeze permanent. This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020 "It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world," the letter said. "The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China," it added, giving the body 30 days to show "substantive improvements". Before the threat, the WHO had promised an independent review of its pandemic response. Beijing has furiously denied the US allegations that it played down the threat, and Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated at the World Health Assembly that his nation had been "transparent" throughout the crisis. As he launched his latest attack on China, Trump also dropped a bombshell saying he was taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that his own government's experts have said is not suitable for fighting the coronavirus. "I take a pill every day," said the president, adding that he is using it because he has "heard a lot of good stories". TDT | Manama Around 180 Indian nationals in Bahrain are scheduled to fly home today as part of the Indian governments Vande Bharat repatriation mission. The Air India flight is scheduled to depart at 12.30pm for the capital city of Hyderabad in the southern Indian state of Telangana. Todays flight is within the second phase of the ambitious mission, in which Air India is operating 64 non-commercial flights from 12 countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. This group of passengers were chosen by the Indian Embassy in the Kingdom from among the 1,700 Indians who had registered to be flown home due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Some of the selected passengers have already collected their tickets from the Embassy, all of which were paid for by the passengers themselves. Apart from their tickets, all returning Indians will have to pay for a mandatory 14-day institutionalised quarantine. Todays flight is the third from Bahrain. The two earlier flights flew to the cities of Kochi and Kozhikode in the coastal state of Kerala earlier this month, under the first phase of the Vande Bharat mission. Indian nurses to be flown back to Bahrain National carrier Gulf Air will operate a special flight today, from Kochi via Mumbai to Bahrain, to bring back 87 Indian nationals, a majority of whom are health care professionals working in the Kingdom. Around 80 of the passengers are nurses working with the Ministry of Health, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. The remaining passengers are children of that health care personnel who are also legal residents in Bahrain. The majority of the returning nurses hail from the Indian state of Kerala. The Gulf Air flight is scheduled to reach Bahrain by 9.30 pm. These health workers were on vacation when India implemented its nation-wide lockdown due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and was unable to return to Bahrain until today. Earlier this week, Saudi Arabia called back 458 medics in two separate flights from Kochi, while last week 89 health workers flew back to the UAE. More flights carrying Indian nurses to various Gulf countries are expected in the coming days. According to the Nurses Council of India, from two million registered nurses, at least 1.5 million are from Kerala. Other than the Gulf, they are also employed in the US, Europe, Australia, and other countries. On May 18, almost 400 Ukrainian citizens returned home from Italy, Germany, and Kazakhstan. Ukraine's State Border Guard reported that on Tuesday evening. "In general, the border guards of Kyiv detached entry-exit checkpoint processed almost 400 passengers. The border guards performed the obligatory procedures of temperature screening among all passengers. No people with increased body temperature detected. None of the passengers complained about anything, either", reads the message. All passengers who arrived in Ukraine set the Diy Vdoma (Act at Home) mobile app. They have taken the commitment to stay in self-isolation for 14 days. Previously, special flights arrived in Ukraine on May 17, carrying 184 Ukrainian citizens. They were evacuated from the U.S., Cyprus and Finland. Over 230,000 Ukrainians have been evacuated to the motherland since the lockdown limitations began worldwide. Yevhen Yenin, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine, said that in an interview for Radio Liberty. According to the Ukrainian diplomat, the procedure carries on, in spite of certain difficulties that are due to peculiar circumstances in various countries. News Salt Lake City, Utah - While many Utahns have spent the last two months staying home and staying safe as a result of COVID-19, online predators are threatening the safety of our children as they continue to exploit children in Utah and around the country. Federal prosecutors and the FBI saw the potential risk coming in March. Due to school closings as a result of COVID-19, children will potentially have an increased online presence and/or be in a position that puts them at an inadvertent risk. Due to this newly developing environment, the FBI is seeking to warn parents, educators, caregivers, and children about the dangers of online sexual exploitation and signs of child abuse, an FBI national press release cautioned. During the pandemic, parents have taken on more and more during stay at home directives. Work, school, and parenting blend into demanding days. With everyone at home together, we may expect that the threat of child sexual exploitation would diminish. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case, U.S. Attorney John W. Huber said today. As a parent himself, Huber understands parents are focused on many things. However, it is important for them to remain vigilant in protecting their children from sexual predators. I can also assure parents, who are feeling the strain in many areas that my office and our law enforcement partners are working as aggressively as ever to target these criminals and keep them away from our children, Huber said. "Kids should be aware that the idea of "stranger danger" also applies when they go online because predators will misrepresent themselves to gain their trust," said Paul Haertel, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Salt Lake City. "When a child is sexually exploited, there can be life-long consequences, but the crime is preventable. The FBI will do our part to go after those who hurt society's most vulnerable, and we urge parents and caregivers to do their part too through education and awareness." Online sexual exploitation comes in many forms, according to the FBI national release. Individuals may coerce victims into providing sexually explicit images or videos of themselves. Other offenders may make casual contact with children online, gain their trust, and introduce sexual conversation that increases in egregiousness over time. Ultimately, this activity may result in maintaining an online relationship and the exchange of illicit images, the release says. Others may try to entice minors to meet them for sexual activity. A list of recommendations for parents and guardians is included with this press release. Examples of recent cases: Michael L. Travers, age 53, a long-haul trucker from Diberville, Mississippi, was sentenced Tuesday to 17 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart in Salt Lake City. Travers pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography in December. As a part of the plea agreement, he admitted that between January and April of 2019, he produced sexually explicit images of Minor A, who was 8 years old at the time. Distribution of child pornography, coercion and enticement, and possession of child pornography counts were dismissed Tuesday as a part of the plea agreement. The Travers case was investigated by the West Valley City Police Department. Federal complaints filed on April 27, 2020, charge three individuals with possession of child pornography. The cases include: Scott Andrew Clark, age 44, of Ogden faces possession of child pornography charges following an investigation by the Riverdale Police Department, the Weber County Sheriffs Office, and a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, who is assigned to the FBIs Child Exploitation Task Force (CETF) and the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC). Clark came to the attention of law enforcement officers on April 7, 2020, when officers of the Riverdale Police Department responded to a call reporting a suspicious individual sitting in a parked vehicle next to a retail business. An employee of the business made the call after observing the same individual and vehicle the previous day. Officers approached the car and identified Clark, who admitted he was a registered sex offender. He also admitted he was in possession of child pornography. A forensic analysis conducted by the Weber County Sheriffs Office revealed child pornography on two of the six devices located in Clarks vehicle. The complaint alleges that there were more than 5,000 images and 200 videos of child pornography recovered on the devices, including images of infants and other children. Clark has a 2003 state court conviction in Utah for attempted sexual abuse of a minor. Michael W. Fritchen, age 64, of North Salt Lake City, also charged with possession of child pornography, came to attention of law enforcement through a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The CyberTip reported an image depicting the sexual exploitation of a child approximately 4-6 years old. An investigation by a Layton City police officer, working as a task force officer with the FBIs task force, led law enforcement officers to Fritchen, whose criminal history includes a 1993 conviction on several counts of committing an indecent liberties on children. The case was conducted before a United States Air Force general court martial. He received a 10-year sentence. A forensic review of a desktop seized from Fritchens home in North Salt Lake City uncovered more than 13,000 possible images depicting the sexual exploitation of children. Miguel Angel Jimenez, age 24, of Magna, is charged with possession of child pornography following an investigation by a Layton City police officer working as a task force officer with the FBIs task force. On Feb. 2, 2020, the Layton officer was conducting an undercover operation portraying himself as a 13-year-old girl when a chat began with an individual later identified as Jimenez. According to the complaint, Jimenez engaged in sexual conversation with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old child and arranged to meet the child for sex on multiple occasions; however, he never appeared at the meeting location. The investigation continued leading law enforcement to an address in Magna where they found the defendant, a registered sex offender, who was on probation for enticing a minor and possessing child pornography in Salt Lake County. Jimenez was taken into custody when he appeared for a meeting with a probation officer. Numerous files of child pornography were found on his phone, including 773 images of child pornography and 507 videos, according to the complaint. Clark, Fritchen, and Jimenez each face up to 20 years in prison, with a 10-year minimum mandatory sentence, if convicted of the charges in the complaint. They are currently in state custody. Complaints are not findings of guilt. Individuals charged in complaints are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. Recommendations from the FBIs National Press Office release issued March 23, 2020: Parents and guardians can take the following measures to help educate and prevent children from becoming victims of child predators and sexual exploitation during this time of national emergency: Online Child Exploitation Discuss Internet safety with children of all ages when they engage in online activity. Review and approve games and apps before they are downloaded. Make sure privacy settings are set to the strictest level possible for online gaming systems and electronic devices. Monitor your childrens use of the Internet; keep electronic devices in an open, common room of the house. Check your childrens profiles and what they post online. Explain to your children that images posted online will be permanently on the Internet. Make sure children know that anyone who asks a child to engage in sexually explicit activity online should be reported to a parent, guardian, or other trusted adult and law enforcement. Remember that victims should not be afraid to tell law enforcement if they are being sexually exploited. It is not a crime for a child to send sexually explicit images to someone if they are compelled or coerced to do so. Child Abuse Awareness Teach your children about body safety and boundaries. Encourage your children to have open communication with you. Be mindful of who is watching your child for childcare/babysitting, playdates and overnight visits. If your child discloses abuse, immediately contact local law enforcement for assistance. Children experiencing hands-on abuse may exhibit withdrawn behavior, angry outbursts, anxiety, depression, not wanting to be left alone with a specific individual, non-age appropriate sexual knowledge, and an increase in nightmares. Victim Reporting Reporting suspected sexual exploitation can help minimize or stop further victimization, as well as lead to the identification and rescue of other possible victims. If you believe you areor someone you know isthe victim of child sexual exploitation: Contact your local law enforcement agency. Contact your local FBI field office or submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. File a report with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) at 1-800-843-5678 or online at www.cybertipline.org. When reporting, be as descriptive as possible in the complaint form by providing as much of the following as possible: The database he stole is considered to be the largest ever; it contains 773,000,000 e-mail addresses and 21,000,000 unique passwords; the SBU took Sanix in Ivano-Frankivsk city During May 6-12, almost 20 DDoS attacks on state bodies were carried out in Ukraine Open source The SBU, Ukraine's State Security Service has detained a hacker, known by his nickname of Sanix. In early 2019, he got the attention of the world's cybersecurity specialists by his message on a web forum. In the message, he offered to sell a database that he stole, including 773,000,000 e-mail addresses and 21,000,000 unique passwords. The respective report may be found on the SBU website. In January 2019, Sanix appeared in the stories by The Guardian, Forbes, and Newsweek. He also won the attention of Italia 1 TV the reporters credited the database that he stole as the largest ever. Sanix uploaded part of the database that he stole, in the amount of 87 GB. The overall volume of the data he illegally owned reached almost 1 Terabyte. The data included personal financial data of residents of countries of the EU and North America. The SBU got information that Sanix was a Ukrainian citizen, perhaps, a resident of Ivano-Frankivsk. The service's specialists spotted him selling databases and searched his place. The law enforcers seized a computer with two Terabytes of stolen data, cell phones and cash obtained from illegal deals (from USD 3,000 to USD 7,000). The hacker will get a suspicion notice soon. ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- A prominent Kazakh human rights lawyer who aided a woman who helped expose "reeducation camps" for Muslims in neighboring China says she believes her car was tampered with in an attempt to injure her because of her professional activities. Aiman Omarova, who also represents victims of sexual abuse and was a recipient of the U.S. State Department's International Women of Courage Award for 2018, said she survived a car fire that started after a brake malfunction late on May 18. Omarova, who has also worked as a lawyer for RFE/RL, said her car's brakes suddenly stopped functioning while she was driving and after it stopped abruptly, the front started burning. "I am confident that it is linked to my professional activities. Luckily, I was driving slowly, when I found out that the brakes stopped working. I started screaming. When I was thinking about somehow turning the car to stop it or jumping out of it, it stopped and at that point the fire started.... Some important documents are gone. I am in a deep stress, " Omarova told RFE/RL. Omarova successfully represented RFE/RL last month in a case over inaction by Almaty police over an attack on RFE/RL reporters. Last year, Omarova said unknown individuals killed her dog, which she said was also an act linked to her professional activities. She also said somebody hung a dead cat on the gate of her home in what she believes was meant as a warning. Omarova specializes in seeking justice for victims of sexual abuse, mainly women and children, and also represents people who believe they are being prosecuted for political reasons or to stifle dissent in tightly controlled Kazakhstan. Her dog's death came shortly after she helped Sairagul Sauytbay, who fled China in 2018, leave Kazakhstan for Sweden after Kazakh authorities refused to give her political asylum. At a trial in Kazakhstan on charges of illegal border crossing, Sauytbay testified that thousands of ethnic Kazakhs, Uyghurs, and other Muslims in China's Xinjiang province were undergoing "political indoctrination" in a network of "reeducation camps." Revelations from Sauytbay and others have created diplomatic difficulties for energy-rich Kazakhstan in its relationship with China. Taiwan Health Minister Chen Shih-chung speaks to the Taipei Foreign Correspondents' Club about the CCP virus outbreak, at Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control in Taipei on May 6, 2020. (Ben Blanchard/Reuters) Taiwan Disappointed and Angry Over Exclusion from WHOs Annual Meeting Taiwan on May 19 said it was disappointed and angry that the World Health Organization (WHO) has not allowed it to participate in the U.N. agencys annual World Health Assembly (WHA), which began virtually on Monday. Non-WHO member Taiwan has lobbied to take part as an observer in this weeks virtual meeting of the WHAthe WHOs decision-making bodyto share the methods it used to combat the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. However, this has raised objections from the Chinese regime, which views Taiwan as part of its territory, and it has blocked the islands participation in the WHA since President Tsai Ing-wen was elected in 2016. Taiwan has maintained that the ongoing pandemic has made it more urgent than ever for it to have proper access to the WHO. No #WHA73 invitation for #Taiwan. Overwhelming international support, ignored. Ongoing donations of essential #COVID19-combating items, ignored. Sharing the #TaiwanModel, ignored. But #Chinas political bleating, heard loud & clear. Well never give in, never, never, never! JW Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROC (Taiwan) (@MOFA_Taiwan) May 18, 2020 We feel disappointed and angry about WHOs decision of not inviting Taiwan to join this years WHA, Yi-Chun Lo, deputy director general at Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, said Tuesday. We feel we have so much to share about our successful experiences in this COVID-19 outbreak response. Taiwans Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung, said earlier that the self-ruled island is dissatisfied that member states unanimously agreed to defer a decision on granting observer status to Taiwan until later this year. We put in our efforts [to get invited] up until the last moment, but it seems that we are unlikely to be invited, so we want to express our regret and dissatisfaction for the situation, as well as protest against it, Chen said during a daily press briefing, adding that Taiwan had sent a letter to the WHO Secretariat in Geneva on Monday. Chen said that Taiwans exclusion from the WHAs 73rd annual meeting not only prevents it from sharing the methods it used to successfully battle the CCP virus, but it is also detrimental to Taiwan, as it cannot learn from the experiences of WHO member states, Taipei Times reported. We hope the WHO can remain professional and politically neutral, refuse political interference, and not neglect the right to health for any area or anyone in the world, as it should be equal to all, he added. In a statement Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States condemns Taiwans exclusion from the international bodys annual meeting. At a time when the world continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, we need multilateral institutions to deliver on their stated missions and to serve the interests of all member states, not to play politics while lives are at stake, Pompeo said. Taiwan is a model world citizen, while the PRC (Peoples Republic of China) continues to withhold vital information about the virus and its origins, deny access to their scientists and relevant facilities, censor discussion of the pandemic within China and on Chinese social media properties, and casts blame widely and recklessly, he added. The [WHO] director-generals lack of independence deprives the Assembly of Taiwans renowned scientific expertise on pandemic disease, and further damages the WHOs credibility and effectiveness at a time when the world needs it the most. Taiwans meaningful participation in the @WHO is critical especially as we combat #COVID_19. The U.S. stands w/ #Taiwan, a fellow democracy that shares our values and is an important security & economic partner in the Indo-Pacific #TweetforTaiwanhttps://t.co/ia76OHB7pN Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 18, 2020 Responding to Pompeos statement, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) wrote on Twitter: Taiwans meaningful participation in the WHO is critical especially as we combat COVID-19. The U.S. stands with Taiwan, a fellow democracy that shares our values and is an important security and economic partner in the Indo-Pacific. Separately, on May 13 a group of more than 100 members of the European Parliament and one national parliament submitted an urgent open letter that calls on 27 EU health ministers to demand that the WHO reinstates Taiwans participation as an observer in the U.N. agency. The WHO said it has no mandate to invite Taiwan to the WHA and that only member states can decide. Reuters contributed to this report. Profits in the first quarter beat analyst estimates as Chinas economy began opening up ahead of the US and Europe. Chinese search engine giant Baidu Inc has forecast second-quarter revenue above expectations, as businesses reopen in the worlds second-largest economy after strict lockdowns to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Baidus United States-listed shares jumped 8 percent in extended trading after the company also reported a smaller-than-expected drop in first-quarter revenue and easily beat profit estimates. Chinas stalled economy is starting up much earlier than those of Europe and the US, which are easing restrictions gradually as they struggle with high numbers of reported infections and deaths from COVID-19, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus. With the pandemic coming under control in China, offline activities are rebounding and Baidu stands to benefit from a restart of the Chinese economy, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Robin Li said in a statement. Baidu forecast current-quarter revenue between 25.0 billion yuan ($3.5bn) and 27.3 billion yuan ($3.8bn), while analysts on average had expected 25.55 billion yuan ($3.6bn). Once the runaway leader in desktop search, Baidu struggled to stay relevant in the mobile era while fending off ByteDance, whose Douyin is growing users at a rapid clip and pushing down industry advertising rates. The Chinese startup is the countrys best-performing advertising platform this year in terms of impact and traffic, according to Raymond Feng, a Shanghai-based analyst with Pacific Epoch. To compete, Baidu plans to offer subsidies to influencers and direct more traffic to them across its family of apps, including in live-streaming. The company said daily active users for the Baidu App surged 28 percent in March to hit the 222 million mark. This performance is encouraging, as it shows that the worst stretch is likely over for Chinese internet companies as the economy slowly gets back to its feet and the digital ad market revives, said Haris Anwar, senior analyst at financial markets platform Investing.com. Revenue from Baidus online marketing services business, which includes search, news feeds and video apps and is a major contributor to overall sales, tumbled 19 percent to 14.24 billion yuan ($2bn) in the first quarter ended March 31. Total revenue declined about 7 percent to 22.55 billion yuan ($3.2bn), but beat estimates of 21.93 billion yuan ($3.1bn). Baidu in February estimated revenue between 21 billion yuan ($2.9bn) and 22.9 billion yuan ($3.2bn). Subscribers for the companys iQIYI a Netflix-like video service climbed 23 percent to 118.9 million, a benefit from stay-at-home orders. Revenue rose 9 percent, but net loss attributable to the company widened to 2.87 billion yuan ($404m) from 1.81 billion yuan ($255m). Longer-term, Baidu is investing in artificial intelligence technology, and betting on the commercialization of that through smart speakers and self-driving cars. It was awarded contracts in March from local governments in cities, including Chongqing and Hefei, to build smart transportation infrastructure such as road sensors, part of Chinas drive to spur the economy through investment in technology. Oversight by Beijing remains a problem. In April, Chinese regulators suspended some key channels in Baidus flagship mobile app, citing vulgar content. That two-week punishment could reduce revenue from its core search and feed business in the June quarter by less than 2 percent, according to an estimate by Jefferies analyst Thomas Chong. Cindy Wilson, author of "Too Much Soul: The Journey of an Asian Southern Belle" / Courtesy of Cindy Wilson Korean American author speaks about her journey to find true self By Kang Hyun-kyung Cindy Wilson, author of "Too Much Soul: The Journey of an Asian Southern Belle," was born I Wol-yang in Seoul and adopted by African-American parents in 1975 when she was a few months old. Her name was changed to Cindy and she was brought to America by her adoptive parents the following year. Unlike some other adoptees who have spent a great deal of time and energy to find their birth parents, Wilson has never tried to find her roots. She said she considers her adoptive parents, not birth parents, to be her true family. Raised in Mississippi, Wilson identifies as being part of the African American community, even though she is Asian. In a recent Korea Times interview, she spoke about her upbringing, how it has impacted her journey to find her true self and her book which was published in 2018. Q: You appear to be more outgoing and positive than the other adoptees I've interviewed. Could you please tell me about your upbringing? A: One thing I've learned since meeting other Korean adoptees is that all of our experiences are different. It has been interesting hearing about the trauma of some Korean adoptees. As human beings we all experience and process things differently but I do think that my upbringing had a lot to do with my outlook on life. I was very involved in different activities and was a cheerleader from high school through college so that definitely helped to shape me as an outgoing person. I also always grew up in the church so I am a very spiritual individual that relies heavily on my faith in God. I think that my mom was that example of being strong, confident and fearless so it allowed me to see that as a woman of color, although I am not African American like my mother, that I could also overcome adversities. I also am a huge proponent of therapy and self-care and have been going since I was in my 20s and am definitely still a work in progress but I for sure put in the work. Q: In an interview, you mentioned that America became racially divided in 2016, and this prompted you to publish the book. A: I was speaking about the election of President Trump and I do believe our country is divided more so now than ever. I cannot speak to President Trump's intention but I do think there are moments when he either blatantly or indirectly empowers certain groups and overlooks others, which causes divide. I am a huge believer in inclusivity but I think that even with President Obama he allowed for certain groups of people to finally feel included, which is great, but resulted in others feeling excluded. I think there is a lot of work, in which we all play a part, in order for us to have a more United America. Q: How did your readers react to your book? A: I have loved the responses, reviews and messages that people send to me about my book! A lot of people have different things in the book that they relate to and has really made an impact on them like being different and not being accepted, being bullied, people wanting to put them in a box of who they should be based on how they look, and family issues. It validates the reason why I wrote my book and that is to let others know that as extreme as my situation may be, they are not alone. Q: In the book, you said you took a DNA test. A: I did take a 23andMe DNA test. I speak about it in my book and how nervous I was to get the results back. Growing up everyone always called me Chinese, which is not a bad thing, but that wasn't who I was. So when I took the test I wondered what my reaction would be if it came back anything other than Korean, which I was told my entire life. Luckily it did come back that I was 87 percent Korean and I believe 9-10 percent Japanese so that was interesting. Being an adoptee and not knowing your family history or background, you are seeing a lot of us take the DNA tests for some sort of validation. That was my initial reason but I had to remind myself that the results wouldn't change who I am as a person but maybe my journey. Cindy and her younger brother / Courtesy of Cindy Wilson As many as 22,000 migrant workers have returned to Chhattisgarh from different states by Shramik Special trains till Monday, an official said. The first train as part of the service arrived in the state on May 10. Since then, 22,000 migrant labourers stranded in various parts of the country due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown have returned home by 15 such trains till Monday, a state public relations department official said. So far, 2,73,935 people, including 2,51,867 labourers, from Chhattisgarh who are stuck in various parts of the country have registered on the online platform provided by the state government for their return, he said. Till now, the Chhattisgarh government has given consent to run 45 special trains after coordinating with the states concerned to bring back these stranded people. The state government has also paid around Rs 2 crore to the Railways as travel fare to ferry 34,284 people in 23 trains, he said. Apart from trains, more than 60,000 migrant workers have returned to Chhattisgarh by other modes of transport and even on foot, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) One person was killed and 15 others were injured in a clash between two groups over a property dispute in the Hardi area here, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place in Shukul Purva village under the Hardi police station area on Monday when supporters of Vinay Kumar and Manoj Dikshit clashed, leaving 16 people injured, Assistant Superintendent of Police Ravindra Singh said. A man, identified as Asharam (70), succumbed to injuries later, he said. Cross FIRs have been lodged by both the factions in this regard, the ASP said. Additional police force has been deployed in the village and the situation is under control, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the government on Monday to lift some of the remaining restrictions imposed on business to halt the spread of the coronavirus, even as the country recorded a rise in infections since beginning to emerge from lockdown. In its decision, which is binding, the court said the virus "apparently is not a pandemic in Pakistan" and questioned why fighting it was "swallowing so much money". The court ordered shopping malls to be reopened if health authorities do not object, and curbs to be lifted on businesses opening on the weekends. The order was issued using the supreme court's broad authority to issue rulings "suo motu" - on its own motion - without waiting for a particular case to come before it. Pakistan has reported 42,125 COVID-19 cases and 903 deaths. While those totals are low so far compared to many Western countries, the numbers have risen sharply this month. Authorities, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, have said the rise in cases has been lower than projected estimates. Faced with the prospect of the lockdown causing economic collapse, they allowed retail markets to reopen last week in a phased lifting of a countrywide lockdown. Doctors have criticised the reopening, expressing concern that the virus could quickly spread and overwhelm the health system. "It will definitely lead to an increase in the number of cases, the number of critical cases," the secretary of Pakistan's Young Doctors' Association, Salman Kazmi, told Reuters this month. "We are concerned about pressure that will come on the hospitals." Re-opened markets were immediately packed with customers last week, with little sign of social distancing or face masks. The court said that as long as markets were open, there was no justification to shut shopping malls. It found no "justifiable rational or reasonable" basis for businesses to be ordered to shut over the weekend. Story continues "We find no reason why so much money is being spent on this Coronavirus (COVID-19), for that, Pakistan is not the country which is seriously affected by it," the court order said. The court order came as the country's railway announced that it will resume limited train operations from May 20, and two of the four Pakistani provinces started opening public transport. With the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holidays coming up on Sunday or Monday subject to sighting of moon, the transport and retail shopping are expected to draw massive crowds. (Writing by Asif Shahzad; Additional Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore, Pakistan; Editing by Peter Graff) Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) is expected to declare the Bihar Board 10th result 2020 anytime soon. The board has been working tirelessly to complete all the procedures on time and declare the results as early as possible. According to a report of Live Hindustan, the verification of half of the toppers have been completed and the board will declare the Bihar Board 10th results immediately after all the toppers are verified by the panel of experts. An official source informed Hindustan team that if all procedures are completed as scheduled, the Bihar Board matric result 2020 will be declared tomorrow, on May 20. However, there is no confirmation of the date yet. The board will announce about the date and time of result declaration before declaring it. Earlier, the BSEB board had decided to declare the Bihar Board matric result 2020 by the end of March or in the first week of April. However, due to the coronavirus lockdown, the evaluation of papers were left half-way. Bihar board declared the intermediate exam results on March 24 but Bihar board matric exam result got delayed. The evaluation of matric answersheet resumed on May 6 and was completed last week. The marks of students have been compiled and fed in the computer and topper list was made after which the board constituted a panel of subject experts who rechecks the answersheets of top 10 rank holders. The panel also interviews the toppers. This time, the board has decided to conduct the interviews on video call in view of maintaining social distancing. After the toppers verification is completed, BSEB will declare the Bihar Board 10th result 2020 without any delay. Candidates will be able to check their results online at biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in or biharboard.ac.in. Click here to get mobile update of your Bihar Board matric result 2020 Delaware County Council is expected to have a first reading this week of an ordinance to terminate the Delaware County Regional Water Control Authority and transfer its assets to the county. The item appears on the agenda meeting for council Tuesday and comes about one week after council filed suit in the Delaware County Common Pleas Court to block the creation of a trust to receive DELCORAs assets as part of a $276.5 million merger with Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater Inc. The proposed asset purchase agreement and merger is still pending approval by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. As representatives of the people, it is imperative that we put the publics interest first, said Delaware County Councilman Kevin Madden in a release announcing the ordinance. When the DELCORA board and the previous county council majority cut a deal to sell a county asset without a competitive process or without proper public input, I vowed to reverse that deal. This week is another step forward in accomplishing that. Council Chairman Brian Zidek explained Monday that the county, which authorized DELCORAs creation in 1971 under the Municipality Authorities Act of 1945, also has the power to terminate DELCORA under that same act. Zidek said the proposed ordinance would direct DELCORA to wind up operations; transfer its assets, funds and liabilities to the county; and halt the authority from taking any actions or spending any money that is not in connection with effectuating the ordinance. The ordinance directs the authority to remove any impediments to its termination, and approve, execute and deliver a certificate of termination to the county by June 18 so that it may be filed with the necessary governmental authorities. Any expenditure of funds by the authority that is contrary to the directives and objectives of the county as set forth in this ordinance shall be a violation of the restrictions on the expenditure of funds of the authority under the Authorities Act and a violation of the specification of projects to be undertaken by the authority under the Authorities Act, according to the ordinance. DELCORA spokesman Jay Devine said in a statement that the authority had not heard of the proposed ordinance until a news release was posted to the county website, indicating a lack of transparency and public input. Further, this unilateral action is being taken in the midst of a pandemic at a council meeting held via Zoom with little or no opportunity for meaningful public input, Devine wrote in an email. DELCORA has a legally binding agreement with Aqua Pennsylvania Wastewater and it intends to carry out the agreement. If Delaware County Council is successful in its current action, the ratepayers will pay the price with skyrocketing rates to cover the cost of future capital costs of $1.2 billion. DELCORA urges Delaware County Council to reconsider this action. Aqua likewise stated that it has an enforceable contract that council cannot break and that it intends to proceed with the sale. We question if Delaware County has thoroughly considered all that is involved if it were to dissolve DELCORA and temporarily assume the obligations and operations of a public utility company, the statement said. Aqua questioned whether the county was prepared to assume more than $150 million in debt and file a certificate with the PUC to cover DELCORAs Chester County customers, and what would happen to union contracts and pensions if the county assumes the authority. Aqua additionally questioned if the county would take sale proceeds out of a trust intended for customers and use them for another purpose, though the ordinance would appear to simply dissolve DELCORA before the transaction is approved by PUC, leaving no sale to take place and therefore no trust to be funded. Once DELCORA is terminated, any assets would fall under the countys control and county council would work to ensure taxpayers benefit through a transparent process, said Jeff Sheridan, a spokesman for the county on the DELCORA issue. Zidek said the ordinance does not impact DELCORA employees, who will still be needed to run operations for the sewer system, and is not expected to adversely affect ratepayers. DELCORA, which treats wastewater for approximately 500,000 customers in 42 municipalities in Delaware and Chester counties, is an independent municipal authority overseen by a board of directors and treats approximately 100 million gallons of wastewater every day. The nine-member DELCORA board appointed by county council unanimously approved the merger with Aqua in September, and indicated the purchase price would be used to pay off outstanding debt and to invest in a rate stabilization plan. That plan was touted as a way to save the average retail customer $1,400 and help offset almost $1.2 billion in new and ongoing capital costs over the next 20 years, as well as costs associated with regulations under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Long-Term Control Plan. The five-member county council at the time of the agreement included three Republicans John McBlain, Colleen Morrone and Michael Culp who voted in December to amend DELCORAs articles of incorporation and grant it the ability to establish a trust to exist for the benefit of rate payers to distribute to rate payers some or all of the proceeds received from any transfer and sale of the authoritys assets. Zidek and Madden, the two Democratic members at the time, decried the sale as politically motivated and claimed it was a reward for Aquas support of Republican candidates. Aqua had also pledged to honor all DELCORA employee contracts as part of the deal, including that of Executive Director Robert Willert, head of the Ridley Township Republican Committee. Democrats Christine Reuther, Elaine Paul Schaefer and Dr. Monica Taylor, who replaced McBlain, Morrone and Culp in January, joined Madden and Zidek in criticizing the sale process, arguing there was no independent analysis of available options or competitive bidding. Political appointees, self-interested management, and their corporate friends cannot be allowed to run roughshod over the democratic process, said Reuther Monday. The sale of DELCORA was not transparent, and the creation of the trust was illegal. Our job as elected representatives is to fight for the people of this county, not to protect patronage employees. Aqua denounced insinuations that the transaction was political payback last week as reprehensible and inaccurate, saying that it negotiated with DELCORA at arms length to provide a fair purchase price and stable rates for the long term. Zidek said Monday that part of the $1.2 billion figure cited as the impetus for the sale included about $500 million in liabilities that any sewer system would have as part of normal operations. At the end of the day though, whether DELCORA stayed an independent entity, whether the county owned it or whether Aqua owns it, if you spend $100 million fixing it up, that $100 million is then paid by the ratepayers, he said. There is no free lunch for anybody The only argument in my mind for selling it is if Aqua could more efficiently do these things and therefor the ultimate cost to the ratepayers would be less. But Zidek said when he probed that issue last year, he found Aquas cost of capital meaning the rate of interest that it would repay on loans would be substantially higher than the countys. The all-Democratic council last week filed suit to block the creation of the trust that would facilitate the transfer of DELCORAs assets. The complaint indicates the trust was created between DELCORA and Univest Bank Co. as trustee on Dec. 27, 2019, and its stated purpose was to benefit DELCORAs rate payers. But the suit claims one section of the agreement explicitly states that distributions from the trust will go to Aqua and not rate payers directly. The complaint adds that DELCORA maintains sole authority over distributions and that Aqua, as the distribution agent, will determine any rate stabilization for customers. Because the trustee has no authority to make any distributions without direction from DELCORA, the complaint asserts, it would essentially be used as a conduit for the distribution of public money to Aqua. The suit claims this arrangement violates the authoritys articles as amended in December. Zidek said Monday that the first reading of the new ordinance to dissolve the authority will presumably take place during the regular meeting Wednesday and a second reading would take place on June 3, when it would be potentially voted upon. The public will have an opportunity to comment, he said. My expectation would be that if a law or an ordinance is passed, people will abide by the terms of that ordinance, Zidek said. I would expect DELCORA would act in such a fashion. The agenda meeting will be broadcast live on county councils Facebook page at 10 a.m. Tuesday. The regular meeting will also be broadcast on Facebook at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Emmanuel Macron has lost his absolute majority in the French parliament after seven defectors joined a new bloc to demand a more left-wing agenda. Macron's LREM party, which upended French politics after he founded it in 2016, now has only 288 out of 577 seats in the National Assembly - one short of a majority. Seven LREM members are joining the new Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity (EDS) faction along with ten MPs from other parties. Macron's foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian today called the defections 'a pity' but said the government would still be backed by other centrist MPs. French president Emmanuel Macron, pictured during a press conference with Angela Merkel yesterday, has lost his majority in the National Assembly LREM won 314 seats at the 2017 election after Macron took the presidency weeks earlier, but has suffered a string of defections in recent months. Parliamentarians have grown frustrated with Macron over his tight grip on decision-making and his pro-business policies. The French president is elected separately from the National Assembly, meaning that Macron does not need parliamentary backing to survive as British PMs do. But an anti-Macron majority in parliament could frustrate his agenda, which has already stalled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Macron had been trying to regain momentum for his reform agenda after weeks of pension strikes and months of 'yellow vest' protests before that. LREM is still supported by the centrist MoDem party, which may now have more leverage over government policies. Foreign minister Le Drian said Macron and his prime minister Edouard Philippe remained in a 'very strong' position despite the defections. 'I think it's a pity,' he told French television, while adding that MoDem and others would still support the president. Richard Ferrand, the president of the National Assembly and a Macron ally, said the government could still count on 342 votes in the lower house. The new EDS group does not have the formal structures of a party, but its members are likely to be ejected from Macron's LREM. The group will be chaired by Paula Forteza and Matthieu Orphelin, a close ally of former environment minister Nicolas Hulot who quit Macron's government in frustration at the president's policies. Macron's popularity plunged as low as 18 per cent during the yellow vest protests in 2018 and 2019 (pictured) and he has suffered a string of defections Some local elections have been postponed this year because of the pandemic, including the second round of the Paris mayoral election. Incumbent socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo had won the first round, with Macron's candidate in third. Macron is up for re-election in 2022, five years after ousting France's traditional parties and thrashing the far-right Marine Le Pen to win the presidency in 2017. His approval ratings slumped as low as 18 per cent during the angry 'yellow vest' protests which reached their height in late 2018 and 2019. Macron has recovered some ground since then and his ratings have improved somewhat during the coronavirus crisis. A handful of polls have suggested that Macron would win again in a rematch with Le Pen in 2022, although by a smaller margin than before. The National Assembly will also be up for election in 2022, meaning that LREM will have to fight for a new majority even if Macron retains the presidency. French presidents have sometimes had to work with prime ministers of opposing parties, including Jacques Chirac who did so from 1997-2002. PR-Inside.com: 2020-05-19 18:25:18 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 650 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / May 19, 2020 / Alkame Holdings, Inc. (OTC PINK:ALKM), a publicly traded holding company, announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary Bell Food and Beverage, Inc. had received a large initial hand sanitizer Purchase Order from the Oregon State Coronavirus Task Force.The Company has begun its increase of production of sanitizers to meet the continued demand received by hospitals, nursing homes, state and local governmental organizations, as well as the increased demand anticipated by the re-opening of the U.S. economy.The Oregon State Coronavirus Task Force's initial order of hand sanitizer is expected to go directly to front line and first responders, with its main priority being hospitals. The Company's hand sanitizer is an 80% "alcohol-based" sanitizer manufactured in accordance with the US FDA & World Health Organization guidelines and is effective agents against COVID-19 as well as other germs.According to Robert Eakle, CEO "We are pleased to be assisting Oregon State and others with their global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and look forward to continuing to make a difference amid the COVID-19 crisis. We are now well positioned to meet the growing demand for sanitizing products essential to all public and private establishments to comply with health and safety standards and guidelines imposed by the federal government. We recently received FDA approval, received a liquor license, and joined the Oregon Board of Pharmacy as a compounder, and have registered several of our products under our national drug code numbers." Eakle continued by saying, "We especially want to thank our House of Representatives elected official, Bill Post who has been instrumental in this process and we are pleased to have been picked by the State of Oregon to be a provider of hand sanitizer for front line and first responders, with initial main priority being hospitals." According to a newly published report by Fortune Business Insights, titled, "Impact of COVID-19 on the Global Hand Sanitizer Market Size, Share, Industry Analysis and Regional Forecast 2019-2026.", "The hand sanitizer market size was anticipated to reach USD 1.35 billion in 2020 before the Covid-19 outbreak. However, on account of the present scenario, it is likely to generate USD 1.87 billion this year. In addition to this, it would rise tremendously from an annual growth rate of 5.06% to 45.71% in 2020."About Alkame Holdings, Inc.Alkame Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded health and wellness technology holding company, with a focus on patentable, innovative, and eco-friendly consumer products. The Company's wholly owned subsidiaries manufacture products with enhanced water utilizing a proprietary technology to create products with several unique properties. The organization is diligently building a strong foundation through the launch and acquisition of appropriate business assets, and by pursuing multiple applications by placement into several emerging business sectors, such as consumer bottled water and RTD products, household pet products, horticulture and agriculture applications, hand sanitizers, and many other various water based treatment solutions to both new and existing business platforms.For more information, visit www.alkameholdingsinc.com CONTACT:Tony SchorAlkame Holdings, Inc. Investor RelationsWebsite: www.alkameholdingsinc.com Email: info@ alkameholdingsinc.com Disclaimer/Safe Harbor: This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. The statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events that involve risks and uncertainties. Among others, these risks include the expectation that Alkame will achieve significant sales, the failure to meet schedule or performance requirements of the Company's contracts, the Company's liquidity position, the Company's ability to obtain new contracts, the emergence of competitors with greater financial resources and the impact of competitive pricing. In the light of these uncertainties, the forward-looking events referred to in this release might not occur. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.-0-SOURCE: Alkame Holdings, Inc. This file photo taken on Feb. 24, 2020, shows the logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) at their headquarters in Geneva. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on May 18 to permanently freeze U.S. funding to the WHO unless "substantive improvements" are made within the next 30 days. AFP U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Monday to permanently halt funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) if it did not commit to improvements within 30 days, and to reconsider the membership of the United States in the body. Trump suspended U.S. contributions to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting China's "disinformation" about the coronavirus outbreak, although WHO officials denied the accusation and China said it was transparent and open. "If the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership," Trump told its chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a letter posted https://bit.ly/3bNB3R7 on Twitter. DANBURY Blue-green algae has forced health officials to close countless beaches and now a recent grant will help a local scientist get a better understanding of the toxic cyanobacteria. Ed Wong, an associate biology professor at Western Connecticut State University, was recently awarded a $20,000 grant from Praxair/Linde to continue his research on cyanobacteria in Connecticuts waters and its toxicity. Cyanobacteria, or blue-green alg ae, can be harmful to humans and pets, especially if ingested. Wongs lab has spent four years monitoring regional lakes for cyanobacteria blooms, taking and analyzing weekly water samples during the summer, mainly from municipal beaches. The data weve provided have been instrumental in informing health departments on beach closures when Microcystin toxin levels exceeded federal and state limits, Wong said. Cyanobacteria blooms are most likely to appear in the summer when the temperatures are high and the water is stagnant. Wongs work has largely been funded by municipal health departments so far, but this grant will allow him to expand his research to identify which specific Cyanobacteria produce Microcystin, the genetics of toxin biosynthesis and the environmental conditions that lead to and support toxic blooms. I am very excited that Praxair/Linde has decided to partner with me to investigate this important environmental and public health issue, Wong said. The data we hope to obtain will give us key insights into how these environmental microbes behave and what we might do to protect the recreational users in our region of Connecticut. The grant will also be used to buy supplies and instruments to streamline Wongs research techniques. This will let Wongs team track other potentially Cyanobacteria-related toxins, as well as monitor and measure a variety of environmental metrics where blooms form, including nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, water pH and temperature and water ion levels. Wong will also be able to recruit student researchers. Over the past four years Ive had the privilege of working with a terrific team of student researchers, who include not only university undergraduates, but also several high schoolers, he said. I am proud that this project has not only trained a new generation of researchers - especially women scientists - but also given them an opportunity to contribute to the health and well-being of their community. Ghana: Arise To Save Your National Museum From Decay For Posterity In our series of letters from African journalists, Ismail Einashe writes that migrants are facing a tougher time since the outbreak of coronavirus. Thousands of African migrants are stuck in transit - unable to reach their destination or to get back home because the coronavirus pandemic has caused the world to come to a standstill. Take two key exit points: the Horn of Africa route via the Gulf of Aden into the Middle East and the central Mediterranean route from Libya to Europe. On the Horn of Africa route, the UN agency, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), has recorded a sharp fall in the numbers of migrant crossings. In April just 1,725 migrants arrived in Yemen from the Horn, compared to 7,223 in March, 9,624 in February and 11,101 in January of this year. Last year more than 138,000 people - an average of around 11,500 a month - crossed on boats to Yemen, the majority Ethiopians bound for Saudi Arabia in search of work. In the Somali port of Bosaso, migrants bound for the Middle East have been left stranded. 'Coronavirus has changed everything' The IOM estimates that about 400 migrants are currently been hosted by members of the local Ethiopian community in informal settlements around the city but the agency says they face increased stigma and abuse because travellers are seen as carriers of the virus. A 19-year-old migrant told IOM: "I have been here for around three months. The coronavirus has changed everything. I cannot continue. I cannot go back because all borders are closed." In Djibouti, hundreds of migrants have been abandoned by traffickers in a country with one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in Africa. Meanwhile, across the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have deported nearly 3,000 Ethiopian migrants on cargo planes over suspicions that they have coronavirus. Most of them are domestic workers - including maids - who worked legally for low pay in the oil-rich Arab states. In Libya - the other key exit point, and the most dangerous sea crossing for migrants in the world - restrictions have prevented humanitarian boats from rescuing migrants stranded at sea - with migrants forced to return to a country mired in a dangerous conflict. There is likely to be a sharp rise in attempts to migrate to Europe once travel restrictions are lifted - not least because lockdowns in African states have worsened poverty and have caused more damage to already struggling economies. As for European states, they have used the Covid-19 pandemic to once again politicise the issue of migration. Malta has closed its ports and returned migrants at sea to Libya, while Italy said migrants would be quarantined on rescue boats. Covid-19 has exposed migrants as the most marginalised people in this pandemic. The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) says that of the 167 countries that have fully or partially closed their borders to deal with coronavirus, 57 have not made an exception for those seeking asylum. The right to claim asylum is a basic right, though in recent years many states have sought to curtail it. Most African migrants stay in Africa In Europe, countries such as Austria, with a long track record of harsh anti-migration policies, have frozen the right to asylum using Covid-19 as justification. Not only have migrant rights been curtailed but also blame is falling on them, with an increase in xenophobia because migrants are framed as carriers of the disease and maligned by politicians and media alike. In Guangzhou in China, African migrants have been subjugated to evictions, harassment and forced quarantines, because of coronavirus fears, fuelled by a deep well of racism - this has sparked outrage and anger in Africa. The majority of migration in Africa is intra-continental - Zimbabweans in South Africa, South Sudanese refugees in Uganda to workers from Burkina Faso in Ivory Coast. South Africa has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Africa and it is also a regional magnet for millions of migrants. It has been the government's long-standing objective to reduce migration, and it seized the opportunity provided by the pandemic to build a border fence with Zimbabwe. There is a danger that Covid-19 will do long-term damage to migrant rights, as states continue to adopt inward-looking policies to try and keep out not only people seeking better economic opportunities in Europe, but also those fleeing political persecution. Fellow Ghanaian citizens, The Art Teachers Association of Ghana (ATAG) greets you all for your endearing love for the nation. On this special day set aside for awareness creation about the great importance of museums in historical, educational and socio-cultural development of nations, we, The Art Teachers Association of Ghana, join hands with the International Council of Museums (ICOM) to celebrate this special day on the theme Museums for Equality: Diversity and Inclusion. We celebrate all Ghanaian museum staff whether working in public or private institution, dead or alive. Congratulations for your efforts! In celebrating this day, it important to take stock of the progress of Ghanas National Museum since its official opening on March 5, 1957 in order to know its current state of affairs as well as the current state of the regional museums. This will inform us to know whether or not the core mandate for the establisment of the museums have been fulfiled. This address basically focuses on the idea of African Museums before the Birth Christ; why the need for establishing Ghana National Museum; brief history of the national museum; major challenges of the Ghanas National Musuem; and the way forward. Idea of African Museums Before the Birth Christ The concept of storing artworks in special buildings to protect them for historical, socio- emotional and cultural purposes have roots in Africa, but the narrative has not been represented as such. It is evident that centuries before the birth of Christ, Africans had built about One- Hundred and Six (106) spectacular architecture called pyramids in Khemet. Khemet is the original name of Egypt. It was later named Egypt by the Greeks. These pyramids were built in about 2800 before Christ. About Two-Hundred (200) pyramids were also built in Sudan and Nubia. The building of the pyramids, amongst other things, was to keep the dead alive through the Arts by keeping physical evidence of past and present of the Dead for posterity. The belongings, artefacts, the artistic life and heroic deeds of the dead were preserved in the pyramids. In this sense, the pyramids served as museums. The idea of museum was therefore, influenced by the construction and purpose of pyramids. Again, the narrative has been associated with Greek mythology. Egyptian concept of museum was fueled by belief in Life-after-death, a belief common to Africans. GHANA: ARISE TO SAVE YOUR NATIONAL MUSEUM FROM DECAY FOR POSTERITY 2020 International Museum Day Celebration Address from ATAG 1 Art Teachers Association of Ghana www.atagonline.org Office of the National Secretariat [email protected] Why the need for establishing Ghana National Museum Museums serve as the powerhouse of a nations material and non-material cultural history. Museums are duty bounded to identify, collect, document and preserve the artistic heritage and culture of their respective countries in which they are established. The task of museums is to consolidate and display its exhibits for public education, entertainment and other relevant purposes. Engagement with the museum exhibits help to shape identities. Based on the historical, socio-emotional, political and cultural benefits of museums, the Ghana National Museum was established and opened to the public on 5th March 1957. Just a year of its existence (that was in 1958), the hardworking Ghana Museum and Monument Board and the then Ministry of Education planned of widening the scope of the museum with particular reference to its Research programme and usefulness to a country which ... [was] fast developing. They, therefore, proposed the extension of the Museum building. They proposed a storey building which included a library, conservation laboratories, ethnography section, archeology section, a 500-seater conference hall and office spaces for administration purposes as well as LECTURE THEATRE. Fifty-Four (54) years after the overthrow of President Kwame Nkrumah who initiated this project, the construction of the main museum buildings near the temporal structure is still at the foundation stage. The place has become an abode for squatters. It has been left into ruins. The extension plan has still not been constructed.Interestingly, Ghana National Museum is one of the oldest museums in West Africa. The Ghana National Museum in Accra still inhabits the 1957 temporal building structure which was meant to be one the galleries of the original structure. Sadly, this temporal structure leaks, making the collections unsafe. On December 24, 2015, this National Gallery of the Ghana Museums was closed to refurbish the leakages when it rains. Sadly, due to lack of political will, the renovation which began in 2015 has not been completed till date. In addition to the Ghana National Museum, is the Museum of Science and Technology (MST) near Accra Technical University (formerly called Accra poly). This museum also leaks. Fellow citizens, you may be wondering, if this is the condition faced by National Museums cited in the capital of the nation, what then is the situation of those outside the capital? There are also regional museums which are unfortnately inhabiting castles and forts which were not meant as museum buildings. They are Volta Regional Museum, Ho (1973); Cape Coast Castle Museum, (1974); St. Georges Castle (Elmina Castle) Museum (1997); Ussher Fort Museum (2007); and Fort Apollonia Museum of Nzema Culture and History (2010). Museums building are well planned and constructed such that the amount of air that enters is restricted in order not to destroy the exhibits. The forts and castles in themselves are monuments and need to be protected.The reasons for the establishment of regional museum was to: 2020 International Museum Day Celebration Address from ATAG 2 Art Teachers Association of Ghana www.atagonline.org Office of the National Secretariat [email protected] speed up greatly the work of collecting specimen of indigenous craftworks and artworks. to encourage people to cultivate the habit of, and to take pride in, donating specimens for the National collection instead of selling them to tourists; and for the people of Ghana to learn about their cultural heritage. Fellow citizens, it would surprise you to know that the Ghana National Museum is older than some Asiatic museums including National Art Museum of China (NAMOC). The construction of National Art Museum of China began in 1958, and was completed and opened to the public in 1963 under the Chairmanship of Mao Zedong, The museum is a national cultural landmark after foundation of the People's Republic of China. The building, with 21 exhibition halls in its 6 stories, covers an area of more than 18,000 square meters. The museum boasts of an exhibition area of 6,660 square meters. The robust development of National Art Museum of China benefits greatly from the support of the central government and the direct leadership of the Chinese Ministry of Culture. The government has established a special collection fund, which laid a solid foundation for the museum's collection of art treasure. Yet, Ghana National Museum was opened in 1957. What lesson can the nation learn from this? When will our leaders develop the political will to complete buiding our national museum and start to build a National Art Gallery? Major challenges of the Ghana National Museum The museum is facing leadership deficiency; has magnificent physical infrastructural deficit; serious funding problems; lacks proper branding strategy; and obsolete laws. Sometimes the degree of neglect of historical documentation seemingly causes the colonialists to say unkind and false things about us as a people. Desipte the glaring historical feats and richness of Africans, the Colonialists painted a sad picture about Africa which needs to be demystified. The Arabs came to Africa 700 AD yet the Encyclopedia Britannica (1910, p. 326) wrote that: . . with the exception of the lower Nile valley and what is known as Roman Africa ..., is, so far as its native inhabitants are concerned, a continent practically without a history, and possessing no records from which such a history might be reconstructed. Frobenius (1913, p. 2) also wrote that ... Africa is poorer in recorded history than can be imagined. 'Black Africa' 'is a Continent which has nor mystery, nor history! He added that: If the soil of Africa is turned up today by the colonist's ploughshare, no ancient weapon will lie in the furrow ; if the virgin soil be cut by a canal, its excavation will reveal no ancient tomb, and if the axe effects a clearance in the primeval forests, it will nowhere ring upon the foundations of an old-world palace. But the reality is that among the exhibits of the Ghana National Museum, are works dating as far back as 4000 BC. Our museum must reorient us because we have been disoriented. There is so much good things about Africa and Ghana for that matter, to say that has not been said. 2020 International Museum Day Celebration Address from ATAG 3 Art Teachers Association of Ghana www.atagonline.org Office of the National Secretariat [email protected] Besides, there is so much that has been said about Africa that need to be REFUTED. Our museum must let us know our past, current realities to shape our future. What is the way forward? One of the solution to the problems of the Ghana National Museum is proactive and action- oriented leadership. Such leadership is need to address the challenges of physical infrastructure, obsolete laws, funding concerns, and introduce a good branding strategy. We, the Art Teachers Association of Ghana craves the indulgence of the media to proritise and show interest in bringing out issues of the museum as well as Art related issues since it boils down on national identity, public art education and enculturation of the current and future generations. The media have demonstated this level of proactiveness in the wake of the COVID- 19 pandemic and would definitely contribute in this regard. Our national Museum must reflect our varied artistic cultures, and be a powerhouse of our art history and identity. Long Live Ghana, Long Live the Art Teachers Association of Ghana Thank you for your audience. May God protect us all as we follow the guidelines and protocols for our safety and welbeing as we traverse through these difficulttimes of COVID-19 pandemic. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video By Trend The Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) project, which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria, will have no serious deviations from the originally set deadline, said Executive Officers of the project company ICGB Teodora Georgieva and Konstantinos Karagiannakos, Trend reports via the company. The two noted that efforts are being made to reorganize the activities so that the deadlines for the construction of the interconnector are not seriously affected despite the challenges that COVID-19 brings. "Currently, we have no reason to believe there will be serious deviations from the originally set deadline according to the contract for the implementation of IGB," said the executive officers. Activities on the realization of the IGB project are progressing despite the unexpected situation related to the measures against the spread of COVID-19, welding is underway both on the territory of Greece and Bulgaria The IGB project envisages the construction of a gas interconnector that will link the gas transmission systems of Greece and Bulgaria. The total length of the gas pipeline is 182.6 km, and its capacity for gas transmission is 3 billion cubic meters per year with the option to reach 5 billion cubic meters. The route of the gas pipeline is divided into 7 main lots, the shortest being 9.55 km long and the longest - 71.90 km. 106 km of the route in Bulgaria will be completed with automatic welding, and the remaining 45 km - by manual welding. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nina Larson and Jing Xuan Teng (Agence France-Presse) Geneva, Switzerland/Beijing, China Tue, May 19, 2020 09:45 611 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd8ef10b 2 World Xi-Jinping,WHO,coronavirus,virus-corona,COVID-19,COVID-19-drugs,vaccines,SARS-CoV-2,pandemic Free Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday Beijing has been "transparent" throughout the coronavirus crisis, and offered to share a vaccine as soon as one was available -- as well as $2 billion in aid. Governments including the US and Australia have called in recent weeks for an investigation into the origins of the virus, which has become a flashpoint in deteriorating tensions between Washington and Beijing. Both US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have accused China of a lack of transparency over the issue, and repeatedly pushed the theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese maximum-security laboratory. Addressing the first-ever virtual gathering of the WHO's annual assembly, Xi said China has "always had an open, transparent and responsible attitude," and had shared information on the virus in a timely manner. Chinese scientists have said that the virus emerged from a market that sold wild animals in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December, though officials have more recently cast doubt about its origins. Authorities in Wuhan have come under fire for reprimanding and silencing doctors who raised the alarm about the virus late last year. China is also accused of having delayed confirmation that the virus was transmissible between humans. China has strenuously denied accusations of a cover up, insisting it has always shared information with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other countries in a timely manner. The assembly was set to discuss a resolution tabled by the European Union that calls for an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the international response to the coronavirus crisis. Speaking via videolink with a painting of the Great Wall in the background, Xi said China supports a "comprehensive evaluation" of the global response to the pandemic after it "has been brought under control" and that the probe should be led by the WHO. The inquiry should "sum up experiences and improve shortcomings" and "adhere to the principles of objectivity and fairness", Xi told the World Health Assembly. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus pledged at the assembly to launch an independent probe to review the coronavirus pandemic response "at the earliest appropriate moment". Making vaccine 'global public good' While Washington has tried to pin the blame for the pandemic on China, Beijing has sought to reframe the narrative, offering medical aid to countries around the world. With the world racing to find a drug to stop the pandemic, Xi pledged Monday to make any potential vaccine developed by China a "global public good" once it was put into use. This move would be China's contribution to achieving accessibility and affordability of a vaccine in developing countries as well, Xi said. China says it has five potential vaccines in clinical trials. A top Chinese health official said last week that more vaccine candidates are in the pipeline and awaiting approval for human trials. Experts say it will take at least 12 to 18 months to develop an effective vaccine, or even longer. Xi also told the assembly that China will provide $2 billion in international aid over two years to help with COVID-19 response and economic development in affected countries, especially in the developing world. "China will work with members of the Group of 20 nations to implement the debt relief initiative for the poorest countries," he said. Xi also said China would work with the United Nations to set up a "global humanitarian response depot" in China and facilitate the international movement of medical supplies. Jason Fochtman, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Monday was a big day. Why? Gyms are open again! This article is written fresh off my first day back at the gym. Overall, it was great. I used the lat-machine, a real bench press (finally), and tried that ab-machine everyone loves, which is actually for your lower back. Admittedly, a few issues arose: sweating through my mask (not fun), using an entire bottle of sanitizer (better stock up again), having to ask some guy to spot me, but shooing him away after he sneezed, and several other awkward inconveniences. This made the importance of continuing social distancing very clear to me. For those of you still wanting to maintain social distancing without sacrificing your fitness, lets talk about some stay at home remedies, or as I like to call them: the COVID 15. Yes, COVID is in the spotlight for now. However, heart disease and diabetes didnt go on vacation. Regular exercise is known to increase insulin sensitivity, helping with diabetes management and weight loss. An ongoing joke in society is that of gaining the COVID 15, meaning the 15 pounds one may gain from staying home, binge watching their favorite shows, and overindulging on snacks. Moreover, lets find the best way to stay fit while staying safe at home; instead of gaining 15 pounds, may we strive to turn the COVID 15 into 15 minutes of daily exercise for our health. Pelosi Wants Answers From Trump Regarding IG Firing House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she wants details about the President Donald Trumps decision to fire State Department Inspector General (IG) Steve Linick. Pelosi sent a letter to Trump insisting that he give more specific answers as to why Linick was fired, even though the president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have given their reasons. Protecting the transparency and accountability in government that is embodied by the vital work of Inspectors General requires that Congress know whether there is clear and substantial cause for an Inspector Generals removal, Pelosi wrote in her letter (pdf) on Monday. Trump said at a round table with restaurant executives Tuesday that Pompeo requested the move to fire the IG and that it is within his executive authority to do so. But they did ask me to do it and I did it. I have the right to terminate the inspector generals. And I would haveI would have suggestedand I did suggest, in pretty much all cases, you get rid of the attorney generals, because it happens to be very political, whether you like it or not. And many of these people were Obama appointments, and so I just got rid of him, the president said. Trump sent Pelosi a notice of Linicks dismissal Friday, which will be finalized in 30 days. Pelosi said Trumps decision to fire Linick is part of a pattern of undermining the integrity of the Inspectors General and therefore our government. Trump has fired five inspectors general since taking office. Obama also fired IGs when he was president and IGs under Obama faced major obstructions when trying to conduct their oversight. During the Obama administration, a group of 47out of the nations 73 federalinspectors general signed an open letter (pdf) opposing the obstruction of their fellow IGs investigations. The 2014 letter said the White House had imposed serious limitations on access to records that have recently impeded the work of Inspectors General at the Peace Corps, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Justice. They wrote that the IGs have recently faced restrictions on their access to certain records available to their agencies that were needed to perform their oversight work in critical areas. Pompeo Recommended Trump Fire Linick Pompeo clarified that he asked the president to fire Linick because Linick was not contributing to the state department the way he was instructed. I went to the President and made clear to him that Inspector General Linick wasnt performing a function in a way that we had tried to get him to, that was additive for the State Department, very consistent with what the statute says hes supposed to be doing, he told The Washington Post. The kinds of activities hes supposed to undertake to make us better, to improve us. According to the state department, Linick was responsible for providing oversight of more than 70,000 Department of State and U.S. Agency for Global Media employees, 270 overseas missions and other facilities worldwide, and more than $70 billion in Department of State, U.S. Agency for Global Media, and foreign assistance resources. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) had called on Linick to investigate Pompeo over a Saudi arms sale. We unalterably oppose the politically-motivated firing of inspectors general and the Presidents gutting of these critical positions, Engel and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) wrote in a statement. Pelosi reiterated Engels concern, writing, especially in light of revelations that Mr. Linicks firing may have been linked to an investigation into the approval of an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia opposed by the Congress. Pompeo denied the charge that firing Linick was in any way a retaliation. It is not possible that this decision, or my recommendation rather, to the president, was based on any effort to retaliate for any investigation that was going on or is currently going on, Pompeo told The Washington Post. National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bia East constituency, Richard Acheampong, has stated categorically that the Electoral Commission is creating space for corrupt practices before and during the upcoming General elections in December. Richard Acheampong as a panelist on UTV's 'Adekye Nsroma' newspaper discussion programme explained that it is never fair for the EC to allow Ghanaians attain a new voter identity with a passport or Ghana card. "Finding persons to guarantee ones nationality will uplift the corruption level in the country because no one would guarantee your nationality to get a voters ID card for free . . . " he said. The NDC communications team member cited that this move by the EC is to deliberately intimidate lots of people from voting. Source: Elizabeth Semiheva Bedi, [email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Jaime King appeared gaunt and without her wedding ring on Tuesday after she was granted a temporary restraining order against her estranged husband, Kyle Newman. The actress, 41, was spotted out in Santa Monica a day after it emerged she had filed for divorce from Newman and had been granted a restraining order against him. Jaime stepped out on Tuesday without her wedding ring, which she has not been seen wearing as of late. Single: Jaime King appeared gaunt and without her wedding ring on Tuesday after she was granted a temporary restraining order against her estranged husband, Kyle Newman The missing accessory should come as no surprise, considering the actress has begun the process to legally end her marriage to Kyle. Jaime also requested a restraining order against her husband, which has since been granted by a judge, according to People. The order is to remain in place until a court hearing on June 8, and comes after the actress filed a domestic violence petition against her ex. A source told the magazine that Jaime is 'distraught' over the situation. On the go: The actress, 41, was spotted out in Santa Monica a day after it emerged she had filed for divorce from Newman and had been granted a restraining order against him King has been married to Newman, 44, since 2007 after meeting on his film Fanboys, and together they share sons James, six, and Leo, four. The couple's marriage had come under scrutiny lately after Jaime was seen out without her wedding band. The duo were reportedly quarantining apart in recent days, with Jaime in California and Kyle in Pennsylvania with their children, according to Life & Style. Jaime and Kyle are 'taking some time apart to focus on themselves,' a source told the site. 'He's [Kyle] been staying with his family for months and is leaning on them for support,' the source added. Legal matters: The actress emerged a day after a judge granted her restraining order request against her husband of 12 years, according to People Heartbreak: A source told the magazine that Jaime is 'distraught' over the situation. Jaime is quarantining in California while her sons isolate with Newman in Pennsylvania On Tuesday Kyle issued a statement in response to the divorce filing and restraining order, with a representative for the star telling TMZ: 'Kyle was deeply saddened by Jaimes attempt to obtain court orders based solely on false claims without providing him any opportunity to respond'. 'As a result, he was extremely pleased that the judge nevertheless permitted their children to remain in his care,' added Newman's spokesperson. 'As Kyle continues to solo parent, as he has done throughout this pandemic, he remains entirely focused on putting the childrens stability and welfare first. Kyle wants nothing but the best for his whole family and hopes that Jaime can find the peace and help she needs.' Court battle: On Tuesday Kyle issued a statement, with a representative for the star telling TMZ : 'Kyle was deeply saddened by Jaimes attempt to obtain court orders' Splitsville: King is divorcing Newman after nearly 13 years of marriage and two children together (pictured June 2019) The couple had an instant connection that blew Jaime away. 'I don't know why, but some part of me was instantly connected to him, and I loved him so much,' Jaime told InStyle Weddings. 'It was intense. I never thought that would happen to me.' They moved in together three months after first meeting, and married in November 2007 at the place they had their first date, the Greystone Park and Manor in Los Angeles. Uber Technologies Inc, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company, is laying off 25 percent of its staff. It will cut a total of 6,700 jobs, including the 3,700 it had announced earlier this month, Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said. After Uber laid off 3,500 of its workforce via a Zoom call that lasted for a little over three minutes last week, the ride-sharing firm has now announced it is cutting 3,000 more jobs in its second round of lay offs. Uber Technologies Inc, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company, is laying off 25 percent of its staff. It will cut a total of 6,700 jobs, including the 3,700 it had announced earlier this month, Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said, adding that the company plans to reduce investments in several non-core projects, according to Reuters. "We have made the incredibly difficult decision to reduce our workforce by around 3,000 people, and to reduce investments in several non-core projects," Khosrowshahi wrote in a letter to employees on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported. Uber will concentrate on its core businesses in ride-hailing and food delivery, Khosrowshahi said. Uber is also closing or consolidating some 45 offices globally, including its Pier 70 office in San Francisco, a branch responsible for its experimental projects like self-driving cars. Over the next 12 months, it will begin the process of moving its Asia-Pacific headquarters out of Singapore to a new location "in a market where we operate our services," according to the company. The firm will reduce its costs by over $1 billion a year by these actions, the company said. Shares in Uber rose 8 percent to $35.27 on the news. In a separate regulatory filing, Uber on Monday said the layoffs and restructuring measures will result in one-time, mostly cash-based charges of between $210 million and $260 million in the second quarter. Overall, the measures are expected to generate $1 billion in annual cost savings compared with pre-pandemic budget plans. Uber employed 28,600 people before the pandemic crippled its business, according to a regulatory filing at the end of the first quarter. The companys initial wave of 3,700 layoffs affected less-costly customer support and recruiting teams, while Mondays announcement affects 3,000 employees across nearly all departments. Smaller US rival Lyft Inc said late last month it would cut about 17 percent of its workforce. Before the pandemic struck, Uber said it would become profitable on the basis of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by the end of this year. The company withdrew that guidance as global stay-at-home orders to curb the virus pummeled its ride-hailing business. Uber has been working on various other businesses, including the development of self-driving cars and a freight logistics network. Khosrowshahi did not directly mention these businesses in his email and a spokesman declined to comment beyond the email, Reuters said. "We began 2020 on an accelerated path to total company profitability. Then the coronavirus hit us with a once-in-a-generation public health and economic crisis," Khosrowshahi noted. He said Uber must establish itself as a self-sustaining enterprise no longer in need of outside capital, calling the companys food delivery business Uber Eats the next enormous growth opportunity. Uber is currently in talks with GrubHub Inc to reinforce its food delivery business. "If there is one silver lining regarding this crisis, it is that Eats has become an even more important resource for people at home and for restaurants," he said. "We no longer need to look far for the next enormous growth opportunity, we are sitting right on top of one," IANS reported. Khosrowshahi also cautioned that accelerating Eats business now still doesn't come close to covering the expenses. The profitability 'is not going to happen overnight.' Khorowshahi's email said Uber would close its startup incubator program and Artificial Intelligence research lab. Uber was also looking at strategic alternatives for Uber Works, a platform Uber launched in October to help companies fill staffing gaps with temporary workers during peak demand. The ride-hailing business has suffered a near-total collapse as large parts of the United States and the rest of the world shut to combat the spread of the virus. Nearly two-thirds of Ubers revenue is generated in the United States and Canada, where stay-at-home orders were issued in the middle of March. The company said that trip requests had plummeted 80 percent globally in April, but were slowly recovering. Uber in negotiation for Grubhub Uber is in negotiations to buy online food delivery company Grubhub Inc in an all-stock deal, according to people familiar with the matter. A merger could give Uber Eats' money-losing restaurant delivery service a leg up on market leader DoorDash at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has upended Uber's core business of shuttling people from place to place, according to a Reuters report. Uber and Grubhub are still haggling over the deal's stock exchange ratio, and there is no certainty that they will reach an agreement, the sources said. The potential acquisition suggests that the Silicon Valley disruptor is doubling down on its fastest-growing service in a scramble to adapt to what is likely to be a long business interruption. "This would be an aggressive move by Uber to take out a major competitor on the Uber Eats front and further consolidate its market position," Wedbush analysts said in a client note. Add CoolSocial badge. Show it by adding this HTML code on your site: Chchcircus.com scored 41 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 2 Apr 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. Add a widget like this on your site: click here The total number of people who shared the chchcircus homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the chchcircus homepage on StumbleUpon. The total number of people who shared the chchcircus homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the chchcircus homepage on Twitter + the total number of chchcircus followers (if chchcircus has a Twitter account). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the chchcircus homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if chchcircus has a Facebook fan page). Basic Information PAGE TITLE Christchurch Circus Centre DESCRIPTION Christchurch Circus Centre is a community space offering circus classes for all ages KEYWORDS acrobatics, aerials, christchurch, circus, island, juggling, new, silks, south, tissu, trapeze, zealand OTHER KEYWORDS The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The title found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. Domain and Server DOCTYPE HTML 5.0 CHARSET AND LANGUAGE UTF-8 DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux Type of server and offered services. Character set and language of the site. The language of chchcircus.com as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Operative System running on the server. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for chchcircus.com by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The type of Facebook page. The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. The URL of the found Facebook page. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND It's tough for our political leaders to chart a way back to normality from lockdown, and it will take much longer than any of us would like it to. But the impact of unemployment resulting from Covid-19 and the lockdown will be much harder to recover from, even when lockdown has largely been reversed. The report from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency shows that the numbers of people aged 25 to 49 claiming universal credit or jobseekers doubled to 32,090 during March - leaving an overall claimant count rate of 6.1%. Read More That is a frightening reality for those in the 30-plus age-group in particular, who are more likely to have dependent children and higher monthly outgoings. If the businesses which formerly employed those people do not return - and there is that risk, particularly for firms in sectors like retail, tourism and hospitality - its going to be tough to find alternative work. Its hard for anyone to find the opportunities and self-confidence to retrain and secure new employment if and when things pick up again. Arguably, the older you are the harder it is. Not that its any better to be younger in this crisis, as numbers of 16 to 24 year-olds claiming benefits have almost doubled to reach 11,165, growth of 88%. Read More Sadly the total claimant count figure for April of 56,200 is not going to be the peak for Covid-19-related unemployment. Thats because many people who would otherwise have lost their jobs by now have instead been put on the governments furlough scheme, which means they are still technically employed. However, that furlough scheme runs out at the end of October, and if companies arent ready to fully reinstate their staff, there could be many more tens of thousands job losses and people claiming benefits. Government - both the Executive and the UK government - has demonstrated great resourcefulness in coming up with schemes like furlough, and the 10K and 25K grant schemes, as well as todays announcement of extending rates relief for firms here in Northern Ireland. But more help will soon be needed for the newly-unemployed. GALLUP, N.M. - On the eve of New Mexicos shutdown of bars and restaurants to stem the spread of the coronavirus, the city of Gallup came alive for one last night of revelry. Before the night was out in the desert oasis on the fringes of the Navajo Nation, 98 people were detained for public intoxication and sent to sober up at a detox centre. Several homeless people also sought refuge in the same cinder block building, which doubles as a shelter. Somewhere in the mix, lurked the virus. The outbreak seeded at the NaNizhoozhi Center would combine with the small, local hospitals ill-fated staffing decisions and its well-intentioned but potentially overambitious treatment plans to create a perfect storm that has overwhelmed doctors and nurses and paralyzed this community in the states hard-hit northwest. In all, 22 people infected with the coronavirus were transferred from the detox centre to Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital, the only acute care medical centre for the general public within 110 miles (180 kilometres) of Gallup. They were putting multiple cots in one room to accommodate them, said pulmonologist Rajiv Patel, who helped lead the hospitals initial response. To care for that influx, any available doctor was pressed into service, including those who normally dont handle critically ill patients, Patel said. Thats right when we overloaded, said hospital CEO David Conejo. Now weve got too many patients, and too few (staff) to help. Rehoboths eight intensive care beds are full, and now it has to transfer all coronavirus patients with severe breathing problems away from the facility and the adjacent Gallup Indian Medical Center, which attends exclusively to the Native American community. Of about 500 medical and support staff, at least 32 hospital workers have become infected, and doctors and nurses say that they all live with the fear of spreading the virus to their colleagues and relatives. Conejo blames Patel for the fact that the hospital became overwhelmed, saying the doctor took on more COVID-19 patients than the staff could handle because of his ambition but also good intentions. But Patel who arrived at Rehoboth in March from an Army reserve stint in Kuwait said the hospital simply didnt have enough staff with the experience to provide the right care and struggled to train more quickly. Patel has since left to work at Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona. Twice, the doctor said, alarms went off during the night on breathing machines only to be misinterpreted by overnight staff. Within two days of those missteps, he and colleagues decided that severely ill coronavirus patients would have to go elsewhere a heart-wrenching decision that meant sick people would be treated far from family and one that underscored the consequences of not having adequate care in the region. It was an easy decision because it was the right thing to do for patients, said Patel, whose wife is Navajo. It was very saddening for me personally because my heart and soul are completely invested in the health situation on the reservation. Many nurses and doctors, meanwhile, say staffing at the hospital was inadequate because of Conejos move to cut back on nurses in the first week of March to offset declining hospital revenues after elective surgeries were suspended. They voiced their discontent at a recent protest calling for his resignation. We knew it was coming to McKinley County, there wasnt any ifs, ands or buts. I was directed that I had to let go of 17 agency nurses, said Felicia Adams, chief nursing officer who has recovered from COVID-19. We want to take care of our patients, we dont want to have to send them away. Conejo defended his oversight, noting that he deferred to the hospitals board of trustees and a team of nurses and physicians on final decisions. He also said the hospital couldnt afford not to cut staff in March and that the facility wanted to reduce overall employment to qualify for small-business assistance. But Adams and others believe Conejo put profits ahead of care. Physician Caleb Lauber said that, as experienced contract nurses were let go in March, unfamiliar responsibilities were thrust upon other nurses given only on-the-fly training. New Mexicos state auditor is seeking more information about the county-owned hospitals finances from its private operators. State health officials and philanthropists, meanwhile, are recruiting more than a dozen volunteer medical professionals and have hired a new critical care physician for the hospital. While much of New Mexico is showing signs of emerging from the initial wave of the pandemic, stubbornly high rates of infection and death persist in the states northwest corner including in the Navajo Nation that extends into Arizona and Utah. More than half of New Mexicos roughly 6,200 confirmed infections are in Native Americans. For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and lead to death. As the Navajo have suffered in this pandemic, so, too has Gallup, whose fate has long been tied to the neighbouring Navajo Nation. In normal times, the citys population of 22,000 can quickly quadruple in size since it is a crucial source of supplies and water for faraway Navajo households, many of which lack full plumbing. The city is also a destination for many of the most marginalized Navajo, those who have left home and ended up on Gallups streets, often as they grapple with alcohol addiction. Officials suspect that the coronavirus whipped through the homeless population, and some passed through the NaNizhoozhi Center, putting the liquor-tax funded shelter and detox centre at the heart of the citys outbreak. The city and its rural outskirts account for about 32% of COVID-19 infections statewide, with 79 related deaths as of Tuesday. To stem the spread, Gallup was subject to an extreme 10-day lockdown this month cutting the city off from many of those who depend on it for supplies. Authorities have now set up free water stations and deliveries to avoid the risk of transmission posed by coin-operated water stations, where hand after hand scooped out returned change. Now, the NaNizhoozhi Center is also part of the response as it steers destitute people infected by the coronavirus toward isolation in rooms at four otherwise unoccupied motel buildings. Some 140 people are currently participating in the impromptu system, and officials hope it will interrupt a treadmill of infections among Gallups homeless population. But the virus has also taken its toll on the centre. In addition to the 22 residents who became infected, several staff have been sickened by the virus and some simply stopped showing up, said Kevin Foley, executive director of the centre. Six jobs now are open at a rate of $10 and hour, with just one application, he said. He yearns for a Hollywood ending. I wish that all those people would come over in those space suits and just clean the place for good, he said, but its not like that. ___ Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca contributed to this report from Flagstaff, Arizona. Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Thabane resigned on Tuesday, after months of political crisis that included an investigation into the murder of his estranged wife, quashing parliament, and bringing out the army on the streets of Maseru in order to maintain order. "I appear before you to announce that the work that you had assigned me may not be over but the time to retire from the great theatre of action, take leave from public life and office has finally arrived," he said in a national television address. There had been calls for Thabane, 80, to step down after his estranged wife Lipolelo Thabane, 58, was shot dead outside her house just two days before his inauguration in 2017. The two were embroiled in a messy divorce that kept the issue on the front pages of the local press before her murder. Police said they found evidence that his mobile phone number was in the communications records from the day of the murder. Those within his All Basotho Convention (ABC) party and opposition political rivals called for Thabane to resign. After pressure from all sides, Thabane said earlier this year that he would leave office by 31 July due to his age. "But because of the deeply entrenched political polarisation in our society, some decided to use my announcement for political gain while others resigned themselves into further entrenching divisions among Basotho," he said on Tuesday. New prime minister on Wednesday He could be referring to trying to block the legislature last March, suspending parliament after the National Assembly voted against him calling for new elections if he lost a no confidence vote. In April the constitutional court overturned his suspension of parliament. He deployed the army on the streets of the capital to act against rogue national elements for the day. Although Thabane is still at the head of the All Basotho Convention (ABC) party, the ABC and the opposition moved to nominate Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro as his successor. King Letsie III, Lesotho's supreme ruler, is expected to appoint Majoro at premier and will likely be sworn in on Wednesday. The murder trial Thabane's current wife Maesaiah Thabane, 43, whom he married just two months after his estranged wife's death, is out on bail after being charged with murder. There is no indication that Thabane could be charged with murder as a co-conspirator, but others speculate he brokered a deal before stepping down in order to avoid being charged. Thabane has repeatedly denied participating in any part of this then-wife's murder. Two weeks ago, Reuters newswire ran a story citing that a mediator, businessman Teboho Mojapela, had met with Lipolelo to try and broker an agreement for divorce on the day she died. She said: '...I am ready to free him', Mojapela told Reuters. 'I just want to be looked after, he said. Shut for nearly two months, several markets in the national capital were buzzing with activity on Tuesday, but many shopkeepers complained of less inflow of customers even as confusion over opening up of establishments using the odd-even formula prevailed. While popular markets like Connaught Place and Khan Market bore a deserted look, traders in markets like Tilak Nagar, Karol Bagh and Sarojini Nagar were seen cleaning their shops. Connaught Place, which is the commercial hub in central Delhi, saw traders marking circles to ensure that visitors can ensure social distancing. At Karol Bagh in central Delhi, the Gaffar mobile market started functioning on an odd-even basis. Odd numbered shops remained open and many shopkeepers were busy setting their shop in order. Hawkers who do repair works and odd jobs like replacing tempered glass on mobiles in the market were not to be seen. However, a large number of people had gathered in the market to get repair work done. Market association and representatives police kept urging people to ensure social distancing. Shops selling non-essential items in Main Market Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi opened as well. From shoes, paint, utensils, jewellery, cloth shops to hardware, chemical and welding shops had raised their shutters in Bhogal market in south Delhi without following the odd-even scheme of opening shops. Sushil Khatri, president of the Tilak Nagar Main Market Association in west Delhi, said shops had opened but many were clueless about the odd-even rule. "Since shops have opened after 56 days, many are cleaning them and setting things in order. We have requested the police to allow us to open the shops for today. We are waiting for more guidelines from the Delhi Police on the odd-even formula," he said. Policemen were seen making announcements, urging shopkeepers not to encroach on roads and to ensure that crowding doesn't take place outside their shops. Shopkeepers were also gearing up for a new kind of challenge post lockdown by trying to protect themselves from infection. Harminder Singh, who runs a kitchenware shop in the Tilak Nagar market, said as a precautionary measure, customers will not be allowed inside the shop. He also had a rope tied outside his shop and had kept a sanitiser bottle as a precautionary measure. "While we are happy that shops can now be opened after 50 days, we have requested all traders to adhere to SOPs (thermal scanning, social distancing and wearing masks at all times) failing which action as contemplated under the DDMA Act is liable to be taken. All shops will be closed at the prescribed timings given in the guidelines so all reach home safely before the 7 pm deadline," Atul Bhargava, president, New Delhi Traders Association said. In its guidelines issued on Monday, the Delhi government permitted opening of markets on an odd-even basis. However, on ground there was disappointment as well as confusion over the opening of shops on an odd-even basis. In a letter to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lt Governor Anil Baijal, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) urged them to reconsider the odd-even formula for shop opening, observing that only 5 lakh shops could open in the city owing to the arrangement. Khan Market traders said the odd-even rule cannot be effectively implemented in the market and they are figuring out the modalities as some stores opened in the posh market. "We are in a different market. Our shops are not even numbered in a way that we can implement the odd-even formula. And are the visitors going to visit the stores keeping the shop number and odd and even date in mind? There was absolutely nil business today. "At least retailmarkets like ours which are set up in a way that social distancing measures can easily be implemented, should be allowed to open completely," Sanjeev Mehra, President, Khan Market Traders Association said. Pradyumn Jain, president Main Market Association, Laxmi Nagar, said that the shops opened according to odd-even formula. "We are numbering shops, irrespective of the type of items sold by them, to follow the odd-even rule as directed by the Delhi government," Jain said. The shopkeepers also complained that customer inflow was minimal. Pravin Verma of Verma Jewellers at the Laxmi Nagar market, said, "Everybody is concerned about customers. The situation is bad. It was not good earlier as well but coronavirus and lockdown have hit everybody hard and people are buying only essential items these days. Jewellery would be the last item on their mind." Bhargava said the Connaught Place was almost deserted and very few shops opened as they were not evensure that customers would come or not. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prairie Village leaders vote down ordinance requiring masks inside businesses PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. - The Prairie Village City Council voted against a proposal that would have made masks a requirement inside businesses. The ordinance, introduced by Councilwoman Jori Nelson, would have required anyone over the age of 5 to wear a mask whenever they went inside a Prairie Village business. A bold decision against fashion accessory requirement . . . Here's the roundup and a sign of the times that might or might not impact so-called "community spread" inside this enclave . . . Checkit: COLUMBIA, Mo. Civil rights groups on Tuesday appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court after a local judge dismissed their lawsuit seeking to allow all Missourians to vote absentee in upcoming elections to help reduce the risk of catching or spreading the coronavirus. The lawsuit was filed in Jefferson City by the ACLU of Missouri and the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition on behalf of the NAACP, the League of Women Voters and several residents. It claims that requiring voters to appear at traditional polling places during the pandemic puts lives at risk. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem in a Monday judgment tossed the lawsuit, writing that the civil rights groups who sued were asking for widespread absentee voting for all future elections regardless of whether COVID-19 is still around. Beetem wrote that the plaintiffs sought radical and permanent transformation of Missouri voting practices without the authorization of the Legislature. Voters currently can request absentee ballots only if they provide an excuse for why they cant vote in person. Illness is one option, but the law isnt explicit on whether the illness excuse covers healthy voters concerned about catching or spreading COVID-19. Missouri lawmakers last week sent a bill to Republican Gov. Mike Parson to ensure expanded access to absentee voting. Under the bill, people considered at-risk of the coronavirus those age 65 and older, living in a long-term care facility or with certain existing health problems could vote absentee without needing to have their ballot notarized. Anyone else could cast a mail-in ballot but would need to get it notarized. Even with the passage of legislation last week providing for mail voting options, this case presents important issues that will determine whether Missouri voters can safely exercise their fundamental right to vote in 2020, including the ability of voters to cast absentee ballots without a notary, said Denise Lieberman, lawsuit co-counsel and general counsel to the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition. A spokesman for the Missouri Attorney General's Office, which is fighting the lawsuit, declined comment. New Delhi, May 19 : Sonakshi Sinha is missing friends and going to work, but doesn't mind sitting at her home in lockdown if "it means that we can stop the spread of the virus". The actress feels fortunate to be at home with her loved ones during the pandemic, and says that the crisis has made everyone realise not to take things for granted. "I miss my friends but that's really not even an issue if you put things in perspective. I'm okay with the lockdown if it means that we can stop the spread of the virus. It made everyone realise not to take things for granted," Sonakshi told IANS while talking about how she is coping up with the lockdown. Asked about the most challenging thing she had to do during the lockdown, Sonakshi said: "Nothing. I am fortunate to be at home with my loved ones. When you look around and see people who are away from their homes, families, not being able to feed themselves...those are the challenges. My heart goes out to them and all I want to do is help." The actress understands that "we are all in this together", and is hoping "for the best". The lockdown might have kept Sonakshi away from work, but also gave her a chance to reconnect with art. Now, the "Dabangg" star has decided to auction her art for a good cause. "I reconnected with my art during the lockdown and have been wanting to help out on a bigger scale... so I put two and two together and decided to raise funds with my art," she said. Talking about her influences, Sonakshi said: "I don't have any influences. It's something that just flows from within me, and I keep trying out new things on my own." Sonakshi has decided to auction her artworks to raise a fund which will help her provide ration kits to daily wage workers. The artworks include digital prints, sketches and large canvas paintings made by the actress. For this initiative, Sonakshi Sinha has collaborated with actor Arjun Kapoor's sister Anshula Kapoor's online fundraising platform Fankind. Sonakshi, daughter of actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha and Poonam Sinha, feels uniting to help the frontline workers amid the virus outbreak is the "need of the hour". "Never in our wildest dreams did we think we would ever be in a situation like this... and I feel that if we have a roof over our heads, food on our plates and are able to keep ourselves safe, we are privileged. And being so, it's our duty to take care of those who aren't as fortunate as us," said the actress. On the work front, she will soon be seen in "Bhuj: The Pride of India". The film also stars Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt, Sharad Kelkar, Ammy Virk and Pranitha Subhash. (Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in) -- Syndicated from IANS NEW DELHI : A day after the central government extended the nationwide lockdown till 31 May with fewer curbs, states began reopening cities, except Maharashtra where a coronavirus pandemic continues to rage in Mumbai. The strict lockdown that began on 25 March has shut all non-essential activity, crushing lives and livelihoods, even as total covid-19 cases crossed 100,000. In the fourth phase of lockdown, which began on Monday, the central government has permitted states to decide on zones and open state borders with mutual consent. We need to learn how to live with corona," Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said. There cannot be a permanent lockdown. This two-month period was used to prepare our infrastructure for the disease. Now, it is time to focus on opening our economy." In Delhi, public transport will be allowed to operate with limited capacity. Autos and cycle-rickshaws can ply with one passenger. All vehicle drivers have to ensure that the vehicle is disinfected after each passenger. Carpooling will not be allowed for aggregators. Buses will start but with 20 people and there will be temperature checks," Kejriwal said. The movement of vehicles and passengers is allowed, but limited to two people in a car and one on a bike. Construction workers living in Delhi can return to work, but not those coming from other states. Offices are free to open, but work-from-home should be preferred. Restaurants can open only for home delivery. Shops in markets will open on an odd-even basis except essential shops, which will can open daily. Industry can restart, but with staggered timings. Containment zones will only have essential services. Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said there will be relaxations only in the states green zones. Cases are rising. We have not broken the chain yet. We are still trying. Cant afford easing yet... We are ramping up facilities," he said. None of the central relaxations announced on Sunday will apply to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), which includes the city and many of its suburbs in the red zone; the strict curbs will continue. Earlier in the day, the Mumbai Police warned of strong action against violators. Gentle Reminder Mumbaikars. Mumbai being a RED ZONE, is yet to see any relaxations from earlier rules, under lockdown 4.0," Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh tweeted. However, once the latest phase of the lockdown ends on 31 May, Maharashtra is likely to implement a granular lockdown in MMR and Pimpri-Chinchwad, Punes extended city limits, a government official aware of the plans said. The government is considering a lockdown model that is more fluid even at the street level. Karnataka, which hosts the countrys Silicon Valley at Bengaluru, reopened public and private bus transport, parks, hair salons and even roadside stores outside containment zones. Strict lockdown measures will be followed in containment zones and economic activity will be permitted in other areas," chief minister B.S.Yediyurappa said on Monday. He said unless necessary, people from other states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala will not be allowed to enter Karnataka. In Tamil Nadu, authorities allowed industrial units to reopen. Industries in urban areas except in Greater Chennai police limits and in containment zones can now restart, a government statement said. Those with more than 100 workers can only have 50% attendance, and those with less than 50 employees can have a 100% workforce, it said. Bus services can also resume subject to social distancing norms in 25 districts, which includes major cities such as Coimbatore and Salemexcept capital Chennai. The Telangana government allowed all businesses outside containment zones to reopen from Tuesday, including its capital Hyderabad. Inter-state bus transport remains suspended, but within districts, buses can ply. Cabs can operate with up to three passengers. Those who do not wear a mask in public will be fined 1,000. Pretika Khanna in Delhi; M.K. Nidheesh and Sharan Poovanna in Bengaluru; Kalpana Pathak in Mumbai; and Yunus Lasania in Hyderabad contributed to this story. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Canberra, May 19 : Australia is not engaged in a trade war with China nor will it seek retaliation against Beijing for the imposition of 80 per cent tariffs on the country's barley, a Minister said on Tuesday. "There's no trade war. In fact, even today, I think you have seen that there's increased demand for iron ore out of China," Agriculture Minister David Littleproud told reporters. Both countries continue to exchange various agricultural and mineral raw materials as well as other services, he added. On Monday night, China imposed tariffs on Australian barley on the grounds that it is subsidized and sold to the Asian giant below production cost, reports Efe news. This measure against what China claims is unfair competition for Australian barley - of which exports to China exceeded A$1.5 billion ($979 million) in 2018 - comes nearly a week after the Asian giant suspended imports of Australian beef. The suspension of meat imports by China jeopardized monthly sales of A$200 million ($129 million) and raised fears about other potential reprisals against the dairy sector and other agricultural products. These trade measures by China have been interpreted as retaliation against Australia after Chinese ambassador to Australia, Cheng Jingye, suggested a possible boycott of Australian products following a proposal by Australia for a "transparent" investigation into the origin of the novel coronavirus, which was endorsed at the World Health Assembly on Monday night. Australian Trade Minister Simon Birminghan told reporters that "China denies there's a link" between the two issues and said that the only thing Australia could do was to "engage in the process as constructively as we can" to discuss ways to appeal the imposition of tariffs. China is Australia's biggest trading partner with bilateral trade of A$235 billion in the 2018-19 financial year, an increase of 20.5 percent over the previous period. The bilateral relationship has deteriorated due to issues such as the militarization of the Asian giant or the approval in Australia of laws against foreign interference and espionage after uncovering Chinese donations to political parties and cyber attacks on state agencies and universities attributed to Beijing. When you were a child, did you dream of a traditional wedding? Denice: I was very invested in a traditional wedding. Zack Morris was my boo, and I was trying to find my Zack Morris at my elementary school. And I knew who he was: His name was Ian and we were going to get married, and I spent time crafting that narrative in my head. I didnt inherit a model of what a healthy or long-term marriage looked like. My parents split up when I was very young. So Id never seen a happy marriage and, with no model or example, I had to create one, so I pulled from pop culture. As I got older and stepped into my sexuality, I had to unpack that. I was trying to conform to an expectation instead of living a life that was in my own handwriting. Sarah: I cant wait until Ian reads this. Helen: I started thinking recently about who weddings are for. I was supposed to get married in April, but it was canceled because of lockdown. I always assumed that if I got married it would just be for me and for my partner. I thought because I like mountains maybe well just get married on a mountain and have a few guests. But then you start thinking about relatives and it becomes a difficult negotiation between the public and the private. (By the way, Im going to have to go in a second. I have to put my little boy to bed.) Speaking of the public and private! Of course. Sarah, Denice: Poetry, like marriage, can feel like an institution that is built on archaic traditions. But each of you as a poet has challenged assumptions about the right way to do poetry. Whats your advice on when and how to break the rules? Sarah: Well, there have been marriages between people that are not called marriages. Queer folks and folks who are nonbinary and folks who do not fit into the kind of heterosexual, cisgender, patriarchal marriage vision have been forming marriages forever and redefining that word. And I think similarly, its not so much about breaking rules in poetry as it is redefining what people understand poetry to be. Many people have been poets who were not seen as poets, but theyre pushing boundaries, and their refusal to be erased has expanded the definition of poetry. Denice: Many of us are handed a canon of poetry. And a canon is very limited. It excludes a lot of voices. So when I graduated public high school, I didnt know of any Latinx poets. I didnt come from that rich tradition. But then when I walk into a poetry slam or an open mic, it feels like you get to come as yourself and thats enough. What excites me about poetry is young people writing it and expressing themselves and reclaiming their stories. Some people are finding that making art is more challenging in times of uncertainty. How has this pandemic shifted what you want out of your art? She is the fashionista who dotes on her two young sons. And on Tuesday, Nadia Bartel, 35, appeared to have a ball with Aston, four, and Henley, one, as they bounced around on a trampoline she recently purchased. The single mother shared several photos and videos of them playing around in their Melbourne home to social media. Simply 'The Best!' On Tuesday, former WAG Nadia Bartel spent quality time bouncing around on a trampoline with her sons Aston, four, and Henley, one, The fashionista dressed up in a black jumper with tights, sneakers and a hat, while her boys also dressed in trousers and jumpers. Nadia wrote in the caption: 'What I post (and slide across) for what trampoline life with the boys is actually like, endless headlocks and tackles. The best!' The former AFL WAG revealed the trampoline also had two levels, one for them to jump on and another to slide down. Fun with mum: Nadia wrote in the caption: 'What I post (and slide across) for what trampoline life with the boys is actually like, endless headlocks and tackles. The best!' Dressed to bounce! The fashionista dressed up in a black jumper with tights, sneakers and a hat, while her boys also dressed in trousers and jumpers She explained in the caption that she luckily had the order in for the trampoline before COVID-19 restrictions were set. Nadia's day of fun with her sons comes after she spoke candidly to Stellar in March about life after her split from former AFL star Jimmy Bartel. Speaking about the breakdown of her marriage, she said: 'This is never what I thought would happen.' Hours of fun: The former AFL WAG revealed that the trampoline also had a two levels, one for them to jump on and another to slide down It's over: Nadia shares her two young sons with estranged husband former AFL star Jimmy Bartel (pictured together). Nadia and Jimmy announced their separation on August 15 last year, but it's believed they actually broke up two months earlier 'Every day is tough,' she added, hinting at the struggles of adjusting to life as a single parent. Nadia and Jimmy announced their separation on August 15 last year, but it's believed they actually broke up two months earlier. The Bartels married in February 2014 in a lavish ceremony on the Bellarine Peninsula. The former Geelong Cats star, 36, is now dating Melbourne socialite Lauren Mand. Russian President Vladimir Putin made a phone call to President Ilham Aliyev on May 18, Azerbaijani presidential press-service reported. During the conversation, the presidents highlighted the work done in combating the coronavirus pandemic and exchanged views on measures taken in this regard at the border checkpoints between the two countries on the conditions of mutual coordination. Emphasizing the successful development of strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Russia in all areas, the presidents also discussed prospects for developing bilateral cooperation in the post-pandemic period. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced Monday that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will serve as the acting chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee while a federal investigation into Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) is ongoing. The backdrop: Last week, the FBI seized Burr's phone as part of an investigation into stock trades he made shortly before the coronavirus caused global markets to crash. The next day, McConnell announced that Burr would be stepping aside from his role as chairman of the committee during the duration of the investigation. What they're saying: "I am glad to announce that Senator Marco Rubio has accepted my invitation to serve as Acting Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence," McConnell said in a statement Monday. "The senior senator for Florida is a talented and experienced Senate leader with expertise in foreign affairs and national security matters. Senator Rubio was the natural choice for this temporary assignment on the basis of accumulated committee service. His proven leadership on pertinent issues only made the decision easier," McConnell added. I am grateful to Leader McConnell for his confidence in me to lead the Senate Intelligence Committee during Senator Burrs absence from the Chairmanship. The Committee has long been one that conducts its work seriously, and I look forward to continuing that tradition," Rubio said in a statement. This story is developing. Please check back for updates. Police claim to have cracked the May 13 murder of Girish Manocha, 29, a mobile shop owner, with the arrest of four men, including his uncle, Rajinder Manocha. The police have also recovered a motorcycle and the weapons used in the crime. While police have not revealed details of the other three persons arrested, investigators said Rajinder had hired contract killers for Rs 50,000 to murder Girish and his father Joginderpal Manocha, 60. Four men have been arrested. Several things remain to be verified. Further details will be disclosed after proper verification, said Gurbinder Singh, assistant commissioner of police (ACP, North). Armed assailants had shot at the father-son duo at their house in Janta Colony on Rahon Road on May 13. While Girish succumbed after a bullet went through his back and pierced the heart, his father suffered two bullet injuries, one in the neck and another in the shoulder. He remains admitted at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, but is stated to be stable. Girish Manocha, the deceased. (HT File Photo) Monetary dispute between the families seemed to have led to the crime, said a police official, privy to the investigation. There was a dispute of Rs 36 lakh between the two brothers. Joginderpal had already given a house in Chhawni Mohalla and a car to his brother Rajinder to settle the matter, the official added. A case under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered following the attack at the Basti Jodhewal police station. A West Virginia man has been charged with murder after authorities say he gouged out his neighbor's eyes with his thumbs over a loud rooster. Richard Ellison, 47, of Rock, was arrested on Sunday by the Mercer County Sheriffs Department in the killing of 72-year-old Benny Foutch. During questioning, Ellison told a detective that he killed his neighbor's rooster because it was crowing and then gouged out Foutch's eyes because 'Lucifer made him do it,' according to a criminal complaint cited by the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. Richard Ellison, 47, has been charged with murder in the killing of Benny Foutch, 72, who had his eyes gouged out in Rock, West Virginia Emergency crews initially responded to a request for a mental evaluation, the complaint said. The Princeton Rescue Squad found the body of the victim outside his home on Reese Harmon Ridge Road with blood oozing out of his orbital sockets and requested law enforcement. The document stated that when a detective interviewed Ellison's son, he said his father had brought the dead rooster back to his own property, and the son disposed of it. Ellison then reportedly told his son he killed the cockerel and pointed towards his neighbor's yard. Ellison allegedly told a detective that the loud crowing of Foutch's rooster made him upset (stock image) The son then walked over to Foutch's residence and saw the man's lifeless body laying on the porch. 'When looking at the victim, the gouging out of his eyes appeared to be his cause of death,' the compliant said, but the body was being sent for autopsy. Foutch was described as a cancer patient who had a prosthetic leg. Ellison's girlfriend told the authorities that he was angry about the crowing and went to Foutch's home, where she soon heard beating sounds followed by angry yelling. The woman had left out of fear, and when she returned later she said Ellison admitted to her to killing both the rooster and its owner. The detective interviewed Ellison after reading him his Miranda rights. 'I asked him what happened with him and Benny, he then made the hand motion of pressing his thumbs to his eyes,' the investigator wrote in his report. 'He advised he went up there to kill the rooster because of a movie he had watched and because it was crowing. He later explained that he pressed his thumbs into Benny's eyes, he advised that he stayed there until he knew Benny was dead. 'He made a reference that Lucifer made him do it. He kept asking me to shoot him, that he deserved it. He then talked about getting somebody in the jail to kill him.' Ellison was arraigned and a judge set a $200,000 cash-only bond. With a blindfold on and hands tied behind his back, Santosh Kattam was made to walk through the jungles of Bijapur for six days. At any moment, the police constable expected his abductors a group of Naxals to rain lathis on him and finish him off just like they had done to many security personnel, government officials, alleged informers and journalists before him. On the morning of May 11, a Jan Adaalat a kangaroo court in which Naxals decide the fate of their captives was held for him, in the jungles of Bijapur's Gangaloor village. Present at the spot, apart from the armed Naxals and over 1,500 local villagers, were Santosh's wife and daughter, and three local journalists. The journalists hadn't come to report the news. After learning about Santosh's abduction, his wife and children had approached local reporters for help. Many journalists, risking their own lives, had spread across the jungles of Bastar, looking for Santosh. These three had succeeded in establishing contact with the Naxals and pleading for his release. After two hours of the Jan Adaalat, which started at 8 in the morning, the Naxals let the villagers decide the fate of Santosh. The villagers wanted his life to be spared. The Naxal commanders held a meeting and decided to let him walk free, on the condition that he resign from his job at the police force. It was an uncommon rescue operation that did not make it to the front pages of newspapers or television prime-time shows. And it was not the first time that Bastar's journalists had put their lives in danger for the safety of people taken hostage by Naxals. Santosh Kattam was posted as an electrician at Bhopalpatnam. After taking leave from office, he had come to Bijapur to spend time with his family wife and three daughters. On May 4 he went to see a festival that is held every year in Gorna, Bijapur. In the evening, after visiting a temple, Santosh was waiting for a friend when a group of people approached him. They frisked him and, on finding his police identification, took him away as their hostage. On May 7, Santosh's wife approached local journalists, pleading her husband's case. The media persons split themselves into several teams. Some left for jungles near Maharashtra, others for forests near the Andhra Pradesh border. It was the team of three reporters headed by Ganesh Mishra, a local journalist, that was able to establish contact with the group of Naxals which had abducted Santosh Kattam. "We had spent three days looking for him. Then on May 10 we got a call informing us that a Jan Adaalat was being held at a certain place to decide Santosh's fate. If we wished, the caller said, we could be present there and bring Santosh's family members as well," Ganesh Mishra said. Ganesh and his colleagues, Ranjan Das and Chetan Khaparwar, travelled 40 kilometres to reach the spot. "They grilled him for two hours. At the end of this, they asked the local villagers whether Santosh should be spared or killed. The villagers unanimously voted for him to be spared. He was let go. We brought him to the local deputy superintendent of police," said Ganesh. "I didn't believe I would make it," said Santosh. "All the time I was with them, I expected them to beat me to death or shoot me at any time. Although I was never beaten or abused, I knew they spared very few people," he added. From the evening of May 4 till the morning of May 11 he was made to walk over so many hills and jungles with a blindfold on, says Santosh, that he had absolutely no idea how far from home he had come. "They did not take a break in any village. Every night we spent in the jungles. For food I was given birds and dried fish. Even when Naxal commanders interrogated me they did not take the blindfold off," Santosh said. According to inspector general (IG) of Bastar range, P Sundarraj, "We don't think Santosh was in the cross hairs of the Naxals. He is right now with us. We are talking to him and finding out the details of his abduction." In November 2010, seven policemen including a sub-inspector were abducted in Bastar's Tarlaguda area by Naxals. All the policemen were going home on leave when they were snatched. For 11 days, the Naxals roamed the jungles with their captives, while rumours were floating around of the policemen being murdered. It was after the intervention of two journalists who searched the jungles for seven days that the captives were finally let go. In April 2012, Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon was abducted by Maoists and released after two weeks of captivity. It is believed that local journalists had a big role to play in establishing a channel of communication between the government and the captors and ensuring the collector's safety. A local reporter Suresh Mahapatra said, "In Bastar, we're always working on a razor edge. There is the threat of being killed on one side and of being imprisoned on the other. Often there are routine assignments which need us to stake a lot." BEACHWOOD, Ohio -- Citing coronavirus-centered health concerns, Mayor Martin Horwitz has decided not to open the citys Family Aquatic Center this summer. Horwitz made the announcement at the start of Mondays (May 18) City Council meeting, stating: This was a difficult decision and one that was not made lightly. We have consulted with our own staff, health professionals, and carefully reviewed the governors guidelines regarding the opening of pools. We discussed a number of scenarios to open the Family Aquatic Center on a limited basis, but no matter the plan, we always reached the same conclusion: to keep the pool closed. The mayor stated that the health of all concerned was at the heart of his decision. Gov. Mike DeWine announced May 14 that Ohios public pools could open May 26, adhering to certain guidelines meant to protect people from the coronavirus. The following day, DeWine listed those guidelines. The guidelines include having swimmers practice social distancing by remaining at least six feet apart from one another; gathering in groups of fewer than 10 people; and recommending that pool guests wear face masks as they enter and leave the pool area, but not while swimming. When you read the guidelines, if you do it to the letter of the guidelines, its just too difficult and will not make a for a fun summer," Horwitz said after Mondays online Zoom conference council meeting. Its just not going to be a fun experience. We literally would have to have extra monitors to make sure social distancing is observed. If you start cleaning, by the time you finish, youre going to have to start again. DeWines guidelines call for staff to wipe down every chair and surface, as well as restrooms, every two hours throughout the day. While masks are not required, Horwitz said that some wearing masks would be made uncomfortable by those who werent. Horwitz said that on a busy holiday weekend, the aquatic center attracts up to 1,000 visitors, but that under the governors guidelines, that crowd would have to be limited to about 250. Horwitz was also concerned for the young lifeguards, many of whom are teens. He said he has spoken with parents of lifeguards who were concerned that their sons or daughters would be susceptible to COVID-19 if rescuing a swimmer. The aquatic center also has hosted a series of outdoor concerts each summer. They will not be held in 2020. This is a painful decision to make, Horwitz stated in his announcement. "We recognize that the Family Aquatic Center is one of the many reasons that Beachwood is a great place to live, work and raise a family. We know it helps build a strong sense of community. Unfortunately, the risks associated with opening the pool are not acceptable during the pandemic. While we all will miss a summer of poolside fun, the health and safety of our community matters more. Thank you for understanding. Barkwood reopening While the pool wont open for the summer, the citys dog park, Barkwood, will reopen to the public on Friday (May 22). Barkwood, which first opened its doors last September at City Park East on the east side of Richmond Road at Shaker Boulevard, will accept guests on an appointment-only basis. Residents who are Barkwood members can reserve a 30-minute time slot once per day to allow their dogs to exercise. One family member, accompanied by one dog, will be permitted entrance. No walk-ups will be accepted. The 30-minute clock will begin at a residents scheduled time, not when the resident arrives. Barkwood members must wear a mask. Disposable plastic water bowls and fresh water will be supplied. The parks hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days per week. Time slots can be reserved by visiting the citys website. For questions, call 216-292-1970. Read more from the Sun Press. New Delhi, May 19 : The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday issued an advisory for dental professionals in Covid-19 pandemic situation. According to the guidelines, in the Red Zone emergency dental procedures can be performed, while dental clinics will remain closed in the Containment Zone. The Ministry, however, said they can continue to provide tele triage. "Patients in this zone can seek ambulance services to travel to the nearby COVID dental facility," said the ministry. It also said that the dental clinics in Orange and Green Zones will function to provide dental consultation but dental operations should be restricted to emergency and urgent treatment procedures only. The Ministry stated that all routine and elective dental procedures should be deferred for a later review until the issuance of new policy or guidelines. "Due to the high risk associated with the examination of the oral cavity, oral cancer screening under the National Cancer Screening program should be deferred until new policy or guidelines are issued," said the Health Ministry. It also said Sufficient and dedicated space for storage of additional items of PPE and sterilisation and disinfection instruments and chemicals must be ensured in the dental operatories. Leading professional associations for doctors in the UK have written to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel to reconsider a surcharge added on to the work visas of overseas healthcare workers, including those from India, within the state-funded National Health Service (NHS), terming it as deeply unfair. In a letter issued by Doctors Association UK on Monday, Indian-origin chair Rinesh Parmar branded the surcharge as deeply unfair and the government's move to dismiss a previous statement promising a review into the issue as a gross insult to medics on the coronavirus frontlines. At a time when we are mourning colleagues your steadfast refusal to reconsider the deeply unfair immigration health surcharge is a gross insult to all who are serving this country at its time of greatest need, notes the letter. Not only is this a betrayal of all these hardworking people, but also represents a deterrent to attracting talented and skilled workers to the UK a stated aim of this government's immigration policy, it adds, in reference to the British government's new skills-based post-Brexit immigration strategy, which cleared its second reading in the House of Commons this week. The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), introduced in April 2015, is imposed on anyone in the UK on a work, study or family visa for longer than six months in order to raise additional funds for the NHS. It is set for a further hike from 400 pounds to 624 pounds per year from October. Addressing a daily Downing Street briefing last month, Indian-origin minister Patel had indicated that the issue was under review but it became clear that no policy change was planned as the Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Bill 2020 was tabled in Parliament this week. With the Home Office announcing that there was in fact no review into the surcharge, despite one that you announced on April 25, 2020, a worrying precedent has been set by the government regarding probity. During this public health emergency, honest communication and candour with the public are paramount, notes the letter, also signed by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and the Association of Pakistani Physicians of Northern Europe. The NHS relies on its multinational workforce. One in four doctors come from overseas to work in the NHS. Now, more than ever, the country needs their skills to see us through this pandemic, it adds. According to a recent Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) study, Indians make up one in 10 of all foreign-born doctors in the NHS and BAPIO, which represents this group, has been lobbying against the IHS for years. Clinicians wishing to work in the UK are already facing burdensome processes relating to regulation and immigration, and on the top this surcharge is only going to see UK losing out on quality healthcare professionals from non-EU countries, said BAPIO President Dr Ramesh Mehta. The UK Home Office had announced a free-of-charge visa extension for NHS medics whose visa was set to expire by October, in order for them to have the "peace of mind" as they combat the deadly virus across the country's hospitals. Doctors' associations are calling for that exemption to be made permanent as the smallest recognition of the contribution of overseas doctors to the UK's health service. Meanwhile, the government's new points-based immigration system, set to come into force from January next year at the end of the current Brexit transition period, has also come under criticism, with the Opposition and small businesses calling for a delay in its execution to help cope with the coronavirus fallout. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The agency is planning on updating regulations to require better internal safety systems at plane makers and is reexamining how it assumes pilots will react to failures, the agency said in a report to the Transportation Department on Tuesday. The report is a response to a blue-ribbon panels review in January that found agency needed to update its practices. The 737 Max, Boeings best-selling jet, was grounded in March 2019 after the second of two fatal crashes linked to a system malfunction that drove down the nose. Voters go to the polls in Burundi this week to elect a new president, MPs and local councillors, in the midst of concerns about reports of increasing political violence, alleged irregularities in election preparations and spread of the coronavirus. The runup to the 20 May polls has been characterised by targeted killings, clashes between party supporters and vandalism of party headquarters, according to Carina Tertsakian, from the Burundi Human Rights Initiative (BHRI), an independent group of three researchers. Burundi's 2020 elections bring to an end the controversial third term of President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose decision to stand for re-election sparked protests in 2015, an attempted coup and government crackdown on dissent. The situation has not fundamentally changed since 2015, but some of the patterns have changed, BHRI's Tertsakian told RFI, describing how violence took place five years ago in a more overt fashion, but has since moved underground. The flagbearer for Burundi's ruling CNDD-FDD party, Evariste Ndayishimiye, is widely seen as a shoo-in to succeed Nkurunziza. He faces six candidates, including Agathon Rwasa of the opposition CNL party, considered the main contender. Increasing political violence Local media reports in Burundi described murders, kidnappings and detentions across the country as election campaigns unfolded. Twelve people were injured in a grenade attack last week targeting a bar in the Kamenge district of the capital Bujumbura, according to Burundi news website Iwacu. The area is widely considered a stronghold of the ruling CNDD-FDD party. The head of a local CNL party chapter in Mwaro province, Richard Havyarimana, was found dead on 7 May, according to reports. He had allegedly been abducted by the Imbonerakure, members of the ruling party's youth wing, days before and was discovered dumped in a river, his body mutilated. In killings reportedly carried out by police in mid-April, former soldier Pascal Ninganza and two other men were shot dead in Matana, Bururi province, according to the Forum for the Strengthening of Civil Society (FORSC Burundi), a civil society group, who described the attack as politically motivated. Opposition CNL party supporters were seriously injured by members of the Imbonerakure at the start of April in the Bujumbura province. Members of the ruling party's youth wing were accused of attacking the homes of CNL supporters with the complicity of the authorities, Iwacu reported. The majority of violence is carried out by the Imbonerakure, the youth wing of the CNDD-FDD, as well as local officials, the police, and to a lesser degree, opposition CNL supporters, according to human rights researcher Tertsakian. The security forces frequently arrest CNL supporters in the aftermath of violence, even if they are the victims, she added. Since the beginning of the crisis, since 2015-2016, international interest and action has waned which is unfortunate because the situation in Burundi has continued to be extremely worrying, said Tertsakian. The political repression, if anything, has intensified. International response Nkurunziza's bid for a third term in 2015 deeply divided the country over interpretations of the Arusha peace agreement that ended Burundi's civil war. More than one thousand people were killed during the crisis, according to some estimates. And almost 400,000 people were displaced, a UN report outlined. Mediation led by the East African Community following the coup attempt failed to find a compromise between the authorities in Bujumbura and those opposed to Nkurunziza. Talks led by Tanzania's former President Benjamin Mkapa were seen as a failure with some viewing mediation efforts as helping to prop up Nkurunziza. With this latest increase in political violence, politically motivated arrests for the elections, we would very much like those governments, those international actors, to speak out about it, said Tertsakian, in a telephone interview, referring to countries who still engage with Burundi's government. So far very few of them have, and the few statements that have come out, have been pretty mild, or tepid. A joint statement on Sunday by the African Union bloc and the UN said they were concerned about reports of intimidation and violent clashes between supporters of opposing sides. They urge all political actors to refrain from all acts of violence and hate speech, and resort to dialogue, to enable the holding of consensual and peaceful elections, according to the statement. A statement by Jim Risch, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said last week that it becomes more apparent every day that the upcoming polls will not afford the people of Burundi the credible process they deserve. I strongly condemn violence by all parties. In particular, the systematic violence against the opposition by the Imbonerakure and elements within the police and military directly undermines any democratic process, Risch added. Alleged irregularities The opposition has also cast doubt on the credibility of the electoral process. The CNL party complained that the country's electoral commission makes decisions outside of the framework of the law, for example refusing to accept party agents into polling stations. Opposition candidate Rwasa told RFI's Service Afrique that there have been flagrant violations of the electoral code and many, many irregularities because the CNDD-FDD wants to hold on to power at all costs. He said the electoral commission refuses to display the electoral roll at polling stations. Few foreign elections observers will be in place to monitor the 20 May polls. Burundi's authorities had said that any observers from the East African Community organisation would have to undergo a two-week quarantine. This contributes to a real lack of trust in the authorities, particularly in the national electoral commission, to organise elections properly and fairly, and transparently, and of course the absence of any international observers has attenuated that, said Tertsakian. Burundi's new president will be elected by a majority with a second round taking place on 19 June if necessary, and provisional results expected on 25-26 May. Some 5.1 million Burundians are eligible to vote in 14,778 polling stations. Polls during pandemic The other fear surrounding election campaigning and polling day is the potential for spreading Covid-19. Large election rallies, including those for Ndayishimiye's CNDD-FDD, have demonstrated no social distancing thousands of people sandwiched together, standing in close contact. Civil society group FORSC Burundi accuses the government of prioritising running the polls over putting measures in place to contain Covid-19 infections. The government is hiding the true extent of the coronavirus in Burundi, according to FORSC Burundi's April report. One person has died from the coronavirus in Burundi and there have been 42 confirmed cases of the virus, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Burundi's government kicked out four experts from the World Health Organisation, declaring them persona non grata and giving them until 15 May to leave the country. MIAMI BEACH, Fla., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- For almost two months, the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce (Chamber), led by President & CEO Jerry Libbin and Chair of the Board Robin Jacobs, has been a resource for businesses and residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the Chamber launched: A Business Re-Opening Resource Guide that has real-time information regarding guidelines and updates provided by the City of Miami Beach regarding re-opening that lives on www.miamibeachchamber.com. that has real-time information regarding guidelines and updates provided by the City of regarding re-opening that lives on www.miamibeachchamber.com. A Business Re-Opening Survey that the Chamber issued to the community and will share the results with the City for re-opening strategies. Miami Beach Board Chair Robin Jacobs along with other leaders have agreed to organize and lead advisory panels in retail & general business, hotel & lodging, restaurant & bars, and arts & culture. The results of the survey will be critical as the City adopts best practices that will allow the community to safely open again. that the Chamber issued to the community and will share the results with the City for re-opening strategies. Board Chair along with other leaders have agreed to organize and lead advisory panels in retail & general business, hotel & lodging, restaurant & bars, and arts & culture. The results of the survey will be critical as the City adopts best practices that will allow the community to safely open again. A Dial Direct Campaign in partnership with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and Atlantic Broadband. In an effort to further support local restaurants amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a local TV campaign, being shown on Atlantic Broadband platforms, promoting the Miami Eats program, which was designed to get the customers to dial directly to their favorite restaurants is currently running. in partnership with the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and Atlantic Broadband. In an effort to further support local restaurants amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, a local TV campaign, being shown on Atlantic Broadband platforms, promoting the program, which was designed to get the customers to dial directly to their favorite restaurants is currently running. A series of Virtual Facebook Town Halls organized by WeStream. In the past three weeks, the Chamber has hosted four Facebook Town Halls with City of Miami of Beach Mayor Dan Gelber , City Manager Jimmy Morales , Florida State Representative Michael Grieco and, Miami Beach Commissioner's David Richardson , Mark Samuelian , Michael Gongora , Micky Steinberg , Ricky Arriola and Steven Meiner . organized by WeStream. In the past three weeks, the Chamber has hosted four Facebook Town Halls with of Beach Mayor , City Manager , Florida State Representative Michael Grieco and, Commissioner's , , , , and . Dozens of Virtual Meetings, Seminars and Events on a variety of timely topicsThey have hosted professionals and educators from leading organizations like Baptist South Florida , Florida International University and the Small Business Association. They have created a What's Cookin' With the Chamber highlighting chefs from the Betsy, Poseidon and Naked Taco. "The Chamber under Jerry's leadership has been invaluable and a day-to-day resource for the community," said Jacobs. "Our website has seven Covid-19 sections with important information and includes the newly launched survey. We have had over 600 people fill out our survey, which we are evaluating and has proved to be a useful tool." Media Contact: Danny Diaz (305) 389-8986 [email protected] SOURCE Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce Related Links www.miamibeachchamber.com President Donald Trump will hold a discussion on efforts to help distressed communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic before touring a Ford manufacturing plant in Ypsilanti Township Thursday. The White House confirmed Trump will meet with national and Detroit-area African American leaders at Ford Motor Companys Rawsonville plant before touring the facility, which has been repurposed to manufacture ventilators and personal protective equipment. A senior White House official told MLive the discussion will focus on how the Trump administration can help underserved populations and minority communities recover from the coronavirus pandemic, which has disproportionately affected black communities in Michigan. The coronavirus has killed African American residents at a higher rate than white residents. The infectious respiratory disease is more widespread in communities around Detroit compared to the rest of the state. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer created a task force on racial disparities to improve access to care and address other issues affecting people of color. The task force is led by Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, the states first black lieutenant governor. Trump administration officials met with the mayors of Inkster, Highland Park and Ecorse shortly before the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Michigan, according to the White House. The meetings were part of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, created in 2018 and chaired by U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson. The council is now focused on the medical and economic impacts of COVID-19 in minority neighborhoods, according to the White House. Some of the councils goals include expanding access to entrepreneurship, broadband internet, affordable housing and health resources. Thursdays discussion will also highlight the impact of federal aid for Detroit and other underserved communities secured through the CARES Act. The guest list is being finalized, according to a White House spokesperson. Trump will deliver remarks after the tour. A White House spokesman said he will likely focus on the collaboration between Ford and General Electric to make ventilators and PPE. Ford, in collaboration with GE Healthcare and the UAW, began making ventilators the week of April 20 in the Ford Rawsonville Components Plant. Fords goal is to produce 50,000 ventilators in 100 days in the Michigan facility. The president is set to arrive in Detroit on Air Force One shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday. The White House has not released details about the timing of his visit to Ypsilanti. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order Monday suspending all non-essential in-person visits to manufacturing facilities, including tours. A White House spokesperson declined to comment on whether Whitmers order was considered when the presidential visit was planned. Zack Pohl, Whitmers communications director, said Trumps visit contradicts the governors order. Ford and the UAW are doing incredible work for the country, and their ingenuity will save lives, Pohl said in a statement. "While the presidents visit is contrary to the governors order, this is an opportunity to showcase how important Michigan is to the response to COVID-19 and rebuilding our nations economy. Ford requested that Trump wear a mask during his Thursday visit to the Rawsonville manufacturing plant. The president has previously said he would wear a mask if asked, but told reporters Tuesday well see. I havent even thought of it, the president said. It depends. In certain areas I would. The White House did not extend an invitation to Whitmer for the Thursday events, according to the governors office. Trump and Whitmer publically clashed throughout the pandemic, trading criticisms of their respective response efforts. Whitmer is not up for reelection in 2020 but her close relationship with presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden made her a favored target of the president early on. The governor, a potential vice-presidential pick, also became Trumps foil in the national debate over when the country should reopen for business. Trump won Michigan by less than 11,000 votes in 2016 and will likely need the state to secure a second term. The pandemic has put 1.7 million Michiganders out of work, devastating a strong economy that was the centerpiece of Trumps reelection campaign. Michigan Democrats heavily criticized Trumps response to the virus, arguing his administration was slow to act and hasnt provided states like Michigan enough supplies to track the virus and treat the infected. Meanwhile, Republicans have been taking aim at Whitmer over the financial cost of her orders to close Michigans economy. Trumps last stop in Michigan came four months ago when he toured an auto parts supplier facility in Warren. This visit, like the last one, is being organized by the White House and not his campaign committee. 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. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces. Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. READ MORE Complete coverage at mlive.com/coronavirus Monday, May 18: Latest developments on coronavirus in Michigan Man who tested positive for coronavirus arrested after spitting at, threatening ER staff How coronavirus arrived and the curve flattened in Livingston County (Newser) The Oregon Supreme Court late Monday halted a rural judge's order earlier in the day that had tossed out statewide coronavirus restrictions imposed by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown. Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff had ruled that Brown erred by not seeking the Legislatures approval to extend the stay-at-home orders beyond a 28-day limit. The Supreme Court's ruling stays Shirtcliff's decision pending review by all the high court justices, the AP reports. In a statement, Brown praised the Supreme Court action. There are no shortcuts for us to return to life as it was before this pandemic. Moving too quickly could return Oregon to the early days of this crisis, when we braced ourselves for hospitals to be overfilled," she said. story continues below The lower court judge had issued his opinion in response to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by 10 churches around Oregon that argued the state's social-distancing directives were unconstitutional. In a seven-page opinion, Shirtcliff wrote that the damage to Oregonians and their livelihood was greater than the dangers presented by the coronavirus. He also noted that other businesses deemed essential, such as grocery stores, had been allowed to remain open even with large numbers of people present and have relied on masks, social distancing, and other measures to protect the public. Courts in other states have ruled against similar stay-home orders. (More on those cases, and the Oregon rulings, here.) Leading Saudi fintech company, Geidea has officially launched its Beta testing for a host of new state of the art digital payment processing and store management products. Merchants will be able to co-create product features alongside Geidea based on their needs, give feedback and suggest new innovations. The new digital product range will accommodate every type of SME through every step of the payment process with an all-in-one, affordable and attractive solution. This will not only include card and digital payment processing but also everything from e-commerce such as the website builder, e-invoicing and payment gateway to store and restaurant management software. Merchants will also be able to integrate solutions with their existing software or hardware, with third party providers like courier services, and food delivery apps. The Beta testing is due to last until August followed by a soft launch in September and a full roll out in October. The testing will ensure existing merchants are completely satisfied with the products before proceeding to the launch stage. At present, Geidea has 70 per cent of the market share in POS terminals that are sold to banks in Saudi Arabia and is number one in the market. In February, Geidea was the first fintech company to obtain a payment licence from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, allowing it to operate in the Saudi banking market as a non-banking actor. Now, Geidea plans to utilise its long standing legacy and its licence to empower merchants to start, grow or manage their businesses anytime and anywhere by providing them with the latest technological payment tools to do so. Abdullah Alothman, Founder and Co-Chairman of Geidea, said: We are excited to launch our Beta testing and to co-create innovative product features with our merchants. Through this process, we will be able to gain valuable insight into what our merchants want from their payment process products and to tailor our services to their needs. He added: At Geidea, we are committed to helping SMEs thrive by providing them with customer centric and best-in-class payment solutions that until now, only bigger merchants and global chains had access to. For SMEs, these products will serve as the digital, inexpensive and agile solution to payment acceptance and business management. Our new products are designed for any business, whether theyre on the go, in-store or online. - TradeArabia News Service Russia, Iran And The Future Of Syria's Assad Alireza Taheri May 18, 2020 The "project to oust the Syrian strongman, Bashar al-Assad" is a "big American-Zionist lie", says a former senior Iranian diplomat and a current advisor to the speaker of parliament. In a tweet on Sunday, May 17, Hossein Amirabdollahian insisted that "Bashar al-Assad is the legal President of Syria and the great leader in the combat against takfiri terrorism in the Arab world." The tweet is a response to recent widespread speculations that Tehran and Moscow have agreed on replacing Bashar al-Assad. On April 17, the former Russian ambassador to Moscow and currently vice president of the Russian International Affairs Council, Aleksandr Aksenenok, published a bleak assessment of the situation in Syria, questioning the ability of the country's leadership to resolve it. "Damascus is not particularly interested in displaying a far-sighted and flexible approach," Aksenenok wrote, adding that "a sustainable settlement is impossible unless the fundamental socio-economic causes of the conflict and the mentality that triggered it are eliminated." Meanwhile, the publication of an article lambasting the Syrian president for financial corruption in a paper owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a poll indicating that Bashar al-Assad's popularity in Syria had dropped to 32 percent, stimulated speculation on a coordinated Russian media campaign, publicly signaling Moscow' dissatisfaction with the Syrian strongman. The speculation was also fueled by the fact that Syria's economy is currently devastated under the weight of providing basic, and essential services to its citizens. Having long been isolated from international markets by Western sanctions, war-torn Syria is also under a partial lockdown from a domestic coronavirus outbreak. The Syrian pound has in the last few months tumbled to a rate 27 times less than its value before the civil war, with no outlook for reconstruction efforts. "There's little hope that Russia and Iran Assad's top allies, both facing sanctions and now the economic devastation of the coronavirus can do much to help", LA Times reported on May 8. Furthermore, analysts believe that Moscow is deeply dissatisfied with the performance of the allegedly richest Syrian tycoon, Bashar al-Assad's maternal cousin, Rami Makhlouf. Fifty-year-old Makhlouf is widely known for advocating trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Arab world, sidelining Russian business interests in Syria. Based on speculations, Moscow and Tehran had finally reached an agreement to oust Bashar al-Assad and destroy his cousin's (Makhlouf) financial empire in Syria. Nevertheless, it appears that, by relenting to Moscow's demand to rein in Makhlouf's dominance on the Syrian economy, Assad hopes to remain in power and soon nominate himself for another term of presidency. Moreover, it seems that Tehran has also decided to bow to Moscow's demands, including the elimination of Makhlouf's role in Syria. "Rumors of an agreement between Iran and Russia for Assad's resignation are a big lie ... and Tehran strongly supports Syria's sovereignty, national unity, and territorial integrity," Hossein Amirabdollahian tweeted. Meanwhile, Rami Makhlouf, Bashar al-Assad's cousin, and Syria's economic mogul announced on Sunday that Syrian authorities had set a deadline for his resignation as chairman of the mobile phone company Syriatel, but he would not resign. According to Reuters, Mr. Makhlouf, one of the main supporters of Bashar al-Assad's government so far warned in the third video about his dispute with the Syrian authorities that the collapse of Syriatel would lead to an "economic catastrophe" for the country. Syriatel is the largest mobile phone company in Syria, and Rami Makhlouf now maintains that the country's security forces have threatened to revoke the company's license if he does not resign. Western officials say Rami Makhlouf, through his vast economic empire, played a major role in financing Assad's regime during the Syrian civil war. Makhlouf's economic activities range from cellphones to television and real estate, construction, and oil trade. He reportedly controls somewhere between 60 and 70 percent of Syria's economy. The latest dispute between Makhlouf and al-Assad roots in an investigation by the Syrian state, maintaining that the Syriatel and its main competitor owe more than 200 billion Syrian pounds (approximately $390 million) of overdue taxes to the government. If paid, Makhlouf insists, it will lead to Syriatel's collapse. Source: https://en.radiofarda.com/a/russia- iran-and-the-future-of-syria-s -assad/30619352.html Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address For the Remote, the lockdowns of the past two months have been stressful. For the Exposed, they have been catastrophic. For the Remote, another few weeks of lockdown is an irritant. For the Exposed, whose jobs are disappearing by the millions every week, it is a terror. For the Remote, COVID-19 is the grave new risk. For the Exposed, its one of several. For the Remote, an image on the news of cars forming long lines at food banks is disconcerting. For the Exposed, that image is or may very soon be the rear bumper in front of you. HEDGE funds, market-making firms and other traders across Europe can resume short-selling of equities after regulators lifted bans put in place when markets plunged during March's coronavirus outbreak. Six European countries including France, Spain and Austria, said short-selling can begin again today as bans set to expire yesterday will not be renewed. Italy's prohibition, slated to end in June, will also now end today, as will Greek and Belgian curbs. Muddy Waters founder Carson Block welcomed the move and predicted that any analysis on the impact of short-selling bans in Europe will show they were ultimately "unhelpful". Since the bans were imposed, the CAC 40 index has underperformed the DAX and S&P500, which cover markets that did not impose bans, Mr Block said in an email, referring to France, Germany and the US. The prohibitions, which had been strongly opposed by hedge funds, proprietary trading firms and Germany's primary exchange, were put in place in mid-March when regulators said such trading could exacerbate the steep declines in equity markets. Stephane Ekolo, an equity strategist at TFS Derivatives in London, said yesterday's move is "positive for price discovery". He expects many stocks to revert to the negative trend they had prior to the prohibitions, as was the case after the 2008 short-selling bans. Short-selling, in which traders sell borrowed shares to profit from any fall in price, is controversial at the best of times. Proponents say it results in a more liquid, efficient market, and alerts investors to problems at targeted firms. Opponents accuse short-sellers of destabilising companies. "Short-selling is an activity that is part of a well-functioning market," Robert Ophele, chairman of France's financial regulator, said yesterday in a Bloomberg TV interview. Mr Ophele said the restrictions "didn't have any detrimental effects" on the market and he looks forward to subsequent research on the effect of the bans, which covered markets hosting 60pc of trading in the euro area. John Moore, head of trading at Berkeley Capital Wealth Management, took a principled position. "If we believe a company is overvalued, we want to be able to short it," he said. "That's what makes a market. We don't think there should be any restrictions or limits on that." Regulators in France and Italy said yesterday that the bans are no longer needed because trading has become more normal. While volatility is higher than it was in February before the virus outbreak in Europe, the AMF said this is more a reflection of traders' uncertainty about the future. "We understood the rationale of the ban on short-selling in March to 'cool down' the markets when everyone was selling everything at the same time," said Stephane Boujnah, CEO of Euronext. "However, now that volatility has somewhat returned to normal and there is much more diversification across trading patterns, this is a wise decision." The European Securities and Markets Authority, the Paris-based regulator, co-ordinated the end of the bans. The regulator will continue to require increased disclosure of short positions until at least June 16. Bloomberg Regarding the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, The Egyptian Gazette said both the UN and many countries around the world have expressed their admiration for Vietnams accomplishments. So far, the Southeast Asian nation hasnt recorded any deaths from the coronavirus disease and, like Egypt, it has sent medical supplies to other countries hit hard by the outbreak. Meanwhile, Russian and Belarusian media have spoken highly of Vietnams measures to bring COVID-19 under control. An article on Russian news site AiF.ru remarked that a national steering board on COVID-19 prevention and control in Vietnam was set up early, and health workers and equipment were mobilised in a short space of time. The Vietnamese peoples effort in fighting the disease alongside the Government is among the major factors in the countrys victory, it underlined. The Southeast Asian nation presented more than five tonnes of medical supplies to Russia, including 370,000 face masks, a fact which has been reported by various Russian sites, according to the TASS news agency. Vietnam plans to provide additional medical supplies to Russia, the agency added. In an article titled How Vietnam defeated coronavirus, Belarusian site onliner.by explained the reasons for Vietnams success in tacking COVID-19 through an interview with a local businessperson. The article noted that Vietnam shares a long border with China. Nevertheless, since the pandemic began, just over 300 cases were registered in the country, with no deaths. Vietnam has spared no efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, as the country has kept a close eye on flights from abroad and ordered school closures from an early stage, it added. Huddersfield researchers have co-published a report on the current knowledge of the effect of Covid-19 on pregnant women and babies. Now, they will investigate why black, Asian and other ethnic minority communities are disproportionately affected by the virus THERE have been calls for more home births, to avoid hospital attendance during the Covid-19 crisis. But while it is not known whether pregnant women are at a higher or lower risk of contracting the virus, the risk of severe disease or death in healthy pregnant women or babies is very low, state university researchers who are appraising the current state of knowledge. An article titled Pregnancy and COVID-19: Lessons so far has been published online by the Healthy Newborn Network (HNN). Its lead author is Pasang Tamang, who is a PhD researcher at the University of Huddersfield, supervised by Padam Simkhada, who is the University's Professor of Global Health. The Huddersfield duo have collaborated on the research with colleagues at the University of Bournemouth and its Centre for Midwifery, Maternal and Perinatal Health. The HNN article states that so far little is known about the effect of Covid-19 on pregnant women and babies and the evidence for transmitting the virus from mother to baby is inconclusive. One study has shown some evidence that virus can pass from an infected mother to her baby, but no major harmful effects have been recorded. The article includes advice to expectant mothers on how to avoid the virus. It includes postponing any social events such as baby showers. In the UK, there are fewer face-to-face appointments with their midwife or other health care professionals and more contact by telephone or online, state the researchers, who add that: Although routine tests and scans are proceeding as planned, those pregnant women who have signs of Covid-19 or who are self-isolating are advised not to attend their antenatal appointment. Instead, they should inform their midwife and follow guidance about when to seek medical assistance." Covid-19 and the BAME community Professor Simkhada continues to research dimensions of the pandemic. The University of Huddersfield has provided rapid response funding so that he can investigate why black, Asian and other ethnic minority communities are disproportionately affected by the virus. This is a key issue, hence the announcement that equality campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence has been asked by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer to head an enquiry. Researcher Pasang Tamang will join Professor Simkhada for his probe of the effects of Covid-19 on ethnic minorities. Before relocating to the UK for PhD study, she worked for Save the Children in her native Nepal as Knowledge Management and Advocacy Co-ordinator in the Saving Newborn Lives III project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Nigerian televangelist, and founder of Salvation Ministries, Port Harcourt, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, has said coronavirus in Nigeria is just about the monetary gains. He made this known while preaching in his church saying the government are using the virus to make money from foreign bodies. He also claimed most people they claim are coronavirus patients are mostly high-fever patient. He also reference the words of Raymond Dokpesi while further mocking the treatment of the virus in Nigeria. Watch the 2.20 minutes video below Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates Trump tells WHO chief he will reconsider US membership unless health agency demonstrates independence from China. US President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently halt funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) if it does not commit to substantive improvements within 30 days. In a letter to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, Trump criticised what he said were repeated missteps in the global health agencys handling of the coronavirus outbreak. The only way forward for the [WHO] is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China, Trump wrote. If the WHO does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership, he said in the letter posted on Twitter. This is the letter sent to Dr. Tedros of the World Health Organization. It is self-explanatory! pic.twitter.com/pF2kzPUpDv Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2020 Trump suspended the USs contributions to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting Chinas disinformation about the coronavirus outbreak. Officials at the United Nations health agency have denied the accusations and China says it has been transparent and open. In his letter, Trump listed what he said were examples of the WHOs shortcomings in managing the pandemic, including ignoring early reports of the emergence of the virus. He accused the UN body of caving in to Chinese pressure by declining to declare the new coronavirus a global health emergency in the initial days of the outbreak. He went on to criticise the WHO for praising Chinas transparency, despite reports Beijing had punished several doctors in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, for speaking out about the viral infection in late December. Bitter dispute The US and China are locked in an increasingly bitter dispute about the coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 300,000 people and brought the global economy to a standstill. Critics say Trump who had earlier praised Chinas response, is trying to divert attention from his handling of the pandemic in the US, which has suffered by far the highest death toll. The WHO has now bowed to calls from most of its member states to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the pandemic. The probe is expected to shed light on the origins of the virus and Chinas early handling of the outbreak. During a virtual meeting of the WHOs annual assembly earlier on Monday, Tedros acknowledged there had been shortcomings and told the assembly he welcomed calls for a review. We all have lessons to learn from the pandemic. Every country and every organisation must examine its response and learn from its experience. WHO is committed to transparency, accountability and continuous improvement, Tedros said. The review must encompass responsibility of all actors in good faith, he added. But he also emphasised that the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a global health emergency on January 30, its highest level of alert, at a time when there were fewer than 100 cases outside of China. In the following weeks, the WHO warned countries there was a narrowing window of opportunity to prevent the virus from spreading globally. The WHO declared the outbreak to be a pandemic on March 11, after the virus had killed thousands globally and sparked large epidemics in South Korea, Italy, Iran and elsewhere. Wake-up call The agencys seven-member internal oversight body also issued its first report of the organisations pandemic response on Monday, saying the WHO had demonstrated leadership in handling the pandemic between January and April. The report backed a probe into the global response, but said conducting it during the heat of the pandemic could disrupt WHOs ability to respond effectively. The panel also defended the organisation, saying an imperfect and evolving understanding is not unusual during the early phase of a novel diseases emergence and, in an apparent rejoinder to Trump, said rising politicisation of pandemic response was hindering the effort to defeat the virus. Chinas President Xi Jinping, in a speech to the World Health Assembly on Monday, fiercely defended his countrys response to the outbreak, saying: All along we have acted with openness and transparency and accountability. Xi also pledged $2bn over two years to help with the COVID-19 response and said any vaccines developed against the disease by China would be made for the public good. Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general, called for greater unity and solidarity, saying the COVID-19 crisis should serve as a wake-up call. We have seen some solidarity, but very little unity, in our response to COVID-19. Different countries have followed different, sometimes contradictory, strategies and we are all paying a heavy price, he said. The Education Minister is expected to announce a phased return for schools in Northern Ireland on Wednesday. It's understood Peter Weir will outline the Executive's plans for a return to the classroom, which is "extremely likely' to begin after the summer holidays in September. The news comes after the head of the CCEA exams body moved to reassure parents of pupils awaiting results that everything possible is being done to make sure the grades awarded this summer are fair. CCEA oversees the curriculum, examinations and assessment here and chief executive Justin Edwards said staff had been working tirelessly through an "unsettling and challenging" time. "'Unprecedented' has become the accepted definition of the period we are living through. It is also a very apt description of the situation regarding GCSE, AS and A-level examinations this summer which, for the first time in living memory, have been cancelled," he said. "I fully understand how unsettling and challenging it has been for the many thousands of students and their families who are directly affected by this unavoidable decision. "I want to reassure students that at the centre of our thinking is making sure that the grades awarded are fair. Our goal is to give students the grades that best reflect what they would have achieved had they sat the exams in normal circumstances and completed all of their coursework." It has undoubtedly been an anxious time for students and their families, and I am grateful for their patience as we have developed a robust and deliverable solution Justin Edwards, CCEA The grades for AS and A-levels will be issued on Thursday, August 13, with the GCSE grades a week later on Thursday, August 20. "Students can have confidence that these grades will have equal status to any other year and should be treated as such by universities, colleges and employers," said Mr Edwards. "For every GCSE, AS and A-level subject, CCEA has asked each school, college or other exam centres to submit a centre assessment grade for each student and the rank order of students within each grade. "We will then use this data and other information to calculate the grades. CCEA will also apply statistical standardisation to align the judgments across and within centres so that, as far as possible, no student is unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged in comparison to previous years." He said an appropriate appeals process is currently being developed for any student who feels that the grades received do not reflect performance. "We firmly believe that teachers have an excellent understanding and knowledge of their students' performance and are best placed to provide the holistic and objective information that we need to calculate the final grades," he said. "There may be some who feel that grades do not reflect performance. They may choose to sit the examinations at another time or they may wish to appeal. An appropriate appeals process is currently being developed. Public consultation on this work has been launched recently to inform the development process. Interested groups or individuals are encouraged to contribute views online by Thursday May 21. "It has undoubtedly been an anxious time for students and their families, and I am grateful for their patience as we have developed a robust and deliverable solution. Students can be assured that the grades they receive in August 2020 will reflect their hard work, and it is our fervent aim that they will be able to progress as planned to the next stage of their journey." [May 19, 2020] HITEC Announces 2020 HITEC 50 Recognizing Top Hispanic Technology Leaders In Latin America, Spain and Portugal CHICAGO, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HITEC, the premier global executive leadership organization of senior-level business and technology executives, announced today the award recipients of the 2020 HITEC 50. "During these unprecedented times, we are proud to recognize the top 50 technology leaders across the Americas that have contributed to the advancements in their field, which ultimately, allows the world to stay connected," said Omar Duque, HITEC President. "We're living in a world where physical contact is limited, yet we stay connected across the globe now more than ever and technology has been the driving force providing us this ability of interconnectedness. We are proud to recognize these global technology leaders," Duque said. The HITEC 50 list, highlighted since 2011, is a compilation of the top Hispanic Professionals in Technology across Latin America, Spain and Portugal to celebrate their leadership and achievements. Honorees are evaluated on their accoplishments in the ever-changing global landscape of technology and for their mentoring and professional development activities. "The HITEC 50 represents a group of technology leaders that we, as a global community, look to for inspiration, innovation and impact. It is an honor to recognize and celebrate the HITEC 50 leaders and to showcase HITEC's global reach throughout Ibero-America," said Guillermo Diaz, Jr., HITEC Chairman and CEO of Kloudspot, Inc. Click here to view the full list of the HITEC 50. HITEC 50 - Latin America/Ibero-America Objectives: Recognize talented individuals and highlight their achievements. Foster business and professional growth for our members Build and develop strategic business relationships that will encourage growth within the industry globally. About HITEC: Founded to increase Hispanic representation in the diversity-challenged technology industry, HITEC, is a premier global executive leadership organization of senior business and technology executives who have built outstanding careers in information technology. HITEC's premiere network spans the Americas and is focused on building stronger technology and executive leaders, leadership teams, corporations, and role models in a rapidly changing, flatter, and information technology-centric world. These global leaders include executives leading Global 1000 corporations while others lead some of the largest Hispanic-owned technology firms across the Americas. HITEC enables business and professional growth for its members and fills the executive pipeline with the next generation of Hispanic technology leaders. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] The United Arab Emirates believes the only acceptable path forward in the Libyan crisis involves "an immediate, comprehensive ceasefire and a return to the political process", the UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs said on Tuesday. "The UAEs position on the Libyan crisis has been firm and clear & shared by the majority of the international community," Anwar Gargash said on Twitter. The UAE and Egypt back the Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar, based in eastern Libya, which are trying to take the capital Tripoli. Turkey, which backs Libya's internationally recognised government in Tripoli, has accused the UAE of bringing chaos to the region through its interventions in Libya and Yemen. Search Keywords: Short link: When the federal Conservatives choose a new leader and that leader comes up with a plan for post-pandemic Canada, look to Alberta for the template. It is being designed right now with the help of Stephen Harper and, of course, one of his favourite former cabinet ministers, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. The two of them, along with the creme de la creme of Albertas old-style corporate power, have already begun laying the groundwork for what will supposedly pull Alberta out of the economic quagmire left by the pandemic and the crash in oil prices. But its becoming clear that they have their sights set well beyond one province. What they are likely aiming for is the same kind of influence that Reform Party ideology had on Alberta in the 1990s when Ralph Klein took up the cudgel of austerity, which was subsequently wielded by other provincial premiers and eventually the federal government. Its no coincidence that Harper was a Reform MP at the time, as was Kenney. And even though a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, the original Reformers zeal for austerity in Kleins Alberta government spending was cut by 20 per cent, a hospital was even blown up to save money has not been squelched. Harper made that clear in a recent opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal in which he called for government to get out of the way so the private sector could rebuild the economy the way it sees fit. His disdain for the programs that the Trudeau government has rolled out to help Canadians get through the health crises and job losses that have rocked the country was barely contained. For Harper it has been simply ruinous. So why does this matter? Harper is not prime minister anymore, not even a premier. Because he is clearly the unofficial leader of the Conservative party and still wields enormous influence. And because Kenney appointed him to his Economic Recovery Council and its hard to imagine that Harper will be satisfied with anything less than becoming the councils alpha dog. The council is chaired by Jack Mintz, every conservatives favourite economist who (not) coincidentally opined in the Financial Post the day after Harpers opined in the WSJ that the public sector needs to start making sacrifices. That, no doubt, would include nurses, paramedics, police officers, bureaucrats funnelling millions of dollars of support to various Canadians, school teachers, and post-secondary instructors, most of whom are now struggling to adapt courses to online delivery. In other words, people doing essential work during the pandemic. According to Mintz, who also happens to be a director of Imperial Oil, which according to the latest figures available earns him about $250,000 in total compensation annually, people working in the public sector need to have their wages reined in. Another clue that Alberta is likely to become the petri dish for federal conservative economic policies is the enthusiasm for Alberta displayed by Conservative leadership candidate Erin OToole. He launched his leadership campaign from Calgary and has been endorsed by Jason Kenney. Harper has yet to name his favourite candidate but he certainly doesnt seem enamored with Peter MacKay, the current front runner. In the meantime, Kenneys economic revival committee is feeding him advice on a regular basis. They are not mandated to produce a final report or make recommendations. So who knows what they are whispering in his ear? Who knows which other ghosts of Reform, such as Preston Manning, are leaning in? In the end, Kenney could adopt a tough neo-Reform agenda despite the difficulties imposed by the pandemic and the oil price crash. He has already proceeded with plans to lay off support staff at schools, technical colleges, and universities, even amidst the unemployment caused by the pandemic. Regulated environmental monitoring of the oil industry has been put on hold, another vivid example of less government that would no doubt earn Harpers approval. Of course this doesnt mean Albertans will take to the neo-Reform agenda. And it certainly doesnt mean that Canadians will embrace it if it is taken up by the next Conservative leader. GS Gillian Steward is a Calgary-based writer and freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: is a Calgary-based writer and freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @GillianSteward Read more about: A mother filmed her baby appearing to say 'I love you', after repeatedly saying the heartwarming phrase to her. Rupinder Kaur, 32, and Deepinder Singh, 32, who live in New Zealand, welcomed Gurnaz Kaur to their family three months ago. Mother-of-two Rupinder, captured the moment Gurnaz appeared to speak in a short clip uploaded to social media app TikTok. While most children aren't expected to speak until around the age of 12 months, Gurnaz seemingly repeats 'I love you' to her mother in the footage. Rupinder Kaur, 32, and Deepinder Singh, 32, who live in New Zealand, have shared footage of their daughter Gurnaz Kaur (pictured) speaking at just 3-months-old Rupinder who is also mother to Tajveer Kaur, four, revealed she had been repeating the phrase to encourage Gurnaz to speak. She said: 'Gurnaz is like normal healthy happy baby. Hard to explain personality, being so little, but like a normal child. 'I was just trying to interact with her and she looked into my eyes and repeated what I said and I have been trying since then. She tries but can not say it.' Rupinder revealed the phrase is Gurnaz's first words, since she was born January 20, 2020, weighing just 2.7kg. The mother-of-two has been trying to encourage Gurnaz to continue speaking and to repeat the phrase. She continued: 'I usually speak Punjabi but sometimes speak English as well while talking to her. 'I saw some kids video online when parents said something and babies copied, so while changing her nappy I just tried a few times and she replied.' Rupinder uploaded a clip of Gurnaz saying 'i love you' to social media app TikTok. Pictured: Rupinder and Deepinder with their daughters Tajveer Kaur and Gurnaz Rupinder has branded the occurrence a 'miracle', revealing that her friends and family were equally surprised by the footage. She added: 'We normally talk about what's going on around her or, play peek-a-boo. 'I believe it's a miracle. Even I was surprised.' British parenting experts Baby Centre, recommend encouraging a baby to speak by talking simply, clearly and often. They also claim pointing at items and reading picture books can be useful for encouraging the infant to engage. According to records, Northern Ireland-based Toni McCann's daughter Cillian, who said 'hello' at just seven-weeks-old is the youngest baby ever to speak. In a clip with shocking similarities to Rupinder's, Cillian is seen attempting to repeat the greeting after hearing her mother say it. Sara Marshall from Newcastle, was also stunned when her son Tommy-Frank began speaking at nine-weeks-old. She said Tommy was able to pronounce 'hiya' and 'I love you'. During an interview on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" Monday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed concern over President Donald Trump taking the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to protect against the coronavirus, calling the president "morbidly obese." Trump told reporters Monday he has been taking the drug along with a zinc supplement daily for about a week and a half now" in an attempt to block the virus should he be infected. When asked about the president taking the drug, Pelosi stated she would prefer he avoid it due to his "age group" and "weight group." "Hes our president and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists," she said. "Especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group, morbidly obese, they say." According to the CDC, for an individual to be morbidly obese, his or her BMI must be over 40. Trump's 2019 White House physical revealed he has a BMI of 30.4, which is defined as obese, but not morbidly obese. Hydroxychloroquine has well-documented serious side effects, including severe heart problems. It has not been proven to be effective against the coronavirus in a single clinical trial that used a control group. One such study in Brazil was halted over concerns of fatal heart complications. Trump said his doctor did not recommend the drug to him, but he requested it from White House physician Dr. Sean Conley, who said in a statement that after numerous discussions with Trump about the evidence for and against using hydroxychloroquine, we concluded the potential benefit from treatment outweighed the relative risks. When asked about side effects, the president told reporters, All I can tell you is, so far I seem to be OK. The Associated Press contributed to this report. MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Sign up for 'The Daily' newsletter for the latest on coronavirus here. Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting Actor Gregory Tyree Boyce and his girlfriend had been deceased for some time when police discovered the couple dead last week, a police report claims. The Twilight star, 30, and his partner Natalie Adepoju, 28, were found dead inside the bedroom of their Las Vegas home by their roommate, Louis Ledbetter, on May 13. Officers said the couple were beyond help by the time the tragic discovery was made. According to a police report observed by DailyMail.com, next to their bodies officers found a unknown white powder substance on a nightstand, in addition to a straw and a plastic card. Investigators were told by Ledbetter and Gregorys mother that they were both known to do harder drugs such as cocaine and meth, the report said. Gregory Tyree Boyce, 30, and 27-year-old Natalie Adepoju, were found dead on May 13 in their Las Vegas condo. Sources told TMZ that an unknown white powdery substance was found at the scene but an official cause of death hasn't been released There were no signs of trauma to either subject and the bedroom was undisturbed, officers noted. Both Boyce and Adepoju were found lying naked on their backs in bed. Investigators said each body showed signs of rigor mortis and blood pooling, indicating they'd been deceased for some time. The official cause of their deaths has not yet been released, pending a toxicology report. Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said foul play was not suspected. Similarly, LVPD told DailyMail.com that no criminal investigation has been launched. Ledbetter told police he last saw the couple alive on May 11, two days before he would discover them dead. The 33-year-old said he'd woken up in the afternoon of the 13th having worked a night shift the previous evening to find the couple's bedroom door closed. Presuming they were out of the apartment, Ledbetter left the condo to return to work later that day when he noticed the couple's car was still in the driveway. Concerned, he knocked on their bedroom door and, after receiving no response, he forced his way into the room to find them both lifeless. In an Instagram post from December when Boyce celebrated his 30th birthday, the actor wrote that he didn't think he'd ever reach the milestone age. 'At one point I didn't think I would make it to see 30 years old,' he wrote. 'Over the years like everyone else I have made mistakes along the way, but today is one of those days I only reflect on the great ones. What a time to be alive. Happy Dirty 30 self! Let's make the rest of these years your best!!' Boyce was best known for his role as Tyler Crowley in the first Twilight franchise movie in 2008. In the film, he almost crashed into Kristen Stewart's character Bella Swan with a car before she was saved by Robert Pattinson's character, Edward Cullen. In an Instagram post from December (pictured above) when Boyce celebrated his 30th birthday, the actor wrote that he didn't think he'd reach the milestone age Boyce, who also appeared in the film short Apocalypse in 2018, had a 10-year-old daughter Alaya and his girlfriend had a young son called Egypt from a previous relationship. The couple, who had been dating for about a year, were found dead in their condo on May 13 after Boyce's cousin noticed the actor's car in the driveway when he was supposed to have been in Los Angeles. 'Greg's cousin woke up and noticed that Greg's car was still at the house. He was worried because Greg was to be in LA. His cousin went to check on him and found them,' a source told E! News. Prior to his death, the source said Boyce was 'really focused and handling a lot of business'. He had moved to Las Vegas to help his mother but would commute to Los Angeles for acting roles and to see his daughter. Boyce was best known for his role as Tyler Crowley in the first Twilight franchise movie with Kristen Stewart (pictured together above in the film) In the film, he almost crashed into Kristen Stewart's character Bella Swan (above) with a car before she was saved by Robert Pattinson's character, Edward Cullen In an statement, Boyce's family told TMZ: 'We as family of Gregory Boyce are very saddened by our loss. He was a dad, son, grandson, brother, uncle, and friend. He was the light of all our lives and we are very saddened by his death. 'The Gregory we knew was intimate with the world and a good person. He was a very respectful and responsible man. He always put others first. The family would like to ask for our privacy as we mourn our losses and thank you for your well wishes.' Boyce and his girlfriend were last featured together on his Instagram page when he wished Adepoju a Happy Mother's Day. 'Happy Mother's Day again to my right hand/ my roll dog/ my Queen! Love you,' he wrote. In a statement on GoFundMe page set up for Adepoju, she was remembered as a 'loving daughter, niece, sister, cousin, and friend'. 'Natalie had so much life to live we are saddened that her life was cut short. Natalie leaves behind one son, her father, two brothers and one sister, and a host of family and friends who love her dearly,' the page read. The couple had been dating for about a year. Adepoju has a young son named Egypt and Boyce is survived by his 10-year-old daughter, Alaya The couple, who had been dating for about a year, were found dead in their condo on May 13 after Boyce's cousin noticed the actor's car in the driveway when he was supposed to have been in Los Angeles Boyce's mother, Lisa Wayne, mourned her son's death in a Facebook post on Sunday. She revealed that Boyce had ambitions of starting a wing business, West Wings, and that Adepoju was his business partner. 'We were supposed to meet on Tuesday with my dad to discuss some plans for our near future to launch us into a great future, but that never happened,' she wrote. 'Greggy, if I could get my chef on like you, I'd continue this West Wings and set your baby girl up for life. You told me that you didn't want me to work, you wanted to take care of me. Oh man, this is killing me Hunny. 'I'm sick without you. I'm torn, I'm lost. I'm in pain. I'd text you or call you when I was broken or worried about something, and you'd tell me, Ma, I got you, we'll get thru this together. Boy. Why did you leave me?' Wayne last saw Boyce on May 11 when she visited his home to eat leftover food from Mother's Day and spend time together. 'I went to your house to eat leftovers from Mother's day,' she wrote. 'We watched a Dave Chappelle show and you walked me to my car, hugged me, kissed me on my cheek and told me that you love me and to call you when I got home. 'That was it. Never another hug, kiss or to hear those words, I love you again.' CAIRO Forces allied with Libyas United Nations-supported government said Monday that they had wrested control of a key military base on the outskirts of Tripoli, the countrys capital, from their rivals, an array of eastern-based militias that had been trying for over a year to capture the city. Col. Mohamed Gnounou, a spokesman for the Tripoli-allied forces, said they had retaken al-Watiya air base in the citys southwestern desert reaches and had captured a Pantsir surface-to-air missile system located at the base. It had been a weekslong effort. Fayez Sarraj, the prime minister of the Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli, vowed to liberate all cities and regions in Libya. Todays victory is not the end of the battle, he said in a statement. The development is a heavy setback for the eastern-based militias, the so-called Libyan Arab Armed Forces led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter, after a series of recent losses. In April, the Tripoli-allied forces seized control of the city of Sabrata and the town of Sorman, west of the Libyan capital. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 03:44:52|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Experts and scholars across the world spoke highly of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Monday speech at the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA), hailing his proposals are of great importance to promote global cooperation in the pandemic fight. Addressing the opening of the WHA session via video link, Xi announced concrete measures to boost global fight against COVID-19, such as providing international aid and making the country's COVID-19 vaccine a global public good when available. According to the scholars, Xi's speech upholds the vision of building a global community of health for all and demonstrates China's sense of responsibility amid the crisis. Ren Minghui, assistant director-general for Universal Health Coverage/Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO), said Xi's speech is visionary and pragmatic, which once again demonstrates China's firm belief in building a community with a shared future for mankind. Xi not only talked about how to effectively prevent and control the spread of the disease, but also on support for economic recovery and social development of the affected countries, especially developing countries, as well as for the WHO's actions, Ren said. Nadhum Ali Abdullah, an Iraqi analyst from Baghdad-based think tank Arab Forum, said Xi's speech at the WHA sent a message that "the mankind has a common destiny, and that China is opening its doors to international cooperation to combat this pandemic." Igor Shatrov, deputy director of Russia's National Institute for the Development of Modern Ideology, said the coronavirus pandemic is a "serious test" in which "humanity must realize that we live in a single world and have a common destiny, so it should unite in the face of a global threat." Noting that China's efforts are particularly remarkable amid the pandemic, Sylwester Szafarz, former consul general of Poland in the Chinese city of Shanghai, said, "They are aiming at sharing valuable Chinese experience and expertise, modern equipment and highly qualified medical personnel with numerous other nations in need." Adhere Cavince, a Kenyan researcher of international relations with a focus on China-Africa relations, said that global health governance requires urgent strengthening, adding that "such cooperation can only take place when countries deal with each other in an honest, transparent, and reciprocal manner." French writer and sinologist Sonia Bressler pointed out that Xi's speech confirms "an opening of China to the world and a shared and collective responsibility." Noting China's support and help to African countries in the fight against the pandemic, she said the brotherhood is necessary, demonstrating Xi's Chinese vision of "Tianxia," which "means we all live under the same sky." Enditem Donald Trump refused to directly respond to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's criticism over his decision to take an unproven malaria drug to prevent coronavirus because he is "morbidly obese," but minutes later he accused her of having "mental problems." "I don't respond to her," the president told reporters on Capitol Hill. "I think she's a waste of time." Later in his comments to reporters, Mr Trump said "these people are sick". "Pelosi is a sick woman. She's got a lot of problems, a lot of mental problems." "We're dealing with people that have to get their act together for the good of the country." Mr Trump revealed on Monday that he had been taking the malaria drug for weeks, even though he had tested negative on numerous occasions. When asked about the FDA's warnings that hydroxychloroquine could cause serious side effects, Mr Trump said he's "worked with doctors". "If you look at the one survey, the only bad survey, they were giving it to people that were in very bad shape, they were very old, almost dead, it was a Trump enemy statement," he said. "Now, if you look at some of the reports that came out from Italy, that came out from France, that came out from other, a lot of front line workers take it because possibly and I think it does, but you know, people are going to have to make up their own minds, plus it doesn't hurt people. It's been out on the market for 60 years or 65 years for malaria, lupus and other things." "I think it gives you an additional level of safety, but you can ask many doctors who are in favour of it." Ms Pelosi, the Democratic House Speaker, shared her concerns about Mr Trump's actions during an interview with CNN host Anderson Cooper on Monday night. "He's our president, and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists," said Ms Pelosi. "Especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group... morbidly obese, they say". When asked whether he was satisfied with how Republican senators responded to the case of Michael Flynn and the origins of the Russia investigation, Mr Trump brought the conversation back to Ms Pelosi and how she was "sick". "Despite an illegal witch hunt, and that's what it was it was a hoax it was a witch hunt. The Russian thing was a made-up fabricated story," Mr Trump said. "Just like they went to congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, I don't know her at all, and they said you're a Russian agent. I don't know her but I know she's not a Russian agent. Then they went to Dr Jill Stein of the Green party. They said she's a Russian agent. I don't know her at all I know she's not a Russian agent. These people are sick." Businesses can apply for loans from $10,000 to $100,000 at a 3.5% interest rate, for a 7-year term, and payments will be deferred for the first six months. Capital can be used for working capital and operating funds. The fund focuses on businesses having difficulties accessing traditional financing; businesses providing essential services to their communities; women, minority, and veteran owned businesses; businesses creating impact through job creation and retention, and businesses with environmentally sustainable practices. "Small and medium businesses are the lifeblood of rural communities across Colorado. It is critical they have access to working capital to manage this crisis and build resiliency long-term," said Ben Walton, co-founder of ZOMA Foundation. "FSWCF has been a long-time champion, highly engaged with rural Colorado communities in economic development and job growth efforts. We're excited to partner with them again to swiftly meet the urgent needs of more businesses statewide." "This fund will get low-cost, flexible capital flowing to Colorado's rural communities, and we are excited to collaborate with FSWCF, Zoma, and Catena to help ensure small businesses can survive and ultimately thrive through this crisis," said Sue Dorsey, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration at Gates Family Foundation. About First Southwest Community Fund As a 501c3, FSWCF invests in the people, culture, and ideas that fuel innovation and financial knowledge in rural Colorado, with an emphasis on areas of greatest need. About ZOMA Foundation ZOMA Foundation was founded by Ben and Lucy Ana Walton to catalyze bold and innovative solutions to issues facing their home regions of Colorado and Chile, with the goal of building resilient, thriving communities that will endure for generations to come. ZOMA Foundation leverages philanthropy to support systems level alignment as well as to pilot, incubate, and prove innovations across early childhood, workforce, and community economic development. About Catena Foundation Catena Foundation private philanthropy based in Carbondale, Colorado, with a mission of restoring human and ecological systems. The Foundation's US programs are focused primarily in a five state region in the Southwestern US. Catena works to restore human systems by bringing access to education, mobility, nature and economic opportunity to targeted populations, and to restore ecological systems by bringing innovative policy, technical and market-based solutions to targeted ecological challenges. About Gates Family Foundation Gates Family Foundation is committed to advancing long-term quality of life for all Coloradans, through support for educational equity, vibrant and sustainable communities, and stewardship of our state's extraordinary natural resources. Gates is one of Colorado's oldest private foundations, having committed more than $400 million to philanthropic activities since 1946. SOURCE First Southwest Community Fund Related Links http://fswcf.org/ Renovation works at Auschwitz have turned up spoons, forks, cobbler's tools and other objects hidden beneath a chimney flue. The objects, which also include knives, hooks, scissors, pieces of leather and parts of shoes, may have been used to plan escapes from the Nazi concentration camp. They were found last month in block 17 of the main camp, Austria's National Fund for Victims of National Socialism said. The fund commissioned the renovation and restoration works in the block at the former concentration camp, which was in Nazi-occupied Poland, in preparation for an exhibition. Renovation works at Auschwitz have turned up spoons, forks, cobbler's tools and other objects hidden beneath a chimney flue The objects, which also include knives, hooks, scissors, pieces of leather and parts of shoes, may have been used to plan escapes from the Nazi concentration camp. Pictured: Excavators at work near where the objects were found 'These utensils, kept out of sight of the SS guards, were perhaps used by shoemakers, or to prepare an escape or simply to be able to eat,' fund secretary general Hannah Lessing told AFP on Tuesday. The items were likely hidden in the chimney because block 17 was used to house manual workers. 'It is no coincidence that a chimney was used as a hiding place in the very building where chimney sweeps were accommodated,' the fund's structural consultant Johannes Hofmeister said, according to a press release from the fund. They were found last month in block 17 of the main camp, Austria's National Fund for Victims of National Socialism said. Pictured: A file photo of the former concentration camp, which existed in Nazi-occupied Poland The objects are not expected to be on display at the exhibition, due to open in 2021, but instead have been handed over to the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum for conservation. One million European Jews died at Auschwitz-Birkenau, which Nazi Germany set up in 1940 and which became Europe's biggest death camp. More than 100,000 others including non-Jewish Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war and anti-Nazi resistance fighters also died there. Items scattered around the camp and its surroundings continue to turn up periodically during works. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - May 11, 2020) - Innocan Pharma Corporation (CNSX: INNO) (FSE: IP4) (the "Company" or "Innocan") is pleased to announce that it has filed and been receipted for a preliminary short form prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in all provinces of Canada (except Quebec) in connection with a marketed public offering (the "Offering") of units of the Company ("Units") for gross proceeds of up to $10,000,000. The Offering is being led by Mackie Research Capital Corporation, as sole bookrunner, and Canaccord Genuity Corp. as co-lead agents (the "Lead Agents"), together with Haywood Securities Inc. and PI Financial Corp. (together with the Lead Agents, the "Agents"). Each Unit shall be comprised of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and an amount of Common Share purchase warrant of the Company to be determined in the context of the market (each whole Common Share purchase warrant being a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable into one Common Share (a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price to be determined in the context of the market. The final pricing of each Unit, the exercise price of each Warrant, the amount of Warrant to be included in each Unit, and the term of each Warrant will be determined in the context of the market prior to the filing of the final short form prospects in respect of the Offering. The Company has granted the Agents an option (the "Over-Allotment Option") to cover over-allotments and for market stabilization purposes, exercisable in whole or in part at the sole discretion of the Agents, at any time up to 30 days from the closing of the Offering, to increase the size of the Offering by up to 15% of the number of Units (and/or the components thereof) sold pursuant to the Offering, on the same terms and conditions of the Offering. The net proceeds raised under the Offering will be used for research and product development expenses, sales and marketing expenses, operating expenses and general and administrative expenses as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes. Story continues The closing of the Offering is currently expected to be on or about the week of May 28, 2020 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to the execution of an agency agreement and the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including the approval of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "Exchange"). The Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to list the Common Shares, and the Warrant Shares on the Exchange, subject to the Company fulfilling all of the listing requirements of the Exchange. The Units are to be sold on a "best efforts" basis through the Agent by way of short form prospectus to be filed in each of the provinces of Canada except Quebec and in other jurisdictions outside of Canada and the United States on an exempt basis in accordance with applicable securities laws. The securities described in this press release have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws. Accordingly, the securities may not be offered or sold in the United States (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) or to, or for the account or benefit of, a U.S. person (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) except pursuant to transactions exempt from registration under the U.S. Securities Act and under the securities laws of any applicable state. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of these securities in the United States. Any public offering of securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus containing detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements. About Innocan The Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Innocan Pharma Ltd. ("Innocan Pharma Israel"), is a pharmaceutical tech company that focuses on the development of several drug delivery platforms combining cannabidiol ("CBD") with other pharmaceutical ingredients. Innocan and Ramot at Tel Aviv University are collaborating on the development of a new exosome-based technology that targets both central nervous system indications and the COVID-19 coronavirus. CBD-loaded exosomes may hold the potential to provide a highly synergistic effect of anti-inflammatory properties and help in the recovery of infected lung cells. This product, which is expected to be administrated by inhalation, will be tested against a variety of lung infections. Innocan Pharma Israel has entered into a worldwide exclusive research and license agreement with Yissum Research and Development Company, the commercial arm of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, to develop a CBD drug delivery platform based on a unique-controlled release liposome to be administrated by injection. The Company, together with Prof. Berenholtz, Head of the Laboratory of Membrane and Liposome Research of the Hebrew University, plans to test the liposome platform on several potential indications. The Company is also working on a dermal product integrating CBD with other pharmaceutical ingredients as well as the development and sale of CBD-integrated pharmaceuticals, including, but not limited to, topical treatments for relief of psoriasis symptoms as well as the treatment of muscle pain and rheumatic pain. The founders and officers of Innocan have commercially successful track records in the pharmaceutical and technology sectors in Israel and globally. For further information, please contact: Innocan Pharma Corporation Iris Bincovich, CEO +972-54-3012842 info@innocanpharma.com NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Caution regarding forward-looking information Certain information set forth in this news release, including, without limitation, information regarding the markets, requisite regulatory approvals and the anticipated timing for market entry, is forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. By its nature, forward-looking information is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Innocan's control. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by Innocan, including expectations and assumptions regarding the terms, timing and potential completion of the Offering, satisfaction of regulatory requirements in various jurisdictions, distribution arrangements and the use of proceeds from the Offering. Forward-looking information is subject to various risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or expectations expressed in this news release. The key risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: general global and local (national) economic, market and business conditions; governmental and regulatory requirements and actions by governmental authorities; and relationships with suppliers, manufacturers, customers, business partners and competitors. There are also risks that are inherent in the nature of product distribution, including failure to obtain any required regulatory and other approvals (or to do so in a timely manner) and availability in each market of product inputs and finished products. The anticipated timeline for entry to markets may change for a number of reasons, including the inability to secure necessary regulatory requirements, or the need for additional time to conclude and/or satisfy the manufacturing and distribution arrangements. As a result of the foregoing, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking information contained in this news release concerning the timing of launch of product distribution. A comprehensive discussion of other risks that impact Innocan can also be found in the short form prospectus filed in respect of the Offering and the documents incorporated by reference therein which are available under Innocan's profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking information as actual results may vary materially from the forward-looking information. Innocan Pharma does not undertake to update, correct or revise any forward-looking information as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR DISSEMINATION DIRECTLY, OR INDIRECTLY, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/55684 US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to walk out of the World Health Organisation, accusing the Tedros Adhanom-led global health body chief of acting at Chinas behest and mismanaging the Covid-19 pandemic in the early stages. It is clear the repeated missteps by you and your organization in responding to the pandemic have been extremely costly for the world. The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China, Trump said in a letter to Tedros Adhanom. In his four-page letter, Trump detailed every occasion since December last when, according to the US, the WHO did not act on the available information, made misleading claims or gave the world bad advice. WHEN TRUMP HIT THE EJECT BUTTON The US quit the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) accusing the UN agency of anti-Israel bias. Donald Trump administration pulled out the US from United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2018 accusing the body of being a hypocritical and self-serving besides holding a chronic bias against Israel The US has started the process to exit from 2015 Paris climate agreement on grounds that staying in the global pact hurts the United States economic competitiveness. Trump announced his intention to exit the pact in 2017 Donald Trump set a October 2019 deadline to exit the Universal Postal Union over postal rates but stayed put after the organisation arrived at a last-minute compromise last year. Trump gave Tedros Adhanom 30 days to commit to major substantive improvements, warning that if the WHO doesnt deliver on this, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the WHO permanent and reconsider our membership. Trumps letter was sent hours after the WHOs policy making body began its meeting on Monday. At this meeting, China, which had opposed a probe into the origin of the virus that has killed nearly 3.2 lakh people and infected millions across the world, was forced to back down. The formal resolution is expected to be passed today. Trumps letter did not spell out the improvements or reforms that he was looking for. My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organisation, he wrote. Also Read: The only way forward for WHO is...: Full text of Trumps letter to WHO chief Diplomats in Washington and Geneva told Hindustan Times that Trumps letter, which had put the WHO chief on notice, appeared to be prepping the ground for a possible exit from the WHO. Watch: Donald Trump threatens to permanently halt funding to WHO It is argued that the WHO could not carry out any substantive reforms in a rush. The WHA, which has representatives of 194-member nations, is meeting over video conference for a truncated session that is to end in a few hours. Any major reform, like the one the US President appears to be looking for, can only be made with the approval of the general body, the WHA, a diplomat said. To be sure, this isnt the first time that the Trump administration has spoken about walking out of the UNs health body. But the letter to the WHO boss makes the threat formal. Donald Trump does have a track record of pulling the United States out of international agreements and organisations when he doesnt get his way. Trump has already led the US out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Human Rights Council and last year, came close to backing out of the Universal Postal Union. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: May 18, 2020 ~ Private equity funds have been variously called merchants of debt, vultures, or corporate raiders. What a private equity fund typically does is to buy up companies by piling debt on the balance sheet, selling off valuable assets like real estate, extracting giant dividends for the private equity partners to the detriment of workers and customers, and then, frequently, letting the company collapse into bankruptcy while laying off thousands of workers or liquidating the whole company. It should give pause to every American that the two top men at the Federal Reserve who are implementing a new $4.54 trillion bailout fund for Wall Street, using $454 billion from taxpayers to absorb the losses, both got rich working for one of the worlds largest such private equity firms: the Carlyle Group. According to his official bio, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell was a partner at the Carlyle Group from 1997 to 2005. In November 2017, Stephen Gandel, writing for Bloomberg News, calculated that Powells wealth could be as much as $112 million. The man responsible for supervising the largest and crime-riddled banks on Wall Street, Fed Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles, is even richer than Powell. According to Quarles financial disclosure form dated June 1, 2017, he could be worth as much as $125 million. In 2017, between $10 million to $50 million of Quarles investments were in Carlyle Group. On just those Carlyle investments, Quarles was receiving a range of between $2 million and $10 million in annual income. (The government allows federal employees to report a preposterously broad range on asset values and income on financial disclosure forms.) Quarles was a Managing Director at Carlyle Global Financial Services Partners from 2007 to 2013. The Carlyle investments have been replaced by different investments on Quarles most recent financial disclosure form. Carlyle Groups current and former partners are not defensive about the string of bankruptcies and jobless workers it has left in its quest to extract riches from its buyout targets. Carlyle had several bankruptcies during the last financial crisis with more blowups in the past two years. In November 2018, Peter Whoriskey and Dan Keating of the Washington Post penned a devastating critique on how Carlyle had handled its investment in a chain of nursing homes known as HCR ManorCare, which filed for bankruptcy in March of 2018. The authors wrote that there was a 29 percent rise in serious health code violations at HCR ManorCare in the years before the bankruptcy and following a 2011 financial deal that extracted $1.3 billion from the company for Carlyle investors while saddling the nursing home chain with debt. Under the same deal, most of the companys real estate was sold off, forcing it to now pay rent to the new owners. Hundreds of layoffs of employees occurred soon after, leaving the vulnerable residents neglected according to the article. The Washington Post reporters explained the consequences of leveraged-buyout artists running homes for the most vulnerable in society: The lack of care had devastating consequences. One man had been dosed with so many opioids that he had to be rushed to a hospital, according to the inspection reports. During an undersupervised bus trip to church one staff member was escorting six patients who could not walk without help a resident flipped backward on a wheelchair ramp and suffered a brain hemorrhage. When a nurses aide who should have had a helper was trying to lift a paraplegic woman, the woman fell and fractured her hip, her head landing on the floor beneath her roommates bed. In January 2018, another asset-stripped company that was owned by Carlyle Group, Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), filed bankruptcy. Reuters explained what happened this way: The Carlyle-led consortium collected at least $594 million in cash distributions from PES before it collapsed, according to a Reuters review of bankruptcy filings. Carlyle paid $175 million in 2012 for its two-thirds stake in the refiner. More than half the distributions to the Carlyle-led investors were financed by loans against PES assets that the refiner now cant pay back, the filings show. South Africa: Seven SARS employees test positive for COVID-19 Seven South African Revenue Service (SARS) employees have tested positive for COVID-19. The South African Revenue Service has learnt with concern, that as of yesterday, 18 May 2020, two additional positive COVID-19 instances among staff have been reported. This brings the total number of infections to 7 since the beginning of the pandemic, said the revenue service on Tuesday. The Free State, KwaZulu Natal and the North West offices had each recorded a single case while the Western Cape office recorded four positive cases. A colleague, who had earlier recovered, was also based in the Free State. A second employee is still in intensive care and remains on oxygen support. We continue to wish them all the best for a speedy recovery, said the revenue service. SARS Commissioner, Edward Kieswetter, has been in touch with the affected employees to extend his support. It is important that during these challenging times, none of our employees feel that they are emotionally and spiritually separated from the larger SARS family, even as they are physically isolated to limit the spread of the virus to others, he said. In the Western Capes Bellville, individuals who were in close contact with two COVID-19 positive colleagues have been traced. The two have been advised to seek medical advice, before returning for duty. In addition, the SARS Bellville campus will be temporarily closed to effect deep sanitisation, and will re-open on Wednesday, 20 May 2020. We will continue to communicate with taxpayers to provide alternative ways of interacting with SARS in instances where we decide, as an abundance of caution, to close our offices. The safety of our employees and the public is paramount, and we want taxpayers to know that we are committed to the public health, occupational and social distancing measures as is required, said the revenue service. The revenue service appealed to customers not to visit SARS offices when necessary, and by making an appointment online or by telephone. Should taxpayers need to file a return or make a payment, they may do so from the safety of their home or office via digital channels which include eFiling, the SARS MobiApp, e@syFile or call the SARS Contact Centre on 0800 00 7277. SAnews.gov.za This story has been published on: 2020-05-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. A major shock could be coming for the Australian rental market in September as tenants defer debts they can't pay back during the coronavirus crisis. To cope with the upheaval from the unprecedented time, renters and landlords were given a reprieve by the federal government. Owners would be banned from evicting tenants and raising the rent during the pandemic and in return, they would be given a mortgage holiday from their banks. Landlords and renters were told to negotiate in good faith to come up with deductions and deferrals for any missed payments. The extraordinary stop-gap measure was hailed as a generous and necessary move to save the nation's 8million renters. But with the scheme set to conclude after six months in September, along with the government's Jobkeeper and Jobseeker payments, some are already sounding the alarm. A major shock could be coming for the Australian rental market in September as tenants defer debts they can't pay back during the coronavirus crisis Experts are warning that we could see a spike in homelessness in Australia when generous government payment programs such as JobKeeper are stopped in September 'At the moment overall conditions have improved for renters in terms of prices and most renters are protected from eviction,' National Shelter Executive Officer Adrian Pisarski told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday. 'But as we get longer into the situation and as JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments are stopped, we are expecting problems, especially with people who are building debts. 'We will see lots of people facing eviction if they are unable to pay their rent or can't pay back the money that they owe.' According to Westpac economist Bill Evans, about 6million Australians are currently receiving the $1,500 a fortnight Jobkeeper payment, almost half the country's entire workforce. Sydney property manager Ewan Morton told the ABC he was worried about a tough Spring ahead. 'The whole world is starting to ask the question about September, October. That may be when the real carnage hits,' he said. One tenant in Adelaide said she missed two weeks worth of rental payments when the pandemic began after losing her income and having to wait a period of time to receive government support. Now $1,600 in arrears, the 27-year-old named Jay said she's having trouble sleeping because she's worrying about rent. 'You've got a choice, pay rent or eat, and I don't really think that's fair.' she said. 'I'm willing to pay the money back when I start working, it's just that I expected a bit more compassion for the 'now' while we're in this pandemic, and a bit of relief. But I've not got that.' Job-seekers are pictured lining up outside a Centre Link office in Melbourne on April 20 With no national database to determine how many Australians are also in the same predicament, Mr Pisarski says the rate of homelessness could explode. 'It could absolutely lead to homelessness because there is not enough social housing for people to go into and what social housing that does exist, there is going to be immense competition for, he said. 'I think the government needs to seriously consider when, how and if they end JobKeeper and JobSeeker. 'I think JobSeeker should be maintained at perpetuity. I think that is about the rate where minimum level income support ought to be that would help people avoid homelessness.' But Mr Pisarski said the current situation does present a unique opportunity to increase the supply of affordable and social housing. 'We won't have the pressure of immigration for the foreseeable future, at least not at the levels we have seen in the past, so there is a historic opportunity to house people who have been homeless and to prevent more people becoming homeless,' he said. SALT LAKE CITY, Utah Michelle Elizebeth Engebretsen found peace in her home surrounded by her family on the morning of Tuesday, May 12, 2020, after a four month battle with cancer. Michelle was born in Seattle, Wash. on September 29, 1966. She was the first of six children, born to Dr. Charles S. Wassum III of Virginia and Ruth Anna-Stina Eriksson of Sweden. Growing up, she attended a Christian school in Johnson City, Tenn. until eighth grade, when she moved to Marion, Va., later graduating from Marion High School. Michelle attended Brigham Young University and part way through served an eighteen-month mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Los Angeles, Calif. Upon completing her mission, she returned to BYU and graduated with a degree in American Studies in 1990. Like her father, Michelle took great interest in learning about the nature of man, the need for a limited role of government and consequently, a deep respect for this nation's founding fathers. Consequently, upon graduation, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked for the Heritage Foundation. Later, she met her husband, Thomas Q. Engebretsen of Del. They were married in the Washington DC Temple in Kensington, Md. in July of 1992. Following this, she worked for a congressman in the United States House of Representatives and in time, left to earn a Masters of Education from the University of Maryland. Michelle found joy teaching in Silver Spring, Md., where she taught academic English to first generation college students, part-time and full-time workers, refugees, parents, and first-generation students from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, South and Central America, and the Caribbean. She was able to adapt the curriculum to the needs and interests of her students, taking the necessary information and sharing it in a way that was clear and accessible to those in her classes. Her warm personality and empathy towards these students from differing backgrounds created an environment not only conducive to learning, but to connection. Even today, she is known, remembered, and cherished for her ability to not only love and see people as they are, but to help them feel valued, appreciated, and empowered. While in Maryland, Michelle bore a daughter, Emma. Four years later, Samuel was born while living in Denver, Colo. Michelle spent a total of ten years homeschooling these two children, to whom she was able to share her light, love of learning, and goodness. She was committed to helping her children foster a love of learning and encouraged them to pursue what interested them personally. Growing up, Michelle had wanted to have a large family, but infertility issues made that reality improbable. At age 46, Michelle left Alaska for a brief but life changing event to visit Taiwan. She was there for nearly three months, and spent the time preparing herself and her family to learn the Chinese language and culture. While there, she worked to develop a connection of trust and love with three small children, ages three, four and five, all siblings. She and her husband adopted them in June of 2012. This experience is chronicled in the website Lifeisgoodak.blogspot.com, which gives a description, in her own words of her experiences and the growth and love that was fostered. With the three new people in their family and in a completely different environment culturally, the adjustment period for everyone was difficult. Despite these ups and downs, Michelle did her best to make peace and create a loving environment for the children. In order to understand her children more fully, she immersed herself in an array of books and ideas relating to parenting, trauma, and adoption. This knowledge helped her cultivate greater empathy towards her family members and all of those around her. The time in Alaska had been well spent with many friends and new experiences for her newly expanded family. After eight years in Alaska, Michelle flew down to Salt Lake City in 2016, to check out the area and, following her own instincts, bought a home there after only three days. After the move, Michelle returned to her passion for teaching and assisted special education children in the same school where her youngest three children attended. In time, she obtained positions to teach ESL and English at High and Junior High Schools in Salt Lake City to newly arrived refugees and first-generation immigrant students. In January of 2020, Michelle was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Through the early days of her diagnosis she continued to care for others in and out of her family despite the pain. As her condition worsened, she acted as guidance and production for her fearful family giving gracious love to all who visited. While many of her physical and mental facilities began to fail her love for her family stayed strong and though she was taken from us too soon her love will forever be in our hearts. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 21, 2020, at Bradley's Funeral Home in Marion. The family will receive friends from 12 to 1 p.m. prior to services. Interment will be in Rose Lawn Cemetery. Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family at www.bradleysfh.com. Bradley's Funeral Home is serving the family. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the West was most interested in finding Russian emigres who could serve as its agents in the USSR. But it was nearly as preoccupied with finding Ukrainian ones because of the importance of Ukraine within the USSR President Vladimir Putin has spent years trying to turn the Soviet victory in World War II into the central fact of Russian history. As a result, it is no surprise that Russian writers, with the encouragement of the Russian security services, have launched a variety of programs to celebrate the successes of Soviet intelligence services against both Nazi Germany and, after the war, the United Kingdom and the United States. The most frequently cited of these is Cambridge5.ru, an Internet portal devoted to the so-called Cambridge Five, agents of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) who penetrated British and US intelligence in the 1940s, helping Moscow steal nuclear and other secrets and counter Western moves against the USSR. And just as the Kremlin leaders boosting of World War II is not about the past but designed to aid Putins current plans, so, too, the revelations reported on this portal are almost entirely about the present and future. The latest offering from Cambridge5.ru, which has been spread more broadly by the Russian governments RIA Novosti press agency, is a classic example of the genre. Written by the portals chief editor, Veronika Krasheninnikova (a historian and member of the Russian Social Chamber), and entitled How the Cambridge Five Helped Hunt Down the Banderites, it is directed at multiple audiences at once. First, the piece targets the Russians themselves, who are intended to take from it a lesson in Soviet patriotism and Western perfidy. But at the same time, the article is aimed at Ukrainians and, indeed, all non-Russians who have ever resisted Moscow; for them, the topic is clearly intended to illustrate yet another purported reason not to trust the West as well as dissuade them from holding on to any hope of escaping Moscows grasp if they try. What is perhaps most immediately striking about this article, at least to a Western reader, is its tone, which overwhelmingly resembles Soviet propaganda from the darkest years of the Cold War. Krasheninnikova begins by saying that Allied relations between Moscow and the West ended with the conclusion of World War II and that, afterward, the situation returned to the former pre-war conflict, only at a new level, with nuclear weapons and a new leader of the West, the United States, with its gigantic material resources. The West did not intend to forgive the Bolsheviks for their leading one-sixth of the world with enormous natural resources and a large market left outside the sphere of capitalism, she continues. Worst of all, Krasheninnikov insists, the Soviet Union had convincingly and successful shown to the entire world a working alternative to capitalism, the socialist system; and this already was a direct threat to their capital. To that end, the British and then the Americans exploited surviving Nazi networks in Eastern Europe against the USSR. In response, she contends, Moscow penetrated the British intelligence services and then, through them, the US ones as well in order to counter such activities. The most prominent of these Soviet agents came to be known as the Cambridge Five, a group of Englishmen recruited by Moscow in the 1930s who rose to positions of enormous influence and power after the war, putting them in a position to help the Soviet Union block Western perfidy. Much of this story is well-known thanks to the memoirs of Kim Philby, one of the five. Philby had initially directed British efforts to penetrate the Soviet Union from a post in Istanbul but, after returning to an even more senior intelligence position in London, ended up delivering to Moscow information about British and US efforts to penetrate the Soviet-occupied Baltic countries. He ultimately achieved his greatest success when he was transferred to the United States to serve as liaison with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). While in Washington, he worked closely with James Jesus Angleton, who shared with him details of US operations, unaware that Philby was passing them on to Moscow and ensuring that those Western plans failed. According to Krasheninnikova, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the West was most interested in finding Russian emigres who could serve as its agents in the USSR. But it was nearly as preoccupied with finding Ukrainian ones because of the importance of Ukraine within the USSR. Indeed, she says, Philby and the British had established contacts with Stepan Bandera, the Ukrainian nationalist whom she dismisses as pro-fascist, even before World War II. For the CIA, however, she writes, Bandera was not ideal because his extreme nationalism with fascist overtones interfered with conducting subversive work inside the USSR with the Russians. For Washington, which looked to the future, Bandera was a figure of the past and could not serve as the leader of a future Ukrainian resistance. But the English were more interested in cooperating with him and his emigre Ukrainians. [I]n 1949, they sent to Ukraine the first group of agents [recruited from among them] who had been supplied with radio transmitters and other secret means of communication. They sent three more such groups in 1951, but all of them were quickly rounded up because of the information Philby and the Cambridge Five supplied Moscow. No one should be making Bandera into a national hero, as many Ukrainians now do, the editor of Cambridge5.ru says. They should see him for what Moscow believes he was: a Nazi sympathizer who was ultimately betrayed by the poor tradecraft of Western intelligence services, she asserts. Read the full story here. It's been over six months since Microsoft's HoloLens 2 started shipping to customers -- now, the company says it's aiming to bring the augmented reality headset to more countries by the end of the year. That includes Spain, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Additionally, Microsoft plans to let customers buy HoloLens 2 from its online store starting this summer. According to Microsoft's director of Mixed Reality, Greg Sullivan, the company is accelerating its plans to open up the HoloLens 2 market after seeing plenty of strong demand. That makes sense, since an AR headset is one of the few ways companies can collaborate during the COVID-19 pandemic. And it's also being used for remote learning: Case Western Reserve University sent Hololens 2 units to 185 first year students for anatomy courses. "They redesigned their anatomy courses and literally rebuilt classrooms to support this joint collaborative, shared holographic experience," Sullivan said, describing Case Western's early HoloLens implementation. "In pandemic land, they're all at home, so they realized, 'We've got all the pieces in place to continue this collaboration and do it remotely.'... They conducted the anatomy classes remotely and it was really successful." Microsoft is also implementing new features to make the HoloLens 2 experience better for businesses and developers alike. Azure Spatial Anchors can help render 3D models across HoloLens, iOS and Android, which helps services like Spatial's remote conferencing. Azure Remote Rendering, meanwhile, can pipe in higher quality 3D assets from the cloud that the headset couldn't possibly render on its own. Check out all of our Build 2020 news here! Arcserve and Sophos Deepen Alliance May 2020 by Marc Jacob Arcserve, LLC announced an expansion of its alliance with Sophos to introduce industry-first cyber and data protection for infrastructures with on-premises, cloud, and SaaS-based workloads. This continued collaboration eliminates the complexity of discrete cybersecurity and data protection with the first solution suite to combine anti-ransomware and other threat prevention technologies with immutable backup and disaster recovery (DR) capabilities for protection from cyberattacks, major disasters, human error, or other unplanned outages. New cloud and SaaS solutions include Arcserve Cloud Backup for Office 365 and Arcserve Unified Data Protection (UDP) Cloud Hybrid Secured by Sophos. According to a recent survey of 2,000 consumers commissioned by Arcserve, nearly 60% would likely avoid doing business with an organization that experienced a cyberattack in the past year. That, coupled with the fact that Cybersecurity Ventures has predicted the global cost of ransomware to reach $20 billion by 2021, means enterprises must be more vigilant in mitigating both the short and long-term financial consequences that follow a cyberattack. Arcserve Solutions Secured by Sophos Arcserve Solutions Secured by Sophos leverage AI-powered system protection with deep learning technology that detects both known and unknown malware without relying on signatures, exploit prevention, and anti-ransomware capabilities. They also prevent data loss and downtime with agentless and agent-based backup, DR onsite or to public and private clouds, local and remote virtual standby, AES encryption, role-based access control, and SLA reporting. This industry-leading alliance was first launched with Arcserve Appliances Secured by Sophos, and will now also include: Arcserve UDP Cloud Hybrid Secured by Sophos: Protects cloud-based workloads to enable cohesive cloud security, protection, and retention strategies. Offered as a fully managed service extension to Arcserve UDP software and appliances, it provides cyber protection, policy-based management, RPO and SLA validation, application-level recovery, and failover and failback to public and private clouds with egress included. Arcserve Cloud Backup for Office 365 Secured by Sophos: Protects Microsoft Office 365 data from intentional or unintentional deletion, programmatic issues and external security threats with cloud-to-cloud backup for Exchange Online, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint Online. Powered by Arcserve UDP and Sophos Intercept X Advanced for Server, it provides cyber protection, policy-based management, quick restore to Office 365, and granular recovery with egress included. Both solutions are available as an annual subscription. There is widespread concern that Australias domestic spy agency will have the power to forcibly and secretly question teenagers as young as 14 under new laws introduced to parliament last week in the middle of the COVID-19 emergency. The current age limit of 16 will be lowered by two years for anyone subjected to an Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) investigation. The government claims this is necessary to combat radicalisation of young people. This means that 14-year-olds can be interrogated for up to 24 hours at a time, without being charged with any criminal offence, in order to demand that they provide ASIO with information. A security-cleared lawyer can be present, as long as he or she does not unduly disrupt the questioning. Equally chilling, however, is that the bill will extend ASIOs compulsory questioning powers beyond alleged terrorism-related activity to supposed foreign interference, espionage and politically motivated violence. Once again, police-state powers that were originally imposed under the cover of the post-2001 war on terrorism are being expanded to cover fields far beyond terrorism, particularly political activity that the government and ASIO deem extremist or coordinated with a foreign or international organisation. ASIOs powers first came into effect in 2002, overturning the fundamental principle of no detention without charge or trial. The legislation permitted the agency to readily obtain warrants to question a person for up to 24 hours to seek information about a potential terrorism offence, or to detain and question them for up to seven days. Those interrogated or detained could not tell anyone, except a vetted lawyer, what had happened to them. These powers were due to expire last September, but were extended for a further 12 months, with the support of the opposition Labor Party, to give the Liberal-National government extra time to draw up the expanded powers. Under the bill introduced by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton last week, ASIOs detention power, which has never been used officially, will be removed, but the questioning power will become even more draconian and far-reaching. Introducing the bill in parliament, Dutton indicated that, as long suspected, these powers have been used to coerce people into providing information or collaborating with ASIO, despite not being formally invoked many times. [A]lthough they are rarely used, these powers have produced valuable intelligence that could not have been obtained through other methods, he stated. Although Dutton made no explicit reference to China, the extension of ASIOs coercive powers to cover possible foreign interference activity is part of an escalating US-backed anti-China campaign. Beijing is being accused by the media and intelligence sources of all sorts of crimes, including cyber warfare and influence-peddling with the assistance of Australian business figures and academics. Dutton alluded to this witch hunt, saying the ASIO director general had recently argued the threat to Australia from foreign interference and espionage was higher now than at the height of the Cold War. As the World Socialist Web Site has documented and explained, the foreign interference laws do not only target China and its alleged local sympathisers. They can be used to outlaw political opposition, anti-war dissent and social unrest by alleging that it is connected to foreign or international campaigns. For the first time, criminal offences, which carry up to 20 years imprisonment, now apply to simply undertaking political activity in partnership with an overseas organisation. The expansion of ASIOs interrogation power to include politically motivated violencea much broader term than terrorismis another warning of plans to crack down on any views regarded as a threat to the capitalist political and economic order. Just three months ago, Dutton claimed that left-wing lunatics and extreme left-wing ideologies posed as much of a threat of violence as far-right and fascistic groups, whose growth had been admitted by ASIO chief Mike Burgess. Duttons declaration underscored the fact that the real target of the government and the intelligence and police apparatus is left-wing and socialist organisations, not the revival of fascism. The new bill will allow the governments attorney-general to issue ASIO questioning warrants, rather than a judge, and to do so orally in an emergency. It also permits police to search people they are detaining for ASIO interrogation and to seize items, such as phone or other devices, that could be used to communicate the arrest or any items relevant to the warrant. ASIO also will be able to place vaguely-defined tracking devices on cars or in peoples bags with only internal ASIO approval, rather than a warrant. According to Dutton, this will bring ASIO in to line with law enforcement agencies, which are permitted to internally authorise non-intrusive tracking devices under the Surveillance Devices Act 2004. ASIO and its related agencies, such as the Australian Signals Directorate, operate as part of the global US-led Five Eyes mass surveillance network, which is increasingly focussed on Washingtons aggressive confrontation with China. These agencies systematically swap data, especially with their US counterparts. The Labor Party has already given in-principle backing to the governments bill, which will go to parliaments intelligence and security committee for fine-tuning. Labor has either agreed to, or itself legislated, every barrage of so-called national security laws since 2001. Labors home affairs spokesperson, Kristina Keneally, said the opposition would always take the advice of our national security agencies. She said ASIOs powers were ongoing matters which have been extensively considered since they were first created by John Howard, the former Liberal-National prime minister whose government suffered a landslide election defeat in 2007. Labor also has given full support to the governments alignment behind the Trump administrations escalation of the US trade war and military drive to prevent China from challenging Washingtons post-World War II global dominance. As this bipartisan partnership indicates, the latest ASIO bill is another preparation by the corporate and parliamentary establishment as a whole to suppress political and social discontent. This planning is occurring amid the greatest economic crisis since the 1930s Great Depression, growing social inequality and the worsening danger of involvement in catastrophic US-led wars. Integrity Tree Financial is a leader in full service financial offerings, providing services such as mortgages, accounting, insurance, investments and more under one tree. Founder and Broker owner Asif Kasim brings a vast array of experiences working with financial institutions and a strong ability to develop relationships. Asif has found his passion in helping others by providing services that holistically fulfill their financial needs. The CLC Network is able to provide Integrity Tree Financial with centralized deal support, CRM automation, training and technology for their mortgage agents. From a management perspective, CLC provides the support and tools necessary that allow us to focus on growth and strategic expansion to provide a vast array of financial services, said Asif. It has been a tremendous honour and joy to be part of the CLC Network, said Asif regarding his feeling on being the first brokerage to join. We were fortunate to be an early adopter and believe tremendously in the vision and concept. He continued by saying, what we have been able to achieve with the support and tools of the CLC Network has been extraordinary and something to be proud of. By collaborating with leaders like Asif, the CLC Network is determined to bring a best in class solution to the mortgage industry. We are honoured to have Asif and his team as part of the family, said Shubha Dasgupta. We ensure to remain committed to their success. Christa Mitchell added, our approach of being agent focused made it a perfect fit for Integrity Tree Financial while the use of technology to enhance their abilities will ensure their continued growth. A getaway driver who dragged a garda along in his vehicle while he was trying to escape has been jailed for 20 months. Laurence Connors (aged 28) was waiting outside a house in a stolen car while his four accomplices were ransacking the home and stealing cash and jewellery from it. Gardai had been called to the scene by a neighbour who spotted the gang acting suspiciously. Garda Ronan Doyle told Karl Finnegan BL, prosecuting, that he and his colleague, Garda Declan Crowley, spotted Connors waiting in the stolen Audi. He said Connors saw them and drove past the patrol car. Connors then stopped at a nearby junction to allow the four burglars to jump into the car. Gda Crowley walked up to the driver's door in an attempt to stop Connors driving away. Gda Doyle said that Gda Crowley leaned into the driver's window to get the keys from the ignition while Connors and his accomplices punched the garda about the face and body. Gda Crowley managed to restrain Connors with one hand while reaching for the keys but Connors accelerated backwards, dragging the garda along the ground for 40 meters. Connors then crashed into a Fiat Punto parked nearby after the rear axle of the Audi broke and the wheel came off. The driver of the parked car, who was in the process of getting into the vehicle at the time, was knocked to the ground. Gda Crowley continued to hold onto Connors preventing him from getting out of the car but the other four managed to get away. Gda Doyle said he came to his colleague's assistance and they arrested Connors. Connors of Cherryfield Way, Firhouse, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to trespass, possession of a stolen car, assaulting a garda and criminal damage to the Fiat Punto on Lyons Street, Newcastle, Dublin on July 18, 2019. He has 37 previous convictions and is currently serving 10 years in prison for an earlier burglary. He is due for release in 2025. A victim impact statement from Gda Crowley was handed into court. It stated that he required six stitches to his upper lip from the blows he received from the gang and he was bruised all over his body as a result of being dragged along the ground. The owner of the Fiat Punto was not seriously injured. The court heard that the homeowner's parents had been visiting her from abroad and their entire savings for the trip, 5,000, had been stolen during the burglary. A quantity of the woman's jewellery had also been taken. Carol Doherty BL, defending, said that Connors accepted that he acted in concert with others but asked the court to accept that he didn't enter the home himself. She said he had various problems with drug abuse and had relapsed at the time. Counsel said her client wished to apologise to the gardai. She said his wife was in court to support him and added that Connors's sister was killed in a car accident two weeks ago. His addiction led him a dark road, Ms Doherty said and added that much of his offending related to his childhood. She asked Judge Martin Nolan to accept that her client had the potential for change. He hopes to work in the kitchen in prison as he is interested in cooking, Ms Doherty said. Judge Nolan said it was due to good garda work that the burglars were impeded and noted that Gda Crowley was both assaulted and injured during Connors's attempted escape. He said he believed Connors was remorseful for what he did. He sentenced him to 20 months in prison which he said should be consecutive to the term he is currently serving. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., could not stop thinking about whether Donald Reed Herring, the eldest of her three brothers, was cold and afraid after he was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in early April. "I kept thinking about whether he was cold," Warren said in an interview excerpt published in the Atlantic on Sunday. "There's no one there to talk to him while he waits for the doctor. There's no one there to be with him while he receives the news." In the interview with the Atlantic's Edward-Isaac Dovere, Warren reflected on the final days of Herring, who had been hospitalized with pneumonia in February and was close to recovery until someone at his facility in Oklahoma tested positive for the virus. "[T]hen he got sick, and then he died, by himself," she said of Herring, who died of covid-19 on April 21 at the age of 86. "That's the hard part - really hard part." She added, "It just feels like something that didn't have to happen." Warren grieving the loss of her brother from a distance has become both familiar and identifiable in a pandemic with nearly 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States and at least 88,000 deaths. In recent weeks, Warren has joined President Trump, former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., as top political figures with family members or friends who've been directly affected by the pandemic. While it's unclear how Herring contracted the coronavirus, The Washington Post's Annie Linskey and Felicia Sonmez reported that he had been in a rehabilitation center where several other people had active cases of the virus. Warren, who would often tell anecdotes of Herring's military service during her presidential campaign, recounted how her brother was ready to leave the rehab facility when he was told he was not allowed to exit after learning someone had tested positive for the virus. "I called him every day for 11 days, and every day he would say, 'I'm just fine,' " she said to the Atlantic. "In fact, he said, 'I think I probably had it before and I'm just too tough and didn't even notice.' " But when his own coronavirus test came back positive, Warren said it felt like she couldn't breathe. "And he said, 'Bets' - he'd call me Bets or Betsy always - 'I feel fine. I feel fine,' " she said. She added, "He'd tell me, 'Oh, it's fine,' and laugh. And he was irritated that he couldn't leave. And I had begun to think, This is okay. We're going to get him out of there." Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. That's when his condition took a turn. After he didn't answer his phone, Warren found out that Herring was in intensive care. She said she spoke to him once again on the phone. His speech was slurred and he was confined to a bed but remained optimistic. He passed away shortly thereafter. Since her brother's death, Warren has underscored the urgency for the country to prepare for a second potential wave of the virus in the fall. During last week's Senate hearing, Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, agreed with Warren's assessment, saying "there would be problems" in regard to another outbreak later this year if testing and contact tracing doesn't improve and if social distancing doesn't continue. On Sunday, Warren acknowledged to the Atlantic that the feelings she and tens of thousands of American families who've lost loved ones to the coronavirus share was "something none of us were prepared for." "It's always hard to lose someone you love," she said. "But to lose someone when you have to wonder: What were their last days like? Were they afraid? Were they cold? Were they lonely? That is a kind of grief that is new to all of us." Canberra, May 19 : A landmark research from the Australian National University (ANU) revealed on Tuesday that bushfires have increased in size and frequency since the mid-1990s. The study has shown for the first time the full extent of the areas affected by bushfires in Victoria since 1995, reports Xinhua news agency. David Lindenmayer, a co-author from ANU, called for an overhaul of fire and land management in the state. "This is the first time we've seen the full spatial extent of bushfires dating back 25 years," he said in a media release. "What we found is the state is burning more and more. Prior to 2000 we had one mega-fire in Victoria in 150 years of records. Since 2000 we've already had three." "We can also see the extensive and frequent re-burning of previously fire-damaged areas - sometimes with a gap as short as five or six years." "These results make a compelling case for a major policy shake-up, with the aim of reducing mega-fires, protecting unburnt areas and managing repeatedly damaged ecosystems," he said. Researchers found that approximately 1.5 million hectares were burned in Victoria during the 2019-20 "Black Summer" national bushfire crisis. It was the biggest area affected by fires in Victoria since 1939. Of the 1.5 million hectares burned in 2019-20, more than 600,000 have burned twice and 112,000 hectares three times since 1995. "We can no long look at bushfires as unexpected out of the blue events. The data tells us they're only becoming more frequent," Lindenmayer said. "This impairs the ability of the ecosystem to recover. This includes areas that provide people with access to water, as well as vital habitats and protected areas like state forests." The 2019-20 Australian bushfires left 33 people dead, over 3,000 homes destroyed as well as widespread devastation of local wildlife and habitat. Jammu: The Jammu & Kashmir government has issued a notification specifying the conditions for obtaining domicile certificates necessary for applying for government jobs and other privileges in the Union Territory. The new domicile rules notified on Monday replace the erstwhile J&K permanent resident rules that stood abrogated along with the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A. The notification has been issued in exercise of powers confirmed by Article 309 of the Constitution of India read with section 15 of the Jammu & Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralisation and Recruitment) Act, 2010. The details of the notification were shared with the media by government spokesman Rohit Kansal at a press conference. According to the new rules all those holding the permanent resident certificates of the erstwhile J&K state are eligible to get the domicile certificates from the designated authority which in all cases are tehsildars of different areas in J&K or other officials those may be notified by the government. "Those in possession of the permanent resident certificates do not need any other document to get the domicile certificate. A person who has resided in the Union Territory for 15 years or studied in Jammu & Kashmir for seven years and has appeared in class 10th/12th examination in an educational institution located in Jammu & Kashmir. "Or who is registered as a migrant by the relief and rehabilitation commissioner (Migrants) in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir as per procedure prescribed by government for migrants and displaced persons. "Or who is a child of central government official, all India services officers, officials of public sector undertakings and autonomous body of central government, public sector banks, officials of statutory bodies, officials of central universities and recognised research institutes of the central government who have served in the UT of Jammu & Kashmir for a total period of 10 years are eligible to get domicile certificates", the spokesman said. He also said a child of parents who are resident outside the UT of Jammu & Kashmir in connection with their employment or business or other professional or vocational reasons but who fulfil any of the conditions described in clauses (a) or (b) of the notification are also eligible for domicile certificates. "To make the entire process transparent the designated authority will have to issue the certificate within 15 days of receiving the application. There is also an appellate authority that will dispose off appeals against the decision of the designated authority within a period of seven days," the spokesman said. "A designated officer shall be bound by the decision of the appellate authority failing which a penalty of Rs 50,000 will be imposed on the designated official and this will be recovered from his/her salary", Kansal said. The process of issuing domiciles is simple transparent and fast and is explained below 1. Permanent Resident Certificate Holder: Permanent Resident Certificate: B) Children of persons possessing Permanent Resident Certificate: Permanent Resident Certificate of the parent; and Birth certificate issued by Competent Authority 2. A person who has resided for a period of fifteen years in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir: Any document such as Ration Card: immovable property records: educational records: voter list: electricity utility bills: labour card; or, employer certificate verified by the Deputy Labour Commissioner or the Director Industries & Commerce of the Concerned Division; or, any other document of proof of residence B.) Children of a person who has resided for a period of fifteen years in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir : Any document of the parent such as Ration Card: immovable property records: educational records: voter list: electricity utility bills: labour card; or, employer certificate verified by the Deputy Labour Commissioner or the Director Industries & Commerce of the Concerned Division; or, any other document of proof of residence and, Birth certificate issued by the Competent Authority. 3) A person who has studied for a period of seven years and appeared in class 10th/12th examination in an educational institution located in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir Certificate of education issued by the Head of the Institute and verified by Chief Education Officer of the School Education Department of the concerned District 4) Migrants/ Children of Migrants Certificate of registration of migrant; Or Permanent Resident Certificate, if available and Birth Certificate 5) Children of Central Government officials, All India Service Officers, Officials of Public Sector Undertakings, Autonomous Body of Central Government, Public Sector Banks, Officials of Statutory bodies, Officials of Central Universities and recognised Research institutes of Central Government who shall have served in Jammu and Kashmir for a total period of ten years Certificate of service issued by General Administration Department/Cadre Controlling Authority and Birth Certificate issued by the Competent Authority 6) West Pakistan Refugees: They were hitherto not allowed the benefit of government jobs. They were part of the Parliamentary electoral roll but not that erstwhile state electoral roll. They will now be covered under the 15 year residence rule or their children under the 7 year/ class 10/12 rule. 7) Safai Karamcharies they too were not allowed the benefit of governmentt jobs. They will now become eligible under the 15 year residence rule or their children under the 7 year/ class 10/12 rule. 8) Women (erstwhile) resident married to non residents were also not eligible so far: They will also become eligible under the PRC/ children/residency rule. 9) All other migrant and displaced persons not covered so far will also be covered under the new rules/migrant order. GLEN ELLYN, Ill., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Karen S. Wells, a nationally-recognized business and community leader, has been named CEO of Bridge Communities, which provides housing, mentoring and supportive services to homeless families in DuPage County. Wells will assume this role on June 1, 2020, bringing more than 25 years of corporate and entrepreneurial experience and extensive experience as a committed volunteer, brand ambassador and former board member of Bridge Communities. "With Karen's outstanding business and leadership skills and passion for helping the poor and disenfranchised, we will continue to serve families facing homelessness with compassion and excellence," said Zed Francis, Chair, Board of Directors. Wells has held leadership positions with the international McDonald's Corporation, including serving as VP of US Innovation, VP of US Strategy, VP of Operations, and VP of Nutrition and Menu Development for McDonald's 13,000 US restaurants. She led McDonald's negotiation team with First Lady Michelle Obama on the "Let's Move" children's health initiative. In addition, Wells has owned and operated two small businesses as a franchisee in early childhood development and as President & CEO of The AIW Groupa company she founded based on her passion for philanthropy, leadership development, diversity and inclusion. For nearly 10 years, Wells gained extensive knowledge and experience with Bridge Communities as an active volunteer and previous Board member. She can relate first-hand to the families of Bridge Communities, as she grew up in poverty and is a first-generation college graduate. Guided by this experience, Wells is devoted to helping the underserved in both the community and the workplace. "I am deeply humbled and honored to lead and partner with the amazing team at Bridge Communities as we work to help families move beyond poverty and into lives of self-sufficiency," says Wells. Wells has been interviewed on CNN, featured in the Chicago Tribune, named a Rising Star by Fortune Magazine, and covered in other media outlets for her corporate and community work. She lives with her family in Naperville, IL. Bridge Communities' mission is to provide housing, mentoring and supportive services to homeless families in DuPage County. Its vision is a community in which all families have safe, sustainable and affordable housing and life-long self-sufficiency. In the past 30 years, Bridge Communities has helped 850 families cross the bridge from homelessness to hope and self-sufficiency. For more information, visit https://www.bridgecommunities.org/. SOURCE Bridge Communities Related Links https://www.bridgecommunities.org/ Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Reuters) Bangkok, Thailand Tue, May 19, 2020 15:45 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd90a09a 2 Business Thai-Airways,Thailand,cabinet,bankruptcy,restructuring Free Thailand's cabinet approved a plan to restructure troubled Thai Airways International Pcl's finances through a bankruptcy court, the Southeast Asian country's prime minister said on Tuesday. The plan for a court-led restructuring of the national carrier replaces a previous proposal of a government-funded rescue package that was heavily criticized in the country. The state-controlled airline's troubles are the latest example of how the coronavirus pandemic is crippling the global airline industry. Colombia's Avianca Holdings SA and Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd have filed for bankruptcy protection since the pandemic broke out. Airlines around the world have grounded the bulk of their capacity due to government directives and border restrictions. Thai Airways, though, had been in trouble even before the outbreak of the coronavirus due to stiff competition from budget airlines and bloated costs. It posted losses every year after 2012, except in 2016. In 2019, it reported losses of 12.04 billion baht ($377.3 million). "The government has reviewed all dimensions ... we have decided to petition for restructuring and not let Thai Airways go bankrupt. The airline will continue to operate," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters at a news briefing. "Thai Airways will be protected by the courts .... and a professional will be appointed to oversee the restructuring," Prayuth said, adding the airlines workers will continue to have jobs. Thai Airways said the plan will be implemented through the Central Bankruptcy Court and it would operate as usual as the restructuring took place. Thai Airways will not be dissolved or go into liquidation or be declared bankrupt, Thai Airways Acting President Chakkrit Parapuntakul said in a statement. Operations including passenger and cargo transportation will continue in parallel with the plan, he said. Thai Airways shares surged 11.7% on Tuesday, but are still down by about a third this year. A collaboration between scientists at the Medical University of South Carolina and clinicians at the Greenwood Genetic Center has yielded new findings about how a particular gene might regulate brain development. A paper published in Biological Psychiatry showcases how the researchers connected problems in mice with a defective copy of the MEF2C gene to issues suffered in real life by patients seen at the Greenwood Genetic Center who also have a defective copy of that gene. Those patients have a rare form of autism called MEF2C haploinsufficiency syndrome. Basically, one of their two MEF2C genes in each cell is nonfunctioning, and the one non-mutated copy of the gene isn't powerful enough to regulate brain development the way it should, said Christopher Cowan, Ph.D., chairman of the Department of Neuroscience, whose lab conducted the study. The result in humans includes an inability to use language to communicate, epilepsy, repetitive movements, low muscle tone and breathing problems. Cowan said the results of the study raise new prospects for treatment. "We know the problem. The individuals have half as much MEF2C as they need. So, from a therapy standpoint, I think it opens a lot of interesting doors. We can think about ways to introduce more MEF2C into the brain during critical periods of development," he said. It's not yet clear when interventions could be effective or if there is a developmental point of no return, he said. However, he noted that most children with this syndrome experience seizures by 20 months old, which could be a trigger for genetic testing and then potential treatment. Cowan has been studying MEF2C for more than a decade. He'd previously found the MEF2 family is involved in synaptic pruning, the process by which the brain becomes more efficient as it prunes away redundant or irrelevant synaptic connections; this process occurs through young adulthood but is most active in the preschool and elementary school years. He'd also observed a connection to fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of autism. When Cowan moved to South Carolina in 2016, he gave a talk at the Greenwood Genetic Center about his latest research findings, including information about MEF2C. More recently, the paper's joint lead authors, Adam Harrington, a postdoctoral scholar, and Catherine Bridges, an MUSC medical scientist training program student, both made presentations at a South Carolina Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Consortium conference about their work on MEF2C in mice. There to hear the talks was Steve Skinner, M.D., director of the Greenwood Genetic Center. As he listened, Skinner realized he'd just seen a patient with this gene dysfunction. Cowan and his team were excited about the opportunity to connect and interested in meeting human patients, Skinner said. From there, the collaboration blossomed. Cowan said that when they first created a mouse model of MEF2C haploinsufficiency syndrome, they looked to the scientific literature to see what gene mutations had already been found. They realized that nearly all the mutations were in the DNA binding region, affecting the most highly conserved portion of the protein MEF2C. Highly conserved protein regions have barely changed through millions of years of evolution - they remain nearly identical whether in yeast, flies or humans, strongly suggesting they serve a very important function. And this particular protein is a transcription factor, which sits in the nucleus of the cell, binds to DNA and turns on hundreds of other genes, Cowan said. Those other genes must be activated at just the right time for neurons to mature, form appropriate connections and change in response to experiences, he said. That the mutations were occurring in this "hub" gene hinted that the mutations were causing problems for the protein to bind to DNA. Indeed, the mouse model that was given one good copy and one inactive copy of MEF2C showed social deficits, hyperactivity, repetitive behavior and a significant reduction in ultrasonic vocalizations, Cowan said. "We don't know for sure what mouse ultrasonic vocalization means to another mouse, but they generate them in social contexts," Cowan said. Researchers consider vocalizations a "species-appropriate communication mode," and this communication problem in mice mirrors the communication problems of the children in the study, he said. When the team analyzed the genes in the mouse brains that were abnormally expressed and compared them to the human genome, two areas pinged. The first was excitatory neurons, and the second was the microglia, what Cowan calls "the brain's resident immune cell." Microglia eat up dead cells after an injury or a stroke and also physically remove synaptic material to help with pruning during normal brain development. The scientists then removed MEF2C from just the neuronal cells or just the microglia, which produced different subsets of autism-like behaviors. "For the field, I think it's important because it's starting to help us appreciate that neurodevelopmental disorders are probably a convergence of dysfunction or altered development of multiple different cell types. This has treatment implications as well because you can't just target the neuronal population. You can't just target microglia. You're probably going to have to think about the cluster of different cooperating cell types in the brain that lead to a typically functioning brain,"' Cowan said. Research is continuing with cooperation from families across the world with children with this disorder. They're a small group, relatively speaking, but the internet and social media have given patients with rare disorders the opportunity to combine forces in looking for answers and even charting a path for research, Skinner said. For example, parents of children with Rett syndrome, another rare neurodevelopmental disorder, noted that their children often suffered from gallbladder diseases at a young age. Nowhere was this described in the scientific literature, but the parents saw the common thread among their children. As they began pressing for confirmation, Skinner said, researchers began looking at the question and found the connection the parents had intuited. "Parents want to drive research to eventually find a treatment for their children," Skinner said. The parents of children with MEF2C haploinsufficiency syndrome deeply appreciate the opportunity to talk to a researcher like Cowan, he said. The online support and information group, which consists of a few hundred families from across the world, is participating in further research, too. The research team recruited a Clemson University graduate student who developed a questionnaire that she sent to these families. It covers topics like when symptoms appeared, which symptoms appeared and treatments they have tried. Skinner said the cooperative effort with MUSC has been rewarding. "It's been a very collegial and collaborative relationship," he said. "Dr. Cowan has been very receptive to fielding questions from us, from the patients and families." Cowan, for his part, said the relationship has been helpful in providing real-world context for his lab's work. "Right in our own backyard, here in South Carolina, there are the tools and the research capabilities to be able to attack these really complex problems in biology. It's been a really great collaboration," he said. ### About MUSC Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the oldest medical school in the South, as well as the state's only integrated, academic health sciences center with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and 700 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The state's leader in obtaining biomedical research funds, in fiscal year 2018, MUSC set a new high, bringing in more than $276.5 million. For information on academic programs, visit http://musc.edu.As the clinical health system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest quality patient care available, while training generations of competent, compassionate health care providers to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. Comprising some 1,600 beds, more than 100 outreach sites, the MUSC College of Medicine, the physicians' practice plan, and nearly 275 telehealth locations, MUSC Health owns and operates eight hospitals situated in Charleston, Chester, Florence, Lancaster and Marion counties. In 2018, for the fourth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health the number one hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit http://muschealth.org. MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $3 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care. About the SCTR Institute The South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research (SCTR) Institute is the catalyst for changing the culture of biomedical research, facilitating sharing of resources and expertise and streamlining research-related processes to bring about large-scale change in the clinical and translational research efforts in South Carolina. Our vision is to improve health outcomes and quality of life for the population through discoveries translated into evidence-based practice. To learn more, visit https://research.musc.edu/resources/sctr "The most important thing rather than apportioning blame to one particular country or another country is that we get to the bottom of whats happened." When Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paul Kelly, offered this assessment of a proposed inquiry into the origins of and response to COVID-19 on Monday, he put his finger on both the problems any such investigation poses and the clearest way to address them. As China watcher Clive Hamilton recently wrote, for the People's Republic such questions have already become political, with its State Council vetting the release of all research papers on the virus as of last month. So when Chinese President Xi Jinping used his speech to the World Health Assembly on Monday evening to back a "comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19", it needed to be seen in terms of this political management. Mr Xi's review would remain in the hands of the World Health Organisation, would be conducted after the pandemic has passed and so far does not seem to cover the genesis of the virus. The motion sponsored by Australia and more than 100 other countries calls for an inquiry independent of the WHO "at the earliest appropriate moment". President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has said that Egypt will never show toleration for terrorist organisations or the parties supporting them under any circumstances, in comments on the Libyan crisis. Egypt supports reaching a political solution to the crisis, as well as preserving Libya's sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity, said El-Sisi, speaking during a virtual meeting on Tuesday of the heads of the African contact group of states on Libya, his spokesman Bassam Rady said. The meeting tackled the latest developments in Libya and the means of resolving the crisis through strengthening joint African efforts. El-Sisi also said that Egypt fully supports the Libyan people's will and choices. He stressed that Egypt rejects any foreign interference in Libyas domestic affairs, asserting that Libyas stability is a crucial aspect of Egypts national security. The president argued that African countries should consider fighting terrorism in Libya to be a top priority, as it threatens the stability and security of neighbouring countries and the continent as a whole. The president also stressed the importance of coordination between the United Nations, Africa, and the international community in Libya. He said that since the Libyan crisis is considered an Arab-African issue, the African Union and the Arab League should coorindate in their efforts to solve the crisis. On Monday, forces aligned with the Government of National Accord (GNA) took control of Al-Watiya air base, 125 km from the capital Tripoli, Reuters reported. The air base has been of strategic importance to the forces loyal to the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Khalifa Haftar, who in April 2019 launched an offensive to capture the Libyan capital. The LNA and its allies still control eastern and southern Libya, which contains most of the country's oil facilities, in addition to the city of Sirte, at the centrepoint of Libya's Mediterranean coastline. The capture of Al-Watiya marks an advancement for the GNA forces, pushing back Haftars LNA and its allies. Egypt, the UAE and Russia are backing Haftar, while Turkey has been supporting the GNA. Search Keywords: Short link: (ANSAmed) - Cagliari, May 19 - Beach bathing is now allowed in Sardinia but social distancing must also be observed while in the water, local authority councillor Quirico Sanna told ANSA Tuesday. He said a clarification of the new rules would be issued by the governor later Tuesday. (ANSAmed) Employees of State Bank of India (SBI) have decided to contribute an additional amount of Rs 7.95 crore to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund as part of their effort to fight the COVID-19 crisis. The donation made by SBI employees by letting go of one day's salary and a day's leave encashment totals at Rs 107.95 crore, the country's largest lender said in a statement. In March, around 2,56,000 employees of SBI donated Rs 100 crore to the PM-CARES Fund that is created to fight the coronavirus pandemic, it said. SBI has also committed 0.25 per cent of its annual profit of 2019-20 towards CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, it said. Public sector companies and their employees have been at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19 and they have generously contributed to the PM-CARES Fund. At this time of crisis, SBI is taking all efforts to provide best possible banking services to its customers, it said. The bank is also urging citizens to avail digital banking services and avoid moving out of the house so that social distancing is maintained, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CINCINNATI, Ohio A new synthetic opiate may be contributing to the addiction crisis, showing signs of penetrating new markets, according to those who have followed it. Isotonitazene has been detected in the blood of people who died of overdoses in Illinois and Indiana, where it was mixed with cocaine. It was also found during a drug raid late last year on Canada's eastern seaboard, according to reports. The drug comes in a white or off-white powder form or pressed into counterfeit opioid pills. Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco, the Hamilton County, Ohio, coroner, said she was aware of the relatively new drug and plans to get a standard test for it so that it can be added to toxicity screens for those who die from overdose in the county. "We only see what we test for," Sammarco said. "We're going to start looking for it. "We will probably look back at some overdose deaths to see whether it was present." Illinois' Peoria County coroner Jamie Harwood said this week that isotonitazene was detected in an overdose death from December in his county after a toxicology screen came back with no matches to known opioids. He knew from the individual's background and the apparent circumstances of death that the person had a history of substance use disorder. "We didn't have a cause of death," Harwood said. "It didn't show up on a normal tox screen." The coroner's team did an expanded toxicity screen to try to find out how the person died, and that's when the new opioid showed up. "We probably will see it again," Harwood said. NPS opioids continue to emerge on illicit markets. Isotonitazene was the most commonly encountered NPS opioid, but several new opioids are continuing to appear. #npsdiscovery : https://t.co/AVzN7k2X0k pic.twitter.com/KOwAYpC66S NPS Discovery (@NPSDiscovery) April 10, 2020 Isotonitazene is not a fentanyl analog, the powerful synthetic opiates that have been plaguing Ohio and Kentucky and other parts of the United States during recent years of the opioid epidemic. Story continues Derivatives of the drug have been sold online and appear to be entering the United States from the international community, said Dr. Mina "Mike" Kalfas, a northern Kentucky addiction specialist. "It might be here; we just don't know," Kalfas said. Isotonitazene is derived from etonitazene, a powerful analgesic opioid first identified in the 1950s that is explicitly illegal, Sammarco said. The new one isn't yet on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's controlled substances list. That means it's not illegal. Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco, Hamilton County coroner. Like any opioid, it can cause respiratory failure. And like with any opioid use, addiction treatment and harm reduction experts recommend people not use the drug alone and carry naloxone, the opioid overdose antidote. But some reports say that the potency of isotonitazine may require more than a usual dose of naloxone to restore breathing. A nonprofit news organization called Pain News Network reported in March that police in Halifax, Nova Scotia, seized 1,900 white tablets from a home in February and sent them to Health Canada for analysis, which confirmed the tablets were made with isotonitazene. Kalfas said the appearance of isotonitazene and other, similar designer drugs shows why the epidemic cannot be fought by eliminating any one drug, but rather needs to be addressed by emphasizing treatment, prevention and harm reduction. "Just like we're not dealing with a heroin problem," Kalfas said, pointing out that other drugs such as fentanyl and meth have usurped most heroin use in the region. "Just as soon as we kill one rat, another one pops up," Kalfas said. "The attitude of 'let's just get rid of it' doesn't work." An overdose death scene in Avondale on Aug. 24, 2016, as Hamilton County experienced a torrent over overdoses. Tom Fallon, investigative commander for the Hamilton County Heroin Task Force, said he was unaware of isotonitazene, but he said as long as drug businesses exist, there will be new drugs slipping into the supply. There has been an emphasis in law enforcement to make fentanyl analogues illegal and to stamp out the drug and its sales. Most of the fentanyl that's being sold illegally in the United States comes from overseas. Sammarco's team has worked to identify different forms, or analogues, of fentanyl, the a powerful synthetic blamed for most of the overdose deaths in the region and many nationwide. Fentanyl test strips are sometimes used for harm reduction. Users will mix powder drugs in water and dip a strip in it to identify whether powerful fentanyl is tainting their drugs. Istonitazene and similar designer opioids may be the next phase, Kalfas said. Newtown Police Chief Tom Synan, a coordinator with the Hamilton County Addiction Response Coalition, takes part in periodic meetings with the Office of National Drug Control Policy about new drugs, including fentanyl analogues, identified across the country. Synan said he didn't know about isotonitazene but expects that if it's elsewhere, it will get to the Cincinnati area or already is here. "We should always be anticipating a new version of a drug," Synan said. "We've learned about these issues since 2016." That's when southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky were inundated with overdoses for weeks after the synthetic opioid carfentanil, an elephant analgesic, and fentanyl flooded the drug supply. "We will always be reacting when it comes to changes in the drug supply," Synan said. "It's why we have to make sure we have the resources needed to keep people alive and connect them to services so that we can reduce deaths and reduce harm." This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Isotonitazene: Designer opioid linked to overdose deaths in Ohio The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has lauded Cross River State for its coronavirus free status. NCDC stated this on M... The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has lauded Cross River State for its coronavirus free status. NCDC stated this on Monday during a verification visit to the state. The leader of the NCDC team, Dr. Omobolanle Olowu, lauded the state governor, Prof Ben Ayade for his strong leadership in the battle against the pandemic, successfully keeping it away from the state. The Federal Government strongly commends the action Governor of Cross River State, Governor Ben Ayade, and his energetic team who started response in January when others still lived in denial. The governor was proactive in shutting down borders, screening visitors and suspected cases and initiating the no-mask-no-movement campaign in Nigeria, she said. She also expressed delight at the level of compliance with the no mask no movement policy of the government. Speaking further, she said: I cannot believe I did not see one person without a face mask from the airport to this office. I guess this explains the results in Cross River State. I commend the state for the great work done. We never knew all these in Abuja. We will tell Mr. President all that we have seen. From all I have seen, this is a great response in Nigeria. Cross River has honestly done well. There is a lot to learn from Cross River as best practice for Nigeria. Nigeria should give Cross River State accolades for producing face masks, face shield, PPEs in its Garment Factory, she stated She said the NCDC was also satisfied with the contact tracing, surveillance and testing done so far by the state even as she encouraged the state to do more in that regard. We are happy that the state has a great working relationship with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital. This is commendable. Governor Ben Ayade woke up even before the rest of the country. He shut his borders and has been working from the front line. Your Governor is a man with foresight who believes in his people and wants to save his people. Highlight of the teams visit included the official opening of the 100-bed isolation center On Sunday, four-time Emmy nominee John Krasinski held back tears while signing off on his eight-episode COVID-19 quarantine series Some Good News, which launched on March 29. The 40-year-old father-of-two is 'still reeling from the high flying emotions' from his feel-good show and teased 'there is more to come' but 'we're taking a break for now.' 'I told you from the very first episode, I only deliver the good news. You are the good news,' John said, choking up. 'Stay tuned!' On Sunday, four-time Emmy nominee John Krasinski held back tears while signing off on his eight-episode COVID-19 quarantine series Some Good News, which launched on March 29 'You are the good news!' The 40-year-old father-of-two is 'still reeling from the high flying emotions' from his feel-good show and teased 'there is more to come' but 'we're taking a break' 'And that's why every single week if you can look through the goofy guy wearing half a suit, you'd see what resilience really looks like. 'What unbroken really means. And through witnessing every simple act of kindness and generosity, you would see what the true definition of good really is.' Krasinski then shared a montage of special moments from the series and footage of essential frontline workers as well as fans watching Some Good News. Some Good News amassed 2.54M subscribers thanks to the virtual prom featuring performances from Billie Eilish, The Jonas Brothers, and Chance the Rapper. Choking up, John said: 'I told you from the very first episode, I only deliver the good news. You are the good news. And that's why every single week if you can look through the goofy guy wearing half a suit, you'd see what resilience really looks like. What unbroken really means' 'We're in this together': Krasinski then shared a montage of special moments from the series and footage of essential frontline workers as well as fans watching Some Good News Memories: Some Good News amassed 2.54M subscribers thanks to the virtual prom featuring performances from Billie Eilish (R), The Jonas Brothers, and Chance the Rapper For the grads: There was also a virtual graduation featuring commencement speakers Oprah Winfrey (pictured), Steven Spielberg, Jon Stewart, and Malala Yousafzai There was also a virtual graduation featuring commencement speakers Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Jon Stewart, and Malala Yousafzai. The Jack Ryan action star reunited the cast of The Office to recreate Jim and Pam's wedding dance where he officiated a virtual wedding for one lucky couple. John famously launched his acting career playing Jim Halpert on the NBC mockumentary sitcom over nine seasons spanning 20052013. Impressive: The Jack Ryan action star reunited the cast of The Office to recreate Jim and Pam's wedding dance where he officiated a virtual wedding for one lucky couple Based on the 2001 British series: John famously launched his acting career playing Jim Halpert on the NBC mockumentary sitcom over nine seasons spanning 20052013 BTS: Some Good News also featured appearances from Krasinski's wife Emily Blunt, the Hamilton cast, NASA astronauts, Robert De Niro, Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds, and Martha Stewart Congrats! The Brown University grad will receive a Special Achievement Award at the 24th Annual Webby Awards, hosted by Patton Oswalt, which livestreams Tuesday 3pm EST at webbyawards.com Some Good News also featured appearances from Krasinski's wife Emily Blunt, the Hamilton cast, NASA astronauts, Robert De Niro, Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds, and Martha Stewart. The Brown University grad will receive a Special Achievement Award at the 24th Annual Webby Awards, hosted by Patton Oswalt, which livestreams Tuesday 3pm EST at webbyawards.com. John will next reprise his role as Lee Abbott (in flashbacks) in his directorial effort, A Quiet Place Part II, which will finally be released in US/UK theaters on September 4. LONDON (Reuters) - British luggage brand Antler has collapsed into administration, becoming the latest victim of the coronavirus crisis and its devastating impact on international travel. Restructuring firm KPMG said on Tuesday it had been appointed administrator to the 106-year old brand, which operates 18 retail stores and one concession outlet. It also sells via its own website, through Amazon and wholesales to several large retail chains across the United Kingdom. It also has third party licence deals in Australia and Asia. KPMG has already made 164 of Antler's 199 workforce redundant. "Although the business was trading well prior to the virus outbreak, restrictions imposed at the start of the lockdown period prompted the closure of Antler's retail and wholesale outlets, while the impact on international travel has also significantly affected sales," said Will Wright, partner at KPMG and joint administrator. "With uncertainty over the lifting of travel restrictions placing further financial strain on the business, the directors concluded that they had no option but to appoint administrators." KPMG will continue to trade the business via its online channels while it assesses options for the brand. (Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle) Daniel Gooch, the president of the Canadian Airports Council, was winging his way to Vancouver from Ottawa for meetings on March 12 just as the coronavirus was about to upend the world. "By the time I landed, most of my meetings were cancelled," he told CBC News. The next morning, he got on a plane and returned home to Ottawa. It was his last business trip. "It's going to be a very long recovery," Gooch said. "The airports are empty, the revenue has almost completely stopped and we don't know when it will come back." If and when air travel does come back, technology could play a big role, as airports and airlines around the world explore and develop some sci-fi-like approaches to help passengers feel safer. "Welcome to the airline flight of 2021. Before boarding, walk through the disinfection tunnel and the thermal scanner and have your bags sanitagged," begins a report, The Rise of Sanitized Travel, published by an aviation marketing consultancy in April. Sylvia Thomson/CBC Flying for business and pleasure is still largely grounded, down more than 90 per cent in North America since March, according to passenger numbers from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. Air Canada has also said it is laying off at least half its staff. WATCH | The president of the Canadian Airports Council talks about border innovations: The skies are open but many fliers are fearful, worried that airports and hours confined with strangers inside a plane are just vectors for the virus, creating risks many are not willing to take. Wanlin Zhong had to fly home last week from Washington, D.C., to China. She arrived at the airport in a mask plus a plastic face shield over top. She was also wearing gloves. As an international student in the U.S., her visa was running out. If not, she said, "I wouldn't get on a plane, I'd just stay home and not go out." Sylvia Thomson/CBC Airports and airlines worldwide are struggling to decipher what it will take to restore confidence, rushing to come up with a kind of sanitation security, an overhaul even greater perhaps than the security measures put in place after 9/11. Story continues "The one key characteristic of an airline that's going to thrive on the other side of this crisis it's an airline that can be nimble," said Josh Earnest, chief communications officer for United Airlines. With the low volume of travellers, physical distancing in airports is possible now, but imagine what happens when millions return. "With social distancing of about two metres between passengers," said Gooch, "it takes about 350 metres just to accommodate the security screening line for one wide-body aircraft." Touchless travel A couple of flights at once would easily jam up an airport concourse, creating just one of a myriad of challenges. Sanitation is the primary one, say many aviation experts, and futuristic solutions span everything from more touchless travel, avoiding screens that might be infected, to clean portals scanners that could detect viruses. In Hong Kong's airport, cleaners are spraying an antimicrobial coating on the dozens of places a traveller touches most from escalator handrails to elevator buttons. Hong Kong Airport Authority The airport is also testing a "Clean Tech" booth that monitors temperature before a person enters for about 40 seconds as it sprays a light disinfectant, avoiding the face. It's meant to kill germs on the surface of the body. So far, it's only being tested on staff, but the airport authority said it will review using it for passengers. Pittsburgh's airport is trying out robotic floor cleaners that can cover millions of square feet in an airport, working 24/7. The robots use disinfectant and shoot out a burst of UVC light as an added layer of sanitation. "UVC light has been used in hospitals for decades as a way to kill microorganisms," said Katherine Karolick, senior vice-president of information technology at Pittsburgh International Airport. "Adding that extra layer of ultraviolet light to the scrubbers helps ensure that even more." UVC light to neutralize viruses? UVC light is also used in other devices being promoted for airports like the Cleanse Portal, a doorway-shaped arch that emits far UVC light meant to inactivate pathogens like viruses on the body. The Florida company selling the portal, Healthe, said low exposure to the short waves of far UVC light is safe for humans and it is in the process of applying for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It's already sold the device for office use. In Falls Church, Va., Christian Pinkston installed one in his strategic communications office, along with troffers ceiling light fixtures that use HEPA filters and UV LED light to clean the air in high-traffic areas. Susan Ormiston/CBC "It's constantly recirculating the air at a pretty high volume through a very powerful UV tube. It's killing anything airborne. I could definitely see this being used at airports," Pinkston said. The technology is rapidly evolving and no one solution will work. Instead, airport experts are looking at layers of protection, for now and for the future. "This pandemic isn't a one-off. There will be other pandemics we have to deal with," said Katherine Karolick at the Pittsburgh airport. "Are we going to continue with super high levels of disinfection and social distancing and wearing masks for the rest of our lives? Probably not, but I think some level of these measures will continue." Pittsburgh Airport Authority But airlines cannot wait for this pandemic to pass. Many are sending notices to customers to try to reassure them that hyper-sanitation is now a key part of safety. United Airlines, for example, has purchased 750 hand-held electrostatic sprayers similar to those used to kill germs in hospitals and promises to spray every aircraft between every flight, starting next month. But some aviation analysts suggest airlines will have to go further, maybe putting a sky janitor or cleaner on every flight to wipe down the bathrooms after use by a specific number maybe 10 passengers. Trying to be 'part of the solution' The report last month, The Rise of Sanitized Travel by SimpliFlying, an aviation marketing consultancy, makes 70 suggestions. They include the creation of a Transportation Health Authority in the U.S. or across countries to establish standardized health and sanitation guidelines. Aviointeriors, an Italian company that designs airline cabins and seats, spent the early lockdown in Italy coming up with ideas to protect travellers. Their business to design cabin interiors and aircraft seats had ground to a complete halt. "It was one of our shareholders who said, 'You've got to be part of the solution,' " said Aviointeriors president Paolo Drago. "We had 10 ideas. We chose three to go into design and get patented." Aviointeriors One is Glassafe, a transparent shield constructed of plastic that fits around the sides and top of an airline seat, making a barrier between you and your seatmate. It's portable, could be folded and stored in a sanitized envelope under the seat or given out like a blanket or a pillow and then taken out and attached to the seat after takeoff. "We were trying to limit the breath propagation," said Drago. Looking ahead The company is in advanced talks with about 20 airlines, including some in North America, he said. Another more futuristic product is a middle seat that faces backward and has a shield, both for sanitation and privacy. The Janus seat, named after the ancient Roman god who looks in both directions, is "not the right tool for now," said Drago, because the prototype would require at least eight months to manufacture and be certified, but it could be incorporated into flying in the future. Susan Ormiston/CBC "A customer encouraged us," Drago said, "saying [that] at a funeral, there are people crying and there are people producing the tissues for the crying." One of the obvious changes already is the increasing number of masks in airports and on airlines. In Canadian airports, a traveller must don one. The International Air Transport Authority and many airlines urge all travellers to cover their faces. WATCH | Industry experts look to technology to help air passengers feel safer: "Even a month ago, the idea of requiring all flight attendants and customers to wear a mask on board the aircraft was unthinkable, too impersonal or anxiety-causing," said Earnest. "Now when we see somebody wearing a mask, it puts people at ease because we know they're doing the responsible thing." Those kinds of societal norms are changing, said Earnest. "It means the expectations we have around travel and flying in an aircraft are also going to change." Rebekah Jones is the architect of Florida's COVID-19 dashboard. To provide our community with important public safety information, our newsroom is making stories related to the coronavirus free to read. To support important local journalism like this, please consider becoming a digital subscriber. The scientist who created Florida's COVID-19 data portal wasn't just removed from her position May 5, she was fired Monday by the Department of Health, she said, for refusing to manipulate data. Rebekah Jones said in an email to Florida Today that she single-handedly created two applications in two languages, four dashboards, six unique maps with layers of data functionality for 32 variables covering a half a million lines of data. Her objective was to create a way for Floridians and researchers to see what the COVID-19 situation was in real time. Then, she was dismissed. Previously: As Florida reopens, COVID-19 data chief gets sidelined, and researchers cry foul "I worked on it alone, sixteen hours a day for two months, most of which I was never paid for, and now that this has happened I'll probably never get paid for," she wrote in an email, confirming that she had been fired from her job as Geographic Information Systems manager for the Florida Department of Health. After Florida Today reported Jones' removal from her position in charge of the COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard she created, she said she was fired because she was ordered to censor some data but refused to "manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen," as reported by CBS-12 in West Palm Beach. She provided no further details. In an email Friday to researchers and other data users, Jones warned that changes were probably coming to the accessibility and transparency of the dashboard data. "They are making a lot of changes. I would advise being diligent in your respective uses of this data," she wrote. Researchers who saw the email reacted with shock and dismay, suggesting Gov. Ron De Santis' government was censoring information to support the case for reopening Florida. Story continues Lucky Tran, a biologist and public health communicator at Columbia University, said on Twitter, "When politicians censor scientists and manipulate the numbers, the rest of us suffer." Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., tweeted, "Floridians will not feel safe in opening up without transparency." DeSantis' spokeswoman, Helen Aguirre Ferre, issued a statement to the Miami Herald: The Florida COVID-19 Dashboard was created by the Geographic Information System (GIS) team in the Division of Disease Control and Health Protection at the Florida Department of Health. Although Rebekah Jones is no longer involved, the GIS team continues to manage and update the Dashboard providing accurate and important information that is publicly accessible. Emails from Jones through April show that she responded to feedback from researchers in a bid to improve and update the dashboard. She told Florida Today that she alone was responsible for "every line of code." In an email May 5 in which she announced the launch of a Spanish-language version of the dashboard, Jones wrote, "Please be patient as we get all this connected and running smoothly, and do let me know if you see any errors." It was sent the same day she was removed from her role managing the dashboard. For 60 days, Jones said, she never took a day off, not even when a tornado leveled her parents' home April 12 in southeast Mississippi. A GoFundMe page was set up to help her family recover. Her mother survived, and her father, a truck driver, was in Texas at the time. "Sorry if Ive been a little slow to respond these last few days," she wrote to data users in an email three days later, reporting updates on how data was organized and the inclusion of county-level racial data. Jones provided detailed updates in emails every few days, often technical and responsive to user feedback. She was working on making historical data more accessible to users when she was dismissed. On April 25, Jones explained why the data set would go from morning and evening daily updates to just once per day. "Were gearing up to provide more analytics and data, and would not be able to process the full dataset twice daily with the staff we have," she wrote. "We have been directed to start tracking data related to reopening, and it is consuming a lot of staff hours on very short notice." Days later, she was removed from the position. Jones had worked with the Department of Health as a geospatial analyst, then a Geographic Information System manager since obtaining her doctorate in geography from Florida State University in 2018. She holds a master's degree in geography and mass communication from Louisiana State University and a bachelor's in journalism and geography from Syracuse University. The Florida Department of Health did not reply to a request for comment. Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon is a watchdog reporter for Florida Today. Contact him at 321-355-8144, or asassoon@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @alemzs This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida scientist refused to manipulate COVID-19 data and was fired The proposed International Productions Order law will allow Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) to access the telecommunications data of journalists without a warrant. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) warn of the dangers of the proposed law to press freedom in Australia. If passed, the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (International Productions Order) Bill 2020 would give ASIO access to the publics personal information that is stored by technology companies including Google, Facebook, Apple, Youtube and Microsoft. The bill would also allow US government agencies to access Australians data. The law does not include protections for journalists that previously required authorities to obtain a warrant to access a journalists information. The current proposal allows an International Productions Order to be obtained by applying to the Administrative Appeals Tribunals security division. While the Administrative Appeals Tribunal is an independent body, it has recently come under criticism after political appointees to the tribunal. The bill follows a series of raids on the media by Australian Federal Police in 2019 that highlighted how journalism has been criminalised by Australias National Security Laws. MEAA said: Australia is steadily repressing the essential freedoms of a democracy. This must stop. There is an urgent need for comprehensive law reform. Warrants must be required before accessing journalists data. An application for a warrant must be contestable and subject to review. Whistleblowers must be adequately protected. And there must be a roll back of the so-called national security laws that have been passed by the Parliament in the past two decades. The IFJ said: The International Productions Law undermines a journalists ethical obligation to protect their sources, putting whistleblowers in danger and threatening the publics right to know. Australias Parliament has continued to pass laws to suppress information under the false pretence of national security, threatening the foundations of democracy. The IFJ call on the Australian government to conduct an urgent review of the Bill and national security laws that seek to effectively criminalise journalism. The most recent COVID 19 cost-cutting measures of the CFT and State Secretary Knops proposed to the Kingdom government for their meeting of Friday, May 15, 2020, violate human rights, workers rights. Furthermore, the COVID 19 cost-cutting measures are contrary to statements of UN officials to respect human rights and especially economic and social rights during the COVID 19 pandemic. 1. Measures violating private sector workers rights only in Caribbean countries of the Kingdom - 20 percent reduction contribution of employees from the private sector receiving the wage subsidy. - 20 percent contribution of employees by reducing their working hours by 20 percent. These measures violate the following ILO conventions and recommendations: - C98 THE RIGHT TO ORGANISE AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING CONVENTION, 1949 ; - R091 THE COLLECTIVE AGREEMENTS RECOMMENDATION, 1951; - R092 THE VOLUNTARY CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION RECOMMENDATION, 1951; - C154 - COLLECTIVE BARGAINING CONVENTION, 1981 - By the Kingdom government imposing the cuts on the private sector employers and workers this will infringe the rights of the unions to collective bargaining. The right to bargain freely with employers with respect to conditions of work constitutes an essential element in freedom of association, and trade unions should have the right, through collective bargaining or other lawful means, to seek to improve the living and working conditions of those whom the trade unions represent. - The public authorities should refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof. Any such interference would appear to infringe the principle that workers and employers organizations should have the right to organize their activities and to formulate their programs. 2. Measures violating public sector workers rights only in Caribbean countries of the Kingdom - reducing the salaries in government, salaries at government entities, introduce a solidarity levy or curb other expenditures. - to reduce the total salary package of Members of Parliament and ministers by 25 percent until further notice, - to eliminate the indexing for this group. - all employees in the (semi) public sector, including government-owned companies and government-subsidized organizations, have to take a 12.5 percent cut of the total salary package per July 1 until further notice. - For this group too, there is no indexing to take place. - directors and other high-ranking officials within the (semi) public sector, including government-owned companies and publicly financed organizations, cannot earn more than 130 percent of the prime ministers salary. - implement the long-overdue increase of the pensionable age for civil servants from 62 to 65 years per July 1, 2020 - replace the end wage regulation by the middle-wage regulation. These measures violate the following ILO conventions regarding public servants: - C87 freedom of association and protection of the right to organize convention, 1948, - C151 - labour relations (public service) convention, 1978 = convention concerning the protection of the right to organize and procedures for determining conditions of employment in the public service; - C154 - collective bargaining convention, 1981 - By the Kingdom government imposing the cuts on the public sector workers and workers in semi-public or subsidized entities infringes the rights of the unions to collective bargaining. The right to bargain freely with government or privatized management of government-owned companies or subsidized entities with respect to conditions of work constitutes an essential element in freedom of association, and trade unions should have the right, through collective bargaining or other lawful means, to seek to improve the living and working conditions of those whom the trade unions represent. - The Kingdom government should refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or impede the lawful exercise thereof. Any such interference would appear to infringe the principle that workers and employers organizations should have the right to organize their activities and to formulate their programs. 3. For both private-sector workers and public sector workers these cost-cutting measures violate the following articles in the International Covenant On Economic Social Cultural Rights: - Art 2.1 the principle of progressive realization of all economic social cultural rights; cost-cutting measures are regressive measures - Art 2.2 the non-discrimination principle; by only targeting public sector workers in the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom to pay for the unemployed and self-employed persons constitutes a proposal to enact geopolitical and racial discrimination in the State the Kingdom of the Netherlands - Art 7 the right to just and favorable working conditions; fair wages with equal pay for equal work sufficient to provide a decent living for workers and their dependents; the civil servant salaries and wages are already unequal to the ones in the European part of the Kingdom; cost-cutting measures applied only to public servants in the three Caribbean countries in the Kingdom increase the differences between the salaries in the two parts of the Kingdom which constitutes an act of racial discrimination and apartheid. 4. Measures violating all workers and their family members in St Maarten - age to receive the elderly pension AOV should also increase from 62 to 65 per July 1, with a limited transition arrangement for persons who are 60 or 61 on July 1. This Measure Also Violates Art 9 The Right To Social Security In Old Age. - Based on the principle of progressive realization, even though increasing the age to receive an old-age pension in the European part of the Kingdom is already increased, why the old age pension maxima in the Caribbean part also not being made equitable with the one in the Netherlands? 5. All these cost-cutting measures intended to affect only the workers in the Caribbean countries in the Kingdom. These measures do not respect human rights. The State the Kingdom of the Netherlands was forewarned in a letter of an Independent Expert of the United Nations not to use a lack of financial resources argument to implement cost-cutting regressive income measures on workers and respect human rights. COVID 19 AND HUMAN RIGHTS (April 15, 2020)1 The UN Independent Expert Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky in his letter to the States on April 15, 2020, on COVID 19 and Human Rights said: - that too often, when discussing human rights and in particular economic, social, and cultural rights, the first argument that comes from those responsible for ensuring their realization, is the lack of financial resources to realize these rights. - that governments emphasize on the progressive realization aspects of economic, social and cultural rights, but omit to look at their core and immediate obligations and the positive obligations of States to generate, adequately allocate and make use of the maximum of their available resources to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards the achievement of the full realization of those rights. - that States should immediately invest in the health sector and medical equipment (including regarding COVID-19) and reinforce social safety nets and decent incomes. - that States should also invest in nutrition, housing, education sectors, and local small-scale environmentally sustainable farming and agricultural production. - This crisis should not be used as an argument to accept new ways of cutting wages and other social rights from jobs, as some firms (and States) are doing. - that States should provide financial support to individuals and households in need, through in a first phase, an emergency universal basic income and/or helping employers paying their wage bills, depending on the circumstances, and in a second phase, establishing a solid and universal social security and protection system, allowing for the realization of an adequate standard of living. - that this approach does not prevent governments from operating as payers of last resort to cover companies costs and pay salaries during the crisis if needed. But this policy would be only justified if it is implemented TO AVOID RETROGRESSION IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HUMAN RIGHTS. - that States must dramatically increase spending that targets inequalities and poverty caused by the COVID -19 crisis, and not just bail out corporations, banks, and investors without human rights or social conditions attached. - Measures including unconditional cash transfers to maintain an adequate standard of living, provision of emergency shelters, a halt in evictions and cuts in the provision of electricity and water services must be considered immediately, - that private debt payment should be suspended for individuals financially crippled by the health crisis. During this period, these loans should not bear interest. 1 UN Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights in a publication issued in Geneva on April 15, 2020, in chapter 3 under the paragraph heading Getting rid of the resource excuse Right to development and right to self-governance violated! The CFT and the Kingdom government are violating the rights to development and the right to self-governance of the countries in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The CFT has proposed cost-cutting measures in the budgets of St Maarten since 10-10-10, which has resulted in skeleton budgets with insufficient means to realize the development of St Maarten. Struck by the disaster caused by hurricane Irma and Maria and now by the COVID 19 pandemic the Kingdom government is still the main responsibility for implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan to address the recovery after Irma is financed by the Dutch Trust fund and managed by the World Bank, separate from the annual and multi-annual budgets. The Sint Maarten Support and Relief Plan (SSRP) to address the COVID 19 social, economic, and financial consequences has not been kept separate from the 2020 budget. The 2020 budget was already approved by CFT before it was presented to parliament. By incorporating the SSRP it in the 2020 budget of St Maarten instead of keeping it a recovery plan separate from the 2020 budget, the CFT, and State Secretary Knops are demanding cost-cutting measures in the plan and insisting on the financing of the plan by savings on cost-cutting measures to be imposed on the active workers in the formal sector of Sint Maarten. These cost-cutting measures are contrary to commitments the Kingdom made by signing, ratifying international human rights treaties, and respecting democratic decisions of the United Nations General Assembly among which the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The CFT proposed the following: - the St. Maarten Stimulus and Relief Plan (SSRP) support for the unemployed and self- employed persons, can be financed with the cost-cutting measures in the 2020 budget mentioned before - St. Maarten still needs to come up with a detailed plan as to how it will further bring down the costs of the SSRP and/or find additional financial coverage for the SSRP within its own budget. St. Maarten is urged to present a document with the proposed saving measures to the CFT 1. The Sendai Framework recognizes that the State has the primary role in reducing disaster risk.2 It is the primary responsibility of states to prevent and reduce disaster risk, including through cooperation - 19(a). The State responsibility, however, should be shared with all stakeholders, including local governments and the private sector3. How the responsibility has been shared with local governments in the European part and in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom? This principle of the primary role of the State to prevent and reduce disaster risk, articulates the primacy of the state and its institutions in discharging the responsibility to focus on risk, understanding it and taking the necessary measures with the purpose of preventing its creation, reducing it and strengthening resilience by addressing exposure, vulnerability and, when applicable, hazards characteristics. It implies that the activities necessary to discharge such primary responsibility are fundamental, expected, and required. It points to the fact that preventing and reducing disaster risk is a priority for the state and as such, it needs to be reflected in legislation, policies, strategies, plans, programs, investments, and organizational measures. It also indicates that this responsibility includes the duty to cooperate and seek the cooperation of 2 https://www.preventionweb.net/sendai-framework/sendai-framework-for-drr. The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was held in Sendai, Japan, from 14 to 18 March 2015. The Sendai Framework was subsequently endorsed by consensus by the UN General Assembly with resolution A/RES/69/283 on 3 June 2015. 3https://www.preventionweb.net/files/46694_readingsendaiframeworkfordisasterri.pdf other states in order to take the necessary measures to prevent and reduce disaster risk. This principle may be complemented by 19 (g), (i), (j), (k), (l) and (m). Sections III, IV, and V of the Sendai Framework are closely interlinked and define what needs to be done by whom and how. In particular, section IV identifies priority actions which are the responsibility of states to implement. In the discharge of such responsibilities, states can expect, mobilize and utilize the contribution of stakeholders, as articulated in section V. Both states and all other stakeholders are required to implement the priority areas in line with the guiding principles of section III. Section IV articulates the priority areas along two lines: actions that need to be carried out by each state within national boundaries, and actions that need to be carried out internationally in cooperation with other states and stakeholders.4 2. For the Caribbean territories in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the primary responsibility of the State thus is with the Kingdom government! The Kingdom also has a Treaty with member states and associate members of the Association of Caribbean States about cooperation on natural disasters.5 - What are the legislation, policies, strategies, plans, programs, investments, and organizational measures of the State the Kingdom of the Netherlands to implement disaster risk reduction and management for natural phenomena like hurricane, earthquake and tsunami, epidemic, or pandemic, among others? - What are the measures the State the Kingdom of the Netherlands has implemented to plan for, to prevent, to mitigate, to prepare, to respond to a disaster to reduce the risks? - How is the management structure of disaster risk reduction, especially taken into consideration the constitutional reforms in the Kingdom of the Netherlands? The Netherlands apply the Manual on Decision Making Procedures during Crises for Disaster Assistance to the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba.6 The authorities in the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom are responsible for their emergency management under the responsibility of the Minister of General Affairs, head of the Disaster Bureau. The national Bureau of the Disaster Coordinator is responsible for the coordination at the practical and political-administrative level. Governors may employ the armed forces for assistance in matters of security and public order by requesting the Commander of the Dutch Navy in the Dutch Caribbean for assistance.7 How the Kingdom government is taking care of its primary responsibility? 3. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk reduction stipulates also the principle of Protection of persons and their assets while promoting and protecting all human rights including the right to development8 19(c). - This principle requires that in taking all the necessary measures to prevent and reduce disaster risk, states and all other stakeholders promote and protect all human rights. - Civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, elimination of racial discrimination and discrimination against women, children, and persons with disabilities rights, to mention just a few, have a direct bearing on participation, capabilities, 4 https://www.preventionweb.net/files/46694_readingsendaiframeworkfordisasterri.pdf 5 Santo Domingo de Guzman, applicable since April 17, 1999, until today 6 Letter of the State Secretary of Interior Affairs June 21, 2000, to the Second Chamber. Note relief after hurricane and progress emergency management and rebuilding program in connection with hurricane Lenny, char. KR00/U68855 7 Disaster Management on the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, paragraph 4.5 on page 26 of The Netherlands Red Cross report with an analysis of Dutch legislation and policy in light of the Guidelines for the Domestic Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance (the so-called IDRL Guidelines): Legal Aspects of International Disaster Response in Dutch Emergencies and Crisis Situations The Hague, 2020. 8 https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Development/DeclarationRightDevelopment_en.pdf vulnerabilities, resilience, the possibility of taking risk-informed decisions, accountability, etc. and thus on disaster risk reduction. Declaration on the Right to Development Article 1.1. The right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized. Article 3 1. States have the primary responsibility for the creation of national and international conditions favourable to the realization of the right to development. As illustrated before the measures imposed only on workers in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom are discriminatory and constitute a regressive instead of progressive realization of the economic social and cultural rights acquired. By the way, the realization of economic and social, cultural rights in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom is not yet equal to the realization of these rights in the European part of the Kingdom. Regressive measures only increase the gap in the equitable realization of these rights in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. 4. The following statements of United Nations Human Rights officials clearly establish the obligation of the Kingdom government to address the disasters with respect for the realization of human rights. UN CHIEF WARNS GOVERNMENTS TO HEED HUMAN RIGHTS IN CORONAVIRUS RESPONSES (23 April 2020)9 U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the coronavirus outbreak is fast becoming a human rights crisis. In a statement Thursday, he called on governments to ensure that health care is available and accessible to all people, that economic aid packages help those most affected, and that everyone has the ability to obtain food, water, and housing. COVID-19: EXCEPTIONAL MEASURES SHOULD NOT BE COVER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND VIOLATIONS. (27 April 2020)10 As Governments face the formidable challenge of protecting people from COVID -19, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has called on them to ensure human rights are not violated under the guise of exceptional or emergency measures. COVID-19 GUIDANCE (13 May 2020)11 Respect for human rights across the spectrum, including economic, social, cultural, and civil and political rights, will be fundamental to the success of the public health response and recovery from the pandemic. Emergency Measures Governments have to take difficult decisions in response to COVID-19. International law allows emergency measures in response to significant threats but measures that restrict human rights should be proportionate to the evaluated risk, necessary and applied in a non- discriminatory way. This means having a specific focus and duration and taking the least intrusive approach possible to protect public health. 5. The Kingdom of the Netherlands has a moral obligation to implement the Declaration on the Right to Development signed by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1986. The ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights since 1979 provided a legal obligation to an equal realization of human rights for the people in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom just as the people in the European part of the Kingdom. 9 https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/un-chief-warns-governments-heed-human-rights-coronavirus-responses 10 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25828&LangID=E 11 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/COVID19Guidance.aspx Article 5 of the Declaration on the Right to Development stipulates: States shall take resolute steps to eliminate the massive and flagrant violations of the human rights of peoples and human beings affected by situations such as those resulting from apartheid, all forms of racism and racial discrimination, colonialism, foreign domination and occupation, aggression, foreign interference and threats against national sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity, threats of war and refusal to recognize the fundamental right of peoples to self- determination. Article 8 1. States should undertake, at the national level, all necessary measures for the realization of the right to development and shall ensure, inter alia, equality of opportunity for all in their access to basic resources, education, health services, food, housing, employment and the fair distribution of income. Effective measures should be undertaken to ensure that women have an active role in the development process. Appropriate economic and social reforms should be carried out with a view to eradicating all social injustices. The skeleton budgets of the countries in the Kingdom, like the ones from St Maarten since 10-10-10, have not budgeted the full and equal realization of human rights in this territory of the State the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The recent cost-cutting measure proposals to address the effects of COVID 19 in the Caribbean countries in the Kingdom are measures contrary to the realization of the right to development, and do not eradicate but increase all social injustices in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. 6. All colonial people have the right to a full measure of self-governance according to art 73 of the Charter of the United Nations. But the people of the Caribbean islands in the Kingdom of the Netherlands have not yet obtained a full measure of self-government. As a matter of fact, the people of the islands still have limited sovereignty. Compared with the degree of autonomy the people of the Netherlands Antilles had, the constitutional status of the islands do not provide them an equal status in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a member state of the United Nations is clearly outlined in the following articles of the Charter of the United Nations. Article 73 1. Members of the United Nations which have or assume responsibilities for the administration of territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government recognize the principle that the interests of the inhabitants of these territories are paramount, and accept as a sacred trust the obligation to promote to the utmost, within the system of international peace and security established by the present Charter, the well-being of the inhabitants of these territories, and, to this end: a. to ensure, with due respect for the culture of the peoples concerned, their political, economic, social, and educational advancement, their just treatment, and their protection against abuses; b. to develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of each territory and its peoples and their varying stages of advancement; c. to further international peace and security; d. to promote constructive measures of development, to encourage research, and to co-operate with one another and, when and where appropriate, with specialized international bodies with a view to the practical achievement of the social, economic, and scientific purposes set forth in this Article; and e. to transmit regularly to the Secretary- General for information purposes, subject to such limitation as security and constitutional considerations may require, statistical and other information of a technical nature relating to economic, social, and educational conditions in the territories for which they are respectivel y responsible other than those territories to which Chapters XII and XIII apply. Article 74 Members of the United Nations also agree that their policy in respect of the territories to which this Chapter applies, no less than in respect of their metropolitan areas, must be based on the general principle of good-neighborliness, due account being taken of the interests and well-being of the rest of the world, in social, economic, and commercial matters. The Kingdom is a member state since 1945. Are the decisions and measures being taken by the Kingdom government in The Hague in 75 years (three-quarters of a century) and the most recent measures and instructions were given to the islands in the Caribbean complying with what is expected from the Netherlands as a member state of the United Nations? State obligation vs autonomous country obligation to realize human rights! 1. The constitutional reforms in the Kingdom of the Netherlands were internal changes within the State the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but with no consequences for the implementation of international treaties in the territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.12 Note 1. By a communication received on 30 December 1985, the Government of the Netherlands informed the Secretary-General that the island of Aruba which was a part of the Netherlands Antilles would obtain internal autonomy as a separate country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands as of l January 1986". The said change would have no consequence in international law. The treaties concluded by the Kingdom which applied to the Netherlands Antilles, including Aruba, would continue, after 1 January 1986 to apply to the Netherlands Antilles (of which Aruba is no longer a part) and to Aruba. Note 2. By a communication received on 11 October 2010, the Government of the Netherlands informed the Secretary-General that "[t]he Kingdom of the Netherlands currently consists of three parts: the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba. The Netherlands Antilles consists of the islands of Curacao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. With effect from 10 October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles will cease to exist as a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. From that date onwards, the Kingdom will consist of four parts: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten. Curacao and Sint Maarten will enjoy internal self-government within the Kingdom, as Aruba and, up to 10 October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles do. These changes constitute a modification of the internal constitutional relations within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Kingdom of the Netherlands will accordingly remain the subject of international law with which agreements are concluded. The modification of the structure of the Kingdom will therefore not affect the validity of the international agreements ratified by the Kingdom for the Netherlands Antilles: these agreements, including any reservations made, will continue to apply to Curacao and Sint Maarten. The other islands that have until now formed part of the Netherlands Antilles Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba - will become parts of the Netherlands, thus constituting the Caribbean part of the Netherlands. The agreements that now apply to the Netherlands Antilles will also continue to apply to these islands; however, the Government of the Netherlands will now be responsible for implementing these agreements. In addition, a number of the agreements that currently apply to the Netherlands are hereby declared applicable, from 10 October 2010, to this Caribbean part of the Netherlands. The agreements concerned are listed in the Annex which also includes a declaration, regarding the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on the modification of the internal constitutional relations within the Kingdom..." 2. All international treaties ratified by the Kingdom have applicability in all territories of the Kingdom regardless it's constitutional makeup (so whether the territory is called extraordinary municipality, or autonomous country within the Kingdom) according to art 29 of the Vienna Convention on the law of Treaties.13 Article 29. TERRITORIAL SCOPE OF TREATIES Unless a different intention appears from the treaty or is otherwise established, a treaty is binding upon each party in respect of its entire territory. 3. State arrangement of Sint Maarten (Staatsregeling Sint Maarten) 14 in art 81b establishes that all international treaties ratified by the Kingdom are applicable for Sint Maarten as legal regulations unless exception is made when ratifying the regulation. (see Treaty Database of the Kingdom of the Netherlands 15) HOOFDSTUK 6 Wetgeving en bestuur 1. Algemene bepaling over wettelijke regelingen Artikel 81 De geldende wettelijke regelingen in Sint Maarten zijn: 12 https://treaties.un.org/Pages/HistoricalInfo.aspx?clang=_en 13 https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsIII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXIII-1&chapter=23&Temp=mtdsg3&clang=_en#EndDec 14 http://decentrale.regelgeving.overheid.nl/cvdr/images/Sint%20Maarten/i240625.pdf 15 https://verdragenbank.overheid.nl/ a.het Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; b.overeenkomsten met andere mogendheden en met volkenrechtelijke organisaties, voorzover zij voor Sint Maarten bekrachtigd zi jn; c. rijkswetten en algemene maatregelen van rijksbestuur die volgens het Statuut voor Sint Maarten verbindend zijn; d.deze Staatsregeling; e.onderlinge regelingen als bedoeld in artikel 38, eerste lid, van het Statuut, voor zover door een bevoegd orgaan van Sint Maarten daaraan wettelijke kracht is verleend; f.onderlinge regelingen als bedoeld in artikel 38, tweede lid, van het Statuut; g.landsverordeningen, waaronder tevens begrepen de eenvormige landsverordeningen; h.landsbesluiten, houdende algemene maatregelen; i.ministeriele regelingen; j.verordeningen van openbare lichamen, als bedoeld in artikel 97, tweede lid, en zelfstandige bestuursorganen, als bedoeld in artikel 98, tweede lid. 4. Constitutional responsibilities vs State responsibilities Referring to Art 43 of the Charter of the Kingdom that the realization of human rights is a country affair, does that mean that the Kingdom government is not any longer responsible as State party to all human rights treaties, to realize the human rights in the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom on an equal footing with the European part in the Kingdom? The Kingdom's government has to guarantee human rights. Does this mean that the countries in the Kingdom are autonomous and that they autonomously have to address the disasters as if they are states? Does this mean that they autonomously have to realize the human rights with all the skeleton budgets and cost-cutting measures imposed by the Kingdom government? 34 years passed after ratification of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights inequality in economic social and cultural rights (unequal social protection floor, poverty) as well as inequality in civil and political rights (democratic deficit) is still predominant in the Kingdom government. 5. Constitutional differences in the Kingdom (extraordinary municipality, autonomous country within the Kingdom) constitute a political, jurisdictional status of limited sovereignty. As a consequence or affect the people in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom are being hindered or limited in realizing their human rights on an equal footing to the people in the European Netherlands. The people of the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Saba, Statia) are being kept as second class citizens in the Kingdom, and the people in the Caribbean countries within the Kingdom (Curacao, Aruba, Sint Maarten) are being kept as third-class citizens in the Kingdom. Article 2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or another opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. 2. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. Article 1 of the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (Kingdom Signed: 1966, Ratified: 1971) 1. In this Convention, the term "racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life. 2. This Convention shall not apply to distinctions, exclusions, restrictions or preferences made by a State Party to this Convention between citizens and non-citizens. 3. Nothing in this Convention may be interpreted as affecting in any way the legal provisions of States Parties concerning nationality, citizenship or naturalization, provided that such provisions do not discriminate against any particular nationality. 4. Special measures are taken for the sole purpose of securing adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups or individuals requiring such protection as may be necessary in order to ensure such groups or individuals equal enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms shall not be deemed racial discrimination, provided, however, that such measures do not, as a consequence, lead to the maintenance of separate rights for different racial groups and that they shall not be continued after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved. The constitutional difference is de facto a ground for discrimination in the realization of human rights, which is prohibited according to art 2 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. We can label this other status ground of discrimination as geopolitical distinction in the State the Kingdom of the Netherlands.16 16 https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetailsIII.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXIII-1&chapter=23&Temp=mtdsg3&clang=_en#EndDec THE BUDGET SHOULD REFLECT POLICIES TO REALIZE HUMAN RIGHTS! 1. Art 100 of the State arrangement of Sint Maarten (Staatsregeling Sint Maarten) 17 establishes that the budget of receivables and expenditures should be balanced, but we can deviate from the balanced budget norm in connection with the recovery of damage caused by extraordinary events, among which natural disasters. This was the case with hurricane Irma and Maria. This is also the case with the COVID 19 pandemic. Artikel 100 1.De begroting van de ontvangsten en de uitgaven van het Land wordt bij landsverordening vastgesteld. 2.De jaarbegroting en de meerjarenbegroting zullen sluitend zijn. Indien dit nodig is in verband met het herstel van schade veroorzaakt door buitengewone gebeurtenissen, waaronder natuurrampen, kan volgens regels gegeven bij of krachtens rijkswet of landsverordening, worden afgeweken van de eerste volzin. 2. Art 3 para 1 of the National Accountability Ordinance (Landsverordening Comptabiliteit) 18 establishes that all receivables and expenditures should be based on legal regulations (referred to in art 81 of the State arrangement of St Maarten). So the expenditures to realize all human rights stipulated in ratified international treaties according to art 81b also have to be budgeted. These should be budgeted, in order to be realized on a non- discriminatory way throughout the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with the same equitable norms as in the Netherlands. The objective should be to achieve for the people of St Maarten as a minimum the same human development index as the people of the Netherlands have achieved and as a maximum what they are striving to achieve. Artikel 3 1.Behoudens het tweede en derde lid, wordt het stelsel van baten en lasten, op basis van wettelijke aanspraken op en door derden, als verslaggevingstelsel gehanteerd. 3. Art 4 para 2 of the National Accountability Ordinance (Landsverordening Comptabiliteit) speaks explicitly about cooperation means of the Netherlands, which have to be separately estimated as receivables and expenditures! Cooperation means refer to financial means (grants or loans) to finance the expenditures estimated to comply with all legal arrangements mentioned in art 81 of the State arrangement of St Maarten. Artikel 4 1.Alle baten en lasten, voor alle entititeiten in de collectieve sector met uitzondering van die in de sociale zekerheid, worden geraamd en verantwoord tot hun brute bedrag onder het ministerie of adviesorgaan waaronder die entiteit ressorteert. 2.Samenwerkingsmiddelen van Nederland ontvangen worden separaat als bate en last geraamd en verantwoord, waarbij de uitgaven naar functie worden ingedeeld. 4. The Committee for Financial Supervision (CFT) and the Kingdom government do not respect neither human rights nor the right to development. Since 10-10-10 they have been proposing and imposing (instructions) cost-cutting measures to balance the budgets of the countries in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, which resulted in 9 years of skeleton budgets instead of right to development budgets. 17 http://decentrale.regelgeving.overheid.nl/cvdr/images/Sint%20Maarten/i240625.pdf 18 https://decentrale.regelgeving.overheid.nl/cvdr/XHTMLoutput/Actueel/Sint%20Maarten/156293.html The CFT and State Secretary Knops again are proposing the Kingdom government to impose cost-cutting measures on the Caribbean countries of the Kingdom as a condition to get liquidity support. Again the CFT and the Kingdom government by doing so are not treating the citizens and especially businesses and workers in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom the same way as in the Netherlands in this COVID 19 pandemic. 5. To achieve progressively the full realization of all economic, social, and cultural rights adopting a budget based on the human rights-based right to development policies are appropriate means. This budgeting to achieve a non-discriminatory equitable realization of all human rights has to be done with the maximum of the available resources of the State party. All of this is according to art 2 par 1 of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights!19 Article 2 1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures. 2. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated in the presents Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or another opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or another status. 6. All capital investments, as well as current expenditures estimates, should be in the budget and finance not only with tax income or retributions of St Maarten but also with cooperation means of the Netherlands to the maximum of the available resources in the State. To realize a balanced budget for St Maarten based upon the equal treatment principle all citizens of the Kingdom in the Caribbean territories in the Kingdom should receive all these cooperation means as a grant. Just as the citizens in the Netherlands are not being charged interest for realizing their basic human rights, so also the St Maarten citizens should not be penalized with loans and interest to comply with all legal arrangements mentioned in art 81 of the State arrangement of St Maarten. 7. With St Maarten being a territory in the State has limited resources, the Minister Plenipotentiary as a member of the Kingdom Council of Ministers upon the instruction of the Council of Ministers of St Maarten has to request and defend the equal human rights realization for the people of St Maarten in all measures and decisions to be taken by the Kingdom government. Nature of State parties obligations - CESCR General Comment 3 (1990) on Art 2 (..) to take steps () Thus while the full realization of the relevant rights may be achieved progressively, steps towards that goal must be taken within a reasonably short time after the Covenant's entry into force for the States concerned . . Such steps should be deliberate, concrete, and targeted as clearly as possible towards meeting the obligations recognized in the Covenant. => Since 1979 until now is 41 years is certainly not a reasonable short time (5 years should be the maximum) 8. The government of St Maarten, the Parliament of St Maarten, the CFT and the Kingdom government all have to respect human rights and the right to development of the people in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom to achieve an equal human development level in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. No more skeleton budgets but Right to Development budgets! 19https://www.ohchr.org/EN/professionalinterest/pages/cescr.aspx Gregory Tyree Boyce (Credit: Michael Bezjian/WireImage) Gregory Tyree Boyce, who appeared in vampire hit Twilight, has died aged 30. Boyce and his girlfriend Natalie Adepoju, 27, were both found dead at their home in Las Vegas on 13 May, according to the Clark County Coroners Office. The cause of death is yet to be confirmed. A spokesperson for the family told TMZ: We as family of Gregory Boyce are very saddened by our loss. He was a dad, son, grandson, brother, uncle, and friend. He was the light of all our lives and we are very saddened by his death. Boyce in Twilight (Credit: Lionsgate) In a post to Facebook, his mother Lisa Wayne said: I'm sick without you. I'm torn, I'm lost. I'm in pain. I'd text you or call you when I was broken or worried about something, and you'd tell me, Ma, I got you, we'll get thru this together. Boy. Why did you leave me. Boyce played the role of Tyler Crowley in the first Twilight movie in 2008, a student Forks High School with Kristen Stewart's Bella. Read more: Scarface actor Geno Silva dies at 72 When he almost hits Bella in his car, it's Robert Pattinson's Edward Cullen who steps in, stopping the vehicle with just his hand. Boyce also had a small role in the 2018 movie Apocalypse, directed by Grown-ish star Trevor Jackson. The actor turned 30 in December, and posted to his Instagram page on the occasion: At one point I didn't think I would make it to see 30 years old. Over the years like everyone else I have made mistakes along the way, but today is one of those days I only reflect on the great ones. What a time to be alive. He is survived by his daughter Alaya, 10, and Adepoju by a baby son Egypt. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 11:08:41|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Ding Zhongli, vice chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, presides over an oath-taking ceremony held by the 13th NPC Standing Committee to pledge allegiance to the Constitution at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, May 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) Imported barley is transported from a cargo ship at the port of Nantong By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - China effectively banned Australian barley imports after concluding Canberra's water market was a subsidy for growers, documents showed on Tuesday, a position Australian government sources described as ludicrous. Australia said it was considering an appeal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as it tries to dampen fears that China is launching a trade war in retaliation for Australia's calls for an investigation into the origin of the novel coronavirus. "There is no trade war - everyone needs to take a deep breath and a cold shower," Australian Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud told reporters in Canberra. Littleproud is one of two ministers who has tried unsuccessfully to contact their Chinese counterparts to smooth escalating tensions over the trade of barley and beef to Australia's largest trading partner. China said on Monday it would apply an 80.5% tariff on Australian barley imports for the next five years, a move expected to all but halt a billion-dollar trade. Beijing published its justification in which China concluded Australia's Murray Darling Plan - a scheme to improve the wellbeing of an ecologically vital river system - provided a subsidy for Australian growers. Under the plan, Australia buys water rights from irrigators to improve the health of the basin, an area twice the size of Spain and home to 40% of Australias agricultural output. "Using the Murray Darling Basin Plan as justification is frankly absurd. It buys water from irrigators, 99% of whom do not grow barley," an Australian government source said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to talk about the matter. "Even worse is the scheme impacts the east coast when nearly all Australian barley sold to China comes from the west." A second Australian government official said a WTO appeal would take at least two years, and risked escalating trade tensions with China just as Australia is facing its first recession in three decades because of the impact of COVID-19. Story continues "How can we not go to the WTO? Their justification has so many holes, I'm sure we will win and we have duty to the farmers, but at what cost?" said the second government source, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of issue. SMALL BEER? Western Australia state Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan said growers in her electorate would lose about A$200 million as a result of China's action. Growers could be forced to sell their premium barley - often used for making beer - to the Middle East for livestock feed at a heavy discounts, raising pressure on the federal government to refer the matter to the WTO. China has committed to increase its purchases of U.S. agriculture under a phase one trade agreement with Washington, and U.S growers of corn and sorghum could benefit from the Australian barley ban. "We call on the Australian government to support Australias farmers and exporters ... and immediately pursue the WTO Dispute Settlement process to the fullest extent possible," Australia's grain industry body, GrainGrowers, said in a statement. China was Australia's largest barley market, buying half the country's barley exports in a trade worth about A$917 million ($600 million) a year. Ignited by a comprehensive free trade deal, two-way trade between Australia and China has grown annually to be worth A$180 billion ($124 billion). China's growth has propelled demand for Australian agricultural goods, services such as tourism and education, and natural resources like iron ore. Fears that China intended to punish Australia for its push for an international coronavirus inquiry grew last month when Beijing's ambassador said Chinese consumers could shun Australian wine, beef and universities in response. Earlier this month China suspended beef imports from four of Australia's largest meat processors, citing safety issues. (Corrects to show China did publish its justification for the tariff) (Reporting by Colin Packham, Kirsty Needham and Renju Jose; Editing by Stephen Coates) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) The government procurement of overpriced COVID-19 testing machines was questioned by a senator on Tuesday, during the hearing of the Senate committee of the whole on COVID-19 pandemic response. Senator Panfilo Ping Lacson asked Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, noting that each unit of the testing instrument bought by the government is double the price of those acquired by Project ARK- a private sector initiative on COVID-19 testing. According to the document presented by Lacson, Project ARK purchased six units of Sansure Nucleic Acid Extractor, which costs 1.75 million each, while the governments Automated Nucleic Acid Extraction Machine (Thermo Scientific King Fisher Flex) costs 4 million per unit, in which the country acquired a total of 10 machines. RELATED: Project ARK partners with govt to set up more COVID-19 testing centers Bakit mas mahal ang bili ng gobyerno kaysa sa bili ng private sector? Bakit mahigit doble? Lacson asked the DOH. [Translation: Why is the purchase of the government more expensive than of the private sector? Why is it more than double?] Compatibility issues The health secretary said it is a matter of compatibility with Philippine laboratories. yong Thermo Scientific is a US brand compatible with the US-real time PCR machine which the Philippine labs have procured in the past. So incompatible kung puro Sansure ang bibilhin, he said. [Translation: The Thermo Scientific (Thermo Scientific King Fisher Flex) is a US brand compatible with the US real-time PCR machine which the Philippine labs have procured in the past. It will be incompatible if we buy Sansure.] Duque was also quick to clear out that DOH did not directly purchase the machines, instead it needed the help of PS-DBM or the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management. I would also like to underscore the fact that none of these was directly procured by the DOH. We had to ask the support of the PS-DBM precisely because at around that time when we were beginning to ramp up our testing capacity, there were 56 of our people who had to be put in quarantine. Brand specific APR On the other hand, Department of Budget and Management Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao explained that the PS-DBM can only procure based on the APR (agency purchase request) issued by the agency requiring them to procure. Lao confirmed to Lacson that the specifications on the brand of testing machines was decided by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the DOH. Based on our experience sa procurement law, we dont do that. In Bayanihan Act, pwede po. Kasi it should be based on the decision of the agency like DOH, RITM, kailangan I-validate. So pag sinabi nila na ito bilhin niyo, di kami makaka decide noon, Lao said. [Translation: Based on our experience in the procurement law, we dont do that. In the Bayanihan Act, we can. It should be based on the decision of the agency like DOH, and RITM, to validate. If they say that we should buy this, we cant decide on it.] Lao added that if the APR issued was of a generic brand, the process will be asking all providers to bid. The agency will then buy from whoever offers the lowest price. But since the APR issued to us is very specific and brand based, we can only buy that specific brand which is in this case, is Thermo Science King Fisher, he said. Meanwhile, Duque assured Lacson that the DOH will cooperate fully in case an investigation will have to take place. Amiram Ben-Uliel is brought for a verdict in the case of the 2015 arson attack, which killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents in the Israeli-occupied West Bank village of Duma, at the Central Lod District Court in Lod, Israel. Photo: Avshalom Sassoni/Pool via REUTERS A Jewish settler was found guilty of racially motivated murder by an Israeli court yesterday in a 2015 arson attack that killed a Palestinian couple and their baby in the occupied West Bank. The deaths of 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh and his parents, Saad and Riham, contributed to a surge of Israeli-Palestinian violence after US-sponsored peace talks stalled in 2014. The ensuing investigation and prosecution of Amiram Ben-Uliel also laid bare fissures within Israeli society, with some ultra-nationalists challenging the state's handling of Jewish suspects. Israel's Shin Bet counter-terrorism agency hailed the verdict by Lod District Court, which carries a potential life prison term, as a "landmark". Ben-Uliel (25) plans a Supreme Court appeal. His lawyer said Shin Bet interrogators had extracted a false confessions from him. Israeli prosecutors said Ben-Uliel firebombed the Dawabsheh family home and another dwelling in Duma village after spray-painting 'Revenge' and 'Long Live King Messiah' on their walls. Clutching a Jewish holy book, Ben-Uliel sat slumped in the dock as the verdict was read out. Israeli media quoted his wife, Orianne, as saying he was with her on the night of the Duma attack and was innocent. "It was pretty clear Amiram would be convicted for acts he confessed to but did not commit," defence lawyer Itzhak Bam told reporters, describing conditions under which the Shin Bet had interrogated Ben-Uliel as "a serious violation of his rights". The Shin Bet defended its methods as lawful and hailed the verdict as "an important landmark in the struggle against Jewish terrorism". (Natural News) Sao Paulo, Brazils largest city, is on the brink of collapse as its healthcare system is unable to keep up with the demand for hospital beds for COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro continues to ignore the imposition of even the most common sense anti-coronavirus measures, such as social distancing and the wearing of face masks in public. Sao Paulo mayor Bruno Covas has stated that the citys public hospitals have reached 90 percent of their capacity and could run out of space for new COVID-19 patients in as little as two weeks. Covas further stated that the people of Sao Paulo who were disobeying lockdown protocols were guilty of playing Russian roulette with other peoples lives. The state of Sao Paulo is one of the hardest hit regions in Brazil by the Wuhan coronavirus. As of press time, it has 63,066 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 4,823 deaths. (Related: Brazil now on its way to becoming Latin Americas coronavirus hotspot; Manaus now a land of the dead.) While Brazil's Pres Bolsonaro irresponsibly denies that the coronavirus poses a threat, the mayor of Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, says its public hospitals had reached 90% capacity and could run out of space in about two weeks. https://t.co/b6h7Zh3lFR pic.twitter.com/LBugUjeQd9 Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) May 18, 2020 Mayor of Sao Paulo plans to introduce strict lockdown measures to protect hospitals The city is coming to the limit of options, said Covas to journalists on May 17. We need to decide if we want to test the limits, or if we will be prudent and firmly maintain social isolation for the time needed so that the health system doesnt collapse. We are closer than we would like. The state of Sao Paulo, the epicenter of the Brazilian coronavirus pandemic, has been under a state of lockdown since March 24. All businesses, schools and public spaces were shut down and people were ordered to stay at home. While this lockdown seemed strict on paper, the penalties for breaking quarantine were not severe, and plenty of Brazilians still chose to leave their homes, which helped spread the disease. Even the mandatory rule of wearing face masks has been flouted. Government data showed that in March, at the beginning of Sao Paulos lockdown, more than 60 percent of residents sheltered at home and the spread of the virus had slowed down. However, in the last few weeks, the amount of people in Sao Paulo who were following quarantine protocols had fallen below 50 percent and the coronavirus began spreading more rapidly throughout the city. Furthermore, maintaining quarantine has been difficult for the residents of the citys favelas, or slums, who have to keep going to work in order to maintain a regular income. Sao Paulo Gov. Joao Doria began relaxing the states lockdown restrictions on May 11. However, it seems that residents of Sao Paulo city may have to wait a little longer; Covas stated that he has been in talks with Doria over implementing even stricter lockdown measures to prevent hospitals from reaching breaking point. Coordination between the mayor and the governor is necessary because the state government controls the police, and their support will be necessary if the plan to maintain the lockdown continues. The city of Sao Paulo, one of the largest in the world, has a population of 12 million, and data from the Brazilian government shows that most of the citys residents are ignoring social distancing guidelines. President Bolsonaro continues to resist common sense anti-coronavirus policies Meanwhile, Bolsonaro continues to be criticized for his disastrous handling of the countrys coronavirus pandemic. He has been spotted several times participating in rallies. He has stated that the threat of COVID-19 is being overstated and that its nothing more than a little flu. When asked about Brazils mounting death toll, he responded by saying So what? On May 17, he defied global health advice even further when he posed for photographs with supporters and their children. In another engagement, he met with a group of men who were wearing similar military outfits. The whole group, including Bolsonaro, said a prayer for Brazil and then dropped to the ground and did several pushups. Bolsonaro continues to ignore the threat of the coronavirus and has repeatedly called for Brazil to reopen its economy. He has even argued that most of Brazil had nothing to fear from COVID-19. With my history as an athlete, if I were infected with the virus I would have no reason to worry, said Bolsonaro. I would feel nothing, or it would be at most just a little flu. Brazil currently has 254,220 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 16,792 deaths. The country now has the third highest number of coronavirus cases, next to Russia and the United States. It is also one of the few large countries in the world where infection and death rates are still rising. Pandemic.news has more news and stories on how Brazil and other countries are handling the coronavirus pandemic. Sources include: BBC.com COVID.Saude.gov.br Edition.CNN.com XinhuaNet.com AlJazeera.com France and Germany have outlined plans for a 500-billion-euro European fund backed by joint EU borrowing to help tackle the economic fallout from Covid- 19. President Macron and Chancellor Merkel laid out at a videoconference on Monday, a plan for to borrow from the market in the name of the EU to fund 500 billion euros of spending on the bloc's worst-hit sectors and regions. EU countries benefiting would received the money in the form of grants not loans and it would not have to be repaid. The aim is to ensure that Europe comes out of the crisis more cohesive and with more solidarity, said Merkel, calling the proposal courageous. The two leaders hope their idea will receive the backing of the other 25 EU countries. Hopes for EU-wide agreement Macron and Merkel hope their plan will receive the approval of the other 25 EU leaders at a full summit, which has yet to be scheduled. If there is agreement, the fund would break through the bloc's fiscal deadlock. Northern countries have until now firmly rejected joint debt in the name of budget discipline. But the plan has immediately met resistance from Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who insisted that any help be in the form of loans, not grants. The move comes as various EU countries ease lockdown restrictions in a bid to re-start economies, with some countries, particularly Italy and Spain, especially badly hit by the virus. The two leaders also agreed on ideas to strengthen health co operation within the EU to develop "strategic health sovereignty". They proposed common stocks of medicines and medical equipment, as well as greater co operation betwwen EU states in the development of vaccines and treatments. The Sars-CoV-2 viruses causing coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has three major strains, but no key mutation specific to India has been found that affects infectiveness or disease severity, said Minister of Health and Science & Technology Dr Harsh Vardhan in his first interview after Covid-19 cases crossed 100,000 in India on Monday. He said calibrated lockdowns and public health measures have delayed the peaking of the curve in India and prevented the dramatically high numbers predicted by several modelling studies, but warned that how the pandemic progresses now will depend on how closely people follow mobility restrictions, social isolation and personal hygiene norms. Edited excerpts: When is the pandemic expected to peak in India? We have successfully managed to delay the peaking of the curve by imposing lockdown and other public health measures in a timely manner. There are several mathematical models which are predicting the course of the pandemic in India, but till now, we have managed to avoid the dramatically high numbers that they predicted. Right now, with the calibrated lockdowns being implemented, we have tried to contain the spread of infection. It is difficult to predict numbers as they will depend on the adherence of restrictions on mobility and intermingling, observance of personal hygiene, and prevention of exposure to infection by people in different areas. Additionally, it will also depend on the proportion of those infected among migrants and travellers from outside and within. Has community transmission begun in India? The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined four stages of Covid-19 outbreak: Countries with no cases, countries with sporadic cases; countries with clusters; and countries experiencing larger outbreaks of local transmission (community transmission). How large is an outbreak that constitutes a community transmission has not been defined by WHO, so what people refer to as community transmission differs from country to country. In India, the virus has come from foreign sources through travellers coming from outside. We generally consider a case to be a case of community transmission when there is no clarity on the source of origin of the infection in a new community. Let me explain again. Community spread in India would mean that cases are occurring in people who did not have any known contact with travellers from overseas infected countries. However, this is not happening, implying that there is no community transmission in India. Although there are some clusters of local spread, the numbers being reported are not indicative of community transmission, which would have likely resulted in a larger number of cases given the expanded testing. Central teams have been deployed in 10 states witnessing a high burden of cases to investigate the sites with higher transmission. In addition, 69 districts will be brought under surveillance to understand the burden and disease trends in greater detail. Is India prepared for the projected rise in cases after work and travel restrictions end? India has massively scaled up all aspects of preparedness. There are around 535 laboratories across the country, more than one lakh samples are tested per day, and 24,04,267 people have been tested. The testing strategies are constantly being examined in light of emerging evidence. India has also developed ELISA-based antibody testing kits, which will provide testing alternatives. India now has the capacity to produce over 250,000 PPE units every day. This expansion of capacity is a real success story as we were entirely dependent on imported PPEs in the pre-pandemic period. We have also scaled up the availability of hospital beds, and oxygen supply linked beds, to enable supportive treatment of Covid-19 patients. While there are sufficient ventilators, our goal is to prevent patients from going on ventilators because the global experience shows that once patients go on ventilators, the mortality rate is very high. Overall, we are focusing on preparedness in the community (physical distancing, phased relaxation of lockdown), augmenting healthcare facilities (more beds, oxygen support, ICU) and public health management measures (surveillance, testing) to ensure that a holistic plan is in place to combat the threat of resurgent infections once the lockdown is lifted in a phased manner at varying levels in different districts. How many genomic sequences of SARS-CoV2 has India submitted to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID)? India has contributed around 226 genomic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 so far to the around 25,000 sequences of SARS-CoV-2 that have been shared with unprecedented speed via GISAID. A 1,000-genome sequencing initiative has been launched by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and 500 are being sequenced by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR). What are the findings? Are there any key mutations in the SARS-CoV2 virus causing disease in India? The key mutations in SARS-Cov-2 virus have been found in spike glycoprotein (D614G, G1124V), nucleocapsid (R203K, G204R), RNA dependent RNA Polymerase (P323L) . The circulating viruses in India belong to three major strains. The majority of our samples belong to A2a and about 15% to A3 genotypes. There are a few samples belonging to genotypes B, B1, B4, and A1a. They do not have any mutation that has been reported to be associated with any disease progression or acquisition so far. So, despite the fact that no key mutation specific to India has been found in the virus and it still continues to be an imported virus strain, we cannot afford to be complacent. We have to remain vigilant and continue tracking the virus to identify emerging quasi-species or strains. How many states have the SARS-CoV2 genetic samples been sequenced from? Is there any difference in the strains causing infections across states? Sequences are currently mostly from Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh -- most belong to A2a clade, while some belong to A3 and B1 clades. It is too early to detect major differences. We are trying for a systematic study of viral RNA sequence from different zones of India and correlate with disease severity. What has been the role of government institutions in the Covid-19 response, including diagnostic, drug and vaccine development? The focus is on self-reliance. We have ramped up our capacity for developing Indigenous testing kits. From being completely dependent on imports, we now have over 20 indigenous manufacturers with a diagnostic kit production capacity of nearly 50 lakh kits per month getting ready by the end of May. This includes indigenous components and reagents. The governments role has been very proactive in supporting innovation for vaccine development, development of cost-effective diagnostic equipment , as well as drug discovery and repurposing. The Covid Consortium, under DBT-BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council), has supported 70 projects under various categories of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics. Support has been also given to medical devices such as ventilators and equipment such as PPEs, N-95 masks etc, and for drugs and vaccine development. Funding start-ups that offer immediate solutions has been fast-tracked to address the Covid challenge. Some US studies have found hydroxychloroquine to be ineffective against Covid-19? What is Indias experience? The recent study from New York which failed to find any mortality benefits associated with the use of hydroxychloroquine is a retrospective cohort study. There are several caveats in the study which need to be accounted for. First, the design of the study precludes attribution of the causal effect of the use of hydroxychloroquine on the disease outcomes. Second, the recipients of the drug were already suffering from severe disease, thus making the comparative sample groups unfair. Third, the best effect of hydroxychloroquine based strategy is seen when initiated in the mild to moderate disease stage. Several clinical trials are underway, and once their results are declared, we shall have definite evidence of the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine. Several studies are also underway in India, and as the results emerge, we shall be able to provide more insights into the experiences locally. However, early reports from the pharmacovigilance programme indicate that there are no unexpected spikes of adverse reactions from the use of hydroxychloroquine in the country. What is the progress on the WHO Solidarity Trial in India? In India, we plan to randomise at least 1,500 Covid-19 patients over five to six months. The trial has been initiated with 46 randomised Covid-19 patients, symptomatic adults who have been recently hospitalized and have not yet received hydroxychloroquine. We are not enrolling any asymptomatic Covid-19 patients. The nature of care proposed as part of the randomized trial include providing only local standard of care, administering Remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir / Ritonavir or Lopinavir / Ritonavir with Interferon Beta-1a. So far, around 2,500 people have been randomized globally. Being a five-arm study, large numbers (> 10,000) are required, although there is no cap on sample size. Its not possible to give timeframe for outcomes as the analysis resulting from these trials is global. Is the effect of BCG vaccination being studied in India? BCG vaccination has been found to be an immunomodulator in malignancies and also protects against certain infectious diseases. Several high-income countries, which do not have routine BCG vaccination in childhood, have initiated clinical trials of BCG in high-risk groups, especially in healthcare workers. Currently, there are two ongoing clinical trials in India. Serum Institute of India (in Pune) is conducting a trial of VPM1002 and Cadila is conducting a trial using mycobacterium indicus pranii. However, we have to keep in mind the fact that India has very high rates of BCG vaccination at birth, and this could be an effect modifier or confounder in the results. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Alcohol sales are up during the coronavirus pandemic but what exactly are people drinking? Google has seen a surge in cocktail searches in the past few months, Thrillist reports. The company put together a list of the top cocktail searches by state. And it doesnt include the Quarantiti, according to Thrillist. Below are the list of New Englands favorite cocktails. Connecticut -- Margarita Maine -- Margarita Massachusetts -- Old Fashioned New Hampshire -- Old Fashioned Rhode Island -- Cosmopolitan Vermont -- Cosmopolitan The list looked a little different before the pandemic. Versus Reviews conducted research in 2018 to find which cocktail residents of all 50 states and Washington DC searched for the most on Google. According to its research, Massachusetts was one of two states to favor the classic gin and tonic. Maine favored the Tom Collins, Connecticut liked Long Island Iced Teas, Rhode Island (still) liked its Cosmopolitans and Vermont enjoyed a Manhattan. For the full list. Related Content: France and Germany proposed Monday a 500-billion-euro ($542-billion) fund to finance the recovery of the European Union's economy from the devastation wrought by the coronavirus crisis. Putting aside past differences and seeking to prove that the Franco-German core of Europe remains intact, President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel announced the unprecedented package after talks by video conference. European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde told major European newspapers that "the Franco-German proposals are ambitious, targeted and welcome." With the European economy facing its biggest challenge since World War II, Macron also acknowledged that the EU had fallen short in its initial response to the virus and needed to coordinate more closely on health. Financed by "borrowing from the market in the name of the EU," the 500 billion euros will flow to the "worst-hit sectors and regions" in the 27-member bloc, the two countries said in a joint statement. "We are convinced that it is not only fair but also necessary to now make available the funds... that we will then gradually repay through several future European budgets," Merkel said. Countries benefitting from the financing would not have to repay the money, Macron added, emphasising that the funds "were not loans." The eurozone economy overall is forecast to contract by a whopping 7.7 percent this year, with the damage set to be most severe in southern members like Italy and Greece. - 'More solidarity' - The agreement of such borrowing marks a major shift by Germany, which has until now rebuffed calls by Spain and Italy for so-called "coronabonds" for joint borrowing on financial markets to provide stimulus cash. Germany, the Netherlands and other rich countries had seen them as an attempt by the indebted south to unfairly take advantage of the north's fiscal discipline to raise money more cheaply. The Merkel-Macron plan now faces a potentially painful negotiation with all 27 member states and then a vote in European Parliament, which had been eyeing an even larger package. In the first signs of cracks within the EU, Austria insisted that any help should be in the form of loans, not grants. "We will continue to show solidarity and to support those countries which have been worst affected by the corona crisis, but this has to be in the form of loans not grants," a statement from Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's office said. On the other side of the spectrum, the Spanish government called the plan a "big step in the right direction," adding it picks up a significant part of Spain's proposals for a rapid and joint exit from the crisis." A source in the office of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described the plan as a "good starting point", but said it was a package that should not be "revised downwards, but rather expanded." European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who would have to help implement the package, hailed the plan as a "constructive proposal." "It acknowledges the scope and the size of the economic challenge that Europe faces," she said. Merkel said the seriousness of the crisis meant that "solidarity" must be the order of the day. "The aim is to ensure that Europe comes out of the crisis more cohesive and with more solidarity," she said, calling the proposal "courageous." - 'Learn the lessons' - Traditionally seen as the engine that powers Europe, the French-German alliance had until the announcement appeared to be stumbling in recent months. Paris wanted Germany to show more fiscal flexibility and some reports suggested Berlin was irritated by Macron's supposed grandstanding on the European stage. Macron said stronger European coordination on health issues must be a priority, admitting that the EU fell short in its initial response to the coronavirus outbreak. "Europe was without doubt put at fault at the beginning of this crisis," Macron said. He added that unilateral steps by some EU countries to close borders -- without consulting their neighbours -- had given a "sad image" of Europe, with some members showing "nationalist reflexes". He said Europe needed "very concrete capacities" to handle health crises with shared stocks of masks and tests, and prevention plans to combat epidemics. "A Europe of health -- which has never existed -- has to be our priority," he said. "We need to learn all the lessons from this pandemic." In a sign of how the pandemic has changed global diplomacy, their joint press conference saw them stand at lecterns in cities hundreds of kilometres (miles) apart, with Merkel in Berlin and Macron in Paris. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, Staten Island University Hospital had no new admissions for patients with COVID-19 on Sunday. The milestone was reached for both the Ocean Breeze and Princes Bay campuses, according to a spokesman for the medical facility. Sunday was the first day of zero coronavirus admissions in two months, according to a news release from the hospital. As the need for COVID-19 treatment continues to decline, the hospital prepares to resume elective surgeries and normal operations, the news release said. Getting to this milestone is incredible for the staff and more importantly, encouraging for our patients needing emergency care to come to the hospital. This is not over, were still seeing cases, but this decrease is due to everyones efforts in social distancing, said Dr. Brahim Ardolic, executive director of Staten Island University Hospital, in the news release. The hospital has restructured patient flow at both campuses to provide designated entrances and waiting areas to create a safe environment for patients, families, and staff. As patients enter through the Emergency Department, they will be greeted in the waiting room by staff monitoring the situation. All patients will be screened for symptoms of COVID-19, the news release said. The emergency rooms have established two separate waiting areas for patients who are positive or negative for COVID-19. Patients will be escorted to the appropriate triage room or isolation room, depending on the results of their screening, the news release said. We need our community to feel comfortable coming to the ER again, explained Dr. Nicole Berwald, chair of emergency medicine at Staten Island University Hospital, too many patients are waiting extended periods of time at home with illnesses that need to be treated. To follow social-distancing guidelines, all waiting rooms have been marked to keep a six-foot distance between each patient. Were taken proactive measures to ensure the safety of our community, including reducing the number of seats and workstations throughout the hospitals waiting areas and clinics, explained Ardolic. Limiting the use of the hospitals main lobby, Central Registration and Pre-Admission Surgical Testing (PAST) have been relocated to the hospitals Heart Tower and Medical Arts Pavilion (MAP) building, respectively, the news release said. We hope reallocating the entrances for patients needing procedures and elective surgeries will give them a sense of comfort, and knowledge that things are being done in a safe environment to meet the demands of our new world, Ardolic said. SIUH is still maintaining a strict no-visitation policy, with exception to pediatrics, labor and delivery, and for patients in imminent end-of-life situations. However, if the patient is coming in through central registration or pre-admission for a procedure, the visitors information will be taken to keep them informed throughout the process, the news release said. Its the most important thing to address right now. We feel confident that we can reopen this place fairly quickly in a way that is safe, Ardolic said. Staten Islands coronavirus (COVID-19) death count rose by five, according to city Health Department data published on Monday, as overall hospitalizations in the borough saw a downtick and the total number of cases crept up slightly. The trends on the Island come as 15,893 New York City residents are confirmed to have died from the virus, and another 4,823 are considered probable deaths bringing the citys total to 20,806. The number of confirmed deaths on Staten Island reached 767 based on Mondays city Health Department data, and the probable death count total hit 168 bringing the boroughs total to 935. Analysis of the data showed the 10314 zip code which includes Bulls Head, Castleton Corners, Graniteville, Meiers Corners, New Springville, Travis, Westerleigh and Willowbrook has the highest number of confirmed deaths at 165. By Express News Service HYDERABAD: The entire State, except the containment areas in Hyderabad, has been declared a green zone and all the activities would resume from Tuesday. However, the lockdown and the night curfew would be in force till May 31, two more days than the earlier deadline of May 29. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, briefing the mediapersons about the decisions taken at the Cabinet meeting earlier, said RTC buses would be operated across the State. However, city bus services in Hyderabad would not be allowed as well as the inter-State buses. The buses from districts would arrive at Secunderabad bus station (JBS) and not the CBS, which is near a containment area. The bus services would be stopped before 7 pm. Also, the Hyderabad Metro Rail services would not be operated, he said. Rao said all shops would be opened and the private and government offices would be allowed to function with 100 per cent staff. He said only 1,452 families would be in containment areas in the GHMC and the police would restrict any movement in these areas. WHAT IS ALLOWED e-Commerce to be allowed Salons to be opened Shops in the GHMC area to be opened on staggered basis Industries and manufacturing units can function with full capacity Private and government offices can function with full staff strength Taxis can ply with three passengers Auto rickshaws with two passengers WHAT IS NOT ALLOWED Religious places of all faiths not to be opened Cinema hall, malls, pubs, bars, educational institutions, amusement parks, gyms to remain closed Public meetings, rallies and seminars not to be allowed Hyderabad Metro Rail and city buses in the GHMC not to ply Sports events not to be allowed Night curfew to be in force All activities to resume from today. However, the lockdown and the night curfew to be in force in the State till May 31 Photo: Snowbirds Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there are "very good questions" being asked about the safety of the Snowbirds, but that the government will wait for an investigation before making any decisions on next steps for the military's aerobatic team. The prime minister's comments today followed Sunday's deadly crash in Kamloops in which one of the Snowbirds' Tutor jets crashed into a residential neighbourhood shortly after takeoff. Military public-affairs officer Capt. Jennifer Casey was killed while Capt. Rich MacDougall, who was piloting the aircraft, sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries. The crash was the second for the Snowbirds since October, which has raised questions about whether the two incidents are related to the aerobatic team's 57-year-old Tutor planes. Trudeau says the government is not jumping to any conclusions but will instead allow the Royal Canadian Air Force to conduct a "proper" investigation. Snowbirds commander Lt.-Col. Mike French on Monday said while the Tutor jets may be old, they are regularly torn down and rebuilt like new and undergo regular maintenance to ensure they are safe. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2020. National Testing Agency (NTA) on Tuesday has extended one last opportunity for the candidates to submit fresh or complete online application forms for JEE Mains 2020 exam. The decision has been taken while keeping in view the requests from various Indian students who wanted to join the college in foreign countries, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic have now decided to pursue their studies in India. The Union HRD Minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal, taking to Twitter, asked students to hurry up as the application forms are available till May 24. Students who dropped the idea to study abroad, here is your chance to pursue your studies in India. I have advised @DG_NTA to give one more opportunity to students to submit new/complete online application form for JEE (Main) 2020. Hurry! Forms available till 24th May. pic.twitter.com/hSwXQ9GBjX Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) May 19, 2020 Applicants can submit their applications on or before May 24 until 5 pm, however, the registration fee can be submitted until 11:50 pm. Candidates can pay the requisite fee through credit/debit card/net banking/UPI and Paytm. For more information, candidates are advised to read the information bulletin. Heres the direct link to apply online. TUMWATER, Wash. The Washington State Department of Corrections has announced that a corrections officer has died from COVID-19. Correctional officer Berisford Morse died Sunday, KOMO-TV reported. Morse worked in the Minimum Security Unit of the Monroe Correctional Complex, which has had more than a dozen positive cases of COVID-19 in the incarcerated population. Morse told a shift commander April 24 he had symptoms of COVID-19 and three days later the 65-year-old tested positive for the disease, officials said. Earlier that month, Morse had been identified in contact tracing as having interacted with an incarcerated male in the minimum security unit who had COVID-19, according to officials. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter "It is a tragedy to lose a member of our public safety community and correctional family," said Stephen Sinclair, Secretary of Corrections. "Our hearts go out to Officer Morse's grieving family and the sacrifice they have made." Authorities said Morse had worked for the department since October 2003. As of Monday, nine staffers and 18 inmates at Monroe Correctional Complex had tested positive for COVID-19, officials said. The Associated Press Subscribe to our Oregon coronavirus newsletter: Super Cyclone Amphan, a powerful cyclone that formed in the Bay of Bengal and is headed directly for the India-Bangladesh border. (Screenshot/CNN) India, Bangladesh Prepares to Evacuate Over 2 Million People Ahead of Super Cyclone Amphan A powerful cyclone equivalent to the strength of a strong Category 4 Atlantic hurricane or a super typhoon in the West Pacific is heading toward the India-Bangladesh border. On May 18, the storm became the strongest ever recorded within the Bay of Bengal. India and Bangladesh ordered more than two million residents to prepare to evacuate Tuesday as Super Cyclone Amphan approached the countries southern coasts. We will evacuate up to 2.2 million and try to keep casualties at zero, junior disaster management minister Enamur Rahman told AFP. The district administration in 19 most vulnerable southwestern coastal districts have been asked to take all preparedness to save lives, said Shah Kamal, secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief. Cyclone Amphan intensified with sustained wind speeds of up to 165 miles per hour (270 kilometers per hour) on Monday evening, according to data from the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center. However, the powerful storm is likely to weaken into an extremely severe storm during the next six hours, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). The super cyclone is expected to make landfall on the India-Bangladesh border on Wednesday evening, by which time it is expected to have the strength of a Category 3 hurricane. Super Cyclone Amphan satellite imagery as of 2:30 a.m. ET, May 19, 2020. (Screenshot/CNN) Cyclone Amphan is very likely to follow the path north-northeastwards across the northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands near the Sundarbans during the afternoon-evening of May 20, according to IMD. The storm will hit as a very severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 96-102 mph (155-165 kph) gusting to 112 mph (180 kph). A cyclone warning has been set for the West Bengal and north Odisha coasts in eastern India as of Tuesday morning and the states are currently on a high alert. A total of 37 teams have been deployed by NDRF (Indian National Disaster Response Force) in West Bengal and Odisha, out of which 20 teams are actively deployed and 17 are on standby in the two states, NDRF director SN Pradhan said on Monday during a video message, The New Indian Express reported. Evacuations are necessary, warned Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Indias meteorological chief, pointing out that tidal waves could move 25 kilometers (15 miles) inland along the many rivers that crisscross the Bengal delta. The storm is bringing the potential for major destruction and upheaval in the two countries that are still battling the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, a novel coronavirus that originated in China and has since caused a global pandemic. It [Amphan] is a dual challenge as [the] cyclone is striking in [the] time of COVID-19 and we are facing a double challenge, Pradhan said. The awareness drive being undertaken by NDRF teams in these areas is accordingly tailored to inform the locals about the cyclone and also the coronavirus, he added. This photograph provided by Indias National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) force shows NDRF personal making announcements to warn people on the Bay of Bengal coast about Cyclone Amphan at Namkhana, South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India, on May 19, 2020. (National Disaster Response Force via AP) Debasis Shyamal, a fisherman in Digha, said evacuations had yet to start, but people were staying indoors. We are mentally prepared for the cyclone, but there are some concerns about social distancing, he said. Cyclone Amphan is the second super cyclone on record that has formed over the Bay of Bengal, said Mohapatra. The first was a devastating 1999 cyclone in Odisha state that left nearly 10,000 people dead. CCP Virus Pandemic India reported 101,139 confirmed CCP virus infections on Tuesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University, with Monday recording its largest single-day surge yet with a total of 5,242 new cases. Total deaths rose by 134 to 3,163. A woman and her baby wait for a bus to take them to a railway station to board a train to their home state of Uttar Pradesh, after a limited reopening of Indias giant rail network following a nearly seven-week lockdown to slow the spreading of the CCP virus, in Ghaziabad in the outskirts of New Delhi, India, on May 18, 2020. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters) Indias death rate is less than that of some other big countries, at 3 percent, compared with about 6 percent for the United States, where some 89,000 people have died, and 14 percent for Britain. Meanwhile, Bangladeshs infection count is rapidly rising, with more than 1,300 new cases on Sunday, its biggest rise yet. In total, the country has recorded 23,870 confirmed infections, according to Johns Hopkins. Tackling both disasters at once will be challenging for the two governments, especially if they attempt to maintain social distancing in packed evacuation centers and emergency shelters. Cyclone Amphan could also bring heavy rains to the worlds largest refugee camp in Coxs Bazar, where almost a million Rohingya refugees live after fleeing violence in Myanmars Rakhine state. Rohingya refugees watch ICJ proceedings at a restaurant in a refugee camp in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, on Dec. 12, 2019. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images) The first known COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the camp last week and with the storm now imminent, the two disasters could make for a devastating combination. One human rights advocate said that a virus outbreak in the camp would be a nightmare scenario. The prevalence of underlying health conditions among refugees and the deteriorating sanitary conditions sure to come with the looming monsoon and flooding season make for a witchs brew of conditions in which the virus is sure to thrive, said Daniel P. Sullivan, who works for the U.S.-based organization Refugees International. CNN Wire and The Associated Press contributed to this report. From NTD News A string of shop sales in Melbourne's suburban strips are proving the worth of bricks and mortar despite the coronavirus pandemic. Ex-Savill's director Anthony "Pod" Wilson's property fund manager Terraplex has sold two Victorian-era shops on yields just over 4 per cent in the well-known Emerald Hill Place block in South Melbourne. Terraplex is selling off shops in Clarendon Street's Emerald Hill Place. Credit: The deals suggest values are holding up in a key market segment affected by both the unexpected COVID-19 lockdown and longer-term trends buffeting retailers. Another shop in Elsternwick, sold through CBRE, transacted on a yield just above 2 per cent, perhaps one of the strongest deals this year. The World Bank intends to give out loans and grants totalling US$160 billion (132 billion) to lower-income countries. The aim of this funding, to be disbursed over 15 months, would be to help countries respond to immediate health consequences of the pandemic and bolster economic recovery. Its clear that low and middle-income countries will need assistance responding to coronavirus. Recent research suggests that the outbreak will have a disproportionate impact on the worlds most disadvantaged people. But while the World Banks quick response to help the worlds weaker health systems has been entirely appropriate, we think more balance is needed. Applicants plan to spend more on infrastructure than human resources, despite not having enough healthcare workers in many cases, and the wealthier countries have asked for the most money. There isnt a common approach, and countries are not using the evidence available from their own health systems to inform their decisions. Who is asking for what? As of May 3, a total of 57 countries had been approved for World Bank funding. Seventeen funding projects had been approved as grants (totalling US$252 million), 31 as loans (totalling US$2.3 billion) and nine as mixed grant and loan packages (totalling US$229 million). The remainder of the money will be allocated over the coming months. The first thing to note is that there is a lot of variety across applications so far. Of course, the need is urgent, and it is entirely appropriate that national governments determine where they can best spend the money. It is also possible that for each country, the requested funding might be supporting a broader national plan funded by other sources. But if this is the case, the applications do not make this clear. For example, the funding requested varies in scale from US$0.40 per head of population (Malawi) to US$14.2 per head of population (Maldives). Meanwhile, spending on infrastructure and medical equipment which includes hospital buildings and services, equipment for intensive care facilities, personal protective equipment (PPE) and medicine makes up between 9.1% (Kyrgyz Republic) and 97.0% (Myanmar) of applications. Story continues Many countries have prioritised infrastructure and equipment spending. For example, Myanmar intends to upgrade and equip facilities across 51 hospitals and double its number of intensive care beds from 380 to 718. Nearly all of its US$50 million grant is dedicated to this. But in some countries, such a focus is clearly problematic. Kenya is devoting US$4 million to buying 250 ventilators, but only 22 out of 47 Kenyan counties have at least one intensive care unit, with a small fraction of these in the public sector. Its also not clear whether there are sufficient staff to make use of them there are only 160 physician anaesthetists in the country, with fewer than 50 in the public sector. A potential oversight Staffing levels of healthcare workers are critically low in many of the countries that have applied to the World Bank. How this will affect their pandemic response is understated in the applications. Our analysis indicates that in almost half of the proposals, less than 20% of the funding requested is being spent on health staff. Four countries are making no request to support their workforce at all. At the same time, based on what can be gleaned from the proposals, in 68% of the countries seeking funds for human resources, all of the expenditure is devoted to training. So while countries have prioritised capital spending on expansion of hospital facilities and intensive care, it is not clear how staff will deliver these extended services. This raises major concerns that the workforce providing other critical services such as maternal, neonatal and child health services will be co-opted into the COVID-19 response, harming one sector of the population to benefit another. Of course, the countries applying may have plans to address such concerns, but if this is the case, they are not sufficiently discussed in the project documents. We also mustnt forget that health workers are at considerable risk from COVID-19. Those in low-income countries must be watching the scenes emerging from the US and Europe and think: If that can happen at those facilities, then what will happen to us? Criticisms of the response to COVID-19 in higher-income countries have centred around access to PPE, but the situation in poorer countries is even more concerning. Health worker strikes and complaints centred on inadequate pay and poor conditions have become more common in recent years. Strikes in Kenya, for example, closed hospitals for several months in 2017. It is unsurprising then that health workers in lower-income countries have united to complain about the dangers presented to them by COVID-19. There have been strikes and protests in Pakistan, Mexico and Malawi. Yet in spite of this, only three countries explicitly state plans to compensate workers for their increased risk. How the World Bank can respond We believe that the World Bank should consider its funding relative to a countrys overall response and budget plans. The variability across countries proposals may point to a need for more informed strategic thinking, especially in countries with weak health systems. At present, it seems that infrastructure might be overemphasised in the proposals relative to workforce spending. The proposals also exemplify the inverse care law, in that those countries with the weakest health systems have asked for relatively less funding per capita and may suffer most from the pandemic. These concerns suggest greater attention should be paid to the balance of funding, to ensure it helps achieve the wider Sustainable Development Goals and realise countries plans for universal health coverage. This would also ensure that these countries COVID-19 responses dont unnecessarily distort their health system priorities. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The Conversation Michael (Mike) English receives funding from the Wellcome Trust. He is affiliated with the World Health Organization through advisory roles only. Jacob McKnight and Yingxi Zhao do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. The patience of many in Turkmenistan seems to have reached its limit when it comes to poor government services and officials seemingly apathetic to the plight of the average person. One must only look at the severe drop in the standard of living in Turkmenistan during the last five years to understand people's anger. There are shortages of food, shortages of money, skyrocketing unemployment and the government -- faced with serious revenue shortfalls -- has increasingly shifted financial burdens onto the people. There are also widespread concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, which the government continues to insist has not afflicted anyone in Turkmenistan -- which would make it one of the few countries in the world where the pandemic has not raged. And mother nature has also added to the misery of many Turkmen. Black Clouds Forming On May 13, a crowd that the independent Turkmen.news website reported numbered up to 1,000 people, gathered in the Zhelezhnodoroga district of Turkmenistans eastern city of Turkmenabat (formerly Charjou) to vent their anger over authorities apparent lack of concern for the massive damage done to their neighborhood. Hurricane-force winds hit the area on April 27, accompanied by torrential rain. The government did not send any help to the stricken people. On May 4, heavy rains hit the area again. Still no help came. The bad weather and damage caused was not even mentioned on the state TV newscasts. The rains came again on May 13, and this time the people came out into the streets to complain that electricity had not been restored since it went out after the April 27 windstorm and, in the meantime, basements were full of water. With no way to pump it out, the stagnant water was not only damaging their homes and businesses -- some of which had lost their roofs in the storm -- it was also becoming a breeding ground for mosquitos. If there were genuinely some 1,000 people protesting in the Zhelezhnodoroga district of Turkmenbat on May 13, that would make it the largest rally against the government since Turkmenistan gained independence in 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Public demonstrations of discontent with officials are a very risky venture in authoritarian Turkmenistan, where protests are usually dealt with quickly in arrests, detentions, or prison sentences. The last large anti-government rallies were in July 1995 when there were two protests, both in the desert country's dusty capital, Ashgabat. On July 12, 1995, a group of several hundred people marched to the city's central square to protest against poor economic conditions and the government of then-President Saparmurat Niyazov. Only about 200 made it to the square as police detained people en route to the city center. The rally was dispersed and police detained dozens of protesters, whom authorities later said were participating in an antisocial provocation and were "high on drugs and alcohol." That was the largest protest in independent Turkmenistan up to that time, though another protest took place later the same month when about 100 women marched on the presidential palace -- also protesting deteriorating economic conditions and harsh government rule -- only to be waylaid by security forces before they reached the palace. Short History Of Protests But before looking at other recent examples of discontent in Turkmenistan, it is worth taking a moment to consider the role of local officials, who are often shuffled from post to post, meaning few stay in their jobs long enough to become well acquainted with their responsibilities. In December 2018, as Turkmenistans economy continued to plummet, mercurial President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov told provincial administrations they would have to find their own sources of funding, which, among other things, triggered a drastic increase in the number of fines issued for traffic offenses. Essentially, local officials are responsible for resolving their own problems and that has already proven risky for officials. In Dashoguz in October 2017, a group of parents, mainly mothers, marched to the provincial Education Department to complain about a decision to sharply increase fees for children attending kindergarten. An official from the Education Department came out to talk with the group and suggested they would be better off airing their grievances at the city mayors office. The group headed toward the mayors office but were intercepted by police. The Education Department official was sacked, then detained on charges of trying to undermine the states authority. So it is not surprising that during the recent protest, when help did come to Turkmenbat on May 14, it came in the form of the deputy mayor accompanied by police, who came to help oversee the start of repair work. There was no mention of the mayor's whereabouts. On May 10, in the Saparmurat Turkmenbashi district of Dashoguz Province, a group of women were waiting in line to buy flour when, by chance, the district chief, Serdar Meredov, arrived at the scene. The women recognized Meredov and left the line to surround him and complain. Its all your fault, they reportedly told him. You are only planting cotton and now we have nothing to eat. Meredov quickly fled the area and sent the police back to detain some of the women. It is true that under the order of Berdymukhammedov, some land that was used to grow wheat has been turned over to cotton production, no doubt to try to make up for revenue lost from falling sales of natural gas, Turkmenistans main and nearly only significant export. Obviously, the states concern over falling revenue and the need to sell cotton rather than grow wheat falls on deaf ears when people are having problems feeding themselves. At the beginning of April there were small protests in Mary Province over shortages of flour and cooking oil. On April 3, a group of several dozen people, mainly women, from villages on the outskirts of the city of Mary briefly blocked the road connecting the city to the rest of the country, then marched to the provincial administration building to complain about the lack of food. Provincial officials quickly sent a truck to the scene to distribute two-kilogram sacks of flour to the group -- which then stopped protesting. On April 4, a group of some 30 women gathered outside the Mary Provincial Administration to complain about the flour and cooking oil shortage and about the rising prices for those and other goods. The governor, his two deputies, and the police chief did come out to meet with the women and, according to the independent website Khronika Turkmenistana, the governor promised to resolve the problem within three days. This simmering unrest being seen in Turkmenistan is not likely to go away any time soon. As mentioned, Turkmenistan's major source of revenue, as much as 70 to 80 percent of the countrys revenue, comes from sale of natural gas. The price of gas has fallen precipitously since 2014 and is set to fall even lower this year as the plunging price of oil drags down the price of gas. And Turkmenistans only significant gas customer, China, which has been buying more than 30 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas in recent years, signaled weeks ago that it would cut those imports by 20-25 percent this year while Beijing deals with its own economic downturn caused by the coronavirus crisis. Helping The Neighbors To compound the situation, while Turkmen must contend with repairs to their damaged homes and businesses in the Lebap and Mary provinces, and the entire country deals with shortages of basic goods, the Turkmen government is sending aid to Russia and Iran to help those countries deal with the pandemic. Additionally, it is sending aid to Afghanistan to help the needy there (although some of those supplies were reportedly intercepted by the Taliban in Faryab Province). And amazingly, Ashgabat sent aid to Uzbekistan in early May to deal with the damage caused by flooding when a dam burst while at the same time people in eastern Turkmenistan were not getting any help to deal with the damage done by the hurricane and heavy rains. Later a group of Turkmen citizens in the United States raised some $5,000 to help the victims of the April 27 storm, but Turkmen officials prevented the money from being sent and Turkmenistans security service reportedly threatened the person in Lebap Province who was supposed to receive the aid to distribute it. Anger Abroad Meanwhile, Turkmen in Istanbul staged a rally outside the Turkmen Consulate on May 15 to express solidarity with the people of Lebap and Mary and remind everyone that at least 35 people died in those provinces as a result of the April 17 storm, another detail that Turkmen state media and officials have not mentioned. Several Turkmen in Cyprus also held a rally on May 11 in support of the storm victims and to criticize the Turkmen government for not doing anything to help. And in Washington, two Turkmen held up signs outside the Turkmen Embassy reminding them that the storm-caused deaths were not being officially acknowledged by authorities. What Pandemic? And like people everywhere around the globe, people in Turkmenistan are concerned about the coronavirus. Despite the repeated insistence by the government that the virus is not present in Turkmenistan, evidence is mounting that it is already taking a toll on the country. There are reports of coronavirus patients being transferred from the regions to the better-equipped medical facilities in Ashgabat and reports about a sudden increase in burials in Ashgabat. Additionally, street crime is reportedly on the rise in Turkmenistan. There are reports from Ashgabat of women being robbed of jewelry on the streets and even of assailants robbing a 60-year-old woman of money she had just taken from a money machine and then killing her. Reports of such crimes have always been very rare in Turkmenistan. Regime Change Questions But it's not surprising that some Turkmen are becoming frustrated and desperate enough to openly challenge the authorities. The current situation inevitably raises questions about whether the events taking place in Turkmenistan indicate that the government is under threat and could be toppled. Some analysts think a change in government is possible because of the unhappiness among people, but the spontaneous protests against the government are occurring in the regions, not in the capital, and with the exception of the protest in Turkmenabat, the rallies involve only dozens of people. The population of Turkmenistan is estimated to be some 5 million, almost 20 percent of who live in or on the outskirts of Ashgabat. There are less than 250,000 people living in Turkmenabat and only about 160,000 in Dashoguz, while the population of the city of Mary is some 115,000. There are hundreds of kilometers of sparsely inhabited, mainly desert land between these cities making it relatively easy to cut them off and isolate them should a revolt start. The problems of food shortages and rising prices also exist in Ashgabat, but not to the same extent as in the regions. Police in Ashgabat, often in plainclothes, monitor lines outside stores and banks and mingle with crowds in bazaars looking for people who complain about the current situation or criticize the government and, as has been their practice for many years, quickly detain those who speak ill of the government or its policies. As long as the government has control of Ashgabat, it is doubtful Berdymukhammedov could be ousted through a popular uprising. But there is also no indication the economic situation in Turkmenistan will improve any time soon and there could come a day when local officials will not be able to provide flour, or cooking oil, or any of the other things that are in short supply in Turkmenistan these days, and the pangs of hunger will be stronger than the fear of reprisal from authorities, even in the capital. RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk, contributed to this report Facial hair may offer men more than just a stylistic choice, according to a new study, which suggests beards evolved to soften the impact of a punch and protect the jaw from harm. Referencing Charles Darwins theory that a lions mane offers the animal protection, researchers recently conducted an experiment to decipher whether the same was true for humans. According to the researchers, considering the mandible, which is superficially covered by the beard, is one of the most commonly fractured facial bones in interpersonal violence, it seemed likely beards are possible of providing physical protection from strikes that would cause blunt trauma. To test the theory, the scientists created a fibre epoxy composite as a stand-in for the human jaw - as they noted that it was not practical to obtain fully bearded skin samples from human cadavers - which they then covered with sheepskin, before hitting with a blunt object. For the experiment, the researchers used three types of sheep skin, with furred samples meant to mimic a full beard, sheared samples used to test whether the roots of hair follicles provided any protection and plucked samples meant to represent a hairless jaw. According to their findings, published in the journal Integrative Organismal Biology, facial hair is capable of lessening the impact of blunt trauma, such as that of a fist. The results of this study indicate that hair is indeed capable of significantly reducing the force of impact from a blunt strike and absorbing energy, thereby reducing the incidence of failure, the researchers wrote. If the same is true for human facial hair, then having a full beard may help protect vulnerable regions of the facial skeleton from damaging strikes, such as the jaw. Presumably, full beards also reduce injury, laceration, and contusion, to the skin and muscle of the face. Noting that they did not test it in the study, the scientists also speculated that it is likely that the hair of beards helps deflect an oblique blow by reducing friction between the face and the object striking it - meaning beards may provide a protective advantage in male contest competition. However, they did add that the results "provide no evidence that beards provide protection against being knocked out". The researchers also suggested that the findings may also explain why facial hair is associated with high masculinity, social dominance, and behavioural aggressiveness, as it may function as a true indicator of level of invulnerability to facial injury. While the study did find beards are capable of lessening the damage from a blow, the scientists acknowledged that human facial hair varies greatly across populations by coarseness, density and thickness, and that future research should incorporate these measures to determine which types of facial hair may provide the best protection against impact. The Business Plan of the Asian Development Banks (ADB) country operations for 2020-2022 is consistent with the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for 2019-2023 for Azerbaijan, ADB told local media. The strategy seeks to support diversified and inclusive growth in Azerbaijan through three strategic directions that include stimulating the development of the private sector, increasing the efficiency of the public sector, and improving infrastructure and strengthening human capital. The strategy for 2019-2023 is also consistent with ADB's large strategy for the period until 2030. The direction of increasing the efficiency of the public sector is focused on strengthening the management system and institutional capacity, while improving infrastructure is focused on improving the standard of living in cities, promoting regional cooperation and integration. The Business Plan is closely linked to the strategic roadmap for the prospects of the national economy, approved in December 2016 and aimed at intensifying efforts to diversify the national economy and stimulate sustainable non-oil economic growth, ADB noted. The CPS is demand-driven and provides a flexible and adaptive approach to changing circumstances, based on a wide range of ADB tools and methods. In other words, since both the public and private sectors are still consolidating after the economic downturn of 2015-2017, following the shock of oil prices in 2014, the banks participation in the early years of the CPS will focus on supporting the government through political operations, analytical and advisory assistance including for the preparation of projects, as well as technical assistance in strengthening the capacities of relevant government agencies and the private sector," ADB said. "This will provide the basis for selective lending to projects in the later years of the SCPs existence in the event that the tough stance of government borrowing will weaken and the profile of the private sector will improve, the bank added. Depending on market conditions and capabilities, the ADB operations will be directed to supporting the private sector through appropriate financial intermediaries, as well as small and medium enterprises, especially those who involved in non-cyclic sectors and other underserved client segments. The ADB can also work directly with relevant small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and state-owned enterprises to attract private capital, and within its financing program on non-sovereign trade, will strive to provide guarantees and loans to local banks, seeking to liquidate market gaps and promote non-oil trade. In the field of infrastructure and with real opportunities, ADB can support public-private partnership projects through equity or debt financing, the bank noted. The Chinese Embassy in Canberra has dismissed claims that Australia is responsible for getting China to agree to a coronavirus inquiry. On Monday night more than 100 countries signed a motion at the World Health Assembly for an independent investigation into the spread of the disease. Liberal-National Senator Matt Canavan said it meant Australia was 'massively vindicated' after being the first country to call for the probe in April. The Chinese Embassy in Canberra has dismissed claims that Australia is responsible for getting China to agree to a coronavirus inquiry But Chinese officials said the motion, which China has agreed to, is very different from Australia's original proposal. Prime Minster Scott Morrison wanted to give health officials the power to enter countries without invitation to inspect a disease outbreak, much like weapons inspectors. But China has only agreed to a probe once the pandemic is over. A statement from the Chines Embassy read: 'A close look at the draft itself can easily come to such a conclusion. 'All those who know the consultation process that led to the resolution understand this. 'To claim the WHA's resolution a vindication of Australia's call is nothing but a joke.' Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country acted with openness, transparency and responsibility all along. 'This work needs a scientific and professional attitude and needs to be led by the WHO. And the principles of objectivity and fairness need to be upheld,' Xi told the world health assembly meeting. Xi also said China would stump up $3.1 billion over the next two years to help deal with the disease. It comes as Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said Australian farmers will try to replace Chinese barley buyers after Beijing imposed an 80 per cent tariff. Mr Littleproud said the federal government is urgently searching for more buyers in Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia and other countries. But half of Australia's barley exports normally go to China and farmers fear a 'devastating' hit this year if they are forced to offer discounts to sell all their produce elsewhere. Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi jinping in January 'We will not take our foot off the accelerator in finding other markets,' Mr Littleproud said. 'We have opened up greater access into India. We now have a free trade agreement that starts on 5 July with Indonesia and also within the Middle East - Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are also interested.' Mr Littleproud denied Australia and China are in a trade war and pointed to rising Chinese demand for Australian iron ore as supply from Brazil is reduced due to coronavirus. 'No, there's no trade war. In fact, even today, I think you have seen that there's increased demand for iron ore out of China,' he said. China imposed an 80 per cent tariff on Australia barley last night after an 18-month anti-dumping investigation. Dumping is when a country exports a product unfairly cheaply to permeate a foreign market, with producers often subsidised by the government. China announced a 80.5% levy on barley exports starting May 19. Pictured is a barley farmer in central west NSW China has accused the Australian government of subsidising farmers through the farmhousehold allowance and the Murray-Darling basin project. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham today said the allegations were' ridiculous' because most of Australia's barley is produced far away from the basin. He said: 'It's completely ridiculous to be listing things like the Murray-Darling Basin infrastructure upgrades as some sort of subsidy to barley exporters when the bulk of that barley comes out of Western Australia or South Australia and is firmly dry-land farming. 'The Murray-Darling Basin is nowhere near Geraldton or other parts of the barley-growing world and I think it demonstrates the absence of factual analysis in the decision that's been made by China.' He did not rule out the idea that Beijing imposed the tariff as revenge for the government's call for an inquiry into the origins and spread of coronavirus. Joseph V. Micallef is a best-selling military history and world affairs author, and keynote speaker. Follow him on Twitter @JosephVMicallef. It took SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19, roughly 100 days to travel from its epicenter in Wuhan, China, to more than 180 countries around the world. In the process, it unleashed the greatest pandemic since the 1968 Hong Kong flu. The social distancing and shelter-in-place policies adopted by many countries have been in force, on average, about 60 to 100 days. Those policies are now starting to be relaxed as economies in much of the developed world begin transitioning to what has been dubbed the "new normal." What exactly is the new normal? If the media pundits are to be believed, in the new normal you will never shake hands again; your season tickets are probably worthless since attendance at live sporting events or concerts are a thing of the past; an ocean cruise is the equivalent of Russian roulette; and Plexiglass is your new best friend. Face masks and temperature checks will be ubiquitous and often mandatory, and everyone, both consumers and businesses, will have an obsession with cleanliness. Is this what the new normal has in store? Is this outcome inevitable, necessary or desirable? Do We Need a New Normal? Let's start with some definitions and a review of some recent history. Social distancing refers to the practice of maintaining a minimum distance from others to avoid the risk of contact with the COVID-19 virus. Shelter in place refers to the practice of self-quarantining, typically in your home, unless you are friendly with a billionaire who has space on his megayacht. The two terms are often used interchangeably to describe the same policy response. They are, in fact, quite different. Sheltering in place is an extreme form of social distancing and comes at a considerably higher economic cost. The rationale for both policies was to "flatten the curve" and stretch out the incidence of disease outbreak so patients would not overwhelm the ability of the medical system to care for them. Doing so, it was argued, would prevent otherwise treatable patients from dying from lack of care. It was recognized that flattening the curve would not reduce the extent of the disease outbreak, just the speed at which it would spread and the peak level or spike of infections. That objective was achieved. The curve was flattened. Regardless of how you feel about the efficacy of the Trump administration's response, Donald Trump is correct in pointing out that, notwithstanding some 80,000 deaths, no one died because they lacked access to a ICU bed or for lack of a ventilator. Hospitals in New York City and a handful of other cities were strained to their limits but proved resilient. The surge capacity that the U.S. military could bring to bear proved more than sufficient to shore up those hospitals. In fact, it turned out to be overkill, as little if any of that additional capacity ended up getting used. Initial shortages of ventilators, face masks and other personal protective equipment were overcome through a combination of American technical and entrepreneurial ingenuity backed up with that universal solvent, cold hard cash. Even personnel shortages and crushing work schedules were, eventually, alleviated by bringing in military and out-of-state medical personnel. In short, putting aside the question of whether the initial projections were overstated, the strategy worked. So why are so many governors reluctant to end those policies? Along the way, in a phenomenon that military personnel are all too familiar with, the mission changed. Mission creep set in. Suddenly, shelter-in-place and social distancing policies were not just about flattening the curve but about preventing additional infections and deaths. That is not what those policies were designed to do. They will ultimately be ineffective in achieving those objectives, and the economic cost of continuing to implement them will crush the American economy and eventually erode its military power. Much of what is being called the new normal is the direct result of continuing these policies to achieve objectives they were never designed for. There is a great deal about the SARS-CoV-2 that we still do not know, and this makes crafting a strategy for reopening the economy difficult. Most viral pandemics tend to abate in the summertime. Will that also hold true of the COVID-19 pandemic? Viral pathogens also tend to become less virulent with the passage of time. Will the SARS-CoV-2 do the same? Enormous resources and talent are being devoted to developing a COVID-19 vaccine. Will we ever have a vaccine? Much of the presumption of the new normal assumes that no return to normality is possible unless a vaccine is available and that, until then, some measure of social distancing will continue. Viral vaccines are tricky to develop because the simple genetic structure of viruses makes them highly prone to mutation. That's one of the primary reasons why vaccines to prevent influenza outbreaks are so difficult to create. We may never have a COVID-19 vaccine. Even if we do, it may not be 100% effective -- it may reduce the risk of contagion, but not eliminate it. Lessons from the Past Viral pandemics are nothing new. Major pandemics seem to occur about once a generation. In addition, the yearly influenza outbreaks have many pandemic-like features. They affect millions of people around the world, and result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. To be clear, COVID-19 is not the same as influenza. The ravages on the body that it inflicts are much more extensive. It may be more contagious. On the other hand, while its lethality is higher than the average flu pandemic, it is much lower than initially believed and not much higher than a very severe flu outbreak. Yearly influenza outbreaks produce mortality rates of between .1% to .2% among those infected, with up to 5% to 20% of the population falling ill. This rate of contagion and lethality correspond to a yearly death rate of roughly 150 deaths per million people -- about 50,000 people. Bear in mind that the Centers for Disease Control doesn't actually count deaths attributable to the flu. The numbers are based on models that look at the increase in deaths during flu season. The most recent estimate is that the lethality of COVID-19 is about .4% to as much as .6% of those infected -- about 500 deaths per million people. That means that the lethality of COVID-19, if there is no vaccine and if going forward the SARS-CoV-2 mutates sufficiently to produce new pandemics each year and maintains its current virulence -- admittedly an extremely pessimistic scenario -- is upward of 160,000 deaths a year. This is about 20% higher than the current estimates from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model developed by the School of Medicine at the University of Washington. Mortality rates depend on which variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus we examine. It is believed that there may be as many as 30 different variants of this virus. The type most prevalent on the West Coast of the U.S. is like the variant found in Wuhan. The main version in New York City, which arrived via Italy, is more virulent and appears to have mutated, in part, as a result of its exposure to the Italian viral fauna. This is typical of how viruses mutate and why they change both during a pandemic and over subsequent years. This scenario assumes that shelter-in-place and social distancing policies, for the most part, end. That would make recurring COVID-19 pandemics the equivalent of two to four times as lethal as the yearly flu pandemics. That is not an insignificant number, but it is one that would be manageable in the context of the size of the American population and economy and the existing medical infrastructure. Moreover, these assumptions greatly overstate the likely lethality. For one thing, some sort of shelter-in-place and social distancing rules would likely be imposed on at-risk populations. Moreover, there is bound to be a significant overlap in mortality between influenza and COVID-19 victims. You can die from either one, but you cannot die twice. Some percentage of the deaths attributed to COVID-19 would have occurred from influenza anyway. The point is, that with precautions for at-risk populations and the continuation of the less intrusive forms of social distancing, there is no need for a new normal to be defined by the continuation of the present broad scope of social distancing and shelter-in-place policies. The old normal will, to a large degree, work just fine, albeit with ever present face masks, temperature monitoring and incessant cleaning. Continuing sheltering in place until a vaccine can be administered is not a realistic option. The economy can and must open up. That does not mean that there won't be flare-ups or localized infection outbreaks. The virus is now widely established in the U.S. Short of putting everyone in a plastic bubble, we are not going to eliminate it. The mortality associated with it, however regrettable, is now a fact of life. So-called second waves are inevitable and will occur regardless of whether sheltering in place is continued. It's estimated that some two-thirds of infections in New York City, for example, occurred among people already following shelter-in-place directives. Local flare-ups, regional spikes, and ebbs and flows in hospitalization and mortality do not mean that the economy was opened up too quickly or that government health policy has failed. These types of developments were going to happen regardless of when the economy reopened. The reopening schedule determined the pace and amplitudes of those developments, not their existence. In times of crisis, it's common to look for historical antecedents, both for a guide to potential responses and for visibility of what might happen next. Historical examples also give reassurance that if past crises were successfully dealt with, the current one can be also. The example most often cited is the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic. The 1918 pandemic is not directly applicable, however, and the lessons derived from it are misapplied in the present situation. The influenza pandemic of 1918-19 is being extensively studied for insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic will play out and what the long-term consequences may be. The suggested outcomes range from a repeat of the hedonistic Roaring 1920s, to mounting barriers to world trade, a rise in nationalist sentiment and growing isolationism. Approximately 50 million people died worldwide from that pandemic. Most of those deaths, however, were from secondary bacterial infections, like pneumonia. The availability of a broad range of antibiotics, however, means that such secondary infections are far less lethal and much more manageable today than a century ago. The 1968 Hong Kong flu is a more applicable example to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 1968 flu pandemic was caused by the H3N2 influenza virus. It infected between 200 million and 400 million people worldwide. Fatalities were around one million globally, and approximately 100,000 in the U.S. To date, the U.S. has lost approximately 80,000 people to COVID-19 -- the equivalent of about 45,000 people in 1968. The 100,000 deaths in 1968 would be the equivalent of around 160,000 deaths today. That's at the high end of current projections of deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic. We may never know the true number. We probably undercounted some early deaths and misattributed recent ones. Based on current testing in the U.S., it appears that approximately 10% of the U.S. population is carrying COVID-19 antibodies. That number is likely overstated, since the testing is focusing on individuals more at risk, but is generally consistent with the 1968 Hong Kong flu. Adjusting for population growth in the U.S. and around the world, the current lethality of COVID-19 and the Hong Kong flu have similar trajectories, even if the pathogens are different and COVID-19 turns out to be more contagious. What happened to the H3N2 influenza virus? It's still around, significantly less lethal than in the past. Periodically, it flares up as one of the virus strains in the annual flu outbreak. What is most significant about the 1968 pandemic, however, is that we did not shut down the U.S. economy as a result. Even music concerts continued. This was, after all, 1968, the year before the summer of love and of the infamous Woodstock music festival. Health and Big Brother There is one aspect of the anticipated new normal that is deeply troublesome -- one that will survive both the end of social distancing and shelter-in-place policies. The COVID-19 pandemic has produced an enormous expansion of governmental authority at both the state and federal levels. On the premise of regulating public health, many state governors have taken it upon themselves to determine what businesses can stay open and which must close and, in some cases, even what retailers are allowed to sell. Shelter-in-place directives have been used to regulate public gatherings like church services, determine how many people can go on a boat (regardless of its size), or to prohibit individuals from leaving their homes for a walk. Some elected officials, in a move that would have made the East German Secret Police, the STASI, proud, have called on citizens to spy on their neighbors and to report to police those who violate shelter-in-place directives. Even more worrisome are proposals by companies like Apple or Google to track the movement of individual Americans in order to facilitate social tracing -- the identification of people who have been in close proximity to infected individuals. In Hong Kong, leaders of the pro-democracy movement have already accused Chinese security authorities of using social tracing to identify supporters of the group. Additionally, social media sites like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook have announced that they will censor posts that they believe constitute misinformation on the COVID-19 pandemic. The trouble with that policy is that misinformation is being defined as any posting that runs contrary to the conventional wisdom, even though events have shown that such wisdom has often been wrong. Censoring such posts is nothing less than the suppression of anything that challenges the official orthodoxy. Equally worrisome is that many states are organizing armies of social tracers to identify the contacts of individuals who test positive for COVID-19. Social tracing plays an important role in limiting the spread of the disease. The creation of an army of social tracers, however, feels perilously close to a sort of hygienic secret police: a modern-day inquisition designed to enforce state imposed medical orthodoxy. Experience indicates that such organizations, once created, tend to persist and their mandates to expand, even when their official purpose becomes obsolete. The potential for such organizations to become overly intrusive, especially when they have access to contact and movement information from cellphones, is very troubling. George Orwell would have no trouble recognizing this new normal -- in which Big Brother, in the guise of protecting your health, is constantly looking over your shoulder. He described it eloquently more than 70 years ago. Benjamin Franklin summed it up best when he observed, "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." While the context of Franklin's quote remains hotly debated, its essential message is clear. The erosion of individual rights at the hand of big government and big tech may be the overriding legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic and the defining feature of the new normal, and that is frightening. -- The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili. Plastic surgery is a kind of cosmetic surgery and used for the restoration and enhancement of the aesthetic appearance of an individual. Plastic surgery can be performed on any parts of the body. It includes nose, eye, breast, neck and burned site of an individual. The global plastic surgery market is categorized based on various surgical and non-surgical procedures. The surgical procedure segment is further sub-segmented into liposuction, nasal surgery, breast augmentation, eyelid surgery and tummy tucks surgeries. Non-surgery procedure includes photo rejuvenation and hair removal. To Understand How Our Report Information Can Bring Difference, Ask for a brochure @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/3422 In addition, the global plastic surgery market is also segmented based on various products which are used in surgery procedures. It includes injectables, implants and equipments. Injectables are further sub-segmented into collagen, hyaluronic acid and botulinum toxin. Implants include breast implants, chin and cheek implants and lip implants. Dermal resurfacing lasers, microdermabrators, liposuction equipment and hair removal lasers are some of the major equipments used in plastic surgery. In terms of geographic, North America and Europe dominates the global plastic surgery market. This is due to rising aging population and high adoption rates of aesthetic products in these regions. The U.S. represents the largest market for plastic surgery followed by Canada in North America. In Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. holds major share of plastic surgery market. However, Asia is expected to show high growth rates in the next five years in global plastic surgery market due to increasing awareness about plastic surgery procedures and growing medical tourism industry. China and India are expected to be the fastest growing plastic surgery markets in Asia. In recent time, rising number of geriatric people along with growing demand for retaining young and beauty is key driver for the global plastic surgery market. In addition, technological advancement in surgeries and rising number of obese and over-weight people have also fueled the growth of global plastic surgery market. However, high cost of surgeries and stringent regulatory approvals are some of the major restraints for the global plastic surgery market. In addition, high risks of adverse effects associated with surgeries also obstruct the growth of global plastic surgery market. Increasing usage of plastic surgery biomaterials develops opportunity for the market. Looking for Exclusive Market Insights from Business Experts? Request a Custom Report here @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/request-customization/3422 Some of the major companies operating in the global plastic surgery market are Allergan, Inc., BioForm Medical, Inc., Solta Medical, Candela Corporation, Lumenis and Cynosure. Key points covered in the report Report segments the market on the basis of types, application, products, technology, etc (as applicable) The report covers geographic segmentation North America Europe Asia RoW To Gain More Insights & Stay Ahead Of The Competition, Buy Now @ https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/3422 By Express News Service KOCHI: The Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the government to take necessary measures to avoid a repeat of disasters that occurred in 2018, in the wake of experts forecasting a normal to above-normal rains this year. According to the release issued by the organisation, the lockdown has brought down power consumption, due to which water level at the hydroelectric dams is at 36 per cent now, compared to 25.9 per cent last year during the same time. Accordingly, the experts and scientists have already sent their representation to the Kerala government to implement flood safety protocols. At present, Idukki dam alone has 43 per cent of its storage capacity and the Moolamattam powerhouse currently produces 80 lakh units of electricity. In May 2018, the 25 per cent water level in Idukki dam rose to 95 per cent in July, causing the huge havoc, it read. The chamber urged the government to intervene to reduce the water levels at Mullaperiyar, Parambikkulam and Upper Sholayar dams which are controlled by Tamil Nadu, but open to Kerala.As per the representation sent to the state chief secretary by scientists and river protection groups, though the state has prepared rule curves and operating procedures for some dams, they were prepared unilaterally by agencies operating them, without wider stakeholder consultation. - After maltreating Nigerians living in China, some Chinese could be seen in a video trying to appease the Africans with food and gift items - Nigerians, however, rejected the food and gift items, saying they don't need them - The Chinese tried to persuade the Nigerians to receive the items, but all to no avail Our manifesto: This is what YEN.com.gh believes in Nigerians in China have rejected gift items from their Chinese hosts who tried to appease them after maltreating them. Recall that Nigerians in China were maltreated in the Asian country over the coronavirus pandemic. In a bid to appease the Africans, Chinese visited their place of residents to drop gifts for them, but the gifts were rejected. In a video which was shared by Africa Fact Zone, some Nigerians could be heard telling the Chinese to take their gifts away, adding that they don't need them. Watch video below: In other news, tragedy struck as a mental health nurse and a midwife who worked at the same hospital died after contracting the deadly coronavirus. Forty-one-year-old Lillian Mudzivare and Safaa Alam worked at Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Trust. Shazad, Safaa's husband who is currently grieving, said the death of his wife has left an empty feeling and space in his life. He said: "Saf was my beautiful and full-of-life wife. She was my childhood sweetheart and we grew up together." Meanwhile, YEN.com,gh previously reported that Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel declared an end to the coronavirus pandemic the country is battling with, saying the deadly disease is becoming history. Recall that the cleric has been in the news lately for his stance on continuous closure of churches amid the pandemic. Bishop Oyedepo has been criticised and also been praised for expressing displeasure over continuous closure of churches. The man of God in a video on his official Twitter page could be seen making a declaration against coronavirus. He said: "There shall be an outbreak of revival across every church, every ministry, as an aftermath of this noisome pestilence." President Akufo-Addo has extended the ban on social gatherings by two more weeks. | #Yencomgh(opens in new tab) Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Get interactive via our Facebook page. Source: YEN.com.gh Yoga teacher and sales rep Annemarie Plas is the woman behind the UKs nationwide Clap for Carers, our weekly celebration of those putting themselves on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic. She was inspired to launch it by similar events in her home country, the Netherlands and within 24 hours, major celebrities like the Sussexes and Victoria Beckham had joined in. Since it began, the hashtag #clapforcarers has been shared over 100,00 times. READ MORE: Kate Garraway FaceTimes husband in hospital for NHS clap Here, she talks to Yahoo about how it started: How did Clap for Carers start? I'm originally Dutch, so I saw the round of applause happening in the Netherlands, and obviously, at that time, we also had it happening in Italy and Spain. But they are generally speaking, a bit more passionate people, whereas the Dutch and the Brits are maybe a bit more reluctant to these things more reserved. Then I saw it happening in the Netherlands, and I have friends who work as nurses in Dutch hospitals, as well as people who are like myself and yourself, who are safely in their houses, and they told me of how much it lifted them and how much it boosted their morale, and they only had one time for having applause. That got me so inspired that I thought, well, wouldn't it be lovely if we can also do that here, in this beautiful nation and it worked. Why do you think it took off so quickly? It exploded and went viral and it just points out how everybody feels the same way. They all wanted to show in a simple way their appreciation. Were also feeling that were going through this together and that every walk of life is affected by this crisis. How do you feel when you take part every week? Its emotional! Its also a bit of a highlight in the week because now I know who my neighbours are. Its really special and you feel that you are connected to everybody, while we all also going through our own personal crisis. Story continues It started out being just about applauding the NHS, but has become so much more how did that happen? For the first round of applause, I was pointing out the NHS workers, and then luckily this nation started sending me loads of messages, bringing me back to the core, and explaining to me that the whole group of care workers is actually much bigger. READ MORE: UK set to 'Clap for Carers' again... and there are calls for it to be done differently Then I started looking around in my own little community and I realised there are so many more people that are out there like the mail man, people collecting my bins. Its everybody in supermarkets that are still out there. It organically grew the next week into saying thank you to a much larger group of people. Why do you think this event has been so embraced by the British public? I think it quickly spread because there is so much negativity happening right now around us, so that I think that every moment, when there is something that is a bit more positive on the horizon, that people go after that, because it is something that they can personally relate to but also can join into. READ MORE: 9 things you can now do under lockdown rules and 8 things you can't It is such a simple gesture. Everybody can make an applause or can use something else to make noise, so I think that the level of entry is so low that therefore people feel like, OK, this I can join in. I definitely also think what has really helped is that all media outlets, everybody embraced the moment. Have you heard from key workers about what it means to them? After every Thursday I get a wave of messages coming in. The ones that are closest to my heart are the parents that send me a little email, saying this is my son or daughter, working for the NHS, or is another key worker. Because I am a mum myself, and I can hear that they are so proud, but also anxious at the same time. Also, from the footage that we've seen from how it has been received in the hospitals. People taking the time to drive down to a hospital on Thursday night. People, doctors and nurses coming out of the hospitals, applauding each other. READ MORE: Denise Van Outen says she wont point fingers about the lack of PPE I think it's really good that we are aware of how amazing the NHS is compared to other countries, and we should be really proud of them and really support them as a nation. In this day and age, nobody has this, what we have with the NHS. Youve also collaborated with Kindred, who make T-shirts to raise money for NHS charities how did that come about? Kindred reached out to me saying that they wanted to do something to support the cause with donation. They had already made really nice T-shirts with rainbows, so I said I would love to join with an applause logo. Theyve just confirmed that theyve just given 330,000 to NHS charities! Its really nice to be involved in something that can help raise money for the NHS, while boosting morale for the nation on a Thursday night. What are you hoping will be the lasting impact of Clap for Carers? I'll hope that after this, well have a realisation of how important key workers are in our day-to-day life. It is because of them that we can all safely stay in. And then to maybe say a little more of thank you to one another. Like, now I know who my mailman is. We have a daily chat if he comes around and I hang out the window. And then have that little feeling of the community and how important your little community is, because they are the people that you hear on a Thursday night, that it would be so nice to be part of the community. READ MORE: Beverley Knight reveals deep connection with NHS We are all together, because we have been focusing so much on ourselves in the last 10 years, so for now, to be focused on the community and to respect everybody in it, that would be the dream if that could be an outcome of this. What do you think you will tell your children, when theyre old enough to understand, about the lockdown? If I have to tell my son later, what did Mummy and Daddy do in lockdown We just tried to stay sane. We have little to no rules in our household any more when it comes down to screentime, ice cream. It was a challenging time, but we were the lucky ones. Donate to NHS Charities Together by purchasing a Clap for Carers T-shirt Up Close And Socially Distant is hosted by Kate Thornton and features weekly video catch-ups with people who are all doing whatever they can to help those around them get through lockdown. This week Kate speaks to Strictly winner and actress Kara Tointon about her new storytelling app connecting families in lockdown called TELL, to kidney transplant specialist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr Adnan Sharif on investigating the disproportionate way COVID-19 is affecting those from BAME communities, and to Annemarie Plas, who started the event that has swept the nation, our weekly Clap for Carers. Deprived of their rights for decades, people belonging to West Pakistan, Valmikis, women marrying outside communities, non-registered Kashmiri migrants, displaced people will soon get domicile under a new set of rules issued by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday. The administration notified Jammu and Kashmir grant of domicile certificate (procedure) rules, 2020, thereby formulating rules to prescribe the procedure for issuance of domicile certificate, which has been made the basic eligibility criteria for appointment to any post under the union territory following amendments in the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (decentralization). Under these rules, children of the people of these categories can now get jobs in Jammu and Kashmir as they will be entitled for the rights after they are granted domicile. "These rules prescribe the procedure for issuance of domicile certificate, which has been made the basic eligibility condition for appointment to any post under the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir following amendments in the Jammu and Kashmir Civil Services (Decentralization and Recruitment) Act, 2010," spokesperson of J&K government, Rohit Kansal told reporters here. Under the domicile rules, all those persons and their children who have resided for 15 years in Jammu and Kashmir or have studied for seven years and appeared in class 10 or 12 examination in an educational institution in the UT are eligible for grant of domicile, he said. Children of central government officials, all India service officers, officials of PSUs and autonomous body of the central government, public sector banks, officials of statutory bodies, officials of central universities and recognised research institutes of the central government, who have served in Jammu of Kashmir for a total period of 10 years will also be eligible for domicile status in the UT, Kansal added. Besides, all those migrants and their children who are registered with relief and rehabilitation commissioner will be granted domicile certificate, he said. Children of those residents of Jammu and Kashmir who stayed outside the union territory in connection with their employment of business or other professional or vocational reasons have also become eligible for grant of domicile status, he said. The rules provide a simple and time-bound procedure for the issuance of the domicile certificate so that no one is put to any inconvenience, Kansal added. "There shall be a timeline of 15 days for issuance of the certificate after which the applicant shall be free to approach an appellate authority," he said. The decision of the appellate authority shall be binding upon the issuing authority and the orders of the appellate authority are to be complied within seven days, failing which the defaulting officer shall be liable for a penalty of 50,000 out of his salary, he said. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!! Topics A finance expert best known for Rich Dad Poor Dad is urging Australians to avoid investing in property, fearing a trade spat with China could spark a depression. Bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki, who is close friends with Donald Trump, said Australia was 'dependent on China for their exports' . Australia's exports to China are worth $135billion a year but without that, the nation faced a prolonged economic downturn - with a 1930s-style depression more likely than a short recession. 'It's not good for Australia overall,' Kiyosaki told Daily Mail Australia from his home in Phoenix, Arizona. Scroll down for video Bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki (right), who wrote two books with Donald Trump (left) before he became President of the United States, said Australia was 'dependent on China for your exports' and therefore was in danger of falling into a depression. He is pictured with Mr Trump in October 2006 launching their book Why We Want You To Be Rich 'I hate to say it but it could be not an L-recovery but an I - it could be a drop, straight-down collapse.' Australia's biggest exports to China Iron ore: $63.1billion Natural gas: $16.6billion Coal: $14.2billion Education: $12.1billion Travel: $4.3billion TOTAL: $134.7BILLION Source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade China export data for 2018-19 Advertisement China has confirmed it would be slapping 80 per cent import tariffs on Australian barley, in retaliation at Prime Minister Scott Morrison's call for an independent inquiry into the causes of COVID-19. There are fears other exports could be next, including iron ore, a steel making commodity worth $63.1billion in China export dollars. China's ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye has already threatened a Chinese consumer boycott of Australian beef, wine and education - a $12.1billion a year export industry. This is occurring on top of a long-running trade war between the US, Australia's biggest defence ally, and China, Australia's biggest trading partner. 'This is a coronavirus: you guys are getting China and the US sneezing,' Kiyosaki said. This could see Australia go from being a rich country to a poor one - like Argentina, an agricultural exporter, did during the 1930s because of high debt levels. 'It's possible. Your standard of living is very high, so sometimes the higher they are the harder they fall. That's the concern I have,' he said. An economic slowdown in Australia would be particularly detrimental to those with mortgages, particularly in Sydney (Cronulla unit block pictured) and Melbourne, where median house prices stand at $1.026million and $818,806 respectively, going by CoreLogic data for April An economic slowdown in Australia would be particularly detrimental to those with mortgages, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, where median house prices stand at $1.026million and $818,806 respectively, going by CoreLogic data for April. Australia's biggest trading partners 1. China: 25.2 per cent 2. Japan: 10.1 per cent 3. United States: 8.7 per cent 4. South Korea: 4.8 per cent 5. Singapore: 3.8 per cent 6. India: 3.6 per cent 7. New Zealand: 3.4 per cent 8. United Kingdom: 3.2 per cent 9. Thailand: 3.0 per cent 10. Malaysia: 2.8 per cent Source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade data on market share for two-way trading partners as of 2018 Advertisement In his 1997 bestseller Rich Dad Poor Dad, Kiyosaki warned against investing heavily in real estate. 'A liability is something you have to pay for. If you bought it for say a million, and you got to pay for it and it drops to let's say $700,000, you're in trouble,' he said. The Commonwealth Bank, Australia's biggest home lender, is forecasting a 32 per cent drop in Sydney and Melbourne house prices by 2023 in a worst-case scenario. Kiyosaki agreed a double-digit drop was 'possible' but didn't nominate a figure on how far house prices could fall. 'It's going to be bad for someone who is over leveraged - your house is not an asset, a house is really a liability,' he said. Australia's household-debt-to-income ratio of 186.5 per cent is the highest in the world after Switzerland. During the 1990s, Kiyosaki owned two investment properties in Sydney's east at Rushcutters Bay and Bondi. He's now advising against investing in real estate and instead advocates buying gold during a global crisis. In his 1997 bestseller Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki (pictured left with his wife and fellow author Kim Kiyosaki) warned against investing heavily in real estate 'I'm buying a lot of gold from your Perth mint, I just bought 40 ounces of Aussie gold,' he said. Australian free trade agreements New Zealand - January 1983 Singapore - July 2003 United States - January 2005 Thailand - January 2005 Chile - March 2009 Association of Southeast Asian Nations - January 2010 Malaysia - January 2013 South Korea - December 2014 Japan - January 2015 China - December 2015 Trans-Pacific Partnership - December 2018 Source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Advertisement 'Gold is money throughout the world, that's what I'm buying.' Despite Australia being in danger economically, Kiyosaki said he preferred the Australian way of life and was considering moving across the Pacific Ocean. 'If America gets worse, I'm, emigrating,' he said. Asked what he hated about the US, he replied: 'Violence, social unrest.' By contrast, he preferred the Australian attitude during a crisis. 'The Aussie spirit, I think is healthy - you have a kind of "don't give a s*** attitude, she'll be right", you'll fire back,' he said. 'It is really the lucky country and I say that with all sincerity.' Kiyosaki said his disappointment at American gun culture had nothing to do with President Trump, a Republican who is running for re-election in November. 'First of all, he's a friend of mine and I'm not Republican or Democrat and I would vote for him if he was a Democrat,' he said. Despite Australia he in danger economically, Kiyosaki said he preferred the Australian way of life and would considering moving across the Pacific Ocean. Pictured are swimmers at Sydney's Bondi Beach on May 17, 2020 after COVID-19 lockdown rules were eased Kiyosaki acknowledged President Trump wasn't the favourite against presumptive Democrat challenger Joe Biden. 'It's a dirty job, it's a dirty game, politics. I don't know what's going to happen - a lot of people are counting on him to check Trump out,' he said. Kiyosaki co-wrote two books with President Trump, Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men, One Message (2006) and Midas Touch: Why Some Entrepreneurs Get Rich-And Why Most Don't (2011). Unlike the US, Australia, still has low levels of government debt to gross domestic product - even with $320billion of COVID-19 fiscal and monetary stimulus measures comprising 16.4 per cent of GDP. Australia had a gross government-debt-to-GDP ratio of 27.7 per cent before the onset of COVID-19, compared with 107 per cent in the US as of December 2019. Robert Kiyosaki, Harry Dent and Martin North will speak at Secure the Future, a free online seminar this Sunday, May 24 www.robertandharry.com Founder and Leader of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), Percival Kofi Akpaloo says his party has decided to take Special Prosecutor, Martin Amidu to court over his inability to solve the mystery surrounding the Airbus Bribery Scandal. Mr Akpaloo does not understand why former President John Mahama has not yet been taken to court "when we all know he has taken a bribe". "We are taking the Special Prosecutor to court. Why has he delayed in taking the airbus bribery scandal to court? What is he waiting for? We are giving him the last warning to take the issue to court or else we will call for his resignation," he added while speaking on Peace FM's 'The Platform' programme. Listen to him in the video below Airbus, Europes largest aerospace multinational, has admitted paying huge bribes in order to secure contracts in Ghana, under the erstwhile Mills-Mahama administration.Airbus was found guilty by a High Court in London and is to pay a fine of 3 billion pounds (3bn) as penalties. Anti-corruption investigators according to The Guardian Report, has described the court's decision as the largest ever corporate fine for bribery in the world after judges declared the corruption was grave, pervasive and pernicious.Ghana under late President John Atta-Mills in 2011 and former President John Mahama in 2015, acquired three Airbus C295 planes from the company as part of an effort to augment and modernize the fleet of the Ghana Armed Forces.It emerged that the first order of the military aeroplane arrived in the country on November 17, 2011, followed by a second on March 19, 2012. The last order arrived in the country on December 4, 2015.President John Dramani Mahama, in November 2014, announced that Ghana was to acquire an additional C295, in addition to other aircraft, including five Super Tucanos, Mi-17s and four Z-9s.A total of about $150 million was spent in acquiring all the three aircraft, one of which overshot the runway recently. Ghana's Ministry of Defence stated that the accident happened because the aircraft had not gone for its scheduled maintenance.Following the naming and involvement of former high-ranking former Ghanaian officials in the scandal, Ghanas Special Prosecutor Martin Amidu launched further investigations into the matter in February.The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in March invited four individuals to assist in investigations into the alleged act of bribery and related offence in the purchase of three aircrafts from Airbus SE for Ghana.A public notice by the OSP said the individuals identified by acronym in the Statement of Facts and accepted as findings of fact in a judgement of the UK Crown Court are to assist in the investigation of corruption and corruption-related offences in the purchase of the Aircraft.A public notice by the OSP said: "SAMUEL ADAM FOSTER a. k. a. SAMUEL ADAM MAHAMA a UK/Ghanaian citizen, and the three other UK nationals: PHILIP SEAN MIDDLEMISS, LEANNE SARAH DAVIS and SARAH FURNEAUX are hereby invited to assist the Office of the Special Prosecutor in the on-going investigation of bribery and corruption involving in excess of 3,596,523.00 Euros and 1,665,000.00 Euros respectively, and collaborating with Ghanaian public Officers to use their public office for private profit or benefit in the purchase of three (3) C-295 aircraft by the Government of Ghana from Airbus SE". Source: Rebecca Addo Tetteh/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video " " A National Guard member works on election day at a polling location on April 7, 2020 in Madison, Wisconsin. Residents there were forced to go to the polls a day after the U.S. Supreme Court voted against an extension of the absentee ballot deadline in the state. Andy Manis/Getty Images The coronavirus has upended every facet of American life. And it's not close to done yet. The pandemic's shockwaves will rumble on for months. Possibly years even. But if you're thinking that the virus is enough to shake one of the bedrocks of American democracy the election of a president well, you'd better brush up on the U.S. Constitution. No way the November election gets scrapped. Almost no way it's delayed, either. "We are, I believe, the only major long-running democracy that has never postponed an election, even during wartime," says Richard Pildes, a constitutional scholar and law professor at New York University. "I would say the context that might have most dramatically raised the issue was the 1864 election that was held in the midst of the Civil War which, of course, was a war that completely consumed the country." If a war that threatened the very existence of the country couldn't stop the general election, it's not likely that the coronavirus will, either. We have the framers of the Constitution to thank for that. Advertisement Why It's So Hard to Bump an Election Local and state-level elections have been postponed for various reasons (the mayoral primaries in New York City on 9/11, for example). State-level elections for presidential primaries have been delayed, too (several this year because of the coronavirus). But the date for a U.S. presidential election is fixed, by law, and can only be changed by law. That alone makes it almost impossible to delay a national election. Think about it: Lawmakers can't agree on anything these days. So it's highly unlikely they'll come together to put off the presidential election. Equally important, the Constitution states a firm date that a sitting president's term must end. From the Congressional Research Service: Under the Twentieth Amendment, the incumbent President's term ends at noon on January 20th. There are no provisions of law permitting a President to stay in office after this date, even in the event of a national emergency, short of the ratification of a new constitutional amendment. By law, then, an election must be held on a certain date because, by law, the president has to vacate the Oval Office Jan. 20. Unless he (or someday she) is reelected. And to be reelected, the country has to hold an election. Follow? Still ... what if something truly terrible happens on the brink of an election? Say an attack on the country, a cyber-attack on voting measures or a major natural disaster? Well, the election could be delayed the date still would have to be changed by law, and again, that's a steep hill to climb but the date can't be delayed a lot. Votes still have to be counted, which takes time. Electors to the Electoral College have to be picked and their votes have to be registered. And the Constitution still says the sitting president must skedaddle by Jan. 20. And so it is that the U.S. even through a Civil War, domestic terrorism, the pandemic of 1918, and many other tragedies never has postponed a presidential election. " " Some Ohio residents were able to cast their votes in person for the primary election, which had been postponed on March 17, including those who are disabled, those without a permanent residence or those who requested a ballot by mail but never received it. Most however, had to vote via absentee ballot. Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images Advertisement A Worst-case Scenario Still let's take a worst-case scenario. What if the country is so messed up, by the coronavirus or something else, something much worse even than the Civil War, that the election is endangered, and the country stands on the precipice of disaster? Can't the sitting president declare martial law or use his emergency powers to delay or call off the election? Executive order? Fiat? "The president doesn't have any power to postpone the Election Day on his own," Pildes says. "You can never anticipate what kind of argument people might decide to make when it's in their interest to make the argument. But I'm sure that this is a no-brainer in terms of any legal advice the president would get. The president would be told, 'You don't have the power to do that.'" What happens if a law is enacted to delay the election again, not easy but it doesn't happen before the president's term expires? The president's term, by law, still ends Jan. 20. If states can't deliver a verdict from their Electoral College reps (they do the actual voting for the president) in time, the whole mess falls into the lap of the Congress. In that scenario, the House is supposed to pick the new president and the Senate the VP. Another wrinkle: If a national election is postponed beyond a certain point, there won't be a House, either. (All Representatives, remember, have to be elected every two years. No election, no House.) In that case, it falls to the Senate to pick the president because the Senate is a "continuing body;" two-thirds of its members are always sitting, with staggered elections only every six years. If none of that works, the selection of the president reverts to the rules of succession: the Speaker of the House (if there is one) will act as president and, if not him (or her), the Senate's President pro tempore assumes the acting gig. This has never happened. " " Wisconsin allowed curbside voting on April 7, 2020 because of the coronavirus. Is this something we can expect in the upcoming presidential election? Andy Manis/Getty Images Advertisement How the Virus May Change This Election Less difficult than changing the date of the election is changing how it's held. That's not to say that holding a presidential election in the time of coronavirus won't be extremely challenging. It will be. Absentee ballots, mail-in ballots and changes in polling places all are in play. Early voting. New ways of registering to vote. And all this in the first U.S. presidential election after Russia interfered with the last one. "There's no question that we are in the middle of a process right now in which state legislatures and governors are going to inevitably be making various changes to the election process for this fall. The exact changes may vary from state to state. But there's no question we are going to have a lot of things happen this fall that don't typically happen," Pildes says. "We understand the circumstances we're in. We don't know exactly how bad they'll be or not be ... But this is a massive transformation that has to be made almost overnight, and whenever something like that happens, it's almost inevitable that there are going to be some gaps or glitches or problems emerge. We should be doing everything now to try to minimize those risks. But the risks are real and unavoidable when you're trying to transform something as complicated as how people vote." NOW THAT'S INTERESTING During the Civil War, 20 northern states changed their laws to allow soldiers to cast absentee ballots from military camps. Before these statutes were enacted, state laws required in-person voting. Today all 50 states allow for absentee voting by any registered voter. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday that there is yet no surge in COVID-19 cases reported in areas that recently reopened non-essential businesses, but he said it's still too early to conclude such patterns. "We are seeing that in places that are opening, we're not seeing this spike in cases," Azar said on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "We still see spikes in some areas that are, in fact, closed, very localized situations. And so this is going to be very important for us to watch the circumstances on the ground." Azar said it will take time to identify and report new cases throughout the US as the important surveillance area is toward the hospital areas that need time to assemble data, and there will also be those who show no symptoms. Also, the virus reportedly has up to a 14-day incubation period, which could also create a delay in determining when people might be infected. "It's still early days," Azar cautioned during an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation." Nearly all 50 states in the US have started to reopen in some way, but only 14 have met federal guidelines for lifting measures in place to fight the spread of the virus, according to Reuters. Azar said it will also take time in states like Georgia and Florida that started reopening within the past month. He placed the responsibility on local governments with how they handle reopening plans. Azar said local leaders must judge "whether a bar being open, a restaurant, a school is the right thing. These are very localized determinations; there should not be a one size fits all to reopening," he said. "but reopen we must because it's not health versus the economy. It's health versus healthy," Azar said. When Azar was asked about images of crowded bars in some parts of the country, the health and human services secretary said that was the cost of freedom. "I think in any individual instance you're going to see people doing things that are irresponsible, that's part of the freedom that we have here in America," Azar said, according to Reuters . Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said it was impossible to know the projected path of the virus without more testing. "We have no idea the size of this challenge to our country because we have not sufficiently tested," Pelosi said on the news program. China is capable of achieving the goal of poverty elimination this year as scheduled despite adverse impact by the COVID-19 epidemic, an official said Monday. Although the epidemic brings new challenges, China's battle against poverty has made positive progress with common efforts, said Liu Yongfu, director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. By the end of April 30, around 97 percent of leading poverty alleviation enterprises and workshops had resumed production, while 82 percent of poverty-relief projects had restarted, said Liu. China has bolstered policy support to help migrant workers stranded at home amid the epidemic obtain employment locally, as part of its efforts to prevent people from falling back into poverty, he said. The country's poverty alleviation tasks are near completion, as the number of impoverished people fell to 5.51 million at the end of 2019 from 98.99 million at the end of 2012 and the number of poverty-stricken counties fell to 52 in 2020. Liu noted that China will then speed up efforts in lifting the 52 poor counties and 1,113 villages out of poverty, focusing on satisfying the needs of impoverished populations in terms of compulsory education, basic medical care, safe housing and drinking water. A single case of coronavirus in an aged care home is being handled the same way a major outbreak would be, as Victorian authorities work to prevent a repeat of the deadly Newmarch House cluster in NSW. Four Melbourne nursing homes remained in lockdown on Tuesday evening, after coronavirus claimed its 100th victim in Australia, a 93-year-old woman who died at Newmarch House. Lynden Aged Care in Camberwell. Credit:Joe Armao Two elderly residents in separate Melbourne nursing homes were revealed to have tested positive to the deadly virus on Tuesday, while another three residents of other aged care homes wait on test results. Victoria's Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said much had been learnt from watching the deadly outbreak at Newmarch House unfold. Advertisement The Bauchi State government said on Monday that two new death cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) had been recorded, bringing the number of deaths in the State to five. Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (BASPHCDA) disclosed this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi. Mohammed, who did not disclose the identity of the dead, said nine patients were also discharged, bringing the total number of discharged cases in the state to 112. Yes! We have just discharged nine patients, this brings the total number of discharged cases in the state to one hundred and twelve (112). We have have also recorded two new death cases, this brings the total number of death recorded so far in the state to five, he said. The PHCDA boss, who is also the Chairman, Contact Tracing Committee on COVID-19 in the state, said they wasted no time by treating any positive patient brought in for treatments, hence the mass recovery of patients in the state. We are not waiting like other states, we swing into action by treating any positive patient immediately they are admitted. We give them drugs that are on trial and they are recovering, the only thing is that people are still having denial in their minds. People should wake up to the reality that COVID-19 is real and should come for testing whenever they are having any of the signs as outlined by health experts, said Mohammed. NAN reports that Bauchi state has so far recorded 224 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 112 discharged, five death and 107 active cases. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 08:58:07|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Medical staff transfer an injured person after an earthquake in Qiaojia County of Zhaotong, southwest China's Yunnan Province, May 19, 2020. Two died, at least 13 others were injured and one person was trapped in debris, after a 5-magnitude earthquake struck Qiaojia County late Monday, local authorities said Tuesday. Rescue forces from the local public security, fire fighting, emergency response sectors have rushed to the quake zone. (Photo by Chen Xinbo/Xinhua) KUNMING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Two died, at least 13 others were injured and one person was trapped in debris, after a 5-magnitude earthquake struck Qiaojia County in southwest China's Yunnan Province late Monday, local authorities said Tuesday. Rescue forces from the local public security, fire fighting, emergency response sectors have rushed to the quake zone. The quake struck at 9:47 p.m. Monday. The epicenter, with a depth of eight km, was monitored at 27.18 degrees north latitude and 103.16 degrees east longitude, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. In addition to Qiaojia, the earthquake was felt strongly in Huize County of Qujing City, as well as the cities of Zhaotong and Xuanwei and Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture. The county government of Qiaojia has sent rescuers to 16 townships for the rescue and disaster relief. The county meteorological observatory forecast that there will be mainly sunny and cloudy weather in the next three days. Only the area of Xiaohe Township will see some showers. Enditem Sri Lanka Tuesday threatened to pull out of the UN Human Rights Council if it pursued war crimes claims allegedly committed by government forces during a bloody war with Tamil Tiger separatists. The countrys president Gotabaya Rajapaksa the top defence official when the rebels were defeated in May 2009 under his brother, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa issued the warning at the 11th anniversary of the end of the 37-year conflict. In a brief but emotional speech during the commemoration at a war memorial in the capital Colombo that was slimmed-down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Rajapaksa said it was his national duty to protect troops. If any international body or organisation continuously targets our country and our war heroes using baseless allegations, I will also not hesitate to withdraw Sri Lanka from such bodies or organisations, Rajapaksa said, switching to English during his speech in Sinhala. Rajapaksa, a retired army lieutenant colonel, did not single out the United Nations, but his remarks were widely viewed as aimed at the Human Rights Council. Even leaders of powerful countries have emphatically stated that they will not allow any action against their war heroes, he added. I will not allow anyone or organisation to exert undue pressure on them and harass them. The top rights body has called for accountability in Sri Lanka where some 100,000 people died during the war, a demand resisted by successive Rajapaksa administrations. Before he won the November presidential election, Rajapaksa said he would not abide by the commitments of the administration in power at the time to probe war crimes claims. After coming to power, he withdrew the island nation from a United Nations resolution calling for action over the alleged rights abuses. The UN as well as rights bodies have accused Sri Lankan troops of killing up to 40,000 Tamil civilians in the final months of the war, a charge denied by successive governments. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Travels to Afghanistan and Qatar Media Note Office of the Spokesperson May 18, 2020 Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad departed on May 17 for travel to Doha and Kabul. In Doha, Ambassador Khalilzad will meet with Taliban representatives to discuss implementation of the U.S.-Taliban agreement and press for steps necessary to commence intra-Afghan negotiations, including a significant reduction of violence. In Kabul, he will meet with senior government officials to explore steps the Afghan government needs to take to make intra-Afghan negotiations begin as soon as possible. The United States remains committed to supporting the desire of the Afghan people and the international community for a political settlement that ends the 40-year conflict and ensures Afghanistan never again serves as a platform for international terrorism. Throughout his trip, Ambassador Khalilzad will continue to reinforce the U.S. view that the best path to end the conflict is for all parties to sit together and negotiate an agreement on the political future of Afghanistan. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New Delhi, May 19 : The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday issued a fresh cyclone alert for West Bengal and north Odisha coasts as an extremely severe cyclonic storm 'Amphan' was over the central parts of the South Bay of Bengal and adjoining central Bay of Bengal. In a statement, the IMD said the super cyclonic storm Amphan (pronounced as UM-PUN) over Westcentral and adjoining Eastcentral Bay of Bengal moved nearly north-northeastwards with a speed of 14 kmph during the past six hours. "It lay centred at 0530 hrs IST of 19th May, 2020 near latitude 15.6AN and longitude 86.7AE over Westcentral Bay of Bengal about 520 km nearly south of Paradip (Odisha), 670 km south-southwest of Digha (West Bengal) and 800 km south-southwest of Khepupara (Bangladesh). "It is very likely to weaken into an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm during next six hours. And, is very likely to move north-northeastwards across northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal - Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans during the Afternoon / Evening of 20th May 2020 as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 180 kmph," said the IMD statement. The super cyclone Amphan is now being continuously tracked by the Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) at Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). Addressing a press on Monday, IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said that Amphan was expected to make the biggest impact in South and North 24 Parganas and East Medinipur districts of West Bengal. Keeping in view the conditions, the IMD has advised a complete shutdown of shipping and boating activities in the vulnerable parts of West Bengal and Odisha till May 20. Rerouting or shutting down of rail and road traffic is also advised in the areas which the super cyclone is expected to hit. To provide instant help in West Bengal, a total of 19 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are deployed, and four teams are on standby. In Odisha, 13 teams are deployed and 17 are on standby. While some NDRF teams are in the area, some are in transit. The weather agency has issued an orange alert for coastal West Bengal and Odisha, where it said widespread damage is expected. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru Tue, May 19, 2020 15:23 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd907baa 1 National Sumatran-tiger,poaching,trapped,critically-endangered-species Free A critically endangered Sumatran tiger was found dead in a conservation area in the Siak administrative region of Riau on Monday with one of its legs caught in a wire trap. The male tiger's carcass was first discovered by a resident on his way to go fishing near Minas Barat village on Monday morning. He reported the discovery to local authorities who then conveyed the message to the Riau Natural Resources Conversation Agency (BKSDA). At about 5 p.m. on the same day, the BKSDA dispatched a team to the site to remove the deceased tiger. "Its front right leg, caught in the snare, was seriously injured. The open wound was very deep, resulting in infection," BKSDA head Suharyono said on Tuesday. The team moved the tiger's body to its headquarters in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru to conduct an autopsy. Read also: Adult female anoa, two calves die at breeding facility in North Sulawesi "Based on the tiger's condition, it might have been dead for about a week as a result of dehydration," Suharyono said. A pig carcass was found near snare, indicating that the tiger might have been targeted by poachers, he said. The Sumatran tiger, the only surviving species of the Sunda Islands tigers that once included the now-extinct Bali tiger and Javan tiger, has been listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List since 2008. An estimate from the Environment and Forestry Ministry puts the wild Sumatran tiger population as of December 2018 at no more than 600 because of a loss of habitat and poaching. (vny) Shibu BS By Express News Service KOCHI: It took some systematic and meticulous steps for Pathanamthitta to break free from the grip of Covid-19 in March when the first case was reported in the district. Over the days, the district valiantly fought the battle, emerging Covid-free. But the fight is not over yet. For the district, with the largest Malayali diaspora in Europe and the US, faces the threat of a second wave when the huge expat population flies down. Till the time a three-member family residing at Ranni in Pathanamthitta, who had returned from Italy on February 29, tested positive in early March, Covid-19 was only a distant echo for Malayalis living in their home state. After reality struck, the state government, the district administration and the health department worked in tandem to snuff out the threat posed by the pandemic. By April second week, the district reported a clean slate, with not even a single Covid case recorded. The district remained a green zone till May 12 when the first positive case was reported after a gap of nearly 30 days. Currently, there are four Covid positive cases, all of them imported ones from the Gulf. Several Malayalis stranded in other States had begun to arrive in the district from May 03. Of the total 2,239 people under observation in Pathanamthitta as on May 17, 205 people had flown in from West Asia after May 7. The remaining 2,023 came from the other states after the inter-state borders were opened on May 5. But the real test will come when the expats from the American mainland and Europe arrive here. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said 28 more flights carrying homebound Malayali expatriates will reach the state from various countries till June 2. One flight each will come from the US, UK, Australia, Russia, France, Italy, Ireland, Ukraine, Armenia, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. We are aware that once the Malayalis from the US, Italy, France and the UK start to arrive in June, it will be a daunting challenge. Nearly 6,000 Malayalis in these countries, which are global Covid red spots have expressed their desire to return home. We expect that at least half of them --nearly 3,000 people to come back in the coming months. It is a huge challenge, but we are pretty confident of continuing the good work, Minister K Raju, who is coordinating Covid-19 measures in the district, told TNIE. We will ensure that the people who arrive from overseas are quarantined and will go through the same contact tracing, GPS tracking and route movement system to make sure there is no community spread, he said. With more expats set to return to the district in the coming days, the minister on Monday held a meeting with the officials concerned through videoconfering to discuss the necessary steps to be taken. Irudaya Rajan S of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) said the number of cases in Pathanamthitta as well as Kerala is likely to see a surge. If the Centre decides to bring back more Malayalis from the US and Europe, a spike in cases in Pathanamthitta and Kottayam is a real possibility. However, we have prevented community spread during the first wave. Hence we shall overcome the second wave also, if any, he said. Pathanamthitta Covid-19 cases (As on May 18, 2020) Confirmed: 21 | Active: 4 | Recovered: 17 People under observation Hospital: 10 | Home: 2,679 The tragic deaths of three-year-old twin sisters in an out-of-control house fire will be investigated by an expert strike force to establish whether or not it was suspicious. Aisha and Lailani died when flames engulfed their family's housing commission home at Batlow, in southern New South Wales, about 11am on Monday. As the fire roared to four-metres high first responders tried desperately to rescue the girls, but could not force their way inside the home. Police said their helpless mother Tanyka and five-year-old brother could do nothing but watch on in horror from the footpath after being locked outside the home. Riverina Police District Commander Bob Noble said Strike Force Edmondson would be investigating the tragedy and said at this stage police had an 'open mind' about how it unfolded. Three-year-old twins Aisha and Lailani (pictured) were killed when their Batlow home caught fire on Tuesday morning As the fire roared to four-metres high first responders tried desperately to rescue the girls, but could not force their way inside the home He said a small woodfire was understood to be burning inside the home at the time, but it was not known if this was the cause of the blaze. 'I just want to make it clear, we are keeping an open mind in relation to the incident,' Superintendent Noble told media outside Wagga Wagga Police Station on Tuesday. 'What we obviously have is two young children who have died. Obviously the mother of the children was present at the time of the fire, as was an older sibling. 'We need to approach this from an objective point of view and keep all possibilities on the table.' Superintendent Noble said Ms Ford was 'distraught' at what had happened and while initial discussions had been had with her, they expected to formally interview her on Tuesday. Experts from the NSW State Crime Command arson squad are at the scene and will be assisting local detectives in their investigation. Aisha and Lailani's shattered family have already raised more than $2,000 through a GoFundMe page for Ms Ford. Police have launched Strike Force Edmondson to investigate the fire and said the twin's mum Tanyka Ford (pictured with them) is 'distraught' A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise money for the family, while their nanna Michelle Ford posted this collage as a tribute to her granddaughters 'My sister tragically lost her three-year-old twin daughters in a house fire, which claimed not only the lives of these two young children but also their home and belongings,' the twins' uncle Levi wrote. 'Her son has lost all the belongings including toys and clothing.Losing everything is hard enough without having to worry about financials. 'Anything no matter how small would be appreciated.' Ms Ford's heartbroken mother Michelle, who lived in the nearby town of Tumut, paid tribute to her grandchildren on Facebook on Monday night. 'RIP nanny's little angels, miss you so much,' Mrs Ford wrote. Ms Ford's aunt Melanie said any donations would help the family, who lost everything in the fire. The little girls were trapped inside the home as it went up in flames, and could not be saved Police said a small woodfire was understood to be burning inside the home at the time, but it was not known if it had caused the blaze (the house after the fire was extinguished pictured) 'My niece Tanyka Ford lost her beautiful twins in a devastating house fire,' she wrote. 'If anyone can help out with a donation no matter how small it is. Words cant begin to describe her pain and loss right now.' Adding to the difficulties for NSW Police investigators is the danger of entering the home, which is unstable as a result of the fire. Interviews are expected to be carried out with witnesses, family members and those from the tiny country town who were first on the scene throughout the week. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 22:15:46|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close -- The World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), opened its first-ever virtual session on Monday, calling for unity, a stronger WHO role and equity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. -- Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed China's staunch support for the WHO in his speech, calling on the international community to increase political and financial support for the WHO so as to mobilize resources worldwide to defeat the virus. -- Many countries agreed that COVID-19 vaccines should be a global public good that will be available to everyone. GENEVA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), opened its first-ever virtual session here on Monday, calling for unity, a stronger WHO role and equity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 infections have ballooned to over 4.5 million worldwide and the death toll surpassed 300,000, speakers at the 73rd WHA agreed that no single country can overcome a health crisis of such a scale alone, reaffirming their commitment to cooperation and solidarity. They also stressed the WHO's leading role in coordinating the global response to the pandemic and called for equitable access to vaccines and medications among all nations. "WAKE-UP CALL" The discussion on COVID-19, a main topic of this year's meeting, has moved beyond a health topic and raised some fundamental questions about global governance. United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, one of the first speakers at Monday's session, talked about how COVID-19 has exposed global fragility. Despite the enormous scientific and technological advances of recent decades, "a microscopic virus has brought us to our knees," Guterres said while delivering a speech via video link. "COVID-19 must be a wake-up call," Guterres noted, saying that feelings of powerlessness must lead to greater humility and deadly global threats require a new unity and solidarity. "We have seen some solidarity, but very little unity, in our response to COVID-19," said the UN secretary-general. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at the 73rd World Health Assembly at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, May 18, 2020. (WHO/Handout via Xinhua) Echoing Guterres's words, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated that "the two essential ingredients for conquering this virus" are national unity and global solidarity, urging the world to take lessons from the pandemic and make the world safer and more resilient. Past experience from fighting SARS, the H1N1 pandemic and the Ebola epidemic in West Africa highlighted shortcomings in global health security, but some of the problems went unheeded, Tedros warned. "The world can no longer afford the short-term amnesia that has characterized its response to health security for too long," he told the virtual assembly. "The world does not lack the tools, the science, or the resources to make it safer from pandemics. What is has lacked is the sustained commitment to use the tools, the science and the resources it has," Tedros said. IRREPLACEABLE ROLE Most of the speakers recognized the WHO's leading role in coordinating the global fight against COVID-19 and took the opportunity to express gratitude and support for the world health organization. Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed China's staunch support for the WHO in his speech, calling on the international community to increase political and financial support for the WHO so as to mobilize resources worldwide to defeat the virus. "At this crucial juncture, to support WHO is to support international cooperation and the battle for saving lives as well," Xi said. Guterres called the WHO "irreplaceable," a term that was repeatedly taken up by leaders and health ministers across the globe. Simonetta Sommaruga, president of the Swiss Confederation that hosts the WHO's headquarters, thanked the WHO for its tireless commitment to tackle the pandemic. "Our support to you (WHO director-general) is based on our commitment to multilateralism, solidarity and international cooperation," Sommaruga said. "Today, more than ever, these things are absolutely essential and they need to be strengthened." "In this time of great crisis, we need unity, not division. We cannot allow the politicization of this pandemic. Ireland stands shoulder to shoulder with the WHO," said Irish Health Minister Simon Harris. Many delegates, drawing from their own nation's experience in fighting COVID-19, recognized the importance of the WHO's protocols and guidelines when the novel coronavirus broke out, and expressed willingness to work with the organization to strengthen global health systems. There's also considerable discussion on the issue of financing. In a video message, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the need for more funding to the WHO, which he said plays an irreplaceable role in coordinating action thanks to its scientific expertise and knowledge of the situation on the ground. "The WHO is a legitimate world organization in the area of health. We should continue to work to improve the procedures within the WHO," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "We should also look into its financing to ensure that it is sustainable." World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at the 73rd World Health Assembly at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, May 18, 2020. (WHO/Handout via Xinhua) NO ONE LEFT BEHIND Another theme that recurred frequently in the member states' statements are calls for equitable access to vaccines and medications, and for particular attention to vulnerable groups in society and population in developing countries, so that "no one is left behind." Many countries agreed that COVID-19 vaccines should be a global public good that will be available to everyone. China will provide 2 billion U.S. dollars over two years to help with COVID-19 response and with economic and social development in affected countries, especially developing countries, Xi said. China will work with the UN to set up a global humanitarian response depot and hub in China, ensure the operation of anti-epidemic supply chains and foster "green corridors" for fast-track transportation and customs clearance, he said. Besides, China will establish a cooperation mechanism for its hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals and accelerate the building of the Africa CDC headquarters to help the continent ramp up its disease preparedness and control capacity, said Xi, adding that China will also work with other Group of 20 members to implement the Debt Service Suspension Initiative for the poorest countries. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, chairperson of the African Union, urged more assistance, debt relief and medical supplies, in particular, for developing countries. "Africa, extremely vulnerable to the ravages of this virus, needs every possible support and assistance," Ramaphosa said. Photo taken on May 18, 2020 in Brussels, Belgium shows a screen displaying World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (1st R) at the 73rd World Health Assembly. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that his country will provide 100 million dollars in humanitarian aid this year and will continue to share its experiences in fighting epidemics with the international community. Tedros warned that "the majority of the world's population remains susceptible to this virus and the risk remains high," although coronavirus restrictions are gradually being eased in a number of countries. Guterres reiterated the UN's call for a coordinated large-scale response led by the WHO with emphasis on solidarity with developing countries and vulnerable people. "We are as strong as the weakest health systems," Guterres said. "Protecting the developing world is not a matter of charity or generosity but a question of enlightened self-interest. The global North cannot defeat COVID-19 unless the global South defeats it at the same time." (Video reporters: Zhao Yuchao, Du Yang, Han Chong; Video editor: Chen Sihong) Covid-19 has changed the way party rental companies do business. The new normal requires extensive cleaning and sanitizing methods, unprecedented measures to ensure no cross contamination. The most upscale table top rental company in South Florida, Different Look Inc. specializes in luxury charger plates, china sets, flatware and glassware. Different Look Inc. announced that health and well-being of staff and clientele is their utmost concern and provide the highest grade cleaning and sanitary products. All safety protocols that have been in place since 2015 have been elevated. Safety measures in the new normal focus on Prevention, Cleanliness, Sanitizing, and Reduced Contact. As far as Prevention: Masks and Gloves- Will be worn by the entire team at all times. Temperature Check- As an additional precaution all team members will have temperatures taken with inferred touchless thermometer. Social Distancing- All Warehouse staff to be aware of 6 feet physical distancing. Additional signage will remind the staff that distancing is very important. Hand Sanitizing- They have strategically placed hand sanitizing stations every 20-30 feet throughout their amazing facility. Hand Washing- Correct hygiene and frequent hand washing with soap is vital to help combat the spread of virus. All employees have been instructed to wash hands or use sanitizer when sink is not available every 60 minutes for 20 seconds or more. As far as sainting process, every Product is different and requires different cleaning procedures. Flatware And Glassware- All to be washed in brand new state of the art commercial dishwasher. This system sterilizes all product by using high temperature (180 Degrees Fahrenheit or higher) water and natural detergent. ALL bacteria and viruses are known to die at 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Charger Plates- All charger plates are hand washed and polished with natural citrus based cleaner. Different Look implemented a new UV lighting system/room. Once product is cleaned, all charger plates will be placed under uv light for 10-12 minutes. UV lighting sanitizes 99 percent of known Viruses!! China Plates- Most of the high end collections are very delicate and can only be washed by hand and follow the same procedure as the charger plates. (Natural Cleaner And UV lighting) DELIVERY VEHICLES: For the well-being of all staff and clients, all of their vehicles to go through daily cleaning and sanitizing. This includes Disinfecting, wash down, as well as our own proprietary process of UV sanitizing. RETURNS: A good amount of the business consists of clients picking up and returning product. Different Look has assigned an area clearly marked at our loading dock that is to be used for pick-ups and returns only. All returns to be placed on the loading dock. Clients are prohibited from entering the facility, no exception! As product is returned they will process immediately through the UV lighting room to ensure that no virus or bacteria is to be brought into the facility. REPORTING: Any violation of the above please call (561)-502-6168 Or email covid@differentlook.com The full detailed plan is also to be found on their website as well. Rating: Four More Shots Please! (Amazon Prime) Cast: Sayani Gupta, Bani J, Kirti Kulhari, Maanvi Gagroo, Lisa Ray, Milind Soman, Neil Bhoopalam, Prateik Babbar, Simone Singh, Amrita Puri, Shibani Dandekar Direction: Nupur Asthana Rating: ***1/2 Season 2 of Four More Shots Please! doesnt disappoint. Like Season 1, its pacy, fun, good-looking and fails the Bechdel test (whether two women talk to each other about stuff other than men) repeatedly and so robustly that it now has a special place reserved in the family tree of Sex And The City. Four More Shots Please!, or 4MSP, is inspired not just by Sex And the City the 1998 show in which four friends in New York regularly meet for lunch/dinner/drinks to discuss their love lives, work, bodies, desires, romance, men, babies and, well, sex but also Lena Dunhams Girls that was very funny and had, among other actors, Adam Driver and Riz Ahmed. 4MSP is about four girlfriends in Mumbai who mostly meet in a bar owned by Jeh Wadia (Prateik Babbar) where they have repeated shots of intoxicating beverages and then indulge in high jinks behaviour. There is Damini Rizvi Roy (Sayani Gupta), an investigative journalist who quit her job last season and is now, to induce a bit of real politics into the show, writing a book about a judge who is killed just before he was to deliver an important judgment. She also has a true love, Jeh, and a sexy stepney. Then theres Umang Singh (Bani J), the trainer who has gone from being bisexual to gay. She's still in love with the star Samara (Lisa Ray) who now wants to play ghar-ghar. Theres Anjana Menon (Kirti Kulhari), a lawyer and divorced mother, who is facing blatant sexism at work and quits her job to pursue both, professional and personal highs. And then theres Sidhi Patel (Maanvi Gagroo), the single child of a wealthy couple who does this and that, including modest stripping for horny strangers, has finally accepted her weight but is waiting for the world to get over its body-shaming and pursuit of a warped notion of beauty. All these girls have lives, professions, desires, but above and beyond all this substantive, meaningful stuff, they are pretty and have chic, fashionable, expensive wardrobes. "It's aspirational," says stylist Aastha Sharma who, along with her all-women team, has styled the shows characters since it began. She says the brief for Season 2s look was to push the style quotient higher. From Aastha I learnt that the show has come under some criticism and online bitching for being all about fashion and sex, and is, thus, frivolous. That hardly an original sin. 4MSP is simply following Sex And The City's template of style, story, plot while locating its characters in a different time, different place, with minor deviations and a little more melodrama. Season 2s director, Nupur Asthana, says this fashion-forward look was something she inherited (Season 1 was directed by Anu Menon), and that if she had to do it herself she would have done it differently. Nupur, who directed Mahi Way a 2010 Yashraj show about a big girl, her ambitions, desires, life doesn't see a problem or a contradiction with having a character like Sidhi, who is all about accepting her body, loving herself while calling out body-shamers and challenging the notion of what's sexy and beautiful, while the show constantly reinforces through all its other characters a certain idea of perfection, I.E. ramp-ready bodies, flawless skin, perfect hair and clothes that we see only in centre-spreads of glossies. Nupur, who sounds like a candid, straight-shooter and uses both the F-words a lot, says that she was careful not let the clothes distract from the emotional journey of the girls and then talks with impatient irritation about the criticism the show has attracted. Its not all about glamour and sex, because there are only four minutes of making out in this season, she says and then brings up the long F-word, feminism. My show is 100 per cent feminist." Okay. But I, for example, have no recollection of what happened in Season 1 except that the girls drank a lot, had fights with their boyfriends, amongst themselves, there was lots of making out, including with Dr Aamir Warsi (Milind Soman), and in a gym. In this season too there's binge drinking, faltu talk, dirty talk, bitching about life partners, stumbling, getting up, and paid sex. The show breaks some taboos, sure. But that's really not why it's the No. 1 show on Amazon Prime, as Nupur proudly announces, twice. It's doing well because its glamour quotient is very high, and because everyone always looks gorgeous, even while puking. And of course there's a connect with the girls they are nice, decent and have problems that many girls and women can relate to: Cheating, settling into a divorce, an extramarital affair with a man who says he has an open marriage, a relationship with a diva who can't see beyond herself, and, of course, the body accepting unsatisfying sex while emotions stand aloof. The show is sensibly written, and even its main characters have shades of grey. 4MSP works because of all this and because it feels like a good gossip session with a bestie, or flipping through a really good issue of a glossy fashion magazine. Its a guilty pleasure, like eating a bucket of ice cream. It doesn't nourish, but its so tasty. The criticism, I agree with Nupur, is silly and misplaced. At which point she declares, Its a great chapter in Indian feminism. Behen, thoda zyada ho gaya. Have do-teen shots, please. Tyler Baltierra and Catelynn Lowell took to Instagram on Monday to commemorate the 11th birthday of their first born child Carly, who they put up for adoption, but have remained in touch with her in the years since. Lowell and Baltierra, both 28 - who are parents to three daughters: Carly, 11, Novalee, five, and Vaeda, one - took to social media Monday with emotional tributes as they recalled becoming parents for the first time. Baltierra wrote: '11 years ago I watched you take your first breath. 11 years ago I held you & your birth mother in my arms as we both gazed upon your angelic face, never wanting to let you go. 11 years ago you entered the world & changed so many lives for the better.' The latest: Tyler Baltierra and Catelynn Lowell took to Instagram on Monday to commemorate the 11th birthday of their first born child Carly, who they put up for adoption, but have remained in touch with her in the years since.] He wrapped in saying, 'Happy Birthday Carly, you are forever loved by so many!' Lowell shared a shot of herself and the baby, writing: 'May 18th 2009 at 10:39am you took your very first breath and changed me in so many different ways. She continued: 'Today you turn 11... Happy Birthday my sweet Carly.. I love you big as the sky.' In a separate post, the Port Huron, Michigan native wrote, 'Blows my mind that she's going to be 11 tomorrow #alwaysinmyheart.' Sentimental: Lowell shared a shot of herself and the baby, writing: 'May 18th 2009 at 10:39am you took your very first breath and changed me in so many different ways Happy family: Lowell and Baltierra, both 28 - who are parents to three daughters: Carly, 11, Novalee, five, and Vaeda, one In a 2019 reunion special, Lowell and Baltierra expressed their gratitude toward Carly's adoptive parents Brandon and Theresa for opening their lives to them. 'Thank you for letting us be involved and just see her and just being amazing parents for her,' said Baltierra. 'We couldn't have really asked for anything more, honestly.' The couple shot to fame appearing on MTV series 16 and Pregnant in 2009. A Southern California woman and her boyfriend have been arrested by the FBI for allegedly collecting ransom in a series of kidnappings that killed two of three US citizens held in Mexico. Leslie Briana Matla, 20, and Juan Carlos Montoya Sanchez, 25, are charged with one count each of money laundering conspiracy, the US Department of Justice said. Matla picked up ransom payments in Southern California from family members of kidnapping victims held in Tijuana, Mexico, according to the criminal complaint. Records show Sanchez received wire transfers from two of the kidnapping victims, the complaint alleges. Leslie Briana Matla, 20, and Juan Carlos Montoya Sanchez, 25, have been accused of collecting ransom as part of a kidnapping ring operating out of Hotel Aqua in Tijuana, Mexico (pictured) Three men - residents of San Diego, Norwalk and Pasadena - were kidnapped separately in Tijuana while on business or visiting family, prosecutors said. The victims' families were notified via a caller with a Mexican telephone number to deposit ransom money at specific locations, prosecutors allege. Mexican authorities found the body of San Diego resident Salvador Acosta Medina on March 29 - one day after the man's adult son placed a bag containing $25,000 inside the women's restroom of a McDonalds in the California community of San Ysidro near the border, officials said. The body of Edgar Esteban Guzman, from Norwalk, was found in Mexico on April 14. A day earlier, the victim's family unsuccessfully tried to pay a $25,000 ransom to a woman whom law enforcement believe was Matla at a Southern California Lowe's parking lot, according to court documents. Kidnapping victim Edgar Esteban Guzman (pictured), from California, was found dead in Mexico in mid-April, a day his family unsuccessfully tried to pay a $25,000 ransom Both Medina and Guzman had been staying at Hotel Aqua in Tijuana before their deaths. On April 22, a woman from Pasadena called law enforcement to report that kidnappers demanded $20,000 for the return of the father of her children held in Mexico, according to an unsealed FBI affidavit obtained by the Los Angeles Times. The victim, described as a taco shop owner from Pasadena, called the woman at the direction of his kidnappers, telling her he had killed a family of four in a DUI crash and needed $20,000. He told the woman he loved her and their children. As he would later tell the FBI, he was saying goodbye on that call because he had seen the faces of his kidnappers and knew 'they were going to kill him no matter if a ransom was paid or not.' One of the kidnappers, calling from a Mexican phone number, informed the taco shop owner's family that a woman would pick up the cash at a Food 4 Less parking lot in the Los Angeles suburb of Lynwood. That same day, law enforcement rescued the victim, who was being held hostage at the same Tijuana hotel as the first two kidnapping victims. Matla was allegedly seen on surveillance video in San Ysidro near the US-Mexico border crossing on the day a $25,000 ransom was collected for the release of Salvador Acosta Medina, who was later found dead Nine suspects in the kidnapping ring were arrested by Mexican authorities at Hotel Aqua, according to federal officials. A review of security camera footage, border crossing records and social media led law enforcement to identify Matla as the woman sent to San Ysidro, Norwalk and Lynwood to pick up the ransom money on the dates in question, the affidavit alleges. Matla and Sanchez were arrested days apart in San Diego and have made their initial court appearances. If convicted of the charge, the couple could face up to life in federal prison. Matla is from the Southern California city of Colton, but lives in Tijuana, where Sanchez is from. The Austrian government has played down hopes F1's 2020 'season opener' may be raced in front of spectators. Currently, Red Bull - the promoter of the Austrian GP at Spielberg - is waiting merely to have its 'ghost race' plan for July rubber-stamped by authorities. "We hope to receive a response from the ministry of health soon," Dr Helmut Marko told ORF's Sport am Sonntag program. "Although our concept envisages a ghost race, I think that if the overall coronavirus situation continues to develop well, a limited audience admission is also conceivable in the next few weeks," the Red Bull official added. "There is so much going on at the moment, so let's see what can happen. Should things continue to be so positive, then why not?" Marko said. However, Austrian sport minister Werner Kogler has played down that prospect. "I don't think the advisory staff at the ministry of health is currently thinking about allowing large events with many spectators," he told Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper. "That would be news to me. The decisive factor will be the entry and exit regulations," Kogler added. Marko has also ruled out earlier speculation that one of the two races at the Red Bull Ring will be held mid-week. "We originally wanted to do it that way, but the TV stations have insisted on events on Sunday," said the Austrian. (GMM) A high-profile fugitive named Felicien Kabuga, who is the leading figure in inciting the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 against the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda was finally arrested by the French Police on May 16, according to the United Nations. Arrested after 25 years Kabuga was hiding in the Asnieres-Sur-Seine area near Paris. According to the French Justice ministry, he was on the run for more than 25 years, and the 84-year-old businessman, who was from a rival ethnic group named Hutu, is accused of funding the militias which lead to the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis and Hutus. Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz from the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals said in a statement: "The arrest of Felicien Kabuga today is a reminder that those responsible for genocide can be brought to account, even 26 years after their crimes. This arrest demonstrates the impressive results that can be achieved through international law enforcement and judicial cooperation." Kabuga has a bounty on his head worth $5 million and wanted for years in Rwanda. The French authorities found him living in a flat in Asnieres-Sur-Seine and he has taken a false identity. Also Read: COVID-19 Surcharge: What Is It and Why Are Businesses Adding It The massacre that killed 800,000 people On April 6, 1994, the massacre in villages began, right after President Juvenal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira were killed. The attackers, who were never identified, shot down the plane that the two Hutus used as it passed over the Rwandan capital. The sudden death of the president ignited a fight between tribes and it was followed by thousands of senseless killings. Hutu soldiers wanted to kill the Tutsi tribe out of retaliation, and they didn't want anyone left. In villages in Rwanda, the neighbors turned on each other and 70% of the Tutsi population was killed, and just over 10% of the tribe remains in the total population in the country. In July 1994, the fighting between the two tribes ended when a military force that was led by President Paul Kagame, came in from Uganda and eventually took control of Rwanda. He is still the president to this day. In 1995, the Security Council of the United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in order to continue the process and hold Kabuga accountable for the massacre. Kabuga was indicted for the genocide of thousands of people in 1997, with a total number of seven cases. Since the opening of the International Criminal Tribunal, around 93 people were also indicted as they were said to be responsible for the killings of thousands of people. They were also indicted for violations of international humanitarian law. The individuals who were indicted include government officials, high-ranking military officials, businessmen, and politicians. As for Kabunga, he will be transferred to the custody of the United Nations' court as soon as the proceedings of the French authorities are done. In 2019, Rwanda marked 25 years since the genocide. Solemn ceremonies were held across the country and it was attended by heads of state and a procession was also done in Kigali. According to President Kagame, Rwanda is rebuilding with hope and that the people would never turn against one another again. President Kagame said during the anniversary that they are now far better citizens than they were before. Bodies of the thousands of victims are still being retrieved 25 years later. In 2018, authorities discovered mass graves that contained around 5.400 bodies of the victims. Related Article: Man Positive with COVID-19 Refused to Go to the Hospital, Hugs Neighbors Out of Spite @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The goal of Garmon's new Safe Wear line is to make people feel safe and comfortable living their lives outdoors again. "In a few months, the world has changed in a way that no one expected, and things we once considered normal like eating in restaurants or taking public transportation are now considered risky," said Kimberly Nelson, President of Kemin Textile Auxiliaries. "Being based in Italy and San Marino, we have seen firsthand the tremendous impact of the pandemic. People want to protect themselves as much as possible, and that includes the garments they wear." To make this happen, the Safe Wear line has been designed to include different technologies, levels of protection and price points to suit all the needs of the textile industry and consumers. The Safe Wear product line includes: HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 Garmon Sani -tex -tex Garmon Elam Sani -tex HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03 is the most advanced product in the Safe Wear line. Created by HeiQ, a Swiss company of which Kemin Industries is part owner, HeiQ Viroblock has a strong, patent-pending antiviral and antibacterial effect against enveloped viruses including coronaviruses and bacteria. Research shows that viruses and bacteria, such as SARS-CoV, a similar virus to the one that causes COVID-19, can remain active on textile surfaces for up to two days1. Garments treated with HeiQ Viroblock actively inhibit viruses and kill bacteria upon contact, helping to minimize the potential for re-transmission of pathogens from textiles. HeiQ Viroblock has been designed to stay active on treated garments for 30 gentle domestic washes, ensuring safety for the consumer that lasts for a good part of the garment's life. Thanks to the partnership between Kemin Industries and HeiQ, which began in 2017, Garmon extensively tested HeiQ Viroblock on garments to optimize dosages and application for garment finishing, ensuring an action that does not alter apparel's properties and look. Two of the other products in the Safe Wear line, Sani-tex and Elam Sani-tex, are easy solutions to remove germs and bacteria from garments, ensuring hygiene standards. Both have been designed to guarantee an effective, immediate action while maintaining a very competitive price point. Due to their composition and based on some of the most useful and versatile active sanitizing contents, the application of Sani-tex and Elam Sani-tex on garments removes a variety of microorganisms and different types of viruses, in particular lipophilic viruses (e.g. herpes simplex, vaccinia, influenza and adenovirus). Using Sani-tex and Elam Sani-tex helps both laundries and brands provide consumers a finished product that is safe and respectful of their health. All the products in Garmon's new Safe Wear line have been designed for application in the last phase of garment finishing, either alone or in combination with a compatible softener. Safe Wear products have been tested to be suitable for any kind of fiber, including natural, synthetic or blends. All of the Safe Wear products also work with Garmon's Smart Foam, the easiest system to save water in garment finishing. Wearing garments treated with Garmon's Safe Wear products gives consumers the peace of mind to once again interact with the world we knew before, living in the clothes we love. About Kemin Textile Auxiliaries Kemin Textiles Auxiliaries, through the brand Garmon, is a leader in the R&D and marketing of total chemical solutions, innovation and creativity for the denim and apparel industry. The company is internationally recognized as a symbol of pioneering evolution in the name of a better tomorrow. Since its birth in 1982, Garmon established itself at the very center of a narrative that talks to manufacturers, apparel brands and retailers about innovative chemical auxiliaries and solutions. For over 30 years, Garmon has been an R&D and marketing platform for fashion innovation and a reference for product quality and responsible practices. With manufacturing facilities in San Marino, Brazil, China, India and Turkey, the company operates in more than 30 countries through a commercial network of subsidiaries and agents. This global footprint ensures technical assistance in strategic textile areas around the world, as well as capillary distribution of both chemical products and related know-how. About HeiQ Founded in 2005 as a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH), HeiQ is a leader in textile innovation creating some of the most effective, durable and high-performance textile technologies on the market today. HeiQ's purpose is to improve the lives of billions of people by perfecting an everyday product: Textiles. Combining three areas of expertise scientific research, specialty materials manufacturing and consumer ingredient branding HeiQ is the ideal innovation partner to create differentiating and sustainable textile products and capture the added value at the point of sale. With a total capacity of 35'000 tons per year HeiQ manufactures in the USA, Switzerland and Australia serving its chemical specialties in over 60 countries worldwide. About Kemin Industries Kemin Industries (www.kemin.com) is a global ingredient manufacturer that strives to sustainably transform the quality of life every day for 80 percent of the world with its products and services. The company supplies over 500 specialty ingredients for human and animal health and nutrition, pet food, aquaculture, nutraceutical, food technologies, crop technologies and textile industries. For over half a century, Kemin has been dedicated to using applied science to address industry challenges and offer product solutions to customers in more than 120 countries. Kemin provides ingredients to feed a growing population with its commitment to the quality, safety and efficacy of food, feed and health-related products. Established in 1961, Kemin is a privately held, family-owned-and-operated company with more than 2,800 global employees and operations in 90 countries, including manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Russia, San Marino, Singapore, South Africa and the United States. Media Contacts: Fabio Forti [email protected] Francesco Romiti [email protected] KEMIN TEXTILES s.r.l. Strada Acquasalata 7D/E - 47899 Serravalle Repubblica di San Marino +378 0549 919611 References: 1G.Kampf et al (2020): "Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and its inactivation with biocidal agents" Kemin Industries, Inc. and its group of companies 2020. All rights reserved. TM Trademarks of Kemin Industries, Inc., U.S.A. Certain statements, product labeling and claims may differ by geography or as required by government requirements. HeiQ, HeiQ Viroblock and Viroblock are trademark(s) or registered trademark(s) of HeiQ Materials AG. All rights reserved. SOURCE Kemin Industries Related Links http://www.kemin.com Advertisement Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday said New York City would remain closed 'into the first half of June' Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday New York City 'still needs a few more weeks at least' before it can start reopening and that lockdown will 'go into the first half of June'. His remarks came despite the continuously decreasing number of coronavirus cases and deaths. Across the whole state of New York, there were 105 deaths on Monday which brings the total to more than 22,000. There have been more than 350,000 cases across the state. Data for New York City on Monday was not available but the city has generally trended downwards like the rest of the state, albeit at a slower pace. Seven regions are reopening but New York City, mid-Hudson and Long Island will remain closed until they meet Cuomo's requirements. In New York City, there still aren't enough hospital beds, ICU beds or contact tracers. The city needs to have 30 percent of its hospital beds and ICU beds clear, and hire 2,250 contact tracers. As of Tuesday afternoon, it had 27 percent of its hospital beds free and 26 percent of its ICU beds free, per Cuomo's regional dashboard. It remains unclear how many contact tracers have been hired. 'We still need at least a few more weeks. It's going to go into the first half of June,' de Blasio said in an interview with Pix 11. He'd given a press conference earlier on Tuesday morning where he skirted around the subject of reopening and instead spoke about how 'steely' young New Yorkers had been in responding to the crisis. Cuomo later announced that he would allow ceremonies to commemorate Memorial Day to take place so long as they involved 10 people or less. He also said vehicle parades to honor the war dead would be 'appropriate', but it is down to local leaders to decide whether or not they should go ahead in their respective jurisdictions. 'Memorial day is coming up, that is an important American tradition. The state will allow ceremonies, local, of up to 10 people or less. Scroll down for video This is where the regions of New York stand on reopening; NYC is behind, meeting only four of the seven requirements as of Tuesday 'We hope they are broadcast and televised in their areas so people can be part of honoring that decision. Local governments can make a decision that they don't want those to happen. 'Vehicle parades are, I believe, appropriate,' he said. Cuomo said it was important to allow families and communities to pay their respects. Last week, he said beaches across the state would be allowed to reopen if local leaders permitted it. De Blasio has since given conflicting remarks on it. At first he said New York City beaches would be closed. Then he said they would be open but people could not swim at them because there won't be any lifeguards. In his interview on Tuesday, de Blasio said: 'We cant open our beaches. We cannot take the chance of a huge number of people congregating together. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday he would allow commemorative ceremonies for Memorial Day so long as only 10 people or fewer attended them 'I mean, look at Coney Island on a typical beach weekend, hundreds of thousands of people in one place. That goes against everything were trying to achieve to keep New Yorkers safe.' Later, in the same interview, he said: 'For now, people need to recognize, you can walk on the beach, you can sit on the beach, but you cant swim, you cant do sports, you cant do gatherings. 'And well have plenty of folks out there enforcing it.' Over the weekend, scores of New York City residents took parks and open spaces to enjoy the brighter weather, despite warnings from officials that they should stay inside. De Blasio has warned that crowds caught gathering would be broken up. In Brooklyn, police raided a yeshiva where more than 100 children were taking classes without wearing masks. De Blasio - who previously came under fire for breaking up an Orthodox Jewish funeral in Brooklyn - defended the cops' actions. 'It's absolutely unacceptable what the folks of this yeshiva did, they'd been warned, everyone had been warned so many times. Now, Dan, remember this is absolutely the exception. 'This was truly exceptional and with the message I gave on Friday was the NYPD, if they find any gathering, they're going to break it up. 'The first goal is just for people to disperse and not come back. 'Summons is there for anyone who resists. So, in this case, as I understand it they immediately dispersed. They will not be coming back, I assure you. And if we have to shut down that building entirely, we will,' he said. People walk down Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan on Monday, one of the many major streets that have been pedestrianized for people to get more space while out walking Staff at St. Columbas Hospital in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny are the subject of one of the latest pieces painted for and posted to social media as part of the #portraitsforHSEheroes series which is a movement of Irish artists supporting health workers during the Covid 10 pandemic. The oil painting on wood by artist Sinead Lucey depicts five of the dedicated HSE/South East Community Healthcare team at St. Columbas, shown standing outside St. Josephs Ward at the 90 bed long stay residential care facility. The quintet featured are Bee Eli, Mary Neville, Jimmy Collier, Tina Codd and Josie Caulfield. Sinead Luceys painting also features as one of the creative pieces being shared online by the Thomastown Creative Arts Festival, following their postponement (in line with health and safety guidelines) of the actual 10 day event due in August. The festival was founded in 2009 to introduce the best of art, craft, music and film being produced in Thomastown and further afield to audiences that are local, national and international. Born in Cork, 1968, Sinead Lucey studied Law in UCC and History and Sociology in Trinity College Dublin before moving to Paris in 1991 where she completed undergraduate studies in Fine Art (Painting) at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris. After living and working in Paris for 25 years, Sinead moved to Co. Kilkenny in 2016. In January 2019, Sinead received an MA in Fine Art from the Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork. Sinead Luceys work, largely painting and drawing with some moving image, focuses on the human experience of space and movement, both real and represented. Sinead has participated in numerous exhibitions in France and has taught Drawing and Painting in several 3rd level institutions. Responding to their inclusion in the #portraitsforHSEheroes series and promotion by the Thomastown Creative Arts Festival, Director of Nursing at St. Columbas Hospital Georgina Bassett said: Over decades, St. Columbas Hospital has enjoyed an outstanding reputation as a residential care centre for older persons. The welfare of residents/patients in the hospital is a priority for staff and management. At a time when visiting has been restricted and a challenging time for everyone we are deeply appreciative of the support the facility receives from families and the wider community in Co. Kilkenny. This beautiful work by Sinead Lucy and the context in which she and our friends in the Thomastown Creative Arts Festival are promoting it is a boost to everyone here in the determined efforts to stay safe and see our way through to better days ahead. Plans were revealed recently for a retirement village in Silverdale that, if built, would be the biggest on the Hibiscus Coast with more than 700 residents. The 8ha site is near the Silverdale park n ride, on the southern side of Small Road. Currently the land is a mix of grass and native and exotic plants with several small streams. A childcare centre catering for 100 children, which was granted resource consent a year ago, is also proposed for within the village. The plans for the village, which is called The Botanic Silverdale, were made public when its resource consent application was notified, on March 12. They show 26 mainly four-storey blocks, containing a mix of 59 villas, around 394 apartments and 48 aged care beds (501 accommodation units in total), as well as an office complex, community spaces and facilities and the childcare centre. There are four commercial tenancies on the ground floor of the main building on Small Road. The land is zoned General Business and all the proposed blocks are higher than the maximum height control of 16.5m. In addition, Council documents show that an integrated residential development is a non-complying activity in this zone. The developer is called The Botanic GP, incorporated on April 21 of this year. Its directors are Kevin Clark of Riverhead and Wayne Wright of Whakamarama. The Botanic executive Alan Edwards says the project is not yet a registered retirement village. We are in the process of seeking the appointment of a Statutory Supervisor (Anchorage) and thereafter we will be free to register the village with the Registrar of Retirement Villages, he says. Mr Edwards has more then 20 years experience in the operation of retirement villages and care homes. He says the team behind the development includes experienced property developers as well as capital investors. Auckland Council notified the resource consent application for the proposed village, as it is required to notify any integrated residential development. The notification closed for submissions on April 8. Two submissions were received. Council planners advise that the application is currently on hold, awaiting further information from the applicant, so no dates have been set for a hearing, which is the next step. The Sovereign Fund of Egypt is adapting to the coronavirus crisis and will focus its work more on three main sectors in the coming period -- industry, health care and food said its Executive Director Ayman Soliman on Tuesday. Soliman was speaking at a virtual panel organised by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and hosted by Planning and Economic Development Minister Hala El-Saeed. Soliman told Ahram Online in response to a question at the event that Egypt is among the top three countries in Africa with a solid industrial infrastructure, which is a potential that qualifies it to focus on industrial projects in the medium and long term. Over the long term, Soliman said that the wealth fund will also focus on enhancing strategic regional and international partnerships and exploring commercial investments opportunities abroad. In the current phase, Soliman said that the fund will initially focus on developing investment products in high potential domestic sectors, and catalysing the private sector and its participation in the Egyptian economy. El-Saeed said that the COVID-19 crisis has forced the government to redirect its priorities regarding the budget for the coming 2020/2021 fiscal year, which begins on 1 July. According to the new FY2020/2021 budget plan, the expected amount of total investments will reach EGP 740 million, with an increase in expected government investments of EGP 280.7 million, up from EGP 211 million in this years budget, or an increase of 33 percent, according to El-Saeed. She added also that the investments are financed by treasury bonds, and an increase in loans from EGP 140 million to EGP 225 million, up 61 percent. El-Saeed added that the government had increased the total investments in five main sectors in the coming years budget, including the health care sector, up 42 percent; education, up 81 percent; transportation and roads, up 90 percent; drinking water and sanitation, up 78 percent; and digitization and telecommunications, up 300 percent. She clarified that EGP 1.5 trillion had been allocated to public investments in the infrastructure sector over the past seven years and that 4,253 projects had been implemented in the past five years at a cost of EGP 2 trillion. According to El-Saeed, the government will work on four main development issues amid the COVID-19 crisis: digitisation, the green economy, the localisation of development and social protection. She added that EGP 8 billion will be added to the Takafol and Karama social protection programme in next years budget, and EGP 200 million will be allocated to the Marakeb Nagah (survival ships) initiative to raise awareness about the dangers of illegal migration. She also said that EGP 2.6 billion will be allocated as public investments for the digitisation and telecommunication sectors in the FY2020/2021 budget. On Egypts economic policy objectives amid the crisis, El-Saeed explained that they include supporting economic activity, raising purchasing power, boosting domestic demand, supporting vulnerable groups, and backing the most affected sectors, under a EGP 100 billion initiative that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi mandated in March in a bid to address the repercussions of the pandemic. Regarding the new International Monetary Fund loan that Egypt has obtained recently, El-Saeed said that it would be directed to the second wave of Egypts reforms, which focus on structural reforms, clarifying that the first wave of reforms had focused on economic and monetary policies. She added that the new loan under the IMFs Rapid Finance Instrument (RFI) and the other loan under the Stand-By Agreement (SBA) program will not have an impact on the Egyptian people, as had been the case with the previous $12 billion loan, which Egypt contracted in 2016 and the disbursements of which were concluded last year. She also clarified that the structural reforms will be financed through several facilities and loans provided by the IMF and other multilateral global financial institutions. Search Keywords: Short link: The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday passed for second reading a bill which seeks to establish a Food Reserve Agency in the country amid Coronavirus in Nigeria. Naija News reports that the bill which was sponsored by Senator Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West), is to ensure food security for Nigeria in order to avert any form of emergency food crises in the future. In his lead debate, the Nasarawa West Senator underscored the importance of diversifying the nations economy, explaining that there is the need for enabling laws to address the problem of food insecurity in the country. Senator Adamu said the Food Reserve Agency when established, would be responsible for storing food grains and other food commodities for strategic purposes. His words: Agriculture plays a pivotal role in the development and growth of every nation. Any country seeking to diversify its economy, alleviate poverty, create jobs and ensure food security should prioritize agriculture. Nigeria recognizing the important role Agriculture plays has made efforts to place the sector at the fore by introducing different intervention programmes and policies backed by enabling laws. A further step to be taken to ensure food security in our country at all times is to formulate enabling laws that will address food insecurity. Senator Adamu stated that the Agency when established, will implement the overall National Food Reserve Policy to ensure a reliable supply of designated commodities in the country, Adamu said. The Nasarawa West Senator recalled that the recent mandate of the President during the COVID-19 pandemic to distribute 70,000 metric tonnes of grains from the Grains Reserves shows clearly how important it is for a country to have a Food Reserve Agency. His words: with the existence of the Agency, emergency food crises will be taken care of especially in the period of a pandemic. There will also be a reduction in post-harvest losses as silos, warehouses, equipment, ancillary facilities and other suitable storage facilities will be installed and maintained. With the Agency in place, Nigeria will be taking the right step in the right direction as replicated in other African countries such as Zambia and Tanzania, he said. Meanwhile, Naija News understands that senators approved that the Bill be read a second time when it was put to a voice vote by the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan. The Senate President referred the Bill to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development for further legislative work. The Committee which is chaired by Senator Abdullahi Adamu, is expected to report back to the upper chamber in four weeks. Share this post with your Friends on The Montana Green Party is saying a political action committee behind ads supporting one of the candidates running under the party's name has nothing to do with the party or its platforms. "Please keep in mind this is a conservative backed (page) with absolutely no affiliation with the Montana Green Party, nor has the featured candidate chosen to reach out to us," the Montana Green Party wrote in a Facebook post May 11. "The fact alone that this is a page backed by a superPAC automatically should reveal that the page hides an ultimate ulterior motive." The page refers to the website and Facebook presence of a group called Go Green Montana and the candidate that group is supporting, Wendie Fredrickson of Helena. "Be aware that this website is not affiliated with the Green Party of Montana, and all candidates which are featured have not been endorsed by GPMT, nor have they attempted to make or return contact with our organization," the post reads. The Montana Green Party did not return a phone call or message seeking further comment. Fredrickson did not return a call for comment for this story and the Montana Green Party said in a Facebook post she had not returned their attempts to make contact. Third parties can be seen as pulling votes away from major party candidates. In Montana, the Libertarian Party has fielded enough support in past elections to remain qualified to run candidates, while the Green Party reached the ballot this year after a signature-gathering effort backed by at least $100,000 in spending from the Montana Republican Party. Libertarians can be seen as pulling votes away from Republicans, while Greens could siphon votes from Democrats. Political action groups crossing over to support the third-party candidate that could harm their opponent is not new: in 2012 the liberal group Montana Hunters and Anglers paid $500,000 for ads supporting the Libertarian in the U.S. Senate race in a move some said helped Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Tester win that race. This year's U.S. Senate contest has the makings of the most expensive federal race in Montana's history, as Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines seeks to keep his seat against Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock in a contest that's already drawn spending from PACs. There's a Senate primary in the Green Party between Fredrickson, who is a former state health department auditor who left her job after saying she'd been bullied by members of Bullock's administration, and Dennis Daneke, of Lolo. Daneke has suggested he may drop out following the primary if he does not win, both in an interview with Montana Television Network in March and with Lee Newspapers on Monday. Daneke has said he'd do that to avoid pulling votes away from Bullock. Go Green Montana registered as a political action committee with the Federal Election Commission on May 5, meaning they do not have to file a report showing who is financially backing the group or how it is spending its money until June 21. The group has already sent out mailers in Montana supporting Fredrickson, though their reach and cost is unknown since it's not yet reported. It has also spent about $352 on Facebook ads with potential wide reach. The custodian of records and treasurer for the group listed on FEC filings did not return a call seeking comment. Facebook's ad library shows that one placement that started running Friday cost less than $100 but has a potential audience of 100,000-500,000. That and other ads posted Friday flips the argument the Montana Green Party has made calling Fredrickson a false Green Party member, saying it's Daneke that is the "fake Green Party candidate." Daneke acknowledged Monday he's run as a Democrat before in races for county commissioner and the state Legislature, but said after reading the Green Party's platform he realized he better aligned with their beliefs. He's a former professor who retired after teaching sustainable construction at Missoula College. I filled out my Green Party ballot and the only person I voted for was myself because nobody else on the ballot is in the Green Party, Daneke said. Its just bad manners to run in a party that youre not even a member of. Calling the actions to qualify the Green Party for the ballot "shenanigans," Daneke said he decided to run "just to give Wendie a run for her money." Earlier this election, the Montana Green Party said in another Facebook post that "none of those running under the Montana Green Party ticket this season are actual Greens as far as we can tell." The party has not yet released any endorsements, but has disavowed one candidate, John Gibney of Hamilton, for statements he made at an anti-refugee rally in Missoula. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESWIRE / May 19, 2020 / Gold Springs Resource Corp. (TSX:GRC)(OTCQB:GRCAF) (the "Company" or "GRC"), is pleased to announce results for the second round of rock-chip samples taken at the Declaration, Juniper and Fitch target areas at the Gold Springs project. Detailed field mapping was completed for these three targets and described in the press release of April 15, 2020. As part of the mapping effort, rock chip samples were collected on these targets to support the development of future drill programs. All three targets are epithermal gold systems within the Jumbo Trend which is a +5-kilometer gold belt hosting two of GRC's mineral resource estimates. The Juniper and Fitch targets are newly-identified and bring the total number of outcropping gold targets within the Gold Springs project to twenty-eight. Matias Herrero, GRC's President and CEO, stated "We are pleased to not only continue to advance the quality targets we have identified thus far, but to add new targets to our list of future drill targets. Our field work is continuing as we complete detailed mapping and sampling of our numerous targets at Gold Springs with the objective of prioritizing and developing future drill plans. We are excited with the results we have gotten thus far and look forward to sharing information on additional targets as our work progresses." Juniper The Juniper target is located just east of the Declaration target and extends east to the North Jumbo Resource. Gold grades from GRC's sampling above 0.25 g/t Au, which is the cutoff grade for the adjoining North Jumbo resource, are seen throughout the entire Juniper area and are not restricted to vein material. This highlights Juniper as a bulk target, with an exposed area of 600 metres by 400 metres, and remains open to the north where the possible extension goes under post-mineral cover. The average grade of samples above resource cutoff is 1.0 g/t Au and 30.1 g/t silver. High-grade +1 g/t gold grades are obtained from vein, stockwork and altered host rocks. Mr. Herrero further commented, "Juniper represents an exciting new target for our company. It is drill ready, has produced excellent gold values on surface over a broad area, is in close proximity to our North Jumbo resource, and has all the characteristics of a large, bulk minable system. Juniper will be a priority for GRC as we move to our next drill program which will focus on expanding our existing resources and growing our company." A detailed description of Juniper, including maps, photos and video, can be found here: https://goldspringsresource.com/projects/target-2/ Table 1: Rock Chip Samples Results from Juniper SAMPLE Sample Type Description Mineralization type Au g/t Ag g/t 87480 Float Brecciated, clay altered with quartz cement and stockwork quartz veining Breccia 0.44 1.8 103813 Dump Oxidized quartz veins in sericite altered Andesite Vein 0.27 31.6 103814 Float Quartz vein with hematite oxidation Vein 4.23 167 103848 Grab White-clear quartz vein in silicified andesite with overprinting clay alteration Vein 0.54 41.9 103852 Grab Drusy quartz vein in silicified, clay altered andesite Vein 0.50 9.0 103861 Float Massive white quartz vein with vugs of strong oxidation in silicified andesite Vein 0.99 22.6 103862 Float Massive white quartz vein with clay altered and silicified andesite margins Vein 0.42 36.9 103845 Float Gossanous andesite Altered host rock 0.29 4.2 103850 Continuous, 1m Stockwork quartz veining in sericite altered andesite with pyrite cubes Altered host rock/Stockwork 0.94 22.3 103864 Grab Heavily sericitized and moderately silicified andesite with stockwork quartz veins Altered host rock/Stockwork 3.51 28.7 103872 Float Nearly completely silicified andesite Altered host rock 1.05 9.0 103877 Dump Gossanous, quartz-sericite altered andesite with vugs of euhedral quartz Altered host rock 0.37 32.8 103878 Dump Quartz-sericite altered andesite with coarse cubic pyrite crystals. Altered host rock 0.41 22.4 103880 Grab Clay/sericite altered andesite with stockwork quartz veining. Altered host rock/Stockwork 0.26 2.3 Declaration Declaration represents a high-grade target within the Jumbo Trend. The Declaration target is a vein system with a dominant 0.5 metre wide vein that connects with the historically mined Independence vein system to the south and is traceable for 800 metres along strike to the north. The Declaration vein consistently returns +1 g/t Au with variable silver grades from 5 - 55 g/t Ag. The highest-grade sample returned 9.46 g/t Au and 55.5 g/t silver. Andesite adjacent to the vein is strongly altered with cross cutting stockwork quartz veining and zones of silicified breccias. Alteration, stockwork and breccia zones also returned significant gold and silver values. Additional work will include cultural clearances on the northern portion of this system in preparation for future drilling. A detailed description of Declaration, including maps, photos and video, can be found here: https://goldspringsresource.com/projects/target-3/ Table 2: Rock Chip Samples Results from Declaration SAMPLE Sample Type and width Description Mineralization type Au g/t Ag g/t 87452 Dump Brecciated andesite with quartz-calcite stockwork veining. Fault breccia at edges of veining Breccia 0.84 10.1 87460 Float Silicified, brecciated andesite Breccia 0.34 8.0 87464 Dump Silicified, brecciated andesite Breccia 2.14 4.6 87466 Dump Brecciated and clay altered clast of andesite in white quartz cement with vugs of drusy quartz Breccia 0.44 36.2 87472 Dump Brecciated andesite with cross cutting quartz veins Breccia 0.70 41.1 87473 Dump Hydrothermal breccia with clay altered andesite clast Breccia 0.91 16.1 103820 Dump Hydrothermal breccia with andesite clast Breccia 0.27 6.1 103822 Continuous, 1m Silicified hydrothermal breccia with stockwork drusy quartz veining and clay altered andesite clast Breccia 0.55 1.4 103823 Float Silicified hydrothermal breccia in andesite with microbreccia textures Breccia 0.30 3.3 103829 Grab Hydrothermal breccia with banded silica cement in andesite Breccia 0.34 28.3 103831 Dump hydrothermal Breccia in quartz-sericite altered andesite clasts Breccia 1.64 228.0 103836 Dump Hydrothermal Breccia in andesite Breccia 0.41 13.0 87456 Discontinuous, 20cm Massive quartz vein with stockwork white banded quartz veins at margins Vein 0.21 7.3 87458 Float Banded, vuggy white quartz vein Vein 0.37 7.4 87459 Float Banded, bladed quartz vein Vein 9.22 11.6 103809 Dump Drusy comb quartz veins Vein 1.01 5.0 103816 Float Milky white, bladed quartz vein Vein 0.26 4.5 103817 Grab Oxidized drusy quartz vein in chlorite altered andesite Vein 0.34 6.0 103818 Float Oxide stained vuggy quartz vein Vein 0.41 13.2 103865 Float White drusy quartz vein Vein 1.42 38.5 103867 Float White sugary quartz vein with perfect crystals of hematite Vein 9.46 55.5 103869 Float Quartz vein with euhedral hematite crystals Vein 5.45 53.6 103881 Float Massive quartz vein Vein 0.61 8.8 87465 Grab Weakly silicified porphyritic andesite Altered host rock 1.20 4.3 103815 Grab Stockwork quartz veins in a clay altered and iron oxidized rhyolite Altered host rock/Stockwork 0.92 12.8 103828 Continuous, 1.5m QSP altered andesite with vuggy, drusy stockwork quartz veining Altered host rock/Stockwork 0.30 7.4 103842 Grab Quartz stockwork in quartz-sericite altered rhyodacite Stockwork 0.58 3.6 Fitch The Fitch target area is 200 metres due west of the South Jumbo Resource and lies along a caldera margin identified through ZTEM geophysics. Alteration is traceable for 1.5 kilometres along strike, with veining and breccia textures best exposed in the northern section which returned the best gold values. All significant gold and silver grades are obtained from vein and breccia material from historical mine trenches and float found down slope of them. The highest grades are found in brecciated and altered andesite from a historical mine dump returning values of 1.47 g/t Au and 43.1 g/t silver. Fitch appears to be a high-level expression of an epithermal system with similar characteristics to the North and South Jumbo resource areas. Future work on the Fitch target includes cultural clearances in preparation for drilling. A detailed description of Fitch, including maps, photos and video, can be found here: https://goldspringsresource.com/projects/the-fitch-target/ Table 3: Rock Chip Samples Results from Fitch Sample Sample Type Description Mineralization Type Au g/t Ag g/t 87427 Dump Brecciated clay altered and oxidized andesite with stockwork quartz veining Breccia 1.47 43.1 87435 Float Banded and bladed white quartz vein Vein 0.91 4.2 87436 Float Bladed white quartz vein and brecciated andesite Vein 0.67 3.3 224307 Float Brecciated andesite with lattice bladed silica cement Breccia 0.93 29.3 87482 Float Bladed and banded white quartz vein Vein 1.28 6.3 About Gold Springs Resource Corp. Gold Springs Resource Corp. is focused on the exploration and expansion of the gold and silver resources of its PEA-stage Gold Springs project located on the border of Nevada and Utah, USA. The Company believes Gold Springs has the potential to host multi-million ounces of gold. The project is situated in the prolific Great Basin of Western USA, one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world. Qualified Person The Qualified Person on the Gold Springs property is Randall Moore, Executive Vice President of Exploration of Gold Springs Resource Corp. and he has reviewed and approved the content of this press release. Mr. Moore has more than 30 years of mineral exploration experience and is a Professional Geologist and Registered Member of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration. The Qualified Person verified the data disclosed herein for its geological reasonableness, checked all the inputs, and verified the analytical data. Assay Method Assays were performed in Sparks, Nevada by ALS Geochemistry, an ISO 9001:2000 Certified and independent laboratory. Gold was analyzed by fire assay of a 30-gram sample with an AAS finish with samples assaying greater than 10 g/t re-assayed using a 30-gram sample and a gravity finish. All other elements were analyzed by a four-acid leach ICP method. Quality Assurance and Quality Control Approximately 2-3 kg for each rock chip sample was sent to the laboratory. Five percent of the samples submitted by the Company are standards for QA/QC purposes. In addition, the laboratory also includes duplicates of samples, standards and blanks for QA/QC purposes. The results of these check assays are reviewed prior to the release of data. All assays are also reviewed for their geological context and checked against field descriptions. Forward Looking Statements Certain statements contained herein constitute "forward-looking information" under applicable Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements look into the future and provide an opinion as to the effect of certain events and trends on the business. Forward-looking statements may include words such as "plan", "believe", "would", "continue", "will", "estimate", "promising", and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and entail various risks and uncertainties. Actual results may materially differ from expectations if known and unknown risks or uncertainties affect our business or if our estimates or assumptions prove inaccurate. Factors that could cause results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to, risks of the mineral exploration industry which may affect the advancement of the Gold Springs project, including possible variations in mineral resources, grade, recovery rates, metal prices, capital and operating costs, and the application of taxes; availability of sufficient financing to fund planned or further required work in a timely manner and on acceptable terms; availability of equipment and qualified personnel, failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, changes in project parameters, including water requirements for operations, as plans continue to be refined; regulatory, environmental and other risks of the mining industry more fully described in the Company's Annual Information Form and continuous disclosure documents, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The assumptions made in developing the forward-looking statements include: the accuracy of current resource estimates and the interpretation of drill, metallurgical testing and other exploration results; the continuing support for mining by local governments in Nevada and Utah; the availability of equipment and qualified personnel to advance the Gold Springs project; execution of the Company's existing plans and further exploration and development programs for Gold Springs, which may change due to changes in the views of the Company or if new information arises which makes it prudent to change such plans or programs. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. Unless otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements in this press release describe the Company's expectations as of the date hereof. Gold Springs Resource Corp. Contact: Matias Herrero Chief Executive Officer info@goldspringsresource.com SOURCE: Gold Springs Resource Corp View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/590126/Gold-Springs-Resource-Corp-Announces-Second-Round-of-Positive-Surface-Sample-Results-at-Flagship-Project Australia is considering taking China to the World Trade Organization over Beijings decision to impose massive tariffs on Australian barley imports. China announced Monday that it was imposing 80.5% anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on Australian barley after claiming that barley farming was heavily subsidized by the government. Beijing just last week suspended imports from four major Australian beef suppliers over labeling issues. The tariffs, which take effect Tuesday, are expected to cost Australian farmers over $300 million annually. Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said Tuesday that Chinas actions were deeply disappointing and were not made in accordance with anti-dumping rules. But Birmingham said Australia will not engage in a trade war with one of its biggest trading partners. Beijings trade actions against Australia are taking place amid a diplomatic dispute over Canberras strong push for an independent probe into the origins of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which was first detected last year in central China. Following are top stories: NATION DEL10 VIRUS-CASESCOVID-19 cases reach 1,01,139; death toll touches 3,163New Delhi: The number of coronavirus cases crossed the one lakh mark in the country on Tuesday, while the death toll due to the infection touched 3,163, according to the Union Health Ministry. DEL20 HEALTH-VIRUS-ONE LAKH MARK COVID-19 cases in India climbed to 1 lakh from 100 in 64 days New Delhi: It took 64 days for COVID-19 cases in India to touch the 1 lakh-mark from 100, taking a longer period than other countries such as the US, Spain and Italy which have been hit hard by the pandemic, according to data shared by official sources. DEL67 CYCLONE-NCMC Cyclone 'Amphan' to make landfall along with very high wind speed, heavy rains New Delhi: Super cyclone 'Amphan' is likely to make landfall along the West Bengal coast on Wednesday with very high wind speeds ranging up to 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph and heavy rains. CAL11 WB-CYCLONE MAMATA Cyclone Amphan: 3 lakh people evacuated, moved to relief shelters, says Mamata Banerjee Kolkata: At least three lakh people have been evacuated from coastal areas of West Bengal in view of the impending super cyclonic storm 'Amphan' and all steps have been taken to deal with any eventuality arising out of it, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday CAL3 OD-CYCLONE 'Amphan' moves closer to Odisha coast, rain lashes several areas Bhubaneswar: Rain lashed some parts of Odisha on Tuesday as super cyclone 'Amphan' moved closer to the coasts, while the state government stepped up efforts to evacuate low-lying and vulnerable areas, officials said. DEL54 JK-3RDLD ENCOUNTER 2 Hizbul Mujahideen militants killed in encounter in J-K Srinagar: Two Hibzul Mujahideen militants were killed while a CRPF jawan and a Jammu and Kashmir policeman suffered injuries during an encounter in the city's Nawakadal area on Tuesday, police said. CAL6 BH-LABOURERS-LD ACCIDENT 9 migrant labourers killed in road accident in Bihar Bhagalpur: Nine migrant labourers were killed on Tuesday when the truck carrying them overturned in an attempt to avert a head-on collision with a bus in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, police said. BOM12 MH-MIGRANTS-LD ACCIDENT Maha: Four killed, 22 hurt as bus carrying migrants hits truck Mumbai: Three migrant labourers and a bus driver were killed and 22 others injured after their vehicle hit a stationary truck in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district in the early hours of Tuesday, police said. DEL61 UP-LOCKDOWN-3RDLD-CONG BUSES Autorickshaw, car numbers in Cong list of buses for migrant workers: UP govt Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday said the list of 1,000 buses offered by the Congress to ferry migrant workers contained registration numbers of two-wheelers and cars, fuelling a war of words between the two sides. BOM8 MH-LOCKDOWN-BANDRA-MIGRANTS Hundreds of migrants gather near Bandra station in Mumbai Mumbai: Hundreds of migrant labourers gathered on an approach road to Bandra Terminus here on Tuesday before the departure of a Shramik Special train, leading to chaos in the area for some time. MDS7 KL-LD MIGRANTS Guest workers on journey to UP, Bihar by walk stopped; sent back to camps in Kerala Kannur (Kerala): Lack of work and dwindling finances coupled with "indequate supply" of food made life so miserable for a group of around 100 migrant workers in Kerala that they took the extreme step of setting out on a long march on foot back home thousands of kilometers away. MDS6 TL-PACKAGE-LD RAO Telangana CM Rao attacks Centre over stimulus package; MoS Kishan Reddy joins issue Hyderabad: A day after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao slammed the Centre over the stimulus package and accused it of treating states like 'beggars', Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday hit out at him saying the language used was 'objectionable'. LEGAL: LGD8 SC-LD ARNAB SC refuses to transfer cases to CBI, grants protection to Republic TV EIC Arnab Goswami New Delhi: In partial relief to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, the Supreme Court Tuesday quashed all criminal investigations related to the show on Palghar mob-lynching except the initial one that is being probed by the Mumbai police, but refused his plea for transfer of probe to the CBI. LGD10 DL-HC-BOIS LOCKER ROOM Plea to remove groups like Bois locker room from social media; HC seeks Centre, platforms' reply New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought response of the Centre on a plea seeking directions to it to ensure social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram remove illegal groups such as 'Bois Locker Room', "for the safety and security of children" in cyberspace. BUSINESS DEL19 BIZ-VIRUS-EPFO-CONTRIBUTIONS Govt implements cut in EPF contribution to 10 pc for May, Jun, July New Delhi: The Ministry of Labour & Employment has implemented the decision to cut employees' provident fund (EPF) contributions to 10 per cent from the existing 12 per cent for three months till July. FOREIGN FGN41 VIRUS-US-HCQ-LDALLTRUMP Trump says he is taking unproven drug hydroxychloroquine to ward off coronavirus Washington: US President Donald Trump has disclosed that he is taking antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine daily to ward off the deadly coronavirus, though health experts have warned it may be unsafe. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) FLINT, MI -- Flint schools has distributed more than 450,000 meals to students through the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven days worth of meals remain available for grab-and-go pickup for anyone up to 19 years old between Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Families unable to make it to the food distribution sites can contact the district at superintendent@flintschools.org. This distribution is a testament to the commitment of the districts staff and partners, said Interim Superintendent Anita Steward. Our teachers, staff and volunteers have been critical partners during these tough times," Steward said. "Despite their own hardships, they have made sure students are cared for -- not just academically but socially and emotionally as well. Our families rely on the wraparound support our district provides, and I am so proud of all those who have stepped up to the challenge of continuing to care for our students and families throughout this crisis. There is still a long road ahead of us, but I am confident that by working together we can overcome whatever challenges we may face in the future. There are 12 sites, four between three zones of the city. North Zone Northwestern G-2138 W. Carpenter Road, Flint Brownell/Holmes 6602 Oxley Drive, Flint Berston Field House, 3300 Saginaw St. Flint Carpenter Road River Park Apartments, 7002 Pemberton Drive, Flint Central Zone Potter, 2500 N. Averill, Flint DTM, 1518 West Third Ave, Flint Stonegate, 3103 Stonegate Dr, Flint Summerfield, 1360 Melbourne, Flint South Zone Freeman, 4001 Ogema Ave., Flint Southwestern, 1420 West Twelfth St., Flint Howard Estates, 1928 Howard Ave, Flint Evergreen Regency, 3102 Fox Circle, Flint Taking care of kids and ensuring they are fed a nutritious meal is a priority of the district, Flint Board of Education President Casey Lester said. A soon as we found out about COVID-19, we wanted to make sure our students who look to us for some structure, for some normality, for all of those things, wouldnt lose that, Lester said. With uncertainty across the country and additional economic hardships faced by local families, the district, local partners, volunteers, teachers and the board worked to first and foremost make sure students continue to be fed, he said. Were a district thats in some financial uncertainty thats been through hard times, but the last things were ever going to do is create any level of pain or discomfort for our children, Lester said. Lester thanked everyone who has contributed to continuing food services. China derided as "a joke" on Tuesday an Australian assertion that a resolution at the World Health Assembly (WHA) for an enquiry into the novel coronavirus was a vindication of its push for a global review, another sign of worsening relations. In an unusually blunt statement on the same day that China imposed hefty tariffs on Australian barley exports, China`s embassy in Canberra was sharply critical of Australia on an issue that has soured relations between them. "The draft resolution on COVID-19 to be adopted by the World Health Assembly is totally different from Australia`s proposal of an independent international review," a Chinese embassy spokesman said in an emailed statement. "To claim the WHA`s resolution a vindication of Australia`s call is nothing but a joke." The WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization. China had attacked Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison since he began lobbying international counterparts for an investigation last month. The Chinese ambassador had earlier warned of a consumer boycott of Australian goods, which prompted Australian accusations of "economic coercion".Australian diplomats worked with the European Union to gather support from the majority of nations at the WHA to support the resolution which was put forward by the European Union, Australia said. "We welcome the fact that the World Health Assembly has supported overwhelmingly the decision and the advocacy of the Australian government there be an independent investigation into COVID-19, its origin and its handling around the world," Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told a radio station. Australia would make sure it was an independent investigation and hoped "that everybody will cooperate with that, including Chinese authorities", he said. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday told the assembly that China would support a comprehensive review of the response to the coronavirus after the pandemic is brought under control. The WHA resolution outlines a review will occur at the "earliest appropriate" moment. Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Monday the resolution wording of an "impartial, independent and comprehensive" evaluation, which included "an examination of the zoonotic origins of the coronavirus", had met Australia`s requirements. Chinese embassies have recently taken a more assertive approach to international affairs, including criticism of its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, a policy dubbed Wolf Warrior" diplomacy in both Western and Chinese media. [May 19, 2020] Assembly Announces Significant Investment by Providence Strategic Growth E-commerce technology company Assembly announced a significant investment by affiliates of Providence Strategic Growth ("PSG"), the growth equity affiliate of Providence Equity Partners (News - Alert). Assembly intends to use the capital to build and acquire e-commerce software and services, including its most recent acquisition of Helium 10, a world-class software solution that empowers Amazon merchants to expand and optimize their businesses. "Launching an online store has never been easier than it is today, but building a successful, thriving e-commerce business is only growing in complexity," said Sandeep Kella, co-founder and CEO of Assembly. "Our goal is to provide best-in-class software so merchants can focus on what they do best: creating great products." With Kella's decade of leadership experience at the intersection of e-commerce and software, he is excited to be partnering with PSG: "The PSG team has deep experience and a proven track record of partnering with founders and building SaaS (News - Alert) companies; this expertise makes them the ideal partner for Assembly. Their investment will enable Assembly to fulfill its mission of helping merchants scale." "Merchants need more technology than ever to grow, and Assembly has built an impressive company that is well-positioned to address this challenge. We are excited to partner with Sandeep and his talented team to help grow and drive their vision forward. Assembly's acquisition of Helium 10 is representative of the attractive growth opportunities we expect to achieve with our partnership," said Matthew Stone, Principal at PSG. An all-in-one software platform, Helium 10 helps Amazon merchants conduct effective product and keyword research, competitor and market intelligence, advertising, listing optimization, refund management, financial analysis, and much more. The comprehensive software suite is designed to be advanced and intuitive in order to save merchants both time and resources. "I am ecstatic to have Helium 10 join forces with Assembly," Manny Coats, co-founder of Helium 10, said. "This acquisition alows Helium 10 to rapidly grow its talented employee pool and accelerates our ability to execute on new features for our customers. Our aligned vision for the future will allow Helium 10 to solidify itself as the only software solution needed to successfully sell on Amazon." "Since Day 1, Helium 10 has focused on helping merchants succeed on Amazon through software, content, and training," added Kella. "As a result, they have built an engaged community that trusts Helium 10 as an authority in the space. This consumer trust is a cornerstone for every company that becomes part of Assembly." As the e-commerce sector continues to grow and consumer spending increasingly shifts online, Assembly is well positioned to continue equipping merchants with the technology they need to succeed. Northbound Group served as financial advisory to Helium 10 with Fredrikson & Byron P.A. serving as legal advisor. Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal advisor to PSG, and Greenberg Glusker served as legal advisor to Assembly. About Assembly Assembly is focused on acquiring and building industry-leading software and services that empower e-commerce merchants to more effectively run their businesses. Its long-term mission is to assist millions of merchants in their growing need to adopt new technology, regardless of where they sell their products and services. About Helium 10 In 2015, Helium 10 was founded with the mission of helping Amazon merchants rise to the top. Today, it serves as a leading all-in-one software platform for Amazon merchants. Helium 10 equips merchants with everything they need to grow and optimize their e-commerce businesses. Its mission is to deliver highly accurate, data-driven, comprehensive software to Amazon merchants everywhere. Helium 10 is headquartered in Irvine, California. About Providence Strategic Growth Capital Partners L.L.C. Providence Strategic Growth ("PSG") is an affiliate of Providence Equity Partners ("Providence"). Established in 2014, PSG focuses on growth equity investments in lower middle market software and technology-enabled service companies. Providence is a premier global asset management firm that pioneered a sector-focused approach to private equity investing with the vision that a dedicated team of industry experts could build exceptional companies of enduring value. Since the firm's inception in 1989, Providence has invested in more than 200 companies and is a leading equity investment firm focused on the media, communications, education and information industries. PSG is headquartered in Boston, MA, with offices in London and Kansas City. For more information on PSG, please visit www.provequity.com/private-equity/psg, and for more information on Providence, please visit www.provequity.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005172/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Flouting social distancing norms, over 100 parents held a protest outside Merry Mint Public High School, Amar Nagar, on Tuesday, alleging that the school authorities had been them asking to pay the tuition and admission fee for April and May. They wrote a letter to Punjab education minister Vijay Inder Singla, urging him to waive the fee for the two months. The parents also claimed that the school was charging thrice the amount for books, compared to the market rates. Gurpal Nagar resident, Rajni Khurana, whose son and daughter are enrolled in Classes 1 and 2, said, We are asking the authorities not to charge the fee as the schools have been closed due to Covid-19. Since all the assignments are being sent online, what is the need to purchase books at this time of financial crisis? Moreover, they are charging three times the market price. Another parent, Kulvinder Kaur, who has three children studying in Classes 4, 8 and 10, said, The school administration is neither reducing the fee nor waiving it. They should at least consider reducing the tuition fee to half. When we met the principal, she offered to reduce it by 200 per month, which is not enough. Schools should not be charging for the services they have not provided for the last two months. Principal Harpreet Kaur could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts. LIP, STUDENTS PROTEST AGAINST PRIVATE SCHOOLS Slamming the state government for its failure to act against schools asking parents to submit the fee along with transportation charges for April, May and June; members of Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) and a few students of different schools staged a protest outside the deputy commissioners (DC) office on Tuesday. The students were holding placards, urging the state government to announce school fee waiver rather than announcing free smartphones for them. They claimed schools were warning them of their names being struck off the school rolls if the fee was not paid LIP chief spokesperson Gagandeep Singh Kainth said, The state government has failed to pay heed to the problems being faced by parents. Families are facing trouble catering to their daily needs and the schools are demanding fee for three months. How can parents pay such lumpsum amounts at this time of crisis? The government should announce that no school should charge fee in the lockdown period, he added. The protesters submitted a memorandum regarding their demands to the additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Iqbal Singh Sandhu. The terms of Linicks exit remain contentious. In a letter sent to Congress on Friday, Trump said Linicks removal would be effective in 30 days, giving him time to wind down his investigations. But Linick has since been told that he is physically barred from returning to the State Department even to collect his belongings, complicating his ability to finish his work, said a U.S. official who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policies. European Central Bank (ECB) chief economist Philip Lane has thrown his weight behind the payment of "generous unemployment benefits" during the Covid-19 crisis in order to maintain demand in the economy. The ECB has forecast a decline in the size of the eurozone economy of between 5pc and 12pc this year. Professor Lane said a key factor in determining how bad the situation becomes will be the confidence to spend and investment among consumers and businesses. "The speed at which the economy bounces back will [then] hinge on whether consumers are more reluctant to consume and businesses hold back on investment," he said. "From today's perspective, it looks in any case unlikely that economic activity will return to its pre-crisis level before 2021, if not later." Meanwhile, higher than normal unemployment benefits and publicly subsidised wages schemes are a feature of the response to the Covid-19 outbreak in Ireland and elsewhere that has sparked criticism - especially where some workers have ended up better off not working than when they were employed. It is feared that feature could slow workers' return to jobs. However, in an interview with Spain's 'El Pais' newspaper, Professor Lane, a former governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, said the value of such scheme is their wider economic impact of blunting the economic shock from mass unemployment. "In these situations, possible concerns that a safety net could interfere with the efficiency of the labour market is not the most immediate concern," the former Trinity College economics professor said. "Everyone agrees that it is important to establish protection mechanisms for people whose jobs have been affected by the current circumstances. There are a number of ways of achieving this: one is to provide generous unemployment benefits, and another is to fund wages publicly in order to keep workers connected to their employers," he said. Opting between those types of scheme should depend on the circumstances in different places, Professor Lane said. In a wide-ranging interview, the ECB chief economist also addressed a ruling this month by the German Constitutional Court, which declared a key quantitative easing programme launched in 2015 as potentially unconstitutional. Without explicitly dismissing the German ruling, Professor Lane cited an early decision from the European Court of Justice, which found it was allowed. "The ECB is a unique institution, with 19 member countries. Sometimes, this can lead to headaches. But the fact that 19 countries are watching each other also helps to ensure that we are independent," he said. "At the same time, independence comes with accountability: towards the European Parliament, and, of course, we are subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, which ruled in favour of our public sector purchase programme." Professor Lane said the ECB is acting within its mandate, and he noted that the European Central Bank is "set up to be independent of governments". A top-ranking Democratic lawmaker is pushing back against part of Gov. Gavin Newsoms revised budget proposal, arguing it would curtail the Legislatures power over COVID-19 spending decisions. Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, raised concerns during a Monday budget hearing about nearly $3 billion that Newsom is proposing to spend on COVID-19 response, including on protective equipment like masks, critical medical supplies and hospital surge preparations. Lawmakers should be involved in the decisions to spend that money, but the governors proposal doesnt give them enough of a say, said Mitchell, who chairs the Senate Budget Committee. Vivek Viswanathan of the governors Department of Finance told Mitchell that the proposal is written to allow the administration flexibility to respond quickly in the event of a surge or second wave of COVID-19 cases, or another emergency. We do think that it is important, he said. This is a once in a century emergency, and nobody knows how its going to go. Mitchell responded that the Legislature is also capable of responding quickly and should be included in those spending decisions. We fully appreciate the need for the administration to be nimble and be empowered to respond in a timely manner, she said. But I think its very important that the administration find a way to balance your ability to respond timely with acknowledging the role the Legislature must play. In mid-March, lawmakers quickly approved $1.1 billion in emergency funds and gave the Democratic governor wide latitude to spend them on coronavirus response. After passing the bill, lawmakers called a recess and left Sacramento as part of statewide efforts to slow the virus spread by shutting down workplaces. Lawmakers have since raised concerns that the governor has not kept them informed about spending decisions, including a $1 billion mask deal with Chinese company BYD. The Newsom administration initially refused Mitchells requests to view the BYD contract, eventually releasing it publicly after the masks began to arrive in California. The updated budget proposal Newsom unveiled last week would expand that COVID-19 emergency fund by $2.9 billion dollars. In its analysis, the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office writes that Newsoms proposal prompts serious concerns about the Legislatures role in future decisions. In many cases, we are very troubled by the degree of authority that the administration is requesting that the Legislature delegate, the analysts office wrote. The administration anticipates that most of that spending would be reimbursed by the federal government. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Visitors were back at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Londons Houses of Parliament and the Grand Place in Brussels on Monday, not flouting lockdowns but at the reopened Mini-Europe miniature theme park. With many of the European Unions borders closed by the coronavirus pandemic, the park in Belgium hopes to give locals a taste of the tourism that lockdowns have made impossible. Belgium began easing its 8-week lockdown on May 4 and reopened museums, zoos and open-air markets on Monday. Mini-Europe, with its 350 model landmarks, hopes its spacious, open-air park will be a draw. I saw on the television that Mini-Europe was restarting so I made the reservation online, said Kristof Meert, 38, at the attraction in Brussels with his two children. ALSO READ: Where does the term museum come from; a look at some interesting museums from around the world Entry must be pre-booked and visitors must observe strict hygiene and social distancing measures. Even some of the miniature model people wore face masks, including tandem riders in the Netherlands - on a suitably stretched bike - and visitors were reminded to keep 1.5 metres apart - thats three crates of beer for figures in the Belgium section. The London models mark Britains departure from the European Union. At the bottom of Big Ben, we have added a small figure of (British Prime Minister) Boris Johnson campaigning for Brexit and there are demonstrators carrying an (EU) flag and saying ... we miss EU already, the parks founder and chief executive Thierry Meeus told Reuters. Opened in 1989, the park received almost half a million visitors in 2019, but expects just 150,000 this year. Meeus said with an area of 20,000 square metres, welcoming 180 people per hour is very reassuring. (This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter Australian farmers will try to replace Chinese barley buyers after Beijing imposed an 80 per cent tariff, agriculture minister David Littleproud said today. Mr Littleproud said the federal government is urgently searching for more buyers in Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia and other countries. But half of Australia's barley exports normally go to China and farmers fear a 'devastating' hit this year if they are forced to offer discounts to sell all their produce elsewhere. Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi jinping in January 'We will not take our foot off the accelerator in finding other markets,' Mr Littleproud said. 'We have opened up greater access into India. We now have a free trade agreement that starts on 5 July with Indonesia and also within the Middle East - Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are also interested.' Mr Littleproud denied Australia and China are in a trade war and pointed to rising Chinese demand for Australian iron ore as supply from Brazil is reduced due to coronavirus. 'No, there's no trade war. In fact, even today, I think you have seen that there's increased demand for iron ore out of China,' he said. China imposed an 80 per cent tariff on Australia barley last night after an 18-month anti-dumping investigation. Dumping is when a country exports a product unfairly cheaply to permeate a foreign market, with producers often subsidised by the government. China announced a 80.5% levy on barley exports starting May 19. Pictured is a barley farmer in central west NSW Dumping is when a country exports a product unfairly cheaply to permeate a foreign market, with producers often subsidised by the government (stock image) China has accused the Australian government of subsidising farmers through the farmhousehold allowance and the Murray-Darling basin project. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham today said the allegations were' ridiculous' because most of Australia's barley is produced far away from the basin. He said: 'It's completely ridiculous to be listing things like the Murray-Darling Basin infrastructure upgrades as some sort of subsidy to barley exporters when the bulk of that barley comes out of Western Australia or South Australia and is firmly dry-land farming. 'The Murray-Darling Basin is nowhere near Geraldton or other parts of the barley-growing world and I think it demonstrates the absence of factual analysis in the decision that's been made by China.' He did not rule out the idea that Beijing imposed the tariff as revenge for the government's call for an inquiry into the origins and spread of coronavirus. Australia's barley export markets China $1.3billion Japan $217million Saudi Arabia $98million UAE $55million Kuwait $39million Vietnam $22million Thailand $22million Taiwan $10million Korea $14million Total: $1.8billion Source: AEGIC, 2015-2018 average Advertisement 'I can understand why people draw those links - particularly given the unhelpful comments of the Chinese Ambassador to Australia a few weeks ago,' he said. Mr Littleproud said Australia will appeal to the World Trade Organisation to have the tariffs removed, but the process could take 'months or years'. National Farmers' Federation chief Tony Mahar has said the move by China could devastate Australian farmers who have already planted their crops and cannot change. It comes after drought severely affected farmers' profitability last year. 'Finally we get, by and large, really good conditions for a great crop this year,' Mr Mahar told ABC News on Tuesday. 'And talking to farmers last night when this broke, about 11 o'clock, some farmers were finishing off their last planting of barley, and now we wake up and we see this tariff of 80 per cent applied. 'It's a significant and devastating hit to the Australian agriculture industry. It was really looking forward to a bumper year.' The trade tension comes after the Prime Minister in April demanded an independent probe into the deadly respiratory virus. On Sunday 62 nations pledged their support for the inquiry, including the entire 27-member European Union along with New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, the UK, India, Canada, Russia, Mexico and Brazil. There are currently 4.8million known coronavirus cases worldwide, of which 317,215 are dead, 2.6million sick and 1.8million recovered. Xi Jinping told a virtual session of the World Health Assembly his country would support an independent probe into the origins of the outbreak - but only when the pandemic is over. After Australia called for the probe, Chinese state media and the ambassador in Canberra warned of trade retribution that could wipe $135billion from the Australian economy. Last week China banned beef imports from four major Australian producers for a month and on Monday Beijing announced an 80.5 per cent levy on barley exports starting on Tuesday. The tax will remain in place for five years, China's Ministry of Commerce said. China's Ministry of Commerce said: 'There was a subsidy for imported barley originating in Australia, the domestic barley industry was substantially damaged, and there was a causal relationship between the subsidy and the actual damage.' A coalition of 62 nations will support Australia's call for an independent probe into the origins of coronavirus Mr Birmingham responded by stating: 'We reject the basis of this decision and will be assessing the details of the findings while we consider next steps. A government source said: 'There aren't many alternative markets. It could be sold to Saudi Arabia, but it will be heavily discounted to what Australian farmers could have received by selling to China.' Mr Birmingham also confirmed Australia had expanded a trade agreement with Indonesia recently and had other potential buyers for produce. By contrast, China - the world's top barley importer - will simply shift purchasing to other key producers, including France, Canada, Argentina and some smaller European exporters. 'It's very replaceable,' said Andries De Groen, managing director at Germany headquartered barley trader Evergrain. Australia was the first nation to call for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic, angering China, and prompting veiled trade threats from China's Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye (pictured) One third of Australia's exports - including iron ore, gas, coal and food - go to China, bringing in around $135billion per year. Beijing has a track record of using putting pressure on exporters during political disagreements. It includes encouraging a boycott of South Korean cars after the country deployed a US missile shield in 2017 and a ban on Norwegian salmon after Chinese rebel Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo that same year. Australia's export markets in 2019 1. China: $135 billion (33% of total Australian exports) 2. Japan: $36 billion (9%) 3. South Korea: $21 billion (5%) 4. United Kingdom: $16 billion (3.8%) 5. United States: $15 billion (3.7%) Source: Worldstopexports.com Advertisement Australia and China have had a free trade agreement since 2015 but some exporters have still run into difficulties as relations have soured. In 2018 Beijing imposed new customs regulations on Australian wine resulting in shipments being held up in Shanghai. And last year - after Canberra stripped Chinese businessman Xiangmo Huang of his visa - major ports prolonged clearing times for Australian coal to at least 40 days, claiming the delay was due to 'normal' safety checks. The latest difficulties in the bi-lateral trade relationship followed the Australian government's call for a ban on wildlife wet markets and an inquiry into how the coronavirus originated and spread from Wuhan. The proposed inquiry - as well as repeated suggestions that China covered up the spread of the disease - have infuriated Beijing. Last month the Chinese Embassy called Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton 'pitiful,' 'ignorant' and a US 'parrot' after he told China to 'answer questions' about how coronavirus started. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison demanded an independent inquiry into the deadly respiratory virus and the World Health Organisation 's handling of the crisis On April 26 Chinese Ambassador to Australia Jingye Cheng warned that Chinese consumers may stop buying Australian products in revenge. 'Maybe the ordinary people will think why they should drink Australian wine or eat Australian beef,' he told the AFR. The dispute comes after a torrid year for Australia-China relations saw clashes over political interference, human rights abuses in western China and Huawei 5G equipment. Former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby told Daily Mail Australia that diplomatic relations are 'at their lowest point since they began 46 years ago'. PITTSBURGH, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cementing their leadership in the area of sustainability, the Western Pennsylvania Energy Consortium (WPEC), has announced that it is directing its energy dollars towards the support of renewable energy. Building on the success of the recent Earth Day renewable energy demonstration, the WPEC are proud to announce a new, 12-month agreement with Direct Energy. As a result of a competitive auction, Direct Energy was chosen as the supplier of choice, for renewable energy supply. Direct Energy will source power and Green-e Certified renewable energy attributes offsetting 100% of the energy consumption and associated carbon emissions from the consortium members. Pittsburgh Mayor, William Peduto, expresses the benefits of the new agreement. "Under this contract extension, the City will be meeting its renewable electricity goals for its facilities for the next yeara critical milestone from our climate action plan created in 2018. The extension continues our 2020 Earth Day efforts and shows that every day can be Earth Day. Equally important, the extension is both environmentally friendly while also reduces the energy costs for our Consortium members, demonstrating that good environmental and economic decisions can go hand in hand. I'd like to thank our City energy team, members of the WPEC, and the technical teams at Direct Energy and ENEL-X for helping us navigate these difficult times, but also through these tough times for creating an opportunity." Consortium members, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, are delighted to move forward with the green energy product offered by Direct Energy, explains their CFO Jackie Vincunas. "As a proud partner of the Western Pennsylvania Energy Consortium, the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is honored to take this proactive step to offset our carbon footprint and help to educate our local community about economical and sustainable energy programs within our region." James Stitt, Sustainability Manager for Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, shares how the contract extension can improve energy efficiencies across the board. "An enormous amount of energy is required to filter and distribute water throughout the City. As stewards of one of the most valuable resources on the planet, PWSA is driven to protect our source waters now and far into the future. By using our purchasing power as part of the WPEC to support green energy initiatives, we can help to ensure not just cleaner water, but a better environment and be on a path towards the attainment of our 2030 sustainability goals." This latest stage in the partnership between the WPEC and Direct Energy demonstrates a significant commitment towards a sustainable future and proves that governments, businesses and even residents in Western Pennsylvania can access renewable energy and carbon offset products in an economic manner. Dave Grupp, Head of Direct Energy Renewable Services, is excited for WPEC to take this step, the first of many organizations in realizing that cost savings and reducing carbon emissions are not mutually exclusive. "We are experiencing a major break-through for renewable energy in the country and in this region and WPEC is setting a positive example for large organizations in making economical and sustainable choices. With an annual cost savings of nearly $500k, WPEC is achieving budget savings while increasing their renewable supply from 35 to 100%. We're very pleased to be making these steps alongside them." Direct Energy is one of North America's largest retail providers of electricity, natural gas, and home and business energy-related services with nearly four million customers. Direct Energy gives customers choice, simplicity, and innovation where energy, data, and technology meet. A subsidiary of Centrica plc (LSE: CNA), an international energy and services company, Direct Energy, its subsidiaries and/or affiliates, operate in 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and 8 provinces in Canada. To learn more about Direct Energy, please visit www.directenergy.com. SOURCE Direct Energy Related Links http://www.directenergy.com 'In times of recovery, we may see a rural-urban divide with the urban pockets affected more by COVID-19, but the MFI business model should encourage banks to handhold them in this hour of crisis,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay. Everyone and her aunt is concerned about the impact of COVID-19 on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) -- the second-biggest employer in the country with a 31 per cent share in India's GDP. Section 7 of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 specifies the size of the MSMEs on the basis of investment. Among manufacturing units, micro enterprises are those that have invested up to Rs 25 lakh in plant and machinery. The comparable figure for small units is Rs 25 lakh to Rs 5 crore and for medium units, Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore. For services, the investment thresholds are lower -- up to Rs 10 lakh, Rs 10 lakh to Rs 2 crore and Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore. Unlike big industries, the MSME's resilience during the current crisis is lower; many of them are probably eating into their capital to stay afloat. While everyone was expecting a relief package from the government for the sector, the Reserve Bank of India asked banks to offer a three-month moratorium on loan repayments by such units besides opening a window from where banks can borrow money and lend to the sector. Banks are afraid of loans given to these units turning bad. The latest study of TransUnion CIBIL Ltd, a credit information company, should give the banks some food for thought. Based on available information, exposure to the banks and past payment history, the study has found that 74 per cent of the close to 8.9 million units are creditworthy. Their exposure to the financial system in December 2019 was Rs 11.04 trillion. Of these, the share of very small businesses (up to Rs 10 lakh exposure) is Rs 54,000 crore. In December, the pie of commercial credit (excluding agriculture and retail) was a little over Rs 64 trillion. Of this, the share of MSMEs (up to Rs 50 crore exposure) was Rs 17.94 trillion, a little less than 28 per cent. The maximum loans were in the Rs 1 crore to Rs 15 crore basket (Rs 8.74 trillion), followed by Rs 15 crore to Rs 50 crore (Rs 4.68 trillion). The corpus of less than Rs 10 lakh loans was the smallest -- Rs 93,000 crore. Loans to the MSME segment had grown 4.7 per cent between December 2018 and December 2019. Indeed, the bad loans in the segment have been on the rise over the past few years and reached 12.6 per cent in December 2019. The TransUnion study has kept the Rs 2.32 trillion MSME exposure of banks in the highest risk bracket (of this, the micro units's share is just about Rs 13,600 crore) but there are millions of creditworthy borrowers outside this. The banks must grab this opportunity with both hands to fuel growth in the economy as well as their loan books. Maharashtra has the maximum share of MSME credit, 17.36 per cent; followed by Tamil Nadu (10.77 per cent), Gujarat (8.85 per cent), Delhi (7.13 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (6.5 per cent). At the bottom of the pyramid While the banking system is the main source of money for the MSME segment, microfinance institutions (MFIs) meet the credit needs of retail borrowers at the so-called bottom of the pyramid. They are not suffering from risk aversion but most of them do not have the money to lend. Initially, the banks were reluctant to offer moratorium to the MFIs and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), many of which are in the business of micro loans, on their repayment of loans to the banks. They had felt that it was meant for the loans given for productive purposes and not to financial intermediaries. Now, most banks are offering the moratorium to MFIs too, but two government agencies, the Small Industries Development Bank of India and Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Ltd are not that liberal. Between them, they have around Rs 3,000 crore of exposure to the MFIs. Going by Equifax Credit Information Services data, as of February 2020, the portfolio of micro loans was close to Rs 2.24 trillion. This includes exposure of private banks and eight of the 10 small finance banks as well. The exposure of pure play MFIs, NBFCs and NBFC-MFIs is around Rs 94,000 crore. Overall, the number of loans are over 102 million. There is not much stress in such loans. Less than 1 per cent of the loans are not being serviced for 90 days and less than 2 per cent for 30 days. A loan turns bad when it is not repaid for 90 days. There are five large NBFC-MFIs with at least Rs 5,000 crore loan books; around 16 of them have a loan book of over Rs 1,000 crore and 37, more than Rs 100 crore; 86 of them are really small, with less than Rs 100 crore loan portfolios. Overall, these entities and the small finance banks and private banks have over 56 million customers in this segment. The median loan amount is around Rs 25,000. Tamil Nadu has the largest share of micro loans (Rs 31,522 crore), followed closely by West Bengal (Rs 31,060 crore). Three other states among the top five are Bihar, Karnataka and Maharashtra. The NBFCs and MFIs borrow primarily from banks and on-lend to their customers. If the banks close the tap, they cannot survive. The banks should not do that as the micro borrowers business model is very different from even MSMEs. For instance, the cash flow of a vegetable vendor and a tailor starts from day one. The turnaround time is fast and they can start repaying loans the moment they get back to their businesses. Which is why most of them can be given fresh loans. In April, more than 70 per cent of the micro borrowers were not planning to avail of the moratorium facility but in May, this figure has come down to 20 per cent. Either they have used up the cash they had or want to conserve cash in times of uncertainty. Typically, micro loan instalments are paid once in a fortnight. Of the total micro loan portfolio, about 50 per cent exposure is in semi-urban pockets, 40 per cent in rural and 10 per cent in urban India. In times of recovery, we may see a rural-urban divide with the urban pockets affected more by COVID-19, but the MFI business model should encourage banks to handhold them in this hour of crisis. Tamal Bandyopadhyay, a consulting editor with Business Standard, is an author and senior adviser to Jana Small Finance Bank Ltd. Eric Hook is the CEO of Northbridge Industrial Services plc (LON:NBI). This report will, first, examine the CEO compensation levels in comparison to CEO compensation at companies of similar size. Next, we'll consider growth that the business demonstrates. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO. Check out our latest analysis for Northbridge Industrial Services How Does Eric Hook's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? At the time of writing, our data says that Northbridge Industrial Services plc has a market cap of UK22m, and reported total annual CEO compensation of UK244k for the year to December 2018. It is worth noting that the CEO compensation consists almost entirely of the salary, worth UK241k. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations below UK165m, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be UK277k. Pay mix tells us a lot about how a company functions versus the wider industry, and it's no different in the case of Northbridge Industrial Services. Speaking on an industry level, we can see that nearly 61% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 39% is other remuneration. Northbridge Industrial Services has gone down a largely traditional route, paying Eric Hook a high salary, giving it preference as a compensation method to non-salary benefits. That means Eric Hook receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a company that size. While this data point isn't particularly informative alone, it gains more meaning when considered with business performance. You can see a visual representation of the CEO compensation at Northbridge Industrial Services, below. AIM:NBI CEO Compensation May 19th 2020 Is Northbridge Industrial Services plc Growing? Over the last three years Northbridge Industrial Services plc has seen earnings per share (EPS) move in a positive direction by an average of 66% per year (using a line of best fit). In the last year, its revenue is up 25%. Story continues This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. This sort of respectable year-on-year revenue growth is often seen at a healthy, growing business. Shareholders might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts. Has Northbridge Industrial Services plc Been A Good Investment? Since shareholders would have lost about 33% over three years, some Northbridge Industrial Services plc shareholders would surely be feeling negative emotions. So shareholders would probably think the company shouldn't be too generous with CEO compensation. In Summary... Eric Hook is paid around the same as most CEOs of similar size companies. We'd say the company can boast of its EPS growth, but it's disappointing to see negative shareholder returns over three years. Considering the improvement in earnings per share, one could argue that the CEO pay is appropriate, albeit not too low. On another note, we've spotted 2 warning signs for Northbridge Industrial Services that investors should look into moving forward. Important note: Northbridge Industrial Services 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. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Sambhal : , May 19 (IANS) Samajwadi leader Chhotelal Diwakar and his son, Sunil Diwakar, were shot dead in broad daylight in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. The murder was apparently a fallout of a dispute over laying of a road under MGNREGA. Chhotelal Diwakar had contested the 2017 assembly elections on a Samajwadi Party ticket. According to his family members, Diwakar and his son had gone for a walk in the fields when the assailants came on a motorbike and after a brief altercation, shot them dead. They fled on foot, leaving their motorbike behind. A large number of SP workers reached the village soon after the news of the double murder spread. SP Yamuna Prasad who reached the spot that falls under Behjoi police station, soon after the murders, said that a manhunt has been launched for the assailants. He said that further investigations were underway and the bodies have been sent for post mortem. Notable group of cases in Chennai on Monday was about 150 vegetable traders in MGR Market being asked to check for Covid-19 CHENNAI: While the total number of persons testing positive for Covid-19, novel coronavirus, peaked to 11,760 on Monday amid marginal fluctuations in the day-wise scenario, Tamil Nadu Health Minister, Dr C Vijayabaskar asserted there was no cut in the number of samples tested. Meanwhile, one notable group of cases in Chennai on Monday was about 150 vegetable traders in MGR Market being asked to check for Covid-19 after two among them had tested positive for the virus. With three more deaths confirmed on Monday, the death toll due to the virus went up to 81, even as on a single day the State saw 536 patients testing positive for the virus, including 364 cases in Chennai alone. Both these numbers were lower than Sunday's, but passengers returning from other states, notably Maharashtra, added 46 more positive cases today. Refuting DMK leader M K Stalin's criticisms that Tamil Nadu has reduced the number of persons tested per-day for the virus when the actual number of positive cases are surging every day, the minister told reporters here that the opposition leader was misinformed and his charges baseless. He said Mr. Stalin had referred to only 8,220 samples of patients being lifted for testing for Covid-19 on May 16, but the actual number of tests done was 10,583 that day. There is no daily target for number of tests and lifting of samples for testing is done driven by the day's necessity, he said. Stating that all sorts of suspected coronavirus cases were being tested daily including 'SARI' (severe acute respiratory infections) cases, Dr Vijayabaskar said so far since February 1, Tamil Nadu has tested 3,37,841 samples (even if some of them are repeat tests) so far. The ten-day average for tests in the State came to 12,530. There may be slight variations both ways on a day-to-day basis, but even the Centre has appreciated that "we are doing the maximum testing (for any State) with 61 laboratories now involved in it," the minister explained. "With total dedication, the government machinery is fully involved to control the Covid-19 spread," Dr Vijayabaskar said, adding, the State was geared to meet the challenges posed by the latest evolving cluster - passengers travelling into Tamil Nadu from abroad and other states, after the Delhi conference returnees and the Koyembedu market episode. Expressing surprise that Mr. Stalin had not taken note of the fact that Tamil Nadu had consistently ensured the lowest mortality rate due to coronavirus in the entire country, Dr Vijayabaskar said the DMK leader trying to shift the blame on the state or malign the government under the pretext of a critical review was unacceptable. If Mr. Stalin had any 'constructive suggestion', it was welcome, but "we are proceeding in the right direction in containing and controlling the coronavirus spread," the Health minister added. The HSE has suspended the practice of informing employers of coronavirus test results before the employees who were tested. The move comes after complaints were received by the Data Protection Commission (DPC), which subsequently raised concern about the incidences. Earlier on Tuesday, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said informing employers before their staff was a breach of confidentiality. It is understood the incidences relate to widespread screening of large workforces, including meat plants, with public health officials alerting employers in the first instance in an effort to trigger prompt infection control steps. Expand Close Dr Tony Holohan told the Covid-19 committee that the practice represented a breach of confidentiality (Oireachtas TV/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Dr Tony Holohan told the Covid-19 committee that the practice represented a breach of confidentiality (Oireachtas TV/PA) In a statement on Tuesday, the HSE said it was aware of the report about complaints being received by the DPC. The HSE recognises that in normal circumstances employees should receive their test results prior to their employer receiving them, the statement added. It is only in the most exceptional circumstances that HSE would consider informing an employer of an employees test result prior to informing the employee. This course of action would only be considered where it was considered essential for the public health good in all the circumstances. This also would be a decision made by Public Health if it was considered in the best interest of the employee or a group of employees at the time, usually in the context of investigation of an outbreak and limiting onward transmission of infection. In such exceptional circumstances, Public Health would take into account the Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981. Expand Close HSE chief executive Paul Reid has said there are exceptional circumstances were an employer could be informed first (Photocall Ireland/PA. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp HSE chief executive Paul Reid has said there are exceptional circumstances were an employer could be informed first (Photocall Ireland/PA. The HSE stressed that employees who do test positive will receive a phone call detailing what they need to do in relation to self care and contract tracing. This is good public health practice, said the statement. In view of the concerns raised by some employees in relation to this issue, the HSE will reconsider the use of exceptions and has suspended the practice while we seek guidance from the Data Protection Commissioner. Giving evidence to the Covid-19 committee earlier on Tuesday, Dr Holohan said: We have had some reports of employers receiving results in respect of individual patients thats a breach of confidentiality. Full stop. HSE CEO Paul Reid told the same committee there were exceptional cases where public health officials would be required to inform an employer in the best interests of managing infection risk. Later, the HSEs chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry said confidentiality was a very important principle in medical practice. But its not immutable, he told the daily Covid-19 media briefing. And there are certain exceptional circumstances that doctors will breach confidentiality if there are exceptional circumstances. As any woman who has had a mammogram will attest, it is an extremely intimate examination. It involves close contact between the woman and the radiographer as breast tissue is manipulated, sensitively nudged and pressed into providing a picture of what's going on beneath the skin. But as we have all discovered over the last few months, close contact is a highly problematic thing during the Covid-19 pandemic. With this in mind, BreastCheck, the National Screening Service's programme for women aged 50 to 68, took the decision in March to pause breast screening. "We simply could not bring women who are presumed well into a clinical environment which could expose them to Covid-19," says Professor Ann O'Doherty, clinical director of BreastCheck. By the end of March the National Screening Service had paused all its screening programmes, BreastCheck, CervicalCheck, Diabetic RetinaScreen and BowelScreen. Ireland joined other nations such as Scotland, Wales and New Zealand, in announcing an hiatus in screening. The move was made to protect patients and staff by complying with social distancing guidelines, and also allowed the HSE to temporarily redirect staff and resources, where available, to the response to Covid-19. We also understand some of our programme participants are in the vulnerable groups. As the Government this week moves to relax restrictions, indications are that we have "flattened the curve" of Covid-19 - for now. How the health service moves forward into the "new normal" of containing Covid-19 until a vaccination is achieved is an important issue. As with other arms of the HSE in which services have been paused, we in screening are working on a roadmap for restarting services safely, while continuing to protect patients and staff from Covid-19. The focus of the health service, the country and the world is on containing the potential devastation of Covid-19. Yet there remains the fear that with screenings stopped, we could be missing our chance to catch many diseases early when they are treatable and curable. Screening's ability to detect pre-symptomatic disease in patients is undoubtedly effective and desirable due to the long-term health benefits it offers. However, part of the rationale for this pause is that screening is an early disease detection measure used to identify those people at risk prior to symptoms. "As such it is, a non-essential clinical activity in a time of crisis," says Professor David Keegan, clinical director of Diabetic RetinaScreen. "We can prioritise those who need screening and/or treatment more urgently once we recommence." According to Dr Mary Short, primary care adviser for HPV Implementation with CervicalCheck, Covid-19 has impacted general practice, and this is also a consideration for screening. Many consultations are now taking place over the phone or video call. There have been concerns expressed to GPs that cervical screening has been paused. "It is reassuring to know that in the majority of cases, the time lag between developing cell changes in the cervix and developing cervical cancer is between 10 and 15 years," Dr Short says. "Cervical screening ascertains if there is a risk of a woman developing cervical cancer. Rarely does screening pick up cervical cancer itself (only in 0.3pc of cases)." In some instances of cervical screening, a woman will need further treatment in a hospital colposcopy service. A safe pathway to recommence routine colposcopy, in common with other hospital services, will be a focus as the cervical screening programme is recommenced. Prof Padraic MacMathuna, clinical director of BowelScreen, acknowledges that some cancers will go undetected if screening is suspended for six months. "Could we do anything to prevent this?" he says. "Unfortunately in the current crisis, the answer will be 'no'. However, it is anticipated that any cancers detected will be treatable by surgery, with or without chemo-radiotherapy." BowelScreen's programme relies on women and men aged 60-69 returning their home testing kits for analysis. After this, people are contacted by the service if they require intervention by way of a colonoscopy in a hospital unit. According to Prof MacMathuna, this pathway has not been generally open to the programme and therefore a pause in screening has been necessary. "That is why it is so important to communicate to all people who engage with the screening service, if you develop symptoms, you must go to your GP who can refer you to hospital for the appropriate management," he says. "Screening is there to reduce the amount of disease in a community. It is not an individual diagnostic test. That message cannot be ignored." The National Screening Service fully understands how difficult this pause in its programmes may be for the Irish people. However, the balance of risk supports this approach. We continue to encourage anyone who detects any of the symptoms we screen for to contact their GP immediately. We look forward to inviting people for screening again in the very near future. Fiona Ness is communications manager with the National Screening Service Despite some optimistic projections from a few doctors and public health experts who predicted the apparent sexlessness of COVID-19 lockdowns would lead to a decline in sexually transmitted infections, experts now warn of the opposite. As contact tracers, public health department workers who typically trace HIV and STI cases in order to connect potentially infected individuals with testing and treatment, turn their attention to tracking COVID-19 cases, experts fear a post-pandemic spike in STIs as more cases go unmonitored and untreated. While earlier this month, UK-based doctor John McSorley suggested the presumed period of pandemic-imposed abstinence could present a game-changer for the future of sexual health, other health experts arent so optimistic. For one thing, people are still having sex. Anecdotally, I dont think people have stopped having sex necessarily, although the number of partners may have gone down, David Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) told Business Insider. Moreover, the pandemic has only made it more difficult to get tested, and mounting fears about the coronavirus pandemic may increase fears and anxiety surrounding all viruses and infections, including STIs. After months of panic over coronavirus testing and spread, people may be even more reluctant to go in for testing for infections of any kind. Were really worried about the larger issues of people not getting tested, people not getting treated, and what that means for inadvertent spread of infections in the future, said Harvey. Experts also warn that the COVID-19 fallout could undo decades of progress on HIV worldwide, with the darkest projections predicting up to 500,000 extra HIV-related deaths in Africa. Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter. The post STI Rates May Spike as a Result of Pandemic Fallout appeared first on InsideHook. In virtual K-12 classrooms across the Capital Region, students are missing. The remote learning teachers and administrators have rolled out in just a few weeks' time can be considered remarkable; thousands are checking in with teachers daily, completing assignments and participating in digital meetings. But the health crisis and transition to digital instruction has starkly exposed the plight of 1,625 students - scattered across 11 counties - who are homeless or living in temporary housing. Teachers spend hours each day trying to reach children who have not checked in since the state's school closure mandate went into effect on March 15. They say they encounter wrong numbers, outdated addresses, and full voicemail boxes. Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements The latest coronavirus numbers in NY Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter Full coronavirus coverage A middle school teacher from a large mixed-income district, who spoke with the Time Union on the condition of anonymity, said all she asks of these students is to stay in touch. "My students are so nervous and worried and scared, I could excuse any behavior right now," she said. "They say, 'I can't do this work' and I say, 'It's OK, we are here to take care of you and we will make up our learning objectives later.'" According to a federal law known as the McKinney-Vento Act, schools are required to provide equal access to educational services to students who are homeless or living in temporary housing. To be eligible for federal funds, schools must identify and track students who lack permanent residences, remove barriers to learning, and provide them with access to social services. School buildings have a McKinney-Vento liaison who helps connect these students to food, social services, and supplies. As the pandemic drags on, and more families are faced with extreme social and economic pressures, school officials say they are prepared for more families to be identified as eligible for McKinney-Vento services. Homeless families in the Capital Region typically live in motels or stay temporarily with family or friends. These living spaces lack internet, access to electronic devices or even a quiet place to do school work, school leaders say. Because of the pandemic, homeless students are now also shut out of school buildings that once provided them with a safe place to learn, consistent meals, and access to medical and social services. Randi Levine, policy director at Advocates for Children of New York, said students who are homeless have higher rates of chronic absenteeism when schools are open, so additional support and outreach is critical when schools are closed and the pandemic is causing more families to experience financial distress. "For now, districts need to do additional outreach and engage students who are homeless and ensure that they have access to laptops and the internet," Levine said. "When students who are homeless return to school, they are going to need additional instruction to make up the time they've lost and will also need additional social and emotional support." Homeless students are not the only students set back by the transition to remote learning; districts have struggled to engage students with disabilities, English Language learners, immigrants, and students who live in poverty. District officials from across the Capital Region say they are confident they have made contact with nearly every family - but acknowledged that between 2-5 percent of students are still "checked out." In South Colonie, teachers, administrators, and social workers have been able to connect with all 102 families who are identified as homeless. If teachers cannot make contact with a student, guidance counselors do house checks and the McKinney-Vento liaison is notified. Sometimes, the Colonie Police Department is called in do a wellness check, but those instances are rare, according to South Colonie Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Timothy Backus. Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years. "One advantage is as much as we are a big district, we are compact, and many of our families (experiencing homelessness) end up in hotels and other properties that are around here," Backus said. "So our buildings have been able to keep up with what people need. We know that all of our families are safe." The district has been directing food, technological devices, and hotline information to homeless families. But getting families in temporary housing access to the internet has been difficult. While South Colonie obtained funding to purchase WiFI hotspots, it has been unable to keep up with the demand. Schools have been delivering paper worksheets to students in temporary housing, but it doesn't compare to the online classroom experience, Backus said. "The longer this goes on, the harder it's going to be on families," Backus said. Schenectady City schools are tracking roughly 150 homeless students and have been working closely with a McKinney-Vento liaison to make a connection with their families. "In most of these situations, she has already been in contact with the family and is able to reconnect the student with the school," district spokeswoman Karen Corona said. "Our liaison and the school, whether it be a teacher, social worker or the principal, work closely together to ensure that we reach all families to be sure students are connected and receive whatever supports are needed." The district has routed its meal distribution to accommodate those staying in shelters and motels and placed great emphasis on getting Chromebooks and WiFi hotspots to these families. The district has also been delivering toiletries and school supplies and making referrals to social service agencies. At East Greenbush Central School District, teachers and staff say they have made contact with all the district's students and families - including 37 homeless students - through phone calls, emails, and home wellness visits since moving to distance learning; 98 percent of students remain engaged in instruction, a spokesman said. "Reaching McKinney-Vento students has been a challenge as we go by the last known residence," district spokesman Mark Adam said. "However, we are supporting homeless students by delivering schoolwork and food to them as far out as Malta and Troy. We have also delivered Chromebooks and devices for connectivity so they can participate in distance learning." Shannon Shine, the superintendent at the Rotterdam-Mohonasen Central School District, said after the district has conducted two surveys, made home visits to families, and distributed Chromebooks and WiFi devices, he is not aware of any families that are disconnected. The district serves about nine homeless students, according to 2018 state data. "Unfortunately, this does not mean that all students and families are fully engaged with remote learning," Shine said. "Some students have 'checked out,' while some families are struggling to engage at a meaningful level because of hardships at home ranging from having children at multiple grade levels, being 'on duty' as essential workers, or caring for at-risk family members during the pandemic." Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Tuesday asserted that Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to Nepal and vowed to "reclaim" them from India through political and diplomatic efforts, as his Cabinet endorsed a new political map showing the three areas as Nepalese territory. Addressing Parliament, Oli said the territories belong to Nepal but India has made it a disputed area by keeping its Army there. Nepalis were blocked from going there after India stationed its Army, he said. India has deployed its troops in Kalapani since 1962 and our rulers in the past hesitated to raise the issue, he said, asserting, We will reclaim and get them back. The prime minister asserted that the Nepal government will make political and diplomatic efforts to reclaim the territory. Oli also expressed the hope that India will follow the path of truth, shown by Satya Meva Jayate, which is mentioned in the Ashoka Chakra, the national symbol of India. The prime minister's remarks came a day after the Cabinet headed by him endorsed a new political map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura under Nepal's territory. Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said the official map of Nepal will soon be made public by the Ministry of Land Management. The move announced by Gyawali came weeks after he said that efforts were on to resolve the border issue with India through diplomatic initiatives. Nepal's ruling Nepal Communist Party lawmakers have also tabled a special resolution in Parliament demanding return of Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh to Nepal. The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a disputed border area between Nepal and India. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory - India as part of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district. Gyawali last week summoned the Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra and handed over a diplomatic note to him to protest against the construction of a key road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand. India has said that the recently-inaugurated road section in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand lies completely within its territory. Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane last week said that there were reasons to believe that Nepal objected to India's newly-inaugurated road linking Lipulekh Pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand at the behest of "someone else", in an apparent reference to a possible role by China on the matter. He said there was no dispute whatsoever between India and Nepal in the area and road laid was very much within the Indian side. The 80-KM-long strategically crucial road at a height of 17,000 KM along the border with China in Uttarakhand was thrown open by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier this month. Nepal has raised objection to the inauguration of the road, saying the "unilateral act" was against the understanding reached between the two countries on resolving the border issues. China on Tuesday said the Kalapani border issue is between India and Nepal as it hoped that the two neighbours could refrain from "unilateral actions" and properly resolve their disputes through friendly consultations. After the endorsement of Nepal's new map senior ruling party leader and member of Nepal Communist Party Standing Committee Ganesh Shah said the new move may escalate unnecessary tension between Nepal and India at a time when the country is fighting the coronavirus. "The Nepal government should soon start a dialogue with India to resolve the matter through political and diplomatic moves," he said. The new map includes 335-km land area including Limpiyadhura in the Nepalese territory. The new map was drawn on the basis of the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 signed between Nepal and then the British India government and other relevant documents, which suggests Limpiyadhura, from where the Kali river originated, is Nepal's border with India, The Kathmandu Post quoted an official at the Ministry of Land Reform and Management as saying. India and Nepal are at a row after the Indian side issued a new political map incorporating Kalapani and Lipulekh on its side of the border in October last year. The tension further escalated after India inaugurated the road link connecting Kailash Mansarovar, a holy pilgrimage site situated at Tibet, China, that passes through the territory belonging to Nepal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police and the U.S. Marshals arrested Harrisburg man Maurice Jefferson on Monday, wanted on charges of attempted homicide and illegal firearms possession. Jefferson, 46, is accused in a shooting that occurred on Friday, in the 600 block of Peffer Street, Harrisburg police said. The U.S. Marshals reported one man was injured in the shooting. Police said a search of Jefferson that occurred during his arrest found that he possessed a firearm and narcotics. Jefferson is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, carrying a firearm without a license and carrying a firearm during an emergency. The final charge, a misdemeanor, stems from carrying a firearm on public streets during an emergency proclaimed by the state or municipal government. Jefferson has not been arraigned on the charges as of Monday afternoon. Read more on PennLive: Bhopal : Veteran BJP leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Babulal Gaur created flutter in the political circles when he held the Congress flag during a programme organised on the occasion of 70th Independence Day here. Local Congress MLA Arif Aqueel, who has been organising Paigam-e-Mohabbat programme on Independence Day since many years, on Monday invited religious heads, freedom fighters and prominent party leaders for the event. Gaur took part in the event is his capacity as a freedom fighter. Congress MLA and former Leader of Opposition Ajay Singh was also present. A rally was taken out from Bhopal Talkies which was flagged-off by those present there. At this point, to everyones surprise, Gaur took in his hands the Congress flag, causing murmurs in political circles. Gaur Sahab is no doubt angry with BJP, but he is a very senior leader of the party and deeply rooted with it. Somebody handed over him a Congress flag which he had held in his hands in true spirit of the programme. Nothing more should be read into it, Aqueel said today. However, he added, If he (Gaur) leaves BJP and joins Congress, the party would welcome him with open heart. When contacted, Gaur said, I have been attending this programme every year in my capacity as freedom fighter. Aqueel used to honour those who fought for the country, including MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act) detainees among others. During the flagging-off ceremony somebody handed me a flag and the moment I noticed it was not of my party I gave it back. Nothing more should be read into it, he said and asserted that he will not leave BJP. The question of leaving BJP does not arise as it had made me the chief minister from a mere labourer. It made my daughter-in-law mayor of Bhopal and has given me a lot. Why should I go to a party whose existence is in danger, Gaur asked. Gaur, who was also the state home minister, was reportedly not happy the way he was asked to resign from the state Cabinet in the last reshuffle apparently on ground of old age. He had also created unpleasant situation for the ruling party a few times during the monsoon session of the Assembly by asking unpalatable questions. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal believes that flights are likely to be resumed in June. "Flights are likely to be resumed in June. However, the air links with countries should be restored as well. That is, opening airports in Ukraine and having nowhere to fly is not the resumption of flights. We need to understand which countries will also resume flights," Shmyhal said on the air of ICTV channel, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. In his opinion, it should be taken into account that the European Union plans to resume flights no earlier than June 15. As reported, on March 12, the Government introduced the quarantine in Ukraine to counteract the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus infection. In particular, trading establishments were closed except groceries, pharmacies, gas stations, and banks. The operation of subway in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro, municipal, intercity, and interregional road, rail, and air transport services were suspended. On March 28, Ukraine completely closed its border for scheduled passenger services, including air services. ol CHICAGO, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Second Century Ventures, the strategic investment arm of the National Association of Realtors, announced Monday the selection of its 2020 REACH and REACH Commercial programs. Second Century Ventures is the most active global venture fund in real estate technology with more than 100 portfolio companies worldwide. Second Century Ventures operates the global REACH accelerator with operations in five major markets. The award-winning REACH program helps launch and accelerate high growth potential companies in the real estate, financial services, banking, home services and insurance industries. "NAR has spent decades exploring and investing in the technological innovations we believe will define the future of America's real estate market investments that appear even more critical in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic," said Bob Goldberg, CEO of the National Association of Realtors and President of Second Century Ventures. "While we look at this crisis as an opportunity to grow and adapt to the markets of the future, we know it is also a time when NAR's commitment to equipping Realtors with the technology they need to survive in a rapidly-evolving market is more important than ever," Goldberg continued. "The REACH program allows NAR to deliver radical and actionable innovation in all aspects of real estate, and we are thrilled to welcome 16 new companies representing a dynamic group of entrepreneurs who will work hand in hand with the Realtor family to transform our industry." Companies selected for the 2020 REACH and REACH Commercial classes offer innovation in transaction management, insurance, home and small business security, digital marketing, multifamily housing amenity services, clean energy and more. Collectively, these two classes have raised over $50 million in capital, employ more than 340 people and represent a market capitalization of more than $400 million. "The companies selected for the 2020 REACH program rose to the top of a tremendously impressive list of applicants," said Dave Garland, Managing Partner of Second Century Ventures. "With the support and guidance of our vast global community of real estate industry professionals, strategic partners, investors and mentors, we are confident the 2020 class participants will be among the most instrumental companies to deliver positive and enduring transformation for real estate." The eight companies selected for the REACH Class of 2020 include: Earnnest : secure, electronic escrow fund transfer platform : secure, electronic escrow fund transfer platform Kangaroo : affordable, DIY smart home and small business security solutions : affordable, DIY smart home and small business security solutions RealX : America's first online property rights exchange : America's first online property rights exchange Ylopo : end-to-end, cross platform, digital marketing : end-to-end, cross platform, digital marketing PunchList : all-in-one closing repair solution : all-in-one closing repair solution Transactly : simple, streamlined platform for real estate professionals and transaction coordinators : simple, streamlined platform for real estate professionals and transaction coordinators CartoFront : software-as-service (Saas) based flood insurance tool for Realtors : software-as-service (Saas) based flood insurance tool for Realtors Modus: secure, modernized title and escrow platform The eight companies selected for the REACH Commercial Class of 2020 include: Obie : insurance and portfolio management for small-to-medium CRE investors and owners : insurance and portfolio management for small-to-medium CRE investors and owners EPR 2 : clean energy solutions for commercial property owners : clean energy solutions for commercial property owners Pear Chef : private chef and culinary services for the multi-family housing market : private chef and culinary services for the multi-family housing market Dealius : integrated, web-based CRE brokerage management platform : integrated, web-based CRE brokerage management platform Dealius Capital : working capital funding specializing in lease commission receivables : working capital funding specializing in lease commission receivables Leasera : on-demand services platform for the multi-family rental housing market : on-demand services platform for the multi-family rental housing market Real Time Risk Solutions : mobile risk management platform with advanced analytics : mobile risk management platform with advanced analytics Occupier: Deal management, lease accounting and lease portfolio management solution "The rave success of the inaugural commercial program in 2019 more than illustrated the need for innovation that supports practitioners, owners, managers and investors alike," said Tyler Thompson, Managing Partner, Second Century Ventures. "We are excited to debut the REACH Commercial Class of 2020, a remarkable lineup of solutions across the commercial real estate eco-system, and we're eager to accelerate their growth through unrivaled access and exposure to the industry." REACH will offer its 2020 classes a robust curriculum including education, mentorship, a curated insight panel, exclusive networking opportunities and significant exposure to the global real estate marketplace. Learn more about the 2020 REACH and REACH Commercial classes and how you can get involved at narreach.com. About REACH REACH is a unique real estate technology program created by Second Century Ventures, the most active venture fund in the global real estate technology space. Backed by the National Association of Realtors, SCV and REACH leverage the association's more than 1.4 million members and an unparalleled network of executives within real estate and adjacent industries. The REACH program helps technology companies launch into the real estate vertical and its adjacent markets. The program provides education, mentorship and market exposure to one of the world's largest industries. For more on REACH, visit www.narreach.com. About the National Association of REALTORS The National Association of Realtors is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.4 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries. SOURCE National Association of Realtors Police seized scented tobacco products worth Rs 8 lakh from a truck in Palghar district of Maharashtra and arrested two persons, an official said on Tuesday. The seized packets were hidden under the sacks of rice which was being transported, he said. He said the truck coming from Gujarat was flagged down by the police near Talasari on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway on Sunday night. Police also seized the truck and the rice, he said, adding that the arrested accused have been identified as Jibrail Shaikh and Satta Suryavanshi. They have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. The sale and consumption of scented and flavoured tobacco, zarda, khaini, pan masala, and gutkha has been banned in Maharashtra since 2012. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Revellers who gathered for all-night parties at a Belfast apartment complex could "kill people", Stormont's leaders have warned. Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill spoke of their shock at the photographs that appeared in this newspaper on Monday. The images showed party-goers in a number of apartments at the Obel Tower 64 complex. Read More There is no suggestion that every apartment in the Donegall Quay building was involved in partying. Police confirmed that officers removed about 40 non-residents from a number of the apartments on Saturday night over breaches of Covid-19 regulations. The company that rents out the apartments in the Obel building has launched an investigation. Read More At Stormont's daily briefing on Monday, Mrs O'Neill said the gatherings were "totally unacceptable". "We're still living with this virus and for some time to come," she said. "For those people to get together in large groups like that, that is totally unacceptable. Even more so than that, that's actually killing people." Condemning the actions of those involved, Mrs Foster said the reports had left her "shocked" and incredulous. "I have to say that was an incredible picture to look at, the fact that people were partying," she added. "It was almost like a nightclub scene. That is wrong and you know what, that's only going to delay the regulations from being lifted for other people." The First Minister added: "These people are reckless and are quite possibly spreading the Covid-19 virus in Belfast. I think it was wrong and they should look to themselves and really ask themselves a question: Are they putting people's lives at risk? In my view, they are." On Monday the PSNI faced pressure to explain why tougher action was not taken. Despite 40 people being ejected from the complex, no arrests or fines were issued, the PSNI confirmed. A spokesperson stated that enforcement is a "last resort". As of May 1, the PSNI has issued 377 penalty notices. The PSNI was unable to provide an up-to-date figure on Monday. The weekend incident has prompted Dream Apartments, the company which rents out the apartments, to launch an investigation, stating it "completely condemns" any breaching of social distancing regulations in the complex. A spokesperson for the firm explained the apartments are currently available to rent to key workers, as well as to those who want to self-isolate. The company had taken the booking "in good faith", they added, in the understanding that it was helping people with the need to self-isolate. The spokesperson criticised the "deplorable" abuse of trust. The incident has led to calls for the PSNI to explain its handling of the matter. Alliance MLA and Policing Board member John Blair said that when police are presented with instances of "such clear flouting", effective action needs to be taken. "I will be taking up the matter with the Policing Board," he said. "These are very serious issues and the public who have diligently stood by social distancing practice are rightly expecting these matters to be taken seriously by all statutory authorities, including the police. "Of course in these circumstances we have to rely on people to exercise common sense and we also need clear and consistent messaging from all government ministers and departments. "However, such clear flouting of the law whilst there is still risk of passing on the virus to others needs to be followed up by police." The PSNI was asked to comment. The music here is by Mark Mancina, who scored the source movie and many other Hollywood projects. Hes richly aware, I think, of the useful tension between musical underscoring and foregrounded numbers and actually far better at the kinetic quality needed for the former than is the case with most Broadway composers. That actually might well serve this project, which clearly is experimenting with relatively few book scenes and a great deal of scored movement and storytelling. Just as notably, Mancina also has composed the beginnings of a legitimate score of Broadway-viable numbers. I rather liked all of them and a couple are exquisite; the songs are just are too thin on the ground at present to give you a full sense of where this show might go. And you would not say that Doyle and Mancina are yet fully in sync. New Labor Dept. guidelines protect the beliefs of faith groups in grant programs Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia issued new guidance barring the department, service providers and state agencies from discriminating based on religious belief in a move aimed at improving the ability of faith-based organizations to participate in grant programs. On Friday, Scalia became the latest department head to issue a new directive and guidance following President Donald Trumps 2017 executive order and ensuing directives calling on federal government agencies to issue guidelines on how to best protect religious freedom. The directive and guidance issued today acknowledge the central role that religion and religious freedom play in civil society, Scalia, son of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, said in a statement. The directive and guidance issued today send a clear message that the Department of Labor will continue to uphold religious liberty for Americas workforce, employees of the Department, and religious organizations. Scalia issued department-wide guidance on grant policies to improve public awareness and clarity about the Departments protections for religious liberty interests in grant administration. According to the department, the guidance works to improve the ability of nonprofit and faith-based organizations to defend their rights and participate in DOL programs. DOL, DOL social service providers, and State and local governments administering DOL support must not discriminate against a program beneficiary or prospective program beneficiary on the basis of religion, religious belief, a refusal to hold a religious belief, or a refusal to attend or participate in religious practice, the guidance document reads. Program providers must not impermissibly restrict program beneficiaries rights to exercise religious freedom. DOL, DOL social service providers, and State and local governments administering DOL support are not precluded from accommodating religion in a constitutionally permissible manner. According to the department, the new guidance gives more certainty to nonprofit and faith-based organizations regarding what guarantees the Departments regulations give grantees to preserve their religious character. Furthermore, the document declares that religious organizations do not forfeit their exemption from federal discrimination laws if they receive direct or indirect support from the department. Some DOL programs, however, were established through Federal statutes containing independent statutory provisions that require that recipients refrain from discriminating in employment on the basis of religion, the guidance reads. Scalias new directive orders agency heads to incorporate and advance religious liberty principles in their daily operations. Among other things, it instructs agency heads to ensure religious liberty protections for all Department employees and job applicants and verify that department rules adhere to the First Amendment of the Constitution and applicable federal laws. The agency heads are also being told to assess the consistency of new departmental documents and guidance with the 2017 memorandum by the Department of Justice ordering all federal agencies to protect religious beliefs to the "greatest extent practicable and permitted by law. Scalias directive further orders administrators to consider modifications to promote religious liberty protections, and ensure that religious organizations are given the opportunity to compete equally with non-religious organizations for Federal financial assistance at the Federal and State levels. It also demands that Labor Department officials respect the full scope of legal religious exemptions, including the ministerial exception. The ministerial exception is a legal principle in which churches and religious organizations are given exemptions to employment discrimination laws when it comes to hiring decisions made for positions responsible for sharing and teaching the faith. Kelly Shackelford, the president and chief counsel of the First Liberty Institute, praised the new guidance. Without these protections, religious organizations risk facing discrimination for making employment decisions that are consistent with their beliefs, Shackelford said. Religious organizations should never be forced to abandon their religious character and mission in order to be eligible to contract with the federal government. We applaud Secretary Scalia for working to ensure that religious organizations are treated on equal terms as other organizations. First Liberty Institute submitted a public comment in support of the departments rule proposal in September 2019 that clarified that religious organizations may make employment decisions consistent with their sincerely held religious tenets and beliefs without fear of sanction by the federal government. Many religious ministries, charities, and other organizations stand ready to partner with the government to help individuals in need, First Liberty stated at the time. This proposed rule not only protects their right to be free from anti-religious discrimination in the contracting process, but it also ensures that the government is free to contract with the entities that are best able to provide services to the public regardless of religious affiliation. Under the Obama administration, concerns were raised by faith groups when an executive order was issued banning workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for federal contractors. The guidance states that the department, social service providers as well as state and local governments must also ensure that no direct department funding is used for explicitly religious activities. The restriction against using financial assistance for explicitly religious activities does not apply when the assistance is indirect, meaning that the beneficiary chooses the service provider and the cost of the service is paid through a voucher, certificate, or other similar means of government-funded payment, the guidance reads. In cases where an organization conducts an explicitly religious activity using non-department funds and also offers a social service program using direct department funds, the organization must offer to do the explicitly religious program at a time or place that is different than the department-sponsored program. Explicitly religious activities may occur in another room at the facility at the same time as directly-supported training, or in the same room if offered at a different time from the directly-supported training, the guidance explains. The guidance assures that organizations that are receiving department funds only by indirect means do not need to modify their program activities to accommodate a beneficiary of DOL funding that chooses to enroll in the organizations program. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 Trend: On May 19, the national air carrier of Azerbaijan performed a charter flight from Berlin to Baku bringing 188 citizens back to Azerbaijan, Trend reports referring to AZAL. All passengers are placed under a mandatory quarantine upon arrival. It should be noted that AZAL carries out charter flights to return compatriots to their homeland in accordance with the plan determined by the Operational Headquarters under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In the fight against the coronavirus, most governments, including some state governments in the U.S., have enacted the Chinese lockdown model for industry. The plan shuts down all nonessential activities, lays off workers and expands government benefits and control of society. These massive one-size-fits-all programs deliver predictably inhuman and inflexible results, typical of communist governments. The problem is that the coronavirus crisis is a human problem. Human problems demand human solutions. Treating human problems in a global, mechanized way treats people like mass-produced goods. It destroys those organic solutions that arise when people employ the original and proportional means that are part of their human nature. Governments need to work with nature, not against it. The Chinese model is an example of how not to deal with a crisis. The German Model of Lockdown Consider the German model of industrial lockdown. Germany faced the coronavirus crisis, just like all other Western nations. However, it did not shut down its economy. It did not create mass unemployment or lead vast numbers of companies to bankruptcy. The country employed commonsense measures to deal with the crisis that paid off. Today, Germany has one of the worlds lowest fatality rates and survived the lockdown with its industrial base intact. Germany is an example of how organic solutions can address a massive crisis. It contrasts with the inflexible Chinese communist model that has devastated many Western economic systems. Germany is blessed with an industrial base that is different from most developed countries. It relies on a network of medium-sized family-owned businesses called the Mittelstand that serve specialized niche markets to keep its competitive edge. Such companies are very nimble when facing problems. Their manner of acting is more personal. Even huge companies, however, profit from this business culture. Germany followed three organic principles that saved its industry from devastation. Using Subsidiarity First, the German government gave a certain amount of freedom to the business owners. It followed the principle of subsidiarity by which decisions are made at the lowest possible level. Higher levels of authority only intervene when the lower orders are unable to cope with problems. In the case of the crisis, the government gave business owners the option of staying open. Closure was not mandated across the board, but it was a human decision decided on a personal level. There was also no division into essential and nonessential businesses. All were considered essential and vital as they should be. The companies had to follow certain guidelines, but how they were implemented was left to them. Thus, more than 80 percent of companies stayed open. Many of them weathered the coronavirus crisis producing at high capacity. Lack of supplies from other countries, not sickness, often slowed production. Human Decisions Above all, those running the factories were allowed to implement the safety measures they needed to safeguard their workers. The idea behind the decision is that the owners are the best judges of the local situations. They are also the ones who will be held accountable and therefore assume responsibility. Moreover, German companies took the initiative to enact measures much earlier than the government. They saw the deteriorating situation in China and quickly took action. Managers worked together with workers to improve safety planning. Flexible Solutions in a Fast-Changing Environment The final organic principle involves the appearance of spontaneous and original solutions to the problems caused by the crisis. Workers were challenged to come up with ideas to make the workplace safe and productive. Managers found that staggering work shifts reduced risks to exposure. Thus, companies would do their own testing well before the government organized its programs. Some firms would manufacture their own sanitizers and distribute them to workers and communities. Daily meetings by managers and workers yielded an explosive harvest of good ideas that government guidelines could never achieve. Workers felt safe in their factories because they had helped make them safe. The ability to turn on a dime kept German companies online, while Chinese communist models put nonessential companies out of action so that they could not be part of the solution. Impressive Results The results of the German model for industrial lockdown are impressive. The Wall Street Journal reports that most German factories will not be facing the irreparable devastation other Western nations suffered. Germany also registered about one-quarter of the number of deaths from the virus as its Chinese model locked-down neighbors. The number of workers diagnosed with the coronavirus was minimal, and most return to work quickly. Germany will suffer from the worldwide downturn that will cut demand for products. A big part of its economy is geared toward exports and thus will also suffer. However, Germany did not experience the need for massive bailouts, unemployment programs and payroll protection schemes that America had. The question remains. Why are most countries still clinging to the brutal Chinese lockdown model when more human and organic solutions, like the German experience, have proven so much more effective? America can be proud of many things: our innovation, generosity and entrepreneurial spirit are unsurpassed. Yet when it comes to our nation understanding one of the greatest gifts ever given to humanitythe Biblewe're moving from dumb to dumber, and it's no laughing matter. By Hilary Russ NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prime storefronts left empty by failed businesses. Cheaper or even flexible rents. Landlords willing to add drive-thru lanes. As the coronavirus permanently shutters some small businesses, big fast-food brands like Domino's Pizza, Chipotle and Wendy's that were doing well before the crisis want to grow - or continue pre-existing expansion plans - after the pandemic subsides. David Deno, chief executive officer of Outback Steakhouse parent company Bloomin' Brands, told Reuters in an interview that "I don't mean to wish ill on anybody, but there's going to be real estate opportunities," for new stores or relocations to areas with "better visibility, better access and better parking." Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc , Taco Bell owner Yum! Brands Inc , and Domino's Pizza Inc are among several household names planning post-pandemic growth, according to their CEOs. "Brands that are doing well in this environment should have an opportunity to expand their footprint," said David Gibbs, Yum chief executive officer, in an earnings call in late April. "There's no reason to think that this brand is not going to be a growth business long term. And unit development is a big part of that." In the month of April, retail properties collected less rent than other real estate sectors, according to a Citi note on Friday after a week of real estate investment trusts' earnings reports. Malls collected only 28% of rents and shopping centres 60%, among other commercial property declines, Citi found. "It's really a time of opportunity for these firms to entrench themselves into where they want to be," said Susan Wachter, professor of real estate finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. "The retail landscape is going to be open for redeployment and for expansion of the firms whose market share is growing." Story continues "You are going to have a location reshuffle based on the tenants that offer what people will want post-COVID," said Scott Crowe of the real estate investment firm CenterSquare Investment Management, including the ability to spend less time inside and lower prices. Starbucks Corp and McDonald's Corp could also be among those that grow, said Neuberger Berman analyst Kevin McCarthy. "We're in a period of a few years where independents lose and chains gain" as much as 10% to 15% of market share, McCarthy said of the restaurant industry. The winners of that share grab will be those models centred around convenience and accessibility. "It was a trend going 30 miles an hour, now accelerated to 100 miles an hour," McCarthy said. "It's corporate Darwinism on steroids." There is precedent for fast-food expansion in the face of crisis. In 2010, Burger King was able to grow its brand in Western Europe at the tail end of the financial crisis. "These were some of the best years we had in Western Europe with many of our developing partners because there is tremendous opportunity," said Jose Cil, chief executive officer of Restaurant Brands International Inc , parent company of Burger King and Popeyes, in a May 1 earnings call. "Our business works in almost any environment," Cil told Reuters, adding that it is positioned to capture market share in Europe, Asia, the United States and Canada. "We're very excited and bullish long term." To be sure, the path to expansion could be choppy. Sales plunged in late March and April, leading many corporations to drop their financial forecasts and stop construction projects to save capital costs. Even if they wanted to keep building, permitting has been temporarily halted in many places. Occupancy restrictions will make reopening dining rooms tricky, and some restaurants may eventually change their floorplans to adapt to a new way of dining out. Nonetheless, Shake Shack Inc CEO Randy Garutti said during a May 4 earnings call that "as additional real estate and development opportunities become available, we'll be ready to capture the white space ahead." Wendy's Co , Papa John's International Inc and Yum China Holdings Inc also discussed post-coronavirus expansion during recent Wall Street calls. "If there's opportunities that make sense for us on the real estate side, we will pursue those," said David Hoffmann, Dunkin' Brands Group Inc chief executive officer in an April 30 earnings call. "But you also want to balance being a good corporate citizen and sticking to your values, and not being a shark either." (Reporting by Hilary Russ; Additional reporting by Uday Sampath Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) New Delhi: In a fresh set of standard operating procedures for shramik trains for migrant labourers, the clause for consent of states has been done away with. In its fresh SOP for movement of stranded labourers, the Ministry of Home Affairs said the movement of shramik trains shall be permitted by Ministry of Railways in consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs. This is in contrast to the May 2 notification by the railway ministry which said that consent of states will be sought for shramik special trains. "In case a group of stranded persons wish to move between one state/UT and another, the sending and receiving states may consult each other and mutually agree to the movement by rail," the previous SOP had said. "The consent of receiving states shall be obtained by originating state and a copy provided to railways before departure of train," it had said. The ministrys latest notification on Tuesday omitted any reference to consent and said nodal officers will make necessary arrangements to receive and send stranded labourers. It also said train schedules, including stoppage and destinations, will be finalised by the railways. While issuing the revised SOP, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said states and union territories should designate nodal authorities and make necessary arrangements for receiving and sending such stranded people. Officials in the railway ministry confirmed that the consent of state, which will receive migrants, is no longer required. The state from where the special trains will originate will give the list of passengers to railways. According to the fresh SOP, the train schedule, including stoppages and destination, shall be finalised by the ministry of railways based on the requirements of states and Union Territories, and shall be communicated by the railways to states and Union Territories for making suitable arrangements for sending and receiving such stranded workers. Officials said the ministry of railways will ensure more halts of the special trains for the convenience of migrant workers. The SOP said the train schedule, protocols for entry and movement of passengers, services to be provided in coaches, and arrangements with states and UTs for booking of tickets shall be publicised by the MOR. Sending states and UTs as well as the MOR will ensure passengers are compulsorily screened, and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to board the trains, it said. During boarding and travel, all passengers will have to observe social distancing. On their arrival, passengers will have to adhere to health protocols prescribed by the destination state or UT, the SOP said. Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier written to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee saying migrants wanting to return to the state are stranded because her government had not given its consent to their return. A separate statement made by the home ministry, however, on Tuesday said proactive coordination among states and railways is essential to run more trains for smooth transport of migrant workers. It also said district authorities must give their requirements to railways. The statement called for greater publicity of train schedule, stoppage timing and other details to dispel any rumours. (With inputs from PTI) British COVID-19 patient remains in critical condition Examining a severe coronavirus patient in an ICU in Vietnam A British citizen, widely known as patient 91, who contracted the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Ho Chi Minh city, has yet to show any signs of recovery despite enjoying some recent clinical improvements, according to the Ministry of Health. The patient, a pilot for Vietnam Airlines, remains in intensive care and requires sedation in order to alleviate the anxiety and pain he faces. At present he requires the support of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine in order to facilitate lung-protective mechanical ventilation. In addition, he is also being treated with antibiotics and dialysis. Doctors believe that with 90% of his lungs damaged, a lung transplant appears to be the only solution which can save his life. The patient underwent a CT-scan on May 18 to re-evaluate his health status in the lead up to surgery. This marks the second time that the 43-year-old man has undergone a scan in order to detect and evaluate the damage done to his lungs. The first scan was conducted on May 13 with doctors discovering that pulmonary fibrosis had solidified both of the patients lungs, meaning that only around 10% of his lungs remain active. With this in mind, it appears highly unlikely that he will survive unless he receives a lung transplant. The patient was originally diagnosed with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 on March 18, several days after visiting Buddha Bar, a COVID-19 hotspot in Ho Chi Minh City. Since being hospitalised, his health has severely deteriorated, with test results coming back both positive and negative for the virus at different times. Leading experts from the Professional Council under the Ministry of Health, alongside hospital doctors, are scheduled to hold a consultation to discuss the patients current health status and the possibility of performing a life-saving lung transplant on him on May 19. With the patient receiving treatment at the Ho Chi Minh City-based Hospital of Tropical Diseases, he will need to be transferred to Cho Ray hospital in order to undergo the transplant as soon as the conditions allow him to. Photo exhibition to honour efforts against pandemic Photo exhibition to honour efforts against pandemic The Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists (VAPA) is inviting photos of Vietnam in the combat against COVID-19 to an exhibition slated for June 1. VAPA Chairman Vu Quoc Khanh said on May 11 that the event aims to push ahead with communications to raise public awareness of the pandemic, highlight Vietnams enormous achievements in the COVID-19 fight, and honour the photo takers. The organising board said photos sent to the exhibition should depict the country and people in the disease prevention and control efforts, their daily lives in the pandemic, along with the exemplars and those working in the frontline. Senders can be professional photographers, photo journalists or those able to take COVID-19-themed photos in Vietnam, and each can submit up to 20 works that are separate photos or groups of photos. The exhibition is open for entries via website www.trienlamanhCovid-19.com from now through May 20. The best 150-200 items will be selected for the display. The event will be held at the VAPAs centre for artistic photo archives and exhibition in Hanoi./. Four new cases confirmed, bringing countrys total to 324 A medical worker disinfects a quarantine centre in the central province of Thanh Hoa. Two cabin crew from Vietnam Airlines are among the latest patients to test positive for COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH). The pair were working onboard flight VN0062 from Moscow in Russia, bringing home Vietnamese citizens on May 13. The two other new cases were passengers on flight VN001 from Washington DC in the US to Viet Nam on May 16. All four new cases were quarantined right after entering the country. Patient 321 is a 44-year-old Vietnamese man whose residence is in Phu Nhuan District in HCM City. He is an air steward of Vietnam Airlines. Patient 322 is a 39-year-old Vietnamese man who lives in Phu Nhuan District in HCM City. He is also an air steward of Vietnam Airlines. After entering Viet Nam via Van on Airport on May 13, the crew flew to Ha Noi on a plane without passengers. At 10am on May 15, the staff flew from Ha Noi to HCM City on flight VN7485 without any passengers. The crew were then quarantined at a centre of Vietnam Airlines at No 115 Hong Ha Street, Ward 2, Tan Binh District. Patient 321 and 322 stayed in the same room. They tested negative for COVID-19 on May 14. On May 16, patient 321 had a high temperature and then tested positive one day later. Now he is under treatment at the Cu Chi Hospital. After patient 321 tested positive for the virus, patient 322 was moved to a quarantine centre in Cu Chi District and then also tested positive for the virus on May 18. He is undergoing treatment at the Cu Chi Hospital. Patient 323 is a 19-year-old woman who lives in Tan Binh District in HCM City. She is an overseas student from the US and went to Viet Nam on flight VN001 on May 16. Patient 324 is an 18-year-old man who lives in Tan Binh District in HCM City. He is an overseas student from the US who arrived on May 16 on flight VN001. After entering Viet Nam via Noi Bai International Airport, the two overseas students were quarantined in a centre in Thach That District in Ha Noi. They tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on May 17 and are undergoing treatment at the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases No 2. Nearly 300 Vietnamese return from Thailand Nearly 300 Vietnamese return from Thailand on May 18 Nearly 300 Vietnamese citizens who found themselves stuck in Thailand amid the COVID-19 pandemic returned home safely on May 18. Authorised agencies of the two countries, the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand, and national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines worked together to arrange a flight bringing them home. Those repatriated included children, pregnant women, sick people, students made homeless due to universities and dormitories being closed, the elderly, workers whose employment contracts expired, and tourists trapped in the country. Vietnam Airlines took measures to ensure security and safety on the flight and prevent the spread of the disease. All were given check-ups and put in quarantine upon landing. To implement directions from Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, local authorities, Vietnamese representative agencies abroad, and domestic airlines will continue to work together to bring Vietnamese citizens stuck overseas home./. Southeast Asian countries report hundreds of new COVID-19 patients Indonesia confirmed 496 new COVID-19 patients on May 18, taking the total in the Southeast Asian country to 18,010. According to the Indonesian Health Ministry, the country recorded 43 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 1,191. Meanwhile, 4,324 people have recovered. The same day, the Health Ministry of the Philippines reported 205 more cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths, raising the total of infections and fatalities to 12,718 and 831, respectively. Meanwhile, Malaysia recorded 47 new cases of infections, taking its total to 6,941, including 113 deaths. Amid the complicated developments of the pandemic in the country, Malaysian King Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah called on the Malaysian Government to focus on ensuring the people's well-being and safety, while taking measures to minimise the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak./. Indonesia: No relaxation of large-scale social restriction policy Jl. Jatibaru in Tanah Abang, Jakarta, is seen packed with sellers and shoppers on May 18 (Photo: https://www.thejakartapost.com/) The Indonesian government has no plans to ease the enactment of the Large Scale Social Restriction (PSBB) policy in the immediate future, as the government is still focusing on the national mudik (homecoming) ban for the next two weeks to curb the spread of COVID-19, said President Joko Widodo. Speaking at an online cabinet meeting on May 18, Widodo stressed that there is no relaxation of the PSBB policy, the public should not be mistaken that the government has begun to relax PSBB. He asked the Chief of the Indonesian Police Force, General Idham Azis, as well as the Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, Marshall Hadi Tjahjanto, to ensure the effective enforcement of the mudik ban. The President has also reminded that the mudik ban is only applicable to limit the mobility of people, not goods. According to Widodo, the government is preparing PSBB easing scenarios and continues to monitor disease developments before making a decision on the time for applying. Previously, on May 15, President Joko Widodo called on Indonesians "to live" with the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the new normal. As of May 18, Indonesia confirmed 18,010 COVID-19 patients. The disease killed 1,191 persons in the country, while 4,324 cases were cured./. Ha Noi gifts 200,000 Vietnamese-made masks to French localities Chairman of Ha Noi People's Committee Nguyen uc Chung (right) presents a token representing gifts of medical supplies to the French ambassador in Viet Nam Nicolas Warnery at yesterday's handover ceremony to help a number of France's localities to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Chairman of the Ha Noi Peoples Committee Nguyen uc Chung handed over 200,000 face masks to the Embassy of France in support of the European countrys fight against COVID-19. Ha Noi's municipal authorities gifted 150,000 face masks for the Ile-de-France region in north-central France, while the city's Hoan Kiem and ong a districts donated 20,000 and 30,000 face masks for Toulouse and Choisy-le-Roi cities, respectively. The masks bear a CE marking, indicating they meet standards set for products sold within the EU. Speaking at the handover ceremony, Chairman Chung underlined that strengthening international cooperation and unity is an important factor in curbing the spread and impact of the pandemic in each country and region. French Ambassador to Viet Nam Nicholas Warnery expressed his gratitude for the support from Ha Noi authorities and people to their French counterparts, and voiced his belief that the two countries will triumph in the fight against the pandemic. Thai PM thanks billionaires for their willingness to help The Prime Minister of Thailand has thanked Thai billionaires in a Facebook post for their willingness to help Thai people and lead the country through the present difficult situation. Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha posted a message on Facebook expressing his heartfelt thanks to the billionaires from whom he sought advice at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. In his Facebook post on May 18, he said all of them had responded to his call to assist people directly affected by COVID-19. He said that what matters is not the amount of money or the value of the projects they undertook to assist those in difficulty, but their willingness to offer a helping hand to ease the hardships of the Thai people. The unity, generosity and care of Thai people for their fellow countrymen and others are unique, he said. In addition to the billionaires, from whom he sought direct help, he disclosed that there were others who volunteered their help, as well as members of the public who have done whatever they could to share happiness with others. With the support of all sectors of society, the Prime Minister said he is confident that Thailand will survive this severe crisis./. An old trademark dispute is now brought back to life to haunt Apple. The company was involved in a fairly long dispute with IGB Electronica, a Brazilian company that first registered the iPhone name in 2000. IGB Electronica has been fighting for exclusive rights over the iPhone name for the past many years. IGB Electronica has waged a legal battle against Apple for the past many years. Now the company has knocked on the door of the Supreme Federal Court in Brazil. The company in itself made iPhone branded Android devices in Brazil. Initially, IGB was granted an exclusive right to the iPhone trademark in Brazil. Soon the ruling was overturned and both IGB and Apple were given permission to use iPhone branding in Brazil. Apple successfully prevented IGB from using the trademark, until now. Even in 2018, IGB tried to regain exclusive rights, however, the court upheld the 2013 ruling which granted permission for both the brands to use the iPhone trademark in Brazil. Now IGB is once again trying to gain exclusive rights to the iPhone trademark and has thus approached the Supreme Federal Court in Brazil. However, it might take several years for the court to be heard. It is worth noting that Apple had made an out of court settlement with Cisco in the US to use the iPhone brand while it has purchased iPad brand rights from Fujitsu. IGB is currently in judicial recovery mode and the total loss stands at nearly $1 billion. Perhaps the company is hoping to make some money by selling the iPhone trademark to Apple in Brazil. [via Technoblog Nasarawa state government says it has lifted the ban on worship centres for two weeks, following a critical stakeholders meeting. The announcement was made by the government via its Twitter handle on Tuesday. Read Also: FG Extends Lockdown In Kano By Two Weeks This was part of the resolutions arrived at during the critical stakeholders meeting to review measures put in place to combat the further spread of the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday, it tweeted. Advertisement Earlier, Kano state government had announced the decision to allow Friday and eid prayers to hold in the state, despite rising COVID-19 cases. Las Cruces Sun-News LAS CRUCES Since the state enacted a public health emergency in mid-March, area courts and law enforcement agencies have been actively working to reduce the detainee population at the Dona Ana County Detention Center. The fewer detainees, the better the jail can mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the disease responsible for the public health emergency. So far, no cases of the coronavirus have been detected at the jail. On March 16, 354 state detainees and 260 federal detainees were being housed at the Dona Ana County Jail. By May 8, the population was 190 state detainees and 140 federal detainees. Thats a 46% decrease. In sum, law enforcement agencies are sending fewer suspects to jail and instead issuing citations or fines and the courts have accelerated reforms meant to focus on rehabilitation over incarceration. But in one of the first measures to reduce the population at jails, courts worked with the detention center to review a list of detainees suspected of a nonviolent offense who were unable to post bond and did not pose a flight risk. These individuals cases were brought before the court and, based on recommendations from the District Attorneys Office and defense counsel, a decision was made on whether to release, said Third Judicial District Court Chief Judge Manuel Arrieta. Detainees with compromised health were also considered for release, he said. Fewer arrests Law enforcement agencies also began arresting fewer people. For the Las Cruces Police Department and Dona Ana County Sheriffs Office, that meant issuing more criminal citations for non-violent offenders. A citation is used by police to charge a person with a crime without making a physical arrest. But suspects in violent crimes are still being arrested. If its a violent misdemeanor like a physical domestic violence incident, were making an arrest. If its a nonviolent misdemeanor, were writing a citation and summonsing them to court, said Robyn Gojkovich, spokesperson for DASO. New Mexico State Police are also doing things a little differently. If an officer gets a misdemeanor warrant arrest during court hours, theyre doing their best to take them to magistrate court for an immediate appearance, which is sometimes done virtually, said Dusty Francisco, spokesman for NMSP. For after-hour misdemeanor arrests, Francisco said State Police attempt to get in touch with an on-call judge to release a suspect on an ROR or return on their own recognizance he said. If the first two options are not possible, they continue as normal and make the arrest, Francisco said. District Attorney Mark DAntonio said his office has not changed its policy on pretrial detention hearings and is still pursuing incarceration for the most violent offenders. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arrieta said courts across New Mexico and the nation were working toward alternatives to detention for nonviolent offenders. The pandemic has accelerated the process. Thousands of motorists on Tuesday took out their vehicles resulting in traffic on the highways. Mumbai Police impounded 2,438 vehicles of which 873 were private cars and 230 were taxis and 1,335 were autorickshaws. Meanwhile, a total of 191 Mumbai Police personnel have reported for duty after recovering from Covid-19, including deputy commissioner of police (zone 3) Abhinash Kumar. Additional commissioner of police (traffic) Pravin Padwal clarified that there has been no relaxation of lockdown rules in Mumbai. No person is allowed to use vehicles unless its for transporting essential goods. If any citizen wants to buy essential goods then he should go walking and using vehicles for this purpose is not allowed. No rickshaws or taxis are allowed to ply. We will allow use of vehicles only for an emergency. We will impound all those vehicles found violating the lockdown rules, he said. Dilip Sawant, additional commissioner, north region (Goregaon to Dahisar) said more than 200 vehicles, mostly autorickshaws and motorcycles, were impounded at Samta Nagar junction on the western express highway (WEH) and at Vanrai. Senior inspector of Dahisar police station Hanif Mujawar, whose team is posted near the check post, said 28 vehicles coming in from Vasai-Virar were impounded and first informations (FIRs) were filed against the violators. Meanwhile, the three-member government committee headed by Amitabh Gupta, principal secretary (special), state home department, on Tuesday decided to provide 1,421 additional manpower from various government departments to Mumbai Police for helping the latter send migrant workers to their respective states. The committee provided the additional manpower for assisting the local police stations and deputy commissioners of police (the nodal officers) in Mumbai city for compiling, collating, uploading and processing the data in the National Migrants Information System (NMIS) portal of the government of India. These government employees are below 40 years and include staff from Mantralaya and other field officials of various government departments, said a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. These government employees have better subject knowledge and would help police for compiling and uploading the list of migrants on the government website, Gupta said. The committee for migrants was formed on Monday. It has Vinoy Kumar Choubey, joint commissioner of police, Mumbai and Rahul Kulkarni, deputy secretary, general administration department, as other members. With sanctioning of additional manpower the police hopes to send maximum migrants back to their hometowns in lesser time through a more well co-ordinated and smooth system. The Mumbai Police said that till Monday they have sent back 1,61,261 stranded people, most of them being migrant labourers, to their home states, while around 3 lakh are still on the waiting list. One more death recorded in Mumbai Police As of Tuesday morning, approximately 655 personnel from Mumbai Police and 1,328 personnel from state police have tested positive for Covid-19. Among the 1,328 are the 324 who have since recovered. The death toll from Covid-19 has risen to nine in Mumbai Police and to 12 among the state police. Constable Dilip Patil,46, from the Mumbai Polices anti-terrorism squad (ATS) died on Sunday morning. He had tested positive for Covid-19. One death each was reported from Pune, Solapur and Nashik rural. One was an officer and the rest were constables or assistant police sub-inspectors (ASIs). Lockdown violations on Monday A total of 76 FIRs were lodged on Monday against 223 people and 113 were arrested for lockdown violations. Most of these were for gathering in a place (54) and for not wearing masks (17). The western suburbs (Bandra to Jogeshwari) saw the most FIRs (26) followed by south (18) and central (12) regions. Mumbai Police complains to BMC about ambulance Mumbai Police has requested the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to dedicate 12 ambulances to cops. In a letter to BMC commissioner, dated May 18, joint commissioner of police (administration) Naval Bajaj has said that Covid-positive policemen had to seven to eight hours for an ambulance to reach hospital and the ambulance helpline (1916) did not offer prompt response. The police department has requested BMC to keep 12 ambulances one for each of Mumbais 12 zones for police personnel and that priority should be given to policemen when they call for ambulances. Bajaj confirmed the development. One more Covid case at Arthur road jail A police constable from Arthur Road jail tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday following which three others were quarantined and tested. So far, 27 staffers and 158 inmates of the jail have tested positive. Fears of contracting the infection has led to several staff members not reporting for duty, resulting in reduced manpower. Prison authorities pointed out that courts have delayed the bail process for 1,270 inmates. Booked for samosa party Pant Nagar police on Monday registered a case against members of a housing society in Ghatkopar for allegedly organising a samosa party in their premises. According to the police, there are videos and photographs showing a gathering of 20 persons who are been served the snack. The chairman and another member of the housing society were arrested for violating lockdown rules . A politician of a national party also lives in the society but he was not a part of the event, said police sources. Bus owner booked for transporting passengers illegally A private luxury bus crashed into a divider at the Navghar flyover on the eastern express highway (EEH), in Mulund, on Monday night. Some passengers sustained minor injuries. The driver, the owner of the bus service and the ticketing agent who had sold passengers tickets for the bus were arrested as the bus was plying without requisite permissions. It had left Airoli on Monday and was carrying around 20 passengers to Ahmednagar. They did not seek permission from Navi Mumbai police. Only essential services and those who have acquired an e-pass are allowed to travel, said Paramjit Singh Dahiya, deputy commissioner of police (zone 7). A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). (With inputs from Pratik Salunke, Jayprakash S Naidu, Vijaykumar Yadav, Faisal Tandel and Manish K Pathak) Unfortunately, that is probably more than we can hope for. This does not mean, however, that we should not try as best we can to live our own lives in a charitable manner. There is an important dynamic that is operative here. There is a certain sense in which we all need charity. This is not to suggest that we all should be entitled to receive food from the local food bank. Most of us have plenty to eat and have no need for food assistance. Rather, what is at stake here is that we all like to be treated in a charitable manner, with others putting the most charitable construction on what we say and do. When we treat others in a charitable manner, it is often the case that they reciprocate by treating us in a charitable manner. That is a win-win situation for everyone involved. And so in this time of crisis, let us commit ourselves to living lives of charity. Lives of charity that involve helping those in need. Lives of charity that involve treating all those whose lives intersect with ours in a charitable manner. Dan Lee is the Marian Taft Cannon Professor in the Humanities at Augustana College; danlee@augustana.edu. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 PHILADELPHIA, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- From the second quarter Phoenix Management Lending Climate in America survey results reveal COVID-19 has created pessimism in the U.S. economys near-term performance. The outlook for the U.S. economy saw a significant decrease in the near-term. The near-term grade point average (GPA) decreased 139 percentage points to 1.18 from the Q1 2020 GPA of 2.57, the lowest GPA since Q1 2009. These results show lenders deep concern for the performance of the U.S. economy during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, the projected outlook for the U.S. economy in the long-term significantly increased (by 45 percentage points) to a 2.24 from the previous quarters results of 1.79. Lenders were asked to identify how effective they think the fiscal measures by the federal government of providing trillion of dollars of stimulus to buffer the economic impact brought on by the COVID-19 crisis have been. The majority of lenders, 53%, believe the measures have been slightly effective. Thirty-eight percent of lenders believe the measures have been effective, while 7% believe the fiscal measures have been very effective. Phoenixs Q2 2020 Lending Climate in America survey asked lenders whether they expect economic indicators to be up, down, or remain at the same level over the next 6 months. The question drills down even further into specific economic indicators including bankruptcies, loan losses, and unemployment. Our survey utilizes the Diffusion Index to measure lender sentiment. The Diffusion Index is calculated by subtracting the percentage of negative expectations from the percentage of positive expectations. In Q2/20 we saw an increase from lenders on bankruptcies, loan losses, and unemployment metrics when compared to the Q1/20 results. One hundred percent of lenders expect bankruptcies and loan losses to increase and twenty-six percent expect an increase in unemployment. Lenders were also surveyed this quarter on what they think the unemployment rate will be by 12/31/20. The majority of lenders, 50%, think the unemployment rate will be between 10.01-15.0% by 12/31/20. Of the lenders surveyed, 28% think the unemployment rate will be between 5.01-10.0%. Eighteen percent of lenders think the unemployment rate will be between 15.01-20%. In Q1/20, 40% of the respondents believed the coronavirus would be the largest driver in economic performance, says Michael Jacoby, Senior Managing Director and Shareholder of Phoenix. Not surprisingly, lenders are more pessimistic in Q2/20, in part due to the devastating health, societal and economic impact of COVID-19. What is clear, is that we face a multitude of unprecedented challenges during the next several quarters as the U.S. economy battles COVID-19. To see the full results of Phoenixs Lending Climate in America Survey, please visit http://www.phoenixmanagement.com/survey/ About Phoenix: For 35 years, Phoenix has provided smarter, operationally focused solutions for middle market companies in transition. Phoenix Management Services provides turnaround, crisis and interim management, and specialized advisory for both distressed and growth-oriented companies. Phoenix Transaction Advisory Services provides quality of earnings, operational diligence, Quality of Enterprise, business integration, sell-side business preparation, and other transaction related support. Phoenix Capital Resources provides seamless investment banking solutions including M&A advisory, complex restructurings and capital placements. Phoenix Capital Resources is a U.S. registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Proven. Results. If you would like to learn more about Phoenix, please visit http://www.phoenixmanagement.com/ or http://www.phoenixcapitalresources.com/ A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 322,000 people worldwide. Over 4.8 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 worst-affected country, with more than 1.5 million diagnosed cases and at least 91,872 deaths. Today's biggest developments: China says Trump's letter to WHO is attempt to 'shift the blame of U.S. incompetence' Maryland reports 1st pediatric death, highest 1-day rise in infections Carbon emissions drop by 17% Here's how the news is developed Tuesday. All times Eastern. Please refresh this page for updates. 8:36 p.m.: CVS returns $43 million in government funding CVS, the largest pharmacy chain in the United States, said Tuesday it has returned $43.3 million in funding from the government. The company "CVS Health recently received approximately $43.3 million through the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund," CVS CEO Larry Merlo wrote in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. "As you know, CVS Health did not solicit these funds but received them as part of an automatic distribution by the Department of Health and Human Services. We have made the decision to return the funds and forgo participation in subsequent disbursements. In doing so, we hope to help HHS provide additional support to other providers who are facing significant financial challenges as a result of the pandemic." The $100 billion Provider Relief Fund, which is separate from the small business loans many companies have returned, was started to provide money to health care providers. Story continues Merlo was one of a handful of company CEOs who appeared at the White House Rose Garden with President Donald Trump to discuss testing advances on April 27. PHOTO: CVS CEO Larry Merlo speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump on the novel coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 27, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) 7:25 p.m.: DOJ warns California governor over not reopening religious services The Justice Department has sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom warning that his state's reopening plan could raise civil rights concerns over how it, in their words, imposes restrictions on gatherings of religious groups that are more burdensome than other secular activities. "The Department of Justice does not seek to dictate how States such as California determine what degree of activity and personal interaction should be allowed to protect the safety of their citizens," Eric Dreiband, the assistant attorney general for the DOJ's civil rights division, writes in the letter. "However, we are charged with upholding the Constitution and federal statutory protections for civil rights. Whichever level of restrictions you adopt, these civil rights protections mandate equal treatment of persons and activities of a secular and religious nature." Dreiband argues in the letter that the phased reopening plan outlined by Newsom would allow restaurants, factories, malls and others to resume operations with social distancing at a quicker pace than in-person religious services. "While it is true that social distancing requirements applied to places of worship may inevitably result in much smaller congregations than some faith groups would like, in our experience with other controversies around the country, many places of worship are quite content to operate at 15-25% of capacity in a way that allows for social distancing between family groups," Dreiband says in the letter co-signed by California's four U.S. attorneys. In-person religious services are part of California's third stage of reopening, along with hair and nail salons, gyms, movie theaters and sporting events without live audiences. PHOTO: Gov. Gavin Newsom announces new criteria related to coronavirus hospitalizations and testing that could allow counties to open faster than the state, during a news conference at Mustards Grill in Napa, Calif., Monday May 18, 2020. (Rich Pedroncelli/AP) 5:50 p.m.: Met Gala canceled, museum may open in August The Met said that the museum is planning to reopen to the public in mid-August or in the weeks following. "Initially, the days and hours The Met is open will likely be reduced, and, given the need to provide an environment that respects social distance requirements, the Museum will not have tours, talks, concerts, or events through calendar year 2020," the museum said in a statement. "The Met has endured much in its 150 years, and today continues as a beacon of hope for the future," museum President Daniel H. Weiss said. "This museum is also a profound reminder of the strength of the human spirit and the power of art to offer comfort, inspiration, and community. As we endure these challenging and uncertain times, we are encouraged by looking forward to the day when we can once again welcome all to enjoy The Met's collection and exhibitions." In an additional statement, the Met said that the 2020 Costume Institute Benefit, also known as The Met Gala, "originally scheduled for Monday, May 4, will not take place this year due to the global health crisis." 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. 4:15 p.m.: Virginia reports 1st case of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children A coronavirus-related illness in children, seen in many states, countries and in over 100 young people in New York City, has now reached Virginia. Virginia on Tuesday reported its first case of the illness now known as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed has a link to COVID-19. MORE: Faces of the coronavirus pandemic: Remembering those who died "The child was hospitalized on May 5 and has since been discharged and is recovering at home," Virginia officials said Tuesday. The child's age and gender were not released. MORE: Teen girl recovering in ICU with new coronavirus-related illness similar to Kawasaki disease Symptoms of MIS-C include irritability or decreased activity, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, rash, conjunctivitis, lack of appetite, red or cracked lips, red or bumpy tongue, swollen hands and feet. "I urge all health care providers in Virginia to immediately report any patient who meets these criteria to the local health department by the most rapid means," said Virginia Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver. "All Virginians should take steps to avoid exposure to COVID-19 by practicing social distancing, frequent hand washing and wearing cloth face coverings if appropriate." 2:45 p.m.: China says Trump's letter to WHO is attempt to 'shift the blame of U.S. incompetence' China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that President Donald Trump's letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) that threatened to permanently freeze U.S. funding is an attempt to "shift the blame of U.S. incompetence." I took the contact tracer training, and here's what I learned The spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, said in a press conference that Trump's Monday letter to the WHO director-general was full of ambiguous wording to mislead the public. PHOTO: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian takes a question at the daily media briefing in Beijing on April 8, 2020. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images) Zhao also said the U.S. administration violates its international obligation by suspending funding to the WHO. Trump's letter accused the WHO of repeatedly making misleading claims about COVID-19 and having an "alarming lack of independence from the People's Republic of China." With face coverings and social distancing, COVID-19 ushers in new age of air travel The letter said, "If the World Health Organization doesn't commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization." Zhao said, "Picking on China while shirking and bargaining away its own international obligations to WHO, the U.S. has obviously miscalculated the situation and made a mistargeted move." 2 p.m.: NJ says death toll from long-term care facilities now at 4,295 In New Jersey, over 149,000 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus and at least 10,586 of those have lost their lives. New Jersey's long-term care facilities have been especially hard-hit by the pandemic. COVID-19's hidden victims, Alzheimer's patients in nursing homes Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday that the state is changing the way it records deaths in long-term care facilities. PHOTO: Ambulance crews are parked outside Andover Subacute and Rehabilitation Center in Andover, N.J., on Thursday April 16, 2020. (Ted Shaffrey/AP Photo) Murphy on Monday reported over 5,000 deaths at long-term care facilities, but on Tuesday he said the state was now going to report totals by the number of lab-confirmed deaths -- which currently stands at 4,295. Murphy said the initial data was not an apples-to-apples comparison. 1:18 p.m.: Maryland reports 1st pediatric death, highest 1-day rise in infections A 15-year-old in Baltimore County, Maryland, has died from COVID-19 -- the state's first pediatric death, officials said Tuesday. Know the risks: Where you are most likely to get coronavirus The teen had symptoms of the inflammatory syndrome associated with the coronavirus -- the same illness reported in at least 147 young people in New York City. Across Maryland, more than 41,000 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. PHOTO: Baltimore residents walk and bike along the Inner Harbor promenade on May 12, 2020 in Baltimore. (Jemal Countess/Redux) The state on Tuesday reported 1,784 new COVID-19 cases -- Maryland's highest one-day rise. Gov. Larry Hogan says the state is dramatically expanding coronavirus testing and will allow asymptomatic people to get tested without appointments at several "community-based" testing sites beginning Thursday. 12:40 p.m.: Belmont Stakes set for June 20 without fans in the bleachers New York's Belmont Stakes will take place Saturday, June 20 as the opening leg of the Triple Crown -- but spectators won't be able to attend. The Belmont Stakes will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBC Sports. The Kentucky Derby was rescheduled from May 2 to Sept. 5. The Preakness Stakes was rescheduled from May 16 to Oct. 3. 11:40 a.m.: Carbon emissions drop by 17% Carbon emissions have dropped by 17% due to confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nature Climate Change journal reported on Tuesday. The journal said daily global CO2 emissions decreased by 17% by early April 2020 compared with the mean 2019 levels. PHOTO: Vehicles drive in light traffic on the Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange between the 105 and 110 freeways in this aerial photograph taken above Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Friday, May 1, 2020. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images) At their peak, emissions in individual countries decreased by 26% on average. The impact on 2020 annual emissions depends on the duration of the confinement. If pre-pandemic conditions return by mid-June, the drop is estimated at 4%. If some restrictions remain worldwide until the end of 2020, the drop is estimated at 7%. 10:30 a.m.: 'Too early to predict' fall school plans in NYC New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he's asking the state to authorize line-of-duty benefits for the 270 city employees who have lost their lives to the coronavirus. The families of those employees who died "need to know their futures will be secure," the mayor said. PHOTO: Firemen wearing protective masks watch the 7pm salute to healthcare workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic led by Mayor Bill De Blasio and his wife Charlene McCray on April 24, 2020 in Brooklyn, New York. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images) De Blasio on Tuesday reported a "mixed bag" for the daily tracking progress indicators. There were 57 people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19 on Sunday, up from 48 admissions on Saturday. And there were 492 patients in ICUs on Sunday, up from 475 patients on Saturday. But of those tested citywide on Sunday, just 9% were positive for the coronavirus, down from 11% one day earlier, the mayor said. PHOTO: People relax in circles marked on the grass for proper social distancing at Brooklyn's Domino Park during the coronavirus outbreak, May 18, 2020, in New York. (Kathy Willens/AP) De Blasio said Tuesday it's "too early to predict" school plans for the fall but that safety will be the No. 1 factor -- especially now that a coronavirus-related illness is impacting children. How schools around the world are reopening during the coronavirus pandemic Now known by the name Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that the illness does have a link to COVID-19. PHOTO: People line up outside the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Grant Houses for food distribution in the New York area, May 18 ,2020. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images) The city has seen 147 cases of the illness using the initial definition -- Pediatric Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome. Of those, 69 young people tested positive for the coronavirus and antibodies, and one young person died, the mayor said. De Blasio said common symptoms include: persistent fever, irritability or sluggishness, abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, rash, conjunctivitis, enlarged lymph node on one side of the neck, red cracked lips or red tongue, swollen hands and feet. Parents should call their doctor immediately if their child has symptoms, the mayor said. New York City officials plan to have an updated number of cases under the MIS-C definition this week, the mayor said. 9:06 a.m.: Seychelles bans cruise ships until 2022 The Seychelles has banned all cruise ship tourism through the end of 2021 as part of its efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. The East African island nation's tourism minister announced the two-year ban on all cruise ship calls at Port Victoria earlier this month, saying the measure takes effect immediately, according to the Seychelles Nation, the national newspaper. The country's international airport on the island of Mahe has also been shut down since March due to the coronavirus pandemic. PHOTO: A cruise ship docks at a quay in Mahe island, the largest island contains the capital city of Victoria, Seychelles, Nov. 18, 2019. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images, FILE) The Seychelles appears to have been largely spared from the scourge of the pandemic. The archipelago has just 11 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 and no reported deaths, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. However, the country's economy relies heavily on tourism, which is its second main source of foreign exchange earnings after commercial fishing, according to the Geneva-based International Trade Center. 8:19 a.m.: Navajo Nation reports 69 new cases of COVID-19 The Navajo Nation reported 69 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total to 4,071, according to a joint press release from the Native American territory's president and vice president. There were no coronavirus-linked fatalities reported Monday, leaving the Navajo Nation's death toll at 142. As the largest American Indian reservation in the country, the Navajo Nation is home to more than 356,000 people and covers some 25,000 square miles in the United States, spanning across parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. The territory is approximately the size of the state of West Virginia. PHOTO: Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez distributes educational material to drivers on how to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus at a checkpoint in Window Rock, Arizona, on March 24, 2020. (Donovan Quintero/Reuters) The Navajo Department of Health has conducted more than 25,000 COVID-19 tests. "The Navajo Nation is testing our citizens at a greater rate per capita than any state in the entire country and that's a major reason why we have high numbers of positive cases," Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement Monday night. "The Navajo Nation must continue to work together with local, state, and federal partners to stop the spread of COVID-19 by staying home, washing hands, staying at least six-feet apart from others, and by wearing proper personal protection, such as face masks when in public." 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 7:31 a.m.: Russian prime minister officially returns to work after battling COVID-19 Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin officially returned to work Tuesday after being hospitalized for several weeks with COVID-19, the Kremlin said. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin had appointed an acting-prime minister in the meantime, Mishustin still held video conferences with ministers from the hospital, sitting up in bed and wearing a suit. PHOTO: In this file photo taken on February 3, 2020, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin arrives for a meeting with his deputies in Moscow. Mishustin is formally returning to his duties after battling COVID-19, the Kremlin said on May 19. (Dmitry Astakhov/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images) Putin on Tuesday cancelled his order that appointed an acting-prime minister, allowing Mishutin to formally return to his role, according to the Kremlin. Russian news agencies reported that Mishustin was still in the hospital the previous day. Putin's longtime press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, revealed last week that he was also being treated for COVID-19. 6:13 a.m.: Russia nears 300,000 total cases of COVID-19 Russia on Tuesday reported 9,263 new cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 299,941, according to the country's coronavirus response headquarters. Russia has the second-largest national tally of COVID-19 cases in the world, behind the United States. The latest daily tally is down from a record 11,656 new infections on May 11. Last Thursday marked the end of a 12-day streak during which the country registered over 10,000 new cases per day. PHOTO: A serviceman of Russia's emergencies ministry wearing protective gear disinfects the Leningradsky railway station in Moscow on May 19, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images) Russia also has one of the world's fastest rates of new infections in the coronavirus pandemic, second only to the U.S. However, the nation's death toll from COVID-19 remains relatively low with 115 new fatalities reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide total to 2,837, according to the coronavirus response headquarters. 5:34 a.m.: France's top court bans drone surveillance in Paris for enforcing restrictions France's highest administrative court ruled on Monday that Paris police could no longer use drones to surveil public compliance with coronavirus-related restrictions. Police have used unmanned aerial vehicles with surveillance cameras in the French capital since mid-March to ensure people were complying with containment measures imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. However, the Paris-based Council of State decided that it "constitutes a serious and manifestly unlawful infringement of privacy rights," according to an order made public Monday in response to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by civil liberties groups. Following Monday's ruling, the Paris Police Prefecture announced in a statement that "drone monitoring of compliance with deconfinement measures has been suspended." PHOTO: This file photo taken on Feb. 27, 2015, shows an inoperative drone near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. (Dominique Faget/AFP via Getty Images) France is one of the worst-affected nations in Europe amid the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 180,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 and at least 28,242 deaths, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. Earlier this month, France began to gradually emerge from a nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the virus. Some 1.5 million elementary and primary school students returned to classrooms across the country last week. 4:56 a.m.: Daily coronavirus deaths fall below 100 in Italy Italy reported less than 100 new deaths from the novel coronavirus on Monday for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The country's Civil Protection Department registered 99 fatalities over a 24-hour period, bringing the nationwide death toll to 32,007. Monday's daily rise was down from 145 the previous day. PHOTO: People gather for an aperitif drink outside a bar by the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, on May 18, 2020, as the nationwide lockdown is eased after over two months of measures aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images) The number of active cases also fell Monday to 66,553, down from 68,351 the previous day. Meanwhile, four regions -- Basilicata, Calabria, Sardinia and Umbria -- reported having zero infections. Overall, more than 225,000 people in Italy have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Once the worst-hit country in Europe, Italy was the first nation in the world to put a nationwide lockdown in place due to the pandemic. The country began to slowly lift the strict lockdown earlier this month. Most businesses have since resumed activities but under social distancing rules, with shops, restaurants, hair salons and churches reopening Monday. 3:45 a.m.: Oregon Supreme Court temporarily reinstates governor's coronavirus restrictions The Oregon Supreme Court has halted a lower court's order that had invalidated the statewide restrictions imposed by Gov. Kate Brown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. A Baker County circuit judge ruled on Monday that the governor's coronavirus-related restrictions were "null and void," in response to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by 10 churches across Oregon that argued the state's social-distancing rules were unconstitutional. Within hours, Brown filed an emergency motion seeking a hold on the judge's preliminary injunction pending a review by the Oregon Supreme Court. PHOTO: People hold signs outside the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on May 2, 2020, to protest Gov. Kate Brown's executive order that shut down much of the state's economy and imposed social distancing to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. (Andrew Selsky/AP) The state's high court granted that motion late Monday night. "Following swift action by the Oregon Supreme Court, my emergency orders to protect the health and safety of Oregonians will remain in effect statewide while the court hears arguments in this lawsuit," Brown said in a statement after the court's ruling. "From the beginning of this crisis, I have worked within my authority, using science and data as my guide, heeding the advice of medical experts. This strategy has saved lives and protected Oregonians from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic." PHOTO: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown speaks at a news conference in Portland, Oregon, on March 16, 2020. (Gillian Flaccus/AP) The Oregon Supreme Court is requiring both sides to submit their arguments in the case by Friday. The court did not set a timeframe for when it would decide the issue, according to Portland ABC affiliate KATU. Brown declared a statewide state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic in early March and has since issued multiple executive orders, including the closure of all schools and nonessential businesses as well as a ban on dine-in service at restaurants and bars. Earlier this month, the governor extended the order another 60 days until July 6. However, most Oregon counties have gotten the state's approval to begin relaxing those restrictions last Friday. ABC News' Dee Carden, Ibtissem Guenfoud, Marilyn Heck, Aaron Katersky, Alina Lobzina, Taylor Dunn, Phoebe Natanson, Kirit Radia, Patrick Reevell, Sarah Shales and Christine Theodorou contributed to this report. Maryland reports highest 1-day rise in coronavirus infections originally appeared on abcnews.go.com Berlin: Outside Germany's Reichstag, a vegan celebrity cook grabbed the mic and shouted that he was "ready to die" to stop self-serving elites from using the pandemic to topple the world order. Some distance away, a group of women discussed how Bill Gates was plotting to force immunisation on the population. Youngsters sporting cardboard cutouts of the German Constitution chanted: "End the corona dictatorship!" Few wore masks, and those that did came with slogans like "Merkel's muzzle". Even as Germany is celebrated as Europe's foremost example of pandemic management, an eclectic protest movement that began last month with a few dozen people marching against coronavirus restrictions has ballooned into more than 10,000 demonstrators in cities across the country. The one driving force behind the mobilisation is the country's far right, particularly the Alternative for Germany party, or AfD. The party's leaders see the protests as a first step toward moving back into the national conversation, using them to position their message for the months ahead, when Germany must confront job losses and a battered economy. The Reichstag building, home of the German federal parliament, is mirrored in the glasses of a woman wearing a face mask with the slogan"Don't Give (Bill) Gates A Chance" Credit:AP "The crisis is coming, it isn't here yet," said Nicolaus Fest, head of Berlin's AfD chapter, who was protesting near the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday. "Some time soon, a lot of people will be unemployed." President Trump needs to comply with the foreign and domestic emoluments clauses just as presidents from both political parties have done for hundreds of years. The American people deserve to be assured that when a president makes decisions, these decisions are made in service of the best interests of the nation, not the best interests of the president. Unfortunately, as demonstrated by $970,000 in U.S. government payments to Mr. Trumps company, the American people currently have no such assurances. New York state's Democratic presidential primary is a go. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that New York's Board of Elections can't call off the primary scheduled for June 23. In agreeing with a lower court's decision, the Tuesday ruling will put former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and several other Democrats back on the ballot even though all but Biden have suspended their campaigns. The board decided in late April to cancel the Democratic primary, which had already been pushed from April to June over coronavirus concerns, because it determined Biden was the only candidate left on the ballot. Sanders protested the decision, but it was entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang who led a lawsuit to get the primary reinstated. A district court agreed with Yang's suit earlier this month and declared calling off the primary was a violation of 10 Democratic presidential candidates' First and 14th Amendment rights. The Second Circuit upheld that decision on Tuesday. While Sanders had suspended his campaign and endorsed Biden, he encouraged supporters to keep voting for him so his progressive ideas could gain influence in the Democratic party. He, Yang, and any other Democrat who had filed to be on the primary ballot will be on the June ballot even if they'd since dropped out. More stories from theweek.com Trump threatens to block funding to Michigan over false claim about absentee ballots 2 dams fail in Michigan, forcing 10,000 evacuations, emergency declaration The snake oil salesman cometh Aya Hachem, a law student in north England, was an innocent bystander killed while grocery shopping in Ramadan. Three men suspected of murder have been arrested after the death of a 19-year-old woman in Blackburn, north England a killing that has shocked the countrys Muslim community. Aya Hachem, who hailed from a Lebanese refugee family, was a second-year law student at the University of Salford and a volunteer with the Childrens Society charity. Police have said she was not the intended target of the attack, as they sought to ease fears spreading on social media that her death was the result of a racist assault. There is no evidence to suggest Aya was the intended target of this attack and every indication is that she was an innocent passerby, Lancashire police said. We are aware of rumours circulating on social media, and we would stress that we are not treating the incident as terrorism-related and do not believe it was a racially-motivated attack. First and foremost, our condolences are with her family, who have lost their daughter during the holy month of Ramadan. Aya was shot in broad daylight while shopping at around 3pm on Sunday. She had been walking to a supermarket when shots were fired from a nearby car. Sadly, one of them struck and killed her, the police said. The men arrested were all in their 30s. Terry Woods, of Lancashire Police, said: This was an appalling and senseless attack on an innocent young woman, whose life was cut short. Hachem was the eldest of four siblings and reports have said her body is being flown to Lebanon to be buried. In a statement, her family said: Aya has been taken from us in the most horrific circumstances. We are absolutely devastated by her death and would like to take this opportunity to plead with any members of the public who may have any information, however small that may bring those responsible to justice. Mark Russel, head of Childrens Society, paid tribute, saying: We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of one of our young trustees, Aya Hachem. She was a truly remarkable young woman, and an inspiring voice for children and young people. Our thoughts are with her family at this awful time. Meanwhile, two fundraising pages have been set up in honour of Hachem. One raising funds to build a mosque in her name has already achieved the 30,000 target ($37,000), while another, by Global One, a UK-based NGO, seeks to remember Hachem by building water wells for vulnerable women and girls in water-poor communities. The family of a young man shot while in his car in Melbourne's south-east last week are grieving and "in shock" following his death. Abdul Hakim Naurozi, 31, was shot on Calrossie Crescent in Endeavour Hills about 8pm on May 11. Abdul Hakim Naurozi was killed in Endeavour Hills last week. Emergency services tried to save Mr Naurozi but he was unresponsive and died at the scene. Two men Blake Wynne, 22, and 19-year-old Jordan Fiscalini have been charged with murder over his death. Weve been very pleased with our investment in Gaggle, which is basically like having your own personal 911 system specifically for your district, said Dr. Melissa Williams-Scott, executive director of information systems, Dickinson Independent School District, Texas. All educators would agree that its vital to protect students both physically and digitally, but how do they measure the return on their safety investments? In its latest report, Investing in Student Safety: The Costs, the Benefits, and the ROI, Gaggle helps readers consider the financial, logistical, and legal aspects of a comprehensive student safety plan. The report examines the logistics involved in addressing external and internal threats to student well-being, from developing a comprehensive safety plan, including implementing district cybersecurity, to cultivating positive school climates and cultures. It also discusses the costs associated with safety plans and the state funding options that are currently available. Even fostering positive school climates and cultures can pay off significantly, said Gaggle founder and CEO Jeff Patterson. School districts nationwide are seeing a rise in expensive lawsuits resulting from bullying incidents. An estimated 160,000 children miss school on any given day due to fear of bullying by other students. Plus, researchers at Columbia University have determined that schools see an $11 return on investment for every dollar spent on social and emotional learning programs. In its final section, Investing in Student Safety explores the subject of mitigating risks to student safety with school safety solutions. The section covers how such measures can provide legal protection for a district, takes a close look at student privacy rights and compliance with federal regulations, and dives into state legislative changes designed to address mental health challenges. Prudent districts are addressing school safety by attempting to be in front of any incidents that may cause harm to the students. If school districts dont proactively support students, there is a greater potential for liability lawsuits, stated Superintendent Dr. Tammy Campbell of Federal Way School District in Washington. It puts a structure in place that emphasizes what to do when a notification of a student who is potentially in distress is received by the Gaggle student safety platform. These efforts reduce not only the opportunities for students to follow through on threats, but also the risks to the district when a student is harmed. Of course, the greatest return on investment is the student lives saved as a result of school safety solutions. We cant quantify that because you cant put a value on human life, Patterson continued. But we can say that having a high level of confidence that students feel safe and secure enough to be able to thrive academically and socially in their schools is well worth the investment. Weve been very pleased with our investment in Gaggle, which is basically like having your own personal 911 system specifically for your district, said Dr. Melissa Williams-Scott, executive director of information systems, Dickinson Independent School District, Texas. Investing in Student Safety: The Costs, the Benefits, and the ROI can be downloaded at https://news.gaggle.net/investing-in-student-safety. About Gaggle|http://www.gaggle.net Since 1999, Gaggle has been the leader in helping K-12 districts manage student safety on school-provided technology. Using a powerful combination of artificial intelligence and trained safety experts, the safety solution proactively assists districts 24/7/365 in the prevention of student suicide, bullying, inappropriate behaviors, school violence, and other harmful situations. Most importantly, Gaggle continues to help hundreds of districts avoid tragedies and save lives, while also protecting their liability. Thus far in the 2019-20 academic year, Gaggle has helped districts save the lives of more than 830 students who were planning or actually attempting suicide. For more information, visit http://www.gaggle.net and follow Gaggle on Twitter at @Gaggle_K12. # # # The Saudi officer who carried out a terrorist attack on a Florida military base began radicalizing as early as 2015 -- years before arriving in the U.S. to train alongside American troops, the FBI director said on Monday. Federal law enforcement agents were able to unlock two phones owned by Mohammed Alshamrani six months after he shot and killed three sailors and injured eight others in an attack on Naval Air Station Pensacola. The phones showed Alshamrani began embracing terrorist ideology about two years before he began training on U.S. military bases in 2017. "This is an important moment in an important case," FBI Director Christopher Wray said on getting access to Alshamrani's phones. "It's important because of what accessing the evidence of this killer's phone allows us to do to protect the American people." Read More: FBI Finds Link Between NAS Pensacola Gunman, al-Qaida Alshamrani was sharing plans and tactics with members of the group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, Wray said, and was coordinating with them and providing them an opportunity to take credit for the attack. Defense Secretary Mark Esper indicated on Monday that the FBI's continued investigation could lead to new procedures to protect troops working with international service members. "Based on the FBI findings, and in addition to already executed protective measures, the Department will take further prudent and effective measures to safeguard our people," Esper said in a statement. The Navy and Marine Corps have barred foreign troops training on U.S. bases from buying or carrying personal weapons. International military students also face new vetting processes and tighter base-access rules. And the Marine Corps now allows off-duty law enforcement personnel to carry concealed weapons on base because of the attack. Wray and Attorney General William Barr both slammed Apple after the company declined to assist in opening the locked phones that once belonged to Alshamrani. They held information key to the investigation, Wray said, about Alshamrani's contacts and motives. Since accessing the phones, Barr said the U.S. has since carried out a counterterrorism operation in Yemen that took out an operative from AQAP who was one of Alshamrani's overseas associates. Barr declined to say whether the operation included air strikes and whether the operative was killed in the attack. "I'm very pleased with the results of the counterterrorism operation and believe it has further degraded the capabilities of al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula," he said. The FBI's investigation into the Pensacola attack remains ongoing, Wray said. The agency hasn't identified any current threats or operatives in the U.S. based on the information gathered from the phones. Alshamrani killed three sailors in the attack: Ensign Joshua Watson and Naval Aircrewmen (Mechanical) 3rd Class Mohammed Haitham and Cameron S. Walters. Purple Heart medals were approved for those three, along with the eight others injured in the attack. Several heroism awards were also approved for those who risked their lives during the attack to save others. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Read Next: Pensacola Heroes: How 2 Marines and an Injured Sailor Saved Lives During Mass Shooting The Department of Telecom (DoT) has set up a round-the-clock control room for managing and restoring communication network disruption in view of the impending super cyclonic storm 'Amphan', a top official said on Tuesday. Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash said arrangements have been made to send SMS alerts to people in local languages and mobile subscribers will automatically get connected to any network that will be available in the area during the crisis. "The cyclone is very dangerous but despite this we will normalise the situation very soon and minimise the damage," Prakash told reporters while briefing media about preparation for communication networks. Amphan developed into a super cyclone over the Bay of Bengal on Monday and has the potential to cause extensive damage in the coastal districts of West Bengal when it makes landfall, the government had said. The cyclone is expected to make landfall on the West Bengal coast on Wednesday afternoon between Digha in West Bengal and Hatiya island in Bangladesh. It is expected to have a devastating wind speed of 155-180 kilometer per hour that can damage telecom towers, uproot trees and electricitypoles. Prakash said people will be able to connect with any network available in their area without paying any extra charge as the government has allowed roaming arrangements among telecom operators in the affected areas. Broadband connections of hospitals and district authorities - revenue department, collector, police, SP - will be repaired on priority basis so that whosoever is providing leadership in controlling the operations should remain connected, Prakash said. He said telecom operators have been asked to keep sufficient generator sets with diesel in each district to provide power supply to mobile towers when electricity is disrupted. "Special focus will be on base station controllers (BSC) and mobile switching centres. Many towers are connected with base station controllers. Any damage to BSC affects several towers," Prakash said. He said telecom operators have been asked to keep spare parts and optical fibre in place for repairing the damages that may be caused by the cyclone. Industry body COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews said: "We are hoping that telecom networks will be up and running throughout the incident. With all of the preparation, we expect to maintain up time on the network without any serious deficiency. All things have been managed to the best we can." He said some of the mobile towers that have switched to solar energy may get impacted but arrangements have been made to restore any damage in a short time. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Recently, companies and schools have been forced to switch to remote workplace and learning environments. This crisis is a reminder that organizations should always be prepared to go remote. We are taking this opportunity to share Logicalis subject matter expert Paul Andersons insights into why remote access points are important to schools and businesses. What challenges do you see companies facing during the COVID-19 pandemic? My overall impression from talking with different customers and some of our sellers in the industry right now is that they are asking if their users are able to work remotely from home. Its not just a matter of having a Wi-Fi capability, but about having enough bandwidth speed. We are also working with them on the security aspects of those working from home, because most everyone can jump on a network and get going, but they may not have the right security and the solutions to map back to the infrastructure. Were seeing that a lot of companies today, especially within the healthcare and educational areas, have outdated areas in their infrastructure or dont have the infrastructure to support and grow to meet demands. What are some of the different challenges you see K-12 schools facing during the pandemic compared to businesses? I would say a few areas will overlap. The biggest concern is security, now that you have more students working from home. There is a big security issue concerning where those users can go on and what they can access. Students also need the capability to complete their school work from home, using the right setup and the infrastructure, as well as the knowledge to use it too. Every kid knows how to get on, but when you go to their learning capabilities, thats where there are gaps. Do you see different challenges with colleges and universities? At a college level, you would see the same issues, except that maybe their infrastructure is more adaptable and you can scale quicker with what they have on-site. And they have more flexibility, because you have online universities. Traditional brick-and-mortar schools, now that they need to use Wi-Fi capabilities, are facing the same challenges with security and mobility and how they create a software-defined foundation within those areas. Why are remote access points the right solution for schools in particular? The usefulness of remote access points depends on where the students are, where access points can be located, and how to use them. Today, a lot of students will be using remote access points because theyre all working from home. Wayfinding, and the different ways that works within the schools, is important especially with Aruba as well as how those access points can be used by on-site students and guests and how it scales within their environment. When you walk onto a campus today, most students ask: Where am I going to access the network? How do I get there? Wayfinding is important because a lot of people bring their own devices to campus to use those access points. Wayfinding guides that student through the campus or wherever they may need to go. How about for K through 12? It would be the same thing in K through 12. You could also limit the students access to an access point in the classroom, unless youre using a mobile classroom and the students need to go everywhere. Most classrooms today are going to be friendly environments where theres no fixed positioning. Its not, I have a chalkboard in front of me. Everything is mobile. So it depends where the students go: from that classroom to the next classroom or into the computer lab. What about in this specific context of having to do e-Learning from home? How does remote access help with that? The e-Learning is going to be able to define the remote access, depending on the curriculum and the schools and how they set it up. What is on the wireless and private network depends on what access youd want the students to be able to go to. A lot of the schools in Arizona are giving out Chromebooks to students, but theyre also carrying out rapid deployment. With dynamic segmentation and role-based policies, that helps set up students where they need to go. How might these issues be different for businesses? It would actually cover the same type of areas. You would just have to click from your business environment. Depending on where employees are, they would need to maintain connectivity so they can work in remote environments. A lot of the solutions are mapped over the same areas, such as in healthcare. Its just how you deliver your content. In areas like healthcare, security is important, especially for the guest who is on your network and should only be able to access part of your network. A lot of Aruba products are going to work within areas with wireless capabilities and IoT, and thanks to the way it works, youre looking at what is on the wireless network. On a private network, you have heart pumps, you have monitors, you have controlled ventilators, IV drip machines. All these things are very important. The question is: How do you secure them? How do you want them on the network so you can get the quickest access? Youve been saying a lot about security. What makes remote access points particularly strong as far as security goes? Everyones network, whether it be internal or external, must be secure from the edge to the core. Organizations must define what areas are most valuable and how to protect them. Everything should be 100% secure through secure mobility and a software-defined foundation. Starting on day one, you need to ask: What devices need to have access? Who needs to have control? What policies do you have in place? The rapid deployment part of it would be there, but if you dont have internal policies on how you protect your customers and your employees, it doesnt matter how quickly access points work. Could you say a little bit about how remote access points function? I can tell you that the rapid deployment part of it adapts and scales to the customer environment. Remote access points are flexible, simplified, secure, and mobile. Again, weve talked a lot about security. What are some of the other top benefits of remote access points? An access point is an access point; your network needs to be secure. A lot of people think of access points as the little wireless things on your ceiling at your work or in the hallways. Some of the areas that customers need to look into are related to the software thats in the environment and how to secure it from the edge to the core. Some of the product lines, such as HPE ClearPath or Aruba IntroSpect, define your network traffic and whats on it, whats going on, and whats coming at it, and set role-based policies around that. Again, weve talked a lot about security. What are some of the other top benefits of remote access points? There are a lot of great solutions out there, but compared to its competitors, Aruba has a lot more open policies on their products and they adapt to infrastructure, especially for education and healthcare. For example, ClearPath is software that will run on any of the competitors products out there, especially Ciscos, to help with some of the security software issues. And its built to last with a lifetime warranty. It just depends on the environment that its going into, but we see its benefits in schools, healthcare organizations, and higher education institutions. What value does Logicalis bring to Aruba solutions? We are one of the HPE Platinum partners in the area. As a Platinum network provider, we approach customers not just from a hardware aspect but also through managed and professional services to help healthcare, manufacturing, retail, government, and education organizations. We do more than supply the product. We also help clients deploy a product, and before we get into the product, we find where the bottlenecks are and help eliminate them. We can supply these customers with servers and storage for a complete solution. Logicalis is here to help. Reach out today to discuss your networking needs. Despite the state governments order for restraints, a number of private schools in the city are allegedly pressurising parents for payment of fee. Some schools have allegedly also threatened parents to cancel admission of their wards for non-payment of fees. Father of a Class 3 student Dhiraj Kumar said, My daughter goes to a private school located near Bypass. The school asked me to pay Rs 14,650 which includes Rs 9000 for term fee, Rs.2,400 for bus fee and Rs 3,250 for tuition fee in April. Now I am again getting reminders for depositing May-June fees. Kumar said, Despite the DMs order, the school has asked to pay term fee and transportation fee. It seems that the private schools have gone beyond the governments jurisdiction. He also alleged that the school has hiked tuition fee by 12.92 % and transportation fee by 14.58% than the previous year. Another parent Avinash Singh said, The school has asked me to pay more than Rs. 40,000 which includes Rs.14,000 under annual fee, Rs. 5000 as security deposit along with Rs 1600 as transportation charge. Some of the schools have asked parents to pay three-month instalment without any relaxation. In April, Patna district magistrate Kumar Ravi had issued an order instructing all the private schools not to pressurise parents for depositing three months fee at a time in the wake of coronavirus lockdown. However, the order stated that schools facilitating online classes may request for one-month tuition fee but they cannot exert pressure on parents. The private schools have their own alibi to collect fees normally. Why private schools be restrained, if government schools are allowed to collect fees? asked Shamael Ahmad, national president of Private Schools and Children Welfare Association, arguing that the schools have to bear recurring operational costs such as rent and electricity bills even if they are closed. Ahmad also complained that government utilises resources of private schools including their buses during election. But when it comes to offer them relief packages or relaxation, government steps back. On Sunday, regional deputy director of Education Surendra Kumar Sinha informed that showcause letter had been issued to 28 schools so far. He said, A total of 28 private schools have been served show-cause notice on violation of Bihar Private School (Fee Regulation) Act 2019. They have been commissioned to reply attached with fee structure of current and last academic year. Of total, 12 schools have replied so far. Some of them have asked time period until lockdown lifts. Houston police released more details about a bank robbery inside an east Houston brewery last week. Three men dressed head-to-toe in safety gear pulled guns on employees and customers at the Together Credit Union on Thursday morning, which is located inside the Anheuser-Busch brewery along the East Freeway and Gellhorn. Police say they ordered everyone to the ground before singling out the branch manager. FATHER CHARGED: Good Samaritan pulls child from deadly wreck, father charged with murder They ordered the manager to open a safe in a back office before raiding the teller drawers. Police were called to the credit union as the robbery was happening, but the three men escaped before officers arrived. The crew made off with an undisclosed amount of money. No one was injured. The first suspect is described as a black male in his 40s or 50s, about 5 feet, 10 inches to 5 feet, 11 inches tall with a stocky build. He was wearing a gray hard hat, sunglasses, white ventilator mask, yellow construction vests and a blue long-sleeved shirt. The second suspect is also described as a black male in his 40s or 50s, standing between 5 feet, 6 inches and 5 feet, 8 inches tall with a medium built. He had salt and pepper hair, a beard, an orange hard hat, sunglasses, a blue mask and an orange construction vest on during the robbery. The third suspect is described as a black male in his 20s or 30s, about 5 feet, 8 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall with a thin build. He was wearing an orange Astros hat, sunglasses, a blue mask and black clothes. Anyone with information is urged to call Houston Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477). Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.com Edgar Wright is hosting a viewing party of his 2010 film Scott Pilgrim vs The World, the director has announced. Wright shared the news this week, explaining that he plans on live-tweeting the film on Wednesday 20 May from 5pm. He also revealed that he will share behind-the-scenes stories from the making of the movie, which was based on the series of graphic novels by Bryan Lee OMalley. Among the films cast were Michael Cera, Brie Larson, Anna Kendrick and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Ahoy! Join me on Wednesday 20 May at 5pm PST where Ill be live tweeting Scott Pilgrim vs the World for @TheAcademy and sharing tons of behind the scenes stories from the making of it! #ScottPilgrim #WatchWithTheAcademy, Wright tweeted. It was recently reported that Wright and Baby Driver producer Nira Park will collaborate with writer-director Joe Cornish and producer Rachael Prior for a new production company, Complete Fiction. Variety reports that the LA and London-based project will operate across both film and television, and is already working on three new series for Netflix. Cornish will executive produce the first: an adaptation of Jonathan Strouds supernatural detective novels Lockwood & Co, followed by sci-fi horror trilogy The Murders of Molly Southbourne and historical fantasy series The City of Brass. Scientists have identified three biological clues in COVID-19 patients blood samples to predict their risk of death with up to 90 per cent accuracy. Chinese researchers used machine learning to analyse blood samples of patients in Wuhan and identify the three biomarkers of mortality risk 10 days early. High levels of both an enzyme associated with tissue breakdown and a protein produced during inflammation, as well as low levels of lymphocyte white blood cells, were the key predictors. Using these markers for an early diagnosis of risk of death among people with COVID-19 is vital to prioritise care for the patients who are most at risk. A blood sample can quickly predict patients at the highest riskof death from COVID-19, allowing them to be prioritisedin hospitals worldwide The research provides a method to quickly predict patients at the highest risk, allowing them to receive urgent treatment and potentially reduce the mortality rate. The three key features LDH, lymphocytes and hs-CRP can be easily collected in any hospital, the researchers write in Nature Machine Intelligence. In crowded hospitals, and with shortages of medical resources, this simple model can help to quickly prioritise patients, especially during a pandemic when limited healthcare resources have to be allocated. As an increase in COVID-19 cases puts pressure on healthcare services worldwide, fast, accurate and early clinical assessment of the disease severity is vital, the researchers write. Vials with blood samples seen at a medical centre. The this makes use of a database of blood samples from 485 infected patients in the region of Wuhan, China It has been reported that somewhere between 13.8 per cent to 19.1 per cent of COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, China, where the disease originated, became severely ill. But in overworked hospitals, there had been no prognostic biomarker to distinguish patients that require immediate medical attention. To remedy this, the researchers used a database of blood samples from 485 infected patients in the region of Wuhan between January 10 and February 18 this year By February 18, 375 of this total with a definite outcome 201 survived and 174 had died were used to develop an algorithm. By collecting medical information of both sets of patients in machine learning software, the researchers were able to identify the most common characteristics in the patients who had died. An artist's illustration of lymphocytes. Low levels of lymphocytes in the blood - known as lymphopenia - is a common feature in patients with COVID-19 and might be a critical factor associated with disease severity and mortality The model was able to accurately identify the outcome of patients, regardless of their original diagnosis upon hospital admission. On average, the accuracy of our algorithm was 90 per cent and could be applied to any blood sample taken throughout a patients stay in hospital. The model selected the three biomarkers that predict the mortality of individual patients more than 10 days in advance of death or discharge firstly, lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), an enzyme found in nearly all living cells. In particular, relatively high levels of LDH alone seem to play a crucial role in distinguishing the vast majority of cases that require immediate medical attention, the team said. Blood sample tube for lactate dehydrogenase or LDH test, diagnosis for tissue damage or cellular destruction, and one of the three markers This is consistent with current medical knowledge that high LDH levels are associated with tissue breakdown occurring in various diseases, including pulmonary disorders such as pneumonia. The second marker was low levels of a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes a condition known as lymphopenia. Lymphocytes are of 'fundamental importance' in the immune system because they determine immune response to infectious microorganisms and other foreign substances, such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the team said. In human adults, lymphocytes make up roughly 20 to 40 percent of the total number of white blood cell and are concentrated in central lymphoid organs and tissues, such as the spleen, tonsils, and lymph nodes, where initial immune response is likely to occur. Chemical structure of C-reactive protein (CRP) molecule. Increased blood levels of this protein indicate the presence of inflammation or infection The third marker was an increase in high-sensitivity C-reactive proteins (hs-CRP) a protein in the blood that increases when inflammation is present. The increase of hs-CRP is an important marker for poor prognosis in acute respiratory distress syndrome and reflects a persistent state of inflammation, the team said. The result of this persistent inflammatory response is large grey-white lesions in the lungs of patients with COVID-19, as observed in autopsies. The data in the study was obtained at an early period in the emergence of the disease, meaning a relatively small handful of patient data was used. Researchers conclude that their technique can easily be repeated to obtain more accurate models as more data become available. COVID-19 has infected more than 4.8 million people and killed 319,000, as of Tuesday. SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tapcart, an established leader in the mobile commerce space, announced today that it has secured an additional $10M in funding. The funding will be used to accelerate the already rapid adoption of its existing platform, which has been used to create mobile apps for many of the world's top Shopify Plus brands including Fashion Nova, Chubbies, Urban Planet, and more. The Series A round was led by SignalFire with the participation of previous investors, Greycroft and Amplify. To date, Tapcart has raised $15.1M in total funding. Tapcart launched in 2017 with a simple premise, to make mobile shopping easy, fun, and attainable for every brand. Native mobile app development was historically something that could only be done by developers and was only available to Enterprise businesses with resources. Tapcart disrupted the mobile industry with its ground-breaking SaaS platform, which enables businesses of any size to design and launch a fully native app for a monthly fee using a simple drag-and-drop Editor. As a distinguished member of the new Shopify Plus Certified App Program, Tapcart has been recognized for the quality of its technology as well as the platform's ability to solve complex merchant needs. With this new round of investment, Tapcart will be looking to further expand operations, bring on several key hires, and continue to build the product roadmap with exciting new features. Chris Farmer, Managing Director & CEO of SignalFire is backing Tapcart after the massive Enterprise growth the company has experienced within a short period of time. "We're very excited to partner with the Tapcart team who are building the infrastructure at the forefront of mobile commerce. While their roots are in the Shopify ecosystem, there is a massive opportunity to also help retailers to get back on their feet with mobile & offline commerce." Eric Netsch, co-founder and CEO of Tapcart said, "We have been very fortunate to create a product that can help small businesses and large businesses alike as their needs change in relation to what is going on in the world. The strength of our product is a testament to the amazing team that we have today and we're thrilled to continue building the future of mobile." About Tapcart Tapcart is a mobile commerce SaaS platform that integrates directly with Shopify, enabling brands to quickly and easily build native mobile apps for their eCommerce stores. The company is trusted by thousands of Shopify brands including Fashion Nova, Chubbies, Urban Planet, and more. Tapcart is a Shopify Plus Certified App Partner and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. To learn more about Tapcart, visit Tapcart.com . About SignalFire SignalFire is the first venture capital firm built from the ground up as a technology company, The company invests in leaders with an uncommon passion, offering unprecedented data, advice, and access from seed to scale. With a hybrid technology and people-powered approach, the team is uniquely qualified to help founders navigate the toughest parts of building a company at every stage, including recruiting, expert advice, and a corporate network. Launched in 2013, the firm has nearly $1B in assets under management and has made notable investments in top Silicon Valley startups including Zume , Lyric , Ro , Grammarly , Color Genomics , ClassDojo and Frame.io among others. For more information about SignalFire, please visit https://www.signalfire.com/ Media Contact: Alyssa Zarouk | [email protected] SOURCE Tapcart Related Links http://tapcart.com/ Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:09:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A stranded migrant worker's family lines up to board buses heading for their hometowns during extended lockdown to curb COVID-19 in Ghaziabad, India, May 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Javed Dar) -- India's death toll rises to 3,163, total cases reach 101,139; -- Bangladesh reports 1,251 new cases, total at 25,121; -- Infections in Indonesia increase by 486 to 18,496; -- The Philippines announces 224 new cases, tally at 12,942. HONG KONG, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia-Pacific countries. NEW DELHI -- The total number of COVID-19 pandemic cases crossed the 100,000-mark in India on Tuesday, reaching 101,139, as the death toll rose to 3,163, said the latest data released by the federal health ministry. A total of 134 new deaths, and 4,970 positive cases were reported since Monday. On May 7 the country had 50,000 infections, which means the cases doubled in the past 12 days. Stranded migrant workers line up to board buses heading for their hometowns during extended lockdown to curb COVID-19 in Ghaziabad, India, May 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Javed Dar) DHAKA -- Bangladesh reported 1,251 new cases on Tuesday, taking its total to 25,121, and 21 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 370. Bangladesh on Monday reported the highest daily jump of new 1,602 cases in a 24-hour period. People have their temperature checked while entering a market in Dhaka, Bangladesh on May 11, 2020. (Stringer/Xinhua) JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government on Tuesday confirmed 486 new positive cases, bringing the total number of infections to 18,496. A total of 30 new deaths were reported, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,221. Workers carry bags of rice that will be used in food packages for needy families at a warehouse in Jakarta, Indonesia, May 18, 2020. (Photo by Zulkarnain/Xinhua) MANILA -- The Philippine health department on Tuesday reported that 224 more people have contracted the new coronavirus, bringing the total to 12,942. In a daily bulletin, the Department of Health said 114 more patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the number of recoveries to 2,843, and six more patients have died from the COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 837. A worker assembles surgical masks inside a factory in Manila, the Philippines on May 15, 2020. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali) KUALA LUMPUR -- The number of new COVID-19 cases in Malaysia outpaced the recoveries for a second day in a row after another 37 new cases were reported, pushing the national total to 6,978 cases. Of the new cases, 35 were local transmissions and two were imported cases. One new death has been reported, with the patient having suffered from health problems before being infected, pushing the total deaths to 114. Shoppers scan QR code for health check before entering a shopping plaza in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 16, 2020. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua) MALE -- The number of confirmed cases in the Maldives has risen to 1,106 as the spread of the coronavirus appears to slow down, state media reported on Tuesday. A total of 1,106 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the Maldives, with 1,027 being active cases and 13 patients undergoing hospital treatment, state-owned Public Service Media said. A policeman is seen on duty at an empty street during a curfew in Male, the Maldives, April 3, 2020. (Photo by Li Xiang/Xinhua) SEOUL -- South Korea reported 13 more cases compared to 24 hours ago as of 0:00 a.m. Tuesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 11,078. The domestic infection stayed in single digits for the fourth consecutive day. No more death was confirmed, leaving the death toll at 263. People take a walk along Cheonggyecheon Stream in Seoul, South Korea, May 10, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang) SYDNEY -- Australia's official COVID-19 death toll reached 100 on Tuesday, after a 93-year-old woman passed away at a Sydney aged care home. As of Tuesday, Australia had officially recorded 7,065 cases of COVID-19, and 6,389 of which have recovered. A staff disinfects public equipment at a library in Canberra, Australia, May 18, 2020. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua) YANGON -- The total number of COVID-19 infections in Myanmar has risen to 191, with three more confirmed cases reported on Tuesday. The death toll stands at six. A novice wearing a mask walks along a street for alm in Yangon, Myanmar, May 18, 2020. (Xinhua/U Aung) [May 19, 2020] Delaware Enhanced Global Dividend and Income Fund Appoints Allan Saustrup Jensen as Co-Manager Today, Delaware Enhanced Global Dividend and Income Fund (NYSE: DEX) (the "Fund"), a New York Stock Exchange-listed closed-end fund trading under the symbol "DEX," announced that, effective May 19, 2020, Allan Saustrup Jensen will be appointed as co-manager for the Fund. Mr. Jensen will join Damon J. Andres, Asa Annerstedt, Wayne A. Anglace, Adam H. Brown, Liu-Er Chen, Craig C. Dembek, Roger A. Early, Chris Gowlland, Jens Hansen, Claus Juul, Nikhil G. Lalvani, Paul A. Matlack, John P. McCarthy, Klaus Petersen, and Babak (Bob) Zenouzi in making day-to-day investment decisions for the Fund. Allan Saustrup Jensen, CFA, CAIA, Portfolio Manager, joined Macquarie Investment Management (MIM) in May 2020 as a portfolio manager for the firm's Global Equity team. He has more than 20 years of experience in the asset management industry. Prior to joining MIM, he spent five years at European Capital Partners as a fund manager. From 2010 to 2015, Jensen was a trader at European Value Partners. Prior to that, he spent four years at UBS Wealth Management as a portfolio manager. He began his investment career at Nordea Bank. Jensen attended Copenhagen Business School where he earned a Graduate Diploma in finance. The Fund's primary investment objective is to seek current income, with a secondary objective of capital appreciation. The Fund invests globally in dividend-paying or income-generating securities across multiple asset classes, including but not limited to: equity securities of large, well-established companies; securities issued by real estate companies (including real estate investment trusts and real estate industry operating companies); debt securities (such as government bonds; investment grade and high risk, high yield corporate bonds; and convertible bonds); and emerging market securities. The Fund also uses enhanced income strateges by engaging in dividend capture trading; option overwriting; and realization of gains on the sale of securities, dividend growth, and currency forwards. There is no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest: (1) at most 60% of its net assets in securities of U.S. issuers; and (2) at least 40% of its net assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers, unless market conditions are not deemed favorable by the Manager, in which case, the Fund would invest at least 30% of its net assets in securities of non-U.S. issuers; and 3) the Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in securities issued by real estate companies (including real estate investment trusts and real estate industry operating companies). In addition, the Fund utilizes leveraging techniques in an attempt to obtain higher return for the Fund. The Fund has implemented a managed distribution policy. Under the policy, the Fund is managed with a goal of generating as much of the distribution as possible from net investment income and short-term capital gains. The balance of the distribution will then come from long-term capital gains to the extent permitted, and if necessary, a return of capital. A return of capital may occur for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the Fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with 'yield' or 'income'. Even though the Fund may realize current year capital gains, such gains may be offset, in whole or in part, by the Fund's capital loss carryovers from prior years. About Macquarie Investment Management Macquarie Investment Management, a member of Macquarie Group, is a global asset manager with offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. As active managers, we prioritize autonomy and accountability at the team level in pursuit of opportunities that matter for clients. In the US, retail investors recognize our Delaware Funds by Macquarie as one of the longest standing mutual fund families, with more than 90 years in existence. Macquarie Investment Management is supported by the resources of Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG; ADR: MQBKY), a global provider of asset management, investment, banking, financial and advisory services. Advisory services are provided by Macquarie Investment Management Business Trust, a registered investment advisor. Macquarie Group refers to Macquarie Group Limited and its subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide. For more information about Delaware Funds by Macquarie, visit delawarefunds.com or call 800 523-1918. Other than Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL), none of the entities referred to in this document are authorized deposit-taking institutions for the purposes of the Banking Act 1959 (Commonwealth of Australia). The obligations of these entities do not represent deposits or other liabilities of MBL, a subsidiary of Macquarie Group Limited and an affiliate of Macquarie Investment Management. MBL does not guarantee or otherwise provide assurance in respect of the obligations of these entities, unless noted otherwise. 2020 Macquarie Management Holdings, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005933/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Newly-freed Colombian hostage Clara Rojas had an emotional reunion Sunday with her son Emmanuel, three years after he was taken from her while she was held captive by leftist rebels, a government source told AFP. "They have met each other. It was a very emotional moment," the official said of the meeting, which came three days after the FARC rebel group released politician Rojas after holding her nearly six years. Rojas, who only found out her jungle-born three-year-old son was alive in a New Year's eve radio broadcast, met the toddler Sunday afternoon after flying into Bogota's military airport with her family from Caracas. The child, whose father is a guerrilla from the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was handed over to Rojas by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, a local government organisation. Rojas met with Emmanuel at a state-run orphanage earlier Sunday, hugging and kissing the three-year-old boy who was spirited away from her at the age of eight months. YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. Head of the Investigation Department at the National Security Service of Armenia Artur Aghajanyan has been relieved from the position upon his application, the NSS told Armenpress. Reporting by Karen Khachatryan; Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan Victorian Premier Steve Bracks admitted on Thursday that a health department bungle over a man charged with deliberately spreading HIV could have been handled better. The Department of Human Services has come under fire for its failure to warn police of a man accused of spreading HIV. The man, Michael John Neal, 48, has been committed to trial on 106 charges alleging he had sex with 16 men between 2000 and 2006 when he knew he was infected with HIV and was under departmental orders to practise safe sex. Neal denies the allegations. Victorian Health Minister Bronwyn Pike claims chief health officer Dr Robert Hall did not receive advice from a panel recommending Neal be isolated from the community. Senior Standard Cell Circuit Design Engineer Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) , California , United States Hardware Summary Posted: May 7, 2020 Role Number: 200001970 Do you have a passion for crafting entirely new solutions? As part of our Digital Design Engineering group, you'll take imaginative and revolutionary ideas and determine how to turn them into reality! You and your team will apply engineering fundamentals and start from scratch if needed, bringing forward-thinking ideas to the real world. Your efforts will be groundbreaking. Join us, and you'll help design the tools that allow us to bring customers experiences they've never before envisioned. You will be part of an exciting silicon design group that is responsible for designing state-of-the-art ASICs. We have an extraordinary opportunity for Senior Standard Cell Circuit Design Engineers! In this highly visible role, you will be at the heart of a processor design effort, working with the custom digital circuits team and library development, making a critical impact delivering products to market quickly. Key Qualifications We are looking for applicants with 10+ years of experience in Custom/Semi-Custom Circuit Design for Low Power and High Performance Blocks. Good understanding of transistor level design, analysis and optimization. Proven experience with architectural path optimization for CPU, Graphics and/or SOC applications. Experience with PPA evaluation using different libraries, templates and circuit topologies. Good understanding of cell characterization and library validation flows. Experience with various EDA tools for synthesis, place-route, verilog simulation, spice simulation, formal verification, DRC/LVS, RC extraction and/or library characterization. Familiarity of Verilog syntax, liberty models and variation format. Knowledge of timing, power, noise and IR analysis. Description Imagine yourself at the center of our SOC design effort, collaborating with all fields, playing a strategic role of getting functional products to millions of customers quickly. You will have the opportunity to integrate and come-up with new insights, as well as work with a team of hardworking engineers. You will perform the following: - Define and Develop complex standard cells/semi custom designs that significantly boosts circuit performance in advanced technologies, while optimizing dynamic/static power consumption - Engage with chip design teams to understand new library requirements, identify PPA opportunities by developing custom circuit options - Analyze and develop robust circuits that operate at very low voltages. - Identify circuit techniques that provide systemic power reduction. - Engage with timing teams, chip design leads to identify key requirements from STA, crosstalk, EMIR, P&R flows perspective Education & Experience BSEE / MSEE is required. Additional Requirements Apple is an Equal Opportunity Employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We also take affirmative action to offer employment and advancement opportunities to all applicants, including minorities, women, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities. Apple will not discriminate or retaliate against applicants who inquire about, disclose, or discuss their compensation or that of other applicants. Office workers could routinely wait for more than an hour to get into their buildings as social distancing regulations cause chaos for lift use in Sydney's high rises. At present, offices across Sydney are sitting nearly empty. However, the full-time return to school on Monday and the easing of lockdown restrictions will see employers start bringing staff back to the office. George Street was nearly empty on Tuesday, but the city is about to get busier. Credit:Louise Kennerley A survey by Australia's largest office landlord Dexus of 700 tenants found just under a quarter of their workforces will return by the end of May. Up to 43 per cent will be back by June, 50 per cent by July and 71 per cent by August. Many employees, however, will return to a work environment very different to the one they left before the shutdown. Jacinda Ardern has been forced to shut down another jibe about her hair colour just days after being asked a 'disrespectful' question on live television. The New Zealand Prime Minister was left red-faced on 'The AM Show' earlier this week after host Ryan Bridge asked why she dyed her hair, questioning if it was to hide greys. It came after Ms Ardern's fiance Clarke Gayford on Sunday tweeted: 'Helped dye partner's hair and gave daughter a haircut with scissors I bought at supermarket for $6. Remarkably both parties still talking to me.' Opposition leader Simon Bridges responded with a thinly-veiled jibe, revealing he recently visited a barber before quipping: 'Well, there's no hair dye. Just saying'. The New Zealand Prime Minister hit back at opposition leader Simon Bridges who revealed that he had visited a barber and that 'Well, there's no hair dye. Just saying' Jacinda Ardern (pictured) has shut down a TV presenter over an inappropriate comment during a live interview Following Mr Bridges' comment, Ms Ardern offered a simple, yet classy response. 'I'm not alone in being someone in New Zealand who dyes their hair so I think I'm in fairly good company,' she said. Maori Development Minister Nanaia Mahuta also defended the prime minister, putting Mr Bridges in his place. 'The Prime Minister has been more worried about the substance of her character and I think that's what we will focus on,' she wrote. It came after Ms Ardern's bizarre appearance on 'The AM Show' on Monday. The host asked Ms Ardern if she was trying to cover up greys. 'Why are you dyeing it anyway? Is it going grey or something?' Mr Bridge said. Ms Ardern laughed uncomfortably before reprimanding the host for intruding on her personal life. 'Never... never... never... that's not a polite question to ask anyone - I was about to say a lady - but anyone, actually,' she said. After a brief silence she confirmed it was a 'little touch-up,' with a smile on her face. The host tried to backpedal by giving her a compliment and justified asking the question because her high profile job would be likely to cause stress. 'Looks good, Prime Minister. And I only mention the grey hair because you are the prime minister and it does tend to age people. No harm intended, alright?' Ms Ardern agreed, but remained visibly uncomfortable as she smiled through the rest of the interview. 'No, it does, it does, I fully acknowledge that. Yep. Thank you for the reminder,' she said. The New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured) was left red-faced on 'The AM Show' after host Ryan Bridge asked why she was dying her hair The interview divided the general public. Some felt the line of questioning was 'rude' and 'disrespectful' and slammed the presenter for trying to generate controversy. 'It was a bit gross and personally intrusive. Mostly I just found it weird. Is this a normal behavior from this guy or was it just because he was interviewing the PM and wanted the segment and himself to be memorable,' one woman wrote. 'No respect and if this was a male Prime Minister he would not behave like this. Absolutely dreadful and extremely distasteful questioning,' another said. Others felt Ms Ardern's response was 'precious' and it was an acceptable question because her husband had shared the personal information on social media. Mr Bridge asked his Ardern if she was trying to cover up greys in the embarassing blunder on Monday morning The comment was made after a tweet by Ms Ardern's husband Clark Gayford advising he had helped with a home beauty treatment overnight. 'Helped dye partners hair and gave daughter a haircut with scissors I bought at supermarket for $6. Remarkably both parties still talking to me,' he wrote. New Zealand's leader has been forced to navigate awkward interviews in the past, including one with 60 Minutes reporter Charles Wooley in February 2018. Mr Wooley was slammed online for comments about Ms Ardern which were described by viewers as 'patronising' and 'repugnant'. The comment was made after a tweet by Ms Ardern's husband Clark Gayford advising he had helped with a home beauty treatment overnight Ms Ardern (pictured) isn't the first female leader to face embarassing questioning from the media 'I've met a lot of Prime Ministers in my time, but none too young and not so many so smart, and never one so attractive,' the host said during the on-air chat. Ms Ardern isn't the first female leader to face embarrassing questioning from the media. Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard made international headlines in 2013 when 6PR Radio host Howard Sattler asked Ms Gillard is her hairdresser husband was gay. Sattler said his question was based off 'myths' and 'rumours' circling the country's first female leader but continued the line of questioning despite Ms Gillard's obvious discomfort. Sattler asked Ms Gillard to 'confirm that he's not gay' and asked if the two were in a in a heterosexual relationship.' The journalist was promptly sacked after the 2013 interview after 28 years working for the Perth radio station. Ms Gillard said these types of interviews could be seen as a deterrant for young women considering entering into the public sector. An encounter broke out between a joint team of security forces and terrorists in Nawakadal area of Jammu and Kashmir's Srinagar in the wee hours of Tuesday (May 19). Sources told Zee Media that the encounter started after security forces had a specific input about the presence of some terrorists at Nawakadal in old Srinagar city. As a joint team of Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Forcecordoned off the area and located the house where the terrorists were hiding, the terrorists opened fire on the security forces thus triggering the encounter. "An encounter has started at Kanemazar Nawakadal area of Srinagar. Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force are on the job. Further details shall follow," said Kashmir Zone Police. Sources claimed that two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists are trapped in the area but the security forces have decided to carry out searches in the morning. Internet service has been snapped in city as a precautionary measure. Notably, this is the first encounter between security forces and terrorists in Srinagar after a gap of around two years. A youth worker who was left with life-changing injuries following a brutal attack by her boyfriend has opened up about her domestic abuse struggles. Jade Herbert, 25, had to spend a month in hospital after suffering serious scars to her face, head and left hand from when Fidal Robinson, 23, attacked her with a glass jug, chair, television, a pair of scissors and a bread knife. Between October and December last year, Robinson attacked the youth worker several times since their relationship began in September. Jade Herbert, 25, (pictured) has opened up about her domestic abuse struggles after an attack by her boyfriend which left her hospitalised for a month with scars to her face, head and hand 23-year-old Fidal Robinson (pictured) attacked the youth worker with a glass jug, chair, television, a pair of scissors and a bread knife last year and was sentenced to 15 years in prison Robinson, from Monsall, Manchester, was sentenced to 15 years in prison at Manchester Crown Court and was also given a lifetime restraining order meaning he cannot contact Ms Herbert. The youth worker told police: 'The incident left me feeling broken and I am not the same person. 'I have experienced a roller coaster of emotions and am angry, upset and frustrated. 'I am receiving support from a mental health team and am taking anti-depressants and hope to start therapy soon. 'I may be left with permanent scarring to my face which reminds me of the ordeal every time I look in the mirror. 'I have lost confidence going out in public and may never regain full use of my left arm causing me problems cooking and have moved back in with my foster parents, making me feel even more like I have lost my independence.' Ms Herbert admits she is struggling with mental health problems since the attack and that she feels like a broken person after her ordeal The pair had begun a relationship after meeting on Snapchat but the behaviour of Robinson soon turned violent, with Ms Herbert describing him as an 'immature egoist'. Robinson, who has a lengthy criminal record which includes robbery, attacks on prison staff and an assault on his own mother in 2011, would turn abusive if Ms Herbert made plans to go out in the evening. The 23-year-old also attacked Ms Herbert's sister, Leah, when he met the relative for the first time in October after he had taken cocaine with another male friend. Speaking about the attack that left her in hospital, Ms Herbert added: 'He punched me in the face and smashed a glass jug over my head. 'I can't count the amount of times he hit me, he hit me all over my body and everything. Ms Herbert described Robinson as an 'immature egotist' who would attack her if she made plans to go out in the evening, such as seeing her sister 'He then stabbed me and cut me with scissors, stamped on me and started smacking the jug all over my head. 'I had a big cast iron chair which he threw at me whilst kicking and punching me. 'I went to the bathroom where he hit me more. I was on the floor and thought he would stop but he smacked the TV over my head while I was on the floor and there was blood everywhere. 'I asked him if I could go to my sister's but he said 'if I can't have you no one will have you. The youth worker began a relationship with Robinson in September after the pair met on the social media app Snapchat 'He then grabbed a bread knife and was chopping me on my face, arms, hand and leg. I thought I was going to die. I grabbed a knife and threw it. 'He was still hitting me and dragged me downstairs and I tried to get the knife but did not know where I threw it. 'I was screaming out for help and saying 'call the police.' Robinson was sentenced after admitting attempted murder, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault by beating. This week, the Texas Supreme Court is lifting the moratorium on eviction orders to tenants who have fallen behind on their rent. Renters across Texas who have lost incomes due to COVID-19 will also lose their homes. This latest ruling exacerbates the ongoing financial crisis many renters face as area property owners are given opportunities to stabilize and recoup profits in the midst of a global pandemic. The latest state-ordered guidance is setting a profit over people precedent. Last Wednesday, more than 11,000 Houston tenants rushed to apply for rental assistance through Houstons COVID-19 Rental Assistance Program before it ran out of money, only 90 minutes after going live. Countless more, who attempted to access the site, never got the chance to apply. We have a problem. This rental assistance program is underfunded and benefits landlords without adequately protecting tenants facing eviction. City Council voted to allocate $15 million to pay past-due rents directly to Houston landlords who have registered for the program. To ensure the landlords qualify for payment, tenants must apply for assistance and prove a lack of income due to COVID-19. The program is estimated to stave off eviction for at least 6,800 households until June, which is only two weeks away. Renters, especially those earning below Houstons median income, are financially vulnerable. As soon as stay-at-home orders were put in place, advocates pushed for eviction moratoriums and rental relief. When Houston accepted more than $400 million of CARES Act federal aid, advocates anticipated resources would be available to Houstonians, especially for those who were already living on the margins before COVID-19. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 Rental Assistance Program has essentially served as a bailout for landlords and its not the first time it has happened in Houston. Following Hurricane Ike in 2008, apartment owners received a total of $100 million over two rounds. Over $100 million has been committed to apartment owners following Hurricane Harvey. When public money is given without strong guarantees, the property owner receives the long-term benefit not the tenants. Every crisis is different. Following any natural disaster, affordable rental housing stock is immediately needed, but the current response leaves renters waiting for years until projects are awarded and built. If the city is going to be serious about assisting tenants in times of crisis, they must go beyond only funding projects. The coronavirus crisis has presented a different kind of challenge. The city should intentionally engage with tenants to understand how to be most helpful. There is a perpetual pattern in Houston of decision-makers negotiating with groups such as the Houston Apartment Association and its partners while presenting vague to no details to the general public, or even to City Council members prior to a vote. Property owners and developers negotiating deals that include public dollars and tax benefits, should also be expected and required to provide public benefits. Although landlords participating in the COVID-19 Rent Relief Program must agree to some terms, Mayor Sylvester Turner and City Council must hold these property owners to a higher standard. The city must also take swift action to ensure its future rental assistance efforts primarily benefit tenants: Program participating landlords should be required to waive evictions and late fees for June and July as tenants seek other avenues for income. Tenants should be given the right to cure allowing them 60 days to pay their past-due rent prior to issuing an eviction notice The city must also ensure that landlords applying to the program are not also receiving other forgiveness through programs for federally backed mortgages. Program participants should accept Housing Choice Vouchers as a source of payment from tenants Plans for spending additional CARES dollars for June and July should be developed with tenant advocates and renters. Rent relief is in high demand; promptly identify and commit an additional $40 million. Over 50 percent of Houstons population are renters. We must put people over profit now more than ever. As COVID-19 disrupts our daily lives, including our ability to work, pay rent and send our kids to school, we need to ensure programs are designed to truly benefit real people. That means we must embrace a new normal of transparency, equity and inclusion as critical decisions are made. The choices our city makes now to help us weather the outbreak of COVID-19 can also set a better course for the future of our communities. Now is the time for us to unite across our differences and make policy choices that help everyday people in pursuit of a safe, stable and thriving city. Palay is the director of Houston Organizing Movement for Equity, a diverse coalition of community-based organizations in Texas. The groups of Together We Are Cashton, the Bank of Cashton, the Cashton Area Development Corporation, the Cashton Lions Club, the Cashton Community Club, the Cashton Snowblazers, Cashtons Live On Main Street Music Festival, the Cashton FFA Alumni, the Saint Marys Ridge Sportsmen Club, the Cashton VFW, the Cashton VFW Auxiliary, and the Frogtown Sportsmen Club have raised over $37,000 to aid Cashtons small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The groups provided funds to match the donations of the residents of the greater Cashton area. The Together We Are Cashton organization originally had a goal of raising $10,000 in community donations. The funds raised will be used to purchase gift cards at Cashton area businesses. Representatives will begin this process in the very near future. On Saturday, May 2 during a donation drive, 200 half-gallons of milk, 540 pounds of butter, 2,000 Snack Kits, 36 packages of American singles, 72 packages of string cheese, 36 bottles of Fuel energy drink, 50 cartons of cottage cheese, and 100 Mighty beef sticks were distributed to the drive-up visitors at the Cashton Community Hall and Trinity Lutheran Church. Dairy products not distributed during the fund drive, consisting of 1,000 OV Snack Kits, were donated to the Cashton Public School Lunch Program and 36 pounds of butter, 50 cartons of cottage cheese, 24 packages of American singles and 500 OV Snack Kits were donated to The Cashton Cupboard & Closet Food Pantry. The dairy products were donated or purchased from the dairy plants utilized by Cashton area farmers and were made possible with the support of Tim Neubauer Trucking. They include Organic Valley, Grassland Butter, Westby Cooperative Creamery, Foremost Farms, and Kwik Trip. Together We Are Cashton also co-sponsored an event with the Cashton Lions Club on Saturday, May 9 at Trinity Lutheran Church. Volunteers collected cash and food donations and distributed ice cream products to everyone that stopped. The event was made possible with the support of TRICOR Insurance and Star Blends, both of Sparta. Approximately $600 worth of food and $2,100 in monetary donations were given to The Cashton Cupboard & Closet Food Pantry. On Sunday, May 10 the Cashton groups purchased 30 meals at the Cashton Community Club Chicken Q that were given to some of the areas essential workers. The groups also hope to do more of these in the future. The Cashton Lions Club, with the support of Pasture Pride Cheese, had also held a function at Trinity Lutheran Church on Saturday, April 25, where they distributed cheese curds to show their support of the area dairy farmers. At this event 540 packages of the squeaky morsels were handed out to residents and visitors of Cashton. One of Ronald Reagans most cutting one-liners back in the 1960s was, A liberals idea of being tough on crime is handing out longer suspended sentences. Those were the days of extreme leniency on crime amidst a sharply rising crime rate. The liberal answer was always that we needed to deal with the root causes of crime, ignoring that the root cause of crime is criminals. Fast forward 50 years, and we have the mania for no-bail offenses, which is merely the first stepping stone for the liberal drive to decriminalize crime. You think I jest, but the advanced thinking on the intellectual left is that crime is a social construct through which the middle class bolsters its white supremacy or something. No, seriouslythis is what they think. A couple weeks back we reported here on the case of the Glendora (California) police, who arrested the same man three times in the space of a few hours, but couldnt detain him because of Californias new no bail policy for supposedly minor offenses. Well now we have an example that tops that story: Police: Suspect Stole Truck 13 Minutes After Getting Released On $0 Bail Order FAIRFIELD Deputies say a man stole a vehicle just 13 minutes after he was released from criminal custody in Napa County Friday. The Napa County Police Department said 35-year-old Trevor Anderson was in custody for vehicle theft, burglary, identity theft, and drug-related charges by the Napa County Sheriffs Office. He was released Friday under the emergency zero bail order, but police say almost immediately after his release, Anderson stole a truck and led officers on a pursuit from Napa to Fairfield. Nice going, California. Chaser 1: Governor Newsom has announced that Californias dire budget situation means that several prisons will have to be closed, and the inmate population reduced. But thats okay: hes for spending more on rehabilitation, so that no one has to go to prison. Chaser 2: Waityou mean NYC criminals arent practicing self-quarantine and anti-social distancing? Shocker! Ymhackers.com scored 40 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 2/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 25 Apr 2015, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the ymhackers homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if ymhackers has a Facebook fan page). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the ymhackers homepage on Twitter + the total number of ymhackers followers (if ymhackers has a Twitter account). The total number of people who shared the ymhackers homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the ymhackers homepage on StumbleUpon. 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Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND GENEVA U.S. President Donald Trumps attacks on the World Health Organization are hurting its ability to protect global health, medical experts said Tuesday, as many WHO member states rallied around the U.N. health agency even as they urged a look into its coordination of the global response to the coronavirus. Political sniping on issues like war in Ukraine and Taiwan's status pockmarked a second and final day of the WHO's annual assembly, which nonetheless produced a unanimous resolution that backs cooperation to find tools to address COVID-19 and inspect the world's response to it, among other things.. World leaders like the presidents of the European Commission and Colombia beamed in by video conference, hours after Trump made public his letter sent Monday to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus blasting "repeated missteps" of the agency as "very costly for the world." Tedros, an Ethiopian who goes by his first name, appeared determined to rise above the new bout of U.S. criticism, saying "WHO's focus now is fighting the pandemic with every tool at our disposal. Our focus is on saving lives. At the end of the day, what matters is life." "Dark and difficult days may lie ahead but guided by science together, we will overcome," Tedros said. "Let hope be the antidote to fear." Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter The European Union, the resolution's chief architect, urged countries to support WHO in the wake of Trump's continued attacks. European Commission spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson said now wasn't "the time for finger-pointing or undermining multilateral cooperation." The resolution, among other things, calls on Tedros to initiate "at the earliest appropriate moment ... an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" that would "review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19." It wasn't immediately clear how, when or by whom that evaluation will be conducted. China, where the outbreak emerged, expressed support for such a review, but said it should wait until after the pandemic is over. While airing a few reservations, the U.S. nevertheless didn't oppose the resolution. The resolution also pointed to the "role of extensive immunization against COVID-19 as a global public good," and called for participants to "work collaboratively" to produce "safe, effective, quality, affordable diagnostics, therapeutics, medicines and vaccines" for the COVID-19 response. "This is the time for science and solidarity. This is the time for all humanity to rally around a common cause," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. "And you can count on Europe to always play for the team." German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said "together we stress the central role of the World Health Organization in international health management" and called for it to be strengthened. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said simply: "I support WHO and Dr. Tedros so that they lead and build on these lessons learned, so that they can help us to be better prepared for future challenges." Health experts said Trump's increasing attacks on WHO for its handling of the coronavirus demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of the U.N. agency's role and could ultimately serve to weaken global health. In his letter, Trump threatened to permanently cut U.S. funding to WHO unless the agency commits to "substantive improvements" in the next 30 days. "I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests," he wrote. The U.S. is the WHO's biggest donor, providing about $450 million a year. Devi Sridhar, a professor of global health at the University of Edinburgh, said the letter was likely written for Trump's political base and meant to deflect blame for the virus' devastating impact in the U.S., which has by far the most infections and virus deaths in the world. "China and the U.S. are fighting it out like divorced parents while WHO is the child caught in the middle, trying not to pick sides," she said. "President Trump doesn't understand what the WHO can and cannot do," she said, explaining that it sets international standards and is driven by its member countries. "If he thinks they need more power, then member states should agree and delegate it more." Michael Head, a senior research fellow at the University of Southampton, said much of what Trump was demanding was beyond WHO's intended scope. He said that WHO provides expert guidance, "not enforcement by law." Head noted that there are clear gaps in governance elsewhere that have allowed COVID-19 to spread notably in the U.S., which has seen 1.5 million infections and more than 90,000 deaths linked to COVID-19. Trump has repeatedly accused WHO of being unduly influenced by China, and wrote that the agency has been "curiously insistent" on praising the country's "alleged transparency." WHO acknowledged receipt of Trump's missive and said it was "considering the contents of the letter." The agency has previously emphasized that it declared a global health emergency on Jan. 30, when there were fewer than 100 cases of coronavirus outside of China. When that declaration was made, Tedros said China was setting a new standard for outbreak response. He said the world owed China gratitude for the way it bought other nations time to plan, with the extraordinary measures it was taking to contain the virus. Trump's letter also cited former WHO chief Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland as an example of a leader who stood up to China. In 2003, Brundtland called out China for its cover-up of the SARS outbreak and issued travel recommendations warning against travel to several Chinese cities. Brundtland, a former Norwegian prime minister, dismissed Trump's criticisms of Tedros in a statement Tuesday. "The last thing we need is to attack the WHO," she said. WHO has both the necessary experience and authorizations to oversee and share information and at the same time assist all countries to overcome the ongoing corona crisis." The Associated Press Subscribe to our Oregon coronavirus newsletter: Interest in coronavirus tests had the city of Beaumonts call-center phones ringing off the hook Monday. Mayor Becky Ames said the city has filled all available testing slots for the public for this week and already is scheduling appointments for the first week of June. She wasnt sure how many tests could be administered each day, but the site will have at least two nurses working about 5 hours. I was told the one at the airport had kind of dwindled down, Ames said on Monday, the first weekday after the public testing centers there and in Silsbee were closed. I dont know if its because of where it was located, but I do know that if were testing more people, well get more positives. The increased interest in testing came on the same day that Gov. Greg Abbott announced the state would be moving forward with the second phase of his plan to reopen businesses ordered closed in an effort to stop the virus spread. Child-care facilities are among the businesses being allowed to resume commerce on Friday. Restaurants will be allowed to expand up to 50% capacity. Bars, too, can open their doors but must keep their crowds below 25% capacity. >> Related: Coronavirus cases spike in Southeast Texas The governor also encouraged people to continue to practice social distancing and take other precautions. If they feel sick, he said, they should get tested for COVID-19. More Information Jefferson County confirmed cases: Beaumont: 364 Fannett: 1 Cheek: 2 China: 3 Groves: 9 Nederland: 14 Nome: 2 Port Arthur: 60 Port Neches: 8 Helpful numbers (409) 550-2536: Hotline for residents of Jasper, Jefferson, Hardin, Newton, Orange and Tyler counties who want to be tested for coronavirus. 211, option 6: For general coronavirus inquiries. See More Collapse Port Arthur Mayor Thurman Bill Bartie said he was glad to hear Abbott stress caution, but he noted that his city still hasnt been able to find a partnership to conduct coronavirus testing. There havent had any offers from the state to come back and conduct a program. I think as long as the virus is prevalent and the way it is now, testing can and should be made available, Bartie said. That is my personal opinion. I believe thats just the prudent and right thing to do for the citizens of the entire region. The six-county coalition formed to fight the pandemic ended the public testing facilities on Friday Until Port Arthur secures a partnership for a public program, it is listing on its website area clinics that are doing testing and what sort of payment is required. >> Related: Gyms partially reopen across Southeast Texas Beaumont has announced more than one coronavirus testing partnership, and Ames said she anticipates more throughout the week. She said people at the citys call center have spreadsheets of information about when the different testing sites are open and what kinds of payment they take so callers can be directed to the right place, especially with such limited availability at the site being run by the city. The Beaumont Public Health Department has jurisdiction over the northern part of the county. Even with a dropoff in testing at the end of last week, the city confirmed four more positive cases there on Monday, bringing its total number of confirmed cases to 372. At this time, the city has one more test pending results until more samples are taken, but 255 people who tested positive remain in isolation as a result of their test. Nearly 100 people within the public health departments jurisdiction have recovered. Over the weekend, the city of Port Arthur confirmed three more positive cases, bringing its total to 60. >> Related: Players face new precautions as casinos reopen in Lake Charles Other parts of the region where confirmed cases have slowed dramatically also have slowed the public reporting of any cases. Jasper County Judge Mark Allen said his county hasnt reported a new case in four days. He said he will release information whenever a new positive case is returned to the Jasper Newton Public Health Department. Hardin County Judge Wayne McDaniel, whose health department also covers Orange County, said he will continue to put out information about newly confirmed cases as least once a week as long as numbers stay low. If theres ever a spike or reason for concern, he said, Ill be sure to let everyone know. Kaitlin Bain is the Government Reporter for the Beaumont Enterprise. Contact her at Kaitlin.Bain@BeaumontEnterprise.com or on Twitter by clicking here. Don't miss a thing: Sign up for our Daily Headlines newsletter. The Gulf countries are unlikely to be able to return to what they were before the Covid-19 pandemic as a result of major economic shifts in the region, writes Ahmed Mostafa As the world prepares for a new phase in the fight to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the Gulf region is still seeing a rise in infection cases. Yet, its countries are on the verge of easing lockdown restrictions to get their economies moving again while taking precautionary measures to avoid the exponential spread of the virus. Over the last couple of months, restriction measures have helped to avoid large numbers of infections and deaths in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, but they have also severely hurt their economies and led their governments to take unprecedented measures to reduce budget deficits accrued as a result of financial aid to sectors suffering as a result of the lockdown. Now, with the world gradually opening up in guarded steps, the Gulf countries will also need to ease their restrictions. Dubai in the UAE is preparing to open up its skies to visitors again, for example, and it is working on measures to ensure safe air travel and new protocols for hotels, restaurants, malls and other tourist attractions. Though the Dubai Expo2020 has been postponed until next year, the country needs to gradually build up for the major benefits that are expected when it welcomes visitors to the event in October 2021. With the majority of businesses in Dubai relying on expatriate workers and millions of tourists, getting the economy back into action will require reopening the countrys skies and borders. Dubai is one example of preparing to live with the virus and for the return of some normality to kickstart the idling economy. Oman also relies on tourism as a source of income that was meant to increase with the countrys declining oil revenues due to drops in prices and decreased production. But it might be difficult for Oman to reopen to tourism soon, and it is likely to suffer not only economically but also socially as many families rely on tourists for an income. Even Saudi Arabia, which is at an early stage of attracting tourists in the course of its economic diversification away from oil, will be hurt during the second phase of the pandemic. If the hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, in August is cancelled, the country will lose more revenue than it lost in cancelling the umra, the minor pilgrimage, in the Holy Month of Ramadan. Both religious events generate some $10 billion for the Saudi economy. Meanwhile, governments in the Gulf are starting to adjust in a way their populations may not have anticipated. The Omani government has asked its departments to cut their budgets to the tune of around 15 per cent, though even this will not be enough to balance the countrys budget deficit. Bahrain has already announced a 30 per cent cut in public spending. Both Oman and Bahrain have provided packages to help their economies amounting to almost 30 per cent of GDP, which will lead to budget deficits close to two-thirds of their GDP. Borrowing is a difficult option in the current circumstances, with the world entering a credit crunch, and foreign investors may be reluctant to buy Omani or Bahraini government bonds. Qatars government is postponing contracts on capital expenditure projects worth $8.2 billion. Kuwait is looking for ways to plug its deficit, which now stands at more than half the countrys reserves. The government might resort to cancelling large capital projects to reduce the deficit and wait for revenues to flow into the exchequer from the money that Kuwaiti tourists will not be spending overseas this year. The Saudi government has announced plans to triple the countrys value added tax (VAT) from five per cent to 15 per cent and halt handouts to citizens as part of the new austerity measures. Government projects have been delayed, Saudi officials say, not paused, including some major projects meant to diversify the economy. One example is the futuristic Neom smart city in the northwest of the country that is projected to cost some half a trillion dollars. Such financial pressures and government measures to balance its accounts mean that easing the restrictions due to the coronavirus still might not lead to the desired economic revival, and Saudi citizens are likely to feel the pain of measures taken to alleviate the burden of the pandemic on the economy. Yet, with oil prices still half what are needed for the Gulf countries to break even, the governments of the region might not be able to meet the expectations of their citizens, many of whom think that returning to normality means going back to the good old days of generous subsidies and handouts. As big companies plan a squeeze of their businesses to make up for losses due to the pandemic, tens if not hundreds of thousands of jobs will go. Even with measures to localise the labour market, Gulf citizens in some sectors might have difficulty keeping their jobs. The public sector in the region will need to consolidate and restructure to meet efficiency targets. In Saudi Arabia, the majority of citizens work in the government or public sector and are paid more than their peers in the private sector by up to 60 per cent. This, too, is likely to change, as it will in almost all the other GCC countries. The larger economies of the Gulf, meaning the Saudi and Emirati, might be in a better position to get through the pandemic relatively unscathed. But all the GCC countries will not be the same as they were before the coronavirus pandemic. A major economic shift has started in the region, and people will see more of it to come in the second phase of the pandemic. Gulf citizens and aspiring expatriates from other countries in the region and beyond will need to brace themselves for a new Gulf after the pandemic. *A version of this article appears in print in the 21 May, 2020 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Health officials, announced over the weekend in a report that a member of one of the indigenous Amazon tribes of Ecuador has been found to be the country's first-ever tribesperson to be infected with COVID-19. The infested individual, as described in a health ministry statement, is a 17-year-old pregnant woman who belongs to the Waorani tribe. The same statement said she began to show symptoms of the virus on May 4. Following the appearance of the symptoms, the tribeswoman was taken to a hospital in Ecuador's capital, Quito, and placed in isolation. The federal government of Ecuador worked with the Waorani tribe leaders, the Agence France-Presse said, to check on 40 other individuals the woman had been in contact with, the Miwaguno community. Also according to the health ministry, 17 citizens were found to have a "history of respiratory systems." Currently, six of them showed symptoms of the virus. Therefore, seven nasopharyngeal swabs in all, and 20 rapid tests were performed. Meanwhile, the test results, as well as the details on the pregnant woman's health condition, have yet to be announced in public. Warning about the Impact of COVID-19 Earlier on, the Waorani organizations had already warned the effect of the said infectious disease on their communities could turn disastrous and highly fatal because of its susceptibility to other diseases, the news agency said. To date, the Miwaguno community comprises of around 140 dwellers. Meanwhile, the Waorani tribe consists of roughly 2,000 members residing within Ecuador's modern provinces such as Pastaza, Orellana, and Napo, all situated in Amazon's far western region. Residents from these provinces said the Amazon Frontliners, a non-profit organization working with indigenous individuals to fight for their right to live in Amazon, customarily lived "as nomadic hunter-gatherers in small clan settlements." As for the pandemic, it has reportedly infected more than 35 indigenous tribes in Brazil, affecting a frightful populace known for having a history of being affected by other external illnesses. APIB SURVEY A survey on Friday, which the Brazilian Indigenous People's Association (APIB) conducted, indicated 446 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 92 mortalities among the groups with the majority of them based in the Brazilian Amazon. Specifically in Brazil, the outbreak has developed in recent weeks. As the record shows, the country has had over 240,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 16,000 deaths from the said virus. These numbers are still way behind the United Kingdom, Russia, and the United States. Because of the recent developments of the pandemic, Brazil has committed to help in this worldwide fight against the virus. Acting Health Minister General Eduardo Pazuello said the country is contributing to the international efforts like the Act Accelerator and Solidarity Trial. Pazuello also indicated that the country is changing its health protocols to fight COVID-19. This confirmation can be perceived as t "go signal" for the "use of chloroquine to treat the virus." Also according to the acting Health Minister, such a change will take place according to successful experiences and evidence in Brazil, as well as the other places most affected by the pandemic. Check these out! A Man without Face Mask Asked to Leave a Store in Texas, He Turns Violent Migrants are Forced to Choose Between Separation Or Stay Together Everybody Can Get Tested for COVID-19 in LA and now, There is Surplus in Unused Kits in the City Scientists are keeping their eye on Mars as both ESA and NASA are determined to send missions to the Red Planet. Because of their goal, numerous scientists are studying all aspects of Mars' climate, geology, and habitability. One observation that scientists made about the planet is that it appears to produce lava on its surface. The interesting images were captured by NASA shows unique landform shapes that make it look like cooled lava that just oozed out of the plant's surface. However, an international team of researchers has a different explanation about why the surface looks like cooled lava. A study published in Nature Geoscience stated that the tens of thousands of hills, which look like crater-tops and are surrounded by deep out channels are not frozen lava, but brown, gooey mud. Mud volcanoes There is no concrete study that shows what is exactly happening on Mars, but through the replication of conditions and close observation, scientists have a pretty close idea of the activities on the planet. Here on Earth, there are mud volcanoes, which means it is possible that there are also mud volcanoes on other planets. A team of scientists from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom and the Institute of Geophysics at the Czech Academy of Sciences found out that Mars has a very low atmospheric pressure and low-temperature conditions, which means that under it, mud can flow the same way that lava flows out of volcanoes here on Earth. Also Read: Kim Jong-Un Dead? Portraits of Supreme Leader's Ancestors Removed from North Korea's Famous Square The study's conclusion is that there are mud volcanoes on Mars. Lionel Wilson, a planetary scientist at Lancaster University, said that the scientists made the experiments by using a vacuum chamber to simulate the release of mud on the planet. He continued that they found the experiment interesting because there are a lot of flow-like features on Mars as seen in spacecraft images, but the roving vehicles on the surface of the plant have not visited any of them yet.There is ambiguity about whether the flows are of mud or lava. Mars simulation What the researchers would like to find out is if the moist sediments that are stuck beneath the planet's surface may have been pushed up because of underground pressure, thus creating mud volcanoes. The experiment that they conducted included a low-pressure cylindrical chamber, and it was pressurized at 7 millibars to simulate the atmospheric pressure of Mars. The mud was poured over sand and was cooled to a temperature of -20 degrees Celsius or -4 degrees Fahrenheit, which is similar to the surface of Mars. The scientists observed how the mud flowed. The fascinating effect of the mudflows shows the water in the mud boiling and evaporating, eventually, the latent heat from the vapor is absorbed. This cools the mud and a crust freezes on its surface. Petr Broz, a geophysicist from the Czech Academy of Sciences said that their experiments just show that even a simple process as a flow of mud would be very different on Mars. There is still a lot to discover about the Red Planet and NASA is constantly studying and observing images that their satellites and rovers took of the plant's surfaces. Related Article: Man Positive with COVID-19 Refused to Go to the Hospital, Hugs Neighbors Out of Spite @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Some surgical centers and physician and dental offices across New Jersey that closed during the coronavirus outbreak or dramatically cut back their patient visits may have to shutter permanently, New Jerseys health care leaders told state lawmakers Monday. Despite Gov. Phil Murphys announcement that elective and invasive medical and dental procedures can resume next week, many medical practices wont survive at a fraction of their normal capacity as they adjust to a new way of doing business, the health care lobbyists said. For two months, outpatient surgical centers have been restricted to emergency surgeries only. Most dental services were suspended. And people across the state deferred doctor visits for ailments unrelated to the coronavirus. The financial toll has been devastating, said Dr. Tom Rossi, president of the New Jersey Dental Association, who suggested 20 percent or about 1,200 of the states dental practices may not reopen. The vast majority of dentists report their volume of total collections is less than 5 percent of what is typical, said Rossi, citing American Dental Association research. Modeling predicts that U.S. dental care spending could decline by up to 66% this year in 2020 and possibly 32% in 2021. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage Most troubling is that dental economists are anticipating as many as 20% of the sector may close within one year as a result of this pandemic and the policies that may prohibit practitioners from operating, he added. Likewise, many physicians offices have not seen a patient or generated income in two months, said Dr. Marc Levine, chairman of the Medical Society of New Jersey. But even once they begin to ramp back up he said, long term social distancing may hurt their bottom line. Many of these practices require 100% volume to make a living, he told a small Senate committee on New Jerseys economic recovery. At 75% or 85% of capacity, theyre losing money. I think that the citizens of New Jersey and our patients unfortunately may be affected by practices shutting down and not coming back," he said. The committee, dubbed the Senate Fiscal Recovery Strategists, held its first hearing Monday remotely, taking testimony from the heads of Hackensack-Meridian Health, RWJ-Barnabas Health, Holy Name Hospital and leaders of medical associations. We want to hear from the health care providers whose hospitals and staffs are heroically responding to the COVID-19 crisis while their facilities are losing the revenue they need to function, state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, said in announcing the hearing. Jeff Shanton, president of the NJ Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers, said next weeks resumption of elective surgeries is not a panacea" and the centers predict theyll operate at about half their normal capacity for months after reopening. I can tell you right now there are some that are not coming back from this, he said. Centers estimate that it could take them up to a year to recover to pre-pandemic levels if indeed they ever do. The American Hospital Association estimated that between March 1 and June 30 hospitals and health systems in the U.S. will face a $202.6 billion hit, including $161.4 billion in losses from canceled procedures and non-coronavirus patients delaying primary and speciality care. At the same time, theyre spending more than $40 billion more on their coronavirus response, according to the report. No doubt about it ... This crisis has taken a huge financial toll on hospitals, on the health care system, Bob Garrett, CEO of Hackensack-Meridian Health, said Monday. All of those factors together paint a rather gloomy fiscal situation. Moving forward hospitals will need more federal support and appropriate reimbursements for telemedicine as health care moves in that direction, Garrett said. Hospitalizations for the coronavirus over the week reached their lowest levels in six weeks. The number of patients being at New Jersey hospitals for the coronavirus peaked at 8,084 on April 14. On Sunday, the states 71 hospitals reported 3,509 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. WATERLOO REGION The union representing thousands of college workers across Ontario has rejected a proposal to suspend portions of their collective agreement amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan was developed by the College Employer Council, the bargaining agent for the 24 Ontario colleges when negotiating with unionized staff, and would have given colleges more flexibility to reduce work hours instead of laying employees off entirely, according to the council. Vikki Poirier, president of the Conestoga College support staff union that has already endured layoffs because of coronavirus, said they feared giving colleges the ability to temporarily suspend portions of the agreement now would have set a dangerous precedent for the future. Poirier said 53 per cent of more than 5,500 Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) members voted earlier this month to not even look at the proposal if it meant suspending portions of the collective agreement that runs until Aug. 31, 2022. We passionately debated the issue, said Poirier of her local members, 78 per cent of whom voted against the idea. Conestoga College has already issued temporary layoff notices to 119 part-time employees, and all staff have been told to use their vacation time by early August. Poirier warned two weeks ago that more temporary layoffs are coming as high as 30 per cent of the unions 574 full-time members and in a letter to employees last week, college president John Tibbits confirmed layoffs are looming but he didnt say how many theyre contemplating. Graham Lloyd, chief executive officer for the College Employer Council, confirmed they had been negotiating with OPSEU on a furlough agreement that he said would have reduced the amount of potential layoffs. The furlough agreement would have suspended some of the language around seniority and allowed for a reduction of hours as an alternative to layoffs. Under the proposed agreement, Lloyd said workers would have earned more than they would on the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, which pays about $500 per week for up to 16 weeks. Workers would also have retained their benefits. With the unions rejection of the plan, we anticipate layoffs are being more formally planned, Lloyd said. The colleges were resisting layoffs. Conestoga College is facing a financial crunch due to the prospect of dramatically reduced enrolment as a result of the pandemic. About 11,000 students, or roughly half of the schools full-time students, are international. A new school term began Tuesday and is primarily a remote format that includes simulation tools, virtual reality, and other electronic learning. Poirier said shes already pitched alternatives to layoffs, such as pay cuts for administration. The collective agreement as it is written does not contemplate a reduction in hours for workers, Lloyd said, but uses a process known as bumping where senior employees who are laid off can bump less experienced employees out of their job. We are in unique times and we felt this was a good opportunity to try and protect employees, because the agreement was designed to protect employees and reduce the formal layoffs at the same time it was to provide some flexibility to colleges with how they would proceed through the layoff process, Lloyd said. Its unclear how many colleges are contemplating layoffs, but Lloyd said a number of them are now weighing their options. Theyre all going through that analysis now. Many of them were waiting on the outcome of this agreement. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has backed the reloading of the external economic policy of the country, which was initiated by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and the Foreign Ministry will start the process from relaunch of the renewed Council of Exporters and Investors. The minister said that it is close cooperation with Ukrainian exporters and foreign investors that will help Ukrainian diplomats in practice direct their efforts abroad to expand the necessary opportunities and overcome existing obstacles. "Now it is the best time to realize Ukraine's economic ambitions. For this, the Foreign Ministry is launching a qualitatively updated trade and investment diplomacy block. We will focus on two priorities: supporting Ukrainian exports in the world and attracting investments to the country. With the efforts of Ukrainian diplomats, overcoming the economic consequences of the pandemic should be a success story of Ukraine and all Ukrainians. The contribution to strengthening the economic security of Ukraine will be one of the indicators of the diplomats' performance," Kuleba said at a meeting on Tuesday, the press service of the head of state reported. Zelensky said that Ukrainian business should have export opportunities. "I want not only large entrepreneurs to enter the international market, but also small and medium businesses, for example, a farmer with high-quality products or an entrepreneur with unique production, should have such an opportunity. So that they go for export and grow into large businesses, so that they have motivation," he said. The meeting devoted to accelerating export growth and attracting investments was also attended by Deputy Heads of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva and Yulia Kovaliv, Presidential Economic Adviser Oleh Ustenko and Secretary of the National Investment Council Levan Varshalomidze. Kovaliv and Varshalomidze presented the foreign investment projects, which are at the final stage of approval. "National security, financial independence, new jobs and innovations are the main areas where we need to attract investments," the secretary of the National Investment Council said. Kovaliv also introduced a bill on the so-called "investment nannies," which had to be further developed taking into account the situation with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in the world. Jacinda Ardern has become New Zealand's most popular prime minister in more than 100 years after leading the country through a series of crises. Ms Ardern's COVID-19 response, which saw NZ become one of the most successful countries at containing the virus, earned her a score of 59.5 per cent as the Pacific nation's preferred leader according to the Newshub-Reid Research poll released on Monday. Her score is up 20.8 points from the last poll and is the highest score for any leader in the Reid Research poll's history. The poll, carried out between May 8 and 16, was the first since the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a halt earlier this year. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured) has become the country's most popular leader in a 100 years after scoring 59.5 per cent as the nation's preferred PM in the Reid Research Poll on Monday Half of the responses captured the public sentiment in the final days of the archipelago nation's strict stage three lock down, while the others were taken after the federal budget was announced on Thursday. The decision to wind down from stage three to two on Thursday garnered overwhelming support, with almost 92 per cent of respondents saying it was the right call. Ms Ardern's Labour also took out the highest score for any party ever- jumping 14 points to 56.5 per cent. Meanwhile, the Nationals, the biggest party in parliament, plummeted to 30.6 per cent after sliding by 12.7 points. New Zealand was locked down for more than a month under 'level 4' restrictions, which were eventually wound down to stage three in late April. Businesses in the country including malls, cinemas, cafes and gyms reopened last Thursday, although strict social distancing measures continue to be enforced nationwide to prevent the risk of a widespread outbreak. Ms Ardern was pictured donning a black head scarf as a sign of solidarity as she hugged the grieving relatives of the slain victims of the Christchurch Massacre on March 17, 2019 The rate of new cases within the country has rapidly slowed in recent weeks. New Zealand has so far had 1499 confirmed cases of coronavirus including 21 deaths. Worldwide, there has been more than 4.7 million cases while over 315,000 people have died. Ms Ardern, the country's youngest prime minister and third woman to ever hold office, receive international praise for her sensitive handling of the Christchurch massacre and White Volcano tragedy. On 15 March last year, a white supremacist carried out two consecutive mass shootings at mosques leaving 51 people dead and dozens more injured. Ms Ardern donned a black head scarf as a sign of solidarity and grieved with relatives, while promising to cover the funeral costs of those who died. Later that year, on December 9, popular tourist attraction White Island Volcano, in the Bay of Plenty, erupted during a tour, killing 21 people and leaving many more with serious burns. Ms Ardern was lauded for her compassion and composure in press conferences as she handled the crisis, and for comforting families and first responders. Tuesday, May 19th, 2020 (8:35 am) - Score 2,999 The Governments 1.8bn Building Digital UK scheme has now helped to extend superfast broadband (24Mbps+) ISP networks to 5,230,474 extra premises since 2012 (up by 32,038 over the past 6 months) about 370,000 of these are FTTP and the latest take-up data to Dec 2019 shows rising demand, averaging 62% (Phase 1). Before we get started its important to point out that ISPreview have now adopted a biannual approach to summarising the BDUK figures (reported for December and June), which is because the programme has reached a high level of maturity and as such regular quarterly updates seem a bit pointless (i.e. change is more visible over a 6 month window). Otherwise the following figures reflect the percentage % of premises (homes and businesses) that have chosen to take a 24Mbps+ capable service (usually via FTTC, FTTP or Fixed Wireless Access technology), albeit specifically those which have been delivered via state aid support under the BDUK programme (i.e. % subscribed of premises passed). The data is split between the first two phases of the programme. The most recent contracts have tended to focus on remote rural areas, which since around 2018 have increasingly involved deployments of full fibre (FTTP) broadband networks to reflect the Governments changing focus toward gigabit-capable services. We should add that older BDUK contracts defined superfast as offering download speeds of 24Mbps+, while recent ones have increased this to 30Mbps+ (aligns with the definition used by Ofcom and the EU). BDUK Phases One (Finished Spring 2016) Supported by 530m of public money via the Government (mostly extracted from a small slice of the BBC TV Licence fee), as well as significant match funding from local authorities and the EU. The public funding is then roughly matched by BTs private investment. Overall it helped to extend superfast broadband (24Mbps+) services to cover 90% of premises in the United Kingdom. BDUK Phase Two (Technically on-going) Supported by 250m of public money via the Government, as well as match funding from local authorities, Local Growth Deals and private investment from suppliers (e.g. BT, Gigaclear, Airband, Call Flow etc.). This phase extended superfast broadband services to 95% of premises in time for the end of 2017, but some newer contracts are on-going (e.g. the Welsh Governments new programme). Most of these contracts also include a clawback (gainshare) clause, which requires the suppliers to return part of the public investment as customer adoption of the new service rises. The funding from this is being reinvested to further improve network coverage and speeds via extension contracts. Efficiency savings from earlier contracts can also be reinvested, but sadly we dont have any recent data on that (we think it could be worth c.300m). So far it looks as if a total of around 788m could in theory be returned via clawback from BT (here), which may rise again in the future as contracts complete. BDUK has previously estimated that this reinvestment might be enough to help boost the UK coverage of 24Mbps+ capable networks to around or even beyond 97% (were at about that level now), but this is NOT an official target. The Universal Service Obligation (USO) mentioned above is a reference to the Governments new legally-binding pledge to ensure that those in the final c.2-3% of premises, which may not benefit from BDUKs effort, can still request a download speed of at least 10Mbps (details here). Sadly Ofcoms move to accept 4G as a solution for most of this gap feels like a bit of damp squib due to the technologys variable nature. BDUK Phase One Take-up (Average %) The following tables break the take-up data down by each BDUK local authority (project area) and devolved region (Scotland, Wales etc.), although for the proper context these percentages should ideally be considered alongside the most recent premises passed (network coverage) data, which can be seen at the bottom of this article. Overall 62.66% of premises have adopted the new service (up from 59.58% in June 2019). NOTE: Some of the counties have divided their deployments into separate contracts. For example, Phase One in Shropshire doesnt include the Telford and Wrekin area because that is part of a separate Phase Two contract inside the same county. On top of that the contracts were all signed at different times and so are at different stages of development. Project Area (BDUK Phase 1) Uptake % (H1 Jun 2019) Uptake % (H2 Dec 2019) Berkshire Councils 65.5 68.61 Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire 68.9 72.11 Cambridgeshire, Peterborough 62.9 65.54 Central Beds, Bedford Borough, Milton Keynes 68.6 70.91 Cheshire East, Cheshire West & Chester, Warrington, Halton 65.5 68.31 Devon & Somerset (including, Plymouth, Torbay, North Somerset, Bath & NE Somerset) 60 63.61 Coventry, Solihull, Warwickshire 67.7 70.27 Cumbria 60.6 64.48 Derbyshire 58.9 62.85 Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole 60 63.85 Durham, Gateshead, Tees Valley and Sunderland 58.9 63.01 East Riding of Yorkshire 63.2 66.6 East Sussex, Brighton and Hove 65.4 68.81 Essex, Southend-On-Sea, Thurrock 64.8 68.5 Greater Manchester 55.1 60.22 Hampshire 62.6 66.08 Herefordshire and Gloucestershire 59.7 63.13 Isle of Wight 58.1 61.73 Kent and Medway 63.2 66.99 Lancashire, Blackpool, Blackburn with Darwen 56.8 60.89 Leicestershire 63.8 67.33 Lincolnshire 63 66.44 Merseyside 53 57.74 Newcastle upon Tyne 55 59.5 Norfolk 62.8 66.78 North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire 61.2 65.44 North Yorkshire 58.2 58.21 Northamptonshire 66.8 69.5 Northumberland 63.7 65.82 Nottinghamshire 62.2 65.9 Oxfordshire 66.6 68.43 Rutland 67 69.86 Shropshire 61.3 64.84 Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent 59.8 63.62 Suffolk 64.4 67.59 Surrey 66.6 70.02 West Sussex 66.7 68.92 West Yorkshire 57.8 62.11 Wiltshire 64.8 67.79 South Gloucestershire 66.5 68.93 Worcestershire 65.8 68.77 Devolved Administrations Highlands and Islands 60.1 63.85 Northern Ireland 67.7 69.2 Rest of Scotland 55.2 59.8 Wales 51.8 51.77 BDUK Phase Two Take-up (Average %) So far in this phase an overall total of 48.54% of premises have adopted the new service (up from 44.02% in June 2019), although some projects have yet to report. We note that a number of Phase 2 schemes also consist of more than one contract and so you may see several figures being reported for certain areas in order to reflect each of those deals (this is sadly very confusing but thats just how they do it). Both of the recent contracts in Scotland and Wales will also be covered in this table because they have received some funding from the original BDUK programme. The Welsh programme (mostly FTTP) only recently started deployment and has just reported its first extremely early take-up figure of nearly 3%, which is good considering theyve only just begun. Project Area (BDUK Phase 2) Uptake % (H1 Jun 2019) Uptake % (H2 Dec 2019) Berkshire 26, 3.7, 27.4 27.66, 5.62, 35.01, 2.17 Black Country 44.2 51.74 Bucks & Herts 47.2 52.06 Bedfordshire & Milton Keynes 48.2 56.27 Cambridgeshire no data no data Cheshire 51.9 58.31 Cornwall 51.1, 24.1 55.88, 34.07 Cumbria 44.3 49.32 Derbyshire 40.5 40.66 Devon & Somerset 10.1, 5, 26 10.13, 9.85 Dorset 57.1, 8.4 62.64, 16.05 Durham 46.1 53.51 East Riding (Yorkshire) 55.1 60.7 East Sussex 54.1 61.95, 7.42 Essex 48.2, 26.6, 2, 13.9, 0.3 56.03, 26.61, 5.82, 21.68, 1.9, 13.37, 3.91, 2.28 Greater Manchester no data no data Hampshire 45.7 51.38 Herefordshire & Gloucestershire 37.4, 6, 11, 6.7, 3.2, 16.7, 18.7 37.42, 12.04, 12.38, 8.53, 6.14, 26.14, 41.84 Hertfordshire no data no data Kent 59.9 65.23 Lancashire 42.8 47.71 Leicestershire 45.2 52.45 Lincolnshire 44.9 50.08 Norfolk 52.4 56.33 North Lincolnshire 46.2 52.71 North Yorkshire 56.4, 14.7 56.36, 19.56 Northamptonshire 53.7, 12.9, 11.8 58.96, 11.85, 10.8 Northumberland 49.8 50.77 Nottinghamshire 47 50.42, 49.95 Oxfordshire no data 5.68 Rutland no data no data Shropshire 47.1, 2.2 57.13, 1.58 South Gloucestershire 50.8, 23.9 58.95, 20.75 South Yorkshire 46.7 53.16, 3.08 Staffordshire 44.4 51.12 Suffolk 51.4 57.18 Swindon 9 8.68 Telford & Wrekin 59.7 64.46 Warwickshire 46.9, 6 55.49, 10.39 West Oxfordshire 8 11.64 West Sussex 52.8 58.67 West Yorkshire 42.3 48.21 Wiltshire 50.6, 0.9, 16.5 54.8, 7.54, 21.52 Worcestershire 53.9 55.43, 20.13 Devolved Administrations Highlands and Islands no data no data Northern Ireland 46.2 50.77 Rest of Scotland no data no data Wales no data 2.73, 2.58, 2.59 IMPORTANT: Take-up is a dynamically scaled measurement, which means that at certain stages of the scheme it may go up or even down depending upon the pace of deployment (i.e. premises passed in any given time-scale), although over time the take-up should only rise. Explained another way, earlier phases of the roll-out were easier and faster to deploy, so you could expect to see a bit of a yo-yo movement with the take-up % sometimes falling if lots of new areas were suddenly covered. Some contracts are also younger than others and will thus take time to catch-up. On top of that BDUKs roll-out pace has slowed to a crawl as it reaches remote rural areas, which will give take-up a chance to climb. NOTE: Its often best to judge take-up by looking at areas that completed their deployments around 1-2 years ago. A lot of FTTP operators target 20-25%. A number of other factors can also impact take-up, such as the higher prices for related fibre services, as well as customers being locked into long contracts with their existing ISP (they cant upgrade immediately) and a lack of general awareness (locals dont always know that the faster service exists) or interest in the new connectivity (if you have a decent ADSL2+ speed and only basic needs then you might feel less inclined to upgrade). The fear of switching to a different ISP may also obstruct some services. In other cases the new service may run out of capacity (i.e. demand is higher than expected), which means that people who want to upgrade are prevented from doing so until Openreach resolves the problem, although the scale of this issue is fairly small. Now, for some context, heres the latest progress report on related contracts for the same period (this doesnt show any match-funding from private investment). Funding and Premises Passed Progress (BDUK Phase 1 + 2) Total BDUK Contracted Funding Total LB Contracted Funding Current Total Contracted Premises Delivered to Date (Dec 2019) Bedford & Milton Keynes 8,130,000 9,443,694 52,530 50,935 Berkshire 5,153,017 4,603,250 40,907 32,296 Black Country 2,988,349 2,988,349 37,302 37,389 Bucks & Herts 10,837,000 11,415,000 93,695 89,646 Cambridgeshire 8,250,000 21,895,592 111,901 105,248 Cheshire 6,461,000 16,091,055 82,039 82,210 Cornwall 5,960,000 13,728,108 14,988 13,564 Cumbria 19,959,519 18,798,000 121,780 121,298 Derbyshire 9,579,550 9,580,000 103,737 98,453 Devon & Somerset 40,029,305 30,317,110 298,251 294,871 Dorset 13,741,841 16,051,546 79,466 78,054 Durham 13,189,267 12,166,000 116,744 111,656 East Riding (Yorkshire) 10,507,459 8,393,079 51,661 49,753 East Sussex 13,640,000 13,000,000 70,015 63,936 Essex 14,254,755 19,296,658 158,848 135,359 Greater Manchester 3,440,000 5,923,000 41,363 40,062 Hampshire 15,262,307 14,261,230 110,498 100,764 Herefordshire & Gloucestershire 31,090,658 34,512,090 161,428 132,462 Hertfordshire 0 879,471 546 0 Highlands & Islands 50,830,000 75,600,000 150,997 150,567 Isle of Wight 2,490,000 2,490,000 17,617 17,649 Kent 17,063,509 14,998,391 144,131 138,401 Lancashire 14,670,000 22,540,000 147,334 145,432 Leicestershire 7,968,895 10,884,318 75,149 72,760 Lincolnshire 16,110,000 17,910,000 135,710 135,032 Merseyside 5,460,000 4,374,000 43,905 43,966 Newcastle 970,000 941,158 6,760 6,697 Norfolk 24,650,000 26,153,767 213,716 200,203 North Lincolnshire 4,181,242 1,880,963 29,292 29,344 North Yorkshire 28,160,000 25,804,726 175,283 170,052 Northamptonshire 9,856,669 11,009,000 79,349 75,532 Northern Ireland 11,454,000 21,954,000 66,907 67,173 Northumberland 10,687,867 12,016,750 49,620 49,097 Nottinghamshire 7,850,000 9,288,644 67,387 67,525 Oxfordshire 8,184,500 20,045,470 79,103 78,249 Rest of Scotland 50,000,000 107,575,000 581,999 586,607 Rutland 1,000,000 1,670,000 7,066 9,835 Shropshire 19,317,466 12,722,000 69,697 67,147 South Gloucestershire 3,370,000 3,521,123 19,802 19,645 South Yorkshire 10,395,000 13,353,577 102,887 96,931 Staffordshire 9,620,000 7,543,413 80,567 80,704 Suffolk 26,940,000 27,769,703 131,832 123,689 Surrey 1,310,000 19,020,081 79,407 78,616 Swindon 950,000 950,000 20,159 17,010 Telford & Wrekin 2,157,000 1,843,000 8,822 8,698 Wales 69,040,000 180,651,507 754,921 703,951 Warwickshire 14,557,172 14,557,172 73,940 62,148 West Oxfordshire 1,600,000 1,556,675 4,788 2,961 West Sussex 8,011,243 7,510,000 53,771 53,617 West Yorkshire 11,019,827 11,175,487 100,368 96,853 Wiltshire 9,270,000 16,496,000 81,636 75,988 Worcestershire 8,387,032 11,403,641 63,043 60,439 700,005,449 980,552,798 5,464,664 5,230,474 The above figures only include 24Mbps+ capable premises in BDUK intervention areas. Foreign Secretary claims good collaboration in four nation approach This article is old - Published: Tuesday, May 19th, 2020 The Foreign Secretary sidestepped a question about whether relaxing the lock down in England was undermining efforts to control Covid-19 infection rates in North Wales. Mr Raab, speaking at 10 Downing Streets daily coronavirus meeting yesterday evening, said there had been good collaboration between his Government and the devolved powers. He also said the UK Government recognised nations may go at different speeds but claimed there had been a UK-wide approach to tackling the virus. On the specific question of whether he thought relaxed lock down rules in England undermined attempts in Wales to keep Covid-19 infection rates down he was less forthcoming. He said: We have been very clear. Anyone who wants to travel from England to Wales, or any other part of the UK, is to be very mindful of the regulations that the devolved administrations have in place. He declined to say whether the influx of people from England was undermining Welsh efforts to keep a lid on the spread of the novel coronavirus strain. Over the weekend North Wales Police stopped around nine people in a three car convoy who had travelled to Bala from Manchester. In a separate incident 11 people who had travelled from Manchester to Anglesey were sent packing. Deputy chief medical officer for the UK, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said he would be much more worried if there was a separate stream of science coming from the devolved nations. He added: The decisions that are made are always a complex blend of science, politics and practicality. We need to recognise all parts of the UK make their own decisions. I would be more worried if there was a separate stream of science coming from other nations. SAGE is a community that covers the whole of the UK in that sense. By Jez Hemming BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme) Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus has said it's unfair people his age are forcing the country to shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic because 'people over 70 are a only small fraction of the population'. Marcus, 91, blamed his own age bracket as 'the problem' that pushed the US into lockdown to slow the spread of the virus, in an interview with Fox News Monday. The founder and former CEO of the world's biggest home improvement chain also heaped praise on the Republican governors of Florida and Georgia for reopening their states. Marcus's comments came as Home Depot released its first quarter earnings Tuesday, giving a somewhat mixed picture as sales surged but the pandemic dragged on profits and share price dipped. Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus has said it's unfair people his age are forcing the country to shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic because 'people over 70 are a only small fraction of the population' 'My age bracket is really the problem. If we take care of my age bracket, that is 70 or above, I think that we can end a lot of the problems that are out there,' Marcus said Monday. 'People that are 70 or above have to be so careful because you are compromised in many different ways. But we're only a small portion of the population and we're closing down everybody, in addition to the school kids - it doesn't makes sense.' Marcus praised Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp for ending their stay-at-home orders so that businesses can reopen across the states, while he slammed what he called 'bureaucrats' in the 'blue states' where lockdowns have been extended. 'What they did is a perfect example of thinking and understanding that people needed to get out the house, needed to start their businesses again, needed to go to work again,' he said of DeSantis and Kemp. 'But there are bureaucrats all over the country in the blue states that are still closed and god knows when they'll open. Those people up there, they are still struggling and it is desperation time for many of them.' Marcus, a vocal Donald Trump supporter and member of the White House reopening task force, stopped short of singling out any particular states that have maintained their stay-at-home orders but launched into a rambling attack on 'plutocrats, bureaucrats and government employees' for making these decisions. The founder and former CEO of the world's biggest home improvement chain also blasted the media for 'frightening America' with the pandemic and heaped praise on the Republican governors of Florida and Georgia for reopening their states as he spoke to Fox News Monday 'Remember that a lot of these rules are made by plutocrats, bureaucrats and government employees - people who get paid no matter what happens out there. But the poor guy out there who works for a living who gets paid hourly he's going to struggle and the money doesn't come in,' he argued. 'If a governor decides he wants to close the state, well he still gets paid, his family still eat but the people who work for him I'm sorry to tell you don't have the same situation, it's really sad.' He also singled out the media saying it 'has done a wonderful job in frightening America' over the outbreak. Marcus went on to call for changes to be made to the current federal government aid for businesses across the US, pointing out flaws in the Paycheck Protection Program designed to help small businesses keep paying their workers and bills. The PPP was created by Congress and designed to loan money to small businesses with 500 employees or less to help them survive the economic downturn during the coronavirus crisis, ensuring they can still pay their employees and bills, and avoid mass layoffs. Companies that use the money to avoid layoffs will not have to pay the money back as long as 75 percent of the funds are used to pay staff. Almost all 50 states have begun to ease coronavirus restrictions Marcus said the scheme poses challenges to small businesses with less than 100 workers. 'People are not being helped too much by the PPP as what happened is: number one was delays and number two employees didn't come back and 75 percent of the money that came out of this programme is for employees and only 25 percent is to pay the rent,' he said. 'If you're a restaurant and you're running at 25 percent capacity you're paying full rent you're paying your utilities, insurance, air con, everything else and nobody is coming and employees are not there. You don't need 100 percent of your employees so what we're trying to do is change the programme.' The former Home Depot boss suggested making the scheme longer so businesses receive financial support for around five years and for more than 25 percent to be able to be used toward other businesses expenses. 'They're not going to survive and if they don't survive the economy of this country is not going to survive either,' he warned. Home Depot became one of the first retailers to show what has happened to business as the virus grips the US, as it revealed its first quarter earnings Tuesday. Sales rose 7.3 percent in the quarter, as homeowners rushed to pick up essential supplies. Revenue increased to $28.26 billion, from $26.38 billion, beating Wall Street's estimate of $27.61 billion. Sales at stores open at least a year also rose 7.5 percent in the US. But net income fell 10.7 percent to $2.25 billion, or $2.08 per share, compared with $2.51 billion, or $2.27 per share, in 2019 and shares dropped 2.6 percent before the opening bell Tuesday. Industry analysts had expected $2.26 per share, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research. This came about as the world's biggest home improvement chain has also been hit by pandemic-related costs, as it upped compensation for employees, extended dependent care benefits and waived related co-pays. This all set Home Depot back by $850 million in pre-tax expenses, or about 60 cents per share. The DIY store too announced it has pulled its financial guidance for the year as the pandemic continues to make the situation unpredictable. Home Depot became one of the first retailers to show what has happened to business as the virus grips the US, as it revealed its first quarter earnings Tuesday Marcus's call for an end to lockdown comes as almost all 50 states have begun to ease coronavirus restrictions and allow some businesses to reopen. Several states including Washington and California relaxed more measures Monday with casinos starting to reopen to big crowds. However fears continue to mount that states are reopening too soon and this may trigger a spike in new cases and deaths. Data compiled by Covid Act Now and built in partnership with Georgetown University Medical Center and Stanford Medicine has revealed that a staggering 17 states are more at risk of reopening and potentially seeing a surge in new COVID-19 infections. Data tracking the threat of reopening across the country based on infection growth rates, testing and ICU bed capacity shows that states in the Northeast and Midwest are most at risk. States along the West Coast and much of the South are at a moderate risk of reopening and increasing the outbreak, while only five states, including Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, West Virginia and Vermont, are at a reduced risk of reopening. Nestle hands over a donation of Milo products to small business partners From the second week of May, Nestle and La Vie, a member of Nestle Group, have handed out 1.8 million products of MILO, MAGGI, NESCAFE, and NESTEA to 22,000 partners, including small restaurants, food courts, and school canteens throughout the country. The total value of this initiative is estimated at VND22 billion ($956,500). The programme is one of Nestle's series of activities aiming to accompany the government's fight against COVID-19. Nestle is supporting small restaurants, food courts, and school canteens throughout the country Binu Jacob, general director of Nestle Vietnam, stated that small restaurants, food courts, and school canteens are essential parts of the community and are suffering a substantial impact from COVID-19. Nestle promised to accompany these small businesses and help overcome difficulties after reopening. We believe that we can overcome challenges, grasp chances, and restart stronger than ever, he said. It has been three months or more since the COVID-19 broke out, affecting the operations of many companies. Due to a decrease in purchasing power as well as social distancing, individual and small businesses are the most vulnerable in the private sector, some of whom have been struggling and even halted business. The owner of Chu Tu Gia looks forward to welcoming back customers after the pandemic Le Thi My Hanh, owner of rice noodle soup restaurant Chu Tu Gia in Ho Chi Minh City, said that during social distancing, orders dropped to one-third of the 500-600 orders a day they had before the pandemic. We send our gratitude to Nestle, the group has aided in this hard time, we hope to see business return to usual. Until now, Nestle has run a series of supporting activities, such as encouraging a positive and healthy lifestyle in the community, with the programmes of MILO, MAGGI, and NESCAFE. Additionally, with school starting again, Nestle aspires to energise children by donating two million cartons of Nestle MILO. US' 'inhumane, unilateral' sanctions cause suffering for people: Iran health minister Iran Press TV Monday, 18 May 2020 6:18 PM Iran's health minister says unilateral sanctions imposed on the country by the administration of US President Donald Trump are inhumane and cause suffering and pain for people. Addressing the 73rd World Health Assembly through video-conference on Monday, Saeed Namaki said, "Any measure or policy, which would prevent cooperation among governments in the health sector, is irresponsible and inhumane." "There is no doubt that unilateral sanctions constitute an obstacle and are an inhumane measure, which brings about suffering and pain [for people]," the Iranian minister said, adding, "The United States must be held to account for the severe sanctions that have put the lives of Iranian people in jeopardy." He hailed the leading role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in supporting the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasized that the body deserves to be supported, not punished and criticized by certain countries. Trump has claimed that the WHO had failed to disclose or respond to "credible" information in December that suggested the virus could be spread through human-to-human transmission. He also accused the agency of siding with China and reliance on Chinese data, blaming it for "all sorts of false information about transmission and mortality" that was circulated amid initial reports. Speaking in a news briefing in Washington on April 15, the US president halted funding to the WHO, accusing the international body of mishandling the deadly flu-like pathogen. "Today I'm instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization's role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus," Trump said. Republican US lawmakers then threw their weight behind Trump's decision to halt the WHO's funding, insisting that unless its director general resigns Washington should not resume payments to the international body. Addressing the WHO's main annual meeting on Monday, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar slammed the UN health agency's "failure" to obtain and provide vital information on COVID-19 that could have reined in the pandemic and saved many lives. "We must be frank about one of the primary reasons this outbreak spun out of control: there was a failure by this organization to obtain the information that the world needed, and that failure cost many lives," Azar said. Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian minister stressed the importance of boosting global solidarity and cooperation to contain the coronavirus pandemic, saying it is necessary that all countries have access to medicines and vaccine at an appropriate time and price. He added that Iran has succeeded in decreasing the coronavirus death toll due to its extensive measures in the public health sector based on the approach that calls for the involvement of "the whole government and the whole society." The Iranian minister noted that some 78 million people have been screened for the coronavirus in the country in the first phase with the help of the strong infrastructure of Iran's primary health care (PHC) system while over 22 million high-risk people have also been screened so far in the second phase. Iran increased its laboratory capacities in outpatient clinics with the main focus being on screening the patients, social distancing, and timely treatment, and in doing this, the country gradually reopened businesses in order to prevent more harm to the country's economy, he explained. Iran's Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said on Monday that 2,294 new infections were confirmed in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 122,492. Jahanpour added that 1,760 of the new cases were outpatients and people who had been in close contact with those infected. More than 95,600 of those hospitalized with the virus had recovered and been discharged. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address In an "historic turning point," the Trump administration has taken bold action to bring America's pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the U.S. from China and India.NBC News reported White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, a staunch China hawk who is the mastermind behind President Donald Trump's trade war with the communist nation, said that the move "will not only help bring our essential medicines home but actually do so in a way that is cost competitive with the sweatshops and pollution havens of the world."Navarro added,The New York Times reported that the company could see the contractthe history of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).Dr. Eric Edwards, the chief executive and president of Phlow, said in an interview with The New York Times,On its website, Phlow Corp bills itself as an America First company.the website reads.HHS Secretary Alex Azar said that the move wasForbes reported The move comes as the U.S. and other countries around the world have realized in recent months that they cannot depend on China to be a reliable manufacturer of products that are critical to the U.S. supply chain, including medicines, due to China's lies and cover-up that of the coronavirus pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China.Trump announced late on Monday evening that the U.S. would make its suspension of funding the World Health Organization permanent, and would even consider leaving, if "major" immediate changes were not made. TANZANIA, Tanzania - Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is recommending that the annual gathering of world leaders in late September, which was supposed to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, be dramatically scaled back because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Guterres suggested in a letter to the president of the General Assembly that heads of state and government deliver prerecorded messages instead, with only one New York-based diplomat from each of the 193 U.N. member nations present in the General Assembly Hall. Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande has said a decision on the annual gathering will be made after consultations with U.N. member states. The meeting of world leaders usually brings thousands of government officials, diplomats and civil society representatives to New York for over a week of speeches, dinners, receptions, one-on-one meetings and hundreds of side events. This year was expected to bring an especially large number of leaders to U.N. headquarters to celebrate the founding of the United Nations in 1945 on the ashes of World War II. But New York has been an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic with over 190,000 cases and nearly 16,000 confirmed deaths. Guterres said in the letter, first reported by the Press Trust of India and obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, that although September is some months away the medical community anticipates that the pandemic will continue to cycle with varying degrees of severity, depending on the ability of the affected nation to implement aggressive identification, testing, tracing and containment measures. It is expected, therefore, that international travel restrictions may remain in place for some destinations meaning quarantines might affect travellers to and from New York City, he said. While the General Assembly could consider postponing the high-level meeting to a date in 2021, he said it would be better to hold it at the start of the new General Assembly session in September. This will allow the U.N.s work to continue uninterrupted, albeit in a different format, and for world leaders to convey their views on important international issues, including on the international response to the pandemic, as well as to hear the views of other leaders, Guterres said. General Assembly spokeswoman Reem Abaza reiterated Tuesday that no decision has been made yet regarding the annual gathering. Early morning on Feb. 21, eviction protesters of Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market prepare to defend their encampment in front of Noryangjin Station with bottled water. / Courtesy of Ron Bandun By Ron Bandun The tent village in front of Noryangjin Station resembled a typical Seoul night market, as merchants dug in their heels and prepared for an imminent assault. They had some seafood products on display, as well as a couple tanks full of fish, but sales were the last thing on their minds. Word was a force of 400 to 500 hired goons would descend on these mostly peaceful elderly protesters around 4 a.m. and evict them forcefully from the square. There were now only 70 to 80 merchants left, people who had done business out of the old Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market. The market was now hidden behind demolition fences. A new building had opened next door in October 2015, and most of the merchants had relocated there, some less enthusiastically than others. The new building looks cleaner, but it doesn't smell better apparently due to lack of ventilation as it isn't an open-air market like the old one. Merchants complained the stalls aren't big enough, and their rent is increased significantly from the old building. The conflict boiled over in 2016, miring one of Seoul's favorite cultural landmarks in conflict. I found myself in front of the station at 3 a.m. on Feb. 21, the day of the raid, after reading a Facebook post from a musician friend. I was drawn there because I had to witness this conflict, played out across Seoul so many times, for myself. There was water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. Apparently the merchants had been told the police would not intervene if they threw water, so water bottles were stocked all around the protest site. The people were welcoming, representing an eclectic mix of elderly merchants and young artist-activists. They had fortified the stairs up to the overpass running over the train tracks from the front of the station to the old market building, and set up a canopy on the overpass itself, transforming it into a camp for the merchants, mostly female, who stayed in there. This would be the target of the hired goons. Sure enough, the hired goons arrived at 4 a.m. sharp. First they flooded the street in front of the station, surrounding the protest camp's perimeter. A tow truck arrived to remove the cars parked in front, but protesters barricaded its path. Harsh words were exchanged, and the protesters flung water at the goons. Workers, left, smash their way into an evictee encampment in front of Noryangjin Station in Seoul, Feb. 21, while police, right, stand to the side. / Courtesy of Ron Bandun What are these "hired goons" I keep mentioning? The Korean term, "yongyeok," is often translated roughly to "errand men," although I could see women among the forces surrounding us. They are a type of contract laborer often hired to bust up union protests, street food vendors and evicted buildings, among other jobs. They are hired by government bodies and development companies, often to violently evict people. I'd heard of their cruel tactics and I'd seen the consequences of their actions at eviction sites such as Dongdaemun Market where 500 of them were sent to evict 75 merchants, and Yongsan District 4 where they drove evictees into the ill-fated Namildang building, the site of the 2009 Yongsan Disaster. The Noryangjin people have been saying their protest could possibly become the "second Yongsan Disaster." This was my first time seeing a battle between hired goons and evictee protesters, and it was distressing. As an outside observer, I stayed back from the frontline, but suddenly I found myself in the thick of it, as the hired goons began attacking the merchants' tents, shaking them apart and ripping through to gain entry. It became a full-on water fight, as the protesters fought back with splashes from bottles, buckets, anything available. Eviction protesters from the old Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market fight back with water as workers tear through their tents. / Courtesy of Ron Bandun As local residents, who were stranded in other states during the Covid-19 lockdown, continue to return to Manipur, the total number of people infected with the coronavirus disease went up to nine on Tuesday. Dr Khoirom Sasheekumar Mangang, Additional Director and spokesperson of the health department said that there seven active cases of the coronavirus disease in the state, while two people have recovered. A 64-year-old woman and her 23-year-old daughter were found positive on Tuesday after their test was conducted at VRDL (Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory), RIMS (Regional Institute of Medical Sciences), health departments statement said. Stating that the duo left Delhi on May 14 and reached Imphal on May 16, the health department said, all necessary precautionary measures are being taken. Meanwhile, a day after the special train from Gujarats Vadodara arrived carrying 593 stranded people, the fifth batch of around 536 people by a special train from Hyderabad at the Jiribam railway station, 220 km west of Imphal on Tuesday, official sources said. According to sources, the returnees left for their respective districts in 24 buses after following necessary medical procedures, sources said. On Sunday afternoon, the third special train from Bengaluru had arrived with 1,450 people, who later left on 43 buses for their respective districts. The first special train from Chennai carrying 1,140 people of the state had arrived on May 13. As on Monday, the total number of people who returned to Manipur via bus stood at 5,785, while 4,237 people returned on trains, according to states Covid-19 common control room sources. The number of women running Fortune 500 companies has hit a new record, according to this year's Fortune 500 list. Currently, there are 37 women leading Fortune 500 firms, an increase from last year's 33 women, which at the time, was a record high. This new addition of women is the result of several leadership changes in companies that previously made the list, in which women have taken over from a male predecessor, as well as companies passing the $5.7 billion revenue threshold to make the list this year, reports Fortune. Of the 37 women CEOs, seven made the list for the first time. Newcomers include former Home Depot executive Carole Tome, who will become the new CEO of UPS on June 1; veteran health executive Heyward Donigan who became the CEO of Rite Aid in August 2019; former Old Navy chief Sonia Syngal who became Gap Inc.'s CEO in March 2020; Kristin C. Peck who became CEO of the animal health company Zoetis in January 2020; and Jennifer Johnson who took over her family's investment management company, Franklin Resources, from her brother in February 2020. Barbara R. Smith, CEO of materials company Commercial Metals, and Nazzic S. Keene, CEO of information technology company Science Applications International, made the list for the first time after bringing in a company revenue of $5.8 billion and $6.4 billion, respectively. A few familiar names like IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson and KeyCorp CEO Beth Mooney are no longer on the list after announcing they will be stepping down from their roles this year. Though improvements have been made around gender diversity in the C-suite, this year's list is also proof that a lot more work still needs to be done. Even with a record high of 37 female CEOs, women make up just 7.4% of the leaders on the Fortune 500 list. There are also just three women of color on the list: Gap Inc.'s Syngal, Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su and Yum China CEO Joey Wat. Mary Winston, who was the interim CEO of Bed, Bath and Beyond, was the only black woman leading a Fortune 500 company last year. She has since been replaced by permanent CEO Mark Tritton, leaving zero black women on the list. And Geisha Williams, who was the first and only Latina woman heading a Fortune 500 company, stepped down from her role last year; now there are zero Latina women in charge of a Fortune 500 firm. Lorraine Hariton, president and CEO of Catalyst, a global nonprofit that works to accelerate women into leadership positions, says this year's list is an "incremental victory" in the right direction, but acknowledges that a lot more progress still needs to be made. She emphasizes that with this incremental victory also comes "the sobering reality of the unprecedented economic and health crisis we face in this moment," in which women are being financially impacted more than men. Hariton explains that during this pandemic, women are not only losing their jobs faster than men, but they are also losing their jobs at a time when they are trying to "[manage] child care, their households and their own emotional well-being." Moving forward, she says, "with more women CEOs in the Fortune 500, we need to be proactive to create more equitable, inclusive and fulfilling opportunities and workplaces for everyone." This includes, she adds, having a post-Covid-19 workplace where leaders are "intentionally [doubling] down on supporting women at every level to continue to advance women in the workplace." Check out: The best credit cards of 2020 could earn you over $1,000 in 5 years Don't miss: Coronavirus job losses are impacting everyone, but women are taking a harder hit than men It will set out legal process before passing case to investigative judges deciding whether to hand him over to UN court. Felicien Kabuga, a key Rwandan genocide fugitive, is due to appear before a Paris court days after police swooped on his hideout in a suburb of the French capital. The 84-year-old is accused of financing Hutu militias that massacred some 800,000 Tutsis and their moderate Hutu allies over a span of 100 days in 1994. Kabuga, a Hutu businessman and once one of Rwandas wealthiest people, was indicted in 1997 on seven criminal counts including genocide. At Tuesdays hearing, which is procedural, the court will set out the legal process before passing the case to investigative judges who will decide whether to hand over Kabuga to a United Nations court handling alleged crimes against humanity. At least one France-based genocide victim support group said it was considering legal action to unearth how Kabuga was able to go underground in France and what help he had received. He was our Klaus Barbie, our [Adolf] Eichmann, said Etienne Nsanzimana, president of support group Ibuka France, referring to two prominent Nazi war criminals. How did he stay on the run for 26 years? For how many years was he in France and receiving help to live comfortably. I dont think it was just his family, Nsanzimana added. Kabuga was arrested in a pre-dawn raid on Saturday in Asnieres-sur-Seine on the outskirts of Paris. Frances justice ministry has said he lived under a false identity. It is not known when or how Kabuga, who had a $5m US reward on his head, entered France. Since 1994, Felicien Kabuga, known to have been the financier of Rwanda genocide, had with impunity stayed in Germany, Belgium, Congo-Kinshasa, Kenya, or Switzerland, a justice ministry statement said. His ability to hide to evade an international manhunt for more than 20 years has raised questions over whether he had accomplices outside of his family. It is difficult to imagine he could have escaped into French territory without the help of accomplices, said Patrick Baudoin of the International Federation for Human Rights. The federation has supported survivors in the prosecution of other Rwandan genocide suspects living in France. Moussa Faki, chairperson of the African Union Commission, welcomed the news of what he described as a landmark arrest. This latest development is, indeed, a milestone in our collective efforts to ensure that such heinous crimes against humanity never happen again, Mahamat said on Monday. Phil Clark, a professor at SOAS University of London, said the arrest was hugely significant as Kabuga played a crucial role in the mass killings by creating the notorious Interahamwe militia as well as a radio network that sent out chilling incitements to murder. The genocide could not have happened without Kabuga. He basically bankrolled the entire genocide, Clark told Al Jazeera. He basically produced, created and funded the militias that carried out many of the largest massacres during the genocide. He also bankrolled the main hate radio station that incited many of the key massacres, and he also enabled the import of about 500,000 machetes, without which the killing spree would have been impossible. Without Kabuga, the genocide couldnt have happened. The Trump administration on Monday issued guidelines that urge caution in reopening the nation's nursing homes, recommending that the facilities - battered by the novel coronavirus - relax restrictions more slowly than the communities around them. The guidelines urge state and local officials to refrain from allowing virtually all visitors into nursing homes or other senior care facilities until several conditions are met. They include making sure a nursing home has no new cases of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, for four weeks. In addition, such facilities must ensure that they have enough protective gear and access to coronavirus tests and that nearby hospitals have sufficient space in intensive care units and other wards in the event cases spike again. The guidance also says the amount of virus is circulating in the community should be taking into account. The guidance is an aspect of the White House's Opening Up America Again plan, and it is in phases, like the broader plan. But it sets a significantly higher bar for resuming normal operations in nursing homes filled with vulnerable, elderly residents than the guidelines for businesses, stores and other workplaces - all of which President Donald Trump has been encouraging to turn the lights back on. "[W]hile we are not at a point where nursing homes can safely open up, we want to make sure communities have a plan in place when they are ready to reopen," said Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which issued the guidance. On a Monday evening conference call with reporters, Verma said "extreme caution" should be used by state and local officials, who will have the final say over whether to follow the federal advice. She said the recommendations were developed in consultation with Brett Giroir, the HHS assistant secretary overseeing coronavirus testing, and Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House's coronavirus task force. The nursing home industry was consulted, as well. Though it recommends a careful, gradual approach, the nursing home guidance nevertheless reflects a tendency in the Trump administration for policy decisions sometimes to run ahead of facts on the ground. CMS, which regulates nursing homes, issued the guidelines Monday afternoon, hours after the deadline for the nation's nursing homes to report their number of coronavirus infections and deaths to the federal government - something watchdogs for the elderly had been urging. Nursing facilities also must report on staff shortages, access to protective gear and the availability of ventilators. Federal officials said they will collect that information weekly and publish it online, starting by the end of May, showing figures for individual nursing homes as well as broad patterns. As a result, the administration's guidance for slowly relaxing restrictions was written as health officials are just starting to study that data. The massive data collection marks the U.S. government's first attempt to assess the virus's impact since an outbreak in a Seattle nursing home in February killed 45 people, according to the King County, Washington, public health department. Monday's recommendations are appearing slightly more than two months after CMS issued its last nursing home guidance, in which health officials said facilities should "restrict visitation of all visitors and non-essential health care personnel." The only exceptions, it said in the March 13 guidance, are for "certain compassionate care situations," such as when a patient is dying, and those decisions should be made case by case, with visitors required to wear protective gear, including face masks. Even before the government provides a statistical roundup, it has been evident that long-term care facilities are among the settings the coronavirus has penetrated most deeply. One in four nursing homes nationwide have reported at least one case of covid-19, according to a Washington Post analysis of publicly available data for more than 15,000 skilled nursing facilities certified by Medicare and Medicaid, the public insurance programs for older Americans and for the poor. And in the absence of a government tally of coronavirus-related deaths in nursing homes, the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health-care policy organization, has estimated those facilities and other assisted-living facilities account for 41% of covid-19 deaths in the United States, based on publicly available state data. In some states, the proportion is as high as 70% or 80% of the total deaths, Kaiser has said. Leading advocates for nursing home residents and their families were swiftly critical of the CMS recommendations, from various vantage points. Toby Edelman, senior policy attorney with the Center for Medicare Advocacy, criticized the administration's approach, saying in an email, "As usual throughout the pandemic, the federal government is once again putting responsibility on governors and others to make actual decisions. . . . We need national standards, based on science and expert advice, that everyone follows, not recommendations that can be ignored." Michael Wasserman, president of the California Association of Long Term Care Medicine, faulted government officials for not relying more on geriatricians and other experts in long-term care to decide when facilities can safely open. "That's what we trained for our whole lives," he said. And Mike Dark, a lawyer with the nonprofit group California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, said the guidelines "could mean waiting for months or years before crucial caregiver visits can start again." In an email, he said: "The virus is already so widespread in facilities, and access to testing so limited, that asking for all residents and staff to test negative first means residents and families will lose hope of seeing one another again. . . . These are issues that CMS has already badly dropped the ball on, and now they're making families pay the price for it." Verma said covid-19 deaths among nursing homes residents have "been heartbreaking," as was the agency's March decision to bar visitors. She said the pace of reopening would vary, nursing home by nursing home, depending on its history with the virus and that of its community. "We want to unite families with their loved ones," she said, "as soon as it is feasible and safe." Tens of thousands of autoworkers returned to factories across the United States on Monday as the Trump administration and corporations push for a rapid reopening of the economy despite the continued spread of the coronavirus. The death toll in the USthe highest in the worldis 92,000 and will likely reach the grim milestone of 100,000 in a matter of days. Workers who spoke with the World Socialist Web Site expressed their anger and concern over the rush to reopen the plants and denounced the inadequate safety measures. They screened us at the gates with thermal imaging machines and gave us two disposable facemasksthe kind you get on Amazon for $15 for a box of 50for our 10-hour shift, one young worker at Fiat Chryslers Jefferson North Assembly Plant (JNAP) in Detroit said. After a two-month shutdown, General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler restarted some 51 factories in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and other states, including several where formal stay-at-home orders are still in place. At Fiat Chryslers Warren Truck Assembly Plant in suburban Detroit, where at least four workers have died from COVID-19, workers filed into the plant earlier Monday morning under a banner that read, Let's restart. The industry publication Automotive News declared Monday, The reopening of car plants will be a closely watched test of whether workers across a range of U.S. industries can return to factories in large numbers without a resurgence of infections. President Trump plans to visit Fords Rawsonville, Michigan plant Thursday to tout his plan to reopen America. Unsaid, however, is that the corporations and the government are experimenting with the lives of workers and their families. The restart of the industry is also a political test to see whether the corporations and the United Auto Workers can contain opposition when the inevitable resurgence of infections takes place. All over the plant there were banners about keeping safe, how clean it was and so on, the JNAP worker said. They were very sensitive about trying to keep workers feeling comfortable. About 50-60 percent of the workers were wearing face shields, but there were some workers wearing surgical masks with their noses exposed and people talking to each other like it was business as usual. Im worried some workers are going to let their guard down. Theyre intimidating TPTs [temporary part-time employees] and using economic pressure to make older workers show up. Thats the whole point of the check box in your weekly unemployment claim. It asks you if you were called back to work. If you say yes and you dont go to work, youre not going to get a penny. In March, as the virus was running rampant throughout the plants, workers revolted against the UAW, launching a wave of wildcat strikes that forced the closure of the entire North American industry. The UAW, whose former president was arraigned last week for a million-dollar kickback scheme, reiterated that the companies had the contractual right to decide when and how production resumes, union spokesman Brian Rothenberg told the Detroit News. Todd Dunn, president of UAW Local 862 in Louisville, Kentucky, where Ford is bringing back 14,000 workers to two assembly plants, declared, Ultimately were in this together. Because if we don't build trucks, Ford Motor Company is gone." The companies hired thousands of TPTswho can be fired if they do not report to work when calledbecause management anticipated widespread absenteeism Monday. However, most workers reportedly showed up for work. This was the product of a massive campaign, with corporate executives and UAW officials claiming the plants were safe, state officials, including Michigans Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, sanctioning the reopening of manufacturing plants and threatening that workers who refused to return would face the loss of unemployment benefits and even their jobs. Im assuming all the measures they put in place will be null and void in a couple of weeks, a skilled trade worker at JNAP added. They tell us to stand six feet apart, but the car is not six foot wide. If you wear face shields and all that, I dont see how with the place being so hot people can do it. The masks are flimsy, and the strings break off. I can only imagine what production is going through. Time is of the essence, a General Motors worker said in an email to the WSWS. Returning to GM at this time only puts my family at the highest risk possible. To allow greed to kill us while the UAW gets tested, they talk family first until its time to keep us out of harms way. A worker at the GM Delta plant near Lansing, Michigan said, The body shop reported today, and Wednesday the general assembly workers will start actual production. People arent ready to go back. They dont feel it is safe enough. By not doing this correctly, this is going to spike out of control. When you have dealerships closed, why are you going to open the plants when you are not selling? What else is going to happen is we will have cars stockpiled all over the storage yards and everywhere else. At any time, GM could say we are not going to use the third shift now. So, a lot of people could be out of work. A worker at FCAs Sterling Heights Assemblywhere two workers sent in early to prep the plant tested positive for COVID-19 last weeksaid, Only individuals with a prescription can get N95 mask. Only workers who show symptoms are provided with testing. Being on the line was very tense up to the first break not knowing how to eat in full PPE and behind plexiglass dividers. You feel somewhat safe till someone walks behind you and your shield coughing or laughing and talking with no mask on. The morning started with the plant manager doing a virtual town hall meeting. We were given a packet showing all the cleaning done over the furlough period. Then we found out we have about 20,000 orders for trucks, and well be working 10-hour shifts until further notice. Another Jefferson worker pointed out that 300 Jeeps were built Monday instead of the normal 640 vehicles. When they ramp up the line speed, theyre going to drop these precautions. They should be testing everybody before going in. But they dont want to because it would put off the restart, and the UAW, whose top leaders got tested, are going along with this. The auto executives have rejected regular testing for workers despite the fact that daily temperature taking will not detect infected workers who are asymptomatic. Asked Monday on National Public Radio why Ford didnt provide daily testing to every worker, CEO Jim Hackett declared, Its just not practical here at the beginning, particularly with uswe will be over 200,000 people. Last week, Hackett echoed President Trumps reactionary claim that the loss of corporate profits from keeping corporations closed was worse than the deaths caused by COVID-19. There are two truths here and theyre in competition, Hackett told Yahoo Finance. One is weve got to have safe work environments, and the other is if we keep the economy turned off, were going to have a fate worse than some of the things that the virus is causing. He reiterated on NPR, saying, 90,000 deaths is a pure tragedy, and 36 million people out of employment is tragic. You cant solve the paradox by saying one is more important than the other. But Hackett is not concerned about the hardships facing jobless workers. Ford has laid off more than 30,000 workers over the last few years while enriching shareholders and executives like himself with stock buybacks and dividend payments. Hackett and the other auto bosses are solely concerned about the loss of profits as the debts of the Detroit automakers pile up. Last week, GM floated bonds to raise $4 billion. FCA is seeking a corporate bailout from the Italian government. Ford, whose stocks have been punished over the last two years, could face bankruptcy or a corporate takeover. This is behind the reckless rush to restart production and pump out profits from workers to pay off bondholders and other Wall Street investors. With workers being forced back into the plants, they must have the means to protect themselves. The Socialist Equality Party and WSWS Autoworker Newsletter urge workers to form rank-and-file safety committees, independent of the UAW, to oversee health and safety in the plants. These committees, working in conjunction with trusted medical professionals, must insist on shorter work hours and regular downtime to provide for the universal testing and monitoring of workers health. Workers must be provided with multiple sets of N95 masks and other protective gear, and have access to immediate medical treatment, with no loss of pay. The guiding principle of these committees must be that the needs of workers for a safe working environment must come before the profit interests of the giant corporations. Horse racing is slated to return to the First State in the coming weeks, as announced by the Delaware Standardbred Owners Association in an open letter to its membership. In Phase 1 of Delaware's economic reopening, Governor John Carney approved the limited opening of the state's three racetracks Delaware Park, Dover Downs and Harrington Raceway effective June 1. The letter appears in its entirety below. Delaware Harness Racing Community: As most of you have probably heard, Governor Carney has approved the limited opening of Delaware's racinos effective June 1, 2020. Racing is scheduled to begin at Harrington Raceway on Monday, June 15, 2020. Prior to racing, there will be qualifying races and publication of a condition sheet and draw schedule. I am working with Harrington Raceway and the D.H.R.C. to waive the need to qualify for all horses who have raced since February 1, 2020; I will update everyone once this has been approved. D.S.O.A. is also currently in negotiations with Harrington Raceway regarding several items such as: a purse schedule, a condition sheet, the number of races and a possible extension of the Spring race meet schedule. There is sill some uncertainty regarding the Delaware State Fair, which bas to be determined. I will post on D.S.O.A.s webpage and Facebook page how these get resolved as soon as possible. There will be many restrictions and safety protocols that will be required for Harrington Raceway to reopen. Horsemen will have to strictly comply with these for racing to continue; all of these will be posted soon once they are completed. Everyone will have to be patient, as it will take some time for racing to return to how it was before COVID-19 started. Eventually we will get back to normal but the process will take time. Getting back to racing should do wonders for us all. Doing what we love to do is the best thing that could have happened; let's embrace it and move forward. As of today, we have not raced for 63 days. In that time with the casinos also shut down, we have lost over $5,000.000.00 for purses. The tracks also lost about four to five times that amount, Money will be tight for all of us for a while, but it will improve with time. The financial difficulties you all have experienced is also equally devastating but together we can all work to get things back to the way it was soon. Check the D.S.O.A. webpage and Facebook page for updates, which will be posted once available. Stay well and safe. Sincerely yours, Salvatore DiMario D.S.O.A. Executive Director (DSOA) Skeletal remains found on Phuket beach PHUKET: Police are hoping to identify the skeletal remains of half a body that was found washed ashore at Sai Kaew Beach, at the northwest tip of the island, yesterday afternoon (May 18). policedeath By Eakkapop Thongtub Tuesday 19 May 2020, 09:45AM The remains were found washed ashore at Sai Kaew Beach, on the northwest tip of the island. Photo: Tha Chatchai Police Police were called to the beach at about 3:30pm confirmed Maj Sornthip Chookkaew of the Tha Chatchai Police. Officers arrived with rescue workers to find the remains half covered with sand and mixed with debris washed ashore by strong waves. The skeletal remains were of the lower half of the body only. Officers were unable to estimate the age or even gender of the remains, nevermind its possible origin or cause of death, Maj Sornthip said. At this stage we presume the remains are that of a fishermen who had fallen into the sea about a month ago, he said. Rescue workers transported the remains to Thalang Hospital. From there the remains will be taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital so Forensic Police can examine them in more detail and take a sample for DNA analysis, Maj Sornthip explained. Then we will be able to check if the remains match any persons reported missing, he added. John Lewis' Rainbow NHS Charities Together is back in stock after it sold out in two days. (John Lewis) Yahoo Lifestyle is committed to finding you the best products at the best prices. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. John Lewis & Partners has joined a long list of retailers who have got behind NHS Charities Together to help raise funds amid the coronavirus pandemic. The longstanding department store released the rainbow NHS mug on Saturday (16 May), with all proceeds being donated to the charity. The china design has proved to be a huge hit with customers as it sold out within two days, a spokesperson for the brand has confirmed. Didnt get round to adding it to your basket? Youre in luck as the mug is now back in stock. The limited edition mug has Our Heroes circled by a rainbow emblazoned on one side, and Thank you printed in multicolour on the reverse. Buy it: Rainbow NHS Charities Together Mug | 8 from John Lewis & Partners Speaking about the inspiration behind the kitchenware item, John Lewis & Partners Assistant Homeware Designer, Lucy Day, said: The inspiration for the mug was the lovely joyful messages children have been putting in the windows around the country and the playful freedom of their drawing style. I thoroughly enjoyed designing it. The mug retails for 8, and is available to buy online at johnlewis.com, as well as 264 Waitrose branches. For those who want to support the cause even more, will be glad to hear other brands have launched similar initiatives. Missoma recently launched an initiative to support those working on the frontline by gifting 50 NHS workers in the UK an engraved gold pendant. This received such a positive response the British jewellery brand has launched the 18 carat gold necklace, which has hands clapping engraved on the disc, as a limited edition piece, and 100% of profits from the accessory will be donated to NHS Charities Together. Luxury sunglasses brand, Linda Farrow, will be donating 10% of their global online sales from a seasonal edit to the NHS to support them during this difficult period. Story continues While an independent seller on Etsy has backed Captain Tom Moores Foundation and is donating proceeds from banners with his slogan Tomorrow will be a good day to the organisation. Wendy Trudel made sure to take pictures of her pilot friend Capt. Richard MacDougall last Tuesday when he was in town with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds at 17 Wing as a part of their Operation Inspiration countrywide tour. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/5/2020 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Wendy Trudel made sure to take pictures of her pilot friend Capt. Richard MacDougall last Tuesday when he was in town with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds at 17 Wing as a part of their "Operation Inspiration" countrywide tour. But Trudel never expected the next time shed see pictures of MacDougall would be on the 11 oclock news on Sunday night informing her of a plane crash he was in. Just before noon on Sunday, a Snowbirds Tutor jet crashed in Kamloops, B.C. MacDougall, 34, was the pilot. He ejected from the plane, landed on a roof and is expected to make a full recovery. Capt. Jennifer Casey, a Halifax native and the teams public affairs officer, was also on board and was killed in the crash. Capt. Richard MacDougall (Wendy Trudel / Supplied) "I took pictures of Richard, Jenn and a couple of the other guys, not knowing that couldve been one of the last pictures (of her). Its sad," said Trudel, a civilian at 17 Wing who has known MacDougall for nearly a decade. Trudel said when she spoke to MacDougall last week at the hangar, he was "beaming and so excited" to be a part of the operation. She still cant wrap her head around the fact something like this could happen less than a week later. "I was just totally shocked. I had tears in my eyes," Trudel said. "I didnt think it was him. I thought it was somebody else, even though you wouldnt want that to happen to anybody... To have that happen, its heartbreaking that it even did happen and that Jenn lost her life." Want to get a head start on your day? Get the days breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. MacDougall hails from New Brunswick but was stationed at 17 Wing in Winnipeg before joining the Snowbirds. Winnipegger Garth Merkeley, who became friends with MacDougall eight years ago when they lived in the same condo building, took to Facebook to share details of his friendship with MacDougall, how proud he was to fly with the Snowbirds and what the past 24 hours had been like for their group of friends. "Last summer he joined the Snowbirds team. For someone who was born to fly and perform like him, Im not sure there could be any higher honour," said Merkeleys Facebook post. "It brought him so much pride and joy to serve his country in this particular way. This tour that they were in the middle of, Operation Inspiration, was such a Richard thing. Using his talents and abilities to try to brighten the lives of as many people as possible was just right up his alley." Merkeley and his friends waited over an hour after hearing about the crash until they were notified by MacDougalls mother, Paulette Richard who lives in Dieppe, N.B., that he had survived. Merkeley declined an interview request, but told the Free Press that MacDougall loved his time in Winnipeg. The Snowbirds are based out of Moose Jaw, Sask. "Early this morning we were finally able to hear from him briefly. The doctors expect him to make a full recovery. But obviously his recovery wont just be physical," Merkeleys post read. taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @TaylorAllen31 The U.S. Department of Labor last Thursday issued its first workplace guidance to nursing homes since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country and ravaged care facilities, saying residents, staff and visitors should keep 6 feet (1.83 meters) apart. The alert from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) also said nursing homes should screen resident and staff for symptoms and should find alternatives to group activities. OSHA, which is charged with setting and policing national working conditions, did not recommend testing of residents or workers by nursing homes, which have been hit by the coronavirus since February. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Donald Trump said last week that nursing home residents should have access to testing if there was testing capacity. AARP, a group that represents seniors, had urged Congress to ensure access to testing for nursing home staff and residents. Nursing homes account for a large portion of the 83,000 U.S. deaths from COVID-19, the lung disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Elderly individuals and people with underlying chronic health conditions are among those at highest risk for severe illness and death. Unions have criticized OSHA for not doing enough to protect workers, who have protested conditions at food-processing plants, warehouses and fast-food restaurants. Worker advocates have pushed Congress to direct OSHA to issue emergency temporary standards that all businesses must follow. Businesses have complained they must navigate a complex mix of state and local standards as well as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and have asked Congress to provide a shield against legal liability. OSHA also recommended on Thursday that taxi drivers wear masks and drive with lowered windows and pharmacies should encourage online ordering. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia has defended his department and said it is investigating workplace safety complaints but that flexible guidance is a better for businesses than rigid standards. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware Editing by Noeleen Walder and Leslie Adler) OSHA nursing homes Topics COVID-19 Workers' Compensation Homeowners Directing the local administration and the police to remain on high alert in the wake of the lifting of relaxations, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday asked the Transport Department to draft SOPs for the resumption of local bus movement in all but the containment zones. He, however, ruled out inter-state bus service till May 31. The remarks came during a video conference chaired by Singh to review the COVID-19 and situation in the state. While making it clear that inter-state movement will be allowed only on special and Shramik trains, at least till May 31, the Chief Minister said buses will be allowed to ply within the state in a phased manner. A list of SOPs, including daily disinfection of the buses, will be issued before the resumption of the bus service in the non-containment zones, he added. "The Chief Minister directed all departments to ensure close monitoring and strict adherence to all advisories. He asked the Police Department to be tough in ensuring social distancing and other necessary COVID prevention protocols and to challan those stepping out without masks," read an official statement. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Satish Chandra said in line with the Centre acceding the state's request to do away with colour coding, the state will now have only containment and non-containment zones. "Referring to the continued entry of migrants, NRIs and others via special trains and flights, the Chief Minister reiterated his earlier directions for strict adherence to their quarantine rules. So far, 60,000 Punjabis had registered for return to the state, he said, adding that 20,000 NRIs were also expected to return," the statement added. As of date, more than 2 lakh migrants of the 11 lakh who had registered on the special portal created by the government have left Punjab, the CM said. On being informed that the state was receiving requests from migrant labourers from other states like UP and Bihar to return to to work in the fields during the paddy season, the Chief Minister directed the Chief Secretary to work out the modalities for the same with the Centre. All such workers shall have to be quarantined in the villages they would be working in, he added. The statement said in a week's time, the state would be able to scale up the number of tests from the current 1,400 in government labs to 4,650 per day in just the three government medical colleges. In the next 25 days, four more labs in the state would be ready for testing, with additional 1000 per day capacity. This would be in addition to the Central government and private testing capacities. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DENVER A judge on Monday ordered a mental health evaluation for a Colorado man whom prosecutors said was heading to a protest against COVID-19 lockdown restrictions when FBI agents found pipe bombs in his home. U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Hegarty ruled Bradley Bunn, a 53-year-old Army veteran, poses a danger to the community and ordered him to remain in custody while he awaits an evaluation. A defense attorney can renew a request for Bunn to be freed after the evaluation, the magistrate said. FBI agents searched Bunns Loveland, Colorado, home on May 1 and allegedly found four pipe bombs. Bunn told investigators that he would fight to the death anyone who tried to disarm him, had started to gear up for a coming war and would be willing to take out a few officers to wake everyone up, a federal prosecutor said during a court hearing The magistrate said he needs to hear from a mental health expert before he can decide if Bunns words reflect a real threat against the public or merely an expression of his mental health condition. Hegarty also questioned if Bunns statements relate to the current state of affairs in this country, where lots of people are upset and are rallying and protesting at capitals all over the country against lockdown orders. Theres a battle going on in this country on this issue, and I dont know whether and how much to attribute this unique circumstance in our history to what Mr. Bunn has expressed, Hegarty said. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued an alert that said a white supremacist group was inciting followers to shoot through their doors at FBI agents and police officers, prosecutors wrote in a court filing. The warning related to unspecified associates of Bunn. Authorities havent publicly linked Bunn to any group or movement, but a federal prosecutor said agents intercepted Bunn on his way to an armed protest at the Colorado state Capitol against COVID-19 restrictions. A court document laying out the evidence for Bunns arrest said he built the pipe bombs to defend himself against a hard entry in the middle of the night but did not explain who would be breaking in. Bunn was serving in Iraq when he suffered a traumatic brain injury from an exploding device and had a 100% disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, according to his attorney. Federal public defender Matthew Golla has said Bunn has untreated mental health issues from serving as a rifle platoon commander in Iraq and that, without his medication, he was easy prey for agents to make broad statements about his beliefs on weapons. During a previous hearing, Hegarty said he was inclined to release Bunn to an inpatient treatment program at the Department of Veterans Affairs and delayed a decision to find out whether the VA could take him. Golla said an outreach coordinator told him last week that the VA wasnt traveling to conduct mental health evaluations. The magistrate said the VA has a duty to care for Bunn, who risked his life in combat for our country. We are supposed to take care of our veterans. Its just remarkable to me that they cant find resources on an emergency basis, Hegarty said. Nawazuddin Siddiqui appears to be the perfect example of a rags-to-riches story as the actor has lived his journey from sleeping on an empty stomach to making it big in Bollywood in the city of dreams, Mumbai. From sending across paper chits to his village crush to sending messages to himself on his pager, Nawazuddin has as many stories to tell, given the number of twists and turns in his life. On the occasion of his 46th birthday, here are some of the interesting anecdotes from his childhood and days of struggle. The Maths teacher who taught him punctuality Nawazuddin claims the credit for his addiction to punctuality goes to his maths teacher Premchand at his village school. Calling him a stickler for punctuality, the actor had told Hindustan Times Brunch in an interview, Hed be in school much before it opened for the day, even when he was sick or had an emergency at home. I used to go to him for tuition, and he insisted on punctuality. Nawazuddin Siddiqui hails from Budhana village in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. (Twitter) Nawazuddins neighbourhood crush Nawazuddin had once revealed how he liked a girl who lived a few houses away and kites were the only means of communicating with her. He had said, Id write messages on slips of paper and attach them to my kite. Then Id fly the kite and dip it over her yard, shed pull the message off, and Id quickly pull the kite back. To get her replies, Id have to repeat this exercise - but I had to wait for the wind direction to be right. One day, the girls father caught hold of a chit. So things became a little problematic for the both of us. Dropping a message to himself Nawazuddin had once revealed in another interview to HT Brunch about how he and his jobless friends spent several days going to studios with their biodata but never got a response from any of the filmmakers. Sharing an incident about giving a reply to himself, the actor revealed, We all had pagers in case there was a casting offer. But no one ever got a call. Out of frustration, I would often go to the nearby telephone booth, call myself on the pager and leave a message saying: Call me immediately, Subhash Ghai! Also read: Nawazuddin Siddiqui on travelling to hometown: Due to recent loss of my younger sister, my mother got anxiety attack Nawazuddin Siddiqui with his mother. When Nawazuddin didnt want his NSD colleagues to spot him doing crowd roles Nawazuddin and his friends once walked several kilometres to play blink-and-miss roles in an advertisement and blew up almost the entire earnings of the day on food. He said the ad was being shot inside a bus at the Goregaon Film City. He had told HT, We were asked to be part of the crowd. My friend read a newspaper, while I acted like a man taking a nap. The idea was to do the role, but not to show our faces. We needed the money, but didnt want our colleagues from NSD to spot us doing these crowd roles. Follow @htshowbiz for more Donald Trump announced on Monday that he plans to nominate a new top prosecutor to oversee the US attorneys office in the District of Columbia, which handles local and federal cases, including several high-profile prosecutions of the presidents allies. Upon confirmation by the Senate, Justin Herdman, the US attorney in Cleveland, would take the position now filled by Timothy Shea, who came to the office in February. The selection of Mr Herdman comes as the office has been pummelled by political controversies surrounding the cases of Trump confidant Roger Stone and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. Mr Shea was named DCs interim US attorney by Attorney General William Barr effective 3 February. Within weeks, Mr Shea came under fire for sidelining the prosecutors in his office and aligning with Justice Department leaders who intervened to soften the sentencing recommendation for Stone, who was convicted by a federal jury of obstructing a House investigation into Russias 2016 election interference. Mr Shea was criticised again earlier this month when he filed a motion to implement Mr Barrs decision to dismiss Mr Flynns guilty plea to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russias ambassador before Mr Trumps inauguration. Others said the actions, combined with Mr Barrs filling of several other top supervisory positions in the office, left them uneasy and worried that the White House was interfering in prosecutions. The selection of Mr Herdman portends another shake-up at a time when court operations are limited because of the pandemic and most prosecutors are working from their homes. The US attorneys office in Washington has 300 lawyers and is the largest in the country. It is unique in that prosecutors who work out of the office handle federal and local cases, including national security and political corruption cases as well as homicide, drug and weapons cases. The office also last year took over cases handed off after special counsel Robert Muellers investigation of Russias interference in the 2016 presidential election. In a statement, Mr Barr thanked Mr Shea and praised Mr Herdman, saying: This nomination is a reflection [of] his sharp intellect, sound judgment, and dedication to the mission of the Department of Justice. Justin has proven himself to be a fair prosecutor, capable litigator, and excellent manager. Mr Shea will become the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, an administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. He will be succeeded as of Tuesday on an acting basis by Michael Sherwin, whom Barr had picked to serve as Sheas No. 2, and who can remain through mid-December without need of Senate approval. Mr Herdman is a former Navy and active Air Force reserve officer and judge advocate. He holds a law degree from Harvard University, a bachelors from Ohio University and a masters from the University of Glasgow. From 2006 through 2013 as a prosecutor in northern Ohio, Mr Herdman handled criminal cases in the offices terrorism squad, including the prosecution of five activists who plotted to blow up the Ohio 82 bridge spanning the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in 2012. Though he was based in Cleveland, Mr Barr made him vice-chair of the Attorney Generals Advisory Committee, which meant he spent more time than others considering broader Justice Department goals and interacting with Justice Department leadership in DC. Before Mr Trump tapped him as US attorney in northern Ohio, Mr Herdman worked as a partner at Jones Day, a Cleveland-based law firm. He also was an assistant district attorney in New York City for several years. Colleagues praised Mr Herdmans leadership, including First Assistant US Attorney of Maryland Jon Lenzner, who worked with Mr Herdman in New York in 2004 and 2005. Since his time in the Manhattan DAs Office, where I first met and worked with Justin, he has been an exemplary public servant and a tough, effective litigator, Mr Lenzner said in an email. The District of Columbia is getting a good prosecutor and a dynamic leader. President Trump announced that he had nominated Mr Herdman on Monday (Department of Justice) The Ohio-born Mr Herdman was confirmed by the Senate to serve as US attorney for Cleveland in 2017 after senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio, recommended his nomination to Mr Trump. Six weeks after being named US attorney in Ohio, Mr Herdman disbanded that offices civil rights unit which also handled sex trafficking, labour trafficking and excessive force by police claims and established a new division that focused on violent crime by working with federal officials to target gangs and build stronger conspiracy cases, according to stories in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Mr Herdmans priorities, he told prosecutors, were national security, narcotics and violent crime. Cases that had been handled by the civil rights unit had been divided among other units within the office. Mr Herdman must still be confirmed by the Senate for the DC position, the administration official said, making it unclear when he will arrive. Before the pandemic struck locally, Mr Shea held meetings with neighbourhood groups and city leaders. In one with leaders in the citys LGBT+ community, he assured attendees he would focus on hate-crime prosecutions, said attendee Kent Boese, a member of the Rainbow Caucus. Our concern was how long are you going to be here, Mr Boese said. Mr Boese said Mr Shea assured the group he had no intention to leave. But Mr Shea also told them such a decision ultimately was not up to him. Mr Sheas interim appointment was scheduled to expire on 2 June if he were not appointed by Washingtons federal district court. The office has seen unusual changes in leadership in the past five months. Jessie Liu served as US attorney for DC from September 2017 through January 2020. She resigned to take a top job with the Treasury Department, but that nomination was revoked. The Washington Post For every one lakh population, there are 7.1 coronavirus cases in India so far as against 60 globally, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday as the death toll due to COVID-19 in the country rose to 3,029 and the number of cases climbed to 96,169. Track live updates on coronavirus here It also said the recovery rate of coronavirus cases in India stood at 38.39 per cent. Referring to data from WHO situation report, the ministry said 45,25,497 COVID-19 cases have been reported till Monday which is about 60 cases per lakh population. Among the countries with very high load of coronavirus cases, the USA, with 14,09,452 instances of the infection so far, has around 431 cases per lakh population. Russia has reported 2,81,752 cases and has around 195 cases per lakh population, it said. COVID-19 Pandemic Tracker: 15 countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases, deaths The UK has so far reported 2,40,165 cases which is 361 cases per lakh population while Spain with 2,30,698 instances of the disease has about 494 cases per lakh. In Italy has 2,24,760 total cases and about 372 cases per lakh population and Brazil with 2,18,223 cases has 104 cases per lakh population. Germany which has registered 1,74,355 instances of the infection has around 210 cases per lakh population, Turkey with 1,48,067 cases has 180 cases per lakh population, France with 1,40,008 cases has around 209 cases per lakh population and Iran with 1,18,392 cases has 145 cases per lakh population. Also Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases The Union health ministry, in a statement, said, "Aggressive and early measures so far have shown encouraging results." India registered 157 deaths and a record 5,242 cases in 24 hours till Monday 8 am The number of active COVID-19 cases now stands at 56,316 with 36,824 being cured of the disease. A total of 2,715 patients are reported to have recovered in the last 24 hours. "We presently have a recovery rate of 38.29 per cent, the ministry said. It had on Sunday issued guidelines to the states for categorising areas into red, orange and green zones on the basis of parameters such as total active cases, cases per lakh population, doubling rate calculated over a seven-day period, case fatality rate, testing ratio (number of tests per lakh population) and sample positivity rate. This comes after the Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines for the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown, giving power to states and union territories to delineate red, green and orange zones as per the COVID-19 situation taking into consideration the parameters shared by the union health ministry. The internationally renowned physicist and materials scientist will strengthen and expand interdisciplinary research in Dresden in the field of soft robotics with his expertise. With a focus on long-term career prospects in Germany, negotiations are currently being held for a joint appointment with the Max Planck Society. With his team at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Christoph Keplinger has made an internationally renowned name for himself with the development of artificial muscle systems in recent years. He develops functional polymers with unusual combinations of qualities such as electrical conductivity, coupled with elasticity, transparency and the ability to heal themselves. With its infrastructure and research profile, the Technische Universitat Dresden offers excellent conditions for this research. "Dresden with the TU Dresden and its excellent university medicine offers an attractive infrastructure for applied research," says Christoph Keplinger. "I am very pleased that the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship offers me the opportunity to establish an interdisciplinary research group for soft robotics with a medical focus in Dresden". Keplinger aims at rethinking robotics in terms of appearance, functioning and application. His robot design is less reminiscent of steel arms and skeletons, but instead combines his knowledge of methods from physics and chemistry, and merges soft matter with advanced technologies to introduce a new class of robot materials. With the interaction of special electrical components for movement (so called actuators) and sensors, he creates modules for intelligent robot systems of the future. The applications of his research range from medicine to wearable robotics, including active, lightweight implants, prostheses and exoskeletons, which provide high mobility for ageing people to complete their daily routines. Human-like robots to new types of human-machine interfaces are of high relevance for the medicine of the future. "With his research on next-generation active prostheses, actuator systems and surgical robotic tools, Professor Keplinger is a high-class contributor to Dresden's university medicine," says Professor Michael Albrecht, Medical Director of the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital. In order to guarantee Christoph Keplinger long-term access to fundamental research in the field of Robotic Materials/Soft Robotics, talks are currently being held with the Max Planck Society. The Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart/Tubingen specialises in understanding the principles of perception, learning and action in autonomous systems that interact with complex environments. There are numerous points of contact for Keplinger's research projects. "The Max Planck Society is in close contact with TU Dresden as well as with Christoph Keplinger personally in order to open up long-term perspectives for him in Germany," explains Professor Ferdi Schuth, Vice President of the Max Planck Society. "This intended close cooperation with one of Europe's leading research institutes for robotics will create an even greater value for TU Dresden, which will strengthen the development strategy outlined in our application for excellence in an outstanding way," says Professor Hans Muller-Steinhagen, Rector of TU Dresden. "With his work, Christoph Keplinger is moving very close to the zeitgeist of the tactile digital future. And Professor Heinz Reichmann, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at TU Dresden, adds: "Our Faculty of Medicine has already established digital medicine as a cross-sectional area and development focus in 2018. Following targeted appointments and the acquisition of the EKFZ for Digital Health, the first major steps have already been taken to strengthen its profile. Professor Keplinger's research fits perfectly into this and expands our profile in this innovative field of research. " The so-called HASEL concept (hydraulically amplified self-healing electrostatic actuators) developed by Keplinger is considered to be the most important achievement in the research of artificial muscles in the last ten years and a breakthrough in the way robots and actuator systems can be manufactured today. These artificial HASEL muscles are characterised by high speed and performance, as well as the ability to self-heal after electrical damage. He is thus creating synthetic systems that are astonishingly close to the capabilities of organisms existing in nature. Keplinger has already been awarded numerous prizes for his research. He has received prestigious awards such as the US Packard Fellowship for Science and Technology in 2017 and international prizes such as the EAPromising European Researcher Award 2013 from the European Artificial Muscle Science Network. "As a dynamically growing personality in the field of soft robotics and intelligent material-based actuator systems, Professor Keplinger has achieved outstanding scientific and public recognition worldwide. With his expertise, he is a great asset to the EKFZ and TU Dresden," affirms Professor Jochen Hampe, scientific speaker of the EKFZ for Digital Health. ### Additional information: Link to the TED Talk by Prof. Keplinger on "The artificial muscles that will power robots of the future" available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/christoph_keplinger_the_artificial_muscles_that_will_power_robots_of_the_future?language=en Alexander von Humboldt Professorship: At five million euros, the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship is Germany's highest endowed research award and attracts top international researchers to German universities. The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants up to 10 professorships annually. From 2020 to 2024, an additional six Humboldt Professorships in the field of Artificial Intelligence can be filled each year. Twice a year, an interdisciplinary selection committee of the Foundation decides on the nominations. So far, a total of 80 scientists and scholars, including 15 women, have been appointed to a Humboldt Professorship. About Christoph Keplinger: Christoph Keplinger has worked as an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder since 2015. Based on his background in soft matter physics (PhD, JKU Linz), mechanics and chemistry (Postdoc, Harvard University) he runs a highly interdisciplinary research group in Boulder with the current focus on (I) Soft Robotics, (II) Energy Capture and (III) Functional Polymers. His work has been published in top journals such as Science, Science Robotics, PNAS, Advanced Materials, and Nature Chemistry and has been highlighted in popular journals such as National Geographic. EKFZ: The Else Kroner-Fresenius Centre for Digital Health (EKFZ) was founded in September 2019 as a joint interfaculty initiative of Technische Universitat Dresden, the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, several Fraunhofer Institutes and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf on the Dresden campus. The research centre focuses its research activities on innovative medical digital technologies at the direct interface to the patient. It is initially focusing its attention on the areas of "Robotics and Coworking", "Implants, Sensors and Devices" and "Connected Care". The centre is funded by the Else Kroner-Fresenius Foundation with a grant of 40 million Euros for a period of 10 years. The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) says it will use a journalist's interview with former pro-separatist figures as evidence of crimes committed during the war in the east of the country, including the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17). The SBU announcement on May 19 relates to two interviews published by Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Hordon on his YouTube channel in which ex-separatist leader Igor Girkin, also known as Strelkov, and the former top prosecutor in Russian-annexed Crimea, Natalia Poklonskaya, divulge information that prosecutors say could be used against them. "All the information voiced in these interviews is already being analyzed in detail by the [SBU] staff for its use as additional evidence of the Russian Federation's seizure of Ukrainian territory and the actual beginning of the war in the east of our state," the SBU said. Girkin, a former colonel in Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), was the so-called defense minister of a Russia-backed separatist group in the Donetsk region when MH17 was shot down in July 17, 2014, by a Russian-made Buk missile fired from separatist-controlled territory. In the interview published on May 18, Girkin said that as the military commander in the area he felt "indirect responsibility" for the downing of the passenger jet, but that his forces didn't fire the missile that killed all 298 passengers and crew on board. Dutch investigators have linked Girkin and two other Russians and one Ukrainian to downing the jet on its way from the Netherlands to Malaysia. In March, a Dutch court began criminal proceedings against the four separatist figures, who are believed to be in Russia. Dutch officials believe the missile was secretly transported across the Russian border into Ukraine. Russia denies any role in the tragedy. Another interview Hordon published with Poklonskaya on May 11 may also be used by the SBU to build its case against the ex-prosecutor of annexed Crimea between 2014 and 2016 Poklonskaya, now a deputy in the Russian State Duma, is wanted in Ukraine for "actions committed with the aim of forcible change or overthrow of the constitutional order or seizure of state power." Both interviews caused a stir in Ukraine, with some accusing Hordon of spreading Russian and separatist propaganda. In particular, the European Solidarity Party called on the SBU to launch an investigation into Hordon "for inciting hostility, supporting terrorism, and undermining Ukraine's sovereignty." In a twist to the story, Hordon said in a video statement on May 19 that he had interviewed Poklonskaya and Girkin "in collaboration with the Ukrainian secret services." The SBU responded that the interviews were conducted at Hordon's "initiative." Hordon said flash drives of the interviews were sent to The Hague, where the testimonies could be used in international court cases against Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and the war in the east of Ukraine. With reporting by UNIAN and Ukrinform Figures released Monday by the Cabinet Office show Japan's gross domestic product shrank by an annual 3.4 percent in the first three months of 2020, following a contraction in the last quarter of 2019, putting the country in a technical recession with two consecutive quarters of contraction. Japan's economy fell into recession for the first time since 2015 as the coronavirus pandemic brought economic activity at home and abroad to a screeching halt. The COVID-19 outbreak aggravated an already challenging situation for the world's third-largest economy, which was dealing with the impact of a sales tax hike and a powerful typhoon. The pandemic led to official quarantines across the globe as governments tried to blunt the spread of the virus. Japan has been mildly affected by the coronavirus compared to the rest of the world, with more than 16,000 confirmed infections, including over 700 deaths. But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe imposed a state of emergency for Tokyo and six other prefectures last month out of fear the outbreak would overwhelm Japan's healthcare system, then briefly expanded it for the entire country. The government has announced a $990-billion stimulus bill to blunt the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, including $55 billion in direct payments to households and small businesses. In the United States, African Americans are some of the hardest hit by the pandemic. Nationwide, black people are 13% of the population, but account for 27% of coronavirus deaths at least according to the insufficient data available. The root causes are multifaceted and a legacy of our countrys history of racial inequality, but one reason is that black people are more likely to be in front-line essential jobs with no way to work from home. Consequently, 1 in 4 black adults know someone who has been hospitalized or died from coronavirus, compared with 1 in 10 whites. Its no surprise, then, that there is a huge racial divide between people of color who believe the health risks of opening the country are too great (84%) vs. white Americans (52%). A 63-year-old farmer, Apamzebila Azurago Alituba has defied the odds to farm cocoa on the tropical lands of the north, a crop which is known to be unsuitable for that part of the country due to unfavourable weather condition. ModernGhana News team visited his cocoa farm at Teshie in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region. Alituba Azurago told the News team that farming such crop in an unfavourable weather condition took a lot of effort including spending nights on the farm to prevent animals from chewing the young trees. The farmer narrates that his father once tried to cultivate the crop but failed due to the weather situation but he vowed to make it work at all cost. According to him, he started with seven pods of cocoa which he brought from Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti region 6years ago. He added that with determination he has since been able to cultivate up to two and a half hectare of land which could fetch him more than two bags of cocoa beans. The farmer said, last year, two bags of cocoa beans were harvested from the farm and sent to Techiman where it was sold to buyers. Alituba added that in his effort to also let the public know the strange but success story, he publicly displayed his cocoa beans during the 2019 Samanpiid Festival celebrated by the Chiefs and people of Kusaug. Narating the skills he employed in growing the crop, Mr Alituba said, he relies on only the hand dug-out wells on the farm, which provide water for the cocoa trees including other crops such as plantain, okro, watermelon among others. The challenge, he stressed, is that the water often dries up in the dry season coupled with the hot weather situation making it difficult for such crop to survive. Mr Alituba was of the view that if government can come in and support more farmers in the area, more cocoa farms will spring up in the north with the youth who often idle around during the dry season can find something gainfully doing. According to him, with the support of fertiliser from Government's planting for food and jobs programme, water pumping machines and fencing wire to secure the farm against animals, he is ready to expand his production. He called on government, NGO's and philanthropists to come to his aid. Environment secretary George Eustice. (Jonathan Brady-WPA Pool/Getty Images) UK environment minister George Eustice on Tuesday called for Brits to play their part in helping the countrys annual harvest, as farmers across the country face a severe shortfall in labour. Eustice said Brits should lend a hand in picking fruit and vegetables to prevent large quantities going to waste in fields. Large numbers of seasonal workers usually come to the UK from Romania and Bulgaria to help with the harvest, Eustice said, but the COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted this trend and only around a third of usual numbers had travelled to the UK this year. This year, we will need to rely on British workers to lend a hand to help bring that harvest home, Eustice said at the daily Downing Street press briefing. The government has set up a new Pick for Britain website to help people find work on farms. Eustice appealed to the 8 million people who have been furloughed, saying they should take a second job to supplement their income and play their part in the national effort. Prince Charles has backed the governments campaign, saying in a video message that the hard graft of harvesting would be hugely important to avoid food waste. Read more: Prince Charles urges new Land Army to take on 'hard graft' of fruit and veg harvest UK farmers have so far struggled to recruit Brits to help pick fruit and veg, raising fears about thousands of tonnes of food going to waste in fields. Only around 200 of the 50,000 Brits who initially applied for seasonal picking jobs accepted the positions, the Daily Mail reported last month. Recruits were reportedly put off after finding that the work is full-time and requires people to be away from home in the fields for weeks at a time. Eustices recruitment drive came as he updated the public on the latest figures around the pandemic. The minister said 89,784 COVID-19 tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, with 2,412 new cases. There were 545 new fatalities linked to COVID-19 in last 24 hours. Indian Steel Association (ISA) on Tuesday appointed Dilip Oommen as its new President with immediate effect. "Dilip Oommen, CEO, Arcelor Mittal Nippon Steel India has taken over as President of ISA. This was decided in the Extra Ordinary Board Meeting of ISA, which was held today, May 19, 2020," the body said in a statement. The extraordinary board meeting was called to decide on the leadership of the association after Tata Steel CEO T V Narendran stepped down as President on May 1, months before the end of his term in August. Oommen was unanimously appointed as President for the next two years. An ISA official said Oommen has been appointed the President with immediate effect, and his two-year tenure ends in May 2022. "Oommen is a veteran of the steel industry with more than 37 years of experience and an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT-K)," the ISA statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Currently, 12 counties in the state have an executive. County administrators are also responsible for preparing and presenting the budget to the board for approval, as well as appointing and removing department heads, with board approval. This position is also responsible for appointing committee assignments. A county administrator position can be created through a resolution, petition or referendum and is appointed and removed by a majority vote of the board. This position does not have the ability to veto board actions. Twenty eight counties in Wisconsin have administrators. An administrative coordinator, which is the structure the county currently has, gets most of its responsibility through board resolutions, ordinances and delegation. The board decides if the position is responsible for preparing the budget, having authority over appointing and removing department heads and committee assignments, Hockhammer said. This position is created through a resolution or ordinance, and is appointed and removed through a majority vote of the board. The position does not have the power to veto board actions. Erik Prince, founder of the global security firm Blackwater USA, is suing the investigative news site The Intercept for defamation over an April 13 article headlined Erik Prince Offered Lethal Services to Sanctioned Russian Mercenary Firm Wagner, his lawyer said on Tuesday. The article claimed provocatively that [a]ny business relationship between Prince and Wagner would, in effect, make the influential Trump administration adviser a subcontractor to the Russian military. The lawyer, Matthew L. Schwartz of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, told RealClearInvestigations that Prince had no choice but to defend himself after having repeatedly turned the other cheek as publications, The Intercept first among them, have smeared him. This story was different, the lawyer continued. The Intercept accused Erik Prince of being a criminal and a traitor based on dishonest and biased anonymous sources that it made no effort to corroborate. Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, left, with his ally of President Vladimir Putin of Russia, has been linked to the Wagner Group, a mercenary force. Erik Prince, top photo, is suing an investigative news site that reported he proposed an alliance with it. Asked to respond, Rodrigo Brandao, The Intercept's director of communications, said "We will not comment until we are able to review any lawsuit." Schwartz confirmed that the complaint, a copy of which was provided in advance to RealClearInvestigations, was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the state where Prince conducts the majority of his business. Seeking a jury trial, the complaint names The Intercept; the publications corporate parent, First Look Media, founded by eBay billionaire Pierre Omidyar; and the reporters who wrote the story, Alex Emmons and Matthew Cole. Prince, a retired Navy SEAL and brother of Trump administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has been a bete noire of the left and a focus of controversy for years. His critics have long questioned the operations of his since-rebranded Blackwater private security firm in global flashpoints, notably in support of the U.S. occupation in Iraq. A supporter of President Trump, Prince has also drawn flak as a friend of top 2016 Trump campaign adviser Steve Bannon. A year ago, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of the House Intelligence Committee accused Prince of lying to Congress about a conversation in the Seychelles with a Russian banker close to Vladimir Putin. Prince has even been accused in an allegation evocative of Cary Grant in the movie North by Northwest of illegally converting crop-dusters into attack aircraft. But according to his lawyer, the most recent allegations in The Intercept were the last straw. According to the April 13 article, Prince whose main businesses are a commodities firm called Frontier Resource Group and a security and logistics company, Frontier Services Group -- offered to supplement Russian mercenaries with his own contract soldiers. Prince has sought in recent months to provide military services to a sanctioned Russian mercenary firm in at least two African conflicts, wrote Emmons and Cole. By way of evidence, The Intercept cited three people with knowledge of the efforts. The Intercept did not identify those people. Its piece was not heavy on other specifics, either. When did Prince meet with Wagner? [E]arlier this year. Who did Prince meet? An unidentified top official of Russias Wagner Group. Where did they meet? The story doesnt say, and deeper into the article The Intercept suggests there was no meeting, that Prince merely sent a proposal. This was according to two people familiar with Princes offer. The backdrop to this tale of intrigue is that mercenaries working for Wagner tried last September to project Russian power in Mozambique. When they took it on the chin, according to The Intercept, Prince sent a proposal to the Russian firm offering to supply a ground force as well as aviation-based surveillance. The Intercept attributed this information to documents viewed by The Intercept and a person familiar with Princes proposal. Yet the Intercept provides no evidence that any such Prince-led mercenary army or air force was ever deployed. Perhaps this was because Wagner officials said they are not interested in working with Prince. This last assertion was attributed to three people familiar with their decision. Its a long shot for a public figure to win a defamation lawsuit. Someone regularly in the news has to prove that what has been written about him is not only false and injurious to his reputation, but that it was written with malice, a legal concept defined in Supreme Court case law as a reckless disregard for the truth. Princes lawsuit claims the article met that standard. It states that the Intercept reporters knew prior to publicationthat the allegations claiming that Mr. Prince met with the Wagner Group and solicited the Wagner Group for business were false. The lawsuit accuses The Intercept of purposefully making defamatory statements as part of a long scheme by the Defendants to knowingly publish false, misleading, and defamatory statements about Mr. Prince in order to further the Defendants political agenda, boost The Intercepts readership, and reap the associated financial gains, including the continued viability of the publication. SAN DIEGO - A Southern California woman and her boyfriend have been arrested on suspicion of collecting ransom in a kidnapping that killed two of three U.S. citizens held in Mexico, federal prosecutors said Monday. Leslie Briana Matla, 20, and Juan Carlos Montoya Sanchez, 25, are charged with one count each of money laundering conspiracy, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Its not immediately known if they have attorneys. Matla picked up ransom payments in Southern California from family members of kidnapping victims held in Tijuana, Mexico, according to the criminal complaint. Records show Sanchez received wire transfers from two of the kidnapping victims, the complaint alleges. Three men residents of San Diego, Norwalk and Pasadena were kidnapped separately in Tijuana while on business or visiting family, prosecutors said. The victims families were notified via a caller with a Mexican telephone number to deposit ransom money at specific locations, prosecutors allege. Mexican authorities found the San Diego victims body on March 29 one day after the mans adult son placed a bag containing $25,000 inside the womens restroom of a McDonalds in the California community of San Ysidro near the border, officials said. The body of the Norwalk victim was found in Mexico on April 14. A day earlier, the victims family unsuccessfully tried to pay a $25,000 ransom to a woman whom law enforcement believe was Matla at a Southern California Lowes parking lot, according to court documents. On April 22, a woman from Pasadena called law enforcement to report that kidnappers demanded $20,000 for the return of a family member held in Mexico. One of the kidnappers, calling from a Mexican phone number, informed the Pasadena victims family that a woman would pick up the cash at a Food 4 Less parking lot in Lynwood, a city near LA. That same day, law enforcement rescued the victim, who was being held hostage at the same Tijuana hotel as the first two kidnapping victims. Nine suspects were arrested by Mexican authorities at the hotel, U.S. officials said. A review of security camera footage, border crossing records and social media led law enforcement to identify Matla as the woman sent to San Ysidro, Norwalk and Lynwood to pick up the ransom money on the dates in question, the affidavit alleges. If convicted of the charge, Matla and Sanchez could face up to life in federal prison. Matla is from the Southern California city of Colton, but lives in Tijuana, where Sanchez is from. Delhi residents can hop into public transport cab services and buses; not the metro yet and shop at pretty much any marketplace (malls are still closed), as long as they are not over the age of 65, and the markets are not in Noida or Gurugram (crossing the borders will still require a pass), according to the latest guidelines issued by the state government. This comes after 55 days of a lockdown imposed in March-end to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). To be sure, the lockdown continues till May 31, but Mondays announcement by the state, coming on the back of Sundays by the Union home ministry, marks the second phase of a gradual exit from it. On Monday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal allowed auto-rickshaws, e-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws with one passenger in every vehicle; green-lighted the resumption of all industries with staggered timings; and said all government and private offices would be open in the city-state where life has come to a standstill due to unprecedented restrictions on movement and activities. The coronavirus is here to stay. We need to live our lives with corona now. And the lockdown cannot be permanent. So far we have used the lockdown period to prepare ourselves hospital beds, ventilators, PPE (personal protective equipment), testing kits, etcNow is the time to revive the economy, Kejriwal said in a digital press briefing. Kejriwal did not mention any measure on interstate travel, which the Centre has allowed in its fresh order. Also, barber shops, spas and salons, which too have been permitted, will not open in the national capital immediately. On Monday night, Delhis coronavirus dashboard stood at 10,054 cases of which 5,409 are active and 160 deaths. Thus far, 4,485 people have recovered from the disease in Delhi. All relaxations announced by Kejriwal will be applicable across Delhi, except in containment zones which will allow the movement of essential personnel alone and have stricter perimeter control. At present, Delhi has 73 containment zones, which can broadly be defined as the epicentre of an infection. Kejriwal said taxis and cab operators, such as Ola and Uber, are allowed to function with each vehicle carrying a maximum of two passengers and a driver. The same rule will be applicable for private cars. Pillion-riding will not be allowed in case of two-wheelers, and carpooling/shared services will be prohibited. Buses will be allowed with a maximum of 20 passengers in each vehicle, and all people boarding them will be screened. Drivers will be instructed to sanitize the seats after each passenger deboards, Kejriwal said. Grameen Sewa vehicles can operate with a maximum of two passengers, maxi cabs with a maximum of five passengers, and rural transport vehicles (smaller buses) with a maximum of 11 passengers, he said. While Sundays federal guidelines permitted interstate movement of passenger vehicles and buses with mutual consent of the states and the Union Territories (UTs) involved, confusion prevailed on Monday at Delhis borders with Gautam Budh Nagar (Noida) and Gurugram that have been sealed. Authorities in both satellite towns later clarified that stringent restrictions at their borders will continue, and people except health care personnel will need passes like before to cross over. In addition to the announcement on public transport, another significant step announced by Kejriwal was the opening of marketplaces and all shops. In line with central guidelines, the chief minister allowed stores in marketplaces to function, but they will have to follow an odd-even rule. Under the standard operating procedure prepared by Delhi, shops will open on alternate days on the basis of shop numbers. This will ensure that half the shops will open on one day, and the other half the next day and so on. However, no such rule will be applicable to shops selling essential items such as medicines, fruits and vegetables, groceries, dairy products, books and stationery. Also, standalone shops and shops in residential areas will be exempt. Kejriwal approved the functioning of industries, albeit with staggered timings, and allowed all government and private offices to begin operations. His government did away with the curbs asking private offices to function with just 33% of their staff from office. But at the same time, he advised firms to encourage employees to work from home to the extent possible. Industrial firms whose name starts with M/S A to M/S L may function from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, whereas firms whose registered name starts with M/S M to M/S Z may function from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm, the Delhi government order issued late on Monday night said. Kejriwal also allowed construction activities, but said workers must be from Delhi. Earlier, the government allowed resumption of work for projects in which labourers were available on site. The chief minister announced that weddings (with a maximum of 50 people in attendance) and funerals (with a maximum of 20 people in attendance) will be allowed in the city, in another move that is in line with the Centres guidelines. Social distancing is a must. Complaints of violation can force us to take strict measures and scale up restrictionsWearing of masks is also mandatory for individuals when they are outdoors and in workplacesAll workplaces must have provision for sanitizer and hand wash, he said. Activities and services, which are banned across the country, will continue to be prohibited in Delhi. These include metro services, educational institutes, hotels and bars, shopping malls and theatres, social and political gatherings, and gyms and swimming pools, among others. The restriction on non-essential travel between 7pm and 7am will continue. Prohibition on outdoor movement of people aged 65 and above, children aged 10 or less, pregnant women and people with health ailments...will continue, Kejriwal said. Just as the central guidelines, the Delhi governments order too asked employers to put in their best efforts to ensure that the contact-tracing Aarogya Setu app was installed by employees having compatible mobile phones. It asked district magistrates to advise individuals to install the application, which was previously mandatory for all government and private employees. The order did not specifically mention e-commerce, but central guidelines say e-commerce players are allowed to deliver both essential and non-essential items across the country, barring containment zones. All other activities will be permitted (industrial/commercial) except those which are specifically prohibited... However, in containment zones, only essential activities shall be allowed, the order said. Jugal Kishore, head of community medicines department in Delhis Safdarjung Hospital, said the purpose of the lockdown was to flatten the curve. To think that infections will stop with an indefinite lockdown is wrong. Phased relaxation of the lockdown is necessary now. What we need now is more cooperation from people..., he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI -- A Muskegon Heights woman faces three felony charges related to an alleged attack against two family members, including her 11-month-old daughter. Lakisha Patton, 39, is accused of beating her toddler and stabbing the childs father. The child was taken to Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital, said Muskegon County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Maat. He did not yet have an update on her condition. While prosecutors await a medical report about the extent of the childs injuries, Patton is being held at Muskegon County Jail on a $100,000 surety bond. She was arraigned May 15. The girl suffered a broken skull and multiple bruises, Muskegon Heights Police Chief Joseph Thomas said at the time of Pattons arrest. She and her father were first taken to Mercy Healths Hackley campus, where the father was treated for a stab wound to the back. The girl was later transferred to the Grand Rapids childrens hospital for what Thomas described as very severe injuries. Patton faces charges of second degree child abuse and assault with intent to commit great bodily harm, for the allegations against the child, and assault with a dangerous weapon for the allegations against her partner, the childs father. The arrival of the babys medical report may or may not influence our charging decision, but the charges now are based upon the facts as we know them, Maat said. Patton was arrested on Friday, May 15 in Muskegon Heights after police responded to calls for help at around 12:30 a.m. at the 2900 block of Seventh Street, and found Patton acting erratically. There, her partner told officers that she had been acting strange and had assaulted her baby, Thomas previously told MLive, as well as attacking her partner. Patton is alleged to have slammed and smothered the baby, and attacked the babys father with a knife. Patton has been scheduled for a probable cause hearing on May 26, and a preliminary hearing on June 2. Read more on MLive: Toddler suffers severe injuries from beating, mother arrested Heavy rain storms wash out streets, flood basements, submerge docks in Muskegon Muskegon County declares local state of emergency due to flooding Mercy Health reopens five clinics to address non-coronavirus medical needs Kiwis helping kiwis. That is the driving force behind an initiative donating more than 700 boxes of fresh produce to families hit by the COVID-19 crisis. Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island have sponsored these much-needed fresh fruit and vegetable boxes and partnered with United Fresh and the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust. Community Foodbanks, marae, city missions and other charitable organisations around the country are reporting unprecedented demand since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Foodstuffs is utilising the distribution systems established through the FIS network to deliver boxes of fresh produce around the country. Chair of the 5+ A Day Charitable Trust David Smith says the donation from the Foodstuffs Co-operatives has come at a time of real hardship for so many New Zealanders. This situation is predicted to escalate through 2020, with some organisations expecting that as many as one million Kiwis will suffer from food insecurity. We are so grateful that Foodstuffs North and South Island are supporting our efforts to ensure all Kiwi families can eat healthy meals full of fresh produce, to help support immunity and general well-being. Their generous donation will see boxes of freshly picked New Zealand fruit and vegetables delivered directly to those most at need. At times like these, its never been more important to eat 5+ A Day. Chief Executive Officer of Foodstuffs North Island Chris Quin says with schools going back this week, they wanted to help make sure there was more food going into Kiwi households. Children who are hungry struggle to concentrate and learn; we all need to do our bit to ensure our neighbours, friends, family and communities have access to nutritious food, he says. Increasingly difficult economic conditions, despite some relief from last weeks budget, will mean continuing financial hardship across the country. Tracy Goddard, Distribution and Retail Manager at Auckland City Mission says people seeking assistance are likely to increase over the coming months. Sadly, we expect the economic impact of COVID-19 to be felt by many people for months to come. The 5+ A Day boxes are vital to helping meet demand. The produce is of fantastic quality and comes pre-packed, so its easy and quick to get it to families, she says. Coronavirus Diaries is a series of dispatches exploring how the coronavirus is affecting peoples lives. For the latest public health information, please refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions website. For Slates coronavirus coverage, click here. In March, Elaine Yaffe wrote for Coronavirus Diaries about her life in a retirement home. Now, shes updating us on how life has changedor not. I need a hug. Now. Even more than a haircut. More than a popcorn-fueled movie in a theater with a big screen and resonant sound. More than a leisurely dinner in a restaurant with chatter all around. More than sitting comfortably on a park bench without wiping it off. More than climbing easily into a Lyft or an Uber. More than making a routine appointment with a doctor to have some ache checked out. More than running an errand to the hardware store. More than strolling through Whole Foods enjoying the colors of the luscious fruit. More than taking a ride in a car with the windows open and the breeze blowing. I desperately need the warmth of another body welcoming me into a tight embrace. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement At almost 83, I dont believe I have ever gone this long without some contact with another human being who meant something to me. There were the days when little children were always climbing in my lap, of course. But even when they grew up, they got a good-night hug or a welcome-home embrace after an absence. My friends and I would greet one another with a hug. And then there were grandchildren, whose hugs were the best. The isolation in which I live is crushing my spirit. I live in a facility for the old. It is not a nursing home where, we are told, people are perishing in significant numbers, where, in the cogent headline of a New York Times print headline, we are sitting ducks. This is more or less an apartment building, and no one yet has become infected with the virus. But that does not stop the panic from being palpable. What if? What if even one person were to become infected? What if one of the staff, the housekeepers, maintenance workers, kitchen workers, or caregivers who come in and out every day were to get the virus? Then what? And so the restrictions are fierce. No contact with family members or anyone else. Above all, absolutely no hugs. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Maybe I am feeling so cruelly isolated because I came of age in New York City, where crowds were ubiquitous, where space is at such a premium that restaurant tables were usually so close together that the people at the next table could look over your shoulder and think nothing of asking what you were eating. I remember sometimes craving time for myselfquiet, solitary time. Now with this oppressive silence always enveloping me I cannot believe I will ever again complain about too much background noise in a restaurant. I miss background noise. I miss the crush of people surrounding me. I do hear of other people now trying to navigate in homes that have suddenly become too small, craving time by themselves. Some are celebrating the new simplicity of their lives without distractions. Now there is time to return to simple pleasures. I am told that supermarkets are out of yeast. Apparently everyone is baking. Not me. I crave society. I want to stop eyeing other people with fear, as if they might be harboring this insidious disease. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Necessity is the mother of much, and so I have gotten proficient at joining meetings on Zoom, though its disembodied nature troubles meit can exacerbate the isolation, the loneliness, the disconnection. I even attended a Zoom funerala very strange, sad experience. But even on a happy occasion, Zoom cannot ameliorate the crushing quiet that surrounds me. Similarly, watching a movie on Netflix on my iPad is not the same as watching it in the physical company of others. It is less. Even in a theater of strangers, there is still some sense of community, of people sharing a common experience. Advertisement Advertisement What makes it worse, of course, is not knowing when, and actually even if, it will end. Maybe a vaccine will arrive, like a knight on a white horse, to rescue us. It is supposed to be here in a year, or maybe 18 months. And then it will take some time for production to ramp up so that it will be available. And the question in the back of the minds of all the old people who inhabit this facility is: Will it get here in time for us? Once you cross the Rubicon of the eighth decade, a year is a very long time. We octogenarians dont generally make plans too far into the future. There is no way to know how many years we have left. So it is particularly painful to imagine living the few years we do have in this half-life, cut off and solitary. Advertisement Advertisement Loneliness and isolation are the well-known hazards of old age. So it is ironic that a facility designed and organized to combat those hazards should be doing its utmost to cut us offnot only from everything in the outside world, but also even from one another. It is all to try to guarantee that we will all make it to the other side of this plague. Advertisement We old folks are being constantly told that we are the most vulnerable, which is true in terms of the death toll. But it is the young who are sacrificing the most, and that seems horribly unfair. It is their educations, their futures, that are being cruelly disrupted. It would be hard to find a grandparent in this facility who would not gladly give up some months or years that we already know are limited, to grant more opportunities to our grandchildren. We want them to have their college years unencumbered. We want them to have their youth back. As for me, all I really want, right now, is a long, sustaining hug. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. This obituary is part of a series about people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here. Annie Glenn, who in a high-profile life as the wife of John Glenn, the astronaut and senator, became an inspiration to many who, like her, stuttered severely, advocating on behalf of people with communication disorders of all kinds, died on Tuesday at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minn. She was 100. Hank Wilson, director of communications at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at the Ohio State University, said the cause was complications of the Covid-19 virus. Mrs. Glenn, too, was thrust into the national spotlight in 1962, when Mr. Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. At the time, though, speaking or even using the telephone was an agony for her because of her stutter. A federal judge on Tuesday denied an emergency injunction for a coalition of nine businesses and one nonprofit that last week sued Oregons governor, alleging her emergency stay-home orders amid the coronavirus pandemic violated their constitutional rights and were politically motivated. U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane found the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on their federal constitutional claims, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court "has distinctly recognized the authority of a state to enact quarantine law and health law of every description.'' McShane said he was inclined to side with a "chorus of other federal courts'' in pointing to the Supreme Court case in Jacobson v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts as the guide. In that case, the plaintiffs argued that mandatory vaccination laws were unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious and violated their constitutional rights, but the high court rejected that stance. The ruling upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws, finding that individual liberty is not absolute and is subject to the police power of the state. Quoting from that 1905 ruling, McShane wrote, "This court has more than once recognized it as a fundamental principle that persons and property are subjected to all kinds of restraints and burdens in order to secure the general comfort, health and prosperity of the state.'' McShane issued his ruling without holding oral argument and before the state even responded to the suits allegations. But McShane said he expected the state to argue that Browns executive orders stemmed from a public health crisis, that she didnt exceed her authority under the state constitution, that that court isnt in a spot to second-guess the interpretation of accepted scientific data and that the matter is mostly moot by the states new phased-in approach to reopening Oregon businesses. Document: Ruling Attorney James Buchal, who leads Multnomah Countys Republican Party, filed the suit on behalf of a Hood-River based nonprofit Open Our Oregon and nine businesses: Da Cielo LLC in downtown Portlands Pearl District, PDX Muscle gym in Beaverton, Kueblers Furniture in Salem, Hood River Mixer Shop stores in Hood River and The Dalles, Under the Skin Tattoo & Piercing in Hood River, Why Not Bar & Grill in Yoncalla, Quins Bar in Ontario, A Street Tavern in Vale and Lotus House lingerie store in Roseburg. The suit named Brown and Lillian Shirley, the states public health director, as defendants. It contends Browns stay-home emergency orders violate the plaintiffs due process rights. It also contends the state arbitrarily identified certain businesses as essential in violation of the plaintiffs equal protection rights. The suit contends the governor could have taken less restrictive steps to reduce risks to the public. Their suit also takes aim at the underlying projections that prompted the governors orders and suggests the way to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic is by the acquisition of immunities in a large sector of the population that prevents further transmission (called herd immunity)." The suit contends the orders were made without input from state lawmakers and have destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of Oregonians, based on death rates that are not substantially higher than something we, in substance, did not even notice when it happened before in prior epidemics." Buchal pointed to last weeks ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which struck down Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers stay-at-home order, ruling that his administration overstepped its authority when it extended the order for another month without consulting legislators. But McShane pointed out that the Wisconsin ruling clearly stated that the decision wasnt about Evers emergency orders or the powers of the governor, but only concerned whether that states Department of Health Service failed to follow state law in authorizing its emergency rules. McShane said hed leave the plaintiffs allegations that Oregons governor failed to follow relevant state law for emergency orders to the state Supreme Court to address, as it considers a similar suit filed by Elkhorn Baptist Church and nine other churches from across the state. "Those issues are now appropriately before the Oregon courts,'' McShane wrote. On Monday night, the state Supreme Court granted Browns emergency motion to put a hold on a Baker County judges injunction, which declared many of her emergency orders amid the coronavirus pandemic "null and void,'' saying they had exceeded their 28-day limit as set out in state law. The governor wants the state Supreme Court to dismiss the injunction, and the states high court said it would consider the merits of the challenge after it receives final legal briefs on Friday. Coronavirus in Oregon: Latest news | Live map tracker |Text alerts | Newsletter In Oregon, Brown had instructed people to stay home except when traveling for essential work, buying food and similar critical supplies or returning to their own homes. She ordered some types of businesses to shut down and required other businesses to implement social distancing measures among employees and customers. Extending Oregons state of emergency to July 6 gave the governor the legal authority to maintain her stay-home order, as well as a statewide moratorium on residential and commercial evictions and other financial stimulus measures. The governor is now allowing for a phased reopening of the state. Counties must meet public health prerequisites and individual businesses within those counties will also need to meet to certain criteria to get up and running. Buchal said he was disappointed by McShanes ruling. Its depressing we have a generation of federal judges who cant see the difference between getting vaccinations and shutting down giant categories of businesses, although theyre entirely healthy, he said. "This approach to balancing individual rights based on very attenuated risks is concerning to me.'' -- Maxine Bernstein Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212 Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian Subscribe to Facebook page Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Indian buyers have resumed purchases of Malaysian palm oil after a four-month gap following a diplomatic row, with buying spurred by a fall in domestic inventories and discounted prices, trade sources said Mumbai/ Singapore: Indian buyers have resumed purchases of Malaysian palm oil after a four-month gap following a diplomatic row, with buying spurred by a fall in domestic inventories and discounted prices, trade sources said. The renewed purchases come amid improving trade relations between the two countries after the formation of a new government in Kuala Lumpur, with Malaysia signing a deal last week to buy a record 100,000 tonnes of Indian rice. Leading Indian importers last week contracted up to 200,000 tonnes of crude palm oil from Malaysia, the worlds No.2 producer after Indonesia, to be shipped in June and July, the sources told Reuters. Port stocks have dropped sharply in India because of lower imports, said a Singapore-based trader who sells Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil. Ship-tracking data compiled by Refinitiv showed that Indias total palm oil imports for the first four months of 2020 FELL by more than 50% from the same period in 2019 to 1.11 million tonnes. A restart to buying by India, the worlds biggest edible oil importer, could further support Malaysian palm oil prices, which have edged up from 10-month lows in recent days. Click here to follow LIVE news and updates on stock markets India early this year restricted imports of Malaysian palm oil after then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad criticised policies by New Delhi affecting the countrys Muslim minority. The renewed buying has been spurred by low stocks, while Indias relations with Malaysia have been improving since a new government was formed in early March, said an Indian edible oil refiner who contracted a few vessels for June shipment. I think the Indian government will allow unloading of upcoming shipments. We cant rely on one seller (Indonesia) indefinitely, especially when you have to build inventory, the buyer said. Indias commerce ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Attractive discount Malaysian palm oil is now available at a $15 discount to supplies from Indonesia which on Monday raised its palm oil export levy by $5 per tonne, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm. Indian purchases of palm oil from Malaysia could rise further if discounts remain, he said. Malaysian buyers are eager to sell even at a discount as stocks are rising and production is expected to improve in June, said a second Indian edible oil refiner, who bought Malaysian palm oil. Malaysias palm oil inventories jumped to more than 2 million tonnes in April, well above expectations, as production surged to a six-month high and coronavirus lockdowns led to a slump in demand. India buys more than 9 million tonnes of palm oil a year, accounting for nearly two-thirds of its total edible oil imports, and took a record 4.4 million tonnes of Malaysian palm oil in 2019. Indonesias export tax is allowing Malaysian sellers to offer a discount. It is tempting for Indian buyers, said Anilkumar Bagani, research head of Sunvin Group, a Mumbai-based vegetable oil broker. From West Orange Cove Consolidated Independent School District: The WOCCISD Board of Trustees re-organized roles during the May 18, 2020 board meeting. Linda Platt-Bryant will assume the role of president for the board, and Ms. Tricia Stroud was elected as the new board secretary. Mr. Roderick Robertson will remain vice president. Linda Platt-Bryant is the daughter of Mrs. Helen J. Platt of Orange and the late Mr. Carl Platt, Sr. She is the mother of West Orange-Stark High School 2017 graduate and honor student Jared K. Dupree, a longhorn student-athlete in his senior year at The University of Texas in Austin. Ms. Platt-Bryant has served as a faithful board member since she assumed the office. She is well-prepared to lead the district as the next board president. I would be remiss not to express my appreciation for the hard work and dedication of Mrs. Ruth Hancock, who has led our district the last five years as board president, stated Dr. Rickie Harris, superintendent. Linda Platt-Bryant is a 1986 graduate of West Orange-Stark High School and a 1990 graduate of Prairie View A&M University. Ms. Platt-Bryant was elected to the WOCCISD school board in May 2015 and is currently serving a third term as a trustee. Throughout her years as a board member in WOCCISD, Ms. Platt-Bryant has represented and served the district as a WOCCISD School Board Secretary, WOCCISD Delegate for Texas Association of School Boards WOCCISD Education Foundation Member, WOCCISD Parent-Teacher Association President and Texas Parent Teacher Association Life Member. A current member selected to the Leadership TASB Class of 2020, Ms. Platt-Bryant, is earning her Master Trustee status and will graduate in August 2020. Selected by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB), she is participating in a year-long education leadership study program, which is the highest designation recognized by TASB. I am honored and privileged to take the helm of WOCCISD as school board president. My enthusiasm and passion for service to this school district and community is a pleasure. I would like to thank my fellow board members for electing and allowing me to serve. Our continued diligence and training during changing times in public education, the Team of 8, including our superintendent and administration, are all committed to serving the students of West Orange-Cove CISD. This is a breaking story, and will be updated isaac.windes@hearstnp.com twitter.com/isaacdwindes Photo credit: Chris Jackson - Getty Images From Town & Country When Harry and Meghan announced this past winter that, moving forward, they would be splitting their time between the UK and North America, they made it clear that they would continue their use of Frogmore Cottage in Windsor,"so that their family will always have a place to call home in the United Kingdom." The couple had moved into the cottage on the Frogmore Estate in the spring of 2019, just a few weeks before baby Archie arrived. The property had undergone a renovation to make it habitable for the family, and part of the construction was paid for by funds from the Sovereign Grant, "reflecting the Monarchys responsibility to maintain the upkeep of buildings with historical significance." In January, when Harry and Meghan outlined their plan for post-working royal life on the Sussex Royal website, they included the following passage in the funding section: "Frogmore Cottage will continue to be the property of Her Majesty the Queen. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will continue to use Frogmore Cottage with the permission of Her Majesty The Queen as their official residence as they continue to support the Monarchy." Their continued occupation of Frogmore Cottage was later confirmed by a statement from Buckingham Palace, which noted that, "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." Photo credit: GOR - Getty Images Now, the Mail on Sunday is reporting that the Sussexes' repayment process has begun, but a Buckingham Palace spokesman told T&C they would not disclose details of any agreement, and a representative for the Sussexes would not comment on the couple's personal finances. In total, the refurbishments made to Frogmore Cottage before Harry and Meghan moved in cost approximately 2.4 million ($3.05 million). According to Victoria Murphy, who reported on the renovation for Town & Country last year, "While 2.4 million of structural work on Frogmore was paid for with the public funds, Harry and Meghan paid for their own furniture and interior decoration." You Might Also Like NUR-SULTAN, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese leadership has taken efficient, science-based and transparent measures to ensure the country's great success in bringing the COVID-19 epidemic under control, Serik Korzhumbayev, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Delovoy Kazakhstan, has told Xinhua in a recent interview. China has openly and timely informed the world of an infectious disease outbreak in central Hubei Province and taken large-scale prevention and control measures, Korzhumbayev said. "We, as journalists, are closely monitoring the situation in China. And we see how the Chinese leadership quickly and effectively coping with the epidemic, demonstrating their capability in economic and social governance." After being engaged in a tough battle for months, China has brought COVID-19 under control and begun resuming work and life at a fast pace. "China has repeatedly stressed that the coronavirus is a common problem of all mankind and countries must work together to overcome the pandemic and respond to all challenges and changes. In this regard, China is a great example of how to do this," the expert said. He recalled that China has made every effort to help countries hard-hit by the virus. Hundreds of Chinese doctors were dispatched to all over the world, sharing their experience in identifying, testing, treating patients and avoiding hospital infections. Tens of thousands of medical supplies were sent to the frontlines worldwide to fight the virus. The Chinese medical team in Kazakhstan, which visited the Central Asian country in April, has provided invaluable assistance to local doctors, Korzhumbayev said. They have conducted training sessions for ten thousand Kazakh health workers and made contributions to the development of Kazakhstan's national protocol for the diagnosis and treatment for COVID-19. As the resumption of work and life advances, China is on its way to shake off the impact of the epidemic and business activity began to pick up. Korzhumbayev said the long-term trend of improvement in the Chinese economy has not changed, adding that the epidemic will not undermine China's drive to end extreme poverty by the end of this year, which has been an important task of the party and the country over the past years. Regarding China-Kazakhstan ties, the expert said the trade and economic cooperation, which is mutually beneficial in nature, will quickly recover and open up new prospects in various sectors in the post-epidemic era. Kerala is bracing for a surge in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases because of the influx of stranded expatriates from West Asian countries, who are being evacuated by the central government, and those stuck in other states are also returning home amid the easing of lockdown restrictions that were imposed in end-March to contain the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. The state has reported 97 Covid-19 positive cases in the last five days, taking the total count to 630, including four deaths. Of late, there has been a spike when it appeared that Kerala is on the verge of flattening the curve, as the number of active Covid-19 positive cases has risen to 130 from 16 since the influx of Persian Gulf returnees. Police booked three persons in Kollam under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, on Tuesday on charges of hiding their health condition after they returned to Thiruvananthapuram from Abu Dhabi two days ago. The trio tested Covid-19 positive upon their arrival and had tell-tale symptoms of SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, even before boarding the flight from Abu Dhabi. Now, state health authorities have asked all their co-passengers to undergo tests on an emergency basis. Many complaints have surfaced that people often suppress their fever by popping paracetamol tablets before boarding flights to escape thermal scanners. These three persons had reportedly tested Covid-19 positive during anti-body tests in Abu Dhabi and they were allowed to board the flight at the last moment. State Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had termed their behaviour as most irresponsible. Its a serious issue. Well take it up this with the central government and the diplomatic missions concerned. Weve been asking for thorough tests before expatriates are allowed to return home, the CM had said on Monday. A 34-year-old nurse, who had recovered, tested Covid-19 positive again on Monday. She was evacuated from Kuwait on May 13, as she is pregnant. Doctors said her case showed that chances of a Covid-19 relapse are high among recovered patients, whose immunity is weak. She came back from Kuwait with a cured certificate. She was asked to come back for a re-test and tested positive on Monday. Though it is the first-of-its-kind case in Kerala, this has been reported in other parts of the country, said Malappuram district medical officer K Sakeena. She said a special medical board has been set up to treat the pregnant nurse. Kerala is likely to report more Covid-19 positive cases, as 38 international flights and 24 trains are expected to arrive in the state over the next two weeks. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON BUFFALO, N.Y., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB)("M&T") will participate in the Deutsche Bank Global Financial Services Conference being held in a virtual format. M&T's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Rene Jones, and Chief Financial Officer, Darren King, are scheduled to address investors and analysts on May 27, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. (ET). A live audio-webcast of the event will be available via the Internet at: https://ir.mtb.com/events-presentations. The discussion and webcast may contain forward-looking statements and other material information. A replay will also be made available following the event. M&T is a financial holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York. M&T's principal banking subsidiary, M&T Bank, operates banking offices in New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Trust-related services are provided by M&T's Wilmington Trust-affiliated companies and by M&T Bank. CONTACT: Donald J. MacLeod (716) 842-5138 SOURCE M&T Bank Corporation Related Links http://www.mandtbank.com US President Donald Trump on Monday announced he has been taking the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine along with a zinc supplement he has touted as a game-changer in the battle against Covid-19 despite warnings of fatal side-effects issued by his own drug regulator, backed since by studies. Youd be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the front-line workers, before you catch it. The front-line workers -- many, many are taking it. I happen to be taking it. I happen to be taking it -- Hydroxychloroquine, Trump told reporters unprompted at a roundtable with restaurant owners, who have been hit the hardest as a sector. I was just waiting to see your eyes light up when I said this, he added, addressing the effect of his stunning announcement on reporters and the country. Trump said he feels fine, has no symptoms and has tested negative repeatedly. He is using the drug combination as a prophylactic, he said, like many frontline health workers and doctors. He was not prescribed the drug combination by the White House physician, he clarified, but was given the go-ahead when he checked with him. Commander Sean Conley, the presidents physician from US Navy, said in a statement that after a member of the presidents staff tested positive for Covid-19 two weeks ago the valet he and Trump had numerous discussions regarding the evidence for and against the use of hydroxychloroquine and we concluded the potential benefit from treatment (using the drug) outweighed the relative risks. Commander Conley added that he continues to monitor studies and reports about the use of the antimalarial drug and in consultation with public health officials and experts he anticipates employing the same shared medical decision-making based on the evidence at hand in the future. The US Food and Drug Administration has granted emergency-use authorization for hydroxychloroquine for clinical trial and to be administered to patients under close supervision of physicians it as also warned of side-effects such as potentially life-threatening heart rhythm problems. The drugs side-effects have been corroborated in an increasing number of studies in the United States and abroad. Cardiac arrest was found to be a key side-effect in a large observational study of the use of the antimalarial drug in combination with the antibiotic among more than 1,400 Covid-19 patients in New York hospital, according to an announcement by University of Albany researchers last week. By itself, hydroxychloroquine had no side-effects. But the drugs, in combination or separately, were found to have had no significant benefits. This was the largest study yet of the drugs safety and efficacy for treating Covid-19 patients, but it was observational. Results of randomized clinical trial, the gold standard for drugs, is awaited. President Trump had noticeably stopped touting the drug around the time, but it appears he had been using it already by then, convinced by what, as he said Monday, he was hearing from hundreds of doctors and people. The president is leery of studies and analyses that question the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine and its earlier avatar chloroquine. And on Monday, he dissed an earlier study of patients conducted by the Department of Veteran Affairs, telling reporters it was conducted among very ill patients, suggesting, therefore, it was not tried as a preventative, which is how he has been using it. President Trump began promoting the drug as a game-changer mid -March when Covid-19 had begun to take a heavy toll on the country with spiking infections and fatalities. Experts of the White House task force would shortly say they feared the virus could kill 100,000 to 240,000 Americans. Two weeks later, President Trump called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to request him to allow a large US order of hydroxychloroquine to go through. India, a leading manufacturer of medicines and supplier of 40% of over-the-counter drugs in the US, had banned the export of more than two dozen drugs at the time to protect and preserve its supplies from Chinas predatory shopping spree driven by its panicky response to growing global outrage over its failure to contain and kill the epidemic that started on its soil in December. Binge drinking may lead to a condition called "drunkorexia," a new study from the University of South Australia found. Drunkorexia is an extreme behavioral pattern, which involves starving oneself during the day and binge drinking after. A team of researchers in Australia aimed to investigate further the prevalence of drunkorexia behavior among young adult females in the country. In the study, published in the journal Australian Psychologist, the researchers found that female university students are making extreme choices to stay in shape while maintaining their social drinking habits. Image Credit: Zoriana Zaitseva / Shutterstock A damaging and dangerous behavior The study was the first one to explore the underlying belief patterns that contribute to drunkorexia, which is a damaging and dangerous behavior. Women with this condition often experience disordered patterns of eating to offset the negative effects of binge drinking, like gaining weight. The researchers examined the drinking patterns of nearly 500 female Australian university students between the ages of 18 and 24. Of the surveyed students, 82.7 percent had engaged in drunkorexic behaviors over the past three months. At least 25 percent of the time, more than 28 percent deliberately skipped meals, consumed low-calorie or sugar-free alcoholic beverages, and purged or exercised after drinking to reduce the number of ingested calories from alcohol. Key to understanding drunkorexia The study was performed in two stages. First, the team measured the prevalence of self-reported compensative and restrictive activities linked to alcohol consumption. Next, they identified the Early Maladaptive Schemes (EMS) of the participants. The EMS is also known as thought patterns, which can be the key to understanding the harmful condition. These are often profoundly held and persistent themes about oneself and relationships with others, which can develop and can influence many aspects of life, often in dysfunctional ways. The drunkorexic behavior was fueled by two social norms for young adults alcohol drinking and thinness or being in shape. "It is important that clinicians, educators, parents, and friends are aware of the factors that motivate young women to engage in this harmful and dangerous behavior, including cultural norms, beliefs that drive self-worth, a sense of belonging, and interpersonal connectedness. By being connected, researchers and clinicians can develop appropriate clinical interventions and support for vulnerable young people within the youth mental health sector," Ms. Powell-Jones, Clinical psychologist and lead University of South Australia researcher, said. Deeply concerning The results of the survey are concerning since excessive alcohol consumption, mixed with restrictive and disordered eating patterns, is extremely dangerous. Powell-Jones says that young adults are at a high risk of engaging in extreme and risk-taking behaviors, such as drinking excess alcohol. She added that binge drinking could substantially increase the risk of developing physical and psychological consequences, including liver cirrhosis, nutritional deficits, hypoglycemia, brain and heart damage, blackouts, memory lapses, cognitive deficits, and depression. "Certainly, many of us have drunk too much alcohol at some point in time, and we know just by how we feel the next day, that this is not good for us, but when nearly a third of young female uni students are intentionally cutting back on food purely to offset alcohol calories; it's a serious health concern," Ms. Powell-Jones added. Alcohol consumption in young adults The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that in 2018, more than 36.9 percent of college students between the ages of 18 and 22 in the United States reported binge drinking in the past month. Another 9.6 percent said they had heavy alcohol use in the past month. Alcohol abuse is a global issue. Excess alcohol intake is causing millions of deaths, including those of young adults. In Australia, about one in six people drink alcohol at dangerous and risky levels, placing them at a lifetime risk of alcohol-related disease or injury. Nurses work at a drive-thru testing site for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, U.S., May 6, 2020. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Amazon says it has provided more than 100 million items to front-line workers and government agencies hit hardest by shortages of protective equipment during the coronavirus outbreak. Amazon's business-to-business marketplace in late March debuted a dedicated section on its website where "organizations on the front lines" could order items like N95 masks, ventilators, surgical gloves and large-volume sanitizers. Amazon said it is not making a profit on sales of the items. At the same time, the company restricted sales of these items to the general public because of their scarcity and the dire need among front-line workers. Since launch, Amazon said more than 20,000 customers have used the site to secure essential supplies, with personal protective equipment and janitorial sanitation products, like medical grade disinfectant solutions, being the most popular. Among those who ordered items are members of the Department of Homeland Security and workers at the Children's Hospital Foundation in Maryland, as well as organizations that "aren't typically at the top of the list" of groups to receive protective equipment, like independent family physicians and rural police departments and firefighters, Alexandre Gagnon, vice president of Amazon Business, said Monday. Dealing with massive demand The company received an influx of requests from front-line workers at the end of March and early April. At the time, safety gear and ventilators were in extremely short supply, leading some overwhelmed health-care workers to protest for more PPE. Despite the global shortage, Amazon was able to rely on its network of third-party sellers and existing suppliers in China and elsewhere to source the more than 100 million medical items sent to customers. It was an uncharacteristically heavy volume of deliveries for "a very small number of SKUs," Gagnon said, demonstrating "how much demand was out there." Demand was so high that Amazon added a limited inventory warning to the site: Amazon At the same time, Amazon has begun to meet the demand for some forms of PPE from businesses and the public. As it has become "less and less constrained," Gagnon said, Amazon added more listings for disposable masks and other goods. Amazon recently added a section to its e-commerce site with curated listings for face covers and bandanas. N95 masks are still restricted to health professionals. An Amazon spokesperson said the company rolled out this feature as a result of updated guidance from the CDC that recommends users wear a cloth face covering to protect against the coronavirus. Amazon Amazon Business typically provides office supplies and industrial products, and does not normally operate in medical equipment. But as hospitals, nursing homes and clinics desperately needed ventilators, the company jumped in, even though those types of sales usually require an in-person touch. "Typically in those types of transactions, someone comes to your office and shows you the equipment, lets you try it out," Gagnon said. "But in the case of an emergency, we needed to get it to go fast, so of course putting those sales online was the most efficient way to get it done." Now, as the demand for PPE in hospitals has stabilized to some degree, Gagnon said Amazon Business is preparing to sell those products to businesses that are reopening to the public. The company is talking to existing suppliers, such as Hanes, about how they can provide goods to non-health-care customers, including restaurant chains, which may need to supply face masks to employees, or plan to offer them to shoppers in stores. "The urgency has shifted a little bit from health-care providers although that is still super, super important to thinking about how we can help enterprises of all sizes," Gagnon said. "That's the next chapter." France Galop has been forced into a reorganisation of its fixture list after the French Government withdrew its approval to race in areas still heavily affected by the coronavirus. The Government classifies different parts of the country into red and green zones and with Paris in a red area, the likes of ParisLongchamp, Auteuil and Saint-Cloud will no longer be permitted to race. Racing can continue in the south and west of the country, with France Galop looking to reschedule meetings at alternate venues. A statement from the authority said: After obtaining permission to resume racing on Monday, May 11, the parent companies learned during the day that a government decree specifying the terms and conditions for the opening of the racecourses would be published in the next few days. This decree should specify that horseracing is indeed carried out in the departments located in the green zones but not in those located in the red zones. The regions in red are Ile-de-France, Hauts-de-France, Grand-Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comte. While the resumption of racing is reinforced by this decree to be published, the parent companies and the Federation Nationale des Courses Hippiques deeply regret that the racecourses located in the red zones cannot operate as they have done since May 11. The reinforced closed-door protocol and all sanitary measures have also been scrupulously respected since the resumption of racing on May 11. Regular controls have been carried out and have not revealed any problems. However, the parent companies take note of this decision, which regulates the conditions for the resumption of horseracing, and will apply the new directives from Thursday. Some prefectures, such as Paris, have already anticipated the publication of the decree by notifying France Galop and LeTrot this morning of the decision to prohibit the opening of their racecourses. The teams are working on plans to rearrange the May and June calendar and will announce as soon as possible where the races that were scheduled in the red zones will be held. This calendar will be subject to changes as soon as a red department turns green. Olivier Delloye, CEO of France Galop, is hopeful no meetings will be lost as a result of the decision. He tweeted: I hoped our contingency plans would not be necessary but they will for the forthcoming weeks. B-plan to be released soon. No fixture will be lost racing goes on but we need to adapt to fast changing (and hard to read) rules. ParisLongchamp was scheduled to race on Thursday and it is also due to stage the French Guineas meeting on June 1. Mount Sinai researchers are the first in the country to use artificial intelligence (AI) combined with imaging, and clinical data to analyze patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). They have developed a unique algorithm that can rapidly detect COVID-19 based on how lung disease looks in computed tomography (CT scans) of the chest, in combination with patient information including symptoms, age, bloodwork, and possible contact with someone infected with the virus. This study, published in the May 19 issue of Nature Medicine, could help hospitals across the world quickly detect the virus, isolate patients, and prevent it from spreading during this pandemic. "AI has huge potential for analyzing large amounts of data quickly, an attribute that can have a big impact in a situation such as a pandemic. " "At Mount Sinai, we recognized this early and were able to mobilize the expertise of our faculty and our international collaborations to work on implementing a novel AI model using CT data from coronavirus patients in Chinese medical centers." We were able to show that the AI model was as accurate as an experienced radiologist in diagnosing the disease, and even better in some cases where there was no clear sign of lung disease on CT." Zahi Fayad, PhD., Director, Study Lead Author, Mount Sinai Health System "We're now working on how to use this at home and share our findings with others-;this toolkit can easily be deployed worldwide to other hospitals, either online or integrated into their own systems." This research expands on a previous Mount Sinai study that identified a characteristic pattern of disease in the lungs of COVID-19 patients and showed how it develops over the course of a week and a half. The new study involved scans of more than 900 patients that Mount Sinai received from institutional collaborators at hospitals in China. The patients were admitted to 18 medical centers in 13 Chinese provinces between January 17 and March 3, 2020. The scans included 419 confirmed COVID-19-positive cases (most either had recently traveled to Wuhan, China, where the outbreak began, or had contact with an infected COVID-19 patient) and 486 COVID-19-negative scans. Researchers also had patients' clinical information, including blood test results showing any abnormalities in white blood cell counts or lymphocyte counts as well as their age, sex, and symptoms (fever, cough, or cough with mucus). They focused on CT scans and blood tests since doctors in China use both of these to diagnose patients with COVID-19 if they come in with fever or have been in contact with an infected patient. The Mount Sinai team integrated data from those CT scans with the clinical information to develop an AI algorithm. It mimics the workflow a physician uses to diagnose COVID-19 and gives a final prediction of positive or negative diagnosis. The AI model produces separate probabilities of being COVID-19-positive based on CT images, clinical data, and both combined. Researchers initially trained and fine-tuned the algorithm on data from 626 out of 905 patients, and then tested the algorithm on the remaining 279 patients in the study group (split between COVID-19-positive and negative cases) to judge the test's sensitivity; higher sensitivity means better detection performance. The algorithm was shown to have statistically significantly higher sensitivity (84 percent) compared to 75 percent for radiologists evaluating the images and clinical data. The AI system also improved the detection of COVID-19-positive patients who had negative CT scans. Specifically, it recognized 68 percent of COVID-19-positive cases, whereas radiologists interpreted all of these cases as negative due to the negative CT appearance. Improved detection is particularly important to keep patients isolated if scans don't show lung disease when patients first present symptoms (since the previous study showed that lung disease doesn't always show up on CT in the first few days) and COVID-19 symptoms are often nonspecific, resembling a flu or common cold, so it can be difficult to diagnose. CT scans are not widely used for diagnosis of COVID-19 in the United States; however, Dr. Fayad explains that imaging can still play an important role. "Imaging can help give a rapid and accurate diagnosis-;lab tests can take up to two days, and there is the possibility of false negatives-;meaning imaging can help isolate patients immediately if needed, and manage hospital resources effectively." "The high sensitivity of our AI model can provide a 'second opinion' to physicians in cases where CT is either negative (in the early course of infection) or shows nonspecific findings, which can be common." "It's something that should be considered on a wider scale, especially in the United States, where currently we have more spare capacity for CT scanning than in labs for genetic tests," said Dr. Fayad, who is also a Professor of Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "This study is important because it shows that an artificial intelligence algorithm can be trained to help with early identification of COVID-19, and this can be used in the clinical setting to triage or prioritize the evaluation of sick patients early in their admission to the emergency room," says Matthew Levin, MD, Director of the Mount Sinai Health System's Clinical Data Science Team, and a member of the Mount Sinai COVID Informatics Center. "This is an early proof concept that we can apply to our own patient data to further develop algorithms that are more specific to our region and diverse populations." Mount Sinai researchers are now focused on further developing the model to find clues about how well patients will do based on subtleties in their CT data and clinical information. They say this could be important to optimize treatment and improve outcomes. Islams third-holiest site to reopen after the three-day Eid holiday expected to begin this weekend. Jerusalems Al-Aqsa Mosque will reopen to Muslim worshippers after the Eid holiday, a statement from its governing body said, two months after it was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The council decided to lift the suspension on worshippers entering the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque after the Eid al-Fitr holiday, said the statement released on Tuesday by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. The Jordan-appointed council that oversees Islamic sites on the sacred compound was referring to the three-day Eid holiday, expected to begin this weekend to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islams third-holiest site, was closed in March for the first time in more than 50 years as part of measures across the globe to stem the spread of the new coronavirus. On March 15, religious officials closed the Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and a week later also banned worshippers from gathering in open areas of the holy hilltop compound, known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount. It was not immediately clear whether worshippers would also be allowed back into Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock next week. The mosques director, Omar al-Kiswani, told the AFP news agency that he hoped for no restrictions on the number of worshippers, adding that governing body would announce the exact mechanisms and measures later. He said the details would be worked out to ensure we are not subjected to criticism on the pretext we have broken health rules. 190325074255178 The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which lies in Jerusalems Old City, has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The mosque compound is under the custodianship of neighbouring Jordan which controlled the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, until its occupation by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967. Muslims believe the site to be where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. The place is also holy to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount and believe it to be the location of the two Biblical temples the second of which was destroyed in 70 CE. Easing restrictions With the number of COVID-19 cases declining, both Israel and the Palestinian territories have eased restrictions in the recent days. The Western Wall, the holiest site at which Jews are permitted to pray, is one of the outer walls of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. It was closed by Israeli authorities but reopened earlier this month, though with only 300 people allowed at a time. In total, Israel has recorded 16,650 coronavirus infections in its population of nine million, with 277 deaths. On the Palestinian side, fewer than 400 cases have been confirmed in the West Bank and Gaza, which have a combined population of more than 4.5 million. Beaches in Israel are due to reopen from Wednesday, with restaurants and bars to follow from May 27. Flights are also due to resume from various locations in the coming weeks. Oregon holds its regularly-scheduled primary elections Tuesday. With a long history of mail-in voting, the state was not forced to change the date due to the pandemic. Ballots can be returned by mail or dropped off at official drop boxes across the state. In either case, ballots must be received by 8:00 PM local time. Live results will appear below after 11:00 PM Eastern Time. President (Democratic): Firmly entrenched as the presumptive nominee, Joe Biden won all 29 delegates in last week's Nebraska primary. Notable in that it was the first time this year it has happened. Heading into Tuesday, Biden has 1,464 of the 1,991 delegates needed to win the nomination. 61 additional delegates are available in Oregon. Looking ahead, Hawaii (24 pledged delegates) results are expected on Saturday. After that the next contests are June 2, which, due to schedule changes, has become one of the busiest dates on the Democratic primary calendar. 479 delegates, across 7 states and the District of Columbia are available. It is mathematically possible that Biden could cross the 1,991 threshold on that date, although he'd have to win almost every available pledged delegate starting from today. Congressional: There is a contested GOP primary for U.S. Senate, as well as for both parties in each of the state's five congressional districts. However, there isn't expected to be all that much to see here in the fall. Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley should cruise to a 3rd term in November, and Democratic incumbents in the state's 1st, 3rd and 5th districts are also seen as safe. In the 4th district, 17-term incumbent Democrat Peter DeFazio is seen as safe by most analysts, although Cook and Politico rate the district as 'Likely Democratic'. This district is more evenly split politically, with Hillary Clinton winning here by just 0.1% over Donald Trump in 2016. In the state's lone GOP-held district - the 2nd - incumbent Greg Walden is retiring after 11 terms. There are competitive primaries in both parties to succeed him, although the seat is seen as safely Republican come November. The mostly rural district covers the eastern 2/3 of the state. In terms of land area, it is the 6th largest congressional district in the United States, trailing only the 2nd district in New Mexico among states that have multiple districts. More Oregon Results >> Jennifer Garner shared a humorous clip to Instagram on Monday evening. The Alias actress was seen drinking red wine in her massive laundry room, which is the size of most people's kitchens (if they're lucky), while sorting through at least 10 piles of laundry. The cover girl - who lives in an $8M mansion in LA's Brentwood Park neighborhood - has been chronicling her work load as she does all the cooking and cleaning during self-isolation from COVID-19 with her three kids she is raising with ex Ben Affleck. How the rich clean up: Jennifer Garner shared a humorous clip to Instagram on Monday evening. The Alias actress was seen drinking red wine in her massive laundry room, which is the size of most people's kitchens (if they're lucky) Not an old T-shirt: The beauty wore black silk mongrammed jammies - see the JG for Jennifer Garner on the right pocket The clip starts with the 13 Going On 30 star - who is reportedly worth $80M - in a pink top and jeans as she sorts through piles of folded laundry while the machines do their work. Techno music can be heard in the background. She then begins to bop to the music as she moves around the room, dances on the counter, holds a basket on the counter, and poses next to a machine. Real-life vibes: The cover girl has been chronicling her work load as she does all the cooking and cleaning during self-isolation from COVID-19 with her three kids she is raising with ex Ben Affleck. Mama at home: The clip stars with the 13 Going On 30 star in a pink top and jeans as she sorts through piles of folded laundry while the machines do their work Now with a mask: The images keep changing; here she has on a red and black face mask Quirky: She then begins to bop to the music as she moves around the room, dances on the counter, holds a basket on the counter, and poses next to a machine A movie star with a great resume: Garner seen in 2018 at the photo call for her film Peppermint Next thing the viewer sees is outfit changes as the star seems to have plenty of time on her hands to goof around. Garner has on different masks then different tops and all of a sudden she is with her cat who is in her arms then jumps to the counter and, unfortunately, falls as the siren keeps a straight face and does not look away from the camera. Jennifer is then in her black silk pajamas that have a JG monogram on the pocket. She is drinking red wine from a long-stemmed glass and loosening up as she bops to the music. The laundry room is huge with a large washer and dryer, several cabinets and shelves and even a sink. The star is known for her quirky Instagram posts where she cooks and plays with stuffed animals. New look: Next thing the viewer sees is outfit changes. Her she has on a black top and black slacks; notice the cat next to her legs Meow: All of a sudden she is with her cat who is in her arms then jumps to the counter There the cat goes: The feline makes a leap for the counter falling on folded laundry But this does not go well: The beige kitty falls off the counter and onto the floor The Once Upon A Farm founder seems to be thriving post Affleck divorce. Also this week, it has been claimed Ben's new girlfriend, Ana de Armas, has been wowed by Ben and Jennifer's co-parenting skills. The 32-year-old actress is dating the Oscar-winning star - who has Violet, 14, Seraphina, 11, and Samuel, eight, with his ex-wife - and she's been particularly impressed by Ben's parenting skills since their romance started. 'Ana thinks Ben is such a sweet and nice guy. [She] admires how he juggles so much between work, his kids and co-parenting with Jen,' a source told Us Weekly. Ready for COVID-19: The Dallas Buyers Club star also holds toilet paper Ben 'splits his time [between Ana and his family] and, as always, the kids are the most important thing in his life'. However, the insider added that the Hollywood star - who was married to Jennifer between 2005 and 2018 - 'always makes sure he has time for [Ana] and that she is number one'. Meanwhile, a source recently insisted Ana and Ben are very 'happy' being quarantined together amid the coronavirus pandemic. Admiration: Also this week, it was reported that Ana de Armas has been wowed by Ben Affleck and Jennifer's co-parenting skills; seen on her birthday The celebrity couple are isolating together in Los Angeles during the health crisis and they having been having a wonderful time getting to know one another better. The insider said: 'Ana and Ben are so in love and they are just enjoying the moment and are quarantined together and happy.' The loved-up duo went public with their romance in March, when they went on holiday to the actress' native Cuba and Costa Rica. Side by side during COVID-19: The actors seen with their dogs in early May in LA And the Knives Out actress has been blown away by how 'supportive' Ben has been during their relationship so far. The source explained: 'Ben is very supportive of Ana and tells her how amazing she is. 'Ana's friends are constantly telling her how lucky she is to have Ben and think he is so charming, cool and fun. They're so happy for her.' Kenneth Walz Joins Eaton Square At Popper and Company, we are excited to be bringing our deep industry expertise to Eaton Square and we look forward to helping grow the firms presence in life sciences and med-tech in the U.S. and globally, Ken Walz, Partner and Principal Eaton Square is pleased to announce its growth on the East Coast of the US with the addition of Popper and Company, a biotechnology and medical technology-focused strategy and M&A advisory firm. This is an important step for Eaton Square as it continues to grow in the United States, linking US and Asia Pacific healthcare innovators with capital and investors. Popper and Company, founded in 2003 by Caroline Popper, MD and Ken Walz, helps clients in clinical diagnostics, medical devices, life science tools, and digital health, providing guidance on a variety of commercialization challenges. The biotechnology and life sciences sector is key to Eaton Squares continued growth as a cross-border M&A and capital services firm. Given the current global environment, biotechnology is predicted to continue to be extremely active in M&A activity driven by initiatives from large global and regional pharmaceutical companies. Eaton Square is focused on assisting clients to grow across the US and internationally. We believe the combination of Popper and Company with our existing Life Sciences and Healthcare capabilities significantly enhances our ability to assist clients in the US and Asia Pacific to undertake transactions and attract capital globally. Nick Weston, Managing Principal, Eaton Square. We are looking forward to initiating global and regional cross-border solutions for pharma, biotech and med-tech sectors. These now include M&A, debt and equity solutions, strategy and advisory. This will give Eaton Square a strong biotech, healthcare, device and A.I. presence in the US and Asia Pacific, Bob Atwill, Eaton Square Principal. At Popper and Company, we are excited to be bringing our deep industry expertise to Eaton Square and we look forward to helping grow the firms presence in life sciences and med-tech in the U.S. and globally, Ken Walz, Eaton Square Principal. I am excited to welcome the Popper and Company team to enable us to service more clients looking to grow in the healthcare space. Their presence in the Baltimore/DC area will also strengthen our presence in the East Coast of the United States, Reece Adnams, Eaton Square CEO. Joining the Eaton Square Biotech team are: Ken Walz Principal Ken Walz has worked for more than 25 years in the biotech, diagnostics, and medical device industries in business development and finance roles and is particularly interested in the application of disruptive technologies to address inefficiencies in the healthcare system. He brings broad experience in commercial operations and strategy development and has extensive experience leading transaction processes. At Popper and Company, he assists clients in all aspects of strategy and corporate development including strategic partnership development, transaction process management, and health economic modeling. Prior to Popper and Company, Ken held senior positions at MDS Proteomics and Becton Dickinson. Ken holds a BA in Economics from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and an MS in Finance from Loyola College of Maryland. Caroline Popper, MD Principal Caroline is a physician with more than 25 years of hands-on operating experience within health care companies. She has managed a wide spectrum of diagnostics, device and drug discovery businesses in both Fortune 500 and start-up settings, at amongst others, Becton Dickinson, bioMerieux, and MDS. She co-founded Popper and Company with Ken Walz specifically to bring integrated strategic and operational expertise to healthcare clients. She earned her medical degree at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and completed post-graduate training in internal medicine and pathologist at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. She also trained in Health Policy and Health Economics at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Eaton Square, a cross-border M&A and capital services firm, now has a total of 19 offices across the US, Canada, China & Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Switzerland, Singapore and Israel. If you would like to arrange a time to speak with our Life Sciences and Healthcare team, please contact them at: Ken Walz ken.walz@eatonsq.com Caroline Popper caroline.popper@eatonsq.com Bob Atwill bob.atwill@eatonsq.com Nick Weston nicholas.weston@eatonsq.com Reece Adnams reece.adnams@eatonsq.com Its becoming clear that journalists never fully reckoned with the mistakes of 2016 campaign coverage. We know this because they seem poised to repeat them. As you may recall, the news media from Fox News to the New York Times and plenty of others across the political spectrum managed to make the relative molehill of Hillary Clintons dicey email practices into a daily obsession, roughly equal to the mountain of Donald Trumps financial and personal transgressions. Well, dont look now but this is happening again before our eyes. Its name this time is Obamagate. Thats a moniker that, in Trumps outraged tweets, is rendered in all capital letters, but lets not. This vaporous, apparently made-up offence, according to Trump, is the political crime of the century and, heck, last century too, because he claims that it makes the 1970s Watergate scandal look like childs play. As best as hes even attempted to spell out, it supposedly involves a deep-state conspiracy by the former president and his allies to undermine Trump by being informed of the identity of the private citizen having covert and legally questionable discussions with the Russian ambassador a citizen who turned out to be Trumps national security adviser designate Michael Flynn. Despite the fact that this practice is legal and normal, the nonscandal around it is getting plenty of attention. On Chris Wallaces Sunday-morning interview show usually an island of relative sanity in the hyper-partisan, pro-Trump world of Fox News a bottom-of-the-screen chyron read: Is Obamagate an Effective Campaign Strategy? And Trump water carrier Karl Rove was allowed to opine that there were some very serious questions that need to be answered. It does stink. Juan Williams, the networks designated left-leaning contrarian, tried to pour water on this nonsense. There is no Obamagate, he said bluntly, declaring Trumps blather a smokescreen to distract from his disastrous handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Still, the conversation about the nonscandal went on for about seven minutes on this popular show at the nations most-watched cable network. Nor was it ignored on NBCs Meet the Press, where host Chuck Todd while acknowledging the subjects ultimate emptiness kicked around its potential political fallout for a while with White House correspondent Peter Alexander and others. And at CBS News, Catherine Herridge has been heavily hyping her updates on the non-story. SCOOP, she declared on Twitter to herald her story that acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell had notified Congress about the great unmasking. CBSs hiring of Ms Herridge from Fox News last year was sharply criticised by liberals who recalled her persistent reporting on the Clinton email debacle and on debunked allegations that the former secretary of state personally approved the diminishment of security at the Benghazi compound in Libya before the 2012 attack there. So lets just say that Obamagate is getting plenty of attention across the media spectrum, even if its filtered through the lens of whether it will matter to swing-state voters. Watching the media pounce on this story like greyhounds chasing mechanical rabbits has been painful, but also deeply familiar, wrote Sean Illig on Vox. And its so horribly familiar because we have failed to learn very much, if anything, about how much attention to give exaggerated pseudo-scandals which in this case should be nothing at all. It may be that searching deliberations about what went wrong in the 2016 news coverage have taken place behind dozens of newsroom doors. Ive heard reports of such post-election discussions, but they seem to have mostly focused on how the media missed the story of economic anxiety and growing anti-elitism in the heartland. This has been remedied by what I like to call the Endless Diner Series: coastal journalists venturing inland to ask members of Trumps base if they really still like the guy they voted for. Weve left it to scholars at Harvard University and researchers at Columbia Journalism Review to perform the autopsy on our 2016 coverage. In just six days, the New York Times ran as many cover stories about Hillary Clintons emails as they did about all policy issues combined in the 69 days leading up to the election, CJR calculated. But did these lofty views in Ivy League publications amount to a public-facing mea culpa by those who erred? Something that might have helped head off a venture like Obamagate? Certainly not. And so, former White House strategist Stephen Bannons cynical political advice manages to gain traction once again: that the best way for Trump to proceed is to constantly distract, to create chaos, to flood the zone with nonsensical excrement. Its already happening. Those who dont learn history are doomed to repeat it, as philosopher George Santayana said. And those who dont admit they messed up? They are far more likely to do it again. The Washington Post LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - The National Park Service is implementing additional fire restrictions at four park sites in northern New Mexico due to an increasing risk of wildfires in the region. The additional restrictions announced Monday apply to Bandelier National Monument and Valles Caldera National Preserve near Los Alamos and to Fort Union National Monument near Watrous in Mora County and Pecos National Historical Park in San Miguel County. The restrictions ordered in the so-called Pueblo Parks Group prohibit all fires involving campfires, charcoal grills and coal and wood stoves. Also, smoking is prohibited except in enclosed vehicles or building, and operating an internal combustion engine off paved or gravel roads is prohibited. Other prohibited activities including welding or using torches with open flames or using firearms and explosives. Motor vehicles cant be operated off roads, motorized trails or established parking areas except when parking in an area devoid of vegetation near the roadway. WOOD RIVER Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday said the states new emergency rule gives more latitude to law enforcement to issue misdemeanor citations against businesses that violate his coronavirus executive order. Pritzker said the citations would be less harsh and easier to come back from than other enforcement options, such as revoking liquor or business licenses. He said that, although the ability to issue such citations was already in the law, he wanted to provide some additional guidance. Pritzker said local law enforcement and county states attorneys are tasked with enforcing the regulations, but had a limited ability when businesses violate the protocols. Pritzker also said that, especially with warmer weather on the way in the coming months, more people would likely be tempted to gather throughout the state. We just want them to do everything they can to keep themselves safe, he said. Well keep monitoring. We hope people will follow the rules and I think well be able to make it through to the fall. And then, I must say, Im concerned about all the warnings that have been given by epidemiologists about the potential for a surge in the fall, he said. Because if people dont learn the lessons over the summer that weve learned over the last couple of months and then we hit a fall surge were going to be in big trouble. Locally, the Madison County Board of Health last week approved a resolution setting up its own guidelines for reopening. Many mayors in the county said they will continue to follow Pritzkers five-phase Restore Illinois plan. But they added any business planning to open should consult with insurance providers and attorneys. Since the county action on May 12, no enforcement activity has been reported. More Information COVID-19 cases by county St. Clair - 815 (66 deaths) Madison - 498 (44 deaths) Clinton - 161 (14 deaths) Monroe - 89 (11 deaths) Macoupin - 41 (1 death) Montgomery - 39 (1 death) Jersey - 19 (1 death) Bond - 11 (1 death) Washington - 17 Greene - 4 Calhoun - 1 Sources: Illinois Department of Public Health and Madison County Health Department. See More Collapse In its most recent update, the Madison County Health Department reported no new deaths on Monday but the addition of six new COVID-19 cases. So far the county has recorded virus-related 44 deaths and 498 cases. and 44, respectively. Also on Monday, the Madison County Health Department unveiled a new format for its data showing a number of factors such as 3,902 tests recorded in the county by the Illinois Department of Public Health, as well as 707 people quarantined so far with 480 already released from quarantine. The new data is available online at www.madisonchd.org and the departments Facebook page. IDPH data by ZIP code on Monday showed additional cases in the Godfrey, Wood River, Granite City/Pontoon Beach areas. The most cases, 106, were reported in 62025 (Edwardsville) with 82 in 62002 (Alton), 70 in 62040 (Granite City/Pontoon Beach), 56 in 62034 (Glen Carbon) and 49 in 62234 (Collinsville). Nineteen cases were reported in 62035 (Godfrey) and 62060 (Madison) with 18 in 62095 (Wood River); 17 in 62294 (Troy); 13 in 62010 (Bethalto), 62052 (Jerseyville) and 62056 (Litchfield); 11 in 62249 (Highland); 10 in 62090 (Venice); eight in 62069 (Mt. Olive); seven in 62018 (Cottage Hills), 62024 (East Alton) and 62062 (Maryville); and six in 62012 (Brighton) and 62088 (Staunton). The IDPH is releasing case numbers by ZIP code for areas with more than five cases. Numbers are not released in ZIP codes with fewer cases to protect the privacy of patients. The information is online at www.dph.illinois.gov. Additional cases also were reported Monday in Jersey, Montgomery, St. Clair and Monroe counties in the Metro Eastm with an additional death noted in St. Clair County. Statewide there were 2,294 new cases and 59 deaths reported in the past 24 hours. IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said there were now 96,485 cases statewide, and 4,234 deaths. She also noted the state had received 21,297 completed tests in the past 24 hours, with a total of 603,241 tests performed to date. Statewide, she said, there were 4,120 people hospitalized with COVID-19; 1,096 were in intensive care units and 636 were on ventilators. Ezike said that, while the emphasis has been COVID-19, people also need to prioritize well-care visits, especially childrens immunization, mammograms and other screenings. These are important, and they cant be put off indefinitely, she said. She advised people with concerns about visiting doctors offices to contact their healthcare provider to find out what kind of practices theyve put into place to keep both patients and workers safe. For the latest information on COVID-19 or coronavirus resources, visit the Madison County Health Department online at www.madisonchd.org or on Facebook @MadisonCHD. Also visit www.co.madison.il.us for more news and a daily update or on Facebook @MadisonCountyIL. The Center Square contributed to this story. UKs communications regulator, Ofcom has sanctioned Pastor Chris Oyakhilomes LoveWorld Television Ministry for airing false and potentially harmful statements about the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement, Ofcom said the Christian channel aired a sermon that promoted a baseless conspiracy that the virus is linked to the roll-out of 5G Network. It also insinuated a global coverup. In addition Loveworld news also claimed that hydroxychloroquine is a cure for COVID-19, without proof. Our investigation found that a report on Loveworld News included unsubstantiated claims that 5G was the cause of the pandemic, and that this was the subject of a global cover-up, Ofcom said. Another report during the programme suggested hydroxychloroquine as a cure for Covid-19, without acknowledging that its effectiveness and safety as a treatment was clinically unproven, or making clear that it has potentially serious side effects, it added. Ofcom said Loveworld breached Rules 2.1 and 5.1 of the Broadcasting Code. Loveworlds sanction was non-monetary, for now. Ofcom simply wanted it to broadcast its findings that debunked its fake news and sermon. But it also warned about a further sanction: We are considering whether to impose any further sanction, the statement added. Loveworld TV was not the only violator of the UK broadcasting code punished by Ofcom on Monday. Ofcom also sanctioned London Live and radio station Uckfield FM for airing similar false claims without them being sufficiently challenged. Oyakhilomes Loveworld, also known as Christ Embassy, is based in Lagos but has operations in several countries across the world, including South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom. The church has at least 90 branches in the UK and an estimated 13 million followers around the world, according to one estimate. Read the full Ofcom statement: Ofcom has today imposed a sanction on Loveworld Limited, which broadcasts the religious television channel Loveworld, after a news programme and a live sermon included potentially harmful claims about Covid-19. Our investigation found that a report on Loveworld News included unsubstantiated claims that 5G was the cause of the pandemic, and that this was the subject of a global cover-up. Another report during the programme suggested hydroxychloroquine as a cure for Covid-19, without acknowledging that its effectiveness and safety as a treatment was clinically unproven, or making clear that it has potentially serious side effects. A sermon broadcast on Your Loveworld also included unsubstantiated claims linking the pandemic to 5G technology, as well as claims which cast serious doubt on the necessity for lockdown measures and the motives behind official health advice on Covid-19, including in relation to vaccination. There is no ban on broadcasting controversial views which are different from, or which challenge, official authorities on public health information. However, given the unsubstantiated claims in both these programmes were not sufficiently put into context, they risked undermining viewers trust in official health advice, with potentially serious consequences for public health. Given these serious failings, we concluded that Loveworld Limited did not adequately protect viewers from the potentially harmful content in the news programme and the sermon, and the news reports were not duly accurate. Loveworld Limited must broadcast our findings and we are considering whether to impose any further sanction. New Zealander jailed in HCMC for stealing laptops from shop A New Zealand man was sentenced to one year in jail by a HCMC court on Monday for stealing two laptops from a store. Stalker Walter Logan, 34, came to Vietnam as a tourist in May 2019 and stayed in a hotel in District 1. In October he stole a laptop each on two separate occasions from a hardware store in District 1. They were worth over VND25 million ($1,080) in total, the HCMC Peoples Court heard. He sold them to two unidentified European men, and authorities are looking for them. 3 reactions to House Democrats $3T coronavirus relief bill Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment The House of Representatives on Friday evening narrowly approved a $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill, the largest-ever in the history of the House, which Republican leaders say will be blocked in the Senate. Here are three mixed reactions to the bill by heads of Christian nonprofits and congressional leaders. The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, dubbed as HEROES Act, passed by a 208-199 vote amid a veto threat from the White House, with 14 Democrats voting no against the party line and one Republican, Rep. Pete King of New York, voting yes." Im thrilled, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said. Im so proud of my members. They just did something so monumental for the American people for their health, for their lives, for their livelihood, and for our democracy. We couldnt be more thrilled. It includes $915 billion in state and local aid to help prevent layoffs of public workers, a new $200 billion heroes fund for hazard pay for essential workers, $100 billion for K-12 and higher education, and $75 billion for coronavirus testing. The Democrats' plan would also allow for college students, non-child dependents, and immigrants who are in the country illegally to receive $1,200 each and $500 per child, which they were not eligible for in the previous CARES Act relief bill. Politico Playbook described the 1,815-page package drafted by Democrats alone as a "messaging bill," meaning it was never intended to become law, but rather to showcase issues House Democrats want to say they advocated for. Republicans described the bill as a liberal wish list that won't pass the Senate. Here are three reactions to the HEROES Act. 1. The bill has nothing to do with our current health and economic calamity Dr. James Dobson, psychologist and founder and president of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, condemned it, saying it is laced with special interest spending that has nothing to do with our current health and economic calamity. It is appalling the Democrats are willing to mortgage the future of our children and grandchildren, all to ram through a socialist agenda that runs counter to the wishes of most Americans, not to mention the Constitution of the United States! he said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. Our politicians serve the people of this great nation and the governing laws that support it. If they cant get with the program, its time for them to be reminded of whom they serve, added Dobson, the author of 71 books dedicated to the preservation of the family. 2. Republicans shocked by cannabis provisions; Democrat touts voting changes Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, responded to the proposed legislation on the Senate floor Thursday by noting that the word cannabis appears in the bill 68 times, and that's more times than the word job and four times as many as the word hire, according to The Washington Times. Democrats proposed coronavirus bill includes taxpayer-funded studies to measure diversity and inclusion among the people who profit off of marijuana, he said. He added: Maybe its best if House Democrats focus on cannabis studies and leave economics to the rest of us. House Democrats had a blank slate to write anything they wanted to define the modern Democratic Party, any vision for the society they wanted, and heres what they chose: tax hikes on small businesses, giveaways to blue state millionaires, government checks for illegal immigrants and sending diversity detectives to inspect the pot industry. Democrat Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California praised the bills passage, however, touting the inclusion of $3.6 million to expand voting by mail which doesn't require voter ID, as well as health and safety changes for in-person polling locations. [T]he Heroes Act includes important provisions which I have authored including expanding no-excuse absentee vote by mail for every voter who wishes it, and providing 15 consecutive days of early in-person voting In the event of an emergency declaration, and including the COVID-19 pandemic, the bill provides that every registered voter will be mailed an absentee ballot with prepaid return postage so that they may vote from the safety of their homes, Lofgren said in a statement. On Wednesday, Sen. James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, also said on the floor that the bill actually sets up a series of changes in our federal cannabis laws, which immediately I thought of, OK, how much information is in this bill about cannabis? He added, Cannabis is actually mentioned in this bill 68 times. Now, Im not sure why thats in a bill dealing with COVID-19, but it does dramatic changes in our federal cannabis laws. 3. It carries praiseworthy criminal justice reform provisions James Ackerman, president and CEO of Prison Fellowship, a Christian nonprofit serving prisoners and former prisoners as well as their families, praised the criminal justice reform provisions included in the bill. As the positive COVID-19 cases in prisons nationwide now surpasses 25,000 and the death toll climbs, we are grateful to see lawmakers including this vulnerable population in the House legislative agenda, he said in a statement. Heather Rice-Minus, vice president of Government Affairs and Church Mobilization for Prison Fellowship, added: Historically, criminal justice reform has required bipartisan support to get it to get to the finish line. Were pleased many of Prison Fellowships key priorities have been included in the HEROES Act, from allowing second chance business owners access to the Paycheck Protection Program to increasing re-entry funding. However, we are working hard to forge a bipartisan path that will ensure the final bill delivered to the Presidents desk remembers those in prison. She is an effervescent mother of three, and her gleeful spirit shined through in a recent selfie with her adorable baby daughter. Kate Hudson graced the social media channels once again on Tuesday, posing for a sweet and smiley Instagram selfie with daughter Rani Rose, who will turn two this year. The How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days star, 41, modeled her fit and svelte figure in the mirror snap, wearing a cropped black tank top that flaunted her flat tummy and pale blue star patterned shorts that were hiked up to expose her thighs. What a team: Kate Hudson graced the social media channels once again on Tuesday, posing for a sweet and smiley Instagram selfie with daughter Rani Rose 'Two for Tuesday ' Hudson captioned the photo, adding an LOL emoji along with the hashtags #SmileBigLaughOften and #LeicaQ. The second hashtag was in reference to the camera she was holding in the picture, an old-school model by the brand Leica, much loved by photographers. Kate's blond hair was pulled back in the sweet mother-daughter photo, and both she and daughter Rani wore the same facial expression a toothy open-mouthed grin with a scrunched up nose. Adorbs: Rani is Kate's daughter with her partner Danny Fujikawa; Mom and daughter seen here during a recent Instagram chat with Oprah, sponsored by Weight Watchers Rani is Kate's daughter with her partner Danny Fujikawa, a musician. The Skeleton Key actress is also mom to Bingham Hawn Bellamy, eight, her son with Muse frontman Matt Bellamy, and her 16-year old son with The Black Crowes' Chris Robinson, Ryder Robinson. But it isn't all fun and games with her kids while in isolation for Kate; the Oscar nominee still has professional commitments while on lockdown. Hudson uploaded a snap from director Ana Lily Amirpour's feed to her Story, showing Kate on Ana's computer in a remote recording session for the upcoming film Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon. Kate still has professional commitments while on lockdown: She uploaded a snap from director Ana Lily Amirpour's feed to her Story, showing Kate on Ana's computer in a remote recording session for the upcoming film Mona Lisa And The Blood Moon 'ADR sessions look like this now,' Amirpour captioned the shot, which showed an as-usual smiling Hudson giving peace sign fingers on her computer screen. ADR stands for Automated Dialog Replacement, and is a standard element during the post-production of a film in order to ensure optimal sound and dialog quality. While ADR sessions are usually recorded in person, alternative means have clearly been devised in light of the current restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hudson shot Amirpour's new fantasy-tinged film in New Orleans, Louisiana last year. Busy actress: Hudson shot Amirpour's new fantasy-tinged film in New Orleans last year Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 23:44:00|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close LONDON, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The British government announced on Tuesday a new tariff regime to replace European Union's (EU) common external tariff after the Brexit transition period comes to an end this year. Starting on Jan. 1, 2021, the UK Global Tariff ensures that 60 percent of trade will come into Britain tariff free on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms or through existing preferential access, and successful free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations will increase this, the Department for International Trade said in a statement. The new tariff is tailored to the needs of the British economy. It will be in pounds not euros, the department said. Under the new regime, the government will streamline or simplify tariffs on more than 6,000 products, including getting rid of all "nuisance tariffs" (those below 2 percent), to lower costs for businesses and increase choice for consumers, it said. It said tariffs will be cut on over 100 products to promote a sustainable economy, with thermostats, LED lamps among others dropping to zero tariffs. The government promises to extend the temporary zero tariff rate for personal protective equipment, medical devices and other key items from non-EU countries to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic beyond Jan. 1 should it be necessary, the department said. The government will back agriculture, automotive and fishing in the country by maintaining tariffs on agricultural products such as lamb, beef and poultry, a 10 percent tariff on cars, as well as tariffs for the vast majority of ceramic products. The British government counts on successful FTA negotiations to expand tariff free trade. It is currently in talks with the EU and the United States, and has announced negotiating objectives for talks with Japan. However, hopes of Britain securing a permanent post-Brexit trade deal with the EU hit a major stumbling block on Friday when the latest round of bilateral talks ended. It leaves both sides with just six weeks to reach an agreement before a deadline for a decision to be made on extending the transition period beyond Dec. 31. If they fail to reach a deal by then, trade will be carried out on WTO terms. Enditem SAN FRANCISCO Marc Andreessen, a Silicon Valley investor, published a rallying cry last month that quickly ricocheted around the tech industry. In it, he blamed Americas dismal response to the coronavirus on smug complacency, this satisfaction with the status quo and the unwillingness to build. He proposed a solution that fit squarely into Silicon Valleys ethos of ingenuity. It was time to build things, he said, like universities, hospitals, skyscrapers, zero-emission nuclear reactors, delivery drones, hyperloops and even Elon Musks alien dreadnoughts. Building is how we reboot the American dream, Andreessen wrote in his post, which he titled Time to Build. It was an inspirational call to arms. But one of the first things Andreessen and other Silicon Valley venture capitalists have since rushed to help build was something else entirely: an app called Clubhouse. Clubhouse is a social media app where venture capitalists have gathered to mingle with each other while they are quarantined in their homes. The app is, for now, invite-only, and buzzy: seemingly everyone who has been allowed to join the early test version, from celebrities like MC Hammer to activists like DeRay Mckesson, has tweeted about it. And it has recently been one of the hottest deals on Sand Hill Road, Silicon Valleys venture capital nexus. Last week, Andreessens venture firm, Andreessen Horowitz, won the deal to invest in Clubhouse. Andreessen Horowitz agreed to put in $10 million, plus pay another $2 million to buy shares from Clubhouses existing shareholders, said a person with knowledge of the funding, who declined to be named because the details were confidential. The financing valued Clubhouse, which started this year and has two employees, at nearly $100 million. The deal was earlier reported by Forbes. Andrew Chen, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said on Twitter that he interpreted Andreessens Time to Build as building more of everything, including new gaming cos, social apps, fitness and more! The rush to invest in Clubhouse reflects the way Silicon Valley works. While cutting-edge technology and a change-the-world mission are paramount, much of the big money in recent decades has ultimately been made from addictive social media apps. So when it comes to building new things, Silicon Valley often turns to what it knows and that is more social networks. Jeremy Liew, an investor at Lightspeed Venture Partners, said his firm, along with most of Silicon Valley, spoke to the founders of Clubhouse in recent weeks. The app got some early traction with V.C.s and entrepreneurs, and no doubt that is why some firms leaned in, he said, adding that Lightspeed did not pursue an investment. They generalized from their own positive experiences. Andreessen Horowitz declined to comment on Andreessens essay and any connection to the Clubhouse investment. Andreessen, Chen and their partner, Ben Horowitz, have been frequent faces in the app. Last week, Horowitz answered questions from Clubhouses users about his barbecue techniques and favorite dining spots, adding how impressed he was with what the apps founders had built. Paul Davison, who founded Clubhouse with Rohan Seth, a former Google engineer, declined to comment. Davison is a well-known Silicon Valley entrepreneur, having made the social media app Highlight in 2012. That app, which allowed people to share their location with others to create serendipitous in-person connections, shut down in 2016. With just a few thousand people using Clubhouse as part of an early test, the app is far from a hit and has not been publicly released. But many of those who have it are already addicted. One woman recently discussed spending more than 40 hours a week on it; others have tweeted similar statistics. Clubhouse works by letting people join pop-up audio chat rooms that disappear when they end. Once in the rooms, users are segmented into tiers determined by moderators. Users can join any chat room, see who is speaking or listening, click into a profile page and follow others. Some said Clubhouse has brought back the spontaneity of real-life interactions, which vanished with the coronavirus. Gillian Morris, founder of Hitlist, a flight booking app, said that logging into the app felt like bumping into people and striking up a conversation at a coffee shop. Its like walking into a party where you know people are ready to mingle, said Sonia Baschez, 33, a digital marketing consultant in San Francisco who was invited to use Clubhouse. Since joining the app a week and a half ago, Baschez said she has spent three to five hours a day on it. Sure, you could be talking to people on the phone, but that just seems so weird, she said. Youre not forced to be part of the conversation the entire time on Clubhouse. You can just listen to other people talking about interesting subjects and jump in when you want. Last weekend, author Shaka Senghor and activist Mckesson each spent hours on the app discussing prison reform, police brutality and other topics related to their interests. Former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss recently held an open Q&A on Clubhouse. Jared Leto and Ashton Kutcher are users; Kevin Hart also showed up one time. Leo Polovets, an investor at Susa Ventures, a venture capital firm, said Clubhouse sometimes felt like a tech conference, with discussions on tech-related topics and appearances from prominent techies. Its almost like a podcast with audience participation, he said. Thats during the day. After hours, Clubhouse is more like a rowdy dive bar. At around 10 nearly every night, a group of 30 to 50 people form a room on the app where everyone is a host, moderator privileges are given freely, microphones are mostly unmuted and users swap their profile pictures in real time to memes and images related to the conversation. They call themselves the Back of the Bus. Ryan Dawidjan, 28, an account executive at a tech company, holds court and ensures everyone in the room follows the rules: no boring tech talk and no talking about Clubhouse. He playfully boots people from host roles for violating these sacred terms. The format of Back of the Bus is fluid. Sometimes there is a tarot card reader critiquing a members Instagram account; sometimes it is a dating advice show; sometimes bored people sound off about anything that pops into their mind. Clubhouse has already minted its first influencer: Sheel Mohnot, 38, founder of Better Tomorrow Ventures, another venture firm. Mohnot, a staple in Back of the Bus, has been a contestant on the Zoom Bachelorette, a pop-up online dating event for which fans hosted a live discussion party on Clubhouse. After connecting through the app with Scooter Braun, an entrepreneur and record executive, Mohnot was featured in a recent Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande music video. Clubhouse is like a mystery box every night. You dont know what youre going to get, but its always good, Dawidjan said. Alex Taub, 32, a co-founder of Upstream, a professional networking platform, who is on the app, said, You dont want to leave Clubhouse because you feel like when you leave, something crazy is going to happen. All of that has whetted the appetite of venture capitalists. Apart from the Andreessen Horowitz investors, others from top Silicon Valley firms like Benchmark and Greylock Partners are also in the app. Many have offered product feedback in Clubhouse and declared that it is the future of audio. Some have wrangled celebrity connections to try it. Yet even before Clubhouse launches, it has encountered issues that larger social media companies struggle with. On Sunday, entrepreneur Sriram Krishnan changed his name on the app to Tim Cook, Apples chief executive, as a prank. More than 100 people immediately joined the room. Hours later, someone impersonated Elon Musk, the Tesla chief. That led MC Hammer to publicly call on the company to institute a real name policy. Real identity !!! Be accountable for your words and opinions, he tweeted. Clubhouse also faces competition. Over the weekend, an app that mimics the Clubhouse interface called Watercooler was released. It even used a photo of Davison in its promotional images. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Tuesday accused the Centre of doing politics over the issue of migrant labourers and derided it for not coming up with a concrete policy to help the workers, even after weeks of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Pilot, who is also the Rajasthan Congress chief, said the party along with the state government has sent back hundreds of labourers to their homes and will provide financial help and food to those stranded in different parts of the country away from their homes. "The central government should work together (with the states) to wipe the tears of migrant labourers. It should ensure that the labourers reach their homes. They are disappointed, unemployed and running short on food," he said. "Labourers are getting exhausted. So many weeks have passed, but no concrete policy has been formulated by the central government so far. In Rajasthan, the state government and the party together have sent back hundreds of labourers to their homes and lakhs of migrants want to come back to Rajasthan," Pilot told reporters after visiting a camp of migrant labourers at Kamla Devi Budhia School, Hirapur here. Accompanied by Transport Minister Pratap Singh, he interacted with the migrants at the camp. Pilot also distributed food items among the migrants and instructed officials to ensure that they reach their native places safely in buses. Criticising the Centre's economic stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore, Pilot asked how much money will go into the hands of the migrant workers. "Workers want to go to their villages. How much money has the government earmarked for them? It is just like a loan fair, take a loan and keep repaying later. This is a dual policy," he said. On Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman describing senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's interaction with a group of migrant labourers in Delhi as "dramebaazi", Pilot said the remark was condemnable. He said, "Sharing someone's grief, helping someone, arranging buses for them... when did it become a show-off?" "We should be united in this time of crisis but the central government and their leaders are doing politics over these workers by making uncalled for statements," he said. The Congress party arranged buses to ferry home labourers but the Uttar Pradesh government did not give permission. When party leader Priyanka Gandhi gave a public statement, the government asked the party to send the buses to Lucknow, Pilot claimed. "This is condemnable. Instead of coming together to help the needy in this time of crisis, they are dilly-dallying," he said. Pilot said no one could have imagined that the workers of the country would have to bear such a huge burden of the struggle against the coronavirus pandemic. He, however, acknowledged that the spread of coronavirus in villages as migrant workers return home will be challenging to deal with. "We have to stop the infection in containment and red zones. We have developed strict protocol at state, district and panchayat levels. Every public representative and officer is engaged so that the infection does not spread in the villages," he said. Pilot, who is also the rural development and panchayati raj minister, said the migrants returning to Rajasthan will be provided jobs under rural employment generation scheme MGNREGS. Bengaluru, May 20 : The South Western Railway (SWR) zone operated nine special trains to ferry 13,119 migrants back home to seven north and east Indian states, an official said on Tuesday. "First Shramik special train of Tuesday left from Hubli to Hatia in Jharkhand at 12:00 p.m. with 1,477 passengers," said a SWR zone spokesperson. The second special train left Malur station on the outskirts of Bengaluru to Saharsa in Bihar at 3:15 p.m. with 1,500 passengers. "Highlight of this train is with this Bengaluru Division (of SWR) has crossed the milestone of ferrying 1 lakh passengers by Shramik specials," said the official. This was 74th such train from the city. "Third Shramik special train of Tuesday left Chikka Bannavara station to Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh at 3:45 p.m. with 1,549 passengers," said the official. The fourth Shramik special train departed from Bengaluru Cantonment at 4:00 p.m. with 1,081 migrants for Lal Kuan in Uttarakhand. SWR's fifth special train left Chikka Bannavara station for Mau in Uttar Pradesh at 5:35 p.m. with 1,548 migrants. The sixth train departed from Malur at 6:57 p.m. with 1,544 passengers to Katihar in Bihar. Similarly, the seventh special train departed from Chikka Bannavara at 7 p.m. with 1,420 migrants to Basti in Uttar Pradesh. The eighth special train left Bengaluru Cantonment station at 8:20 p.m. with 1,500 migrants to Agartala in Tripura. Tuesday's ninth special train departed Malur at 9:08 p.m. with 1,500 migrants to Barkhakhana in Jharkhand. Meanwhile, migrants are boarding Tuesday's 10th and 11th special trains at KSR Bengaluru to Arraria and Beeaiah in Bihar. According to the railway zone, the special trains will run as long as required. "Shramik special trains will continue to run till such time there is requirement," said the official. The special trains are being run following the Ministry of Home Affairs' permission for the movement of stranded migrant labourers, workers, students, tourists and others. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: Georgia exported 13,346 tons of ferroalloys totaling $12.7 million to Turkey from January through April 2020, Trend reports referring to Georgian National Statistics Office (Geostat). On an annualized basis, Georgia increased the export of ferroalloys to Turkey by 6,265 tons. Over the same period last year, 7,081 tons of ferroalloys were exported by Georgia to Turkey for a total amount of $7.6 million. During the reporting period, Georgia exported 13,860 tons of semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel totaling $5.1 million to Turkey, which is a decrease of 22,675 tons compared to the same period in 2019. Over the same period last year, 36,535 tons of semi-finished products of iron or non-alloy steel were exported by Georgia to Turkey for a total amount of $14 million. Turkey ranks first in Georgias commodity circulation in the reporting period. From January through April 2020, total imports from Turkey to Georgia amounted to $406.02 million. In turn, Georgia exported goods worth $63.27 million to Turkey. The foreign trade turnover of Georgia with Turkey in the reporting period exceeded $469.3 million, which is 13.5 percent of Georgia's total trade turnover. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 New England, New York based Marine infantry battalion completes deployment with 3rd Marine Division US Marine Corps News 18 May 2020 | Chief Warrant Officer Izzel Sanchez 3rd Marine Division OKINAWA, Japan -- U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, return home after being away for almost a year. The unit has been authorized to return to the U.S. after completing a six-month deployment with the 3rd Marine Division in Okinawa, Japan, from Oct. 2019 to May 2020. Stationed across New England and New York, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, is a reserve infantry unit with 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve. Since World War II, they have regularly operated alongside the active component, seamlessly integrating during exercises and operations. The battalion's history includes actions in Kwajalein, the Battle of Iwo Jima, the Battle of Saipan, the Battle of Tinian, the Korean War, the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, traveled to Japan to execute a six-month deployment under the Unit Deployment Program. The UDP rotates Marine units from the U.S. to 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, and is designed to increase the readiness of the units by exposing them to realistic, relevant training environments throughout the Indo-Pacific. Being a reserve unit, the battalion's readiness is continuously validated as they often augment the active Marine forces during time of war, national emergency or contingency operations. Reserve units also provide personnel and operational relief to the active forces during peacetime. While deployed to the Indo-Pacific region, the battalion participated in back to back exercises such as Fuji Viper, Forest Light, Northern Viper, and others. "The strategic partnerships in this area are at the forefront of our national interest," said Maj. Christopher Peterson, the executive officer of 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment. "The bilateral training and varied terrain gave the Marines and Sailors some of the most realistic exposure to tomorrow's fight." After many months of continuous training, the battalion's readiness exemplifies the fighting spirit of 3rd Marine Division, bringing true meaning to 'any clime, and any place'. The UDP allows 3rd Marine Division to maintain a high standard of combat readiness and efficiency. If called upon, we remain ready to Fight Tonight in defense of our ideals and allies. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Understanding the genetic mutations and protein changes that take place in the progression of cancer is key to its treatment. Mutations in the gene TP53 and concomitant mutant p53 proteins in cancer cells have become notorious over the course of multiple studies of several different types of cancers. Yet so far, the mechanisms behind the role of these protein changes in propagating the disease has been poorly understood. Masanobu Oshima at Kanazawa University and his collaborators now report results that suggest just how these protein changes may lead to accelerated tumorigenesis and metastasis. Previous studies of cancers in the lungs, intestines and pancreas, as well as colorectal cancer, had suggested that changes in p53 lead to invasive abilities and stem cell characteristics crucial for late-stage tumorigenesis. In addition to this "gain of function (GOF)" mutation, wild-type protein p53 is reduced in cancer cells through a "loss of heterozygosity" process, where instead of having two alleles for each gene corresponding to each parent, the gene has just one. Oshima collaborated with researchers at Kanazawa University in Japan, Theragen Etex Bio Institute and Seoul National University in South Korea. They found that tumor cells that carry GOF mutant p53 and lost wild-type p53 are enriched in liver metastasis lesions, suggesting combination of p53 LOH and GOF mutations promotes metastasis. In studies of single cells dissociated from each other, the researchers found that loss of heterozygosity was key to the cell's survival and proliferation, which has implications for metastasis. In addition, the structures formed were more complex and glandular. Further studies suggested that the combination of gain of function mutations and loss of heterozygosity provided some protection against cell death. When injected in live mouse models the combination also accelerated tumorigenesis as well. The tumors formed had a fibrotic microenvironment, a signature of a poor prognosis for colorectal cancer. Fibrotic structures are also linked with inflammation pathways. The researchers analyzed the mutant proteins with the ingenuity pathway analysis software package, which provides integrated analysis of gene expression and other cell traits. The analysis indicated growth factor/MAPK and inflammatory pathways were indeed upregulated in cells with gain of function mutations and loss of heterozygosity. What is more trametinib treatment, (which inhibits a protein in the MAPK pathway) suppressed the cloning efficiency of these mutant cells. Ingenuity pathway analysis also revealed that stem cell pathways were up regulated in cells with gain of function mutations and loss of heterozygosity, as well as cells where both Trp53 alleles were disrupted. In their report, the researchers suggest their findings "will contribute to the future development of therapeutic strategies against CRC [colorectal cancer] metastasis." An Indian politician and his son were shot dead in broad daylight in a row over a new rural road today. Chote Lal Diwakar and his son Sunil were killed after an angry encounter with locals while inspecting the road in Uttar Pradesh. Footage shows the two gunmen arguing with the visitors before they eventually open fire, killing Diwakar and his son. Reports say the locals were enraged because the visiting politician was responsible for a new road which was set to cut across their land. Angry villagers opened fire on politician Chote Lal Diwakar and his son Sunil, who were killed in Uttar Pradesh, India Pictured is one of the victims. The horrific shooting took place after a heated argument over a new road A two-minute video of the clash shows the two gunmen holding rifles, one wearing a white shirt and one in a pink shirt. In an angry scene, a crowd of people were gathered on a narrow path as the gunmen held a lengthy argument with the visitors. Some people appeared to be trying to calm the gunmen, who at one point turned their backs and started walking in another direction. But the argument soon resumed as some of the people close to the camera holder followed the gunmen down the path. After stopping and turning around, the two gunmen suddenly aimed their weapons and opened fire. The gunfire prompted the cameraman to run away and the footage to end, but only after the corpse of one of the victims was seen on the ground. Confrontation: Two gunmen brandished rifles (left) while the visitors (one of whom is seen with his back to the camera, right) argued with locals about a new rural road The gunmen continued to hold up their weapons as the argument went on (left), although at one point they started walking in another direction (right) After stopping and turning around, the two men suddenly aimed their weapons and fired - killing the visiting politician and his son According to NDTV, the politician and his son were inspecting a road which cuts across a field near a village in Sambhal district. The gunmen were furious because the road was set to cut across their land and Diwakar refused to change the route, it is claimed. The road was being built under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The Press Trust of India, the country's largest news agency, later reported that two men had been arrested over the shootings. Police superintendent Alok Kumar Jayswal said the two victims' bodies had been sent for a post-mortem. Diwakar belonged to the left-wing Samajwadi Party, which holds a handful of seats in India's parliament. The Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center in Beaver County is the site of one of the state's worst outbreaks. 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 Amid a growing death toll and mounting pressure from lawmakers and advocates, Pennsylvania officials on Tuesday released a long sought-after list of long-term care facilities where the coronavirus has infected or killed residents. The information, published by the state Department of Health in a spreadsheet, shows the names of facilities, the county in which each facility is located, the number of resident cases, the number of staff cases, and the number of deaths. The state redacted information for facilities with less than five in any of these data points. With no announcement, the state later published an updated version of the data after providers raised issues with the numbers, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. For example, a Delaware County personal care home that can serve 16 residents was reported as having 65 cases. A spokesperson for the health department said there have been issues with data consistency and reporting. As the situation inside some of Pennsylvanias long-term care facilities has worsened, lawmakers and advocates for seniors have called on the state and federal government to release the list. Failing to do so, they said, allowed some facilities to hide known cases of the virus from residents, families, staff, and the larger community, and obscured which homes were most in need of resources. In early April, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D., PA) called on the federal government to widely release the list of facilities with known cases. And by the middle of last month, the nations largest advocate for senior welfare, the AARP, also urged Pennsylvania to do so. But state officials demurred, first saying the data was too convoluted to make public, and later citing a decades-old disease privacy law. The state reversed course following a federal regulatory change that mandates long-term care facilities report cases to federal officials, and notify residents and families. State health officials said last week they would release the list in compliance with the rules new reporting requirements for data collection, which began Sunday. Several other states made the names of facilities with cases public prior to federal requirements, however, including New Jersey, Minnesota, and Kentucky. The list released Tuesday by Pennsylvania officials contains alarming statistics. There are roughly four dozen homes or assisted living facilities where at least 20 people have died. At Parkhouse Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Montgomery County, 48 people have died and 149 others have been infected. At Gracedale Nursing Home in Northampton County, 44 people have died and 245 others have tested positive for the virus. And at ManorCare Health Services in Sinking Spring, in Berks County, there have been 44 deaths to date. Brighton Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, in Beaver County, continues to have the highest number of deaths in the state. At least 76 people have died at the facility, where the state has installed a temporary manager and sent in the National Guard for additional support. Lawmakers have called for a federal investigation. Deaths in nursing homes and assisted living facilities currently account for more than 68% of all the coronavirus-related fatalities in the state, with 3,086 long-term care residents dead as of Tuesday. Until Tuesday, the state had only released information by county, which showed the highest number of deaths occurring at unnamed homes in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Bucks, and Delaware Counties. 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. Cinema in Piazza film festival returns to Rome this summer. 2020 has already proved to be a profoundly challenging year for cultural events, particularly ones that involve large crowds, and particularly in Italy. As event after event is cancelled due to the demanding coronavirus health regulations, one plucky Roman film festival is refusing to throw in the towel and is determined to carry on against the odds. The festival's organisers are no stranger to overcoming obstacles, from political opposition to right-wing aggression, however covid-19 is likely their biggest challenge yet. Led by president Valerio Carocci, Piccolo Cinema America is a Trastevere-based association comprising a band of young volunteer film enthusiasts. For the last six years organisers have consistently punched above their weight to reel in some of the top names in Italian and international cinema as guests of their festival, from Paolo Sorrentino to Jeremy Irons, and screening a diverse range of movies in their original language. The festival is best known for its Piazza di S. Cosimato venue in Trastevere but it also takes place in the Ostia coastal district and Casale della Cervelletta in Rome's eastern suburbs. Reflecting its social conscience, Carocci says that the goal of this year's festival is to "combat social distancing while maintaining physical distancing." This, he says, will be achieved by "scrupulously respecting all safety rules" as well as fostering a "cultural rebirth" post-lockdown and helping people recover a lost social life. Another key change involves the festival moving forward from July to August, taking into account the fact that many Roman families will be unable to leave the city this summer due to financial difficulties caused by the crisis. "Rome in August will never have been so beautiful," says Carocci. More details coming soon. Thomas Motsoahae Thabane, prime minister of Lesotho addresses the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 27, 2019. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters) Lesotho PM, Named as Suspect in Murder Case, Bows to Pressure to Quit MASERULesothos Prime Minister Thomas Thabane bowed to pressure to resign on May 19, three months after police named him and his current wife as suspects in the murder of his former wife in a case that has transfixed the southern African nation. Thabanes departure marks the end of one of Lesothos longest political careers, one marked by exile, intrigue, tensions with the military, and a political crisis that deepened when police named him as a murder suspect in February. The time to retire from the great theatre of action, take leave from public life and office has finally arrived, the 80-year-old Thabane told citizens in a speech on Lesotho TV. His own All Basotho Convention (ABC) party, opposition figures, and South African mediators had all been pressing Thabane to resign over the murder case. Prime Minister of Lesotho Tom Thabane (L) and his wife Maesaiah Thabane sit at the Magistrate Court in Maseru, Lesotho, on Feb. 24, 2020. (Molise Molise/AFP/Getty Images) Gunmen shot dead his previous wife, Lipolelo, on June 14, 2017, two days before he took office. Maesaiah has been formally charged with the murder. Though named as a suspect, Thabane has not been charged. They both deny any involvement. Lawmakers have said Thabane was not offered immunity from prosecution in return for stepping down, and it remains unclear whether he will now face any charges. Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro, named by parliament as Thabanes replacement, is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday. Lesothos Prime Minister Thomas Thabane speaks during an interview with Reuters at State House in the capital Maseru, on Feb. 27, 2015. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters) I plead with the entire nation to give my successor utmost support, and for my part I wish to assure him of my support, Thabane said in his televised address. Thabanes coalition fell apart last week, leaving him with no legal choice but to resign. It is a relief and we believe Lesotho will be steered to greatness and good governance as well as peace, said Motlalentoa Letsosa, deputy leader of the Democratic Congress Party, the main opposition party which will now join a new coalition government under Majoro. Lesotho, a small kingdom encircled by a South African mountain range, has seen several coups since gaining independence from Britain in 1966. Its political upheavals often drag in South Africa, which gets some of its water from high-altitude Lesotho. By Marafaele Mohloboli Kashmir is Indias internal matter says Taliban India oi-Vicky Nanjappa New Delhi, May 19: The Taliban has denied reports suggesting that it would join Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. The Taliban made it clear that it does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. The statement that the Taliban would join Jihad in Kashmir is wrong. The policy of the Islamic Emirate is clear that it does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, Suhail Shaheen the spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan said. DD to broadcast weather forecast of Indian cities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir The clarification comes after a post that claimed that a Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said that it was impossible to be friends with India unless the Kashmir issue was resolved. He is also said to have stated that the Taliban would capture Kashmir, after it captures Kabul. Following these statements, India worked the backchannels to confirm the same. India sought to know what the Taliban's approach was towards the Kashmir issue. However, officials in Delhi were told that the posts were fake. It was also conveyed to India that these did not reflect the views of the Taliban. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 23:56:06|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, will hold a press conference on Wednesday, one day before the opening of its annual session. Guo Weimin, spokesperson of the third annual session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee, will brief journalists on the session and take questions. The live-streamed press conference, scheduled for 3 p.m., will be held by video link due to concern of COVID-19 prevention and control and public health protection, according to the secretariat of the session. Enditem [May 19, 2020] Statement by the Honourable Seamus O'Regan Updating the Government's Plan for a Decision on the NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. 2021 System Expansion Project OTTAWA, May 19, 2020 /CNW/ - "It is a core responsibility of the Government of Canada to help get our resources to markets and create good, middle-class jobs. Stability and certainty for major projects can only be achieved when we fulfil our constitutional duty to meaningfully consult with potentially impacted Indigenous communities. "Canada's economy has benefited from our oil and gas sector. Our country will continue to rely on the hard work and ingenuity of the people employed in this industry as we build a stronger, more sustainable economy. "The Canada Energy Regulator delivered its recommendation report on the NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. 2021 System Expansion project (NGTL 2021) on February 19, 2020, concluding that the project was in the Canadian public interest and should be approved, subject to 34 conditions. "As with all major projects the Government of Canada can only make a decision on NGTL 2021 once we fulfil our constitutional duty to meaningfully consult with Indigenous peoples. "As Canadians across the country are experiencing, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt day-to-day lives. This is equally true of the consultation process on NGTL 2021. "Due to health and safety guidelines and concerns related to the pandemic, Phase III consultations have faced delays, and some Indigenous groups have requested additional time so that they may fully participate in Crown consultations on NGTL 2021. "To ensure there is sufficient time to fulfil this constitutional obligation, while respecting public health and safety precautions, the Governor in Council (GiC) has extended the timeline so that a decision on NGTL 2021 can be made no later than October 19, 2020. "The Government of Canada's focus will remain on fulfilling our duty to meaningfully consult in a safe and responsible manner. For example, where possible, we have converted to videoconferencing and teleconferencing. "The continuity of Canada's energy sector is critical to the recovery of our economy. This is why, over the past several weeks, the Government of Canada has put in place measures that support the industry and its workers as it faces the twofold crisis of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and global price instabilities. "We want good projects to move forward. We know from experience that good projects can only move forward with stability and certainty when we get the process right." SOURCE Natural Resources Canada [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] A man police are calling a career criminal with a history of crashing into police cars as he eluded capture was taken into custody after a wild police chase around Philadelphia Monday. The 48-year-old mans name has not yet been released, but police say he was wanted in Philadelphia and in Montgomery County for crimes that include commercial burglaries, Action News 6 ABC is reporting. An officer spotted him Sunday night in Philadelphia and suffered minor injuries when the suspect crashed into his car to escape, reports indicate. This individual committed many, many commercial burglaries. He has a history of crashing into police vehicles in his attempt to get away, Philadelphia police Chief Inspector Scott Small told 6 ABC. Police spotted the suspect again around 10 p.m. Monday in Abington Township, Montgomery County. According to reports, this led to a chase, which included a police helicopter, into Philadelphias West Oak Lane section, through Fairmount Park, and into Germantown. Once in the Burholme section of the city, reports indicate the suspect tried to ram officers with his car before getting out and running. After a brief chase, police tackled him, then took him to an area hospital for evaluation, according to reports. Reports indicate numerous arrest warrants were out for him, as well numerous search warrants for the white Honda since he is accused of using the same car in all of the incidents. 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. [May 19, 2020] Franco Signor Joins Guidewire PartnerConnect Solution Alliance Program; New Ready for Guidewire Integration Brings MSP Compliance to Claims Management Franco Signor LLC, a leader in Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Compliance, and Guidewire Software, Inc. (NYSE: GWRE), provider of the industry platform Property and Casualty (P&C) insurers rely upon, today announced that Franco Signor has joined Guidewire PartnerConnect as a Solution partner. The companies also announced that Franco Signor's Ready for Guidewire validated accelerator is now available to insurers in the Guidewire Marketplace. The US Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Act was passed to protect the Medicare fund from paying claims that are the responsibility of other payers and requires insurers to identify and report casualty claims that involve Medicare beneficiary claimants. Over the past 20 years, the MSP Act has saved US taxpayers more than $100 billion (Medicare Insights). Due to the continuing growth of Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare is expected to become significantly more aggressive about recouping payments it is not responsible for. Franco Signor has developed MSP Comply to assist insurers in fulfilling their legally required reporting obligations and avoiding costly civil monetary penalties. Franco Signor's MSP Comply Ready for Guidewire integration with Guidewire ClaimCenter provides front-line claims adjusters prompts and alerts in real-time. These prompts guide them to provide optimal information, correct errors, and take actions that avoid financial penalties, double damages, and settlement negation allowed by the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. MSP Comply leverages API data exchange for immediate feedback for correction and increases compliance unlike older Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) file transfers that delay the delivery of required steps and information to the front-line adjuster. "Franco Signor's mission is to help insurers navigate the complex guidelines and requirements of MSP compliance," said John Williams, chief executive officer, Franco Signor. "Our Ready for Guidewire integration will enable insurers to leverage real-time API information exchange to immediately deliver prompts and alerts to their front-line adjusters to mitigate MSP compliance exposures such as double damages, civil monetary penalties, and Medicare interference with settlement agreements." /p> Leverage Franco Signor's expert guidance with prompts and alerts to meet MMSEA (Medicaid & Medicare SCHIP Extension Act of 2007) compliance; Streamline and expedite adjusters' work with instant feedback on any errors contained in claim files; and Meet insurers' unique operational needs due to its flexibility. "We welcome Franco Signor as our latest Guidewire PartnerConnect Solution partner and are pleased to offer our joint clients access to their proven MSP compliance solution in the Guidewire Marketplace," said Neil Betteridge, vice president, Strategy, Guidewire Software. "This integration provides claims teams with a solution that reduces risk and increases compliance through timely, accurate identification of Medicare beneficiary claimants." About Franco Signor Franco Signor is the leader in Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Compliance. We deliver comprehensive MSP Compliance solutions to the largest employers, insurers, and third-party administrators in the United States. Our unmatched ability to mitigate Medicare compliance exposures for both primary plans and Medicare beneficiaries has made us the country's leading provider of MSP compliance solutions. Franco Signor's proprietary solution leverages sophisticated technology and deep industry experience to deliver best-in-class services including: Mandatory Insurer Reporting, Conditional Payment/Lien Resolution, Medicare Set-Aside Allocations, and Post-Settlement Administration. For more information, please visit https://www.francosignor.com/. About Guidewire PartnerConnect and Ready for Guidewire Guidewire PartnerConnect is a global network of select companies that provide consulting services and solutions to enhance, extend, and complement the capabilities of Guidewire products. Our worldwide community helps contribute to the success of our mutual customers in the P&C insurance industry by delivering Guidewire software implementations, value-add solution and technology offerings, and guidance on insurance industry best practices. Guidewire PartnerConnect Solution partners provide software, technology, and data solutions as well as insurance support services. Our solution partners help drive business value by developing and delivering additional integrations, extensions, and other complementary solutions for Guidewire products. Guidewire PartnerConnect is an invitation-only program. For more information about Guidewire PartnerConnect please visit http://www.guidewire.com/partners/. About Guidewire Software Guidewire delivers the industry platform that Property and Casualty (P&C) insurers rely upon to adapt and succeed in a time of accelerating change. We provide the software, services, and partner ecosystem to enable our customers to run, differentiate, and grow their business. As of the end of our fiscal year 2019, we were privileged to serve more than 380 companies in 34 countries. For more information, please visit www.guidewire.com and follow us on twitter: @Guidewire_PandC. NOTE: For information about Guidewire's trademarks, visit https://www.guidewire.com/legal-notices. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005870/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] This misdirection also fuels political cynicism with the message that Flynn committed no crime. After the motion was filed, Trump tweeted, What happened to General Flynn, a war hero, should never be allowed to happen to a citizen of the United States again. But there is no basis for suggesting that Flynn was railroaded. He had advance notice and voluntarily sat for the interview in his own office. He was a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general and a senior U.S. official. He knew what he was doing and has admitted as much in court. Under rules introduced earlier, all citizens returning from abroad should be placed in two-week quarantine at designated hotels or university hostels Egypt has decided to shorten a mandatory quarantine period for Egyptians arriving from abroad from 14 days to one week, a source at Cairo International Airport told Ahram Online on Tuesday. Returnees who test negative by the end of the seven-day period will be allowed to spend the rest of their quarantine at home, the source at the airport's quarantine department said. The source revealed that the decision has already come in effect, with some returnees who have spent a week allowed to leave quarantine facilities earlier on Tuesday. Under rules introduced earlier, all citizens returning from abroad were required to be placed in two-week quarantine at designated hotels or university hostels. Egyptian authorities require all returnees to sign a letter agreeing to the quarantine before boarding their flight a precautionary measure meant to limit the spread of the virus, which has infected over 12,000 people and claimed over 600 lives in the country. Egypt began repatriating its citizens abroad in March after it grounded all international flights as part of sweeping measures to limit the spread of the virus. The country has limited its air traffic to domestic trips and cargo flights. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said last week that authorities were hoping to repatriate all nationals stuck abroad before the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, which is set to begin on 24 May. He expected the number of repatriated nationals to exceed 16,000 by that time. Search Keywords: Short link: Bruce Berkowitz (Trades, Portfolio), founder and managing partner of the Fairholme Fund (Trades, Portfolio), disclosed last week that his top buys for the first quarter included a position expansion in Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)'s conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)(NYSE:BRK.B) and new holdings in The Kraft Heinz Co. (NASDAQ:KHC), Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:OXY), Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE:SPG) and Western Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:WES). Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with KHC. Click here to check it out. KHC 30-Year Financial Data The intrinsic value of KHC Peter Lynch Chart of KHC Berkowitz concentrates his investments in a relatively small number of companies, believing that the more diversified the portfolio is, the more likely the portfolio performance will be just average. The founder of the Miami-based firm applies Benjamin Graham's strategy in his stock picking, seeking companies that have solid management, generate high free cash flows and are trading at a deep discount to intrinsic value. 59f0d5e5176bf3d5d4d90876bfeac0b9.png As of the quarter-end, Berkowitz's $510 million equity portfolio contains seven stocks with a turnover ratio of 13%. Nearly 88% of the equity portfolio is dedicated to the real estate sector, with The St. Joe Co. (NYSE:JOE) occupying 87.23% of the portfolio. c1d209cb8239a50728b7c03f3a55cf37.png Berkshire Hathaway Berkowitz added 227,525 Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway, increasing the position 1,396.29% and the equity portfolio 8.16%. Shares averaged $213.25 during the first quarter. 64f1ac52537c2faf5d87bfd1fae8885c.png The Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate operates a wide range of subsidiaries, which primarily include insurance companies like Geico and Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group. For its investment portfolio, Berkshire applies a four-criterion investing approach stemmed from Buffett's mentor Graham: Buffett and co-manager Charlie Munger (Trades, Portfolio) seek companies that have understandable businesses, favorable long-term prospects, competent management and attractive valuations. Story continues GuruFocus ranks Berkshire Hathaway's profitability 7 out of 10 on the back of three-year earnings growth rates outperforming over 88% of global competitors despite revenue declining over the trailing 12 months. 7a153ee2001d814555f96d3fed5a9ed9.png Gurus with large holdings in Buffett's conglomerate include Bill Gates (Trades, Portfolio)' foundation trust, Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) and Bill Ackman (Trades, Portfolio)'s Pershing Square. abab53286910f4a5fd20125de906bcac.png Kraft Heinz Berkowitz purchased 444,500 shares of Kraft Heinz, giving the holding 2.16% weight in the equity portfolio. While shares averaged $27.55 during the first quarter, the stock is now trading close to its 52-week high of $33.78 despite languishing near a 52-week low of $22.82 in March. 49afe5982c7c01c5e6f3dd167511ba27.png The Pittsburgh-based company produces a wide range of packaged foods, including Kraft cheese, Heinz ketchup, Oscar Mayer hot dogs and Philadelphia cream cheese. The company said on April 30 that net sales for the first quarter were $6.2 billion, up 3.3% from the prior-year quarter. Organic net sales increased 6.2% year over year, reflecting an acceleration of consumer product demand related to the coronavirus pandemic. a10cf5c5b0d8d8441f68ed19056d6a39.png GuruFocus ranks Kraft Heinz's profitability 7 out of 10: Even though revenues are still declining approximately 1.7% per year on average over the past three years, a rate that underperforms 71.24% of global competitors, the company has a high Piotroski F-score of 7, a Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio) return on capital that outperforms 92.32% of global packaged food companies and an operating margin that has increased approximately 14% per year on average over the past five years. b81a14b05bea4d73d08238ecf82045ab.png Berkshire owns 325,442,152 shares of Kraft Heinz as of the quarter-end. The company occupies 4.59% of Berkshire's equity portfolio, ranking sixth in terms of portfolio weight. 25eef8091b16ef5fbeea0bc44a1ed9df.png Occidental Petroleum Berkowitz purchased 429,490 shares of Occidental Petroleum, giving the position 0.98% equity portfolio space. Shares averaged $33.31 during the first quarter. 740402fb03ad522fc7d2507365230380.png The Houston-based company explores and produces oil around the globe, with operations in the U.S., Latin America and the Middle East. GuruFocus ranks Occidental's profitability 7 out of 10 on the heels of operating margins and three-year revenue growth rates outperforming over 60% of global competitors despite returns underperforming over 57% of global energy companies. 8a91226f037347fc9f055de42b0fc8b5.png Gurus with large holdings in Occidental include Dodge & Cox, Carl Icahn (Trades, Portfolio) and Buffett's Berkshire. c5d9712f6aa8c7d0e793681df0381d26.png Simon Property Group Berkowitz purchased 49,000 shares of Simon Property Group, giving the position 0.53% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged $120.76 during the first quarter. 8c7401a42bbfe0f5605501bfe585fa7e.png The Indianapolis-based real estate investment trust operates a portfolio of 207 retail properties, including 106 traditional malls and 69 premium outlets. GuruFocus ranks Simon's profitability 9 out of 10 on several positive investing signs, which include a four-star business predictability rank, expanding operating margins and a return on equity that outperforms 99% of global competitors. b4480e640a0dbfdaf4c9b2482bb2c021.png Despite high profitability, Simon's financial strength ranks a low 3 out of 10 on the back of equity-to-asset and debt-to-equity ratios underperforming over 97% of global competitors. The website warns that the REIT has increased its long-term debt by over $4.3 billion over the past three years, suggesting a high dependence on debt to grow its business. 942a89181199025b9b3d16e548b5e839.png Western Midstream Partners Berkowitz purchased 290,000 shares of Western Midstream Partners, giving the position 0.18% weight in the equity portfolio. Shares averaged $13.99 during the first quarter. 924c53af66b9c6ba443a55b3a6d0fd0c.png The Woodlands, Texas-based company owns, operates, acquires and develops midstream energy assets. GuruFocus ranks the company's profitability 8 out of 10 on the heels of operating margins that have expanded over the past five years and are outperforming over 90% of global competitors. Despite this, revenues have declined approximately 7.1% per year on average over the past three years, a rate that underperforms 73.87% of global energy companies. f6caf22930d7ce0c5cacc84e75996371.png Disclosure: No positions. Read more here: Daniel Loeb Exits Campbell Soup and Trims Baxter in the 1st Quarter David Einhorn Axes GM, Buys Change Healthcare in the 1st Quarter Andreas Halvorsen's Top 5 Buys in the 1st Quarter Not a Premium Member of GuruFocus? Sign up for a free 7-day trial here. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with restaurant executives in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, May 18, 2020. President Donald Trump issued a warning Tuesday to the World Health Organization, saying the international agency needs to "clean up" its act or the United States won't "be involved with them anymore." The WHO has "to do a better job," Trump told reporters during a White House meeting about American farmers. "They have to be much more fair to other countries, including the United States, or we are not going to be involved with them anymore. We will do it a separate way." Trump has repeatedly criticized the WHO's response to the coronavirus, which has hit the U.S. worse than any other country in the world, amid scrutiny of his own administration's response to the pandemic. The president threatened to permanently cut off U.S. funding of the WHO, in a letter dated Monday that he shared on Twitter. Tweet 1 He said that if the WHO "does not commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of United States funding to the World Health Organization permanent and reconsider our membership in the organization." Trump's letter also repeats growing scrutiny over how the WHO handled information reported by China, where the virus first emerged. The president previously accused the agency of being "China-centric." "The only way forward for the World Health Organization is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China ... I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests," the letter said. Meanwhile, the WHO has defended its initial response to the pandemic, saying it gave world leaders enough time to intervene early in the outbreak. The agency declared Covid-19 a global health emergency on Jan. 30 when there were only 82 cases outside of China and zero deaths, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news conference on May 1. "Meaning, the world had enough time to intervene." The WHO started sounding the alarm on the outbreak of a new coronavirus in China in mid-January. On March 11, WHO officials declared the outbreak a pandemic, when there were just 121,000 global cases. In a statement to CNBC on Tuesday, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said, "WHO acknowledges receipt of the letter from the President of the United States. We are considering the contents of the letter." CNBC's Christine Wang contributed to this report. Some parents protested the tuition fees that international schools demanded for the social distancing period Vietnam Australia International School (VAS) in Ho Chi Minh City last week announced its tuition fees for the health crisis period. Fees have been waived for kindergarten level, while those for online classes of primary and secondary students will be cut by 70 per cent. No meals and student transportation due to social distancing means no charges for that period, even though VAS did attempt to charge for this previously. Now, parents only have to pay for their childrens actual time at schools. VAS explained that the system applies the principle of collecting fees for the whole school year, and not per module or per week, with online tuition being based on the listed fee approved by parents from the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year. VAS follows the regulations and guidelines of the Ministry of Education and Training and Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training regarding online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, a VAS press release said. VAS has sent parents the curriculum and tuition details, and directly talked with those with questions. However, the schools solutions have yet to satisfy a sizable number of parents because the fees for the fourth term (May 11-July 15) are still being charged in full even though extracurricular activities have been cancelled. VAS discounted 70 per cent of tuition of online classes in the third term due to social distancing, but the tuition of the fourth has risen sharply, even up 40 per cent against the fees listed at the beginning of the year, said one parent, whose two children are studying at VAS Sala branch. Meanwhile, Vo Huu Loi, member of a Facebook group of VAS parents, said that he does not agree with the schools fee calculations without asking for opinion. The school fee issue is related to the whole system of VAS, and therefore I think there should be a meeting between the school and all parents, said Loi. Hundreds of parents have been seen standing in the sunshine to protest VAS policy of tuition, which includes a reservation fee of VND20 million ($870) to students of all classes in the coming 2020-2021 school year. Tuition tangle Along with VAS, another international school in Ho Chi Minh City dealing with protests by parents related to tuition is The American School (TAS). According to some of the schools parents, students started learning online at home from February due to the global health crisis. By April 8, parents had received a notice from the school requesting payment for the 2020-2021 school year at the same tuition rate as the current school year, to be paid before May 30. In addition, the school required parents to pay a reservation fee of VND20 million ($870) before April 24. Thus, TAS parents would have to pay VND100-200 million for their childrens three-month online learning, similar to the regular fee of normal learning at school. During the three months of staying at home because of the coronavirus, we still have to pay the school nearly VND2.5 million ($110) per day, one parent explained. Disagreeing with the tuition policy, nearly 200 parents signed a letter to send the school and received notification of a 3-15 per cent reduction for new school year tuition fees, depending on the level. But so far, the school has yet to provide information about refunds or tuition reduction during the social distancing period. Meanwhile in Hanoi, parents of Singapore International School (SIS) are also disagreeing with online class fees, which have been valued at 80 per cent of the normal tuition. In late March, SIS started online classes without a specific programme. The classes were disordered and the quality not good, said one of the parents who gathered at the school gate to protest the fee last week. Why does the school collect up to 80 per cent of tuition for such poor quality? Meanwhile, another parent whose children are in second grade said she paid VND270 million ($11,700) at the beginning of the school year for tuition of four modules, excluding meals and transport fees. We want SIS to pay back the tuition fees for the COVID-19 period. However, on May 8 the school announced that only 20 per cent of the tuition for the third term would be repaid if our children continue studying there. Its unreasonable, she said. Newton Grammar School in Hanoi is also coping with strong protests from parents related to a mandatory reservation fee. In an announcement sent to parents earlier this month, the school required parents to pay VND5 million ($220) or VND8 million ($350), depending on the class their children attend, to ensure they can continue studying in the school over the next academic year. The reservation fee will be accounted for in the school development fund with 10 per cent incentive for the next academic year, the announcement said. After May 31, if parents do not pay the reservation fee, we will understand that parents will not let their child continue to study at the school in the coming school year and the school will select new students to take their place. A distressed parent on a related Facebook group wrote in response, This is money-minded education. This school is dangerously lacking in ethics. Pointing out that the reservation fee is in stark contrast to the schools motto, another parent sent a message to the form teacher of her childs class saying, I used to love Newton school and believe in its educational philosophy. But now it is all about just money and money. It seems that the school lacks capital and wants to get into parents wallets. Sharing with VIR, a representative of the schools Administration Board said, This year, due to lots of impacts from the coronavirus disease, we would like to build a plan for the new school year from early June. To parents engaging with us, we thank them with a decrease of 10 per cent for the school development fund for the next school year. Debate between business and education On May 11, the Ministry of Education and Training released document No.1620/BGDDT-KHTC on collected fees in the education and training sector for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. For non-public educational establishments, during the time students are absent from school to prevent the pandemic, schools can collect online class tuition based on agreement from parents and in the orientation of supporting and difficulty sharing between educational institutions and parents of students, along with policies of fee reduction. Meanwhile, Le Ngoc Quang, deputy director of Hanoi Training and Education Department, said that collecting reservation fees violates regulations. If you look up the list of fees and charges, there is no fee named reservation, he said. Sharing with VIR, Tran Kim Phuong, a member of the board at Everest School said that sharing difficulties with parents is the responsibility of educational facilities with a community spirit. We did not collect fees for February or March, and discounted 60 per cent of tuition for April. Every family impacted by the disease has been financially supported, she said. According to Phuong, it is very necessary to know the number of students for the new school year. Its related to preparation of human resources. However, results of teaching and caring for students are the elements that keep parents on our side. Thats why we do not charge a reservation fee but offer discounts for those paying tuition early, Phuong added. In early March, 150 non-public educational institutions sent a letter to the prime minister requesting permission to reopen due to exhaustion of finance. According to a federal indictment, Collins, chief executive officer of Honor Finance, and DiMeo, the companys chief operating officer, created a shell corporation and diverted company funds to this corporation between 2011 and 2018. As part of the scheme, the men used the money to buy GPS devices and used the corporation to resell them to Honor Finance at a significant markup, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. A truck driver whose throat was slit by a FIFO worker inside a shopping centre has revealed how he saved a young mum and her baby from the crazed knifeman. Konrad Frost, 39, is being praised as a hero for distracting Ashley Fildes, 34, as he attacked strangers at South Hedland in Western Australia on May 1. The FIFO worker stabbed five people inside the local shopping centre as well as a man at a nearby motel and another in a car at a McDonald's carpark before being shot dead by police. Mr Frost said he vividly remembered Fildes approaching Kimberley Abbott and her 14-month-old daughter moments after being stabbed in the neck while shopping. In a desperate attempt to save the young mother's life, Mr Frost yelled at the knifeman in the hopes of distracting him from the other shoppers. Ashley Fildes (pictured), 34, was gunned down by police after stabbing seven shopper at South Hedland shopping centre in Western Australia on May 1 Mr Frost barely remembers anything about the day he was stabbed in the neck while grocery shopping, but said he recollects Fildes approaching Kimberly Abbott and her 14-month-old daughter (pictured) 'I remember him swinging at me again but he missed, and that's when I just started yelling at him,' Mr Frost told 9News. 'Yeah, she was the hero...she protected her, even while she was being attacked.' The rampage came to an end when FIFO worker Ashley Dean Fildes, 34, was shot dead by police. Mr Frost was the worst injured with a slash to his neck and was flown to Royal Perth Hospital for emergency surgery where he was placed in a coma. The injury was so deep that it has taken him more than two weeks to start talking and eating again. 'I wasn't too sure where he actually struck me but I think the adrenaline kicked in and yeah felt like I had a second wind or something,' Mr Frost said. Fildes' parents said they did not hold any grudges against the police who shot him dead. Konrad Frost (pictured), 39, is being praised as a hero for distracting knifeman Ashley Fildes, 34, who embarked on a terrifying rampage at South Hedland in Western Australia Officers opened fire on the father-of-one in what the police union described as a 'textbook' shooting, which was fatal. In a statement to 7NEWS after the horrific incident Fildes' parents said their thoughts were with the victims and their families. 'Our sympathy goes out to everyone in Hedland and all the victims, especially the man still in hospital,' the parents said. 'We hold no grudge against police.' The father-of-one had been in an altercation with his boss just hours before the violent rampage, according to a distraught relative who did not want to be named. Fildes had been suffering from a 'deep depression', his marriage had fallen apart and the AAA Asphalt worker had an altercation with his supervisor on the morning of the attack. In a desperate attempt to save the young mother's live Mr Frost yelled at the knifeman in the hopes of distracting him from the other shoppers 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 The violent rampage began at the Lodge Motel, where he was staying, before moving to the shopping centre 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 the father-of-one grabbed the long knife and began his violent attack. 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 are investigating whether Fildes experienced a psychotic episode. David Derschow (pictured, right) said his girlfriend Esther Brooks (left) were stabbed by the knifeman on Friday morning at a Western Australian 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 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 West Australian Fildes was a 'beautiful, beautiful soul' and the violent rampage was out-of-character. '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.' Lucy Li tries not to let fear dictate her interactions with patients as she makes the rounds in the covid-19 intensive care unit. But the anesthesiology resident at Massachusetts General Hospital cannot erase the memory of what happened after work at the start of the pandemic. A man followed the Chinese-American doctor from the Boston hospital, spewing a profanity-laced racist tirade as she walked to the subway. "Why are you Chinese people killing everyone?" Li recalled the man shouting. "What is wrong with you? Why the f--- are you killing us?" Stunned at first, then relieved she was not physically attacked, Li is now saddened and angered by the irony that she spends her days and nights helping save lives. Her work inserting tubes in patients' airways has grown riskier since the coronavirus emerged - each procedure releasing droplets and secretions that could carry viral particles. "I'm risking my own personal health, and then to be vilified just because of what I look like," said Li, 28, wary that one of her patients, too, could harbor such prejudices. "I try not to think about that possibility when I'm at work taking care of patients. But it's always there, at the very back of my mind." Across the country, Asian-American health-care workers have reported a rise in bigoted incidents. The racial hostility has left Asian-Americans, who represent 6 percent of the U.S. population but 18 percent of the country's physicians and 10 percent of its nurse practitioners, in a painful position on the front lines of the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Some covid-19 patients refuse to be treated by them. And when doctors and nurses leave the hospital, they face increasing harassment in their daily lives, too. Asian-Americans have experienced a sharp increase in racist verbal abuse and physical attacks during the pandemic, with the FBI warning of a potential surge in hate crimes against Asians as the coronavirus death toll mounts and stay-at-home orders are lifted. "People are worried about transmission of a disease that they associate with foreignness and Asian faces," said Grace Kao, a Yale University sociologist. "Nothing erases what we look like." 3 1 of 3 Photo by Olivia Falcigno for The Washington Post Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Photo by Olivia Falcigno for The Washington Post Show More Show Less 3 of 3 There is no comprehensive data measuring anti-Asian bias during the pandemic. An analysis of self-reported incidents by Russell Jeung, chairman of the Asian-American studies department at San Francisco State University, shows a steady rise in reports of harassment and assault against Asians since mid-March, with twice as many women than men saying they have been mistreated. Jeung, who is researching racism and xenophobia amid the pandemic, said a multilingual website set up by his department in a partnership with civil rights groups to document anti-Asian harassment has recorded more than 1,800 reports since its March 19 launch. Victims said they were spat on, stabbed while shopping, shunned for wearing masks and barred from entering ride-hailing vehicles. Some academic experts on race say President Donald Trump's rhetoric around the virus and China has contributed to the rise in racial harassment. For weeks, Trump deliberately referred to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus" despite guidance from public health officials to avoid attaching locations or ethnicity to a disease. He has since tweeted that Asian-Americans are not to be blamed for the virus' spread. "Words matter. People are making that close association between the virus and Chinese people because he insisted on using that term," Jeung said. During a media briefing last week, Trump lashed out at CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang, who is Chinese-American, telling her to "Ask China!" after she questioned him on why he insisted on making testing a global competition at a time when so many lives are being lost. Jiang previously tweeted that a White House official had called the virus "the Kung-Flu" to her face. White House adviser Peter Navarro, in an ABC News interview Sunday, accused China of sending "hundreds of thousands of Chinese" to "seed" the coronavirus around the world. And Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., drew criticism after he blamed the virus' spread on "thugs in China" in a high school graduation speech over the weekend. Jeung said he expects harassment and violence against Asian-Americans to grow in coming months as states reopen their economies and people return to work, school and public life. "With the China-bashing and with the economy tanking and more deaths from covid-19, we expect anti-Asian bias to only increase," Jeung said. "People make automatic assumptions, especially in times of threats, and go into fight-or-flight mode. The fight mode is attacking or harassing Asians, and the flight mode is shunning Asians." Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has encouraged Asian-Americans to step up and "show our American-ness in ways we never have before," in response to the rise in racist abuse.In a controversial op-ed last month, he called on Asian Americans to be part of the "cure." But many Asian-Americans felt offended by seemingly having to justify their existence. "It shouldn't matter if you're a front-line worker," said Esther Choo, an emergency-room physician in Portland, Oregon, who hosts a podcast on the coronavirus pandemic. "Every time something like this happens, there's this wave of, 'But we're so good, and we don't deserve this.' No, you don't deserve this because you're human." Being a front-line worker didn't help Li - and when she texted her colleagues to warn them before they left work, one of them responded with her own story of being harassed just a week earlier. Gem Manalo, a Mass General anesthesiology resident who is of Chinese and Filipino descent, was riding the "T," as the subway is called in Boston, across the river to Cambridge for a yoga class in early March when she said a man starting yelling: "F--- China! F--- the Chinese!" "I was too scared to look at him," said Manalo, 29. A stranger recorded the incident with her phone and assured Manalo that she would defend her if the man tried to physically harm her. "He kept saying things like: 'You people eat bats! Watch my YouTube channel tonight, and I'll tell the real story.' He kept saying: 'F--- China. F--- the Chinese,' over and over," Manalo said. "Here I am in the hospital, working in all these makeshift ICUs," Manalo said. "We're all at a loss, too, trying to come up with new protocols to keep everybody safe, and this guy is telling me that I am terrible." Audrey Li, an internal-medicine resident at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston who plans to specialize in infectious diseases, said she was repeatedly told by a frustrated patient at another hospital to "go back to your country." Li was too shocked to respond and immediately wondered if she had done something wrong. But a white intern told the patient that her comments were unacceptable. "Part of the unsettling piece of racism is you're never sure if it's something you as an individual did or if it's something that's immutable and larger than yourself," Li said. "There was a sense of a little bit of guilt and shame for having forgotten what it was like to be marginalized in that way." In Los Angeles County, Hengky Lim, a 44-year-old nurse practitioner from Indonesia, said he approached an ER patient who had a fever and a cough to show him how to put on a mask one night in March. The patient yelled at him and coughed in his face, spit splattering on his plastic face shield. "You know where coronavirus is from? It's from you people! I don't want to be seen by you," Lim recalled the patient shouting. Then the patient walked out of the ER. In April, when Lim, dressed in a hazmat suit, was treating patients with covid-19 symptoms in a tent outside the main hospital, he said a man who came in with chest pain, difficulty breathing and a persistent cough declined Lim's assistance and returned to see the nurse who had taken his vitals. That nurse, who was white, later told Lim that the patient said he did not want to be seen by an Asian provider because he thought he had contracted the coronavirus from a Chinese man coughing near him at a store, Lim recalled. "I asked the nurse, 'Are you sure it was a Chinese man?' It's just stereotyping, assuming everyone who is Asian is Chinese and has coronavirus," Lim said. He tried to treat the patient anyway, telling him that he was his only choice and that he would take care of him. But the man left after spitting into a cup for the coronavirus test - and did not bother getting the X-ray or EKG that Lim had ordered for him. Lim said he had never before encountered such discrimination during his 10 years in nursing, but it has become such a common experience among his Asian colleagues that he thought about quitting. "Everybody is scared. I'm putting myself out there only to be treated this way. It's very disheartening," he said. "We're not sick. You're the one who is sick, which is why you are here. And you are exposing us as the health-care provider taking care of you, and we are treated as though we are the ones carrying the coronavirus." This spring in Seattle, Amy Zhang was wearing scrubs, walking to her 13-hour night shift as an anesthesiology resident, when a man began cursing at her a block away from the hospital. "F--- you, China, for giving us smallpox," the man shouted at Zhang, the 29-year-old doctor recalled. He followed her and continued yelling racial epithets. Zhang said the encounter shook her, affecting her ability to focus on her work at the start of her shift. "I was not in the best state of mind to help out with patient care," she said. And in Southern California, Audrey Sue Cruz, an internal-medicine doctor in Loma Linda, was conducting a telephone visit with a new patient recently when, 15 minutes into the appointment, the woman began grilling the physician on her medical education, work history and ethnicity. Cruz told the patient that she is Filipina, to which she said the patient replied: "Wow. I can't believe what your people did. I usually wouldn't choose an Asian doctor, but you seem nice." Cruz quickly ended the visit. The incident inspired her to join more than a dozen other doctors in producing an #iamnotavirus video to help combat the wave of bigotry against Asians. "We wanted to use our voices as physicians to remove the stigma that's occurring right now about Asian people being virus carriers," Cruz said. She posted the video on Instagram. Then came the comments: "Bat eater." San Antonio will provide COVID-19 supply kits in an effort to help small businesses and non-profits open safely, according a Tuesday news release from the city. These kits will include one non-contact thermometer, two gallons of hand sanitizer and face masks. As our city begins to gradually reopen, we are committed to ensuring that our local small businesses and nonprofit organizations have the resources they need to reopen in a way that will keep us all safe, so we can be stronger and greater together, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in the release. READ MORE: The latest news and features about coronavirus in San Antonio The initiative is part of the city's COVID-19 health and economic transition team's recommendations on how best to reopen the city amid the pandemic. The kits can be picked up May 27 at the Alamodome during the "Greater. Safer. Together. Supply Pickup Day." In order to qualify for the kits, businesses and non-profits must have a public-serving location within city limits; must have been impacted by state or local COVID-19 executive closure orders; must have been in operation prior to March 1; must have no more than 25 full- or part-time employees or contract workers. Those wishing to receive the kits, must register here or call 311 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily. Registrations are accepted on a first come, first serve basis and quantities are limited. Once registered, participants will receive a 10-digit code they need to use the day of the event to pick up the supplies. Businesses in suburban cities and in unincorporated Bexar County can apply for supplies through the county's COVID-19 Essential Items Bag program here. Taylor Pettaway is a breaking news and general assignment reporter for MySA.com | taylor.pettaway@express-news.net | @TaylorPettaway MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: Tragic footage shows a priest in the Philippines delivering a final sermon to his congregation who sit in boats because their village is sinking into the sea. Roman Catholic priest Mon R. Garcia III stands at the front of his church with water up to his waist ready to deliver a sermon. All around him his parishioners sit in boats bobbing on the water inside of the church. Roman Catholic priest Mon R. Garcia III stands in waist-high water to deliver his final sermon at a church in Sitio Pariahan, Bulacan, the Philippines A few brave people choose to stand in the water instead of sitting in the boats. The church is located in the village of Sitio Pariahan in Bulacan, the Philippines, which has been sinking at a rate of 1.5 inches (4cm) every year since 2003. Homes have been raised on stilts and now the few remaining residents navigate the paths and roadways by boat. Despite the waist-high water, the priest was determined to deliver his sermon. Garcia III said: "I'm willing to celebrate the mass even without people. This is the last mass we can have here. We'll be leaving this town soon." The footage was filmed on May 9 as the village folk enjoyed one final sermon before they were evacuated from the area. Parishioners sit in boats to receive the last sermon held in the village before everyone is evacuated Two boats bob on the water next to each other inside the church as people wait for the beginning of the sermon Groundwater pumping and rising sea levels mean that the buildings in the area have all flooded and people are being relocated. Originally 100 families lived in the village, but that had dwindled to less than 40 by September last year in the area which they call The Island Without Land. Sitio Parahan is one of many small towns and villages that are being relocated to make way for a new airport in Bulacan. Scientists suggest that climate change or global warming is responsible for the rising water levels in the area. The arrival of Typhoon Ambo, of Vongfong, in the Philippines last week made the situation worse, causing flooding and the 96mph winds damaged buildings. 13,000 people had been forced from their homes by May 15 because of the storm and 48 towns had lost electricity. A few brave people choose to stand in the water for the church service rather than sit in the boats. Only 40 of the original 100 families remain the the village which has been destroyed by flooding THE cost of the new National Childrens Hospital could rise by as much as 40pc because of new Covid-19 workplace safety measures, the construction industrys representative body has suggested. Construction Industry Federation director general Tom Parlon told the Dails Covid-19 committee that the new protocol for building sites, which include measures like physical distancing, would add significantly to the cost of large and complex projects. The cost of the new National Childrens Hospital is expected to run close to 2bn with the recent estimates putting the bill for the project at 1.7bn and rising - making it one of the most expensive hospitals in the world. Asked by Labour TD Duncan Smith about the impact of new safety measures on projects such as the Childrens Hospital, Mr Parlon told committee: Industry people have said that to me that for the most complex ones it could be in the range of 40pc. Mr Parlon, who did not directly reference the NCH project, gave an example of one site where there would usually be 1,800 workers but that because of the new measures 500 to 600 would be the maximum number of workers allowed on a site at any one time. A 40pc increase in the cost of the NCH project would bring the final bill close to 2.4bn. Mr Smith said: This figure is astronomical. The Irish people have already contributed a significant amount into the National Childrens Hospital to the tune of 2 billion. The Government Procurement Office needs to now publish revised estimated final costs for the National Childrens Hospital and make known how much they anticipate the cost of the project to rise by. Mr Parlon also said that the cost of building a house could rise by as much as 15,000 and as much as 20,000 for an apartment because of the new coronavirus workplace safety measures. He said that based on conversations with colleagues in Europe the extra cost would be between 5pc and 10pc across the sector in answer to questions from Fianna Fail TD John McGuinness. Mr Parlon relayed a conversation he had with a very substantial contractor in Ireland who estimated that the extra costs per house would be between 10,000 and 15,000 and that this could add as much as 20,000 to the cost of building apartments. He said that physical distancing measures would mean that the 15 weeks it usually takes to build a house will increase to 25 weeks. There has been a significant drop in productivity on construction sites as a result of the safety measures to protect against Covid-19, Mr Parlon said. He said it would take months for the industry to reach previous output levels and that there was no big bang return to work on building sites yesterday. Larger contractors allowed a reduced workforce on site yesterday to assess sites, test new measures and embed the new protocols, Mr Parlon told TDs. He said that the sectors standard operating procedure (SOP) translated the latest HSE, WHO and medical advice for use on sites. He told the Oireachtas Covid-19 committee: Reports are positive but implementation of the SOP is challenging and companies are reporting a significant drop in productivity. Mr Parlon said that the sector has been able to recommence work without significant support and that 100,000 employees can now gradually be taken off the States pandemic unemployment payment and the temporary wage subsidy scheme. Dr Sharon McGuinness, Health and Safety Authority chief executive, told the committee that the authority had 67 field inspectors to ensure compliance with the new workplace protocol and that they have already been out checking and enforcing compliance with it. She said there have been over 80 unannounced inspections since Monday and the HSA carries out 10,000 inspections per year. She said the authority would need additional resources to oversee compliance with the protocol. I am confident the resources the authority needs will be fully there, she said. She declined to say how many extra inspectors the authority is seeking. Under questioning from Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane, Dr McGuinness said there were eight inspectors for the south-east region, including Athlone, Kilkenny, Waterford, Tipperary. Patricia King, Ictu general secretary, said that 67 inspectors were not adequate at all to ensure compliance with the new protocol. Mr Parlon said that HSA inspections on sites so far had been quite robust but that no major issues had arisen. Last week, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled some major structural reforms in Indias moribund defence sector, as part of a coronavirus disease (Covid-19)-related macroeconomic stimulus, and the increase in foreign direct investment in defence manufacturing to 74% is radical. However, these are all policy changes that have potential and need to be implemented effectively before their outcome can be objectively assessed. In the interim, Indias military security challenges, both current and long-term, came into unintended focus in this month even as the nation is grappling with the pandemic and its tragic impact on millions of citizens. In early May, the Handwara terror attack saw the Indian Army losing a colonel and other personnel, pointing to the abiding tenacity of the low-intensity-conflict (LIC) that has been simmering in Kashmir. This is a complex proxy war where the external Pakistani stimulus has permeated the internal security strand with all its corrosive communal elements. It is unlikely to end soon. Currently, India is managing an anomalous territorial challenge exigency, albeit of a low order. The eastern Ladakh sector saw a stand-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Pangong Tso sector. While it is well below Doklam, media reports indicate that stones were used and it is encouraging that no ordnance was exchanged, as has been the pattern for well over three decades. But the long-festering territorial dispute with China, remains alive on the national security radar. The more intriguing element is that Nepal summoned the Indian ambassador on May 11 to lodge a protest against the construction of a road by India in an area (Lipu Lekh pass to Dharchula in Uttarakhand) that Kathmandu claims lies within its territory. To add to the spectrum of challenges, reports have emerged of China enhancing its Indian Ocean (IO) footprint in an island proximate to Male in the Maldives. Thus the possibility of a Hambantota kind of facility/access for the PLA navy in the IO cannot be ignored by Indian security planners. And to cap this opaque security challenge, May also symbolises Indias complex nuclear-missile anxiety. The regional strategic environment became rough for India when China acquired nuclear weapons in October 1964; the subsequent Sino-Pakistan weapons of mass destruction (WMD) covert cooperation presented Delhi with a sui generis security conundrum. The Pakistani nuclear weapon that Beijing had enabled was being used to help terrorism stoked by religious fervour what one had described as the nuclear weapon-enabled terrorism (NWET) dilemma. India sought to assuage its latent WMD anxiety in May 1998 through the Shakti nuclear tests under Atal Bihari Vajpayees watch on May 11. Two decades later, the regional WMD-terror nexus has become muddier and the techno-strategic permutations are bewildering. Does India have the wherewithal to deal effectively with this complex spectrum of national security challenges one part of which is further aggravated by the current domestic political-ideological orientation? The answer is no and for years experts have been pointing out that the annual defence allocation cannot sustain the kind of human, material and inventory profile that India needs. The last defence budget (excluding pensions) was Rs 3,37,000 crore. The amount available for modernisation of equipment and new acquisitions was shrinking to about 32% from the optimum of 40% of the budget. In the backdrop of Covid-19, Indias macroeconomic challenge will worsen. The fiscal deficit is set to breach the recommended 3.5% limit; the only question is how high it would go. On May 8, the government pegged central borrowing for 2020-21 at Rs 12,00,000 crore a significant increase from the budget estimate of Rs 7,80,000 crore. This fiscal stress will have a bearing on sectors earlier referred to as non-plan in the budgetary allocation, of which defence is a visible component. Thus, it is unlikely that the armed forces will receive anything close to Rs 3,50,000 crore (approx $46 billion). There are also unconfirmed reports of a budget slash in defence allocation due to Covid-19, ranging from Rs 40,000 to Rs 80,000 crore. Given that the Covid-19 challenge and its accumulating debris of economic devastation and human destitution will be the higher national priority for some years, India will have to embark on a radical review of its security challenges and the road map to deal with this complex spectrum. Many nations are facing a similar predicament, but some abiding elements in the Indian context must be noted. Strategic geography and its attendant security exigencies will not change due to the pandemic. The low-intensity conflict stoked by Pakistan and the internal security fabric will be turbulent and the political apex will seek to assuage national sentiment in this regard. What kind of military capability India needs, its technological contour, and how this can be both nurtured and sustained in an affordable manner in a post-Covid-19 world needs careful and objective assessment. Against this backdrop, some of the sweeping remarks attributed to the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, justifying lower defence spend and suggesting that the military may have been misrepresenting its requirements are perplexing, to put it mildly. One hopes this is not the distilled wisdom of Modi 2.0 in the security domain. C Uday Bhaskar is director, Society for Policy Studies, New Delhi The views expressed are personal Former national security adviser Michael Flynn passes by members of the media as he departs after his sentencing was delayed at U.S. District Court in Washington on Dec. 18, 2018. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters) America: The Land of No Consequences? Commentary Ive spent 15 years of my life in a post-Communist country. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, I went to Hungary to work in the first freely elected Conservative government of that newly liberated nation, the country my parents had escaped from 37 years earlier. I ended up living and getting married there, seeing my first children be born in Budapest, and then setting up an independent think tank. Throughout it all, I witnessed a nation struggle with the legacy of two generations of communist dictatorshipwhat systematic oppression does to the heart and soul of a once proud and independent nation. Unbelievably, more than once, the Hungarian people elected the former communists back into power, politicians who had served the former oppressive regime and now called themselves socialists. Once, before a general election, they literally bribed the elderly populationwho were more nostalgic for an era without the unstable vicissitudes of free-market democracyby promising to give them all a 13th installment of their monthly state pensions. (Maybe this is where Andrew Yang got his idea to buy votes?) None of these former communist apparatchiks would ever pay a price for crimes committed while they ran a prison state. Regrettably, after the glorious events of 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was no equivalent to the Nuremberg trials that de-Nazified post-war Germany. Not one Politburo member was charged with crushing the 1956 Revolution, not one secret police officer was arrested for having tortured former political prisoners such as my father, who had been given a life sentence at the age of 20 for resisting the Socialist oppression of the Kremlins Budapest lackeys. This lack of any sense of justice for the crimes of the past led one Hungarian philosopher to coin the phrase, Land of No Consequences, to describe a post-communist Hungary where criminals went scot-free, where the former oppressor could change the name of his party and continue a public life free of retribution for lives that were destroyed or violently ended. America has never been a fascist or communist dictatorship; we dont have political prisons or the death penalty for ideological dissension. But we are slowly becoming a land of no consequences since President Barack Obama left office. Think of all the crimes committed that have gone unpunished. From Obama-appointee Lois Lerner using the IRS to target conservative Tea Party groups yet retiring on a full pension, to Eric Im Obamas Wingman! Holders Department of Justice releasing weapons to Mexican cartels under operation Fast and Furious which led to the death of at least one federal agent, the unpunished lawlessness of the last Democratic administration knows no bounds. Then there is, of course, Obamagate. Thanks to a handful of brave souls, who include Rep. Devin Nunes, Sara Carter, John Solomon, Sidney Powell, and the investigators at Judicial Watch, we have proof that: The Obama administration used a false dossier from a former British spy, paid for by the Democratic National Committee, to justify government surveillance on the Trump campaign. The resulting Operation Crossfire Hurricane was utterly unprecedented as, for the first time in Americas history, it brought together the FBI, CIA, and NSA for a joint operation to surveil a presidential campaign. As a part of Crossfire Hurricane, the CIA tried to entrap George Papadopoulos; the FBI illegally obtained secret FISA warrants to spy on Carter Page; and the identities of hundreds of U.S. citizens were unmasked in NSA signals intercepts read all across the Obama administration, in direct contravention of our Article 4 rights under the U.S. Constitution. And retired three-star Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn , a combat veteran who had been fired by Obama for attempting to reform the DIA and speaking truthfully about the persistent threat of al-Qaida and groups such as ISIS, was targeted for entrapment and firing from his position as President Donald Trumps national security adviser. Not one official has been convicted, let along charged for any of the above crimes. Dozens of felonies were committed, plus scores of lesser abuses, yet not one individual charged. Not one. We have less than six months to go until the next election, one in which Trump and his team seek reelection. The closer we get to November, the less likely it will be that charges will ever be brought. Unless Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham bring federal charges soon, our republic will also becomelike former communist Hungarythe Land of No Consequences. Sebastian Gorka is former strategist to President Trump, the host of the nationally syndicated Salem Radio show America First (www.sebgorka.com), and author of The War for Americas Soul. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Srinagar, May 19 : Security forces in Kashmir on Tuesday got a huge success after they gunned down two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists in Srinagar, including its top commander Junaid Sehrai. Twenty-nine year old Sehrai is deputy to new Hizbul Mujahideen Chief in Kashmir Valley Saifullah. Sehrai and his associate were trapped in densely located area of Nawakadal in downtown Srinagar. Sehrai's journey into Hizbul Mujahideen terror ranks began in March 2018 days after his father Muhammad Ashraf Sehrai replaced Syed Ali Shah Geelani as chairman of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat. Police had specific information about the presence of terrorists in the Kanemazar area based on a technical input. A joint operation along with the paramilitary CRPF started at night. A cordon and search operation (CASO) was initiated at 2 a.m. An hour later the hiding militants lobbed a genade at approaching security men that triggered the encounter. Three security forces personnel were injured -- two policemen and a trooper. Sehrai's killing comes less than two weeks after Hizbul Mujahideen commander in chief Riyaz Naikoo was killed in Pulwama on May 6. As the Srinagar encounter raged mobile Internet was snapped in Srinagar and voice calling except for the BSNL service provider was suspended. Sources said family will not be given body as per the new SOP of security forces. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned on Tuesday that the new coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the tri-border area of the Amazon between Brazil, Colombia and Peru and threatens to infect remote Indigenous communities in the rainforest. PAHO directors urged in a virtual briefing that special measures be taken to protect vulnerable groups among the poor and Indigenous populations of the Americas. They said contagion was rising fast in densely populated Amazon border cities such as Manaus, Leticia and Iquitos, and the greatest danger is the COVID-19 spreading now to isolated villages. On Monday, health experts in Brazil said the disease is spreading so quickly among the Indigenous people in the furthest parts of Brazils Amazon rainforest that doctors are now evacuating critical COVID-19 patients by plane to the only intensive care units in the vast region. The number of COVID-19 patients has increased a lot. We are flying more planes [up the rivers]; its the last opportunity to save their lives, said Edson Santos Rodrigues, a paediatric doctor working on medevac planes for the state of Amazonas. Sometimes, we dont get there in time, because we cannot land at night on remote airfields that have no lights, he said as he returned to the city of Manaus with a 26-year-old man of the Tikuna tribe, who was breathing through an oxygen tank on board the plane. Manaus, the capital city of Amazonas, has some of the only intensive care units in the region. The Brazilian governments Indigenous health service Sesai reported on Monday at least 23 Indigenous people have died from COVID-19, the deadly illness caused by the coronavirus. The victims were in remote tribal territories, 11 of them in the upper reaches of the Amazon river bordering Colombia and Peru. A coronavirus patient who is also pregnant is carried into an ambulance by a healthcare worker after arriving from Coari to Manaus in an ICU jet, Brazil [Bruno Kelly/Reuters] Brazils main tribal umbrella organisation APIB counts the coronavirus cases of Indigenous people who have migrated to urban areas and who are not treated by Sesai. The group reported on Monday a rise in the death toll with 103 confirmed deaths, up from 18 on April 3. Three-quarters of the 540 confirmed cases of coronavirus among 40 tribes reported by APIB are in the Amazon where the pandemic has hit Manaus so badly that it was the first Brazilian city to run out of ICU beds, while its main cemetery buries the dead in collective graves. On Monday, a seriously ill 78-year-old patient on a ventilator died on the flight from Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira, the mostly Indigenous town in the Amazon located on the Rio Negro near the border with Venezuela, said Daniel Siqueira, a medevac doctor. The epidemic may have begun in the city, but it is worsening in the remote regions, he said. Towns must isolate and stop the virus from reaching the Indigenous villages or many more will die, he said. TikTok, a video-sharing social networking site owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, where millions of Indians post short videos of just about anything is in the midst of a storm with the National Commission of Women and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh both turning their guns on it. Rekha Sharma, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women said that several videos of women being abused have beein shared on the platform. She said on Twitter that she is of the strong opinion that the platform should be banned She added that the app was also pushing youngsters towards unproductive life where they are living only for few followers She said her attention was drawn to a video where a person seemed to be throwing acid on a girl. We wrote to TikTok to take it down and they cooperated. Soon, we were shown hundreds of videos, with abusive content; videos inferring rape, domestic abuse and molestations. We got in touch with TikTok and showed them some more of the videos; we are waiting for their response, said Sharma. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sanghs paper, Organiser, in an editorial accused TikTok of enabling Chinese propaganda, harbouring Islamic terrorism and of allowing Muslim men to flout safety measures. TikToks censorship rules which allows all such content is very sensitive when it comes to China. It is clear that it censors posts in India that mention China or Tibet. It is known that TikTok, a video-sharing social networking service, is owned by a Chinese company called ByteDance. However, it is very concerning that the company which is concerned only about China is allowing violent content including videos that glorify rape, acid attacks and terrorism, the editorial read. On Twitter, Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Pal Bagga, too, called for a ban of the platform, and urged BJP leader Maneka Gandh, also an animal activist, to take action against videos showing cruelty to animals. The calls for ban have been accompanied by hundreds of users down-voting the app on the Android Playstore and it went from being rated 4 stars to 2 stars in a matter of two days. An online petition to have the app banned has been initiated and the petitioner Abhiemanyu Anand Tyagi says that the platform promotes love jihad, religious conversions, corona carriers, child sex abuse, rape threats. A TikTok spokesperson said that the platform clearly outlines in its terms of service and community guidelines what is not acceptable on our platform. Its Twitter profile described the platform as just an anti-fake news account. Keeping people on TikTok safe is a top priority and as per the policy, we do not allow content that risks safety of others, promotes physical harm or glorifies violence against women. The behaviour in question violates our guidelines and we have taken down content, suspended the account, and are working with law enforcement agencies as appropriate, the TikTok spokesperson said. A senior official of the IT ministry said that the ministry usually deals with individual complaints of content on any platform, after which it asks the platform to take it down. Law enforcement agencies sometimes inform us about disturbing content, and we get in touch with the company to take it down, said the official. Banning a platform, the official said, is rare. If a platform routinely flouts norms, and does not take down content, then it can invite serious action from the Centre, added this person who asked not to be named. TikTok India has courted several controversies earlier. Last year in July, an RSS-affiliate, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, wrote to the Centre asking for a new law to test and regulate apps like TikTok as India does not have any regulations to monitor any illegal activity on such platforms. Last month, TikTok clocked 2 billion users globally, and said there are 611 million users in India; most of them were on Android platforms. A woman apologised for holding a barbecue during the lockdown after she tested positive for coronavirus. The mum from Rossington, Doncaster, posted the apology online to warn others who had attended the barbecue that they were at risk of catching the disease. Since March 23 people have been told to stay-at-home in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19. The Prime Minister slightly eased some of the country's lockdown rules on May 10, but Brits have still been told not to hold mass gatherings and you can only meet a person outside of your household in a public setting while maintaining social distancing measures. The post, which was seen by Yorkshire Live, read: "Just to let all my friends and family know I have been tested positive for Covid-19, for all ones who have been visiting my house lately especially the BBQ we had the other day, you might have to get yourself checked now. I'm really sorry." Scores of people responded to the post by criticising the woman's actions. She later posted another message to say it was "none of their business". It comes after police broke up a barbecue and bingo street party in Cleveland that was reportedly attended by around 20 to 25 people. Two men, aged 20, were arrested on suspicion of public order offences and a number of people were issued with warnings for alleged breaches of Covid-19 regulations following the barbecue. Last week coronavirus lockdown fines rose from 60 to 100. Fines will double for each repeat offence, up to a maximum of 3,200. The first fine someone receives if police believe they are flouting restrictions will be lowered to 50 if paid within 14 days, according to the Home Office. Credit unions can bring billions of dollars into the economy with no cost to the government, CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan wrote to all 535 Congressional offices Monday. Donovan highlighted how Congressional changes to the credit union member business lending cap of 12.25% of assets can help Americas communities as they recover from the pandemic. You can have a direct impact on rebuilding Americas communities by temporarily removing the statutory business lending cap on credit unions, Donovan wrote. Taking action now will free up $5 billion to lend to small businesses [and] create 50,000 jobs to support local employers. Donovan linked to a CUNA advocacy document outlining how credit unions are positioned to deploy capital to small businesses and entrepreneurs around the country. Super Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night #Amphan is expected to make landfall on Tuesday, May 20 Storm surge of up to 15 feet on anticipated landfall in West Bengal forecast Wednesday In India and Bangladesh, millions of people are trapped in the path of an oncoming super cyclone that is expected to make landfall in under 36 hours. Weather watchers say Super Cyclone Amphan will bring damaging winds and intense rainfall to a densely populated region badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic. FOR UPDATED AMPHAN DATA: India Meteorological Department, Ministry of Earth Sciences Government of India 1330 UTC Himawari-8 enhanced infrared satellite view of powerful #TropicalCycloneAmphan (#01B) near #India, over the Bay of Bengal. For the latest info on #TropicalCyclone #Amphan please visit JTWC's website at, https://t.co/77AznHtvWC pic.twitter.com/YUtNaYZ41j NWS OPC (@NWSOPC) May 19, 2020 #CycloneAmphanUpdate The Super Cyclonic Storm #Amphan over West-central #BayofBengal moved nearly northwards with a speed of 18 kmph during the past 6 hours & lay centered at 1430 hrs IST today as an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm at latitude 17.0N & longitude 86.9E. pic.twitter.com/T32gGpTaOF MoES GoI (@moesgoi) May 19, 2020 Super Cyclone AMPHAN to cross West Bengal Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans during afternoon to evening of 20th May 2020 with wind speed of 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph. pic.twitter.com/OYRb2BYr8A India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) May 19, 2020 From CNN: Super Cyclone Amphan became the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal on Monday night, after intensifying with sustained wind speeds of up to 270 kilometers per hour (165 miles per hours), according to data from the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Amphan has weakened slightly since, but the storm is still the equivalent of a strong Category 4 Atlantic hurricane, or a super typhoon in the West Pacific, with winds speeds up to 240 kph (150 mph). The Bay of Bengal, in the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, is positioned between India to the west and northwest, Bangladesh to the north, and Myanmar to the east. Amphan is just the second super cyclone to hit the Bay of Bengal since records began. During the last super cyclone in 1999, nearly 15,000 villages were affected and almost 10,000 people were killed. READ MORE AT CNN: India and Bangladesh brace for the strongest storm ever recorded in the Bay of Bengal [Ben Westcott, Vedika Sud and Manveena Suri, CNN] IMAGE, TOP: @NWSOPC, and below, Indian Government Ministry of Earth Sciences An Alabama judge says she has no personal bias or prejudice and therefore wont recuse from the case against Brittany Smith, a woman charged with murdering the man she says raped her. In an order issued today, Jackson County Circuit Judge Jenifer Holt declined to step down from the case after being asked to recuse by Smiths defense attorneys. "The court finds that it is not disqualified by law from presiding in this case and that there is no reasonable basis for questioning the court's impartiality that would justify the court's recusal, Holt wrote in the three-page order. The defense team asked the judge to recuse in part because of a 19-page order in which the judge declined to grant Smith immunity from prosecution under Alabamas Stand Your Ground self-defense law. In the order, Judge Holt cast doubt on Smiths credibility, wrote that her testimony conflicted with the evidence and accused her of altering or destroying evidence. Those public statements by the judge could be potentially fatal to Smiths right to a fair and impartial trial, defense attorneys James Mick and Ron Smith (no relation) wrote in court records. But the judge said today that she gave thoughtful and thorough consideration to the evidence before denying the Stand Your Ground claim. [Months after the judge denied Stand Your Ground immunity, new evidence emerged] The court has no personal bias or prejudice against the Defendant and no personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the pending murder case that would make fair judgement impossible, Holt wrote in todays order. Brittany Smith faces trial and up to life in prison, if convicted for fatally shooting Todd Smith (no relation) at her home in the tiny town of Stevenson during the early morning hours of Jan. 16, 2018. Brittany has testified that Todd raped her earlier in the night and was choking her brother when she shot him. [Alabama woman says she killed her rapist in self-defense. She could spend life in prison.] Its unclear when Brittanys case will go to trial. The Alabama Supreme Court, in an effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, has postponed all jury trials until mid-September. In the meantime, Brittanys attorneys can appeal todays ruling to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Its not yet clear whether they will do so. Defense attorney Ron Smith declined to comment for this story. The largest prospective study of adult COVID-19 patients in USA to date confirms that critical illness is common among hospitalized patients (22%, 257/1150). The largest prospective study of adult COVID-19 patients in USA to date confirms that critical illness is common among hospitalized patients (22%, 257/1150). Critically ill COVID-19 patients frequently require mechanical ventilation (79%, 203/257) and death rates among such patients are high (39%, 101/257). Risk factors associated with in-hospital death, including older age and chronic heart and lung disease, are consistent with reports from Italy, China and the UK. A detailed report from 257 COVID-19 patients admitted to two hospitals in New York City, USA from 2 March to 1 April 2020, and followed for at least 28 days, is published today in The Lancet, offering a snapshot of how the virus affects adults requiring hospital care. The study reports a high incidence of critical illness (22%, 257/1150) and a high dependency on mechanical ventilation to support breathing in critically ill patients (79%, 203/257). The researchers say this has important implications for US hospital systems and specifically the need to prepare for large numbers of patients requiring intensive care. The findings mirror reports from China, Italy and the UK, with older age and pre-existing conditions being the strongest risk factors associated with poor outcomes. Dr Natalie Yip, one of the authors of the study, from Columbia University Irving Medical Centre, USA, says: "In the USA, there have been almost 1.5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nearly 90,000 deaths [1]. Although the clinical spectrum of disease has been characterised in reports from China and Italy, until now, detailed understanding of how the virus is affecting critically ill patients in the US has been limited to reports from a small number of cases. Our study aimed to identify risk factors associated with death in critically ill COVID-19 patients in a US hospital setting." [2] The study focused on two hospitals in New York City, USA, affiliated with Columbia University Irving Medical Center in northern Manhattan. Between 2 March and 1 April 2020, 1,150 adults (aged 18 or over) were admitted to both hospitals with laboratory confirmed COVID-19. Of those admitted to hospital, 257 (22%) were critically ill and required treatment in a high dependency or intensive care unit. The most common symptoms reported were shortness of breath, fever, cough, muscle pain and diarrhoea. As of 28 April 2020, almost 40% of the critically ill patients had died (39%, 101/257) and more than one third remained in hospital (37%, 94/257). Less than one quarter had been discharged alive (23%, 58/257). More than three quarters of the critically ill patients required mechanical ventilation to help them breathe (79%, 203/257). Patients spent an average of 18 days on a ventilator (range 9-28 days). This rate is higher than reported in smaller studies of cases from Washington state, USA [3, 4], but is in line with a recent report from Italy [5], the researchers say. In addition, almost one third of patients developed severe kidney damage and required therapy to support kidney function, such as dialysis (31%, 79/257). The majority of critically ill patients were men (67%, 171/257). Critical illness was more common in older patients (median age 62 years) but around one in five patients were aged under 50 (22%, 55/257). More than 80% of critically ill patients had at least one chronic illness, the most common of which were high blood pressure (63%, 162/257) and diabetes (36%, 92/257). Nearly half of the patients were obese (46%, 119/257), consistent with trends seen in the UK. Almost two-thirds of critically ill patients were Hispanic or Latino (62%, 159/257) and around one in five were black or African American (19%, 49/257). People with pre-existing lung or heart conditions had the highest risk of poorer outcomes. High blood pressure was also associated with poorer survival for critically ill patients, consistent with reports from China and Italy. 5% of critically ill patients were employed as healthcare workers (13/257). It is not possible to determine with certainty whether they became infected while working in a clinical setting because the virus was already circulating widely in the community at the time. However, the finding highlights the risks facing frontline healthcare workers and underlines the importance of consistent access to personal protective equipment for hospital staff. Dr Max O'Donnell, senior author of the study, from Columbia University Irving Medical Centre, USA, says: "Our study provides in-depth understanding of how COVID-19 may be affecting critically ill patients in US hospitals. Of particular interest is the finding that over three quarters of critically ill patients required a ventilator and almost one third required renal dialysis support. This has important implications for resource allocation in hospitals, where access to equipment and specialised staff needed to deliver this level of care is limited." [2] The researchers caution that their findings may not be generalizable to other hospital settings as they only looked at patients from two hospitals in New York City. This is particularly important when considering the demographic characteristics of the patient population. Studies involving patient groups that are more racially, ethnically and geographically diverse will be needed in order to confirm these findings. Writing in a linked Comment article, Dr Giacomo Grasselli, who was not involved in the study, from the University of Milan, said: "The study by Cummings and colleagues shows that clinicians can produce high-quality research even when facing an overwhelming clinical workload. However, despite providing important insights, this work leaves us with some unanswered questions. While waiting for the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine, further studies are required to improve and personalise patient treatment, with particular attention to the role of initial non-invasive respiratory support strategies, timing of intubation, optimal setting of mechanical ventilation, and efficacy and safety of immunomodulating agents and anticoagulation strategies." ### Peer reviewed / Observational Study / People NOTES TO EDITORS The study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, and the Columbia university Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. The labels have been added to this press release as part of a project run by the Academy of Medical Sciences seeking to improve the communication of evidence. For more information, please see: http://www.sciencemediacentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AMS-press-release-labelling-system-GUIDANCE.pdf if you have any questions or feedback, please contact The Lancet press office pressoffice@lancet.com [1] Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID 19) Cases in the US. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed 17 May 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html [2] Quote direct from author and cannot be found in the text of the Article. [3] M. Arentz et al. Characteristics and outcomes of 21 critically ill patients with COVID-19 in Washington State, Journal of the American Medical Association, 19 March 2020. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.4326 [4] PK Bhatraju et al. COVID-19 in critically ill patients in the Seattle region - case series. New England Journal of Medicine, 30 March 2020. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2004500 [5] G. Graselli et al. Baseline characteristics and outcomes of 1591 patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 admitted to ICUs of the Lombardy Region, Italy. Journal of the American Medical Association, 6 April 2020. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.5394 Big and small museums have been affected by the pandemic (PA) Museums are starting to reopen in some countries as governments ease coronavirus restrictions, but experts warn one in eight worldwide could face permanent closure due to the pandemic. Studies by Unesco and the International Council of Museums show 90% of the planets museums, some 85,000 institutions, have had to shut at least temporarily. It is alarming data that we are giving, Ernesto Ottone, assistant director general for culture at Unesco said in an interview with the Associated Press. He said the problem cuts across the board, affecting museums big and small, new and established, featuring art or science. Museums that indicated they might well not reopen, he said, have been closed for months and they have no revenues. And they dont know how theyre going to get their revenues. And once they do reopen, Mr Ottone said, they (wont) have the capacity to update their infrastructure to conform with social distancing and other pandemic precautions. Some costly blockbuster shows have suffered heavy damage this spring. A once-in-a-lifetime exhibit bringing together fragile paintings by Flemish master Jan van Eyck had barely opened in Ghent, Belgium, when it was abruptly cancelled. It will not be resumed, as many of the works were on loan and had to be returned. In Rome, a similar supershow on Renaissance artist Raphael had to close after just three days, but was able to hold on to all 120 works and will now reopen June 2 through to August 30. Nearly 13% of museums around the world may never reopen, Unesco and ICOM said in a joint statement, saying those in poorer countries faced a greater risk. The Network of European Museum Organisations said large institutions in tourist hotspots like Paris, Amsterdam or Vienna have suffered income losses of up to 80%, that can reach hundreds of thousands of euros a week. Places like the Stedelijk and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, or the Kunsthistorisches in Vienna, could lose up to 2.5 million euros a month. Mr Ottone said matters were particularly tough in Latin America, where 99.4% of all museums are closed right now. So you have a continent that doesnt have anything open, Mr Ottone said. Its the first time in our history and it will be very difficult to come out from this crisis for those institutions. It is little wonder that royalty and prime ministers are now lining up to boost their cultural institutions. We have to show our support at the maximum level to this sector by coming here, to show that they are open again and that people can come back here in complete safety, but also by taking measures and decisions to support them, Belgian prime minister Sophie Wilmes said on Tuesday, touring the re-opened Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels. Expand Close Belgiums prime minister Sophie Wilmes, left, wears a face mask, as she visits the Bozar in Brussels (Sylvain Plazy/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Belgiums prime minister Sophie Wilmes, left, wears a face mask, as she visits the Bozar in Brussels (Sylvain Plazy/AP) King Philippe of Belgium and Queen Mathilde visited the nearby Royal Museums of Fine Arts, wearing protective masks. Across Europe, such reopenings provide some hope. In Berlin, four museums and one special exhibit that reopened had 10,000 visitors over the past week about 43% of last years level for the same week. Visitors need to buy tickets for a particular time slot, which limits the number of visitors. In Italy, one-time epicentre of the pandemic in Europe, the Villa Borghese and the Capitoline museums, both home to Caravaggio paintings and Bernini sculptures, reopened on Tuesday. There is still no reopening date set for Italys biggest cultural draws, including the Uffizi in Florence and the Vatican Museums or the Colosseum in Rome. The same goes for France. The Louvre the worlds most visited museum and the Pompidou Centre remain shuttered after an easing of restrictions May 11. Greece reopened its ancient sites including the Acropolis on Monday, and set a June 15 date for museums. Overall, the situation remains dire amid uncertainty over when tourism, a lifeline for most museums, will resume. Its (going to) be a very, very difficult year, said Pierre Coulon, operation director for public affairs of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences Museum. And we dont know exactly how long it will last and when we will recuperate a normal income. France and Germany on Monday laid out plans for a 500-billion-euro ($544 billion) European fund backed by joint EU borrowing to fight the economic fallout from the coronavirus, as the continent pushed ahead towards normality with major landmarks reopening after a two month-hiatus. St Peter's Basilica and the Acropolis in Athens opened their doors to visitors alongside many European shops, restaurants and churches, as Italy reported that its daily death toll from the virus had fallen below 100 for the first time since early March. More than 4.7 million people have tested positive and 315,270 have been killed by the disease since it emerged in Wuhan late last year, according to an AFP tally. Recent days have seen soaring infections in Brazil, India and South Africa. Battling against allegations from the United States and elsewhere that it concealed the scale of the problem, China vowed to back an independent inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus after it is "brought under control". Chinese President Xi Jinping insisted during an address to the World Health Assembly -- the WHO's decision-making body -- that Beijing had been "transparent" throughout the crisis. Beijing also offered to share a vaccine once one became available. But China's main critic US sharpened the tone at the same talks, accusing the WHO of being too close to Beijing. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited the continued exclusion of Taiwan from the UN health agency as a sop to Beijing, as he charged that China "continues to withhold vital information about the virus and its origins". Amid the blame game, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned the virus' impact on the southern hemisphere could be "even more devastating" than in the global north. - South America, Africa hit hard - In Asia, India extended its lockdown covering 1.3 billion people to the end of May as it reported its biggest single-day jump in infections on Sunday. But natural catastrophe threatened to derail the plans to keep transmission at bay -- with Cyclone Amphan barrelling towards India and Bangladesh at speeds of 240 kilometres (145 miles) per hour, two million people face evacuation. In Latin America, Brazil now has the fourth-highest caseload in the world at 241,000 confirmed infections, and deaths have risen sharply in recent days. Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has blamed lockdowns for unnecessarily hurting the Brazilian economy. He has defied social distancing measures, even as experts and regional leaders have warned that the country's healthcare infrastructure could collapse. Ecuador reported the first COVID-19 case in one of its indigenous Amazon tribes, deepening the crisis in one of South America's hardest-hit countries. Nicaraguan hospital staff have said the country's health system is overwhelmed with patients suffering from respiratory illnesses. Relatives have reported that the bodies of loved ones were being carted off in pick-up trucks for "express burials" without their consent. "Mourners are forced to chase trucks with the coffin to find out where their loved ones are being buried," the opposition National Coalition said in a statement denouncing government secrecy. There was also grim data in Africa, where the number of infections rose rapidly. South Africa on Sunday reported 1,160 new coronavirus infections, the highest daily number since the first case was recorded in March, taking the total to 15,515 -- the highest on the continent. - Deep economic pain - The coronavirus has also left the world economy facing its worst downturn since the Great Depression. Fresh evidence of the deep economic damage came when Japan announced its first recession since 2015. The world's biggest economy is also going to suffer a massive downturn, US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell warned. "The data we'll see for this quarter, which ends in June, will be very, very bad. There'll be a big decline in economic activity, big increase in unemployment," Powell said. Global markets were nevertheless buoyed by the Franco-German economic relaunch plan, lower death rates in some countries --- and encouraging results from clinical trials of a potential vaccine by Moderna. The first stage trial provoked an immune response similar to people convalescing from the COVID-19 disease in eight recipients, according to the company. It has a larger phase 2 trial involving more patients due to begin soon. - 'Courageous' - In a sign of solidarity, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed "borrowing from the market in the name of the EU" to fund 500 billion euros of spending on the 27-strong bloc's "worst-hit sectors and regions". Countries benefiting from the financing would not have to repay the sum, said Macron. "The aim is to ensure that Europe comes out of the crisis more cohesive and with more solidarity," said Merkel, calling the proposal "courageous". If agreed with other EU members, the fund would break through the bloc's fiscal deadlock. Northern countries such as Germany have until now firmly rejected joint debt in the name of budget discipline. But it immediately ran into resistance, with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz insisting that any help "has to be in the form of loans, not grants". With infection numbers falling, Europe sought to pick up the pace on its exit from the lockdown. In Venice, the gondolas returned to the waters again, even if the gondoliers wore gloves and masks. Locals welcomed the sight. "It's good news, a sign of everyone's desire to get back to normal as soon as possible, but without ever lowering our guard in order to defeat the virus once and for all," said Giovanni Giusto, city councillor for the Protection of Traditions. burs-tgb-hmn/jj Dr. Kent Sasse Today Dr. Kent Sasse announced the issuance of a non-provisional patent for his new sleeve tube device, a major breakthrough in the field of metabolic surgery. Millions with type 2 diabetes will benefit from Dr. Sasses revolutionary device the best cure for diabetes. The new device, Non-Provisional Patent Serial No. 15/838,057, H & H Reference No. (88537.0006), is designed to improve the sleeve gastrectomy procedure, a metabolic surgery that reduces the risk of life-threatening weight-related health conditions, including type 2 diabetes. Unlike previous devices, the sleeve tube takes its shape from the natural contours of the body and curvature of the stomach, enabling the surgeon to perform each procedure in a manner that conforms to the human body and produces a more natural result. The sleeve tube is the culmination of years of work to make sleeve gastrectomy safer, simpler and more effective, says inventor Dr. Sasse. Dr. Sasse is the medical director of a nationally accredited center for metabolic and bariatric surgery that has produced a breakthrough in reducing the leak rate to 0.0% in over 2,500 consecutive sleeve gastrectomy procedures. Through years of study of sleeve gastrectomy, we determined where the increased pressure zones arise, and how to lower complications of leak and stenosis with this new device, says Dr. Sasse. With continuing innovations like the Sleeve Tube, Dr. Sasse says, Metabolic surgery today is a 45-minute procedure with four Band-aids that is safer than an appendectomy. More importantly, it is the safest and most effective treatment of type 2 diabetes today. About Sleeve Gastrectomy Also known as laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), sleeve gastrectomy is one of the most performed and successful minimally invasive surgical procedures available today. In addition to being the safest and most effective treatment for type 2 diabetes and obesity, sleeve gastrectomy reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke, infertility, degenerative joints and obstructive sleep apnea. Learn more about sleeve gastrectomy. About Dr. Sasse Kent C. Sasse MD, MPH, FACS, FASCRS, FASMBS, is an honors graduate of the University of California, San Francisco, and holds multiple board certifications including with the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Dr. Sasse has received numerous honors over the course of his distinguished career and has a deep-rooted passion for teaching, innovation and metabolic health. He is a member of the faculty of the University of Nevada School of Medicine and the author of The Type II Diabetes Cure, a 2019 book on metabolic surgery and diabetes. Learn more about Dr. Sasse at http://www.sassesurgical.com. For Media Inquiries, please contact Dr. Sasse: (775) 829-7999 info@sassesurgical.com By Lee Hyo-jin Calls have been growing for law enforcement to punish a man who allegedly abused a janitor physically at his apartment complex in northern Seoul, following the janitor's suicide earlier this month. A petition posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website demanding punishment has gathered more than 400,000 endorsement as of Tuesday. One user with the id 'kakao-***' left a comment saying, "I strongly support the petition and think that strong legal punishment will prevent these kinds of tragic events in the future." Another comment read, "The abuser must be punished as an example to stop other abusive crimes towards people in weaker positions." The 59-year-old apartment janitor was found dead May 10 in his home in Gangbuk-gu, northern Seoul. It was later revealed that he had suffered constant physical and verbal abuse from a specific resident since the end of April. The bullying started from a minor conflict between the two regarding a parking space in the apartment parking lot. A recording made by the janitor was found in which he described how the resident physically abused him and repeatedly threatened to kill him. He also pled for strong punishment to protect other possible victims. During police questioning at Gangbuk Police Station, May 18, the accused resident denied most of the allegations raised against him. As public voices are rising for the government to implement measures to better protect the labor rights of janitors in apartment complexes, Gangbuk District Office announced comprehensive measures Monday to improve their working conditions and those of security guards. The measures include a thorough investigation of apartment complexes in the district for any human rights violations, and detailed measures to prevent and punish abusive action towards workers. At NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, staff are lifting the spirits of patients and their coworkers with music and reminding them that there Aint No Mountain High Enough. Each day, Kym Villamer, an assistant nurse manager and Dawn Jones, a patient experience lead at the hospital, make their rounds at the hospital and sing the famous song by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, bringing joy to anyone that needs it during these challenging times. We feel like its a mountain that were trying to climb, Villamer told Good Morning America. Right now, its a climb -- its quite a climb. But we feel like if we do it all together, if we are in this together, its not going to be high enough to bring us down. MORE: Nurse plays tic-tac-toe with patient stuck in hospital room Villamer and Jones, who have called their positive movement the Aint No Mountain High Enough Tour, initially came up with the idea to sing to each unit at NewYork Presbyterian Queens after the hospital had to convert their cafeteria pod into a space for their COVID patients. Before the opening of the new space, the two were asked to sing a song to bless it and decided to sing the 1967 hit song in front of their colleagues. PHOTO: Dawn Jones and Kym Villamer, two health care workers at NewYork Presbyterian Queens, sing 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' each day for hospital staff and patients to keep spirits high. (NewYork Presbyterian Queens) Now, they sing every day to all the different units as much as they can to boost the morale of everyone and has also been a way for Jones and Villamer to recharge during their challenging shifts at work. They even find themselves singing in stairwells where their colleagues sometimes escape to during their breaks. A few people looked tired and we just started singing and they all stopped in the stairwell, said Villamer. Its definitely spontaneous, dropping by, asking the staff to come to the nurses station and join us for a song, Jones told Good Morning America. Thats whats been happening. Jones has seen many changes in the past few months since the coronavirus pandemic hit, with many departments transforming into other centers of support for hospital staff who need it during this time. Story continues MORE: This nurse celebrated 42 years of service with a surprise retirement parade In the past few weeks, Joness role at the hospital has shifted from not just caring for patients, but also making sure her colleagues are doing okay too, and working with the hospitals donation center to make sure everyone is getting fed during their long work hours. PHOTO: Dawn Jones and Kym Villamer, two health care workers at New York Presbyterian Queens, pose for a photo amid their day singing to patients and hospital staff. (Kym Villamer) Its not what we were hired to do, but I feel like its a promotion because were giving people the essential needs of food, water, snacks, said Jones. Were all doing each others jobs and helping out where we can. For Villamer, shes been inspired by all that everyone has been doing at NewYork Presbyterian during the pandemic. I have a deepened respect for my colleagues, they have stepped up, they have been so resilient, she said. People are exhausted but you see them fight Some people get sick with COVID, but they recover and come to work and serve the people and serve our patients. While its been difficult for everyone at the hospital, Villamer and Jones are making sure the message of Aint No Mountain High Enough is helping patients and workers in each hospital unit get through each day and reminding them that they will weather this storm. This song can be a love relationship within the human spirit, said Jones. Its no mountain, no valley, no river can get in the way of us getting to you. And that means us getting to you as our coworkers, whatever you need, how we can support you. Also, theres nothing that can get in the way of us getting to our patients, taking care of them, she added. Theres no obstacle too big that we cant make it through. MORE: Nurse sings Kacey Musgraves' 'Rainbow' in touching tribute to her hospital colleagues Hospital staff come together, remind each other there 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Families of missing people in Yemen find themselves in an endless nightmare where their loved ones have been forcibly disappeared by Saudi-UAE-backed forces. Hundreds of civilians have disappeared during Yemens five-year war. Many are said to have been taken in for questioning by the Saudi-UAE coalition. And their families are desperate for answers about their relatives whereabouts. Al Jazeeras Stefanie Dekker reports. IDC and Microsoft have hosted an exclusive webinar featuring industry experts to discuss business continuity and its challenges, as organisations in the region and around the world maintain the remote working norm. The session titled Powering Through Together explored the recent surge in uptake of cloud technologies and collaboration tools and urged business leaders to take a holistic approach to cybersecurity, while ensuring productivity of their workforce. Mark Walker, Associate Vice President, Vertical Industries for IDC Middle East and Africa, delivered the opening keynote and discussed the challenges that leaders are facing during the unprecedented times, as well as the implications on businesses considering the outlook. Business has significantly changed in terms of priorities, customer focus, and digital transformation plans across all sectors uncertainty and risk has increased significantly. IDC research indicates that after an initial surge in IT investment in communication and collaboration solutions, focus is now on accelerating digital transformation using highly secure cloud-based platforms to deliver solutions that accommodate remote work and provide reliable, secure accessibility. Ann Johnson, Corporate Vice President for Cybersecurity Solutions Group at Microsoft, shared her perspective on business continuity, and laid out guidance for businesses to adapt and enable secure remote work options to become more operationally resilient in short and longer term. Cybersecurity provides the underpinning to operational resilience and business continuity as more organisations adapt to enabling secure remote work options, whether in the short or longer term, said Johnson. Cloud technology and artificial intelligence help unlock new capabilities to extend the power across endpoints, networks, data, applications, and infrastructure to improve productivity and collaboration as we must also be empathetic to the end user experience during times of constant disruption. Microsoft has been a frontrunner in empowering organisations to adopt remote working solutions while implementing the right security measures. The AI capabilities built into Microsoft Security tools are trained on 8 trillion daily threat signals backed by insights from 3,500 security experts. Custom algorithms and machine learning models make, and learn from, billions of queries every day. And as a result, Microsoft Security solutions help identify and respond to threats 50% faster, as well as automate 97% of the routine tasks that occupied defenders valuable time. During the webinar, Microsoft experts from the Middle East and Africa highlighted key security strategies that can help organisations in improving their security posture. Mina Nagy, Azure Security Lead shared best practices for security professionals on how an organisation can enable security and management for their remote workforce. And Mehmet Uner, Services Strategy Lead discussed ways that can allow secured access to cloud and on-premises applications with ease of modern management capabilities for all devices. The session also hosted a panel discussion with participants from the Financial services industry. Yuri Misnik, Group Technology Office at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) shared insights on the strategy put in place while implementing remote working procedures. Security of our customers and their data is our top priority. Our model is one of continuous improvement across all functions of the Group, this discipline that gives us confidence that we will stay one step ahead of the emerging threats and determined adversaries, concluded Misnik.-- Tradearabia News Service Director of the Pan American Health Organization Etienne, makes declarations to the media during a meeting of Public Health ministers of the Mercosur trade block to discuss policies to deal with the Zika virus, in Montevideo By Anthony Boadle and David Alire Garcia BRASILIA/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The World Health Organization's director for the Americas warned on Tuesday of a coronavirus surge across the region and voiced hope for continuing U.S. help to tackle the outbreak, despite President Donald Trump's threat to permanently halt WHO funding. Carissa Etienne, the head of the WHO-affiliated Pan American Health Organization, said U.S. contributions account for about 60% of the regional health agency's budget. She also pointed to successful past collaborations with the U.S. government to combat diseases like malaria and yellow fever. However, in recent days Trump has ramped up his criticism of the WHO's response to the coronavirus pandemic, threatening to reconsider his government's membership of the global body and to permanently end its funding. "As the curve of the pandemic flattens or falls in other parts of the world, the virus is surging across our region," Etienne told a virtual briefing on COVID-19 in the Americas. "PAHO hopes that we will continue collaboration with the United States and all of our allies." She said COVID-19 cases reached more than 2 million across the Americas as of Monday, with deaths standing at 121,000: "This represents a staggering increase of 14% for cases and for deaths from just last week," Etienne said. PAHO officials voiced concern the new coronavirus was spreading rapidly in the tri-border area of the Amazon between Colombia, Peru and Brazil, which currently has the worst outbreak of any developing nation. The regional outbreak threatens to infect remote indigenous communities in the rainforest. Etienne added there were about 20,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Amazon provinces, and isolated villages there have minimal access to healthcare. PAHO officials urged that special measures be taken to protect vulnerable populations among the indigenous, poor and racial minorities. Story continues They said the contagion was moving fast in densely populated Amazon border cities such as Manaus, Leticia and Iquitos, and the greatest danger was that COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, risked spreading to indigenous villages in the forest where inhabitants had no protection. Separately, PAHO communicable diseases director Marcos Espinal said there was "no evidence" to recommend the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, after Trump said he was taking the drug despite his own government's warnings on its use. (Reporting by Anthony Boadle and David Alire Garcia; Editing by Julia Love, Bernadette Baum and Tom Brown) But Mueller said district staff felt they owe families the opportunity of summer classes and wanted to ensure high school students could try to recover credits in math and English as usual. We recognize that going to a virtual platform for all summer school may not be attractive to families because at this point we have a lot of kids that are probably done with screen time and doing their learning that way, but we felt like we didnt want to make that decision for our families, she said. The district restructured the usual Summer Academy into limited virtual options, including sessions on skill-building, mindfulness and strength and conditioning for middle school students, said Director of Teaching & Learning Nick Karls. High school students can take a strength and conditioning course or a credit-recovery course, in addition to the usual virtual learning opportunities. Karls said more students need to enroll in the middle school skills course for the district to run it. The fitness course will use an app to provide students with personalized strength and conditioning sessions at home. STAMFORD, Conn., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ReneSola Ltd. ("ReneSola Power" or the "Company") (www.renesolapower.com) (NYSE: SOL), a leading fully integrated solar project developer, today announced that it will be participating in the Cowen 2020 Virtual Industrial Technology, Robotics & Sustainability Summit on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Management will be available for virtual one-on-one meetings with institutional investors at the event. Portfolio managers and analysts who wish to request a meeting should contact their institutional sales representative at Cowen. About ReneSola Power Founded in 2005, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2008, ReneSola Power (NYSE: SOL) is an international leading brand of solar project developer. Leveraging its global presence and solid experience in the industry, ReneSola Power is well positioned to develop green energy projects with attractive return around the world. For more information, please visit www.renesolapower.com. SOURCE ReneSola Ltd. Related Links http://www.renesolapower.com U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery on Tuesday granted the Texas Democratic Party's motion to temporarily allow counties to issue mail-in ballots to voters concerned about the risk of contracting COVID-19 at a polling place in upcoming elections. One's right to vote should not be elusively based on the whims of nature, Biery wrote. Citizens should have the option to choose voting by letter carrier versus voting with disease carriers. It's the latest development as back-and-forth court orders have been issued at both the state and federal levels. And the state is appealing this decision, too. TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox Just Friday evening, the Texas Supreme Court had issued a stay halting the expansion of mail-in voting. And that decision came just a day after a Texas appellate court had upheld a state district judge's ruling allowing the expansion. Texas is one of the few states that still require voters younger than 65 to have an excuse to cast a ballot by mail, such as a disability. Fewer than 7 percent of Texas voters mailed in ballots in 2018. Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office represents the state, expressed his disapproval with the order Tuesday. Paxton has argued that risk of catching COVID-19 is not the same as having a sickness or physical condition, as the state election code defines disability. The district courts opinion ignores the evidence and disregards well-established law, Paxton said. We will seek immediate review by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In response to coronavirus concerns, Gov. Greg Abbott has expanded the early voting period for July runoff elections throughout the state. Early voting will begin June 29; Election Day is July 14. Biery in his order agreed with the Democratic Party in foreseeing a health risk for voters and also casts doubt on the states argument that mail-in ballots are more susceptible to voter fraud, noting that little evidence exists to support the claim. He also sympathized with the partys central argument that fear of contracting COVID-19 amounts to a disability under the law qualifying a voter for an absentee ballot. Clearly, fear and anxiety currently gripping the United States has limited citizens' physical movements, affected their mental senses and constricted activities, socially and economically, Biery wrote. The court finds such fear and anxiety is inextricably intertwined with voters' physical health. Such apprehension will limit citizens' rights to cast their votes in person.' The court also finds that lack of immunity from COVID- 19 is indeed a physical condition. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Justices temporarily block mail-in voting expansion The order directs the Travis and Bexar County clerks not to deny a mail-in ballot to anyone requesting one for this reason and orders Secretary of State Ruth Hughs to ensure the order is followed statewide. It also directs Hughs, Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott not to publish any guidance inconsistent with the order, nor threaten prosecutions. Paxton earlier this month in a letter had warned of the possibility of criminal charges for local elections officials who expand mail-in voting. Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa also applauded Bierys decision. Today is a victory for all Texans, Hinojosa said. The right to vote is central to our democracy. This ruling means eligible voters can vote by mail during this pandemic. It is time for a few state officers to stop trying to force people to expose themselves to COVID-19 in order to vote. The state Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the state-level case Wednesday. Staff Writer Bruce Selcraig contributed to this report. Western Australia is on track to become a COVID-free bubble, a concept that while reaping immeasurable benefits to the public health system will likely see residents stranded until a vaccine is developed, which experts say could take years. With just three active cases, the states success in suppressing coronavirus has led to its near-elimination among a population of 2.6 million people. International travel to and from WA could be restricted for years, experts say. Credit:WAtoday And while social distancing restrictions have saved an estimated 30,000 lives, the flow-on effect of becoming virus-free could mean international travel and overseas visitors will be off limits for years as the world races to find a vaccine and bring it into mass production. Tony Cunningham, an adviser to the Federal government on Australia's coronavirus vaccine response, estimated the most optimistic timeframe for a vaccine to be available locally would be in 18 to 24 months. [The lockdown] gave us the opportunity to rethink the way we were doing things, he said. We tried to see the opportunity and not complain too much, we do have to adapt. You have to be smart on what you are doing. Balthazar fans stood by their restaurant during the lockdown, with takeaway offerings selling out each week. Emma Ferguson of Balthazar restaurant in Perth. The restaurant reopened on Monday, with their online booking system going into overdrive until most lunch and dinner sittings in the near future were full. Co-owner Emma Ferguson said there would be some changes to the way they operated, and not just the offering of fragrant hand sanitiser. Their set menu must be paid for at the time of booking and confirmation phone calls made prior to the dining time would be more in depth than before. Everyone has prepaid because at the moment there is not a lot of space for cancellations, she said, noting the restaurant usually seated more than 60 people at a time. The phone call would remind customers not to come in if they were feeling at all unwell. Customers would enjoy two-hour sittings, with time in between for the tables to be sanitised. Ms Ferguson said the state government's method of reopening venues slowly, and with the 20-person maximum, was smart despite the fact it wouldn't work for two of her other venues. This is the initial gust in the sails, which hopefully pushes us to Phase 3 when you can hopefully host more numbers George Kailis While Balthazar would reopen now, Ms Ferguson's Northbridge venues No Mafia and Los Bravos would remain closed until the numbers of people they could entertain was increased. She said part of the experience of those venues was the hustle and bustle of the area and the social vibe inside which would not be possible under the current restrictions. But she supported the way the reopening was being managed. "I think it's just a great way to reopen Perth," she said. "A lot of the regulations and requirements from the government are very fair and necessary." She said while some people in hospitality had made comments suggesting diners spend big to support their venues if they were going to take up a seat, that was not the philosophy at Balthzar. Ross Drennan, co-owner of The Old Synagogue, which had only opened for about three months before the pandemic shut the doors at the newly refurbished venue, said there was no doubt people were dying to go out. Despite the three-storey site with 1000-people capacity being home to four different venues, The Old Synagogue will have to adhere to the 20-people limit over the whole venue, which is why Mr Drennan made the decision to only open Tonic & Ginger. The restaurant is running two lunch sittings from Friday to Sunday and two dinner sittings seven days per week. Sadly the Old Synagogue with its four venues, which caters for up to 1000 people, had to shut its doors just three months after its lavish opening at the end of 2019. Mr Drennan said they had toyed with the idea of a condensed menu but decided to serve people the full offering with some seasonal adjustments. We opened bookings on Wednesday May 13 and within 24 hours we were booked out for the whole of this week, he said. He said the response was very encouraging with dinner bookings already at capacity for the following week as well. We sent out an email to our existing customer base to give them the first opportunity at booking before we announced the reopening to the public. The take-up was fantastic, he said. Mr Drennan said the whole team was keen to get back on the tools and start working together again. Our venue can host almost 1000 people, so 20 people is only 2 per cent occupancy, he said. Part of our decision is based on us being optimistic that restrictions will be eased further within a month and then we will be well placed to scale up again. He said the restrictions had come at a huge cost to the business, but was confident they would survive. It was devastating to have such a successful start and then see your turnover cut to zero, he said. Loading Having to lay off the best part of 100 staff was the hardest bit. We all worked so hard over the three months we were open and had achieved so much. Unfortunately having just opened, the vast majority of our staff were not eligible for JobKeeper. George Kailis, whose hospitality offerings include Swanbournes Shorehouse and Island Market at Trigg, said they had been inundated with bookings over the weekend. The Shorehouse is opening for two sittings, lunch and dinner from Friday to Sunday, and Mr Kailis said spots for this weekend were virtually all taken. Bookings for the next three weekends had already flooded in and 50 per cent of the seats were already taken. Even before restrictions had eased we had emails saying can you book us in which was really pleasing, he said. Blue Swimmer crab omelette at the Shorehouse. He said while pre-booking and pre-paying for the set menus, which include a selection of customer favourites, was helping towards making the micro- dining experience profitable, it was more important to open up the doors to engage with the community again. Set menus would drive the per-head spend up slightly for restaurant operators, he said. Someone coming in and spending $15 on an entree and having a glass of water and walking out when you only had 20 diners would be very difficult on the business. Loading The financial viability is questionable still, but we felt that we needed re-engagement with our regular customers and the communities around our businesses and engaging our staff and getting our team back together and supporting suppliers and producers," Mr Kailis said. Bringing the business back to life is critical, it just feels horrible, especially us being beach-side when the weather has been so awesome. This is the initial gust in the sails, which hopefully pushes us to phase 3 when you can hopefully host more numbers. Washington: US President Donald Trump has defended taking hydroxychloroquine in a bid to prevent contracting COVID-19 and lashed out at Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for describing him as "morbidly obese". Trump stunned many medical experts on Monday (Tuesday AEST) by claiming he has been ingesting the anti-malaria medication even though there is no scientific evidence it is effective in preventing COVID-19. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has advised Americans not to take the drug as a coronavirus treatment unless they are in a hospital setting or as part of clinical trial because of its potentially dangerous side-effects, including heart rhythm problems. "As far as the President is concerned, he's our President and I would rather he not be taking something that has not been approved by the scientists, especially in his age group and in his, shall we say, weight group, morbidly obese, they say," Pelosi said. T he reason Edvard Munchs most famous artwork The Scream is shrieking in horror has been finally revealed: it wants you to stop breathing on it. It seems it is not only humans that benefit from social distancing, as researchers seeking to identify the reason for the paintings deterioration have discovered that human breath has contributed to its damage. By conducting x-ray probes of the paint on the 1910 work of art, a group of scientists discovered that Munch mistakenly used an impure cadmium yellow which is vulnerable in low humidity for example, when breathed upon. As a result, the intended bright yellow on the sunset, lake and areas of the main figures skin have faded to off-white or even started to flake away. Sidsel de Jong/Associated Press Munchs extensive use of experimental pigments poses a challenge for the long-term preservation of Munchs artworks because of their tendency to undergo photo-chemical transformations causing color changes and/or structural damage, reads the study, undertaken by scientists from Belgium, Brazil, Italy and the US and published in Science Advances. The use of cadmium-based yellow paints also appear in artworks by a number of Munchs contemporaries, including Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Matisse and James Ensor. This study could aid preservation efforts for these artists works. Edvard Munch's most famous paintings 1 /13 Edvard Munch's most famous paintings The Scream, 1895, Edvard Munch CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images Vampire, 191618, Edvard Munch The Munch Museum The Girls on the Bridge, 1899 CARL COURT/AFP/GettyImages The Sick Child, 1925, Edvard Munch, The Munch Museum Angst, 1894, Edvard Munch The Munch Museum Jealousy, 193335, Edvard Munch Munchmuseet Puberty, 1894, Edvard Munch The Munch Museum Madonna, 1895/1902. Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Munchmuseet The Kiss, 1897, Edvard Munch The Munch Museum The Lonely Ones, 1899.Edvard Munch(1863-1944),Munchmuseet The Lonely Ones, 1899.Edvard Munch(1863-1944),Munchmuseet, Courtesy of the British Museum The theft of The Scream in 2004 also resulted in damage to the cardboard and a dirty water mark. It was taken along with his Madonna when two masked gunmen raided the Munch Museum in Oslo in broad daylight. Both were recovered two years later. The agency's new Mars rover is put through a series of tests in vacuum chambers, acoustic chambers and more to get ready for the Red Planet. While auto manufacturers built over 92 million motor vehicles for this world in 2019, NASA built just one for Mars. The Perseverance Mars rover is one of a kind, and the testing required to get it ready to roll on the mean (and unpaved) streets of the Red Planet is one of a kind as well. Because hardware cannot be repaired once the rover is on Mars, the team has to build a vehicle that can survive for years on a planet with punishing temperature shifts, constant radiation and ever-present dust. To ensure readiness, they put Perseverance through a test program tougher than the trip to Mars and the environment it will encounter once there. "Mars is hard, and everybody knows that," said project manager John McNamee of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. "What they may not realize is that to be successful at Mars, you have to test the absolute heck out of the thing here on Earth." While the unique tests performed for the project number in the thousands, here's a handful that stand out. The Sound and Fury It is no secret that loud noises can be detrimental to your hearing. They can also be detrimental to a spacecraft, at least when they're at the level encountered atop the launch vehicle during liftoff. Those punishing decibels can actually cause parts and components to come loose. Long before the rover was shipped to Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for this summer's launch, engineers put it in a special chamber at JPL and, using nitrogen-charged speakers, blasted away at it with random waves of sound as high as about 143 decibels -- louder than what you'd encounter standing behind a roaring jet engine. On several occasions during the daylong acoustical test, they halted to inspect the rover and its surroundings, looking for anything that might have loosened, broken or fallen off. Some fasteners attaching spacecraft components had to be tightened and a few electrical cables replaced, but the mission team came away with increased confidence that while Perseverance will certainly be shaken during launch, nothing should stir. Oh, Chute Ask any member of the Mars 2020 mission's entry, descent and landing team, and they'll tell you there's little point in traveling through 314 million miles (505 million kilometers) of interplanetary space if you can't stick the landing. At 70.5 feet (21.5 meters) in diameter, the rover's supersonic parachute has everything to do with making that happen. A lot of work goes into ensuring a chute deploys right and can do the job without shredding or getting tangled. Perseverance's parachute is based on the design successfully flown by Mars Curiosity in 2012. However, since Perseverance is slightly heavier than Curiosity, engineers strengthened their parachute design. But how to be sure it will do what is expected of it? Test, test, test. First, the team focused on verifying the chute would hold up under the strain of slowing a fast-moving spacecraft down in the Martian atmosphere. In the summer of 2017, they traveled to the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at NASA's Ames Research in California's Silicon Valley to observe trial chute deployments close up in a wind tunnel, checking workmanship and looking for any unexpected behavior. More complex evaluations would come between March and September 2018. The team tested the chute three times in Mars-relevant conditions, using Black Brant IX sounding rockets launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Research Facility in Virginia. The final test flight, on Sept. 7, exposed the chute to a 67,000-pound (37,000-kilogram) load -- the highest ever survived by a supersonic parachute and about 85% higher than what the mission's chute is expected to encounter during deployment in Mars' atmosphere. The team also tested the chute's deployment mortar. Perseverance's parachute is packed into an aluminum canister so tightly, it has the density of oak. The mortar is a cylindrical canister cradled atop the aeroshell, which encapsulates the rover. At the time of deployment, an explosive propellant at the base of the mortar will launch the carefully bundled array of nylon, Technora and Kevlar at just the right velocity and trajectory into the Martian slipstream. Mortar deployment evaluations took place in the winter of 2019 at a test facility in central Washington. The temperature of the mortar canister during the first test synched closely with the ambient air temperature -- about 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius). The second and third were executed with the mortar chilled to minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 55 degrees Celsius) -- well below the temperature at which the mortar is expected to fire during the actual deployment at Mars (14 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 10 degrees Centigrade). The mortar passed all three tests with flying colors. Running Hot and Cold The Sun's rays heat a white-painted rover differently than they would, say, a Mars boulder. To better understand what temperature-sensitive instruments and subsystems will encounter, the team tested Perseverance's "thermal model." In October 2019, they placed the rover in JPL's 25-foot-wide, 85-foot-tall (8-meter-by-26-meter) vacuum chamber for a daylong test, where powerful xenon lamps several floors below beamed upward, hitting a mirror at the top of the chamber to drench the spacecraft with light. After the lamps warmed up and reached the same intensity of sunlight the rover will encounter at its landing site in Jezero Crater, an engineer climbed in and measured the "sunlight" reaching different portions of the rover. Data from the test was used to update the rover's thermal model, giving the team the assurance they needed to proceed with next step in ground-based cold testing. Once the solar-intensity tests concluded, engineers closed the doors and evacuated the majority of the atmosphere in the chamber to simulate Mars' thin atmosphere, which has about 1% the atmospheric density of Earth. Then the chamber was chilled to minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 129 degrees Celsius), and for a weeklong subsystems check, they ran computer programs, raised the remote sensing mast and antennas, turned wheels, and deployed the Mars Helicopter to make sure the rover can handle even the coldest Martian nights. Camera Ready The Mars 2020 mission is launching 25 cameras to the Red Planet, a record number for an interplanetary expedition. After installation, each camera bound for the Red Planet had to undergo an "eye" exam. With a camera called WATSON, which is tasked with taking close-up pictures and (if needed) video of rock textures, project engineers recorded the scene as they danced and waved. The goal: to determine the imager's frame rate and exposure time, and the ability of its computer to hold and transfer the data. For other imagers, the test was a little more formal and rigorous. The process is called machine-vision calibration and involves using target boards featuring grids to establish a baseline for a camera's optical performance. The result? The mission's vision was 2020. About the Mars 2020 Mission Whether they are working on final assembly of the vehicle at Kennedy Space Center, testing software and subsystems at JPL, or (as the majority of the team is doing) teleworking due to coronavirus safety precautions, the Perseverance team remains on track to meet the opening of the rover's launch period. No matter what day Perseverance launches, it will land at Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. The Perseverance rover's astrobiology mission will search for signs of ancient microbial life. It will also characterize the planet's climate and geology, collect samples for future return to Earth, and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet. The Perseverance rover mission is part of a larger program that includes missions to the Moon as a way to prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. Charged with returning astronauts to the Moon by 2024, NASA will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028 through NASA's Artemis lunar exploration plans. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Lina Attalah, Editor in Chief of the Egyptian investigative media outlet Mada Masr, was arrested on 17 May when she was interviewing a human rights activist outside Cairo's Tora Prison complex before being released a few hours later. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns this act of intimidation against independent media and urges the authorities to stop the crackdown on media. Lina Attalah was interviewing Laila Soueif, mother of imprisoned activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, when security officials arrested her, confiscating her phone and denying her legal counsel. According to media reports, she was released hours later following a bail payment of EGP 2000 (115). The reasons for the arrest remain undisclosed. Attalah is an award-winning journalist who has been working as a reporter for more than 15 years and now is the editor-in-chief of Mada Masr media, an online outlet that investigates corruption and security. Its website has been unavailable since 2017 when the Egyptian government shutdown over 500 sites but is still publishing content using VPN and mirror sites to avoid the blockade. A state-led campaign against journalists The arrest of Lina Atallah occurs in the context of a state-led campaign against journalists named "case number 586". Case number 586 is a campaign to arrest journalists in Egypt on charges of participating in terrorist groups and spreading "fake news". Among the journalists in custody due to this campaign are Sameh Hanin, Haitham Hassan Mahjoub and producer Moataz Abdel Wahab. Media reported that their arrests were related to their coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to legal experts, their arrests are a new case of fabricated charges by the Egyptian security and judicial services to target journalists and human rights activists. Egyptian authorities have a damning record of abusing journalists and muzzling press freedom. In recent months, the IFJ condemned the arrest of journalists Hossam El-Sayed and Solafa Magdy, who were accused of terrorist activities. This followed a string of arrests targeting journalists and activists, in October 2019. The IFJ has repeatedly called on the authorities to stop the repression of media. A few days ago, ex-Bigg Boss contestant, Devoleena Bhattacharjee quarantined herself as her cook came in contact with a Coronavirus patient. Another ex-Bigg Boss contestant, Rahul Mahajan and his wife Natalya quarantined themselves after their cook tested positive for the Coronavirus. As per the latest report, Choti Sarrdaarni actor, Amal Sehrawat's building in Andheri West has been sealed, after a person tested positive for the coronavirus. The actor told IANS that it came as a shock to them but soon, due to the efficient residents' association, they were informed that the person had mild symptoms, which gave them a lot of relief. Amal was quoted by IANS as saying, "No resident is allowed to go outside the building, there is a dedicated and limited time alloted to people to collect deliveries from the building reception, visitors are not allowed in the building except healthcare professionals." He feels that there is nothing to be scared of and they just need to be extra precautious. The actor further said that a dedicated lift has been assigned for the patient and his family and sanitisation is being done after fixed intervals. Amal also wished speedy recovery to the residents and all patients; and requested people not to step out until necessary. He also urged people, who go out, to take proper precautions like maintaining social distancing. (With IANS Inputs) Also Read: Rahul Mahajan And Wife Natalya's Cook Tests Positive For COVID-19; Couple Quarantined For 14 Days Four migrant workers were killed and 15 others injured after a bus they were travelling in crashed into a truck in Maharashtras Yavatmal early on Tuesday, news agency ANI reported. The bus was travelling from Solapur to Jharkhand, ANI said. More details are awaited. This is the latest in the series of accidents involving migrants labourers in the country as they are making their way home amid the lockdown clamped to reduce the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Before Tuesdays accident, three migrant labourers were killed and more than 12 injured after a vehicle carrying them overturned on a highway late on Monday in Uttar Pradeshs Mahoba. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 23:42:29|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- China had rooted out 3,120 mafia-like organizations and 9,888 criminal groups as of April since a national crackdown operation against such crimes was launched in early 2018, according to China's national office against organized crime. A total of 388,442 suspects had been held in custody on criminal charges, and 67,190 people had been investigated for corruption and for sheltering organized crimes, the office said at a press conference on Tuesday. The office pledged tougher actions against such crimes amid efforts to achieve the goals of the national crackdown operation against organized crime. The Ministry of Public Security started a special operation to hunt down 1,712 fugitives involved in organized crimes on April 9. Up to 66.6 percent of the listed targets who hid on the mainland have been seized, according to the office. Enditem Cambridge University has become the first university in the world to axe all face-to-face lectures until summer 2021 due to 'rigid social distancing.' Britain's second oldest university said that because social distancing appeared to be likely to continue for a long time, 'there will be no face-to-face lectures during the next academic year.' The institution, which prides itself on academic rigour, did not say how it would continue to maintain the highest standards with students kept at range. Other universities, including Oxford, Edinburgh and Cardiff, are planning a mixture of on-campus and remote lectures from the start of the academic year. A spokesman for Cambridge told the MailOnline: 'Lectures will continue to be made available online and it may be possible to host smaller teaching groups in person, as long as this conforms to social distancing requirements. Cyclists and pedestrians move along Trinity Street past St Johns College, University of Cambridge (file photo from 2014) 'This decision has been taken now to facilitate planning, but as ever, will be reviewed should there be changes to official advice on coronavirus.' BBC presenter Mary Beard, a professor of classics at the prestigious university, has sided with angered students over the decision. Prof Beard tweeted this morning: 'I am rather on the Cambridge students side over moving all lectures online next year (though I dont shed quite so many tears about some aspects of Freshers week!) but it IS complicated. (What is meant by lectures for a start).Wd have been nice to hear someone explain rationale.' The University of Oxford said students will have face to face teaching and research supervision from September, but 'high quality online activities' will be delivered 'where necessary' The University of Oxford's Pro-Vice Chancellor for Education, Prof Martin Williams, set out plans for the first term of the academic year to Oxford students earlier this week, saying: 'Face-to-face teaching and research supervision will be complemented by high quality online activities where necessary, delivered by Oxfords world-leading academic staff and drawing on the exceptionally rich resources available through our colleges, laboratories, libraries and collections. The University is constantly adapting to changing advice as it emerges during this pandemic. Given that it is likely that social distancing will continue to be required, the University has decided there will be no face-to-face lectures during the next academic year. It comes after the Office for Students said university chiefs had to give students 'absolute clarity' about what their future 'campus experience' would be. Universities are still able to charge full fees while offering online courses. Cambridge is the first to take such a dramatic step, although the University of Manchester had announced last week it would be going online for at least the first (autumn) semester. Students from across the country have raised concern over the decision. A history student tweeted earlier today: 'If Cambridge university goes online for the next academic year, how many others will also do the same? This is such a confusing and uncertain time.' Another added: 'I don't want to spend 9,250 to be taught on Zoom.' Almost all campuses have been closed since April, offering classes online, and graduating students have been notified there will be no traditional ceremonies. A University of Edinburgh spokesman said: 'We intend to provide outstanding education for all of our students, wherever they are in the world. 'Travel restrictions may prevent some students from being on-campus, so we intend to use a hybrid approach - a blend of on-campus teaching with online elements that allows everyone to continue with their programmes.' Cardiff University's spokesman said: 'Whilst its still early to provide absolute clarity on what this will look like for individual students, there is likely to be a combination of on-campus provision and online learning.' In a leaked email obtained by Cambridge's Varsity newspaper, Head of Education Services, Alice Benton wrote to Senior Tutors on Tuesday to inform them of the decision. Ms Benton wrote that 'rigid social distancing' was 'highly likely' throughout the next two semesters. Lectures will be live streamed and will also be recorded and uploaded for students to view in their own time. The institution, which prides itself on academic rigour, did not say how it would continue to maintain the highest standards with students kept at range (file photo) The email adds that preparations are underway to ensure 'the delivery of lectures online will be of the best possible quality.' It also adds that by keeping the lecture theatres free, departments will be able to use them for teaching smaller groups and allowing for ample social distancing. Ms Benton's email added that the decisions have been made 'on the understanding that it may be possible to roll back from this position should social distancing measures be lifted and large gatherings permitted later in the academic year.' A Rwandan tycoon charged over the countrys 1994 genocide and arrested in France over the weekend will challenge a bid to extradite him to an international court, his lawyers said Tuesday. Felicien Kabuga, 84, one of the last key fugitives wanted over the genocide, was arrested at his home outside Paris on Saturday after living for years under a false identity. He appeared Tuesday before Paris prosecutors in the first stage of a process that may see him handed over to an international court. Kabuga once one of Rwandas richest men was indicted by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1997 on seven counts, including genocide. The tribunal formally closed in 2015 and its duties have since been taken over by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT). If extradited, Kabuga is expected to be tried at the MICTs branch in Arusha in Tanzania. Kabuga opposes his transfer to Arusha, said his lawyers Laurent Bayon and Emmanuel Altit in a statement. Kabuga was escorted from his Paris prison to the hearing with prosecutors at the Paris court of appeal. He was then formally notified of the MICT arrest warrant. A milestone He will appear before the investigation chamber of the court of appeal which will examine the warrant and give an opinion over whether he should be extradited to the MICT. That hearing should take place on Wednesday but the defence wants it delayed to May 27. After the hearing, the chamber will have 15 days to deliver its ruling. Even if the chamber rules in favour of extradition, Kabuga can still take his case to Frances Court of Cassation which would have two months to give a ruling. Around 800,000 people Tutsis but also moderate Hutus were slaughtered over 100 days by ethnic Hutu extremists during the 1994 genocide. Kabuga is accused of creating the notorious Interahamwe militia that carried out massacres and the Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines which, in its broadcasts, incited people to murder. He is alleged to have used his wealth and influence during the genocide to funnel money to militia groups as chairman of the Fonds de Defense Nationale (FDN) fund. The US State Department hailed the arrest as a milestone for international justice, and a message to all fugitives indicted for genocide that they will be brought to justice. Along with former defence minister Augustin Bizimana and top-ranking military figure Protais Mpiranya both still at large Kabuga was one of the three most significant suspects still sought over the genocide. The statement by his lawyers expressed anger over the wording of the communique by Paris police over his arrest Saturday which they said presented him as one of the main instigators of the genocide when no trial has taken place. The Zonta Club of Midland recently helped economically struggling women of Midland County get a chance at a more secure future by donating $1,140 to Helping Hands Dental Center (HHDC). "Frequently we see young women who are in school, trying to better themselves, and on extremely tight budgets," said Robyn Dorrien, executive director. "Most are trying to balance school, motherhood, maintain a household and manage their own health. Their own parents might not have placed much value on seeing a dentist regularly or at all. This Zonta grant will help us pay for procedures and co-pays that their Medicaid Insurance can't or won't cover. Every time we help one of these women with their smile, it helps them with their own self confidence level and helps them in their next job interview or work promotions. We thank the Zonta Club members on behalf of our patients and for allowing us to feel our own sense of personal accomplishment and mission success when someone's treatment has been completed." An independent presidential aspirant for the 2020 elections, Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah, has urged Ghanaians not to allow the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to destroy Ghanas 2020 elections with the debate over a voters register and biometric database. It is clear that the NDC and the NPP do not know the difference between voters register and biometric database, he stated. He said the two major political parties displayed their ignorance of the difference between a New Voters Register and a New Biometric Data when they held their press conferences on May 14, 2020 This was contained in a letter addressed to the chairman of the NPC and copied to the Eminent Advisory Committee of the EC on the issue of biometric database and a new voters register. New Biometric Data He said in 2012, Ghana decided to procure a top-edge and expensive Biometric Voter Management System Technology (BVMS) to address the dishonesty and rigging in Ghanas previous elections. The process in creating a credible voter register requires that a technology is used to enhance accuracy for voters to exercise their sovereign franchise. The technology procured is a means to create an end (New Voters Register), he said. Mr Yeboah said the technology did not make the register new or old, explaining that the technology procured determined the process required to create a credible voters register. In summary, to get an accurate and credible new voters register, the biometric data gathered is used to ensure that the voter is identified to cast his/her vote based on universal adult suffrage, he added. 2020 elections Mr Yeboah said Ghanas Biometric Voter Management System (BVMS) required capturing of biometrics data (fingerprints and facial) and biodata (name, photo, age, address, hometown, etc) of voters. He explained that the BVMS also included hardware viz the biometric voters register (BVR) kits, biometric voter devices (BVDS), software, communication gadgets and data centre that were used to ensure quality and to protect data losses of voters. He said the capturing of the biometrics was the bottleneck event without which the biometric data could not be updated, which would mean the credibility and accuracy of the new voters register for the 2020 elections would become questionable. From the above explanation of how a new register is needed for each election and how biometric data ensures a credible new register, it is clear that there cannot be elections in 2020 if there is no new biometrically verified register, he stressed. Mr Yeboah said barring the technical issues of integrating the biometric template of the old BVMS and the new BVMS, the old existing biometric data of voters had more than a million dead voters and other undesirables that affected the credibility of the biometric voter register that would be created for the 2020 elections. He challenged the NDC to tell Ghanaians how the 2020 credible voters register could be created without an updated or new biometric data with the newly acquired BVMS. Compiling all voter biometric data can enable EC to eliminate most errors and improve fingerprint and photos storage. COVID-19 cannot be used to disenfranchise eligible new voters as it will be unconstitutional, he stressed. Limited registration He suggested that if COVID-19 could not be dealt with then the EC should consider limited registration with a Constitutional Instrument (CI) for compulsory verification and validation of all voters for the 2020 elections. Any voter that fails to verify and validate shall be expunged from the register. Such a compromise should be the best alternative to compile a new voters biometric data, he stated. Mr Yeboah said should Ghanaians decide not to allow the EC to update the biometric data due to COVID-19, the constitutional provision to form a new interim government shall be followed with new appointments not based on partisan orientation. He, therefore, urged the EC to take all those issues into consideration and take the best stance that could still offer Ghana, a credible new register for the 2020 elections. 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 The total number of Covid-19 cases reached 5,629 in Rajasthan on Tuesday after 122 new cases and one death was reported in the state. Out of the total number of cases, 3,219 have recovered, 2,271 are active cases, and 139 deaths have been reported. With a single-day jump of 4,970 cases, the Covid-19 count in India breached the one lakh mark on Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total Covid-19 cases in the country reached 1,01,139. As many as 134 deaths were reported due to the disease in the past 24 hours, taking the toll to 3,163. Out of the total confirmed cases, 39,174 have been cured/discharged/migrated so far. This comes two days after the nationwide lockdown was extended till May 31. In these unprecedented times, it has grown ever more crucial for businesses to support their employees as people, and not just as workers. Working parents are under an enormous amount of pressure. Currently, Statista reports that a full 38 percent of employees have been asked to work from home. Theoretically, the request is a best-case scenario; with remote working capabilities, businesses can keep achieving, and employees can keep earning without fear of job loss. But a lot of people have kids and during the coronavirus crisis, the vast majority of working parents are forced to juggle their professional to-do lists with their parenting responsibilities. Related: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs limited screen time for their kids Working from home isnt so easy when youre also tasked with being the sole caretaker for your children all day. The risk of contagion prevents working parents from enlisting their usual sources of help during the workday; grandparents, babysitters, friends and neighbors are all out of reach. This lack of support makes it exponentially more difficult for employees to execute their usual workload. As journalist Corinne Purtill puts the matter in an article for the New York Times, The only thing more distracting than working at home with kids is having an actual elephant in your living room. But for some, the distraction isnt only having the kids at home its needing to educate them, too. Nationwide, the vast majority of schools have shut down for at least the next few weeks. Nine states have shuttered academic institutions until the end of May; eight have closed for the remainder of the academic year. Many parents, including those in my home state of New York, have been suddenly tasked with supporting their kids through untested remote learning programs. Its stressful because I am receiving six to seven emails from my daughters school each day, working parent Stephanie Caudle told the New York Post of her experience. I often stress if Im doing it right and if my child is going to fall behind because I am currently juggling so much. Businesses need to be conscious of the multiple responsibilities working parents hold during the average workday. Now more than ever, company leaders must be thoughtful, empathetic and responsive to the needs of those they rely on to drive their business forward. Here are a few steps you can take. Be exhaustive when rethinking your expectations. You may think you know what to expect from your remote workers but do you? Sit down with your HR representative to figure out how task allocation and hourly expectations might change for working parents during the pandemic. How much work can parents realistically complete during a workday at home? What support might they need to complete their assigned to-do lists? Establishing a fair baseline for working expectations will save everyone involved from unnecessary stress and overwork down the road. Related: 5 Reasons Why Kids Make Amazing Entrepreneurs That said, dont limit your thinking to a baseline. Be exhaustive in your thinking; brainstorm through various COVID-19 scenarios. What, for instance, would you do if an employee is caring for a sick relative and can only put in so many hours? What will you need to do if you need to furlough teams? Be specific in your thinking the last thing you want is to inadvertently put stress on your business or employees because you failed to plan for adverse outcomes. Proactively provide employees with information about leave policies. We live in uncertain times. Employees need to know what their options are if they do get sick or need to care for an ill family member. Company leaders should proactively provide information both on their own leave policies and the aid provided by recent legislation. The federal government passed an aid package that includes funding to support sick workers and those who need to care for children who are at home due to coronavirus closures. The legislation provides workers at companies of under 500 employees ten days of immediately-available paid sick leave during the pandemic. It also establishes a new federal paid leave program for working caretakers. Eligible workers can receive benefits for a month, receiving two-thirds of their average monthly earnings up to a cap of $4,000. Work with your human resources department to explain available supportive measures to working parents and assist individual workers with their paperwork if need be. Dont only think of your full-time employees, either also provide information to any temporary or part-time workers that aid in your operations. Learn how to be flexible. What allowances can you make for your employee base? Can you give them more sick time outside of federal benefits? Is there a way to provide some working parents the opportunity to go part-time or have flexible working hours? Some companies have already taken such measures. According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, Google has given employees who are caring for children or family members two additional weeks of leave in the event of any school or care facility closure. If they use that two-week allotment, affected staffers still have the option to use their usual four weeks of paid leave. Related: 10 Tips for Entrepreneurs to Actually Get Work Done While ... Obviously, those privileges are considerable and not feasible for many smaller companies. However, there are smaller measures that company leaders can take. Work with your team to institute flexible working arrangements and provide support to those who can no longer handle their full workload. Above all else, treat your employees as people first; recognize that they have worries and need empathetic support now more than ever before. We are going to have to be patient and understanding of ourselves, our kids and each other, one New York Times journalist wrote of the remote-working paradigm shift. The challenge economically will be whether employers are able to do that too. I believe that we can, if only we try hard enough. Related: 6 Predictions for How This Crisis Will Impact Small Businesses Long-Term Secrets From a Navy SEAL on Courage During Crisis Why Every Franchise Should Pivot Right Now Copyright 2020 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Ex-Moscow Region tax official gets 4-year suspended term for fraud RAPSI, Vladimir Burnov 15:59 19/05/2020 MOSCOW, May 19 (RAPSI) A former chief of division of work with taxpayers of the Federal Tax Services Istra Inspection in the Moscow Regiona Olga Mikheyeva has received a 4-year suspended sentence for fraud, the Investigative Committees press service has told RAPSI. She has been also ordered to a 4-year probation after the servicement of the sentence. According to the court ruling, in August 2019, Mikheyeva was arrested when attempting to receive 3.2 million rubles ($44,000) from a businessman. She promised the man not to include his cleaning company in the field tax audit plan. The court also found that one more crime count was committed by the woman in 2018. She received 5 million rubles (about $70,000) from the same businessman for the similar service, the statement reads. Hungary bans legal recognition of its transgender citizens: Hungarian lawmakers have approved legislation banning the legal recognition of transgender citizens. Amendments to the law on the birth, death and marriage registry, approved mostly by deputies from Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, will prevent transgender or intersex people from legally changing their gender to match their gender identity. The bill changes the "sex" category in official documents such as birth certificates to "sex at birth," defined as the "biological sex determined by primary sex characteristics and chromosomes." Once determined, the birth sex category cannot be changed. The legislation has come under strong criticism from rights groups. Rumours spark interest in one of several sub-ethnic groups of the Chut ethnic minority, located in Minh Hoa and Tuyen Hoa districts of Quang Binh. The May people, a sub-ethnic group in Quang Binh Province, may not have a written tradition, but they do have an old and rich culture, passed down the generations orally. From ancient times to the present, the sub-ethnic May group has always lived in high mountains and at the heads of rivers. Photo tienphong.vn A correspondent from Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper recently investigated the group after various local media reports said they had fled into a forest in Lom Village, Trong Hoa Commune, Minh Hoa District to hide from the COVID-19 pandemic. The group is one of several sub-ethnic groups of the Chut ethnic minority, located in Minh Hoa and Tuyen Hoa districts of Quang Binh. Running away? A month ago, media reports surfaced that the May people had abandoned their houses to flee to the forest to protect themselves from the coronavirus. Doan Ngoc Lam, secretary of Minh Hoa District Party Committee, said May people believed in the protection of the forest god and the mountain god. If one understood their culture and habits, their decision to hide in the forest would make sense, he said. The May people trust their god Ku Loong and if they go to the forest, they will be nearer to their god and be protected, he added. A worker of Trong Hoa Commune Peoples Committee said the May people were afraid of ghosts and if a person in the village dies, they cower in fear. So fleeing to the forest was logical when they heard about a deadly disease. However, Lam added, living in the forest was not good, especially for children, so authorities will try to educate them, on the pandemic and preventive measures. But Ho Thi Thoi, Party secretary of Trong Hoa Commune, dismissed the reports, saying the local people often stay in the forests for a few days for cultivation work as the weather is favourable for seeding during this time of the year. The lives of the May people still revolve around hunting and gathering. Photo tienphong.vn Eldest brothers mission The May group currently numbers 1,500 people, living in the Giang Man mountain range. Though we're deep into the 21st century, the lives of the May people mostly revolve around hunting and gathering. Although their lives are difficult and they have some customs considered backward, they have a rich and unique cultural treasure which has helped them survive and develop in the remote region. The May people believe that the Toong Vooc, Ku Loong, Y Rang and Y Hon peaks are illustrious gods in the majestic Giang Man mountain range. But the god they most often mention is Ku Loong. The May groups legend said the god Ku Loong gave birth to an egg and the egg hatched into three people. The eldest was the May, the younger brother was the Khua and the youngest was Nguon, both other sub-ethnic groups. The eldest brother May was entrusted with protecting the land, water resources and killing beasts so his younger brothers could live in peace. Because of this noble mission, from ancient times to present, the sub-ethnic May group always lived in high mountains and at the heads of rivers. Ku Loong also showed the leader of the May people how to make bow and arrows with poison, how to trap animals and how to train wild bees to drive away enemies. From Ku Loongs teachings, the May people created weapons and defeated their enemies. They became great warriors of other villages and were privileged to live in majestic mountains. The high mountains became like an impregnable fortress helping the May people fight enemies and wild animals. Sharing water As well as mountains, the May people have a long association with water, and indeed "May" in their language means water. They are well aware of the importance of this resource, not only for them but also for other groups living downstream. Their legends speak of many attempts to poison their water resources but they could not access the water well of god Ku Tec thanks to the May peoples bravery. At the end of the year, the May people hold a ceremony to divide rainwater from their roofs or from an upstream stream. The water is divided by an honourable person. Each household gets about one litre of water, to remind everyone in the group of the importance of water and the need to share natural resources. The May people believe water is from the sky and the mountain. Water is flexible and supple, strong and violent and brings fish, shrimp and good crops. Understanding water and protecting water is a long-time philosophy of the May people. Music Dinh Thanh Du, a local cultural researcher, said the May peoples legends said that god Ku Loong gave the Khua people a book written on a leaf and gave the May people a book written on a buffalo skin. The May people's book was exposed to sun, rain and then eaten by a dog. Since then, the May people have had no written tradition but oral only. As they lost writing, the May people were blessed with an extraordinary memory and most of them remember well stories about their historical progress, the researcher said. They have a lot of songs used in different conditions such as lullabies, wedding and funeral tunes and songs about their homeland. May village patriarch Ho Khien said that their unique cultural heritage of singing all started from their love of their homeland and their lives in harmony with nature. VNS Ethnic-minority groups face child, incestuous marriages Both child marriages and incestuous marriages among ethnic minority groups have been a long-term problem for local administrations in Nghe An and Quang Binh, although they have taken measures to curb them over the years. The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy military personnel to some troubled states in the country. The lawmakers who made the call during Tuesdays plenary also commended the President for ordering military action against bandits in Katsina State but noted that some other states also needed such strong and decisive actions. The Senators listed the states as Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi, Niger and Sokoto. The call from the lawmakers followed the consideration of a motion on the need to integrate adjoining States of Niger, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi and Sokoto to the ongoing military action against bandits in Katsina. The motion was sponsored by Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (Niger North). Members of the upper legislative chamber also called on the Military and the Police to increase their surveillance operation to track movements by these armed bandits. Senator Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto East) while contributing to the motion on the Senate floor, lamented that no fewer that 5,000 members of his constituency have since fled to take refuge in Niger Republic due to the activities of the bandits. He said: The fallout of this is the grinding poverty ravaging the affected people in form of serious hunger since their cows and other animals are being stolen and even money made from some of the cows they hurriedly sold. The situation is so bad that we only get help from Niger Republic and not from Nigeria at all, be it from the Military or the Police. The affected people cannot perpetually be at the mercy of Nigerien soldiers and still be expected to proudly see themselves as Nigerians. Very urgent drastic action is required from President Buhari through the military in form of expansion of anti-banditry operation currently being carried out in Zamfara and Katsina State to Sokoto State. Senator Abdullahi in his lead debate said the legislators are aware President Muhammadu Buhari had authorized the commencement of a major military operation to sweep bandits and kidnappers out of Katsina state; as major proactive measures by Special Forces to replace the reactive strikes against the camps of these bandits and criminals. He noted that, the criminalities by these armed bandits and kidnappers is carried out mostly under the cover of the contiguous forests reserves and areas stretching from Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger States with pockets of safe havens in Kebbi and Asokoro states. He, therefore, called on the military offensive to be extended to other neighboring states to ensure the bandits dont find cover in such places. A major offensive in Katsina State alone is likely to make the armed bandits and kidnappers seek safer haven in Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger states which hosts the Zurmi and Kamuku forests among others, further compounding the plight of hapless and poor communities along these forest corridors. It was the earlier massive operations in Zamfara and Kaduna states that led the armed bandits to seek safe haven elsewhere, thus moving into Katsina and Niger States respectively. President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, in his remarks, noted that the security challenges in the country are enormous but will surely be overcome. Nigeria is definitely up to the task and Mr President will deploy military to the areas for restoration of sanity as gradually being witnessed in Zamfara and Katsina States, Lawan said. Share this post with your Friends on A group of 26 girls from the northeast studying in a school for the underprivileged in Himachal Pradesh have been stranded here since March, anxiously counting the weeks and days till they finally get to go home. Without mobile phones, iPads and other accoutrements of their more affluent counterparts, the girls, from the ages of eight to 15, are staying at a hostel run by the Sanatan Veda Gurukulam in south Delhi's Nehru Nagar locality. There is no TV and only one common phone but the girls 16 from Nagaland, four from Assam and six from Manipur make do. They were supposed to take a train on March 22, the day of the Janta Curfew, and could not. Three days later, the nationwide lockdown to curtail the spread of coronavirus came into effect and they are still waiting. They study at the Government Senior Secondary School in Daihan, Palampur, are supported by the Bhartiya Janseva Sansthan and live in a hostel run by the group. The girls are now hoping to get tickets on a special train being run by the Railways but the wait is long, and agonising. Among the youngest in the group is eight-year-old Nandini from Dimapur in Nagaland who is desperate to meet her mother. "My mother is waiting for me. It has been a year since I met her. I am missing her very much and just want to sleep in her lap. I talk to her on phone but not much as there is only one phone," Nandini told PTI. Her father died some years ago and her mother, a farmer, supports the family of five. Deepa, a Class 8 student from Guwahati, said her mother is worried about her health as Delhi falls in the red zone but she has been assuring her all is well. Ma is worried about my health and whether I will get home or not. The summer break is about to get over. She has given a lot of instructions since the situation in Delhi is not good. I have assured her that we don't step out of the campus," she said. The responsibility for the group falls on their warden Sheetal Kayat, who has been busy fielding calls from parents and assuring them that their children are being taken care of. They were supposed to leave on March 22 and their tickets were also pre-booked but the Janta Curfew was announced and then the lockdown happened. The parents of these girls are naturally worried considering the situation of Delhi which falls in the red zone," she said. Apart from health worries, there is also a cash crunch. All our tickets have been cancelled and it takes time to get refunds. We didn't have money to book new tickets so we contacted the Palampur local administration through a women's helpline number. They have deposited Rs 30,000 in our account,'' Kayat said. The Gurukul staff helped the group get medical checks and also informed the local police. We have been trying to get tickets since the day special trains were announced but there is only one train till Guwahati and no tickets are available till the end of this month. We need more than 25 tickets together which is also an issue. We can't do anything other than wait," said Sameer Upadhyay from the Gurukul. The girls are unable to attend online classes as they don't have mobile phones or laptops. They are confined to the Gurukul and live in a big hall following social distancing and hygiene rules to ward off COVID-19. The day is spent playing volleyball, drawing and group singing. They have formed groups which take turns in cooking meals, including staples such as poha', dalia', chapati', rice, dal and vegetables. We keep assuring each other that we will go home soon. We maintain social distancing and use masks and sanitisers. Instead of tea or coffee we have homemade kadha' (a decoction of herbs)," said Aditi, the daughter of a carpenter from a village in Nagaland's Peren district. Aditi , who studies in class 11, is aware of the spread of corona pandemic across the world and the importance of social distancing. Kayat said all the girls are from humble backgrounds and make no demands. "They never fight and are very caring. They do not demand anything otherwise can you imagine girls at this age living without going out or TV and mobile phones," she said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Advertisement Dropping contact tracing early in the coronavirus outbreak was the 'right thing to do' because the UK did not have testing capacity, one of the government's most senior advisers insisted today. Dame Angela McLean, chief science adviser at the Ministry of Defence, said the advice given to ministers to abandon efforts to track individual cases 'took account of the testing that was available'. At the Downing Street briefing this evening, she said: 'With the testing we had the right thing to do was to focus it on people who were really sick in hospital... it was the right thing to do at the time.' She said the 'scientific advice would be that you need to have a rapid and reliable testing system'. Asked if that was now true, Dame Angela replied: 'I think it is getting better.' Environment Secretary George Eustice stopped short of conceding explicitly that policy was driven by limits on testing capability, merely saying efforts were made to 'build the capacity'. 'We wwere building it very rapidly from a very early stage,' he said. The admission came after the MPs said hospital staff, care home workers and residents were put at risk because of a lack of for screening 'when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant'. Routine testing for those with symptoms was abandoned on March 12, when the government shifted to its 'delay' phase, with checks reserved for hospital patients and health staff. But the cross-party MPs said the failure to ramp up testing for the disease was the 'most consequential' error in the crisis, and crippled efforts to trace, track and isolate Britons with the disease. Anger is also rising on the Tory backbenches, with one MP likening the response to the famous Morecambe and Wise comedy sketch where composer Andre Previn tells Eric he is 'playing all the wrong notes' in a piano piece, and he responds that he is 'playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order'. As a furious blame game erupted over the government response today, Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey claimed blunders on testing and care homes were down to 'wrong' science advice. Pushed on whether the government had made mistakes, Ms Coffey told Sky News that ministers could 'only make judgements and decisions based on the information and advice that we have at the time'. 'If the science advice at the time was wrong I am not surprised people think we made the wrong decision,' she said. In another tumultuous day in the coronavirus crisis: More than 44,000 people have now been killed by COVID-19 in the UK, devastating statistics confirmed today. And more than 11,000 victims were care home residents in England and Wales; Elderly hospital patients who had coronavirus symptoms were discharged into care homes without being tested despite warnings from around the world the crisis could grip the sector, industry bosses told MPs today; UK unemployment claims soared by more than 69 per cent in April after the coronavirus lockdown gripped the labour market, official figures revealed; Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has called on Boris Johnson to start getting the economy working again and to reconsider the two-metre social distancing rule; US President Donald Trump's has been criticised for revealing he is taking a malaria drug to protect against coronavirus; Large businesses will now be able to receive up to 200 million from the government's loan scheme, which previously had a maximum pay-out of 50 million; Fresh questions have been raised about whether the government's track and trace system will be in place for June after the NHSX app was delayed, and less than a quarter of IT experts think it will be effective; Dame Angela McLean, chief science adviser at the Ministry of Defence, said the advice given to ministers to abandon efforts to track individual cases 'took account of the testing that was available' Scots Royal Regiment of Scotland take a test sample at a Covid-19 testing centre at Glasgow Airport - but the scheme was lambasted today Boris Johnson sits at the top of a complex chain of experts who have shaped crucial decisions on the coronavirus crisis. As chair of Cobra and the Cabinet, the PM has the final say on the UKs approach but ministers insist they have faithfully followed the scientific advice at all times. The governments Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance are the main gateways through which expertise is channelled to the PM from a variety of scientific committees and groups Environment Secretary George Eustice stopped short of conceding explicitly that policy was driven by limits on testing capability, merely saying efforts were made to 'build the capacity' Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey appeared to pass the buck in a round of interviews this morning, saying science advice might have been 'wrong' How the UK's testing regime chaos collapsed into chaos - and the fateful day No 10 halted community testing before the pandemic's peak The UK's testing regime is under the microscope after ministers appeared too slow to act while today the UK still has no fully functioning trace and trace app despite already easing the lockdown. March 12 is viewed as the lowest point of the crisis when the Government dropped community testing despite experts around the world warning that testing every case was the only way to cut infections and save lives. The Government has been damned by MPs for still not explaining who took the decision - or exactly why - although a lack of capacity and a lack of control over the virus' spread are the likeliest answers. This is how the testing scandal has unfolded: January 31: First confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK are two Chinese nationals staying in York while sightseeing. The Department of Health pledges to test anyone who becomes ill with the virus. February 1: China reports asymptomatic cases of coronavirus, making the testing of health workers crucial because they could be spreading the virus unknowingly. An outbreak of COVID-19 had already swamped the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan. A British man on board would later die. February 21: As the virus continues to spread across the globe, the UK Government experts conclude at a meeting that the disease is still only a 'moderate' threat to the UK. Yet in Lombardy, Italy, clusters of cases began to emerge before the north of the country was engulfed completely. March 3: South Korea manages to reduce the number of Covid-19 infections to 851 on March 3 by effectively tracking people infected with COVID-19 using an app and testing. By the end of March there would be less than 20 cases per day. Doctors urge other countries to adopt their model. March 11: Health Secretary Matt Hancock says he is 'rolling out a big expansion of testing' but fails to give a timetable and says 1,215 people have been tested for coronavirus in the UK. March 12: 24 hours later Boris Johnson was accused of mixed messages after saying that health workers will no longer test people for the virus in their homes, only when they are admitted to hospital. Anyone with symptoms, but able to care for themselves at home, would not be tested and it marked the end of the policy to 'contact trace' everyone with symptoms on, as the government's response moves from 'containment' into a 'delay' phase. Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said: 'It is no longer needed to identify every case, so we will pivot testing capacity to identify people in hospitals with symptoms to ensure they don't pass it on.' Critics have said that this is the day the Government lost control and conceded defeat on testing as cases increased and they didn't have the capacity to test every person. Downing Street has always refused to say who took the fateful decision to halt testing in the community on March 12, with many claiming it was this decision that led to it sweeping through communities and care homes. March 13: Chief Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance suggests the strategy is not to 'suppress' coronavirus completely but 'reduce the peak' as up to 60 per cent get infected. He says that means the UK will 'build up some kind of herd immunity so more people are immune to this disease'. March 16: Boris Johnson urges Britons to follow 'social distancing' guidelines as well as isolating when they have symptoms, in a change of policy after modelling found the death toll could be much higher than previously estimated. The WHO warns on slow progress with testing, saying you 'cannot fight a fire blindfolded' and urges countries to 'test, test, test'. March 17: There was more confusion as Patrick Vallance tells a Commons committee testing numbers should be higher. 'I think we need a big increase in testing, and that is what I am pushing for very hard.' March 18: Amid growing criticism, the PM declares that there will be a big expansion of tests from under 5,000 a day to 25,000. He also sets an ambition of 250,000 tests a day, although this includes potential mass antibody tests for whether people previously had the disease. March 21: Downing Street sends an email to research institutions begging for machines needed to process testing samples. No10 denies this was the first time it had raised the idea. March 27: Mr Johnson and Matt Hancock announce they have tested positive for coronavirus. Prof Whitty goes into self-isolation with symptoms. March 29: Cabinet ministers Matt Hancock and Michael Gove hail news that the UK is now carrying out 10,000 tests a day. April 1: It emerges that the UK has still not carried out 10,000 tests in a day, despite apparently having the capacity to do so. In Germany a single lab in Cologne was carrying out 10,000 tests itself. Germany would soon ramp up to 500,000 tests a week. April 2: Matt Hancock sets a target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. At the same time a goal of 25,000 tests a day by the middle of April is quietly dropped. April 5: The PM's official account causes confusion by tweeting that the target is for 100,000 people to be tested a day, rather than 100,000 tests as other ministers have suggested. Many people need more than one test in a day for clinical reasons, such as to confirm results. April 6: Mr Johnson is admitted to hospital as his symptoms fail to subside and would later spend days in intensive care. April 30: Mr Hancock declares victory with 122,000 tests in a day. However, it emerges that the government has been counting tests posted out but not actually completed. That is despite Mr Johnson and others stating the numbers are for tests 'carried out'. The numbers tumble below the target again in the following days, although the government insists capacity remains in place. May 5: Trials of an NHSX app to track who has been in proximity to infected people begin on the Isle of Wight. Chief scientific officer Patrick Vallance admits ramping up testing earlier would have been 'beneficial'. May 18: It emerges the app will not be ready for national use by 'mid-May' as planned, although Downing Street insists track and trace can start without it. Mr Hancock announces that everyone over the age of five displaying coronavirus symptoms can now apply for a test, although key workers and patients will be prioritised. May 19: A furious blame game erupted over who was to blame for coronavirus blunders on testing and care homes were down to 'wrong' science advice. The Science and Technology Committee found hospital staff, care home workers and residents were put at risk because of a lack of capacity for screening 'when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant'. The Department of Health and Public Health England have been pointing the finger at each other. Advertisement The extraordinary comment comes after the incoming president of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith, warned politicians against putting blame on to scientists. The ability to detect and crack down on cases is seen as crucial to getting the economy up and running, with unions warning workplaces and schools cannot be safe until the regime is in place. The committee hit out at Public Health England for the 'pivotal decision' to shun smaller labs and failure to make a 'rigorous assessment' of countries such as South Korea and Germany that had successfully ramped up testing. But PHE chief Duncan Selbie shot back that it was 'not responsible' for the testing strategy, which 'has been led by the Department of Health and Social Care'. He insisted 'any testing facility with the right technology and containment' could have carried out checks after security restrictions were lowered on March 3. GMB's Piers Morgan also berated Ms Coffey for mistakenly claiming that 100,000 people had been tested on a 'handful' of days. In fact, while the government says it has hit the 100,000 tests a day target, the number of people checked is lower as many need to be done more than once for clinical reasons. In a letter to Boris Johnson, committee chairman Greg Clark identified a series of lessons to learn from the UK's handling of the outbreak. He said capacity must 'urgently' be built up for contact tracing, a key tactic in helping ease existing lockdown measures. Mr Clark said: 'Testing capacity has been inadequate for most of the pandemic so far. 'Capacity was not increased early enough or boldly enough. Capacity drove strategy, rather than strategy driving capacity.' Mr Hancock announced on April 2 that he wanted to reach 100,000 daily coronavirus tests by the end of the month. The goal was reached for the first time on April 30 but sparked accusations the figures had been inflated, as they included tests which had been posted out but not completed. The milestone has been reached a handful of times since. Mr Clark said PHE had repeatedly failed to answer questions over the 'pivotal' decision to ignore mass testing in favour of other tactics. He said: 'The decision to pursue an approach of initially concentrating testing in a limited number of laboratories and to expand them gradually, rather than an approach of surging capacity through a large number of available public sector, research institute, university and private sector labs is one of the most consequential made during this crisis. 'From it followed the decision on March 12 to cease testing in the community and retreat to testing principally within hospitals.' He said the decision meant that residents in care homes and care home workers could not be tested at a time when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant. Mr Clark wrote: 'Had the public bodies responsible in this space themselves taken the initiative at the beginning of February, or even the beginning of March, rather than waiting until the Secretary of State imposed a target on April 2, knowledge of the spread of the pandemic and decisions about the response to it may have made more options available to decision makers at earlier stages.' But in a statement to the BBC, Mr Selbie said the testing strategy was not PHE's responsibility. 'PHE did not constrain or seek to control any laboratory either public, university or commercial from conducting testing,' he said. Downing Street rejected the criticism over testing. 'We set up the largest diagnostic testing industry in British history from scratch in a matter of weeks,' the PM's spokesman said. The spokesman also dodged questions about Ms Coffey's intervention, stressing 'ministers make decisions, scientists advise'. 'The PM is hugely grateful for the hard work and expertise of the UK's world-leading scientists,' the spokesman said. The Science committee identified concerns over the transparency of its Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergency) membership amid concerns political interference could affect the guidance. The report, based on evidence sessions with experts including Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government's chief scientific adviser, and Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, found the approach to dealing with asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19 was 'unclear'. Separately, a care home chief blamed delayed advice and testing during a 'critical' period for having spread coronavirus throughout homes. Barchester Healthcare chief executive Dr Pete Calveley, who said around two thirds of his homes have had Covid-19 cases, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We've had several weeks where their first reaction was to protect the NHS, where they wanted to discharge a lot of clients from hospital to make sure there was capacity for what they anticipated was a surcharge. 'And that meant a lot of people being discharged from care homes rather quickly who hadn't been tested and often we've seen where we've been doing large testing of care homes where asymptomatic staff, and particularly residents, are actually positive and therefore are freely moving through the home are infecting other residents and staff without anybody knowing about it until too late.' Dr Calveley said there was a 'critical' period of up to four weeks before testing was available and advice was issued for staff to wear professional masks and isolation for new admissions. 'None of that advice came out until it was probably too late,' he said. One former minister told the Telegraph the government's handling of the crisis was reminiscent of the famous Morecambe and Wise sketch featuring Andre Previn, the pianist and composer. The MP said: 'It's like when Previn turns to Eric and says: 'You're not playing the right notes' and Eric grabs him by the lapels and replies: 'I am playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order'. Everything has been the wrong way round.' On the plan for a 14-day quarantine period on arrivals to the UK, they added: 'That should have happened at the beginning of the crisis, not at the end.' Ms Coffey defended the Government's coronavirus testing record as having improved from a 'standing start'. Responding to the Commons Science and Technology Committee's criticism, she told BBC Breakfast: 'We had a small amount of capacity at the very start, it was solely based on Public Health England's capability of being able to have about 2,000 tests a day. 'We had little capacity early on, I recognise that, we have got a lot of capacity now. 'I think from pretty much a standing start, roughly in about mid-February I think it was, to get to a capacity and actual tests being done of 100,000 within about six weeks, I think is pretty full-on and actually I think something we can look on with pride.' The row came as Downing Street announced the NHS contact tracing app trailed on the Isle of Wight this month will be launched across the country in the 'coming weeks'. Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has called on Boris Johnson to start getting the economy working again and to reconsider the two-metre social distancing rule, after dire benefits claim figures show the highest rise since records began 50 years ago. The Tory MP told Today that unemployment depends 'first and foremost (on) how quickly are we able to get the economy moving'? 'We need to get that moving as quick as possible and I've certainly been arguing that for some weeks now,' he said. Ministers 'must stop claiming they are following the science' Ministers should stop claiming they are 'following the science' and stop passing the buck in the battle against coronavirus, a leading scientist has demanded. Sir Adrian Smith, 73, a statistician and the the incoming president of the Royal Society, said politicians are justifying their measures by saying they are following expert advice to appear decisive. He warned that blame should not be passed to scientists as the government are the ones implementing and making decisions in the battle against coronavirus. Sir Adrian also blasted the government's decision to make decisions behind closed doors, adding 'openness and transparency would have been a better option'. A full list of members of the government's secretive SAGE committee, which has advised on tackling the virus, was only published two weeks ago and minutes from its meetings have still to be released. Furious MPs have previously demanded research papers underpinning the government's coronavirus strategy are immediately released. Advertisement On social distancing, Sir Iain said 'we're the only country certainly in Europe that I know of' that uses the two-metre rule. 'I think when it comes to the hospitality sector, I think we do need to look at it very carefully,' he said. 'So we do need to look at how they manage that process and give them some flexibility. Meanwhile, ministers have been told to stop claiming they are 'following the science' and stop passing the buck in the battle against coronavirus. Sir Adrian Smith, 73, a statistician and the the incoming president of the Royal Society, said politicians are justifying their measures by saying they are following expert advice to appear decisive. He warned that blame should not be passed to scientists as the government are the ones implementing and making decisions in the battle against coronavirus. Sir Adrian also blasted the government's decision to make decisions behind closed doors, adding 'openness and transparency would have been a better option'. A full list of members of the government's secretive SAGE committee, which has advised on tackling the virus, was only published two weeks ago and minutes from its meetings have still to be released. Furious MPs have previously demanded research papers underpinning the government's coronavirus strategy are immediately released. The latest slides released bythe government tonight show the state of the coronavirus outbreak in the UK PHE chief Dunan Selbie (right) said it was 'not responsible' for the testing strategy, which 'has been led by the Department of Health and Social Care' - Matt Hancock's (left) department Abandoned to their fate: Elderly hospital patients with COVID-19 symptoms were discharged into care homes WITHOUT tests before virus killed 10,000 pensioners - despite warnings from around the world Care home chief blames lack of testing for spread A care home chief has blamed delayed advice and testing during a 'critical' period for having spread coronavirus throughout homes. Barchester Healthcare chief executive Dr Pete Calveley, who said around two thirds of his homes have had Covid-19 cases, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We've had several weeks where their first reaction was to protect the NHS, where they wanted to discharge a lot of clients from hospital to make sure there was capacity for what they anticipated was a surcharge. 'And that meant a lot of people being discharged from care homes rather quickly who hadn't been tested and often we've seen where we've been doing large testing of care homes where asymptomatic staff, and particularly residents, are actually positive and therefore are freely moving through the home are infecting other residents and staff without anybody knowing about it until too late.' Dr Calveley said there was a 'critical' period of up to four weeks before testing was available and advice was issued for staff to wear professional masks and isolation for new admissions. 'None of that advice came out until it was probably too late,' he said. Advertisement Elderly hospital patients who had coronavirus symptoms were discharged into care homes without being tested despite warnings from around the world the crisis could grip the sector, industry bosses revealed today. Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, told MPs the decision may be partly to blame for allowing COVID-19 to race through homes and kill more than 10,000 residents. Routine testing for those with symptoms was abandoned on March 12, when the Government shifted to its 'delay' phase, with swabs reserved for critically ill hospital patients and NHS staff. Professor Green said emphasis on saving the NHS led to elderly people with underlying health conditions - the most at risk of dying from the disease - being abandoned. Prioritising hospitals over care homes also resulted in residents having their medical support cut off and PPE supplies for the sector being disrupted, according to Professor Green. He told the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee today that 'very clear national strategy' was now needed from Government to prevent more waves of the virus ravaging the sector. Adelina Comas-Herrera, assistant research fellow at the London School of Economics, told the committee that there was 'plenty of evidence' in March that care homes could be devastated by the crisis. She said US research had shown that coronavirus patients were regularly asymptomatic, highlighting the need for stringent testing. An Office for National Statistics report revealed today that at least 11,000 COVID-19 deaths occurred in England and Wales However this is a modest estimate because it does not include care home deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland or residents who were moved to hospital before they passed away It comes as an Office for National Statistics report revealed today that at least 11,000 COVID-19 deaths occurred in England and Wales. However this is a modest estimate because it does not include care home deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland or residents who were moved to hospital before they passed away. Researchers at the London School of Economics estimate at least 22,000 care home residents have died with coronavirus - half of the UK's overall fatalities. Meanwhile, a damning Government study leaked today also revealed that untested temporary staff may have been inadvertently spreading the illness in the sector's scramble to fill vacancies left by workers in self-isolation. Coronavirus Outbreak Updates: Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to take adequate steps to maintain social distancing once the Metro Rail is permitted to function, particularly, since compartments are fully packed, which can be dangerous in the current COVID-19 pandemic situation. Auto refresh feeds The proposal to appoint India's nominee to the executive board was signed by the 194-nation World Health Assembly on Tuesday, officials said on condition of anonymity. Vardhan would succeed Dr Hiroki Nakatani of Japan, currently the Chairman of the 34-member WHO Executive Board. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is at the forefront of India's battle against COVID-19, is set to take charge as the chairman of the WHO Executive Board on 22 May, officials said on Tuesday. The 15 trains that have been running since 12 May, are air-conditioned trains and the passengers are required to maintain rules of social distancing and use masks and sanitisers Information on the trains will be made available soon, the Railways said. In a tweet on Tuesday, the Railways said apart from the Shramik Special trains, it would run "200 additional timetable trains daily from 1 June, which will be non-air conditioned second class trains and booking of these trains will be available online". In a big relief to migrants, the railways will run 200 special passenger trains from 1 June, the national transporter said on Tuesday. The service will involve non-air conditioned trains, which had not been allowed so far. It stated that all districts of Kashmir province, except Ganderbal and Bandipora, are red zones, on the other hand in Jammu province, Kathua, Samba and Ramban districts have been classified as red zones. In its order, the state executive committee (SEC), headed by chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam, announced classification of districts across the Union territory as red, orange and green for effective implementation of the new restrictions. The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday issued a fresh classification of districts to implement the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown till 31 May. Banking, courier and postal services are allowed to function in both orange and red zones. Barber shops, spas and saloons are not permitted to reopen in red zones while relaxation has been given for orange zones. In the revised lockdown guidelines in Maharashtra, there are restrictions imposed on malls and shops selling non-essentials however, e-commerce activity for essential and non-essential items is allowed. The revised guidelines for lockdown 4.0 will be applicable post 22 May. Areas outside municipal corporation in Mumbai and Pune have been excluded from the red zone. The Maharashtra government on Tuesday retained most of the lockdown curbs it had imposed in the previous phase, including ban on taxis and hair salons in red zones. R Singh, SP City said, "Farmers were going to market to sell jackfruit. Injured person admitted at Saifai Medical College". Six farmers were killed and one was injured after the pickup-truck in which they were travelling collided with another truck in Friends Colony area of Etawah, in Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday night. After five more COVID-19 patients succumbed to the viral infection in Uttar Pradesh, the toll in the state climbed to 123 on Wednesday. The total coronavirus cases reached 4,926 after 321 more individuals tested positive for the virus. Of the total, there are 1,885 active cases. Expressing grief over the death of farmers in Etawah truck accident, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the victims and Rs 50,000 to the injured. Bihar registered a total of 1,573 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday after 54 more individuals tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, said Sanjay Kumar, Principal Secretary Health, Bihar. The COVID-19 toll climbed to 3,303 after 140 more patients succumbed to the viral infection as of Wednesday. India registered highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases with 5,611 in the past 24 hours, according to the latest data released by Union Health Ministry on Wednesday. The COVID-19 recovery rate in India stood at 39.62 percent after 42,298 patients were cured of the novel coronavirus as of Wednesday. "As many as 42,298 COVID-19 patients have been cured and discharged so far," the Union Health Ministry said in its latest update. Of the total confirmed coronavirus cases of 1,06,750 across the nation, there are 61,149 active cases till now, according to the latest data released by Union Health Ministry on Wednesday. The state reported 1,325 COVID-19 deaths so far while, 9,639 patients have recovered taking the recovery rate to 26 percent. Maharashtra continued to remain the worst COVID-affected state with 37,136 confirmed novel coronavirus cases, according to the latest data from the Union Health Ministry. "One of the biggest benefits of Ayushman Bharat is portability. Beneficiaries can get top quality and affordable medical care not only where they registered but also in other parts of India. This helps those who work away from home or registered at a place where they dont belong," tweeted Modi. All the six persons had returned to the state from Mumbai along with other 697 people in a special train on May 18, the officials said. While five people, including three women, tested COVID-19 positive in Kangra district, a man confirmed positive for the disease in Kullu district, they said. Six people, including three of a family, who returned to Himachal Pradesh from Mumbai have tested positive for coronavirus, taking the state's total to 99, officials said on Wednesday. "In such a situation, we will have to protect the doctors, para medical staff, nurses, ward boys, sweepers, police personnel working on the front line as corona warriors," he added. "Spread of coronavirus can be controlled through awareness and corona warriors have a major role in this. For breaking the corona chain, when they become infected and are sent in quarantine or isolation, the fight will get interrupted," he said. In a bid to ensure safety of COVID-19 frontline workers, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday launched an app for healthcare workers, sanitation workers and police personnel fighting against the pandemic. With 37,136 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far, Maharashtra remained worst-affected state across the nation, followed by Tamil Nadu with 12,448 and Gujarat with 12,140 cases. The highest number of COVID-19 cases were recorded in Kopar Khairane with 294 cases and Nerul with 205. Navi Mumbai registered a total of 1,852 confirmed COVID-19 cases while, 52 patients have succumbed to the novel coronavirus so far, said Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. With 61 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Rajasthan till 9 am, the total number of confirmed cases in the state climbed to 5,906 on Wednesday. So far, lives of 143 people were claimed by the viral infection. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 75.60, registering a rise of 6 paise over its previous close. Forex traders said a positive start of domestic stocks supported the local unit, while sustained foreign fund outflows and concerns over coronavirus pandemic weighed on the local unit. The rupee appreciated 6 paise to 75.60 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday tracking positive opening of domestic equities. In a period of two weeks, as many as 74,118 people travelled back to Assam while, 17,488 left the state, said Additional DGP GP Singh on Wednesday, who has been appointed as the nodal officer for inter-State transportation of stranded people of Assam. Odisha recorded a total of 1,052 confirmed cases on Wednesday after 74 more people test positive for the novel coronavirus. There has been one more COVID-19 related death in the state, taking the total fatalities to six. "The re-Assembled Budget Session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly commences today. Nice to see safety protocols being implemented at the State Assembly premises," said chief minister Conrad Sangma. The budget estimates for the financial year 2020-21 will be placed on 21 May. The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly will resume its budget session on Wednesday. The re-assembled budget session of Meghalaya for the financial year 2020-21 will be held from 20 May to 22 May. The union government's guidelines will come in the first week of June. The Chief Minister's Office said the date would be decided after that. Kerala government has decided to postpone the SSLC or Class 10 and Plus two or Class 12 examination until first week of June after the Centre extended the coronavirus-induced lockdown until 31 May. In the study, published in the journal Physics of Fluids, they said even with a slight breeze of about four kilometres per hour (kph), saliva travels 18 feet in 5 seconds. Researchers, including those from the University of Nicosia in Cyprus, said a good baseline for studying the airborne transmission of viruses, like the one behind the COVID-19 pandemic, is a deeper understanding of how particles travel through the air when people cough. The current physical distancing guidelines of 6 feet may be insufficient to prevent COVID-19 transmission, according to a study which says a mild cough in low wind speeds can propel saliva droplets by as much as 18 feet. After undergoing necessary medical screening the returnees boarded buses arranged by the state government for their respective districts. The returnees were screened at the Jiribam Railway Station after the train reached the station on Tuesday. They will have to remain at institutional or community quarantine centres in their respective districts for 14 days, the officials said. A Special train from Hyderabad carrying hundreds of stranded Manipuris arrived in Jiribam Railway Station, an official told PTI on Wednesday. Locals pelted stones at police on Delhi-Gurugram border near Palam Vihar on Wednesday. They claimed that they were not allowed to cross the border into Gurugram, reports ANI. This comes a week after 16 people from the prison premise were also tested positive for the virus, reports News18 . The total number of positive cases at the Rohini Jail stands 17 which includes 15 inmates and two jail officials. An official of Rohini jail has tested positive for COVID-19. The personnel who live nearby him in staff quarters will also be asked to do self-quarantine at home for 14 days, said Tihar jail official, reports ANI. They said the woman was admitted to SKIMS on 6 April as a case of necrotising pancreatitis and her test came out as positive on May 12, adding that the total number of fatalities due to COVID-19 in the Union territory was 18. The woman passed away around 11 pm on Tuesday night at the SKIMS hospital, the officials said. A 40-year-old woman from Anantnag district who had tested positive for coronavirus has died at a hospital here, taking the COVID-19 related death toll in Jammu and Kashmir to 18, officials said on Wednesday. The total number of active cases of coronavirus in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) now stands at 96, according to a recently released bulletin, reports ANI. Of the fresh cases in the past 24 hours ending 9 AM on Tuesday, 10 were linked to the Koyambedu market in Chennai, the bulletin said. One person died of coronavirus in Andhra Pradesh, where 68 new cases were confirmed, taking the total number of infections in the state to 2,557, a bulletin from the government said on Wednesday. The lone death was reported in Kurnool, taking the toll in the state to 53. BBMP commissioner took to Twitter to clarify that, "A team will look into complaints of hotels overcharging inmates as BBMP has fixed charges for stay & food". With several complaints coming in, the civic body has set up an inspection squad to make the rounds of quarantine centres and hear out the inmates grievances, reports News18. Residents of Bengaluru who recently returned to the state and have been compulsorily quarantined at one of the city hotels have raised complains about sub-standard quality if food, no change of linen in over five days. "We are being sent on duty in high-risk areas. There are several policemen who have been infected with the virus. This cannot go on," a police officer of the Combat Force told PTI. Sources said they 'gheraoed' the vehicle of Deputy Commissioner of Police, Combat Battalion, Col Nevendera Singh Paul when he tried to initiate a dialogue with them, and allegedly vandalised his vehicle. The policemen demonstrated inside the Police Training School (PTS) complex on Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road late on Tuesday, he said. Around 500 personnel of the Kolkata Police Combat Force staged a protest here, alleging that they were being deployed in areas where chances of contracting COVID-19 are high, a senior official said on Wednesday. "The Railways had promised to run 200 Shramik Special trains for workers yesterday, exceeding that limit we ran a record 204 trains in the service of passengers. A total of 1,773 Shramik Special trains have been operated so far by the Indian Railways to send workers to their home states," Goyal's tweet read. Goyal, through a tweet, stated that going beyond the promised 200 Shramik Special trains per day, the Railways had run 204 such trains on 19 May to enable migrants, stranded due to the COVID-19 lockdown, to return to their native states. The Indian Railways has excelled on its own promise of running Shramik Special trains by running 204 of them in a single day, said Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday. The number of COVID-19 cases in Jharkhand has climbed to 248, out of which 118 cases are active, the state health department said on Wednesday. Jharkhand has tested 37,589 samples as of Wednesday, according to the state health department. Shramik special trains will no longer require permission from receiving states, said RD Bajpai, Railways Executive Director on Wednesday. The decision was taken in view of cutting short the communication time between the states, he further said. Indian Railways will operate 100 pairs (200 including return journeys) of non-AC trains from 1 June. "Only online ticket booking will be available for these trains. A schedule of these trains will be released soon," said RD Bajpai, Railways Executive Director on Wednesday. "The fallout of the virus has been very tough for our industry in particular. Our revenue has come down 95 percent over the past two months. Most importantly, this crisis has affected the livelihoods of millions of our drivers and their families across India and our international geographies," he said. In an email to employees, Aggarwal made it clear that the prognosis ahead for the business is "very unclear and uncertain" and the impact of this crisis is "definitely going to be long-drawn for us". Cab aggregator Ola is laying off 1,400 staff from rides, financial services and food business as revenues declined by 95 percent in the past two months due to coronavirus pandemic, a note by CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said. Researchers have laid out in the paper that emissions from surface transport cars, busses, and other motor vehicles account for nearly half (43 percent) of this fall in emissions during peak confinement (on 7 April). Emissions from industry and from power together account for an equal portion (43 percent) of the fall in daily emissions. The study published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that daily emissions decreased by 17 percent, globally (which shapes up to roughly 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide) when the peak lockdown measures were exercised in early April. This data was compared with mean daily levels in 2019, and found to be as low as levels last observed in 2006. A new study by researchers at the University of East Anglia, UK claims that daily carbon emission levels have dropped by a whopping 17 percent owing to the drop in activity during the coronavirus pandemic. The paper adds that the last time emission levels were seen to be this low was in 2006. Principal Secretary of Health Sanjay Kumar has been transferred to the tourism department as the principal secretary on Wednesday, ANI reported. Uday Singh Kumavat, who was Principal Secretary Tourism to be the new Bihar Principal Secretary (Health). At least 1,683 buses will first run on 434 routes in non-containment zones, he added. INS Jalashwa will embark stranded Indian nationals at Colombo in Sri Lanka on 1 June, said Indian Navy. The operation Samudra setu was launched by the Centre to repatriate stranded Indians. As many as 176 COVID-19 patients succumb to the viral infection so far. Delhi registered the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 534 infections. The total number of confirmed cases in the National Capital climbed to 11,088. Six staff members of the clinic at nearby Thamarassery and the taxi driver who dropped her in Bengaluru on 5 May have been asked to go on quarantine, she said. District Medical Officer Dr V Jayashree said the gynaecologist had returned to Karnataka a fortnight ago and tested positive while she was on quarantine there. Six employees of a private clinic in Kozhikode and a taxi driver have been put on mandatory 14 days quarantine after a gynaecologist running the dispensary tested positive for COVID-19 in Bengaluru. The total number of infected people in the state stood at 105, while 51 of them have been cured. Four people have died due to COVID-19. Twelve people, who had recently returned from Mumbai, have tested positive for coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh, taking the overall count in the state to 105. The 12 were among the 697 people, who had returned to Himachal Pradesh from Mumbai on a special train on 18 May. The report quoted district authorities as saying that the cumulative cases in Aurangabad climbed to 1,117 so far. Two more deaths were reported in Aurangabad district in Maharashtra, according to The Hindu . The district has continued to witness an uptick in new COVID-19 cases after 41 more individuals tested positive since Tuesday evening. So far, the lives of 143 COVID-19 patients have been claimed by the infectious disease taking the mortality rate to 2.4 percent. With 107 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Rajasthan till 2 pm on Wednesday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state climbed to 5,952. "The buses were waiting at the UP-Rajasthan border, but they (Congress) hadn't applied for their entry into the state as per the guidelines of MHA. Since they didn't have authentic passes for movement, the buses were sent back," said Ravi Kumar, SP Agra West. "Indian Railways will start operations of 200 passenger train services. These trains shall run from 1st June and booking of all these trains will commence from 10 am on 21 May," the statement added. The Centre said that Ministry of Railways in consultation with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided that train services on Indian Railways shall be further partially restored from 1 June 2020. Sandip Shekhar, Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) in Bihar's Vaishali said, "Body of one patient Rajesh Kumar found at a quarantine centre on Wednesday. He was brought to the centre two days back and his sample was already collected for COVID-19 test. Investigation underway." Telangana: Air India Express IX 244, an evacuation flight from Doha (Qatar) with 184 Indians landed today at Hyderabad International Airport under the second phase of #VandeBharatMission . pic.twitter.com/1BSlkaWluL Air India Express IX 244, an evacuation flight from Doha (Qatar) with 184 Indians landed today at Hyderabad International Airport under the second phase of Vande Bharat Mission. Alert ~ 14 new #COVID19 positive cases confirmed among those at Sarusajai Quarantine Centre. We need to be extra careful Total cases 185 Recovered 48 Active cases 130 Deaths 04 Migrated 03 Update 10:35 pm / May 20 #AssamCovidCount pic.twitter.com/8geqDcntHY Indian Railways has released the list of the 200 trains which will be operated from 1st June: Government of India pic.twitter.com/U1SmC4Bn8C Indian Railways has released the list of the 200 trains which will be operated from 1st June: Government of India Directorate General of Civil Aviation has called a meeting tomorrow with all airlines to discuss the matter in respect of resumption of Domestic Civil Air Operations in a calibrated manner. In order to maintain social distancing, 2 persons from each airline/airport allowed. The state government had lifted many restrictions on 19 May. However, the bus service resumed from Wednesday. The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) started running its buses across the state from Wednesday, after a nearly two-month-long hiatus due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The bus service had come to a halt from March 25, when a nationwide lockdown came into force. "These will be fully reserved trains having both AC, non-AC classes; general coaches shall also have reserved seats for sitting," said the Railways after releasing a list of 200 trains to be in operation from 1 June. At least 1,388 police personnel including 142 officers have tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra, 700 of them in Mumbai alone. An assistant sub-inspector of traffic branch also died due to the infection during the day. He was attached to Sahar traffic police, the official said. A 57-year-old police constable attached to Parksite Police Station in the eastern suburbs died at Seven Hills hospital in Andheri, an official said. He had tested positive for virus eight days ago, the police official said. Two policemen died due to coronavirus infection in Mumbai on Wednesday, an official said. It took the number of police personnel who have died due to the pandemic in Maharashtra to 14, ten of them in Mumbai. Coronavirus Outbreak LATEST Updates: Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to take adequate steps to maintain social distancing once the Metro Rail is permitted to function, particularly, since compartments are fully packed, which can be dangerous in the current COVID-19 pandemic situation. The Jammu and Kashmir government said that 73 new coronavirus cases have been reported in the union territory on Wednesday, of these 36 from Jammu division and 37 Kashmir division. Total positive cases stand at 1,390. The total number of coronavirus cases in Mumbai rose to 24,118 on Wednesday, reports said, adding that the toll stood at 841 in the city. The total number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra touched 40,000 on Wednesday after 2,250 new cases were reported in 24 hours. The total cases rose to 39,297. 65 new deaths were also reported, taking the toll to 1,390. Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that domestic flights will commence from 25 May, but initially, "only a small percentage of the total number of domestic flights will be operated". "Then depending on the experience we gain, we will increase the number of flights. I think Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) should not be made so onerous that they are difficult to be followed. We've now reached a happy balance and SOPs will be announced soon. Those will be the norms for some time," he added. While Assam government said that 13 new coronavirus cases were reported in the state on Wednesday, reports said that 11 of the new patients were already in quarantined after they had returned from other states. Reports said that 743 coronavirus cases were reported in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, taking the state's total to 13,191. Three new deaths were also reported, taking the toll to 87. Twenty-four new cases of coronavirus were reported in Kerala on Wednesday, reports said. Of these, 12 are people who came abroad, 8 are from Maharashtra, 3 from Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, five people recovered on Wednesday, India Today reported. A Rajasthan Police official was quoted by PTI as saying that buses arranged by the Congress for Uttar Pradesh's migrant workers have started turning back from the Rajasthan-UP border after they weren't allowed into Uttar Pradesh. Union health ministry on Wednesday said,"When the first lockdown started, then recovery rate was around 7.1 percent, the recovery rate during 2nd lockdown was 11.42 percent it then rose to 26.59 percent. Today the recovery rate is 39.62 percent." Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday said that domestic civil aviation operations will recommence in a calibrated manner from 25 May. "All airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from 25 May. SOPs for passenger movement also being separately issued by Ministry," he added. Lav Agarwal, Union Health ministry joint secretary on Wednesday said, "is satisfactory to note that 42,298 people have recovered and the number of active cases are 61,149." A coronavirus positive case was on Wednesday detected in the Directorate General of Health Services in the medical education division at the Health Ministry, Nirman Bhawan. "Proper protocol for sanitisation of entire area will take place, contact tracing initiated," the ministry's statement said. With 107 more people testing positive for the novel coronavirus in Rajasthan till 2 pm on Wednesday, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state climbed to 5,952. So far, the lives of 143 COVID-19 patients have been claimed by the infectious disease taking the mortality rate to 2.4 percent. Delhi registered the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 534 infections. The total number of confirmed cases in the National Capital climbed to 11,088. As many as 176 COVID-19 patients succumb to the viral infection so far. Andhra Pradesh government to resume intra-State bus services from Thursday, ANI quoted Madireddy Pratap, Managing Director of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, as saying. At least 1,683 buses will first run on 434 routes in non-containment zones, he added. Cab aggregator Ola is laying off 1,400 staff from rides, financial services and food business as revenues declined by 95 percent in the past two months due to coronavirus pandemic, a note by CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said. In an email to employees, Aggarwal made it clear that the prognosis ahead for the business is "very unclear and uncertain" and the impact of this crisis is "definitely going to be long-drawn for us". The Indian Railways has excelled on its own promise of running Shramik Special trains by running 204 of them in a single day, said Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday. Goyal, through a tweet, stated that going beyond the promised 200 Shramik Special trains per day, the Railways had run 204 such trains on 19 May to enable migrants, stranded due to the COVID-19 lockdown, to return to their native states. "The Railways had promised to run 200 Shramik Special trains for workers yesterday, exceeding that limit we ran a record 204 trains in the service of passengers. A total of 1,773 Shramik Special trains have been operated so far by the Indian Railways to send workers to their home states," Goyal's tweet read. The total number of COVID19 positive cases in Maharashtra Police is now 1388 including 948 active cases, 428 recovered and 12 deaths, reports ANI. Meanwhile, The total number of active cases of coronavirus in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) now stands at 96. An official of Rohini jail has tested positive for COVID-19. The personnel who live nearby him in staff quarters will also be asked to do self-quarantine at home for 14 days, said Tihar jail official, reports ANI. The total number of positive cases at the Rohini Jail stands 17 which includes 15 inmates and two jail officials. Kerala government has decided to postpone the SSLC or Class 10 and Plus two or Class 12 examination until first week of June after the Centre extended the coronavirus-induced lockdown until 31 May. The union government's guidelines will come in the first week of June. The Chief Minister's Office said the date would be decided after that. In a period of two weeks, as many as 74,118 people travelled back to Assam while, 17,488 left the state, said Additional DGP GP Singh on Wednesday, who has been appointed as the nodal officer for inter-State transportation of stranded people of Assam. With 37,136 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far, Maharashtra remained worst-affected state across the nation, followed by Tamil Nadu with 12,448 and Gujarat with 12,140 cases. Maharashtra continued to remain the worst COVID-affected state with 37,136 confirmed novel coronavirus cases, according to the latest data from the Union Health Ministry. The state reported 1,325 COVID-19 deaths so far while, 9,639 patients have recovered taking the recovery rate to 26 percent. India registered highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases with 5,611 in the past 24 hours, according to the latest data released by Union Health Ministry on Wednesday. The overall count across the nation was now at 1,06,750. The COVID-19 toll climbed to 3,303 after 140 more patients succumbed to the viral infection as of Wednesday. Expressing grief over the death of farmers in Etawah truck accident, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the victims and Rs 50,000 to the injured. Six farmers were killed and one was injured after the pickup-truck in which they were travelling collided with another truck in Friends Colony area of Etawah, in Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday night. R Singh, SP City said, "Farmers were going to market to sell jackfruit. Injured person admitted at Saifai Medical College". The number of confirmed cases in India crossed the one lakh-mark on Tuesday as the country reported 4, 970 fresh infections and 134 fatalities . Health ministry officials said that it has taken much longer for the country to report over a lakh cases as compared to other countries and the death rate due to the virus has also remained comparatively low. Confirmed cases cross one lakh-mark The Union health ministry, in its 8 am update, said the total number of confirmed cases has reached 1,01,139 and the toll has risen to 3,163. This marked an increase of nearly 5,000 cases and 134 fatalities in a 24-hour period. As many as 39,174 people have been cured of the viral infection and the number of active cases in the country stands at 58,802, according to the health ministry website. Of the 134 deaths reported since Monday morning, 51 were in Maharashtra, 35 in Gujarat, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, eight in Delhi, seven in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, four in Madhya Pradesh, three in Tamil Nadu, two each in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, and one each in Bihar and Telangana. Of the 3,163 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 1,249 deaths. Gujarat comes second with 694 deaths, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 252, West Bengal at 244, Delhi at 168, Rajasthan at 138, Uttar Pradesh at 118, Tamil Nadu at 81 and Andhra Pradesh at 50. The ministry also states that more than 70 percent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, or the existence of multiple disorders in the same person. The highest number of confirmed cases in the country is from Maharashtra at 35,058, followed by Tamil Nadu at 11,760, Gujarat at 11,745, Delhi at 10,054, Rajasthan at 5,507, Madhya Pradesh at 5,236 and Uttar Pradesh at 4,605. India presently reporting 0.2 deaths per lakh, says health ministry Separately, the health ministry said that for every one lakh population, there are 7.1 coronavirus cases in India so far, as against 60 globally. Referring to data from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the ministry said 45,25,497 COVID-19 cases had been reported worldwide till Monday, which is about 60 cases per lakh population. Among the countries with a very high load of coronavirus cases, the US, with 14,09,452 instances of the infection so far, has around 431 cases per lakh population. In the UK, this ratio is 494 cases per lakh and for Italy it is 372. Officials also cited data about India having taken 64 days for the count of confirmed cases to increase from 100 to one lakh, which was more than double the time taken by countries like the US and Spain. According to the data sourced from the health ministry and Worldometers, the coronavirus infection cases increased from 100 to 1,00,000 in the US in 25 days, while it took 30 days for the cases to reach the 1 lakh-mark in Spain, reports PTI. It took 35 days in Germany, 36 days in Italy, 39 days in France and 42 days in the United Kingdom for the coronavirus infection cases to rise from 100 to 1 lakh, respectively. Reeling off further data, officials said India has so far an average of about 0.2 COVID-19 deaths per lakh population as against the global average of 4.1. "The relatively low death figures represent timely case identification and clinical management of the cases," PTI quotes the ministry as saying. The officials further said a record number of 1,08,233 samples were tested for COVID-19 on Monday, taking the overall count of tests to more than 24 lakh. While the total count of tests in India is estimated to be the seventh largest in the world, after the US, Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK, the country ranks much lower at 139th place in terms of tests per million population, as per data website Worldometer. The countries having done more tests than India per million population include Russia, Italy, Australia, Singapore, Norway, Switzerland, UK, Germany, US, Canada, France and Sweden. As per the latest data, more than 48 lakh people worldwide have tested positive for the deadly virus ever since its emergence in China last December, while nearly 3.2 lakh have lost their lives. Over 18 lakh have recovered too. More than 15 lakh cases have been reported in the US alone, while over 90,000 have died there. Kerala, Manipur report new cases There are concerns that in some parts of the country, including in Kerala, Goa and some north-eastern states, a second or third wave of the virus outbreak is emerging as these states had almost flattened the curves till a few days ago before people from other states or countries started arriving there. Kerala on Tuesday recorded 12 more COVID-19 cases, all being returnees from overseas and other states, taking the total active patients to 142. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the rise was expected but asserted community transmission has not happened so far. All those who tested positive had come from outside the statefour from abroad and eight from other states, including six from Maharashtra, Vijayan told reporters. Since 7 May, when the first repatriation flight from the Gulf landed, several of the Keralites who returned home after being stranded in foreign countries and in other states such as Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, which have a high number of COVID-19 cases, have tested positive. On Monday too, as many as 28 returnees had tested positive. In Manipur too, a woman and her daughter tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Delhi, officials said. Uttar Pradesh also saw 142 more people testing positive for COVID-19, taking its tally to 4,748. The National Capital recorded 500 more cases, taking its tally to 10,554, while its death toll has now risen to 166. In Assam, 20 people tested positive, taking the total number of cases in the state to 135. All the new patients were in different quarantine centres across districts. These included people having returned from Chennai and Darjeeling. At least two COVID-19 related deaths were reported in Andhra Pradesh, taking the toll to 52, while 57 more tested positive. With this, the total number of infections in the state has reached 2,489. Fresh cases include those linked to the Koyambedu market in Chennai, which has become a major hotspot of the deadly virus infection. Karnataka recorded its biggest ever single-day rise with 127 new cases. Of these, 91 have inter-state travel history from neighboring Maharashtra, the state government said. Maharashtra, the worst-affected state, reported 2,100 fresh cases, taking its overall tally to 37,158, state's health minister Rajesh Tope said. Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir issue lockdown guidelines Two days after the Centre announced an extension of the nationwide lockdown till 31 May, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday issued guidelines demarcating the state into red and non-red zones and allowing shops, public transport in the non-red zones. According to the guidelines, which come into force from 22 May,the municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (which includes Mumbai, Thane and surrounding towns), as well as civic bodies of Pune, Solapur, Aurangabad, Malegaon, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon, Akola and Amravati fall in the red zone. In the red zone, no rickshaws, taxis or cabs have been allowed to ply while shops can function according to guidelines issued earlier. Significantly, e-commerce for delivery of non-essential goods has been allowed in all areas except containment zones, which shall be notified by local authorities. In such containment zones, only essential services will be allowed. No movement of people in and out of these zones will be allowed except for medical emergencies and maintaining supply of essential goods. The Jammu and Kashmir administration too issued orders categorising districts into orange, red and green zones and issued guidelines for the fourth phase of the lockdown. According to ANI, hospitals, clinics and liqour shops will be allowed to open across the Union Territory while canteens/eateries at bus stands, railway stations and airports have also been allowed to open in the UT, but with passes in Red districts. Similarly barber shops, salons and parlours will be allowed to open in all the areas except within the limits of municipal corporations in red and orange zones. Private offices can function with 50 percent strength in orange zones and 100 percent strength in green zone. In Delhi, where lockdown relaxations kicked in, several markets were buzzing with activity, but many shopkeepers complained of less inflow of customers even as confusion over opening up of establishments using the odd-even formula prevailed. Centre issues guidelines for Shramik Special trains The new guidelines for the Shramik special trains issued by the Centre did away with the mandatory consent from the destination states. According to the fresh SOP, the train schedule, including stoppages and destination, shall be finalised by the railways ministry based on the requirements of states and UTs, and shall be communicated to states and UTs for making suitable arrangements for sending and receiving such stranded workers. Officials explained that the Ministry of Railways will ensure more halts of the special trains for the convenience of migrant workers. Sending states and UTs, and the Ministry of Railways will ensure that passengers are compulsorily screened, and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to board the trains, it said. During boarding and travel, all passengers will have to observe social distancing and will have to adhere to health protocols prescribed by the destination state or UT on arrival, the SOP said. With inputs from agencies At least 24 migrant labourers were killed and 36 others injured when a speeding mini-truck climbed over a stationary truck trolley in Uttar Pradeshs Auraiya district early on May 16, claim reports. The mini-truck was reportedly carrying 18 migrants and the truck trolley had around 42 others when the accident occurred. Source/Patrika Now, shocking reports reveal that the migrant workers who were injured during the truck collision in Uttar Pradesh's Auriya were bundled together on trucks which also carried corpses of those killed in the accident. According to reports, one of the survivors recorded and posted a video on social media sites showing victims being ferried through the the same vehicle that carried the dead bodies of the migrants wrapped in black polythene. Visuals of the truck, in which the deceased and the injured were being transported, were widely circulated. This inhumane treatment of our migrant workers could possibly be avoided. I request .@UPGovt & Office of .@NitishKumar 'ji to arrange suitable transportation of the deceased bodies till Jharkhand border & we will ensure adequate dignified arrangements to their homes in Bokaro. https://t.co/uJL922LElP Hemant Soren ( - ) (@HemantSorenJMM) May 17, 2020 "This inhumane treatment of our migrant workers could possibly be avoided. I request @UPGovt & Office of @NitishKumar'ji to arrange suitable transportation of the deceased bodies till Jharkhand border & we will ensure adequate dignified arrangements to their homes in Bokaro," Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren tweeted. Another morning, another death news., same tragic story of migrants continuing to bear the brunt of apathy. 24 migrants killed as truck collides with another in UPs Auraiya 8 May: 16 Labour died. 14 May: 18 Labour died. 15 May: 9 Labour died. 16 May: 24 Labour died.#Auriya Diksha (@itzdiksha) May 16, 2020 Jai Narain Singh, additional director general (ADG) of police (Kanpur Zone) told HT that mini-truck was ferrying the labourers from Delhi and was heading towards Sagar in Madhya Pradesh while crossing over borders through Auraiya district. He said the mini trucks driver apparently fell asleep and failed to spot the truck trolley. After @HemantSorenJMM Jharkhand govt registered a protest, dead bodies of #AuraiyaAccident victims were moved into ambulances last night. @pranshumisraa reports. Bodies were earlier being sent in trucks along with survivors. Unimaginable. pic.twitter.com/XH5ogIwbOM Zeba Warsi (@Zebaism) May 18, 2020 According to an NDTV report, on the highway to Prayagraj, the trucks were stopped and the bodies were loaded onto ambulances. The same report quoted Congress leader Pramod Tiwari as saying that the bodies had started decomposing during the journey. According to medical jurisprudence, forcing the living to travel in such circumstances was a "criminal act". The Jharkhand chief minister has announced Rs 4 lakh compensation each for the kin of the deceased, and Rs 50,000 for the five injured persons from the state. 24 migrants killed , 6 injured in #Auriya truck accident ... I express my deepest condolences to the affect families .... #Auriyaaccident pic.twitter.com/p4TV68uR6B Akshit Tiwari Ak57 (@AkshitTiwari18) May 16, 2020 The Uttar Pradesh government has now stopped the entry of labourers who are coming on foot or in transport other than state government buses. Officials in border districts have been asked to look after the people and send them home in government buses. Meanwhile, three migrant labourers were killed and 22 others injured after the bus which they were travelling in hit a stationary truck in Maharashtras Yavatmal district on May 19. The migrants were travelling to Nagpur Railway Station from where they were supposed to travel on a Shramik train to Jharkhand. The Pacific fisher, a small, weasel-like carnivore native to Oregons southern old growth forests, has been denied endangered species protection in the state, the latest turn in a legal back-and-forth that has stretched on for 20 years. In the decision, issued last week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, declined to grant the fisher threatened status in southern Oregon and northern California, citing voluntary conservation measures as effective in protecting the woodland creatures. Voluntary conservation efforts by state and private timber owners have contributed to the Northern California-Southern Oregon population of fisher appearing stable within a large range of suitable habitat, Paul Henson, state supervisor in the Oregon office of the agency, said in a statement. That notion rings hollow to Nick Cady, legal director for Cascadia Wildlands, one of the environmental organizations that originally petitioned to protect fishers in Oregon in 2000. We've been operating under voluntary conservation efforts for a number of species for a long time, Cady said. And these mature-forest species are still spiraling downhill. Fishers were once abundant in the Pacific Northwest, creating dens in tree cavities in the states expansive forests from the Cascades to the coast range in Oregon, Washington and California. With the arrival of European settlers, though, the animals were trapped to near extinction and much of their native habitat was destroyed. Despite current bans on trapping, the species never recovered. Today, biologists estimate anywhere from a few hundred to a couple thousand fishers live in Oregon, all near the California border except a small population reintroduced near Crater Lake in the 1980s. After environmental groups petitioned to protect the animals in 2000, the Fish and Wildlife Service issued a ruling saying protection was warranted, but it never finalized the decision. After some legal wrangling, the service again proposed protection for the animals in 2014 but reversed itself two years later, saying voluntary measures would be sufficient to protect the species. In the most recent decision, the agency did grant protection to fishers in Californias southern Sierra Nevada, though they classified those animals as a separate and distinct population from the fishers in southern Oregon. The Oregon population, according to the agency, is more widespread, has a better male-to-female ratio and enjoys better breeding success than its counterparts to the south. Those facts, coupled with the voluntary measures private landowners are undertaking, should be enough to stave off extinction, Henson said. Over 2 million acres of private land have been enrolled under six conservation agreements protecting existing and promoting new fisher habitat, with three additional applications in process, he said. The heavy lifting done by our partners greatly alleviates the need for regulation. For Cady, however, the decision was a political one, meant to protect the profits of timber companies. Bottom line, the private timber companies are trying to make money, Cady said. He said Cascadia Wildlands is considering legal options and considering whether to appeal the latest decision. -- Kale Williams; kwilliams@oregonian.com; 503-294-4048; @sfkale Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories. Top business leaders in California are urging Congress to approve an additional $1 trillion in spending to head off massive budget cuts facing all state and local governments due to Covid-19. In a letter to Congress, members of California Gov. Gavin Newsom's task force on business and jobs recovery wrote, "the worst of the economic impact [is] likely still to come." The letter, which was sent Friday, was signed by nearly 100 business leaders including Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Priscilla Chan of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (and wife of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg), Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos and venture capitalist Ben Horowitz of the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. You can read the full list of the task force's members here. "Reopening our economies is a welcome step forward, but the success of our efforts ultimately relies on building greater confidence among consumers that it is safe to shop and greater certainty for workers that the services they rely on to do their jobs will remain in place. Without that, we will be a re-opened economy in name only." They said the funds would be critical to help necessary programs such as contact tracing and testing. "Because of the sudden drop in economic activity, many states, including California, will be forced to make deep cuts to programs that help those same individuals," the letter said. The letter went on to say that without additional assistance from the federal government, child care, job training and small business support "will all be forced up on the chopping block." The letter is addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. The request comes on the heels of the Trump administration and Senate Republicans pushing back against the bill passed by the House to spend an additional $3 trillion for Covid-19 relief. The legislation, which the House of Representatives passed Friday, includes $1 trillion in funding for cash-strapped state and local governments. The Republican-controlled Senate is not expected to pass the House's package. "It will protect core government services like public health, public safety, public education and help people get back to work. This funding will help our states and cities and America's economy come out of this crisis stronger and more resilient," the letter said of the $1 trillion in funding for local governments. Newsom formed the task force in April to help Californians recover as fast as possible from the economic fallout. On Thursday, Newsom announced a grim revised budget plan that would slash billions in order to tackle a massive $54.3 billion state deficit, which he says is a direct result of Covid-19. Newsom said he anticipates the unemployment rate to climb up to 25% as the pandemic continues to hit the economy. You can read the full letter from the task force below: Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Leader McCarthy and Leader Schumer: Thank you for your leadership during this unprecedented crisis. As members of the California Governor's Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery, we are non-political leaders from different sectors of the economy with the same goal: protecting the health of the 40 million Americans who call our state home and laying the foundation for California's and America's economic recovery. We write to you in our individual capacities and not on behalf of our firms and organizations. COVID-19 has fundamentally changed how we will manage our businesses and organizations going forward, with the worst of the economic impact likely still to come. Reopening our economies is a welcome step forward, but the success of our efforts ultimately relies on building greater confidence among consumers that it is safe to shop and greater certainty for workers that the services they rely on to do their jobs will remain in place. Without that, we will be a re-opened economy in name only. State, local and tribal governments are critical to our recovery. In the short-term, they must be able to scale-up necessary programs, like contact tracing and testing. Given budget shortfalls, they are also soon facing impossible decisions like whether to fund additional safety measures related to COVID-19 that will help businesses reopen more quickly or prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other first responders. Without additional assistance from the federal government, the very programs that will help people get back to their lives and get back to work from childcare to job training to small business support will all be forced up on the chopping block. We deeply appreciated the quick financial assistance Congress provided workers, businesses and those who have been displaced by this unprecedented crisis. But now, because of the sudden drop in economic activity, many states, including California, will be forced to make deep cuts to programs that help those same individuals. We stand with business leaders throughout the nation, from both sides of the aisle, who have respectfully and urgently requested that Congress direct $1 trillion in direct and flexible relief to states, tribes and local governments. It will protect core government services like public health, public safety, public education and help people get back to work. This funding will help our states and cities and America's economy come out of this crisis stronger and more resilient. We urge you to have Congress take swift action and thank you once again for your leadership in this national crisis. Sincerely, Governor's Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery The Australian High Commission on Tuesday, unveiled and handed over a Community-Based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound to the Akramang community, a suburb of the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipality in the Eastern Region. The 207,000.00 worth compound, constructed by the Ark Development Organisation, a nongovernmental organisation, has a maternity unit, cold chain room, consulting room, dispensary, Family Planning Unit and an accommodation facility for the head of the health personnel. In addition to basic healthcare, the facility would also serve as a COVID-19 Treatment and Isolation Centre for the Municipality. Mr Andrew Barnes, the Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, said the project funded under the Commissions Direct Aid Program is aimed at helping to improve health services for people living in vulnerable situations, especially women and girls. He expressed the hope that the facility would go a long way to improve the quality of health services delivery not only in the Akramang community but also for people from neighbouring communities. He expressed optimism that the facility would give the High Commission value for its invested funds. Thank you the people of Akramang for your support of this project. This project wouldnt have come to fruition without your support. I urge you to take ownership of this facility, that way you help build a healthier and a safer community for all of us, he said. Mr Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Member of Parliament for the Nsawam-Adoagyiri, entreated the High Commission to consider encouraging private power producers from Australia to invest in businesses in Ghana especially in the Municipality. He said Nsawam is an area for mass production of food products and a lot of waste are produced and sent to a landfill site. He said an investment in the waste produced could help to produce energy for commercial and domestic usage. Mr Isaac Kwadwo Buabeng, the Municipal Chief Executive of the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipality, appealed to the High Commission and other corporate entities to support neighbouring communities with similar projects. He thanked the High Commission, traditional leaders, health workers and members of the community for cooperating to ensure the successful competition of the project. Mr Emmanuel Kwafo Mintah, the Executive Director of the Ark Development Organisation, lauded the High Commission for bringing healthcare closer to women, children, persons with disability and migrant workers. As at 2018, he said, statistics shows that Ghana had 5,128 CHPS compounds functioning, even though 6,500 were needed under the Ghana Health Service delivery structure. He said the Akramang Electoral Area was using someones house as a health facility and the owner has given them a notice to vacate the premises adding that this would leave the people with no choice than to travel long distance to access healthcare in Nsawam. Meanwhile the enormous quarries surrounding the communities made it prone to disasters, a situation which could make the more than 2,436 inhabitants of the area struggle to access basic healthcare. He said the facility would thus help to reduce the pressure on the existing health facilities in the municipality. Mrs Eunice Abuaku, speaking on behalf of the Municipal Health Directorate, said sexual and reproductive health, early infant diagnostic, expanded programme on immunization, growth monitoring programme, and disease surveillance and control as some of the services expected to be rendered by the CHPS compound. Others are treatment of minor ailments, health education and counseling for healthy lifestyles and good nutrition, home visits, community mental health, school health services and care for the aged. She, however, said these services could not be rendered without the support and cooperation of the community and urged them to join efforts with the health workers to enable them to attain their objectives. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The inspector general fired by Donald Trump was investigating why Mike Pompeo fast-tracked an $8bn arms deal with Saudi Arabia and its allies, it was revealed on Monday. The firing of Steve Linick was allegedly linked to an investigation over the administration's use of an emergency declaration to sell weapons without congressional approval, according to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel. The State Department's top watchdog was sacked late on Friday night with initial reports he was investigating the Secretary of State for ordering subordinates to walk his dog and run personal errands like picking up dry cleaning. Mr Engel said Mr Pompeo personally made the recommendation to fire the inspector general because Mr Linick had opened an investigation into wrongdoing by Mr Pompeo himself. "I've learned there may be another reason for IG Linick's firing. His office was investigating--at my request--Trump's phoney emergency declaration so he could send Saudi Arabia weapons," Mr Engel said. "We don't have the full picture yet, but it's troubling that Secretary Pompeo wanted Linick pushed out." Engle's Foreign Affairs Committee launched an investigation into the Friday night firing and has asked the Trump administration to turn over records and details related to the removal. Mr Linick, the State Department's inspector general since 2013, was probing the emergency declaration that allowed the transfer of weapons in May 2019 to the Saudis, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan. Trump was heavily criticised for using the emergency declaration, which sidestepped law requiring the notification of Congress of a weapons sale to a foreign country with 30 days for the House and Senate to halt the sale. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday the firing could be unlawful if intended as retaliation for the Pompeo probe. "The late-night, weekend firing of State Department IG Steve Linick is an acceleration of the President's dangerous pattern of retaliation against the patriotic public servants charged with conducting oversight on behalf of the American people," she said in a tweet. Mr Linick was the fourth senior government official ousted from their post in recent weeks. In April, Mr Trump fired coronavirus watchdog Glenn Fine, who was overseeing administration's financial relief response, and US intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson, who played a key role in the impeachment probe of the president. In early May, Mr Trump sacked Health and Human Services Office inspector general Christi Grimm after he accused her of creating a "fake dossier" claiming shortages at hospitals on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic. O ver the past four years weve watched intrepid renovators Dick and Angel Strawbridge transform their 18th-century French home from an uninhabitable state into a successful wedding venue and holiday home in Channel 4s popular show Escape to the Chateau. Dick and Angel bought Chateau de la Motte Husson, a 45-room manor home in the Pays-de-la-Loire region in 2015 and have since turned to sharing their own renovating experiences with others on spin-off programme Escape to the Chateau: DIY. The DIY show, which received the highest daytime ratings for a new launch in a decade, follows Brits whove upped sticks to the French countryside to buy their own chateau or manor house, often spending less on their new homes than the price of a one-bedroom London flat. Soon the keen renovators are setting their sights on interiors in a new programme with the working title Dick & Angels Make, Do & Mend. The four-part series, yet to have an airing date released, will follow the Strawbridges as they offer how-to DIY advice from their French home, tackle their own dream projects and try out new crafts to keep the whole family entertained during the lockdown. The series will be filmed entirely by the Strawbridge family at their chateau, while they will also communicate online with families looking for practical advice and bespoke solutions for their own DIY projects. The creative couple say: Its humbling that our audience wants to see more of us and our adventures. Between the pair of us we have nearly a centurys worth of make do and mend experience and so we are really excited to be making this brand-new series. Channel 4s deputy head of features and formats, Sean Doyle, says: We are delighted that Dick and Angel will be sharing their homemade handiwork with the nation at a time when many of us are taking the opportunity to make fixes around the house and embark on those creative projects weve always wanted to do. In these unprecedented times, they will bring great joy, warmth and know how into the sitting rooms, sheds, attics and cupboards across the country. Escape to the Chateau was Channel 4s second highest rated 8pm show in 2019, coming in just under The Great British Bake Off. Dick & Angels Make, Do & Mend will air on Channel 4, though no date has yet been set. Syracuse, N.Y. As hundreds of people died from the coronavirus in March and April in nursing homes, New York state health officials scrambled to respond. But state officials didnt have some vital information: They didnt know how many people had died in nursing homes. They didnt know because they didnt ask. Despite the heightened risk at nursing homes Gov. Andrew Cuomo said they could provide a feeding frenzy for this virus state officials did not track the number of daily Covid-19 fatalities in them for the first month of the states crisis. Each day before April 16, they surveyed all 613 nursing homes to ask how much hand sanitizer they had, but not how many people died in their facilities. After families of nursing home residents and news organizations raised alarms about the number of deaths in Downstate nursing homes, the state hastily devised a new survey to gather more complete information. "It was stunning to realize that the (department of health) had not been gathering information about nursing home deaths before that time, said Dr. Elaine Healy, vice president of the New York Medical Directors Association. It was as if the issue hadnt been on their radar screen until then. The states clunky fact-gathering behind the scenes contrasted with the calm, data-driven style that is on display every morning during the governors news conferences. The state hastily rewrote its questionnaires and sent nursing home directors back twice to count properly their death toll over two months, according to documents and recordings obtained by syracuse.com. State officials started asking nursing homes to report their deaths daily April 16. But they were not blind to deaths in nursing homes before that, said Gary Holmes, speaking for the health department. Based on a daily survey in use since March 9 which asked nursing homes about Covid-19 infections and residents who died in hospitals, among other things health officials often reached out to hard-hit facilities to ask them about their deaths and related issues, Holmes said. That survey led us to greater outreach to facilities that looked as though they needed potentially greater attention, he said. Early on, Cuomos team was focused on averting a looming crisis in hospitals, which were quickly running out of space and supplies. Some experts say that may have led them to give less attention to fatalities in nursing homes. At the time, the state required nursing homes to accept Covid-19 patients to relieve overburdened hospitals. That widely criticized policy reversed last week might have been reconsidered earlier if the state better understood which nursing homes struggled with fatalities, said Dr. Tom Perls, a professor at Boston University School of Medicine. The strategy now is to isolate such infected patients in coronavirus-only nursing home facilities or wings. They could have done that sooner, Perls said. A widespread lack of reporting on nursing home deaths led to horrible undercounting of overall deaths, in New York and most of the country, Perls said. At least 14 states still dont count nursing home deaths, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Most states and countries that count aggressively find at least 50% of Covid-19 deaths occur in nursing homes, Perls said. New York reports that number at about 25%. Asked why New York waited so long to thoroughly track deaths in nursing homes, Holmes said officials have had to adapt their data-gathering frequently during the pandemic as new needs are identified. This public health response continues to evolve, Holmes said. The data that were requesting and the presentation of it will evolve with it. Urgent response required When health officials finally decided to collect fatality records from nursing homes, they wanted them yesterday, according to records obtained by syracuse.com. On Wednesday, April 15, operators of New York states 613 nursing homes received an urgent email from the state health department. They were ordered to dial in to a mandatory conference call with Dr. Howard Zucker, the state health commissioner. The email was sent at 11:46 a.m., according to a copy reviewed by syracuse.com. The conference call with Zucker was scheduled for 1 p.m. (It was later delayed until 1:30 p.m.) It was the start of a frenetic, four-day scramble to get a body count from nursing homes. Each day, nursing home administrators and their medical staffs were ordered to drop everything and send numbers. On the conference call, Zucker explained to the nursing home officials that he needed them to start reporting how many deaths they had from Covid-19. In addition to confirmed cases, he asked them to include presumed Covid-19 deaths of people who were not tested but whose symptoms matched the disease. That will help us as we move forward addressing the challenges that youre facing, Zucker said, according to a recording. Those numbers are pretty straightforward numbers, Zucker continued. And we would like to know that (number of deaths), based over the period of time from when this began, to now. So its not that we just want to hear, well, this is what it was yesterday. Wed like you to go back and look over the course of the past month or five weeks or six weeks. So thats about 40 or so days, 44 days, 45 days. Two nursing home operators complained that they were short-staffed and would have trouble compiling the information so quickly. Zucker responded that the information was vital. Its really important information to have, and were trying to do this to help all of the residents in the nursing homes, he said. Zucker, who often appears with Cuomo at his daily news conference, said he would give them until the following afternoon to gather the information. When the coronavirus hit in March, the state health department activated its emergency system to gather information daily from hospitals and nursing homes. Nursing homes were reporting daily how many residents had Covid-19, how many masks and face shields were on hand, and other important data. They also reported how many of their residents had died in hospitals. But until the call with Zucker they were never asked about residents who died at their facilities. That turned out to be a big number. More than 5,500 nursing home residents have died in New York. Many experts say the true number is probably higher. A question about in-facility deaths was added to the daily survey April 16. But it failed to ask for retroactive data. Instead, it asked operators to the number of deaths since your last report. In other words, since the previous day. The next morning, April 17, the nursing homes got another email notice. URGENT RESPONSE REQUIRED, it said. The health department needed answers to two additional questions, including: What is the total number of residents who have died in your nursing home of Covid-19? The email was sent at 7:03 a.m. The deadline to respond was 8:45 a.m. And you wonder why the data is garbage? There was still confusion. At 12:32 p.m., the health department notified nursing home operators of a mandatory webinar to go over how to respond to the surveys. The webinar was conducted at 1 p.m. It was not recorded, so anyone who missed it was out of luck, said James Clyne, CEO of LeadingAge NY, which represents nonprofit long-term care providers. Some questions posed to nursing homes were confusing, Clyne said. One question asked nursing homes to report how many Covid-19 residents died outside your facility, presumably in hospitals. But the next sentence said the numbers should not include anyone who was NOT physically at your facility at the time of death. And you wonder why the data is garbage? Clyne asked. Thats why. The push to gather the data came amid growing demands for more information from families of Downstate nursing home residents, advocacy groups and the news media. In April, newspapers ran repeated stories about relatives who said they could not get information from their loved ones nursing homes. NY withheld nursing home Covid-19 details for weeks, said a headline April 15 on lohud.com. Thousands died. Heres how secrecy impacted lives. On April 17, more than a month after New Yorks first death, the health department released data for the first time revealing some 2,690 Covid-19 deaths in nursing homes. For the first time, the state identified facilities where at least five deaths had occurred, information for which relatives of nursing home residents had clamored. The data was greeted as both heart-breaking and incomplete. The health department took another stab at getting a complete count April 18, a Saturday. Nursing homes got an email directing them to fill out a supplemental survey documenting every resident who had died of Covid-19 during the preceding six weeks. Commissioner Zucker is directing you, as the administrator, to ensure that appropriate staff are available at your facility today to provide accurate data, the notice said. The email was sent at noon. The deadline for completing the survey was 2:30 p.m. The nursing homes were explicitly told to count all Covid-19 deaths in their facilities whether confirmed by testing or presumed by a doctors judgment going back to March 1. After two weeks, the health department announced that this review had identified more than 1,700 previously unannounced deaths during the preceding two months. When the recount came out, it perplexed some local officials. According to the states initial April 17 report, Onondaga County only had five nursing home deaths. But in early May, county health officials were shocked to learn that 19 previously unannounced local deaths were among the 1,700 discovered in the nursing home review. At his daily news conference May 7, an exasperated County Executive Ryan McMahon reported that the countys death toll had suddenly shot up 46%, from 41 to 60. McMahon said he had no details on when the additional deaths occurred. Im very frustrated by that, he said at the time. Everything were doing is urgent Healy, of the medical directors association, said it was difficult for nursing home operators to respond to the demands for instant information while they were also dealing with the challenges of the coronavirus. It was extremely stressful on the (nursing) homes to have to scramble, she said. Health department officials say they, like health-care providers, are under enormous pressure to compile data at the same time they are working to fight the fast-moving pandemic. Its a high-wire act that sometimes requires shifts in policy and urgent appeals for information. Everything were doing is urgent, Holmes said. There have been any number of different instances where weve asked urgent questions of all health-care facilities hospitals as well based on needing a greater understanding. Some nursing home operators said the stress was not the fault of the health department. They commended state officials for doing the best they could under trying circumstances. The department has been very thorough in gathering the information they need to properly respond to this crisis, said Edward Farbenblum, owner of Bishop Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Syracuse. New York state has struggled to develop a consistent and effective strategy to fight the coronavirus in nursing homes, syracuse.com reported earlier this month. The states response generally has been plagued by weak direction, inaccurate data and poor communication. Perls, the Boston University professor, said some nursing homes initially underplayed their Covid-19 deaths out of fear of being branded with a scarlet letter. But the virus has spread so extensively that the facilities are less reticent to report now, he said. Its important to continue tracking nursing home fatalities, he said, because the coronavirus is still rampaging through many facilities and threatens others. As public officials figure out how to loosen the rules on social distancing, it will be critical to develop policies to keep the virus out of nursing homes. Cuomo recently ordered nursing home employees to be tested twice a week for the coronavirus. Testing of residents has been less robust. Whats really important about recognizing the percentage of deaths that are occurring in nursing homes is, what to do we do moving forward? Perls said. We have to treat these (facilities for the elderly) differently from the communities. There has to be a wall put around these things. Everybody has to be tested. MORE ON CORONAVIRUS Coronavirus in NY: Cases, maps, charts and resources Churches will be the last places to reopen in NY, alongside stadiums, concert halls Onondaga County coronavirus death toll over 100 after new data from NY state Sylvan Beach wont be among beaches to open Memorial Day weekend: Heres why Complete coronavirus coverage on syracuse.com Tim Knauss is a public affairs reporter for syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. Contact him anytime: email | twitter | | 315-470-3023 You are here: Business China on Monday issued a guideline to accelerate the improvement of its socialist market economy in the new era to build a high-level socialist market economy that is more systematic, mature and well-shaped. China will uphold and improve the basic socialist economic system of keeping public ownership as the mainstay and allowing multiple forms of ownership to develop together, the guideline said. The guideline stressed minimizing the government's direct allocation of market resources and direct intervention in microeconomic activities. China will unswervingly expand opening-up, draw on the experience of other mature market economy systems and achievements of other civilizations, and accelerate efforts to align domestic systems and rules with international ones, it said. The country will improve the market, policies, rule of law and social environment for supporting the development of private businesses and foreign-invested enterprises, it said. Equal treatment should be given to firms of various types of ownership in obtaining production factors, access permission, operation, government procurement and bidding, the guideline said. Meanwhile, detailed rules and specific measures should be improved to facilitate non-public sectors to enter fields of electricity, oil and gas, while market access in the service sector should be substantially relaxed, it said. Efforts should be made to fully improve the property rights system, accelerate the establishment of a punitive compensation system in intellectual property rights infringement and strengthen the protection of business secrets, the guideline said. The country will fully implement the negative list system of market access and fair competition review system, it said. China will further stimulate creativity and market vitality of society as a whole, with measures including deepening the reform of the household registration system and loosening restrictions on settling in cities except for certain megacities, it said. Other measures include improving the mechanism whereby prices are mainly determined by the market and minimizing improper government intervention in price formation. The guideline stressed building a more open mechanism for international talent exchange and cooperation. It also urged a long-term mechanism to crack down on fake and inferior commodities. The guideline vowed to promote innovation in government management and service methods and improve the macroeconomic governance system. China will accelerate the establishment of a modern fiscal and taxation system, it said. More should be done to uphold and improve the system for ensuring people's wellbeing and promote social equity and justice, the guideline said. In terms of opening-up, China will build a new pattern of opening-up, with the focus on the construction of the Belt and Road, and accelerate the development of pilot free trade zones and free trade ports, it said. The guideline stressed expanding imports of goods and services on a large scale, reducing the overall tariff level and eliminating non-tariff trade barriers. Restrictions on foreign investment outside the negative list will be lifted completely, it said. China will actively participate in the reform of the global economic governance system, the guideline said. The country will improve the legal system for the socialist market economy and strengthen the rule of law, it said. The guideline stressed efforts to uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership to ensure the effective implementation of the reform measures. President Donald Trump attacked the United Nations health body as a Chinese puppet on Monday and confirmed he is considering slashing or canceling US support. Theyre a puppet of China, theyre China-centric to put it nicer, he said at the White House. Trump said the United States pays around $450 million annually to the World Health Organization, the largest contribution of any country. Plans are being crafted to slash this because were not treated right. They gave us a lot of bad advice, he said of the WHO. Trump spoke as the WHO held its first annual assembly since the pandemic swept the world after originating in China, causing massive economic disruption and killing 316,000 people -- close to a third of them in the United States. Trump said China only pays about $40 million a year and one idea was for Washington to bring our 450 down to 40, but some people thought that was too much. (The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.) By Clyde Russell LAUNCESTON, Australia, May 19 (Reuters) - If China was looking to send a political message to Australia by effectively banning the import of a commodity, then barley fits the bill almost perfectly. China on Monday imposed what it termed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties totalling 80.5% on Australian barley imports from May 19, a move likely to end trade that has been worth between $980 million and $1.3 billion in recent years. Australia's official reaction has so far been muted, with Agriculture Minister David Littleproud saying the government will consider approaching the World Trade Organization for a ruling on China's action. The official reason for the tariffs is that Australia is dumping barley and damaging China's domestic industry. Finding anyone who believes this is the sole motive behind the duties would be a challenge. Rather, the move is seen as Beijing's ongoing expression of displeasure over Canberra's role in pushing for an international investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus, and China's initial handling of the outbreak that has turned into a pandemic, slamming economies around the world. Beijing has already suspended imports from four of Australia's largest meat processors, affecting about 20% of the country's beef exports to China, while its ambassador to Canberra has hinted at wider actions. The action on barley fits a pattern of Chinese diplomacy, whereby countries that offend Beijing are punished as a lesson, and hopefully brow-beaten into submission. Now that Australia's call for an international probe of the coronavirus has been taken up by numerous other countries, Beijing may feel it has done enough, for now. While Australia's barley farmers will undoubtedly be impacted by the tariffs, and may not easily find alternative markets, it's probably more important what China hasn't done. Story continues Barely represents a miniscule part of Australia's overall trade with China, and is a commodity that Beijing can easily source from other suppliers. Australia's total exports to China were worth A$194.6 billion ($126.5 billion) in the 2017/18 fiscal year, according to official data, meaning barley is around 0.5% of the total. If China was determined to send a stronger message to Canberra it would no doubt target exports that were of more value, but that it could still source competitively from other suppliers. IRON ORE ELEPHANT Top of mind is liquefied natural gas (LNG), of which Australia is the world's top producer, accounting for 9.7 million tonnes of China's imports of 19.8 million tonnes in the first four months of the year, according to Refinitiv ship-tracking data. LNG is a market suffering from oversupply, however, partly due to the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus, but mainly due to a massive increase in output getting ahead of demand. If China chose to halt imports of Australian LNG, it could probably make up the difference from other major suppliers such as Qatar and the United States. Coal is another area where Australia is vulnerable to Chinese action, especially on thermal coal where there are numerous alternative suppliers such as Indonesia, Russia and South Africa. For coking coal used in steel-making, China is more reliant on Australia, with about half of its imports coming from Down Under, and it would be difficult to source enough from other seaborne suppliers such as Canada and the United States. It's not just commodities that China could target, with Chinese students and tourists an important source of income for Australia, at least prior to the coronavirus curtailed travel. The big daddy of China's trade with Australia is iron ore, though, with China importing 232.7 million tonnes from Australia in the first four months of the year, about 68% of its total. The other major supplier is Brazil, currently battling mining disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and other than the South American country there is no nation that can come close to meeting China's needs. The conventional thinking is that Australia is more reliant on China when it comes to trade, but imagine if Canberra banned iron ore exports, even for a short period of three months, or placed a substantial export tax on shipments. That is a significant threat to China's 1 billion-tonne-a-year steel industry that is heavily dependent on Australian ore, a raw material it cannot get elsewhere and of which it would rapidly run out given any kind of stoppage. In other words, in the unlikely event of a massive escalation, Australia does hold some cards in its relationship with China, having the ability to devastate not just the steel industry, but all the downstream sectors reliant on it, such as construction, infrastructure and manufacturing. It's likely that neither country wants to escalate much beyond barley, and the issue may fizzle out, especially if Beijing thinks its bully-boy tactics have worked, and Canberra thinks it has stood up to China without inflicting too much damage on itself. (Editing by Tom Hogue) When looking at the overall four-wheeler segment in India, hatchbacks and SUVs have been the ones doing well. While hatchbacks are favoured for the prices, SUVs are the big car of choice for many people. Sedans, on the other hand, havent been enjoying as much favour. Heres a list of the best-selling sedans in the month of September. Industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has said that the government's economic stimulus package will not create demand. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over May 13-17 announced in five tranches details of the Rs 20 lakh crore package. While noting that the agriculture focused package may benefit the automobile sector indirectly. It added: "The auto sector needed an immediate stimulus to boost demand which has not happened. We could see a de-growth between 22-35 percent in FY21." Follow our LIVE Updates on the coronavirus pandemic here It further suggested that there is a need for direct intervention to stop job losses and create demand. 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 "Dealers need financial support and should be included in the MSME definition," it added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12 announced that the government would outline an Rs 20 lakh crore package to help the economy battling global slowdown and the coronavirus pandemic. Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes has doubled down on her attack of Australia, saying she thinks the nation needs to learn how to take criticism. The 79-year-old British-born actress has come under fire for describing the nation as 'brutal' and 'greedy' ahead of the release of the ABC documentary series Almost Australian. Speaking to Studio 10 on Tuesday, the adopted Australian refused to apologise for her evaluation of the country. Standing by her words: Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes (right) has doubled down on her attack of Australia, saying she thinks the nation need to learn how to take criticism. Pictured on Studio 10 with host Sarah Harris (left) 'I think that Australians don't really like to be criticised, nobody does, but you've got to take it and what I say to people who find my criticism impertinent, I would say I love Australia and I want it to be better, and the only way to make things better is to criticise them,' she said. Miriam said there was 'no point' in lying about her opinion of the country after travelling so far from home. 'I may be wrong but it's the way I see it. It's stupid to try and pretend. Some things I liked, some things I didn't. I'm honest and I think that's much better than p***ing about,' she said. Not backing down: Speaking to Studio 10 on Tuesday, the adopted Australian refused to apologise for her evaluation of the country She also responded to attacks on her own personality, saying one personality trait doesn't define who she is. 'I can whinge if something needs whingeing about but I'm also a great praiser and a great appreciator, you've got to take me all, not just half of me,' she added. The British expat was warned by her longtime partner, Heather Sutherland, about criticising Australia too harshly in her new series, but she didn't take the advice. Facing the wrath: The British expat was warned by her partner about criticising Australia too harshly in her new ABC documentary - but she didn't take the advice The Harry Potter star, who became a naturalised citizen seven years ago, travelled from coast to coast for her series Almost Australian, but the process left her feeling disenchanted with her adopted home country. Miriam made headlines on Monday for saying she was horrified by the 'brutality' and 'greed' of modern Australia - and has since declared in an interview with The New Daily that she won't be making any apologies for her remarks. 'I hope people will not be too annoyed about the things I have to say, but in the end, to be honest, f**k 'em if they are. That's tough. I'm telling it like I see it,' she said. 'F**k 'em': Miriam made headlines on Monday for saying she was horrified by the 'brutality' and 'greed' of modern Australia - and has since declared in an interview with The New Daily that she won't be making any apologies for her remarks It comes after Miriam, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series, sparked outrage by saying Australia was 'harsher' than she had first thought when she arrived in the 1980s. 'We think we know what [Australia is] like, but we don't. It's quite complicated. It's layered. Lots of things happen. I do think I was right that it's harsher than it was. Maybe that's true in the world,' she told TV Tonight. 'There's a harshness about it, which I didn't expect.' Adopted Aussie: The BAFTA-winning actress became a naturalised citizen in January 2013 after years of dividing her time between London and Australia She said the most confronting part of the documentary was having to visit Surfers Paradise, a highly developed stretch of coastline on Queensland's Gold Coast popular with holidaymakers. 'There is a brutality there and a greed in Australia, which I don't like,' she said. 'You know, the developers. Those horrible structures along the coast, that people should be ashamed of living in. Surfers Paradise, it's disgusting. I think that actually shocked me because I don't go there. It's not my world and I don't want to go there.' 'Those horrible structures along the coast': She said the most confronting part of filming ABC documentary series Almost Australian was having to visit Surfers Paradise, a highly developed stretch of coastline on Queensland's Gold Coast popular with holidaymakers (pictured) The BAFTA-winning actress, who lives in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, became a citizen in January 2013 after years of dividing her time between London and Australia. 'I don't like class distinction and there is far too much of that in England,' she said after her citizenship ceremony. 'There's an energy here - an optimism, a vitality. I think England doesn't have that anymore. There's an irony and not accepting bulls**t [in Australia] and I love that, that straight-talking stuff.' Almost Australian airs Tuesday at 8.30pm on ABC and ABC iview Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 17:32:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close A man walks past graffiti about human fighting against the coronavirus in Narayanganj, Bangladesh, May 18, 2020. (Str/Xinhua) DHAKA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh reported 1,251 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking its total to over 25,000. Nasima Sultana, a senior Health Ministry official, said at an online media briefing in the capital city Dhaka that "1,251 new COVID-19 positive cases and 21 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours across Bangladesh." "The total number of positive cases is now 25,121 and death toll stands at 370," she added. Bangladesh on Monday reported the highest daily jump of new 1,602 cases in a 24-hour period. According to the official, 8,449 samples were tested in labs across Bangladesh in the last 24 hours, and 408 more patients were released from hospitals and clinics, bringing the number of recovered patients in the country to 4,993. A private laboratory in Anambra, Accunalysis Diagnostic Centre Ltd., Nnewi accredited by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has begun COVID-19 testing in the state. Speaking to journalists in Awka on Tuesday, Chijike Agbaka, the managing director of the diagnostic centre disclosed that the centre had already carried out some COVID-19 tests last weekend. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the centre, owned by Calistus Okereke, is equipped to test 100 persons for chemistry, dermatology and molecular diagnosis daily. Mr Agbaka said: We are into laboratory testing in areas of chemistry, dermatology but our interest is centered on molecular diagnosis. We discovered that it was difficult for researchers and students to carry out their research in molecular diagnostics. NCDC has been to our facility and has found us worthy as one of the testing centres for COVID-19 in Nigeria. Mr Agbaka commended Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State for creating the enabling environment for the laboratory centre to contribute its quota to the health sector of the state. The managing director said the centre had no political affiliation with any group as reported in some social media. He said the centre is owned by an investor, who is passionate about reducing medical tourism in the state. There are some guidelines set out by the NCDC for testing; ours is to follow the guidelines which entails that samples are collected by the state government through the Ministry of Health and that our reporting format should go through the state, he stressed. Mr Agbaka said the private laboratory would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government over the partnership. The procedures and guidelines of NCDC spells out that private laboratories must partner with the state, so that all reporting and samples will be received through the state. We have an understanding with the state and very soon, it will be announced by MoU, duly signed by both partners, he said. NAN also reports that the laboratories at the Onitsha General Hospital and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Awka, are other COVID-19 testing centres awaiting NCDCs approval in the state. (NAN) In an interview with The Washington Posts Philip Rucker, Trump declared that Obamagate had been going on for a long time. Its been going on from before I even got elected and its a disgrace that it happened, and if you look at whats gone on, and if you look at it now, all this information thats being releasedand from what I understand, thats only the beginningsome terrible things happened, and it should never be allowed to happen in our country again. And youll be seeing whats going on over the next, over the coming weeks but I, and I wish youd write honestly about it but unfortunately you choose not to do so. Foreigners entering the country under visa waiver programmes, e-visas or tourism visas after March 1 will be automatically given stay permit extension until June 30 free of charge. Foreign tourists visit the Imperial Citadel in Hue city in February, before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the country to close its borders. The Immigration Department announced on May 18 that all stay permits for these people will be automatically extended and do not need to be renewed. This means from now until June 30, they can stay or leave the country without doing any paperwork. The move is aimed to help those stuck in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreigners who entered the country before March 1 will also be considered for this permit extension as long as they can prove they cannot leave the country due to the pandemic. In these cases they need certification by their diplomatic mission in Vietnam through an official diplomatic note with a translation in Vietnamese. Those who obtained documents from the Vietnamese authorities certifying that they have undergone quarantine or treatment for COVID-19 or are stuck here due to reasons beyond their control are also eligible for the stay permit extension. However, they have to show these documents when leaving the country. Those given the automatic stay permit extension should declare their temporary stay to local police and complete health declarations. Those who do not fall under these categories or have committed illegal actions have to abide with the existing laws on immigration. People can contact the Immigration Department at 024 39387320 for any inquiries relating to the issue./.VNA Foreigners stranded in Vietnam receiving assistance With countries around the globe closing their borders to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, many foreigners stranded in Vietnam have received assistance from local authorities to overcome the unprecedented situation. WASHINGTON, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) has announced new awards through its Rare Disease Research Grant Program, which provides funding to qualified researchers for translational or clinical studies related to the development of new diagnostics or treatments for rare disease. Since the program's launch in 1989, NORD grants have led to the development of two FDA-approved treatments and numerous peer-reviewed publications. Eleven new research grants have been given to the following institutions and investigators: For the study of alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of the pulmonary veins (ACDMPV), with funding from the Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia Association, The David Ashwell Foundation and William Akers, Jr. & Georgia O. Akers Private Foundation, Inc.: Frances Flanagan , MBBCh, BAO, Boston Children's Hospital ( Boston, MA ); Genetic Determinants of ACD/MPV For the study of appendix cancer and pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), with funding from the Appendix Cancer/Pseudomyxoma Peritonei Research Foundation: Oliver S. Eng , MD, The University of Chicago ( Chicago, IL ); Assessment of the Effects of HIPEC on the Genetic Landscape of Peritoneal Metastases from High Grade Appendiceal Neoplasms , MD, The ( ); Assessment of the Effects of HIPEC on the Genetic Landscape of Peritoneal Metastases from High Grade Appendiceal Neoplasms Kjersti Flatmark, MD, PhD, Oslo University Hospital ( Oslo, Norway ); ctDNA for Monitoring Patients with Pseudomyxoma Peritonei For the study of autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 1 (APS-1), with funding from the APS Type 1 Foundation: Rachid Tazi-Ahnini, PhD, The University of Sheffield ( Sheffield, UK ); Developing Gene Therapy for Autoimmune Polyglandular Syndrome Type 1 For the study of biliary atresia, with funding from DataRevive LLC: Michael A. Pack , MD, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania ( Philadelphia, PA ); Targeting Protein Quality Control Pathways to Treat Biliary Atresia , MD, Perelman School of Medicine, ( ); Targeting Protein Quality Control Pathways to Treat Biliary Atresia Sarah A. Taylor , MD, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago | Northwestern University School of Medicine ( Chicago, IL ); Transcriptional Profiling of Hepatic Macrophages to Predict Patient Outcomes in Biliary Atresia For the study of malonic aciduria, with funding from The Hope Fund: Jiping Yue , PhD, The University of Chicago ( Chicago, IL ); Development of Epidermal Progenitor Cell-based Therapy for Malonic Aciduria For the study of neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy (NEHI), with funding from the NEHI Research Foundation: Joseph Shieh , MD, PhD, University of California San Francisco ( San Francisco, CA ); Analysis of NEHI Susceptibility Using Informatic Technologies For the study of new-onset refractory status epilepticus (NORSE) and febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES), with funding from the NORSE Institute: Ingo Helbig , MD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia ( Philadelphia, PA ); Beyond Negative Exome - Understanding the Genetics of FIRES , MD, Children's Hospital of ( ); Beyond Negative Exome - Understanding the Genetics of FIRES Claude Steriade, MD and Deepak Saxena , MD, New York University School of Medicine ( New York, NY ); Gut Microbiome Alterations as a Mechanism of Immune Dysregulation in New Onset Refractory Status Epilepticus For the study of primary orthostatic tremor, with funding from public donations: Robert Chen, MA, MB BChir, MSc, Krembil Brain Institute, University Health Network ( Toronto, Canada ); Modulating Dysfunctional Cerebellar Activity with Low-intensity Focused Ultrasound Stimulation for Primary Orthostatic Tremor "2019 was a landmark year for NORD's Research Grants Program as we celebrated 30 years of supporting community-funded grants to advance research for rare diseases," said Vanessa Boulanger, NORD's Director of Research. "Our donors are at the heart of our program and their generous support each year drives new evidence and scientific breakthroughs that bring us closer to cures that save lives." Grants are made possible through the generosity of partners in the rare disease community and supporters who have donated into NORD's research fund. For more information about NORD's Rare Disease Research Grant Program, funding opportunities or to donate to a research fund, visit: rarediseases.org/research . About the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) is the leading independent advocacy organization representing all patients and families affected by rare diseases. NORD is committed to the identification, treatment and cure of more than 7,000 rare diseases, of which approximately 90% are still without an FDA-approved treatment or therapy. Rare diseases affect over 25 million Americans. More than half of those affected are children. NORD began as a small group of patient advocates that formed a coalition to unify and mobilize support to pass the Orphan Drug Act of 1983. For 37 years, NORD has led the way in voicing the needs of the rare disease community, driving supportive policies and education, advancing medical research and providing patient and family services for those who need them most. NORD is made strong together with over 300 disease-specific member organizations and their communities and collaborates with many other organizations on specific causes of importance to the rare disease patient community. Visit rarediseases.org . SOURCE National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) Related Links http://www.rarediseases.org Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin James Pearson (Reuters) Phu Quoc, Vietnam Tue, May 19, 2020 16:16 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd90c8d9 2 News Phu-Quoc,beach,Vietnam,travel,tourism,destination,coronavirus,COVID-19 Free In Phu Quoc, a Vietnamese island off the coast of Cambodia, posters warning tourists of the dangers of COVID-19 have long since faded in the powerful sunshine, along with the throngs of international travelers that used to dot its beaches. Vietnam recorded a 98 percent fall in visitors this April compared to 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but its success in fighting the virus, posting only 324 cases and no deaths, now sees it set to breathe life back into its tourism industry. Vietnam will be one of the first Southeast Asian nations to start to revive its economy, but with a ban still in place on foreign visitors, and many of their major tourist markets under lockdown, hotels and resorts are discounting paradise to make it more attractive to local travelers. At the Mango Bay resort in Phu Quoc, staff in surgical masks served icy cocktails and chilled glasses of white wine to small groups of guests, many of them young urban tourists, from Hanoi or from Ho Chi Minh City. General manager Ronan Le Bihan said the resort now needed to adapt to local tastes. "Tourist businesses targeting foreign tourists will be in trouble for a long time," said Bihan. "We can now focus on the Vietnamese market. But that is a very large term. And not all Vietnamese are interested in what we offer." A tourism promotion campaign "Vietnamese People Travel in Vietnam" debuted last week and aims to "introduce quality tourism products and service packages at reasonable prices". The move puts Vietnam ahead of its regional tourism competitors such as Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, where travel restrictions are only just starting to lift. Tourism raised 726 trillion dong ($31 billion) last year, nearly 12 percent of Vietnam's 2019 GDP, but while barely 17% of the 103 million travelers were foreigners, they spent slightly more than domestic counterparts. Warning of the risk of reopening to foreigners too quickly, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called for the promotion of domestic tourism. To lure local travelers, hotels and airlines have cut prices by as much as half, Vu The Binh, chairman of Vietnam Society of Travel Agents, and vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, told Reuters. "The recovery of domestic tourism should boost international tourism," he said. "After this program ends in mid-July, we will embark on another program to promote international tourism, depending on the virus situation." Read also: Tourists back in Vietnam's Ha Long Bay as domestic travel opens 'Travel bubble' Domestic tourism is on the post-lockdown agenda elsewhere in Southeast Asia, but tight travel restrictions mean its uncertain when it will resume. Indonesia's holiday island of Bali has said it could reopen to foreign tourists in October, and hotels in Thailand are gearing up for an eventual reopening. One option being considered in Vietnam is to join a "travel bubble" with other countries that have successfully fought back the coronavirus. Ken Atkinson, vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, said the first countries to target could be Australia and New Zealand, which are considering their own free-movement zone. "However, as China and Korea are our two biggest inbound source markets it is important to have plans in place to reopen travel from those markets as soon as it is safe," he told Reuters. Asian markets were likely to be the first to recover, said William Haandrikman, general manager of the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, an iconic, colonial-era hotel whose crowds of wealthy Western tourists are long gone. "We have had to re-invent ourselves to focus directly on the local domestic market as well as regional Asian markets," he said. That includes room deals with $100 credits for food. Domestic tourism is now on the rise, with most Vietnamese airlines reporting their limited domestic flights are fast reaching capacity. Lured by low prices, Le Thi Mai Phuong, a 38-year-old businesswoman from Hanoi, spent last weekend in the central city of Danang. "I'm afraid that if we wait until the virus is over, the cost will go up and the beaches will become too crowded," she said. "We don't know if the virus will return to Vietnam and cause another lockdown". "I'd have to stay at home and dream about travelling again." Last week, President Donald Trump responded to governors' positive coronavirus poll numbers by citing his own federal government's help. "Remember this," Trump tweeted, "every Governor who has sky high approval on their handling of the Coronavirus, and I am happy for them all, could in no way have gotten those numbers, or had that success, without me and the Federal Governments help." Americans, though, don't seem to be crediting Trump nearly as much as he would like. New polling data from SurveyMonkey, which were shared with The Washington Post, show that fully 49 of 50 governors have significantly higher approval ratings for their coronavirus responses than Trump does in recent polls. A Washington Post-Ipsos poll last week showed 43 percent of Americans approved of Trump's handling of the outbreak. The one governor on Trump's level is Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, whose efforts to reopen his state have proved controversial. In the Post-Ipsos poll, Kemp's approval rating was 39 percent; in the new one, it's a similar 43 percent - the same as Trump's. Apart from Kemp, the governor closest to Trump is Hawaii Democratic Gov. David Ige, at 54 percent. No other governor falls below half of their constituents supporting their response. The data show Democratic governors with an average coronavirus approval rating of 70 percent, while Republican governors are lower, at 63 percent. But interestingly, most of the highest and lowest approval ratings belong to Republicans. Among the highest are a trio of moderate Republicans who have distanced themselves from Trump - Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan at 85 percent, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott at 82 percent, and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker at 82 percent. They occupy three of the top five slots, and six of the top seven are Republicans. On the other end of the scale, though, are many of their fellow GOPers. Of the 11 governors with the lowest approval ratings on coronavirus, nine are Republicans. Along with Kemp, they including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at 58 percent. Both governors have pushed forward with among the most aggressive reopening plans. Also among the 11 at the lowest end are four Republican governors of Midwestern states - Iowa's Kim Reynolds, South Dakota's Kristi Noem, Missouri's Mike Parson and Nebraska's Pete Ricketts - all at 58 percent. All were among the latest holdouts on issuing statewide stay-at-home orders or were among the few to never issue them at all. The only other Democrat to rank among the lowest 11 besides Ige is Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, at 60 percent. By Orooj Hakimi KABUL (Reuters) - Shagufa Haidari, 23, a flight attendant for Afghanistan's Kam Air, used to fly six days a week around the country and abroad, to Istanbul, Islamabad and Delhi. Then the novel coronavirus hit. Now she barely flies, most of her colleagues have been furloughed and aviation officials warn that they may be out of jobs altogether as they contemplate the dire scenario of industry collapse. Airlines are struggling globally, but the loss of Afghanistan's aviation sector would have extra collateral damage, destroying one of the few bright spots for female employment at a time when the conservative society is also facing the possibility of a return of the Taliban to a role in government. Haidari, who landed her dream job at the age of 20, says it is a life-changing opportunity for ambitious young women. "It is a job full of excitement and a world of adventure," she said. Things have improved for women in Afghanistan since the Taliban, who banned female education and women from leaving home without a male relative, were in driven from power in 2001, particularly in urban areas. A new generation of women has emerged with university degrees and jobs in a range of fields including business and politics. But still, the rate of woman's employment is a fraction that of men, with only about a fifth of women in the labour market and an unemployment rate of 67% for women seeking work, according to 2018 Gallup data. Afghan women choosing a career say they face hostility, be it from conservative relatives or Islamists, for pursuing a professional path and financial independence. Many worry the situation will only get worse if the Taliban gain a political role in a power-sharing deal as the United States withdraws its troops under a pact with the militants. The Taliban say they have changed and they would allow women to work outside the home, as long as they are separated from men. But many women are wary. Story continues Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open https://tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser 'EDUCATION AND TALENT' Airlines have welcomed women in various roles. About 30% of the 580 employees at national carrier Ariana are female while Kam Air employs 106 women, 46 of them flight attendants, as well as pilots and managers. "Kam Air has always tried to have more female employees," said Suliman Omar, its commercial officer. "Our criterion is the education and talent of our employees, not gender." But with most flights grounded because of the coronavirus, Kam Air has asked 80% of its staff to stay home without pay as it suffers the loss of $6.5 million in revenue every week. "We're facing the very serious threat of collapse," Omar said. Ariana posted a loss of $4.3 million in the first quarter, compared with $14 million in revenue in the same period last year. The airlines have joined forces with the Civil Aviation Authority to appeal to the government for help. Mohammad Hedayat, a press adviser to Second Vice President Sarwar Danish, who has been heavily involved in the response to the coronavirus, said the presidency had received the request. "But no decision has yet been made in the cabinet, Hedayat said. The taxes the airlines pay are a major source of revenue for a country heavily reliant on falling flows of foreign aid. And the growth of the domestic air network has provided a lifeline for many Afghans who would otherwise have no choice but arduous and dangerous travel by road. "By car you're dicing with death," said businessman Shakib Yarzada, 35, who makes four business trips a month by air, referring to militant violence. Flight attendants can only wait and hope. "For someone like me with experience only in aviation there's no other chance of employment," said Ariana flight attendant Ellaha Nawabi, 25. "It's the best job opportunity for women." (Reporting by Orooj Hakimi; additional reporting by Storay Karimi and Charlotte Greenfield; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Robert Birsel) F or the first time in years, I am actually looking forward to Prime Ministers Questions. At noon on Wednesday, there will be a crackle of electricity in the House of Commons as Boris Johnson stands up at the Dispatch Box to answer for the Governments decisions. The Premier will look relaxed on the surface, but those who know him will probably sense the rapt focus of brain cells under pressure beneath that unruly blonde mop. After a few moments, MPs will fall silent as the Speaker calls out for the Leader of the Opposition. Sir Keir Starmer will rise, and 649 MPs will hold their breath in anticipation. This is only the third Question Time between Mr Johnson and Sir Keir - the battle between optimistic showman and prosecutorial lawyer - but Labours new leader won the first two hands down with a series of exquisitely delivered questions of surgical sharpness and devastating accuracy. The question this week is whether Labours new leader he can make it a hat trick, or whether the political skills of the Tory premier will turn the tables. And never underestimate the Prime Minister, a politician whose mastery of the court of public opinion outclasses all his rivals. Sir Keir may find some awkward questions lobbed his way, too, such as whether Labour backs the reopening of schools or not. Much depends on the outcome - far more is at stake than the egos of the two protagonists or the morale of their respective backbenchers. Sir Keirs two victories so far have already caused changes to the political landscape. First, they have made Mr Johnson, elected only six months ago with a landslide majority of 80, look distinctly vulnerable. Second, as a consequence of this, ministers are starting to become jumpy about the prospect of questions being asked ultimately by a judge in charge of an official inquiry into the handling of coronavirus. Thirdly, stemming from this, there has been an outbreak of backstabbing in the weekend papers, including anonymous fingerprinting at Health Secretary Matt Hancock that suggests colleagues are trying to line up a scapegoat. Hilariously, the call has gone out to Conservative MPs to dash back to the House of Commons from pandemic isolation in their homes to give the PM moral support in a Chamber that was quiet as a graveyard during Sir Keirs last two attacks. Downing Street is fretting aloud about Parliament being unable to scrutinise legislation properly while MPs are keeping away due to coronavirus. Yes, this is the same No 10 team that suspended Parliament unlawfully last year to stop it passing legislation to outlaw a no-deal Brexit. However, the word has gone out that MPs should return en masse after next weeks Whitsun recess. Another sign of the Starmer Effect is that policy announcements are being re-timed to provide distractions from Sir Keirs persistent questions and prevent his success from dominating the headlines. In their first clash, the PM pre-announced that the long-awaited routemap from lockdown would take effect from the following Monday, resulting in total confusion when it turned out that in fact the return to work only began last Wednesday. In their second clash, the PM let slip that the Government was spending an extra 600 million on preventing infections in care home, an announcement that was reportedly supposed to have been saved for the following day. Keir Starmer quizzes Boris Johnson over 10,000 unexplained deaths in care homes PA Sky News So, how has Starmer achieved all this? And what tricks might the Prime Minister have up his sleeve. Sir Keirs understated technique is lightyears away from the Punch & Judy knockabout that earned the Commons a justified reputation as a brutal bearpit - while attracting global television audiences for its unique mix of arcane ceremony and brutal verbal combat. Instead he draws on his skills as a barrister to ask questions that force the Prime Minister to speak on the record about issues that minsters would prefer to glide over, such as the lack of protection for care homes that subsequently suffered appalling death rates. Starmer exploits the silence of the near-empty chamber (only 50 MPs are currently allowed in because of pandemic restrictions) to deprive his quarry of emotional undergrowth to hide in. He eschews emotional questions, unlike Jeremy Corbyn whose efforts to decry the Tory leader as a moral disgrace never failed to rally and unite Conservative MPs. His questions are simple, depriving the PM of excuses to meander off topic. PA But Johnsons skills are not to be under-rated. He may have lost their first scrap in the chamber a fortnight ago, but he won the battle of the TV and newspaper headlines by giving a sneak preview of the routemap from lockdown. A big daisycutter policy announcement in their third clash would blow Sir Keir out of the water. A launch date for the NHSX app, or the rollout of tracking and tracing, could reset the agenda and relegate Sir Keir to the sketch columns. All you need to know from the May 19 coronavirus briefing Do not be surprised if Tory backbenchers give the PM noisy backing. One of Mr Johnsons habits when quizzed by Sir Keir was to look behind him, seeking friendly faces to rouse - faces that were missing on the socially-distanced green leather benches. And Mr Johnson may choose this week to go on the attack. He might challenge Sir Keir to support the phased opening of primary schools in June, an issue that is a more pressing concern to many voters than the disinterring of mistakes made earlier in the pandemic. Sir Keirs supporters may laud his brilliance in a courtroom setting, but Mr Johnson has a genius for the arena. Prime Ministers Questions is the ultimate gladiatorial circus. It has always mattered in British politics, both for the jousting of opponents across the Dispatch Box and for the subtle stilettos of the PMs enemies behind him or her. Over the decades Ive had a ringside view of some of the great clashes of our times, Thatcher versus Kinnock (and Heseltine); Major against Blair, Brown against Cameron. But I have to confess that in recent months I have not always bothered to pay attention. When Johnson and Starmer square up for their third meeting, however, I will be hanging on every word. At last, the Government is being properly held to account - and that will ultimately be good for the country, whoever claims victory when they sit down. Is the USA a Christian Nation? Is it? Was it? Was it ever? No, no, no, no. My friend Lee Camp, in Scandalous Witness, outlines why Christians in the USA should not join themselves to the hip with the President or with government at any level. The two are competing lords. In the USA, whether progressive or conservative today, the Lord is losing to the lord called USA. We have become a politicized church right and left and nothing damages the gospel more than politicized Christians. The church is a church for all nations, for all flags. Jesus wants to be Lord of all or not Lord at all. When we share his lordship with the nation he ceases being Lord. Read the end of Matthew 7. Are we a Christian Nation? Lee Camp: America cannot possibly be a Christian nation because no nation-state can be a Christian nation-state. This is not a biased judgment about America. It is a simple matter of understanding what a nation-state is and what Christianity is. These two cannot be conjoined. The following are some particulars. (1) Nation-states are bounded geographically by borders. But the Christian church is transnational and is bounded by no arti-ficial geographical boundaries (2) Nation-states are bounded procedurally by laws regarding citizenship. By and large, nation-states comprise those who are citizens according to arbitrary historical accident. Because I happened to have been born in Alabama, a former region of the Creek Nation but now a state of the United States of America, I am thus a citizen of the latter due to the two contingent facts of my birthplace and the time of my birth. The church, however, comprises those who are members following their own voluntary intentional commitment in baptism or confirmation. All are invited, and none are excluded. (3) Nation-states build walls, literally or procedurally. The church of Christ welcomes all, literally and procedurally. (4) Nation-states maintain their existence through military might and standing armies, precisely because they are geographically bounded. The church, on the other hand, is an entity that lives by, lives according to, and bears witness to suffering love.The church does not depend on self-preservation. To make such a claim is not mere utopian theological assertion; it is a historical fact. All empires have fallen, and we have no reason to doubt that those in existence will not fall; meanwhile the Christian tradition has survived, for good or ill, through its own times of horrific failure and its times of creative faithfulness, for two millennia. (5) Nation-states seek their own partisan agenda. This often takes the shape of developing alliances with other relatively like-minded nation-states. But in all cases it means at best a sort of relative cease-fire, or perhaps better, a negotiated form of mutual self-interest, and at worst it means war. But the Christian churchs most fundamental calling -the ministry of reconciliation- means it must not ultimately identify itself with any given party, sect, nation-state, or other more narrow cmnity of self-interest Pastors who wed themselves to the President or to Governors, then, become chaplains to the state. Lee Camp again: To be clear, the critique here is not of chaplains or chaplaincy as such, nor is the desire here to propagate any sort of moralistic employment of derogatory terms such as whore. With regard to chaplain, the question is whether the church has become what we might call a mere chaplain to the state, merely providing some so-called spiritual comfort to a state that has no interest in taking seriously the political shape of the gospel. Or put differently, anyone who takes up the mantle of chaplain must ask whether one is a minister of the gospel or of the state. Can one, will one, be able o bear witness to the specific counsel of the gospel regarding en-emies, forgiveness, reconciliation, mercy, and the like, or is one simply expected to pronounce a blessing on whatever the powers that be determine shall be done? Nor is the USA the hope of the world. The "Ireland Data Center Market Investment Analysis and Growth Opportunities 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. In-depth Analysis and Data-driven Insights on the Impact of COVID-19 Included in this Ireland Data Center Market Report Ireland data center market to grow at a CAGR of over 6% during the period 2020-2025 The Ireland data center market comprises over 35 operational colocation facilities. As colocation have started gaining traction in the last 3-5 years, hyperscale services have been dominating in Ireland. The Increasing hyperscale investments will boost ODM server revenue in the market. Mission critical and high performance server systems are likely to grow owing to the implementation IoT related technology. The market share of AI-based servers in Ireland has witnessed a 1015% increase in growth in the last few years. The increase in OPEX is expected to shift the focus to lithium-ion UPS systems during the forecast period. Facebook install 48VDC powered UPS systems as their adoption in data centers prevent a 510% power loss during electricity conversions. This report considers the present scenario of the data center construction market in Ireland. Offers market dynamics for the forecast period 2020-2025. It covers a detailed overview of several growth enablers, restraints, and trends in the market. The study includes the demand and supply aspect of the data center market. Key Deliverables An assessment of the data center investment in the market by colocation, hyperscale, and enterprise data center operators Exhaustive insights of the impact of the COVID-19 on the market Investments in terms of area (square feet) and power capacity (MW) in major cities in the country Data center Colocation market in Ireland Retail Wholesale Colocation Pricing in Ireland A detailed study of the existing competitive landscape. An in-depth industry analysis and insightful predictions about the size of the Ireland data center market Segmentation of the data center market in Ireland into multiple segments and sub-segments with market sizing and forecast A comprehensive analysis of the latest market trends and potential opportunities. Offers growth restraints and future market prospects for the market Presence of prominent investors, construction contractors, and infrastructure key players A transparent market research methodology and the analysis of the demand and supply aspect of the market Key Highlights The adoption of cloud computing services in Ireland has experienced a considerable growth in data volumes. Irish businesses are expected to witness a surge of over 70% in data consumption in next 3-4 years. The growing demand for hyperscale facilities is boosting investments in submarine cable deployment projects in Ireland. Dublin has emerged as a cloud computing hub. Witnessed the presence of major cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Google and IBM. The availability of favorable government support in terms of schemes is driving data center construction in Ireland. The implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has driven data traffic in Ireland. Ireland aims to generate 16% of energy through renewable energy sources by 2020, which is likely to reach 55% by 2030. Report Coverage This report offers a descriptive analysis of the Ireland data center investments in terms of infrastructure and geography. It discusses market sizing and estimation for different segments with respect to the investment in data centers. The segmentation includes: Infrastructure Type IT Infrastructure Electrical Infrastructure Mechanical Infrastructure IT Infrastructure Server Storage Network Electrical Infrastructure Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Generator Market Transfer Switches and Switchgear Other Electrical Infrastructure Mechanical Infrastructure Cooling Systems CRAC CRAH Units Chiller Units Cooling Towers Dry Coolers Economizers Evaporative Coolers Other Units Racks Other Mechanical Infrastructure General Construction Building Development Installation Commissioning Services Building Design Physical Security DCIM Tier Segments Tier I Tier II Tier III Tier IV Geography Dublin Other Cities Key Market Participants Data Center IT Infrastructure Providers Arista Atos Broadcom Cisco Dell Technologies Hewlett Packard Enterprise Huawei IBM Lenovo NetApp Construction Contractors Arup Bouygues Bruceshaw Builders SKS Contractors Callaghan Engineering Designer Group Future-tech ISG Plc Kirby Engineering Constructions KMCS M+W Group Mace Group Mercury PM Group Winthrop Engineering Support Infrastructure Providers ABB Caterpillar Cummins Eaton Hitec Power Constructions KINOLT (Euro-Diesel) Kohler SDMO Legrand MTU On Site Energy Rittal Schneider Electric Socomec STULZ Trane Vertiv Investors Amazon Web Services CyrusOne Digital Realty Echelon Data Centers Edge Connex Facebook Google JCD Nautilus Office Of Public Works (OPW) T5 Data Centers Why Purchase This Report? To gain competitive intelligence about the industry and players in the market To focus on the niche market Offers a presentation ready format and easy to interpret data To enable decision makers to make informed and profitable choices To provide the expert quantitative and qualitative analysis on the revenue and growth projections of the data center market For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/peqnyi View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005415/en/ Contacts: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 UW Energy Resources Council to Meet May 29 The University of Wyoming Energy Resources Council (ERC) will meet at 7:30 a.m. Friday, May 29, via teleconference. The Zoom link for the meeting is https://uwyo.zoom.us/j/94320034570, and the meeting ID number is 943 2003 4570. Cindy Crane, who chairs the ERC, will introduce new council members Mark Doelger, Randall Luthi and Charlene Russell. School of Energy Resources (SER) Executive Director Holly Krutka will provide a status update, followed by a finance update and select SER division reports. The Wyoming State Legislature established the ERC in 2006. Made up of representatives from industry, state government and academia, the council provides direction to SER on priorities for research and outreach. SER provides undergraduate education and graduate research opportunities; conducts research on existing and emerging energy resources; and disseminates scientific, engineering and economic information to support Wyomings near- and long-term energy future. More information is available at www.uwyo.edu/SER. I would scuttle all of this in a heartbeat if we could go back to doing normal shows, says White, who has produced the virtual shows and performed in some, as well. But people are looking for connections and ways to interact with other people, and its very, very hard in this environment. So if we can take a group of 400 people, 500 people, 100 people, and make them feel like theyre more connected to something outside of their homes, that actually does feel very good. Four local attorneys have been elected to the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyer's Division Board. Brittany Thomas Faith, of the law firm of Grant, Konvalinka & Harrison, P.C.; General Sessions Judge Alexander McVeagh; Justin B. Faith, of the law firm Gearhiser, Peters, Elliott and Cannon, PLLC; and John A. Carreras, in-house counsel for CommonSpirit Health (CHI Memorial) have been elected by their peers to serve on the Executive Committee of the Board of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (TBA YLD). The TBA YLD is comprised of lawyers across the State of Tennessee under 36 years of age or in their first five years of practice, and is dedicated to serving the professional needs of young lawyers. The TBA YLD is also the service arm of the bar. Mrs. Faith was elected by young lawyers across the state as vice president of the TBA YLD for 2020-21. She will serve as president-elect the following year, and then as TBA YLD president in 2022-2023. Mrs. Faith is a founding member of GKHs Immigration Practice Group and focuses her practice on business, family and individual immigration matters. Beginning with her president-elect year, she will sit on the TBA Board of Governors. She is also responsible for planning and developing new Young Lawyer projects and the budget proposal for her presidential year. Mrs. Faith currently serves as the Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Associations (AILA) Midsouth Chapter. She has also served on the AILA national Nominating Committee and the Annual Conference Family Track Committee this past year. She also has been active in the regional and state legal community., serving as past president of the Chattanooga Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and a past president of the South East Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women. Through her bar work, she has led several state-wide immigration-focused service projects on their behalf. Mrs. Faith also serves on the board of La Paz of Chattanooga, which has been the inspiration for many of her service projects. She enjoys spending time with her husband, son and three cats. Judge McVeagh was elected as East Tennessee governor of the TBA YLD. He has served as judicial liaison and as Hamilton Countys representative to the Board since 2015 and is currently the president-elect of the Chattanooga Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Currently Tennessees youngest judge, Judge McVeagh was appointed as Hamilton County General Sessions judge by Governor Bill Haslam in May 2017. He previously practiced with Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, the Tennessee Public Defenders Conference and with the Tennessee Senate Judiciary Committee. Governor Bill Lee recently appointed Judge McVeagh to help make changes to the states criminal sentencing laws on his Criminal Justice Reform Task Force. Judge McVeagh also serves on the Tennessee Supreme Courts Access to Justice Commission and on the Tennessee Supreme Courts Technology Oversight Committee, where he is helping draft standards for electronic filing in all courts throughout Tennessee. The Chattanooga Bar Association and the CBA YLD has previously honored Judge McVeagh as Volunteer of the Year for his past service on the board of Legal Aid of East Tennessee and for his role in organizing Hamilton Countys local high school mock trial competition for the past four years. Justin Faith was elected by the TBA YLD membership to lead the groups finances as its treasurer. This will be Mr. Faiths third consecutive term serving on the Executive Committee as the divisions treasurer. Mr. Faith practices primarily in the areas of civil business litigation and estate/probate administration at Gearhiser Peters. He has been very active in the Chattanooga bar, Tennessee bar, and American bar for many years, serving in various leadership capacities and volunteering through service projects. Mr. Faith is a graduate of the TBAs Leadership Law program, a recipient of the TBA YLD Presidents Special Recognition Award, and an honoree of the Supreme Courts Pro Bono Service Award. John Carreras was selected by the TBA YLD Executive Committee to be the secretary. Mr. Carreras is an in-house corporate healthcare attorney for a national non-profit healthcare system, with a focus on healthcare operations, clinical research, HIPAA/Privacy and EHR/HIM, and serves as dedicated legal counsel for CHI Memorial healthcare system based in Chattanooga. This will be his second year on the TBA YLD Board, as he currently serves on the Membership Services Committee. Mr. Carreras has served in a number of roles within the ABA, ABA YLD and various local bar associations since graduating law school in 2012. He attended law school at the University of Denver and undergrad at the University of Florida, after which he moved to Chattanooga in 2017 with his two dogs. The coronavirus crisis has left provincial Russian hospitals particularly vulnerable compared to better-funded facilities in Moscow, pictured here - Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP Coronavirus has brought catastrophe to one of Russias most populated regions, forcing President Vladimir Putin to pledge unprecedented aid. The outbreak in the mountainous region of Dagestan, where Covid-19 has reportedly claimed up to several hundred lives, has shed light on the chronic under-funding of Russian provincial hospitals where intensive care units were overrun in a matter of days. Health care workers are said to be dying in thier droves because of a lack of personal protective equipment. One week after he announced the end to nationwide coronavirus lockdown, Mr Putin acknowledged that the outbreak in Dagestan is so dire that it needs an emergency response. He pledged funds and aid from the military. As emergency responders were setting off for Dagestan on Tuesday, Mikhail Mishustin, the Russian prime minister, was discharged from hospital. He had spent three weeks there with coronavirus. Nearly 700 people have died of pneumonia in Dagestan, according to local health officials. But just 32 of the fatalities have been attributed to coronavirus in the outbreak described by the regions top Muslim cleric as a catastrophe. Scientists have cast doubt on Russias low death count, which stood yesterday at 2,837. They point to the countrys conservative approach to attributing fatalities to Covid-19, and they suspect under-reporting. A Russian Emergency Situations employee disinfects temporary accommodation set up for Azerbaijani citizens at the border with Russia's Dagestan - The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry/Tass via Getty Images Dagestan, a region of three million people, turned out to be the perfect breeding ground for an epidemic. Its health care is one of the countrys worst-funded, and people typically live in large, close knit communities. Dr Ibragim Yevtemirov, from the town of Khasavyurt near Chechnya, describes how his hospital got overrun with patients in a matter of days in mid-April. Local traditions made a bad situation worse. We were losing five-six people a day... and every person who died triggered a new wave of patients: people would gather for the wake, infecting each other, Dr Yevtemirov said. Story continues The doctor himself had to plead with his family members including an elderly aunt to self-isolate and bolt her front door to keep away guests, which is almost a cardinal sin in the North Caucasus where hospitality is considered one of the main virtues. Like at the majority of Dagestans clinics, PPE at Mr Yevtemirovs hospital was hard to come by before local volunteers and tycoons chipped in to help. The lack of protection has exposed many medics to mortal danger. Last month, Dr Yevtemirov, a pediatric orthopedist who sent his wife and two children to a mountain village before the outbreak began, fell ill with Covid-19 symptoms but he has not got tested yet. Four weeks later, he still has a cough: I think everyones had it by now, he told the Telegraph speaking of his colleagues. I dont know anyone who hasnt been ill. With just 32 coronavirus deaths officially reported in the region, Dagestans health minister said on Sunday that 40 health care workers have died of Covid-19 and pneumonia. His press office later issued a statement, specifying that not all of them have died of coronavirus and pneumonia, there were other diagnoses. Ziyatdin Uvaisov, who runs Patient Monitor, a Dagestani NGO that has been raising funds for medics, says the coronavirus death toll among the regions health care workers is beyond alarming. Troops and trucks of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry are getting ready to depart for Dagestan to help the Covid-19 relief effort. - Russian Defence Ministry/Tass via Getty Images Our biggest problem is the huge number of medics who have died, he told the Telegraph. We can explain such a high mortality rate by the lack of early diagnostics, the fact that tests are not performed. Dr Yevtemirov supported Mr Uvaisov's claim that many local hospitals do not test their staff once a week as recommended by federal authorities. Dagestan performs just 1,500 tests a day, according to health officials, which would barely cover health care workers. Moscow with four times the population performs more than 40,000 tests per day. Six medics have died in Mr Yevtemirovs hospital including a nurse who passed away on Monday, he said, indicating that the death toll of 40 people could be a low estimate. Russian health authorities have not provided the tally of deaths among medics but Moscow doctors have been compiling a list of their own, drawing on reports from across the country. The number of fatalities, documented by the online project Memorial List shows that at least one in every 15 coronavirus deaths in Russia is a health care worker. Russian media outlet Media Zona said in an investigation on health care workers fatalities that came out on Tuesday that it independently confirmed 186 deaths, which, according to them, means that Russia has the worlds largest number of fatalities among medics compared to the overall death toll, which would be four times as high as in Iran. The latest data suggest that health care workers account for less than 1 percent of all coronavirus deaths in the UK, Italy, Spain or the United States. In Russia, it is 7 percent, which can be either explained by dismal working conditions or wide under-reporting of deaths. In Moscow, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who was discharged from hospital on Tuesday after spending more than 20 days in a coronavirus ward, thanked Russian health care workers for their valiant work. Back in Dagestan, Dr Yevtemirov speaks cautiously about a decrease in new hospitalisations in recent days while his hospital is still running at its limit. With the end of Ramadan coming up on Saturday, medics in this largely Muslim region are dreading public celebrations, fearing that communities would be tempted to flout lockdown restrictions and host traditional parties marking the main holiday in Islam. Crowds of shoppers that Dr Yevtemirov saw at a local outdoor market on Tuesday morning do not make him optimistic. Looking at how people are cleaning up their homes, painting the gates, I think many will be receiving guests, he said. People know that its dangerous but they will not have the full understanding until it affects them personally, until their family member dies. Two men including a Dubai returnee tested positive for coronavirus whereas four patients recovered from the disease in Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday, taking the tally of total positive cases to 93. A Dubai returned man from Chamba district, who was quarantined in Kangra district, and a Mumbai returnee from Una district have tested positive on Tuesday, Special Secretary (Health) Nipun Jindal said. The 21-year-old man had returned from Dubai in United Arab Emirates (UAE) via Punjab's Amritsar airport on May 13, Jindal said. He was kept under institutional quarantine in Kangra's Damtal, he said, adding that he would be shifted to PRT Baijnath. While the 28-year-old man had recently arrived from Mumbai and was quarantined since then, Una deputy commissioner Sandeep Kumar said. Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said that three patients in Kangra and two in Bilaspur recovered from coronavirus on Tuesday. With this, eight people have been cured in Kangra out of the total 22 positive cases in the district, he added. Now, active cases in Kangra stand at 13 whereas one man died in March. Similarly in Bilaspur, five out of the total seven cases are active while two are cured. The total number of infected people in the state stands at 93, while 51 of them have been cured whereas four have died. The active cases in the state now stand at 38 including 13 from Kangra, 11 from Hamirpur, five each from Bilaspur and Chamba, two each from Sirmaur and Una. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in India crossed the 100,000-mark on Monday with 3,081 fatalities. Meanwhile, Delhi eased its lockdown restrictions, allowing public transport after over 50 days and opening all shops in marketplaces except those in malls. Cases exceed 100,000, but low fatality ratio offers hope The number of known coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in India crossed 100,000 on Monday, two-and-a-half months after the outbreak began taking hold in the country, which then went into an unprecedented lockdown that slowed the outbreak to a significant extent. Read More Except Metro, all public transport thrown open in Delhi Delhi residents can hop into public transport cab services and buses; not the metro yet and shop at pretty much any marketplace (malls are still closed), as long as they are not over the age of 65, and the markets are not in Noida or Gurugram, according to the latest guidelines issued by the state government. Read More Vaccine developers report first positive sign in human trial Early data from Moderna Incs Covid-19 vaccine candidate, the first to be tested in the United States, showed that it produced protective antibodies in a small group of healthy volunteers, the company said on Monday. Read More CBSE releases date sheet for Class 10, 12 exams from July 1 The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday released its revised timetable for examinations of pending papers of Class 10 and 12 to be conducted between July 1 and 15. The exams had been postponed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic that has swept through the country. Read More Covid-19: What you need to know today As India enters the next phase of its exit from a complete lockdown thats what the next two weeks to May 31 are, more than an extension testing becomes even more significant. Only widespread testing can show the real extent of the spread of the viral pandemic. Read More Offices neednt be shut after a few cases: Govt The Union health ministry on Monday issued guidelines on preventive measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease at workplace, recommending distancing norms and rules on reporting of infections and sanitisation among other things. Read More States need to improve coordination: Cabinet Secretary The Centre has asked state governments to be more proactive in reaching out to stranded migrant workers and improve last-mile coordination to ensure that the workers reach their destinations safely and arent driven by desperation to walk or use unauthorised transport to get home. Read More States cant dilute guidelines: MHA As the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown began on Monday, the ministry of home affairs reminded the states and Union territories that they cannot dilute the federal guidelines but are free to make them stricter based on local assessment and health ministry guidelines. Read More Stimulus package a lost opportunity: Bernstein Global securities research firm Sanford Bernstein termed the ~20 lakh crore economic revival package announced by the Modi government to cope with the coronavirus pandemic and the impact of the lockdown imposed to slow its spread as a lost opportunity echoing growing concern about whether it would help revive the economy. Read More UP accepts Cong offer of buses for migrants The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday accepted Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadras offer that the party would run 1,000 buses at its expense to help ease the movement of migrant workers in the state. The decision came a day after chief minister Yogi Adityanath targeted the Congress over the transport of stranded workers as the party lined up buses on the UP-Rajasthan border. Read More No test needed for emergency cases In a huge relief to patients needing emergency surgeries, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) directed that no emergency procedure (including deliveries) should be delayed for lack of testinghospitals can simultaneously send samples for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) testing. Read More TN boy 1st case of Covid inflammatory syndrome An eight-year-old boy from Chennai has become Indias first case of acute illness because of hyper-inflammatory syndrome associated with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). This syndrome describes inflammation in the entire body, including vital organs, which leads to multiorgan failure and shock. Read More No saliva, sweat it out to shine the ball: ICC panel Players must be barred from using saliva to shine the ball but can continue to use their sweat, the Anil Kumble-headed ICC Cricket Committee recommended on Monday as a major health precaution in the game. Read More SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON From community engagement to water treatment and filtering to dog tethering, a cluster of villages in remote western Ethiopia is applying creative strategies to protect humans and animals from Guinea worm disease, and their diligence is paying off. On a cloudy morning, 15 young men gather under a canopy at the Carter Centers Guinea worm compound in Gog. They are the captains of teams responsible for treating water sources with Abate, a mild chemical donated by BASF that kills Guinea worm larvae. The captains meet regularly to plan and coordinate their work, ensuring every pond and well around the villages of Ablen, Wichini, and Atheti is treated every 28 days to help interrupt the worms life cycle. With the assistance of his colleagues, Wegwa Odol Othow (yellow shirt) measures a pond for application of a safe larvicide that helps stop the Guinea worm life cycle. Community Captains One of those captains is Wegwa Odol Othow, 21, who goes by the nickname Owick. He used to hunt baboons, which farmers consider pests, using dogs to chase them down. One day a few years ago, Owick spotted a small baboon that didnt run away with the rest of its troupe. He easily caught the animal and found it had about white worms emerging from its skin. Owick brought the crippled baboon back to town to show others. "I didnt think people would believe me if I told them," he said. The worms were confirmed to be Guinea worms, which had not been seen in baboons before. Owick's discovery sparked an aggressive effort to monitor and apply Abate to watering holes used by baboons, even deep in the forest. When an animal or person swallows water infected with the water fleas that contain Guinea worm larvae, the life cycle of the parasite continues. The larvae develop inside an animals or persons body for about a year, then emerge as adults up to 3 feet long through a wound in the skin. Baboon hunters and wood gatherers are now paid to watch over watering holes and help The Carter Center and health ministry monitor baboon troupes movements. After his discovery, Owick began volunteering with other youth to teach community members how to avoid Guinea worm infection. Later, he joined an Abate team and advanced to team captain. Owick and his team measure the volume of water in a pond, calculate the amount of larvicide needed, and apply it. Because loose dogs are at risk of acquiring Guinea worm disease from the same water sources the baboons use, people in Gog agreed to stop using dogs for hunting and to keep them tethered to prevent them from entering the water. Its working. "The people here have really owned this intervention," said Kylie Saunders, a Carter Center technical advisor who is well known in the villages. Keeping an Eye Out Owick quit hunting to devote all his time to Guinea worm work. He gave two of his dogs to his cousin, Obang, himself a volunteer in Ablen. One of the duties of youth volunteers is to inspect every dog daily for signs of Guinea worm infection. Obang, 14, loves this part of his role. He starts with the dogs Owick gave him, whom he named Tchalla and Georgie, then checks his neighbors dogs. Obang demonstrates how to use a pipe filter for drinking water when away from home. As a youth volunteer, he inspects his community's dogs for signs of Guinea worm infection. Above he checks his own dogs, Tchalla and Georgie. Until recently, dogs were strictly considered hunting animals in this part of Ethiopia. They werent considered pets; they werent even given names. That all changed when people started proactively tethering them. The dogs had to be fed, watered, and exercised, and before long they became part of the household. Dogs that once snarled and strained against their chains now wag their tails and happily roll over in anticipation of a young human rubbing them down, inspecting for signs of Guinea worm. Ablen now is home to the first dog park in Ethiopia. Obang and other youths, as well as adults, walk their dogs to the park, for which the government donated land and The Carter Center provided fencing. There, dogs can frolic and become socialized. Responsible young adults keep watch over the park, enforce rules, and clean up messes. Omod Olenga, who oversees animal health for the local government, examines a dog that previously received treatment for several wounds. Ethiopians in this area tether their dogs to help halt Guinea worm disease. Filtering Water Everyone in Ablen, Atheti, and Wichini wears a pipe filter around his or her neck. Every household uses a water filter when filling jerry cans at a well, pond, or river and filters the water again before using it at home. Village volunteers like Okugni Oboya Nyum work constantly with their neighbors to keep them safe from infection. "I help my community by giving them health education so they dont get Guinea worm disease," Okugni said. Kurujwok, age 10 (top), and Awilli, age 11, from Wichini village in Gog, filter water that may be infected with Guinea worm larvae. The water will be filtered again at home as part of an effective strategy to prevent Guinea worm disease. Elephants, the giants of the animal world, have always inspired our awe. Their towering heights, immense might, superior wisdom, and gentle nature have made them objects of great admiration. So, when offered to interact up close and personal with one of their kind, most people would grab the rare opportunity. Whether we ride them, feed them, or bathe them, every moment we spend with them becomes precious. However, in our joy we forget to spare a thought for those who are giving us this pleasure: are the elephants enjoying it as well? According to the animal rights activists, NO, they are not. Our actions are just fuelling an industry that exploits and tortures these gentle giants and subjects them to a lifetime of pain and misery. With the help of Wildlife SOS, a non-profit associated with the rescue, care, rehabilitation, and conservation of wildlife in India, we learn about the cruel practices involved in the elephant tourism industry in the country and how our actions as tourists are supporting these malpractices. The Wicked Side Of Elephant Tourism In India An exhausted elephant returning to shelter after a long day of labor at Jaipur, India. Image credit: Wildlife SOS "For many tourists traveling to India, taking an elephant ride tops their bucket-list of must-have experiences. But most people are not aware of the harsh reality behind how elephants are tamed and the horrific abuse they must endure to be trained for giving rides," said Kartick Satyanarayan, the Co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS. Elephant "joyrides" and elephant interactions are most popular in the Indian states of Rajasthan and Kerala. In the former, the rare opportunity of riding a grand elephant to the top of an ancient Indian (Amer fort in Jaipur) fort is all too alluring to avoid. In Kerala, tourists are offered plenty of "elephant attractions" like riding on them, feeding and bathing them, and watching the jumbos being part of vibrant religious ceremonies in temples. Both Rajasthan and Kerala are top states for tourism in the country with foreign and local tourists flocking to these states in significant numbers. Elephant tourism thus flourishes here. But where do these elephants come from in the first place? Satyanarayan provides us an answer and you might not like to know it: "Elephant calves are captured from the wild, tearing them away from their mother and herd, kept in isolation and mercilessly beaten until they become submissive, fearing the pain that their master is capable of inflicting upon them. This cruel practice is called phajaan, or breaking of the spirit. After they are deemed tame enough to do what people tell them, these elephants are sentenced to a lifetime of misery and torture giving joyrides to tourists," he said. Thus, it is not just a dreary childhood, the entire life of a tourist elephant is a story of great suffering. According to a 2018 report by the Animal Welfare Board of India, nearly one-third of the elephants used for rides in Jaipur are over 50 years old, 20% of them are blind, 100% of them suffer from foot problems (cracks, deformation, etc.), and they have to bear around 880 pounds of weight (saddle and three riders) per ride. "The majority of the elephants that are commercially exploited are blind, lame, elderly and sick elephants who are forced to take tourists on their backs on scorching hot surfaces," said Satyanarayan. Routine walking along the unnatural surfaces causes osteoarthritis in these elephants. Image credit: Wildlife SOS As per Wildlife SOS, the elephants in the South of India like Kerala used for both joyrides and for religious purposes in temples are no better off. The temple elephants are subjected to a dismal daily routine of walking on unnatural stone surfaces of the temple grounds and feeding on sweets offered to them by devotees. Satyanarayan narrates some of the wrongs inflicted on these voiceless animals: "Festering sores and bleeding abscesses on these elephants are bandaged up with vibrant garb, wounds and scars are masked with grease or paint, and the elephants are prodded with sharp spikes and bullhooks carefully camouflaged as harmless bamboo sticks. Heavy metal chains cut through them to restrict their movement. Moreover, captive elephants are routinely denied nutritious food, clean water, and even basic veterinary care. Since elephants, much like humans are social animals, this isolation has a grave impact on them psychologically, and they show signs of mental distress through stereotypic behavior such as head-bobbing, swaying, etc.," he said. "This abuse continues into the training of these elephants, and even to this day, thousands of elephants across India are beaten, tortured, overworked and starved as they continue to toil for their owners who exploit them to reel out profits," Satyanarayan continued. The Lockdowns Brings Temporary Relief But A New Threat The lockdowns have brought temporary relief to the elephants due to a halt in tourism. Image credit: Wildlife SOS As we all know, the current lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic have severely damaged the global tourism industry. Things have been no different in India. However, the lockdowns also bring a temporary phase of relief to the elephants used in tourism. No longer are they subjected to grueling and monotonous daily routines meant to please the tourists. But the situation has also ushered in a new threat as explained by Satyanarayan: "While the elephants have been temporarily freed from the shackles of unethical wildlife tourism, there is another uncertainty that lurks around their future. Lack of steady income flow for the elephant owners coupled with limited resources of sustenance and veterinary care is also impacting the elephants survival. While in India, the state governments are making necessary arrangements by providing monetary support to elephant owners, the situation in countries like Thailand remains grim and filled with uncertainties. These troubled times call for the world to unite and speak for the voiceless, by encouraging responsible tourism," said Satyanarayan. What Can You Do To Help These Elephants? A rescued elephant Asha at the Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Center, Mathura. Image credit: Wildlife SOS Very simple. Just refuse to ride them. Other than that you must gather as much information as possible, share your knowledge with friends, family, and colleagues about why elephant rides must be avoided, write to the concerned authorities to discourage elephant tourism, and support only ethical tourism attractions like those offered in national parks, sanctuaries, reputable conservation centers, etc. To learn more, you can visit Refuse to Ride, a campaign started in 2018 by Wildlife SOS to discourage unethical elephant tourism. "Awareness is key to curbing such practices as not everyone is aware of the dark truth behind making an elephant rideable. A tourist often does not realize the ill-effects of indulging in these exploitative elephant experiences. By normalizing and supporting the captivity of elephants, a tourist also unknowingly hampers the on-ground conservation efforts to maintain a healthy elephant population in the wild. These elephants even after rehabilitation cannot be released into the wild again as they never learned the important survival skills from their herd," informed Satyanarayan. "Our objective is to promote responsible tourism, so tourists are empowered with knowledge. If one sees the cruel and painful training that goes into making the animal rideable, I dont think anyone will want to ride an elephant ever again!" he continued. He also enlists the below points to remember as responsible tourists who can help in the conservation and protection of elephants: Say NO to elephant rides and avoid visiting places that offer interactions with elephants in unprotected conditions. Educate and sensitize yourself about conservation issues and understand why a thriving biodiversity matters. Support recognized organizations that work for wildlife conservation and protection. Express your voice against atrocities that elephants face in the wild as well as in captivity. A Happy Ending Asha at the Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Center, Mathura. Image credit: Wildlife SOS Let us end with the story of Asha, an elephant fortunate enough to be rescued in 2015 and housed at the Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Centre in Mathura, India. Asha spent most of her life as a riding elephant at Jaipur's Amer Fort where she was forced to trudge up steep stone paths ferrying tourists back and forth. Injured and incapacitated due to years of abuse, she was then sold as a begging elephant and for performing at weddings and other parties. She was smuggled to another Indian city, Indore, without any valid documents to an owner who did not provide her with the care she needed. Asha and Suzy enjoying each others' company. Image credit: Wildlife SOS When Wildlife SOS rescued her, she was weak and had a body pockmarked with abscesses from sleeping on paved roads. Her feet were in deplorable condition with overgrown toenails and thin footpads. However, under the dedicated care and love of the veterinarians and caregivers at Wildlife SOS, Asha gradually recovered. Today, standing close to her dearest friend, Suzy, who suffers from complete loss of sight, Asha has nothing but love to give as her guiding light. (Newser) The coronavirus outbreak disrupted what had been big plans to mark the 40th anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state. The peak in the Cascade Mountain Range blew its top on May 18, 1980, killing 57 people, blasting more than 1,300 feet off the top of the mountain and raining volcanic ash around for hundreds of miles. But there will be no public observances at the volcano on Monday, reports the AP. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the main highway into the national volcanic monument is closed due to COVID-19, and the multiple visitor centers and museums that had planned remembrances are also shuttered. story continues below "Weve been thrown for quite a loop here," said Washington State Parks interpretive specialist Alysa Adams. "Please stay tuned for next year because I think were going to take all of this energy and passion and turn it into something productive for the 41st anniversary." The eruption produced huge, black and gray clouds of ash that rose more than 80,000 feet and eventually poured tiny granules of debris in cities and towns throughout the Northwest. The peak had experienced many smaller eruptions in the weeks preceding the big event. Within minutes of a 5.1 earthquake that hit at 8:32am on May 18, 1980, the volcanos north flank collapsed, triggering the largest landslide in recorded history. The explosion scorched and flattened about 230 square miles of dense forest. (Read more Mount St. Helens stories.) NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 18, 2020 / It is hard to imagine that any modern business would not have digital marketing strategies in place. Surprisingly, there are quite a few companies which do not utilize search engine and social media marketing. That's where Avail Consultants makes their mark in the industry, providing digital marketing strategies and consultancy for companies all over the USA. Avail Consultants offers their clients the future of digital marketing, today. Their top priority is providing contemporary services to their clients consistently. Avail Consultants focuses on three major areas of expertise: business growth, strategic development, and creative branding. All of which are incorporated into all of the work they put in for their clients. Avail Consultants is comprised of an elite team of marketing professionals that are prominent in their respective markets all over the country. Avail Consultants is Facebook Blueprint Certified and is a certified Google Partner, solidifying their legitimacy and strengthening their credentials, but more than any certification it's their results that speak for themselves. Avail Consultants provides their clients with the highest rate of return on their marketing investments. Having spent more than $40 Million in Facebook advertising as well as managing over $900K in monthly ad spends, Avail Consultants is in a league of their own within the digital marketing industry. The digital marketing campaigns that Avail develops all contain a good mix of proactive and reactive outreach strategies to optimize, and cater to their clients' needs on a whim. They deliver results by giving their clients more digital exposure from their target audiences with utmost success. Their top five markets include Los Angeles, California; Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; and New York, New York. They are currently establishing offices in all these cities to gain a strong foothold in the digital marketing industry. Their current clientele list includes big corporations and small businesses alike. Any business that wishes to expand their reach on the internet can benefit immensely from the services of Avail Consultants. Story continues Avail Consultants works with people from all walks of life. Their client list can range from Entrepreneurs, to professional athletes, and even to musicians; Anyone that wants to optimize their brand presence and influence in the marketplace would greatly benefit from Avail Consultants' services. This year, they are deeply exploring several service-based industries such as automotive, medical, real estate, government education, and law. Avail Consultants offers a wide range of consultancy services and digital marketing services. Aside from highly targeted social media marketing and search engine marketing, they provide creative services like graphic design, logo design, rebranding, creative copywriting, website design, website development, and social media management. Avail Consultants has assisted well-known household brands, and they are bound to add many more to the list, as they continue to expand their offices throughout the United States. To get to know more about them and what they do, you may visit www.avail-consultants.com, give them a call on 18009281336 or send them an email at connect@avail-consultants.com. SOURCE: Avail Consultants View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/590413/Digital-Consulting-Company-Helps-Bring-Existing-Businesses-into-the-21st-Century Through the years, Artificial intelligence (AI) has progressed to such a level that many of the expectations from years back have already been met. Big data is today's AI, and it becomes more relevant each day as businesses, organizations, and even individuals continue to gather, create, and process huge amounts of data. Big data is such a complex monster that traditional data processing tools have all but become obsolete. Big data is so prevalent that many question to what extent companies are gathering and processing data. A number of forward-thinking businesses rely on big data for a variety of reasons, and the way they use it depends on many contextual factors. In order to use gathered data, however, they must be abstracted to a form that can be processed by available big data processing frameworks, the most common of which are discussed below. Hadoop A classic in its own right, Hadoop is one of the top big data frameworks in use today. It enjoys wide adoption today due to its reputation as being the first ever big data framework ever released, now having its ecosystem of tools that include Flume, Pig, Hive, and HDFS. Despite the slew of tools that work with it, Hadoop is arguably the simplest of all the frameworks. It will work for you if you process data in a logical manner, e.g., your data is processed in batch, split into smaller jobs, spread across a cluster, and all these tasks recombined. Additionally, there are Hadoop tools that go beyond the MapReduce algorithm, which is what Hadoop started with. The most notable of these tools is YARN, the Apache Hadoop ecosystem resource management layer. Systems beyond Hadoop itself can use it, including Apache Spark, which is discussed in the next section. Spark When it comes to big data, Spark is considered one of the biggest names together with Hadoop. Commonly used as a replacement for the MapReduce paradigm, Spark speeds up processing times by working in-memory. It also works around the limitations of the imposed linear data flow of the MapReduce engine, which helps in the construction of a more flexible pipeline. The Spark framework is a good option when you require tightly integrated machine learning, MLib, and Spark's machine learning library. You can also exploit Spark's architecture for distributed modeling, so that's another thing to consider. Spark is commonly considered a competitor to Hadoop, but this perspective completely misses the greater picture. In practice, the Hadoop ecosystem can actually work in conjunction with the Spark processing engine to completely replace MapReduce. This setup allows for a multitude of environments and tool combinations not possible by using Hadoop or Spark alone. Spark also doesn't come with a distributed storage layer by default and, as such, can make use of the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). Using Spark and Hadoop together frees you from the limitations of the aging MapReduce paradigm and provides the advantage of new technologies and quicker data processing. Storm The Storm data framework is specifically designed to handle unbounded streams, with applications built as directed acyclic graphs. It's a distributed real-time computation system that can be used with any programming language. It's the framework of choice when it comes to scalability, processing job guarantees, and data processing speed. It has been known to process over one million 100-byte messages per second per node. Storm is useful for real-time analytics, distributed machine learning, and other cases of high data velocity. A reliable framework, it's also fault-tolerant, automatically restarting workers when they die. Workers are restarted on another node if a node dies. Storm also guarantees that data is processed at least once, with messages only replayed in case of failures. It's also easy to operate but doesn't natively support state management. Storm is a good choice if you're looking for something that's almost instantly ready once deployed and provides parallel calculations that run across machine clusters. As seen above, comparing frameworks is like comparing apples to oranges; they all have different systems and capabilities that can benefit a variety of use cases. They are not mutually exclusive, and combining them to address an organization's system requirements is at times the practical option. The grandfather of big data processing Hadoop is a great example-its popular component YARN has been adopted by numerous applications through the years, and its adoption has been done by systems beyond the Hadoop-only ecosystem. There are no cut-and-dried rules when it comes to choosing a data processing framework. All one can do is provide suggestions or guidelines, and even so, it will ultimately still depend on the context in which you use big data. A Maori grandmother living in an affluent suburb was called 'vulgar' and an 'embarrassment' in a nasty letter delivered by her neighbour. Rose Greaves received the letter in Ponsonby, Auckland, just before the country entered lockdown. The anonymous writer said they had lived in the street for 23 years and Ms Greaves' presence had 'caused a lot of upset'. 'The language and level of vulgar display of disgusting behaviour that you produce is absolutely vile,' the letter said, according to Marae TV. The anonymous writer said they had lived in the street for 23 years and Ms Greaves' presence had 'caused a lot of upset' 'The language and level of vulgar display of disgusting behaviour that you produce is absolutely vile,' the letter said The letter called Ms Greaves an 'embarrassment to the area'. The person who wrote the letter said they and their neighbours had worked hard to live in the area and paid top rates to do so. They said she paid nothing because 'Housing New Zealand put her there' and that even a playground across the road doesn't stop her. They urged her to request a housing transfer and she was 'not liked or welcomed'. The suburb is typically known for being inclusive but that has not been Ms Greaves' experience. Ms Greaves said she had received death threats from racist groups saying people would burn her home down with her inside, so the letter 'wasn't as bad' in comparison. She said the comments about being 'vulgar' relate to her being a proud Maori woman who speaks the language. The weaver said she was left angered by the letter but doesn't want to change who she is. She said she is proud of her culture and wants to pass it on to others. Ms Greaves said she had a message for the person who targeted her. 'Everybody - all ages, all nationalities and from the rainbow community - everybody is welcome here in my house,' she said. 'I'd like to say to the letter writer: come and talk to me. I am a really nice person. You might actually get to like me if you bothered.' Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Monday said Gov. Charlie Bakers four-phased plan for reopening the economy is a well-considered step forward, but needs to focus more on the needs of childcare programs and the safety of workers more broadly. There are key areas that require more focus, including worker safety and enforcement, and access to childcare, Healey said, in a statement. "We need consistent guidelines for businesses, a better safety net for our employees, and a solution for families who rely on childcare programs and for the educators who are at the heart of them. It is important that these things be addressed before our residents start going back to the workplace. Healey said the state needs to address the issue of access to childcare and the safety of childcare workers as businesses reopen. She said childcare programs need immediate financial support from the state and federal governments in order to reopen at safe levels and recruit employees back. From week one of this crisis, our office has heard from families and childcare programs across the state concerned about program closures, Healey said. Healey also stressed that when businesses develop new safety policies, they need to be consulting their workers. As sectors of the economy reopen, Healey said workers should have access to unemployment insurance benefits if their workplaces prove to be unsafe. She said there should be workers compensation for those who become ill with COVID-19, and earned sick time as a first line of support. Our office will continue to be a resource for workers who have concerns and need assistance, she said. Related Content: The decision by Wall Street and the Trump administration to restart production has produced an unprecedented health crisis in northern Mexico, where workers at maquiladora sweatshops that produce parts for export to the US are contracting coronavirus by the tens of thousands and dying at alarming rates. In this Friday, Dec. 27, 2013 file photo, workers manufacture car dash mats at a maquiladora belonging to the TECMA group in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. (AP Photo/Ivan Pierre Aguirre, File) On Saturday, the health secretary of Northern Baja California announced that 432 of the 519 people who have officially died from the virus in the state were maquiladora workers. In Baja cities like Tijuana and Mexicali, as well as other border cities like Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, doctors report that their hospitals are overflowing with sick maquiladora workers, some of whom are dying in their work uniforms. Mexican maquiladora workers make between US$8 to $10 per day. Hospital officials say the governments official death toll and total number of positive cases nationwide5,177 and 49,219 respectively, as of yesterday afternoonvastly understate the real impact. They claim that hundreds or thousands more maquiladora workers are dying than is officially acknowledged, and that the Mexican government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is obscuring the real toll in an effort to force workers back to work. An investigation published yesterday by the San Diego Union-Tribune shows the death toll may be ten times higher than the official count: A review of 120 death certificates provided by a worker at a crematorium in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez showed a total of 63 listed probably COVID-19 as the cause of death. Another 30 named pneumonia or other respiratory ailments often associated with coronavirus. Only 12 listed COVID-19 as the confirmed cause, meaning that only those cases would become part of the official count. The end of the last work week saw a spike in new positive cases nationwide, with 2,400 testing positive on May 14 and 15. But testing is almost nonexistent in Mexico, which has a rate of 0.5 tests per 1,000 people, compared with 27 per 1,000 people in the United States, where the need still far exists current testing levels. But even by the limited official count, one out of every 1,000 Tijuana residents has already tested positiveworse than some of the hardest hit parts of the United States, including Wayne County, Michigan. The spike is the direct product of Lopez Obradors back to work initiative, ordered from Washington and Wall Street. In Tijuana, the Mexican government opened 100 maquiladoras at the beginning of May, despite protests from workers. Yesterday, a Tijuana business association said the citys maquiladoras were functioning at 60 percent capacity. Lopez Obrador has responded to the growing death toll by demanding an even more rapid return to work. Earlier this month, Lopez Obrador stated that auto parts production at maquiladoras would reopen on June 1. Several days ago, however, the government reneged and has begun forcing plants to open this week, violating its own regulation. The announcement came after GM CEO Mary Barra told investors that the company has been in regular dialogue with Lopez Obradors administration and said the discussions had been very constructive, adding: Were in a good position as we talk to country leaders. General Motors then announced it would force workers at its Silao facility in Guanajuato back to work this Wednesday. Reopening Mexican production is imperative for American industry. Yesterday, the Detroit News explained, nearly 40 percent of all part imports into the US come from Mexico, meaning the success of any domestic industry restart will rest heavily on a successful simultaneous rev-up south of the border. Ambrose Conroy, CEO of the pro-industry consulting firm Seraph, told CNBC, Stoppage in Mexico would cause problems within a week. The companies learned this in early 2019, when 70,000 maquiladora auto parts workers in Matamoros launched a weeks-long wildcat strike, slowing production across North America. The Trump administration has applied tremendous pressure to force the reopening of Mexican factories as quickly as possible, regardless of the human cost. On April 30, US Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau threatened, You dont have workers if you close all the companies and they move elsewhere, urging plants to reopen despite the resulting loss of life. It seems myopic to suggest that economic effects dont matter, he said. The Pentagon has issued similar warnings, explaining that Mexican maquiladora workers produce parts that are necessary for the American imperialist war machine. On April 30, the New York Times said the Pentagons talks with the Mexican government have been successful, quoting spokeswoman Ellen Lord, who said, We appreciate Mexicos ongoing positive response. Shortly after his discussions with the Pentagon, Lopez Obrador appeared on national television on May 2 and declared: We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Daily positive tests have doubled since then. Mexican workers are not the only ones whose lives the auto companies are prepared to sacrifice. In the US and Canada, yesterday was the first day of production at dozens of auto plants, and workers told the WSWS that next to nothing had been done to clean the facilities or protect workers lives. The spike in the death toll in Mexicos industrial cities shows what autoworkers in the US and Canada should expect in the coming weeks. The fact that workers in the US and Mexico are handling parts coming out of maquiladoras where masses of workers are infected is another sign that their lives are in danger. The virus can survive on metal and glass for almost one week. Across North America, the trade unions are serving as the companys enforcers, threatening workers that they will be fired if they do not return to work and filling workers ears with sweet phrases about nonexistent safety precautions at work. In the US, former UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell was released from prison due to concerns that he might contract the coronavirus in jail. As the companies sentence tens of thousands of workers back into the dangerous auto plants, Jewell, who was convicted for accepting bribes from the company in exchange for forcing sellout contracts, will serve the rest of his sentence from the safety and comfort of his home. The corporations, governments and unions will send wave upon wave of workers to their deaths until the workers recognize that they are strong enough to organize their own response and take action to protect their lives and the lives of their loved ones waiting for them at home. The companies and unions will oppose anything that cuts down on line speed and profit. But the right to life is more important than company profit. To defend their lives, workers must elect committees to take control of their own health and safety conditions at work. They must elect worker-inspectors to patrol the facility, share violations on social media and exercise the power to stop production to fix anything they deem to be a danger to even a single workers life. These basic demands place workers up against the capitalist system. But workers in Mexico, the US, Canada and worldwide possess tremendous social power that they can and must unleash together to stop the deaths and reorganize production to meet human need. "The unfortunate higher death rates seen in African Americans and other minorities and disadvantaged persons is not new, but has been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic and requires urgent, comprehensive action," said Dr. Ferdinand. "Direct, culturally-sensitive messages are needed to inform and motivate the African American community and overcome myths and misinformation." FAQ Community Watch comprises a set of three separate documents that include a community-facing version of ABC's healthcare professional-oriented COVID-19 FAQ Watch with "COVID-19 Community Guidelines," and "Common Myths and Misconceptions Regarding COVID-19." In addition to informing community members about the medical impact of the coronavirus infection, the Association seeks to raise awareness and encourage action within diverse populations. This is consistent with the Association's focus on traditionally underrepresented communities, particularly African Americans with heart disease. LaPrincess Brewer, MD, MPH, Mayo Clinic cardiologist and Community Programs Committee member said, "The ABC has always been a beacon for addressing health inequities directly impacting the African American community and other communities of color. These communities are more accepting of health messaging from those they trust. Thus, our efforts are crucial to help mitigate the unacceptable disparities in COVID-19 cases and outcomes among our most vulnerable populations." COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on the African American community and those with heart disease, including high blood pressure, diabetes and heart failure, who are at the highest risk of severe infection. FAQ Community Watch addresses critical questions, including what factors put communities of color at increased risk, and what can be done to diminish the spread of COVID-19 and reduce their risk of deadly outcomes. ABC continues to be inspired by how medical, scientific and spiritual communities are pulling together at the individual, leadership and public health levels to minimize the impact of this pandemic. This collection of downloadable FAQs and accompanying educational resources are available on the ABC website and integrate with earlier actions initiated in response to the virus. About ABC Founded in 1974, the ABC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating the disparities related to cardiovascular disease and achieving health equity such that all people can live long, healthy lives. Membership is open to all interested in the care of people with or at risk for cardiovascular disease, including health professionals, lay members of the community (Community Health Advocates), corporate and institutional members. For more information, visit www.abcardio.org and connect with ABC on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. SOURCE Association of Black Cardiologists Related Links http://abcardio.org The government has disbursed about GH40 million in scholarships to some 29,000 Ghanaian students in public and private tertiary institutions this year. All the students are undertaking various courses of study in the country. Briefing the press yesterday, the Registrar of Scholarships, Mr Kingsley Agyemang, said GH12 million of the amount was spent on students in private tertiary institutions. He indicated that the scholarship covered mostly the payment of academic facility user fees. Institutions Mr Agyemang mentioned institutions that were covered under the scheme as nursing training colleges, colleges of education, technical and vocational universities, polytechnics, university colleges, universities, accredited post-secondary schools and other diploma awarding institutes. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo directed that out of the GH40 million, GH12 million should be used for private local tertiary funding, Mr Agyemang noted. Private tertiary institutions He noted that the move by the President had put to rest the notion that private tertiary institutions had not been given the needed attention by the government and left to their fate. This is indicative of the fact that President Akufo-Addo puts premium on education. He is carrying everybody along, both private and public universities. This is good news for our brothers and sisters in the local tertiary institutions, he stated. District scholarship Mr Agyemang said with the establishment of the District Scholarship Review Committee, the Scholarships Secretariat was working with the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure that the gesture from the President was effected to the benefit of all deserving students. Academic year Mr Agyemang further disclosed that for the 2020/2021 academic year, the Scholarships Secretariat and GETFund had made a provision of GH80 million to cater for students in local tertiary institutions. What this means is that, the number of beneficiaries will increase to about 70,000 students by the end of the academic year, he said. Other initiatives The registrar said the government had and would continue to introduce more policies to make education accessible to all. He mentioned decentralisation and digitisation of scholarships, research allowances for PhD students and the Presidents special initiative to encourage the learning of the French language in tertiary institutions as some of the innovative and definite policies that had been rolled out since 2017. Students should expect more goodies from the Akufo-Addo government. No one will be left behind, he said. 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 Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:45:34|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the opening of the 73rd World Health Assembly via video link in Beijing, capital of China, May 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) -- "I strongly believe China is being coherent with its principles by urging the international community to support the WHO in confronting the coronavirus epidemic and donating medical supplies to help tackle the disease in developing and developed nations." -- "China has become a role model for the entire world demonstrating that the political will of governments can save lives in the context of COVID-19 and that the world united can better beat the health crisis." BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Experts and officials in many countries have spoken highly of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Monday speech at the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA), saying it has offered a "reference sample" for the international community to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Xi's speech, featuring concrete measures to boost global fight against COVID-19 including providing international aid, has sent a positive signal to unite all forces possible to tackle the pandemic. Referring to Xi's remarks that China will establish a cooperation mechanism for its hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals and accelerate the building of the Africa CDC headquarters to help the continent ramp up its disease preparedness and control capacity, Zimbabwean Health Minister Obadiah Moyo said he thinks the cooperation mechanism will help African countries improve their medical equipment and get more medical supplies. Chinese medical team members and Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Guo Shaochun (C) pose for a photo at Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare, Zimbabwe, on May 11, 2020. (Photo by Wanda/Xinhua) "It is a gift for many African countries which don't have adequate to medical facilities and medicines due to their economic situations," he said. Moyo also hailed China for its efforts in helping Zimbabwe and other African countries fight the COVID-19 outbreak. "The Chinese government sent medical experts to Zimbabwe and other countries. Therefore, we can get an insight and learn much from the Chinese experts," he said. "President Xi Jinping made a remarkable speech at the opening ceremony of the 73rd World Health Assembly Video Conference by noting the importance of international cooperation to combat the virus," said Ania Chibas, a Cuban epidemiologist and health expert with Labiofam Laboratories in Havana. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at the 73rd World Health Assembly at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, May 18, 2020. (WHO/Handout via Xinhua) "I strongly believe China is being coherent with its principles by urging the international community to support the WHO in confronting the coronavirus epidemic and donating medical supplies to help tackle the disease in developing and developed nations," Chibas said. "China has become a role model for the entire world demonstrating that the political will of governments can save lives in the context of COVID-19 and that the world united can better beat the health crisis," the Cuban expert said. The Chinese government has not only protected its people, but also contributed to public health systems in poor nations, Chibas added. Abdulaziz Alshaabani, a Saudi journalist and a China expert, said that Xi's speech sent a positive signal to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, especially to encourage the international community to provide more assistance to countries with weaker health systems. Noting that the virus knows no borders, he said that countries across the world should stand together and cooperate to combine all good forces, so as to provide strong support for the WHO in the current period and curb the spread of the epidemic as soon as possible. Isis Betancourt, a general practitioner at Julito Diaz hospital in Havana, said China has shown its commitment to addressing the global health crisis by "not only speaking on the problems but also acting in a very supportive way." A staff member tests samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at a vaccine production plant of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) in Beijing, capital of China, April 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the Chinese leadership has adopted a transparent policy for unveiling all details about the disease, said Noha Bakir, a professor in political science with American University in Cairo. "China has shared the information, data, and researches with the WHO. China is a country of institutions and always deals with the world organization with respect and a sense of responsibility," Bakir said. Leslie Salgado, a Cuban expert on health topics at Canal Havana TV news channel, hailed Xi's speech as "a reference piece for health researchers, governments, NGOs and people committed to improving the current situation." "Chinese President Xi Jinping has expressed his commitment not only with the global fight against coronavirus, but also with further epidemics to come. What the world needs at the moment is to spread solidarity, collaboration and friendship instead of selfishness," Salgado said. The WHA is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization. The 73rd session of the WHA, scheduled from Monday to Tuesday, is held via video link due to the impact of the current pandemic. According to the WHO, the agenda of the 73rd session was condensed only to essential issues, such as COVID-19 and the executive board members selection. At other moments, Trump has also lauded the military effort in Afghanistan, including during a surprise Thanksgiving visit last year. Speaking to troops at a U.S. airfield outside Kabul, Trump praised troops who had deployed to defend liberty since the start of the war and those who continue to serve heroically to stamp out terrorism and to eviscerate the enemies of civilization. Seema Verma, Indian American Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, addressed a panel discussion organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin on telehealth. She is seen here speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on April 19, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta and Semarang Tue, May 19, 2020 17:31 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd9114c7 1 National COVID-19-Indonesian-patients,COVID-19,COVID-19-Jakarta,COVID-19-bali,repatriation,covid-19-task-force,doni-monardo,Central-Java,Ganjar-Pranowo Free A total of 132,978 Indonesian citizens abroad consisting of crew members, migrant workers and students had arrived in the country as of Monday, the national COVID-19 task force has said. Of those, 591 had tested positive for COVID-19. Of the returnees, 4,343 arrived in Jakarta, 1,493 of whom have been repatriated to their respective regions, while 2,850 others were undergoing testing in the capital, task force chief Doni Monardo said. Of the total number, 279 have tested positive for COVID-19 through swab tests and are now receiving treatment at the Wisma Atlet [COVID-19 hospital in Central Jakarta], Doni said in a video conference on Monday, as quoted by kompas.com. The number also included 203 Indonesians who arrived in Jakarta on Friday from Barbados, 131 of whom had tested positive for COVID-19 prior to their departure to Jakarta. Authorities in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport directed the charter flight that was carrying the returnees to land on a designated portion of the runway and took the repatriated citizens for a second round of rapid testing at the airport, kompas.com reported. Doni said 15,300 other Indonesians had arrived in Bali, 312 of whom had tested positive for COVID-19. They are currently being treated at 13 referral hospitals in Denpasar and its surrounding areas, Doni added. Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo said that more than 1,000 Indonesian migrant workers had returned home to Central Java after their work contracts expired or they were granted long-term leave. Read also: COVID-19: #IndonesiaTerserah trends as frustration mounts over physical distancing violations, govt policies He said a total of 1,124 migrant workers had entered the province after arriving at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten, while 21 others had arrived at Tanjung Emas port in Semarang. Also, on Friday, 69 people that were repatriated from Dili, Timor Leste, landed in Juanda Airport [in Surabaya, East Java]. They have undergone rapid testing, and we have prepared three buses to take them to Central Java, Ganjar said on Monday. Ganjar said he had received information that 747 Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia planned to return to Central Java via Ahmad Yani Airport in Semarang from Monday to Saturday. The implementation might be different. The data was sent to us so that we could be better prepared, he said, adding that, on Monday, only 57 of the expected 158 migrant workers had arrived. The arriving citizens would be quarantined at the Central Java Human Resources Development Agency (BPSDM) building in Srondol for two to three days while waiting to be transported their respective towns, Ganjar added. He said the returnees would be regularly examined, would undergo rapid testing and would observe health protocols at the BPSDM building. Those who tested positive in rapid tests had been separated from those who tested negative. We have prepared enough space. We hope everyone is healthy, said Ganjar, adding that strict health protocols would also be applied to those arriving by sea. Ganjar called on regency and city administrations in the province to prepare to support all migrant workers undergoing the required 14-day quarantine. (syk/asp) The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday gave suggestions to states and union territories in order to mitigate the distress of migrant workers. Amid the nationwide lockdown, several images and videos have surfaced on social media in which poor migrant workers have been trudging across hundreds of kilometers to return to their hometowns. Hence, the centre has asked states and union territories to operate more special trains by pro-active coordination with the Ministry of Railways. Also read: Lockdown 4.0 Live Updates: Delhi reports 500 new coronavirus cases; tally past 10,554; India's cases-1,01,139 Besides, the MHA has also suggested state governments to increase the capacity of buses for transporting migrants. On Sunday, the MHA issued a new guideline on the fourth phase of lockdown in which it allowed interstate movement of passenger cars and buses with mutual consent between states. Also read: Relief for stranded migrants! Inter-state movement of buses finally allowed The MHA has also made an appeal to the state governments to arrange rest places, with adequate facilities for sanitation, food and healthcare, on routes where migrants were known to be already travelling on foot. "District Authorities may guide workers moving on foot to designated rest places, nearby bus terminals or railway stations by arranging transportation," the MHA order said. "District Authorities may involve NGO representatives at rest places etc, to alleviate the notion of long quarantine at rest places," the home affairs ministry added. Also read: UP govt accepts Priyanka Gandhi's request to run 1,000 buses for migrants Also, the MHA said states and UTs to give special attention to the specific requirements of women, children and the elderly amongst the migrant workers. The centre also advised states to encourage workers to stay at places where they were. Lastly, it urged the states to enlist the migrants with their addresses and contact numbers, which may be helpful in contact tracing in due course. Also read: Coronavirus: Migrant worker from Odisha beaten to death by Surat Police The Sheetz convenience store at 3501 Nazareth Road in Palmer Township will remain open after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus, the company reported Monday evening. The employee hasnt been at work since May 10 at that location, but Sheetz in a news release said it was notified of the positive test on Monday. Our top priority is the health and wellness of our customers and employees, the Altoona-based company said. The local store has been cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting each day, the company said. Customers can still buy gas and convenience items, but due to staffing limitations at this store, items ordered through touchscreen wont be available, the company said. Coronavirus causes COVID-19, the disease that has killed nearly 90,000 people in the United States. 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. 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. By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 19, 2020 | 10:38 AM | MAYFIELD A man charged with murdering a Mayfield woman more than four years ago has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.Due to safety guidelines implemented to combat COVID-19, Monday's sentencing hearing for Ezell Miller was conducted via Zoom. On Feb. 7, a Graves County jury unanimously found Miller guilty of the murder of Lauren Alexander, along with several other felonies. Miller kicked in the front door and shot Alexander inside her West Hale Street home on Feb. 28, 2016. He reportedly waited about 45 minutes to call 911. Alexander was taken to Jackson Purchase Medical Center, then to Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, TN where she passed away the next day. Miller was charged with murder, 1st degree burglary, tampering with physical evidence, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and 1st degree wanton endangerment. United States President Donald Trump once again on Monday attacked the World Health Organisation, saying the UN health body was a puppet' of China. IMAGE: US President Donald Trump gestures during a news conference in Washington DC. Photograph: Reuters Trump claimed that more people would have died from coronavirus in the country had he not imposed a ban on travel from China, which was opposed' by the health agency. They (WHO) are a puppet of China. They're China-centric, to put it nicer. But they're a puppet of China, Trump told reporters at the White House. I think they have done a very sad job. The United States pays them USD 450 million a year. China pays them USD 38 million a year, Trump said in response to a question. Trump said the World Health Organization was against the imposition of a ban on travel from China in late January. The World Health Organization was against it. They were against me doing the ban. They said you don't need it, it's too much, it's too severe, and they turned out to be wrong, he said. Trump said Democratic Party's presidential nominee and former vice-president Joe Biden was too against the ban. Sleepy Joe Biden said the same thing. He said I was xenophobic. I was xenophobic because I said you can't come in if you come from China. You can't come into our country, very early. And Biden said I was xenophobic, he said. If I didn't do that ban, you would have lost hundreds of thousands of more people in this country. It was a very important ban. People don't like talking about the ban, but it was very important, the US president said, claiming that it was only he who wanted it. We did it and saved thousands of lives, hundreds of thousands of lives probably, he said. On Monday, Trump wrote a letter to WHO director general Tedros Ghebreyesus threatening to permanently halt funding for the organisation if it did not commit to improvements within 30 days, and to reconsider the membership of the United States in the global health body. "If the WHO doesn't commit to major substantive improvements within the next 30 days, I will make my temporary freeze of US funding to WHO permanent and reconsider our membership in the organisation." Trump said in the letter. Trump had temporarily suspended US' contribution to the WHO last month, accusing it of promoting China's "disinformation" about the coronavirus outbreak, although WHO officials denied the accusation and Beijing said that it was transparent and open. "The only way forward for the WHO is if it can actually demonstrate independence from China. My administration has already started discussions with you on how to reform the organisation. But action is needed quickly. We do not have time to waste," Trump said in the letter. "I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organisation that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests," he added. On Monday, the WHO said that an independent review of the global coronavirus response would begin at the earliest and it received backing from China, where the virus was first discovered. With inputs from ANI COLUMBUS, Ohio - At least 1,720 Ohioans have died with coronavirus, including at least 164 probable fatalities. At least 28,952 Ohioans have been diagnosed with COVID-19, including at least 1,846 probable cases. Gov. Mike DeWine announced a revision of the stay-at-home order Dr. Amy Acton, director of the Ohio Department of Health, did not attend the briefing. DeWine said she wasnt feeling well. In the U.S. over 1.5 million people have COVID-19, including 90,000 who have died, according to Johns Hopkins Universitys coronavirus tracking tool. At least 1.5 million worldwide have had coronavirus, including at least 320,000 who have died. As of Monday, Ohio had at least 1,657 people who have died with coronavirus and at least 28,454 cases. Transitioning away from stay-at-home DeWine said that hes revising and renaming the stay-at-home order, as an urgent health advisory that will be called Ohioans Protecting Ohioans. The order hadnt been signed by Tuesday afternoon. Mandatory and continuing to be punishable by a second-degree misdemeanor are requirements to maintain at least six feet from others, the prohibition of mass gatherings of 10 or more people and existing business reopening rules. All other parts of the order will be strong recommendations. And so now were moving from orders to strong recommendations, he said. This is a new phase in our battle against the virus. The guidelines will say the most vulnerable Ohioans -- people who are 65 and older and people with underlying medical conditions, people with chronic lung disease, moderate-to-severe heart disease, diabetes, obesity should avoid places where they will encounter a lot fo people when they go out in public. For everyone else, DeWine appealed to peoples sense of responsibility to others. The urgent health advisory will recommend but not require people stay at their residences when possible. What we do individually is what will save Ohioans collectively. DeWine justified the relaxing of the stay-at-home order by saying that the R0, also known as R-naught or transmission rate, has decreased from one infected person infecting two people to around one infected person infecting one. The state was able to flatten the curve through social distancing, he said. Since the original stay-at-home order, a lot of has happened. our orders have evolved and the circumstances have evolved in Ohio as well," he said. "Its time for our orders to reflect the reality of where we are today. Travel DeWine said he will lift the travel restrictions that require people entering the state -- including Ohioans who are snowbirds and live in other states during the winter -- to self-quarantine for 14 days. While unnecessary travel in and around the state is permitted, it is not encouraged. He said people should consider who in the household they are traveling with, the purpose of the travel and who they will interact with on the road. Again, these would be up to every individual," he said. We just ask that they be cautious. People who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and have not recovered, as well as people exhibiting symptoms, shouldnt enter the state. DeWine said that this isnt new. Its been part of previous orders. The exceptions to that are if theyre entering Ohio for medical care. They would have to be transported by an ambulance or driving or being driven to a doctor or medical facility. First death at a veterans nursing home DeWine said an Ohioan has died in Sandusky at a state-run nursing home for military veterans. All residents and staff are being tested for coronavirus at both veterans homes, in Sandusky and Georgetown outside Cincinnati, DeWine said. At both homes, there are total 818 staff and residents who have tested negative. At Sandusky, 28 residents have tested positive, as well as 5 staffers. No one is positive at the Georgetown home. Another state prison staff death Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Officer Dewane Pete Gannon, 58, has died with coronavirus, DeWine said. Gannon had worked at Pickaway Correctional Institution in Orient, south of Columbus, since July 2010. He had been off work with symptoms since April 20, DeWine said, and he later tested positive for the virus, DeWine said. Gannon is the fourth prison employee to die from COVID-19. 2 million masks The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation will distribute at least 2 million face coverings to public and private employers who are covered by the insurance system. The coverings are to be distributed to employees, DeWine said. Employers will receive packages from BWC with at least 50 masks. The packages will be shipped in batches beginning Wednesday. The masks are funded through the bureaus budget and not through premiums, he said. If an employer receives more masks than needed, DeWine asked them to share them with others in the community who may need them. More coverage: Gov. Mike DeWine to provide Tuesdays coronavirus update: Watch live 1,657 in Ohio dead with coronavirus: Gov. Mike DeWines Monday briefing Strike force studying coronavirus among racial minorities yet to provide report nearly one month into its work Kids have been out of school since March 16. Heres how teachers, parents say its going. Ohio reconsiders policy of kicking workers off unemployment, after hackers release code to overwhelm state system The BJP on Tuesday hailed the new domicile rules notified in Jammu and Kashmir, with its president J P Nadda saying they will give the "long due" rights to all refugees as well as to Kashmiri Pandits living outside the union territory. People belonging to West Pakistan, Valmikis, women marrying outside communities, non-registered Kashmiri migrants and displaced people will soon get domicile under a new set of rules issued by the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday. "The new domicile rules gazetted in J&K are a welcome step. This will give the long due rights to all refugees incl those from West Pak, SC workers from rest of India settled in J&K for decades, children of KPs living outside J&K to claim domicile now.Equality & Dignity for all," he said on Twitter. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra noted that the Jammu and Kashmir government has now notified new domicile rules. "The domicile rules notified now replace the erstwhile J&K permanent resident rules that stood abrogated along with the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A. This is something that India had long waited for," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Navy's national chief recruiter was removed from his job last week after leaders lost confidence in his judgment. Master Chief Navy Counselor Franklin Tiongco was relieved by Rear Adm. Dennis Velez, head of Navy Recruiting Command, on May 13. Officials declined to say what specifically led to his relief, which was first reported by Navy Times. Cmdr. Lara Bollinger, a Navy Recruiting Command spokeswoman, said leaders are reviewing two completed investigations: one led by Tiongco's command and another by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Read Next: Navy Fires Head of Aviation Training School "No determination of guilt or innocence has been made," Bollinger said. "We cannot provide any additional information as this matter is still under review." Tiongco declined a request for comment. Velez is soliciting nominations for a new national chief recruiter, she added. The person in that role serves as Velez's primary adviser on all recruiting matters and missions. That includes working in close contact with two regional chief recruiters, 14 Navy recruiting districts and 12 talent acquisition groups that serve more than 815 recruiting stations across the globe, Bollinger said. Until a new national chief recruiter is named, the two regional chief recruiters will jointly advise Velez, she added. Tiongco became the Navy's national chief recruiter in July 2017. He enlisted in the Navy in 1991 and served on the guided-missile cruiser Normandy before leaving active duty in 1994, according to his official bio. He was recalled to active duty in 1995 and served in several recruiting jobs since, including assistant chief recruiter of Navy Recruiting Command Region West and chief recruiter at Navy Recruiting District San Diego. Tiongco's awards include the Navy Meritorious Service Medal, five Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, five Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and three Meritorious Unit Commendation awards, among others. -- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins. Read More: Trump Says Fired Navy Captain 'Wanted to Be Ernest Hemingway' in Warning Letter A police officer stands guard in front of seized drugs to be set on fire during a ceremony marking the U.N.'s International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Yangon, June 26, 2016. The United Wa State Army in Myanmars Shan state seized drugs after a firefight with drug smugglers last week, UWSA said on Monday as the UN praised a two-month operation in which the countrys police and military seized a record amount of methamphetamine and other drugs in the state. The UWSA, Myanmar's largest non-state military force, got into a firefight May 14 with about 40 smugglers, killing one trafficker and capturing one, the USWA said, adding that it had seized 3.5 million methamphetamine pills, among other drugs. According to the UWSAs anti-drug trafficking special task force, the seized drugs were produced in Myanmar and the smugglers were attempting to take them to Thailand. Drug production and trafficking is a constant in Myanmar, and smugglers are changing routes as the country is [closing up] as it struggles to detect the spread of COVID-19, Nyi Rang of the UWSAs Lashio office told RFAs Myanmar Service. After we investigated, we found that the drugs are fairly easy to produce practically anywhere in Myanmar, Nyi Rang said. The day after the firefight, in an unrelated operation, the UWSA seized 1.8 billion kyats (U.S. $1.3 million) worth of meth, along with arms and ammunition from a Chinese national who had illegally entered Wa territory, he said. Tatmadaw Seizures The UWSAs anti-drug actions last week were small in comparison with the February-April operation by Myanmars military, centered on Kutkhai township in northern Shan, which yielded the largest drug seizure in the history of East and Southeast Asia, the U.N. drug office said. The operation started with a modest seizure of methamphetamine yaba tablets which subsequently led to the discovery of: 193.55 million tablets (equivalent to 17.4 tons of methamphetamine), over 500 kg of crystal methamphetamine and 630 kg of ephedrine; 3,748.5 liters of methyl fentanyl; 292 kg of heroin, 588 kg of opium and 49 kg of morphine; 6.8 kg of ketamine; and various precursor and pre-precursor chemicals totaling 35.5 tons and 163 thousand liters, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a statement Monday. We are pleased to report the results of the operation with UNODC, and to make it clear to traffickers that their days of operating in Myanmar are numbered, Colonel Zaw Lin, Head of Law Enforcement of the Myanmar Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) was quoted as saying in the statement. But the news of the seizures came after a UNODC report published Friday which said the synthetic drug market in East and Southeast Asia is expanding and diversifying, with the price of methamphetamines dropping to its lowest level in the past 10 years as a result of sharp increases in supply. The report said that the number of cases in which synthetic opioids identified among illicit drug supplies in the region jumped to 28 in 2019 from three in 2014, and that agents are seizing the substances in new locations as organized crime expands its business. Business still booming Sources in Shan state told RFA that the anti-drug efforts are doing little to stop drug manufacturers and traffickers there. Even though the operation in Kutkhai township [resulted in] the military seizing over a million [dollars] worth of drugs, business is still booming and prices are still falling, Tin Maung Thein from the Mana anti-drug trafficking group told RFA. Before a pill was over 1,000 kyats ($70), but now its about 200 or 300 ($14-21), he said. Esther from the Mone Paw Anti-trafficking group told RFA, The sale and use of drugs is not decreasing in the region. The COVID-19 pandemic is also hampering the governments ability to fight the war on drugs, according to the UNODC. We are worried that the governments efforts to control the drug situation [are less effective] because they are concentrating on COVID-19 [right now], Soe Nay Tun from the UNODCs Myanmar office told RFA. But Myanmars government said that the efforts were successful. Our drug eradication [strategies] are working as usual, Win Thein, Shan States deputy police chief, told RFA. The presidents office said the war on drugs was paramount to making peace in the region. Drug control is related to the peace process, and the government is mainly working for peace, presidential office spokesman Zaw Htay told RFA. Reported by Kan Thar for RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Khin Ei. Written in English by Eugene Whong. An 81-year-old Texas man has been charged with killing a relative after police discovered a sadomasochistic email exchange between the two men disguising their sexual behavior as a 'mugging'. Alan Bischof and Craig LaMell, 65, were lovers who had a sexual relationship involving sadomasochistic behavior, which consists of deriving sexual gratification from both sadism and masochism. LaMell died on December 2, 2019, from severe head injuries that he received on November 7, 2019. Alan Bischof (left), 81, has been charged with killing Craig LaMell (right), 65, after police found a sadomasochistic email exchange between the two men disguising their sexual behavior as a 'mugging' Before LaMell died, he told police that he was walking near a bike trail in Houston when he was attacked by three men. LaMell didn't give police any identifiers that could lead to the arrest of the attackers so the case went cold. According to KPRC, police picked up a lead in the case when Bischof was laid off from his job at a major oil company. Company officials told police that they found personal emails on Bischof's office computer that revealed his sexual relationship with LaMell. In one of the emails, Bischof reportedly wrote 'that leading up to and on the day of the initial assault, November 7, 2019, LaMell had requested Bischof to assault him', according to KPRC. Court documents revealed that 'Bischof did assault the decedent by punching him with his fists until a large cut opened up over the decedent's eye which was bleeding profusely'. Before his death, LaMell told police that he was mugged by three men along a bike trail (area pictured) on November 7, 2019. But it was revealed in an email exchange that the mugging was used to disguise their sadomasochistic behavior Bischof allegedly wrote that he and LaMell agreed to the 'mugging' story as a cover for their 'mutual attack plan'. On Monday, Bischof told KPRC that he is in the process of getting an attorney. 'Its going to be later this week or next week before Im prepared to talk,' Bischof said. Bischof has been charged aggravated assault of a family member. He has not yet been arrested. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: "Georgia is a safe destination" is a message that Georgian diplomats should bring to the public in their host countries, said Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, Trend reports referring to the press office of the prime minister. On May 18 Gakharia spoke to Georgian ambassadors in a video conference about the country being an attractive tourist and safe location. As reported, during the video conference, the conversation focused on Georgias new role and place in global investment processes. It was noted that the COVID-19 pandemic put the issue of diversification of production of international companies around the world on the agenda. "Accordingly, the Georgian ambassadors are instructed to actively work to strengthen Georgias image as one of the most favorable countries for doing business, which, besides neighboring countries, has free trade agreements with the major world markets such as the European Union, China and others, the press office said. "Tourism has become an important sector of Georgian economy. The country with its history, cuisine, and culture has become well-known in the world. Many people want to visit Georgia", said Gakharia earlier. He noted that Georgia needs to show the world that the country can host tourists and run the economy effectively. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi will chair the meeting of leaders of opposition parties over the plight of migrant workers and alleged dilution of labour laws. According to report, around 17 opposition parties have agreed to participate in the meeting which will be held via videoconferencing on May 20 (Friday). The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have to confirm their participation, sources added. Rendered jobless due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, which began on March 25, and desperate to get home, thousands of migrant workers across the country have been marching on the state highways to their native places on foot, on bicycles or packed into trucks. Notably, many of them have lost their lives in accidents in different parts of the country. The Opposition has criticised the government over its handling of the migrant crisis. The Congress and other opposition parties have also attacked the Centre for allowing BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to amend labour laws to lure foreign investors and to strip workers of their basic rights. Last week, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was seen interacting with a group of migrants in the national capital. Later, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman attacked the Congress leader and called the stint as nothing but 'dramabaazi'. She attacked the Opposition party for playing politics on the issue and asked them to join the efforts of the government in helping migrants reach their native towns. "I am urging the opposition party very politely, folding my hands and requesting them here. We must all come together and help migrant labourers in this crisis," Sitharaman stated. She also appealed to Sonia Gandhi with folded hands', to to speak about migrant workers more responsibly. Republicans last week accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosis Democrats of throwing every partisan priority at hand into a kitchen-sink stimulus bill. But if they persist in rejecting the legislations dramatic expansion of federal aid to state and local governments, they will be speeding the economys journey down the drain. About a third of the Houses $3 trillion package would go to state, local and tribal governments, matching what Gavin Newsom and four other Western governors recently urged Congress to provide. Its a justifiable request given the depth of the coronavirus crisis, the relatively paltry assistance granted to governments to date, the federal governments unmatched power to support them and the risks of not doing so. Opposition by President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cut state and local assistance out of last months nearly half-trillion-dollar stimulus. The previous months $2 trillion package included $150 billion for the purpose but restricted it to pandemic-related spending rather than shoring up devastated revenues. Even if that money were freed up for other uses, it amounts to about a twentieth of state and local revenues; Californias budget deficit through the summer alone would consume roughly a third of the allocation. With unemployment as high as 25% forecast in California and nationwide, a level not seen since the Great Depression, the federal government has spent about 15% of gross domestic product to shore up the economy so far. Thats more than twice the stimulus passed in response to the 2008 financial crisis but less than half the spending enacted under the New Deal as a share of the economy. State and local aid to date, moreover, is roughly equivalent to what was provided by the much smaller Great Recession stimulus. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell took the rare step last week of urging Congress to spend more to support state and local governments as well as laid-off workers to answer the biggest shock our economy has felt in modern times. He also warned of the economic damage a resurgence of the pandemic could wreak, underscoring the danger of relying on a premature resumption of regular commerce to stem the fallout. Despite McConnells disparagement of blue-state bailouts, California had a $22 billion surplus before the pandemic and its consequences replaced it with whats expected to be a $54 billion shortfall. Governors across the country and political spectrum have sought assistance because almost all of them, unlike the federal government, must balance their budgets. Downstream of the states fiscal wreckage sit cities such as San Francisco, which is expecting a $1.7 billion deficit, and schools. Forcing these governments, which employ 1 in 7 American workers, to cut their way to solvency will hobble their capacity to deal with the pandemic a job the federal government has largely outsourced to them while further swelling the ranks of the unemployed. Congress doesnt have to bail out blue states so much as it does the United States. 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. As South Africa eases the strict lockdown restrictions, we will enter a new phase in the fight against COVID-19 which will require the country to manage the onward transmission of COVID-19. This is according to Dr Glenda Gray who is the CEO of the South African Medical Research Council and a member of the governments COVID-19 ministerial advisory council (MAC). Gray told ENCA as people go back to school, university, or work, South Africa will have to implement non-pharmaceutical interventions to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. We are at this moment in time where we have to co-exist with the virus, try to minimize the spread and mitigate the impact on vulnerable people, she said. She said hospitals should be ready, healthcare workers should have enough personal protective equipment and there should be enough oxygen points. She said South Africans should also adhere to basic rules during this next phase, which includes: Adhere to social distancing guidelines. Wear masks. Wash your hands at least 10 times a day. Make sure all surfaces are clean. When you touch a surface, wash your hands afterwards. Do not remain close to a person for more than 10 minutes. Gray said the coronavirus will be with us for a couple of seasons, which means people have to get used to adhering to these rules. Without a vaccine or an antiviral, we have to use the tools which we have to fight the virus, she said. She said COVID-19 transmissions will continue to occur, but the aim should be to keep the transmission rate down to ensure the hospitals can cope with severe cases. Dr Glenda Gray interview NEW DELHI - India and Bangladesh are preparing to evacuate up to 3 million people in the path of a potentially devastating cyclone, a challenge made even more daunting by the rising number of coronavirus infections in both countries. Cyclone Amphan is expected to slam into the river delta at the top of the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday local time, bringing dangerous winds, heavy rain, surging tides and flooding. India had classified it as a "super cyclonic storm," the most powerful type of cyclone and only the second such storm in the area since 1999. It weakened slightly on Tuesday but is still the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. The pandemic is intensifying the difficulty of preparing for the storm. India has more than 100,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, while Bangladesh has 25,000. Both countries have imposed crippling lockdowns that have left tens of millions of people with no income. Now those vulnerable to the storm are facing the unprecedented combination of a natural disaster and a pandemic. Some evacuees say they fear catching the virus in emergency shelters, where they may face hours in enclosed spaces with little ability to maintain distance from others. Authorities are attempting to reduce crowding. In coastal areas, Bangladesh has turned schools and colleges into makeshift shelters, increasing the total available capacity from 4,000 to more than 12,000, said Mohammad Mohsin, director general of country's disaster management department. "We did this to maintain social distancing," he said. In India, two states will bear the brunt of the cyclone's impact: West Bengal and Odisha. In some Odisha shelters, people are required to use hand sanitizers before entering and to wear masks for the duration of their stay. Pradeep Jena, a senior government official overseeing the disaster relief effort in Odisha, described the current evacuation as a "great challenge" since people are already under "psychological stress" from the spread of covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. He urged authorities to explain to people that the immediate danger from the storm is greater than the threat of infection. But some people living in the state's coastal areas are not persuaded, particularly in places where cyclone shelters were previously being used as quarantine centers. Bholanath Behera, 41, who lives in an area expected to be hit hard by the storm, said that his village's regular shelter was used to quarantine 38 workers who had returned to the area from a state on the other side of the country. The workers were shifted elsewhere, but villagers still refused to use the shelter despite promises that it would be sanitized. "People are still scared," he said. "In fact, no one goes close to the cyclone shelter anymore." The village got permission from the authorities to use a school as a shelter during the cyclone instead. In the neighboring state of West Bengal, there is also some resistance to using shelters out of fear of the coronavirus. "We are ready to die at home," said Dilu Seikh, who lives with seven family members on an island in the district of South 24 Parganas. "We're not going to a cyclone shelter at any cost, no matter what the government says." The chief minister of West Bengal said that nearly 300,000 people have been evacuated. In Odisha, more than 60,000 have already been evacuated, but as many as 1.1 million may be shifted to shelters. In Bangladesh, the figure could reach 2 million, said Mohsin, the disaster management official. Among those at risk are members of one of the world's most vulnerable refugee populations. About 1 million Rohingya refugees live in crowded camps in Bangladesh in Cox's Bazar. The first two coronavirus cases were reported in the camps last week. The latest forecast shows that the camps are not in the direct path of the cyclone, said Francesca Fontanini, a spokeswoman for international aid groups. But the groups are preparing emergency supplies of food, tarpaulins and water purification tablets. In the Satkhira district of Bangladesh, which is expected to bear the brunt of the cyclone, officials started using loudspeakers to tell people to evacuate on Monday. On Tuesday, they began going door-to-door to urge them to move to shelters. Unlike in prior cyclones, authorities are also using schools and mosques with more than one floor as shelters, said Bhabtosh Kumar Mandal, a local official in the Bangladeshi village of Buri Goalini. The goal is to avoid crowds, he said. People have been asked to arrive at shelters with masks, Mandal added. He was racing to collect even more masks to distribute before the cyclone hit. - - - The Washington Post's Niha Masih in New Delhi, Tazeen Qureshy in Bhubaneswar, Azad Majumder in Dhaka and Kalpana Prodhan in Kolkata contributed to this report. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Made Anthony Iswara (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19 2020 The slow pace at which Indonesia is addressing digital inequality could jeopardize basic rights for those excluded, experts have warned, especially at a time when the world relies heavily on information technology to stay connected. World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) fell on Sunday, May 17, while most people in the world sheltered in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The disease has infected more than 4.7 million people and killed upwards of 315,000 to date. Information technology had allowed people around the world to stay connected during the pandemic and these connections are more important than ever, said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his message to mark the occasion. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,000/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. Iran will give crushing response to any aggressor: Defense Minister Iran Press TV Monday, 18 May 2020 5:13 PM Iran's Defense Minister says the Islamic Republic will give a crushing answer to any aggressor when it comes to defending its national security. Speaking in a meeting with the Iranian Parliament's Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy on Monday, Brigadier General Amir Hatami made a reference to Iran's missile attack on Ain al-Assad military base in Iraq, which houses US forces, after the American military assassinated Iran's top general, Qassem Soleimani, and his companions earlier this year. Lieutenant General Soleimani, who headed the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' Quds Force, was martyred alongside fellow Iraqi commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), known as Hashed al-Sha'abi in Arabic, and some others in a terrorist drone strike that targeted their vehicle at the Baghdad International Airport on January 3. Both commanders were admired by Muslim nations for eliminating the US-sponsored Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria. Soon after General Soleimani's assassination, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Washington was to face a "harsh revenge" for the atrocity. On January 8, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) unleashed volleys of ballistic missiles at the airbase of Ain al-Assad in Anbar Province. The Leader later described the retaliatory strikes as "only a slap." Noting that Iran's attack shattered the United States' false pretense of grandeur in the region and the world, the Iranian Defense Minister said, "Through this firmness of resolve in acting timely against the common front of the [global] arrogance and hegemonic system, Iran proved that it will give rapid, categorical and crushing response to any aggressor in defense of its national interests and security." Pointing to Iran's defense achievements in the field of ground, air, naval, electronic and aerospace warfare, and especially the missile achievements that have always been a thorn in the side of its enemies, Hatami said, "The Defense Ministry achieved major growth in this field in terms of quality and quantity during the first two years of this administration." Expressing the significant progress Iran has made in the field of air defense, the minister pointed to the unveiling and operationalisation of various short, medium and long-range air defense systems Bavar-373 and Khordad-15 and said, "Relying on these completely indigenous achievements, we have managed to secure the Iranian sky more than ever before." Hatami went on to say that the enmity of the hegemonic system has always been obvious to us, and the Armed Forces, relying on indigenous know-how, have during the four decades of the glorious Islamic Revolution make the most of their capacities and been able to turn threats into opportunities. Over the past days, the US administration has ramped up its anti-Iran rhetoric and threatened to seize or target Iran's fuel-carrying vessels crossing the Caribbean to the sanctions-hit Venezuela. The US Navy is said to have deployed its USS Detroit (LCS-7), USS Lassen (DDG-82), USS Preble (DDG-88), and USS Farragut (DDG-99) to the Caribbean along with its patrol aircraft Boeing P8-Poseidon for possible encounter with the Iranian vessels. Iran has vowed a crushing response to any acts of aggression and adventurism against its oil tankers on the part of the administration in Washington. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Check out the companies making headlines after the bell. Urban Outfitters The clothing retailer's stock tumbled 5% in extended trading after the company released its first-quarter financial results. Urban Outfitters reported a loss of $1.41 per share on revenue of $588 million, missing analysts' expectations of a loss of 29 cents per share with revenue of $627 million, according to Refinitiv. The retailer's comparable retail net sales dropped 28% from the same period last year, a decrease driven by store closures from the coronavirus, according to a company statement. Urban Outfitters also reported that its preliminary gross profit dollars decreased by 95.6% to $11.8 million. Moderna The biotech company's stock fell 6% in extended trading after it was reported that the company did not provide enough data regarding the effectiveness of its potential Covid-19 vaccine. Moderna announced Monday that the vaccine produced Covid-19 antibodies in all 45 human participants in an early-stage trial. United Airlines The airline's stock whipsawed after the closing bell. The company said on Tuesday that it has seen "a moderate improvement in demand" for trips both within the United States and for some destinations abroad during the second quarter. Spotify The music streaming platform's stock climbed marginally in extended trading after the market closed. Comedian Joe Rogan announced Tuesday that his massively popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, is moving exclusively to Spotify. The company has expanded its podcast streaming library through multiple acquisitions this past year. Johnson & Johnson The health-care company's stock dropped 1% in extended trading after Johnson & Johnson announced that it was discontinuing its talc-based baby powder in the U.S. and Canada due to decreasing demand for the product. J&J blamed the decrease in demand "in large part to changes in consumer habits and fueled by misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising," according to a company statement. There were a number of lawsuits against the company alleging its baby powder causes cancer. Last week, a heart-wrenching picture of a Muslim youth sitting beside his ailing Hindu friend holding his head in his lap won the internet. However, this heartwarming tale did not have a happy ending. On the night of May 16, ailing Amrit took his last breath at Shivpuri hospital in Madhya Pradesh. Devastated by the demise of his friend, Mohd Sayyum had a harrowing experience in taking back his friends body to native place in Basti, Uttar Pradesh. The Shivpuri administration declined to offer an ambulance and on Monday evening after hours of hardship the ambulance arrived. Both Sayyum (23) and Amrit (24) were part of a group that was heading to Uttar Pradesh from Surat, Gujarat. They worked at a yarn making unit in Surat and lived together in the city. The day when both were travelling in a truck, Amrit felt uneasiness, following which the fellow passengers got scared of corona and asked the driver to drop him then and there. Concerned that how his ailing friend would manage treatment, Sayyum too alighted at Shivpuri. Keeping Amrits head in his lap, crying at Shivpuri highway, Sayyum sought help from passersby. Some locals helped them and dropped at a district hospital and Amrit was put on a ventilator. On the night of May 16 night, Amrit died. Corona samples of both were taken and they were tested negative. No post-mortem was carried and the exact cause behind Amrits death is unknown. Amrit is survived by five sisters and family could come and take the body along. News18 MP correspondent Ashok Agrawal who was actively helping the two since their arrival in Shivpuri narrated the ordeal. I was starting the day on Monday and my phone beeped and Md Sayyum was on the other side. He informed me that the corona test report of both of them has pronounced them negative and urged me to arrange transportation to their native village, Bandi Balas. As I called up civil surgeon Dr PK Khare, he claimed that papers were ready and they will send the two in 15 minutes. However, on my arrival at the district hospital, there was no arrangement at all. After several hours, the hospital claimed that Jhansi administration was sending an ambulance which eventually arrived at 4.30pm. The ambulance was taken to a mortuary but as the body was lifted up, it emerged that the carcass had started to rot and the ambulance driver was quick to refuse to take this body. We arranged a blue polythene sheet and after wrapping the body into it, the ambulance left, he recounted. Md Sayyum right from the start identified himself as Amrits brother but when I asked him on Monday that he was a Muslim, he replied with innocence, We were from the same village, so this way we are brothers. He added. [May 19, 2020] Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A receives "Outstanding" Rating for Community Reinvestment Accomplishments for Sixth Consecutive Time Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A., a national bank subsidiary of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), has been recognized with the highest rating from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for its work meeting the credit needs of the communities it serves. The Firm received a rating of "Outstanding" for the Bank's community reinvestment activities for the sixth consecutive time, and the fourth since being examined by the OCC. The associated evaluation report from the OCC, an independent bureau in the United States Department of the Treasury, highlights several of the Bank's initiatives focused on preserving affordable housing and expanding community services. The Performance Evaluation noted the Bank's leadership role in working with a national foundation to better understand the affordable housing and community development landscape, to illuminate gaps in capital deployment, and to develop potential solutions. The evaluation commends the Bank's innovation and responsiveness to community needs. "Morgan Stanley is proud to have for the sixth time in a row received an "Outstanding" rating from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for our community development work," said Eric Heaton, President of Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. "Our focus remains to utilize the expertise of our Firm to support affordable housing and economic development in the communities where we do business." The OCC noted that the Bank leverages Morgan Stanley's investment banking expertise to enhance community development outcomes. Programs cited included the use of private equity funds to help mission-oriented sponsors acquire and stabilize multifamily rental properties, and to extend affordability protections and fund services for residents. The report also recognized the Bank's commitment to investing in Low Income Housing Tax Credits during corporate tax reform when affordable housing projects were at risk due to market uncertainty. The Performanc Evaluation highlighted several transactions, including: An investment in Salt Lake City to support the construction of 5 th East Apartments, an outpatient treatment facility and 75 units of permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless individuals, including persons with mental illness and physical disabilities. The Project is being developed by First Step House which is a highly experienced advocate for Salt Lake City's homeless population and a behavioral health treatment provider. East Apartments, an outpatient treatment facility and 75 units of permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless individuals, including persons with mental illness and physical disabilities. The Project is being developed by First Step House which is a highly experienced advocate for Salt Lake City's homeless population and a behavioral health treatment provider. An investment to support the construction of a 42,000 square foot community services campus in Washington, D.C., anchored by Martha's Table and Community of Hope. The Commons at Stanton Square co-locates affordable housing and homelessness prevention services with wellness, nutrition and educational services. The development was funded through Morgan Stanley's Healthy Future's Fund created in partnership with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and The Kresge Foundation. Maurice Jones, President and CEO of LISC, noted that, "In creating the Healthy Futures Fund, LISC and Morgan Stanley delivered on a shared belief that co-location and integration could be transformational to the lives of residents, and bring a new level of equity and inclusion. The Commons at Stanton Square is a national model of excellence in its combination of housing with health care, social services and child care." The OCC and community partners also praised the Bank's commitment to the Salt Lake City market. One example noted in the OCC report is the Bank's creation of a Salt Lake City Fellowship program. The Bank works with the University of Utah and local community development organizations to provide six graduate students with stipends to work on critical community projects that might not otherwise be undertaken. Maria Garciaz, CEO of NeighborWorks Salt Lake, stated, "The fellowship program has been a tremendous resource for us and a great opportunity for the University of Utah master's students who have participated in projects ranging from creating a community needs assessment to planning and developing a new affordable real estate project." Mike Mantle, Head of Community Development Finance, Morgan Stanley Bank N.A., said, "Morgan Stanley continually looks for areas where we can make an impact, filling in gaps in the affordable housing and economic development markets and helping communities prosper. An example is our investment in an affordable housing project in the rural community of Ely, Nevada. For Morgan Stanley, it was a small transaction, but it was incredibly meaningful to a small town of 4,000 people. We partnered with Rural Community Assistance Corporation, a nonprofit focused on ensuring that rural communities are vibrant and healthy." Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in more than 41 countries, the Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For more information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005843/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Harvard's Mina says new contact tracing technologies that alert people if they were in the same vicinity as someone with the virus, for example, can also help catch asymptomatic carriers and contain their impact on the outbreak. It also may be the case that, as health care providers and researchers learn more about the virus, they will be able to identify additional signs and symptoms that can clue people in on whether they are infected, Gronvall says. The CDC's initial list of coronavirus symptoms was limited to three: fever, cough and shortness of breath. That, however, has recently expanded to include everything from sore throat, to chills, to loss of taste and smell. Researchers have also identified a handful of unusual indications of the illness, including skin rashes and gastrointestinal (GI) issues. And I'm sure that there'll be some other things to add that will help people without the hallmark characteristics of the coronavirus better identify an infection, Gronvall says. But even a longer list of symptoms will not cast a wide enough net to catch every coronavirus case. Similar to other viruses including herpes, influenza and norovirus, some people will pass on the coronavirus without experiencing a single symptom. CDC Director Robert Redfield, M.D., has said that as many as 25 percent of people with coronavirus infections could remain asymptomatic. Assume everyone has the virus As communities across the country begin to resume some sense of normalcy, precautionary measures, including temperature checks, are being worked into reopening plans. And while screening for symptoms such as fever will detect some people with the virus, it will not be sufficient in catching everyone, UCSD's Davis says. That's why it's important to keep up with preventative measures until a vaccine is developed and distributed, Gronvall argues. People don't flash a siren when they start becoming contagious. You have to be vigilant. Monroe's advice is to act as though everyone you come into contact with has the virus. Wearing a face covering, washing your hands often and keeping a distance of at least 6 feet between yourself and others can help reduce transmission across the board, including transmission from people who are asymptomatic, she explains. "Keep in mind that just because somebody is not coughing, it doesn't mean that they're not a potential transmitter, Monroe adds. The mass job shedding since the start of the coronavirus pandemic appears to have stabilised but some domestic tourist hotspots face a long struggle back after losing more than one in 10 workers. Special payroll data collated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that between mid-March and the start of May, 7.3 per cent of jobs more than 900,000 were lost across the country. It was a slight improvement on the previous ABS report, which showed 7.5 per cent of jobs disappeared between March 14 and April 18 after vast sections of the economy were shut down to stop the spread of coronavirus. The Morrison government's $130 billion JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme helped mitigate the drop-off in jobs, with income down 5.4 per cent in the period to May 2, improving from a fall of more than 8 per cent up to April 18. The China-Wuhan virus has highlighted the totalitarian nature of the leftist Democratic governors and mayors who have imposed unreasonable restrictions that shut down the economy. It shows why state and local elections are important. There are numerous examples of the trampling by these leftists of our basic rights protected by the Bill of Rights. A few of the most recent: Oregon Democratic governor Kate Brown sent agents from Child Protective Services to the home of Lindsey Graham (not the senator) to question Lindsey and her husband on May 7, the same day she opened her hair salon during the state stay-at-home order. They searched her house, inspected the refrigerator, and questioned her 6-year-old son and want to question her 3-year-old daughter. On May 18, 2020, Judge Dever ruled Brown's 28-day order invalid because Brown did not obtain the Legislature's approval to extend it. Brown was busy harassing Graham and did not have time to follow the law to extend the order. AT's Thomas Lifson described how Chicago Democratic mayor Lori Lightfoot took time from getting her hair done to have the police post "No Parking" signs at a church, and had cars towed, to harass a church that dared to open for services. Tucker Carlson, of Fox News, questioned New Jersey Democratic governor Phil Murphy on April 14, 2020: The Bill of Rights, as you well know, protects Americans' rights enshrines their right to practice their religion as they see fit and to congregate together to assemble peacefully, by what authority did you nullify the Bill of Rights in issuing this order? How do you have the power to do that? Murphy answered: That's above my pay grade, Tucker. I wasn't thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this. The Bill of Rights is not important for Murphy to consider. Murphy amassed a net worth of several hundred million with Goldman Sachs. Murphy, a multi-millionaire, is trying to force the owner of a gym to close and has issued criminal citations against him. The worst may be Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, who plans to keep L.A. shut down for at least three months and declared that L.A. may not be fully open until there is a cure for the virus. The First Amendment states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The Fourth Amendment states: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. The Supreme Court has held that the First and Fourth Amendments, as well as others, apply to the states and cities under the 14th Amendment in that the 14th Amendment incorporates the Bill of Rights. The Democratic governors and mayors have ignored the Bill of Rights. There have been a few court decisions striking down some of the state actions. The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the governor's stay-at-home order. A Kentucky federal court enjoined the Kentucky Democratic governor "from enforcing the prohibition on mass gatherings with respect to any in-person religious service which adheres to applicable social distancing and hygiene guidelines[.]" The courts should force the governors to produce compelling, credible evidence to justify the infringement on the Bill of Rights. It is not enough to describe the effects of the virus to scare people into submission. The question is whether the restrictions that shut down the economy are based on valid, accepted science and whether there is clear evidence that these restrictions will protect us. What is the relationship, if any, between the restrictions and the desired effect? In a trial, a court requires a "reasonable degree of medical certainty" to establish causation. But all we hear from the medical "experts" are words such as "potential-may-could." This is guesswork. This has to be balanced with the economic effects of the shutdown. These are issues that should be debated and decided by the legislatures, not a governor or mayor with his aides. The governors and mayors have assumed the powers of the legislatures. The courts presume that a law is constitutional because laws are passed by legislatures, elected by the people, after debate. But these stay-at-home orders are imposed by governors and mayors without the benefit of the legislative process. They do not deserve to be presumed constitutional because the legislatures have not debated and passed these orders. The courts apply "strict scrutiny" when a law infringes on the Bill of Rights. Strict scrutiny is the highest degree of scrutiny that a court uses when a fundamental right is infringed by a law. But it takes too much time to challenge these orders in the courts, and you cannot rely on state courts to curb the power of the governors. For example, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision by four Democratic justices, upheld Democratic governor Tom Wolf's order. Each state must reform its laws that empower governors and mayors to declare emergencies by limiting the number of days of the emergency, such as ten days, and only the Legislature can extend the order. Democratic governors and mayors cannot be trusted with such power. They do not care about the effect on the economy and people losing their jobs and businesses. The state legislatures must act. Designed for team collaboration in the modern workplace, Microsoft today launched the all-in-one digital Surface Hub 2S. This all-in-one digital whiteboard, meeting platform, and teamwork collaborative computing device has been priced at Rs 11,89,999, which includes a Surface Hub 2 Camera and a Surface Hub 2 Pen. The Steelcase Roam mobile stand is priced at Rs 1,17,500. This new hardware will be available at authorised Hub resellers starting today and will be delivered towards the end of this month. "We've expanded our Surface family to include not just devices designed for individuals, but also devices purpose-built for teams. In view of the current environment and more teams working remotely, the Surface Hub 2S seamlessly blends into any workspace. The Surface Hub 2S gives teams the mobility and flexibility to collaborate where they work best - whether in a conventional meeting scenario for brainstorms, or virtual meetings powered by Microsoft Teams. For businesses looking to bridge the gap and address different workstyles, the Surface Hub 2S is the perfect addition to enhance productivity, and as a boost to turn innovative ideas to reality," said Rajiv Sodhi, COO, Microsoft India. Also read: Xiaomi launches Mi 10, Mi Box, Wireless Earbuds The Surface 2S is a portable and interactive device with a 4k 50-inch multi-touch display, with support for Surface Pen and touch experience. It is 40 per cent lighter, and offers 50 per cent faster graphics performance than the original Surface Hub. It is powered by Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Teams, Office 365, Microsoft Whiteboard, and the intelligent cloud. It has an 8th Generation Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB DDR 4 RAM, Intel UHD Graphics 620 and 128GB SSD. Sensors onboard include Doppler occupancy sensor, IMU, thermal sensor. Various ports onboard include USB-A, USB-C/DP, RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI Video Input Mini-DisplayPort Video Output and monitor 4X USB-C (data or FPR) for camera or data. Microsoft says that the new Surface Hub 2S is the all-in-one collaboration device that lets teams break free from the conference room and turn any space into a teamwork space. To ensure flexible usage in any space, Microsoft worked with Steelcase to design Steelcase Roam, a mobile stand and easy-to-hang wall mounting system, that allows people to use the Surface Hub 2S to collaborate in planned sessions or spontaneously. The mobile stand can be moved easily with one hand, and its small footprint ?ts in all kinds of spaces. The wall mounting system is the perfect solution for private of?ces or smaller spaces, encouraging standing and active postures. Also read: Honor 9X Pro launched in India at Rs 17,999 with AppGallery "We joined forces with Microsoft to explore the future of work. Our work together is built on a shared commitment to put people at the centre of how place and technology intersect to empower individuals and teams to do their best work," says Praveen Rawal, Managing Director, India, SAARC, APAC Design Applications, Steelcase Asia Pacific. "We are thrilled to introduce our latest innovation derived from this powerful partnership to India, giving individuals and teams the freedom to collaborate whenever and wherever ideas strike." When paired together, Surface Hub 2S and Steelcase Roam support active collaboration by encouraging teams to move, stand, gesture and become more physically, mentally and emotionally engaged in their collaborative work. Also, Microsoft Whiteboard allows people to collaborate on a shared digital canvas from almost any device so it's easy to pick up where they left off, keeping teams in their flow. With built-in artificial intelligence features, users can better express their ideas in less time as it supports ink to shape and text, supported by an infinite cloud-based, virtual canvas. Also read: Realme launches Narzo 10, Narzo 10A; check out price and features The political divide is just as glaring. All but one of the 32 counties that are now reopening voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election, and only three of them supported Whitmer for governor in 2018. Whitmer has been blasted by Trump and other Republicans, and in recent weeks she has been the target of protests calling for an end to government-mandated social distancing. Republicans in the Legislature are suing her over the stay-at-home order. Those legislative leaders said her action yesterday was too little, too late. This is a positive step that weve been requesting for over a month now, but the vast majority of Michigan is still held captive in the nations worst lockdown, Lee Chatfield, who is the speaker of the Republican-held state House and represents a district in Northern Michigan, wrote on Twitter. Despite three raucous rallies recently in Lansing, where some people carried military-style rifles and Confederate battle flags, Whitmers approval ratings have jumped during the coronavirus crisis. Sixty-three percent of Michigan voters said they approved of her job performance, according to a Fox News poll released last month. New York Times Events The Road to Womens Suffrage Join us today at 4 p.m. Eastern as we kick off Unfinished Work, our new series investigating the continuing battle for womens rights in America. This week well explore the road to the 19th Amendment and the women who made it happen including women of color whose work toward winning truly equal voting rights for all has been less celebrated. Then well take a closer look at the legacy and impact of the 19th Amendment on the present-day fight for equality. The virtual event will feature Valerie Jarrett, board chair of When We All Vote and co-chair of the United State of Women. Special guests are Martha S. Jones, the Society of Black Alumni presidential professor and professor of history at Johns Hopkins University; Kate Clarke Lemay, historian at the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution; and Susan Ware, honorary womens suffrage centennial historian at Radcliffes Schlesinger Library at Harvard University. The host will be Jennifer Schuessler, a culture reporter at The Times. Though we all know about her whirlwind romance with Prince Harry that began in the summer of 2016, little is known about Meghan, Duchess of Sussexs first marriage. The former actress was married to producer Trevor Engelson from 2011-2013. Though Meghan and Engelsons marriage was short-lived, they dated for seven years prior to tying the knot in a low-key ceremony in Jamaica. However, just before they tied the knot, the duchess booked her breakout role on USAs Suits and moved to Toronto, Canada. The relationship did not survive much longer. Even before marrying into the royal family, Meghan has been notoriously tight-lipped about her first marriage. However, we do know that Adeles stunning album 21 helped her through her divorce. RELATED: Meghan Markle Is Not a Fan of Mushy Love Stories Like The Notebook Inside Meghan Markles first marriage When the duchess first met Engleson in 2004, he was a rising star in Hollywood whom she looked up to and admired. However, by the time they wed, their roles had reversed. Engelsons projects had stalled and he tried to launch a podcast called Schmoedown. That first podcast episode may have highlighted some of the differences between the two. Meghan had to ask her then-husband to stop drinking on air. The precast hinted at their personality differences, Trevor loose-lipped, unconcerned, carefree, a striking counterpart to Meghan, who was archly protective of brand Meghna, always keen to project an air of sophistication and style, royal biographer Andrew Morton wrote in Meghan, A Hollywood Princess. She may have felt at times that Trevor was too brashly laid back for comfort, especially not that her star was rising; Suits had been picked up for a second season. RELATED: Meghan Markle Thought Her Ex-Husband Was Extremely Unprofessional, Claims Royal Biographer This is why Meghan Markle and Trevor Engelson got divorced Neither Meghan nor Engeleson have said much about their split. In fact, when news about the duchess engagement to Prince Harry hit the media, Engleson reportedly said, I have zero to say about her. According to Morton, Meghan blindsided him by asking for a divorce. It was such a bolt from the blue. Even after five years, [Engelson] can barely contain his anger, he wrote. For her part, the Duchess of Sussex gave a small insight into her divorce in 2013 on her now-defunct lifestyle blog, The Tig. I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie or want to manipulate, she wrote. I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty, and cheap praise. RELATED: Prince Harry Married Meghan Markle Because Shes Like Diana Source Says Adeles 21 album helped Meghan Markle get through her divorce Working on Suits and The Tig, obviously helped Meghan move forward after her marriage ended. However, a source now says that Adeles 2011 album, 21 also played a major role. Meghan admires how Adele has managed to keep out of the spotlight despite being a huge star, a source told The Mirror. And she is a big fan of her album 21, which she says helped her through her divorce from Engelson. Life has certainly come full circle for the duchess who is currently living with Prince Harry and her young son, Archie Harrison in Beverly Hills. Their rented home is apparently five minutes away from Adeles house. A makeshift shrine near the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, Calif., in April 2019. (David Maung / EPA-EFE/REX) Maybe Im getting soft, but I found these two emails very disturbing. Dumb ass liberal Jew...Hope you get Chinese virus and suffer for lying to people...Really do....... And this one: Keep your mouth shut kike. You always seem to out yourselves. All throughout history. Ive been in the newspaper business for a long time. So Im no stranger to angry, profanity-filled letters and the occasional death threat. But when I went back to writing recently after many years as an editor, it was the anti-Semitic emails that I found particularly disconcerting. (The Anti-Defamation League reported last week that 2019 was a year of unprecedented anti-Semitic activity in the United States, so perhaps I shouldnt have been surprised. But I was.) The emails came in response to a column in which I criticized President Trump, calling him vindictive and irresponsible and lacking in empathy and averse to complex thinking, among other things. I can see where his supporters might've gotten angry. And they did. One called me a libturd. Others called me pathetic, embarrassing and FOS. But while those emails were crass, the anti-Semitic ones were chilling. All the more so since the column had nothing to do with Jews or Christians or religion or ethnicity. Now, I dont have any particular reason to believe Trump shares all the views of his nuttiest supporters. But like many people, I believe he encourages them. He fans the flames of intolerance and division, and caters too often to a bigoted crowd. In campaigning, he relies on dog whistles, such as the TV spot he aired in 2016 that flashed pictures of George Soros, Lloyd Blankfein and other Jews while Trump in a voice-over assailed global special interests and those who control the levers of power in Washington. Thats a dangerous game to play, and a cynical one. Nevertheless, I was all set to chalk the rabid emails up to the loony fringe and ignore them. Until a few days later when I was intrigued to find in my in-box a proclamation issued by the White House on the occasion of Jewish-American heritage month, 2020. Story continues The statement, attributed to Trump himself, talked about the long history of Jews in the U.S. It noted that Jews had experienced oppression, violence and bigotry. It cited the myriad ways they enrich our country. It noted our rejection of anti-Semitic bigotry, and our disdain for malicious attacks of hatred. It called special attention to the 2019 synagogue shooting in Poway, Calif. Whether Trump really had anything to do with the proclamation, I have no idea. Frankly, it didnt sound much like him. His comments on the subject have generally been bizarre assertions like I am the least anti-Semitic person that youve ever seen in your entire life, or vague, rambling statements like this one: As far as Jewish people so many friends, a daughter who happens to be here right now, a son-in-law, and three beautiful grandchildren. But the proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month was in such dramatic contrast with the anti-Semitic notes I received in response to my column that I wondered what the writers would make of it. So I dug out the old emails, forwarded the proclamation to the authors and waited to see what would happen. Since they were apparently Trumps defenders, I thought perhaps his words would have some influence with them. Wrong. Teachable moment unsuccessful. I heard back from one of them, who still hopes the virus will get me and who notes that Jews are known fir their ability to cheat out and screw others that were not Jews. We exchanged a number of notes, but I can report that no headway was made. I dont mean to blow any of this out of proportion. I recognize there are plenty of people and groups in the United States for whom the ongoing effects of racial and religious prejudice are far more burdensome than they are for me. And that a handful of lunatics calling me names is not the second Holocaust. I also recognize that were living in a bitter and polarized time, and that the rage reflected in those emails is not directed only at Jews. I can't imagine my correspondents aren't also riled up about African Americans and other people of color, as well as immigrants, gay and transgender people. Still, it is demoralizing and distressing that anti-Semitism is back in vogue, at least among certain groups, just in time for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops fighting Nazism in Europe. Its a little like when you read that cases of measles, a disease that was declared to have been eliminated in the United States in 2000, are growing disturbingly quickly because we have forgotten what we learned in a previous generation and have failed to remain vigilant. The United States prides itself on tolerance and opposition to bigotry and, with some enormous exceptions, it has generally moved over the years in the direction of expanded rights and greater justice for all. Thats why my mother and her parents came to the United States rather than elsewhere when they fled Hitlers Europe in the 1930s. As a child, I was taught that anti-Semitism was not a problem in America. Its disheartening to think that, without vigilance, it could come back, like the measles. @Nick_Goldberg For the record: 1:09 PM, May. 19, 2020: An earlier version of this story said that Auschwitz was liberated by U.S. troops. It was Soviet troops that liberated the concentration camp. India's capital New Delhi and some other state governments ordered the re-opening of public transport on Monday in a further easing of a nearly two-month coronavirus shutdown. Under the new rules, buses, taxis and three-wheelers will return to the streets but with restrictions. Buses will not carry more than 20 passengers, each of whom will be screened before boarding, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said. "Corona will stay, and we will also survive," Kejriwal said, outlining the new guidelines for the city of 20 million people that has one of highest numbers of coronavirus cases in the country. However, a factory of the Chinese smartphone maker OPPO near Delhi suspended operations after six workers tested positive for the coronavirus. The factory had received government permission to resume limited production as part of a gradual relaxation of the shutdown that began on March 25. But when OPPO tested workers prior to the restart, six tested positive for COVID-19, said Deep Chandra, senior official at the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority. OPPO said in a statement that operations at the plant were suspended and it would only allow employees with negative test results to resume work. Karnataka, home to technology hub Bengaluru, also lifted some restrictions on the movement of trains, taxis and buses within the state. Transportion from outside the state will remain suspended except for essential services. Experts say that coronavirus cases will rise in coming weeks as India's lockdown is eased, and authorities have repeatedly told companies resuming operations to ensure that social distancing and other measures are taken to prevent infections. MIGRANT WORKERS India has seen a rapid rise in coronavirus infections in recent days, with confirmed cases at around 96,000 and more than 3,000 deaths, according to federal data. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government extended the nationwide lockdown to May 31, but relaxed rules in areas with lower numbers of cases and allowed state governments to issue their own guidelines on some matters. With the restrictions eased, some traffic poured back onto the roads of the capital, and hairdressers, beauty parlours, stationary shops, and butchers were among the small businesses reopening elsewhere in the country. But schools, malls and other public places will remain mostly closed, and large gatherings are still prohibited. Compounding the challenges for the country, hundreds of millions of migrant workers have been stranded across India for weeks, unable to return home after authorities banned all transport services in late March. After a series of road and rail accidents, where dozens of workers died, authorities are now increasing efforts to help them home. In Chennai, construction worker M.D. Rustom queued along with hundreds of others for a bus and train trip back to Bihar, some 2,000 km away. "We don't have money to eat," he said. "It has been over 50 days, we just want to go back now. Also read: Arrange more special trains, buses, rest houses for migrant workers: MHA tells states Also read: Lockdown 4.0 Live Updates: Huge crowd of migrant workers gathers in Bandra; India's coronavirus cases-1,01,139 Natco Pharma has donated Chloroquine Phosphate Tablets through its marketing partner in the United States, Rising Pharmaceuticals, to support a global clinical trial conducted by the CROWN Collaborative, for Protecting Essential Healthcare Workers from COVID-19 virus. Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is the clinical coordinating center for this ambitious international trial. The group, called the COVID-19 Research Outcomes Worldwide Network (CROWN) Collaborative, is testing whether the antimalaria drug Chloroquine can prevent COVID-19 infection or decrease its severity in front-line health-care workers. For this study, Chloroquine will be donated to the U. S. arm of the Chloroquine RepurpOsing to healthWorkers for Novel CORONAvirus mitigaTION (CROWN CORONATION) clinical trial. The Collaborative and the trial are funded by the COV/0-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, an initiative with contributions from an array of public and philanthropic donors, including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Conducted at multiple sites in North America, Europe, the UK and Africa, CROWN CORON ATION will evaluate the protective potential of weekly, twice weekly or daily doses of Chloroquine, when compared with placebo, in frontline healthcare workers at high risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2. The trial aims to include at least 30,000 subjects across the frontline healthcare workers. NATCO has been supplying Chloroquine Phosphate Tablets, a USFDA approved drug, through its marketing partner to the United States since 2011. More recently NATCO's alternate facility in Vizag has also been approved to supply the same drug. Chloroquine Phosphate Tablets are indicated predominantly for the treatment of malaria. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CNN, in their dogged and unending quest to overturn the 2016 presidential election and drive President Trump from office, is in full-on campaign mode. Just as in the last presidential election cycle, opinion polls are a campaign staple of the media and the Democrat party. Polls are not being used as they should, to reflect public opinion, but instead to shape opinion, a form of political propaganda. CNN commissioned a poll, the results of which were released last week, conducted by SSRS, an independent research company. A CNN poll doesnt mean Brian Stelter and Jim Acosta, also known as dumb and dumber, were on a street corner asking passersby how much they hated the Orange Man. When CNN reported the poll results, their headline put a ho-hum spin on the poll findings, Biden tops Trump nationwide, but battlegrounds tilt Trump. Townhall reported the poll more accurately, New CNN poll shows Trump crushing Biden in swing states. How illustrative that the same poll with the same results was presented so differently, Trump crushing in one headline while in another headline results simply tilt. In fact, CNN buried the poll results on their homepage as they didnt like the results. I cant blame them as it doesnt fit the CNN narrative. YouTube screen grab Polls are designed to reflect the opinions of a group of people at a moment in time. A small sample of individuals are asked for their opinion regarding a particular issue and this small sample is hoped to be representative of the larger population. Otherwise the axiom of garbage in, garbage out applies. The poll sample is important. Oversampling Democrats will skew the results in favor of the Democrat candidate. In this poll, 34 percent described themselves as Democrats, 26 percent described themselves as Republicans, an 8-point difference. Imagine the results if those percentages were flipped, oversampling Republicans by 8 points. The CNN poll also surveyed registered, not likely, voters. Since only slightly more than half of eligible voters actually voted in the 2016 presidential election, this, too, is not a representative sample of the electorate. The CNN poll, with Democrat oversampling, showed voters nationally backing Biden over Trump by 51 to 46 percent, a five point difference, less than the 8 point difference in party affiliation. Theoretically, if the survey sample were equally balanced between Democrats and Republicans, Trump would come out ahead by 3 points. Which is perhaps why Democrats were oversampled. Is a nationwide poll even relevant in a presidential election? Not really, because of the Electoral College. Instead there are 50 state elections taking place, not a national popular vote, much to the consternation of the political left. Rather than a popular vote, the presidential election is decided by a handful of battleground states that tend to swing red or blue, depending on the electoral cycle. An opinion poll in New York or California is irrelevant as its a foregone conclusion that the Democrat will win those states. The margin doesnt matter as the electoral votes will be the same. In battleground states, Trump leads Biden by 52 to 45 percent, a 7-point margin. Add the 8-point difference in party affiliation of those polled and Trumps lead could potentially be 15 percent. Is it any wonder CNN is not touting this news? This poll has other interesting tidbits. The economy, stupid typically predicts the next president, as USA Today notes. The US economy is on life support these days with the Wuhan coronavirus causing a national economic shutdown. But as the Washington Post begrudgingly admits, Americans have an increasingly dismal view of the economy, but they dont blame Trump. Really? Democrats and the media exclusively blame Trump. A YouGov poll finds similar results, One-third of Americans blame the Trump Administration for unemployment numbers. A more honest headline would be that two thirds of Americans dont blame Trump for the current economic mess. In the CNN poll, Trump holds a 12-point lead over Biden when the survey asked, Who they trusted most to handle the economy. And thats up from only a 4-point margin last month. Sharpness and stamina also favor Trump by 49 to 46 percent. I suspect that margin is much higher, as Trump holds daily briefings, sparing with a hostile media for well over an hour while Biden cant muddle through a fawning 5-minute interview from his basement with notes and a teleprompter, without losing his train of thought or saying something stupid. Rasmussen, the most accurate pollster in the 2016 presidential election, offers another perspective. They survey likely voters, rather than simply registered or eligible voters. In their Daily Presidential Tracking Poll, President Trump, on May 15, had a 49 percent total approval rating, compared to 47 percent approval for President Obama exactly eight years ago. Rasmussen Reports Screenshot Gallup, no fan of President Trump, echoes Rasmussen. Despite a wave of critical news coverage and Democratic catcalls, President Trump sits at his highest approval in the latest Gallup survey, and above where four of the last six presidents, including Barack Obama and George W. Bush, were at this point of the first term. Two separate polls both pointing out the inconvenient truth that Trump is more popular than The One, Barack Hussein Obama. Wait until Barr and Durham unleash the hounds of hell on the ObamaGate conspirators and watch Obamas popularity drop like an anchor. Trump is dealing with an economic calamity the likes not seen since the Great Depression. The Beltway deep state is still trying to overturn the last election and remove him from office. The media is almost universally hostile and nasty toward Trump. Compare that to Obama, cruising to reelection against the hapless Mitt Romney, fanned on by an adoring media with virtually no Republican opposition. Yet Trump has higher approval ratings than Obama. Remember that polls are a snapshot in time, with the only poll that matters being on Election Day. How wrong were the polls in 2016, predicting a Clinton landslide? On Election Day, November 8, 2016, Frank Luntz, noted pollster and political pundit tweeted, In case I wasn't clear enough from my previous tweets: Hillary Clinton will be the next President of the United States. Some prediction. Take opinion polls with a grain of salt. Note who was surveyed and how the results are spun. The truth is right in front of you. Brian C Joondeph, MD, is a Denver based physician and freelance writer whose pieces have appeared in American Thinker, Daily Caller, Rasmussen Reports, and other publications. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and QuodVerum. Vietnam will send local students to attend regional and international Olympic competitions this year based on the situation of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, many countries have basically controlled the pandemic. The host Olympic countries have considered organising the contests online or delay them until October, depending on the pandemic state. (TNS) New Mexico will receive $77.3 million in federal government funding for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing efforts, the states five congressional representatives announced Thursday.The money, which will come from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is part of $25 billion in funding for testing, health care providers and small businesses passed by Congress last month.We cannot rebuild our economy or return to normal life safely without drastically expanded testing and contact tracing across the country, Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., said in a statement.The announcement came after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Wednesday that the state has a significant shortage of professionals to carry out contact tracing. New Mexico needs a minimum of 670 people but currently only has just over 100, she said.Its not enough, Lujan Grisham said.Contact tracing is a disease-control strategy used to track people who have been in close contact with carriers of the novel coronavirus so that they can be isolated and officials can limit the spread of the virus. The efforts typically include in-depth interviews with people who have tested positive and others with whom they have come in contact.The efforts have become particularly important as states begin to relax social-distancing measures and reopen economies. New Mexico took its biggest step toward returning to some semblance of normal this week when Lujan Grisham announced most retailers will be able to reopen at 25 percent capacity Saturday.Although the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls contact tracing a key strategy for preventing further spread of COVID-19, New Mexico is one of many states that hasn't had enough resources to effectively carry out the effort.It is incredibly time intensive, Lujan Grisham said, noting contract tracing efforts are challenging within the state's Native American communities.Concerns about protecting personal data and health information have been raised in relation to contact tracing efforts across the country. The governor said the state is watching what other states are doing in terms of privacy protections.To beef up the contact-tracing staff, New Mexico is retraining state employees as well as bringing in new people, the governor said. The state also contracted the company Accenture to manage the effort, carry out quality controls and ensure privacy protections.As part of the federal funding for testing, the government requires New Mexico and other states to tell Health and Human Services what its specific goals are for using the $77 million and how the money will help the state reopen its economy, according to Udalls office.The Governors Office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday about how the federal funds will be used and whether the money will allow the state to hire the necessary number of people for tracing.We expect this money to bolster the states effort to ramp up testing and contact tracing, and we will keep in close touch with the Governors Office on what needs still exist that the federal government can fill, Udall spokesman Annie Orloff said.Since the start of the outbreak, New Mexico has consistently had one of the highest per-capita testing rates in the nation. As of Thursday afternoon, the state had carried out 119,601 tests, with 5,503 of them positive, according to the Department of Health. There have been 242 deaths.New Mexico has been a national leader on expanding testing availability free of charge as a critical component of responding to this crisis, said Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M. Comprehensive and widespread COVID-19 testing and contact tracing [are] critical to combatting the virus. MIDDLETOWN Common Council members Monday unanimously approved $262,500 for small one-time loans to businesses grappling with the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, which some city leaders have deemed unprecedented. Councilors had the choice to wait until June 11 to consider the financial aid program and find funding in the current fiscal year or the mayors 2020-21 budget. The consensus was we had to move it as quickly as we could so community business partners could apply for loans, according to Common Council Majority Leader Gene Nocera. The event was livestreamed. The bulk of this first budget workshop involved youth services and Board of Education requests. The education boards request of $2.5 million is fully funded in the proposal, which also includes investing $1 million for a capital plan. Presentations also were held by the heads of several departments, including arts and culture, finance, the tax collector and assessor, and youth services. Subsequent hearings are scheduled for Thursday and May 27, with the public session set for June 4. All will begin at 6 p.m. The council must pass a spending package by June 11. Mayor Ben Florsheims proposed $211.5 million spending package represents a 7.1 percent increase over last years $197.5 million budget. Overall, Webex meetings have been going more smoothly than expected, Nocera said, although there have been a couple of hiccups, including occasional technological interruptions. When youre face to face, body language and all that helps with the control (of) the flow of the meeting, so everyone gets a chance to weigh in. Common Councilman Ed Ford Jr., a former Board of Education member, was particularly interested in issues involving young people. One initiative provides mentors to youth in need. Its work that even in the middle of this pandemic needs to continue. They still need the attention of the citizens in the community. We have to do everything we can to support them, Ford said. The schools right now are feeding our families, theyre taking care of our families, theyre doing distance learning so they need our support. Im 100 percent for equity in education and doing the best for our youth, he said. He also was pleased to see the city funding its summer youth camps, including the childrens circus. We need to hunker down and embrace our youth even more, and let them know this community cares about them, Ford added. Nocera praised Superintendent of Schools Michael Conners and Chief Academic Officer Magda Parveys presentation, which included work being done before the pandemic, now and in the future. Administrators managed to pull together a detailed budget plan despite the great demands of e-learning. I know that was very difficult for them to do in a short amount of time, Nocera said. They had to completely revamp their plans. Teachers and staff have been dealing with distance learning during the pandemic, along with a host of other tasks: the uncertainty of not knowing whether they would open or not, shifting priorities, feeding students and families in need, making certain equipment works, and technology demands, Nocera said. They made a very solid case where we are with their request. Its important to remember the council has to look at the big picture, and the situation we are in revenue-wise. Its not a one-year issue, he said. There is a lot of pressure to be very careful, conservative and absolutely responsible in our package. Florsheim had hoped early on for more public participation in the process, but attributes that to call fatigue, as more and more people are conducting business meetings, social gatherings and other means of communication online. He also noted the BOE managed to deliver a very complicated budget in an accessible way. There are many features of the superintendents proposed fiscal plan, such as a district program that focuses on empathetic experiences how teachers and students can virtually be inside the body of others by use of virtual reality software. One example centers on those on the autism spectrum, according to Natalie Forbes, director of innovation and grants, who spoke during the presentation. It helps them understand how that person is feeling within certain spaces that other people may not feel. Its a great tool within our school system, but also preparing students for the workforce and life, Forbes added. Employees are, for the most part, still working from home, with all but a handful of employees keeping services running, including taxes, parking tickets and other online payments, which many residents dont know about, Florsheim said. Hes aiming for mid-June to determine when City Hall will reopen. One example of inefficiency city leaders have unearthed since the closure in mid-March is paper time cards. That accounts for a lot of headaches and a lot of overhead, the mayor said. They are conductors for germs. Its actually a lot easier than we thought. Now, employee hours are logged in a spreadsheet electronically. The situation was presented to us, and we solved it. In some ways, weve become more productive and creative in how we do our work, Florsheim said. Everything is happening differently, but were still getting it done. For more on the Board of Education, see middletownschools.org. For other information, visit the city website at cityofmiddletown.com. Fair Trade Commission Chairwoman Joh Sung-wook, fourth from left, and European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) Vice Chairperson Dirk Lukat, third from left, pose with other CEOs of ECCK member companies during their meeting at Lotte Hotel in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of ECCK A rocket landed near the US Embassy in Baghdads fortified Green Zone early this morning, according to Iraqi security officials. It was the first such attack since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi took office May 7. The rocket caused little damage, Iraqs Security Media Cell said in a statement. A Katyusha rocket fell on one of the empty houses within the Green Zone in Baghdad, the cell a security body controlled by the prime minister said on Twitter. The hit resulted in little damage to the home. The rocket was fired from the Idrissi neighborhood on the other side of the Tigris River from the Green Zone, according to the Security Media Cell. An Iraqi official told The Associated Press that it hit near the US Embassy. Rocket attacks on the Green Zone and near the US Embassy are not uncommon. One occurred in March after Adnan al-Zurfi was nominated to become prime minister. He later withdrew his nomination, paving the way for Kadhimi. That incident, the one today and several others this year were not claimed by any group. The United States has blamed the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group for several of the attacks near the embassy and on US troops in the country this year. Late last year, Kataib Hezbollah and other supporters of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) attacked the outside of the US Embassy in Baghdad following US airstrikes on Kataib Hezbollah positions in Iraq. Todays rocket came at a time of significant political developments in Iraq. Kadhimi is in the difficult position of trying to balance Iraqs relations with both the United States and Iran. He must also lead Iraq through the drop in global oil prices, continued protests and rising COVID-19 cases. Before Kadhimi took office, some in Kataib Hezbollah made unfounded claims that Kadhimi was involved in the US killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in January. The new prime minister met with PMU leaders this week, however, and was photographed wearing a PMU coat. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called Kadhimi after he became prime minister, and the United States subsequently granted Iraq an extended 120-day electricity waiver to Iran sanctions. Anti-government protesters in Iraq continue to oppose the PMU and the government. Several protests have occurred the past few days in Baghdad and around the country, according to protester channels on the encrypted messaging service Telegram despite COVID-19 concerns. Also this week, Iraqis on Twitter called on Kadhimi to visit a location in Baghdad called Jaraf al-Sakhr, where the PMU allegedly operates and bars the government from entering. One Iraqi observer said it is not clear what the rocket attack signified. Farhad Alaaldin, chairman of the nongovernmental Iraq Advisory Council, told Al-Monitor. It is not clear yet who did it and what was the intended target. Alaaldin said some in the country think the rocket may have been due to the backlash after European Union diplomats flew rainbow flags Sunday for the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. There are some who say this was the result of the raising of the rainbow flag by the EU Mission in Baghdad to commemorate the world day for LGBT day, said Alaaldin. The move was criticized by the influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, among others. The British and Canadian diplomatic delegations also participated. The EU delegation in Iraq later deleted a tweet showing the flags. Iraqi analyst Diyari Salih said it is possible the missile was a reaction to the rainbow flag incident. Many media sites said the missile was directed at the British Embassy, he told Al-Monitor from Baghdad. But Salih said the missile could also be a message from pro-Iran PMU groupings to the new prime minister regarding Iraqs talks with the United States on American troops in the country. These groupings oppose the US military presence in Iraq, and Salih said those who fired the rocket might be sending the message that there will be conditions imposed on Kadhimi in the strategic dialogue with the US. MONTREAL - Some of the of asylum seekers who have come to Canada in recent years have found the path to a new life has taken them straight to the front lines of Quebec's COVID-19 crisis, where hundreds are believed to be working in hard-hit long-term care homes. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/5/2020 (611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Carole Ze Benedicte, who is originally from Cameroon, poses at the entrance to her apartment in Montreal, Saturday, May 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes MONTREAL - Some of the of asylum seekers who have come to Canada in recent years have found the path to a new life has taken them straight to the front lines of Quebec's COVID-19 crisis, where hundreds are believed to be working in hard-hit long-term care homes. Ze Benedicte Carole, an asylum seeker from Cameroon, is recovering at home after being infected with COVID-19. She was working as a volunteer at a long-term care home in Montreal's west end. The 34-year-old, who arrived in Canada four years ago as a temporary foreign worker, said she started looking for a way to help her adopted country after being laid off from her job in food services. When Premier Francois Legault called for more people to sign up to become "guardian angels," as he has repeatedly called those working in health and long-term care homes, she volunteered. "My dream has always been to work in a (long-term care home) to help people who are in trouble, and to feel important in society," she said. Ze Benedicte said she was assigned to what was supposed to be a "cold" zone of a care home, where she helped with tasks such as cleaning. But soon after, residents in her area were found to be carrying the virus. Three days later she started experiencing headaches, fevers and muscle pain, despite having worn a mask, gloves, gowns and visors. When she called the province's COVID-19 telephone line, she says she was told by a health-care employee that she couldn't get a test because she didn't have a medicare card despite having a social insurance number and having worked in a COVID-positive environment. Feeling demoralized, she started to cry. "When we die at the front lines, we're called guardian angels," she said. "But when we need to be treated on equal footing, we're not guardian angels. We're nobody, we're invisible." Ze Benedicte, who was eventually able to get tested after seeking help from a migrant rights group, says she's finally feeling better two weeks later despite persistent fatigue and aches. She says she's eager to return to work and hoping to eventually work in a long-term care home full time. She is one of thousands of asylum seekers who have taken jobs in long-term care homes or other front-line services, where some are paying the price for their decision to care for others. Montreal North, where many asylum seekers have settled, has the highest infection rate in the city, spurred by crowded housing conditions that make social distancing impossible and a population that largely works in essential jobs such as food production, health care or security. Ruth Pierre-Paul, who advocates on behalf of Montreal's Haitian community, says hundreds of those who crossed the border irregularly in recent years have sought out jobs in long-term care homes as a quick way to enter the workforce, due to a short training period and large bank of available jobs. She and other advocates are calling on the Quebec and Canadian governments to grant permanent residence to the many asylum seekers who are working in essential services as a recognition of their work during the pandemic. "These people are living a double stress: they have to work and are on the front lines of a battle that could put them in the grave, with a status that gives them no benefits and makes them more vulnerable," Pierre-Paul said. She said asylum seekers don't have access to subsidized daycares or Quebec medicare cards and aren't covered by the provincial workplace health and safety board despite working some of the riskiest jobs. Ze Benedicte, who supports the calls for permanent residency, also worries about those who are undocumented, who can't access emergency financial aid. Last week, independent legislature member Catherine Fournier tabled a motion to recognize the contribution of "hundreds of asylum seekers, mostly of Haitian origin," working in long-term care homes, and to ask Ottawa to "quickly regularize their status, in order to recognize the work accomplished during the current health crisis." The motion was rejected by Legault's party, with the premier later appearing to suggest it could encourage more asylum seekers to cross the border, which is currently closed due to the pandemic. "They're asking me to support the arrival of asylum seekers," he said when questioned. "Neither the government of Quebec or Canada supports that now." Pierre Kiosa Nakatala, 45, brought his family to Canada last year through the unofficial border crossing that has popped up at Roxham Road, on the Canada-U.S. border, after fleeing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Motivated by his Christian faith and a love of caring for the elderly that began with his own grandmother, he trained to become an orderly. Now, he's working long shifts tending to the sick and sometimes the dying in a hard-hit care home in Montreal North. Many of his colleagues have gotten sick, meaning that two workers now have to do the work of three or four. He worries about catching the virus and taking it home to his wife and three young children, who don't always understand they can't hug their father until he's had a shower. While he hopes to be granted permanent residency, he says it's not his main motivator in working in the care home. "We didn't do this to have documents," he said. "We did it to help." This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2020 Residents of Sokoto State now rely on the soldiers of Niger Republic for protection against armed bandits as Nigerian Army has completely abandoned them, Ibrahim Gobir, the senator representing Sokoto East, has said. For this reason, he said, not less than 5,000 people in the affected areas have migrated to Niger Republic for safety. Mr Gobir made this submission during plenary on Tuesday while contributing to a motion on insecurity. The motion, sponsored by Sabi Abdullahi, sought urgent military action against banditry in Niger State. Mr Gobir said the Sokoto attacks have been worse than any other parts of the country. And within the last three months, not less than 300 people in Sokoto East Senatorial District have either been killed or kidnapped by the rampaging armed bandits on daily basis. The situation in Sokoto East as far as armed banditry is concerned, is pathetic and tragic because it is only Nigerien Army that had been coming to their rescue while the Nigerian Army looks the other way round. Infact, based on very reliable and verifiable information from the area, many at times, that the people of the affected areas called on Nigerian Army for help and protection against the bandits, no response. But graciously, the Nigerien Army has been assisting in wading off the bandits, the very reason while not less than 5,000 people in the affected areas have migrated to Niger Republic for safety, he said. Mr Gobir disclosed that aside the 300 people who had fallen victim of banditry attacks in the area through kidnapping or outright killing, hundreds of cows and other animals worth about N2.5 billion, have been stolen by the bandits. Fallout of this is grinding poverty ravaging the affected people in form of serious hunger since their cows and other animals are on daily basis being stolen and even made from some of the cows they hurriedly sold. The situation is so bad that we only get help from Niger Republic and not from Nigeria at all, be it from the military or the Police. The affected people cannot perpectually be at the mercy of Nigerien soldiers and still expect to proudly see themselves as Nigerians, he said. He stressed the need for drastic action by President Muhammadu Buhari through the military in form of expansion of anti- banditry operation currently being carried out in Zamfara and Katsina States to Sokoto State. Mr Sabi in his motion, lamented the daily occurrence of armed banditry in Niger State. The criminalities by armed bandits and kidnappers is carried out mostly under the cover of the contiguous forests reserves and areas stretching from Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger States with pockets of safe havens in Kebbi and Asokoro states, he said. A major offensive in Katsina State alone is likely to make the armed bandits and kidnappers seek safer haven in Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger states which hosts the Zurmi and Kamuku forests among others, further compounding the plight of hapless and poor communities along these forest corridors. It was the earlier massive operations in Zamfara and Kaduna States that led the armed bandits to seek safe haven elsewhere, thus moving into Katsina and Niger States respectively; and some others pushing their luck to some parts of Kebbi States. In his remark, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said the security challenges are enormous but summountable. The Senate in its resolutions, accordingly appealed to President Buhari to expand the scope of the operations to include Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger and Sokoto States and any other surrounding areas or states that the armed bandits may want to seek safe haven following the massive operation. The upper chamber also called on the military formations and the Nigerian Police to increase their surveillance operation to track movements by these armed bandits to recent them accessing any safe haven. The Ford Motor Company requested Tuesday that President Donald Trump wear a mask during his Thursday visit to the Rawsonville manufacturing plant in Ypsilanti Township. The president has previously said he would wear a mask if asked, a White House spokesman said. It would be the first time hes been seen in public with a mask, as he has declined to do so despite his own administrations promotion of the practice, according to the Associate Press. It is a Ford policy that visitors to its facilities don personal protective equipment such as masks, according to a company statement. But the Dearborn-based automaker said the White House has its own guidelines. We have shared our policies and recommendations," the company said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. The White House has its own safety and testing policies in place and will make its own determination. The White House did not respond to a message asking if Ford shared its PPE policy for Trumps visit. Mask wearing in enclosed, public spaces is a requirement of Gov. Gretchen Whitmers stay-home order, as well. Masks now required, motorboating is back and AirBnb rentals are banned: Heres what changed in Michigans latest stay-home order There are no charges associated with not wearing a mask, Whitmer said when she announced the requirement in April, though businesses may refuse service to anyone not wearing a mask in an enclosed space. Any business with workers performing in-person tasks must provide employees with a non-medical grade mask. N-95 masks should be reserved for use by health care professionals, first responders and other critical workers who interact with the public. The president is scheduled to tour a factory that has shifted efforts to produce ventilators and personal protective equipment to help in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. Ford began making ventilators at the plant during the week of April 20 and set a goal of producing 50,000 ventilators in 100 days at the facility. Trump planning Thursday tour of Michigan Ford plant where ventilators, PPE are made Following the tour, Trump is expected to deliver remarks including comments on a partnership of Ford and General Electric to produce personal protection equipment and ventilators. Ford, GE Healthcare and the United Auto Workers have all collaborated on the production efforts over the last few weeks. The White House asked to visit Fords Rawsonville plant in Ypsilanti, Mich., as part of the Presidents tour to thank businesses producing PPE and important medical equipment," Ford officials said in a statement. "Were proud to assemble more vehicles in the U.S. than any other automaker and welcome Thursdays visit as part of Fords longstanding history of hosting sitting presidents and senior government leaders. Trumps last visit to Michigan came four months ago, when he toured an auto parts supplier facility in Warren. 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. Use disinfecting wipes or disinfecting spray cleaners on frequently-touched surfaces in your home (door handles, faucets, countertops) and carry hand sanitizer with you when you go into places like stores. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has also issued an executive order requiring people to wear face coverings over their mouth and nose while inside enclosed, public spaces. Read all of MLives coverage on the coronavirus at mlive.com/coronavirus. Additional information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus. A female electrician has fired back at sexist tradesmen who claimed women don't belong on construction sites and demanded they 'get back to the kitchen'. Rachael Ryan, 28, was trolled online after electrical company ElectricianXchange used a photo of her on a job site to promote gender diversity in new roles. 'No back to the kitchen,' one misogynistic comment read. 'Its a touch tiring hearing of the push of women in trades, I've worked with multiple females electricians and when its time to lift something heavy they stand and watch, we are NOT generally equal in all ways,' said another. 'I don't think we should discriminate against male apprentices. Employment shouldn't be a gender based decision,' wrote a third. Rachael Ryan, 28, was viciously trolled online after ElectricianXchange used a photo of her on a job site to promote new roles at the company A female electrician has fired back at sexist tradesmen who said women don't belong on construction sites and urged them to 'get back to the kitchen' 'This diversification push has made a culture against white australian men. Best person for the job I say,' said another. 'More females doesn't seem like an appropriate answer.' But Ms Ryan, a qualified electrician from Ireland living in Sydney, hit back at the sexist remarks, and insisted women have just as much place on work sites as men. 'I'm far from a princess!,' she wrote. 'I would hope that if one of your daughters, girlfriends, wives or sisters chose to enter the trade that you would fully support them. 'My last job I came off, I was pulling 630mm cables into a board. Heavy, awkward work but I ALWAYS kept at it and helped the boys. 'I get paid the exact same as the guy beside me because I do the exact same work as him.' Ms Ryan said that just because she is a woman, she doesn't expect special treatment from her coworkers. 'I've hurt my back on site before, pulling in cables down in the pit trying to be a hero and prove myself,' she said. Ms Ryan told Daily Mail Australia the disgusting' comments didn't reflect how she was treated by her colleagues at work. Rachael Ryan, a qualified electrician from Ireland, hit back at the sexist remarks, and insisted women have just as much place on work sites as men 'When I saw that it just riled me up so I left a reply outlining what kind I'm actually like,' she said. Ms Ryan said that apart from the 'odd guy' making a rude remark in passing, most men at work aren't sexist toward her. 'I've always been treated with respect, you might get the odd guy say something but not this extreme,' she said. 'I'm quite vocal if someone tries to put me down. 'Thankfully I've worked with some really great guys that have had no problem teaching me something if I didn't do it before which I really appreciate.' To the Editor: Re Why U.S. Arms Take Grim Toll in Yemen War (front page, May 17): Jobs tied to arms sales should never be used as an excuse to fuel mass slaughter, as the Trump administration has done with respect to the sale of Raytheon bombs to Saudi Arabia for use in the war in Yemen. But if the president wants to raise jobs as an issue, he should at least get his facts straight. Arms sales to Saudi Arabia have created 20,000 to 40,000 jobs in recent years, well under one-tenth of 1 percent of total U.S. employment. Thats a far cry from the 500,000 jobs tied to Saudi sales claimed by President Trump. Virtually any other expenditure of the same funds or any other export would create far more jobs than spending on weapons. Selling arms to repressive regimes is bad foreign policy and bad economic policy. Its time to end U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, once and for all. William D. Hartung New York The writer is director of the Arms and Security Program at the Center for International Policy. SAN FRANCISCO, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Working Americans' risk of addiction, depressive disorder and PTSD has doubled between February and April 2020, according to The Mental Health Index: U.S. Worker Edition powered by Total Brain in partnership with One Mind at Work. Not surprising, feelings of stress rose 38 percent, anxiety 54 percent and depressive mood 61 percent. Data shows that the marked spike in declining mental health corresponds with the rise in U.S. COVID-19 cases. Total Brain is a leading mental health and wellness monitoring and support platform that leverages brain-based self-awareness and training. The Mental Health Index findings are based on the Total Brain Assessment, which uses standardized, scientifically based digital tasks and questions to measure a person's twelve brain capacities across the areas of emotion, feeling, cognition and self-control. Further the assessment screens for the risk of seven common mental health conditions. The Mental Health Index: U.S. Worker Edition is the first in an ongoing series to be reported monthly. Total Brain's intention is to build out The Mental Health Index to measure multiple sectors and geographies over time. "We launched The Mental Health Index: U.S. Worker Edition to enable the public and corporations to measure mental health progress and performance against a valid national benchmark," explained Louis Gagnon, CEO, Total Brain. "Our findings shed a light on the growing need for strong workplace mental health support during these unpredictable times and beyond. We thank One Mind at Work, a leading advocate for employee mental health and wellness, for joining us in this quest to drive further advocacy and action on behalf of those who suffer from mental illness." "Findings from The Mental Health Index underscore the importance of bringing leaders together to transform approaches to mental health and addiction and effectively promote mental health as important as physical health," said Garen Staglin, Chairman, One Mind. "One Mind at Work's growing global coalition of companies and organizations are committed to transforming approaches to mental health and addiction for employees and the Total Brain platform will help employers better equip their employees with mental health resources." Younger Workers More Stressed as Level of Negativity Differs by Age While growing negative emotion is a hallmark of all age groups, not all generations reflected the same levels of negative emotion in the Total Brain assessment. The Mental Health Index shows: Ages 20-39: Reported more intense feelings of stress, anxiety, and depressed mood throughout the measurement period. Over 40: Demonstrated the greatest increase in depressive disorder, PTSD and addiction since early February, with a significant 4.7-fold increase in the number of people 60 and older experiencing symptoms of PTSD during this time. Ages 40-59: Revealed the second highest levels of stress, anxiety and depressed mood, but the sharpest increase over the measurement period. Anxiety levels are up a whopping 83%. 60 and older: Showed the lowest scores for stress anxiety and depressed mood, but the highest for nonconscious negativity. These age breakdowns are consistent with average mean scores before the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, the youngest group already started with the highest stress level as a normal average. The increase among all age groups, however, demonstrates a shared sense of negative emotion across all participants. For more information on The Mental Health Index by Total Brain and to receive monthly updates on the mental health of U.S. workers, please visit www.totalbrain.com/mentalhealthindex. To learn more about Total Brain's free three-month subscription visit www.totalbrain.com/try. About Total Brain Total Brain is based in San Francisco and publicly listed in Sydney, AUS (ASX:TTB). Total Brain is a mental health and wellness monitoring and support platform that has over 800,000 registered users. Benefits for employers and payers include productivity improvement and healthcare cost reduction. Follow Total Brain on Twitter , LinkedIn and Facebook . About One Mind One Mind is a leading mental health non-profit that catalyzes comprehensive action across the scale of the brain health crisis, working from science to patients to society. Moving towards our VISION of HEALTHY BRAINS FOR ALL, One Mind is accelerating treatments and cures for mental disorders and providing hope to patients and their families. Launched in 2017, One Mind at Work is a global coalition of leaders from diverse sectors who have joined together with the goal of transforming approaches to mental health and addiction. One Mind at Work now includes more than 25 global employers and 18 research and content partners. The coalition covers nearly 6 million people under its charter. Methodology The Mental Health Index: U.S. Worker Edition contains data drawn from a weekly randomized sample of 500 working Americans taken from a larger universe of Total Brain users that includes workers from all walks of life and regions. The data is not survey data by nature. It comes from a mix of validated tasks and questions that are part of a unique neuroscientific assessment of the Total Brain. The participant assessments used to compile the Mental Health Index were taken weekly from Feb.3 to April 19. The assessment questions are identical to Total Brain's standard assessments. Total Brain collected responses across the entire Total Brain U.S. user base, from all who voluntarily participated. Total Brain performed statistical analysis of the data from a random sampling of up to 500 users each week since February 2020. The sample is drawn from a universe of US workers that include most US regions, job levels, occupations, industries and types of organizations (public vs. private). For More Information Contact: Kelly Faville Rocket Social Impact 978-621-6667 [email protected] SOURCE Total Brain Related Links https://www.totalbrain.com/ Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has admitted it would reflect badly on Ireland if creches and schools here were the last to reopen in Europe. The admission by Mr Varadkar comes as the Government scrambles to secure the reopening of childcare facilities, after a deal collapsed last week on the care of essential health workers children. Mr Varadkar raised concerns that other European countries were opening schools and creches much earlier. According to sources, he said that the new target here to reopen some creches by the end of June would take a lot of work. He said this could be difficult for the sector with social distancing rules and fewer providers and staff available. There are also worries about children with special needs and the July provision which supports them, which has yet to be agreed by education authorities, Mr Varadkar said. In June, many schools across Europe will be open, he told colleagues, and some in the North and Britain have remained open throughout the crisis. Members said Mr Varadkar insisted that he doesn't want Ireland to be the last country reopening its creches and schools as it would reflect badly on us as a society if we were the last people in Europe. The meeting heard concerns that some parents are at their wits end trying to balance work and look after children, with Senator Tim Lombard saying this is a major gap in the Government's roadmap to exit lockdown. Meanwhile, Children's Minister Katherine Zappone is struggling to secure a new plan for childcare after cover for essential health workers collapsed last week. She held an early years forum sub-committee meeting last night, amid hopes something can be agreed for the new target date of June 29, when the Government say childcare facilities will start to reopen. But providers are doubtful this can happen. Elaine Dunne, chairwoman of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers, which represents 1,400 childcare groups, said parents and staff are reluctant to commit to the reopening of facilities because of Covid-19 health risks. Ms Zappone's spokeswoman said a plan to reopen facilities is still being discussed and that it is unclear if care will be initially for one day a week or more. The concerns around insurance cover for facilities and levels of pay for providers are being examined, she said. Petition launched against PBS 'Prideland' series celebrating polyamory, demisexuality, queerness Email Print Img No-img Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment A petition has been launched, urging PBS not to air a series of videos in celebration of Pride Month and "LGBTQ+" identities, which includes polyamory, demisexuality, transgenderism, and an openly homosexual minister. "Sadly, PBS is proudly promoting a lifestyle that is unhealthy to both the individual who participates in the unnatural sexual behavior and to society as a whole," the American Family Association says in its petition. Starting next week, PBS is set to launch "Prideland," a six-episode series of short videos exploring changing attitudes in the American South the most socially conservative and religiously observant part of the country toward several things that fall under the growing LGBT acronym. PBS is offering member television stations the chance to air a one-hour companion special program on June 12 that features the series host, actor and dancer Dyllon Burnside, who identifies himself as "queer." The second episode in the video series is called "An Openly Gay Pastor's Journey to Acceptance in the Bible Belt" where Burnside speaks with an openly gay minister at a small church in Jackson, Mississippi. Rob Lowry was reportedly offered the job but only accepted the position on condition that he be able to lead the congregation as openly homosexual. Being a queer boy raised in the South, I had distinct memories of feeling like I could never be my authentic-self there, so I left seeking acceptance and affirming communities. But I never left my southern roots, Burnside said in a statement. I wanted to go back as an adult and see if things had changed, and Im proud to report that they have. Although there are still many challenges for queer folks in the south, which is home to more LGBTQ+ adults than anywhere else in the U.S., Im in awe of everyone I met who are creating change in their communities. I believe that authenticity is a superpower, and these queer heroes and allies are truly inspirational. According to PBS, in the episode that follows, Burnside explores "Polyamory, Demisexuality, and Being Transgender in the South" where he meets with a diverse group of LGBT-identified people "to learn how to embrace sex positivity and maneuver the modern dating scene." The group reportedly discusses "asexuality, polyamorous relationships and how to manage diverging expectations in the queer community." AFA's petition urges PBS, which is taxpayer-funded, to cancel its involvement in the series. The organization argues that the network's decision to push this content is an "unjust attack" on the Christian faith and mocks God's design for human sexuality. "In 2020, PBS received over $65 million in taxpayer funding. This means you and I are directly paying for PBS to insult our faith and scoff at our God," the petition, which has over 52,000 signatures as of Tuesday, notes. The PBS series "Prideland" begins May 26 and will conclude June 30. Trump promised during his 2016 campaign to revive the project, saying it posed no risk to the environment and suggesting its added jobs would be a boon for the economy. Shortly after taking office, his administration issued permits to allow it to move forward, but it has remained stalled because of legal challenges. Southwest Airlines said on Tuesday that passenger reservations have outpaced cancellations so far in the month of May, helping the company slow its cash burn rate. Airlines have been the among the worst hit by the coronavirus crisis, which brought global travel to a virtual standstill and a $10 billion collective monthly cash burn for U.S. airlines, which have slashed their capacity. 'The company has also recently experienced a modest improvement in passenger demand and bookings in June 2020,' Southwest said in a regulatory filing. Shares of Southwest jumped more than 1 percent on the news, which came as the latest sign that passengers are slowly returning to the air despite fears of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Southwest Airlines said on Tuesday that passenger reservations have outpaced cancellations so far in the month of May Delta to cap flight capacity at 60% until at least July Major US carrier Delta Air Lines will add flights to its service in a bid to keep planes no more than 60% full in July and maintain social distancing as demand for travel begins to climb. The move is part of a long-term bet from CEO Ed Bastian as the travel industry starts its recovery from a decimated demand for flying amid the coronavirus pandemic, sources said. Adding more flights that demand would usually justify means passengers will be spread more thinly throughout the planes, the sources said, allowing for social distancing measures to be implemented. Bastian highlighted to investors last month that passengers' perceptions of safety will be vital in igniting more routine travel. Advertisement Southwest said although it continues to estimate its average daily core cash spending to be in range of $30 million to $35 million in the second quarter, June daily cash burn rate would slow to low-$20 million range. The U.S. carrier said it expects June capacity to fall between 45 percent and 55 percent from with a year ago, compared with a decline of 60 percent to 70 percent in May capacity. United Airlines also said on Tuesday that ticket cancellations were slowing and demand was showing some signs of improvement. United, which has greater international exposure, said its June capacity would still be down by about 90 percent year-on-year, and 75 percent in July. Both companies continue to focus on reducing costs. United said its total adjusted capital expenditure for 2021 would be close to $2 billion versus around $4.5 billion this year, falling to below $500 million in 2022 when it does not expect to take delivery of any new aircraft. Chicago-based United is taking delivery of aircraft that are fully financed this year and next. Southwest and United planes are seen in San Francisco last month. Both companies said they have seen a modest increase in demand for flights in May TSA screening data shows air travel has risen slightly off its lows in April Executives from United and other U.S. airlines are due to speak at an industry conference on Tuesday. National screening data from the Transportation Security Administration shows that there has been a small but steady increase in air travel during the month of May. The agency's daily tally of total airport screenings nation wide showed that travel was down around 95 percent throughout the month of April, compared to last year's level. In May, daily screenings rose to around 10 percent of last year's level, or down 90 percent, the data shows. The future of air travel: Planes will be diverted if people refuse to wear masks, priority boarding will be in the back and no in-flight magazines Planes diverted if a passenger refuses to wear a mask, no more in-flight magazines and passengers at the back of the plane having priority boarding are among the new rules suggested by airlines as they grapple with how to entice customers back onto flights post-coronavirus lockdown. Air travel has all but shuttered over coronavirus fears but the travel industry hopes a recovery is now beginning. Airlines desperate for passengers are rolling out new safety procedures to battle against the spread of coronavirus with the hope that people can be convinced to get back on board a flight despite the ongoing pandemic. Temperature checks, paying more to keep the middle seat free, fewer direct flights and even raising your hand when you need to use the bathroom may face flyers in the future, while many of the main U.S. airlines now require passengers to wear a face mask or a face covering. American, Delta, United, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska Airlines all now require passengers to wear a face mask or covering in-flight. Pictured travelers wear protective masks as they wait for a shuttle after arriving at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday Extra cleaning time is being scheduled by airlines between flights as they implement more safety procedures in the hope of attracting customers back onboard despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Pictured a staff member cleans a Frontier airplane with a fogger American, Delta, United, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska Airlines all implemented the requirement from early May, following pressure from flight attendants and lawmakers. 'Wearing a face covering isn't about protecting yourself, it's about protecting those around you,' JetBlue President Joanna Geraghty told NPR. 'This is the new flying etiquette.' In order to make it easier for passengers to comply, United and several other airlines are providing masks to passengers who don't have them. 'We do have language in our contract of carriage that will be updated, so we're going to be real clear about what the requirements are,' said United Airlines spokesman Josh Earnest. It is unsure how the airlines will enforce the rule in-flight but Frontier Airlines has suggested that a flight could be diverted if a passenger refuses to wear a mask. 'If someone is uncompliant, we will eventually divert an airplane,' CEO Barry Biffle told the Wall Street Journal. The airline was recently forced to walk back an option to pay $39 extra to keep the middle seat beside you free after backlash from lawmakers that they were attempting to profit from the pandemic. 'We recognize the concerns raised that we are profiting from safety and this was never our intent,' Biffle wrote a letter to CNN. 'We simply wanted to provide our customers with an option for more space.' TSA officers wear protective masks at a security screening area at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday. It was revealed Friday that the TSA is preparing to begin checking passengers' temperatures at a dozen US airports as soon as next week as they hope to prevent anyone who is carrying coronavirus to board a plane and risk infecting others Biffle added that the airline had made the decision because it was again seeing over half of the seats on its flight sold but that if they blocked off the middle seat to maintain social distancing, it would drive fares up by 50 percent. Social distancing on airplanes has become a topic of debate as airlines look to revive passenger numbers while ensuring safety for both travelers and workers. The US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week urged airlines to maintain at least one seat between all passengers and cap seating at 67 per cent of capacity on narrow-body airplanes. But the global industry's main group the International Air Transport Association said airlines will not be able to make a profit if they limit airplanes to two-thirds of their normal capacity, unless they drastically increased airfares. As well as keeping middle seats free, airlines are taking different precautions on board to maintain social distancing with Air France boarding the back of the plane first - and making business class and other higher fare passengers wait - to avoid crowding. Some airlines are also slowing down the disembarkation from the plan with flight attendants cuing groups to tell them when they can stand to avoid the normal crush. A United Airlines agent carries a box of face masks for travelers on Wednesday as airlines enforce a rule on face coverings onboard. It is uncertain how airlines will implement the rule but Frontier Airlines has suggested a flight will be diverted if a passenger is noncompliant Others have bid farewell to in-flight magazines, duty-free trolleys and meals on short-haul flights to limit traffic jams in the aisles. European budget carrier Ryanair is even requesting that passengers raise their hand if they need to use the restroom to avoid lines. Extra cleaning measures are also being taken in between flights with disinfectant misted across cabins and more time scheduled for a deeper clean. 'We'll take delays if we have to,' said Bill Lentsch, Delta's chief customer experience officer. With airlines cutting services, however, flights are beginning to become more crowded again and United Airlines has already faced criticism for pictures that showed a packed flight. In response the airline has said it will give passengers advance notice if their flight is full, allowing them to make other plans. On Friday, it was revealed that the Transportation Security Administration is preparing to begin checking passengers' temperatures at a dozen US airports as soon as next week. GENEVA U.S. President Donald Trumps attacks on the World Health Organization are hurting its ability to protect global health, medical experts said Tuesday, as many WHO member states rallied around the U.N. health agency even as they urged a look into its coordination of the global response to the coronavirus. Political sniping on issues like war in Ukraine and Taiwans status pockmarked a second and final day of the WHOs annual assembly, which nonetheless produced a unanimous resolution that backs cooperation to find tools to address COVID-19 and inspect the worlds response to it, among other things. World leaders like the presidents of the European Commission and Colombia beamed in by video conference, hours after Trump made public his letter sent Monday to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus blasting "repeated missteps" of the agency as "very costly for the world." Tedros, an Ethiopian who goes by his first name, appeared determined to rise above the new bout of U.S. criticism, saying "WHO's focus now is fighting the pandemic with every tool at our disposal. Our focus is on saving lives. At the end of the day, what matters is life." "Dark and difficult days may lie ahead but guided by science together, we will overcome," Tedros said. "Let hope be the antidote to fear." The European Union, the resolution's chief architect, urged countries to support WHO in the wake of Trump's continued attacks. European Commission spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson said now wasn't "the time for finger-pointing or undermining multilateral cooperation." The resolution, among other things, calls on Tedros to initiate "at the earliest appropriate moment ... an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" that would "review experience gained and lessons learned from the WHO-coordinated international health response to COVID-19." It wasn't immediately clear how, when or by whom that evaluation will be conducted. China, where the outbreak emerged, expressed support for such a review, but said it should wait until after the pandemic is over. While airing a few reservations, the U.S. nevertheless didn't oppose the resolution. The resolution also pointed to the "role of extensive immunization against COVID-19 as a global public good," and called for participants to "work collaboratively" to produce "safe, effective, quality, affordable diagnostics, therapeutics, medicines and vaccines" for the COVID-19 response. "This is the time for science and solidarity. This is the time for all humanity to rally around a common cause," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. "And you can count on Europe to always play for the team." Health experts said Trump's increasing attacks on WHO for its handling of the coronavirus demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of the U.N. agency's role and could ultimately serve to weaken global health. In his letter, Trump threatened to permanently cut U.S. funding to WHO unless the agency commits to "substantive improvements" in the next 30 days. "I cannot allow American taxpayer dollars to continue to finance an organization that, in its present state, is so clearly not serving America's interests," he wrote. The U.S. is the WHO's biggest donor, providing about $450 million a year. Devi Sridhar, a professor of global health at the University of Edinburgh, said the letter was likely written for Trump's political base and meant to deflect blame for the virus' devastating impact in the U.S., which has by far the most infections and virus deaths in the world. "China and the U.S. are fighting it out like divorced parents while WHO is the child caught in the middle, trying not to pick sides," she said. WHO acknowledged receipt of Trump's missive and said it was "considering the contents of the letter." The agency has previously emphasized that it declared a global health emergency on Jan. 30, when there were fewer than 100 cases of coronavirus outside of China. More: After Trump says hes taking malaria drug to prevent coronavirus, Pelosi calls him morbidly obese Protester explains doll, noose demonstration at Michigan Capitol, wants to give the props to Trump Trump says return of sports essential for countrys psyche MBABANE - The E45 million that was donated by the Kirsh Foundation for the less privileged to purchase food items will be distributed from next Monday. The money will be distributed via mobile fund transfer to cellphones to over 64 000 homesteads and will benefit around 320 000 emaSwati, The dates were confirmed by National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Russell Dlamini, in an interview with this publication yesterday. Dlamini was being questioned on how far the agency had gone with the arrangements of the distribution of the funds ever since the announcement of the donation. He said currently, they had the Cash Based Transfer (CBT) which was what they were going to start with as of next Monday. Dlamini confirmed that they had engaged both mobile network providers for the money transfer. Even though he did not mention them by name, its common cause that MTN Eswatini and Eswatini Mobile are the two mobile phone companies currently operating in the country. Dlamini, however, could not be drawn to comment further on the issue cash but simply emphasised that the money would be distributed from next Monday. Distributed He clarified that the money being distributed was donated by businessman Natie Kirsh, adding that it was different from the food parcels that would be distributed by NDMA. In an earlier interview with this publication, Dlamini had said they were at a stage where they were double-checking the lists they had if everyone in it qualified for the relief. When asked how they were planning to distribute the relief in families with many members, he said the distribution was household based. Each household will receive E700, he said. Dlamini said there could be a lot of members in one family but they also got to be divided by households (emadladla). You can be 20 in one homestead, but it is impossible that all of them can be eating from one household, he said. It is worth noting that the Kirsh Foundation also donated 20 000 blankets through Business Eswatini to be distributed to the most needy as winter sets in. It further contributed 200 000 cotton masks to be distributed to the public. The country is also awaiting the delivery of advanced rapid result test kits which were contributed by the same foundation. They are 150 000 in total, but will come in tranches of 25 000 due to technical delays from the manufacturers side. Y ounger people are in the "eye of the storm" when it comes to experiencing income shocks during the coronavirus lockdown, a report suggests. Think-tank Resolution Foundation has warned wage reductions and job losses could have a permanent impact on the incomes of some workers in younger and older age brackets. Younger workers risk their pay being scarred for years to come, while older workers may end up involuntary retired well before reaching their state pension age, it said. More than one in three 18 to 24-year-olds, and three in 10 workers in their early 60s, are receiving less pay than they did at the start of the year, the foundation said. This compares with less than a quarter of workers aged 35 to 49. Nearly a quarter of 18 to 24-year-olds (23 per cent) have been furloughed while 9 per cent have completely lost their jobs. The research, which is based on a survey of more than 6,000 UK adults between May 6 and 11, suggests that ultimately young people are the most likely to have lost work. Nearly a quarter of 18 to 24-year-olds have been furloughed, says a new study / AP Among 18 to 24-year-olds, 35 per cent are earning less than they did before the outbreak, and 13 per cent are earning more. Employees in their early 60s are the next most likely to be receiving less pay (30 per cent), with a further 9 per cent receiving more pay. The report, which is supported by the charity Health Foundation, also found that 23 per cent of 35 to 49-year-olds are earning less, while 5 per cent are earning more. Maja Gustafsson, a researcher at the Resolution Foundation, said: While young people are in the eye of the storm, they are not the only group who are experiencing big income shocks. Britain is experiencing a U-shaped living standards crisis, with workers in their early 60s also badly affected. Chancellor Rishi Sunak: Furlough scheme extended to end of October That is why the Governments strategy to support the recovery should combine targeted support to help young people into work, with more general stimulus to boost demand across the economy and help households of all ages. A fifth of employees in their late 20s (aged 25 to 29) have either been furloughed or lost their jobs, along with nearly a fifth (18 per cent) of workers in their early 60s (aged 60 to 64). Employees aged 35 to 44 are the least likely to have been furloughed or lost their jobs, with around 15 per cent experiencing this since the crisis started, the report found. The foundation said younger and older employees could be affected in different ways. Younger workers could potentially see a long term reduction in their living standards. UK lockdown eases as more people return to work - In pictures 1 /54 UK lockdown eases as more people return to work - In pictures A woman wearing a face mask and gloves walks on a platform at Waterloo Station in London Reuters Cannon Street Station Jeremy Selwyn General view of roadworks on London Bridge, London PA Busy tube train between East Ham and Upton Park. PA People are seen at Waterloo Station in London Reuters People wear a face masks at Leeds station PA A worker from LNER stands beside ticket barriers that have been blocked for social distancing measures at Newcastle train station, PA Cannon Street Station Jeremy Selwyn Police at Victoria Station as Lockdown is slowly lifted at Victoria Station Nigel Howard Nigel Howard Burnt Oak tube station. PA A Victoria line train is deep cleaned at Northumberland Park depot PA Commuters at Clapham Junction Station PA Nigel Howard Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Nigel Howard Passengers board and leave a train at a station in Bracknell, Berkshire PA Commuters and staff in and around at Clapham Junction Railway Station Daniel Hambury Police officers pictured at Colliers Wood Daniel Hambury/@stellapicsltd Cannon Street Station Jeremy Selwyn Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Euston Station Jeremy Selwyn Increased police and security personnel at New Street station in Birmingham PA Cannon Street Station Jeremy Selwyn Commuters at Clapham Junction sStation PA Nigel Howard Cannon Street Station Jeremy Selwyn Commuters at Clapham Junction Station PA Busy tube train between East Ham and Upton Park PA Nigel Howard Commuters and staff in and around at Clapham Junction Railway Station, Daniel Hambury Nigel Howard Increased police and security personnel at New Street station in Birmingham PA Increased security at New Street station in Birmingham, PA Busy tube train between East Ham and Upton Park PA Commuters at Clapham Junction Station PA A sign advising passengers to wear a face mask at Clapham Junction station, PA Stickers being installed on a bus at Abellio Camberwell bus garage, as more people are set to return to offices, factories and building sites this week PA While older workers risk being involuntary retired well before they can start receiving the state pension, or not having time to make up their current earnings shortfall. The foundation said the scale of pay reductions since the crisis would be even greater were it not for the Job Retention Scheme. The research found around one in five furloughed employees are still receiving full pay, despite state support being capped at 80 per cent, including over a quarter of workers aged 35 to 44. The foundation, whose work focused on improving the living standards of those on low to middle incomes, said the Government needs to start preparing its response to the next phase of the crisis, which should include broader measures to boost demand in the economy and raise household incomes. Martina Kane, from the Health Foundation, said: It is concerning that the current crisis is disproportionately affecting employment opportunities for young people. This could have worrying ramifications for young peoples longer term health outcomes. There is strong evidence that unemployment and poor quality work can have a negative impact on young peoples mental health. Financial insecurity can result in poor health both now and later in life. Simon Osei Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister 19.05.2020 LISTEN From now onwards, person that will be arrested without a face mask in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital, will be punished with mandatory communal labour in public. The Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (REGSEC) directive is intended to force people to wear face masks as a means of preventing the spread of Covid-19 in the region. Reports making rounds indicated that several offenders were nabbed in the city centre last Saturday, and they were made to either sweep or weed in public. The Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei-Mensah, commenting on the latest directive, disclosed that people, for strange reasons, were refusing to wear face masks in public, thereby putting others in danger. The unfortunate development, he explained, has the potential of increasing the number of people infected with the virus, for which reason REGSEC has to intervene. He said REGSEC had decided to introduce communal labour rules as a means of ensuring that residents in the region, notably Kumasi, would wear face masks to check the spread of Covid-19. Mr. Osei-Mensah said REGSEC had realized that the prisons in the region are congested and cannot, therefore, detain people unnecessarily, adding we also don't want to infect the prisoners with the virus by sending people there. Again, we have realized that most of the people don't have the financial muscle to pay spot fines, so REGSEC believes that the communal labour is the best option, he stressed. He said the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), of which he is the head, has frequently embarked on public education for people to wear face masks to help stop the spread of the virus. He said the communal labour would help to keep the city clean, adding it will also compel the people to wear face masks and stay safe. ---Daily Guide A domestic abuser who blacked his partner's eyes was allowed to cross-examine the woman on the assault during court proceedings. At the family law court in Ennis, the woman, who fled the family home with her children after the assault, obtained a three-year barring order that will require the man to vacate the family home. Judge Mary Larkin told the man he had "to leave the family home and leave it today". But before that, he cross-examined the woman concerning the circumstances of the drunken assault, which happened in front of the couple's two young children. He was able to do so because he had opted to represent himself and not retain a solicitor to contest his former partner's barring order application. The man told the court he had no friends to stay with and the order would render him homeless. Judge Larkin granted the barring order after stating there was no dispute that it was the woman's partner who caused her injuries. The barring order follows an emergency interim banning order obtained earlier this month following the assault. The woman and the couple's two children were accommodated at a local women's refuge after the attack while the man continued to live at the family home. Even after obtaining the interim barring order, the woman and the two children remained at the refuge her solicitor, Shiofra Hassett, told the court, explaining that she was "too scared" to return to the family home. The woman told the court: "I need time to think. I need time for healing and that house has bad memories." In evidence, the woman confirmed she sustained two black eyes and bruising to her head in the attack by her drunken partner that was carried out in front of the two children aged three and four. She stated: "My head was full of wounds." Photographs of the woman with two black eyes and bruises to her body were shown to the court. Recounting the assault, the woman said her partner became verbally abusive and called her a "whore". He then came towards her and "caught me and threw me on the couch and started throwing punches, punching me repeatedly on the head". She added that her partner locked all of the doors and the windows to prevent her escape but she managed to get herself and her daughter out of one of the windows and her son got out the front door. During cross-examination by her partner, he put it to her she had hit him with a table and he had recordings and photos of his injuries. The woman said she used the table in self-defence. Giving evidence later, the man said he did not bring the recording or photos to court. Under cross-examination from Ms Hassett, the man admitted he caused the injuries to his partner. He also said he was agreeing to leave the home. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 19, 2020) - Quarterra Resources Inc. (TSXV: QTA) (OTCQB: QTRRF), is pleased to release the following corporate update in the form of an open letter from CEO Gerald Prosalendis to all stakeholders: Dear Fellow Shareholders It has been just over a year since my previous letter to you all. Since then we have been active and have made considerable progress on a number of fronts. As things stand today, I am happy to report that we are in a fortunate position, especially when compared with some of our peers. Quaterra's projects can be advanced in ways that are simultaneously significant and cost effective, and we have the funds to do so. This is an important competitive advantage given the uncertainty surrounding the exploration sector and financial markets. And for the moment we should be well placed to move forward despite disruptions of lower commodity prices and the current COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, our share price performance has not matched our progress over the past year. While this reflects a general malaise common to many exploration companies, we intend stepping up efforts to communicate our advantages relative to our peer group in order to close any gap between what we are actually achieving and what the market perceives to be our progress. Yerington, Nevada Firstly, I would like to update you on the situation in Yerington, Nevada. We are closely following developments that have the potential to create a new copper mining camp and the possible consolidation of the Yerington district. Our 52-square-mile land position encompasses a portfolio of assets situated in one of the world's best jurisdictions for mining. By being proactive we aim to secure a place at the table in the event of district-wide development. With prospects for near-term production at the MacArthur oxide deposit, substantial mineral resources at the Yerington pit, valuable water rights already permitted for mining, additional water rights associated with options on private land, the unexplored potential of the property (particularly the large Bear porphyry system), a central location, and access to well-developed infrastructure we believe Quaterra will necessarily form a key component of any moves to district consolidation. Meanwhile, we continue our work towards a pre-feasibility study at MacArthur by developing a mine plan that will deliver the best financial return. This conventional acid-leach project in the north of our Yerington land position has the potential for near-term production with modest upfront capital spending. In October last year, we reported results of sequential copper analysis that showed potential for improving copper recoverability (see news release dated October 21, 2019). We are currently working to further refine our understanding of the recoverability, kinetics and acid usage of different zones of mineralization at MacArthur. Based on the outcome we will finalize a mining sequence, decide on additional resource drilling (if necessary), and commence engineering design and finalization of a financial model if warranted. Like all acid-leach projects, MacArthur is sensitive to the price of copper, which has been testing recent lows, and to the price and usage of acid. We estimate completion of the pre-feasibility study within 18 months, contingent on results and the availability of funds. In another important milestone, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Singatse Peak Services (SPS), reached an agreement last year with Atlantic Richfield Company (ARC) outlining how we will work together on the Yerington site allowing ARC to complete its remedial activities and the Company to move forward with development. The ARC-SPS Agreement is part of a state-regulated, privately-funded solution to long-standing environmental issues associated with previous mining activity at the Anaconda Copper Mine site, and greatly reduces SPS's risk for environmental liabilities associated with past mining prior to its acquisition in 2011. This includes both the former Anaconda mining operations and the former Arimetco area known as OU8, previously an unfunded liability. ARC has agreed to design, build, operate and fund the remedy for the Arimetco portion of the Site as well as to implement a CERCLA-protective remedy for the Site. This is a major undertaking, and a large benefit to us. The agreement could also provide SPS with the opportunity to consolidate its land position at Yerington with the possible conversion of certain BLM mining claims into private land transferred to SPS without attached liability for previous mining activity. And it will help create a simpler path for mine cleanup and development. ARC has commenced and continues its remediation activities at the site. Groundhog, Alaska Management has been active outside of Yerington. Last year Geotech conducted a 1,644 line kilometer ZTEM and magnetic survey covering 165 square miles of the Groundhog copper-gold prospect, situated on an established copper-gold porphyry belt in southwest Alaska. Quaterra has the right to earn a 90% interest in Groundhog. The results of this survey, together with previous geophysical and fieldwork, will be used to refine the selection of high priority targets for drilling. We will shortly be filing a National Instrument 43-101 technical report on the Groundhog property, prepared by an independent consultant. We will also announce plans for exploring the property. We continue to believe that Groundhog has the potential to host a porphyry system similar in size and mineralization to the large, adjacent Pebble copper-gold project. Butte Valley, Nevada In addition, we are actively looking for partners to join us in exploring the recently acquired Butte Valley copper-gold prospect in eastern Nevada. Quaterra has the right to earn a 100% interest in a strategic land position associated with this large, partially explored porphyry system. We acquired this position on reasonable terms and our ongoing carrying costs are relatively low, providing us with time to identify a partner that will be the best fit. Butte Valley is located in a mining-friendly state with well-developed infrastructure and where it is feasible to permit, develop and build a mine. It can also be moved to a drill-ready stage relatively quickly because of previous exploration work, all things attractive to a potential development partner. COVID-19 I would like to assure shareholders that we have been responsive to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic and moved early in March to implement measures to keep employees and workplaces healthy and safe. These measures are in line with federal, state, provincial and local guidelines and regulations, and include monitoring staff for symptoms, additional worksite cleaning practices, closing offices, working remotely from home, practicing social distancing, avoiding in-person meetings, and ceasing all non-essential travel. Staff are encouraged to familiarize themselves with credible sources of information on the pandemic, and have been provided with resources to do so. So far, the pandemic has had a limited effect on our operations. Almost all effort at MacArthur is currently 'desk work' involving computer-generated mine plan design, and metallurgical work conducted in laboratories under strict controls. Current plans for Groundhog are also computer-based involving manipulation and interpretation of geophysical and geologic data. It is uncertain what affect the actual and threatened spread of COVID-19 may have on our operations in the future or our ability to finance them. Finally, due to the varied nature and location of the Company's assets, management is investigating a variety of options for unlocking the untapped value inherent in the company. We are being open-minded and weighing a range of alternatives, though there is no guarantee they will be practical or sufficiently accretive to be viable. We will keep shareholders informed of the progress of our endeavors as we work towards achieving a rerating of the Company's market capitalization to better reflect the attractive mix and value of its assets. Sincerely Gerald Prosalendis President and CEO About Quaterra Resources Inc. Quaterra Resources Inc. (TSXV: QTA) (OTCQB: QTRRF) is a copper exploration and development company with the primary objective of advancing its U.S. subsidiary's copper projects in the Yerington District, Nevada. It has the right to earn a 90% interest in the Groundhog copper-gold prospect, a 54,880-acre property situated on an established copper-gold porphyry belt 300 kilometers southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. Quaterra also has the right to purchase a 100% interest in 678 unpatented mining claims associated with the Butte Valley prospect, a large, partially explored copper-gold porphyry system located in eastern Nevada. The Company continues to look for opportunities to acquire copper projects on reasonable terms that have the potential to host large mineral deposits attractive to major mining companies. Quaterra's financial statements and MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2019, are available at www.quaterra.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. This news release should be read in conjunction with those documents. For more information please contact: Gerald Prosalendis, President and CEO Quaterra Resources Inc. 250-940-3581 Tom Patton, Chairman Quaterra Resources Inc. 604-641-2758 Karen Robertson Corporate Communications 778-898-0057 Email: info@quaterra.com Website: www.quaterra.com Disclosure note: Some statements contained in this shareholder letter are forward-looking statements under Canadian securities laws and within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are identified in this letter by words such as "believes", "anticipates", "intends", "has the potential", "expects", "plans", "aims', "hopes" and similar language, or convey estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives, potential outcomes, expectations, or goals. Since forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. In particular, forward looking statements in this letter include that the Company will be able to finance exploration efforts and acquisition costs; that recently concluded deals for water rights will close; that commodity markets and copper prices will improve; that near term opportunities exist to enhance value; that a pre-feasibility study will be completed supporting the development of the MacArthur project; that value can be placed on the Company's remaining water rights at Yerington; that mapping, sampling, IP and exploration drilling will be undertaken on the Company's projects; that results will define further mineralization or high grade zones; that historical and new exploration will support a resource on the company's properties; that the Yerington and Groundhog assets have the potential to support mining operations; that the copper price will support mining investment; and that the Company's efforts will not be disrupted by the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. A summary of risk factors that apply to the Company's operations are included in our management discussion and analysis filings with securities regulatory authorities, and are publicly available on our website. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/56081 NEW ORLEANS - The air smelled tangy and sweet as Tommy Cvitanovich oversaw employees grilling his famous delicacy - charbroiled oysters on the half-shell - to serve customers in their cars in a church parking lot. The pop-up eatery generated rare profits for Cvitanovich on a recent Thursday evening, nearly two months after social distancing rules closed his Drago's Seafood restaurants for full-service dining. Beneath his trademark bravado, Cvitanovich knows the 51-year-old business founded by his parents - and its 700 jobs - might not make it through the novel-coronavirus pandemic intact. "I'm struggling," he said later, after serving 100 dozen plump gulf oysters for $20 per dozen. "Right now, I have five Drago's. This time next year is it possible we have less than five Drago's? Absolutely." Earlier that day, about 130 miles west in Lafayette, Mike Moncla was puzzling over how to save his family's oil business. The crash of oil prices - since hardly anyone drives, flies or fires up a restaurant stove these days - has canceled work for the Moncla well-servicing operation. The company recently cut more than half of its 270 jobs. "We're doing everything we can to keep our business afloat," said Moncla. Even still, "There's no doubt about it. We might not make it." Louisiana is heavily reliant on two of the industries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic: tourism and energy. With the economic fallout from stay-home orders and other restrictions mounting nationwide, this state is perhaps the most vulnerable, economists say. Though Louisiana began a gradual reopening process last week, few people came out to experience the partial return of nightlife to the French Quarter on Saturday. Economic projections remain grim: One in five of the state's restaurants, a cornerstone of the tourism industry, may not survive until people feel safe traveling again, said Stan Harris, president of the Louisiana Restaurant Association. The number of visitors to New Orleans could plummet 75% this year, with the city already losing $200 million a week in tourist spending, said Stephen Perry, president of New Orleans & Co., the convention and visitors bureau. New Orleans now has more restaurants than it did before Hurricane Katrina in 2005 - 1,400 by some estimates, which is more than a city of 390,000 can support without tourists. "We expect that certainly by October of this year, we could well lose at least 500 of those restaurants," Perry said. The oil money that lubricates the region's economy is drying up, too. With crude now scarcely $30 per barrel - break-even prices for an oil company are at least in the high $30s - half the companies surveyed this month by the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association said bankruptcy is likely. "The virus has crushed the broader economy, but nowhere has the damage been more severe than in travel, tourism and energy," said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics. He called the pandemic "a two-black-swan event" for Louisiana, with New Orleans also being one of the earliest hot spots of coronavirus infections in the United States. "A lot of infections, on top of a collapse in tourism/travel, and the complete wipeout in the energy sector - that's pretty cataclysmic," Zandi said. "I can't think of another place that's been nailed that hard." The distress is starting to show up in the state's finances. Louisiana expects to lose about $1 billion in taxes, oil leases and other sources during the fiscal year starting in July - or nearly 10% of the general fund budget. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has lobbied for a federal bipartisan proposal that would provide $500 billion to help states and cities to stabilize their finances - a plan that President Donald Trump has been hesitant to support, calling it a bailout for "poorly run states." Beginning Friday - Saturday in New Orleans - most Louisiana businesses are allowed to serve up to 25% of their customer capacity at a time. Mainstays of the state's hospitality and energy industries welcome this first spark of renewed economic activity, but they are under no illusions that the comeback will be quick. "I think it's going to be a full year past a vaccine [being developed] before tourism feels normal again. So, for me, that's the middle of '22," said Perry, head of the convention and visitors bureau. Cvitanovich reopened three of his Drago's restaurants on Friday, even though operating at 25% capacity will not get him anywhere near the 1,000 diners per day he needs at his busiest locations to be successful. Edwards, the governor, and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, a Democrat, say further loosening could come in early June if there are no upticks in infections. "I'm incredibly worried about the financial life of our business," Cvitanovich said. "I'm worried about our employees." Tourism and energy provide nearly 1 in 5 jobs in the state, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission. The state was grappling with the highest unemployment rate in the country - 6.9% - before the pandemic began to devastate the nation's workforce. More than 600,000 Louisiana residents have filed for unemployment since. The unemployed include about half the people who work in tourism and more than 10% of oil workers, said Stephen Barnes, director of the Kathleen Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Based on those numbers, unemployment in the state could be 30%, estimated Gary Wagner, professor of economics at the Lafayette campus. Louisianans pride themselves on being able to endure disaster - but the pandemic is already proving to be worse than the yardstick by which catastrophes are measured here: Hurricane Katrina in 2005. More lives have been lost statewide to covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus - 2,440, compared with an estimated 1,833 to Katrina - and the economic blow is shaping up to be more severe. "There's no crisis we've had that even comes close to this," said Greg Albrecht, the state legislature's chief economist. Most restaurant owners said capacity restrictions during the first phase of the restart - while perhaps prudent for public health - virtually guarantee they'll lose money. "If you took away 10% of my business, I would lose my derriere. Now, at a minimum, we think we'll lose 50%" during the state's phased reopening, said Ti Adelaide Martin, who runs New Orleans' fine dining landmark Commander's Palace with her cousin Lally Brennan. The restaurant is staying closed for now. Setting aside the restrictions, Martin worries about how much demand there will be anyway. When will customers feel comfortable going out again? And "What does hospitality look like behind a mask?" she pondered. There's an even bigger question for a tourist town built on oil and gas: When will people want to burn all that jet fuel by flying again? Global demand for oil fell by nearly 30% as the pandemic shutdown compounded the effect of a production war between Russia and Saudi Arabia. So much oil is out of the ground at the moment that the planet is running short on places to store it. On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Arthur Price, president of Badger Oil in Lafayette, and his management team studied the numbers and realized that, because of the way the future price of oil is hedged, Badger would be getting just about $4 per barrel in May. So Price and his colleagues decided they had no choice but to cap some of the company's 20 wells and temporarily cut production by 80%. Some of those wells will never operate again. "It's an absolute killer - it's demoralizing," Price said. "Most crises are not solved, they're merely survived. That's currently our main goal: to survive." New Orleans ultimately survived the economic slump that followed Katrina: Tourists came rushing to the city out of solidarity and curiosity, helping to make the restaurant scene even bigger and more vibrant than it was before the hurricane. Now, potential tourists will have their own cities to worry about, observed Stella Chase Reese, whose family runs the beloved Dooky Chase's restaurant in the Treme neighborhood, which has been visited by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Barack Obama. For an indefinite period, businesses such as Dooky Chase's that have come to count on visitors will have to appeal more than ever to local customers. "That's something we'll be doing over these weeks, remarketing ourselves to what got us to where we are now - the local community," said Chase Reese, 72, whose husband, Wayne Reese, 74, a revered high school football coach, died April 2 of covid-19. "We have to go back to our roots." Restaurant spending ripples through the economy, driving one of the nation's top-producing seafood industries. Commercial fishing has an annual economic impact of $2.4 billion, according to the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board. Shrimp alone accounts for 15,000 jobs and $1.3 billion annually, while oysters provide 4,000 jobs and $317 million. "I don't care if it was Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Gustav or the BP oil thing. No matter what, there was business at restaurants," said Al Sunseri, co-owner of P&J Oyster. "This is so much worse. We live to eat and party. That's what we do in New Orleans. Well, it's not here anymore. This pulled the plug on the entire economy." Sunseri supervised as three workers shucked oysters before dawn on a recent Thursday. It was their first haul in a month because 95% of orders were canceled during what is normally the busiest time of year. The restaurant order for these oysters ended up being canceled, too. If sales recover to 50% of normal through August, and somewhere close to 100% after that, the 141-year-old business might survive, Sunseri said. But that rapid a rebound seems unlikely. Mayor Cantrell has said that the city is facing a $136 million shortfall in its $726 million budget. About 60 miles south of New Orleans at Ditcharo's La. Wild Caught Shrimp dock in Buras, Hosea Wilson, a fourth-generation fisherman, watched as the load of shrimp he caught on a Friday morning off Grand Isle was weighed for price. Now in his 50s, he has been working as a fisherman since he was 13. Wilson's catch came to about 3,000 pounds. Dock owner Rocky Ditcharo paid him 35 cents a pound - half of what he could have gotten before the pandemic. "I think this would have been one of the best years we've had," Wilson said. "The shrimp showed up at the right time, right size - there's just no money. [The virus] just killed the money." In a typical May and June, Ditcharo buys between 1.5 million and 2 million pounds of shrimp. This year, he might not clear 500,000 pounds because the shrimpers he buys from, people such as Wilson, could decide that it's more expensive to fish than to stay home. If that happens, Ditcharo could be forced to close. He looked out at the 150 boats docked at the business his family has operated since 1984. There should be dozens of people working on their vessels, preparing them for the upcoming start of the inshore shrimping season, he said. But there was nobody in sight. "I have a friend who's a welder and he said there's no business because nobody is fixing their boats," Ditcharo said. "This is the worst-case scenario. I'll call this 'apocalypse now' - beginning of the end." China's threats to destroy Australia's economy over the coronavirus inquiry are just empty 'sabre rattling' to make a point, experts claim. Economists believe a trade war would hurt China too much as it relies on its Western neighbour for iron ore, energy, and agriculture. China banned beef from four major Australian producers and slapped an 80 per cent tariff on barley in what is feared to be the start of a $135 billion retaliation. Even Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told wine and cheese exporters to make sure all their paperwork was in order so as not to give Beijing any excuse to ban them too. Economists believe a trade war would hurt China too much as it relies on its Western neighbour for iron ore (pictured), energy, and agriculture China is dead against an inquiry into the origin of coronavirus as it is accused of covering up the severity of the pandemic, believed to have begun in a live animal market The diplomatic spat began when Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an inquiry into the origin of coronavirus in Wuhan. China is dead against this as it is accused of covering up the severity of the pandemic, believed to have begun in a live animal market. The Global Times, a mouthpiece for the communist government, dialed up the drama by accusing Australia of 'exploiting' China and presenting itself 'as a victim'. 'From China's perspective, Australia has never been a friendly trading partner,' a piece in the state-run Global Times said. 'And consultations with the country on trade issues have always been frustrating, which has apparently weakened its motivation to promote bilateral trade. 'The Australian government seems more interested in exploiting China's suspension of some beef imports and its potential imposition of tariffs on Australian barley to describe itself as a victim of trade sanctions.' But economists believe the threats, first made by the Chinese ambassador in a newspaper interview last month, are just posturing. University of NSW academic and former Austrade economist Tim Harcourt said Australia was a reliable supplier Beijing couldn't do without. The federal trade minister has told Australian companies to make sure all their paper work is in order for exporting products to China. Pictured: Melbourne's Say Cheese festival 'A boycott of Australian goods would really hurt China they've got energy and food security issues, they need iron ore they need expertise, and they want their kids to get a quality education,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'China doesn't really want to hurt itself, it just wants to make a point and then they'll move on.' Mr Harcourt said China was a massive consumer market with a population of 1.3 billion people and a growing urban middle class. This meant consumers there were demanding better quality products and services, many of which needed to be sourced overseas. 'They need energy security, food security, quality education, expertise in skills and infrastructure as they make the transition from being a 'nation of shippers' to a nation of shoppers' with consumption and investment,' he said. 'The days of China being a low labour cost mass manufacturer are over and they have a burgeoning middle-class consumer base.' Mr Harcourt said China's 'long march to middle class consumerism' gave Australia a 'mining boom and a dining boom' for 12,000 exporters - which China needed. He also argued China was not as against the coronavirus inquiry as it seemed, it just wanted to show it wouldn't be pushed around. Beijing would welcome the inquiry so long as it was transparent and international and the dispute was just over the terms. 'It would be in China's interest and an opportunity for China to show leadership and international co-operation,' he said. Australia's call for an independent inquiry into the causes of COVID-19 has stirred diplomatic tensions with China, where consumers rely on wet markets (like this one pictured in Guangzhou) for their food 'Most importantly, an inquiry into the causes of this pandemic may help us prevent another one, or at least manage it more effectively. 'That outcome would be good news to the Chinese people and to the global community.' China on Friday said it would submit to an inquiry so long as it was conducted by the World Health Organisation. More than 100 have nations joined Australia to demand an independent investigation into the international response to the pandemic and the actions of the World Health Organisation. The resolution will be put to the World Health Assembly for a vote on Tuesday. Mr Birmingham said the government were given no advanced notice of China's plans to implement the barley tariff, calling it 'deeply disappointing'. Australia's biggest exports to China Iron ore: $63.12 billion Natural gas: $16.64 billion Coal: $14.12 billion Education: $12.1 billion Tourism: $4.25 billion Source: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2018-19 data for Australia's exports to China Advertisement Australia sends between half and two-thirds of all its barley to China, making this decision a crushing blow to thousands of farmers. Australia is also the biggest barley supplier to China, exporting between $1.5 billion and $2 billion worth a year, which is more than half its exports. Besides the beef ban, which China claimed was a regulatory issue unrelated to the inquiry issue, Chinese buying has only boomed as both countries shake off the pandemic. Australian coking coal imports hit 4.3 million tons in March, up 105 per cent from the previous year, and were three quarters of its coal imports. Figures from Energy Quest predict Australia sent 40 shipments of liquid natural gas to China in April, up 29 in March and 36 in April last year. Iron ore imports also jumped 32 per cent in March after falling nine per cent in February. Beijing has a track record of using putting pressure on exporters during political disagreements. It includes encouraging a boycott of South Korean cars after the country deployed a US missile shield in 2017 and a ban on Norwegian salmon after Chinese rebel Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo that same year. Australia and China have had a free trade agreement since 2015 but some exporters have still run into difficulties as relations have soured. In 2018 Beijing imposed new customs regulations on Australian wine resulting in shipments being held up in Shanghai. China is by far Australia's biggest education export market, with their demand worth $12.095billion in the 2018-19 financial year, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade data showed The Centre for Independent Studies, a free market think tank, last year warned Australia's universities could collapse if fewer Chinese students enrolled AMBASSADOR'S ECONOMIC THREAT TO AUSTRALIA In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Ambassador Cheng slammed Australia's push for a global inquiry as 'political' and warned Chinese consumers could boycott the country. Answering a question about whether China could boycott Australian iron ore or gas, Mr Cheng instead focused on China's contribution to Australia's agriculture, tourism and education sectors. Mr Cheng said: 'I think if the mood is going from bad to worse, people would think why we should go to such a country while it's not so friendly to China. 'The tourists may have second thoughts. Maybe the parents of the students would also think whether this place, which they find is not so friendly, even hostile, is the best place to send their kids to. 'So it's up to the public, the people to decide. And also, maybe the ordinary people will think why they should drink Australian wine or eat Australian beef.' Advertisement And last year - after Canberra stripped Chinese businessman Xiangmo Huang of his visa - major ports prolonged clearing times for Australian coal to at least 40 days, claiming the delay was due to 'normal' safety checks. The latest difficulties in the bi-lateral trade relationship followed the Australian government's call for a ban on wildlife wet markets and an inquiry into how the coronavirus originated and spread from Wuhan. The proposed inquiry - as well as repeated suggestions that China covered up the spread of the disease - have infuriated Beijing. Last month the Chinese Embassy called Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton 'pitiful,' 'ignorant' and a US 'parrot' after he told China to 'answer questions' about how coronavirus started. On April 26 Chinese Ambassador to Australia Jingye Cheng warned that Chinese consumers may stop buying Australian products in revenge. 'Maybe the ordinary people will think why they should drink Australian wine or eat Australian beef,' he told the AFR. Australia China Business Council chief executive Helen Sawczak stoked the fire and declared trade ties should come first. 'There has been a lot of talk about national security concerns but these should not be overriding our economic interests,' she said on Wednesday. 'In Australia the whole debate on China has been wholly focused on national security and when we talk about national security we really mean anti-China. 'If the intelligence agencies were managing our economic interests then this country would go down the gurgler, we have always relied on foreign investment we are not a nation of savers.' Chinese Ambassador to Australia Jingye Cheng (pictured) warned Chinese consumers may stop buying Australian products Ms Sawczak, a director of Clean Seas Seafood which exports yellowtail kingfish to China, said there was a perception in China that Australia hated it. The dispute comes after a torrid year for Australia-China relations saw clashes over political interference, human rights abuses in western China and Huawei 5G equipment. The proposed tariffs on barley come after China's 18-month anti-dumping investigation which concludes on 19 May. Dumping is when a country exports a product unfairly cheaply to a foreign market to undercut alternatives, with producers often subsidised by the government. China said the suspension of beef imports was due to a labelling issue. Senator Birmingham said the issues are being resolved and hopes exports from the blacklisted abattoirs can resume soon. Warning: this review contains spoilers for the first episode of The Great. Ill admit it: When my friends suggested we watch The Great on Hulu together virtually this weekend, I rolled my eyes. During a moment of global stress and anxiety, I just couldnt muster the energy to invest in another corset-constrained, modesty-exalting period drama: Give me the staticky background noise of Love Island, or give me blessed silence. The pilots opening scenesin which a young Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning) keels manically back and forth on a swing evoking Fragonards famous portraitdid nothing to erase my doubts. Then Catherine set off to meet her new husband, Emperor Peter III of Russia (Nicholas Hoult), and everything changed. Fanning is delightful to watch as an anxious yet impassioned Catherine, but its Hoult who establishes the shows deliberately off-kilter tone early on, greeting his new wife with a cruel dismissal and leading his army of sycophants in laughter. Hoults Peter is a cosseted, crude man-boy, and as beastly as he ishe meets Fannings demureness with equal and opposite sleazethe result is uproariously good TV. I should have known from a cursory Google search that The Great wasnt going to be the formulaic costume drama I was fearing. After all, it was created and penned by The Favourite screenwriter Tony McNamara, who knows his way around the art of refined bitchery. Thats exactly what we get when Catherine joins the ladies of society for their cherished game of rolling colored balls across a lawn. (Thats it, thats the whole game.) And one of the first episodes sharpest moments comes when Catherines handmaid Marial (Phoebe Fox) comes across her preparing to attempt suicide and encourages her to stage a coup against Peterall while sardonically making it clear that if Catherine goes through with her attempt, Maria will be forced clean up the mess. Story continues The Great rivals Veep and Killing Eve for the sheer amount of NSFW bon mots tossed off by its main charactersI found myself unable to stop thinking about the line Apparently she fucked a horse before she got here. Huzzah! But its rudeness is beautifully offset by its visual majesty. (The costume designer is Emma Fryer.) Fannings long white-blond tresses and colorful gowns pop against a mixture of desolate woods and perfectly manicured lawns. One of the most compelling scenes from the first episode is one where Catherine attempts an escape from Russia in a trunk and Peter directs his henchmen to throw the trunk in a river. As Catherine struggles for air, only to be salvaged from the water at the last moment and thrown to the ground gasping, Peter stands above her, smug and triumphant: Shes terrified, to be sure, but theres a steely glint in her eye, one that warns the viewer not to count her out just yet. The Great pulls off the rare feat of reveling in silliness without getting lost in it, which makes intensely dramatic moments like the one described above feel earned, not stagey. On the heels of Mrs. America and Hulus own Hillary Clinton docuseries, its surprisingly refreshing to see a portrait of a female leader that doesnt idealize her. Catherine is on the side of justice, to be sure, but shes fallible too, and the series gets plenty of laughs out of her predicament. So does the audience, along with a gripping who-will-prevail power clash and an escapist glimpse at thoroughly old-fashioned luxury. If youre hunting for a show to lift you out of your present circumstances, you couldnt ask for better. Originally Appeared on Vogue We Will Not Be Holding a Virtual Convention, RNC Chair Says Republican National Committee (RNC) chair Ronna McDaniel said on Monday that the party will not be holding a virtual convention in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election. The Republican National Convention scheduled for Aug. 24-27 in Charlotte, North Carolina, will be carried out at least partly in-person, she said. Its quite a ways away, and theres ample time for us to adjust, if necessary, McDaniel said on a call with reporters about election lawsuits, reported The Associated Press. The RNC is set to formally choose President Donald Trump as its nominee at the event. When asked about the possibility of the Minnesota Republican Partys online convention being disrupted by hackers, she responded: We will not be holding a virtual convention. The RNC has hired a medical adviser for the convention, and McDaniel said the party will need to consult with the Charlotte mayor and North Carolina governor on logistics. Democrat Convention Democrats have moved their national convention, planned to be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from July to August. It is currently unclear whether the event will be entirely online. A New York Times report on Monday said that many of the Democratic delegates dont want to go. The vast majority of them dont want to risk their own health or the health of others by traveling to Milwaukee and congregating inside the convention facilities, the paper reported, citing interviews it conducted with 59 members of the DNC and superdelegates. Just nine delegates indicated they are planning to attend the convention in person. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the United States has recorded more than 1.5 million cases of the CCP virus, and over 90,000 deaths. Trump on Monday said that he has been taking the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, and zinc, in efforts to prevent being infected with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19. The disease emerged from Wuhan, China, in early December 2019. Chinese health officials were drawing up plans to combat the CCP virus, which they knew to be infectious days before they informed the public about its potential to spread, according to internal government documents obtained by The Epoch Times. The president last month halted funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) until his administration completes a review over the United Nations agencys response to the CCP virus crisis. He also said at the time that the WHO may have misled the United States amid the outbreak. On Saturday, he said that the United States is considering giving the WHO no more than China does. Currently, the funding is still frozen. More than 100 nations have joined a coalition, led by Australia and the European Union, to call for an independent inquiry into the origin of the CCP virus and the World Health Organizations (WHO) response to the outbreak. The Associated Press contributed to this report. New Delhi: The US Administration of President Donald Trump is planning to "donate" 200 ventilators to India with the first tranche of 50 expected to arrive soon as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, an American official said on Tuesday. President Donald Trump had announced last week that the US will donate ventilators to India to treat the COVID-19 patients and help it fight the "invisible enemy". Asked about reports that the ventilators may come at a cost for India, USAID Acting Director Ramona El Hamzaoui, during a telebriefing with the media, asserted that it was a "donation". "The US government is planning to donate 200 ventilators to India. We expect the first tranche of 50 to arrive soon," she said. The USAID on behalf of the US and through the generosity of the American people and the innovation of the American private industry is providing access to medical supplies and ventilators to India and other countries, Hamzaoui said. "We are working closely with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Indian Red Cross Society and other relevant stakeholders in India and the US to assist in the delivery, transportation and placement of these donated ventilators," she said. These ventilators will complement India's ongoing efforts to make the best of care immediately available to those most in need, she added. Asked if the ventilators were being provided as part of some sort of a deal after India supplied hydroxychloroquine to the US, Hamzaoui, "I do not think it is a quid pro quo. It is a partnership." The US is providing ventilators to countries based on what is available and supporting partner countries. Asked about American financial aid to countries in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamzaoui said the USAID and the US Department of State has made available USD 900 million to combat the deadly virus globally. With regard to India specifically, the USAID has announced USD 5.9 million in funding to combat COVID-19, including USD 2.9 million to help India provide care for the affected, disseminate essential public health messages to communities, strengthen case finding, contact tracing and surveillance, she said at the briefing organised by the US Embassy here. "We have also developed COVID-19 print and social media communication material and we are training community health officers working in over 30,000 health and wellness centres in 14 states on COVID-19 readiness and response," Hamzaoui said. "Today the USAID has been able to train in partnership with the government of India more than 20,000 healthcare workers who cover more than 100 million people," she said. The rest of the USD 3 million aid is to support the national health authority to establish a financing facility that can mobilise resources from the private sector, the USAID official said. To a question on President Donald Trump's letter to the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) threatening to pull US funding permanently over COVID-19, US' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Mission Director Meghna Desai said during the briefing that "we are working to ascertain the implications to ensure that we have limited impact to our activities particularly global emergency response activities". The pandemic has made it clear that the world has more in common and COVID-19 has to be fought unitedly, Desai said. On US' COVID-19 vaccine development efforts, US Health Attache Preetha Rajaraman the search for a vaccine remains one of US' highest priorities. The US National Institute of Health has allocated USD 350 million towards this effort, while an additional allocation of USD 2.6 billion for the development and bringing to market has also been pledged, she said. She added that the issue if access was an important one and was being given consideration. Responding to a question about CDC aid to India, Desai said it has pledged USD 3.6 million to assist the government of India in response to COVID-19 and the selection of partners for the aid was based on the scope of work and in concurrence with the ministries of the Indian government. Elderly people who have experienced World War II say the coronavirus outbreak is like a world war because it attacked the whole world. But the war with coronavirus is in some ways harder than World War II, because in World War II, it was possible to predict and control one's circumstances at times. For instance, one could go to shelters and escape the German bombing if one knew when they were coming. But in this coronavirus war, neither the shelter nor the escape from the cities is easy to predict or plan for. Iranian citizens have told me that our situation is even worse. In addition to the coronavirus, we are also dealing with a second coronavirus called "mullahs," and we have no shelter, and no official is responding to our problems. In a video clip from his quarantine hideout, the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, criticized the West and claimed: "They failed in the management of the coronavirus outbreak and dealing with it. People in these countries are attacking the stores." He viewed it as proof that the West is rotten: "Western failure must be explained to the public," he stressed. Worse still, his regime has ramped up its military threats abroad instead of addressing the problems at home. For Khamenei, blaming others serves as an excuse and diversion for the Iranian government's own incompetence and mismanagement of the coronavirus outbreak. In the video, Khamenei deceptively encouraged experts to investigate the coronavirus vaccine. But two days later, Gilead, an American pharmaceutical company, and two other institutes announced that their sites had been hacked by Iran. That was what he meant by "investigate." Meanwhile, an Iranian Judiciary court announced the detention of two elite students with gold medals from the International Olympiad, who were accused of protesting and opposing the government. It was a good indication of Khamenei's bid to blame others. In Iran, poverty, repression, and the export of terrorism abroad over the past 41 years has spread an ominous black shadow over the entire country and, in reality, the world. The regime's media described the internal conditions as "a massive flood of hungry people" (Mostaghel, May 1) and "a tsunami of poverty in 2020" (Arman, April 26) and "economic collapse and then social collapse in the near future" (a regime expert, Mahboobfar, 2 May 2020). So if, in other countries, everyone is looking up to laboratories to uncover the secrets of the coronavirus and prepare a tool to get rid of it and destroy it, in Iran, the mullahs are just looking for someone to blame. As for the oppressed people, they are not looking for vaccines and laboratories to alleviate poverty and the looting of the country by the mullahs! They are looking up to brave and agile souls to break out of the entire regime and get out of the situation. Tehran officials have offered no way out, and they don't have one. Because in the current situation, the Iranian regime has neither the power to open and change nor the capacity to change its position on the international scene. The launch of a satellite into orbit by the Revolutionary Guards, which surprised everyone, reflects Tehran's obsession with how the outside world sees it. The launch had two purposes: first to encourage and galvanize government forces and second to threaten the West and clearly the United States. The message of this missile was that we have reached a new capability with our missile technologies. By doing so, Tehran wants to create more leverage so it can give fewer concessions if negotiations are held. For this reason, the regime intends to highlight the military aspect of what has done, hoping to push back against the United States in this way or to provoke Europeans and appeasers to call for concessions to the regime. Shargh Newspaper wrote, "The firing of this ballistic missile at a time when Iran has practically left the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and likely is moving toward a high-percentage uranium enrichment agenda is a painful message to Westerners, because simultaneously, Iran will have intercontinental ballistic missiles and the potential to build a nuclear weapon, which means that the Americans will no longer be able to even verbally threaten Iran forever. This is another dangerous game that the regime has been forced to play in the hope that it will buy time with a bluff of a show of power so that the Democrats will win the next U.S. election. But the crisis is so deep that the Democrats won't provide salvation for them. This crisis cannot be solved for them by the Democrats. Image credit: Khameini.ir via Wikimedia Commons. In Libya's vast southern desert, three men have resumed what they call their "taxi service." The passengers aren't tourists or locals. They are mostly young men from neighboring African countries desperate to cross the border and head north toward Europe. And with each ride paying $180 to $250 even as coronavirus wreaks havoc on some of the world's poorest people, it's a business that's still proving as lucrative as ever. "We don't reduce our fees because those who want to migrate have no other choice," said one smuggler based near Sebha, a city in Libya's southwest, 480 miles (770 kilometers) by road from the war-torn capital of Tripoli. Migration through Libya eased during the height of the pandemic after governments locked down and closed frontiers to curb the spread of the deadly virus. As African economies crater because of disruptions to supply chains and farming, violence and food insecurity are increasing-and traffickers say people are on the move again. The alarm has already gone off in the European Union. The EU has invested heavily in keeping arrivals at bay since 2015, when more than a million people mostly fleeing Middle East war zones sought safety. It's paid Turkey to house refugees and given money to the Libyan coastguard. But the political damage has lasted as anti-immigrant populists gained succor across the continent. Back then, the influx came on the heels of a debt crisis that crippled Greece, the EU's gateway to the east, and the country is still struggling to cope. This time, the coronavirus has put Italy, the main destination for people crossing from Libya, in the spotlight as Europe's soft economic underbelly. In April, the Italian government declared its ports "unsafe" due to the pandemic and said it wouldn't authorize the landing of rescue boats until the end of the emergency. "In Brussels, the impact of covid in Africa is something they know they need to address," said Camille Le Coz, a policy analyst at Migration Policy Institute Europe. "The European Commission is preparing for different scenarios. The last migration and refugee crisis in 2015 taught them they need to plan in advance." Europe is facing its biggest financial hit since World War II as the virus ripped through the continent and governments confined people to their homes. The U.K., Italy, Spain and France have recorded the most deaths after the U.S. But they also have the money. In Africa, where casualty rates are lower, it's a matter of surviving the economic fallout. On the edge of the Sahara, the south of Libya is bristling with foreign mercenaries and jihadist groups, and illicit trading of everything from weapons to gold. Those in the business of trafficking humans said they are mostly seeing people from neighboring Chad, Sudan and Niger because the trip costs less. But they are also seeing some trekking from further afield, such as Eritrea, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria. The three Libyan smugglers interviewed for this story were in their late 30s and early 40s, and hail from the country's south. They spoke on the condition of anonymity. People paying to transit Libya "feel that once they reach Europe, their lives will be better than it is in their countries, where their salaries and income is weak,'' said one trafficker. "In the world and in stable countries, especially Europe, the situation is good," said another. "They have this belief that their arrival means that they will never go to bed hungry." One of the men said he recently received a phone call from a contact outside Libya who hadn't been in touch for a long time. After the conversation, he now expects the numbers of new migrants crossing into Libya to increase once tighter border controls in central African countries are loosened. The drivers said they were busiest in the summers of 2015 and 2016, when they made about 30 trips carrying 20 passengers each time. Last summer, they did only two trips as European efforts to thwart irregular migration started to bear fruit. But the trend is upwards again.There were 2,800 arrivals in Europe from the central Mediterranean route between Jan. 1 and April 5 this year, five times more than in the same period of 2019, according to EU border agency Frontex. Many of them would have already been stuck in Libya. People smuggling through the country has generated annual revenues of as much as $1.5 billion, according to an estimate by the International Crisis Group. The "taxi service" meets customers at an agreed point along the Chad-Libya border, a 1,000-kilometer straight line through the red sands of the desert. It's an area that's near impossible to police, so the drivers only really fear rival gangs and Islamist militants. "We can easily move the meeting point to another spot if we have to," said one. They then travel in groups of a dozen to a western city near the Mediterranean coast. From there another trafficking ring asks for additional fees to ferry the passengers to the water's edge, load them onto boats and direct them across the sea toward European shores. What happens next is simply down to luck. While just a snapshot of one part of a vast and complicated network, the activity in this regional crossroads is an early indication of the toll that the measures to fight the pandemic are having on sub-Saharan African countries. EU policymakers are discussing offering humanitarian assistance, building resilience in African health-care systems, and helping economies, said Le Coz in Brussels. There's also a focus on how to compensate for the drop in remittances, the money sent home from successful migrants that's a lifeline to many families. French President Emmanuel Macron has even called for a moratorium on African debt, saying the continent was already facing unsustainable finances before the pandemic. "Difficulties will continue to arise even if Covid does not become a health catastrophe," he said. Well before the pandemic there were already plenty of potential migrants in Libya. Fabrice Leggeri, Frontex's executive director, told the European Parliament last month that Covid-19 and Libya's conflict are prompting more people to attempt a crossing. The Libyan coastguard is also having more difficulty stopping them, he said. Not everyone makes it. Some are arrested and put into Libyan detention camps, others are returned to their point of departure by coastguards. Since the EU ended search and rescue operations, more and more are drowning at sea. Of course, it's impossible to say how big a new migration flow might be. As Andrew Geddes, director of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute in Florence, put it, there's a misconception "that the whole African population is sat on its suitcase ready to go to Europe." Most African migration takes place within Africa, while there's also a route through Yemen to the Gulf. Researchers say the true picture will only become clear in months to come and they caution against using the word "wave." But some European countries and parties that oppose migration have already started talking about the potential for increased arrivals and the need for more border control. In Italy, nationalist opposition leader Matteo Salvini has denounced a government plan to give legal status to some 500,000 illegal migrant workers-many of them in the agricultural sector-because of the coronavirus emergency. He said "just the idea" of legal status "fosters crime." The smugglers say that as long as they have no other means of income, they'll continue their work, and as long as people keep arriving, migrants will keep trying. "The migrants, especially those who want to go to Europe, follow only good news,'' said one. All they want to know, he said, is "are there migrants who are managing to reach their destination or not?" Ryanair expects the number of passengers it flies will halve this year and is braced to rack up a loss of at least 180m in the first quarter. The no-frills airline believes it will carry 80m travellers in the year to March 2021 as it battles the coronavirus crisis. This is down from an original estimate of 154m, and a 20 per cent cut from the 100m it forecast last week. Sidelined: This is usually one of the busier periods of the year, covering the Easter and May bank holidays and school breaks The airline carried 149m in the year to March 31 up 4 per cent on the year before. Although it has slashed weekly costs from 178m in March to 53m in May, it still expects to make a loss of at least 180m between April and June. This is usually one of the busier periods of the year, covering the Easter and May bank holidays and school breaks. The Irish carrier will cut 3,250 jobs 3,000 among crew and pilots and 250 at head offices and stop operating at certain airports in a bid to lower costs even more. Ryanair is planning to operate a skeleton fleet until July and August when it plans to ramp up to 40 per cent of its normal flights, or around 1,000 a day. By September, it wants to be running 60 per cent to 70 per cent of its normal schedule. But boss Michael O'Leary yesterday slammed the Government for 'idiotic and unimplementable' plans to quarantine people coming into the UK for two weeks to contain the potential spread of the virus. The isolation proposals could scupper Ryanair's plans to get back up and running. O'Leary told the BBC the Government had 'mismanaged the crisis for many weeks' and appeared to be 'making this stuff up as they go along'. As countries such as Italy plan to ease quarantine restrictions O'Leary said holidaymakers would be 'gagging' to go abroad to get some summer sun and said bookings for this summer were 'building nicely'. Ryanair reported annual profits surged 13 per cent to 893m last year, with revenues up 10 per cent to 7.6 billion. Europe's largest budget airline is sitting on a 3.7 billion cash pile. Investors were impressed that the firm has such a large cash pile, according to Stephen Furlong, a transport analyst at Dublin brokerage Davy. Dharamsala, May 19 (IANS) Tibet's self-declared government-in-exile President Lobsang Sangay on Tuesday thanked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for making a strong call to China for the release of the second-highest holy monk, the Panchen Lama. Thanking the US Secretary of State "for not only consistently supporting the Tibet issue, but also making a call for the Panchen Lama in the strongest words ever in a long time", Sangay said in a statement that "this shows the US' unwavering solidarity with the Tibetan people". Referring to the global call on China to release the Panchen Lama, Sangay said, "It sends a strong message to the Chinese government that the international call for Panchen Lama is stronger than ever and will continue to campaign for his release until he is able to return to his rightful place at the Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Tibet." The statement reiterated the US' concerns over China's ongoing campaign to eliminate the religious, linguistic and cultural identity of Tibetans. Pompeo said, "The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism with spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. But China's persecution of the Panchen Lama is not unusual. "The United States remains deeply concerned about the PRC's ongoing campaign to eliminate the religious, linguistic and cultural identity of Tibetans, including through the ongoing destruction of communities of worship and learning, such as the Larung Gar and Yachen Gar Buddhist Institutes." "We call on the PRC government to immediately make public the Panchen Lama's whereabouts and to uphold its own constitution and international commitments to promote religious freedom for all persons," Pompeo added. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama recognised Gedhun Choekyi Nyima on May 14, 1995, as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. Within three days of the announcement, he was abducted, making him one of the youngest political prisoners in the world. The Dalai Lama has been living in India since fleeing his homeland in 1959. The Tibetan government-in-exile is based in this northern hill town of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. --IANS vg/arm By Rebecca Dixon Too many workers in New Jersey and across the country have to choose between risking their lives during the COVID pandemic or going hungry because they lack basic workplace protections. Oscar Henriquez is one of those workers. For years, Oscar has worked as a truck driver for XPO Logistics at Port Newark. Because XPO Logistics a Fortune 100 firm with 2019 revenue of close to $17 billion calls him an independent contractor, Oscar doesnt get paid sick leave, a guaranteed minimum wage, unemployment insurance or overtime pay. Though hes called independent, Oscar cant set his own rate of pay and must accept the companys non-negotiable rate. The take-it-or-leave-it offer of substandard pay with no employee benefits is an all-too-common tactic that erodes economic dignity and workers rights and it occurs well beyond the Port of Newark, touching virtually every industry of our economy. Across the country, millions of workers like Oscar lack rights and protections on the job. From news media to janitorial services, from app-based drivers to port truckers, companies intentionally misclassify their workers as independent contractors to skirt the law and evade accountability. These workers perform the labor central to a businesss success, yet they are excluded from employment benefits. Thats unacceptable on a good day. But the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the urgency of the problem. As weve seen, workers without protections like paid sick leave are forced to go to work because a day off means financial hardship for their families. Meanwhile, unscrupulous employers escape paying their fair share, putting the health of all of us at risk. We must ensure that more working people have access to critical employee protections. New Jersey lawmakers have introduced Senate bill S863, which offers a good start. The bill proposes three common-sense criteria the ABC test to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. Under the ABC test, workers are presumed to be employees of a company unless they are (A) free from the companys control or direction; (B) doing work thats outside the companys usual course of business, or thats performed outside the companys place(s) of business; and (C) running an independently established business. If enacted, the bill would dramatically expand the number of workers who can access much-needed rights and benefits. Under the proposed law, Oscar would get paid overtime when he works 15 hours a day on the job, and hed have the right to paid sick leave, and to workers compensation if he gets injured on the job. Its not a new idea. The state already uses a version of the ABC employment test to determine eligibility for unemployment insurance. New Jerseys Department of Labor has used it to assess $650 million in unemployment and disability back taxes owed by the ride-hailing company, Uber, the poster child of worker misclassification. Thats $650 million that could now support an unemployment insurance system for the many New Jersey residents out of work if only Uber complied with the states order. Properly classifying workers is not a political battle. Its a question of fairness and ensuring that companies are responsible for the workers who build their business. Its a question of ensuring the state is financially prepared for the direst recession since the 1920s. Yet some writers and other professionals particularly those more highly paid and successful have been among the most critical. They fear, under a new classification test, they will lose work. Those fears are understandable, but apprehension about bills like New Jerseys S863 is misplaced. Where independent contractors are losing work opportunities, the blame falls on a fractured media industry reliant on permalancing. It falls on low-road employers that would use a good law as cover for their illegal practices. Bad players always threaten job loss when workers organize whether to raise the minimum wage, win a union, or demand the rights theyre entitled to under the law. We shouldnt allow these conditions in any industry. If people before were confused about the need to end worker misclassification, the reality now ought to be clear. The COVID crisis shows we cant afford to wait on workers rights. Oscar fears that if he gets sick, he wont be able to take time off and still put food on the table for his family. Thats an injustice we can no longer ignore. Workers like Oscar need protections now. New Jersey needs to show real support for all working people who lack rights on the job by ending worker misclassification and holding corporations accountable. The safety of all of us depends on it. Rebecca Dixon is executive director of the National Employment Law Project. Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com. The Star-Ledger/NJ.com encourages submissions of opinion. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. Welspun One Logistics Parks (WOLP) on Tuesday said it plans to donate one lakh disposable single-use masks by this month-end to Corona Warriors, particularly those who are engaged in warehousing and logistics activities in Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) and Bengaluru. The initiative is aimed at bridging the demand-supply gap for personal protection gears among the frontline logistics workers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Welspun One Logistics Parks said in a release. This initiative also concentrates on equipping local communities' such as panchayat, police force, fire station employees, housekeeping staff and servicing truck drivers with similar personal protection masks to combat the pandemic, it added. Compliant with guidelines issued by the central government to help curtail the pandemic, WOLP aims to support over 25,000 workers in Bhiwandi and Bengaluru by supplying them with disposable single-use masks that aid in preventing the spread of COVID-19, it said. These masks have been especially produced with 98 per cent BFE (Bacteria Filtration Efficiency) at Welspun's Advanced Textiles facility at Anjar in Gujarat, it added. Part of the city-based conglomerate Welspun Group, Welspun One Logistics Parks is an integrated real estate fund focused on warehousing. "We are in full support of our government's relief efforts and are committed to protecting the health of workers and communities in the vicinity of our projects," said Anshul Singhal, managing director, Welspun One Logistics Parks. Moving forward, WOLP will continue to understand other need gaps and offer care in safeguarding warehousing and logistics communities across the country, in the best way possible, the release added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Copyright 2020 Albuquerque Journal Twenty-one inmates have now tested positive for COVID-19 at the states Otero County Prison facility in Chaparral, New Mexico, southeast of Las Cruces. In the same building, but in separate wings, 38 people being held by federal authorities have also tested positive. Eric Harrison, a spokesman for the Corrections Department, said that last Friday a 31-year-old inmate said he was feeling ill, and was put into medical separation and tested at the prison run by the Management and Training Corporation. Later that evening, medical staff determined that additional medical services were required and he was transported to the University Hospital in El Paso, Texas, Harrison wrote in a news release. The test result returned positive. It was the first case of COVID-19 among inmates held by the state Corrections Department. Although the department announced last Friday that a correctional officer at the same facility had tested positive, Harrison said they dont believe the two cases are related. He said they are still conducting contact tracing to determine how the inmate got the virus. He said the prison facility is divided into four distinct wings, with state prisoners held in the east and west, and federal prisoners held in the north and south. In addition to the 38 federal inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 at the facility, 43 people have the virus at the nearby Otero County Processing Center run by Immigrations and Custom Enforcement, according to a spokeswoman for the governors office. In other parts of the state, two people held by federal agencies at the Cibola County Correctional Center near Grants, and one person held by federal agencies in the Torrance County Detention Facility near Estancia also have COVID-19, said Nora Meyers Sackett, the governors spokeswoman. Harrison said after the first inmate tested positive at the Otero County Prison facility they tested all inmates in the same housing unit and anyone who had distant contact or shared space. A total of 133 inmates were tested. Results for these additional tests began coming in today, with 20 new inmates producing positive results, Harrison wrote in the news release. The remaining 112 were negative and one test is still pending. Harrison said inmates who tested positive have been separated from the general population and are under medical observation. He said the Corrections Department is working with the Department of Health to test all inmates held by the state in the facility, which has a capacity of 647. Defense attorneys and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico have been pushing for the release of some inmates to lessen the chance of COVID-19 spreading in jails and prisons. Although 40 inmates have been released early around the state in response to the governors executive order, none came from Otero County Prison, Harrison said. In early May, the state Supreme Court rejected a petition from the ACLU, the state Law Offices of the Public Defender and the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association asking the justices to order Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to release additional inmates. Margaret Strickland, immediate past president of NMCDLA who has a law firm in Las Cruces, said she knows federal public defenders who have been told their clients at the Otero County Prison facility have COVID-19. This is what we have all been afraid of and why attorneys have pressed for their clients release, Strickland said. COVID-19 in jails is extremely dangerous. We need to work to get non-violent offenders out of these facilities before it is too late. Urvashi Rautela, who is currently enjoying her quarantine period by sharing many throwback posts, is counted amongst the most stylish actors in B-town. The Bollywood diva enjoys a massive social media fanbase of over 26 million followers on Instagram alone. Even during the COVID-19 lockdown, Urvashi keeps her fans updated about her whereabouts. Read: Urvashi Rautela Issues 'Body By Urvashi' Challenge, Fans Hail 'fitness Queen' The 'Body by Urvashi' challenge is quite a rage on social media nowadays, which motivates people to stay fit. The Pagalpanti actor is a travel enthusiast and loves to explore new places. Her social media is full of her pictures in some exotic locations. So let's take a look at some stunning Urvashi Rautela's photos might ignite the wanderlust in you. Urvashi Rautela's Surreal Travel Pictures and Videos Urvashi looks all geared up for her seaplane ride in this picture. During her trip to the Maldives, the Hate Story 4 actor poses before enthralling her seaplane ride. The Bollywood beauty looks ravishing in this pink co-ord outfit, which she paired with lemon pumps. Not to miss her voguish shades. Urvashi Rautela is having a gala time as she enjoys the view from Courchevel, Rhone-Alpes in France. The Great Grand Masti actor is super thrilled, and we can certainly see her excitement with the way she's dancing and singing in this video. One can also notice the scenic trolly and waterbody view from the height. Read: Urvashi Rautela's Obsession For Nail Art Is Evident From These Pictures, Take A Look In this Urvashi Rautela's Instagram photo, the gorgeous diva is all smiles for the camera. Shot in her hometown Uttarakahnad, Urvashi's smile is up to her cheeks in this picture. We cannot fail to notice the captivating view of the mountains lush-green mountains in the back. This Urvashi Rautela's picture totally inspires you to no only travel more, but try adventure sports. The Singh Saab the Great actor excited as she tries sky-diving in Dubai. Sky-diving is dangerous yet fun adventure sport, which is quite a thing now. Dubai is famous for its tourism and availability of distinct adventure sports. So next time, if you want to feel that adrenaline rush, then sky-diving should not be missed. Read: Urvashi Rautela's Magnificent Multi-coloured Outfits Will Give You Wardrobe Goals In this Urvashi Rautela's Instagram video we can how happy the Sanam Re actor is, as she sums up the beauty of Hallstatt lake in Austria. Hallstatt is also a UNESCO heritage site in Austria. It is an old village with a breathtaking lake under the same name. Urvashi looks elated in this video. Read: Urvashi Rautela Looks Like A Ray Of Sunshine In These Yellow Outfits; See Pics On the work front, Urvashi will be next seen in the film Virgin Bhanupriya. Helmed by director Ajay Lohan, it is a comedy flick about family relationships. The film is slated for June 2020 release, but due to the COVID-19 lockdown, it might be pushed to a later date. 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. A strip club in Wyoming that has been closed for almost three months due to the coronavirus pandemic has re-opened its doors with a mask on clothes off party to celebrate. The Den, located near the Wyoming-Colorado border, is one of the first strip clubs across the county to re-open in the midst of the pandemic. The state allowed a number of businesses to re-open on Friday due to the relatively low amount of coronavirus cases seen in the area. The club's owner told USA Today that despite feeling uncomfortable restarting her business amid the virus, she felt she had no choice but to do so. We knew that once our doors closed, we were screwed until we could reopen, Kim Chavez told the newspaper. If Id gotten the PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] I might not have opened today. This is a risk were taking. The club reportedly celebrated it's reopening on Friday with a "masks on clothes off" party. Fox 31 reported the club is re-opening on the basis all staff wear masks while inside and practice social distancing with physical constant strictly prohibited. Staff are also reportedly required to sanitise the bar, tables, chairs every time a customer moves. Some of the club's dancers expressed a mixture of emotions about going back to work amidst the pandemic. Im super-excited. Im a little nervous because the virus is still out there, but Im glad to be able to go to work, because a lot of people cant yet, dancer Doris Craig told USA Today. Others expressed that the new measures make their job more difficult, and even dangerous. As long as I get to work and start bringing in money again Im okay with it right now, dancer Jenny Boswell told Fox 31. Were on eight-inch heels and obviously a mask sometimes messes with your vision like I need to be able to see where my feet are going, she added. In eight-inch heels it could be deadly. Government stimulus programmes specifically ban adult-oriented businesses and performers from applying for help, according to USA Today, meaning many dancers have been left to fare without income amidst the closures. Ms Chavez and her husband and co-owner Greg Chavez have insisted that the club is taking as many precautions as necessary to ensure that all their staff are safe. Its not different than Walmart home depot or any place else that is letting a bunch of people in. My club is safe. Were following all the same guidelines. Were taking all the same precautions, Mr Chavez said. Wyoming has recorded at least 750 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and eight recorded deaths as of Tuesday. The testing and contact tracing system will be redesigned as part of the HSEs plan to have a processing system that is as real time as possible, the secretary general of the Department of Health said. Jim Breslin told the special Covid-19 Oireachtas committee that the target turnaround time is three days for 70% of all tests. He said one of the ways to achieve that is by texting negative results, which he said would really speed things up. But we do want to continue to improve those, and what we have is a system which was patched together, but now needs to be redesigned end to end, Mr Breslin added. The HSE is doing that, working on information systems and processing systems to get that down as real time as possible. #OireachtasTV - Opening Statement by Secretary General of @roinnslainte Jim Breslin at the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response meeting - watch the LIVE proceedings here #seeforyourself #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/s7XvHAIckw Houses of the Oireachtas - Tithe an Oireachtais (@OireachtasNews) May 19, 2020 Mr Breslin warned that further waves of Covid-19 are an ever present danger. The progress is such that we can now collectively take some calculated risks in extending the range of activities it is permitted to undertake, he added. But we need to be aware that we will continue to be in the acute emergency phase of this crisis for some time, with further waves an ever present danger. This is not a one, a two or even a three-day storm, after which we move to a recovery phase. The acute phase of this crisis will definitely be measured in months, and most probably in years, rather than days. Meanwhile, chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan, who also appeared before the Oireachtas committee, said there is no certainty that Ireland can keep the virus suppressed. He said the advice of the National Public Health and Emergency Team is that restrictions are eased in a phase-based manner, while maintaining close vigilance on the spread and impact of the virus. #OireachtasTV - Opening Statement by Dr. Tony Holohan at the Special Committee on Covid-19 Response meeting - watch the LIVE proceedings here #seeforyourself #COVID19 @roinnslainte @CMOIrelandhttps://t.co/lEqB3DaKmx pic.twitter.com/CjUqbYFtGq Houses of the Oireachtas - Tithe an Oireachtais (@OireachtasNews) May 19, 2020 This is to ensure that we can safely recommence work, social engagement, education and the day-to-day operation of the health service, Dr Holohan added. Mr Breslin also said that the whole health service was restricted in what it could do, which has had an impact on private hospitals. He said that more than 280 private consultants have signed up to the contract which will see them working for the HSE through the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Breslin said the Department of Health will have to review its contract with private hospitals over the coming weeks. Dr Holohan said that the HSE is at the capacity of carrying out 100,000 tests a week and that 97% of people who were tested were receiving negative results. He added: Our assessment is that we believe it is needed. Its not the only target that is important. Its also the test turnaround. We are moving together into Phase One. That means #COVID19 restrictions have eased to allow more essential retailers to open. Travel more 5km for this essential shopping, but remain within 5km of home for leisure/sport. More info on Phase One here: https://t.co/ZzAQ63yGWe pic.twitter.com/WOLQVX1sev Department of Health (@roinnslainte) May 19, 2020 There is a fixation on 100,000 tests but it needs to be fluid. Asked how many members are currently on the NPHET team, Dr Holohan said that it has grown with the states needs. We co-opted people along the way, he added. Dr Holohan was urged to publish updated minutes of NPHETs meeting. The challenge of keeping up to date with the administrative tasks is significant, Dr Holohan added. Sinn Feins Louise OReilly questioned whether people who are returning to work as part of phase one will be tested. It has struck me that some of the measures have been reactive rather than proactive and in this time I would have thought that you would have used the time on pause to make preparations for reopening the economy, Ms OReilly added. Dr Holohan said: Any decision in relation to testing and its role in a particular occupational setting will be taken on a public health assessment at a point in time if thats something thats valuable and worth doing. But it wont necessarily be the case that particular occupational groups will be subject to a sweep of testing, unless theres a public health rationale. That might arise at a point in time. - Kuria lashed out at those cautioning the Kikuyu community against supporting Deputy President William Ruto for the presidency in 2022 - The Gatundu South MP said Mt Kenya region had had its fair share of the country's leadership and time was ripe to support a presidential candidate from another community - The lawmaker insisted the decision to support Ruto was unconditional and would not be stopped by threats Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has hinted at a "major revolution" in Mt Kenya region ahead of the 2022 General Election. Kuria, a close ally of Deputy President William Ruto, was reacting to sentiments by political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi who claimed it would be "herd stupidity" for the Kikuyu community to support the DP for the presidency. READ ALSO: Essential services: Nurse arrested in Nakuru after sneaking out of Nairobi to visit boyfriend Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria. Photo: Moses Kuria. Source: Facebook READ ALSO: Tanzania lifts 14 day mandatory quarantine for travellers visiting the country In a post he shared on his Facebook page on Tuesday, May 19, the Jubilee lawmaker said time was ripe for Mt Kenya region to support a leader from another community to lead the country and that no one would stop that resolve. "We are staring at a major uprising, nay, revolution in GEMA nation. We better die on our feet rather than live on our knees. They disrespected our fathers who fought for independence. We will fight for our honour and our dignity," he said. READ ALSO: Pierre Nkurunziza's 15-year rule expected to end as Burundians head to polls Moses Kuria said time was ripe for Mt Kenya region to support a presidential candidate from another region. Photo: Moses Kuria. Source: Facebook Kuria questioned why those criticising supporters of Ruto in Mt Kenya region never did so when they supported retired president Mwai Kibaki and his predecessor for two consecutive terms each. "We are just tired of people begrudging us for our choices. Thrice we made a decision to support Kibaki 100% in 97, 02 and 07. No one had an issue with that. Twice we made a decision to support Uhuru Kenyatta 100% in 13 and 17. We were angels then," he added. The vocal MP who leads a constituency from which the presidents hails, and who has turned himself into a fierce critic of the head of state, said the decision to support Ruto was unconditional and would not be stopped by threats. "Kenyans have been saying that GEMA can not support another tribe. Willingly and without being forced they have settled on William Ruto. I even offered myself as a candidate but GEMA people told me it's time to support another tribe. So what have we done wrong to deserve being called stupid? I thought we deserve bouquets not barbs for supporting a person from another tribe," said Kuria The deputy president has been making significant inroads in Mt Kenya region and has acquired a handful of political allies to drum up support for his 2022 presidential bid. Kuria, Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwa'h, Ndindi Nyoro (Kiharu), Alice Wahome (Kandara), Rigathi Gachagua (Mathira) are some of the vocal politicians who have been driving Ruto's agenda in the region. Uhuru has, however, steadily and in a more subtle way been stamping his authority in the region and reclaiming his support base. A section of the DP's allies have been facing a series of intimidations and some have been earmarked for ouster from parliamentary leadership positions they hold. Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through news@tuko.co.ke or WhatsApp: 0732482690. Contact Tuko.co.ke instantly. Source: TUKO.co.ke By Laman Ismayilova The "Week of Museums of the Turkic World" has been successfully launched with the support of the Azerbaijan Ministry of Education. Co-organized by the Republican Child and Youth Development Center and Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation, the project presents virtual museum tours to the museums of Turkic speaking countries as part of "Museum Week for Schoolchildren" program. The initiative was laucnhed on May 18 vie online platform, bringing together Azerbaijan Minister of Education Jeyhun Bayramov, President of the International Foundation for Turkish Culture and Heritage Gunay Efendiyeva, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan Serzhan Abdykarimov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkey to Azerbaijan Erkan Ozoral, Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan Bakhrom Ashrafkhanov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Hungary to Azerbaijan Viktor Szederkenyi, director of the Republican Child and Youth Development Center Firuza Sultanzade and director of the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum Shirin Malikova. The director of the Republican Child and Youth Development Center Firuza Sultanzade addressed the event. "We are glad that at such difficult time for everyone we were able to jointly hold for the sixth time our program "Museum Week for Schoolchildren", which for the first time acquired international status thanks to Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation. I express my sincere gratitude to all museums to our partners in the program. About thirty Azerbaijan's leading museums have previously participated in this project. And now we can say that we have added five more major museums from your countries," Sultanzade said. She emphasized that the project provides children with a new online platform for exploring the world's museums without leaving home during quarantine time. In their remarks, the directors of Kazakh National Museum, Kyrgyz National Art Museum, Turkish Museum of Troy, Uzbek State Historical Museum, Hungarian National Museum ho took part in the Week of Museums of the Turkic World, stressed the positive results of cooperation. The meeting was followed by a virtual tour to the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museums. Notably, virtual tours will be also organized at Kazakh National Museum (May 19), Kyrgyz National Art Museum (May 20), Turkish Museum of Troy (May 21), Uzbek State Historical Museum (May 22) and Hungarian National Museum ( May 23). --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend The Armenian government plans to hold an inauguration of the head of the occupant regime in Azerbaijan's Nagorno Karabakh region, in the region's Shusha city on May 21, Azerbaijans MP Azay Guliyev said at a meeting of the Parliament on May 19, Trend reports. The question is, why is this clown show organized in Shusha? Because the show related to the so-called elections, which the Armenians organized there on March 31, was an epic fail. However, by holding the so-called inauguration ceremony, which the Armenians themselves do not recognize, the organizers show how two-faced they are, noted Guliyev. Unlike in previous years, this time the Armenian leadership completely exposed itself, putting itself in a miserable position. All international organizations such as the UN, the EU, European Parliament (EP), OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs countries, OSCE PA, PACE, Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), GUAM and almost all other international organizations, all leading countries of the world, without exception and unequivocally condemned this illegal action of Armenia, rightly called these "elections" illegitimate, said the MP. All the mentioned organizations openly stated that in no case they recognize the result of the occupation, Guliyev stressed. "However, the tough response of the world community to the so-called "elections" held this time in Nagorno-Karabakh was different, stronger and more organized than the protests at the "elections" show of illegal regimes in other countries. This was a severe blow to the aggressive and ethnic cleansing policies of Armenia for the past 30 years, to all the efforts of the world Armenians to recognize the fictional "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic." Even the country calling Armenia its outpost, without openly recognizing the "election" show, noted the importance of liberating the occupied regions of Azerbaijan," the MP added. Unlike puppet and illegal regimes in other countries, no one recognizes the puppet regime created on Azerbaijani territory. This is the real result achieved by the Azerbaijani state and the president, diplomatic and political success. Therefore, Pashinyan, in such a shameful position, wants to organize such a show in Shusha in order to console himself, to forget the shame and political fiasco that he experienced in Munich, to revive the rating in society, the MP added. The Armenians, holding the "inauguration" ceremony of the head of a structure not recognized by them, put themselves not only in a ridiculous position, but also once again demonstrate to the world their two-facedness. Therefore, I believe that without attaching particular importance to this provocation of the enemy, we must continue our journey, be stronger and more organized to liberate the occupied lands, the MP emphasized. We must strengthen the army, unite more closely around the Supreme Commander. Since May 18, the Azerbaijani army has launched large-scale military exercises. I believe that the beginning of military exercises at this moment is an eloquent message for the enemy. I am sure that our army will again give the best answer to all the provocations of the enemy, as in April 2016, and the Azerbaijani soldier will put the last point in the conflict. Let no one doubt it, Guliyev added. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Gujarat Congress MLA Gyasuddin Shaikh on Tuesday alleged that negligence andimproper treatment of COVID-19 patients in Ahmedabad civil hospital is leading to high number of deaths, and sought the intervention of the National Human Rights Commission in the matter. In a letter sent to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Shaikh claimed a similar scenario was there in other government-run hospitals also where senior doctors are "shying away from treating COVID-19 patients and handing over the responsibility to junior doctors and para medical staff". Till Monday, Ahmedabad reported 555 COVID-19 deaths in various government-run hospitals, including civil hospital. "The high mortality rate of coronavirus patients in Ahmedabad is due to improper treatment and negligence of doctors and authorities," the opposition MLA said. "It has come to my notice that doctors are not aware about the death of a patient even after three hours. Relatives are also not informed about the treatment or progress in health of the patients," Shaikh said in a video message. Because of such practices, very high number of coronavirus patients have died in the civil hospital, he said. "Thus, to safeguard the basic human rights of patients, I have written to NHRC today and sought its intervention. I have also demanded an investigation into the overall functioning of the civil hospital," he said. Shaikh, who represents Dariyapur seat of Ahmedabad, in his letter alleged that relatives of some patients were informed about victims' deaths after almost a week. The legislator also claimed that patients having other ailments are not given proper attention. Relatives are forced to take the bodies in commercial vehicles because of non-availability of ambulances at the civil hospital, he alleged. Out of the total 11,746 cases of coronavirus reported in Gujarat so far, 8,683 are from Ahmedabad district alone. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As far as I can tell, most epidemiologists are horrified by Americas rush to reopen the economy, to abandon much of the social distancing that has helped contain Covid-19. We know what a safe reopening requires: a low level of infection, abundant testing and the ability to quickly trace and isolate the contacts of new cases. We dont have any of those things yet. The epidemiologists could, of course, be mistaken. But at every stage of this crisis theyve been right, while predictions of a quick end to the pandemic by politicians and their minions have proved utterly wrong. And if the experts are right again, premature opening could lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths and backfire even in economic terms, as a second wave of infections forces us back into lockdown. So where is the push to reopen coming from? Some of it comes from right-wing crazies. Only a small minority of Americans believes that freedom includes the right to endanger other peoples lives (which is what congregating in large groups in the midst of a pandemic does); that wearing a mask is un-American, or unmanly, or something; that Covid-19 is a hoax perpetrated by liberals. But that minority has huge influence within the Republican Party. Some of it comes from Donald Trumps obsession with the stock market. His initial refusal to do anything to prepare for the pandemic reportedly reflected concern that any acknowledgment of the threat would spook the market. And the push to reopen may similarly reflect a belief that going back to normal life would be good for the market, even if it kills many people. Lets die for the Dow! Your tax-deductible gift today powers our reporters and keeps us independent. We rely on you, our reader, not paywalls to stay funded because we believe important news and information should be freely accessible to all. Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now. Governor Gavin Newsom had good news today for the shaggy and disheveled: It could be legal to get a haircut again in the next few weeks. Barbershops and hair salons around the state have been closed since mid-March to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. But that doesn't mean people haven't been getting haircuts, secretly, this whole time. In late April, I saw two freshly-shaven men walk out of a Venice barbershop that had butcher paper taped over the windows. We made eye contact, and I quickly looked the other way. Then, a week later, I got an email from my hair stylist. He was making house calls. I wondered: Should I get my hair cut? When the stay-at-home order began, haircuts seemed completely non-essential. A luxury that we could collectively forgo to help keep our community safe from a potentially deadly disease. But as the weeks turned into months, I started to wonder: How long can we really go without them? And what is the world of clandestine haircutting like? 'A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT NEEDS HAIRCUTS!!' Apparently, it's not so clandestine. I looked on Craigslist and since May 1, seven barbers and stylists in L.A. have advertised their services. Including Carmelle. Carmelle, who asked me not to use her last name for fear of being fined, used to work for a salon in Santa Monica before the pandemic hit. She was furloughed on March 17. Her manager, incorrectly, told her she was not eligible for unemployment while on furlough. So for a month she stayed home, with no income, worrying about how she was going to pay her bills and her rent. She tried applying for jobs with delivery services and grocery stores, but didn't hear back. "Ok, what am I gonna do?" she asked herself. "It's not like I can go get another career. I've been a hair stylist for 22 years." So she pulled her grandmother's barber chair out of storage, hung a mirror on the wall of her living room, and stocked up on bleach and Barbicide and masks. Then, she wrote her ad. "I was like, 'I don't think people are gonna drive all the way out here to Compton to see me,'" she told me over the phone. "And when my phone had over 100 texts in one day, I was like, 'oh my goodness, what am I gonna do?' Is a lot of people out there that needs haircuts!'" Carmelle's equipment and her certifications laid out on a table in her living room, which has become her temporary barber shop. (Chava Sanchez/LAist) Carmelle enlisted her roommate to manage the scheduling. She typically does two cuts an hour: mostly men, mostly damage control. "Some of them just be like, 'I tried to get my wife to cut my hair with the dog clippers, and this is what I got," she said, laughing. "And I be like, 'We can fix it.'" She makes her clients wear masks and squirts their hands with hand sanitizer when they arrive and when they leave. In between cuts, she sprays every surface with disinfectant and sanitizes her tools. She also gets tested for COVID-19 every week, and posts a screenshot of her test results on her Craigslist ad. And she keeps track of all her clients so she can notify them if she or another client gets sick (assuming they tell her). "I'm not worried about getting sick," she said, "number one reason is, us stylists, we went to school for this. We should know how to sanitize." POTENTIAL PENALTIES What Carmelle is doing is not allowed in L.A. County. The county is currently in "Stage 2" of re-opening its economy, which means "lower risk" workplaces are allowed to open. Salons and barbershops, however, are considered "higher risk" workplaces, and are part of Stage 3. Last week, the Professional Beauty Federation of California sued Governor Gavin Newsom over his decision to order salons to remain closed under Stage 2. And in some rural counties, hair salons are re-opening anyway, in defiance of the Governor's orders. But in L.A. County, at least for now, professional haircutting is still underground. The California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology realizes some of their members are still working, and they don't approve. As of May 12, they had received 651 complaints, but had yet to penalize anyone, according to spokesperson Cheri Gyuro. Carmelle is unapologetic. "Before you judge, put yourself in my situation first," she said. "It's not like I did not apply for unemployment. It's not like I'm not applying for jobs. It's not like I'm doing this because I don't care about the stay-at-home order. My hands are tied." 'I FEEL A LITTLE ANXIOUS EVERY TIME' Many professional stylists have had trouble accessing government help. Those who are independent contractors could be eligible for unemployment or the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the federal government's forgivable loan program for small businesses affected by the coronavirus. But it can be hard to know which to apply for. One L.A.-area salon owner, who also asked that I not use her name for fear of losing her license, hasn't received aid from either program, and so, after two months, she started making home visits to cut hair and do weaves and blow-outs. But the visits are anxiety-provoking. Once, she stealthily wheeled a large blow-drier out to her car, paranoid someone would see her. "There's no mistaking it's a drier," she said. "I feel a little anxious every time. I do one person and I'm exhausted, when my average day was 12 people." Carmelle and Eric review the results of his haircut inside Carmelle's Compton home. (Chava Sanchez/LAist) DON'T 'GRAM THAT People who receive clandestine haircuts are nervous, too, but not necessarily about breaking the law. "The shaming," said Whitney, an L.A. resident who, you guessed it, asked me not to use her last name. She recently got a cut and balayage on her back deck from her long-time stylist. "Usually when I'd go get my haircut there would be a whole Instagram story about before and after. But we're not going to post about it because it's a no-no." Public officials also risk shaming if they look too groomed during press conferences or public meetings. Melissa Sprout, a salon owner who lives in Newport Beach, recently accused the Orange County Board of Supervisors of getting illicit haircuts. "As a hairstylist, I can see that many of you have had services done in the last six weeks. Seeing that you must find our services essential, how can we be re-classified (as essential businesses and allowed to re-open)?" she asked during a public meeting. Supervisor Don Wagner shot back: "I have not had my hair cut since well before this started, and if you want to get a close-up look, talk to me afterwards." ARE HAIRCUTS ESSENTIAL? Personal grooming does not meet the standards set by Gov. Gavin Newsom on March 19, when he said the only sectors allowed to stay open were those "whose assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, are considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination thereof." But some stylists argue they are more essential than they seem. "Fire, police, paramedics and military personnel all have strict grooming standards which they must adhere to," Stroud, the salon owner, said at the O.C. Board of Supervisors' meeting. "That should make us an essential service." A shaggy haired man holds a sign reading "who do I have to screw 4a haircut" out of his cars sunroof. (Chava Sanchez/LAist) And some hair treatments require routine maintenance to avoid potentially dire consequences. The L.A.-area salon owner, who primarily does black women's hair, told me, "relaxers, or hair extensions, if they're not kept up, your hair could fall out. You should replace it every two months." Haircuts -- at least good ones -- also just make us feel good about ourselves. And L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said he gets that. But public health takes precedent. "We all have very close relationships with people who cut our hair," he said when I asked him about haircuts last week. "We know them well, they know us well. It's a moment of relaxation. And for many people, it's about how they feel about themselves. But, the state has been clear: it's one of the more dangerous and risky activities, even done with appointments only." Garcetti's said his wife is cutting his hair right now, with shears purchased on Amazon. IS IT WORTH THE RISK? Some researchers studying reopening have ranked businesses based on their economic importance and risk of transmitting the coronavirus. Barber shops and nail salons fall somewhere in the middle. "They obviously involve contact between customers and employees. People often tend to stay for a while," said Katherine Baicker, the dean of the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, who wrote an op-ed about the relative risk of different businesses in The New York Times. "That said, they're often not that big, or not that busy." Another researcher, Seth Gordon Benzell, said home visits may actually be safer than going to a salon. "What's really dangerous is people sitting around in crowded, small barber shops," said Benzell, a postdoctoral associate at MIT who recently wrote a paper examining the risk of re-opening various kinds of businesses. At home, there are fewer people around, and at home you may feel more comfortable insisting your stylist and whomever else is around wear a mask and do appropriate social distancing. But given that people are getting pretty tired of staying at home -- and are growing some pretty shaggy manes -- it seems like something is going to have to give. As we decide how to go back out in public, Benzell said it's helpful to think about what he calls a "social contact budget." Each person has to decide how much risk they're willing to take on and then divvy up their physical interactions accordingly. "You should ask yourself, 'Do I really want to be spending my limited social contact budget on this?'" Benzell said of haircuts, "'or is there something more important I want to spend my very few human interactions that I'm allowing myself on?'" Maybe for you, a haircut is worth it. If not, you could always pay a barber to guide you, via FaceTime, while you cut your own hair. Because thanks to the coronavirus, that is a real thing. Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled Melissa Sprout's last name. It also stated that Sprout questioned the O.C. Board of Supervisors on a video call, which was incorrect. LAist regrets the error. Amidst economic disruption occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic, Japans economy has fallen into recession. The worlds third-biggest economy shrank at an annual pace of 3.4 per cent in the first three months of 2020, for the first time since 2015. The coronavirus is wreaking havoc on the global economy with an estimated cost of up to $8.8 trillion, even as the economic downturn continues to take its toll on nations of the world. Japan did not go into full national lockdown, but issued a state of emergency in April which severely affected supply chains and businesses in the trade-reliant nation. Reports said the 3.4 per cent fall in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first three months of 2020, follows a 6.4 per cent decline during the last quarter of 2019, pushing Japan into a technical recession. According to local media reports, consumers in Japan have been hit by the dual impact of the coronavirus and a sales tax hike to 10 per cent from 8 per cent in October. While Japan has lifted the state of emergency in 39 out of its 47 prefectures, the economic outlook for this current quarter is equally gloomy. Japan has had more than 16,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and around 740 deaths. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the countrys economy to shrink 22 per cent during the April-to-June period, which would be its biggest decline on record. The Japanese government has already announced a record $1 trillion stimulus package, and the Bank of Japan expanded its stimulus measures for the second straight month in April. Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister,vhas pledged a second budget later in May to fund fresh spending measures to cushion the economic effect of the pandemic. Global Downturn The global economy is expected to slip into recession due to the coronavirus pandemic, analysts have said, since the outbreak of the virus last year. Many nations of the world, including Nigeria, have had to rejig their economic plans and projections amid the uncertainty. READ ALSO: Despite the policy responses, many nations have experienced economic whirlwind amid disruption in global travel and trade. Many countries have gone into lockdowns to curtail the spread of the virus. Last week, Germany slipped into recession as more major economies face the impact of sustained lockdowns. Analysts say Japan faces a unique challenge as its economy has been stagnant for decades, compared to the more buoyant economies of its rivals, the U.S. and China. Japan also relies heavily on exporting its goods and has little control over consumer demand in other countries, which has been severely impacted by coronavirus lockdowns. Many of its biggest brands, such as car firms Toyota and Honda, have seen sales slump across the world. Tourism, which has long been a boost to the Japanese economy, has also been hit hard as the pandemic keeps foreign visitors away. The BBC reported Monday that despite its economic status, Japan appears to be doing better, or less badly than other major economies. While economists predict Japans economy will shrink at an annual pace of 22 per cent in the April-to-June period, it said, they also predict that the U.S. could contract by more than 25 per cent. The 3.4 per cent annual rate of decline in the first quarter also compares favourably to the 4.8 per cent the U.S. suffered in the first three months of this year. This was the sharpest decline for the U.S. economy, the worlds biggest, since the Great Depression of the 1930s. DANBURY The disposition hearing of the Garner Correctional Institution employee accused of misconduct has been pushed to August. Jennie Reese, 32, is charged with two counts of conveying unauthorized items into a correctional institution for allegedly exchanging letters with an inmate and sneaking a cell phone into the maximum security prison in Newtown where she worked as a corrections officer. The Fed is committed to using our full range of tools to support the economy in this challenging time even as we recognize that these actions are only a part of a broader public-sector response, he said in prepared remarks. The Fed has already gotten several lending programs not backed by congressional money fully set up, but of the five that use funding from the March stimulus law, known as the CARES Act, only one is partially running. The rest are in various design phases as officials try to make sure they can get credit to companies and local governments that need it without violating the law or risking excessive losses. When asked why they are not pushing further with Congresss appropriation, Fed officials have consistently pointed to the Treasury. I do think were clearly moving into areas where there is more risk than there has been in the past, Mr. Powell said at his April news conference. But in terms of the way to think about that money, I think thats really a question for the Treasury Department. The Fed and Treasury have sometimes clashed over the details of program design, with some at the central bank pushing for greater risk-taking, though they have agreed on the overall purpose and on which sectors, be it the municipal loan market or corporate credit, need a program. The Treasury has pushed back on the idea that it is being too cautious. Mr. Mnuchin thinks that if the Fed were to take on more risk, it would insist on having even more financial backing. He has been holding about half of the funds in reserve as he assesses the economic effects of the programs rolled out so far and keeping some powder dry in case the downturn becomes more dire. In testimony prepared for delivery on Tuesday, Mr. Mnuchin said Treasury had committed up to $195 billion in credit support under the CARES Act. We have the remaining $259 billion to create or expand programs as needed, as we continue to monitor a variety of economic sectors closely. Technavio has been monitoring the industrial interlock switches market and it is poised to grow by USD 90.79 million during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 5% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, the 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/20200518005321/en/ Technavio has announced the latest market research report titled Global Industrial Interlock Switches Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on COVID19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. ABB Ltd., General Electric Co., IDEC Corp., Keyence Corp., OMRON Corp., Panasonic Corp., Pepperl+Fuchs AG, Rockwell Automation Inc., Schneider Electric SE, and Siemens AG are some of the major market participants. The demand for non-contact safety interlock switches will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Demand for non-contact safety interlock switches has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. Industrial Interlock Switches Market 2020-2024: Segmentation Industrial Interlock Switches Market is segmented as below: Product Guard Locking Switches Hinge Switches Others Geography North America Europe APAC South America MEA End-user Discrete Industries Process Industries 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=IRTNTR43669 Industrial Interlock Switches 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 industrial interlock switches market report covers the following areas: Industrial Interlock Switches Market size Industrial Interlock Switches Market trends Industrial Interlock Switches Market industry analysis This study identifies stringent safety regulations to protect workers in manufacturing industries as one of the prime reasons driving the industrial interlock switches market growth during the next few years. Industrial Interlock Switches Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the industrial interlock switches market, including some of the vendors such as ABB Ltd., General Electric Co., IDEC Corp., Keyence Corp., OMRON Corp., Panasonic Corp., Pepperl+Fuchs AG, Rockwell Automation Inc., Schneider Electric SE, and Siemens AG. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the industrial interlock switches market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Register for a free trial today and gain instant access to 17,000+ market research reports. Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform Industrial Interlock Switches Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist industrial interlock switches market growth during the next five years Estimation of the industrial interlock switches market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the industrial interlock switches market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of industrial interlock switches market vendors Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Market characteristics Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five forces summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Product Market segments Comparison by Product Guard locking switches Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Hinge switches Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Others Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by Product Market Segmentation by End-user Market segments Comparison by End-user Discrete Industries Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Process Industries Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by End-user Customer landscape 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 by geography Market drivers Market challenges Market trends Vendor Landscape Competitive scenario Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors ABB Ltd. General Electric Co. IDEC Corp. Keyence Corp. OMRON Corp. Panasonic Corp. Pepperl+Fuchs AG Rockwell Automation Inc. Schneider Electric SE Siemens AG Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005321/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com/ ISLAMABAD - In the world's fifth most populous country, where only a small fraction have access to the internet, officials are using a fairly rudimentary tool for distance learning - the television. When schools were forced to close to avert the spread of the coronavirus, Pakistan stood up an educational channel. Programmed with content for kindergarten through high school, each grade gets one hour of curriculum per day, so the students have to watch in shifts. Now, for millions of Pakistani schoolchildren, that single channel is their only access to education. And even that channel isn't available to everyone. Pakistan already struggles to keep millions of children in school, and as partial lockdowns continue, educators warn enrollments could drop further. Some private school students were given study plans and extra coursework, but most Pakistani children - those who attend public government schools - were sent home with no further guidance. "They said 'Keep them busy,' but they didn't provide us an outline to study, anything," said Kainat Nisar, a 24-year-old university student who suddenly found herself in charge of the education of her five nieces and nephews between the ages of 4 and 14. The children watch the government channel for their allotted hour, but Nisar, as one of the most educated people in her family, is left to keep everyone engaged for the rest of the day. A typical day has the younger children outside on the roof hunched over workbooks while the older children share use of the family's only laptop in a backroom. "You are teaching your children on your own; you're on your own," she said. Pakistan has some of the world's worst education indicators. More than 40% of Pakistan's school-age students don't attend school, the second-highest rate in the world. And even for those who do attend school, literacy rates suggest many are not learning. Less than 20% of Pakistani third graders can read and comprehend a short passage. Now, educators, experts and officials fear the months-long closure of schools in Pakistan with minimal distance learning is set to exacerbate the problem. The national Pakistani curriculum is taught in Urdu and English - the country's official languages. But most Pakistani children grow up speaking a regional language at home and struggle to absorb information in the classroom. Lessons largely consist of rote memorization with teachers reciting the content of textbooks to classes of 30 to 40 children. The students chant back what the teachers just said. "It's almost like we think kids are USB sticks, and we are just downloading this information onto them and that will make them educated," said Nadia Naviwala, a global fellow at the Wilson Center and an expert on the Pakistani education system. She warns Pakistan's education crisis is preventing the country from advancing economically and undercuts efforts to battle extremism. These larger problems in Pakistan's education system, Naviwala says, are reflected in the government television channel created during the coronavirus pandemic. The channel "Teleschool" is uneven in its quality. Some programming is incomprehensible and fast-paced, while other broadcasts are better than the content children get in the government school system, according to education experts. In one recently broadcast English lesson for kindergartners about the letter "u," a young female voice narrates an animated story about a village of huts destroyed by a mudslide after a greedy man cut down all the trees. As the story is told, the words "hut," "mud" and "cut" flashed on the screen. But during another broadcast, a second-grade science lesson on the eyesight of owls delved into how unique proteins in the birds' eyes sense different light wavelengths, subject matter far beyond the comprehension level of a second-grader. Pakistan's education minister, Shafqat Mahmood, acknowledges problems with the content. "We know it's not perfect," he said, but explained his ministry was left scrambling after the lockdown was announced. The country had never had an educational television channel before, and because of the low rates of internet access in the country, setting up online lessons with video conferencing and interactive lectures would have been impossible. Only about 36% of Pakistani households have broadband internet access, according to government figures, and according to the World Bank only 15.5% of the population used the internet in 2017. "We believe it has been very successful," Mahmood said of the Teleschool channel. He said the feedback he has seen from parents and teachers has been overwhelmingly positive. But, he said, "it doesn't replace the classroom." Mahmood also acknowledged that the channel wasn't reaching Pakistan's poorest families and said his ministry is trying to develop educational radio programing. Pakistan's schools will be closed through the rest of the school year, officials announced this week, despite the easing of other lockdown restrictions. Coronavirus infections, meanwhile, are steadily increasing. As of Monday, the heath ministry recorded nearly 42,000 infections. More than 900 have died. Imtiaz Ahmed, a headmaster at a school in Pakistan's northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said hardly any of her students have been able to see the program. Like most government school students in Pakistan, the children at Ahmed's school are mostly from poor families of farmers or day laborers, and they cannot afford a television set. Once schools reopen, Ahmed said, it will take months to bring students back to the level they were at when the lockdown began. And she said she expects fewer students to return as more families will put their children to work for additional income. Partial coronavirus lockdowns in Pakistan have put millions out of work and are estimated to have pushed up to 10 million Pakistanis into poverty, according to government estimates. Saima Ali, a middle-class housewife, said her family's finances have taken a hit from the lockdown. Ali went to government schools as a child but insists on sending her children to private schools, where she believes they receive a better education. "It's expensive, it's a lot for us, but we must by hook or by crook," she said of scraping together the fee payments. "We have a saying in Urdu: The most important wealth you are giving to your children is education." - - - Shaiq Hussain in Islamabad and Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this report. WHO given 30 days to make 'major changes' before US funding cut permanently Donald Trump has threatened to permanently cut off funding to the World Health Organisation if it fails to make major changes within a 30 day deadline. The US leader published his full letter to the organisations chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in the early hours of Tuesday. Mr Trump criticised the WHO for not doing enough, saying it "consistently ignored credible reports of the virus spreading" late last year in Wuhan. He lambasted the WHO for repeatedly "praising" China and said the only way forward for it was to "demonstrate independence. Trump reveals he's taking unproven drug for coronavirus despite health warnings Meanwhile, Mr Trump last night also revealed he is taking controversial malaria drug hydroxychloroquine in case he gets Covid-19 - despite warnings that the drug is unproven as a treatment for the virus. The US President told how he has been taking the drug once a day "for about a week and a half. Mr Trump has pushed hydroxychloroquine publicly on several occasions as a potential cure for coronavirus, despite repeated warnings from US public health officials. He said that the White House doctor did not recommend hydroxychloroquine to him but that he requested the drug from his own doctor. 'Air bridges' plan gives hope to holidaymakers planning travel this summer British holidaymakers may be able to travel abroad this summer under Government plans to create air bridges with other countries. The proposal between the UK and nations where the outbreak is under control was backed by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Monday. This week the Government was reportedly expected to announce a 14-day quarantine period for international arrivals in the UK. It was feared this would end hopes of travel abroad this summer, but the possibly was given hope as Mr Shapps approved of the air bridges idea floated by senior Tory MP Huw Merriman. Air bridges would see agreements sought with countries with low R numbers to let passengers travel between them without going into quarantine. Three held on suspicion of murder after fatal shooting of law student, 19 Three men are being held on suspicion of murdering a 19-year-old law student who was shot dead in the street as she walked to a Lidl supermarket. Aya Hachem, who studied at the University of Salford, was on a main road in Blackburn when she was gunned down on Sunday. The arrests followed a public appeal for information and the men, aged 39, 33 and 36 and from Blackburn, were being held in police custody. Ms Hachem was an innocent passer-by and not the intended target of the broad-daylight attack in King Street, Lancashire Police said. Harry and Meghan celebrate second wedding anniversary The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are celebrating their second wedding anniversary. Much has changed for Harry and Meghan since they said their vows in St George's Castle, Windsor Castle, on May 19 2018, in front of the royal family, celebrity guests and a worldwide television audience of millions. The Queen's grandson Harry and former Suits star Meghan have welcomed son Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, who turned one on May 6. But they also sparked the Megxit crisis and quit as working royals just one year, 10 months and 12 days after their high-profile wedding. Two days of sizzling heat before 'heavy' thunderstorms roll in Britons are set to bask in the sizzling heat as temperatures continue to rise before "heavy" thunderstorms and rain moves in later this week. The mercury is expected to peak at highs of 25C today and 28C on Wednesday, which would surpass the 26.6C recorded in Treknow, Cornwall, on Good Friday. The warm weather is perfectly timed for the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures, with sunshine and clear skies forecast for much of the week. But thunderstorms are expected to strike early on Thursday, with the possibility of a weather warning due to "quite lively" weather on the way. On this day... 1536: Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I, was executed on Tower Green for alleged adultery. 1802: The French Legion d'Honneur was created by Napoleon. 1906: The 20km Simplon rail tunnel between Switzerland and Italy was officially opened. 1935: TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) died six days after a motorcycle accident in Dorset. 1984: Sir John Betjeman, poet laureate from 1972, died aged 77. In a statement, the village and park district said this is the first time in about 50 years that the parade will not be held. Officials are brainstorming ways to still honor our nations independence as a community in this unprecedented time, the statement said. Provinces in northeast China have reimposed several lockdown measures in reaction to 34 new cases of the coronavirus, according to multiple reports. Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang have all reimposed varying measures in response to new cases as well as an outbreak from mid-April. The Chinese government has sent Sun Chunlan, a high-ranking party official, as well as medical backup to Jilin, Bloomberg reported. The country, which has not reported more than 100 cases per day since mid-April, had planned to ease its borders. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. china jilin coronavirus lockdown reimposed temperature check A worker in protective suit takes the body temperature measurement of a woman following an outbreak of coronavirus in Jilin, Jilin province, China May 17, 2020. cnsphoto via Reuters China has reimposed lockdown measures on northeastern provinces after clusters of new coronavirus cases emerged. The most recent 34 cases were in the province of Jilin, where its two main cities of Shulan and Jilin City have both been placed under renewed lockdown, according to Channel News Asia. There are strict controls on transport and public gatherings, and schools have had to re-close, the channel reported. Another three cases have been found in the neighboring province of Liaoning, according to the channel. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia, the latter being one of the worst-affected countries in the world. With the borders are sealed to foreigners, officials suspect that the new outbreak can be traced back to Chinese nationals returning from Russia, according to Bloomberg. Shulan's government announced the lockdown measures over WeChat on Monday, sealing off residential compounds with suspected or confirmed cases. shulan coronavirus china renewed lockdown train station Police officers in protective suits in front a closed entrance to a train station, following the outbreak of the coronavirus in Jilin, Jilin province, China May 13, 2020. cnsphoto via Reuters Under this lockdown, one resident from a single family may only leave once for two hours every two days for essential supplies. Story continues The sale of anti-fever medicines has also been banned across the province to prevent people from attempting to conceal their symptoms, according to Bloomberg. Delivery services have also mostly halted, the outlet reported. In neighboring Liaoning, the 8.3 million people in the capital Shenyang are also facing renewed restrictions after three new cases were found on May 11, Channel News Asia said. The reopening of schools has been delayed and 7,500 residents are under quarantine, according to the channel. The outbreaks in Jilin and Liaoning come nearly a month after a city in another neighboring province, Heilongjiang, saw a spate of 386 new cases. On April 26, the province's government imposed lockdown measures in the nearly 1 million-strong city of Mudanjiang, which borders Russia, according to Deutsche Welle. In Harbin, the provincial capital, the measures are lighter but local residents are only allowed to move within their own neighborhoods, reported the newspaper. sun chunlan vice premier china China's Politburo Standing Committee member and Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, pictured here in 2016, arrived in Jilin to address the renewed outbreak on May 13. Jason Lee/Reuters New cases of the virus in China have not exceeded 100 per day since mid-April. According to Bloomberg, Jilin province has reported no more than 127 since the coronavirus first began to spread. The Chinese government is poised to begin its postponed "Two Sessions" political meetings, and was set to relax its borders soon after, according to the Guardian. Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, a high-ranking Communist Party official, arrived in Jilin on May 13, according to Bloomberg. The next day, a 12-strong team of medics was sent from the neighboring Liaoning Province, who previously worked in heavily-affected Hubei Province, according to state media outlet The Global Times. "Medical treatment for the confirmed patients in the city is going well, with everything under control," Liu Qi, who leads the team, told the outlet. Mass testing is currently underway in former coronavirus epicenter Wuhan after six new cases were found. But Wang Peiyu, a deputy head of Peking University's School of Public Health, told The Global Times this is not necessary in Jilin. Read the original article on Business Insider Contributed photo Update: To date, $29,457 has been raised in the online auction for the participating New Canaan restaurants, according to information on the website where people viewed items, and placed bids. Original story: An online auction to help participating New Canaan restaurants hurt by the COVID-19 virus is being held this week. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 07:18:55|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at the 73rd World Health Assembly (WHA) at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, May 18, 2020. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the 73rd session of the World Health Assembly, scheduled from May 18 to 19, was held virtually. (WHO/Handout via Xinhua) (CNN) - Calling the border with the United States a clear point of "vulnerability" for Canada in terms of Covid-19 infections, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that by mutual agreement, the border will remain closed to nonessential travel until at least June 21. Trudeau did not rule out a further extension of the border closure. The US-Canada border has been closed since March 21. "It was the right thing to further extend by 30 days our closure of the Canada, US border to travelers other than essential services and goods, but we will continue to watch carefully what's happening elsewhere in the world and around us as we make decisions on next steps," Trudeau said during his daily press conference in Ottawa. Even if the border does reopen to nonessential travel, Trudeau repeated that stronger measures may be put in place, such as requiring quarantine, medical checks and tracking for those entering Canada, including those from the US. "We know that we need to do more to ensure that travelers who are coming back from overseas or the US as Canadian are being properly followed up on, are properly isolated and don't become further vectors for the spread of Covid-19," Trudeau said. The Trump administration is also preparing to extend travel restrictions and stringent border control measures this week related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to two administration officials. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CNN, "The United States has great appreciation for the efforts of our partners in Canada and Mexico to ensure that North America is working together to combat the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus." Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, said the only thing that's allowed Canada to manage this first wave is the fact that international travelers have been banned and that returning Canadians and Canadian residents have quarantined for two weeks. Asked how best to manage a border reopening when it happens, Tam said: "We want to make sure we not only keep up but maybe strengthen some of those measures. The mandatory 14-day quarantining of people who come in remains a cornerstone as we go forwards and the fact that we need to be able to manage that, then show that people are following that requirement." Canada has had at least 79,411 coranavirus cases and at least 5,960 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. By comparison, there have been more than 1.5 million cases in the United States and at least 90,432 deaths. Canadian border communities reacted with relief after lobbying the Trudeau government to keep the border closed for the time being. "Casual travel across our land borders is not yet safe and may actually lead to greater community transmission of Covid-19 which is something no one wants to see happen," said Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, Ontario, in an interview with CNN. Windsor is less than five miles from Detroit, Michigan, and is the busiest border crossing between the US and Canada in terms of traffic and commercial goods. Since the border closed in March, both governments say essential commercial traffic has continued to flow smoothly. Essential workers, including hundreds of health care employees, also continue to cross daily into Michigan to work in health care centers in Detroit and across the state. "This is the only place within our two countries where two major urban areas are this close to one another and so the intricacies (of reopening) are a little different and the consequences are perhaps a little different, if we move too fast," Dilkens said. Dilkens points out his city is already expecting more border traffic as the US auto industry reopens this week. Auto manufacturing supply chains are closely inter-connected between Michigan and the province of Ontario. Dilkens says it's important for both economies that border traffic continues "at the speed of business." "The flow has to continue, and that the border has to work for business while also protecting the general public from crossing for nonessential work or anything else," Dilkens said. This story was first published on CNN.com, "US-Canada border will remain closed to nonessential travel for at least another month" The Uttar Pradesh government claimed that the list of buses offered by the Congress to transport migrant workers contained registration numbers of two-wheelers, cars and three wheelers. Lucknow: Police on Tuesday booked Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu and a personal secretary to party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over a list of 1,000 buses to ferry stranded migrant workers back to the state. Lallu, Vadra's personal secretary Sandeep Singh and others were charged with cheating and forgery in an FIR registered at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. The case was registered on a complaint by Road Transport Officer (RTO) RP Trivedi, a government spokesperson said. The Uttar Pradesh government claimed that the list of buses offered by the Congress to transport migrant workers contained registration numbers of two-wheelers, cars and three wheelers. Also, many buses in the list did not have a valid fitness certificate and insurance papers, the state government said amid a war of words with the Congress. The FIR was lodged under sections 420, 467 and 468 of the Indian Penal Code, relating to cheating and forgery of documents. "Of the list of 1,000 buses submitted by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, 79 would only have invited mishaps as they are totally unfit, a government spokesman said. There were 297 buses whose fitness and insurance certificates had expired, he said. He said there were about 100 registration numbers of vehicles other than buses. a search showed they were ambulances, three-wheelers, trucks and other vehicles, and could not be counted as buses, he added. There were no records of 70 buses in the list, he claimed. "It seems the Congress does not care for the lives of migrant labourers. Why did the Congress play such a dirty joke and what did it want to prove? he said. It appeared that Priyanka Gandhi had a plan to play with the lives of the labourers but the Yogi Adityanth government exposed it, he claimed. In a statement issued here, Congress said it appeared that the BJP did not want to get the migrants back in UP. We will once again try to ensure that these buses are allowed to run," it said. MINSK -- A jailed Belarusian blogger, Syarhey Tsikhanouski, who intended to take part in the August presidential election, has been given an additional 15-day jail term for what a court in the southeastern city of Homel called the "organization of an unsanctioned mass gathering." The Soviet District Court on May 18 announced the ruling but did not specify what event Tsikhanouski had been convicted of organizing. Tsikhanouski is the owner of a popular channel on YouTube called The Country For Life that challenges Belarusian authorities. He was initially detained on May 6 and sent to jail for 15 days for taking part in unsanctioned rallies against Belarus's integration with Russia in December. Tsikhanouski and subscribers to his YouTube channel planned to organize a rally called Anti-Parade in the eastern city of Babruysk on May 9 to challenge President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's decision to hold a massive military parade on Victory Day in Minsk despite the coronavirus pandemic. On May 15, the Central Election Commission rejected Tsikhanouski's registration documents for his candidacy for the presidential election scheduled for August 9. Lukashenka, who has led the former Soviet republic since 1994, has expressed intentions to seek reelection to a sixth term. He said in November 2019 that he could also stand in 2025, while adding: "I won't cling onto my seat with my cold dead hands." Belarus abolished presidential term limits in a referendum in 2004. It's unclear who will run against Lukashenka. THE WOODLANDS, Texas, May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Talen Energy Supply, LLC (the "Company" or "Talen Energy Supply") announced today that it intends to offer, subject to market and other conditions, $330 million in aggregate principal amount of its senior secured notes due 2028 (the "Notes") in a private offering. The Notes will be guaranteed by certain of Talen Energy Supply's subsidiaries that guarantee its existing indebtedness. The Notes and the guarantees will be secured equally and ratably with the Company's senior secured notes due 2027, senior secured notes due 2028, existing revolving credit facility, senior secured term loan and inventory repurchase obligations by a first-priority lien on substantially all of the property and assets of the Company and the guarantors. Talen Energy Supply intends to use a portion of the net proceeds from this offering to repay all of the borrowings outstanding under the Company's revolving credit facility and to pay related transaction fees and expenses, and the remainder for general corporate purposes, which may include repayment of additional indebtedness. The Notes will be offered and sold only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in the United States pursuant to Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the " Securities Act ") and outside the United States to non-U.S. persons pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Notes will not be registered under the Securities Act, and may not be offered or sold in the United States without registration under the Securities Act or pursuant to an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This announcement is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security and does not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Such statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. These risks include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to consummate the offering of Notes on the terms described or at all. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. About Talen Energy Supply Talen Energy Supply is one of the largest competitive power generation infrastructure companies in North America. The Company owns or controls approximately 14,000 megawatts of generating capacity in well-developed, structured wholesale U.S. power markets, principally in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Texas. Investor Contacts Ryan Koren Senior Manager Investor Relations and Financial Planning & Analysis 610-601-0477 [email protected] Media Contact Taryne Williams Media & Community Relations Manager 610-601-0327 [email protected] SOURCE Talen Energy Supply, LLC Related Links http://www.talenenergy.com Matthew Benson Matthew Benson, a 20-year veteran at Sard Verbinnen & Co., has joined Silver Lake investment firm as managing director & head of communications. At SVB, Benson was managing director in its New York and San Francisco offices. Prior to joining SVB, he was senior director at the Bivings Group, DC-based digital communications shop, and a legislative aide to Congressman Dave Bonior (D-MI). He also did a two-year stint at the Dukakis for President campaign headquarters in Boston. Founded in 1999, Silver Lake focuses on technology investments. It has offices in Silicon Valley, New York, London and Hong Kong and more than $40B in assets under management. Earlier this month, the firm joined Facebook as an investor in Jio Platforms, which targets the digital services market in India, especially small merchants micro-businesses and farmers. In April, Silver Lake announced investments in Expedia Group and Airbnb. Baku has initiated large-scale weapons readiness efforts in Nakhchivan, said the expert of the EDAM analytical center, professor Can Kasapoglu, in an article published on the website of the Jamestown Foundation analytical center. "Baku has initiated large-scale weapons readiness efforts in Nakhchivan. The official YouTube channel of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense features a video showing Turkish-manufactured multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) stationed in the strategic western exclave (YouTube, May 2). Of these arms, the 300-millimeter TRG-300 Kaplan (Tiger) deserves special attention, particularly in light of the delicate regional military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan," he noted. According to him, manufactured by Roketsan, the TRG-300 Tiger is the latest variant of Turkeys 300-millimeter-class MLRS. "It fires a fairly accurate rocket with a circular error probable (CEP) of less than ten meters thanks to its global positioning (GPS)- and inertial navigation system (INS)-supported guidance features. With a 105-kilogram warhead configuration, the Tiger has up to 120 kilometers of range and effective radius of some 70 meters; while the heavier, 190-kilogram warhead option (Block-2) has a range of 90 kilometers and around 80 meters of effective radius, prioritizing overwhelming firepower. Both warhead configurations enable high-explosive and steel ball variations," he wrote. "The TRG-300 Tiger is designed to annihilate a broad array of critical target types, including troop concentrations, high-importance facilities, command-and-control (C2) and radar sites, as well as artillery and air-defense systems. During the February 2020 escalation with the Syrian Arab Army in Idlib, the Turkish military deployed the Tiger MLRS to the front lines." According to the Turkish expert, the deployment of these weapons in Nakhchivan offers "Azerbaijani defense planners some valuable opportunities for outflanking their regional rival." "Notably, in December 2013, President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree establishing the Special Combined Arms Army in the strategic western exclave. Moreover, the new combat formation has close ties with Turkeys formidable 3rd Field Army, overlooking the Caucasus frontier." Thus, the Turkish expert writes, the Azerbaijani units can launch an attack on the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, in order to distract the Armenian forces, "or it might cut into the critical lines of communications between Armenia and the Armenian forces in Karabakh." In tandem with the abovementioned scenarios, the heavy firepower delivered by Turkeys combat-proven MLRS promises to be a gamechanger when it comes to Azerbaijani-Armenian correlation of forces along the Nakhchivan front. Available Azerbaijani military writings attach utmost importance to deep-strike capabilities offered by rocket-artillery systems" "Meanwhile, the bilateral defense ties between Ankara and Baku have scaled-up to a new level over the past decade, becoming a genuine military alliance, thanks to the 2010 Agreement on Strategic Partnership and Mutual Support (ASPMS)," he noted. "Overall, Turkey and Azerbaijan have managed to further the notion of two states, one nation beyond only rhetoric. And the deployment of 300-millimeter TRG-300 Tiger heavy MLRS units to Nakhchivan looms large as yet another manifestation of their military alliance, which had already visibly paid off for Baku in the spring 2016 clashes." An investor looks at stock prices on a smartphone at a brokerage in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran. Vietnams benchmark VN-Index rose 1.06 percent to close at 845.92 points Tuesday, its highest point since March 09. The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE), on which the VN-Index is based, saw 231 stocks gain and 135 lose. Total trading volume nearly doubled over the previous session, to VND8.06 trillion ($348.97 million), the highest liquidity seen on HoSE since the beginning of the year. Of this, put-through transactions amounted to over VND2.7 trillion ($116.9 million). According to analysts, cash seems to be returning to the market, fuelled by positive sentiment after Vietnam reported 35 days without community transmission of the Covid-19 virus. But buying pressure mostly came from domestic investors, as foreign investors continued to be net sellers to the tune of VND120 billion ($5.2 million) this session. Last months average trading came only to around VND4.2 trillion ($181.85 million) per session, according to data from brokerages. The VN30-Index for the markets 30 largest caps rose even further at 1.53 percent, with 24 gainers and just five losers. Gains this session were spearheaded by stocks in the banking sector. CTG of VietinBank, one of Vietnams three biggest lenders by assets, topped gains with 4.4 percent. The other two, VCB of Vietcombank and BID of BIDV, however, were among those that gained the least, rising 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent respectively. Among mid-sized banks, EIB of Eximbank rose 3.2 percent, TCB of Techcombank 3.1 percent, MBB of state-owned Military Bank, 2.1 percent, and STB of private Sacombank added 1.7 percent. Other big gainers included HPG of leading steelmaker Hoa Phat Group, up 4.2 percent, PLX of petroleum distributor Petrolimex, up 3.2 percent, MWG of electronics retailer Mobile World with 2 percent, and FPT of IT services giant FPT with 1.9 percent. In oil and gas, GAS of energy giant PetroVietnam Gas rose 1.8 percent, while POW of the countrys second biggest electricity generator PetroVietnam Power added 1 percent. VIC of private conglomerate Vingroup, HoSEs biggest cap, was the only stock that kept its opening price this session. VRE of Vingroups retail arm Vincom Retail gained 1.4 percent, while VHM of real estate arm VHM climbed 1.8 percent. In the opposite direction, CTD of construction giant Coteccons led losses with 0.7 percent, followed by SAB of major brewer Sabeco, and ROS of real estate developer FLC Faros, both falling 0.6 percent. The remaining two tickers in the red were VPB of private VPBank, and BVH of insurance giant Bao Viet Group, both down 0.4 percent. Meanwhile, the HNX-Index for stocks on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, home to mid and small caps, edged up 0.1 percent, and the UPCoM-Index for tickers on the Unlisted Public Companies Market rose 0.96 percent. Asian markets also rallied Tuesday, following sharp gains on Wall Street as the U.S. economy continued to slowly reopen and U.S. drug maker Moderna announced positive early results from a potential Covid-19 vaccine. Japans Nikkei 225 added 1.49 percent, Hong Kongs Hang Seng rose 1.89 percent, and South Koreas Kospi surged 2.25 percent. Mainland Chinas Shanghai Composite gained 0.81 percent, and its Shenzhen Component rose 1.21 percent. Making these pathways available to as many clinicians as possible was our vision from the beginning. And integrating them directly into the workflow is the best way to provide the support that caregivers on the front lines need. EvidenceCare, a leading provider of advanced clinical decision support technology, announced today the addition of the companys free COVID-19 clinical decision support solution to the Epic App Orchard, making it available to hospital systems nationwide. The platform, available since early April, has been accessed by thousands of clinicians in hospital systems, emergency rooms, urgent care settings, and telehealth interactions to support triage, diagnose and treatment of the coronavirus. Direct integration into provider workflows makes the COVID-19 evidence easier to access. The EvidenceCare collaborative has also developed additional pathways relevant to hospital critical care settings. Those additional pathways made live today and distributed through the platform include; ICU General Care, Respiratory and ARDS Management, Hemodynamic Management, ICU Complications, and Airway Management. In aggregate these pathways offer interactive decision support for isolation standards, airway procedures and support, fluid therapy, imaging and laboratory studies, pharmacologic management, respiratory and cardiac complications as well as shock and ECMO considerations. The App Orchard made it easier and quicker to release the COVID-19 collaborative solution to providers, stated Dr. Brian Fengler, chief executive officer and co-founder of EvidenceCare. Making these pathways available to as many clinicians as possible was our vision from the beginning. And integrating them directly into workflow is the best way to provide the support that caregivers on the front lines need. The EvidenceCare solution was also recognized in a newly released March 2020 Insights Report, released by KLAS called, COVID-19 Technology and Services Solutions Guide as a clinical decision support & surveillance solution. We are honored that KLAS has recognized the work that we are doing, commented Jim Jamieson, president and co-founder of EvidenceCare. Their guide creates awareness for technology critical to support clinicians during this challenging time. The protocols are available for all healthcare professionals here for the foreseeable future. For more COVID-19 resources from EvidenceCare, visit evidence.care/covid-19-resources. Epic is a registered trademark of Epic Systems Corporation. About EvidenceCare EvidenceCare is the leading clinical decision support system (CDSS) driving real ROI. Founded in response to the professional experience of emergency physician Dr. Brian Fengler, MD, the platform is integrated into a clinicians EHR workflow, delivering customized, interactive, curated guidance directly into the care process. With EvidenceCare, hospitals, emergency departments, and urgent care centers enable clinicians to deliver evidence-based care with measurable outcomes. Through advanced CDSS technology, variance is reduced, and the appropriate criteria are documented during utilization and admission decisions. With government-mandated compliance measures and quality program initiatives achieved, healthcare organizations ensure that quality and safety improve, liability is reduced, and operational efficiency is increased while capturing additional revenue. To learn more, visit http://www.evidence.care The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the central government to forthwith terminate the appointment of a former EPF Commissioner as presiding officer of the Central Government Industrial Tribunal-cum-Labour Court, Kerala, on the ground that he lacked qualification prescribed under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. Justice Shaji P Chaly issued the directive while allowing a plea challenging the appointment of A Vijayakumar to the post. In his plea, trade union activist M K Thankappan said appointment of Vijayakumar as presiding officer was pursuant to an amendment to Finance Act, 2017 and the consequent promulgation of Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2017. The petitioner alleged that the appointment was made without considering a Supreme Court order setting aside the rules empowering the Central government to make such appointments. The Supreme Court has set aside the rules in its entirety and directed the Centre to frame new ones, the petitioner said. Allowing the petition relying on the apex court judgment, the High Court on Tuesday issued quo warranto (writ orlegal action to show what warrant an office or franchise is held) on the ground that Vijayakumar lacks qualification to hold the post. It directed the centre to forthwith terminate his appointment and to take expeditious steps for filling the post in accordance with 'Rule 2020. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With cyclone 'Amphan' set to lash coastal areas of Bengal on May 20, the forest department on Tuesday formed rapid response teams to ensure that tigers from Sundarbans in South 24 Parganas district do not stray into nearby human settlements after the landfall. Chief Wildlife Warden Ravi Kant Sinha said a control room has been set up at Gosaba area in the district by the forest department to monitor the situation in the mangrove jungles 24x7. The department's central control room in Salt Lake area will be in constant touch with the Gosaba unit and keep a close watch on wildlife movement in the forest. If there are attempts by tigers to stray from the core reserve area into the contiguous villages, we will be able to notice that from the two control rooms and our rapid response teams will take steps to send back the animal to its habitat," he explained. The response teams have been deployed in Sajnekhali and Jharkhali areas of South 24 Parganas with tranquiliser guns, net and speed boats to negotiate the creeks crisscrossing the forest. Asked if there were chances of depletion in tiger prey base such as the deer population if the cyclone ravages the coastal areas of the state, Sinha said, "Measures will be taken depending on the situation." The number of tigers in Sunderbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, stands at 96 -- with 73 being in the core reserve area and 23 in the adjacent parts. A forest department official said residents, especially the fishermen community, in Gosaba, Dayapur, Balidwip, Sajnekhali, Pakhirala, among other nearby areas have been asked to exercise caution while venturing out. "We are using microphones to warn people against venturing out into the tiger reserve to catch crabs, shrimps or collect honey," Sinha added. Amphan is expected to make landfall on Wednesday afternoon between Digha in West Bengal and Hatia island in Bangladesh as an extremely severe cyclonic storm with wind speeds ranging up to 195 kmph. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CHESTNUT HILL, Mass., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Area9 Lyceum is partnering with educator Esther Wojcicki, author of the best-selling How to Raise Successful People, to develop learning modules based on Wojcicki's "TRICK" principles of Trust, Respect, Independence, Collaboration, and Kindness. The first module on "Kindness" will be offered for free, starting this week, on the Area9 website. Wojcicki, known affectionately as the "Godmother of Silicon Valley" (her three daughters are the CEO of YouTube, the founder and CEO of 23andMe, and a top medical researcher), developed the TRICK principles to encourage behaviors that help people become successful. What applies in the classroom is equally impactful in business, particularly in times of significant change, such as COVID-19. "The more distant people are from each other, the more organizations need to rely on their values to create cohesion and promote collaboration," said Ulrik Juul Christensen, M.D., Executive Chairman & CEO of Area9 Lyceum. "We believe the TRICK principles, as developed by Esther Wojcicki - our much-admired advisor and friend - will help people become more successful in the new normal." The Kindness module, which was developed on the Area9 Rhapsode adaptive learning platform, addresses a core component of corporate culture: genuine compassion and caring for others. Such behaviors must be modeled by leaders and reflected in the interactions of colleagues at all levels of an organization. As Wojcicki explained, "The message from leaders has to be, 'We care about you - you are important.' When people experience kindness, they will also model the same behaviors when dealing with others." Subsequent TRICK learning modules to be launched on the Area9 site are: Trust the foundation of an effective environment Respect promoting autonomy and individuality Independence encouraging innovation and creativity Collaboration a crucial 21st century skill that is key to how work gets done "The TRICK principles are timeless and yet timelier than ever as the COVID-19 response results in paradigm shifts across the business landscape," Christensen added. About Area9 Lyceum Area9 Lyceum builds 21st century skills and competencies through the world's first four-dimensional learning platform, Area9 Rhapsode. Based on more than 20 years of research into human factors and cognition, Area9 Lyceum's AI-based platform delivers truly personalized learning at scale - cutting training time in half, guaranteeing proficiency and making lasting impacts on careers and business outcomes. About Esther Wojcicki Esther Wojcicki is a leading American educator, journalist, and mother. She is the author of How to Raise Successful People: Simple Lessons for Radical Results. She founded the Media Arts program at Palo Alto High School, building a journalism program from a small group of 20 students in 1984 to one of the largest in the nation. Wojcicki serves as Vice Chair of Creative Commons and has previously worked as a professional journalist for multiple publications and blogs on her website. www.wojway.com and for Thrive Global. SOURCE Area9 Lyceum Related Links http://area9lyceum.com Life is always fragile, but especially these days as we approach 100,000 Americans dead from the novel coronavirus and millions fearing the same fate. With our psyches battered and our security threatened a pandemic is no time to imperil the very institutions that help us maintain our strength. One of those institutions is the vote, the single most important feature of our democracy. A number of voting rights advocates, as well as the Texas Democratic Party, fearing the novel coronavirus may keep potential voters away from the polls, are pushing to remove restrictions against voting by mail a move that is both wise and reasonable. In Texas, voters 65 and older can request mail-in ballots. But those younger than 65 must be disabled; out of the country on Election Day as well as during early voting; or be in jail but still eligible to vote. There are questions about why those younger than 65 should be denied the right to vote by mail and whether fear of catching COVID-19 qualifies as a disability. Litigation is moving through federal and state courts as we get closer to the July runoff. That makes the Texas Supreme Courts recent decision to temporarily block the expansion of mail-in voting for those concerned about catching COVID-19 disheartening, baffling and potentially dangerous to ones health. Whats painfully frustrating is how the issue of voting by mail has been framed in rote partisan terms. Protecting the integrity of elections is one of my most important and sacred obligations, Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. The Legislature has carefully limited who may and may not vote by mail. Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, responded forcefully. This is a dark day for democracy, he said in a statement. The Republican Texas Supreme Court is wrong to force the people of Texas to choose between their health and their right to vote. They would have Texans die, just so they can hold on to power. Party lines have become battle lines Republicans on one side, Democrats on the other. It is our national affliction. The division is nonsensical. While the novel coronavirus has magnified our inequities in poverty, health care, education, food security and internet access, it attacks without bias, targeting the young and the old, the conservative and the liberal. Our response should be equally free of discrimination, and yet here we are back in the familiar partisan wasteland. President Donald Trump claims mail-in ballots encourage fraud among Democrats, but there is no evidence for such allegations. Its a canard. As the Brennan Center for Justice has noted, allegations of mail voter fraud are incredibly rare. And while Democrats and Republicans increasingly view vote-by-mail through partisan lenses, it benefits both parties equally. As the political website FiveThirtyEight.com recently reported, as states have expanded their use of mailed ballots over the last decade including five states that conduct all-mail elections by default both parties have enjoyed a small but equal increase in turnout. This is not a partisan issue; it is a voter issue, period. Whatever aids the voter aids the nation. If the mail-in ballots help former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, so be it; and if they push Trump over the top, again, the principle is more important than the outcome of the election. It would be a tragedy if voters died because they stood in crowded lines this fall to participate in democracy. It would also be a tragedy if potential voters stayed home because of the virus. Death doesnt care if one is a Democrat, Republican or member of any other political party. The pandemic has wreaked enough havoc on our lives, our dreams and aspirations. It is imperative that the courts ensure the same does not happen to our institutions. All American voters deserve the option to cast their ballots by mail this year, beginning with this summers runoff. JACKSON, MI Nancy Smith, a Jackson County community leader and teacher has announced she is running as a Democrat for Michigans 65th District state representative seat. Smith, of Liberty Township, said her campaign emphasizes the importance of protecting workers, businesses and the schools in the district from the economic pummeling the state has taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, I am calling on the governor and state legislators of both parties to provide greater financial relief for the workers, farmers, businesses, schools, and medical facilities of District 65," she said in a statement. "COVID-19 isnt just a public health catastrophe, its also an economic and financial crisis, and it has the potential to hit our rural communities especially hard. Therefore, it is crucial that we reverse years of cuts to rural school funding, tackle disparities in rural access to health care, and empower our workers, farmers, and businesses. The 25-year educator has worked as a Hanover-Horton High School special education teacher. She also served as a board member for the teachers union, is a former adviser for the Jackson Area Youth Council and is a founding member of the Jackson Community Forum. She is retiring from teaching this year. Smiths goals, if elected, reflect her career path as a special education teacher, she said. I want to work on issues that are important to people who live in District 65, Smith said. Schools are important to folks in 65; the quality of our schools and the funding of our schools. More funding, more fair funding." Smith wants to make sure COVID-19 vulnerable constituents are safe, she said, adding that the people of the district exercise their right to vote since, in her opinion, the way we vote is really about to change." Im interested in letting everybody vote who wants to, Smith said. Theres a lot of folks who arent going to be comfortable going out to vote. Smith is on the ballot in the Aug. 4 primary election. Im not uncomfortable in the political world," she said. Ive been active with my local Democratic party for many years. Thats not a stretch, Im comfortable with that. But for me personally, I would say in the last 10, maybe 15 years as a teacher, Ive just sort of watched in dismay as the legislature has cut and cut and cut away at schools. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novoheart Holdings Inc. (Novoheart or the Company) reports financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2020. Amounts, unless specified otherwise, are expressed in Canadian dollars and are in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the well-being of our employees, partners and the communities we operate in has been our primary focus. Where possible, our labs and offices remain open and operational with appropriate measures in place to protect the health and safety of our employees. As we face uncertain times, I am proud of how the Novoheart team has remained agile and started preparing early for the potential impacts to our business, said Dr. Ronald Li, Chief Executive Officer of Novoheart. Novoheart will continue to monitor the situation closely and optimize our business during this unprecedented time. Business Highlights: Ranked among the TSV Venture Exchanges (TSX-V) top 50 best performing companies Entered into a commercial agreement with a multinational company (Multinational Company) to study the effects of cigarette smoke (CS) extract and modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) extract on cardiac contractility Successful outcome of the initial commercial agreement with an international leading gene-editing company (Leading Gene-Editing Company) led to a second commercial agreement Ranked among the TSX-V's top 50 best performing companies On February 20, 2020, the Company announced that it has been named a 2020 Venture 50 Company, ranked among the TSX-Vs top 50 best performing companies. The ranking comprised of ten companies from each of the five key industry sectors. Novoheart was one of the ten best performers within the Clean Technology and Life Sciences sector. Ranking was based on three equally weighted criteria: market capitalization growth, share price appreciation and trading volume. Entered into a commercial agreement with a Multinational Company to study the effects of CS extract and MRTP extract on cardiac contractility In March 2020, Novoheart signed a commercial agreement with a Multinational Company, to study the effects of CS extract and MRTP extract found in electronic cigarettes or e-vapor products used as alternative to cigarettes for smokers who are unable or unwilling to quit. Pursuant to the agreement, Novoheart will perform research using the MyHeart Platform of engineered human cardiac tissue models. This study will contribute to a better understanding of the effects of CS and MRTP effects on the heart as well as serve as a pilot study to evaluate the feasibility of using in vitro assays as a means to align with the principles of 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) for performing animal-free research. Successful outcome of the initial commercial agreement with a Leading Gene-Editing Company led to a second commercial agreement Working with a Leading Gene-Editing Company, Novoheart proposed a novel experimental approach to allow differentiating the properties of engineered human ventricular Cardiac Tissue Strips (hvCTSs) fabricated with cell lines derived from healthy donors, from those fabricated with cell lines derived from patients afflicted with a rare genetic disease that affects the heart. The approach is expected to lead to the development of a cardiac disease model that is a better predictor of clinical outcome for these patients. Using this approach, Novoheart successfully identified and differentiated hvCTS derived from healthy donors from those derived from patients with the rare genetic disease. Moreover, the study was performed blinded such that the state of the donor material (healthy vs diseased) was unknown to Novoheart, highlighting the potential importance of using this novel approach in the future development of treatments for this rare disease. Building on the initial success, a second agreement was signed in April 2020 with the goal of further refining and optimizing the experimental conditions in an effort to prepare for a new set of studies. Notably, these studies include recording contractions from patient-derived engineered cardiac tissue strips that have been treated using a unique technology that enables altering their genetic material in an effort to correct and treat their disease. Financial Results for the three months ended March 31, 2020 The Company recorded a net loss after tax of $2,833,246 (loss per share of $0.02) for the three months ended March 31, 2020 compared to a net loss after tax of $1,179,198 (loss per share of $0.01) for the three months ended March 31, 2019. Revenue and Cost of Sales For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company recorded revenue of $10,120 and cost of sales of $3,854 compared to revenue of $107,955 and cost of sales of $49,123 for the three months ended March 31, 2019. The decrease in revenue was mainly due to delays in signing and executing commercial agreements directly or indirectly related to COVID-19. Although the Company has implemented business continuity measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our operations, the global economic slowdown has impacted a number of our partners (including shutdown of some of their offices), which resulted in significant project delays. Operating Expenses Operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2020 (Q1 2020) was $2,648,237 compared to $1,740,805 for the three months ended March 31, 2019 (Q1 2019). The increase in operating expenses was due to the increases in general and administrative expenses, research and development expenses, and intellectual and patent expenses as compared to Q1 2019. The increase was offset by the decrease of share-based compensation expenses and depreciation expenses. The increase in general and administrative expenses is primarily due to increases in occupancy costs as a result of the lab and office expansion and build-out of the GMP facility, increase in personnel costs resulting from the increase in compensation, as well as the increase in professional and regulatory fees due to the change in year-end and investor relation activities compared to Q1 2019. Research and development expenses increased primarily due to the expansion of the Companys scientific team and the acquisition of Xellera Therapeutics Limited which was completed in June 2019. Liquidity and Outstanding Share Capital As at March 31, 2020, the Company had cash and cash equivalents of $16,119,530. As at May 19, 2020, there were 188,640,774 common shares issued and outstanding, and 8,611,123 common shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options at an exercise price range from $0.32 to $0.50 per share and the issuance of 120,000 vested restricted share units. Results of Annual General Meeting Novoheart is pleased to announce the results of its annual general meeting of shareholders held on April 29, 2020. Shareholders elected eight directors to the Companys board, being Dr. Ronald Li, Dr. Camie Chan, Victor Chang, Ricky Chiu, Allen Ma, Dr. Katherine Ngan, Roger Ngan and James Topham. The shareholders also approved all other matters proposed, including the appointment of BDO Limited as auditors of the Company for the ensuing year, the re-approval of the Companys stock option plan and the approval of the Companys amended restricted share unit plan ( the amended RSU Plan), pursuant to which 5,659,223 shares are reserved for issuance. In combination, all share compensation arrangements of the Company, including the amended RSU Plan, will not exceed 10% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. The amended RSU Plan has been accepted by the TSX-V. ABOUT NOVOHEART HOLDINGS INC. Novoheart is a global stem cell biotechnology company that pioneers an array of next-generation human heart tissue prototypes. It is the first company in the world to have engineered miniature living human heart pumps that can revolutionize drug discovery, helping to save time and money for developing new therapeutics. Also known as 'human heart-in-a-jar', Novohearts bio-artificial human heart constructs are created using state-of-the-art and proprietary stem cell and bioengineering approaches and are utilized by drug developers for accurate preclinical testing as to the effectiveness and safety of new drugs, maximizing the successes in drug discovery while minimizing costs and harm caused to patients. With the acquisition of Xellera Therapeutics Limited for manufacturing Good Manufacturing Product (GMP)-grade clinical materials, Novoheart is now developing gene- and cell-based therapies as well as other next-generation therapeutics for cardiac repair or regeneration. Common shares of Novoheart are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol NVH. For further information please contact: Novoheart Holdings Inc. Suite 2600, 595 Burrard Street Vancouver, British Columbia V7X 1L3 Ronald Li Chief Executive Officer (604) 398-3170 info@novoheart.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation; statements about the Companys future plans, its goals and expectations, and the potential applications its MyHeartTM platform are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risks identified in the management discussion and analysis section of Novoheart Holdings Inc.s interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulators. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and the respective companies undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. NOVOHEART HOLDINGS INC. Condensed Consolidated Interim Statements of Financial Position (unaudited) (Expressed in Canadian dollars) March 31, 2020 December 31, 2019 ASSETS Current Cash and cash equivalents $ 16,119,530 $ 12,167,583 Pledged bank deposit - 5,004,000 Accounts and other receivables 296,107 317,819 Prepaid expenses and deposits 530,951 475,638 16,946,588 17,965,040 Property and equipment, net 294,864 532,589 Right-of-use assets 7,257,869 6,996,852 Intangible assets, net 225,147 231,052 Construction in progress 223,972 - Goodwill 8,806,998 8,806,998 $ 33,755,438 $ 34,532,531 LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY Current Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $ 808,099 $ 921,672 Lease liabilities current 1,290,058 1,124,678 Contract liabilities 54,889 22,549 Deferred government grants 3,168 8,253 Due to related parties - 32,835 2,156,214 2,109,987 Lease liabilities non-current 5,756,446 5,555,838 Restoration provision 495,831 451,937 Long-term license payable 26,592 24,238 8,435,083 8,142,000 Shareholders' Equity Share capital 52,179,118 52,179,118 Contributed surplus 2,097,581 1,888,156 Accumulated other comprehensive income 1,866,272 312,627 Accumulated deficit (30,822,616 ) (27,989,370 ) 25,320,355 26,390,531 $ 33,755,438 $ 34,532,531 NOVOHEART HOLDINGS INC. Condensed Consolidated Interim Statements of Loss and Comprehensive Loss (unaudited) (Expressed in Canadian dollars, except number of common shares) For the three months ended March 31, 2020 March 31, 2019 Revenue $ 10,120 $ 107,955 Cost of sales 3,854 49,123 6,266 58,832 OPERATING EXPENSES Research and development 725,417 533,678 Intellectual property and patent 153,771 62,393 General and administrative 1,284,843 577,135 Marketing 145,668 167,265 Share-based compensation 209,425 232,107 Depreciation and amortization 129,113 168,227 2,648,237 1,740,805 LOSS FROM OPERATIONS (2,641,971 ) (1,681,973 ) Government grants 54,241 464,327 Other income 75,558 187 Loss on disposal (185,692 ) - Finance expense (107,905 ) (449 ) Foreign exchange gain 2,902 38,710 (160,896 ) 502,775 NET LOSS FOR THE PERIOD BEFORE TAX $ (2,802,867 ) $ (1,179,198 ) Tax expense 30,379 - NET LOSS FOR THE PERIOD $ (2,833,246 ) $ (1,179,198 ) OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME/(LOSS) Foreign currency translation adjustment 1,553,645 (36,436 ) COMPREHENSIVE LOSS FOR THE PERIOD $ (1,279,601 ) $ (1,215,634 ) Loss per share Basic and Diluted $ (0.02 ) $ (0.01 ) Weighted average number of shares outstanding basic and diluted 188,640,774 94,581,937 NOVOHEART HOLDINGS INC. Condensed Consolidated Interim Statements of Cash Flows (unaudited) (Expressed in Canadian dollars) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 19) The coronavirus pandemic has ushered in a new era even for the Catholic Church, which has come up with ways to celebrate liturgy while preventing the spread of the disease. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has released a new set of guidelines outlining what the new normal will be like for the Filipino faithful. Under the guidelines, the CBCP recommended parishes to maximize the potential of social media and continue to livestream or televise masses in order to promote social distancing. It also urged the elderly and the sick, who are more at risk of contracting the virus, as well as the children to stay home and follow the liturgical celebration virtually instead. It is advisable that they [the elderly and the sick] be dispensed from the obligation to attend Mass during this time when the vaccine is not yet available and the threat of the virus is still widespread, the CBCP said. Priests and lay ministers who take part in the celebrations, with the exception of the priest celebrant, are also asked to wear face masks when they are not speaking or leading the prayer. All the faithful in attendance are likewise expected to abide by the measure. Social distancing must strictly be observed by everyone, including among choir members which the CBCP noted should be reduced. It may even be advisable to have only a cantor who will lead the assembly in the singing, the CBCP added. Markers on the benches or pews inside churches must also be put in place to indicate where the people could sit. Under the new normal setting, the offertory procession must be omitted, according to the CBCP. It added that for the collection of money, baskets should not be passed from person to person. It suggested designating boxes or collection points where people can place their contributions instead. Holy Communion will still be distributed only by hand, the CBCP clarified, but both priests and lay ministers need to wear face masks and sanitize their hands before and after the distribution. There will also be no holding of hands during the singing or praying of the Our Father," as well as physical contact during the Sign of Peace. To further reduce the risk of viral transmission, CBCP encouraged to position station ushers at entrances of the church to help direct traffic and ensure that the people are still keeping a meter distance away from each other, as well as to check body temperature of attendees who enter the place of worship. Additionally, foot baths and hand sanitizers must also be made available at the entrances. The CBCP also stressed that regular general disinfection must be done for the entire church. Other religious rites and celebrations For baptisms, only immediate family members and one or a pair of godparents will be allowed to attend. Cotton must also be used to apply the holy oils on the one baptized, and this cotton should be burned after the celebration, the CBCP said. Funerals will likewise be restricted to the immediate family. The CBCP also decided to forego mass confirmations this year, adding that those who are to be baptized as adults or who are getting married can be confirmed by the parish priest as church discipline dictates. As for wedding celebrations, they have to be simpler than usual, according to the CBCP. We have to forego all of the secondary elements of the normal wedding ceremonies, e.g., the wedding entourage (abays). Only the bride and the groom, the parents of the couple, and one set of sponsors are to be present in the ceremony, it said. Priests are also advised against using the confessionals in church when performing the sacrament of confession. Although confessions may be heard in the parish office, it is preferable that they be heard outdoors, where there is better circulation of air and additional space for safe distance between the confessor and the penitent, the CBCP explained. The Niger State government has directed all contractors handling various projects to return to sites amidst the novel Coronavirus pandemic. Governor Abubakar Bello gave the directive when he inspected some road projects under construction in Minna, the state capital. According to Mr Bello, life can not be put on hold because of the spread of the Coronavirus. Niger State has 22 cases of COVID-19, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. Normal life activities has to continue as it is not definite when the pandemic will be over, therefore, government has moved on, the governor said. He called on those handling the various projects to observe all the precautionary measures put in place to avoid contracting and spreading the virus. The governor, however, expressed satisfaction with the level of work ongoing, noting that more pressure would be put on the contractors to complete their work before the rains set in. He noted that any contractor found to be defaulting for not executing a project within the stipulated time would have their contract terminated. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that among the projects inspected were Moris and Tunga low-cost 4-kilometre township road reconstruction projects awarded in 2017 with 14 months completion period at the cost of N2.4 billion. Other projects inspected were the ongoing road construction at Morris fertilizer Area and Tunga Low-Cost Road. (NAN) Days after the Punjab Police busted an illegal liquor bottling plant being run by Congress leaders, another cache of extra neutral alcohol (ENA) was seized from the tubewell of a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader on Monday night. The tubewell is owned by former SAD panchayat samiti member Darshan Singh of Pabri village. The Punjab Police and the excise department took joint action against the liquor mafia. Patiala superintendent of police Mandeep Singh Sidhu said, Acting on a tip off, police under the command of Ghanour deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Manpreet Singh raided the tubewell-cum-storeroom and unearthed a sizeable quantity of neutral ethanol in 20 drums and few empty drums in Pabri village under the Kheri Gandian police station in Patiala. An excise officer was also called on the spot. A case was registered and an investigation is in progress. ENA is the raw material used to make liquor. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON According to intelligence data, one member of Russia-led forces was killed on May 18. Russia's hybrid military forces on May 18 mounted 11 attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas, eastern Ukraine. "The Russian Federation's armed formations violated the ceasefire 11 times in the past day," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation said in a Facebook update as of 07:00 Kyiv time on May 19, 2020. Russia-led forces opened fire from proscribed 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various types, heavy machine guns, and rifles. Read also"LPR" representative at Minsk talks granted Russian citizenship (Photo, video) Under attack came Ukrainian positions near the town of Krasnohorivka, and the villages of Bohdanivka, Taramchuk, Shyrokyne, Novotoshkivske, Novoluhanske, Luhanske, and Pivdenne. Joint Forces returned fire to each enemy shelling. According to intelligence data, one member of Russia-led forces was killed on May 18. "Since Tuesday midnight, Russia-led forces have attacked Ukrainian positions near the villages of Orikhove and Novotoshkivske, using 120mm and 82mm mortars," the update said. No Ukrainian army casualties were reported over the period under review. Actor Chase Stokes, who stars in the new Netflix series Outer Banks, is in hot water over racially insensitive, homophobic and derogatory social media posts from the past that recently resurfaced. The 27-year-old apologized in a now-deleted tweet for his offensive words on Monday, but shortly after sharing the apology, Chase scrubbed his Twitter account and deleted his entire history. He returned to the platform a short time later tweeting that he was 'trying to solve this' and claimed that his account had been hacked. Called out: Outer Banks star Chase Stokes apologized in a now-deleted post for making racially insensitive, homophobic and derogatory on social media - but later claimed he was the victim of a hacking The offensive posts were shared across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and uncovered by an anonymous user. 'Just because youre old, doesnt give you the right to drive like a r****d,' Chase penned in one derogatory post penned in 2013. In other's he used a variation of the n-word to caption a photo of two boys holding surf boards writing 'surf n**g' and, at one point, he referred to popstar Justin Bieber as a 'f*g.' Once fans began criticizing his use of the offensive language, Chase attempted to apologize via social media on Monday. Backlash: Chase issued his apology after offensive posts were uncovered from the years 2010, 2013 which he had shared across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Derogatory language: In other's he used a variation of the n-word to caption a photo of two boys holding surf boards writing 'surf n**g' and, at one point, he referred to popstar Justin Bieber as a 'f*g' 'I am flawed, and I am sorry,' he tweeted. The short message was shared along with a screen shot from the notes app on his phone showing a longer apology. In the long-form mea culpa, Chase began by saying that he 'will address this' and 'was not hiding.' A curious statement considering he later deleted the entire apology. 'I consulted in one of my closest friends just as anybody else would. I have posted insensitive tweets,' he wrote. 'My Facebook has been hacked countless times. The picture isn't even of me or anybody I know.' 'Again, I am incredibly sorry. I really am. I hope you guys see what i am currently doing and how I am continuing to do the right thing by being respectful in today's climate,' he continued. Adding that his words 'do not excuse' what he had said. Mea culpa: 'I am flawed, and I am sorry,' he tweeted in response and also shared a screen shot from the notes app on his phone showing a longer apology Changing his tune: Not long after that was posted, the apology and the rest of Chase's Twitter page was scrubbed clean with all the posts removed and he claimed he had been hacked Rising star: Chase is an up-and-comer among teens and young adults since the premiere of Outer Banks on Netflix in mid-April Not long after that was posted, the apology and the rest of Chase's Twitter page was scrubbed clean with all the posts removed. 'Yo just getting back into twitter. My password was changed, figuring things out. Im really sorry that this is all happening at once,' he wrote in his first tweet back on the platform. Then he followed that up with: 'Somebody obviously got access to my account. So Im trying to solve this.' Outer Banks: The thriller centers around Chase's character who enlists his closest friends to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance and hunt for treasure Chase is an up-and-comer whose star has been rising among teens and young adults since the premiere of Outer Banks on Netflix in mid-April. The thriller centers around Chase's character who enlists his closest friends to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance and hunt for treasure. He plays the lead role of 'John B' in the mystery thriller set in the sleepy, beachy Outer Banks of North Carolina. BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Tamilla Mammadova Trend: Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili and Croatian President Zoran Milanovic discussed the situation related to the coronavirus pandemic over the phone, Trend reports citing press office of the President of Georgia. The heads of state spoke about the particular measures that Georgia and Croatia will take to overcome the coronavirus crisis and the steps developed by the governments to open the economy. The presidents also discussed phased mitigation plans in specific areas. According to the press office, Salome Zourabichvili invited the Croatian president to visit Georgia. Croatian president noted that he loves Georgian culture and Georgian wine, the presidential press service said in a statement. Georgia and Croatia established diplomatic relations in 1993. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Mila61979356 After narrowly dodging execution seven times, an Alabama inmate dubbed the Houdini of death row was put to death Thursday. Convicted murderer Thomas Arthur, 75, was strapped to a gurney at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., and injected with a cocktail of lethal drugs about 11:45 p.m. local time. About half an hour later, he was pronounced dead. With his final words, Arthur apologized to his children. Im sorry for failing you as a father, he said. I love you more than anything on Earth. Arthur had initially been scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m., but the U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary stay, signed by Justice Clarence Thomas. The nations highest court then went on to lift the stay an hour and 15 minutes before Arthurs death warrant expired at midnight. In a dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor criticized the courts decision, arguing that she continued to doubt that one of the states execution drugs, midazolam, was capable of rendering prisoners unable to feel the excruciating pain of lethal injection. Alabama officials, she argued, had only compounded the risks by denying Arthurs attorneys access to a phone in the witness room to contact the courts if any aspect of the execution went wrong. When Thomas Arthur enters the execution chamber tonight, he will leave his constitutional rights at the door, she wrote. Arthur, who was first sentenced to death in 1983 when George Wallace was governor of Alabama, has spent more than 34 years on death row. In that time, 58 other Alabama inmates have been executed. In a statement, Gov. Kay Ivey said the decision on whether to spare Arthurs life was one of the most difficult she had ever made, and that she ultimately decided to allow the decision of the jury to stand. Mr. Arthur was rightfully convicted and sentenced, and tonight that sentence was rightfully and justly carried out, she said. Convicted in the 1982 murder of Troy Wicker, Arthur had long maintained his innocence. The state said that after embarking on an affair with the victims wife, Judy Wicker, he shot her husband in the right eye with a pistol. After the crime, Wicker told police she was raped by a black man who knocked her unconscious and shot her husband. She later changed her story, testifying that she paid Arthur $10,000 to kill her husband and that he painted his face black and wore a wig when he committed the crime. After expressing sympathy for Wicker's family, Sherrie Stone, 55, the eldest of Arthurs four children, called for mandatory DNA testing of available evidence in all capital cases across the United States. I have never known for certain whether my father killed Troy Wicker, she said in a statement after the execution. At times I was convinced he was the killer, and at other times I believed he was innocent. Now I will never know the truth because the evidence that could prove if my father was innocent or guilty has not been tested for DNA using the latest technology." Arthurs execution came a week after Alabamas Republican-dominated House of Representatives approved a bill that would shorten the appeals process for death row inmates. Supporters argue that the bill would spare victims of crime the agony of legal appeals that drag on for decades. Opponents counter that it will increase the possibility that Alabama executes an innocent person. On Thursday, just hours before Arthurs scheduled execution, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals denied requests from Arthur's defense attorneys to halt the execution. Undated photo of death row inmate Thomas Arthur. (Alabama Department of Corrections) Arthurs pro bono legal team had continued to insist its client had been denied access to crucial evidence, including a rape kit from Judy Wicker and a wig worn by Wickers killer that they claimed could prove Arthur's innocence. Neither a fingerprint nor a weapon, nor any other physical evidence, connects Thomas Arthur to the murder of Troy Wicker, his lead attorney, Suhana Han, said in a statement. If the state executes Mr. Arthur on May 25 as planned, he will die without ever having had a meaningful opportunity to prove his innocence an outcome that is inexcusable in a civilized society. On Thursday, Ivey denied Arthurs request for advanced DNA testing of hair samples that he argued could implicate another person in the crime, stating that the hair samples had been presented to three juries, all of whom convicted Arthur of capital murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Janette Grantham, executive director of the Victims of Crime and Leniency, an Alabama victim rights organization, said Arthur and his attorneys had no new evidence and were just stalling. There is no reason why anyone should be on death row for 34 years, Grantham said: He's a Houdini. He has this bag of tricks and he knows how to manipulate the system. All the appeals are just a delay tactic. I've seen and heard it all and he is guilty. After going through three separate trials for Wickers murder, Arthur has pursued dozens of appeals in state and federal courts. Most recently, he has challenged the drug protocol to be used in his execution, claiming it threatens to violate his rights to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In November, the Supreme Court delayed his execution minutes before he was strapped to the gurney. The court went on to refuse to hear his request for a firing squad rather than lethal injection, letting stand the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that Arthur had not satisfied the legal standards for challenging his method of execution, specifically the use of midazolam. In an 18-page dissent, Sotomayor said Arthur should have been allowed to make his case. Like a hangmans poorly tied noose or a malfunctioning electric chair, midazolam might render our latest method of execution too much for our conscience and the Constitution to bear, Sotomayor wrote. Condemned prisoners, like Arthur, might find more dignity in an instantaneous death rather than prolonged torture on a medical gurney. In the run-up to his scheduled execution, Arthurs legal team submitted a flurry of petitions before the Supreme Court, saying there have been recent problems with executions in Alabama and across the nation since the court rejected Arthur's previous challenges. Arthurs lawyers cited Alabamas December execution of another inmate, Ronald Smith, arguing that, in that case, the states Department of Corrections went ahead with the execution even when midazolam did not appear to properly anesthetize him before administering drugs that stopped his heart and lungs. Arthurs defense team had also asked the Supreme Court to order that his attorney, one of his designated execution witnesses, have access to a telephone during the execution to contact the courts or co-counsel if the midazolam did not render Arthur unconscious. At the time of Wickers killing, Arthur was on work release from a life sentence for the second-degree murder of his sister-in-law. He admitted to that crime, saying he only meant to scare her when he shot her in the right eye with a pistol. In the early 1990s, near the end of his final trial in Wickers death, Arthur requested the death penalty, insisting he was innocent of the crime but had not yet been able to prove it because of inadequate preparation. A death sentence, he said, would allow him more time and resources to devote to his appeal. I am asking you, with as much emphasis as I can, to please give me the death penalty, he told the court, according to a transcript. I dont want to die. Hell, Im not crazy. Im not nuts. But giving me life and no parole will destroy my access to getting this thing back to court. He did not expect to be put to death, he said back then, noting he expected higher courts to eventually reverse his conviction and death sentence. I will not be executed, Arthur said. Im totally positive of that. I wouldnt dare ask you for it if I thought for a minute that I would be executed. Jarvie is a special correspondent. ALSO Trump wants to cut funding for earthquake early warning system, which probably would kill project Overcoming assault charge, Republican Gianforte wins Montana congressional seat Trump finds a new ally in his war on leaks: Britain UPDATES: 11:50 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from Arthurs daughter, Sherrie Stone. 11:25 p.m.: This article was updated with Arthurs last words and more details about the execution. 10:35 p.m.: This article was updated with the execution. 9:45 p.m.: This article was updated with the Supreme Court lifting a temporary stay of execution. 6:15 p.m.: This article was updated with the Supreme Court issuing a temporary stay of execution. This article was originally published at 3:45 p.m. What Is Climate Change? Is It Different From Global Warming? Climate change is actually not a new phenomenon. Scientists have been studying the connection between human activity and the effect on the climate since the 1800s, although it took until the 1950s to find evidence suggesting a link. Since then, the amount of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases) in the atmosphere have steadily increased, taking a sharp jump in the late 1980s when the summer of 1988 became the warmest on record. (There have been many records broken since then.) But climate change is not a synonym for global warming. The term global warming entered the lexicon in the 1950s, but didnt become a common buzzword until a few decades later when more people started taking notice of a warming climate. Except climate change encompasses a greater realm than just rising temperatures. Trapped gases also affect sea-level rise, animal habitats, biodiversity and weather patterns. For example, Texas severe winter storms in February 2021 demonstrate how the climate isnt merely warming. Why Is Climate Change Important? Why Does It Matter? Marc Guitard / Moment / Getty Images Despite efforts from forward thinkers such as SpaceX Founder Elon Musk to colonize Mars, Earth remains our home for the foreseeable future, and the more human activity negatively impacts the climate, the less habitable it will become. Its estimated that Earth has already warmed about one degree Celsius, or two degrees Fahrenheit, since the start of the Industrial Revolution around the 1750s, although climate change tracking didnt start until the late 1800s. That warming number may not sound like much, but this increase has already resulted in more frequent and severe wildfires, hurricanes, floods, droughts and winter storms, to name some examples. Environmental Impacts Then theres biodiversity loss, another fallout of climate change thats threatening rainforests and coral reefs and accelerating species extinction. Take rainforests, which act as natural carbon sinks by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But as rampant deforestation is occurring everywhere from Brazils Amazon to Borneo, fewer trees mean that rainforests are becoming carbon sources, emitting more carbon than theyre absorbing. Meanwhile, coral reefs are dying as warming ocean temperatures trigger bleaching events, which cause corals to reject algae, their main food and life source. Fewer trees, coral reefs and other habitats also equate to fewer species. Known as the sixth mass extinction, a 2019 UN report revealed that up to a million plant and animal species could become extinct within decades. Human Impact It can be easy to overlook climate change in day-to-day life, or even realize that climate change is behind it. Notice theres yet another romaine lettuce recall due to E. Coli? Research suggests that E. Coli bacteria are becoming more common in our food sources as it adapts to climate change. Cant find your favorite brand of coffee beans anymore? Or that the price has doubled? Climate change is affecting that too. Climate change is also worsening air quality and seasonal allergies, along with polluting tap water. Not least, many preliminary studies have also drawn a line between climate change and the deadly COVID-19 pandemic that is still gripping much of the world. Future pandemics are likely to happen more frequently until the root causes, such as deforestation, are addressed. Speaking of larger-scale issues, global water scarcity is already happening more frequently. The Caribbean is facing water shortages due to rising temperatures and decreased rainfall; Australias dams may run dry by 2022 as severe wildfires increase and Cape Town, South Africa has already faced running out of water. As touched upon earlier, its one thing to be inconvenienced by a lack of romaine lettuce for a couple of weeks or higher coffee bean prices, but reports warn how climate change will continue to threaten global food security, to the point of triggering a worldwide food crisis if temperatures surpass two degrees Celsius. Many of these factors are already contributing to climate migration, forcing large numbers of people to relocate to other parts of the world in search of better living conditions. Unless more immediate, drastic action is taken to combat climate change, future generations will have to contend with worst-case scenario projections by the end of the 21st century, not limited to coastal cities going underwater, including Miami; lethal heat levels from South Asia to Central Africa; and more frequent extreme weather events involving hurricanes, wildfires, tsunamis, droughts, floods, blizzards and more. Whats Happening and Why? Fiddlers Ferry power station in Warrington, UK. Chris Conway / Moment / Getty Images The Earths temperature has largely remained stable until industrial times and the introduction of greenhouse gases. These gases have forced the atmosphere to retain heat, as evidenced by rising global temperatures. As the planet grows warmer, glaciers melt faster, sea levels rise, severe flooding increases and droughts and extreme weather events become more deadly. The Greenhouse Effect In the late 1800s, Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius studied the connection between the amount of atmospheric carbon and its ability to warm and cool the Earth, and while his initial calculations suggested extreme warming as carbon increased, researchers didnt start to take human-induced climate change seriously until the late 20th century. But proof of human-led climate change can be traced to the 1850s, and satellites are among the ways that scientists have been tracking increased greenhouse gases and their climate impact in more recent years. Climate researchers have also documented warmer oceans, ocean acidification, shrinking ice sheets, decreased snow amounts and extreme weather as among the events resulting from greenhouse gases heating the planet. Numerous factors contribute to the production of greenhouse gases, known as the greenhouse effect. One of the biggest causes involve burning fossil fuels, including coal, oil and natural gas, to power everything from cars to daily energy needs (electricity, heat). From 1970-2011, fossil fuels have comprised 78 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions. Big Ag is another greenhouse contributor, particularly beef production, with the industry adding 10 percent in 2019. This is attributed to clearing land for crops and grazing and growing feed, along with methane produced by cows themselves. In the U.S. alone, Americans consumed 27.3 billion pounds of beef in 2019. Then theres rampant deforestation occurring everywhere from the Amazon to Borneo. A 2021 study from Rainforest Foundation Norway found that two-thirds of the worlds rainforests have already been destroyed or degraded. In Brazil, deforestation reached a 12-year-high in 2020 under right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. As it stands, reports predict that the Amazon rainforest will collapse by 2064. Rainforests are important carbon sinks, meaning the trees capture and remove carbon from the atmosphere. As rainforests collapse, the remaining trees will begin emitting more greenhouse gases than theyre absorbing. Meanwhile, a recent study revealed that abandoned oil and gas wells are leaking more methane than previously believed, with U.S. wells contributing up to 20 percent of annual methane emissions. Not least is the cement industry. Cement is heavily used throughout the global construction industry, and accounts for around eight percent of carbon dioxide emissions. Natural Climate Change Granted, natural climate change exists as well, and can be traced throughout history, from solar radiation triggering the Ice Ages to the asteroid strike that rapidly raised global temperatures and eliminated dinosaurs and many other species in the process. Other sources of natural climate change impacts include volcano eruptions, ocean currents and orbital changes, but these sources generally have smaller and shorter-term environmental impacts. How We Can Combat Climate Change Participant holding a sign at the climate march on Sept. 20, 2020, in Manhattan. A coalition of climate, Indigenous and racial justice groups gathered at Columbus Circle to kick off Climate Week with the Climate Justice Through Racial Justice march. Erik McGregor / LightRocket / Getty Images While the latest studies and numbers can often feel discouraging about societys ability to prevent the worst-case climate scenarios from happening, theres still time to take action. As a Society In 2015 at COP 21 in Paris, 197 countries came together to sign the Paris Agreement, an international climate change treaty agreeing to limit global warming in this century to two degrees Celsius, and ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels; its believed that the planet has warmed one degree Celsius since 1750. Studies show that staying within the two-degree range will prevent the worst-case climate scenarios from happening. Achieving this goal requires participating parties to drastically slash greenhouse gas emissions sooner rather than later. However, there have already been numerous setbacks since then, from former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrawing from the Paris Agreement in 2020 to world leaders, such as China, the worlds biggest polluter, failing to enact aggressive climate action plans. Yet many of the treaty participants have been slow to implement changes, putting the world on track to hit 3.2 degrees Celsius by the end of the 21st century even if the initial goals are met. However, its worth noting that U.S. President Joe Biden rejoined the Paris Agreement in 2021, and pledged to cut greenhouse gases in half by 2030. Then theres the Montreal Protocol, a 1987 global agreement to phase out ozone-depleting substances such as chlorofluorocarbons, chemicals that were commonly used in air-conditioning, refrigeration and aerosols. Recent studies show that parts of the ozone are recovering, proving that a unified commitment to combatting climate change issues does make a difference. On a smaller scale, carbon offset initiatives allow companies and individuals to invest in environmental programs that offset the amount of carbon thats produced through work or lifestyle. For example, major companies (and carbon emitters) such as United Airlines and Shell have pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in part by participating in carbon offset programs that remove carbon from the atmosphere. The problem is that these companies are still producing high levels of fossil fuel emissions. While individuals can make a small impact through carbon offsets, the greater responsibility lies with carbon-emitting corporations to find and implement greener energy alternatives. This translates to car companies producing electric instead of gas vehicles or airlines exploring alternative fuel sources. It also requires major companies to rely more on solar and wind energy for their energy needs. In Our Own Lives While its up to corporations to do the heavy lifting of carbon reduction, that doesnt mean individuals cant make a difference. Adopting a vegan lifestyle, using public transportation, switching to an electric car and becoming a more conscious consumer are all ways to help combat climate change. Veganism Consuming meat relies on clearing land for crops and animals, while raising and killing livestock contributes to about 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UNs Food and Agricultural Organization. By comparison, choosing a plant-based diet could reduce greenhouse gas footprints by as much as 70 percent, especially when choosing local produce and products. Public Transportation Riding public trains, subways, buses, trams, ferries and other types of public transportation is another easy way to lower your carbon footprint, considering that gas-powered vehicles contribute 95 percent of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. Electric Vehicles Electric cars and trucks have come down in price as more manufacturers enter the field, and these produce far lower emissions than their gas counterparts. Hybrid vehicles are another good alternative for lowering individual emission contributions. Conscious Consumption Buying locally produced food and items is another way to maintain a lower carbon footprint, as the products arent shipped or driven long distances. Supporting small companies that are committed to sustainability is another option, especially when it comes to clothes. Fast fashion has become a popular option thanks to its price point, but often comes at the expense of the environment and can involve unethical overseas labor practices. Not least, plastic saturates every corner of the consumer market, but its possible to find non-plastic alternatives with a little research, from reusable produce bags to baby bottles. Climate Activism Those interested in becoming even more involved can join local climate action organizations. Popular groups include the Sunrise Movement, Fridays for Future, Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, to name a few. Voting, volunteering, calling local representatives and participating in climate marches are additional ways to raise your voice. Takeaway Its taken centuries to reach a climate tipping point, with just a matter of decades left to prevent the worst-case climate scenarios from happening. But theres still hope of controlling a warming climate as long as individuals, companies and nations make an immediate concerted effort to lower greenhouse gas emissions. As the world already experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic, a rapid unified response can make all the difference. Meredith Rosenberg is a senior editor at EcoWatch. She holds a Masters from the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in NYC and a B.A. from Temple University in Philadelphia. By AFP WASHINGTON: The higher summer temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere are unlikely to significantly limit the growth of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Princeton University study published Monday in the journal Science. Several statistical studies conducted over the past few months have shown a slight correlation between climate and the novel coronavirus -- the hotter and more humid it is, the less likely the virus is to spread. But the findings remain preliminary, and much remains unknown about the exact relationship between climate and COVID-19. The Princeton study does not rule out the correlation entirely but concludes that the impact of climate on the spread of the virus is "modest." "Our findings suggest, without effective control measures, strong outbreaks are likely in more humid climates and summer weather will not substantially limit pandemic growth," the study said. "We project that warmer or more humid climates will not slow the virus at the early stage of the pandemic," said Rachel Baker, a postdoctoral research associate in the Princeton Environmental Institute (PEI). ALSO READ | Scientists in China believe new drug can stop pandemic 'without vaccine' While climate, particularly humidity, plays a role in the spread of other coronaviruses and the flu, the study said a more important factor is the absence of widespread immunity to COVID-19. "We do see some influence of climate on the size and timing of the pandemic, but, in general, because there's so much susceptibility in the population, the virus will spread quickly no matter the climate conditions," Baker said. Baker said the spread of the virus seen in countries such as Brazil, Ecuador and Australia indicates that warmer conditions do little to halt the pandemic. "It doesn't seem that climate is regulating spread right now," Baker said. Without strong containment measures or a vaccine, the coronavirus may continue to infect a large proportion of the world's population, the researchers said, and only become seasonal later, "after the supply of unexposed hosts is reduced." "Previously circulating human coronaviruses such as the common cold depend strongly on seasonal factors, peaking in the winter outside of the tropics," said co-author Bryan Grenfell, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at PEI. "If, as seems likely, the novel coronavirus is similarly seasonal, we might expect it to settle down to become a winter virus as it becomes endemic in the population," Grenfell said. For the study, the researchers conducted simulations on how the pandemic would respond to various climates. They ran scenarios based on what is known about the effect seasonal variations have on similar viruses. In all three scenarios, climate only became a mitigating factor when large portions of the human population were immune or resistant to the virus. "The more that immunity builds up in the population, the more we expect the sensitivity to climate to increase," Baker said. "If you run the model long enough, you have a big pandemic and the outbreak settles into seasonal infection." CHISINAU -- Moldovan prosecutors have charged Vlad Plahotniuc, a powerful oligarch and political figure, for his role in a massive bank theft, and will seek his extradition from the United States. Prosecutor-General Alexandru Stoianoglo said on May 18 that Plahotniuc was being charged with forming an organized criminal group, extortion, and fraud. As soon as the indictment is prepared and translated into English, Moldova will seek his extradition from the United States, Stoianoglo said. The former head of the Democratic Party, Plahotniuc fled Moldova in June 2019 after being forced from parliament as part of a government shakeup brokered by Russia, the United States, and other European partners. He has been linked to what is known as the "theft of the century," a scandal involving the disappearance of more than $1 billion -- totaling nearly one-eighth of Moldova's GDP -- from the country's biggest banks between 2012 and 2014. The scandal plunged Europe's poorest state into turmoil and ultimately forced the government to bail out the three banks with a $870 million emergency loan. RFE/RL reported in March that Plahotniuc was in the United States and authorities there were preparing to deport him after he was subject to an earlier visa ban. In January, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Plahotniuc's "corrupt actions undermined the rule of law and severely compromised the independence of democratic institutions in Moldova." The Prosecutor-General's Office in Moldova said the charges against Plahotniuc were based on "indisputable evidence" from a report by the U.S.-based international investigative firm Kroll. The report documented how companies and individuals tied to a 28-year-old businessman took control of three major banks during the period of the scandal, in which money was funneled overseas through dubious loans, shell companies, asset swaps, and shareholder deals. The businessman, Ilan Shor, then allegedly issued massive loans to his companies during a three-day period in November 2014, according to the report, which was later leaked and published by an opposition lawmaker. Shor, who is currently believed to be in Israel, was charged in 2016 and later convicted of money laundering and embezzlement in connection with the theft. Also in 2016, former Prime Minister Vlad Filat was found guilty of taking bribes related to the theft. He was released early in December 2019 after serving three years in prison. Prosecutors said that through Shor, Plahotniuc allegedly withdrew $100 million from the former state bank Banca de Economii. The funds were subsequently covered from the reserves of the National Bank to buy the insurance company Asito, a hotel, a fashion business, and a personal jet. Flash As New York became the hardest-hit state in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, some people fled, while others gradually got used to the new normal. Mei Tianli, 23, a Chinese student who studies in New York City, returned to her hometown of Guangzhou, China on March 15. "My university canceled all my classes, and my family were worried about me. Also, I'm not a good cook, so I thought, 'why don't I just go back to China? '" On her way home, she wore a protective suit and mask, and refused to eat during the flight. Upon her return to China, she was put into 14-day quarantine. Before leaving, she hung out with friends in SoHo, Manhattan and saw many people out shopping in NYC. Mei didn't expect the situation to spiral out of control, and she was not the only one who didn't sense the danger of the pandemic. Mark Fleming, a New Yorker and public relations consultant said, "At first I didn't think much about it; I thought it was just another regional illness that would fade away." New York State had reported over 356,200 cases and 28,302 deaths as of Monday evening, according to statistics from the local authorities and health agencies. "It is difficult not going outside or having company, but I am making the most of the situation. I still see my children on weekends and occasionally my girlfriend," Fleming said. Every day, Fleming participates in the daily applause for frontline healthcare workers. "Sadly, eight people who lived in my building in Washington Heights have died, including a lovely old lady whom I always said hello to." AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlans well-publicised all-staff phone hook-up on Friday really sounded like one of the toughest for an employer during the pandemic. AFL boss Gillon McLachlan. Credit:Illustration: John Shakespeare Breaking the bad news that staff who had been stood down would be off until September was a hard gig from the outset. But thats not where it ended. Whats less known is that the audibly emotional McLachlan offered some blunt advice, telling staff to look after themselves, and that if they found alternative employment that had the capacity to become full-time, then take it. In other words, put yourselves first and dont quit your (other) day job. By all accounts, the 20-minute hook-up was a sombre affair, with various sources describing the presentation as "pretty emotional", while others described McLachlan as "simply devastated". Then again, with the "vast majority" of 3000 staff members jobs on ice, who wouldnt be? Health officials disinfect desks and chairs at Yeongdongil High School in southern Seoul, May 11. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk Schools finally reopen Wednesday for high school seniors after a spate of delays due to safety concerns over the novel coronavirus. According to education officials, the planned school reopening for high school third graders will proceed as scheduled, 79 days after the original semester start day of March 2. The education ministry postponed the reopening of schools five times, as parents and school officials had misgivings about preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic. Sporadic coronavirus outbreaks added to the anxiety already high amid monthslong social distancing. South Korean schoolchildren have been attending online classes at home since April 9. The ministry originally planned for a phased school reopening starting from last Wednesday, but it was postponed yet again by a week amid a cluster of infections emerging in nightclubs in Itaewon, a multicultural neighborhood in Seoul. Roughly 3 to 5% of children with an aunt or uncle with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can also be expected to have ASD, compared to about 1.5% of children in the general population, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Researchers also found that a child whose mother has a sibling with ASD is not significantly more likely to be affected by ASD, compared to a child whose father has a sibling with ASD. The findings call into question the female protective effect, a theory that females have a lower rate of ASD than males because they have greater tolerance of ASD risk factors. The results, derived from records of nearly 850,000 Swedish children and their families, appear in Biological Psychiatry. The study was conducted by John N. Constantino, M.D., at Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues in the United States and Sweden. The results offer important new information for counseling people who have a sibling with ASD. The findings also suggest that the greater prevalence of ASD in males is likely not due to a female protective effect." Alice Kau, Ph.D., of the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Branch of NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Additional NIH funding was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health. ASD is a complex neurological and developmental disorder that begins early in life and affects how a person interacts with others, communicates, and learns. Previous studies have found that roughly 3 times more males than females have ASD. Reasons for the difference are unknown. One possible explanation is that females have a built-in resistance to the genetic factors leading to autism. With such a female protective effect, the theory holds that many women could carry such risk factors and be unaffected, but could transmit them to their sons, who lack the protective effect and may develop ASD. In the current study, researchers analyzed data from Swedish national registers of births and family relationships. The children were born from 2003 to 2012. Roughly 13,000 children were diagnosed with ASD, about 1.5% of the total. Offspring of mothers with one or more siblings with ASD were about three times more likely than children in the general population to have ASD. Children of fathers with one or more siblings with ASD were twice as likely as children in the general population to have ASD, a rate that did not differ significantly than that of children whose mothers have a sibling with ASD. According to the study authors, the results provide the first population-wide estimate of ASD risk to children of parents who have a sibling with ASD. This finding challenges the existence of a female protective effect, Dr. Constantino explained, because if such an effect existed, the children of mothers with a sibling with ASD could be expected to have up to a 30% higher risk of ASD. Similarly, the researchers found no statistically significant increase in ASD risk for children whose uncles have ASD, compared to children whose aunts have the condition. Gandhinagar, May 19 : As the Gujarat Health Department issued order, here on Tuesday, identifying the containment zones, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said as per the provisions of the Lockdown 4.0 there was no need for passes to commute between districts. "Now any citizen can travel anywhere in the state. No passes are needed for inter-district travel. But there won't be any movement inside the containment zones, except for medical emergencies and services," said Patel. The state government has identified 575 containment zones. Of these, 11 have been marked in the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation area, 41 in the Surat Municipal Corporation area, 25 in the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation area, 90 in the Vadodara Municipal Corporation area, 21 in the Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation area, 8 in the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation area and one each zone in the Rajkot and the Junagadh Municipal Corporation areas. In these containment zones, there are 31,03,473 people in 6,52,558 households. Ahmedabad, the hotspot declared by the Union government, which accounts for 75-80 per cent of the Covid-19 cases in the state, has 11 containment zones, half of them within the walled city. In 2,61,511 households, 12,98,212 people are residing in it. United Nations human rights experts called on China on Tuesday to release and drop charges against Anya Sengdra, a Tibetan community leader in Qinghais Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture now serving a seven-year prison term for complaining online about corrupt officials, illegal mining, and the hunting of protected wildlife. "We are deeply concerned by what appears to be the criminalization of the legitimate work of a minority community member and human rights defender, the May 19 statement released by five special rapporteurs and members of the U.N.s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said. We are also concerned about the reports of deterioration of his physical and mental integrity due to poor detentions, the U.N. experts said, adding, The charges against Mr. Sengdra stem from a wider crackdown on Tibetan minority rights defenders. We urge the authorities to comply with their obligations under international law, including by lifting the charges against Mr. Sengdra. The human rights of the Tibetan minority must be fully respected, the experts said. U.N. signatories to the May 19 statement are now waiting for a response from Chinese authorities, Special Rapporteur for Minority Issues Fernand de Varennes told RFA's Tibetan Service on Tuesday. "And particularly we are waiting for a response that those authorities will fully comply with their obligations under international human rights laws,' de Varennes said. "The intervention from five United Nations experts is a necessary counterweight to China's rampant disregard for human rights in Tibet," added John Jones at London-based Free Tibet in a statement on Tuesday. "Tibetans like A-Nya Sengdra are regarded as heroes in their community for their willingness to challenge wrongs such as environmental destruction and government corruption," Jones said. "It is this bravery that has caused Chinese authorities to panic, to detain, mistreat and sentence him to prison after a sham trial." "China must heed the call of these experts, release A-Nya Sengdra and listen to Tibetans' calls for human rights and freedom," Jones said. Reported by Tashi Wangchuk for RFA's Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney. The minister for culture and information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has been accused of ordering the Nigerian police to illegally detain a popular radio personality, Rotimi Jolayemi, aka Oba Akewi and his family for 12 days for criticizing him. The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights(CDHR) made the allegation in a new statement on Monday through its National President, Dr Osagie Obayuwana. Mr Jolayemi is said to have been arrested by the police at the instance of the Minister for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on account of a poem read over the radio, considered critical of the minister. Read Also: Lai Mohammed Clears Air On Petrol Attendant Killed In Abia Advertisement It is worrisome that Alhaji Lai Mohammed would have a hand in the arrest of the wife of Mr Jolayemi, Mrs Dorcas Jolayemi, and two of his brothers who were kept in detention for eight days, nine days and two days respectively as hostages, while the journalist, Mr Rotimi Jolayemi, was being sought. Furthermore, that even since Mr Jolayemi surrendered himself to the police headquarters at Ilorin, Kwara State on May 6, 2020, he is still being held till date, 12 days later, without being charged to court or granted bail. But a spokesman for the minister, Mr Segun Adeyemi, denied the allegation. He said, The minister did not order the arrest of anyone. Kindly direct your inquiry to the appropriate authorities. The Police Public Relations Officer in Kwara State, Okasanmi Ajayi, said he was not aware of the development while the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr Frank Mba, did not respond to calls. Reno Omokri has taken a shot at the African Language and the refusal of many to celebrate them as well as speak them as often as possible. Taking to his IG page, Reno revealed how surprised his kids were when they visited Nigeria for the first time and discovered not so many people spoke their native languages and bore the names. Read Also: Stop Letting Gifts From Men Cloud Your Judgement Reno Omokri As the late Chinua Achebe said, Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. The above quote from Achebe is why our children are still taught stupid lies, such as that it was Mungo Park that discovered the source of the River Niger, or that John Hanning Speke discovered the source of the Nile. Advertisement In fact, if we had taught history in schools, young Nigerians who voted for General Buhari in 2015, and who are now regretting, will never have voted for him in the first place. History did not repeat itself with Buhari. Rather, Nigeria repeated history with Buhari! It is the same with our language. In 2011, my children visited Nigeria for the first time, and were surprised because while they bore Itsekiri names, the kids they met in Nigeria all had Western names and spoke slangs. In less than 50 years, many African languages will die out for lack of speakers! A Co Fermanagh woman who claimed her headmaster had sexually abused her as a child over four decades ago, prompting almost 20 other alleged victims to come forward, has been told by detectives that her case will not proceed. Dozens of people broke their silence last year to claim John McElholm, a former school principal and former chairman of Fermanagh GAA, abused them when they were pupils at St Paul's Primary School in Irvinestown. The so-called pillar of the community who died in 1995 was lauded as a "God-like figure" in many circles, but last year that image was shattered when it was claimed he abused his position as principal by preying on innocent girls and sexually abusing them in his office. Lynn (not her real name) was the first person to make allegations about McElholm and she did so publicly in an interview with The Impartial Reporter newspaper, saying his alleged crimes were "an open secret". "He rubbed my shoulders, then he worked down under my clothes and chest area, then proceeded to place his hands under my underwear. He molested me, again and again," she said. She should have been safe in primary school among her friends, in the town she lived in, dropped off at the gate each day by her parents. But instead she was summoned to the principal's office several times a week where he would close the door, tilt his Venetian window blinds so that nobody could see in and sexually abuse her. Then he would send her back to class. She was eight years old. After remaining quiet for decades, Lynn reported her allegations to the PSNI almost a year ago and provided a written statement to specialist officers after the force launched a major investigation into historical child sexual abuse here. However, after more than 40 years of hiding her pain and a year in which she found her voice any form of closure, she says, was "shattered" in a two-minute phone call from a withheld number last month. "I received a phone call from a police officer advising me that they would be filing the investigation into my claims because of a lack of evidence. That is all they said. "I waited almost 40 years to tell my story and it ended in a two-minute phone call. It's not good enough. "To be honest, I was taken aback. They did say that because of the coronavirus they couldn't do a face-to-face meeting with me," she said. Lynn says she feels aggrieved by the way in which her situation was handled. "I am disgusted by the way I have been treated because it took me so long to come forward and I thought it really wasn't good enough. "This was an open secret; if you go down the street in Irvinestown and mention that man's name there's no hesitation; people can't say enough about him. They all know what he used to do in that school," she said. Lynn added: "I feel let down again. It has opened everything up again. To be honest, they have a duty of care to anyone who has reported things. "A two-minute phone call after all I have been through? It took me a long time to make that call and talk for them to tell me they have exhausted all avenues. That means nothing to me." Looking ahead, Lynn says she intends to "challenge" the decision by the police, adding that "this cannot be the end of it". "I would like to think that other victims would think the same. We have waited a long time for closure and I cannot let this be the end of it. I can't let McElholm win," she said. McElholm died aged 82 in a nursing home outside Irvinestown. A spokeswoman for the PSNI said: "Public Protection Branch detectives have investigated allegations of abuse committed by a school principal, now deceased, in the Fermanagh area." Detective Superintendent Anne Marks urged anyone with information about historical abuse to contact police. She explained: "When an accused person is deceased, understandably we are unable to bring that investigation before the court. "However, despite the passage of time, in cases such as this we do still seek to establish the circumstances, whether any other person was involved and to assess if there are any current child safeguarding risks that need addressed. "I would therefore like to thank several people who came forward, all with similar accounts of what had happened to them, help my officers do just that. As a result there are no further lines of enquiry to pursue but this will be reviewed should new evidence come to light. "Our inquiries into the allegations of historical sexual abuse in Fermanagh remain ongoing despite the current Covid-19 environment." NEW HAVEN Board of Education officials hope the alders listen. Following a recent Board of Alders Finance Committee hearing during which the panel cut a proposedincrease in the next years school budget from $3.5 million to $1 million , CFO Phil Penn said Monday he believes many people incorrectly concluded that federal aid will bail the schools out of a fiscal hole. The amended budget will go before the full Board of Alders for a final vote on May 26. If it goes forward (as cut by the alders committee) it would put even more stress on our budget for next year, Penn told the Board of Educations Finance Committee Monday. Interim Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey recommended that board members try to reach alders about the predicament in which they find themselves. I think we need to individually call the alders, because many of them still do not understand, I think, the budget we have, she said. She said board member Darnell Goldsons op-ed in the New Haven Register, in which he explains how moving from the Board of Alders to the school board changed his thinking about education funding, was a good example of what board members must do. The schools stand to receive $8.5 million in federal aid. Penn has not released a detailed spending plan for that money yet, saying the district needs to set some of it aside so it can last as long as possible through the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. However, he said, that money must be spent on things related to coronavirus, which does not plug the estimated $10.8 million hole in next years budget before the alders determine how much money they will allocate to the schools. In preparation for the proposed $3.5 million increasefor next years budget, Penn had announced several strategies to cut $7.3 million from the budget. Among those strategies would be eliminating 30 jobs through attrition, replacing retiring teachers at lower salaries and changing bell times to reduce the number of school buses required by the district. If the total budget increase were reduced to $1 million, Penn said the district must go deeper or discuss new strategies. At a prior workshop with the Board of Alders, Penn warned that the district might have to cut staff if the board doesnt get an increase. It remains to be determined by the board what options we take moving forward, Penn said Monday. Finance and Operations Committee Chairman Matt Wilcox referenced a comment by Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow, D-26, about the school board presenting a budget that doesnt make tough decisions such as eliminating a school. He said some on the school board are willing to consider it now that there is some stability on the board, but not without some serious planning and foresight. For next years budget, Penn proposed using Alliance Grant funds for an $80,000 state-mandated long-term facilities plan. The plan, he said, could be used to determine which buildings would be most economically difficult to salvage if ever the school board chooses to close another school. Im willing, and I have heard other members say they are willing to [close a school], but we dont want to displace several hundred students or create havoc, Wilcox said. To look at that now would not be good. Wilcox said that alders should understand that a vote for anything less than a $3.5 million increase is essentially a vote for everything on our mitigation list plus more, he said. My goal is were transparent in saying: this is what the money is going to, and if you dont vote for it this is what youre voting for. Youre voting for less teachers, he said. brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com Maharashtra: In less than a year, 59 fishermen awarded Rs. 11.9L for rescuing protected marine animals by Badri Chatterjee May 19,2020 | Source: Hindustan Times In less than a year, the Maharashtra fishing community has rescued 64 protected and endangered marine mammals caught in their fishing nets. The state mangrove cell on Sunday said 59 fishermen were compensated with Rs.11,94,350 for the safe release of these marine species over the past 10 months. Within the last seven days, 19 fishers were compensated with an amount of Rs.3,65,000 across Thane, Raigad and Palghar. The compensation scheme for the conservation practice was launched by the mangrove cell and fisheries department on December 21, 2018, and was subsequently passed by the state Cabinet. Endangered marine animals, protected under various schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, get caught in large trawler fishing nets and are rescued by cutting these fishnets. However, while the animals survive once the nets are cut, the fishing community endures a loss due to damaged nets. Hence, for such rescues a monetary compensation of up to Rs.25,000 was proposed if the fisher can submit evidence of the rescue and damaged nets to the state. Through several awareness drives and local outreach programmes, we managed to convince 1,100 members of the fishing community along the Konkan coast about the value of endangered marine species. The efforts have resulted in mutual benefit of marine life and the community, said Virendra Tiwari, additional principal chief conservator of forest (mangrove cell). So far, 27 olive ridley turtles, 17 whale sharks, 16 green sea turtles, one case each for hawksbill turtle, leatherback turtle, Indian Ocean humpback dolphin and giant guitar fish, all majorly Schedule I species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, have been rescued. While maximum cases have been reported from Thane district (23), Sindhudurg reported 16 cases, Raigad 13, Palghar 9, Ratnagiri 2, and one case in Mumbai. Of the total of 64 cases reported so far, five fishermen are yet to be compensated as we are still verifying the evidence, said Tiwari. Our researchers are also benefiting from this scheme as the fishing community has been sharing vital information about habitat preferences and occurrences of rare marine life along the states coastline. We are planning detailed conservation studies across such zones. The states coastline had witnessed a surge in marine mammal deaths and stranding incidents (143 cases) between 2016 and 2019. However, the frequency of such cases has reduced over the past year. Public open-house sessions about the Double Track project a second set of tracks between Gary and Michigan City will still be conducted in June, as planned earlier, but will be on a virtual platform instead of in person, Noland said. He said information on those events will be published soon. Seventy-six people from Haryana, who were deported from the US, will undergo COVID-19 tests before they are quarantined in their home districts, Haryana's Health Minister Anil Vij said on Tuesday. These people were part of a group of over 160 Indians who arrived at Amritsar in Punjab by a special chartered flight. Most of the deported Indian nationals had entered the US from its southern border with Mexico and had exhausted all legal options. They were arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE while trying to enter the US illegally. They (those from Haryana) are being brought to Panchkula where they will undergo COVID and other medical tests. Later, they will be quarantined in their home districts, Vij said. Among those deported, the highest 76 are from Haryana. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As U.S. auto manufacturing plants restart operations this week, the Detroit Free Press reports that Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) is hiring additional temporary workers, planning ahead for COVID-19 absences. "Due to concerns surrounding COVID-19, we are hiring additional temporary workers in our plants to cover what we expect will be an increase in absenteeism," the report quoted Kelli Felker, Ford global manufacturing and labor communications manager, as saying. Local union president at Ford's Rouge complex, Bernie Ricke, told the Free Press he believed approximately 1,300 workers were being added, in anticipation of workers calling in sick as well as potentially being sent home when temperature scans result in high readings when reporting to work. He said "the company is being proactive." Ford was joined by General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) in restarting North American operations this week with new safety protocols and practices in place. GM said it developed its new practices in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, as well as advice from plants in other countries that had already restarted production. GM released a COVID-19 Employee Guide that includes basic new protocols and information on how employees can help protect themselves and others, including outside the workplace. Further details include how temperature checks will work upon entering the plants, face mask requirements including proper care and disposal, and best practices for sanitization and social distancing. Many houses severely damaged in 12-hour fighting, the first such incident in disputed regions main city in two years. A rebel commander and his associate have been killed by the Indian forces in Indian-administered Kashmirs main city, authorities said, triggering anti-India protests and clashes in the disputed region. Scores of counterinsurgency police and paramilitary soldiers cordoned off a neighbourhood in Srinagars old quarters on a tip that some rebels were hiding there, paramilitary spokesman Pankaj Singh said on Tuesday. Explosions and gunshots echoed through the densely populated neighbourhood, with streets largely empty as a result of a coronavirus lockdown that has kept most residents to their homes. At least five homes were reduced to rubble during the gun battle and 10 others were severely damaged, residents told the AFP news agency. Such clashes are a common occurrence in the disputed territory but rare in Srinagar, and the incident marked the first gun battle in the city in two years. People hold a hosepipe amid the smouldering debris of residential houses that residents said were damaged during the gun battle [Danish Ismail/Reuters] Top rebel killed The 12-hour gun battle ended with the killing of Junaid Ashraf Sehrai, a commander of Kashmirs largest rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen, and his aide. 200114091520056 Junaid, son of senior separatist leader Mohammed Ashraf Sehrai, joined the rebel ranks in early 2018 after graduating in business management from the regions main university. Three soldiers and a police official were injured in the fighting, police said. Residents accused the troops of setting the houses on fire and looting jewellery and cash from some homes. Singh said these were baseless allegations to malign troops. It was a clean operation with no collateral damage, he said. Security officials said Junaids killing was a major success against the rebels in Kashmir. The deaths came two weeks after Hizbul Mujahideen chief Riyaz Naikoo and a close aide were killed by government forces in the southern Kashmir valley during a two-day gun battle. Protesters throw stones at Indian forces following the gun battle in Srinagar [Tauseef Mustafa/AFP] Internet, phone services cut As the gun battle raged, authorities cut off most mobile internet and voice call services in Srinagar, a common Indian tactic when fighting erupts in the region. Defying the lockdown, locals poured onto the streets as news of the killings spread. Scores of young men chanted anti-India and pro-rebel slogans and hurled stones at government forces, who fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to disperse them. No injuries were immediately reported. New Delhi has stepped up its counterinsurgency operations across Indian-administered Kashmir in recent months. Police said 73 rebels had been killed in the Muslim-majority region this year. In April alone, more than two dozen rebels and about a dozen Indian troops were killed, the most in any month since August 2019, when India revoked the regions semi-autonomous status and statehood and imposed direct federal rule. On Sunday, a rebel and a soldier were killed in a gun battle in the remote Doda area. Unlike in the past, authorities now bury slain rebels far away from their homes in unpopulated frontier areas to stop large funerals from being held. The rebels have also continued their attacks on government forces and alleged informants amid the coronavirus pandemic, with almost daily fights along the rugged and mountainous frontier that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Kashmirs rebel groups have fought for decades for the regions independence or its merger with Pakistan, resulting in nearly 70,000 deaths, mostly civilians, since 1989 when an armed uprising began. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the anti-India rebels. Pakistan denies this, saying it offers only moral and diplomatic support to the rebels and to Kashmiri civilians who oppose Indian rule. A couple who learnt their wedding reception was cancelled through a Facebook post claim the venue is refusing to give back their $12,000 deposit. Hannah and Mikey Ohanesian had booked their vows followed by a lavish reception at Curzon Hall in Marsfield, Sydney, on April 18. But the couple were forced to privately tie the knot after the government in March moved to limit weddings to five guests due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Ohanesians said they were not directly contacted by the venue but saw a generic social media post detailing the government-enforced cancellations, news.com.au. Hannah and Mikey Ohanesian, who learnt their wedding was cancelled through a Facebook post, claim the venue is refusing to give back their $12,000 deposit When the newlyweds eventually spoke to the Navarra Events, the company who owns the venue, they said they were told their deposit would not be refunded. 'We were treated so poorly, first notified via a social media post and (then) consistent unanswered calls and promised call backs which never happened,' Ms Ohanesian told the publication. The couple said they were told they could redeem their $12,000 deposit by booking a wedding ceremony by February 2021. But the suggested date change would not suit the couple as a number of guests are overseas and can not travel due to COVID-19 bans and April 18 has sentimental value. 'They have $12,000 of our hard-earned money they are refusing to give back,' Mrs Ohanesian said. 'We are married now and our priorities have changed and therefore (we) do not want the rescheduled wedding which is all they have to offer.' The couple are now working with a lawyer and claim Navarra Events continues to ignore their attempts at communication. Mrs Ohanesian said it has been 'stressful' as they newlyweds have been forced to put life on hold without the $12,000. The couple were forced to privately tie the knot after the government in March moved to limit weddings to five guests due to the coronavirus outbreak The 28-year-old said she thought a wedding venue would have handled the ordeal with more compassion. Her husband, 27, said it is a 'shame' the situation ended up this way and he wished to give his partner 'the wedding of her dreams'. Navarra Venues said they are continuing to work through the challenges brought on by government's coronavirus restrictions. 'At present we are in a difficult position where my team has to inform clients once again they might need to postpone their event unless they want to hold a function for not three hundred (300) guests but only ten (10),' CEO Sal Navarra said. 'Our company stance is to continue working with our clients to find the best possible solution every time Government restrictions change. 'We are treading in unchartered waters and the environment is unpredictable.' Mr Navarra said his team are on the phones to support clients 'through this very emotional process'. 'During this pandemic crisis the vast majority of events affected by the lockdown have been re-scheduled to everyone's satisfaction,' he said. 'In a few special cases special arrangements have been made.' Mr. Johnson, shown with daughter Desiree and son Charles, encouraged his tenants to buy the houses from him and become homeowners themselves. Read more People Weve Lost Charles Johnson 79 years old Lived in Mount Airy He turned his life around through hard work More Memorials Charles David Johnson didnt have the easiest childhood growing up in North Philadelphia. He didnt have contact with his father, and his mother died when he was 14. He took his mothers death very hard, his daughter said. He dropped out of Simon Gratz High School in the ninth grade, held a few odd jobs, and hung out with the wrong crowd. After marrying at 25, he turned his life around and found steady work in the warehouse at New Yorker American Cheese Co. in South Philadelphia. His marriage ended in divorce, but he was a good father who took care of his two children as a single dad, said daughter Desiree. Mr. Johnson, 79, died Saturday, April 4, at Germantown Home from COVID-19. Mr. Johnson was born in Philadelphia in 1940 to Rose Johnson. After her death, he lived with his grandmother Lucy Johnson. By the time he was 39, while still employed at the cheese company, Mr. Johnson began buying rental properties in North and Northwest Philadelphia. It was a hobby that turned into a business. He was self-taught and learned by trial and error, Desiree said. On weekends, his children, starting at about ages 11 and 9, helped out by mowing lawns and painting. It taught them the value of hard work, his daughter said. He was a good provider, and he wanted his kids to do better than he did, Desiree said. Mr. Johnson was an unusual landlord, however. He not only charged below-market rents, he encouraged tenants to buy the houses from him and become homeowners themselves. He joined Vine Memorial Baptist Church in West Philadelphia as a teenager. But as an adult, he loved visiting churches around the city. He was an avid churchgoer. We went to church every week, Desiree said. Mr. Johnson enjoyed trips to New York City to visit friends and soul food restaurants such as Sylvias. And he liked to take his children to street festivals in New York and Philadelphia. In addition to his daughter, Mr. Johnson is survived by son Charles, a grandson, a sister, and other relatives and friends. A private burial was Saturday, April 25. Valerie Russ, vruss@inquirer.com The Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to advance the nominations of officials tapped to be the next Navy secretary and Air Force chief of staff. The committee on Tuesday approved the nominations of Kenneth Braithwaite as Navy secretary and Gen. Charles "CQ" Brown as Air Force chief of staff, sending them forward for a full Senate vote. The committee also approved the nomination of James H. Anderson as deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, it said. Read Next: 'A Seal Around the Ship: Coast Guard Crews Work to Avoid Catching COVID-19 on Drug Busts Earlier this month, the three nominees testified before lawmakers as part of their confirmation process. Braithwaite pledged to restore good order and discipline in the Navy, which has faced a host of challenges in recent years. He did not mince words during the nomination hearing, where he said the Navy's culture has been tarnished by deadly accidents, legal battles and the situation aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt after the novel coronavirus began spreading on the ship. "Whether Glenn Marine Defense, ship collisions, judicial missteps or the crisis on USS Roosevelt, they are all indicative of a breakdown in the trust of those leading the service," Braithwaite, who's currently serving as the U.S. ambassador to Norway, told senators. President Donald Trump nominated the retired rear admiral to lead the Navy and Marine Corps after Richard V. Spencer abruptly left the position in November. Thomas Modly, who had served as acting Navy secretary since then, also left the position amid controversy last month. The White House nominated Brown in March to be the Air Force's 22nd chief of staff, replacing Gen. David Goldfein. If confirmed, he would become the first African American to serve as the top uniformed officer of any of the military branches. During the nomination hearing, Brown said the service is on a path to add units across the force, but may fall short of its previously stated goal of 386 squadrons. "We've still got to be able to grow to 386; that's the goal," he said May 7. But whether the service hits that goal or not, additional airmen, equipment and resources will make it stronger, Brown said. "Some of the things I think about is, even as you look at trying to get to 386 or working toward 386, if we don't achieve 386, we may be a little bit smaller ... but we'll be more capable," he said. In 2018, the service said it wanted to add at least 74 additional squadrons over the next decade, unveiling its "386 squadron" plan. -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related: SecNav Nominee Cites Navy 'Failings of Leadership' in Confirmation Hearing In a statement cited by Sputnik news agency, the Chinese foreign ministry underlined that paying its full contribution to the WHO in a timely manner, is an obligation of every member of the international agency. Beijing [China]: The United States is trying to evade international obligations to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and smearing Beijing to divert attention from its own incompetence, China said on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump has told WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a letter shared on Twitter, that the US will completely stop funding the international agency, unless it commits to major improvements within the next 30 days. Trump accused the global health body of ignoring credible reports on the spread of the virus, and making incorrect and misleading claims about the deadly contagion, under pressure from Beijing. In April, the US President suspended the funding for the WHO over its "China-centric" policies. Trump, as well as several members of his administration, have claimed that coronavirus may have originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus was first discovered. Both the WHO and China deny all accusations of data concealment and lack of transparency. Advertisement A furious blame game erupted today as a Cabinet minister claimed government coronavirus blunders on testing and care homes were down to 'wrong' science advice. Therese Coffey insisted the government had just been following the guidance from experts as she fended off damning criticism from MPs over 'inadequate' testing. The Science and Technology Committee found hospital staff, care home workers and residents were put at risk because of a lack of capacity for screening 'when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant'. Routine testing for those with symptoms was abandoned on March 12, when the government shifted to its 'delay' phase, with checks reserved for hospital patients and health staff. But the cross-party MPs said the failure to ramp up testing for the disease was the 'most consequential' error in the crisis, and crippled efforts to trace, track and isolate Britons with the disease. Anger is also rising on the Tory backbenches, with one MP likening the response to the famous Morecambe and Wise comedy sketch where composer Andre Previn tells Eric he is 'playing all the wrong notes' in a piano piece, and he responds that he is 'playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order'. Pushed on whether the government had made mistakes, Ms Coffey told Sky News that ministers could 'only make judgements and decisions based on the information and advice that we have at the time'. 'If the science advice at the time was wrong I am not surprised people think we made the wrong decision,' she said. The extraordinary comment comes after the incoming president of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith, warned politicians against putting blame on to scientists. The ability to detect and crack down on cases is seen as crucial to getting the economy up and running, with unions warning workplaces and schools cannot be safe until the regime is in place. The committee hit out at Public Health England for the 'pivotal decision' to shun smaller labs and failure to make a 'rigorous assessment' of countries such as South Korea and Germany that had successfully ramped up testing. But PHE chief Duncan Selbie shot back that it was 'not responsible' for the testing strategy, which 'has been led by the Department of Health and Social Care'. He insisted 'any testing facility with the right technology and containment' could have carried out checks after security restrictions were lowered on March 3. GMB's Piers Morgan also berated Ms Coffey for mistakenly claiming that 100,000 people had been tested on a 'handful' of days. In fact, while the government says it has hit the 100,000 tests a day target, the number of people checked is lower as many need to be done more than once for clinical reasons. In another tumultuous day in the coronavirus crisis: More than 44,000 people have now been killed by COVID-19 in the UK, devastating statistics confirmed today. And more than 11,000 victims were care home residents in England and Wales; Elderly hospital patients who had coronavirus symptoms were discharged into care homes without being tested despite warnings from around the world the crisis could grip the sector, industry bosses told MPs today; UK unemployment claims soared by more than 69 per cent in April after the coronavirus lockdown gripped the labour market, official figures revealed; Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has called on Boris Johnson to start getting the economy working again and to reconsider the two-metre social distancing rule; US President Donald Trump's has been criticised for revealing he is taking a malaria drug to protect against coronavirus; Large businesses will now be able to receive up to 200 million from the government's loan scheme, which previously had a maximum pay-out of 50 million; Fresh questions have been raised about whether the government's track and trace system will be in place for June after the NHSX app was delayed, and less than a quarter of IT experts think it will be effective; Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey appeared to pass the buck in a round of interviews this morning, saying science advice might have been 'wrong' Boris Johnson sits at the top of a complex chain of experts who have shaped crucial decisions on the coronavirus crisis. As chair of Cobra and the Cabinet, the PM has the final say on the UKs approach but ministers insist they have faithfully followed the scientific advice at all times. The governments Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance are the main gateways through which expertise is channelled to the PM from a variety of scientific committees and groups Scots Royal Regiment of Scotland take a test sample at a Covid-19 testing centre at Glasgow Airport - but the scheme was lambasted today How the UK's testing regime chaos collapsed into chaos - and the fateful day No 10 halted community testing before the pandemic's peak The UK's testing regime is under the microscope after ministers appeared too slow to act while today the UK still has no fully functioning trace and trace app despite already easing the lockdown. March 12 is viewed as the lowest point of the crisis when the Government dropped community testing despite experts around the world warning that testing every case was the only way to cut infections and save lives. The Government has been damned by MPs for still not explaining who took the decision - or exactly why - although a lack of capacity and a lack of control over the virus' spread are the likeliest answers. This is how the testing scandal has unfolded: January 31: First confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK are two Chinese nationals staying in York while sightseeing. The Department of Health pledges to test anyone who becomes ill with the virus. February 1: China reports asymptomatic cases of coronavirus, making the testing of health workers crucial because they could be spreading the virus unknowingly. An outbreak of COVID-19 had already swamped the Diamond Princess cruise ship off Japan. A British man on board would later die. February 21: As the virus continues to spread across the globe, the UK Government experts conclude at a meeting that the disease is still only a 'moderate' threat to the UK. Yet in Lombardy, Italy, clusters of cases began to emerge before the north of the country was engulfed completely. March 3: South Korea manages to reduce the number of Covid-19 infections to 851 on March 3 by effectively tracking people infected with COVID-19 using an app and testing. By the end of March there would be less than 20 cases per day. Doctors urge other countries to adopt their model. March 11: Health Secretary Matt Hancock says he is 'rolling out a big expansion of testing' but fails to give a timetable and says 1,215 people have been tested for coronavirus in the UK. March 12: 24 hours later Boris Johnson was accused of mixed messages after saying that health workers will no longer test people for the virus in their homes, only when they are admitted to hospital. Anyone with symptoms, but able to care for themselves at home, would not be tested and it marked the end of the policy to 'contact trace' everyone with symptoms on, as the government's response moves from 'containment' into a 'delay' phase. Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said: 'It is no longer needed to identify every case, so we will pivot testing capacity to identify people in hospitals with symptoms to ensure they don't pass it on.' Critics have said that this is the day the Government lost control and conceded defeat on testing as cases increased and they didn't have the capacity to test every person. Downing Street has always refused to say who took the fateful decision to halt testing in the community on March 12, with many claiming it was this decision that led to it sweeping through communities and care homes. March 13: Chief Scientific Officer Patrick Vallance suggests the strategy is not to 'suppress' coronavirus completely but 'reduce the peak' as up to 60 per cent get infected. He says that means the UK will 'build up some kind of herd immunity so more people are immune to this disease'. March 16: Boris Johnson urges Britons to follow 'social distancing' guidelines as well as isolating when they have symptoms, in a change of policy after modelling found the death toll could be much higher than previously estimated. The WHO warns on slow progress with testing, saying you 'cannot fight a fire blindfolded' and urges countries to 'test, test, test'. March 17: There was more confusion as Patrick Vallance tells a Commons committee testing numbers should be higher. 'I think we need a big increase in testing, and that is what I am pushing for very hard.' March 18: Amid growing criticism, the PM declares that there will be a big expansion of tests from under 5,000 a day to 25,000. He also sets an ambition of 250,000 tests a day, although this includes potential mass antibody tests for whether people previously had the disease. March 21: Downing Street sends an email to research institutions begging for machines needed to process testing samples. No10 denies this was the first time it had raised the idea. March 27: Mr Johnson and Matt Hancock announce they have tested positive for coronavirus. Prof Whitty goes into self-isolation with symptoms. March 29: Cabinet ministers Matt Hancock and Michael Gove hail news that the UK is now carrying out 10,000 tests a day. April 1: It emerges that the UK has still not carried out 10,000 tests in a day, despite apparently having the capacity to do so. In Germany a single lab in Cologne was carrying out 10,000 tests itself. Germany would soon ramp up to 500,000 tests a week. April 2: Matt Hancock sets a target of 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. At the same time a goal of 25,000 tests a day by the middle of April is quietly dropped. April 5: The PM's official account causes confusion by tweeting that the target is for 100,000 people to be tested a day, rather than 100,000 tests as other ministers have suggested. Many people need more than one test in a day for clinical reasons, such as to confirm results. April 6: Mr Johnson is admitted to hospital as his symptoms fail to subside and would later spend days in intensive care. April 30: Mr Hancock declares victory with 122,000 tests in a day. However, it emerges that the government has been counting tests posted out but not actually completed. That is despite Mr Johnson and others stating the numbers are for tests 'carried out'. The numbers tumble below the target again in the following days, although the government insists capacity remains in place. May 5: Trials of an NHSX app to track who has been in proximity to infected people begin on the Isle of Wight. Chief scientific officer Patrick Vallance admits ramping up testing earlier would have been 'beneficial'. May 18: It emerges the app will not be ready for national use by 'mid-May' as planned, although Downing Street insists track and trace can start without it. Mr Hancock announces that everyone over the age of five displaying coronavirus symptoms can now apply for a test, although key workers and patients will be prioritised. May 19: A furious blame game erupted over who was to blame for coronavirus blunders on testing and care homes were down to 'wrong' science advice. The Science and Technology Committee found hospital staff, care home workers and residents were put at risk because of a lack of capacity for screening 'when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant'. The Department of Health and Public Health England have been pointing the finger at each other. Advertisement In a letter to Boris Johnson, committee chairman Greg Clark identified a series of lessons to learn from the UK's handling of the outbreak. He said capacity must 'urgently' be built up for contact tracing, a key tactic in helping ease existing lockdown measures. Mr Clark said: 'Testing capacity has been inadequate for most of the pandemic so far. 'Capacity was not increased early enough or boldly enough. Capacity drove strategy, rather than strategy driving capacity.' Mr Hancock announced on April 2 that he wanted to reach 100,000 daily coronavirus tests by the end of the month. The goal was reached for the first time on April 30 but sparked accusations the figures had been inflated, as they included tests which had been posted out but not completed. The milestone has been reached a handful of times since. Mr Clark said PHE had repeatedly failed to answer questions over the 'pivotal' decision to ignore mass testing in favour of other tactics. He said: 'The decision to pursue an approach of initially concentrating testing in a limited number of laboratories and to expand them gradually, rather than an approach of surging capacity through a large number of available public sector, research institute, university and private sector labs is one of the most consequential made during this crisis. 'From it followed the decision on March 12 to cease testing in the community and retreat to testing principally within hospitals.' He said the decision meant that residents in care homes and care home workers could not be tested at a time when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant. Mr Clark wrote: 'Had the public bodies responsible in this space themselves taken the initiative at the beginning of February, or even the beginning of March, rather than waiting until the Secretary of State imposed a target on April 2, knowledge of the spread of the pandemic and decisions about the response to it may have made more options available to decision makers at earlier stages.' But in a statement to the BBC, Mr Selbie said the testing strategy was not PHE's responsibility. 'PHE did not constrain or seek to control any laboratory either public, university or commercial from conducting testing,' he said. Downing Street rejected the criticism over testing. 'We set up the largest diagnostic testing industry in British history from scratch in a matter of weeks,' the PM's spokesman said. The spokesman also dodged questions about Ms Coffey's intervention, stressing 'ministers make decisions, scientists advise'. 'The PM is hugely grateful for the hard work and expertise of the UK's world-leading scientists,' the spokesman said. The Science committee identified concerns over the transparency of its Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergency) membership amid concerns political interference could affect the guidance. The report, based on evidence sessions with experts including Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government's chief scientific adviser, and Professor Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, found the approach to dealing with asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19 was 'unclear'. Separately, a care home chief blamed delayed advice and testing during a 'critical' period for having spread coronavirus throughout homes. Barchester Healthcare chief executive Dr Pete Calveley, who said around two thirds of his homes have had Covid-19 cases, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We've had several weeks where their first reaction was to protect the NHS, where they wanted to discharge a lot of clients from hospital to make sure there was capacity for what they anticipated was a surcharge. 'And that meant a lot of people being discharged from care homes rather quickly who hadn't been tested and often we've seen where we've been doing large testing of care homes where asymptomatic staff, and particularly residents, are actually positive and therefore are freely moving through the home are infecting other residents and staff without anybody knowing about it until too late.' Dr Calveley said there was a 'critical' period of up to four weeks before testing was available and advice was issued for staff to wear professional masks and isolation for new admissions. 'None of that advice came out until it was probably too late,' he said. One former minister told the Telegraph the government's handling of the crisis was reminiscent of the famous Morecambe and Wise sketch featuring Andre Previn, the pianist and composer. The MP said: 'It's like when Previn turns to Eric and says: 'You're not playing the right notes' and Eric grabs him by the lapels and replies: 'I am playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order'. Everything has been the wrong way round.' Ministers 'must stop claiming they are following the science' Ministers should stop claiming they are 'following the science' and stop passing the buck in the battle against coronavirus, a leading scientist has demanded. Sir Adrian Smith, 73, a statistician and the the incoming president of the Royal Society, said politicians are justifying their measures by saying they are following expert advice to appear decisive. He warned that blame should not be passed to scientists as the government are the ones implementing and making decisions in the battle against coronavirus. Sir Adrian also blasted the government's decision to make decisions behind closed doors, adding 'openness and transparency would have been a better option'. A full list of members of the government's secretive SAGE committee, which has advised on tackling the virus, was only published two weeks ago and minutes from its meetings have still to be released. Furious MPs have previously demanded research papers underpinning the government's coronavirus strategy are immediately released. Advertisement On the plan for a 14-day quarantine period on arrivals to the UK, they added: 'That should have happened at the beginning of the crisis, not at the end.' Ms Coffey defended the Government's coronavirus testing record as having improved from a 'standing start'. Responding to the Commons Science and Technology Committee's criticism, she told BBC Breakfast: 'We had a small amount of capacity at the very start, it was solely based on Public Health England's capability of being able to have about 2,000 tests a day. 'We had little capacity early on, I recognise that, we have got a lot of capacity now. 'I think from pretty much a standing start, roughly in about mid-February I think it was, to get to a capacity and actual tests being done of 100,000 within about six weeks, I think is pretty full-on and actually I think something we can look on with pride.' The row came as Downing Street announced the NHS contact tracing app trailed on the Isle of Wight this month will be launched across the country in the 'coming weeks'. Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has called on Boris Johnson to start getting the economy working again and to reconsider the two-metre social distancing rule, after dire benefits claim figures show the highest rise since records began 50 years ago. The Tory MP told Today that unemployment depends 'first and foremost (on) how quickly are we able to get the economy moving'? 'We need to get that moving as quick as possible and I've certainly been arguing that for some weeks now,' he said. On social distancing, Sir Iain said 'we're the only country certainly in Europe that I know of' that uses the two-metre rule. 'I think when it comes to the hospitality sector, I think we do need to look at it very carefully,' he said. 'So we do need to look at how they manage that process and give them some flexibility. Meanwhile, ministers have been told to stop claiming they are 'following the science' and stop passing the buck in the battle against coronavirus. Sir Adrian Smith, 73, a statistician and the the incoming president of the Royal Society, said politicians are justifying their measures by saying they are following expert advice to appear decisive. He warned that blame should not be passed to scientists as the government are the ones implementing and making decisions in the battle against coronavirus. Sir Adrian also blasted the government's decision to make decisions behind closed doors, adding 'openness and transparency would have been a better option'. A full list of members of the government's secretive SAGE committee, which has advised on tackling the virus, was only published two weeks ago and minutes from its meetings have still to be released. Furious MPs have previously demanded research papers underpinning the government's coronavirus strategy are immediately released. PHE chief Dunan Selbie (right) said it was 'not responsible' for the testing strategy, which 'has been led by the Department of Health and Social Care' - Matt Hancock's (left) department Abandoned to their fate: Elderly hospital patients with COVID-19 symptoms were discharged into care homes WITHOUT tests before virus killed 10,000 pensioners - despite warnings from around the world Care home chief blames lack of testing for spread A care home chief has blamed delayed advice and testing during a 'critical' period for having spread coronavirus throughout homes. Barchester Healthcare chief executive Dr Pete Calveley, who said around two thirds of his homes have had Covid-19 cases, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We've had several weeks where their first reaction was to protect the NHS, where they wanted to discharge a lot of clients from hospital to make sure there was capacity for what they anticipated was a surcharge. 'And that meant a lot of people being discharged from care homes rather quickly who hadn't been tested and often we've seen where we've been doing large testing of care homes where asymptomatic staff, and particularly residents, are actually positive and therefore are freely moving through the home are infecting other residents and staff without anybody knowing about it until too late.' Dr Calveley said there was a 'critical' period of up to four weeks before testing was available and advice was issued for staff to wear professional masks and isolation for new admissions. 'None of that advice came out until it was probably too late,' he said. Advertisement Elderly hospital patients who had coronavirus symptoms were discharged into care homes without being tested despite warnings from around the world the crisis could grip the sector, industry bosses revealed today. Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, told MPs the decision may be partly to blame for allowing COVID-19 to race through homes and kill more than 10,000 residents. Routine testing for those with symptoms was abandoned on March 12, when the Government shifted to its 'delay' phase, with swabs reserved for critically ill hospital patients and NHS staff. Professor Green said emphasis on saving the NHS led to elderly people with underlying health conditions - the most at risk of dying from the disease - being abandoned. Prioritising hospitals over care homes also resulted in residents having their medical support cut off and PPE supplies for the sector being disrupted, according to Professor Green. He told the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee today that 'very clear national strategy' was now needed from Government to prevent more waves of the virus ravaging the sector. Adelina Comas-Herrera, assistant research fellow at the London School of Economics, told the committee that there was 'plenty of evidence' in March that care homes could be devastated by the crisis. She said US research had shown that coronavirus patients were regularly asymptomatic, highlighting the need for stringent testing. An Office for National Statistics report revealed today that at least 11,000 COVID-19 deaths occurred in England and Wales However this is a modest estimate because it does not include care home deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland or residents who were moved to hospital before they passed away It comes as an Office for National Statistics report revealed today that at least 11,000 COVID-19 deaths occurred in England and Wales. However this is a modest estimate because it does not include care home deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland or residents who were moved to hospital before they passed away. Researchers at the London School of Economics estimate at least 22,000 care home residents have died with coronavirus - half of the UK's overall fatalities. Meanwhile, a damning Government study leaked today also revealed that untested temporary staff may have been inadvertently spreading the illness in the sector's scramble to fill vacancies left by workers in self-isolation. Mumbai, May 19 : Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 76 Covid-19 deaths - the highest single-day surge - and 2,127 new cases, officials said here. This amounts to a staggering three deaths every hour and around 89 new cases every hour. The state has been notching above 2K new patients consecutively since the past three days. With 76 fatalities - up by 13 from the previous high of 63 notched on May 17 -- the state death toll now stands at 1,325 and the total number of coronavirus patients increased from 35,058 on Monday to 37,136. The health department said the state now has 26,164 active cases. Of the total 76 deaths, 43 were recorded in Mumbai alone - the highest till date on a single-day - taking the city's toll to 800 now, and the number of Covid-19 positive patients here shot up by 1,411 cases, again a new record - to touch 22,746 today. Mumbai's Dharavi slum alone continued to be a major hotspot and a headache for the health authorities, notching 26 new cases, taking the total number of patients to 1,353, and 56 deaths to date. Besides Mumbai's 43 deaths, there were 17 in Thane (Thane and Navi Mumbai), 6 in Pune, 3 in Akola, two each in Nagpur and Buldhana, and one each in Aurangabad, Dhule and Nashik. They comprised 50 men and 26 women, and nearly 76 per cent of them suffered from other serious ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, heart problems and asthma. On the positive side, as many as 1,202 fully cured patients returned home on Tuesday, taking the number of those discharged to 9,639. Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police Naval Bajaj, meanwhile, sought 12 dedicated ambulances from the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the benefit of the police personnel who are getting infected in large numbers. So far, around 618 police personnel in the city - besides 600 more elsewhere in the state - are Covid-19 positive, but they have to wait for 7-8 hours before an ambulance is available. In another development, the Mumbai Police has dismissed rumours that permission would be granted for the special Eid namaz on the occasion of Ramzan Eid, expected to be celebrated on May 25. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (Thane Division) continued to cause huge concerns with 904 Covid-19 deaths and cases shooting to 28,431. Though trailing a distant second after Mumbai, Pune Division fatalities touched 238, besides 4,821 patients. The next major area of concern is Nashik Division with 85 deaths and 1,312 positive cases, followed by Aurangabad Division with 35 fatalities and 1,181 cases, and finally Akola Division with 34 deaths and 543 cases. There's also Latur Division with 6 deaths and 145 cases, Kolhapur Division with 5 deaths and 248 patients, and finally Nagpur Division with 7 deaths and 409 patients. Meanwhile, the number of people sent to home-quarantine increased from 366,242 to 386,192, and those in institutional quarantine went up from 18,678 to 21,150, while the state's containment zones increased from 1,681 on Monday to 1,765 on Tuesday. As many as 15,178 health teams have carried out a survey of a population of around 63.2 lakhs in the state. (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at q.najmi@ians.in) Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket: Walmart (WMT) The retail giant reported quarterly profit of $1.18 per share, 6 cents a share above estimates. Revenue came in above forecasts as well. Same-store sales were up 10%, compared to a consensus estimate of 7.2%. Walmart withdrew its 2020 guidance due to virus-related uncertainty and also announced it would discontinue the jet.com brand. Home Depot (HD) The home improvement retailer earned $2.08 per share for the first quarter, below the consensus estimate of $2.27 a share. Revenue and comparable-store sales beat Street forecasts, but the bottom line was weighed down by pandemic-related expenses. Home Depot also suspended its full-year outlook. Kohl's (KSS) The retailer lost $3.20 per share for the first quarter, wider than the loss of $1.80 per share that analysts were expecting. Kohl's also declined to provide comparable-store sales figures, citing closures. The company said it took steps to improve its liquidity and ended the quarter with $2 billion in cash. Advance Auto Parts (AAP) The auto parts seller earned 91 cents per share for the first quarter, missing the $1.73 a share consensus estimate. Revenue was also below forecasts, with comparable-store sales falling a greater-than-expected 9.3%. Moderna (MRNA) Moderna priced a secondary stock offering of 17.6 million common shares at $76 per share, while granting the underwriters an option to buy up to 2.64 million additional shares at the same price. The biotech firm's stock had surged 20% Monday on positive vaccine study results, closing at $80. Walt Disney (DIS) Disney's top streaming executive, Kevin Mayer, is leaving to become CEO at popular video app TikTok. Mayer had led the successful launch of the Disney+ streaming service in late 2019, and his departure is cited among the reasons for a downgrade of the stock to "hold" from "buy" at Loop Capital. Southwest Airlines (LUV) In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the airline said it sees May operating revenue down 85% to 90% from a year ago, with June operating revenue down 80% to 85%. Southwest said it is seeing a modest improvement in passenger demand and bookings. J.C. Penney (JCP) Amazon.com (AMZN) is said to be eyeing all or part of the bankrupt retailer, according to a Women's Wear Daily report. Baidu (BIDU) Baidu reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the first quarter, while the Chinese search engine giant also gave an upbeat current-quarter revenue forecast as China-based businesses reopen after strict lockdowns. T-Mobile US (TMUS) Japan's Softbank will sell a large portion of its stake in the wireless carrier through a secondary stock offering, according to sources who spoke to CNBC's David Faber. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will underwrite the offering. Sony (SNE) Sony will take full control of its publicly listed financial arm, Sony Financial Holdings, through a $3.7 billion tender offer. Tesla (TSLA) The automaker's car registrations in China fell 64% in April compared to March, according to figures from auto consulting firm LMC Automotive. Delta Air Lines (DAL) Delta will keep jets no more than 60% full through at least July, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. Delta had said yesterday that it would cap first class seating at 50% and main cabin at 60% through June 30. Amazon.com (AMZN) Amazon had listings for 36,000 job openings at the end of April, 19% more than a year earlier, according to a review done by analysts at Citi. At the same time, job listings at Alphabet (GOOGL), Facebook (FB), and Netflix (NFLX) fell from a year earlier. Carvana (CVNA) The automotive e-commerce company announced a 5 million share offering of its class A common stock, planning to use proceeds for general corporate purposes. Netflix show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj has stopped production as global pandemic coronavirus rages on but there's good news! According to What's On Netflix, Season 6 of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj was set to continue the production on March 11, 2020. However, in accordance with Hasan Minhaj himself in a Twitter video, the Netflix show postponed its production and the release of the remaining episodes of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, fans of the show should not worry because, as stated in the video, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj will be coming back to Netflix soon. The staff working for the show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj are all practicing social distancing and are at home with their loved ones. Netflix has released the show's first episode of Season 6 on March 29, 2020 and has since updated the episodes of the show. The schedule for the release of each unreleased episode is to be determined. A Biography in Third Person Hasan Minhaj is an Indian-American man, famous for his work on the Netflix talk show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. In 1996, Hasan Minhaj joined the show The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. According to IMDb, Jon Stewart hired Minhaj as the show's last correspondent. He was born in Davis, California, USA on the 23rd of September 1984 to Indian parents. He lived with his father alone until the age of 8 because his mother was finishing medical school back in India until then. Additionally, he obtained his bachelor's degree in political science at the University of California back in Davis, his hometown. Moreover, Hasan Minhaj is a comedian. The Netflix show Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King was his first stand-up comedy gig. The Netflix show made its debut in May 2017. Hasan Minhaj also hosts from time to time. In 2017, he hosted the White Correspondents' Association dinner. He is happily married to Beena Patel, his wife of five years. They have been married since January 2015. Read Also: American Idol 2020 Winner: Is Just Sam Deserving? Social Media Backlash Says Arthur Gunn Should Have Won Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj is a comedy web television variety and talk show. The show is handled by Netflix and is hosted by none other than Hasan Minhaj. The show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj tackles any form of news all around the world in an inclusive and amusing manner. The show's constant themes revolve around cynical, witty, and political. The range of its topics can cover serious issues like immigration, politics, and elections. However, it can also shift to matters of the arts and business world like the cultures of countries, the online shopping empire Amazon, and hip-hop dancing. The show is quite flexible in its array of topics, engaging audiences of people above the age of 15. The show currently has six seasons, each season having a total of six to seven episodes except for the latest season. A new episode of the Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj comes out every Sunday on Netflix. Read Also: Pregnant WWE Raw's Becky Lynch to Asuka: "Go and Be a Warrior Because I'm Going to Go Be a Mother." Ukraine's Deputy Prosecutor General Gyunduz Mamedov has said that using interviews with suspects and accused persons in investigations is "fairly common world practice." He said this in a comment to BBC News Ukrainian in connection with an interview that Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon conducted with former separatist leader Igor Girkin. "Such interviews are valuable for additional facts and details. For example, the so-called 'prosecutor' of Crimea confirmed that she knows about a suspicion notice and criminal prosecution against her in Ukraine," Mamedov said. He added that during his interview, Girkin also spoke about specific facts of his committing particularly grave crimes. "I do not rule out that in the future this information will be the subject of consideration in the investigation into serious violations of international humanitarian law - war crimes and crimes against humanity," he said. According to Mamedov, information on the control and supply of weapons by illegal armed groups from the Russian Federation is of special value to the investigation. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it would give a legal assessment of Gordon's interview with Girkin after studying the material. Gordon's interview with Igor Girkin (Strelkov), a leader of "DPR" militants in 2014 and the so-called "DPR minister of defense," was published on the website of the Gordon online news site on May 18. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over conflict-hit Donbas in July 2014. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board. All of them died. The JIT reported that the plane had been shot down from a Buk missile system that belongs to the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces stationed in Kursk. In May 2018, the Netherlands and Australia formally accused Russia of being responsible for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet. On June 19, 2019, the international Joint Investigation Team named four suspects believed to be involved in the transportation and combat use of the Buk missile system, from which flight MH17 had been downed. Three of them are Russians: Igor Girkin (Strelkov), former colonel in Russia's FSB intelligence service and former so-called defense minister of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic"; Sergey Dubinskiy, general (at the time of downing colonel) of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and head of the so-called "Main Intelligence Directorate of the Donetsk People's Republic"; Oleg Pulatov, lieutenant colonel of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. The fourth suspect is Leonid Kharchenko, a Ukrainian civilian, who fought on the side of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic." Girkin, also known as Strelkov, has repeatedly admitted that he took an active part in the process of Russia's annexation of Crimea. It was he who said on Twitter that Russian-backed separatists shot down the plane, which later turned out to be Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. The attack killed 298 people. In early May, Gordon posted on YouTube a recording of an interview with Natalia Poklonskaya. Poklonskaya is a former Ukrainian lawyer who sided with Russia after the occupation of Crimea in 2014. According to a decree issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin, she was appointed "prosecutor" of Russia-occupied Crimea. She was later elected to the Russian State Duma. Ukraine filed a number of criminal cases against Poklonskaya, including for high treason and involvement in the illegal banning of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people. op Mumbai: Maharashtra Minister of Higher and Technical Education Uday Samant in a letter to the University Grants Commission (UGC) said that the state has decided to promote all college students except those in their final year. Samant requested the UGC to consider the option to promote students without conducting exams of last year for undergraduates and postgraduates. In the letter to UGC, Samant said, "The state government took the decision to promote students of diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate to next year except for students of final year. The grading of the students will be done as per UGC and State Level Committees guidelines." Maharashtra government, meanwhile, appointed a state-level committee to recommend regarding the conduct of examinations and the academic calendar based on UGC guidelines. The committee submitted its report on May 6. Samant said the government took the decision in view of COVID-19 pandemic and in order to maintain social distancing, safety and health of all students. With this, all diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate (excluding medical, agriculture and animal husbandry universities) students, except for those who are in their final year, will be promoted to next year. The grading of these students shall be done as per UGC and state-level committee's guidelines. "Considering the pandemic situation in the stat, conducting exams of approximately 8-10 lakh students by maintaining all safety protocols seems very challenging and may endanger the safety and health of the students. I, hereby request your good self to kindly consider the option of promoting students without conducting exams of last year for UG/PG and grade them as per UGC guidelines," the Maharashtra minister said. New Yorks Democratic Party leadership gave up trying to cancel the states June 23 presidential primary Tuesday after an appeals court rejected arguments that holding it during the coronavirus pandemic would endanger public safety. Douglas A. Kellner, co-chair of the State Board of Elections, said he and the boards commissioner would not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court after the ruling by the three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. He said they planned to urge voters to use absentee ballots while they focus all of our attention on the daunting tasks of managing the primary election in a way that minimizes the risks to the public and to election workers. State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs said scrapping the primary would have been a whole lot safer. Of course Im disappointed and hopeful that none of the worst predictions for poll worker health will come true, but we will comply of course with the courts order and we will hold the primary, Jacobs said. Even without the partys presidential primary, voting would still have taken place in most of the state in primaries for state and congressional offices. Tuesdays 2nd Circuit ruling was praised by lawyers for supporters of Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang, two Democratic presidential candidates who had suspended campaigns but hope to secure enough delegates to influence the partys platform and rules later this summer. The appeals court agreed in a written order to be followed by a lengthier opinion with a lower court judge who ruled two weeks ago that the primary must include the contest. The appeals judges Friday seemed to agree with oral arguments advanced on behalf of Sanders and Yang. The lawyers said it did not matter that former Vice-President Joe Biden seemed destined to be the Democrats nominee against President Donald Trump because Sanders and Yang wanted a strong voice at the Democrats August convention. This is a big victory for Democracy, and the importance of not undermining it during the pandemic. We hope President Trump is watching closely: dont fool with the November election, said attorney Arthur Schwartz, who had argued on behalf of supporters of Sanders. Attorney Jeff Kurzon, who started the litigation by suing on behalf of Yang and other prospective convention delegates, said he was very grateful we have three branches of government and the courts agreed that New Yorkers have the right to vote in this presidential election. The Democratic presidential primary had been cancelled on grounds that the coronavirus posed too big a safety threat, especially since thousands of poll workers would have to be hired and hundreds of thousands of voters might have trouble social distancing. But U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres on May 5 ruled there was enough time before the election to ensure measures were in place to carry it out safely. She said it was unconstitutional to cancel the primary. Lawyers for the state also conceded last week that no other state cancelled its Democratic presidential primary. ___ Villeneuve reported from Albany. Before Carlton Riddick left New York for college in 1988, his mother had the talk with him, a customary conversation between parents and children about the guidelines of conduct as they embark on life on their own. Todays talk is radically different from years past. Black parents are having serious and cautionary exchanges with their children about law enforcement shootings of unarmed African American males and so-called vigilante white men exacting prosecution on their own volition. These talks have intensified after Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was shot and killed Feb. 23 in Brunswick, Georgia, by two white men who followed and confronted him as he went for a routine jog. When my mother had the talk with me, she told me to avoid being considered a criminal by watching whom I would associate with, so I would not be arrested, recalled Riddick, a graduate of Johnson C. Smith University who is an information technology specialist in Atlanta. Contrast that with the talk Riddick had with his son Josiah before the latter left for college two years ago. I looked him in the eyes and said, Son, the police are not your friends. That was the beginning of the talk, said Riddick, whose younger son, Justin, is now 18.. I wanted him to fully understand what it means to walk out of the safety of his home into a world that would see him as a suspect just because he was walking down the street. This admonishment also included being cautious and suspicious of those of other cultures, many of whom now seem emboldened to take matters into their own hands. The two men arrested in the Arbery shooting, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son, Travis, 34, were charged with felony murder and aggravated assault, but only after a neighbors video of the shooting was released last week more than two months after the incident. The case has outraged many across the country and devastated the African American community, which has seen many similar acts by white men considering themselves avengers against unarmed black males for no apparent cause, according to many experts. Story continues Image: Sociologist Dr. Rodney Coates of the University of Miami Ohio said the history of vigilantes hunting down black males goes back to Reconstruction. (Courtesy of Rodney Coates) This is an insidious form of racial profiling, said Rodney Coates, a sociologist and associate professor at Miami University in Ohio. Its part of a system that targets black males, not unlike the period of Reconstruction when gangs of whites would hunt down blacks with the mission of killing them. With Arberys shooting death, which is similar to the killing of Trayvon Martin, 17, by neighborhood watch guard George Zimmerman in Florida in 2012, black families have been traumatized and many suffer from anxieties because they believe a comparable catastrophe could happen to them, Coates said. I have a 21-year-old son who at one time did something he shouldnt have: He used a fake ID to get into a bar, Coates said. I was upset about it. But when I was told that he tried to run, I was frightened. I had this new version of the talk with him immediately. I grabbed him and hugged him with tears in my eyes because he was still here. I told him: Son, dont run when you are confronted with a gun. I dont want to go to your funeral. There is a sector of whites, police and otherwise, who feel they have a license to question (black males) and, if they feel like it, use deadly force. Jeri Byrom, a teacher in Nairobi, Kenya, said while she was excited about her son Adam starting college at Howard University a few years ago, there was concern he would fall victim to a targeted attack. Im terrified that my son might go to prison or get killed just by being black, Byrom said. I live in this constant fear. Young freshman do stupid things, and young black men cannot afford to make one mistake. I happened to call him on Halloween during his freshman year. Good thing I did because he and his friend were about to go trick or treating in an affluent area of D.C. I freaked out and started yelling: Are you out of your mind? I could imagine what could happen to a group of black boys, with or without costumes, going to a white neighborhood. Again, we had the talk: You can't do things like that. You are a target. You don't have to do anything at all, and you can still be shot or arrested or attacked. Please don't go. Thankfully, they didnt. This horrible case in Georgia raised so many emotions and has forced black parents to modify the talk with their sons. In Arberys case, he paused while jogging and entered a house that was under construction. The McMichaels told police they suspected him of burglarizing a nearby home, although there is no report of any crime in that neighborhood since Jan. 1. The father and son pulled ahead of Arbery in a pickup truck, blocked the street and the son jumped out brandishing a shotgun. The video shows Arbery trying to wrest the weapon before being shot (off camera) three times and then collapsing to the ground. The FBI is considering charging the McMichaels with a hate crime. The attack on us is unceasing, prolific, pervasive, insidious and brutal, Clifford Benton, a college English professor in New York, said, adding that his conversation with his son, Clifford Jr., 25, about his situation in the United States is born out of my clarity regarding our plight. I have not minced words, and the proof of my truth is evidenced daily, Benton said As black men from two different eras, we face the same hostilities from virtually all fronts. Liketa Morris of Oakland, California, said her heart sank when she read about the shooting of Arbery. Her son, Tai, a student at DePaul University in Chicago, likes to jog, as well. I could not hold back my tears or my fears or my anger, Morris said. This young man was (like) my son. Tai runs every day in the streets of Chicago, and if that would have happened to him, there would have been no ends of the earth that could settle me as a parent. She said Arberys death sadly illuminated the points she regularly makes to her 20-year-old and reinforced after the shooting. He will always have a stigma over his head, Morris said. Weve had the conversation about what that looks like for him plenty of times. Ive had to tell him to be proud of who you are always. Ive had to talk to him about the police in making sure youre always showing two hands, so they wont accidentally kill you. I worry a lot for him being out there by himself. When I dont hear from him for two days, I panic and Im ready to take a red-eye out there because Im scared. Image: Family therapist Dr. Porsha Jones stresses that black parents reinforce positive attributes to their boys when discussing the climate of racial profiling. (Courtesy of Porsha Jones) Family therapist Porsha Jones in Atlanta said parents must be mindful of not diminishing their youths self-esteem when having this updated version of the talk. Its personal for me because I have a black son, Jones said. And the one thing about the coronavirus is that I know where he is: home. Its alleviated a lot of stress for me because he cant go anywhere. Black parents have to implement a talk around new protective factors. But we have to balance the message so that he does not believe he is less than. You must communicate a sense of all love for your child and let him know that he is not broken, that he is equal. Reinforce his attributes and make sure he understands his heritage. This is necessary to reinforce because this is certainly not about him. Coates agrees. We have to let our kids know there is a time to fight and a time not to fight, he said. When these (vigilante) cases occur, they must try to defuse, although it goes against their brain and instincts. But its not about being a coward. Its not about backing down. Its being strategic. Its about living. For Riddick, it is disheartening to have to talk to his sons about potential mistreatment based solely on their race. What kind of world do we live in when a parent has to have these types of conversations with their children? he said. What pained me the most is here I am a father basically instilling a level of trepidation in my son. All he hears normally from me is that he can be anything he wants to be if he works for it. I had to add a caveat: even in a world that only sees you as a suspect. ITHACA, N.Y. - So-called "white lies" - telling a spouse you like their sub-par cooking, or praising a friend's unflattering haircut - serve a purpose. But they can cause problems in the workplace, where honest feedback, even when it's negative, is important. Women are more likely to be given inaccurate performance feedback, according to new research by Lily Jampol, Ph.D. '14, and Vivian Zayas, associate professor of psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences, published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. In their paper, "Gendered White Lies: Women Are Given Inflated Performance Feedback Compared to Men," Zayas and Jampol find that underperforming women are given less truthful but kinder performance feedback compared to equally underperforming men. White lies are told to preserve relationships, avoid harming the other person or to present one's self in a positive light, among other reasons, Jampol said. Though they often reflect benign intentions, in some contexts they can be problematic. "Given that developmental performance feedback is a ubiquitous and important process in most workplaces and of many people's working lives, access to fair and accurate feedback should be available to anyone needing improvement, regardless of his or her social group," the authors wrote. "Here we have exposed one factor that may, to a certain degree, impede this access - being a woman." The study adds to a robust body of research showing gender differences in performance evaluations. Previous research has shown, for example, that women are described more warmly and with more positive words than men in narrative performance reviews, while being evaluated more negatively on more objective, quantitative measures of performance. Women are praised for their work while being allocated fewer resources than men. Women also report receiving less negative feedback from managers. The primary aim of this new study, Zayas said, was "to provide empirical evidence that there is a greater propensity to positively distort information, or tell white lies, to women during person-to-person feedback." The researchers used two studies to test this hypothesis. In the first, which measured participants' perceptions of another person's actions, participants read a hypothetical manager's assessment of an employee's poor performance. Then they read what feedback the manager chose to give directly to the employee. Participants were randomly assigned to read different feedback statements, ranging from truthful feedback, which was the harshest, to the least truthful statement, which was also the nicest. Study participants were asked to guess the employee's gender based on the feedback the manager had chosen to give. "Participants overwhelmingly guessed that an underperforming employee who had been told a white lie - the least truthful, but the nicest feedback - was a woman," said Jampol, a diversity, equity and inclusion strategist at ReadySet, a consulting firm in Oakland, California. "This finding suggests that participants believe that this is a likely occurrence in giving feedback." The second study examined whether the participants themselves were more likely to tell white lies to an underperforming woman, compared with a man. For the second study, the researchers asked participants to grade two poorly written essays, with the writers identified solely by their initials, AB or SB; their genders were not known. Given that participants did not know the gender of the writers and the evaluation was done privately, their grades represent how they truly evaluated the essay. After submitting their grades, study participants were asked to provide feedback directly to each writer over chat, so that the writer could improve. At this point, the writers' names (Andrew or Sarah) were revealed, revealing that one was a man, the other a woman. Participants submitted a grade to each writer, as well as substantive comments to improve their essays. Participants were more likely to tell white lies to the woman writer, inflating Sarah's grades nearly a full letter grade higher than from their initial private evaluation. They also gave her more positive comments than they gave Andrew. In contrast, the man's in-person feedback was statistically indistinguishable from the participants' undisclosed evaluations of his work. The studies reveal a potential obstacle to equality, Jampol and Zayas said. ### This research was funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and the American Psychological Association. France. Argentina. And today, Australia. Wherever next? With this steady stream of overseas contractor job questions being submitted to ContractorUK, youd be forgiven for asking, Global pandemic? What global pandemic? Lets now take a closer, more realistic look at the impact that COVID-19 is having on the international contracting market, because the impact is significant, writes Nikolas Papageorgiou, EU country manager at overseas contracting specialists Access Financial. Interestingly, there are two contiguous countries which are cooperating to try to keep their economies going while mitigating their health risks from coronavirus. And perhaps reassuringly if you too are a ContractorUK reader who is overseas job-browsing, there are some governments which are now relaxing their lockdown restrictions on the belief that they may have passed the top of the infection curve in their countries. Experience, not statistics Our business spreads over nine offices in Europe and Asia, and we deal with recruitment businesses, corporate clients, and contractors from most countries, putting our operations in close to 60 different countries worldwide. Our experience is, therefore, likely to be indicative of the trends. Since official figures on covid-19s impact on people and the economy are flimsy at best, what we assert in this piece may not be statistically verifiable. Instead it comes from our direct experience. Most European countries went into coronavirus lockdown between the second and fourth week of March. In the subsequent period to date, we have experienced a significant fall in activity from our clients. We attribute this to several factors which they too have indicated to be in play: An immediate fear in reacting to the outbreak, leading to decision-making paralysis A shift in priorities towards business survival, rather than business improvement The logistical and practical difficulty of running projects in lockdown The logistical and practical difficulty of running projects with remote workers A freeze on transport and local and in-country journeys, in addition to quarantine upon entering a country, assuming a flight into a country is available. The immediate, devasting impact of coronavirus The impact of covid-19 on contracting outside of the UK was immediate and devastating for many of our contacts. For example, one smaller outfit who works with only two end-clients told us that one had cancelled all assignments. The result was a 50% reduction in turnover booked for the current year. Other clients report the shelving of many contracts, if not their outright cancellation. On the other hand, we have seen an uplift in the flexibility of clients to allow contractors to work remotely. The upshot for us is that we have had to provide solutions in contract workers home-countries, that can transition to the contractors work-countries, all the time abiding by each individual nations travel restrictions. Shift, survival and the still unknown During this outbreak period, we have sensed a shift from the initial paralysing fear and bewilderment towards a more pragmatic approach suggesting that, however long this epidemic continues, life will go on. And that, at some point we will all emerge with commercial and contractual operations still intact. It is just that no one knows when. Similarly positive, we also see a range of projects planned to launch the very moment that restrictions relax. These pipeline projects are running at a rate perhaps twice that of our activity last year. Inside and outside the workplace, there is no question that COVID-19 has had dramatic effects on altering mindsets -- about home working, flexible working, new business (and non-business priorities like lifestyle), the adoption of new technology and re-basing and re-sizing businesses. Things cannot stay as they are The pandemic imposing a realisation that things cannot stay as they are has given an enormous, unimaginable fillip to our sector. Our contractor clients are mainly IT and management consultants whose skills will be in unprecedented demand, as businesses look to improve their competitive edge in the post-COVID era and change things up. Positively for the suitably skilled, at home here in the UK and abroad, we predict it will be like the millennial frenzy all over again! Unifying many different sector workplaces, as traditional mindsets started shifting, clients and contractors alike got gradually used to working remotely. This did not come without challenges, related to logistics and organisation, coordination or tax and compliance questions. How clients, and governments, have reacted to covid-19 On this day-to-day level, weve seen clients ease up on their expectations for contractors to be present onsite, every day. Contractors accepted that they should start (for an indefinite period) working remotely from home. Obviously, this put strain on both sides, but at the time of writing (well into May 2020), most have come to terms with the fact that this situation must be managed. Somehow. Even for the most resourceful consultants and clients used to producing one or commissioning one, for once -- a work-around there isnt. Where we experienced an unprecedented level of adaptability, was on the government side. Most governments of countries where weve got contractors on the ground accepted that they should urgently modernise their procedures and digitalise most of them. At the same time, several governments agreed that cross-border workers should not be penalised and taxed under their home country tax system while on lockdown. Fortunately, well probably get more Belgium-Netherlands-style tie-ups Working remotely from the Netherlands for a Belgian client, for example, is not considered any different to working onsite, albeit just while coronavirus travel restrictions are in force. These are the two nations mentioned at this pieces outset. Usual cross-border work regulations between Belgium and the Netherlands stipulate that workers who live in one country but work in the other are protected from having their income tax paid to their country of residence. They are, however, obliged to pay tax in their country of residence if they exceed a certain number of days of remote work per year, which varies per country. Yet Belgiums finance minister, Alexander De Croo, announced an agreement on Twitter, saying it aimed to protect cross-border workers from the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Working from home by corona should not have negative tax consequences for frontier workers, De Croo said. So, the agreement will allow the country of employment to continue being the competent tax authority for cross-border workers, even if they have been working from their country of residence. Belgium, France, and Luxembourg have also agreed among them on the same approach for the duration of the crisis (the actual term is May 31st but could be extended if necessary). So it seems we are reaching new, tangible levels of understanding and cooperation between EU countries for their workers, like contractors, who cross borders. Positively, we believe that the contingent workforce should see more of these tie-ups over the next few weeks. Englands easing up Last but not least, the UK. At the time of writing, England has also eased its lockdown and travel restrictions, but not to the degree expected by most and not in line with Wales and Scotland, which isnt adopting Englands lockdown-lite. But currently in England, workers who cannot work from home are being encouraged to go back to their workplace, avoiding (if possible) public transport. Also under the new, latest guidance, contractors and anyone else entering the UK, effective from the end of May, will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days. Contractors and travellers coming from the Republic of Ireland will be exempted. No one-size-fits-all approach likely to remain Elsewhere, such as in the US, the lockdown (and the relaxation level) varies per state and county. And in China, it depends on the province. This different pattern means there is no one-size-fits-all approach to contracting abroad amid coronavirus, but the first port of call for Britons has to be checking the Foreign Commonwealth Offices website for travel advice. You should note the warning about Essential Travel and, as enticing as they may seem, overseas work opportunities wont meet the essential test. Asking your client or agency for guidance, in writing, should you be selected or put forward for a contract abroad, is also important. For contractors in the UK, the lockdown beginning to lift is soon likely to mean more usual working conditions, shy of working as freely as usual. Their options for contracting abroad will likely remain limited, for now. Indeed, for contingent workers wanting work outside the UK, being flexible (such as working for end-users remotely) as governments and clients have been will continue to be the key until the total, as yet unscheduled lift in the travel restrictions is granted between the UK and the country of destination. The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to quash the initial FIR against Republic TV Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami over his news show on the Palghar mob lynching but gave some relief by setting aside related multiple FIRs and complaints holding they had a "stifling" effect on the exercise of freedom and expression. Observing that free citizens cannot exist when the news media is chained to adhere to one position, the court said journalistic freedom lies at the core of the fundamental right to free speech and India's freedom will rest safe as long as journalists can speak to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal." Seeking to balance the rights of journalists and accountability, the court, however, said exercising the fundamental right to speech and expression is not absolute and is answerable to the legal regime. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah, which pronounced the verdict through video conferencing on two pleas filed by Goswami for quashing of FIRs and complaints against him, also rejected his prayer to transfer the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI), saying the precedents of this court emphasise that this is an extraordinary power to be used sparingly and in exceptional circumstances. n all, it quashed 14 FIRs and complaints lodged in different States against Goswami, which were stayed on April 24, saying that they are founded on the basis of same cause of action, worded in identical terms and as per a 2001 verdict, successive FIRs would constitute an abuse of the statutory power of investigation. The top court, however, rejected the prayer to quash the FIR initially lodged in Nagpur city and transferred later to NM Joshi Marg police station in Mumbai, granted protection to Goswami from any coercive action for three more weeks from today and said he can approach the competent court for quashing of the FIR and availing any remedy as per law. It also dismissed another petition filed by Goswami seeking to quash the FIR lodged at Pydhonie police station in south Mumbai on May 2, for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by making some remarks during his news show on the gathering of migrants outside Bandra railway station last month. The top court granted Goswami liberty to pursue his remedies under the law in respect of this FIR too and granted him three weeks protection from today from any coercive action. The effect of the order by the apex court will be that Goswami will be facing investigations in two FIRs--lodged at NM Joshi Marg police station and at Pydhonie police station, both at Mumbai. The exercise of journalistic freedom lies at the core of speech and expression protected by Article 19(1)(a). The petitioner (Goswami) is a media journalist. The airing of views on television shows which he hosts is in the exercise of his fundamental right to speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a). India's freedoms will rest safe as long as journalists can speak to power without being chilled by a threat of reprisal, the bench said. The top court also said that exercising fundamental right to speech and expression is not absolute and is answerable to the legal regime enacted with reference to the provisions of Article 19(2). But to allow a journalist to be subjected to multiple complaints and to the pursuit of remedies traversing multiple states and jurisdictions when faced with successive FIRs and complaints bearing the same foundation has a stifling effect on the exercise of that freedom, it said. The bench, in its 56-page verdict said that allowing a journalist to be subjected to multiple complaints will effectively destroy the freedom of the citizen to know of the affairs of governance in the nation and the right of the journalist to ensure an informed society. Our decisions hold that the right of a journalist under Article 19(1)(a) is no higher than the right of the citizen to speak and express. But we must as a society never forget that one cannot exist without the other. Free citizens cannot exist when the news media is chained to adhere to one position, it added. The bench clarified that the FIR being probed by the Mumbai police regarding the news show on Palghar mob lynching will not cover the offence of defamation as the complaint has not been made at the behest of the person who is aggrieved. It, however, said that quashing of multiple FIRs lodged in different states would not have a bearing on the probe into the FIR being probed by Mumbai police. The top court also barred lodging of any fresh FIR or complaint in respect to the same cause of action emanating from the broadcast on April 21 by the petitioner on R.Bharat(Republic Bharat) and said they will be not maintainable. It asked the Commissioner of Police to consider the request of Goswami for providing him security at the residence and at the business establishment in Mumbai, in accordance with law. The top court added that based on the threat perception, police protection may be provided if it is considered appropriate and for the period during which the threat perception continues. It also dismissed the intervention application field by Maharashtra government alleging that Goswami has been misusing protection granted by the top court and has been "browbeating" the police by "creating fear psychosis" and said it is open to the investigating agency to urge its submissions before the competent court. The multiple FIRs and complaints against Goswami were registered in different states after his news shows aired on Republic TV on April 16, and R. Bharat on April 21 on lynching of three individuals (including 2 sadhus/priests) in Palghar in Maharashtra on April 16. Vatican City, May 19 : Pope Francis held a mass in the presence of worshippers for the first time in over two months, when the coronavirus pandemic forced Italy and the Vatican into lockdown. Monday's service marked the centenary year of the birth of Pope John Paul II and took place in St Peter's Basilica, which opened its doors to visitors later in the day for the first time since March 10, when Italy ordered the closure of businesses and landmarks, Efe news reported. From Monday, Italy permitted religious gatherings so long as they were held in accordance with strict health and safety protocol in place as the country tentatively transitions out of its lockdown. Around 30 people attended the mass at the chapel of John Paul II, some of whom did not wear gloves or masks, which is obligatory in Italian churches and cathedrals. Cardinals Angelo Comastri and Konrad Krajewski and Monsignors Piero Marini and Jan Romeo Pawlowski celebrated with the pope. There was also a small choir of nuns, who had to observe social-distancing protocol. Choirs were prohibited for the time being across the city-state border in Italy. Monday's mass was also the last one due to be livestreamed. The Swiss Guard were on duty to ensure that visitors to St. Peter's Basilica were complying with the health and safety protocol in place. Lines to access the landmark began to form early in the morning. Visitors were not allowed to enter the square and their temperatures were registered before they went into the building. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:47:36|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MADRID, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Spain is set to extend an order to wear face masks in closed public spaces and on streets, Spanish state TV network RTVE reported Tuesday. According to RTVE, the Spanish government agreed to extend the order, which is currently only obligatory on public transportation, after talking to authorities from the country's 17 autonomous communities on Monday evening, even though Spain has begun to loosen its lockdown restrictions imposed on March 15. For now, Madrid and Catalonia remain in phase zero of the government's four-phase lift plan, but are expected to enter phase one next week, in which bars are allowed to operate outside terraces at 50 percent of their capacity, and shops and places of worship are allowed to open with a limited capacity. Some other regions, including the Basque Region, will proceed to phase two, which allows shopping centers, cinemas, theaters, bars and restaurants to open, but only at a maximum capacity of 30 percent. Enditem The Chief Medical Officer will tell the Oireachtas today that Irish senior health officials began to discuss Covid-19 in early January. Dr Tony Holohan, who will appear alongside Chief Executive of the HSE Paul Reid and Secretary General of the Department of Health Jim Breslin, has been called to answer questions before the 19 TD strong committee on Irelands coronavirus response. Dr Holohans opening remarks, seen by the Examiner, detail when and how the pandemic unfolded within his department and Ireland as a whole. We first heard reports of a novel coronavirus infection during the second week in January, Dr Holohan writes in his statement. Immediately, senior public health people in this country began to confer, monitor and collaborate with colleagues internationally. It became clear from an early stage that this would become a significant challenge for the world. On 30 January, the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The NPHET, held its first meeting on 27 January 2020 and has held 31 meetings to date. Dr Holohan adds that due to the ease of its transmission, severity, particularly for those who are vulnerable, combined with the fact that there is no natural immunity to this virus, no medicines available for its specific treatment and no vaccines, this has presented an unprecedented global public health challenge. There is no certainty that we can keep this virus suppressed. The advice of NPHET is that we ease restrictions in a phased risk-based manner, while maintaining close vigilance of the supread and impact of this virus to ensure that we can safely recommence work, social engagement, education and the day-to-day operation of the health service. Dr Holohan maintains that open, clear communications with the public has been a central tenet of the health services response to the Covid-19 pandemic and notes, his team have held 52 press conferences to date. There have been 24,200 cases of Covid-19 in Ireland, and 1,547 people in Ireland have lost their lives. I am acutely conscious of the grief that people have experienced over the past three months, Dr Holohan added. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest condolences to all those who have lost loved ones. Gardai at the scene of the death of a man at a house on Bluebell Avenue Picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin GARDAI investigating the death of a man in Dublin at the weekend believe he may have been killed during a row. It is understood officers are satisfied Alan Hall (44) suffered injuries to his head and neck. Tonight, Superintendent James Dalton, of Clondalkin Garda Station, said the preliminary results of the post mortem examination into the death were not being released for operational reasons. A post mortem was carried out at the city morgue by Dr Hansu, he said. Gardai at Clondalkin Garda Station are conducting a criminal investigation into all the circumstances. A senior source said the main line of investigation was now to identify who caused the injuries to Mr Hall that were the cause of his death. The 44-year-old is believed to have been from Coolock, but had been living on Bluebell Avenue for around two years. He was described by neighbours as a quiet but helpful man. He lived on his own in the end-of-terrace cottage where the fire was reported at 11.20am on Monday. The alarm was raised by a neighbour who heard smoke and carbon monoxide detectors going off. Dublin Fire Brigade brought the blaze, which was in the bedroom, under control. However, when firefighters searched the house, they found Mr Hall dead in the bathroom with apparent injuries to his head and neck. Supt Dalton appealed for anyone who was in the area between Sunday evening and Monday morning, particularly any motorists with dashcam footage, to come forward. Neighbours said today Mr Hall usually kept himself to himself but would sometimes have friends around to socialise. He was a lovely fella. He would do anything for you. He had been shopping for someone the day before this happened, one neighbour said. I used to have a few drinks with him on special occasions and he was a nice lad. Its very sad. The neighbour said Mr Hall was seen the day before the fire and did not have any visible injuries. If he was injured it was later, we think, the neighbour said. There were some indications the back door of the house may have been open when the emergency services arrived. Internships and Careers The department annually awards a number of competitive scholarships to qualified undergraduate students and has various student employment opportunities, which allow students to develop their craft while receiving financial compensation. Students may apply for the BGSU exchange program with the University of Wales, the largest undergraduate theatre program in Great Britain and home of the prestigious Performance Research Centre. The London Experience, an intensive immersion in the London theatre scene, offers students another education abroad opportunity. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Cyclone Amphan could cause extensive damage in the coastal districts of West Bengal, especially East Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Kolkata, the Centre warned.On late Monday afternoon, Cyclone Amphan intensified into a super cyclone from an extremely severe cyclonic storm. The cyclone is rapidly moving towards the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh, where it is expected to make landfall on May 20. Over 25 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are deployed in West Bengal and Odisha for rescue and relief operations. Additionally, 12 teams are being kept on standby. Amphan will cause heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of West Bengal, the Centre said in a statement. Indian Coast Guard and the Navy have deployed ships and helicopters for relief and rescue operations. Army and Air Force units in the states have also been put on standby. Earlier, PM Narendra Modi held a meeting with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to review the preparedness in different parts of the country. Reviewed the preparedness regarding the situation due to cyclone Amphan. The response measures as well as evacuation plans were discussed. I pray for everyones safety and assure all possible support from the Central Government (sic), Modi tweeted. The meeting was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Principal Advisor to Prime Minister PK Sinha and Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, besides other senior government officers. [May 19, 2020] School Stationery Supplies Market 2020-2024 | Emphasis on Product Premiumization to Boost Growth | Technavio Technavio has been monitoring the school stationery supplies market and it is poised to grow by USD 15.12 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of 3% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005734/en/ Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global School Stationery Supplies Market 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire) Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact The market is fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. ACCO Brands Corp., ADVEO France SAS (News - Alert), BIC Group, ITC Ltd., Kokuyo Camlin Ltd., Newell Brands Inc., Pelikan International Corp. Berhad, PILOT Corp., STAEDTLER Mars GmbH & Co. KG, and WH Smith Plc are some of the major market participants. The emphasis on product premiumization will offer immense growth opportunities. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Emphasis on product premiumization has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. School Stationery Supplies Market 2020-2024: Segmentation School Stationery Supplies Market is segmented as below: Product Paper Products Computer And Daily Use Writing Instruments Geography APAC Europe North America South America MEA To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR43722 School Stationery Supplies 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 school stationery supplies market report covers the following areas: School Stationery Supplies Market size School Stationery Supplies Market trends School Stationery Supplies Market industry analysis This study identifies a growing emphasis on omnichannel retail as one of the prime reasons driving the school stationery supplies market growth during the next few years. School Stationery Supplies Market 2020-2024: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the school stationery supplies market, including some of the vendors such as ACCO Brands Corp., ADVEO France SAS, BIC Group, ITC Ltd., Kokuyo Camlin Ltd., Newell Brands Inc., Pelikan International Corp. Berhad, PILOT Corp., STAEDTLER Mars GmbH & Co. KG, and WH Smith Plc. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the school stationery supplies 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 School Stationery Supplies Market 2020-2024: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2020-2024 Detailed information on factors that will assist school stationery supplies market growth during the next five years Estimation of the school stationery supplies market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the school stationery supplies market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of school stationery supplies market vendors Table Of Contents: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market ecosystem Value chain analysis Market Sizing Market definition Market segment analysis Market size 2019 Market outlook: Forecast for 2019 - 2024 Five Forces Analysis Five Force Summary Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of rivalry Market condition Market Segmentation by Product Market segments Comparison by Product Paper products - Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Computer and daily use - Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Writing instruments - Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Market opportunity by product Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Geographic segmentation Geographic comparison APAC - Market size and forecast 2019-2024 Europe - Market size and forecast 2019-2024 North America - 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 by geography Volume driver - Demand led growth Market challenges Market trends Vendor Landscape Competitive scenario Vendor landscape Landscape disruption Industry risks Vendor Analysis Vendors covered Market positioning of vendors ACCO Brands Corp. ADVEO France SAS BIC Group ITC Ltd. Kokuyo Camlin Ltd. Newell Brands Inc. Pelikan International Corp. Berhad PILOT Corp. STAEDTLER Mars GmbH & Co. KG WH Smith Plc Appendix Scope of the report Currency conversion rates for US$ Research methodology List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200519005734/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Rochester, N.Y. Wegmans will give over 1,800 employees about $5 million in college scholarships for the 2020-2021 school year, the company said today. The chains scholarship program began in 1984 and has given $125 million to over 40,000 employees. A total of 1,842 employees will get scholarships this year, including more than 130 workers at Syracuse-area stores. You can view the full list of local recipients and companywide winners online. The company will recognize graduating employees with a certificate and a gift during the weekend of June 13 and 14. Full-time Wegmans employees can get up to $2,200 a year for four years of college and part-time workers can get up to $1,500 a year for four years. Wegmans doesn't limit the number of scholarships it awards each year. Recipients can choose any area of study at an accredited college. Scholarship winners must meet certain work performance criteria. Eligibility is also based on a minimum number of hours worked over a specified time period. Wegmans is headquartered in Rochester and has 101 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts and North Carolina. Contact Kevin Tampone anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-282-8598 Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters on Capitol Hill Tuesday that he plans to finish his committee's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Russia probe by October and release a public report before the election, CNN reports. Driving the news: Graham sent a letter to Attorney General Bill Barr and acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell on Tuesday asking them to name the Obama administration officials who requested the identities of members of the Trump campaign or transition team caught up in foreign surveillance reports. The request follows Grenell's declassification of the names of the Obama officials who requested the "unmasking" of an American who wound up being former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Why it matters: Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have accused Republicans of carrying out a "fishing expedition" to target President Trump's enemies for political reasons. Graham dismissed the allegations and said he had been planning the investigation "for a long time." "I want to do it before the election I want to get all the information out there," Graham said. "I'm trying to explain to the American people what happened in Crossfire Hurricane. I gave Mueller all the space he needed to do his job. He's done his job, we got the Mueller report, we're going to do this by October." The big picture: President Trump and many of his conservative allies have spent the last few weeks promoting #Obamagate, or the conspiracy theory that President Obama ordered the investigation in order to undermine the incoming administration. While Graham has dismissed Trump's calls to subpoena Obama himself, he announced on Monday that the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on June 4 on a broad subpoena authorization to call Obama-era officials for testimony. Possible witnesses include former FBI director James Comey, former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, former CIA director John Brennan, former national security adviser Susan Rice, and dozens of others. Go deeper: Barr says DOJ review of Russia probe unlikely to lead to prosecution of Obama or Biden Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 20:18:23|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Afghan security force members take position during fighting in Kunduz, Afghanistan, May 19, 2020. At least 12 people mostly militants have been killed in a motorbike blast and fighting in the northern Kunduz province on Tuesday, an official said. (Photo by Ajmal Kakar/Xinhua) KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, May 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people mostly militants have been killed in a motorbike blast and fighting in the northern Kunduz province on Tuesday, an official said. Terrorists planted explosive device in a motorbike and detonated it in a bazaar outside Kunduz city around noon, killing one police and one civilian and injuring 18 others, provincial government spokesman Esmatullah Muradi said. Blaming the Taliban for the blast, Muradi said the militant group for terrorizing the locals committing the crime. However, Muradi asserted that the security forces have repulsed Taliban attacks outside Kunduz city, the capital of the restive Kunduz province on Tuesday morning, forcing militants to flee after leaving 10 bodies behind and 15 others injured. Muradi also confirmed that five security personnel and three civilians had been injured in the fighting erupted in Talawka and Pul-e-Safid areas outside Kunduz city, saying the militants fled away. Taliban militants who are active in parts of Kunduz province have yet to make comment. Enditem More charges have been filed against a father whose 15-year-old son was killed following a police chase in Jefferson County over the weekend. The Jefferson County Sheriffs Office on Tuesday announced warrants against 41-year-old Reico Terry for loitering for the purposes of drugs and tampering with physical evidence. Terry already was charged with resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia, felony attempting to elude and reckless endangerment. Killed in the crash was Jaylan Derrell Terry. His father has not been charged in connection with his sons death, but the investigation into the death is ongoing by the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. The ordeal began at 11:50 a.m. Saturday. According to the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office, the Sheriffs Neighborhood Enforcement Team (SNET), accompanied by a crew from Live PD, who was filming, but was not live, witnessed a drug transaction at a gas station in the Midfield area. Both parties in the transaction were stopped. It was confirmed that the transaction had occurred by questioning the purchasing party, said Sgt. Joni Money. The sellers vehicle was occupied by himself and two additional males. As deputies approached the sellers vehicle, the driver sped away from the scene. The driver, identified as Terry, led deputies on a chase throughout the area and onto the interstate. Attempts to block the vehicle in were unsuccessful, Money said, and the driver exited onto surface streets. Money said it was initially thought that deputies had ended the pursuit with Terry prior to the crash but, after a supervisory review, it was confirmed law enforcement was still pursuing the vehicle. Authorities said it was also discovered that Terry had tried to destroy evidence of illegal narcotics while he was running from deputies. He led deputies on an extensive chase that ended with Terry failing to stop at an intersection where the signal was red. At 12:07 p.m., authorities said, Terry drove into the path of an oncoming diesel truck, Money said. The crash happened at the intersection of Eighth Avenue West and Arkadelphia Road. Terry jumped out of the vehicle and attempted to run from the scene. Deputies were able to take him into custody. Terry was found to be in possession of heroin, authorities said. The front seat passenger was also questioned at the scene and released. He received only minor injuries in the accident. Jaylan, a passenger in the back seat, was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 12:46 p.m. Terry remains jailed on $53,000. By Azernews By Ayya Lmahamad Deputy Chairman of the Caucasus Board of Muslims Fuad Nurullayev has said that it is impossible to resume mass prayers in Azerbaijan, including the upcoming Ramadan prayer, due to the ban on gathering of more than 10 people amid COVID-19. Nurullayev made the remarks in an interview with local media. While the decision remains in force, the festive prayer will be done individually by the people in their homes, he said. "Collective prayers can be made after the mosques resume their work. According to Sharia law, on the day of the [Ramadan] holiday, prayer should be made collectively. Friday and collective prayers have been postponed in all Muslim countries around the world in connection with the spread of coronavirus. On the holiday, people can congratulate each other, but collective prayers are not necessary. There is no need to pray in a group of 3-5 people at home," Nurullayev said. He reminded that all rites in Laylat al-Qadr [holy night in Ramadan] were performed online this year. According to a fatwa of Caucasus Board of Muslims, Ramadan holiday will be celebrated on May 24 and Ramadan prayer will be performed on that day accordingly. Nurullayev said that the most suitable time of the Ramadan prayer will be 08:00 or 09:00 in the morning. Azerbaijan has banned religious gathering as part of the special quarantine regime introduced in the country on March 24. The country also bans the gathering of more than ten people as part of the lockdown. Azerbaijan has confirmed 3,387 COV?D-19 cases so far. Johnson & Johnson announced on Tuesday that it is discontinuing sales of its talc-based baby powder in the US and Canada. The move comes after sales dropped by 60 percent in the last three yeasr following endless litigation and billions of dollars paid to people who claim the product caused their cancer. Nearly 20,000 cancer patients have filed lawsuits claiming their tumors were linked to J&J talc products. The company's baby powder currently makes up about 0.5 precent of the company's US consumer health business. On Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson announced it is discontinuing sales of its talcum-based baby powder in the US and Canada amid lawsuits over the product's link to cancer J&J says the move is part of a broad reassessment of its consumer product portfolio prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. Kathleen Widmer, chairman of the company's North America consumer unit, said it was a 'commercial decision' to discontinue the sale of the baby powder. She said any current inventory will continue to be sold in stores and online until supplies run out. In a statement to CNBC, the company said it 'remains steadfastly confident in the safety of talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder.' 'Decades of scientific studies by medical experts around the world support the safety of our product,' the statement read. 'We will continue to vigorously defend the product, its safety, and the unfounded allegations against it and the company in the courtroom.' WHY COULD TALCUM POWDER BE DANGEROUS? Talcum powder is made of finely ground talc, a mineral which forms underground as a clay-like rock. It is often mined from the same place as asbestos, a mineral known to cause lung disease. While talc is used for the skin due to its softness and moisture-absorbing properties, asbestos was used for insulation. Non-contaminated talc is completely safe but, if it is tainted with asbestos, there is a risk it could be damaging to health. In the past, tests have shown traces of asbestos in talcum powder products. About eight out of 10 people with mesothelioma - a type of lung cancer -have been exposed to asbestos. When asbestos fibers are breathed in, they travel to the ends of small air passages and reach the membranes of the thorax and lungs. They can cause inflammation and scarring, damage cells DNA, or cause changes that result in uncontrolled cell growth. If swallowed, these fibers can reach the abdominal lining, where they can cause mesothelioma. Ovarian cancer is another cancer asbestos is believed to be linked to, and is at the heart of Johnson & Johnson lawsuits in which women have claimed talcum powder has given them the cancer. In some cases they have won and received million-dollar payouts from the company. It is not clear why or how asbestos travels to ovarian tissues. Advertisement Talcum powder is made from talc, a soft mineral that is widely used in personal care products to absorb moisture and for other products including paint and plastics. Most research has established no link or a weak one between ovarian cancer and using baby powder for feminine hygiene, and most major health groups have said talc is harmless. However, some smaller studies have found a small link and the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies genital use of talc as 'possibly carcinogenic'. Last year, J&J recalled approximately 33,000 bottles of baby powder in America after the US Food and Drug Administration said it found traces of asbestos in a bottle purchased online. Officials from the health company said they later tested the baby powder and found no asbestos in the product. However, a Reuters investigation from December 2018 said J&J knew its baby powder contained asbestos for decades with the earliest mention found in documents from 1957 and 1958. Two 2018 cases, one in New Jersey and another in California, resulted in large judgement to plaintiffs who claimed J&J talc products caused their mesothelioma. A third verdict, in St Louis, Missouri, awarded 22 plaintiffs a total of $4.69 billion in damages. Of the 19,400 lawsuits, most of the claims were brought by women who claimed their ovarian cancer was caused the talc-powder, which they used as an antiperspirant or a deodorant. J&J says its cornstarch-based baby powder will remain available in North America and it's talc-based powder will continue to be sold in other countries. During the Democratic Weekly Address, Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) touted the Heroes Act. Haaland was Tuesdays KVML Newsmaker of the Day. Here are her words: Hi, everyone, Im Deb Haaland, Representative for New Mexicos First Congressional District and proud member of the Pueblo of Laguna. Im honored to be one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress in our countrys history. Im like so many Americans. Im a single mom and a proud daughter of veterans. My dad served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 30 years and my mother in the Navy. I understand the struggles that many people face, and Im proud to stand with my colleagues to help our families to find success. House Democrats will act boldly to pass The Heroes Act, a bill that meets the challenge our country is now facing and at the level it demands. Families in New Mexico are sharing with me their concerns, fears and struggles, and like many Americans, they are afraid of losing their homes and businesses, struggling to buy food and to afford life-saving medication. I know what its like to care for a child on a limited income and to worry for an elderly parent who is in a senior living community. The Trump Administrations failed response to this coronavirus emergency has caused heartbreak and economic stress for families across our country and have laid bare the disparities that already exist in so many communities. In particular, Indian Country has been hit very hard by this pandemic. Imagine getting sick and having to drive three hours just to see a doctor or to get to a phone. Imagine not having running water or electricity or public transportation. Sadly, two sisters on the Navajo Nation didnt get the coronavirus treatment they needed in time, and they died. Their young sons will live without their mothers. Heroes come in all forms. Theyre hospital workers, grocery clerks, teachers, letter carriers and people who stay home to take care of their elders and protect their communities. The Heroes Act provides economic stability, so we can begin the long road to economic recovery: $1,200 direct payments; hazard pay for essential workers; investments in broadband to help close the homework gap for kids; small business loans and grants that will reach underserved communities; and funds for testing, tracing and treatment of this virus. We know state and local governments are stretched thin. Thats why we worked hard to include flexible funding so firefighters can stay on the job, police officers wont get furloughed and the services that cities provide will remain intact. As this pandemic impacts our democracy, were helping states make mail-in voting available to all voters, keeping the Postal Service open so every voter has access to the ballot box, boosting funding for the Census and delaying the Census deadline. A dad in my district called me when his son who serves in the military got stuck paying two sets of bills when the Defense Department halted personnel movements. The Heroes Act includes provisions that I fought for to help military families with the financial burdens caused by this pandemic. The Heroes Act will also help address many of the disparities in Indian Country by providing $20 billion for Tribal governments, addressing Tribal business concerns on the Paycheck Protection Program loans and boosting funds for many Indian Health Service programs, including Urban Indian Health Centers. When I vote for The Heroes Act, I will vote for all of our families and all our essential workers. House Democrats will continue fighting for all families, workers and small businesses throughout this uncertain time, and we call on the United States Senate to do the same and to pass The Heroes Act. Thank you, for your support of The Heroes Act. The Newsmaker of the Day is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML. He's lying Reply Thread Link Water remains wet, news at 11 Reply Parent Thread Link Damn, now being fat means I have to share a category with Trump on top of everything else? Fuck lmao. Reply Thread Link Well I'm officially motivated to lose weight now... Reply Parent Thread Link literally my first thought lmao Reply Parent Thread Link nancy ain't shit but that quote is hilarious Reply Thread Link lol same it was probably the delay but the silence from AC right after she said it made me laugh Reply Parent Thread Link I felt like he had to try so hard in that moment not to react lol Reply Parent Thread Link #girthermovement is trending on twitter Reply Parent Thread Expand Link If he really is, I say we shut up and let him try it! Have his whole admin test it out with him and def don't stop encouraging his supporters! Reply Thread Link On this issue, I say we let him keep going. Seems his supporters are the only ones dumb enough to believe him on this anyway. Reply Parent Thread Link I just need him to [redacted] Reply Thread Link No way he's taking it. He just wants to kill more people "by example". Reply Thread Link I'm so disgusted with this man and hope he starts swallowing tide pods next. Reply Thread Link Better yet, just drink tide straight from the bottle, with tide pod chasers Reply Parent Thread Link No the chaser needs to be bleach, ornperhaps a disenfectant, you know, like he recommended Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Hes gotta push those millions of doses he bought with taxpayer money. If anything, theyre probably giving him baby aspirin or vitamins and telling him its his miracle cure. Reply Thread Link Give him Flinstones vitamins, hes too stupid to know Reply Parent Thread Link He's absolutely lying. Just like he always lies. But part of me hopes he is and it [redated]. Reply Thread Link Hope she gets a job on a sitcom playing a terrible boss. Reply Parent Thread Link i feel bad she has to listen to his voice so much Reply Parent Thread Link I took this drug for 25 years (for RA), and hearing him talk about it constantly like it's some crazy exciting new miracle product is hilarious. That being said, I wish I could still take it, since it does work great... for rheumatoid arthritis. Reply Thread Link how come you can't take it anymore? Reply Parent Thread Link Basically, it can cause retinal toxicity after long term use (you have to get your eyes checked regularly), which causes permanent vision loss/blindness. I finally showed the beginning signs back in 2017, so they immediately took me off it and I had to go through a bunch of increased testing for like a year. It kind of blew. Plus my new medication doesn't work nearly as well. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Im sorry, bb! I wish you restful, loving healing! *pops 3 more tart cherry extract pills* Reply Parent Thread Link same but Ive only been on it for about 7 years. my mom has been on it as long as you have and is now dealing with some liver issues. its weird how he never mentions the bloodwork and eye exams, he acts like you can pop some plaquenil like its tums or something Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'll only feel he is truly safe from COVID-19 if he starts sipping bleach at the daily pressers. Please, sir, do it for your country. Reply Thread Link There's no way he's taking it, he's just got friends with stock that want it boosted. Pence disappeared right? Hopefully he's got it :) Reply Thread Link Someone decided last week that it might not be in the best national security to have them together in the same room. I dunno Im starting to think that maybe 45 had it but had no symptoms. Because hes running around in crowds and shaking hands like no big deal. Plus we are in the shittiest timeline, so of course the rona would spare him. /conspiracy theory Reply Parent Thread Link I think pence is isolated because his Chief of staff has covid19 Reply Parent Thread Link Meh, I'm sure ~~~Mother~~~~ is taking good care of her little boy. Reply Parent Thread Link fuck pelosi Reply Thread Link mte does Pelosi only do performative shit Reply Parent Thread Link By Syed Raza Hassan KARACHI (Reuters) - Markets across Pakistan were teeming on Monday after opening up for the first time in over a month as the country began to lift its lockdown despite a rise in the rate of coronavirus infections. Pakistan announced last week that it would begin a phased lifting of its lockdown because of the effect it was having on the economy and an impoverished workforce. Public transport remains shut, but factories and offices have been allowed to resume operations. Restrictions on mosque attendance had already been lifted before last week's announcement. "We opened today after almost two months; I am almost bankrupt and owe workers their salaries," said Muhammad Sattar, a garment shop owner in one of the busiest commercial areas of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and financial capital. Areas around wholesale markets in Karachi saw heavy traffic jams, and there were also big crowds in the commercial centres of the provincial capitals of Lahore and Quetta. However, there are signs that Pakistan's outbreak is accelerating. Of its 667 deaths from the coronavirus, around 200 have been registered over the past week, and there are almost 31,000 confirmed infections. Prime Minister Imran Khan justified easing the lockdown by saying: "We know were doing it at a time when our (infection) curve is going up ... but it is not increasing (as fast) as we were expecting." But he said the virus could run out of control if people did not take precautions. Faisal Subzwari, a leader of a political party allied with Khan, tweeted his frustration with many citizens: "If 99%, 95% of shopkeepers and buyers are not wearing masks, what's the point of talking about other precautionary measures?" Many doctors have said they fear the outbreak will gather pace among a population of more than 200 million and overwhelm the struggling health system. Markets were also packed in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, which has registered 245 dead and has the highest mortality rate in the country. Story continues "I opened my shop for the first time today after locking it on March 24," said Ghousul Azam, adding that he had a family to support. "Better to die of coronavirus, because I cant survive sitting at home." Schools and large shopping malls remain shut for now, and markets will initially be allowed to operate only until 5 p.m. But with the Muslim holiday of Eid coming in two weeks, crowds are likely to increase. 'NEITHER HERE NOR THERE' Pakistan's parliament also met on Monday for the first time in nearly two months, with the government's handling of the outbreak coming in for scathing criticism from the opposition. "Pakistan is fighting corona like a war, and our prime minister is missing, our prime minister is confused," the leader of an opposition party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said in his address to the session. Khan was not present at the session, where parliamentarians were seated at a distance from one another and almost all wore face masks. Another opposition leader, Khawaja Asif, said the decision to impose a lockdown and to then lift it before infections peaked was "neither here nor there". Minister Murad Saeed defended the government's decisions and claimed Pakistan's model was being quoted and followed by the richest countries in the world, including New York in the United States and the United Kingdom. (Reporting by Syed Raza Hasan in Karachi, Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar, Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore, Gul Yousafzai in Quetta and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Chizu Nomiyama) The flagship airline will operate three flights from Abu Dhabi and two flights from Amman and Jeddah EgyptAir will operate on Tuesday five flights to repatriate nationals from three Arab states, state-run news agency MENA reported, as the country pushes ahead with efforts to bring stranded Egyptians home amid the coronavirus crisis. The flagship airline will operate three flights from Abu Dhabi and two flights from Amman and Jeddah. The Abu Dhabi flights are set to land at Cairo International Airport and the flights from Jordan and Saudi Arabia will land in Marsa Alam, a Red Sea resort city selected by authorities to house Egyptian returnees quarantined at designated hotels. An informed source at the civil aviation ministry said medical checkups will be conducted for all returnees at both airports. They will later be put in 14-day quarantine. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said last week that authorities were hoping to repatriate all nationals stuck abroad before the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, which is set to begin on 24 May. He expected the number of repatriated nationals to exceed 16,000 by that time. The government is requiring returnees to sign before boarding their flights a written acknowledgement that they agree to be quarantined. Egyptians willing to spend their quarantine period at designated hotels mostly cover the cost of their stay, estimated at a minimum of EGP 10,500 ($666.7), despite a previous decision by the state to cover the cost of the stay. The government is now only covering the cost of those quarantined at university hostels. Egypt began repatriating its citizens in March after it grounded all international flights as part of sweeping measures to limit the spread of the virus. The country has continued to operate domestic trips and cargo flights. Egypt has repatriated around 12,000 stranded Egyptians from different countries since late April, a source from the aviation ministry told Al-Ahram last week. Search Keywords: Short link: Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, told MPs today that elderly hospital patients who had coronavirus symptoms were discharged into care homes without being tested England's care chief has attacked the Government for fuelling Britain's care home crisis by sending elderly hospital patients with coronavirus back into homes without testing them. Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said ministers had abandoned care homes in their scramble to save the NHS, which has led to more than 15,000 residents dying from the disease. He told MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee that despite promises from ministers, there were still huge issues with testing, with results lost and staff waiting eight to 10 days to find out if they have the infection. Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted he had 'made social care a priority from the start' during a grilling from MPs in the Commons today. He claimed that hospital patients were discharged to care homes at a time when community transmission of COVID-19 was low. He said the guidance to care homes that was in place until March 13 'was in place whilst community transmission was low and said it would be updated as soon as transmission went broader and that's exactly what we did'. It comes as an Office for National Statistics report revealed today that at least 15,000 COVID-19 deaths occurred in England and Wales. However this is a modest estimate because it does not include care home deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland or residents who were moved to hospital before they passed away. Researchers at the London School of Economics estimate at least 22,000 care home residents have died with coronavirus - half of the UK's overall fatalities. Meanwhile, a damning Government study leaked today also revealed that untested temporary staff may have been inadvertently spreading the illness in the sector's scramble to fill vacancies left by workers in self-isolation. An Office for National Statistics report revealed today that at least 11,000 COVID-19 deaths occurred in England and Wales However this is a modest estimate because it does not include care home deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland or residents who were moved to hospital before they passed away Professor Green told MPs there would need to be a 'forensic examination' in the future to prevent a crisis in care homes from happening again. He said: 'We should have been focusing on care homes from the start of this pandemic. What we saw at the start was a focus on the NHS which meant care homes often had their medical support from the NHS withdrawn. 'We also had the disruption of our supply chains for PPE (personal protective equipment). We also saw people being discharged from hospital when we didn't have the testing regime up and running. 'So despite what's been said, there were cases of people who either didn't have a Covid-19 status, or who were symptomatic, who were discharged into care homes. Health Secretary Matt Hancock was grilled in the Commons today after it emerged nearly 15,000 care home residents had died from coronavirus 'Now given that care homes are full of people with underlying health conditions, I think we should've looked at focusing on where the people at most risk were, rather than thinking about a particular organisation.' Professor Green said a lot of care homes had not had the right set-up for isolating patients coming from hospitals, while other countries used separate quarantine facilities for infected patients. 'We had a policy of emptying hospitals and filling care homes, but in some (other) countries when people were symptomatic they were taken out of care homes into isolation facilities,' he said. He said some test results for staff or residents in care homes had been lost, while others waited so long for test results that it was unclear if they were still valid. Professor Green added: 'People are often finding that their tests aren't arriving on time or indeed being taken away on time. There have also been some significant time delays before people have got results. So we're looking at sometimes eight to 10 days before people get results.' He said PPE across care homes was still inadequate and called for testing 'two or three times a week' to get on top of the virus. Experts in Hong Kong told the committee one of the keys to their success was quarantining elderly hospital patients for three months before sending them back to care homes. Professor Terry Lum (left), head of social work and social administration at Hong Kong University, told the committee (chaired by former health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, right) how positive COVID-19 cases were isolated for three months in Hong Kong MPs SLAM GOVERNMENT'S 'INADEQUATE' TESTING STRATEGY A furious blame game erupted today as MPs slammed the Government's coronavirus testing as 'inadequate' - but Public Health England pointed the finger at Matt Hancock. A Science and Technology Committee inquiry found hospital staff, care home workers and residents were put at risk because of a lack of capacity for screening 'when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant'. Routine testing for those with symptoms was abandoned on March 12, when the government shifted to its 'delay' phase, with checks reserved for hospital patients and health staff. But the cross-party MPs said the failure to ramp up testing for the disease was the 'most consequential' error in the crisis, and crippled efforts to trace, track and isolate Britons with the disease. The ability to detect and crack down on cases is seen as crucial to getting the economy up and running, with unions warning workplaces and schools cannot be safe until the regime in in place. The committee hit out at Public Health England for the 'pivotal decision' to shun smaller labs and failure to make a 'rigorous assessment' of countries such as South Korea and Germany that had successfully ramped up testing. But PHE chief Duncan Selbie shot back that it was 'not responsible' for the testing strategy, which 'has been led by the Department of Health and Social Care'. He insisted 'any testing facility with the right technology and containment' could have carried out checks after security restrictions were lowered on March 3. Advertisement Professor Terry Lum, head of social work and social administration at Hong Kong University, told the committee: 'We do a very good job in isolation. So once we have any person infected, we isolate that person in hospital for three months. 'But at the same time we isolate all the close-contact people into separate isolation centres, quarantine centres, for 14 days for observation, and they did a test regularly within the 14 days to make sure they don't have the virus. 'So we did a very extensive isolation for both people who are infected as well as close contact.' Hong Kong also employed one infection control expert in every care home to make sure preventative measures were being implemented, Professor Lum said. He also highlighted the importance of PPE, saying the city made it compulsory for all residents and staff to wear masks in January. Adelina Comas-Herrera, assistant research fellow at the London School of Economics, told the committee that there was 'plenty of evidence' in March that care homes could be devastated by the crisis. She said US research had shown that coronavirus patients were regularly asymptomatic, highlighting the need for stringent testing. It comes as a damning Government study suggested temporary care workers helped to fuel Britain's coronavirus crisis in care homes. Agency staff working in multiple homes may have unwittingly infected thousands of elderly and vulnerable residents without being tested for the virus. In some cases 'bank workers' used to fill temporary vacancies were standing in for full-time carers who were self-isolating to protect the residents. Public Health England researchers analysing the virus' genome traced outbreaks in London care homes back to the temporary workers. Ministers have had access to the results since at least the end of last month but they were only shared with care home bosses last week, it emerged today. The government is facing scathing criticism over claims it abandoned care homes in its scramble to protect the NHS from the infection. Experts estimate 22,000 care home residents in England and Wales alone may have died with coronavirus - but the true scale of the crisis is unknown because of a lack of routine testing. A care home chief today blamed delayed advice and testing during a 'critical' period for allowing COVID-19 to spread throughout homes. Temporary care workers helped to fuel Britain's coronavirus crisis in care homes, damning Government study finds Temporary care workers helped to fuel Britain's coronavirus crisis in care homes, a damning Government study has found. Agency staff working in multiple homes may have unwittingly infected thousands of elderly and vulnerable residents without being tested for the virus. In some cases 'bank workers' used to fill temporary vacancies were standing in for full-time carers who were self-isolating to protect the residents. Public Health England researchers analysing the virus' genome traced outbreaks in London care homes back to the temporary workers. Ministers have had access to the results since at least the end of last month but they were only shared with care home bosses last week, it emerged today. The government is facing scathing criticism over claims it abandoned care homes in its scramble to protect the NHS from the infection. Experts estimate 22,000 care home residents in England and Wales alone may have died with coronavirus - but the true scale of the crisis is unknown because of a lack of routine testing. A care home chief today blamed delayed advice and testing during a 'critical' period for allowing COVID-19 to spread throughout homes. The unpublished PHE study, seen by the Guardian, analysed the behaviour of the virus in six care homes in London from April 11 to April 13, over Easter weekend. Results of the research were handed to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) at the end of last month. But the findings were only circulated last week to care home providers, councils and local public health directors - fuelling allegations care homes were left in the lurch. Advertisement The unpublished PHE study, seen by the Guardian, analysed the behaviour of the virus in six care homes in London from April 11 to April 13, over Easter weekend. Results of the research were handed to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) at the end of last month. But the findings were only circulated last week to care home providers, councils and local public health directors - fuelling allegations care homes were left in the lurch. The study warned: 'Infection is spreading from care home to care home, linked to changed patterns of staffing, working across and moving between homes.' It said the agency staff were often asymptomatic, which meant 'by the time local health protection teams are informed of an outbreak substantial transmission may already have occurred.' Care homes were hugely reliant on bank staff at the peak of the crisis in April, when a quarter of the workforce were self-isolating. Documents seen by the Guardian show that on April 30, DHSC bosses drafted plans to introduce new infection prevention and control measures in care homes. It followed a surge of 4,300 care home deaths in two weeks in England and Wales and measures included minimising temporary carers' movements between homes. But these new guidelines were not published until last Thursday a fortnight later. DHSC told the newspaper it would not comment on the leaked study, adding that it would be published shortly. But it claimed that it began drafting new guidance as soon as it received the results from PHE. 'We are working around the clock to make sure care homes, and our frontline social care workforce, are getting the support they need to protect their residents and tackle coronavirus,' a spokesperson said. 'Our help to care homes, which includes financial support, infection control training and supplies of PPE, has meant that two-thirds of England's care homes have had no outbreak at all.' Barchester Healthcare chief executive Dr Pete Calveley, who said around two thirds of his homes have had COVID-19 cases, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We've had several weeks where their first reaction was to protect the NHS, where they wanted to discharge a lot of clients from hospital to make sure there was capacity for what they anticipated was a surcharge. Researchers at the London School of Economics estimate at least 22,000 care home residents in England and Wales have died with coronavirus TRUE DEATH TOLL RISES PAST 44,000, WITH MORE THAN 11,000 FATALITIES IN CARE HOMES At least 44,000 people have now been killed by COVID-19 in the UK, devastating statistics confirmed today. And more than 11,000 victims - around a quarter of the total number of coronavirus victims - were care home residents in England and Wales. The Office for National Statistics figures, which was released today, has lumped almost 10,000 extra fatalities on top of the Department of Health's official count of 34,796 yesterday. The DH count only includes patients who have tested positive for the virus. Data shows the number of people dying with the virus each week has dropped again - but the ongoing crisis in care homes means there are still more deaths than would be expected in an average year. ONS data, which only covers England and Wales, confirmed 39,071 people had died with the coronavirus in all settings by May 8. The figures include patients whose death was suspected to be from COVID-19. At least 1,211 further people were known to have died in English hospitals between May 9 and May 17, according to the NHS, taking the England and Wales total to 40,282. In addition, National Records of Scotland - the equivalent of the ONS north of the border - counted 3,213 deaths by May 10, and Northern Ireland's Statistics Agency, NISRA, added 599 up to May 13. This takes the total for the UK to at least 44,094. But the actual number, taking into account more recent counts from Scotland and Northern Ireland, will be even higher. Hospital deaths have now tapered off so much that the numbers of people dying in hospitals is lower than average for this time of year, for the first time since the lockdown was introduced. The government said yesterday that there are now fewer than 10,000 people in hospital in England because of the virus. In care homes, however, there were still more than 2,000 'excess deaths' in the week between May 2 and May 8. Not all of this will have been caused directly by COVID-19, but they would not have been expected to happen if the pandemic didn't hit Britain. This shows that the coronavirus outbreak is now mostly persisting mainly in care homes. ONS data today showed that 9,980 people had died in care homes in England and Wales by May 8, and a further 1,411 happened between then and May 15, according to the Care Quality Commission and Care Inspectorate Wales. This puts the total care home deaths at at least 11,391. The figure only includes home residents who died in the homes, however, whereas experts say many are taken to hospital before they die, meaning their death is recorded differently and the total is higher. It was last week predicted to be higher than 12,500 already. But 343 care homes have announced outbreaks of COVID-19 in the past week, with four out of every 10 in the country saying they have had cases at some point, the Prime Minister's spokesman confirmed. Advertisement 'And that meant a lot of people being discharged from care homes rather quickly who hadn't been tested and often we've seen where we've been doing large testing of care homes where asymptomatic staff, and particularly residents, are actually positive and therefore are freely moving through the home are infecting other residents and staff without anybody knowing about it until too late.' Dr Calveley said there was a 'critical' period of up to four weeks before testing was available and advice was issued for staff to wear professional masks and isolation for new admissions. 'None of that advice came out until it was probably too late,' he said. Labour's Liz Kendall, the shadow care secretary, said: 'The prevalence of zero-hours contracts, high vacancy rates and high staff turnover have fuelled the reliance on agency and bank staff with all the problems that brings. 'We need a fundamental rethink of social care as we emerge from this pandemic, and an essential part of this must be to ensure that care workers get the pay, status and career progression this vital sector deserves.' Meanwhile, a furious blame game erupted today as a Cabinet minister claimed government coronavirus blunders were down to 'wrong' science advice. Therese Coffey insisted the government had just been following the guidance from experts as she fended off damning criticism from MPs over 'inadequate' testing. The Science and Technology Committee found hospital staff, care home workers and residents were put at risk because of a lack of capacity for screening 'when the spread of the virus was at its most rampant'. But the cross-party MPs said the failure to ramp up testing for the disease was the 'most consequential' error in the crisis, and crippled efforts to trace, track and isolate Britons with the disease. Anger is also rising on the Tory backbenches, with one MP likening the response to a Morecambe and Wise comedy sketch. Ms Coffey appeared to pass the buck again in a round of interviews this morning. Pushed on whether the government had made mistakes, she told Sky News that ministers could 'only make judgements and decisions based on the information and advice that we have at the time'. 'If the science advice at the time was wrong I am not surprised people think we made the wrong decision,' she said. The extraordinary comment comes after the incoming president of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith, warned politicians against putting blame on to scientists. The ability to detect and crack down on cases is seen as crucial to getting the economy up and running, with unions warning workplaces and schools cannot be safe until the regime in in place. The committee hit out at Public Health England for the 'pivotal decision' to shun smaller labs and failure to make a 'rigorous assessment' of countries such as South Korea and Germany that had successfully ramped up testing. But PHE chief Duncan Selbie shot back that it was 'not responsible' for the testing strategy, which 'has been led by the Department of Health and Social Care'. He insisted 'any testing facility with the right technology and containment' could have carried out checks after security restrictions were lowered on March 3. GMB's Piers Morgan also berated Ms Coffey for mistakenly claiming that 100,000 people had been tested on a 'handful' of days. In fact, while the government says it has hit the 100,000 tests a day target, the number of people checked is lower as many need to be done more than once for clinical reasons. Shoots and film releases may be cancelled in Mumbai amid lockdown but Jacqueline Fernandezs calendar is full. The Kick actor has been stuck at Salman Khans farmhouse in Panvel and is waiting to meet her family. The former beauty queen, however, is making the best use of her time by juggling her multiple projects and working on her fitness. The actor has already unveiled two singles -- Badshahs Genda Phool and Salman Khans Tere Bina; made her digital debut with the film, Mrs Serial Killer; and even has a web reality show in the making, Home Dancer on Disney+ Hostar. In an interview with Hindustan Times, the Chittiyan Kalaiyan girl talked about what she has on her platter right now and how shes been dealing with all of it with an open mind. Excerpts: Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandez in a still from Tere Bina. You appeared opposite Salman Khan in Tere Bina. How much was your input in the making of the song? The song was simply magical and the way it was shot was a unique experience in itself. We are used to shooting for songs with big production set-ups which take weeks of preparations. The whole experience from the first day of shoot was completely fulfilling and a lot of hard work has been put into it by all of us. I am glad that it turned out the way we envisioned it. How did you spend your time at the Panvel farmhouse? I love to dance and experiment with various forms. It is also a part of my fitness regime. For me, dancing has a positive impact on my entire body as it helps me in relieving myself of any negative energy and thoughts that keep me down. What keeps you busy right now? I am glad to have the privilege of being this busy while we are all under self-quarantine. I am trying to use this time in exploring constructive and quality work so far, so when Home Dancer came my way, it was an immediate yes. Being a fitness enthusiast, I prefer to adopt dance as a therapy for my body and soul and it has always been a form of art that is close to my heart. Dancing lifts my spirit and makes me happy. With so much going on outside and the situation we are in, we all should find something equally exciting to help us stay positive. I am glad to be one of the reasons to inspire my fans to put on their dancing shoes. I have also been reading, painting, and completing my other projects in the last one month. How do you plan to guide the multiple dance enthusiasts from home? It is a blessing that we are locked down in an age where smartphones, video conferencing and communication is such a cakewalk. Moreover, as more and more audiences are connected through various online platforms, unleashing our creativity has never been this rewarding and we are here to encourage and engage our countrys dance enthusiasts. We are looking for those dancers who can get us grooving, excited and entertained at the same time by simply sharing their performance videos with us. Fans will see me share some exciting tips and also watch me perform to a special hook-step. Are more songs up for release? Yes, Im elated about the release of both the songs and that they have been received well by our fans. I am glad that Genda Phool was a complete hit. As for new songs, you will know when the time is right. Will you be featuring in Kick 2? Is a new film being planned with Salman? There is a lot in pipeline this year. Im happy to have collaborated with Salman for Tere Bina. I will keep you posted on my next ventures. Also read: Happy birthday Nawazuddin Siddiqui: Actor sent chits to village girl via kites, sent messages to himself on pager You have not been able to visit you parents amid coronavirus pandemic. How are you dealing with it as a family? Its been difficult staying away from my family during this period of lockdown, hence video calls with them is a part of my daily routine. We always keep ourselves updated about each other and our fun banters continue over these calls too (laughs). I cant wait to see them once all this is over. (Authr tweets @ruchik87) Follow @htshowbiz for more The pandemic has taught us that you have to work with what you have, and that includes romance, but it doesnt mean you cant make a grand gesture. Chris Lewarne, 35, a chief instructor at Barrys in Toronto, planned on proposing to his girlfriend who is also a fitness trainer at the gym Karina Vee, on her 32nd birthday, in Guatemala. She was set to be hosting a retreat there and he was planning to propose following a scheduled sunrise yoga class overlooking the beach. Then COVID-19 happened. And so, he pivoted. The couple has a large social media following, both boasting over 30K followers each on their Instagram accounts. They had been co-teaching free, live classes every day at 5:30 p.m. on the Barrys Canada Instagram live from their living room in their Yorkville condo since isolation began. As of May, Barrys Canada switched to Zoom classes and the couple now teach every day on the Barrys Zoom in addition to offering Instagram Live classes Wednesdays and Fridays on @michelobultracanada, as part of a campaign to raise funds for Foodbanks Canada. The two taught the scheduled class and near the end, the doorbell rang. Since it was Vees birthday, their condo was filled with balloons and celebratory decor. Lewarne had mentioned to her earlier in the day that a present was coming from New York City and he wasnt sure if it would arrive in time. I didnt want her to think I hadnt planned anything for her, aside from the balloons, Lewarne said. Lewarne got the door, and came in with a huge navy box. At first Vee thought it would be some clothes from Lululemon. But, when he told the class to stick around for a few minutes, that Vee had a few words to say, she got a hunch about what was going on. Lewarne got on one knee, and opened the box to show the ring, an ethical lab-grown diamond ring from COUPLE Diamonds in Yorkville. She walked off screen and I thought she was going to say no, but she didnt want people to see her crying. Vee tells the Star in a call, I was so full of emotions and so overwhelmed so I stepped away and took a big breath. I knew people would want to see me, and he started to do his big speech and I tried not to bawl my eyes out. I was shy on camera. I broke down and cried at the end of the proposal and couldnt hold it together. 343 viewers were tuned in. It was really me and honest at one point I even said the F word. Someone wrote in the comments you got to put the ring on her! While this was happening, the comment section of the live feed was blowing up. I love that all my friends were there and everyone I knew was watching, so I found that really special. I was just shy about crying, Vee said. Lewarne said they met at Barrys, so it felt fitting to pop the question with the Barrys followers and family present. To be really honest with you, I thought it would be tacky to do this on Instagram, but Karina is such a hub, such a glue to her friends, and community is important to both her and us. Before the proposal, Lewarne called Laurie Campbell, the co-owner of Barrys Canada, to ask for permission to propose to Vee over the companys Instagram account. Her response? If a couple can survive in a condo during quarantine, then they can survive anything. Lewarne describes his now-fiancee (she said yes!) as a walking ray of sunshine. Im difficult. If Karina can survive this with me, theres nothing I can do to scare her off. Almost 5,000 people viewed the proposal over the 24 hours it lived on Instagram and their students, friends, fans and followers sent gratitude for getting to be a part of the experience. With people living virtually more than ever before, we can expect to see more engagements going digital. Last week, on the reunion for Netflixs Too Hot To Handle which was recorded over Zoom with the cast, each at their own homes contestant Harry Jowsey, proposed to girlfriend Francesca Farago, with a Ring Pop. Farago told Variety magazine that she thought the gesture was cute, and they had talked about rings, but she thinks a proposal needs to be done in-person. Caspar Haydar is a co-host and designer on CTVs I Do, ReDo. He tells the Star that proposing digitally doesnt diminish the sentiment. The times have changed and I believe people are becoming more creative trying to do something so grand in a new way! The sentiment is not being diminished at all, especially during the tough times when people are proving they still want to be together no matter what is happening in the world. Thinking of proposing during the pandemic? Haydar doesnt think there is one type of plan to make the best or ideal proposal. The most important aspect of the proposal is the sentiment and the gesture itself. All you need to do is say what you feel from the heart and let them know why you love them and want to be with them through all of what happens in life, Haydar said. With COVID-19 things are constantly changing and with new social distancing measures in place, I dont doubt you can still be creative enough to alter the original plan you may have had, Haydar said. Franck X. Arnold, GM of The Ritz-Carlton tells the Star, The secret to creating a memorable moment is creating a moment of surprise and delight that is unique to that person, doing something tailor-made just for them. He says using all five senses to create their experience is important. Make sure that you have them experience the proposal through their senses, from the texture of a beautifully wrapped gift box, the scent of a bouquet of gorgeous flowers and candles from their favourite spa, the flavours of their favourite Champagne and dinner from their favourite restaurant and playing a curated song list, for example, Arnold said. From a hospitality standpoint, he says, the key to making someone feel special is to know what they would like before they even know they want it. To do this, you need to think about what your partner likes and take it to the next level. Do it when they dont expect it, the element of surprise is a wonderful thing, Arnold said. Members of the public were praised for helping "remove a very real danger from our roads" after a car crash in north Belfast. A car hit a number of vehicles on the Cavehill Road at around 12.30pm on Monday, May 18. Inspector Graham explained: It was reported that one male had run from the crashed vehicle and that the male driver, who appeared to be intoxicated, had attempted to make off on foot but was restrained by members of the public. Local patrols quickly responded and have subsequently arrested a 43-year-old male on suspicion of a number of offences, including drink driving. He is currently in custody helping enquiries. I would like to thank those members of the public who this afternoon stepped in to help remove a very real danger from our roads. I would also appeal to anyone who witnessed this incident, or who may have dashcam footage of it, to contact police on 101, quoting reference number 611 of 18/05/2020. 84-year-old Tapan Mitra successfully won a 24-day war against coronavirus despite battling comorbidities and a debilitating fear of being infected by a disease without any known cure and the isolation that it brings with it. He says what helped him apart from the treatment, was a will to live and happy memories to die for. The enormity of odds Mitra faced could be understood from the fact that while having even any one among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular ailments can be fatal for a Covid-19 patient, Mitra had all four. Over the next 24 days, as the doctors struggled with a very bad Covid-19 infection and a secondary infection that developed in his bloodstreams, twice forcing Mitra into the intensive care unit (ICU), the octogenarian banked on happy memories to summon the strength to defeat the deadly contagion. Lying on the bed, I tried to remember happy and good memories. I banked on remembering travels and people. That helped me survive through this unprecedented mental stress, said Mitra, a former corporate honcho who had served as the managing director of Indian Aluminium, chairman of Haldia Petrochemicals, and eastern region chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry. He is also the president of the prestigious Calcutta Rowing Club. The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19 Mitra was taken to the private hospital after he reported breathing difficulties and admitted to the isolation ward before he tested positive for Covid-19. Initially, I was damn scared to be in the isolation room. To live in complete isolation looked unbearable. But later, the doctors and nursing staff helped me cope with the situation, he said after his release from the hospital on Monday. For Coronavirus Live Updates Talking to family members over video calls further inspired him to win this Covid-19 battle. He has been advised rest at home for the time being. According to Raja Dhar, a pulmonologist and the director of Fortis Hospital Anandapur where Mitra was admitted, Mitra had very bad Covid-19 infection, with his lung getting badly affected, and later a secondary bloodstream infection made things all the more critical. He was put into the ICU twice. Mitras recovery is very pleasing because it was one of the cases when one nears death but still survives. He is mentally very strong, disciplined and motivated and that also helped in the recovery, Dhar said. In Bengal, as of May 18, a total of 2,825 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 and 1,006 of them have recovered, while 244 persons have died. By Akbar Mammadov Azerbaijan has experienced sharp decline in the number of incoming tourists since April due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, the State Statistics Committee reported on May 19. According to the report, the number of visitors to Azerbaijan decreased by 4.7 times in April compared to the previous month and 12.1 times compared to April last year. Overall, the number of foreigners and stateless persons in Azerbaijan decreased by 36.5 percent year-on-year in January-April 2020, amounting to 539.000 people. Most tourists in the country were from Russia (30.4 percent) and Georgia (27.9 percent) in January-April 2020. Some 12.3 percent of the overall visitors came from Turkey, 6.1 percent from Iran, 2.3 percent from India, 2.2 percent from Saudi Arabia and 2.1 percent from Ukraine. 1.5 percent in the United Arab Emirates, 1.4 percent in Pakistan, 1.3 percent in Kuwait and Kazakhstan, 1.2 percent in Turkmenistan, 0.9 percent in Iraq and the United Kingdom, 0.8 percent from Uzbekistan; 0.7% were citizens of Israel, 6.6% were citizens of other countries, and 0.1% were stateless persons. Most visitors were males (74 percent). In January-April this year, the number of visitors from the United Arab Emirates decreased by 4.1 times, from China - 3.5 times, from Spain, Oman and Poland - 2.5 times, from Japan - 2.4 times, from Qatar and the Netherlands - 2.3 times, whereas from the United States, Iraq, Italy, France and Canada reduced by the same number-2.2 times. In general, the number of arrivals from EU member countries decreased by 2.2 times, amounting to 15.6 thousand people, while the figure from Gulf countries decreased by 2.0 times to 70.7 thousand people, from CIS countries decreased by 1.4 times to 197.6 thousand people. Thus, 65.8 percent of foreigners and stateless persons came to Azerbaijan by rail and road, whereas 32.8 percent of them arrived by air and 1.4 percent by sea. In the case of the number of citizens of Azerbaijan visiting abroad, compared to January-April 2019, the figure decreased by 42.3 percent, amounting 944.7 thousand people. Some 33.8 percent of the country's citizens visited Iran, 29.8 percent Georgia, 20.4 percent the Russian Federation, 9.7 percent Turkey and 6.3 percent other countries. In addition, 68.9 percent of those who left were men and 31.1 percent were women. During this period, the number of Azerbaijani citizens traveling to Iran decreased by 50.3 percent, to Turkey by 42.4 percent, to Georgia by 36.8 percent, and the number of those traveling to the Russian Federation decreased by 35.6 percent. Thus, in January-April 2020, 82.4 percent of the citizens of Azerbaijan who visited foreign countries used railways and automobiles, while 16.3 percent and 1.3 percent of them traveled by air and sea, respectively. --- Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97 Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz What is important when you choose a home? Space, security, light - or a combination of these? Like humans, animals make choices about where to live that have important implications for their livelihoods. But unlike humans, animals do not easily reveal the basis of their choice. Now, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz and the University of Konstanz have created a paradigm that can disentangle the strands of animal decision-making. By using CT scanning, 3D modelling and 3D printing, they have created artificial shelters that vary in precise ways, and used these structures to reveal the underlying preferences of animals. The findings are reported in Proceedings of the Royal Society B in a paper by Humboldt post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Aneesh Bose; bachelor students of the University of Konstanz, Johannes Windorfer and Alex Boehm; and Dr Alex Jordan, Principal Investigator in the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the DFG Cluster of Excellence "Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour" at the University of Konstanz. The study also included co-authors from the University of Basel. Studying shelter selection Aneesh Bose, a postdoc in Jordan's lab and co-first author of the study points out that the choices an animal makes, especially when it comes to choosing a home, can have major implications for the choosing animal. "A shelter can serve many ecological roles, a place to rear babies, hide from predators, perform social behaviour," says Bose. "But just looking at the choices animals make doesn't give us a correct answer of what they want because they are constrained by what's available to them." The problem with studying shelter selection in the wild is that many traits in nature are linked. A bigger shelter (for example a burrow, den, hole, or shell), could be better for rearing off-spring, while a bigger shelter entrance opens the way for more predators to enter. However, bigger shelters often have bigger entranceways, and many animals are unable to physically alter the structures they encounter and choose amongst in the wild. Therefore, pinpointing the function behind an animal's preferences for shelter structures requires circumventing the constraints of the natural world where traits are often correlated. 3D models of shells The researchers devised an experimental framework that enabled methodical appraisal of the possible traits of importance. Selecting a species of shell-dwelling cichlid fish (Neolamprologus multifasciatus) from Lake Tanganyika, Africa, they used high resolution CT scanning on a range of the snail shells that the fish use as shelters. From the scans, 3D models of the structures were created wherein certain features of the shells were manipulated independently of each other. The models were 3D printed to create accurate shell replicas and then offered to fish in choice experiments. Fish showed preferences for exaggerated shells that bore dimensions that do not exist, or rarely exist, in nature. Fish preferred shells that were fully intact and either enlarged, lengthened, or had widened apertures. Notably, fish were able to distinguish chirality - the direction of coiling - in the shells provided, always favouring shells with the same chirality as those that exist in their natural habitat. The important finding was that, for fish, not every home structural feature is equal. In fact, they preferred shell intactness more than shell length, which was itself preferred more heavily than entrance size. These are facets of the fish's decision-making process that could not be ascertained without such a controlled, manipulative experiment. Understanding animal behaviour "The innovation of our study is that we have been able to 3D print a biological structure with precisely controlled dimensions, rather than using samples of real shells, which are limited in how they can be manipulated," says Windorfer, a bachelor student and co-lead author on the study. "And that way we escape the confines of the natural world." Jordan, senior author on the study says: "Our ultimate goal is to understand why animals choose the things they do, so first we have be certain we know what they choose. For example, I choose my beer based on taste, and I don't really care about the bottle it comes in. But someone watching me might notice that all my favourite beers come in green bottles, and conclude I prefer green bottles." "If we are to avoid making the same mistake in animal behaviour, we need to figure out a different way. Our study shows how you can experimentally dissociate linked traits and gives us a very powerful experimental framework to explore the ultimate basis of animal decision-making." ### Facts: Manchester skyline as UK working hours plummet. (Anthony Devlin/Getty Images) Britains coronavirus lockdown triggered the steepest drop in working hours in a decade, according to official figures. The new figures lay bare the economic cost of the countrys efforts to control the virus, with millions of workers jobs and incomes taking a heavy hit. Total hours worked in the final week of March plummeted by 25% compared to the average over the previous three months. Prime minister Boris Johnson ordered Britain to go into lockdown on 23 March, leading many firms to temporarily shut up shop. READ MORE: UK jobless claims surged 69% as COVID-19 lockdown began Economic conditions were highlighted as a major factor in the increase by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its latest employment data published on Tuesday. The ONS said the category included workers put on furlough through the government-funded coronavirus job retention scheme. Average hours worked in the first three months of the year for the past four years, showing a steep drop-off in March 2020. (ONS) More than 7.5 million people are now on the programme, designed to protect the livelihoods of those at risk of redundancy as the pandemic has ravaged the economy. Workers remain employed but cannot work for their employer under the first phase of the scheme, with the latest figures capturing their stark drop in working hours at the end of March. The ONS labour force survey also shows a rise in the number of workers stating they are temporarily away from work, which could include those off sick. Meanwhile ONS data also shows a 69% spike in jobless claims between March and April, with unemployment hitting 2.1 million. READ MORE: UK can afford higher debt as economists warn over austerity The collapse in working hours as the lockdown began was enough to significantly drag down the average figures for the three months to the end of March. Total weekly hours worked dropped by 12.4 million hours compared to a year earlier, a 1.2% drop and the largest annual decline since early 2010. Average hours worked also dropped to 31.4 hours a week, with female workers average hours falling furthest to 27 hours and mens hours to a record low 35.4 hours. Shocking video footage shows the moment a 90-year-old grandmother tries to protect her 21-year-old black grandson from getting arrested by Texas police officers pointing their guns at him because he allegedly blew a stop sign. Video shows the moment Tye Anders, 21, lays on his front lawn as three Midland Police officers point their guns at him from their cars because he allegedly failed to yield at a stop sign on Saturday afternoon. Anders yelps in distress when cops order him to stand up and walk towards them. 'Put the guns down Im scared, Im scared,' hes heard yelling in the viral clip. 'Hes scared, Yall have guns on him. Hes black. Do yall not see how many black people are getting shot? Hes only 21, of course hes scared,' a woman filming the scene screams at the officers. Shocking video footage shows the moment a 90-year-old grandmother tries to protect her 21-year-old black grandson Tye Anders from Midland police officers pointing their guns at him in Texas on Saturday On Saturday, Midland police in Texas said Anders failed to stop at a stop sign. When police tried to stop him and ordered him to walk to their cars, he laid down on the grass in front of his grandmother's house yelling 'put your guns down' The video clip showed at least three officers drawing their guns and pointing them at Anders Anders is heard crying as he lays on the grass, prompting his 90-year-old grandmother, wearing a pink dress and carrying a walking stick, to defy the officers' orders to stay back and walk to him Anders is heard crying as he lays on the grass, prompting his 90-year-old grandmother, wearing a pink dress and carrying a walking stick, to defy the officers' orders to stay back and stand next to him. Anders was arrested for evading police and was taken to Midland County Jail and has since been released on bond Three officers, one with their gun pointed then approach her and Anders on the grass and one officer bends down to cuff him. 'Granny, granny, thats my granny,' one woman is heard saying in shock. In the video the grandmother appears to fall on top of Anders while an officer is trying to handcuff him, still on the ground, leading bystanders to scream and shout in fury and shock. 'Yall push her!' the woman filming screams as she runs towards the officers. Anders was arrested for evading police and was taken to Midland County Jail and has since been released on bond, according to NewsWest9. Officers pictured approaching Anders and his grandmother with their guns drawn When the officers approached the 90-year-old grandmother appeared to fall over Anders The grandmother pictured falling over Anders as the cops were around The grandmother pictured after she fell as outraged bystanders accused the cops of pushing her Midland Police said that Anders failed to stop at a stop sign and continued to drive until he arrived at his grandmothers home on Pine Street in Midland. When officers told him to exit his vehicle he refused to cooperate. 'Upon exiting the vehicle, officers advised the subject to walk towards them to be detained, the subject then stopped and laid on the ground,' cops say. Following the altercation Andres has hired a civil rights attorney, Justin Moore from Dallas. 'We believe and maintain that this was a stop based on racial profiling and there was no traffic violation,' Moore said of the incident. Anders was arrested for evading police and was taken to Midland County Jail and has since been released on bond. Pictured above on social media Anders had another run-in with police in January when he was convicted for possessing less than two ounces of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor in Texas. Moore says that after Anders was handcuffed and put into the squad car, he was assaulted by another officer multiple times in the face. 'Racial profiling and pretext stops have been at pandemic levels in this country for generations. This incident falls within this age-old trend of following black men and arresting them for fabricated reasons,' he said in a statement. He will hold a press conference Tuesday to share Anders story. There is no video of the attempted traffic stop nor video from police of the arrest. Anders had another run-in with police in January when he was convicted for possessing less than two ounces of marijuana, a Class B misdemeanor in Texas. Catoosa County Schools officials said all employees will have to take pay cuts due to a funding loss of at least $12.6 million from the state of Georgia. Officials also said that students will be going to school fewer days. Officials said, "On May 1, 2020, the State of Georgia instructed all state agencies, including K-12 education, to prepare for a 14 percent reduction in funding due to the COVID-19 shutdown that significantly reduced state revenue. For Catoosa County Public Schools, this funding cut will be at least $12.6 million. "The Board of Education understands that many people in our community have lost jobs and had reductions in their household incomes during the pandemic mitigation. To reduce the impact to families, the school system will manage this budget cut through a reduction in the number of days in the school calendar. Students will have five fewer instructional days, and five teacher in-service days will be eliminated. "All Catoosa County Schools employees salaries will be reduced by 10 days. With personnel cost savings and using at least $5 million from the systems reserve fund, the Catoosa Board of Education can manage the state budget cuts without increasing property taxes. While the board regrets reducing employee work days, employees will continue to earn their same daily rate of pay each day they work. "Based on employee and local school governance team input, the Catoosa Board of Education has adopted a new calendar for the 2020-2021 school year. The start date remains August 10th, and Superintendent Reese has an #OPENSCHOOL Task Force developing plans to start school safely on this date. The Task Force will closely monitor state and federal guidelines for COVID-19, and the system will be prepared with contingency plans that include: digital learning, partial opening (designated attendance days), and full reopening. Parents and the community will be alerted if an alternative start date becomes necessary. "The Board of Education and Superintendent Reese would like to thank employees, parents, teachers, students, and the community for their full support during the COVID-19 health crisis." The growth in the number of new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Louth would appear to be slowing considerably, with just a single further case confirmed in the most recent figures released. The total number in the Wee County now stands at 740. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre also stated that a further 4 people with Covid-19 in Ireland have died. There have now been a total 1,547 COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland. As of 11am Monday 18 May the HPSC has been notified of 88 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 24,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland. The HSE is working to identify any contacts the patients may have had to provide them with information and advice to prevent further spread. Todays data from the HPSC, as of midnight, Saturday 16th May (24,036 cases), reveals: 57% are female and 43% are male the median age of confirmed cases is 48 years 3,127 cases (13%) have been hospitalised Of those hospitalised, 391 cases have been admitted to ICU 7,615 cases are associated with healthcare workers Dublin has the highest number of cases at 11,693 (49% of all cases) followed by Kildare with 1,367 cases (6%) and then Cork with 1,361 cases (5%) Of those for whom transmission status is known: community transmission accounts for 60%, close contact accounts for 37%, travel abroad accounts for 3% Dr. Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said; On the first day of Ireland moving into Phase One of reopening we have experienced the lowest number of deaths since March 27th. We have suppressed the virus and limited its impact on public health. We need to sustain this in the weeks and phases ahead. Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said; Every death is one too many, but the collective effort to date has saved many lives. We must save more by practicing physical distancing, especially in queues and public spaces, respiratory etiquette and hand washing. Dr Siobhan Ni Bhriain, Consultant Psychiatrist and HSE Integrated Care Lead, said: Moving into a new phase in Irelands response to COVID-19, we now have an opportunity to increase our exercise activity up to 5 kilometres and participate with a friend outside of the household. I would urge anyone who can, to take advantage of this in order to improve mental health and wellbeing. Pre-tertiary Education Unions have warned against any plans in the immediate by the Ghana Education Service, to reopen schools. According to the unions, they would not subscribe to the re-opening of the schools should President Akufo-Addo decide not to extend the 31st May, 2020 deadline for the ban on prescribed public and social gatherings to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, and go ahead to order the re-opening of the schools. The groups insist that conditions are not rife for the safe reopening of schools given that the new coronavirus infection spread remain very exponential and still very much horizontal in the country. As at Monday, May 18, Ghana had recorded 5,735 confirmed cases, 29 deaths and 1,754 recoveries. Why are people doubting Ghana's coronavirus recovery figures - Nsiah Asare In a letter dated May 18, 2020, addressed to the Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), in response to requests for suggestions to plan the re-opening of schools, the unions Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-GH) and Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) - said given that our schools could serve as incubation centres of the pandemic, coupled with the unlimited social interactions and movements which take place there, they would not support the reopening of schools. The unions also list a number of issues as additional reasons why they would not support any move to reopen the schools under current conditions, insisting, We cannot expose our Teachers and students to the COVID-19 pandemic, with its attendant sorrows and gnashing of teeth. The unions are also concerned that; Considering the age and exuberance of our students one cannot be sure that they will adhere strictly to the CONVID-19 protocol hence the fear that the disease may spread in the schools, That the country's health system is still grappling with handling the situation, That items for the observation of the prescribed protocols -i.e. clean running water for washing of hands frequently, alcohol-based hand sanitizers for sanitizing of hands by both Teachers and students, face/nose masks to be used by Teachers and students, are all not available in the schools. That class sizes and dormitory population are still large, thus not making the observation of social distancing possible, Majority of Teachers and Students will have to commute from their place of abode to the schools hence increasing the risk of infection of the CONVID 19. 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 The work is mostly phone-based and can be done from home. The jobs can be full- or part-time, often with an hourly wage of $17 to $25; some include benefits. They differ from one place to the next in part because training and recruiting efforts have largely fallen to state and local governments (and some of the programs have already run into problems, both practical and political). Burma Myanmar Power Plants Delayed by COVID-19 to Start Operating in Coming Months Power transmission lines on the outskirts of Yangon. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy YANGONTwo of five emergency power projects originally scheduled for completion by the summer but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic will start operating this month and the rest should be up and running by September, the deputy electricity minister told the Parliament on Tuesday. Deputy Minister for Electricity and Energy (MOEE) U Khin Maung Win said three imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) power projects and a gas power project are still not operational because of COVID-19. Due to travel restrictions and commercial flight bans, the power generation equipment, and the machinery and experts required to install it, were unable to reach Myanmar by the original deadlines. Myanmar called for five emergency projects last year after the country faced severe blackouts during the hot season. Among the five projects, the three largest are LNG projects: a 350-megawatt (MW) plant in Thanlyin in Yangon, a 400-MW plant in Thaketa in Yangon and a 150-MW plant in Kyaukphyu in Rakhine State. They were due to commence operations in the first week of April. All three projects were awarded to Hong Kong-listed Vpower and its joint venture, China National Technical Import and Export Cooperation (CNTIC), in September last year. The total power generation of the three LNG projects is 900 MW, at a cost of over US$800 million (1.11 trillion kyats). U Khin Maung Win said the LNG project in Thaketa is expected to launch full operations on May 30. The project in Thanlyin will start operating in June and the project in Kyaukphyu will be complete in September. The minister said the Kyaukphyu project was delayed due to the shutdown of a factory producing LNG tank containers in Wuhan, the Chinese city hit hardest by the pandemic. Moreover, an expert from Belgium hired to oversee some of the projects only arrived in Yangon last week and is still waiting for his COVID-19 test results. U Khin Maung Win said that despite the travel restrictions, the ministry has been trying to get the projects off the ground. A group of engineers will arrive in Myanmar on May 22 to oversee some of the overdue projects. The minister said a 151.54-MW gas power plant project in Alone Township in Yangon was also delayed due to COVID-19, but will be complete in July. The project was awarded to a consortium of China Energy Engineering Group-Hunan Electric Power Design Institute Co. Ltd (CEEC-PHEDI), China ITS (Holding) Co. Ltd, and Shenzhen Shennan Power Gas Turbine Engineering Technique Co. Ltd. A 20.54 MW gas power plant at Kyun Chaung in Magwe Region is finished and expected to being operating on Tuesday. Myanmar has the lowest access to electricity in ASEAN; only half of the countrys 54.5 million population is connected to the national gird. Since late April, the country has faced regular power blackouts due to water shortages at hydropower plants following periods of extreme heat across the country. According to MOEE data, electricity production has declined significantly over the past few weeks. On Sunday, MOEE data showed that power stations across the country produced around 2,600 MW. MOEE said the decline in electricity production wont have a severe effect on consumers as many factories are shutting down and economic activity has declined due to COVID-19. The blackouts were caused by technical faults and also by maintenance activities to upgrade some power stations, it said. However, the ministry did not provide specific data. According to MOEE data, electricity consumption has increased by 15-19 percent annually over the past few years. The World Bank warned Myanmar last year that it needs to invest up to US$2 billion annually in its electricity sector to sustain economic growth, as electricity consumption is expected to increase by 11 percent yearly until 2030. The bank forecasts Myanmars electricity demand will reach 8,600 MW in 2025 and 12,600 MW in 2030. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Police Make Asias Biggest-Ever Drugs Bust in Shan State Myanmar Government Promises Cash to Families Hit by COVID-19 Myanmar Hands 22 Assam, Meitei Rebels Over to Indian Govt A skeptic Florida rideshare driver stating his skepticism on the global pandemic COVID-19 in Facebook has now contracted the coronavirus. MyStaleLine announced that a skeptic Florida rideshare driver has not contracted COVID-19 and is now in the hospital together with his wife, who is now in critical condition. Before the couple was hospitalized, the skeptic Florida man Brian Hitchens did not wear a mask to prove his point of COVID-19 as a distraction by the government. He said in an interview that this global pandemic was thrown out by the government to distract the people from them trying something. He created a Facebook post on May 13, 2020 stating all his concerns on the coronavirus. He mentioned in the Facebook post that, at first, he was skeptical of the global pandemic and just treated everyday like it was normal. He and his wife didn't wear masks going to work and thought that "it was being blown out proportion", referring to the COVID-19 health crisis. COVID-19 fake crisis He would hear the news on the spread of the coronavirus a lot when watching TV and didn't think much on the issue. A little over a month ago, he started to feel sick. He stopped working after that and stayed at home. Two days later, his wife started getting sick too. His wife went to the hospital to get herself checked whether she had the coronavirus or not. The result of the test came out positive and the hospital told Hitchens's wife to stay at home and quarantine herself. A few days after quarantining themselves in their home, the couple started to feel worse. Three weeks before the Facebook post was made, Hitchens decided to drive him and his wife to the hospital with the little energy he had and be admitted to the hospital. When they were admitted to the hospital, the hospital declared them positive. The couple went into the ICU right after that. Brian Hitchens started to feel better after a few days in the hospital. His wife's condition, on the other hand, started to get worse and worse each day. His wife's condition was so bad that the doctors had to put her in sedation and use a ventilator on her to keep her oxygen levels right. The struggle to fight COVID-19 Now, Brian Hitchens is still contracting COVID-19 but is feeling a lot better ever since the drive to the hospital. He also has pneumonia but, other than that, his health is improving. His wife, however, is still on sedation and using a ventilator. Hitchens revealed in the Facebook post that his wife is showing no signs of improving. Hitchen is deeply saddened and filled with regret by the fact that he didn't follow the precautionary measures the government has set out for everyone during this global pandemic. He is, however, still hopeful of the fact that maybe, one day, his wife will get better and that the Lord will help her. His Facebook post on the COVID-19 is centered on his experience with the coronavirus and is for the people who are still skeptical of this health crisis. Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 17:46:37|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close VIENTIANE, May 19 (Xinhua) -- The National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control said on Tuesday that it has been monitoring 2,648 people across the country. Phouthone Meaungpak, Lao Deputy Minister of Health and vice president of The National Taskforce Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control, told a press conference in the Lao capital Vientiane that 2,648 people have been quarantined at 91 accommodation centers. On Monday, a total of 1,761 people entering Laos through international border checkpoints. Of these, 1,079 people crossed the border with Thailand, six of them were Lao workers returning their homes in Champassak, and others were truck drivers bringing freight into Laos. A total of eight truck drivers entered Laos from China, while 559 truck drivers came to Laos from Vietnam. At all border crossings, the temperature of each person entering Laos was checked and no one showed signs of fever. All Lao workers returning to their homes were sent to a quarantine center in the provinces for 14 days, according to the report. As of Tuesday, Laos has tested 4,653 suspected cases with 19 cases tested positive, and 14 patients have recovered. Another five infected cases are treated in designated hospital -- Mittaphab Hospital (Hospital 150) in Vientiane. Laos detected its first two COVID-19 confirmed cases on March 24. Enditem By Philip Pullella and Emma Pinedo ROME/MADRID (Reuters) - Italian shops, restaurants and churches reopened their doors to spring sunshine on Monday, Greece welcomed visitors back to the Acropolis - and Spain hoped for tourists to return in summer in cautious steps to ease coronavirus lockdowns. Italians could once again sip their morning cappuccino at the bar, albeit at a distance from one another, in what Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte admitted at the weekend was a "calculated risk" in rolling back the curbs. "I haven't worked for two and a half months. It's a beautiful, exciting day," said Valentino Casanova, a barman in Caffe Canova in Rome's central Piazza del Popolo. Countries around the world, at different stages in the pandemic, are wrangling with decisions on when to ease restrictions, weighing the threat to life against the threat to economic survival. Summer tourism is a major earner for Italy, Greece and Spain. World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned countries against reopening too early and said "we have a long road to travel". More than 4.71 million people are reported to have been infected by the coronavirus and 312,826 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Italy has the third highest death toll after the United States and Britain. In Greece, which has recorded only 156 COVID-19 deaths, people flocked to the seaside on Saturday and were allowed back in church the next day. On Monday, tourists were allowed back at ancient monuments, including the Acropolis in Athens, where workers wearing masks and plastic face shields reminded the few visitors of social distancing rules as they entered the turnstiles. "I visited the Acropolis today, a world monument that continues to inspire with its marbles shining under the sun," said President Katerina Sakellaropoulou. Spain aims to reopen its borders to tourists around the end of June, Transport Minister Jose Luis Abalos said, after it surprised its EU partners last week by imposing a two-week quarantine on overseas travellers, effectively shutting its borders. Story continues Abalos said it would be phased out in parallel with travel being allowed within Spain, whose regions are all leaving lockdown at different phases. "From late June, we'll start tourism activity, I hope," he said. "We must make Spain an attractive country from the health point of view." Neighbouring Portugal reopened cafes, and children wearing masks went back to school for the first time in months. KISSING AND HUGGING Four weeks into an early but gradual easing of their lockdown, Danes were again able to enjoy a latte at their local cafe. "The quick shutdown and the fact that Danes actually listened to messages from authorities about good hygiene and social distancing are the main reasons we've come this far," said Hans Jorn Kolmos, a professor in clinical microbiology at the University of Southern Denmark. Danes being less prone to hugging and kissing as a form of greeting had also been a factor, he said. Many people across England travelled to parks and beaches to enjoy the sun at the weekend after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson relaxed lockdown curbs. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland told people they should still stay at home. Johnson's government has been accused by the opposition Labour Party of responding too slowly and late to an outbreak that has now produced the world's second highest death toll - something the government denies. Michael OLeary, chief executive of the Irish budget airline Ryanair, said Britain had mismanaged its response and he denounced a forthcoming 14-day quarantine for international travellers. "It is idiotic and it is unimplementable," he told BBC radio. "This the same government that has ... mismanaged the crisis for many weeks." U.S. President Donald Trump has also rejected accusations, most recently from former president Barack Obama, of responding haphazardly to the crisis. Many state governors say his eagerness to reopen the economy puts too many lives at risk. Fiat Chrysler Automobile's (FCA) truck plant in Warren, Michigan, was one of the U.S. automakers reopening its factories. Workers began lining up before 4 a.m. to start the 5 a.m. shift. "I'm a little nervous," said Larry Smith, 53, who works on wheel alignment, away from the assembly line. "They made all the precautions (and) they've done everything they can to prepare us ... I'm trusting in God." In Brazil, which now has one of the world's worst coronavirus outbreaks, President Jair Bolsonaro posed for photographs with children from a crowd of supporters on Sunday. As he flouted public health advice, the mayor of Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, warned that its health system was in danger of collapse, the BBC reported. (Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in London, George Georgiopoulos and Vassilis Triandafyllou in Athens, Emma Pinedo and Inti Landauro in Madrid, Crispian Balmer in Rome, Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard in Copenhagen, Ben Klayman in Warren, Michigan, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Catarina Demony and Victoria Waldersee in Lisbon; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Kevin Liffey) Mohammed Bello, permanent secretary of the ministry of science and technology, has denied the allegation of financial misconduct made ... Mohammed Bello, permanent secretary of the ministry of science and technology, has denied the allegation of financial misconduct made against him. The federal government had issued a query to Bello over alleged financial misconduct while he was the permanent secretary of the federal ministry of agriculture and rural development. He was accused of purchasing an uncompleted building for N7 billion without following due process. But in a response to the query, Bello said Sabo Nanono, minister of agriculture, and the federal executive council (FEC) approved the purchase of the building. In a letter dated May 14, he said all the financial transactions made while he was at the ministry of agriculture followed due process. While denying in totality all the allegations, I hereby forward my representations and response to all the false allegations contained in the query, the permanent secretary said. I am constrained to give details of the transactions I approved to set the record straight and clear my name. I will like state the following that all transactions at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development were approved through Administrative process and principles as traditioned in the conduct of government business. That FMARD run a rolling budget year in year out as most projects are been captured as ongoing; that all contracts/procurement and payments at the FMARD followed due process. There are procedures for contracts/procurement and payments handled by various departments in all government agencies, FMARD inclusive. That my tenure as Permanent Secretary at FMARD commenced from 10th January, 2019 to 18th December, 2019 and hence cannot be held responsible or liable for actions prior to 10th January, 2019. I state that contractors were dully paid. The allegation of contractors not been paid is totally false. All contractors whose contract was captured in the 2018 budgetary allocation were paid in accordance to budgetary releases. However, contractors whose contracts are ongoing were rolled over as ongoing. Rollover capital projects are not new in contract management. I will state that due process was followed to the latter in the purchase of the said building. After submission of recommendation to the Hon. Minister of Agriculture; He approved that Council Memo be made to that effect. We then sent the Memo to the Secretary to Government of the Federation who then scheduled it for Federal Executive Council Approval. Consequently, the Federal Executive Council approved the purchase of the building. Bello accused the agriculture minister and Muazu Abdulkadir, the current permanent secretary of the ministry, of being responsible for the allegations against him. These are the same people alleging that the purchased office building was unfit for use, he said. It is worthy of note at this point that it is the current Permanent Secretary FMARD who is actually guilty of virement as since after the approval of the above contracts has refused to sign and release letters of award of contract to the respective contractors but instead diverted and vire the funds to other projects in his locality that were never part of the appropriation, neither advertised nor bided for. This is a case of unequivocal virement. MONTREAL - Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. has received an initial order Tuesday after seeking court protection from its creditors under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act to allow a restructuring of the womens clothing retailer. The retailers application was heard by the Quebec Superior Court earlier Tuesday. Ernst & Young Inc. was appointed as monitor for the CCAA process and will assist the retailer in creating a restructuring plan, the company said in a statement. The plan will have to deal with the business fallout from COVID-19, which prompted retail outlets across Canada to shut their doors temporarily in an effort to help contain the pandemic from spreading, the company said in an earlier statement before the court proceedings. Reitmans closed 587 stores on March 17, but its e-commerce websites have remained open. At the time, the company also announced it would temporarily lay off 90 per cent of its Canadian retail staff, starting March 29, across its five banners: Reitmans, Penningtons, Addition Elle, RW & Co. and Thyme Maternity. Thirty per cent of its Montreal head-office staff were also laid off starting March 30. Remaining employees, meanwhile, were asked to contribute to on-going cost-saving initiatives. Filing for protection under the CCAA is truly the hardest decision we have had to make as an organization in our almost one hundred years of history, but this pandemic has left us no choice, chief executive Stephen Reitmans said. Reitman assumed the CEO role in early 2020 following the death of his brother Jeremy Reitman, who served as chief executive and chairman. We believe that this is the only course of action to ensure we remain successful in the future. The board reached the unanimous decision to file for court protection after having considered other alternatives and a number of factors, the company said. In conjunction with its court filing, the company has undertaken a process to secure interim financing to allow its remaining 576 stores to continue normal operations once government regulations allow the reopening of retail locations. The company, which employs about 6,800 people and was founded in 1926, now operates 259 Reitmans, 106 Penningtons, 80 RW & Co., 77 Addition Elle and 54 Thyme Maternity outlets. As the restructuring process gets underway, the company will look to optimize its retail footprint in Canada to emerge from this process in a stronger state, the company said. Reitmans is also in talks with lenders for permanent financing upon exit from the restructuring process, and is seeking an order from the Quebec Superior Court to postpone its annual general meeting of shareholders. The retail landscape has been in constant flux over the past several years, resulting in the evolution of consumer behaviour and purchasing patterns, the company noted, adding it has implemented what it called a successful digital-first strategy and other initiatives to drive growth in the changing environment. Reitmans boasted in January 2011 that it had 968 locations across seven banners, including 158 Smart Set and 22 Cassis stores. In October 2011, the company announced it would close the Cassis stores and convert many to its other banners. The Cassis brand, which was aimed at women over 40 years old, accounted for less than two per cent of the companys total annual sales, Reitmans said in a statement announcing the closures. A little over three years later, in November 2014, Reitmans decided to close its Smart Set banner over the next 12 to 18 months. It planned to convert 76 locations to other banners and close 31 outlets. Smart Set sales accounted for about 10 per cent of the companys annual sales. Reitmans converted some of those Smart Set locations to a new brand, Hyba the companys activewear line. However, by March 2018, the company said it would close all 17 Hyba stores by Feb. 2, 2019. It planned to continue selling the line at Reitmans stores, as well as online. Hyba stores accounted for less than two per cent of the companys annual sales, it said. In announcing the CCAA filing, Reitmans noted the impact of the pandemic has changed the retail landscape even more. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of all retail stores, and pushed the retail industry into a new and unknown era. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2020. Companies in this story: (TSX:RET) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed Tuesday that she is in talks with Joe Biden's team to join the 2020 ticket. 'I've had a conversation with some folks,' she told the 'Today' show's Craig Melvin. 'It was just an opening conversation and it's not something that I would call a professional formalized vetting.' Biden, now the Democrats' presumptive nominee, announced on a debate stage in March that he planned to pick a female running mate. Among the nation's female Democratic governors, Whitmer has been earning the most buzz. She's attracted controversy and the attention of President Donald Trump for pushing some of the strictest stay-at-home orders in the country, as Michigan was one of the hardest hit states, outside the epicenter in New York, by the coronavirus pandemic. The 48-year-old first-term governor, who previously served in the Michigan state House and Senate, and was a county prosecutor, comes from one of the three states Trump was able to win over Hillary Clinton in 2016, which put him in the White House. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed Tuesday that she is in talks with Joe Biden's campaign to be his running mate in 2020 Joe Biden, the Democrats' presumptive nominee, announced on the March debate stage that he would choose a woman as his running mate THE WOMEN WHO COULD BE JOE BIDEN'S VICE PRESIDENTIAL PICK STACEY ABRAMS Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, minority leader of the Georgia House of Representatives She says, 'I would be willing to serve.' CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO Senator from Nevada She says she's 'honored' to be considered, while staff told CBS News she's 'not actively campaigning' for the job TAMMY DUCKWORTH Senator from Illinois Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin said Duckworth would be interviewed by Biden's team 'soon.' KAMALA HARRIS California senator, former 2020 candidate She says: 'Obviously I would be honored if I were being considered.' AMY KLOBUCHAR Minnesota senator, former 2020 candidate She says: 'I'm just not going to engage in hypotheticals. ... Joe Biden was a great vice president. He knows what it takes to be a good vice president. He's going to make that decision.' MICHELLE OBAMA Former first lady She says 'I have no intention of running for office, ever,' in her 2018 memoir 'Becoming.' SUSAN RICE Former ambassador to the United Nation, Obama national security adviser She says she 'certainly would say yes' if Joe Biden asked. ELIZABETH WARREN Senator from Massachusetts, former 2020 candidate She answered 'yes' when asked by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in April if she would say yes, if asked GRETCHEN WHITMER Governor of Michigan She says, she's had a conversation with some people at the Biden campaign. 'It was just an opening conversation and it's not something that I would call a professional formalized vetting.' Advertisement If Biden wants to win the White House, one route he could take is to win Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania back. But one concern about putting Whitmer on the ticket is that she might have limited time to campaign as the nation's governors have played key leadership roles in getting the U.S. through the pandemic. 'I am making a little bit of time to stay connected to the campaign, but the most important thing that I have to do right now is be the governor of my home state,' Whitmer said. 'That's all that matters to me in this moment.' On 'Today,' Whitmer pressed people to be vigilant as states around the nation begin to reopen after weeks of orders to stay at home. 'If we drop our guard now, we could be in for a second wave and that would make all of the sacrifice we've made the last 10 weeks in vain and we'd have to take steps backward,' she said. 'While we're not universal in a lot of things in this moment, I think we all know we don't want to take a step backward and so everyone has to keep their guard up and be vigilant and do everything they can to mitigate the spread,' she added. A majority of the women Biden is reportedly looking at are instead in the U.S. Senate. He's considering a trio of his former rivals: Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar. He's ideologically most in-line with Klobuchar. He and Harris had a famous spat over busing during the Democrats' first primary debate last June, though she's endorsed the ex-vice president since then. Warren could help Biden with progressives, though she fell out of favor with some supporters of fellow progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders for not endorsing his run before he dropped last month. This narrative has also been played up by Trump. 'So selfish for Elizabeth Warren to stay in the race. She has Zero chance of even coming close to winning, but hurts badly,' the president tweeted the morning after Super Tuesday, which saw Biden win 11 of 14 races. Biden had been aided by a number of fresh endorsements, including from Klobuchar, while Warren stayed in the race and potentially pulled votes away from Sanders. 'So much for their wonderful liberal friendship,' Trump wrote. 'Will he ever speak to her again?' Two other senators Biden reportedly is looking at are Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who could help him do better with Nevada's Latino population, which tilted toward Sanders, and Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a military vet. Harry Reid, the retired Senate Democratic leader from Nevada, has pushed Cortez Masto as a contender. While Sen. Dick Durbin, the other Democratic senator from Illinois, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's No. 2, has pitched Duckworth. On Friday Durbin revealed that she was getting an interview with Biden's team. 'I support Tammy Duckworth. She's spectacular, a great colleague and I hope that she fares well in this interview, which I think is going to take place soon,' Durbin told Newsweek. Several women in the running are more non-traditional picks. Michelle Obama has been praised by both Biden and his wife Jill, but she's remained consistenly against running for office herself. 'I have no intention of running for office ever,' Obama wrote in her 2018 autobiography 'Becoming.' On the other hand, Stacey Abrams, who lost her election for Georgia governor in 2018, has been vocal about wanting the job. Prior to the gubernatorial race, Abrams was the leader of the minority party in the Georgia state House. Susan Rice, President Obama's first ambassador to the United Nations who moved into the role of his national security adviser, said in an interview last week that she 'certainly would say yes' if Biden asked her to appear on the ticket. A candidate's vice presidential pick isn't usually announced until the convention, which for Democrats is now taking place mid-August, after being moved from July due to continued coronavirus concerns. Haiti - Diaspora May 18 : Message from the Consul of Haiti in Boston Monday May 18, as part of the commemoration of the 217th anniversary of our flag on a background of Covid-19 pandemic which has already infected 533 people in Haiti, Justin Viard, the Consul General of Haiti in Boston delivered a message that we invite you to share. Message from Consul Justin Viard : "Ladies and gentlemen very dear compatriots Dear friends of Haiti. Ladies and gentlemen, Here we are once again on May 18 to commemorate the 217th anniversary of the creation of our flag which, as you know, represents an important step in the independence of our country. In these dark times in the history of mankind, because of this Covid-19 pandemic, this evil that spreads terror all over the globe, the moment is undoubtedly opportune for us to reflect with you on the meaning of this event which, from a very young age, is part of our life and our history. This day, in fact, must be part of this national union which has already enabled us to overcome so many crises in the past. According to Massachusetts State statistics, more than 86,010 citizens are already infected with the virus and 5,797 have died. We want to take this opportunity to salute the departure from the Haitian community of Boston of many compatriots, all professional and social categories combined, killed by the Covid-19. We also take this opportunity to present our sympathies to the other affected communities and friends. The Consulate General of Haiti in Boston would like to thank all the hospital staff for their work, their dedication and especially the Haitian health staff. I have been following for many months, with great emotion, the hard and exemplary work carried out by these heroes. They are on the front line in a particular fight which requires a lot of courage, determination and above all solidarity. They risk their lives every day to save the lives of others, that is to say, that of our children, our parents, our friends, our colleagues, etc... However, given the special nature of today's event, I would like to ask a simple question for your consideration : What does it mean for us to celebrate the anniversary of the creation of the national flag on May 18, 2020 ? To answer this question, I invite you to revisit the literature produced on the symbolism of the Haitian flag in order to draw from it, to repeat Francois Rabelais, "the substantial marrow" (la substantifique moelle). The symbol is defined as a relation of meaning, most often conventional between a signified (the object or the idea to be represented) and a signifier (the form taken by the representative). From this definition, I offer a three-dimensional reading of the Haitian flag as a symbol of the Nation. Our two-tone is a symbol of unity. "Unity is strength" is our motto. The Founding Fathers of the Haitian Nation understood that the path to freedom was through understanding and combining their forces. Despite their diverging interests, they have banded under one banner to fight the common enemy. Their strategy worked and paid off. Today more than ever, with this pandemic, the national flag can and must be a rallying signal. From the countryside to the city, from the province to the capital, in the diaspora, in any place and at any time, Haitians are called to stand together to break Haiti out of the impasse. Symbol of unity, our flag can be a powerful catalyst for national reconstruction, for which we are working tirelessly. Our two-tone is a symbol of identity. The flag is the affirmation of our collective identity with all that it entails of natural, human, intellectual, cultural, historical, etc. values. It is also an instrument of differentiation in that it helps the recognition of Haiti in international bodies. When the bicolor floats at the United Nations, for example, Haiti is recognized by its colors and sits like all the other countries at the concert of free and independent nations. In no case can we allow him to be trampled on, soiled, or vilified. Symbol of identity, our flag is and should always be a source of pride for us. Our bicolor is a symbol of hope. Gathered around the flag, the indigenous chiefs were able to mobilize and convince the mass of slaves of the need to fight to change their living conditions. In the end, they took the victory thanks to a foolproof determination. In this regard, the Haitian people in celebrating the deeds of the past must hope against all hope. Change in our country will not come without our involvement. We can change our country, we have to change it. Let's stop being spectators on the lookout for what's not working. Let us rather be actors, ambassadors who convey a positive image of our country. Symbol of hope, our flag invites us to create a new generation of winners and builders of society. The time has come for us, sons and daughters of Haiti, to become aware of this reality and to put our hands in the work for a better Haiti. Long live the Haitian community in Boston! Long live the Haitian flag! Long live Haiti!" HL/ HaitiLibre Lesotho's embattled Prime Minister Thomas Thabane announced his resignation on Monday, ending months of political uncertainty gripping the kingdom since he was accused of participating in his ex-wife's murder. Thabane's political rivals have piled pressure on the prime minister to step down early over allegations that he had a hand in the brutal 2017 shooting of Lipolelo Thabane, whom he was divorcing. His coalition was disbanded in parliament last week and he had been expected to resign by May 22, when a new government is due to be installed. "I decided to personally come and inform you that I am stepping down as prime minister of Lesotho," Thabane told supporters in his Abia home constituency on the outskirts of the capital Maseru. The 80-year-old did not state when he would formally quit but government spokesman Nthakeng Selinyane said the premier would officially "announce his resignation" in an address to the nation on Tuesday. "It is rather difficult to part ways with something that you had been accustomed to and leave people behind, but we all have to leave at some point," Thabane added. For the time being, he will remain leader of his ruling All Basotho Convention (ABC), he said. Thabane, whose term is due to end in 2022, had in January set himself a target of leaving office by July 31 because of his advanced age. But Lesotho has been plagued by political instability since the start of this year, when police said they found Thabane's mobile number in communications records from the scene of his estranged wife's murder. Political instability The alleged evidence prompted rivals within and outside Thabane's party to demand his immediate resignation. Lipolelo Thabane, 58, was shot and killed outside her home two days before her husband's inauguration in July. The murder sent shock waves through Lesotho -- a tiny landlocked nation of 2.2 million with a history of political turmoil. Thabane has denied involvement in the killing. His current wife Maesaiah Thabane, 43, whom he married two months after Lipolelo's death, is considered a co-conspirator in the murder case. She has already been charged with murder and is out on bail. Thabane's government collapsed after his coalition partners pulled out over his repeated refusal to leave office earlier than stated. The ABC and main opposition Democratic Congress party have nominated Finance Minister Moeketsi Majoro as Thabane's successor. Lesotho's supreme traditional leader King Letsie III was advised by his council on Monday to appoint Majoro as prime minister, his senior private secretary Monehela Posholi said in a statement. "Majoro will be sworn in as his successor tomorrow at 10 am (0800 GMT)," said ABC spokesman Montoeli Masoetsa. The ABC's national executive committee is expected to hold a special conference in July to elect a new party leader. While no premier has served out a full five-year term in Lesotho over the past decade, the octogenarian Thabane boasted in an interview with AFP last week that he has set an example to fellow African leaders who have a propensity to cling to power. "I'm trying to set a precedent that leaders in Africa must volunteer to leave when they think it's time to leave or at the very worst they must leave when their term ends." Local authorities must not force citizens to sign refusals to receive State aid, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc stressed at Fridays Government meeting on COVID-19. Da Nang residents receive relief payments on Wednesday. If detected, these cases will be strictly handled as fraud, he added. According to the PM, in nearly 30 days without community transmission, Vietnam has moved towards the double goals of fighting the pandemic and accelerating business to avoid economic interruptions. The US$2.6 billion relief package has been adopted to help the most vulnerable to COVID-19 and its impacts. Many affected people eligible for the relief payments, however, have refused to receive their shares, saying they want to save it for others in need. These acts of kindness are applauded. However, Phuc said it is prohibited for local authorities to ask people to give up on their allowances. The national switchboard at 111 has recently received reports from different localities saying authorities encourage people to not receive their relief payments. People of Hanois outlying district Ung Hoa, for example, said the local authorities prepared request forms refusing to get allowances for them to sign. Several near-poor households in Quang Xuong District, Thanh Hoa Province, reported that after receiving the payments, heads of their communes encouraged them to send it back as the Government is in a troubling time. Local residents said request forms were also given by authorities. These are citizens reports to the switchboard which we have not verified. These calls will be forwarded to agencies under Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) as well as the ministrys Inspectorate, Nguyen Cong Hieu, deputy director of MOLISAs Center for Communication Services Consulting told Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper on Thursday. Vietnam will continue good management inside and lockdown from outside. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was tasked to develop roadmaps and criteria to bring back Vietnamese nationals from overseas. At the same time, the PM encouraged Vietnamese citizens abroad to stay in their host countries if possible as the domestic healthcare sector will not be capable of ensuring safety and properly taking care of individuals in case they flock home. Although Vietnam has gone nearly a month without community transmission, the country has to remain vigilant, Phuc said. Preventing imported cases is the key task. The granting of tourist visas continues to be halted. Only investors, experts and official visitors at embassies are eligible for visa issuance and will be quarantined upon arrival in Vietnam. The healthcare sector and related State agencies were urged to accelerate IT applications in preventing and controlling the disease as well as maintaining rapid response forces to promptly contain outbreaks. Vietnam needs to boost the manufacturing sector, import/export and domestic tourism following a relaxation in restrictions. The country is preparing to receive foreign tourists, firstly those from countries which have performed well in the fight against the pandemic. Medical supplies including surgical masks, test kits and other equipment will be prioritised for export, said the PM. Vietnam also commits to improving international cooperation and sharing experiences in containing COVID-19. As there has not been a safe and effective vaccine, Vietnam needs to develop a new, long-term strategy which is both effective in terms of public health and sustainable for the economy. Phuc also asked law enforcement forces to stay alert to hinder community transmission and cross transmission in centralised quarantine camps. As of Friday morning, Vietnam confirmed 312 infections with 24 latest cases returning from Russia on Wednesday. 260 patients were given the all-clear. A British pilot Vietnams 91st COVID-19 patient is in critical condition, suffering 90 per cent damage to his lungs with a transplant prescribed. As of Friday morning, up to 50 Vietnamese people have volunteered to donate part of their lungs to save the patient. VNS What the building could look like amid the current plans A major apartment development at the former El Divino nightclub has been given the green light after initially being recommended for refusal. The Benmore Group has submitted its planning application to build 154 apartments along the River Lagan at the former El Divino venue close to the Hilton Hotel and Waterfront Hall. El Divino was put on the market at the end of 2015. The three-floor venue was a favourite haunt for celebrities over its six-year lifespan before it closed in 2017. The 25m Laganbank scheme will feature a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments on the edge of the city centre. Benmore is also involved the 100m Kings Hall Health and Wellbeing Park, the first phase of which was approved last December. The developer has claimed it will boost the Northern Ireland economy by 47m annually and support 640 full-time equivalent jobs. Benmore says that if approved, the Laganbank scheme will generate 140 jobs during its 16-month construction phase. The council says it has resolved to grant planning permission for 154 residential units and a ground floor retail unit on the site of the former El Divino Nightclub, carpark and adjacent open space at Mays Meadow. Permission has also been given for the construction of 16 social housing units on lands south-west of 22 Old Park Terrace; as well as a five storey office development for science and IT based business, associated car parking and public realm works on land adjacent to Concourse Buildings, Queens Road. Councillor Arder Carson, chairman of Belfast City Councils planning committee, said: Im very pleased with the way in which our planning service has adapted to the challenges of continuing to function under lockdown. Our teams rigorous and professional approach means that we can continue to contribute to the ambitious goals set out in the Belfast Agenda helping to build a more inclusive, successful, prosperous city, where our peoples quality of life is of the greatest importance. A severe storm has battered parts of Victoria, with rain, hail, and wind gusts blowing roofs off houses, smashing windows and leaving some homes uninhabitable and one woman injured. More than 100 homes in Waurn Ponds and Mount Duneed in Geelong were significantly damaged, with four homes left uninhabitable. Storm damage to houses at Ironbark Street in Waurn Ponds. Credit:Joe Armao At least 30 houses on one street Ironbark Street in Waurn Ponds were damaged when the storm hit just after 1am on Wednesday. "One resident there was injured and had to be taken to hospital after glass was blown in from a window," said Cain Trist, the State Emergency Service's assistant chief officer for the south-west region. Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Tuesday accused the Centre of doing politics over the issue of migrant labourers and derided it for not coming up with a concrete policy to help the workers, even after weeks of the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Pilot, who is also the Rajasthan Congress chief, said the party along with the state government has sent back hundreds of labourers to their homes and will provide financial help and food to those stranded in different parts of the country away from their homes. "The central government should work together (with the states) to wipe the tears of migrant labourers. It should ensure that the labourers reach their homes. They are disappointed, unemployed and running short on food," the deputy chief minister said. "Labourers are getting exhausted. So many weeks have passed, but no concrete policy has been formulated by the central government so far. In Rajasthan, the state government and the party together have sent back hundreds of labourers to their homes and lakhs of migrants want to come back to Rajasthan," Pilot told reporters after visiting a camp of migrant labourers at Kamla Devi Budhia School, Hirapur here. Accompanied by Transport Minister Pratap Singh, he interacted with the migrants at the camp. The deputy chief minister also distributed food items among the migrants and instructed officials to ensure that they reach their native places safely in buses. Criticising the Centre's economic stimulus package of Rs 20 lakh crore, Pilot asked how much money will go into the hands of the migrant workers. "Workers want to go to their villages. How much money has the government earmarked for them? It is just like a loan fair, take a loan and keep repaying later. This is a dual policy," he said. On Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman describing senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's interaction with a group of migrant labourers in Delhi as "dramebaazi", Pilot said the remark was condemnable. He said, "Sharing someone's grief, helping someone, arranging buses for them... when did it become a show-off?" "We should be united in this time of crisis but the central government and their leaders are doing politics over these workers by making uncalled for statements," he said. The Congress party arranged buses to ferry home labourers but the Uttar Pradesh government did not give permission. When party leader Priyanka Gandhi gave a public statement, the government asked the party to send the buses to Lucknow, Pilot claimed. "This is condemnable. Instead of coming together to help the needy in this time of crisis, they are dilly-dallying," he said. Pilot said no one could have imagined that the workers of the country would have to bear such a huge burden of the struggle against the coronavirus pandemic. He, however, acknowledged that the spread of coronavirus in villages as migrant workers return home will be challenging to deal with. "We have to stop the infection in containment and red zones. We have developed strict protocol at state, district and panchayat levels. Every public representative and officer is engaged so that the infection does not spread in the villages," he said. Pilot, who is also the rural development and panchayati raj minister, said the migrants returning to Rajasthan will be provided jobs under rural employment generation scheme MGNREGS. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Senate has suspended its legislative activities for two weeks to allow the lawmakers celebrate Eid-il-fitr with their families. The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, made the announcement at the close of plenary on Tuesday. Because the lawmakers hold plenary sessions only on Tuesdays and next Tuesday might be declared public holiday, the Senate will now resume on June 2. This will be the last plenary session before Sallah. It is the tradition of the National Assembly to allow members celebrate the end of Ramadan, the Sallah with their families. The senate will adjourn till 2nd of June, he said. He however, noted that the lawmakers would reconvene to consider the reviewed budget as soon as communication is recieved from the president. The lawmaker also assured that the 2020 budget would not be amended and passed until lawmakers obtain copies of the document to enable them study it. The Eid-il-fitr holiday celebrates the conclusion of 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting by Muslims during the Islamic month of Ramadan. In an updated statement released just after Tuesdays hearing, Grubhub said theyd learned that Mohammed was never contracted as a Grubhub driver and had fraudulently used another drivers account. To be clear, Mohammed has never had a contract with Grubhub, and we terminated the contract of the driver whose account he was using fraudulently, a spokeswoman stated. The ride-share company previously stated Mohammed had cleared all of its background checks and had no prior reports of misconduct. The design phase has begun for the 2021 rehabilitation of the Easton-Phillipsburg free bridge, the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission announced Tuesday. The bridge has been rehabilitated and repaired multiple times, most notably after the historic 1955 flood from Hurricane Diane that destroyed the bridges center span. The bridges last repair project was $5.1 million in work in 2001, and focused on structural steel components, removing lead paint and repainting, replacing the sidewalk decking, and installing new pedestrian railings. This new project is expected to address a host of issues, including repairing steel eye-bars at the bridges center which were reconstructed after the 1955 river flood; strengthening the steel floor beams below the bridges road deck; replacing the two deteriorating fiberglass walkways; repairing deteriorating masonry at the bridges abutments and wingwalls; and new lights and new paint. The plan is to keep the iconic green color -- the commissions color is referred to as bridge green or antique bronze, Commission Spokesman Joe Donnelly said. Bridge inspections start this week by GPI/Greenman Pederson Inc., of Lebanon, N.J., which was awarded a $1.4 million contract to check the structural deficiencies that are expected to need attention. The inspections should not effect vehicle traffic, but one of the pedestrian walkways may be closed during the work. Design engineers will create action plans for the issues, with plans to limit impacts to drivers and pedestrians, the commission said in a news release. Donnelly said there are no plans for full bridge closures during the project. There could be lane closures, but that wont be determined with certainty until farther down the road with design process, he said. The design work for the second oldest vehicular bridge between Pennsylvania and New Jersey is expected to last the rest of the year, with the project then going out to bid, and the construction contract awarded early next year. Construction could run into late 2021 or early 2022, the commission said. The improvements come as the bridge will celebrate 100 years of being a free publicly-owned crossing for area walkers and drivers. A wooden covered bridge moved traffic for 89 years over the Delaware River, before it was replaced with the steel bridge designed by James Madison Porter III, a prominent engineer who led the civil engineering department at Lafayette College. The steel bridge opened to traffic in early 1896. The bridge was a private toll span from 1806 to 1921. The DRJTBCs predecessor -- known as the Joint Commission for Elimination of Toll Bridges Pennsylvania-New Jersey -- helped the two states jointly purchase the bridge from the former Easton Delaware Bridge Co. for $300,000 on Aug. 3, 1921. Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust. Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Deputy Minister for Information, Pius Enam Hadzide has admonished Ghanaians not to doubt the COVID-19 recovery numbers from the Ghana Health Service (GHS). He made the call at Tuesdays press briefing in Accra on why the country has seen an increase in the number of COVID-19 recoveries. According to Mr. Hadzide, we are concerned that insinuations that casts doubt on the veracity of recoveries declared by the Ghana Health Service and now a suggestion for strict proof of their recoveries can worsen the already dire problem of stigmatization of persons who have recovered." We admonish fellow countrymen and women to gladly welcome our compatriots who were once infected and tested positive but have gone through the process of receiving care and have now consecutively tested negative back into our various communities as fully recovered persons who pose no threat to us, he added. Recovery figures from the GHS indicate that 1,754 persons who initially contracted the virus in the country have tested negative. This the Deputy Minister for Information pointed out that you would recall that officials of the Ghana Health Service and the Hon Minister for Information have repeated time without number at our press briefings that the Ghana protocol for declaring COVID-19 infected persons as recovered involves obtaining two straight negative results and that many persons who had been infected were awaiting their second tests and once those tests results came back negative, those persons would be declared recovered. It had abundantly been made clear that recovery was a process and not an event and does not occur overnight. Ghanas case count for the COVID-19 now stands at 5,918 with 31 deaths. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Rodham By Curtis Sittenfeld Random House. 432 pp. $28 --- In these Dark Ages of the Reign of Trump, Curtis Sittenfeld's "Rodham" descends like an avenging angel. Here, in the pages of this alternate history about Hillary Rodham Clinton, is the story not of "What Happened" but of "What Could Have Happened." This isn't just fiction as fantasy; it's fiction as therapy for that majority of Americans who voted for Clinton in 2016 and are now sick and unemployed under the current calamitous administration. It takes a village to create a demon, and that tireless work has produced the extraordinary boogeywoman that is Clinton, the conniving, corrupt, murderous, senile, pedophiliac, money-grubbing, cookie-hating, email-abusing harridan who terrifies Fox News commentators. Indeed, as the subject of thousands of wing nut conspiracies, Clinton may already be the most fictionalized person in modern political history. But "Rodham" is something of a rarity in American publishing. The market has long featured highly partisan nonfiction books created exclusively for liberals or conservatives. Trump disciples and detractors can spend their whole lives cuddled up with memoirs, biographies, exposes and rants that confirm their polarized convictions. "Rodham," though, is a high-profile novel - not a parody or a joke book, but a serious work of literary fiction - designed to rally the political spirits of liberal readers. More than a decade ago, Sittenfeld published "American Wife," a thoughtful, slightly melancholy novel inspired by the life of Laura Bush. "Rodham" is a related project but with a dramatic twist of fate built into its premise. It's told in Hillary's own voice, which adds to the uncanny quality of this real/not-real story. This is a voice we recognize, the voice of countless hours of TV interviews and debates, the voice of several best-selling memoirs, the confident, carefully modulated voice of a woman who has been telling her story for decades. Indeed, the first third of "Rodham" feels comfortably familiar. There's bright young Hillary speaking at her Wellesley graduation in 1969, already burdened by the discontinuity between "how I seemed to others and who I really was." Looking back over half a century, she realizes that the intertwined conditions of her life were set early: "my competence, my loneliness." When she meets Bill Clinton at Yale Law School in 1970, he's already a famous flirt - so brilliant and charming. Sittenfeld re-creates the Arkansas Lothario in all his rapacious appetites for attention, for women, for french fries. Long disappointed in the dating game, Hillary can't believe such a handsome man would notice her. She's been self-conscious about her appearance since middle school, when a frank classmate pointed out, "You're more like a boy than a girl." When Bill smiles at her, she confesses, "There was a ripple, a kind of swooning." These early chapters follow the general outlines of Hillary's life, and sometimes it's hard to remember we're reading fiction, not autobiography. But that becomes easier to remember when Hillary describes having sex with Bill: "We knew each other's animal selves," she says, permanently damaging my attitude about animals. Of course, we already know way too much about Bill's sexual technique, but there are intimate details here that Ken Starr could only dream of. Although I can't quote much in a family newspaper, suffice it to say that Hillary experiences "an almost intolerable ecstasy." Multiple times. Even in Bill's car. These erotic trysts might seem over the top, but they're all part of the novel's corrective impulse, its determination to rebalance the way men and women exist in our political imagination. After all, if Bill can carry on and Donald Trump can grab women, why can't a female politician have a healthy sex life? It's no coincidence that the novel's inflection from history to alt-history is eventually sparked by sex - specifically Bill's "compulsive infidelity." Still in her 20s, Hillary decides she's had enough. She drives away from the most serious relationship she's ever had. From that point on, we're in uncharted territory: Sittenfeld's thought experiment about a smart, single woman dedicated to public service. Yes, this is an implicitly polemical novel. It's devoted to exonerating a politician who has been maligned for decades. But that motive doesn't crimp the book's energy or its suspense because there are other larger themes at work besides Hillary's basic goodness. While telling a compelling story, "Rodham" provides an insightful analysis of the function of sexism in our political discourse. The American history that Sittenfeld presents loops back through well-known events in Hillary's career, but they're reconceived outside the realm of her marriage to Bill. That alters some equations, but not others. She's still a resolute woman dogged by loneliness, contending with systemic condescension and suspicion. Everything about the way she's regarded, addressed, photographed, reported on and tweeted about is determined by the fact that she's a woman. In addition to the exhausting attention to her physical appearance, there are the contradictory demands of being commanding but matronly, authoritative but submissive, cheery but never witty, knowledgeable but not intimidating - all under the constant surveillance of journalists, pundits, comedians and fanatics frantic to create stories that fulfill their misogynistic fantasies. It's a maddening, inescapable trap that Hillary sums up near the end of the novel in a rare, full-throated fit of outrage that will make any ambitious woman stand up and cheer. But Sittenfeld is at her wittiest when re-creating the men who dominate modern American politics. Even though Hillary never marries Bill in "Rodham," he remains a massive star in the political heavens, influencing the orbits of everything around him. He's the supremely manipulative country bumpkin grinning his victims into submission. And as an extra bonus, "Rodham'' captures Trump better than any other novel has so far. Sittenfeld showcases the real estate developer in all his bombastic narcissism and self-delusion. It's an astounding, slaying parody, while also, mercifully, offering us a future that avoids today's ever-expanding disaster. The novel's exculpatory impulse exacts a cost, though. As a study of sexism and American politics, "Rodham" is rich. But as a character study, it knows everything. That leaves little distance between the narrator and her words in which we can sense the mysteries of an actual mind. In that sense, "Rodham" mimics Hillary's own careful presentation of herself. Perhaps what I'm tempted to call a flaw is merely another element of the novel's verisimilitude. In a moment of introspection, Hillary looks back and wonders what might have been. "Was there a version of me that existed in a parallel universe?" she wonders. "If I'd married Bill, would I now be Hillary Clinton? Hillary Rodham-Clinton?" Alas, yes. Executives at Peter Nygards fashion company ordered employees to delete computer files on the same day that FBI agents investigating sex trafficking raided the moguls offices, attorneys for alleged victims wrote in a new letter. The evidence destruction spree occurred at Nygards offices in Winnipeg and the Bahamas, attorney Greg Gutzler said, relaying tips he received from former employees with direct knowledge. The deletion of evidence occurred on Feb. 25 the same day the feds raided Nygards Times Square and California offices, Gutzler wrote. We learned that Mr. Nygards employees and/or affiliates in the Bahamas and Winnipeg have been instructed to spoliate evidence by wiping or otherwise destroying their hard disk drives or other computer storage devices, and that that data destruction is proceeding as we write this letter, Gutzler wrote in a letter dated Feb. 26 and made public Monday. Nygard executives ordered employees to destroy computer files and clean up records. The feds launched the raid weeks after Nygard, 76, was slapped with a lawsuit filed by 10 women claiming he abused them at drug-fueled pamper parties at his Bahamas mansion. The Canadian clothing king, who resigned from his namesake company, now faces abuse claims from 46 women. Some of the women say they were underage. Gutzler wrote that he would ask a judge to impose sanctions on Nygard for abusing the legal process by destroying evidence. Company employees maintained a database maintained for Nygard on more than 7,500 women and girls dating back to 1987, the lawsuit charges. A Nygard spokesman did not immediately respond to an email. The fashion mogul has denied wrongdoing and said the allegations are the result of a long-running, bizarre spat with his neighbour in the Bahamas, hedge fund titan Louis Bacon. Health Brain metastases & Fluorescence 19.05.2020 15:46:46 - Does fluorescent marking facilitate the surgical removal of tumors? Physicians from Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences in Krems (KL Krems, Austria) present results of the world's most extensive study headed by the MedUni Vienna investigating the value of 5-aminolevulinic acid in surgery of brain metastases. (live-PR.com) - Krems (Austria), May 19th, 2020 Two-thirds of brain metastases give off fluorescence following administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid, which could potentially assist surgeons in identifying such tumors. However, fluorescence patterns are often heterogeneous or vague, which limits their practical benefits. These were the key findings of a major study performed by Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences in Krems (KL - Krems (Austria), May 19th, 2020 Two-thirds of brain metastases give off fluorescence following administration of 5-aminolevulinic acid, which could potentially assist surgeons in identifying such tumors. However, fluorescence patterns are often heterogeneous or vague, which limits their practical benefits. These were the key findings of a major study performed by Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences in Krems (KL Krems) and headed by the Medical University of Vienna, published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. The study looked at 150 patients, making this the worlds most comprehensive research project of its kind to date. It has also delivered significant results, which will form a valuable basis for developing this potentially useful technique. Brain metastases are the most common type of tumor that affects the brain, occurring in 20-40 percent of all systemic cancers. They are often removed surgically, which is an important treatment option aside from radiotherapy, gamma knife radiosurgery or chemotherapy. In most cases, they can be effectively removed, as metastases can often be clearly distinguished from the surrounding tissue. However, recent research found that residual tumors remain after around 20 percent of surgical resections. Performing an operation after administering 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) could enable surgeons to pinpoint these hard-to-visualize parts of tumors during surgery. Particularly in tumor cells, 5-ALA creates easily recognizable fluorescence, which in turn simplifies identification of residual tumors. This already is an established method of treating primary brain tumors, but so far there has been no systematic investigation of its use in connection with brain metastases. This was what the team from KL Krems and MedUni Vienna set out to achieve in the largest study of its kind to be performed anywhere in the world and their findings were sobering. Marking metastases We demonstrated visible fluorescence in two-thirds of all metastases following preoperative administration of 5-ALA, explained Dr. Franz Marhold (Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital St. Polten, KL Krems ), lead author of the study, which was published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. But this fluorescence was often vague and heterogeneously distributed, which unfortunately means its practical applicability is limited. The researchers examined a total of 157 brain metastases in 154 patients. 5-ALA fluorescence was identified in 104 metastases, and 53 demonstrated no fluorescence. However, in over 80 percent of cases, fluorescence was so heterogeneous that it provided little support to the surgeons performing the resection. A key feature of this wide-ranging study was the correlation between the fluorescence characteristics status (i.e. visible or not), quality (i.e. intensity) and homogeneity and the primary tumor type. According to Prof. Georg Widhalm of the Department of Neurosurgery at MedUni Vienna, who was the head of the study: We mainly examined brain metastases in patients with lung, breast, colorectal and renal cell cancer, and melanoma. Our evaluation showed that visible fluorescence was observed most frequently in certain kinds of breast tumors, and least often in melanoma cases. The heterogeneous distribution and low intensity of fluorescence in the tumor was a feature shared by all forms of cancer. Solid foundations The researchers were unable to find the causes of the often vague fluorescence in brain metastases, but the data and tumor samples collected will pave the way for future research into the possible reasons. The same goes for the heterogeneous fluorescence within individual metastases. We suspect there are differences in the distribution of certain metabolites within a tumor. They react with 5-ALA, leading to heterogeneous levels of fluorescence, Dr. Marhold commented. This is one of the questions that researchers will aim to address in future projects. The work performed by the team headed by Dr. Marhold and Prof. Widhalm demonstrates the strong practical relevance of the neuro-oncological research carried out at KL Krems and MedUni Vienna. The research addresses the needs of day-to-day clinical practice, and makes a significant contribution to discovering, developing, improving and evaluating treatment options. Images available upon request. Original Publication: Detailed analysis of 5-aminolevulinic acid induced fluorescence in different brain metastases at two specialized neurosurgical centers: experience in 157 cases. F. Marhold, P.A. Mercea, F. Scheichel, A.S. Berghoff, P. Heicappell, B. Kiesel, M. Mischkulnig, M. Borkovec, S. Wolfsberger, A. Woehrer, M. Preusser, E. Knosp, K. Ungersboeck, G. Widhalm. J Neurosurg. doi: 10.3171/2019.6.JNS1997. About Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences (KL) is a pioneer for innovation in medical and health sciences education and research, and a catalyst for groundbreaking work which will benefit society at large. Research at KL focuses on niche fields in bridge disciplines such as molecular oncology and hematology, biomedical engineering, psychology and psychodynamics, as well as topics including water quality and related health issues. Study programmes include health sciences, human medicine, psychology, psychotherapy and counselling and have full European recognition. A network of university hospitals in St PoeltenPolten, Krems, and Tulln provides students with quality-assured, research-led education; it. It enables them to do internationally- recognized top-class clinical and translational research that is recognised worldwide. Karl Landsteiner University received accreditation by the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ Austria) in 2013. Scientific Contact Dr. Franz Marhold Department of Neurosurgery University Hospital St. Polten Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences 3100 St. Polten T +43 2742 9004-12961 E franz.marhold@stpoelten.lknoe.at W www.stpoelten.lknoe.at Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences Eva-Maria Gruber Communication, PR & Marketing (Head) Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Strae 30 3500 Krems / Austria T +43 2732 72090 231 M +43 664 5056211 E evamaria.gruber@kl.ac.at Copy Editing & Distribution PR&D Public Relations for Research & Education Dr. Barbara Bauder Mariannengasse 8 1090 Vienna / Austria T +43 1 505 70 44 M +43 664 1576350 E bauder@prd.at W www.prd.at/ Krems) and headed by the Medical University of Vienna, published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. The study looked at 150 patients, making this the worlds most comprehensive research project of its kind to date. It has also delivered significant results, which will form a valuable basis for developing this potentially useful technique.Brain metastases are the most common type of tumor that affects the brain, occurring in 20-40 percent of all systemic cancers. They are often removed surgically, which is an important treatment option aside from radiotherapy, gamma knife radiosurgery or chemotherapy. In most cases, they can be effectively removed, as metastases can often be clearly distinguished from the surrounding tissue. However, recent research found that residual tumors remain after around 20 percent of surgical resections. Performing an operation after administering 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) could enable surgeons to pinpoint these hard-to-visualize parts of tumors during surgery. Particularly in tumor cells, 5-ALA creates easily recognizable fluorescence, which in turn simplifies identification of residual tumors. This already is an established method of treating primary brain tumors, but so far there has been no systematic investigation of its use in connection with brain metastases. This was what the team from KL Krems and MedUni Vienna set out to achieve in the largest study of its kind to be performed anywhere in the world and their findings were sobering.Marking metastasesWe demonstrated visible fluorescence in two-thirds of all metastases following preoperative administration of 5-ALA, explained Dr. Franz Marhold (Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital St. Polten, KL Krems ), lead author of the study, which was published in the Journal of Neurosurgery. But this fluorescence was often vague and heterogeneously distributed, which unfortunately means its practical applicability is limited. The researchers examined a total of 157 brain metastases in 154 patients. 5-ALA fluorescence was identified in 104 metastases, and 53 demonstrated no fluorescence. However, in over 80 percent of cases, fluorescence was so heterogeneous that it provided little support to the surgeons performing the resection.A key feature of this wide-ranging study was the correlation between the fluorescence characteristics status (i.e. visible or not), quality (i.e. intensity) and homogeneity and the primary tumor type. According to Prof. Georg Widhalm of the Department of Neurosurgery at MedUni Vienna, who was the head of the study: We mainly examined brain metastases in patients with lung, breast, colorectal and renal cell cancer, and melanoma. Our evaluation showed that visible fluorescence was observed most frequently in certain kinds of breast tumors, and least often in melanoma cases. The heterogeneous distribution and low intensity of fluorescence in the tumor was a feature shared by all forms of cancer.Solid foundationsThe researchers were unable to find the causes of the often vague fluorescence in brain metastases, but the data and tumor samples collected will pave the way for future research into the possible reasons. The same goes for the heterogeneous fluorescence within individual metastases. We suspect there are differences in the distribution of certain metabolites within a tumor. They react with 5-ALA, leading to heterogeneous levels of fluorescence, Dr. Marhold commented. This is one of the questions that researchers will aim to address in future projects.The work performed by the team headed by Dr. Marhold and Prof. Widhalm demonstrates the strong practical relevance of the neuro-oncological research carried out at KL Krems and MedUni Vienna. The research addresses the needs of day-to-day clinical practice, and makes a significant contribution to discovering, developing, improving and evaluating treatment options.Images available upon request.Original Publication: Detailed analysis of 5-aminolevulinic acid induced fluorescence in different brain metastases at two specialized neurosurgical centers: experience in 157 cases. F. Marhold, P.A. Mercea, F. Scheichel, A.S. Berghoff, P. Heicappell, B. Kiesel, M. Mischkulnig, M. Borkovec, S. Wolfsberger, A. Woehrer, M. Preusser, E. Knosp, K. Ungersboeck, G. Widhalm. J Neurosurg. doi: 10.3171/2019.6.JNS1997.About Karl Landsteiner University of Health SciencesKarl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences (KL) is a pioneer for innovation in medical and health sciences education and research, and a catalyst for groundbreaking work which will benefit society at large. Research at KL focuses on niche fields in bridge disciplines such as molecular oncology and hematology, biomedical engineering, psychology and psychodynamics, as well as topics including water quality and related health issues. Study programmes include health sciences, human medicine, psychology, psychotherapy and counselling and have full European recognition. A network of university hospitals in St PoeltenPolten, Krems, and Tulln provides students with quality-assured, research-led education; it. It enables them to do internationally- recognized top-class clinical and translational research that is recognised worldwide. Karl Landsteiner University received accreditation by the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ Austria) in 2013.Scientific ContactDr. Franz MarholdDepartment of NeurosurgeryUniversity Hospital St. PoltenKarl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences 3100 St. PoltenT +43 2742 9004-12961Karl Landsteiner University of Health SciencesEva-Maria GruberCommunication, PR & Marketing (Head)Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Strae 303500 Krems / AustriaT +43 2732 72090 231M +43 664 5056211Copy Editing & DistributionPR&D Public Relations for Research & EducationDr. Barbara BauderMariannengasse 81090 Vienna / AustriaT +43 1 505 70 44M +43 664 1576350 Contact information: PR&D Public Relations for Research & Education Contact Person: Dr. Till C. Jelitto CEO Phone: 004315057044 eMail: eMail Web: http://www.prd.at Author: Till C. Jelitto e-mail Web: http://www.prd.at Phone: +43 - 1 - 505 70 44 19.05.2020 15:46:46 - 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. Defensive Aussies have slammed British-born actress Miriam Margolyes for comments she made about her adopted country in the upcoming docuseries, Almost Australian. The 79-year-old Harry Potter star incited the wrath of furious Australians when she labelled the country brutal and greedy, after seeing the growing number of developments in Queensland's tourist hotspot Surfers Paradise. Many suggested that Miriam could always go back to the UK in scathing comments on Facebook. Furious: Defensive Aussies have slammed British-born actress Miriam Margolyes for comments she made about her adopted country in the upcoming docuseries, Almost Australian 'Put your claws back in Miriam and be thankful for the surroundings of where you are living. If you are so incensed with Aussies, simply pack your bags and head back to England,' one wrote. 'One simple solution f**k off out of Australia. This country has a lot to offer. Get rid of you and that means some other deserving human might take your place. I sincerely hope you are pressured to leave,' another added. 'Nobody is forcing you to stay here!' one person put it simply, while another added, 'Nobody is perfect Miriam... and no country is perfect either. We all know that.' Speaking out: The 79-year-old Harry Potter star incited the wrath of furious Australians when she labelled the country brutal and greedy, after seeing the growing number of developments in Queensland's tourist hotspot Surfers Paradise 'One simple solution f**k off out of Australia. This country has a lot to offer. Get rid of you and that means some other deserving human might take your place. I sincerely hope you are pressured to leave,' wrote one angry person But some agreed with her comments, arguing she has a right to an opinion and claiming she was only pointing out an inconvenient truth. 'Good on her... I'm ashamed of how Aussies act too... stop selling Australia offshore,' wrote one. 'I have no idea if she's right or wrong, but at least she didn't cave in and give a half-a**ed apology. She has the right to an opinion and she offered one. Good for her,' added another. 'Put your claws back in Miriam and be thankful for the surroundings of where you are living,' one wrote. Pictured in the Harry Potter franchise with (L-R) Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe 'Nobody is forcing you to stay here!' one person put it simply, while another added, 'Nobody is perfect Miriam... and no country is perfect either. We all know that' Miriam, who became a naturalised citizen seven years ago, travelled from coast to coast for her series Almost Australian, but the process left her feeling disenchanted with her adopted home country. She recently made headlines for saying she was horrified by the 'brutality' and 'greed' of modern Australia - and has since declared in an interview with The New Daily that she won't be making any apologies for her remarks. She said her longtime partner, Heather Sutherland, a retired Australian professor of Indonesian studies, had warned her that 'Australians do not like criticism'. Backlash: Proud Aussies left scathing comments for the veteran actress on Facebook, with many telling her she could always leave Speaking the truth: Some agreed with her comments, arguing she has a right to an opinion and claiming she was only pointing out an inconvenient truth 'And they don't, so I knew that I was doing something quite risky by, you know, having an opinion,' she said. 'Because I think Australians are a bit tired of Brits mouthing off about Australia, and I don't blame them.' But despite this, she decided to throw caution to the wind and say what she really thought about Australia - regardless of the consequences. 'I hope people will not be too annoyed about the things I have to say, but in the end, to be honest, f**k 'em if they are. That's tough. I'm telling it like I see it,' she said. Exploring the Outback: Miriam, who became a naturalised citizen seven years ago, travelled from coast to coast for her series Almost Australian, but the process left her feeling disenchanted with her adopted home country. Pictured in the Harry Potter franchise Miriam, who is best known for playing Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series, also sparked outrage by saying Australia was 'harsher' than she had first thought when she arrived in the 1980s. 'We think we know what [Australia is] like, but we don't. It's quite complicated. It's layered. Lots of things happen. I do think I was right that it's harsher than it was. Maybe that's true in the world,' she told TV Tonight. 'There's a harshness about it, which I didn't expect.' 'Horrible': She said the most confronting part of the documentary was having to visit Surfers Paradise, a highly developed stretch of coastline on Queensland's Gold Coast popular with holidaymakers She said the most confronting part of the documentary was having to visit Surfers Paradise, a highly developed stretch of coastline on Queensland's Gold Coast popular with holidaymakers. 'There is a brutality there and a greed in Australia, which I don't like,' she said. 'You know, the developers. Those horrible structures along the coast, that people should be ashamed of living in. Surfers Paradise, it's disgusting. I think that actually shocked me because I don't go there. It's not my world and I don't want to go there.' A family returning from South Africa has mounted a legal challenge over their quarantine arrangements, arguing that Hong Kongs leader does not have the power to make the regulation that sent them to a government-run camp amid the coronavirus pandemic. The application for judicial review came from Leslie Grant Horsfield, founder of the sustainable hospitality company Naked Group, and his wife, Delphine Yip Hoi-yan, along with their three children, aged between 22 months and 9 years old, and domestic helper Wyndalyn Lamud de Jesus. Court filings made available on Tuesday showed they had expected to isolate in their Aberdeen house but were instead sent to Junior Police Call Permanent Activity Centre and Integrated Youth Training Camp in Pat Heung upon arrival on May 14, when they tested negative for Covid-19. Hong Kong has adopted a blanket policy for all arrivals from a number of countries including South Africa, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal to be automatically placed in government-run quarantine for 14 days. The detention was authorised under the Compulsory Quarantine of Persons Arriving at Hong Kong from Foreign Places Regulation, adopted by the citys chief executive under section 8 of the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance. But counsel Timothy Parker and solicitor Mark Daly, for the applicants, argued that they must be allowed to isolate at home because their detention in camp was unlawful when the chief executive had no power to make the regulation in the first place. They argued that the language in section 8 was not intended to convey a power to restrict residents right to liberty, unlike the repealed Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ordinance that expressly provided the chief executive with such powers. That power was repealed, and quite deliberately shifted to [the secretary for food and health] under the replacement ordinance, they said, referring to section 7. Story continues Solicitor Mark Daly says the family should be allowed to stay at home over the quarantine period. Photo: Handout They also called the detention arbitrary as they argued there was no proper basis for concluding that all entrants from South Africa posed a higher risk than other arrivals such as from the United States and United Kingdom who could quarantine at home. Being detained in the camp is a far greater inference with their liberty rights than being confined to their own home, Parker wrote in the application filed to the High Court. The burden rests on the government to demonstrate that their detention at the camp is not arbitrary or unlawful. The High Court is expected to reach a decision on Wednesday at the earliest. The case came a week after Syed Agha Raza Shahs unsuccessful application for a writ of habeas corpus, challenging his detention at Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan. Shah had similarly questioned why Pakistanis were automatically sent to government-run quarantine centres, but did not challenge the legality of his detention, unlike in the present case. The latest application also revealed complaints of extremely poor and unsanitary conditions in camp that allegedly rendered the premises not safe or habitable, especially for young children. In an email to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor enclosed in the filing, Yip described herself as an upstanding Harvard-graduated Hong Kong resident writing from behind bars, literally. While we did not have high expectations of the facilities, we were absolutely flabbergasted and shocked at the living conditions of the accommodation that was offered to our family, she wrote on May 15. Please consider my plea from the perspective of a parent and a spouse. The family was sent for quarantine at the Junior Police Call Permanent Activity Centre and Integrated Youth Training Centre in Pat Heung, pictured amid heightened security for President Xi Jinpings visit in 2017. Photo: Xiaomei Chen Yip said they were provided with totally inedible food and the unit was absolutely dirty and filthy, with dust, mould and ants everywhere, and a dead cockroach on one bed. She said the conditions threatened her childrens health and raised her husbands blood pressure. They were also extremely alarmed by the news that close contacts of the infected had moved in next door. This experience has been extremely traumatic and stressful to all of us, Yip continued. We are not asking the HK government for special treatment or exception, but for us to be treated fairly based on science and medical facts. In a reply quoted by the applicants, the government said the Centre for Health Protection considered a recent upsurge in the number of infections in South Africa, its surveillance and testing capability as well as the duration of the returnees stay in the country. From the public health perspective, it would be more prudent to keep the returnees in the quarantine centre to carefully monitor their health conditions, Dr Shu Bo-yee wrote. Shu also said the arrangement would allow returnees to receive better support if they developed symptoms. Hong Kong has 1,055 confirmed infections, including four imported cases from South Africa, as of Tuesday night. Help us understand what you are interested in so that we can improve SCMP and provide a better experience for you. We would like to invite you to take this five-minute survey on how you engage with SCMP and the news. More from South China Morning Post: This article Coronavirus: Hong Kong family quarantined on return from South Africa accuses Carrie Lam of exceeding confinement powers first appeared on South China Morning Post For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2020. Hong Kong government broadcaster RTHK on Tuesday axed a top satirical show that poked fun at police denials of violence against pro-democracy protesters, and apologized, saying some archived episodes will also be removed. RTHK issued an announcement apologizing "to anyone offended by the station's output in recent months," and announcing the suspension of the popular Chinese-language satirical show "Headliner." The move came shortly after the government's Communications Authority issued a warning to RTHK for "denigrating and insulting" the police in a February episode of the show. "The situation is very serious given that RTHK, as a public service broadcaster, has been repeatedly ruled to have breached the various provisions in the [Television Programme] Code, including failure to ensure the accuracy of the factual contents in the programme; remarks and content regarded as hate speech, denigrating and insulting the police; and failure to include a sufficiently broad range of views in the personal view programme," the media regulator said in a statement posted to the government's website on Tuesday. The authority then demanded a full review of RTHK's programme production and editorial processes and called for any staff found to have committed "negligence or errors" to be disciplined. Production of "Headliner," which has been aired since 1989, and which also included satire targeting British colonial-era officials and politicians, will be suspended when the current season comes to an end, it said. A spokeswoman said RTHK accepts Tuesday's ruling by the Communications Authority and will "seriously follow up" on its findings. She said RTHK "would like to apologise to any police officers or others who have been offended, or who are dissatisfied with the station's output." An international outcry Hong Kong's police force have sparked an international outcry among medics, human rights watchdogs, overseas lawmakers, and governments over their handling of the anti-extradition movement, which expanded into a full-blown civil disobedience campaign for fully democratic elections and an inquiry into police violence. Rights groups say the use of "non-lethal" weapons on protesters, the majority of whom have been peaceful, have far exceeded international norms. Meanwhile, police have repeatedly said that any reports of violence by frontline officers; of missing, sexually abused, or otherwise mistreated protesters; and fears that people may have died in Prince Edward MTR station during a violent attack by riot police, are fake news, "spread by a small minority of people online." And the satirists on "Headliner" who made fun of the police denials in a fateful episode aired in February later became the target of police complaints themselves. TV personality Wong He, who presents the satirical political show "Headliner," said in an interview shortly after the episode aired that the police complaint that the show had misled the audience was unfounded. '"We stuck to the facts; we just presented them in a certain way," Wong told RFA. "If it's now a crime to tell a story based on the facts, then it's not just the people at 'Headliner" who need to worry." Asked why he continues to work in satire in a deteriorating environment for press freedom in Hong Kong, Wong said: "To make those in power who did wrong feel very uncomfortable: to make them stop and think and maybe even mend their ways." "If I just pretended that everything was fine when they did something wrong what would be the point of that?" Other public figures targeted Other public figures aligned with the protest movement have been targeted by pro-China media and public figures with outright smear campaigns, including pro-democracy lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting. "People are making fun of Chinese leaders and the fight against the coronavirus, and yet our government is so uptight that it has to complain?" a Hong Kong resident said in a street interview conducted by RFA. "Why would they care what people say if they didn't do anything wrong?" According to Fu King-wa, a journalism professor at the University of Hong Kong, the city has entered an era of unprecedented mistrust. "There was a time when we would believe anything the government told us," Fu said in an interview linked to the complaints against "Headliner" in February. "But now, public trust in the government and in law enforcement agencies is at an all-time low." And the people on the streets of Hong Kong interviewed before "Headliner" was canceled seem to agree with him. "I don't pay them any heed at all now because I know for sure they're lying," said one young man. "I don't believe a word Carrie Lam says [and] I've stopped watching those briefings." "Nobody in our generation trusts them," a young woman said. "No way!" A third interviewee agreed. "I have no trust left in the government," he said. 'Fake news, random smears' Meanwhile, Hong Kong Police Commissioner Chris Tang has dismissed genuine reports of police violence and questions about missing protesters or possible deaths as "fake news." "There's been a lot of fake news lately in the media, fake news, fake video trying to whip up hatred in society," Tang told a news conference in February. "Some people have been faking up photos to smear the Hong Kong police force and to destroy public trust in the police," he said. "We want to run a clean operation, and we will listen to rational criticism, but we won't put up with random smears," he said. Fu said the attitude is exactly the same among the officials in Lam's administration. "The government dismisses any doubts or concerns about its actions as fake news," he said. "Every time: 'Oh, it's fake news.'" "Police Commissioner Chris Tang just said that all the media reports about police violence were fake, but they were all reasonable and well-founded reports," Fu said. "It was totally wrong to call them fake news." Reported by Gigi Lee and Tam Siu-yin for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. A Queensland man who fled to Sydney after allegedly beating his parents to death will be extradited back to the Sunshine State. Christopher Puglia, 31, is facing two murder charges after he was arrested at Berowra, in northern Sydney, about four hours after his parents' bodies were found on Sunday. A police forensic officer (left) tends to the scene of the suspected double murder of Frank and Loris Puglia in Joyner in Brisbane's north, on Monday. Credit:AAP Police allege he killed Frank and Loris Puglia, both 59, on Saturday evening at their Joyner home, 30 kilometres north of Brisbane. A relative discovered their bodies after going there for a catch-up. In Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday, Magistrate Kevin Hockey granted an extradition request from Queensland detectives, who travelled to Sydney for the hearing. Sravya Annappareddy, a 10-year-old Indian-American girl, has been honoured by President Donald Trump for donating cookies to nurses and firefighters and sending personalised greeting cards to healthcare workers fighting Covid-19 pandemic in the US, the worst affected country in the world. Sravya is a Girl Scouts Troop member and a fourth-grade student at the Hanover Hills Elementary School in Maryland. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on Friday paid tribute to several American heroes who are helping on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis, including Girl Scouts from Maryland who donated cookies to nurses and firefighters. "The men and women we honor today remind us that the bonds that unite us in times of hardship can also raise us to new heights as we reopen and recover and rebuild," The Washington Times quoted the president as saying. Sravya was among three 10-year-old Girl Scouts honoured by Trump for their help. Her parents are from Andhra Pradesh. Girl Scouts Laila Khan, Lauren Matney and Sravya of Troop 744 in Elkridge, Maryland, all 10 years old, donated 100 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to local doctors, nurses and firefighters. They also wrote 200 personalised cards for health care workers, the report said. "While we are honoured that our troop was invited to be here today, we know that we are just part of the millions of other children out there that are doing amazing things to support their communities, their friends and their families. It is a privilege to be here representing all of them," said Khan, who represented the troop. Among the honorees was Amy Ford, a nurse from Williamson, West Virginia, who travelled to Brooklyn, New York, to work in a hospital besieged with COVID-19 patients. "For the past 42 days, she's been working 12-hour shifts in the intensive care units of Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn. Amy has been serving the coronavirus patients around the clock, and she once held the hand of an elderly patient all night long, just so the woman would not feel alone," Trump said. The novel coronavirus which originated in Wuhan in December last year has claimed 315,185 lives and infected over 4.7 million people globally. The US is the worst affected country with 89,562 deaths and over 1.4 million infections, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Even before the Wuhan virus crisis international relations had entered into a phase of new disruptions triggered by Trumps inward looking, anti-globalisation and protectionist policies, erosion of multilateralism, renewed US unilateralism in repudiating the Paris climate change accord, the Iranian nuclear deal, signed trade agreements, and extra-territorial application of US laws through secondary sanctions. Clash of cultures The uncontrollable economic rise of China aided by the US and its allies on false assumptions that more prosperity will bring more democracy to China has been another source of disruption. Instead of behaving as an increasingly responsible stakeholder in the system that enabled its rise and transferred huge financial power to it, China has sought hegemony in Asia and promoted its Belt and Road Initiative to attach countries across the world to it politically through trade and debt dependence. Xi Jinping has disclosed his China Dream to be at the centre stage of international relations by 2049, with his country becoming dominant in high-tech manufacturing by 2025. The US accuses China of cyber espionage and theft of technology and is now determined to derail Chinas 2025 ambitions with its international campaign against Huawei. Chinas expansionist thinking has been accompanied by an open repudiation of western values and democracy, and more authoritarianism and social control at home, with Xi arrogating all power to himself as a reincarnated Mao. China has built a technological surveillance society unprecedented in scope and scale, with a freedom-suppressing social credit system. Xi is now vaunting Chinas political and economic system as superior to western-style democracy for meeting the needs of developing countries. Chinas expansionist thinking has been accompanied by Xi arrogating all power to himself as a reincarnated Mao. (Photo: Reuters) Externally, China, confident of its political and economic leverages and growing military strength, has begun to challenge US power in the western Pacific, violate the Law of the Sea in the South China Sea, and exacerbate territorial disputes with Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia. As the worlds second-largest economy that offers a huge market, it has weaponised economic interdependence that globalisation has fostered by threatening countries that resist it politically with the refusal to buy their products or sanction them in other ways as it has done most recently with Australia, and earlier with Japan, South Korea and Mongolia. Hostile gestures China has relentlessly countered India strategically and undermined its vital interests. It opposes Indias permanent membership of the UN Security Council as well as NSG membership. It shields Pakistan on the issue of terrorism against India. It is pursuing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor in full knowledge of its illegal status. It continues to make aggressive claims on Indian territory. It has shown no inclination to clarify the Line of Actual Control, much less move towards a settlement despite 22 meetings of the Special Representatives. It counters Indias influence in its neighbourhood, most notably in Nepal and Sri Lanka, and earlier in the Maldives. Its bid to inscribe the Kashmir issue on the UN Security Council agenda once again was exceedingly provocative. It has not tried to address seriously Indias unsustainable trade deficit with it. There is virtually nothing that India can put on the positive side of the bilateral ledger of its relations with China. US-China relations, already filled with tension and in the throes of a trade war, have further nosedived after the coronavirus pandemic. Trump is seeking an independent probe into its genesis and accountability for Chinas apparent lapses. The issue has got caught up in US electoral politics. Time to resist WHOs role in handling the would-be pandemic has been legitimately questioned in the light of the pro-Chinese leanings of its Director-General. China has unleashed its wolf-warrior diplomacy to oppose any demand for an independent international probe and the restoration of Taiwan as an observer at the forthcoming meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA). Chinese diplomats are showing their obnoxious face in openly threatening countries that support an international probe and in their sharp exchanges with the US. Chinas efforts to change the Covid-19 narrative in its favour despite its clear culpability and intimidate countries that seek transparency, if only to prevent such pandemics in the future, have to be resisted. If China succeeds in thwarting the US and others in this power tussle, it will further tilt the balance in Chinas favour and will boost its geopolitical ascendancy. China must be put in its place and now is the chance to do it. India should support the demand for an international probe into the origin of this virus in the interest of transparency. India too has suffered gravely. The restoration of Taiwans observer status at the WHA should also be supported. The One-China policy is not inscribed in the UN Charter and is not part of any international agreement. If China wants support for its territorial integrity it must not brazenly violate the territorial integrity of others. India has ceased to endorse the One-China policy in view of Chinas aggressive position against Indias unity. It is a reflection of Chinas unabashed hypocrisy when it seeks support for One China even as it makes territorial claims on others, occupies their land and violates their sovereignty. (Courtesy of Mail Today) Also read: Why China is far from being a 'normal' state Altona Energy Plc - Result of Open Offer - Overview of New Strategy 19 May 2020 ALTONA ENERGY PLC ("Altona" or "the Company") RESULT OF OPEN OFFER And OVERVIEW OF NEW STRATEGIC DIRECTION Altona (AQSE: ANR.PL), a mining exploration company, announces that it has taken the decision to cancel the Open Offer, due to it not raising the minimum amount required to acquire the Petroleum Exploration Licence Application, it was pursuing in South Australia. Therefore, those shareholders who subscribed for shares in the offer, will now be refunded the full amount of their subscription monies in relation to the Open Offer. The board will not seek another coal mining licence in South Australia. Since the start of April, when the board considered that the Open Offer might not receive a sufficiently high enough level of shareholder support, the Company has been in discussions with three companies, all of which are looking to acquire an Aquis Stock Exchange listing via the process of a reverse takeover. The board of Altona is cautiously optimistic that one of these negotiations will culminate in a takeover of the Company's Aquis Stock Exchange listing, thereby potentially changing the direction of the current strategy of the business. In assessing these options the board will consider a number of key factors, for example; time to profitability, shareholder value, suitability of incoming directors, ability to raise capital, dilutive effect of issuing new shares to acquire the business, sustainable 'popularity' of the specific industry. It is hoped that a suitable non-binding heads of terms agreement for this transaction will be reached in the coming weeks. It is expected that a further fund raise will need to be completed in order to cover the costs of the reverse takeover process. However, due to the lack of interest from shareholders in supporting the Company, as shown by the response to the Open Offer, the board is now speaking with potential brokers with the view of raising funds through more traditional channels. All three of the above companies have indicated that they would be able to bring new capital investment into the "NewCo". Failure to enter into a transaction, such as contemplated above, in short order is likely to leave the Company which insufficient funds to continue as a going concern. The Company will keep shareholders apprised of the situation once an outcome has been determined. -ends- For further information, please visit www.altonaenergy.com or contact: Altona Energy plc Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, Interim CEO Philip Sutherland, Non-Executive Director +44 (0) 7795 168 157 +61 (0)402 440 339 Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Ltd (Aquis Corporate Adviser) Jon Isaacs / Nick Michaels +44 (0) 20 3772 0021 Leander (Financial PR) +44 (0) 7795 168 157 Company Information Altona is a mining exploration company focused on the evaluation, development and extraction of minerals. The Company was admitted to trading on AIM on 10 March 2005 and was subsequently admitted to NEX (now Aquis Stock Exchange) on 1 February 2019. A copy of its admission documents dated 4 March 2005 can be accessed on its website, www.altonaenergy.com. This website is where items can be inspected under Rule 75 of the NEX Rules for Issuers, from 1 February 2019. Small business loan recipients, or at least their lawyers, will be glued to their computers today, as both Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Fed Chair Jay Powell testify "in front" of the Senate Banking Committee. On the grill: Expect lots of questions about the Paycheck Protection Program, in terms of application, effectiveness and possible changes. The SBA did finally release forgiveness guidelines on Saturday, a scant 20 days past its legislated deadline. It included some clarification and simplification of the "covered period," which is eight weeks. There has been a growing push to expand the "covered period" to upward of 24 weeks, particularly for businesses that received PPP loans but have not yet reopened. That was a constant refrain yesterday from restaurant owners and CEOs during a White House roundtable whose headlines got hijacked by President Trump's personal medical regimen. Every time Trump pivoted to meal deductibility or payroll tax cuts, the restauranteurs brought it back to the covered period. And, in doing so, indirectly criticized Mnuchin, who was sitting directly to Trump's left. Mnuchin said that he was negotiating a covered period extension, but it would likely be short of 24 weeks. Around $164 billion of PPP2 was spoken for as of Saturday night, with no indication that the replenished pot will be exhausted. Overall, the PPP program has approved over 4.3 million loans totaling around $513 billion, with average loan sizes of $118,000. California's small businesses received the most loans and loan dollars, followed by Texas, New York and Florida. Two lenders have approved more than $25 billion in loans each, although the SBA did not disclose their identities. There still has been no disclosure of individual loan recipients, nor a public commitment by the SBA to do so. Also: Both Mnuchin and Powell will be asked about the bigger company lending programs and why a large amount of the allocated money hasn't been disbursed. It should be interesting to see if issues like affiliation and leverage limits get raised, as both remain top of mind for private equity. The bottom line: The CARES Act was bipartisan, which means both sides of the aisle have a vested interest in its success. Total number of Covid-19 positive cases in Punjab rise to 2,002 Total number of positive cases in Haryana rise to 964 Total number of Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is now at 12,448 395 new Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Gujarat in last 24 hours Within next 2 days Indian Railways will double the number of Shramik Special Trains to 400 per day: Piyush Goyal Total patient count goes to 157 in Assam Indias Covid-19 tally crossed the 100,000-mark on Tuesday as the country entered day two of the fourth phase of lockdown. The ministry of health said that a total of 2,350 Covid-19 patients have been cured in the last 24 hours taking the total number of recoveries to close to 40,000. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) agreed to launch an independent probe into how it managed the international response to the coronavirus, which has been clouded by finger-pointing between the US and China over a pandemic that has killed over 300,000 people. Click here for complete coverage of coronavirus Here are the latest updates on coronavirus pandemic from India and the world: The deadly coronavirus has forced us to adopt new ways of life with wearing masks, maintaining social distancing becoming the new normal. Normal life of people is likely to be redefined in post-coronavirus phase when lockdown is lifted and the masses resume their daily routine. Here's how our lives will change when we go out for work or to eat in restaurant. People wear protective face shields and masks at a bank that is getting ready to reopen amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Bangkok. Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters People practice social distancing inside an elevator prior to arriving to their work places at World Trade Center in Colombo, Sri Lanka, after the government announced that private and state companies will reopen their offices after almost two months of lockdown amidst concerns about the spread of coronavirus. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters Employees observe social distancing during their lunch break at a factory of Renesas Semiconductor Co. in Beijing during a government organised tour of the facility following the outbreak of the coronavirus. Photograph: Thomas Peter/Reuters People stand on signs to respect social distancing on a platform for the tramway in Nice as France begun a gradual end to a nationwide lockdown. Photograph: Eric Gaillard/Reuters A bank teller wearing a protective face mask stands at a counter where a plastic curtain is installed in order to prevent infections at the Higashinakano branch of MUFG Bank in Tokyo, Japan. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters People stand on social-distancing markers at a Mercedes car dealer in Brussels as Belgium began easing lockdown restrictions allowing some businesses to reopen. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters People have dinner as they sit next to stuffed panda dolls, used as part of social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus at the Maison Saigon restaurant that reopened after the easing of restrictions in Bangkok. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters Women are separated by dividers as they have their hair washed after social distancing guidelines to curb the spread of the coronavirus are relaxed, at Bella Rinova in Houston, Texas, US. Photograph: Callaghan O'Hare/Reuters People have lunch at the Penguin Eat Shabu hotpot restaurant in Bangkok. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters An employee, wearing a protective face mask, sits at a table with plastic barriers to maintain social distancing as he works on the automobile assembly line of Renault ZOE cars at the Renault automobile factory in Flins, France as the French carmaker ramps up car production with new security and health measures. Photograph: Massimo Pinca/Reuters Social distancing markings are seen at the NTN-ICSA factory at San Benigno Canavese, Italy that produces metal bearings for cars, planes and buses, as Italy begins a staged end to a nationwide lockdown. Photograph: Massimo Pinca/Reuters People have lunch in a noodle restaurant that reopened after the easing of restrictions with the implementation of a plastic barrier and social distancing measures in Bangkok. Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters Employees observe social distancing during their lunch break at a factory of Renesas Semiconductor Co. in Beijing. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters Social distancing signs are seen outside the Toyota Motor Manufacturing France plant in Onnaing, France. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters People have lunch in a Taiwanese hot pot style restaurant that reopened after the easing of restrictions with the implementation of a plastic barrier and social distancing measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Bangkok. Photograph: Jorge Silva/Reuters A restaurant tests servers providing drinks and food to models pretending to be clients in a safe "quarantine greenhouses" in which guests can dine in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photograph: Eva Plevier/Reuters BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 19 By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend: The President of Uzbekistan signed a decree On additional measures to support farmland owners, and provide employment, Trend reports citing the Ministry of Justice of Uzbekistan. The document provides that starting from May 20, subsidies will be allocated through the State Fund for Employment Promotion on the basis of tripartite agreements between the Employment Promotion Center, organizations-suppliers and owners of farmlands: In addition, subsidies will be issued for contribution to the charter fund of agricultural cooperatives. At the same time, agricultural cooperatives are established in fish farming, rabbit breeding, poultry farming, beekeeping, horticulture, viticulture, sewing, handicraft and other leading spheres. Recently, President of Uzbekistan signed a corresponding decree approving the Concept of development of production of organic agricultural and organic food products in Uzbekistan and the Road Map for its implementation. --- Follow author on Twitter: @seyfaddini Nintendo is back on its intellectual property flex, after it filed two lawsuits last week against Switch hackers selling software to play pirated video games. Court documents obtained by Polygon show that one lawsuit was filed in an Ohio court against the alleged operator of a site called UberChips, while the second was filed in a Seattle court against a number of anonymous defendants from different websites, all of which sell products from a hacking group called Team Xecuter. According to the documents, these products let users bypass measures designed to prevent the unauthorized access and copying of Nintendo games. In doing so, they can then download an unauthorized operating system and play pirated games. This isnt the first time Nintendo has honed its attention on unauthorized sellers. Back in 2019 it sued subscription-based games download service RomUniverse for illegally offering Nintendo games on its platform. In the past weve also seen the company crack down on indie creators and leisure services, as well as straight-up copycats. As Polygon reports, this latest case sees Nintendo seeking $2,500 for every trafficking violation enabled by the defendants, plus a permanent injunction against these type of website. That could add up to a very hefty fine, and once again send a message to other and would-be pirates that Nintendo isnt messing around when it comes to protecting its intellectual property. Craft soda or micro manufacturers are traditional small batch manufactured soda products. Craft soda is flavored carbonated drinks widely categorized under soft drinks. The craft soda majorly comes under non-traditional soft drink flavoring to attract a lot of consumers looking for alternatives. The craft soda market has already seen a high growth is past few years with private labels and local players dominating the market over the globe. Over the forecast period, the craft soda market is expected to maintain such substantial growth rate. Craft soda market is expected to be driven by the rising youth population over the region with high youth population share and its placing over the market as an alternative to monotonous soft drinks offering globally. The craft soda market is anticipated to be driven by the increasing demand for alternative offering in monotonous mature markets. The soft drink segment has not seen any significant new offering, been dominated by 2 major global players for decades. Also, clean labels and the organic source are anticipated to drive the craft soda market by the rising demand from ethical buyers over the globe. The craft soda market is expected to get restraint by the competitive offering by the major food and beverage manufacturers to capture the untapped market over the forecast period. Get More Information: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/9541 On the basis of source, the craft soda market is segmented into organic and conventional. The organic segment is expected to dominate the craft soda market over the forecast period owing to the global trend of organic food and beverage. On the basis of packaging, the craft soda market is segmented into glass, P.E.T, pouches, and cans. Glass segment is expected to dominate over the forecast period resulted by the traditional packaging used by the major producer to bring an ancient accent to their offerings. On the basis of flavor, the craft soda market is segmented into root beer, orange, passion fruit, berries, tropical fruits and others. Root beer an orange to hold a larger share over the forecast period. On the basis of the distribution channel, the craft soda market is segmented into direct and indirect. The indirect segment is further sub-segmented into modern trade, specialty stores, convenience stores, e-commerce, and other store formats. The indirect segment is expected to dominate over the forecast period. Craft Soda Market: Region-wise Outlook: North America is anticipated to capture a large share on the basis of value owing to its traditional market for crafts soda. Europe to follow North America in terms of value share for craft soda market. Asia-pacific to witness high growth rate in craft soda market due to the faster adoption of western market offerings into the region. Latin America and the Middle East and Africa to also witness significant growth over the forecast period in craft soda market. Request For Table of Contents: https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/requesttoc/9541 Tuxen Brewing Co., Justcraft Soda, Five Star Soda, Batch Craft Soda, Brooklyn Organics, Blue Sky, Dry Soda Co., Excel Bottling, and Bai brands. The Craft Soda market has been segmented as follows: Global Craft Soda Market, by Material Type Expanded polystyrene (EPS) o Fabricated EPS o Molded EPS Vacuum insulated panel (VIP) solutions Polyurethane (PUR) Others Global Craft Soda Market, by Product Type Phase Change Materials (PCMs) Gel Packs & Bricks Insulated shipping containers o Parcel Containers o Pallet Containers Temperature Loggers Others Global Craft Soda Market, by Application Type Pharmaceutical Packaging Health care & clinical trial distribution Medical device Packaging Others Global Craft Soda Market, by Geography North America o U.S. o Canada o Rest of North America Europe o U.K. o Germany o France o Rest of Europe Asia Pacific o India o China o Japan o Rest of Asia Pacific ROW Make an Enquiry Before Buying @ https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/checkout/9541/Single The Jefferson County Judicial Commission is accepting nominations starting next week for a vacant judgeship. The countys Circuit Court, Criminal Division, Place 3 seat has been empty since now-Alabama Criminal Court of Appeals judge Bill Cole was elected to the appeals court in 2018. In 2019, Gov. Kay Ivey appointed Circuit Judge Teresa Pulliam to fill that seat. Pulliam left Place 3, though, when Ivey appointed the judge to the courts Criminal Division, Place 16 position in January. Jefferson County Circuit Court Place 16 has been one of the countys most contested judicial races in recent years, after Democratic nominee Linda Hall was disqualified from holding the seat but still won the most votes in the November 2018 election against Pulliam. So with Iveys appointment, Pulliam is now back in the seat she once held. Applications will be accepted for the Place 3 position beginning Tuesday, May 26, through Friday, June 5. Forms must be submitted to the commission by 4:30 p.m. June 5. Application forms can be found online and must include a headshot, resume, a cover letter, waivers, and writing samples. Information on whats required can be found here. Once the applications are submitted, the commission will release the applicants names for public comment from June 8 through June 12. Then, starting June 18, the commission will conduct interviews. After the interview process, the Judicial Commission will submit three names to Ivey for her consideration. The governor will then appoint someone to fill the seat. The members of the commission are Circuit Judge Clyde Jones, Cynthia Bonner, Augusta S. Dowd, Michael D. Ermert, and John J. McMahon, III. With time on their hands, a Mississippi family is using a Christmas gift to give back to people on the COVID-19 front lines. Greg and Ben Brooks are giving back during the pandemic with the help of their dad and a 3D printer. Dad Jason Brooks found an organization asking for anonymous help donating face shields. It was a Christmas gift and my dad commandeered it, Greg Brooks said. Jason Brooks knew they could use the printer to help. We have the means to do it, we have the ability to do it and we definitely have the time to do it, he said. No matter how small the job is, it just feels good to help during this time, Ben Brooks said. The trio downloaded a template and got to work making the shields to send to health care workers. There was a lot to go into the design aspect. The visor we have now is a lot sturdier than the original design, Greg Brooks said. The familys kitchen now serves as an assembly line of sorts. Theyve gotten more pictures of people wearing their creation who want more. It was pretty cool seeing how thankful they are for our work, Ben Brooks said. So far, the Brooks family has shipped more than 300 face shields to New York, New Jersey and Boston. They are in the process of finishing another large order to send out. The familys goal is to send dozens of masks to a new hospital or health care office every two weeks. Watch the video above to learn more about this story. An earthquake has struck China's southwestern Yunnan province, killing at least four people and injuring 24 others, according to officials. One person was trapped in debris, state-run Xinhua agency reported. It said that rescue and relief teams, including firefighters, have been sent to the quake zone. According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the 5-magnitude shallow quake struck Qiaojia county at 9.47 PM on Monday. The epicentre of the earthquake was at a depth of eight kilometres and it was felt in Qujing city's Huize county as well as in the cities of Zhaotong, Xuanwei and Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture. The county government of Qiaojia has sent rescuers to 16 townships for rescue and disaster relief assistance. According to the report, the earthquake has damaged 10 telecom base stations. The Yunnan provincial disaster reduction committee office and the provincial emergency response department have launched a level-four response for the disaster relief and sent a working group to the disaster area to assist and guide the relief work. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) [May 19, 2020] Arch Biopartners Expands the Primary Endpoint of its Phase II Trial to Include Prevention of Multiple Organ Injuries in Patients with COVID-19 TORONTO, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arch Biopartners Inc., (Arch or the Company) (TSX Venture: ARCH and OTCQB: ACHFF) a clinical stage company developing new drug candidates for treating organ damage caused by inflammation, today announced it has expanded the primary endpoint of the Phase II human trial for its lead drug LSALT peptide (Metablok) to prevent organ inflammation and injury experienced by patients with COVID-19. The expansion of the primary endpoint reflects recent global data from COVID-19 patients that shows the SARS-CoV-2 virus results in damage to organs besides the lungs and Metabloks potential to prevent inflammation injury in multiple organs. In addition to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), the primary endpoint of the Phase II trial now includes acute kidney injury (AKI), cardiomyopathy, acute liver injury, coagulopathy and all-cause mortality as components of a composite endpoint in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Studies have shown that COVID-19 results in 35% mortality with AKI1 and 40% mortality with cardiomyopathy2. Further, acute liver injury3 and thrombotic disease4 have resulted in poor outcomes in COVID-19 patients. The Phase II trial, which was recently cleared by Health Canada to proceed, will be a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, proof of concept study of LSALT peptide. The trial is expected to commence in the summer of 2020. Arch has recently made progress and continues to be in dialogue with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to obtain permission to recruit patients at American clinical sites into the trial. 1Hirsch, Kidney Int. 2020 2Akhmerov, Circ Res. 2020 3Lee, J Chin Med Assoc. 2020 4Llitjos, J Thromb Haemost 2020 About COVID-19 COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that emerged in China in late 2019. Patients with severe COVID-19 develop progressive lung inflammation and acute respirator distress syndrome that often requires mechanical ventilation and critical care. Patients with severe COVID-19 also experience multi-organ dysfunction including acute kidney injury, liver dysfunction, cardiac failure and blood abnormalities. Currently, no approved vaccine or effective antiviral drug exists for SARS-CoV-2. Treatment of severe COVID-19 has been primarily supportive, relying on critical care physicians. Survival rates and health care system capacity could both be improved with new treatments that prevent the severe manifestations of COVID-19, such as worsening lung inflammation (ARDS) and AKI experienced by patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. About Arch Biopartners Arch Biopartners Inc. is a clinical stage company focused on the development of innovative technologies that have the potential to make a significant medical or commercial impact. Arch is developing a drug library to produce new drug candidates that inhibit inflammation in the lungs, liver and kidneys caused via the dipeptidase-1 (DPEP-1) pathway. Metablok is a novel peptide drug candidate and the lead DPEP-1 inhibitor in the Arch development pipeline. In August 2019, a scientific team led by Arch scientists Dr. Donna Senger and Dr. Stephen Robbins published a paper in the journal Cell describing a novel mechanism of action for organ inflammation. In the publication, DPEP-1 was identified for the first time as a major neutrophil (white blood cell) adhesion receptor on the lung, liver and kidney endothelium. A total of 40 out of 52 healthy, normal volunteers received Metablok during the recent Phase I human trial. In all cases, Metablok was well tolerated during this placebo-controlled trial and no significant drug-related adverse effects were observed. Continuing under development in the Arch portfolio are: AB569, a potential new treatment for antibiotic resistant bacterial infections in the lung and wounds; and, Borg peptide coatings that increase corrosion resistance and decrease bacterial biofilm on various medical grade metals and plastics. For more information on Arch Biopartners, its technologies and other public documents Arch has filed on SEDAR, please visit www.archbiopartners.com The Company has 59,882,302 common shares outstanding. For more information, please contact: Richard Muruve Chief Executive Officer Arch Biopartners, Inc. 647-428-7031 [email protected] Forward-Looking Statements All statements, other than statements of historical fact, in this news release are forward looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future plans and objectives of the Company. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or managements estimates or opinions change. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Most youngsters were not born when lawyer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, together with some outspoken politicians and journalists, led over 100,000 Ghanaians to embark on perhaps, the greatest revolution in the annals of the country's political history - post-Fourth Republic also known as the KUME PREKO to wit, you may as well kill me. That was a rare protest against the Jerry John Rawlings administration in the city of Accra on May 11, 1995, as hundreds of young and old people, responding to calls for demonstrations in opposition to the Value Added Tax (VAT) initiative which was introduced under the Jerry John Rawlings administration, government corruption and hardship, chanted war songs amid Kume Preko. The demonstration was initially billed as a peaceful protest but quickly became violent when unidentified assailants shot live bullets into the crowd resulting in the deaths of some of the protestors. The Masterminds Those at the forefront of this protest were Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (Now the President of Ghana), Dr. Charles Wreko Brobbey (Politician), Kwasi Pratt Jnr (Journalist), Dr. Nyaho Tamakloe (Politician), Abdul Malik Kwaku Baako (Journalist), Akoto Ampaw (Lawyer), Victor Newman (Politician), Kwaku Opoku (Politician), Napoleon Abdulai (Politician) and Agyiri Blankson (Politician). What Led To The Uprising? Jerry John Rawlings who came to power in a 1992 military takeover, had cemented his hold through harsh repression that has silenced critics, curtailed free speech, and ended any semblance of democratic politics. Even the mildest dissent has been met with harsh punishments and long prison sentences. Also, the high cost of living and particularly, the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) on items by Mr. Rawlings fueled the demonstration against the administration. Major news outlets then reported that it was a period in which able-bodied and hardworking citizens could not afford one decent meal a day for a family. Also, the drop-out rate in educational institutions was said to be rising at a very alarming rate. The Bloody Kume Preko Day However, what started as a peaceful protest turned gory when some unidentified assailants, believed to be drawn from the military, opened fire on the demonstrators. Many sustained severe injuries and others died from the attacks but all leaders managed to escaped the horror scene. After Kume Proko In the aftermath of the demonstration, some of the leading protestors - Nana Akufo-Addo, Charles Wereko-Brobby, Kwesi Pratt Jnr, Akoto Ampaw, and Napoleon Abdulai wrote a book titled - "Ghana: The Kume Preko demonstrations: Poverty, Corruption and the Rawlings Dictatorship". The Re-Union Of The Masterminds Exactly 25 years ago, six (6) of the architects of the biggest demonstration to have occurred in Ghanas history have met at the private residence of Mr. Agyiri Blankson at 3rd Circular Road, Cantonments. The meeting was to commemorate their past achievement in ensuring fairness for the people under the military leadership of Mr. Jerry John Rawlings and also to remember lives that were lost during the demonstration. Amid the Coronavirus, the Kume Preko leaders were all in their facemasks during their private meeting with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo fully relaxed among his old friends without any official bodyguard. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Senate intelligence committee has approved the nomination of Texas GOP Rep. John Ratcliffe to be Director of National Intelligence, sending the nomination to the Senate floor for confirmation. Ratcliffe's nomination was approved 8-7 in a closed committee hearing, with senators voting along party lines, according to a committee aide. The aide was granted anonymity to discuss the closed proceedings ahead of an official announcement. Republicans have praised Ratcliffe, who has been ardent defender of President Donald Trump, while Democrats have been skeptical that he would serve with the independence they say is crucial for the job. Conformation: DNI nominee John Ratcliffe, who has been ardent defender of President Donald Trump, was passed by the Senate intel committee on party lines Ratcliffe sought to shed his reputation as a Trump loyalist at his confirmation hearing earlier this month, insisting he would lead the nation's intelligence agencies without partisan influence. Ratcliffe would replace Dan Coats, a former GOP senator who was popular in Congress but who clashed with Trump in his two years in the job. Richard Grenell, who is close to Trump, is now the acting director. Trump, who has always viewed the intelligence committee with skepticism, h as nominated Ratcliffe twice. Ratcliffe was first picked for the post last summer, shortly after Coats' resignation, but then withdrew after some Senate Republicans questioned his experience. GOP senators warmed to Ratcliffe after Trump unexpectedly nominated him again in February. The months in between were a tumultuous time in the intelligence community, as Trump ousted and fired multiple officials, and senators were eager for a permanent replacement for Coats. The hearing was the first for the panels new chairman, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tapped Rubio to temporarily lead the committee after Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., stepped aside amid an FBI inquiry of his recent stock sales. The European Union backed the World Health Organisation and multilateral efforts to fight the coronavirus on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump threatened to quit the global agency. This is the time for solidarity, not the time for finger pointing or for undermining multilateral cooperation, European foreign affairs spokeswoman Virginie Battu-Henriksson told reporters. The EU has sponsored a motion at Tuesdays session of the WHOs annual assembly to urge an impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation of the international response to the pandemic. And the spokeswoman said: The European Union backs the WHO in its efforts to contain and mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak and has already provided additional funding to support these efforts. Not for the first time, this puts Brussels in opposition to Washington, where Trump has accused the UN health agency of being too close to China and of being slow to react to the COVID-19 outbreak. On Monday, the US leader -- who has already frozen US funding for the WHO -- wrote its director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to lay out the charges and threaten to pull out. Theyre a puppet of China, theyre China-centric to put it nicer, he explained. Beijing has furiously denied the US allegations that it played down the threat and Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated at the World Health Assembly that his nation had been transparent throughout the crisis. Brussels is backing an independent inquiry into how the epidemic erupted and spread, but has tried to lead an international, multilateral response to the crisis and raise funds for vaccine research. Representative image Amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has brought the nation to a grinding halt, another calamity stares at the eastern coast of India. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has alerted Odisha and West Bengal that Cyclone Amphan is expected to make landfall on May 20, and has the potential of causing extensive damage to the coastal districts of the two states. As different agencies have taken up the task of evacuating people in vulnerable districts, they face the imminent hurdle of breaching social distancing guidelines mandated by the government to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus. Though Odisha has experience in evacuating people ahead of an approaching cyclone, the task is more complex this time owing to social distancing norms, and the conversion of cyclone shelters into quarantine facilities for migrants returning home from other state, The Times of India has reported. Inspector General of Police Asheet Panigrahi told the newspaper, We are alert to the dual worry COVID-19 and Amphan and realise the danger of the breach of social distancing norms. Since zero-casualty is our motto, our immediate priority will be to evacuate and rescue people from vulnerable locations to safe places. 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 Naveen Patnaik-led government in Odisha has asked the Collectors of Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur to evacuate all people living in low-lying areas or in living in kutcha houses with thatched or asbestos roofs. Click here to follow LIVE updates on Cyclone Amphan As far as cyclone shelters are concerned, of the nearly 800 shelters in 12 vulnerable districts, over 240 are being used as temporary medical centres to quarantine incoming migrants. As many as 47,725 people have been quarantined in these centres. However, in view of the cyclone, the state government has sent more than 11,500 people back home, asking them to remain in isolation, after their samples tested negative for the novel coronavirus. As a result, 44 shelters have been vacated. The remaining 36,200 have been housed in 198 shelters, making about 600 shelters ready for cyclone relief. However, government officers are wary of enforcing social distancing norms in cyclone shelters which will house evacuees from vulnerable districts. We normally keep 300-400 persons in a cyclone shelter. If we follow social distancing norms now, each shelter will not be able to accommodate more than 100 people. Since lakhs of people are being evacuated, we will need more shelter units. We will have to compromise social distancing norms while handling the large number of evacuees, an officer told the newspaper. Meanwhile, the government has urged people to wear masks and use sanitisers during the evacuation process, as well as asked the rescue personnel to use body protectors, face shields, masks and other PPE equipments while carrying out rescue work. Sales of Stilton have declined by up to 30 percent as a result of the closure of the UK's hospitality and events sector, producers warn. New figures released by the Stilton Cheese Makers Association (SCMA) show that sales of the British-produced cheese has been affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The group, which represents the UKs Stilton producers, said that sales have plummeted due to the closure of the foodservice sector and dwindling exports. Consumers are now being encouraged to buy Stilton and other British cheeses to support the industry and prevent producers going out of business. The drop in sales is also having an impact on British dairy farms. Cheesemakers use milk from at least 70 farms across Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, many of which are fifth generation dairy farmers. Stilton is the UKs most popular blue cheese, which was first written about by Daniel Defoe in the early 18th century and now holds a unique status in British culture. It is the only cheese in the UK with a certificated trademark to protect its British heritage, being awarded the protected designation of origin status (PDO) giving it the same status as champagne. In response to the pandemic, cheesemakers are having to reduce the amount of Stilton they are making whilst trying to process all of the milk from the farmers which supply them to avoid wasting it. Robin Skailes, chairman of the SCMA said: Like many British food producers, Stilton sales have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. "We hope that the British public will support us by buying Stilton instead of imported blue cheeses which, in turn, will support British dairy farmers. The SCMA is also concerned that the current situation will discourage the next generation of cheesemakers and that some producers could go out of business. They are also exploring alternative distribution channels such as mail order where this is feasible, to get the cheese to their customers. To protect such an important part of the UKs cheese-making heritage, the trade body is calling on consumers to buy Stilton rather than continental blue cheese. Expecting a record fall of 20 percent in domestic steel demand during the ongoing financial year, ratings agency ICRA on Tuesday said it has revised its outlook for the sector to negative from stable. According to official data, India consumed 100 million tonne of steel during financial year ended March 2020. "Early indications of an unprecedented demand slowdown visible in data for March and April, points to a steep year-on-year contraction in steel demand of 22 percent and 91 percent, respectively. The domestic steel demand is estimated to decline by upwards of 20 percent in 2020-21, which will be the sharpest fall on record," ICRA said. Consequently, the outlook on the domestic steel industry has been revised to negative from stable as the domestic steel demand is expected to remain subdued until the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control. The rating agency has warned that the first half of financial year 2020-21 is expected to be very challenging. Jayanta Roy, senior vice-president and group head (corporate sector ratings), ICRA, said, "Rebooting the steel industry from hibernation is going to be a tough task. The first half of 2020-21 is expected to be especially challenging for steelmakers. Many buyers could prefer to sit at the sidelines, given the uncertain demand environment and liquidity pangs of steel consumers, amid dwindling sales and fixed cost obligations." He added that despite higher borrowing levels of state governments that have been allowed subject to conditions, infrastructure spending by the Centre and states could be partly deferred to the next fiscal due to dwindling tax collections currently, limiting the possibility of a sharp bounce back in steel demand post the lockdown. Key steel consuming states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Punjab have a sizeable portion of their population living in districts marked as red zones, and with around 51 percent of the urban population living in red zones, the steel demand from the construction and real estate sectors could take some time to return to the pre-COVID-19 levels, ICRA said. In addition to slackness in demand, the migration of labour, timely availability of raw materials, and liquidity/ working capital availability remain some of the key challenges grappling the end-consumers of steel. The challenges could also affect the operating profitability and debt protection metrics of steelmakers in 2020-21. A close relative of an elderly community leader killed by Vietnamese police during a land protest outside Hanoi in January has petitioned authorities for the return of a car and other valuables that disappeared from her home after the clash, the woman said. Nguyen Thi Duyen, wife of the grandson of slain community leader Le Dinh Kinh, told RFAs Vietnamese Service on Tuesday that items of jewelry valued at almost $2,300 were among the personal possessions that were taken after she was detained following the Jan. 9 raid by police. On that day, I could not foresee how many terrible things would happen, and I left my valuables behind as usual, she said, adding that a wedding ring and bracelets that she kept in boxes and a dresser drawer were missing when she returned home. My cosmetics and lipstick were taken also, she said. Invited to speak to police on May 15, Nguyen was told they had taken only her car and a safe containing some papers, she said, adding that police suggested she file a report about the additional missing belongings. Du Thi Hanh, Le Dinh Kinhs widow, has meanwhile filed a sixth petition with central government authorities asking for an explanation of the circumstances surrounding her husbands death and the arrests of her children and grandson in the Jan. 9 attack by riot police on the Dong Tam commune outside Hanoi, family sources said. Clash blamed on police Le Dinh Kinh, 84, was shot and killed on Jan. 9 by police who attacked his home in Dong Tams Hoanh village in an early morning assault that involved about 3,000 security officers from the police and armed forces. Though official reports said that villagers had assaulted police with grenades and petrol bombs, a report drawn from witness accounts and released seven days later by journalists and activists said that police had attacked first during the deadly clash that also claimed the lives of three police officers. Police blocked off pathways and alleys during the attack and beat villagers indiscriminately, including women and old people, the report said, calling the assault possibly the bloodiest land dispute in Vietnam in the last ten years. The Dong Tam tragedy was the latest flare-up of a long-running dispute over a military airport construction site about 25 miles south of Vietnams capital Hanoi. On July 25, 2017, the Hanoi Inspectorate announced that a comprehensive inspection had determined that the military administered all 236.7 hectares (584.9 acres) of airport land. The Inspectorate cited court findings from April 14, 1980; Nov. 10, 1981; and Oct. 20, 2014. It acknowledged that the military had made several mistakes in management of the land, including allowing area residents to use it after a rental contract expired in 2012 and failing to relocate certain households before 1980, leading to illegal encroachment and construction. While all land in Vietnam is ultimately held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landholders aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Huy Le. Written in English by Richard Finney. New Delhi: After fake tweets related to Taliban went viral on social media, on May 17, the Taliban made it clear that Kashmir is an internal matter of India and they don't support Pakistan's 'Ghazwa-e-Hind' or any war against India. Doha spokesperson of the Taliban political office, Suhail Shaheen, said in a tweet that, "The statement circulated in the media regarding India is not related to the Islamic Emirate." The policy of the Islamic Emirate regarding the neighboring states is very clear that we do not interfere in their domestic issues. Let us tell you that the fake tweet by Suhail Shaheen and Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that - 'friendship between the Islamic Emirate and India is impossible' and 'Islamic Emirate will take Kashmir away from the infidels'. But the Taliban has clearly refused to be part of the Pakistani propaganda on Kashmir and Muslims in India. Rather, this organization also sees India's positive role for peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan. Speaking to the media from Doha earlier this month, Suhail Shaheen said that, on the basis of our national interest and mutual respect, we would like to have a positive relationship with our neighboring countries, including India and their future reconstruction of Afghanistan. We will wholeheartedly welcome the contribution and cooperation. Also Read: China changes tone after worldwide criticism, says "Will cooperate in the investigation" Several countries including India demanded WHO to play its role against Covid-19 Cases of coronavirus increasing every day in Brazil Cocktail of antibodies may block coronavirus infection "We were told the week before that we couldn't hand out palms due to cross-contamination," Pelc said. They settled on the squirt gun, with the priest -- wearing a mask and gloves -- standing several feet from passing cars as he hit them with holy water. "We figured sterile water was the way to do it. We were prepared to do it one of two ways: either we would distribute little plastic vials of holy water, but then we thought, 'What about a squirt gun?' The doctor said, 'That's fun. If you do that, I'm coming with my family.'" Sure enough, the doctor and his family came, along with about 50 other congregants, Pelc said. Although the number was roughly half of the typical turnout for Easter services, the target demographic -- younger families, who at that point were believed to be least susceptible to Covid-19 -- showed up. From a memory to a meme While initial coverage of the squirt gun received about 30,000 to 40,000 hits on Facebook, Pelc said, he expected attention to subside. Ecommerce platform on Tuesday resumed full services pan-India, covering over 26,000 pincodes, excluding those in the containment zones it used to serve pre-lockdown. The company also said it will be giving the cash-on-delivery options to customers as before. The ecommerce industry was in deep crisis after government banned them from taking non-essential goods orders during the lockdown that began on March 25. However, after the fourth lockdown extension from Monday through May 31, ecommerce players were allowed to take order of all goods. A statement from the company claimed that they are only platform offering the cash-on-delivery option now across all the 26000 pin codes - in green, orange and red zones it was serving before the lockdown. also said it has completed delivery of nearly 50 per cent of the pre-lockdown orders placed in March but which could not be delivered due to the lockdown (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The entry period runs through May 25, 2020. "2020 wedding couples have had their plans devastated by a global pandemic," says Sara Margulis, CEO of Honeyfund. "But love can't be canceled. This giveaway was inspired by the Zoom weddings, drive-by receptions and other creative solutions we've seen among our couples." Visit www.honeyfund.com/blog for details. About Honeyfund Honeyfund was created for wedding guests to contribute to a dream honeymoon for modern couples. In 2014, the company received investment backing from renowned investor, Kevin O'Leary, who is an active partner to this day. Today, Honeyfund is the #1 wedding registry app, and a crowdfunding pioneer. With 100% free options, Honeyfund, the Honeyfund Gift Card and sister-site, Plumfund, power plenty of experiences and savings goals, for life's many occasions. SOURCE Honeyfund Taiwan's Exclusion From the World Health Assembly Press Statement Michael R. Pompeo, Secretary of State May 18, 2020 The United States condemns Taiwan's exclusion from the World Health Assembly. At a time when the world continues to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, we need multilateral institutions to deliver on their stated missions and to serve the interests of all member states, not to play politics while lives are at stake. No one disputes that Taiwan has mounted one of the world's most successful efforts to contain the pandemic to date, despite its close proximity to the original outbreak in Wuhan, China. This should not be a surprise. Transparent, vibrant, and innovative democracies like Taiwan always respond faster and more effectively to pandemics than do authoritarian regimes. WHO's Director-General Tedros had every legal power and precedent to include Taiwan in WHA's proceedings. Yet, he instead chose not to invite Taiwan under pressure from the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Director-General's lack of independence deprives the Assembly of Taiwan's renowned scientific expertise on pandemic disease, and further damages the WHO's credibility and effectiveness at a time when the world needs it the most. The PRC's spiteful action to silence Taiwan exposes the emptiness of its claims to want transparency and international cooperation to fight the pandemic, and makes the difference between China and Taiwan ever more stark. Taiwan is a model world citizen, while the PRC continues to withhold vital information about the virus and its origins, deny access to their scientists and relevant facilities, censor discussion of the pandemic within China and on Chinese social media properties, and casts blame widely and recklessly. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address "You don't get seasons anywhere else except for down in Tasmania," explains Jensen. "That consistency of wool growing conditions in other regions of Australia not even New England can't compare and Tasmania is extremely blessed with its environment to produce fantastic fibres." The success of their first Kingston line - which sold out almost immediately when it first launched in 2017 - is evidence that men are showing a more mindful approach to the way they stock their wardrobe. "The uptake by the customer on the idea of knowing exactly where something's come from, has been fantastic," says Jensen. "It's something that has really resonated. And that's just on the micro level. On the macro, there is a real belief in people, of knowing where things come from, and a belief in customers on buying into things with integrity." And Jensen is definitely putting his money where his wool is, so to speak. Each Kingston suit purchased sends a percentage of profit straight back to Kingston Farm, a 114-year-old property located in Tasmania's northern Midlands. Under the stewardship of sixth-generation woolgrower and conservationist, Simon Cameron, Kingston is home to at least 12 threatened and near-threatened plant species and animals, including breeding wedge-tailed eagles, platypus, kangaroos and Eastern and Spotted-tailed quolls. It also contains eight per cent of Tasmania's indigenous grassland. "Believe it or not, the most threatened ecosystem in the world is native grassland," says Cameron. "It's been smashed by development, converted for use by agriculture. In Tasmania there is only three per cent left of lowland native grassland communities when the whites arrived. Of that three per cent, 10 per cent is found on Kingston. "There is a thing called the Midlands biodiversity hotspot and Kingston was seen as the jewel in the crown of this region." So far, over $60,000 has been reinvested into the support and conservation of Kingston and this fragile ecosystem. The transparency of knowing where the materials of your clothes come from and knowing that financial support goes directly back to the source taps into our growing need for more ethical consumption. "I think [Kingston] is a template of what can be done in the future," says Jensen. "It's a small ecosystem that we live in but for a European brand it's very hard for them to navigate their way to find one of the best woolgrowers in the world and work cooperatively on this level. But there is now a lot more interest from European companies and brands to do something more meaningful." There's also the message behind the fabric itself. As fibres go, wool remains one of the most versatile and robust materials on the market. It is also a mirror to the conditions it is grown in the healthier the climate and the livestock, the better quality and lightness of the superfine merino wool used to create your suit. When Derek Abbey returned from a tour in Iraq in 2007, he put one set of bags down and picked up another. The active-duty Marine was right back out the door. This time, he was off to the island of Palau. He wasn't going with the Marine Corps, but he was out to find another Marine who had been missing since World War II. Abbey was volunteering to recover the missing from a war that had ended 63 years before. "To me, it was the right thing to do," Abbey said. "I have a personal mission statement in my life, and it doesn't start or end with being a military member, and that's to have a positive impact on those around me throughout my life. ... Somebody offered me the opportunity to do this, and I refused to pass it up." For more than 15 years, Abbey has been part of Project Recover, an international nonprofit that uses the latest in science and technology, along with archival research, to find and repatriate the remains of fallen American troops. Albert Rybarczyk was a member of the Navy Torpedo Squadron, USS Intrepid, on a bombing mission against Japanese positions on Babelthuap Island, Palau when he disappeared. He was presumed dead in 1946. (U.S. Navy) Abbey began his time in Project Recover as a volunteer, using his leave from the Corps to help locate troops who are missing in action. On his first field mission as a volunteer in Palau in 2007, he actually helped recover the remains of a Marine from his very first squadron in the Corps, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121. Project Recover began its life after founder Pat Scannon went to Palau to look for a Japanese ship sunk by President George H.W. Bush during World War II. Scannon was sent to Japan in 1993 to prove the ship had been armed. According to the Project Recover website, he finished his work early and stayed on the island. What he saw next changed everything. His local guides took him to the sunken remains of a B-24 Liberator bomber, but could provide no information about the plane, who flew it or how it ended up in its watery grave. Project Recover (then called The BentProp Project) was born. Scannon was determined to recover not just this plane, but the hundreds of other planes like it, along with the remains of thousands of people who, along with their stories, might otherwise be lost to history. Fast-forward to 2004, when Abbey first decided to volunteer with the organization. WIthin three years, he was spending all his leave to visit Palau and assist in the searches for America's fallen. Project Recover CEO Derek Abbey on a field mission in the Pacific. (Harry Parker/Project Recover) "When I first started this, I wasn't even sure how I could contribute. I thought I would be doing the grunt work," Abbey said. "I never fathomed we would be doing this all over the world, providing answers to all these families." After 23 years in the Corps, first as an enlisted Marine and then becoming an officer, Abbey retired from the service in 2014. But his work with Project Recover never stopped. He's missed only one opportunity for field work since his first trip to Palau -- when he was deployed to Afghanistan. "Once I witnessed the impact this has on the family members, there was just no turning back," he said. Since those early days, the project has expanded beyond Palau to a worldwide mission in 18 different countries. Project Recover has also garnered partners like the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, the University of Delaware and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, increasing their ability and the scale of their work. In 2019, Abbey became president and CEO of the organization. Project Recover not only researches and identifies sites where American remains might be, it now also has the ability to recover those remains. The Defense Department will still be doing the DNA lab work to identify those recovered remains. Children line the streets of Portage, Pennsylvania to welcome home the remains of Navy Aviation Radioman 3rd Class Walter Mintus. Mintus was killed as a member of an Avenger bomber crew in an attempted attack on Japanese-held Malakal Harbor, Palau. (Harry Parker/Project Recover) So close to the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, Abbey said the mission of Project Recover is more important than ever. "We work across all eras, from World War II to Desert Storm, but the roots of our organization started in Palau," Abbey said. "There was a significant amount of fighting taking place there. World War II is also significant because of the sheer number of losses." Abbey says there are 82,000 Americans in uniform missing in the world today. Around 7,000 of those are from the Korean War, with another 1,600 missing from Vietnam and Southeast Asia. A staggering 72,000 are missing from World War II. "The Department of Defense has done a lot of work in Southeast Asia, and they still do. And while we're still in that area, we focus on World War II and other places around the world," he said. To date, Project Recover has located 51 American aircraft, repatriated 13 Americans and has 87 Americans still awaiting recovery, along with an additional 70 Americans who were designated "Lost at Sea" as part of the USS Abner Read loss. Project Recover is also asking for your help. As with any nonprofit with a mission on that scale, donations are always needed and appreciated. But the group also needs information. If your family has a long-lost loved one who went missing in action -- in any conflict, but especially World War II -- you can contact Project Recover anytime through the contact form on the About page of its website. The group might be actively looking for your missing family member. And you may hold the key to finding them. "All these MIA families -- that's hundreds of thousands of people across the nation -- have these grieving processes that haven't been completed," Abbey said. "We as a nation made a promise to the men and women who wear our nation's cloth that if they fall in battle we will do everything we can to return them. We as a nation make that promise and, when we return a service member, we get to keep that promise." To learn more about Project Recover or to donate, volunteer or contact it, visit ProjectRecover.org. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook. Want to Learn More About Military Life? Whether you're thinking of joining the military, looking for post-military careers or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to Military.com to have military news, updates and resources delivered directly to your inbox. SPLIT LAKE, Man. - Members of northern Manitoba First Nations who are worried about the spread of COVID-19 say they will maintain blockades set up at the entrance to a hydroelectric construction site despite a court injunction. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 19/5/2020 (610 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Members of Manitoba First Nations, shown here in this recent handout image, worried about the spread of COVID-19 have been served an injunction ordering the group to remove a blockade into the Keeyask Generating construction site in Split Lake, Manitoba. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Tataskweyak Cree Nation band councillor Nathan Neckoway MANDATORY CREDIT SPLIT LAKE, Man. - Members of northern Manitoba First Nations who are worried about the spread of COVID-19 say they will maintain blockades set up at the entrance to a hydroelectric construction site despite a court injunction. "Is life more important than a job? If that virus comes into our area and people start getting sick, they won't be able to work," Tataskweyak Cree Nation band councillor Nathan Neckoway said Tuesday. "There are people dying from this virus." Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench issued the injunction Monday ordering the removal of the blockade to the Keeyask Generation Station construction site, about 725 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg on the lower Nelson River. Scott Powell, Manitoba Hydro's director of corporate communications, said the injunction proves the Crown corporation's plan to resume regular work rotations is safe for workers and neighbouring communities. Over 500 employees and contractors have been at the site for eight weeks and Powell said they need to be rotated out. "A blockade shutting down construction on the project will cause delays and cause tens of millions of dollars of unnecessary costs for our customers, plus the loss of employment for hundreds of workers," Powell said in a release Tuesday. A government spokesperson said the utility's plan was endorsed by Dr. Brent Roussin, the province's chief public health officer. The Keeyask Project is a collaborative effort between the utility and four First Nations Tataskweyak Cree Nation and War Lake First Nation, York Factory First Nation and Fox Lake Cree Nation. "As First Nations leaders, we are extremely frustrated," said York Factory First Nation Chief Leroy Constant in a statement. Tataskweyak Chief Doreen Spence said other jurisdictions have placed resource development projects on hold until the risk of COVID-19 passes. War Lake First Nation Chief Betsy Kennedy added that allowing hundreds of people to travel to the site contradicts public health orders and puts First Nations at a significantly higher risk. Current public health orders restrict non-essential travel into northern Manitoba. Over the Victoria Day long weekend, RCMP charged eight people for violating the restriction. Neckoway said those same restrictions should be enforced for those entering the Keeyask site, especially since many of the workers are coming from regions across Canada hit hard by the pandemic, such as Quebec and Ontario. The area so far has no cases of COVID-19, and Neckoway said it is a risk they don't want to take. "We don't want a repeat of what happened in northern Saskatchewan. It only takes one person to infect the community." An outbreak of more than 150 cases of COVID-19 in a Dene village and surrounding First Nations in Saskatchewan has been linked to travel from the Kearl oilsands work camp north of Fort McMurray, Alta. Manitoba Hydro scaled back its work and suspended travel in and out of the construction site in mid-March. Neckoway said First Nations' leadership were wary of ongoing work there but agreed to the plan. Last week, however, they learned that hundreds of new workers would be coming to the site for the planned shift change. Leaders from the four First Nations wrote to Manitoba Hydro about their concerns but the chiefs say they were not addressed. That's when leaders and community members decided to implement on Friday what they call a "lockdown" at the main entrance to the site to block traffic from going in. The Fox Lake Cree Nation also issued a state of emergency and restricted access to the south side of the Keeyask site. RCMP have been at the location, Neckoway said, but have not acted even though the injunction gives officers the authority to remove the blockade. Neckoway said members will continue the blockade until they feel that their communities are safe. "This is to protect the lives of northern Manitoba people." This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2020 By Kelly Geraldine Malone in Winnipeg Caspers existing landlord-tenant laws are dangerously lax, according to letters and testimony from various leaders around town. For example, if someone in Casper is renting an apartment and they dont have hot water because their landlord didnt pay the bill, the city doesnt have the legal authority to force the landlord to provide it. But a handful of proposed changes to the citys municipal code would rectify that, argue a handful of city department heads, including Community Development Director Liz Becher and Chief Building Official Dan Elston. Those amendments will be up for a public hearing during Tuesday night's Casper City Council meeting. The changes would allow the citys building department to inspect problem properties without a permit if a tenant issued a complaint relating to health or safety concerns. The building official would then be able to deem the property unlawful, unsafe or even unfit for habitation, depending on the conditions. The intent of the changes, Becher and Elston have both said, is to create a way for renters in compromising situations to get recourse if their landlords arent making necessary repairs or safely maintaining the property a mechanism many community leaders say is sorely lacking. As there are laws protecting landlords from bad tenants, we would advocate for the City to develop a simple and enforceable set of modern habitability standards to protect tenants from grossly negligent landlords, Brad Hopkins, executive director of the Wyoming Rescue Mission, wrote in a letter supporting the changes. Scott Wonser, a probation and parole field office manager in Casper, wrote in an email to Elston, We look forward to seeing the city take some action on this matter. A residence without heat and/or water is just one step above sleeping on the streets. The citys approach to preventing such dangerous living conditions in the future does address concerns about government overreach and private property rights. A March memo from several members of city staff to Napier suggested making pointed changes rather than broad sweeping ones to the citys code, to address the public fears of government overreach. Plus, Elston has stressed, the inspections would only be triggered by a complaint, so the city wouldnt be able to enter a private residence just because they suspected things might not be up to code. Elston has also said the changes are not geared toward private home owners but rather renters who have little control over what their landlord does with the building. In a situation where a property was deemed unfit for human occupancy, the tenant who called in the complaint would be displaced. When asked in a March work session where tenants would go in these situations, Becher said the city had discussed the possibility with the Wyoming Rescue Mission and other emergency housing around town. The Rescue Mission is the only homeless shelter in Casper, and emergency housing offered elsewhere in the community by the Casper Housing Authority or other nonprofits is limited. The ordinance will need to pass three total readings by the council in regular meetings before becoming law. Follow local government reporter Morgan Hughes on Twitter @morganhwrites Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 2 Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Sandra Ainslie , CEO, Girls Inc. of San Diego County With the support of Girls Inc. programming, girls gain important skills, confidence to succeed, have the support they need to safely process their feelings and fears, as well as develop a vision for their success at school and in life. Girls Inc. of San Diego County (GISD) announced it has received a 3-year $400,000 grant from Girls Inc. national, funding the appointment of nonprofit leader Sandra Ainslie as the full-time CEO of the San Diego Girls Inc. affiliate. The grant will fund the expansion of the organizations program and staff team while enabling 450 more underserved girls in San Diego County to participate in life-changing programs at no cost to them or their families. A strong advocate for youth for more than 20 years, Sandra has a track record of building and leading innovative youth organizations and programs. In her new role, Sandra will help GISD increase its impact in the region and will work to further develop the chapters organizational strategy and financial growth. Girls Inc. has been serving girls in San Diego County for more than 50 years, said Sandra Ainslie, CEO of Girls Inc. of San Diego County. Its incredible that now hundreds of more girls across the county will have the opportunity to experience Girls Inc. programs as we grow the organizations presence across the county. We have a vision for a future where girls in San Diego have the support, the resources, the skills and the confidence they need to be smart, strong and bold. In its mission to support the safety and well-being of girls, the organization is hosting weekly, research-based program classes focused on STEM, mental and physical wellness, college and job readiness. Girls also have access to homework and one-on-one support via phone, text, email and web-based conferences. With the support of Girls Inc. programming, girls gain important skills, confidence to succeed, have the support they need to safely process their feelings and fears, as well as develop a vision for their success at school and in life, said Sandra. In collaboration with the school site, nonprofits and other community partners, Girls Inc. of San Diego County provides no-cost programming to girls ages 8 to 18 from underserved communities. The comprehensive Girls Inc. approach to developing the whole girl equips girls to navigate gender, economic and social barriers and grow up healthy, educated and independent. Girls Inc.s research-based programs inspire girls to consider professional avenues, pursue college or vocational training, so they can break the chain of poverty. Programs are delivered in a pro-girl environment and concentrate on economic literacy, physical and mental wellness, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), media literacy, leadership, community action and resisting peer pressure. San Diego can do so much for the girls in this community. Ultimately we want San Diego to be a community that is open to and receives women, and women of color, in leadership positions, Sandra said. About Girls Inc. of San Diego County Girls Inc. of San Diego County inspires girls to be strong, smart and bold by providing hundreds of girls each year with life-changing support and real solutions to the unique issues girls face. By providing no-cost, research-based programming the organization helps girls in the county overcome gender, economic, and social barriers so they may see college as attainable, resist peer pressure and explore professional fields in STEM. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) that have to-date been nontraditional for women. For more than 50 years, the nonprofit organization has supported high-need girls with no-cost programming to help them succeed in life. To support Girls Inc. of San Diego County, visit http://www.girlsincsd.org. A high incidence of coronavirus infection is being observed in migrant labourers returning to Uttar Pradesh, state principal secretary (health) Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters on Tuesday. Prasad said that in such a situation, it is important for village and mohalla monitoring committees to control the infection. They should ensure home quarantine for those coming from outside, Prasad said. He also informed that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered for the setting up of a laboratory in every district of the state to check the infectious disease. Also read: Samajwadi Party leader and son, out on walk, shot dead in UPs Sambhal Large number of cases of infection is being observed in migrant workers returning to the state. So it's very important for village & mohalla monitoring committees to control the infection. They should ensure home quarantine for those coming from outside: Principal Secy(Health),UP pic.twitter.com/Snh7XJleiT ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 19, 2020 Lakhs of stranded migrant labourers have returned to their native places in Uttar Pradesh from across the country. The Ministry of Railways, so far, has operated over 1,500 Shramik Special trains since May 1 and ferried over 20 lakh migrants back home. Under the leadership of PM @NarendraModi, more than 20 lakh workers have been sent to their homes by the Railways on 1,565 Shramik Special trains, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said in a tweet on Tuesday. Uttar Pradesh allowed 837 trains to ferry migrant labourers back to their native places. Out of the trains that have terminated so far, the maximum has been in Uttar Pradesh at 641, while 73 more are in transit. The number of Covid-19 positive cases in Uttar Pradesh is inching toward the 5,000-mark. The state has reported 4,605 Covid-19 cases so far. While 2,783 people have recovered from coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh, 118 have died from the infection here. (With inputs from PTI) A Nigerian cleric was publicly flogged in Ebonyi State, South-East Nigeria, about three days ago for allegedly making insulting comments on Facebook against the chairman of a local government area in the state. The cleric has been identified as Chukwu Obeni. Those who assaulted him were said to have accused Mr Obeni of posting fake stories and insulting the Chairman of Afikpo North Local Government Area, in Ebonyi state, Oko Enyim, on Facebook. Videos and photos of the incident, posted on Facebook and Twitter, have attracted outrage from many Nigerians. In one of the videos, the cleric, wearing boxers only, is seen kneeling down and crying for help. His hands are being tied behind his back. Apart from being lashed about 35 strokes with horsewhip, Mr Obeni was thrown into a dirty gutter and forced to swim for some minutes, Sampson Nweke, a human rights campaigner in Ebonyi, said. Mr Nweke said he and his human rights group assisted Mr Obeni to hospital in Abakiliki where he is receiving treatment. The police spokesperson in Ebonyi State, Loveth Odah, told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday that one person has been arrested in relation to the incident, while the police have commenced investigation. The chairman of Afikpo North Local Government Area, Mr Enyim, did not respond to calls and text messages from PREMIUM TIMES at the time this report was being filed. With growing unemployment and poverty, and the collapse of public infrastructure in Africas most populous nation, many Nigerians are taking to social media to express their dissatisfaction with government and public officials. The assault on Mr Obeni underscores the intolerance to criticism and the lack of regard for the justice system in Nigeria. The National Bureau of Statistics classifies Ebonyi as one of the poorest states in Nigeria, alongside others like Sokoto, Taraba, Jigawa, Zamfara, Yobe and Adamawa. Large businesses will be able to borrow up to 200million as the Government has quadrupled the size of loans available, but those taking them up will have to stop paying dividends and limit executive pay and bonuses. The Treasury said the taxpayer-backed loans made available to large companies under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) will increase from the previous maximum of 50million. From next Tuesday, companies will be able to borrow up to 25 per cent of their turnover, up to a maximum of 200million, under the scheme. However, firms which take up the loans will be prevented from doling out cash to investors. Loans expansion: Large businesses will be able to borrow up to 200million from Tuesday Companies will still be able to pay out bonuses or increase salaries of its executives if they had been arranged before taking out the loan or if they are in line with similar payments done in the previous 12 months. If companies can prove that paying out bonuses will not have 'a material negative impact on the borrower's ability to repay the loan', then they can still do so. The scheme, which was introduced last month by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, is for companies with a turnover of 45million or more. It is aimed at those companies who are ineligible for the business interruption loan scheme for smaller firms and for the Bank of England's Covid Corporate Financing Facility, which has been accessed by very large firms, such as easyJet. The loans are 80 per cent backed by the Government and require banks to do several checks on the borrowers. The Treasury said today that lenders who wish to offer larger loans will need to undergo further accreditation checks. Banks have approved only 86 of such loans so far, for a total of 590million, according to the Treasury's latest data. The restrictions on dividend payments, executive pay and share buybacks will also apply to very big companies applying to the Bank of England's Covid Corporate Financing Facility for over 12 months. A list of companies which have so far applied for the CCFF will be published on 4 June. Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen said: 'We're determined to support businesses of all sizes throughout this crisis and our loans and guarantees have already provided over 32billion to thousands of firms. 'Today we're increasing the maximum loan to 200million to make sure companies get the help they need.' The scheme, which was introduced last month by Chancellor Rishi Sunak, is for companies with a turnover of 45million or more Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the news and said the changes 'could make a real difference' to larger firms. Stephen Jones, chief executive of UK Finance, the industry body representing banks, said they were committed to help businesses. 'Banks stand ready to support businesses large and small, and the changes announced by HM Treasury means firms can access loans from 2,000 to 200million through the coronavirus loan schemes,' he said. Michael Izza, chief executive of the Institute for Accountants in England and Wales, said the increase in the size of the loans should make it attractive to more businesses. 'So far fewer than 100 large businesses have accessed finance through CLBILS, so ministers are right to review how it is operating.' And added: 'The restrictions on eligibility, ownership, dividends and executive pay may dampen enthusiasm in some quarters, but I think it is fair that businesses which benefit from loans backed by public money should be expected to demonstrate corporate and social responsibility.' [May 18, 2020] Houlihan Lokey Announces Pricing of Offering of HLI Class A Common Stock Houlihan Lokey, Inc. (NYSE:HLI) ("Houlihan Lokey" or the "Company"), the global investment bank, today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 3,000,000 shares of its Class A common stock at a public offering price of $63.50 per share. The offering is expected to close on May 20, 2020, subject to customary closing conditions. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include funding potential future acquisitions. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is acting as the sole underwriter for the offering. The offering is being made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement, including a prospectus and the documents incorporated by reference therein, each filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC (News - Alert)"). These documents may be obtained for free by visiting the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov or by contacting: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: 1-866-471-2526, facsimile: 212-902-9316 or by emailing [email protected]. This press release shallnot constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or other jurisdiction. About Houlihan Lokey Houlihan Lokey (NYSE:HLI) is a global investment bank with expertise in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, financial restructuring, and valuation. The firm serves corporations, institutions, and governments worldwide with offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific region. Independent advice and intellectual rigor are hallmarks of the firm's commitment to client success across its advisory services. Houlihan Lokey is the No. 1 M&A advisor for the past five consecutive years in the U.S., the No. 1 global restructuring advisor for the past six consecutive years, and the No. 1 global M&A fairness opinion advisor over the past 20 years, all based on number of transactions and according to data provided by Refinitiv (formerly Thomson Reuters (News - Alert)). Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. You can identify these statements by our use of the words "assumes," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "guidance," "intends," "plans," "projects," and similar expressions that do not relate to historical matters. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors (including the significant effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our business and is expected to continue to have on our business) which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and could materially affect actual results, performance, or achievements. For a further description of such factors, you should read the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200518005778/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] New Delhi: Actress Manisha Koirala has come out in the support of the Nepal government on its stand in which it claimed three Indian territories Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura, as its own. Koirala, a Nepalese-origin Bollywood actress, replied to a Twitter post of Nepal Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali where he announced Lipulekh, Kalapani, Limpiyadhura in the new political map of Nepal. The actress hoped for a peaceful and respectful dialogue between all three great nations, referring to India, Nepal and China in her Twitter post. "Thank you for keeping the dignity of our small nation..we all are looking forward for a peaceful and respectful dialogue between all three great nations now," she tweeted. On May 18, the Nepal Cabinet endorsed a new controversial map of the country claiming Lipulekh, Kalapani, Limpiyadhura under the territories of Nepal. A day later, on Tuesday, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli asserted that the three territories belonged to Nepal and vowed to reclaim them from India through political and diplomatic efforts. "India has deployed its troops in Kalapani since 1962 and our rulers in the past hesitated to raise the issue. We will reclaim and get them back," PTI quoted PM Oli as saying. Oli also expressed the hope that India will follow the path of truth, shown by Satyameva Jayate, which is mentioned in the Ashoka Chakra, the national symbol of India. The new map includes 335-km land area including Limpiyadhura in the Nepalese territory. Kathmandu raised the chorus over the issue earlier this month when Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a new road from Dharchula to Lipulekh so as to reduce the time taken for Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage. New Delhi, meanwhile, sees increased Chinese role in Nepal as a reason for current comments by Kathmandu. The Lipulekh Pass controversy: The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory - India as part of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district. India has said that the recently-inaugurated road section in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand lies completely within its territory. The 80-km-long strategically crucial road at a height of 17,000 km along the border with China in Uttarakhand was thrown open by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in early May 2020. Nepal raised objection to the inauguration of the road, saying the unilateral act was against the understanding reached between the two countries on resolving the border issues. On the other hand, China said the Kalapani border issue is between India and Nepal and hoped that the two neighbours could refrain from unilateral actions and properly resolve their disputes through friendly consultations. The new map was drawn on the basis of the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 signed between Nepal and then the British India government and other relevant documents, which suggests Limpiyadhura, from where the Kali river originated, is Nepal's border with India, The Kathmandu Post quoted an official at the Ministry of Land Reform and Management as saying. India and Nepal are at a row after the Indian side issued a new political map incorporating Kalapani and Lipulekh on its side of the border in October 2019. The tension further escalated after India inaugurated the road link connecting Kailash Mansarovar, a holy pilgrimage site situated at Tibet, China, that passes through the territory belonging to Nepal. The Moldovan opposition is preparing to start the process to impeach President Igor Dodon. Such a loud statement was made by Vice President of DA faction Alexander Slusar. The reason was the demonstration of a video of Dodon's meeting with oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, who is wanted in the country. The meeting took place on June 7, 2019, shortly before the change of power in Moldova, and Plahotniuc, who ruled the country informally, left it. Then Dodon tried to agree with Plahotniuc on forming a coalition of the Party of Socialists and the Democratic Party. According to the statement of opposition MP Yuri Renitse, who announced the video at the press conference, Plahotniuc and his assistant give a package of money to Dodon, and the president says that the money should be transferred to the MP from the Socialist Party, Corneliu Furculita, who "must pay salaries." Igor Dodon confirmed that he held a meeting with Plahotniuc, but denied that he received any money. He said that he had appealed to the Prosecutor Generals Office to conduct an investigation into the video recording compromising him. According to the Constitution of Moldova, in the case of committing serious acts that violate the provisions of the country's Basic Law, the president can be removed from office by the parliament by a two-thirds vote. Such a proposal may be initiated by at least a third of the MPs and should be immediately brought to the attention of the president. The head of state may provide parliament with clarifications regarding the presented facts. Currently, the pro-presidential Party of Socialists has more than one third of the seats in parliament - 37 out of 101. If the initiative to impeach the president is approved, then a referendum on the president's resignation is initiated within 30 days. "We will study this video in detail and, most likely, will initiate the process to impeach Dodon. We are waiting for the prosecutor to give an answer about these charges. But I repeat, after a technical analysis of the video, in accordance with the Constitution, we will take steps to impeach the president," Slusar told reporters. In turn, Yuri Renitse is convinced that Dodon's political career is over, and they just need to act wisely. According to him, the video, apparently taken by a hidden camera by Plahotniuc's office; and it captures the moment of transferring money for payment to representatives of the Party of Socialists, there is even a transcript of the dialogue, which mentions a specific amount and specific names of deputies to receive it. It is curious that Renitse's press conference was held at the same time with the press conference of Prosecutor General of Moldova Alexandru Stoianoglo, at which he said that the prosecutors office officially recognized oligarch Plahotniuc as the beneficiary of part of the money from the stolen billion dollars from the country's banking system. On the eve of these events, a rally was held in Chisinau with the participation of Transnistria War veterans who arrived from different parts of the republic. The protesters demanded the creation of a state unit that will solve the problems of veterans, life-long free health insurance policies, increased benefits. As well as the resignation of President Igor Dodon and Prime Minister Ion Chicu. The protests of Moldovan veterans of the Transnistrian conflict have already become a popular sign - they are usually followed by unrest and coups. And as a rule, they are supported by Russophobic parties. Moreover, the struggle against Russian influence is characteristic of the current political situation in Moldova. The pro-Russian line prevailed four years ago when Igor Dodon was elected president. Last year, his Party of Socialists received the largest number of votes in parliamentary elections, and the right-wing parties were satisfied with the fact of presenting in parliament. But the socialists did not have enough mandates to form a parliamentary majority and government, so they were forced to form an alliance first with the right-wing ACUM bloc, and after its collapse, with deputies from the Democratic Party, which controlled the country until recently, and its leader - the mentioned oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc was called the "master of Moldova". Now, taking into account what is happening in Chisinau, there's talk of Plahotniuc's return. They say, promoting instability is his doing. But the political participants in the events do not mention Plahotniuc. Thus, leader of the DA Platform Andrei Nastase, who is seeking power, said that Ion Chiku's government should be dissolved by voting, since it is completely subordinate to President Igor Dodon. "The pro-Russian government should be dissolved by democratic voting in order to fully and finally restore the power of the people, and not transfer it from one oligarchic group to another," Andrei Nastase said. He stated that it was only the state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic that forced the DA Platform to be restrained in its intention to "overthrow the government, even when it showed complete inability to provide real support to the people during the pandemic crisis. "Now its quite obvious that this government is nothing more than a structure completely subordinate to Igor Dodon," Andrei Nastase said, recalling that the DA Platform will initiate a vote of no confidence in Ion Chiku's government. But President Dodon is not sitting idly. He mobilizes the heads of districts to express their support for Chiku's government in the main square of the Moldovan capital. South Carolina officials announced on Monday six new deaths from the coronavirus and 126 new cases. The state has now reported 8,942 confirmed cases of the virus and 391 deaths. Four of the newly reported deaths were individuals above age 65 from Charleston, Clarendon, Lexington and Williamsburg counties. Two were between the ages of 35 and 65 from Clarendon and Florence counties. More than 131,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 across the state, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. State health officials are working to expand testing. DHEC has scheduled 50 mobile testing sites through June 5 and plans to add more. The list of mobile testing sites can be found at scdhec.gov/covid19mobileclinics. South Carolina continues to roll back restrictions on day-to-day life. Close-contact businesses, including salons and gyms, were allowed to reopen on Monday and the state entered its second week since dine-in service at restaurants could resume. Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds said on Monday there was "a lot of success" during the first weekend of bars and restaurants being open on King Street. He said there were only a few businesses that had not been in compliance with social distancing rules and other restrictions. "Those that choose to not be responsible, I think, there'll be a lot of positive peer pressure among the restaurants," Reynolds said. The Charleston County detention center no longer has any inmates who are positive for the coronavirus, Sheriff Al Cannon said. The last inmate who tested positive for the virus was released from jail on Monday, he said. No new inmates or staff members have tested positive for a few weeks, Cannon added. Overall, the detention center had 14 inmates and two employees test positive after their first positive case on April 1. Cannon said employees will continue to check new inmates for symptoms. The department will continue working with county solicitors to keep the jail's occupancy lower than usual by determining which inmates may not need to be incarcerated during the pandemic. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina have called for prisons and jails to consider more inmates for release during the pandemic. The Savannah River Site has had 14 confirmed cases of the coronavirus among employees. Thirteen have been cleared to return to work. Mikaela Porter contributed to this report. Like detectives searching for cold case matches, microbiologists are tracking the COVID-19 outbreak back in time to the parasitic ancestors that spawned the highly infectious and often deadly disease. Laboratory sleuths at universities and laboratories around the Bay Area are using the virus genome to construct a microbial family tree and they are using that information to plot the contagions wide-ranging path of destruction from person to person and place to place. It is how scientists know the Washington state strain has infiltrated 14 other states, that the East Coast is mostly infected by a European strain of the virus, and there are a variety of strains in California including several that came directly from China. Their tool, genomic sequencing, is an expensive process made more complicated because SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that has laid siege to the world, has duplicated itself many billions of times and spread in every direction and it is constantly evolving. The key to tracking the microscopic pathogen is to document tiny mutations in the genome that occur up to two times a month, said evolutionary biologist Shannon Bennett, the chief of science at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The virus is evolving, changing, and those changes kind of act like a clock that continues going, said Bennett, a specialist in pathogens and viruses. So the genomes of every strain of virus are going to differ based on the time clock. The difference that builds up among samples through time allows you to put them in a family tree. The mutations happen in the nucleotides, a component of the coronavirus RNA, or ribonucleic acid, which serves as a messenger carrying genetic instructions. Scientists know that in SARS-CoV-2, one to two nucleotides change every month. The trick is to look at all 30,000 base pairs of nucleotides in a virus sample, compare them to the genomes of other strains and identify which nucleotide strands have changed. The more mutations, the further removed it is from the original strain and the more it has circulated among humans. The process is possible because tens of thousands of sequenced genomes, taken from nasal swabs or respiratory fluid, have been entered into databases, providing a record of mutations going back to the first cases in China. Microbiologists use this record, known as the phylogenetic tree, to determine how the virus has evolved. Genomic research is in reality tracking natural selection essentially a microscopic, wildly sped-up version of the kind of transformation that club-wielding Paleolithic people went through as they turned into modern humans. There are, of course, big differences between viruses and humans. The coronavirus can mutate through errors that occur when it takes over human cells and replicates itself or through recombination mixing with other virus strains. Because those changes happen on a regular basis, they can be used to track a line of infection from one person to another and differentiate between early and later strains. It also means the coronavirus can be traced, like a clock ticking backward, to the time of the first infection in Wuhan, China. If the virus ever becomes more virulent or deadly, scientists could pinpoint the mutation that caused it. Dr. Charles Chiu, the director of the UCSF-Abbott Viral Diagnostics and Discovery Center, sequenced the genomes of 29 infected patients spanning nine counties in Northern California, including the San Francisco-based Grand Princess cruise ship. He said 14 of those patients did not have a known source of transmission, so he went about searching for the origin. The genomes he looked at in Santa Clara County, which has the most coronavirus cases in Northern California, included the earliest strains found in the Bay Area, a lineage he calls SCC1. He found that each of the cases, beginning sometime in January, shared a single mutation, one nucleotide different from the ancestral strain found in Wuhan. Thats significant, Chiu said, because the average difference between most strains of coronavirus found today and the original strain is 10 to 12 base pairs. His team has since found a different Santa Clara strain, called SCC2, that he suspects was introduced independently. He said more than 90% of the coronavirus infections in the county were from one of those two lineages. That Santa Clara lineage hasnt been found anywhere else (besides the Bay Area) in the United States, but it has been found in China, Chiu said. That indicates it came directly from a traveler from China. The molecular fingerprint of SCC1 unlocked several mysteries, including how a Solano County resident was infected with the early Santa Clara strain after officials thought they had isolated it. Nick Otto / Special to The Chronicle Working with investigators who tracked every person the patients contacted, Chiu found that an infected Santa Clara resident had driven to Solano County and gone to a store owned by a relative of the victim, who was subsequently infected. So this is the first example of how looking at the genome of a single case gave us a level of insight that we wouldnt have otherwise, Chiu said. If you didnt have the genome you wouldnt even know to ask those questions. The genomic data established that link. The problem is that it is impossible to keep up with mutations, the zigzagging path of spread or track the origin of each new strain as the number of infections goes up unless there is a corresponding increase in testing and sequencing. Chiu said the same mutation was also found in a San Mateo County couple, who had no travel history and no idea how they contracted the virus. His team could not establish a link to any other cases. This would have been much easier if we had been able to track it earlier in the epidemic, he said. It emphasizes the importance of doing regular monitoring and testing. Once you know the leaves of the tree, you can backtrack to the branches and then to the trunk of the tree. Chius lab also found that the virus that infected more than two dozen passengers on the Grand Princess originated in Washington state. That unique strain now accounts for a quarter of all the known cases in the country. It has since been identified in 15 states, Australia, Mexico, Iceland, Canada, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. All together, the lab has found eight different SARS-CoV-2 lineages in Northern California. That suggests multiple independent introductions of the virus, but no single predominant lineage outside of Santa Clara County has been circulating in Northern California. 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. Thats not the case on the East Coast. Early in the pandemic, a San Francisco man who had traveled to New York got sick from the virus on the plane ride home. The genome, sequenced by UCSF, turned out to be related to a strain circulating in Europe, specifically Italy and Switzerland. It was a curious finding until several weeks later when scientists determined that the outbreak rampaging through New York actually came from Europe, not China. Researchers also found the European strain had been circulating since late January, long before anyone previously suspected. Epidemiologists say it is another lesson in the importance of early sampling and genome testing. President Trump issued travel restrictions on China on Jan. 31, but did not restrict travel from Europe until March 11, long after the coronavirus had been introduced and begun spreading. You want to identify outbreaks before they blow up, Chiu said. Its a similar idea to DNA evidence opening up cold cases. If you dont have DNA, you dont have a case. Infectious disease specialists know, from genome comparisons, that this coronavirus originated in bats and made a single jump, through an intermediary probably a pangolin into humans between mid-November and mid-December. The evolution of the disease is what fascinates Melanie Ott, director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology. Because viruses try to be efficient, if something is not needed it gets deleted, Ott said. If the mutation makes the virus better, then that change is incorporated. She said this kind of natural selection continues even in the laboratory. It adapts in the lab, and we use this as a tool for adapting viruses to a cell culture to see what proteins have gone through changes, Ott said. This is very important for studying mutations, immunity and developing a vaccine. Scott Strazzante / The Chronicle Infectious disease specialists across the country have been pushing for more swab and antibody testing, genome sequencing and monitoring of victims. Chiu said there just arent enough samples to follow the disease as closely as we should during a pandemic. The more genomes we have, the more powerful, so there should be a global effort to sequence genomes, Chiu said. We need to be able to track the virus, and we need a better method for reporting and making this data publicly available so that everyone can leverage it. Were dealing with information that really contributes to public health. Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite The Italian soldier somehow still had a pulse. A snipers bullet had shattered his skull, leaving a crater that exposed his brain. Dr. Joe Costabile, a surgeon in the U.S. Naval Reserve Medical Corps, was waiting for him, just in case he could be saved. When he got to us, he had a severe head injury that wasnt survivable," he recalled. All we could really do was put him on a morphine drip, push him into a quiet area and allow him to expire peacefully." Costabile has worked at a trauma center in Camden. He is a general and vascular surgeon at two New Jersey medical facilities. And he spent a year-long deployment in Kuwait in 2005 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. There he witnessed catastrophic injuries that ranged from the Italian soliders head wound to the horrific sight of a pair of Marines whose bodies had been torn apart by an improvised explosive device, he said. But the 66-year-old Marlton resident had never experienced anything like the recent five-week stint he spent in the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis. Costabile was sent to Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn, a 320-bed public facility that had recently converted most of its wards into makeshift intensive care units to treat the surge of coronavirus patients. He encountered a nightmare and war-like conditions" at the BedfordStuyvesant hospital. The staff was overwhelmed. Resources were inadequate. People were dying despite life-support measures, only to be replaced by a flood of new patients needing to be placed on ventilators and dialysis. Its different than what we experienced in a true combat zone, where bullets are flying and mortars are going off," Costabile said. Youre dealing with an invisible enemy that can make you sick and kill you." Costabile is a general and vascular surgeon for the Virtua Surgical Group in Voorhees and at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden. He recently served as the 224th president of the Medical Society of New Jersey, the oldest professional society in the country. But for the past 15 years, hes been called to serve a series of missions as a member of the 4th Medical Battalion with the U.S. Marine Corps. Costabile joined the U.S. Navy Reserve in 1994 while doing his vascular fellowship. His initial thought was Id join for a couple of years and give my country some payback," he said. Now, 26 years later, hes a captain and doesnt have any regrets. He served as the head surgeon for the U.S. Military Hospital in Kuwait and was the chief of professional services for the 1st Medical Battalion Alpha Company at Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq. Its been a great experience, although it hasnt all been gravy," Costabile said. I will tell you that when I shuffle off this mortal coil, some of the high points for me are going to have been serving in the military." He was notified in mid-March that he could be needed to help during the coronavirus pandemic. The email gave Costabile three options: Serve at a medical facility in New York. Serve at one in California. Or check a box passing on a deployment at this time. That option," he said, was not for me." Costabile received a call from his commanding officer to fill out his orders on the first Saturday in April. Within 24 hours, he was at a U.S. Army base in Lakehurst with 325 reservists from the Department of Defense and transported by bus to New York. Their mission for the Armys Urban Augment Medical Task Force was to provide medical care and aid the staff in the 11 New York City hospitals hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic. Costabile figured he would be dispatched to the Navys hospital ship or to another mobilized facility that city officials had staged to support medical facilities overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. Instead, Costabile was sent to Woodhull. Midway through a 12-hour shift on his second night in the ICU, Costabile joined a team of military doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and other medical personnel for a meeting with his commanding officer. He told us, Normally when we go into battle, we know who the enemy is. But make no mistake about it. This is a war with an invisible enemy," Costabile said. He said, This is a different combat situation where us, as doctors and nurses, are the tip of the spear. Were basically the combatants." Surprised by how bad it was From 1,400 miles away in Sugarland, Texas, Angella Mudd believed reports of the COVID-19 crisis in New York were overblown. I was sure that the media was exaggerating," said Mudd, an Air Force lieutenant colonel. Then she was called to duty April 4. Roughly 12 hours after getting home from an emergency room shift at a Houston hospital, Mudd was dispatched to Joint Base McGuire-Dix and assigned the role of chief nurse for the Air Force members deployed to northern New Jersey, New York City and parts of Connecticut. When we initially got here, we were all kind of surprised by how bad it was," Mudd said. Like Costabile, Mudd is a reservist who was deployed during the Iraq War. And she doesnt mince words when describing the conditions she continues to face in New York City, home to more more than 191,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 20,000 coronavirus-related deaths. I will tell you that probably what I saw is worse than what I saw coming from the Middle East," Mudd said. I know some people have said, Well, this is what they signed up for. I agree to a certain point. But as military members, we were not prepared for this. It was shocking to see. Im an experienced emergency room and labor delivery nurse. After 28 years of doing this, I will say I was shocked at how sick they were (and) how quickly things went bad." As a chief nurse overseeing seven of New Yorks hardest-hit hospitals, Mudd has watched dozens of patients die in a given day. This deployment has been scarier" for her husband and four children than her stints in Iraq, Mudd said. "Its not like when you go to the Middle East, where you think you know who the enemy is,'' she said. Here the enemy could literally be a 2-year-old (contagious) child. You just dont know. Mudd was 39 years old when she enlisted and has been on reserve duty for 11 years. Since her typical orders last six months, she figures to be in New York through the summer. When were called, we jump," Mudd said. And sometimes when were not called on, its upsetting." Dr. Joseph Costabile, a U.S. Navy vascular surgeon, was deployed to a Brooklyn hospital last month at the peak of the pandemic. The Marlton native is the former president of the Medical Society of N.J. and has been deployed a number of times to set up medical/surgical support in war times.Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com A nightmare The worst day for Costabile came on a Sunday in mid-April. Two of the three people who needed life-support measures in his Woodhull ICU died. Three others needed to be put on ventilators during his 12-hour shift. That was brutal," he said. The experience taxed him in ways even serving as head surgeon at a military hospital could not. It probably wasnt as physically demanding as as being deployed to the Middle East," Costabile said, but emotionally it was pretty rough." As he did in previous deployments, Costabile would spend his downtime collecting his thoughts and writing about his experiences. The staff is dedicated and hardworking and they do their best, but the situation is overwhelming. Long shifts, nonstop admissions, patients intubated inadequate resources. It is a nightmare," he wrote in a blog last month. The patients are on ventilators, all of them are on vasopressors for blood pressure, many of them require dialysis. They are all heavily sedated. They require intensive care which is being given in regular patient rooms, battlefield conditions. In order to examine the patients, you have to wear head covering, plastic gown, gloves and goggles or face shield, N-95 masks covered with a regular surgical mask its like getting ready for deep space exploration. You enter the room, cramped and stuffy and examine the patient, make vent changes or whatever needs to be done and exit. The monitors are placed near the door of the rooms so the nurses dont have to get all geared up to check the vital signs. There are no visitors. They are not allowed in the hospital. We make daily calls to the families for updates. "Patients die surrounded by strangers who have desperately tried to save them. The frustration for those of us caring for the patients is enormous and exhausting. We do the best we can. Woodhull treated nearly 1,000 COVID-19 patients in April, according to Dr. Nejat Zeyneloglu, the chair of the hospitals department of medicine. The hospital normally has capacity for 24 critical-care patients, but officials at the northern Brooklyn medical center added 40 ICU beds to keep up with the surge. Were a medium-sized community hospital, and all of a sudden, we became a very large-sized hospital, Zeyneloglu said. I cant just speak for Dr. Costabile, but the whole Navy Reserves team did a fantastic job. They arrived when we needed them the most. It was almost impossible to manage without them. Costabile is home now, relaxing in self-quarantine alongside his wife, Yolanda, at his South Jersey home. He tested negative for the coronavirus after his five-week deployment ended May 10. Despite witnessing what he described as battlefield conditions," Costabile says hed do it again in a heartbeat. People will laugh because Id say, Yes,' without hesitation, Costabile said. But its because it needs to be done." Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here. People are also searching for quarantine birthday wishes. Google has been sharing Search trends over the past couple of weeks. In the past, Search trends have highlighted that people are increasingly looking for good news and ways to help others in their community. Now, new trends show that people are increasingly looking for ways to have virtual parties and send virtual hugs to their friends and family among other things. According to Google, people all around the world have been searching for how to stay connected more than ever before. The company says that last month, people searched for how to keep in touch four times more than they searched for how to keep your room clean. Sending love : From a virtual hug to quarantine birthday wishes , see how the world is searching to spread good vibes while inside https://t.co/91B0jLaVqT pic.twitter.com/5czLAEZby5 Google (@Google) May 18, 2020 There was also a significant surge in Search for virtual hugs, virtual flowers and quarantine birthday wishes. The company says that people in the Philippines searched for virtual hugs more than anywhere else in the past 30 days. A similar trend was witnessed in the case of virtual flowers in Australia. Meanwhile, people in India searched for quarantine birthday wishes. This search was the strongest in India compared to the rest of the world in the past 30 days. Apart from this, people all around the world are also searching for virtual dance party. Searches for virtual dance classes are surging but virtual dance party is two-stepping to the top, Google wrote in a Twitter thread. Lastly, the company said that people all over the world were also looking for ways to get together from a distance. The world is exploring ways to get together from a distance. In April, searches for tech that connects like group call and group watch hit all-time record highs worldwide, Google added in another Tweet. The New York Times will no longer use 3rd-party data to target ads come 2021, executives tell Axios, and it is building out a proprietary first-party data platform. Why it matters: Third-party data, which is collected from consumers on other websites, is being phased out of the ad ecosystem because it's not considered privacy-friendly. This has forced several big publications to rely on their own first-party data, or data that they collect directly from their users. Beginning in July, The Times will begin to offer clients 45 new proprietary first-party audience segments to target ads. Those segments are broken up into 6 categories: age (age ranges, generation), income (HHI, investable assets, etc.), business (level, industry, retirement, etc.), demo (gender, education, marital status, etc.) and interest (fashion, etc.) By the second half of the year, The Times plans to introduce at least 30 more interest segments. "This can only work because we have 6 million subscribers and millions more registered users that we can identify and because we have a breadth of content," says Allison Murphy, Senior Vice President of Ad Innovation. Murphy notes that the company has invested significantly in building out the proprietary targeting solution. "We hired a large team specifically to support this year of a dozen people. The effort has touched at least 50 people and many more in every part of company to get this to work." Between the lines: The effort is part of a greater push to a privacy-friendly experience from The New York Times. Last year, Axios reported that the company's marketing team will no longer use tracking pixels from Facebook and Twitter to track its users' browser history. The big picture: Many online publishers still use third-party data, which is collected from consumers on other websites using tracking tools, to target consumers with ads. But changes to major web browsers to crack down on third-party data collection and new internet privacy rules are making that practice less viable. Yes, but: Not all publishers have the scale, or user trust, to build out their own first-party data sets. Murphy notes: "While a differentiator and I'm thrilled about it, this isn't a path available for every publishers, especially not local who dont have the scale of resources for building from scratch.." Be smart: Other publishers like Vox Media and The Washington Post have also begun building out first-party data solutions in response to the growing industry backlash against using third-party data to target ads. A former National Democratic Congress(NDC) Member of Parliament(MP) for Nabdam constituency in the Upper East region Moses Aduku Asaga has expressed doubts over an easy win for his party and the governing New Patriotic Party in the upcoming elections. Describing the 2020 elections as one that is close to call, the one time Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the National Petroleum Authority(NPA) believes Ghanas two major political parties will face-off in a tight battle for victory. For the national elections, Ill say it is close to call. It is going to be a tight race, he said on Bolgatanga based A1 Radio monitored by MyNewsGh.com. When pushed by host of the program Samuel Mbura whether he doubts his party would win the elections, he retorted But Ive also not said the NPP will win. Mr. Asaga who lost the 2012 parliamentary elections to the New Patriotic Partys Boniface Gambila stated emphatically that his successor won by virtue of prevailing circumstances at that time, bringing to an end his 16 year reign as Member of Parliament for the Nabdam constituency. Boniface Gambila came for only one term and he was removed. It meant that he wasnt the natural successor of Moses Asaga, he said. He stated that The good people of Nabdam have seen that I worked hard for them because Nabdam never qualified to get a District. Even if we are talking about a constituency we are among the smallest in Ghana. So for you to be given a district meant that their son Moses Asaga was able to lobby parliament and the ministry of local government to get them the District. A few people may dispute this but that is for political nuances. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Sacramento. Stevante Clark booked into Sacramento County Jail on aggravated battery charges Stevante Clark, the brother of Stephon Clark, an unarmed black man whose 2018 shooting by Sacramento police received national attention, has been arrested on domestic violence charges. Read the full story on CBS13 CBS Sacramento. Sacramento Kings to furlough workers for 4 months beginning June Kings President John Rinehart said the team "delayed this for as long as possible." The team said in April that full-time employees would be paid through May. Read the full story on ABC10. Sacramento Zoo wanted to reopen with coronavirus protocols, but county pulled approval The Sacramento Zoo closed to visitors on March 13 to slow the coronavirus spread. Read the full story on The Sacramento Bee. Family celebrates fallen officer Tara O'Sullivan's birthday with Sacramento police Fallen Sacramento Police Officer Tara O'Sullivan would have celebrated a birthday Monday, so her family made a special delivery to Sacramento police in her honor. Read the full story on CBS13 CBS Sacramento. Sleep Train Arena field hospital goes into standby mode Sacramento's old Sleep Train Arena, which was converted into a field hospital in anticipation of a surge of coronavirus patients, is now going into standby mode. Read the full story on KCRA 3. This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback. A 64-year-old woman and her daughter, who returned from Delhi last week, tested positive for COVID-19 in Manipur on Tuesday, taking the total number of active coronavirus cases in the state to seven, officials said. The daughter, 23, took her mother to Delhi for an eye surgery in February and they were staying in a rented accommodation in the Kotla Mubarakpur area of the national capital. The woman underwent the surgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and they last visited the hospital on April 8 for consultation with the doctor, officials said. They hail from Kamjong district and both of them are asymptomatic, the officials added. They came back in a bus along with 18 other people on May 16. They boarded the bus at Safdarjung in Delhi on May 14 and entered Manipur through the Mao Gate on the state's border with Nagaland. The mother and daughter were in isolation at the IIIT Government Quarantine Centre in Mantripukhri after returning to the northeastern state. After their COVID-19 test results came in, they were shifted to the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, where they are currently undergoing treatment, the officials said. The test results of the other passengers on the bus are awaited, they added. Manipur has reported nine coronavirus cases so far and two persons have already recovered. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Attorney General William Barr said Monday that he did not expect the prosecutor he handpicked to review the 2016 FBI investigation into President Donald Trump's campaign would investigate former President Barack Obama or former Vice president Joe Biden - an assertion likely to dismay Trump and his conservative allies. Barr's comment came at a news conference to discuss last year's shooting at a U.S. military base in Pensacola, Florida. A reporter asked about Trump suggesting publicly in recent weeks that top officials in the Obama administration, including the former president, had committed crimes. While noting he was not taking aim at Trump's comments specifically, Barr lambasted what he called the "increasing attempts to use the criminal justice system as a political weapon." "The legal tactic has been to gin up allegations of criminality by one's political opponents based on the flimsiest of legal theories," Barr said. "This is not a good development." He then specifically dismissed the idea that Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham - who has been examining how the FBI handled the 2016 investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the election - would look at Obama or Biden. "As to President Obama and Vice President Biden, whatever their level of involvement, based on the information I have today, I don't expect Mr. Durham's work will lead to a criminal investigation of either man," Barr said. "Our concern over potential criminality is focused on others." He declined to say who Durham was focused on. Trump and his allies have begun suggesting Obama and other top officials in his administration broke the law during the Russia investigation - a conspiracy theory they have dubbed "Obamagate" - particularly in their treatment of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. Barr's comments seem to suggest, though, that he does not want the U.S. law enforcement apparatus to be drawn in to another political squabble. "We cannot allow this process to be hijacked by efforts to drum up criminal investigations of either candidate," Barr said, referring to Trump and Biden, Trump's presumptive Democratic opponent. Barr has in the past sought to publicly warn Trump about getting too involved in Justice Department business. In February, for example, he went on ABC News to declare Trump's tweets about Justice Department business "make it impossible for me to do my job," and the attorney general privately told people close to Trump he had considered resigning over the matter. Barr also issued formal guidance to the Justice Department earlier this year that any investigations of presidential candidates first need his approval. But Barr's words have sometimes outstripped his actions. His ABC News interview came after Trump had tweeted about the criminal case against his longtime friend Roger Stone, just before Barr personally intervened in the case to reduce the sentencing recommendation that career prosecutors had given to a judge. Despite Barr's warning, Trump has continued to tweet and talk about Justice Department cases, and Barr has remained attorney general. The attorney general also has given several U.S. attorneys special commissions to look into matters of interest to Trump. Durham, for example, is broadly exploring the Russia investigation. Jeff Jensen, the U.S. attorney in St. Louis, is examining the prosecution of Flynn. Scott Brady, the U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh, was tasked with taking information from Trump's personal lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, and others wanting to provide the Justice Department with material alleging wrongdoing related to Biden, his family and their dealings in Ukraine. Trump has long wanted criminal charges against those he considers political rivals - especially former FBI director James Comey and former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe - and has been frustrated that Barr's Justice Department has been unwilling to bring such cases. In recent weeks, Trump has seized on developments in the Flynn case to turn his attention to Obama and Biden. At Jensen's recommendation, the Justice Department moved to undo Flynn's guilty plea to lying to the FBI about his conversations with a Russian diplomat. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan is considering that matter and has appointed a retired federal judge to oppose the Justice Department's position. Trump told Fox News that he had "read legal scholars" and they "can't believe" what Sullivan was doing to Flynn. On the same day of the Justice Department's move to drop Flynn's case, Trump's top intelligence adviser, Richard Grenell, visited the Justice Department to deliver a list - which he had just declassified - of former Obama administration officials including Biden, who made requests during the presidential transition that would ultimately "unmask" Flynn's name in National Security Agency files. There is nothing wrong with such requests: Unmasking is a routine practice used to identify U.S. individuals who are referred to anonymously in intelligence documents, and it is meant to help government officials better understand what they are reading. But Trump and his supporters seized on the documents to allege wrongdoing. Trump last week urged Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to call Obama to testify about what he dubbed "the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA." Graham cast doubt on whether that would be a good idea. Trump has been unable to articulate what crime he thinks has been committed. "You know what the crime is," he told a reporter who pressed him for details last week. More recently, Trump suggested to Fox News, without evidence, that "treason" had been committed, and more forcefully reiterated his calls to prosecute those he considers political foes. "People should be going to jail for this stuff," he said, adding later, "This was all Obama. This was all Biden. These people were corrupt. The whole thing was corrupt. And we caught them. We caught them." Even as Barr said Durham would not likely investigate Obama and Biden, he seemed to add fuel to some of Trump's long-standing attacks on the Russia investigation, asserting that law enforcement and intelligence officials were involved in "a false and utterly baseless Russian collusion narrative against the president." "It was a grave injustice, and it was unprecedented in American history," Barr said. But, referencing the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn the convictions of two of former New Jersey governor Chris Christie's political allies in the "Bridgegate" case, Barr asserted, "there's a difference between an abuse of power and a federal crime." "It cannot be and it will not be a tit-for-tat exercise," Barr said. China Angle: Has the Outbreak Woken Up the Europeans? Welcome to the China Angle. I am Simone Gao. In a sense, the pandemic is a world war. In the European war zone, a sort of Winston Churchill is needed, one who sees whats really at stake at this time, and is able to act courageously and single mindedly to defeat the enemy in both the short- and long- term. Besides the virus itself, the pandemic is a warning, a wake up call about Communist China. If it failed to wake up the Europeans, I am afraid that what would really do a long-term disservice to Europe would not have been the armies of the Nazi party, but the money of the Communist regime. Mingling with the Communist Party has not only plunged us into this physical and financial plight, but also corrupted humanity to its core. America has largely woken up, now it is Europes turn. How are they doing? Lets explore in this episode of the China Angle. Part 1: The False Image of a Savior The Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, had already been slowly creeping into Europe for years before the outbreak hit. Now, it is portraying the role of an infallible savior. If you dont agree with them. Here is what happens. On April 24, when the New York Times reported that Beijing was threatening the European Union about a new report. That report is titled Short Assessment of Narratives and Disinformation around the COVID-19 Pandemic. It was written by the European External Action Service, which is part of the EU. The report pointed out that both China and Russia spread disinformation about the pandemic. According to the Times, the original wording said China deflected blame and acted to improve its image. However, when the EU report was published, the same day as the Times article, all language against China had suddenly become much softer. One paragraph about Chinas world-wide disinformation was reportedly removed all together. The following day, Politico published an article citing three sources who said that Chinese diplomats pressured the EU to tone down the language. However, a spokesperson from the action services told The Hill that the claims are false. Nonetheless, there is already evidence that the regime has carried out disinformation campaigns on Western social media, and it may also be influencing the WHO. If the claims are true, why would the CCP work to water down the report? In this case, its because the CCP can not have their image soured as they attempt to swoop in and provide all the medical equipment that European countries need to weather the pandemic. Communist ideology outwardly purports itself as the savior of humanity, and this behavior is right in line with that narrative. The party, in fact, is only acting to save itself, no matter the cost to the rest of the world. But what about these non-communist nations in Europe, or even ones who have had their countries and culture ravaged by communism? As we already know, the CCP, or any communist regime for that matter, maintains image above all else. But why would other nations go along with it? Well, that all comes down to one word: money. Part 2: Blood and Gold, Communisms True Colors The CCP needs money. It needs the rest of the world to buy its products. A telling example, and another change of disguise, happened recently with a previous China hot topic: Huawei. The founder and former CEO, named Ren Zhengfei, is out. His daughter is Meng Wanzhou; she is the CFO of Huawei who is still under arrest in Canada. According to Chinese state media reports, Ren and five other senior officials all left their positions on April 10th. Why, at a time when Huawei is attempting to push 5G to as many countries as possible, would so many senior managers leave? Well, the answer may exactly be just that. Huawei may be attempting to change its image, to put on a new disguise so that it can distance itself from its CFO being under house arrest for months. After all, Huawei has marginally lower quality 5G services at a much cheaper price, since the CCP subsidizes it so heavilyall it needs is a clean image. Even though the United States has warned time after time of Huaweis national security concerns, some nations have their eyes on the same thing as the communist salesman: money. China promises these countries all the material benefits they could want, from infrastructure to high-tech telecommunications. It comes at a price much more reasonable than the country could manage itself. On top of that, if China swoops in, appearing to be a savior and offering medical supplies during a disaster, that may be just the trick to get an uninformed bureaucrat prepared to sign away his country. But, has that actually happened? Well, Chinas Belt-and-Road initiative, also called BRI, which some analysts have described as debt-trap diplomacy, is already happening inside Europe. For reference, the countries shown in red have accepted BRI investment from China. The deeper the red, the larger the BRI investment is compared to other Chinese investment. But what does the BRI do? The BRI offers massive infrastructure projects to foreign nations. In most cases, they are nations which can not manage such massive projects on their own. However, the debt of some of these projects far outweighs the countrys ability to make money and repay it. This debt has already been traded-in by some countries for land ownership; China is indirectly buying up a countrys land with the BRI. So in Europe, who is the CCP victimizing, and how are they doing it? The BRI investment could indeed serve as a guide. With that in mind, lets look at some instances of countries who are not going along with the CCP narrative. In this illustration, countries in green have had news reports showing their stance at least somewhat against the CCP. Yellow nations have mixed responses, and nations in red have had reports of close partnerships with the communist regime. Recently, Sweden closed all of the Confucius institutes inside its borders, according to Swedish media. These institutes appear as cultural education programs, but are actually proxy-propaganda centers for the CCP, located inside university campuses. Further, Sweden has ended all of its sister-city agreements with China. Relationships between Sweden and China first began turning poor when a Chinese-Swedish author vanished while in Thailand. He later was sentenced to 10 years in prison inside China. Money seemed to not sway Sweden, as it has received the 8th most foreign investment from China of all European nations, according to World Bank Numbers [From 2000-2018]. Further, Sweden is not part of the BRI. Another example is Ireland. Ireland purchased a 200 million Euro shipment of personal protective equipment from China. 20% of that was deemed unusable. Another 15% was deemed only suitable as backup. Irelands Health Services said that if future quality was not guaranteed, then there would be no future PPE business. Ireland has received the 14th most investment from China, but none of it was for the BRI. Further, Denmark has taken a clear stance with respect to the pandemic. A political cartoon published in one of Denmarks newspapers replaced the stars on Chinas flag with coronaviruses. The Chinese embassy in Denmark called for the image to be censored, yet Denmarks Prime Minister defended the newspapers freedom of speech. Denmark is also not involved in the BRI, and has the 25th most investment from China. Others include Britain, who has no BRI investment, and has said that it will not be business as usual with China in the future. However, the foreign ministry said that Huawei wont necessarily be removed from the UK. That stance on Huawei may be explained by investment, as Britain has by far the most Chinese investmentover 22% of all Chinese investment in Europeaccording to Heritage Foundation data. It also has the second highest GDP in Europe. Only Switzerland and France have not taken BRI money and taken a stance friendly with China; Switzerland shut down a pro-Tibet protest in a small mountain town. Switzerland has the second most Chinese investment, but by far the highest investment per capita. For every Swiss citizen, China has invested over $72,000 in Switzerland. France appeared to quietly resolve a spat between President Macron and the Chinese consulate, which insulted Frances response to the outbreak. As for the BRI (Belt and Road Initiatives) nations, none have taken an open stance against China, with some directly siding with the communist regime. Serbias president said there was a steel friendship between his country and China. About 83% of all Chinas investment into Serbia has been through the BRI. Serbia also has the 10th most Chinese investment in Europe, but has the 27th highest GDP on the continent. Chinas total investment in Serbia is 20 times the countrys GDP. All the other nations which have received 100% of their Chinese investment from the BRI have not taken an openly critical stance of the regime. Most of them are in South-Eastern Europe. Could it be that Chinese money is keeping these nations tongue tied? What we can say for sure is that China is using the current disaster for political maneuvering, ultimately to ensure its survival. Its subsistence for years has been feeding off the outside world, by exporting mass quantities of low-priced products. Now it is attempting to use the disaster to its advantage. This has been the China Angle, Im Simone Gao, thanks for watching. Subscribe for updates on YouTube and follow us on Facebook. Official website: https://www.ntd.com/zooming-in Follow Simone on Twitter: @ZoomingIn_NTD. Download our new podcast, now available on iTunes, Spotify, and Google. The N.J. Labor Department said tens of thousands of workers are making mistakes that are inadvertently stopping their unemployment benefits. NJDOL continues to see tens of thousands of customers per week responding to one or more certification questions in a way that makes their claim ineligible for benefits under federal law, the agency said in a press release. These errors cause claimants (to) see a sudden halt in their benefit payments." "A claims agent must amend these claims to make benefits payable again, Labor said. Thats why the agency weeks ago created a cheat sheet to tell workers how to answer certification questions to make sure there are no payment delays. Labor now requires workers to check off a box saying they read the guide before they can proceed to the certification process. The Labor Department also said it made nearly 140,000 additional claimants newly eligible for expanded unemployment benefits, including a significant group of workers who had inadvertently suspended their benefits because of how they responded to the federally mandated weekly certification questions. CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Businesses that are open | Homepage The Labor Department also reiterated what will happen for those who have already exhausted their unemployment benefits, as reported by NJ Advance Media on Monday. It said agents have started to review these claims, and some eligible workers are starting to be notified that theyre eligible for the additional 13-weeks of benefits under the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program. These workers are being notified via email and text message that, if eligible, they will be able to certify for weekly benefits according to a schedule based on their Social Security number, Labor said. The first group will be able to certify starting Sunday. This process will continue for several weeks. Once approved, Labor said, workers will be able to certify for any back benefits for weeks dating to March 28. They will also be able to claim the additional $600 weekly payment starting with the week ending April 4. That benefit lasts until the end of July. It said payments generally arrive two business days after certifying, while the $600 payments arrive separately a few days later. We have completed the modifications to allow our unemployment insurance systems to process these applications, Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo said in the statement. Many of these workers were unemployed before the pandemic began, and the current health crisis has obviously made their job search exponentially more difficult. We are pleased to able to now offer both extended benefits and the $600 weekly supplemental payment through the week of July 25, to help these workers through this difficult time. The department said it estimates that by mid-June, it will be processing more than 1 million unemployment claims per week, or approximately 180,000 payments per day. As of last week, the agency had paid out $2.5 billion in unemployment benefits to more than 725,000 workers since the start of the coronavirus crisis. About 1.1 million New Jerseyans have applied for benefits. 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 country's Coronavirus case count has risen to 5,918 from 5,735 on Tuesday morning. This means 183 additional cases have been recorded. Unfortunately, two more deaths have been recorded putting the number of deceased as at May 19, 2020 to 31. This was published by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) on its website on Tuesday morning, May 19. However, there has not been any new recovery in the last two days after the last recovery count of 1,754 on Saturday, May 16. The Greater Accra region has recorded 108 additional cases, Ashanti region 63 more positive cases, Central 2 more and the Eastern region hitting the 100 mark from 99. The Volta region moved from 34 to 41 cases and the Oti region recording 2 more cases to record 26 now. Per the GHS statistics, only Savannah, Ahafo and Bono East remain the Regions without a confirmed case of Covid-19. Regional breakdown Greater Accra Region - 4,422 Ashanti Region - 881 Central Region - 212 Eastern Region - 100 Western Region - 98 Western North Region - 57 Volta Region - 41 Northern Region - 31 Oti Region - 26 Upper East Region - 26 Upper West Region - 21 North East Region - 2 Bono Region - 1 Savannah Region - 0 Ahafo Region - 0 Bono East Region - 0 Breakdown of regional recorded cases Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video English Norwegian SalMar ASA reported an Operational EBIT of NOK 1,065 million for the first quarter of 2020. This is the highest ever achieved in the companys history. In the same period of 2019, Operational EBIT came to NOK 806 million. For the SalMar Group, the first quarter was very good. We posted the highest ever Operational EBIT in the companys history, achieved through strong underlying operations, high volumes and good prices. Central Norway in particular distinguished itself through solid performance in the quarter, says SalMars CEO Gustav Witze. Gross operating revenues came to just over NOK 3.6 billion for the quarter, up 22 per cent on the same quarter of 2019. SalMar harvested 40,000 tonnes in the first quarter, up from 35,500 tonnes in the corresponding period last year. Operational EBIT per kg came to NOK 26.61 for the first quarter, up from NOK 22.71 per kg for the first quarter of 2019. The increase is attributable to higher prices and a larger harvested volume. Fish Farming Central Norway posted good results for the period on the back of sound operations. A more even spread of the harvested volume and higher spot prices resulted in considerably better price achievement than for the previous quarter. The bulk of the fish harvested in the first quarter were from the autumn 2018 generation. In the second quarter, more fish deriving from the spring-2019 generation will be harvested. These have demonstrated good biological performance. SalMar therefore expects the segment to report lower costs and a slightly higher harvested volume in the second quarter of 2020 than in the first. Fish Farming Northern Norways results for the quarter were affected by higher harvesting costs at sites suffering from ISA. However, the segment achieved a considerably better operating margin than in previous quarters due to cost improvements and increased spot prices. The sites affected by ISA have now been emptied out, and SalMar expects the segment to report a slightly lower harvested volume and lower costs for the second quarter this year. The first quarter of 2020 was challenging for Arnarlax. The segment experienced a high rate of mortality as a result of winter wounds, which resulted in a large volume of fish being harvested in a period of poor weather conditions and low sea temperatures. This led to high costs. In the second quarter this year, harvesting from same generation will continue and SalMar therefore expects significantly lower volume and weak margins for the second quarter. Through the first quarter the Sales and Processing segment achieved good capacity utilisation and effective operations, which have provided good margins for SalMars harvesting and secondary processing operations. The segment also secured favourable placement of volumes at spot prices in a quarter characterised by high prices. Nevertheless, the segment reported an Operational EBIT of NOK -17 million, after a negative contribution from fixed-price contracts. Some 24 per cent of the volume was sold under fixed-price contracts in the first quarter of 2020. The contract rate for the second quarter is 25 per cent, while it stands at 20 per cent for the year as a whole. Contract prices are slightly higher than the level in 2019. The corona pandemic (covid-19) has created significant uncertainty for world trade, and changes in consumer behaviour and transport patterns are affecting several markets. SalMar is closely monitoring developments in the various markets and is constantly assessing measures to adjust its production. SalMar has a solid financial position and good flexibility in its supply chain, which ensures that the company is well equipped to handle changes in the market. As a result of the covid-19 situation and the prevailing uncertainty with regard to its consequences going forward, SalMars board of directors decided in March to cancel the proposed dividend distribution to shareholders. Despite the uncertainty, SalMar strongly believe in further growth of the aquaculture industry. The company is therefore continuing its investment projects as planned, including the construction of the InnovaNor harvesting and processing plant in Northern Norway and the smolt production facility on Senja. SalMar maintains its expectations to harvest 152,000 tonnes in Norway: 103,000 tonnes in Central Norway and 49,000 tonnes in Northern Norway and 12,000 tonnes in Iceland in 2020. The full report and presentation for the first quarter of 2020 are attached. SalMars CEO Gustav Witze and CFO & COO Trine S. Romuld will present the companys results today from 8am CEST via a webcast on www.salmar.no. For further information, please contact: CEO Gustav Witze, Tel: +47 911 47 834 Email: gustav.witzoe@salmar.no CFO & COO Trine Sther Romuld, Tel: + 47 991 63 632 Email: trine.romuld@salmar.no About SalMar SalMar is one of the worlds largest and most efficient producers of farmed salmon. The Group has farming operations in Central Norway, Northern Norway and Iceland, as well as substantial harvesting and secondary processing operations in Norway, at InnovaMar in Frya and Vikenco in Aukra. SalMar also owns 50 per cent of the shares in Scottish Sea Farms Ltd. See also www.salmar.no for more information about the company. This information is subject to the disclosure requirements stipulated in section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. Attachments Fifth nonresident seafood worker tests positive for coronavirus in Alaska by Lex Treinen A seafood worker has tested positive for the coronavirus. Its the fifth nonresident, seafood worker to test positive in Alaska, according to the state Department of Health and Social Services. In a news release, the department said the worker was still in quarantine in Anchorage. Under new state guidelines released Friday, people traveling to Alaska to work in a seafood processing plant have several options for quarantining, including staying in larger cities, such as Anchorage or Juneau, for two weeks prior to departing to their destination communities. The new case is the 10th nonresident to test positive for the virus in Alaska. On Sunday, the state also announced the 11th positive case of the coronavirus among staff at Juneaus Lemon Creek Correctional Center. Last week, the state Department of Corrections said all inmates and staff would be tested for the virus. The health department said in Sundays new release that the remainder of those results will be back soon. The number of Alaskans who have tested positive for the coronavirus increased by four by Sunday. Two of those cases were from Anchorage, one was the Lemon Creek staff member in Juneau and the fourth was from Homer. That brings the total case count among Alaskans to 396, with 344 recoveries so far. Alaska Public Media 2019. All rights reserved. Theme(s): Others. Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Nepals relationship with India is based on the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship that provides for an open border and right to work for Nepali nationals. (Reuters) Nepal's Cabinet has endorsed a new political map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura under its territory, amidst a border dispute with India. The move announced by Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali came weeks after he said that efforts were on to resolve the border issue with India through diplomatic initiatives. Nepal's ruling Nepal Communist Party lawmakers have also tabled a special resolution in Parliament demanding return of Nepal's territory in Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh. The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a disputed border area between Nepal and India. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory - India as part of Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district. Gyawali said that the official map of Nepal will soon be made public by the Ministry of Land Management. Decision of the Council of Ministers to publish the map of Nepal in 7 provinces, 77 districts and 753 local level administrative divisions including Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani, he wrote on Twitter on Monday. Gyawali last week summoned the Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra and handed over a diplomatic note to him to protest against the construction of a key road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand. India has said that the recently-inaugurated road section in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand lies completely within its territory. Nepal's Finance minister and government spokesperson Yuvaraj Khatiwada on Monday said that the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli has approved the new political map of the country. It was presented by Minister for Land Management Padma Aryal at a Cabinet meeting for endorsement at the official residence of Prime Minister Oli at Baluwatar here on Monday. The government said it will soon publicise the new political map that incorporates the territories unilaterally kept by India on its side of the border. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai said that the Cabinet's decision will be written in golden letters. However, senior ruling party leader and member of Nepal Communist Party Standing Committee Ganesh Shah said the new move may escalate unnecessary tension between Nepal and India at a time when the country is fighting the coronavirus. "The Nepal government should soon start a dialogue with India to resolve the matter through political and diplomatic moves," he said. The new map includes 335-km land area including Limpiyadhura in the Nepalese territory. The new map was drawn on the basis of the Sugauli Treaty of 1816 signed between Nepal and then the British India government and other relevant documents, which suggests Limpiyadhura, from where the Kali river originated, is Nepal's border with India, The Kathmandu Post quoted an official at the Ministry of Land Reform and Management as saying. President Bidhya Bhandari, addressing Parliament last week, reiterated that Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh belong to Nepal and appropriate diplomatic measures will be adopted to resolve the existing issues with India. India and Nepal are at a row after the Indian side issued a new political map incorporating Kalapani and Lipulekh on its side of the border in October last year. The tension further escalated after India inaugurated a road link connecting Kailash Mansarovar, a holy pilgrimage site situated at Tibet, China, that passes through the territory belonging to Nepal. The 80-Km new road inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier this month is expected to help pilgrims visiting Kailash-Mansarovar in Tibet in China as it is around 90 kms from the Lipulekh pass. "The road follows the pre-existing route used by the pilgrims of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra," spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said in New Delhi recently. A UK charity set up to provide hot meals to NHS staff working in Covid-19 wards has delivered 2,300 meals to three Belfast hospitals in less than a month. The Meals for the NHS initiative was extended to Northern Ireland last month. Dentist Eadaoin McKearney from Dungannon is appealing for donations to support the charitys work. Launched in the UK in March, Meals for the NHS supplied food to hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales. From April 27 this has included the Royal Victoria, Mater and Ulster Hospitals. Ms McKearney said with help from the public, the charity could extend its reach to other hospitals. She added: Meals for the NHS is now supplying the Royal Victoria, Mater and Ulster Hospitals with 50 hot meals every evening in partnership with 12 food providers in and around Belfast. When the charity was first launched it received a lot of publicity and celebrity endorsements and became well-known amongst the general public there quickly. As it supplied meals to hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales but not Northern Ireland, naturally enough not many people here were aware of it. Before the lockdown I worked in a dental practice in Newcastle but came home to Dungannon after that. We have been working hard to get Meals for the NHS set up here and so far it has been going really well. The staff at the three hospitals we are delivering to have sent us some really touching messages about how much it means to them to get a hot meal. The charity buys the meals from local restaurants and food outlets and delivers them to each of the hospitals but its work is dependent on public donations. Ms McKearney added: As I am from Northern Ireland, I really wanted to get this charity up and running here and we have done well but I feel if people here were more aware of us we could continue to supply for a longer period of time. Most of the money donated to us has come through our website and that would be the easiest way for people here to donate as well. We are non-profit-making so every penny we get goes to getting hot meals to these very brave NHS front line workers. Wearing a mask in Wisconsin may not yet have garnered the type of partisan vitriol seen in Washington, D.C., but that may be changing. The mask has begun to be seen as a symbol, on the right, of blindly submitting to government authority, and on the left, a sign of compassion. When I see somebody thats 20, 30 years old, and in their late teens I think its more of a political thing for them, said Tim Garcia, a 41-year-old project manager from Beaver Dam who supports President Donald Trump. In their eyes, I think it shows that it makes them think that they care more about the well-being of other people, to try to stop this whole thing. Guidance on mask-wearing from public health experts has at times been confusing. Today, however, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing a cloth face mask in public settings in areas with significant community-based transmission where social distancing is hard to maintain, such as grocery stores, pharmacies or a busy street. The CDC began recommending public mask-wearing after studies showed that COVID-19 can be spread by people showing no symptoms. Ramallah, May 19 : Palestinian authorities have decided to relax part of the anti-coronavirus measures that have been been imposed in the West Bank since March 5. The decision came as seven new cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the Palestinian territories on Monday night, Xinhua news agency quoted Health Minister Mai al-Kaila as saying. Al-Kaila said that the number of the COVID-19 cases has reached 567, while 108 were still under medical treatment. Meanwhile, Mahmoud al-Habbash, the supreme judge of Palestine, announced that all courts in the West Bank districts will fully operate after their closure since March 5. "The decision to reopen all courts in the West Bank was made in accordance with the decision of the Palestinian cabinet to reopen all ministries and governmental establishments in districts that are not infected," he said. The Palestinian Authority has started to partially ease the anti-coronavirus measures, such as reopening stores and relaxing restrictions on inter-city transport. However, the government also decided to ban the movement between cities and towns during the upcoming Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramzan. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump may have fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick because he was investigating U.S. military sales to Saudi Arabia, Democratic lawmakers said on Monday, although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he sought Linick's removal because his work was undermining the department. By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump may have fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick because he was investigating U.S. military sales to Saudi Arabia, Democratic lawmakers said on Monday, although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he sought Linick's removal because his work was undermining the department. Trump announced the planned removal of Linick in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi late on Friday. He was the fourth government inspector general that the Republican president has ousted in recent weeks. Pompeo told the Washington Post in an interview that he had asked Trump to fire Linick, while declining to describe specific concerns. Pompeo said no reason had to be given, a statement that contradicted members of Congress' interpretation of the inspector general law. "Just like every presidentially confirmed position, I can terminate them. They serve at his pleasure for any reason or no reason," Pompeo told the newspaper. I went to the president and made clear to him that Inspector General Linick wasnt performing a function in a way that we had tried to get him to, that was additive for the State Department," Pompeo said. Another State official also told the Post that concern over Linick had grown because of leaks to the news media about investigations, although there was no evidence Linick was responsible for the leaks. Representative Eliot Engel, chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and Senator Bob Menendez, ranking member on Senate Foreign Relations, said Linick had been investigating Trump's declaration of a national emergency last year to clear the way for $8 billion in military sales, mostly to Saudi Arabia. Engel and Menendez announced on Saturday they were launching an investigation of Linick's firing. On Monday, Engel disclosed Linick's probe into the Saudi arms sales. "I have learned that there may be another reason for Mr. Linicks firing. His office was investigating - at my request - Trumps phony declaration of an emergency so he could send weapons to Saudi Arabia," Engel said in a statement. "We dont have the full picture yet, but its troubling that Secretary (Mike) Pompeo wanted Mr. Linick pushed out before this work could be completed," he said, calling on the administration to comply with the probe and turn over records by Friday. The White House, State Department and Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to questions about Engel's statement, first reported by the Washington Post. Congressional aides had also said Linick was investigating whether Pompeo misused a taxpayer-funded political appointee to perform personal tasks for himself and his wife, such as walking their dog. REPUBLICANS ALSO HAVE QUESTIONS Trump infuriated many members of Congress last May, including some fellow Republicans, by declaring a national emergency related to tensions with Iran in order to sidestep Congressional review and push ahead with $8 billion in military sales, mostly to Saudi Arabia. The House and Senate both passed resolutions to block the sales. But Trump, a staunch promoter of both U.S. arms sales and the relationship with Saudi Arabia, vetoed them, and there was not enough support in the Republican-led Senate to override. Menendez said he believed Linick was close to coming to a conclusion in his investigation of the arms sales. "There's a lot here that the inspector general was obviously renewing and in the totality, it's an alarming circumstance," Menendez said on MSNBC. Some Republicans also expressed concern. Senator Chuck Grassley wrote to Trump and renewed his call for a detailed written explanation for terminating the inspectors general. Representative Michael McCaul, top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs committee, was looking into the matter, a spokeswoman said. "The State Department Inspector General performs essential oversight of the department, so it raises questions when one is removed," said Leslie Shedd, spokeswoman for the committee Republicans. Trump replaced Linick with Stephen Akard, the official in charge of the Office of Foreign Missions who is considered a close ally of Vice President Mike Pence. U.S. law allows a president to remove inspector generals, who act as watchdogs to expose waste or improper activities within government agencies. Explaining Linick's firing to Pelosi, Trump said only that he no longer had "fullest confidence" in Linick. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Mary Milliken and Tom Brown) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. France's highest court has told the government that it must lift current restrictions on places of worship within 8 days. The court called the ban on church gatherings disproportionate and said it was a serious and obviously illegal attack on people's religious freedom. In an unexpected ruling on Monday, the government was told to lift the wide-ranging and absolute ban on meetings in places of worship and impose new measures more in proportion with the risk factor and in line with the easing of lockdown. Religious people from many faiths were disappointed when restrictions on places of worship largely remained in place on May 11th although they were relaxed in other areas of life to help boost the economy. The new ruling means that churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship can organize greater activities from next week at the latest. Flexibility Under the new arrangements, it is likely that there will be no maximum number of people allowed in a place of worship but numbers will be limited according to the size of the building and the feasibility of social distancing. Ten people in Reims Cathedral is completely different to 10 people in a small country church, said Vincent Neymon, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops Conference of France. The organization had previously drawn up a list of ideas to protect the public within catholic churches, such as administering communion using tweezers and equipping churches with hand sanitizer. The president of France's small Christian Democrat party, Jean-Frederic Poisson was among the plaintiffs who took the case to the court but the news is likely to be welcomed by all faiths. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian's Regular Press Conference on May 19, 2020 2020/05/19 CCTV: President Xi Jinping delivered a speech via videolink at the opening ceremony of the 73rd World Health Assembly yesterday. Could you tell us what messages were sent out to the international community? Zhao Lijian: Yesterday President Xi Jinping delivered a speech via videolink at the opening ceremony of the 73rd World Health Assembly. Championing the vision of building a global community of health for all, President Xi expounded China's response to COVID-19 and put forward a series of important proposals and measures, demonstrating very practical and far-reaching significance in boosting global confidence, promoting international cooperation and outlining future global governance system. Here I'd like to emphasize three points. First, we need to focus on fighting the pandemic and work together. The global situation remains complex and grave, and fighting the pandemic is a top priority. All countries should put people's lives first and stem the global spread of the virus as soon as possible. China calls on upholding WHO's leadership role. To support WHO is to support international cooperation, to support saving lives and to support multilateralism. We are ready to continue working with the international community to step up support for WHO and strengthen international cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 until the final victory is achieved. Second, we need to assist each other in a humanitarian spirit. With an open, transparent and responsible attitude and the vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, China takes it as its responsibility to safeguard not just the life and health of its own citizens, but also global public health. At the opening ceremony, China announced five important measures to strengthen global cooperation against COVID-19, including providing US$2 billion of international aid in the next two years, working with the UN to set up a global humanitarian response depot and hub in China, establishing a cooperation mechanism for its hospitals to pair up with 30 African hospitals and accelerating the building of the Africa CDC headquarters, making China's COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment, when available, a global public good, and working with other G20 members to implement the Debt Service Suspension Initiative for the poorest countries. China is also ready to work with the international community to bolster support for the hardest-hit countries under the greatest strain so that they could tide over the current difficulties, which showcases that China acts responsibly as a major country. Third, we need to take the long view and prepare for a rainy day. We human beings will eventually prevail over the coronavirus. Yet this may not be the last time a major public health emergency comes unexpectedly. Based on the preconditions of a scientific and professional attitude, WHO-led efforts and the principle of objectivity and impartiality, China supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19 to sum up experience and address deficiencies after it is brought under control. While containing the virus, countries where conditions permit may reopen businesses and schools in an orderly fashion following WHO's professional recommendations. International macroeconomic policy coordination should be stepped up and the global industrial and supply chains be kept stable and unclogged if we are to restore world economic growth. At present, the international community is at a critical juncture in the fight against the pandemic. China is ready to continue to work with the international community to support WHO's leadership in the global response, promote solidarity and cooperation among the international community, safeguard planet Earth, our common home, and build a global community of health for all. The Paper: The European Union, Russia, Japan, India, Brazil and Australia, among over 120 countries, proposed a draft resolution at the WHA. What is China's position on this draft resolution? Is China a co-sponsor? Zhao Lijian: I stated China's position on this issue yesterday. I want to reiterate that China, along with other parties, has actively participated in the consultations on the draft resolution. The text of the current draft resolution unequivocally affirms and supports WHO's leading role and calls on member states to take necessary measures to prevent discrimination and stigmatization, combat misinformation and disinformation, strengthen cooperation in the development of diagnostic tools, treatment methods, drugs and vaccines, and in discovering the animal sources of the virus, and evaluate the WHO's response to the outbreak at the appropriate moment. All these are in line with China's position and meet the shared aspiration of the overwhelming majority of countries in the international community. In light of these facts, China is a co-sponsor of the above-mentioned draft resolution. We hope it will be adopted at the 73rd WHA by consensus and followed through upon in a comprehensive and accurate manner. Xinhua News Agency: According to reports, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce decided to levy anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on barley imports from Australia at the rate of 73.6% and 6.9% starting from May 19. Australian Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said Australia is deeply disappointed with China's decision. They will assess the details of the findings and reserve all rights to appeal this matter. What's China's response? Does China's decision have anything to do with the "independent international inquiry" proposed by Australia? Zhao Lijian: The Chinese Ministry of Commerce published announcements on May 18, deciding to levy anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on barley imports from Australia. I want to stress that China has been strictly following Chinese laws, regulations and WTO rules in conducting investigations and making the final rulings. I'd refer you to the competent authorities for the specifics. China has made clear its position on the so-called independent international inquiry proposed by Australia. We firmly oppose any political maneuvering under the pretext of COVID-19. Facts have proven that such a move is inappropriate, unpopular and doomed to fail. China Daily: Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on May 18 that the input of so many parties in the EU-sponsored COVID-19 draft resolution at the WHA is a real signal of the importance of the call for an independent, international review proposed by Australia. It's a win for the international community, and Australia, as a strong and active part of that international community, would certainly see it that way. Do you have any comment? Zhao Lijian: First and foremost, China supports a comprehensive evaluation of global COVID-19 response to sum up experience and address deficiencies after the pandemic is brought under control. This should be led by WHO and conducted in a science-based, professional, objective and impartial manner. China has been consistent and clear about this all along. The draft resolution on COVID-19 being discussed at this year's WHA is consistent with China's position and reflects the widespread consensus of other countries. China, along with other parties, has actively participated in the consultations on the draft resolution and co-sponsored the draft resolution. Second, the above-mentioned draft resolution is entirely different from what Australia called "independent international review". For example, the draft resolution proposes to initiate at the appropriate moment an evaluation rather than to launch an "independent international review" instantly. This confirms WHO's leading role instead of adopting another mechanism. The draft resolution calls for an evaluation of experience gained and lessons learnt from the WHO-coordinated international health response, rather than an inquiry based on the presumption of guilt targeting any country. We hope Australia will read the text carefully instead of making conclusions based on assumptions. Lastly, I want to stress that we welcome it if Australia changes its course, completely gives up its political maneuver and returns to the broad consensus of the international community following the relevant WHA resolution. The Paper: The President of the 73rd WHA announced that the proposal submitted by Taiwan's "diplomatic allies" to invite the region to participate in the WHA as an observer will not be discussed at this meeting, and relevant issues will be left for discussion at the Assembly's resumed session in the second half of this year. What is China's comment? Zhao Lijian: On May 18, the President of the 73rd WHA announced that the meeting would not discuss the proposal put forward by some countries to "invite Taiwan to participate in the WHA as an observer". The Taiwan authorities and some countries failed to promote the Taiwan-related proposal at the WHA. This once again shows that seeking "Taiwan independence" is like walking into a blind alley; it goes against the will of the people to hype up Taiwan-related proposals at the WHA. In the context of the ongoing global spread of COVID-19, focusing on international cooperation against the pandemic is the common expectation of the majority of WHO member states for this meeting. Against the strong will of the vast majority of WHO member states, the DPP authorities and some countries are bent on pushing the Taiwan-related proposal in an attempt to disrupt the proceedings of the assembly and undermine international cooperation against the pandemic. It fully exposes their true intention of putting political considerations above international public health security. The vast majority of WHO member states uphold the authority of the UNGA Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1 and adhere to impartiality and justice. China highly commends that. The people in the Taiwan region are our compatriots. The Central Government of China takes all necessary measures to ensure the health and well-being of our Taiwan compatriots. After COVID-19 broke out, we invited health experts from the Taiwan region, before inviting anyone else outside the mainland, to visit Wuhan, Hubei province to see the situation on the ground, and we have given the Taiwan region 152 updates about the COVID-19 outbreak. Based on the one-China principle, the Central Government of China has made appropriate arrangements for Taiwan's participation in global health affairs. There are no obstacles for Taiwan experts to participate in WHO's technical activities. Since 2019, a total of 24 health experts in 16 groups have participated in WHO's technical activities. There is an International Health Regulations Contact Point in the Taiwan region so it can obtain timely information on global public health emergencies released by the WHO and report its public health emergency information to the WHO in a timely manner as well. All channels of information on epidemic prevention and control are unimpeded and effective, a guarantee for the Taiwan region to respond in a timely and effective manner to public health incidents on the island or elsewhere in the world. The so-called "international epidemic prevention gap" is just an excuse for the DPP authorities to seek independence under the pretext of the epidemics, which has already been seen through by the international community long ago. We urge the DPP authorities to acknowledge the facts and not go further down the wrong path of seeking independence. Thinking that relying on some external forces will improve their odds of breaking the universally-recognized one-China principle is just a pipe dream. We also urge some countries not to misjudge China's determination and ability to safeguard its core interests and national reunification. They should immediately change course and stop any action that challenges the one-China principle. Reuters: US President Trump tweeted a letter to the WHO in which he threatened to pull funding and potentially withdraw the US from the WHO permanently if WHO doesn't demonstrate strict independence from China. What's China's response? Zhao Lijian: We talked about the detailed timeline of China's COVID-19 prevention and control efforts on many occasions. The WHO also made clarifications on some obvious mistakes in the US accusations. The US leader's letter was full of such ambiguous wordings as "indicating", "probably" and "likely", trying to mislead the public, smear China's efforts and shift the blame of US incompetence to others, but this attempt will not succeed. As the pandemic is still spreading in the US and many other places in the world, the most pressing task is still pulling together to save lives and seek economic recovery. We urge a small number of US politicians to stop pinning the blame on others and enhance international cooperation to defeat the virus together. The scale and standards of the assessed contributions to WHO are jointly decided by its member states rather than dictated by the US alone. It is a due obligation for the US, as a WHO member, to pay assessed contributions timely and in full. This is non-negotiable. The US arbitrary suspension of funds and contributions to an international organization is a unilateral act that violates its international obligation. As the international fight against the pandemic is now at a crucial stage, supporting WHO means supporting the purposes and principles of multilateralism, supporting international cooperation against COVID-19 and saving lives. China has always strictly observed WHO rules and regulations to pay assessed contributions on time and in full, and provided voluntary contributions to WHO as its capacity allows. Since the outbreak began, China has donated a total of US$50 million to WHO, set up RMB 2 billion of special funds on COVID-19 cooperation, sent out 24 medical teams, and provided enormous amounts of material assistance to WHO and various countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged at the WHA that China will provide US$2 billion in the next two years to help with COVID-19 response and with economic and social development in affected countries, especially developing countries. COVID-19 vaccine development and deployment in China, when available, will be made a global public good. This will be China's contribution to enhancing vaccine accessibility and affordability in developing countries. China will consistently endorse WHO's leading role in the global cooperation against the pandemic and will continue supporting the work of WHO in various ways. China calls on the international community to increase political and financial support for WHO so as to mobilize resources worldwide to defeat the virus. Picking on China while shirking and bargaining over its own international obligations to WHO, the US has obviously miscalculated the situation and made a mistargeted move. Beijing Youth Daily: It is reported that the Special Representatives on Afghanistan of Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan held a virtual meeting on May 18 to discuss the Afghan issue and issued a joint statement. Can you brief us on that? Zhao Lijian: On May 18, Special Envoy on Afghan affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Liu Jian, Russian Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov, Iranian Foreign Ministry's Special Envoy for Afghanistan Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian, and Additional Secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan Safdar Hayat held a video conference on May 18 and had an in-depth exchange of views on the current situation in Afghanistan and the peace and reconciliation process. The meeting was hosted by the Russian side. The four parties issued a joint statement afterwards. The joint statement welcomes the signing of the political agreement by the two major Afghan political leaders and calls on all parties in Afghanistan to seize the opportunity to launch intra-Afghan talks and realize comprehensive and sustainable peace at an early date. It calls on foreign troops to withdraw in an orderly and responsible manner to ensure a smooth transition. It expresses hope that relevant UN Security Council resolutions will be observed and implemented, and urges all parties in Afghanistan to resolutely combat international terrorist organizations. It reaffirms support for Afghanistan in the fight against COVID-19. At present, the situation in Afghanistan is at a critical stage. As Afghanistan's traditional friendly neighbor, China respects the Afghan people's independent decision on their own future and development path, and will do its best to support Afghanistan's peaceful reconstruction. China firmly supports the "Afghan-led and Afghan-owned" peace and reconciliation process and hopes that intra-Afghan talks will start and yield positive results at an early date. China will continue strengthening communication and coordination with relevant parties in Afghanistan and making constructive efforts with the international community for the political settlement of the Afghan issue. China Review News: The Chinese consulate-general in New York recently published two notices on delaying a temporary flight. I wonder if you could give us more details about that? Zhao Lijian: Chinese airlines are arranging temporary flights to take back overseas Chinese students who are in difficulties and in urgent need of going home. It is regretful that the temporary flights are compelled to be delayed as the US hasn't approved the flight plans. Among the Chinese students, those who don't live in the cities of departure already moved out of their dorms or rentals in order to catch the flights. The delay certainly has brought a lot of trouble for these young students. Our diplomatic missions in the US are working hard for proper arrangement and resolution to this matter. Out of humanitarian spirit, we hope the US can finish all procedures for the flights as soon as possible to facilitate our students' return. Shenzhen TV: Reports say that India has built a road in the Kalapani region, an area that is under dispute between India and Nepal. The Government of Nepal has raised objection, calling on India to stop infringing on Nepal's territorial sovereignty. Last week, Indian Army Chief General Naravane said during a webinar organized by the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) that there may be external forces involved in the territorial disputes. What is your comment? Zhao Lijian: The issue of Kalapani is between Nepal and India. We hope the two countries will resolve their differences properly through friendly consultations and refrain from taking any unilateral action that may complicate the situation. Beijing Daily: Lea Gabrielle, head of the US State Department's Global Engagement Center (GEC), recently said that the Chinese government is using Twitter and other new media platforms to push disinformation and propaganda around COVID-19, as they are seeing a bot network created with the intent to amplify narratives and a major surge in the number of Chinese diplomatic Twitter accounts. Do you have any comment? Zhao Lijian: The US official's allegation is baseless and out of ill-intentions. We noted Twitter's response to this matter, saying that the preliminary review result of the so-called "suspicious accounts" doesn't support the US allegation. At previous press conferences we talked about the growing number of Chinese diplomatic Twitter accounts. Just like other countries' diplomatic missions and diplomats, we opened accounts at social media platforms to do a better job in telling the story of China, with its realities and policies, to the world. We'd like to facilitate cultural exchange and promote mutual understanding through various means. I want to point out that under the pretext of the pandemic, certain US politicians have been busy shifting the blame to China, stigmatizing China and spreading disinformation against China. US media recently revealed a 57-page memo that the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent to electoral campaigns, asking the candidates to "aggressively attack China" to address the coronavirus crisis, the essence of which is to assault China whenever the virus is mentioned. However, people are sharp-eyed. The US and the larger international community knows only too well who has been the initiator of "disinformation campaigns" all along. RIA Novosti: US Attorney General William Barr said yesterday that tech company Apple is working with the governments of Russia and China to relocate data centers and boost surveillance capabilities of Beijing and Moscow. I wonder if you have any comments on his remarks? Zhao Lijian: As attested by existing records, it is exactly the US that has been engaging the largest-scale cyber surveillance and cyber theft activities all over the world. To address this matter, the UN has adopted a resolution on the "right to privacy in the digital age" put forward by European countries. The US is truly the biggest safe haven for hackers. We call on the US to abide by relevant UN resolutions and immediately stop its large-scale surveillance activities across the globe. We also urge certain US politicians to stop fabricating groundless lies and blaming China for what they themselves have done. After a long and arduous journey from Delhi to Bihar, migrant labourer Rampukar Pandit has finally reached home and is reunited with his grieving family, getting the much-needed catharsis he had been desperate for. The 38-year-old, whose mournful face became emblematic of the hardships being faced by poor migrant workers during the lockdown, was discharged from a block hospital on Monday evening and then ferried home, about 12 km away, on a bicycle by a family member. "My test (for coronavirus) came out negative and I was told I could go home but only if someone from my family could accompany me. So, I called my wife. Since no means of conveyance was available, she left home on foot for the Khodawandpur block hospital," he told PTI on Tuesday. Rampukar's wife Bimal Devi had walked about 3-4 km towards the hospital on Monday when their young distant nephew, on his way to buy ration on a bicycle, saw her and instead of going to a shop offered her a ride to the hospital, Rampukar said. "My nephew, who is about 15 years old, called up another relative who also reached the hospital riding a bicycle. After being discharged in the evening, my wife sat on the back of the nephew's bicycle and I on the back of my cousin's bicycle, and it took us about 1.5 hours to reach home," he said. Asked if they had sought a vehicle from the block hospital, Rampukar said, "We asked only once. Since no vehicle was available for us, we decided to leave on our own. I wanted to see my daughters". There was no immediate reaction from the Begusarai district administration on the incident. Once he reached home, he said his three daughters "leapt to me and we all cried together. This is for the first time I met my entire family after my son died a few days ago". On Saturday, his wife and nine-year-old daughter Poonam had met him in the hospital for 10 minutes, but from a distance. Rampukar's distraught face -- when he had learned about the serious condition of his one-year-old son and wept uncontrollably on the Nizamuddin Bridge in Delhi where he was stuck for three days over a week ago -- has became a snapshot of India's migrant tragedy amid the ongoing lockdown. His picture, by PTI photographer Atul Yadav, touched a chord in the hearts of millions of people across the country. After PTI put out his pictures and subsequently his story, many people have been taking to social media offering to help him. Rampukar's son later died and the family could not perform their child's last rites. "I have not been able to perform last rites of my son. Even my wife could not do it. 'Nadi mey bacche ki body ko baha diya' (The child's body was put in the Boorhi Gandak river)," he lamented. While Rampukar has finally reached home, his family's ordeal is far from over. With no means of earning a living, the family that lives a hand-to-mouth existence is worried about how they will make ends meet. His wife Bimal Devi said a man had come to their home from Khagaria a few days ago after seeing Rampukar's photo and getting to know of his plight through newspapers. "He gave us some stock of rice, dal, spices and went away. Now, we have ration left for cooking just two meals. My children and family will starve if not helped," Devi said as she broke down when PTI spoke to her on the phone. Rampukar says ever since his father-in-law died, his wife and children have been living with her ailing mother while he toiled as a construction labourer in Delhi to eke out a livelihood. His last job was at a construction site of a cinema hall in Delhi. He was eventually helped by a woman who have him food, Rs 5,500 and also booked his train ticket from Delhi to Begusarai. He reached Begusarai on the night of March 15 and after initial screening was sent to a quarantine centre in a school on the outskirts of the district headquarters. On Sunday, he said, officials had taken him to Khodawandpur block hospital where a COVID-19 test was conducted on him. The test result later came out as negative. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ausaf.pk scored 59 Social Media Impact. Social Media Impact score is a measure of how much a site is popular on social networks. 3/5.0 Stars by Social Team This CoolSocial report was updated on 23 Nov 2013, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared the ausaf homepage on Twitter + the total number of ausaf followers (if ausaf has a Twitter account). This is the sum of two values: the total number of people who shared, liked or recommended the ausaf homepage on Facebook + the total number of page likes (if ausaf has a Facebook fan page). The total number of people who shared the ausaf homepage on Delicious. The total number of people who shared the ausaf homepage on Google Plus by a google +1 button. The total number of people who shared the ausaf homepage on StumbleUpon. Basic Information PAGE TITLE Daily Ausaf Epaper - Pakistani Urdu Newspaper DESCRIPTION Pakistani Urdu Newspaper KEYWORDS ePaper, Entire Newspaper available online, Click on any story to read it, Its absolutely free and no registration is required OTHER KEYWORDS september, october, august, november, 2013 july, 2013 may, 2013 march The keywords meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of the site. The description meta-tag found in the head section of the homepage. CoolSocial advanced keyword analysis tool is able to detect and analyze every keyword on each page of a site. The title found in the head section of the homepage. Domain and Server DOCTYPE XHTML 1.0 Transitional CHARSET AND LANGUAGE English (United States) UTF-8English (United States) DETECTED LANGUAGE English English SERVER Apache OPERATIVE SYSTEM Linux Linux Operative System running on the server. Represents HTML declared type (e.g.: XHTML 1.1, HTML 4.0, the new HTML 5.0) Type of server and offered services. The language of ausaf.pk as detected by CoolSocial algorithms. Character set and language of the site. Site Traffic trend during the last year. Only available for sites ranked <= 100000 in the world. Referring domains for ausaf.pk by MajesticSeo. High values are a sign of site importance over the web and on web engines. Facebook link FACEBOOK PAGE LINK NOT FOUND The total number of people who tagged or talked about website Facebook page in the last 7-10 days. A Facebook page link can be found in the homepage or in the robots.txt file. The description of the Facebook page describes website and its services to the social media users. The type of Facebook page. The URL of the found Facebook page. The total number of people who like website Facebook page. Facebook Timeline is the new layout of Facebook pages. Twitter account link TWITTER PAGE LINK NOT FOUND Boscovs is back! Reading-based retailer Boscovs has already opened several stores in Pennsylvania as counties have moved into the states yellow phase of tiered openings. And on Saturday, Boscovs will open its Camp Hill store at 11 a.m. in the Camp Hill Shopping Center at 170 S. 32nd St. Were busy getting the store ready to be sure customers are safe and comfortable, CEO Jim Boscov said in an e-mail. Stores at the York Galleria Mall in Springettsbury Township and at the Beaver Valley Mall in Monaca, Beaver County, will also open at 11 a.m. Saturday, according to the retailers website. READ MORE: Up until about two weeks ago, Boscovs stores across Pennsylvania had been closed since March when Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the closure of all non-life sustaining businesses. Retailers are permitted to open for business in the states yellow phase. There are 37 counties in the western part of the state that have moved into the yellow phase, while 12 counties will move into the yellow phase on Friday including Cumberland, York and Perry counties. The first two Boscovs reopened in Pennsylvania about two weeks ago in the Erie and Selinsgrove areas. The openings come with some changes, including: extra cleaning on frequently touched items and areas like shopping carts and door handles; plexiglass shields installed at each register; and a limit on the amount of people in the store. All employees will have health screenings and both employees and customers are required to wear face masks. The play areas in the toy departments have been eliminated. Returns will stay off the sales floor for five days. Boscovs stores in Lower Paxton Township and North Lebanon Township are in the states red phase and will remain closed. The company has 26 stores in Pennsylvania and 24 stores in seven other states, according to the companys website. --Business Buzz --Sign up for PennLives newsletters 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. You can follow Daniel Urie on twitter @DanielUrie2018 and you can like PennLives business page on Facebook at @PennLiveBusiness Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Budi Sutrisno (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, May 19, 2020 15:19 610 fc6853813033f564188675f8bd906e79 1 National COVID-19-in-Indonesia,labor,workers,Trade-Union-Rights-Centre,pre-employment-card,kartu-prakerja,THR,Idul-Fitri-bonuses Free The Trade Union Rights Centre (TURC) is calling on the government to reallocate its funding for the preemployment training program as cash assistance while pushing for stronger supervision of businesses to prevent further layoffs. The non-governmental labor advocacy and research organization has pointed out that several of the government's COVID-19 policies have not contributed to overcoming the resulting employment crisis,, including the preemployment card training and incentives program for unemployed workers and the holiday bonus (THR) installment payment policy for Idul Fitri. The preemployment card program, which has been allocated Rp 20 trillion (US$1.35 billion) from the 2020 state budget, aims to assist 5.6 million eligible workers and small business owners affected by the health crisis. The governments role is crucial in allocating trillions of rupiah from the state budget effectively and on target to protect workers and to [prevent] hunger and an increase in poor people, TURC executive director Andriko Otang said in a statement on Sunday. The Manpower Ministry's records show that about 1.7 million workers have been laid off, terminated or lost their jobs as a direct effect of the COVID-19 epidemic in Indonesia. The figure comprises 1.4 formal workers and 300,000 informal workers. In an online survey on the preemployment card program conducted from May 1 to 11, the TURC found that 54 percent of potential applicants were interested in the program because of the cash incentive, 30 percent wanted to acquire new skills, 16 percent were simply curious and 8 percent wanted to find a job. Otang said that the majority of jobless workers needed cash aid, and that the preemployment card program was ineffective at helping them find jobs since the program offered training to participants without any job placement on completing their training. Read also: Preemployment card draws criticism as workers need cash aid Therefore, the training fund for the preemployment card program must be reallocated as [direct] assistance for workers, he said, adding that direct cash transfers could help maintain buying power among workers of the poor to middle classes. The ministry also recorded that 34,179 Indonesian migrant workers had not been able to depart for their jobs abroad, and that 465 Indonesian apprentices in Japan had been repatriated. Meanwhile, the Agency for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers (BP2MI) estimates that 34,300 migrant workers will return to Indonesia in May-June because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The TURC survey also found the different ways in which formal workers had been affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19, including termination without severance pay, temporary layoffs with partial pay and working on-site or from home with partial pay. Middle-class employees, who spend about Rp 1.2 million to Rp 6 million per month, were the most affected group, followed by the aspiring middle class, whose monthly spending ranged from Rp 500,000 to Rp 1.2 million, the survey found. Otang said that although the government had offered several incentives to businesses to support them during the crisis, supervision had been weak in preventing layoffs. The weak point is that the state has not encouraged the relevant institutions to [maintain] data on the companies that have received the government incentives, he said. Read also: COVID-19 forces restaurants, retailers to cut wages, furlough employees He stressed that this shortcoming prevented public monitoring to make sure that beneficiary companies were not laying off their workers, and that the government must issue a regulation on supervising its incentive programs for businesses. Orang also called on the Manpower Ministry to withdraw its recently issued circular that allowed companies to defer paying the THR to employees or to pay the THR in installments. He said that the move gave the impression that the government prioritizes incentivizing businesses rather than protecting workers rights. The government should better understand the vulnerability of workers who have to meet their needs, he said, citing the survey results that showed 78 percent of workers disagreed with the government's THR policy. In addition, Otang called on the government to instruct the Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan) to start paying old-age security (JHT) to workers, an idea that 81 percent of survey respondents supported. The reason is that the pandemic has resulted in workers receiving incomplete or unsteady incomes, reducing their capacity to meet their daily needs, he said. New Delhi, May 19 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to entertain a plea by LG Polymers seeking stay on the order passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which formed a five-member committee to assess the damage and conduct a probe into the Vizag gas leak. LG Polymers argued that as many as seven committees have been formed to look into the May 7 incident. The counsel cited a committee formed by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, the NGT, and the National Human Rights Commission, to name a few. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing LG Polymers, contended before the court that the company does not intend to stall the proceedings and it has already complied with the direction by depositing the initial amount of Rs 50 crore ordered by the NGT. However, Rohtagi argued as to how many committees should oversee it. A bench comprising Justices U.U. Lalit, M.M. Shantanagoudar and Vineet Saran noted that the Andhra Pradesh High Court had taken suo motu cognizance of the incident and ordered formation of the committee. The top court observed that the company may approach the NGT and inform it that a committee has been formed by a court of constitutional authority. The court refused to stay the order on the grounds that the NGT is already seized of the matter. On the intervening night of May 6-7, styrene gas leaked from a chemical plant of LG Polymers India Private Ltd (LGPI). The leak, which occurred near Visakhapatnam claimed several lives and led to hospitalization of hundreds of others. On May 7, the High Court took suo motu cognizance of the incident. On May 8, the NGT also took suo motu cognizance of the incident and directed the company to deposit an initial amount of Rs 50 crore with the District Magistrate, Visakhapatnam. A Queensland man charged with the murder of his four-month-old son will be released on bail. Tiaan Burger, 27, was arrested on January 24 over the death of Finnick Hercules Burger nine days earlier. Police previously alleged the baby sustained 'multiple injuries' during an incident at a house at Sun Valley, Gladstone, on January 12. He was taken to Gladstone Hospital by paramedics before being flown to Brisbane's Children's Hospital. Finnick Hercules Burger (pictured) died on January 15 He died on January 15. Queensland Ambulance Services has said paramedics responded to a Sun Valley house for a reported medical episode involving an infant on January 12 at 5.24pm. Burger's barrister, Michael Copley QC, told the Brisbane Supreme Court the Crown's case was difficult to assess, but not 'of overwhelming strength'. 'There are a number of issues that would appear to be up in the air,' Mr Copley said on Tuesday . His father Tiaan Burger, 27, was arrested on January 24 These included the cause of death, who caused the death and with what intention the death was caused. He said Burger doesn't have substantial ties to Australia, but has no criminal record. The Crown did not oppose the bail application. Justice Helen Bowskill agreed to Burger's release on bail, saying keeping him in custody was no longer justified. Burger will be required to live with his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, have no contact with his wife and surrender both of his passports. Lori Rand tries on a ring while being helped by Mary Perez, a salesperson at High Class Jewels in downtown Los Angeles. The jewelry store reopened over the weekend. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Gov. Gavin Newsom has eased some of California's requirements for reopening businesses. The rules will make it easier for counties to restart the economy, but it still likely means that regions hit hardest by the coronavirus will open more slowly. Why the change? Newsom pointed to progress, including a stable hospitalization rate among COVID-19 patients and those treated in intensive care units, as well as increased testing and more protective gear for healthcare workers. California also has faced intense pressure from some counties with relatively few cases to reopen more quickly. What has changed? Counties no longer will be kept from loosening the shutdown rules if they have recorded COVID-19 deaths in the previous two weeks. The original standard was criticized in many of Californias urban counties, whose leaders argued that even a single fatal case would block them from moving deeper into the second stage of reopening rules crafted by the Newsom administration. The new standard removes the death rate requirement and replaces it with a more generous threshold based on rates of newly confirmed cases. Counties will be able to move toward a more expansive reopening if they can show fewer than 25 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in the last 14 days a standard that was originally one new case per 10,000 residents or that fewer than 8% of residents tested for the virus over a seven-day period were positive. Counties also must show that the number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 patients has stabilized, meaning that it cant increase by more than 5% over a seven-day period, or that a county cant have more than 20 hospitalizations on any single day over the most recent 14-day period. If local governments want to open more businesses, the plan allows counties to submit an application declaring that theyve met the criteria and other requirements on testing, contact tracing and hospital capacity to prepare for a future surge in infections. Story continues What is the big-picture impact? It means that 53 of Californias 58 counties can now move further into the second of four stages toward reopening if they file an application with the state, Newsom said. The governor didnt name the five counties that wouldnt be able to take immediate advantage of the flexibility, though he cited concerns with skilled nursing facilities in Tulare County and a meatpacking facility in Kings County. Nor is the announcement expected to bring immediate changes in Los Angeles County, which continues to outpace other parts of the state in confirmed cases and deaths. Local officials say the infection rate in the county is falling , but they remain concerned about the potential spread of the disease. The new rules will allow restaurant dining rooms and shopping malls to open again in counties that meet the new criteria. The governor also hinted that even bigger changes envisioned in later stages of reopening are just around the corner, such as the opening of hair salons and even spectator-free sporting events as soon as the first week in June. What else do counties need to do? The state issued additional rules that will be used to determine whether restrictions can be eased: Adequate preparedness planning: A significant level of preparedness with testing, contact tracing, personal protective equipment, or PPE, and hospital surge, and planning for long-term care facility disease outbreak prevention and containment. This includes: Testing capacity. Minimum daily testing capacity to test 1.5 per 1,000 residents Testing availability for at least 75% of residents Contact tracing At least 15 staff per 100,000 county population trained and available for contact tracing Hospital surge Hospital capacity to accommodate a minimum surge of 35% of their baseline average daily census Skilled nursing facilities disease outbreak prevention and containment Plans to prevent and mitigate infections in skilled nursing facilities Skilled nursing facilities have more than 14-day supply of PPE on hand for staff, with established process for ongoing procurement. Response planning: Producing plans related to countywide containment, including testing, contact tracing, vulnerable populations, congregate settings, acute care surge and essential workforce. The California Department of Public Health will accept second-variance attestations. This allows for approximately 10-14 days, the COVID-19 incubation period, between the introduction of the first variance and the second variance opportunity. Where do regions of California stand? Some rural areas have reopened their economies more than others. Los Angeles County is allowing some curbside retail service and has reopened beaches and parks. San Franciscos director of public health said Monday he was cautiously optimistic that the city will be able to reopen more in the next two to four weeks. Dr. Grant Colfax, speaking in an online forum, said San Francisco entered Phase 2a of reopening Monday by allowing retailers to open for pickup and delivery. Phase 2b, he said, will involve relaxing restrictions on schools, offices, child care and summer camps. He indicated that it was likely summer camps would be permitted, but said they will have to abide by health guidelines to prevent new infections. As long as San Franciscans continue to social distance, practice good hygiene and wear masks, the next phase is just around the corner, he said. Santa Clara County officials said they decided to allow retailers to open Friday because they saw no uptick in coronavirus cases since permitting construction and outdoor businesses to reopen earlier this month. We make one change, watch the indicators, and when we havent seen that uptick, then we take the next step and then we watch again, said Dr. Sara Cody, the countys health officer. The new protocol for reopened businesses limits the number of employees to one for every 300 square feet of space. Retailers will have to post signs at their entrances saying they are complying with the new guidelines. Everyone who is out in public should always be covering their face except for young children and people with medical conditions that make wearing masks unsafe, Cody said. It is an urgent recommendation. It is an expectation. We hope it becomes a new social norm. By Express News Service JAGATSINGHPUR: Complaints of poor quality food and lack of amenities have started pouring in from different quarantine centres in Balikuda and other areas of the district. Inmates of the temporary medical centre (TMC) at Baharana panchayat under Balikuda block alleged that substandard food is being served to them. The chuda (flattened rice) served to them is infested with pests. Besides, insects have also been found in cooked meals. In protest, the inmates clicked photos and shot videos of the insect-infested food and shared it with district officials. As many as 33 migrant workers are staying in Baharana TMC. Similarly, a scuffle broke out among inmates of Jamugaon TMC over poor quality food on Sunday. While a section of returnees raised protest over the food quality, another group did not want the matter to reach higher officials. This led to a fight in which three inmates sustained injuries. Migrant workers housed at Naugaon College have also made similar allegations. Such is the condition that inmates are forced to order food from their homes. In Purohitpur TMC under Jagatsinghpur Municipality, returnees are unhappy over lack basic facilities and unhygienic conditions. However, Baharana sarpanch Bandita Pattayat refuted the allegation. "Some inmates recorded fake videos out of mischief and made those viral. The inmates who levelled these false allegation have been discharged from the TMC after end of their quarantine period," she said. On the other hand, Jagatsinghpur Collector Sangram Keshari Mohapatra and SP Prakash R visited SVM College, where returnees have been housed, and inspected the quality of food being served to there. They directed the nodal officer to maintain proper sanitation. Second Deputy Speaker, Alban Bagbin is suggesting that dead bodies resulting from COVID-19 be displayed on Television to enforce the message that the disease is real. According to him, the call is backed by the feedback he has received from the public on the disease. Contributing to deliberations in the Floor of Parliament after an update to the House by the Health Minister, the Nadowli Kaleo MP called for the use of what he calls the shock therapy to increase awareness of the pandemic in the country. The awareness creation, the education, when you are a leader, you must know the people you are leading. The important thing is that the people we are leading, they want to see. In fact, I want to see on Television some evidence of death because when you state that this number of people are dead but they are not seeing anything like that [it will give them the shock of their life]. I believe in shock therapy. We need shock therapy to wake them up from slumber and make them know COVID-19 is real. ---citinewsroom This article is reprinted with permission from the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Mustafa Akyol serves as a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and as a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. The Turkish journalist has written widely about freedom of speech and religion, including authoring the book, Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty. Akyol spoke with the Bush Institutes Lindsay Lloyd, Chris Walsh, and Bill McKenzie about Turkeys struggles with democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. He worries about Turkey moving away from a liberal democracy and a free market economy, but contends the West should not cut off ties with Turkey. He also discusses the challenges to religious freedom around the world, along with explaining why the United States should consistently promote freedom. Lets start with Turkey, your home country. You bloggedrecently that the United States must maintain its relationship with Turkey, but that we also must retain a serious concern on Turkeys grim record on human rights, freedom of speech, and rule of law. Which of those three give you the greatest concern? I first want to make a personal comment. Turkey is a big disappointment for me as a Turk. In the first decade of this century, it was this bright shining star in the Muslim world. We had a government led by a political party founded by conservative Muslims who seemed to believe in liberal democracy and a free market economy, and who accomplished important reforms. I was a supporter and a believer in that story. Unfortunately though, the scene gradually turned darker and darker. In the second decade of this century, we saw the collapse of democracy into authoritarianism. Once the Justice and Development Party (AKP), the ruling party of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, established and consolidated itself, it started to steer away from the early agenda of reform and liberal democracy. The party began to define democracy as nothing but mere ballots. Since they had a rough majority behind them and consolidated power, all the European Union criteria to which the AKP was aspiring in its earlier years gradually vanished. Once you win the ballots, in their mind, you could do anything, without any checks or balances. So Turkish democracy devolved into an illiberal democracy. To now answer your question more directly, I am very concerned that freedom of the press has gradually vanished. To give you an example, at least 10 major newspapers in Turkey have changed hands over the past decade. Tax inspectors came to their doors of their owners and fined them extremely heavily, so these people had to sell their newspapers. The new buyers turned out to be -- what a big surprise -- good friends of President Erdogan. They fired all the writers and editors who were critical of the government and replaced them with people who were singing the praises of the government. As a result, today much of the Turkish media is under the governments direct or indirect control. A few newspapers are still independent, but they are struggling. They have faced legal investigations. Some of their staff have been sent to jail based on incredible charges. If you remind all this to the Turkish government, and criticize them for being authoritarian, they will say No, ours is a great democracy, as we are winning elections. But if 19 out of 20 news TV channels are singing your praises, and some of your critics or opponents are rotting in jail, and many are living under the fear that they may be targeted as well, that is not a very impressive democracy. Despite all this, I favor keeping Turkey in the Western Club that would include membership in NATO and in the Council of Europe. The latter ties Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights, which is still a last hope for correcting some human rights abuses. Turkey will be probably even worse if these ties with the West are completely cut off. That is why another thing that concerns me is Turkeys shifting geopolitical vision, which has gone hand in hand with its shift towards authoritarianism. In the past five years, President Erdogan has felt very close to Russia and also cozied up with China. That is why, for example, he has never criticized China for the persecution of the Uyghurs, which is very strange. You would expect a Turkish president to speak out on this issue. [Editors Note: The Uyghurs are a persecuted Turkic, Muslim minority who live in Chinas Xinjiang province. The Chinese Communist Party interned a million or more Uyghurs in reeducation camps because of their Islamic faith.] My ultimate hope is that this authoritarianism will go down in Turkish history as a bad era, but one that is followed by some recovery. But it will be hard for Turkey to recover, if this authoritarianism goes full swing. Thats why I advise western capitals to manage this problem rather than totally pushing Turkey to the other side. What existing fundamentals may give rise to a liberal democracy after the current president is gone? For one thing, the Erdogan regime is not a full autocracy in that there are still meaningful elections. His support has been just enough to win elections, but he cant guarantee victories. And support for his party declined in recent municipal elections in the two main cities Istanbul and Ankara. Even in the eyes of his supporters, President Erdogans legitimacy comes from the fact that he is winning elections. He may perhaps try but I dont think he can sustain his rule after losing an election, which is a real possibility. Second, President Erdogan doesnt have the oil and gas that give some other autocratic leaders an advantage. And the Turkish economy is still a market economy, and he has to deliver. Authoritarianism has economic costs that the public feels. Even some religious conservatives are now fed up with the authoritarianism and corruption of the system. If Turkey is lucky, there might be a national consensus at some point that Turkey has seen enough authoritarianism first tyranny of the secular minority, then tyranny of the religious majority and the nation should establish a pluralist system based on consensus, checks-and-balances, and inalienable rights. As critical as I am of the current stage, I dont want to lose hope that such a good stage someday may come. Newspapers still play an important role in how Turks get their information, but the government has tried to clamp down on alternative sources of information. Has social media helped some Turks get around the governments efforts to keep a lid on information? TV news channels are still important in Turkey, and the ruling party makes sure to dominate them. The talking heads are carefully selected, or eliminated, by people who act as party commissars. In most pro-government channels, you even see commentators who are competing with each other to show their loyalty to the president and their fierceness against his enemies, real or perceived. That is in part why, as you said, Turks who are fed up with pro-government propaganda are looking into alternative ways of getting information, so social media has become big. Turkey is sixth in the world in terms of Twitter usage. The fact social media has become a big phenomenon in Turkey is why the government is very eager in controlling social media. If youre in a position to open a political website that is critical, and get a meaningful donation or even advertisement from a company, that company may get unnerving calls from Ankara. The government, through informal channels, also employs trolls to bully people in the media who have big Twitter followings. Similarly, the government is very eager in prosecuting crime on social media. So what are those crimes? In Turkey, it is illegal to insult the president, the flag, the republic, or the nation. Before Erdogan, few people would be sued for insulting the presidents, who were typically non-partisan heads of state. Now, because Erdogan is such a divisive president, and social media is out there, a lot of people criticize him. In return, Erdogan has an army of lawyers and prosecutors who check social media. If you say something really harsh about him, in some cases the police may be at your door in a few hours. You will be prosecuted for insulting the president. In 2017, more than 20,000 people were prosecuted with this charge. In 2018, the number went up to more than 26,000. Not all of these people go to jail, but hundreds of them do. If they have a job at a public institution, they may well lose it. Even private companies may let you go because they dont want to look as being in opposition. Youve written about religious freedom around the world, particularly in terms of religious freedom in Islamic nations. What challenges exist today to religious freedom? As a Muslim, I have indeed written about the Muslim world from an Islamic theological perspective. And I must admit that we certainly do have a religious freedom deficit in the Muslim world. But I also should add that is a complicated problem. Some challenges to religious freedom in the Muslim world come from nationalism, which is not directly Islamic. In Malaysia, for example, there is an official policy to keep the Malays, the dominant ethnic group, in the fold of Islam, because preserving religious identity is seen as crucial for preserving ethnic identity. Similarly, in Turkey, Greek or Armenian minorities have suffered due to nationalism, rather than Islam. However, it is also true and sad that religious freedom is violated in the name of Islam. There are some serious limitations to religious freedom in traditional Sunni and Shia jurisprudence, which is the interpretation of the Sharia. One can say there is still some religious freedom in traditional Islam, because it grants the rights of Jews and Christians to worship and preserve their religion. But non-Muslims have less rights, and Muslims are banned from adopting religions. That is why in about a dozen Muslim-majority states in the world today, apostasy is considered a capital crime, which of course is a gross violation of religious freedom. Therefore, I am among those who believe the traditional interpretations of the Sharia, the legal system of Islam, must be reformed because they dont conform with modern norms. Plus, I dont think those interpretations are coming from the core of the faith. They are historical interpretations of the faith that we can challenge and change. You wrote a few years ago for The Catalyst, the Bush Institutes journal, about younger Muslims authors writing about democracy and freedom. What do you see as the influence of writers like yourself? In almost every Muslim majority society, from Morocco to Indonesia, there are forces towards reform, human rights, and liberalism, in the classical sense. What Im trying to do with my work is to empower those liberal forces by giving them intellectual ammunition, if you will. It is especially important to make a case for freedom that will not go against the religion, but as a new interpretation of the religion that may be more loyal to the core of the faith. I read John Locke, who was a Christian criticizing Christians of his day who believed that the government should uphold one church against the others. He was making the argument from a Christian point of view. Such arguments need to be made today in the world of Islam. They will not help change the mind of all Muslims overnight, but they will play an important in a long-term battle. Of course, defending freedom in the Muslim world can put one in trouble, as I have personally experienced in Malaysia. It is a beautiful country I have visited some six times over the last 12 year to give lectures to public audiences. The liberal-minded Islamic Renaissance Front often hosted me. But the last time I went to Malaysia as their guest, in September 2017, the religious police arrested me because I was lecturing about religious freedom. They held me one night in a cell and then let me go. They told me not to come to Malaysia again. They started an investigation into me and the Islamic Renaissance Front, and also banned my book, Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty. It shows our work is making some impact, but forces are against it. How should nations who believe in the fundamentals of liberal democracy best respond to challenges in democracy, human rights, and the rule of law? It is important that the most powerful country on Earth care about democracy, human rights, and the rule of law and defend them. It has meaning if a superpower defends certain values. Defending those values creates a language of universal norms. Its important for the United States itself as well. I understand any country will care about its interests first. But it is also in the interests of the United States if the world is not filled with fascists, communists, or religious totalitarians. Thats why the United States fought the Second World War and the Cold War to uphold international law, open markets, and free societies. So, I still believe that the United States should spearhead a global order especially given the fact that other contenders to such a role, such as China, can only offer a less free world. Of course, how the U.S. should play that role is a good question. Diplomacy, engagement, trade are the best tools, whereas military power should be prudently used, as it may sometimes be counterproductive and also raise the accusations of imperialism. But American support for democracy, freedom, and human rights is not about imperialism. These are universal values, which I think America not only believes in, but struggles with as well. Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Tuesday that the people were wondering why thousands of buses were not being used by the Uttar Pradesh government to send the stranded migrant workers to their homes. "The common people are wondering why the thousands of government buses, private buses and school buses are gathering dust, and not being utilised in sending the stranded migrant labourers to their homes," Yadav tweeted. "What kind of stubbornness is this?" "Using force instead of buses is wrong," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New York State film tax credits, producers say, have been a major factor in their decision to bring productions to the mid-Hudson Valley counties of Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Sullivan and Ulster. But so far, the region is not among the handful that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has signaled may be ready to reopen. The impact of shuttering the areas film industry has been broad and wide. Jonathan Burkhart, a line producer, does much of the local purchasing for films. Im touching houses, cars, antiques, all kinds of clothing, everything you could imagine, he said. Were replicating life and putting it on the screen. For his last film, we rented a bunch of houses in Kingston, he said. We used the main courthouse, City Hall. We used a Kingston preschool, and Plattekill Mountain for ski scenes. The film industry has also provided substantial income for hotels. The 101-room Holiday Inn Express Kingston had logged 1,662 room nights just from Werewolves. With spring weddings also canceled, it is now virtually empty. Last year was an epic year for us, said Lara Hart, the hotels director of sales and general manager, with the hotel hosting crews from The Plot Against America and Things Heard and Seen, along with Hulu crews for Daylight Daycare, a horror series. We are all very impacted by this, Ms. Hart said, because right now, were only allowed to house essential workers, like those in medicine, the military and the government. India requests Pakistan government to allow Srinagar-Sharjah flight to use its airspace J&K: Hardline separatist's son among two terrorist killed in encounter in Srinagar city India oi-Madhuri Adnal Srinagar, May 19: Junaid Sehrai, son of separatist conglomerate Tehreek-e-Hurriyat's chairman Ashraf Sehrai, was among the two terrorists killed in an encounter with security forces in downtown Srinagar, police said. Junaid Sehrai went missing in March 2018 and later his picture, brandishing an AK-47, went viral on social media. The joining of Sehrai, who completed his MBA degree from the Kashmir University, was the first such case where a son of a separatist leader of Jammu and Kashmir had joined a terror group. Slain terrorist Junaid recruited Kashmir youth into Hizbul in exchange for drugs Juanid joined militancy ranks in March 2018. Two Hizbul Mujahedeen militants were killed in the ongoing operation in downtown Srinagar by Police along with CRPF. Two weapons and ammunition were also recovered. Elaina Wilcox owns Color & Craft Salon in Culver City, which has been closed since March 19 because of the state's coronavirus-related stay-at-home order. Wilcox, who said the business' rent is $3,200 a month, doesn't have steady income right now and fears she might lose her salon. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Elaina Wilcox has set July 1 as her tentative deadline. If California officials don't allow her to return to work at her hair salon by then, she might have to give it up or find other ways to survive. Without an income, she doesnt want to dig too far into her savings to pay the $3,200 monthly rent for Color & Craft Salon, the two-person operation in Culver City she opened in October. Wilcox had a small salon when she was younger, following in her mothers footsteps as a hairdresser, but her new 450-square-foot salon on Main Street is prime real estate in a booming area. Opening the salon last year was a dream come true. She built a clientele pushing 200 men and women, offering various hair services five days a week alongside a stylist she hired before the coronavirus raged. Now, Wilcox wonders if her business will survive a full year as the stress mounts. Im all about being safe, and Im all about doing this in a very mandated, very regulated way, but this is too much, Wilcox said. Were swinging in the wind. We really dont know what to do. Elaina Wilcox, owner of Color & Craft Salon, stands inside her salon on Main Street in Culver City. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) Americans have been desperate for haircuts. They want to color their gray roots. Eyebrows are getting out of hand. Theyre appearing on Zoom calls with bushy beards and, if theyre brave enough, buzzed heads. Those are minor inconveniences, the stuff of Twitter one-liners and memes, manageable until the country returns to normal. However, many of the people who provide those services can't afford to wait it out. Although some states have slowly begun reopening, allowing barbers and hairstylists to get back to work, those in personal grooming industries in California remain largely in the dark two months after establishments were ordered to close. Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a four-stage plan for reopening parts of the California economy. The personal care sector hair salons, nail salons and gyms was deemed nonessential and included in the third phase alongside churches and sporting events without live audiences. California entered Stage 2 on May 8, though some counties are veering off the state's guidelines with more aggressive plans. Story continues Last Tuesday, the Professional Beauty Federation of California, a nonprofit that represents licensed beauty professionals, filed a lawsuit against Newsom in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Newsom's office did not respond for comment on the suit. This week, hairdressers, barbers and other beauty professionals were given a better idea about what's to come. On Monday, Newsom announced that more California communities could slowly begin to reopen as the state loosens its stay-at-home order. On the horizon, perhaps as soon as early June, would be in-person retail options and some sporting events without spectators. Im confused, Wilcox said. Some people say its July, and some people are saying it could be as long as early September, which would be a nightmare. When they open, barbershops and salons wont return to normalcy. They likely will restart with changes. There will be stricter limits on the size of gatherings and social distancing measures. Shops and salons, often doubling as social and therapeutic spaces, will function differently. The measures will dent bottom lines. Its getting a little scary, Graham Curran, a barber, said. Barber Graham Curran, who rents a space at Salon Republic in Hermosa Beach, also sells paintings on the side. (Graham Curran) Curran, 33, and his wife, Mia Zdjelar, rent a 130-square-foot room at Salon Republic the WeWork of hair salons in Hermosa Beach. The couple dont have to worry about paying rent for their salon during the shutdown. Salon Republic with 23 locations in California, Texas and Colorado assured all tenants that rent payments are dismissed until they can return to work. The couple applied for a Small Business Administration loan six weeks before Curran woke up to a deposit of $1,000 at the beginning of the month. They later received their stimulus checks and a loan through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). However, theyre still hustling to pay the bills. Curran, a full-time artist before barbering, is commissioning paintings and selling gift cards for their hair business. Zdjelar is producing hair-coloring kits and personalizing them for clients with dye, proper tools and a Polaroid of the family her and Curran with their two dachshunds. Zdjelar drops the kits off at her clients homes. Sometimes they come outside to greet her at least six feet away, usually with their dogs. Shes available for a FaceTime appointment to walk the client through the process. She records a video for those who prefer not to FaceTime or dont have access to it. A lot of my own self-worth lies in being in service of people, and when you remove my daily ability to do that, it plays a huge toll on your mental health, Zdjelar, 31, said. So its nice to feel like Im at service. Unlike other hairdressers, Amanda Jenkins, a stylist at Leo by Paul Norton, a salon in West Hollywood, didn't have the option to serve clients and make money when the shutdown began. She believes she contracted the coronavirus soon after she stopped working in mid-March. She said she wasnt officially tested but had symptoms. Once she felt better, she posted a video giving her roommate a basic fade as a tutorial on her YouTube channel. She's since posted multiple how-to videos on Instagram and YouTube. Hairdresser Amanda Jenkins cuts hair before the COVID-19 pandemic. (Amanda Jenkins) She applied for unemployment benefits as an independent contractor but hasnt received any yet, and she hasn't received a stimulus check. For money, shes selling beauty products. She initially didnt entertain offering house calls for her clients, worried that she could spread the virus. But she has decided to do select house calls for those who reach out. I have disclosed with them that I was sick and now Im well, Jenkins, 32, said. Its up to them if they are comfortable with me coming to them. We can both wear masks and practice proper sanitation as usual. Its a risk more and more people in the industry are taking the longer they go without incomes. Danny de la Cruz, a 37-year-old father of four, has given haircuts since his barbershop in Monterey Park closed. Hes been offered $100 to drive an hour from his home in the Inland Empire to cut a clients hair but prefers to work in his garage where he has a workstation set up. But his wife worries. He said he received a stimulus check from the federal government but didnt qualify for unemployment benefits. Hes relying on his son, who works for UPS, to help pay the bills. I make sure to clean up before every cut, De la Cruz said. Just trying to make what I can for bills and what we somewhat need. For clients, it's a tricky process to navigate as well. Evan Lovett, who works in online advertising, begged his barber for weeks to come to his house to give him a haircut. The barber initially refused but eventually caved. Last month, he went to Lovetts house in Studio City to tighten up his client's unruly hair and beard, which the client's wife didnt like very much. A week earlier, a hairstylist came over to cut the hair of Lovett's wife and 6-year-old son. Lovetts dog groomer also relented after declining business. He dropped his familys three small dogs off for a grooming last month. Shes extremely paranoid about it, Lovett, 41, said. She wants to do like a drug-style drop-off and pickup. Wilcox said the idea of a rigorous investigation over house calls is enough of a deterrent for many hairdressers. She doesnt want to reach a point where she would risk paying fines or losing her license. If anything, she emphasized, forcing people underground to offer services increases the chances of spreading the virus more than reopening salons where strict sanitization measures are taken. Elaina Wilcox, owner of Color & Craft, fears she could lose her salon if there are longer delays getting California hairdressers back to work. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) When she's finally able to reopen her salon, Wilcox asserted she wouldnt work if she had the virus symptoms or allow clients to enter the salon with any. She said she would meticulously check temperatures and make sure she and her other stylist were six feet apart. She also believes the money from cuts and colors probably wouldnt be the same as last year because necessary precautions would limit appointments. However, every dollar would help keep her salon afloat. I get its a learning process with this virus, but we are very well trained and regulated when it comes to sanitation, Wilcox said. We have months of sanitation courses that we have to pass before we can become a hairdresser. I know its because we touch the client, but there are ways of doing it in a responsible way. Wilcox said she got a stimulus check from the government but hasnt received a PPP loan and hasnt heard back after applying for unemployment benefits. She said she has a great relationship with her landlord and had her May rent deferred. However, shes afraid any potential government aid and her landlord's willingness to help still wouldnt be enough to save her business as missed rent accrues. For now, she anxiously waits, wondering if shell ever work in her own salon on a regular basis again. I was fine up until I found out we couldnt come back at least until July, Wilcox said. And then I got real depressed. New Delhi, May 19 : Actor Vidyut Jammwal says he is proud to be an action hero and called it a big achievement. Vidyut made his Bollywood debut with the action-packed film "Force" in 2011. He was later seen in high-octane actioners like the "Commando" franchise and "Junglee". Does he fear of being typecast as just an action hero in Bollywood? "Ask people who are looking for work who are not Apart of the industry. To just be an action hero in the country with 1.3 billion people, is it 'just'? or the thing to be an action hero. So, I look at it like that. It's not 'just' that I am an action hero. It's a big achievement, for someone who has no idea about the industry just on sheer talent," Vidyut told IANS. The actor says if there is a scope of improvement in his craft he wants to be the best. "I would never say that it is 'just an action movie or I am just an action star'. But yes I feel very proud and I would like to say if there is a scope for improvement I want to be so good... So, for me till the time I am doing action I am doing action," he said. Vidyut will next be seen in "Khuda Hafiz", a romantic movie. Directed by Faruk Kabir, the romantic-action-thriller co-stars Shivaleeka Oberoi, who recently made her debut in "Yeh Saali Aashiqui", opposite late Amrish Puri's grandson Vardhan Puri. The film is produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak and co-produced by Sanjeev Joshi, Aditya Chowksey and Murlidhar Chhatwani. It will be distributed pan-India by Anand Pandit Motion Pictures and Panorama Films. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Barack and Michelle Obama's presidential and first lady portraits will not be unveiled and hung in the White House until Donald Trump is out of office, a Tuesday morning report revealed. The long-held tradition of current presidents attending the unveiling ceremony of the portraits of their predecessors and their wives during their first term will be skipped during this presidency due to the bitter feud between Trump and Obama, people familiar with the matter told NBC News. If Trump wins a second term in November, Obama may have to wait until 2025 to have his portrait revealed and displayed in the White House among every U.S. president before him. Obama, people familiar with the matter said, has no interest in participating in the post-presidency tradition as long as Trump is in office and Trump has no qualms with snubbing a presidential custom. The tradition of previous presidents returning to the White House to meet with their successor to unveil their portraits seems to span back to the 1970s, and has provided some rare moments of praise and bipartisanship even for those who have issued harsh criticism of each other or ousted the other from office in sour races. Donald Trump and Barack Obama have no interest in participating in the long-held tradition of previous presidents returning to meet with the current president in a ceremony to unveil their presidential portraits as the public war-of-words between the two heightened recently The long-held tradition has been observed for decades even between presidents with staunchly different political views. We may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends those differences,' Obama said when he hosted former President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush for their portrait unveiling in 2012 Also after George H. W. Bush lost reelection, Bill Clinton hosted him and his wife in the East Room, saying 'Welcome home' Jimmy Carter welcomed Gerald Ford and his wife Betty back to the White House just four years after Carter had defeated Ford in his reelection bid for the first formal East Room ceremony in 1980. And after George H. W. Bush lost reelection, Bill Clinton still hosted Bush in the East Room, saying 'Welcome home.' 'We may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends those differences,' Obama said when he hosted former President George W. Bush for his portrait unveiling in 2012. The break from tradition comes as Trump and Obama have recently upped their public attacks toward one another. Most recently, Trump began making accusations that Obama and former Vice President and presumed Democratic nominee Joe Biden committed a crime in relation to the investigation and prosecution of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Trump has dubbed the unfounded claims as 'Obamagate,' claiming the crime was worse than the Nixon-era Watergate scandal. Obama also issued harsh words toward the president during a televised commencement address for the high school class of 2020 last week, when he called Trump a 'little kid' without mentioning his name. Also during a call earlier this month, the former president criticized Trump for his response to the coronavirus pandemic. While Obama and Michelle already have separate portraits hung in the National Portrait Gallery, which were revealed in February 2018, the official White House portraits are part of a different tradition. The Obamas unveiled their portraits for the National Portrait Gallery, a separate tradition, in February 2018 revealing more unconventional portraits than first couples past The process for White House portraits takes a few years to complete. After the first couple decides on an artist, the White House Historical Association, a privately funded entity, negotiates a contract. The Obamas selected an artist and a contract was finalized in early 2017, according to people familiar with the situation but the process stalled at that point. Usually the former president and first lady would schedule sittings for the portraits to be painted and they would subsequently be delivered to the White House curator who would schedule the unveiling. At the past unveiling ceremonies, the former president, first lady, staff and close friends and family are able to mingle with the current White House occupant and his administration and family. The only other times when unveiling ceremonies appear to have been derailed were in 1971, when Jacqueline Kennedy agreed to go to a private viewing of her and John F. Kennedy's portraits with President Richard Nixon and first lady Pat. Media were not informed that Jackie and her children had been back to the White House until after they had left. It appears Jimmy Carter, one of the five living presidents, did not attend a ceremony for his White House portrait after Reagan took office but his White House communications director told NBC News that it likely wasn't in the former president's style and that he was focused on setting up his library after leaving office. Looking ahead to the 2022 elections, Macron has used the pandemic as a chance to rebrand himself as a more compassionate president and to assure the public that the institutions of Frances generous welfare state will be well maintained throughout the public health crisis. But the fact that the revolt came from the left of Macrons party suggests that his own faction viewed those promises as hollow, said Bruno Cautres, a political scientist based at Sciences Po in Paris. In a recent study, Duke researchers tested whether a single infusion of a unit of a child's own or donor cord blood could improve social communication skills in children between the ages of 2-7 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Of the 180 children in the study, the subgroup of children without an intellectual disability showed improvements in language communication, ability to sustain attention measured via eye tracking, and increased alpha and beta EEG power, a measure of brain function. However, those who also had an intellectual disability did not show social communication function improvement after the infusion. The findings are publishing online May 19 in The Journal of Pediatrics. "Cord blood contains immune modulating cells called monocytes," said Joanne Kurtzberg, M.D., Jerome S. Harris Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, director of the Marcus Center for Cellular Cures and a pioneer in the use of cord blood treatments. "In the laboratory, these cells calm down a type of brain inflammation that can be seen in children with autism. In this study, we tested whether cord blood infusions would lessen symptoms in children with autism." Approximately 40 percent of children with autism also have an intellectual disability, as defined as an IQ below 70, according to first author Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and the William Cleland Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. More research is needed to determine why the findings in this study are different between those with and without an intellectual disability, and whether the treatment could be altered to be beneficial to more children. It is unclear whether the failure for children with intellectual disability is due to the short duration of the study, the outcome measures not being sensitive enough to detect change in this population or that the cord blood is actually not an effective treatment for children with autism who also have an intellectual disability," Geraldine Dawson, PhD., William Cleland Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University "We learned a lot from this initial study," said Kurtzberg, senior author on the manuscript. "In the future, we hope to conduct a trial designed for children with autism who have intellectual disability focusing on outcome measures that can be targeted to test this group of children." "We also used lessons learned from this study to design an ongoing study testing other cell therapies in older children with autism without intellectual disability." "Overall, we are encouraged by these initial results and plan to build upon them in future studies of cellular therapies in children with autism," Kurtzberg said. Another day of quarantine, another cancellation announcement of a previously scheduled function or event. Victoria's Secret supermodel Josephine Skriver has made the move to postpone her long-awaited nuptials to Alexander DeLeon, a musician who goes by the named of Bohnes, People Magazine reports. The Danish beauty, 27, and the Las Vegas-born rocker, 31, have been engaged since November 2018. They'll have to wait: Victoria's Secret supermodel Josephine Skriver has made the move to postpone her long-awaited nuptials to Alexander DeLeon; seen here in 2018 'It was a tough decision to make,' Skriver told the publication. 'When you wait for a moment your entire life and then have to postpone, its never easy. We debated it for weeks, trying everything we could to make it work. At the end of the day the safety of our friends and family was the most important.' Trying to see the silver lining in the situation, the brunette stunner also said, 'were just happy that our family and friends are happy and healthy' amid the pandemic. 'People around the world are going through so much worse than a wedding postponement,' Josephine added astutely. It was a tough decision to make,' Skriver told People; seen on the runway in November 2018 In love: The Danish beauty and the Las Vegas-born rocker have been engaged since November 2018, a few weeks after this picture was taken 'It would be selfish of us to complain.' And regarding specifics of the now moved ceremony, the Copenhagen-born catwalker is remaining mum, for the most part. Skriver says the 'magical' event will largely remain as planned, except of course from the actual date which looks to be pushed back one whole year. Debating: 'We debated it for weeks, trying everything we could to make it work. At the end of the day the safety of our friends and family was the most important,' Josephine said; seen here on her fiance's Instagram 'I think the one year move-back will give me time to really enjoy the process more,' she told People. 'It was a lot more stressful than i thought and Im excited to use this time to make it even more special.' 'We have been together for so long we basically feel married already so waiting another year is turning out to be okay for us,' the Nashville, Tennessee-based model added. 'Its less about "getting married" and more about celebrating our love with the people we love the most.' Skriver and DeLeon got engaged in the fall of 2018 in a truly magical fashion under the Northern Lights in Finland. 'We have been together for so long we basically feel married already so waiting another year is turning out to be okay for us,' the Nashville, Tennessee-based model added The South Texas Blood and Tissue Center is running low on its blood supply, a cause for concern now that non-emergency surgeries are happening again, the center's chief operating officer said Sunday during the City of San Antonio's COVID-19 briefing. Elizabeth Waltman said the center has just over a two-day supply of blood. She added the blood center had about a seven to eight-day supply when non-emergency surgeries were not allowed during the shelter-in-place order. READ MORE: The latest news and features about coronavirus in San Antonio "It has not been at the same levels as we were before people were staying at home," she said in the briefing. "We are in a shortage ... All these (non-emergency) surgeries aren't trauma cases ... and they are being scheduled and they are using quite a bit of blood." The center estimates it needs 500 donors a day to keep up with the current demand for South Texas patients. Waltman said the demand for blood has increased by 40 percent since non-emergencies have resumed. To help increase the supply, the center is hosting a blood drive at the Alamodome from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 21-23. Those who wish to donate need to make an appointment. For more information, click here. The center will give each donor a $10 H-E-B gift card. Donors can elect not to take the card and to have the funds donated to the San Antonio Food Bank instead Donating blood is one of the best ways we can help our community during these difficult times, and the need is urgent, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in the briefing. The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed our blood supply in many ways. I encourage everyone to support our neighbors by donating during the Alamodome blood drive. Blood donations truly help save lives." Priscilla Aguirre is a general assignment reporter for MySA.com | priscilla.aguirre@express-news.net | @CillaAguirre MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: High school Maggie Reynolds, Bethlehem Central High School senior, earned first place in New York state in the national InvestWrite competition and seventh place nationwide in the fall 2019 InvestWrite competition. Essays laid out a financial plan to pay for their dream with a pitch to a panel of virtual investors. Reynolds submitted an essay outlining short- and long-term investment advice for the Albany-based immigrant and refugee services agency RISSE, Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus. A citizenship test tutor at RISSE, she helps immigrants and refugees study for the U.S. Naturalization test. Her essay was among thousands submitted in the competition. Awards and honors The following have received "Best in Show" awards for their entries into SUNY Delhi's fall 2019 Student Research and Creative Achievement Day: Carly Yezzo, Schenectady; Carl Kernochan, Ballston Spa; and Kendra Davis, Schaghticoke Timothy Nolan, Saratoga Springs, was one of four SUNY Oneonta students to receive the 2020 SUNY Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, the highest honor SUNY bestows upon students. Callie Lundin, Ballston Spa, was recognized by the Center for Mark Twain Studies at Elmira, for the Annual Portraying Mark Twain Art Contest and the Mark Twain Essay Contest. Politicians should not get involved in banks' loan decisions, the head of the Irish Banking and Payments Federation (IBPF) says. Brian Hayes, a former MEP and former Fine Gael Minister of State, made his comment amid criticism from a Fine Gael TD of banks' refusal to allow people availing of the State's Covid-19 salary support scheme to draw down mortgages. Cork North Central TD, Colm Burke, said the banks' policy towards those mortgage applicants whose salaries are being topped up by the State could have a serious knock-on effect in the wider economy. He warned: "If the banks are allowed to continue to adopt this policy a collapse will again occur in the housing market." "Contracts which were in place will no longer be able to move forward and builders who have carried out work will not get paid. "Borrowers who have entered into unconditional contracts should not be put at risk where there is clear evidence that they are in a very strong position to comply with the terms of their loan offer." In an interview on RTE Radio One's Today with Sarah McInerny about a report warning of a looming mortgage crisis, Mr Hayes said the bank bailout here was done in line with agreements from the European Commission: "And that agreement was we wouldn't have political banking, we would have banking based on commercial realities, banking based on the cost of capital, banking based on the huge amount of capital that Irish banks have to hold viz-a-viz other banks because of the level of risk that occurred 10 years ago." "Commercial banking requires a framework whereby politicians cannot get involved in loan decisions by those banks, despite the fact that 70% of them might be owned (by the State)." He said there is some inevitability around people going into mortgage arrears when the Covid-19 mortgage payment break ends but he said the risk of home repossession is low. There are about 750,000 mortgages on private homes in Ireland, and Mr Hayes said there have been about 3,200 repossessions in the last decade and about 6,500 voluntary surrenders: "So the chance of being repossessed in this country is 0.5%. "It is the lowest in any European country. So really, people should not be scaring people. The chance of repossession in Ireland is very low." The length of time it takes is 44 months by comparison to our nearest neighbor in the UK, which was 17 months. He said 85,000 mortgages have been restructured by Irish banks, credit servicing firms and by non-banks and that in about 90% of those cases, the restructure has worked for people. He also pointed out that the banking sector, like other industries, will be affected by the pandemic, and is making provisions for that in line with meeting European requirements on their rates of non-performing loans and bad debts. He also pointed out that of the 30bn pumped into the three pillar banks, AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB, 20bn has been returned to the Irish taxpayer. "And the ambition of all of those banks is to make sure that the remaining 10bn can be done ultimately in the sale of shares as a consequence of making those banks profitable," he said. Another San Antonio business got time in the national spotlight recently because of its response to the coronavirus pandemic. Feliz Modern, a gifts and supplies store, was highlighted by Richard Quest on his CNN show, "Quest Means Business." Quest spoke with co-owner Ginger Diaz about the issues her business is facing and the decision to keep the store closed while relying on curbside and online sales. Diaz said her team will revisit the decision in a week or two, after assessing surveillance of new COVID-19 cases. READ MORE: The latest news and features about coronavirus in San Antonio Quest said the San Antonio stores are a "good example of the sort of problems small businesses are facing." Diaz also discussed the Paycheck Protection Program loan and confusion as to whether the funds would have to be repaid. From what she understood during the time of the interview, loan forgiveness would be based on the rehiring of fulltime employees. She said some of the laid off employees were hired back to run online sales thanks to the loan, but she did not feel comfortable bringing back the entire staff if she was unsure she'd be able to repay them once the eight weeks of funds ended. In an update on Tuesday, the store told mySA they've heard the Small Business Administration is no longer requiring complete rehires to qualify for forgiveness. Feliz Modern will not learn the outcome until the end of the program, but said hopes for loan forgiveness are "looking good." The store also shared a limited reopening plan slated for next week, which will likely be on a by appointment basis. During the show, Quest also touched on some positives, like popular items at the store. Diaz said the Otomi face coverings, which are handmade in Hidalgo, Mexico, are the best-sellers. She also noted customers are buying "quarantine fun" items, like supplies for social distancing celebrations, and care packages to send as gifts. Quest ended the conversation by saying he would use the corporate card to buy a Feliz Modern kit to also send as a gift. Madalyn Mendoza covers news and puro pop culture for MySA.com | mmendoza@mysa.com | @maddyskye MORE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE: By Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI cracked the iPhone encryption of the Royal Saudi Air Force trainee who killed three American sailors in a December attack at a naval base in Florida, and found evidence linking him to al Qaeda, Attorney General William Barr said on Monday. The shooter, Second Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, 21, also wounded eight people before being killed by law enforcement during the Dec. By Sarah N. Lynch and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI cracked the iPhone encryption of the Royal Saudi Air Force trainee who killed three American sailors in a December attack at a naval base in Florida, and found evidence linking him to al Qaeda, Attorney General William Barr said on Monday. The shooter, Second Lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, 21, also wounded eight people before being killed by law enforcement during the Dec. 6, 2019, attack. He was on the base as part of a U.S. Navy training program designed to foster links with foreign allies. The Justice Department succeeded in unlocking the encryption on the shooter's iPhone after Apple Inc declined to do so, Barr told reporters on a conference call. Apple later disputed his version, saying it cooperated to the extent that its technology allowed. "The information from the phone has already proved invaluable," Barr said. Barr called on Congress to take action forcing Apple and other tech companies to help law enforcement agencies get through encryption during criminal investigations. "Apple's decision has dangerous consequences," Barr said. "Many of the technology companies that advocate most loudly for warrant-proof encryption ... are at the same time willing to accommodate authoritarian regimes." Apple defended its practice. "It is because we take our responsibility to national security so seriously that we do not believe in the creation of a backdoor one which will make every device vulnerable to bad actors," Apple said in a statement. "There is no such thing as a backdoor just for the good guys, and the American people do not have to choose between weakening encryption and effective investigations." In February, an audio recording purporting to be from the Islamist militant group al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attack, but provided no evidence. Prior to the shooting spree, the shooter had posted criticism of U.S. wars and quoted slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on social media. "The Pensacola attack was actually the brutal culmination of years of planning," FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Monday, adding that evidence showed Alshamrani had been radicalized by 2015. Barr has said the Saudi government did not have any advanced warnings of the shooting. The Saudi Embassy in Washington said in a statement it welcomed the recovery of intelligence from Alshamrani's phone and it was continuing to provide full support to the investigation. Saudi Arabia in January withdrew its remaining 21 cadets from the U.S. military training program and brought them home, after the Justice Department's investigation revealed some had accessed child pornography or had social media accounts containing Islamic extremist or anti-American content. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball and Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; editing by Scott Malone, Steve Orlofsky and Leslie Adler) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. M7 Real Estate has sold a light industrial portfolio in the Netherlands to the Canadian real estate investor, Dream Industrial REIT, on behalf of M7 European Real Estate Investment Partners IV (M7 EREIP IV), for circa 140 million. M7 will be retained as advisor for the portfolio. The portfolio com... [] By Akbar Mammadov Armenia is not interested in the phased resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as it is interested to preserve the status quo, Deputy Director General of the Russian Federal Information-Analytical Agency Vestnik Kavkaza Andrei Petrov told Azertag. Armenia could insist on the package [phased] scenario, because in this case the time for a peaceful settlement would be extended, but any option that supports the status quo is beneficial for the aggressor, said Petrov. The expert said that to start advancing the settlement process it is enough to agree on the first stage of the liberation of Azerbaijans territories from occupation to create conditions for the return of refugees and internally displaced persons. Each stage will lead to another stage and the conflict will be gradually resolved and the long-awaited peace will be established in the South Caucasus, Petrov said. He noted that it is more difficult to both agree and implement a package option for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is because this option envisages, firstly, to start implementing them only after the completion of negotiations on all issues, and secondly, to release all the transitional stages of the situation in the conflict zone, he added. It should be noted that on April 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed the step-by-step settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which includes the liberation of a number of areas around Nagorno-Karabakh and the unblocking of transport, economic and other communications. The Armenian authorities made a number of statements after Lavrovs proposal, rejecting the step-by-step or phased settlement of the conflict. In 2011, Dean Connor was appointed CEO of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSE:SLF). This analysis aims first to contrast CEO compensation with other large companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally - as a second measure of performance - we will look at the returns shareholders have received over the last few years. This process should give us an idea about how appropriately the CEO is paid. See our latest analysis for Sun Life Financial How Does Dean Connor's Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies? Our data indicates that Sun Life Financial Inc. is worth CA$27b, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as CA$9.6m for the year to December 2019. That's below the compensation, last year. We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at CA$1.1m. We note that more than half of the total compensation is not the salary; and performance requirements may apply to this non-salary portion. We took a group of companies with market capitalizations over CA$11b, and calculated the median CEO total compensation to be CA$9.3m. There aren't very many mega-cap companies, so we had to take a wide range to get a meaningful comparison figure. 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 23% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 77% is other remuneration. It's interesting to note that Sun Life Financial allocates a smaller portion of compensation to salary in comparison to the broader industry. That means Dean Connor receives fairly typical remuneration for the CEO of a large company. While this data point isn't particularly informative alone, it gains more meaning when considered with business performance. You can see, below, how CEO compensation at Sun Life Financial has changed over time. Story continues TSX:SLF CEO Compensation May 19th 2020 Is Sun Life Financial Inc. Growing? On average over the last three years, Sun Life Financial Inc. has seen earnings per share (EPS) move in a favourable direction by 1.4% each year (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is up 7.2% over last year. I would argue that the improvement in revenue isn't particularly impressive, but the modest improvement in EPS is good. So there are some positives here, but not enough to earn high praise. You might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for future earnings. Has Sun Life Financial Inc. Been A Good Investment? Sun Life Financial Inc. has served shareholders reasonably well, with a total return of 13% over three years. But they would probably prefer not to see CEO compensation far in excess of the median. In Summary... Remuneration for Dean Connor is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a large company . The company isn't showing particularly great growth, and shareholder turns haven't been particularly inspiring in the last few years. But we don't think the CEO compensation is a problem. Shifting gears from CEO pay for a second, we've picked out 1 warning sign for Sun Life Financial that investors should be aware of in a dynamic business environment. Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies. Love or hate this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email 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. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading. Taiwan on Tuesday said it was "disappointed and angry" with the World Health Organization (WHO) for not inviting Taipei to join this year's World Health Assembly (WHA) which kicked off Monday. Taiwan has been lobbying hard to join this year's meeting as an observer after its success with containing the coronavirus outbreak. But it faced strong opposition from China, which claims Taiwan as its province with no right to its own diplomatic representation. "We feel disappointed and angry about WHO's decision of not inviting Taiwan to join this year's WHA. We feel we have so much to share about our successful experiences in this Covid-19 outbreak response" said Yi-Chun Lo, deputy director general at Taiwan Centers for Disease Control. On Monday, Taiwan's foreign minister Joseph Wu said the issue of its participation would be put off until later in the year, so the assembly can focus on the coronavirus this time. Despite its proximity to China, Taiwan has only reported 440 coronavirus cases and seven deaths so far even without a large-scale lockdown. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said that the U.S. condemns Taiwan's exclusion from the WHA. "No one disputes that Taiwan has mounted one of the world's most successful efforts to contain the pandemic to date, despite its close proximity to the original outbreak in Wuhan, China," Pompeo said in a strongly worded statement. Pompeo, a vocal China critic, also criticized Beijing's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. "Taiwan is a model world citizen, while the PRC (People's Republic of China) continues to withhold vital information about the virus and its origins, deny access to their scientists and relevant facilities, censor discussion of the pandemic within China and on Chinese social media properties, and casts blame widely and recklessly," said Pompeo. Taiwan has been praised globally for its virus containment measures that included early control measures at the borders, in the community and in healthcare settings. It also uses a sophisticated contact tracing and quarantine network, Lo told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Tuesday. The island has not posted any domestic cases for more than a month and is confident that there is "zero" community spread at the moment, said Lo. He told CNBC the island shares concerns that China was not transparent with information about the outbreak at its onset. The Taiwan CDC deputy director general also said the WHO did not seriously regard information from Taiwan in December that suggested possible human-to-human transmission. The WHO has disputed Taiwan's claims, saying that the island had not explicitly communicated that information. Taiwan in vaccine race - Moses Gitari developed the app after he felt the blind in Kenya had been duped by the government - The government had announced the new currency notes would be easy for people who were visually compared to identify - One can use the app by just pointing their phone camera to the money and the phone reads out the amount - Gitari created the application after he collaborated with two app developers from the Czech Republic - He said it works offline, does not use the Internet and has a user-friendly design - It also makes excellent use of assistive technologies like large contrasting characters We all know the cliche used to show that people with disability are not limited and that they can make something out of their lives despite their condition. Well, a 29-year-old student at the University of Nairobi (UoN) has redefined this cliche by choosing to help visually impaired people to cope up with the challenges that come with being blind. READ ALSO: Nairobi landlord evicts children of tenant stranded up country due to cessation of movement Moses Gitari chose to help the visually impaired people to cope up with the challenges that come with being blind. Photo: Moses Gitari. Source: Original READ ALSO: God has done it: Miss Rwanda Plus-Size opens up on her coronavirus recovery Moses Gitari from the College of Education and External Studies invented an innovation that uses assistive technology to bridge disability in educating visually challenged learners. These achievements were made all the more remarkable given that Gitari is one of around 250,000 Kenyans who are visually impaired. In his case, he is totally blind. His iPhone is equipped with a VoiceOver screen reader which enables him to use it as well as his iPad and computer normally. Speaking to TUKO.co.ke, he said the screen reads to him stuff including buttons, icons, links, and other interface elements, and use gestures to navigate and select his options. READ ALSO: Baringo man gifts in-laws with KSh 2M solar powered water project The postgraduate student also ensured that blind people in Kenya can be able to identify money through their mobile phone using an app called Cash Reader. According to him, one can use the app by just pointing their phone camera to the money and the phone reads out the amount. The application, which he created after he collaborated with two app developers from the Czech Republic, works offline and does not use the Internet. It has a user-friendly design, works offline, and makes excellent use of assistive technologies like large contrasting characters, Screen Reader, vibrations, and personalised Siri Shortcuts. READ ALSO: TUKO.co.ke celebrates 9 Kenyan mums fighting COVID-19 pandemic from the frontline: "Happy Mothers Day" The postgraduate student also ensured that blind people in Kenya can be able to identify money through their mobile phone using an app called cash reader. Photo: Moses Gitari. Source: Original These features make Cash Reader the first money reader that covers the full spectrum of visual impairment ranging from partial blindness to deaf-blindness. It has more than 65 currencies integrated and supports more than 30 languages. From the Australian dollar to the Zambian kwacha, from English to Swahili, anyone can use Cash Reader anywhere in the world, on both iOS and Android. Gitari developed the app after he felt the blind in Kenya had been duped by the government when it announced the new currency notes would be easy to identify by the blind. READ ALSO: My wife chose alcohol over our children - Nairobi man narrates For the 29-year-old postgraduate student at the University of Nairobi, he also hopes to break stereotypes about disability and raise awareness of the problems facing visually-impaired people. I'm trying to reach the best to bridge disability divide through the use of assistive technology. We have a voice," he said. Achieving this dream, however, requires overcoming a number of barriers and among them is a culture of stigmatisation surrounding disability in Kenya. " Besides Kenya, I have helped over 15 countries. I have to collect banknotes for all those countries and process them here in Kenya," explained Gitari. READ ALSO: Kilifi woman gifted new house by Governor Amason Kingi after she delivered quadruplets Gitari developed the app after he felt the blind in Kenya had been duped by the government when it announced the new currency notes would be easy to identify. Photo: Moses Gitari. Source: Original After losing his eyesight at the age of 17, his parents remained determined that their son would grow up to live as normal a life as possible. Recognising this privilege, Gitari would later try to change the attitudes of those parents and family members who had hidden their children indoors. He would go door-to-door trying to convince these parents that it was possible for their children to live an active life in Kenya, just as he himself was doing. But worries over the lack of infrastructure in Kenya, the safety of their children and the financial cost tied to supporting a child with a disability led to Gitari usually being shown the door. READ ALSO: Woman donating liver to 28-year-old dying son discovers he's not her biological child He was no stranger to those same funding and infrastructure problems most notably at school, where his love for technology blossomed. Persons living with disabilities in Kenya still face several challenges which have remained unaddressed... which include a lack of universal accessibility," he said. For Gitari and his friends, this means that everything from potholes to exposed electrical wires poses a potential hazard. 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 Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, who is at the forefront of India's battle against coronavirus (Covid-19), is set to take charge as the chairman of the WHO Executive Board on May 22, officials said on Tuesday. Vardhan would succeed Dr Hiroki Nakatani of Japan, currently the Chairman of the 34-member WHO Executive Board. The proposal to appoint India's nominee to the executive board was signed by the 194-nation World Health Assembly on Tuesday, officials said on condition of anonymity. His taking over the post seems to be a formality after the decision that he will ... [May 18, 2020] Trenton Systems releases groundbreaking ION Mini PC LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., May 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Trenton Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of rugged servers, workstations, processor boards and PCIe backplanes, has officially released its made-in-the-USA ION Mini PC, perfect for military, commercial and industrial applications needing a powerful, affordable, rugged computer in a small form factor. "The goal upfront was to create a long-life, rugged mini PC in the smallest space possible while keeping cost at the forefront," said Michael Bowling, CEO of Trenton Systems. "Trenton's engineering and production groups stepped up to the challenge. They knocked it out of the park with the ION, and I'm proud of the teams here at Trenton." Features The rugged ION Mini PC, a blazingly fast, high-performance computer weighing just 3.2 pounds, supports 8th and 9th generation Intel Coffee Lake / Coffee Lake-R CPUs - up to 8 cores and 16 threads for super-fast processing - as well as up to 32GB of unbuffered DDR4-2666 RAM across two SODIMM slots. These features are ideal for compute-intensive tasks, whether on or off the front lines. Customers can also expect: ECC-registered and non-registered options to reduce cost and increase performance 35W TDP to ensure minimal thermal output An onboard TPM 2.0 and configurable BIOS settings for added protection Strict revision control for consistent, long-term support Programs and applications placing great emphasis on storage options will be satisfied with the ION Mini PC's internal 2.5" SATA SSD and M.2 NVMe PCIe card, which offer plenty of drive space and super-swift read-and-write speeds for a comfortable, efficient storage experience. In terms of input and output, the ION is equipped with six USB 3.0 ports, 1 DisplayPort, 1 VGA port, 2 RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports and 1 RJ-45 dedicated IPMI LAN port, providing users with necessary audiovisual, internet and system expansion capabilities. A robust, embedded juggernaut, the ION Mini PC has a truly rugged design that ensures system survival in some of the planet's harshest conditions. "Trenton's ustomers expect long-life, high-quality, durable, hardened and secured hardware by a trusted manufacturer with full control of the supply chain and an in-house team that's backed by an engineering arm ready to tackle the most complex specifications," Bowling said. Before release, our test engineers pushed the ION Mini PC to its functional limits with a series of computer stress tests at our in-house testing facility. You can rest assured that this system is built to last. Give your program or application the power, grit and support it deserves with your very own customizable ION Mini PC today. "Don't be shy about asking for customization," Bowling said. "We would love to discuss how the product could be modified to fit your specific needs." Support The rugged ION Mini PC comes with an industry-leading five-year warranty, as well as limited lifetime support at no additional cost. It's also available through our Loaner Program, which allows customers to borrow Trenton Systems' products free for 45 days. Feel free to contact Trenton Systems at any time with questions, comments or concerns. Lastly, Trenton Systems is proud to say that every ION Mini PC component, from the internal board to the case, is designed, manufactured, assembled and supported in the United States of America. "If you're looking for a rugged, hardened, truly made-in-the-USA mini-ITX form factor PC for your program or application, the ION Mini PC is the newest in the industry," said Yazz Krdzalic, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Trenton Systems. "Team Trenton has spent months taking in customer feedback of wants and needs, and we've prioritized the list accordingly. Our ION Mini PC addresses security concerns, ruggedization that withstands harsh environments and is backed by a support team ready to tackle your most technical questions." Take a look at Trenton's full product line to learn more about its 30 years of experience in the rugged computing industry, and be sure to subscribe to our blog. You won't want to miss a thing. About Trenton Systems, Inc. Trenton Systems, Inc. is a ruggedized computer hardware manufacturer specializing in the design, manufacture, assembly, integration and support of rugged servers and workstations, processor boards, PCIe backplanes, storage servers, blade servers, PCIe expansion, mini PCs and customized high-performance computers for environmentally extreme applications worldwide. Founded in 1989, Trenton Systems provides the defense/military, government, industrial and commercial markets with in-house engineering, testing and support services, computer life cycle planning, revision control, warranty support and customization/configuration support. Trenton Systems' rugged computers meet or exceed UL, CE, FCC and military standards (MIL-STD-810, MIL-STD-461, MIL-S-901, DO-160), are backed by a five-year warranty and in-house limited lifetime support and manufactured in the company's Lawrenceville, Georgia, USA facility, which is certified to ISO 9001:2015 quality management standards. Learn more about how we're changing the rugged computing industry at trentonsystems.com. 2020 Trenton Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. All marks are the property of their respective owners. Design and specifications are subject to change. CONTACT: Yazz Krdzalic, (678) 971-5518, [email protected] View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trenton-systems-releases-groundbreaking-ion-mini-pc-301061088.html SOURCE Trenton Systems, Inc. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Occidental Petroleum OXY and TOTAL S.A. TOT canceled the remaining part of the deal for Africa assets. Notably, the deal was signed between the two companies on May 5, 2019. TOTAL had entered into the deal with Occidental to acquire Anadarkos assets in Africa (Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, South Africa) for a total value of $8.8 billion. TOTAL has already acquired Mozambique and South African assets from Occidental. However, Algerian authorities disapproved the sale of Occidentals assets in the country to TOTAL. TOTAL has also decided not to acquire Occidentals Ghana assets. The discontinuation of the said agreement will now allow Occidental to look for a third party to sell its Ghana assets. Nonetheless, Occidental has decided to retain and operate the Algerian assets. Due to the deal cancellation, Occidental will face difficulties but TOTAL will be able to preserve liquidity in these difficult times. Deal Cancellation Will Hurt Occidental Occidental had to borrow funds to complete the buyout of Anadarko and beat Chevron Corporation CVX in the acquisition race. As it has a huge debt in the balance sheet, Occidental has started selling less profitable assets and those that are not in line with long-term growth objectives, and utilizing proceeds to repay debts. Occidental has efficiently lowered debts since the acquisition of Anadarko. It exited the first quarter with a long-term debt of $36,826 million, down from $39,391 million at 2019-end. In the 2021 to 2022 time period, Occidental will have to repay debt worth $11.1 billion. However, the current weak commodity price scenario, declining demand trends and lower probability of selling non-core assets will hinder Occidentals debt reduction plan. Plus, the cancellation of the said deal will aggravate problems and lower its possibility of accumulating the necessary funds to repay debts that are due in the next couple of years. Finding a new buyer for its Ghana assets could be tricky for Occidental at this moment, as major oil and gas companies across the globe have started to cut down on planned capital expenditure to preserve liquidity amid the unprecedented drop in oil prices and demand. Steps Taken to Face COVID-19 Challenges The outbreak of COVID-19 has lowered demand for hydrocarbon and substantially reduced its prices globally. Occidental has decided to shut non-economic production. To preserve liquidity, it reduced 2020 capital expenditure budget by more 50% to $2.4-$2.6 billion. In addition to achieving $1.1-billion overhead and operating expense synergy target one year ahead of schedule, the company also identified $1.2 billion in operating and overhead cost reductions to be realized in 2020. Other oil and gas companies like Devon Energy DVN also lowered capital spending twice in recent times to preserve liquidity. Zacks Rank Currently, Occidental carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Price Performance Occidentals shares have underperformed the industry in the past 12 months. Story continues 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 TOTAL S.A. (TOT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Chevron Corporation (CVX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Devon Energy Corporation (DVN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Oregon Supreme Court Temporarily Reinstates Governors Virus Restrictions The Oregon Supreme Court temporarily reinstated Gov. Kate Browns COVID-19 restrictions, just hours after a county judge ruled that her statewide order was null and void. Baker County Circuit Judge Matthew Shirtcliff ruled that Brown didnt seek the state legislatures approval to extend a stay-at-home order beyond its original 28-day limit in an attempt to curb the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. The state Supreme Court ruled that Shirtcliffs order is pending review by the high court justices. At the same time, the statewide pandemic restrictions were reinstated until the court can render a decision in the case, according to local news outlets. Brown praised the Supreme Court decision on May 18. Following swift action by the Oregon Supreme Court, my emergency orders to protect the health and safety of Oregonians will remain in effect, Brown wrote on Twitter, after the order was rendered by presiding Justice Thomas Balmer. There are no shortcuts for us to return to life as it was before this pandemic. Moving too quickly could return Oregon to the early days of this crisis, when we braced ourselves for hospitals to be overfilled and ventilators in short supply. People line up to get their care kits containing many hard to find items including masks, sanitizing supplies, personal care items, and education materials at Lynn Technical High School in Lynn, Mass., on May 16, 2020. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images) After Shirtcliffs ruling, it was criticized by Brown and other top officials in her administration, with the governor saying she would immediately appeal it. The judge had responded to a lawsuit that was filed by a group of churches, who had argued that Browns order restricted their religious freedoms. Shirtcliff had argued that the churches suffered irreparable harm for not being able to exercise their religious freedoms. The governors orders are not required for public safety when plaintiffs can continue to utilize social distancing and safety protocols at larger gatherings involving spiritual worship, he ruled, according to Oregon Live, finding that churches are able to undertake necessary social distancing precautions that grocery stores and other essential businesses have implemented. Ray Hacke, the attorney representing faith groups, said he wasnt surprised by the Supreme Courts move. The way I see it, the lower court found that the governors actions have irreparably harmed the religious people of this state, Hacke told OPB. Basically, she turned around and asked the Supreme Court: Theyve already been irreparably harmed for the last three months, a couple more days wont hurt. Browns initial emergency declaration had lasted for 60 days, and earlier in May, she extended it for an additional 60 days. Shirtcliff found that the move was illegal, OPB reported. The Global Air Crash in Cuba: No Justice for the Victims Families 'They never contacted us again. Not even to ask how we were,' a mother told DIARIO DE CUBA. Two years after the accident of the Cubana de Aviacion flight chartered from the Mexican company Global Air, considered the worst disaster in the history of civil aviation on the island the families of the 112 victims are still waiting for justice and reparations. To date the lawsuits filed in Mexico, Spain and the US against the insurance company Ve por Mas SA, the Grupo Financiero Ve por Mas, and the owner of Aerolineas Damojh (Global Air), Manuel Rodriguez Campos, are still being handled at international firms. DIARIO DE CUBA spoke with Spanish attorney Carlos Villacorta Salis, managing partner of BCV Lex, a law firm representing 40 families and the cabin crew of the Boeing 737-200 wreck, who told us that his firm is "in the process of publishing announcements and edicts, in light of the fact that Mr. Rodriguez Campos is missing. The Mexican system is very bureaucratic, and the process has also been delayed by the pandemic. Due to the confinement, the courts in Mexico and Spain have been closed, all the deadlines have been extended, and the commencement of proceedings slated has been delayed." "Likewise, in Cuba the necessary process for the legalization of the documents accrediting kinship between the victims and the aggrieved relatives is also being delayed. We are working with the Consultoria Juridica Internacional, our legal representatives on the Island, to facilitate this process," he reported. To date, the relatives that Villacorta Salis represents have not received any compensation, although "some have received small advances, especially in those cases where there were minors. In any case, the funds are insufficient, and do not meet the minimum international standards." However, he indicated that some of the people received "final offers, without any counsel, not in line with the enormous damages suffered by the families, and not even minimally acceptable." On this matter DIARIO DE CUBA spoke with the mother of one of the deceased, a resident of Holguin who is not a party to any of the lawsuits currently under way. According to the this woman, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, in July of 2019 the affected families were summoned by a lawyer with the Alejandro Vigil Iduate International Law Firm, who told them that he would act as a mediator between them and the Cuban State. The official proposed granting them 5,000 CUC of aid for the legalization of the notarial documents necessary for the procedures, split between the victim's father and mother. The sum was given to them as a bank deposit, with a magnetic card as a means of payment. "According to them, it was not an indemnity, but rather aid. But first they asked if we had filed any other claims. We had to put that in writing, to sign," said the source. "They made it clear to us that other families who have been doing the legalization in other countries would not receive the aid," she added. In addition, Cuban legal representatives interviewed the director of the company where the deceased worked, to find out how much he earned there. "They never contacted us again. Not even to ask how we were. They soon forgot about the accident. But not about the shots that were fired at the Cuban Embassy in the United States days ago," she said. In August 2019, Archivo Cuba presented a report entitled "Cuba violates international law by not offering compensation for civil aviation accidents", in which it stated that the regime's practice of not compensating the families of the victims has spanned decades. In the report, the group based in Puerto Rico, whose main mission is to document cases of deaths caused by the Cuban State over the course of its history, condemned the regime for not complying with its obligations under international law by failing to compensate "the relatives of at least 180 deceased" in aircraft accidents. Archivo Cuba have asked the governments of the world "to impose sanctions on Cuba until it pays the compensation requested by all victims of accidents occurring since the entry into force of the Montreal Convention (1999)" and "to issue urgent travel alerts to advise their citizens." The Montreal Convention specifies that "regardless of the cause or who was responsible for any civil aviation accident, the families of all the deceased must be compensated." The treaty was signed by the Cuban Government on May 28, 1999; ratified on October 14, 2005; and entered into force on December 13, 2005. In addition, it has asked the International Civil Aviation Organization to carry out an "exhaustive, independent and comprehensive investigation into Cuba's civil aviation practices and their compliance with the agreements it has signed, including compensation for victims of air disasters, and to report the results, in a totally transparent way, to the world. " World Health Organisation member states agreed on Tuesday to an independent probe into the UN agency's coronavirus response as US criticism mounted over its handling of the pandemic. Countries taking part in the WHO's annual assembly, being held virtually for the first time, adopted a resolution by consensus urging a joint response to the crisis. The resolution, tabled by the European Union, called for an "impartial, independent and comprehensive evaluation" of the international response to the pandemic, which has so far infected more than 4.8 million people and killed over 318,000. It said the investigation should include a probe of "the actions of WHO and their time-lines pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic". The US did not disassociate itself from the consensus as some had feared after Washington chastised the WHO on the first day of the assembly Monday and lashed out further against China over its role in the outbreak. Tuesday's resolution at the WHO assembly -- which is not binding and mentioned no countries by name -- also called for nations to commit to ensuring "transparent, equitable and timely access" to any treatments or vaccines developed against COVID-19. And it addressed the controversial issue of the origin of the virus, which first emerged in China late last year, urging the WHO to help investigate "the zoonotic source of the virus and the route of introduction to the human population". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) If youd like to join the queue for a book recommendation, send a list of your five most recent reads along with your first name and last initial to books@chicagotribune.com. Make sure to put Biblioracle Live in the subject line, and most importantly, dont forget to tune in live to the event online. Ill also be doing some recommendations live, via the Zoom chat function, so dont despair if you dont get your request in ahead of time. A shop worker wears a mask in London. (Getty Images) Scientists have suggested a rolling cycle of 50 days of lockdown followed by 30 days of normality to help manage the coronavirus outbreak. Britons have spent weeks cooped up indoors as government officials work to protect the NHS and save lives. With the weather warming up and other countries opening their borders, lockdown fatigue has set in for many. Severe concerns have also been raised about how the stay at home message is impacting the economy, with a huge rise in the number claiming unemployment benefits. While many are keen for some form of normality, officials have warned this could risk a dreaded second peak. To avoid this, scientists from the University of Cambridge have suggested we alternate between lockdown and breathing intervals. Early research suggests the coronavirus is mild in four out of five cases, however, it can trigger a respiratory disease called COVID-19. A woman wears a mask in Moscow. (Getty Images) Coronavirus: Theres no simple answer Our models predict that dynamic cycles of 50-day suppression followed by a 30-day relaxation are effective at lowering the number of deaths significantly for all countries throughout the 18-month period, said lead author Dr Rajiv Chowdhury. This intermittent combination of strict social distancing, and a relatively relaxed period, with efficient testing, case isolation, contact tracing and shielding the vulnerable, may allow populations and their national economies to breathe at intervals a potential that might make this solution more sustainable. Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world Fact-checker: The number of COVID-19 cases in your local area Explained: Symptoms, latest advice and how it compares to the flu Officials often talk about how Britons will have to adapt to a new normal until an effective vaccine or treatment becomes available. Social distancing in the forming of working from home, closing schools and isolating the highly vulnerable is known to help stem the spread of infection. Story continues This comes at the expense of job security and socialising, however. Alternating strict restrictions with relaxed social distancing has been suggested as an alternative approach. How long this would last and the ways in which different countries would adapt, however, was unclear. To learn more, the Cambridge scientists modelled three scenarios across 16 countries, ranging from Australia and Belgium to India and Ethiopia. The UK and US were not included. Scenario one modelled the impact of no measures. As might be expected, the number of patients requiring intensive care would quickly and significantly exceed capacity in every country. It may also result in 7.8 million deaths across the 16 nations, wrote the scientists in the European Journal of Epidemiology. Under this scenario, the outbreak would be expected to last nearly 200 days. The second approach modelled a rolling cycle of 50 day mitigation measures, followed by 30 days of relaxation. Mitigation aims to reduce the number of new infections, but at a relatively slow rate, like by restricting public events. This strategy would likely reduce the basic reproduction number to 0.8 in all 16 countries. The basic reproduction number, or R number, is the number of people a patient statistically goes on to infect. For example, if the number is three, every patient would be expected to pass the virus to three others. When an R number is more than one, an outbreak grows. When it is less than one, an outbreak dies out. Despite its benefits, scenario two is not projected to be effective beyond the first relaxation, when the number of patients requiring intensive care would exceed capacity. This would be expected to result in 3.5 million deaths. The pandemic would also last around 12 months in high-income countries and 18 months or longer in developing nations. The final scenario involves a rolling cycle of strict 50 day suppression measures, followed by a 30 day relaxation period. Suppression leads to a faster reduction in new infections by imposing strict physical distancing, like lockdown. This approach would be expected to reduce the R number to 0.5 and keep intensive care demand within capacity. Since more individuals would remain susceptible to the infection, it would be expected to result in a longer pandemic, lasting more than 18 months in all countries. Significantly fewer would die, however, with just over 130,000 fatalities expected across the 16 countries. The scientists found a strict three-month lockdown would reduce cases to almost zero in most countries, while looser strategies would take around 6.5 months to reach the same point. They argued, however, prolonged restrictions would be unsustainable in most countries due to the impact on the economy. Specifics of the lockdown cycle would need to be adjusted according to a countrys resources, added the scientists. Our study provides a strategic option that countries can use to help control COVID-19 and delay the peak rate of infections, said study author Professor Oscar Franco from the University of Bern in Switzerland. This should allow them to buy valuable time to shore up their health systems and increase efforts to develop new treatments or vaccines. Theres no simple answer to the question of which strategy to choose. Countries, particularly low-income countries, will have to weigh up the dilemma of preventing COVID-19 related deaths and public health system failure with the long-term economic collapse and hardship. A woman wears a mask in Athens. (Getty Images) What is the coronavirus? The coronavirus is one of seven strains of a virus class that are known to infect humans. Others cause everything from the common cold to severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which killed 774 people during its 2002/3 outbreak. Since the coronavirus outbreak was identified, more than 4.8 million cases have been confirmed worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. Of these cases, over 1.8 million are known to have recovered. Globally, the death toll has exceeded 319,000. The coronavirus mainly spreads face to face via infected droplets expelled in a cough or sneeze. There is also evidence it is transmitted in faeces and can survive on surfaces. Symptoms include fever, cough and slight breathlessness. The coronavirus has no set treatment, with most patients naturally fighting off the infection. Those requiring hospitalisation are given supportive care, like ventilation, while their immune system gets to work. Officials urge people ward off infection by washing their hands regularly and maintaining social distancing. Ive lost count of the number of times unprecedented or uncertain has been used to describe the current economic situation. Intra-fund advice, the model where all super fund members chip in for generic, once-off guidance, just isnt going to cut it any more. Australians need high-quality advice at an affordable cost. Credit: Call centres at many of the countrys largest super funds have seen volumes increase as much as 200 per cent since March as frenzied members seek information about why account balances have plunged or whether the federal governments early access scheme is right for them. The corporate regulator cut through some red tape for intra-fund advice last month to allow funds to help members understand the risks of the emergency scheme that allows those in financial hardship to withdraw two tranches of $10,000 from their retirement savings. A day after the Delhi government announced relaxations during the extended lockdown, the industrial hubs in the city resumed functioning on Tuesday but faced issues of labour availability and disruptions in supply chain. The Delhi government issued an order, allowing industrial firms to function with staggered timings. According to the order, industrialfirms whose name starts with A to L were allowed to function from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm while other firms whose name started with M to Z were allowed to resume from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm in Delhi. Nearly 300 out of around 1,100 units in Mayapuri Industrial Area opened on Tuesday, following the relaxations announced by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday. The situation will not improve untill all the links in the chain, including raw materials, manufacturing, transport, labour and the market are restored, said RK Gupta, general secretary ofMayapuri Rewari Line Industrial Welfare Association. "The real extent of the problem of labour availability will be felt when all the industrial units in the city start working, since the migrant workers have moved in large numbers to their states during the lockdown," he said. Gupta said the industries can face the challenges in a better way, provided the institutional corruption is brought down, saving the wealth creators from unnecessary formalities. Nearly one-fourth of around 550 industrial units started work in another hub at Udyog Nagar, saidAshok Gupta, president of Udyog Nagar Industry Association. The west Delhi industrial hub manufactures footwear, engineering goods and PPE raw material units. "Many units did not open because their factory licences expired in March and no fresh licenses were issued to them by the concerned agency," Gupta said. He said there were many challenges including availability of labourers, capital and disruptions in the market due to the lockdown. But the step taken by the government is in the right direction, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that a special non-stop train will commence from New Delhi on May 20 to bring stranded students and others from Kerala, back to the state. "All arrangements are in place. Steps are also being taken to run special trains from Punjab, Karnataka, Andhra, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Bihar," the chief minister said. A special train is sanctioned by railways when there are about 1,200 passengers from a state or a particular station. "If required, we will request the railways to provide an additional stop in that State for the convenience of passengers. The state is taking the necessary action in this regard", he added. Those who wish to travel to can book the tickets online using the link on the Norka Roots website (registernorkaroots.org). Those booking tickets will be informed by SMS once the train has been decided. The online registration will also be considered as a pass to enter the State. Chief Minister said that starting today until June 2, 38 flights will be operated to to bring back the Non-Resident Keralites to the state. There will be eight flights from the UAE, six from Oman, four from Saudi Arabia, and three from Qatar and two from Kuwait. There will also be one flight each from Bahrain, the Philippines, Malaysia, the UK, the USA, Australia, France, Indonesia, Armenia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Ireland, Italy, Russia, and Singapore. Overall, 6,530 passengers are expected to arrive on these flights. Meanwhile, 5,815 people have arrived in the State from overseas till now. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Newser) Neil Gaiman has apologized for his "stupid" decision to fly halfway around the world amid a pandemic. In a Thursday blog post, the English-born author wrote that he flew three weeks ago from New Zealandwhere his wife and son remainto London, then drove to his writing retreat on Scotland's Isle of Skye, per the BBC. "I needed to be somewhere I could talk to people in the UK while they and I were awake," he wrote, adding that five families were staying at his home in Woodstock, NY. That wasn't a good enough reason for Scottish National Party leader Ian Blackford, an MP for Skye. "To come from the other end of the planet is gobsmacking," he said, per the Ross-shire Journal. "We will welcome all to the Highlands when it is safe to do so. For now stay away." story continues below In a Monday blog post, Gaiman wrote that he'd been visited by local police, "who said all things considered I should have stayed where I was safe in New Zealand, and I agreed that yes, all things considered, I should." While the Good Omens author acknowledged that the 11,000-mile trip to "the place I love most in the world" was "stupid," he said he'd "panicked" upon reading that the UK government was advising travelers to return from abroad. "I waited until New Zealand was done with its strict lockdown, and took the first flight out," he wrote, noting "the flights and airports were socially distanced, and, for the most part, deserted." He said he'd been in isolation ever since reaching Skye. Still, it was "the most foolish thing I've done in quite a while," he wrote. "Don't do what I did." (Earlier this month, Gaiman blamed a hacker for a public diss of his wife.) Terry Gallaher, Chief Client Officer, Inte Q Adding talented people like Terry to our already very talented team, is a big win for Inte Q. Terrys thought leadership and client-centric mindset will create a strong vision for how we work with our clients, and help us achieve our aggressive growth plans, said Chris Duncan, Inte Q President. Inte Q, a leader in building effective customer loyalty strategies, campaigns and experiences for brands, is excited to announce Terry Gallaher has joined the organization as Chief Customer Officer. In his role Terry will lead all client functions, including strategic sales, account management and client services. With more than twenty years of sales executive and management experience, Terry has successfully built relationships, collaborated and delivered strategic solutions to Fortune 500 brands in retail, financial and digital media verticals. Terry brings experience from some of the worlds most well-known brands and brings a long track record of successfully helping clients grow their business. Previously, Terry held senior roles with Salesforce and Google where he worked with marquee retail brands including Target, Kohls, Best Buy, and Walgreens. During his tenure at Google, Terry was awarded the 2018 Retail Visionary Award by Big Box Retail and the Trailblazer Gold Sales Award, in which he was honored as one of fifty sales leaders in Americas Largest Customer Sales Organization. I am thrilled to have Terry join Inte Q. Adding talented people like Terry to our already very talented team, is a big win for Inte Q. Terrys thought leadership and client-centric mindset will create a strong vision for how we work with our clients, and help us achieve our aggressive growth plans, said Chris Duncan, Inte Q President. I am excited to join such an innovative company like Inte Q and I look forward to bring the experience that Ive gained at world-class companies like Salesforce and Google to add to the success that Inte Q has experienced, said Terry Gallaher. Terry will be located at Inte Qs headquarter in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. About Inte Q Inte Q is an insights and activation agency that develops data-driven strategies to help brands create Customer Love turning casual shoppers into brand loyalists. With a deep understanding of customer engagement, the company builds effective customer engagement strategies, campaigns and experiences for its clients. To the Editor: Re DeVos Funnels Relief to Revive Stalled Agenda (front page, May 16): You report that public education advocates say Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is abusing her discretion in directing states to equitably share federal Covid-19 relief funds with nonpublic schools. I disagree. My organization and our coalition partners worked with key senators in crafting the CARES Act to ensure that its billions of K-12 emergency relief funds include nonpublic schools, which are facing an economic crisis alongside that faced by the public schools. Charitable donations to Jewish, Catholic and other nonpublic schools have evaporated, and too many parents are now unable to pay their tuition obligations. If these schools are forced to close, that will put even more strain on the public schools. Since 1965, federal education programs have included equitable support for students in nonpublic schools. This principle must be followed in responding to a crisis that does not discriminate in the children it affects. To say we will support some schools and students and not others is not only bad health policy as we seek to stop a pandemic; its also immoral. (Photo : NASA/Richard A. Ryba) A two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida for Demo-1, the first uncrewed mission of the agencys Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff was at 2:49 a.m. EST, March 2, 2019. The SpaceX Crew Dragons trip to the International Space Station is designed to validate end-to-end systems and capabilities, leading to certification to fly crew. NASA has worked with SpaceX and Boeing in developing the Commercial Crew Program spacecraft to facilitate new human spaceflight systems launching from U.S. soil with the goal of safe, reliable and cost-effective access to low-Earth orbit destinations, such as the space station. (Photo : NASA) NASAs SpaceX Demo-2 mission will return U.S human spaceflight to the International Space Station from U.S. soil with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley on an American rocket and spacecraft for the first time since 2011. In March 2020, at a SpaceX processing facility on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, SpaceX successfully completed a fully integrated test of critical crew flight hardware ahead of Crew Dragons second demonstration mission to the International Space Station for NASA's Commercial Crew Program; the first flight test with astronauts onboard the spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley participated in the test, which included flight suit leak checks, spacecraft sound verification, display panel and cargo bin inspections, seat hardware rotations, and more SpaceX confirmed on Monday, May 18, that astronauts will be onboard on its next flight. The announcement came after the planned Tuesday, May 19, flight of 60 Starlink satellites was postponed due to Tropical Storm Arthur. Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will board the SpaceX's Crew Dragon which will launch from the Kennedy Space Center on May 27, the first flight from US soil after 11 years. With the delay of the Starlink mission, SpaceX can now focus on the next flight of Crew Dragon called Demo-2. Last week, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine confirmed that the capsule is on schedule for liftoff from pad 39A at 4:33 p.m.. Meanwhile, Starlink is rescheduled to launch at 3:10 a.m.. The tropical storm had already caused issues for SpaceX's recovery fleet which had to shift around the Atlantic Ocean several times and seek shelter. The vessels, one of which includes the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship, are responsible for hosting Falcon 9 booster landings and catching falling rocket nose cones. Bridenstine told Florida Today that Behnken and Hurley will depart Houston and arrive on Wednesday, May 20, at the Kennedy Space Center where they will continue their coronavirus quarantine procedures which started last week and will end ahead of the lift-off. Bridenstine confirmed that the astronauts seem to be in "very good health" and he believes there is no opportunity for them to contract any virus or harmful bacteria. The NASA administrator also expressed his excitement "about launching them to the International Space Station." The famous Astrovan will not transport the duo to pad 39A, but instead, a Tesla Model X all-electric SUV will be their service vehicle on launch day. According to the plan, the astronauts will spend about 24 hours in Crew Dragon before they arrive at the ISS to mark the first time in nearly a decade that American astronauts were launched the US soil. However, in case of any delays, the Demo-2 launch will be moved to May 30. Meet Bob and Doug If all goes well on the May 27, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will go in the Astronaut Hall of Fame as the first astronauts to fly to space from American soil since 2011 when the shuttle program ended. They will also be the first to command an entirely new spacecraft since 1981. According to Florida Today, the experience will be extra special as Behnken and Hurley are long-time friends since they joined the astronaut class in 2000. Behnken is from New York while Hurley is from Missouri. They have developed a close friendship as they were both military test pilots before becoming astronauts and they also met their spouses in the same astronaut class. They even attended each other's weddings with Hurley as Behnken's best man when the latter married Megan McArthur. Hurley later tied the knot with Karen Nyberg. Both of their spouses are classmates in the same astronaut class. In an interview in 2019, Behnken told The Atlantic that a certain Duane Ross who led the astronaut selection process somehow also picked his spouse and friends for him. The close-knit astronaut couples currently reside in Houston and they learned to balance work and family while working with some occasional spaceflight. 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. JERRY LARA /San Antonio Express-News A 50-year-old man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on charges of distribution and possession of child pornography. Gregory Parris, 50, was sentenced Thursday in San Antonio by U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, according to a statement released by U.S. Attorney John F. Bash and Christopher Combs, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the San Antonio Division. Charges have been filed against a 25-year-old Pontiac man with COVID-19 for allegedly assaulting and spitting at staff at McLaren-Oakland Hospital in Pontiac where he had been brought in for treatment. Patrick Michael Crawford was arraigned Saturday in 50th District Court on four counts of assault and battery, each 93-day misdemeanors, and one count of disorderly person, a 90-day misdemeanor. Hes held in the Oakland County Jail in lieu of posting a $5,000 bond. His next court date is May 26. It was at around 10:30 p.m. Friday when deputies from the Oakland County Sheriffs Office were called to McLaren-Oaklands emergency room, where Crawford had been brought for medical treatment. When the medical staff attempted to treat the patient, he became argumentative and began to assault them, the sheriffs office reported. The patient was then placed in restraints by medical staff and later placed into an isolation room. As an evaluation was started by doctors, Crawford made verbal threats towards them and said that he was infected with the COVID-19 virus and began to spit at the attending physician and emergency room staff, the sheriffs office said. Crawford did test positive for COVID-19, deputies were told. Crawford was medically cleared for transport before he was taken to jail, the sheriffs office said. The victims of the assault were the attending physician, a 42-year-old man, and two male nursing staff members, ages 32 and 29, the sheriffs office said. Crawfords criminal history includes malicious destruction of property, domestic violence, larceny and resisting/obstructing police. READ THIS NEXT: The national count now stays at 324, including 184 imported cases, the committee reported. As many as 11,326 people are under health monitoring or quarantine, 302 of them in hospitals, 8,929 at concentrated facilities, and the rest at home and place of residence. A total of 263 patients or 81 percent have recovered while the remainder are being treated at eight provincial and central medical facilities. Among the active patients, two have tested negative for the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes the acute respiratory disease once and six negative at least twice. The British man, known as Patient 91, who is under treatment at the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases, still shows no signs of recovery. A US cyber security firm has set up a base in Northern Ireland with the creation of 65 new jobs, it announced today. Cygilant, which is led by chief executive Rob Scott, already has offices in Vancouver and at its base in Boston. But Mr Scott said it had chosen Belfast as its first location outside the US due to the strength of its talent pool and the cluster of cyber security firms already here. The company has already recruited 25 people - all of whom are homeworking - and plans to have a total of 65 in place in two years time. It started out at the city's Ormeau Baths before signing up for the Centrepoint building in Ormeau Avenue. It was based there for just a few weeks before it moved to homeworking in March. Staff at the firm will be paid average salaries of around 43,000. The new global security operation centre (SOC) in Belfast will provide security monitoring services to around 200 customers. Mr Scott told Business Telegraph: "We needed a presence in Europe to help with our tech requirements, but the second reason that we came here is the talent pool. "Our competitors are here in Belfast and we have students coming out of the universities with cyber security degrees." The investment in Belfast is supported by economic development agency Invest NI. Mr Scott said he had worked in many other European countries including Finland, Ukraine and Scandinavia but that Belfast had seemed the best choice for investment. The firm is one of Northern Irelands first dedicated cybersecurity-as-a-service providers. Economy Minister Diane Dodds welcomed the investment. She said: In these challenging times it is welcome news to be able to announce new cybersecurity jobs for Northern Ireland. Cygilant provides a cloud-based security monitoring service for mid-sized enterprises, essentially becoming their eyes and ears for cybersecurity monitoring and compliance, she said. This is an important endorsement of Northern Irelands growing reputation for excellence in cybersecurity. The companys new security operation centre will house an information security team responsible for monitoring, analysing and responding to cybersecurity incidents on customers behalf, the minister added. The new team will include SOC engineers and cybersecurity advisers (CSA) at different levels of experience, with salaries that are competitive in the market. The company has already secured its permanent base in Belfasts city centre and recruited 25 of the roles, with hiring efforts continuing over the next few years. When fully operational, this investment will deliver nearly 2.8m in annual salaries to the Northern Ireland economy. The project will also make a significant contribution to the technology and, in particular, the growing cybersecurity sector in Northern Ireland. Invest NI offered 455,000 in support towards the jobs. Mr Scott said: The city is also quickly becoming an innovation hub for technology companies including a growing cybersecurity sector, so all the pieces just fit nicely together. We are thrilled to be here in Belfast and in the short time since weve started operations, we are already seeing the impact the team is having on our business. Cygilant employs over 100 staff globally. Its key sectors include finance, education, healthcare and retail. Any new staff for the Belfast operation will join the company from home. Mr Scott is described as a 30-year technology industry veteran and is originally from Manchester. He started out as a Formula 1 race car driver, but moved into business, launching his first start-up at age 25. He is also a member of the board of directors of Avidbank, a business bank. Mr Scott now lives in the US state of Maine. An Amherst councilwoman who was expelled from Amherst Town Council last summer and then reelected a few months later was unsuccessful in initiating a process to change the towns charter last week to prevent a similar move from happening again. Janice Wheaton cast the only vote in favor of changing the charter during Amherst Town Councils May 13 meeting, while councilors Kenneth Bunch, Ken Watts, Sarah Ogden and Rachel Carton opposed. The provision paved the way for Wheatons July 2019 expulsion from council following a closed meeting where details of the conflicts she has had with other town officials were discussed. Several months later she was voted back into office during a special election. I believe the provision in our town charter, as it stands, allowing removal of a council member with two-thirds of a vote subverts the will of our voters, our democratic government, Wheaton said. I dont see a need for it to be there. She also spoke in favor of council explaining to the public why removal of an elected official would be necessary, which currently is not spelled out in the provisions language. Wheaton described the provision as not acceptable. We are dealing with the principle of the matter, the power to overturn an election, Wheaton said. Amherst Mayor Dwayne Tuggle said the constitutions of the commonwealth of Virginia and the United States, as well as about a dozen other towns in the state, carry a provision for removing elected officials. Its certainly not unconstitutional, Councilman Ken Watts said to Wheaton. Wheaton said in response to Watts: Do you think its the right thing to do for our community? Watts replied to Wheaton: I do. Amending the towns charter requires approval from the Virginia General Assembly following a petition from council. Reached for comment after the meeting, Carton said in an email it is important the charter provision remains because it ensures a level of accountability not only to the citizens that voted for a particular councilor, but also that each council member is accountable to each other by conducting themselves in a manner that is professional, honorable, and filled with integrity. If a council member conducts themselves in a manner that violates the oath in which they swore to uphold for town government and the best interest of all citizens of the town, and is hindering, controlling, or manipulating town government from being able to conduct its business for the people, then that councilor has become a liability to the best interest of the town and not an asset, Carton said. If this were to happen, the responsibility to rectify that liability falls to the remaining elected officials to protect both the town government and the interest of the people that voted them into that honorable seat. She said she is thinking about future councils and town officials in keeping the provision in place, adding it allows for checks and balances among equally elected peers for accountability to town residents and voters. Carton said at the May 13 meeting the charter provision protects the town government from any councilor that could be potentially dangerous to the well-being of town business, town government and the town itself. This has been in the charter for a reason, to protect the interests of the citizens of the town from any particular councilor that may get in these council chambers and abuse their responsibility and authority for the future as well, Carton said during the meeting. Councilman Kenneth Bunch, in an email after the meeting, referred to the charter provision allowing expulsion as a level of accountability for all of us, and for all future councilors. There isnt a single one of us that doesnt wish we hadnt needed it in the past, and we certainly dont relish the idea of using it again; however, that doesnt mean it should be removed, Bunch said in an email. To remove accountability and consequences for behavior unfitting of this position would be reckless and irresponsible, and far from the best interest of the Town as a whole. Bunch also said a petition seeking to remove the expulsion provision in the charter, which circulated in the weeks following Wheatons removal, drew fewer than 20 signatures from town residents. Thats less than 1% of the town population, and that speaks volumes, he added. Wheaton said if council wants to expel a member she believes at least a reason should be given to the public as to why. If thats what they want to see, Ill go out and get them, she said of gathering signatures from town residents on the matter. Bunch said in the email since Wheaton returned to council in November 2019 she has disrupted town business and he fears the town may lose staff as a result. Wheaton said she feels she has acted nicely and professionally in trying to get answers to questions in the interest of representing constituents. When asked to respond to the charge she is disrupting town business, she said: Maybe its because I dont go along with everything they say. ... I cannot go along with the crowd just because they want me to ...Im being disruptive? No, Im not. I dont believe its staff who has the problem with me. I believe it is council who has a problem with me. How can I represent my community if I dont know whats going on? Bunch also asked Wheaton during the meeting to explain why she many times votes no on town matters, particularly a crucial sewer improvement project required by the state. You say youre here for the best interest of the community but some of the things that you vote no on are pretty cut and dry in the best interest of the community, Bunch told Wheaton at the May 13 meeting. Wheaton said she has voted in opposition to the majority of council 22 times since from her first stint in office, from January to July of last year, and November through the present, but declined to say why. When asked after the meeting why she voted against the sewer project, she said: I have to feel comfortable putting my name, which means my communitys name, on something and in that case, she didnt feel comfortable doing so. Wheaton said after the meeting she is disappointed for the community her motion did not pass, but she will move forward and do the best she can for town residents. Reach Justin Faulconer at (434) 385-5551. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Iceland has announced that it plans to reopen its borders to tourists by June 15. The country will welcome travellers from all over the world, but will subject visitors to either testing or quarantine. Less than two months after limiting arrivals from international travellers, the country announced its reopening plan, which could be moved up if the number of cases stays low. According to Iceland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the timing "depends on when all the practicalities will be in place." IcelandAir operates direct flights between Ireland and Reykjavik's Keflavik International, though these are currently suspended at least until the end of May. Earlier this month, the European Commission extended its ban on non-essential travel from outside the area through June 15. Iceland is a member of the Schengen area and, according to the ministry, will confer with other member states about opening its external border. In addition, the government will not allow visitors to venture into wider Europe without permission from the other countries. Since late February, the Nordic island nation has recorded at least 1,800 confirmed cases of covid-19 and 10 deaths. The number of confirmed cases has dropped to four so far in May, one of the encouraging developments that helped influence the recent decision. Officials have controlled the spread of the virus through such measures as testing and tracing, and will extend these practices to the visiting public. Upon arrival at Keflavik International Airport, visitors will be tested for the coronavirus at no cost during a two-week trial period. The ministry said the planning group has not yet determined the cost to travellers beyond the initial period. After the test, the visitors can enter the country and start their vacation, but they must provide a contact number in the event of a positive result. Results can be expected in as little as a few hours. Visitors can also use the tracing app as a point of contact. The ministry said health officials may also accept a certificate of recent test results from the visitor's home country, as long as the document meets the government's standards. Visitors who decline testing will be required to undergo a two-week quarantine. To prevent a rise in cases, travellers will have to download the tracing app, Rakning C-19. Officials can use the technology to contact visitors about their results; the app also helps investigators pinpoint the source of infection and identify individuals who may have been exposed to the virus. About 40pc of the country's population of 364,000 has downloaded the app. The ministry said the app will not misuse an individual's personal information: "The app has been developed following the strictest privacy standards, with location data stored locally on the user's device unless released for tracing purposes in case of an infection." The country will not place any restrictions on healthy travellers beyond its commonly practiced safeguards, it says. The ministry said the government will likely loosen limits on gatherings from a maximum of 50 people to 200 participants. Patrons at restaurants and other public places must stay about 6.5 feet (2m) apart. Most hotels and attractions are open, or will soon open. The Blue Lagoon's website said the geothermal pool will remain closed until May 26. (c) The Washington Post, 2020 Sign up for our free travel newsletter! Like what you're reading? Subscribe to 'Travel Insider', our free travel newsletter written by award-winning Travel Editor, Pol O Conghaile. Washington Post By Ayya Lmahamad Minister of Health Ogtay Shiraliyev has said that Azerbaijan has taken timely and strict measures to curb the spread of novel coronavirus pandemic. He made the remarks during the 73rd World Health Assembly on COVID-19 held in the video conference format on May 18-19, the ministry reported on May 19. "Azerbaijan has taken prompt and strict measures to curb the pandemic, as a result of which, to date only 3,274 people have been infected in the country with the population of 10 million. Of these 2,015 have recovered. The mortality rate amounts to 1.2 percent, Shiraliyev said addressing the meeting. The minister reminded the motto "together we are strong" voiced by President Ilham Aliyev in one of his speeches. I want to note that this appeal is also relevant at the international level. Only by uniting efforts, building a purposeful, well-thought-out strategy we can achieve success in the fight against the pandemic. We express our readiness to continue to cooperate with international institutions and the international community. I am convinced that the valuable ideas and proposals expressed today by the heads of delegations, heads of international organizations will contribute to our joint fight against the coronavirus," the Minister said. Ministers from the 194 Member States of WHO and representatives of several international organizations attended the World Health Assembly. The meeting discussed measures to strengthen the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiological surveillance, quarantine regulations, good practices, organization and future activities. During the session, the new President of the World Health Assembly, Ambassador Keva Bain, was elected. In her turn, President of the Assembly Keva Bain noted the noted necessity of joining efforts to fight the coronavirus epidemic. I am convinced that we will be able to cope with today's hard realities. This will enable us to act effectively even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over, and for this we need to introduce a new way of life, redirect and maximize the available resources, as well as establish a new balance between economic, psychological and physical well-being of our societies. Yes, we have lost generations of elderly citizens and therefore we need to make even more efforts to protect those who have survived," Bain said. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader and party national president Jagat Prakash Nadda on Tuesday welcomed the new domicile rules gazetted in Jammu and Kashmir. Nadda said that the move will give the long due rights to all refugees including those from West Pakistan. Equality and dignity for all, Nadda tweeted. The new domicile rules gazetted in J&K are a welcome step. This will give the long due rights to all refugees incl those from West Pak, SC workers from rest of India settled in J&K for decades,children of KPs living outside J&K to claim domicile now. Equality & Dignity for all. pic.twitter.com/wymWMuvp6l Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) May 19, 2020 Naddas reaction comes a day after the Jammu & Kashmir government on Monday notified Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure) Rules, 2020, which specify the conditions and the process to obtain the documents required tor applying to jobs and avail other privileges restricted to residents in Jammu and Kashmir. As per the new rules and procedure: West Pakistan Refugees (WPRs), safai karamcharis and children of women married outside Jammu and Kashmir shall also be now eligible for Domicile Certificate. All migrants and their children who are registered with Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner will be granted domicile certificate. All people who have resided in the UT for 15 years, or have studied for seven years and appeared in class 10th or 12th examination in an educational institution in the region, and their children, are eligible for grant of domicile. Kashmiri migrants can get the Domicile certificate on the production of either a PRC or certificate of registration of migrant. Children of central government, All India service, bank and PSU, statutory body, and central university officials, who have served in Jammu of Kashmir for a total period of 10 years will also be eligible for domicile status. Children of those residents of Jammu and Kashmir who reside outside the Union territory in connection with their employment of business or other professional or vocational reasons have also become eligible for grant of domicile status. JCB has announced that up to 950 jobs are at risk as the global Covid-19 crisis has resulted in a 50 percent drop in machinery demand. The British agri-giant wrote to its employees on Friday 15 May warning that hundreds of jobs could face redundancy at its ten UK plants. A 45-day consultation period will now begin, the company, which hires 6,700 people in the UK, said. It comes as JCB announced last week a partial re-starting of production at five of its UK factories to 'satisfy the demand' for agricultural machinery. But news of job losses have been announced as a result of the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which will see the firm's annual production halved. JCB said the move to restructure had been extremely tough but that they had no choice but to take the steps to adapt to the post-Covid-19 economic reality. Chief executive officer, Graeme Macdonald, said: In 2020 we had planned to sell and produce more than 100,000 machines. With so much global uncertainty, that figure right now is looking more like 50,000 machines. In the UK, around 85% of everything we manufacture is exported and our UK factories will now produce machines at half the rate we had planned just a few months ago. "As a result, we have no choice but to align our cost base to demand for the rest of the year." Mr Macdonald said it was 'deeply regrettable' that the firm had to take steps to restructure the business, and that it would have an impact on 'so many people'. "No business could have anticipated the scale of the Covid-19 crisis and its economic consequences," he said. We have had to act quickly for the long-term survival of the business, which has been at the heart of our decision-making throughout this difficult period. Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce chief Sarah Williams said the announcement was 'really tragic'. "It's the tip of the iceberg, we are expecting others companies to face crashes in their markets and reduction in demand, in what is potentially a worldwide recession," she said. Unite the union's assistant general secretary for manufacturing Steve Turner, said JCB is preparing to throw workers 'under the bus'. JCBs announcement is an indication of a much deeper problem," Mr Turner said, adding that the government must present a clear plan and post-Covid-19 strategy for the UK. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The body found along the shoreline near the Mount Loretto Unique Area in Pleasant Plains has been identified as missing kayaker Jonathan Derbyshire, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. Derbyshire, 27, of Huguenot, was reported missing on May 2 while he was kayaking with two other people in the waters near Wolfes Pond Park in Princes Bay. A male passerby found Derbyshires body at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in the water along the beach near Hylan Boulevard and Cunningham Road, according to spokesmen for the NYPD. Police had previously asked for the publics help to locate Derbyshire. A Good Samaritan rescued two of the kayakers from the water, but Derbyshire was unaccounted for when emergency crews arrived on the scene on the afternoon of May 2. 4 Body found on beach in Pleasant Plains NYPD divers were part of a search team for Derbyshire in the area of Arbutus Avenue and Nicolosi Drive near Wolfes Pond Park. The Coast Guard was called at about 3:12 p.m. when the three kayaks -- each with one person on board -- all overturned in Raritan Bay. None of kayakers were wearing a life jacket, authorities said. Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook launched a response boat that arrived on scene and began searching for the third man. Shortly after, an MH-65 helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City joined the search. They were later assisted by the Coast Guard Cutter Shrike, which searched through the night. An Air Station Cape Cod MH-60 helicopter conducted the final first-light search. NYPD Aviation and Harbor Units and the FDNY Marine Units participated in the search. On May 3, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its all night search for Derbyshire. Suspending a search is never an easy decision to make, said Capt. Jason Tama, commander of Coast Guard Sector New York, said at the time. We offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends who have been impacted by this tragic incident. President Trump said Monday is he taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug the FDA says is neither safe nor effective in treating COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine is FDA-approved to treat autoimmune conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. It can also be used to treat some forms of drug-resistant malaria or to protect against certain types of malaria. The President appears to be taking it as a prophylactic, with the thought it could prevent someone exposed to coronavirus from getting it. There is at least one study looking into this usage underway but no data to support the idea yet. Wayne Myers, a pharmacist at Norland Avenue Pharmacy, said Hydroxychloroquine works in a number of ways and has different medical uses. "For lupus patients, it kind of dampens the immune system," he said. "Lupus is an autoimmune disorder where your immune system is over-responding - not responding correctly - and Hydroxychloroquine is called an immune modulator - it helps settle down the immune system." Hydroxychloroquine can be administered either as a pill or by intravenous drip and is marketed under the brand name Plaquenil. Because it is FDA-approved for those diseases, physicians are legally free to prescribe it in any manner they want "off-label," meaning not for the reason listed on the drug's label. It is not available over the counter at drug stores. It is also different from chloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that Trump has at times suggested as a treatment or preventative for COVID-19. There is no data to support the notion that hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine helps people infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. There is strong evidence that hydroxychloroquine can cause abnormal heart rhythms and a dangerously rapid heart rate, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Theres no proof that it works and some people might experience side effects that could be severe. Theres no proof that it works and some people might experience side effects that could be severe, said Dr. Daniel Kaul, a professor of infectious disease at the University of Michigan school of medicine. The FDA has cautioned that hydroxychloroquine should be limited to people in clinical trials, which are carefully overseen, or who are hospitalized, due to concerns about the potentially dangerous adverse effects. Trump says he's taking hydroxychloroquine, the drug he touted as coronavirus treatment, despite FDA warnings Story continues A study posted on April 21 involving 368 patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 treated at Veterans Health Administration medical centers found there were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine than those receiving standard care. In addition, the drug made no difference in the need for ventilators. The U.S. National Institutes of Health launched a large clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine given in conjunction with the antibiotic azithromycin last week. It is among multiple studies underway to see if the drug can help decrease hospitalization and death from coronavirus. In a statement on the N.I.H. website about the study, Dr. Anthony Fauci noted that while where was anecdotal evidence that the drugs might benefit some people, "we need solid data from a large randomized, controlled clinical trial to determine whether this experimental treatment is safe and can improve clinical outcomes. 'This will kill you': People are warning others following Trump's apparent use of hydroxychloroquine The University of Minnesota is also in the midst of a large study of whether the drug can be used prophylactically, but it will not be completed until August. "There is no data that pre-exposure prophylaxis is effective in prevention COVID-19. The study we're conducting should help us answer the question," said Mahmoud Al-Kofahi, a professor of experimental and clinical pharmacology at the University of Minnesota. Another worry is that people taking it might have a false sense that theyre protected from becoming infected COVID-19 or cannot become infected and therefore cannot pass it along. The concern would be they might change their behavior and put others at risk, said Michigan's Kaul. Hydroxychloroquine craze has French roots The drug first came to public attention after several small, anecdotal, non-peer reviewed reports about the drugs in China in February. None were up to the scientific gold standard of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial that would definitively show they worked or not. Interest in hydroxychloroquine took off when a controversial microbiologist in France posted a video on Feb. 25 promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. Didier Raoult, has denied climate change is happening and wrote a book declaring Darwin's theory of evolution was wrong. Raoult then posted two small studies of the drugs on COVID-19 patients that were quickly criticized by scientists because they had no control group, making it impossible to know if people who got the drugs recovered any faster than those who didn't. Television doctor Mehmet Oz initially supported the drug multiple times on Fox and Friends but later backed away from it. Trump first spoke about hydroxychloroquine given together with the antibiotic azithromycin on March 19. He went on to tout them numerous times in various media and public events. On April 13 he announced his administration had deployed roughly 28 million doses of hydroxychloroquine from the National Stockpile. "Just recently, a friend of mine told me he got better because of the use of that, that drug," he said in a briefing. Since late April Trump had toned down his support of the drug, but during a roundtable discussion with restaurant executives at the White House on Monday said he began about a week and a half ago. That was around the time two people in the White House who would have been in close contact with him tested positive for COVID-19. One was a valet to the president, the other Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Can hydroxychloroquine prevent COVID-19? Donald Trump thinks maybe Students and supporters rally in support of DACA recipients on the day the Supreme Court hears arguments in DACA case in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 12, 2019. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Colorado Universities Providing Illegal Immigrants With Financial Support A number of colleges and universities in Colorado are doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid for illegal immigrants and others who are barred from receiving a share of federal emergency grants through the CARES Act. Colorado State University (CSU) has provided $1,500 grants to 400 students, reported The Denver Post. A CSU spokesman told the newspaper that 218 of these students were illegal immigrants, and the rest were those who would otherwise not be eligible for CARES Act aid, such as international students. He said the university awarded those grants based on an assessment of student need in the same manner that CARES Act grants were awarded. The CSU spokesperson told Newsweek that the university was tapping into state, institutional, and private funding sources to distribute payments to those students. The CSU received more than $17 million in federal CARES Act grants, with half going to students as direct payments to help them relieve financial hardship due to the ongoing pandemic. Each eligible students will receive from $500 to $1,000, depending on individual student needs, the university said in a press release. Students and supporters rally in support of DACA recipients on the day the Supreme Court hears arguments in DACA case in Los Angeles, Calif., on Nov. 12, 2019. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) Meanwhile, Metropolitan State University (MSU) of Denver has set up a Dreamer Emergency Fund specifically for students excluded from the CARES Act, including 381 students who are recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The Obama-era program grants illegal immigrants who were brought to the United States as children protection from deportation, as well as renewable work permits. The Trump administration announced in 2017 it would terminate DACA, and the Supreme Court is expected to decide by June whether that decision was lawful. The MSU Denver is raising $300,000 for the fund, with an ultimate goal of $500,000, according to a news release. The universitys vice president told the Denver Post that the individual payment would range from $250 to $650 based on need. Similarly, the University of Colorado has established a relief fund specifically for students who face a legal barrier to accessing federal or state financial aid, with preference toward DACA recipients. Each eligible student can receive up to $1,000 from the fund. Home to approximately 15,000 DACA recipients, Colorado is one of 18 states that have laws extending in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants who meet specific requirements. Seven of those states, including Colorado, also allow illegal immigrants to apply for state financial aid. There are approximately 180,000 people living illegally in the Colorado, accounting for about 3 percent of the Centennial States population, according to the Pew Research Center. Some Abia residents have expressed concern over the five confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state in spite of governments measures to contain the spread of the pandemic. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu announced confirmation of the new cases of the virus on Monday after one of the two initial index cases was successfully treated and discharged. As of May 18, there are five cases of COVID-19, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. Reacting to the development in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia, the residents said the emergence of fresh cases portend danger for the state. Felix Onu, the President of the Association of Resident Doctors at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, said that he was not surprised over the development, considering the lax in the enforcement of the governments guidelines on prevention against the pandemic. Mr Onu said the fresh cases showed that community transmission had been going on in the state. He said that all the contacts with one of the index cases at FMC tested negative for the virus. All the people at the hospital that had contact with an index case that was handled and later discharged went into isolation and later came out negative. The implication is that community transmission has been ongoing, since the index cases did not have any travel history, he said. He further said that people from other states were still finding their way into Abia, in spite of the border closure and restriction in inter-state travels. Our borders are not effectively manned. There is the infiltration of people, even from the virus endemic states, into Abia, hence the fresh cases, Mr Onu said. He blamed the porosity of the Abia borders, leading to the alleged entry of people from other states, on sharp practices at the borders. He also alleged that many residents were abusing the ease of lockdown by the state government. According to him, many residents are sceptical about the reality of the virus in Abia. Many of the people are not convinced that the disease exists and they still carry on as if nothing is happening. They do not observe social distancing or use of face masks. They say they cannot contract the virus. This is unfortunate. People we know have died. Our medical doctor colleagues have lost their lives to the disease. So, people should be cautious and comply with the recommended guidelines to check further spread of the virus, Onu said. The ARD boss recommended intensive public education and enlightenment by the government and other stakeholders on the need for people to comply strictly with the guidelines. Also, Obinna Ibe, the Chairman of the Correspondents Chapel of the Abia Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, blamed the new cases on the failure by residents to strictly obey the rules and regulations issued by government and health authorities. Mr Ibe also said that many residents abused the opportunity provided by the ease of lockdown by disregarding the recommended guidelines, especially social distancing. He urged the inter-ministerial task force on COVID-19 to up its game and ensure that residents complied with the guidelines. He also called for more stringent measures to secure the borders in order to make sure that people from other states were not allowed to come into Abia. Advertisements If you are vigilant, you will discover that people are still crossing the borders from Akwa Ibom, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Imo axis into Abia. The state Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Uchenna Obigwe, also expressed disappointment over the fresh COVID-19 cases. He said the development called for strict enforcement of the guidelines by government and health authorities. Mr Obigwe, who said that human beings are difficult to manage attributed the development to failure by residents to strictly obey the guidelines due to corruption and poverty. He urged the government to ensure the continued closure of the borders in order to prevent the entry of people from other states into Abia. The labour leader further called on the government and health workers to urgently embark on the contact tracing of those that might have come in close contact with the fresh cases. The only way to arrest further spread of the virus is for the government and health workers to embark on the contact tracing of the people that had contact with the patients as was done with the two initial index cases. Government should also ensure strict enforcement of the border closure, while residents should endeavour to comply with all the guidelines issued by the WHO. People should strive to obey WHO guidelines by observing social distancing, regular handwashing, use of sanitisers and face masks, Mr Obigwe said. (NAN) Even in a takeout box, the attention to detail Falafel King Metairie (4407 Veterans Blvd., 504-354-8636) puts in a meal is clear, from the symmetrical grooves of spice notched into whips of hummus to the saj flatbreads fired off from the brick oven blazing just past the counter. But the Fino family couldn't control the timing for opening their new restaurant, and so it debuted just as every restaurant around is struggling to get back to business. Restaurant grand openings are normally anxious occasions for proprietors. Will people show up? What did we forget to do? Usually though, the optimism and excitement of the launch blots that out. These times are different, and there was no missing the fraught undercurrent at Falafel King set up its "grand opening!" signs last week and started cooking. This debut coincided with the first days when restaurants partially reopened dining rooms to begin Phase 1 coronavirus response, as people tentatively returned to their old favorites. At Falafel King Metairie, all who walked in were the first customers ever. Some saw the banners proclaiming "gyros" flapping on this busy stretch of Veterans Boulevard. For others, it just popped up on their phone apps while looking for lunch. Weve been working on this for a year, said manager Emad Fino, whose son Tony owns the business. We had to open no matter what. This is the second location of Falafel King, which got its start in Kenner at 2424 Williams Blvd. The Metairie version follows the same concept, though ownership is different. It shares a strip mall with a vape shop and a phone store. At lunchtime, the nearby fast food chains have lines of cars stretching dozens deep from their drive-thru windows. Falafel King Metairie, like its Kenner predecessor, is homemade and looks it, adding a taste of traditional Middle Eastern street food along an artery of modern Americana. Food and restaurant news in your inbox Every Thursday we give you the scoop on NOLA dining. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up It is a fast-casual, counter service operation. Decor is nonexistent and the ambiance is florescent. But value is high (plates, from $10 to $15, bring enough food for two meals). Fresh herbs and heady sauces are abundant, especially the creamy whips of garlicky toum. And the operation of the brick oven is captivating. Wael Kalwadi was working the oven on opening day making pita. He kneaded and shaped pads of dough on a tray, plopped them on a long-handled paddle to insert deep in the blazing oven and pulled them out after a minute or so as toasty orbs, puffed with steam. He also cooked saj, a flatbread that resembles pita but is thinner and more stretchy. He topped these plate-sized rounds of bread with a seasoned blend of beef and pomegranate, savory and just a touch darkly sweet, or a mixture of za'atar spice with olive oil and cheese, dotted with caraway seeds, heady and rich. More house-made breads go into platters for dipping or are wrapped up for sandwiches. A repurposed gelato case is filled with desserts like baklava, pistachio-topped sweet cheese kunafeh and syrup-soaked namoura semolina cakes. Falafel King Metairie opened as the region was adjusting to the rules of Phase 1 economic reopening. Accommodating the 25% occupancy rule for dine-in service was no problem here, because of course, not all had gone as planned for the debut anyway. By opening day, only two tables had yet arrived. Falafel King Metairie 4407 Veterans Blvd., (504) 354-8636 Daily 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. +10 Built for take-out, convenience store hummus bar Gita Pita rolls with the changes Combining Middle Eastern street food with the New Orleans corner store, Adham Kader initially created a quick, flavorful lunch spot for meals With mimosas and gratitude, nurses resume 'breakfast club' in Metairie as restaurants reopen As Louisianas phase 1 coroanvirus reopening began Friday morning, a few New Orleans-area nurses decided the time was right to resume a treasu +16 Reopening begins at historic New Orleans restaurants but concerns for future loom Galatoires Restaurant will reopen its main dining room Wednesday with just a few dozen seats and something its never had before: reservation Photo: (Photo : Pixabay) As business has become incorporated into medicine in the U.S., prices for healthcare and life-saving drugs and treatments have skyrocketed. Healthcare spending in the U.S. has accounted for 18% of GDP - especially compared to other countries, who have an average of between 8% to 9% of GDP spent on healthcare, healthcare spending in the U.S. is at a huge amount. Healthcare is still increasing in price - from 2007 to 2014, those with health insurance saw a 20% increase on health spending per year on average. Vital prescriptions that can and have saved lives are increasing in price by hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The EpiPen, from just 2009 to 2016, saw the price increase from $100 to an astounding $600 and from just 2012 to 2016, insulin shot prices rose by over $2,500 each year. The cost of hospitalization is also on the rise - from 2007 to 2014, the price of being admitted to a hospital increased by 42%, hospital-based outpatient costs rose by 25%, and the cost of physician visits grew by 6%. Because of the exorbitant prices of healthcare in the U.S., Americans are much more likely to ignore medical advice. Compared to Canadians, Americans are 2 to 3 times more likely to ignore medical advice due to cost. Even the Americans who are seeking out medical care aren't always following through. In 2019, insurance companies denied 26% of Texans claims, including doctor-ordered medicines, procedures, tests, and scans. Learn more about how the cost of refusing health care can cost more than money and how businesses are helping the COVID-19 effort here. Source: Social Work Degree Center Source: Xinhua| 2020-05-19 05:14:24|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close Representatives from International Leadership of Texas (ILTexas) Houston area and HCA Houston Healthcare West pose for a group photo at the donation handover ceremony in Houston of Texas, the United States, May 18, 2020. Personal protective equipment (PPE) from China was donated to hospitals and health centers in the U.S. state of Texas on Monday. Organized by International Leadership of Texas (ILTexas), a free public charter school with many locations throughout Texas, the donation was purchased with the fund raised by the students from IL Texas' sister schools in China. (Photo by Chengyue Lao/Xinhua) HOUSTON, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Personal protective equipment (PPE) from China was donated to hospitals and health centers in the U.S. state of Texas on Monday. The donation, 10,000 masks and 10,000 gloves, was dropped off in local hospitals in the Houston and Dallas areas where medical workers are striving to save COVID-19 patients' lives on the frontline. Organized by International Leadership of Texas (ILTexas), a free public charter school with many locations throughout Texas, the donation was purchased with the fund raised by the students from IL Texas' sister schools in China. On Monday morning, 4,000 masks and 4,000 gloves were donated to the HCA Houston Healthcare West. IL Texas Houston area Superintendent Matilda Orozco told Xinhua at the ceremony that the school raised money for China a few months ago when China was seriously impacted by COVID-19. This time, its sister school students raised money to buy PPE for medical facilities in the United States. "That is who we are. It's about others before self. And during this time, that's the most important thing we got to think about is helping each other out and being there for each other," said Orozco, adding that students from China also sent warm wishes and encouraging poems to American students of ILTexas. Representing the hospitals to receive the PPE, Megan Marietta, CEO of HCA Houston Healthcare West, said this was the first donation they received from China which made it more special. "I think this is a wonderful gift. It's wonderful to see students focused on servant leadership at such a young age. And this will certainly help our employees and our staff here at the facility," she said. ILTexas opened its first school in 2013 with over 2,500 students, making it the largest first-year charter in the history of Texas. Since 2013, the district has grown from two schools in North Texas to 19 schools with more than 19,500 students across north and south Texas. ILTexas has close ties to China. It operates sister schools in China. ILTexas, with a trilingual curriculum of English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, employs many Chinese teachers and educates Chinese international students. "School students and administrators are finding new and different ways to prove global leadership begins right here at home. We are all in this together," read the school's press release for the donation. Endtem FILE PHOTO: Logo of General Motors is pictured at its plant in Silao By Paul Lienert (Reuters) - General Motors Co is "almost there" on developing an electric vehicle battery that will last one million miles, a top executive said on Tuesday. The automaker also is working on next-generation batteries even more advanced than the new Ultium battery that it unveiled in March, according to GM Executive Vice President Doug Parks, who was speaking at an online investor conference. He did not specify a timeline for introduction of the million-mile battery, but said "multiple teams" at GM are working on such advances as zero-cobalt electrodes, solid state electrolytes and ultra-fast charging. Current electric vehicle batteries typically last 100,000 to 200,000 miles. Reuters reported exclusively in early May that Tesla, in partnership with Chinese battery maker CATL, plans to introduce its own million-mile battery later this year or early next. CATL provides battery cells to other vehicle manufacturers, and has supply agreements in China with GM and its local partner SAIC Motor. GM unveiled its Ultium advanced battery system in March. On Tuesday, it said its $2.3 billion battery production joint venture in Ohio with Korean partner LG Chem will be called Ultium Cells LLC. GM and LG Chem are pursuing a variety of ways to reduce battery costs, Adam Kwiatkowski, executive chief engineer of GM's electric propulsion systems, told another online investor conference on Tuesday. The partners are investigating such initiatives as investing in mines, hedging metals prices and partnering with metals refiners, he said. GM Chief Executive Mary Barra reiterated earlier this year that the automaker intends to sell 1 million electric vehicles a year in 2025 in the United States and China. (Reporting by Paul Lienert in Detroit; Editing by Bill Berkrot) Upcoming South Korean television series, "Mystic Pop-Up Bar," shows an exciting Highlight Reel right before its TV premiere. The series is slated to premiere on May 20th and will also be the first-ever series to be aired on JTBC Wednesday-Thursday time slot in eight years. "Mystic Pop-Up Bar" is based on a Korean webtoon with the title, "Twin Tops Bar" by Bae Hye Soo. The story revolves around a mysterious pojangmacha, which is a tented restaurant famous in South Korea that can be in wheels or street stalls. The pojangmacha is run by a hot-tempered woman named Wol Joo, who is portrayed by Hwang Jung Eum. An innocent part time worker named Han Kang Bae, who is portrayed by Yook Sung Jae, and an afterlife detective called Chief Gwi, who is portrayed by Choi Won Young, who help resolve problems of customers through their dreams. "Mystic Pop-Up Bar," with its literal title, "Ssanggab Cart Bar," is said to be a webtoon filled with suspense and excitement and its series will surely live up to its original story. The Highlight Reel begins with innocent part time worker, Han Kang Bae, who has a special gift of seeing people's deep thoughts just by touching them. However, Han Kang Bae realizes that not to see what other people think of is a bliss and so he avoids getting in contact with other people, especially the customers. Han Kang Bae then came across Wol Joo in the supermarket, wherein Wol Joo reveals that Han Kang Bae has gone into another person's dream after touching the shoulder of a woman. Han Kang Bae then meets Chief Gwi which Chief Gwi enlightens Han Kang Bae that the reason why they have met is because they have to help people by resolving their problems within their dreams. The Highlight Reel also includes to introduce the god of the underworld, who is played by Yeom Hye Ran who scares and pressures Wol Joo that she can't finish her mission of resolving 100,00 people's problems, she will suffer and will be sent to hell. Grim Reaper Yeom, who is portrayed by Lee Jun Hyook, puts immense pressure on Wol Joo saying that he can't wait another second more. Knowing that there are only 10 people left for the mission to be complete, Wol Joo enlists Han Kang Bae to help complete the mission with the help of his special ability. The series becomes even more exciting as there is existing tension between Han Kang Bae and a security worker at the supermarket named Kang Yeo Rin who is portrayed by Jung Da Eun. Han Kang Bae asks Kang Yeo Rin if she feels something every time Han Kang Bae is around her. Kang Yeo Rin responds by saying she feels annoyed and irritated every time he is around, and she wants nothing from him. And at the latter part of the Highlight Reel, Han Kang Bae asked Wol Joo why it has to be 100,000 people. Wol Joo gloomily responded, "because I killed 100,000 people." An unregistered and untrained beauty therapist who operated an illegal cosmetic surgery salon from the back of Melbourne jewellery store has been banned for life. The Sonoun Kimlee Salon was brought to the attention of health authorities last May after being inundated with complaints about bloodied clients wearing bandages leaving the jewellery shop at Springvale Shopping Centre in the city's south-east. The clinic, which offered complex surgeries from eyelid folds to facial fillers and skin tightening was immediately shut down after local council inspectors found the premises were infested with cockroaches. Health officials at the time also expressed grave concerns that clients, mostly Cambodian and Vietnamese migrants, had been exposed to blood-borne infections such as hepatitis and HIV. Lee Kim Tan (pictured right with her husband) has been banned from performing cosmetic services by the Health Complaints Commissioner The Health Complaints Commissioner has issued operator Lee Kim Tan with a permanent prohibition order following a year-long investigation. She's banned from performing or providing any general health services involving cosmetic procedures, including Botox and dermal fillers. 'The safety of Victorians is our number one priority,' Health Complaints Commissioner Karen Cusack announced on Monday. 'As such, I believe it is necessary to impose this permanent ban on Lee Kim Tan to avoid a serious risk to the health, safety and welfare of the Victorian public.' Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton described the case as one of the worst he'd seen in terms of the practices and one of the greatest risks for transmission of infection. Another two illegal salons, including one at Ms Tan's home were also uncovered during the extensive investigation. Ms Tan's Facebook page has many photos of cosmetic work, including scabbing and bruising from eyelid procedures (pictured) Thanh Loi Jewellery, where the illegal salon was operating from has since closed. At least 18 clients alerted health authorities after the illegal salons were found. There have been no known cases to date of Ms Tan's clients being infected with a blood-borne disease, The Age reported. Ms Tan's husband issued an apology to clients on her behalf after the illegal salons were shut down. 'I want to say to those people who came to see my wife: I respect you, I love you and I'm sorry and I want to also say that I did not force you to come and do this,' Sonoun Saing told Seven News last July. Ms Tan's Facebook page is flooded with before and after photos of women who have undergone cosmetic treatment. Some show scabbing and bruising from eyelid procedures, bloody scabs on noses and rashes from lip filler treatment. Ms Tan's Facebook page is flooded with before and after photos of women who have undergone cosmetic treatment (pictured) Sonoun Kimlee Salon was operating illegally at the back of Thanh Loi Jewellery (pictured) which has also since closed Ms Cusack issued a timely warning to anyone considering cosmetic treatment to ask their provider about qualifications and experience, products used, risks involved and where the procedure will be carried out. 'That is why it is important for any person considering cosmetic treatments to consider what can go wrong and what they have a right to expect from their health service provider so that they can make fully informed decisions.' The Health Complaints Commissioner continues to investigate cosmetic service providers who pose a risk to the public. 'We rely on community members to come forward with their concerns so that we are aware of possible breaches of the code,' Ms Cusack said. Part 1 of this article discussed the meaning, target and sources of stigma with emphasis on physique, social group membership, cognitive and neurological factors and life style preferences. This part takes a look at the manifestations and effects of stigmatization with particular reference to labelling, discrimination, anxiety and emotions with special emphasis on Ghana specific cases. Manifestation and effects of stigma: Labelling, discrimination and social exclusion The adverse effects of stigma [tization] are numerous and go beyond the stigmatized individual to include his/her family, friends, co-workers and many others. The effect may be transient, short or long term or permanent depending on family and/or professional support, the individuals personality, resilience and other factors. One of the unfortunate manifestations of stigmatization is labelling, name-calling, finger-pointing and taunting. Either explicitly or in a subtle way, individuals who are stigmatized experience this on regular basis in their daily lives some of which are sometime very hostile and aggressive. This in turn often leads to differential treatment in the form of restrictions, avoiding, scorn, ignoring and even abandonment. In some instances, the stigmatized may be denied services that are readily available to others. If these continue for some time it may lead to socio-phobia and subsequent withdrawal from social settings and social engagements and may even result in self-isolation. This is because the stigmatized may be emotionally uncomfortable and psychologically apprehensive in interaction with others even if they are accepted within that circle or environment. Indirectly the above may lead to self-imposed restriction on ones right of freedom of movement, association and choice. Anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and denial of rights When name calling, avoidance and other forms of discrimination mentioned above increases, the level of anxiety of stigmatized persons are also likely to increase and if they do not get help or are not able to manage, it could lead to depression. High levels of anxiety or depression can also affect ones ability to perform at the optimal level hence stigmatization could lead to lower than expected work out put - declined performance. Furthermore, a link has been found between suicidal ideation/thoughts/plans and levels of anxiety hence as the stigmatized experience more anxiety, it predisposes them not only to the contemplating of suicide, but the act of suicide itself. The other resultant effect of stigmatization is the potential refusal of landlords/ladies to rent their rooms and/or apartments/houses to individuals who fall into any of the stigmatized categories. Furthermore, when the source(s) of the stigma comes up when one is already a tenant some landlords/landladies and even some tenants may put pressure on the individual to leave the house. Indeed, there have been instances where landlords/ladies have adapted unorthodox means to get a person affected by stigma out of their house. Stigmatization may also lead to denial of job/employment, other economic opportunities, education, health and other entitled services. Some stigmatized persons are sometimes refused the right to marriage from certain families. The apparent rejection, spite and discrimination on the basis of stigma also have the tendency to lower the self-worth, self-esteem and self-efficacy of the individual and may lead to inferiority complex. Differential opportunities, self-fulfilling prophesy and internalization Depending on the nature and the source of stigma, it sometimes leads to segregated institution for the stigmatized and another for the normal mainly of the basis of the perceived or contrived difference. In the case of children it deprives them of the opportunity to interact, learn from and grow up within the context of their peers leading to differential experiences and opportunities from the onset. Stigma also predispose individual and groups to a psychological concept known as self-fulfilling prophesy - the tendency for individuals to act in line with what they are tagged with. Essentially, the more the negativity, the more likely that some of the stigmatized will act as such to fulfil what you and I (society) have predicted for and expected of them. Though some persons may take negative tagging as a challenge and work hard to proof the contrary, a good number of such persons end up as expected by society. In the light of this, parents, teacher and other child care providers in particular should be extremely careful about negatively tagging children as the latter tend to easily and quickly internalize labels adult assign to them - usually accept as factual, imbibe and sometime act out.. Internalized stigma is thus a related concept which reinforces self-fulfilling prophesy. When internalization sets in, the individual gets to a point where he/she accepts them as his/her fate. When this happens, the individual blames him/herself for all the negativities. Whenever you hear someone says, havent you heard everyone saying that I am so so and so, I will proof to you that indeed I am. Such person is most likely exhibiting a combined effects of self-fulfilling prophesy and internalized stigma, tagged racism as the case may be. Emotional reactions Stigma evokes emotional responses such as righteous anger - a justifiable anger from the point of view of the stigmatized and ironically a similar justifiable anger from the stigmatizer. In this instance, the stigmatized has reason to believe that there is no reasonable cause for him/her to be unfairly treated and become a target of ridicule. - I am human as you so why treat me this way? On the other hand, the stigmatizer may also find it difficult to understand why the stigmatized feels disturbed or angry for the formers reaction to him/her. You are not accepted and welcome here so why come around? Dont you see/understand that you are different and dangerous? Each of the two parties has reason to believe that they are right and this can lead to confrontation. Closely related to the above is the issue of objectification - the tendency to perceive a person, in this case the stigmatized, as an object rather than as a fellow human being to be treated with decorum as we would expect or require from others. Another adverse effect of stigma is that because of the rejection, it may act as a source of inhibition which may prevent individuals from seeking medical or psychological help when they really need it. In the specific case of COVID-19, some persons who are experiencing the symptoms may not only hide it from others, but may also not seek professional help. If this happens it has a high potential of increasing spread and lead to more pressure on the health system and may also lead to high fatality rate. Depending on the individuals resilience and other factors, the psycho-social, emotional and other effects of stigma may be experienced briefly but for others it may have long term effects including those that can last for the rest of ones life time. Either way, stigma can lead to psychological challenges in addition to negatively affecting the fight against COVI-19 or as the case may be. Ghana specific cases of COVID-19 stigmatization Among the reported cases of stigmatization in Ghana in relating to COVID-19 are those from Accra, Tema, Gomua and Bolgatanga. It is likely that several others have happened elsewhere within the country unreported. In almost all these instances, all the unfortunate adverse effects discussed earlier in this piece have manifested - rejection by relatives and friends, neighbours and the larger community; avoidance, name calling and varied forms of discrimination. It could be inferred from the interviews the affected persons granted and played by multimedia outlets in particular, 3FM and other media houses that the stigmatized have also experienced and continue to experience some level of anxiety and apprehension. In these Ghana specific cases, there are also about four issues that seem to be somewhat peculiar and must be given more attention. These are; boycott or avoidance of businesses of the affected persons, Face book post, stoning and the nature of some of the calls received. The first issue is that all the recovered persons interviewed who are self-employed have reported that their customers/clients/patrons and others who get to know of their status with regard to COVID-19 have refused to patronise their wares and services. Very unfortunate! Imagine yourself in their position or shoe - to use the popular Ghanaian parlance. Facebook post and atoning This is not only unfortunate but could also lead to the collapse of their businesses if the situation does not change sooner or they do not relocate to another town or city - a completely new environment. Those who are in the formal sector employment also feel very uncomfortable going to work as they are not sure what type of reception awaits them.The second issue is the report by the marriage couple from Bolgatanga that someone posted on Face book that they have been tested positive for COVID-19. Though it was factual it was unethical and an unacceptable invasion of privacy and propagation of other persons misfortune. If this action is criminal or against the law then, the person who posted it must be tracked by the cybercrime unit of the Ghana Police Service, arraign before the law court and if found guilty, made to face the prescribed sanctions to serve as deterrent to others. That is how callous some people can be. The third issue is the most unfortunate report of stoning (or attempted stoning) of the daughter of the couple who were tested positive to COVID-19. Even though the child herself had not been tested positive, but by extension and association (as alluded to earlier) with the two - husband and wife, her parents, - she has also suffered from almost all the worst forms and dimensions (physical, psycho-social and emotional) of stigmatization. Discouraging calls and rejection by friends Finally, according to the lady in Bolgatanga, some family, friends and others whose identity she did not know, called and instead of wishing her speedy recovery as per our tradition, they rather ridiculed and taunted her for testing positive to the virus. This unfortunate incident goes to reinforce a joke in our dear country which indicates that a typical Ghanaians happiest moment is when someone gets into trouble. This is wickedness at its peak - more than the devil. The husband also reported that he could not go to their popular spot where his friends meet because he was not welcome there. Yes, not welcome at where he has all along met with friends to play and have fun. These are some of the stuck realities on the ground for those who are known to have tested positive to COVID-19 and/or recovered hence the Ministry of Information (MoI), National Emergency Respond Team, (NERT) and other relevant state institutions especially the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) as well as Non-governmental organizations must act swiftly to prevent the situation from escalating. These persons need psychological support as well as some financial assistance in the face of boycott of their businesses and for that matter, their means of livelihood. Wiafe-Akenten, C. Brenya, PhD Social Psychologist and a Senior Lecturer Dept. of Psychology, Univ. of Ghana. Source: Wiafe-Akenten, C. Brenya, PhD 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 Kevin Foley Were in a precarious time, one in which a highly contagious novel coronavirus has killed nearly 100,000 people, among them my friend and public relations leader Jim Tsokanos. This is also a time when we need good information based on medical science and data, not gut feelings or unproven theories. Which brings me to President Trumps astounding claim that he is taking hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic. What do you have to lose? asked Trump awhile back. It can kill you, replied Fox Newss Neil Cavuto. Interestingly enough, the president learned about hydroxychloroquine from, where else, Cavutos colleague, Laura Ingraham who encouraged its use. The drug has yet to complete any clinical trials beyond a small one in France conducted by microbiologist Dr. Didier Raoult, who was profiled in the May 17 New York Times Magazine. This is the trial Dr. Anthony Fauci has referred to as anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine has shown some benefit in patients whove contracted coronavirus. But far more research is needed on the drug, Fauci adds, and especially its possible lethal side effects. So who are you going to believe? Dr. Fauci or Dr. Trump? And therein lies the communications problem with the administrations continuing mixed messages. We are told by Fauci and other task force experts the disease is continuing to spread while the president and many of his allies say open the economy up, return to work, the worst is behind us; take hydroxychloroquine and call your doctor in the morning. This lack of messaging discipline serves only to confuse and misinform Americans, many of whom are exhausted by the difficult but still necessary lockdown protocols. Their frustration is understandable, but crowding into bars as many did last week when the Wisconsin Supreme Court vacated the governors shelter in place order, the risks go up exponentially. Theres a method to Trumps messaging madness, however. The one thing he had going for his re-election was the economy, the one he inherited from his predecessor that was turbocharged with his massive tax cuts for the 1%. COVID-19 flatlined it and, now, with his approval numbers falling, with nearly 40 million Americans unemployed, his re-election is very much in doubt as is the Senates Republican majority come November. Thus, it appears political expediency eclipses public health safeguards. When we need real leadership, we get self-serving recklessness from the top, something Senate Democrats hammered Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin about at a hearing. How many workers should give their lives to increase our GDP by half a percent? Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown asked Mnuchin. *** Kevin Foley owns KEF Media in Atlanta CLEARWATER, Fla., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- AmeriLife Group, LLC (AmeriLife), the national leader in marketing and distributing life, health and retirement solutions, has acquired an interest in Pinnacle Financial Services (Pinnacle), one of the largest full-service health, life, annuity and long-term care national marketing organizations providing financial products and services for individuals, businesses and their employees. AmeriLife, with nearly 50 years as a leader in providing Medicare solutions, and Pinnacle, a well-known leader in insurance and financial products sales, are joining forces to leverage their combined resources to provide the large and rapidly growing Medicare market with holistic planning solutions. This transaction along with Jack Schroeder and Associates and Stephens-Matthews further expands AmeriLife's capabilities and distribution reach to meet the Medicare and life insurance needs of America's retirees. Pinnacle, founded in 2001, has locations in three states (Pennsylvania, Nebraska and Nevada) and more than 45 employees. Kevin Shields, Pinnacle's founder, President and CEO, and Angela Palo, Pinnacle's Executive Vice President, will continue to lead the organization from its Warminster, Pa. headquarters. Shields will also become a principal and member of the management team with AmeriLife's brokerage distribution channel. Shields and Palo will maintain an ongoing profit participation and a significant ownership interest in Pinnacle, which is expected to grow significantly through the strength of the partnership with AmeriLife. "We pride ourselves in building strong partnerships with our agents and always strive to improve our ability to deliver on our end. This partnership with AmeriLife will help us strengthen the value proposition to our agents through access to capital, additional support tools and a broadening of our capabilities in investment and retirement solutions," said Shields. "We also take pride in having a thorough understanding of the customers we service in the market. Our customers have a critical need for holistic planning solutions to address both their income and healthcare challenges." "AmeriLife recognizes that buying into organizations, rather than folding them into one specific model, has significant benefits. Pinnacle is nimble and possesses a true entrepreneurial approach to the way they do business. They are one of the largest and strongest providers of agent training and development, sales technology, marketing and service support that I have witnessed in this industry," said Scott R. Perry, CEO of AmeriLife. "Additionally, the uncompromising integrity and commitment to excellence they demonstrate in every aspect of their business makes them an ideal partner in which to invest. Together, we are well-positioned to take full advantage of this tremendous opportunity." About AmeriLife AmeriLife is a national leader in developing, marketing and distributing life and health insurance, annuities and retirement planning solutions to enhance the lives of pre-retirees and retirees. For nearly 50 years, AmeriLife has partnered with the nation's leading insurance carriers to provide value and quality to customers served through a national distribution network of over 150,000 insurance agents and advisors, nearly 30 marketing organizations, and 50 insurance agency locations. Visit www.AmeriLife.com and follow AmeriLife on Facebook and LinkedIn for more information. Pinnacle Financial Services, Inc. Pinnacle Financial Services is a national marketing organization licensed in 50 states. They are dedicated to serving independent insurance agents and agencies by providing world-class service, training and back-office support. Visit www.pfsinsurance.com and follow Pinnacle on Facebook and LinkedIn for more information. SOURCE AmeriLife Related Links https://amerilife.com